Electrolytic lesions of the dorsal hippocampus disrupt renewal of conditional fear after extinction

There is a growing body of evidence that the hippocampus is critical for context-dependent memory retrieval. In the present study, we used Pavlovian fear conditioning in rats to examine the role of the dorsal hippocampus (DH) in the context-specific expression of fear memory after extinction (i.e., renewal). Pre-training electrolytic lesions of the DH blunted the expression of conditional freezing to an auditory conditional stimulus (CS), but did not affect the acquisition of extinction to that CS. In contrast, DH lesions impaired the context-specific expression of extinction, eliminating the renewal of fear normally observed to a CS presented outside of the extinction context. Post-extinction DH lesions also eliminated the context dependence of fear extinction. These results are consistent with those using pharmacological inactivation of the DH and suggest that the DH is required for using contextual stimuli to regulate the expression of fear to a Pavlovian CS after extinction.     

社会两难情境下的合作选择:自我利益和集体利益间的权衡

社会两难是个人利益与集体利益冲突的情景。在这种情景下,合作选择强调个体是通过分享使集体利益最大化,而非个人利益最大化。"自我控制"、"信任"与"内疚厌恶"被用来阐述两难情境下合作选择的机制。而神经层面的研究也发现,合作选择主要涉及以背外侧前额叶皮层为主的执行控制脑区、以腹内侧前额叶为主的情绪调节脑区,以及包括纹状体、伏隔核和眶额叶等在内的奖赏相关脑区。未来研究需从完善研究方法和内容、深化内在机制以及整合合作决策的神经机制等几个方面着手。     

性别的社会性约束与可持续发展

临床医学生人文教育不能模糊医学人文知识和医学人文精神两个不同的概念,需要科学精神和人文精神的辩证统一。临床医学人文教育理论与实践的分离,临床医学人文教学与临床医学专业教学的分离,临床医学人文教育目标、实现途径和评价体系的不确定性,使临床医学生难敌市场经济功利性的负面导引,医学模式的转换在教育层面受阻。     

论儒家全球伦理金律

“儒家全球伦理金律”是儒家思想内所包含的或从中发展出的能够作为全人类共同遵守奉行的基本的伦理原则、价值观和行为规范。它可初步归纳为“十大金律”,其特点为普适性、基础性、悠久性、系统性、针对性、智慧性和简洁性,它的本质是人道主义、合理主义与和平主义。全球伦理的构建不能缺少儒家伦理,儒家全球伦理是中华民族文化对人类文明作出的独特贡献。     

中国与英国儿童对待欺负问题态度的比较研究

采用修订的Olweus欺负问卷,对中国和英国近万名(中国8937名,英国1035名)中小学儿童对待欺负的态度进行调查。结果发现:(1)中国儿童对待欺负的态度比英国儿童积极。(2)儿童对待欺负问题的态度存在性别和年龄差异。女孩比男孩对待欺负的态度较积极;小学儿童对待欺负的态度比初中儿童积极。(3)儿童在欺负/受欺负关系中的角色与其对待欺负问题的态度有联系。未参与者对欺负的态度最积极,其次是受欺负者、欺负/受欺负者,而欺负者对待欺负的态度最消极;(4)儿童对受欺负者的同情多,而去帮助受欺负者的行为倾向少。     

Airport Servicescape,Approach Intentions,and the Mediating Role of Perceived Merchandise Value and Shopping Value1

Despite the large body of work on approach intentions in airport servicescapes, literature considering cognitive evaluations as a possible mediator is lacking. The aim of this study is to address this gap in literature by investigating the effect of an airport servicescape environment on approach intentions through cognitive evaluations on the foundation of the stimulus–organism–response framework. Data of 484 passengers at Chinese international airports were collected. Overall, perceived merchandise value significantly mediated the relationship between airport servicescapes and approach intentions; perceived merchandise value and shopping value acted as chain mediators between airport servicescapes and approach intentions. The theoretical implications are discussed, and the results could be used by airport stores to achieve higher approach intentions.     

The utility of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) facet and item scores in predicting violent recidivism

There is relatively limited research on psychopathy in non-Caucasian ethnic groups and even less on the utility of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) that focuses on PCL-R facet and item scores in predicting violent recidivism. In this study, we assessed the utility of the PCL-R in prospectively predicting violent versus nonviolent recidivism during an 11-year follow-up window. A high-risk sample of 451 incarcerated Korean male offenders was assessed on the PCL-R at baseline. A total of 445 were reconvicted after release (353 violent and 92 nonviolent recidivists). Psychopathy facet scores were higher in violent compared to nonviolent recidivists. Facet 2 (affective) showed the strongest effect size (Cohen's d = 0.53; Percentage change in odds = 22.6%) in predicting violent recidivism. Analyses of the four items constituting the affective facet indicated that callous/lack of empathy (Percentage change in odds = 134.4%) and failure to accept responsibility (Percentage change in odds = 94.5%) were the strongest predictors of violent recidivism. Findings are to our knowledge the first to document the utility of the PCL-R in distinguishing violent from nonviolent recidivism and highlight the role of affective impairment (particularly lack of empathy) in violent recidivism.     

Rate-decreasing effects of the atypical neuroleptic risperidone attenuated by conditions of reinforcement in a woman with mental retardation

Effects of two doses of risperidone on the performance of a matching task under tangible reinforcement and nonreinforcement conditions were measured in a woman with mental retardation. In both conditions, time to complete the task increased and response rates decreased under two doses of risperidone. Accuracy was generally unchanged. These changes were much smaller in the tangible reinforcement condition; thus, reinforcement seemed to protect performance from the rate-decreasing effects of risperidone.     

Stress effects in the hippocampus: synaptic plasticity and memory

It is now well-documented that exposures to uncontrollable (inescapable and unpredictable) stress in adulthood can have profound effects on brain and behavior. Converging lines of evidence from human and animal studies indicate that stress interferes with subsequent performances on a variety of hippocampal-dependent memory tasks. Animal studies further revealed that stress impedes ensuing induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampus. Because the hippocampus is important for key aspects of memory formation and because LTP has qualities congruent to an information storage mechanism, it is hypothesized that stress-induced modifications in hippocampal plasticity contribute to memory impairments associated with stress. Recent studies provide evidence that the amygdala, a structure important in stress- and emotion-related behaviors, plays a necessary role in the emergence of stress-associated changes in hippocampal LTP and memory. Early life stress also alters hippocampal plasticity and memory in a manner largely consistent with effects of adult stress exposure. This review focuses on endocrine-system-level mechanisms of stress effects in the hippocampus, and how stress, by altering the property of hippocampal plasticity, can subsequently influence hippocampal memory.