Magnocellular and parvocellular pathway influences on location-based inhibition-of-return

The roles of the parvocellular (P) and magnocellular (M) retino-geniculo-cortical pathways during shifts of visual attention were investigated by creating M/dorsal-biased (eg low spatial frequency target, no objects present) and P/ventral-biased (ie high spatial frequency target, the perception of 3-D objects) stimulus conditions and measuring location-based inhibition-of-return (IOR). P/ventral-biased conditions produced the greatest IOR. M/dorsal-biased conditions produced the least IOR, in one instance eliminating it altogether. The results indicate a close relationship between IOR magnitude and relative P/ventral and M/dorsal activity with location-based IOR related more to P/ventral than to M/dorsal activity.     

Behaviour change among overweight and socially disadvantaged adults: a longitudinal study of the NHS Health Trainer Service

Social disadvantage is associated with being overweight, a poor diet and physical inactivity. The NHS Health Trainer Service (HTS) is a national initiative designed to promote behaviour change among socially disadvantaged people in England and Wales. This study reports pre-post changes in body mass index (BMI), associated behaviours and cognitions among service users who set dietary or physical activity goals during a 12-month period (2008-2009; N?=?4418). Sixty-nine percent of clients were from the two most deprived population quintiles and 94.7% were overweight or obese. Mean BMI decreased from 34.03 to 32.26, with overweight/obesity prevalence decreasing by 3.7%. There were increases in fruit and vegetable consumption, reductions in fried snack consumption, increases in frequency of moderate or intensive activity and gains in self-efficacy and perceived health and wellbeing. Clients with higher BMI, poorer diet or less activity at baseline achieved greater change. Findings suggest that the NHS HTS has the potential to improve population health and reduce health inequalities through behaviour change.     

Emotional intelligence: a theoretical framework for individual differences in affective forecasting

Only recently have researchers begun to examine individual differences in affective forecasting. The present investigation was designed to make a theoretical contribution to this emerging literature by examining the role of emotional intelligence in affective forecasting. Emotional intelligence was hypothesized to be associated with affective forecasting accuracy, memory for emotional reactions, and subsequent improvement on an affective forecasting task involving emotionally evocative pictures. Results from two studies (N = 511) supported our hypotheses. Emotional intelligence was associated with accuracy in predicting, encoding, and consolidating emotional reactions. Furthermore, emotional intelligence was associated with greater improvement on a second affective forecasting task, with the relationship explained by basic memory processes. Implications for future research on basic and applied decision making are discussed.     

Passionate hockey fans: Appraisals of,coping with,and attention paid to the 2012–2013 National Hockey League lockout

ObjectivesWe examined if harmonious and obsessive passion for watching hockey were differentially related to stress experiences during the 2012–2013 National Hockey League (NHL) lockout.DesignCross-sectional data were collected from 256 undergraduate hockey fans.MethodParticipants completed questionnaires that measured passion types, stress appraisals, coping, and how they attended to lockout-related information.ResultsObsessive passion was positively associated with stress appraisals, most types of coping, and with avoiding information about the lockout. Harmonious passion was unrelated to stress appraisals, showed few relationships with coping, and was positively related with monitoring lockout-related information. Structural equation modelling supported a model whereby threat appraisal mediated the relationship between obsessive passion and disengagement-oriented coping.ConclusionsAppraising, coping with, and paying attention to the NHL lockout among hockey fans varied to the extent that their passion for hockey was more harmonious or obsessive.     

The influence of aging on poststroke depression using a rat model via middle cerebral artery occlusion

Poststroke depression (PSD) is the most frequent psychological sequela following stroke. While previous studies describe the impact of age on brain infarct volume, brain edema, and blood–brain barrier (BBB) breakdown following ischemia, the role of age on PSD has yet to be described. Here, we examine the influence of age on PSD progression in a rat model of PSD by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). One hundred forty-three rats were divided into three groups. 48 rats 20 weeks of age underwent a sham procedure, 51 rats 20 weeks of age had MCAO, and 44 rats 22–26 months of age had MCAO. Groups were further divided into two subgroups. The first subgroup was used to measure infarct lesion volume, brain edema, and BBB breakdown at 24 h. In the second subgroup at 3 weeks after MCAO, rats were subjected to a sucrose preference test, two-way shuttle avoidance task, forced swimming test, and a brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) protein level measurement. Total and striatal infarct volume, brain edema, and BBB breakdown in the striatum were increased in older rats, as compared with younger rats. While both old and young rats exhibited depressive-like behaviors on each of the behavioral tests and lower BDNF levels post-MCAO, as compared with control rats, there were no differences between old and young rats. Although older rats suffered from larger infarct volumes, increased brain edema and more BBB disruption following MCAO, the lack of behavioral differences between young and old rats suggests that there was no effect of rat age on the incidence of PSD.     

Sudden Unexpected Versus Violent Death and PTSD Symptom Development

Changes to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) trauma criterion in the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–5) have been an area of much scrutiny and debate. One of the proposed changes included removing sudden unexpected death (SUD) from the list of potentially traumatic events. This study tested the extent to which unexpected death differed from violent death and other traumas as measured by PTSD symptoms. Our results indicated a significant difference in symptom development between those experiencing sudden violent death and sudden unexpected, but nonviolent, death. Additional analyses at the DSM–IV symptom cluster level, as well as with Simms, Watson, and Doebbeling’s (2002) factor structure of PTSD symptoms, suggested further distinctions between event types and symptom development. The extent to which SUD should be included in the trauma criterion is considered.     

Learned prediction affects body perception

Learning to recognize objects appears to depend critically on extended observation of appearance over time. Specifically, temporal association between dissimilar views of an object has been proposed as a tool for learning invariant representations for recognition. We examined heretofore untested aspects of the temporal association hypothesis using a familiar dynamic object, the human body. Specifically, we examined the role of appearance prediction (temporal asymmetry) in temporal association. In our task, observers performed a change detection task using upright and inverted images of a walking body either with or without previous exposure to a motion stimulus depicting an upright walker. Observers who were exposed to the dynamic stimulus were further divided into two groups dependent on whether the observed motion depicted forward or backward walking. We find that the effect of the motion stimulus on sensitivity is highly dependent on whether the observed motion is consistent with past experience.