Neural activity in the visual thalamus reflects perceptual suppression

To examine the role of the visual thalamus in perception, we recorded neural activity in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and pulvinar of 2 macaque monkeys during a visual illusion that induced the intermittent perceptual suppression of a bright luminance patch. Neural responses were sorted on the basis of the trial-to-trial visibility of the stimulus, as reported by the animals. We found that neurons in the dorsal and ventral pulvinar, but not the LGN, showed changes in spiking rate according to stimulus visibility. Passive viewing control sessions showed such modulation to be independent of the monkeys' active report. Perceptual suppression was also accompanied by a marked drop in low-frequency power (9–30 Hz) of the local field potential (LFP) throughout the visual thalamus, but this modulation was not observed during passive viewing. Our findings demonstrate that visual responses of pulvinar neurons reflect the perceptual awareness of a stimulus, while those of LGN neurons do not

Classical Marxism: an intellectual history

The Invention of Marxism is a rich group biography of the founding generation of European socialists who introduced millions to Karl Marx’s ideas. But it doesn’t identify this generation’s core theoretical and philosophical unities

Aerodynamic Interference on Finned Slender Body

Aerodynamic interference can occur between high-speed slender bodies when in close proximity. A complex flowfield develops where shock and expansion waves from a generator body impinge upon the adjacent receiver body and modify its aerodynamic characteristics in comparison to the isolated case. The aim of this research is to quantify and understand the multibody interference effects that arise between a finned slender body and a second disturbance generator body. A parametric wind tunnel study was performed in which the effects of the receiver incidence and axial stagger were considered. Computational fluid dynamic simulations showed good agreement with the measurements, and these were used in the interpretation of the experimental results. The overall interference loads for a given multibody configuration were found to be a complex function of the pressure footprints from the compression and expansion waves emanating from the generator body as well as the flow pitch induced by the generator shockwave. These induced interference loads change sign as the shock impingement location moves aft over the receiver and in some cases cause the receiver body to become statically unstable. Overall, the observed interference effects can modify the subsequent body trajectories and may increase the likelihood of a collision

From Gods to Goddesses

Flexibility in working time arrangements may lead to heterogeneity of working-time patterns. Drawing on the societal perspective, we consider three interrelated spheres of: professional relations, organizational, and domestic space. Greek mythology assists us to contrast chrono management and Horai management. Case analyses of France, the UK, and the Netherlands are presented within the context of EU Directives. By introducing Horai management we try to find an expression for the dialectical interplay between the temporalities of the home and the workplace, while including developments in the wider societal context. Horai management helps us reach beyond the logic of time-economy to improve the coordination of multiple temporalities

Derivation of the Landau-Pekar equations in a many-body mean-field limit

We consider the Fr\"ohlich Hamiltonian in a mean-field limit where many bosonic particles weakly couple to the quantized phonon field. For large particle number and suitably small coupling, we show that the dynamics of the system is approximately described by the Landau-Pekar equations. These describe a Bose-Einstein condensate interacting with a classical polarization field, whose dynamics is effected by the condensate, i.e., the back-reaction of the phonons that are created by the particles during the time evolution is of leading order

Do Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Matter for the Mental Health of Romantic Partners? Insights from Actor-Partner Interdependence Models

Personality traits of romantic partners may be part of the puzzle of how romantic relationships are related to mental health. We investigated the role of narcissistic admiration and rivalry in this context. Positive associations of admiration and negative associations of rivalry with the mental health of individuals and their partners were hypothesized. Furthermore, we expected admiration to be particularly relevant for the narcissist’s mental health and rivalry to matter more for the partner. Actor-partner interdependence models and Bayesian inference methods were used (n = 7438 couples). Hypotheses and methods were pre-registered. Contrary to expectations, the results only supported the hypotheses concerning actor effects. Most partner effects were miniscule, with the exception of the effect of male rivalry on female mental health. While controlling for extraversion and agreeableness reduced and partly reversed the initial effects of narcissism, an exploratory analysis suggested that these personality factors should be considered as mediators and that most partner effects of admiration and rivalry on mental health may be cases of indirect-only mediation, with extraversion and agreeableness acting as process variables. While replications are needed, the findings suggest that the question posed in the title may be answered with “not that much, apparently”

Neurons in the primate medial basal forebrain signal combined information about reward uncertainty, value, and punishment anticipation

It has been suggested that the basal forebrain (BF) exerts strong influences on the formation of memory and behavior. However, what information is used for the memory-behavior formation is unclear. We found that a population of neurons in the medial BF (medial septum and diagonal band of Broca) of macaque monkeys encodes a unique combination of information: reward uncertainty, expected reward value, anticipation of punishment, and unexpected reward and punishment. The results were obtained while the monkeys were expecting (often with uncertainty) a rewarding or punishing outcome during a Pavlovian procedure, or unexpectedly received an outcome outside the procedure. In vivo anterograde tracing using manganese-enhanced MRI suggested that the major recipient of these signals is the intermediate hippocampal formation. Based on these findings, we hypothesize that the medial BF identifies various contexts and outcomes that are critical for memory processing in the hippocampal formation