If youve ever had a bad experience with a particular place and, in the future, physically feel anxious as you approach it again, theres a good reason: our brains may record and physically map that experience for future reference, a new study in PLOS Biology suggests.This has implications for mental health, because it helps us understand how worry works.The more that we understand how the mechanisms by which cognition works, the better we can help people who have problems with their cognition, says David Redish, a University of Minnesota neuroscientist and an author of the study. Anxiety and worry are very prevalent in humanity these days.Understanding Imagination Underneath AnxietyIn the study, scientists devised a scenario where rats would have to encounter something very negative to them a scary Lego robot scorpion to reach a treat.Imagination is a physical thing, says Redish. And that includes not just imagination about positive things, but also about negative things.They monitored different place cells neurons in their brains associated with memories of different specific locations. They followed which such cells were activated during different points in the encounter and also recorded which of those location-specific neurons reacted when the rat made different decisions. We're now able to, as I like to say, read rats' minds, says Redish.While other scientists have intimidated rats in similar experiments with the original involving a Robot Lego alligator this one takes it to another level, because the rat doesnt just encounter the scary robot, it must decide whether to pass it to reach its reward.By having them run past the robot, we were able to determine what the cells looked like when the animal was at that location, says Redish. We could then read when the animal thought about that location, and that was the key insight.Different Anxious BehaviorsWhen the rat rounded a corner for the first time, it would encounter the robot scorpion. The Lego creature sported a pincher on its head and brandished a whip-like tail. It would come out, it would screech, and it would do its little pincher thing, and the tail would come out," says Redish. The rat would back away in terror. They'd be scared and they'd go hide in the structure.During subsequent attempts, things got really interesting. The rats showed different behaviors associated with anxiety, depending on the situation. By examining which place cells activate at different locations and situations of the experiment, they could associate them with either the food or the robot.In one scenario, the rat would encounter the robot, hesitate, appearing to want to get the treat, but eventually retreat. The rats in these situations appeared to be thinking I'm going, no, I can't do it, says Redish. In these cases, they recorded electrical activity in place cells related to the robot, not the reward.In the second behavior, the rat would run forward, then pause in front of the robot. In these situations, they recorded impulses directed both toward parts of the brain associated with both the food and the robot, appearing to show the rat thinking about both and, perhaps weighing the risks versus the rewards.Finally, they monitored tentative rats peaking around the corner, catching a glimpse of the robot, appearing to think Am I gonna go, am I not, am I gonna go? says Redish. In these instances, they recorded short bursts of electrical activity in the place cells associated with the robot. Importantly, the place cells associated with the robot often remained active when the rats were in retreat, or when they were approaching the corner behind which the robot hid.What Does this Mean for Humans? Even though these experiments were with rats, there are obvious human parallels. For instance, someone walking up to an area where they were once attacked by a dog might have similar neural activity of that past event, because their brain once stuck the equivalent of a pin in that Google Maps part of the brain. The study boils anxiety down to the tension between approaching and avoiding conflict. Resolving that conflict involves imagining a positive future outcome. Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.

Nature, Published online: 14 January 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-024-04234-zLaura Arfi and Shannen Lau are automating routine tasks to free up time for more strategic work.

submitted by /u/Plus_Bad9596 [link] [comments]

The world of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is one where gruesome monsters are juxtaposed against beautiful landscapes, and everything is tied together with deep lore based on Chinese history and folklore. If youre interested in learning more about the game and its development, The Art of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is now available to preorder ahead of its July 7 release. The Art of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty $50 | Releases July 7 This hardcover art book spans 192 pages, each filled with character designs, creature designs, and various concept art for Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. Along with hundreds of images, youll also get a detailed rundown of character profiles, world lore, and more. Considering the game has deep mythology to pull from, there should be plenty of incredible details packed between its covers. Wo Long was quite popular when it released in 2023--if youre worried about the art book selling out, consider landing a preorder soon. Note that the final cover art has not yet been revealed. Preorder at Amazon The book is being published by Udon Entertainment--a brand that has previously worked on art books for Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Monster Hunter. All of these earned positive reviews from readers, and The Art of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty should retain the brands high-quality publishing standards.These previous volumes also make great companions for the upcoming book, and since many are currently on sale, theyre worth checking out ahead of The Art of Wo Longs release in July. Heres a look at some of our favorite art book deals, including those from Udon Entertainment and beyond.Continue Reading at GameSpot

Rune Giant is the newest Epic Card to join the arena in Clash Royale. It's unlocked at the Jungle Arena (Arena 9), but players can claim one for free at the shop as part of the Rune Giant Launch offer. The offer is active until January 17th, 2025, after which the only way to unlock it would be from chests or the in-game shop.

If you, like me, have been looking for a place to bet in the UK for a long time due to Gamstop being blocked, then I can help you get around this and find places where you can bet without any problems. I have found a whole list of non Gamstop betting sites and thanks to that I have already chosen a place where I play now, you can also study everything in detail and choose for yourself exactly what you n

With the second season of Squid Game leaving us all in an emotional lurch and season 48 of Survivor more than a month away, Deathmatch Island is here to hold you over. The tabletop role-playing game takes inspiration from todays cultural landscape to drop you in the middle of a battle royale-style reality show. The only way to make it out alive is to gain followers and the only way to do that is to risk your life.As Polygon contributor Samantha Nelson explained in her interview with designer Tim Denee, character creation is randomized and simple: a name, a basic description, an occupation, a secret motivation, and a matching uniform. Aside from this, players have no knowledge of who they were before the game began, no idea of what this game is, or how they got there in the first place. All you have is a letter congratulating you on being chosen for the game where you can win fame, freedom, and unlimited wealth. Throughout the game, mystery mechanics controlled by the Producer (or game master) slowly reveal clues and flashes of memory.While the base game is lethal, there is a ruleset that offers a social-oriented mode of play. The foundations of the game are still the same, as the base stats are built off Survivor terminology like Social Game and Challenge Beast, though with a few uniquely horrifying ones like Deathmatch and [REDACTED]. Each time a player engages in a competition or a challenge, they have the opportunity to gain followers. The better you do, the more followers you gain. The more followers you have, the more the games producers favor you with higher dice to roll and better equipment to help you survive. In a social media ecosystem that often feels like a battle royale, with creators fighting algorithms and the whims of corporate overlords, the mechanic feels especially prescient.Like Triangle Agency, the game text is presented as a corporate handbook for employees and producers of Deathmatch Island, though the two games approach this presentation from drastically different angles (see Denees Derek Guy-style infothread about it). Rather than pretending to be your friend, the handbooks in-universe author presents the games dire circumstances matter-of-factly, despite having chapter titles like Building a Better You or Team Building.While Deathmatch Island can be played in a single session, campaigns of the game offer opportunities for in-depth alliance building, social manipulation, and rejection of the games central conceit a Battle Royale or Hunger Games-style ending. But the producers wont give up so easily. Even if your character dies, you wake up once again, in a new body, a new persona, wading into the game once more. The true secrets of the island will only be revealed after multiple seasons, and youll just have to play to win if you want to find out.

I've lived in Oregon for a decade, meaning I've experienced multiple wildfire seasons. You learn quickly, in these conditions, that staying on top of the air quality is essential: Prolonged exposure to poor air quality can have all kinds of negative affects on your health so you don't want to spend a lot of time outside if the air is bad.Breathable is a newly free app by the Portland-based app development agency Karbon that adds an Air Quality Index (AQI) widget for your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Install the application, then add the widget to your device to be passively aware of the air quality every time you pick up your phone. (Yes, you could check the AQI in the Apple Weather app, but it doesn't offer an AQI widget.)The application, while free, takes a little bit of work to set up. You'll need to get API keys from at least one service in order to use it. The good news is this process isn't long and there's very clear documentation. You'll need to head to IQAir.com, sign up for an account, choose the free plan, then copy the API key. You can repeat the process at Airnow.gov if you live in the United States and want access to information from the EPA. Then you'll need to specify, in the app's settings, which location you want to get AQI information for. Credit: Justin Pot After setup, though, you just need to add the widgets wherever you like. Breathable offers two widgets, one small and one medium. You can add these widgets to your homescreen on an iPhone or iPad, as a complication on your Apple Watch, or on your Mac desktop. All of those options give you the AQI as a number and in a chart.You can, optionally, customize the look of the widget with the font, gradient, and layout. It's not a lot of customization but you should be able to get it looking the way you like. Credit: Justin Pot You can also decide to show the AQI using an emoji scale instead of a numbersome people find this easier to parse at a glance. The default set uses faces, but you can customize the widget to use whatever emojis you like.The developers of Breathable say they wish it didn't have to exists, and I agree. Climate change is a reality, though, and tools like this help us deal with it a little bit.

ChatGPT has had support for voice conversations since the end of 2023, but if youre new to OpenAIs chatbot, figuring out how to converse with it can be tricky since there are a couple of ways to go about it. In this guide, I'll explain the main differences between ChatGPT's two voice modes and how to use both of them.What is ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode?As of the writing of this article, OpenAI offers two different ways of interacting with ChatGPT using your voice: Standard and Advanced. The former is available to all users, with usage counting against ones message limit. Advanced, meanwhile, has more granular restrictions.As a free user, OpenAI offers a monthly preview of the tool. Subscribing to the companys $20 per month Plus plan allows you to use Advanced Voice daily. OpenAI notes daily limits may change, but either way, the company promises to notify users 15 minutes before theyre about to hit their usage cap. Pro users can use Advanced Voice as much as they want, provided they do so in a way thats reasonable and complies with the companys policies.Outside of those limits, the primary difference between the two modes is the sophistication of the underlying models powering them. Per OpenAI, Advanced Voice is natively multi-modal, meaning it can process more than just text input. In practice, this translates to Advanced Voice offering capabilities that arent possible with Standard Mode, which is limited to reading a transcript of what you say to your phone. In addition to hearing your voice, ChatGPT in Advanced Voice can simultaneously process video and images. Its even possible to screen share with the chatbot, making it possible for it to guide you through using an app on your phone.Additionally, OpenAI says Advanced Voices multi-modality means ChatGPT can produce a more natural voice and is better able to pick up non-verbal cues.How do you start a voice conversation with ChatGPT?Igor Bonifacic for EngadgetAs mentioned above, OpenAI offers two different ways of interacting with ChatGPT using your voice. The steps below will show you how to access them on your iPhone or Android device.First, you need to download the ChatGPT app (Android, iOS). The features detailed in this guide arent available through the ChatGPT integration offered by Apple through its AI suite.To use Standard mode, tap the microphone icon to the right of the Message bar. If you need to grant the ChatGPT app access to your phones microphone, you can do so through its settings menu.After ChatGPT begins recording your prompt, tap the checkmark icon for the chatbot to start processing your question. If you want it to discard what you said, press the x icon.To use Advanced Mode, tap the waveform icon to the right of the Message bar. Tap the microphone icon if you want to mute your phones mic. You can exit Advanced Mode at any time by pressing the x icon.How do you share a photo of your screen with ChatGPT while having a voice conversation?If you want to screen share with ChatGPT or share a photo or video with it, tap the three-dots icon and select Share Screen, Upload Photo or Take Photo.If you dont see those options, update to the latest version of the ChatGPT app. You may also live in a country where OpenAI isnt offering those features yet. See below for more information.How many voice options are available?The first time you use Advanced Voice Mode, youll be prompted to select a tone of voice for ChatGPT. Right now, OpenAI offers nine different options. Ive listed them below, along with the companys descriptions of each one.Arbor Easygoing and versatileBreeze Animated and earnestCove Composed and directEmber Confident and optimisticJuniper Open and upbeatMaple Cheerful and candidSol Savvy and relaxedSpruce Calm and affirmingVale Bright and inquisitiveIf you want to change ChatGPTs voice, follow these steps:Bring up the sidebar by tapping the two-dash.Open the Settings menu by tapping the three-dots icon.Scroll down and tap Voice.Select the voice you want ChatGPT to use.You can also change ChatGPTs voice directly from the Advanced Voice interface by tapping the slider icon.Are there regional restrictions on Advanced Voice Mode?Some Advanced Voice Mode features arent available in every country where OpenAI offers ChatGPT. Specifically, the video, screen share and image upload capabilities OpenAI introduced in December arent available in the European Union, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/how-to-talk-to-chatgpt-on-your-phone-193633643.html?src=rss

Looking for Quordle clues? We can help. Plus get the answers to Quordle today and past solutions.