Cortico-striatal activity associated with fidget spinner use: an fMRI study

Fidget spinners are said to be a very successful toy, and it's said that it has a good impact on attention for children with ADHD and hand motor control. However, there is limited scientific evidence to support these claims, and there is a lack of data on neurobiological responses to rotating fidget spinners. To better understand the mechanism whereby fidget spinners affect motor behavior, we tried to identify the neural correlates of rotating fidget spinners using functional magnetic resonance imaging and non-magnetic fidget spinners with five types of ease of rotation. As a result, we confirmed that the pre/postcentral gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, supplementary motor area (SMA), cerebellum, and striatum are activated when rotating spinners. Furthermore, the SMA was activated more with easier-to-rotate spinners. Additionally, a psychophysiological interaction analysis revealed increased functional connectivity between the SMA and the caudate while rotating fidget spinners compared to just holding them. These results suggest that the fine motor control associate with spinning a fidget spinner is supported by the cortico-striatal circuits involved in planning and reward.

[Evaluation of the reproducibility in radioactivity measurements with liquid scintillation counters--intercomparison among several presently available counters of different models (author's transl)]

Experimental studies were carried out to evaluate the reproducibility in 3H measurements with presently available liquid scintillation counters. A set of 3H samples which have activities ranging from 10(4) to 10(7) dpm were prepared and measured repeatedly in every possible different order with six counters of different models. The results demonstrate that the measured counting rates of the samples are subjected to much greater variations than expected from counting statistics. The poor reproducibility was found to be attributed to rate dependent photomultiplier gain variations. The variations in counting rate as large as 10 per cent was observed in a particular counter. It is also found that rate dependent photomultiplier gain variations can cause the external channel ratio to shift, giving rise to error as large as 9% in the efficiency determination.

[Evaluation of the reproducibility in radioactivity measurements with liquid scintillation counters--effect of anomalous count rate-dependent photomultiplier gain variations (author's transl)]

Time variations in count rate were measured for prolonged period of time using a set of 3H samples and a few other specially prepared samples of 14C, 32P, and 137Cs. Besides, beta-ray spectra of a particular 3H sample were measured as a function of time with a multichannel pulse height analyzer. These measurements lead to the following conclusions: (1) Anomalous count rate variations are attributed to strong dependence of photomultiplier gain on count rate. (2) Different steady state count rates can be observed for 3H samples having activities of approximately 10(5) dps when they are measured immediately after the measurements of background and 3H samples of higher activities. (3) The count rate-dependent effect on photomultiplier gain can be described properly by the current flowing through the tube rather than the count rate. (4) The measurement of the external standard channel ratio using the built-in 137Cs source can affect seriously the successive measurements on 3H samples, while the channels ratio itself exhibits strong time dependence.