Neuronal changes in normal human aging and Alzheimer's disease

This article discusses age-related changes in brain weight, total number of cortical neurons, cortical dendrites, spine, and synapse density. The conclusion is that the present outlook is less grim than it was 30 years ago. Age-related reduction appears to be specific to brain region and cortical layer rather than a general feature. In addition, we describe a different pattern of changes that occur in Alzheimer's disease patients. This review concludes that the association cortices in particular are affected in aging and Alzheimer's disease and that the primary visual and somatosensory cortices are relatively spared.     

Religious integration in a residential treatment center

Summary After many years of service to the community, the Children's Home of Baltimore recently admitted its first Jewish child. While the basic content of the youngster's feelings and behavior, both prior and subsequent to placement, has been no different from that of a number of other children with similar backgrounds, it has been expressed in a fashion colored by the history of the agency and the child's religion. The psychological phenomena that have been witnessed have been no different from those seen in a host of other children; only the choice of a mode of expression has been altered. Some of this behavior, as well as verbalizations during the treatment sessions, has been characterized by unconscious feelings focused on the issue of religion. On other occasions, the boy has made conscious attempts to use this to his own advantage, to curry favor or to gain privileges denied others.The history of the home, with its beginnings rooted in Christian charitable endeavors, has provided a background against which may be viewed the chameleon-like quality of these psychological processes as they take on the coloration of the environment.     

The act of surrender in the treatment of the alcoholic

The success of A. A. in the alleviation of alcoholism has provided psychiatrists with a rich source of clinical material for a study of the religious process. The paper which follows is a discussion of one aspect of that process, namely, the act of surrender. It was prepared for a psychiatric audience; it may have some pertinence for the pastoral group since it represents at least an effort at understanding the religious life. Fully aware of its deficiencies, I offer the paper in the hope that it may seem to contain a measure of truth and be of some value to pastors in their relationships with their parishioners.This article is reprinted from Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, June, 1949 where it appeared under the title The Act of Surrender in the Therapeutic Process, by permission of author and publisher.s     

Brief maternal interaction increases number, amplitude, and bout size of isolation-induced ultrasonic vocalizations in infant rats (Rattus norvegicus)

The number, amplitude, duration, and bout structure of isolation-induced ultrasonic vocalization (USV) of infant rats (Rattus norvegicus) were measured on postnatal Day 10. Measurements were made before and after a brief, 1-min, active interaction with their mother or before and after a "pick-up" control procedure. Consistent with prior studies, the number of USVs emitted was significantly increased in the period following the maternal reunion but not after the control procedure. The average amplitude of USVs was also greater following maternal reunion. Finally, analyses characterizing the bout structure of USV production indicated that the average bout size (i.e. number of USVs/bout) was increased severalfold following the reunion with the mother, accounting for the greater rate of USV production during the second isolation period.     

Spatio-temporal working-memory and short-term object-location tasks use different memory mechanisms

Spatial short-term memory for objects' locations was investigated in a spatial relocation task. During maintenance, dynamic visual noise or spatial tapping were administered as visual or spatial secondary tasks, respectively. Because memory for location should tap the visual component of working memory, a visual but not a spatial secondary task should impair location memory. In fact, neither of the tasks impaired memory (Experiment 1), although the expected dissociation between visual and spatial components was clearly confirmed for a spatio-temporal main task (Corsi test) (Experiment 2). We then contrasted location memory for pictures of objects and of nonsense figures under visual interference. Real objects were relocated much better than nonsense figures, and visual noise was again ineffective (Experiment 3). When spatial tapping was combined with the same material (Experiment 3a), again no influence on memory for locations of objects was observed and only a small influence on remembering nonsense figures. We suggest that the Corsi and the relocation VSWM-tasks use different memory mechanisms. The configuration of objects is reconstructed from perceptual records in an episodic buffer, provided by the same structures that enable visual memory after longer intervals. Rehearsal is not necessary for the persistence of these traces. In contrast, in the Corsi task remembering, a temporal sequence across homogeneous locations needs spatio-temporal marking and therefore active rehearsal of the locations by shifting spatial attention. A spatially demanding secondary task during retention interrupts this rehearsal.