Intentional concepts in cognitive neuroscience

In this article, I develop an account of the use of intentional predicates in cognitive neuroscience explanations. As pointed out by Maxwell Bennett and Peter Hacker, intentional language abounds in neuroscience theories. According to Bennett and Hacker, the subpersonal use of intentional predicates results in conceptual confusion. I argue against this overly strong conclusion by evaluating the contested language use in light of its explanatory function. By employing conceptual resources from the contemporary philosophy of science, I show that although the use of intentional predicates in mechanistic explanations sometimes leads to explanatorily inert claims, intentional predicates can also successfully feature in mechanistic explanations as tools for the functional analysis of the explanandum phenomenon. Despite the similarities between my account and Daniel Dennett's intentional-stance approach, I argue that intentional stance should not be understood as a theory of subpersonal causal explanation, and therefore cannot be used to assess the explanatory role of intentional predicates in neuroscience. Finally, I outline a general strategy for answering the question of what kind of language can be employed in mechanistic explanations.     

Early life adversity potentiates the effects of later life stress on cumulative physiological dysregulation

Background and Objectives: Previous research indicates that early life adversity may heighten stress reactivity and impair mechanisms for adaptive coping, suggesting that experience of stress in early life may also potentiate adults' physiological vulnerability to stress in later life. The study tested this hypothesis by investigating whether the experience of stressful events and circumstances (SEC) in childhood or adolescence amplified the effect of adulthood SEC on physiological dysregulation (allostatic load, AL) in later midlife. Design: Observational data were used in the present study. Physiological functioning was measured in later midlife (participants' age ranged from 49 to 63 years). Both childhood/adolescence and adulthood SEC were reported retrospectively on the same occasion. Methods: Participants were 5309 Danish men and women from Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank (CAMB). SEC included socioeconomic and family factors. The AL index was based on nine cardiovascular, metabolic, and immune biomarkers. Results: Experience of SEC in both early life and adulthood independently predicted higher AL. In men, experience of SEC in early life also potentiated the effect of SEC in adulthood on AL. Conclusions: The results provide further insight into the mechanisms behind the “biological embedding” of childhood stress.     

The effect of situation-evoked anxiety and gender on pain report using the cold pressor test

The aims of the present study were to investigate the influence of anxiety on pain perception and to test whether gender differences in pain perception are anxiety dependent. Sixty male and female university students exposed to situation-evoked anxiety or a control procedure were measured for their pain threshold, tolerance, and perceived intensity during a cold pressor test. Both subjective and autonomic responses indicated that anxiety was successfully induced in participants exposed to the anxiety condition. Increased situational anxiety had no significant effect on pain threshold or pain tolerance. Significant increases in pain intensity were found for the anxiety group. Levels of anxiety, however, did not correlate with this increased intensity, raising doubt as to the role of anxiety in producing this effect. No gender differences were found for pain tolerance or pain intensity. Gender differences were found for pain threshold in the anxiety group with, contrary to past findings, females showing significantly higher pain thresholds than males. The results are discussed in the light of related studies.     

The relationship between cognitive abilities and maternal ratings of externalizing behaviors in preschool children

The association between child cognitive abilities and maternal ratings of child externalizing behaviors was investigated in a randomly selected sample of 290 preschool children. Child cognitive abilities were assessed by the WPPSI-R, whereas mothers completed the Yale Children's Inventory for the assessment of child externalizing behaviors. Maternal education, and maternal child-rearing style, as defined by scores on the Child Rearing Practices Report, was significantly related to perceived externalizing child behavior. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that for girls, low child IQ remained a significant predictor of perceived externalizing behavior when effects of maternal education and child-rearing style were controlled for (p < 0.01). Maternal child-rearing style made independent contributions to explaining variance in girls' and boys' behavior score. The results are discussed in terms of differential gender socialization practices and gender stereotypes.     

The Negative Association of Obesity with Subjective Well-Being: Is it All About Health?

In this paper we examine whether health status and functional capacity explain the fact that obese individuals report significantly lower levels of subjective well-being. We use comprehensive measures of body composition such as waist circumference, body fat percentage, and lean body mass along with body mass index. All these are measured by health professionals in a population-based sample. When controlling for health and functional status, we find very limited evidence for any independent influence of obesity on subjective well-being. This implies that the adverse effects of obesity on health and functioning are the primary explanation for the observed negative relationship between obesity and subjective well-being.     

Digit ratio and risk taking in post-menopausal Finnish women

Although an indicator of prenatal testosterone (PT), 2D:4D ratio, has been extensively studied in the domain of financial risk taking, other domains of risk have received less attention. It is thought that elevated levels of PT relate to more masculinised behaviours, including increased risk taking propensity. In this study, we report negative findings with regards to health (average weekly drinking and daily smoking) and sexual (lifetime number of sexual partners) risk in a sample of post-menopausal Finnish women (N = 146–262). Our results suggest that PT may not masculinise health and sexual risk taking in women, at least at an older age.     

Personality development from 12 to 18 years of age: changes in mean levels and structure of traits

The Estonian NEO‐FFI was administered to 2650 Estonian adolescents (1420 girls and 1230 boys) aged from 12 to 18 years and attending 6th, 8th, 10th, or 12th grade at secondary schools all over Estonia. Although the mean levels of personality traits of Estonian adolescents were quite similar to the respective scores of Estonian adults, there was a developmental gap in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. Three of the five personality dispositions demonstrated a modest cross‐sectional change in the mean level of the trait scores: the level of Openness increased and the levels of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness decreased between 12 and 18 years of age. Although the five‐factor structure of personality was already recognizable in the sample of 12‐year‐old children, it demonstrated only an approximate congruence with the adult structure, suggesting that not all children of that age have developed abilities required for observing one's own personality dispositions and for giving reliable self‐reports on the basis of these observations. The self‐reported personality trait structure matures and becomes sufficiently differentiated around age 14–15 and grows to be practically indistinguishable from adult personality by the age of 16. Personality of adolescents becomes more differentiated with age: along with the growth of mental capacities the correlations among the personality traits and intelligence become smaller. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.