Tracking the impact of depression in a perspective-taking task

Research has identified impairments in Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities in depressed patients, particularly in relation to tasks involving empathetic responses and belief reasoning. We aimed to build on this research by exploring the relationship between depressed mood and cognitive ToM, specifically visual perspective-taking ability. High and low depressed participants were eye-tracked as they completed a perspective-taking task, in which they followed the instructions of a ‘director’ to move target objects (e.g. a “teapot with spots on”) around a grid, in the presence of a temporarily-ambiguous competitor object (e.g. a “teapot with stars on”). Importantly, some of the objects in the grid were occluded from the director’s (but not the participant’s) view. Results revealed no group-based difference in participants’ ability to use perspective cues to identify the target object. All participants were faster to select the target object when the competitor was only available to the participant, compared to when the competitor was mutually available to the participant and director. Eye-tracking measures supported this pattern, revealing that perspective directed participants’ visual search immediately upon hearing the ambiguous object’s name (e.g. “teapot”). We discuss how these results fit with previous studies that have shown a negative relationship between depression and ToM

The Neural Basis of Decision-Making and Reward Processing in Adults with Euthymic Bipolar Disorder or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and bipolar disorder (BD) share DSM-IV criteria in adults and cause problems in decision-making. Nevertheless, no previous report has assessed a decision-making task that includes the examination of the neural correlates of reward and gambling in adults with ADHD and those with BD

not for distribution UNDERSTANDING MOBILE SPATIAL INTERACTION IN

maps, interaction In order to act in urban environments an individual access various types of knowledge, such as memories, spatial strategies and also information from the environment in order to develop plans and make decisions. This paper will investigate the nature of spatial knowledge acquisition by comparing performance in a task where the subjects learnt the environment using spatial assistance; either from a map or from a mobile map. It outlines the early results of an empirical experiment which evaluated subjects spatial knowledge acquisition in a large scale environmental setting for orientation and distance estimation tasks. The initial findings of the experiment highlight the fact that mobile map subjects performed worse in distance estimation tasks than map subjects, and that their errors for complex routes were high. We will conclude by analyzing the results of this experiment in terms of the specific types of knowledge afforded by mobile maps and the implications for spatial learning in urban environments.

Wie viel Information brauchen wir? Selbstlokalisation und Wege finden mit schematisierten Karten

Welche Information ist notwendig um sich zu orientieren? In zwei Feldexperimenten wurde ein Grundriss mit drei stark schematisierten Karten verglichen, die nur Routenwissen bereitstellten. Mit Hilfe der Karte bestimmten die 32 Probanden in je zwei Aufgaben ihre Position in einem ihnen unbekannten komplexen mehrstöckigen Gebäude und mussten verschiedene Ziele finden. Kartennutzung und verschiedene Leistungsmaße wurden erhoben. Trotz der spärlicheren Information fanden die Probanden ihr Ziel mit der eindeutigen Schemakarte besser, als mit dem Grundriss. Keine Unterschiede ergaben sich in der Selbstlokalisation. Beide Gruppen orientierten sich vermutlich an der Netzwerkstruktur der Wege und nicht an lokaler Geometrie, was den Suchraum möglicher Standpunkte verkleinert. Die Nutzung der schematisierten Karte erfolgte schneller. Hoch schematisierte Karten mit weniger als der Standardinformation können zu besserer Leistung führen. Die Ergebnisse werden im Kontext von Routen und Überblickswissen interpretiert

CMOS-compatible field effect nanoscale gas-sensor: Operation and annealing models

Complete modelling of electrically controlled nanoscale gas sensors with Poisson, Wolkenstein, Fokker-Planck and continuity is presented. Based on a plausible Drift explanation we developed suitable models for sensitivity control and operational modes. An onset for CMOS-complying annealing procedures is given

CMOS-compatible nanoscale gas-sensor based on field effect

The integration of a solid state gas sensor of the metal oxide sensor type into CMOS technology still is a challenge because of the high temperatures during metal oxide annealing and sensor operation that do not comply with silicon device stability. In the presence of an external electric field sensor sensitivity can be controlled through a change of the Fermi energy level and consequently it is possible to reduce the operation temperature. Based in this effect, a novel field effect gas sensor was developed resembling a reversed insulated gate field effect transistor (IGFET) with the thickness of gas sensing layer in the range of the Debye length (L-D). Under these conditions the controlling electrical field reaches the sensitive surface and a modulation of the Fermi energy level occurs, producing an effective control of gas sensitivity and sensor response. In this paper several aspects are treated, like technological fabrication process, complete sensor characterization by means of an electrical model and sensor response measurements. Other effects as base-line drift effects and layer thickness implications also are studied

Neuartiger Pd-Gate-Feldeffekt-Transistor zur Wasserstoffdetektion

Entwickelt wurde ein neuartiger Pd-Gate-MOSFET zur Wasserstoffdetektion. Der Herstellungsprozess zeichnet sich durch seine vollständige Kompatibilität mit einer Standard-0.5-Mikrometer-CMOS-Technologie aus. Dadurch wird eine äußerst preisgünstige Herstellung sowie die Integration von Auswerteelektronik in den Sensor-Chip möglich. Zielanwendungen für den Sensor liegen in der Sicherheitstechnik, z.B . der Leckageüberwachung. Der Sensor wurde bei verschiedenen Gasbeaufschlagungen (H2, H2O, N02, CO, CH4, H2S und NH3) charakterisiert. Eine - wenn auch geringe - Querempfindlichkeit konnte bei den Labormessungen nur auf Ammoniak und Schwefelwasserstoff beobachtet werden