Accessibility and characteristics of memories of the future

Recent research suggests that some imagined future events are encoded in memory, leading to the formation of “memories of the future”. However, questions remain regarding the exact components of future event simulations that are encoded and the factors that determine their accessibility. To address these questions, the present study investigated memory for previously imagined future events using both free and cued recall tasks. The results showed that most future event simulations were successfully encoded and remained available in memory after a one week delay, but only some of them were readily accessible, whereas others could only be accessed when relevant cues were provided. Persons and locations were particularly well remembered, suggesting that these components are central to the simulation and memorisation of future events. We also found that memory for future event simulations was related to the clarity and familiarity of represented persons, the subjective feelings of pre-experience and mental time travel, the importance of imagined events to personal goals, and their emotional intensity during the initial simulation phase. Taken together, these findings expand our understanding of the formation, accessibility, and characteristics of memories of the future.     

脓毒症及其治疗策略的反思

脓毒症是各种严重创伤、烧伤、缺氧、再灌注损伤及外科大手术常见的并发症.目前脓毒症休克的临床病死率仍高达50%以上.对脓毒症发病机制的进一步深入认识和现行治疗措施的反思有助于改善其临床防治.     

应用Markov模型进行临床决策分析的思考

应用模型进行临床决策分析的研究日益增多,Markov模型就是近年来用于临床决策分析的一种.它优于传统的决策树分析方法,能应用于疾病预后影响因素的研究、筛查试验的评价、疾病治疗结局预测、纵向生命质量资料分析等多个方面.Markov模型用于临床决策分析,是创新思维的体现,是实事求是的典范,体现了认识的辩证过程.     

Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy: A Positive Perspective

Through his development of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), Albert Ellis was a major contributor to the development of cognitive behaviour therapy. This article reviews key aspects of REBT, the distinction between unhealthy and healthy emotions, and the role irrational and rational beliefs play in relation to these emotions. As with other areas of psychology, the focus of REBT over the years has been dominated by negative emotional experiences. In an attempt to address this and further develop REBT, the present article reviews recent claims from the realm of social psychology that positive illusions promote mental health. Consequently, it is proposed that a similar dichotomy of healthy and unhealthy positive emotions also exists, and a basic framework for working with this positive dichotomy is introduced.     

Impaired appetitively as well as aversively motivated behaviors and learning in PDE10A-deficient mice suggest a role for striatal signaling in evaluative salience attribution

Phosphodiesterase 10A (PDE10A) hydrolyzes both cAMP and cGMP, and is a key element in the regulation of medium spiny neuron (MSN) activity in the striatum. In the present report, we investigated the effects of targeted disruption of PDE10A on spatial learning and memory as well as aversive and appetitive conditioning in C57BL/6 J mice. Because of its putative role in motivational processes and reward learning, we also determined the expression of the immediate early gene zif268 in striatum and anterior cingulate cortex. Animals showed decreased response rates in scheduled appetitive operant conditioning, as well as impaired aversive conditioning in a passive avoidance task. Morris water maze performance revealed not-motor related spatial learning and memory deficits. Anxiety and social explorative behavior was not affected in PDE10A-deficient mice. Expression of zif268 was increased in striatum and anterior cingulate cortex, which suggests alterations in the neural connections between striatum and anterior cingulate cortex in PDE10A-deficient mice. The changes in behavior and plasticity in these PDE10A-deficient mice were in accordance with the proposed role of striatal MSNs and corticostriatal connections in evaluative salience attribution.     

How do High School Youths’ Educational Experiences Relate to Well-Being? Towards a Trans-Disciplinary Conceptualization

Educational research and practice could benefit from and contribute to multi-disciplinary study of well-being. In particular, research on the well-being of youth within and beyond school may benefit students, educators, administrators, and the community. This review provides a conceptual framework that (a) integrates research on well-being from economics, sociology, psychology and the health sciences, (b) organises this literature within seven domains of inquiry: Having, Being, Relating, Thinking, Feeling, Functioning, and Striving, and (c) highlights research pertinent to senior high school level educational experiences. This framework provides an important foundation from which further research on well-being can be developed.     

Some considerations about the biological appearance of pacing stimuli in visuomotor finger-tapping tasks

Sensorimotor synchronization is a crucial function for human daily activities, which relies on the ability of predicting external events. Synchronization performance, as assessed in finger-tapping (FT) tasks, is characterized by an anticipation tendency, as the tap generally precedes the pacing event. This synchronization error (SE) depends on many factors, in particular on the features of the pacing stimulus. Interest is growing in the facilitation effect that action observation has on motor execution. So far, neuroimaging and neurophysiology studies of motor priming via action observation have mainly employed tasks requiring single action instances. The impact of action observation on motor synchronization to periodic stimuli has not yet been tested; to this aim, a synchronization FT task may be an eligible probing task. The purpose of this study was to characterize a biological pacer at the behavioral level and provide information for those interested in studying the brain processes of continuous observation/execution coupling in timed actions using FT tasks. We evaluated the influence of the biological appearance of a pacer (a tapping finger) on SE, when compared to an abstract, kinematically equivalent pacer (a tilting hinged bar) and a more standard stimulus (a pulsating dot). We showed that the continuous visual display of a biological pacer yields comparable results to the abstract pacer, and a more robust performance and larger anticipations than a traditional pulsating stimulus.     

Perceived impact of socially anxious behaviors on individuals' lives in Western and East Asian countries

The current study compared the predicted social and career impact of socially withdrawn and reticent behaviors among participants from Western and East Asian countries. Three hundred sixty-one college students from 5 Western countries and 455 students from 3 East Asian countries read hypothetical vignettes describing socially withdrawn and shy behaviors versus socially outgoing and confident behaviors. Participants then answered questions following each vignette indicating the extent to which they would expect the subject of the vignette to be socially liked and to succeed in their career. Participants also completed measures of their own social anxiety and quality of life. The results indicated significant vignette-by-country interactions in that the difference in perceived social and career impact between shy and outgoing vignettes was smaller among participants from East Asian countries than from Western countries. In addition, significant negative correlations were shown between personal level of shyness and experienced quality of life for participants from both groups of countries, but the size of this relationship was greater for participants from Western than East Asian countries. The results point to the more negative impact of withdrawn and socially reticent behaviors for people from Western countries relative to those from East Asia.     

循证中医药针灸方法学分析与思考

循证医学方法学应用于中医药针灸临床试验研究,存在一定问题.从中医药针灸临床文献证据等级的确立和循证针灸临床试验方法学要素两个角度探讨存在的问题,认为应该建立符合中医药针灸临床特点的整体、动态、互动、综合的疗效评价体系,并采用适合评价针灸临床疗效的实用型中医药循证医学方法.