前扣带回功能的冲突监测理论

前扣带回在多种任务中的普遍激活使它成为当前认知控制研究的一个热点。一般认为它是执行控制网络的一个组成部分。针对它的功能尚缺乏一个综合的可以普遍接受的理论,前扣带回功能的冲突监测理论是一个影响十分广泛的理论。它认为前扣带回通过监测冲突提供控制信号,并将控制信号传达给具体负责控制的脑区。该文对冲突监测理论的观点及其实验支持做了简要的介绍,并对该理论存在的一些问题做了一些说明     

Memory deficits in young schizophrenics with normal general intellectual function

The aim of the present study was to examine different dimensions of memory functioning in young schizophrenics with normal general intellectual abilities. Thirty-three patients with schizophrenia and 33 healthy controls were included in the study. The results suggest that immediate short-term memory is intact, though there emerged a working memory deficit in the schizophrenia group. Deficient encoding of verbal material was observed in some, but not in other, testing conditions. There also seemed to be a retrieval deficit for verbal material in schizophrenia, though no storage deficit was indicated. Impaired memory for non-verbal material was also revealed. These results occurred in a context of intact executive functioning as measured by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. The results indicate that temporal and frontal structures, as well as their interconnections, may be compromised in schizophrenia.     

On the Correlation between Synchronized Oscillatory Activities and Consciousness

Recent experiments have shown that the amplitudes of cortical gamma band oscillatory activities that occur during anesthesia are often greater than amplitudes of similar activities that occur without anesthesia. This result is apparently at odds with the hypothesis that synchronized oscillatory activities constitute the neural correlate of consciousness. We argue that while synchronization and oscillatory patterning are necessary conditions for consciousness, they are not sufficient. Based on the results of a binocular rivalry study of Fries et al. (1997), we propose that the degrees of oscillatory strength and synchronization of neuronal activities determine the degree of awareness those activities produce. On the other hand, the overal firing rates of neurons in cortical sensory areas are not correlated with the degree of awareness the activities of those neurons produce. The results of the experiment of Fries et al. (1997) appear to conflict with the results of another binocular rivalry experiment, in which monkeys were trained to pull a lever in order to report which stimulus object was being perceived (Leopold & Logothetis, 1996). In the latter experiment, it was demonstrated that the firing rates of neurons in striate cortex did not change during perceptual alterations, while 90% of neurons in inferior and superior temporal cortices changed their firing rate when the perceived image changed. This result led to the conclusion that activities in temporal cortex are correlated with visual awareness, but those in striate cortex are not. We argue that activities in temporal cortex contribute little, if anything, to perceptual awareness, and that their primary function is computational. Thus the correlation between the firing rates of neurons in these areas and the responses of the monkeys is due to the recognition of a particular stimulus object, which in turn is due to the computations made there.     

Sabina Spielrein: psychoanalytic studies

The unconscious fantasies in Kuprin's Duel , p.201
Animal symbolism and a boy's phobia, p.202
The mother-in-law, p.205     

Books received

Analytical Psychology
Rowland, Susan, C. G. Jung and Literary Theory. The Challenge from Fiction
Evolutionary Psychiatry
Stevens, Anthony & Price, John, Prophets, Cults and Madness.
Existential Psychotherapy
Yalom, Irvind, Momma and the Meaning of Life: Tales of Psychotherapy.     

Learning: Association or Computation? Introduction to a Special Section

The fundamental nature of learning is a central problem in psychology. Traditionally, psychologists have assumed that learning must involve the formation of associations. Early last century, the pioneering work of Pavlov on conditioned learning in animals seemed to put this assumption beyond doubt. More recently, many psychologists came to believe that a different kind of process must underlie complex learning, such as language learning in humans, and that this process must be described as computational rather than associative. Whether complex human learning is associative or computational continues to be a subject of intense research. The articles in this Special Section turn this debate on its head by asking whether simple animal learning is associative or computational. Surprisingly, the question is still very much open, and excitingly, it appears quite tractable.     

后悔的认知机制和神经基础

后悔是基于对不利或相对不利行为结果的反事实思维诱发的一种复杂的负性社会情绪,对我们日常生活的决策和身心健康具有重大的影响。与失望情绪相比,后悔在现象学、产生条件以及评价方式等方面具有明显的差异。后悔不仅会受到个体的行为方式、人格特征、归因等因素的影响,而且还会受到结果信息属性的影响。后悔的预期和体验涉及的功能性脑区主要包括：眶额皮层、扣带前回、海马、杏仁核。研究后悔的实验方法和技术手段有待于进一步拓展,后悔的认知机制和神经基础还有待于进一步探讨和完善     

熟悉性能够支持联结记忆:一体化编码的作用

双加工理论认为熟悉性和回想是支持情景记忆的两种基本加工过程。一般认为熟悉性和回想都可以支持项目记忆,但只有回想能够支持联结记忆。然而,一体化假说提出,当刺激材料在学习阶段得到一体化编码,形成一个单一、整合的表征时,熟悉性也能够支持联结记忆。以往研究主要利用实验材料的固有特征,或使用定义法、交互表象法来实现对刺激材料的一体化编码,然后通过配对联结再认范式或来源记忆范式验证一体化假说。神经成像研究发现,位于内侧颞叶的嗅周皮层能够支持编码阶段一体化表征的形成和基于熟悉性对一体化表征的提取。未来研究应克服以往研究中存在的方法学缺陷、从功能神经网络的角度考察一体化加工的脑神经机制、并注重一体化编码策略在特殊人群中的应用价值。     

隔区或皮质顶叶损毁对大鼠空间认知能力的影响及大鼠搜索策略差异的研究

本研究的目的是探讨隔区或皮质顶叶在大鼠空间认知加工中的作用。实验观察到隔区或皮质顶叶损毁大鼠Morris迷宫学习或记忆作业成绩显著低于控制组,并发现隔区损毁大鼠主要采用与皮质顶叶或控制组不同的“非国类”搜索策略。搜索策略的差异提示:隔区和皮质顶叶在大鼠图认知加工系统中处于不同的功能层次,隔区具有更重要的作用。