Faster maturation of selective attention in musically trained children and adolescents : Converging behavioral and event-related potential evidence

Previous work suggests that musical training in childhood is associated with enhanced executive functions. However, it is unknown whether this advantage extends to selective attention-another central aspect of executive control. We recorded a well-established event-related potential (ERP) marker of distraction, the P3a, during an audio-visual task to investigate the maturation of selective attention in musically trained children and adolescents aged 10-17 years and a control group of untrained peers. The task required categorization of visual stimuli, while a sequence of standard sounds and distracting novel sounds were presented in the background. The music group outperformed the control group in the categorization task and the younger children in the music group showed a smaller P3a to the distracting novel sounds than their peers in the control group. Also, a negative response elicited by the novel sounds in the N1/MMN time range (similar to 150-200 ms) was smaller in the music group. These results indicate that the music group was less easily distracted by the task-irrelevant sound stimulation and gated the neural processing of the novel sounds more efficiently than the control group. Furthermore, we replicated our previous finding that, relative to the control group, the musically trained children and adolescents performed faster in standardized tests for inhibition and set shifting. These results provide novel converging behavioral and electrophysiological evidence from a cross-modal paradigm for accelerated maturation of selective attention in musically trained children and adolescents and corroborate the association between musical training and enhanced inhibition and set shifting.Peer reviewe

On the Problem of the Pre-Christian Finnic Personal Names in the Toponymy of the Russian North

The article addresses an understudied problem of pre-Christian Finnic personal names in he toponymy of the Russian North. In his observations, the author notes a considerable share of toponyms including such personal names recorded in the region, although in quantitative terms their number is still less than in other historical Finnic territories. The given study explores North Russian substrate toponyms derived from pre-Christian Finnic personal names in a broad typological setting, covering place names of a signifi cant part of the European north-west (Finland, Karelia, Estonia, Latvia). The article focuses on eight components most frequently occurring in the toponyms: Iha-, Ikä-, Kaipa-, Leina-, Lempe-, Monta-, Usko-, Vihti-. The use of cartographic method allows the author to locate these ancient Finnic stems, which subsequently leads him to create the fi nal map that correlates their distribution area with that of toponyms featuring the *hiite- stem, meaning ‘pre-Christian sanctuary’. This correlation gives a further testimony to the results of nominal stems mapping, since the *hiite- lexeme is proto-Finnic, which makes it highly plausible the toponyms derived from it can adhere to the era of the early settling of the Baltic Finns. According to the author’s conclusions, on the whole, the area of pre-Christian Finnic names in toponymy attests to the formerly vast territory of the Finnic tribes’ residence, which is now Russifi ed in the north-east and Balticised in the south. The Russian North, in particular, shows the traces of several groups of the Finnic population; as the author suggests, along with Karelian and Vepsian native speakers, the region also used to have residents who spoke an unknown Finnic language.Статья посвящена малоизученной проблеме, связанной с отражением дохристианских прибалтийско-финских личных имен в топонимии Русского Севера. Как показано автором, в этом регионе фиксируется довольно значительный пласт топонимов, включающих имена данного типа, хотя в количественном отношении их меньше, чем на других исторических прибалтийско-финских территориях. Севернорусские субстратные топонимы, образованные от дохристианских прибалтийско-финских личных имен, представлены автором в широком типологическом контексте, включающем топонимию значительной части европейского северо-запада (Финляндия, Карелия, Эстония, Латвия). Основное внимание в статье уделено восьми антропонимическим компонентам, которые особенно часто выступают в составе топонимов: Iha-, Ikä-, Kaipa-, Leinа-, Lempe-, Monta-, Usko-, Vihti-. Используя картографический метод, автор устанавливает зоны распространения этих древних прибалтийско-финских основ, а на заключительной карте соотносит их общий ареал с ареалом топонимов с основой *hiite- ‘дохристианское святилище’. Такое соотнесение дополнительно верифицирует результаты картографирования именных основ, поскольку лексема *hiite- является прафинской, т. е. образованные от нее топонимы с большой степенью уверенности можно связывать с эпохой раннего расселения прибалтийских финнов. Согласно выводам автора, в целом ареал дохристианских прибалтийско-финских имен в топонимии свидетельствует о былом проживании прибалтийско-финских племен на обширной территории, которая в настоящее время русифицирована на северо-востоке и балтизирована на юге. На Русском Севере, в частности, просматриваются следы нескольких групп прибалтийско-финского населения — как предполагает автор на основе проведенного анализа, наряду с носителями карельского и вепсского языков в регионе ранее проживало население, говорившее на неизвестном ныне прибалтийско-финском языке

The role of golf courses in maintaining genetic connectivity between common frog (Rana temporaria) populations in an urban setting

Abstract We studied population size, genetic diversity and differentiation of common frog (Rana temporaria) populations at urban golf courses and reference natural ponds in the greater Helsinki region, southern Finland. A total of 248 tadpoles from 12 locations (six golf courses, six reference sites) were genotyped with 13 polymorphic microsatellite markers. The most urban populations, situated in northern Helsinki, were the largest breeding sites having [120 (golf courses) and [200 (reference sites) spawn clumps at the time of sampling. On average, there was no difference in the number of spawns between the anthropogenic ponds at golf courses and the natural water bodies. Genetic variation within populations was substantial (H O = 0.68) while genetic differentiation between populations was low (F ST = 0.016; average distance = 17.6 km). The golf course populations did not differ from natural populations in terms of genetic variability or differentiation. Hence, our results suggest that golf courses contribute positively to urban amphibian populations by providing suitable water bodies for reproduction and green corridors for dispersal, thus preventing isolation and loss of genetic variability within populations

Are you there?:presence in collaborative distance work

Abstract Already before the pandemic, digitally mediated collaborative work and communication were perceived as challenging. We investigate the attitudes towards emerging technologies and for transforming practises in workplaces. The focus lies on understanding the readiness for appropriating emotional tracking on presence and support for collaboration. The research-based design framework allowed to combine the various perspectives of the transdisciplinary team. Methods included participatory design, design thinking, contextual inquiry and prototype testing for enhancing presence while working with shared objects in video conferencing to explore the appropriation of tools. The findings revealed four indications: 1) awareness of interlocutors’ presence during synchronous communication is crucial. 2) Emotion and behaviour tracking raises concerns about privacy and personal control over what is displayed to others, and technology could be simpler non-distracting the work at hand. 3) The prototype was found to enhance the feeling of presence without disturbing work at hand, and 4) appropriation requires a step-by-step approach

A longitudinal genetic survey identifies temporal shifts in the population structure of Dutch house sparrows

Dutch house sparrow (Passer domesticus) densities dropped by nearly 50% since the early 1980s, and similar collapses in population sizes have been reported across Europe. Whether, and to what extent, such relatively recent demographic changes are accompanied by concomitant shifts in the genetic population structure of this species needs further investigation. Therefore, we here explore temporal shifts in genetic diversity, genetic structure and effective sizes of seven Dutch house sparrow populations. To allow the most powerful statistical inference, historical populations were resampled at identical locations and each individual bird was genotyped using nine polymorphic microsatellites. Although the demographic history was not reflected by a reduction in genetic diversity, levels of genetic differentiation increased over time, and the original, panmictic population (inferred from the museum samples) diverged into two distinct genetic clusters. Reductions in census size were supported by a substantial reduction in effective population size, although to a smaller extent. As most studies of contemporary house sparrow populations have been unable to identify genetic signatures of recent population declines, results of this study underpin the importance of longitudinal genetic surveys to unravel cryptic genetic patterns