A new group-training procedure for habituation demonstrates that presynaptic glutamate release contributes to long-term memory in Caenorhabditis elegans

In the experiments reported here we have developed a new group-training protocol for assessing long-term memory for habituation in Caenorhabditis elegans. We have replicated all of the major findings of the original single-worm protocol using the new protocol: (1) distributed training produced long-term retention of training, massed training did not; (2) distributed training at long interstimulus intervals (ISIs) produced long-term retention, short ISIs did not; and (3) long-term memory for distributed training is protein synthesis-dependent as it could be blocked by heat shock during the inter-block interval. In addition, we have shown that long-term memory for habituation is graded, depending on the number of blocks of stimuli in training. The inter-block interval must be >40 min for long-term retention of training to occur. Finally, we have tested long-term memory for habituation training in a strain of worms with a mutation in a vesicular glutamate transporter in the sensory neurons that transduce tap (eat-4). The results from these eat-4 worms indicate that glutamate release from the sensory neurons has an important role in the formation of long-term memory for habituation.     

An experimental comparison of Pycnogenol and methylphenidate in adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Twenty-four adults (24 to 53 years old) with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Combined Type, were studied in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study of Pycnogenol and methylphenidate. Pycnogenol is an antioxidant derived from the bark of the French maritime pine tree. Methylphenidate is a standard pharmaceutical intervention for ADHD. Anecdotal reports suggest that Pycnogenol improves concentration in adults with ADHD without adverse side effects. Participants received Pycnogenol, methylphenidate, and placebo, each for three weeks, in a randomized and counterbalanced order. Although ADHD symptoms improved during treatment, neither methylphenidate nor Pycnogenol outperformed the placebo control, as measured by self-report rating scales, rating scales completed by the individual's significant other, and a computerized continuous performance test. The conservative dosage levels and relatively brief length of treatment may have contributed to the absence of significant differences among treatment conditions. Implications for future research are noted.     

Conflicts of interest in science in Armenia

The author describes problems facing Armenia in reorganization of the structure of science in the post-socialist era with the aim of utilizing limited state resources more efficiently by reducing the number of separate scientific institutes, concentrating on essential core subjects required by the nation and encouraging all other projects to compete in the international arena for grant sponsorship. An earlier version of this paper was presented at an International Conference on “Conflict of Interest and its Significance in Science and Medicine” held in Warsaw, Poland on 5–6 April, 2002.     

How (and where) does moral judgment work?

Moral psychology has long focused on reasoning, but recent evidence suggests that moral judgment is more a matter of emotion and affective intuition than deliberate reasoning. Here we discuss recent findings in psychology and cognitive neuroscience, including several studies that specifically investigate moral judgment. These findings indicate the importance of affect, although they allow that reasoning can play a restricted but significant role in moral judgment. They also point towards a preliminary account of the functional neuroanatomy of moral judgment, according to which many brain areas make important contributions to moral judgment although none is devoted specifically to it.     

Cross-cultural patterns in emotion recognition: highlighting design and analytical techniques

This article highlights a range of design and analytical tools for studying the cross-cultural communication of emotion using forced-choice experimental designs. American, Indian, and Japanese participants judged facial expressions from all 3 cultures. A factorial experimental design is used, balanced n x n across cultures, to separate "absolute" cultural differences from "relational" effects characterizing the relationship between the emotion expressor and perceiver. Use of a response bias correction is illustrated for the tendency to endorse particular multiple-choice categories more often than others. Treating response bias also as an opportunity to gain insight into attributional style, the authors examined similarities and differences in response patterns across cultural groups. Finally, the authors examined patterns in the errors or confusions that participants make during emotion recognition and documented strong similarity across cultures.     

A computational account of altered error processing in older age: Dopamine and the error-related negativity

When participants commit errors or receive feedback signaling that they have made an error, a negative brain potential is elicited. According to Holroyd and Coles’s (in press) neurocomputational model of error processing, this error-related negativity (ERN) is elicited when the brain first detects that the consequences of an action are worse than expected. To study age-related changes in error processing, we obtained performance and ERN measures of younger and high-functioning older adults. Experiment 1 demonstrated reduced ERN amplitudes in older adults in the context of otherwise intact brain potentials. This result could not be attributed to uncertainty about the required response in older adults. Experiment 2 revealed impaired performance and reduced response- and feedback-related ERNs of older adults in a probabilistic learning task. These age changes could be simulated by manipulation of a single parameter of the neurocomputational model, this manipulation corresponding to weakened phasic activity of the mesencephalic dopamine system.     

Individual differences in stress reactions during a peer entry episode: effects of age, temperament, approach behavior, and self-perceived peer competence

The purpose of the current study was to determine whether a standardized peer entry paradigm would produce stress responses in 3- and 4-year-olds and how such stress responses would relate to temperament, observed approach to peers, and self-perceived peer competence. Physiological stress reactions were measured by activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system. The 4-year-old group showed significantly less avoidance of the new peers and was rated higher on approach temperament. This older group also showed larger HPA stress responses to the new peer situation. Finally, discrepancy between self-reported peer competence and behavior in the peer entry situation was associated with larger stress responses on average. These findings support the notion that investment in a salient episode plays a role in determining the magnitude of HPA stress responses. The importance of examining discrepancies between self-perception and action in research on stress is discussed.     

The effect of jury deliberations on jurors' propensity to disregard inadmissible evidence

The goal of this research was to examine the effect of jury deliberations on juror's propensity to disregard inadmissible evidence. Extant research is inconclusive; some research indicates that jurors do follow judicial instructions to ignore inadmissible evidence, but other research suggests that jurors do not. Two experiments examined whether jurors were affected by inadmissible evidence. The results revealed that although mock jurors were biased by inadmissible evidence prior to deliberations, the bias was tempered following deliberations. In Experiment 1, post deliberation jurors disregarded incriminating evidence that was ruled inadmissible because of due-process concerns. Experiment 2 replicated these results with less incriminating inadmissible evidence and also revealed that jurors did not accurately gauge the impact that the inadmissible evidence had on their verdicts. Theoretical and judicial policy implications are discussed.