An independent component analysis of fMRI data of grapheme-colour synaesthesia

The independent component analysis (ICA) method was applied to fMRI data from two synaesthetes and their matched controls while they performed the coloured-word Stroop task and the single-letter (synaesthetic) Stroop task. ICA identified an 'attention' network, a 'perceptual' network as well as a 'conflict monitoring' network. Increased activity was observed in right V4 during the single-letter Stroop task for synaesthetes only. The finding confirms that the same neural substrate that is known to support the experience of physical colours also supports the experience of synaesthetic colours.     

从医疗语言看医学特质

语言是人类的生存方式之一,医学也是人类的生存方式之一.语言与医学的相通和交融,形成了一门新的交叉性、应用性、边缘性学科--医疗语言学.在医疗环境里,透过人类最活跃、最直接、最形象性的语言,可以深切感受到医疗过程中的人文关怀和医学的人文本质.     

Perceiving action identity: how pianists recognize their own performances

Can skilled performers, such as artists or athletes, recognize the products of their own actions? We recorded 12 pianists playing 12 mostly unfamiliar musical excerpts, half of them on a silent keyboard. Several months later, we played these performances back and asked the pianists to use a 5-point scale to rate whether they thought they were the person playing each excerpt (1 = no, 5 = yes). They gave their own performances significantly higher ratings than any other pianist's performances. In two later follow-up tests, we presented edited performances from which differences in tempo, overall dynamic (i.e., intensity) level, and dynamic nuances had been removed. The pianists' ratings did not change significantly, which suggests that the remaining information (expressive timing and articulation) was sufficient for self-recognition. Absence of sound during recording had no significant effect. These results are best explained by the hypothesis that an observer's action system is most strongly activated during perception of self-produced actions.     

Revisiting Snodgrass and Vanderwart's object pictorial set: the role of surface detail in basic-level object recognition

Theories of object recognition differ to the extent that they consider object representations as being mediated only by the shape of the object, or shape and surface details, if surface details are part of the representation. In particular, it has been suggested that color information may be helpful at recognizing objects only in very special cases, but not during basic-level object recognition in good viewing conditions. In this study, we collected normative data (naming agreement, familiarity, complexity, and imagery judgments) for Snodgrass and Vanderwart's object database of 260 black-and-white line drawings, and then compared the data to exactly the same shapes but with added gray-level texture and surface details (set 2), and color (set 3). Naming latencies were also recorded. Whereas the addition of texture and shading without color only slightly improved naming agreement scores for the objects, the addition of color information unambiguously improved naming accuracy and speeded correct response times. As shown in previous studies, the advantage provided by color was larger for objects with a diagnostic color, and structurally similar shapes, such as fruits and vegetables, but was also observed for man-made objects with and without a single diagnostic color. These observations show that basic-level 'everyday' object recognition in normal conditions is facilitated by the presence of color information, and support a 'shape + surface' model of object recognition, for which color is an integral part of the object representation. In addition, the new stimuli (sets 2 and 3) and the corresponding normative data provide valuable materials for a wide range of experimental and clinical studies of object recognition.     

循证医学时代安慰剂的再认识

安慰剂的治疗作用早已被人们认识,但是对于其在医学上的应用却一直存在争议.在循证医学兴起的今天,我们应该如何辩证地看待安慰剂的作用及不足,以及在临床试验中应该如何应用安慰剂是一个值得探讨的问题.     

"竹林七贤"名号之流传与东晋中前期政局

"竹林七贤"之名号,自史学大家陈寅恪提出是东晋士人比附佛教内典而成,并非历史事实后,在学术界引起了广泛的争议和讨论.本文仔细爬梳了有关史料,指出最早记载"竹林七贤"名号的是出自西晋末期、至迟是两晋之交时期的<魏纪>.而其在流传过程中引发的种种争议,与东晋初期琅琊王氏、颍川庾氏、陈郡谢氏三大家族的矛盾密切相关.     

Newborns' face recognition is based on spatial frequencies below 0.5 cycles per degree

A critical question in Cognitive Science concerns how knowledge of specific domains emerges during development. Here we examined how limitations of the visual system during the first days of life may shape subsequent development of face processing abilities. By manipulating the bands of spatial frequencies of face images, we investigated what is the nature of the visual information that newborn infants rely on to perform face recognition. Newborns were able to extract from a face the visual information lying from 0 to 1 cpd (Experiment 1), but only a narrower 0-0.5 cpd spatial frequency range was successful to accomplish face recognition (Experiment 2). These results provide the first empirical support of a low spatial frequency advantage in individual face recognition at birth and suggest that early in life low-level, non-specific perceptual constraints affect the development of the face processing system.     

人与自然和谐的道德基础——古代"天人合一"思想的现代生态伦理启示

人与自然的和谐有着道德基础。古代的“天人合一”思想为我们从道德的视角研究人与自然的和谐,以及建构现代生态伦理观提供了一定的帮助。从道德的意义上,人与自然的和谐中人是道德主体,承担着全部道德责任,其行为是道德评价的对象。人对自然的适应与改造、尊重与利用是辩证的统一。     

灸法衰落原因的探讨与思考

从产生疼痛、带来创伤、耗时较长等内部原因及重药轻灸、重医轻灸、西医冲击等外部因素探讨灸法自身局限与衰落原因,据此提出灸法技术发展及理论创新的思考。     

对应急体系中开展志愿服务的理性思考

民间组织和志愿者在突然事件的前期救援和事后重建中,往往都起着不可或缺的作用。分析了应急体系中开展志愿服务的必要性和可行性,讨论了开展志愿服务存在的问题,探讨了解决这些问题的途径。