A Self-Reference False Memory Effect in the DRM Paradigm: Evidence from Eastern and Western Samples

It is well established that processing information in relation to oneself (i.e., selfreferencing) leads to better memory for that information than processing that same information in relation to others (i.e., other-referencing). However, it is unknown whether self-referencing also leads to more false memories than other-referencing. In the current two experiments with European and East Asian samples, we presented participants the Deese-Roediger/McDermott (DRM) lists together with their own name or other people’s name (i.e., “Trump” in Experiment 1 and “Li Ming” in Experiment 2). We found consistent results across the two experiments; that is, in the self-reference condition, participants had higher true and false memory rates compared to those in the other-reference condition. Moreover, we found that selfreferencing did not exhibit superior mnemonic advantage in terms of net accuracy compared to other-referencing and neutral conditions. These findings are discussed in terms of theoretical frameworks such as spreading activation theories and the fuzzytrace theory. We propose that our results reflect the adaptive nature of memory in the sense that cognitive processes that increase mnemonic efficiency may also increase susceptibility to associative false memories

Divided attention selectively impairs memory for self-relevant information

Information that is relevant to oneself tends to be remembered more than information that relates to other people, but the role of attention in eliciting this "self-reference effect" is unclear. In the present study, we assessed the importance of attention in self-referential encoding using an ownership paradigm, which required participants to encode items under conditions of imagined ownership by themselves or by another person. Previous work has established that this paradigm elicits a robust self-reference effect, with more "self-owned" items being remembered than "other-owned" items. Access to attentional resources was manipulated using divided-attention tasks at encoding. A significant self-reference effect emerged under full-attention conditions and was related to an increase in episodic recollection for self-owned items, but dividing attention eliminated this memory advantage. These findings are discussed in relation to the nature of self-referential cognition and the importance of attentional resources at encoding in the manifestation of the self-reference effect in memory

Your space or mine? : Mapping self in time

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

In Vitro Evaluation of a Soluble Leishmania Promastigote Surface Antigen as a Potential Vaccine Candidate against Human Leishmaniasis

International audiencePSA (Promastigote Surface Antigen) belongs to a family of membrane-bound and secreted proteins present in severalLeishmania (L.) species. PSA is recognized by human Th1 cells and provides a high degree of protection in vaccinated mice.We evaluated humoral and cellular immune responses induced by a L. amazonensis PSA protein (LaPSA-38S) produced in aL. tarentolae expression system. This was done in individuals cured of cutaneous leishmaniasis due to L. major (CCLm) or L.braziliensis (CCLb) or visceral leishmaniasis due to L. donovani (CVLd) and in healthy individuals. Healthy individuals weresubdivided into immune (HHR-Lm and HHR-Li: Healthy High Responders living in an endemic area for L. major or L. infantuminfection) or non immune/naive individuals (HLR: Healthy Low Responders), depending on whether they produce high orlow levels of IFN-c in response to Leishmania soluble antigen. Low levels of total IgG antibodies to LaPSA-38S were detectedin sera from the studied groups. Interestingly, LaPSA-38S induced specific and significant levels of IFN-c, granzyme B and IL-10 in CCLm, HHR-Lm and HHR-Li groups, with HHR-Li group producing TNF-a in more. No significant cytokine response wasobserved in individuals immune to L. braziliensis or L. donovani infection. Phenotypic analysis showed a significant increasein CD4+ T cells producing IFN-c after LaPSA-38S stimulation, in CCLm. A high positive correlation was observed between thepercentage of IFN-c-producing CD4+ T cells and the released IFN-c. We showed that the LaPSA-38S protein was able toinduce a mixed Th1 and Th2/Treg cytokine response in individuals with immunity to L. major or L. infantum infectionindicating that it may be exploited as a vaccine candidate. We also showed, to our knowledge for the first time, the capacityof Leishmania PSA protein to induce granzyme B production in humans with immunity to L. major and L. infantum infectio

Prognostic model to predict postoperative acute kidney injury in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery based on a national prospective observational cohort study.

Background: Acute illness, existing co-morbidities and surgical stress response can all contribute to postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery. The aim of this study was prospectively to develop a pragmatic prognostic model to stratify patients according to risk of developing AKI after major gastrointestinal surgery. Methods: This prospective multicentre cohort study included consecutive adults undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection, liver resection or stoma reversal in 2-week blocks over a continuous 3-month period. The primary outcome was the rate of AKI within 7 days of surgery. Bootstrap stability was used to select clinically plausible risk factors into the model. Internal model validation was carried out by bootstrap validation. Results: A total of 4544 patients were included across 173 centres in the UK and Ireland. The overall rate of AKI was 14·2 per cent (646 of 4544) and the 30-day mortality rate was 1·8 per cent (84 of 4544). Stage 1 AKI was significantly associated with 30-day mortality (unadjusted odds ratio 7·61, 95 per cent c.i. 4·49 to 12·90; P < 0·001), with increasing odds of death with each AKI stage. Six variables were selected for inclusion in the prognostic model: age, sex, ASA grade, preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate, planned open surgery and preoperative use of either an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker. Internal validation demonstrated good model discrimination (c-statistic 0·65). Discussion: Following major gastrointestinal surgery, AKI occurred in one in seven patients. This preoperative prognostic model identified patients at high risk of postoperative AKI. Validation in an independent data set is required to ensure generalizability

Electrocortical evidence for long-term incidental spatial learning through modified navigation instructions

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018. The use of Navigation Assistance Systems for spatial orienting has become increasingly popular. Such automated navigation support, however, comes with a reduced processing of the surrounding environment and often with a decline of spatial orienting ability. To prevent such deskilling and to support spatial learning, the present study investigated incidental spatial learning by comparing standard navigation instructions with two modified navigation instruction conditions. The first modified instruction condition highlighted landmarks and provided additional redundant information regarding the landmark (contrast condition), while the second highlighted landmarks and included information of personal interest to the participant (personal-reference condition). Participants’ spatial knowledge of the previously unknown virtual city was tested three weeks later. Behavioral and electroencephalographic (EEG) data demonstrated enhanced spatial memory performance for participants in the modified navigation instruction conditions without further differentiating between modified instructions. Recognition performance of landmarks was better and the late positive complex of the event-related potential (ERP) revealed amplitude differences reflecting an increased amount of recollected information for modified navigation instructions. The results indicate a significant long-term spatial learning effect when landmarks are highlighted during navigation instructions

Acute and Chronic Effects of Particles on Hospital Admissions in New-England

Background: Many studies have reported significant associations between exposure to $PM_{2.5}$ and hospital admissions, but all have focused on the effects of short-term exposure. In addition all these studies have relied on a limited number of $PM_{2.5}$ monitors in their study regions, which introduces exposure error, and excludes rural and suburban populations from locations in which monitors are not available, reducing generalizability and potentially creating selection bias. Methods Using our novel prediction models for exposure combining land use regression with physical measurements (satellite aerosol optical depth) we investigated both the long and short term effects of $PM_{2.5}$ exposures on hospital admissions across New-England for all residents aged 65 and older. We performed separate Poisson regression analysis for each admission type: all respiratory, cardiovascular disease (CVD), stroke and diabetes. Daily admission counts in each zip code were regressed against long and short-term $PM_{2.5}$ exposure, temperature, socio-economic data and a spline of time to control for seasonal trends in baseline risk. Results: We observed associations between both short-term and long-term exposure to $PM_{2.5}$ and hospitalization for all of the outcomes examined. In example, for respiratory diseases, for every10-µg/m$^3$ increase in short-term $PM_{2.5}$ exposure there is a 0.70 percent increase in admissions (CI = 0.35 to 0.52) while concurrently for every10-µg/m$^3$ increase in long-term $PM_{2.5}$ exposure there is a 4.22 percent increase in admissions (CI = 1.06 to 4.75). Conclusions: As with mortality studies, chronic exposure to particles is associated with substantially larger increases in hospital admissions than acute exposure and both can be detected simultaneously using our exposure models

Molecular Characterization of a Strawberry FaASR Gene in Relation to Fruit Ripening

BACKGROUND: ABA-, stress- and ripening-induced (ASR) proteins have been reported to act as a downstream component involved in ABA signal transduction. Although much attention has been paid to the roles of ASR in plant development and stress responses, the mechanisms by which ABA regulate fruit ripening at the molecular level are not fully understood. In the present work, a strawberry ASR gene was isolated and characterized (FaASR), and a polyclonal antibody against FaASR protein was prepared. Furthermore, the effects of ABA, applied to two different developmental stages of strawberry, on fruit ripening and the expression of FaASR at transcriptional and translational levels were investigated. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: FaASR, localized in the cytoplasm and nucleus, contained 193 amino acids and shared common features with other plant ASRs. It also functioned as a transcriptional activator in yeast with trans-activation activity in the N-terminus. During strawberry fruit development, endogenous ABA content, levels of FaASR mRNA and protein increased significantly at the initiation of ripening at a white (W) fruit developmental stage. More importantly, application of exogenous ABA to large green (LG) fruit and W fruit markedly increased endogenous ABA content, accelerated fruit ripening, and greatly enhanced the expression of FaASR transcripts and the accumulation of FaASR protein simultaneously. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that FaASR may be involved in strawberry fruit ripening. The observed increase in endogenous ABA content, and enhanced FaASR expression at transcriptional and translational levels in response to ABA treatment might partially contribute to the acceleration of strawberry fruit ripening

Net1 and Myeov: computationally identified mediators of gastric cancer

Gastric adenocarcinoma (GA) is a significant cause of mortality worldwide. The molecular mechanisms of GA remain poorly characterised. Our aim was to characterise the functional activity of the computationally identified genes, NET 1 and MYEOV in GA. Digital Differential Display was used to identify genes altered expression in GA-derived EST libraries. mRNA levels of a subset of genes were quantitated by qPCR in a panel of cell lines and tumour tissue. The effect of pro- and anti-inflammatory stimuli on gene expression was investigated. Cell proliferation and invasion were measured using in an in-vitro GA model following inhibition of expression using siRNA. In all, 23 genes not previously reported in association with GA were identified. Two genes, Net1 and Myeov, were selected for further analysis and increased expression was detected in GA tissue compared to paired normal tissue using quantitative PCR. siRNA-mediated downregulation of Net1 and Myeov resulted in decreased proliferation and invasion of gastric cancer cells in vitro. These functional studies highlight a putative role for NET1 and Myeov in the development and progression of gastric cancer. These genes may provide important targets for intervention in GA, evidenced by their role in promoting invasion and proliferation, key phenotypic hallmarks of cancer cells