Does your dog have social skills?

A study suggests that viewing the owner’s face works as a positive social reinforcement for dogs. Learn more about this and other surprising results about “man’s best friend”.

The sweet taste in obesity

Albino J. Oliveira-Maia, principal investigator of the research project 176/10 - Dopaminergic regulation of dietary learning in humans and rodents, supported by the BIAL Foundation, published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition the paper Enhanced sweet taste perception in obesity: Joint analysis of gustatory data from multiple studies. Comparing 246 individuals with severe obesity and 174 healthy volunteers, the study showed that sweet intensity perception is enhanced in obesity. However, no differences were found for sour, salt, or bitter tastants, suggesting specificity for sweet taste, associated with food reward.

The brain response to acquisition and reversal of threat predictions

Francesca Starita, principal investigator of the research project 47/20 - Fear in action: how Pavlovian fear learning shapes goal-directed motor responses, supported by the BIAL Foundation, has analysed the ability to flexibly readjust one's threat predictions to meet the current environmental contingencies and concluded that in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex the theta rhythm may play an inhibitory role of responses that are no longer appropriate. Additional results are described in the paper Theta and alpha power track the acquisition and reversal of threat predictions and correlate with skin conductance response published in Psychophysiology.

Prémio BIAL de Medicina Clínica 2022 distinguishes works on autism, brain tumors and hypertension

The award ceremony of the 20th edition of the Prémio BIAL de Medicina Clínica took place on February 8 at the Aula Magna of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, being presided over by the President of the Republic, with the presence of the Minister of Health, Manuel Pizarro, the Secretary of State for Higher Education, Pedro Teixeira, and the Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira.