Spontaneous and deliberate future thinking: A dual process account

© 2019 Springer Nature.This is the final published version of an article published in Psychological Research, licensed under a Creative Commons Attri-bution 4.0 International License. Available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-019-01262-7.In this article, we address an apparent paradox in the literature on mental time travel and mind-wandering: How is it possible that future thinking is both constructive, yet often experienced as occurring spontaneously? We identify and describe two ‘routes’ whereby episodic future thoughts are brought to consciousness, with each of the ‘routes’ being associated with separable cognitive processes and functions. Voluntary future thinking relies on controlled, deliberate and slow cognitive processing. The other, termed involuntary or spontaneous future thinking, relies on automatic processes that allows ‘fully-fledged’ episodic future thoughts to freely come to mind, often triggered by internal or external cues. To unravel the paradox, we propose that the majority of spontaneous future thoughts are ‘pre-made’ (i.e., each spontaneous future thought is a re-iteration of a previously constructed future event), and therefore based on simple, well-understood, memory processes. We also propose that the pre-made hypothesis explains why spontaneous future thoughts occur rapidly, are similar to involuntary memories, and predominantly about upcoming tasks and goals. We also raise the possibility that spontaneous future thinking is the default mode of imagining the future. This dual process approach complements and extends standard theoretical approaches that emphasise constructive simulation, and outlines novel opportunities for researchers examining voluntary and spontaneous forms of future thinking.Peer reviewe

Your space or mine? : Mapping self in time

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Leptin Administration Favors Muscle Mass Accretion by Decreasing FoxO3a and Increasing PGC-1α in ob/ob Mice

Absence of leptin has been associated with reduced skeletal muscle mass in leptin-deficient ob/ob mice. The aim of our study was to examine the effect of leptin on the catabolic and anabolic pathways regulating muscle mass. Gastrocnemius, extensor digitorum longus and soleus muscle mass as well as fiber size were significantly lower in ob/ob mice compared to wild type littermates, being significantly increased by leptin administration (P<0.001). This effect was associated with an inactivation of the muscle atrophy-related transcription factor forkhead box class O3 (FoxO3a) (P<0.05), and with a decrease in the protein expression levels of the E3 ubiquitin-ligases muscle atrophy F-box (MAFbx) (P<0.05) and muscle RING finger 1 (MuRF1) (P<0.05). Moreover, leptin increased (P<0.01) protein expression levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α), a regulator of muscle fiber type, and decreased (P<0.05) myostatin protein, a negative regulator of muscle growth. Leptin administration also activated (P<0.01) the regulators of cell cycle progression proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and cyclin D1, and increased (P<0.01) myofibrillar protein troponin T. The present study provides evidence that leptin treatment may increase muscle mass of ob/ob mice by inhibiting myofibrillar protein degradation as well as enhancing muscle cell proliferation

Adaptação transcultural para o Brasil do instrumento Caregiver Abuse Screen (CASE) para detecção de violência de cuidadores contra idosos Cross-cultural adaptation to Brazil of the instrument Caregiver Abuse Screen (CASE) for detection of abuse of the elderly by caregivers

Este artigo descreve a primeira parte da adaptação transcultural da versão em português, para o Brasil, do Caregiver Abuse Screen (CASE), um instrumento simplificado para suspeição de violência contra o idoso. O CASE foi originalmente desenvolvido no Canadá e utilizado para rastrear violências em idosos entrevistando seus cuidadores. O processo de avaliação de equivalências conceitual e de itens, que envolveu uma ampla e sistemática revisão bibliográfica, consistiu de uma discussão em grupo de expertos. A equivalência semântica envolveu duas traduções e respectivas retraduções em paralelo; uma avaliação de equivalência de significados referencial e geral entre o CASE original e as versões em português; discussões posteriores com o grupo de expertos para definir a versão final; e um pré-teste com quarenta cuidadores de pacientes idosos em um serviço de atendimento ambulatorial de geriatria. Foi possível estabelecer uma versão em português para o Brasil com boa qualidade de equivalência conceitual, de itens e semântica. Embora os resultados aqui descritos sejam encorajadores, eles devem ser reavaliados à luz de evidências psicométricas (equivalência de mensuração) que oportunamente serão apresentadas por este grupo de estudo.<br>This first of two papers focuses on the first part in the cross-cultural adaptation of the Portuguese-language version of Caregiver Abuse Screen (CASE), a brief instrument for detecting domestic violence against the elderly. CASE was originally developed in Canada and used to screen violence against the elderly by interviewing their caregivers. Besides a broad literature review, the evaluation of conceptual and item equivalences involved expert discussion groups. Semantic equivalence included the following steps: two translations and respective back-translations; an evaluation of referential and general (connotative) equivalence between the original instrument and each version; further discussions with experts in order to define the final version; and pre-testing the latter in 40 caregivers of elderly subjects in an outpatient geriatric clinic. It was possible to establish high-quality conceptual, item, and semantic equivalence for the Portuguese-language version. Although the results shown here were encouraging, they should be reevaluated in light of a forthcoming psychometric analysis (measurement equivalence) to be performed by the research group

Isolation of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) inhibitors from frankincense using a molecularly imprinted polymer

Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1 (HIF-1), a transcriptional activator, is highly involved in the pathology of cancer. Inhibition of HIF-1 retards tumor growth and enhances treatment efficiency when used in combination with chemo- or radiation therapy. The recent validation of HIF-1 as an important drug target in cancer treatment has stimulated efforts to identify and isolate natural or synthetic HIF-1 inhibitors. In the present study, quercetin, a known inhibitor of HIF-1, was imprinted in a polymer matrix in order to prepare a Molecularly Imprinted Polymer (MIP), which was subsequently used for the selective isolation of new inhibitors from frankincense, a gum resin used as anticancer remedy in traditional medicine. The frankincense components isolated by Solid Phase Extraction on MIP (MIP-SPE), efficiently inhibited the transcriptional activity of HIF-1 and decreased the protein levels of HIF-1 alpha, the regulated subunit of HIF-1. The selective retention of acetyl 11-ketoboswellic acid (AKBA, one of the main bioactive components of frankincense) by MIP led to the revealing of its inhibitory activity on the HIF-1 signaling pathway. AKBA was selectively retained by SPE on the quercetin imprinted polymer, with an imprinting effect of 8.1 +/- 4.6. Overall, this study demonstrates the potential of MIP application in the screening, recognition and isolation of new bioactive compounds that aim selected molecular targets, a potential that has been poorly appreciated until