Research Roundup: catfish prevent disease spread, earthquake maps and student with math learning disabilities

The Science & Technology desk gathers a weekly digest of impactful and interesting research publications and developments at Stanford. Read the latest in this week’s Research Roundup.

Exploring African catfish as a sustainable solution to preventing disease spread

Giulio De Leo, Stanford professor of oceans and earth systems and senior fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment, aims to decrease the transmission of schistosomiasis by lowering the population of freshwater snails in rice fields. 

Schistosomiasis, a debilitating disease transmitted through water that causes rashes, flu-like symptoms, and eventually digestive or neurological issues, is a particular risk for rice farmers in Senegal. The disease spreads when humans step in water, such as that of rice fields, infected with the parasite. The parasite then burrows into the skin and lays eggs in the intestine and liver, leaving the system within feces or urine. It then hatches in the water and infects freshwater snails.

Funded by Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability Sustainability Accelerator, De Leo and other contributors selected African catfish as the optimal snail predator to release in rice fields. Researchers hope that the catfish, which are native to the area, would not only eat the parasites’ snail hosts, but also potentially serve as additional sources of income for farmers to sell. 

Early results of the study seem to show lower snail populations, higher rice yields and higher incomes for farmers. Researchers have reached out to local organizations, which will help strengthen farming operations and improve rice paddy management. “With the guidance of our partners in Senegal, we’re demonstrating a proof of concept to scale adoption,” De Leo said. 

Mantle earthquake could illuminate risks of earthquakes nearer the surface

Researchers from Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability developed the first-ever global map of earthquakes in the Earth’s mantle. The data, according to Shiqi “Axel” Wang Ph.D. ’25, a former Ph.D. student in geophysics professor Simon Klemperer’s lab, will shine light on the various ways that rare earthquakes in the mantle strike. 

While mantle earthquakes generally do not cause shaking or danger, it’s unclear why earthquakes happen at certain locations and times. By studying mantle earthquakes, researchers hope to better understand the risks caused by earthquakes along the Earth’s crust, which are much more frequent and closer to the surface. 

The data used to develop the map consisted of over 46,000 earthquakes documented since 1990. Of the 46,000, only 459 were identified by their wave types as mantle earthquakes — a conservative estimate, researchers say, due to a lack of sensors in remote areas where mantle earthquakes would likely be found. 

“Continental mantle earthquakes might be part of an inherently interconnected earthquake cycle, both from the crust and also the upper mantle,” Wang said in an interview with Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. “We want to understand how these layers of our world function as a whole system.”

Understanding the impact of math learning disabilities on problem-solving techniques

Recent research from Stanford School of Medicine published in the Journal of Neuroscience on Feb. 9 found that students with math learning disabilities have different ways of approaching math problems, even when they obtain the same result. 

In the study, which focused on second and third graders, 87 children were analyzed, 34 of which had a math learning disability, which was defined as those in the bottom quarter of scores on a standard test. Researchers found that students with math learning disabilities had different levels of activity in the areas of the brain that enable focused attention and help students slow down to check for errors. 

“Our findings suggest that interventions should target not only basic number sense, but also metacognitive processes, like performance monitoring — how do you adjust when you notice an error?” said senior author Vinod Menon, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, in an interview with Stanford Medicine News Center. 

According to Menon, individuals who feel like they’re not doing well in math could lose interest and motivation while also facing heightened anxiety. This research could help instructors, parents and others support children with math learning disabilities more effectively by targeting children with help building cognitive skills.

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