An account of consciousness in physical and functional terms: A target for research in the neurosciences

The neurophysiology of mental events cannot be fully understood unless that of consciousness is understood. As the first step in a top-down approach to that problem, one needs to find an account of consciousness as a property of the biological organism that can be clearly defined as such. However, if it is to deliver what must be expected of it, it should address what is commonly meant by the wordconsciousness. Unless the last condition is satisfied, the theory will fail to deliver what must ultimately be expected of it. Although current interest lies mainly in the higher functions of consciousness, such as its role in language and social relationships, the common usage of the word relates to modes of awareness that are not denied to creatures lacking language or social relationships. The basic features to be covered include awareness of the surrounding world, of the self, and of one’s thoughts and feelings; the subjective qualities of phenomenal experience (qualia); the conditions a brain event must satisfy to enter consciousness; and the main divisions of mental events, such as sensations, feelings, perceptions, desires, volitions, and mental images.     

Group member contacts without the group therapist

After presenting some of the arguments against patients having contact with one another outside the regularly scheduled group psychotherapy sessions with the therapist, we present our counterarguments. Rather than forbidding extragroup socializing, thereby assuming the role of moralistic, punitive parental authorities to be deceived or challenged, we accept that such socializing is likely to happen and then establish beforehand the rule that information about extragroup contacts is to be shared with the entire group during regular therapy sessions with the therapist. In this way, the extragroup behaviors are dealt with just as any other material in group, i.e., searching for the underlying dynamics. Some positive aspects of extragroup socializing, as well as some negative aspects, are discussed, with examples taken from clinic groups and private practice groups.     

Die Entwicklung wissenschaftlich begründeter Leitlinien

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

The renin-angiotensin system and thirst: a reevaluation. II. Drinking elicited in rats by caval ligation or isoproterenol

Ligation of the inferior vena cava and administration of isoproterenol have been shown to stimulate renin secretion and to augment water intake in rats. However, the present experiments suggested that the plasma renin activities produced by these treatments do not account for more than 20% of the observed drinking behavior. Direct measurements of arterial blood pressure further indicated that nephrectomized rats go into hypotensive shock after caval ligation or isoproterenol treatment. Drinking was elicited in these hypotensive animals by systemic injection of hypertonic NaCl solution, renin, or Pitressin, or by intracranial injection of angiotensin, but in each case a rapid increase in blood pressure also was observed. Thus, it appears that nephrectomy reduces water intake in these animals by undermining their general capacity to behave rather than by removing a specific dipsogenic stimulus. These and other results suggested that drinking elicited in rats by caval ligation or isoproterenol is not mediated by the renin-angiotensin system.     

Measuring Social Status with Occupational Information: A Simple Method1

A measure of social status was devised: a multiple-choice question that obtains occupational information and is scalable with both the Duncan Socioeconomic Index and the Siegel Prestige Scale. The correlations of this device with other measures of social status and with tests of general ability were assessed in a study of white and black Navy recruits. The correlations were similar to those obtained with a conventional measure that relies on judges scaling occupational information elicited by an openended question. The present device may be a good prototype for a standardized, multiple-choice measure of social status.     

Water and NaCl intake after furosemide treatment in sheep (Ovis aires)

Intravenous infusion of the natriuretic drug furosemide in sheep led to the excretion of large quantitites of hypotonic urine. The sheep consumed more water than was needed simply to restore osmotic equilibrium. The stimulus for the additional intake was presumably hypovolemia resulting from the loss of sodium in urine. Despite the natriuresis, in only 2 of 15 experiments did sheep drink significant amounts of .5 M NaCl solution during the first 10 hr after the onset of furosemide treatment, and hemoconcentration and arterial hypotension were evident during this time. By 24 hr, however, the saline consumption in all but three experiments had increased and compensated adequately (together with the water intakes) for the furosemide-induced loss of sodium-rich fluid in urine. These results provide evidence that following acute hypovolemia in sheep, as in rats, the onset of sodium appetite is delayed relative to the appearance of thirst.