Can Functional MRI Read Your Mind?
An individually trained semantic decoder translated brain patterns on functional MRI (fMRI) into continuous streams of text, a small study showed. The customized decoder used fMRI responses to generate text describing an individual’s imagined stories, the contents of podcasts they listened to, and silent videos they watched, reported Alexander Huth, PhD, of the University of […]
Police Attitudes on Naloxone Use for Overdose Improved With Pharmacists’ Help
LAS VEGAS — After pharmacists in one Tennessee county trained police officers on harm reduction and opioid overdose, police attitudes, such as concern and readiness to handle these situations, improved, a survey showed. Among 89 police officers who completed the survey, mean composite scores in attitude changes towards opioid overdose and use of naloxone (Narcan) […]
A rare discovery of long-term memory in wild frog-eating bats: 4 years after first exposure, bats remember a ringtone’s link to food
Frog-eating bats trained by researchers to associate a phone ringtone with a tasty treat were able to remember what they learned for up to four years in the wild, new research has found. The study acquainted 49 bats with a series of ringtones that attracted their attention, and trained them to associate flying toward just […]
Can Trained Dogs Sniff Out COVID-Positive Travelers?
Four trained dogs detected people who were positive for SARS-CoV-2 with similar accuracy to PCR tests, according to a randomized trial and real-life study at a busy international airport earlier in the pandemic. In the validation trial, the dogs had 92% accuracy, with 92% sensitivity (95% CI 89-94) and 91% specificity (95% CI 89-93) compared […]