Linking Mission and Networks

The Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) is a network of churches and Christian organizations promoting people’s access to water around the world. There are many actors on advocacy for water justice; the EWN was formed to make a Christian witness be heard in the present debate on water issues. This article reflects on the meaning of spirituality for the EWN as an organization and on the relationship the EWN has with other actors in the field of water justice. This reflection is intended to ponder the questions which the EWN places at the core of its mission: “why we do, what we do?” Answering these questions contributes to theories and practices on mission and diversity and provides a stimulus to the manner in which organizations for mission and water justice deal with diversity. The perspectives derive from theology, mission studies, management sciences, and social anthropology.     

The relationship of neuropsychological impairment to conduct disorder in adolescence: A conceptual review

This review is an attempt to expand the understanding of the neuropsychological mechanisms that may influence the expression of violent or aggressive behavior in adolescents. Although a relative large literature of adult studies examining the relation of neuropsychological impairment and aggression exists, the research literature investigating this relationship in adolescents is much smaller. With a few exceptions, the delinquent literature suffers from methodological problems, including biased sampling methods, small numbers of subjects, failing to objectively diagnose conduct disorder, incorrect use of specific statistical procedures, and lacking of appropriate control groups. In general, a mixed pattern of neuropsychological deficits are displayed across studies, depending on the sampling method, methodological design, statistics employed, control groups, and assessment tools that were utilized. Verbal deficits have been frequently displayed across the literature, while evidence for executive dysfunction varies, depending on the specific construct being evaluated (e.g., attention, cognitive flexibility, concept formation, planning abilities) and the specific population. Relatively inconsistent findings have been observed for visuospatial, sensory, and motor deficits. This article provides a critical review of this literature and discusses the varying impact that any neurological insult will have, depending on premorbid personality and cognitive functioning, location of the lesion, age at which the injury occurred, child's pre- and postinjury environment, and ability of the brain to adapt to acquired deficits as the result of the insult. On the basis of this review and neuropsychological theory, four subgroups within this population are proposed (i.e., adolescents with subcortical injuries, dominant hemisphere temporal-parietal injuries, nondominant hemisphere temporal-parietal injuries, and injuries to the prefrontal regions), which may better explain the neuropsychological and behavioral outcomes exhibited by this heterogeneous population. Recommendations for future research are offered.     

Parametrically Dissociating Speech and Nonspeech Perception in the Brain Using fMRI

Candidate brain regions constituting a neural network for preattentive phonetic perception were identified with fMRI and multivariate multiple regression of imaging data. Stimuli contrasted along speech/nonspeech, acoustic, or phonetic complexity (three levels each) and natural/synthetic dimensions. Seven distributed brain regions' activity correlated with speech and speech complexity dimensions, including five left-sided foci [posterior superior temporal gyrus (STG), angular gyrus, ventral occipitotemporal cortex, inferior/posterior supramarginal gyrus, and middle frontal gyrus (MFG)] and two right-sided foci (posterior STG and anterior insula). Only the left MFG discriminated natural and synthetic speech. The data also supported a parallel rather than serial model of auditory speech and nonspeech perception.     

Global Justice: Is Interventionalism Desirable?

In 1994, the European Parliament published a resolution on the right of humanitarian intervention. Interestingly, the declaration maintains that such intervention is not in contradiction with international law, although it formulates the concept of right in a way that is translatable into the vocabulary of individual rights. I analyze some implications of the resolution for the mutual duties of states. I thereby focus my attention on two possible applications: by way of Rawls's duty of assistance and by way of the cosmopolitan theory of global distributive justice. I conclude that the latter theory promises better results for protecting individuals' basic rights, but I also show that it is at the cost of a strongly interventionist structure requiring a powerful supranational institution. Finally, I envision the conditions under which such an increase of interventionism in favor of human rights can be acceptable.     

Imagination and Reality: On the Relations Between Myth, Consciousness, and the Quantum Sea

There often appears to be a striking correspondence between mythic stories and aspects of reality. We will examine the processes of creative imagination within a neurobiological frame and suggest a theory that may explain the functions of myth in relation to the hidden aspects of reality. Myth is peppered with archetypal entities and interactions that operate to reveal hidden processes in reality that are relative to the human condition. The imagery in myths in a sense "sustains the true." That is, mythopoetic imagery keeps the interpretive process in experience closer to the actual nature of reality than the rational faculties operating alone are able to do. Indeed, whereas rationalizing can easily lead us awry, genuine myth rarely does. Explanations of events offered by cultures around the world are frequently couched in terms of mythic themes and events. An important function of myth is to provide a "field of tropes" that in-forms the lived experience of people. This paper focuses especially on those aspects of myth that represent facets of the quantum universe and give us clues as to the relationship between consciousness, symbolism, and reality.     

Gender Differences in Cognitive and Emotional Adjustment to Traumatic Brain Injury

This study examined gender differences in cognitive and emotional status after traumatic brain injury (TBI) among 262 men and 140 women with TBI referred for neuropsychological evaluations. In this cross-sectional study, cognition was measured in terms of both absolute level of functioning (i.e., raw/standard scores) and estimated decline from premorbid levels expressed as z-deficit scores in the following domains: intelligence [Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised (WAIS-R)], memory and attention [Wechsler Memory Scale—Revised (WMS-R)], processing speed (Trails A), and cognitive flexibility (Trails B). Emotional functioning was measured in terms of depression (Beck Depression Inventory) and general emotional distress (Brief Symptom Inventory). Kruskal–Wallis nonparametric one-way ANOVAs indicated that women and men differed significantly on 2 of 8 raw/standard cognitive scores [men demonstrated lower WMS-R General Memory (p < .05) and Trails B scores (p < .0001) and 4 of 8 relative decline scores [women demonstrated more estimated change in VIQ (Verbal IQ) [p < .0001], FSIQ (Full Scale IQ) [p < .01], and Attention (p < .01)]; men demonstrated greater estimated z-decline scores on Trails B (p < .01)]. Women reported significantly higher levels of depression (p < .01), but men endorsed significantly greater general psychological distress (p < .05). Research and assessment recommendations are suggested.     

自然物体分类的ERP研究

对事物进行分类的能力是人类的一种基本认知功能。该文主要就近年来自然物体分类的事件相关电位（ERP）研究情况进行综述。首先介绍与自然物体分类有关的ERP早晚期成分;接着讨论了快速视觉分类的加工机制,认为前馈机制在这种复杂分类任务的视觉加工过程中起重要作用;最后详细介绍了两个分离的视觉加工机制,认为自然物体的视觉分类在不同时程涉及不同机制：即首先是任务无关的早期知觉加工过程,其次是任务相关的、类别无关的加工机制,与被试的决策有关。也讨论了这两个分离的加工过程涉及的神经基础。     

The behavioral complications of pallidal stimulation: a case report

We report a case of recurrent manic episodes associated with chronic deep brain stimulation (DBS) targeting globus pallidus (GP) in the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD). Cardinal PD symptoms and dyskinesia improved with DBS, and neuropsychological testing found improvements in visuospatial measures associated with left DBS and in verbal memory with right DBS when compared to the patient's preoperative baseline. Under conditions of right, left, and bilateral DBS, the patient experienced bouts of mania and hypomania lasting several days at a time. Positron emission tomography (PET) with (15)O-labeled water was performed after his first manic episode under four conditions: no stimulation, right DBS, left DBS, and bilateral DBS. Although no manic switch occurred during the course of the PET study, all three DBS conditions were associated with decreases in regional flow in the left parahippocampus and hippocampus and right mid-cingulate gyrus. Increases in flow in left inferior frontal area, bilateral insula, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and cuneus were common to all DBS conditions. GP stimulation in PD may be associated with behavioral and cognitive effects. Distributed blood flow changes observed with pallidal DBS support a role for the pallidum in cognition and affective regulation.     

反社会行为的遗传基础:基因多态性和DNA甲基化

反社会行为是受遗传与环境共同影响的不良行为。分子遗传学和神经生物学的研究发现,基因以基因多态性和DNA甲基化的方式影响脑结构、功能及脑内神经递质的产生和释放,进而影响反社会行为的发生发展。本文从基因多态性和DNA甲基化两方面整理了5-HTT、MAOA、OXTR等8个候选基因与反社会行为的关联。并提出未来研究需进一步探讨基因、脑和神经递质对反社会行为的联合作用。同时,扩展多基因位点、基因多态性与DNA甲基化、积极环境与基因交互作用对反社会行为影响的研究,以全面探索反社会行为发生的遗传基础,进而更加有效的预防反社会行为。