Does simile comprehension differ from metaphor comprehension? A functional MRI study

Since Aristotle, people have believed that metaphors and similes express the same type of figurative meaning, despite the fact that they are expressed with different sentence patterns. In contrast, recent psycholinguistic models have suggested that metaphors and similes may promote different comprehension processes. In this study, we investigated the neural substrates involved in the comprehension of metaphor and simile using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to evaluate whether simile comprehension differs from metaphor comprehension or not. In the metaphor and simile sentence conditions, higher activation was seen in the left inferior frontal gyrus. This result suggests that the activation in both metaphor and simile conditions indicates similar patterns in the left frontal region. The results also suggest that similes elicit higher levels of activation in the medial frontal region which might be related to inference processes, whereas metaphors elicit more right-sided prefrontal activation which might be related to figurative language comprehension.     

The multidimensional nature of hyperspeech: Evidence from Japanese vowel devoicing

We investigate the hypothesis that infant-directed speech is a form of hyperspeech, optimized for intelligibility, by focusing on vowel devoicing in Japanese. Using a corpus of infant-directed and adult-directed Japanese, we show that speakers implement high vowel devoicing less often when speaking to infants than when speaking to adults, consistent with the hyperspeech hypothesis. The same speakers, however, increase vowel devoicing in careful, read speech, a speech style which might be expected to pattern similarly to infant-directed speech. We argue that both infant-directed and read speech can be considered listener-oriented speech styles—each is optimized for the specific needs of its intended listener. We further show that in non-high vowels, this trend is reversed: speakers devoice more often in infant-directed speech and less often in read speech, suggesting that devoicing in the two types of vowels is driven by separate mechanisms in Japanese.     

Why theatre-based research works? Psychological theories from behind the curtain

While many scholars have demonstrated the effectiveness of theatre-based knowledge mobilization, fewer studies have examined its psychological dimensions. This article examines some psychological theories that may account for the success behind theatre-based knowledge mobilization. Drawing from the Canadian Experience Project, a study about the labor market challenges of skilled immigrant workers, we show how theatre-based research dissemination efforts attempt to achieve optimal stress by using aesthetic distance processes. We maintain that this psychological capacity to attune to audience members, especially evident in forum theatre, makes theatre a particularly effective means for knowledge mobilization.     

Transient Effects of Gaze Stability Exercises on Postural Stability in Patients With Posterior Circulation Stroke

The authors sought to investigate if short-term gaze stability exercises have an effect on postural stability of dynamic standing during neck movement in patients with posterior circulation stroke (PCS). Patients in both PCS and non-PCS groups were assigned to either an intervention or control group. The intervention group performed the gaze stability exercises for 10 min while the control group was merely resting. The center of pressure velocity was calculated to evaluate the postural stability. After intervention, PCS and non-PCS showed a significant reduction in center of pressure velocity during dynamic standing with eyes closed condition, and the PCS group showed a significant improvement in eye-opened condition. This study indicated that gaze stability exercises improve PCS patients' postural control, especially during dynamic standing.     

Reducing Implicit Stigmatizing Beliefs and Attitudes Toward Depression by Promoting Counterstereotypic Exemplars

Stigma prevents people with depression from seeking professional help, and effective strategies to reduce implicit stigmatizing beliefs and attitudes toward depression are needed. We developed stepwise strategies to promote counterstereotypic exemplars of people with depression and conducted an experiment (N?=?105) with a pretest–posttest control group design to examine effects of these strategies. Our results showed that implicit stigmatizing beliefs and attitudes were reduced more in the experimental group, in which the counterstereotypic strategies were implemented in addition to the provision of education regarding basic knowledge of depression, than in the control group, which received only education.     

Informed consent revisited: Japan and the U.S

Informed consent, decision-making styles and the role of patient-physician relationships are imperative aspects of clinical medicine worldwide. We present the case of a 74-year-old woman afflicted with advanced liver cancer whose attending physician, per request of the family, did not inform her of her true diagnosis. In our analysis, we explore the differences in informed-consent styles between patients who hold an "independent" and "interdependent" construal of the self and then highlight the possible implications maintained by this position in the context of international clinical ethics. Finally, we discuss the need to reassess informed-consent styles suitable to the needs of each patient regardless of whether he or she resides in the United States or in Japan.     

Individual differences in second-language proficiency: does musical ability matter?

This study examined the relation between musical ability and second-language (L2) proficiency in adult learners. L2 ability was assessed in four domains: receptive phonology, productive phonology, syntax, and lexical knowledge. Also assessed were various other factors that might explain individual differences in L2 ability, including age of L2 immersion, patterns of language use and exposure, and phonological short-term memory. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to determine if musical ability explained any unique variance in each domain of L2 ability after controlling for other relevant factors. Musical ability predicted L2 phonological ability (both receptive and productive) even when controlling for other factors, but did not explain unique variance in L2 syntax or lexical knowledge. These results suggest that musical skills may facilitate the acquisition of L2 sound structure and add to a growing body of evidence linking language and music.     

Premovement facilitation of corticospinal excitability before simple and sequential movement

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether premovement facilitation of corticospinal excitability before sequential movement was different from that before simple movement. Each of 7 participants who performed choice reaction tasks with the right hand pressed a force transducer with the index finger in response to a start cue or pressed the transducers sequentially with the index finger, little finger, thumb, little finger, and index finger. Transcranial magnetic stimulation was delivered to the left motor cortex before the electromyographic burst in the first dorsal interosseous muscle and motor evoked potentials were recorded from the first dorsal interosseous muscle. The amplitude of the motor-evoked potential increased as its onset got closer to the onset of the electromyographic burst. The increase before the sequential movement was larger and began earlier than that before the simple movement. These findings indicate that premovement facilitation of corticospinal excitability is different in magnitude and timing between sequential and simple movements.     

Discordance in Recovery Between Altered Locomotion and Muscle Atrophy Induced by Simulated Microgravity in Rats

Exposure to a microgravity environment leads to adverse effects in motion and musculoskeletal properties. However, few studies have investigated the recovery of altered locomotion and muscle atrophy simultaneously. The authors investigated altered locomotion in rats submitted to simulated microgravity by hindlimb unloading for 2 weeks. Motion deficits were characterized by hyperextension of the knees and ankle joints and forward-shifted limb motion. Furthermore, these locomotor deficits did not revert to their original form after a 2-week recovery period, although muscle atrophy in the hindlimbs had recovered, implying discordance in recovery between altered locomotion and muscle atrophy, and that other factors such as neural drives might control behavioral adaptations to microgravity.