On hidden factors and design-associated errors that may lead to data misinterpretation: An example from preclinical research on the potential seasonality of neonatal seizures.
birth asphyxia
chronobiology
cognitive bias
hypothesis-driven research
Journal
Epilepsia
ISSN: 1528-1167
Titre abrégé: Epilepsia
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 2983306R
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
30 Nov 2023
30 Nov 2023
Historique:
revised:
20
11
2023
received:
26
10
2023
accepted:
28
11
2023
pubmed:
1
12
2023
medline:
1
12
2023
entrez:
1
12
2023
Statut:
aheadofprint
Résumé
Unintentional misinterpretation of research in published biomedical reports that is not based on statistical flaws is often underrecognized, despite its possible impact on science, clinical practice, and public health. Important causes of such misinterpretation of scientific data, resulting in either false positive or false negative conclusions, include design-associated errors and hidden (or latent) variables that are not easily recognized during data analysis. Furthermore, cognitive biases, such as the inclination to seek patterns in data whether they exist or not, may lead to misinterpretation of data. Here, we give an example of these problems from hypothesis-driven research on the potential seasonality of neonatal seizures in a rat model of birth asphyxia. This commentary aims to raise awareness among the general scientific audience about the issues related to the presence of unintentional misinterpretation in published reports.
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Informations de copyright
© 2023 The Authors. Epilepsia published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International League Against Epilepsy.
Références
Hessels RS, Hooge ITC. Dogmatic modes of science. Perception. 2021;50:913-916.
Forstmeier W, Wagenmakers EJ, Parker TH. Detecting and avoiding likely false-positive findings-A practical guide. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 2017;92:1941-1968.
Baker M. Is there a reproducibility crisis? Nature. 2016;533:452-454.
Ioannidis JP. Why most published research findings are false. PLoS Med. 2005;2:e124.
Kahneman D. Thinking, fast and slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Ciroux; 2011.
Brown AW, Kaiser KA, Allison DB. Issues with data and analyses: errors, underlying themes, and potential solutions. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018;115:2563-2570.
Dingledine R. Why is it so hard to do good science? eNeuro. 2018;5:1-8. e0188-18.2018.
Korbmacher M, Azevedo F, Pennington CR, Hartmann H, Pownall M, Schmidt K, et al. The replication crisis has led to positive structural, procedural, and community changes. Commun Psychol. 2023;1:3.
Neves K, Tan PB, Amaral OB. Are most published research findings false in a continuous universe? PLoS One. 2022;17:e0277935.
Nissen SB, Magidson T, Gross K, Bergstrom CT. Publication bias and the canonization of false facts. Elife. 2016;5:e21451.
Blei DM. Build, compute, critique, repeat: data analysis with latent variable models. Ann Rev Stat Appl. 2014;1:203-222.
Rovetta A. Common statistical errors in scientific investigations: a simple guide to avoid unfounded decisions. Cureus. 2023;15:e33351.
Goodman SN, Schneeweiss S, Baiocchi M. Using design thinking to differentiate useful from misleading evidence in observational research. JAMA. 2017;317:705-707.
Schmidt R, Welzel B, Löscher W. Effects of season, daytime, sex, and stress on the incidence, latency, frequency, severity, and duration of neonatal seizures in a rat model of birth asphyxia. Epilepsy Behav. 2023;147:109415.
Karoly PJ, Rao VR, Gregg NM, Worrell GA, Bernard C, Cook MJ, et al. Cycles in epilepsy. Nat Rev Neurol. 2021;17:267-284.
Coomans CP, Ramkisoensing A, Meijer JH. The suprachiasmatic nuclei as a seasonal clock. Front Neuroendocrinol. 2015;37:29-42.
Ferguson SA, Maier KL. A review of seasonal/circannual effects of laboratory rodent behavior. Physiol Behav. 2013;119:130-136.
Fishman B, Tauber E. Epigenetics and seasonal timing in animals: a concise review. J Comp Physiol A. 2023; in press. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-023-01673-3
Foster RG, Roenneberg T. Human responses to the geophysical daily, annual and lunar cycles. Curr Biol. 2008;18:R784-R794.
Meyer C, Muto V, Jaspar M, Kussé C, Lambot E, Chellappa SL, et al. Seasonality in human cognitive brain responses. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016;113:3066-3071.
VanderLeest HT, Houben T, Michel S, Deboer T, Albus H, Vansteensel MJ, et al. Seasonal encoding by the circadian pacemaker of the SCN. Curr Biol. 2007;17:468-473.
Cohen J. Sick time. Science. 2020;367:1294-1297.
Naumova EN. Mystery of seasonality: getting the rhythm of nature. J Public Health Policy. 2006;27:2-12.
Rao VR, Leguia G, Tcheng TK, Baud MO. Cues for seizure timing. Epilepsia. 2021;62(Suppl 1):S15-S31.
Baxendale S. Seeing the light? Seizures and Sunlight Epilepsy Res. 2009;84:72-76.
Brás PC, Barros A, Vaz S, Sequeira J, Melancia D, Fernandes A, et al. Influence of weather on seizure frequency-clinical experience in the emergency room of a tertiary hospital. Epilepsy Behav. 2018;86:25-30.
Clemens Z, Holló A, Kelemen A, Rásonyi G, Fabó D, Halász P, et al. Seasonality in epileptic seizures. J Neurol Transl Neurosci. 2013;1:1016.
Motta E, Golba A, Bal A, Kazibutowska Z, Strzala-Orzel M. Seizure frequency and bioelectric brain activity in epileptic patients in stable and unstable atmospheric pressure and temperature in different seasons of the year-a preliminary report. Neurol Neurochir pol. 2011;45:561-566.
Ünsal MA, Atmaca MM, Özbey Y. Seasonal clustering in epilepsy. Med Sci Discov. 2020;7:419-421.
Alexandratou I, Stefanatou M, Verentzioti A, Gkougka D, Stavrakakis S, Efthimiopoulos S, et al. Seasonal pattern of epileptic seizures: a single-center experience. Sci Repos. 2020;3:1-4.
Karoly PJ, Goldenholz DM, Freestone DR, Moss RE, Grayden DB, Theodore WH, et al. Circadian and circaseptan rhythms in human epilepsy: a retrospective cohort study. Lancet Neurol. 2018;17:977-985.
Leguia MG, Andrzejak RG, Rummel C, Fan JM, Mirro EA, Tcheng TK, et al. Seizure cycles in focal epilepsy. JAMA Neurol. 2021;78:454-463.
Kim SH, Shim HS, Kang SM, Park H, Jin MH, Lee JH. Are there effects of lunar cycle on pediatric febrile seizure?: a single-center retrospective study (2005-2018). Sci Total Environ. 2019;692:589-594.
Manfredini R, Vergine G, Boari B, Faggioli R, Borgna-Pignatti C. Circadian and seasonal variation of first febrile seizures. J Pediatr. 2004;145:838-839.
Mikkonen K, Uhari M, Pokka T, Rantala H. Diurnal and seasonal occurrence of febrile seizures. Pediatr Neurol. 2015;52:424-427.
Millichap JJ, Millichap JG. Diurnal and seasonal occurrence of febrile seizures. Pediatr Neurol Briefs. 2015;29:29.
Soul JS. Acute symptomatic seizures in term neonates: etiologies and treatments. Semin Fetal Neonatal Med. 2018;23:183-190.
Wlaz P, Löscher W. The role of technical, biological, and pharmacological factors in the laboratory evaluation of anticonvulsant drugs. V. Lack of seasonal influences on amygdala kindling in rats. Epilepsy Res. 1993;16:131-136.
Löscher W, Fiedler M. The role of technical, biological and pharmacological factors in the laboratory evaluation of anticonvulsant drugs. VI. Seasonal influences on maximal electroshock and pentylenetetrazol seizure thresholds. Epilepsy Res. 1996;25:3-10.
Löscher W, Fiedler M. The role of technical, biological, and pharmacological factors in the laboratory evaluation of anticonvulsant drugs. VII. Seasonal influences on anticonvulsant drug actions in mouse models of generalized seizures. Epilepsy Res. 2000;38:231-248.
Ala-Kurikka T, Pospelov AS, Summanen M, Alafuzoff A, Kurki S, Voipio J, et al. A physiologically-validated rat model of term birth asphyxia with seizure generation after, not during, brain hypoxia. Epilepsia. 2021;62:908-919.
Semple BD, Blomgren K, Gimlin K, Ferriero DM, Noble-Haeusslein LJ. Brain development in rodents and humans: identifying benchmarks of maturation and vulnerability to injury across species. Prog Neurobiol. 2013;106-107:1-16.
Torshin VI, Vlasova IG. Biorhythmologic aspects of seizure activity. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2001;132:1025-1028.
Sienkiewicz D, Paszko-Patej G, Okurowska-Zawada B, Kulak W. Seasonal variations in cerebral palsy births. Arch Med Res. 2018;49:114-118.
Espinosa-Garcia C, Zeleke H, Rojas A. Impact of stress on epilepsy: focus on Neuroinflammation-A mini review. Int J Mol Sci. 2021;22:4061.
Huang LT. Early-life stress impacts the developing hippocampus and primes seizure occurrence: cellular, molecular, and epigenetic mechanisms. Front Mol Neurosci. 2014;7:8.
Levine S, de Kloet ER, Dent G, Schmidt MS. Stress hyporesponsive period. In: Fink G, editor. Encyclopedia of stress. 2nd ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 2007. p. 606-611.
Millar LJ, Shi L, Hoerder-Suabedissen A, Molnár Z. Neonatal hypoxia Ischaemia: mechanisms, models, and therapeutic challenges. Front Cell Neurosci. 2017;11:78.
Saré RM, Lemons A, Smith CB. Behavior testing in rodents: highlighting potential confounds affecting variability and reproducibility. Brain Sci. 2021;11:522.
Hulsen T, Jamuar SS, Moody AR, Karnes JH, Varga O, Hedensted S, et al. From big data to precision medicine. Front Med (Lausanne). 2019;6:34.
Boutron I, Ravaud P. Misrepresentation and distortion of research in biomedical literature. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018;115:2613-2619.
Hammond JS, Keeney RL, Raiffa H. The hidden traps in decision making. Harv Bus Rev. 1998;76:47-48.
Begley CG. Six red flags for suspect work. Nature. 2013;497:433-434.