Effects of Acute Stress or Centrally Injected Interleukin-1beta on Neuropeptide Expression in the Immune System

Acute stress stimulates the expression and release of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) from the hypothalamus, and the pro-opiomelanocortin products beta-endorphin and ACTH from the anterior pituitary. These neuropeptides are also expressed in immune tissues, and it has been proposed that they may modulate immune responses to stress through paracrine mechanisms. We subjected rats to restraint stress or central injection of interleukin (IL)-1beta to determine whether these acute stimuli can alter the expression of neuropeptides in the spleen and thymus. Restraint stress significantly increased the contents of all these neuropeptides in thymic, but not splenic, extracts. A single icv injection of IL-1beta increased contents of CRH, AVP, ACTH and beta-endorphin in the spleens of both sham-operated and adrenalectomised (ADX) rats. IL-1beta increased thymic contents of CRH and ACTH in sham-operated rats but these increases were not observed in ADX rats. These results suggest that the effects of IL-1beta on neuropeptide expression in the spleen are independent of glucocorticoids, whereas IL-1beta stimulation of neuropeptide expression in the thymus is dependent on circulating glucocorticoids. There were significant correlations between increases in CRH, ACTH and beta-endorphin in the spleen, and between CRH and ACTH in the thymus, consistent with the suggestion that IL-1beta-induced increases in ACTH and beta-endorphin may be mediated through CRH. These results provide evidence that stressors can directly influence neuropeptide expression in immune tissues. Thus stress may influence immune functions through paracrine mechanisms involving locally synthesised neuropeptides as well as through activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis.     

A novel working memory task for preschoolers: sensitivity to age differences from 3-5 years

Working memory (WM) plays an important role in children’s learning and is linked to later academic and occupational success. Understanding the early development of WM can provide critical clues regarding the underlying structure of executive functions and how they change over the life span. The main objectives of the present study were to (1) investigate age differences in the development of three components of WM (retrieval, substitution, transformation) on a novel preschool WM measure and (2) explore whether findings are consistent with the hierarchical model of WM development by examining perseverative and non-perseverative WM errors. Perseverative errors were hypothesized to be more strongly associated with problems substituting and transforming a representation held in mind, whereas non-perseverative errors were hypothesized to be associated with problems maintaining a representation in mind. Participants were 64 children ranging in age from 3.0 to 5.6 years. The results provide evidence for the sensitivity of the WM task to age differences from 3 to 5 years and support for the hierarchical model of WM development.     

OBSERVER TRAINING REVISITED: A COMPARISON OF IN VIVO AND VIDEO INSTRUCTION

We compared the effects of 2 observer‐training procedures. In vivo training involved practice during actual treatment sessions. Video training involved practice while watching progressively more complex simulations. Fifty‐nine undergraduate students entered 1 of the 2 training conditions sequentially according to an ABABAB design. Results showed that the 2 training methods produced almost identical scores on a posttraining observational test; however, the video method required fewer training sessions to complete.     

Single and Multiple Self Implications for Change Grids: Studies of Consistency

Abstract

This study, derived from the work of Hinkle (1965), explored the short-term test-re-test stability of two forms of Implications for Change grids. In the Single Self implications task, persons considered whether a general self change on one personal construct dimension would influence change on their other dimensions. The Multiple Self implications task followed the same form of questioning. However, in this latter procedure, persons were asked about self change within more specific contexts of activity (e.g., self as friend, self at play). Average consistency levels were calculated for the Single Self and the Multiple Self grids. Predictions were made regarding which subjects would show more or less consistency using measures of self meaningfulness and construct organization at first testing     

Temperament Styles of Nigerian and U.S. Children

Abstract

Temperament styles of 400 Nigerian children are described in reference to possible gender and age differences and compared with those of 3200 U.S. children in light of Jung's theory of temperament as modified by Myers and Briggs, one that highlights four bipolar qualities: extroversion-introversion, practical-imaginative, thinking-feeling, and organized-flexible styles. Nigerian children generally prefer introverted to extroverted styles, practical to imaginative styles, feeling to thinking styles, and organized to flexible styles. In contrast to males, females are more likely to prefer feeling and organized styles. Age differences are seen only on organized-flexible styles, with a preference for flexible styles increasing with age. In contrast to U.S. children, Nigerian children tend to express higher preferences for introversion, practical, feeling, and organized styles.     

Brief functional analysis and treatment of eye poking

A brief functional analysis suggested that eye poking exhibited by a 5‐year‐old boy diagnosed with cortical visual impairment was maintained by automatic reinforcement. Levels of eye poking in additional conditions suggested that the behavior might be maintained by visual stimulation. Response blocking through the use of safety goggles effectively reduced eye poking in the analog setting. Data from the natural environment suggest that, during intervention, eye poking was confined to times when response blocking was not in effect. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Review of Jennifer Morton’s Moving Up Without Losing Your Way

Studies in Philosophy and Education -     

St. George the Indigenous Foreigner in Kerala Christianity

The cult of St. George in Kerala, South India, brought initially by Syrian merchants, bolstered by Portuguese and British colonizers, and currently called into question by the Vatican, represents a complex entanglement of cultural and colonial forces. Informed by post-colonial theories which argue for the hybridization of colonized cultures, this paper presents Kerala's St. George cult as reflecting an ambivalent stance toward foreign influences and impositions. In spite of hybrid St. George's occasional expedient association with imperial powers, however, I argue that this European-looking saint is, in the eyes of most of his devotees, uninterested in foreign affairs and, ultimately, a champion for indigenous concerns.     

Visual decentration: from stereometric points to planeometric forms.

19 3-yr.-olds chose to put blocks together to produce good continuation across stereometric edges. 4 mo. later they began to produce good continuation across planeometric edges. A group of 15 4-yr.-olds chose to produce symmetrical forms rather than simply to align edges. Symmetrical form was produced across planeometric surfaces but not across stereometric contours. These data suggest that visual decentration is first a shift from looking at single points touched to single points displaced from touch and, at a still later age, a shift to the organization of many points. The failure of the older group to produce a symmetrical form across stereometric contours could have resulted from the cultural press to attend to planeometric information.