Long-delay taste aversion learning in an unpoisoned rat: Exposure to a poisoned rat as the unconditioned stimulus

M. J. Lavin, B. Freise, and S. Coombes (Behavioral and Neural Biology, 1980, 28, 15–33) have shown that if two rats consume a flavored solution and one is poisoned, the unpoisoned partner will also exhibit a flavor aversion during a later preference test. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that a sufficient condition for obtaining this aversion is that the poisoned partner be present with the unpoisoned rat after it has consumed the flavored solution. It is not necessary that the poisoned partner be present when the flavored solution is consumed or indeed have had any exposure to the flavored solution. Experiment 3 showed that the unpoisoned partner can exhibit a flavor aversion when there is a temporal gap of as long as 6 hr between consumption of the flavored solution and exposure to the poisoned rat.     

儿童拒绝敏感性与自我知觉的关系:一项交叉滞后研究

采用儿童拒绝敏感性问卷与儿童自我知觉量表对596名中小学儿童进行了为期一年的追踪调查,通过交叉滞后回归分析考察儿童拒绝敏感性与多种自我知觉间的预测关系。结果发现：（1）自我知觉的年级差异显著,初中儿童的自我知觉水平较低;（2）在两次测量中,拒绝敏感性与多种自我知觉均呈显著的负相关;（3）控制性别、年级以及自身稳定性之后,第一年的多种自我知觉均可以负向预测第二年的拒绝敏感性,而第一年的拒绝敏感性仅可以负向预测第二年的体貌及一般自我知觉;（4）年级调节了拒绝敏感性与一般和行为自我知觉间的纵向关系,并在小学与初中儿童中表现出不同的模式。研究证实自我知觉是儿童拒绝敏感性形成的重要原因之一,为儿童社会认知及心理健康的相关研究提供新的实证依据。     

Psychometric properties of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire: Chinese version

The aim of the present study was to develop a Chinese version of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ-C) and to examine its psychometric properties in a sample of Chinese university students. The English version of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire was translated and back-translated prior to its administration to 791 participants recruited from two universities in Changsha, Hunan (China). Internal consistency, test–retest reliability, inter-scale reliability, and factorial validity were analysed. The CERQ-C exhibited: (1) moderate internal consistency (Cronbach's α=.83); (2) a mean inter-class correlation coefficient of .79; (3) a mean inter-item correlation coefficient of .09; and (4) moderate test–retest reliability (.64). Confirmatory factor analyses supported the original CERQ nine-factor model. Finally, with respect to criterion validity, several CERQ-C subscales were uniquely associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety.     

It’s a matter of time (perspectives): shifting valence responses to emotional ambiguity

Our stage in life has profound influences on our emotions. A well-established age-related positivity effect is putatively related to time perspectives—older adults have a limited time perspective and a greater motivation to experience positivity than young adults. Ambiguous emotions (e.g., surprised expressions) have both a positive and negative meaning, offering a highly relevant model for examining this developmental trend. Indeed, there are stable, trait-like individual differences in valence bias, or the tendency to interpret surprise as positive or negative, with a developmental trend toward positivity (older adults are more positive than young adults, who are more positive than children). However, little research has determined the extent to which the bias can be shifted. In three experiments, we found that ambiguity ratings were sensitive to time perspectives, even within a population of college students, and that this effect is relatively long-lasting. Results extend socioemotional selectivity theory and demonstrate that our life stage may have profound effects on otherwise stable emotional responses.     

Gami-Chunghyuldan ameliorates memory impairment and neurodegeneration induced by intrahippocampal Aβ 1-42 oligomer injection

Soluble oligomeric forms of amyloid beta (AβO) are regarded as a main cause of synaptic and cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and have been a primary target in the development of drug treatments for AD. The present study utilized a mouse model of AD induced by intrahippocampal injection of AβO (10 μM) to investigate the effects of Gami-Chunghyuldan (GCD), a standardized multi-herbal medicinal formula, on the presentation of memory deficits and neurohistological pathogenesis. GCD (10 and 50 mg/kg/day, 5 days, p.o.) improved AβO-induced memory impairment as well as reduced neuronal cell death, astrogliosis, and microgliosis in the hippocampus. In addition, GCD prevented AβO-triggered synaptic disruption and cholinergic fiber loss. These results suggest that GCD may be useful in the prevention and treatment of AD.     

Irrelevant objects of expertise compete with faces during visual search

Prior work suggests that nonface objects of expertise can interfere with the perception of faces when the two categories are alternately presented, suggesting competition for shared perceptual resources. Here, we ask whether task-irrelevant distractors from a category of expertise compete when faces are presented in a standard visual search task. Participants searched for a target (face or sofa) in an array containing both relevant and irrelevant distractors. The number of distractors from the target category (face or sofa) remained constant, whereas the number of distractors from the irrelevant category (cars) varied. Search slopes, calculated as a function of the number of irrelevant cars, were correlated with car expertise. The effect was not due to car distractors grabbing attention, because they did not compete with sofa targets. Objects of expertise interfere with face perception even when they are task irrelevant, visually distinct, and separated in space from faces.     

大学新生时间管理倾向、手机依赖与无聊倾向的关系：一项交叉滞后研究

在3个月的时间内对425名大学新生进行3次追踪测量，以考察时间管理倾向、手机依赖与无聊倾向之间的因果顺序和发展变化趋势。结果发现：（1）大学新生的无聊倾向与时间管理倾向呈同时性和继时性的负相关，并与手机依赖水平呈同时性和继时性的正相关。（2）T1和T2的无聊倾向分别正向预测T2和T3的手机依赖，并分别负向预测T2和T3的时间管理倾向；T1的时间管理倾向负向预测T2的无聊倾向；T2的手机依赖正向预测T3的无聊倾向。结论：无聊倾向分别与手机依赖、时间管理倾向之间存在相互预测关系。     

The Contribution of Neuroimaging to the Study of Language and Aphasia

New structural and functional imaging methods continue to be developed at a rapid pace. In the last 25 years, advanced imaging techniques have provided insights into how language is represented and processed in the brain and how it can be disrupted by damage to, or dysfunction of, various parts of the brain. Imaging studies have also yielded new information regarding how individuals recover language after stroke. We briefly review the strengths and weaknesses of the various radiological methods currently used to study language and aphasia.