{"title":"Neuropharmacological strategies for understanding psychobiological determinants of cognition.","authors":"R G Lister, H J Weingartner","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Psychopharmacological methods that have proven useful in exploring brain processes can be helpful in describing the psychobiological determinants of distinct cognitive processes. The methods and theory in current cognitive science can be exploited by neuropharmacologists interested not only in describing brain function but in building a viable picture of brain-behavior (cognitive) relationships. This paper provides a sketch of our knowledge about the neuropharmacology of cognitive processes. It also cites some questions, problems and approaches for further research efforts that would help us describe the psychobiology of cognition.</p>","PeriodicalId":77724,"journal":{"name":"Human neurobiology","volume":"6 2","pages":"119-27"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1987-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"14434206","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M Lang, W Lang, F Uhl, A Kornhuber, L Deecke, H H Kornhuber
{"title":"Slow negative potential shifts indicating verbal cognitive learning in a concept formation task.","authors":"M Lang, W Lang, F Uhl, A Kornhuber, L Deecke, H H Kornhuber","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>It is well-known clinically that patients with left frontal lesions are impaired in their verbal-cognitive learning ability. Starting from such observations, it is of particular interest whether the event-related cerebral potential shifts recorded in healthy human subjects would indicate a left frontal lobe involvement in verbal-cognitive learning tasks. In a concept formation paradigm, subjects learned by trial and error to transform letters into Morse codes. This cognitive performance was accompanied by a slow negative potential shift (SP) that in frontal recordings was lateralized towards the left hemisphere. off results show in a later stage of learning, in which the experience of the preceding trial and error learning could be integrated, an increasing slow negativity over the frontal cortex. Ss also participated in a control task with already known letter/Morse code combinations. Again, a negative potential shift occurred within the stimulus-response interval, however, it was smaller in amplitude.</p>","PeriodicalId":77724,"journal":{"name":"Human neurobiology","volume":"6 3","pages":"183-90"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1987-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"14574028","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The development of synapses in striate cortex of man.","authors":"P R Huttenlocher, C de Courten","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Synaptic density in human striate cortex was determined at various ages, utilizing a computer assisted method. Simultaneous measurement of total volume of striate cortex made it possible to estimate total number of synapses. Synaptogenesis in human striate cortex was found to be most rapid between ages 2-4 months, a time which also is critical for the development of function in visual cortex of the infant. Synapse elimination occurred subsequently with loss of about 40% of synapses between ages 8 months and 11 years. Synapse numbers were stable in adults, except for a slightly lower value in a single brain at age 71 years. Analysis by individual cortical layers showed similar age related changes in all strata of striate cortex, except for somewhat later synaptogenesis in cortical layers V and VI. Total volume of striate cortex reached adult size remarkably early, at about age 4 months. The findings support the hypothesis that exuberant synaptic connections are an anatomical substrate for plasticity in developing cerebral cortex.</p>","PeriodicalId":77724,"journal":{"name":"Human neurobiology","volume":"6 1","pages":"1-9"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1987-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"14705065","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The concept of spatial frequency channels cannot explain some visual masking effects.","authors":"T Caelli, G Moraglia","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Visual masking is assumed to be predictable by the degree to which mask and signal spatial frequency amplitudes are similar. In this masking experiment we have clearly shown this not to be the case by studying the effects of factorial combinations of signal-mask amplitude and phase spectra. Results show that the amplitude spectra characteristics do not predict masking, and a better predictor of these results appears to be the correlations between the mask and signal's luminance profiles. These results, therefore, show that the spatial similarity between two images, as may be processed by \"spatial frequency channels\" cannot be determined by the similarities between these channel outputs as defined by the (output) modulated amplitudes.</p>","PeriodicalId":77724,"journal":{"name":"Human neurobiology","volume":"6 1","pages":"63-5"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1987-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"14705069","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Implicit expressions of memory in organic amnesia: learning of new facts and associations.","authors":"D L Schacter","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Organic amnesia is a selective impairment of memory that occurs as a consequence of various types of brain damage. Although amnesic patients typically have severe difficulties remembering recent events and acquiring new information, it has been demonstrated that some of their learning abilities are spared. Amnesic patients can retain and express some aspects of a learning experience, despite their inability to recollect the experience in a conscious or explicit manner. This phenomenon is referred to as an implicit expression of memory. The present article considers whether amnesic patients show implicit memory for new facts and associations. Three relevant kinds of evidence are considered: source amnesia, priming effects, and learning of computer vocabulary and commands. It is concluded that (a) amnesic patients do show some implicit memory for new facts and associations, and (b) this type of memory is not entirely spared. Implications for multiple memory system views of amnesia are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":77724,"journal":{"name":"Human neurobiology","volume":"6 2","pages":"107-18"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1987-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"14744189","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Neuroanatomy of memory and amnesia: a case for multiple memory systems.","authors":"L Weiskrantz","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Several different dissociable memory systems are considered in terms of their known or putative sites of pathology. In man, short-term memory can be selectively impaired by left hemisphere lesions near the acoustic projection area. There may be other modality-specific deficits. Long-term memory is considered in terms of a) knowledge systems, b) stable associative memory; c) priming, and d) event memory, with special reference to the amnesic syndrome. For each of these categories, clinical neuropathological and relevant animal evidence is reviewed. It is concluded that \"memory\" is not holistic, and the anatomical bases must be considered independently for each of the several dissociable (but normally interacting) systems. Some are likely to involve virtually all levels of the nervous system, while others are highly specific.</p>","PeriodicalId":77724,"journal":{"name":"Human neurobiology","volume":"6 2","pages":"93-105"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1987-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"14244856","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
H Perschak, U Amsler, A Vischer, J Siegfried, M Cuénod
{"title":"Ventricular cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of putative amino acid transmitters in Parkinson's disease and other disorders.","authors":"H Perschak, U Amsler, A Vischer, J Siegfried, M Cuénod","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Concentrations of putative neuroactive substances glutamate, aspartate, gamma-aminobutyric acid, glycine, proline and ethanolamine were determined in ventricular cerebrospinal fluid collected in patients suffering from Parkinson's disease, pain syndromes or cerebellar tremor. Values are similar to those given in the literature for lumbar cerebrospinal fluid. A decrease in gamma-aminobutyric acid in Parkinson patients, as reported in lumbar cerebrospinal fluid, could not be observed. Further evidence for a rostro-caudal gradient for gamma-aminobutyric acid is supplied. New insights into pathophysiological mechanisms in any of the investigated syndromes may not be derived.</p>","PeriodicalId":77724,"journal":{"name":"Human neurobiology","volume":"6 3","pages":"191-4"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1987-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"14033936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
F Vogel, J Krüger, E Schalt, R Schnobel, L Hassling
{"title":"No consistent relationships between oscillations and latencies of visually and auditory evoked EEG potentials and measures of mental performance.","authors":"F Vogel, J Krüger, E Schalt, R Schnobel, L Hassling","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In this study, the hypothesis was tested whether there is any relationship between measures of intelligence and working speed on the one hand, and characteristics of visually or auditory evoked EEG potentials, on the other. The study was performed on two samples: 1. In 236 University students selected for presence of four different, inherited EEG variants, product-moment correlations were computed between test scores for various aspects of mental performance on the one hand, and two measures of averaged visual and auditory evoked EEG potentials (VEPs and AEPs), on the other. The two EP measures were the average latency of all identifiable peaks between 70 and 600 ms after stimulation; and the \"oscillation\", a combined measure of amplitudes, comparable to Hendrickson's \"string measure\". Moreover, correlations were computed between two selected test scores (IQ and Raven) on the one sides, and the amplitudes and latencies of the components named P1, N1, and P2 by Buchsbaum on the other. 2. Twenty-four adults with mental retardation of unknown origin, inmates of an institution for the mentally retarded, were compared with 19 normal controls matched for age and sex - there were no consistent positive correlations between the characteristics of VEPs and AEPs and any of the performance measures studied. Hence, the hypothesis that there are consistent correlations between oscillation and latency of EPs and measures of mental performance was not confirmed. There is no convincing overall explanation for the discrepancies between various results reported in the literature but some of them may be explained either by individual differences in EEG maturation among children, or by additional sensoric input in some series, or by admixture of subjects with organic brain damage in some of the series, or by the individual characteristics of the resting EEG - a parameter that had been neglected in all previous studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":77724,"journal":{"name":"Human neurobiology","volume":"6 3","pages":"173-82"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1987-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"14574027","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Postural and motor asymmetries in newlyborns.","authors":"B Hopkins, W Lems, B Janssen, G Butterworth","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Twelve full-term newlyborns were examined during wakefulness for head turning and maintenance of head position within the first hour after birth. Ten showed a rightward bias on both these measures. This is the youngest age since birth at which such lateralized functions have been reported. In all infants head position was strongly related to the hand which contacted the mouth but not with contacts to other parts of the face. The reason for this difference is discussed and it is suggested that head position and hand-mouth contacting may form a lateralized synergism which biases the development of handedness.</p>","PeriodicalId":77724,"journal":{"name":"Human neurobiology","volume":"6 3","pages":"153-6"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1987-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"14574203","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Comparative characteristics of predictive eye-hand tracking.","authors":"A Leist, H J Freund, B Cohen","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Eye and arm-hand movements were recorded in human subjects under three conditions. In the first a spot of light moved 30 deg back and forth sinusoidally at different frequencies. Limits of ocular pursuit were about 60 deg/sec at a frequency of about 1 Hz. In the second condition the arm and hand pointed a lever at the spot of light and pursued the moving visual target together with the eyes. The maximum velocity and frequency of ocular pursuit increased by about 20-30% with the addition of arm-hand movements. The arm and hand could move the lever faster than the eyes could pursue, but phase relations with regard to position between arm-hand movements and the visual target deteriorated at about 2 Hz when the eyes were unable to pursue the target. In the third condition the arm and hand drove the lever in self-paced movements, and the eyes pursued a target at the end of the lever. Maximum eye velocity increased slightly in two of three subjects in this condition, but no eye movements were made above 2.2 Hz. In contrast, self-paced arm and hand movements were made at frequencies up to 5 Hz and velocities of 400 deg/sec. The data are consistent with previous studies that indicate that the limits of ocular pursuit can be extended when eye movements are coupled to efferent signals and/or proprioceptive input from the skeletal motor system. The data also support previous findings of a dual-mode control system for the skeletal musculature during repetitive movements (Freund 1986).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)</p>","PeriodicalId":77724,"journal":{"name":"Human neurobiology","volume":"6 1","pages":"19-26"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1987-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"14705067","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}