Biology subjects

Bonneh, Y.

Publications and source records attributed to Bonneh, Y..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Pupillometry Reveals Autonomic Adjustments During Diving Reflex in Face Immersion Apnea

The human diving reflex is an innate cardiorespiratory adjustment triggered during apnea that concurrently activates both sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system to maintain physiological stability under stress. Although pupil dilation and constriction are antagonistically regulated by these branches, the effect of the diving reflex on pupil diameter oscillations, known as hippus, remains unexplored. Here, we compared hippus in healthy participants during breathing or apnea either with (Wet) or without (Dry) facial immersion in cold water. In both apneic conditions, hippus exhibited reduced power in the low-frequency band (< 0.25 Hz). Notably, during Wet apnea, we observed a reallocation of power towards higher frequencies (> 0.25 Hz) and increased entropy of fluctuations, indicating a shift in autonomic balance and greater signal complexity during the diving reflex. This pilot study highlights pupil dynamics as a sensitive and non-invasive probe of autonomic adjustments underlying the human diving reflex.

physiology↗

bioRxiv2025

Serial Dependence Predicts Generalization in Perceptual Learning

Visual perception is shaped by recent experience, but how these momentary influences accumulate to support long-term learning and generalization remains unclear. Here, we asked whether short-term memory traces, attractive serial-dependence effects (SDEs), promote learning generalization. We re-analyzed over 200,000 trials from observers trained on a visual texture-discrimination task under three conditions that differentially modulated generalization. Under certain conditions, SDEs reached further back in time than previously reported and persisted after eight days of practice, despite the non-informative nature of past stimuli. Observers in conditions that promoted generalization displayed larger long-range SDEs, and individual SDE magnitude predicted transfer of learning across locations. We propose that SDE is associated with learning flexibility, providing a principled framework for when and why perceptual learning generalizes, which is central to theories of cognitive flexibility. Attractive serial dependence is not an extra mechanism in this model--it is the behavioral footprint of ongoing template plasticity required for flexibility in changing environments.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Automated, Stress-Free, and Precise Measurement of Songbird Weight in Neuroscience Experiments

Monitoring the health and well-being of research animals is essential for both ethical and scientific purposes. In songbirds, body weight is one of the main indicators for their overall condition, yet traditional weighing methods can be intrusive and stress-inducing, which could decrease their song rate. We developed a novel, automated system designed to continuously monitor the weight of untethered and tethered birds without disrupting their natural behavior in neuroscience experiments. We used the system to track weight fluctuations in six canaries over several weeks, revealing physiological patterns such as overnight weight loss, with one bird losing approximately 5.17% of its body weight during a 9.5-hour period of inactivity. Our systems high sensitivity detected weight changes below 1% of body mass, validating its reliability for long-term studies. Control experiments confirmed that weight fluctuations observed were physiological rather than due to equipment deviations. By eliminating the need for manual handling, this system offers a non-invasive, hands-free approach that reduces stress and improves the accuracy of health assessments. This study demonstrates the systems potential for expanding research on how environmental factors, diet, and other variables influence bird physiology and behavior. Future applications could integrate additional health metrics, providing a more comprehensive understanding of animal welfare in neuroscience and behavioral studies.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Individual Differences in Audio-Visual Binding Can Predict the Varied Severity of Motion Sickness

In neuroscience, research often focuses on the group, while ignoring large individual differences, which are left poorly understood. One such example is the large individual variability in the susceptibility to motion-sickness (MS), the feeling of sickness that typically occurs during travel or movement. Current explanations of MS focus on the sensory conflict in the perception of motion, primarily between the vestibular and the visual systems, e.g., when feeling motion but not seeing it. To account for the large individual differences in MS, we hypothesized that people feel motion sickness only when the conflicting stimuli are perceived as bound together, and their tendency to bind conflicting multi-sensory information is an individual trait. To test this hypothesis, we measured the persistence of audio-visual binding using the McGurk effect in which watching a moving mouth alters the auditory perception of phonemes. We used a temporal audio-visual mismatch to probe the persistence of binding and computed a temporal binding window for each individual (n=21) in 3 tasks: syllable Identification (McGurk), simultaneity judgement, and syllable synchronization judgement. To assess the severity of MS, we used 2 subjective symptom questionnaires. We found that the temporal binding window of the McGurk stimuli in two of the tasks varied across individuals and was positively correlated (R>0.8) with the MS questionnaire severity scores. These results support our hypothesis and shed new light on the enigmatic differences between individuals regarding their susceptibility to motion-sickness. They also highlight the potential strength of studies focusing on individual differences and neurological diversity. Significance StatementMotion sickness is the feeling of sickness that typically occurs during travel or movement. Although it is commonly linked to a sensory mismatch, the large differences in its susceptibility across people remains poorly understood. In the current study, we link these individual differences to a multi-modal temporal binding window, which measures the persistence of perceiving multi-modal stimuli as coming from the same source despite temporal discrepancies. We demonstrated this link by finding a high correlation between the temporal binding window of an audio-visual illusion (the McGurk effect) and the subjective reports of the susceptibility to motion sickness. These results shed new light on the enigmatic differences between individuals regarding their susceptibility to motion sickness and highlight the potential strength of studies focusing on individual differences and neurological diversity.

neuroscience↗