THE MIND AND BRAIN SCHOLAR AS A HITCH-HIKER IN POST-GUTENBERG GALAXY: PUBLISHING AT 2000 AND BEYOND

Electronic journal (e-journal) publishing has started to change the ways we think about publish-ing. However, many scholars and scientists in the mind and brain sciences are still ignorant of the new possibilities and on-going debates. This paper will provide a summary of the issues in-volved, give an update of the current discussion, and supply practical information on issues re-lated to e- journal publishing and self-archiving relevant for the mind and brain sciences. Issues such as differences between traditional and e-journal publishing, open archive initiatives, world-wide conventions, quality control, costs involved in e-journal publishing, and copyright questions will be addressed. Practical hints on how to self-archive, how to submit to the e-journal Psycolo-quy, how to create an open research archive, and where to find information relevant to e-publishing will be supplied

Vieillissement normal et cognition

Le vieillissement normal est accompagné de modifications du fonctionnement cognitif. Les plus fréquentes touchent la mémoire, l’attention ou les habiletés visuospatiales. Des facteurs généraux et des facteurs spécifiques expliquent ces changements indicateurs du vieillissement cérébral. Ils ne sont cependant pas obligatoires, mais dépendent des réserves en ressources cognitives que les individus possèdent, et de la façon dont ils continuent à les entretenir et à les exploiter. Le cerveau est en effet un organe qui s’adapte si on le met dans de bonnes conditions. Il est donc possible de retarder les effets du vieillissement et, dans certains cas, de les moduler.It is now well documented that normal aging modifies the cognitive functioning and most observations suggest that cognition evolves in the direction of deterioration. The more frequently impaired functions are memory, attention and visual-spatial abilities. On the other hand, some abilities seem to increase, such as vocabulary. Considering the aging effect on cognition, questions remain regarding directionality, universality and reversibility. A great variability in aged related impacts is observed among subjects and among cognitive domains. Some individuals evolved more rapidly than others. Some cognitive functions are more affected by aging than others. General and specific factors are hypothesized to explain the aged related cognitive decline. Among them, educational level, health, cognitive style, life style, personality, are likely to modulate the aged related cognitive evolution by influencing attentional resources and cerebral plasticity. Cognitive resources are essential to develop adaptative strategies. During the life span, resources are activated and increased by learning and training. Considering the role of cognitive resources, successful aging is dependent on several conditions : absence of disease leading to a loss of autonomy, maintenance of cognitive and physical activities, and active and social engaged lifestyle

Visual Search for Feature and Conjunction Targets with an Attention Deficit

Brain-damaged subjects who had previously been identified as suffering from a visual attention deficit for contralesional stimulation were tested on a series of visual search tasks. The experiments examined the hypothesis that the processing of single features is preattentive but that feature integration, necessary for the correct perception of conjunctions of features, requires attention (Treisman & Gelade, 1980 Treisman & Sato, 1990). Subjects searched for a feature target (orientation or color) or for a conjunction target (orientation and color) in unilateral displays in which the number of items presented was variable. Ocular fixation was controlled so that trials on which eye movements occurred were cancelled. While brain-damaged subjects with a visual attention disorder (VAD subjects) performed similarly to normal controls in feature search tasks, they showed a marked deficit in conjunction search. Specifically, VAD subjects exhibited an important reduction of their serial search rates for a conjunction target with contralesional displays. In support of Treisman's feature integration theory, a visual attention deficit leads to a marked impairment in feature integration whereas it does not appear to affect feature encoding.Psycholog

Multifactorial approaches to study bilingualism in the aging population: Past, present, future

A better understanding and more reliable classification of bilinguals has been progressively achieved through the fine-tuning methodology and simultaneously optimizing the measurement tools. However, the current understanding is far from generalization to a larger population varying in different measures of bilingualism—L2 Age of acquisition (L2 AOA), L2 usage and exposure, and L2 proficiency. More recent studies have highlighted the importance of modeling bilingualism as a continuous variable. An in-depth look at the role of bilingualism, comparing groups, may be considered a reductionist approach, i.e., grouping based on one measure of bilingualism (e.g., L2 AOA) may not account for variability in other measures of bilingualism (L2 exposure, L2 use or L2 proficiency, amongst others) within and between groups. Similarly, a multifactorial dimension is associated with cognitive performance, where not all domains of cognition and subcomponents are equally influenced by bilingualism. In addition, socio-cultural and demographical factors may add another dimension to the impact of bilingualism on cognitive performance, especially in older adults. Nevertheless, not many studies have controlled or used the multiple socio-cultural and demographical factors as a covariate to understand the role of different aspects of bilingualism that may influence cognitive performance differently. Such an approach would fail to generalize the research findings to a larger group of bilinguals. In the present review paper, we illustrate that considering a multifactorial approach to different dimensions of bilingual study may lead to a better understanding of the role of bilingualism on cognitive performance. With the evolution of various fine-tuned methodological approaches, there is a greater need to study variability in bilingual profiles that can help generalize the result universally

Right Hemisphere and Verbal Communication: Conceptual, Methodological, and Clinical Issues

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Clinical Focus on Prosodic, Discursive and Pragmatic Treatment for Right Hemisphere Damaged Adults: What's Right?

Researchers and clinicians acknowledge today that the contribution of both cerebral hemispheres is necessary to a full and adequate verbal communication. Indeed, it is estimated that at least 50% of right brain damaged individuals display impairments of prosodic, discourse, pragmatics and/or lexical semantics dimensions of communication. Since the 1990's, researchers have focused on the description and the assessment of these impairments and it is only recently that authors have shown interest in planning specific intervention approaches. However, therapists in rehabilitation settings still have very few available tools. This review of recent literature demonstrates that, even though theoretical knowledge needs further methodological investigation, intervention guidelines can be identified to target right hemisphere damage communication impairments in clinical practice. These principles can be incorporated by speech and language pathologists, in a structured intervention framework, aiming at fully addressing prosodic, discursive and pragmatic components of communication

Task-induced functional connectivity of picture naming in healthy aging : the impacts of age and task complexity

The topological organization of the brain, governed by the capacity of brain regions to synchronize their activity, allows for cost-effective performance during everyday cognitive activity. Functional connectivity is an fMRI method deemed task-specific and demand-dependent. Although the brain undergoes significant changes during healthy aging, conceptual knowledge and word-production accuracy are generally preserved. The exploration of task-induced functional connectivity patterns during active picture naming may thus provide additional information about healthy functional cerebral mechanisms that are specifically adapted to the cognitive activity at hand. The goal of this study is to assess and describe age-related differences in functional connectivity during an overt picture-naming task, as well as to compare age-related differences under complex task demand, defined by lexical frequency. Results suggest both age-specific and task-specific mechanisms. In the context of preserved behavioral performance in a picture-naming task, older adults show a complex array of differences in functional connectivity architecture, including both increases and decreases. In brief, there is increased segregation and specialization of regions that are classically assigned to naming processes. Results also expand on previous word-production studies and suggest that motor regions are particularly subject to age-related differences. This study also provides the first indication that intrinsic task demand, as manipulated by lexical frequency, interacts little with the relationship between age and functional connectivity. Together, these findings confirm the value of task-induced functional connectivity analysis in revealing the brain organization that subserves task performance during healthy aging

Traumatismo craneoencefálico: evaluación de heminegligencia y déficit atencional a través de tareas de cancelación

La heminegligencia (HN) es un síndrome ampliamenteestudiado después de lesiones unilaterales por accidentecerebral vascular. Sin embargo, a pesar de la existenciade algunos estudios en rehabilitación de HN después deltrauma craneoencefálico (TCE), no parece haber publicacionessobre la prevalencia de HN en TCE a partir detareas de cancelación. De esta forma, el objetivo de esteestudio fue caracterizar la ocurrencia de ese síndrome yde déficits atencionales en pacientes con TCE, a partirdel test de Cancelamento dos Sinos y de una tarea decancelación de líneas. Participaron 21 pacientes conTCE y 21 controles saludables pareados por escolaridad,edad y frecuencia de hábitos de lenguaje escrito. Seencontró un desempeño peor en los pacientes con TCE,con mayor número de omisiones a la izquierda y mayortiempo de ejecución. También se encontró que el 38 %de la población de TCE presentaba señales sugerentesde HN. Son necesarias más investigaciones para caracterizarlos síndromes de subcuadros clínicos de TCE enrelación con la ocurrencia de HN a partir del reconocidoparadigma de cancelació

Traumatismo cranioencefálico: avaliação da ocorrência de heminegligência e de déficit atencional por tarefas de cancelamento

Hemineglect (HN) is a widely studied syndrome after unilateral lesions due to stroke. However, although there are some studies with HN rehabilitation of posttraumatic brain injury (TBI), there seems to be no published data about the prevalence of HN in TBI through cancellation tasks. Thus, the objective of this study was to characterize the occurrence of this syndrome and of attentional deficits in patients with TBI by means of the Bells Test and of a line cancellation task. The sample was comprised of 21 patients with TBI and 21 healthy controls matched by education, age and frequency of written language habits. There was a poorer performance of patients with TBI with a greater number of omissions on the left side and lower speed processing. In addition, suggestive signs of HN were found in 38 % of the sample of TBI patients. More research is needed to characterize clinical syndromes regarding the occurrence of HN after a TBI through the traditionally known cancellation paradigm.La heminegligencia (HN) es un síndrome ampliamenteestudiado después de lesiones unilaterales por accidentecerebral vascular. Sin embargo, a pesar de la existenciade algunos estudios en rehabilitación de HN después deltrauma craneoencefálico (TCE), no parece haber publicacionessobre la prevalencia de HN en TCE a partir detareas de cancelación. De esta forma, el objetivo de esteestudio fue caracterizar la ocurrencia de ese síndrome yde déficits atencionales en pacientes con TCE, a partirdel test de Cancelamento dos Sinos y de una tarea decancelación de líneas. Participaron 21 pacientes conTCE y 21 controles saludables pareados por escolaridad,edad y frecuencia de hábitos de lenguaje escrito. Seencontró un desempeño peor en los pacientes con TCE,con mayor número de omisiones a la izquierda y mayortiempo de ejecución. También se encontró que el 38 %de la población de TCE presentaba señales sugerentesde HN. Son necesarias más investigaciones para caracterizarlos síndromes de subcuadros clínicos de TCE enrelación con la ocurrencia de HN a partir del reconocidoparadigma de cancelaciónHeminegligência (HN) é uma síndrome vastamenteestudada após lesões unilaterais por acidente vascularcerebral. Entretanto, apesar de alguns estudos comreabilitação de HN pós-traumatismo cranioencefálico(TCE), não parece haver publicações sobre a prevalênciade HN em TCE a partir de tarefas de cancelamento.Dessa forma, o objetivo desse estudo foi caracterizar aocorrência dessa síndrome e de déficits atencionais empacientes com TCE a partir do Teste de Cancelamentodos Sinos e de uma tarefa de cancelamento de linhas.Participaram 21 pacientes com TCE e 21 controles saudáveisemparelhados por escolaridade, idade e frequênciade hábitos de linguagem escrita. Verificou-se um piordesempenho de pacientes com TCE com maior númerode omissões à esquerda menos direita e maior tempo deexecução. Encontrou-se, ainda, 38 % da amostra de TCEcom sinais sugestivos de HN. Mais investigações sãonecessárias para caracterizar síndromes de subquadrosclínicos de TCE quanto à ocorrência de HN a partir dojá reconhecido paradigma de cancelamento

Resting-state and vocabulary tasks distinctively inform on age-related differences in the functional brain connectome

Most of the current knowledge about age-related differences in brain neurofunctional organisation stems from neuroimaging studies using either a “resting state” paradigm, or cognitive tasks for which performance decreases with age. However, it remains to be known if comparable age-related differences are found when participants engage in cognitive activities for which performance is maintained with age, such as vocabulary knowledge tasks. A functional connectivity analysis was performed on 286 adults ranging from 18 to 80 years old, based on resting state or vocabulary tasks. Increases in connectivity of regions of the language network were observed during task completion. Conversely, only age-related decreases were observed during resting-state. While vocabulary accuracy increased with age, no interaction was found between functional connectivity, age and task accuracy or proxies of cognitive reserve, suggesting that older individuals typically benefits from semantic knowledge accumulated throughout one's life trajectory, without the need for compensatory mechanisms