Behavioral characterization of a transection of dorsal CA3 subcortical efferents: comparison with scopolamine and physostigmine infusions into dorsal CA3

Cholinergic projections from the medial septum and diagonal band of Broca into the hippocampus have long been implicated in learning and memory. Projections from CA3 to neurons in the medial septum and the diagonal band of Broca have been anatomically characterized. The present experiments were designed to evaluate interactions between the dorsal CA3 subcortical efferents and the cholinergic efferents from the medial septum and diagonal band of Broca for spatial and nonspatial (visual object) novelty detection in the rat. In Experiment 1, physostigmine and scopolamine (both 0.4 microL at 30 microM) were infused into dorsal CA3 and animals were tested on a spatial and nonspatial (visual object) novelty detection paradigm. Scopolamine infusions into dorsal CA3 caused deficits for both spatial and nonspatial (visual object) novelty detection. Physostigmine infusions into dorsal CA3 enhanced both spatial and nonspatial (visual object) novelty detection. These data support models proposing that acetylcholine may control the dynamics for encoding, consolidation, and retrieval in the hippocampus. In Experiment 2, a selective transection of dorsal CA3 efferents in the fimbria resulted in deficits for spatial and nonspatial (visual object) novelty detection. These deficits were similar to the deficits caused by scopolamine infusions into dorsal CA3. These data demonstrate that dorsal CA3 and the medial septum/diagonal band of Broca interact, and that dorsal CA3 influences cholinergic inputs into the hippocampus to facilitate encoding.     

The role of need fulfillment in relationship functioning and well-being: a self-determination theory perspective

Self-determination theory posits 3 basic psychological needs: autonomy (feeling uncoerced in one's actions), competence (feeling capable), and relatedness (feeling connected to others). Optimal well-being results when these needs are satisfied, though this research has traditionally focused on individual well-being outcomes (e.g., E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan, 2000). Three studies examined the role of need fulfillment in relationship functioning and well-being. Study 1 found that fulfillment of each need individually predicted both individual and relationship well-being, with relatedness being the strongest unique predictor of relationship outcomes. Study 2 found that both partners' need fulfillment uniquely predicted one's own relationship functioning and well-being. Finally, in Study 3, the authors used a diary recording procedure and tested a model in which the association between need fulfillment and relationship quality was mediated by relationship motivation. Those who experienced greater need fulfillment enjoyed better postdisagreement relationship quality primarily because of their tendency to have more intrinsic or autonomous reasons for being in their relationship.     

Mortality and Re-enchantment: Conscious Dying as Individualized Spirituality

The emergence of conscious dying in modern society suggests that the redefinition of death as consciousness transference not only challenges the fear of death, but also empowers a personal approach to dying moments. It can be considered a form of individualized spirituality, because the meaning of consciousness transference is not exclusively rooted in institutionalized meanings of the sacred, but redefines the sacred in highly individualistic terms. This change in attitudes towards death reflects a process of re-enchantment concomitant with the individualism of the New Age.     

Honoring Teachers for Their Vocation and Potential

Abstract. One goal of the Wabash Center is to honor teachers for their potential, and hospitality has been a primary means to that end. A lesson learned is that the intention and effort to honor teachers create contexts for meaningful discussions, creative learning, and personal renewal of those engaged in workshops and consultations. The lesson is valuable for those engaged in all forms of adult learning, especially in colleges and theological schools.     

Comparing self-esteem and perceived control as predictors of first-year college students’ academic achievement

Due to its widespread popularity, self-esteem is continually being promoted to students despite limited empirical support for its effectiveness in improving their academic achievement. As a result, constructs that are potentially more salient to academic performance, such as perceived control, have gone relatively unnoticed. Although past research has examined the link between students’ academic achievement and either their self-esteem or perceived control, few studies have compared both constructs simultaneously to elucidate which one is more important to academic success. This longitudinal study directly contrasted the effects of self-esteem and perceived control on the academic performance of 802 first-year college students. After accounting for incoming ability (high school grades), age, and gender, a structural equation model showed perceived control positively predicted students’ GPA. In contrast, the predictive effect of self-esteem on GPA was non-existent. Findings indicate that compared to self-esteem, perceived control is a more powerful predictor of first-year college students’ GPA. Implications for utilizing educational interventions to boost perceived control among college students are discussed.     

Academic optimistic bias: Implications for college student performance and well-being

Although optimism has several benefits, there are potential drawbacks associated with “too much of a good thing”. Within an academic context, a possible determinant of the adaptiveness of optimistic bias is whether students have a sense of control over academic outcomes: optimistically-biased (OB) achievement expectations paired with perceptions of academic control may enhance performance and well-being; optimistic bias in the absence of perceived control may result in disappointment, poor performance, and diminished well-being. The current longitudinal study examined academic control cognitions (ACC) among OB college students (n = 319) versus non-optimistically biased (non-OB) students (n = 321). We also examined the effects of academic optimistic bias on composite measures of college performance (perceived success, final psychology course grades, cumulative GPA, course attrition) and well-being (positive and negative emotions, health behaviors, future optimism) 6 months later; and determined whether ACC accounted for those associations. Significant MANCOVAs showed OB students had greater ACC, better subsequent well-being, and outperformed their non-OB counterparts. These well-being and performance differences remained significant after statistically accounting for initial aptitude and ACC. Overall, academic optimistic bias was accompanied by perceived controllability over scholastic outcomes, yet beyond the effects of ACC, optimistic bias was associated with better year-end performance and well-being. Findings have implications for maximizing the successful transition of first-year college students.     

Trait Anger and Axis I Disorders: Implications for REBT

Anger has a prominent role in basic theories of emotion. And while many psychiatric disorders can be conceived of as emotional disorders (e.g., depressive disorders, anxiety disorders), there are no disorders for which anger is the cardinal feature. We analyzed diagnostic data on 1,687 (as later) psychiatric outpatients and looked at the co-occurrence of high trait anger (as assessed by criterion 8 of Borderline Personality Disorder) and Axis I disorders, and Borderline and Antisocial Personality Disorders. The purpose was to examine whether dysfunctional anger met criteria necessary to be considered a valid diagnostic category. Results showed that high trait anger was not fully accounted for by any particular Axis I diagnosis, or any set of Axis I diagnoses, or by the combination of Axis I diagnoses and Borderline and Antisocial PDs. Trait anger also accounted for significant amounts of unique variance in several indicators of psychiatric impairment and psychosocial functioning. We describe the anger disorder diagnoses of Eckhardt and Deffenbacher (Anger disorders: Definition, diagnosis and treatment. Taylor & Francis, Bristol, PA, 1995), and discuss the implications of those diagnoses for the practice of REBT and CBT.

Distractor devaluation requires visual working memory

Visual stimuli seen previously as distractors in a visual search task are subsequently evaluated more negatively than those seen as targets. An attentional inhibition account for this distractor-devaluation effect posits that associative links between attentional inhibition and to-be-ignored stimuli are established during search, stored, and then later reinstantiated, implying that distractor devaluation may require visual working memory (WM) resources. To assess this, we measured distractor devaluation with and without a concurrent visual WM load. Participants viewed a memory array, performed a simple search task, evaluated one of the search items (or a novel item), and then viewed a memory test array. Although distractor devaluation was observed with low (and no) WM load, it was absent when WM load was increased. This result supports the notions that active association of current attentional states with stimuli requires WM and that memory for these associations plays a role in affective response.     

Effects of rodent prefrontal lesions on object-based, visual scene memory

It has been suggested that certain prefrontal areas contribute to a neural circuit that mediates visual object memory. Using a successive go/no-go visual scene discrimination task, object-based long-term memory was assessed in two rodent prefrontal regions. Rewarded trials consisted of a standard scene of four toy objects placed over baited food wells. The objects and their locations composing the standard scene remained constant for the duration of the study. Trials in which one of the standard scene objects was replaced with a novel object were not rewarded. Following the establishment of a significant difference between latency to approach the rewarded standard scene compared to latency to approach non-rewarded scenes, quinolinic acid or control vehicle was infused into either the prelimbic and infralimbic cortices or the anterior cingulate cortex. Following a 1 week recovery period, subjects were retested. Animals with prelimbic/infralimbic cortex lesions displayed a profound and sustained deficit, whereas, animals with anterior cingulate cortex lesions showed a slight initial impairment but eventually recovered. Both lesion groups acquired a simple single object discrimination task as quickly as controls indicating that the deficits on the original scene discrimination task were not due to motivational, response inhibition, or perceptual problems.