This study, published recently in the international journal Insects, was conducted by researchers from the University of Granada, the Doñana Biological Station, and the Biomedical Research Networking Centre for Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP) 

Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR), the Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC), and the Biomedical Research Networking Centre for Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP) have carried out the most comprehensive study to date of the eating patterns of the tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) and other invasive species of the same genus in Europe. The results of the study were recently published in the international journal Insects.

This research, which reviews all previously published studies on this topic, shows that these species of mosquitoes feed off different groups of vertebrates, especially mammals, and humans are also common hosts. Not surprisingly, human blood represents 93% of the blood meals of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito responsible for yellow fever. 

Mosquitoes are one of the main groups of vector insects—that is, insects involved in the transmission of major pathogens that adversely affect people, livestock, and wildlife. As with other groups of animals, different species of invasive mosquitoes have become established in areas outside their original range. This is the case with different species of mosquitoes of the Aedes genus, which are of particular importance from the public health perspective, due to their capacity to transmit pathogens that cause serious diseases. 

“Thus, the appearance of these species can modify the local epidemiology of many pathogens in invaded areas, including pathogens that circulate naturally in the environment, or imported pathogens,” explains one of the authors of the work, Josué Martínez de la Puente, a researcher at the UGR’s Department of Parasitology.

So far, four invasive species of the Aedes genus have established populations in Europe, which include such relevant vector species as the tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus.

Blood meals

To complete their life cycle and the development of their eggs, female mosquitoes require blood meals taken from different vertebrate hosts. In addition to causing discomfort, the bites they cause can transmit different pathogens. “Therefore, this blood-feeding behaviour represents a fundamental factor, the relevance of which needs to be studied to understand the epidemiology of different diseases. In this review article, we study the feeding patterns of those four invasive mosquitoes of the Aedes genus in Europe,” explains Martínez de la Puente.

The results show that these species of mosquitoes feed off different groups of vertebrates, especially mammals. Humans are common hosts for these mosquitoes, representing 93% of the blood meals of the Aedes aegypti species. In addition, mosquitoes are capable of feeding on the blood of other groups of vertebrates, including birds and even ectothermic animals (those whose body temperature changes in line with the temperature of the environment). 

Given their capacity to transmit different pathogens and their feeding rates among humans, invasive mosquito species of the Aedes genus may have a significant impact on the transmission of these pathogens in urban and periurban areas, the authors conclude. 

Bibliography:

Sonia Cebrián-Camisón, Josué Martínez-de la Puente, & Jordi Figuerola (2020) ‘A literature review of host feeding patterns of invasive Aedes mosquitoes in Europe’, Insects 11(12), 848. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11120848

Image captions:

Images of the tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus). Photo credit: Martina Ferraguti

The tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus). Photo credit: Julia López

The researcher Sonia Cebrián-Camisón

The UGR researcher Josué Martínez-de la Puente

Media enquiries:

Josué Martínez de la Puente

Department of Parasitology, University of Granada

Email: jmp@ugr.es

Unlike the Higgs boson, discovered at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider in 2012 after a 40-year quest, the new particle proposed by these researchers is so heavy that it could not be produced directly even in this collider

The University of Granada is among the participants in this major scientific advancement in Theoretical Physics, which could help unravel the mysteries of dark matter

Scientists from the University of Granada (UGR) and the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Germany) have recently published a study in which they endeavour to extend the Standard Model of particle physics (the equivalent of ‘the periodic table’ for particle physics) and answer some of the questions that this model is unable to answer. Such puzzles include: What is dark matter made of? Why do the various constituents of fermionic dark matter have such different masses? Or, why is the force of gravity much weaker than electromagnetic interaction?

This work, published in the European Physical Journal C, is based on the existence of a dimension in spacetime that is “so small that we can only detect evidence of it through its indirect effects,” explains one of the authors of the article, Adrián Carmona, Athenea3i Fellow at the UGR and a member of the Department of Theoretical Physics and the Cosmos.   

As early as the 1920s, in an attempt to unify the forces of gravity and electromagnetism, Theodor Kaluza and Oskar Klein speculated on the existence of an extra dimension beyond the familiar three space dimensions and time (which, in physics, are combined into a 4-dimensional spacetime).

Such models became popular in the 1990s, when theoretical physicists realized that theories with curved extra dimensions could explain some of the major mysteries in this field. However, despite their many strengths, such models generally lacked a viable dark-matter candidate.

Now, more than 20 years later, Adrián Carmona and collaborators from the University of Mainz, Professor Matthias Neubert and doctoral student Javier Castellano, have predicted the existence of a new heavy particle in these models with properties similar to those of the famous Higgs boson.

A new dimension

“This particle could play a fundamental role in the generation of masses of all the particles sensitive to this extra dimension, and at the same time be the only relevant window to a possible dark sector responsible for the existence of dark matter, which would simultaneously solve two of the biggest problems of these theories that, a priori, appear disconnected,” explains the UGR researcher.

However, unlike the Higgs boson, which was discovered at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider in 2012 after a 40-year quest, the new particle proposed by these researchers is so heavy that it could not be produced directly even in this, the highest-energy particle collider in the world.

In the article, the researchers explore other possible ways of discovering this particle by looking for clues about the physics surrounding a very early stage in the history of our universe, when dark matter was produced.

Bibliography:

Carmona, A., Castellano Ruiz, J. & Neubert, M. (2021) ‘A warped scalar portal to fermionic dark matter’, Eur. Phys. J. C 81, 58. https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-08851-0

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1140%2Fepjc%2Fs10052-021-08851-0

Simulation of a collision in the Large Hadron Collider, producing the Higgs boson. © 1997–2021 CERN (License: CC-BY-SA-4.0)

The UGR researcher Adrián Carmona Bermúdez, from the Department of Theoretical Physics and the Cosmos of the UGR

Media enquiries:

Adrián Carmona Bermúdez

Department of Theoretical Physics and the Cosmos,

University of Granada

Email: adrian@ugr.es

The results, recently published in the journal Communications Biology, have important applications in the field of coevolutionary biology 

The physical movement of species determines their potential scope to leave their primary ecosystem behind in the quest for new niches in which to survive or reproduce—a decisive factor for the processes that determine their genomic characteristics.

Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) and the University of Illinois (UI) have, for the first time, analysed the relationship between this potential for movement in different species of parasites—their dispersal capacity—and their levels of genetic introgression. Introgression—the gradual movement of genes from one species into the gene pool of another—affects the proportion of regions of the genome of a given species that comes from different species via hybridisation.

This new study on this phenomenon was led by Jorge Doña Reguera, a Marie Curie postdoctoral researcher from the Department of Zoology at the University of Granada and a member of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Its results were recently published in the journal Communications Biology. 

The team of scientists demonstrated that differences in the dispersal capacities of different species can modulate levels of genomic introgression—that is, the parasite species with the greatest ability to reach different host species presented higher levels of introgression.

Doña Reguera, together with Drs Andrew Sweet and Kevin Johnson, began this study in 2018, focusing on the relationship between dispersal capabilities and genomic introgression levels in the case of bird lice. Currently, the research is expanding its focus within the Marie Curie “INTROSYM” project in which, together with Drs Juan Gabriel Martínez Suarez from the UGR and Kevin Johnson, introgression processes in symbionts is being investigated. This project will analyse the incidence of this phenomenon and its impact on the ecology, evolution, and conservation of symbiont species (for more information, visit https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/886532/en). 

Returning to the bird lice study, the ecological replicate system of wing and body lice of pigeons and doves was used. That is, this replicate system (which is ecologically similar, but phylogenetically independent), was used to study both the louse group with the highest dispersal capacities (wing lice) and the group with the lowest dispersal capacity (body lice).

First, the authors found a higher proportion of introgressed regions and, subsequently, a greater number of reticulated phylogenetic networks in the genus of wing lice. Therefore, the results indicated that species with higher dispersal abilities present increased genomic signatures of introgression (due to hybridisation events).

“The fact that dispersal capacities are linked to introgression rates could enable us to get closer to predicting the introgression rate of a given species of parasite, which could have very important implications for understanding parasite–host dynamics,” explains the UGR researcher.

For example, this knowledge could be of great value in the case of co-adaptation processes between species (that is, the adaptation of a species in response to interaction with another) or modulating the speciation processes of parasites by modifying the opportunities for colonisation of new hosts, “something that may be important for understanding the emergence of infectious diseases.”

Doña notes the warm reception the publication has received in the scientific community, although much remains to be done, due to the novelty of the subject. Matter. “One very important aspect of this work is that the study system that we used, bird lice, was the same as that of numerous foundational studies in coevolutionary biology and reference books such as Coevolution of Life on Hosts,” he says. “The fact that we have found evidence of introgression in this system opens up many questions, such as how does this new process/result fit into everything we knew before?” As the INTROSYM project continues to evolve, he expects new answers to be uncovered.        

Bibliography:

Doña, J., Sweet, A.D. & Johnson, K.P. (2020) ‘Comparing rates of introgression in parasitic feather lice with differing dispersal capabilities’, Communications Biology 3, 610.  https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-01345-x

The authors of this research

In this study, the ecological replicate system—ecologically similar, but phylogenetically independent—of wing lice (the louse group with the highest dispersal capacities) and body lice (the group with the lowest dispersal capacity) of pigeons was used

Media enquiries:

Jorge Doña Reguera

Department of Zoology, University of Granada

Email: jorged@ugr.es

A new study, in which the Andalusian Earth Sciences Institute (IACT) (CSIC-UGR) participated, has described for the first time a key stage in the beginning of the great glaciations and indicates that it can happen to our planet in the future. The findings were recently published in the scientific journal Nature

The study claims to have found a new connection that could explain the beginning of the ice ages on Earth

Antarctic iceberg melt could hold the key to the activation of a series of mechanisms that cause the Earth to suffer prolonged periods of global cooling, according to Francisco J. Jiménez-Espejo, a researcher at the Andalusian Earth Sciences Institute (CSIC-UGR), whose discoveries were recently published in the prestigious journal Nature. 

It has long been known that changes in the Earth’s orbit, as it moves around the Sun, trigger the beginning or end of glacial periods by affecting the amount of solar radiation that reaches the planet’s surface. However, until now, the question of how small variations in the solar energy that reaches us can lead to such dramatic shifts in the planet’s climate has remained a mystery.

In this new study, a multinational group of researchers proposes that, when the Earth’s orbit around the sun is just right, the Antarctic icebergs begin to melt further and further away from the continent, moving huge volumes of freshwater from the Antarctic Ocean into the Atlantic. 

This process causes the Antarctic Ocean to become increasingly salty, while the Atlantic Ocean becomes fresher, affecting overall ocean circulation patterns, drawing CO₂ from the atmosphere and reducing the so-called greenhouse effect. These are the initial stages that mark the beginning of an ice age on the planet. 

Within this study, the scientists used several techniques to reconstruct oceanic conditions in the past, including by identifying tiny fragments of rock that had broken away from Antarctic icebergs as they melted into the ocean. These deposits were obtained from marine sediment cores recovered by the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) during Expedition 361 off the sea-margins of South Africa. These sediment cores enabled the scientists to reconstruct the history of the icebergs that reached these latitudes in the last million and a half years, this being one of the most continuous records known.

Climate simulations

The study describes how these rocky deposits appear to be consistently associated with variations in deep ocean circulation, which was reconstructed from chemical variations in minute deep-sea fossils known as foraminifera. The team also used new climate simulations to test the proposed hypotheses, finding that huge volumes of fresh water are carried northward by icebergs.

The first author of the article, PhD student Aidan Starr from the University of Cardiff, notes that the researchers are “surprised to have discovered that this teleconnection is present in each of the different ice ages of the last 1.6 million years. This indicates that the Antarctic Ocean plays a major role in the global climate, something that scientists have long sensed, but that we have now clearly demonstrated.”

Francisco J. Jiménez Espejo, a researcher with the IACT, participated in his capacity as a specialist in inorganic geochemistry and physical properties during the IODP 361 expedition aboard the JOIDES Resolution research vessel. For two months, between January and March 2016, the research team sailed between Mauritius and Cape Town, collecting deep-sea sediment cores.

Jiménez Espejo’s main contribution to the study focused on identifying the geochemical variations associated with glacial and interglacial periods, which has made it possible to estimate with greater accuracy the age of the sediment and its sensitivity to the different environmental changes associated with those periods.

Over the course of the last 3 million years, the Earth began to experience periodic glacial cooling. During the most recent episode, about 20,000 years ago, icebergs continuously reached the Atlantic coasts of the Iberian Peninsula from the Arctic. Currently, the Earth is in a warm interglacial period known as the Holocene.

However, the progressive increase in global temperature associated with CO₂ emissions from industrial activities could affect the natural rhythm of glacial cycles. Ultimately, the Antarctic Ocean could become too warm for Antarctic icebergs to be able to carry freshwater north, and therefore a fundamental stage in the beginning of the ice ages—the variations in thermohaline circulation—would not take place. 

Ian Hall, also of Cardiff University, who co-directed the scientific expedition, indicates that the results may contribute to understanding how the Earth’s climate may respond to anthropic changes. Similarly, Jiménez Espejo, notes that “last year, during an expedition aboard Hespérides, the Spanish Navy research vessel, we were able to observe the immense A-68 iceberg that had just broken into several pieces next to the islands of South Georgia. Ocean warming may cause the trajectories and the melt patterns of these large icebergs to alter in the future, affecting the currents and, therefore, our climate and the validity of the models that scientists use to predict it.”

Sampling an iceberg during the Powell 2020 research expedition close to the “Juan Carlos I” Spanish Antarctic Base/José Abel Flores

The Hespérides oceanographic research vessel next to an iceberg (January 2020)/José Abel Flores 

Researchers aboard the Hespérides/José Abel Flores

Francisco J. Jiménez Espejo of the Andalusian Earth Sciences Institute (CSIC-UGR) sampling rock fragments on a glacier terminus close to the “Juan Carlos I” Spanish Antarctic Base on Livingston Island (January 2020)

Bibliography:

DOI 10.1038/s41586-020-03094-7

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03094-7

Media enquiries:

Francisco J. Jiménez Espejo

Andalusian Earth Sciences Institute (CSIC-UGR)

Email: fjjspejo@ugr.es

Scientists from the Andalusian Research Institute in Data Science and Computational Intelligence, or DaSCI (University of Granada), together with the private company Ferrovial and the Spanish Royal Academy of Engineering, highlight the need for unified, accessible, and open data in developing projects to address many of the challenges of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals

Scientists from the Andalusian Research Institute in Data Science and Computational Intelligence, or DaSCI (University of Granada), together with the private company Ferrovial and the Spanish Royal Academy of Engineering (RAI), have conducted a study to analyse how engineering and technological solutions strongly linked to artificial intelligence (AI) can positively contribute to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations (UN).

To protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all people, the UN established these 17 SDGs as part of its 2030 Agenda, which constitute a paradigm shift for companies and governments in the design of new business models and public policies based on sustainability. Governments, the private sector, and civil society all play an important role in achieving the goals.

The project, entitled “Engineering as a Facilitator of SDGs: Artificial intelligence and disruptive digital technologies”, began in March 2020, focusing specifically on the study of AI and digital technologies and how these might be applied to further progress toward the 17 SDGs. The research is organised into three facets that broadly correspond to (i) an introduction to AI and digital technologies, (ii) analysis of their application to the SDGs, and (iii) recommendations for action that can help develop projects and support the achievement of associated goals. As part of this research, the authors reviewed the specialised scientific literature, including over a thousand bibliographical references relevant to the 169 targets that have been set to achieve the SDGs.

This work makes an important contribution to our understanding of the analytical capacity of engineering—under the umbrella of AI and digitalisation in support of the SDGs—and to addressing the challenges faced by the world economy and society in the 21st Century. It also provides insights into the three dimensions that characterise sustainability: the economic (including the different areas of life and economic and technological development); the social (including social development and equality); and the environmental (including resources and the environment).

One of the conclusions of this work is that data constitute the common element on which AI and digital technologies are based. Here, it is important to highlight the need for data that are unified, accessible, and open, as this supports the development of projects designed to address many of the global challenges. Governments and companies must converge toward this objective by generating and sharing data that allow them to successfully take on projects and design solutions to address the SDGs.

The researchers point out that it is imperative to strengthen the links between science and engineering, industry and governments, to reinforce dialogue and expand the different avenues toward achieving high-quality data.

Global targets

“The SDGs set targets to be achieved at the global level, but not all countries and regions of the world are currently in the same position in this race to achieve them. So the application of AI and digital technologies must obviously be adapted to the situation of each country and targeted at the most pressing SDGs,” the authors explain.

Digital technologies are advancing at a rapid pace, which means it is important to look for alternative ways to measure the achievement of the SDGs—ways that are adapted to this accelerated pace of progress and the emergence of new digital paradigms. This is especially important given the current world scenario caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has undoubtedly had a profound impact on all dimensions of the SDGs, far beyond the strictly health-related aspect.

AI and digital technologies are fundamental tools for travelling the path we have to navigate during this decade, as we carry heavy moral and ethical responsibility toward today’s world. Working toward the 17 SDGs is both a great opportunity and a major challenge.

A new book about the study, featuring original illustrations by Pablo García-Moral, is now available, which explores the latest thinking on this issue from those involved in the project. It was written by a team of 16 authors, coordinated by Rosana Montes (UGR), Francisco Herrera (UGR and RAI), Javier Pérez de Vargas (RAI), and Rosario Marchena (Ferrovial).

Image captions:

The research concludes with a brief discussion that revolves around five key lessons learned, as shown in this figure

The UGR team who worked on the project

The study can be downloaded here:

http://www.raing.es/es/publicaciones/libros/inteligencia-artificial-y-tecnolog-digitales-para-los-ods

Media enquiries:

Francisco Herrera and Rosana Montes

Andalusian Research Institute in Data Science and Computational Intelligence (DaSCI) University of Granada

Email: herrera@decsai.ugr.es; rosana@ugr.es

An international study in which the University of Granada participated—recently published in the journal Scientific Reports—has identified a new fossil record of these mysterious animals in the northeast of Taiwan (China), in marine sediments from the Miocene Age (between 23 and 5.3 million years ago)   

These organisms, similar to today’s Bobbit worm (Eunice aphroditois), were approximately 2 m long and 3 cm in diameter and lived in burrows

An international study in which the University of Granada (UGR) participated (recently published in the prestigious journal Scientific Reports) has revealed that the seafloor was inhabited by giant predatory worms during the Miocene Age (23–5.3 million years ago). 

The scientists identified a new fossil record (indirect remains of animal activity such as, for instance, dinosaur tracks, fossilised droppings, insect nests, or burrows) linked to these mysterious animals, which are possible predecessors of today’s Bobbit worm (Eunice aphroditois). Based on the reconstruction of giant burrows observed in Miocene-age marine sediments from northeast Taiwan (China), the researchers concluded that these trace fossils may have colonised the seafloor of the Eurasian continent about 20 million years ago.

Olmo Míguez Salas of the UGR’s Department of Stratigraphy and Palaeontology (Ichnology and Palaeoenvironment Research Group) participated in the study, which was conducted as part of a project funded by the Taiwanese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST, 2018) of which the researcher was a beneficiary.

Míguez Salas and the other researchers reconstructed this new fossil record, which they have named Pennichnus formosae. It consists of an L-shaped burrow, approximately 2 m long and 2–3 cm in diameter, indicating the size and shape of the organism— Eunice aphroditois—that made the structure.   

Bobbit worms hide in long, narrow burrows in the seafloor and propel themselves upward to grab prey with their strong jaws. The authors suggest that the motion involved in capturing their prey and retreating into their burrow to digest it caused various alterations to the structure of the burrows. These alterations are conserved in the Pennichnus formosae and are indicative of the deformation of the sediment surrounding the upper part of the burrow. Detailed analysis revealed a high concentration of iron in this upper section, which may, the researchers believe, indicate that the worms continuously rebuilt the opening to the burrow by secreting a type of mucus to strengthen the wall, because bacteria that feed on this mucus create environments rich in iron. 

Although marine invertebrates have existed since the early Paleozoic, their bodies primarily comprise soft tissue and are therefore rarely preserved. The fossil record discovered in this study is believed to be the earliest known specimen of a subsurface-dwelling ambush predator.

Olmo Míguez Salas notes that this finding “provides a rare view of the behaviour of these creatures under the seafloor and also highlights the value of studying fossil records to understand the behaviour of organisms from the past.”

Bibliography:

Pan, Y-Y., Nara, M., Löwemark, L., Miguez-Salas, O., Gunnarson, B., Iizuka, Y., Chen, T-T. & Dashtgard, S.E. (2021) ‘The 20-million-year old lair of an ambush-predatory worm preserved in northeast Taiwan’, Scientific Reports.

Image captions:

Eunice aphroditois (image courtesy of Ms. Chutinun Mora)

Photograph during the fieldwork in Taiwan

The fossil record Pennichnus formosae

Schematic model of the predatory Bobbit worm (image credit: Pan et al., 2021)

The UGR researcher Olmo Míguez Salas, one of the authors of this work

Media enquiries:

Olmo Míguez Salas

Department of Stratigraphy and Palaeontology 

Faculty of Science, University of Granada

Email: olmoms@ugr.es 

Tag: Faculty of Sciences

The researchers analysed how Spanish children and adolescents get to school, based on studies examining the commuting patterns of 36,781 individuals over a 7-year period (2010–2017) 

Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) have conducted the most comprehensive study to date on how Spanish children and young people get to school each day, to determine the active commuting rate.

The results showed that, between 2010 and 2017, in the region of 60% of Spanish children and adolescents actively commuted to school, with no significant variations being observed during this period.

The study, which was recently published in the prestigious Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, analysed information drawn from 28 studies conducted throughout Spain, covering a total sample of 36,781 children and adolescents. To date, no study has been performed in Spain with such a large sample and such a longitudinal perspective, based on data collected over 7 successive years.

The results show how the overall trend of active commuting to school remained stable during 2010–2017, except for a sporadic increase in the rate among adolescents in 2012–2013. The UGR researchers highlight how promising these results are, as all similar studies previously carried out in different countries and in Spain showed a dramatic decline in the percentage of young people showing active mobility over time. Furthermore, they highlight that no significant association was found between the rate of active commuting to school and the period of economic crisis that Spain underwent in the period analysed.

The findings therefore indicate that the commitment shown in today’s society toward promoting measures and strategies for increasing active commuting to school seems to be paying dividends. This activity is not only good for young people’s health but is also beneficial for the environment, and efforts must continue to ensure long-term positive results in the quest for a more active society and a healthier environment.

Bibliography:

Gálvez-Fernández P., Herrador-Colmenero M., Esteban-Cornejo I., et al. (2021) ‘Active commuting to school among 36,781 Spanish children and adolescents: A temporal trend study’, Scand J Med Sci Sport 00: 1 –11. 

https://doi.org /10.1111/sms.13917 

Patricia Gálvez-Fernández, main author of this research

Palma Chillón, Patricia Gálvez-Fernández, Francisco Javier Huertas-Delgado and Manuel Herrador-Colmenero, authors of this research

Media enquiries:

Patricia Gálvez-Fernández
PROFITH Research Group (PROmoting FITness and Health through Physical Activity) Sport and Health University Research Institute (iMUDS)
Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada
Email: pgalvez@ugr.es

http://profith.ugr.es

According to a recently-published study, inferior weight loss among adolescents following a diet is linked to a stronger connection between the areas of the brain associated with the motivation to eat and the rewarding effect of food

A research group from Mind, Brain and Behaviour Research Centre (CIMCYC) of the University of Granada (UGR) has been studying the issue of excess weight from a neuroscientific perspective for many years, to determine the precise role played by the brain.   

In a study recently published in the International Journal of Obesity—based on the doctoral thesis of Cristina Martín, which dealt with overweight adolescents—researchers from the UGR have found that that inferior weight loss among adolescents following a diet is linked to a stronger connection between the areas of the brain associated with the motivation to eat and the rewarding effect of food.

This finding adds to those previously obtained by the UGR’s Applied Neuropsychology and Psychoneuroimmunology Research Group in its work devoted to studying adolescents and adults, which shows how the brains of overweight people work differently from those of people of a healthy weight in all matters related to food.  

“When faced with a decision about what best to eat and when presented with highly appetising food, in terms of brain response we observed that the ‘impulsive’ circuits are more highly activated than the ‘reflective’ circuits,” explains Raquel Vilar López, a researcher at the UGR’s Department of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatment and one of the authors of this work.

Different thickness in the cerebral cortex

In addition to these differences in brain activation, various areas of the brain in overweight people were found to differ in terms of how they connect and in the thickness of the cerebral cortex. There is also a link between these differences (which could be related to a diet high in fat) and the difficulty experienced by some people in following a diet and exercising, and therefore weight loss.

Based on these findings, researchers Raquel Vilar and Alfonso Caracuel of the UGR’s Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, in collaboration with two international research groups, have recently started a project to combat the phenomenon of excess weight.

This involves a combination of training approaches that, individually, have proven effective in modifying imbalanced aspects in the functioning of the brain circuits involved in being overweight or obese. These approaches can be delivered online or in person.

For more information, please visit:

Web: wpd.ugr.es/~train.eval

Instagram: @trainep_neuropsico

Twitter: @trainep.neurops

Facebook: facebook.com/Trainep-102575775125913

Bibliography:

Martín-Pérez, C., Contreras-Rodríguez, O., Verdejo-Román, J., Vilar- López, R., González-Pérez, R., & Verdejo-García, A. (2020) ‘Stressing diets? Amygdala networks, cumulative cortisol, and weight loss in adolescents with excess weight’, International Journal of Obesity, 44 (10), 2001–2010. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-020-0633-4

The authors of this research in a virtual meeting

When faced with a decision about what best to eat and when presented with highly appetising food, in terms of brain response the ‘impulsive’ circuits are more activated than the ‘reflective’ circuits

Media enquiries:

Alfonso Caracuel Romero

Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Granada

Email: train.eval@ugr.es

Women who gave birth during the COVID-19 pandemic report having felt greater stress in the delivery process, and rate lower the quality of care received 

Furthermore, almost 15% more women developed symptoms of postpartum depression after giving birth during the pandemic

A study carried out by researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) indicates that psychological variables have contributed to more severe anxiety and depression among pregnant women since the COVID-19 pandemic began. These psychological variables include the general stress suffered, the concerns that women have about the pregnancy itself, personal resilience, insomnia, fear of catching the virus, or the feeling of loneliness.

This study, published in the journal Medicina Clínica, has revealed that feeling stress, being highly concerned about the evolution of the pregnancy, fear of contagion, feeling lonely, and sleeping badly are the variables that most affect anxiety and depression. 

“We have all experienced highly stressful, sad, or anxious situations at some point during the pandemic. Since the state of alarm was decreed in our country, thousands of people have had to deal with a new way of life that is completely unfamiliar. This situation has affected pregnant women in particular, who have experienced a growing sense of fear about the possibility of infection due to potential transmission to the foetus”, explains the main author of this work, Borja Romero González, a researcher at the Department of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatment of the UGR.

In addition, the uncertainty caused by the lockdown situation (especially in the Spring of 2020), coupled with the experiences of these women in hospitals that are overwhelmed due to the pandemic, may have contributed to their stress and anxiety.

A study among 131 women

“During lockdown, we were all forced to change our day-to-day habits. So everything that surrounded us during that difficult time could help alleviate the negative effects of a situation in which we exchanged outdoor walks for looking out of a window, and visits to family members for video calls”, the researcher at the UGR observes.

Against this backdrop, this study focused on determining which variables—be they psychological or specific to the lockdown experience—contributed to increasing or decreasing the levels of anxiety and depression in a sample of 131 pregnant women.

In addition to the aforementioned psychological variables, then, the authors also analysed certain variables of the lockdown experience itself: the type of dwelling in which the women spent these months, whether they followed a balanced diet, and the frequency of video calls to family and friends.

The main findings were that psychological variables did indeed contribute to worsening anxiety and depression in pregnant women, which points to a clear conclusion: regardless of the major importance of where you live, how much contact you have with your relatives, and the type of diet you follow, the psychological state contributes more directly problems with anxiety and depression,” explains Borja Romero.

The UGR researchers therefore consider it very important to target psychological interventions at the pregnant female population, “to listen to them and allow them to talk about their emotions, to minimise the impact of lockdown on more serious problems such as anxiety and depression. This could also have a positive impact on the foetus, since the close relationship between the mother’s stress levels and the baby’s neurodevelopment is well known.

Less satisfied

A second study compared the levels of satisfaction with childbirth and the incidence of postpartum depression in women who gave birth before vs. during the pandemic. The main results showed that those women who gave birth during the pandemic reported having felt greater stress during the delivery process, and they rated lower the quality of care they received in hospital. Likewise, almost 15% more women developed symptoms of postpartum depression after giving birth during the pandemic. This second study was based on a sample of 162 women and was recently published in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics.  

One possible explanation for these phenomena may be that, during the state of alarm and the most critical moments of the pandemic, the Spanish hospital system suffered an almost total collapse. This likely affected the women’s perception of the quality of care they received. In addition, having to give birth alone or being in an “inhospitable” place (as indeed all hospitals became during the pandemic) would increase the stress at the time of delivery.

“It is very important to note that satisfaction with childbirth is an indicator of later well-being, which is important in reducing the risk of suffering postpartum depression,” concludes Borja Romero.

Both studies were funded by the Junta de Andalucía and by the European Regional Development Fund.

Bibliography:

Romero-Gonzalez, B., Puertas-Gonzalez, J. A., Mariño-Narvaez, C., & Peralta-Ramirez, M. I. (2021) ‘Confinement variables by COVID-19 predictors of anxious and depressive symptoms in pregnant women’, Medicina Clinica, S0025-7753.

Mariño‐Narvaez, C., Puertas‐Gonzalez, J. A., Romero‐Gonzalez, B., & Peralta‐Ramirez, M. I. (2020) ‘Giving birth during the COVID‐19 pandemic: The impact on birth satisfaction and postpartum depression’, International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics.

Image captions:

The UGR researchers who conducted the study 

Women who gave birth during the pandemic reported experiencing increased stress when giving birth

Media enquiries:

Borja Romero González

Department of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatment, University of Granada

Tel.: +34 958 246 218

Email: borjaromero@ugr.es 

Researchers from the University of Granada warn that an accumulation of fatty tissue in the neck (both the double chin and the deeper deposits, located between muscles and around the cervical vertebrae) is a predictor of central and overall adiposity, cardiometabolic risk, and a pro-inflammatory profile in sedentary young adults

A study conducted by researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) has revealed that an accumulation of fatty tissue in the neck is a predictor of central and overall adiposity, cardiometabolic risk (heart problems), and a pro-inflammatory profile in sedentary young adults.

Traditionally, the accumulation of visceral adipose tissue has been considered one of the factors most strongly related to cardiometabolic risk and chronic (low-grade) inflammation in humans. However, this well-established association has led researchers to neglect, to some degree, the study of other fatty deposits and their clinical/biological relevance.

“Curiously, several studies have demonstrated that the accumulation of fat in the neck (both superficial deposits such as the double chin or jowls and the deeper deposits, located between the muscles and around the cervical vertebrae) increases in direct proportion to the weight or adiposity of the individual and that it follows specific accumulation patterns, according to gender,” explains María José Arias Téllez, a researcher at the UGR and one of the main authors of this work. In fact, a greater accumulation of fat in certain neck tissue compartments, particularly the deeper ones, is linked to a greater likelihood of cardiometabolic risk. Arias Téllez continues: “However, the evidence accumulated to date has been based on experiments performed on patients with benign/malignant tumours or other chronic conditions, and it remains to be seen whether it can be generalised to relatively healthy adults.”

The ACTIBATE project

The study carried out at the UGR is part of the ACTIBATE project (Activating Brown Adipose Tissue through Exercise—see http://profith.ugr.es/actibate). The project is financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the Health Research Fund of the Carlos III Health Institute (PI13/01393). The research was led by Jonatan Ruiz Ruiz and its results have been published in the International Journal of Obesity.

The study shows that the accumulation of fat in the neck—measured with computed tomography scanning—as well as its distribution in different compartments, is associated with greater overall and central adiposity, greater cardiometabolic risk, and a greater inflammatory status among healthy young adults, regardless of the amount of total and visceral fat. In addition, among the most relevant findings, it was observed that this accumulation of fat in the neck was as powerful a factor (in terms of direction and magnitude) as the accumulation of visceral fat in the prediction of cardiometabolic risk and inflammatory status, especially in men.

“Therefore, these results underline the need for further research in this new direction, to better understand the effect of fat accumulation in the upper part of the trunk (including the neck) and its clinical repercussions, especially in cardiometabolic risk and inflammation,” explains Francisco Miguel Acosta Manzano, also among the main authors of the research.

“We still have much work to do. We need to investigate the adipose tissue of the neck in greater depth, to understand its pathogenic role in obesity and associated comorbidities, as well as its biological importance. Furthermore, we only have scant knowledge about the morphological or molecular characteristics of the adipocytes in these deposits, and here basic studies are required. As we increase our knowledge of this deposit, we can also determine whether specific interventions (for example, physical exercise and/or restricted calorie intake) could help reduce the accumulation of fat in the neck (as well as total fat) and implement them clinically,” explain Arias Téllez and Francisco Miguel Acosta Manzano, both PhDs students on the Biomedicine programme of the UGR’s International School for Postgraduate Studies and members of the PROFITH-CTS977 Research group (http://profith.ugr.es).

Bibliography:

Arias-Tellez MJ, Acosta FM, Garcia-Rivero Y, Pascual-Gamarra JM, Merchan-Ramirez E, Martinez-Tellez B, Silva AM, Lopez JA, Llamas-Elvira JM, & Ruiz JR (2020) ‘Neck adipose tissue accumulation is associated with higher overall and central adiposity, a higher cardiometabolic risk, and a pro-inflammatory profile in young adults’, Int J Ob Nov 2. doi: 10.1038/s41366-020-00701-5. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33139886.

Image captions:

Figure 1: This figure shows the accumulation of fat in different neck deposits (subcutaneous, intermuscular, and paravertebral) in a person of healthy weight, an overweight person, and an obese person. It can be observed that accumulation of fat in the different deposits of the neck increases as overall adiposity increases in the participants.

Figure 2 (original neck image): This simplified illustration demonstrates the researchers’ hypothesis about the morphological and cellular characteristics of the fat deposits in the neck, in a person of a normal weight who is relatively healthy vs. a person with obesity and associated comorbidities. This image is reproduced from the doctoral thesis published by Maria Jose Arias-Tellez on the Biomedicine programme of the University of Granada, entitled ‘Neck adipose tissue and neck circumference as predictors of cardiometabolic risk in sedentary adults’.

The UGR researchers María José Arias Téllez and Francisco Miguel Acosta Manzano, authors of this work

Image of neck adipose tissue

Media enquiries:

Maria Jose Arias Téllez
PhD student, Biomedicine programme, International School for Postgraduate Studies, University of Granada
Department of Nutrition, University of Chile
Email: mariajosearias@uchile.cln

Francisco Miguel Acosta Manzano
PhD student, Biomedicine programme, International School for Postgraduate Studies, University of Granada
Faculty of Sport Sciences, Department of Physical Education and Sports, University of Granada
Email: acostaf@ugr.es