NMDA signaling in CA1 mediates selectively the spatial component of episodic memory

Recent studies focusing on the memory for temporal order have reported that CA1 plays a critical role in the memory for the sequences of events, in addition to its well-described role in spatial navigation. In contrast, CA3 was found to principally contribute to the memory for the association of items with spatial or contextual information in tasks focusing on spatial memory. Other studies have shown that NMDA signaling in the hippocampus is critical to memory performance in studies that have investigated spatial and temporal order memory independently. However, the role of NMDA signaling separately in CA1 and CA3 in memory that combines both spatial and temporal processing demands (episodic memory) has not been examined. Here we investigated the effect of the deletion of the NR1 subunit of the NMDA receptor in CA1 or CA3 on the spatial and the temporal aspects of episodic memory, using a behavioral task that allows for these two aspects of memory to be evaluated distinctly within the same task. Under these conditions, NMDA signaling in CA1 specifically contributes to the spatial aspect of memory function and is not required to support the memory for temporal order of events.     

Reasonable Trust

Abstract: Establishing trust among individual agents has defined a central issue of practical reasoning since the dawning of liberal individualism. Hobbes was convinced that foolish self‐interest always threatens to defeat uncompelled cooperation when one can gain by abandoning a joint effort. Against this philosophical background, scientific studies of human beings display a surprisingly cooperative species. It would seem to follow that biologically inherited characteristics impair our reason. The response proposed here distinguishes rationality and reasonableness as two forms of good reasoning. One is consistent with the model of strategic rationality, the other with a model of emotional relationship. From the Hobbesian perspective trusting agents are not rational if their makeup discourages advantageous defection even when one knows it will not be detected or punished. The point is indecisive because reasonable trust insulates cooperative action from the factors that have appeared to make it chancy or unstable without some enforcing power. A critical theme is that trust does not simply rest upon a biological disposition to conform to norms. That would explain but not justify aversion to defection. In fact, trust can survive reasoned challenges to norm‐conforming dispositions, displaying the responsible social animal living along with the rational individual.     

Effects of Age and Intentionality on Content Memory and Temporal Memory for Performed Activities

Seventy-two young (18–28), 72 young-old (ages 57–70), and 72 old-old (71–93) adults completed 10 different laboratory activities. Intention to learn the content of the activities and their temporal order was varied within each age group by manipulating type of encoding instruction given to the participant (i.e., either incidental, intentional for content, or intentional for both content and temporal order). Participants' recall, recognition, and temporal memory proficiency for the activities was then evaluated. The results revealed that both content memory and temporal order memory for the performed activities were enhanced by intentional encoding strategies. Young adults performed better on the temporal ordering task than young-old adults, with temporal memory proficiency continuing to show further decline in the old-old group. In contrast, content recall and recognition abilities were impaired only in the old-old group. The results suggest that strategic encoding processes can enhance memory for performed activities, and that age-related deficits in temporal order efficiency may occur earlier than those involved in memory for the content of performed activities.     

Factors Influencing Olympic Performance: Interviews with Atlanta and Negano US Olympians

To gain a better understanding of factors perceived to have positively and/or negatively influenced Olympic athlete performance and to examine differences in performance factors cited by athletes who met or exceeded performance expectations and athletes who failed to meet expectations, 8 Atlanta and 7 Nagano Olympians were interviewed. Interviews were conducted via telephone, tape recorded, transcribed, and content analyzed by three investigators. Major factors perceived to have positively influenced performance included mental skills and preparation, attitude towards the Olympics, support services and support facilitation, multifaceted preparation, physical preparation, and coaching. Major factors perceived to have negatively influenced performance included departing from normal routine, media distractions, coach issues, overtraining, and injury. The two groups, those who met or exceeded expectations and those who did not meet expectations, differed on only a few positive performance factors, including attitude towards the games, Olympic housing, and team unity. Negative factors that differed between the groups included team selection, coaching, lack of support, and team issues.     

Epistemic peerhood and the epistemology of disagreement

In disagreements about trivial matters, it often seems appropriate for disputing parties to adopt a ‘middle ground’ view about the disputed matter. But in disputes about more substantial controversies (e.g. in ethics, religion, or politics) this sort of doxastic conduct can seem viciously acquiescent. How should we distinguish between the two kinds of cases, and thereby account for our divergent intuitions about how we ought to respond to them? One possibility is to say that ceding ground in a trivial dispute is appropriate because the disputing parties are usually epistemic peers within the relevant domain, whereas in a more substantial disagreement the disputing parties rarely, if ever, qualify as epistemic peers, and so ‘sticking to one’s guns’ is usually the appropriate doxastic response. My aim in this paper is to explain why this way of drawing the desired distinction is ultimately problematic, even if it seems promising at first blush.     

The Effect of Experimentally Induced Muscular Tension Upon Palmar Skin Resistance

Under this heading appear summaries of studies which, in 500 words or less, provide useful data substantiating, not substantiating, or refining what we think we know; additional details concerning the results can be obtained by communicating directly with the investigator or, when indicated, by requesting supplementary material from Microfiche Publications.     

Pet Bereavement Support Groups: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals

Companion animals are becoming increasingly important in society. Pets have been recognized for their vast contributions to human lives, including emotional support, social support, health benefits, and connection. However, society does not recognize the significant loss associated with losing a pet, which can contribute to bereaved pet owners feeling isolation and shame as they cope with the loss of their beloved companion. Mental health professionals must be aware of this disenfranchised grief and creatively expand their services to provide support and advocacy for bereaved pet owners. This article includes a framework for clinicians to establish a pet loss support group in their community.     

Adolescents’ Behaviors as Moderators for the Link between Parental Self-Efficacy and Parenting Practices

Based on theory that parents with higher levels of self-efficacy (PSE) should find it easier to parent effectively in the face of challenging child behaviors than should parents with lower levels of PSE, this study examines the link between PSE and parenting using children’s behaviors as potential moderators. Participants were 130 parents who had an older adolescent (M _age?=?17.58) in addition to the target adolescent (M _age?=?11.79), and both adolescents’ externalizing behaviors were used as moderators for the link between PSE and parenting of the target adolescent. Path analysis in Mplus showed that higher PSE was linked to more promotive parenting but only among parents who had an older adolescent with lower levels of externalizing behaviors. Among parents of adolescents with higher levels of externalizing behaviors, whose promotive parenting was significantly lower than other parents overall, PSE did not predict promotive parenting. The link between PSE and parenting did not differ depending on the target adolescents’ behavior. Findings suggest that the link between parents’ beliefs and parenting depends on the broader family context. More specifically, how PSE is linked to parenting practices depends at least partly on the experiences that parents bring from parenting an older adolescent to their interactions with a later-born adolescent. From a clinical perspective, parents might need guidance in how to think about their earlier parenting experiences when parenting a younger adolescent.     

Obama's Interfaith Service Challenge: A Call for a New Theology of Service in American Higher Education

Abstract : President Obama's recent Interfaith Service Challenge issued to colleges and universities in the United States encourages schools to commit to year‐long interfaith service projects that engage constituencies across campus, across faith traditions, and across the wider local community. While they were included in pre‐challenge planning, university chaplains and religious life staff were omitted from the list of partners. This omission challenges college chaplains and campus ministers to articulate a theology of interfaith service that represents their enduring priorities to engagement across faith lines and in service to others. For Christians, such a theology could be based on the three key principles of imago dei, theologia crucis, and faith active in love.