Langzeitergebnisse einer Funktionellen-Magnetresonanztomographie-Studie

In a controlled functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study the effect of psychodynamic short-term psychotherapy on cerebral activation of panic disorder patients was determined. In a linguistic go-no go paradigm behavioral measures and cerebral activation to affective word stimuli with threatening, neutral and positive content were assessed pretreatment and post-treatment in 9 patients with panic disorder. 18 healthy controls were scanned twice at the same intervals. In an additional long-term follow-up after approximately 3 years post-treatment the effect of brain activation changes during treatment on the long-term outcome of core symptoms (panic-related cognition and fear of body sensations) were determined. In accordance with the hypotheses increased limbic (hippocampus and amygdala) activation accompanied by low prefrontal activation to negative words were found. At treatment termination, panic-related symptoms had improved significantly and fronto-limbic activation patterns were normalized. Reduction of activation of the limbic system during treatment was predictive of a favorable long-term outcome. The results indicate that short-term psychodynamic treatment leads to changes in fronto-limbic networks, similar to previous findings on cognitive-behavioural treatment.     

Honeybee methodology, cognition, and theory: recording local directional decisions in interpatch foraging and interpreting their theoretical relevance

Investigations made into the cognitive decision making of honeybees (Apis mellifera) traveling from one flower patch to another flower patch (interpatch foraging) are few. To facilitate such research, we present methods to artificially emulate interpatch foraging and quantify the immediate decision making of honeybees (within 50 cm) choosing to fly an interpatch path. These “Interpatch Methods” are validated, applied, and shown to produce novel information for the field of honeybee spatial cognition. Generally, we demonstrate that a single foraging cohort of honeybees is shown to be capable of making decisions based upon different sets of learned cues, in the exact same context. Specifically, both terminal beacon orientation cues and compass navigation cues can guide the cognitive decision making of interpatch foraging honeybees; our bees chose both cues equally. Finally, the theoretical importance of decision making for interpatch paths is compared with the other foraging paths (outward and homing) with respect to the information available to recruited foragers and scout foragers. We conclude that the ability to analyze interpatch foraging is critical for a more complete understanding of honeybee foraging cognition and that our methods are capable of providing that understanding.     

Formalwissenschaft und Realwissenschaft:

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Eine Untersuchung zur diagnostischen Verarbeitung widersprüchlicher Informationen

Zusammenfassung In drei weitgehend parallel aufgebauten Untersuchungen hatten Vpn einzelne Eigenschaften und Kombinationen daraus auf einem Polaritätsprofil zu beurteilen. Die Profilbeurteilungen wurden a) gesondert für jede Vp über die Skalen hinweg interkorreliert und faktorenanalysiert und b) gesondert für jede Skala varianzanalysiert. Es konnte nachgewiesen werden, daß 1. der größte Varianzanteil der Beurteilungen widersprüchlicher Informationen auf Dimensionen erfolgte, die unabhängig waren von denjenigen, welche den Widerspruch beinhalteten, 2. bedeutsame interindividuelle Gemeinsamkeiten bestehen in der Richtung, in der bei der Beurteilung widersprüchlicher Informationen von der widerspruchsgeladenen Dimension abgewichen wird, und daß 3. die Brauchbarkeit eines linearen Modells zur Vorhersage der Beurteilung von Informations-Kombinationen mit der subjektiv erlebten Ähnlichkeit der Informationen ansteigt, sofern ein Minimum erlebter Ähnlichkeit gegeben ist; die Brauchbarkeit eines linearen Modells ist jedoch demgegenüber erheblich und relativ konstant herabgesetzt, wenn die kombinierten Informationen als unähnlich erlebt werden.

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Summary In three largely parallel experiments, subjects rated their impressions of persons described by single or combined personality-trait adjectives on 36 bipolar scales. Separately for each subject these ratings were correlated across the scales and factor-analyzed; separately for each scale analyses of variance were carried out.It was shown that (1) when dissonant adjectives were combined, the major proportion of the judgments' variance was independent of the dimension that characterized the dissonance; (2) there was substantial interindividual agreement as to the direction of the deviation from the dimension characterizing the dissonance; (3) the applicability of a simple linear model to the prediction of judgments of combined trait adjectives improves considerably to the extent to which a subject experiences the combination as consonant. However, when subjects judge the combined adjectives as either independent or dissonant, a simple linear model has only limited predictive power, no matter to which extent a subject experiences the combination as dissonant.

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Diese Untersuchung wurde zum Teil aus Mitteln der Stiftung Volkswagenwerk finanziert.