现代舞训练与弦乐训练对脑灰质体积的差异影响

目前舞蹈与音乐两种训练对脑灰质结构影响的差异尚不明确。本研究利用基于体素的形态学分析方法(voxel-based morphometry, VBM), 比较现代舞训练被试、弦乐训练被试与对照组被试的脑结构磁共振数据。结果表明现代舞训练组在涉及感觉运动控制的皮层、皮层下结构及小脑多个区域出现灰质体积的显著增加与减少; 弦乐训练组则在与音乐训练直接相关的听-动-读皮层出现灰质体积的显著增加。这一发现提示现代舞训练可能系统性地影响广泛脑区的灰质结构, 弦乐训练可能局部地改变了具体功能脑区的灰质结构, 两种训练对脑灰质结构的影响模式存在差异。     

长期高策略性技能训练对运动员大脑白质结构的影响：一项DTI研究

目前关于运动员经验优势的脑机制还存在争议, 尤其对于涉及较多认知过程参与的高策略性技能项目运动员, 其大脑白质结构可塑性变化还需进一步探究。研究横向对比了乒乓球运动员和非运动员大脑白质纤维束的弥散张量成像数据。结果发现, 相比于非运动员, 乒乓球运动员在连接背侧和腹侧通路脑区的双侧皮质脊髓束、左侧上纵束、左侧下纵束和双侧额枕下束的各向异性值(FA)更大, 进一步分析发现, 部分腹侧通路白质纤维束FA增加的原因是径向扩散系数(RD)下降。研究结果支持了动作双通路模型。提示经过长期高策略性技能训练, 乒乓球运动员在背侧和腹侧通路上的白质纤维束结构完整性增强。     

太极拳技能学习早期大脑功能的动态变化：基于运动表象的fMRI研究

为了解太极拳技能学习早期大脑功能的动态变化特点,本研究共招募29名太极拳零基础被试(19名实验组被试,10名对照组被试),采用多时点纵向追踪设计,借助于功能磁共振成像技术,采集技能学习早期不同时点被试完成运动表象任务时的行为和脑功能数据。结果发现：(1)太极拳技能学习早期,技能水平表现出先慢后快的变化特征,运动表象质量也具有变好的趋势;(2)随着太极拳技能水平的提高,运动表象任务诱发的左侧颞上回和左侧楔前叶的激活显著增强,且同样表现出先慢后快的变化特征;(3)相关检验发现,左侧颞上回和左侧楔前叶的激活与运动表象质量以及太极拳技能水平具有中等程度的相关。研究表明,太极拳技能学习早期,左侧颞上回和左侧楔前叶会伴随着太极拳技能水平的提高而发生改变,太极拳技能学习有助于优化与序列动作学习有关的脑区功能。     

体感游戏训练对生物运动工作记忆容量的影响

传递生物体运动信息的生物运动在工作记忆中有着独立于一般视觉客体的存储空间。尽管研究发现电子游戏训练可提高工作记忆(如一般视觉客体)容量,但尚未有研究探讨游戏训练对生物运动工作记忆容量的影响。本研究采用Kinect体感游戏训练,首次对该问题进行探讨。实验中控制组被试与实验组被试均先后做两次生物运动记忆实验,但实验组在第一次实验后进行为期14天的体感游戏训练。结果发现,尽管生物运动工作记忆绩效在后测时较前测有显著上升,但是游戏训练并未显著提高实验组的记忆绩效,说明生物运动工作记忆并不受体感交互游戏训练影响。     

童年期情感忽视与大学生情绪调节策略：使用偏好及脑结构基础

结合问卷调查和结构磁共振成像技术,研究旨在探讨单一性童年期情感忽视经历与健康大学生情绪调节策略使用的关系及其脑结构基础。21名忽视组被试(仅存在童年期情感忽视经历)和26名对照组被试(无任何童年期创伤经历)完成了问卷和磁共振成像的测量。结果发现,对照组的重评策略使用频率显著高于忽视组,两组在抑制策略使用上无显著差异。对照组在右侧额中回的平均灰质体积显著大于忽视组且该区域灰质体积变化与重评策略使用显著正向关联。多体素模式分析(multi-voxel pattern analysis, MVPA)发现右侧脑岛的灰质体素信号模式显著预测重评策略使用。结果提示,童年期情感忽视可能和成人初期情绪调节策略变化、右侧额中回和脑岛的结构改变有关。     

调式和速度组成的不同音乐形态诱发情绪活动的脑电研究——兼顾音乐训练经验和性别因素的表现特征

该研究选取具有音乐训练经验和没有音乐训练经验的成年被试(研究生)共两组,每组男女数量各一半,使用脑电图(EEG)探讨了由速度和调式组成的不同音乐形态诱发情绪活动的脑电特征,结果表明:(1)在不同音乐形态上,小调音乐和慢速音乐诱发各脑区的δ、θ、β和γ四种波段的功率平均值均高于大调音乐和中速及快速音乐,只有α波的功率平均值低于大调音乐和中速及快速音乐;(2)所有音乐形态诱发音乐专业被试各脑区的功率平均值均高于非音乐专业被试,表明音乐训练经验导致了特殊神经网络参与加工;(3)所有音乐形态诱发男性被试各脑区的功率平均值均高于女性被试,表明两性在特异性信息加工方面具有神经解剖差异以及不同加工策略。     

音乐表演训练对神经可塑性的影响:元分析研究

音乐表演是人类最复杂和精细的技能之一。通过激活似然性评估元分析,对音乐表演训练所诱发的神经可塑性进行探究。结果发现,音乐表演者与非音乐家在左侧小脑、双侧中央前回、双侧颞上回、左侧额下回、双侧顶下小叶以及右侧脑岛等脑区存在差异。这些脑区与听觉、运动以及多通道信息整合等加工有关。未来研究应从不同音乐表演训练诱发的神经适应性出发,进一步探究音乐表演训练与大脑可塑性之间的关联。     

肢体运动信息如何在工作记忆中存储?

肢体运动(空间位置运动与身体模式运动)是个体与环境交互作用的重要途径。以往行为学和脑成像研究分别探讨了空间位置运动信息和身体模式运动信息的工作记忆存储问题, 发现两种肢体运动信息的存储均独立于语音环、视空间画板的视觉子系统, 需要视空间画板的空间子系统的参与; 两种肢体运动信息激活的脑区(运动相关皮层)独立于语音环、视空间画板的视觉子系统和空间子系统, 并存在差异。这表明, 现有的工作记忆多成分模型不能完全解释肢体运动信息的存储。据此可推论, 工作记忆系统中可能存在一个负责处理肢体运动信息的“肢体运动系统”, 其隶属于视空间画板, 与视觉子系统和空间子系统并存; 其激活脑区因肢体运动的不同而存在差异。     

经颅直流电刺激右侧颞顶联合区对道德意图加工的影响*

对行为意图的理解是人类进行道德判断的重要依据,大量研究表明,右侧颞顶联合区是意图加工的关键脑区。为考察该脑区在道德判断中的重要作用,采用经颅直流电刺激技术阳极刺激右侧颞顶联合区,探讨促进该脑区的活动对被试在道德判断中意图及相关信息加工的影响。结果发现与假刺激条件相比,阳极刺激后道德判断反应时显著延长,在伤人未遂和意外伤人条件下差异显著,证明促进右侧颞顶联合区的激活能影响道德判断中的意图加工,尤其在意图与结果产生冲突的条件下效应更加显著。     

正念认知疗法对手机依赖大学生的干预效果*

使用SAS和MPAI量表从820名被试中筛选出60名被试随机分配到实验组和对照组进行实验研究。预期通过正念认知疗法对手机依赖进行干预以降低大学生手机依赖程度。结果发现:实验组被试在接受正念认知疗法为期4周8次的团体辅导训练后,手机依赖总分、失控性、戒断性和逃避性因子得分与对照组相比显著降低,正念水平显著提高。结果表明正念认知疗法对个体的手机依赖的干预效果明显。     

Regional differences in brain volume predict the acquisition of skill in a complex real-time strategy videogame

Previous studies have found that differences in brain volume among older adults predict performance in laboratory tasks of executive control, memory, and motor learning. In the present study we asked whether regional differences in brain volume as assessed by the application of a voxel-based morphometry technique on high resolution MRI would also be useful in predicting the acquisition of skill in complex tasks, such as strategy-based video games. Twenty older adults were trained for over 20 h to play Rise of Nations, a complex real-time strategy game. These adults showed substantial improvements over the training period in game performance. MRI scans obtained prior to training revealed that the volume of a number of brain regions, which have been previously associated with subsets of the trained skills, predicted a substantial amount of variance in learning on the complex game. Thus, regional differences in brain volume can predict learning in complex tasks that entail the use of a variety of perceptual, cognitive and motor processes.     

Training the brain: fact and fad in cognitive and behavioral remediation

Putatively safe and effective for improving cognitive performance in both health and disease, products purported to train the brain appeal to consumers and healthcare practitioners. In an increasingly health-centered society, these applications constitute a burgeoning commercial market. Sparse evidence coupled with lack of scientific rigor, however, leaves claims concerning the impact and duration of such brain training largely unsubstantiated. On the other hand, at least some scientific findings seem to support the effectiveness and sustainability of training for higher brain functions such as attention and working memory. In the present paper we provide a tectonic integration and synthesis of cognitive training approaches. Specifically, we sketch the relative merits and shortcomings of these programs, which often appeal to parents who must choose between side-effect-laden medication and other less conventional options. Here we examine how neuroplasticity allows the healthy as well the impaired to benefit from cognitive training programs. We evaluate the evidence and consider whether brain training can be a stand-alone treatment or an adjunct to pharmacotherapy, outline promising future prospects, and highlight what training outcomes are plausible in line with available data. Future research would determine whether the field of brain training realizes its potential to revolutionize education and rehabilitation or withers away engulfed in controversy.     

Plasticity of brain and cognition in older adults

Aging is typically related to changes in brain and cognition, but the aging process is heterogeneous and differs between individuals. Recent research has started investigating the influence of cognitive and physical training on cognitive performance, functional brain activity, and brain structure in old age. The functional relevance of neural changes and the interactions among these changes following interventions is still a matter of debate. Here we selectively review research on structural and functional brain correlates of training-induced performance changes in healthy older adults and present exemplary longitudinal intervention studies sorted by the type of training applied (i.e., strategy-based training, process-specific training, and physical exercise). Although many training studies have been conducted recently, within each task domain, the number of studies that used comparable methods and techniques to assess behavioral and neural changes is limited. We suggest that future studies should include a multimodal approach to enhance the understanding of the relation between different levels of brain changes in aging and those changes that result from training. Investigating inter-individual differences in intervention-induced behavioral and neuronal changes would provide more information about who would benefit from a specific intervention and why. In addition, a more systematic examination of the time course of training-related structural and functional changes would improve the current level of knowledge about how learning is implemented in the brain and facilitate our understanding of contradictory results.     

Are there pre-existing neural, cognitive, or motoric markers for musical ability?

Adult musician's brains show structural enlargements, but it is not known whether these are inborn or a consequence of long-term training. In addition, music training in childhood has been shown to have positive effects on visual-spatial and verbal outcomes. However, it is not known whether pre-existing advantages in these skills are found in children who choose to study a musical instrument nor is it known whether there are pre-existing associations between music and any of these outcome measures that could help explain the training effects. To answer these questions, we compared 5- to 7-year-olds beginning piano or string lessons (n=39) with 5- to 7-year-olds not beginning instrumental training (n=31). All children received a series of tests (visual-spatial, non-verbal reasoning, verbal, motor, and musical) and underwent magnetic resonance imaging. We found no pre-existing neural, cognitive, motor, or musical differences between groups and no correlations (after correction for multiple analyses) between music perceptual skills and any brain or visual-spatial measures. However, correlations were found between music perceptual skills and both non-verbal reasoning and phonemic awareness. Such pre-existing correlations suggest similarities in auditory and visual pattern recognition as well a sharing of the neural substrates for language and music processing, most likely due to innate abilities or implicit learning during early development. This baseline study lays the groundwork for an ongoing longitudinal study addressing the effects of intensive musical training on brain and cognitive development, and making it possible to look retroactively at the brain and cognitive development of those children who emerge showing exceptional musical talent.     

第二语言学习与脑可塑性

脑可塑性指人脑会因为环境刺激、认知需求和行为经验而产生功能或结构改变。近10年来的单双语者对比和语言训练研究结果表明, 不论儿童、青年或老年人, 第二语言学习和使用都能改变其脑运行模式并带来相应结构变化, 包括灰质(GM)体积和白质(WM)密度增加, 且长期持续的双语经验还能形成认知优势, 帮助抵制由老化导致的负面认知影响。基于脑可塑性概念及其研究证据, 从双语经验与语言训练两方面, 对比分析了长期和短期第二语言学习引起脑功能或结构变化及其内在机制, 并对未来相关研究进行了展望。     

EVIDENCE FOR RELATIONAL-CODING IN CONCEPT FORMATION,AND A NOTE ON THE EFFECTS OF FEEDBACK*

The purpose of the present paper was to determine whether people encode relations among component features in experience, or whether they simply encode the occurrence of features separately as independent cues. This has become a major issue in theories of concept-formation at the present time. It is suggested in this paper that two problems have particularly obstructed a clear resolution of the issue. The first is a consistent failure to check to what extent training materials actually contain relations among features, before results are declared in favour of a particular model. The second is the use, hitherto, of only informal methods of analysing such relations, where they exist, and of predicting from them the structure of the concept. This paper describes an expression for measuring the overall relations among feature-variables in concept training materials. It also introduces a methodology, using log-linear models, for predicting concept structures on the basis of those relations. An experiment combined these methods to assess whether subjects abstracted relations among features, or whether they abstracted independent cues. A subsidiary aim was to assess how feedback, based on independent-cue information, during learning, affected the construction of the concept. The results came out strongly in favour of relational-coding and there was some evidence that feedback based on independent-cues retarded concept formation.     

Genetic Counseling Supervisors’ Self-Efficacy for Select Clinical Supervision Competencies

Supervision is a primary instructional vehicle for genetic counseling student clinical training. Approximately two-thirds of genetic counselors report teaching and education roles, which include supervisory roles. Recently, Eubanks Higgins and colleagues published the first comprehensive list of empirically-derived genetic counseling supervisor competencies. Studies have yet to evaluate whether supervisors possess these competencies and whether their competencies differ as a function of experience. This study investigated three research questions: (1) What are genetic counselor supervisors’ perceptions of their capabilities (self-efficacy) for a select group of supervisor competencies?, (2) Are there differences in self-efficacy as a function of their supervision experience or their genetic counseling experience, and 3) What training methods do they use and prefer to develop supervision skills? One-hundred thirty-one genetic counselor supervisors completed an anonymous online survey assessing demographics, self-efficacy (self-perceived capability) for 12 goal setting and 16 feedback competencies (Scale: 0–100), competencies that are personally challenging, and supervision training experiences and preferences (open-ended). A MANOVA revealed significant positive effects of supervision experience but not genetic counseling experience on participants’ self-efficacy. Although mean self-efficacy ratings were high (>83.7), participant comments revealed several challenging competencies (e.g., incorporating student’s report of feedback from previous supervisors into goal setting, and providing feedback about student behavior rather than personal traits). Commonly preferred supervision training methods included consultation with colleagues, peer discussion, and workshops/seminars.     

视频游戏对认知能力的影响及其神经基础

视频游戏是一类需要借助视听设备并基于一定剧情进行操作的游戏。先前研究大多关注暴力视频游戏对攻击等负面行为的影响,但本文着重探讨视频游戏对个体认知能力的积极影响及内在神经基础,以辩证看待视频游戏对个体心理和行为的作用。本文对前人研究归纳梳理发现,视频游戏训练能使个体认知能力得到持久改善,同时论述了视频游戏中脑神经基础和奖赏预期对认知能力的调控作用。未来研究应在规范视频游戏训练技术的基础上,用其干预靶脑区以提升个体特定脑功能。