PLOS Biology: New Articles

1. Neural mechanisms for the attention-mediated propagation of conceptual information in the human brain

   by David Acunzo, Damiano Grignolio, Clayton Hickey

   The visual environment is complicated, and humans and other animals accordingly prioritize some sources of information over others through the deployment of spatial attention. Cognitive theories propose that one core purpose of this is to gather information that can be used in downstream cognitive processes, including the development of concepts and categories. However, neuroscientific investigation has focused closely on the identification of the systems and algorithms that support attentional control or that instantiate the effect of attention on sensation and perception. Much less is known about how attention impacts the acquisition and activation of concepts. Here, we use machine learning of EEG and concurrently recorded EEG/MRI to temporally and anatomically characterize the neural network that abstracts from attended perceptual information to activate and construct semantic and conceptual representations. We find that variance in the amplitude of N2pc—an event-related potential (ERP) component closely linked to selective attention—predicts the emergence of conceptual information in a network including VMPFC, posterior parietal cortex, and anterior insula. This network appears to play a key role in the attention-mediated translation of perceptual information to concepts, semantics, and action plans.
2. Navigating your US bioscience career into the 2030s

   by Peter J. Hotez

   The coming decade might see major cuts to the United States Government funding for biomedicine and the mainstreaming of pseudoscience. But your biosciences PhD gives you the problem-solving skills to navigate this maelstrom, especially if you maintain flexibility, optimism, and enthusiasm for uncharted paths.
3. Soil biodiversity and function under global change

   by Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, David J. Eldridge, Yu-Rong Liu, Zhong-Wen Liu, Claudia Coleine, Pankaj Trivedi

   Soil organisms represent the most abundant and diverse organisms on the planet and support almost every ecosystem function we know, and thus impact our daily lives. Some of these impacts have been well-documented, such as the role of soil organisms in regulating soil fertility and carbon sequestration; processes that have direct implications for essential ecosystem services including food security and climate change mitigation. Moreover, soil biodiversity also plays a critical role in supporting other aspects from One Health—the combined health of humans, animals, and the environment—to the conservation of historic structures such as monuments. Unfortunately, soil biodiversity is also highly vulnerable to a growing number of stressors associated with global environmental change. Understanding how and when soil biodiversity supports these functions, and how it will adapt to changing environmental conditions, is crucial for conserving soils and maintaining soil processes for future generations. In this Essay, we discuss the fundamental importance of soil biodiversity for supporting multiple ecosystem services and One Health, and further highlight essential knowledge gaps that need to be addressed to conserve soil biodiversity for the next generations.
4. Retraction: Sheltering of deleterious mutations explains the stepwise extension of recombination suppression on sex chromosomes and other supergenes

   by The PLOS Biology Editors

5. Editorial Note: How sex chromosomes get trapped into nonrecombination

   by The PLOS Biology Editors