Glucocorticoid-mediated effects of systemic oxytocin upon memory retrieval

During the last decade, a considerable amount of evidence has accumulated to show that oxytocin (OT) is involved with functions other than its classical roles in reproduction-associated processes, such as social recognition, maternal behavior and neuroendocrine regulation of the stress response. It has been shown, for instance, that post-training systemic administration of oxytocin in mice produces an amnestic effect on the step-through inhibitory avoidance. Since it is still unclear how systemic levels of OT may affect CNS memory processes, our aim here was to investigate the hypothesis that systemic OT effects on memory retrieval might be mediated through an oxytocin-induced decrease in glucocorticoid release. In our first experiment, we have found an amnestic effect of i.p. pre-test 0.4 microg/kg of OT upon memory retrieval in the inhibitory avoidance task (IA); this OT dose was shown to (a) significantly decrease plasma corticosterone levels when compared to the saline group, and (b) not to cause any anxiety effects by itself in a plus-maze task. At last, an ineffective-by-itself dose of dexamethasone was able to reverse the amnestic effect of this OT dose. Our results suggest that the amnestic effect of systemically administered oxytocin upon memory retrieval in the inhibitory avoidance task was probably caused by an oxytocin-induced decrease in glucocorticoid release from the adrenal gland.     

Modeling Information Content Via Dirichlet-Multinomial Regression Analysis

Shannon entropy is being increasingly used in biomedical research as an index of complexity and information content in sequences of symbols, e.g. languages, amino acid sequences, DNA methylation patterns and animal vocalizations. Yet, distributional properties of information entropy as a random variable have seldom been the object of study, leading to researchers mainly using linear models or simulation-based analytical approach to assess differences in information content, when entropy is measured repeatedly in different experimental conditions. Here a method to perform inference on entropy in such conditions is proposed. Building on results coming from studies in the field of Bayesian entropy estimation, a symmetric Dirichlet-multinomial regression model, able to deal efficiently with the issue of mean entropy estimation, is formulated. Through a simulation study the model is shown to outperform linear modeling in a vast range of scenarios and to have promising statistical properties. As a practical example, the method is applied to a data set coming from a real experiment on animal communication.     

Cognitive behavioral therapy in practice: therapist perceptions of techniques,outcome measures,practitioner qualifications,and relation to research

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has a strong evidence base for several psychiatric disorders, however, it may be argued that currently there is no overall agreement on what counts as ‘CBT’. One reason is that CBT is commonly perceived as encompassing a broad range of treatments, from purely cognitive to purely behavioral, making it difficult to arrive at a clear definition. The purpose of the present study was to explore practicing therapists’ perceptions of CBT. Three hundred fifty members of two multi-disciplinary interest groups for CBT in Sweden participated. Mean age was 46 years, 68% were females, 63% psychologists and mean number of years of professional experience was 12 years. Participants completed a web-based survey including items covering various aspects of CBT practice. Overall, therapist perceptions of the extent to which different treatment techniques and procedures were consistent with CBT were in line with current evidence-based CBT protocols and practice guidelines, as were therapists’ application of the techniques and procedures in their own practice. A majority of participants (78%) agreed that quality of life or level of functioning were the most important outcome measures for evaluating treatment success. Eighty percent of therapists believed that training in CBT at a basic level was a requirement for practicing CBT. There was a medium size Spearman correlation of r_s=.46 between the perceived importance of research to practice and the extent to which participants kept themselves updated on research. Implications for training, quality assurance, and the effectiveness of CBT in clinical practice are discussed.     

Can small lesions induce language reorganization as large lesions do?

Shift of the cortical mechanisms of language from the usually dominant left to the non-dominant right hemisphere has been demonstrated in the presence of large brain lesions. Here, we report a similar phenomenon in a patient with a cavernoma over the anterolateral superior temporal gyrus associated with epilepsy. Language mapping was performed by two complementary procedures, magnetoencephalography, and electrocorticography. The maps, indicated right temporal lobe dominance for receptive language and left frontal lobe dominance for expressive language. These results indicate that a small lesion, associated with epilepsy, may produce selective shifting of receptive language mechanisms as large lesions have been known to produce.     

Attitude to primary prevention advice of the European Code against cancer in relatives of cancer patients: implications for the development of preventive programmes

Achieving a preventive attitude is the first step in eliminating cancer risk behaviours. This cross-sectional study evaluated the attitude towards the European Code against Cancer, in 3,031 relatives of cancer patients. The study looked for keys to improve attitude by means of educational interventions. Attitude was evaluated using a questionnaire with 63 items and a Likert's scale. Measured from -2 to +2 , the mean score was 0.905 [0.894 - 0.971]. Five per cent had a mean score under 0.38 and another 5% over 1.46. A multivariate analysis found that age, sex and level of education were significantly associated with attitude: young men with a low cultural level were those with the lowest preventive attitude. The family history of cancer was not associated with attitude. Educational interventions should modify the perceived advantages of smoking and drinking, and the disadvantages related to preventive diet and sun and workplace protection.     

A theory of sulcal-gap signalization

Two sulcal-gap signalization systems are hypothesized to have evolved as emergent functional "exaptations" having the capacity to transmit two-way cortex-to-cortex signals across tissues embedded in opposing sulcal banks. Hypothesis 1 posits that a primary sulcal-gap signalization system evolved the capacity to transmit nonlanguage signals within hierarchically lower-order sensory, motor, and perceptual functional areas of the neocortex having elemental functional units consisting of columns of about 110 neurons. Hypothesis 2 posits that a secondary sulcal-gap signalization system evolved the capacity to transmit language signals within hierarchically higher-order cognitive functional areas of the "neo-neocortex" having elemental functional units consisting of modules of about 4,000 neurons. Neuroanatomical, neurophysiological neuroevolutionary, and neurodevelopmental evidence is presented in support of these two sulcal-gap hypotheses. It is speculated that the combined cognitive capacities of these two sulcal-gap signalization systems may contribute to the transduction of physiological brain into psychological mind.     

The relationships between morningness-eveningness, ageing and personality

In an attempt to study the relationship between ageing and personality and the morningness-eveningness dimension two experiments were carried out. In experiment I, an Italian version of the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) was administered to 435 Ss ranging in age from 20 to 79 yr, and divided in to six age groups. In comparison with younger people older S tended to display greater Morningness-Eveningness scores. These results suggest that ageing relates to a shifting toward morningness. In Experiment II the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and the MEQ were administered to 233 Ss (20–29 yr). Morning-types had significantly higher N scores and tended to be insignificantly more introverted. Evening-types had significantly higher N scores and tended to be insignificantly more extraverted. The present findings are consistent with reports of a tendency for morning-types to be introverted and for evening-types extraverted. However, they do provide some evidence of individual differences on the neuroticism and psychoticism dimensions of personality between the two diurnal types.