A link between role of two prefrontal areas in immediate memory and in long-term memory consolidation

The dorsolateral and medial prefrontal cortex are critical for immediate memory processing. The possibility has been raised that those two areas may also contribute to long-term memory formation. Here, we studied the role of specific receptors in dorsolateral and medial prefrontal cortex in immediate and in long-term memory formation of one-trial inhibitory avoidance. Four different specific receptor ligands were infused into these two areas: the dopamine D1 receptor antagonist, SCH23390, the GABA(A) receptor agonist, muscimol, the AMPA glutamatergic receptor antagonist, ciano-nitro-quinoxaline-dione (CNQX), and the NMDA glutamatergic receptor antagonist, aminophosphonovaleric acid (AP5). In all cases the doses used had been previously shown to affect immediate or long-term memory. In the experiments on immediate memory the drugs were given 5 min before training and the animals were tested 3s post-training. These animals were then also tested 24h later for long-term memory. The effect of the treatments on long-term memory was studied by their infusion 0, 90, 180 or 270 min post-training, testing the animals 24h after training. Immediate memory was inhibited by SCH23390, muscimol and CNQX, but not by AP5, given into any of the two subregions. Long-term memory formation was inhibited by SCH23390, muscimol and CNQX, but not by AP5, given pre-training or 0, 90 or 180 but not 270 min post-training into the dorsolateral region; or 90 but not 0 or 180 min post-training into the medial region. Thus, there is a time- and receptor-dependent correlation in the two areas between their role in immediate and in long-term memory processing. Both roles require intact glutamate AMPA and dopamine D1 receptors, are inhibited by GABAergic synapses, and are unaffected by AP5. In the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex the link between immediate and long-term memory appears to be direct; in the medial area the link suffers a 90 min delay.     

Revisiting dispersion in count data item response theory models: The Conway–Maxwell–Poisson counts model

Count data naturally arise in several areas of cognitive ability testing, such as processing speed, memory, verbal fluency, and divergent thinking. Contemporary count data item response theory models, however, are not flexible enough, especially to account for over- and underdispersion at the same time. For example, the Rasch Poisson counts model (RPCM) assumes equidispersion (conditional mean and variance coincide) which is often violated in empirical data. This work introduces the Conway–Maxwell–Poisson counts model (CMPCM) that can handle underdispersion (variance lower than the mean), equidispersion, and overdispersion (variance larger than the mean) in general and specifically at the item level. A simulation study revealed satisfactory parameter recovery at moderate sample sizes and mostly unbiased standard errors for the proposed estimation approach. In addition, plausible empirical reliability estimates resulted, while those based on the RPCM were biased downwards (underdispersion) and biased upwards (overdispersion) when the simulation model deviated from equidispersion. Finally, verbal fluency data were analysed and the CMPCM with item-specific dispersion parameters fitted the data best. Dispersion parameter estimates indicated underdispersion for three out of four items. Overall, these findings indicate the feasibility and importance of the suggested flexible count data modelling approach.     

The other between fear and desire – countertransference fantasy as a bridge between me and the other

This paper attempts to show how unrepresented rupture/injury of primary expectations of the early relationship is reactivated in the analytic process. This becomes perceptible especially as unconscious fear and a specific defence described as ‘living behind a glass-wall’. The author, however, postulates the existence of an inherent dialogical-dyadic principle in the psyche, which she calls archetypal hope, and shows how this principle may become active in the analytical space. These aspects of analytical treatments are sketched with two vignettes, in which unconscious processes of exchange cause the analyst to experience unrepresented states. The author describes how the analyst is gradually able to experience and understand this, and how this understanding finally – without first becoming explicit – becomes effective in the analytical space. Special attention is given to the analytic attitude. A readiness to accept and move into regression and a receptivity to attune to the early sensory experience of the analysand is regarded as essential. Through this the analyst gains access to the inner space of the analysand and, through bodily experience and pre-symbolic processes, the unrepresented may thus become figurable. The reverie and countertransference fantasies are understood as a bridge: they connect the analytic pair. However, the reverie also creates the transition between that which was not – the absent representation – and that which wants to emerge. It thus bridges the personal unconscious (implicit expectation) and the archetypal (the archetypal hope). Through this, the space of hope may become a space of possibility, and help bridge the chasm between the experienced and the hoped-for.     

Building Meaningful Community Advocacy for Ethnic-based Health Equity: The RoAd4Health Experience

The pervasive failure of policies aimed at overcoming health inequities suffered by European Roma reflects the oppressive and impoverished living conditions of many ethnic minorities in the Western world. The multiple social inequities that Roma experience and the cumulative effect on their health prove that the failure of health policies that impact Roma must be attributed to their ameliorative nature. These policies legitimize the mechanisms of oppression that sustain inequities, fueling fatalistic attitudes toward minorities, while these minorities internalize the stigma and attempt to survive on the margins of society. This paper presents the RoAd4Health project, a community initiative in which academic researchers partnered with Roma communities to overcome health inequities. We present the multiple methods utilized for building meaningful advocacy, such as photovoice and asset mapping led by Roma agents of change. These methods provided the capacity to develop a local narrative of disparities, build alliances to gain capacity to respond to injustices, and take actions to promote social change. The results of effectively involving all significant stakeholders (i.e., community agents of change, residents, health and social care providers, Roma community grassroots organizations, and institutional actors) are discussed along with lessons learned.     

Social recognition matters: Consequences for school participation and life satisfaction among immigrant students

Participation in society is instrumental for democracy and of special importance for minority members. Despite broad research in the context of adults' participation, the earlier formative years and the participation of students in school activities have been neglected so far. The present research examined antecedents and consequences of Latin American migrant students' participation in school activities in Chile. More specifically, we tested whether three forms of social recognition experiences (i.e., need‐based care, equality‐based respect and achievement‐based social esteem) received from Chilean society predicted different forms of school participation. Heightened school participation was assumed to further translate into satisfaction with life. Results of a study with immigrant students (N = 393; 12–20 years old; 56.7% female) revealed, that experiences of social esteem predicted an overall positive perception of school participation and this effect further translated into heightened life satisfaction. Moreover, experiences of respect were associated with participation in school decisions and rules and with participation in school events. The latter effect further translated into enhanced life satisfaction. Care did not play a role in predicting school participation when the other forms of recognition were controlled for. We discuss the importance of social recognition experiences and implications for interventions within educational systems.     

Visual information and body sway coupling in infants during sitting acquisition

The purpose of this study was to examine if there is any developmental change in the coupling between visual information and trunk sway in infants as they acquire the sitting position. Twenty-four infants distributed in four groups (6-, 7-, 8-, and 9-month-old) were sat inside a moving room that oscillated back and forward at frequencies of 0.2 and 0.5 Hz. The results revealed that trunk sway matched to the moving room at both frequencies but did not differ among the four age groups. Coherence and gain revealed that the coupling was weaker at 0.2 than at 0.5 Hz. Relative phase showed that at 0.2 Hz, infants were swaying with no lag but at 0.5 Hz they were lagging the room. These results showed that the coupling between visual information and trunk sway in infants varies with the visual stimulus but does not change as infants acquire the sitting position.     

Motor constraints on the development of perception-action matching in infant reaching

Previous studies on reaching and grasping have suggested that infants need considerable experience at both seeing and touching in order to develop responses adapted to the environment. Such an account, however, does not reveal how appropriate perception-action matching emerges from these repeated experiences at seeing and touching. The present research addresses this issue by investigating the dynamics of perceiving and acting in 5- to 9-month-old infants as they saw, reached for, touched, and grasped objects of different sizes and texture. To gain insights into the mechanisms of change that underlie pattern formation, we observed infants’ responses as a function of time, as infants reached for and manipulated objects successively. We found that the developmental process by which appropriate perception-action matching emerges is tied to important changes in the motor system. Before 8 months, infants’ reaching responses are constrained by systemic motor tendencies that conflict with the process of perceptual-motor mapping. When these motor tendencies disappear, infants are able to use and integrate visual and haptic information to scale their actions to objects. These results are consistent with a dynamic systems approach, which views behavioral changes and their underlying psychological processes as the product of continuous tensions and interactions between the organism’s own constraints and the characteristics of the task at hand.     

Perspective taking and cognitive flexibility in the Dimensional Change Card Sorting (DCCS) task

In a study with 79 3-year-olds, we confirm earlier findings that separating the sorting dimensions improve children's performance on the Dimensional Change Card Sorting (DCCS) task. We also demonstrate that the central reason for this facilitation is that the two sorting dimensions are not integral features of a single object. Spatial separation of the sorting dimensions has no additional significant influence. This finding highlights the important role of objects with respect to children's attentional flexibility. Implications for current theories on the DCCS task and for the development of perspective taking and cognitive flexibility are discussed.     

Developmental trajectory of number acuity reveals a severe impairment in developmental dyscalculia

Developmental dyscalculia is a learning disability that affects the acquisition of knowledge about numbers and arithmetic. It is widely assumed that numeracy is rooted on the “number sense”, a core ability to grasp numerical quantities that humans share with other animals and deploy spontaneously at birth. To probe the links between number sense and dyscalculia, we used a psychophysical test to measure the Weber fraction for the numerosity of sets of dots, hereafter called number acuity. We show that number acuity improves with age in typically developing children. In dyscalculics, numerical acuity is severely impaired, with 10-year-old dyscalculics scoring at the level of 5-year-old normally developing children. Moreover, the severity of the number acuity impairment predicts the defective performance on tasks involving the manipulation of symbolic numbers. These results establish for the first time a clear association between dyscalculia and impaired “number sense”, and they may open up new horizons for the early diagnosis and rehabilitation of mathematical learning deficits.