Modulation of cholinergic transmission enhances excitability of hippocampal pyramidal neurons and ameliorates learning impairments in aging animals

Four cholinesterase inhibitors have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treating behavioral symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Here we review our experiences with two cholinesterase inhibitors (metrifonate and galanthamine) and a muscarinic acetylcholine receptor agonist (CI-1017) in behavioral pharmacological and brain slice experiments in aging and young rabbits. Aging rabbits are impaired in their ability to acquire the hippocampus-dependent trace eyeblink conditioning task, as compared to young controls. A large proportion of aging animals cannot reach behavioral criterion in this task. Those that do learn, do so more slowly. In addition, the post-burst afterhyperpolarization and spike frequency accommodation is increased in hippocampal pyramidal neurons from aging animals, i.e., cellular excitability is reduced as compared to those from young animals. Metrifonate, galanthamine, and CI-1017 reduced the learning deficits observed in aging rabbits so that they learned almost as quickly as young controls. These cholinergic compounds also enhanced the postsynaptic excitability of hippocampal pyramidal neurons in vitro. Therefore, we propose that the amelioration of learning impairment with the cholinergic compounds may in part be due to the enhanced excitability of hippocampal pyramidal neurons. The potential relevance of our studies to further understanding the cellular and behavioral changes that occur with normal aging and Alzheimer's Disease is discussed.     

The Effect of the Running‐Man Emergency Exit Sign and Its Installed Location on Human Directional Choice

Understanding the meaning of an emergency exit sign is essential for escaping from a building during a disaster. According to International Organization for Standardization 7010:2011, there are leftward and rightward running‐man exit signs indicating the location of an exit door. However, there is neither an application rule regarding which direction the sign should point nor a rule for where it should be attached in the horizontal dimension. We examined the effect of the heading direction of the running man and its horizontal locations on the selection of exit directions. A modified spatial Stroop task as an unforced‐choice task was designed by combining the running man's heading direction and its horizontal location. The results showed both facilitation and inhibition effects, conflict adaptation, and post‐error slowing reflecting top‐down control. These findings suggest that the heading direction of the running‐man exit sign includes evident directionality. This should be considered in designing and establishing standardized emergency exit signs. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fit Happens Globally: A Meta‐Analytic Comparison of the Relationships of Person–Environment Fit Dimensions with Work Attitudes and Performance Across East Asia,Europe, and North America

In this cross‐cultural meta‐analysis, we examine the relationships between person–environment [P–E] fit and work attitudes (organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and intent to quit) as well as job performance based on 96 studies (110 independent samples) conducted in East Asia, Europe, and North America. We compare the results across cultures while focusing on 4 dimensions of P–E fit (person‐job fit, person–organization fit, person–group fit, and person–supervisor fit) separately and jointly. Findings suggest that the effects of rational fit (person–organization and person–job fit) are (relatively) stronger in North America and, to a lesser extent, Europe than in East Asia. However, the effects of relational fit (person–group and person–supervisor fit) are (relatively) stronger in East Asia than in North America. This highlights that in collectivistic and high power distance (vs. individualistic and low power distance) cultures, relational (vs. rational) fit is more salient in influencing employees’ perceptions about their work environments. Results are less clear concerning job performance. What is common across cultures is that, regardless of which dimension of P–E fit is being considered, fit happens and high levels of fit lead to positive outcomes, confirming the universal relevance of fit phenomenon.     

Church-based social interactions and psychotic experiences among Black Americans: findings from the National Survey of American Life

Religious attendance has generally been salutary for mental health, though recent evidence suggests that church attendance has no significant relation with psychotic experiences. This study will examine how various types of church-based social interactions might be related to psychotic experiences. We analysed data from the National Survey of American Life –a representative sample of Black Americans in the United States –and used multivariable logistic regression to examine associations between seven church-based social interaction variables and lifetime psychotic experiences. In separate models, church attendance, church member interaction, and closeness to church members were not significantly associated with psychotic experiences, while greater emotional support, negative social interactions, providing help to other church members and receiving help from fellow church members were associated with increased odds of reporting psychotic experiences. But in a fully adjusted model including all church-based social interaction variables, only negative church interactions and giving help to church members were significantly associated with psychotic experiences. Church-based social interactions did not protect against psychotic experiences, and in some cases increased risk. Future studies should explore why the deleterious aspects of social interactions prevail over the beneficial ones.     

APPROACHING ISLAM: Comparative Ethics through Human Rights

A dialogical approach to understanding Islamic ethics rejects objectivist methods in favor of a conversational model in which participants accept each other as rational moral agents. Hans-Georg Gadamer asserts the importance of agreement upon a subject matter through conversation as a means to gaining insight into other persons and cultures, and Jürgen Habermas stresses the importance of fairness in dialogue. Using human rights as a subject matter for engaging in dialogue with Islamic scholars, Muslim perspectives on issues such as democracy, toleration, and freedom of conscience emerge. A capabilities approach to human rights, such as that developed by Martha Nussbaum, enables the coexistence of multiple religious ethical visions while insisting upon the need to protect and nurture essential human abilities.     

General And Culturally Specific Factors Influencing Black And White Rape Survivors' Self-Esteem

Grounded in a culturally inclusive ecological model of sexual assault recovery framework, the influence of personal (e.g., prior victimization), rape context (e.g., degree of injury during last assault), and postrape response factors (e.g., general and cultural attributions, rape related coping) on self-esteem of Black and White college women, who were survivors of attempted and completed rape, were examined. As predicted, Black and White women identified similar general variables (e.g., general attributions) as important in the recovery process. Black women, however, identified a cultural factor (i.e., cultural attributions) as more important in influencing their reactions to the last rape compared to their White counterparts. Using path analysis, findings from this cross-sectional study indicated that severity of the last assault and prior victimization were related to lower self-esteem indirectly through avoidance coping strategies, and victim blame attributions for the latter. Results also suggested that the link between cultural attributions and self-esteem was explained through victim blame attributions, primarily for Black participants. The model accounted for 26% of variance in self-esteem.     

Drive and Direction: Empathy with Intended Targets Moderates the Proactive Personality–Job Performance Relationship via Work Engagement

Proactive employees are self-starting and driven. Thus, they typically exhibit high levels of work engagement. While work engagement reflects the degree to which employees are attentive and absorbed when performing their work tasks, it does not guarantee effective job performance unless their actions are strategic. We draw on Grant and Ashford’s (2008) proactivity framework to develop a drive and direction contingency model that expands our understanding of how and when proactive personality predicts job performance via work engagement. We argue that employee’s drive (represented by the positive relation of proactive personality with work engagement) predicts job performance only when the employee also has high (vs. low) empathy with their intended targets, such as customers. Empathy with intended targets allows employees to understand and feel their targets’ concerns and feelings, thus providing a direction that guides their work engagement to address their targets’ interests and predict job performance. Results from a multiple-source (employees, supervisors, and organizational records) lagged (T1–T2) field study and a lab experiment support our model. We discuss the implications, limitations, and future directions of our findings.