196 research outputs found
Resiting genre : a study of contemporary Italian travel writing in English translation
This thesis aims to highlight the presence of a large and varied production of contemporary
Italian travel writing and to analyse the reasons for its 'invisibility' in the Italian literary
system and critical tradition. Through the use of a comparative approach to genre and of
current theories developed in the area of Translation Studies, the thesis will outline the
different status attributed to travel writing in the Anglo-American and the Italian literary
systems. Such a comparative approach allows the study to escape the narrow confines of a
perspective based on the idea of national literature and to adopt a wider view, which, in
turn, highlights the presence of phenomena otherwise easily overlooked or discarded as
insignificant.
The peculiar characteristics of travel writing, a genre mostly based on the
representation of the Other for a home audience, are also analysed in order to point out their
affinity with translation practices and, ultimately, to underline the 'double translation'
implied by translated travel writing.
The case studies which make up the remaining part of the thesis are intended to
illustrate different aspects of the genre of travel writing; to provide scope for an analysis of
its boundaries and connections with other genres (ranging from ethnography to
autobiography, from journalism to fiction, from the essay to the novel); and to illustrate the
way in which generic expectations influence both the selection of texts for translation and
the strategies adopted when translating and marketing them for a new audience.
The writings of twentieth-century Italian explorers to Tibet, and their translations
into English, constitute a significant case of adaptation of foreign texts to the needs and
expectations of a British audience (and to the British interests in the geographical area
concerned).
The works of Oriana Fallaci and their different reception in Italy with respect to the
UK and the USA illustrate the way in which personal biography and generic choices can
intersect, determining both the popular image and the critical success of an author and of
her work.
Calvino's choice to sublimate the genre of travel writing in the stylized fiction of Le
citta invisibili is treated as an example of the way in which a text which is meant to provide
an escape from a low-status genre can become an icon of that same genre once it is
translated and read in a different cultural context.
Finally, the case of Claudio Magris's Danubio and of its English-language
translation provides evidence of the complex network of literary references which marks the
reception of a text in different cultures, and of the way in which generic affiliation can both
promote the recognition of a 'marginal' text and constrain its more idiosyncratic (and
original) characteristics
An ERP study of low and high relevance semantic features
It is believed that the N400 elicited by concepts belonging to Living is larger than N400 to Non-living. This is considered as evidence that concepts are organized, in the brain, on the basis of categories. We conducted a feature-verification experiment where Living and Non-living concepts were matched for relevance of semantic features. Relevance is a measure of the contribution of semantic features to the “core” meaning of a concept. We found that when relevance is low the N400 is large. In addition, we found that when the two categories of Living and Non-living are equated for relevance the seemingly category effect at behavioral and neural level disappeared. In sum, N400 is sensitive, rather than to categories, to semantic features, thus showing that previously reported effects of semantic categories may arise as a consequence of the differing relevance of concepts belonging to Living and Non-living categories
FEATURE TYPE EFFECTS IN SEMANTIC MEMORY: AN EVENT RELATED POTENTIALS STUDY
It is believed that the N400 elicited by concepts belonging to Living is larger than N400 to Objects. This is considered as evidence that concepts are organized, in the brain, on the basis of categories. Similarly, differential N400 to sensory and non-sensory semantic features was taken as evidence for a neural organisation of conceptual memory based on semantic features. We conducted a feature-verification experiment where Living and Non-Living concepts are described by sensory and non-sensory features were matched for age-of-acquisition, typicality and familiarity and for relevance of semantic features. Relevance is a measure of the contribution of semantic features to the “core” meaning of a concept. We found that when Relevance is low then N400 is larger. In addition, we found that when the two categories of Living and Non-Living concepts are matched for relevance the seemingly category effect at the neural level disappeared. Also no difference between sensory and non-sensory descriptions was detected when relevance was matched. In sum, N400 does not differ between categories or feature types. Previously reported effects of semantic categories and feature type may have arisen as a consequence of the differing Relevance of concepts belonging to Living and Non-Living categories
Time Course of the Neural Activity Related to Behavioral Decision-Making as Revealed by Event-Related Potentials
Objective: To study the time course of the electrocortical activity evoked by gains and
losses in the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), the brain sources of this electrical activity, and its
association with behavioral parameters of task performance in order to achieve a better
knowledge of decision-making processes.
Method: Event-related potentials (ERPs) were obtained from a 64-channel EEG in
25 participants when performing the IGT. Brain source localization analyses of the ERP
components were also assessed.
Results: ERP amplitudes were sensitive to gains and losses. An early fronto-central
negativity was elicited when feedback was provided for both gains and losses, and
correlated with the number of gains at FCz and with the number of both gains and
losses at Cz. The P200 component had larger amplitudes to losses and correlated
positively with the number of losses. Feedback related negativity (FRN) was higher at
frontal, temporal and occipital electrodes in trials with monetary losses. In addition, trials
with monetary losses elicited larger P300 magnitudes than trials with monetary gains at
all electrode localizations.
Conclusions: All ERP components (except P300) were related to participants’
performance in the IGT. Amplitudes of P200 and P300 were associated with the
conscious recognition of the error during the decision-making. Performance data and
source analysis underline the importance of the medial prefrontal cortex when processing
feedback about monetary losses in the IGT.This research was supported by grants from the Spanish
Ministry of Science and Innovation (Ministerio de Ciencia y
TecnologĂa), European Regional Development Funds (ERDF)
and Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness
(Ministerio de EconomĂa, Industria y Competitividad, Gobierno
de España). References: PSI2008-04394, PSI2017-88388-C4-1-R
and PSI2017-88388-C4-3-R
Influence of Audiovisual Training on Horizontal Sound Localization and Its Related ERP Response
The objective was to investigate the influence of audiovisual training on horizontal sound localization and the underlying neurological mechanisms using a combination of psychoacoustic and electrophysiological (i.e., event-related potential, ERP) measurements on sound localization. Audiovisual stimuli were used in the training group, whilst the control group was trained using auditory stimuli only. Training sessions were undertaken once per day for three consecutive days. Sound localization accuracy was evaluated daily after training, using psychoacoustic tests. ERP responses were measured on the first and last day of tasks. Sound localization was significantly improved in the audiovisual training group when compared to the control group. Moreover, a significantly greater reduction in front-back confusion ratio for both trained and untrained angles was found between pre- and post-test in the audiovisual training group. ERP measurement showed a decrease in N1 amplitude and an increase in P2 amplitude in both groups. However, changes in late components were only found in the audiovisual training group, with an increase in P400 amplitude and decrease in N500 amplitude. These results suggest that the interactive effect of audiovisual localization training is likely to be mediated at a relatively late cognitive processing stage
Sensory gating in primary insomnia
Although previous research indicates that sleep architecture is largely intact in primary insomnia (PI), the spectral content of the sleeping electroencephalographic trace and measures of brain metabolism suggest that individuals with PI are physiologically more aroused than good sleepers. Such observations imply that individuals with PI may not experience the full deactivation of sensory and cognitive processing, resulting in reduced filtering of external sensory information during sleep. To test this hypothesis, gating of sensory information during sleep was tested in participants with primary insomnia ( n  = 18) and good sleepers ( n  = 20). Sensory gating was operationally defined as (i) the difference in magnitude of evoked response potentials elicited by pairs of clicks presented during Wake and Stage II sleep, and (ii) the number of K complexes evoked by the same auditory stimulus. During wake the groups did not differ in magnitude of sensory gating. During sleep, sensory gating of the N350 component was attenuated and completely diminished in participants with insomnia. P450, which occurred only during sleep, was strongly gated in good sleepers, and less so in participants with insomnia. Additionally, participants with insomnia showed no stimulus-related increase in K complexes. Thus, PI is potentially associated with impaired capacity to filter out external sensory information, especially during sleep. The potential of using stimulus-evoked K complexes as a biomarker for primary insomnia is discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/79243/1/j.1460-9568.2010.07237.x.pd
Differences in social decision-making between proposers and responders during the ultimatum game: an eeg study
The Ultimatum Game (UG) is a typical paradigm to investigate social decision-making. Although the behavior of humans in this task is already well established, the underlying brain processes remain poorly understood. Previous investigations using event-related potentials (ERPs) revealed three major components related to cognitive processes in participants engaged in the responder condition, the early ERP component P2, the feedback-related negativity (FRN) and a late positive wave (late positive component, LPC). However, the comparison of the ERP waveforms between the responder and proposer conditions has never been studied. Therefore, to investigate condition-related electrophysiological changes, we applied the UG paradigm and compared parameters of the P2, LPC and FRN components in twenty healthy participants. For the responder condition, we found a significantly decreased amplitude and delayed latency for the P2 component, whereas the mean amplitudes of the LPC and FRN increased compared to the proposer condition. Additionally, the proposer condition elicited an early component consisting of a negative deflection around 190 ms, in the upward slope of the P2, probably as a result of early conflict-related processing. Using independent component analysis (ICA), we extracted one functional component time-locked to this deflection, and with source reconstruction (LAURA) we found the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) as one of the underlying sources. Overall, our findings indicate that intensity and time-course of neuronal systems engaged in the decision-making processes diverge between both UG conditions, suggesting differential cognitive processes. Understanding the electrophysiological bases of decision-making and social interactions in controls could be useful to further detect which steps are impaired in psychiatric patients in their ability to attribute mental states (such as beliefs, intents, or desires) to oneself and others. This ability is called mentalizing (also known as theory of mind)
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