Refinement of the crystal structure of holmium tetranickel boride, HoNi4B

BHoNi4, hexagonal, P6/mmm (No. 191), a = 4.9696(4) Å, c = 6.9419(5) Å, V= 148.5 Å3, Z= 2, ρm = 9.13(1) g·cm-3, R(P) = 0.072, wR(P) = 0.099, R(I) = 0.065, T= 300 K

The structure of algebraic covariant derivative curvature tensors

We use the Nash embedding theorem to construct generators for the space of algebraic covariant derivative curvature tensors

Social stimuli interfere with cognitive control in autism

Autism spectrum disorders are characterized by cognitive control deficits as well as impairments in social interactions. However, the brain mechanisms mediating the interactive effects of these deficits have not been addressed. We employed event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the effects of processing directional information from faces on activity within brain regions mediating cognitive control. High-functioning individuals with autism and age-, gender-, and IQ-matched neurotypical individuals attended to the direction of a centrally-presented arrow or gaze stimulus with similar flanker stimuli oriented in the same (“congruent”) or opposite (“incongruent”) direction. The incongruent arrow condition was examined to assess functioning of brain regions mediating cognitive control in a context without social-cognitive demands, whereas the incongruent gaze condition assessed functioning of the same brain regions in a social-cognitive context. Consistent with prior studies, the incongruent arrow condition recruited activity in bilateral midfrontal gyrus, right inferior frontal gyrus, bilateral intraparietal sulcus, and the anterior cingulate relative to the congruent arrow condition in neurotypical participants. Notably, there were not diagnostic group differences in patterns of regional fMRI activation in response to the arrow condition. However, while viewing the incongruent gaze stimuli, although neurotypical participants recruited the same brain regions, participants with autism showed marked hypoactivation in these areas. These findings suggest that processing social-cognitive stimuli interferes with functioning of brain regions recruited during cognitive control tasks in autism. Implications for research into cognitive control deficits in autism are discussed

Atypical modulation of cognitive control by arousal in autism

We examined the effects of viewing high-arousal pictures on regional brain activations elicited by a cognitive control task in participants with high-functioning autism and neurotypical controls. Specifically, using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging, we assessed the effects of brief presentations of highly arousing pictures (i.e., both very pleasant and very unpleasant) on the processing of stimuli requiring cognitive control. Similar to previous findings, when stimuli with high cognitive control demands were preceded by low-arousal pictures, individuals with autism demonstrated regional brain activations that were comparable to neurotypical control individuals. When the presentation of the cognitive control stimuli was preceded by high-arousal pictures, however, the control group was characterized by relatively greater activation in the right lateral midfrontal cortex in response to cognitive control stimuli. In contrast, preceding high-arousal stimuli did not modulate activity elicited in this region by cognitive control stimuli in the autism group. Differential modulation of right lateral midfrontal activation by high-arousal stimuli in autism is consistent with the “inefficiency model” of brain functioning in autism spectrum disorders, and contributes to a growing body of evidence that autism may be characterized by anomalous sensitivity of cognitive control brain regions to social-emotional context

OpenVirtualObjects: An open set of standardized and validated 3D household objects for virtual reality-based research, assessment, and therapy

Virtual reality (VR) technology provides clinicians, therapists, and researchers with new opportunities to observe, assess, and train behavior in realistic yet well-controlled environments. However, VR also comes with a number of challenges. For example, compared to more abstract experiments and tests on 2D computer screens, VR-based tasks are more complex to create, which can make it more expensive and time-consuming. One way to overcome these challenges is to create, standardize, and validate VR content and to make it openly available for researchers and clinicians. Here we introduce the OpenVirtualObjects (OVO), a set of 124 realistic 3D household objects that people encounter and use in their everyday lives. The objects were rated by 34 younger and 25 older adults for recognizability, familiarity, details (i.e., visual complexity), contact, and usage (i.e., frequency of usage in daily life). All participants also named and categorized the objects. We provide the data and the experiment- and analysis code online. With OVO, we hope to facilitate VR-based research and clinical applications. Easy and free availability of standardized and validated 3D objects can support systematic VR-based studies and the development of VR-based diagnostics and therapeutic tools

OpenVirtualObjects (OVO): An open set of standardized and validated 3D household objects for virtual reality-based research, assessment, and therapy

Virtual reality (VR) technology provides clinicians, therapists, and researchers with new opportunities to observe, assess, and train behaviour in realistic yet well-controlled environments. However, VR also comes with a number of challenges. For example, compared to more abstract experiments and tests on 2D computer screens, VR-based tasks are more complex to create, which can make it more expensive and time-consuming. One way to overcome these challenges is to create, standardize, and validate VR content and to make it openly available for researchers and clinicians. Here we introduce the OpenVirtualObjects (OVO), a set of 124 realistic 3D household objects that people encounter and use in their everyday lives. The objects were rated by 34 younger and 25 older adults for recognizability, familiarity, details (i.e., visual complexity), contact, and usage (i.e., frequency of usage in daily life). All participants also named and categorized the objects. We provide the data and the experiment- and analysis code online. With OVO, we hope to facilitate VR-based research and clinical applications. Easy and free availability of standardized and validated 3D objects can support systematic VR-based studies and the development of VR-based diagnostics and therapeutic tools

The Neural Circuitry Mediating Shifts in Behavioral Response and Cognitive Set in Autism

Recent studies have suggested that the social and cognitive impairments in autism are associated with neural processing deficits in specific brain regions. However, these studies have primarily focused on neural systems responsible for face processing and social behaviors. Although repetitive, stereotyped behaviors are a hallmark of autism, little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying these behaviors in the disorder

Neural Correlates of Automatic and Controlled Auditory Processing in Schizophrenia

Individuals with schizophrenia demonstrate impairments in selective attention and sensory processing. The authors assessed differences in brain function between 26 participants with schizophrenia and 17 comparison subjects engaged in automatic (unattended) and controlled (attended) auditory information processing using event-related functional MRI. Lower regional neural activation during automatic auditory processing in the schizophrenia group was not confined to just the temporal lobe, but also extended to prefrontal regions. Controlled auditory processing was associated with a distributed frontotemporal and subcortical dysfunction. Differences in activation between these two modes of auditory information processing were more pronounced in the comparison group than in the patient group