La enciclopedia mental y las implicaciones para el trabajo de vocabulario en la enseñanza de las lenguas extranjeras

En este artículo los autores muestran, a partir de los últimos avances de la ciencia y de las suposiciones de plausibilidad relativas al campo de investigación concerniente a la enciclopedia\ud mental, las posibilidades de su implicación en el trabajo de vocabulario en la enseñanza del español como lengua extranjera.\ud Para ello tratan, en primer lugar, la enciclopedia mental de la lengua materna y su significado para la producción del habla y la comprensión del lenguaje. Más adelante centran sus explicaciones en la enciclopedia mental multilingüe y discuten diversas hipótesis tanto sobre el almacenamiento\ud como sobre la activación de palabras situadas\ud en la enciclopedia mental. Basándose en las\ud mismas, los autores desarrollan una tipología\ud de ejercicios para el trabajo de vocabulario en la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras y formulan mediante varios ejemplos recomendaciones para un trabajo de vocabulario efectivo en las clases de español como lengua extranjera.Taking mental lexicon research, its results and\ud assumptions of plausibility as a starting point,\ud the authors show implications for the teaching\ud and learning of vocabulary in the Spanish as a\ud foreign language classroom. First, they examine\ud the role of the native mental lexicon in speech\ud production and comprehension. Second, they\ud focus on the multilingual mental lexicon and\ud hypotheses on storing and retrieving words\ud from it. As a result, the authors develop a\ud typology of exercises for the foreign language\ud classroom and with the help of vivid examples\ud put forward ideas for effective vocabulary\ud teaching and learning

Chronotyp und Depression bei Jugendlichen – ein Review

Depressive Erkrankungen gehen mit vielen Symptomen einher, die in Bezug zu einer tageszeitlichen Rhythmik und dem Schlafverhalten stehen. Die vielfältigen Zusammenhänge zwischen Schlaf, Depression und Tagesrhythmik sind nicht eindeutig geklärt. In den Forschungsarbeiten der letzten Jahre kommt dem Chronotyp eine besondere Bedeutung zu. Als biologisches Maß der inneren Uhr kann der Chronotyp – basierend auf Schlafzeiten – mit dem Munich ChronoType Questionnaire (MCTQ) bestimmt werden, als subjektive Präferenz für bestimmte Tageszeiten wird er mit dem Morningness-Eveningness-Questionnaire (MEQ) erfasst. Durch eine systematische Literaturrecherche konnten Studien identifiziert werden, die überwiegend einen Zusammenhang zwischen einem späten Chronotyp und depressiven Symptomen und depressiven Störungen zeigen. Dies ist besonders für Jugendliche relevant, da sich der Chronotyp zur Adoleszenz hin stark verändert. Bisher ist nicht geklärt, was am Zusammenhang zwischen Chronotyp und depressiver Störung Ursache und Wirkung ist und welche Faktoren als Moderator oder Mediator fungieren. Möglicherweise ist der Zusammenhang bidirektional: Einerseits ziehen sich Patienten mit depressiven Störungen häufig zurück und sind weniger Tageslicht ausgesetzt, was ihren Chronotyp später werden lässt. Andererseits führt eine Diskrepanz von Innenzeit (festgelegt durch die innere Uhr) und Außenzeit (z. B. durch Schul- und Arbeitszeiten) zu Problemen wie einer verringerten Schlafqualität und schlechteren Schulnoten, die wiederum im Zusammenhang mit Depressivität stehen können.Many patients with depressive disorders experience symptoms in relation to sleep behavior and daily rhythmicity. However, the multifaceted associations between sleep, depression and circadian rhythms are not fully understood. During the past years, the concept of chronotype has become increasingly popular in research. The Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ) derives chronotype from sleep timing on work-free days and therefore represents a biological measure for the circadian clock, whereas the Morningness-Eveningness-Questionnaire (MEQ) assesses chronotype as a subjective preference for different activities at specific times of day. Chronotype changes with age, with adolescents and young adults being especially late types. We conducted a systematic literature research and identified studies that explore the association between chronotype (MEQ, MCTQ) and depressive symptoms or depressive disorders. Most of the studies showed an association between a late chronotype and depressive symptomatology. However, it is still unclear what is cause and effect. We propose a bidirectional relationship: On the one hand, due to reduced social and physical activity, depressed patients get less daylight which causes their chronotype to delay. On the other hand, a discrepancy between internal time (directed by the circadian clock) and external time (such as early school- or work starting times) can cause problems like reduced quality of sleep quality, daytime tiredness and worse grades in school, that are in turn associated with depressive symptoms

Sarcoma classification by DNA methylation profiling

Sarcomas are malignant soft tissue and bone tumours affecting adults, adolescents and children. They represent a morphologically heterogeneous class of tumours and some entities lack defining histopathological features. Therefore, the diagnosis of sarcomas is burdened with a high inter-observer variability and misclassification rate. Here, we demonstrate classification of soft tissue and bone tumours using a machine learning classifier algorithm based on array-generated DNA methylation data. This sarcoma classifier is trained using a dataset of 1077 methylation profiles from comprehensively pre-characterized cases comprising 62 tumour methylation classes constituting a broad range of soft tissue and bone sarcoma subtypes across the entire age spectrum. The performance is validated in a cohort of 428 sarcomatous tumours, of which 322 cases were classified by the sarcoma classifier. Our results demonstrate the potential of the DNA methylation-based sarcoma classification for research and future diagnostic applications

DISC1 regulates N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor dynamics:abnormalities induced by a Disc1 mutation modelling a translocation linked to major mental illness

Abstract The neuromodulatory gene DISC1 is disrupted by a t(1;11) translocation that is highly penetrant for schizophrenia and affective disorders, but how this translocation affects DISC1 function is incompletely understood. N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) play a central role in synaptic plasticity and cognition, and are implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia through genetic and functional studies. We show that the NMDAR subunit GluN2B complexes with DISC1-associated trafficking factor TRAK1, while DISC1 interacts with the GluN1 subunit and regulates dendritic NMDAR motility in cultured mouse neurons. Moreover, in the first mutant mouse that models DISC1 disruption by the translocation, the pool of NMDAR transport vesicles and surface/synaptic NMDAR expression are increased. Since NMDAR cell surface/synaptic expression is tightly regulated to ensure correct function, these changes in the mutant mouse are likely to affect NMDAR signalling and synaptic plasticity. Consistent with these observations, RNASeq analysis of the translocation carrier-derived human neurons indicates abnormalities of excitatory synapses and vesicle dynamics. RNASeq analysis of the human neurons also identifies many differentially expressed genes previously highlighted as putative schizophrenia and/or depression risk factors through large-scale genome-wide association and copy number variant studies, indicating that the translocation triggers common disease pathways that are shared with unrelated psychiatric patients. Altogether, our findings suggest that translocation-induced disease mechanisms are likely to be relevant to mental illness in general, and that such disease mechanisms include altered NMDAR dynamics and excitatory synapse function. This could contribute to the cognitive disorders displayed by translocation carriers

Behavioural and functional evidence revealing the role of RBFOX1 variation in multiple psychiatric disorders and traits

Common variation in the gene encoding the neuron-specific RNA splicing factor RNA Binding Fox-1 Homolog 1 (RBFOX1) has been identified as a risk factor for several psychiatric conditions, and rare genetic variants have been found causal for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here, we explored the genetic landscape of RBFOX1 more deeply, integrating evidence from existing and new human studies as well as studies in Rbfox1 knockout mice. Mining existing data from large-scale studies of human common genetic variants, we confirmed gene-based and genome-wide association of RBFOX1 with risk tolerance, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia. Data on six mental disorders revealed copy number losses and gains to be more frequent in ASD cases than in controls. Consistently, RBFOX1 expression appeared decreased in post-mortem frontal and temporal cortices of individuals with ASD and prefrontal cortex of individuals with schizophrenia. Brain-functional MRI studies demonstrated that carriers of a common RBFOX1 variant, rs6500744, displayed increased neural reactivity to emotional stimuli, reduced prefrontal processing during cognitive control, and enhanced fear expression after fear conditioning, going along with increased avoidance behaviour. Investigating Rbfox1 neuron-specific knockout mice allowed us to further specify the role of this gene in behaviour. The model was characterised by pronounced hyperactivity, stereotyped behaviour, impairments in fear acquisition and extinction, reduced social interest, and lack of aggression; it provides excellent construct and face validity as an animal model of ASD. In conclusion, convergent translational evidence shows that common variants in RBFOX1 are associated with a broad spectrum of psychiatric traits and disorders, while rare genetic variation seems to expose to early-onset neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorders with and without developmental delay like ASD, in particular. Studying the pleiotropic nature of RBFOX1 can profoundly enhance our understanding of mental disorder vulnerability

Pulso

Resumen tomado de la publicaciónSe muestra, a partir de los últimos avances de la ciencia y de las suposiciones de plausibilidad relativas al campo de investigación concerniente a la enciclopedia mental, las posibilidades de su implicación en el trabajo de vocabulario en la enseñanza del español como lengua extranjera. Se trata, en primer lugar, la enciclopedia mental de la lengua materna y su significado para la producción del habla y la comprensión del lenguaje. Después se centra en la enciclopedia mental multilingüe y se discuten diversas hipótesis tanto sobre el almacenamiento como sobre la activación de palabras situadas en la enciclopedia mental. Basándose en las mismas, se desarrolla una tipología de ejercicios para el trabajo de vocabulario en la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras y se formulan, mediante varios ejemplos, recomendaciones para un trabajo de vocabulario efectivo en las clases de español como lengua extranjera.MadridBiblioteca de Educación del Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte; Calle San Agustín, 5 - 3 Planta; 28014 Madrid; Tel. +34917748000; [email protected]

Acute stress enhances the expression of neuroprotection- and neurogenesis-associated genes in the hippocampus of a mouse restraint model

Stress arises from an external demand placed on an organism that triggers physiological, cognitive and behavioural responses in order to cope with that request. It is thus an adaptive response useful for the survival of an organism. The objective of this study was to identify and characterize global changes in gene expression in the hippocampus in response to acute stress stimuli, by employing a mouse model of short-term restraint stress. In our experimental design mice were subjected to a one time exposure of restraint stress and the regulation of gene expression in the hippocampus was examined 3, 12 and 24 hours thereafter. Microarray analysis revealed that mice which had undergone acute restraint stress differed from non-stressed controls in global hippocampal transcriptional responses. An up-regulation of transcripts contributing directly or indirectly to neurogenesis and neuronal protection including, Ttr, Rab6, Gh, Prl, Ndufb9 and Ndufa6, was observed. Systems level analyses revealed a significant enrichment for neurogenesis, neuron morphogenesis- and cognitive functions-related biological process terms and pathways. This work further supports the hypothesis that acute stress mediates a positive action on the hippocampus favouring the formation and the preservation of neurons, which will be discussed in the context of current data from the literature