The Selectivity and Functional Connectivity of the Anterior Temporal Lobes

One influential account asserts that the anterior temporal lobe (ATL) is a domain-general hub for semantic memory. Other evidence indicates it is part of a domain-specific social cognition system. Arbitrating these accounts using functional magnetic resonance imaging has previously been difficult because of magnetic susceptibility artifacts in the region. The present study used parameters optimized for imaging the ATL, and had subjects encode facts about unfamiliar people, buildings, and hammers. Using both conjunction and region of interest analyses, person-selective responses were observed in both the left and right ATL. Neither building-selective, hammer-selective nor domain-general responses were observed in the ATLs, although they were observed in other brain regions. These findings were supported by “resting-state” functional connectivity analyses using independent datasets from the same subjects. Person-selective ATL clusters were functionally connected with the brain's wider social cognition network. Rather than serving as a domain-general semantic hub, the ATLs work in unison with the social cognition system to support learning facts about others

Augustine\u27s De Trinitate and Its Transmission into the Thought of William St. Thierry

This paper demonstrates the influence and transmission of Augustine\u27s treatise De Trinitate into the 12th century, particularly in the thought of William of St. Thierry, a Benedictine abbot who became a Cistercian through the influence of his friend and fellow Cistercian Bernard of Clairvaux. My method was to survey William\u27s schema of spiritual life and then to identify parallels and influences from Augustine. As such, this paper uses a contrast and comparison approach for this textual study