Attentional load associated with performing and stabilizing a between-persons coordination of rhythmic limb movements

This study addressed the issue of intentional stabilization of between-persons coordination patterns (in-phase/isodirectional and anti-phase/non-isodirectional) and the attentional cost incurred by the nervous system in maintaining and further stabilizing these coordination patterns. Five pairs of participants performed in-phase and anti-phase interpersonal coordination patterns in dual-task conditions (coordination+RT task). Results showed that: (1) isodirectional pattern (in-phase) was more stable than non-isodirectional pattern (anti-phase), (2) both iso- and non-isodirectional pattern were stabilized intentionally, (3) RT was lower for the isodirectional pattern (i.e., the most stable), and (4) attentional manipulation led to a trade-off between pattern stability and RT performance. These results suggest that performing between-persons coordination patterns incurs a central cost that depends on the coupling strength between the limbs. These findings are consistent with the previous studies in intrapersonal coordination.     

The effects of self-focused attention, performance demand, and dispositional sexual self-consciousness on sexual arousal of sexually functional and dysfunctional men

Sexually functional (N=26) and sexually dysfunctional heterosexual men with psychogenic erectile disorder (N=23) viewed two sexually explicit videos. Performance demand was manipulated through verbal instruction that a substantial genital response was to be expected from the videos. Self-focused attention was manipulated by introducing a camera pointed at the participant. Dispositional self-consciousness was assessed by questionnaire. Performance demand was found to independently inhibit the genital response. No main effect of self-focus was found. Self-focus inhibited genital response in men scoring high on general and sexual self-consciousness traits, whereas it enhanced penile tumescence in low self-conscious men. Inhibition effects were found in both volunteers and patients. No interaction effects of performance demand and self-focus were found. Subjective sexual arousal in sexually functional men was highest in the self-focus condition. In sexually dysfunctional men, subjective sexual response proved dependent on locus of attention as well as presentation order.     

Advancing age progressively affects obstacle avoidance skills in the elderly

The ability to adequately avoid obstacles while walking is an important skill that allows safe locomotion over uneven terrain. The high proportion of falls in the elderly that is associated to tripping over obstacles potentially illustrates an age-related deterioration of this locomotor skill. Some studies have compared young and old adults, but very little is known about the changes occurring within different age groups of elderly. In the present study, obstacle avoidance performance was studied in 25 young (20-37 years) and 99 older adults (65-88 years). The participants walked on a treadmill at a speed of 3 km/h. An obstacle was dropped 30 times in front of the left foot at various phases in the step cycle. Success rates (successful avoidance) were calculated and related to the time available between obstacle appearance and the estimated instant of foot contact with the obstacle (available response times or ARTs ranging from 200 to more than 350 ms). In addition, latencies of avoidance reactions, the choice of avoidance strategies (long or short step strategy, LSS or SSS), and three spatial parameters related to obstacle avoidance (toe distance, foot clearance, and heel distance) were determined for each participant. Compared to the young, the older adults had lower success rates, especially at short ARTs. Furthermore, they had longer reaction times, more LSS reactions, smaller toe and heel distances, and larger foot clearances. Within the group of elderly, only the 65-69 year olds were not different from young adults with respect to success rate, despite marked changes in the other parameters measured. In particular, even this younger group of elderly showed a dramatic reduction in the amount of SSS trials compared to young adults. Overall, age was a significant predictor of success rates, reaction times, and toe distances. These parameters deteriorated with advancing age. Finally, avoidance success rates at short ARTs were considerably worse in elderly participants who sustained recurrent falls in the six-month period prior to the assessment compared to those who sustained no or only one fall. An exercise program has been shown to improve avoidance success rates, especially at short ARTs, but the training effects on the determinants of success still need to be assessed.     

Androgen mediation of conditioned rhythmic cloacal sphincter movements in Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica)

Demonstrations of increased reproductive success due to sexual conditioning in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) have been reported, although the mechanisms that underlie these effects have remained elusive. One possible mechanism is conditioned rhythmic cloacal sphincter movements (RCSM). Two experiments were conducted with male quail to determine whether associations between a conditioned stimulus (CS) and a hen would result in the ability of the CS to elicit RCSM, and to explore the androgen mediation of conditioned RCSM. The results suggest that a focal CS paired with visual access to a female will elicit RCSM via a representation of the hen activated by the CS. Further, the available evidence indicates that conditioned RCSM is androgen mediated and that this learning may transfer across breeding seasons.     

Lateralized effects of subthalamic nucleus stimulation on different aspects of speech in Parkinson's disease

In this report, we have analyzed the effects of left and right STN stimulation separately on different aspects of speech. Significant differences were found between left and right stimulation. It appears that selective left-sided stimulation has a profoundly negative effect on prosody, articulation and hence intelligibility. Right-sided stimulation does not display this side-effect. There is no significant difference in speech characteristics between bilateral stimulation on and off. We suggest that a balanced tuning of bilateral basal ganglia networks is necessary for speech, and that the left circuit is probably dominant.     

The Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS): predictive validity and construct validity in a Dutch population

The discriminant and predictive validity of the Dutch translation of the Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS; Rust and Golombok, 1985, Rust and Golombok, 1986a, Rust and Golombok, 1986b; Ter Kuile et al., (1993); Ter Kuile et al., accepted for publication) was examined in independent samples comprising sexological (357 males and 380 females) and gynaecological outpatients (156 males and 209 females). Prediction of the presence of sexual complaints with the GRISS differed in these samples. The best performance was found in the male sexology sample in which sensitivity and specificity, as well as the predictive values both positive and negative were satisfactory. The predictive characteristics in the other three samples were found to be less satisfactory and were confounded with sample characteristics concerning the presence or absence of individual sexual problems. The availability of the other partners' GRISS scores enhanced the GRISS' predictive capacities for males and females in these samples. In 320 female and 300 male sexology patients and their partners, the convergent and divergent construct validity of the GRISS scales was investigated using other instruments measuring psychological distress, marital, sexual and general life maladjustment, personality traits of psychoticism, extraversion and neuroticism and social desirability. No correlations of the GRISS with social desirability were found. GRISS subscales were found to represent relatively independent constructs. These findings were confirmed by higher-order factor analyses of subscale scores of males and females.     

The bane of “inhumane” weapons and overkill: An overview of increasingly lethal arms and the inadequacy of regulatory controls

Weapons of both defense and offense have grown steadily in their effectiveness—especially since the industrial revolution. The mass destruction of humanity, by parts or in whole, became reality with the advent of toxic agents founded on chemistry and biology or nuclear weapons derived from physics. The military’s new non-combat roles, combined with a quest for non-lethal weapons, may change the picture in regard to conventional defense establishments but are unlikely to deter bellicose tyrants or the new terrorists from using the unlimited potential of today’s and tomorrow’s arsenals. The author addresses the issues that are raised by this developing situation with the intent of seeking those ethics that will enable us to survive in a future and uncertain world.     

Hand-movement profiles in a tactual—tactual matching task: Effects of spatial factors and laterality

We examined the effect of spatial factors and hemispheric lateralization upon hand-scanning strategies in 14 right-handed men tested in a tactual—tactual matching task. The experiment involved comparisons (judgments of same or different) between two objects sequentially touched by the fingertips of the left or right hand. Stimuli were made of smoothly joined cubes whose junctions were not haptically discernible. Exploratory strategies were inferred from the durations and locations of hand contacts with any of the cubes composing the stimuli. Accuracy was greater when the same stimulus was touched twice by the same hand than when different hands were used to feel it. With regard to strategies, both hands touched the upper parts of the object longer than the lower parts. Subjects also inspected more portions of the objects ipsilateral to the hand used. Overall differences in time spent touching cubes were greater for the right hand than for the left hand, showing that touch times were less evenly distributed on object parts for the former than for the latter. In this study, the process of information gathering by touch appears to be determined by the intertwining integration of contextual factors (e.g., stimulus position in space), biomechanical constraints on hand movements, and such cognitive factors as hemispheric differences on the ability to encode spatial pattern information.     

Relations interculturelles de jeu à l'école élémentaire: une étude en contexte québécois hors de Montréal

Dans le but de connaître la généralisation de données recueillies auprès d'enfants américains de race blanche et de race noire, cette recherche a porté sur la tendance d'enfants québécois francophones de l^re, 3^e et 4^e années du primaire à partager leurs jeux avec les 25% d'enfants d'origines asiatique et latino-américaine de leur classe. S'aidant d'une photo du groupe, chaque sujet pouvait indiquer tous les enfants avec qui il aime ou n'aime pas jouer à la récréation. Outre une préférence pour les relations de même sexe, les résultats montrent, comme dans les études antérieures, une tendance, chez les Québécois, à partir de la troisième année, à créer des réseaux de relations où les néo-Québécois n'ont pas toute leur place. Par contre, ces derniers ne sont pas rejetés et bien peu d'enfants québécois les excluent complètement. Ces données sont mises en relation avec les caractéristiques générales de la population québécoise.     

ROTATION OF MENTAL IMAGES IN BABOONS WHEN THE VISUAL INPUT IS DIRECTED TO THE LEFT CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE

Abstract— The mental rotation phenomenon was examined in baboons and humans using a video-formatted matching-to-sample task. Sample stimuli were presented either centrally or in the right or left visual half-field. Immediately afterward, subjects had to distinguish the previously presented sample Stimulus from its mirror image after both had been rotated to the same angular deviation. A mental rotation phenomenon was found in baboons and humans, but in baboons this effect wax limited to conditions in which visual input was directed to the right visual half-field. These data represent the first evidence of mental rotation in a nonhuman species.