Prenatal testosterone treatment potentiates the aggression‐inhibiting effect of the neurosteroid dehydroepiandrosterone in female mice

The neurosteroid dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is a powerful inhibitor of aggression in murine models when given for 15 days and potentially may be useful in the management of inappropriate human aggression. Although the biosynthesis and metabolism of DHEA have been described, little is known about the potential effect of the steroidal environment during sexual differentiation on the subsequent response to DHEA. Whether prenatal androgen exposure influences the subsequent response to DHEA was assessed by comparing the effect of DHEA (80 μg/d) on aggression in female offspring where dams were treated with 1, 10, or 100 μg of testosterone (T) on days 15 to 18 of gestation (Experiment I) or that developed in different uterine positions (Experiment II). The results showed that DHEA decreased attack behavior in general and that the 100‐μg prenatal T treatments enhanced the antiaggressive effect of this neurosteroid. Neither the lower doses of exogenously administered T nor the uterine position led to an enhanced response to DHEA. In addition, whether DHEA produced changes in social and nonsocial activities was examined. In the 100‐μg T females, DHEA increased the duration of the former and decreased the frequency and duration of the latter, indicating that it was not a general decrement in behavioral expression that mediated the enhanced response to the antiaggressive effect of DHEA. In the second experiment, DHEA treatment led to increased frequencies of social nonaggressive and nonsocial activities. However, the uterine positions × treatment interactions were not significant, demonstrating that contiguity to male fetuses did not differentially affect the response to DHEA. Aggr. Behav. 27:130–138, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The Explorative Nature of Heideggerian Logic

Human Studies - This paper argues for a fundamental re-reading of Heideggerian philosophy, especially regarding the logical structures presented by Heidegger in the thirties and onward. The field,...     

The number 747 is named faster after seeing Boeing than after seeing Levi's: Associative priming in the processing of multidigit Arabic numerals

Two experiments are reported in which naming multidigit Arabic numerals was shown to depend on the context in which the numbers were presented. Number naming and number decisions were faster after an associative prime (e.g., 747 preceded by the word Boeing) than after an unre- lated prime, both in unmasked and masked priming conditions. On the basis of these findings, we conclude that number naming is not always based on a quantity-based semantically mediated pathway.     

A revised teacher rating scale for Reactive and Proactive Aggression

A teacher rating scale of reactive aggression, proactive aggression, and covert antisocial behavior was evaluated in a normative sample of third- to fifth-grade predominantly white lower middle class boys (N= 186). Factor analysis revealed independent and internally consistent Reactive Aggression (six reactive items), and Proactive Aggression (five proactive items, five covert items) factors. Although the factors were intercorrelated (r= .67), and each factor was significantly correlated with negative peer social status (r= .26 for each, controlling for grade), the independence of the factors was supported by the unique relation of Reactive Aggression with in-school detentions (r= .31), controlling for Proactive Aggression and grade. These results supported the reliability and validity of Reactive and Proactive Aggression as rated by teachers, which should facilitate further research of these constructs. This research was supported in part by an NIMH First Award to Marc Atkins (MH4682), and support from an NICHD Mental Retardation Research Center Core Center Grant (DH26979). Portions of these data were presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, Sarasota, Florida, in February 1992. The authors are grateful to Paul McDermott and Tom Power for editorial comments, and to Gail Apfel, principal, and the teachers, staff, and students of Stonehurst Elementary School for their enthusiastic participation in this research.     

Paul Virilio and the articulation of post-reality

This article provides an introductory overview of the theories of Paul Virilio, particularly regarding how technologically-enhanced speed impacts human reality. It positions Virilio as part modernist, part postmodernist and discusses how his ethico-political views color his more aesthetic metaphysics, creating a tension in his final position on the merits of technological speed's blurring of the real and the imaginary. It concludes by contrasting Virilio's position with some comments on aesthetics by Ludwig Wittgenstein.     

The evaluation of european expenditure: The current state of play

Moving evaluation to the “best practice frontier” is a laborious task at any level of government. At the level of the European Union, better budget performance is a shared responsibility of the main European institutions as well as of the individual national and regional governments, while specific budgetary factors complicate matters further. To increase the transparency of decision making at the Union level and of the value for money of the approximately 80 billion ecus spent annually through the European budget, the Coucil, European parliament and the Commission have stepped up evaluation efforts over the last few years. Marc Vanheukelen, M.Sc. in economics, is Head of Sector “Budget Evaluation” in the Directorate General of Budgets in the European Commission. Aside from evaluation methodology, his research interests include the economics of integration and public finance federalism. This article reflects the views of the author and not necessarily those of the European Commission.     

Catecholamine training effects from exercise programs: A bridge to exercise-temperament relationships

Three studies were conducted to test whether a catecholamine training effect results from a long-term aerobic exercise program. Study I showed significant increases in urinary adrenaline and noradrenaline following moderate mental stress/challenge for male aerobics subjects after a semester of training. Control groups of nonexercisers and continuously in-condition marathoners showed no comparable pre- to post semester catecholamine increases. Male and female Aerobics subjects were contrasted with nonexercisers across a semester in Study 2; the hypothesis was confirmed that postsemester increases in catecholamines occurred only following an episode of mental challenges/stress, and not following base-rate-rest conditions. Under conditions of more active challenge than in Studies 1 and 2, women subjects in Study 3 provided directional but nonsignificant support for the Study 2 findings. The results are discussed in the context of literature on the relationship of catecholamine availability during challenge/stress to temperament and on the relationship of aerobic training to temperament. At a theoretical level, the question is discussed of increased catecholamine availability being a likely mediator in the exercise program to temperament relationship.This research was supported by a grant from the Research Council of the University of Nebraska Lincoln. Our thanks to Prof. James Crabbe for assistance in recruiting subjects in Study 2, and to Pamela Brown and Prof. Wes Sime for assistance with Study 3.     

Secondary memory and very rapid forgetting

Studies of recall in the absence of expectancy (e.g., Muter, 1980) have suggested that forgetting from primary memory is much more rapid than previously assumed. Two experiments examined the role of secondary memory, as reflected by encoding strategies, in determining this rate of forgetting. Experiment 1 demonstrated that the type of encoding specified by orienting tasks can influence recall in a traditional Brown-Peterson task. Experiment 2 demonstrated a similar pattern of effects of orienting task in the Muter task when recall was not expected, despite much more rapid forgetting. The type of encoding engaged by the orienting tasks did not account for Muter's results. Expectancy and orienting task appear to have separable influences on resource allocation during encoding. The presence of secondary memory influences at even the shortest retention interval indicates that forgetting from primary memory may be even more rapid than has been proposed.