Dopamine D1 receptors are responsible for stress-induced emotional memory deficit in mice

It is established that stress impairs spatial learning and memory via the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis response. Dopamine D1 receptors were also shown to be responsible for a stress-induced deficit of working memory. However, whether stress affects the subsequent emotional learning and memory is not elucidated yet. Here, we employed the well-established one-trial step-through task to study the effect of an acute psychological stress (induced by tail hanging for 5, 10, or 20?min) on emotional learning and memory, and the possible mechanisms as well. We demonstrated that tail hanging induced an obvious stress response. Either an acute tail-hanging stress or a single dose of intraperitoneally injected dopamine D1 receptor antagonist (SCH23390) significantly decreased the step-through latency in the one-trial step-through task. However, SCH23390 prevented the acute tail-hanging stress-induced decrease in the step-through latency. In addition, the effects of tail-hanging stress and/or SCH23390 on the changes in step-through latency were not through non-memory factors such as nociceptive perception and motor function. Our data indicate that the hyperactivation of dopamine D1 receptors mediated the stress-induced deficit of emotional learning and memory. This study may have clinical significance given that psychological stress is considered to play a role in susceptibility to some mental diseases such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.     

The Study of College Students’ Beliefs in China

Pastoral Psychology - The beliefs of college students is an important issue that is followed closely by the Government of China (GOC). In recent years, the GOC increasingly has encouraged the...     

Non-target language processing in Chinese-English bilinguals: a study of event-related potential

The event-related brain potential (ERP) technique was used to investigate the neural mechanism of non-target language processing in Chinese-English bilinguals. Participants were presented with a mixed list of Chinese and English words and required to make conceptual decisions for words in one language and ignore words in the other non-target language. Regardless of whether the nontarget word was in Chinese or English, the ERPs they elicited were modulated by word frequency, suggesting that their meaning had been accessed. The N400 peak was delayed in the English as the non-target language condition, probably because participants were less proficient in English. The results suggest that the non-target language can be processed during conceptual tasks with participants' proficiency in this language being a critical factor.     

Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of a short-form of the EMBU among Chinese adolescents

The present study used a sample of Chinese adolescents and validated a short-form of the Egna Minnen Betr?ffande Uppfostran: One's Memories of Upbringing (s-EMBU) assessing perceived parental rearing styles. A Chinese revision of the s-EMBU by the authors was administered to a total of 779 high school students, ages 11 to 19 years. Exploratory factor analysis with half of the sample yielded a three-factor solution of Rejection, Emotional Warmth, and Overprotection, accounting for 47.1% of the total variance onthe father form and 48.8% of the total variance on the mother form. Then, confirmatory factor analysis indicated a good fit of the three-factor model to the data in the other half of the sample. The three subscales consisted of 6, 6, and 7 items, respectively. Scores on these subscales had Cronbach alphas ranging from .71 to .81, indicating adequate internal consistency. These psychometric properties suggest its applicability for research with Chinese adolescents.     

Two experimental tests of trust in in‐group strangers: The moderating role of common knowledge of group membership

The role that shared group membership plays in decisions to trust others is now well established within social psychology. A close reading of this literature, however, shows that this process is often moderated by other variables. Currently, we examined one potential moderator of this process. In particular, we evaluated the role that common knowledge of a shared social group membership between self and a to‐be‐trusted stranger provides as a basis for trusting this stranger. This common knowledge emerges when the truster knows the group membership of the to‐be‐trusted other, and believes that this other also knows the group membership of the truster. In two experiments, using pre‐existing and minimal groups, we show that people are more likely to trust an in‐group member over an out‐group member under conditions of common group‐membership knowledge rather than private group‐membership knowledge (i.e. other does not know truster's group), even when they could choose not to trust anyone. The manner in which these data add to current understandings of group‐based trust in strangers is discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Association of Positive and Negative Parenting Behavior with Childhood ADHD: Interactions with Offspring Monoamine Oxidase A (MAO-A) Genotype

Relatively little is known about the potential interplay between genetic and environmental influences on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), including gene-environment interaction (G×E). There is evidence that parenting behavior interacts with offspring genotype in the development of externalizing problems, but studies have largely focused on explicit maltreatment rather than differentiated measures of parenting behavior, including positive and negative parenting. We tested the interactive effects of the 30-base pair variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism of the monoamine oxidase A gene (MAO-A) with positive and negative parenting behavior on parent- and teacher ratings of inattention and hyperactivity symptoms among 150 6–9 year-old boys with and without ADHD. Negative parenting predicted parent and teacher ratings of inattention symptoms, but only among boys with high-activity MAO-A genotype. MAO-A genotype did not moderate the association of positive parenting and parent- and teacher ratings of ADHD. We discuss the potential role of interactive exchanges between parenting behavior and child genotype in the development and persistence of ADHD and related behavior problems.     

Self-esteem modulates attentional responses to rejection: Evidence from event-related brain potentials

Individuals with low self-esteem have been shown to exhibit an attentional bias for social rejection cues. The present study investigated whether individuals with low self-esteem would demonstrate greater reactivity to rejection-related stimuli during an attention shifting task than was exhibited by those with high self-esteem. Individuals with low self-esteem showed higher amplitude event-related potentials (ERPs) in response to rejection cues than was observed for those with high self-esteem. These results suggest that individuals with low self-esteem allocate more attentional resources to rejection cues than those with high self-esteem. Discussion will focus on the implications of these findings for understanding the connection between low self-esteem and social rejection.     

Neural correlates of audiovisual integration of semantic category information

Previous studies have found a late frontal-central audiovisual interaction during the time period about 150-220 ms post-stimulus. However, it is unclear to which process is this audiovisual interaction related: to processing of acoustical features or to classification of stimuli? To investigate this question, event-related potentials were recorded during a words-categorization task with stimuli presented in the auditory-visual modality. In the experiment, congruency of the visual and auditory stimuli was manipulated. Results showed that within the window of about 180-210 ms post-stimulus more positive values were elicited by category-congruent audiovisual stimuli than category-incongruent audiovisual stimuli. This indicates that the late frontal-central audiovisual interaction is related to audiovisual integration of semantic category information.