Is the new cognitive neuroscience of social inequality equal? Deconstructing the current neurocognitive research on children’s attention

The relation between socioeconomic status (SES) and various outcomes, such as cognitive ability, behavior, social skills and health, has been studied for over half a century. The general consensus in interpreting the results as been that low SES is necessarily associated with cognitive and/or behavioral pathologies or deficits. Contrary to this deficit hypothesis new evidence suggests that the differences between low- and high-SES populations may be due to cognitive preferences associated with the social context where children develop. Much of this evidence has come from developmental neuroimaging studies on attention and executive control generally showing that despite differences between low- and high-SES children in neural correlates, there are no behavioral differences. Still, from within the new cognitive neuroscience of social inequality the observed differences are used to argue that low-SES children have neurocognitive impairments needing intervention/remediation. Other current research shows that low SES is associated with elevated levels of stress, and that elevated levels of stress or treatments with stress-related neuropeptides can alter certain aspects of attention. Thus, variations in attention across different SES backgrounds may be mediated by environmental stress. We review critically the connections among SES, stress and attention as well as a number of ethical, methodological and theoretical implications for health research. We argue that the deficit hypothesis is too limiting and that a comprehensive explanation of the association between SES and attention, and possibly cognition in general, requires a much broader explanatory framework grounded in both ecological and developmental theorizing that takes social context seriously

Cognitive Sciences and Child Poverty: Facts and Challenges

In the context of cognitive neuroscience, the study of poverty and social gradients is a very young area of research where a core consensus of basic results is quickly emerging. However, as any emerging scientific discipline, the approaches used are influenced by epistemological stances inherited from other disciplines, and potentially implicit ideological systems as well. Explicitly or inadvertently, such influences can lead this critically important new area of research to methodological and ethical foundational challenges and to issues that are in need of debate (e.g., poverty definition criteria, lack of specificity when considering child poverty in terms of how children experience different type of deprivations, or lack of critics regarding social exclusion in different countries). Debate on these issues goes beyond consensus on interventions aiming at attenuating the effects of poverty on children’s development. Without an analysis of the emerging issues, scientist may dangerously risk the tendency to simplify the complexity that characterizes both phenomena of development and social inequality. The aim of the present paper is to contribute to a debate on the implicit and explicit conceptual and methodological assumptions underlying the current neurocognitive research on social inequality

Chopped Arms & Big Macs: ERP Correlates of Viewing and Imagining Aversive and Food Photos

OBJECTIVES
We investigated the Event-Related Potential (ERP) correlates of perceived and imagined food photos and their relation to the perception and imagery of unpleasant emotional photos. Our aim was to determine whether similar or different patterns of neural activity were associated with viewing and imagining food photos versus emotional photos. 

METHODS 
Nine volunteers with prescreened normal mood and anxiety levels wore a 32 channel Cap with embedded electrodes (10/20 international system) connected to a high-density low-noise Neuroscan EEG system. Participants were tested during two different blocks: a hunger block (containing 25 neutral and food photos) and an emotional block (containing 3 sets of 20 neutral, unpleasant and pleasant photos). The photos were selected from the International Affective Picture System (Lang, Bradley, & Cuthbert, 1999). In both blocks, each trial began with a blank screen followed by presentation of a centered fixation point, displayed for 1 second. A photo was displayed for 3 seconds followed by a 1-second blank mask. For the next 3 seconds, participants were asked to form a mental image of the photo they had just viewed and then rate its vividness (i.e., the self-reported imagery intensity, D’Angiulli & Reeves, 2002) on a 5-point rating scale (1 = no image, 5 = very vivid). 

RESULTS
Grand averages of ERPs recorded during perception of unpleasant and food photos revealed an early negative deflection (150-250 milliseconds post-stimulus) in the anterior areas (Centro-Frontal electrodes) followed by a late positive waveform (850-950 milliseconds post-stimulus) in the posterior areas (Parietal and Occipital electrodes). A similar pattern was observed for the ERPs recorded during the imagery of unpleasant photos, except that it was observed across the entire scalp and at significantly lower amplitudes. For food imagery, we found a negative deflection (450-550 milliseconds post-stimuli) followed by a late positive waveform for all anterior and posterior areas. Importantly, unpleasant imagery was rated as less vivid than food imagery. 

CONCLUSION 
These results suggest that unpleasant and food photos involve similar top-down EEG activation patterns during perception, but not during imagery. Indeed, the vividness data strongly suggest that the negative deflection may indicate suppression of unpleasant imagery. Our findings may have important application for desensitization and conditioning in the treatment of eating disorders.
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Genomic Sequencing of Ranaviruses Isolated from Edible Frogs (Pelophylax esculentus)

Ranaviruses were isolated from wild edible frogs (Pelophylax esculentus)during epizootics in Denmark and Italy. Phylogenomic analyses revealed that these isolates are closely related and belong to a clade of ranaviruses that includes the Andrias davidianus ranavirus (ADRV), common midwife toad ranavirus (CMTV), Testudo hermanni ranavirus (THRV), and pike-perch iridovirus (PPIV)

The Precarious Absence of Disability Perspectives in Planning Research

One in five people in the world are said to have some type of disability. Disability is not merely individuals’ compromised capability in navigating the built environment, but rather the ‘misfit’ of capabilities with how a given living environment is organized. Planning, therefore, has a crucial role to play in responding to the needs of this significant population through changes to the built and social environment. However, discussion on planning theories and practices with a focus on persons with disability (PWD) has been limited to more specific realms of ‘design,’ and precariously absent in broader planning research. This systematic literature review aims to inform potential directions for planning scholarship by exploring the current and historic planning research investigating the needs of PWD. We compiled relevant papers from five prominent English language planning journals, some of which are long-standing (Town Planning Review, 1910–, Journal of the American Planning Association, 1935–). A very limited number of papers (n = 36) on topics related to PWD of any type have been published in the five journals throughout their existence, with even fewer focusing on the population. The subareas of planning these papers addressed include housing, transportation, land use, policy, and urban design. Many papers called for participation by PWD in the planning and decision-making processes, and some recent papers advocated for the production of evidence related to costs of creating accessible infrastructure. A critical look on some disciplinary divides and enhanced roles of planning research would be beneficial

Tájindikátorok alkalmazása a tájképvédelmi területek lehatárolására és a tájkarakter meghatározására

A Kárpát-medence Európa egyik jellegzetes, kulturális és természeti adottságokban gazdag sokszínű térsége. A globalizációval, a beépítés növekedésével, a környezetszennyezés fokozódásával azonban a hazai tájakat, tájképet is az átalakulás veszélye fenyegeti. A hagyományos tájkép megőrzése, a jellegzetes tájkarakter fejlesztése komplex feladat, és a különböző szakterületek összefogását követeli meg. A tájkép, mint vizuális természeti erőforrás rendszerint nem jelenik meg a különböző ágazati tervekben. A tájképpel, mint „korlátlanul rendelkezésre álló” erőforrással nem gazdálkodtak. A gazdasági-, gazdaságossági számításokba, a beruházások hatáselemzéseibe, a terület- és településrendezési tervekbe, a vizuális környezetet érintő legtöbb döntésbe nem került be a tájképet módosító hatások vizsgálata. A tájkép ugyanakkor mint gazdasági erőforrás, felértékelődik, és egyre inkább hangsúlyt kap. A hagyományos tájkép megőrzése, a jellegzetes tájkarakter fejlesztése a tájtervezés, a műemlékvédelem, az építészet, az üdülés-idegenforgalom és a környezettervezés egyre fontosabb területévé válik. A tájkép elődeink hosszantartó évezredes tájformáló tevékenysége, munkája során alakult. A táj (kultúrtáj) szerkezete, karaktere mindenkor lenyomata, tükrözője a megelőző korok tájhasználatának. A jelenkori táj (és annak vizuális megjelenése, a tájkép) történeti folyamatok eredményeképpen jött létre. Megőrzése és fejlesztése nemcsak gazdasági érdek, hanem a nemzeti örökség védelmét, az identitástudat megőrzését, a lokálpatriotizmust is jelenti. A látvány (a táj és a tájkép) olyan köztulajdon, nemzeti kincs, amelynek vizsgálatával, értékelésével, védelmével, fejlesztésének kérdéseivel tudományos szinten is szükséges foglalkozni. Az értékelés, védelem, jogi szabályozás jelenlegi hiánya miatt a látvány, a tájkép az egyik legrohamosabban pusztuló környezeti erőforrás

Virginia Scenic Viewshed Assessment Project: Literature Review And assessment Methodology

Scenic Virginia strives to identify and highlight Virginia’s \u27scenery\u27 and Virginia has a ‘scenic’ component in their new Conserve Virginia land conservation effort. As such the development of a universal assessment tool that can be used by citizens and professionals to identify and rate the value of scenic viewsheds is needed in Virginia. The goal of this presentation is to discuss how, using scientifically supported research, a protocol based on grassroots input can identify significant scenic resources in Virginia. The presentation will introduce scientific studies, based on an extensive literature review, that were used to develop an assessment tool. This new tool will be used by communities to help them understand and highlight their scenic resources. The goal is to gain greater awareness and support for protecting scenery in Virginia by using careful planning and preservation techniques

Measuring Social Relations in New Classroom Spaces: Development and Validation of the Social Context and Learning Environments (SCALE) Survey

This study addresses the need for reliable and valid information about how the innovative classrooms that are becoming more common on college and university campuses affect teaching and learning. The Social Context and Learning Environments (SCALE) survey was developed though a three-stage process involving almost 1300 college students. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a four-factor solution that measures formal and informal aspects of student-student and student-instructor classroom relations. The resulting 26-item instrument can be used by instructors and researchers to measure classroom social context in different types of learning spaces and to guide efforts to improve student outcomes