Impact of Biologically closed electric circuits (BCEC) on structure and function

The basis of our physical world is electrical. The unified Electromagnetic field can appear to us as particles, i.e., matter, at certain densities of wavelengths. A close interrelation therefore exists between matter and electric energy. This knowledge is extensively utilized in technology. Various tools and instruments are electrically powered, utilizing the exceedingly important principle of closed electric circuits. Corresponding closed electric circuits and functions also exist in biology but are more sophisticated and complex. Unfortunately, these aspects are almost unrecognized. The principle of Biologically Closed Electric Circuits (BCEC) and some of their structural and functional effects are described. The Vascular-Interstitial Closed Circuit (VICC) is one specific BCEC system. It functions as a circulatory system in addition to the mechanical circulation. Its efficiency partly depends on its capacity to provide bidirectional transport of ions. The VICC is an in vivo electrophoretic-dielectrophoretic system that is powered by metabolic energy or injury currents. A VICC activation leads to transports of metabolites, new structuring and healing of an injured tissue. Examples are also presented of the process of healing. An abnormal, e.g., prolonged activation of VICC may also induce pathology. Neoplastic formation of cells and tissue can also be healed by the use of artificially applied electrophoresis or an artificially applied electric field as will be described. Our world once developed from electrical energy. This is probably the reason why the BCEC systems make primary differences between non-biological and biological matter.     

The magnitude-of-reinforcement function in closed and open economies.

It has been hypothesized that the magnitude-of-reinforcement effect may differ in closed and open experimental economies. We determined the relationship between magnitude of reinforcement and response rate in three feeding conditions: a closed economy in which total intake was unrestricted, a closed economy in which total intake was restricted so as to maintain body weight at 85% of free-feeding weight, and a traditional open economy in which subjects received food outside the experimental session. In the closed economies, regardless of body weight, the rats responded faster for smaller pellets and when the fixed ratio for pellets was higher. In the open economy, there was no reliable effect of pellet size or pellet cost on response rate. It is concluded that although there are circumstances in which response rate is an immediate function of the parameters of reinforcement, rate is not necessarily a measure of response strength. Response rate may instead, or additionally, contribute to a strategy of reducing the costs associated with resource utilization.     

Variant BDNF (Val66Met) impact on brain structure and function

Neurotrophins, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), are a unique family of polypeptide growth factors that influence differentiation and survival of neurons in the developing nervous system. In adults, BDNF is important in regulating synaptic plasticity and connectivity in the brain. Recently, a common single-nucleotide polymorphism in the human BDNF gene, resulting in a valine to methionine substitution in the prodomain (Val66Met), has been shown to lead to memory impairment and susceptibility to neuropsychiatric disorders. An understanding of how this naturally occurring polymorphism affects behavior, anatomy, and cognition in adults is an important first step in linking genetic alterations in the neurotrophin system to definable biological outcomes in humans. We review the recent literature linking this BDNF polymorphism to cognitive impairment in the context of in vitro and transgenic animal studies that have established BDNF’s central role in neuronal functioning in the adult brain.     

Predator videos and electric shock function as punishers for zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are a promising animal model for studying the effects of gene–environment interactions on behavior. Two experiments were conducted to assess punishment effects of presenting predator videos (Indian leaf fish; Nandus nandus) and electric shock on operant approach responses in zebrafish. In Experiment 1, the predator video and shock stimuli were presented upon a response maintained by a single variable‐interval schedule of food reinforcement in different groups of fish. In Experiment 2, the predator video and shock stimuli were presented upon one of two response alternatives maintain by concurrently available variable‐interval schedules of food reinforcement in different groups of fish. Responding decreased when the predator video and shock stimuli were presented relative to their absence in both experiments. Moreover, responding on an unpunished alternative did not reliably decrease in Experiment 2. These results indicate that the decrease in responding resulted from the punishment contingency rather than from elicited species‐specific defense responses or conditioned avoidance. Thus, the predator video and electric shock functioned as punishers of operant behavior for zebrafish. Identifying punishers for this species could lead to research on how gene–environment interactions influence individual differences in sensitivity to punishment.     

The Tibetan Tshogs Zhing (field of assembly): General notes on its function,structure and contents

The tshogs zhing, or field of assembly, is an important subject in Tibetan religious art. Typically, it focuses on one's own guru, seated at the crest of a great tree, with the gurus preceding him ranged in the sky above him and the deities of one's tradition ranged on the tree below him. The tshogs zhing is an object of visualisation in Tibetan guru yoga practices, and serves as both a ‘map’ of the Tibetan sacred cosmos and as an index of the guru's crucial role in the tradition as a mediator between the practitioner on the one hand and the diachronic lineage of teachers and the synchronie pantheon of deities, on the other.     

Recognition and categorization of biologically significant objects by rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta): the domain of food.

To survive, organisms must be able to identify edible objects. However, we know relatively little about how humans and other species distinguish food items from non-food items. We tested the abilities of semi-free-ranging rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) to learn rapidly that a novel object was edible, and to generalize their learning to other objects, in a spontaneous choice task. Adult monkeys watched as a human experimenter first pretended to eat one of two novel objects and then placed replicas of the objects at widely separated locations. Monkeys selectively approached the object that the experimenter had previously eaten, exhibiting a rapidly induced preference for the apparently edible object. In further experiments in which the same objects were used as tools or were manipulated at the face but not eaten, we fail to observe an approach bias, providing evidence that the monkeys' pattern of approach in the earlier experiments was specific to objects that were eaten. Subsequent experiments tested how monkeys generalized their preference for an edible object by first allowing them to watch a human experimenter eat one of two objects and then presenting them with new objects composed of the same substance but differing from the original, edible object in shape or color. Monkeys ignored changes in the shape of the object and generalized from one edible object to another on the basis of color in conjunction with other substance properties. Finally, we extended this work to infant rhesus monkeys and found that, like adults, they too used color to generalize to novel food objects. In contrast to adults, however, infants extended this pattern of generalization to objects that were acted on in other ways. These results suggest that infant monkeys form broader object categories than adults, and that food categories become sharpened as a function of maturational or experiential factors.     

Assessment and development of executive function (EF) during childhood.

This review paper outlines the issues associated with the assessment of executive function (EF) in children and adolescents, and describes the developmental profile of executive processes across childhood. At the outset, EF is defined, and cognitive and behavioral impairments associated with executive dysfunction (EDF) are described. A developmental model of EF is proposed incorporating four discrete but inter-related executive domains (attentional control, cognitive flexibility, goal setting, and information processing) which operate in an integrative manner to enable "executive control". Characteristics that constitute traditional EF measures are discussed, as are the problems associated with test interpretation. The ecological validity of EF tests and neuropsychological assessment procedures are examined, and adjunct methods of measurement are presented to enable a more comprehensive and valid assessment of EF. Based on developmental and normative studies, the maturation of executive domains is mapped. Attentional control appears to emerge in infancy and develop rapidly in early childhood. In contrast, cognitive flexibility, goal setting, and information processing experience a critical period of development between 7 and 9 years of age, and are relatively mature by 12 years of age. A transitional period is thought to occur at the beginning of adolescence, and shortly after "executive control" is likely to emerge. In order to confirm our current understanding of EF development and further enhance our understanding of brain-behavior relationships, longitudinal studies incorporating structural and functional neuroimaging are required.     

The structure and function of explanations

Generating and evaluating explanations is spontaneous, ubiquitous and fundamental to our sense of understanding. Recent evidence suggests that in the course of an individual's reasoning, engaging in explanation can have profound effects on the probability assigned to causal claims, on how properties are generalized and on learning. These effects follow from two properties of the structure of explanations: explanations accommodate novel information in the context of prior beliefs, and do so in a way that fosters generalization. The study of explanation thus promises to shed light on core cognitive issues, such as learning, induction and conceptual representation. Moreover, the influence of explanation on learning and inference presents a challenge to theories that neglect the roles of prior knowledge and explanation-based reasoning.     

Responding on concurrent-chains schedules in open and closed economies.

Pigeons' key pecks were reinforced according to concurrent-chains schedules of reinforcement. The programmed average time from the onset of the initial links to a terminal link entry was held constant across conditions while the value of variable-interval schedules in the terminal links was varied. Performance was assessed under two economic conditions: (a) an open economy in which session duration was limited to 1 hr and subjects were maintained at 80% of their free-feeding body weights with postsession food when necessary; and (b) a closed economy in which sessions were 23.5 hr long and no deprivation regimen was in effect. In all cases, the relative rate of responding in the initial links matched the reduction in overall delay to primary reinforcement correlated with entry into one terminal link relative to the reduction in delay correlated with entry into the other terminal link. Although the sum of responses made in the initial links and terminal links was found to increase, then decrease, as the rate of food presentation decreased in the closed economy, there was no consistent effect of overall rate of food presentation on total responding in the open economy. The choice data suggest that relative delay reduction predicts choice accurately, regardless of economic context.     

Emerging perspectives on the structure and function of attitude strength

For more than 20 years, scholars have used the term “attitude strength” to refer to the durability and impactfulness of attitudes, and a large literature attests to the important leverage that this concept offers for understanding and predicting behaviour. Despite its prominence, however, a number of fundamental questions remain regarding the structure and function of attitude strength. In this chapter we draw on a wide range of evidence to clarify the nature of attitude strength. Rather than conceiving of attitude strength as a meaningful psychological construct, we argue that it is better conceptualised as an umbrella term that refers in only the most general way to multiple, separable classes of attitude outcomes, instigated by different antecedents and produced by distinct psychological processes. Although strong attitudes share a set of general qualities—resistance to change, persistence over time, impact on thought and behaviour—there are many distinct routes by which attitudes come to possess these qualities, and many diverse ways in which these qualities manifest themselves. Our analysis shifts the focus away from the structural properties of attitude strength and towards a fuller appreciation of the distinct sources from which attitudes derive their strength. We argue in particular for the value of attending more closely to the social bases of attitude strength, and we illustrate the value of this approach by reviewing several lines of research.     

(Physio)logical circuits: the intellectual origins of the McCulloch-Pitts neural networks

This article examines the intellectual and institutional factors that contributed to the collaboration of neuropsychiatrist Warren McCulloch and mathematician Walter Pitts on the logic of neural networks, which culminated in their 1943 publication, "A Logical Calculus of the Ideas Immanent in Nervous Activity." Historians and scientists alike often refer to the McCulloch-Pitts paper as a landmark event in the history of cybernetics, and fundamental to the development of cognitive science and artificial intelligence. This article seeks to bring some historical context to the McCulloch-Pitts collaboration itself, namely, their intellectual and scientific orientations and backgrounds, the key concepts that contributed to their paper, and the institutional context in which their collaboration was made. Although they were almost a generation apart and had dissimilar scientific backgrounds, McCulloch and Pitts had similar intellectual concerns, simultaneously motivated by issues in philosophy, neurology, and mathematics. This article demonstrates how these issues converged and found resonance in their model of neural networks. By examining the intellectual backgrounds of McCulloch and Pitts as individuals, it will be shown that besides being an important event in the history of cybernetics proper, the McCulloch-Pitts collaboration was an important result of early twentieth-century efforts to apply mathematics to neurological phenomena.     

Attributions of behavior in the pediatric mild closed head injury (CHI) population

Forty-one children between the ages of 6 and 11 years with a history of a mild closed head injury and 23 age-, gender-, and IQ-matched typically developing control children participated. All of the children in the CHI sample were referred for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan at 3 months post-injury and children in the CHI sample were further divided into MRI-Negative (n=31) and MRI-Positive (n=10) conditions according to the MRI results. Parents and teachers completed behavioral checklists at three points, including just prior to the MRI and 6 months post-injury. Prior to the MRI (Time 2), in both samples of children with a CHI, parents reported an increase in externalizing symptoms after the CHI. At 6 months post-injury (Time 3: post-MRI), parents of children in the MRI-Positive group did not report any significant changes in their child's externalizing behaviors when compared with pre-MRI, yet parents of children in the MRI-Negative group reported a further increase in externalizing behaviors. Parent attributions also changed as a function of group membership; whereas no changes were noted in the other two groups, parents of children in the MRI-Negative sample ascribed more controllability at Time 3 when compared with Time 2.     

Studies in dialogue and discourse. III. Utterance structure and utterance function in interrogative sequences

Natural conversations in first-grade classrooms are analyzed. Exchanges that are initiated and extended by questioning are the focus of attention, and analyses are directed principally to a comparison of adult-initiated and child-initiated interrogative series. Differences in structural features are found for each component utterance of an interrogative unit of discourse, namely, question, response, and confirmation. Adults ask more constraining questions than children, and children respond in more complex although less appropriate ways to children's questions than to adults' questions. The type of discourse within which an utterance is located influences the features of children's responses to children's but not to adults' questions. These differences are interpreted as reflecting differences in the relative power of adults and children in these settings.This work has been supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation for research on Social Effects on Language and Communication, Grant No. GS-3001.     

Learning in honeybees (Apis mellifera) as a function of sucrose concentration.

Foraging honeybees (Apis mellifera) were trained with 2 successively presented targets differing in color or odor, one of which always contained a 5-microliters drop of 50% sucrose solution and the other, a 5-microliters drop of 20% sucrose solution. Latency of response to each target was measured during the training, and at the conclusion, preference was measured in an unrewarded choice test. Analysis of the latencies showed both a prospective effect (faster response to the 50% target than to the 20% target) and a nonassociative retrospective effect (faster response after leaving the 20% target than after leaving the 50% target) reminiscent of the frustration effect in rats. The results both for prospective latency and for choice can be understood on the simple theory that the attractiveness of a target depends on the strength of its association with sucrose and that the effect of concentration is on asymptotic strength.     

Preference for tones as a function of frequency (hertz) and intensity (decibels)

An extension of the Wundt hypothesis concerning stimulus intensity and hedonic tone leads to the prediction that Ss prefer tones of intermediate frequency (hertz) and of intermediate intensity (decibels). In Experiment 1, tones varying from 60 to 5000 Hz were presented in a paired comparison procedure, and, as predicted, Ss′ preference was an inverted-U-shaped function of frequency, with the most preferred tones in the range of 400–750 Hz. In Experiment 2, tones varying in intensity from 40 to 90 dB were also presented in a paired comparison procedure, and again the predicted inverted-U-shaped preference function was found, with 50 dB as the preferred intensity. Related research and some unexpected findings are discussed.     

Depression, autonomic function, and cardiorespiratory fitness: comment on Hughes, et al. (2010)

A recent paper by Hughes and colleagues suggested that dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system in depressed cardiac patients was partly explained by reduced physical activity and fitness. Other data demonstrate that exercise training and improvements in fitness not only lead to improvements in autonomic function in coronary patients but also reduce depression and depression-related increased mortality.