Neural correlates of probabilistic category learning in patients with schizophrenia

Functional neuroimaging studies of probabilistic category learning in healthy adults report activation of cortical-striatal circuitry. Based on previous findings of normal learning rate concurrent with an overall performance deficit in patients with schizophrenia, we hypothesized that relative to healthy adults, patients with schizophrenia would display preserved caudate nucleus and abnormal prefrontal cortex activation during probabilistic category learning. Forty patients with schizophrenia receiving antipsychotic medication and 25 healthy participants were assessed on interleaved blocks of probabilistic category learning and control tasks while undergoing blood oxygenation level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging. In addition to the whole sample of patients with schizophrenia and healthy adults, a subset of patients and healthy adults matched for good learning was also compared. In the whole sample analysis, patients with schizophrenia displayed impaired performance in conjunction with normal learning rate relative to healthy adults. The matched comparison of patients and healthy adults classified as good learners revealed greater caudate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity in the healthy adults and greater activation in a more rostral region of the dorsolateral prefrontal, cingulate, parahippocampal and parietal cortex in patients. These results demonstrate that successful probabilistic category learning can occur in the absence of normal frontal-striatal function. Based on analyses of the patients and healthy adults matched on learning and performance, a minority of patients with schizophrenia achieve successful probabilistic category learning and performance levels through differential activation of a circumscribed neural network which suggests a compensatory mechanism in patients showing successful learning. Copyright © 2009 Society for Neuroscience

Concert recording 2021-12-04

[Track 1]. Scherzo concertante / Vaclav Nehlybel -- [Track 2]. Sonata no. 3 for horn and piano. I. Moderately fast ; [Track 3]. II. Slow / Alec Wilder -- [Track 4]. Rondo in B♭ major / Arnold Cooke -- [Track 5]. Sonata for horn and piano. I. Hymn ; II. Riding to higher clouds / Margaret Brouwer -- [Track 6]. Horn concerto no. 3 in E♭ major, K. 447. I. Allegro ; II. Larghetto ; III. Allegro / W.A. Mozart -- [Track 7]. Reflections on a Southern hymn. I. Intonation ; IV. Wondrous love / Stephen Gryc -- [Track 8]. Umoja / Valerie Coleman -- [Track 9]. Amazing grace / arranged by Luther Henderson

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND THE PROCESS OF JUSTIFYING CHOICES IN A CONTROVERSIAL UNIVERSE

All in all, neither the path of the generic principle nor that of the reduction to existing principles would appear to be fully satisfactory as the basis for establishing the legitimacy of sustainable development or as a way of making sustainability a principle of legitimacy by its own. We should probably resign ourselves to seeing in this idea a composite construction, still striving towards the formation of a new "superior common principle", without this principle yet being able to be completely clarified and validated. What we have here is an example of the sort of "compromise" described by Boltanski and Thévenot (1991, p.338): "In the compromise, the participants abandon the idea of clarifying the principle of their agreement but endeavour to maintain a frame of mind aiming at the common good." If we want to consolidate the compromise developing around sustainability, it would be well advised to seek the support of tests using well-formed objects. To this end, steps should be taken to move the emphasis away from long-term and unknowable sustainability requirements and closer to secondbest criteria focused on the transitional developments and possible risks of intentional human action, the ways of managing the linking of the different temporalities in play -- as regards the biophysical phenomena, their understanding and the main worlds of legitimacy (Godard, 1992) -- and the introduction of deliberation within the present generations as to what they feel best describes their identity, those things they would like to pass on

Non-native Species and the Aesthetics of Nature

Howhumansperceiveandjudgenatureandrelateittotheirlifeisshaped by emotional, cognitive, cultural, and social factors. Whether a species is consid- ered native, non-native, or invasive can affect such aesthetics of nature by interact- ing with our emotions, affronting or confirming our cognitive categories, or engaging in our social, economic, and cultural worlds. Consequently, how humans perceive and judge the presence of such species, or how they judge an ecosystem or land- scape change triggered by them, is not fixed or easy to define. Here, some of the psychological, cognitive, and social dimensions that influence how humans judge non-native and invasive species and their effects on ecosystems are reviewed. It is concluded, at least in the case of non-native species, that the reduction of aesthetics to a ‘service’ is problematic, for it occludes the complex psychological and social processes that shape divergent perceptions of changing species distributions

The IPBES Conceptual Framework - connecting nature and people

The first public product of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is its Conceptual Framework. This conceptual and analytical tool, presented here in detail, will underpin all IPBES functions and provide structure and comparability to the syntheses that IPBES will produce at different spatial scales, on different themes, and in different regions. Salient innovative aspects of the IPBES Conceptual Framework are its transparent and participatory construction process and its explicit consideration of diverse scientific disciplines, stakeholders, and knowledge systems, including indigenous and local knowledge. Because the focus on co-construction of integrative knowledge is shared by an increasing number of initiatives worldwide, this framework should be useful beyond IPBES, for the wider research and knowledge-policy communities working on the links between nature and people, such as natural, social and engineering scientists, policy-makers at different levels, and decision-makers in different sectors of society

Models of human-nature interactions: the biocomplexity approach

Estudiamos el acoplamiento de sistemas naturales y humanos en diversos sitios y culturas construyendo modelos de simulación de cuatro sitios que incluyen áreas protegidas; dos en Texas, Estados Unidos, y dos en Venezuela. En los sitios de Texas, se están convirtiendo legalmente los bosques en espacios urbanos de uso residencial, comercial, e industrial, mientras que en Venezuela se talan legal e ilegalmente los bosques para transformarlos en sistemas agrícolas de subsistencia. Las técnicas contemporáneas de modelación facilitan simulaciones de decisiones humanas y de la dinámica del ecosistema que pueden revelar patrones inesperados. Tales acoplamientos de los sistemas humanos y los sistemas naturales se reconocen actualmente como una forma de biocomplejidad. Nuestra metodología es flexible, para permitir la adaptación a cada uno de los sitios del estudio, capturando las características esenciales de los cambios respectivos de la utilización del territorio, y de las reacciones naturales y decisiones humanas. Las interacciones entre los humanos se simulan usando los modelos multi-agentes que actúan sobre modelos del paisaje forestal, y perciben la respuesta de los efectos de estas acciones en forma de cambios de hábitat ecológicos y dinámica hidrológica.We study coupled human-natural systems across sites and cultures building simulation models in four sites that include protected areas; two in Texas (USA) and two in Venezuela. In the Texas sites, forests are being converted legally to urban spaces of residential, commercial and industrial use, while in Venezuela forests are extra-legally clear-cut for subsistence agriculture. Modern modeling techniques facilitate the study of human decisions and ecosystem dynamics and can reveal unexpected patterns. Such couplings of human and natural systems are recognized as a form of biocomplexity. Our methodology is flexible to allow adaptations to the diverse study sites, capturing the essential characteristics of the changes in land use and cover and the effects on natural systems and human decisions. Human interactions are simulated using muti-agent models that act on models of forest landscape and perceive the response of these actions in the form of changes in habitat and hydrological dynamics.Este artículo resultó de dos talleres de síntesis geográfica y cultural como parte de un proyecto de Biocomplejidad en el ambiente financiado por la Fundación Nacional de Ciencia de los EE.UU. (subvención NSF CNH BCS-0216722). Los talleres fueron auspiciados por UNEG (en octubre de 2004) y ULA (en febrero de 2005)