Effect of stress induced by electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus on the electrical stability of the heart in rabbits

The influence of stress on cardiac electrical stability (CES) and chaotic dynamics of the electrical activity of the heart was studied in acute and chronic experiments in rabbits. Stress was caused by 2-3 h daily immobilization of the animals with electrical stimulation of emotiogenic centers of the hypothalamus through implanted electrodes. CES was estimated by the thresholds for ventricular arrhythmia: paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia, repeated ventricular extrasystoles and ventricular fibrillation (VF). The results showed: (i) CES in stressed rabbits was decreased significantly compared with controls; (ii) the level of chaos at the onset of VF in stressed rabbits was increased significantly compared with controls; (iii) heart rate of stressed rabbits was significantly greater than in controls; (iv) changes in CES parameters depended on whether stress was acute or chronic; (v) acute stress promoted transition of spontaneously reversible VF into spontaneously irreversible VF. Thus, stress increased the degree of disorganization of heart electrical activity and also decreased its electrical stability. The experiments indicate that stress is a destabilizing factor influencing the reversibility of heart rate disorders. The probability of such reversibility depends on whether stress is acute or chronic: acute stress is more likely to lead to irreversible spontaneous VF.     

Effects of NMDA receptor channel blockade on aggression in isolated male mice

N‐Methyl‐D ‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists are perspective candidates for medication development for a number of diseases/states that are associated with increased aggressiveness (e.g., opioid withdrawal). The prototypic NMDA receptor antagonist phencyclidine (PCP) itself is a widely abused substance and is known to elevate levels of aggression in drug users. The present study was aimed at testing several drugs that share with PCP the ability to block NMDA receptor–associated channel. The resident‐intruder procedure was used to assess drug effects on aggressive behavior in isolated male mice. Resident aggressive mice were administered NMDA channel blockers (PCP; 0.3–10 mg/kg), dizocilpine (MK‐801; 0.01–0.3 mg/kg), memantine (1–30 mg/kg), and MRZ 2/579 (0.1–5.6 mg/kg). The competitive NMDA receptor antagonist D CPPene (0.1–5.6 mg/kg) was also tested as a compound representing an alternative approach to reduce activity of NMDA receptor complex. PCP, dizocilpine, and memantine inhibited expression of aggressive behaviors only at doses that produced ataxia. The novel channel blocker MRZ 2/579 also produced ataxia at the highest dose level but failed to affect aggressiveness. Reduction in aggression with a corresponding increase in sociability was observed after administration of D ‐CPPene. Overall, the present results suggest that NMDA receptor channel blockers do not exert selective effects on aggressive behavior. Aggr. Behav. 25:381–396, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Parents' child‐rearing values and beliefs in the United States and Russia: the impact of culture and social class

Parents' values for their children and their beliefs about appropriate child‐rearing practices contribute to the ways in which they try to shape their children's development. This paper examines the values and beliefs of 71 parents (37 mothers and 34 fathers) from two cities in the United States and Russia. Half of the families were middle class (determined by education and occupation criteria) and half were working class. The results revealed no cross‐societal differences in value for self‐direction in the children; perhaps reflecting the recent economic and ideological changes in Russia. In contrast, significant social class differences, for both mothers and fathers, were found in child‐rearing values and beliefs. Middle class parents in both societies were more likely to value self‐direction and believe that children should have freedom in and around the home, whereas working class parents were more likely to believe that children should be expected to conform to rules. The results of this study underscore the role of within‐society heterogeneity, as a function of social class, in parents' values and beliefs about child‐rearing.     

A psychophysiological study of auditory illusions of approach and withdrawal in the context of the perceptual environment

Auditory perception of the depth of space is based mainly on spectral and amplitude changes of sound waves originating from the sound source and reaching the listener. The perceptive illusion of movement of an auditory image caused by changes in amplitude and/or frequency of the signal tone emanating from an immobile loudspeaker was studied. Analysis of data obtained from the participants revealed the diapason of combinations of amplitude and frequency changes for which the movement direction was perceived similarly by all participants, despite significantly different movement assessment criteria. Additional auditory and visual information of the conditions of radial movement (near or far fields) determined listeners' interpretation of changes in the signal parameters. The data obtained about the perception of approach and withdrawal models are evidence of the fact that the principal cues of the perception of the distance of immobile sound sources manifests similarly to that of an auditory image moving along a radial axis.     

Regression I. Experimental approaches to regression

The concept of regression is considered with an emphasis on the differences between the positions of Freud and Jung regarding its significance. The paper discusses the results of experimental analyses of individual experience dynamics (from gene expression changes and impulse neuronal activity in animals to prosocial behaviour in healthy humans at different ages, and humans in chronic pain) in those situations where regression occurs: stress, disease, learning, highly emotional states and alcohol intoxication. Common mechanisms of regression in all these situations are proposed. The mechanisms of regression can be described as reversible dedifferentiation, which is understood as a relative increase of the representation of low-differentiated (older) systems in the actualized experience. In all of the cases of dedifferentiation mentioned above, the complexity of the systemic organization of behaviour significantly decreases.     

Why do Mathematicians Need Different Ways of Presenting Mathematical Objects? The Case of Cayley Graphs

This paper investigates the role of pictures in mathematics in the particular case of Cayley graphs—the graphic representations of groups. I shall argue that their principal function in that theory—to provide insight into the abstract structure of groups—is performed employing their visual aspect. I suggest that the application of a visual graph theory in the purely non-visual theory of groups resulted in a new effective approach in which pictures have an essential role. Cayley graphs were initially developed as exact mathematical constructions. Therefore, they are legitimate components of the theory (combinatorial and geometric group theory) and the pictures of Cayley graphs are a part of practical mathematical procedures.     

Values Following a Major Terrorist Incident: Finnish Adolescent and Student Values Before and After September 11, 2001

The horrific terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, left an indelible mark on perceptions of security and threat across the world. This paper uses Schwartz's (1992) value circumplex model to examine value change across matched high school and university student samples in Finland, questioned before and after the World Trade Center (WTC) and associated attacks. In Study 1 ( N =419), security values of adolescents were higher the day following the WTC attacks than before, but fell back toward pre-attack levels in the subsequent two samples. In contrast, levels of stimulation were lower following the terrorist incidents. In Study 2 ( N =222), security levels of students were also higher following the WTC attacks, but again were closer to pre-attack levels in a subsequent cohort.     

Religious syncretism as a sociocultural factor of social security in cross-border regions

This research rationalises the need to consider religious syncretism a crucial factor of social security in cross-border regions. Special attention is paid to determining and studying the specificity of religious syncretism in the conditions of cross-border regions and analysing the role of religious syncretism in the social security of such regions. We used the combination of the different methodological approaches, it is possible to determine the role of religious syncretism as a sociocultural factor of social security in cross-border regions. Religious syncretism creates firm intercultural and interreligious bonds between the ethnic groups that populate cross-border regions; such bonds are notable for a certain historically established system of ordered and stable interactions, which virtually rules out the emergence of conflicts and helps to preserve the functional integrity of state borders.     

Functional relationships in the nuclear and extended family: A 16‐culture study

This study investigated the relationship between culture, structural aspects of the nuclear and extended family, and functional aspects of the family, that is, emotional distance, social interaction, and communication, as well as geographical proximity. The focus was on the functional aspects of family, defined as members of the nuclear family (mother, father, and their children) and the extended family (grandmother/grandfather, aunt/uncle, cousins). Sixteen cultures participated in this study, with a total number of 2587 participants. The first hypothesis, that the pattern of scores on the psychological measures and the behavioral outcomes are similar across cultures, an indication of cultural universality, was supported. The second hypothesis, that functional relations between members of the nuclear family and their kin are maintained in high‐affluent and low‐affluent cultures, and that differences in functional relationships in high‐ and low‐affluent cultures are a matter of degree, was also supported by the findings. The results suggest that it is less meaningful in cross‐cultural family studies to ask questions about the structure of the family, than to ask about the functional relationships between members of the nuclear family and their kin. In looking only at the nuclear family, one focuses only on those residing in the household, but ignores those important members of the extended family who may reside nearby and their significant relationships with the members of the nuclear family.     

Seeing the “forest” or the “trees” of organizational justice: Effects of temporal perspective on employee concerns about unfair treatment at work

What events do employees recall or anticipate when they think of past or future unfair treatment at work? We propose that an employee’s temporal perspective can change the salience of different types of injustice through its effect on cognitions about employment. Study 1 used a survey in which employee temporal focus was measured as an individual difference. Whereas greater levels of future focus related positively to concerns about distributive injustice, greater levels of present focus related positively to concerns about interactional injustice. In Study 2, an experimental design focused employee attention on timeframes that differed in temporal orientation and temporal distance. Whereas distributive injustice was more salient when future (versus past) orientation was induced, interactional injustice was more salient when past orientation was induced and at less temporal distance. Study 3 showed that the mechanism underlying the effect of employee temporal perspective is abstract versus concrete cognitions about employment.