Enhanced cognitive activity--over and above social or physical activity--is required to protect Alzheimer's mice against cognitive impairment, reduce Abeta deposition, and increase synaptic immunoreactivity

Although social, physical, and cognitive activities have each been suggested to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD), epidemiologic studies cannot determine which activity or combination of activities is most important. To address this question, mutant APP transgenic AD mice were reared long-term in one of four housing conditions (impoverished, social, social+physical, or complete enrichment) from 1(1/2) through 9 months of age. Thus, a stepwise layering of social, physical, and enhanced cognitive activity was created. Behavioral evaluation in a full battery of sensorimotor, anxiety, and cognitive tasks was carried out during the final 5 weeks of housing. Only AD mice raised in complete enrichment (i.e., enhanced cognitive activity) showed: (1) protection against cognitive impairment, (2) decreased brain beta-amyloid deposition, and (3) increased hippocampal synaptic immunoreactivity. The protection provided by enhanced cognitive activity spanned multiple cognitive domains (working memory, reference learning, and recognition/identification). Cognitive and neurohistologic benefits of complete enrichment occurred without any changes in blood cytokine or corticosterone levels, suggesting that enrichment-dependent mechanisms do not involve changes in the inflammatory response or stress levels, respectively. These results indicate that the enhanced cognitive activity of complete enrichment is required for cognitive and neurologic benefit to AD mice-physical and/or social activity are insufficient. Thus, our data suggest that humans who emphasize a high lifelong level of cognitive activity (over and above social and physical activities) will attain the maximal environmental protection against AD.     

Predictors of timed picture naming in Chinese

We report normative data collected from Mainland Chinese speakers for 232 objects taken from Snodgrass and Vanderwart (1980). These data include adult ratings of concept familiarity, age of acquisition (AoA), printedword frequency, and word length (in syllables), as well as measures of rated visual complexity, image agreement, and name agreement. We then examined timed picture naming of these objects with native Chinese speakers in Beijing in two experiments using line drawings and colored pictures. In both experiments, the variables name agreement, rated concept familiarity, and AoA made significant independent contributions to naming latency in multiple regression analyses. We observed a correlation ofr=.85 between naming latency with line drawings and colored pictures and a reduced effect of image agreement on naming when colored pictures were presented. We discuss the implications of our findings for the study of lexical processing in Chinese. Normative data for 232 Chinese nouns may be downloaded from www.psychonomic.org/archive     

Age and culture modulate object processing and object—scene binding in the ventral visual area

Behavioral differences in the visual processing of objects and backgrounds as a function of cultural group are well documented. Recent neuroimaging evidence also points to cultural differences in neural activation patterns. Compared with East Asians, Westerners’ visual processing is more object focused, and they activate neural structures that reflect this bias for objects. In a recent adaptation study, East Asian older adults showed an absence of an object-processing area but normal adaptation for background areas. In the present study, 75 young and old adults (half East Asian and half Western) were tested in an fMR-adaptation study to examine differences in object and background processing as well as object—background binding. We found equivalent background processing in the parahippocampal gyrus in all four groups, diminished binding processes in the hippocampus in elderly East Asians and Westerners, and diminished object processing in elderly versus young adults in the lateral occipital complex. Moreover, elderly East Asians showed significantly less adaptation response in the object areas than did elderly Westerners. These findings demonstrate the malleability of perceptual processes as a result of differences in cohort-specific experiences or in cultural exposure over time.     

Do “mudsplashes” induce tactile change blindness?

The phenomenon of change blindness (the surprising inability of people to correctly perceive changes between consecutively presented displays), primarily reported in vision, has recently been shown to occur for positional changes presented in tactile displays as well. Here, we studied people’s ability to detect changes in the number of tactile stimuli in successively presented displays composed of one to three stimuli distributed over the body surface. In Experiment 1, a tactile mask consisting of the simultaneous activation of all seven possible tactile stimulators was sometimes presented between the two to-be-discriminated tactile displays. In Experiment 2, a “mudsplash” paradigm was used, with a brief irrelevant tactile distractor presented at the moment of change of the tactile display. Change blindness was demonstrated in both experiments, thus showing that the failure to detect tactile change is not necessarily related to (1) the physical disruption between consecutive events, (2) the effect of masking covering the location of the change, or (3) the erasure or resetting of the information contained within an internal representation of the tactile display. These results are interpreted in terms of a limitation in the number of spatial locations/events that can be consciously accessed at any one time. This limitation appears to constrain change-detection performance, no matter the sensory modality in which the stimuli are presented.     

西方有关择偶启事的研究和论争

文章梳理了自20世纪70年代至本世纪初,西方以择偶启事为研究蓝本的择偶标准与择偶策略研究,展示了西方研究者运用进化心理学理论、社会学习理论与社会交换理论,对一般异性恋择偶,择偶启事回复率、初婚和再婚人士择偶,同性恋、异性恋、双性恋择偶间比较,以及网络启事择偶几方面的研究历程;预测了未来择偶启事研究的趋势应是几种理论间观点的相互借鉴与整合     

两岸四地大学生对创造力特征及创造力 人才的认知调查

该研究表明,北京、广州、香港和台北的大学生在对创造力和创造力人才的内隐认知甚为一致。其中北京和广州大学生的内隐认知更为接近,而香港和台湾大学生的内隐认知更为接近。在对高创造力特征的内隐认知上,四地大学生一致看重的条目有：有创造力、有创见、创新、有观察力、有思考力、愿做尝试、灵活性、有自信、有想象力、有好奇心、有个性和有独立性等。而在对低创造力表现的内隐认知上,四地大学生的一致认同的条目有：呆钝、保守、跟随传统和愿做让步。在对创造力人才的认知上,四地的大学皆首推政治名人,次推科技界名人。四地大学生最不看重的创造力人才是艺术界和音乐界名人。这说明,两岸三地的中国人虽然分离长久,但其对创造力的认知上仍相当一致,都甚看重政治与科技人物的影响。     

楚简《太一生水》"托其名"考

楚简《太一生水》"托其名"之"名"是天地初开时的"混沌"名。"混沌"就是"清浊"或"清混"(也作"清浑"),即《太一生水》中之"青昏"。因此,""应厘定为"青昏"而非"请问"。"托其名"就是依照贵道——原道——循道——用道的逻辑理路循序演进,对宇宙生成过程进行逆向追述,上溯至天地的源头,因"青昏"之名,循"道"之字,以行"浑沌氏之术"。这是道家"推天理以明人事"思想的体现。     

中国空间隐喻研究现状与发展趋势——基于CiteSpace的知识图谱分析

通过CiteSpace对空间隐喻研究文献进行可视化分析发现,中国对于空间隐喻的研究始于1999年,经历了起步探索期、爆发期,现进入平稳深化期; 学科分布以语言学为主,文学与心理学为辅; 多数研究者更倾向单次独立研究而缺少持续与合作研究,仅构成一个作者群,另外也有一些小合作团队,只局限于两人合作,合作力量较弱; 各机构之间合作缺乏; 研究热点集中于空间隐喻、隐喻、认知、意象图式、空间、映射汉语、隐喻拓展等,近年来转向了概念隐喻、道德、道德概念、垂直空间隐喻和具身认知,且具身认知持续至今; 空间隐喻研究主要围绕空间隐喻、认知语言学、意向图式、方位词、映射、隐喻、认知和具身认知这八个主题开展。由此可知,未来的研究中可扩展学科范围、加强各作者和各单位之间的合作、探索其他研究热点。     

In support of selective rehearsal: Double-item presentation in item-method directed forgetting

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - Despite the substantial evidence highlighting the role of selective rehearsal in item-method directed forgetting, recent work has suggested that forgetting may...     

科技干扰对青少年智能手机成瘾的影响:核心自我评价与心理需求网络满足的作用

采用问卷调查法,以4372名中学生为研究对象,考察核心自我评价和心理需求网络满足在亲子间科技干扰与青少年智能手机成瘾之间的中介作用。结果表明:(1)亲子间科技干扰可显著正向预测青少年智能手机成瘾;(2)在控制了性别、年龄之后,科技干扰可分别通过核心自我评价和心理需求网络满足间接地影响青少年智能手机成瘾。