Contributions of area Te2 to rat recognition memory

Ablations and local intracerebral infusions were used to determine the role of rat temporal association cortex (area Te2) in object recognition memory, so that this role might be compared with that of the adjacent perirhinal cortex (PRH). Bilateral lesions of Te2 impaired recognition memory measured by preferential exploration of a novel rather than a familiar object at delays ≥20 min but not after a 5-min delay. Local infusion bilaterally into Te2 of (1) CNQX to block AMPA/kainate receptors or (2) lidocaine to block axonal transmission or (3) AP5, an NMDA receptor antagonist, impaired recognition memory after a 24-h but not a 20-min delay. In PRH all these manipulations impair recognition memory after a 20-min as well as a 24-h delay. UBP302, a GluK1 kainate receptor antagonist, impaired recognition memory after a 24-h but not a 20-min delay, contrasting with its action in PRH where it impairs only shorter-term (20 min) recognition memory. Also in contrast to PRH, infusion of the muscarinic receptor antagonist scopolamine was without effect. The Te2 impairments could not readily be ascribed to perceptual deficits. Hence, Te2 is essential for object recognition memory at delays >5 or 20 min. Thus, at long delays both area Te2 and PRH are necessary for object recognition memory.     

Differing time dependencies of object recognition memory impairments produced by nicotinic and muscarinic cholinergic antagonism in perirhinal cortex

The roles of muscarinic and nicotinic cholinergic receptors in perirhinal cortex in object recognition memory were compared. Rats' discrimination of a novel object preference test (NOP) test was measured after either systemic or local infusion into the perirhinal cortex of the nicotinic receptor antagonist methyllycaconitine (MLA), which targets alpha-7 (α7) amongst other nicotinic receptors or the muscarinic receptor antagonists scopolamine, AFDX-384, and pirenzepine. Methyllycaconitine administered systemically or intraperirhinally before acquisition impaired recognition memory tested after a 24-h, but not a 20-min delay. In contrast, all three muscarinic antagonists produced a similar, unusual pattern of impairment with amnesia after a 20-min delay, but remembrance after a 24-h delay. Thus, the amnesic effects of nicotinic and muscarinic antagonism were doubly dissociated across the 20-min and 24-h delays. The same pattern of shorter-term but not longer-term memory impairment was found for scopolamine whether the object preference test was carried out in a square arena or a Y-maze and whether rats of the Dark Agouti or Lister-hooded strains were used. Coinfusion of MLA and either scopolamine or AFDX-384 produced an impairment profile matching that for MLA. Hence, the antagonists did not act additively when coadministered. These findings establish an important role in recognition memory for both nicotinic and muscarinic cholinergic receptors in perirhinal cortex, and provide a challenge to simple ideas about the role of cholinergic processes in recognition memory: The effects of muscarinic and nicotinic antagonism are neither independent nor additive.     

Towards a Functional Approach to Modular Ontologies Using Institutions

We propose a functional view of ontologies that emphasises their role in determining answers to queries, irrespective of the formalism in which they are written. A notion of framework is introduced that captures the situation of a global language into which both an ontology language and a query language can be translated, in an abstract way. We then generalise existing notions of robustness from the literature, and relate these to interpolation properties that support modularisation of ontologies.     

Books Received

Abstract

Early childhood deprivation, attachment chaos, repeated medical traumata, and abuse set up neural networks of dread, shame, worthlessness, and hopelessness: the phenomenology of abject experience that resides in implicit memory. Abject interactions with others condense yearning and despair into complex enactments of abject suffering. Working in abject subgroups dilutes the intensity of abject material as ownership of toxic affects is broadened. Affective engagement and a relational perspective facilitate the management and transformation of self-abjection into more optimal relatedness in combined group and individual treatment.     

Perceived Effectiveness of Principals of Seventh-day Adventist Boarding Schools

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of principals in Seventh-day Adventist boarding high schools in North America as perceived by school staff, superintendents, and the principals themselves. Responses to the standardized assessment instrument were received from 201 staff, 23 principals, and 17 superintendents. The instrument assessed effectiveness in terms of four constructs related to the principal's work: maintenance, adaptation, goal attainment, and integration. Results indicated that principals were perceived to be highly effective in maintenance and integration and moderately effective in adaptation and goal attainment. When compared to national norms, respondent's perceptions of the effectiveness of principals in Adventist boarding high schools were equal to or higher than those for their public-school counterparts.     

The Diagnostic Utility of Welsh's A-R Categories

The purpose of this study was to determine if the diagnosis-A-R category relationships described by Welsh hold for other patient samples. White, nonorganic males were categorized into one of four quadrants using Welsh's criteria. Statistical analysis showed no differences among the subgroups with regard to age, IQ, education or marital status. The major analysis disclosed no support whatsoever for Welsh's findings, either for all diagnostic groupings or for the separate diagnostic subgroupings presumably related to specific quadrants.     

The Adult Attachment Projective Picture System: Integrating Attachment Into Clinical Assessment

This article summarizes the development and validation of the Adult Attachment Projective System (AAP), a measure we developed from the Bowlby–Ainsworth developmental tradition to assess adult attachment status. The AAP has demonstrated excellent concurrent validity with the Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, &; Main, 1984/1985/1996 Finn, S. E. 2007. In our client's shoes: Theory and techniques of therapeutic assessment., New York, NY: Psychology Press.  [Google Scholar]; Main &; Goldwyn, 1985–1994 Lis, A., Mazzeschi, C., Di Riso, D. and Salcuni, S. 2011/this issue. Attachment, assessment, and psychological intervention: A case study of anorexia. Journal of Personality Assessment, 93: 434–444. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Main, Goldwyn, &; Hesse, 2003 Lyons-Ruth, K. and Jacobvitz, D. 2008. “Attachment disorganization: Unresolved loss, relational violence, and lapses in behavioral and attentional strategies”. In Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications , 2nd ed, Edited by: Cassidy, J. and Shaver, P. R. 666–697. New York, NY: Guilford.  [Google Scholar]), interjudge reliability, and test–retest reliability, with no effects of verbal intelligence or social desirability. The AAP coding and classification system and application in clinical and community samples are summarized. Finally, we introduce the 3 other articles that are part of this Special Section and discuss the use of the AAP in therapeutic assessment and treatment.     

A Separation of Convenience? The Concept of Neutrality in the Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights1

Abstract

The article examines the strategies the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) employs to apply the concept of neutrality in relation to Article 9 (freedom of religion or belief) of the European Convention on Human Rights. Having explored the theoretical background of the concept of neutrality and its specific application in the case law, the authors argue that neutrality is often used to display a bias towards a particular world view or societal paradigm, rather than representing unbiased perspectives of legal reasoning. The article studies the specific justifications for such biased approaches in the context of relevant ECHR cases and argues that in this way neutrality has discredited itself as a credible legal tool and as a form of legal argumentation. Furthermore the difficulty of handling the complexities of Article 9 claims by applying the principle of neutrality has led to a stronger trend of avoiding Article 9 by dealing with Article 9 claims through other Convention articles. Finally the authors discuss possible new approaches to legal reasoning which could take on board the dynamics of freedom of religion or belief through independent reasoning beyond the myth of neutrality.