1,863 research outputs found
Audio-visual speech perception: a developmental ERP investigation
Being able to see a talking face confers a considerable advantage for speech perception in adulthood. However, behavioural data currently suggest that children fail to make full use of these available visual speech cues until age 8 or 9. This is particularly surprising given the potential utility of multiple informational cues during language learning. We therefore explored this at the neural level. The event-related potential (ERP) technique has been used to assess the mechanisms of audio-visual speech perception in adults, with visual cues reliably modulating auditory ERP responses to speech. Previous work has shown congruence-dependent shortening of auditory N1/P2 latency and congruence-independent attenuation of amplitude in the presence of auditory and visual speech signals, compared to auditory alone. The aim of this study was to chart the development of these well-established modulatory effects over mid-to-late childhood. Experiment 1 employed an adult sample to validate a child-friendly stimulus set and paradigm by replicating previously observed effects of N1/P2 amplitude and latency modulation by visual speech cues; it also revealed greater attenuation of component amplitude given incongruent audio-visual stimuli, pointing to a new interpretation of the amplitude modulation effect. Experiment 2 used the same paradigm to map cross-sectional developmental change in these ERP responses between 6 and 11 years of age. The effect of amplitude modulation by visual cues emerged over development, while the effect of latency modulation was stable over the child sample. These data suggest that auditory ERP modulation by visual speech represents separable underlying cognitive processes, some of which show earlier maturation than others over the course of development
Dielectric (p,q) Strings in a Throat
We calculate the (p,q) string spectrum in a warped deformed conifold using
the dielectric brane method. The spectrum is shown to have the same functional
form as in the dual picture of a wrapped D3-brane with electric and magnetic
fluxes on its world volume. The agreement is exact in the limit where q is
large. We also calculate the dielectric spectrum in the S-dual picture. The
spectrum in the S-dual picture has the same form as in the original picture but
it is not exactly S-dual invariant due to an interchange of Casimirs of the
non-Abelian gauge symmetries. We argue that in order to restore S-duality
invariance the non-Abelian brane action should be refined, probably by a better
prescription for the non-Abelian trace operation
D-Brane Dynamics and NS5 Rings
We consider the classical motion of a probe D-brane moving in the background
geometry of a ring of NS5 branes, assuming that the latter are non-dynamical.
We analyse the solutions to the Dirac-Born-Infield (DBI) action governing the
approximate dynamics of the system. In the near horizon (throat) approximation
we find several exact solutions for the probe brane motion. These are compared
to numerical solutions obtained in more general cases. One solution of
particular interest is when the probe undergoes oscillatory motion through the
centre of the ring (and perpendicular to it). By taking the ring radius
sufficiently large, this solution should remain stable to any stringy
corrections coming from open-strings stretching between the probe and the
NS5-branes along the ring.Comment: 17 pages, Latex, 8 figures; References adde
D-brane dynamics near compactified NS5-branes
We examine the dynamics of a -brane in the background of coincident,
parallel 5-branes which have had one of their common transverse directions
compactified. We find that for small energy, bound orbits can exist at
sufficiently large distances where there will be no stringy effects. The orbits
are dependent upon the energy density, angular momentum and electric field. The
analysis breaks down at radial distances comparable with the compactification
radius and we must resort to using a modified form of the harmonic function in
this region.Comment: Latex, 20 pages, 6 figs, references adde
Fuzzy Sphere Dynamics and Non-Abelian DBI in Curved Backgrounds
We consider the non-Abelian action for the dynamics of -branes in the
background of -branes, which parameterises a fuzzy sphere using the SU(2)
algebra. We find that the curved background leads to collapsing solutions for
the fuzzy sphere except when we have branes in the background, which
is a realisation of the gravitational Myers effect. Furthermore we find the
equations of motion in the Abelian and non-Abelian theories are identical in
the large limit. By picking a specific ansatz we find that we can
incorporate angular momentum into the action, although this imposes restriction
upon the dimensionality of the background solutions. We also consider the case
of non-Abelian non-BPS branes, and examine the resultant dynamics using
world-volume symmetry transformations. We find that the fuzzy sphere always
collapses but the solutions are sensitive to the combination of the two
conserved charges and we can find expanding solutions with turning points. We
go on to consider the coincident 5-brane background, and again construct
the non-Abelian theory for both BPS and non-BPS branes. In the latter case we
must use symmetry arguments to find additional conserved charges on the
world-volumes to solve the equations of motion. We find that in the Non-BPS
case there is a turning solution for specific regions of the tachyon and radion
fields. Finally we investigate the more general dynamics of fuzzy
in the -brane background, and find collapsing solutions
in all cases.Comment: 49 pages, 3 figures, Latex; Version to appear in JHE
Geometrical Tachyon Kinks and NS5 Branes
We further investigate the 5 ring background using the tachyon map.
Mapping the radion fields to the rolling tachyon helps to explain the motion of
a probe -brane in this background. It turns out that the radion field
becomes tachyonic when the brane is confined to one dimensional motion inside
the ring. We find explicit solutions for the geometrical tachyon field that
describe stable kink solutions which are similar to those of the open string
tachyon. Interestingly in the case of the geometric tachyon, the dynamics is
controlled by a cosine potential. In addition, we couple a constant electric
field to the probe-brane, but find that the only stable kink solutions occur
when there is zero electric field or a critical field value. We also
investigate the behaviour of Non-BPS branes in this background, and find that
the end state of any probe brane is that of tachyonic matter 'trapped' around
the interior of the ring. We conclude by considering compactification of the
ring solution in one of the transverse directions.Comment: Latex, 24 pages, 1 eps fig; clarifying comments added to Section 2;
typos correcte
Glycine and GABAA receptors mediate tonic and phasic inhibitory processes that contribute to prepulse inhibition in the goldfish startle network
Prepulse inhibition (PPI) is understood as a sensorimotor gating process that attenuates sensory flow to the startle pathway during early stages (20--1000 ms) of information processing. Here, we applied in vivo electrophysiology and pharmacology to determine if PPI is mediated by glycine receptors (GlyRs) and/or GABAA receptors (GABAARs) in the goldfish auditory startle circuit. Specifically, we used selective antagonists to dissect the contributions of target receptors on sound-evoked postsynaptic potentials (PSPs) recorded in the neurons that initiate startle, the Mauthner-cells (M-cell). We found that strychnine, a GlyR antagonist, disrupted a fast-activated (5 ms) and rapidly (\u3c50 \u3ems) decaying (feed-forward) inhibitory process that contributes to PPI at 20 ms prepulse/pulse inter-stimulus intervals (ISI). Additionally we observed increases of the evoked postsynaptic potential (PSP) peak amplitude (+87.43 ± 21.53%, N = 9) and duration (+204 ± 48.91%, N = 9). In contrast, treatment with bicuculline, a GABAAR antagonist, caused a general reduction in PPI across all tested interstimulus intervals (ISIs) (20--500 ms). Bicuculline also increased PSP peak amplitude (+133.8 ± 10.3%, N = 5) and PSP duration (+284.95 ± 65.64%, N = 5). Treatment with either antagonist also tonically increased post-synaptic excitability in the M-cells, reflected by an increase in the magnitude of antidromically-evoked action potentials (APs) by 15.07 ± 3.21%, N = 7 and 16.23 ± 7.08%, N = 5 for strychnine and bicuculline, respectively. These results suggest that GABAARs and GlyRs are functionally segregated to short- and longer-lasting sound-evoked (phasic) inhibitory processes that contribute to PPI, with the mediation of tonic inhibition by both receptor systems being critical for gain control within the M-cell startle circuit
Electrified Fuzzy Spheres and Funnels in Curved Backgrounds
We use the non-Abelian DBI action to study the dynamics of coincident
-branes in an arbitrary curved background, with the presence of a
homogenous world-volume electric field. The solutions are natural extensions of
those without electric fields, and imply that the spheres will collapse toward
zero size. We then go on to consider the intersection in a curved
background and find various dualities and automorphisms of the general
equations of motion. It is possible to map the dynamical equation of motion to
the static one via Wick rotation, however the additional spatial dependence of
the metric prevents this mapping from being invertible. Instead we find that a
double Wick rotation leaves the static equation invariant. This is very
different from the behaviour in Minkowski space. We go on to construct the most
general static fuzzy funnel solutions for an arbitrary metric either by solving
the static equations of motion, or by finding configurations which minimise the
energy. As a consistency check we construct the Abelian -brane world-volume
theory in the same generic background and find solutions consistent with energy
minimisation. In the 5-brane background we find time dependent solutions to
the equations of motion, representing a time dependent fuzzy funnel. These
solutions match those obtained from the -string picture to leading order
suggesting that the action in the large limit does not need corrections. We
conclude by generalising our solutions to higher dimensional fuzzy funnels.Comment: 38 pages, Latex; references adde
Neuro-myths in the classroom
Have you ever heard that we only use 10% of our brains? It is a nice thought that we could tap into hidden brain power—but could most of our brains really be doing nothing all day? No! Every bit of your brain is busy 24 hours a day. There are lots of these so-called neuro-myths floating around: ideas about the brain that sound true, but are not. There is usually a good reason why a neuro-myth got started: maybe there is an element of truth to it, or maybe people would just like it to be true. In this article we explore three widely believed neuro-myths about the growing brain, and explain why it is important for you to know what is true and what is not. We will explore whether you can change how clever you are, whether girls and boys think differently from each other, and whether some children are “left brained” and some are “right brained.
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