How Are ‘Barack Obama’ and ‘President Elect’ Differentially Stored in the Brain? An ERP Investigation on the Processing of Proper and Common Noun Pairs

BACKGROUND:One of the most debated issues in the cognitive neuroscience of language is whether distinct semantic domains are differentially represented in the brain. Clinical studies described several anomic dissociations with no clear neuroanatomical correlate. Neuroimaging studies have shown that memory retrieval is more demanding for proper than common nouns in that the former are purely arbitrary referential expressions. In this study a semantic relatedness paradigm was devised to investigate neural processing of proper and common nouns. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:780 words (arranged in pairs of Italian nouns/adjectives and the first/last names of well known persons) were presented. Half pairs were semantically related ("Woody Allen" or "social security"), while the others were not ("Sigmund Parodi" or "judicial cream"). All items were balanced for length, frequency, familiarity and semantic relatedness. Participants were to decide about the semantic relatedness of the two items in a pair. RTs and N400 data suggest that the task was more demanding for common nouns. The LORETA neural generators for the related-unrelated contrast (for proper names) included the left fusiform gyrus, right medial temporal gyrus, limbic and parahippocampal regions, inferior parietal and inferior frontal areas, which are thought to be involved in the conjoined processing a familiar face with the relevant episodic information. Person name was more emotional and sensory vivid than common noun semantic access. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:When memory retrieval is not required, proper name access (conspecifics knowledge) is not more demanding. The neural generators of N400 to unrelated items (unknown persons and things) did not differ as a function of lexical class, thus suggesting that proper and common nouns are not treated differently as belonging to different grammatical classes

Effects of amitriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant, on smooth muscle reactivity in isolated rat trachea.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to investigate the action of amitriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant, on airway smooth muscle reactivity and its underlying mechanisms. METHODS: In isolated rat trachea, isometric force was recorded to examine the effects of amitriptyline on the contractile response to acetylcholine (ACh), electrical field stimulation (EFS), calyculin A (a myosin light chain phosphatase inhibitor), and sphingosylphosphorylcholine (SPC; a Rhokinase activator). In addition, inositol monophosphate (IP1) accumulation was measured to examine its effects on inositol 1, 4, 5-trisphosphate (IP(3)) production during stimulation with ACh. RESULTS: Amitriptyline inhibited the contractile responses to ACh, EFS, calyculin A, and SPC, with the concentrations of amitriptyline (mean +/- SD) required to exert 50% inhibition (IC(50)) being 4.3 +/- 1.3 microM, 3.2 +/- 1.6 microM, 256.4 +/- 106.4 microM, and 98.2 +/- 21.8 microM, respectively. In addition, amitriptyline (10 microM) eliminated the ACh (10 microM)-induced IP(1) accumulation. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that amitriptyline does not influence tracheal smooth muscle reactivity at clinical concentrations ( or =1 microM). The attenuated response to ACh brought about by amitriptyline is presumably due, at least in part, to the inhibition of phosphatidylinositol (PI) metabolism. The ability of amitriptyline to inhibit the calyculin Ainduced contraction suggests that amitriptyline also inhibits the Ca(2+)-calmodulin-myosin light chain pathway independently of the inhibition of PI metabolism. Finally, the difference between the IC(50) values for SPC-induced contraction and those for calyculin A-induced contraction suggests that amitriptyline may also inhibit the Rho-kinase pathway

A soft, mobile, autonomous robot to develop skills through play in autistic children

Robots have been used for many years in therapeutic activities with people with Autism Spectrum Disorder. However, most robots presented in the literature have limited or no mobility, are made of rigid materials, or are too expensive for many care centers. We share the choices and the design rationale of the latest version of a soft, mobile, low-cost, autonomous robot that has successfully been used for 3 years in a care center for activities that include both free play and structured games. Moreover, the kind of activities that can be performed with this robot, and the feedback obtained from therapists about its application are reported

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Una strana bilancia trovata ad Altino (Sistemi ponderali a confronto)

Sull'uso di una bilancia con quattro scale ritrovata ad Altin