Out of Mind, Out of Sight: Language Affects Perceptual Vividness in Memory

We examined whether language affects the strength of a visual representation in memory. Participants studied a picture, read a story about the depicted object, and then selected out of two pictures the one whose transparency level most resembled that of the previously presented picture. The stories contained two linguistic manipulations that have been demonstrated to affect concept availability in memory, i.e., object presence and goal-relevance. The results show that described absence of an object caused people to select the most transparent picture more often than described presence of the object. This effect was not moderated by goal-relevance, suggesting that our paradigm tapped into the perceptual quality of representations rather than, for example, their linguistic availability. We discuss the implications of these findings within a framework of grounded cognition

Fluxing of mantle carbon as a physical agent for metallogenic fertilization of the crust

Magmatic systems play a crucial role in enriching the crust with volatiles and elements that reside primarily within the Earth’s mantle, including economically important metals like nickel, copper and platinum-group elements. However, transport of these metals within silicate magmas primarily occurs within dense sulfide liquids, which tend to coalesce, settle and not be efficiently transported in ascending magmas. Here we show textural observations, backed up with carbon and oxygen isotope data, which indicate an intimate association between mantle-derived carbonates and sulfides in some mafic-ultramafic magmatic systems emplaced at the base of the continental crust. We propose that carbon, as a buoyant supercritical CO2 fluid, might be a covert agent aiding and promoting the physical transport of sulfides across the mantle-crust transition. This may be a common but cryptic mechanism that facilitates cycling of volatiles and metals from the mantle to the lower-to-mid continental crust, which leaves little footprint behind by the time magmas reach the Earth’s surface.NERC Minerals Security of Supply (SOS) NE/M010848/1Australian Research Council CE11E0070Consolidated Nickel MinesUniversity of Leiceste

The incorporation of challenge enhances the learning of chronology from a virtual display

In earlier studies investigating the learning of historical chronology, virtual fly-throughs were used in which successive historical events were represented by images on virtual screens, placed in temporal-spatial sequence. Undergraduate students benefited more than school-age children from virtual 3D (compared to 2D) training, perhaps because they took on the task as a challenge. In this study a modification of the earlier paradigm was used, in a game-like format, in which successive screens (paintings, representing epochs of art history) had to be memorised and anticipated during training, the participant’s score accumulating on the screen. Compared with PowerPoint and verbal-semantic training conditions, VE training resulted in more rapid learning, better recall of associated semantic information and error-free recall of the picture sequence. Possible applications of this paradigm for teaching were discussed

Comparison of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Live vs. Post Mortem Rat Brains

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is an increasingly popular technique for examining neurobiology in rodents because it is both noninvasive and nondestructive. MRI scans can be acquired from either live or post mortem specimens. In vivo scans have a key advantage in that subjects can be scanned at multiple time-points in longitudinal studies. However, repeated exposure to anesthesia and stress may confound studies. In contrast, post mortem scans offer improved image quality and increased signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) due to several key advantages: First, the images are not disrupted by motion and pulsation artifacts. Second, they allow the brain tissue to be perfused with contrast agents, enhancing tissue contrast. Third, they allow longer image acquisition times, yielding higher resolution and/or improved SNR. Fourth, they allow assessment of groups of animals at the same age without scheduling complications. Despite these advantages, researchers are often skeptical of post mortem MRI scans because of uncertainty about whether the fixation process alters the MRI measurements. To address these concerns, we present a thorough comparative study of in vivo and post mortem MRI scans in healthy male Wistar rats at three age points throughout adolescence (postnatal days 28 through 80). For each subject, an in vivo scan was acquired, followed by perfusion and two post mortem scans at two different MRI facilities. The goal was to assess robustness of measurements, to detect any changes in volumetric measurements after fixation, and to investigate any differential bias that may exist between image acquisition techniques. We present this volumetric analysis for comparison of 22 anatomical structures between in vivo and post mortem scans. No significant changes in volumetric measurements were detected; however, as hypothesized, the image quality is dramatically improved in post mortem scans. These findings illustrate the validity and utility of using post mortem scans in volumetric neurobiological studies