Articles of Faith: Freedom of Expression and Religious Freedom in Contemporary Multiculture

ABSTRACT

This article examines the relationship between freedom of religion and freedom of speech and expression within contemporary multicultural liberal democracies. These two fundamental human rights have increasingly been seen, in public and political discourse, in terms of tension if not outright opposition, a view reinforced by the Charlie Hebdo killings in January 2015. And yet in every human rights charter they are proximate to one another. This essay argues that this adjacency is not coincidental, that it has a history and that, in illuminating this history, it is possible to explore how the contemporary framing of these two rights as being in opposition has come about. Looking back to the framing of the First Amendment of the US Constitution, the essay offers an historical perspective that, in turn, facilitates a reappraisal and re-evaluation of these two liberties that is the necessary, albeit insufficient, predicate to the task of addressing the problematic of multicultural ‘crisis' in the contemporary liberal democracies of Western Europe, North America and Australasia, in which the presence of certain religious communities (Muslims, in particular) and the role of religion in public and political life more generally (and, conversely, of secularism) has assumed a central importance.     

Task-related functional connectivity of the caudate mediates the association between trait mindfulness and implicit learning in older adults

Accumulating evidence shows a positive relationship between mindfulness and explicit cognitive functioning, i.e., that which occurs with conscious intent and awareness. However, recent evidence suggests that there may be a negative relationship between mindfulness and implicit types of learning, or those that occur without conscious awareness or intent. Here we examined the neural mechanisms underlying the recently reported negative relationship between dispositional mindfulness and implicit probabilistic sequence learning in both younger and older adults. We tested the hypothesis that the relationship is mediated by communication, or functional connectivity, of brain regions once traditionally considered to be central to dissociable learning systems: the caudate, medial temporal lobe (MTL), and prefrontal cortex (PFC). We first replicated the negative relationship between mindfulness and implicit learning in a sample of healthy older adults (60–90 years old) who completed three event-related runs of an implicit sequence learning task. Then, using a seed-based connectivity approach, we identified task-related connectivity associated with individual differences in both learning and mindfulness. The main finding was that caudate-MTL connectivity (bilaterally) was positively correlated with learning and negatively correlated with mindfulness. Further, the strength of task-related connectivity between these regions mediated the negative relationship between mindfulness and learning. This pattern of results was limited to the older adults. Thus, at least in healthy older adults, the functional communication between two interactive learning-relevant systems can account for the relationship between mindfulness and implicit probabilistic sequence learning.     

The interaction between acoustic salience and language experience in developmental speech perception: evidence from nasal place discrimination

Previous research suggests that infant speech perception reorganizes in the first year: young infants discriminate both native and non‐native phonetic contrasts, but by 10–12 months difficult non‐native contrasts are less discriminable whereas performance improves on native contrasts. In the current study, four experiments tested the hypothesis that, in addition to the influence of native language experience, acoustic salience also affects the perceptual reorganization that takes place in infancy. Using a visual habituation paradigm, two nasal place distinctions that differ in relative acoustic salience, acoustically robust labial‐alveolar [ma]–[na] and acoustically less salient alveolar‐velar [na]–[?a], were presented to infants in a cross‐language design. English‐learning infants at 6–8 and 10–12 months showed discrimination of the native and acoustically robust [ma]–[na] (Experiment 1), but not the non‐native (in initial position) and acoustically less salient [na]–[?a] (Experiment 2). Very young (4–5‐month‐old) English‐learning infants tested on the same native and non‐native contrasts also showed discrimination of only the [ma]–[na] distinction (Experiment 3). Filipino‐learning infants, whose ambient language includes the syllable‐initial alveolar (/n/)–velar (/?/) contrast, showed discrimination of native [na]–[?a] at 10–12 months, but not at 6–8 months (Experiment 4). These results support the hypothesis that acoustic salience affects speech perception in infancy, with native language experience facilitating discrimination of an acoustically similar phonetic distinction [na]–[?a]. We discuss the implications of this developmental profile for a comprehensive theory of speech perception in infancy.     

FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING OF SEMANTIC MEMORY PROCESSES IN THE FRONTAL LOBES

Abstract— Frontal-lobe activation during semantic memory performance was examined using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a noninvasive technique for localizing neural activity associated with cognitive function. Left inferior prefrontal cortex was more activated for semantic than for perceptual encoding of words, and for initial than for repeated semantic encoding of words. Decreased activation for semantic encoding of repeated words reflects repetition priming, that is, implicit retrieval of memory gained in the initial semantic encoding of a word. The left inferior prefrontal region may sub-serve semantic working memory processes that participate in semantic encoding and that have decreased demands when such encoding can be facilitated by recent semantic experience. These results demonstrate that fMRI can visualize changes in an individual's brain function associated with the encoding and retrieval of new memories.     

Strength of default mode resting-state connectivity relates to white matter integrity in children

A default mode network of brain regions is known to demonstrate coordinated activity during the resting state. While the default mode network is well characterized in adults, few investigations have focused upon its development. We scanned 9-13-year-old children with diffusion tensor imaging and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. We identified resting-state networks using Independent Component Analysis and tested whether the functional connectivity between the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) depends upon the maturation of the underlying cingulum white matter tract. To determine the generalizability of this relationship, we also tested whether functional connectivity depends on white matter maturity between bilateral lateral prefrontal cortex (lateral PFC) within the executive control network. We found a positive relationship between mPFC-PCC connectivity and fractional anisotropy of the cingulum bundle; this positive relationship was moderated by the age of the subjects such that it was stronger in older children. By contrast, no such structure-function relationship emerged between right and left lateral PFC. However, functional and structural connectivity of this tract related positively with cognitive speed, fluency, and set-switching neuropsychological measures.     

Application of pharmacological fMRI to developmental psychiatric disorders

Functional magnetic resonance imaging of neural activity induced by pharmacological stimulation (phMRI) is a promising technique for revealing pathophysiology and etiology of developmental psychiatric disorders. Recent investigations of the dopaminergic system have made possible the use of phMRI as a non‐invasive assay for neurotransmitter function. This paper explores applications of phMRI for identification of neurophysiological trait‐dependent and clinical state‐dependent mechanisms that can define biologically valid diagnostic criteria for developmental psychiatric disorders. Further, applications of phMRI for investigations of neurochemical changes induced by long‐term drug exposure, alternative therapies and normal brain maturation are discussed. The paper ends by highlighting methodological challenges posed by experimental control of pharmacological stimulation that is essential for valid interpretation of phMRI results.