Automaticity in processing spatial-numerical associations: Evidence from a perceptual orientation judgment task of Arabic digits in frames.

Human adults are faster to respond to small/large numerals with their left/right hand when they judge the parity of numerals, which is known as the SNARC (spatial-numerical association of response codes) effect. It has been proposed that the size of the SNARC effect depends on response latencies. The current study introduced a perceptual orientation task, where participants were asked to judge the orientation of a digit or a frame surrounding the digit. The present study first confirmed the SNARC effect with native Chinese speakers (Experiment 1) using a parity task, and then examined whether the emergence and size of the SNARC effect depended on the response latencies (Experiments 2, 3, and 4) using a perceptual orientation judgment task. Our results suggested that (a) the automatic processing of response-related numerical-spatial information occurred with Chinese-speaking participants in the parity task; (b) the SNARC effect was also found when the task did not require semantic access; and (c) the size of the effect depended on the processing speed of the task-relevant dimension. Finally, we proposed an underlying mechanism to explain the SNARC effect in the perceptual orientation judgment task

Evidence for the contribution of COMT gene Val158/108Met polymorphism (rs4680) to working memory training-related prefrontal plasticity.

BackgroundGenetic factors have been suggested to affect the efficacy of working memory training. However, few studies have attempted to identify the relevant genes.MethodsIn this study, we first performed a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to identify brain regions that were specifically affected by working memory training. Sixty undergraduate students were randomly assigned to either the adaptive training group (N = 30) or the active control group (N = 30). Both groups were trained for 20 sessions during 4 weeks and received fMRI scans before and after the training. Afterward, we combined the data from the 30 participants in the RCT study who received adaptive training with data from 71 additional participants who also received the same adaptive training but were not part of the RCT study (total N = 101) to test the contribution of the COMT Val158/108Met polymorphism to the interindividual difference in the training effect within the identified brain regions.ResultsIn the RCT study, we found that the adaptive training significantly decreased brain activation in the left prefrontal cortex (TFCE-FWE corrected p = .030). In the genetic study, we found that compared with the Val allele homozygotes, the Met allele carriers' brain activation decreased more after the training at the left prefrontal cortex (TFCE-FWE corrected p = .025).ConclusionsThis study provided evidence for the neural effect of a visual-spatial span training and suggested that genetic factors such as the COMT Val158/108Met polymorphism may have to be considered in future studies of such training

2,4-Diiodo-3-nitro­anisole

In the title compound (systematic name: 1,3-diiodo-4-meth­oxy-2-nitro­benzene), C7H5I2NO3, the dihedral angle between the benzene ring and the nitro group is 88.0 (3)°, and the methyl group lies almost in the same plane as the ring [deviation = 0.034 (6) Å]. In the crystal, aromatic π–π stacking occurs between inversion-related rings [centroid–centroid separation = 3.865 (3) Å and slippage = 0.642 Å]. A possible weak C—I⋯π inter­action occurs [I⋯π = 3.701 (2) Å and C—I⋯π = 130.18 (13)°], but there are no significant inter­molecular I⋯I contacts

Cyclo­hexa-2,5-diene-1,4-dione–1,2,4,5-tetra­fluoro-3,6-diiodo­benzene (1/1)

The asymmetric unit of the title co-crystal adduct, C6H4O2·C6F4I2, comprises a half-mol­ecule each of cyclo­hexa-2,5-diene-1,4-dione and 1,2,4,5-tetra­fluoro-3,6-diiodo­benzene. The C6F4I2 mol­ecule is almost planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.0062 Å). In the crystal, the components are connected through O⋯I halogen bonds [3.017 (11) Å], leading to the formation of wavelike chains along the a axis. The crystal packing also features C—H⋯F inter­actions

Effect of rs1344706 in the ZNF804A gene on the brain network.

ZNF804A rs1344706 (A/C) was the first SNP that reached genome-wide significance for schizophrenia. Recent studies have linked rs1344706 to functional connectivity among specific brain regions. However, no study thus far has examined the role of this SNP in the entire functional connectome. In this study, we used degree centrality to test the role of rs1344706 in the whole-brain voxel-wise functional connectome during the resting state. 52 schizophrenia patients and 128 healthy controls were included in the final analysis. In our whole-brain analysis, we found a significant interaction effect of genotype × diagnosis at the precuneus (PCU) (cluster size = 52 voxels, peak voxel MNI coordinates: x = 9, y = - 69, z = 63, F = 32.57, FWE corrected P < 0.001). When we subdivided the degree centrality network according to anatomical distance, the whole-brain analysis also found a significant interaction effect of genotype × diagnosis at the PCU with the same peak in the short-range degree centrality network (cluster size = 72 voxels, F = 37.29, FWE corrected P < 0.001). No significant result was found in the long-range degree centrality network. Our results elucidated the contribution of rs1344706 to functional connectivity within the brain network, and may have important implications for our understanding of this risk gene's role in functional dysconnectivity in schizophrenia

Multiple interactive memory representations underlie the induction of false memory.

Theoretical and computational models such as transfer-appropriate processing (TAP) and global matching models have emphasized the encoding-retrieval interaction of memory representations in generating false memories, but relevant neural mechanisms are still poorly understood. By manipulating the sensory modalities (visual and auditory) at different processing stages (learning and test) in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott task, we found that the auditory-learning visual-test (AV) group produced more false memories (59%) than the other three groups (42∼44%) [i.e., visual learning visual test (VV), auditory learning auditory test (AA), and visual learning auditory test (VA)]. Functional imaging results showed that the AV group's proneness to false memories was associated with (i) reduced representational match between the tested item and all studied items in the visual cortex, (ii) weakened prefrontal monitoring process due to the reliance on frontal memory signal for both targets and lures, and (iii) enhanced neural similarity for semantically related words in the temporal pole as a result of auditory learning. These results are consistent with the predictions based on the TAP and global matching models and highlight the complex interactions of representations during encoding and retrieval in distributed brain regions that contribute to false memories

Different water and nitrogen level effects on soil microbial properties of spinach

Understanding the interactions of plant soil environment and rhizosphere microbial changes are necessary to develop new strategies for the sustainable agriculture. A field experiment with combination of three water levels and three nitrogen rates was conducted to investigate the effect of water and nitrogen management on the changes of soil microbial properties in non-rhizosphere and rhizosphere soils of spinach. Non-Rhizosphere and rhizosphere microbial diversities were affected by water and nitrogen applications. Evenness index in the no-nitrogen treatment was more than that of 85 and 170 kg ha–1 nitrogen treatments in the non-rhizosphere or rhizosphere soil. Microbial biomass carbon in non-rhizosphere soil or rhizosphere soil decreased with the increase of nitrogen application, but showed the highest value in 16.5% of soil water content, followed by 12.5% and 20.5% of soil water content. Soil microbial biomass phosphorus content of 85 kg ha–1 nitrogen treatment in the non-rhizosphere soil or rhizosphere soil was significantly different for 0 and 170 kg ha–1 nitrogen treatments. Nitrification rate increased with the increase of soil water content in 0 and 170 kg ha–1 treatments. Our results demonstrated that water and nitrogen could impact the soil fertility and microbial activity of spinach