Protein kinase Mzeta is essential for the induction and maintenance of dopamine-induced long-term potentiation in apical CA1 dendrites

Dopaminergic D1/D5-receptor-mediated processes are important for certain forms of memory as well as for a cellular model of memory, hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) in the CA1 region of the hippocampus. D1/D5-receptor function is required for the induction of the protein synthesis-dependent maintenance of CA1-LTP (L-LTP) through activation of the cAMP/PKA-pathway. In earlier studies we had reported a synergistic interaction of D1/D5-receptor function and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-receptors for L-LTP. Furthermore, we have found the requirement of the atypical protein kinase C isoform, protein kinase Mζ (PKMζ) for conventional electrically induced L-LTP, in which PKMζ has been identified as a LTP-specific plasticity-related protein (PRP) in apical CA1-dendrites. Here, we investigated whether the dopaminergic pathway activates PKMζ. We found that application of dopamine (DA) evokes a protein synthesis-dependent LTP that requires synergistic NMDA-receptor activation and protein synthesis in apical CA1-dendrites. We identified PKMζ as a DA-induced PRP, which exerted its action at activated synaptic inputs by processes of synaptic tagging.     

Unemployment and aggression: the moderating role of self-awareness on the effect of unemployment on aggression

In February 2005, the unemployment rate in Germany surpassed the 10% mark. Derived from the revised version of the frustration-aggression hypothesis [Berkowitz, 1989], the present studies investigated the association between unemployment and aggression, as well as the moderating role of the self in this context. Because previous research on unemployment and aggression has been plagued by the cause-and-effect issue, the present research employed both an experimental and a correlational field approach. Three studies revealed that participants who expected to be unemployed after their degree (Studies 1 and 3), or who were currently unemployed (Study 2), reported stronger aggressive inclinations than participants who expected not to be unemployed or who were not unemployed at the time of data collection. However, this aggression-eliciting effect of expected or real unemployment only occurred for participants with low self-awareness. Participants who could actualize their self prior to reporting on aggression were not differently affected by different expectations or states of unemployment.     

Unidirectional interference in use of nondominant hand during concurrent Grooved Pegboard and random number generation tasks

The interference effect between Grooved Pegboard task with either hand and the executive task of cued verbal random number generation was investigated. 24 normal right-handed subjects performed each task under separate (single-task) and concurrent (dual-task) conditions. Articulatory suppression was required as an additional secondary task during pegboard performance. Analysis indicated an unambiguous distinction between the two hands. Comparisons of single-task and dual-task conditions showed an asymmetrical pattern of unidirectional interference with no practice effects during pegboard performance. Concurrent performance with nondominant hand but not the dominant hand of random number generation performance became continuously slower. There was no effect of divided attention on pegboard performance. Findings support the idea that the nondominant hand on the pegboard and random number tasks draw from the same processing resources but that for the executive aspect random number generation is more sensitive to changes in allocation of attentional resources.     

Somatoforme Störungen bei ambulanten dermatologischen Patienten

Zusammenfassung In der vorliegenden Studie wurde die Häufigkeit somatoformer Symptome in einer dermatologischen Universitätsambulanz untersucht. An der Studie nahmen n=195 Patienten teil, die Screeningfragen zu somatoformen, dermatologischen und depressiven Symptomen ausfüllten. Zusätzlich wurde eine dermatologische Beurteilung der Symptome hinsichtlich der Ätiologie erfasst. Danach wiesen 26,2% der Patienten Hinweise auf eine somatoforme Störung auf; am häufigsten waren somatoforme Schmerzstörung (16,9%) und körperdysmorphe Störung (15,4%). Unter den spezifischen dermatologischen Symptomen wurde Juckreiz besonders häufig (10,3%) als somatoform klassifiziert. Der Anteil von Patienten mit erhöhten depressiven Beschwerden lag bei 17,3%. Die Ergebnisse sprechen für eine erhöhte Prävalenz somatoformer Störungen bei dermatologischen Patienten. Die Identifizierung und psychotherapeutische Versorgung dieser Patientengruppe sollte in der dermatologischen Routineversorgung mehr Beachtung finden.     

Expectancy confirmation in spite of disconfirming evidence: The case of price increases due to the introduction of the Euro

People in Germany overwhelmingly believe that the Euro introduction caused an overall price increase, however, no such increase actually took place. To investigate whether this disparity could be based on biased perceptions of the average price trend, four studies were conducted. Participants received two menus from a restaurant (one ‘old’ menu with German Mark (DM) prices and one ‘new’ menu with Euro prices) and were asked to estimate the price trend (in per cent). In all of these studies, price trend judgements were biased towards rising prices. If the prices had in fact been raised, the magnitude of this price increase was overestimated. If the prices had remained stable, significant price increases were perceived. And if the prices had fallen, they were perceived as having remained stable. The bias was systematically related to participants' expectations concerning price increases. A ‘selective outcome correction’ hypothesis proved to best fit the data: incorrect calculation outcomes that are in line with one's expectations are overlooked, whereas incorrect inconsistent outcomes are detected and corrected. The results imply that expectations can influence judgements even when clear disconfirming evidence is available that can be compared with an objective standard, thus leaving no room for interpretation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Combined expectancy effects are modulated by the relation between expectancy cues

Studies of combined expectancies have shown that spatial cueing effects are reduced on trials on which participants have to respond with an unexpected motor response. In the first two experiments the range of reduced expectancy effects is examined. Advance knowledge of the likely response was combined in a trial-by-trial procedure with modality cueing, object cueing, and task cueing. Effects of modality cueing were reduced on trials on which the target requested an unexpected response. However, effects of object cueing as well as effects of task cueing were unaffected by response cueing. Comparing experiments revealed that different types of cues were used in different experiments. To test the effect of type of cue on the interaction of expectancies the third experiment combined spatial cueing with response cueing. When integrated cues were used that cued the likely target location by an arrow and the likely response by an arrow too, spatial cueing effects were reduced on trials with unexpected responses. However, spatial cueing effects remained unaffected by response cueing when separated cues were used consisting in a word cueing the response and an arrow cueing target location. An account for the modulation of combined expectancies by the relation between cues is suggested in terms of the adjusted expectancy model.     

Meta-dialogue

On the basis of recent developments in constructivism and social constructionism, the authors propose an approach that takes self-recursiveness seriously: Meta-dialogue, an extension of reflecting teams and reflecting positions. The authors see therapists as experts in interviewing (questioning, asking, and reflecting) and clients as experts for their different domains (their lives). Thus, the authors see it as crucial to express basic respect to the people who come to consult them in a cooperative way in order to enlarge the options of all the people taking part in the interview. The structure of meta-dialogue is described in detail and illustrated with a case example.We would like to thank Amanda Gorman (Kiel) for her sensitive help with the translation.     

Moral community and animal research in medicine

The invocation of moral rights in moral/social debate today is a recipe for deadlock in our consideration of substantive issues. How we treat animals and humans in part should derive from the value of their lives, which is a function of the quality of their lives, which in turn is a function of the richness of their lives. Consistency in argument requires that humans with a low quality of life should be chosen as experimental subjects over animals with a higher quality of life.