Evidence for individual face discrimination in non-face selective areas of the visual cortex in acquired prosopagnosia

Two areas in the human occipito-temporal cortex respond preferentially to faces: 'the fusiform face area' ('FFA') and the 'occipital face area' ('OFA'). However, it is unclear whether these areas have an exclusive role in processing faces, or if sub-maximal responses in other visual areas such as the lateral occipital complex (LOC) are also involved. To clarify this issue, we tested a brain-damaged patient (PS) presenting a face-selective impairment with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The right hemisphere lesion of the prosopagnosic patient encompasses the 'OFA' but preserves the 'FFA' and LOC. Using fMRI-adaptation, we found a larger response to different faces than repeated faces in the ventral part of the LOC both for normals and the patient, next to her right hemisphere lesion. This observation indicates that following prosopagnosia, areas that do not respond preferentially to faces such as the ventral part of the LOC (vLOC) may still be recruited to subtend residual perception of individual faces.     

Aggravation of DSS-induced colitis after chronic subordinate colony (CSC) housing is partially mediated by adrenal mechanisms

Chronic subordinate colony housing (CSC) is a relevant chronic psycho-social stressor for male mice. Here, we investigated effects of CSC on the severity of dextran sulphate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis and the involvement of adrenal mechanisms. After 19 days of CSC, male C57BL/6 mice were treated with 1% DSS (8 days). After 8 days, inflammatory shortening of the colon and the histological inflammation score were increased in CSC mice. Additionally, the increased secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines by mesenteric lymph node cells found on day 2 and 4 of DSS treatment was down-regulated in CSC mice on day 8 of DSS treatment, paralleled by an increase in plasma corticosterone. In contrast, in unstressed controls, elevation of cytokine secretion was delayed and only found on day 8 of DSS treatment, associated with a prompt rise in plasma corticosterone. To reveal adrenal mechanisms in CSC-induced effects on colitis, mice were adrenalectomized, exposed to CSC and treated with DSS (8 days). In adrenalectomized CSC mice, the severity of DSS-induced colitis was reduced, as body weight loss, shortening of colon, histological damage score, and cytokine secretion from mesenteric lymph node cells were diminished compared with sham-operated CSC mice. In conclusion, exposure to chronic psycho-social stress increases the severity of acute DSS colitis, an effect which is, at least partly, mediated by adrenal mechanisms.     

Location-specific versus hemisphere-specific adaptation of processing selectivity

Current theories of cognitive control assume that processing selectivity is adjusted according to the utility of processing task-irrelevant stimulus features. Consistently, interference evoked by flanker stimuli is reduced when the proportion of incompatible trials—in which flankers are associated with an incorrect response—is increased. Consistent with the idea that the cerebral hemispheres select processing strategies independently of each other, Corballis and Gratton (2003) demonstrated that flanker interference for stimuli presented in either the left or right visual hemifield is affected by the ratio of compatible and incompatible target-flanker pairings presented in the same—but not in the other—hemifield. Presenting stimuli at four different locations, we demonstrated independent effects of the ratio of compatible and incompatible trials for stimulus locations in different hemifields as well as for stimulus locations within the same hemifield. Independent selectivity adjustment regarding the left and right visual hemifields thus appears to be a special case of a larger class of location-specific adaptation effects and might not be informative regarding hemisphere-specific processing.     

Psychische Beschwerden und Störungen von Studierenden

Background

Psychological distress among students is receiving growing attention in the scientific community as well as in the general public. There are counseling services available in student societies and universities which address psychological distress among students but scientific research in this area is rudimentary and poorly represented.

Problem in question

In order to present the prevalence, extent and type of psychological disorders in students and the alterations over time, an investigation was carried out to show which psychological complaints and disorders were present in students who consulted a psychotherapeutic counseling center. These data were compared with the psychological complaints of a student field study population. Furthermore, alterations in the psychological complaints and disorders of students over periods of 10 and 15 years will be presented.

Methods

The prevalence and change over time of psychological syndromes in students were identified by a comparison between an unselected sample of counseling center clients and several student field samples from the previous 15 years. The type of distress and severity of symptoms were measured with a Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R), the Psychosocial Complaints List (PSB), the Satisfaction With Life And Studies Scale (LSZ), the diagnostic assessment according to International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision (ICD-10), the Complaints Severity Score (BSS) and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF).

Results

Previous results of investigations which showed that 20–25% of students suffer from psychological disorders could be confirmed in this study. However, 60–65% of the clients of a counseling center suffered from clinically relevant psychological disorders, which is significantly higher. The most common disorders were depressive moods, lack of self-confidence and exam anxiety, which can mostly be diagnostically assigned to adjustment, depression and anxiety disorders. The comparison with previous studies showed that the types and severity of psychological distress among students have remained stable over the last 15 years, with the exception of test anxiety which increased by 51% from 1993 to 2008. With respect to alcohol abuse, considerably less impairments were found than had been assumed based on the earlier investigations.

Conclusions

Psychological complaints and disorders are frequently found among students and they cause individual suffering as well as economic expenses. Noticeable was the obvious increase in clinically relevant exam anxiety. Psychological-psychotherapeutic counseling centers make an important contribution to screening, clinical assessment, primary health care and prevention of severe mental disorders among students and have shown a continuously increasing number of cases in recent years. Further studies especially in a process-outcome design of the mostly eclectic counseling centers are needed and possibilities will be presented.     

Ausdrucksformen des Lachens

Based on the phenomenology of laughter in the facial expression and in the voice it is shown which other emotions and drives are most frequently linked to laughter. These are in particular contempt, disgust, sadness and seduction. The phylogenetic deduction of laughter from submission on the one hand and play on the other is described. In the ontogenetic development mutual laughing is the behavioral basis for creating reciprocity between mother and child and one of the behavioral foundations for a sufficient knowledge for the growing baby to be a source of happiness. In relation to the current genesis happiness and joy in the contexts of captured aggression, shame regulation and “funktionslust”. There is no evidence that the empirically verified reduced expression and experience of joy of mentally disturbed people can be treated with specific laughter therapies beyond placebo effects.     

The Interaction of Job Satisfaction, Job Search, and Job Changes. An Empirical Investigation with German Panel Data

Using the rich data set of the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) this article analyzes the effects of job characteristics on job satisfaction as well as the conditions under which low job satisfaction leads to job search, and under which job search leads to job changes. Individual fixed effects are included into the analysis in order to hold unobserved heterogeneity constant. According to the empirical results, the strongest determinants of job satisfaction are relations with colleagues and supervisors, task diversity and job security. Furthermore, job satisfaction is an important determinant of the self-reported probability of job search, which in turn effectively predicts actual job changes. The effect of job search on the probability of changing jobs varies with job satisfaction and is strongest at low levels of job satisfaction. The effects of job dissatisfaction on job search and of job search on quits are stronger for workers with lower tenure, better educated workers, workers in the private sector and when the economy and labor market are in a good condition.     

Neuropeptide S: a novel modulator of stress and arousal

Neuropeptide S (NPS) is a recently identified bioactive peptide that modulates stress and arousal. NPS is expressed in a few discrete nuclei in the brainstem, such as the pericoerulear (locus coeruleus (LC)) area and the parabrachial nucleus. NPS activates its cognate G protein-coupled receptor at low nanomolar agonist concentrations and induces elevation of intracellular Ca2+ and cAMP, therefore acting as an excitatory transmitter. The NPS receptor is widely expressed in the brain, including regions known to regulate stress responses such as hypothalamus, thalamus, amygdala and limbic cortex. We have recently reported that the NPS system can modulate stress responses and induce wakefulness based on a battery of behavioral tests. Activation of NPS receptors induces arousal and reduces all sleep stages. At the same time, NPS produces anxiolytic-like effects in rodents. These studies indicate that the NPS system has a unique pharmacological profile to promote both anxiolytic and arousal effects. NPS might interact with other hypothalamic neuropeptide systems that are known to be involved in stress and appetite control and thus might be a valuable target for development of a new class of drugs to treat anxiety disorders.     

A comparison of general and illness-related locus of control in Russians, ethnic German migrants and Germans

General and illness-related locus of control play an immensely important role in the adherence and cooperation of patients in their therapy. Until now, culture-specific aspects of these subjective theories have rarely been investigated. However, in view of the growing proportion of migrants in the German population, they are becoming increasingly significant. In a project supported by the Volkswagenstiftung (Volkswagen Foundation), a total of 607 healthy people were surveyed. The sample includes 307 ethnic German migrants from the successor states of the former Soviet Union (descendents of German origin who had emigrated to Russia during the 18th and 19th centuries) and 300 native Russians in Russia. They were compared with 100 Germans (matched from a previous study). The data were collected using questionnaires entitled "Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC)" and "Illness-related Locus of Control". The ethnic German migrants differed from the Russian sample in their health beliefs and attitudes towards medicine. However, in the first 18 months after migration, hardly any changes were observed. Fatalistic factors played only a minor role. Locus of health control was associated with beliefs about recovery from myocardial infarcts and tumours. Socio-demographic variables were of varying significance in the individual cultures. Gender influences on health beliefs were different in the subsamples. The level of education had only a minor influence on health attitudes. For those individuals who were acquainted with an ill person, internal factors in treatment of myocardial infarct and external psychosocial factors in cure of cancer played a larger role.