Developmental change in fetal response to repeated low-intensity sound

The aim of this study was to investigate developmental changes in heart rate response to repeated low-intensity (85 dB) sound stimulation in fetuses between 32 and 37 weeks of gestation. We measured amplitude changes in heart rate as our index of fetal response. At 35 to 37 weeks of gestation, the majority of fetuses showed a deceleratory response at the first trial. Amplitude decreased with further trials using the same stimulus before recovering when exposed to another type of stimulation. In contrast, responses in fetuses at 32 to 34 weeks of gestation were variable across trials and there was no recovery with exposure to another type of stimulation. Our results suggest that fetal habituation of cardiac response changes with developmental age.     

Evidence of means–end behavior in Asian elephants (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Elephas maximus</Emphasis>)

The present study explores to what extent Asian elephants show “means–end” behavior. We used captive Asian elephants (N = 2) to conduct four variations of the Piagetian “support” problem, which involves a goal object that is out of reach, but rests on a support within reach. In the first condition, elephants were simultaneously presented with two identical trays serving as the “support”, with the bait on one tray and the other tray left empty. In the next two conditions, the bait was placed on one tray, while additional bait was placed beside the other tray. In the last condition, both trays contained bait, but one of the trays had a small gap which prevented the elephants from reaching the reward. Subjects were required to choose and pull either tray with their trunk and to obtain the bait (i.e. goal). Results showed that one elephant performed all of the support problems significantly above chance after several sessions, suggesting that the elephant was capable of understanding that pulling the tray was the “means” for achieving the “end” of obtaining the bait. This study showed that elephants show means–end behavior when subjected to a Piagetian “support” task, and indicates that such goal-directed behavior occurs in species other than primates.     

Impairment in judgement of the moral emotion guilt following orbitofrontal cortex damage

Although neuroimaging studies have provided evidence for an association between moral emotions and the orbitofrontal cortex, studies on patients with focal lesions using experimental probes of moral emotions are scarce. Here, we addressed this topic by presenting a moral emotion judgement task to patients with focal brain damage. Four judgement tasks in a simple pairwise choice paradigm were given to 72 patients with cerebrovascular disease. These tasks consisted of a perceptual line judgement task as a control task; the objects’ preference task as a basic preference judgement task; and two types of moral emotion judgement task, an anger task and a guilt task. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed on each set of task performance scores to take into account potential confounders. Performance on the guilt emotion judgement task negatively correlated with the orbitofrontal cortex damage, but not with the other variables. Results for the other judgement tasks did not reach statistical significance. The close association between orbitofrontal cortex damage and a decrease in guilt emotion judgement consistency might suggest that the orbitofrontal cortex plays a key role in the sense of guilt, a hallmark of morality.     

Spatiotemporal dynamics of long-term potentiation in rat insular cortex revealed by optical imaging

Long-term potentiation (LTP) of the gustatory cortex (GC), a part of the insular cortex (IC) around the middle cerebral artery, is a key process of gustatory learning and memory, including conditioned taste aversion learning. The rostral (rGC) and caudal GC (cGC) process different tastes; the rGC responds to hedonic and the cGC responds to aversive tastes. However, plastic changes of spatial interaction of excitatory propagation between the rGC and cGC remain unknown. The present study aimed to elucidate spatiotemporal profiles of excitatory propagation, induced by electrical stimulation (five train pulses) of the rGC/cGC before and after LTP induction, using in vivo optical imaging with a voltage-sensitive dye. We demonstrated that tetanic stimulation of the cGC induced long-lasting expansion of the excitation responding to five train stimulation of the cGC, and an increase in amplitude of optical signals in the IC. Excitatory propagation after LTP induction spread preferentially toward the rostral IC: the length constant (λ) of excitation, obtained by fitting optical signals with a monoexponential curve, was increased to 121.9% in the rostral direction, whereas λ for the caudal, dorsal, and ventral directions were 48.9%, 44.2%, and 62.5%, respectively. LTP induction was prevented by pre-application of D-APV, an NMDA receptor antagonist, or atropine, a muscarinic receptor antagonist, to the cortical surface. In contrast, rGC stimulation induced only slight LTP without direction preference. Considering the different roles of the rGC and cGC in gustatory processing, these characteristic patterns of LTP in the GC may be involved in a mechanism underlying conversion of palatability.     

Transposed-Letter Priming Across Inflectional Morpheme Boundaries

This study reports findings from two experiments testing whether a transposed-letter (TL) priming effect can be obtained when the transposition occurs across morphological boundaries. Previous studies have primarily tested derivationally complex words or compound words, but have not examined a more rule-based and productive morphological structure, i.e., inflectionally complex words, using masked priming. Experiment 1 tested TL priming with nonword primes and inflected targets (FOCUSING). Nonword primes were formed by transposing letters either within the root morpheme (fcousing) or across two morphemes (focuisng). Experiment 2 used the same nonword primes, but had the root words as targets (FOCUS). Both experiments showed similar TL priming effects for within-morpheme and across-boundary positions, indicating that morphological decomposition takes place only after letter positions in a word have been assigned. This finding provides additional evidence to previous research testing derived and compound words showing TL priming regardless of the position of transposition.     

Development of eating behavior by Japanese toddlers in a nursery school: relation to independent walking

The eating behavior of 32 toddlers in a nursery school at 10, 12, and 14 months old was observed in relation to the age at onset of independent walking. With increasing age, the frequency at which the toddlers ate food given by a teacher decreased, and the frequency at which the toddlers ate by themselves increased. The toddlers who started walking earlier also advanced faster in the development of eating behavior. The time when the frequency of eating by oneself surpassed the frequency of passive eating coincided with the time when the toddlers started walking.     

Benefits of negative thinking and negative affect: analyses of answers to an open-ended question by Japanese undergraduates

What are the benefits of negative thinking and negative affect? Although previous studies in evolutionary psychology, social psychology, and clinical psychology have clarified the question, there has been no definitive study asking people directly about the perceived benefits. In the present study, 119 Japanese undergraduates were asked how they recognized the benefits of negative thinking and negative affect. Their answers were analyzed qualitatively. The answers were arranged into 30 smaller categories and 12 superordinate ones. The benefits were divided into "benefits to the self" and "benefits to interpersonal relations". Finally, the conditions necessary for the negative thinking and negative affect being benign, and possible cultural differences, were discussed.