Motor expertise facilitates the cognitive evaluation of body postures: An ERP study

Koester D, Schack T, Güldenpenning I. Motor expertise facilitates the cognitive evaluation of body postures: An ERP study. In: Barkowsky T, Llansola ZF, Schultheis H, van de Ven J, eds. Proceedings of the 13th Biannual Conference of the German Cognitive Science Society. Bremen: Universität Bremen; 2016: 59-62

Transregional Collaborative Research Center SFB/TR 8 Spatial Cognition: Reasoning, Action, Interaction (Sonderforschungsbereich/Transregio SFB/TR 8 Raumkognition: Schließen, Handeln, Interagieren)

The Transregional Collaborative Research Center SFB/TR 8 Spatial Cognition was established by the German Science Foundation (DFG) at the Universities of Bremen and Freiburg in January 2003. 13 Research projects pursue interdisciplinary research on intelligent spatial information processing. This article introduces the research field of spatial cognition and reports on aspects from cognitive psychology, cognitive robotics, linguistics, and artificial intelligence

Discourse factors influencing spatial descriptions in English and German

Vorwerg C, Tenbrink T. Discourse factors influencing spatial descriptions in English and German. In: Barkowsky T, Knauff M, Ligozat G, Montello D, eds. Spatial cognition V: Reasoning, action, interaction. Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, 4387. Berlin: Springer; 2007: 470-488.The ways in which objects are referred to by using spatial language depend on many factors, including the spatial configuration and the discourse context. We present the results of a web experiment in which speakers were asked to either describe where a specified item was located in a picture containing several items, or which item was specified. Furthermore, conditions differed as to whether the first six configurations were specifically simple or specifically complex. Results show that speakers’ spatial descriptions are more detailed if the question is where rather than which, mirroring the fact that contrasting the target item from the others in which tasks may not always require an equally detailed spatial description as in where tasks. Furthermore, speakers are influenced by the complexity of initial configurations in intricate ways: on the one hand, individual speakers tend to self-align with respect to their earlier linguistic strategies; however, also a contrast effect could be identified with respect to the usage of combined projective terms

Transregional Collaborative Research Center SFB/TR 8 Spatial Cognition: Reasoning, Action, Interaction

The Transregional Collaborative Research Center SFB/TR 8 Spatial Cognition was established by the German Science Foundation (DFG) at the Universities of Bremen and Freiburg in January 2003. 13 Research projects pursue interdisciplinary research on intelligent spatial information processing. This article introduces the research field of spatial cognition and reports on aspects from cognitive psychology, cognitive robotics, linguistics, and artificial intelligence

Korrektur hoher Astigmatismen mit unterschiedlichen Implantaten und Verfahren

BACKGROUND: Development and function of tissue resident mast cells (MCs) is tightly controlled by various cytokines, most of which belong to the typical T helper (Th) 2-type cytokines such as IL-3 and IL-4. The effects of the Th1-type cytokine IFN-γ on human MCs is less clear. RESULTS: Here, we analyzed the effects of IFN-γ on tissue-derived, mature human MCs. We found that INF-γ decreases proliferation, without affecting apoptosis in human intestinal MCs cultured in the presence of optimal concentrations of stem cell factor (SCF) or SCF and IL-4. However, in the absence of growth factors or at suboptimal concentrations of SCF, INF-γ promotes survival through inhibition of MC apoptosis. Interestingly, we found that INF-γ has no effect on FcϵRI expression and FcϵRI-mediated release of histamine and leukotriene (LT)C4, while it has profound effects on FcγR expression and activation. We show that intestinal MCs express FcγRI, FcγRIIa, and FcγRIIc, whereas FcγRIIb expression was found in only 40% of the isolates and FcγRIII was never detectable. INF-γ strongly increases FcγRI and decreases FcγRIIa expression. INF-γ-naïve MCs produce LTC4 but fail to degranulate upon crosslinking of surface-bound monomeric IgG. In contrast, INF-γ-treated MCs rapidly release granule-stored histamine in addition to de novo-synthesized LTC4. CONCLUSION: In summary, we identify INF-γ as an important regulator of tissue-resident human MCs. IFN-γ displays a dual function by blocking extensive MC proliferation, while decreasing apoptosis in starving MCs and enhancing FcγRI expression and activation. These results emphasize the involvement of mucosal MCs in Th1-mediated disorders

The neurophysiological interaction between working memory and grasping movements

Gündüz Can R, Schack T, Koester D. The neurophysiological interaction between working memory and grasping movements. In: Barkowsky T, Llanosa ZF, Schultheis H, van de Ven J, eds. Spatial cognition 13th biannual conference of the German cognitive science scociety. 2016: S.123-125