Remapping versus short-term memory in visual stability across saccades

Saccadic eye movements cause displacements of the image of the visual world projected on the retina. Despite the ubiquitous nature of saccades, subjective experience of the world is continuous and stable. In five experiments, we addressed the mechanisms that may support visual stability: matching of pre- and postsaccadic locations of the target by an internal copy of the saccade, or retention of the visual attributes of the target in short-term memory across the saccade. Healthy human adults were instructed to make a saccade to a peripheral Gabor patch. While the saccade was in midflight, the patch could change location, orientation, or both. The change occurred either immediately or following a 250-ms blank during which no visual stimuli were available. In separate experiments, subjects had to report either whether the patch stepped to the left or right or whether the orientation rotated clockwise or counterclockwise. Consistent with previous findings, we found that transsaccadic displacement discrimination was enhanced by the addition of the blank. However, contrary to previous findings reported in the literature, the feature change did not improve performance. Transsaccadic orientation change discrimination did not depend on either an irrelevant temporal blank or a simultaneous irrelevant target displacement. Taken together, these findings suggest that orientation is not a relevant visual feature for transsaccadic correspondence.     

The Tower of London Test: different scoring criteria for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment

The Tower of London (TOL) is used for evaluating planning skills, which is a component of the executive functions. Different versions and scoring criteria were developed for this task, and some of them present with different psychometrical properties. This study aimed to evaluate two specific scoring methods of the TOL in diagnosing Mild Cognitive Impairment and probable Alzheimer's disease. The TOL total scores from 60 patients of each diagnosis were compared with the performance of 60 healthy-aged controls using receiver operating characteristics analysis and multinomial logistic regression. Krikorian method better diagnosed Alzheimer's disease, while Portellas's was better at discriminating healthy controls from Mild Cognitive Impairment, but were not efficient at comparing this last group with Alzheimer's patients. Regression analysis indicates that in addition to screening tests, TOL improves the classification of the three groups. The results suggest the two scoring methods used for this task may be useful for different diagnostic purposes.     

Scale of organizational learning in schools. Organizational learning is a key element for the development of organizations

Organizational learning is a key element for the development of organizations. School organizations are not exempt from this challenge and they currently face a highly dynamic and demanding context of education policies that emphasize the school's ability to learn. Thus, research on organizational learning in educational contexts requires valid instruments that are sensitive to the specifics of schools as organizations. In this study, we adapted and validated a scale of organizational learning in a sample of 119 Chilean municipal schools (N= 1,545). The results suggest a structural model made up of three factors: culture of learning, strategic clarity, and group learning. These factors predicted dimensions of educational achievement, as measured through the National Assessment System of Educational Achievement (SNED). Results are discussed in view of the literature on school improvement.     

The relationship of clinical, cognitive and social measures in schizophrenia: a preliminary finding combining measures in probands and relatives

This study examines performance of schizophrenia patients, unaffected relatives and controls in social cognition, cognitive and psychiatric scales looking for possible markers of vulnerability in schizophrenia. Performance of schizophrenia patients from multiplex families, first-degree relatives, and matched controls was compared and, subsequently, discriminant analysis method was used for identifying the best predictors for group membership. By using Multigroup Discriminant Analyses on the three groups, the best predictors were PANSS, Premorbid Adjustment Scale, Faux Pas test, and a face/emotion categorizing task. This model obtained 82% correct global classification, suggesting that the combination of psychiatric scales and neuropsychological/social cognition tasks are the best approach for characterizing this disease. Although preliminary, our results suggest that social cognition tasks are robust markers of schizophrenia family impairments, and that combining clinical, social and neuropsychological measures is the best approach to asses patients and relatives vulnerability.     

Trauma,perversion and marital bond

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to study in the clinic the incidence of so-called perverse phenomena in relationships, in order to find out when these phenomena depend on a perverse organization and when they are only a kind of erotic game between the couple, in both hetero- and homosexual aspects. The first difficulty was to find a definition of “perversion” shared by the authors who have carried out research on the subject and consequently to determine what characterizes a perverse marital bond. In contrast to neurosis, which can be defined by the use of the repression mechanism, the mechanism of disavowal is not exclusive for perversion since it can be found even in other psychical arrangements. Is it, then, a structure or a psychological organization? It is also considered to be a “truth” in psychoanalysis that the pervert cannot be analyzed. But is it the pervert who cannot be analyzed, or is it the analyst who cannot bear listening to him? Do the theoretical references of the analyst not give sufficient theoretical support to maintain his listening? This paper presents the hypothesis that perversion is an attempt – always a frustrated one, and for this reason indefinitely repeated – to elaborate a trauma in which the pervert, identified with the traumatic agent, touches a point equally traumatic for his partner, turning the partner into an object of enjoyment. This arrangement allows the pervert, at least in his imagination, to leave the suffered trauma behind, adopting towards the object a position of activity and domination. Identifying with the aggressor, he leaves his partner paralyzed in the traumatic point, a situation that he knows all too well.

dos Reis Filho JT, et al Trauma, Perversion und eheliche Bande

Der Artikel untersucht klinische Fällen von sogenannter Perversion in Beziehungen, mit dem Ziel herauszufinden, wann es sich um eine perverse Organisation und wann es sich lediglich um eine spezielle Art von erotischem Spiel zwischen dem Paar handelt, dies sowohl in hetero- wie in homosexuellen Beziehungen. Die erste Schwierigkeit war, eine für alle Autoren akzeptable Definition von Perversion zu finden. Alle hatten Erfahrung in Forschung in diesem Gebiet und mussten sich auf Vorstellungen einigen, wodurch eine perverse eheliche Beziehung gekennzeichnet ist. Im Gegensatz zur Neurose, gekennzeichnet ausschliesslich von Verdrängungsmechanismen, kommt Ablehnung nicht ausschliesslich bei der Perversion vor sondern auch bei anderen psychischen Strukturen. Ist Perversion demnach eine psychische Struktur oder eine psychologische Organisation? Es wird auch als erwiesen betrachtet, dass ein Perverser nicht analysiert werden kann. Aber, ist es wirklich der Perverse, der nicht analysiert werden kann? Ist es nicht vielleicht der Analytiker, der es nicht ertragen kann, dem Perversen zuzuhören? Gibt der theoretische analytische Hintergrund des Analytikers ihm möglicherweise nicht genug Unterstützung, um das Zuhören aufrechterhalten zu können? Dieser Aufsatz vertritt die Hypothese, dass die Perversion ein unaufhörlich wiederholter, immer misslingender Versuch ist, ein Trauma aufzuarbeiten. Der Perverse ist identifiziert mit dem Täter im damaligen Trauma. Er trifft einen traumatisierten Punkt beim Partner und macht aus ihm ein Objekt seiner Lusterfüllung. Dieses Arrangement erlaubt dem Perversen-wenigstens in seiner Phantasie – das von ihm erlittene Trauma hinter sich zu lassen, indem er gegenüber dem Objekt eine Position der Aktivität und Dominanz einnimmt. Identifiziert mit dem Aggressor belässt er seinen Partner gelähmt am traumatischen Punkt-eine Situation, die er nur allzu gut an sich selbst kennt.

dos Reis Filho JT et al. Trauma, perversión y el vínculo marital

El propósito del presente trabajo es estudiar en la clínica la incidencia de los cada vez más llamados fenómenos perversos en las relaciones, para descubrir cuando este fenómeno depende de una organización perversa y cuando se trata de un tipo de juego erótico en las parejas, tanto en sus aspectos homosexuales como heterosexuales. La primera dificultad fue encontrar una definición de perversión compartida por los autores estudiosos de este tema y consecuentemente determinar las características de un vínculo marital perverso. En contraste con la neurosis que puede ser definida por el uso del mecanismo de la represión, el mecanismo de la negación no es característico de la perversión únicamente sino que se puede también encontrar en otras organizaciones psíquicas. ¿Se trata entonces de una estructura o de una organización psicológica? Se considera también que en psicoanálisis, es cierto que se trata al perverso como inanalizable. Bueno, ¿es el perverso el que no es analizable o es el psicoanalista que no puede soportar escucharlo? Acaso las referencias teóricas del analista no ofrecen suficientes soportes teóricos para mantener la escucha? Este trabajo presenta la hipótesis de que la perversión es un intento – siempre frustrado, y por lo mismo indefinidamente repetido- para elaborar un trauma en el que el perverso está identificado con el agente traumático, tocando un punto igualmente traumático en su pareja, convirtiendo a su pareja en objeto de su disfrute. Este arreglo permite al perverso, al menos en su imaginación, dejar atrás el trauma sufrido, adoptando con su objeto una posición de actividad y dominación. Identificándose con el agresor, deja a su pareja paralizada en el punto traumático, situación que el perverso sabe muy bien.     

Effect of Nonspecific Chronic Low Back Pain on Walking Economy: An Observational Study

The authors investigated the effects of chronic low back pain (LBP) and walking speed (WS) on metabolic power and cost of transport (CT). Subjects with chronic nonspecific LBP (LBP group [LG]; n = 9) and healthy (control group [CG]; n = 9) were included. The test battery was divided into 3 blocks according to WS as follows: preferred self-selected speed (PS), and lower and higher than the PS. In each block, the volunteers walked 5 min, during which oxygen consumption was measured. Although without differences between groups, the LG had CT lower in slower speeds than in faster speeds. Walking speed affected CT only in the LG, which the group had the greatest walking economy at slower speeds.     

Population clocks: motor timing with neural dynamics

An understanding of sensory and motor processing will require elucidation of the mechanisms by which the brain tells time. Open questions relate to whether timing relies on dedicated or intrinsic mechanisms and whether distinct mechanisms underlie timing across scales and modalities. Although experimental and theoretical studies support the notion that neural circuits are intrinsically capable of sensory timing on short scales, few general models of motor timing have been proposed. For one class of models, population clocks, it is proposed that time is encoded in the time-varying patterns of activity of a population of neurons. We argue that population clocks emerge from the internal dynamics of recurrently connected networks, are biologically realistic and account for many aspects of motor timing.     

Homophobia or sexism? A systematic review of prejudice against nonheterosexual orientation in Brazil

Since it was coined in the 1970s, in the United States, the term “homophobia” has been invoked to define the prejudice against nonheterosexual orientation. Besides the US, the phenomenon has been detected in many contemporary societies, including Brazil. Prejudice against nonheterosexual orientation is strongly associated with the historical and social contexts in which it is embedded, which means that the term should not be used without a clear definition of its local specificities. This applies to the recent debate around homophobia in the Brazilian context. In an attempt to identify existing studies of prejudice against nonheterosexual orientations in Brazil, a systematic review was conducted in SciELO indexes, PubMed, PsycINFO, SCOPUS, and Web of Science. The articles were collected using the keyword “homophobia” and related terms, and “Brazil”, in the languages ??of the databases. The search returned 355 articles. Of these, 247 were removed because they were duplicates. The abstracts of 109 studies published between 1973 and 2011were analyzed. Thirty‐one articles were identified as relevant. The reviewed studies indicate that prejudice against nonheterosexual orientations is an evident and widespread phenomenon that is prevalent in various populations and contexts. Nevertheless, prejudice in Brazil is not homogeneous, and particular attention is necessary to the inequality of gender relations (sexism) and prejudice against gender nonconformity, which seem to explain, if not cause, most of the prejudice against nonheterosexual orientations. Although theoretically there is a clear distinction between sexual orientation and gender expression, from the standpoint of manifestation of prejudice that distinction seems to be more tenuous.     

Generativity and Political Participation in Old Age: A Mixed Method Study of Spanish Elders Involved in Political Organisations

This study has dual aims. First, it aims to explore the relationship between generativity and political participation, a neglected aspect of civic participation. Second, using different dimensions of generativity in a mixed methods study, it also aims to contribute to the theoretical and methodological literature on generativity as a multidimensional concept relevant to later life. This Spanish study involved a large survey utilising three different measures of generativity—generative concern, generative goals, and perceived cultural demands—to look for differences between older people actively engaged in political organisations and a comparison group. Results showed that older people from the two groups differed on all dimensions of generativity. Participants in political organisations showed significantly higher scores on generative concern, reported more generative goals in the present and future, and noted more perceived generative demands than comparison individuals. Overall, our findings suggest that generativity plays a key role in political engagement in later life, and, further, that our understanding of generativity in later life gains from a multidimensional assessment of the concept.