Interactions between mood and the structure of semantic memory: event-related potentials evidence

Recent evidence suggests that affect acts as modulator of cognitive processes and in particular that induced mood has an effect on the way semantic memory is used on-line. We used event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine affective modulation of semantic information processing under three different moods: neutral, positive and negative. Fifteen subjects read 324 pairs of sentences, after mood induction procedure with 30 pictures of neutral, 30 pictures of positive and 30 pictures of neutral valence: 108 sentences were read in each mood induction condition. Sentences ended with three word types: expected words, within-category violations, and between-category violations. N400 amplitude was measured to the three word types under each mood induction condition. Under neutral mood, a congruency (more negative N400 amplitude for unexpected relative to expected endings) and a category effect (more negative N400 amplitude for between- than to within-category violations) were observed. Also, results showed differences in N400 amplitude for both within- and between-category violations as a function of mood: while positive mood tended to facilitate the integration of unexpected but related items, negative mood made their integration as difficult as unexpected and unrelated items. These findings suggest the differential impact of mood on access to long-term semantic memory during sentence comprehension.The authors would like to thank to all the participants of the study, as well as to Jenna Mezin and Elizabeth Thompson for their help with data collection. This work was supported by a Doctoral Grant from Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia - Portugal (SFRH/BD/35882/2007 to A. P. P.) and by the National Institute of Mental Health (RO1 MH 040799 to R. W. M.; RO3 MH 078036 to M.A.N.)

Resveratrol and Cancer: Focus on in vivo Evidence

Resveratrol is a naturally occurring polyphenol that provides a number of anti-aging health benefits including improved metabolism, cardioprotection, and cancer prevention. Much of the work on resveratrol and cancer comes from in vitro studies looking at resveratrol actions on cancer cells and pathways. There are, however, comparatively fewer studies that have investigated resveratrol treatment and cancer outcomes in vivo, perhaps limited by its poor bioavailability when taken orally. Although research in cell culture has shown promising and positive effects of resveratrol, evidence from rodents and humans is inconsistent. This review highlights the in vivo effects of resveratrol treatment on breast, colorectal, liver, pancreatic, and prostate cancers. Resveratrol supplementation in animal models of cancer has shown positive, neutral as well as negative outcomes depending on resveratrol route of administration, dose, tumor model, species, and other factors. Within a specific cancer type, there is variability between studies with respect to strain, age, and sex of animal used, timing and method of resveratrol supplementation, and dose of resveratrol used to study cancer endpoints. Together, the data suggest that many factors need to be considered before resveratrol can be used for human cancer prevention or therapy

Consensus Paper: Cerebellum and Social Cognition.

The traditional view on the cerebellum is that it controls motor behavior. Although recent work has revealed that the cerebellum supports also nonmotor functions such as cognition and affect, only during the last 5 years it has become evident that the cerebellum also plays an important social role. This role is evident in social cognition based on interpreting goal-directed actions through the movements of individuals (social "mirroring") which is very close to its original role in motor learning, as well as in social understanding of other individuals' mental state, such as their intentions, beliefs, past behaviors, future aspirations, and personality traits (social "mentalizing"). Most of this mentalizing role is supported by the posterior cerebellum (e.g., Crus I and II). The most dominant hypothesis is that the cerebellum assists in learning and understanding social action sequences, and so facilitates social cognition by supporting optimal predictions about imminent or future social interaction and cooperation. This consensus paper brings together experts from different fields to discuss recent efforts in understanding the role of the cerebellum in social cognition, and the understanding of social behaviors and mental states by others, its effect on clinical impairments such as cerebellar ataxia and autism spectrum disorder, and how the cerebellum can become a potential target for noninvasive brain stimulation as a therapeutic intervention. We report on the most recent empirical findings and techniques for understanding and manipulating cerebellar circuits in humans. Cerebellar circuitry appears now as a key structure to elucidate social interactions

Synthesis of pyrido [3,4-b] carbazole and pyrido [4,3-c] carbazole ring systems

Karbazol molekülünün a,b ve c yüzlerine, piridin molekülü 2,3 ve 3,4 bölgesinden bağlandığı zaman 6 adet kinolin, 6 adet izokinolin olmak üzere 12 adet izomerik pridokarbazol bileşiği meydana gelir. Bu çalışmada bir piridokarbazol türevi olan 1-metil-10H-pirido[3,4-b]karbazol, 1-fenil-10H-pirido[3,4-b]karbazol, 1-metil-7H-pirido[4,3-c]karbazol ve 1-fenil-7H-pirido[4,3-c]karbazol D tipi sentez planına göre sentezlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Bunun için ticari olarak satılan 4-okso siklohekzan karboksilat bileşiği başlangıç maddesi olarak kullanılmıştır. Ardışık sentez basamakları ile dördüncü halkanın oluşumu sağlanmaya çalışılarak piridokarbazol türevi sentezlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Ayrıca N-[2-(9H-karbazol-3-il)etil]asetamid ve N-[2-(9H-karbazol-3-il)etil]benzamid bileşikleri yeni türevlerin sentezlenmesine olanak sağlayacak bir ara ürün olarak sentezlenmiş ve yapıları aydınlatılmıştır. Sentezlenen maddelerin kromatografik yöntemlerle saflaştırılması yapılmış ve yapıları FT-IR ve 1H-NMR ile aydınlatılmıştır. The fusion of the carbazole nucleus at the a, b, and c positions with the pyridine ring at the 2,3- and 3,4-positions results in 12 isomeric pyridocarbazoles, six belonging to the quinoline and six to the isoquinoline series. In this study, 1-methyl-10H-pyrido[3,4-b]carbazole, 1-phenyl-10H-pyrido[3,4-b]carbazole, 1-methyl-7H-pyrido[4,3-c]carbazole and 1-phenyl-7H-pyrido[4,3-c]carbazole, which is a pyridocarbazole derivative, was synthesized via D type synthesis plan. So, for commercially selling 4-oxo cyclohexane carboxylate which was synthesized earlier was used as a starting compound. The pyridocarbazole derivative was synthesized by consecutive synthesis steps to form the forth cycle of this compound. N-[2-(9H-carbazole-3-il)etil]acetamide and N-[2-(9H-carbazole-3-il)etil]benzamide was also synthesized as a midproduct to synthesize new derivatives and its structure was exposed. Synthesized compounds were purified by using chromatographic methods and their structures were identified by using FT-IR and 1H-NMR