Les transports aux Cent-îles du lac Saint-Pierre : l’équilibre ou l’éclatement d’un pays

L'évolution des modes de transports aux Cent-îles du lac Saint-Pierre a amené l'ouverture permanente de l'archipel et par conséquent la dépendance accrue devant les zones riveraines plus développées. Les premiers modes de transport qui ont été élaborés aux îles ont d'abord surtout répondu aux besoins mêmes des insulaires et se sont donc institués en fonction des activités rurales propres à l'archipel. Les zones résidentielles étaient d'une part reliées entre elles par un réseau de chemins et de traverses de chalands et d'autre part avec les îles de l'écoumène d'exploitation par un réseau complexe de communications par terre et par eau. Cependant, en 1938, un réseau de ponts fut établi reliant les îles du nord à la rive gauche du Saint-Laurent et facilitant ainsi le lien entre les établissements riverains de Berthier et de Sorel : un nouvel axe résidentiel allait donc se développer le long du lien routier insulaire. Alors que les rangs se dépeuplaient ou voyaient leur fonction agricole péricliter, l'axe de communication Berthier-Sorel prenait de l'importance, ce qui doit être associé au succès considérable du service de traversiers entre l'île Saint-Ignace et Sorel. L'essor du rôle de pont entre les deux rives que jouaient les îles du nord a cependant été sérieusement remis en question lors de la construction, en 1967, d'un pont à Trois-Rivières et d'un tunnel à l'est de Montréal. La solution proposée par plusieurs quant à la construction d'un nouveau pont traversant et desservant complètement l'archipel, pour des fins touristiques entre autres, doit être remise en question car elle contribuerait à une érosion prématurée des caractéristiques paysagiques, culturelles et même économiques de ce milieu original que constituent les Cent-lles.The evolution of means of transport in the Hundred Islands of lake Saint-Peter has led to the permanent opening of this insular world and to an increased dependency on the surrounding more developed regions. The original means of transports within the islands were primarily developed for the needs of the residents and were therefore in close harmony with the local agricultural activities. The residential areas were, on the one hand, linked to each other by a network of roads and barge crossings and, on the other hand, with the agricultural areas by a complex network of land and water communications. However, in 1938 a network of bridges was constructed linking the northern islands to the left shore of the Saint-Lawrence thus ensuring a better link between Berthier and Sorel ; a new residential axis was thus formed on the islands. While the agricultural activities began dwindiing in the islands, the communication function of the new axis was prospering, this being linked to the remarkable growth of ferry traffic between Sorel and the island of Saint-Ignace. However, this growth was seriously checked, and traffic actually dropped when, in 1967, a new bridge was built across the Saint-Lawrence at Three Rivers and a tunnel was dug under the river, east of Montréal. The construction of another bridge spanning the entire group of islands and facilitating the development of the tourist industry has been considered. This must be seriously questioned for it would surely lead to an accelerated erosion of the major picturesque, cultural and even economic characteristics of the original milieu represented by the Hundred Islands

Automatic Dream Sentiment Analysis

In this position paper, we propose a first step toward automatic analysis of sentiments in dreams. 100 dreams were sampled from a dream bank created for a normative study of dreams. Two human judges assigned a score to describe dream sentiments. We ran four baseline algorithms in an attempt to automate the rating of sentiments in dreams. Particularly, we compared the General Inquirer (GI) tool, the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC), a weighted version of the GI lexicon and of the HM lexicon and a standard bag-of-words. We show that machine learning allows automating the human judgment with accuracy superior to majority class choice

A novel approach to dream content analysis reveals links between learning-related dream incorporation and cognitive abilities

© 2018 Fogel, Ray, Sergeeva, De Koninck and Owen. Can dreams reveal insight into our cognitive abilities and aptitudes (i.e., human intelligence )? The relationship between dream production and trait-like cognitive abilities is the foundation of several long-standing theories on the neurocognitive and cognitive-psychological basis of dreaming. However, direct experimental evidence is sparse and remains contentious. On the other hand, recent research has provided compelling evidence demonstrating a link between dream content and new learning, suggesting that dreams reflect memory processing during sleep. It remains to be investigated whether the extent of learning-related dream incorporation (i.e., the semantic similarity between waking experiences and dream content) is related to inter-individual differences in cognitive abilities. The relationship between pre-post sleep memory performance improvements and learning-related dream incorporation was investigated (N = 24) to determine if this relationship could be explained by inter-individual differences in intellectual abilities (e.g., reasoning, short term memory (STM), and verbal abilities). The extent of dream incorporation using a novel and objective method of dream content analysis, employed a computational linguistic approach to measure the semantic relatedness between verbal reports describing the experience on a spatial (e.g., maze navigation) or a motor memory task (e.g., tennis simulator) with subsequent hypnagogic reverie dream reports and waking daydream reports, obtained during a daytime nap opportunity. Consistent with previous studies, the extent to which something new was learned was related (r = 0.47) to how richly these novel experiences were incorporated into the content of dreams. This was significant for early (the first 4 dream reports) but not late dreams (the last 4 dream reports). Notably, here, we show for the first time that the extent of this incorporation for early dreams was related (r = 0.41) to inter-individual differences in reasoning abilities. On the other hand, late dream incorporation was related (r = 0.46) to inter-individual differences in verbal abilities. There was no relationship between performance improvements and intellectual abilities, and thus, inter-individual differences in cognitive abilities did not mediate the relationship between performance improvements and dream incorporation; suggesting a direct relationship between reasoning abilities and dream incorporation. This study provides the first evidence that learning-related dream production is related to inter-individual differences in cognitive abilities

Du divan au laboratoire. Quelques perspectives contemporaines en psychologie du rêve

Du divan au laboratoireQuelques perspectives contemporaines en psychologie du rêveCet exposé présente quelques-unes des perspectives contemporaines en psychologie du rêve. Une première s'intéresse à l'étude expérimentale de l'activité mentale au cours du sommeil. Deux courants concernant son approche phénoménologique sont ensuite présentés. Le premier conçoit le rêve comme un reflet de la culture, de la personnalité et de l'état psychologique momentané. L'étude quantitative du contenu manifeste du rêve en fonction du sexe, des rôles sociaux, de l'âge et de la culture est illustrée par les recherches des auteurs. Un autre courant qui met l'accent sur le rêve comme mode de connaissance et d'actualisation de soi s'insère dans un discours therapeutique expérientiel ou existentiel. Chaque approche est brièvement discutée.From Couch to LaboratorySome Contemporary Perspectives in Dream PsychologyAn overview of différent contemporary perspectives in dream psychology is presented. One is devoted to the expérimental investigation of mentation during sleep. The phenomenology of dreams is examined from two perspectives. The first one, based on the notion of continuity between waking and dreaming, studies the dreams as reflection of culture, personality and psychological states. The quantitative analysis of manifest dream content is surveyed, with respect to the influence of gender, social rôles, age and culture. Examples from the authors' research are provided. Finally, dream is presented as a way of knowing and actualizing the Self. Theoretical foundations are anchored in experiential and existential schools of psychotherapy. Each perspective is briefly discussed

Using heart rate profiles during sleep as a biomarker of depression

Background: Abnormalities in heart rate during sleep linked to impaired neuro-cardiac modulation may provide new information about physiological sleep signatures of depression. This study assessed the validity of an algorithm using patterns of heart rate changes during sleep to discriminate between individuals with depression and healthy controls. Methods: A heart rate profiling algorithm was modeled using machine-learning based on 1203 polysomnograms from individuals with depression referred to a sleep clinic for the assessment of sleep abnormalities, including insomnia, excessive daytime fatigue, and sleep-related breathing disturbances (n = 664) and mentally healthy controls (n = 529). The final algorithm was tested on a distinct sample (n = 174) to categorize each individual as depressed or not depressed. The resulting categorizations were compared to medical record diagnoses. Results: The algorithm had an overall classification accuracy of 79.9% [sensitivity: 82.8, 95% CI (0.73–0.89), specificity: 77.0, 95% CI (0.67–0.85)]. The algorithm remained highly sensitive across subgroups stratified by age, sex, depression severity, comorbid psychiatric illness, cardiovascular disease, and smoking status. Conclusions: Sleep-derived heart rate patterns could act as an objective biomarker of depression, at least when it cooccurs with sleep disturbances, and may serve as a complimentary objective diagnostic tool. These findings highlight the extent to which some autonomic functions are im

Recurrent, Robust and Scalable Patterns Underlie Human Approach and Avoidance

BACKGROUND. Approach and avoidance behavior provide a means for assessing the rewarding or aversive value of stimuli, and can be quantified by a keypress procedure whereby subjects work to increase (approach), decrease (avoid), or do nothing about time of exposure to a rewarding/aversive stimulus. To investigate whether approach/avoidance behavior might be governed by quantitative principles that meet engineering criteria for lawfulness and that encode known features of reward/aversion function, we evaluated whether keypress responses toward pictures with potential motivational value produced any regular patterns, such as a trade-off between approach and avoidance, or recurrent lawful patterns as observed with prospect theory. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS. Three sets of experiments employed this task with beautiful face images, a standardized set of affective photographs, and pictures of food during controlled states of hunger and satiety. An iterative modeling approach to data identified multiple law-like patterns, based on variables grounded in the individual. These patterns were consistent across stimulus types, robust to noise, describable by a simple power law, and scalable between individuals and groups. Patterns included: (i) a preference trade-off counterbalancing approach and avoidance, (ii) a value function linking preference intensity to uncertainty about preference, and (iii) a saturation function linking preference intensity to its standard deviation, thereby setting limits to both. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE. These law-like patterns were compatible with critical features of prospect theory, the matching law, and alliesthesia. Furthermore, they appeared consistent with both mean-variance and expected utility approaches to the assessment of risk. Ordering of responses across categories of stimuli demonstrated three properties thought to be relevant for preference-based choice, suggesting these patterns might be grouped together as a relative preference theory. Since variables in these patterns have been associated with reward circuitry structure and function, they may provide a method for quantitative phenotyping of normative and pathological function (e.g., psychiatric illness).National Institute on Drug Abuse (14118, 026002, 026104, DABK39-03-0098, DABK39-03-C-0098); The MGH Phenotype Genotype Project in Addiction and Mood Disorder from the Office of National Drug Control Policy - Counterdrug Technology Assessment Center; MGH Department of Radiology; the National Center for Research Resources (P41RR14075); National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (34189, 05236

Cannabinoids: Revealing their complexity and role in central networks of fear and anxiety

The first aim of the present review is to provide an in-depth description of the cannabinoids and their known effects at various neuronal receptors. It reveals that cannabinoids are highly diverse, and recent work has highlighted that their effects on the central nervous system (CNS) are surprisingly more complex than previously recognized. Cannabinoid-sensitive receptors are widely distributed throughout the CNS where they act as primary modulators of neurotransmission. Secondly, we examine the role of cannabinoid receptors at key brain sites in the control of fear and anxiety. While our understanding of how cannabinoids specifically modulate these networks is mired by their complex interactions and diversity, a plausible framework(s) for their effects is proposed. Finally, we highlight some important knowledge gaps in our understanding of the mechanism(s) responsible for their effects on fear and anxiety in animal models and their use as therapeutic targets in humans. This is particularly important for our understanding of the phytocannabinoids used as novel clinical interventions

Novel Measures to Assess the Effects of Partial Sleep Deprivation on Sensory, Working, and Permanent Memory

Sleepiness has repeatedly been demonstrated to affect performance on a variety of cognitive tasks. While the effects of total sleep deprivation (TSD) have been extensively studied, acute partial sleep deprivation (PSD), a more frequent form of sleep loss, has been studied much less often. The present study examined the effects of sleep deprivation on novel tasks involving classic sensory, working, and permanent memory systems. While the tasks did implicate different memory systems, they shared a need for effortful, sustained attention to maintain successful performance. Because of the novelty of the tasks, an initial study of the effects of TSD was carried out. The effects of PSD were subsequently examined in a second study, in which subjects were permitted only 4 h of sleep. A general detrimental effect of both total and PSD on accuracy of detection was observed and to a lesser extent, a slowing of the speed of responding on the different tasks. This overall effect is best explained by the often-reported inability to sustain attention following sleep loss. Specific effects on distinct cognitive processes were also observed, and these were more apparent following total than PSD

Creation of a shortened version of the Sleep Disorders Questionnaire (SDQ).

The 176-item Sleep Disorders Questionnaire (SDQ) was initially developed using canonical discriminant function analysis on 4 groups of sleep disorder patients, but it was never studied by factor analysis in its entirety. Several authors have criticized 2 of its subscales as being confounded with each other, and its narcolepsy scale as substantially over-diagnosing narcolepsy. This study describes its first exploratory factor analysis (EFA), the intent of which was to reassess item membership on the 4 existing subscales and to derive new scales to improve differential diagnosis between patient groups. It was also hoped that EFA could reduce the total number of questions, to increase speed of completion. The EFA was performed on the anonymized SDQ results from a retrospective review of the charts of 2131 persons from 7 sleep disorders clinics and research centers. Factors were assessed via scree plots and eigenvalues. The EFA identified four main factors: insomnia, daytime sleepiness, substance use, and sleep-disordered breathing. The insomnia factor had 3 subfactors: psychological symptoms of insomnia, subjective description of insomnia, and insomnia due to periodic limb movements. The sleepiness factor had two subfactors: daytime sleepiness and neurological symptoms of narcolepsy. The novel substance use factor was homogeneous, as was the sleep-disordered breathing factor. Importantly, the EFA reassigned items from the original SDQ's NAR, PSY, and PLM subscales to five of the new subscales. The Sleep Apnea (SA) subscale emerged mostly unchanged. The 7 resulting factors comprised only 66 items of the original 176-item SDQ. These results have allowed the creation of a new shorter questionnaire, to be called the SDQ-2. External validation of the SDQ-2 is currently underway. It will likely prove to be a superior differential diagnostic instrument for sleep disorders clinics, compared to the original SDQ