Auditory Cortex Basal Activity Modulates Cochlear Responses in Chinchillas

Background: The auditory efferent system has unique neuroanatomical pathways that connect the cerebral cortex with sensory receptor cells. Pyramidal neurons located in layers V and VI of the primary auditory cortex constitute descending projections to the thalamus, inferior colliculus, and even directly to the superior olivary complex and to the cochlear nucleus. Efferent pathways are connected to the cochlear receptor by the olivocochlear system, which innervates outer hair cells and auditory nerve fibers. The functional role of the cortico-olivocochlear efferent system remains debated. We hypothesized that auditory cortex basal activity modulates cochlear and auditory-nerve afferent responses through the efferent system. Methodology/Principal Findings: Cochlear microphonics (CM), auditory-nerve compound action potentials (CAP) and auditory cortex evoked potentials (ACEP) were recorded in twenty anesthetized chinchillas, before, during and after auditory cortex deactivation by two methods: lidocaine microinjections or cortical cooling with cryoloops. Auditory cortex deactivation induced a transient reduction in ACEP amplitudes in fifteen animals (deactivation experiments) and a permanent reduction in five chinchillas (lesion experiments). We found significant changes in the amplitude of CM in both types of experiments, being the most common effect a CM decrease found in fifteen animals. Concomitantly to CM amplitude changes, we found CAP increases in seven chinchillas and CAP reductions in thirteen animals. Although ACE

Collective bargaining and regional wage differences in Spain: an empirical analysis

This article analyses the importance of labour market institutions and, in particular, collective wage bargaining in shaping regional wage differences in the Spanish labour market. Using microdata from the Spanish Structure of Earnings Survey, our results reveal that there are significant inter-regional wage differences for similarly skilled workers. These differences are present throughout the whole wage structure and can be explained by both competitive and non-competitive factors, such as insufficient competition in product markets. In this context, industry-level collective bargaining plays a major role in accounting for regional wage differences, a role that in the Spanish case is enhanced due to its unusual regional dimension.

That Crazy World We’ll Live in : Emotions and Anticipations of Radical Future Technology Design

Humans behave towards and experience technological design in conflicting and contradictory ways. On the one hand, the very mention of the word ‘future’ conjures expectations of the radically new and unexpected. On the other hand, previous research has shown that people have a threshold for the level of change and the unexpected that they can cope with. Their expectations are dominated by mental images of familiar associations with what has been previously associated with the future. As a rule, humans cope with incremental changes, yet have difficulty accepting the entirely unfamiliar. This makes it harder to imagine a future of radical technology design and interactions, particularly when attempting to predict possible emotional outcomes. This chapter describes the emotional balance between the familiar and the unfamiliar in design creations, which has also been observed in theories such as the Most Advanced Yet Acceptable (MAYA) theory. The MAYA theory emphasises the complexity and irony of incremental versus radical changes in renewing design language and technological systems for the future. By carefully observing classical cases of previous game-changing technological innovations, including their hype and acceptance curves, a model is proposed that illustrates how a radical design future may be achieved by tapping into emotional, ideological and interactive logic, rather than formalistic (material-based) design choices. This chapter highlights the role that culture and cultural discourse play in cognition and emotions when considering future technology design in terms of ‘thinking outside the box’.peerReviewe

Fiscal policy response to cycles under two regimes: Spain 1950–1998

In the second half of the 20th century Spain provides a case of political regime change which according to some political economy models should also lead to a shift in the cyclical nature of fiscal policy. We find that in most of the pre-democratic era there was a strong pro-cyclical bias to fiscal policy. Eradication began in the last years of the autocratic regime under the influence of fiscal institutional reform and perhaps learning. It was completed after the transition to democracy when counter-cyclical fiscal policy was reinforced in the late 1980s by membership of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. This experience, established by two separate econometric identification procedures, as well as a narrative drawing especially upon OECD and EIU reports, runs counter to the predictions of the political economy models of Lane (2003) and Alesina et al (2008)