Distinct contributions of the basolateral amygdala and the medial prefrontal cortex to learning and relearning extinction of context conditioned fear

We studied the roles of the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in learning and relearning to inhibit context conditioned fear (freezing) in extinction. In Experiment 1, pre-extinction BLA infusion of the NMDA receptor (NMDAr) antagonist, ifenprodil, impaired the development and retention of inhibition but post-extinction infusion spared retention. Pre-extinction infusion of the GABA(A) agonist, muscimol, depressed freezing and impaired retention as did post-extinction infusion. In Experiment 2, pre-extinction mPFC infusion of ifenprodil spared the development of inhibition whereas muscimol depressed freezing. Both impaired retention when infused pre- or post-extinction. Thus, the development of inhibition involves NMDAr activation in the BLA, whereas its consolidation involves both NMDAr activation in the mPFC and NMDAr-independent mechanisms in the BLA. In Experiment 3, BLA infusion of ifenprodil impaired relearning and retention of inhibition when infused before but did not impair retention when infused after re-extinction. BLA infusion of muscimol depressed freezing but did not impair retention when infused before or after re-extinction. In Experiment 4, mPFC infusion of ifenprodil impaired relearning when infused before re-extinction, whereas muscimol depressed responses. Both drugs impaired retention when infused into the mPFC before or after re-extinction. Thus, relearning to inhibit fear responses involves NMDAr activation in both the BLA and mPFC and consolidation of the inhibitory memory involves NMDAr activation in the mPFC. However, relearning and consolidation occur in the absence of neuronal activity within the BLA. We propose that NMDAr in the mPFC supports relearning inhibition when the BLA is inactivated.     

Impact de la Loi no 2019-222 du 23 mars 2019 de programmation 2018–2022 et de réforme pour la justice sur l’office du médecin légiste

The new provisions of the article 60 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure now authorize the medical examiners to seal the samples taken during an autopsy or a medical examination. The result will be a new organization of the work of forensic doctors that the 2010s reform did not integrate. In addition, the presence of judicial police officers during the autopsies will probably have to be rethought. Moreover, the article 163 of the same code has not been amended, giving more competence to qualified persons than to experts appointed by an investigating judge.     

Do different types of US produce similar evaluative conditioning? An examination with contingency-awareness and cognitive load

Evaluative conditioning (EC) refers to a modulation in the liking of a neutral stimulus after it has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US). Previous studies have uncovered some of the mechanisms responsible for EC, but many parameters remain unknown. The study addresses two questions: Is the amplitude of EC and the impact of cognitive variables are the same for different types of US? We compared three types of US: shocks, single images and multiple semantically related images. This conditioning occurred while participants maintained a concurrent cognitive load, or not. Our results indicate that all types of US produced a significant EC of similar amplitude. Furthermore, the two cognitive variables had a similar impact across all types of US. Specifically, contingency-awareness was related to the amplitude of EC, particularly in the cognitive load group. Our results illustrate the importance of within study comparisons to assess different parameters on EC.     

Implications of research for the treatment of depressive disorders during childhood

Basic research into the prevalence, natural course, and phenomena of comorbidity of depressive disorders during childhood are reviewed and implications of this research for treating depressed youths are noted. Results of investigations into the biological aspects of depression are integrated into a multifactorial model of depressive disorders during childhood and the efficacy of pharmacological interventions is discussed. Cognitive theory is integrated with attachment theory to explain a possible avenue to the development of depressive disorders during childhood. Interpersonal therapy has emerged as a potentially effective intervention for depressed youths. Basic tenets of this treatment model are compared and contrasted to a cognitive-behavioral treatment model, and a hybrid treatment referred to as “cognitive therapy within the interpersonal context” is proposed.     

Influence of typical size of objects in a categorization task]

This study explores the influence of typical size during a categorization task. The specificity of this experimental work is based on the homogeneity of the graphic stimuli size. We have created a typical size standard of our stimuli, that concerns the real size of the objects represented by the drawings of homogeneous sizes. Then, a priming experiment was performed in which the prime and target drawings had two types of relations: a typical size, and a categorial. The participants are na?ve as to the typical size relation between prime and target. The results show a positive priming effect of the typical size but not of the category. The results are discussed in term of theoretical approach developed by Barsalou and his colleagues (1999, 2003). In this theoretical framework, the typical size can be considered as a perceptual knowledge. In that way, we propose that participants could automatically simulate the typical size as soon as they perceived the drawings of objects with homegenous sizes.     

Pitch perception and retention: two cumulative benefits of selective attention

By presenting, before a "chord" of three pure tones with remote frequencies, a tone relatively close in frequency to one component (T1) of the chord, one can direct the listener's attention onto T1 within the chord. In the first part of the present study, it was found that this increases the accuracy with which the pitch of T1 is perceived. The attentional cue improved the discrimination between the frequency of T1 and that of another tone (T2) presented immediately after the chord or very shortly (300 msec) after it. No improvement was found when T1 was presented alone instead of within a chord. A subsequent experiment, in which the chord and T2 were separated by either 300 msec or 4 sec, indicated that the attentional cue improved not only the perception, but also the memorization of the pitch of T1 (especially when T1 was the intermediate component of the chord). It is argued that the positive effect of attention on memory took place when the pitch percept was encoded into memory, rather than after the formation of the pitch memory trace.     

Suicide attempts in an African schizophrenia population: an assessment of demographic risk factors

This study investigated demographic variables, including affected sibling pair status, as risk factors for suicidal behavior in schizophrenia patients of African (Xhosa) descent. Xhosa subjects with schizophrenia were interviewed with the Diagnostic Interview for Genetic Studies (DIGS) and then stratified into two groups: those with ( n = 90) and those without ( n = 364) a history of previous suicide attempts. Demographic parameters (including gender, age, and social circumstances, sib ship) were then compared across these groups. Demographic predictors of suicide included sib ship status ( p = 0.038; OR = 1.7) and age of onset of illness ( p = 0.008; OR = 2.5). On further analysis of suicide in siblings, only a minority of sib pairs was found to be concordant for a lifetime history of suicide attempts (3%). These findings raise the possibility that affected sib pair status may be protective in nature. Given the counter-intuitive nature of this finding, further work is needed to replicate it, and to explore possible underlying mechanisms.     

Vertical-horizontal illusion present for sighted but not early blind humans using auditory substitution of vision

This experiment was undertaken to investigate the effect of sensory modality (vision vs. audition) and of visual status (early blind vs. sighted) on susceptibility to the vertical-horizontal illusion. Early blind volunteers and blindfolded sighted subjects explored variants of the vertical-horizontal illusion using a device that substituted audition for vision, whereas sighted subjects from an independent group inspected the same stimuli visually. Sensitivity to the vertical-horizontal illusion, including an illusion of moderate strength when using the sensory substitution device, was observed only in the two sighted groups. The existence of an illusion effect when using such a device supports the idea of a visual perception provided by sensory substitution, whereas the attenuation of the vertical-horizontal illusion strength is consistent with the visual field shape theory (Künnapas, 1955a). The absence of the illusion effect in early blind subjects suggests that the sensory experience influences the nature of perception and that the visual experience plays a crucial role in the vertical-horizontal illusion, in accordance with the size-constancy scaling theory (Gregory, 1963).     

Two spheres of belief in justice: extensive support for the bidimensional model of belief in a just world

The purpose of this research comprising five studies (N = 666) was to further corroborate the bidimensional conceptualisation of the belief in a just world proposed by Lipkus et al. (1996). It was demonstrated that belief in a just world for the Self (and not for Others) was correlated to evaluations of the meaning of life. Belief in a just world for Others was significantly correlated to discrimination against the elderly, stigmatisation of poverty, and higher penal punitiveness, while belief in a just world for Self was weakly or not related to these variables. Together, these observations confirm the importance of the conceptual and psychometric distinction between these two spheres of the belief in a just world.