Humans and other primates learn cause-and-effect relationships in their environments by predicting the likelihood of an event, such as a reward, through direct and/or indirect experience. Recently, researchers studied the activity of neurons in the dorsal part of the medial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) of macaques to determine which neurons are responsible for encoding “self” reward prediction error (S-RPE) and “other” reward prediction error (O-RPE). The neurons encoding S-RPE and O-RPE are independent and work simultaneously, which may allow macaques and other primates to learn stimulus-outcome relationships more efficiently.

Researchers at University of Tsukuba have developed a vector that integrates the Cre enzyme gene with the specific DNA sequence loxP, which is its target. This vector allows to create Cre-loxP organisms, which are widely used in the functional analysis of specific genes, in a single step and thus to significantly reduce the time and cost of production.

Reliable access to clean water is a basic human right and a central objective of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Thus, securing technologies that can remove pollutants from water bodies is an essential step toward sustainability. Among several existing methods, harnessing solar energy represents an attractive option for water remediation without increasing carbon emissions.

AIMR researchers used micro-focused ARPES to identify domain-specific surface states in antiferromagnetic NdSb that disappear above 16 K. This suggests bulk spin order induces these states through symmetry-breaking, potentially enabling control of surface electrons for applications in spintronics and quantum technologies.

Researchers at Tohoku University examined the change in brain energy dynamics from induced seizures - which could potentially help us better understand individuals with epilepsy. 

While small-scale open-sourcing efforts had been attempted in the past, this project has realized one of the largest-scale open-sourcing initiatives globally. This software can customize set-up through operation to meet users’ needs. This is expected to pave the way for practical quantum computers in the future and contribute to solving social issues through their application.

A new book on traditional Iranian music explores the consequences of an oral tradition of music on the concepts of improvisation, originality and musical freedom. The book also touches on the physicality of making music, challenging our everyday notions of music and music education, which are grounded in the Western literal tradition.