Monoidal categories with natural numbers object

The notion of a natural numbers object in a monoidal category is defined and it is shown that the theory of primitive recursive functions can be developed. This is done by considering the category of cocommutative comonoids which is cartesian, and where the theory of natural numbers objects is well developed. A number of examples illustrate the usefulness of the concept.This work was partially carried out while both authors were guests of McGill University and while the second author was a guest of Dalhousie University. Both authors acknowledge support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Québec Department of Education.     

Differential fear conditioning induces reciprocal changes in the sensory responses of lateral amygdala neurons to the CS(+) and CS(-)

In classical fear conditioning, a neutral sensory stimulus (CS) acquires the ability to elicit fear responses after pairing to a noxious unconditioned stimulus (US). As amygdala lesions prevent the acquisition of fear responses and the lateral amygdaloid (LA) nucleus is the main input station of the amygdala for auditory afferents, the effect of auditory fear conditioning on the sensory responsiveness of LA neurons has been examined. Although conditioning was shown to increase CS-evoked LA responses, the specificity of the changes in responsiveness was not tested. Because conditioning might induce nonspecific increases in LA responses to auditory afferents, we re-examined this issue in conscious, head-restrained cats using a differential conditioning paradigm where only one of two tones (CS(+) but not CS(-)) was paired to the US. Differential conditioning increased unit and field responses to the CS(+), whereas responses to the CS(-) decreased. Such changes have never been observed in the amygdala except in cases where the CS(-) had been paired to the US before and fear responses not extinguished. This suggests that fear conditioning is not only accompanied by potentiation of amygdalopetal pathways conveying the CS(+) but also by the depression of sensory inputs unpaired to noxious stimuli.     

Lasting increases in basolateral amygdala activity after emotional arousal: implications for facilitated consolidation of emotional memories

Manipulations that reduce or enhance the activity of basolateral amygdala (BLA) neurons in the minutes to hours after training have been shown to respectively impair or facilitate retention on the inhibitory avoidance task. Although this suggests that BLA activity is altered after emotional arousal, such changes have not been directly demonstrated. To test this, we devised a feline analog of the inhibitory avoidance task and recorded BLA unit activity before and after a single inescapable footshock. Single-unit recordings revealed that the firing rate of many BLA neurons gradually increased after the footshock, peaking 30-50 min post-shock and then subsiding to baseline levels 2 h later. During this period of increased activity, the discharges of simultaneously recorded BLA cells were more synchronized than before the shock. Although it was known that pairing innocuous (conditioned stimulus, CS) and noxious stimuli modifies the responsiveness of BLA neurons to the CS, our results constitute the first demonstration that emotional arousal produces lasting increases in the spontaneous firing rates of BLA neurons. We propose that these changes in BLA activity may promote Hebbian interactions between coincident but spatially distributed activity patterns in BLA targets, facilitating the consolidation of emotional memories.     

Carl Gustav before he became Jung

It was not until 1983 that Jung's first texts were published in London as The Zofingia Lectures . Not translated into French, The Zofingia Lectures are still not available to the French-speaking public. This delay is due to an oversight: tucked away in a drawer, these texts were only discovered after Jung's death. There are five lectures that were given between 28 November 1896 and 7 January 1899. Although written when young – Carl was twenty-one when he delivered the first lecture – they are worthy of interest. These lectures outline the major aspects of his subsequent work and reveal what we can call Carl's psychic wound and the tremendous energy that he drew on to survive.
However, without reading between the lines and without subjecting Jung to psychoanalytical interpretations, the author attempts to link the dynamics of these first works to certain autobiographical or epistolary confidences. This wound or Carl's father complex and the resulting deprivation are clearly mapped out here.     

Innovative behaviour in fish: Atlantic cod can learn to use an external tag to manipulate a self-feeder

This study describes how three individual fish, Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.), developed a novel behaviour and learnt to use a dorsally attached external tag to activate a self-feeder. This behaviour was repeated up to several hundred times, and over time these fish fine-tuned the behaviour and made a series of goal-directed coordinated movements needed to attach the feeder’s pull string to the tag and stretch the string until the feeder was activated. These observations demonstrate a capacity in cod to develop a novel behaviour utilizing an attached tag as a tool to achieve a goal. This may be seen as one of the very few observed examples of innovation and tool use in fish.     

Kenneth Gergen’s Social Constructionist Contributions to Counsellor Education

Kenneth Gergen??s seminal contributions to social constructionist thinking have substantial implications for the practice of counselling and psychotherapy, and thus for the training of practitioners as well. This article takes up the latter point, exploring the many deviations from traditional approaches to foundational counselling skills training that arise when educators are informed by constructionist philosophy. The article is written in the form of a dialogic exchange in recognition of Gergen??s emphasis on the relational aspect of knowing, with contributions from two educators accustomed to training graduate level practitioners in basic counselling and psychotherapy practice.     

Differential Memory Test Sensitivity for Diagnosing Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment and Predicting Conversion to Alzheimer's Disease

ABSTRACT

Episodic memory is the first and most severely affected cognitive domain in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and it is also the key early marker in prodromal stages including amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The relative ability of memory tests to discriminate between MCI and normal aging has not been well characterized. We compared the classification value of widely used verbal memory tests in distinguishing healthy older adults (n = 51) from those with MCI (n = 38). Univariate logistic regression indicated that the total learning score from the California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT-II) ranked highest in terms of distinguishing MCI from normal aging (sensitivity = 90.2; specificity = 84.2). Inclusion of the delayed recall condition of a story memory task (i.e., WMS-III Logical Memory, Story A) enhanced the overall accuracy of classification (sensitivity = 92.2; specificity = 94.7). Combining Logical Memory recognition and CVLT-II long delay best predicted progression from MCI to AD over a 4-year period (accurate classification = 87.5%). Learning across multiple trials may provide the most sensitive index for initial diagnosis of MCI, but inclusion of additional variables may enhance overall accuracy and may represent the optimal strategy for identifying individuals most likely to progress to dementia.     

Learning behavior, escape behavior, and depression in an ulcer susceptible rat strain.

The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between depression (helpless withdrawal behavior) and susceptibility to stress ulcer in rats. The WKY genetic strain of rats has been described as highly susceptible to stomach ulcer development during water restraint, i.e., when placed in a jar of water and forced to swim to keep their head above water, a setting in which Richter identified "giving up" behavior akin to hopelessness (Richter, 1957). Since WKY rats tended to float in the water instead of swimming in an attempt to escape, and were also found to be relatively inactive in open field tests, a series of experiments were performed to ascertain whether their diminished activity and their failure to swim reflected slowness, cognitive impairment, or something actually akin to depression. The latter interpretation was supported by evidence from tests of shock avoidance behavior, of capacity to learn discrimination in an operant setting, and by the capacity of an antidepressive drug to lessen floating time in the forced swim test and also to reduce the incidence of stomach ulcers.