Effects of (+) SKF 10,047, a sigma-1 receptor agonist, on anxiety,tested in two laboratory models in mice

Recently, sigma-1 receptor modulators have been considered drugs with an interesting therapeutic potential for the treatment of anxiety. However, there is no clear information in preclinical studies about the possible effects of sigma-1 ligands on anxiety in experimental animal models. Therefore, the present study examined the effects of (+)SKF 10,047 (2-8 mg/kg, ip), a sigma-1 agonist, on anxiety, tested in two classical laboratory models (social interaction test and elevated plus maze). (+)SKF 10,047 (8 mg/kg) produced a significant decrease of social investigation in the "social interaction test", whereas in the "elevated plus maze", the drug (4 and 8 mg/kg) provoked a significant reduction in the number of entries into open arms, as well as in the time spent in this area, as compared with the control group, without affecting motor activity. Overall, these findings indicate that (+)SKF 10,047 exhibits an anxiogenic-like profile in mice. It is suggested that anxiogenic effects of this sigma-1 ligand could be related to its potent ability to modulate diverse neurotransmitter systems involved in anxiety regulation.     

A latent variable approach to executive control in healthy ageing

It is a well-established finding that the central executive is fractionated in at least three separable component processes: Updating, Shifting, and Inhibition of information (Miyake et al., 2000). However, the fractionation of the central executive among the elderly has been less well explored, and Miyake's et al. latent structure has not yet been integrated with other models that propose additional components, such as access to long-term information. Here we administered a battery of classic and newer neuropsychological tests of executive functions to 122 healthy individuals aged between 48 and 91 years. The test scores were subjected to a latent variable analysis (LISREL), and yielded four factors. The factor structure obtained was broadly consistent with Miyake et al.'s three-factor model. However, an additional factor, which was labeled 'efficiency of access to long-term memory', and a mediator factor ('speed of processing') were apparent in our structural equation analysis. Furthermore, the best model that described executive functioning in our sample of healthy elderly adults included a two-factor solution, thus indicating a possible mechanism of dedifferentiation, which involves larger correlations and interdependence of latent variables as a consequence of cognitive ageing. These results are discussed in the light of current models of prefrontal cortex functioning.     

Predicting school achievement: The role of inductive reasoning,sleep length and morningness–eveningness

Adolescents move to evening orientation just when school schedule becomes earlier. Whereas school achievement has been associated to morningness orientation during morning school schedule, some studies have indicated that evening people are more intelligent. In this study the relative contribution of Morningness–Eveningness (M–E) in the prediction of school achievement, after controlling for age, sex/gender, inductive reasoning and sleep length was analyzed. Participants were 887 adolescents (aged 12–16). School achievement was evaluated using Grade Point Average (GPA), inductive reasoning was evaluated by reasoning subtest of Primary Mental Abilities (PMA-R), sleep length was calculated from rise time and bedtime questions, and M–E was evaluated by Morningness–Eveningness Scale for Children (MESC). Evening adolescents scored higher on PMA-R and obtained lower GPA. Inductive reasoning, age, sex/gender, sleep length and M–E accounted for 19% variance percentage on GPA. M–E was a significant predictor of school achievement even after controlling for traditional predictors, albeit slightly.     

My Group's Fate Is My Fate: Identity-Fused Americans and Spaniards Link Personal Life Quality to Outcome of 2008 Elections

People differ in their reactions to the outcomes of their group. Whereas some may revel in victory and mourn in defeat, others may internalize victory but distance themselves from defeat. Here, we sought to relate these divergent reactions to two forms of alignment with groups–identity fusion and group identification. Investigations of the 2008 elections in the United States and Spain revealed that people who were “fused” with their political party internalized both victory and defeat, but highly identified persons internalized only victory. We discuss how these findings bear on the conceptual distinctions between identity fusion and group identification.     

Psycholinguistic variables involved in concept recall from the successive presentation of features / Variables psicolingüísticas involucradas en la evocación de conceptos a partir de la presentación de atributos sucesivos

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyse the psycholinguistic variables of the attributes and concepts involved in the recall of a concept. One hundred and twenty adults (18–40 years old) participated. A lexical recall task was administered by presenting a successive list of defining attributes. Forty concepts from different semantic categories were used. The attributes were obtained empirically from local Semantic Features Production Norms. The influence of the characteristics and attributes of the concepts on the number of participants who accessed the name of the concept and the correct guess trend was analysed. Significant values for Age of Acquisition, Presence of Distinctive Attributes and Presence of Taxonomic Attributes were observed. Results show that concepts which are acquired earliest are more easily recalled; presenting taxonomic categories narrows the search and the presence of distinctive attributes allow differentiating between such concepts within a category.     

The Word “Time”—Voce “Tempo”

This article looks at the prevalent view of time in the history of Western philosophy and science and then contrasts it with the emerging new vision of time as ontologically constructive. Throughout Western history, philosophers and scientists attempted to marginalize and anesthetize the role of time by prioritizing being over becoming. But beginning with the Darwinian revolution in biology, the West could no longer deny the constructive role of time in bringing forth new ontological orders. While the 20th century witnessed the split between the reversible time of physics and the developmental time of biology, the time has now come for this divide to be reconciled. Twenty-first century science is already revealing the constructive role of time in cosmology with the likelihood of multiple universes. In conclusion, the authors speculate that our moment in human cultural development is ripe for a complex, multidimensional, and transdisciplinary understanding of time.     

The Incompleteness of Each Tradition: Toward an Ethic of Complexity (L'incompiutezza di Ogni Tradizione: Verso Un'etica Della Complessita)

This article addresses the power of human technologies to wreak destruction on a planetary scale, such as genetic manipulation and weapons of mass destruction. It proposes the need for a new ethic that would be planetary in scale. Its central aim would be to include the great historical and contemporary diversity of human cognitive and epistemological experience. An “ethic of complexity” can weave together the threads of our common heritage. Although humanity's evolutionary past has been shown to be quite diverse, recent genetic and anthropological research has shown it also to be surprisingly unified. New images and metaphors are providing humanity with a vision that transcends familiar ethnic hatreds and so-called clashes of civilizations. The new planetary culture can be a shining example of unity-in-diversity, or unitas multiplex. It will be robustly diverse, intermixed to the core, and filled with awe at the rich lineages of our common past.     

Parental Influences on Elite Aesthetic Athletes’ Body Image Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating

Although different forms of parental influences on adolescents’ body image and eating disturbances have been studied, this relationship is nearly uninvestigated within the population of aesthetic athletes, a risk group for the development of eating disorders. The present study examined the role of specific family variables on the body image dissatisfaction (BID) and disordered eating (DE) of elite aesthetic athletes (n = 85) and controls (n = 142). Adolescents (M = 14.87 years, SD = 2.22) completed measures of direct influences (concern with thinness and weight teasing by parents), perceived quality of relationship with each parent and the overall family environment, BID and DE. Participants’ parents (223 mothers and 198 fathers) also completed measures of BID and DE. In general, parents of athletes do not present higher levels of BID or DE than do controls’ parents. Interesting differences were found between athletes’ and controls’ BID and DE predictors. Among athletes, direct parental influences are the only significant predictive family variable, which can reinforce the pressure to be thin found within elite-aesthetic contexts. The study’s findings highlight not only the importance of critical parental comments in athletes’ expression of BID and DE, but also of maternal modeling among adolescents in the general population. Such parental behavior may be an appropriate target in different prevention efforts.