Wahrnehmungen der Blinden in geschlossenen Räumen ohne unmittelbaren Körperkontakt

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

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.     

Valid distinctions between conscious and unconscious perception?

In this commentary, we discuss the strengths and limitations of Snodgrass, Bernat, and Shevrin's (2004) theory of unconscious perception. Our commentary centers on the value of signal detection theory (SDT) to understanding the unconscious perception controversy, a value that Snodgrass et al. for the most part agree with (i.e., that most approaches to studying unconscious perception are invalid because they have confounded the criterion for detection with the criterion for awareness). However, we believe that their model relies on a somewhat restricted application of SDT. We discuss how SDTcan be better applied to provide the necessary tests to validate their model.     

Depression and cognitive impairment in disability-free early multiple sclerosis

Cognitive and emotional capabilities were evaluated in 73 female patients with stable relapsing-remitting definite, and/or laboratory-supported multiple sclerosis (MS) and were compared with 32 matched healthy controls. Patients were categorized according to their score in the expanded disability status scale (EDSS) to either no (EDSS 0, n = 33) or few clinical signs (EDSS 1-2, n = 40) of MS without physical disability. Patients with EDSS > 0 were characterized by significantly (p < 0.001) higher scores on "von Zerssen's" depression scale, compared to controls. Patients with higher EDSS scores (1-2) showed significantly decreased performance with respect to the total score of Kimura's Recurring-Figures-Test (p < 0.001), in addition. Regarding visuo-constructive functioning, patients with EDSS=0 performed to a significantly lower level (p < 0.001), compared to controls. These results indicate that depression may present as an early sign in MS followed by cognitive impairment, in particular visuo-spatial short-term memory, before physical disability appears. Neuropsychological tests as mentioned here could serve as early diagnostic tools to detect subtle disease progression and to initiate and monitor disease modifying therapies.     

A signal detection theory analysis of an unconscious perception effect.

The independent observation model (Macmillan & Creelman, 1991) is fitted to detection-identification data collected under conditions of heavy masking. The model accurately predicts a quantitative relationship between stimulus detection and stimulus identification over a wide range of detection performance. This model can also be used to offer a signal detection interpretation of the common finding of above-chance identification following a missed signal. While our finding is not a new one, the stimuli used in this experiment (redundant three-letter strings) differ slightly from those used in traditional signal detection work. Also, the stimuli were presented very briefly and heavily masked, conditions typical in the study of unconscious perception effects.     

Anger and sadness in response to an emotionally neutral film: evidence for age-specific associations with well-being

When the association between emotion and well-being is being considered, positive emotions usually come to mind. However, negative emotions serve important adaptive functions and particular negative emotions may be especially adaptive at different stages of adult development. We examined the associations between self-reported negative emotions in response to an emotionally neutral, thematically ambiguous film and subjective well-being among 76 young (age 20-29), 73 middle-aged (age 40-49), and 73 older (age 60-69) adults. Results indicated that higher self-reported anger in response to the film was associated with higher well-being for middle-aged adults, but not for young and older adults. Higher self-reported sadness in response to the film was associated with higher well-being for older adults, but not for young and middle-aged adults. These findings were stronger for cognitive well-being (i.e., satisfaction with life) than for affective well-being (i.e., ratio of dispositional positive to negative affect) and were specific to these emotions (not found for self-reported disgust or fear) and to the emotionally neutral film (not found for sad or disgusting films). Results are discussed in terms of the functions that anger and sadness are thought to serve and the control opportunities afforded in midlife and late life that render these functions differentially adaptive.     

Domain-specificity in perfectionism: Variations across domains of life

Perfectionism has been assessed in relation to salient or narrow domains within specific populations, yet little is understood across broader domains of life. The aim was to assess positive perfectionism (PP) and negative perfectionism (NP) in five broad domains; university/work, relationships, physical activity, domestic environment and appearance and to determine any gender differences within domains. One hundred and forty four university students (females n = 101; males n = 43) completed a modified perfectionism measure for each domain. Correlations within and between domains for PP and NP ranged from low to moderate with differential patterns by gender, supporting more domain specificity and less of a universal trait. Repeated measures ANOVAs revealed that, overall, PP and NP in the university/work domain was significantly higher than all other domains. Females reported greater PP in the university domain compared to other domains, and more PP in the relationship, domestic environment and appearance domains as compared to the physical activity domain. In contrast, males reported significantly higher PP in the physical activity domain. Females reported significantly higher NP in the university and appearance domains, while males had similar NP across all domains. These findings present a more complex picture of perfectionism with implications for domain-specificity in perfectionistic behavior.     

The effect of stimulus delivery technique on perceived intensity functions for taste stimuli: Implications for fMRI studies

Classic psychophysical studies have provided significant information on the psychophysical functions for taste stimuli. With the advent of fMRI, studies are being conducted that provide insight into central processing of gustation in humans. However, fMRI experiments impose physical limitations on stimulus delivery. In the present study, we compared psychophysical functions relating perceived intensity to concentration, derived from previous studies that used the traditional sip-and-spit and dorsal flow delivery techniques, to psychophysical functions generated in this study using a simulated stimulus delivery technique (SSDT). The SSDT delivered minute quantities of taste stimuli to the dorsal surface of the tongue, just as in an fMRI scanner. As was hypothesized, the results indicated that slopes of intensity functions were dependent on the type of stimulus delivery technique. The SSDT resulted in slopes that were more similar to those generated by dorsal flow than by sip-andspit stimulus delivery techniques, suggesting the importance of considering the influence of stimulus delivery on psychophysical response in designing and interpreting experiments.     

Growing Together—Effects of a school-based intervention promoting positive self-beliefs and social integration in recently immigrated children

We present a school-based intervention geared to foster the social integration of recently immigrated (RI) primary school children by creating repeated positive contact situations with classmates brought up in the receiving society. Coaches encouraged groups of tandems, consisting of one RI and one child brought up in Germany each, to engage in cooperative activities designed to strengthen positive self-beliefs and perception of equal status. In a quasi-experimental control-group design (N = 318), we compared the 30 children (12 RI) who participated in our intervention between pre-test and post-test with a reference group. Self-beliefs were measured via self-reports, social integration via sociometric peer-nominations. The reference group (n = 288 children) included all children who did not participate in the intervention between pre-test and post-test: (a) 12 children (7 RI) of a waiting control group and (b) all classmates of both the students of the intervention and the waiting control group. Post-test self-beliefs were more positive in children having participated in the intervention. The intervention did not affect social integration: Neither the number of classmates nominating a student nor the number of peers the respective student nominated increased. Possibly, the intervention initiated self-reinforcing processes which support social integration over longer time periods.     

Changes in subject performance during the semester: An empirical investigation

Two experiments were conducted to probe for performance differences between early-semester subjects and late-semester subjects in an introductory psychology subject pool. In Experiment 1A, hypotheses regarding changes in performance included differential effort, changes in subjects’ attention to the task, and changes in subjects’ sensitivity. A signal detection paradigm was used, and 278 subjects were sampled over the course of the semester. No evidence of changes in subject performance was found, in spite of sufficient power to detect relevant patterns of change. The results of a replication (N = 135) were consistent with those of Experiment 1A. Experiment 2 (N = 118) employed a text comprehension task to examine possible differences in subject performance with a more cognitive task. Again, there was no evidence to support the idea that late-semester subjects were performing differently from early-semester subjects.