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Can AI Develop a Favourite Food Craving?

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Penn State scientists are fostering an electronic tongue that mimics the human course of gustation, which could impact artificial intelligence to settle on choices more like people. This advancement is important for a work to consolidate the capacity to appreciate people on a deeper level perspective, frequently ignored in simulated intelligence research. This electronic gustatory framework can right now recognize each of the five essential preferences and has various expected applications, from simulated intelligence driven diets to customized eatery contributions.

Electronic tongue’ holds guarantee as conceivable initial step to fake ability to appreciate individuals at their core.

Will man-made reasoning (artificial intelligence) get ravenous? Foster a preference for specific food varieties? Not yet, yet a group of Penn State scientists is fostering an original electronic tongue that emulates what taste means for what we eat in view of the two requirements and needs, giving a potential plan to computer based intelligence that processes data more like a person.

Human way of behaving is complicated, an undefined split the difference and cooperation between our physiological requirements and mental inclinations. While computerized reasoning has taken extraordinary steps as of late, man-made intelligence frameworks don’t integrate the mental side of our human knowledge. For instance, the capacity to understand people at their core is seldom considered as a component of simulated intelligence.

“The main focus of our work was how could we bring the emotional part of intelligence to AI,” said Saptarshi Das, associate professor of engineering science and mechanics at Penn State and corresponding author of the study published recently in Nature Communications. “Emotion is a broad field and many researchers study psychology; however, for computer engineers, mathematical models and diverse data sets are essential for design purposes. Human behavior is easy to observe but difficult to measure and that makes it difficult to replicate in a robot and make it emotionally intelligent. There is no real way right now to do that.”

The Job of Gustation in Dietary patterns

Das featured that our dietary patterns are a genuine illustration of the capacity to understand individuals on a deeper level and the connection between the physiological and mental condition of the body. What we eat is intensely affected by the course of gustation, which alludes to how our feeling of taste assists us with choosing what to consume in view of flavor inclinations. This is unique in relation to hunger, the physiological justification for eating.

“If you are someone fortunate to have all possible food choices, you will choose the foods you like most,” Das said. “You are not going to choose something that is very bitter, but likely try for something sweeter, correct?”

Any individual who has felt full after a major lunch regardless was enticed by a cut of chocolate cake at a midday work environment party realizes that an individual can eat something they love in any event, when not eager.

“If you are given food that is sweet, you would eat it in spite of your physiological condition being satisfied, unlike if someone gave you say a hunk of meat,” Das said. “Your psychological condition still wants to be satisfied, so you will have the urge to eat the sweets even when not hungry.”

While there are as yet many inquiries in regards to the neuronal circuits and atomic level components inside the cerebrum that underlie hunger discernment and craving control, Das said, advances, for example, further developed mind imaging have offered more data on how these circuits work with respect to gustation.

Making an Electronic Gustatory Framework

Taste receptors on the human tongue convert synthetic information into electrical driving forces. These driving forces are then sent through neurons to the cerebrum’s gustatory cortex, where cortical circuits, a complicated organization of neurons in the mind shape our impression of taste.

The scientists have fostered a rearranged biomimetic variant of this cycle, including an electronic “tongue” and an electronic “gustatory cortex” made with 2D materials, which are materials one to a couple of particles thick. The counterfeit tastebuds involve minuscule, graphene-based electronic sensors called chemitransistors that can identify gas or synthetic atoms.

The other piece of the circuit utilizes memtransistors, which is a semiconductor that recalls past signs, made with molybdenum disulfide. This permitted the scientists to plan an “electronic gustatory cortex” that interface a physiology-drive “hunger neuron,” brain research driven “craving neuron” and a “taking care of circuit.”

For example, while recognizing salt, or sodium chloride, the gadget detects sodium particles, made sense of Subir Ghosh, a doctoral understudy in designing science and mechanics and co-writer of the review.

“This means the device can ‘taste’ salt,” Ghosh said.

The properties of the two different 2D materials complete one another in framing the fake gustatory framework.

“We used two separate materials because while graphene is an excellent chemical sensor, it is not great for circuitry and logic, which is needed to mimic the brain circuit,” said Andrew Pannone, graduate research assistant in engineering science and mechanics and co-author of the study. “For that reason, we used molybdenum disulfide, which is also a semiconductor. By combining these nanomaterials, we have taken the strengths from each of them to create the circuit that mimics the gustatory system.”

The cycle is adequately flexible to be applied to every one of the five essential taste profiles: sweet, pungent, harsh, unpleasant and umami. Such a mechanical gustatory framework has promising possible applications, Das expressed, going from simulated intelligence organized slims down in light of the capacity to understand people at their core for weight reduction to customized dinner contributions in eateries. The examination group’s impending goal is to expand the electronic tongue’s taste range.

“We are trying to make arrays of graphene devices to mimic the 10,000 or so taste receptors we have on our tongue that are each slightly different compared to the others, which enables us to distinguish between subtle differences in tastes,” Das said. “The example I think of is people who train their tongue and become a wine taster. Perhaps in the future we can have an AI system that you can train to be an even better wine taster.”

An extra following stage is to make a coordinated gustatory chip.

“We want to fabricate both the tongue part and the gustatory circuit in one chip to simplify it further,” Ghosh said. “That will be our primary focus for the near future in our research.”

Future Possibilities for Genuinely Insightful artificial intelligence
From that point onward, the scientists said they imagine this idea of gustatory ability to appreciate people on a profound level in an artificial intelligence framework meaning different faculties, for example, visual, sound, material and olfactory capacity to understand anyone at their core to help improvement of future high level man-made intelligence.

“The circuits we have demonstrated were very simple, and we would like to increase the capacity of this system to explore other tastes,” Pannone said. “But beyond that, we want to introduce other senses and that would require different modalities, and perhaps different materials and/or devices. These simple circuits could be more refined and made to replicate human behavior more closely. Also, as we better understand how our own brain works, that will enable us to make this technology even better.”

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How the brain makes complex judgments based on context

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We frequently face difficult choices in life that are impacted by a number of variables. The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the dorsal hippocampus (DH) are two key brain regions that are essential for our capacity to adjust and make sense of these unclear situations.

According to research conducted by researchers at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), these regions work together to resolve ambiguity and facilitate quick learning.

Decision-making that depends on context

The results, which were released in the journal Current Biology, offer fresh perspectives on how certain brain regions assist us in navigating situations that depend on context and modifying our behavior accordingly.

According to UCSB neuroscientist Ron Keiflin, senior author, “I would argue that that’s the foundation of cognition.” That’s what prevents us from acting like mindless machines that react to stimuli in the same way every time.

“Our ability to understand that the meaning of certain stimuli is context-dependent is what gives us flexibility; it is what allows us to act in a situation-appropriate manner.”

Decision-making context

Think about choosing whether or not to answer a ringing phone. What you say depends on a number of variables, including the time of day, who might be calling, and where you are.

The “context,” which influences your choice, is made up of several components. The interaction between the OFC and DH is what gives rise to this cognitive flexibility, according to Keiflin.

Planning, reward valuation, and decision-making are linked to the OFC, which is situated directly above the eyes, whereas memory and spatial navigation depend on the DH, which is positioned deeper in the brain.

According to Keiflin, both areas contribute to a mental representation of the causal structure of the environment, or a “cognitive map.” The brain can model outcomes, forecast outcomes, and direct behavior thanks to this map.

Despite their significance, up until now there had been no systematic testing of the precise functions of these regions in contextual disambiguation, which determines how stimuli alter meaning based on context.

Contextualizing auditory stimuli

In order to find out, the researchers created an experiment in which rats were exposed to aural cues in two distinct settings: a room with bright lighting and a chamber with no light. There was a context-dependent meaning for every sound.

For instance, one sound indicated a reward (sugar water) only when it was light, and another only when it was dark.

The rats eventually learnt to link each sound to the appropriate context, and in one situation they showed that they understood by licking the reward cup in anticipation of a treat, but not in the other.

The OFC or DH was then momentarily disabled during the task by the researchers using chemogenetics. The rats’ ability to use context to predict rewards and control their behavior was lost when the OFC was turned off.

Disabling the DH, however, had minimal effect on performance, which was unexpected considering its well-established function in memory and spatial processing.

Enhanced learning from prior knowledge

For learning new context-dependent interactions, the DH proved essential, but it appeared to be unnecessary for recalling previously learned ones.

“If I walked into an advanced math lecture, I would understand – and learn – very little. But someone more mathematically knowledgeable would be able to understand the material, which would greatly facilitate learning,” Keiflin explained.

Additionally, the rats were able to pick up new relationships far more quickly after they had created a “cognitive map” of context-dependent interactions. The duration of training decreased from more than four months to a few days.

Brain areas cooperating

By employing the same chemogenetic strategy, the researchers discovered that the rats’ capacity to use past information to discover new associations was hampered when the OFC or DH were disabled.

While the DH allowed for the quick learning of novel context-dependent relationships, the OFC was crucial for using contextual knowledge to control immediate action.

This dual role emphasizes how these brain regions assist learning and decision-making in complementary ways.

Education and neuroscience Implications

According to Keiflin, neuroscience research frequently overlooks the well-established psychological and educational theories that prior information affects learning.

Knowing how the brain leverages past information to support learning could help develop educational plans and therapies for people who struggle with learning.

The study clarifies the different functions of the DH and OFC as well. In order to acquire new relationships, the DH is more important than the OFC, which aids in behavior regulation based on contextual knowledge.

These areas work together to help the brain adjust to complicated, dynamic surroundings.

Brain’s Capacity to make Decisions based on context

The study emphasizes how crucial contextual knowledge is for managing day-to-day existence. Human cognition is based on the brain’s capacity to resolve ambiguity, whether it be while choosing whether to answer a ringing phone or when adjusting to new knowledge.

This work highlights the complex processes that facilitate learning and decision-making while also advancing our knowledge of brain function by elucidating the functions of the OFC and DH.

This information creates opportunities to investigate the potential roles that disturbances in these systems may play in disorders like anxiety or problems with decision-making.

Since this type of learning is most likely far more reflective of the human learning experience, Keiflin stated that “a better neurobiological understanding of this rapid learning and inference of context-dependent relations is critical, as this form of learning is probably much more representative of the human learning experience.” 

The results open the door for future studies on the interactions between these brain areas in challenging, real-world situations, which could have implications for mental health and education.

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Nutrition and Its Role in Preventing Chronic Diseases

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Nutrition plays a pivotal role in maintaining overall health and preventing chronic diseases. The food we consume directly impacts our body’s ability to function optimally and ward off illnesses. Chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and certain types of cancer are closely linked to dietary habits. By adopting a balanced and nutritious diet, individuals can significantly reduce their risk of developing these conditions and improve their quality of life.

Understanding Chronic Diseases and Their Dietary Links

Chronic diseases are long-term health conditions that often develop gradually and persist for years. While genetics and environmental factors contribute to their onset, lifestyle choices—especially diet—play a significant role. Some key dietary factors influencing chronic disease risk include:

  • Excessive Calorie Intake: Overeating leads to obesity, which is a major risk factor for diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers.
  • High Saturated and Trans Fat Consumption: These fats contribute to high cholesterol levels and increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
  • Excessive Sugar and Refined Carbohydrates: These can lead to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
  • Low Fiber Intake: Insufficient dietary fiber is linked to digestive issues, high cholesterol, and increased risk of colon cancer.
  • Inadequate Micronutrients: Deficiencies in vitamins and minerals weaken the immune system and impair bodily functions.

Key Nutritional Strategies for Preventing Chronic Diseases

  1. Adopting a Balanced Diet: A well-rounded diet that includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats provides essential nutrients and minimizes disease risk.
  2. Increasing Fiber Intake: Consuming fiber-rich foods such as whole grains, legumes, and vegetables helps regulate blood sugar levels, lower cholesterol, and improve gut health.
  3. Limiting Sugar and Processed Foods: Reducing intake of sugary drinks, snacks, and highly processed foods can prevent weight gain and lower the risk of metabolic disorders.
  4. Choosing Healthy Fats: Incorporating unsaturated fats from sources like nuts, seeds, and olive oil supports heart health while avoiding trans fats found in fried and processed foods.
  5. Maintaining Proper Hydration: Drinking enough water supports metabolic processes and helps maintain healthy weight.
  6. Monitoring Portion Sizes: Eating appropriate portions prevents overeating and helps maintain a healthy body weight.

Evidence-Based Benefits of Proper Nutrition

  1. Reduced Risk of Heart Disease: Diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, and antioxidants help reduce cholesterol and blood pressure.
  2. Improved Glycemic Control: Balanced meals with low glycemic index foods prevent blood sugar spikes and reduce the risk of diabetes.
  3. Weight Management: Healthy eating habits help achieve and maintain an ideal weight, minimizing the risk of obesity-related diseases.
  4. Lower Cancer Risk: Antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables combat oxidative stress, reducing the risk of certain cancers.
  5. Enhanced Longevity: Nutrient-dense diets promote overall health and increase life expectancy.

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Poor Sleep During Pregnancy to Problems with the Development of the Child: Study

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According to a recent study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, pregnant women who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to give birth to infants who have delayed neurodevelopment.

According to the study, babies born to pregnant women who slept fewer than seven hours a day on average had serious neurodevelopmental problems, with boys being especially at risk. Pregnancy-related sleep deprivation has been associated with impairments in the children’s emotional, behavioral, motor, cognitive, and language development.

Additionally, elevated C-peptide levels in the umbilical cord blood of these kids were discovered, which suggests that insulin manufacturing has changed. One result of the pancreas’ production of insulin is C-peptide.

Additionally, the study demonstrated that disorders like impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, and gestational diabetes—all of which were previously linked to inadequate sleep during pregnancy—can affect a child’s neurodevelopment.

The study team clarified that maternal glucose metabolism during pregnancy may influence fetal insulin secretion, which in turn may effect neurodevelopment, even if they were unable to conclusively demonstrate that sleep deprivation actually causes neurodevelopmental abnormalities.

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