心算的加工机制：来自认知神经科学的研究

心算加工分编码（表征）、运算（或提取）和反应三个阶段,这三个阶段相互影响。不同输入形式的数字表征在顶叶的不同区域完成。算术知识提取主要与左脑顶内沟有关,但当心算变得更复杂时而需要具体运算时,左脑额叶下部出现明显激活。所有与心算有关的脑区涉及大脑前额皮层和颞顶枕联合皮层的综合作用,并总体表现为左脑优势,但估算、珠心算以及某些具有特殊心算能力的人的心算还依赖视空间表征,这与右脑额顶区和楔前叶的活动有关     

105例额叶、非额叶肿瘤患者词语流畅性作业的比较研究

让４８例额叶肿瘤患者,２６例颞叶肿瘤患者,２６例顶枕叶肿瘤患者,５例额颞肿瘤或颞顶肿瘤患者（全部病人分为左脑肿瘤５６例,右脑肿瘤４９例）说同类词,说非其类词及Ｓｔｒｏｏｐ测验。结果表明：１．额叶组说同类词总和明显低于颞叶组。２．额叶组读色字及读字色两项任务所用时间明显长于颞叶组及顶枕叶组。３．额叶组读色字及字色出现的错误频率明显高于正常人组及顶枕叶组。４．左脑肿瘤组说同类词及读黑色、色字及颜色命名的成绩明显低于右脑肿瘤组。资料提示：额叶肿瘤比颞叶与顶枕叶肿瘤、左脑肿瘤比右脑肿瘤更容易影响被试的词语记忆能力、选择性注意能力及分类归属能力。     

计算的脑科学研究及其对数学教育的启示

脑科学研究发现,简单心算主要涉及算术事实的提取,依赖于左半球的语言中枢,而复杂心算激活了左侧顶—额叶网络和双侧颞下回,与视觉空间表征和视觉表象加工有关;精算主要激活左额叶下部区域,而估算激活了两半球更大的区域。在计算过程中所激活的脑区受年龄发展与个体差异以及训练的影响。研究对有效地促进儿童计算能力的发展提供了重要启示。     

青老年组不同难度下心算活动的脑功能磁共振成像研究

应用功能磁共振成像技术研究不同心算难度下脑区的活动以及年龄的影响。14名志愿者（20～29岁青年和60～69岁老年被试各7名）参加了该实验。实验任务为2个难度水平的连续减法心算,分别为1000—3和1000—17。结果表明：（1）心算加工激活了额叶和顶叶的许多脑区;（2）大脑左半球是心算加工的优势半球,但随着心算难度加大,大脑一侧化程度下降,而年老加剧了这一趋势;（3）青年组进行简单心算（1000—3）时,额中回未见明显激活,而老年组进行简单心算时,该脑区被明显激活。总体上,额叶和顶叶在心算活动中起着重要作用,而任务难度和年龄对心算加工时脑活动的影响以额中回区最为明显。     

读写分离的脑神经机制：来自fMRI的证据

使用只读不写的繁体字和会读会写的简体字材料, 以默读为实验任务, 探讨“会读会写”与“只读不写”文字的加工脑区。8名在校大学生在磁共振扫描过程中默读呈现的繁体字或简体字, 采用ANOVA统计全脑激活图。与简体字相比, 繁体字额外激活了右额下回、左小脑。在功能连接性上, 简体字和繁体字相同的激活脑区有左楔前叶-左内侧前额叶, 左楔前叶-左中央前回, 右枕中回-左舌回; 不同的是, 繁体字左楔前叶与右额下回有高相关, 而简体字左楔前叶与右额中回有高相关。左内侧前额叶与中央前回只在繁体字中表现出高相关。繁体字和简体字任务的T检验差异脑区包括左颞中回和右顶下小叶。只读不写的文字具有加工的整体性和轮廓性特征, 它的读音与不规则简体字相似, 具有整字加工特点。繁体字和简体字加工具有相同的功能连接区, 但也存在差异。右脑表现为连接脑区不同, 左脑内侧前额叶与中央前回表现为相关性不同, 说明内侧前额叶-中央前回在繁体字加工中起着重要作用。实验结果还证明顶叶是记忆再认的主要脑区。     

比喻性语言加工的脑机制

早期观点认为比喻性语言加工主要依赖右脑, 随着研究的深入, 右脑假说受到许多研究结果的挑战, 左脑参与比喻性语言的加工。同时, 左右脑语言区发挥各自不同的作用, 新的研究证实, 前额前部皮层同样参与比喻性语言的加工。比喻性语言的理解需要左右半球及前额皮层的共同激活, 同时对其加工还依赖左右半球的联合作用, 比喻性语言理解神经网络的建立需要新证据。     

非情绪与情绪背景下行为抑制时外侧前额叶的功能分化:一项fNIRS研究

采用功能性近红外脑成像技术(f NIRS),结合事件相关设计,在非情绪与情绪背景下,测量个体完成go/no-go任务时外侧前额叶皮层氧合血红蛋白浓度(Hb O)的变化。结果发现:在非情绪背景下,行为抑制时双侧背外侧前额叶皮层和右眶额叶皮层负激活;在情绪背景下,行为抑制时双侧背外侧前额叶皮层和眶额皮层负激活,情绪与行为抑制的交互作用显著负激活双侧腹外侧前额叶皮层。结果表明:在非情绪与情绪背景下,双侧背外侧前额叶和右眶额叶皮层可能以神经抑制的活动形式参与行为抑制反应;腹外侧前额叶皮层可能不是行为抑制的重要脑区,但对情绪与行为抑制整合具有重要意义,特别是在负性情绪背景下,双侧腹外侧前额叶皮层可能以更大程度的神经抑制活动参与到情绪与行为抑制交互作用中来。     

如何正确认识左脑和右脑的功能问题——介绍日本神经心理学家八田武志的有关研究

本文介绍了日本神经心理学家八田武志助教授关于左、右脑功能问题的新的研究结果:(一)人的左脑和右脑的功能差异是相对的。不论言语材料的认知,还是非言语材料的认知,都是因信息处理水平和方式的不同,时而左脑优势对而右脑优势的;不能简单地说:“××是左脑优势,××是右脑优势”。(二)随着儿童的身心发展,其左、右脑的功能差异是处于动态变化之中的,而且左、右脑之间的联系和协同活动日益增强;“现代教育只是使用左脑,必须开展右脑教育”的说法,是没有科学根据的。(三)人的左、右脑的功能可能出生时就有某些差异,但是在发展过程中,左、右脑的正常联系和协同活动才是人的智能活动的基础;认为“人可以分为右脑型的和左脑型的”,是不正确的。     

音高和时长信息加工在额下回眶部(BA47)的分离——来自fMRI实验的证据

通过功能性磁共振成像技术考察了额下回眶部(BA47)在言语中的音高和时长信息加工中的作用,发现音高和时长信息的加工在该脑区存在着明显的分离,这种分离可能是听觉加工腹侧通路的重要组成部分,即左脑和右脑颞叶的听觉和听觉相关皮层分别负责音高和时长信息的声学特征分析,而对应的额下回腹侧眶部则分别负责相关信息在工作记忆中的表征和保持,研究结果为音高和时长信息加工的声音信号假设提供了更为全面的证据。     

人类技巧学习的脑功能成像研究进展

近10年来的脑功能成像研究表明,人类技巧学习是一个动态过程。在这一过程中,有关脑区的活动发生了阶段性的变化。在学习的早期阶段,由于神经元选择性提高,有关脑区的活动减弱;而在晚期,由于新神经元的参与,有关脑区的活动增强。脑区活动的阶段性变化还可能与学习过程中被试对任务的意识和加工策略的转变有关。在学习过程中,不同脑区之间逐渐建立联系并组成临时任务指向性系统,这一系统受到额叶等联合皮层的调控。     

Together – apart: in touch in a time of separation

This paper explores the experience of working as a Jungian analyst through the various phases of the global COVID-19 pandemic, examining the importance of the physical containing space alongside the analyst’s internal mind and how technology can both help and hinder understanding. A number of clinical vignettes illustrate the challenge of communicating over a distance, paying particular attention to the way countertransference phenomena can become re-attuned. Reference is made to mythology and symbols of hope, and consideration given to the meaning and purpose of the pandemic.     

The Possibility of Meaning in Human Evolution

Science undermines the certitude of non-naturalistic answers to the question of whether human life has meaning. I explore whether evolution can provide a naturalistic basis for existential meaning. Using the work of philosopher Daniel Dennett and scientist Ursula Goodenough, I argue that evolution is the locus of the possibility of meaning because it has produced intentionality, the matrix of consciousness. I conclude that the question of the meaning of human life is an existentialist one: existential meaning is a product of the individual and collective tasks human beings undertake.     

Phenotypic plasticity and archetype: a response to common objections to the biological theory of archetype and instinct

Since Jung’s death in 1961, scholars have attempted to integrate growing biological science data into Jungian concepts such as the collective unconscious, instincts and the archetypes. This enterprise has been challenging due to persistent false dichotomies of gene and environment occasionally arising. Recent works by Roesler (2022a, 2022b) for example, have raised objections to the biological theory of archetypes, but the objections are plagued by such dichotomies. The concept of phenotypic plasticity, however, helps to both avoid this problem as well as bridge the gap between competing theories into a more integrated model with solid biological foundations.     

When is it time to stop? When good enough becomes bad enough

This article draws on Winnicott’s concept of the good enough mother to discuss how to know whether a therapeutic situation is good enough to continue or bad enough to end. This dilemma is explored in terms of clinical syndromes, such as anorexia and pathological gambling, but focuses mainly on analyst-initiated endings, which are termed the ‘Casablanca dilemma’, based on an amplification of the ending of the film Casablanca. The author goes on to discuss such one-sided endings, drawing on interviews with 40 analysts and therapists about their clinical experience. A typology of bad enough endings is presented. The psychological differences between a good enough analysis as opposed to a bad enough one are explored through the ideas of Winnicott and Neumann.     

Kann Es Ein Argument Für Den Skeptizismus Geben? Das Epistemische Problem Der Irrtumsmöglichkeit

Summary  Is there any argument for scepticism? The epistemic problem of the possibility of error. Arguments for scepticism rest on the assumption that knowledge claims are fallible. For this reason the concept of knowledge appears to be questionable. Since it is necessary to distinguish doubts from possible doubts, the arguments for scepticism appear to be unconvincing. If we take it into account that we know something that is immune to doubt, we should draw the conclusion that, contrary to scepticism, knowledge claims have to be compatible with being fallible. Thus any knowledge claim is capable of being doubted.     

The transcendent function in Spitteler’s Prometheus and Epimetheus

In August 2020, John Beebe and Steve Myers met via Zoom to discuss their differing interpretations of psychological typology and the different sources within Jung’s writings that influenced their books: Integrity in Depth: Energies and Patterns in Psychological Type (Beebe), and Myers-Briggs Typology vs Jungian Individuation (Myers). The discussion centred on Spitteler’s epic poem Prometheus und Epimetheus, which forms the basis of chapter V of Psychological Types. This is both the largest chapter and one of two chapters that Jung highlighted in the Argentine foreword as containing the essence of the book. Jung’s book is primarily about the transformation of personality rather than the categorization of people. Although it contains a critical psychology that deconstructs the nature of consciousness, that is only one half of the book and a stepping-stone to the other half, which is the reconciliation of opposites with particular emphasis on the relation of consciousness and the unconscious. Jung assumed that readers were already familiar with Prometheus und Epimetheus, an understanding of which sheds light on the nature of the transformation that Jung described – the development of a new attitude towards attitude itself.     

Chapter 6: Biblical Foundations for a Practical Theology of Aging

SUMMARY

This article reviews Biblical sources pertaining to the elderly, particularly the frail elderly. Founded on these sources, implications for elderly with Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia are addressed through a personal perspective informed by writings of Christian mystics.     

Seeing in the Dark: A View into Dissociation and Healing

In this paper, I will explore the role of art-making, the experience of trauma and dissociation, and the process of working with self-states from an analytic and creative frame. Relevant literature on dissociation, trauma, and the use of art will be discussed. A case involving my work with an adolescent girl who had experienced sexual abuse from a family member will be shared, with an emphasis on the meaningful role images played during the therapeutic process. Both Jungian and psychoanalytic models of conceptualizing and working with dissociation are included, following Donald Kalsched’s (2013) recommendation for a “binocular stance” to treatment, including both a focus on the inner, intrapsychic world and the interpersonal, relational realm, and how art images both illuminated and expressed these realms. Within the therapeutic process, art images allowed the therapist a view into the client’s unconscious process, and created a meeting ground for dissociative barriers to be gradually seen, felt and known, by both therapist and client. The experience of dissociation, in images and in session, provided a reference point for myself and my client, Taylor, to develop a shared understanding and a framework for growth.