Laughing at Ourselves and Others - How Does Humor Make Us Better People?

Most people would probably agree that both people and animals (e.g., dogs or dolphins), can enjoy themselves. However, most people would likewise agree that humor is somewhat different from plain joy. How can we really tell the difference, though?

The term 'humor' stems directly from the Latin word humor, meaning moisture. Why is that? It originates from the ancient theory in Greco-Roman medicine, where four different body fluids (humors: blood, yellow bile, black bile, phlegm) determine one’s personality traits. An imbalance of one may cause either choleric, sanguine, melancholic, or phlegmatic temperament – none of which is particularly cheerful [1]. This theory concerns ancient physicians like Hippocrates and Galen, but what is the philosophers' point of view?

Nowadays, philosophy is not usually perceived as extraordinarily funny either, thanks to Plato and Socrates, who heavily influenced our rather serious philosophic tradition. Yet, one man is known as the `Laughing Philosopher´ – Democritus of Abdera. Historic reports call him a cheerful person and he was always amused by people's foolishness [2]. Indeed, today, we would agree that humor means taking oneself less serious and laughing about one's own foolishness.

A day without laughter is a day wasted

Humor enables us to step back from life’s struggles and confronts us with our own faults, while remaining free of moral persecution. Humor has furthermore helped people endure misfortune, misery, and tyranny. Diogenes of Sinope, better known as the founder of Cynic philosophy, was well known for embarrassing and sabotaging his fellow philosophers Plato and Socrates. He also made continual inappropriate jokes about the Macedonian king and Emperor Alexander the Great [3]. Modern comedy often unknowingly follows Diogenes’ footsteps, as cynicism and sarcasm are still very popular in political cabaret and satire. Thereby, the ancient cynics never mocked in vain, but rather imagined how people could live a good and happy life, free from the pursuit of fame and glory.

Thus, it is not disrespectful to call the antique philosophers the first popular entertainers, as they all tried their best to delight people. This is what they have in common with timeless modern day humorists like Monty Python. Another example is Charlie Chaplin, who, in total contrast to antique rhetoricians, did so without uttering a single word. He knew that “A day without laughter is a day wasted”*.

[1] http://bit.ly/1uRN3pe

[2] http://bit.ly/1s2k1jO

[3] http://bit.ly/1BQb16T

* But see http://bit.ly/1zvJ1Hp

Bettina Schmerl, PhD Student AG Shoichet

This article originally appeared 2015 in Vol 08, Issue 01, Humor

The Evolution of Love

Let me tell you about the birds and the bees. And the flowers and the trees. And a thing called love…
But hey … what is LOVE, except for the most popular topic of song lyrics?

What is Love?
The urban dictionary gives the following definition: “Love is nature’s way of tricking people into reproducing” [1]. Hm… why didn’t we just continue to be self-copying RNA as described in “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins, or simply procreate by cell division [2]? The clue is that sexual reproduction brings enormous advantages in terms of fitness: Mutations occur naturally in every organism all the time. Some may be harmful, some without impact and others may be highly beneficial. Maybe a mutation in a structural protein could give a protist sturdier ciliaries, allowing it faster movements and a great advantage in escaping predators. However, only the individual carrying the mutation will benefit from it unless it is shared. And basically, sexual reproduction is nothing else but sharing your genome with someone else. This someone will not benefit in person, but his and your offspring will. Thus sharing is caring. But does caring equal love?

Source

I'm Too Sexy...
In general, mating means higher cost for an individual at first, but pays off with increased fitness of its progeny and gene propagation. But of course, not every individual wants to mate with any other. Hence, mating strategies developed to maximize benefit. Mating strategies vary in complexity: a pretty straightforward strategy is to release attractive molecules to acquire a random partner. However, the more costly the reproduction itself, the more prudence in partner choice is advised. The decision about a partner is usually made by the female, thus males of many animal species have developed specific attributes and/or courtship behaviors that may not serve any practical purpose other than attracting a female’s attention and influencing her choice.
Birds give great examples of this: peacocks grow their beautiful and immense tails to impress females. These have no use other than to signal “I am so fit and healthy, I can afford an entirely useless, giant plumage!” (see also 'You Have Beautiful Eyes, Hundreds of Them'). Similarly, bowerbird males construct little lodges from sticks, grass, and leaves, which they even decorate with flowers, shells, and other colorful and shiny things they collect. If the lodge is impressive enough and the female decides to mate, they entirely abandon the lodge to build a nest suitable for breeding elsewhere.
Humans, too, possess attributes that serve reproductive rather than survival purposes. Compared to other primates, humans have features such as “concealed ovulation, extended female sexuality when not fertile, large visible breasts even when not lactating, large spongy boneless visible pensises relative to body size even when not sexually aroused, relative hairlessness that reveals skin quality, full lips that may mimic female genitalia by exposing skin that simulates mucosal membranes”, as discussed in detail by psychologist Lawrence Josephs [3].

You and Me, Forever
But mating alone does not yet guarantee successful procreation. A lot of further effort needs to be invested by parents to actually ensure the survival of offspring, especially in higher mammals. For humans, this can be up to twenty years! For this purpose, nature developed strategies beyond the "hit and run" approach to make mating partners cooperate until their progeny can survive on its own. Bonding mechanisms cause partners to team up and cooperate until descendants can survive independently [3,4]. This may lead to monogamy (or serial monogamy) as a favored type of relationship.
Nowadays, psychologists discuss compassion, a feeling most of us would also associate with love. Compassion also developed to ensure survival chances for vulnerable offspring because it motivates individuals to join forces and cooperate for the sake of their progeny [5]. Even early evolutionists such as Darwin considered what he called “sympathy” to be one of the strongest human instincts. While all of this totally makes sense, it does not really fit our modern-day definition of “love”.

LOVE IS THE ONLY SOCIALLY ACCEPTED FORM OF MADNESS

Maybe, it is more appropriate to talk about the psychological term “romantic love”. Psychologist James Leonard Park provides a sarcastic explanation of romantic love as a hoax or urban legend [6]. Indeed, considering archeological finds from the beginning of mankind, there is evidence for different forms of courtship behavior and for the concept of marriage, i.e. partnership between man and woman in order to maintain monogamy and raise children. Still today across the globe, people get married for practical reasons only, without any romantic consideration. Where does romance come into play then? Apparently, it is the relatively modern invention of medieval troubadours and minstrels in France [7]. Since then, European culture has spread all over the world, the newly invented concept of romantic love has entered folk psychology and is ubiquitous in songs, novels, television, and movies. Cultural imprinting, one could say.


You Drive Me Crazy
Nonetheless, most of us have experienced romantic love, and it is commonly perceived as an altered state of consciousness or “the only socially accepted form of madness” [8]. Not only because of these definitions, involving consciousness and insanity, psychologists and neurobiologists began to explore what underlies romantic feelings in the brain. Even though research has so far correlated brain regions and autonomous nervous system activity with feelings of love and identified some brain chemistry that elicits affection, science is far from answering the question: What is love?
It's good to know that instead, there are plenty of songs still to come that can tell us the answer.

[1] http://bit.ly/1fTAtUl
[2] Dawkins, "The Selfish Gene", Oxford University Press, New York, 1976
[3] Josephs, Am Acad Psychoanal Dyn Psychiatry, 2010
[4] De Boer, Neuroscience, 2012
[5] Goetz, Keltner and Simon-Thomas, Psychol Bull, 2010
[6] http://bit.ly/1mHJD9x
[7] http://bit.ly/1g2veC6
[8]http://bit.ly/1nnGFXd

by Bettina Schmerl, PhD Student AG Shoichet
This article originally appeared 2014 in CNS Volume 7, Issue 2, Neuroscience of Love

Age and Aging Societies

It is common knowledge that Western societies are facing demographic change. But why is it a problem everyone is concerned about?

Germany's Demographics 
Demography is the social science dealing with statistical measures of populations, including humans. It analyzes several features of populations (including age, health, reproduction as well as migration, education and religion) in order to extrapolate future development. In Germany, the Federal Statistical Office which monitors demographics, estimated the number of inhabitants in 2014 to be more than 80 million people (the 16^th most populous country in the world). The estimated average life expectancy is 81 years and the fertility rate is 1.4 children per woman [1] (in contrast to Somalia where life expectancy is less than 50 years and the fertility rate is 6.4 [2]).

Paying it Backward? 
These numbers summarize what the demographic change looks like: higher life expectancy with fewer births. People live longer due to better hygiene and medical care. In addition, the more young people are educated and socio-economically situated, the fewer children they have. This is called the demographic-economic paradox [3]. Especially in Germany, the demographic change is critical as the social and health insurance systems are based on an idea called the intergenerational contract (Generationenvertrag). This system, implemented after the Second World War, required jobholders to pay taxes into a pay-as-you-go system to provide financial security for a limited number of elderly retirees [4].
Back then, considering the shape of Germany's population pyramid, the system made sense. People born in these years (1945 -1965) are today commonly referred to as baby boomers [5], which justifies this concept. However, birth rates dropped steadily by 1967, plateauing since 1990 to their current levels. But, low birth rates do not keep people from aging, they only lead to fewer people taking care of an increasing number of older people. Thus, aging of the population is a socio-economic problem, which has to be addressed by significant changes in the financing of social pension programs.

Bevoelkerungsentwicklung DeutschlandAdapted from Wikipedia bit.ly/1PMBcCr

Healthcare and Aging Populations 
Retirees are getting older: With improved medical care, the life expectancy at birth rose from an average 50 years in 1900 to an average 78 years in 2008, with women living several years longer than men [6]. Unfortunately, most people do not remain healthy in old age, but develop several age-related comorbidities.
This adds to the socio-economic costs of an aging society, as healthcare burdens increase, with rising costs and a lack of staff. To make things worse, the diseases of the elderly will be accompanied not only by an increase in the number of cases, but also an increase in complexity. Although personalized therapy is a promising solution for many diseases, it requires more extensive diagnostics – this eventually leads to imbalances in the ratio of workload to qualified personnel in the medical sector [7].
In addition, the changes in household structure also play a major role in the outbreak and spreading of infections. In the olden days, families were large and infections spread easily, whereas now families are much smaller. Today, however, those opposed to vaccination ("anti-vaxxers") make society susceptible to explosive outbreaks of numerous diseases [8]. 

Bevölkerungspyramide
data source: Statistisches Bundesamt

Familial Trends 
Demographic change does not solely affect societies: it also affects the family by changing its composition. In the 19^th century, only a minor proportion of young adults got to know their grandparents. Today, about 80% of people have at least one living grandparent. This causes an increasing demand to nurse the elderly generation, which threatens individuals’ financial, psychological and physical abilities [6]. Thanks to improvements in gender equality and the education of women, the mean age at first childbirth has increased from 21 years in the 1970s to 25 years today. Together, these factors cause a “crunch” situation for people in their 50s and 60s where raising their children and caring for their own parents compete [6]. 
Demographic change also affects how family members interact and take care of each other: As families become smaller, parents distribute their money and time more equally among their offspring and grandchildren [6].
Demographic change may appear to be a problem of Western countries, but it is definitely a global one. Ten years ago, the WHO reported a global mean age of 27.6 years, with 10% of the population being older than 60 years. By 2050, the United Nations expects the mean age to be 38 years with 22% of people being older than 60. Further, the proportion of children is predicted to decrease from 30% to less than 20% [9]. The socio-economic impact of these changes cannot be ignored.

[1] bit.ly/1ScMbK1 
[2] http://bit.ly/1PSObsc 
[3] bit.ly/1PMdwy2 
[4] http://bit.ly/1KUTobt 
[5] http://bit.ly/1JVUjxq 
[6] Seltzer and Bianchi, Annu Rev Sociol, 2013 
[7] Warth et al., Virchows Arch, 2015
[8] Geard et al., Epidemics, 2015 
[9] http://bit.ly/1Is6Qaq 

by Bettina Schmerl, PhD student AG Shoichet
This article originally appeared 2016 in CNS Volume 9, Issue 1, The Aging Brain

Don’t Give Up On Your Dreams. Sleep On!

Sleep is an almost universal behavior throughout the animal kingdom. Humans spend roughly a third of their life sleeping, therefore we can call it a truly integral part of life. However, is sleep just a uniform state of unconsciousness opposite to being awake? 

Like most animals, humans' sleep and wakefulness are modeled by inner circadian rhythms and external cues, so-called zeitgebers (see also the article on chronotherapeutics on page 10), to a period of roughly 24 hours. In particular, sunlight is able to reset our inner clocks, thereby enabling us to adjust our daily rhythm, e.g. after intercontinental flights. Not sleep itself, but rather when we sleep is regulated by the suprachiasmic nucleus in the anterior hypothalamus, which functions like an internal clock and is affected by environmental inputs (again, especially sunlight, which reaches the hypothalamus via the retinohypothalamic tract) [1].

sleep well; source:  http://bit.ly/2yFBDBZ

Is sleep just a consequence of the brain being less active because it's tired? Although this explanation might appeal to many fellow PhD students, sleep is characterised by a complex pattern of brain activity! Key aspects of sleep are: little motor activity, little response to stimulation, typical postures (like lying down curled up) and the state being quite easily reversible (distinguishing sleep from coma, for example) [1]. These features can be monitored by conventional electrical recordings, including electromyography and electroencephalography (EEG). When people (and animals) fall asleep, EEG recordings show a drastic change in neuronal activity.

Sleep = Brain Activity?!
Broadly speaking, sleep comes in two flavors: REM (rapid eye movement) sleep and non-REM sleep, which consists of four stages of characteristic brain activity patterns. Wakefulness typically comprises approximately 20 Hz waves. When people fall asleep, this frequency falls to 10 Hz and entering sleep stage 1 is characterized by mixed frequency patterns, light muscle activity and slow rolling eye movements. Likewise, body temperature and metabolism slow down. The next stage (stage 2) is characterized by 12-14Hz activity sleep spindles and K complexes, biphasic high-voltage waves. The sleep stages 3 and 4 are also referred to as slow-wave sleep, as EEG recordings of these phases are dominated by delta waves of only 0.5-2Hz frequencies. In contrast to the characteristics of the four stages of non-REM sleep, brain activity in REM sleep resembles wakefulness, with some populations of neurons being even more active when you are in REM sleep than when you are awake. REM sleep is accompanied by an increase of body temperature and metabolic rate but an almost complete loss of muscle tone, except for the eyes which characteristically move rapidly [1].

Sleep phases; source: http://bit.ly/2zp9M61

Interestingly, it is easier to wake a person up during REM sleep than stage 3-4 of non-REM [2]. As brain activity during REM sleep pretty much resembles EEG patterns during wakefulness, it may not seem surprising that most dreaming occurs during these phases of a night’s sleep. Dreaming can also occur during non-REM sleep, although with a much lower incidence and slightly different characteristics [2].

Sleep is not a uniform State!
Each sleeper moves through REM and the 4 stages of non-REM sleep several times a night in cycles of 90-110 minutes. During a night’s sleep, the stages do not succeed eachother in a particular order and also change in length. For example, phases of REM sleep can take 1-60 minutes and may be accompanied by brief periods of waking [3]. The cycles through the different phases of sleep, the sleep “architecture”, differ between subjects, single nights, and also change with age. In early childhood, much more time sleeping is speny in deeper sleep stages 3 and 4 whereas in older age stage 2 sleep dominates [4]. (See also our article in "The Aging Brain")

How you sleep changes with age

But what's the point of such a complicated sleep architecture? As also discussed in the articles “Evolutionary basis of sleep” on page 5 and “Sleep and learning ” on page 6 of this issue, sleep serves important functions for the body and thus is necessary. However, being unresponsive to potential threats is a significant problem, which is in part circumvented by the fact that we alternate between periods of deeper and lighter sleep [3].
As you can see sleep is much more than just the most unproductive period between two days. It is quite complex and interesting and science still needs a lot of effort to unravel all its mysteries. Therefore, everyone should spend more time in personal field studies. For example, at home - sleeping.

Good Night!

[1] Kandel, Schwarz, Jessel. Principles of Neural Science, 2003
[2] Staunton, Naturwissenschaften, 2005
[3] Voss, Rev Neurosci. 2004
[4] Zepelin et al., J Gerontol, 1983


by Bettina Schmerl, PhD Student AG Shoichet
This article originally appeared Dedcember 2017 in CNS Volume 10, Issue 04, Sleep 

On Mind, (White) Matter and Meditation

In our modern times, everyone rushes between appointments, fulfills work-related tasks all day and is busy with several means of self-optimization. In a bid to find their inner center again and rest, people are increasingly turning to centuries-old traditions like yoga and meditation.

Meditation is a concept from several Asian spiritual traditions where one’s attention is focused on a single thing such as breathing, bodily sensations or certain words or phrases known as “mantras”. For example, an easy approach is progressive muscle relaxation, where you consecutively contract and then relax different muscle groups to focus on that particular sensation. In principle, meditation means turning away from distractions of any form and concentrating on the present moment. While it sounds relatively simple, it is not easy to escape outer and inner noise. To those wondering whether they meditate correctly, there is an easy way of checking: "if you are feeling better at the end, you are probably doing it right." [1]. Another aspect of meditative practice (which appears very Buddhist in its own right) is that there is no right way to meditate because there is no goal to reach. Instead, the journey is the real aim [2]. And just like physical exercise, you will perform better with practice.

There Are Many Paths to Meditation
What actually happens during meditation that drives Homo economicus to adopt centuries-old traditions to calm down? For several decades, science has been trying to elucidate the psychological and physiological mechanisms behind mindfulness and meditation. Unfortunately, despite increasing popularity in research, this particular field of study faces severe methodological problems: there is an immense degree of individual variety among the general background of neuro-connectivity, meditation practice, and expertise of the subjects. As a consequence, and even though researchers readily make use of EEG, fMRI, PET and other sophisticated neuroimaging techniques, results are often inconclusive.

source: http://bit.ly/2uWg0dA

One of the earliest studies reported a decrease in blood pressure of hypertensive patients following meditation [3]. EEG studies showed a reduced frequency of alpha and theta waves linked to meditative state [4]. Depending on the type and tradition, meditation may lead to different effects. For example, researchers found increasing sympathetic activity and arousal with practice of Hindu tantric meditation as opposed to heightened parasympathetic activity and calmness when following other traditions [5]. Network connectivity studies with expert Taoist meditators reported significant differences in brain white matter and functional network topology between resting state and during meditation [6], while others find activation of basal ganglia (caudate body), limbic system (entorhinal cortex) and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) [7].

Meditation focuses on the moment

Changes in brain activity and/or connectivity may also underlie the beneficial effect of meditation and mindfulness on pain. Pain consists of two elements: the sensory perception and the cognitive evaluation of this perception as painful. A review discussed the changes in brain activity with meditation practice as a consequence of increased thalamus and insula activity (where the sensation itself is processed) and a reduction in MPFC activity (responsible for the evaluation of pain). Therefore, it seems that meditation and mindfulness are effective because they alter the way sensory perception is assessed [8], a concept which may be applicable to a variety of health and mental problems.

Meditation to Improve Mental Health?
Recently, a large review took a deeper look at these topics [9]. Of all evaluated 18,000 citations, only 47 studies showed satisfactory methodological quality and could be included. From these, the authors conclude that meditation is likely not superior to active treatments (e.g. psychotherapy or medication) regarding stress-related problems, such as anxiety, depression and pain, yet a legitimate alternative in terms of side effects. One of the best accepted effects of meditation and mindfulness is stress reduction. It is not surprising, therefore, that big tech companies have started using these practices as a general leadership strategy to increase creativity and productivity [10].
What about you? Have you got experience with stress or ever lost your head over endless to-do-lists and half-baked could-be-done ideas? Maybe it is your turn to take your time and shape up your brain connections in order to be more creative, focused and happy!

by Bettina Schmerl, PhD Student AG Shoichet

This article  originally appeared September 2017 in CNS Volume 10, Issue 3, Spirituality in Science

[1] http://bit.ly/1CfRBPx
[2] http://bit.ly/29s6NAn
[3] Benson et al., J Chronic Dis. 1974
[4] Cahn and Polich. Psychol Bull. 2006
[5] Amihai and Kozhevnikov. Biomed Res Int. 2015
[6] Jao et al., Brain Connectivity. 2016
[7] Sperduti et al., Conscious Cogn. 2012
[8] Zeidan and Vago, Ann Y Acad Sci, 2017
[9] Goyal et al., JAMA Intern Med. 2014
[10] http://bit.ly/1TmWHgu

Green Tea and its Extracts for Healthy Brains

The second most popular beverage after water, consumed either hot or cold, is prepared from brewing the leaves of Camellia sinesis: green tea. Different from the equally popular black tea, the fermentation of the leaves is prevented, retaining the eponymous original green color [1].

For a long time, consuming green tea was associated with longevity and increased health, and indeed, green tea was shown to contain the highest concentrations of different polyphenols (flavinoids, catechins, caffeine, theanine, theobromine, theophylline, phenolic acids) as well as antioxidants (epigallocatechin gallate, catechin, epicatechin gallocatechin, gallocatechin gallate, and epicatechin gallate), all of which were shown to be associated with health benefits [2].
A multitude of studies, mainly performed in Asian countries where the plant is cultivated and drinking green tea has a tradition of almost 5000 years [3], reported the health benefits of green tea consumption in various diseases ranging from atherosclerosis, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, liver and bowel pathologies to almost all types of cancers [1,4]. In many different types of brain and peripheral nerve tumors, green tea and its extracts were found to inhibit cancer cell growth and render them more vulnerable to chemo- and radiotherapy while simultaneously sparing normal brain cells [5,6].

Source: Will Spark

Prof. Hunstein, a former internist and hematologist, provided a very intriguing self-report on the application of green tea in disease. He suffered from the rare condition lambda light-chain amyloidosis. Whilst the common therapeutic approach was rather ineffective, daily consumption of 1.5 to 2 liters of green tea per day reduced his symptoms substantially [7].
Meta-analyses of studies investigating the effects of daily green tea consumption reveal that there are major variations in the daily intake, concentration, and preparation methods of green tea, and have not found definite proof of clinically relevant benefits [1]. However, more recent studies have relied on chemically pure green tea extracts, more specifically epigallocathechin-3-gallate (EGCG).
This compound was shown to be beneficial for the central nervous system. Since green tea is associated with healthy aging, researchers investigated its effects in diseases of the elderly: Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

Source

In vitro and in vivo models, similar to Prof. Hunsteins amyloidosis report, showed that EGCG decreases A-beta plaque burden by inhibiting peptide aggregation and promoting production of non-cytotoxic peptides through the modulation of secretase activity [8,9]. Additionally, green tea extract acts as an anti-inflammatory compound, scavenging free radicals and promoting hippocampal neurogenesis, all of which are beneficial in Parkinson's disease[10]. The extract does not only prevent cognitive decline by slowing down neurodegenerative processes, but was found to improve cognition even in healthy brains [11]. In small animal as well as human studies, researchers found evidence for the psychological relevance of green tea and its extracts. Reports indicate that green tea reduces stress and even has an antidepressant-like activity. [12,13]
Moreover, there is evidence that EGCG prevents cognitive deficits after stroke, in Huntington's disease and Down syndrome patients [14-16]. Another very promising trial - which was recently performed here at the Charité - investigated the anti-inflammatory actions of EGCG in multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease with unknown origin that causes CNS damage by attacking the myelin sheath and causing inflammation and neuronal death [17]. Previous research groups, now present on the Charité campus, had found that EGCG strongly reduces symptoms in the EAE mouse model of MS. The green tea extract is a neuroprotectant and reduced general neuroinflammatory activity [18]. Regarding the now completed clinical trial, project leader Dr. Judith Bellmann-Strobl stated: “We currently evaluate the results of the SuniMS trial. We are about to unblind the data and only then we will know the effects. So far, I can only say that the investigational product was very well tolerated even at relatively high dosages.”

Camellia Sinensis, Source

In conclusion, green tea consumption is very likely beneficial for the body, soul and disease prevention. However, treating individual diseases may require chemically pure compounds found in green tea extracts, which seem to exert few, if any, side effects. It appears that a healthy lifestyle is not only about veggies and exercise; have some green tea to pamper your brain!


[1] bit.ly/1azL2q3
[2] Johnson et al, Maturitas, 2012
[3] http://inventors.about.com/od/tstartinventions/ss/tea.htm
[4] Hursel et al, Am J Clin Nutr, 2013
[5] Das et al, Cancer, 2010
[6] Shervington et al, Mol Biol Rep, 2009
[7] Hunstein, Blood, 2007
[8] Jayasena et al, Ageing Research Reviews, 2013
[9] Lee  et al, J Nutr, 2009
[10] Lee, Neurosignals, 2005
[11] Haque et al, J Nutr, 2006
[12] Zhu et al, Pharmacol Res, 2012
[13]Kimuras et al, Biol Psychol, 2007
[14] Suzuki et al, Med Sci Monit, 2004
[15] Kumar and Kumar, Food Chem Toxicol, 2009
[16] De la Torre, Mol Nutr Food Res, 2013
[17] http://www.gesundheitsforschung-bmbf.de/de/1053.php
[18] Aktas et al, J Immunol, 2004


by Bettina Schmerl, MSc Student Medical Neurosciences
this article originally appeared 2013 in CNS Volume 6, Issue 4, Integrative Medicine

From Clay Tablets to eReaders: How Digitalization Changed Scientific Publishing

Creating knowledge is a researcher's primary goal, with publications being the vehicle for dissemination. However, manuscripts are no invention of modern times. The earliest evidence  of written records comes from clay tablets in Mesopotamia, and didn't change much until Johannes Gutenberg's revolutionary printing press in1450. This new technique brought us a huge step closer to mass-produced scientific publishing as we know it today. In 1665, the first scientific journal was founded: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. Big titles of today, i.e. Nature and Science, only started in the 19^th century [1].

In the very beginning, scholarly publishing was rather an expensive investment than a source of money, however, more recently publishers' business models were based on subscriptions and fees to finance processing, printing and shipping of their paper-based products [2,3].
The current process of scientific publishing works by selling access to journals that feature articles that have been submitted by authors for free and have been reviewed by peers for free as well. In contrast, open access journals and platforms, such as PLoS (Public Library of Science), levy a publication fee from authors, but make their articles available to everyone.

via Wikipedia

The Rise of Open Access
Despite an increasing variety of open access online journals classical publisher-controlled academic journals are not in decline. The (hotly debated) impact factor of a published paper still determines a good part of the reputation of scientists, tempting many to still prefer established classical journals over new open-access channels argues Michael Eisen, geneticist at Berkeley and one of the PLoS' founders [3]. However, nowadays several open-access titles are already high ranked, like Translational Psychiatry or PLoS One Medicine, rendering these concerns increasingly obsolete.
Only since 2008, when the NIH implemented open access rules in its funding policy [4], has the general attitude of the scientific community towards alternative journals changed. Consequently, the online journal PLoS One avoided producing classical print publications altogether and therefore rejection or delay in publication of articles due to space limitation of their (print) issue. The online only open access journal selects manuscripts only for their scientific quality, possibly ending the cherry-picking by the journal and subsequent delay of otherwise accepted work. Such a simple, but fundamental change in publishing policy has dramatically shortened the time until novel research enters public knowledge [3,5].
This is very important as only free access to research conclusions allows objectively informed and thus truly democratic processes. The control of knowledge via pay walls by very few publishing companies has inevitably led to formation of resistance: see an article on page 11 detailing the rise of data piracy in academic publishing.

Even Hotter Than Off The Presses
Another new approach to disseminate research independently from the publisher companies is provided by platforms like arXiv.org. They allow researchers to publish their work as preprints and have it critically reviewed by colleagues long before being submitted to classical scientific journals, a route of publishing common for mathematicians and physicists [6]. A similar approach was taken by the Registered Reports of the Journal of European Psychology Students, which allows publishing the work before any data was collected. Based on the scientific quality of the proposal, but independently of the results to be achieved, the submissions might be accepted to peer-review and publication afterwards [1].

DIGITALIZATION PERMITS FREE ACCESS TO KNOWLEDGE

Digitalization also changed the medium of publication from printed journal "papers", over to PDF files to alternative formats like ReadCube. Also, not only do publication databases enable fast searches for relevant literature, but newly established scientific social networks (like ResearchGate, Academia.edu or Mendeley by Elsevier) allow easy access to individual researchers and their work. Nowadays, this often includes "non-traditional" formats such as blogs or podcasts [7,3].
New technologies and digital tools have also influenced the kind of published data itself: Original studies can now easily include raw experimental data as supplemental files or freely available databases for other researchers to inspect. Web-based journals also allow easy embedding of various multimedia files as realized in the Journal of Visualized Experiments, a methodology-oriented online journal which publishes video files with accompanying manuscripts. Digital tools have generally sped up the generation of data and graphics, but made the publishing process prone to manipulation of images and data, thus contributing to the “irreproducibility crisis” [8].
In summary, digitalization made our primary goal of creation and distribution of knowledge faster, more flexible and versatile.

[1] http://bit.ly/2pkm4GY
[2] http://bit.ly/2qv8wNo
[3] http://bit.ly/2q5YZuK
[4] http://bit.ly/2r5lVZA
[5] http://tcrn.ch/2qLVmIA
[6] http://bit.ly/2pQuV6w
[7] http://bit.ly/2pR8Jah
[8] http://go.nature.com/2qNHzAh

by Bettina Schmerl, PhD Student AG Shoichet
this article originally appeared June 2017 in CNS Volume 10, Issue 2, Digital Health and Big Data