Critical role of nitric oxide-cGMP cascade in the formation of cAMP-dependent long-term memory

Cyclic AMP pathway plays an essential role in formation of long-term memory (LTM). In some species, the nitric oxide (NO)-cyclic GMP pathway has been found to act in parallel and complementary to the cAMP pathway for LTM formation. Here we describe a new role of the NO-cGMP pathway, namely, stimulation of the cAMP pathway to induce LTM. We have studied the signaling cascade underlying LTM formation by systematically coinjecting various "LTM-inducing" and "LTM-blocking" drugs in crickets. Multiple-trial olfactory conditioning led to LTM that lasted for several days, while memory induced by single-trial conditioning decayed away within several hours. Injection of inhibitors of the enzyme forming NO, cGMP, or cAMP into the hemolymph prior to multiple-trial conditioning blocked LTM, whereas injection of an NO donor, cGMP analog, or cAMP analog prior to single-trial conditioning induced LTM. Induction of LTM by injection of an NO donor or cGMP analog paired with single-trial conditioning was blocked by inhibitors of the cAMP pathway, but induction of LTM by a cAMP analog was unaffected by inhibitors of the NO-cGMP pathway. Inhibitors of cyclic nucleotide-gated channel (CNG channel) or calmodulin-blocked induction of LTM by cGMP analog paired with single-trial conditioning, but they did not affect induction of LTM by cAMP analog. Our findings suggest that the cAMP pathway is a downstream target of the NO-cGMP pathway for the formation of LTM, and that the CNG channel and calcium-calmodulin intervene between the NO-cGMP pathway and the cAMP pathway.     

Perceptibility of body position in anteroposterior direction while standing with eyes closed.

The perception of body position in the anteroposterior direction was investigated by evaluating the reproducibility of the position from a quiet standing posture to forward or backward leaning posture with eyes closed. The subjects were 10 healthy male undergraduates, aged 20 to 28 years. The standing position was represented by the pressure center of the foot, which was shown by the relative distance (%) from the heel to the length of the foot. The reference positions of the pressure center of the foot were set at 10% increments from 20 to 80% of the length of the foot. The subjects attempted to reproduce each reference position 10 times, and the absolute and constant errors of the reproduced position were analyzed. The absolute errors at reference positions of 30 to 60% were distinctly larger than those at the other reference positions. This indicated that the perception of standing positions from 30 to 60% was less accurate. The constant errors at the reference positions of 40 to 60% were significantly positive, which meant that the reproduced position was located farther forward than the reference position.     

Should We Aim to Create a Perfect Healthy Utopia? Discussions of Ethical Issues Surrounding the World of Project Itoh’s Harmony

Science and Engineering Ethics - To consider whether or not we should aim to create a perfect healthy utopia on Earth, we focus on the SF novel Harmony (2008), written by Japanese writer Project...     

Correlations for Adolescent Resilience Scale with big five personality traits

Currently, individuals tend to encounter many unavoidable, painful events and hardships in the process of growth and development. To lead one's life adapting to these social conditions, it is necessary to maintain one's mental health even while experiencing challenging events; in other words, resilience is required. This study of 130 undergraduates focused on the Adolescent Resilience Scale which assesses capacity for successful adaptation despite challenging or threatening circumstances and examined correlations with scores on the Big Five Personality Inventory. A significant negative correlation of -.59 (p<.001) was noted for scores on the Adolescent Resilience Scale and the Neuroticism dimension of the Big Five Personality Inventory, accounting for 35% of the variance, and positive values with the Extraversion, Openness, and Conscientiousness dimensions (rs= .37, .40, .48, accounting for 14, 16, and 18% of the variance, respectively. Personalities of adolescents who have psychological traits leading to resilience may be partially predicted using these results.     

A cross‐cultural study of environmental belief structures in USA,Japan, Mexico,and Peru

Throughout history, the way in which people conceive nature/human relationships has dramatically changed, and different cultures also have divergent notions regarding the role humans play in nature. In Western societies a “new environmental paradigm” (NEP) of ecological nature has apparently replaced the old “human exception paradigm” (HEP), which conceives of humans as being superior and apart from nature. Previous research has shown that, in those societies, a marked dichotomy exist between these two apparently contradictory paradigms, meaning that people who accept the NEP reject the HEP. Countries other than Western ones also exhibit a bias towards the ecological paradigm; however, their world‐views are not necessarily dualistic, since they may adhere to the NEP and, simultaneously, believe that human beings are “special.” This study compares world‐views in four different countries. Responses of 1358 undergraduates from USA, Japan, Mexico, and Peru to the HEP and the NEP scale were analysed to see if they confirmed three factors previously found: (1) a vision of separation from nature (HEP), (2) a necessary “balance” between human needs and nature preservation, and (3) the need to impose “limits” on the human impact on nature. This trifactorial structure was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. USA students exhibited two dimensions (HEP‐NEP) and the other samples showed the expected three factors, although they intercorrelated differentially, depending on the national sample. In all samples “balance” and “limits” were positively correlated. In the Peruvian and Japanese samples the HEP and “balance” were negatively correlated while the USA sample produced a negative covariance between HEP and NEP. In the Japanese sample HEP and “limits” were uncorrelated but in Peru these factors covaried negatively, while in the Mexican sample they were positively correlated. The HEP‐NEP two‐factor structure would seem to be limited to Western nations. More countries need to be measured.     

Schizotypal personality traits and atypical lateralization in motor and language functions

Atypical cerebral lateralization in motor and language functions in regard to schizotypal personality traits in healthy populations, as well as among schizophrenic patients, has attracted attention because these traits may represent a risk factor for schizophrenia. Although the relationship between handedness and schizotypal personality has been widely examined, few studies have adopted an experimental approach. This study consisted of three experiments focusing on motor and language functional lateralization in regard to schizotypal personality in the absence of mental illness: line-drawing, finger tapping, and a semantic go/no-go task. The results suggested that positive schizotypal personality might be related to functional non-lateralization in regard to at least some functions (e.g., spatial motor control and semantic processing in the present study). Subjects with high schizotypal personality traits performed equally with their right and left-hands in the line-drawing task and they reacted equally with their right and left-hands in a semantic go/no-go task involving semantic auditory stimuli presented in both ears. However, those low in schizotypal personality traits showed typical lateralization in response to these tasks. We discuss the implications of these findings for schizotypal atypical lateralization.     

Starting position of movement and perception of angle of trunk flexion while standing with eyes closed.

The present study attempted to investigate the effect of position on the perception of angle of trunk flexion while standing. For this purpose, the range effect was factored out by setting the constant target angle at 10 degrees, with varied starting positions of trunk flexion. We found that subjects underestimated angle of trunk flexion when the starting position was close to a quiet standing posture, overestimated when close to maximum trunk flexion, and correctly perceived it when at the middle position. Less perceptual distortion was observed at the positions close to maximum trunk flexion in the present study than in our previous one, in which various target angles of trunk flexion were reproduced from a quiet standing posture. The reduced distortion in the present study was believed to have resulted from factoring out the range effect. The flexion angle of the hip joint changed in tandem with that of the trunk, while very little movement was observed in the ankle, knee, and neck joints. Judging from the changing pattern of hip-joint angle, the muscle activity of the erector spinae and biceps femoris increased gradually to 90 degrees trunk flexion. In contrast, the actual increment of muscle activity reached zero or a minimum value at the middle angles as the angle of trunk flexion increased. It was assumed that the abrupt change in kinesthetic information associated with muscle activity exerted a great influence on the perception of trunk flexion.     

The genetic structure of Cloninger's seven-factor model of temperament and character in a Japanese sample

Theoretical assumptions regarding the genetic and environmental structure of personality proposed in Cloninger's seven-factor model of temperament and character were verified in a Japanese sample by using the twin method. The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) was administered to 296 twin pairs ranging in age from 14 to 28 years old. Among four temperament dimensions (novelty seeking [NS], harm avoidance [HA], reward dependence [RD], and persistence [PS]), HA and PS showed significant additive genetic contributions and no shared environmental effect, supporting the original theoretical assumption. NS and RD could be explained by either genetic or shared environmental factors with nonshared environment. All three character dimensions (cooperativeness [CO], self-directedness [SD], and self-transcendence [ST]) could be explained exclusively by additive contributions and no shared environmental effect. Multivariate genetic analysis indicated that there were no significant associations between NS, HA, and RD, as the theory predicts, and the genetic components of PS, SD, and CO were derived from those of the temperament dimensions. The fourth genetic component, which had a substantial load specifically on ST and overlapped with PS, was identified. Although most of the nonshared environmental effects were trait-specific, the phenotypic correlation between NS and HA could be explained by nonshared environmental overlap.     

How do tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) understand causality involved in tool use?

Four tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) were trained to choose from 2 hook-like tools, 1 of which successfully led to collecting food, whereas the other did not because of inappropriate spatial arrangement of the tool and the food. In Experiment 1, all of the monkeys successfully learned the basic task. The monkeys performed successfully with tools of novel colors and shapes in Experiments 2-5. These results demonstrate that the monkeys used the spatial arrangement of the tool and the food as a cue. However, they failed when there were obstacles (Experiment 6) or traps (Experiment 7) on the path along which the monkeys dragged tools. These results may suggest that capuchin monkeys understand the spatial relationship between 2 items, namely, food and the tool, but do not understand the spatial relationship among 3 items, namely, food, tool, and the environmental condition. The possible role of stimulus generalization is also considered.     

Perceptibility of large and sequential changes in somatosensory information during leaning forward and backward when standing

11 healthy young men served as subjects in two experiments on perceptibility of (1) large changes in foot pressure and muscle activity induced by body leaning and (2) sequential changes in pressure at the first toe and the head of the first metatarsalis when leaning forward. The effects of reduced sensitivity on that perceptibility were also studied by repeating the experiments while cooling localized plantar areas of the sole (the head of the first metatarsalis, the first toe, and the heel). Under the normal (noncooled) condition, all subjects accurately perceived maximum pressure at the head of the first metatarsalis, but most subjects misperceived the second large increase in pressure at the first toe and in muscle activity as the first large increase. Under the cooling condition, localized cooling did not affect the perceptibility of maximum pressure at the head of the first metatarsalis or the activity in the tibialis anterior, but the perceptibility of pressure at the first toe and activity of the abductor hallucis were reduced. There were individual differences in perceptibility of activity of the rectus femoris when the heel was cooled. Perceptibility of sequential changes in the pressure was affected differently by the localized cooling of each region. Given these findings, we discussed the role and interrelatedness of pressure sensation in perceiving large and sequential changes in somatosensory information while standing and leaning forward and backward.