Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/692106
C A N Y O U C AT E G O R I Z E data using less than 1 percent of the original information set to which it belonged? Findings of a Georgia Institute of Technology study that gauged humans' ability to do so may lead to an advanced algorithm that could improve the ways machines analyze data, learn and even see. Study participants were shown a whole abstract image for 10 seconds, and then they were asked to identify that original image from a sketch of only a small part of it presented among 16 other images. Researchers wrote a simple algorithm to allow machines to take the same tests and found the machines matched the humans' performance. The results demonstrate that humans and machines alike can identify broad categories from small portions of images. The study appeared in Neural Computation. ■ — By Michael Ferguson E X P L O I T I N G T H E T E N U O U S nature of recently recalled memories may be the key to treating phobic behavior. Probing the hypothesis of reconsolidation — the idea that the strength of a memory can be manipulated soon after its activation — researchers from the University of Amsterdam found that pharmacologically inducing amnesia after triggering a phobia provided immediate and effective fear reduction among arachnophobic patients. Forty-five spider-dreading volunteers participated in the randomized, placebo-controlled study. The amnesia-producing pharmaceutical was propranolol, a medication typically used to treat high blood pressure and various heart conditions, which was administered after a two-minute exposure to a tarantula. Participants who were administered propranolol exhibited markedly diminished avoidance behavior and increased approach response. The study was published in Biological Psychiatry. ■ — By Michael Ferguson T H E L O N G H O U R S and intense training required of residents — posi- tions marked by low rank and high responsibility — cause signs of depression in more than a quarter of physicians early in their careers, according to a review of 50 years' worth of studies that delved into the subject. The proportion of residents exhibiting signs of depression varied signifi cantly from study to study — ranging from 20 to 43 percent. Published in JAMA, the Harvard- and University of Michigan-led study found a small increase in the proportion of physicians showing signs of depression over the course of the past half-century. The study's authors hope their fi ndings will illuminate factors respon- sible for depression and spur development of more effective strategies for preventing and treating the disorder among young physicians. ■ — By Michael Ferguson Reduces Phobics' Fear of Spiders Drug-induced Amnesia May Boost Artificial Intelligence Greater Understanding of Human Learning Signs of Depression Common among Young Physicians SPECIAL CLINICAL SECTION: NEUROLOGY M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S L O N G I S L A N D ■ 2 016 2 3