Integrating faces, houses, motion, and action: spontaneous binding across ventral and dorsal processing streams

Perceiving an event requires the integration of its features across numerous brain maps and modules. Visual object perception is thought to be mediated by a ventral processing stream running from occipital to inferotemporal cortex, whereas most spatial processing and action control is attributed to the dorsal stream connecting occipital, parietal, and frontal cortex. Here we show that integration operates not only on ventral features and objects, such as faces and houses, but also across ventral and dorsal pathways, binding faces and houses to motion and manual action. Furthermore, these bindings seem to persist over time, as they influenced performance on future task-relevant visual stimuli. This is reflected by longer reaction times for repeating one, but alternating other features in a sequence, compared to complete repetition or alternation of features. Our findings are inconsistent with the notion that the dorsal stream is operating exclusively online and has no access to memory.     

Spinoza's Definition Of Attribute: An Interpretation

Since it has generally been accepted that to Spinoza attributes are real features of substance, the interpretation of his attribute definition has become a notorious problem. The reason is that interpreters have failed to see that the definition formulates a purely epistemological account of the state of affairs. The article presents and justifies such an interpretation. It will be shown that the definition in spite of its epistemological character implies a real ontological definition, which specifies the critical features of an attribute. As to the reason why Spinoza has stated the definition in an ‘indirect way’, it is shown that it is likely that he has done so in order to have a more efficient, a more unambiguous and a more elegant definition. The relevance of the new interpretation is not only that it provides us with an interpretable, transparent attribute definition, but it also contributes to the establishment of a coherent picture of Spinoza’s metaphysics around this definition.     

Diminished performance on response-selection tasks in Type 2 diabetes

Comparisons of visual perception, response-selection, and response-execution performance were made between Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and a matched nondiabetic control group. 10 well-controlled male patients with Type 2 diabetes without diabetic complications (M age 58 yr.) and an age and IQ-matched non-diabetic control group consisting of 13 male healthy volunteers (M age 57 yr.) were included. Significant differences were found only between the two groups on response-selection performance, which concerns the selection and preparation of an appropriate motor action.     

Lever attacking and pressing as a function of conditioning and extinguishing a lever-press avoidance response in rats

Six experimental rats were conditioned to press one of two available levers to avoid shock. The levers registered bites as well as presses. For four of these rats, shock was contingent on lever bites when a specified time period had elapsed after the previous shock. An extinction period, in which only periodic noncontingent shocks were presented, followed avoidance training. Six yoked-control rats received the same sequence of shocks as did the corresponding experimental rats in both the conditioning and extinction phases. All six experimental rats repeatedly bit the avoidance lever. Four bit it more than the nonavoidance lever during conditioning, and five bit it more during extinction. Five of the six experimental rats consistently bit the levers many more times during each session than did their respective control rats, suggesting that avoidance conditioning facilitated lever biting. Rates of lever biting and pressing by all of the experimental rats and by some of the control rats were highest immediately following shock throughout both phases. During later portions of the intervals following shock, characteristic effects of conditioning and extinction were observed. This finding suggests that extinction of avoidance behavior by unavoidable shock presentations can be demonstrated more readily when shock-elicited responding is extricated from the data.