Right hemisphere superiority in processing new symbols for arithmetic operators

A left ear advantage for solving dichotically-presented arithmetic problems was observed in subjects when nonsense words were substituted for familiar operator names (“plus”, “minus”, etc.). The expected right ear advantage was observed when the same problems were solved by the same subjects when the familiar operator names were presented. Since neither the task nor the nonsense words could produce the left ear advantage by themselves, it is hypothesized that introduction of the nonsense symbols created a novel situation which recruited greater functional participation by the right cerebral hemisphere. Accommodating to new symbols for previously assimilated concepts is a common demand in the learning process of formal systems. Thus, the functions of the left and right hemispheres appear to take interactive roles during learning.     

Anti-NMDA-Rezeptor-Enzephalitis

Die Anti-NMDA(N-Methyl-D-Aspartat)-Rezeptor-Enzephalitis ist eine seltene autoimmunologisch bedingte Erkrankung mit verschiedenen neuropsychiatrischen Symptomen, die durch den Nachweis von NMDA-Rezeptor-Antikörpern im Liquor diagnostiziert wird. Die gängigen Behandlungsprotokolle beinhalten ein Stufenschema der Immuntherapien; allerdings beruhen die therapeutischen Entscheidungen derzeit auf einem Grad-IV-Evidenzniveau. Wir berichten hier über zwei junge, unterschiedlich betroffene Patientinnen und beschreiben die Therapiestrategien inklusive der Kombination verschiedener Immuntherapien einschließlich Ocrelizumab und Überlegungen bezüglich Fertilitätserhalt.     

When inverted faces are recognized: The role of configural information in face recognition

The identification of upright faces seems to involve a special sensitivity to "configural" information, the processing of which is less effective when the face is inverted. However the precise meaning of "configural" remains unclear. Five experiments are presented, which showed that the disruption of the processing of relational, rather than holistic, information largely determines the occurrence as well as the size of the face-inversion effect. In Experiment 1, faces could be identified either by unique combinations of local information (e.g. a specific eye colour plus hair colour) or by unique relational information (e.g. nose-mouth distance). The former showed no inversion effect, whereas the latter did. A combination of local and relational information (Experiment 2) again produced an inversion effect, although this effect was smaller than that found when only relational information was used. The results were replicated in Experiment 3 when differences in the brightness of local features were used instead of specific colour combinations. Experiment 4 used different retrieval conditions to distinguish relational from holistic processing, and demonstrated again that spatial relations between single features appeared to provide crucial information for face recognition. In Experiment 5, the importance of relational information was confirmed using faces that also varied in the shapes of local features.     

Context effects on emotional and aesthetic evaluations of artworks and IAPS pictures

In the arts emotionally negative objects sometimes can be positively judged. Defining an object as art possibly yields specific changes in how perceivers emotionally experience and aesthetically judge a stimulus. To study how emotional experiences (joy, anger, disgust, fear, sadness, and shame ratings, plus facial EMG) and aesthetic judgements (liking ratings) are modulated by an art context (“This is an artwork”) as compared to non-art reality context (“This is a press photograph”) participants evaluated IAPS pictures and veridical artworks depicting emotionally positive and negative content. In line with the assumption that emotional distancing is an essential feature of the art experience we found that positive emotional reactions were attenuated (joy, M. zygomaticus activation) in an art compared to non-art context. However, context had little influence on negative emotional reactions (anger, disgust, fear, sadness, shame, and M. corrugator activation) suggesting that these are similar in art and non-art. Importantly, only artworks of emotionally negative content were judged more positively in an art context — thus liked more. This study, in accordance with the assumption of a distanced aesthetic mode, shows that an art context fosters appraisal processes that influence emotional experiences, allowing to judge negative stimuli aesthetically more positively — thus suppressing the immediacy of emotional stimulus content.     

Moderation of Stimulus Material on the Prediction of IQ with Infants' Performance in the Visual Expectation Paradigm: Do Greebles Make the Task More Challenging?

The objective of this study was to examine the role of the stimulus material for the prediction of later IQ by early learning measures in the Visual Expectation Paradigm (VExP). The VExP was assessed at 9 months using two types of stimuli, Greebles and human faces. Greebles were assumed to be associated with a higher load on working memory in comparison to human faces. IQ was assessed at 3 years and 4 months of age. Sixty‐four children participated at both assessments in this longitudinal study. The results show a moderation of the stimulus material on the prediction of IQ. With Greebles as stimulus material, a significant relationship between infants' learning and IQ was found. There was no relation when infants' learned in the VExP using human faces. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Watching others in a positive state does not induce optimism bias in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus), but leads to behaviour indicative of competition

Animal Cognition - Emotional contagion is suggested to facilitate group life by enhancing synchronized responses to the environment. Cooperative breeders are an example of a social system that...     

Cognitive deficits, schizophrenia, and the anterior cingulate cortex

Cognitive deficits are thought to be responsible for some of the symptoms and dysfunction in schizophrenia. Recent research on the anterior cingulate cortex supports this assumption. More detailed and definitive evidence for this association will require identification of specific neural networks whose abnormal structure, connections or activity create the cognitive deficits in question.