An fMRI study of the social competition in healthy subjects

Social interaction requires the ability to infer another person’s mental state (Theory of Mind, ToM) and also executive functions. This fMRI study aimed to identify the cerebral correlates activated by ToM during a specific social interaction, the human-human competition. In this framework, we tested a conflict resolution task (Stroop) adapted to a virtual situation of competition. The participants were instructed to play in order to win either against a human-like competitor (human-human competition) or against a non-human competitor (human-machine competition). Only the human-human competition requires ToM as this type of competition is performed under social interaction. We identified first the classical network of executive regions activated by Stroop. Secondly, we identified the social (human-human) competition regions, represented by the bilateral superior and inferior frontal gyri, the anterior cingulate, the insula, the superior and anterior temporal, the hippocampus, the fusiform gyrus, the cuneus and the precuneus. Finally, we identified the executive regions that were modulated by the human-human competition, i.e., the executive control regions additionally activated when mentalizing in the context of social competition. They constituted a network predominant to the right and composed of the superior and middle frontal, anterior cingulate, insula and fusiform gyrus. We suggest that our experimental paradigm may be useful in exploration of the cerebral correlates of social adjustments in several situations such as psychiatric disorders presenting executive and social dysfunctions.     

Exposure to severe urban air pollution influences cognitive outcomes, brain volume and systemic inflammation in clinically healthy children

Exposure to severe air pollution produces neuroinflammation and structural brain alterations in children. We tested whether patterns of brain growth, cognitive deficits and white matter hyperintensities (WMH) are associated with exposures to severe air pollution. Baseline and 1 year follow-up measurements of global and regional brain MRI volumes, cognitive abilities (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised, WISC-R), and serum inflammatory mediators were collected in 20 Mexico City (MC) children (10 with white matter hyperintensities, WMH⁺, and 10 without, WMH⁻) and 10 matched controls (CTL) from a low polluted city. There were significant differences in white matter volumes between CTL and MC children - both WMH⁺ and WMH⁻ - in right parietal and bilateral temporal areas. Both WMH⁻ and WMH⁺ MC children showed progressive deficits, compared to CTL children, on the WISC-R Vocabulary and Digit Span subtests. The cognitive deficits in highly exposed children match the localization of the volumetric differences detected over the 1 year follow-up, since the deficits observed are consistent with impairment of parietal and temporal lobe functions. Regardless of the presence of prefrontal WMH, Mexico City children performed more poorly across a variety of cognitive tests, compared to CTL children, thus WMH⁺ is likely only partially identifying underlying white matter pathology. Together these findings reveal that exposure to air pollution may perturb the trajectory of cerebral development and result in cognitive deficits during childhood.     

How emotional pictures influence visuospatial binding in short-term memory in ageing and Alzheimer’s disease?

The present study examines the prediction that emotion can facilitate short-term memory. Nevertheless, emotion also recruits attention to process information, thereby disrupting short-term memory when tasks involve high attentional resources. In this way, we aimed to determine whether there is a differential influence of emotional information on short-term memory in ageing and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Fourteen patients with mild AD, 14 healthy older participants (NC), and 14 younger adults (YA) performed two tasks. In the first task, involving visual short-term memory, participants were asked to remember a picture among four different pictures (negative or neutral) following a brief delay. The second task, a binding memory task, required the recognition by participants of a picture according to its spatial location. The attentional cost involved was higher than for the first task. The pattern of results showed that visual memory performance was better for negative stimuli than for neutral ones, irrespective of the group. In contrast, binding memory performance was essentially poorer for the location of negative pictures in the NC group, and for the location of both negative and neutral stimuli in the AD group, in comparison to the YA group. Taken together, these results show that emotion has beneficial effects on visual short-term memory in ageing and AD. In contrast, emotion does not improve their performances in the binding condition.     

Sexual orientation and spatial position effects on selective forms of object location memory

Prior research has demonstrated robust sex and sexual orientation-related differences in object location memory in humans. Here we show that this sexual variation may depend on the spatial position of target objects and the task-specific nature of the spatial array. We tested the recovery of object locations in three object arrays (object exchanges, object shifts, and novel objects) relative to veridical center (left compared to right side of the arrays) in a sample of 35 heterosexual men, 35 heterosexual women, and 35 homosexual men. Relative to heterosexual men, heterosexual women showed better location recovery in the right side of the array during object exchanges and homosexual men performed better in the right side during novel objects. However, the difference between heterosexual and homosexual men disappeared after controlling for IQ. Heterosexual women and homosexual men did not differ significantly from each other in location change detection with respect to task or side of array. These data suggest that visual space biases in processing categorical spatial positions may enhance aspects of object location memory in heterosexual women.     

统计学习与双语认知的关系

统计学习是提取环境输入潜在规则的一种认知机制,其与语言的关联已得到证实。双语认知是学界关注的热点之一。统计学习与双语认知的关系如何?文章先介绍统计学习认知机制及其与语言的关系,然后从“统计学习能力可否预测二语学习表现”、“统计学习训练能否促进二语学习”和“双语经验能否提高统计学习能力”三个维度述评相关文献,并指出未来可从输入特征、个体差异和神经科学角度进一步探讨统计学习与双语认知的关系。     

摩尔与国王——维特根斯坦论“世界图像”的无理据性

在《论确定性》第92码段中的一场思想实验中,维特根斯坦虚构了一个国王,国王除了被告知其出生的时候即为世界开端以外从未被告知任何事情,国王因而会相信在我们看来显然是荒谬的事情。但我们能否阐明我们与国王不同的信念间谁的是正确的或是荒谬的吗?维特根斯坦在此处探讨了某人是否可能有充足的理由相信与多数人的基础信念截然相反的东西。不可能阐明某人的世界图像之基础信念是正确的吗?绝不可能证明某人的基础信念在事实面前具有正确性、真理性和恰当性吗?尝试回答上述问题后,本文将给出一种遭到有些学者明确反对的"文化相对论"的解释,并将以阐述"文化的"或"世界图像相对论"的问题作结。     

以党的十九大精神引领伊斯兰教健康发展 学习十九大报告的心得体会北大核心CSSCISSCI

我们相信,在以习近平同志为核心的党中央的领导下,由56个民族组成的中华民族团结奋斗,必将创造更加辉煌、更加灿烂、更加美满的新时代的伟大成就。     

形而上学及其当代命运——A.F.科赫教授访谈

A.F.科赫教授因其对康德与德国观念论(尤其是黑格尔)的深入研究而著名,此外他非常熟悉分析哲学与实用主义的当代成果。这使他能够以一种不同于其前辈诠释者的方式来理解德国哲学,并以一种完全不同于布兰顿和麦克道威尔这两位当代著名的分析哲学家的方式对大西洋两岸的两种不同的哲学传统进行让人瞩目的融合。从科赫教授身上我们可以看到,一个在欧陆哲学传统中成长起来的哲学家如何吸收和消化分析哲学的成果并尝试建立起一种新的思想方式。