“What’s that?” “What Went Wrong?” Positive and Negative Surprise and the Rostral–Ventral to Caudal–Dorsal Functional Gradient in the Brain

Medial prefrontal cortical (mPFC) functions may be aspects of ventral or dorsal control pathways, depending on the position along a rostral–ventral to caudal–dorsal gradient within medial cortex that may mirror the pattern of interconnections between cortex and striatum. Rostral–ventral mPFC is connected to ventral striatum and posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus are connected with dorsal striatum. Reentrant ventral (limbic), central (associative), and dorsal (motor) corticostriatal loops pass information from ventral-to-dorsal striatum, shifting hedonic processing toward habitual action. Splitting up unexpected occurrences (positive surprise) from non-occurrences (negative surprise) instead of splitting according to valence mirrors the importance of negative surprise in dorsal habitual control which is insensitive to the valence of outcomes. The importance of positive surprise and valence increases toward the rostral–ventral end of the gradient in mPFC and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. We discuss paradigms that may help to disentangle positive from negative surprise. Moreover, we think that the framework of the functional gradient may help giving various functions in mPFC their place in a larger scheme

A Potential Role of the Inferior Frontal Gyrus and Anterior Insula in Cognitive Control, Brain Rhythms, and Event-Related Potentials

In the present paper, we review evidence for of a model in which the inferior frontal gyrus/anterior insula (IFG/AI) area is involved in elaborate attentional and working memory processing and we present the hypothesis that this processing may take different forms and may have different effects, depending on the task at hand: (1) it may facilitate fast and accurate responding, or (2) it may cause slow responding when prolonged elaborate processing is required to increase accuracy of responding, or (3) it may interfere with accuracy and speed of next-trial (for instance, post-error) performance when prolonged elaborate processing interferes with processing of the next stimulus. We present our viewpoint that ventrolateral corticolimbic control pathways, including the IFG/AI, and mediodorsal corticolimbic control pathways, including dorsal anterior cingulate cortex areas, play partly separable, but interacting roles in adaptive behavior in environmental conditions that differ in the level of predictability: compared to dorsal feed-forward control, the ventral corticolimbic control pathways implement control over actions through higher responsiveness to momentary environmental stimuli. This latter control mode is associated with an attentional focus on stimuli that are urgent or close in time and space, while the former control mode is associated with a broader, more global focus in time and space. Both control pathways have developed extensively through evolution, and both developed their own “cognitive controls,” such that neither one can be properly described as purely “cognitive” or “emotional.” We discuss literature that suggests that the role of IFG/AI in top-down control is reflected in cortical rhythms and event-related potentials. Together, the literature suggests that the IFG/AI is an important node in brain networks that control cognitive and emotional processing and behavior

Home-literacy environments and language development in toddlers with Down syndrome

Introduction: The present study aimed to (1) characterize the home-literacy environments (HLE) of toddlers with Down syndrome (DS) and (2) examine if richness of the HLE, child engagement during shared storybook reading activities, quality of a caregiver-child shared storybook reading activity, and exposure to language in the home environment predicted child receptive vocabulary concurrently (Time 1) and 6 months later (Time 2). Methods: Participants were toddlers with DS (n = 13 at Time 1, 11–29 months of age; n = 10 at Time 2) and their mothers. Mothers completed a Home Literacy Environment Questionnaire at Time 1, which was used to characterize the HLE and to calculate two composite variables: richness of the HLE and child engagement in shared storybook reading. Also at Time 1, the home language environment was measured using adult word count from the LENA Recorder DLP©. The LENA was also used to audio-record and capture the quality of a caregiver-child storybook reading task in the child’s home using the book Dear Zoo. At both time points, mothers completed the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories, and the number of words understood variable was used to measure receptive vocabulary. Results/Discussion: Results indicated that toddlers with DS experience rich HLEs and interactive shared storybook reading encounters with their mothers. A multiple linear regression revealed that child engagement and the home language environment correlated with both toddlers’ concurrent and later receptive vocabularies, while the richness of the HLE and the shared storybook reading task emerged as moderate predictors of receptive vocabulary 6 months later

Brain Substrates of Behavioral Programs Associated with Self-Regulation

The present paper proposes that four neuromodulator systems underpin highly generalized behavioral sets, but each targets either dorsomedial or ventrolateral cortical systems, where it produces its effects in either a proactive or reactive orientation to the environment. This way systems are discriminated that control reactive approach (dopaminergic), reactive avoidance (cholinergic), proactive behavior (noradrenergic), and withdrawal (serotonergic). This model is compared with models of temperament, affect, personality, and so-called two-system models from psychology. Although the present model converges with previous models that point to a basic scheme underlying temperamental and affective space, at the same time it suggest that specific additional discriminations are necessary to improve descriptive fit to data and solve inconsistencies and confusions. We demonstrate how proactive and reactive actions and controls can be confused, and that this has many potential implications for psychology and neurobiology. We uncover conceptual problems regarding constructs such as effortful control, positive affect, approach-avoidance, extraversion, impulsivity, impulse-control, and goal-directedness of behavior. By delineating those problems, our approach also opens up ways to tackle them

Capital Structure Choices and Survival in a Deregulated Environment

We examine the impact of capital structure choices for survival in a deregulated industry. Financial leverage in particular has been identified by numerous prior studies as a major determinant of the probability of survival in most industries. In the course of a deregulation, the debt overhang effect stemming from high leverage negatively affects the ability of existing firms to survive when a regulatory shock occurs (Zingales, 1998). Following such a regulatory shock, and consistent with the tradeoff and debt overhang theories of capital structure, firms are more likely to reduce their level of leverage (Ovtchinnikov, 2010). This causes the expected costs of financial distress to rise higher and we can expect a negative association between leverage and survival in a deregulated industry. However, in a highly competitive setting, firms may signal their level of quality by contracting for more debt instead of equity (Ross, 1977). This signaling perspective can therefore induce the existence of a positive association between leverage and survival in a deregulated context. Using a sample of private trucking firms, we test this hypothesis and find a negative association between leverage and survival. In a refined analysis aimed at distinguishing high “quality” versus low “quality” firms, we adopt the “excess capacity” approach of De Vany and Saving (1977). Consistent with our initial findings, we find that the negative association between leverage and survival increases with the level of excess capacity

Technique for high axial shielding factor performance of large-scale, thin, open-ended, cylindrical Metglas magnetic shields

Metglas 2705M is a low-cost commercially-available, high-permeability Cobalt-based magnetic alloy, provided as a 5.08-cm wide and 20.3-$\mu$m thick ribbon foil. We present an optimized construction technique for single-shell, large-scale (human-size), thin, open-ended cylindrical Metglas magnetic shields. The measured DC axial and transverse magnetic shielding factors of our 0.61-m diameter and 1.83-m long shields in the Earth's magnetic field were 267 and 1500, for material thicknesses of only 122 $\mu$m (i.e., 6 foil layers). The axial shielding performance of our single-shell Metglas magnetic shields, obtained without the use of magnetic shaking techniques, is comparable to the performance of significantly thicker, multiple-shell, open-ended Metglas magnetic shields in comparable-magnitude, low-frequency applied external fields reported previously in the literature.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Cortisol-induced increases of plasma oxytocin levels predict decreased immediate free recall of unpleasant words

Cortisol and oxytocin have been shown to interact in both the regulation of stress responses and in memory function. In the present study we administered cortisol to 35 healthy female subjects in a within-subject double-blind placebo-controlled design, while measuring oxytocin levels, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels, and free recall of pleasant and of unpleasant words. We found that cortisol administration suppressed ACTH levels and (1) induced a decrease in oxytocin associated with ACTH suppression and (2) an increase in oxytocin that was independent from ACTH suppression. This cortisol-induced increase in plasma oxytocin was associated with a selective decrease in immediate free recall of unpleasant words from primacy positions. The present results add to evidence that cortisol-induced increases in oxytocin could mediate some of the effects of stress and cortisol on memory, and possibly play a role in the regulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary–adrenal stress response. This mechanism could significantly impact affective and social behaviors, in particular during times of stress.Mattie Tops, Femke T. A. Buisman-Pijlman, Maarten A. S. Boksem, Albertus A. Wijers and Jakob Kor

Methyl 6-azido-6-de­oxy-α-d-galactoside

The structure of the title compound, C7H13N3O5, was solved using data from a multiple fragment crystal. The galactoside ring adopts a 4 C 1 chair conformation. In the crystal, the molecules are linked by strong O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, which build linkages around the screw axis of the cell in a similar way to the iodo analogue. These C-5 and C-6 packing motifs expand to R 2 2(10), C 2 2(7) and C 2 2 2(8) motifs, as found in closely related compounds

Oxytocin Receptor Gene Associated with the Efficiency of Social Auditory Processing

Oxytocin has been shown to facilitate social aspects of sensory processing, thereby enhancing social communicative behaviors and empathy. Here we report that compared to the AA/AG genotypes, the presumably more efficient GG genotype of an oxytocin receptor gene polymorphism (OXTR rs53576) that has previously been associated with increased sensitivity of social processing is related to less self-reported difficulty in hearing and understanding people when there is background noise. The present result extends associations between oxytocin and social processing to the auditory and vocal domain. We discuss the relevance of our findings for autistic spectrum disorders (ASD), as ASD seems related to specific impairments in the orienting to, and selection of speech sounds from background noise, and some social processing impairments in patients with ASD have been found responsive to oxytocin treatment

Letters, Lumbees, and Lists

Book 12 of Readings in Bulloch County History is divided into three sections. The first is devoted primarily to correspondence and includes letters from Confederate soldier James Waters, Samuel W. Hodges, and a letter addressed to Rhoda Quinn in Wilkes County. These are followed by notes on the Hodges family by Smith Callaway Banks. The second section of this book is composed of two articles on the Lumbee Indians in Bulloch County, and the third section contains a history of Statesboro High School by Mattie Lively and an early roster of the school’s students and faculty.https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/bchs-pubs/1019/thumbnail.jp