解读今天的“膜拜”——其背后的隐藏与折射

21世纪第一个10年过去了。膜拜团体、宗教异端和他们“超凡能力”教主20多年前制造的光怪陆离的故事淡出了人们的视线．那些令人唏嘘的脸庞、痛苦扭曲的身体、悲痛惨绝的事件也渐渐被人遗忘。远离了烽火硝烟,穿越地域和时空,听听社会科学工作者研究和解读“膜拜”．丰富我们的认知和阅历．在纷纭复杂的环境中健康生活,善待自己和家人．     

Awareness and Preferences Regarding <Emphasis Type="Italic">BRCA1/2</Emphasis> Genetic Counseling and Testing Among Latinas and Non-Latina White Women at Increased Risk for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer

This study was an investigation of awareness, cognitions, and psychosocial and educational needs related to genetic counseling and testing among Latinas and non-Latina whites at increased risk for having a BRCA1/2 mutation. Sixty-three Latina and eighty-four non-Latina white women completed telephone surveys employing a mixture of quantitative and qualitative questions assessing awareness, benefits, risks, barriers, and genetic counseling communication preferences regarding BRCA1/2 testing. Among participants who had not previously had genetic counseling/testing, 56.9% of Latinas (29/51) and 34.8% of non-Latina white participants (24/69) were unaware of the availability of BRCA1/2 testing. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, Latina ethnicity was the only statistically significant independent factor associated with lack of awareness (OR = 0.42; 95% CI = 0.19–0.35). No appreciable differences were noted between ethnic groups regarding perceived benefits of BRCA1/2 testing or desired genetic counseling topics. These findings underscore the importance of increasing awareness of cancer genetic counseling and genetic testing among both Latina and non-Latina white populations.     

In-Home Training for Fathers of Children with Autism: A Follow up Study and Evaluation of Four Individual Training Components

Literature regarding fathers of children with autism remains sparse, and because mothers are the more common intervening parent, few training methods have focused on fathers. Thus, we sought to evaluate effects of in-home training directed at fathers and their ability to train mothers in the same manner in which they were trained. Fathers were taught four skills commonly associated with in-home training interventions for parents of children with autism: following the child’s lead, imitation with animation, commenting on the child, and expectant waiting. Father skills were evaluated twice a week for 12 weeks during videotaped in-home father–child play sessions. Analyses included visual inspection of graphed data and statistical analyses of father skill acquisition, mother skill acquisition, and child behaviors with both parents. A multivariate repeated measures analysis of 18 dyads revealed significant increases in frequencies of fathers’ imitation with animation, expectant waiting, and commenting on the child. Child initiating rates increased significantly as did frequencies of child non-speech vocalizations. Analysis of mothers revealed significant increases in frequencies of imitation with animation, expectant waiting, and following the child’s lead. Child behaviors had similar results for father and mother sessions. Findings are consistent with those from our first study indicating that fathers can effectively implement skills that promote father–child social interactions and that children respond positively to this approach.     

The Alpha-1 Association Genetic Counseling Program: An Innovative Approach to Service

In an era of specialty medicine, genetic counselors are becoming increasingly focused in their service provision. The Alpha-1 Association Genetic Counseling Program, established in September 2007, specializes in confidential toll-free genetic counseling provided by a certified genetic counselor for Alpha-1 Antitrypsin deficiency, a co-dominant condition associated with lung and/or liver disease. The program received more than 600 callers in its first 2 years. Sixty-seven percent of new callers were family members, carriers, or health professionals. The number of callers increased between the first 2 years, with the greatest increases being family members and health professionals. Testing options and explanation of results encompassed 60% of initial reasons for calls. Seventy-two percent of referrals came from family and friends, test result letters, and the Alpha-1 Association. Between year 1 and 2 family member referrals showed the largest increase. This disease-specific genetic counseling program provides a model that may be useful for other rare disease communities.     

Bidirectional plasticity in striatonigral synapses: a switch to balance direct and indirect basal ganglia pathways

There is no hypothesis to explain how direct and indirect basal ganglia (BG) pathways interact to reach a balance during the learning of motor procedures. Both pathways converge in the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr) carrying the result of striatal processing. Unfortunately, the mechanisms that regulate synaptic plasticity in striatonigral (direct pathway) synapses are not known. Here, we used electrophysiological techniques to describe dopamine D(1)-receptor-mediated facilitation in striatonigral synapses in the context of its interaction with glutamatergic inputs, probably coming from the subthalamic nucleus (STN) (indirect pathway) and describe a striatonigral cannabinoid-dependent long-term synaptic depression (LTD). It is shown that striatonigral afferents exhibit D(1)-receptor-mediated facilitation of synaptic transmission when NMDA receptors are inactive, a phenomenon that changes to cannabinoid-dependent LTD when NMDA receptors are active. This interaction makes SNr neurons become coincidence-detector switching ports: When inactive, NMDA receptors lead to a dopamine-dependent enhancement of direct pathway output, theoretically facilitating movement. When active, NMDA receptors result in LTD of the same synapses, thus decreasing movement. We propose that SNr neurons, working as logical gates, tune the motor system to establish a balance between both BG pathways, enabling the system to choose appropriate synergies for movement learning and postural support.     

Habitual reading biases in the allocation of study time

Item order can bias learners’ study decisions and undermine the use of more effective allocation strategies, such as allocating study time to items in one’s region of proximal learning. In two experiments, we evaluated whether the influence of item order on study decisions reflects habitual responding based on a reading bias. We manipulated the order in which relatively easy, moderately difficult, and difficult items were presented from left to right on a computer screen and examined selection preference as a function of item order and item difficulty. Experiment 1a was conducted with native Arabic readers and in Arabic, and Experiment 1b was conducted with native English readers and in English. Students from both cultures prioritized items for study in the reading order of their native language: Arabic readers selected items for study in a right-to-left fashion, whereas English readers largely selected items from left to right. In Experiment 2, native English readers completed the same task as participants in Experiment 1b, but for some participants, lines of text were rotated upside down to encourage them to read from right to left. Participants who read upside-down text were more likely to first select items on the right side of an array than were participants who studied right-side-up text. These results indicate that reading habits can bias learners’ study decisions and can undermine agenda-based regulation.     

Fibroblast growth factor-2 alters the nature of extinction

These experiments examined the effects of the NMDA-receptor (NMDAr) antagonist MK801 on reacquisition and re-extinction of a conditioned fear that had been previously extinguished before injection of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2) or vehicle. Recent findings have shown that relearning and re-extinction, unlike initial learning and extinction, do not depend on NMDAr activation. Three experiments demonstrated that FGF2 prevents the switch from NMDAr-dependent to NMDAr-independent reacquisition and re-extinction, suggesting that FGF2 may lead to the partial erasure of the original fear memory. These findings add to a growing body of work suggesting that FGF2 may be a novel pharmacological enhancer of exposure therapy for humans with anxiety disorders.     

Does scene context always facilitate retrieval of visual object representations?

An object-to-scene binding hypothesis maintains that visual object representations are stored as part of a larger scene representation or scene context, and that scene context facilitates retrieval of object representations (see, e.g., Hollingworth, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 32, 58-69, 2006). Support for this hypothesis comes from data using an intentional memory task. In the present study, we examined whether scene context always facilitates retrieval of visual object representations. In two experiments, we investigated whether the scene context facilitates retrieval of object representations, using a new paradigm in which a memory task is appended to a repeated-flicker change detection task. Results indicated that in normal scene viewing, in which many simultaneous objects appear, scene context facilitation of the retrieval of object representations-henceforth termed object-to-scene binding-occurred only when the observer was required to retain much information for a task (i.e., an intentional memory task).     

A mechanism for the formation of hippocampal neuronal firing patterns that represent what happens where

The association of specific events with the context in which they occur is a fundamental feature of episodic memory. However, the underlying network mechanisms generating what-where associations are poorly understood. Recently we reported that some hippocampal principal neurons develop representations of specific events occurring in particular locations (item-position cells). Here, we investigate the emergence of item-position selectivity as rats learn new associations for reward and find that before the animal's performance rises above chance in the task, neurons that will later become item-position cells have a strong selective bias toward one of two behavioral responses, which the animal will subsequently make to that stimulus. This response bias results in an asymmetry of neural activity on correct and error trials that could drive the emergence of particular item specificities based on a simple reward-driven synaptic plasticity mechanism.