时间贴现的分段性

以延迟和相对延迟时间贴现的实验范式, 用选择法、匹配法确定价值主观相等点, 探讨时间贴现的分段性。三个实验和一个问卷调查发现, 时间贴现具有分段性。被试的时间贴现有三次显著变化, 表现为三个时段时间贴现心理状态的不同: 从现在到未来2周内规避损失、偏好风险、愿意短期等待, 从未来2周起直到未来10年采取非补偿性策略、需求与风险并重、愿意长期等待, 和从未来10年起直到未来50年规避风险、聊胜于无、不愿意等待。     

The adolescent brain

Adolescence is a developmental period characterized by suboptimal decisions and actions that give rise to an increased incidence of unintentional injuries and violence, alcohol and drug abuse, unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Traditional neurobiological and cognitive explanations for adolescent behavior have failed to account for the nonlinear changes in behavior observed during adolescence, relative to childhood and adulthood. This review provides a biologically plausible conceptualization of the neural mechanisms underlying these nonlinear changes in behavior, as a heightened responsiveness to incentives while impulse control is still relatively immature during this period. Recent human imaging and animal studies provide a biological basis for this view, suggesting differential development of limbic reward systems relative to top-down control systems during adolescence relative to childhood and adulthood. This developmental pattern may be exacerbated in those adolescents with a predisposition toward risk-taking, increasing the risk for poor outcomes.     

Social learning modulates the lateralization of emotional valence

Although neuropsychological studies of lateralization of emotion have emphasized valence (positive vs. negative) or type (basic vs. complex) dimensions, the interaction between the two dimensions has yet to be elucidated. The purpose of the current study was to test the hypothesis that recognition of basic emotions is processed preferentially by the right prefrontal cortex (PFC), whereas recognition of complex social emotions is processed preferentially by the left PFC. Experiment 1 assessed the ability of healthy controls and patients with right and left PFC lesions to recognize basic and complex emotions. Experiment 2 modeled the patient’s data of Experiment 1 on healthy participants under lateralized displays of the emotional stimuli. Both experiments support the Type as well as the Valence Hypotheses. However, our findings indicate that the Valence Hypothesis holds for basic but less so for complex emotions. It is suggested that, since social learning overrules the basic preference of valence in the hemispheres, the processing of complex emotions in the hemispheres is less affected by valence.     

面孔识别异族效应的研究

异族效应是面孔识别过程中一种非常稳定的现象,表现为对本族面孔的识别与再认成绩显著高于异族面孔.脑成像研究也证实了这两类面孔在神经表征上的差异.关于该效应主要有知觉经验说与社会分类说两种理论解释,但围绕着其心理机制仍然存在着很多争议然,未来的研究需要考虑族群认同等社会-人格因素对于异族效应的影响,并注意考察本族面孔与异族面孔有提取阶段可能存在的神经活动的差异.     

False recognition of emotional stimuli is lateralised in the brain: An fMRI study

We have investigated whether the left (LH) and right (RH) hemisphere play a different role in eliciting false recognition (FR) and whether their involvement in this memory illusion depends on the emotional content of stimuli. Negative and neutral pictures (taken from IAPS) were presented in the divided-visual field paradigm. Subjects task was to indicate whether the pictures had already been presented or not during the preceding study phase. FR rate was much higher for the RH than the LH presentations. In line, FR resulted in activations mainly in the right prefrontal cortex (PFC) for either RH or LH presentations. Emotional content of stimuli facilitated the formation of false memories and strengthened the involvement of the right PFC in FR induction.     

自闭症谱系障碍者面孔识别的神经机制

自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）是一种心理状况的谱系障碍,其症状是社交及沟通上的广泛性异常、异常局限性的兴趣和高度重复性的刻板行为。包括自闭症、亚斯伯格症候群和待分类的广泛性发展障碍3类。研究主要以事件相关电位和功能性磁共振成像两种技术为线索,通过深入分析ASD患者在面孔识别认知过程中脑的异常变化,探讨其面孔识别障碍的神经机制问题。研究表明,ASD患者面孔识别能力的损伤主要与N170、N300、P400和Nc等ERPs成份异常及梭状回面孔区和杏仁核的低激活有关。研究推论ASD患者面孔识别障碍是多个异常脑区联合作用的结果,且主要受异常脑区的数量和损伤程度的影响。     

四川地震灾后中小学教师心理创伤评估报告

课题研究组对四川地震灾后重灾区和极重灾区的631名中小学教师创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）进行了调查,调查后对统计结果分析表明：（1）有PTSD重度症状表现的教师为18.7%;（2）极重灾区教师创伤显著高于重灾区教师;（3）青年教师的创伤要高于年长教师;（4）地震后部分教师感到内疚,无助,压抑,无信心,生命无意义,他们成为PTSD症状的易感人群     

Neural correlates of Traditional Chinese Medicine induced advantageous risk-taking decision making

This fMRI study examined the neural correlates of the observed improvement in advantageous risk-taking behavior, as measured by the number of adjusted pumps in the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), following a 60-day course of a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) recipe, specifically designed to regulate impulsiveness in order to modulate risk-taking behavior. The 14 participants recruited for this study were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups and the TCM recipe (Panax, 520 mg; Astragalus membranaceous Bunge, 520 mg; Masnetitum, 840 mg; Ostrea gigas Thumb, 470 mg; Thinleaf Milkwort Root Radix Polygalae, 450 mg; and Os Draconis, 470 mg) was administered, as a diet supplement, to the seven participants in the experimental group. The neural activity of the two groups was monitored by a 3T MRI scanner, before and after the 60-day treatment. Associated with the improved advantageous risk-taking behavior seen in the experimental group, significantly stronger blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) responses were observed in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), left putamen, left thalamus, right insula, and right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), regions which have previously been reported as being involved in risk-taking decision making. The effect of the TCM in improving advantageous risk-taking decision making appears to have been related to the enhanced efficiency of the cognitive affective system, the PFC–ACC–insula–striatum network, which functions to inhibit impulsiveness, to sensitize reward-related information, and to allow the opportunity, during risk estimation, to evaluate potential gains and losses. The findings of this study suggest that interventions acting on factors modulating risk-taking decision making could have a beneficial effect in terms of optimizing risk-taking behavior.     

Neuropsychological correlates of psychopathic traits in a non-incarcerated sample

The present study examined the association between neuropsychological behavioral performance and psychopathic personality traits, measured via the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI), in a non-incarcerated sample. Specifically, performance involving general executive cognitive functioning (ECF) and response inhibition was investigated in regards to the two main psychopathy factors (affective-interpersonal and social deviance) of the PPI. A group of 95 student volunteers were administered the PPI and a variety of neuropsychological measures. Analyses revealed that total PPI scores were related to deficits in response inhibition but not general ECF. However, this relationship was qualified by the differential associations observed for the two PPI factors. The social deviance factor was associated with deficits in general ECF and response inhibition, whereas the affective-interpersonal facet was associated with enhanced general ECF performance but not response inhibition. The results suggest that cognitive functioning shows predicted associations with a self-report measure of psychopathy among non-incarcerated young adults, providing further evidence for psychopathy conceptualizations from a normal-range personality perspective.     

面孔加工的认知神经科学研究：回顾与展望

面孔加工的认知神经科学研究中的核心问题是,是否存在功能和神经机制上独立的面孔加工模块以及面孔加工系统的组织形式。使用电生理、脑成像以及对脑损伤病人进行神经心理学检查等手段,研究者已经找到选择性地对面孔反应的脑区,即梭状回面孔区（FFA）。文章从面孔加工系统的特异性与多成分性以及面孔识别模型等方面,系统回顾了该领域的主要研究成果。文章最后还简单展望了今后的研究方向。