Verbal Memory in Late-life Depressions and Normal Ageing

In the present article, authors analyze characteristics of verbal memory in late-life depressions and normal ageing. During last decades, the increase of frequency of affective disorders in depression spectrum in late age attracts attention of specialists. Memory is one of the most sensitive functions in late-life depressions. The maingoal of this research is to estimate verbal memory of senior patients with depression and normal persons. Two groups of participants, consisting of 197 patients with depressions of Scientific Center of Mental Health (Moscow) and 100 mentally healthy people participated in this research. Control and clinical groups were comparable by socio-demographical parameters. The results of two methods were interpreted: (1) memorization and delayed reproduction of five words; (2) naming of five sharp objects. In first method, the volume of first reproduction (FR), the number of material presentations required for memorization (N) and the volume of delayed reproduction (DR) were examined. In addition, the frequency of occurrence of various types of errors such as omissions, inert repetitions, impairments of order and of selectivity was estimated. In the second method were examined: presence of pauses, necessity of psychological assistance, such as verbal stimulation or clarification of the semantic field. Statistical analysis was made using SPSS Statistics and Microsoft office Excel 2007. The research results showed that patients with depression deal with offeredmethods worse than mentally healthy people do. In memorization of five words, volumes of FR and DR were lower and patients needed more repetitions to memorize. When analyzing age dynamic, negative changes in verbal memory were more evident in clinical group. When naming of five sharp objects, patients with depression made more pauses and needed more frequently clarification of semantic field or verbal stimulation. Keywords: verbal memory, normal ageing, late-life depressions, neuropsycholog

Space and Time in Neuropsychological Studies: History and Modernity

The content of the category of chronotope in biology, philology and psychology is revealed. The connection of approaches to the analysis of the interrelation of space and time in the concepts of V. Vernadsky, A. Ukhtomsky, N. Bernstein and M. Bakhtin is shown. It is state that common for all this concepts is the aim to analyze the integral response of the organism to the effects of the external environment. It is shown that Ukhtomsky’s complex approach to heterochrony of chronotope is correlated with the complex structure of the psychological chronotope, in which three parameters of space as well as three parameters of time are distinguished in the objective and subjective reality. Heterochrony is especially important for neuropsychology. Considering the chronotope in the context of brain work, scientists discovered the facts of heterochrony, heterotopy and hetero-dynamicity of development. It is connected with the fact that mental functions begin to develop at different times and are formed at different speeds and in different areas of the brain. Spatial-temporal determination ofontogeny is important for the differentiation of normal and abnormal development, for determining the type and nature of mental dysontogenesis, for psychosomatic studies. This makes it possible to talk about the cerebral substratum of the chronotope as a spatial-temporal factor of the psyche, which, undoubtedly, requires further research. In the psychology of personality the chronotope gives the possibility of a holistic approach to the analysis of person in the changing reality of space-time. It is extremely important for investigating the processes of socialization and the identity formation in transitive reality. In conclusion it is states the possibility to understand the concept of ”psychological chronotope” as a construct that connects different approaches and paradigms to the development of person in a modern changing society. Keywords: chronotope, space, time, psycholog

Journal benchmarking for strategic publication management and for improving journal positioning in the world ranking systems

Is studied Elaborating policies and strategies for the promotion of scientific journals in the world ranking systems. It is suggested to build up a journal scoreboard, which is a matrix of journal indicators, distributed for different journalsyesBelgorod State Universit

Motor and autonomic asymmetries in athletes with different specializations and nonathletes: Communication 2

Data on changes in the electrical activity of paravertebral muscles, autonomic indices, and the lateral organization profile arising during training in subjects with different patterns of physical exercise are presented. © Pleiades Publishing, Inc. 2007

Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans leukotoxin induces cytosol acidification in LFA-1 expressing immune cells

Studies have suggested that Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans leukotoxin (LtxA) kills human lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1; CD11a/CD18)-bearing immune cells through a lysosomal-mediated mechanism. Lysosomes are membrane-bound cellular organelles that contain an array of acid hydrolases that are capable of breaking down biomolecules. The lysosomal membrane bilayer confines the pH-sensitive enzymes within an optimal acidic (pH 4.8) environment thereby protecting the slightly basic cytosol (pH 6.8-7.5). In the current study, we have probed the effect of LtxA-induced cytolysis on lysosomal integrity in two different K562 erythroleukemia cell lines. K562-puro/LFA-1 cells were stably transfected with CD11a and CD18 cDNA to express LFA-1 on the cell surface while K562-puro, which does not express LFA-1, served as a control. Following treatment with 100 ng ml-1 LtxA cells were analyzed by live cell imaging in conjunction with time-lapse confocal microscopy and by flow cytometry. Using a pH-sensitive indicator (pHrodo®) we demonstrated that the toxin causes a decrease in the intracellular pH in K562-puro/LFA-1 cells that is noticeable within the first 15 min of treatment. This process correlated with the disappearance of lysosomes in the cytosol as determined by both acridine orange and LysoTracker® Red DND-99 staining. These changes were not observed in K562-puro cells or when heat inactivated toxin was added to K562-puro/LFA-1. Our results suggest that LtxA induces lysosomal damage, cytosol acidification, which is followed by cell death in K562-puro/LFA-1 cells. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S

Inhibition of LtxA Toxicity by Blocking Cholesterol Binding with Peptides

The leukotoxin (LtxA) produced by Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans kills host immune cells, allowing the bacterium to establish an ecological niche in the upper aerodigestive tract of its human host. The interaction of LtxA with human immune cells is both complex and multifaceted, involving membrane lipids as well as cell-surface proteins. In the initial encounter with the host cell, LtxA associates with lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1, a cell surface adhesion glycoprotein. However, we have also demonstrated that the toxin associates strongly with the plasma membrane lipids, specifically cholesterol. This association with cholesterol is regulated by a cholesterol recognition amino acid consensus (CRAC) motif, with a sequence of 334LEEYSKR340, in the N-terminal region of the toxin. Here, we have demonstrated that removal of cholesterol from the plasma membrane or mutation of the LtxA CRAC motif inhibits the activity of the toxin in THP-1 cells. To inhibit LtxA activity, we designed a short peptide corresponding to the CRAC336 motif of LtxA (CRAC336WT). This peptide binds to cholesterol and thereby inhibits the toxicity of LtxA in THP-1 cells. Previously, we showed that this peptide inhibits LtxA toxicity against Jn.9 (Jurkat) cells, indicating that peptides derived from the cholesterol-binding site of LtxA may have a potential clinical applicability in controllinginfections of repeats-in-toxin-producing organisms. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S

Study of charge state of polarization domain walls in organic ferroelectric 2-methylbenzimidazole crystals

The work is supported by the RFBR grant № 16-02-00399

Пространство в луриевской нейропсихологии: идеи, клиническая феноменология, методы исследования

Original manuscript received May 05, 2020.Revised manuscript accepted August 01, 2020.First published online November 13, 2020.The article discusses various aspects of research on spatial functions in Russian neuropsychology. According to the author, spatial functions are those mental processes whose main purpose is to obtain information about the spatial properties of objects and perform spatial actions and operations. The author analyzes some aspects of the neuropsychological approach to the perception and understanding of violations of the mental reflection of space. The article discusses some cultural and historical prerequisites for the emergence of a neuropsychological approach to the study of spatial functions. There are also data on references to spatial disorders in the works of the founders of clinical psychology in Russia — S. S. Korsakov and V. M. Bekhterev. The author writes that A. R. Luria’s interest in space arose even before the emergence of neuropsychology as an independent science. In the research on the mental development of children, conducted by him in the second half of the 20s of the last century together with L. S. Vygotsky, the attentive reader will find data on the development of various spatial representations. Long-term study of violations of spatial functions in local brain lesions allowed A. R. Luria, his colleagues and students not only to describe various symptoms of disturbances of spatial components of perception, memory, thinking, and voluntary movements, but also to significantly clarify the idea of the complex brain organization of the so-called spatial factor. In addition, Luria neuropsychology was able to develop an original integrative model of the spatial organization of the human brain, in which various cerebral zones and structures work in concert to ensure the fulfillment of various mental and behavioral tasks. Analyzing the work of A. R. Luria, the author, along with undoubted achievements, notes some discrepancies and gaps in the study of spatial disorders. It is shown that in the fundamental monographs of A. R. Luria, violations of the spatial aspects of tactile and auditory perception and spatial memory were discussed very concisely. Ideas about the “vertical organization” of spatial functions, i. e. the contribution of not only cortical areas of the brain, but also subcortical structures to their implementation, also developed gradually. This statement is also true when it comes to a comparative analysis of violations of spatial functions in local lesions of the right and left hemispheres of the brain. A significant contribution to the development of the problem of functional asymmetry of the brain hemispheres in the processes of spatial analysis and synthesis was made not only by Moscow neuropsychologists, but also by their Leningrad colleagues — L. Ya. Balonov, V. L. Deglin, E. P. Kok, Ya. A. Meerson and others. After the death of A. R. Luria his followers (N. K. Korsakova, Yu. V. Mikadze, E. G. Simernitskaya) began to develop new areas of neuropsychological science — the neuropsychology of childhood and aging. The article discusses in detail the history of creation and current state of the complex of empirical methods used for neuropsychological diagnostics of spatial functions. Special attention is paid to the possibility of using the chronotope category in neuropsychological research.В статье обсуждаются различные аспекты исследований пространственных функций в отечественной нейропсихологии. По мнению автора, пространственные функции — это те психические процессы, основной целью которых является получение информации о пространственных свойствах объектов и выполнение пространственных действий и операций. Автор анализирует некоторые аспекты нейропсихологического подхода к восприятию и пониманию нарушений психического отражения пространства. В статье обсуждаются культурно-исторические предпосылки возникновения нейропсихологического подхода к изучению пространственных функций. Также приводятся данные об упоминаниях пространственных расстройств в работах основоположников клинической психологии в России — С. С. Корсакова и В. М. Бехтерева. Автор напоминает о том, что А. Р. Лурия проявлял интерес к пространству еще до возникновения нейропсихологии как самостоятельной науки. В исследованиях психического развития детей, проводимых им во второй половине 20‑х гг. прошлого века совместно с Л. С. Выготским, уже содержатся данные о развитии различных пространственных представлений. Многолетнее изучение нарушений ространственных функций при локальных поражениях мозга позволило А. Р. Лурия, его коллегам и ученикам не только описать разнообразные симптомы нарушений пространственных компонентов восприятия, памяти, мышления, произвольных движений, но и существенно уточнить представления о сложной мозговой организации так называемого пространственного фактора. Кроме того, луриевской нейропсихологией разработана оригинальная интегративная модель пространственной организации человеческого мозга, ученые установили, что для обеспечения выполнения разнообразных психических и поведенческих задач в мозге согласованно действуют различные церебральные зоны и структуры. Анализируя работы А. Р. Лурия, автор, наряду с несомненными достижениями, отмечает некоторые диспропорции и лакуны в изучении пространственных расстройств. Показано, что в фундаментальных монографиях А. Р. Лурия весьма лаконично обсуждались нарушения пространственных аспектов тактильного и слухового восприятия, пространственной памяти. Лишь постепенно складывались представления о «вертикальной организации» пространственных функций, т. е. о вкладе не только корковых зон мозга, но и подкорковых структур в их реализацию. Так же постепенно происходило обращение к сравнительному анализу нарушений пространственных функций при локальных поражениях правого и левого полушарий мозга. Существенный вклад в разработку проблемы функциональной асимметрии полушарий мозга в процессе пространственного анализа и синтеза внесли не только московские нейропсихологи, но и их ленинградские коллеги — Л. Я. Балонов, В. Л. Деглин, Е. П. Кок, Я. А. Меерсон и др. Ученики А. Р. Лурия (Н. К. Корсакова, Ю. В. Микадзе, Э. Г. Симерницкая) уже после его смерти начали разработку новых направлений нейропсихологической науки — нейропсихологии детского возраста и старения. В этих исследованиях довольно существенное место занимает изучение возрастных особенностей пространственных функций. В статье подробно обсуждается история создания и актуальное состояние комплекса методик, которые используются для нейропсихологической диагностики пространственных функций. Спектр этих методик постоянно расширяется; создаются и апробируются новые методы изучения пространственной памяти, внимания и оптико-конструктивной деятельности. Наиболее интенсивно этот процесс разворачивается сегодня в нейропсихологии детского возраста. Особое внимание в статье уделяется возможности использования категории хронотопа в нейропсихологических исследованиях. Известно, что во многих гуманитарных и естественных науках уже несколько десятилетий применяется это понятие, постулирующее закономерную связь пространственных и временных характеристик разных явлений окружающего мира и человеческой личности. Применение категории хронотопа в нейропсихологии перспективно в двух отношениях. Во-первых, подобный методологический подход может раскрыть те мозговые зоны и структуры, которые реализуют восприятие и пространства, и времени. Фактически это означает уточнение представлений о мозговой организации двух важнейших нейропсихологических факторов: пространственного и временного. Во-вторых, категория хронотопа раскрывает новые ракурсы культурно-исторической нейропсихологии и может стать тонким инструментом анализа постоянно изменяющихся условий функционирования мозга и психики в социальной реальности.The study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project No. 20‑013‑00075 “Man in everyday life: Psychological phenomenology and regularities.

About Some Features of Spatial Functions in Normal Aging and Depression of Late Age

Анализируются особенности пространственных функций при нормальном старении и при аффективных расстройствах депрессивного спектра в позднем возрасте. Нейропсихологическое исследование зрительно-пространственного восприятия, памяти, конструктивной деятельности, пространственной организации движений у 42 здоровых лиц пожилого возраста и больных депрессиями позволило выявить качественные и количественные особенности этих процессов, определить уязвимые звенья пространственных функций при разных вариантах старения.The article analyzes the features of spatial functions in normal aging and in affective disorders of the depressive spectrum of late age. Neuropsychological study of visual-spatial perception, memory, constructive activity, spatial organization of movements in 42 healthy elderly people and patients with depression allowed to identify qualitative and quantitative features of these processes, to identify vulnerable links of spatial functions in different variants of aging