Cytokines and memory across the mature life span of women

Increasing evidence suggests a role of the immune system in modulation of cognition, but details on affected memory systems are largely lacking. We therefore aimed to study the relation between selected cytokines and subsets of memory, and the impact of age in these relations. From a random population-based sample (the Betula Prospective Cohort Study), 298 women (age 45-90) were studied in terms of episodic recall and recognition, semantic fluency and knowledge, and prospective memory. Circulating cytokines of relevance for cognition and aging were measured with ELISA. Levels of interleukin (IL)-6 and sIL-2R were significantly and negatively associated with most cognitive variables, while the opposite was true for IL-1β. Age shared substantial variance with both cytokines and memory, and turned most correlations non-significant when controlled for together with education, BMI and presence of disease. Interactions between age and cytokines were further analyzed in multiple regressions. For IL-6, significant negative interactions with age were found for semantic fluency (p<0.05) and prospective memory (p<0.01), and for sIL-2R in predicting semantic knowledge (p<0.05), indicating an increased negative impact of these cytokines on memory with increasing age. In conclusion, the study indicates a relation between cytokines and memory that appears to be largely mediated by age, and supports the suggestion that cytokine dysregulation with higher age may interact with cognitive aging.     

Increasing stimulus intensity does not affect sensorimotor synchronization

When people synchronize taps with isochronously presented stimuli, taps usually precede the pacing stimuli [negative mean asynchrony (NMA)]. One explanation of NMA [sensory accumulation model (SAM), Aschersleben in Brain Cogn 48:66–79, 2002] is that more time is needed to generate a central code for kinesthetic-tactile information than for auditory or visual stimuli. The SAM predicts that raising the intensity of the pacing stimuli shortens the time for their sensory accumulation, thereby increasing NMA. This prediction was tested by asking participants to synchronize finger force pulses with target isochronous stimuli with various intensities. In addition, participants performed a simple reaction-time task, for comparison. Higher intensity led to shorter reaction times. However, intensity manipulation did not affect NMA in the synchronization task. This finding is not consistent with the predictions based on the SAM. Discrepancies in sensitivity to stimulus intensity between sensorimotor synchronization and reaction-time tasks point to the involvement of different timing mechanisms in these two tasks.     

Cognitive-behavioural health-promotion intervention increases fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity among South African adolescents: a cluster-randomised controlled trial

Rates of chronic diseases are high among Black South Africans but few studies have tested cognitive-behavioural health-promotion interventions to reduce this problem. We tested the efficacy of such an intervention among adolescents in a cluster-randomised controlled trial. We randomly selected 9 of 17 matched pairs of schools and randomised one school in each pair to the cognitive-behavioural health-promotion intervention designed to encourage health-related behaviours and the other to a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/sexually transmitted disease (STD) risk-reduction intervention that served as the control. Interventions were based on social cognitive theory, the theory of planned behaviour and qualitative data from the target population. Data collectors, blind to participants' intervention, administered confidential assessments at baseline and 3, 6 and 12 months post-intervention. Primary outcomes were fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity. Participants were 1057 grade 6 learners (mean age = 12.4 years), with 96.7% retained at 12-month follow-up. Generalised estimating equations revealed that averaged over the follow-ups, a greater percentage of health-promotion intervention participants than HIV/STD control participants met 5-a-Day fruit and vegetable and physical activity guidelines. The intervention also increased health-promotion knowledge, attitude and intention, but did not decrease substance use or substance-use attitude and intention. The findings suggest that theory based and contextually appropriate interventions may increase health behaviours among young adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa.     

A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Say Yes to Life (SYTL) Positive Psychology Group Psychotherapy Program for Depression: An Interim Report

An RCT was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the Say Yes to Life (SYTL) positive psychology group psychotherapy program compared with treatment as usual (TAU). The current interim report is based on data from the first 82 cases recruited into the trial. There were 57 trial completers at post-treatment. At pretreatment on demographic and clinical variables, there were no significant differences between trial completers and dropouts in SYTL and TAU groups. There were two main significant (p < .01) findings. Compared with TAU treatment-completers, more than twice as many SYTL treatment-completers (28 vs. 72 %) were recovered 3 months after therapy using stringent recovery criteria (no longer meeting DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder and scoring below clinical cut-off scores on the Beck Depression Inventory II, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, and the Montgomery–Asberg Depression Rating Scale and showing reliable change on these three measures of depressive symptom severity). Second, the overall average service use cost per case in the SYTL group was significantly lower than that of the TAU group (€726 vs.€1187). This was largely due to the lower cost of the SYTL group therapy program compared with TAU which involved individual therapy. The pattern of results in an intention-to-treat analysis was similar to that in the completer analysis, though group difference did not reach significance due to inadequate statistical power and conservative missing data imputation procedures. It is planned to collect data on 100 trial completers, based on a power analysis.     

Effect of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Combined With Virtual Reality Training on Balance in Children With Cerebral Palsy: A Randomized,Controlled, Double-Blind,Clinical Trial

The authors' aim was to investigate the effects of continuous transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) combined with virtual reality training on static and functional balance in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Twenty children with CP (6 girls and 14 boys; M age = 7 years 6 months ± 2 years) were randomly allocated to two groups. The experimental group received active tDCS and the control group received sham stimulation during the 10 sessions of virtual reality mobility training protocols. The children were evaluated on 3 occasions (preintervention, postintervention, and 1-month follow-up). Static balance was evaluated using a force plate under 4 conditions: feet on force plate with (a) eyes open and (b) with eyes closed, and feet on foam mat with (c) eyes open and (d) with eyes closed. Functional balance was evaluated using the Pediatric Balance Scale and the Timed Up and Go Test. The analyses demonstrated statistically significant postintervention and follow-up effects favoring the experimental group over the control group with regard to the Pediatric Balance Scale, Timed Up and Go Test, and area of oscillation of the center of pressure when standing on the force plate with eyes open. The present findings suggest that tDCS can potentiate the effects of virtual reality training on static and functional balance among children with CP.     

Diversity’s harvest: Interactions of diversity sources and communication technology on creative group performance

Our research is based on arguments that three different diversity sources in groups – agreeableness, openness, and ethnicity – might simultaneously possess separation properties that result in social categorization and variety properties that provide non-redundant and value-adding information resources. To help understand how these diversity sources interact with the additive and reductive features of communication technology to impact group creativity, we designed two studies involving computer mediation, nominal group technique, and face-to-face (control) communication. Our findings suggest that agreeableness, openness, and ethic diversity possess both negative separation and positive variety properties. Whereas the separation properties of all three diversity sources, as well as the variety properties of openness diversity, are evident in newly-formed groups, the variety properties of agreeableness and ethnic diversity are only manifest in mature groups. Finally, the additive and reductive features of communication technology interact with all three diversity sources to impact creative group performance in different ways.     

Multiple citizenship and naturalization: An evaluation of German and Dutch policies

In many countries the trend has been toward greater acceptance of multiple citizenship and more naturalizations of immigrants. This article analyses and compares developments in Germany and the Netherlands. Central questions are how policies toward dual citizenship have developed and to what extent these policies have influenced naturalization rates. The far-reaching toleration of dual citizenship in the Netherlands in the 1990s resulted in high naturalization rates. However, there were large differences between immigrant groups. Similar differences are found in Germany. Multiple citizenship carries little importance for European Union (EU) citizens, who feel no need to naturalize, and for refugees, who have no desire to retain the citizenship of their country of origin.     

The effect of reinforcement probability on time discrimination in the midsession reversal task

We examined how biasing time perception affects choice in a midsession reversal task. Given a simultaneous discrimination between stimuli S1 and S2, with choices of S1 reinforced during the first, but not the second half of the trials, and choices of S2 reinforced during the second, but not the first half of the trials, pigeons show anticipation errors (premature choices of S2) and perseveration errors (belated choices of S1). This suggests that choice depends on timing processes, on predicting when the contingency reverses based on session duration. We exposed 7 pigeons to a midsession reversal task and manipulated the reinforcement rate on each half of the session. Compared to equal reinforcement rates on both halves of the session, when the reinforcement rate on the first half was lower than on the second half, performance showed more anticipation and less perseveration errors, and when the reinforcement rate on the first half was higher than on the second half, performance showed a remarkable reduction of both types of errors. These results suggest that choice depends on both time into the session and the outcome of previous trials. They also challenge current models of timing to integrate local effects.     

Mr. Grimace or Ms. Smile: does categorization affect perceptual processing in autism?

This study compared the influence of categorization on perceptual processing in adults with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and normal control participants. Participants were asked to categorize hybrid faces (composed of two overlapped faces of different spatial bandwidths) by gender and emotion. Control participants exhibited a bias for low-pass information during gender categorization and a bias for high-pass information during emotion categorization. By contrast, adults with ASD showed the same low-pass bias in both tasks. This absence of a shift in processing style in the ASD group is discussed in terms of diminished top-down modulation in autism.