Brain Lateralization of Emotional Processing in Depression

There are three major hypotheses regarding the lateralization of emotion in the brain—the right-hemisphere hypothesis (RHH), the valence hypothesis, and the approach-withdrawal hypothesis. The approach-withdrawal hypothesis, which is the most widely accepted, states that emotions that elicit approach behaviors are lateralized to the left hemisphere, while emotions that elicit withdrawal behaviors are lateralized to the right hemisphere. In line with this hypothesis, it has been found that persons with depression show left frontal hypoactivity and right frontal hyperactivity. This hemispheric asymmetry appears not to influence mood but rather emotional reactions to affective stimuli. That is, a person with such an asymmetry does not show a predominant negative mood, but rather heightened negative reactions to occurrences in the environment. The asymmetry may also be a biological marker of depression, with research evidence that it is found in remitted depressives and in infants of depressed mothers. Currently, research in this area focuses on identifying the mechanism underlying the link between the asymmetry and depression

IS THERE TREATMENT EFFECT OF VINPOCETINE ON AUTONOMIC DYSFUNCTION IN RATS WITH ALZHEIMER

Alzheimer's disease (AD) shows less autonomic dysfunction. There was lack of response or prolongation of its latency in skin sympathetic response. Vinpocetine is a classic inhibitor of PDE1 activity. Vinpocetine treatment has been shown to enhance performance on cognitive tests in humans. The efficacy of the use of vinpocetine in clinical trials has been controversial. A comparison of multiple studies evaluating vinpocetine use in Alzheimer's disease  AD was recently conducted. Objective: Our first aim was to assess dysautonomia in rat with Alzheimer's disease  AD electrophysiologically, using sympathetic skin response (SSR) test. The second aim in this study, evaluate of the effect of vinpocetine treatment on Alzheimer autonomic dysfunction and attention deficiency.Method: Rats were divided into four groups: Sham group (Group C, i.p. saline), Alzheimer group (Group A), Vinpocetine group (Group V, 5mg/kg, every other day, i.p.), Alzheimer+ Vinpocetine group (Group AV). Alzheimer's disease was induced in old male rats by AlCl3 (40 mg/kg i.p.) and D-Galactose (90 mg/kg) daily for 6 weeks. Then Skin Conductance Level (SCL), which is a sympathetic skin response parameter, was measured as tonic (no-stimuli period, 2 min) and phasic SSR (simultaneously with 15 auditory stimuli, 10 min). Tonic SSR is useful to investigate general states of arousal and alertness, while phasic SSR is useful to study multifaceted attentional processes (related to novelty, intensity). Results: SCL was difference among groups (tonic: F=21.47, p≤0.000; phasic: F=9.86, p≤0.000). Skin conductance level (SCL) was statistically lower in Group A than Group C (p≤0.005) and Group V (p≤0.000). SCL of Group V was statistically higher then Group C (p≤0.04), Group A (p≤0.000) and Group AV (p≤0.000). SCL of Group AV was lower than Group C's (p≤0.01). Conclusion: There were no statistically difference between Group A and Group AV. We concluded that autonomic disturbances accompanied Alzheimer's disease and vinpocetine treatment couldn't ameliorate this disturbance. Keywords: Autonomic dysfunction, Dysautonomia, Inhibitor, Skin conductance level, Sympathetic skin response Â

Cross-Cultural and Gender Measurement Invariance of the Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Emotional Competence Questionnaire

The Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Emotional Competence Questionnaire (IIECQ) was developed from the Emotional Skills and Competence Questionnaire, addressing some of its content issues. Measurement invariance of the two-factor IIECQ model (interpersonal and intrapersonal emotional competence factors) was examined across countries and gender groups using a sample of 998 students from five different countries (Slovenia, Russia, Croatia, India, and theCzech Republic). Our results supported partial scalar invariance of the IIECQ across countries with three items having varying intercepts in different countries. Scalar invariance was fully confirmed across gender groups. Latent means for the two IIECQ factors were compared between the five countries and the two gender groups. While men and women reported similar levels of intrapersonal and interpersonal emotional competences, significant differences were observed between some of the countries. To assess the construct validity of the IIECQ, correlations were examined between the IIECQ subscale scores and the measures of emotion regulation, personality, and well-being. In general, correlations were low to moderate and in accordance with expectations, showing adequate convergent validity of the new scales. Overall, the IIECQ represents a psychometrically sound measure of the intrapersonal and interpersonal emotional competences, which are measured in the same way across the five countries examined as well as across genders

Кашмірська мова: фонологічний нарис

Kashmiri is an Indo-Aryan language spoken predominantly in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India and in some parts of Pakistan. Some phonological and morphological features of this language make it peculiar among Indo-Aryan languages. This write-up provides a phonological sketch of Kashmiri. The description of Vowels and Consonants is given in order to build a general idea of the phonological system of the language. The process of nasalization is phonemic in Kashmiri. The aim of this write-up is to describe and show all the phonological features of the language, particularly those that are uniquely found in this language. In addition, an attempt has been made to describe and explain the various phonological processes such as Palatalization, Epenthesis and Elision, which occur in Kashmiri. All such processes are described with appropriate examples and the data comprising of lexemes and sounds for examples is primary data used by the author who is a native speaker of the language. Given to the peculiar features of this language, the process of homonymy, which is homographic in nature, is described with appropriate examples. Кашмірська мова – це індоарійська мова, якою здебільшого розмовляють у штатах Джамму й Кашмір у Індії, а також в деяких регіонах Пакистану. Деякі фонологічні та морфологічні відмінності цієї мови роблять її особливою серед індоарійських мов. У статті подано фонологічний нарис кашмірської мови. Опис голосних і приголосних представлено з метою побудови загального уявлення про фонологічну систему досліджу-ваної мови. Процес назалізації в кашмірській мові є фонемним. Метою цього дослідження є опис і відображення всіх фонологічних особливостей мови, особливо тих, які є унікальними в цій мові. Крім того, здійснено спробу опису й пояснення різних фонологічних процесів, таких як палаталізація, епентеза й елізія, які трапляються в досліджуваній мові. У цій статті всі згадані процеси описані з наведенням відповідних прикладів, а дані, що складаються з прикладів лексем і звуків, є первинними даними, які використані одним з авторів – носієм мови. Враховуючи особливі риси цієї мови, процес омонімії, який має гомографічний характер, описано за допомогою відповідних прикладів

Lower limb kinematics analysis during roundhouse kick among novices in muay thai

This study was conducted to examine the lower limb kinematics during roundhouse kick inMuayThai. Fifteen MuayThai novices (mean age = 21.52 ± 1.09 years old) with 2-3 monthsexperiences in MuayThai training were recruited and were asked to perform roundhouse kickfor each side of legs (dominant and non-dominant). Joint angles and velocity between thedominant and non-dominant lower limb were compared during both strikes. Dominant lowerlimb were shown to have greater hip flexion velocity, knee flexion velocity, ankle upward andlateral velocity compared to the non-dominant lower limb. Results demonstrated theasymmetries between dominant and non-dominant sides of lower limbs existed duringroundhouse kick among novices in MuayThai.Keywords: asymmetry, attacking strike, joint angle, velocity, novice

Reading alphasyllabic hindi: contributions from phonological and orthographic domains

Phonological and orthographic processing are important cognitive skills required in reading. The present study attempts to investigate the role of phonological processing and orthographic knowledge, in reading alphasyllabic Hindi orthography. The sample constituted 65 children from Grade 4. The result of hierarchical multiple regression indicated that the variance in reading fluency was significantly explained by phonological processing and orthographic knowledge measured through the tasks of rapid automatized naming, syllable deletion and dictation. The variance in reading accuracy was significantly explained only by orthographic knowledge measured through a dictation task. Phonological short-term memory showed significant correlations with all the reading measures but was non-significant in explaining the unique variance in reading. The limitation of the study and suggestions for future research is discussed

Perceived time varies with different predicted attributes

Predictability associated with an event influences its perceived time. However, the predictions generated about upcoming events can contain information related to different stimulus attributes such as stimulus identity, timing, or location. Based on the wealth of evidence suggesting a dissociable influence of different predictions at the behavioral and cortical levels, we sought to investigate the effect of different aspects of prediction on perceived time. Participants performed three paired-comparison time judgment tasks, each corresponding to different prediction attributes, whilst having their pupil size recorded. Preliminary analysis suggests that the events that matched the predicted identity and timing are perceived to be longer, with a lower sensitivity observed on events that appeared on unpredicted time. Further, the analysis of pupil size during the target presentation revealed a pattern of larger pupil size for the events that matched the predicted identity, as well as, for the events that appeared on unpredicted time. Overall, our results potentially suggest a dissociable influence of various kinds of predictions on perceived time

Investigation into Approximate Number System: Cognitive Underpinnings and Relationship with Arithmetic Fluency

The approximate number system, involved in the estimation of large numerosities, forms the basis for the development of mathematics ability. Although researchers have investigated the cognitive underpinnings of the approximate number system, the specific underlying cognitive abilities involved need better theorisation. There have also been conflicting findings regarding the relationship between the approximate number system and mathematics ability. Therefore, the current study had twofold objectives: 1) To investigate the cognitive underpinning of the approximate number system. 2) To test whether the approximate number system can predict mathematics ability. A total of 31 primary school children participated in the study. To measure approximate number system and mathematics ability, non-symbolic number comparison and arithmetic fluency tasks were used, respectively. Using repeated measure ANCOVA and multilinear regressions, results revealed that only inhibitory control played a significant role in the approximate number system. Furthermore, the approximate number system could not predict arithmetic fluency

Heterogeneity in choices on Iowa Gambling Task: preference for infrequent–high magnitude punishment

Decision-making, Individual differences, Information processing, Iowa Gambling Task, Reward-punishment,