Individual Apostichopus japonicus fecal microbiome reveals a link with polyhydroxybutyrate producers in host growth gaps.

PubMed

Yamazaki, Yohei; Meirelles, Pedro Milet; Mino, Sayaka; Suda, Wataru; Oshima, Kenshiro; Hattori, Masahira; Thompson, Fabiano L; Sakai, Yuichi; Sawabe, Toko; Sawabe, Tomoo

2016-02-24

Gut microbiome shapes various aspects of a host's physiology, but these functions in aquatic animal hosts have yet to be fully investigated. The sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus Selenka is one such example. The large growth gap in their body size has delayed the development of intensive aquaculture, nevertheless the species is in urgent need of conservation. To understand possible contributions of the gut microbiome to its host's growth, individual fecal microbiome comparisons were performed. High-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing revealed significantly different microbiota in larger and smaller individuals; Rhodobacterales in particular was the most significantly abundant bacterial group in the larger specimens. Further shotgun metagenome of representative samples revealed a significant abundance of microbiome retaining polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) metabolism genes in the largest individual. The PHB metabolism reads were potentially derived from Rhodobacterales. These results imply a possible link between microbial PHB producers and potential growth promotion in Deuterostomia marine invertebrates.

Individual Movement Strategies Revealed through Novel Clustering of Emergent Movement Patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valle, Denis; Cvetojevic, Sreten; Robertson, Ellen P.; Reichert, Brian E.; Hochmair, Hartwig H.; Fletcher, Robert J.

2017-03-01

Understanding movement is critical in several disciplines but analysis methods often neglect key information by adopting each location as sampling unit, rather than each individual. We introduce a novel statistical method that, by focusing on individuals, enables better identification of temporal dynamics of connectivity, traits of individuals that explain emergent movement patterns, and sites that play a critical role in connecting subpopulations. We apply this method to two examples that span movement networks that vary considerably in size and questions: movements of an endangered raptor, the snail kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis plumbeus), and human movement in Florida inferred from Twitter. For snail kites, our method reveals substantial differences in movement strategies for different bird cohorts and temporal changes in connectivity driven by the invasion of an exotic food resource, illustrating the challenge of identifying critical connectivity sites for conservation in the presence of global change. For human movement, our method is able to reliably determine the origin of Florida visitors and identify distinct movement patterns within Florida for visitors from different places, providing near real-time information on the spatial and temporal patterns of tourists. These results emphasize the need to integrate individual variation to generate new insights when modeling movement data.

Empathy matters: ERP evidence for inter-individual differences in social language processing

PubMed Central

Van Berkum, Jos J.A.; Bastiaansen, Marcel C.M.; Tesink, Cathelijne M.J.Y.; Kos, Miriam; Buitelaar, Jan K.; Hagoort, Peter

2012-01-01

When an adult claims he cannot sleep without his teddy bear, people tend to react surprised. Language interpretation is, thus, influenced by social context, such as who the speaker is. The present study reveals inter-individual differences in brain reactivity to social aspects of language. Whereas women showed brain reactivity when stereotype-based inferences about a speaker conflicted with the content of the message, men did not. This sex difference in social information processing can be explained by a specific cognitive trait, one’s ability to empathize. Individuals who empathize to a greater degree revealed larger N400 effects (as well as a larger increase in γ-band power) to socially relevant information. These results indicate that individuals with high-empathizing skills are able to rapidly integrate information about the speaker with the content of the message, as they make use of voice-based inferences about the speaker to process language in a top-down manner. Alternatively, individuals with lower empathizing skills did not use information about social stereotypes in implicit sentence comprehension, but rather took a more bottom-up approach to the processing of these social pragmatic sentences. PMID:21148175

Individual Differences in Skilled Adult Readers Reveal Dissociable Patterns of Neural Activity Associated with Component Processes of Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Welcome, Suzanne E.; Joanisse, Marc F.

2012-01-01

We used fMRI to examine patterns of brain activity associated with component processes of visual word recognition and their relationships to individual differences in reading skill. We manipulated both the judgments adults made on written stimuli and the characteristics of the stimuli. Phonological processing led to activation in left inferior…

The parasite assemblage in the spiral intestine of the shark Mustelus canis.

PubMed

Cislo, P R; Caira, J N

1993-12-01

The parasite assemblage in the 8 chambers of the spiral intestine of 49 specimens of the shark Mustelus canis collected from Long Island Sound and off the coast of Virginia was investigated. Assemblages within host individuals were composed of up to 3 of 4 species of cestodes: the trypanorhynch species Prochristianella tumidula and Lacistorhynchus tenuis and the hooked tetraphyllidean species Calliobothrium verticillatum and Calliobothrium lintoni. Each individual shark hosted 1-3 (mean = 2.17) tapeworm species and 1-166 (mean = 34.3) tapeworm individuals. The assemblage consisted of 2 core species, 1 secondary species, and 1 satellite species. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant differences among the areas of the 8 intestinal chambers. ANOVAs of worm density among chambers revealed that each of the 4 species exhibited site specificity within the spiral intestine. Least significant difference analysis revealed that each of the species, except C. verticillatum, was usually found in the anterior 3 chambers. Calliobothrium verticillatum was more commonly found in the middle region of the organ, centered around chamber 4. Horn's information index indicated that L. tenuis and C. lintoni had the greatest amount of overlap within the spiral intestine and the congeners C. lintoni and C. verticillatum had the least amount of overlap. No evidence of interaction among the species in this assemblage was found. In cases where observations could be made, neither cestode total length nor location within the spiral intestine appeared to be affected by the presence of other individuals or species respectively. There was some evidence of underutilized space; the posteriormost chamber was vacant in all 49 sharks examined and 91.8% of sharks had at least 2 vacant chambers. Linear regression revealed no relationship between shark total length and either total number of worms or total number of individuals of each of the 4 species of cestodes. The chi-square test revealed no evidence that the 4 species do not occur independently among host individuals. The number of species and number of individuals in M. canis were low when compared to the marine fish Sebastes nebulosus. These values for M. canis more closely resemble values for freshwater fishes. The comparatively much greater host specificity of these tapeworms may at least partially account for this difference. We propose that site specificity may have a phylogenetic component, in a manner similar to that of host specificity.

Genetic Diversity of Coastal Bottlenose Dolphins Revealed by Structurally and Functionally Diverse Hemoglobins

PubMed Central

Remington, Nicole; Stevens, Robert D.; Wells, Randall S.; Hohn, Aleta; Dhungana, Suraj; Taboy, Celine H.; Crumbliss, Alvin L.; Henkens, Robert; Bonaventura, Celia

2007-01-01

Studies of structure-function relationships in the respiratory proteins of marine mammals revealed unexpected variations in the number and types of hemoglobins (Hbs) present in coastal bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus. We obtained blood samples from free-ranging coastal bottlenose dolphins as a component of capture-release studies. We found that the oxygen-binding functions of bottlenose dolphin blood are poised between effector-saturated and unsaturated levels, enabling exercise-dependent shifts in oxygen transfer functions. Isolated bottlenose dolphin Hbs showed elevated pH sensitivities (Bohr effects) and appreciably lower oxygen affinities than adult human Hb in the absence of allosteric effectors. These properties may be an adaptive modification that enhance oxygen delivery during diving episodes when oxygen tensions and effector levels are low. The Hbs of individual dolphins showed similar oxygen affinities, responses to effectors, and expression of heme-heme interaction in oxygen binding, but differed in their redox potentials and rates of autoxidation. The heterogeneity suggested by these functional variations in Hbs of individual dolphins was born out by variations in the molecular weights and numbers of their α and β globin chains. Although coastal bottlenose dolphins were expected to have a single type of Hb, the mass differences observed revealed considerable genetic diversity. There were multiple Hb forms in some individuals and differences in Hb patterns among individuals within the same community. PMID:17604574

Genetic diversity of coastal bottlenose dolphins revealed by structurally and functionally diverse hemoglobins.

PubMed

Remington, Nicole; Stevens, Robert D; Wells, Randall S; Holn, Aleta; Dhungana, Suraj; Taboy, Celine H; Crumbliss, Alvin L; Henkens, Robert; Bonaventura, Celia

2007-08-15

Studies of structure-function relationships in the respiratory proteins of marine mammals revealed unexpected variations in the number and types of hemoglobins (Hbs) present in coastal bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus. We obtained blood samples from free-ranging coastal bottlenose dolphins as a component of capture-release studies. We found that the oxygen-binding functions of bottlenose dolphin blood are poised between effector-saturated and unsaturated levels, enabling exercise-dependent shifts in oxygen transfer functions. Isolated bottlenose dolphin Hbs showed elevated pH sensitivities (Bohr effects) and appreciably lower oxygen affinities than adult human Hb in the absence of allosteric effectors. These properties may be an adaptive modification that enhances oxygen delivery during diving episodes when oxygen tensions and effector levels are low. The Hbs of individual dolphins showed similar oxygen affinities, responses to effectors, and expression of heme-heme interaction in oxygen binding, but differed in their redox potentials and rates of autoxidation. The heterogeneity suggested by these functional variations in Hbs of individual dolphins was born out by variations in the molecular weights and numbers of their alpha and beta globin chains. Although coastal bottlenose dolphins were expected to have a single type of Hb, the mass differences observed revealed considerable genetic diversity. There were multiple Hb forms in some individuals and differences in Hb patterns among individuals within the same community.

Accounting for taste: individual differences in preference for harmony.

PubMed

Palmer, Stephen E; Griscom, William S

2013-06-01

Although empirical research on aesthetics has had some success in explaining the average preferences of groups of observers, relatively little is known about individual differences in preference, and especially about how such differences might covary across different domains. In this study, we identified a new factor underlying aesthetic response-preference for harmonious stimuli-and examined how it varies over four domains (color, shape, spatial location, and music) across individuals with different levels of training in art and music. We found that individual preferences for harmony are strongly correlated across all four dimensions tested and decrease consistently with training in the relevant aesthetic domains. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that cross-domain preference for harmony is well-represented as a single, unified factor, with effects separate from those of training and of common personality measures.

What can individual differences reveal about face processing?

PubMed Central

Yovel, Galit; Wilmer, Jeremy B.; Duchaine, Brad

2014-01-01

Faces are probably the most widely studied visual stimulus. Most research on face processing has used a group-mean approach that averages behavioral or neural responses to faces across individuals and treats variance between individuals as noise. However, individual differences in face processing can provide valuable information that complements and extends findings from group-mean studies. Here we demonstrate that studies employing an individual differences approach—examining associations and dissociations across individuals—can answer fundamental questions about the way face processing operates. In particular these studies allow us to associate and dissociate the mechanisms involved in face processing, tie behavioral face processing mechanisms to neural mechanisms, link face processing to broader capacities and quantify developmental influences on face processing. The individual differences approach we illustrate here is a powerful method that should be further explored within the domain of face processing as well as fruitfully applied across the cognitive sciences. PMID:25191241

Integrative analysis of RNA, translation, and protein levels reveals distinct regulatory variation across humans

PubMed Central

Cenik, Can; Cenik, Elif Sarinay; Byeon, Gun W.; Grubert, Fabian; Candille, Sophie I.; Spacek, Damek; Alsallakh, Bilal; Tilgner, Hagen; Araya, Carlos L.; Tang, Hua; Ricci, Emiliano; Snyder, Michael P.

2015-01-01

Elucidating the consequences of genetic differences between humans is essential for understanding phenotypic diversity and personalized medicine. Although variation in RNA levels, transcription factor binding, and chromatin have been explored, little is known about global variation in translation and its genetic determinants. We used ribosome profiling, RNA sequencing, and mass spectrometry to perform an integrated analysis in lymphoblastoid cell lines from a diverse group of individuals. We find significant differences in RNA, translation, and protein levels suggesting diverse mechanisms of personalized gene expression control. Combined analysis of RNA expression and ribosome occupancy improves the identification of individual protein level differences. Finally, we identify genetic differences that specifically modulate ribosome occupancy—many of these differences lie close to start codons and upstream ORFs. Our results reveal a new level of gene expression variation among humans and indicate that genetic variants can cause changes in protein levels through effects on translation. PMID:26297486

Effectiveness of Group Supervision versus Combined Group and Individual Supervision.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ray, Dee; Altekruse, Michael

2000-01-01

Investigates the effectiveness of different types of supervision (large group, small group, combined group, individual supervision) with counseling students (N=64). Analyses revealed that all supervision formats resulted in similar progress in counselor effectiveness and counselor development. Participants voiced a preference for individual…

The temporal stability and predictive validity of affect-based and cognition-based intentions.

PubMed

Keer, Mario; Conner, Mark; Van den Putte, Bas; Neijens, Peter

2014-06-01

Recent research has revealed individual differences in the extent to which people base their intentions on affect and cognition. Two studies are presented that assess whether such differences predict the strength of individuals' intention-behaviour relationships. Participants completed measures of affect, cognition, intention, and behaviour regarding a range of health behaviours. Study 1 (N = 300) found that the strength of the intention-behaviour relationship was significantly related to the extent to which individuals based their intentions on affect, but not to the extent they based them on cognition. Study 2 (N = 387) replicated the findings of the first study. In addition, Study 2 revealed that intention stability mediated the relationship between the degree people based their intentions on affect and the strength of the intention-behaviour relationship. Thus, individuals who base their intentions strongly on affect have more stable intentions, and are therefore more likely to enact them. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

Alterations in the gut microbiota associated with HIV-1 infection.

PubMed

Lozupone, Catherine A; Li, Marcella; Campbell, Thomas B; Flores, Sonia C; Linderman, Derek; Gebert, Matthew J; Knight, Rob; Fontenot, Andrew P; Palmer, Brent E

2013-09-11

Understanding gut microbiota alterations associated with HIV infection and factors that drive these alterations may help explain gut-linked diseases prevalent with HIV. 16S rRNA sequencing of feces from HIV-infected individuals revealed that HIV infection is associated with highly characteristic gut community changes, and antiretroviral therapy does not consistently restore the microbiota to an HIV-negative state. Despite the chronic gut inflammation characteristic of HIV infection, the associated microbiota showed limited similarity with other inflammatory states and instead showed increased, rather than decreased, diversity. Meta-analysis revealed that the microbiota of HIV-infected individuals in the U.S. was most similar to a Prevotella-rich community composition typically observed in healthy individuals in agrarian cultures of Malawi and Venezuela and related to that of U.S. individuals with carbohydrate-rich, protein- and fat-poor diets. By evaluating innate and adaptive immune responses to lysates from bacteria that differ with HIV, we explore the functional drivers of these compositional differences. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Macro and micro structures in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex contribute to individual differences in self-monitoring.

PubMed

Yang, Junyi; Tian, Xue; Wei, Dongtao; Liu, Huijuan; Zhang, Qinglin; Wang, Kangcheng; Chen, Qunlin; Qiu, Jiang

2016-06-01

Individual differences in self-monitoring, which are the capability to adjust behavior to adapt to social situations, influence a wide range of social behaviors. However, understanding of focal differences in brain structures related to individual self-monitoring is minimal, particularly when micro and macro structures are considered simultaneously. The present study investigates the relationship between self-monitoring and brain structure in a relatively large sample of young adults. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) revealed a significant positive correlation between self-monitoring and gray matter volume in the dorsal cingulate anterior cortex (dACC), dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and bilateral ventral striatum (VS). Further analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between self-monitoring and white matter (WM) integrity, as indexed by fractional anisotropy (FA) in the anterior cingulum (ACG) bundle. Moreover, there was a significant positive correlation between self-monitoring and mean radius diffusion (RD). These results shed light on the structural neural basis of variation in self-monitoring.

A problem with problem solving: motivational traits, but not cognition, predict success on novel operant foraging tasks.

PubMed

van Horik, Jayden O; Madden, Joah R

2016-04-01

Rates of innovative foraging behaviours and success on problem-solving tasks are often used to assay differences in cognition, both within and across species. Yet the cognitive features of some problem-solving tasks can be unclear. As such, explanations that attribute cognitive mechanisms to individual variation in problem-solving performance have revealed conflicting results. We investigated individual consistency in problem-solving performances in captive-reared pheasant chicks, Phasianus colchicus , and addressed whether success depends on cognitive processes, such as trial-and-error associative learning, or whether performances may be driven solely via noncognitive motivational mechanisms, revealed through subjects' willingness to approach, engage with and persist in their interactions with an apparatus, or via physiological traits such as body condition. While subjects' participation and success were consistent within the same problems and across similar tasks, their performances were inconsistent across different types of task. Moreover, subjects' latencies to approach each test apparatus and their attempts to access the reward were not repeatable across trials. Successful individuals did not improve their performances with experience, nor were they consistent in their techniques in repeated presentations of a task. However, individuals that were highly motivated to enter the experimental chamber were more likely to participate. Successful individuals were also faster to approach each test apparatus and more persistent in their attempts to solve the tasks than unsuccessful individuals. Our findings therefore suggest that individual differences in problem-solving success can arise from inherent motivational differences alone and hence be achieved without inferring more complex cognitive processes.

A problem with problem solving: motivational traits, but not cognition, predict success on novel operant foraging tasks

PubMed Central

van Horik, Jayden O.; Madden, Joah R.

2016-01-01

Rates of innovative foraging behaviours and success on problem-solving tasks are often used to assay differences in cognition, both within and across species. Yet the cognitive features of some problem-solving tasks can be unclear. As such, explanations that attribute cognitive mechanisms to individual variation in problem-solving performance have revealed conflicting results. We investigated individual consistency in problem-solving performances in captive-reared pheasant chicks, Phasianus colchicus, and addressed whether success depends on cognitive processes, such as trial-and-error associative learning, or whether performances may be driven solely via noncognitive motivational mechanisms, revealed through subjects' willingness to approach, engage with and persist in their interactions with an apparatus, or via physiological traits such as body condition. While subjects' participation and success were consistent within the same problems and across similar tasks, their performances were inconsistent across different types of task. Moreover, subjects' latencies to approach each test apparatus and their attempts to access the reward were not repeatable across trials. Successful individuals did not improve their performances with experience, nor were they consistent in their techniques in repeated presentations of a task. However, individuals that were highly motivated to enter the experimental chamber were more likely to participate. Successful individuals were also faster to approach each test apparatus and more persistent in their attempts to solve the tasks than unsuccessful individuals. Our findings therefore suggest that individual differences in problem-solving success can arise from inherent motivational differences alone and hence be achieved without inferring more complex cognitive processes. PMID:27122637

Overcoming the obstacles: Life stories of scientists with learning disabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Force, Crista Marie

Scientific discovery is at the heart of solving many of the problems facing contemporary society. Scientists are retiring at rates that exceed the numbers of new scientists. Unfortunately, scientific careers still appear to be outside the reach of most individuals with learning disabilities. The purpose of this research was to better understand the methods by which successful learning disabled scientists have overcome the barriers and challenges associated with their learning disabilities in their preparation and performance as scientists. This narrative inquiry involved the researcher writing the life stories of four scientists. These life stories were generated from extensive interviews in which each of the scientists recounted their life histories. The researcher used narrative analysis to "make sense" of these learning disabled scientists' life stories. The narrative analysis required the researcher to identify and describe emergent themes characterizing each scientist's life. A cross-case analysis was then performed to uncover commonalities and differences in the lives of these four individuals. Results of the cross-case analysis revealed that all four scientists had a passion for science that emerged at an early age, which, with strong drive and determination, drove these individuals to succeed in spite of the many obstacles arising from their learning disabilities. The analysis also revealed that these scientists chose careers based on their strengths; they actively sought mentors to guide them in their preparation as scientists; and they developed coping techniques to overcome difficulties and succeed. The cross-case analysis also revealed differences in the degree to which each scientist accepted his or her learning disability. While some demonstrated inferior feelings about their successes as scientists, still other individuals revealed feelings of having superior abilities in areas such as visualization and working with people. These individuals revealed beliefs that they developed these special abilities as a result of their learning differences, which made them better than their non-learning disabled peers in certain areas. Finally, the researcher discusses implications of these findings in the light of special accommodations that can be made by teachers, school counselors, and parents to encourage learning disabled children who demonstrate interest in becoming scientists.

Exploring Individual Differences in Preschoolers' Causal Stance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alvarez, Aubry; Booth, Amy E.

2016-01-01

Preschoolers, as a group, are highly attuned to causality, and this attunement is known to facilitate memory, learning, and problem solving. However, recent work reveals substantial individual variability in the strength of children's "causal stance," as demonstrated by their curiosity about and preference for new causal information. In…

Exploring individual differences in preschoolers' causal stance.

PubMed

Alvarez, Aubry; Booth, Amy E

2016-03-01

Preschoolers, as a group, are highly attuned to causality, and this attunement is known to facilitate memory, learning, and problem solving. However, recent work reveals substantial individual variability in the strength of children's "causal stance," as demonstrated by their curiosity about and preference for new causal information. In this study, we explored the coherence and short-term stability of individual differences in children's causal stance. We also began to investigate the origins of this variability, focusing particularly on the potential role of mothers' explanatory talk in shaping the causal stance of their children. Two measures of causal stance correlated with each other, as well as themselves across time. Both also revealed internal consistency of response. The strength of children's causal stance also correlated with mother's responses on the same tasks and the frequency with which mothers emphasized causality during naturalistic joint activities with their children. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Prospective memory, personality, and individual differences.

PubMed

Uttl, Bob; White, Carmela A; Wong Gonzalez, Daniela; McDouall, Joanna; Leonard, Carrie A

2013-01-01

A number of studies investigating the relationship between personality and prospective memory (ProM) have appeared during the last decade. However, a review of these studies reveals little consistency in their findings and conclusions. To clarify the relationship between ProM and personality, we conducted two studies: a meta-analysis of prior research investigating the relationships between ProM and personality, and a study with 378 participants examining the relationships between ProM, personality, verbal intelligence, and retrospective memory. Our review of prior research revealed great variability in the measures used to assess ProM, and in the methodological quality of prior research; these two factors may partially explain inconsistent findings in the literature. Overall, the meta-analysis revealed very weak correlations (rs ranging from 0.09 to 0.10) between ProM and three of the Big Five factors: Openness, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness. Our experimental study showed that ProM performance was related to individual differences such as verbal intelligence as well as to personality factors and that the relationship between ProM and personality factors depends on the ProM subdomain. In combination, the two studies suggest that ProM performance is relatively weakly related to personality factors and more strongly related to individual differences in cognitive factors.

Discrimination of tonal and atonal music in congenital amusia: The advantage of implicit tasks.

PubMed

Tillmann, Barbara; Lalitte, Philippe; Albouy, Philippe; Caclin, Anne; Bigand, Emmanuel

2016-05-01

Congenital amusia is a neurodevelopmental disorder of music perception and production, which has been attributed to a major deficit in pitch processing. While most studies and diagnosis tests have used explicit investigation methods, recent studies using implicit investigation approaches have revealed some unimpaired pitch structure processing in congenital amusia. The present study investigated amusic individuals' processing of tonal structures (e.g., musical structures respecting the Western tonal system) via three different questions. Amusic participants and their matched controls judged tonal versions (original musical excerpts) and atonal versions (with manipulated pitch content to remove tonal structures) of 12 musical pieces. For each piece, participants answered three questions that required judgments from different perspectives: an explicit structural one, a personal, emotional one and a more social one (judging the perception of others). Results revealed that amusic individuals' judgments differed between tonal and atonal versions. However, the question type influenced the extent of the revealed structure processing: while amusic individuals were impaired for the question requiring explicit structural judgments, they performed as well as their matched controls for the two other questions. Together with other recent studies, these findings suggest that congenital amusia might be related to a disorder of the conscious access to music processing rather than music processing per se. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prospective Memory, Personality, and Individual Differences

PubMed Central

Uttl, Bob; White, Carmela A.; Wong Gonzalez, Daniela; McDouall, Joanna; Leonard, Carrie A.

2012-01-01

A number of studies investigating the relationship between personality and prospective memory (ProM) have appeared during the last decade. However, a review of these studies reveals little consistency in their findings and conclusions. To clarify the relationship between ProM and personality, we conducted two studies: a meta-analysis of prior research investigating the relationships between ProM and personality, and a study with 378 participants examining the relationships between ProM, personality, verbal intelligence, and retrospective memory. Our review of prior research revealed great variability in the measures used to assess ProM, and in the methodological quality of prior research; these two factors may partially explain inconsistent findings in the literature. Overall, the meta-analysis revealed very weak correlations (rs ranging from 0.09 to 0.10) between ProM and three of the Big Five factors: Openness, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness. Our experimental study showed that ProM performance was related to individual differences such as verbal intelligence as well as to personality factors and that the relationship between ProM and personality factors depends on the ProM subdomain. In combination, the two studies suggest that ProM performance is relatively weakly related to personality factors and more strongly related to individual differences in cognitive factors. PMID:23525147

An exemplar-based approach to individualized parcellation reveals the need for sex specific functional networks

PubMed Central

Salehi, Mehraveh; Karbasi, Amin; Shen, Xilin; Scheinost, Dustin; Constable, R. Todd

2018-01-01

Recent work with functional connectivity data has led to significant progress in understanding the functional organization of the brain. While the majority of the literature has focused on group-level parcellation approaches, there is ample evidence that the brain varies in both structure and function across individuals. In this work, we introduce a parcellation technique that incorporates delineation of functional networks both at the individual- and group-level. The proposed technique deploys the notion of “submodularity” to jointly parcellate the cerebral cortex while establishing an inclusive correspondence between the individualized functional networks. Using this parcellation technique, we successfully established a cross-validated predictive model that predicts individuals’ sex, solely based on the parcellation schemes (i.e. the node-to-network assignment vectors). The sex prediction finding illustrates that individualized parcellation of functional networks can reveal subgroups in a population and suggests that the use of a global network parcellation may overlook fundamental differences in network organization. This is a particularly important point to consider in studies comparing patients versus controls or even patient subgroups. Network organization may differ between individuals and global configurations should not be assumed. This approach to the individualized study of functional organization in the brain has many implications for both neuroscience and clinical applications. PMID:28882628

Individual differences in human brain development.

PubMed

Brown, Timothy T

2017-01-01

This article discusses recent scientific advances in the study of individual differences in human brain development. Focusing on structural neuroimaging measures of brain morphology and tissue properties, two kinds of variability are related and explored: differences across individuals of the same age and differences across age as a result of development. A recent multidimensional modeling study is explained, which was able to use brain measures to predict an individual's chronological age within about one year on average, in children, adolescents, and young adults between 3 and 20 years old. These findings reveal great regularity in the sequence of the aggregate brain state across different ages and phases of development, despite the pronounced individual differences people show on any single brain measure at any given age. Future research is suggested, incorporating additional measures of brain activity and function. WIREs Cogn Sci 2017, 8:e1389. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1389 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. © 2016 The Authors. WIREs Cognitive Science published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Scaling and Multifractality in Road Accidental Distances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiu, Tian; Wan, Chi; Zou, Xiang-Xiang; Wang, Xiao-Fan

Accidental distance dynamics is investigated, based on the road accidental data of the Great Britain. The distance distribution of all the districts as an ensemble presents a power law tail, which is different from that of the individual district. A universal distribution is found for different districts, by rescaling the distribution functions of individual districts, which can be well fitted by the Weibull distribution. The male and female drivers behave similarly in the distance distribution. The multifractal characteristic is further studied for the individual district and all the districts as an ensemble, and different behaviors are also revealed between them. The accidental distances of the individual district show a weak multifractality, whereas of all the districts present a strong multifractality when taking them as an ensemble.

An exemplar-based approach to individualized parcellation reveals the need for sex specific functional networks.

PubMed

Salehi, Mehraveh; Karbasi, Amin; Shen, Xilin; Scheinost, Dustin; Constable, R Todd

2018-04-15

Recent work with functional connectivity data has led to significant progress in understanding the functional organization of the brain. While the majority of the literature has focused on group-level parcellation approaches, there is ample evidence that the brain varies in both structure and function across individuals. In this work, we introduce a parcellation technique that incorporates delineation of functional networks both at the individual- and group-level. The proposed technique deploys the notion of "submodularity" to jointly parcellate the cerebral cortex while establishing an inclusive correspondence between the individualized functional networks. Using this parcellation technique, we successfully established a cross-validated predictive model that predicts individuals' sex, solely based on the parcellation schemes (i.e. the node-to-network assignment vectors). The sex prediction finding illustrates that individualized parcellation of functional networks can reveal subgroups in a population and suggests that the use of a global network parcellation may overlook fundamental differences in network organization. This is a particularly important point to consider in studies comparing patients versus controls or even patient subgroups. Network organization may differ between individuals and global configurations should not be assumed. This approach to the individualized study of functional organization in the brain has many implications for both neuroscience and clinical applications. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Does Age Affect the Relationship Between Pain and Disability? A Descriptive Study in Individuals Suffering From Chronic Low Back Pain.

PubMed

Houde, Francis; Cabana, François; Léonard, Guillaume

2016-01-01

Previous studies have revealed a weak to moderate relationship between pain and disability in individuals suffering from low back pain (LBP). However, to our knowledge, no studies have evaluated if this relationship is different between young and older adults. The objective of this descriptive, cross-sectional study was to determine whether the relationship between LBP intensity and physical disability is different between young and older adults. Pain intensity (measured with a visual analog scale) and physical disability scores (measured with the Oswestry Disability Index) were collected from the medical files of 164 patients with LBP. Separate Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated between these 2 variables for young (mean age 40 ± 6 years, n = 82) and older (62 ± 9 years, n = 82) individuals and a Fisher r-to-z transformation was used to test for group differences in the strength of the relationship. Linear regression analyses were also performed to determine whether the slope of the association was different between the 2 groups. A significant and positive association was found between pain intensity and disability for both young and older individuals. However, the correlation was stronger in the young group (r = 0.66; P < .01) than in the older group (r = 0.44; P < .01) (Fisher Z = 2.03; P < .05). The linear regression model also revealed that the slope of the relationship was steeper in the young group (P < .05). Although both young and older individuals showed a significant association between pain intensity and disability, the relationship between these 2 variables was more tenuous in older individuals than in young patients. Future research is essential to identify the factors underlying this age-related difference.

Understanding individual differences in representational abstraction: The role of working memory capacity.

PubMed

Stukken, Loes; Van Rensbergen, Bram; Vanpaemel, Wolf; Storms, Gert

2016-10-01

Several studies have reported differences in categorization strategies among participants: some learn a category by making abstraction across the category members while others use a memorization strategy. Despite the prevalence of these differences, little attention has been paid to investigating what influences some to use an abstraction strategy and others a memorization strategy. The current study had two goals: in a first experiment we investigated whether these differences were stable across time, using the parallel form method often used in psychometric research, and in a second experiment we investigated whether the individual differences in categorization strategy were related to working memory capacity. We used a modelling strategy, in which we not only focused on full abstraction and memorization strategies, but also on intermediate strategies in which some category members are abstracted and others are not. The first study revealed that the individual abstraction strategy of individual participants in two different experiments, performed at different times, correlate significantly, and second study showed that these individual differences were related to the working memory capacity of the participants. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

No Differences in Energy Cost of a Predetermined Exercise among Young Overweight/Obese and Undernourished Individuals

PubMed Central

Muralidhara, DV; Mat Nor, Mohd Nasir; Zubaidi, Ahmad L

2018-01-01

Background: Physical activity is an integral part of one's daily life. Obese (Ob) and undernourished (UN) persons are known to underperform physically as compared to normal weight (N) individuals. In this study, we have measured the energy spent to perform a prefixed exercise on treadmill walking and basal heart rate and blood pressure. Body mass index (BMI) and body fat of participating individuals were assessed. Fasting blood sugar and lipid profile were also evaluated. Materials and Methods: Eighty-three young individuals (male: 41; female: 42) of medical faculty, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, who volunteered for the study, were recruited. The mean age of the individuals was 19.8 ± 0 years (P < 1.08). The individuals were grouped as N, UN/underweight, and overweight (Ow)/Ob based on BMI. Results: The results of the study revealed that there were no differences in the energy spent on performing the predetermined treadmill walking of 20 min duration among the three groups (a mean of 78 and 70 calories in all male and female subgroups, respectively). The distance covered by the males was 1.6 km while the females covered 1.4 km on treadmill walking in 20 min time. Basal blood pressure and heart rate and fasting blood sugar did not reveal any significant difference among the groups. However, total cholesterol and triglyceride levels were marginally higher in the Ow/Ob groups of male and female individuals as compared to other groups. Conclusion: Since the study individuals were very young and competitive by nature and possibly had no major metabolic disturbances, the differences in physical activity performances were not obvious. Possibly, such differences would become apparent only at later stages of life as age advances or when the intensity and duration of exercise are set at higher levels. PMID:29755224

False Belief Reasoning in Adults with and without Autistic Spectrum Disorder: Similarities and Differences.

PubMed

Sommer, Monika; Döhnel, Katrin; Jarvers, Irina; Blaas, Lore; Singer, Manuela; Nöth, Victoria; Schuwerk, Tobias; Rupprecht, Rainer

2018-01-01

A central diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the qualitative impairment in reciprocal social interaction and a prominent hypotheses that tried to explain this impairment is the Theory of Mind (ToM) deficit hypotheses. On a behavioral level the critical test for having a ToM, the understanding of false beliefs (FB), is often used for testing ToM abilities in individuals with ASD. Investigating the neural underpinnings several neuroimaging studies revealed a network of areas involved in FB reasoning in neurotypical individuals. For ASD individuals the neural correlates of false belief processing are largely unknown. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and an adapted unexpected transfer task, that makes it possible to distinguish between the computation of diverging beliefs and the selection of a belief-associated response, we investigated a group of adult high-functioning individuals with ASD ( N = 15) and an age and IQ matched group of neurotypical adults (NT; N = 15). On the behavioral level we found no group differences. On the neural level, results were two-fold: In the story phase, in which participants had to compute whether the character's belief is congruent or incongruent to their own belief, there were no differences between neurotypical participants and those diagnosed with ASD. But, in the subsequent question phase, participants with ASD showed increased activity in the bilateral anterior prefrontal cortex, the left posterior frontal cortex, the left superior temporal gyrus, and the left temporoparietal area. These results suggest that during the story phase in which the participants processed observable actions the neural correlates do not differ between adult individuals with ASD and NT individuals. But in the question phase in which participants had to infer an unobservable mental state results revealed neural differences between the two groups. Possibly, these subtle neural processing differences may contribute to the fact that adult ASD individuals are able to master explicit false belief tasks but fail to apply their strategies during everyday social interaction.

False Belief Reasoning in Adults with and without Autistic Spectrum Disorder: Similarities and Differences

PubMed Central

Sommer, Monika; Döhnel, Katrin; Jarvers, Irina; Blaas, Lore; Singer, Manuela; Nöth, Victoria; Schuwerk, Tobias; Rupprecht, Rainer

2018-01-01

A central diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the qualitative impairment in reciprocal social interaction and a prominent hypotheses that tried to explain this impairment is the Theory of Mind (ToM) deficit hypotheses. On a behavioral level the critical test for having a ToM, the understanding of false beliefs (FB), is often used for testing ToM abilities in individuals with ASD. Investigating the neural underpinnings several neuroimaging studies revealed a network of areas involved in FB reasoning in neurotypical individuals. For ASD individuals the neural correlates of false belief processing are largely unknown. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and an adapted unexpected transfer task, that makes it possible to distinguish between the computation of diverging beliefs and the selection of a belief-associated response, we investigated a group of adult high-functioning individuals with ASD (N = 15) and an age and IQ matched group of neurotypical adults (NT; N = 15). On the behavioral level we found no group differences. On the neural level, results were two-fold: In the story phase, in which participants had to compute whether the character's belief is congruent or incongruent to their own belief, there were no differences between neurotypical participants and those diagnosed with ASD. But, in the subsequent question phase, participants with ASD showed increased activity in the bilateral anterior prefrontal cortex, the left posterior frontal cortex, the left superior temporal gyrus, and the left temporoparietal area. These results suggest that during the story phase in which the participants processed observable actions the neural correlates do not differ between adult individuals with ASD and NT individuals. But in the question phase in which participants had to infer an unobservable mental state results revealed neural differences between the two groups. Possibly, these subtle neural processing differences may contribute to the fact that adult ASD individuals are able to master explicit false belief tasks but fail to apply their strategies during everyday social interaction. PMID:29503627

Cross-shift changes in FEV1 in relation to wood dust exposure: the implications of different exposure assessment methods

PubMed Central

Schlunssen, V; Sigsgaard, T; Schaumburg, I; Kromhout, H

2004-01-01

Background: Exposure-response analyses in occupational studies rely on the ability to distinguish workers with regard to exposures of interest. Aims: To evaluate different estimates of current average exposure in an exposure-response analysis on dust exposure and cross-shift decline in FEV1 among woodworkers. Methods: Personal dust samples (n = 2181) as well as data on lung function parameters were available for 1560 woodworkers from 54 furniture industries. The exposure to wood dust for each worker was calculated in eight different ways using individual measurements, group based exposure estimates, a weighted estimate of individual and group based exposure estimates, and predicted values from mixed models. Exposure-response relations on cross-shift changes in FEV1 and exposure estimates were explored. Results: A positive exposure-response relation between average dust exposure and cross-shift FEV1 was shown for non-smokers only and appeared to be most pronounced among pine workers. In general, the highest slope and standard error (SE) was revealed for grouping by a combination of task and factory size, the lowest slope and SE was revealed for estimates based on individual measurements, with the weighted estimate and the predicted values in between. Grouping by quintiles of average exposure for task and factory combinations revealed low slopes and high SE, despite a high contrast. Conclusion: For non-smokers, average dust exposure and cross-shift FEV1 were associated in an exposure dependent manner, especially among pine workers. This study confirms the consequences of using different exposure assessment strategies studying exposure-response relations. It is possible to optimise exposure assessment combining information from individual and group based exposure estimates, for instance by applying predicted values from mixed effects models. PMID:15377768

Object Individuation and Physical Reasoning in Infancy: An Integrative Account

PubMed Central

Baillargeon, Renée; Stavans, Maayan; Wu, Di; Gertner, Yael; Setoh, Peipei; Kittredge, Audrey K.; Bernard, Amélie

2012-01-01

Much of the research on object individuation in infancy has used a task in which two different objects emerge in alternation from behind a large screen, which is then removed to reveal either one or two objects. In their seminal work, Xu and Carey (1996) found that it is typically not until the end of the first year that infants detect a violation when a single object is revealed. Since then, a large number of investigations have modified the standard task in various ways and found that young infants succeed with some but not with other modifications, yielding a complex and unwieldy picture. In this article, we argue that this confusing picture can be better understood by bringing to bear insights from a related subfield of infancy research, physical reasoning. By considering how infants reason about object information within and across physical events, we can make sense of apparently inconsistent findings from different object-individuation tasks. In turn, object-individuation findings deepen our understanding of how physical reasoning develops in infancy. Integrating the insights from physical-reasoning and object-individuation investigations thus enriches both subfields and brings about a clearer account of how infants represent objects and events. PMID:23204946

Exploratory behaviour modulates the relationship between colony familiarity and helping in a cooperative bird.

PubMed

Expósito-Granados, Mónica; De La Cruz, Carlos; Parejo, Deseada; Valencia, Juliana; Alarcos, Susana; Avilés, Jesús M

2016-10-01

Individuals within animal groups may differ in personality and degree of familiarity raising the question of how this influences their social interactions. In Iberian magpies Cyanopica cooki, a portion of first-year males engage in cooperative behaviours and dispersal, allowing addressing this question. In this study, we first investigate the relationship between colony familiarity (native versus foreign) and reproductive status (breeding versus helping) of males during 21 years. Secondly, we measure the exploratory behaviour and monitor reproductive status of a sample of individuals with different colony familiarity during 2 years. Long-term monitoring revealed that foreign individuals were more likely breeders. The analysis on the subset of individuals in which exploratory behaviour was measured revealed a mediatory effect of exploratory behaviour in the association between colony familiarity and helping behaviour. Specifically, among foreign individuals, higher explorative males were more frequently involved in helping behaviour than lower explorative ones. Conversely, among native males, breeders were more explorative than helpers. Our results suggest that aspects of personality may mediate the value of familiarity in reproductive tasks in social species. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Motives for using: a comparison of prescription opioid, marijuana and cocaine dependent individuals.

PubMed

Hartwell, Karen J; Back, Sudie E; McRae-Clark, Aimee L; Shaftman, Stephanie R; Brady, Kathleen T

2012-04-01

Identification of the motives for drug use is critical to the development of effective interventions. Furthermore, consideration of the differences in motives for drug use across substance dependent populations may assist in tailoring interventions. To date, few studies have systematically compared motives for substance use across drug classes. The current study examined motives for drug use between non-treatment seeking individuals with current prescription opioid, marijuana, or cocaine dependence. Participants (N=227) completed the Inventory of Drug-Taking Situations (IDTS; Annis, Turner & Sklar,1997), which contains eight subscales assessing motives for drug use. The findings revealed that prescription opioid dependent individuals scored significantly higher than all other groups on the Physical Discomfort, Testing Personal Control and Conflict with Others subscales. Both the prescription opioid and cocaine dependent groups scored significantly higher than the marijuana group on the Urges or a Temptation to Use subscale. In contrast, marijuana dependent individuals scored highest on the Pleasant Emotions and Pleasant Times with Others subscales. The marked differences revealed in motives for drug use could be used in the development and implementation of specific treatment interventions for prescription opioid, marijuana and cocaine dependent individuals. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Integrative analysis of RNA, translation, and protein levels reveals distinct regulatory variation across humans.

PubMed

Cenik, Can; Cenik, Elif Sarinay; Byeon, Gun W; Grubert, Fabian; Candille, Sophie I; Spacek, Damek; Alsallakh, Bilal; Tilgner, Hagen; Araya, Carlos L; Tang, Hua; Ricci, Emiliano; Snyder, Michael P

2015-11-01

Elucidating the consequences of genetic differences between humans is essential for understanding phenotypic diversity and personalized medicine. Although variation in RNA levels, transcription factor binding, and chromatin have been explored, little is known about global variation in translation and its genetic determinants. We used ribosome profiling, RNA sequencing, and mass spectrometry to perform an integrated analysis in lymphoblastoid cell lines from a diverse group of individuals. We find significant differences in RNA, translation, and protein levels suggesting diverse mechanisms of personalized gene expression control. Combined analysis of RNA expression and ribosome occupancy improves the identification of individual protein level differences. Finally, we identify genetic differences that specifically modulate ribosome occupancy--many of these differences lie close to start codons and upstream ORFs. Our results reveal a new level of gene expression variation among humans and indicate that genetic variants can cause changes in protein levels through effects on translation. © 2015 Cenik et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Learning Style Preferences and the Perceived Usefulness of E-Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mohr, Alexander Toni; Holtbrugge, Dirk; Berg, Nicola

2012-01-01

This paper uses data gathered from 953 students to investigate how far individuals' preferences for a particular learning style are associated with the perceived usefulness of e-learning. Our findings reveal the effect of individuals' learning styles as well as their gender and professional experience on the perceived usefulness of different forms…

Population based allele frequencies of disease associated polymorphisms in the Personalized Medicine Research Project.

PubMed

Cross, Deanna S; Ivacic, Lynn C; Stefanski, Elisha L; McCarty, Catherine A

2010-06-17

There is a lack of knowledge regarding the frequency of disease associated polymorphisms in populations and population attributable risk for many populations remains unknown. Factors that could affect the association of the allele with disease, either positively or negatively, such as race, ethnicity, and gender, may not be possible to determine without population based allele frequencies.Here we used a panel of 51 polymorphisms previously associated with at least one disease and determined the allele frequencies within the entire Personalized Medicine Research Project population based cohort. We compared these allele frequencies to those in dbSNP and other data sources stratified by race. Differences in allele frequencies between self reported race, region of origin, and sex were determined. There were 19544 individuals who self reported a single racial category, 19027 or (97.4%) self reported white Caucasian, and 11205 (57.3%) individuals were female. Of the 11,208 (57%) individuals with an identifiable region of origin 8337 or (74.4%) were German.41 polymorphisms were significantly different between self reported race at the 0.05 level. Stratification of our Caucasian population by self reported region of origin revealed 19 polymorphisms that were significantly different (p = 0.05) between individuals of different origins. Further stratification of the population by gender revealed few significant differences in allele frequencies between the genders. This represents one of the largest population based allele frequency studies to date. Stratification by self reported race and region of origin revealed wide differences in allele frequencies not only by race but also by region of origin within a single racial group. We report allele frequencies for our Asian/Hmong and American Indian populations; these two minority groups are not typically selected for population allele frequency detection. Population wide allele frequencies are important for the design and implementation of studies and for determining the relevance of a disease associated polymorphism for a given population.

Perceptual learning in Williams syndrome: looking beyond averages.

PubMed

Gervan, Patricia; Gombos, Ferenc; Kovacs, Ilona

2012-01-01

Williams Syndrome is a genetically determined neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by an uneven cognitive profile and surprisingly large neurobehavioral differences among individuals. Previous studies have already shown different forms of memory deficiencies and learning difficulties in WS. Here we studied the capacity of WS subjects to improve their performance in a basic visual task. We employed a contour integration paradigm that addresses occipital visual function, and analyzed the initial (i.e. baseline) and after-learning performance of WS individuals. Instead of pooling the very inhomogeneous results of WS subjects together, we evaluated individual performance by expressing it in terms of the deviation from the average performance of the group of typically developing subjects of similar age. This approach helped us to reveal information about the possible origins of poor performance of WS subjects in contour integration. Although the majority of WS individuals showed both reduced baseline and reduced learning performance, individual analysis also revealed a dissociation between baseline and learning capacity in several WS subjects. In spite of impaired initial contour integration performance, some WS individuals presented learning capacity comparable to learning in the typically developing population, and vice versa, poor learning was also observed in subjects with high initial performance levels. These data indicate a dissociation between factors determining initial performance and perceptual learning.

Repeatability of circadian behavioural variation revealed in free-ranging marine fish.

PubMed

Alós, Josep; Martorell-Barceló, Martina; Campos-Candela, Andrea

2017-02-01

Repeatable between-individual differences in the behavioural manifestation of underlying circadian rhythms determine chronotypes in humans and terrestrial animals. Here, we have repeatedly measured three circadian behaviours, awakening time, rest onset and rest duration, in the free-ranging pearly razorfish, Xyrithchys novacula , facilitated by acoustic tracking technology and hidden Markov models. In addition, daily travelled distance, a standard measure of daily activity as fish personality trait, was repeatedly assessed using a State-Space Model. We have decomposed the variance of these four behavioural traits using linear mixed models and estimated repeatability scores ( R ) while controlling for environmental co-variates: year of experimentation, spatial location of the activity, fish size and gender and their interactions. Between- and within-individual variance decomposition revealed significant R s in all traits suggesting high predictability of individual circadian behavioural variation and the existence of chronotypes. The decomposition of the correlations among chronotypes and the personality trait studied here into between- and within-individual correlations did not reveal any significant correlation at between-individual level. We therefore propose circadian behavioural variation as an independent axis of the fish personality, and the study of chronotypes and their consequences as a novel dimension in understanding within-species fish behavioural diversity.

Are event-related potentials to dynamic facial expressions of emotion related to individual differences in the accuracy of processing facial expressions and identity?

PubMed

Recio, Guillermo; Wilhelm, Oliver; Sommer, Werner; Hildebrandt, Andrea

2017-04-01

Despite a wealth of knowledge about the neural mechanisms behind emotional facial expression processing, little is known about how they relate to individual differences in social cognition abilities. We studied individual differences in the event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by dynamic facial expressions. First, we assessed the latent structure of the ERPs, reflecting structural face processing in the N170, and the allocation of processing resources and reflexive attention to emotionally salient stimuli, in the early posterior negativity (EPN) and the late positive complex (LPC). Then we estimated brain-behavior relationships between the ERP factors and behavioral indicators of facial identity and emotion-processing abilities. Structural models revealed that the participants who formed faster structural representations of neutral faces (i.e., shorter N170 latencies) performed better at face perception (r = -.51) and memory (r = -.42). The N170 amplitude was not related to individual differences in face cognition or emotion processing. The latent EPN factor correlated with emotion perception (r = .47) and memory (r = .32), and also with face perception abilities (r = .41). Interestingly, the latent factor representing the difference in EPN amplitudes between the two neutral control conditions (chewing and blinking movements) also correlated with emotion perception (r = .51), highlighting the importance of tracking facial changes in the perception of emotional facial expressions. The LPC factor for negative expressions correlated with the memory for emotional facial expressions. The links revealed between the latency and strength of activations of brain systems and individual differences in processing socio-emotional information provide new insights into the brain mechanisms involved in social communication.

"We are Two of the Lucky Ones": Experiences with Marriage and Wellbeing for Same-Sex Couples.

PubMed

Kennedy, Heather R; Dalla, Rochelle L; Dreesman, Steven

2018-01-01

Happy marriages provide protective health benefits, and social support is a key factor in this association. However, previous research indicates one of the greatest differences between same- and different-sex couples is less social support for same-sex couples. Our goal was to examine the extent to which formal markers of couple status (e.g., marriage) impact wellbeing among same-sex married partners. Using a mixed-methods approach, data were collected from 218 primarily White gay and lesbian individuals in the Midwest. Quantitative analysis revealed individuals in a prior formal union with a different-sex partner reported the lowest levels of sexuality specific social support and acceptance. Qualitative analysis revealed four primary impacts of marriage on support from family, friends, and co-workers: no change, increased support, decreased support, and a synthesis of mixed support. Three mechanisms prompting change in the family were identified and are presented.

A Population-Based Study of Alcohol Use in Same-Sex and Different-Sex Unions

PubMed Central

Reczek, Corinne; Liu, Hui; Spiker, Russell

2014-01-01

The present study advances research on union status and health by providing a first look at alcohol use differentials among different-sex and same-sex married and cohabiting individuals using nationally representative population-based data (National Health Interview Surveys 1997–2011, N = 181,581). The results showed that both same-sex and different-sex married groups reported lower alcohol use than both same-sex and different-sex cohabiting groups. The results further revealed that same-sex and different-sex married individuals reported similar levels of alcohol use, whereas same-sex and different-sex cohabiting individuals reported similar levels of alcohol use. Drawing on marital advantage and minority stress approaches, the findings suggest that it is cohabitation status—not same-sex status—that is associated with elevated alcohol rates. PMID:24860195

Context Matters: Multiple Novelty Tests Reveal Different Aspects of Shyness-Boldness in Farmed American Mink (Neovison vison).

PubMed

Noer, Christina Lehmkuhl; Needham, Esther Kjær; Wiese, Ann-Sophie; Balsby, Thorsten Johannes Skovbjerg; Dabelsteen, Torben

2015-01-01

Animal personality research is receiving increasing interest from related fields, such as evolutionary personality psychology. By merging the conceptual understanding of personality, the contributions to both fields of research may be enhanced. In this study, we investigate animal personality based on the definition of personality traits as underlying dispositional factors, which are not directly measurable, but which predispose individuals to react through different behavioural patterns. We investigated the shyness-boldness continuum reflected in the consistency of inter-individual variation in behavioural responses towards novelty in 47 farmed American mink (Neovison vison), which were raised in identical housing conditions. Different stages of approach behaviour towards novelty, and how these related within and across contexts, were explored. Our experimental design contained four tests: two novel object tests (non-social contexts) and two novel animated stimuli tests (social contexts). Our results showed consistency in shyness measures across multiple tests, indicating the existence of personality in farmed American mink. It was found that consistency in shyness measures differs across non-social and social contexts, as well as across the various stages in the approach towards novel objects, revealing that different aspects of shyness exist in the farmed American mink. To our knowledge this is the first study to reveal aspects of the shyness-boldness continuum in the American mink. Since the mink were raised in identical housing conditions, inherited factors may have been important in shaping the consistent inter-individual variation. Body weight and sex had no effect on the personality of the mink. Altogether, our results suggest that the shyness-boldness continuum cannot be explained by a simple underlying dispositional factor, but instead encompasses a broader term of hesitating behaviour that might comprise several different personality traits.

Causal Genetic Variation Underlying Metabolome Differences.

PubMed

Swain-Lenz, Devjanee; Nikolskiy, Igor; Cheng, Jiye; Sudarsanam, Priya; Nayler, Darcy; Staller, Max V; Cohen, Barak A

2017-08-01

An ongoing challenge in biology is to predict the phenotypes of individuals from their genotypes. Genetic variants that cause disease often change an individual's total metabolite profile, or metabolome. In light of our extensive knowledge of metabolic pathways, genetic variants that alter the metabolome may help predict novel phenotypes. To link genetic variants to changes in the metabolome, we studied natural variation in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae We used an untargeted mass spectrometry method to identify dozens of metabolite Quantitative Trait Loci (mQTL), genomic regions containing genetic variation that control differences in metabolite levels between individuals. We mapped differences in urea cycle metabolites to genetic variation in specific genes known to regulate amino acid biosynthesis. Our functional assays reveal that genetic variation in two genes, AUA1 and ARG81 , cause the differences in the abundance of several urea cycle metabolites. Based on knowledge of the urea cycle, we predicted and then validated a new phenotype: sensitivity to a particular class of amino acid isomers. Our results are a proof-of-concept that untargeted mass spectrometry can reveal links between natural genetic variants and metabolome diversity. The interpretability of our results demonstrates the promise of using genetic variants underlying natural differences in the metabolome to predict novel phenotypes from genotype. Copyright © 2017 by the Genetics Society of America.

Individual Differences in Social Anxiety Affect the Salience of Errors in Social Contexts

PubMed Central

Barker, Tyson V.; Troller-Renfree, Sonya; Pine, Daniel S.; Fox, Nathan A.

2015-01-01

The error-related negativity (ERN) is an event-related potential that occurs approximately 50 ms after an erroneous response. The magnitude of the ERN is influenced by contextual factors, such as when errors are made during social evaluation. The ERN is also influenced by individual differences in anxiety, and it is elevated amongst anxious individuals. However, little research has examined how individual differences in anxiety interact with contextual factors to impact the ERN. Social anxiety involves fear and apprehension of social evaluation. The current study explored how individual differences in social anxiety interact with social contexts to modulate the ERN. The ERN was measured in 43 young adults characterized as either high or low in social anxiety while they completed a flanker task in two contexts: alone and during social evaluation. Results revealed a significant interaction between social anxiety and context, such that the ERN was enhanced in a social relative to a non-social context only among high socially anxious individuals. Furthermore, the degree of such enhancement significantly correlated with individual differences in social anxiety. These findings demonstrate that social anxiety is characterized by enhanced neural activity to errors in social evaluative contexts. PMID:25967929

Individuation among bedouin versus urban arab adolescents: ethnic and gender differences.

PubMed

Dwairy, Marwan

2004-11-01

Three scales assessing individuation (Objective Measure of Ego-Identity Status [OMEIS], Separation-Individuation Test of Adolescence [SITA], and Multigenerational Interconnectedness Scale [MIS]) were administered to 40 female and 38 male Bedouin Arab adolescents and to 39 female and 38 male urban Arab adolescents in Grade 12. It was hypothesized that Bedouin Arab adolescents and female adolescents would manifest less individuation than urban Arab adolescents and male adolescents, respectively. Results from the OMEIS revealed that the identity foreclosed mean of the Bedouin adolescents was higher than that of the urban adolescents. As for the SITA, significant differences were found between Bedouin and urban Arabs in terms of dependency denial, separation anxiety, teacher enmeshment, peer enmeshment, and rejection expectancy. Significant gender differences were found in regard to dependency denial, and a borderline difference was found for separation anxiety. Significant effects of ethnicity and gender were found on the financial interconnectedness subscale of the MIS. The results support the present hypotheses concerning ethnicity differences and indicate that urbanization seems to narrow the differences in individuation between male and female adolescents. 2004 APA

Novel insights into the interplay between ventral neck muscles in individuals with whiplash-associated disorders.

PubMed

Peterson, Gunnel; Nilsson, David; Trygg, Johan; Falla, Deborah; Dedering, Åsa; Wallman, Thorne; Peolsson, Anneli

2015-10-16

Chronic whiplash-associated disorder (WAD) is common after whiplash injury, with considerable personal, social, and economic burden. Despite decades of research, factors responsible for continuing pain and disability are largely unknown, and diagnostic tools are lacking. Here, we report a novel model of mechanical ventral neck muscle function recorded from non-invasive, real-time, ultrasound measurements. We calculated the deformation area and deformation rate in 23 individuals with persistent WAD and compared them to 23 sex- and age-matched controls. Multivariate statistics were used to analyse interactions between ventral neck muscles, revealing different interplay between muscles in individuals with WAD and healthy controls. Although the cause and effect relation cannot be established from this data, for the first time, we reveal a novel method capable of detecting different neck muscle interplay in people with WAD. This non-invasive method stands to make a major breakthrough in the assessment and diagnosis of people following a whiplash trauma.

Individual Differences and Possible Effects from Outdoor Education: Long Time and Short Time Benefits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fiskum, Tove Anita; Jacobsen, Karl

2012-01-01

This study explores differences in the children's outcomes from outdoor education. The results revealed different outcomes within different subgroups: The children with an easy or a withdrawal temperament are good functioning both indoor and outdoor. Their outcomes from outdoor education are an increased vitality, which might be seen as a short…

Spontaneous individual differences in cognitive performances of young adult rats predict locomotor response to amphetamine.

PubMed

Dellu-Hagedorn, F

2005-01-01

Inter-individual differences in cognitive capacities of young adult rats have largely been ignored. To explore this variability and its neurobiological bases, the relationships between individual differences in working memory and locomotor responses to novelty and to amphetamine were investigated in SD rats. Groups of good and poor learners were isolated, the latter demonstrating a markedly slower learning of the task compared to performant rats, with more perseverations independently to motivational state. They also presented a much higher increase in amphetamine-induced locomotion that remained significant for more than 1h after the injection. These results provide evidence that variability in cognitive capacities can be used to reveal their neurobiological substrates. They open new perspectives to study a possible cognitive origin of addictive behaviors and to investigate the involvement of these inter-individual differences on those observed later in life.

Individual differences in current events knowledge: contributions of ability, personality, and interests.

PubMed

Hambrick, David Z; Meinz, Elizabeth J; Oswald, Frederick L

2007-03-01

What accounts for individual differences in the sort of knowledge that people may draw on in everyday cognitive tasks, such as deciding whom to vote for in a presidential election, how to invest money in the stock market, or what team to bet on in a friendly wager? In a large sample of undergraduate students, we investigated correlates of individual differences in recently acquired knowledge of current events in domains such as politics, business, and sports. Structural equation modeling revealed two predictive pathways: one involving cognitive ability factors and the other involving two major nonability factors (personality and interests). The results of this study add to what is known about the sources of individual differences in knowledge and are interpreted in the context of theoretical conceptions of adult intelligence that emphasize the centrality and importance of knowledge (e.g., Ackerman, 1996; Cattell, 1971).

Attitudes toward the Unification of Western Europe and Cross-National Suicide Rates: Eight European Countries, 1973-1990.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fernquist, Robert M.

2001-01-01

Political integration theory (Durkheim) argues that when political crises occur, individuals band together to solve the problem at hand, which yields lower suicide rates. This analysis examines a different component of political integration-attitudes. Cross-sectional time series analysis reveals that attitudes individuals hold toward such an event…

Interindividual differences in embodied marginalization: Osteological and stable isotope analyses of antebellum enslaved individuals.

PubMed

Dent, Sophia C

2017-07-08

Through pathological and stable isotope analyses, this study probes the stressors, disease ecology, and diets of enslaved individuals from an antebellum plantation cemetery. The study aims to highlight how interindividual isotopic differences reveal that marginalization is not uniformly experienced or embodied. The cemetery population consists of 16 individuals; dental and skeletal pathological indicators were collected for all individuals, and light stable isotope ratios (δ 15 N, δ 13 C) were generated from the collagen and hydroxyapatite of nine individuals. The analyzed individuals have high frequencies of enamel defects-similar to contemporaneous enslaved cemetery individuals-and particularly high frequencies of carious lesions. Skeletal analysis shows evidence of chronic conditions among several individuals, two of whom likely have tuberculosis. Although the sample size is small, stable isotope values display interesting trends: there is interindividual heterogeneity in δ 13 C values, and most subadults from the cemetery have lower δ 15 N and higher δ 13 C values than the sampled adults. These relationships can be tested with larger datasets and have the potential to reveal important information about slave foodways and the broader experience of enslavement. The results of this study suggest that racial discrimination, enslavement, and age do not fully account for the heterogeneity in degree of embodied stressors. There are likely other factors at play, intersecting with the aforementioned, that influenced the lived experience of slavery and the degree of marginalization. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Individual differences in working memory capacity and search efficiency.

PubMed

Miller, Ashley L; Unsworth, Nash

2018-05-29

In two experiments, we examined how various learning conditions impact the relation between working memory capacity (WMC) and memory search abilities. Experiment 1 employed a delayed free recall task with semantically related words to induce the buildup of proactive interference (PI) and revealed that the buildup of PI differentially impacted recall accuracy and recall latency for low-WMC and high-WMC individuals. Namely, the buildup of PI impaired recall accuracy and slowed recall latency for low-WMC individuals to a greater extent than what was observed for high-WMC individuals. To provide a circumstance in which previously learned information remains relevant over the course of learning, Experiment 2 required participants to complete a multitrial delayed free recall task with unrelated words. Results revealed that with increased practice with the same word list, WMC-related differences were eventually eliminated in interresponse times (IRTs) and recall accuracy, but not recall latency. Thus, despite still accumulating larger search sets, low-WMC individuals searched LTM as efficiently as high-WMC individuals. Collectively, these results are consistent with the notion that under normal free recall conditions, low-WMC individuals search LTM less efficiently than do high-WMC individuals because of their reliance on noisy temporal-contextual cues at retrieval. However, it appears that under conditions in which previously learned items remain relevant at recall, this tendency to rely on vague self-generated retrieval cues can actually facilitate the ability to accurately and quickly recall information.

Individual Differences in Amygdala-Medial Prefrontal Anatomy Link Negative Affect, Impaired Social Functioning, and Polygenic Depression Risk

PubMed Central

Holmes, Avram J.; Lee, Phil H.; Hollinshead, Marisa O.; Bakst, Leah; Roffman, Joshua L.; Smoller, Jordan W.; Buckner, Randy L.

2013-01-01

Individual differences in affective and social processes may arise from variability in amygdala-medial prefrontal (mPFC) circuitry and related genetic heterogeneity. To explore this possibility in humans, we examined the structural correlates of trait negative affect in a sample of 1050 healthy young adults with no history of psychiatric illness. Analyses revealed that heightened negative affect was associated with increased amygdala volume and reduced thickness in a left mPFC region encompassing the subgenual and rostral anterior cingulate cortex. The most extreme individuals displayed an inverse correlation between amygdala volume and mPFC thickness, suggesting that imbalance between these structures is linked to negative affect in the general population. Subgroups of participants were further evaluated on social (n = 206) and emotional (n = 533) functions. Individuals with decreased mPFC thickness exhibited the poorest social cognition and were least able to correctly identify facial emotion. Given prior links between disrupted amygdala–mPFC circuitry and the presence of major depressive disorder (MDD), we explored whether the individual differences in anatomy observed here in healthy young adults were associated with polygenic risk for MDD (n = 438) using risk scores derived from a large genome-wide association analysis (n = 18,759). Analyses revealed associations between increasing polygenic burden for MDD and reduced cortical thickness in the left mPFC. These collective findings suggest that, within the healthy population, there is significant variability in amygdala–mPFC circuitry that is associated with poor functioning across affective and social domains. Individual differences in this circuitry may arise, in part, from common genetic variability that contributes to risk for MDD. PMID:23238724

Monitoring the hatch time of individual chicken embryos.

PubMed

Romanini, C E B; Exadaktylos, V; Tong, Q; McGonnel, I; Demmers, T G M; Bergoug, H; Eterradossi, N; Roulston, N; Garain, P; Bahr, C; Berckmans, D

2013-02-01

This study investigated variations in eggshell temperature (T(egg)) during the hatching process of broiler eggs. Temperature sensors monitored embryo temperature by registering T(egg) every minute. Measurements carried out on a sample of 40 focal eggs revealed temperature drops between 2 to 6°C during the last 3 d of incubation. Video cameras recorded the hatching process and served as the gold standard reference for manually labeling the hatch times of chicks. Comparison between T(egg) drops and the hatch time of individuals revealed a time synchronization with 99% correlation coefficient and an absolute average time difference up to 25 min. Our findings suggest that attaching temperature sensors to eggshells is a precise tool for monitoring the hatch time of individual chicks. Individual hatch monitoring registers the biological age of chicks and facilitates an accurate and reliable means to count hatching results and manage the hatch window.

Insights into the pan-microbiome: skin microbial communities of Chinese individuals differ from other racial groups

PubMed Central

Leung, Marcus H. Y.; Wilkins, David; Lee, Patrick K. H.

2015-01-01

Many studies have characterized microbiomes of western individuals. However, studies involving non-westerners are scarce. This study characterizes the skin microbiomes of Chinese individuals. Skin-associated genera, including Propionibacterium, Corynebacterium, Staphylococcus, and Enhydrobacter were prevalent. Extensive inter-individual microbiome variations were detected, with core genera present in all individuals constituting a minority of genera detected. Species-level analyses presented dominance of potential opportunistic pathogens in respective genera. Host properties including age, gender, and household were associated with variations in community structure. For all sampled sites, skin microbiomes within an individual is more similar than that of different co-habiting individuals, which is in turn more similar than individuals living in different households. Network analyses highlighted general and skin-site specific relationships between genera. Comparison of microbiomes from different population groups revealed race-based clustering explained by community membership (Global R = 0.968) and structure (Global R = 0.589), contributing to enlargement of the skin pan-microbiome. This study provides the foundation for subsequent in-depth characterization and microbial interactive analyses on the skin and other parts of the human body in different racial groups, and an appreciation that the human skin pan-microbiome can be much larger than that of a single population. PMID:26177982

Individual differences in orexin 1 receptor modulation of motivation for the opioid remifentanil

PubMed Central

Porter-Stransky, Kirsten A.; Bentzley, Brandon S.; Aston-Jones, Gary

2015-01-01

Orexin-1 receptors (Ox1Rs) have been implicated in the motivation for drugs of abuse. Here, we utilized a within-session behavioral-economic threshold procedure to screen for individual differences in economic demand for the ultra-short acting opioid remifentanil and to test whether antagonism of Ox1Rs reduces remifentanil demand. The behavioral-economic procedure revealed robust individual differences in free consumption of remifentanil (Q0 parameter; hedonic set point). Rats with low baseline Q0 (low takers) displayed high demand elasticity (α parameter; reduced responding as drug price increased indicating low motivation for drug), whereas subjects with a higher Q0 (high takers) exhibit low demand elasticity (low α) by continuing to self-administer remifentanil despite increased cost (reflecting higher motivation for drug). In a punished responding paradigm utilizing footshock, subjects that were classified as high takers at baseline withstood twice as much shock as low takers to continue self-administering remifentanil. Interestingly, Ox1R antagonism with SB-334867 reduced Q0 and increased α in low takers but not in high takers. Similarly, the Ox1R antagonist attenuated cue-, but not drug-, induced reinstatement of remifentanil seeking in low takers, but had no significant effect on reinstatement of drug seeking in high takers. Together, these data reveal a novel role of orexins in demand for remifentanil: Ox1Rs modulate demand in low takers but not in individuals that exhibit addictive-like behaviors (high takers). Finally, the behavioral assays in this study can serve as a novel laboratory model for studying individual differences in opioid use disorders. PMID:26598295

Individual differences in fluid intelligence predicts inattentional blindness in a sample of older adults: a preliminary study.

PubMed

O'Shea, Deirdre M; Fieo, Robert A

2015-07-01

Previous research has shown that aging increases susceptibility to inattentional blindness (Graham and Burke, Psychol Aging 26:162, 2011) as well as individual differences in cognitive ability related to working memory and executive functions in separate studies. Therefore, the present study was conducted in an attempt to bridge a gap that involved investigating 'age-sensitive' cognitive abilities that may predict inattentional blindness in a sample of older adults. We investigated whether individual differences in general fluid intelligence and speed of processing would predict inattentional blindness in our sample of older adults. Thirty-six healthy older adults took part in the study. Using the inattentional blindness paradigm developed by Most et al. (Psychol Rev 112:217, 2005), we investigated whether rates of inattentional blindness could be predicted by participant's performance on the Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices and a choice-reaction time task. A Mann-Whitney U test revealed that a higher score on the Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices was significantly associated with lower incidences of inattentional blindness. However, a t test revealed that choice-reaction times were not significantly associated with inattentional blindness. Preliminary results from the present study suggest that individual differences in general fluid intelligence are predictive of inattentional blindness in older adults but not speed of processing. Moreover, our findings are consistent with previous studies that have suggested executive attention control may be the source of these individual differences. These findings also highlight the association between attention and general fluid intelligence and how it may impact environmental awareness. Future research would benefit from repeating these analyses in a larger sample and also including a younger comparison group.

Neuronal representation of individual heroin choices in the orbitofrontal cortex.

PubMed

Guillem, Karine; Brenot, Viridiana; Durand, Audrey; Ahmed, Serge H

2018-05-01

Drug addiction is a harmful preference for drug use over and at the expense of other non-drug-related activities. We previously identified in the rat orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) a mechanism that influences individual preferences between cocaine use and an alternative action rewarded by a non-drug reward (i.e. sweet water). Here, we sought to test the generality of this mechanism to a different addictive drug, heroin. OFC neuronal activity was recorded while rats responded for heroin or the alternative non-drug reward separately or while they chose between the two. First, we found that heroin-rewarded and sweet water-rewarded actions were encoded by two non-overlapping OFC neuronal populations and that the relative size of the heroin population represented individual drug choices. Second, OFC neurons encoding the preferred action-which was the non-drug action in the large majority of individuals-progressively fired more than non-preferred action-coding neurons 1 second after the onset of choice trials and around 1 second before the preferred action was actually chosen, suggesting a pre-choice neuronal competition for action selection. Together with a previous study on cocaine choice, the present study on heroin choice reveals important commonalities in how OFC neurons encode individual drug choices and preferences across different classes of drugs. It also reveals some drug-specific differences in OFC encoding activity. Notably, the proportion of neurons that non-selectively encode both the drug and the non-drug reward was higher when the drug was heroin (present study) than when it was cocaine (previous study). We will discuss the potential functional significance of these commonalities and differences in OFC neuronal activity across different drugs for understanding drug choice. © 2017 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Gender differences in vocational rehabilitation service predictors of successful competitive employment for transition-aged individuals with autism.

PubMed

Sung, Connie; Sánchez, Jennifer; Kuo, Hung-Jen; Wang, Chia-Chiang; Leahy, Michael J

2015-10-01

As males and females with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience different symptomology, their needs for vocational rehabilitation (VR) are unique as they transition into adulthood. This study examined the effects of gender differences in VR service predictors on employment outcomes for transition-aged individuals with ASD. A total of 1696 individuals (857 males and 839 females) were analyzed from a sample of RSA-911 data of FY 2011. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were conducted. Results revealed both gender-independent VR service predictors (with job placement and on-the-job supports more beneficial for both genders) and gender-specific predictors of employment (with counseling and guidance, job search assistance, and other services more beneficial for the male group). This study provides support for individualized gender-specific VR services for people with ASD.

Strategic sophistication of individuals and teams. Experimental evidence

PubMed Central

Sutter, Matthias; Czermak, Simon; Feri, Francesco

2013-01-01

Many important decisions require strategic sophistication. We examine experimentally whether teams act more strategically than individuals. We let individuals and teams make choices in simple games, and also elicit first- and second-order beliefs. We find that teams play the Nash equilibrium strategy significantly more often, and their choices are more often a best response to stated first order beliefs. Distributional preferences make equilibrium play less likely. Using a mixture model, the estimated probability to play strategically is 62% for teams, but only 40% for individuals. A model of noisy introspection reveals that teams differ from individuals in higher order beliefs. PMID:24926100

Stability of individual loudness functions obtained by magnitude estimation and production

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hellman, R. P.

1981-01-01

A correlational analysis of individual magnitude estimation and production exponents at the same frequency is performed, as is an analysis of individual exponents produced in different sessions by the same procedure across frequency (250, 1000, and 3000 Hz). Taken as a whole, the results show that individual exponent differences do not decrease by counterbalancing magnitude estimation with magnitude production and that individual exponent differences remain stable over time despite changes in stimulus frequency. Further results show that although individual magnitude estimation and production exponents do not necessarily obey the .6 power law, it is possible to predict the slope of an equal-sensation function averaged for a group of listeners from individual magnitude estimation and production data. On the assumption that individual listeners with sensorineural hearing also produce stable and reliable magnitude functions, it is also shown that the slope of the loudness-recruitment function measured by magnitude estimation and production can be predicted for individuals with bilateral losses of long duration. Results obtained in normal and pathological ears thus suggest that individual listeners can produce loudness judgements that reveal, although indirectly, the input-output characteristic of the auditory system.

Group level effects of social versus individual learning.

PubMed

Jost, Jürgen; Li, Wei

2013-06-01

We study the effects of learning by imitating others within the framework of an iterated game in which the members of two complementary populations interact via random pairing at each round. This allows us to compare both the fitness of different strategies within a population and the performance of populations in which members have access to different types of strategies. Previous studies reveal some emergent dynamics at the population level, when players learn individually. We here investigate a different mechanism in which players can choose between two different learning strategies, individual or social. Imitating behavior can spread within a mixed population, with the frequency of imitators varying over generation time. When compared to a pure population with solely individual learners, a mixed population with both individual and social learners can do better, independently of the precise learning scheme employed. We can then search for the best imitating strategy. Imitating the neighbor with the highest payoff turns out to be consistently superior. This is in agreement with findings in experimental and model studies that have been carried out in different settings.

Functional resting-state connectivity of the human motor network: differences between right- and left-handers.

PubMed

Pool, Eva-Maria; Rehme, Anne K; Eickhoff, Simon B; Fink, Gereon R; Grefkes, Christian

2015-04-01

Handedness is associated with differences in activation levels in various motor tasks performed with the dominant or non-dominant hand. Here we tested whether handedness is reflected in the functional architecture of the motor system even in the absence of an overt motor task. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging we investigated 18 right- and 18 left-handers. Whole-brain functional connectivity maps of the primary motor cortex (M1), supplementary motor area (SMA), dorsolateral premotor cortex (PMd), pre-SMA, inferior frontal junction and motor putamen were compared between right- and left-handers. We further used a multivariate linear support vector machine (SVM) classifier to reveal the specificity of brain regions for classifying handedness based on individual resting-state maps. Using left M1 as seed region, functional connectivity analysis revealed stronger interhemispheric functional connectivity between left M1 and right PMd in right-handers as compared to left-handers. This connectivity cluster contributed to the individual classification of right- and left-handers with 86.2% accuracy. Consistently, also seeding from right PMd yielded a similar handedness-dependent effect in left M1, albeit with lower classification accuracy (78.1%). Control analyses of the other resting-state networks including the speech and the visual network revealed no significant differences in functional connectivity related to handedness. In conclusion, our data revealed an intrinsically higher functional connectivity in right-handers. These results may help to explain that hand preference is more lateralized in right-handers than in left-handers. Furthermore, enhanced functional connectivity between left M1 and right PMd may serve as an individual marker of handedness. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Functional resting-state connectivity of the human motor network: Differences between right- and left-handers

PubMed Central

Pool, Eva-Maria; Rehme, Anne K.; Eickhoff, Simon B.; Fink, Gereon R.; Grefkes, Christian

2016-01-01

Handedness is associated with differences in activation levels in various motor tasks performed with the dominant or non-dominant hand. Here we tested whether handedness is reflected in the functional architecture of the motor system even in the absence of an overt motor task. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging we investigated 18 right- and 18 left-handers. Whole-brain functional connectivity maps of the primary motor cortex (M1), supplementary motor area (SMA), dorsolateral premotor cortex (PMd), pre-SMA, inferior frontal junction and motor putamen were compared between right- and left-handers. We further used a multivariate linear support vector machine (SVM) classifier to reveal the specificity of brain regions for classifying handedness based on individual resting-state maps. Using left M1 as seed region, functional connectivity analysis revealed stronger interhemispheric functional connectivity between left M1 and right PMd in right-handers as compared to left-handers. This connectivity cluster contributed to the individual classification of right- and left-handers with 86.2% accuracy. Consistently, also seeding from right PMd yielded a similar handedness-dependent effect in left M1, albeit with lower classification accuracy (78.1%). Control analyses of the other resting-state networks including the speech and the visual network revealed no significant differences in functional connectivity related to handedness. In conclusion, our data revealed an intrinsically higher functional connectivity in right-handers. These results may help to explain that hand preference is more lateralized in right-handers than in left-handers. Furthermore, enhanced functional connectivity between left M1 and right PMd may serve as an individual marker of handedness. PMID:25613438

Altai pika (Ochotona alpina) alarm calls: individual acoustic variation and the phenomenon of call-synchronous ear folding behavior.

PubMed

Volodin, Ilya A; Matrosova, Vera A; Frey, Roland; Kozhevnikova, Julia D; Isaeva, Inna L; Volodina, Elena V

2018-06-11

Non-hibernating pikas collect winter food reserves and store them in hay piles. Individualization of alarm calls might allow discrimination between colony members and conspecifics trying to steal food items from a colony pile. We investigated vocal posture, vocal tract length, and individual acoustic variation of alarm calls, emitted by wild-living Altai pikas Ochotona alpina toward a researcher. Recording started when a pika started calling and lasted as long as possible. The alarm call series of 442 individual callers from different colonies consisted of discrete short (0.073-0.157 s), high-frequency (7.31-15.46 kHz), and frequency-modulated calls separated by irregular intervals. Analysis of 442 discrete calls, the second of each series, revealed that 44.34% calls lacked nonlinear phenomena, in 7.02% nonlinear phenomena covered less than half of call duration, and in 48.64% nonlinear phenomena covered more than half of call duration. Peak frequencies varied among individuals but always fitted one of three maxima corresponding to the vocal tract resonance frequencies (formants) calculated for an estimated 45-mm oral vocal tract. Discriminant analysis using variables of 8 calls per series of 36 different callers, each from a different colony, correctly assigned over 90% of the calls to individuals. Consequently, Altai pika alarm calls are individualistic and nonlinear phenomena might further increase this acoustic individualization. Additionally, video analysis revealed a call-synchronous, very fast (0.13-0.23 s) folding, depression, and subsequent re-expansion of the pinna confirming an earlier report of this behavior that apparently contributes to protecting the hearing apparatus from damage by the self-generated high-intensity alarm calls.

Power and revenge.

PubMed

Strelan, Peter; Weick, Mario; Vasiljevic, Milica

2014-09-01

We took an individual differences approach to explain revenge tendencies in powerholders. Across four experimental studies, chronically powerless individuals sought more revenge than chronically powerful individuals following a high power episode (Studies 1 and 2), when striking a powerful pose (Study 3), and when making a powerful hand gesture (Study 4). This relationship vanished when participants were not exposed to incidental power. A meta-analysis revealed that, relative to a lack of power or a neutral context, exposure to incidental power increased vengeance among the chronically powerless and reduced vengeance among the chronically powerful. These findings add to previous research on relations between power and aggression, and underscore the role of individual differences as a determinant of powerholders' destructive responses. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

Convergence and divergence across construction methods for human brain white matter networks: an assessment based on individual differences.

PubMed

Zhong, Suyu; He, Yong; Gong, Gaolang

2015-05-01

Using diffusion MRI, a number of studies have investigated the properties of whole-brain white matter (WM) networks with differing network construction methods (node/edge definition). However, how the construction methods affect individual differences of WM networks and, particularly, if distinct methods can provide convergent or divergent patterns of individual differences remain largely unknown. Here, we applied 10 frequently used methods to construct whole-brain WM networks in a healthy young adult population (57 subjects), which involves two node definitions (low-resolution and high-resolution) and five edge definitions (binary, FA weighted, fiber-density weighted, length-corrected fiber-density weighted, and connectivity-probability weighted). For these WM networks, individual differences were systematically analyzed in three network aspects: (1) a spatial pattern of WM connections, (2) a spatial pattern of nodal efficiency, and (3) network global and local efficiencies. Intriguingly, we found that some of the network construction methods converged in terms of individual difference patterns, but diverged with other methods. Furthermore, the convergence/divergence between methods differed among network properties that were adopted to assess individual differences. Particularly, high-resolution WM networks with differing edge definitions showed convergent individual differences in the spatial pattern of both WM connections and nodal efficiency. For the network global and local efficiencies, low-resolution and high-resolution WM networks for most edge definitions consistently exhibited a highly convergent pattern in individual differences. Finally, the test-retest analysis revealed a decent temporal reproducibility for the patterns of between-method convergence/divergence. Together, the results of the present study demonstrated a measure-dependent effect of network construction methods on the individual difference of WM network properties. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Comparison of Molecular Typing Methods Useful for Detecting Clusters of Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli Isolates through Routine Surveillance

PubMed Central

Taboada, Eduardo; Grant, Christopher C. R.; Blakeston, Connie; Pollari, Frank; Marshall, Barbara; Rahn, Kris; MacKinnon, Joanne; Daignault, Danielle; Pillai, Dylan; Ng, Lai-King

2012-01-01

Campylobacter spp. may be responsible for unreported outbreaks of food-borne disease. The detection of these outbreaks is made more difficult by the fact that appropriate methods for detecting clusters of Campylobacter have not been well defined. We have compared the characteristics of five molecular typing methods on Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli isolates obtained from human and nonhuman sources during sentinel site surveillance during a 3-year period. Comparative genomic fingerprinting (CGF) appears to be one of the optimal methods for the detection of clusters of cases, and it could be supplemented by the sequencing of the flaA gene short variable region (flaA SVR sequence typing), with or without subsequent multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Different methods may be optimal for uncovering different aspects of source attribution. Finally, the use of several different molecular typing or analysis methods for comparing individuals within a population reveals much more about that population than a single method. Similarly, comparing several different typing methods reveals a great deal about differences in how the methods group individuals within the population. PMID:22162562

The Stability of Social Desirability: A Latent Change Analysis.

PubMed

Haberecht, Katja; Schnuerer, Inga; Gaertner, Beate; John, Ulrich; Freyer-Adam, Jennis

2015-08-01

Social desirability has been shown to be stable in samples with higher school education. However, little is known about the stability of social desirability in more heterogeneous samples differing in school education. This study aimed to investigate the stability of social desirability and which factors predict interindividual differences in intraindividual change. As part of a randomized controlled trial, 1,243 job seekers with unhealthy alcohol use were systematically recruited at three job agencies. A total of 1,094 individuals (87.8%) participated in at least one of two follow-ups (6 and 15 months after baseline) and constitute this study's sample. The Social Desirability Scale-17 was applied. Two latent change models were conducted: Model 1 tested for interindividual differences in intraindividual change of social desirability between both follow-ups; Model 2 included possible predictors (age, sex, education, current employment status) of interindividual differences in intraindividual change. Model 1 revealed a significant decrease of social desirability over time. Model 2 revealed school education to be the only significant predictor of change. These findings indicate that stability of social desirability may depend on school education. It may not be as stable in individuals with higher school education as in individuals with lower education. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Individual Differences in Behavioral and Electrophysiological Measures of Binaural Processing Across the Adult Life Span.

PubMed

Roup, Christina M; Leigh, Elizabeth D

2015-06-01

The purpose of the present study was to examine individual differences in binaural processing across the adult life span. Sixty listeners (aged 23-80 years) with symmetrical hearing were tested. Binaural behavioral processing was measured by the Words-in-Noise Test, the 500-Hz masking level difference, and the Dichotic Digit Test. Electrophysiologic responses were assessed by the auditory middle latency response binaural interaction component. No correlations among binaural measures were found. Age accounted for the greatest amount of variability in speech-in-noise performance. Age was significantly correlated with the Words-in-Noise Test binaural advantage and dichotic ear advantage. Partial correlations, however, revealed that this was an effect of hearing status rather than age per se. Inspection of individual results revealed that 20% of listeners demonstrated reduced binaural performance for at least 2 of the binaural measures. The lack of significant correlations among variables suggests that each is an important measurement of binaural abilities. For some listeners, binaural processing was abnormal, reflecting a binaural processing deficit not identified by monaural audiologic tests. The inclusion of a binaural test battery in the audiologic evaluation is supported given that these listeners may benefit from alternative forms of audiologic rehabilitation.

Strategic development in exact calculation: group and individual differences in four achievement subtypes.

PubMed

Wylie, Judith; Jordan, Julie-Ann; Mulhern, Gerry

2012-09-01

This longitudinal study sought to identify developmental changes in strategy use between 5 and 7 years of age when solving exact calculation problems. Four mathematics and reading achievement subtypes were examined at four time points. Five strategies were considered: finger counting, verbal counting, delayed retrieval, automatic retrieval, and derived fact retrieval. Results provided unique insights into children's strategic development in exact calculation at this early stage. Group analysis revealed relationships between mathematical and/or reading difficulties and strategy choice, shift, and adaptiveness. Use of derived fact retrieval by 7 years of age distinguished children with mathematical difficulties from other achievement subtypes. Analysis of individual differences revealed marked heterogeneity within all subtypes, suggesting (inter alia) no marked qualitative distinction between our two mathematical difficulty subtypes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Moving Technology-Enhanced-Learning Forward: Bridging Divides through Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bälter, Olle

2017-01-01

A study of academics and professional staff engaged in the emerging field of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) reveal three areas of significant difference in reference to perspectives about TEL. These differences rest on the following individual characteristics: 1) research areas and competencies, 2) academic level, and 3) attitudes towards…

Digital Learning Compass: Distance Education State Almanac 2017

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seaman, Julia E.; Seaman, Jeff

2017-01-01

The Distance Education State Almanac 2017 reveals very different patterns of distance enrollments among the 50 states. This publication, which includes information for all 50 states, and the accompanying 50 individual state reports, provide the first-ever detailed examination of the state-level differences in distance education. This report uses…

Learning Object Names at Different Hierarchical Levels Using Cross-Situational Statistics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Chi-hsin; Zhang, Yayun; Yu, Chen

2018-01-01

Objects in the world usually have names at different hierarchical levels (e.g., "beagle," "dog," "animal"). This research investigates adults' ability to use cross-situational statistics to simultaneously learn object labels at individual and category levels. The results revealed that adults were able to use…

EEG resolutions in detecting and decoding finger movements from spectral analysis

PubMed Central

Xiao, Ran; Ding, Lei

2015-01-01

Mu/beta rhythms are well-studied brain activities that originate from sensorimotor cortices. These rhythms reveal spectral changes in alpha and beta bands induced by movements of different body parts, e.g., hands and limbs, in electroencephalography (EEG) signals. However, less can be revealed in them about movements of different fine body parts that activate adjacent brain regions, such as individual fingers from one hand. Several studies have reported spatial and temporal couplings of rhythmic activities at different frequency bands, suggesting the existence of well-defined spectral structures across multiple frequency bands. In the present study, spectral principal component analysis (PCA) was applied on EEG data, obtained from a finger movement task, to identify cross-frequency spectral structures. Features from identified spectral structures were examined in their spatial patterns, cross-condition pattern changes, detection capability of finger movements from resting, and decoding performance of individual finger movements in comparison to classic mu/beta rhythms. These new features reveal some similar, but more different spatial and spectral patterns as compared with classic mu/beta rhythms. Decoding results further indicate that these new features (91%) can detect finger movements much better than classic mu/beta rhythms (75.6%). More importantly, these new features reveal discriminative information about movements of different fingers (fine body-part movements), which is not available in classic mu/beta rhythms. The capability in decoding fingers (and hand gestures in the future) from EEG will contribute significantly to the development of non-invasive BCI and neuroprosthesis with intuitive and flexible controls. PMID:26388720

Heart rate variability is associated with psychosocial stress in distinct social domains.

PubMed

Lischke, Alexander; Jacksteit, Robert; Mau-Moeller, Anett; Pahnke, Rike; Hamm, Alfons O; Weippert, Matthias

2018-03-01

Psychosocial stress is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Accordingly, there is a growing interest in biomarkers that indicate whether individuals show adaptive (i.e., stress-buffering and health-promoting) or maladaptive (i.e., stress-escalating and health-impairing) stress reactions in social contexts. As heart rate variability (HRV) has been suggested to be a biomarker of adaptive behavior during social encounters, it may be possible that inter-individual differences in HRV are associated with inter-individual differences regarding stress in distinct social domains. To test this hypothesis, resting state HRV and psychosocial stress was assessed in 83 healthy community-dwelling individuals (age: 18-35years). HRV was derived from heart rate recordings during spontaneous and instructed breathing to assess the robustness of possible associations between inter-individual differences in HRV and inter-individual differences in psychosocial stress. Psychosocial stress was determined with a self-report questionnaire assessing stress in distinct social domains. A series of categorical and dimensional analyses revealed an association between inter-individual differences in HRV and inter-individual differences in psychosocial stress: Individuals with high HRV reported less stress in social life, but not in family life, work life or everyday life, than individuals with low HRV. On basis of these findings, it may be assumed that individuals with high HRV experience less psychosocial stress than individuals with low HRV. Although such an assumption needs to be corroborated by further findings, it seems to be consistent with previous findings showing that individuals with high HRV suffer less from stress and stress-related disorders than individuals with low HRV. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Wildlife disease ecology from the individual to the population: Insights from a long-term study of a naturally infected European badger population.

PubMed

McDonald, Jenni L; Robertson, Andrew; Silk, Matthew J

2018-01-01

Long-term individual-based datasets on host-pathogen systems are a rare and valuable resource for understanding the infectious disease dynamics in wildlife. A study of European badgers (Meles meles) naturally infected with bovine tuberculosis (bTB) at Woodchester Park in Gloucestershire (UK) has produced a unique dataset, facilitating investigation of a diverse range of epidemiological and ecological questions with implications for disease management. Since the 1970s, this badger population has been monitored with a systematic mark-recapture regime yielding a dataset of >15,000 captures of >3,000 individuals, providing detailed individual life-history, morphometric, genetic, reproductive and disease data. The annual prevalence of bTB in the Woodchester Park badger population exhibits no straightforward relationship with population density, and both the incidence and prevalence of Mycobacterium bovis show marked variation in space. The study has revealed phenotypic traits that are critical for understanding the social structure of badger populations along with mechanisms vital for understanding disease spread at different spatial resolutions. Woodchester-based studies have provided key insights into how host ecology can influence infection at different spatial and temporal scales. Specifically, it has revealed heterogeneity in epidemiological parameters; intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting population dynamics; provided insights into senescence and individual life histories; and revealed consistent individual variation in foraging patterns, refuge use and social interactions. An improved understanding of ecological and epidemiological processes is imperative for effective disease management. Woodchester Park research has provided information of direct relevance to bTB management, and a better appreciation of the role of individual heterogeneity in disease transmission can contribute further in this regard. The Woodchester Park study system now offers a rare opportunity to seek a dynamic understanding of how individual-, group- and population-level processes interact. The wealth of existing data makes it possible to take a more integrative approach to examining how the consequences of individual heterogeneity scale to determine population-level pathogen dynamics and help advance our understanding of the ecological drivers of host-pathogen systems. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.

Stairway to heaven: evaluating levels of biological organization correlated with the successful ascent of natural waterfalls in the Hawaiian stream goby Sicyopterus stimpsoni.

PubMed

Schoenfuss, Heiko L; Maie, Takashi; Moody, Kristine N; Lesteberg, Kelsey E; Blob, Richard W; Schoenfuss, Tonya C

2013-01-01

Selective pressures generated by locomotor challenges act at the level of the individual. However, phenotypic variation among individuals that might convey a selective advantage may occur across any of multiple levels of biological organization. In this study, we test for differences in external morphology, muscle mechanical advantage, muscle fiber type and protein expression among individuals of the waterfall climbing Hawaiian fish Sicyopterus stimpsoni collected from sequential pools increasing in elevation within a single freshwater stream. Despite predictions from previous laboratory studies of morphological selection, few directional morphometric changes in body shape were observed at successively higher elevations. Similarly, lever arm ratios associated with the main pelvic sucker, central to climbing ability in this species, did not differ between elevations. However, among climbing muscles, the adductor pelvicus complex (largely responsible for generating pelvic suction during climbing) contained a significantly greater red muscle fiber content at upstream sites. A proteomic analysis of the adductor pelvicus revealed two-fold increases in expression levels for two respiratory chain proteins (NADH:ubiquinone reductase and cytochrome b) that are essential for aerobic respiration among individuals from successively higher elevations. Assessed collectively, these evaluations reveal phenotypic differences at some, but not all levels of biological organization that are likely the result of selective pressures experienced during climbing.

Stairway to Heaven: Evaluating Levels of Biological Organization Correlated with the Successful Ascent of Natural Waterfalls in the Hawaiian Stream Goby Sicyopterus stimpsoni

PubMed Central

Schoenfuss, Heiko L.; Maie, Takashi; Moody, Kristine N.; Lesteberg, Kelsey E.; Blob, Richard W.; Schoenfuss, Tonya C.

2013-01-01

Selective pressures generated by locomotor challenges act at the level of the individual. However, phenotypic variation among individuals that might convey a selective advantage may occur across any of multiple levels of biological organization. In this study, we test for differences in external morphology, muscle mechanical advantage, muscle fiber type and protein expression among individuals of the waterfall climbing Hawaiian fish Sicyopterus stimpsoni collected from sequential pools increasing in elevation within a single freshwater stream. Despite predictions from previous laboratory studies of morphological selection, few directional morphometric changes in body shape were observed at successively higher elevations. Similarly, lever arm ratios associated with the main pelvic sucker, central to climbing ability in this species, did not differ between elevations. However, among climbing muscles, the adductor pelvicus complex (largely responsible for generating pelvic suction during climbing) contained a significantly greater red muscle fiber content at upstream sites. A proteomic analysis of the adductor pelvicus revealed two-fold increases in expression levels for two respiratory chain proteins (NADH:ubiquinone reductase and cytochrome b) that are essential for aerobic respiration among individuals from successively higher elevations. Assessed collectively, these evaluations reveal phenotypic differences at some, but not all levels of biological organization that are likely the result of selective pressures experienced during climbing. PMID:24386424

Explaining Differences in Subjective Well-Being Across 33 Nations Using Multilevel Models: Universal Personality, Cultural Relativity, and National Income.

PubMed

Cheng, Cecilia; Cheung, Mike W-L; Montasem, Alex

2016-02-01

This multinational study simultaneously tested three prominent hypotheses--universal disposition, cultural relativity, and livability--that explained differences in subjective well-being across nations. We performed multilevel structural equation modeling to examine the hypothesized relationships at both individual and cultural levels in 33 nations. Participants were 6,753 university students (2,215 men; 4,403 women; 135 did not specify), and the average age of the entire sample was 20.97 years (SD = 2.39). Both individual- and cultural-level analyses supported the universal disposition and cultural relativity hypotheses by revealing significant associations of subjective well-being with Extraversion, Neuroticism, and independent self-construal. In addition, interdependent self-construal was positively related to life satisfaction at the individual level only, whereas aggregated negative affect was positively linked with aggregate levels of Extraversion and interdependent self-construal at the cultural level only. Consistent with the livability hypothesis, gross national income (GNI) was related to aggregate levels of negative affect and life satisfaction. There was also a quadratic relationship between GNI and aggregated positive affect. Our findings reveal that universal disposition, cultural self-construal, and national income can elucidate differences in subjective well-being, but the multilevel analyses advance the literature by yielding new findings that cannot be identified in studies using individual-level analyses alone. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Brain activation underlying threat detection to targets of different races.

PubMed

Senholzi, Keith B; Depue, Brendan E; Correll, Joshua; Banich, Marie T; Ito, Tiffany A

2015-01-01

The current study examined blood oxygen level-dependent signal underlying racial differences in threat detection. During functional magnetic resonance imaging, participants determined whether pictures of Black or White individuals held weapons. They were instructed to make shoot responses when the picture showed armed individuals but don't shoot responses to unarmed individuals, with the cost of not shooting armed individuals being greater than that of shooting unarmed individuals. Participants were faster to shoot armed Blacks than Whites, but faster in making don't shoot responses to unarmed Whites than Blacks. Brain activity differed to armed versus unarmed targets depending on target race, suggesting different mechanisms underlying threat versus safety decisions. Anterior cingulate cortex was preferentially engaged for unarmed Whites than Blacks. Parietal and visual cortical regions exhibited greater activity for armed Blacks than Whites. Seed-based functional connectivity of the amygdala revealed greater coherence with parietal and visual cortices for armed Blacks than Whites. Furthermore, greater implicit Black-danger associations were associated with increased amygdala activation to armed Blacks, compared to armed Whites. Our results suggest that different neural mechanisms may underlie racial differences in responses to armed versus unarmed targets.

Angels and Demons: Using Behavioral Types in a Real-Effort Moral Dilemma to Identify Expert Traits.

PubMed

Bejarano, Hernán D; Green, Ellen P; Rassenti, Stephen J

2016-01-01

In this article, we explore how independently reported measures of subjects' cognitive capabilities, preferences, and sociodemographic characteristics relate to their behavior in a real-effort moral dilemma experiment. To do this, we use a unique dataset, the Chapman Preferences and Characteristics Instrument Set (CPCIS), which contains over 30 standardized measures of preferences and characteristics. We find that simple correlation analysis provides an incomplete picture of how individual measures relate to behavior. In contrast, clustering subjects into groups based on observed behavior in the real-effort task reveals important systematic differences in individual characteristics across groups. However, while we find more differences, these differences are not systematic and difficult to interpret. These results indicate a need for more comprehensive theory explaining how combinations of different individual characteristics impact behavior is needed.

Angels and Demons: Using Behavioral Types in a Real-Effort Moral Dilemma to Identify Expert Traits

PubMed Central

Bejarano, Hernán D.; Green, Ellen P.; Rassenti, Stephen J.

2016-01-01

In this article, we explore how independently reported measures of subjects' cognitive capabilities, preferences, and sociodemographic characteristics relate to their behavior in a real-effort moral dilemma experiment. To do this, we use a unique dataset, the Chapman Preferences and Characteristics Instrument Set (CPCIS), which contains over 30 standardized measures of preferences and characteristics. We find that simple correlation analysis provides an incomplete picture of how individual measures relate to behavior. In contrast, clustering subjects into groups based on observed behavior in the real-effort task reveals important systematic differences in individual characteristics across groups. However, while we find more differences, these differences are not systematic and difficult to interpret. These results indicate a need for more comprehensive theory explaining how combinations of different individual characteristics impact behavior is needed. PMID:27826258

Reduced cognitive capacity impairs the malleability of older adults' negative attitudes to stigmatized individuals.

PubMed

Krendl, Anne C

2018-05-21

Although engaging explicit regulatory strategies may reduce negative bias toward outgroup members, these strategies are cognitively demanding and thus may not be effective for older adults (OA) who have reduced cognitive resources. The current study therefore examines whether individual differences in cognitive capacity disrupt OA' ability to explicitly regulate their bias to stigmatized individuals. Young and OA were instructed to explicitly regulate their negative bias toward stigmatized individuals by using an explicit reappraisal strategy. Regulatory success was assessed as a function of age and individual differences in cognitive capacity (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, the role of executive function in implementing cognitive reappraisal strategies was examined by using a divided attention manipulation. Results from Experiment 1 revealed that individual differences in OA' cognitive capacity disrupted their ability to regulate their negative emotional response to stigma. In Experiment 2, it was found that dividing attention in young adults (YA) significantly reduced their regulatory success as compared to YA' regulatory capacity in the full attention condition. As expected, dividing YA' attention made their performance similar to OA with relatively preserved cognitive capacity. Together, the results from this study demonstrated that individual differences in cognitive capacity predicted OA' ability to explicitly regulate their negative bias to a range of stigmatized individuals.

A Study of the Staffing Requirements for the Replacement Hospital, National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-08-01

individual services. Furthermore, while historical workload statistics for the facility as a whole are available, individual services’ workload...the linear production function statistically fitted to workload data associated with these areas in order to determine the numbers of different...scheduled replacement hospital, this study was conducted to reveal that regardless of increased facility efficiency design, current manpower

Object Individuation and Physical Reasoning in Infancy: An Integrative Account

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baillargeon, Renee; Stavans, Maayan; Wu, Di; Gertner, Yael; Setoh, Peipei; Kittredge, Audrey K.; Bernard, Amelie

2012-01-01

Much of the research on object individuation in infancy has used a task in which two different objects emerge in alternation from behind a large screen, which is then removed to reveal either one or two objects. In their seminal work, Xu and Carey (1996) found that it is typically not until the end of the first year that infants detect a violation…

Neurochemical factors underlying individual differences in locomotor activity and anxiety-like behavioral responses in zebrafish.

PubMed

Tran, Steven; Nowicki, Magda; Muraleetharan, Arrujyan; Chatterjee, Diptendu; Gerlai, Robert

2016-02-04

Variation among individuals may arise for several reasons, and may have diverse underlying mechanisms. Individual differences have been studied in a variety of species, but recently a new model organism has emerged in this field that offers both sophistication in phenotypical characterization and powerful mechanistic analysis. Recently, zebrafish, one of the favorites of geneticists, have been shown to exhibit consistent individual differences in baseline locomotor activity. In the current study, we further explore this finding and examine whether individual differences in locomotor activity correlate with anxiety-like behavioral measures and with levels of dopamine, serotonin and the metabolites of these neurotransmitters. In addition, we examine whether individual differences in locomotor activity are also associated with reactivity to the locomotor stimulant effects of and neurochemical responses to acute ethanol exposure (30min long, 1% v/v ethanol bath application). Principal component analyses revealed a strong association among anxiety-like responses, locomotor activity, serotonin and dopamine levels. Furthermore, ethanol exposure was found to abolish the locomotion-dependent anxiety-like behavioral and serotonergic responses suggesting that this drug also engages a common underlying pathway. Overall, our results provide support for an important role of the serotonergic system in mediating individual differences in anxiety-like responses and locomotor activity in zebrafish and for a minor modulatory role of the dopaminergic system. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The role of scripts in personal consistency and individual differences.

PubMed

Demorest, Amy; Popovska, Ana; Dabova, Milena

2012-02-01

This article examines the role of scripts in personal consistency and individual differences. Scripts are personally distinctive rules for understanding emotionally significant experiences. In 2 studies, scripts were identified from autobiographical memories of college students (Ns = 47 and 50) using standard categories of events and emotions to derive event-emotion compounds (e.g., Affiliation-Joy). In Study 1, scripts predicted responses to a reaction-time task 1 month later, such that participants responded more quickly to the event from their script when asked to indicate what emotion would be evoked by a series of events. In Study 2, individual differences in 5 common scripts were found to be systematically related to individual differences in traits of the Five-Factor Model. Distinct patterns of correlation revealed the importance of studying events and emotions in compound units, that is, in script form (e.g., Agreeableness was correlated with the script Affiliation-Joy but not with the scripts Fun-Joy or Affiliation-Love). © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Personality © 2012, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Experienced stress produces inhibitory deficits in old adults' Flanker task performance: First evidence for lifetime stress effects beyond memory.

PubMed

Marshall, Amanda C; Cooper, Nicholas R; Geeraert, Nicolas

2016-01-01

Studies regarding aged individuals' performance on the Flanker task differ with respect to reporting impaired or intact executive control. Past work has explained this discrepancy by hypothesising that elderly individuals use increased top-down control mechanisms advantageous to Flanker performance. This study investigated this mechanism, focussing on cumulative experienced stress as a factor that may impact on its execution, thereby leading to impaired performance. Thirty elderly and thirty young participants completed a version of the Flanker task paired with electroencephalographic recordings of the alpha frequency, whose increased synchronisation indexes inhibitory processes. Among high stress elderly individuals, findings revealed a general slowing of reaction times for congruent and incongruent stimuli, which correlated with alpha desynchronisation for both stimulus categories. Results found high performing (low stress) elderly revealed neither a behavioural nor electrophysiological difference compared to young participants. Therefore, rather than impacting on top-down compensatory mechanisms, findings indicate that stress may affect elderly participants' inhibitory control in attentional and sensorimotor domains. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Alterations of the human gut microbiome in liver cirrhosis.

PubMed

Qin, Nan; Yang, Fengling; Li, Ang; Prifti, Edi; Chen, Yanfei; Shao, Li; Guo, Jing; Le Chatelier, Emmanuelle; Yao, Jian; Wu, Lingjiao; Zhou, Jiawei; Ni, Shujun; Liu, Lin; Pons, Nicolas; Batto, Jean Michel; Kennedy, Sean P; Leonard, Pierre; Yuan, Chunhui; Ding, Wenchao; Chen, Yuanting; Hu, Xinjun; Zheng, Beiwen; Qian, Guirong; Xu, Wei; Ehrlich, S Dusko; Zheng, Shusen; Li, Lanjuan

2014-09-04

Liver cirrhosis occurs as a consequence of many chronic liver diseases that are prevalent worldwide. Here we characterize the gut microbiome in liver cirrhosis by comparing 98 patients and 83 healthy control individuals. We build a reference gene set for the cohort containing 2.69 million genes, 36.1% of which are novel. Quantitative metagenomics reveals 75,245 genes that differ in abundance between the patients and healthy individuals (false discovery rate < 0.0001) and can be grouped into 66 clusters representing cognate bacterial species; 28 are enriched in patients and 38 in control individuals. Most (54%) of the patient-enriched, taxonomically assigned species are of buccal origin, suggesting an invasion of the gut from the mouth in liver cirrhosis. Biomarkers specific to liver cirrhosis at gene and function levels are revealed by a comparison with those for type 2 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease. On the basis of only 15 biomarkers, a highly accurate patient discrimination index is created and validated on an independent cohort. Thus microbiota-targeted biomarkers may be a powerful tool for diagnosis of different diseases.

Gender Differences in the Transformation Narrative: Implications for Revised Reentry Strategies for Female Offenders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herrschaft, Bryn A.; Veysey, Bonita M.; Tubman-Carbone, Heather R.; Christian, Johnna

2009-01-01

Several studies have found that men and women differ in how they recount events and experiences. However, they may also differ in the actual experiences of events. A sample of 37 individuals with various stigmatized identities was asked to describe how their lives changed in a positive way. The narratives revealed that women and men experience…

The Rubber Hand Illusion Reveals Proprioceptive and Sensorimotor Differences in Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paton, Bryan; Hohwy, Jakob; Enticott, Peter G.

2012-01-01

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterised by differences in unimodal and multimodal sensory and proprioceptive processing, with complex biases towards local over global processing. Many of these elements are implicated in versions of the rubber hand illusion (RHI), which were therefore studied in high-functioning individuals with ASD and a…

Evaluating Individual Students' Perceptions of Instructional Quality: An Investigation of their Factor Structure, Measurement Invariance, and Relations to Educational Outcomes.

PubMed

Scherer, Ronny; Nilsen, Trude; Jansen, Malte

2016-01-01

Students' perceptions of instructional quality are among the most important criteria for evaluating teaching effectiveness. The present study evaluates different latent variable modeling approaches (confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory structural equation modeling, and bifactor modeling), which are used to describe these individual perceptions with respect to their factor structure, measurement invariance, and the relations to selected educational outcomes (achievement, self-concept, and motivation in mathematics). On the basis of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 large-scale data sets of Australia, Canada, and the USA (N = 26,746 students), we find support for the distinction between three factors of individual students' perceptions and full measurement invariance across countries for all modeling approaches. In this regard, bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling outperformed alternative approaches with respect to model fit. Our findings reveal significant relations to the educational outcomes. This study synthesizes different modeling approaches of individual students' perceptions of instructional quality and provides insights into the nature of these perceptions from an individual differences perspective. Implications for the measurement and modeling of individually perceived instructional quality are discussed.

Preparation of a standardised faecal slurry for ex-vivo microbiota studies which reduces inter-individual donor bias.

PubMed

O'Donnell, Michelle M; Rea, Mary C; O'Sullivan, Órla; Flynn, Cal; Jones, Beth; McQuaid, Albert; Shanahan, Fergus; Ross, R Paul

2016-10-01

In-vitro gut fermentation systems provide suitable models for studying gut microbiota composition and functionality. However, such methods depend on the availability of donors and the assumption of reproducibility between microbial communities before experimental treatments commence. The aim of this study was to develop a frozen standardised inoculum (FSI) which minimizes inter-individual variation and to determine its stability over time using culture-dependent and culture-independent techniques. A method for the preparation difference of a FSI is described which involves pooling the faecal samples, centrifugation and pelleting of the cell biomass and finally homogenising the cell pellets with phosphate buffer and glycerol. Using this approach, no significant difference in total anaerobe cell viability was observed between the fresh standardised inoculum (before freezing) and the 12days post freezing FSI. Moreover, Quantitative PCR revealed no significant alterations in the estimated bacterial numbers in the FSI preparations for any of the phyla. MiSeq sequencing revealed minute differences in the relative abundance at phylum, family and genus levels between the FSI preparations. Differences in the microbiota denoted as significant were limited between preparations in the majority of cases to changes in percentage relative abundance of ±0.5%. The independently prepared FSIs revealed a high degree of reproducibility in terms of microbial composition between the three preparations. This study provides a method to produce a standardised human faecal inoculum suitable for freezing. Based on culture-dependent and independent analysis, the method ensures a degree of reproducibility between preparations by lessening the effect of inter-individual variation among the donors, thereby making the system more suitable for the accurate interpretation of the effects of experimental treatments. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The influence of age on wild rhesus macaques' affiliative social interactions.

PubMed

Liao, Zhijie; Sosa, Sebastian; Wu, Chengfeng; Zhang, Peng

2018-02-01

The social relationships that individuals experience at different life stages have a non-negligible influence on their lives, and this is particularly true for group living animals. The long lifespan of many primates makes it likely that these animals have various tactics of social interaction to adapt to complex changes in environmental or physical conditions. The different strategies used in social interaction by individuals at different life stages, and whether the position (central or peripheral) or role (initiator or recipient) of an individual in the group social network changes with age, are intriguing questions that remain to be investigated. We used social network analysis to examine age-related differences in social interaction patterns, social roles, and social positions in three affiliative social networks (approach, allogrooming, and social play) in a group of wild rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Our results showed that social interaction patterns of rhesus macaques differ between age classes in the following ways: i) young individuals tend to allocate social time to a high number of groupmates, older individuals prefer to focus on fewer, specific partners; ii) as they grow older, individuals tend to be recipients in approach interactions and initiators in grooming interactions; and iii) regardless of the different social interaction strategies, individuals of all ages occupy a central position in the group. These results reveal a possible key role played by immature individuals in group social communication, a little-explored issue which deserves closer investigation in future research. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Tiwanaku influence and social inequality: A bioarchaeological, biogeochemical, and contextual analysis of the Larache cemetery, San Pedro de Atacama, Northern Chile.

PubMed

Torres-Rouff, Christina; Knudson, Kelly J; Pestle, William J; Stovel, Emily M

2015-12-01

To assess the relationship between the Tiwanaku polity and the individuals buried at the Middle Horizon (∼AD500-1000) cemetery of Larache in northern Chile, a site that has been singled out as a potential elite foreign enclave. We explore this association through the skeletal remains of 48 individuals interred at the cemetery of Larache using bioarchaeological, biogeochemical, and artifactual evidence. Data from cranial modification practices, violent injury, and the mortuary assemblage are used to explore culturally constructed elements of status and identity, radiogenic strontium isotope analyses provide us with a perspective on the geographic origins of these individuals, and stable carbon and nitrogen analyses allow discussion of paleodiet and access to resources. Radiogenic strontium isotope values show the presence of multiple first generation migrants at Larache. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data reveal significant differences among individuals. The mortuary context reveals a standard pattern for the oases but also includes a series of unusual burials with abundant gold and few other objects. Interestingly, both local and nonlocal individuals with different head shapes had access to the differentiated burial context; however nonlocal individuals appear to be the only ones with a heavily maize-based diet. Our evidence shows that Larache served as a burial place for a diverse, yet culturally integrated and potentially elite segment of the Atacameño population, but not a foreign enclave as had been postulated. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Frog size on continental islands of the coast of Rio de Janeiro and the generality of the Island Rule

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Island Rule postulated that individuals on islands tend to dwarfism when individuals from mainland populations are large and to gigantism when mainland populations present small individuals. There has been much discussion about this rule, but only few studies were carried out aiming to reveal this pattern for anurans. Our study focused on measuring the size of individuals on islands and to find a possible pattern of size modification for insular anurans. Individuals were collected on continental islands, measured and compared to mainland populations. We selected four species with different natural history aspects during these analyses. Island parameters were compared to size of individuals in order to find an explanation to size modification. Three of the four species presented size shifting on islands. Ololygon trapicheiroi and Adenomera marmorata showed dwarfism, Boana albomarginata showed gigantism and in Thoropa miliaris there was no evident size modification. Allometric analysis also revealed differential modification, which might be a result of different selective pressures on islands in respect of mainland populations. Regression model explained most of the size modification in B. albomarginata, but not for the other species. Our results indicate that previous assumptions, usually proposed for mammals from older islands, do not fit to the anurans studied here. We support the assumption that size modification on islands are population-specific. Hence, in B. albomarginata some factor associated to competition, living area and isolation time might likely be responsible for gigantism on islands. PMID:29324790

Lipidomic profiling reveals distinct differences in plasma lipid composition in healthy, prediabetic, and type 2 diabetic individuals

PubMed Central

Zhong, Huanzi; Fang, Chao; Fan, Yanqun; Lu, Yan; Wen, Bo; Ren, Huahui; Hou, Guixue; Yang, Fangming; Xie, Hailiang; Jie, Zhuye; Peng, Ye; Ye, Zhiqiang; Wu, Jiegen; Zi, Jin; Zhao, Guoqing; Chen, Jiayu; Bao, Xiao; Hu, Yihe; Gao, Yan; Zhang, Jun; Yang, Huanming; Wang, Jian; Madsen, Lise; Kristiansen, Karsten

2017-01-01

Abstract The relationship between dyslipidemia and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) has been extensively reported, but the global lipid profiles, especially in the East Asia population, associated with the development of T2D remain to be characterized. Liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry was applied to detect the global lipidome in the fasting plasma of 293 Chinese individuals, including 114 T2D patients, 81 prediabetic subjects, and 98 individuals with normal glucose tolerance (NGT). Both qualitative and quantitative analyses revealed a gradual change in plasma lipid features with T2D patients exhibiting characteristics close to those of prediabetic individuals, whereas they differed significantly from individuals with NGT. We constructed and validated a random forest classifier with 28 lipidomic features that effectively discriminated T2D from NGT or prediabetes. Most of the selected features significantly correlated with diabetic clinical indices. Hydroxybutyrylcarnitine was positively correlated with fasting plasma glucose, 2-hour postprandial glucose, glycated hemoglobin, and insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR). Lysophosphatidylcholines such as lysophosphatidylcholine (18:0), lysophosphatidylcholine (18:1), and lysophosphatidylcholine (18:2) were all negatively correlated with HOMA-IR. The altered plasma lipidome in Chinese T2D and prediabetic subjects suggests that lipid features may play a role in the pathogenesis of T2D and that such features may provide a basis for evaluating risk and monitoring disease development. PMID:28505362

Functional photoreceptor loss revealed with adaptive optics: an alternate cause of color blindness.

PubMed

Carroll, Joseph; Neitz, Maureen; Hofer, Heidi; Neitz, Jay; Williams, David R

2004-06-01

There is enormous variation in the X-linked L/M (long/middle wavelength sensitive) gene array underlying "normal" color vision in humans. This variability has been shown to underlie individual variation in color matching behavior. Recently, red-green color blindness has also been shown to be associated with distinctly different genotypes. This has opened the possibility that there may be important phenotypic differences within classically defined groups of color blind individuals. Here, adaptive optics retinal imaging has revealed a mechanism for producing dichromatic color vision in which the expression of a mutant cone photopigment gene leads to the loss of the entire corresponding class of cone photoreceptor cells. Previously, the theory that common forms of inherited color blindness could be caused by the loss of photoreceptor cells had been discounted. We confirm that remarkably, this loss of one-third of the cones does not impair any aspect of vision other than color.

Physiological assessment of tongue function in dysarthria following traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Goozée, J V; Murdoch, B E; Theodoros, D G

2001-01-01

A tongue pressure transducer system was used to assess tongue strength, endurance, fine pressure control and rate of repetitive movement in a group of 20 individuals, aged 17 to 60 years, with dysarthria following severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Comparison of the TBI group's results against data obtained from a group of 20 age and sex matched control subjects revealed reductions in tongue endurance and rate of repetitive movement. Tongue strength and fine pressure control, however, were found not to differ significantly from the control group. Pearson's product-moment correlations indicated there to be only weak correlations between the physiological nonspeech tongue parameters and the deviant perceptual articulatory features exhibited by the TBI group. Further analysis of the results on an individual subject basis revealed no clear relationships between the physiological and perceptual parameters suggesting that the TBI subjects may have been compensating in different ways for the physiological impairments.

Eighteen-month-olds' memory for short movies of simple stories.

PubMed

Kingo, Osman S; Krøjgaard, Peter

2015-04-01

This study investigated twenty four 18-month-olds' memory for dynamic visual stimuli. During the first visit participants saw one of two brief movies (30 seconds) with a simple storyline displayed in four iterations. After 2 weeks, memory was tested in the visual paired comparison paradigm in which the familiar and the novel movie were contrasted simultaneously and displayed in two iterations for a total of 60 seconds. Eye-tracking revealed that participants fixated the familiar movie significantly more than the novel movie, thus indicating memory for the familiar movie. Furthermore, time-dependent analysis of the data revealed that individual differences in the looking-patterns for the first and second iteration of the movies were related to individual differences in productive vocabulary. We suggest that infants' vocabulary may be indicative of their ability to understand and remember the storyline of the movies, thereby affecting their subsequent memory. © 2015 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A novel test for evaluating horses' spontaneous visual attention is predictive of attention in operant learning tasks.

PubMed

Rochais, C; Sébilleau, M; Houdebine, M; Bec, P; Hausberger, M; Henry, S

2017-08-01

Attention is described as the ability to process selectively one aspect of the environment over others. In this study, we characterized horses' spontaneous attention by designing a novel visual attention test (VAT) that is easy to apply in the animal's home environment. The test was repeated over three consecutive days and repeated again 6 months later in order to assess inter-individual variations and intra-individual stability. Different patterns of attention have been revealed: 'overall' attention when the horse merely gazed at the stimulus and 'fixed' attention characterized by fixity and orientation of at least the visual and auditory organs towards the stimulus. The individual attention characteristics remained consistent over time (after 6 months, Spearman correlation test, P < 0.05). The validity of this novel test as a predictor of individual attentional skills was assessed by comparing the results, for the same horses, with those obtained in both a 'classical' experimental attention test the 'five-choice serial reaction time task' (5-CSRTT) and a work situation (lunge working context). Our results revealed that (i) individual variations remained consistent across tests and (ii) the VAT attention measures were not only predictive of attentional skills but also of learning abilities. Differences appeared however between the first day of testing and the following test days: attention structure on the second day was predictive of learning abilities, attention performances in the 5-CSRRT and at work. The VAT appears as a promising easy-to-use tool to assess animals' attention characteristics and the impact of different factors of variation on attention.

A novel test for evaluating horses' spontaneous visual attention is predictive of attention in operant learning tasks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rochais, C.; Sébilleau, M.; Houdebine, M.; Bec, P.; Hausberger, M.; Henry, S.

2017-08-01

Attention is described as the ability to process selectively one aspect of the environment over others. In this study, we characterized horses' spontaneous attention by designing a novel visual attention test (VAT) that is easy to apply in the animal's home environment. The test was repeated over three consecutive days and repeated again 6 months later in order to assess inter-individual variations and intra-individual stability. Different patterns of attention have been revealed: `overall' attention when the horse merely gazed at the stimulus and `fixed' attention characterized by fixity and orientation of at least the visual and auditory organs towards the stimulus. The individual attention characteristics remained consistent over time (after 6 months, Spearman correlation test, P < 0.05). The validity of this novel test as a predictor of individual attentional skills was assessed by comparing the results, for the same horses, with those obtained in both a `classical' experimental attention test the `five-choice serial reaction time task' (5-CSRTT) and a work situation (lunge working context). Our results revealed that (i) individual variations remained consistent across tests and (ii) the VAT attention measures were not only predictive of attentional skills but also of learning abilities. Differences appeared however between the first day of testing and the following test days: attention structure on the second day was predictive of learning abilities, attention performances in the 5-CSRRT and at work. The VAT appears as a promising easy-to-use tool to assess animals' attention characteristics and the impact of different factors of variation on attention.

Association between childhood trauma and accelerated telomere erosion in adulthood: A meta-analytic study.

PubMed

Li, Zongchang; He, Ying; Wang, Dong; Tang, Jingsong; Chen, Xiaogang

2017-10-01

Childhood trauma has long-term sequelae on health status and contributes to numbers of somatic and mental disorders in later life. Findings from experimental studies in animals suggest that telomere erosion may be a mediator of this relationship. However, results from human studies are heterogeneous. To address these inconsistencies, we performed a meta-analysis regarding the association between childhood trauma and telomere length in adulthood. Articles were identified by systematically searching the Medline, EMBASE and Web of Science databases. Twenty four studies, which include twenty six sample sets and 30,919 participants, met the inclusion criteria for meta-analyses. This meta-analyses revealed that individuals experienced childhood trauma have accelerated telomere erosion in adulthood, with a small effect size (r = -0.05, 95% CI = -0.08-0.03, p < 0.001). Subgroup analyses by type of childhood trauma revealed a trend in difference between groups (Q = 5.24, p = 0.07). Analyses for individual trauma types revealed a significant association between childhood separation and telomere erosion (r = -0.09, p < 0.001), but not for physical abuse, sexual abuse and loss of a parent. This meta-analysis demonstrated a significant association between childhood trauma and accelerated telomere erosion in adulthood, and further revealed that different trauma types have various impacts on telomere. Additional research on the mechanism that links the individual types of childhood trauma with telomere is needed in the future. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Does Older Adults' Cognitive Function Disrupt the Malleability of Their Attitudes toward Outgroup Members?: An fMRI Investigation.

PubMed

Krendl, Anne C; Kensinger, Elizabeth A

2016-01-01

In the current study we examine how individual differences in older adults' global cognitive function impacts the extent to which their attitudes toward stigmatized individuals are malleable. Because prior research has elucidated the neural processes that are involved in evaluating stigmatized individuals who are responsible or not responsible for their condition, a cognitive neuroscience approach may be well-suited to answer this question. In the current study, 36 older and 17 young adults underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while evaluating images of homeless people who were described as being responsible or not responsible for their condition. They also indicated how much pity they felt for each of the individuals in order to determine the extent to which their attitudes were malleable (e.g., more pity for not-responsible as compared to responsible individuals). Participants' cognitive function and baseline measure of their attitudes toward stigmatized individuals (including homeless individuals) were assessed. Results revealed that although older adults' attitudes were malleable, the extent to which this was true varied due to individual differences in their global cognitive function. Specifically, the difference in the magnitude of older adults' self-reported pity for not-responsible as compared to responsible homeless individuals was predicted by their global cognitive function. Moreover, the difference in pity that older adults expressed toward not-responsible as compared to responsible homeless individuals was related to activity in the left insula and the anterior cingulate cortex (regions implicated in empathy). These results suggest that attitude malleability is affected by individual differences in global cognitive function.

Does Older Adults’ Cognitive Function Disrupt the Malleability of Their Attitudes toward Outgroup Members?: An fMRI Investigation

PubMed Central

Krendl, Anne C.; Kensinger, Elizabeth A.

2016-01-01

In the current study we examine how individual differences in older adults’ global cognitive function impacts the extent to which their attitudes toward stigmatized individuals are malleable. Because prior research has elucidated the neural processes that are involved in evaluating stigmatized individuals who are responsible or not responsible for their condition, a cognitive neuroscience approach may be well-suited to answer this question. In the current study, 36 older and 17 young adults underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while evaluating images of homeless people who were described as being responsible or not responsible for their condition. They also indicated how much pity they felt for each of the individuals in order to determine the extent to which their attitudes were malleable (e.g., more pity for not-responsible as compared to responsible individuals). Participants’ cognitive function and baseline measure of their attitudes toward stigmatized individuals (including homeless individuals) were assessed. Results revealed that although older adults’ attitudes were malleable, the extent to which this was true varied due to individual differences in their global cognitive function. Specifically, the difference in the magnitude of older adults’ self-reported pity for not-responsible as compared to responsible homeless individuals was predicted by their global cognitive function. Moreover, the difference in pity that older adults expressed toward not-responsible as compared to responsible homeless individuals was related to activity in the left insula and the anterior cingulate cortex (regions implicated in empathy). These results suggest that attitude malleability is affected by individual differences in global cognitive function. PMID:27074046

Individual differences in the preferred neck-resting position of Caribbean flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber).

PubMed

Anderson, Matthew J; Williams, Sarah A; O'Brien, Edward H

2009-01-01

When resting, flamingos often lay their heads along their backs. While in this position they must curve their necks to either the right or left of their midline. Observations of captive Caribbean flamingos at the Philadelphia Zoo (Philadelphia, PA, USA) were conducted in order to determine if individual birds would display consistent preferences in neck-resting position over multiple observations. While individual birds were shown to vary greatly in regards to the strength and direction of their preferences, a significant flock-level preference towards neck resting to the right was obtained. Analysis of individual flamingos revealed that 5 out of 17 birds displayed preferences that significantly differed from chance, with each of these birds preferring to rest their necks to the right. From the present data we can conclude that flamingos display behavioural laterality of neck-resting position at both the level of the group and that of the individual.

Individual Differences in the Flexibility of Peripersonal Space.

PubMed

Hunley, Samuel B; Marker, Arwen M; Lourenco, Stella F

2017-01-01

The current study investigated individual differences in the flexibility of peripersonal space (i.e., representational space near the body), specifically in relation to trait claustrophobic fear (i.e., fear of suffocating or being physically restricted). Participants completed a line bisection task with either a laser pointer (Laser condition), allowing for a baseline measure of the size of one's peripersonal space, or a stick (Stick condition), which produces expansion of one's peripersonal space. Our results revealed that individuals high in claustrophobic fear had larger peripersonal spaces than those lower in claustrophobic fear, replicating previous research. We also found that, whereas individuals low in claustrophobic fear demonstrated the expected expansion of peripersonal space in the Stick condition, individuals high in claustrophobic fear showed less expansion, suggesting decreased flexibility. We discuss these findings in relation to the defensive function of peripersonal space and reduced attentional flexibility associated with trait anxieties.

Individual differneces in degraded speech perception

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carbonell, Kathy M.

One of the lasting concerns in audiology is the unexplained individual differences in speech perception performance even for individuals with similar audiograms. One proposal is that there are cognitive/perceptual individual differences underlying this vulnerability and that these differences are present in normal hearing (NH) individuals but do not reveal themselves in studies that use clear speech produced in quiet (because of a ceiling effect). However, previous studies have failed to uncover cognitive/perceptual variables that explain much of the variance in NH performance on more challenging degraded speech tasks. This lack of strong correlations may be due to either examining the wrong measures (e.g., working memory capacity) or to there being no reliable differences in degraded speech performance in NH listeners (i.e., variability in performance is due to measurement noise). The proposed project has 3 aims; the first, is to establish whether there are reliable individual differences in degraded speech performance for NH listeners that are sustained both across degradation types (speech in noise, compressed speech, noise-vocoded speech) and across multiple testing sessions. The second aim is to establish whether there are reliable differences in NH listeners' ability to adapt their phonetic categories based on short-term statistics both across tasks and across sessions; and finally, to determine whether performance on degraded speech perception tasks are correlated with performance on phonetic adaptability tasks, thus establishing a possible explanatory variable for individual differences in speech perception for NH and hearing impaired listeners.

A test of a linear model of glaucomatous structure-function loss reveals sources of variability in retinal nerve fiber and visual field measurements.

PubMed

Hood, Donald C; Anderson, Susan C; Wall, Michael; Raza, Ali S; Kardon, Randy H

2009-09-01

Retinal nerve fiber (RNFL) thickness and visual field loss data from patients with glaucoma were analyzed in the context of a model, to better understand individual variation in structure versus function. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) RNFL thickness and standard automated perimetry (SAP) visual field loss were measured in the arcuate regions of one eye of 140 patients with glaucoma and 82 normal control subjects. An estimate of within-individual (measurement) error was obtained by repeat measures made on different days within a short period in 34 patients and 22 control subjects. A linear model, previously shown to describe the general characteristics of the structure-function data, was extended to predict the variability in the data. For normal control subjects, between-individual error (individual differences) accounted for 87% and 71% of the total variance in OCT and SAP measures, respectively. SAP within-individual error increased and then decreased with increased SAP loss, whereas OCT error remained constant. The linear model with variability (LMV) described much of the variability in the data. However, 12.5% of the patients' points fell outside the 95% boundary. An examination of these points revealed factors that can contribute to the overall variability in the data. These factors include epiretinal membranes, edema, individual variation in field-to-disc mapping, and the location of blood vessels and degree to which they are included by the RNFL algorithm. The model and the partitioning of within- versus between-individual variability helped elucidate the factors contributing to the considerable variability in the structure-versus-function data.

Evaluation of biogeneric design techniques with CEREC CAD/CAM system

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to evaluate occlusal contacts generated by 3 different biogeneric design modes (individual (BI), copy (BC), reference (BR)) of CEREC software and to assess the designs subjectively. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ten pairs of maxillary and mandibular casts were obtained from full dentate individuals. Gypsum cast contacts were quantified with articulating paper and digital impressions were taken. Then, all ceramic crown preparation was performed on the left first molar teeth and digital impressions of prepared teeth were made. BI, BC, and BR crowns were designed. Occlusal images of designs including occlusal contacts were superimposed on the gypsum cast images and corresponding contacts were determined. Three designs were evaluated by the students. RESULTS The results of the study revealed that there was significant difference among the number of contacts of gypsum cast and digital models (P<.05). The comparison of the percentage of virtual contacts of three crown designs which were identical to the contacts of original gypsum cast revealed that BI and BR designs showed significantly higher percentages of identical contacts compared with BC design (P<.05). Subjective assessment revealed that students generally found BI designs and BR designs natural regarding naturalness of fissure morphology and cusp shape and cusp tip position. For general occlusal morphology, student groups generally found BI design "too strong" or "perfect", BC design "too weak", and BR design "perfect". CONCLUSION On a prepared tooth, three different biogeneric design modes of a CAD/CAM software reveals different crown designs regarding occlusal contacts and morphology. PMID:26816572

Probing the spatial dependence of the emission spectrum of single human retinal lipofuscin granules using near-field scanning optical microscopy.

PubMed

Haralampus-Grynaviski, N M; Lamb, L E; Simon, J D; Krogmeier, J R; Dunn, R C; Pawlak, A; Rózanowska, M; Sarna, T; Burke, J M

2001-08-01

The emission spectra of single lipofuscin granules are examined using spectrally resolved confocal microscopy and near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM). The emission spectrum varies among the granules examined revealing that individual granules are characterized by different distributions of fluorophores. The range of spectra observed is consistent with in vivo spectra of human retinal pigment epithelium cells. NSOM measurements reveal that the shape of the spectrum does not vary with position within the emissive regions of single lipofuscin granules. These results suggest that the relative distribution of fluorophores within the emissive regions of an individual granule is homogeneous on the spatial scale approximately 150 nm.

How predation shapes the social interaction rules of shoaling fish

PubMed Central

Rosén, Emil; Ioannou, Christos C.; Rogell, Björn; Perna, Andrea; Ramnarine, Indar W.; Kolm, Niclas

2017-01-01

Predation is thought to shape the macroscopic properties of animal groups, making moving groups more cohesive and coordinated. Precisely how predation has shaped individuals' fine-scale social interactions in natural populations, however, is unknown. Using high-resolution tracking data of shoaling fish (Poecilia reticulata) from populations differing in natural predation pressure, we show how predation adapts individuals' social interaction rules. Fish originating from high predation environments formed larger, more cohesive, but not more polarized groups than fish from low predation environments. Using a new approach to detect the discrete points in time when individuals decide to update their movements based on the available social cues, we determine how these collective properties emerge from individuals' microscopic social interactions. We first confirm predictions that predation shapes the attraction–repulsion dynamic of these fish, reducing the critical distance at which neighbours move apart, or come back together. While we find strong evidence that fish align with their near neighbours, we do not find that predation shapes the strength or likelihood of these alignment tendencies. We also find that predation sharpens individuals' acceleration and deceleration responses, implying key perceptual and energetic differences associated with how individuals move in different predation regimes. Our results reveal how predation can shape the social interactions of individuals in groups, ultimately driving differences in groups' collective behaviour. PMID:28855361

Large inter-individual and intra-individual variability in the effect of perceptual load

PubMed Central

Yeshurun, Yaffa

2017-01-01

This study examined whether the recurrent difficulty to replicate results obtained with paradigms measuring distractor processing as a function of perceptual load is due to individual differences. We first reanalyzed, at the individual level, the data of eight previously reported experiments. These reanalyses revealed substantial inter-individual differences, with particularly low percentage of participants whose performance matched the load theory’s predictions (i.e., larger distractor interference with low than high levels of load). Moreover, frequently the results were opposite to the theory's predictions–larger interference in the high than low load condition; and often a reversed compatibility effect emerged–better performance in the incompatible than neutral condition. Subsequently, seven observers participated in five identical experimental sessions. If the observed inter-individual differences are due to some stable trait or perceptual capacity, similar results should have emerged in all sessions of a given participant. However, all seven participants showed large between-sessions variations with similar patterns to those found between participants. These findings question the theoretical foundation implemented with these paradigms, as none of the theories suggested thus far can account for such inter- and intra-individual differences. Thus, these paradigms should be used with caution until further research will provide better understanding of what they actually measure. PMID:28406997

Is the fluency of language outputs related to individual differences in intelligence and executive function?

PubMed

Engelhardt, Paul E; Nigg, Joel T; Ferreira, Fernanda

2013-10-01

There has been little research on the fluency of language production and individual difference variables, such as intelligence and executive function. In this study, we report data from 106 participants who completed a battery of standardized cognitive tasks and a sentence production task. For the sentence production task, participants were presented with two objects and a verb and their task was to formulate a sentence. Four types of disfluency were examined: filled pauses (e.g. uh, um), unfilled pauses, repetitions, and repairs. Repetitions occur when the speaker suspends articulation and then repeats the previous word/phrase, and repairs occur when the speaker suspends articulation and then starts over with a different word/phrase. Hierarchical structural equation modeling revealed a significant relationship between repair disfluencies and inhibition. Conclusions focus on the role of individual differences in cognitive ability and their role in models and theories of language production. © 2013.

Untangling the Contribution of the Subcomponents of Working Memory to Mathematical Proficiency as Measured by the National Tests: A Study among Swedish Third Graders

PubMed Central

Wiklund-Hörnqvist, Carola; Jonsson, Bert; Korhonen, Johan; Eklöf, Hanna; Nyroos, Mikaela

2016-01-01

The aim with the present study was to examine the relationship between the subcomponents in working memory (WM) and mathematical performance, as measured by the National tests in a sample of 597 Swedish third-grade pupils. In line with compelling evidence of other studies, individual differences in WM capacity significantly predicted mathematical performance. Dividing the sample into four groups, based on their mathematical performance, revealed that mathematical ability can be conceptualized in terms of different WM profiles. Pupils categorized as High-math performers particularly differed from the other three groups in having a significant higher phonological ability. In contrast, pupils categorized as Low-math performers were particularly characterized by having a significant lower visuo-spatial ability. Findings suggest that it is important for educators to recognize and acknowledge individual differences in WM to support mathematical achievement at an individual level. PMID:27486413

Is the fluency of language outputs related to individual differences in intelligence and executive function?

PubMed Central

Engelhardt, Paul E.; Nigg, Joel T.; Ferreira, Fernanda

2013-01-01

There has been little research on the fluency of language production and individual differences variables, such as intelligence and executive function. In this study, we report data from 106 participants who completed a battery of standardized cognitive tasks and a sentence production task. For the sentence production task, participants were presented with two objects and a verb and their task was to formulate a sentence. Four types of disfluency were examined: filled pauses (e.g. uh, um), unfilled pauses, repetitions, and repairs. Repetitions occur when the speaker suspends articulation and then repeats the previous word/phrase, and repairs occur when the speaker suspends articulation and then starts over with a different word/phrase. Hierarchical structural equation modeling revealed a significant relationship between repair disfluencies and inhibition. Conclusions focus on the role of individual differences in cognitive ability and their role in models and theories of language production. PMID:24018099

Marital status and gender differences in managing a chronic illness: the function of health-related social control.

PubMed

August, Kristin J; Sorkin, Dara H

2010-11-01

The attempts of social network members to regulate individuals' health behaviors, or health-related social control, is one mechanism by which social relationships influence health. Little is known, however, about whether this process varies in married versus unmarried individuals managing a chronic illness in which health behaviors are a key component. Researchers have proposed that social control attempts may have dual effects on recipients' well-being, such that improved health behaviors may occur at the cost of increased emotional distress. The current study accordingly sought to examine marital status differences in the sources, frequency, and responses to health-related social control in an ethnically diverse sample of 1477 patients with type 2 diabetes from southern California, USA. Results from two-way ANCOVAs revealed that married individuals reported their spouses most frequently as sources of social control, with unmarried women naming children and unmarried men naming friends/neighbors most frequently as sources of social control. Married men reported receiving social control most often, whereas unmarried men reported receiving social control least often. Regression analyses that examined behavioral and emotional responses to social control revealed that social control using persuasion was associated with better dietary behavior among married patients. Results also revealed a complex pattern of emotional responses, such that social control was associated with both appreciation and hostility, with the effect for appreciation most pronounced among women. Findings from this study highlight the importance of marital status and gender differences in social network members' involvement in the management of a chronic illness. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Motivations for recreating on farmlands, private forests, and state or national parks.

PubMed

Sotomayor, Sandra; Barbieri, Carla; Wilhelm Stanis, Sonja; Aguilar, Francisco X; Smith, Jordan W

2014-07-01

This study explores the importance of different motivations to visit three types of recreational settings--farms, private forests, and state or national parks. Data were collected via a mail-back questionnaire administered to a stratified random sample of households in Missouri (USA). Descriptive and inferential statistics reveal both similarities and discontinuities in motivations for visiting farms, private forests, and state or national parks for recreation. Being with family, viewing natural scenery, and enjoying the smells and sounds of nature were all highly important motivations for visiting the three types of settings. However, all 15 motivations examined were perceived to be significantly more important for visits to state or national parks than to farms or private forests. Findings suggest that individuals are more strongly motivated to recreate at state and national parks relative to farmlands or forests. Post hoc paired t tests comparing motivations between both agricultural settings (farms and private forests) revealed significant differences in eight different recreational motivations. Individuals tended to place more importance on the ability to use equipment and test their skills when considering recreating on private forests. Conversely, social motivations (e.g., doing something with the family) were more important when individuals were considering recreating on farmland. Collectively, the findings suggest individuals expect distinctly different outcomes from their visits to farmlands, private forests, or state or national parks. Consequently, all three types of recreational settings have competitive advantages that their managers could capitalize on when making decisions about how to attract new visitors or produce the most desirable experiences for current recreationists.

Motivations for Recreating on Farmlands, Private Forests, and State or National Parks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sotomayor, Sandra; Barbieri, Carla; Wilhelm Stanis, Sonja; Aguilar, Francisco X.; Smith, Jordan W.

2014-07-01

This study explores the importance of different motivations to visit three types of recreational settings—farms, private forests, and state or national parks. Data were collected via a mail-back questionnaire administered to a stratified random sample of households in Missouri (USA). Descriptive and inferential statistics reveal both similarities and discontinuities in motivations for visiting farms, private forests, and state or national parks for recreation. Being with family, viewing natural scenery, and enjoying the smells and sounds of nature were all highly important motivations for visiting the three types of settings. However, all 15 motivations examined were perceived to be significantly more important for visits to state or national parks than to farms or private forests. Findings suggest that individuals are more strongly motivated to recreate at state and national parks relative to farmlands or forests. Post hoc paired t tests comparing motivations between both agricultural settings (farms and private forests) revealed significant differences in eight different recreational motivations. Individuals tended to place more importance on the ability to use equipment and test their skills when considering recreating on private forests. Conversely, social motivations (e.g., doing something with the family) were more important when individuals were considering recreating on farmland. Collectively, the findings suggest individuals expect distinctly different outcomes from their visits to farmlands, private forests, or state or national parks. Consequently, all three types of recreational settings have competitive advantages that their managers could capitalize on when making decisions about how to attract new visitors or produce the most desirable experiences for current recreationists.

Pitch-matching accuracy in trained singers and untrained individuals: the impact of musical interference and noise.

PubMed

Estis, Julie M; Dean-Claytor, Ashli; Moore, Robert E; Rowell, Thomas L

2011-03-01

The effects of musical interference and noise on pitch-matching accuracy were examined. Vocal training was explored as a factor influencing pitch-matching accuracy, and the relationship between pitch matching and pitch discrimination was examined. Twenty trained singers (TS) and 20 untrained individuals (UT) vocally matched tones in six conditions (immediate, four types of chords, noise). Fundamental frequencies were calculated, compared with the frequency of the target tone, and converted to semitone difference scores. A pitch discrimination task was also completed. TS showed significantly better pitch matching than UT across all conditions. Individual performances for UT were highly variable. Therefore, untrained participants were divided into two groups: 10 untrained accurate and 10 untrained inaccurate. Comparison of TS with untrained accurate individuals revealed significant differences between groups and across conditions. Compared with immediate vocal matching of target tones, pitch-matching accuracy was significantly reduced, given musical chord and noise interference unless the target tone was presented in the musical chord. A direct relationship between pitch matching and pitch discrimination was revealed. Across pitch-matching conditions, TS were consistently more accurate than UT. Pitch-matching accuracy diminished when auditory interference consisted of chords that did not contain the target tone and noise. Copyright © 2011 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Resting-State Functional Connectivity Predicts Cognitive Impairment Related to Alzheimer's Disease.

PubMed

Lin, Qi; Rosenberg, Monica D; Yoo, Kwangsun; Hsu, Tiffany W; O'Connell, Thomas P; Chun, Marvin M

2018-01-01

Resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) is a promising neuromarker for cognitive decline in aging population, based on its ability to reveal functional differences associated with cognitive impairment across individuals, and because rs-fMRI may be less taxing for participants than task-based fMRI or neuropsychological tests. Here, we employ an approach that uses rs-FC to predict the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (11 items; ADAS11) scores, which measure overall cognitive functioning, in novel individuals. We applied this technique, connectome-based predictive modeling, to a heterogeneous sample of 59 subjects from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, including normal aging, mild cognitive impairment, and AD subjects. First, we built linear regression models to predict ADAS11 scores from rs-FC measured with Pearson's r correlation. The positive network model tested with leave-one-out cross validation (LOOCV) significantly predicted individual differences in cognitive function from rs-FC. In a second analysis, we considered other functional connectivity features, accordance and discordance, which disentangle the correlation and anticorrelation components of activity timecourses between brain areas. Using partial least square regression and LOOCV, we again built models to successfully predict ADAS11 scores in novel individuals. Our study provides promising evidence that rs-FC can reveal cognitive impairment in an aging population, although more development is needed for clinical application.

Genetic diversity of the human head lice, Pediculus humanus capitis, among primary school girls in Saudi Arabia, with reference to their prevalence.

PubMed

Al-Shahrani, Sarah A; Alajmi, Reem A; Ayaad, Tahany H; Al-Shahrani, Mohammed A; Shaurub, El-Sayed H

2017-10-01

The present work aimed at investigating the genetic diversity of the head louse Pediculus humanus capitis (P. humanus capitis) among infested primary school girls at Bisha governorate, Saudi Arabia, based on the sequence of mitochondrial cytochrome b (mt cyt b) gene of 121 P. humanus capitis adults. Additionally, the prevalence of pediculosis capitis was surveyed. The results of sequencing were compared with the sequence of human head lice that are genotyped previously. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed the presence of 100% identity (n = 26) of louse specimens with clade A (prevalent worldwide) of the GenBank data base. Louse individuals (n = 50) showed 99.8% similarity with the same clade A reference having a single base pair difference. Also, a number of 22 louse individuals revealed 99.8% identity with clade B reference (prevalent in North and Central Americas, Europe, and Australia) with individual diversity in two base pairs. Moreover, 14 louse individual sequences revealed 99.4% identity with three base pair differences. It was concluded that moderate pediculosis (~13%) prevailed among the female students of the primary schools. It was age-and hair texture (straight or curly)-dependent. P. humanus capitis prevalence diversity is of clades A and B genotyping.

When hunger does (or doesn't) increase unhealthy and healthy food consumption through food wanting: The distinctive role of impulsive approach tendencies toward healthy food.

PubMed

Cheval, Boris; Audrin, Catherine; Sarrazin, Philippe; Pelletier, Luc

2017-09-01

Hunger indirectly triggers unhealthy high-calorie food consumption through its positive effect on the incentive value (or "wanting") for food. Yet, not everyone consumes unhealthy food in excess, suggesting that some individuals react differently when they are exposed to unhealthy high-calorie food, even when they are hungry. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether individual differences in impulsive approach tendencies toward food may explain how, and for whom, hunger will influence unhealthy food consumption through its effect on food wanting. A complementary goal was to explore whether these individual differences also influence healthy food consumption. Students (N = 70) completed a questionnaire measuring their hunger and food wanting. Then, they performed a manikin task designed to evaluate their impulsive approach tendencies toward unhealthy food (IAUF) and healthy food (IAHF). The main outcomes variables were the amount of sweets (i.e., unhealthy food) and raisins (i.e., healthy food) consumed during a product-testing task. A moderated mediation analysis revealed that the indirect effect of hunger on unhealthy consumption through food wanting was moderated by IAHF. Specifically, hunger positively predicted sweets consumption through wanting for food among individuals with a low or moderate, but not high IAHF. The moderated mediation pattern was, however, not confirmed for IAUF. Finally, results revealed a direct and positive effect of IAHF on raisins consumption. These findings showed that IAHF play a protective role by preventing hunger to indirectly increase unhealthy food consumption through wanting for food. It confirms the importance of considering how individuals may differ in their impulsive approach tendencies toward food to better understand why some individuals will increase their unhealthy food intake when they are hungry, whereas other will not. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Human Gastric Mucins Differently Regulate Helicobacter pylori Proliferation, Gene Expression and Interactions with Host Cells

PubMed Central

Skoog, Emma C.; Sjöling, Åsa; Navabi, Nazanin; Holgersson, Jan; Lundin, Samuel B.; Lindén, Sara K.

2012-01-01

Helicobacter pylori colonizes the mucus niche of the gastric mucosa and is a risk factor for gastritis, ulcers and cancer. The main components of the mucus layer are heavily glycosylated mucins, to which H. pylori can adhere. Mucin glycosylation differs between individuals and changes during disease. Here we have examined the H. pylori response to purified mucins from a range of tumor and normal human gastric tissue samples. Our results demonstrate that mucins from different individuals differ in how they modulate both proliferation and gene expression of H. pylori. The mucin effect on proliferation varied significantly between samples, and ranged from stimulatory to inhibitory, depending on the type of mucins and the ability of the mucins to bind to H. pylori. Tumor-derived mucins and mucins from the surface mucosa had potential to stimulate proliferation, while gland-derived mucins tended to inhibit proliferation and mucins from healthy uninfected individuals showed little effect. Artificial glycoconjugates containing H. pylori ligands also modulated H. pylori proliferation, albeit to a lesser degree than human mucins. Expression of genes important for the pathogenicity of H. pylori (babA, sabA, cagA, flaA and ureA) appeared co-regulated in response to mucins. The addition of mucins to co-cultures of H. pylori and gastric epithelial cells protected the viability of the cells and modulated the cytokine production in a manner that differed between individuals, was partially dependent of adhesion of H. pylori to the gastric cells, but also revealed that other mucin factors in addition to adhesion are important for H. pylori-induced host signaling. The combined data reveal host-specific effects on proliferation, gene expression and virulence of H. pylori due to the gastric mucin environment, demonstrating a dynamic interplay between the bacterium and its host. PMID:22563496

New insights into the correlation structure of DSM-IV depression symptoms in the general population v. subsamples of depressed individuals.

PubMed

Foster, S; Mohler-Kuo, M

2018-06-01

Previous research failed to uncover a replicable dimensional structure underlying the symptoms of depression. We aimed to examine two neglected methodological issues in this research: (a) adjusting symptom correlations for overall depression severity; and (b) analysing general population samples v. subsamples of currently depressed individuals. Using population-based cross-sectional and longitudinal data from two nations (Switzerland, 5883 young men; USA, 2174 young men and 2244 young women) we assessed the dimensions of the nine DSM-IV depression symptoms in young adults. In each general-population sample and each subsample of currently depressed participants, we conducted a standardised process of three analytical steps, based on exploratory and confirmatory factor and bifactor analysis, to reveal any replicable dimensional structure underlying symptom correlations while controlling for overall depression severity. We found no evidence of a replicable dimensional structure across samples when adjusting symptom correlations for overall depression severity. In the general-population samples, symptoms correlated strongly and a single dimension of depression severity was revealed. Among depressed participants, symptom correlations were surprisingly weak and no replicable dimensions were identified, regardless of severity-adjustment. First, caution is warranted when considering studies assessing dimensions of depression because general population-based studies and studies of depressed individuals generate different data that can lead to different conclusions. This problem likely generalises to other models based on the symptoms' inter-relationships such as network models. Second, whereas the overall severity aligns individuals on a continuum of disorder intensity that allows non-affected individuals to be distinguished from affected individuals, the clinical evaluation and treatment of depressed individuals should focus directly on each individual's symptom profile.

Inter-individual variability in copepod microbiomes reveals bacterial networks linked to host physiology.

PubMed

Datta, Manoshi S; Almada, Amalia A; Baumgartner, Mark F; Mincer, Tracy J; Tarrant, Ann M; Polz, Martin F

2018-06-06

Copepods harbor diverse bacterial communities, which collectively carry out key biogeochemical transformations in the ocean. However, bulk copepod sampling averages over the variability in their associated bacterial communities, thereby limiting our understanding of the nature and specificity of copepod-bacteria associations. Here, we characterize the bacterial communities associated with nearly 200 individual Calanus finmarchicus copepods transitioning from active growth to diapause. We find that all individual copepods sampled share a small set of "core" operational taxonomic units (OTUs), a subset of which have also been found associated with other marine copepod species in different geographic locations. However, most OTUs are patchily distributed across individual copepods, thereby driving community differences across individuals. Among patchily distributed OTUs, we identified groups of OTUs correlated with common ecological drivers. For instance, a group of OTUs positively correlated with recent copepod feeding served to differentiate largely active growing copepods from those entering diapause. Together, our results underscore the power of individual-level sampling for understanding host-microbiome relationships.

Different Brain Wave Patterns and Cortical Control Abilities in Relation to Different Creative Potentials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Ying-Han; Tseng, Chao-Yuan; Tsai, Arthur Chih-Hsin; Huang, Andrew Chih-Wei; Lin, Wei-Lun

2016-01-01

Contemporary understanding of brain functions provides a way to probe into the mystery of creativity. However, the prior evidence regarding the relationship between creativity and brain wave patterns reveals inconsistent conclusions. One possible reason might be that the means of selecting creative individuals in the past has varied in each study.…

Words or Pictures: A Comparison of Written and Pictorial Explanations of Physical and Chemical Equilibria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akaygun, Sevil; Jones, Loretta L.

2014-01-01

The features of a concept or principle an individual chooses to highlight in an explanation or description may be related to the medium of communication used. Different aspects of understanding can be revealed through words and through drawings. This two-part exploratory study examined the differences between explanations of physical and chemical…

The human hippocampus is not sexually-dimorphic: Meta-analysis of structural MRI volumes.

PubMed

Tan, Anh; Ma, Wenli; Vira, Amit; Marwha, Dhruv; Eliot, Lise

2016-01-01

Hippocampal atrophy is found in many psychiatric disorders that are more prevalent in women. Sex differences in memory and spatial skills further suggest that males and females differ in hippocampal structure and function. We conducted the first meta-analysis of male-female difference in hippocampal volume (HCV) based on published MRI studies of healthy participants of all ages, to test whether the structure is reliably sexually dimorphic. Using four search strategies, we collected 68 matched samples of males' and females' uncorrected HCVs (in 4418 total participants), and 36 samples of male and female HCVs (2183 participants) that were corrected for individual differences in total brain volume (TBV) or intracranial volume (ICV). Pooled effect sizes were calculated using a random-effects model for left, right, and bilateral uncorrected HCVs and for left and right HCVs corrected for TBV or ICV. We found that uncorrected HCV was reliably larger in males, with Hedges' g values of 0.545 for left hippocampus, 0.526 for right hippocampus, and 0.557 for bilateral hippocampus. Meta-regression revealed no effect of age on the sex difference in left, right, or bilateral HCV. In the subset of studies that reported it, both TBV (g=1.085) and ICV (g=1.272) were considerably larger in males. Accordingly, studies reporting HCVs corrected for individual differences in TBV or ICV revealed no significant sex differences in left and right HCVs (Hedges' g ranging from +0.011 to -0.206). In summary, we found that human males of all ages exhibit a larger HCV than females, but adjusting for individual differences in TBV or ICV results in no reliable sex difference. The frequent claim that women have a disproportionately larger hippocampus than men was not supported. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Different patterns of contingent stimulation differentially affect attention span in prelinguistic infants.

PubMed

Miller, Jennifer L; Ables, Erin M; King, Andrew P; West, Meredith J

2009-06-01

The ability to sustain attention influences different domains including cognitive, motor, and communicative behavior. Previous research has demonstrated how an infant's parent can influence sustained attention. The purpose of our study was to expose infants systematically to both sensitive and redirective patterns of behavior to examine how unfamiliar individuals could influence attention. Results revealed infants changed their patterns of looking with the unfamiliar individuals. Infants had longer durations of sustained attention when interacting with a sensitive unfamiliar individual who followed into their attentional focus as opposed to an intrusive person who led their attentional focus. This study demonstrates that infants discriminate patterns of contingency to persons seen for only a short period of time broadening the range of potential mentors for learning.

Learning Object Names at Different Hierarchical Levels Using Cross-Situational Statistics.

PubMed

Chen, Chi-Hsin; Zhang, Yayun; Yu, Chen

2018-05-01

Objects in the world usually have names at different hierarchical levels (e.g., beagle, dog, animal). This research investigates adults' ability to use cross-situational statistics to simultaneously learn object labels at individual and category levels. The results revealed that adults were able to use co-occurrence information to learn hierarchical labels in contexts where the labels for individual objects and labels for categories were presented in completely separated blocks, in interleaved blocks, or mixed in the same trial. Temporal presentation schedules significantly affected the learning of individual object labels, but not the learning of category labels. Learners' subsequent generalization of category labels indicated sensitivity to the structure of statistical input. Copyright © 2017 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Individual differences in the effects of chronic stress on memory: behavioral and neurochemical correlates of resiliency.

PubMed

Sweis, B M; Veverka, K K; Dhillon, E S; Urban, J H; Lucas, L R

2013-08-29

Chronic stress has been shown to impair memory, however, the extent to which memory can be impaired is often variable across individuals. Predisposed differences in particular traits, such as anxiety, may reveal underlying neurobiological mechanisms that could be driving individual differences in sensitivity to stress and, thus, stress resiliency. Such pre-morbid characteristics may serve as early indicators of susceptibility to stress. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) and enkephalin (ENK) are neurochemical messengers of interest implicated in modulating anxiety and motivation circuitry; however, little is known about how these neuropeptides interact with stress resiliency and memory. In this experiment, adult male rats were appetitively trained to locate sugar rewards in a motivation-based spatial memory task before undergoing repeated immobilization stress and then being tested for memory retention. Anxiety-related behaviors, among other characteristics, were monitored longitudinally. Results indicated that stressed animals which showed little to no impairments in memory post-stress (i.e., the more stress-resilient individuals) exhibited lower anxiety levels prior to stress when compared to stressed animals that showed large deficits in memory (i.e., the more stress-susceptible individuals). Interestingly, all stressed animals, regardless of memory change, showed reduced body weight gain as well as thymic involution, suggesting that the effects of stress on metabolism and the immune system were dissociated from the effects of stress on higher cognition, and that stress resiliency seems to be domain-specific rather than a global characteristic within an individual. Neurochemical analyses revealed that NPY in the hypothalamus and amygdala and ENK in the nucleus accumbens were modulated differentially between stress-resilient and stress-susceptible individuals, with elevated expression of these neuropeptides fostering anxiolytic and pro-motivation function, thus driving cognitive resiliency in a domain-specific manner. Findings suggest that such neurochemical markers may be novel targets for pharmacological interventions that can serve to prevent or ameliorate the negative effects of stress on memory. Copyright © 2013 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Detection frequency of human herpesviruses-6A, -6B, and -7 genomic sequences in central nervous system DNA samples from post-mortem individuals with unspecified encephalopathy.

PubMed

Chapenko, Svetlana; Roga, Silvija; Skuja, Sandra; Rasa, Santa; Cistjakovs, Maksims; Svirskis, Simons; Zaserska, Zane; Groma, Valerija; Murovska, Modra

2016-08-01

In this autopsy-based study, human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) and -7 (HHV-7) genomic sequence frequency, HHV-6 variants, HHV-6 load and the expression of HHV-6 antigens in brain samples from the individuals, with and without unspecified encephalopathy (controls), using nested and real-time polymerase chain reactions, restriction endonuclease, and immunohistochemical analysis were examined. GraphPad Prism 6.0 Mann-Whitney nonparametric and chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were used for statistical analysis. The encephalopathy diagnoses were shown by magnetic resonance imaging made during their lifetime and macro- and microscopically studied autopsy tissue materials. Widespread HHV-6 and/or HHV-7 positivity was detected in the brain tissue of various individuals with encephalopathy, as well as in controls (51/57, 89.4 % and 35/51, 68.6 %, respectively; p = 0.009). Significantly higher detection frequency of single HHV-6 and concurrent HHV-6 + HHV-7 DNA was found in pia mater meninges, frontal lobe, temporal lobe, and olfactory tract DNAs in individuals with encephalopathy compared to the control group. HHV-6 load and higher frequency of the viral load >10 copies/10(6) cells significantly differed in samples from individuals with and without encephalopathy. The expression of HHV-6 antigens was revealed in different neural cell types with strong predominance in the encephalopathy group. In all HHV-6-positive autopsy samples of individuals with and without encephalopathy, HHV-6B was revealed. Significantly higher detection frequency of beta-herpesvirus DNA, more often detected HHV-6 load >10 copies/10(6) cells, as well as the expression of HHV-6 antigens in different brain tissue samples from individuals with encephalopathy in comparison with control group indicate on potential involvement of these viruses in encephalopathy development.

The Chinese path to individualization.

PubMed

Yan, Yunxiang

2010-09-01

This article explores the rise of the individual and the consequential individualization of society which should be viewed as a reflexive part of China's state-sponsored quest for modernity. It traces the origin of the individualization process to the Maoist era, arguing that some collectivist programmes of social engineering and the socialist path of modernization under Maoism ironically resulted in a partial individualization of Chinese society. Examining profound social changes during the three decades of the post-Mao reforms, the article reveals a number of similarities with the individualization process in Western Europe but also demonstrates some important differences. In the last section, the theoretical implications of the Chinese case in light of Ulrich Beck's theory of individualization and second modernity are discussed. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2010.

Sex Role Flexibility, Locus of Control, and Occupational Status.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kapalka, George M.; Lachenmeyer, Juliana Rasic

1988-01-01

Examination of 69 men and women revealed that individuals employed in supervisory leadership positions were more androgynous and obtained more internal locus of control scores than those in nonsupervisory positions. Sex differences were noted. Implications are discussed. (Author/BJV)

The skin microbiome in healthy and allergic dogs.

PubMed

Rodrigues Hoffmann, Aline; Patterson, Adam P; Diesel, Alison; Lawhon, Sara D; Ly, Hoai Jaclyn; Elkins Stephenson, Christine; Mansell, Joanne; Steiner, Jörg M; Dowd, Scot E; Olivry, Thierry; Suchodolski, Jan S

2014-01-01

Changes in the microbial populations on the skin of animals have traditionally been evaluated using conventional microbiology techniques. The sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes has revealed that the human skin is inhabited by a highly diverse and variable microbiome that had previously not been demonstrated by culture-based methods. The goals of this study were to describe the microbiome inhabiting different areas of the canine skin, and to compare the skin microbiome of healthy and allergic dogs. DNA extracted from superficial skin swabs from healthy (n = 12) and allergic dogs (n = 6) from different regions of haired skin and mucosal surfaces were used for 454-pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Principal coordinates analysis revealed clustering for the different skin sites across all dogs, with some mucosal sites and the perianal regions clustering separately from the haired skin sites. The rarefaction analysis revealed high individual variability between samples collected from healthy dogs and between the different skin sites. Higher species richness and microbial diversity were observed in the samples from haired skin when compared to mucosal surfaces or mucocutaneous junctions. In all examined regions, the most abundant phylum and family identified in the different regions of skin and mucosal surfaces were Proteobacteria and Oxalobacteriaceae. The skin of allergic dogs had lower species richness when compared to the healthy dogs. The allergic dogs had lower proportions of the Betaproteobacteria Ralstonia spp. when compared to the healthy dogs. The study demonstrates that the skin of dogs is inhabited by much more rich and diverse microbial communities than previously thought using culture-based methods. Our sequence data reveal high individual variability between samples collected from different patients. Differences in species richness was also seen between healthy and allergic dogs, with allergic dogs having lower species richness when compared to healthy dogs.

The Skin Microbiome in Healthy and Allergic Dogs

PubMed Central

Rodrigues Hoffmann, Aline; Patterson, Adam P.; Diesel, Alison; Lawhon, Sara D.; Ly, Hoai Jaclyn; Stephenson, Christine Elkins; Mansell, Joanne; Steiner, Jörg M.; Dowd, Scot E.; Olivry, Thierry; Suchodolski, Jan S.

2014-01-01

Background Changes in the microbial populations on the skin of animals have traditionally been evaluated using conventional microbiology techniques. The sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes has revealed that the human skin is inhabited by a highly diverse and variable microbiome that had previously not been demonstrated by culture-based methods. The goals of this study were to describe the microbiome inhabiting different areas of the canine skin, and to compare the skin microbiome of healthy and allergic dogs. Methodology/Principal Findings DNA extracted from superficial skin swabs from healthy (n = 12) and allergic dogs (n = 6) from different regions of haired skin and mucosal surfaces were used for 454-pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Principal coordinates analysis revealed clustering for the different skin sites across all dogs, with some mucosal sites and the perianal regions clustering separately from the haired skin sites. The rarefaction analysis revealed high individual variability between samples collected from healthy dogs and between the different skin sites. Higher species richness and microbial diversity were observed in the samples from haired skin when compared to mucosal surfaces or mucocutaneous junctions. In all examined regions, the most abundant phylum and family identified in the different regions of skin and mucosal surfaces were Proteobacteria and Oxalobacteriaceae. The skin of allergic dogs had lower species richness when compared to the healthy dogs. The allergic dogs had lower proportions of the Betaproteobacteria Ralstonia spp. when compared to the healthy dogs. Conclusions/Significance The study demonstrates that the skin of dogs is inhabited by much more rich and diverse microbial communities than previously thought using culture-based methods. Our sequence data reveal high individual variability between samples collected from different patients. Differences in species richness was also seen between healthy and allergic dogs, with allergic dogs having lower species richness when compared to healthy dogs. PMID:24421875

Once a Utilitarian, Consistently a Utilitarian? Examining Principledness in Moral Judgment via the Robustness of Individual Differences.

PubMed

Helzer, Erik G; Fleeson, William; Furr, R Michael; Meindl, Peter; Barranti, Maxwell

2017-08-01

Although individual differences in the application of moral principles, such as utilitarianism, have been documented, so too have powerful context effects-effects that raise doubts about the durability of people's moral principles. In this article, we examine the robustness of individual differences in moral judgment by examining them across time and across different decision contexts. In Study 1, consistency in utilitarian judgment of 122 adult participants was examined over two different survey sessions. In Studies 2A and 2B, large samples (Ns = 130 and 327, respectively) of adult participants made a series of 32 moral judgments across eight different contexts that are known to affect utilitarian endorsement. Contrary to some contemporary theorizing, our results reveal a strong degree of consistency in moral judgment. Across time and experimental manipulations of context, individuals maintained their relative standing on utilitarianism, and aggregated moral decisions reached levels of near-perfect consistency. Results support the view that on at least one dimension (utilitarianism), people's moral judgments are robustly consistent, with context effects tailoring the application of principles to the particulars of any given moral judgment. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Differences in the indicators of depressive symptoms among a community sample of African-American and Caucasian older adults.

PubMed

Mills, Terry L; Alea, Nicole L; Cheong, Josepha A

2004-08-01

Depression among older adults is a major public health concern in the U.S. Yet, time and again this condition goes undiagnosed, or attributed to other causes. Despite being treatable, few individuals older than age 65 are treated for this disorder. Using a community sample of 404 African-American and Caucasian older adults, the aim of this study was to identify the sources of racial group variance in self-reports of depressive symptoms. Descriptive and multivariate analyses reveal no racial/ethnic differences in the mean level of depressive symptoms, but differences in the correlates of self-reported depression, as well as differences in the distribution of individual indicators of depressive symptoms.

Within-individual correlations reveal link between a behavioral syndrome, condition and cortisol in free-ranging Belding's ground squirrels

PubMed Central

Brooks, Katherine C.; Mateo, Jill. M.

2014-01-01

Animals often exhibit consistent individual differences in behavior (i.e. animal personality) and correlations between behaviors (i.e. behavioral syndromes), yet the causes of those patterns of behavioral variation remain insufficiently understood. Many authors hypothesize that state-dependent behavior produces animal personality and behavioral syndromes. However, empirical studies assessing patterns of covariation among behavioral traits and state variables have produced mixed results. New statistical methods that partition correlations into between-individual and residual within-individual correlations offer an opportunity to more sufficiently quantify relationships among behaviors and state variables to assess hypotheses of animal personality and behavioral syndromes. In a population of wild Belding's ground squirrels (Urocitellus beldingi) we repeatedly measured activity, exploration, and response to restraint behaviors alongside glucocorticoids and nutritional condition. We used multivariate mixed models to determine whether between-individual or within-individual correlations drive phenotypic relationships among traits. Squirrels had consistent individual differences for all five traits. At the between-individual level, activity and exploration were positively correlated whereas both traits negatively correlated with response to restraint, demonstrating a behavioral syndrome. At the within-individual level, condition negatively correlated with cortisol, activity and exploration. Importantly, this indicates that although behavior is state-dependent, which may play a role in animal personality and behavioral syndromes, feedback mechanisms between condition and behavior appear not to produce consistent individual differences in behavior and correlations between them. PMID:25598565

LIMITED GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION IN THE VOCALIZATIONS OF THE ENDANGERED THICK-BILLED PARROT: IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSERVATION STRATEGIES

PubMed Central

Guerra, Jaime E.; Cruz-Nieto, Javier; Ortiz-Maciel, Sonia Gabriela; Wright, Timothy F.

2012-01-01

The populations of many species are declining worldwide, and conservation efforts struggle to keep pace with extinction rates. Conservation biologists commonly employ strategies such as translocation and reintroduction, which move individuals of endangered species from one part of their range to another. Because individuals from endangered populations are nonexpendable, identifying any potential barriers to the establishment of viable populations prior to release of individuals should be a priority. This study evaluates the potential for learned communication signals to constrain conservation strategies such as reintroduction in an endangered species, the Thick-billed Parrot (Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha). We conducted vocal surveys at three geographically distinct breeding populations in the Sierra Madre Occidental of Chihuahua, Mexico. Acoustic analyses utilizing both spectrogram cross-correlations and parameter measurements from spectrograms revealed no significant differences among the three sites in two common call types. Calls did vary among individuals within a site. The apparent lack of significant geographic variation across sampled sites suggests that differences in learned communication signals are unlikely to pose a barrier to the integration of translocated individuals from different populations into newly established populations. PMID:22307993

Working memory is related to perceptual processing: a case from color perception.

PubMed

Allen, Elizabeth C; Beilock, Sian L; Shevell, Steven K

2011-07-01

We explored the relation between individual differences in working memory (WM) and color constancy, the phenomenon of color perception that allows us to perceive the color of an object as relatively stable under changes in illumination. Successive color constancy (measured by first viewing a colored surface under a particular illumination and later recalling it under a new illumination) was better for higher WM individuals than for lower WM individuals. Moreover, the magnitude of this WM difference depended on how much contextual information was available in the scene, which typically improves color constancy. By contrast, simple color memory, measured by viewing and recalling a colored surface under the same illumination, showed no significant relation to WM. This study reveals a relation between WM and a low-level perceptual process not previously thought to operate within the confines of attentional control, and it provides a first account of the individual differences in color constancy known about for decades.

Conscious knowledge influences decision-making differently in substance abusers with and without co-morbid antisocial personality disorder.

PubMed

Mellentin, Angelina I; Skøt, Lotte; Teasdale, Thomas W; Habekost, Thomas

2013-08-01

Decision-making impairment, as measured by the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), is a consistent finding among individuals with substance use disorder (SUD). We studied how this impairment is influenced by co-morbid antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and conscious knowledge of the task. Three groups were investigated: SUD individuals without co-morbid ASPD (n = 30), SUD individuals with co-morbid ASPD (n = 16), and healthy controls (n = 17). Both SUD and SUD+ASPD participants had poor overall IGT performance. A block-by-block analysis revealed that SUD participants exhibited slow but steady improvement across the IGT, whereas SUD+ASPD participants exhibited initial normal improvement, but dropped off during the last 40 trials. Conscious knowledge of the task was significantly correlated to performance for controls and SUD participants, but not for SUD+ASPD participants. Our findings suggest that decision-making proceeds differently in SUD and SUD+ASPD individuals due to differences in acquisition and application of conscious knowledge. © 2013 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

Working memory is related to perceptual processing: A case from color perception

PubMed Central

Allen, Elizabeth C.; Beilock, Sian L.; Shevell, Steven K.

2011-01-01

We explored the relation between individual differences in working memory (WM) and color constancy, the phenomenon of color perception that allows us to perceive the color of an object as relatively stable under changes in illumination. Successive color constancy (measured by first viewing a colored surface under a particular illumination and later recalling it under a new illumination) was better for higher-WM individuals than for lower-WM individuals. Moreover, the magnitude of this WM difference depended on how much contextual information was available in the scene, which typically improves color constancy. By contrast, simple color memory, measured by viewing and recalling a colored surface under the same illumination, showed no significant relation to WM. This study reveals a relation between WM and a low-level perceptual process not previously thought to operate within the confines of attentional control, and provides a first account of the individual differences in color constancy known about for decades. PMID:21480748

Ultrasonic vocalizations in golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) reveal modest sex differences and nonlinear signals of sexual motivation.

PubMed

Fernández-Vargas, Marcela; Johnston, Robert E

2015-01-01

Vocal signaling is one of many behaviors that animals perform during social interactions. Vocalizations produced by both sexes before mating can communicate sex, identity and condition of the caller. Adult golden hamsters produce ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) after intersexual contact. To determine whether these vocalizations are sexually dimorphic, we analyzed the vocal repertoire for sex differences in: 1) calling rates, 2) composition (structural complexity, call types and nonlinear phenomena) and 3) acoustic structure. In addition, we examined it for individual variation in the calls. The vocal repertoire was mainly composed of 1-note simple calls and at least half of them presented some degree of deterministic chaos. The prevalence of this nonlinear phenomenon was confirmed by low values of harmonic-to-noise ratio for most calls. We found modest sexual differences between repertoires. Males were more likely than females to produce tonal and less chaotic calls, as well as call types with frequency jumps. Multivariate analysis of the acoustic features of 1-note simple calls revealed significant sex differences in the second axis represented mostly by entropy and bandwidth parameters. Male calls showed lower entropy and inter-quartile bandwidth than female calls. Because the variation of acoustic structure within individuals was higher than among individuals, USV could not be reliably assigned to the correct individual. Interestingly, however, this high variability, augmented by the prevalence of chaos and frequency jumps, could be the result of increased vocal effort. Hamsters motivated to produce high calling rates also produced longer calls of broader bandwidth. Thus, the sex differences found could be the result of different sex preferences but also of a sex difference in calling motivation or condition. We suggest that variable and complex USV may have been selected to increase responsiveness of a potential mate by communicating sexual arousal and preventing habituation to the caller.

The dynamics of social networks among female Asian elephants

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Patterns in the association of individuals can shed light on the underlying conditions and processes that shape societies. Here we characterize patterns of association in a population of wild Asian Elephants at Uda Walawe National Park in Sri Lanka. We observed 286 individually-identified adult female elephants over 20 months and examined their social dynamics at three levels of organization: pairs of individuals (dyads), small sets of direct companions (ego-networks), and the population level (complete networks). Results Corroborating previous studies of this and other Asian elephant populations, we find that the sizes of elephant groups observed in the field on any particular day are typically small and that rates of association are low. In contrast to earlier studies, our longitudinal observations reveal that individuals form larger social units that can be remarkably stable across years while associations among such units change across seasons. Association rates tend to peak in dry seasons as opposed to wet seasons, with some cyclicity at the level of dyads. In addition, we find that individuals vary substantially in their fidelity to companions. At the ego-network level, we find that despite these fluctuations, individuals associate with a pool of long-term companions. At the population level, social networks do not exhibit any clear seasonal structure or hierarchical stratification. Conclusions This detailed longitudinal study reveals different social dynamics at different levels of organization. Taken together, these results demonstrate that low association rates, seemingly small group sizes, and fission-fusion grouping behavior mask hidden stability in the extensive and fluid social affiliations in this population of Asian elephants. PMID:21794147

β-Thalassemia Patients Revealed a Significant Change of Untargeted Metabolites in Comparison to Healthy Individuals

PubMed Central

Musharraf, Syed Ghulam; Iqbal, Ayesha; Ansari, Saqib Hussain; Parveen, Sadia; Khan, Ishtiaq Ahmad; Siddiqui, Amna Jabbar

2017-01-01

β-Thalassemia is one of the most prevalent forms of congenital blood disorders characterized by reduced hemoglobin levels with severe complications, affecting all dimensions of life. The mechanisms underlying the phenotypic heterogeneity of β-thalassemia are still poorly understood. We aimed to work over metabolite biomarkers to improve mechanistic understanding of phenotypic heterogeneity and hence better management of disorder at different levels. Untargeted serum metabolites were analyzed after protein precipitation and SPE (solid phase extraction) from 100 β-thalassemia patients and 61 healthy controls using GC-MS. 40 metabolites were identified having a significance difference between these two groups at probability of 0.05 and fold change >1.5. Out of these 40 metabolites, 17 were up-regulated while 23 were down-regulated. PCA and PLS-DA model was also created that revealed a fine separation with a sensitivity of 70% and specificity of 100% on external validation of samples. Metabolic pathway analysis revealed alteration in multiple pathways including glycolysis, pyruvate, propanoate, glycerophospholipid, galactose, fatty acid, starch and sucrose metabolism along with fatty acid elongation in mitochondria, glycerolipid, glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism pointing towards the shift of metabolism in β-thalassemia patients in comparison to healthy individuals. PMID:28198811

Inhibition in task switching: The reliability of the n - 2 repetition cost.

PubMed

Kowalczyk, Agnieszka W; Grange, James A

2017-12-01

The n - 2 repetition cost seen in task switching is the effect of slower response times performing a recently completed task (e.g. an ABA sequence) compared to performing a task that was not recently completed (e.g. a CBA sequence). This cost is thought to reflect cognitive inhibition of task representations and as such, the n - 2 repetition cost has begun to be used as an assessment of individual differences in inhibitory control; however, the reliability of this measure has not been investigated in a systematic manner. The current study addressed this important issue. Seventy-two participants performed three task switching paradigms; participants were also assessed on rumination traits and processing speed-measures of individual differences potentially modulating the n - 2 repetition cost. We found significant n - 2 repetition costs for each paradigm. However, split-half reliability tests revealed that this cost was not reliable at the individual-difference level. Neither rumination tendencies nor processing speed predicted this cost. We conclude that the n - 2 repetition cost is not reliable as a measure of individual differences in inhibitory control.

Visual Search in ASD: Instructed Versus Spontaneous Local and Global Processing.

PubMed

Van der Hallen, Ruth; Evers, Kris; Boets, Bart; Steyaert, Jean; Noens, Ilse; Wagemans, Johan

2016-09-01

Visual search has been used extensively to investigate differences in mid-level visual processing between individuals with ASD and TD individuals. The current study employed two visual search paradigms with Gaborized stimuli to assess the impact of task distractors (Experiment 1) and task instruction (Experiment 2) on local-global visual processing in ASD versus TD children. Experiment 1 revealed both groups to be equally sensitive to the absence or presence of a distractor, regardless of the type of target or type of distractor. Experiment 2 revealed a differential effect of task instruction for ASD compared to TD, regardless of the type of target. Taken together, these results stress the importance of task factors in the study of local-global visual processing in ASD.

Grapheme learning and grapheme-color synesthesia: toward a comprehensive model of grapheme-color association.

PubMed

Asano, Michiko; Yokosawa, Kazuhiko

2013-01-01

Recent progress in grapheme-color synesthesia research has revealed that certain regularities, as well as individual differences, figure into grapheme-color associations. Although several factors are known to regulate grapheme-color associations, the impact of factors, including their interrelationships, on synesthesia remains unclear. We investigated determinants of synesthetic color for graphemes (characters, letters) of Hiragana, a phonetic script in the Japanese language, and the English alphabet. Results revealed that grapheme ordinality was the strongest predictor of synesthetic colors for Hiragana characters, followed by character sound, and visual shape. Ordinality and visual shapes also significantly predicted synesthetic colors for English alphabet letters, however, sounds did not. The relative impact of grapheme properties on grapheme-color associations and the differences between these two writing systems are accounted for by considering the way graphemes are processed in the brain and introduced during an individual's development. A new model is proposed which takes into account the developmental process of grapheme learning. The model provides comprehensive explanation of synesthetic grapheme-color association determination processes, including the differences across writing systems.

Grapheme learning and grapheme-color synesthesia: toward a comprehensive model of grapheme-color association

PubMed Central

Asano, Michiko; Yokosawa, Kazuhiko

2013-01-01

Recent progress in grapheme-color synesthesia research has revealed that certain regularities, as well as individual differences, figure into grapheme-color associations. Although several factors are known to regulate grapheme-color associations, the impact of factors, including their interrelationships, on synesthesia remains unclear. We investigated determinants of synesthetic color for graphemes (characters, letters) of Hiragana, a phonetic script in the Japanese language, and the English alphabet. Results revealed that grapheme ordinality was the strongest predictor of synesthetic colors for Hiragana characters, followed by character sound, and visual shape. Ordinality and visual shapes also significantly predicted synesthetic colors for English alphabet letters, however, sounds did not. The relative impact of grapheme properties on grapheme-color associations and the differences between these two writing systems are accounted for by considering the way graphemes are processed in the brain and introduced during an individual's development. A new model is proposed which takes into account the developmental process of grapheme learning. The model provides comprehensive explanation of synesthetic grapheme-color association determination processes, including the differences across writing systems. PMID:24273504

Rumination mediates the relationship between structural variations in ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and sensitivity to negative life events.

PubMed

Qiao, L; Wei, D T; Li, W F; Chen, Q L; Che, X W; Li, B B; Li, Y D; Qiu, J; Zhang, Q L; Liu, Y J

2013-01-01

Individuals have different levels of stress sensitivity. An individual's predisposition to experience negative life events (NLEs) may make him/her more vulnerable to a series of psychopathological and physical diseases. However, the neuroanatomical correlates of individual differences in sensitivity to NLEs remain unknown. In this study, voxel-based morphometry was used to identify the gray matter (GM) associations of individual differences in sensitivity to NLEs measured by adolescent self-rating life events checklist. Results showed that there was a positive association between individual NLEs sensitivity and regional GM volume (rGMV) in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). GM was mostly evident in the left frontal operculum and a small part of the left middle frontal gyrus. This region was thought to play an important role in introception. Importantly, our study revealed that rumination served as a mediator between the rGMV of the VLPFC and individual NLEs sensitivity. These findings suggest that people with greater VLPFC might be more inclined to ruminate and the ruminative response style might make them more sensitive to NLEs. Copyright © 2013 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating Individual Students' Perceptions of Instructional Quality: An Investigation of their Factor Structure, Measurement Invariance, and Relations to Educational Outcomes

PubMed Central

Scherer, Ronny; Nilsen, Trude; Jansen, Malte

2016-01-01

Students' perceptions of instructional quality are among the most important criteria for evaluating teaching effectiveness. The present study evaluates different latent variable modeling approaches (confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory structural equation modeling, and bifactor modeling), which are used to describe these individual perceptions with respect to their factor structure, measurement invariance, and the relations to selected educational outcomes (achievement, self-concept, and motivation in mathematics). On the basis of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 large-scale data sets of Australia, Canada, and the USA (N = 26,746 students), we find support for the distinction between three factors of individual students' perceptions and full measurement invariance across countries for all modeling approaches. In this regard, bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling outperformed alternative approaches with respect to model fit. Our findings reveal significant relations to the educational outcomes. This study synthesizes different modeling approaches of individual students' perceptions of instructional quality and provides insights into the nature of these perceptions from an individual differences perspective. Implications for the measurement and modeling of individually perceived instructional quality are discussed. PMID:26903917

Normative Data for the Cognitively Intact Oldest-Old: The Framingham Heart Study.

PubMed

Miller, Ivy N; Himali, Jayandra J; Beiser, Alexa S; Murabito, Joanne M; Seshadri, Sudha; Wolf, Philip A; Au, Rhoda

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: The number of individuals who reach extreme age is quickly increasing. Much of the current literature focuses on impaired cognition in extreme age, and debate continues regarding what constitutes "normal" cognition in extreme age. This study aimed to provide oldest-old normative data and to compare cognitive performances of cognitively intact elderly individuals from the Framingham Heart Study. A total of 1302 individuals aged 65+ years from the Framingham Heart Study were separated into 5-year age bands and compared on cognitive tests. Multivariate linear regression analyses were conducted, adjusting for gender, the Wide Range Achievement Test-Third Edition (WRAT-III) Reading score, and cohort. Analyses also included comparisons between 418 individuals aged 80+ and 884 individuals aged 65-79, and comparisons within oldest-old age bands. Normative data for all participants are presented. Significant differences were found on most tests between age groups in the overall analysis between young-old and oldest-old, and analysis of oldest-old age bands also revealed select significant differences (all ps <.05). As aging increases, significant cognitive differences and increased variability in performances are evident. These results support the use of age-appropriate normative data for oldest-old individuals.

Normative Data for the Cognitively-Intact Oldest-Old: The Framingham Heart Study

PubMed Central

Miller, Ivy N.; Himali, Jayandra J.; Beiser, Alexa S.; Murabito, Joanne M.; Seshadri, Sudha; Wolf, Philip A.; Au, Rhoda

2017-01-01

Background The number of individuals who reach extreme age is quickly increasing. Much of the current literature focuses on impaired cognition in extreme age, and debate continues regarding what constitutes “normal” cognition in extreme age. This study aimed to provide oldest-old normative data and to compare cognitive performances of cognitively-intact elderly individuals from the Framingham Heart Study. Methods 1302 individuals ages 65+ years old from the Framingham Heart Study were separated into five-year age bands and compared on cognitive tests. Multivariate linear regression analyses were conducted, adjusting for gender, the WRAT-III Reading score, and cohort. Analyses also included comparisons between 418 individuals ages 80+ and 884 individuals ages 65–79, and comparisons within oldest-old age bands. Results Normative data for all participants are presented. Significant differences were found on most tests between age groups in the overall analysis between young-old and oldest-old, and analysis of oldest-old age bands also revealed select significant differences (all p’s <.05). Conclusion As aging increases, significant cognitive differences and increased variability in performances are evident. These results support the use of age appropriate normative data for oldest-old individuals. PMID:26214098

Social Anxiety, Affect, Cortisol Response and Performance on a Speech Task.

PubMed

Losiak, Wladyslaw; Blaut, Agata; Klosowska, Joanna; Slowik, Natalia

2016-01-01

Social anxiety is characterized by increased emotional reactivity to social stimuli, but results of studies focusing on affective reactions of socially anxious subjects in the situation of social exposition are inconclusive, especially in the case of endocrinological measures of affect. This study was designed to examine individual differences in endocrinological and affective reactions to social exposure as well as in performance on a speech task in a group of students (n = 44) comprising subjects with either high or low levels of social anxiety. Measures of salivary cortisol and positive and negative affect were taken before and after an impromptu speech. Self-ratings and observer ratings of performance were also obtained. Cortisol levels and negative affect increased in both groups after the speech task, and positive affect decreased; however, group × affect interactions were not significant. Assessments conducted after the speech task revealed that highly socially anxious participants had lower observer ratings of performance while cortisol increase and changes in self-reported affect were not related to performance. Socially anxious individuals do not differ from nonanxious individuals in affective reactions to social exposition, but reveal worse performance at a speech task. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

THE INHERITANCE OF INDIVIDUAL ANTIGENIC SPECIFICITIES OF RABBIT ANTIBODIES TO STREPTOCOCCAL CARBOHYDRATES

PubMed Central

Eichmann, Klaus; Kindt, Thomas J.

1971-01-01

The inheritance of individual antigenic specificities (IAS) of rabbit antibodies to the Group C streptococcal carbohydrate was demonstrated in a selectively bred rabbit family. The IAS of the antibodies from 3 proband rabbits were also observed in the Group C antibodies in as many as 7 out of 42 related rabbits, but in none of the Group C antibodies from 48 unrelated rabbits, Immunodiffusion analyses and quantitative radioprecipitin experiments revealed that this cross-specificity may be either partial or complete. Quantitative inhibition of the precipitin reaction between the proband antibody and its antiserum by preimmune IgG revealed 30-fold differences in the proportion of molecules with cross-specificity for the proband antibody. This proportion is higher in the preimmune IgG of the proband rabbit and of those relatives which produced cross-precipitating antibodies than it is in the IgG of rabbits which had the same group a allotype, but did not produce cross-precipitating antibodies. The proportion is much lower in the IgG of rabbits with a group a allotype different from that of the proband antibody. These data suggest that serologically detected individual antigenic specificities are inherited markers of immunoglobulins. PMID:4104426

Shift in skin microbiota of Western European women across aging.

PubMed

Jugé, Romain; Rouaud-Tinguely, Pauline; Breugnot, Josselin; Servaes, Katia; Grimaldi, Christine; Roth, Marie-Paule; Coppin, Hélène; Closs, Brigitte

2018-05-23

The objective of our study was to compare the microbiota diversity between two different age groups of Western European women. Skin-swab samples were collected directly on the forehead of 34 healthy Western European women: 17 younger (21-31 years old) and 17 older individuals (54-69 years old). Bacterial communities were evaluated using the 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Data revealed a higher alpha-diversity on the skin of older individuals compared to younger ones. Overall microbiota structure was different between the two age groups, as demonstrated by beta-diversity analysis, which also highlighted a high interpersonal variation within older individuals. Furthermore, taxonomic composition analysis showed both an increase of Proteobacteria and a decrease of Actinobacteria on the older skin. At the genus level, older skin exhibited a significant increase in Corynebacterium and a decrease in Propionibacterium relative abundance. Our study revealed a shift in the distribution of skin microbiota during chronological aging in Western European women. Altogether these results could become the basis to develop new approaches aiming to rebalance the skin microbiota, which is modified during the aging process. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Single nucleotide polymorphism analysis reveals heterogeneity within a seedling tree population of a polyembryonic mango cultivar.

PubMed

Winterhagen, Patrick; Wünsche, Jens-Norbert

2016-05-01

Within a polyembryonic mango seedling tree population, the genetic background of individuals should be identical because vigorous plants for cultivation are expected to develop from nucellar embryos representing maternal clones. Due to the fact that the mango cultivar 'Hôi' is assigned to the polyembryonic ecotype, an intra-cultivar variability of ethylene receptor genes was unexpected. Ethylene receptors in plants are conserved, but the number of receptors or receptor isoforms is variable regarding different plant species. However, it is shown here that the ethylene receptor MiETR1 is present in various isoforms within the mango cultivar 'Hôi'. The investigation of single nucleotide polymorphisms revealed that different MiETR1 isoforms can not be discriminated simply by individual single nucleotide exchanges but by the specific arrangement of single nucleotide polymorphisms at certain positions in the exons of MiETR1. Furthermore, an MiETR1 isoform devoid of introns in the genomic sequence was identified. The investigation demonstrates some limitations of high resolution melting and ScreenClust analysis and points out the necessity of sequencing to identify individual isoforms and to determine the variability within the tree population.

Divergence of a stereotyped call in northern resident killer whales.

PubMed

Grebner, Dawn M; Parks, Susan E; Bradley, David L; Miksis-Olds, Jennifer L; Capone, Dean E; Ford, John K B

2011-02-01

Northern resident killer whale pods (Orcinus orca) have distinctive stereotyped pulsed call repertoires that can be used to distinguish groups acoustically. Repertoires are generally stable, with the same call types comprising the repertoire of a given pod over a period of years to decades. Previous studies have shown that some discrete pulsed calls can be subdivided into variants or subtypes. This study suggests that new stereotyped calls may result from the gradual modification of existing call types through subtypes. Vocalizations of individuals and small groups of killer whales were collected using a bottom-mounted hydrophone array in Johnstone Strait, British Columbia in 2006 and 2007. Discriminant analysis of slope variations of a predominant call type, N4, revealed the presence of four distinct call subtypes. Similar to previous studies, there was a divergence of the N4 call between members of different matrilines of the same pod. However, this study reveals that individual killer whales produced multiple subtypes of the N4 call, indicating that divergence in the N4 call is not the result of individual differences, but rather may indicate the gradual evolution of a new stereotyped call.

Screening sourdough samples for gliadin-degrading activity revealed Lactobacillus casei strains able to individually metabolize the coeliac-disease-related 33-mer peptide.

PubMed

Alvarez-Sieiro, Patricia; Redruello, Begoña; Ladero, Victor; Martín, Maria Cruz; Fernández, María; Alvarez, Miguel A

2016-05-01

A selective culture medium containing acid-hydrolyzed gliadins as the sole nitrogen source was used in the search for sourdough-indigenous lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with gliadin-metabolizing activity. Twenty gliadin-degrading LAB strains were isolated from 10 sourdoughs made in different ways and from different geographical regions. Fifteen of the 20 isolated strains were identified as Lactobacillus casei, a species usually reported as subdominant in sourdough populations. The other 5 gliadin-degrading strains belonged to the more commonly encountered sourdough species Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Lactobacillus plantarum. All these strains were shown to be safe in terms of their resistance to antimicrobial agents. When individually incubated with the α2-gliadin-derived immunotoxic 33-mer peptide (97.5 ppm), half of the L. casei strains metabolized at least 50% of it within 24 h. One strain metabolized 82% of the 33-mer peptide within 8 h and made it fully disappear within 12 h. These results reveal for the first time the presence in sourdough of proteolytic L. casei strains with the capacity to individually metabolize the coeliac-disease-related 33-mer peptide.

Mindfulness, Stress, and Coping among University Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, Angele; Rodger, Susan

2009-01-01

A sample of 135 first-year university students living in residence completed questionnaires that measured individual differences in mindfulness, coping styles, and perceived stress. Findings revealed significant positive relationships between mindfulness and rational coping, and significant negative relationships with emotional and avoidant coping…

Investigating the relative importance of individual differences on the work-family interface and the moderating role of boundary preference for segmentation.

PubMed

Michel, Jesse S; Clark, Malissa A

2013-10-01

This study examines the relative importance of individual differences in relation to perceptions of work-family conflict and facilitation, as well as the moderating role of boundary preference for segmentation on these relationships. Relative importance analyses, based on a diverse sample of 380 employees from the USA, revealed that individual differences were consistently predictive of self-reported work-family conflict and facilitation. Conscientiousness, neuroticism, negative affect and core self-evaluations were consistently related to both directions of work-family conflict, whereas agreeableness predicted significant variance in family-to-work conflict only. Positive affect and core self-evaluations were consistently related to both directions of work-family facilitation, whereas agreeableness and neuroticism predicted significant variance in family-to-work facilitation only. Collectively, individual differences explained 25-28% of the variance in work-family conflict (primarily predicted by neuroticism and negative affect) and 11-18% of the variance in work-family facilitation (primarily predicted by positive affect and core self-evaluations). Moderated regression analyses showed that boundary preference for segmentation strengthened many of the relationships between individual differences and work-family conflict and facilitation. Implications for addressing the nature of work and family are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Unity and diversity of executive functions: Individual differences as a window on cognitive structure.

PubMed

Friedman, Naomi P; Miyake, Akira

2017-01-01

Executive functions (EFs) are high-level cognitive processes, often associated with the frontal lobes, that control lower level processes in the service of goal-directed behavior. They include abilities such as response inhibition, interference control, working memory updating, and set shifting. EFs show a general pattern of shared but distinct functions, a pattern described as "unity and diversity". We review studies of EF unity and diversity at the behavioral and genetic levels, focusing on studies of normal individual differences and what they reveal about the functional organization of these cognitive abilities. In particular, we review evidence that across multiple ages and populations, commonly studied EFs (a) are robustly correlated but separable when measured with latent variables; (b) are not the same as general intelligence or g; (c) are highly heritable at the latent level and seemingly also highly polygenic; and (d) activate both common and specific neural areas and can be linked to individual differences in neural activation, volume, and connectivity. We highlight how considering individual differences at the behavioral and neural levels can add considerable insight to the investigation of the functional organization of the brain, and conclude with some key points about individual differences to consider when interpreting neuropsychological patterns of dissociation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Individual differences in decision making competence revealed by multivariate fMRI.

PubMed

Talukdar, Tanveer; Román, Francisco J; Operskalski, Joachim T; Zwilling, Christopher E; Barbey, Aron K

2018-06-01

While an extensive literature in decision neuroscience has elucidated the neurobiological foundations of decision making, prior research has focused primarily on group-level effects in a sample population. Due to the presence of inherent differences between individuals' cognitive abilities, it is also important to examine the neural correlates of decision making that explain interindividual variability in cognitive performance. This study therefore investigated how individual differences in decision making competence, as measured by the Adult Decision Making Competence (A-DMC) battery, are related to functional brain connectivity patterns derived from resting-state fMRI data in a sample of 304 healthy participants. We examined connectome-wide associations, identifying regions within frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital cortex that demonstrated significant associations with decision making competence. We then assessed whether the functional interactions between brain regions sensitive to decision making competence and seven intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) were predictive of specific facets of decision making assessed by subtests of the A-DMC battery. Our findings suggest that individual differences in specific facets of decision making competence are mediated by ICNs that support executive, social, and perceptual processes, and motivate an integrative framework for understanding the neural basis of individual differences in decision making competence. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Time-resolved metabolomics analysis of individual differences during the early stage of lipopolysaccharide-treated rats.

PubMed

Dai, Die; Gao, Yiqiao; Chen, Jiaqing; Huang, Yin; Zhang, Zunjian; Xu, Fengguo

2016-10-03

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) can lead to uncontrollable cytokine production and eventually cause fatal sepsis syndrome. Individual toxicity difference of LPS has been widely reported. In our study we observed that two thirds of the rats (24/36) died at a given dose of LPS, while the rest (12/36) survived. Tracking the dynamic metabolic change in survival and non-survival rats in the early stage may reveal new system information to understand the inter-individual variation in response to LPS. As the time-resolved datasets are very complex and no single method can elucidate the problem clearly and comprehensively, the static and dynamic metabolomics methods were employed in combination as cross-validation. Intriguingly, some common results have been observed. Lipids were the main different metabolites between survival and non-survival rats in pre-dose serum and in the early stage of infection with LPS. The LPS treatment led to S-adenosly-methionine and total cysteine individual difference in early stage, and subsequent significant perturbations in energy metabolism and oxidative stress. Furthermore, cytokine profiles were analyzed to identify potential biological associations between cytokines and specific metabolites. Our collective findings may provide some heuristic guidance for elucidating the underlying mechanism of individual difference in LPS-mediated disease.

An fMRI investigation of the effects of culture on evaluations of stigmatized individuals.

PubMed

Krendl, Anne C

2016-01-01

Certain groups (e.g., women, older adults, and the economically disadvantaged) are universally stigmatized. Numerous studies, however, have identified cross-cultural differences in the attitudes expressed toward stigmatized groups. These differences may potentially be due to existing cross-cultural dissimilarities in social status for some groups. The current study used fMRI to examine whether Chinese and Caucasian-American participants engage the same cognitive and affective mechanisms when perceiving stigmatized individuals with similarly low social status in both cultures (homeless individuals), but different cognitive and/or affective processes when evaluating stigmatized individuals whose status differs across cultures (older adults). Using a social neuroscience approach can provide unique insight into this question because the neural regions involved in cognitive and affective evaluations of stigmatized individuals have been well characterized. Results revealed that Chinese participants and Caucasian-American participants engaged similar patterns of negative affective processing associated with disgust (left anterior insula) when evaluating homeless individuals. Moreover, self-reported negative explicit attitudes toward homeless individuals were associated with increased activity in the insula. However, Chinese participants and Caucasian-American participants engaged increased activity in neural regions associated with status (ventral striatum) when they evaluated older adults. Moreover, self-reported attitudes toward older adults and ventral striatal activity were correlated with the extent to which participants reported being affiliated with their respective cultural traditions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

How predation shapes the social interaction rules of shoaling fish.

PubMed

Herbert-Read, James E; Rosén, Emil; Szorkovszky, Alex; Ioannou, Christos C; Rogell, Björn; Perna, Andrea; Ramnarine, Indar W; Kotrschal, Alexander; Kolm, Niclas; Krause, Jens; Sumpter, David J T

2017-08-30

Predation is thought to shape the macroscopic properties of animal groups, making moving groups more cohesive and coordinated. Precisely how predation has shaped individuals' fine-scale social interactions in natural populations, however, is unknown. Using high-resolution tracking data of shoaling fish ( Poecilia reticulata ) from populations differing in natural predation pressure, we show how predation adapts individuals' social interaction rules. Fish originating from high predation environments formed larger, more cohesive, but not more polarized groups than fish from low predation environments. Using a new approach to detect the discrete points in time when individuals decide to update their movements based on the available social cues, we determine how these collective properties emerge from individuals' microscopic social interactions. We first confirm predictions that predation shapes the attraction-repulsion dynamic of these fish, reducing the critical distance at which neighbours move apart, or come back together. While we find strong evidence that fish align with their near neighbours, we do not find that predation shapes the strength or likelihood of these alignment tendencies. We also find that predation sharpens individuals' acceleration and deceleration responses, implying key perceptual and energetic differences associated with how individuals move in different predation regimes. Our results reveal how predation can shape the social interactions of individuals in groups, ultimately driving differences in groups' collective behaviour. © 2017 The Authors.

Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Self-Report Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in Dutch Adolescents at Ages 12, 14, and 16

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Grootheest, Daniel S.; Bartels, Meike; Van Beijsterveldt, Catarina E. M.; Cath, Danielle C.; Beekman, Aartjan T.; Hudziak, James J.; Boomsma, Dorret I.

2008-01-01

The involvement of genetic and environmental factors to the development of obsessive compulsion symptoms during the adolescent period is examined. Study revealed that individual differences in OC symptoms are heritable during puberty and shared environmental influences played a role only in the beginning of adolescence but no sex differences in…

Toward an Open-Ended BCI: A User-Centered Coadaptive Design.

PubMed

Dhindsa, Kiret; Carcone, Dean; Becker, Suzanna

2017-10-01

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) allow users to control a device by interpreting their brain activity. For simplicity, these devices are designed to be operated by purposefully modulating specific predetermined neurophysiological signals, such as the sensorimotor rhythm. However, the ability to modulate a given neurophysiological signal is highly variable across individuals, contributing to the inconsistent performance of BCIs for different users. These differences suggest that individuals who experience poor BCI performance with one class of brain signals might have good results with another. In order to take advantage of individual abilities as they relate to BCI control, we need to move beyond the current approaches. In this letter, we explore a new BCI design aimed at a more individualized and user-focused experience, which we call open-ended BCI. Individual users were given the freedom to discover their own mental strategies as opposed to being trained to modulate a given brain signal. They then underwent multiple coadaptive training sessions with the BCI. Our first open-ended BCI performed similarly to comparable BCIs while accommodating a wider variety of mental strategies without a priori knowledge of the specific brain signals any individual might use. Post hoc analysis revealed individual differences in terms of which sensory modality yielded optimal performance. We found a large and significant effect of individual differences in background training and expertise, such as in musical training, on BCI performance. Future research should be focused on finding more generalized solutions to user training and brain state decoding methods to fully utilize the abilities of different individuals in an open-ended BCI. Accounting for each individual's areas of expertise could have important implications on BCI training and BCI application design.

Individual structural differences in left inferior parietal area are associated with schoolchildrens' arithmetic scores

PubMed Central

Li, Yongxin; Hu, Yuzheng; Wang, Yunqi; Weng, Jian; Chen, Feiyan

2013-01-01

Arithmetic skill is of critical importance for academic achievement, professional success and everyday life, and childhood is the key period to acquire this skill. Neuroimaging studies have identified that left parietal regions are a key neural substrate for representing arithmetic skill. Although the relationship between functional brain activity in left parietal regions and arithmetic skill has been studied in detail, it remains unclear about the relationship between arithmetic achievement and structural properties in left inferior parietal area in schoolchildren. The current study employed a combination of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) for high-resolution T1-weighted images and fiber tracking on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to examine the relationship between structural properties in the inferior parietal area and arithmetic achievement in 10-year-old schoolchildren. VBM of the T1-weighted images revealed that individual differences in arithmetic scores were significantly and positively correlated with the gray matter (GM) volume in the left intraparietal sulcus (IPS). Fiber tracking analysis revealed that the forceps major, left superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), bilateral inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF) were the primary pathways connecting the left IPS with other brain areas. Furthermore, the regression analysis of the probabilistic pathways revealed a significant and positive correlation between the fractional anisotropy (FA) values in the left SLF, ILF and bilateral IFOF and arithmetic scores. The brain structure-behavior correlation analyses indicated that the GM volumes in the left IPS and the FA values in the tract pathways connecting left IPS were both related to children's arithmetic achievement. The present findings provide evidence that individual structural differences in the left IPS are associated with arithmetic scores in schoolchildren. PMID:24367320

Learning and robustness to catch-and-release fishing in a shark social network

PubMed Central

Brown, Culum; Planes, Serge

2017-01-01

Individuals can play different roles in maintaining connectivity and social cohesion in animal populations and thereby influence population robustness to perturbations. We performed a social network analysis in a reef shark population to assess the vulnerability of the global network to node removal under different scenarios. We found that the network was generally robust to the removal of nodes with high centrality. The network appeared also highly robust to experimental fishing. Individual shark catchability decreased as a function of experience, as revealed by comparing capture frequency and site presence. Altogether, these features suggest that individuals learnt to avoid capture, which ultimately increased network robustness to experimental catch-and-release. Our results also suggest that some caution must be taken when using capture–recapture models often used to assess population size as assumptions (such as equal probabilities of capture and recapture) may be violated by individual learning to escape recapture. PMID:28298593

The functional consequences of social distraction: Attention and memory for complex scenes.

PubMed

Doherty, Brianna Ruth; Patai, Eva Zita; Duta, Mihaela; Nobre, Anna Christina; Scerif, Gaia

2017-01-01

Cognitive scientists have long proposed that social stimuli attract visual attention even when task irrelevant, but the consequences of this privileged status for memory are unknown. To address this, we combined computational approaches, eye-tracking methodology, and individual-differences measures. Participants searched for targets in scenes containing social or non-social distractors equated for low-level visual salience. Subsequent memory precision for target locations was tested. Individual differences in autistic traits and social anxiety were also measured. Eye-tracking revealed significantly more attentional capture to social compared to non-social distractors. Critically, memory precision for target locations was poorer for social scenes. This effect was moderated by social anxiety, with anxious individuals remembering target locations better under conditions of social distraction. These findings shed further light onto the privileged attentional status of social stimuli and its functional consequences on memory across individuals. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Daily variations in oligosaccharides of human milk determined by microfluidic chips and mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Niñonuevo, Milady R; Perkins, Patrick D; Francis, Jimi; Lamotte, Latasha M; LoCascio, Riccardo G; Freeman, Samara L; Mills, David A; German, J Bruce; Grimm, Rudolf; Lebrilla, Carlito B

2008-01-23

Human milk is a complex biological fluid that provides not only primary nourishment for infants but also protection against pathogens and influences their metabolic, immunologic, and even cognitive development. The presence of oligosaccharides in remarkable abundance in human milk has been associated to provide diverse biological functions including directing the development of an infant's intestinal microflora and immune system. Recent advances in analytical tools offer invaluable insights in understanding the specific functions and health benefits these biomolecules impart to infants. Oligosaccharides in human milk samples obtained from five different individual donors over the course of a 3 month lactation period were isolated and analyzed using HPLC-Chip/TOF-MS technology. The levels and compositions of oligosaccharides in human milk were investigated from five individual donors. Comparison of HPLC-Chip/TOF-MS oligosaccharides profiles revealed heterogeneity among multiple individuals with no significant variations at different stages of lactation within individual donors.

Measuring Biological Age via Metabonomics: The Metabolic Age Score.

PubMed

Hertel, Johannes; Friedrich, Nele; Wittfeld, Katharina; Pietzner, Maik; Budde, Kathrin; Van der Auwera, Sandra; Lohmann, Tobias; Teumer, Alexander; Völzke, Henry; Nauck, Matthias; Grabe, Hans Jörgen

2016-02-05

Chronological age is one of the most important risk factors for adverse clinical outcome. Still, two individuals at the same chronological age could have different biological aging states, leading to different individual risk profiles. Capturing this individual variance could constitute an even more powerful predictor enhancing prediction in age-related morbidity. Applying a nonlinear regression technique, we constructed a metabonomic measurement for biological age, the metabolic age score, based on urine data measured via (1)H NMR spectroscopy. We validated the score in two large independent population-based samples by revealing its significant associations with chronological age and age-related clinical phenotypes as well as its independent predictive value for survival over approximately 13 years of follow-up. Furthermore, the metabolic age score was prognostic for weight loss in a sample of individuals who underwent bariatric surgery. We conclude that the metabolic age score is an informative measurement of biological age with possible applications in personalized medicine.

The tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth: tooth shape and ontogenetic shift dynamics in the white shark Carcharodon carcharias.

PubMed

French, G C A; Stürup, M; Rizzuto, S; van Wyk, J H; Edwards, D; Dolan, R W; Wintner, S P; Towner, A V; Hughes, W O H

2017-10-01

Results from this study of the white shark Carcharodon carcharias include measurements obtained using a novel photographic method that reveal significant differences between the sexes in the relationship between tooth cuspidity and shark total length, and a novel ontogenetic change in male tooth shape. Males exhibit broader upper first teeth and increased distal inclination of upper third teeth with increasing length, while females do not present a consistent morphological change. Substantial individual variation, with implications for pace of life syndrome, was present in males and tooth polymorphism was suggested in females. Sexual differences and individual variation may play major roles in ontogenetic changes in tooth morphology in C. carcharias, with potential implications for their foraging biology. Such individual and sexual differences should be included in studies of ontogenetic shift dynamics in other species and systems. © 2017 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

Relationships between regional cerebellar volume and sensorimotor and cognitive function in young and older adults

PubMed Central

Bernard, Jessica A.; Seidler, Rachael D.

2013-01-01

The cerebellum has been implicated in both sensorimotor and cognitive function, but is known to undergo volumetric declines with advanced age. Individual differences in regional cerebellar volume may therefore provide insight into performance variability across the lifespan, as has been shown with other brain structures and behaviors. Here, we investigated whether there are regional age differences in cerebellar volume in young and older adults, and whether these volumes explain, in part, individual differences in sensorimotor and cognitive task performance. We found that older adults had smaller cerebellar volume than young adults; specifically, lobules in the anterior cerebellum were more impacted by age. Multiple regression analyses for both age groups revealed associations between sensorimotor task performance in several domains (balance, choice reaction time, and timing) and regional cerebellar volume. There were also relationships with working memory, but none with measures of general cognitive or executive function. Follow-up analyses revealed several differential relationships with age between regional volume and sensorimotor performance. These relationships were predominantly selective to cerebellar regions that have been implicated in cognitive functions. Therefore, it may be the cognitive aspects of sensorimotor task performance that are best explained by individual differences in regional cerebellar volumes. In sum, our results demonstrate the importance of regional cerebellar volume with respect to both sensorimotor and cognitive performance, and we provide additional insight into the role of the cerebellum in age-related performance declines. PMID:23625382

Fine-scale genetic structure and cryptic associations reveal evidence of kin-based sociality in the African forest elephant.

PubMed

Schuttler, Stephanie G; Philbrick, Jessica A; Jeffery, Kathryn J; Eggert, Lori S

2014-01-01

Spatial patterns of relatedness within animal populations are important in the evolution of mating and social systems, and have the potential to reveal information on species that are difficult to observe in the wild. This study examines the fine-scale genetic structure and connectivity of groups within African forest elephants, Loxodonta cyclotis, which are often difficult to observe due to forest habitat. We tested the hypothesis that genetic similarity will decline with increasing geographic distance, as we expect kin to be in closer proximity, using spatial autocorrelation analyses and Tau K(r) tests. Associations between individuals were investigated through a non-invasive genetic capture-recapture approach using network models, and were predicted to be more extensive than the small groups found in observational studies, similar to fission-fusion sociality found in African savanna (Loxodonta africana) and Asian (Elephas maximus) species. Dung samples were collected in Lopé National Park, Gabon in 2008 and 2010 and genotyped at 10 microsatellite loci, genetically sexed, and sequenced at the mitochondrial DNA control region. We conducted analyses on samples collected at three different temporal scales: a day, within six-day sampling sessions, and within each year. Spatial autocorrelation and Tau K(r) tests revealed genetic structure, but results were weak and inconsistent between sampling sessions. Positive spatial autocorrelation was found in distance classes of 0-5 km, and was strongest for the single day session. Despite weak genetic structure, individuals within groups were significantly more related to each other than to individuals between groups. Social networks revealed some components to have large, extensive groups of up to 22 individuals, and most groups were composed of individuals of the same matriline. Although fine-scale population genetic structure was weak, forest elephants are typically found in groups consisting of kin and based on matrilines, with some individuals having more associates than observed from group sizes alone.

Gender and age related differences in foot morphology.

PubMed

Tomassoni, Daniele; Traini, Enea; Amenta, Francesco

2014-12-01

This study has assessed age-related changes of foot morphology for developing appropriate footwear with particular reference to the elderly. Anatomical parameters such as foot length, circumference and height and ankle length, circumference and height were assessed in a sample of males (n=577) and females (n=528) divided into three age groups. The groups included young-adult, aged between 20 and 25 years; adult, aged between 35 and 55 years; and old, aged between 65 and 70 years individuals. In terms of gender differences, in young-adult individuals the sex-related morphological differences observed, are just related to a significantly lower length of foot in females. In adult subjects morphological parameters investigated were significantly lower in females even after normalization for foot length. In old individuals, no differences of the parameters were found after normalization for foot length. Comparative analysis of morphometric data between young-adult and adult individuals revealed that the instep length was smaller in adults. The opposite was observed for the great toe and medial foot arch height. Length of ankle was higher in adult than in young-adult individuals, whereas ankle circumference and height were smaller. In old vs adult individuals foot circumference showed the most relevant age-related differences. Feet anatomy presents specific characteristics in different ages of life. The ideal footwear should take into account these characteristics. This is true primarily for the elderly for minimizing the risk of falls or of other problems related to inappropriate footwear. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Causal interactions in resting-state networks predict perceived loneliness.

PubMed

Tian, Yin; Yang, Li; Chen, Sifan; Guo, Daqing; Ding, Zechao; Tam, Kin Yip; Yao, Dezhong

2017-01-01

Loneliness is broadly described as a negative emotional response resulting from the differences between the actual and desired social relations of an individual, which is related to the neural responses in connection with social and emotional stimuli. Prior research has discovered that some neural regions play a role in loneliness. However, little is known about the differences among individuals in loneliness and the relationship of those differences to differences in neural networks. The current study aimed to investigate individual differences in perceived loneliness related to the causal interactions between resting-state networks (RSNs), including the dorsal attentional network (DAN), the ventral attentional network (VAN), the affective network (AfN) and the visual network (VN). Using conditional granger causal analysis of resting-state fMRI data, we revealed that the weaker causal flow from DAN to VAN is related to higher loneliness scores, and the decreased causal flow from AfN to VN is also related to higher loneliness scores. Our results clearly support the hypothesis that there is a connection between loneliness and neural networks. It is envisaged that neural network features could play a key role in characterizing the loneliness of an individual.

Causal interactions in resting-state networks predict perceived loneliness

PubMed Central

Yang, Li; Chen, Sifan; Guo, Daqing; Ding, Zechao; Tam, Kin Yip; Yao, Dezhong

2017-01-01

Loneliness is broadly described as a negative emotional response resulting from the differences between the actual and desired social relations of an individual, which is related to the neural responses in connection with social and emotional stimuli. Prior research has discovered that some neural regions play a role in loneliness. However, little is known about the differences among individuals in loneliness and the relationship of those differences to differences in neural networks. The current study aimed to investigate individual differences in perceived loneliness related to the causal interactions between resting-state networks (RSNs), including the dorsal attentional network (DAN), the ventral attentional network (VAN), the affective network (AfN) and the visual network (VN). Using conditional granger causal analysis of resting-state fMRI data, we revealed that the weaker causal flow from DAN to VAN is related to higher loneliness scores, and the decreased causal flow from AfN to VN is also related to higher loneliness scores. Our results clearly support the hypothesis that there is a connection between loneliness and neural networks. It is envisaged that neural network features could play a key role in characterizing the loneliness of an individual. PMID:28545125

[Features and forensic-psychiatric significance of psychogenic jealousy in psychopathies in women].

PubMed

Kozlova, A M

1985-01-01

Examination of 37 cases of psychogenic nonpsychotic jealousy in women with psychopathies revealed specific features of the clinical picture of psychogenic emotions in relation to the premorbid characteristics of the personality and showed differences between psychogenic jealousy in women and an analogous state in males. Peculiarities of law offences committed by such individuals for jealousy motives were elicited and approaches to the prevention of socially dangerous actions of such individuals are outlined.

Preliminary validation of the Spanish version of the Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance Scale (MSTAT-II).

PubMed

Arquero, José L; McLain, David L

2010-05-01

Despite widespread interest in ambiguity tolerance and other information-related individual differences, existing measures are conceptually dispersed and psychometrically weak. This paper presents the Spanish version of MSTAT-II, a short, stimulus-oriented, and psychometrically improved measure of an individual's orientation toward ambiguous stimuli. Results obtained reveal adequate reliability, validity, and temporal stability. These results support the use of MSTAT-II as an adequate measure of ambiguity tolerance.

[Problems in the individual adaptation of working women].

PubMed

Grebeneva, O V; Balaeva, E A

2008-01-01

The mechanisms of development of dysadaptive changes were revealed in factory workers in relation to congenital personality traits and the schemes of individual adaptation strategies were defined. At the same time increased anxiety leading to the accelerated rates of aging preceded impaired adaptive processes. The differences in the female adaptive patterns were determined by both the degree of emotional stability and the baseline energy capacities of the cardiorespiratory system and the involvement of a mental component in adaptation.

Global diversity in the human salivary microbiome.

PubMed

Nasidze, Ivan; Li, Jing; Quinque, Dominique; Tang, Kun; Stoneking, Mark

2009-04-01

The human salivary microbiome may play a role in diseases of the oral cavity and interact with microbiomes from other parts of the human body (in particular, the intestinal tract), but little is known about normal variation in the salivary microbiome. We analyzed 14,115 partial ( approximately 500 bp) 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequences from saliva samples from 120 healthy individuals (10 individuals from each of 12 worldwide locations). These sequences could be assigned to 101 known bacterial genera, of which 39 were not previously reported from the human oral cavity; phylogenetic analysis suggests that an additional 64 unknown genera are present. There is high diversity in the salivary microbiome within and between individuals, but little geographic structure. Overall, approximately 13.5% of the total variance in the composition of genera is due to differences among individuals, which is remarkably similar to the fraction of the total variance in neutral genetic markers that can be attributed to differences among human populations. Investigation of some environmental variables revealed a significant association between the genetic distances among locations and the distance of each location from the equator. Further characterization of the enormous diversity revealed here in the human salivary microbiome will aid in elucidating the role it plays in human health and disease, and in the identification of potentially informative species for studies of human population history.

Observing the Heterogeneous Electro-redox of Individual Single-Layer Graphene Sheets.

PubMed

Chen, Tao; Zhang, Yuwei; Xu, Weilin

2016-09-27

Electro-redox-induced heterogeneous fluorescence of an individual single-layer graphene sheet was observed in real time by a total internal reflection fluorescence microscope. It was found that the fluorescence intensity of an individual sheet can be tuned reversibly by applying periodic voltages to control the redox degree of graphene sheets. Accordingly, the oxidation and reduction kinetics of an individual single-layer graphene sheet was studied at different voltages. The electro-redox-induced reversible variation of fluorescence intensity of individual sheets indicates a reversible band gap tuning strategy. Furthermore, correlation analysis of redox rate constants on individual graphene sheets revealed a redox-induced spatiotemporal heterogeneity or dynamics of graphene sheets. The observed controllable redox kinetics can rationally guide the precise band gap tuning of individual graphene sheets and then help their extensive applications in optoelectronics and devices for renewable energy.

The circadian variation of cardiovascular stress levels and reactivity: relationship to individual differences in morningness/eveningness.

PubMed

Nebel, L E; Howell, R H; Krantz, D S; Falconer, J J; Gottdiener, J S; Gabbay, F H

1996-05-01

Two studies assessed the circadian variation of cardiovascular responses to stress in healthy and coronary artery disease (CAD) populations. In within-subjects designs, stressors were administered to healthy male subjects and male CAD patients both in the morning and afternoon, and subjects were classified as either morning or evening types using the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (Horne & Ostberg, 1976, International Journal of Chronobiology, 4, 97-110). No consistent circadian variation in blood pressure or heart rate responses was observed in the aggregate sample of either healthy subjects or CAD patients. However, there were significant interactions between circadian type and time of day. In both populations, morning subjects exhibited higher cardiovascular levels during the morning session, and evening subjects exhibited higher levels during the afternoon session. Analyses of cardiovascular reactivity revealed less consistent evidence for this interaction. Self-reports of stress revealed interactions between time of day and morningness/eveningness only in the CAD sample. In CAD patients, preliminary analysis of myocardial wall function, an index of myocardial ischemia, did not reveal a significant interaction between morningness/eveningness and time of day, perhaps due to small sample size. The presence of differing circadian patterns in stress response based on individual differences in morningness/eveningness is discussed in terms of its methodological implications for psychophysiological research and in terms of the role of stress as an acute trigger of CAD.

How decisions happen: focal points and blind spots in interdependent decision making.

PubMed

Halevy, Nir; Chou, Eileen Y

2014-03-01

Decision makers often simplify decision problems by ignoring readily available information. The current multimethod research investigated which types of information about interdependence situations are psychologically prominent to decision makers and which tend to go unnoticed. Study 1 used eye-tracking measures to investigate how decision makers allocate their attention in interdependence situations and revealed that individuals fixated on mutual cooperation earlier and longer as compared with alternative combinations of strategies and outcomes. In addition, participants' behavioral cooperation was consistent with their attention allocation. Study 2 introduced a novel information-search paradigm: Participants exchanged yes/no questions and answers to discover which of 25 different games their counterpart chose. Analyzing the contents of participants' questions showed that, consistent with Study 1, participants focused primarily on desirable outcomes and symmetric behavioral choices. Study 3 revealed that outcome desirability is a robust basis of psychological prominence across different types of social relations; in contrast, the psychological prominence of symmetry was moderated by the nature of social relations. Study 4 revealed that whether different bases of psychological prominence directed individuals' attention to the same aspects of the decision-making task moderated the effect of information availability on decision latency and cooperation rates. Taken together, these findings contribute to the mapping of bounded rationality, demonstrate how people think about their interdependence, and enhance our understanding of how decisions happen. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Congruent Strain Specific Intestinal Persistence of Lactobacillus plantarum in an Intestine-Mimicking In Vitro System and in Human Volunteers

PubMed Central

van Bokhorst-van de Veen, Hermien; van Swam, Iris; Wels, Michiel; Bron, Peter A.; Kleerebezem, Michiel

2012-01-01

Background An important trait of probiotics is their capability to reach their intestinal target sites alive to optimally exert their beneficial effects. Assessment of this trait in intestine-mimicking in vitro model systems has revealed differential survival of individual strains of a species. However, data on the in situ persistence characteristics of individual or mixtures of strains of the same species in the gastrointestinal tract of healthy human volunteers have not been reported to date. Methodology/Principal Findings The GI-tract survival of individual L. plantarum strains was determined using an intestine mimicking model system, revealing substantial inter-strain differences. The obtained data were correlated to genomic diversity of the strains using comparative genome hybridization (CGH) datasets, but this approach failed to discover specific genetic loci that explain the observed differences between the strains. Moreover, we developed a next-generation sequencing-based method that targets a variable intergenic region, and employed this method to assess the in vivo GI-tract persistence of different L. plantarum strains when administered in mixtures to healthy human volunteers. Remarkable consistency of the strain-specific persistence curves were observed between individual volunteers, which also correlated significantly with the GI-tract survival predicted on basis of the in vitro assay. Conclusion The survival of individual L. plantarum strains in the GI-tract could not be correlated to the absence or presence of specific genes compared to the reference strain L. plantarum WCFS1. Nevertheless, in vivo persistence analysis in the human GI-tract confirmed the strain-specific persistence, which appeared to be remarkably similar in different healthy volunteers. Moreover, the relative strain-specific persistence in vivo appeared to be accurately and significantly predicted by their relative survival in the intestine-mimicking in vitro assay, supporting the use of this assay for screening of strain-specific GI persistence. PMID:22970257

Affective Interchange in Families with a Schizophrenic Son.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Angermeyer, Matthias C.; And Others

Sixty half-hour family discussions generated by the "revealed differences technique" were analyzed to determine the emotional intensity and quality (friendliness/attacking) of messages between individuals in families with schizophrenic and "normal" sons. Thirty families in each situation (schizophrenic/normal) were matched for comparison. Both…

Attention orienting and inhibitory control across the different mood states in bipolar disorder: an emotional antisaccade task.

PubMed

García-Blanco, Ana C; Perea, Manuel; Salmerón, Ladislao

2013-12-01

An antisaccade experiment, using happy, sad, and neutral faces, was conducted to examine the effect of mood-congruent information on inhibitory control (antisaccade task) and attentional orienting (prosaccade task) during the different episodes of bipolar disorder (BD) - manic (n=22), depressive (n=25), and euthymic (n=24). A group of 28 healthy controls was also included. Results revealed that symptomatic patients committed more antisaccade errors than healthy individuals, especially with mood-congruent faces. The manic group committed more antisaccade errors in response to happy faces, while the depressed group tended to commit more antisaccade errors in response to sad faces. Additionally, antisaccade latencies were slower in BD patients than in healthy individuals, whereas prosaccade latencies were slower in symptomatic patients. Taken together, these findings revealed the following: (a) slow inhibitory control in BD patients, regardless of their episode (i.e., a trait), and (b) impaired inhibitory control restricted to symptomatic patients (i.e., a state). Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Adaptive rehabilitation gaming system: on-line individualization of stroke rehabilitation.

PubMed

Nirme, Jens; Duff, Armin; Verschure, Paul F M J

2011-01-01

The effects of stroke differ considerably in degree and symptoms for different patients. It has been shown that specific, individualized and varied therapy favors recovery. The Rehabilitation Gaming System (RGS) is a Virtual Reality (VR) based rehabilitation system designed following these principles. We have developed two algorithms to control the level of task difficulty that a user of the RGS is exposed to, as well as providing controlled variation in the therapy. In this paper, we compare the two algorithms by running numerical simulations and a study with healthy subjects. We show that both algorithms allow for individualization of the challenge level of the task. Further, the results reveal that the algorithm that iteratively learns a user model for each subject also allows a high variation of the task.

An Evolutionary Perspective on Family Studies: Differential Susceptibility to Environmental Influences.

PubMed

Hartman, Sarah; Belsky, Jay

2016-12-01

An evolutionary perspective of human development provides the basis for the differential-susceptibility hypothesis which stipulates that individuals should differ in their susceptibility to environmental influences, with some being more affected than others by both positive and negative developmental experiences and environmental exposures. This paper reviews evidence consistent with this claim while revealing that temperamental and genetic characteristics play a role in distinguishing more and less susceptible individuals. The differential-susceptibility framework under consideration is contrasted to the traditional diathesis-stress view that "vulnerability" traits predispose some to being disproportionately affected by (only) adverse experiences. We raise several issues stimulated by the literature that need to be clarified in further research. Lastly, we suggest that therapy may differ in its effects depending on an individual's susceptibility. © 2015 Family Process Institute.

Sport participation among individuals with acquired physical disabilities: group differences on demographic, disability, and Health Action Process Approach constructs.

PubMed

Perrier, Marie-Josée; Shirazipour, Celina H; Latimer-Cheung, Amy E

2015-04-01

Despite numerous physical, social, and mental health benefits of engaging in moderate and vigorous intensity physical activities (e.g., sport), few individuals with acquired physical disabilities currently participate in adapted sport. Theory-based sport promotion interventions are one possible way to increase the amount of individuals who engage in sport. The primary objective of this study was to examine the profiles of three different sport participation groups with respect to demographic, injury, and Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) constructs. ANOVAs and Chi-square tests were used to determine group differences on demographic and disability-related constructs. A MANCOVA was conducted to determine differences between three sport participation groups (non-intenders, intenders, and actors) with age, years post-injury, mode of mobility, and sex included as covariates. A cohort of 201 individuals was recruited; 56 (27.9%) were non-intenders, 21 (10.4%) were intenders, and 124 (61.7%) were actors. The MANCOVA revealed significant differences between groups on the HAPA constructs, F(22,370) = 9.02, p < .0001, Pillai's trace = .70, demonstrating that individuals with acquired physical disabilities will rate important health behavior constructs differently based on their sport intentions. These results provide an important framework that adapted sport organizations can use to tailor their sport promotion programs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bacterial community composition in the gut content of Lampetra japonica revealed by 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing.

PubMed

Zuo, Yu; Xie, Wenfang; Pang, Yue; Li, Tiesong; Li, Qingwei; Li, Yingying

2017-01-01

The composition of the bacterial communities in the hindgut contents of Lampetrs japonica was surveyed by Illumina MiSeq of the 16S rRNA gene. An average of 32385 optimized reads was obtained from three samples. The rarefaction curve based on the operational taxonomic units tended to approach the asymptote. The rank abundance curve representing the species richness and evenness was calculated. The composition of microbe in six classification levels was also analyzed. Top 20 members in genera level were displayed as the classification tree. The abundance of microorganisms in different individuals was displayed as the pie charts at the branch nodes in the classification tree. The differences of top 50 genera in abundance between individuals of lamprey are displayed as a heatmap. The pairwise comparison of bacterial taxa abundance revealed that there are no significant differences of gut microbiota between three individuals of lamprey at a given rarefied depth. Also, the gut microbiota derived from L. japonica displays little similarity with other aquatic organism of Vertebrata after UPGMA analysis. The metabolic function of the bacterial communities was predicted through KEGG analysis. This study represents the first analysis of the bacterial community composition in the gut content of L. japonica. The investigation of the gut microbiota associated with L. japonica will broaden our understanding of this unique organism.

Auditory and Non-Auditory Contributions for Unaided Speech Recognition in Noise as a Function of Hearing Aid Use

PubMed Central

Gieseler, Anja; Tahden, Maike A. S.; Thiel, Christiane M.; Wagener, Kirsten C.; Meis, Markus; Colonius, Hans

2017-01-01

Differences in understanding speech in noise among hearing-impaired individuals cannot be explained entirely by hearing thresholds alone, suggesting the contribution of other factors beyond standard auditory ones as derived from the audiogram. This paper reports two analyses addressing individual differences in the explanation of unaided speech-in-noise performance among n = 438 elderly hearing-impaired listeners (mean = 71.1 ± 5.8 years). The main analysis was designed to identify clinically relevant auditory and non-auditory measures for speech-in-noise prediction using auditory (audiogram, categorical loudness scaling) and cognitive tests (verbal-intelligence test, screening test of dementia), as well as questionnaires assessing various self-reported measures (health status, socio-economic status, and subjective hearing problems). Using stepwise linear regression analysis, 62% of the variance in unaided speech-in-noise performance was explained, with measures Pure-tone average (PTA), Age, and Verbal intelligence emerging as the three most important predictors. In the complementary analysis, those individuals with the same hearing loss profile were separated into hearing aid users (HAU) and non-users (NU), and were then compared regarding potential differences in the test measures and in explaining unaided speech-in-noise recognition. The groupwise comparisons revealed significant differences in auditory measures and self-reported subjective hearing problems, while no differences in the cognitive domain were found. Furthermore, groupwise regression analyses revealed that Verbal intelligence had a predictive value in both groups, whereas Age and PTA only emerged significant in the group of hearing aid NU. PMID:28270784

Auditory and Non-Auditory Contributions for Unaided Speech Recognition in Noise as a Function of Hearing Aid Use.

PubMed

Gieseler, Anja; Tahden, Maike A S; Thiel, Christiane M; Wagener, Kirsten C; Meis, Markus; Colonius, Hans

2017-01-01

Differences in understanding speech in noise among hearing-impaired individuals cannot be explained entirely by hearing thresholds alone, suggesting the contribution of other factors beyond standard auditory ones as derived from the audiogram. This paper reports two analyses addressing individual differences in the explanation of unaided speech-in-noise performance among n = 438 elderly hearing-impaired listeners ( mean = 71.1 ± 5.8 years). The main analysis was designed to identify clinically relevant auditory and non-auditory measures for speech-in-noise prediction using auditory (audiogram, categorical loudness scaling) and cognitive tests (verbal-intelligence test, screening test of dementia), as well as questionnaires assessing various self-reported measures (health status, socio-economic status, and subjective hearing problems). Using stepwise linear regression analysis, 62% of the variance in unaided speech-in-noise performance was explained, with measures Pure-tone average (PTA), Age , and Verbal intelligence emerging as the three most important predictors. In the complementary analysis, those individuals with the same hearing loss profile were separated into hearing aid users (HAU) and non-users (NU), and were then compared regarding potential differences in the test measures and in explaining unaided speech-in-noise recognition. The groupwise comparisons revealed significant differences in auditory measures and self-reported subjective hearing problems, while no differences in the cognitive domain were found. Furthermore, groupwise regression analyses revealed that Verbal intelligence had a predictive value in both groups, whereas Age and PTA only emerged significant in the group of hearing aid NU.

Environmental Factors Affect Acidobacterial Communities below the Subgroup Level in Grassland and Forest Soils

PubMed Central

Naether, Astrid; Foesel, Bärbel U.; Naegele, Verena; Wüst, Pia K.; Weinert, Jan; Bonkowski, Michael; Alt, Fabian; Oelmann, Yvonne; Polle, Andrea; Lohaus, Gertrud; Gockel, Sonja; Hemp, Andreas; Kalko, Elisabeth K. V.; Linsenmair, Karl Eduard; Pfeiffer, Simone; Renner, Swen; Schöning, Ingo; Weisser, Wolfgang W.; Wells, Konstans; Fischer, Markus; Overmann, Jörg

2012-01-01

In soil, Acidobacteria constitute on average 20% of all bacteria, are highly diverse, and are physiologically active in situ. However, their individual functions and interactions with higher taxa in soil are still unknown. Here, potential effects of land use, soil properties, plant diversity, and soil nanofauna on acidobacterial community composition were studied by cultivation-independent methods in grassland and forest soils from three different regions in Germany. The analysis of 16S rRNA gene clone libraries representing all studied soils revealed that grassland soils were dominated by subgroup Gp6 and forest soils by subgroup Gp1 Acidobacteria. The analysis of a large number of sites (n = 57) by 16S rRNA gene fingerprinting methods (terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism [T-RFLP] and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis [DGGE]) showed that Acidobacteria diversities differed between grassland and forest soils but also among the three different regions. Edaphic properties, such as pH, organic carbon, total nitrogen, C/N ratio, phosphorus, nitrate, ammonium, soil moisture, soil temperature, and soil respiration, had an impact on community composition as assessed by fingerprinting. However, interrelations with environmental parameters among subgroup terminal restriction fragments (T-RFs) differed significantly, e.g., different Gp1 T-RFs correlated positively or negatively with nitrogen content. Novel significant correlations of Acidobacteria subpopulations (i.e., individual populations within subgroups) with soil nanofauna and vascular plant diversity were revealed only by analysis of clone sequences. Thus, for detecting novel interrelations of environmental parameters with Acidobacteria, individual populations within subgroups have to be considered. PMID:22885760

Where do bright ideas occur in our brain? Meta-analytic evidence from neuroimaging studies of domain-specific creativity

PubMed Central

Boccia, Maddalena; Piccardi, Laura; Palermo, Liana; Nori, Raffaella; Palmiero, Massimiliano

2015-01-01

Many studies have assessed the neural underpinnings of creativity, failing to find a clear anatomical localization. We aimed to provide evidence for a multi-componential neural system for creativity. We applied a general activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis to 45 fMRI studies. Three individual ALE analyses were performed to assess creativity in different cognitive domains (Musical, Verbal, and Visuo-spatial). The general ALE revealed that creativity relies on clusters of activations in the bilateral occipital, parietal, frontal, and temporal lobes. The individual ALE revealed different maximal activation in different domains. Musical creativity yields activations in the bilateral medial frontal gyrus, in the left cingulate gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, and inferior parietal lobule and in the right postcentral and fusiform gyri. Verbal creativity yields activations mainly located in the left hemisphere, in the prefrontal cortex, middle and superior temporal gyri, inferior parietal lobule, postcentral and supramarginal gyri, middle occipital gyrus, and insula. The right inferior frontal gyrus and the lingual gyrus were also activated. Visuo-spatial creativity activates the right middle and inferior frontal gyri, the bilateral thalamus and the left precentral gyrus. This evidence suggests that creativity relies on multi-componential neural networks and that different creativity domains depend on different brain regions. PMID:26322002

Gender and racial differences in risk factors for sexually transmitted diseases among justice-involved youth

PubMed Central

Dembo, Richard; Childs, Kristina; Belenko, Steven; Schmeidler, James; Wareham, Jennifer

2010-01-01

Gender and racial differences in infection rates for chlamydia and gonorrhea have been reported within community-based populations, but little is known of such differences within juvenile offending populations. Moreover, while research has demonstrated that certain individual-level and community-level factors affect risky behaviors associated with sexually transmitted disease (STD), less is known about how multi-level factors affect STD infection, particularly among delinquent populations. The present study investigated gender and racial differences in STD infection among a sample of 924 juvenile offenders. Generalized linear model regression analyses were conducted to examine the influence of individual-level factors such as age, offense history, and substance use and community-level factors such as concentrated disadvantage, ethnic heterogeneity, and family disruption on STD status. Results revealed significant racial and STD status differences across gender, as well as interaction effects for race and STD status for males only. Gender differences in individual-level and community-level predictors were also found. Implications of these findings for future research and public health policy are discussed. PMID:20700475

Constraining eye movement in individuals with Parkinson's disease during walking turns.

PubMed

Ambati, V N Pradeep; Saucedo, Fabricio; Murray, Nicholas G; Powell, Douglas W; Reed-Jones, Rebecca J

2016-10-01

Walking and turning is a movement that places individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) at increased risk for fall-related injury. However, turning is an essential movement in activities of daily living, making up to 45 % of the total steps taken in a given day. Hypotheses regarding how turning is controlled suggest an essential role of anticipatory eye movements to provide feedforward information for body coordination. However, little research has investigated control of turning in individuals with PD with specific consideration for eye movements. The purpose of this study was to examine eye movement behavior and body segment coordination in individuals with PD during walking turns. Three experimental groups, a group of individuals with PD, a group of healthy young adults (YAC), and a group of healthy older adults (OAC), performed walking and turning tasks under two visual conditions: free gaze and fixed gaze. Whole-body motion capture and eye tracking characterized body segment coordination and eye movement behavior during walking trials. Statistical analysis revealed significant main effects of group (PD, YAC, and OAC) and visual condition (free and fixed gaze) on timing of segment rotation and horizontal eye movement. Within group comparisons, revealed timing of eye and head movement was significantly different between the free and fixed gaze conditions for YAC (p < 0.001) and OAC (p < 0.05), but not for the PD group (p > 0.05). In addition, while intersegment timings (reflecting segment coordination) were significantly different for YAC and OAC during free gaze (p < 0.05), they were not significantly different in PD. These results suggest individuals with PD do not make anticipatory eye and head movements ahead of turning and that this may result in altered segment coordination during turning. As such, eye movements may be an important addition to training programs for those with PD, possibly promoting better coordination during turning and potentially reducing the risk of falls.

A Little Similarity Goes a Long Way: The Effects of Peripheral but Self-Revealing Similarities on Improving and Sustaining Interracial Relationships

PubMed Central

West, Tessa V.; Magee, Joe C.; Gordon, Sarah H.; Gullett, Lindy

2017-01-01

Integrating theory on close relationships and intergroup relations, we construct a manipulation of similarity that we demonstrate can improve interracial interactions across different settings. We find that manipulating perceptions of similarity on self-revealing attributes that are peripheral to the interaction improves interactions in cross-race dyads and racially diverse task groups. In a getting-acquainted context, we demonstrate that the belief that one’s different-race partner is similar to oneself on self-revealing, peripheral attributes leads to less anticipatory anxiety than the belief that one’s partner is similar on peripheral, nonself-revealing attributes. In another dyadic context, we explore the range of benefits that perceptions of peripheral, self-revealing similarity can bring to different-race interaction partners and find (a) less anxiety during interaction, (b) greater interest in sustained contact with one’s partner, and (c) stronger accuracy in perceptions of one’s partners’ relationship intentions. By contrast, participants in same-race interactions were largely unaffected by these manipulations of perceived similarity. Our final experiment shows that among small task groups composed of racially diverse individuals, those whose members perceive peripheral, self-revealing similarity perform superior to those who perceive dissimilarity. Implications for using this approach to improve interracial interactions across different goal-driven contexts are discussed. PMID:24956315

Resting-State Network Topology Differentiates Task Signals across the Adult Life Span.

PubMed

Chan, Micaela Y; Alhazmi, Fahd H; Park, Denise C; Savalia, Neil K; Wig, Gagan S

2017-03-08

Brain network connectivity differs across individuals. For example, older adults exhibit less segregated resting-state subnetworks relative to younger adults (Chan et al., 2014). It has been hypothesized that individual differences in network connectivity impact the recruitment of brain areas during task execution. While recent studies have described the spatial overlap between resting-state functional correlation (RSFC) subnetworks and task-evoked activity, it is unclear whether individual variations in the connectivity pattern of a brain area (topology) relates to its activity during task execution. We report data from 238 cognitively normal participants (humans), sampled across the adult life span (20-89 years), to reveal that RSFC-based network organization systematically relates to the recruitment of brain areas across two functionally distinct tasks (visual and semantic). The functional activity of brain areas (network nodes) were characterized according to their patterns of RSFC: nodes with relatively greater connections to nodes in their own functional system ("non-connector" nodes) exhibited greater activity than nodes with relatively greater connections to nodes in other systems ("connector" nodes). This "activation selectivity" was specific to those brain systems that were central to each of the tasks. Increasing age was accompanied by less differentiated network topology and a corresponding reduction in activation selectivity (or differentiation) across relevant network nodes. The results provide evidence that connectional topology of brain areas quantified at rest relates to the functional activity of those areas during task. Based on these findings, we propose a novel network-based theory for previous reports of the "dedifferentiation" in brain activity observed in aging. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Similar to other real-world networks, the organization of brain networks impacts their function. As brain network connectivity patterns differ across individuals, we hypothesized that individual differences in network connectivity would relate to differences in brain activity. Using functional MRI in a group of individuals sampled across the adult life span (20-89 years), we measured correlations at rest and related the functional connectivity patterns to measurements of functional activity during two independent tasks. Brain activity varied in relation to connectivity patterns revealed by large-scale network analysis. This relationship tracked the differences in connectivity patterns accompanied by older age, providing important evidence for a link between the topology of areal connectivity measured at rest and the functional recruitment of these areas during task performance. Copyright © 2017 Chan et al.

Parental expectations of maternal and child health services.

PubMed

Bradt, Lieve; Vandenbroeck, Michel; Lammertyn, Jan; Bouverne-De Bie, Maria

2015-01-01

This article reports on survey research (N = 1,418) aimed at examining whether parental expectations of maternal and child health (MCH) services are influenced by group characteristics (e.g., socioeconomic status [SES], ethnicity, at risk of poverty) and/or individual parenting context variables (e.g., received social support) in a context where these services are available to all. The findings reveal that parents have different expectations about the technical and relational expertise of MCH nurses. However, the authors found only very weak associations between family characteristics and parental expectations, suggesting that individual differences matter more than SES and other more traditional distinctions. Implications for MCH services are made.

Individual Movement Variability Magnitudes Are Explained by Cortical Neural Variability.

PubMed

Haar, Shlomi; Donchin, Opher; Dinstein, Ilan

2017-09-13

Humans exhibit considerable motor variability even across trivial reaching movements. This variability can be separated into specific kinematic components such as extent and direction that are thought to be governed by distinct neural processes. Here, we report that individual subjects (males and females) exhibit different magnitudes of kinematic variability, which are consistent (within individual) across movements to different targets and regardless of which arm (right or left) was used to perform the movements. Simultaneous fMRI recordings revealed that the same subjects also exhibited different magnitudes of fMRI variability across movements in a variety of motor system areas. These fMRI variability magnitudes were also consistent across movements to different targets when performed with either arm. Cortical fMRI variability in the posterior-parietal cortex of individual subjects explained their movement-extent variability. This relationship was apparent only in posterior-parietal cortex and not in other motor system areas, thereby suggesting that individuals with more variable movement preparation exhibit larger kinematic variability. We therefore propose that neural and kinematic variability are reliable and interrelated individual characteristics that may predispose individual subjects to exhibit distinct motor capabilities. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Neural activity and movement kinematics are remarkably variable. Although intertrial variability is rarely studied, here, we demonstrate that individual human subjects exhibit distinct magnitudes of neural and kinematic variability that are reproducible across movements to different targets and when performing these movements with either arm. Furthermore, when examining the relationship between cortical variability and movement variability, we find that cortical fMRI variability in parietal cortex of individual subjects explained their movement extent variability. This enabled us to explain why some subjects performed more variable movements than others based on their cortical variability magnitudes. Copyright © 2017 the authors 0270-6474/17/379076-10$15.00/0.

Individual Differences in Dynamic Functional Brain Connectivity across the Human Lifespan.

PubMed

Davison, Elizabeth N; Turner, Benjamin O; Schlesinger, Kimberly J; Miller, Michael B; Grafton, Scott T; Bassett, Danielle S; Carlson, Jean M

2016-11-01

Individual differences in brain functional networks may be related to complex personal identifiers, including health, age, and ability. Dynamic network theory has been used to identify properties of dynamic brain function from fMRI data, but the majority of analyses and findings remain at the level of the group. Here, we apply hypergraph analysis, a method from dynamic network theory, to quantify individual differences in brain functional dynamics. Using a summary metric derived from the hypergraph formalism-hypergraph cardinality-we investigate individual variations in two separate, complementary data sets. The first data set ("multi-task") consists of 77 individuals engaging in four consecutive cognitive tasks. We observe that hypergraph cardinality exhibits variation across individuals while remaining consistent within individuals between tasks; moreover, the analysis of one of the memory tasks revealed a marginally significant correspondence between hypergraph cardinality and age. This finding motivated a similar analysis of the second data set ("age-memory"), in which 95 individuals, aged 18-75, performed a memory task with a similar structure to the multi-task memory task. With the increased age range in the age-memory data set, the correlation between hypergraph cardinality and age correspondence becomes significant. We discuss these results in the context of the well-known finding linking age with network structure, and suggest that hypergraph analysis should serve as a useful tool in furthering our understanding of the dynamic network structure of the brain.

Feature-Based Change Detection Reveals Inconsistent Individual Differences in Visual Working Memory Capacity.

PubMed

Ambrose, Joseph P; Wijeakumar, Sobanawartiny; Buss, Aaron T; Spencer, John P

2016-01-01

Visual working memory (VWM) is a key cognitive system that enables people to hold visual information in mind after a stimulus has been removed and compare past and present to detect changes that have occurred. VWM is severely capacity limited to around 3-4 items, although there are robust individual differences in this limit. Importantly, these individual differences are evident in neural measures of VWM capacity. Here, we capitalized on recent work showing that capacity is lower for more complex stimulus dimension. In particular, we asked whether individual differences in capacity remain consistent if capacity is shifted by a more demanding task, and, further, whether the correspondence between behavioral and neural measures holds across a shift in VWM capacity. Participants completed a change detection (CD) task with simple colors and complex shapes in an fMRI experiment. As expected, capacity was significantly lower for the shape dimension. Moreover, there were robust individual differences in behavioral estimates of VWM capacity across dimensions. Similarly, participants with a stronger BOLD response for color also showed a strong neural response for shape within the lateral occipital cortex, intraparietal sulcus (IPS), and superior IPS. Although there were robust individual differences in the behavioral and neural measures, we found little evidence of systematic brain-behavior correlations across feature dimensions. This suggests that behavioral and neural measures of capacity provide different views onto the processes that underlie VWM and CD. Recent theoretical approaches that attempt to bridge between behavioral and neural measures are well positioned to address these findings in future work.

Cultural Myths in Stories about Human Resource Development: Analysing the Cross-Cultural Transfer of American Models to Germany and the Cote d'Ivoire.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hansen, Carol D.

2003-01-01

Analysis of reactions of 14 German and 20 Ivory Coast managers to informant stories from 14 U.S. human resource professionals revealed differences in work myths that reflected national differences, e.g., individual versus collective orientation, business development patterns, and management approaches. Awareness of the ethnocentrism of work myths…

Gene Expression Architecture of Mouse Dorsal and Tail Skin Reveals Functional Differences in Inflammation and Cancer | Office of Cancer Genomics

Cancer.gov

Inherited germline polymorphisms can cause gene expression levels in normal tissues to differ substantially between individuals. We present an analysis of the genetic architecture of normal adult skin from 470 genetically unique mice, demonstrating the effect of germline variants, skin tissue location, and perturbation by exogenous inflammation or tumorigenesis on gene signaling pathways.

Copy number variation detection in cattle reveals potential breed specific differences

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Copy Number Variations (CNVs) are large, common deletions or duplications of genome sequence among individuals of a species that have been linked to diseases and phenotypic traits. For example, a CNV-generating, translocation mechanism encompassing the KIT gene is responsible for color sidedness in ...

Creative Potential and Conceptual Tempo in Preschool Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Broberg, Gayle Christensen; Moran, James D., III

1988-01-01

Individual stylistic variations of creative potential and conceptual tempo were investigated in 61 preschool children. No differences between reflective and impulsive preschoolers were found on the ideational fluency measure. Conceptual tempo scores revealed greater originality scores for the fast/accurate and slow/inaccurate groups compared to…

Determination of the exercise intensity that elicits maximal fat oxidation in individuals with obesity.

PubMed

Dandanell, Sune; Præst, Charlotte Boslev; Søndergård, Stine Dam; Skovborg, Camilla; Dela, Flemming; Larsen, Steen; Helge, Jørn Wulff

2017-04-01

Maximal fat oxidation (MFO) and the exercise intensity that elicits MFO (Fat Max ) are commonly determined by indirect calorimetry during graded exercise tests in both obese and normal-weight individuals. However, no protocol has been validated in individuals with obesity. Thus, the aims were to develop a graded exercise protocol for determination of Fat Max in individuals with obesity, and to test validity and inter-method reliability. Fat oxidation was assessed over a range of exercise intensities in 16 individuals (age: 28 (26-29) years; body mass index: 36 (35-38) kg·m -2 ; 95% confidence interval) on a cycle ergometer. The graded exercise protocol was validated against a short continuous exercise (SCE) protocol, in which Fat Max was determined from fat oxidation at rest and during 10 min of continuous exercise at 35%, 50%, and 65% of maximal oxygen uptake. Intraclass and Pearson correlation coefficients between the protocols were 0.75 and 0.72 and within-subject coefficient of variation (CV) was 5 (3-7)%. A Bland-Altman plot revealed a bias of -3% points of maximal oxygen uptake (limits of agreement: -12 to 7). A tendency towards a systematic difference (p = 0.06) was observed, where Fat Max occurred at 42 (40-44)% and 45 (43-47)% of maximal oxygen uptake with the graded and the SCE protocol, respectively. In conclusion, there was a high-excellent correlation and a low CV between the 2 protocols, suggesting that the graded exercise protocol has a high inter-method reliability. However, considerable intra-individual variation and a trend towards systematic difference between the protocols reveal that further optimization of the graded exercise protocol is needed to improve validity.

What do Different Beliefs Tell us? An Examination of Factual, Opinion-Based, and Religious Beliefs

PubMed Central

Heiphetz, Larisa; Spelke, Elizabeth S.; Harris, Paul L.; Banaji, Mahzarin R.

2014-01-01

Children and adults differentiate statements of religious belief from statements of fact and opinion, but the basis of that differentiation remains unclear. Across three experiments, adults and 8-10-year-old children heard statements of factual, opinion-based, and religious belief. Adults and children judged that statements of factual belief revealed more about the world, statements of opinion revealed more about individuals, and statements of religious belief provided information about both. Children—unlike adults—judged that statements of religious belief revealed more about the world than the believer. These results led to three conclusions. First, judgments concerning the relative amount of information statements of religious belief provide about individuals change across development, perhaps because adults have more experience with diversity. Second, recognizing that statements of religious belief provide information about both the world and the believer does not require protracted learning. Third, statements of religious belief are interpreted as amalgams of factual and opinion-based statements. PMID:24748720

What do Different Beliefs Tell us? An Examination of Factual, Opinion-Based, and Religious Beliefs.

PubMed

Heiphetz, Larisa; Spelke, Elizabeth S; Harris, Paul L; Banaji, Mahzarin R

2014-04-01

Children and adults differentiate statements of religious belief from statements of fact and opinion, but the basis of that differentiation remains unclear. Across three experiments, adults and 8-10-year-old children heard statements of factual, opinion-based, and religious belief. Adults and children judged that statements of factual belief revealed more about the world, statements of opinion revealed more about individuals, and statements of religious belief provided information about both. Children-unlike adults-judged that statements of religious belief revealed more about the world than the believer. These results led to three conclusions. First, judgments concerning the relative amount of information statements of religious belief provide about individuals change across development, perhaps because adults have more experience with diversity. Second, recognizing that statements of religious belief provide information about both the world and the believer does not require protracted learning. Third, statements of religious belief are interpreted as amalgams of factual and opinion-based statements.

Genomic Organization Under Different Environmental Conditions: Hoplosternum Littorale as a Model

PubMed Central

Schneider, Carlos Henrique; Feldberg, Eliana; Baccaro, Fabricio Beggiato; Carvalho, Natália Dayane Moura; Gross, Maria Claudia

2016-01-01

Abstract The Amazon has abundant rivers, streams, and floodplains in both polluted and nonpolluted environments, which show great adaptability. Thus, the goal of this study was to map repetitive DNA sequences in both mitotic chromosomes and erythrocyte micronuclei of tamoatás from polluted and nonpolluted environments and to assess the possible genotoxic effects of these environments. Individuals were collected in Manaus, Amazonas (AM), and submitted to classical and molecular cytogenetic techniques, as well as to a blood micronucleus test. Diploid number equal to 60 chromosomes are present in all individuals, with 18S ribosomal DNA sites present in one chromosome pair and no interstitial telomeric sites on chromosomes. The micronucleus test showed no significant differences in pairwise comparisons between environments or collection sites, but the Rex3 retroelement was dispersed on the chromosomes of individuals from unpolluted environments and compartmentalized in individuals from polluted environments. Divergent numbers of 5S rDNA sites are present in individuals from unpolluted and polluted environments. The mapping of repetitive sequences revealed that micronuclei have different compositions both intra- and interindividually that suggests different regions are lost in the formation of micronuclei, and no single fragile region undergoes breaks, although repetitive DNA elements are involved in this process. PMID:26981695

Good genes, complementary genes and human mate preferences.

PubMed

Roberts, S Craig; Little, Anthony C

2008-03-01

The past decade has witnessed a rapidly growing interest in the biological basis of human mate choice. Here we review recent studies that demonstrate preferences for traits which might reveal genetic quality to prospective mates, with potential but still largely unknown influence on offspring fitness. These include studies assessing visual, olfactory and auditory preferences for potential good-gene indicator traits, such as dominance or bilateral symmetry. Individual differences in these robust preferences mainly arise through within and between individual variation in condition and reproductive status. Another set of studies have revealed preferences for traits indicating complementary genes, focussing on discrimination of dissimilarity at genes in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). As in animal studies, we are only just beginning to understand how preferences for specific traits vary and inter-relate, how consideration of good and compatible genes can lead to substantial variability in individual mate choice decisions and how preferences expressed in one sensory modality may reflect those in another. Humans may be an ideal model species in which to explore these interesting complexities.

Holistic processing of musical notation: Dissociating failures of selective attention in experts and novices.

PubMed

Wong, Yetta Kwailing; Gauthier, Isabel

2010-12-01

Holistic processing (i.e., the tendency to process objects as wholes) is associated with face perception and also with expertise individuating novel objects. Surprisingly, recent work also reveals holistic effects in novice observers. It is unclear whether the same mechanisms support holistic effects in experts and in novices. In the present study, we measured holistic processing of music sequences using a selective attention task in participants who vary in music-reading expertise. We found that holistic effects were strategic in novices but were relatively automatic in experts. Correlational analyses revealed that individual holistic effects were predicted by both individual music-reading ability and neural responses for musical notation in the right fusiform face area (rFFA), but in opposite directions for experts and novices, suggesting that holistic effects in the two groups may be of different natures. To characterize expert perception, it is important not only to measure the tendency to process objects as wholes, but also to test whether this effect is dependent on task constraints.

Complex Ancient Genetic Structure and Cultural Transitions in Southern African Populations.

PubMed

Montinaro, Francesco; Busby, George B J; Gonzalez-Santos, Miguel; Oosthuitzen, Ockie; Oosthuitzen, Erika; Anagnostou, Paolo; Destro-Bisol, Giovanni; Pascali, Vincenzo L; Capelli, Cristian

2017-01-01

The characterization of the structure of southern African populations has been the subject of numerous genetic, medical, linguistic, archaeological, and anthropological investigations. Current diversity in the subcontinent is the result of complex events of genetic admixture and cultural contact between early inhabitants and migrants that arrived in the region over the last 2000 years. Here, we analyze 1856 individuals from 91 populations, comprising novel and published genotype data, to characterize the genetic ancestry profiles of 631 individuals from 51 southern African populations. Combining both local ancestry and allele frequency based analyses, we identify a tripartite, ancient, Khoesan-related genetic structure. This structure correlates neither with linguistic affiliation nor subsistence strategy, but with geography, revealing the importance of isolation-by-distance dynamics in the area. Fine-mapping of these components in southern African populations reveals admixture and cultural reversion involving several Khoesan groups, and highlights that Bantu speakers and Coloured individuals have different mixtures of these ancient ancestries. Copyright © 2017 Montinaro et al.

Good genes, complementary genes and human mate preferences.

PubMed

Roberts, S Craig; Little, Anthony C

2008-09-01

The past decade has witnessed a rapidly growing interest in the biological basis of human mate choice. Here we review recent studies that demonstrate preferences for traits which might reveal genetic quality to prospective mates, with potential but still largely unknown influence on offspring fitness. These include studies assessing visual, olfactory and auditory preferences for potential good-gene indicator traits, such as dominance or bilateral symmetry. Individual differences in these robust preferences mainly arise through within and between individual variation in condition and reproductive status. Another set of studies have revealed preferences for traits indicating complementary genes, focussing on discrimination of dissimilarity at genes in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). As in animal studies, we are only just beginning to understand how preferences for specific traits vary and inter-relate, how consideration of good and compatible genes can lead to substantial variability in individual mate choice decisions and how preferences expressed in one sensory modality may reflect those in another. Humans may be an ideal model species in which to explore these interesting complexities.

Neuroanatomical correlates of biological motion detection.

PubMed

Gilaie-Dotan, Sharon; Kanai, Ryota; Bahrami, Bahador; Rees, Geraint; Saygin, Ayse P

2013-02-01

Biological motion detection is both commonplace and important, but there is great inter-individual variability in this ability, the neural basis of which is currently unknown. Here we examined whether the behavioral variability in biological motion detection is reflected in brain anatomy. Perceptual thresholds for detection of biological motion and control conditions (non-biological object motion detection and motion coherence) were determined in a group of healthy human adults (n=31) together with structural magnetic resonance images of the brain. Voxel based morphometry analyzes revealed that gray matter volumes of left posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) and left ventral premotor cortex (vPMC) significantly predicted individual differences in biological motion detection, but showed no significant relationship with performance on the control tasks. Our study reveals a neural basis associated with the inter-individual variability in biological motion detection, reliably linking the neuroanatomical structure of left pSTS and vPMC with biological motion detection performance. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Magnitude of Trial-By-Trial Neural Variability Is Reproducible over Time and across Tasks in Humans.

PubMed

Arazi, Ayelet; Gonen-Yaacovi, Gil; Dinstein, Ilan

2017-01-01

Numerous studies have shown that neural activity in sensory cortices is remarkably variable over time and across trials even when subjects are presented with an identical repeating stimulus or task. This trial-by-trial neural variability is relatively large in the prestimulus period and considerably smaller (quenched) following stimulus presentation. Previous studies have suggested that the magnitude of neural variability affects behavior such that perceptual performance is better on trials and in individuals where variability quenching is larger. To what degree are neural variability magnitudes of individual subjects flexible or static? Here, we used EEG recordings from adult humans to demonstrate that neural variability magnitudes in visual cortex are remarkably consistent across different tasks and recording sessions. While magnitudes of neural variability differed dramatically across individual subjects, they were surprisingly stable across four tasks with different stimuli, temporal structures, and attentional/cognitive demands as well as across experimental sessions separated by one year. These experiments reveal that, in adults, neural variability magnitudes are mostly solidified individual characteristics that change little with task or time, and are likely to predispose individual subjects to exhibit distinct behavioral capabilities.

Relationship between individual differences in speech processing and cognitive functions.

PubMed

Ou, Jinghua; Law, Sam-Po; Fung, Roxana

2015-12-01

A growing body of research has suggested that cognitive abilities may play a role in individual differences in speech processing. The present study took advantage of a widespread linguistic phenomenon of sound change to systematically assess the relationships between speech processing and various components of attention and working memory in the auditory and visual modalities among typically developed Cantonese-speaking individuals. The individual variations in speech processing are captured in an ongoing sound change-tone merging in Hong Kong Cantonese, in which typically developed native speakers are reported to lose the distinctions between some tonal contrasts in perception and/or production. Three groups of participants were recruited, with a first group of good perception and production, a second group of good perception but poor production, and a third group of good production but poor perception. Our findings revealed that modality-independent abilities of attentional switching/control and working memory might contribute to individual differences in patterns of speech perception and production as well as discrimination latencies among typically developed speakers. The findings not only have the potential to generalize to speech processing in other languages, but also broaden our understanding of the omnipresent phenomenon of language change in all languages.

Variation in Strategy Use Across Measures of Verbal Working Memory

PubMed Central

Morrison, Alexandra B; Rosenbaum, Gail M.; Fair, Damien; Chein, Jason M.

2016-01-01

The working memory (WM) literature contains a number of tasks that vary on dimensions such as when or how memory items are reported. In addition to the ways in which WM tasks are designed to differ, tasks may also diverge according to the strategies participants use during task performance. The present study included seven tasks from the WM literature, each requiring short-term retention of verbal items. Following completion of a small number of trials from each task, individuals completed a self-report questionnaire to identify their primary strategy. Results indicated substantial variation across individuals for a given task, and within the same individual across tasks. Moreover, while direct comparisons between tasks showed that some tasks evinced similar patterns of strategy use despite differing task demands, others showed markedly different patterns of self-reported strategy use. A community detection algorithm aimed at identifying groups of individuals based on their profile of strategic choices revealed unique communities of individuals who are dependent on specific strategies under varying demands. Together, the findings suggest that researchers using common working memory paradigms should very carefully consider the implications of variation in strategy use when interpreting their findings. PMID:27038310

Extreme MHC class I diversity in the sedge warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus); selection patterns and allelic divergence suggest that different genes have different functions.

PubMed

Biedrzycka, Aleksandra; O'Connor, Emily; Sebastian, Alvaro; Migalska, Magdalena; Radwan, Jacek; Zając, Tadeusz; Bielański, Wojciech; Solarz, Wojciech; Ćmiel, Adam; Westerdahl, Helena

2017-07-05

Recent work suggests that gene duplications may play an important role in the evolution of immunity genes. Passerine birds, and in particular Sylvioidea warblers, have highly duplicated major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes, which are key in immunity, compared to other vertebrates. However, reasons for this high MHC gene copy number are yet unclear. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) allows MHC genotyping even in individuals with extremely duplicated genes. This HTS data can reveal evidence of selection, which may help to unravel the putative functions of different gene copies, i.e. neofunctionalization. We performed exhaustive genotyping of MHC class I in a Sylvioidea warbler, the sedge warbler, Acrocephalus schoenobaenus, using the Illumina MiSeq technique on individuals from a wild study population. The MHC diversity in 863 genotyped individuals by far exceeds that of any other bird species described to date. A single individual could carry up to 65 different alleles, a large proportion of which are expressed (transcribed). The MHC alleles were of three different lengths differing in evidence of selection, diversity and divergence within our study population. Alleles without any deletions and alleles containing a 6 bp deletion showed characteristics of classical MHC genes, with evidence of multiple sites subject to positive selection and high sequence divergence. In contrast, alleles containing a 3 bp deletion had no sites subject to positive selection and had low divergence. Our results suggest that sedge warbler MHC alleles that either have no deletion, or contain a 6 bp deletion, encode classical antigen presenting MHC molecules. In contrast, MHC alleles containing a 3 bp deletion may encode molecules with a different function. This study demonstrates that highly duplicated MHC genes can be characterised with HTS and that selection patterns can be useful for revealing neofunctionalization. Importantly, our results highlight the need to consider the putative function of different MHC genes in future studies of MHC in relation to disease resistance and fitness.

Neurobiological correlates of distinct post-traumatic stress disorder symptom profiles during threat anticipation in combat veterans.

PubMed

Grupe, D W; Wielgosz, J; Davidson, R J; Nitschke, J B

2016-07-01

Previous research in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has identified disrupted ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) function in those with v. without PTSD. It is unclear whether this brain region is uniformly affected in all individuals with PTSD, or whether vmPFC dysfunction is related to individual differences in discrete features of this heterogeneous disorder. In a sample of 51 male veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom, we collected functional magnetic resonance imaging data during a novel threat anticipation task with crossed factors of threat condition and temporal unpredictability. Voxelwise regression analyses related anticipatory brain activation to individual differences in overall PTSD symptom severity, as well as individual differences in discrete symptom subscales (re-experiencing, emotional numbing/avoidance, and hyperarousal). The vmPFC showed greater anticipatory responses for safety relative to threat, driven primarily by deactivation during threat anticipation. During unpredictable threat anticipation, increased PTSD symptoms were associated with relatively greater activation for threat v. However, simultaneous regression on individual symptom subscales demonstrated that this effect was driven specifically by individual differences in hyperarousal symptoms. Furthermore, this analysis revealed an additional, anatomically distinct region of the vmPFC in which re-experiencing symptoms were associated with greater activation during threat anticipation. Increased anticipatory responses to unpredictable threat in distinct vmPFC subregions were uniquely associated with elevated hyperarousal and re-experiencing symptoms in combat veterans. These results underscore the disruptive impact of uncertainty for veterans, and suggest that investigating individual differences in discrete aspects of PTSD may advance our understanding of underlying neurobiological mechanisms.

Accounting for successful control of implicit racial bias: the roles of association activation, response monitoring, and overcoming bias.

PubMed

Gonsalkorale, Karen; Sherman, Jeffrey W; Allen, Thomas J; Klauer, Karl Christoph; Amodio, David M

2011-11-01

Individuals who are primarily internally motivated to respond without prejudice show less bias on implicit measures than individuals who are externally motivated or unmotivated to respond without prejudice. However, it is not clear why these individuals exhibit less implicit bias than others. We used the Quad model to examine motivation-based individual differences in three processes that have been proposed to account for this effect: activation of associations, overcoming associations, and response monitoring. Participants completed an implicit measure of stereotyping (Study 1) or racial attitudes (Study 2). Modeling of the data revealed that individuals who were internally (but not externally) motivated to respond without prejudice showed enhanced detection and reduced activation of biased associations, suggesting that these processes may be key to achieving unbiased responding.

Partial diel migration: A facultative migration underpinned by long-term inter-individual variation.

PubMed

Harrison, Philip M; Gutowsky, Lee F G; Martins, Eduardo G; Patterson, David A; Cooke, Steven J; Power, Michael

2017-09-01

The variations in migration that comprise partial diel migrations, putatively occur entirely as a consequence of behavioural flexibility. However, seasonal partial migrations are increasingly recognised to be mediated by a combination of reversible plasticity in response to environmental variation and individual variation due to genetic and environmental effects. Here, we test the hypothesis that while partial diel migration heterogeneity occurs primarily due to short-term within-individual flexibility in behaviour, long-term individual differences in migratory behaviour also underpin this migration variation. Specifically, we use a hierarchical behavioural reaction norm approach to partition within- and among-individual variation in depth use and diel plasticity in depth use, across short- and long-term time-scales, in a group of 47 burbot (Lota lota) tagged with depth-sensing acoustic telemetry transmitters. We found that within-individual variation at the among-dates-within-seasons and among-seasons scale, explained the dominant proportion of phenotypic variation. However, individuals also repeatedly differed in their expression of migration behaviour over the 2 year study duration. These results reveal that diel migration variation occurs primarily due to short-term within-individual flexibility in depth use and diel migration behaviour. However, repeatable individual differences also played a key role in mediating partial diel migration. These findings represent a significant advancement of our understanding of the mechanisms generating the important, yet poorly understood phenomena of partial diel migration. Moreover, given the pervasive occurrence of diel migrations across aquatic taxa, these findings indicate that individual differences have an important, yet previously unacknowledged role in structuring the temporal and vertical dynamics of aquatic ecosystems. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2017 British Ecological Society.

Pathogen prevalence predicts human cross-cultural variability in individualism/collectivism.

PubMed

Fincher, Corey L; Thornhill, Randy; Murray, Damian R; Schaller, Mark

2008-06-07

Pathogenic diseases impose selection pressures on the social behaviour of host populations. In humans (Homo sapiens), many psychological phenomena appear to serve an antipathogen defence function. One broad implication is the existence of cross-cultural differences in human cognition and behaviour contingent upon the relative presence of pathogens in the local ecology. We focus specifically on one fundamental cultural variable: differences in individualistic versus collectivist values. We suggest that specific behavioural manifestations of collectivism (e.g. ethnocentrism, conformity) can inhibit the transmission of pathogens; and so we hypothesize that collectivism (compared with individualism) will more often characterize cultures in regions that have historically had higher prevalence of pathogens. Drawing on epidemiological data and the findings of worldwide cross-national surveys of individualism/collectivism, our results support this hypothesis: the regional prevalence of pathogens has a strong positive correlation with cultural indicators of collectivism and a strong negative correlation with individualism. The correlations remain significant even when controlling for potential confounding variables. These results help to explain the origin of a paradigmatic cross-cultural difference, and reveal previously undocumented consequences of pathogenic diseases on the variable nature of human societies.

Empathy and well-being correlate with centrality in different social networks.

PubMed

Morelli, Sylvia A; Ong, Desmond C; Makati, Rucha; Jackson, Matthew O; Zaki, Jamil

2017-09-12

Individuals benefit from occupying central roles in social networks, but little is known about the psychological traits that predict centrality. Across four college freshman dorms ( n = 193), we characterized individuals with a battery of personality questionnaires and also asked them to nominate dorm members with whom they had different types of relationships. This revealed several social networks within dorm communities with differing characteristics. In particular, additional data showed that networks varied in the degree to which nominations depend on ( i ) trust and ( ii ) shared fun and excitement. Networks more dependent upon trust were further defined by fewer connections than those more dependent on fun. Crucially, network and personality features interacted to predict individuals' centrality: people high in well-being (i.e., life satisfaction and positive emotion) were central to networks characterized by fun, whereas people high in empathy were central to networks characterized by trust. Together, these findings provide network-based corroboration of psychological evidence that well-being is socially attractive, whereas empathy supports close relationships. More broadly, these data highlight how an individual's personality relates to the roles that they play in sustaining their community.

Focus on the success of others leads to selfish behavior

PubMed Central

van den Berg, Pieter; Molleman, Lucas; Weissing, Franz J.

2015-01-01

It has often been argued that the spectacular cognitive capacities of humans are the result of selection for the ability to gather, process, and use information about other people. Recent studies show that humans strongly and consistently differ in what type of social information they are interested in. Although some individuals mainly attend to what the majority is doing (frequency-based learning), others focus on the success that their peers achieve with their behavior (success-based learning). Here, we show that such differences in social learning have important consequences for the outcome of social interactions. We report on a decision-making experiment in which individuals were first classified as frequency- and success-based learners and subsequently grouped according to their learning strategy. When confronted with a social dilemma situation, groups of frequency-based learners cooperated considerably more than groups of success-based learners. A detailed analysis of the decision-making process reveals that these differences in cooperation are a direct result of the differences in information use. Our results show that individual differences in social learning strategies are crucial for understanding social behavior. PMID:25730855

Using principal component analysis to capture individual differences within a unified neuropsychological model of chronic post-stroke aphasia: Revealing the unique neural correlates of speech fluency, phonology and semantics.

PubMed

Halai, Ajay D; Woollams, Anna M; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A

2017-01-01

Individual differences in the performance profiles of neuropsychologically-impaired patients are pervasive yet there is still no resolution on the best way to model and account for the variation in their behavioural impairments and the associated neural correlates. To date, researchers have generally taken one of three different approaches: a single-case study methodology in which each case is considered separately; a case-series design in which all individual patients from a small coherent group are examined and directly compared; or, group studies, in which a sample of cases are investigated as one group with the assumption that they are drawn from a homogenous category and that performance differences are of no interest. In recent research, we have developed a complementary alternative through the use of principal component analysis (PCA) of individual data from large patient cohorts. This data-driven approach not only generates a single unified model for the group as a whole (expressed in terms of the emergent principal components) but is also able to capture the individual differences between patients (in terms of their relative positions along the principal behavioural axes). We demonstrate the use of this approach by considering speech fluency, phonology and semantics in aphasia diagnosis and classification, as well as their unique neural correlates. PCA of the behavioural data from 31 patients with chronic post-stroke aphasia resulted in four statistically-independent behavioural components reflecting phonological, semantic, executive-cognitive and fluency abilities. Even after accounting for lesion volume, entering the four behavioural components simultaneously into a voxel-based correlational methodology (VBCM) analysis revealed that speech fluency (speech quanta) was uniquely correlated with left motor cortex and underlying white matter (including the anterior section of the arcuate fasciculus and the frontal aslant tract), phonological skills with regions in the superior temporal gyrus and pars opercularis, and semantics with the anterior temporal stem. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

The G428A Nonsense Mutation in FUT2 Provides Strong but Not Absolute Protection against Symptomatic GII.4 Norovirus Infection

PubMed Central

Buesa, Javier; Rydell, Gustaf E.; Lidón, Marta Fos; Montava, Rebeca; Mallouh, Reem Abu; Grahn, Ammi; Rodríguez-Díaz, Jesús; Bellido, Juan; Arnedo, Alberto; Larson, Göran; Svensson, Lennart

2009-01-01

In November 2004, 116 individuals in an elderly nursing home in El Grao de Castellón, Spain were symptomatically infected with genogroup II.4 (GII.4) norovirus. The global attack rate was 54.2%. Genotyping of 34 symptomatic individuals regarding the FUT2 gene revealed that one patient was, surprisingly, a non-secretor, hence indicating secretor-independent infection. Lewis genotyping revealed that Lewis-positive and negative individuals were susceptible to symptomatic norovirus infection indicating that Lewis status did not predict susceptibility. Saliva based ELISA assays were used to determine binding of the outbreak virus to saliva samples. Saliva from a secretor-negative individual bound the authentic outbreak GII.4 Valencia/2004/Es virus, but did not in contrast to secretor-positive saliva bind VLP of other strains including the GII.4 Dijon strain. Amino acid comparison of antigenic A and B sites located on the external loops of the P2 domain revealed distinct differences between the Valencia/2004/Es and Dijon strains. All three aa in each antigenic site as well as 10/11 recently identified evolutionary hot spots, were unique in the Valencia/2004/Es strain compared to the Dijon strain. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of symptomatic GII.4 norovirus infection of a Lea+b− individual homozygous for the G428A nonsense mutation in FUT2. Taken together, our study provides new insights into the host genetic susceptibility to norovirus infections and evolution of the globally dominating GII.4 viruses. PMID:19440360

Toward Theory-Based Instruction in Scientific Problem Solving.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heller, Joan I.; And Others

Several empirical and theoretical analyses related to scientific problem-solving are reviewed, including: detailed studies of individuals at different levels of expertise, and computer models simulating some aspects of human information processing during problem solving. Analysis of these studies has revealed many facets about the nature of the…

Spatial Ability: A Neglected Talent in Educational and Occupational Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kell, Harrison J.; Lubinski, David

2013-01-01

For over 60 years, longitudinal research on tens of thousands of high ability and intellectually precocious youth has consistently revealed the importance of spatial ability for hands-on creative accomplishments and the development of expertise in science, technology, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) disciplines. Yet, individual differences in…

Caste, Class and the Love-Marriage: Social Change in India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corwin, Lauren A.

1977-01-01

The present study of a small town in rural West Bengal, India, reveals a number of "love-marriages" involving individuals from castes of distinctly different ranks in the local caste hierarchy. Despite the prevailing rule of caste endogamy, inter-caste couples appear to face little difficulty. (Author)

Practical Considerations when Using Benchmarking for Accountability in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Achtemeier, Sue D.; Simpson, Ronald D.

2005-01-01

The qualitative study on which this article is based examined key individuals' perceptions, both within a research university community and beyond in its external governing board, of how to improve benchmarking as an accountability method in higher education. Differing understanding of benchmarking revealed practical implications for using it as…

Becoming Poor: The Experiences of Elders.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLaughlin, Diane K.; Jensen, Leif

1995-01-01

Data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1988 wave) reveal that nonpoor individuals aged 55 and older living in nonmetropolitan areas were much more likely to become poor than their metropolitan counterparts. This difference persisted when controlling for race, education, marital status, age, change in work effort, becoming widowed, and types…

The Relationships between Different Personality Characteristics and Styles of Coping with Stress in Elite Orienteers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zsheliaskova-Koynova, Zshivka

1993-01-01

Eighty orienteers, divided into three groups according to level of expertise in orienteering, completed questionnaires measuring extraversion, neuroticism, trait anxiety, social desirability, need for achievement, and locus of control. Subject interviews revealed individual styles of coping with precompetitive stress. A combination of high sport…

Children, Objects, and Relations: Constructivist Foundations in the Reggio Emilia Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swann, Annette C.

2008-01-01

This article examines how children's construction of relationships in exploring materials helps to explain the constructivist foundations of the Reggio Emilia approach. A quasi-naturalistic study of 12 preschool children, ages 3 and 4 years, individually exploring different kinds of collage papers reveals a range of constructivist categories…

Individual differences in chess expertise: a psychometric investigation.

PubMed

Grabner, Roland H; Stern, Elsbeth; Neubauer, Aljoscha C

2007-03-01

Starting from controversies over the role of general individual characteristics (especially intelligence) for the attainment of expert performance levels, a comprehensive psychometric investigation of individual differences in chess expertise is presented. A sample of 90 adult tournament chess players of varying playing strengths (1311-2387 ELO) was screened with tests on intelligence and personality variables; in addition, experience in chess play, tournament participation, and practice activities were assessed. Correlation and regression analyses revealed a clear-cut moderate relationship between general (and in particular numerical) intelligence and the participants' playing strengths, suggesting that expert chess play does not stand in isolation from superior mental abilities. The strongest predictor of the attained expertise level, however, was the participants' chess experience which highlights the relevance of long-term engagement for the development of expertise. Among all analysed personality dimensions, only domain-specific performance motivation and emotion expression control incrementally contributed to the prediction of playing strength. In total, measures of chess experience, current tournament activity, intelligence, and personality accounted for about 55% of variance in chess expertise. The present results suggest that individual differences in chess expertise are multifaceted and cannot be reduced to differences in domain experience.

[The effect of heavy metal ions and peptide bioregulators on the expression of chromosome fragile sites in the individuals of different age groups and breast cancer patients].

PubMed

Dzhokhadze, T A; Ganozishvili, M N; Lezhava, T A

2008-09-01

Expression rates of chromosome fragile sites in peripheral blood lymphocytes have been studied in clinically healthy individuals of different age groups (20-38 yrs and 75-86 yrs) and breast cancer patients (8 cases). In individuals with a normal check-up of different age groups the heavy metal (nickel, zinc and cobalt) ions were also examined on their influence on the expression of the fragile sites and the peptide bioregulators (Livagen and Epithalon) were tested on their ability to correct the pattern of expression. Short-term lymphocyte cultures were used as tested material. The analysis showed that the chromosomes of people from young and old age groups differ from each other by the expression pattern of fragile sites - the chromosomes of young individuals were found to be more active by spontaneous formation of fragile sites. They were also sensitive to their induction by heavy metals. Both tested bioregulators lessen heavy metals effect that was statistically reliable only for the young people group. As for the patients with breast cancer general elevated fragility of chromosomes and specific distribution of the fragile sites along the chromosomes were revealed.

Personality profiles associated with different motivations for playing World of Warcraft.

PubMed

Graham, Lindsay T; Gosling, Samuel D

2013-03-01

Gamers play massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) for a variety of reasons. For example, some gamers play primarily as a form of socialization, whereas others play to gain a sense of achievement. Past studies have shown that these motives are associated with individual differences such as gender and number of years spent playing online games. What other individual differences might affect why people play MMORPGs? Personality is known to be associated with in-game behaviors, raising the possibility of link between personality and gaming motives. The present study examines the relationship between gamers' Big Five personality traits and their motivations for playing World of Warcraft. Results reveal several links between a player's personality and gaming motivations. For instance, individuals playing to socialize tend to be high on extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, and openness, whereas individuals playing to gain a sense of achievement tend to be high on extraversion and neuroticism, but low on agreeableness and conscientiousness. Findings are discussed with respect to previous research on links between personality and motives in other MMORPGs and in terms of how and why the connections between personality and motives may differ across online and offline contexts.

Evaluating the diagnostic utility of applying a machine learning algorithm to diffusion tensor MRI measures in individuals with major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Schnyer, David M; Clasen, Peter C; Gonzalez, Christopher; Beevers, Christopher G

2017-06-30

Using MRI to diagnose mental disorders has been a long-term goal. Despite this, the vast majority of prior neuroimaging work has been descriptive rather than predictive. The current study applies support vector machine (SVM) learning to MRI measures of brain white matter to classify adults with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and healthy controls. In a precisely matched group of individuals with MDD (n =25) and healthy controls (n =25), SVM learning accurately (74%) classified patients and controls across a brain map of white matter fractional anisotropy values (FA). The study revealed three main findings: 1) SVM applied to DTI derived FA maps can accurately classify MDD vs. healthy controls; 2) prediction is strongest when only right hemisphere white matter is examined; and 3) removing FA values from a region identified by univariate contrast as significantly different between MDD and healthy controls does not change the SVM accuracy. These results indicate that SVM learning applied to neuroimaging data can classify the presence versus absence of MDD and that predictive information is distributed across brain networks rather than being highly localized. Finally, MDD group differences revealed through typical univariate contrasts do not necessarily reveal patterns that provide accurate predictive information. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cigarette Smoking in Same-Sex and Different-Sex Unions: The Role of Socioeconomic and Psychological Factors

PubMed Central

Liu, Hui; Brown, Dustin

2014-01-01

Cigarette smoking has long been a target of public health intervention because it substantially contributes to morbidity and mortality. Individuals in different-sex marriages have lower smoking risk (i.e., prevalence and frequency) than different-sex cohabiters. However, little is known about the smoking risk of individuals in same-sex cohabiting unions. We compare the smoking risk of individuals in different-sex marriages, same-sex cohabiting unions, and different-sex cohabiting unions using pooled cross-sectional data from the 1997–2010 National Health Interview Surveys (N = 168,514). We further examine the role of socioeconomic status (SES) and psychological distress in the relationship between union status and smoking. Estimates from multinomial logistic regression models reveal that same-sex and different-sex cohabiters experience similar smoking risk when compared to one another, and higher smoking risk when compared to the different-sex married. Results suggest that SES and psychological distress factors cannot fully explain smoking differences between the different-sex married and same-sex and different-sex cohabiting groups. Moreover, without same-sex cohabiter’s education advantage, same-sex cohabiters would experience even greater smoking risk relative to the different-sex married. Policy recommendations to reduce smoking disparities among same-sex and different-sex cohabiters are discussed. PMID:25346559

Understanding the structure of skill through a detailed analysis of Individuals' performance on the Space Fortress game.

PubMed

Towne, Tyler J; Boot, Walter R; Ericsson, K Anders

2016-09-01

In this paper we describe a novel approach to the study of individual differences in acquired skilled performance in complex laboratory tasks based on an extension of the methodology of the expert-performance approach (Ericsson & Smith, 1991) to shorter periods of training and practice. In contrast to more traditional approaches that study the average performance of groups of participants, we explored detailed behavioral changes for individual participants across their development on the Space Fortress game. We focused on dramatic individual differences in learning and skill acquisition at the individual level by analyzing the archival game data of several interesting players to uncover the specific structure of their acquired skill. Our analysis revealed that even after maximal values for game-generated subscores were reached, the most skilled participant's behaviors such as his flight path, missile firing, and mine handling continued to be refined and improved (Participant 17 from Boot et al., 2010). We contrasted this participant's behavior with the behavior of several other participants and found striking differences in the structure of their performance, which calls into question the appropriateness of averaging their data. For example, some participants engaged in different control strategies such as "world wrapping" or maintaining a finely-tuned circular flight path around the fortress (in contrast to Participant 17's angular flight path). In light of these differences, we raise fundamental questions about how skill acquisition for individual participants should be studied and described. Our data suggest that a detailed analysis of individuals' data is an essential step for generating a general theory of skill acquisition that explains improvement at the group and individual levels. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Do dyslexic individuals present a reduced visual attention span? Evidence from visual recognition tasks of non-verbal multi-character arrays.

PubMed

Yeari, Menahem; Isser, Michal; Schiff, Rachel

2017-07-01

A controversy has recently developed regarding the hypothesis that developmental dyslexia may be caused, in some cases, by a reduced visual attention span (VAS). To examine this hypothesis, independent of phonological abilities, researchers tested the ability of dyslexic participants to recognize arrays of unfamiliar visual characters. Employing this test, findings were rather equivocal: dyslexic participants exhibited poor performance in some studies but normal performance in others. The present study explored four methodological differences revealed between the two sets of studies that might underlie their conflicting results. Specifically, in two experiments we examined whether a VAS deficit is (a) specific to recognition of multi-character arrays as wholes rather than of individual characters within arrays, (b) specific to characters' position within arrays rather than to characters' identity, or revealed only under a higher attention load due to (c) low-discriminable characters, and/or (d) characters' short exposure. Furthermore, in this study we examined whether pure dyslexic participants who do not have attention disorder exhibit a reduced VAS. Although comorbidity of dyslexia and attention disorder is common and the ability to sustain attention for a long time plays a major rule in the visual recognition task, the presence of attention disorder was neither evaluated nor ruled out in previous studies. Findings did not reveal any differences between the performance of dyslexic and control participants on eight versions of the visual recognition task. These findings suggest that pure dyslexic individuals do not present a reduced visual attention span.

The causes of variation in learning and behavior: why individual differences matter

PubMed Central

Sauce, Bruno; Matzel, Louis D.

2013-01-01

In a seminal paper written five decades ago, Cronbach discussed the two highly distinct approaches to scientific psychology: experimental and correlational. Today, although these two approaches are fruitfully implemented and embraced across some fields of psychology, this synergy is largely absent from other areas, such as in the study of learning and behavior. Both Tolman and Hull, in a rare case of agreement, stated that the correlational approach held little promise for the understanding of behavior. Interestingly, this dismissal of the study of individual differences was absent in the biologically oriented branches of behavior analysis, namely, behavioral genetics and ethology. Here we propose that the distinction between “causation” and “causes of variation” (with its origins in the field of genetics) reveals the potential value of the correlational approach in understanding the full complexity of learning and behavior. Although the experimental approach can illuminate the causal variables that modulate learning, the analysis of individual differences can elucidate how much and in which way variables interact to support variations in learning in complex natural environments. For example, understanding that a past experience with a stimulus influences its “associability” provides little insight into how individual predispositions interact to modulate this influence on associability. In this “new” light, we discuss examples from studies of individual differences in animals’ performance in the Morris water maze and from our own work on individual differences in general intelligence in mice. These studies illustrate that, opposed to what Underwood famously suggested, studies of individual differences can do much more to psychology than merely providing preliminary indications of cause-effect relationships. PMID:23847569

Prevalence and response to antiretroviral therapy of non-B subtypes of HIV in antiretroviral-naive individuals in British Columbia.

PubMed

Alexander, Christopher S; Montessori, Valentina; Wynhoven, Brian; Dong, Winnie; Chan, Keith; O'Shaughnessy, Michael V; Mo, Theresa; Piaseczny, Magda; Montaner, Julio S G; Harrigan, P Richard

2002-03-01

In North America, the B subtype of the major group (M) of HIV-1 predominates. Phylogenetic analysis of HIV reverse transcriptase and protease sequences isolated from 479 therapy-naive patients, first seeking treatment in British Columbia between June 1997 and August 1998, revealed a prevalence of 4.4% non-B virus. A range of different subtypes was identified, including one subtype A, 11 C, two D, five CRF01_AE, and one sample that could not be reliably subtyped. Baseline CD4 courts were significantly lower in individuals harbouring the non-B subtypes (P = 0.02), but baseline viral loads were similar (P = 0.80). In this study, individuals infected with non-B variants did not have a significantly different virological response to therapy after up to 18 months.

Shared mechanism for emotion processing in adolescents with and without autism

PubMed Central

Ioannou, Christina; Zein, Marwa El; Wyart, Valentin; Scheid, Isabelle; Amsellem, Frédérique; Delorme, Richard; Chevallier, Coralie; Grèzes, Julie

2017-01-01

Although, the quest to understand emotional processing in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) has led to an impressive number of studies, the picture that emerges from this research remains inconsistent. Some studies find that Typically Developing (TD) individuals outperform those with ASD in emotion recognition tasks, others find no such difference. In this paper, we move beyond focusing on potential group differences in behaviour to answer what we believe is a more pressing question: do individuals with ASD use the same mechanisms to process emotional cues? To this end, we rely on model-based analyses of participants’ accuracy during an emotion categorisation task in which displays of anger and fear are paired with direct vs. averted gaze. Behavioural data of 20 ASD and 20 TD adolescents revealed that the ASD group displayed lower overall performance. Yet, gaze direction had a similar impact on emotion categorisation in both groups, i.e. improved accuracy for salient combinations (anger-direct, fear-averted). Critically, computational modelling of participants’ behaviour reveals that the same mechanism, i.e. increased perceptual sensitivity, underlies the contextual impact of gaze in both groups. We discuss the specific experimental conditions that may favour emotion processing and the automatic integration of contextual information in ASD. PMID:28218248

To Stroop or Not to Stroop: Sex-Related Differences in Brain-Behavior Associations During Early Childhood

PubMed Central

Cuevas, Kimberly; Calkins, Susan D.; Bell, Martha Ann

2015-01-01

Executive functions (EFs) are linked with optimal cognitive and social-emotional development. Despite behavioral evidence of sex differences in early childhood EF, little is known about potential sex differences in corresponding brain-behavior associations. The present study examined changes in 4-year-olds’ 6–9 Hz EEG power in response to increased executive processing demands (i.e., “Stroop-like” vs. “non-Stroop” day-night tasks). Although there were no sex differences in task performance, an examination of multiple scalp electrode sites revealed that boys exhibited more widespread changes in EEG power as compared to girls. Further, multiple regression analyses controlling for maternal education and non-EF performance indicated that individual differences in boys’ and girls’ EF performance were associated with different frontal neural correlates (i.e., different frontal scalp sites and different measures of EEG power). These data reveal valuable information concerning sex differences in the neural systems underlying executive processing during early childhood. PMID:26681615

Negativity Bias in Dangerous Drivers.

PubMed

Chai, Jing; Qu, Weina; Sun, Xianghong; Zhang, Kan; Ge, Yan

2016-01-01

The behavioral and cognitive characteristics of dangerous drivers differ significantly from those of safe drivers. However, differences in emotional information processing have seldom been investigated. Previous studies have revealed that drivers with higher anger/anxiety trait scores are more likely to be involved in crashes and that individuals with higher anger traits exhibit stronger negativity biases when processing emotions compared with control groups. However, researchers have not explored the relationship between emotional information processing and driving behavior. In this study, we examined the emotional information processing differences between dangerous drivers and safe drivers. Thirty-eight non-professional drivers were divided into two groups according to the penalty points that they had accrued for traffic violations: 15 drivers with 6 or more points were included in the dangerous driver group, and 23 drivers with 3 or fewer points were included in the safe driver group. The emotional Stroop task was used to measure negativity biases, and both behavioral and electroencephalograph data were recorded. The behavioral results revealed stronger negativity biases in the dangerous drivers than in the safe drivers. The bias score was correlated with self-reported dangerous driving behavior. Drivers with strong negativity biases reported having been involved in mores crashes compared with the less-biased drivers. The event-related potentials (ERPs) revealed that the dangerous drivers exhibited reduced P3 components when responding to negative stimuli, suggesting decreased inhibitory control of information that is task-irrelevant but emotionally salient. The influence of negativity bias provides one possible explanation of the effects of individual differences on dangerous driving behavior and traffic crashes.

Negativity Bias in Dangerous Drivers

PubMed Central

Chai, Jing; Qu, Weina; Sun, Xianghong; Zhang, Kan; Ge, Yan

2016-01-01

The behavioral and cognitive characteristics of dangerous drivers differ significantly from those of safe drivers. However, differences in emotional information processing have seldom been investigated. Previous studies have revealed that drivers with higher anger/anxiety trait scores are more likely to be involved in crashes and that individuals with higher anger traits exhibit stronger negativity biases when processing emotions compared with control groups. However, researchers have not explored the relationship between emotional information processing and driving behavior. In this study, we examined the emotional information processing differences between dangerous drivers and safe drivers. Thirty-eight non-professional drivers were divided into two groups according to the penalty points that they had accrued for traffic violations: 15 drivers with 6 or more points were included in the dangerous driver group, and 23 drivers with 3 or fewer points were included in the safe driver group. The emotional Stroop task was used to measure negativity biases, and both behavioral and electroencephalograph data were recorded. The behavioral results revealed stronger negativity biases in the dangerous drivers than in the safe drivers. The bias score was correlated with self-reported dangerous driving behavior. Drivers with strong negativity biases reported having been involved in mores crashes compared with the less-biased drivers. The event-related potentials (ERPs) revealed that the dangerous drivers exhibited reduced P3 components when responding to negative stimuli, suggesting decreased inhibitory control of information that is task-irrelevant but emotionally salient. The influence of negativity bias provides one possible explanation of the effects of individual differences on dangerous driving behavior and traffic crashes. PMID:26765225

Neuropsychological and brain volume differences in patients with left- and right-beginning corticobasal syndrome.

PubMed

Jütten, Kerstin; Pieperhoff, Peter; Südmeyer, Martin; Schleicher, Axel; Ferrea, Stefano; Caspers, Svenja; Zilles, Karl; Schnitzler, Alfons; Amunts, Katrin; Lux, Silke

2014-01-01

Corticobasal Syndrome (CBS) is a rare neurodegenerative syndrome characterized by unilaterally beginning frontoparietal and basal ganglia atrophy. The study aimed to prove the hypothesis that there are differences in hemispheric susceptibility to disease-related changes. Two groups of CBS patients with symptoms starting either on the left or right body side were investigated. Groups consisted of four patients each and were matched for sex, age and disease duration. Patient groups and a group of eight healthy age-matched controls were analyzed using deformation field morphometry and neuropsychological testing. To further characterize individual disease progression regarding brain atrophy and neuropsychological performance, two female, disease duration-matched patients differing in initially impaired body side were followed over six months. A distinct pattern of neural atrophy and neuropsychological performance was revealed for both CBS: Patients with initial right-sided impairment (r-CBS) revealed atrophy predominantly in frontoparietal areas and showed, except from apraxia, no other cognitive deficits. In contrast, patients with impairment of the left body side (l-CBS) revealed more widespread atrophy, extending from frontoparietal to orbitofrontal and temporal regions; and apraxia, perceptional and memory deficits could be found. A similar pattern of morphological and neuropsychological differences was found for the individual disease progression in l-CBS and r-CBS single cases. For similar durations of disease, volumetric grey matter loss related to CBS pathology appeared earlier and progressed faster in l-CBS than in r-CBS. Cognitive impairment in r-CBS was characterized by apraxia, and additional memory and perceptional deficits for l-CBS.

Pathogens and politics: further evidence that parasite prevalence predicts authoritarianism.

PubMed

Murray, Damian R; Schaller, Mark; Suedfeld, Peter

2013-01-01

According to a "parasite stress" hypothesis, authoritarian governments are more likely to emerge in regions characterized by a high prevalence of disease-causing pathogens. Recent cross-national evidence is consistent with this hypothesis, but there are inferential limitations associated with that evidence. We report two studies that address some of these limitations, and provide further tests of the hypothesis. Study 1 revealed that parasite prevalence strongly predicted cross-national differences on measures assessing individuals' authoritarian personalities, and this effect statistically mediated the relationship between parasite prevalence and authoritarian governance. The mediation result is inconsistent with an alternative explanation for previous findings. To address further limitations associated with cross-national comparisons, Study 2 tested the parasite stress hypothesis on a sample of traditional small-scale societies (the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample). Results revealed that parasite prevalence predicted measures of authoritarian governance, and did so even when statistically controlling for other threats to human welfare. (One additional threat-famine-also uniquely predicted authoritarianism.) Together, these results further substantiate the parasite stress hypothesis of authoritarianism, and suggest that societal differences in authoritarian governance result, in part, from cultural differences in individuals' authoritarian personalities.

The mirror neuron system as revealed through neonatal imitation: presence from birth, predictive power and evidence of plasticity

PubMed Central

Simpson, Elizabeth A.; Murray, Lynne; Paukner, Annika; Ferrari, Pier F.

2014-01-01

There is strong evidence that neonates imitate previously unseen behaviours. These behaviours are predominantly used in social interactions, demonstrating neonates' ability and motivation to engage with others. Research on neonatal imitation can provide a wealth of information about the early mirror neuron system (MNS), namely its functional characteristics, its plasticity from birth and its relation to skills later in development. Although numerous studies document the existence of neonatal imitation in the laboratory, little is known about its natural occurrence during parent–infant interactions and its plasticity as a consequence of experience. We review these critical aspects of imitation, which we argue are necessary for understanding the early action–perception system. We address common criticisms and misunderstandings about neonatal imitation and discuss methodological differences among studies. Recent work reveals that individual differences in neonatal imitation positively correlate with later social, cognitive and motor development. We propose that such variation in neonatal imitation could reflect important individual differences of the MNS. Although postnatal experience is not necessary for imitation, we present evidence that neonatal imitation is influenced by experience in the first week of life. PMID:24778381

The mirror neuron system as revealed through neonatal imitation: presence from birth, predictive power and evidence of plasticity.

PubMed

Simpson, Elizabeth A; Murray, Lynne; Paukner, Annika; Ferrari, Pier F

2014-01-01

There is strong evidence that neonates imitate previously unseen behaviours. These behaviours are predominantly used in social interactions, demonstrating neonates' ability and motivation to engage with others. Research on neonatal imitation can provide a wealth of information about the early mirror neuron system (MNS), namely its functional characteristics, its plasticity from birth and its relation to skills later in development. Although numerous studies document the existence of neonatal imitation in the laboratory, little is known about its natural occurrence during parent-infant interactions and its plasticity as a consequence of experience. We review these critical aspects of imitation, which we argue are necessary for understanding the early action-perception system. We address common criticisms and misunderstandings about neonatal imitation and discuss methodological differences among studies. Recent work reveals that individual differences in neonatal imitation positively correlate with later social, cognitive and motor development. We propose that such variation in neonatal imitation could reflect important individual differences of the MNS. Although postnatal experience is not necessary for imitation, we present evidence that neonatal imitation is influenced by experience in the first week of life.

Blending Gelators to Tune Gel Structure and Probe Anion-Induced Disassembly

PubMed Central

Foster, Jonathan A; Edkins, Robert M; Cameron, Gary J; Colgin, Neil; Fucke, Katharina; Ridgeway, Sam; Crawford, Andrew G; Marder, Todd B; Beeby, Andrew; Cobb, Steven L; Steed, Jonathan W

2014-01-01

Blending different low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs) provides a convenient route to tune the properties of a gel and incorporate functionalities such as fluorescence. Blending a series of gelators having a common bis-urea motif, and functionalised with different amino acid-derived end-groups and differing length alkylene spacers is reported. Fluorescent gelators incorporating 1-and 2-pyrenyl moieties provide a probe of the mixed systems alongside structural and morphological data from powder diffraction and electron microscopy. Characterisation of the individual gelators reveals that although the expected α-urea tape motif is preserved, there is considerable variation in the gelation properties, molecular packing, fibre morphology and rheological behaviour. Mixing of the gelators revealed examples in which: 1) the gels formed separate, orthogonal networks maintaining their own packing and morphology, 2) the gels blended together into a single network, either adopting the packing and morphology of one gelator, or 3) a new structure not seen for either of the gelators individually was created. The strong binding of the urea functionalities to anions was exploited as a means of breaking down the gel structure, and the use of fluorescent gel blends provides new insights into anion-mediated gel dissolution. PMID:24302604

Pathogens and Politics: Further Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism

PubMed Central

Murray, Damian R.; Schaller, Mark; Suedfeld, Peter

2013-01-01

According to a "parasite stress" hypothesis, authoritarian governments are more likely to emerge in regions characterized by a high prevalence of disease-causing pathogens. Recent cross-national evidence is consistent with this hypothesis, but there are inferential limitations associated with that evidence. We report two studies that address some of these limitations, and provide further tests of the hypothesis. Study 1 revealed that parasite prevalence strongly predicted cross-national differences on measures assessing individuals' authoritarian personalities, and this effect statistically mediated the relationship between parasite prevalence and authoritarian governance. The mediation result is inconsistent with an alternative explanation for previous findings. To address further limitations associated with cross-national comparisons, Study 2 tested the parasite stress hypothesis on a sample of traditional small-scale societies (the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample). Results revealed that parasite prevalence predicted measures of authoritarian governance, and did so even when statistically controlling for other threats to human welfare. (One additional threat—famine—also uniquely predicted authoritarianism.) Together, these results further substantiate the parasite stress hypothesis of authoritarianism, and suggest that societal differences in authoritarian governance result, in part, from cultural differences in individuals' authoritarian personalities. PMID:23658718

Causes of individual differences in adolescent optimism: a study in Dutch twins and their siblings.

PubMed

Mavioğlu, Rezan Nehir; Boomsma, Dorret I; Bartels, Meike

2015-11-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the degree to which genetic and environmental influences affect variation in adolescent optimism. Optimism (3 items and 6 items approach) and pessimism were assessed by the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) in 5,187 adolescent twins and 999 of their non-twin siblings from the Netherlands Twin Register (NTR). Males reported significantly higher optimism scores than females, while females score higher on pessimism. Genetic structural equation modeling revealed that about one-third of the variance in optimism and pessimism was due to additive genetic effects, with the remaining variance being explained by non-shared environmental effects. A bivariate correlated factor model revealed two dimensions with a genetic correlation of -.57 (CI -.67, -.47), while the non-shared environmental correlation was estimated to be -.21 (CI -.25, -.16). Neither an effect of shared environment, non-additive genetic influences, nor quantitative sex differences was found for both dimensions. This result indicates that individual differences in adolescent optimism are mainly accounted for by non-shared environmental factors. These environmental factors do not contribute to the similarity of family members, but to differences between them. Familial resemblance in optimism and pessimism assessed in adolescents is fully accounted for by genetic overlap between family members.

Beliefs about behavior account for age differences in the correspondence bias.

PubMed

Stanley, Jennifer Tehan; Blanchard-Fields, Fredda

2011-03-01

Older adults tend to exhibit the correspondence bias to a greater extent than young adults. The current study examined whether these age differences are a function of the degree to which an individual subscribes to a lay theory of attitude-behavior consistency. First, participants responded to questions regarding their beliefs about attitude-behavior consistency. Approximately 2 weeks later, 144 (67 young adults and 77 older adults) participants completed the correspondence bias task. As expected, older adults were more biased than young adults. Analyses revealed that the degree to which an individual holds attitude-behavior consistency beliefs in the dishonesty domain accounted for age-related differences in the correspondence bias. The results of this study suggest that age differences in the correspondence bias task are in part driven by older adults holding stronger attitude-behavior consistency beliefs than young adults.

What Can Metaphors Tell Us about Personality?

PubMed

Fetterman, Adam K; Robinson, Michael D

2014-04-01

Theorists propose that metaphors are not mere figures of speech, but can actively shape one's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Social psychologists have supported this claim over the past 10 years. Personality psychologists, though, have only recently begun investigating how metaphors can inform our understanding of what makes us different from each other. This review focuses on projects demonstrating links between metaphor and personality. As an example, people have been asked whether they locate the self in the head or the heart. Head people are (more) rational and cold, whereas heart people are emotional and warm. In addition, an individual differences approach can reveal what it is that metaphoric thinking does to and for people. Overall, individual difference approaches to common metaphors are shown to be informative not only in understanding how people differ from each other but also in extending the metaphor literature.

The singular nature of auditory and visual scene analysis in autism

PubMed Central

Lin, I.-Fan; Shirama, Aya; Kato, Nobumasa

2017-01-01

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder often have difficulty acquiring relevant auditory and visual information in daily environments, despite not being diagnosed as hearing impaired or having low vision. Resent psychophysical and neurophysiological studies have shown that autistic individuals have highly specific individual differences at various levels of information processing, including feature extraction, automatic grouping and top-down modulation in auditory and visual scene analysis. Comparison of the characteristics of scene analysis between auditory and visual modalities reveals some essential commonalities, which could provide clues about the underlying neural mechanisms. Further progress in this line of research may suggest effective methods for diagnosing and supporting autistic individuals. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Auditory and visual scene analysis'. PMID:28044025

Open angle glaucoma effects on preattentive visual search efficiency for flicker, motion displacement and orientation pop-out tasks.

PubMed

Loughman, James; Davison, Peter; Flitcroft, Ian

2007-11-01

Preattentive visual search (PAVS) describes rapid and efficient retinal and neural processing capable of immediate target detection in the visual field. Damage to the nerve fibre layer or visual pathway might reduce the efficiency with which the visual system performs such analysis. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that patients with glaucoma are impaired on parallel search tasks, and that this would serve to distinguish glaucoma in early cases. Three groups of observers (glaucoma patients, suspect and normal individuals) were examined, using computer-generated flicker, orientation, and vertical motion displacement targets to assess PAVS efficiency. The task required rapid and accurate localisation of a singularity embedded in a field of 119 homogeneous distractors on either the left or right-hand side of a computer monitor. All subjects also completed a choice reaction time (CRT) task. Independent sample T tests revealed PAVS efficiency to be significantly impaired in the glaucoma group compared with both normal and suspect individuals. Performance was impaired in all types of glaucoma tested. Analysis between normal and suspect individuals revealed a significant difference only for motion displacement response times. Similar analysis using a PAVS/CRT index confirmed the glaucoma findings but also showed statistically significant differences between suspect and normal individuals across all target types. A test of PAVS efficiency appears capable of differentiating early glaucoma from both normal and suspect cases. Analysis incorporating a PAVS/CRT index enhances the diagnostic capacity to differentiate normal from suspect cases.

Body Schema Illusions: A Study of the Link between the Rubber Hand and Kinesthetic Mirror Illusions through Individual Differences

PubMed Central

Metral, Morgane; Gonthier, Corentin; Luyat, Marion

2017-01-01

Background The well-known rubber hand paradigm induces an illusion by having participants feel the touch applied to a fake hand. In parallel, the kinesthetic mirror illusion elicits illusions of movement by moving the reflection of a participant's arm. Experimental manipulation of sensory inputs leads to emergence of these multisensory illusions. There are strong conceptual similarities between these two illusions, suggesting that they rely on the same neurophysiological mechanisms, but this relationship has never been investigated. Studies indicate that participants differ in their sensitivity to these illusions, which provides a possibility for studying the relationship between these two illusions. Method We tested 36 healthy participants to confirm that there exist reliable individual differences in sensitivity to the two illusions and that participants sensitive to one illusion are also sensitive to the other. Results The results revealed that illusion sensitivity was very stable across trials and that individual differences in sensitivity to the kinesthetic mirror illusion were highly related to individual differences in sensitivity to the rubber hand illusion. Conclusions Overall, these results support the idea that these two illusions may be both linked to a transitory modification of body schema, wherein the most sensitive people have the most malleable body schema. PMID:29201910

Body Schema Illusions: A Study of the Link between the Rubber Hand and Kinesthetic Mirror Illusions through Individual Differences.

PubMed

Metral, Morgane; Gonthier, Corentin; Luyat, Marion; Guerraz, Michel

2017-01-01

The well-known rubber hand paradigm induces an illusion by having participants feel the touch applied to a fake hand. In parallel, the kinesthetic mirror illusion elicits illusions of movement by moving the reflection of a participant's arm. Experimental manipulation of sensory inputs leads to emergence of these multisensory illusions. There are strong conceptual similarities between these two illusions, suggesting that they rely on the same neurophysiological mechanisms, but this relationship has never been investigated. Studies indicate that participants differ in their sensitivity to these illusions, which provides a possibility for studying the relationship between these two illusions. We tested 36 healthy participants to confirm that there exist reliable individual differences in sensitivity to the two illusions and that participants sensitive to one illusion are also sensitive to the other. The results revealed that illusion sensitivity was very stable across trials and that individual differences in sensitivity to the kinesthetic mirror illusion were highly related to individual differences in sensitivity to the rubber hand illusion. Overall, these results support the idea that these two illusions may be both linked to a transitory modification of body schema, wherein the most sensitive people have the most malleable body schema.

Heterogeneity of allocation promotes cooperation in public goods games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lei, Chuang; Wu, Te; Jia, Jian-Yuan; Cong, Rui; Wang, Long

2010-11-01

We investigate the effects of heterogeneous investment and distribution on the evolution of cooperation in the context of the public goods games. To do this, we develop a simple model in which each individual allocates differing funds to his direct neighbors based upon their difference in connectivity, because of the heterogeneity of real social ties. This difference is characterized by the weight of the link between paired individuals, with an adjustable parameter precisely controlling the heterogeneous level of ties. By numerical simulations, it is found that allocating both too much and too little funds to diverse neighbors can remarkably improve the cooperation level. However, there exists a worst mode of funds allocation leading to the most unfavorable cooperation induced by the moderate values of the parameter. In order to better reveal the potential causes behind these nontrivial phenomena we probe the microscopic characteristics including the average payoff and the cooperator density for individuals of different degrees. It demonstrates rather different dynamical behaviors between the modes of these two types of cooperation promoter. Besides, we also investigate the total link weights of individuals numerically and theoretically for negative values of the parameter, and conclude that the payoff magnitude of middle-degree nodes plays a crucial role in determining the cooperators’ fate.

Individual tuna trolling strategies and transmission of fishing skills in a local community of Shimokita Peninsula.

PubMed

Akimichi, T

1975-12-01

Trolling techniques and strategies of fishermen of Oma in northern Japan to catch blue-fin tunas Thunnus thynnus are described. Usage patterns of fishing devices revealed to have ecological, psychological, and social implications. Choice of fish baits depended not only on the environmental factors relevant to the ecology of fish, but also on fishermen's skills which were different among different age groups and individuals. Younger fishermen preferred live baits to dead baits or lures whereas middle-aged or older ones chose them significantly less frequently. Moreover, the combination of a bait and a line by the latter denoted particular differences and specializations in terms of fishing strategies. Large differences in tuna landings indicating individual variations of skills were apparently related to techniques of trolling gear operation. In spite of an individual-based work. alternating work exchanging baits, and gifting were important in compensating physiological and technical handicaps through fishermen's interpersonal relationships based on genealogical, generational, and neighboring bondages. The exploitative difference between the coastal and the off-shore fishing grounds, use of baits being more varied in the latter, which were lately developed area, was also referred to as a problem of transmission in a local community of technical and mental skills.

Substrates of metacognition on perception and metacognition on higher-order cognition relate to different subsystems of the mentalizing network.

PubMed

Valk, Sofie L; Bernhardt, Boris C; Böckler, Anne; Kanske, Philipp; Singer, Tania

2016-10-01

Humans have the ability to reflect upon their perception, thoughts, and actions, known as metacognition (MC). The brain basis of MC is incompletely understood, and it is debated whether MC on different processes is subserved by common or divergent networks. We combined behavioral phenotyping with multi-modal neuroimaging to investigate whether structural substrates of individual differences in MC on higher-order cognition (MC-C) are dissociable from those underlying MC on perceptual accuracy (MC-P). Motivated by conceptual work suggesting a link between MC and cognitive perspective taking, we furthermore tested for overlaps between MC substrates and mentalizing networks. In a large sample of healthy adults, individual differences in MC-C and MC-P did not correlate. MRI-based cortical thickness mapping revealed a structural basis of this independence, by showing that individual differences in MC-P related to right prefrontal cortical thickness, while MC-C scores correlated with measures in lateral prefrontal, temporo-parietal, and posterior midline regions. Surface-based superficial white matter diffusivity analysis revealed substrates resembling those seen for cortical thickness, confirming the divergence of both MC faculties using an independent imaging marker. Despite their specificity, substrates of MC-C and MC-P fell clearly within networks known to participate in mentalizing, confirmed by task-based fMRI in the same subjects, previous meta-analytical findings, and ad-hoc Neurosynth-based meta-analyses. Our integrative multi-method approach indicates domain-specific substrates of MC; despite their divergence, these nevertheless likely rely on component processes mediated by circuits also involved in mentalizing. Hum Brain Mapp 37:3388-3399, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Clinical periodontal variables in patients with and without dementia-a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Maldonado, Alejandra; Laugisch, Oliver; Bürgin, Walter; Sculean, Anton; Eick, Sigrun

2018-06-22

Considering the increasing number of elderly people, dementia has gained an important role in today's society. Although the contributing factors for dementia have not been fully understood, chronic periodontitis (CP) seems to have a possible link to dementia. To conduct a systematic review including meta-analysis in order to assess potential differences in clinical periodontal variables between patients with dementia and non-demented individuals. The following focused question was evaluated: is periodontitis associated with dementia? Electronic searches in two databases, MEDLINE and EMBASE, were conducted. Meta-analysis was performed with the collected data in order to find a statistically significant difference in clinical periodontal variables between the group of dementia and the cognitive normal controls. Forty-two articles remained for full text reading. Finally, seven articles met the inclusion criteria and only five studies provided data suitable for meta-analysis. Periodontal probing depth (PPD), bleeding on probing (BOP), gingival bleeding index (GBI), clinical attachment level (CAL), and plaque index (PI) were included as periodontal variables in the meta-analysis. Each variable revealed a statistically significant difference between the groups. In an attempt to reveal an overall difference between the periodontal variables in dementia patients and non-demented individuals, the chosen variables were transformed into units that resulted in a statistically significant overall difference (p < 0.00001). The current findings indicate that compared to systemically healthy individuals, demented patients show significantly worse clinical periodontal variables. However, further epidemiological studies including a high numbers of participants, the use of exact definitions both for dementia and chronic periodontitis and adjusted for cofounders is warranted. These findings appear to support the putative link between CP and dementia. Consequently, the need for periodontal screening and treatment of elderly demented people should be emphasized.

Master stability functions reveal diffusion-driven pattern formation in networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brechtel, Andreas; Gramlich, Philipp; Ritterskamp, Daniel; Drossel, Barbara; Gross, Thilo

2018-03-01

We study diffusion-driven pattern formation in networks of networks, a class of multilayer systems, where different layers have the same topology, but different internal dynamics. Agents are assumed to disperse within a layer by undergoing random walks, while they can be created or destroyed by reactions between or within a layer. We show that the stability of homogeneous steady states can be analyzed with a master stability function approach that reveals a deep analogy between pattern formation in networks and pattern formation in continuous space. For illustration, we consider a generalized model of ecological meta-food webs. This fairly complex model describes the dispersal of many different species across a region consisting of a network of individual habitats while subject to realistic, nonlinear predator-prey interactions. In this example, the method reveals the intricate dependence of the dynamics on the spatial structure. The ability of the proposed approach to deal with this fairly complex system highlights it as a promising tool for ecology and other applications.

Live cell imaging reveals marked variability in myoblast proliferation and fate

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background During the process of muscle regeneration, activated stem cells termed satellite cells proliferate, and then differentiate to form new myofibers that restore the injured area. Yet not all satellite cells contribute to muscle repair. Some continue to proliferate, others die, and others become quiescent and are available for regeneration following subsequent injury. The mechanisms that regulate the adoption of different cell fates in a muscle cell precursor population remain unclear. Methods We have used live cell imaging and lineage tracing to study cell fate in the C2 myoblast line. Results Analyzing the behavior of individual myoblasts revealed marked variability in both cell cycle duration and viability, but similarities between cells derived from the same parental lineage. As a consequence, lineage sizes and outcomes differed dramatically, and individual lineages made uneven contributions toward the terminally differentiated population. Thus, the cohort of myoblasts undergoing differentiation at the end of an experiment differed dramatically from the lineages present at the beginning. Treatment with IGF-I increased myoblast number by maintaining viability and by stimulating a fraction of cells to complete one additional cell cycle in differentiation medium, and as a consequence reduced the variability of the terminal population compared with controls. Conclusion Our results reveal that heterogeneity of responses to external cues is an intrinsic property of cultured myoblasts that may be explained in part by parental lineage, and demonstrate the power of live cell imaging for understanding how muscle differentiation is regulated. PMID:23638706

Cortical processing of speech in individuals with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Apeksha, Kumari; Kumar, U Ajith

2018-06-01

Auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) is a condition where cochlear amplification function (involving outer hair cells) is normal but neural conduction in the auditory pathway is disordered. This study was done to investigate the cortical representation of speech in individuals with ANSD and to compare it with the individuals with normal hearing. Forty-five participants including 21 individuals with ANSD and 24 individuals with normal hearing were considered for the study. Individuals with ANSD had hearing thresholds ranging from normal hearing to moderate hearing loss. Auditory cortical evoked potentials-through odd ball paradigm-were recorded using 64 electrodes placed on the scalp for /ba/-/da/ stimulus. Onset cortical responses were also recorded in repetitive paradigm using /da/ stimuli. Sensitivity and reaction time required to identify the oddball stimuli were also obtained. Behavioural results indicated that individuals in ANSD group had significantly lower sensitivity and longer reaction times compared to individuals with normal hearing sensitivity. Reliable P300 could be elicited in both the groups. However, a significant difference in scalp topographies was observed between the two groups in both repetitive and oddball paradigms. Source localization using local auto regressive analyses revealed that activations were more diffuses in individuals with ANSD when compared to individuals with normal hearing sensitivity. Results indicated that the brain networks and regions activated in individuals with ANSD during detection and discrimination of speech sounds are different from normal hearing individuals. In general, normal hearing individuals showed more focused activations while in individuals with ANSD activations were diffused.

Neuroticism and Extraversion Share Genetic and Environmental Effects with Negative and Positive Mood Spillover in a Nationally Representative Sample

PubMed Central

Horwitz, Briana N.; Luong, Gloria; Charles, Susan T.

2008-01-01

Work-family spillover research focuses on how negative and positive moods in one life domain carry over to another domain. Domain-specific etiologies (e.g., family conflict) are often emphasized to explain spillover. Yet, strong correlations exist between spillover variables of the same emotional valence and originating from different domains, suggesting individual differences in the tendencies to prolong mood-states. The current study (N=1143 individuals) examined whether these general tendencies are associated with neuroticism and extraversion, and how genetic and environmental effects contribute to these associations. Findings revealed that neuroticism and extraversion are related to these tendencies through genetic and environmental pathways. PMID:19430588

Not lack of ability but more choice: individual and gender differences in choice of careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

PubMed

Wang, Ming-Te; Eccles, Jacquelynne S; Kenny, Sarah

2013-05-01

The pattern of gender differences in math and verbal ability may result in females having a wider choice of careers, in both science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and non-STEM fields, compared with males. The current study tested whether individuals with high math and high verbal ability in 12th grade were more or less likely to choose STEM occupations than those with high math and moderate verbal ability. The 1,490 subjects participated in two waves of a national longitudinal study; one wave was when the subjects were in 12th grade, and the other was when they were 33 years old. Results revealed that mathematically capable individuals who also had high verbal skills were less likely to pursue STEM careers than were individuals who had high math skills but moderate verbal skills. One notable finding was that the group with high math and high verbal ability included more females than males.

The effects of sleep quality, physical activity, and environmental quality on the risk of falls in dementia.

PubMed

Eshkoor, Sima Ataollahi; Hamid, Tengku Aizan; Nudin, Siti Sa'adiah Hassan; Mun, Chan Yoke

2013-06-01

This study aimed to identify the effects of sleep quality, physical activity, environmental quality, age, ethnicity, sex differences, marital status, and educational level on the risk of falls in the elderly individuals with dementia. Data were derived from a group of 1210 Malaysian elderly individuals who were noninstitutionalized and demented. The multiple logistic regression model was applied to estimate the risk of falls in respondents. Approximately the prevalence of falls was 17% among the individuals. The results of multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.03), ethnicity (OR = 1.76), sleep quality (OR = 1.46), and environmental quality (OR = 0.62) significantly affected the risk of falls in individuals (P < .05). Furthermore, sex differences, marital status, educational level, and physical activity were not significant predictors of falls in samples (P > .05). It was found that age, ethnic non-Malay, and sleep disruption increased the risk of falls in respondents, but high environmental quality reduced the risk of falls.

Optimized oligonucleotide probes for DNA fingerprinting.

PubMed

Schäfer, R; Zischler, H; Birsner, U; Becker, A; Epplen, J T

1988-08-01

The three different simple repetitive oligonucleotide probes (CT)8, (CAC)5 and (TCC)5 were hybridized to a panel of human DNAs which had been digested with the restriction endonucleases Alu I, Hinf I and Mbo I. The resulting DNA fingerprints were analyzed and different parameters calculated, such as the maximal mean allele frequency and the average number of polymorphic bands per individual. The highest number of bands was obtained after hybridization of Hinf I digested DNA with (CAC)5. The probability of finding the same band pattern as in individual A in individual B is 2 x 10(-8). The DNAs of monozygous twins show indistinguishable banding patterns and the bands are inherited according to the Mendelian laws. Thus this procedure reveals informative fingerprints that can be used for individual identification, e.g. in paternity testing and in forensic applications. In most of these experiments 32P-labelled probes were employed, yet the biotinylated oligonucleotide (GACA)4 produced results which were equivalent to those obtained by hybridization with the 32P-labelled probe (GACA)4.

Dermoscopic nevus patterns in skin of colour: a prospective, cross-sectional, morphological study in individuals with skin type V and VI.

PubMed

Lallas, A; Reggiani, C; Argenziano, G; Kyrgidis, A; Bakos, R; Masiero, N C M S; Scheibe, A B; Cabo, H; Ozdemir, F; Sortino-Rachou, A M; Turk, B Gerceker; Moscarella, E; Longo, C; Zalaudek, I

2014-11-01

Most of the knowledge on the prevailing dermoscopic patterns of acquired melanocytic nevi (AMV) is based on studies in Caucasians, while little research focuses on the dermoscopic variability in nevi in skin of colour. To analyse the prevalent dermoscopic nevus patterns in subjects with a skin type (ST) V and VI. Prospective, cross-sectional, morphological study was conducted in six clinics with enrolment of consecutive individuals with a ST V or VI. Digital dermoscopic images of selected representative AMN were assessed for dermoscopic colours, morphological patterns and pigment distribution. Analysis of 300 nevi from subjects with ST V and VI revealed significant differences in the nevus pattern between these two groups. The majority of nevi in ST V revealed a reticular pattern, whereas persons with ST VI more frequently exhibited a structureless pattern. Black, blue and grey were more frequent in ST VI, whereas the vast majority of nevi in ST V individuals showed dark brown colour. Our study provides new insights into the nevus pattern in individuals with a dark pigmentary trait, which may aid the diagnosis and management of nevi in this patients group. © 2013 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

Cognitive Profile of Intellectually Gifted Adults: Analyzing the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale.

PubMed

Lang, Margherita; Matta, Michael; Parolin, Laura; Morrone, Cristina; Pezzuti, Lina

2017-09-01

The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) has been used extensively to study intellectual abilities of special groups. Here, we report the results of an intellectually gifted group on the WAIS-IV. Gifted individuals are people who obtained scores equal to or greater than 2 standard deviations above the mean on an intelligence test. Hence, the current study aims first, to examine mean group performance data of gifted individuals on the WAIS-IV; second, to revalidate the pattern of performance identified in this special group in previous studies (i.e., verbal skills higher than all other abilities); third, to compare scatter measures across intellectual domains with a matched comparison group. A total of 130 gifted individuals (79 males) were administered the full battery and their performance was compared with a matched comparison group. Analyses revealed that gifted group displayed higher scores in all intellectual domains. Contrary to expectations, they showed the highest scores in perceptual reasoning tasks. A multivariate approach revealed that this ability was statistically different from all other domains within the gifted group. Moreover, gifted individuals showed higher discrepancies across intellectual domains than average-intelligence people. Findings have important practical implications to detect intellectual giftedness in adulthood.

Listening, Watching, and Reading: The Structure and Correlates of Entertainment Preferences

PubMed Central

Rentfrow, Peter J.; Goldberg, Lewis R.; Zilca, Ran

2010-01-01

People spend considerable amounts of time and money listening to music, watching TV and movies, and reading books and magazines, yet almost no attention in psychology has been devoted to understanding individual differences in preferences for such entertainment. The present research was designed to examine the structure and correlates of entertainment genre preferences. Analyses of the genre preferences of over 3,000 individuals revealed a remarkably clear factor structure. Using multiple samples, methods, and geographic regions, data converged to reveal five entertainment-preference dimensions: Communal, Aesthetic, Dark, Thrilling, and Cerebral. Preferences for these entertainment dimensions were uniquely related to demographics and personality traits. Results also indicated that personality accounted for significant proportions of variance in entertainment preferences over and above demographics. The results provide a foundation for developing and testing hypotheses about the psychology of entertainment preferences. PMID:20649744

Self-presentation 2.0: narcissism and self-esteem on Facebook.

PubMed

Mehdizadeh, Soraya

2010-08-01

Online social networking sites have revealed an entirely new method of self-presentation. This cyber social tool provides a new site of analysis to examine personality and identity. The current study examines how narcissism and self-esteem are manifested on the social networking Web site Facebook.com . Self-esteem and narcissistic personality self-reports were collected from 100 Facebook users at York University. Participant Web pages were also coded based on self-promotional content features. Correlation analyses revealed that individuals higher in narcissism and lower in self-esteem were related to greater online activity as well as some self-promotional content. Gender differences were found to influence the type of self-promotional content presented by individual Facebook users. Implications and future research directions of narcissism and self-esteem on social networking Web sites are discussed.

Individual Differences in Dynamic Functional Brain Connectivity across the Human Lifespan

PubMed Central

Davison, Elizabeth N.; Turner, Benjamin O.; Miller, Michael B.; Carlson, Jean M.

2016-01-01

Individual differences in brain functional networks may be related to complex personal identifiers, including health, age, and ability. Dynamic network theory has been used to identify properties of dynamic brain function from fMRI data, but the majority of analyses and findings remain at the level of the group. Here, we apply hypergraph analysis, a method from dynamic network theory, to quantify individual differences in brain functional dynamics. Using a summary metric derived from the hypergraph formalism—hypergraph cardinality—we investigate individual variations in two separate, complementary data sets. The first data set (“multi-task”) consists of 77 individuals engaging in four consecutive cognitive tasks. We observe that hypergraph cardinality exhibits variation across individuals while remaining consistent within individuals between tasks; moreover, the analysis of one of the memory tasks revealed a marginally significant correspondence between hypergraph cardinality and age. This finding motivated a similar analysis of the second data set (“age-memory”), in which 95 individuals, aged 18–75, performed a memory task with a similar structure to the multi-task memory task. With the increased age range in the age-memory data set, the correlation between hypergraph cardinality and age correspondence becomes significant. We discuss these results in the context of the well-known finding linking age with network structure, and suggest that hypergraph analysis should serve as a useful tool in furthering our understanding of the dynamic network structure of the brain. PMID:27880785

Relationship between cognitive insight and attenuated delusional symptoms in individuals with at-risk mental state.

PubMed

Uchida, Tomohiro; Matsumoto, Kazunori; Ito, Fumiaki; Ohmuro, Noriyuki; Miyakoshi, Tetsuo; Ueno, Takashi; Matsuoka, Hiroo

2014-06-30

Cognitive insight, defined as the ability to evaluate and correct one׳s own distorted beliefs and misinterpretations, is hypothesized to contribute to the development of psychotic symptoms. We investigated cognitive insight in individuals with at-risk mental state (ARMS), which is associated with a clinically high risk of psychosis. Sixty individuals with ARMS were compared with 200 healthy controls in terms of cognitive insight measured using the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale. We also investigated the relationship between cognitive insight and attenuated delusional symptoms. In addition, we examined differences in the cognitive insight of individuals with ARMS with or without near-threshold delusional symptoms and differences in the cognitive insight of individuals with ARMS with or without later transition to psychosis. The results showed that individuals with ARMS exhibited higher self-certainty than healthy controls, indicating impairments in cognitive insight in the former. More importantly, our results revealed that self-certainty was correlated with attenuated delusional symptoms and that individuals with ARMS who had near threshold delusional symptoms had higher self-certainty. These findings indicate that overconfidence in one׳s own beliefs or judgments might be related to the formation and maintenance of attenuated delusions in individuals with ARMS. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Stable Co-crystals of Glipizide with Enhanced Dissolution Profiles: Preparation and Characterization.

PubMed

Pandey, Narendra Kumar; Sehal, Hans Raj; Garg, Varun; Gaur, Tejasvi; Kumar, Bimlesh; Singh, Sachin Kumar; Gulati, Monica; Gowthamarajan, K; Bawa, Palak; Rajesh, Sarvi Yadav; Sharma, Parth; Narang, Rakesh

2017-10-01

Present study deciphers preparation of co-crystals of lipophilic glipizide by using four different acids, oxalic, malonic, stearic, and benzoic acids, in order to achieve enhanced solubility and dissolution along with stability. All co-crystals were prepared by dissolving drug and individual acids in the ratio of 1:0.5 in acetonitrile at 60-70°C for 15 min, followed by cooling at room temperature for 24 h. FT-IR spectroscopy revealed no molecular interaction between acids and drug as the internal structure and their geometric configurations remain unchanged. Differential scanning calorimetry revealed closer melting points of raw glipizide and its co-crystals, which speculates absence of difference in crystallinity as well as intermolecular bonding of the co-crystals and drug. PXRD further revealed that all the co-crystals were having similar crystallinity as that of raw glipizide except glipizide-malonic acid co-crystals. This minor difference in the relative intensities of some of the diffraction peaks could be attributed to the crystal habit or crystal size modification. SEM revealed difference in the crystal morphology for all the co-crystals. Micromeritic, solubility, dissolution, and stability data revealed that among all the prepared co-crystals, glipizide-stearic acid co-crystals were found superior. Hence, it was concluded that glipizide-stearic acid co-crystals could offer an improved drug design strategy to overcome dissolution and bioavailability related challenges associated with lipophilic glipizide.

Temporal resolution in individuals with neurological disorders

PubMed Central

Rabelo, Camila Maia; Weihing, Jeffrey A; Schochat, Eliane

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Temporal processing refers to the ability of the central auditory nervous system to encode and detect subtle changes in acoustic signals. This study aims to investigate the temporal resolution ability of individuals with mesial temporal sclerosis and to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the gaps-in-noise test in identifying this type of lesion. METHOD: This prospective study investigated differences in temporal resolution between 30 individuals with normal hearing and without neurological lesions (G1) and 16 individuals with both normal hearing and mesial temporal sclerosis (G2). Test performances were compared, and the sensitivity and specificity were calculated. RESULTS: There was no difference in gap detection thresholds between the two groups, although G1 revealed better average thresholds than G2 did. The sensitivity and specificity of the gaps-in-noise test for neurological lesions were 68% and 98%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Temporal resolution ability is compromised in individuals with neurological lesions caused by mesial temporal sclerosis. The gaps-in-noise test was shown to be a sensitive and specific measure of central auditory dysfunction in these patients. PMID:26375561

Spatial gradient in value representation along the medial prefrontal cortex reflects individual differences in prosociality

PubMed Central

Sul, Sunhae; Tobler, Philippe N.; Hein, Grit; Leiberg, Susanne; Jung, Daehyun; Fehr, Ernst; Kim, Hackjin

2015-01-01

Despite the importance of valuing another person’s welfare for prosocial behavior, currently we have only a limited understanding of how these values are represented in the brain and, more importantly, how they give rise to individual variability in prosociality. In the present study, participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a prosocial learning task in which they could choose to benefit themselves and/or another person. Choice behavior indicated that participants valued the welfare of another person, although less so than they valued their own welfare. Neural data revealed a spatial gradient in activity within the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), such that ventral parts predominantly represented self-regarding values and dorsal parts predominantly represented other-regarding values. Importantly, compared with selfish individuals, prosocial individuals showed a more gradual transition from self-regarding to other-regarding value signals in the MPFC and stronger MPFC–striatum coupling when they made choices for another person rather than for themselves. The present study provides evidence of neural markers reflecting individual differences in human prosociality. PMID:26056280

The Influence of Lying Body Position on Handwriting.

PubMed

Dziedzic, Tomasz

2016-01-01

Although the problem of handwriting variability due to lying body position has practical significance, particularly for last will cases, it has not been sufficiently studied. The presented experiment aimed to recognize how such posture may influence handwriting features. Samples of text and signatures were collected from 50 healthy individuals, aged 23-58, produced in three postures: typical sitting position (SP) and two different lying positions (LP1 & LP2). Using the SP sample of each individual as a specimen, eleven characteristics in LP1 and LP2 samples were evaluated as similar or different. Nine other features were measured with a specialized software, and their conformity was tested with Student's t-test. Although none of the characteristics differed significantly in most cases, variation occurred in pen pressure, margins, baselines, and heights of letters. Additionally, a series of blind tests revealed that lying position of the individuals did not hinder the possibility to identify their writings. © 2015 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

A learning perspective on individual differences in skilled reading: Exploring and exploiting orthographic and semantic discrimination cues.

PubMed

Milin, Petar; Divjak, Dagmar; Baayen, R Harald

2017-11-01

The goal of the present study is to understand the role orthographic and semantic information play in the behavior of skilled readers. Reading latencies from a self-paced sentence reading experiment in which Russian near-synonymous verbs were manipulated appear well-predicted by a combination of bottom-up sublexical letter triplets (trigraphs) and top-down semantic generalizations, modeled using the Naive Discrimination Learner. The results reveal a complex interplay of bottom-up and top-down support from orthography and semantics to the target verbs, whereby activations from orthography only are modulated by individual differences. Using performance on a serial reaction time (SRT) task for a novel operationalization of the mental speed hypothesis, we explain the observed individual differences in reading behavior in terms of the exploration/exploitation hypothesis from reinforcement learning, where initially slower and more variable behavior leads to better performance overall. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Individual differences in infant fearfulness and cognitive performance: a testing, performance, or competence effect?

PubMed

Rieser-Danner, Loretta A

2003-02-01

The author conducted 2 studies to examine the relations between infant fear and cognitive testing performance in 12-month-old infants. In Study 1, fear was assessed by using 2 standard temperament questionnaires and a laboratory-based, standardized stranger approach. Individual differences in cognitive development were assessed using the Object Permanence Scale of the Infant Psychological Development Scales (I. C. Uzgiris & J. M. Hunt, 1975). All 3 assessments of fear significantly predicted object permanence performance, with correlations ranging from -.32 to -.35. In Study 2, fear was assessed via a maternal report questionnaire, and habituation performance was assessed via a basic-level categorization task. Familiarity with the examiner and with the testing environment was manipulated to test for a familiarity influence on performance. Testing revealed individual differences in both fear and habituation. Results suggest that highly fearful infants required more trials to habituate and were less likely to meet the habituation criterion than infants who were less fearful. Methodological and conceptual implications of these results are discussed.

Single cell cultures of Drosophila neuroectodermal and mesectodermal central nervous system progenitors reveal different degrees of developmental autonomy.

PubMed

Lüer, Karin; Technau, Gerhard M

2009-08-03

The Drosophila embryonic central nervous system (CNS) develops from two sets of progenitor cells, neuroblasts and ventral midline progenitors, which behave differently in many respects. Neuroblasts derive from the neurogenic region of the ectoderm and form the lateral parts of the CNS. Ventral midline precursors are formed by two rows of mesectodermal cells and build the CNS midline. There is plenty of evidence that individual identities are conferred to precursor cells by positional information in the ectoderm. It is unclear, however, how far the precursors can maintain their identities and developmental properties in the absence of normal external signals. To separate the respective contributions of autonomous properties versus extrinsic signals during their further development, we isolated individual midline precursors and neuroectodermal precursors at the pre-mitotic gastrula stage, traced their development in vitro, and analyzed the characteristics of their lineages in comparison with those described for the embryo. Although individually cultured mesectodermal cells exhibit basic characteristics of CNS midline progenitors, the clones produced by these progenitors differ from their in situ counterparts with regard to cell numbers, expression of molecular markers, and the separation of neuronal and glial fate. In contrast, clones derived from individually cultured precursors taken from specific dorsoventral zones of the neuroectoderm develop striking similarities to the lineages of neuroblasts that normally delaminate from these zones and develop in situ. This in vitro analysis allows for the first time a comparison of the developmental capacities in situ and in vitro of individual neural precursors of defined spatial and temporal origin. The data reveal that cells isolated at the pre-mitotic and pre-delamination stage express characteristics of the progenitor type appropriate to their site of origin in the embryo. However, presumptive neuroblasts, once specified in the neuroectoderm, exhibit a higher degree of autonomy regarding generation of their lineages compared to mesectodermal midline progenitors.

"Aw, Man Where You Goin'?": Classroom Interaction and the Development of L2 Interactional Competence.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hall, Joan Kelly

1995-01-01

Examines the discursive structures and linguistic resources of the interactional environments influencing the development of individual communicative competence, with specific reference to providing speaking opportunities to students studying Spanish as a second language. Findings reveal that the ways in which topics are developed differ from how…

IQ, Fetal Testosterone and Individual Variability in Children's Functional Lateralization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mercure, Evelyne; Ashwin, Emma; Dick, Frederic; Halit, Hanife; Auyeung, Bonnie; Baron-Cohen, Simon; Johnson, Mark H.

2009-01-01

Previous event-related potential (ERP) studies have revealed that faces and words show a robust difference in the lateralization of their N170. The present study investigated the development of this differential lateralization in school-age boys. We assessed the potential role of fetal testosterone (FT) level as a factor biasing the prenatal…

Evaluations versus Expectations: Children's Divergent Beliefs about Resource Distribution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeJesus, Jasmine M.; Rhodes, Marjorie; Kinzler, Katherine D.

2014-01-01

Past research reveals a tension between children's preferences for egalitarianism and ingroup favoritism when distributing resources to others. Here we investigate how children's evaluations and expectations of others' behaviors compare. Four- to 10-year-old children viewed events where individuals from two different groups…

Predictors of Tobacco and Alcohol Refusal Efficacy for Urban and Rural African-American Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nasim, Aashir; Belgrave, Faye Z.; Corona, Rosalie; Townsend, Tiffany G.

2009-01-01

This study sought to determine the relative contributions of individual, family, peer, and community risk and promotive factors in explaining alcohol and tobacco refusal attitudes among 227 African-American adolescents (ages 12 to 17) from urban and rural areas. Hierarchical linear regression (HLR) results revealed differences in the predictive…

Pro and Antisocial Television Content and Modeling by High and Low Self-esteem Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baran, Stanley J.

Children will individually react to television program content according to different psychological characteristics, one of which is self-esteem. Results of one study revealed a definite relationship between a child's self-esteem and his "modeling," or imitative behavior, after observing a televised film. A self-esteem inventory was administered…

The Myth of Female Passivity: Thirty Years of Revelations about Female Aggression

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richardson, Deborah South

2005-01-01

This article reviews an extensive program of research that has examined gender differences in aggressive behavior. Early research in the aggression laboratory that was designed to explain why females were nonaggressive actually revealed that females did respond to provocation and that they could not accurately be depicted as passive individuals.…

The Corporate Connection: Effective Company Research Is Just Like People Research--On a Larger Scale.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kourofsky, Carolyn E.

1992-01-01

To cultivate companies for fund raising, the college development officer should focus on appropriate people, understand giving trends, follow mergers and acquisitions, and note corporate differences in giving patterns. Annual reports can reveal company self-image, help identify individuals, and illuminate the company's fiscal situation. However,…

Transcending Difference: The Place of the Classics in the Curriculum of the '90s.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dixon, James G., III

A close examination of the classics of western civilization reveals values that transcend any narrow definition and so absolve the classical tradition from the accusations leveled against it for being mere "representations" of the dominant culture. The classical tradition, with its values of individualism, freedom, and human dignity, has…

A Case Study of Two Groups of Elementary Prospective Teachers' Experiences in Distinct Mathematics Content Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Auslander, Susan Swars; Smith, Stephanie Z.; Smith, Marvin E.; Hart, Lynn C.; Carothers, Jody

2016-01-01

This multiple case study examined two groups of elementary prospective teachers (n=12) completing distinct mathematics content courses. Data were collected via two belief surveys, one content knowledge assessment, and individual interviews. The findings revealed differences in specialized content knowledge and mathematical beliefs between the two…

The effect of temperature on the mucosal IgM antibody response to DNP-KLH in channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Bath immersion remains a practical route for immunizing against disease in channel catfish; however research efforts in this area have revealed variable results when activating mucosal Ab responses with different antigens. This is likely due to a number of factors including the individual species, ...

Eye Movements Reveal Readers' Lexical Quality and Reading Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Jessica Nelson; Perfetti, Charles A.

2016-01-01

Two experiments demonstrate that individual differences among normal adult readers, including lexical quality, are expressed in silent reading at the word level. In the first of two studies we identified major dimensions of variability among college readers and among words using factor analysis. We then examined the effects of these dimensions of…

High-speed Internet Use and Academic Gratifications in the College Residence.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matthews, Denise; Schrum, Lynne

2003-01-01

A multimethod exploration of undergraduates' high-speed Internet use in residence halls took a uses-and-gratifications approach and revealed Internet use as integral to students' lives. Students' negative comments about Internet distractions from academic work led to identification of an individual difference variable, internal locus of control of…

An Integrated Perspective on the Relation between Response Speed and Intelligence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Ravenzwaaij, Don; Brown, Scott; Wagenmakers, Eric-Jan

2011-01-01

Research in the field of mental chronometry and individual differences has revealed several robust regularities (Jensen, 2006). These include right-skewed response time (RT) distributions, the worst performance rule, correlations with general intelligence ("g") that are more pronounced for RT standard deviations (RTSD) than they are for RT means…

Mixture Distribution Latent State-Trait Analysis: Basic Ideas and Applications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Courvoisier, Delphine S.; Eid, Michael; Nussbeck, Fridtjof W.

2007-01-01

Extensions of latent state-trait models for continuous observed variables to mixture latent state-trait models with and without covariates of change are presented that can separate individuals differing in their occasion-specific variability. An empirical application to the repeated measurement of mood states (N = 501) revealed that a model with 2…

Mechanisms of attentional selection bias for threatening emotions of anger and disgust in individuals with high-trait anxiety.

PubMed

Xia, Luyao; Cui, Lixia; Zhang, Qin; Dong, Xiaofei; Shi, Guangyuan

2018-03-07

There are still some controversies that attentional bias to negative emotions in individuals with high-trait anxiety (HTA), as compare with those with low-trait anxiety (LTA), occurs in the engagement or disengagement facet of attentional selectivity and whether this attentional bias is affected by negative emotional types. In this study, we explored the different attentional selectivity mechanisms for threatening emotions of anger and disgust between individuals with HTA and LTA using the variant attentional-probe paradigm. The results showed that under the engagement condition, the HTA group's attentional bias index of the anger mood was negative and was significantly less than the disgusting mood (positive) and that the P1 was smaller with angry faces as compared with neutral faces, which was separate from the results of the disgusted faces, having a significant difference with neutral faces on P1 component. In the LTA group, under the disengagement condition, the attentional bias index of the disgusting mood was significantly bigger than the attentional bias index of the anger mood. Moreover, the P1 of the disgusted faces was significantly bigger than the P1 of the angry faces. The topographical maps were also made to reveal the different neural underpinnings. The results suggested that there were different mechanisms of selective attentional bias for threatening emotions of anger and disgust in individuals with HTA. HTA individuals were characterized by facilitated attentional engagement with angry faces and impaired attentional engagement with disgusted faces. LTA individuals had different neural underpinnings and had impaired attentional disengagement with disgusted faces.

Increased intra-individual reaction time variability in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder across response inhibition tasks with different cognitive demands.

PubMed

Vaurio, Rebecca G; Simmonds, Daniel J; Mostofsky, Stewart H

2009-10-01

One of the most consistent findings in children with ADHD is increased moment-to-moment variability in reaction time (RT). The source of increased RT variability can be examined using ex-Gaussian analyses that divide variability into normal and exponential components and Fast Fourier transform (FFT) that allow for detailed examination of the frequency of responses in the exponential distribution. Prior studies of ADHD using these methods have produced variable results, potentially related to differences in task demand. The present study sought to examine the profile of RT variability in ADHD using two Go/No-go tasks with differing levels of cognitive demand. A total of 140 children (57 with ADHD and 83 typically developing controls), ages 8-13 years, completed both a "simple" Go/No-go task and a more "complex" Go/No-go task with increased working memory load. Repeated measures ANOVA of ex-Gaussian functions revealed for both tasks children with ADHD demonstrated increased variability in both the normal/Gaussian (significantly elevated sigma) and the exponential (significantly elevated tau) components. In contrast, FFT analysis of the exponential component revealed a significant task x diagnosis interaction, such that infrequent slow responses in ADHD differed depending on task demand (i.e., for the simple task, increased power in the 0.027-0.074 Hz frequency band; for the complex task, decreased power in the 0.074-0.202 Hz band). The ex-Gaussian findings revealing increased variability in both the normal (sigma) and exponential (tau) components for the ADHD group, suggest that both impaired response preparation and infrequent "lapses in attention" contribute to increased variability in ADHD. FFT analyses reveal that the periodicity of intermittent lapses of attention in ADHD varies with task demand. The findings provide further support for intra-individual variability as a candidate intermediate endophenotype of ADHD.

Age differences in personal values: Universal or cultural specific?

PubMed

Fung, Helene H; Ho, Yuan Wan; Zhang, Rui; Zhang, Xin; Noels, Kimberly A; Tam, Kim-Pong

2016-05-01

Prior studies on value development across adulthood have generally shown that as people age, they espouse communal values more strongly and agentic values less strongly. Two studies investigated whether these age differences in personal values might differ according to cultural values. Study 1 examined whether these age differences in personal values, and their associations with subjective well-being, showed the same pattern across countries that differed in individualism-collectivism. Study 2 compared age differences in personal values in the Canadian culture that emphasized agentic values more and the Chinese culture that emphasized communal values more. Personal and cultural values of each individual were directly measured, and their congruence were calculated and compared across age and cultures. Findings revealed that across cultures, older people had lower endorsement of agentic personal values and higher endorsement of communal personal values than did younger people. These age differences, and their associations with subjective well-being, were generally not influenced by cultural values. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Children and Adults Use Physical Size and Numerical Alliances in Third-Party Judgments of Dominance.

PubMed

Lourenco, Stella F; Bonny, Justin W; Schwartz, Bari L

2015-01-01

Humans and other social animals interact regularly with conspecifics as part of affiliative groups. Many of these interactions are cooperative, but many others involve competition for resources. Competitive exchanges are often resolved on the basis of dominance relationships, with higher-ranking individuals receiving priority access to desired goods. Although no single cue can establish permanent dominance relationships, there are some cues that predict dominance fairly reliably across context. In the present study, we focused on two such cues relevant to competing groups: (i) the physical sizes of individual members, and (ii) their relative number. Using a social competition task, we examined whether, and how, preschool-aged children and adults used differences in physical size and numerical alliances to judge which of two groups should prevail in a competitive exchange for a desired object. These judgments were made when either physical size or number differed between groups (Experiment 1), and when both were available but pitted against each other (Experiments 1 and 2). Our findings revealed that by 3 years of age, humans use multiple perceptible cues in third-party judgments of dominance. Our findings also revealed that 3-year-olds, like adults, weighted these cues flexibly according to the additional factor of overall group size, with the physical sizes of individuals determining dominance in smaller groups (e.g., 2 vs. 4 characters) and the relative number of individuals determining dominance in larger groups (e.g., 15 vs. 30 characters). Taken together, our findings suggest that a basic formula for determining dominance in competitive exchanges, which weights physical size of individuals and numerical alliances as a function of overall group size, is available to young children and appears fairly stable through to adulthood.

Semantic mapping reveals distinct patterns in descriptions of social relations in adults with autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Luo, Sean X; Shinall, Jacqueline A; Peterson, Bradley S; Gerber, Andrew J

2016-08-01

Adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may describe other individuals differently compared with typical adults. In this study, we first asked participants to describe closely related individuals such as parents and close friends with 10 positive and 10 negative characteristics. We then used standard natural language processing methods to digitize and visualize these descriptions. The complex patterns of these descriptive sentences exhibited a difference in semantic space between individuals with ASD and control participants. Machine learning algorithms were able to automatically detect and discriminate between these two groups. Furthermore, we showed that these descriptive sentences from adults with ASD exhibited fewer connections as defined by word-word co-occurrences in descriptions, and these connections in words formed a less "small-world" like network. Autism Res 2016, 9: 846-853. © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Individual differences in degree of handedness and somesthetic asymmetry predict individual differences in left-right confusion.

PubMed

Vingerhoets, Guy; Sarrechia, Iemke

2009-12-01

Confusion or frustration connected with daily demands involving left-right discrimination is a common observation even in neurologically intact adults. We aimed to test the hypothesis that the degree of left-right confusion is associated with bodily asymmetry. Sixty-two female volunteers performed a left-right decision task that required fast responses to visually presented directional words (left, right, up, down) or pictograms (<--, -->, upward arrow, downward arrow). Participants also performed several tests that measured asymmetry of handedness, grip strength, and tactile sensitivity, and completed self-reports on left-right confusion and perceived bodily asymmetry. Results showed significant correlations between left-right confusion and the degree of handedness and asymmetry in tactile sensitivity. These results suggest that individuals who reveal a stronger internal bias between both sides of the body show less left-right confusion than people with less salient bodily asymmetry.

Trends and individual differences in response to short-haul flight operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chidester, Thomas R.

1990-01-01

A survey of airline pilots was undertaken to determine normative patterns and individual differences in mood and sleep during short-haul flight operations. The results revealed that over the course of a typical 2-d trip, pilots experience a decline in positive mood, or activity, and an increase in negative mood, or tension. On layovers, pilots report experiencing sleep of shorter duration and poorer quality than at home. These patterns are very similar to those reported by Gander and Graeber (1987) and by Gander et al. (1988), using high-fidelity sleep and activity monitoring equipment. Examination of the impact of two personality dimensions extracted from the Jenkins Activity Survey measure of the Type A personality, Achievement Striving and Impatience/Irritability, suggested that Impatience/Irritability may serve as a marker of individuals most likely to experience health-related problems on trips. Achievement Striving may serve as a predictor of performance in crew settings.

Trends and individual differences in response to short-haul fight operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chidester, T. R.

1990-01-01

A survey of airline pilots was undertaken to determine normative patterns and individual differences in mood and sleep during short-haul flight operations. The results revealed that over the course of a typical 2-d trip, pilots experience a decline in positive mood, or activity, and an increase in negative mood, or tension. On layovers, pilots report experiencing sleep of shorter duration and poorer quality than at home. These patterns are very similar to those reported by Gander and Graeber and by Gander et al. using high-fidelity sleep and activity monitoring equipment. Examination of the impact of two personality dimensions extracted from the Jenkins Activity Survey measure of the Type A personality, Achievement Striving and Impatience/Irritability, suggested that Impatience/Irritability may serve as a marker of individuals most likely to experience health-related problems on trips. Achievement Striving may serve as a predictor of performance in crew settings.

A high-quality human reference panel reveals the complexity and distribution of genomic structural variants.

PubMed

Hehir-Kwa, Jayne Y; Marschall, Tobias; Kloosterman, Wigard P; Francioli, Laurent C; Baaijens, Jasmijn A; Dijkstra, Louis J; Abdellaoui, Abdel; Koval, Vyacheslav; Thung, Djie Tjwan; Wardenaar, René; Renkens, Ivo; Coe, Bradley P; Deelen, Patrick; de Ligt, Joep; Lameijer, Eric-Wubbo; van Dijk, Freerk; Hormozdiari, Fereydoun; Uitterlinden, André G; van Duijn, Cornelia M; Eichler, Evan E; de Bakker, Paul I W; Swertz, Morris A; Wijmenga, Cisca; van Ommen, Gert-Jan B; Slagboom, P Eline; Boomsma, Dorret I; Schönhuth, Alexander; Ye, Kai; Guryev, Victor

2016-10-06

Structural variation (SV) represents a major source of differences between individual human genomes and has been linked to disease phenotypes. However, the majority of studies provide neither a global view of the full spectrum of these variants nor integrate them into reference panels of genetic variation. Here, we analyse whole genome sequencing data of 769 individuals from 250 Dutch families, and provide a haplotype-resolved map of 1.9 million genome variants across 9 different variant classes, including novel forms of complex indels, and retrotransposition-mediated insertions of mobile elements and processed RNAs. A large proportion are previously under reported variants sized between 21 and 100 bp. We detect 4 megabases of novel sequence, encoding 11 new transcripts. Finally, we show 191 known, trait-associated SNPs to be in strong linkage disequilibrium with SVs and demonstrate that our panel facilitates accurate imputation of SVs in unrelated individuals.

Interpreting "Personality" Taxonomies: Why Previous Models Cannot Capture Individual-Specific Experiencing, Behaviour, Functioning and Development. Major Taxonomic Tasks Still Lay Ahead.

PubMed

Uher, Jana

2015-12-01

As science seeks to make generalisations, a science of individual peculiarities encounters intricate challenges. This article explores these challenges by applying the Transdisciplinary Philosophy-of-Science Paradigm for Research on Individuals (TPS-Paradigm) and by exploring taxonomic "personality" research as an example. Analyses of researchers' interpretations of the taxonomic "personality" models, constructs and data that have been generated in the field reveal widespread erroneous assumptions about the abilities of previous methodologies to appropriately represent individual-specificity in the targeted phenomena. These assumptions, rooted in everyday thinking, fail to consider that individual-specificity and others' minds cannot be directly perceived, that abstract descriptions cannot serve as causal explanations, that between-individual structures cannot be isomorphic to within-individual structures, and that knowledge of compositional structures cannot explain the process structures of their functioning and development. These erroneous assumptions and serious methodological deficiencies in widely used standardised questionnaires have effectively prevented psychologists from establishing taxonomies that can comprehensively model individual-specificity in most of the kinds of phenomena explored as "personality", especially in experiencing and behaviour and in individuals' functioning and development. Contrary to previous assumptions, it is not universal models but rather different kinds of taxonomic models that are required for each of the different kinds of phenomena, variations and structures that are commonly conceived of as "personality". Consequently, to comprehensively explore individual-specificity, researchers have to apply a portfolio of complementary methodologies and develop different kinds of taxonomies, most of which have yet to be developed. Closing, the article derives some meta-desiderata for future research on individuals' "personality".

Blood-Gene Expression Reveals Reduced Circadian Rhythmicity in Individuals Resistant to Sleep Deprivation

PubMed Central

Arnardottir, Erna S.; Nikonova, Elena V.; Shockley, Keith R.; Podtelezhnikov, Alexei A.; Anafi, Ron C.; Tanis, Keith Q.; Maislin, Greg; Stone, David J.; Renger, John J.; Winrow, Christopher J.; Pack, Allan I.

2014-01-01

Study Objectives: To address whether changes in gene expression in blood cells with sleep loss are different in individuals resistant and sensitive to sleep deprivation. Design: Blood draws every 4 h during a 3-day study: 24-h normal baseline, 38 h of continuous wakefulness and subsequent recovery sleep, for a total of 19 time-points per subject, with every 2-h psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) assessment when awake. Setting: Sleep laboratory. Participants: Fourteen subjects who were previously identified as behaviorally resistant (n = 7) or sensitive (n = 7) to sleep deprivation by PVT. Intervention: Thirty-eight hours of continuous wakefulness. Measurements and Results: We found 4,481 unique genes with a significant 24-h diurnal rhythm during a normal sleep-wake cycle in blood (false discovery rate [FDR] < 5%). Biological pathways were enriched for biosynthetic processes during sleep. After accounting for circadian effects, two genes (SREBF1 and CPT1A, both involved in lipid metabolism) exhibited small, but significant, linear changes in expression with the duration of sleep deprivation (FDR < 5%). The main change with sleep deprivation was a reduction in the amplitude of the diurnal rhythm of expression of normally cycling probe sets. This reduction was noticeably higher in behaviorally resistant subjects than sensitive subjects, at any given P value. Furthermore, blood cell type enrichment analysis showed that the expression pattern difference between sensitive and resistant subjects is mainly found in cells of myeloid origin, such as monocytes. Conclusion: Individual differences in behavioral effects of sleep deprivation are associated with differences in diurnal amplitude of gene expression for genes that show circadian rhythmicity. Citation: Arnardottir ES, Nikonova EV, Shockley KR, Podtelezhnikov AA, Anafi RC, Tanis KQ, Maislin G, Stone DJ, Renger JJ, Winrow CJ, Pack AI. Blood-gene expression reveals reduced circadian rhythmicity in individuals resistant to sleep deprivation. SLEEP 2014;37(10):1589-1600. PMID:25197809

Individualism, acceptance and differentiation as attitude traits in the public's response to vaccination.

PubMed

Velan, Baruch; Boyko, Valentina; Lerner-Geva, Liat; Ziv, Arnona; Yagar, Yaakov; Kaplan, Giora

2012-09-01

The attitude of the general public to vaccination was evaluated through a survey conducted on a representative sample of the Israeli population (n = 2,018), in which interviewees were requested to express their standpoints regarding five different vaccination programs. These included: pandemic influenza vaccination, seasonal influenza vaccination, travel vaccines, Human Papilloma Virus vaccine and childhood vaccinations. Analysis of the responses reveal three major attitude traits: a) acceptance, characterized by the opinion that targets should be vaccinated; b) individualism, characterized by the opinion that vaccination should be left to personal choice; and c) differentiation, characterized by the tendency to express different attitudes when addressing different vaccination programs. Interestingly, direct opposition to vaccination was found to be a minor attitude trait in this survey. Groups within the population could be defined according to their tendency to assume these different attitudes as Acceptors, Judicious-acceptors, Differentiators, Soft-individualists, and Hard-individualists. These groups expressed different standpoints on all five vaccination programs as well as on other health recommendations, such as screening for early detection of cancer. Attitude traits could be also correlated, to a certain extent, with actual compliance with vaccination programs. Interestingly, attitudes to vaccination were not correlated with social profiles related to income or education, although younger individuals exhibited higher degrees of individualism and differentiation. Taken together, all this is in accordance with the current social settings, underlining the individual's tendency for critical evaluation and self-stirring. This should be taken into consideration by health authorities involved in vaccination programs.

Whole Exome Sequencing Reveals a Monogenic Cause of Disease in ≈43% of 35 Families With Midaortic Syndrome.

PubMed

Warejko, Jillian K; Schueler, Markus; Vivante, Asaf; Tan, Weizhen; Daga, Ankana; Lawson, Jennifer A; Braun, Daniela A; Shril, Shirlee; Amann, Kassaundra; Somers, Michael J G; Rodig, Nancy M; Baum, Michelle A; Daouk, Ghaleb; Traum, Avram Z; Kim, Heung Bae; Vakili, Khashayar; Porras, Diego; Lock, James; Rivkin, Michael J; Chaudry, Gulraiz; Smoot, Leslie B; Singh, Michael N; Smith, Edward R; Mane, Shrikant M; Lifton, Richard P; Stein, Deborah R; Ferguson, Michael A; Hildebrandt, Friedhelm

2018-04-01

Midaortic syndrome (MAS) is a rare cause of severe childhood hypertension characterized by narrowing of the abdominal aorta in children and is associated with extensive vascular disease. It may occur as part of a genetic syndrome, such as neurofibromatosis, or as consequence of a pathological inflammatory disease. However, most cases are considered idiopathic. We hypothesized that in a high percentage of these patients, a monogenic cause of disease may be detected by evaluating whole exome sequencing data for mutations in 1 of 38 candidate genes previously described to cause vasculopathy. We studied a cohort of 36 individuals from 35 different families with MAS by exome sequencing. In 15 of 35 families (42.9%), we detected likely causal dominant mutations. In 15 of 35 (42.9%) families with MAS, whole exome sequencing revealed a mutation in one of the genes previously associated with vascular disease ( NF1 , JAG1 , ELN , GATA6 , and RNF213 ). Ten of the 15 mutations have not previously been reported. This is the first report of ELN , RNF213 , or GATA6 mutations in individuals with MAS. Mutations were detected in NF1 (6/15 families), JAG1 (4/15 families), ELN (3/15 families), and one family each for GATA6 and RNF213 Eight individuals had syndromic disease and 7 individuals had isolated MAS. Whole exome sequencing can provide conclusive molecular genetic diagnosis in a high fraction of individuals with syndromic or isolated MAS. Establishing an etiologic diagnosis may reveal genotype/phenotype correlations for MAS in the future and should, therefore, be performed routinely in MAS. © 2018 American Heart Association, Inc.

Stated and revealed inequality aversion in three subject pools

PubMed Central

Beranek, Benjamin; Cubitt, Robin; Gächter, Simon

2016-01-01

This paper reports data from three subject pools (n=717 subjects) using techniques based on those of Loewenstein, et al. (1989) and Blanco, et al. (2011) to obtain parameters, respectively, of stated and revealed inequality aversion. We provide a replication opportunity for those papers, with two innovations: (i) a design which allows stated and revealed preferences to be compared at the individual level; (ii) assessment of robustness of findings across subjects from a UK university, a Turkish university and Amazon Mechanical Turk. Our findings on stated aversion to inequality are qualitatively similar to those of Loewenstein, et al. in each of our subject pools, whereas there are notable differences between some of our findings on revealed preference and those of Blanco, et al. We find that revealed advantageous inequality aversion is often stronger than revealed dis-advantageous inequality aversion. In most subject pools, we find some (weak) correlation between corresponding parameters of stated and revealed inequality aversion. PMID:27069847

Brain potentials to native phoneme discrimination reveal the origin of individual differences in learning the sounds of a second language

PubMed Central

Díaz, Begoña; Baus, Cristina; Escera, Carles; Costa, Albert; Sebastián-Gallés, Núria

2008-01-01

Human beings differ in their ability to master the sounds of their second language (L2). Phonetic training studies have proposed that differences in phonetic learning stem from differences in psychoacoustic abilities rather than speech-specific capabilities. We aimed at finding the origin of individual differences in L2 phonetic acquisition in natural learning contexts. We consider two alternative explanations: a general psychoacoustic origin vs. a speech-specific one. For this purpose, event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from two groups of early, proficient Spanish-Catalan bilinguals who differed in their mastery of the Catalan (L2) phonetic contrast /e-ε/. Brain activity in response to acoustic change detection was recorded in three different conditions involving tones of different length (duration condition), frequency (frequency condition), and presentation order (pattern condition). In addition, neural correlates of speech change detection were also assessed for both native (/o/-/e/) and nonnative (/o/-/ö/) phonetic contrasts (speech condition). Participants' discrimination accuracy, reflected electrically as a mismatch negativity (MMN), was similar between the two groups of participants in the three acoustic conditions. Conversely, the MMN was reduced in poor perceivers (PP) when they were presented with speech sounds. Therefore, our results support a speech-specific origin of individual variability in L2 phonetic mastery. PMID:18852470

Limb symmetry during double-leg squats and single-leg squats on land and in water in adults with long-standing unilateral anterior knee pain; a cross sectional study.

PubMed

Severin, Anna C; Burkett, Brendan J; McKean, Mark R; Wiegand, Aaron N; Sayers, Mark G L

2017-01-01

The presence of pain during movement typically results in changes in technique. However, the physical properties of water, such as flotation, means that water-based exercise may not only reduce compensatory movement patterns but also allow pain sufferers to complete exercises that they are unable to perform on land. The purpose of this study was to assess bilateral kinematics during double-leg squats and single-leg squats on land and in water in individuals with unilateral anterior knee pain. A secondary aim was to quantify bilateral asymmetry in both environments in affected and unaffected individuals using a symmetry index. Twenty individuals with unilateral knee pain and twenty healthy, matched controls performed body weight double- and single-leg squats in both environments while inertial sensors (100 Hz) recorded trunk and lower body kinematics. Repeated-measures statistics tested for environmental effects on movement depths and peak angles within the anterior knee pain group. Differences in their inter-limb symmetry in each environments was compared to the control group using analysis of variance tests. Water immersion allowed for greater movement depths during both exercises (double-leg squat: +7 cm, p  = 0.032, single-leg squat: +9 cm, p  = 0.002) for the knee pain group. The double-leg squat was symmetrical on land but water immersion revealed asymmetries in the lower body frontal plane movements. The single-leg squat revealed decreased hip flexion and frontal plane shank motions on the affected limb in both environments. Water immersion also affected the degree of lower limb asymmetry in both groups, with differences also showing between groups. Individuals with anterior knee pain achieved increased squat depth during both exercises whilst in water. Kinematic differences between the affected and unaffected limbs were often increased in water. Individuals with unilateral anterior knee pain appear to utilise different kinematics in the affected and unaffected limb in both environments.

Behavioral and neuronal determinants of negative reciprocity in the ultimatum game

PubMed Central

Hildebrandt, Andrea; Wilhelm, Oliver; Sommer, Werner

2016-01-01

The rejection of unfair offers in the ultimatum game (UG) indicates negative reciprocity. The model of strong reciprocity claims that negative reciprocity reflects prosociality because the rejecting individual is sacrificing resources in order to punish unfair behavior. However, a recent study found that the rejection rate of unfair offers is linked to assertiveness (status defense model). To pursue the question what drives negative reciprocity, the present study investigated individual differences in the rejection of unfair offers along with their behavioral and neuronal determinants. We measured fairness preferences and event-related potentials (ERP) in 200 healthy participants playing a computerized version of the UG with pictures of unfair and fair proposers. Structural equation modeling (SEM) on the behavioral data corroborated both the strong reciprocity and the status defense models of human cooperation: Not only more prosocial but also more assertive individuals were more likely to show negative reciprocity by rejecting unfair offers. Experimental ERP results confirmed the feedback negativity (FN) as a neural signature of fairness processing. Multilevel SEM of brain–behavior relationships revealed that negative reciprocity was significantly associated with individual differences in FN amplitudes in response to proposers. Our results confirm stable individual differences in fairness processing at the behavioral and neuronal level. PMID:27261490

The embodiment of emotion: language use during the feeling of social emotions predicts cortical somatosensory activity.

PubMed

Saxbe, Darby E; Yang, Xiao-Fei; Borofsky, Larissa A; Immordino-Yang, Mary Helen

2013-10-01

Complex social emotions involve both abstract cognitions and bodily sensations, and individuals may differ on their relative reliance on these. We hypothesized that individuals' descriptions of their feelings during a semi-structured emotion induction interview would reveal two distinct psychological styles-a more abstract, cognitive style and a more body-based, affective style-and that these would be associated with somatosensory neural activity. We examined 28 participants' open-ended verbal responses to admiration- and compassion-provoking narratives in an interview and BOLD activity to the same narratives during subsequent functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. Consistent with hypotheses, individuals' affective and cognitive word use were stable across emotion conditions, negatively correlated and unrelated to reported emotion strength in the scanner. Greater use of affective relative to cognitive words predicted more activation in SI, SII, middle anterior cingulate cortex and insula during emotion trials. The results suggest that individuals' verbal descriptions of their feelings reflect differential recruitment of neural regions supporting physical body awareness. Although somatosensation has long been recognized as an important component of emotion processing, these results offer 'proof of concept' that individual differences in open-ended speech reflect different processing styles at the neurobiological level. This study also demonstrates SI involvement during social emotional experience.

Nanoparticle-based flow virometry for the analysis of individual virions

PubMed Central

Arakelyan, Anush; Fitzgerald, Wendy; Margolis, Leonid; Grivel, Jean-Charles

2013-01-01

While flow cytometry has been used to analyze the antigenic composition of individual cells, the antigenic makeup of viral particles is still characterized predominantly in bulk. Here, we describe a technology, “flow virometry,” that can be used for antigen detection on individual virions. The technology is based on binding magnetic nanoparticles to virions, staining the virions with monoclonal antibodies, separating the formed complexes with magnetic columns, and characterizing them with flow cytometers. We used this technology to study the distribution of two antigens (HLA-DR and LFA-1) that HIV-1 acquires from infected cells among individual HIV-1 virions. Flow virometry revealed that the antigenic makeup of virions from a single preparation is heterogeneous. This heterogeneity could not be detected with bulk analysis of viruses. Moreover, in two preparations of the same HIV-1 produced by different cells, the distribution of antigens among virions was different. In contrast, HIV-1 of two different HIV-1 genotypes replicating in the same cells became somewhat antigenically similar. This nanotechnology allows the study of virions in bodily fluids without virus propagation and in principle is not restricted to the analysis of HIV, but can be applied to the analysis of the individual surface antigenic makeup of any virus. PMID:23925291

Asymmetry in auditory and spatial attention span in normal elderly genetically at risk for Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Jacobson, Mark W; Delis, Dean C; Bondi, Mark W; Salmon, David P

2005-02-01

Some studies of elderly individuals with the ApoE-e4 genotype noted subtle deficits on tests of attention such as the WAIS-R Digit Span subtest, but these findings have not been consistently reported. One possible explanation for the inconsistent results could be the presence of subgroups of e4+ individuals with asymmetric cognitive profiles (i.e., significant discrepancies between verbal and visuospatial skills). Comparing genotype groups with individual, modality-specific tests might obscure subtle differences between verbal and visuospatial attention in these asymmetric subgroups. In this study, we administered the WAIS-R Digit Span and WMS-R Visual Memory Span subtests to 21 nondemented elderly e4+ individuals and 21 elderly e4- individuals matched on age, education, and overall cognitive ability. We hypothesized that a) the e4+ group would show a higher incidence of asymmetric cognitive profiles when comparing Digit Span/Visual Memory Span performance relative to the e4- group; and (b) an analysis of individual test performance would fail to reveal differences between the two subject groups. Although the groups' performances were comparable on the individual attention span tests, the e4+ group showed a significantly larger discrepancy between digit span and spatial span scores compared to the e4- group. These findings suggest that contrast measures of modality-specific attentional skills may be more sensitive to subtle group differences in at-risk groups, even when the groups do not differ on individual comparisons of standardized test means. The increased discrepancy between verbal and visuospatial attention may reflect the presence of "subgroups" within the ApoE-e4 group that are qualitatively similar to asymmetric subgroups commonly associated with the earliest stages of AD.

ERP evidence suggests executive dysfunction in ecstasy polydrug users.

PubMed

Roberts, C A; Fairclough, S H; Fisk, J E; Tames, F; Montgomery, C

2013-08-01

Deficits in executive functions such as access to semantic/long-term memory have been shown in ecstasy users in previous research. Equally, there have been many reports of equivocal findings in this area. The current study sought to further investigate behavioural and electro-physiological measures of this executive function in ecstasy users. Twenty ecstasy-polydrug users, 20 non-ecstasy-polydrug users and 20 drug-naïve controls were recruited. Participants completed background questionnaires about their drug use, sleep quality, fluid intelligence and mood state. Each individual also completed a semantic retrieval task whilst 64 channel Electroencephalography (EEG) measures were recorded. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed no between-group differences in behavioural performance on the task. Mixed ANOVA on event-related potential (ERP) components P2, N2 and P3 revealed significant between-group differences in the N2 component. Subsequent exploratory univariate ANOVAs on the N2 component revealed marginally significant between-group differences, generally showing greater negativity at occipito-parietal electrodes in ecstasy users compared to drug-naïve controls. Despite absence of behavioural differences, differences in N2 magnitude are evidence of abnormal executive functioning in ecstasy-polydrug users.

Beliefs About Behavior Account for Age Differences in the Correspondence Bias

PubMed Central

Blanchard-Fields, Fredda

2011-01-01

Objectives. Older adults tend to exhibit the correspondence bias to a greater extent than young adults. The current study examined whether these age differences are a function of the degree to which an individual subscribes to a lay theory of attitude–behavior consistency. Methods. First, participants responded to questions regarding their beliefs about attitude–behavior consistency. Approximately 2 weeks later, 144 (67 young adults and 77 older adults) participants completed the correspondence bias task. Results. As expected, older adults were more biased than young adults. Analyses revealed that the degree to which an individual holds attitude–behavior consistency beliefs in the dishonesty domain accounted for age-related differences in the correspondence bias. Discussion. The results of this study suggest that age differences in the correspondence bias task are in part driven by older adults holding stronger attitude–behavior consistency beliefs than young adults. PMID:21071624

The ticking time bomb: Using eye-tracking methodology to capture attentional processing during gradual time constraints.

PubMed

Franco-Watkins, Ana M; Davis, Matthew E; Johnson, Joseph G

2016-11-01

Many decisions are made under suboptimal circumstances, such as time constraints. We examined how different experiences of time constraints affected decision strategies on a probabilistic inference task and whether individual differences in working memory accounted for complex strategy use across different levels of time. To examine information search and attentional processing, we used an interactive eye-tracking paradigm where task information was occluded and only revealed by an eye fixation to a given cell. Our results indicate that although participants change search strategies during the most restricted times, the occurrence of the shift in strategies depends both on how the constraints are applied as well as individual differences in working memory. This suggests that, in situations that require making decisions under time constraints, one can influence performance by being sensitive to working memory and, potentially, by acclimating people to the task time gradually.

What Can Metaphors Tell Us about Personality?

PubMed Central

Fetterman, Adam K.; Robinson, Michael D.

2013-01-01

Theorists propose that metaphors are not mere figures of speech, but can actively shape one’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Social psychologists have supported this claim over the past 10 years. Personality psychologists, though, have only recently begun investigating how metaphors can inform our understanding of what makes us different from each other. This review focuses on projects demonstrating links between metaphor and personality. As an example, people have been asked whether they locate the self in the head or the heart. Head people are (more) rational and cold, whereas heart people are emotional and warm. In addition, an individual differences approach can reveal what it is that metaphoric thinking does to and for people. Overall, individual difference approaches to common metaphors are shown to be informative not only in understanding how people differ from each other but also in extending the metaphor literature. PMID:25328559

Metagenomic analysis of the microbiota in the highly compartmented hindguts of six wood- or soil-feeding higher termites.

PubMed

Rossmassler, Karen; Dietrich, Carsten; Thompson, Claire; Mikaelyan, Aram; Nonoh, James O; Scheffrahn, Rudolf H; Sillam-Dussès, David; Brune, Andreas

2015-11-26

Termites are important contributors to carbon and nitrogen cycling in tropical ecosystems. Higher termites digest lignocellulose in various stages of humification with the help of an entirely prokaryotic microbiota housed in their compartmented intestinal tract. Previous studies revealed fundamental differences in community structure between compartments, but the functional roles of individual lineages in symbiotic digestion are mostly unknown. Here, we conducted a highly resolved analysis of the gut microbiota in six species of higher termites that feed on plant material at different levels of humification. Combining amplicon sequencing and metagenomics, we assessed similarities in community structure and functional potential between the major hindgut compartments (P1, P3, and P4). Cluster analysis of the relative abundances of orthologous gene clusters (COGs) revealed high similarities among wood- and litter-feeding termites and strong differences to humivorous species. However, abundance estimates of bacterial phyla based on 16S rRNA genes greatly differed from those based on protein-coding genes. Community structure and functional potential of the microbiota in individual gut compartments are clearly driven by the digestive strategy of the host. The metagenomics libraries obtained in this study provide the basis for future studies that elucidate the fundamental differences in the symbiont-mediated breakdown of lignocellulose and humus by termites of different feeding groups. The high proportion of uncultured bacterial lineages in all samples calls for a reference-independent approach for the correct taxonomic assignment of protein-coding genes.

Anisotropic light scattering of individual sickle red blood cells.

PubMed

Kim, Youngchan; Higgins, John M; Dasari, Ramachandra R; Suresh, Subra; Park, YongKeun

2012-04-01

We present the anisotropic light scattering of individual red blood cells (RBCs) from a patient with sickle cell disease (SCD). To measure light scattering spectra along two independent axes of elongated-shaped sickle RBCs with arbitrary orientation, we introduce the anisotropic Fourier transform light scattering (aFTLS) technique and measured both the static and dynamic anisotropic light scattering. We observed strong anisotropy in light scattering patterns of elongated-shaped sickle RBCs along its major axes using static aFTLS. Dynamic aFTLS analysis reveals the significantly altered biophysical properties in individual sickle RBCs. These results provide evidence that effective viscosity and elasticity of sickle RBCs are significantly different from those of the healthy RBCs.

Methods of identification employing antibody profiles

DOEpatents

Francoeur, Ann-Michele

1993-12-14

An identification method, applicable to the identification of animals or inanimate objects, is described. The method takes advantage of the set of individual-specific antibodies that are part of the unique antibody repertoire present in animals, by reacting an effective amount of such antibodies with a particular panel, of n-dimensional array (where n is typically one or two) consisting of an effective amount of many different antigens (typically greater than one thousand), to give antibody-antigen complexes. The profile or pattern formed by the antigen-antibody complexes, termed an antibody fingerprint, when revealed by an effective amount of an appropriate detector molecule, is uniquely representative of a particular individual. The method can similarly be used to distinguish genetically, or otherwise similar individuals, or their body parts containing individual-specific antibodies.

How musical are music video game players?

PubMed

Pasinski, Amanda C; Hannon, Erin E; Snyder, Joel S

2016-10-01

Numerous studies have shown that formal musical training is associated with sensory, motor, and cognitive advantages in individuals of various ages. However, the nature of the observed differences between musicians and nonmusicians is poorly understood, and little is known about the listening skills of individuals who engage in alternative types of everyday musical activities. Here, we show that people who have frequently played music video games outperform nonmusicians controls on a battery of music perception tests. These findings reveal that enhanced musical aptitude can be found among individuals who play music video games, raising the possibility that music video games could potentially enhance music perception skills in individuals across a broad spectrum of society who are otherwise unable to invest the time and/or money required to learn a musical instrument.

Mental health literacy and obsessive--compulsive personality disorder.

PubMed

Koutoufa, Iakovina; Furnham, Adrian

2014-01-30

An opportunistic sample of 342 participants completed a vignette identification task that required them to name the possible psychological problem of an individual described in vignettes describing people with depression, schizophrenia, OCD and OCPD. Participants rated the degree to which they believed the individual experienced distress, they felt sympathetic towards the described individual, and the degree to which they believed the individual was well-adjusted in the community. There were very low recognition rates of OCPD, with participants more likely to identify depression, schizophrenia and OCD. Analysis of distress, sympathy and adjustment ratings also revealed significant differences between the disorders. The findings highlight the necessity of greater mental health awareness and the importance of psycho-education in order to increase successful treatment seeking of OCPD patients. © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genetic Background and Climatic Droplet Keratopathy Incidence in a Mapuche Population from Argentina

PubMed Central

Schurr, Theodore G.; Dulik, Matthew C.; Cafaro, Thamara A.; Suarez, María F.

2013-01-01

Purpose To determine whether the incidence of and susceptibility to climatic droplet keratopathy (CDK), an acquired, often bilateral degenerative corneal disease, is influenced by the genetic background of the individuals who exhibit the disorder. Methods To determine whether the disease expression was influenced by the genetic ancestry of CDK cases in native Mapuche of the northwest area of Patagonia in Argentina, we examined mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome variation in 53 unrelated individuals. Twenty-nine of them were part of the CDK (patient) population, while 24 were part of the control group. The analysis revealed the maternal and paternal lineages that were present in the two study groups. Results This analysis demonstrated that nearly all persons had a Native American mtDNA background, whereas 50% of the CDK group and 37% of the control group had Native American paternal ancestry, respectively. There was no significant difference in the frequencies of mtDNA haplogroups between the CDK patient and control groups. Although the Y-chromosome data revealed differences in specific haplogroup frequencies between these two groups, there was no statistically significant relationship between individual paternal genetic backgrounds and the incidence or stage of disease. Conclusions These results indicate a lack of correlation between genetic ancestry as represented by haploid genetic systems and the incidence of CDK in Mapuche populations. In addition, the mtDNA appears to play less of a role in CDK expression than for other complex diseases linked to bioenergetic processes. However, further analysis of the mtDNA genome sequence and other genes involved in corneal function may reveal the more precise role that mitochondria play in the expression of CDK. PMID:24040292

Genetic background and climatic droplet keratopathy incidence in a Mapuche population from Argentina.

PubMed

Schurr, Theodore G; Dulik, Matthew C; Cafaro, Thamara A; Suarez, María F; Urrets-Zavalia, Julio A; Serra, Horacio M

2013-01-01

To determine whether the incidence of and susceptibility to climatic droplet keratopathy (CDK), an acquired, often bilateral degenerative corneal disease, is influenced by the genetic background of the individuals who exhibit the disorder. To determine whether the disease expression was influenced by the genetic ancestry of CDK cases in native Mapuche of the northwest area of Patagonia in Argentina, we examined mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome variation in 53 unrelated individuals. Twenty-nine of them were part of the CDK (patient) population, while 24 were part of the control group. The analysis revealed the maternal and paternal lineages that were present in the two study groups. This analysis demonstrated that nearly all persons had a Native American mtDNA background, whereas 50% of the CDK group and 37% of the control group had Native American paternal ancestry, respectively. There was no significant difference in the frequencies of mtDNA haplogroups between the CDK patient and control groups. Although the Y-chromosome data revealed differences in specific haplogroup frequencies between these two groups, there was no statistically significant relationship between individual paternal genetic backgrounds and the incidence or stage of disease. These results indicate a lack of correlation between genetic ancestry as represented by haploid genetic systems and the incidence of CDK in Mapuche populations. In addition, the mtDNA appears to play less of a role in CDK expression than for other complex diseases linked to bioenergetic processes. However, further analysis of the mtDNA genome sequence and other genes involved in corneal function may reveal the more precise role that mitochondria play in the expression of CDK.

Impact of human population history on distributions of individual-level genetic distance

PubMed Central

2005-01-01

Summaries of human genomic variation shed light on human evolution and provide a framework for biomedical research. Variation is often summarised in terms of one or a few statistics (eg FST and gene diversity). Now that multilocus genotypes for hundreds of autosomal loci are available for thousands of individuals, new approaches are applicable. Recently, trees of individuals and other clustering approaches have demonstrated the power of an individual-focused analysis. We propose analysing the distributions of genetic distances between individuals. Each distribution, or common ancestry profile (CAP), is unique to an individual, and does not require a priori assignment of individuals to populations. Here, we consider a range of models of population history and, using coalescent simulation, reveal the potential insights gained from a set of CAPs. Information lies in the shapes of individual profiles -- sometimes captured by variance of individual CAPs -- and the variation across profiles. Analysis of short tandem repeat genotype data for over 1,000 individuals from 52 populations is consistent with dramatic differences in population histories across human groups. PMID:15814064

Inferring social status and rich club effects in enterprise communication networks.

PubMed

Dong, Yuxiao; Tang, Jie; Chawla, Nitesh V; Lou, Tiancheng; Yang, Yang; Wang, Bai

2015-01-01

Social status, defined as the relative rank or position that an individual holds in a social hierarchy, is known to be among the most important motivating forces in social behaviors. In this paper, we consider the notion of status from the perspective of a position or title held by a person in an enterprise. We study the intersection of social status and social networks in an enterprise. We study whether enterprise communication logs can help reveal how social interactions and individual status manifest themselves in social networks. To that end, we use two enterprise datasets with three communication channels--voice call, short message, and email--to demonstrate the social-behavioral differences among individuals with different status. We have several interesting findings and based on these findings we also develop a model to predict social status. On the individual level, high-status individuals are more likely to be spanned as structural holes by linking to people in parts of the enterprise networks that are otherwise not well connected to one another. On the community level, the principle of homophily, social balance and clique theory generally indicate a "rich club" maintained by high-status individuals, in the sense that this community is much more connected, balanced and dense. Our model can predict social status of individuals with 93% accuracy.

Working Conditions and Individual Differences Are Weakly Associated with Workaholism: A 2-3-Year Prospective Study of Shift-Working Nurses

PubMed Central

Andreassen, Cecilie S.; Bakker, Arnold B.; Bjorvatn, Bjørn; Moen, Bente E.; Magerøy, Nils; Shimazu, Akihito; Hetland, Jørn; Pallesen, Ståle

2017-01-01

This study focuses on individual differences and the demand-support-control model in relation to workaholism. We hypothesized that unfavorable working conditions (high job demands, low job control/decision latitude, and low social support at work) and individual differences concerning sleep/wake-related variables (high flexibility, high morningness, and low languidity) would be related to workaholism measured 2–3 years later. Survey data stemmed from a prospective cohort of shift-working nurses (N = 1,308). The results showed that social support at work was negatively related to workaholism, whereas job demands were positively related to workaholism. Flexibility in terms of time for working/sleeping was also positively related to workaholism. The analyses further revealed that workaholism was inversely associated with age as well as having a child or having a child move in. Conjointly, the independent variables explained 6.4% of the variance in workaholism, while their relative importance was small overall. After controlling for all other independent variables, high job demands had the strongest relationship (small-to-medium) with workaholism. This implies that less pressure from the external environment to work excessively hard may prevent an increase in workaholic behaviors. Overall, the study adds to our understanding of the relationships between working conditions, individual differences, and workaholism. PMID:29209265

A network of amygdala connections predict individual differences in trait anxiety.

PubMed

Greening, Steven G; Mitchell, Derek G V

2015-12-01

In this study we demonstrate that the pattern of an amygdala-centric network contributes to individual differences in trait anxiety. Individual differences in trait anxiety were predicted using maximum likelihood estimates of amygdala structural connectivity to multiple brain targets derived from diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) and probabilistic tractography on 72 participants. The prediction was performed using a stratified sixfold cross validation procedure using a regularized least square regression model. The analysis revealed a reliable network of regions predicting individual differences in trait anxiety. Higher trait anxiety was associated with stronger connections between the amygdala and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, an area implicated in the generation of emotional reactions, and inferior temporal gyrus and paracentral lobule, areas associated with perceptual and sensory processing. In contrast, higher trait anxiety was associated with weaker connections between amygdala and regions implicated in extinction learning such as medial orbitofrontal cortex, and memory encoding and environmental context recognition, including posterior cingulate cortex and parahippocampal gyrus. Thus, trait anxiety is not only associated with reduced amygdala connectivity with prefrontal areas associated with emotion modulation, but also enhanced connectivity with sensory areas. This work provides novel anatomical insight into potential mechanisms behind information processing biases observed in disorders of emotion. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Acoustic Structure and Contextual Use of Calls by Captive Male and Female Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus)

PubMed Central

Smirnova, Darya S.; Demina, Tatyana S.; Volodina, Elena V.

2016-01-01

The vocal repertoire of captive cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) and the specific role of meow vocalizations in communication of this species attract research interest about two dozen years. Here, we expand this research focus for the contextual use of call types, sex differences and individual differences at short and long terms. During 457 trials of acoustic recordings, we collected calls (n = 8120) and data on their contextual use for 13 adult cheetahs (6 males and 7 females) in four Russian zoos. The cheetah vocal repertoire comprised 7 call types produced in 8 behavioural contexts. Context-specific call types (chirr, growl, howl and hiss) were related to courting behaviour (chirr) or to aggressive behaviour (growl, howl and hiss). Other call types (chirp, purr and meow) were not context-specific. The values of acoustic variables differed between call types. The meow was the most often call type. Discriminant function analysis revealed a high potential of meows to encode individual identity and sex at short terms, however, the vocal individuality was unstable over years. We discuss the contextual use and acoustic variables of call types, the ratios of individual and sex differences in calls and the pathways of vocal ontogeny in the cheetah with relevant data on vocalization of other animals. PMID:27362643

Acoustic Structure and Contextual Use of Calls by Captive Male and Female Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus).

PubMed

Smirnova, Darya S; Volodin, Ilya A; Demina, Tatyana S; Volodina, Elena V

2016-01-01

The vocal repertoire of captive cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) and the specific role of meow vocalizations in communication of this species attract research interest about two dozen years. Here, we expand this research focus for the contextual use of call types, sex differences and individual differences at short and long terms. During 457 trials of acoustic recordings, we collected calls (n = 8120) and data on their contextual use for 13 adult cheetahs (6 males and 7 females) in four Russian zoos. The cheetah vocal repertoire comprised 7 call types produced in 8 behavioural contexts. Context-specific call types (chirr, growl, howl and hiss) were related to courting behaviour (chirr) or to aggressive behaviour (growl, howl and hiss). Other call types (chirp, purr and meow) were not context-specific. The values of acoustic variables differed between call types. The meow was the most often call type. Discriminant function analysis revealed a high potential of meows to encode individual identity and sex at short terms, however, the vocal individuality was unstable over years. We discuss the contextual use and acoustic variables of call types, the ratios of individual and sex differences in calls and the pathways of vocal ontogeny in the cheetah with relevant data on vocalization of other animals.

Evidence for right-hand feeding biases in a left-handed population.

PubMed

Flindall, Jason W; Stone, Kayla D; Gonzalez, Claudia L R

2015-05-01

We have recently shown that actions with similar kinematic requirements, but different end-state goals may be supported by distinct neural networks. Specifically, we demonstrated that when right-handed individuals reach-to-grasp food items with intent to eat, they produce smaller maximum grip apertures (MGAs) than when they grasp the same item with intent to place it in a location near the mouth. This effect was restricted to right-handed movements; left-handed movements showed no difference between tasks. The current study investigates whether (and to which side) the effect may be lateralized in left-handed individuals. Twenty-one self-identified left-handed participants grasped food items of three different sizes while grasp kinematics were captured via an Optotrak Certus motion capture array. A main effect of task was identified wherein the grasp-to-eat action generated significantly smaller MGAs than did the grasp-to-place action. Further analysis revealed that similar to the findings in right-handed individuals, this effect was significant only during right-handed movements. Upon further inspection however, we found individual differences in the magnitude and direction of the observed lateralization. These results underscore the evolutionary significance of the grasp-to-eat movement in producing population-level right-handedness in humans as well as highlighting the heterogeneity of the left-handed population.

Employing Augmented-Reality-Embedded Instruction to Disperse the Imparities of Individual Differences in Earth Science Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Cheng-ping; Wang, Chang-Hwa

2015-12-01

Studies have proven that merging hands-on and online learning can result in an enhanced experience in learning science. In contrast to traditional online learning, multiple in-classroom activities may be involved in an augmented-reality (AR)-embedded e-learning process and thus could reduce the effects of individual differences. Using a three-stage AR-embedded instructional process, we conducted an experiment to investigate the influences of individual differences on learning earth science phenomena of "day, night, and seasons" for junior highs. The mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was employed. In the quantitative phase, factors of learning styles and ICT competences were examined alongside with the overall learning achievement. Independent t tests and ANCOVAs were employed to achieve inferential statistics. The results showed that overall learning achievement was significant for the AR-embedded instruction. Nevertheless, neither of the two learner factors exhibited significant effect on learning achievement. In the qualitative phase, we analyzed student interview records, and a wide variation on student's preferred instructional stages were revealed. These findings could provide an alternative rationale for developing ICT-supported instruction, as our three-stage AR-embedded comprehensive e-learning scheme could enhance instruction adaptiveness to disperse the imparities of individual differences between learners.

A device-specific prioritization strategy based on the potential for harm to human health in informal WEEE recycling.

PubMed

Cesaro, Alessandra; Belgiorno, Vincenzo; Vaccari, Mentore; Jandric, Aleksander; Chung, Tran Duc; Dias, Maria Isabel; Hursthouse, Andrew; Salhofer, Stefan

2018-01-01

In developing countries, the recovery of valuable materials from Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is carried out via uncontrolled practices, posing potentially severe risks both to human health and the environment. The assessment of the risk, which depends on both the kind and hazardous properties of the substances contained in WEEE, is currently limited as the exposure scenario for the single informal practice cannot be fully characterized for this purpose. In this context, this work proposes and evaluates a strategy to identify the relative potential harm of different kinds of WEEE by their content in metals, selected as the target substances of concern. This was based on the individual metal content, primarily located in the printed circuit boards (PCBs) of the different devices. The metal composition of the individual PCBs was identified and the dominant unregulated metal recovery practices were reviewed to identify the most suitable parameter to express the toxicity of these metals. Based on a mass-normalized cumulative toxicity, via the inhalation route, individual components were assessed from compositional variation found in the literature. The results is a semiquantitative ranking of individual components, revealing significant differences in potential harm posed by different electronic appliances and an opportunity to provide prioritization strategies in future management.

Sight and sound persistently out of synch: stable individual differences in audiovisual synchronisation revealed by implicit measures of lip-voice integration

PubMed Central

Ipser, Alberta; Agolli, Vlera; Bajraktari, Anisa; Al-Alawi, Fatimah; Djaafara, Nurfitriani; Freeman, Elliot D.

2017-01-01

Are sight and sound out of synch? Signs that they are have been dismissed for over two centuries as an artefact of attentional and response bias, to which traditional subjective methods are prone. To avoid such biases, we measured performance on objective tasks that depend implicitly on achieving good lip-synch. We measured the McGurk effect (in which incongruent lip-voice pairs evoke illusory phonemes), and also identification of degraded speech, while manipulating audiovisual asynchrony. Peak performance was found at an average auditory lag of ~100 ms, but this varied widely between individuals. Participants’ individual optimal asynchronies showed trait-like stability when the same task was re-tested one week later, but measures based on different tasks did not correlate. This discounts the possible influence of common biasing factors, suggesting instead that our different tasks probe different brain networks, each subject to their own intrinsic auditory and visual processing latencies. Our findings call for renewed interest in the biological causes and cognitive consequences of individual sensory asynchronies, leading potentially to fresh insights into the neural representation of sensory timing. A concrete implication is that speech comprehension might be enhanced, by first measuring each individual’s optimal asynchrony and then applying a compensatory auditory delay. PMID:28429784

Spontaneous default mode network phase-locking moderates performance perceptions under stereotype threat

PubMed Central

Leitner, Jordan B.; Duran-Jordan, Kelly; Magerman, Adam B.; Schmader, Toni; Allen, John J. B.

2015-01-01

This study assessed whether individual differences in self-oriented neural processing were associated with performance perceptions of minority students under stereotype threat. Resting electroencephalographic activity recorded in white and minority participants was used to predict later estimates of task errors and self-doubt on a presumed measure of intelligence. We assessed spontaneous phase-locking between dipole sources in left lateral parietal cortex (LPC), precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex (P/PCC), and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC); three regions of the default mode network (DMN) that are integral for self-oriented processing. Results revealed that minorities with greater LPC-P/PCC phase-locking in the theta band reported more accurate error estimations. All individuals experienced less self-doubt to the extent they exhibited greater LPC-MPFC phase-locking in the alpha band but this effect was driven by minorities. Minorities also reported more self-doubt to the extent they overestimated errors. Findings reveal novel neural moderators of stereotype threat effects on subjective experience. Spontaneous synchronization between DMN regions may play a role in anticipatory coping mechanisms that buffer individuals from stereotype threat. PMID:25398433

Seabird movement reveals the ecological footprint of fishing vessels.

PubMed

Bodey, Thomas W; Jessopp, Mark J; Votier, Stephen C; Gerritsen, Hans D; Cleasby, Ian R; Hamer, Keith C; Patrick, Samantha C; Wakefield, Ewan D; Bearhop, Stuart

2014-06-02

Exploitation of the seas is currently unsustainable, with increasing demand for marine resources placing intense pressure on the Earth's largest ecosystem [1]. The scale of anthropogenic effects varies from local to entire ocean basins [1-3]. For example, discards of commercial capture fisheries can have both positive and negative impacts on scavengers at the population and community-level [2-6], although this is driven by individual foraging behaviour [3,7]. Currently, we have little understanding of the scale at which individual animals initiate such behaviours. We use the known interaction between fisheries and a wide-ranging seabird, the Northern gannet Morus bassanus[3], to investigate how fishing vessels affect individual birds' behaviours in near real-time. We document the footprint of fishing vessels' (≥15 m length) influence on foraging decisions (≤11 km), and a potential underlying behavioural mechanism, by revealing how birds respond differently to vessels depending on gear type and activity. Such influences have important implications for fisheries, including the proposed discard ban [8]), and wider marine management. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prediction of the Pharmacokinetic Parameters of Triptolide in Rats Based on Endogenous Molecules in Pre-Dose Baseline Serum

PubMed Central

Aa, Jiye; Zheng, Tian; Shi, Jian; Li, Mengjie; Wang, Xinwen; Zhao, Chunyan; Xiao, Wenjing; Yu, Xiaoyi; Sun, Runbin; Gu, Rongrong; Zhou, Jun; Wu, Liang; Hao, Gang; Zhu, Xuanxuan; Wang, Guangji

2012-01-01

Background Individual variances usually affect drug metabolism and disposition, and hence result in either ineffectiveness or toxicity of a drug. In addition to genetic polymorphism, the multiple confounding factors of lifestyles, such as dietary preferences, contribute partially to individual variances. However, the difficulty of quantifying individual diversity greatly challenges the realization of individualized drug therapy. This study aims at quantitative evaluating the association between individual variances and the pharmacokinetics. Methodology/Principal Findings Molecules in pre-dose baseline serum were profiled using gas chromatography mass spectrometry to represent the individual variances of the model rats provided with high fat diets (HFD), routine chows and calorie restricted (CR) chows. Triptolide and its metabolites were determined using high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. Metabonomic and pharmacokinetic data revealed that rats treated with the varied diets had distinctly different metabolic patterns and showed differential Cmax values, AUC and drug metabolism after oral administration of triptolide. Rats with fatty chows had the lowest Cmax and AUC values and the highest percentage of triptolide metabolic transformation, while rats with CR chows had the highest Cmax and AUC values and the least percentage of triptolide transformation. Multivariate linear regression revealed that in baseline serum, the concentrations of creatinine and glutamic acid, which is the precursor of GSH, were linearly negatively correlated to Cmax and AUC values. The glutamic acid and creatinine in baseline serum were suggested as the potential markers to represent individual diversity and as predictors of the disposal and pharmacokinetics of triptolide. Conclusions/Significance These results highlight the robust potential of metabonomics in characterizing individual variances and identifying relevant markers that have the potential to facilitate individualized drug therapy. PMID:22912866

Genetic Factors of Individual Differences in Decision Making in Economic Behavior: A Japanese Twin Study using the Allais Problem.

PubMed

Shikishima, Chizuru; Hiraishi, Kai; Yamagata, Shinji; Ando, Juko; Okada, Mitsuhiro

2015-01-01

Why does decision making differ among individuals? People sometimes make seemingly inconsistent decisions with lower expected (monetary) utility even when objective information of probabilities and reward are provided. It is noteworthy, however, that a certain proportion of people do not provide anomalous responses, choosing the alternatives with higher expected utility, thus appearing to be more "rational." We investigated the genetic and environmental influences on these types of individual differences in decision making using a classical Allais problem task. Participants were 1,199 Japanese adult twins aged 20-47. Univariate genetic analysis revealed that approximately a third of the Allais problem response variance was explained by genetic factors and the rest by environmental factors unique to individuals and measurement error. The environmental factor shared between families did not contribute to the variance. Subsequent multivariate genetic analysis clarified that decision making using the expected utility theory was associated with general intelligence and that the association was largely mediated by the same genetic factor. We approach the mechanism underlying two types of "rational" decision making from the perspective of genetic correlations with cognitive abilities.

Pathogen prevalence predicts human cross-cultural variability in individualism/collectivism

PubMed Central

Fincher, Corey L; Thornhill, Randy; Murray, Damian R; Schaller, Mark

2008-01-01

Pathogenic diseases impose selection pressures on the social behaviour of host populations. In humans (Homo sapiens), many psychological phenomena appear to serve an antipathogen defence function. One broad implication is the existence of cross-cultural differences in human cognition and behaviour contingent upon the relative presence of pathogens in the local ecology. We focus specifically on one fundamental cultural variable: differences in individualistic versus collectivist values. We suggest that specific behavioural manifestations of collectivism (e.g. ethnocentrism, conformity) can inhibit the transmission of pathogens; and so we hypothesize that collectivism (compared with individualism) will more often characterize cultures in regions that have historically had higher prevalence of pathogens. Drawing on epidemiological data and the findings of worldwide cross-national surveys of individualism/collectivism, our results support this hypothesis: the regional prevalence of pathogens has a strong positive correlation with cultural indicators of collectivism and a strong negative correlation with individualism. The correlations remain significant even when controlling for potential confounding variables. These results help to explain the origin of a paradigmatic cross-cultural difference, and reveal previously undocumented consequences of pathogenic diseases on the variable nature of human societies. PMID:18302996

Distinct Subtypes of Apathy Revealed by the Apathy Motivation Index.

PubMed

Ang, Yuen-Siang; Lockwood, Patricia; Apps, Matthew A J; Muhammed, Kinan; Husain, Masud

2017-01-01

Apathy is a debilitating but poorly understood disorder characterized by a reduction in motivation. As well as being associated with several brain disorders, apathy is also prevalent in varying degrees in healthy people. Whilst many tools have been developed to assess levels of apathy in clinical disorders, surprisingly there are no measures of apathy suitable for healthy people. Moreover, although apathy is commonly comorbid with symptoms of depression, anhedonia and fatigue, how and why these symptoms are associated is unclear. Here we developed the Apathy-Motivation Index (AMI), a brief self-report index of apathy and motivation. Using exploratory factor analysis (in a sample of 505 people), and then confirmatory analysis (in a different set of 479 individuals), we identified subtypes of apathy in behavioural, social and emotional domains. Latent profile analyses showed four different profiles of apathy that were associated with varying levels of depression, anhedonia and fatigue. The AMI is a novel and reliable measure of individual differences in apathy and might provide a useful means of probing different mechanisms underlying sub-clinical lack of motivation in otherwise healthy individuals. Moreover, associations between apathy and comorbid states may be reflective of problems in different emotional, social and behavioural domains.

The effects of autonomy support on salivary alpha-amylase: The role of individual differences.

PubMed

Sieber, Vanda; Schüler, Julia; Wegner, Mirko

2016-12-01

The empirical evidence for the relationship between autonomy-supportive environments and physiological stress is inconsistent. Whereas some studies report a decrease in stress in autonomy-supportive environments, other studies show a negative effect of autonomy on physiological stress. As previous research has not considered individual differences within this relationship, the present research aims to close this empirical gap by proposing that an implicit autonomy disposition, which is defined as a dispositional preference for self-determination, serves as a moderator. In an experiment, we tested whether the autonomy disposition moderates the effect of different teaching styles (controlling, autonomy-supportive, and neutral) on the acute physiological stress response (salivary alpha-amylase) in adolescents (N=69). The study revealed that participants with a high implicit autonomy disposition displayed lower salivary alpha-amylase responses when exposed to autonomy-supportive vignettes compared to when they were exposed to controlling or neutral teaching styles. The opposite pattern was found in students with a low implicit autonomy disposition. The results illustrate that experimentally induced variations in autonomy support lead to different physiological stress responses, depending on individual differences in the implicit autonomy disposition. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Relationship between the Learning Styles Preferences and Academic Achievement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Awang, H.; Samad, N. Abd; Faiz, N. S. Mohd; Roddin, R.; Kankia, J. D.

2017-08-01

The individual learning differences that have been much explored relate to differences in personality, learning styles, strategies and conceptual of learning. This article studies the learning style profile exhibited by students towards the academic achievement in Malaysian Polytechnic. The relationship between learning styles of Polytechnic students and their academic achievement based on VARK learning styles model. The target population was international business students of Malaysian Polytechnic. By means of randomly sampling method, 103 students were selected as sample of research. By descriptive - survey research method and a questionnaire adapted from VARK Learning Style Index, required data were collected. According to the results, no significantly difference between learning style and academic achievement of students. Students academic achievement was quite similar to their individual learning styles. These facts reveal that each learning style has its own strengths and weaknesses.

"It's like a different world": Natural places, post-secondary students, and mental health.

PubMed

Windhorst, Eric; Williams, Allison

2015-07-01

There is a need to better understand the types of natural environments that different individuals and groups find mental health promoting. In this exploratory qualitative study, twelve university students were invited to photographically document a natural place that they considered beneficial to their mental health. Thematic analysis of photographs and follow-up in-depth interviews revealed that students prefer natural places that are familiar, contain a variety of natural elements (especially mature trees and some form of water), and are separate from the context of everyday campus life (distanced from both the built and social campus environment). Overall, study findings demonstrate the importance of acknowledging symbolic and social factors when assessing the potential mental health benefits of natural places for different groups and individuals. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Developmental and Individual Differences in the Neural Processing of Dynamic Expressions of Pain and Anger

PubMed Central

Missana, Manuela; Grigutsch, Maren; Grossmann, Tobias

2014-01-01

We examined the processing of facial expressions of pain and anger in 8-month-old infants and adults by measuring event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and frontal EEG alpha asymmetry. The ERP results revealed that while adults showed a late positive potential (LPP) to emotional expressions that was enhanced to pain expressions, reflecting increased evaluation and emotional arousal to pain expressions, infants showed a negative component (Nc) to emotional expressions that was enhanced to angry expressions, reflecting increased allocation of attention to angry faces. Moreover, infants and adults showed opposite patterns in their frontal asymmetry responses to pain and anger, suggesting developmental differences in the motivational processes engendered by these facial expressions. These findings are discussed in the light of associated individual differences in infant temperament and adult dispositional empathy. PMID:24705497

Consistent inter-individual differences in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) in Boldness-Shyness, Stress-Activity, and Exploration-Avoidance.

PubMed

Šlipogor, Vedrana; Gunhold-de Oliveira, Tina; Tadić, Zoran; Massen, Jorg J M; Bugnyar, Thomas

2016-09-01

The study of animal personality, defined as consistent inter-individual differences in correlated behavioral traits stable throughout time and/or contexts, has recently become one of the fastest growing areas in animal biology, with study species ranging from insects to non-human primates. The latter have, however, only occasionally been tested with standardized experiments. Instead their personality has usually been assessed using questionnaires. Therefore, this study aimed to test 21 common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) living in three family groups, in five different experiments, and their corresponding controls. We found that behavioral differences between our animals were not only consistent over time, but also across different contexts. Moreover, the consistent behaviors formed a construct of four major non-social personality components: Boldness-Shyness in Foraging, Boldness-Shyness in Predation, Stress-Activity, and Exploration-Avoidance. We found no sex or age differences in these components, but our results did reveal differences in Exploration-Avoidance between the three family groups. As social environment can have a large influence on behavior of individuals, our results may suggest group-level similarity in personality (i.e., "group personality") in common marmosets, a species living in highly cohesive social groups. Am. J. Primatol. 78:961-973, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Force-velocity property of leg muscles in individuals of different level of physical fitness

PubMed Central

Cuk, Ivan; Mirkov, Dragan; Nedeljkovic, Aleksandar; Kukolj, Milos; Ugarkovic, Dusan; Jaric, Slobodan

2016-01-01

The present study explored the method of testing muscle mechanical properties through the linear force-velocity (F–V) relationships obtained from loaded vertical jumps. Specifically, we hypothesised that the F-V relationship parameters depicting the force, power, and velocity of the tested muscles will differ among individuals of different physical fitness. Strength trained, physically active, and sedentary male participants (N=10+10+10; age 20–29 years) were tested on maximum countermovement and squat jumps where manipulation of external loads provided a range of F and V data. The observed F–V relationships of the tested leg muscles were approximately linear and mainly strong (median correlation coefficients ranged from 0.77 to 0.92; all p < 0.05), independently of either the tested group or the jump type. The maximum power revealed higher values in the strength trained than in the physically active and sedentary participants. This difference originated from the differences in F-intercepts, rather than from the V-intercepts. We conclude that the observed parameters could be sensitive enough to detect the differences among both the individuals of different physical fitness and various jump types. The present findings support using loaded vertical jumps and, possibly, other maximum performance multi-joint movements for the assessment of mechanical properties of active muscles. PMID:27111493

Beyond bilingualism: multilingual experience correlates with caudate volume.

PubMed

Hervais-Adelman, Alexis; Egorova, Natalia; Golestani, Narly

2018-06-14

The multilingual brain implements mechanisms that serve to select the appropriate language as a function of the communicative environment. Engaging these mechanisms on a regular basis appears to have consequences for brain structure and function. Studies have implicated the caudate nuclei as important nodes in polyglot language control processes, and have also shown structural differences in the caudate nuclei in bilingual compared to monolingual populations. However, the majority of published work has focused on the categorical differences between monolingual and bilingual individuals, and little is known about whether these findings extend to multilingual individuals, who have even greater language control demands. In the present paper, we present an analysis of the volume and morphology of the caudate nuclei, putamen, pallidum and thalami in 75 multilingual individuals who speak three or more languages. Volumetric analyses revealed a significant relationship between multilingual experience and right caudate volume, as well as a marginally significant relationship with left caudate volume. Vertex-wise analyses revealed a significant enlargement of dorsal and anterior portions of the left caudate nucleus, known to have connectivity with executive brain regions, as a function of multilingual expertise. These results suggest that multilingual expertise might exercise a continuous impact on brain structure, and that as additional languages beyond a second are acquired, the additional demands for linguistic and cognitive control result in modifications to brain structures associated with language management processes.

Acute stress reactions after submarine accidents.

PubMed

Eid, Jarle; Johnsen, Bjørn Helge

2002-05-01

The aim of the present study was to explore contextual and individual factors associated with acute stress reactions in three Norwegian submarine crews exposed to different significant peacetime maneuver accidents. Approximately 2 to 3 weeks after the accidents, crew members completed the Coping Style Questionnaire, the General Health Questionnaire, the Impact of Event Scale, and the Post-Traumatic Symptom Scale. Although exposed subjects (N = 47) revealed more posttraumatic stress symptoms than nonexposed crew members on shore leave (N = 7), they showed less acute stress reactions than survivors from a surface ship accident in the Norwegian Navy. Inspection of individual cases revealed that 4% of the exposed submariners showed high loads of acute stress symptoms. Unit cohesion and habitual coping styles emerged as resilience factors, whereas previous exposure to critical incidents and personal experience of not coping in the accident situation emerged as vulnerability factors, explaining 32% of the acute stress reactions reported by submarine crew members.

Listening, watching, and reading: the structure and correlates of entertainment preferences.

PubMed

Rentfrow, Peter J; Goldberg, Lewis R; Zilca, Ran

2011-04-01

People spend considerable amounts of time and money listening to music, watching TV and movies, and reading books and magazines, yet almost no attention in psychology has been devoted to understanding individual differences in preferences for such entertainment. The present research was designed to examine the structure and correlates of entertainment genre preferences. Analyses of the genre preferences of more than 3,000 individuals revealed a remarkably clear factor structure. Using multiple samples, methods, and geographic regions, data converged to reveal five entertainment-preference dimensions: Communal, Aesthetic, Dark, Thrilling, and Cerebral. Preferences for these entertainment dimensions were uniquely related to demographics and personality traits. Results also indicated that personality accounted for significant proportions of variance in entertainment preferences over and above demographics. The results provide a foundation for developing and testing hypotheses about the psychology of entertainment preferences. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Personality © 2011, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Pink Ribbons and Red Dresses: A Mixed Methods Content Analysis of Media Coverage of Breast Cancer and Heart Disease.

PubMed

Champion, Claudine; Berry, Tanya R; Kingsley, Bethan; Spence, John C

2016-10-01

This research examined media coverage of breast cancer (n = 145) and heart disease and stroke (n = 39) news articles, videos, advertisements, and images in a local Canadian context through quantitative and thematic content analyses. Quantitative analysis revealed significant differences between coverage of the diseases in placement, survivors as a source of information, health agency, human interest stories, citation of a research study, the inclusion of risk statistics, discussion of preventative behaviors, and tone used. The thematic analysis revealed themes that characterized a "typical" breast cancer survivor and indicated that "good" citizens and businesses should help the cause of breast cancer. Themes for heart disease and stroke articulated individual responsibility and the ways fundraising reinforced femininity and privilege. Findings provide insight on how these diseases are framed in local Canadian media, which might impact an individual's understanding of the disease.

Negative emotionality and externalizing problems in toddlerhood: overreactive parenting as a moderator of genetic influences.

PubMed

Lipscomb, Shannon T; Leve, Leslie D; Shaw, Daniel S; Neiderhiser, Jenae M; Scaramella, Laura V; Ge, Xiaojia; Conger, Rand D; Reid, John B; Reiss, David

2012-02-01

The current study examines the interplay between parental overreactivity and children's genetic backgrounds as inferred from birth parent characteristics on the development of negative emotionality during infancy, and in turn, to individual differences in externalizing problems in toddlerhood. The sample included 361 families linked through adoption (birth parents and adoptive families). Data were collected when the children were 9, 18, and 27 months old. Results indicated links between individual levels and changes in negative emotionality during infancy and toddlerhood to externalizing problems early in the third year of life. Findings also revealed an interaction between birth mother negative affect and adoptive mother overreactive parenting on children's negative emotionality. This Genotype × Environment interaction predicted externalizing problems indirectly through its association with negative emotionality and revealed stronger effects of genetic risk for children with less overreactive parenting from their mothers. Limitations of this study and directions for future research are discussed.

Individual differences in false memory from misinformation: cognitive factors.

PubMed

Zhu, Bi; Chen, Chuansheng; Loftus, Elizabeth F; Lin, Chongde; He, Qinghua; Chen, Chunhui; Li, He; Xue, Gui; Lu, Zhonglin; Dong, Qi

2010-07-01

This research investigated the cognitive correlates of false memories that are induced by the misinformation paradigm. A large sample of Chinese college students (N=436) participated in a misinformation procedure and also took a battery of cognitive tests. Results revealed sizable and systematic individual differences in false memory arising from exposure to misinformation. False memories were significantly and negatively correlated with measures of intelligence (measured with Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale), perception (Motor-Free Visual Perception Test, Change Blindness, and Tone Discrimination), memory (Wechsler Memory Scales and 2-back Working Memory tasks), and face judgement (Face Recognition and Facial Expression Recognition). These findings suggest that people with relatively low intelligence and poor perceptual abilities might be more susceptible to the misinformation effect.

Trail pheromones: an integrative view of their role in social insect colony organization.

PubMed

Czaczkes, Tomer J; Grüter, Christoph; Ratnieks, Francis L W

2015-01-07

Trail pheromones do more than simply guide social insect workers from point A to point B. Recent research has revealed additional ways in which they help to regulate colony foraging, often via positive and negative feedback processes that influence the exploitation of the different resources that a colony has knowledge of. Trail pheromones are often complementary or synergistic with other information sources, such as individual memory. Pheromone trails can be composed of two or more pheromones with different functions, and information may be embedded in the trail network geometry. These findings indicate remarkable sophistication in how trail pheromones are used to regulate colony-level behavior, and how trail pheromones are used and deployed at the individual level.

Functional relevance of neurotransmitter receptor heteromers in the central nervous system.

PubMed

Ferré, Sergi; Ciruela, Francisco; Woods, Amina S; Lluis, Carme; Franco, Rafael

2007-09-01

The existence of neurotransmitter receptor heteromers is becoming broadly accepted and their functional significance is being revealed. Heteromerization of neurotransmitter receptors produces functional entities that possess different biochemical characteristics with respect to the individual components of the heteromer. Neurotransmitter receptor heteromers can function as processors of computations that modulate cell signaling. Thus, the quantitative or qualitative aspects of the signaling generated by stimulation of any of the individual receptor units in the heteromer are different from those obtained during coactivation. Furthermore, recent studies demonstrate that some neurotransmitter receptor heteromers can exert an effect as processors of computations that directly modulate both pre- and postsynaptic neurotransmission. This is illustrated by the analysis of striatal receptor heteromers that control striatal glutamatergic neurotransmission.

Human bloodstains on bone artefacts: an SEM intra- and inter-sample comparative study using ratite bird tibiotarsus.

PubMed

Hortolà, Policarp

2016-11-01

Apart from their forensic significance in crime investigation, human bloodstains have an anthropological interest due to their occurrence on certain traditional weapons and ritual objects. Previously, a guiding study of erythrocytes in experimental samples including domestic sheep (Ovis aries) tibia was carried out using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Here, a comparative SEM study to reveal the potential differences in bloodstain surface morphology as a function of intra-sample (smear region) and inter-sample (individual smear, smearing mechanism, bone origin) parameters is reported. A fragment of emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) tibiotarsus was smeared with an adult man's peripheral blood. After air-drying and storing indoors, the boundary and neighbouring inner areas of the three individual bloodstains obtained were examined via secondary electrons in a variable-pressure SEM working in low-vacuum mode. As a whole, desiccation microcracks were present, the limits between the smear and the substrate appeared poorly defined, and no erythrocyte negative replicas were observed in the examined areas. In addition, a putative fibrin network, more or less embedded in the dried plasma matrix, was observed in the smears' boundary. Regarding the smear region in sliding smears, the periphery and boundary revealed to be different, while the head and tail were similar. Considering individual sliding smears, they had similar characteristics. Relating to the smear region as a function of the smearing mechanism, the periphery was different whether sliding or touching, while the boundary was similar in sliding and touching smears. Concerning the smear region as a function of the bone origin, the periphery revealed to be similar in both ratite and mammalian bone, while the boundary did different in ratite and mammalian bone. The results of this study show that SEM examination can be used fruitfully to detect bloodstains on ratite bone. Combined with previous SEM results in domestic sheep bone, they suggest, further, that blood remains can be detected on objects made of bone irrespectively of the mammalian or ratite origin of this raw material. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Cognitive Mechanisms of the SNARC Effect: An Individual Differences Approach

PubMed Central

Viarouge, Arnaud; Hubbard, Edward M.; McCandliss, Bruce D.

2014-01-01

Access to mental representations of smaller vs. larger number symbols is associated with leftward vs. rightward spatial locations, as represented on a number line. The well-replicated SNARC effect (Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes) reveals that simple decisions about small numbers are facilitated when stimuli are presented on the left, and large numbers facilitated when on the right. We present novel evidence that the size of the SNARC effect is relatively stable within individuals over time. This enables us to take an individual differences approach to investigate how the SNARC effect is modulated by spatial and numerical cognition. Are number-space associations linked to spatial operations, such that those who have greater facility in spatial computations show the stronger SNARC effects, or are they linked to number semantics, such that those showing stronger influence of magnitude associations on number symbol decisions show stronger SNARC effects? Our results indicate a significant correlation between the SNARC effect and a 2D mental rotation task, suggesting that spatial operations are at play in the expression of this effect. We also uncover a significant correlation between the SNARC effect and the distance effect, suggesting that the SNARC is also related to access to number semantics. A multiple regression analysis reveals that the relative contributions of spatial cognition and distance effects represent significant, yet distinct, contributions in explaining variation in the size of the SNARC effect from one individual to the next. Overall, these results shed new light on how the spatial-numerical associations of response codes are influenced by both number semantics and spatial operations. PMID:24760048

Written accounts of living with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: A thematic analysis.

PubMed

Rawlings, Gregg H; Brown, Ian; Stone, Brendan; Reuber, Markus

2017-08-01

Qualitative studies examining lived experiences of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) have predominantly relied on datasets collected using clinical or research interviews. This study pursued a different approach by investigating individuals' written accounts of their condition. Participants (n=19) were recruited from membership-led organisations for individuals living with seizures and from a United Kingdom hospital. Participants were instructed to produce four pieces of writing: 1) about their thoughts and feelings about their condition; 2) a letter to their condition; 3) a letter to their younger self; and 4) about a personal value. All writings were analysed using thematic analysis. Six main-themes emerged from the data. Theme 1: 'living with PNES' demonstrated that all participants presented the condition as having a debilitating effect. Theme 2: 'Emotions' revealed that individuals were struggling with anxiety, low mood and self-worth. Theme 3: 'Seizure symptoms' showed variability was a prominent feature in the description of ictal events. Theme 4: 'Treatment and outcomes' demonstrated that individual's perception of diagnosis and therapy differed greatly. Theme 5: 'Causation and development' revealed that the majority of participants spontaneously reported experiencing a traumatic event in the past. Theme 6: 'Lack of understanding' by themselves, the public and healthcare professionals appeared to pose considerable challenges to participants. Qualitative research has an important role to play for improving our understanding of PNES. The findings contribute to the literature by highlighting the nature of stigma that people with PNES experience, and also their proneness to demonstrate problems with self-worth. Copyright © 2017 British Epilepsy Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Expectancy Effects on Conditioned Pain Modulation Are Not Influenced by Naloxone or Morphine.

PubMed

France, Christopher R; Burns, John W; Gupta, Rajnish K; Buvanendran, Asokumar; Chont, Melissa; Schuster, Erik; Orlowska, Daria; Bruehl, Stephen

2016-08-01

Recent studies suggest that participant expectations influence pain ratings during conditioned pain modulation testing. The present study extends this work by examining expectancy effects among individuals with and without chronic back pain after administration of placebo, naloxone, or morphine. This study aims to identify the influence of individual differences in expectancy on changes in heat pain ratings obtained before, during, and after a forearm ischemic pain stimulus. Participants with chronic low back pain (n = 88) and healthy controls (n = 100) rated heat pain experience (i.e., "test stimulus") before, during, and after exposure to ischemic pain (i.e., "conditioning stimulus"). Prior to testing, participants indicated whether they anticipated that their heat pain would increase, decrease, or remain unchanged during ischemic pain. Analysis of the effects of expectancy (pain increase, decrease, or no change), drug (placebo, naloxone, or morphine), and group (back pain, healthy) on changes in heat pain revealed a significant main effect of expectancy (p = 0.001), but no other significant main effects or interactions. Follow-up analyses revealed that individuals who expected lower pain during ischemia reported significantly larger decreases in heat pain as compared with those who expected either no change (p = 0.004) or increased pain (p = 0.001). The present findings confirm that expectancy is an important contributor to conditioned pain modulation effects, and therefore significant caution is needed when interpreting findings that do not account for this individual difference. Opioid mechanisms do not appear to be involved in these expectancy effects.

Wing shape and size of the western corn rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is related to sex and resistance to soybean-maize crop rotation.

PubMed

Mikac, K M; Douglas, J; Spencer, J L

2013-08-01

The western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, is a major pest of maize in the United States and more recently, Europe. Understanding the dispersal dynamics of this species will provide crucial information for its management. This study used geometric morphometric analysis of hind wing venation based on 13 landmarks in 223 specimens from nine locations in Illinois, Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri, to assess whether wing shape and size differed between rotated and continuously grown maize where crop rotation-resistant and susceptible individuals are found, respectively. Before assessing differences between rotation-resistant and susceptible individuals, sexual dimorphism was investigated. No significant difference in wing (centroid) size was found between males and females; however, females had significantly different shaped (more elongated) wings compared with males. Wing shape and (centroid) size were significantly larger among individuals from rotated maize where crop-rotation resistance was reported; however, cross-validation of these results revealed that collection site resistance status was an only better than average predictor of shape in males and females. This study provides preliminary evidence of wing shape and size differences in D. v. virgifera from rotated versus continuous maize. Further study is needed to confirm whether wing shape and size can be used to track the movement of rotation-resistant individuals and populations as a means to better inform management strategies.

Pre-Adult Background Variables and Divorce: A Note of Caution about Overreliance on Explained Variance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glenn, Norval D.; Shelton, Beth Ann

1983-01-01

Examined multiple regression results in adjusted percentages for data from a project to assess the impact of formative experiences on adult well being. Differences from some of the adjusted percentages reveal a divorce rate higher for female children of divorce and for individuals from a three-region "divorce belt." (Author/JAC)

Recognising and Revealing Knowers: An Enhanced Bernsteinian Analysis of Masonic Recruitment and Apprenticeship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poulet, Celia

2010-01-01

The increasing opening of French freemasonry to lower social classes raises the question of how individuals from different social backgrounds can be assimilated into the practice of context-independent ways of speaking and writing. I address these issues by, first, describing a selection by existing members based on the dispositions already…

Children and Adolescents' Attitudes toward Seeking Help from Professional Mental Health Providers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Del Mauro, Jennifer M.; Williams, Dahra Jackson

2013-01-01

Counseling services are only likely to be effective if individuals are willing to seek help. Although much of the research on youth help-seeking has focused on adolescents, few studies have examined this in regard to children. Constant comparison analysis of focus group discussions revealed differences based on age and gender. Knowledge, sources…

African Americans' Mental Health and Perceptions of Racist Discrimination: The Moderating Effects of Racial Socialization Experiences and Self-Esteem.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fischer, Ann R.; Shaw, Christina M.

1999-01-01

Investigates the extent to which four theoretically relevant variables moderate the perceived racism-mental health relationship. Findings reveal that greater experience with racism socialization messages attenuated the link between reports of racist events and poorer mental health. Overall, results indicate that individual differences shape the…

Specifying the Influence of Family and Peers on Violent Victimization: Extending Routine Activities and Lifestyle Theories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schreck, Christopher J.; Fisher, Bonnie S.

2004-01-01

The fact that crime and victimization share similar correlates suggests that family and peer contexts are potentially useful for explaining individual differences in violent victimization. In this research, we used routine activities and lifestyles frameworks to reveal how strong bonds of family attachment can promote more effective guardianship…

Attention Problems, Phonological Short-Term Memory, and Visuospatial Short-Term Memory: Differential Effects on Near- and Long-Term Scholastic Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sarver, Dustin E.; Rapport, Mark D.; Kofler, Michael J.; Scanlan, Sean W.; Raiker, Joseph S.; Altro, Thomas A.; Bolden, Jennifer

2012-01-01

The current study examined individual differences in children's phonological and visuospatial short-term memory as potential mediators of the relationship among attention problems and near- and long-term scholastic achievement. Nested structural equation models revealed that teacher-reported attention problems were associated negatively with…

Spatial-Simultaneous and Spatial-Sequential Working Memory in Individuals with Down Syndrome: The Effect of Configuration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carretti, Barbara; Lanfranchi, Silvia; Mammarella, Irene C.

2013-01-01

Earlier research showed that visuospatial working memory (VSWM) is better preserved in Down syndrome (DS) than verbal WM. Some differences emerged, however, when VSWM performance was broken down into its various components, and more recent studies revealed that the spatial-simultaneous component of VSWM is more impaired than the spatial-sequential…

Using Regression to Measure Holistic Face Processing Reveals a Strong Link with Face Recognition Ability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeGutis, Joseph; Wilmer, Jeremy; Mercado, Rogelio J.; Cohan, Sarah

2013-01-01

Although holistic processing is thought to underlie normal face recognition ability, widely discrepant reports have recently emerged about this link in an individual differences context. Progress in this domain may have been impeded by the widespread use of subtraction scores, which lack validity due to their contamination with control condition…

Genetic variation in blue spruce: A test of populations in Nebraska

Treesearch

David F. Van Haverbeke

1984-01-01

Analyses of 43 blue spruce populations at age 12 (9 years in the field) revealed significant differences among populations for survival, height, vigor, crown diameter, frost injury, and foliage color. Use of regions increases the probability of locating better seeds sources, but high variability among individual populations within regions limits their value in...

Of magic wands and kaleidoscopes: fixing problems in the individual market.

PubMed

Hall, Mark A

2002-01-01

Policy analysts sometimes imagine that problems in the individual market can be fixed by waving a magic wand that makes the individual market function more like the group market. However, prior studies reveal that purchasing cooperatives fail to achieve substantial economies of scale; market reforms that reduce the impact of medical underwriting are difficult to implement in the individual market; and it may not be as easy as imagined to induce people to purchase over the Internet or from new or smaller companies that are at higher risk for exiting the market. The best solution is to limit the use of subsidies to certain purchasing options, such as with purchasing cooperatives that abide by rating, issuance, and renewability rules. What is not acceptable is to hand people subsidies and send them to the unstructured and relatively unregulated individual market, nor will it work to give people unhindered choice between two basically different market segments.

Anger profiles in social anxiety disorder.

PubMed

Versella, Mark V; Piccirillo, Marilyn L; Potter, Carrie M; Olino, Thomas M; Heimberg, Richard G

2016-01-01

Individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) exhibit elevated levels of anger and anger suppression, which are both associated with increased depression, diminished quality of life, and poorer treatment outcomes. However, little is known about how anger experiences differ among individuals with SAD and whether any heterogeneity might relate to negative outcomes. This investigation sought to empirically define anger profiles among 136 treatment-seeking individuals with SAD and to assess their association with distress and impairment. A latent class analysis was conducted utilizing the trait subscales of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 as indicators of class membership. Analysis revealed four distinct anger profiles, with greatest distress and impairment generally demonstrated by individuals with elevated trait anger, a greater tendency to suppress the expression of anger, and diminished ability to adaptively control their anger expression. These results have implications for tailoring more effective interventions for socially anxious individuals. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Representative learning design in springboard diving: Is dry-land training representative of a pool dive?

PubMed

Barris, Sian; Davids, Keith; Farrow, Damian

2013-01-01

Two distinctly separate training facilities (dry-land and aquatic) are routinely used in springboard diving and pose an interesting problem for learning, given the inherent differences in landing (head first vs. feet first) imposed by the different task constraints. Although divers may practise the same preparation phase, take-off and initial aerial rotation in both environments, there is no evidence to suggest that the tasks completed in the dry-land training environment are representative of those performed in the aquatic competition environment. The aim of this study was to compare the kinematics of the preparation phase of reverse dives routinely practised in each environment. Despite their high skill level, it was predicted that individual analyses of elite springboard divers would reveal differences in the joint coordination and board-work between take-offs. The two-dimensional kinematic characteristics were recorded during normal training sessions and used for intra-individual analysis. Kinematic characteristics of the preparatory take-off phase revealed differences in board-work (step lengths, jump height, board depression angles) for all participants at key events. However, the presence of scaled global topological characteristics suggested that all participants adopted similar joint coordination patterns in both environments. These findings suggest that the task constraints of wet and dry training environments are not similar, and highlight the need for coaches to consider representative learning designs in high performance diving programmes.

Considering sex differences clarifies the effects of depression on facial emotion processing during fMRI.

PubMed

Jenkins, L M; Kendall, A D; Kassel, M T; Patrón, V G; Gowins, J R; Dion, C; Shankman, S A; Weisenbach, S L; Maki, P; Langenecker, S A

2018-01-01

Sex differences in emotion processing may play a role in women's increased risk for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). However, studies of sex differences in brain mechanisms involved in emotion processing in MDD (or interactions of sex and diagnosis) are sparse. We conducted an event-related fMRI study examining the interactive and distinct effects of sex and MDD on neural activity during a facial emotion perception task. To minimize effects of current affective state and cumulative disease burden, we studied participants with remitted MDD (rMDD) who were early in the course of the illness. In total, 88 individuals aged 18-23 participated, including 48 with rMDD (32 female) and 40 healthy controls (HC; 25 female). fMRI revealed an interaction between sex and diagnosis for sad and neutral facial expressions in the superior frontal gyrus and left middle temporal gyrus. Results also revealed an interaction of sex with diagnosis in the amygdala. Data was from two sites, which might increase variability, but it also increases power to examine sex by diagnosis interactions. This study demonstrates the importance of taking sex differences into account when examining potential trait (or scar) mechanisms that could be useful in identifying individuals at-risk for MDD as well as for evaluating potential therapeutic innovations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Systems Factorial Technology provides new insights on global-local information processing in autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Johnson, Shannon A; Blaha, Leslie M; Houpt, Joseph W; Townsend, James T

2010-02-01

Previous studies of global-local processing in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have indicated mixed findings, with some evidence of a local processing bias, or preference for detail-level information, and other results suggesting typical global advantage, or preference for the whole or gestalt. Findings resulting from this paradigm have been used to argue for or against a detail focused processing bias in ASDs, and thus have important theoretical implications. We applied Systems Factorial Technology, and the associated Double Factorial Paradigm (both defined in the text), to examine information processing characteristics during a divided attention global-local task in high-functioning individuals with an ASD and typically developing controls. Group data revealed global advantage for both groups, contrary to some current theories of ASDs. Information processing models applied to each participant revealed that task performance, although showing no differences at the group level, was supported by different cognitive mechanisms in ASD participants compared to controls. All control participants demonstrated inhibitory parallel processing and the majority demonstrated a minimum-time stopping rule. In contrast, ASD participants showed exhaustive parallel processing with mild facilitatory interactions between global and local information. Thus our results indicate fundamental differences in the stopping rules and channel dependencies in individuals with an ASD.

Attentional biases toward emotional images in the different episodes of bipolar disorder: an eye-tracking study.

PubMed

García-Blanco, Ana; Salmerón, Ladislao; Perea, Manuel; Livianos, Lorenzo

2014-03-30

Attentional biases toward emotional information may represent vulnerability and maintenance factors in bipolar disorder (BD). The present experimental study examined the processing of emotional information in BD patients using the eye-tracking technology. Bipolar patients in their different states (euthymia, mania, depression) simultaneously viewed four pictures with different emotional valence (happy, neutral, sad, threatening) for 20s while their eye movements were monitored. A group of healthy individuals served as the control. The data revealed the following: (i) a decrease in attention to happy images in BD patients in their depressive episodes compared to healthy individuals, and (ii) an increase in attention to threatening images in BD patients (regardless of their episode) relative to the healthy controls. These biases appeared in the late stages of information processing and were sustained over the 20s interval. Thus, the present findings reveal that attentional biases toward emotional information can be a key feature of BD, in that: (i) an anhedonic lack of sensitivity to positive stimuli during the bipolar depressive episode may be considered a maintaining factor of this clinical state, and (ii) the trait-bias toward threat, even in asymptomatic patients, may reflect a marker of vulnerability in BD. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Individual differences in social information gathering revealed through Bayesian hierarchical models

PubMed Central

Pearson, John M.; Watson, Karli K.; Klein, Jeffrey T.; Ebitz, R. Becket; Platt, Michael L.

2013-01-01

As studies of the neural circuits underlying choice expand to include more complicated behaviors, analysis of behaviors elicited in laboratory paradigms has grown increasingly difficult. Social behaviors present a particular challenge, since inter- and intra-individual variation are expected to play key roles. However, due to limitations on data collection, studies must often choose between pooling data across all subjects or using individual subjects' data in isolation. Hierarchical models mediate between these two extremes by modeling individual subjects as drawn from a population distribution, allowing the population at large to serve as prior information about individuals' behavior. Here, we apply this method to data collected across multiple experimental sessions from a set of rhesus macaques performing a social information valuation task. We show that, while the values of social images vary markedly between individuals and between experimental sessions for the same individual, individuals also differentially value particular categories of social images. Furthermore, we demonstrate covariance between values for image categories within individuals and find evidence suggesting that magnitudes of stimulus values tend to diminish over time. PMID:24062635

Inter- and Intra-individual Variability in Response to Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) at Varying Current Intensities.

PubMed

Chew, Taariq; Ho, Kerrie-Anne; Loo, Colleen K

2015-01-01

Translation of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) from research to clinical practice is hindered by a lack of consensus on optimal stimulation parameters, significant inter-individual variability in response, and in sufficient intra-individual reliability data. Inter-individual differences in response to anodal tDCS at a range of current intensities were explored. Intra-individual reliability in response to anodal tDCS across two identical sessions was also investigated. Twenty-nine subjects participated in a crossover study. Anodal-tDCS using four different current intensities (0.2, 0.5, 1 and 2 mA), with an anode size of 16 cm2, was tested. The 0.5 mA condition was repeated to assess intra-individual variability. TMS was used to elicit 40 motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) before 10 min of tDCS, and 20 MEPs at four time-points over 30 min following tDCS. ANOVA revealed no main effect of TIME for all conditions except the first 0.5 mA condition, and no differences in response between the four current intensities. Cluster analysis identified two clusters for the 0.2 and 2 mA conditions only. Frequency distributions based on individual subject responses (excitatory, inhibitory or no response) to each condition indicate possible differential responses between individuals to different current intensities. Test-retest reliability was negligible (ICC(2,1) = -0.50). Significant inter-individual variability in response to tDCS across a range of current intensities was found. 2 mA and 0.2 mA tDCS were most effective at inducing a distinct response. Significant intra-individual variability in response to tDCS was also found. This has implications for interpreting results of single-session tDCS experiments. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Analyses of the Microbial Diversity across the Human Microbiome

PubMed Central

Li, Kelvin; Bihan, Monika; Yooseph, Shibu; Methé, Barbara A.

2012-01-01

Analysis of human body microbial diversity is fundamental to understanding community structure, biology and ecology. The National Institutes of Health Human Microbiome Project (HMP) has provided an unprecedented opportunity to examine microbial diversity within and across body habitats and individuals through pyrosequencing-based profiling of 16 S rRNA gene sequences (16 S) from habits of the oral, skin, distal gut, and vaginal body regions from over 200 healthy individuals enabling the application of statistical techniques. In this study, two approaches were applied to elucidate the nature and extent of human microbiome diversity. First, bootstrap and parametric curve fitting techniques were evaluated to estimate the maximum number of unique taxa, Smax, and taxa discovery rate for habitats across individuals. Next, our results demonstrated that the variation of diversity within low abundant taxa across habitats and individuals was not sufficiently quantified with standard ecological diversity indices. This impact from low abundant taxa motivated us to introduce a novel rank-based diversity measure, the Tail statistic, (“τ”), based on the standard deviation of the rank abundance curve if made symmetric by reflection around the most abundant taxon. Due to τ’s greater sensitivity to low abundant taxa, its application to diversity estimation of taxonomic units using taxonomic dependent and independent methods revealed a greater range of values recovered between individuals versus body habitats, and different patterns of diversity within habitats. The greatest range of τ values within and across individuals was found in stool, which also exhibited the most undiscovered taxa. Oral and skin habitats revealed variable diversity patterns, while vaginal habitats were consistently the least diverse. Collectively, these results demonstrate the importance, and motivate the introduction, of several visualization and analysis methods tuned specifically for next-generation sequence data, further revealing that low abundant taxa serve as an important reservoir of genetic diversity in the human microbiome. PMID:22719823

Otolith Asymmetry and kinetotic Behaviour of Fish in Parabolic Flights and under simulated Parabolic Flight "Micro"Gravity - a Drop-Tower Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knie, M.; Hilbig, R.; Anken, R.

We have shown earlier that some fish of a given batch reveal motion sickness a kinetosis at the transition from earth gravity to diminished gravity The percentual ratios of the various types of behaviour normal swimming and kinetotic swimming kinetotic specimens revealed looping responses LR or spinning movements SM however highly differed depending on the quality of diminished gravity Anken and Hilbig Microgravity Sci Technol 15 52-57 2004 Whereas kinetoses were exhibited by some 90 of the individuals who had experienced flights at high quality microgravity HQM 10-6g ZARM drop-tower only some 15-25 depending on the batch of all animals had shown a kinetotic behaviour during parabolic aircraft flights PFs low quality microgravity LQM 0 03-0 05g Probably LQM is sufficient for most fish to be perceived - in relation to the individual shape or weight of otoliths and thus the performance of the vestibular system - and used as a cue for postural control In striking contrast to the results gained using PF specimens according to which otolith asymmetry differences in the size and calcium incorporation of the inner ear stones between the left and right side of the body was significantly higher in kinetotic specimens as compared to normally swimming fish a comparable asymmetry between the kinetotically and normally swimming drop-tower samples could statistically not be verified Anken et al Adv Space Res submitted The present study was designed to further elucidate the role of otolith asymmetry concerning an individually different

Atrophic Patterns of the Frontal-Subcortical Circuits in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease

PubMed Central

Zhao, Hui; Li, Xiaoxi; Wu, Wenbo; Li, Zheng; Qian, Lai; Li, ShanShan; Zhang, Bing; Xu, Yun

2015-01-01

Atrophy of the cortical thickness and gray matter volume are regarded as sensitive markers for the early clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This study aimed to investigate differences in atrophy patterns in the frontal-subcortical circuits between MCI and AD, assess whether these differences were essential for the pathologic basis of cognitive impairment. A total of 131 individuals were recruited, including 45 with cognitively normal controls (CN), 46 with MCI, and 40 with AD. FreeSurfer software was used to perform volumetric measurements of the frontal-subcortical circuits from 3.0T magnetic resonance (MR) scans. Data revealed that both MCI and AD subjects had a thinner cortex in the left caudal middle frontal gyrus and the left lateral orbitofrontal gyrus compared with CN individuals. The left lateral orbitofrontal gyrus was also thinner in AD compared with MCI patients. There were no statistically significant differences in the cortical mean curvature among the three groups. Both MCI and AD subjects exhibited smaller bilateral hippocampus volumes compared with CN individuals. The volumes of the bilateral hippocampus and the right putamen were also smaller in AD compared with MCI patients. Logistic regression analyses revealed that the left lateral orbitofrontal gyrus and bilateral hippocampus were risk factors for cognitive impairment. These current results suggest that atrophy was heterogeneous in subregions of the frontal-subcortical circuits in MCI and AD patients. Among these subregions, the reduced thickness of the left lateral orbitofrontal and the smaller volume of the bilateral hippocampus seemed to be markers for predicting cognitive impairment. PMID:26066658

A new statistical distance scale for planetary nebulae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, Alaa; Ismail, H. A.; Alsolami, Z.

2015-05-01

In the first part of the present article we discuss the consistency among different individual distance methods of Galactic planetary nebulae, while in the second part we develop a new statistical distance scale based on a calibrating sample of well determined distances. A set composed of 315 planetary nebulae with individual distances are extracted from the literature. Inspecting the data set indicates that the accuracy of distances is varying among different individual methods and also among different sources where the same individual method was applied. Therefore, we derive a reliable weighted mean distance for each object by considering the influence of the distance error and the weight of each individual method. The results reveal that the discussed individual methods are consistent with each other, except the gravity method that produces higher distances compared to other individual methods. From the initial data set, we construct a standard calibrating sample consists of 82 objects. This sample is restricted only to the objects with distances determined from at least two different individual methods, except few objects with trusted distances determined from the trigonometric, spectroscopic, and cluster membership methods. In addition to the well determined distances for this sample, it shows a lot of advantages over that used in the prior distance scales. This sample is used to recalibrate the mass-radius and radio surface brightness temperature-radius relationships. An average error of ˜30 % is estimated for the new distance scale. The newly distance scale is compared with the most widely used statistical scales in literature, where the results show that it is roughly similar to the majority of them within ˜±20 % difference. Furthermore, the new scale yields a weighted mean distance to the Galactic center of 7.6±1.35 kpc, which in good agreement with the very recent measure of Malkin 2013.

Ontogenetic and Among-Individual Variation in Foraging Strategies of Northeast Pacific White Sharks Based on Stable Isotope Analysis

PubMed Central

Kim, Sora L.; Tinker, M. Tim; Estes, James A.; Koch, Paul L.

2012-01-01

There is growing evidence for individuality in dietary preferences and foraging behaviors within populations of various species. This is especially important for apex predators, since they can potentially have wide dietary niches and a large impact on trophic dynamics within ecosystems. We evaluate the diet of an apex predator, the white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), by measuring the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope composition of vertebral growth bands to create lifetime records for 15 individuals from California. Isotopic variations in white shark diets can reflect within-region differences among prey (most importantly related to trophic level), as well as differences in baseline values among the regions in which sharks forage, and both prey and habitat preferences may shift with age. The magnitude of isotopic variation among sharks in our study (>5‰ for both elements) is too great to be explained solely by geographic differences, and so must reflect differences in prey choice that may vary with sex, size, age and location. Ontogenetic patterns in δ15N values vary considerably among individuals, and one third of the population fit each of these descriptions: 1) δ15N values increased throughout life, 2) δ15N values increased to a plateau at ∼5 years of age, and 3) δ15N values remained roughly constant values throughout life. Isotopic data for the population span more than one trophic level, and we offer a qualitative evaluation of diet using shark-specific collagen discrimination factors estimated from a 3+ year captive feeding experiment (Δ13Cshark-diet and Δ15Nshark-diet equal 4.2‰ and 2.5‰, respectively). We assess the degree of individuality with a proportional similarity index that distinguishes specialists and generalists. The isotopic variance is partitioned among differences between-individual (48%), within-individuals (40%), and by calendar year of sub-adulthood (12%). Our data reveal substantial ontogenetic and individual dietary variation within a white shark population. PMID:23028766

Ontogenetic and among-individual variation in foraging strategies of northeast Pacific white sharks based on stable isotope analysis

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kim, S.L.; Tinker, M. Tim; Estes, J.A.; Koch, P.L.

2012-01-01

There is growing evidence for individuality in dietary preferences and foraging behaviors within populations of various species. This is especially important for apex predators, since they can potentially have wide dietary niches and a large impact on trophic dynamics within ecosystems. We evaluate the diet of an apex predator, the white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), by measuring the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope composition of vertebral growth bands to create lifetime records for 15 individuals from California. Isotopic variations in white shark diets can reflect within-region differences among prey (most importantly related to trophic level), as well as differences in baseline values among the regions in which sharks forage, and both prey and habitat preferences may shift with age. The magnitude of isotopic variation among sharks in our study (>5‰ for both elements) is too great to be explained solely by geographic differences, and so must reflect differences in prey choice that may vary with sex, size, age and location. Ontogenetic patterns in δ15N values vary considerably among individuals, and one third of the population fit each of these descriptions: 1) δ15N values increased throughout life, 2) δ15N values increased to a plateau at ~5 years of age, and 3) δ15N values remained roughly constant values throughout life. Isotopic data for the population span more than one trophic level, and we offer a qualitative evaluation of diet using shark-specific collagen discrimination factors estimated from a 3+ year captive feeding experiment (Δ13Cshark-diet and Δ15Nshark-diet equal 4.2‰ and 2.5‰, respectively). We assess the degree of individuality with a proportional similarity index that distinguishes specialists and generalists. The isotopic variance is partitioned among differences between-individual (48%), within-individuals (40%), and by calendar year of sub-adulthood (12%). Our data reveal substantial ontogenetic and individual dietary variation within a white shark population.

Ontogenetic and among-individual variation in foraging strategies of northeast Pacific white sharks based on stable isotope analysis.

PubMed

Kim, Sora L; Tinker, M Tim; Estes, James A; Koch, Paul L

2012-01-01

There is growing evidence for individuality in dietary preferences and foraging behaviors within populations of various species. This is especially important for apex predators, since they can potentially have wide dietary niches and a large impact on trophic dynamics within ecosystems. We evaluate the diet of an apex predator, the white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), by measuring the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope composition of vertebral growth bands to create lifetime records for 15 individuals from California. Isotopic variations in white shark diets can reflect within-region differences among prey (most importantly related to trophic level), as well as differences in baseline values among the regions in which sharks forage, and both prey and habitat preferences may shift with age. The magnitude of isotopic variation among sharks in our study (>5‰ for both elements) is too great to be explained solely by geographic differences, and so must reflect differences in prey choice that may vary with sex, size, age and location. Ontogenetic patterns in δ(15)N values vary considerably among individuals, and one third of the population fit each of these descriptions: 1) δ(15)N values increased throughout life, 2) δ(15)N values increased to a plateau at ∼5 years of age, and 3) δ(15)N values remained roughly constant values throughout life. Isotopic data for the population span more than one trophic level, and we offer a qualitative evaluation of diet using shark-specific collagen discrimination factors estimated from a 3+ year captive feeding experiment (Δ(13)C(shark-diet) and Δ(15)N(shark-diet) equal 4.2‰ and 2.5‰, respectively). We assess the degree of individuality with a proportional similarity index that distinguishes specialists and generalists. The isotopic variance is partitioned among differences between-individual (48%), within-individuals (40%), and by calendar year of sub-adulthood (12%). Our data reveal substantial ontogenetic and individual dietary variation within a white shark population.

Individual variability of venom from the European adder (Vipera berus berus) from one locality in Eastern Hungary.

PubMed

Malina, Tamás; Krecsák, László; Westerström, Alexander; Szemán-Nagy, Gábor; Gyémánt, Gyöngyi; M-Hamvas, Márta; Rowan, Edward G; Harvey, Alan L; Warrell, David A; Pál, Balázs; Rusznák, Zoltán; Vasas, Gábor

2017-09-01

We have revealed intra-population variability among venom samples from several individual European adders (Vipera berus berus) within a defined population in Eastern Hungary. Individual differences in venom pattern were noticed, both gender-specific and age-related, by one-dimensional electrophoresis. Gelatin zymography demonstrated that these individual venoms have different degradation profiles indicating varying protease activity in the specimens from adders of different ages and genders. Some specimens shared a conserved region of substrate degradation, while others had lower or extremely low protease activity. Phospholipase A 2 activity of venoms was similar but not identical. Interspecimen diversity of the venom phospholipase A 2 -spectra (based on the components' molecular masses) was detected by MALDI-TOF MS. The lethal toxicity of venoms (LD 50 ) also showed differences among individual snakes. Extracted venom samples had varying neuromuscular paralysing effect on chick biventer cervicis nerve-muscle preparations. The paralysing effect of venom was lost when calcium in the physiological salt solution was replaced by strontium; indicating that the block of twitch responses to nerve stimulation is associated with the activity of a phospholipase-dependent neurotoxin. In contrast to the studied V. b. berus venoms from different geographical regions so far, this is the first V. b. berus population discovered to have predominantly neurotoxic neuromuscular activity. The relevance of varying venom yields is also discussed. This study demonstrates that individual venom variation among V. b. berus living in particular area of Eastern Hungary might contribute to a wider range of clinical manifestations of V. b. berus envenoming than elsewhere in Europe. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Distinct Patterns of Cognitive Conflict Dynamics in Promise Keepers and Promise Breakers.

PubMed

Calluso, Cinzia; Saulin, Anne; Baumgartner, Thomas; Knoch, Daria

2018-01-01

On a daily basis, we see how different people can be in keeping or breaking a given promise. However, we know very little about the cognitive conflict dynamics that underlie the decision to keep or break a promise and whether this is shaped by inter-individual variability. In order to fill this gap, we applied an ecologically valid promise decision task with real monetary consequences for all involved interaction partners and used mouse tracking to identify the dynamic, on-line cognitive processes that underlie the decision to keep or break a promise. Our findings revealed that on average, the process of breaking a promise is associated with largely curved mouse trajectories, while the process of keeping a promise was not, indicating that breaking a promise is associated with a larger conflict. Interestingly, however, this conflict pattern was strongly shaped by individual differences. Individuals who always kept their promises did not show any signs of conflict (i.e., straight mouse trajectories), indicating that they were not tempted by the monetary benefits associated with breaking the promise. In contrast, individuals who did not always keep their promise exhibited a large conflict (i.e., curved mouse trajectories), irrespective of whether they broke or kept their promise. A possible interpretation of these findings is that these individuals were always tempted by the unchosen decision option - the desire to act in a fair manner when breaking the promise and the monetary benefits when keeping the promise. This study provides the first piece of evidence that there are substantial inter-individual differences in cognitive conflict dynamics that underlie the decision to keep or break promises and that mouse tracking is able to illuminate important insights into individual differences in complex human's decision processes.

Differentiation of subspecies and sexes of Beringian Dunlins using morphometric measures

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gates, H. River; Yezerinac, Stephen; Powell, Abby N.; Tomkovich, Pavel S.; Valchuk, Olga P.; Lanctot, Richard B.

2013-01-01

Five subspecies of Dunlins (Calidris alpina) that breed in Beringia are potentially sympatric during the non-breeding season. Studying their ecology during this period requires techniques to distinguish individuals by subspecies. Our objectives were to determine (1) if five morphometric measures (body mass, culmen, head, tarsus, and wing chord) differed between sexes and among subspecies (C. a. actites, arcticola, kistchinski, pacifica, and sakhalina), and (2) if these differences were sufficient to allow for correct classification of individuals using equations derived from discriminant function analyses. We conducted analyses using morphometric data from 10 Dunlin populations breeding in northern Russia and Alaska, USA. Univariate tests revealed significant differences between sexes in most morphometric traits of all subspecies, and discriminant function equations predicted the sex of individuals with an accuracy of 83–100% for each subspecies. We provide equations to determine sex and subspecies of individuals in mixed subspecies groups, including the (1) Western Alaska group of arcticola and pacifica (known to stage together in western Alaska) and (2) East Asia group of arcticola, actites, kistchinski, and sakhalina (known to winter together in East Asia). Equations that predict the sex of individuals in mixed groups had classification accuracies between 75% and 87%, yielding reliable classification equations. We also provide equations that predict the subspecies of individuals with an accuracy of 22–96% for different mixed subspecies groups. When the sex of individuals can be predetermined, the accuracy of these equations is increased substantially. Investigators are cautioned to consider limitations due to age and feather wear when using these equations during the non-breeding season. These equations will allow determination of sexual and subspecies segregation in non-breeding areas, allowing implementation of taxonomic-specific conservation actions.

The Vanderbilt Expertise Test Reveals Domain-General and Domain-Specific Sex Effects in Object Recognition

PubMed Central

McGugin, Rankin W.; Richler, Jennifer J.; Herzmann, Grit; Speegle, Magen; Gauthier, Isabel

2012-01-01

Individual differences in face recognition are often contrasted with differences in object recognition using a single object category. Likewise, individual differences in perceptual expertise for a given object domain have typically been measured relative to only a single category baseline. In Experiment 1, we present a new test of object recognition, the Vanderbilt Expertise Test (VET), which is comparable in methods to the Cambridge Face Memory Task (CFMT) but uses eight different object categories. Principal component analysis reveals that the underlying structure of the VET can be largely explained by two independent factors, which demonstrate good reliability and capture interesting sex differences inherent in the VET structure. In Experiment 2, we show how the VET can be used to separate domain-specific from domain-general contributions to a standard measure of perceptual expertise. While domain-specific contributions are found for car matching for both men and women and for plane matching in men, women in this sample appear to use more domain-general strategies to match planes. In Experiment 3, we use the VET to demonstrate that holistic processing of faces predicts face recognition independently of general object recognition ability, which has a sex-specific contribution to face recognition. Overall, the results suggest that the VET is a reliable and valid measure of object recognition abilities and can measure both domain-general skills and domain-specific expertise, which were both found to depend on the sex of observers. PMID:22877929

The oral microbiome in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive individuals.

PubMed

Kistler, James O; Arirachakaran, Pratanporn; Poovorawan, Yong; Dahlén, Gunnar; Wade, William G

2015-09-01

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with a range of oral conditions, and increased numbers of disease-associated microbial species have previously been found in HIV-positive subjects. The aim of this study was to use next-generation sequencing to compare the composition of the oral microbiome in HIV-positive and -negative individuals. Plaque and saliva were collected from 37 HIV-positive individuals and 37 HIV-negative individuals, and their bacterial composition determined by pyrosequencing of partial 16S rRNA genes. A total of 855,222 sequences were analysed. The number of species-level operational taxonomic units (OTUs) detected was significantly lower in the saliva of HIV-positive individuals (mean = 303.3) than in that of HIV-negative individuals (mean = 365.5) (P < 0.0003). Principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) based on community membership (Jaccard index) and structure (Yue and Clayton measure of dissimilarity) showed significant separation of plaque and saliva samples [analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), P < 0.001]. PCoA plots did not show any clear separation based on HIV status. However, AMOVA indicated that there was a significant difference in the community membership of saliva between HIV-positive and -negative groups (P = 0.001). Linear discriminant analysis effect size revealed an OTU identified as Haemophilus parainfluenzae to be significantly associated with HIV-positive individuals, whilst Streptococcus mitis/HOT473 was most significantly associated with HIV-negative individuals. In conclusion, this study has confirmed that the microbial composition of saliva and plaque is different. The oral microbiomes of HIV-positive and -negative individuals were found to be similar overall, although there were minor but significant differences in the composition of the salivary microbiota of the two groups.

EMA assessment of tongue-jaw co-ordination during speech in dysarthria following traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Bartle, Carly J; Goozée, Justine V; Scott, Dion; Murdoch, Bruce E; Kuruvilla, Mili

2006-05-01

To investigate the spatio-timing aspects of tongue-jaw co-ordination during speech in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). It was hypothesized that both timing and spatial co-ordination would be affected by TBI. A group comparison design wherein Mann-Whitney U-tests were used to compare non-neurologically impaired individuals with individuals with TBI. Nine non-neurologically impaired adults and nine adults with TBI were involved in the study. Electromagnetic articulography (EMA) was used to track tongue and jaw movement during /t/ and /k/, embedded in sentence and syllable stimuli. Analysis of group data did not reveal a significant difference in spatio-timing tongue-jaw co-ordination between the control group and TBI group. On an individual basis, a proportion of individuals with TBI differed from non-neurologically impaired participants with regard to articulatory order and percentage of jaw contribution to /t/. EMA assessment results supported perceptual data; those adults who presented with severe articulatory disturbances exhibited the most deviant spatio-timing tongue-jaw co-ordination patterns. This finding could provide a new and specific direction for treatment, directed at combined movement patterns.

Soundwalk approach to identify urban soundscapes individually.

PubMed

Jeon, Jin Yong; Hong, Joo Young; Lee, Pyoung Jik

2013-07-01

This study proposes a soundwalk procedure for evaluating urban soundscapes. Previous studies, which adopted soundwalk methodologies for investigating participants' responses to visual and acoustic environments, were analyzed considering type, evaluation position, measurement, and subjective assessment. An individual soundwalk procedure was then developed based on asking individual subjects to walk and select evaluation positions where they perceived any positive or negative characteristics of the urban soundscape. A case study was performed in urban spaces and the results were compared with those of the group soundwalk to validate the individual soundwalk procedure. Thirty subjects (15 architects and 15 acousticians) participated in the soundwalk. During the soundwalk, the subjects selected a total of 196 positions, and those were classified into 4 groups. It was found that soundscape perceptions were dominated by acoustic comfort, visual images, and openness. It was also revealed that perceived elements of the acoustic environment and visual image differed across classified soundscape groups, and there was a difference between architects and acousticians in terms of how they described their impressions of the soundscape elements. The results show that the individual soundwalk procedure has advantages for measuring diverse subjective responses and for obtaining the perceived elements of the urban soundscape.

Election Turnout Statistics in Many Countries: Similarities, Differences, and a Diffusive Field Model for Decision-Making

PubMed Central

Borghesi, Christian; Raynal, Jean-Claude; Bouchaud, Jean-Philippe

2012-01-01

We study in details the turnout rate statistics for 77 elections in 11 different countries. We show that the empirical results established in a previous paper for French elections appear to hold much more generally. We find in particular that the spatial correlation of turnout rates decay logarithmically with distance in all cases. This result is quantitatively reproduced by a decision model that assumes that each voter makes his mind as a result of three influence terms: one totally idiosyncratic component, one city-specific term with short-ranged fluctuations in space, and one long-ranged correlated field which propagates diffusively in space. A detailed analysis reveals several interesting features: for example, different countries have different degrees of local heterogeneities and seem to be characterized by a different propensity for individuals to conform to the cultural norm. We furthermore find clear signs of herding (i.e., strongly correlated decisions at the individual level) in some countries, but not in others. PMID:22615762

COMT val108/158 met genotype affects neural but not cognitive processing in healthy individuals.

PubMed

Dennis, Nancy A; Need, Anna C; LaBar, Kevin S; Waters-Metenier, Sheena; Cirulli, Elizabeth T; Kragel, James; Goldstein, David B; Cabeza, Roberto

2010-03-01

The relationship between cognition and a functional polymorphism in the catechol-O-methlytransferase (COMT) gene, val108/158met, is one of debate in the literature. Furthermore, based on the dopaminergic differences associated with the COMT val108/158met genotype, neural differences during cognition may be present, regardless of genotypic differences in cognitive performance. To investigate these issues the current study aimed to 1) examine the effects of COMT genotype using a large sample of healthy individuals (n = 496-1218) and multiple cognitive measures, and using a subset of the sample (n = 22), 2) examine whether COMT genotype effects medial temporal lobe (MTL) and frontal activity during successful relational memory processing, and 3) investigate group differences in functional connectivity associated with successful relational memory processing. Results revealed no significant group difference in cognitive performance between COMT genotypes in any of the 19 cognitive measures. However, in the subset sample, COMT val homozygotes exhibited significantly decreased MTL and increased prefrontal activity during both successful relational encoding and retrieval, and reduced connectivity between these regions compared with met homozygotes. Taken together, the results suggest that although the COMT val108/158met genotype has no effect on cognitive behavioral measures in healthy individuals, it is associated with differences in neural process underlying cognitive output.

Developmental changes in the primacy of facial cues for emotion recognition.

PubMed

Leitzke, Brian T; Pollak, Seth D

2016-04-01

There have been long-standing differences of opinion regarding the influence of the face relative to that of contextual information on how individuals process and judge facial expressions of emotion. However, developmental changes in how individuals use such information have remained largely unexplored and could be informative in attempting to reconcile these opposing views. The current study tested for age-related differences in how individuals prioritize viewing emotional faces versus contexts when making emotion judgments. To do so, we asked 4-, 8-, and 12-year-old children as well as college students to categorize facial expressions of emotion that were presented with scenes that were either congruent or incongruent with the facial displays. During this time, we recorded participants' gaze patterns via eye tracking. College students directed their visual attention primarily to the face, regardless of contextual information. Children, however, divided their attention between both the face and the context as sources of emotional information depending on the valence of the context. These findings reveal a developmental shift in how individuals process and integrate emotional cues. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

A novel frequency analysis method for assessing K(ir)2.1 and Na (v)1.5 currents.

PubMed

Rigby, J R; Poelzing, S

2012-04-01

Voltage clamping is an important tool for measuring individual currents from an electrically active cell. However, it is difficult to isolate individual currents without pharmacological or voltage inhibition. Herein, we present a technique that involves inserting a noise function into a standard voltage step protocol, which allows one to characterize the unique frequency response of an ion channel at different step potentials. Specifically, we compute the fast Fourier transform for a family of current traces at different step potentials for the inward rectifying potassium channel, K(ir)2.1, and the channel encoding the cardiac fast sodium current, Na(v)1.5. Each individual frequency magnitude, as a function of voltage step, is correlated to the peak current produced by each channel. The correlation coefficient vs. frequency relationship reveals that these two channels are associated with some unique frequencies with high absolute correlation. The individual IV relationship can then be recreated using only the unique frequencies with magnitudes of high absolute correlation. Thus, this study demonstrates that ion channels may exhibit unique frequency responses.

In God we trust? Neural measures reveal lower social conformity among non-religious individuals.

PubMed

Thiruchselvam, Ravi; Gopi, Yashoda; Kilekwang, Leonard; Harper, Jessica; Gross, James J

2017-06-01

Even in predominantly religious societies, there are substantial individual differences in religious commitment. Why is this? One possibility is that differences in social conformity (i.e. the tendency to think and behave as others do) underlie inclination towards religiosity. However, the link between religiosity and conformity has not yet been directly examined. In this study, we tested the notion that non-religious individuals show dampened social conformity, using both self-reported and neural (EEG-based ERPs) measures of sensitivity to others' influence. Non-religious vs religious undergraduate subjects completed an experimental task that assessed levels of conformity in a domain unrelated to religion (i.e. in judgments of facial attractiveness). Findings showed that, although both groups yielded to conformity pressures at the self-report level, non-religious individuals did not yield to such pressures in their neural responses. These findings highlight a novel link between religiosity and social conformity, and hold implications for prominent theories about the psychological functions of religion. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press.

PTSD and Sexual Orientation: An Examination of Criterion A1 and Non-Criterion A1 Events

PubMed Central

Alessi, Edward J.; Meyer, Ilan H.; Martin, James I.

2015-01-01

This large-scale cross-sectional study compared posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) prevalence among White, Black, and Latino lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals (LGBs; n = 382) and compared them with heterosexual individuals (n = 126). Building on previous research, we relaxed the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM–IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994), allowing non-Criterion A1 events such as ending a relationship, unemployment, homelessness, and separation from parents to qualify, and we assessed differences in PTSD prevalence between standard DSM–IV criteria and the relaxed criteria. Findings revealed that participants reporting a non-Criterion A1 event were more likely than those reporting a Criterion A1 event to have symptoms diagnosable as PTSD. There was no significant difference in either DSM–IV or relaxed Criterion A1 PTSD prevalence between lesbian and gay, and heterosexual individuals or between bisexual and heterosexual individuals. Compared with White LGBs, Black and Latino LGBs had higher prevalence of PTSD with the relaxed Criterion A1 definition, but this was statistically significant only for Latinos. PMID:26113955

What Can Lexical Tone Training Studies in Adults Tell Us about Tone Processing in Children?

PubMed Central

Antoniou, Mark; Chin, Jessica L. L.

2018-01-01

A growing number of studies on the acquisition of lexical tone by adult learners have revealed that factors such as language background, musical experience, cognitive abilities, and neuroanatomy all play a role in determining tone learning success. On the basis of these findings, it has been argued that the effectiveness of tone learning in adulthood depends on individual differences in these factors. However, it is not clear whether similar individual differences play an analogous role in tone learning in childhood. Indeed, relatively few studies have made comparisons between how adults and children learn lexical tones. Here, we review recent developments for tone learning in both adults and children. The review covers tone training in a range of contexts, including in naive listeners, in native speakers of other tone languages, in listeners with varying levels of musical experience, and in individuals with speech and hearing disorders. Finally, we discuss the parallels between adult and child tone learning, and provide recommendations concerning how findings in adult tone training can provide insights into tone learning for children by accommodating the needs of individual learners. PMID:29410639

More than words: Adults learn probabilities over categories and relationships between them.

PubMed

Hudson Kam, Carla L

2009-04-01

This study examines whether human learners can acquire statistics over abstract categories and their relationships to each other. Adult learners were exposed to miniature artificial languages containing variation in the ordering of the Subject, Object, and Verb constituents. Different orders (e.g. SOV, VSO) occurred in the input with different frequencies, but the occurrence of one order versus another was not predictable. Importantly, the language was constructed such that participants could only match the overall input probabilities if they were tracking statistics over abstract categories, not over individual words. At test, participants reproduced the probabilities present in the input with a high degree of accuracy. Closer examination revealed that learner's were matching the probabilities associated with individual verbs rather than the category as a whole. However, individual nouns had no impact on word orders produced. Thus, participants learned the probabilities of a particular ordering of the abstract grammatical categories Subject and Object associated with each verb. Results suggest that statistical learning mechanisms are capable of tracking relationships between abstract linguistic categories in addition to individual items.

Does Feedback-Related Brain Response during Reinforcement Learning Predict Socio-motivational (In-)dependence in Adolescence?

PubMed Central

Raufelder, Diana; Boehme, Rebecca; Romund, Lydia; Golde, Sabrina; Lorenz, Robert C.; Gleich, Tobias; Beck, Anne

2016-01-01

This multi-methodological study applied functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate neural activation in a group of adolescent students (N = 88) during a probabilistic reinforcement learning task. We related patterns of emerging brain activity and individual learning rates to socio-motivational (in-)dependence manifested in four different motivation types (MTs): (1) peer-dependent MT, (2) teacher-dependent MT, (3) peer-and-teacher-dependent MT, (4) peer-and-teacher-independent MT. A multinomial regression analysis revealed that the individual learning rate predicts students’ membership to the independent MT, or the peer-and-teacher-dependent MT. Additionally, the striatum, a brain region associated with behavioral adaptation and flexibility, showed increased learning-related activation in students with motivational independence. Moreover, the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in behavioral control, was more active in students of the peer-and-teacher-dependent MT. Overall, this study offers new insights into the interplay of motivation and learning with (1) a focus on inter-individual differences in the role of peers and teachers as source of students’ individual motivation and (2) its potential neurobiological basis. PMID:27199873

Child-rearing in an indigenous Sami population in Norway: a cross-cultural comparison of parental attitudes and expectations.

PubMed

Javo, Cecilie; Rønning, John A; Heyerdahl, Sonja

2004-02-01

Semi-structured interviews of 76 Sami mothers and 58 Sami fathers, and 86 Norwegian mothers and 58 Norwegian fathers of four-year olds, revealed consistent cross-cultural differences in parenting. ANCOVA results showed that parental permissiveness was higher in the Sami group. Moreover, the effect of ethnicity was different for boys and girls (mothers' reports). Co-sleeping and self-regulation of food and sleep were commonly practiced in the Sami, but not in the Norwegian families. Sami children were more socially independent than their Norwegian peers. Indirect or internal types of control were used more by Sami parents, and they were less tolerant of child aggression, in the form of temper tantrums and displays of jealousy. These patterns are similar to those found in other indigenous cultures in the circumpolar region. The results are discussed with reference to the Individualism-Collectivism dimension. The study challenges the Individualism-Collectivism construct for apparently confounding the individualism common in European liberalism with the individual autonomy commonly encountered among hunting-gathering peoples.

Individual, family background, and contextual explanations of racial and ethnic disparities in youths' exposure to violence.

PubMed

Zimmerman, Gregory M; Messner, Steven F

2013-03-01

We used data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods to examine the extent to which individual, family, and contextual factors account for the differential exposure to violence associated with race/ethnicity among youths. Logistic hierarchical item response models on 2344 individuals nested within 80 neighborhoods revealed that the odds of being exposed to violence were 74% and 112% higher for Hispanics and Blacks, respectively, than for Whites. Appreciable portions of the Hispanic-White gap (33%) and the Black-White gap (53%) were accounted for by family background factors, individual differences, and neighborhood factors. The findings imply that programs aimed at addressing the risk factors for exposure to violence and alleviating the effects of exposure to violence may decrease racial/ethnic disparities in exposure to violence and its consequences.

Individual, Family Background, and Contextual Explanations of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Youths’ Exposure to Violence

PubMed Central

Messner, Steven F.

2013-01-01

We used data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods to examine the extent to which individual, family, and contextual factors account for the differential exposure to violence associated with race/ethnicity among youths. Logistic hierarchical item response models on 2344 individuals nested within 80 neighborhoods revealed that the odds of being exposed to violence were 74% and 112% higher for Hispanics and Blacks, respectively, than for Whites. Appreciable portions of the Hispanic–White gap (33%) and the Black–White gap (53%) were accounted for by family background factors, individual differences, and neighborhood factors. The findings imply that programs aimed at addressing the risk factors for exposure to violence and alleviating the effects of exposure to violence may decrease racial/ethnic disparities in exposure to violence and its consequences. PMID:23327266

Individualism, acceptance and differentiation as attitude traits in the public’s response to vaccination

PubMed Central

Velan, Baruch; Boyko, Valentina; Lerner-Geva, Liat; Ziv, Arnona; Yagar, Yaakov; Kaplan, Giora

2012-01-01

The attitude of the general public to vaccination was evaluated through a survey conducted on a representative sample of the Israeli population (n = 2,018), in which interviewees were requested to express their standpoints regarding five different vaccination programs. These included: pandemic influenza vaccination, seasonal influenza vaccination, travel vaccines, Human Papilloma Virus vaccine and childhood vaccinations. Analysis of the responses reveal three major attitude traits: a) acceptance, characterized by the opinion that targets should be vaccinated; b) individualism, characterized by the opinion that vaccination should be left to personal choice; and c) differentiation, characterized by the tendency to express different attitudes when addressing different vaccination programs. Interestingly, direct opposition to vaccination was found to be a minor attitude trait in this survey. Groups within the population could be defined according to their tendency to assume these different attitudes as Acceptors, Judicious-acceptors, Differentiators, Soft-individualists, and Hard-individualists. These groups expressed different standpoints on all five vaccination programs as well as on other health recommendations, such as screening for early detection of cancer. Attitude traits could be also correlated, to a certain extent, with actual compliance with vaccination programs. Interestingly, attitudes to vaccination were not correlated with social profiles related to income or education, although younger individuals exhibited higher degrees of individualism and differentiation. Taken together, all this is in accordance with the current social settings, underlining the individual's tendency for critical evaluation and self-stirring. This should be taken into consideration by health authorities involved in vaccination programs. PMID:22894959

SELF-CONCEPT DIFFERENTIATION AND SELF-CONCEPT CLARITY ACROSS ADULTHOOD: ASSOCIATIONS WITH AGE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING*

PubMed Central

DIEHL, MANFRED; HAY, ELIZABETH L.

2011-01-01

This study focused on the identification of conceptually meaningful groups of individuals based on their joint self-concept differentiation (SCD) and self-concept clarity (SCC) scores. Notably, we examined whether membership in different SCD-SCC groups differed by age and also was associated with differences in psychological well-being (PWB). Cluster analysis revealed five distinct SCD-SCC groups: a self-assured, unencumbered, fragmented-only, confused-only, and fragmented and confused group. Individuals in the self-assured group had the highest mean scores for positive PWB and the lowest mean scores for negative PWB, whereas individuals in the fragmented and confused group showed the inverse pattern. Findings showed that it was psychologically advantageous to belong to the self-assured group at all ages. As hypothesized, older adults were more likely than young adults to be in the self-assured cluster, whereas young adults were more likely to be in the fragmented and confused cluster. Thus, consistent with extant theorizing, age was positively associated with psychologically adaptive self-concept profiles. This study examined whether conceptually meaningful subgroups of individuals can be identified based on their joint scores on self-concept differentiation (SCD) and self-concept clarity (SCC). Specifically, we considered whether individuals within such subgroups differed systematically from one another on measures of positive and negative psychological well-being (PWB). Of interest to us was also whether there were age differences in the distribution of adults across the SCD-SCC groups and whether age moderated the association between PWB and SCD-SCC grouping. PMID:22010361

An Ultrasensitive Bacterial Motor Revealed by Monitoring Signaling Proteins in Single Cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cluzel, Philippe; Surette, Michael; Leibler, Stanislas

2000-03-01

Understanding biology at the single-cell level requires simultaneous measurements of biochemical parameters and behavioral characteristics in individual cells. Here, the output of individual flagellar motors in Escherichia coli was measured as a function of the intracellular concentration of the chemotactic signaling protein. The concentration of this molecule, fused to green fluorescent protein, was monitored with fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. Motors from different bacteria exhibited an identical steep input-output relation, suggesting that they actively contribute to signal amplification in chemotaxis. This experimental approach can be extended to quantitative in vivo studies of other biochemical networks.

Self-concept differentiation and self-concept clarity across adulthood: associations with age and psychological well-being.

PubMed

Diehl, Manfred; Hay, Elizabeth L

2011-01-01

This study focused on the identification of conceptually meaningful groups of individuals based on their joint self-concept differentiation (SCD) and self-concept clarity (SCC) scores. Notably, we examined whether membership in different SCD-SCC groups differed by age and also was associated with differences in psychological well-being (PWB). Cluster analysis revealed five distinct SCD-SCC groups: a self-assured, unencumbered, fragmented-only, confused-only, and fragmented and confused group. Individuals in the self-assured group had the highest mean scores for positive PWB and the lowest mean scores for negative PWB, whereas individuals in the fragmented and confused group showed the inverse pattern. Findings showed that it was psychologically advantageous to belong to the self-assured group at all ages. As hypothesized, older adults were more likely than young adults to be in the self-assured cluster, whereas young adults were more likely to be in the fragmented and confused cluster. Thus, consistent with extant theorizing, age was positively associated with psychologically adaptive self-concept profiles.

Do inclusive work environments matter? Effects of community-integrated employment on quality of life for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

PubMed

Blick, Rachel N; Litz, Katherine S; Thornhill, Monica G; Goreczny, Anthony J

2016-01-01

More individuals with an intellectual disability now possess prerequisite skills and supports necessary for successful work force integration than did previous generations. The current study compared quality of life of community-integrated workers with those participating in sheltered vocational workshops and adult day care programs. We considered numerous indices of quality of life, including inclusion and community participation; satisfaction within professional services, home life, and day activities; dignity, rights, and respect received from others; fear; choice and control; and family satisfaction. Our data revealed several important differences in quality of life across daytime activities; participants involved in community-integrated employment tended to be younger, indicated a greater sense of community integration, and reported more financial autonomy than did those who participated in adult day care programs and sheltered workshops. However, individuals reported no differences in overall satisfaction across daytime activities. We discuss generational differences across employment status as well as possible explanations to account for high levels of satisfaction across daytime activities. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Species, Sex and Individual Differences in the Vasotocin/Vasopressin System: Relationship to Neurochemical Signaling in the Social Behavior Neural Network

PubMed Central

Albers, H. Elliott

2014-01-01

Arginine-vasotocin(AVT)/arginine vasopressin (AVP) are members of the AVP/oxytocin (OT) superfamily of peptides that are involved in the regulation of social behavior, social cognition and emotion. Comparative studies have revealed that AVT/AVP and their receptors are found throughout the “Social Behavior Neural Network” and display the properties expected from a signaling system that controls social behavior (i.e., species, sex and individual differences and modulation by gonadal hormones and social factors). Neurochemical signaling within the SBNN likely involves a complex combination of synaptic mechanisms that co-release multiple chemical signals (e.g., classical neurotransmitters and AVT/AVP as well as other peptides) and non-synaptic mechanisms (i.e., volume transmission). Crosstalk between AVP/OT peptides and receptors within the SBNN is likely. A better understanding of the functional properties of neurochemical signaling in the SBNN will allow for a more refined examination of the relationships between this peptide system and species, sex and individual differences in sociality. PMID:25102443

The need for affect: individual differences in the motivation to approach or avoid emotions.

PubMed

Maio, G R; Esses, V M

2001-08-01

The present research developed and tested a new individual-difference measure of the need for affect, which is the motivation to approach or avoid emotion-inducing situations. The first phase of the research developed the need for affect scale. The second phase revealed that the need for affect is related to a number of individual differences in cognitive processes (e.g., need for cognition, need for closure), emotional processes (e.g., affect intensity, repression-sensitization), behavioral inhibition and activation (e.g., sensation seeking), and aspects of personality (Big Five dimensions) in the expected directions, while not being redundant with them. The third phase of the research indicated that, compared to people low in the need for affect, people high in the need for affect are more likely to (a) possess extreme attitudes across a variety of issues, (b) choose to view emotional movies, and (c) become involved in an emotion-inducing event (the death of Princess Diana). Overall, the results indicate that the need for affect is an important construct in understanding emotion-related processes.

Addictive internet use among Korean adolescents: a national survey.

PubMed

Heo, Jongho; Oh, Juhwan; Subramanian, S V; Kim, Yoon; Kawachi, Ichiro

2014-01-01

A psychological disorder called 'Internet addiction' has newly emerged along with a dramatic increase of worldwide Internet use. However, few studies have used population-level samples nor taken into account contextual factors on Internet addiction. We identified 57,857 middle and high school students (13-18 year olds) from a Korean nationally representative survey, which was surveyed in 2009. To identify associated factors with addictive Internet use, two-level multilevel regression models were fitted with individual-level responses (1st level) nested within schools (2nd level) to estimate associations of individual and school characteristics simultaneously. Gender differences of addictive Internet use were estimated with the regression model stratified by gender. Significant associations were found between addictive Internet use and school grade, parental education, alcohol use, tobacco use, and substance use. Female students in girls' schools were more likely to use Internet addictively than those in coeducational schools. Our results also revealed significant gender differences of addictive Internet use in its associated individual- and school-level factors. Our results suggest that multilevel risk factors along with gender differences should be considered to protect adolescents from addictive Internet use.

Individual differences affecting caffeine intake. Analysis of consumption behaviours for different times of day and caffeine sources.

PubMed

Penolazzi, Barbara; Natale, Vincenzo; Leone, Luigi; Russo, Paolo Maria

2012-06-01

The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the individual variables contributing to determine the high variability in the consumption behaviours of caffeine, a psychoactive substance which is still poorly investigated in comparison with other drugs. The effects of a large set of specific personality traits (i.e., Impulsivity, Sensation Seeking, Anxiety, Reward Sensitivity and Circadian Preference) were compared along with some relevant socio-demographic variables (i.e., gender and age) and cigarette smoking behaviour. Analyses revealed that daily caffeine intake was significantly higher for males, older people, participants smoking more cigarettes and showing higher scores on Impulsivity, Sensation Seeking and a facet of Reward Sensitivity. However, more detailed analyses showed that different patterns of individual variables predicted caffeine consumption when the times of day and the caffeine sources were considered. The present results suggest that such detailed analyses are required to detect the critical predictive variables that could be obscured when only total caffeine intake during the entire day is considered. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

OT promotes closer interpersonal distance among highly empathic individuals.

PubMed

Perry, Anat; Mankuta, David; Shamay-Tsoory, Simone G

2015-01-01

The space between people, or 'interpersonal distance', creates and defines the dynamics of social interactions and is a salient cue signaling responsiveness and feeling comfortable. This distance is implicit yet clearly felt, especially if someone stands closer or farther away than expected. Increasing evidence suggests that Oxytocin (OT) serves as a social hormone in humans, and that one of its roles may be to alter the perceptual salience of social cues. Considering that empathic ability may shape the way individuals process social stimuli, we predicted that OT will differentially affect preferred interpersonal distance depending on individual differences in empathy. Participants took part in two interpersonal distance experiments: In the first, they had to stop a (computer visualized) protagonist when feeling most comfortable; in the second, they were asked to choose the room in which they would later discuss intimate topics with another. Both experiments revealed an interaction between the effect of OT and empathy level. Among highly empathic individuals, OT promoted the choice of closer interpersonal distances. Yet, OT had an opposite effect on individuals with low empathic traits. We conclude that the enhancement of social cues following OT administration may have opposite effects on individuals with different empathic abilities. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Psychology of Fragrance Use: Perception of Individual Odor and Perfume Blends Reveals a Mechanism for Idiosyncratic Effects on Fragrance Choice

PubMed Central

Lenochová, Pavlína; Vohnoutová, Pavla; Roberts, S. Craig; Oberzaucher, Elisabeth; Grammer, Karl; Havlíček, Jan

2012-01-01

Cross-culturally, fragrances are used to modulate body odor, but the psychology of fragrance choice has been largely overlooked. The prevalent view is that fragrances mask an individual's body odor and improve its pleasantness. In two experiments, we found positive effects of perfume on body odor perception. Importantly, however, this was modulated by significant interactions with individual odor donors. Fragrances thus appear to interact with body odor, creating an individually-specific odor mixture. In a third experiment, the odor mixture of an individual's body odor and their preferred perfume was perceived as more pleasant than a blend of the same body odor with a randomly-allocated perfume, even when there was no difference in pleasantness between the perfumes. This indicates that fragrance use extends beyond simple masking effects and that people choose perfumes that interact well with their own odor. Our results provide an explanation for the highly individual nature of perfume choice. PMID:22470479

Psychology of fragrance use: perception of individual odor and perfume blends reveals a mechanism for idiosyncratic effects on fragrance choice.

PubMed

Lenochová, Pavlína; Vohnoutová, Pavla; Roberts, S Craig; Oberzaucher, Elisabeth; Grammer, Karl; Havlíček, Jan

2012-01-01

Cross-culturally, fragrances are used to modulate body odor, but the psychology of fragrance choice has been largely overlooked. The prevalent view is that fragrances mask an individual's body odor and improve its pleasantness. In two experiments, we found positive effects of perfume on body odor perception. Importantly, however, this was modulated by significant interactions with individual odor donors. Fragrances thus appear to interact with body odor, creating an individually-specific odor mixture. In a third experiment, the odor mixture of an individual's body odor and their preferred perfume was perceived as more pleasant than a blend of the same body odor with a randomly-allocated perfume, even when there was no difference in pleasantness between the perfumes. This indicates that fragrance use extends beyond simple masking effects and that people choose perfumes that interact well with their own odor. Our results provide an explanation for the highly individual nature of perfume choice.

Complex Cooperative Strategies in Group-Territorial African Lions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heinsohn, Robert; Packer, Craig

1995-09-01

Female lions (Panthera leo) showed persistent individual differences in the extent to which they participated in group-territorial conflict. When intergroup encounters were simulated by playback of aggressive vocalizations, some individuals consistently led the approach to the recorded intruder, whereas others lagged behind and avoided the risks of fighting. The lead females recognized that certain companions were laggards but failed to punish them, which suggests that cooperation is not maintained by reciprocity. Modification of the "odds" in these encounters revealed that some females joined the group response when they were most needed, whereas other lagged even farther behind. The complexity of these responses emphasizes the great diversity of individual behavior in this species and the inadequacy of current theory to explain cooperation in large groups.

Proteome and Secretome Analysis Reveals Differential Post-transcriptional Regulation of Toll-like Receptor Responses*

PubMed Central

Koppenol-Raab, Marijke; Sjoelund, Virginie; Manes, Nathan P.; Gottschalk, Rachel A.; Dutta, Bhaskar; Benet, Zachary L.; Fraser, Iain D. C.

2017-01-01

The innate immune system is the organism's first line of defense against pathogens. Pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) are responsible for sensing the presence of pathogen-associated molecules. The prototypic PRRs, the membrane-bound receptors of the Toll-like receptor (TLR) family, recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and initiate an innate immune response through signaling pathways that depend on the adaptor molecules MyD88 and TRIF. Deciphering the differences in the complex signaling events that lead to pathogen recognition and initiation of the correct response remains challenging. Here we report the discovery of temporal changes in the protein signaling components involved in innate immunity. Using an integrated strategy combining unbiased proteomics, transcriptomics and macrophage stimulations with three different PAMPs, we identified differences in signaling between individual TLRs and revealed specifics of pathway regulation at the protein level. PMID:28235783

Sparse genetic tracing reveals regionally specific functional organization of mammalian nociceptors.

PubMed

Olson, William; Abdus-Saboor, Ishmail; Cui, Lian; Burdge, Justin; Raabe, Tobias; Ma, Minghong; Luo, Wenqin

2017-10-12

The human distal limbs have a high spatial acuity for noxious stimuli but a low density of pain-sensing neurites. To elucidate mechanisms underlying regional differences in processing nociception, we sparsely traced non-peptidergic nociceptors across the body using a newly generated Mrgprd CreERT2 mouse line. We found that mouse plantar paw skin is also innervated by a low density of Mrgprd + nociceptors, while individual arbors in different locations are comparable in size. Surprisingly, the central arbors of plantar paw and trunk innervating nociceptors have distinct morphologies in the spinal cord. This regional difference is well correlated with a heightened signal transmission for plantar paw circuits, as revealed by both spinal cord slice recordings and behavior assays. Taken together, our results elucidate a novel somatotopic functional organization of the mammalian pain system and suggest that regional central arbor structure could facilitate the "enlarged representation" of plantar paw regions in the CNS.

Heterogeneity of Vaginal Microbial Communities within Individuals▿ #

PubMed Central

Kim, Tae Kyung; Thomas, Susan M.; Ho, Mengfei; Sharma, Shobha; Reich, Claudia I.; Frank, Jeremy A.; Yeater, Kathleen M.; Biggs, Diana R.; Nakamura, Noriko; Stumpf, Rebecca; Leigh, Steven R.; Tapping, Richard I.; Blanke, Steven R.; Slauch, James M.; Gaskins, H. Rex; Weisbaum, Jon S.; Olsen, Gary J.; Hoyer, Lois L.; Wilson, Brenda A.

2009-01-01

Recent culture-independent studies have revealed that a healthy vaginal ecosystem harbors a surprisingly complex assemblage of microorganisms. However, the spatial distribution and composition of vaginal microbial populations have not been investigated using molecular methods. Here, we evaluated site-specific microbial composition within the vaginal ecosystem and examined the influence of sampling technique in detection of the vaginal microbiota. 16S rRNA gene clone libraries were prepared from samples obtained from different locations (cervix, fornix, outer vaginal canal) and by different methods (swabbing, scraping, lavaging) from the vaginal tracts of eight clinically healthy, asymptomatic women. The data reveal that the vaginal microbiota is not homogenous throughout the vaginal tract but differs significantly within an individual with regard to anatomical site and sampling method used. Thus, this study illuminates the complex structure of the vaginal ecosystem and calls for the consideration of microenvironments when sampling vaginal microbiota as a clinical predictor of vaginal health. PMID:19158255

Education and self-rated health: An individual and neighborhood level analysis of Asian Americans, Hawaiians, and Caucasians in Hawaii.

PubMed

Zhang, Wei; McCubbin, Hamilton; McCubbin, Laurie; Chen, Qi; Foley, Shirley; Strom, Ida; Kehl, Lisa

2010-02-01

Focusing on Asian Americans, Hawaiians, and Caucasians in Hawaii, this study contributes to the literature by examining (1) the geographical distributions of education in relation to self-rated general health at neighborhood levels, and (2) the individual variations in self-rated health by ethnicity and education at both individual and neighborhood levels. Using the 2007 Hawaii Health Survey with linked zip-code information, and applying GIS (Geographic Information System) and binary logistic regression models, this study found that (1) there are significant between ethnic differences in self-rated health in Hawaii, with Hawaiians being the most disadvantaged population compared to Japanese, Chinese, and Caucasians; (2) individual socioeconomic characteristics are all related to self-rated health, and education (in particular) mediates the Japanese vs. Hawaiian and Chinese vs. Hawaiian health differences; (3) the neighborhood level of education has an independent effect on self-rated health over and above individual characteristics for the whole sample and it partially mediates the between ethnic health differences; and (4) the relative importance of education to self-rated health is more significant and salient for Caucasians and Japanese/Chinese than for Filipinos and Hawaiians. In sum, this study not only demonstrates a geographical profile of health and education distributions in Hawaii, but also reveals significant mediating effects of education, at both individual and neighborhood levels, in explaining the between and within ethnic differentials in self-rated health. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Music training, cognition, and personality.

PubMed

Corrigall, Kathleen A; Schellenberg, E Glenn; Misura, Nicole M

2013-01-01

Although most studies that examined associations between music training and cognitive abilities had correlational designs, the prevailing bias is that music training causes improvements in cognition. It is also possible, however, that high-functioning children are more likely than other children to take music lessons, and that they also differ in personality. We asked whether individual differences in cognition and personality predict who takes music lessons and for how long. The participants were 118 adults (Study 1) and 167 10- to 12-year-old children (Study 2). We collected demographic information and measured cognitive ability and the Big Five personality dimensions. As in previous research, cognitive ability was associated with musical involvement even when demographic variables were controlled statistically. Novel findings indicated that personality was associated with musical involvement when demographics and cognitive ability were held constant, and that openness-to-experience was the personality dimension with the best predictive power. These findings reveal that: (1) individual differences influence who takes music lessons and for how long, (2) personality variables are at least as good as cognitive variables at predicting music training, and (3) future correlational studies of links between music training and non-musical ability should account for individual differences in personality.

Facial EMG responses to emotional expressions are related to emotion perception ability.

PubMed

Künecke, Janina; Hildebrandt, Andrea; Recio, Guillermo; Sommer, Werner; Wilhelm, Oliver

2014-01-01

Although most people can identify facial expressions of emotions well, they still differ in this ability. According to embodied simulation theories understanding emotions of others is fostered by involuntarily mimicking the perceived expressions, causing a "reactivation" of the corresponding mental state. Some studies suggest automatic facial mimicry during expression viewing; however, findings on the relationship between mimicry and emotion perception abilities are equivocal. The present study investigated individual differences in emotion perception and its relationship to facial muscle responses - recorded with electromyogram (EMG)--in response to emotional facial expressions. N° = °269 participants completed multiple tasks measuring face and emotion perception. EMG recordings were taken from a subsample (N° = °110) in an independent emotion classification task of short videos displaying six emotions. Confirmatory factor analyses of the m. corrugator supercilii in response to angry, happy, sad, and neutral expressions showed that individual differences in corrugator activity can be separated into a general response to all faces and an emotion-related response. Structural equation modeling revealed a substantial relationship between the emotion-related response and emotion perception ability, providing evidence for the role of facial muscle activation in emotion perception from an individual differences perspective.

Facial EMG Responses to Emotional Expressions Are Related to Emotion Perception Ability

PubMed Central

Künecke, Janina; Hildebrandt, Andrea; Recio, Guillermo; Sommer, Werner; Wilhelm, Oliver

2014-01-01

Although most people can identify facial expressions of emotions well, they still differ in this ability. According to embodied simulation theories understanding emotions of others is fostered by involuntarily mimicking the perceived expressions, causing a “reactivation” of the corresponding mental state. Some studies suggest automatic facial mimicry during expression viewing; however, findings on the relationship between mimicry and emotion perception abilities are equivocal. The present study investigated individual differences in emotion perception and its relationship to facial muscle responses - recorded with electromyogram (EMG) - in response to emotional facial expressions. N° = °269 participants completed multiple tasks measuring face and emotion perception. EMG recordings were taken from a subsample (N° = °110) in an independent emotion classification task of short videos displaying six emotions. Confirmatory factor analyses of the m. corrugator supercilii in response to angry, happy, sad, and neutral expressions showed that individual differences in corrugator activity can be separated into a general response to all faces and an emotion-related response. Structural equation modeling revealed a substantial relationship between the emotion-related response and emotion perception ability, providing evidence for the role of facial muscle activation in emotion perception from an individual differences perspective. PMID:24489647

Nurse-physician collaboration in an academic medical centre: The influence of organisational and individual factors.

PubMed

Bowles, Darci; McIntosh, Georgia; Hemrajani, Reena; Yen, Miao-Shan; Phillips, Allison; Schwartz, Nathan; Tu, Shin-Ping; Dow, Alan W

2016-09-01

Ineffective physician-nurse collaboration has been recognised to adversely impact patient and organisational outcomes, and some studies suggest an underlying factor may be that nurses and physicians have different perceptions of interprofessional collaboration (IPC). The objectives of this study were to evaluate for a difference in the perception of IPC between physicians and nurses and to explore potential contributing factors at the individual and organisational levels to any observed difference. Data including measures of perceptions of IPC were collected from a convenience sample of resident physicians (n = 47), attending physicians (n = 18), and nurses (n = 54) providing care for internal medicine patients in a large tertiary care academic medical centre. Regression analysis revealed significantly lower perceptions of IPC scores for nurses in comparison to the scores of both the resident and attending physician groups (p = .0001 for both). Although demographic and workload factors also differed by profession, only profession and workload remained significant in regression analysis. Given the known relationships between effective physician-nurse collaboration and superior patient and organisational outcomes, better defining the individual and organisational predictors of IPC scores may support development of more effective interventions targeting improvements in IPC.

Revealed distributional preferences: Individuals vs. teams☆☆☆

PubMed Central

Balafoutas, Loukas; Kerschbamer, Rudolf; Kocher, Martin; Sutter, Matthias

2014-01-01

We compare experimentally the revealed distributional preferences of individuals and teams in allocation tasks. We find that teams are significantly more benevolent than individuals in the domain of disadvantageous inequality while the benevolence in the domain of advantageous inequality is similar across decision makers. A consequence for the frequency of preference types is that while a substantial fraction of individuals is classified as inequality averse, this type disappears completely in teams. Spiteful types are markedly more frequent among individuals than among teams. On the other hand, by far more teams than individuals are classified as efficiency lovers. PMID:25843995

Behavioral and neuronal determinants of negative reciprocity in the ultimatum game.

PubMed

Kaltwasser, Laura; Hildebrandt, Andrea; Wilhelm, Oliver; Sommer, Werner

2016-10-01

The rejection of unfair offers in the ultimatum game (UG) indicates negative reciprocity. The model of strong reciprocity claims that negative reciprocity reflects prosociality because the rejecting individual is sacrificing resources in order to punish unfair behavior. However, a recent study found that the rejection rate of unfair offers is linked to assertiveness (status defense model). To pursue the question what drives negative reciprocity, the present study investigated individual differences in the rejection of unfair offers along with their behavioral and neuronal determinants. We measured fairness preferences and event-related potentials (ERP) in 200 healthy participants playing a computerized version of the UG with pictures of unfair and fair proposers. Structural equation modeling (SEM) on the behavioral data corroborated both the strong reciprocity and the status defense models of human cooperation: Not only more prosocial but also more assertive individuals were more likely to show negative reciprocity by rejecting unfair offers. Experimental ERP results confirmed the feedback negativity (FN) as a neural signature of fairness processing. Multilevel SEM of brain-behavior relationships revealed that negative reciprocity was significantly associated with individual differences in FN amplitudes in response to proposers. Our results confirm stable individual differences in fairness processing at the behavioral and neuronal level. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Predator personality and prey behavioural predictability jointly determine foraging performance.

PubMed

Chang, Chia-Chen; Teo, Huey Yee; Norma-Rashid, Y; Li, Daiqin

2017-01-17

Predator-prey interactions play important roles in ecological communities. Personality, consistent inter-individual differences in behaviour, of predators, prey or both are known to influence inter-specific interactions. An individual may also behave differently under the same situation and the level of such variability may differ between individuals. Such intra-individual variability (IIV) or predictability may be a trait on which selection can also act. A few studies have revealed the joint effect of personality types of both predators and prey on predator foraging performance. However, how personality type and IIV of both predators and prey jointly influence predator foraging performance remains untested empirically. Here, we addressed this using a specialized spider-eating jumping spider, Portia labiata (Salticidae), as the predator, and a jumping spider, Cosmophasis umbratica, as the prey. We examined personality types and IIVs of both P. labiata and C. umbratica and used their inter- and intra-individual behavioural variation as predictors of foraging performance (i.e., number of attempts to capture prey). Personality type and predictability had a joint effect on predator foraging performance. Aggressive predators performed better in capturing unpredictable (high IIV) prey than predictable (low IIV) prey, while docile predators demonstrated better performance when encountering predictable prey. This study highlights the importance of the joint effect of both predator and prey personality types and IIVs on predator-prey interactions.

Predator personality and prey behavioural predictability jointly determine foraging performance

PubMed Central

Chang, Chia-chen; Teo, Huey Yee; Norma-Rashid, Y.; Li, Daiqin

2017-01-01

Predator-prey interactions play important roles in ecological communities. Personality, consistent inter-individual differences in behaviour, of predators, prey or both are known to influence inter-specific interactions. An individual may also behave differently under the same situation and the level of such variability may differ between individuals. Such intra-individual variability (IIV) or predictability may be a trait on which selection can also act. A few studies have revealed the joint effect of personality types of both predators and prey on predator foraging performance. However, how personality type and IIV of both predators and prey jointly influence predator foraging performance remains untested empirically. Here, we addressed this using a specialized spider-eating jumping spider, Portia labiata (Salticidae), as the predator, and a jumping spider, Cosmophasis umbratica, as the prey. We examined personality types and IIVs of both P. labiata and C. umbratica and used their inter- and intra-individual behavioural variation as predictors of foraging performance (i.e., number of attempts to capture prey). Personality type and predictability had a joint effect on predator foraging performance. Aggressive predators performed better in capturing unpredictable (high IIV) prey than predictable (low IIV) prey, while docile predators demonstrated better performance when encountering predictable prey. This study highlights the importance of the joint effect of both predator and prey personality types and IIVs on predator-prey interactions. PMID:28094288

An emotional contagion model for heterogeneous social media with multiple behaviors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiong, Xi; Li, Yuanyuan; Qiao, Shaojie; Han, Nan; Wu, Yue; Peng, Jing; Li, Binyong

2018-01-01

The emotion varies and propagates with the spatial and temporal information of individuals through social media, which uncovers several interaction mechanisms and features the community structure in order to facilitate individuals' communication and emotional contagion in social networks. Aiming to show the detailed process and characteristics of emotional contagion within social media, we propose an emotional independent cascade model in which individual emotion can affect the subsequent emotion of his/her friends. The transmissibility is introduced to measure the capability of propagating emotion with respect to an individual in social networks. By analyzing the patterns of emotional contagion on Twitter data, we find that the value of transmissibility differs on different layers and on different community structures. Extensive experiments were conducted and the results reveal that, the polar emotion of hub users can lead to the disappearance of opposite emotion, and the transmissibility makes no sense. The final emotional distribution depends on the initial emotional distribution and the transmissibilities. Individuals from a small community are more likely to change their mood by the influence of community leaders. In addition, we compared the proposed model with two other models, the emotion-based spreader-ignorant-stifler model and the standard independent cascade model. The results demonstrate that the proposed model can reflect the real-world situation of emotional contagion for heterogeneous social media while the computational complexities of all these three models are similar.

Efficiency of the Regulation of Otolith Mineralisation and Susceptibility to kinetotic Behaviour in Parabolic Aircraft Flights

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knie, M.; Weigele, J.; Hilbig, R.; Anken, R.

Under diminished gravity e g during the respective phase in the course of parabolic aircraft flight PF humans often suffer from motion sickness a kinetsosis due to sensorimotor disorders Using fish as a model system we previously provided ample evidence that an individually differently pronounced asymmetric mineralisation calcification of inner ear stones otoliths leads to the individually different susceptibility to such disorders Depending on the disposition of an individual fish the mineralisation of otoliths is more or less strictly regulated by the central nervous system via a gravity-dependent feedback loop Long-term hypergravity centrifuge e g slows down otolith mineralisation whereas simulated microgravity clinostat yields opposite results Such long-term experiments under altered gravity moreover affect otolith asymmetry According to our working hypothesis the efficiency of the respective regulatory mechanism differs among individual animals This efficiency is postulated to be high in animals who behave normally under microgravity conditions whereas it is assumed to be low in such individuals who reveal a kinetotic behaviour at diminished G-forces In order to test this hypothesis two groups of larval cichlid fish Oreochromis mossambicus were kept under long-term hypergravity centrifuge and simulated microgravity clinostat respectively in order to manipulate the efficiency of the aforementioned regulatory mechanism Subsequently the animals were subjected to diminished gravity in the course of PFs and it was analysed

The relationship between level of autistic traits and local bias in the context of the McGurk effect

PubMed Central

Ujiie, Yuta; Asai, Tomohisa; Wakabayashi, Akio

2015-01-01

The McGurk effect is a well-known illustration that demonstrates the influence of visual information on hearing in the context of speech perception. Some studies have reported that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display abnormal processing of audio-visual speech integration, while other studies showed contradictory results. Based on the dimensional model of ASD, we administered two analog studies to examine the link between level of autistic traits, as assessed by the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), and the McGurk effect among a sample of university students. In the first experiment, we found that autistic traits correlated negatively with fused (McGurk) responses. Then, we manipulated presentation types of visual stimuli to examine whether the local bias toward visual speech cues modulated individual differences in the McGurk effect. The presentation included four types of visual images, comprising no image, mouth only, mouth and eyes, and full face. The results revealed that global facial information facilitates the influence of visual speech cues on McGurk stimuli. Moreover, individual differences between groups with low and high levels of autistic traits appeared when the full-face visual speech cue with an incongruent voice condition was presented. These results suggest that individual differences in the McGurk effect might be due to a weak ability to process global facial information in individuals with high levels of autistic traits. PMID:26175705

Raman Spectroscopic Analysis of Biochemical Changes in Individual Triglyceride-Rich Lipoproteins in the Pre- and Postprandial State

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chan, J; Motton, D; Rutledge, J

2004-09-13

Individual triglyceride-rich lipoprotein (TGRL) particles derived from human volunteers are non-destructively analyzed by laser tweezers Raman microspectroscopy and information on their composition and distribution is obtained. The Raman signature of single optically trapped very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL), a subclass of TGRL, which play an important role in cardiovascular disease, exhibits distinct peaks associated with molecular vibrations of fatty acids, proteins, lipids, and structural rearrangements of lipids. Our analysis of pre- and postprandial VLDL exhibits the signature of biochemical changes in individual lipoprotein particles following the consumption of meals. Interaction of VLDL with endothelium leads to the breakdown of complex triacylglycerolsmore » and the formation of a highly ordered core of free saturated fatty acids in the particle. A particle distribution analysis reveals trends in the degree to which this process has occurred in particles at different times during the postprandial period. Differences in particle distributions based on the different ratios of polyunsaturated to saturated fats in the consumed meals are also easily discerned. Individual lipoprotein particles hydrolyzed in-vitro through addition of lipoprotein lipase (LpL) exhibit strikingly similar changes in their Raman spectra. These results demonstrate the feasibility of monitoring the dynamics of lipid metabolism of individual TGRL particles as they interact with LpL in the endothelial cell wall using Raman spectroscopy.« less

Visual local and global processing in low-functioning deaf individuals with and without autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Maljaars, J P W; Noens, I L J; Scholte, E M; Verpoorten, R A W; van Berckelaer-Onnes, I A

2011-01-01

The ComFor study has indicated that individuals with intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show enhanced visual local processing compared with individuals with ID only. Items of the ComFor with meaningless materials provided the best discrimination between the two samples. These results can be explained by the weak central coherence account. The main focus of the present study is to examine whether enhanced visual perception is also present in low-functioning deaf individuals with and without ASD compared with individuals with ID, and to evaluate the underlying cognitive style in deaf and hearing individuals with ASD. Different sorting tasks (selected from the ComFor) were administered from four subsamples: (1) individuals with ID (n = 68); (2) individuals with ID and ASD (n = 72); (3) individuals with ID and deafness (n = 22); and (4) individuals with ID, ASD and deafness (n = 15). Differences in performance on sorting tasks with meaningful and meaningless materials between the four subgroups were analysed. Age and level of functioning were taken into account. Analyses of covariance revealed that results of deaf individuals with ID and ASD are in line with the results of hearing individuals with ID and ASD. Both groups showed enhanced visual perception, especially on meaningless sorting tasks, when compared with hearing individuals with ID, but not compared with deaf individuals with ID. In ASD either with or without deafness, enhanced visual perception for meaningless information can be understood within the framework of the central coherence theory, whereas in deafness, enhancement in visual perception might be due to a more generally enhanced visual perception as a result of auditory deprivation. © 2010 The Authors. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

High-frequency microrheology reveals cytoskeleton dynamics in living cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rigato, Annafrancesca; Miyagi, Atsushi; Scheuring, Simon; Rico, Felix

2017-08-01

Living cells are viscoelastic materials, dominated by an elastic response on timescales longer than a millisecond. On shorter timescales, the dynamics of individual cytoskeleton filaments are expected to emerge, but active microrheology measurements on cells accessing this regime are scarce. Here, we develop high-frequency microrheology experiments to probe the viscoelastic response of living cells from 1 Hz to 100 kHz. We report the viscoelasticity of different cell types under cytoskeletal drug treatments. On previously inaccessible short timescales, cells exhibit rich viscoelastic responses that depend on the state of the cytoskeleton. Benign and malignant cancer cells revealed remarkably different scaling laws at high frequencies, providing a unique mechanical fingerprint. Microrheology over a wide dynamic range--up to the frequency characterizing the molecular components--provides a mechanistic understanding of cell mechanics.

Split-brain reveals separate but equal self-recognition in the two cerebral hemispheres.

PubMed

Uddin, Lucina Q; Rayman, Jan; Zaidel, Eran

2005-09-01

To assess the ability of the disconnected cerebral hemispheres to recognize images of the self, a split-brain patient (an individual who underwent complete cerebral commissurotomy to relieve intractable epilepsy) was tested using morphed self-face images presented to one visual hemifield (projecting to one hemisphere) at a time while making "self/other" judgments. The performance of the right and left hemispheres of this patient as assessed by a signal detection method was not significantly different, though a measure of bias did reveal hemispheric differences. The right and left hemispheres of this patient independently and equally possessed the ability to self-recognize, but only the right hemisphere could successfully recognize familiar others. This supports a modular concept of self-recognition and other-recognition, separately present in each cerebral hemisphere.

Effects of Syntactic Features on Sentence-Picture Matching in Broca's Aphasics: A Reply to Drai and Grodzinksy (2005)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caplan, David; DeDe, Gayle; Brownell, Hiram

2006-01-01

We reanalyzed the data in Drai and Grodzinksy (2005), considering individual patients' responses to different sentence types to be non-independent events. The analyses revealed effects of two of the three factors identified by Drai and Grodzinsky-constituent movement and passive mood. The result is inconsistent with the trace deletion hypothesis;…

One Task, Divergent Solutions: High- versus Low-Status Sources and Social Comparison Guide Adaptation in a Computer-Supported Socio-Cognitive Conflict Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baumeister, Antonia E.; Engelmann, Tanja; Hesse, Friedrich W.

2017-01-01

This experimental study extends conflict elaboration theory (1) by revealing social influence dynamics for a knowledge-rich computer-supported socio-cognitive conflict task not investigated in the context of this theory before and (2) by showing the impact of individual differences in social comparison orientation. Students in two conditions…

Individual Differences in Lexical Processing at 18 Months Predict Vocabulary Growth in Typically Developing and Late-Talking Toddlers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fernald, Anne; Marchman, Virginia A.

2012-01-01

Using online measures of familiar word recognition in the looking-while-listening procedure, this prospective longitudinal study revealed robust links between processing efficiency and vocabulary growth from 18 to 30 months in children classified as typically developing (n = 46) and as "late talkers" (n = 36) at 18 months. Those late talkers who…

Explaining Cross-State Differences in Elderly Suicide Rates and Identifying State-Level Public Policy Responses that Reduce Rates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giles-Sims, Jean; Lockhart, Charles

2006-01-01

Elderly Americans commit suicide at higher rates than other age groups. We contend that macro- and micro-social variables contribute distinct aspects to explanations of this tragic loss: the former focus on circumstances that affect overall rates, the latter reveal why certain individuals succumb to suicide. Our analysis focuses on the…

State Budgeting for Higher Education: Trends in State Revenue Appropriations from 1968 to 1977.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruyle, Janet H.; Glenny, Lyman A.

Results of a ten-year review of state appropriations for higher education in the states are presented. Findings reveal a wide range of differences among the regions of the nation and among the individual states. The share of education appropriations received by higher education institutions has grown considerably, with the greatest rate of growth…

Development of naphthenic acid fractionation with supercritical fluid extraction for use in wood decay testing

Treesearch

Brett Niemi; Wayne St. John; Bessie Woodward; Rodney DeGroot; Gary McGinnis

2000-01-01

In recent years, the performance of copper naphthenate as a wood preservative has been in question. To understand the varying results of copper naphthenate in preventing wood decay, a closer look at eight naphthenic acid (NA) supplies was undertaken. Initial studies of NA samples from individual suppliers revealed large differences in chemical composition and wood...

Distinguishing Features of Emerging Adulthood: The Role of Self-Classification as an Adult

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Larry J.; Barry, Carolyn McNamara

2005-01-01

Research reveals that most 18- to 25-year-old individuals do not consider themselves to be adults. This time period between adolescence and adulthood has been newly defined as emerging adulthood. The purpose of this study was to (a) attempt to identify perceived adults and (b) explore whether differences in adulthood criteria, achievement of those…

"Heads I Win, Tails You Lose": Anti-Black Racism as Fluid, Relentless, Individual and Systemic

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gillborn, David

2018-01-01

Derrick Bell's thesis, that racism is a permanent feature of society, is frequently misrepresented by detractors as signaling a view of racism as monolithic--bold, obvious, and unchanging. This paper argues that critical race theory [CRT] reveals a very different understanding of racism as relentless, yet fluid, and quick to morph depending on…

The Self-Esteem of Adolescents in American Public High Schools: A Multilevel Analysis of Individual Differences.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bekhuis, Tanja C. H. M.

1994-01-01

A total of 219 schools and 13,022 students from a database of secondary schools and students in the United States were sampled. Analysis of the data revealed that school social climate and several student characteristics predicted student self-esteem and that variability of student self-esteem was greater in southern than northern schools. (BC)

The Impact of Individual Factors on the Academic Attainment of Chinese and UK Students in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crawford, Ian; Wang, Zhiqi

2015-01-01

This study investigates the academic performance differences between Chinese and UK students in a UK university using two undergraduate cohorts by uniquely exploring academic performance patterns among Chinese and UK students across a full degree study period (3 or 4 years). The results reveal a dramatic drop in performance among Chinese students…

Relationship between geographical origin, seed size and genetic diversity in faba bean (Vicia faba L.) as revealed by SSR markers.

PubMed

Göl, Şurhan; Doğanlar, Sami; Frary, Anne

2017-10-01

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is an important legume species because of its high protein and starch content. Broad bean can be grown in different climatic conditions and is an ideal rotation crop because of the nitrogen fixing bacteria in its roots. In this work, 255 faba bean germplasm accessions were characterized using 32 SSR primers which yielded 302 polymorphic fragments. According to the results, faba bean individuals were divided into two main groups based on the neighbor-joining algorithm (r = 0.91) with some clustering based on geographical origin as well as seed size. Population structure was also determined and agreed with the dendrogram analysis in splitting the accessions into two subpopulations. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed high levels of within population genetic variation. Genetic similarity and geographical proximity were related with separation of European accessions from African and Asian ones. Interestingly, there was no significant difference between landrace (38%) and cultivar (40%) diversity indicating that genetic variability has not yet been lost due to breeding. A total of 44 genetically well-characterized faba bean individuals were selected for a core collection to be further examined for yield and nutritional traits.

Dissociation between exact and approximate addition in developmental dyslexia.

PubMed

Yang, Xiujie; Meng, Xiangzhi

2016-09-01

Previous research has suggested that number sense and language are involved in number representation and calculation, in which number sense supports approximate arithmetic, and language permits exact enumeration and calculation. Meanwhile, individuals with dyslexia have a core deficit in phonological processing. Based on these findings, we thus hypothesized that children with dyslexia may exhibit exact calculation impairment while doing mental arithmetic. The reaction time and accuracy while doing exact and approximate addition with symbolic Arabic digits and non-symbolic visual arrays of dots were compared between typically developing children and children with dyslexia. Reaction time analyses did not reveal any differences across two groups of children, the accuracies, interestingly, revealed a distinction of approximation and exact addition across two groups of children. Specifically, two groups of children had no differences in approximation. Children with dyslexia, however, had significantly lower accuracy in exact addition in both symbolic and non-symbolic tasks than that of typically developing children. Moreover, linguistic performances were selectively associated with exact calculation across individuals. These results suggested that children with dyslexia have a mental arithmetic deficit specifically in the realm of exact calculation, while their approximation ability is relatively intact. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The genetics of feed conversion efficiency traits in a commercial broiler line

PubMed Central

Reyer, Henry; Hawken, Rachel; Murani, Eduard; Ponsuksili, Siriluck; Wimmers, Klaus

2015-01-01

Individual feed conversion efficiency (FCE) is a major trait that influences the usage of energy resources and the ecological footprint of livestock production. The underlying biological processes of FCE are complex and are influenced by factors as diverse as climate, feed properties, gut microbiota, and individual genetic predisposition. To gain an insight to the genetic relationships with FCE traits and to contribute to the improvement of FCE in commercial chicken lines, a genome-wide association study was conducted using a commercial broiler population (n = 859) tested for FCE and weight traits during the finisher period from 39 to 46 days of age. Both single-marker (generalized linear model) and multi-marker (Bayesian approach) analyses were applied to the dataset to detect genes associated with the variability in FCE. The separate analyses revealed 22 quantitative trait loci (QTL) regions on 13 different chromosomes; the integration of both approaches resulted in 7 overlapping QTL regions. The analyses pointed to acylglycerol kinase (AGK) and general transcription factor 2-I (GTF2I) as positional and functional candidate genes. Non-synonymous polymorphisms of both candidate genes revealed evidence for a functional importance of these genes by influencing different biological aspects of FCE. PMID:26552583

Metagenomic analysis of the microbiota in the highly compartmented hindguts of six wood- or soil-feeding higher termites

DOE PAGES

Rossmassler, Karen; Dietrich, Carsten; Thompson, Claire; ...

2015-11-26

Termites are important contributors to carbon and nitrogen cycling in tropical ecosystems. Higher termites digest lignocellulose in various stages of humification with the help of an entirely prokaryotic microbiota housed in their compartmented intestinal tract. Previous studies revealed fundamental differences in community structure between compartments, but the functional roles of individual lineages in symbiotic digestion are mostly unknown. Furthermore, we conducted a highly resolved analysis of the gut microbiota in six species of higher termites that feed on plant material at different levels of humification. Combining amplicon sequencing and metagenomics, we assessed similarities in community structure and functional potential betweenmore » the major hindgut compartments (P1, P3, and P4). Cluster analysis of the relative abundances of orthologous gene clusters (COGs) revealed high similarities among woodand litter-feeding termites and strong differences to humivorous species. However, abundance estimates of bacterial phyla based on 16S rRNA genes greatly differed from those based on protein-coding genes. In conclusion, the community structure and functional potential of the microbiota in individual gut compartments are clearly driven by the digestive strategy of the host. The metagenomics libraries obtained in this study provide the basis for future studies that elucidate the fundamental differences in the symbiont-mediated breakdown of lignocellulose and humus by termites of different feeding groups. The high proportion of uncultured bacterial lineages in all samples calls for a reference-independent approach for the correct taxonomic assignment of protein-coding genes.« less

Metagenomic analysis of the microbiota in the highly compartmented hindguts of six wood- or soil-feeding higher termites

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rossmassler, Karen; Dietrich, Carsten; Thompson, Claire

Termites are important contributors to carbon and nitrogen cycling in tropical ecosystems. Higher termites digest lignocellulose in various stages of humification with the help of an entirely prokaryotic microbiota housed in their compartmented intestinal tract. Previous studies revealed fundamental differences in community structure between compartments, but the functional roles of individual lineages in symbiotic digestion are mostly unknown. Furthermore, we conducted a highly resolved analysis of the gut microbiota in six species of higher termites that feed on plant material at different levels of humification. Combining amplicon sequencing and metagenomics, we assessed similarities in community structure and functional potential betweenmore » the major hindgut compartments (P1, P3, and P4). Cluster analysis of the relative abundances of orthologous gene clusters (COGs) revealed high similarities among woodand litter-feeding termites and strong differences to humivorous species. However, abundance estimates of bacterial phyla based on 16S rRNA genes greatly differed from those based on protein-coding genes. In conclusion, the community structure and functional potential of the microbiota in individual gut compartments are clearly driven by the digestive strategy of the host. The metagenomics libraries obtained in this study provide the basis for future studies that elucidate the fundamental differences in the symbiont-mediated breakdown of lignocellulose and humus by termites of different feeding groups. The high proportion of uncultured bacterial lineages in all samples calls for a reference-independent approach for the correct taxonomic assignment of protein-coding genes.« less

Why contagious yawning does not (yet) equate to empathy.

PubMed

Massen, Jorg J M; Gallup, Andrew C

2017-09-01

Various studies and researchers have proposed a link between contagious yawning and empathy, yet the conceptual basis for the proposed connection is not clear and deserves critical evaluation. Therefore, we systematically examined the available empirical evidence addressing this association; i.e., a critical review of studies on inter-individual differences in contagion and self-reported values of empathy, differences in contagion based on familiarity or sex, and differences in contagion among individuals with psychological disorders, as well as developmental research, and brain imaging and neurophysiological studies. In doing so, we reveal a pattern of inconsistent and inconclusive evidence regarding the connection between contagious yawning and empathy. Furthermore, we identify study limitations and confounding variables, such as visual attention and social inhibition. Future research examining links between contagious yawning and empathy requires more rigorous investigation involving objective measurements to explicitly test for this connection. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Replica analysis of the class of antibodies produced by single cells

PubMed Central

Ivanyi, J.; Dresser, D. W.

1970-01-01

Improvements have been made in a localized haemolysis in gel replica assay developed previously. The technique is designed to show if an individual antibody producing cell releases antibody of one or more classes. The techniques can also be used to indicate the specificity of antibodies produced by individual cells by using two different antigens in the test system. In experiments where both slides of a slide-pair are untreated or treated identically, and 100% coincidence of plaques is expected, the technique has been shown to detect about 95% coincidence. Pairs of slides treated differently to reveal plaques due to antibodies of different classes show a mean of about 3·5% coincident plaques. This `background' of coincidence which it is thought is not due to `double-producers', is one of the limiting factors of the technique. ImagesFig. 1Fig. 2Fig. 3Fig. 4 PMID:4920598

Individual differences in migratory behavior shape population genetic structure and microhabitat choice in sympatric blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla)

PubMed Central

Rolshausen, Gregor; Segelbacher, Gernot; Hermes, Claudia; Hobson, Keith A; Schaefer, H Martin

2013-01-01

In migratory birds, traits such as orientation and distance are known to have a strong genetic background, and they often exhibit considerable within-population variation. How this variation relates to evolutionary responses to ongoing selection is unknown because the underlying mechanisms that translate environmental changes into population genetic changes are unclear. We show that within-population genetic structure in southern German blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla) is related to individual differences in migratory behavior. Our 3-year study revealed a positive correlation between individual migratory origins, denoted via isotope (δ2H) values, and genetic distances. Genetic diversity and admixture differed not only across a recently established migratory polymorphism with NW- and SW-migrating birds but also across δ2H clusters within the same migratory route. Our results suggest assortment based on individual migratory origins which would facilitate evolutionary responses. We scrutinized arrival times and microhabitat choice as potential mechanisms mediating between individual variation in migratory behavior and assortment. We found significant support that microhabitat choice, rather than timing of arrival, is associated with individual variation in migratory origins. Moreover, examining genetic diversity across the migratory divide, we found migrants following the NW route to be genetically more distinct from each other compared with migrants following the traditional SW route. Our study suggests that migratory behavior shapes population genetic structure in blackcaps not only across the migratory divide but also on an individual level independent of the divide. Thus, within-population variation in migratory behavior might play an important role in translating environmental change into genetic change. PMID:24324877

Species-specific and individual differences in Nipah virus replication in porcine and human airway epithelial cells.

PubMed

Sauerhering, Lucie; Zickler, Martin; Elvert, Mareike; Behner, Laura; Matrosovich, Tatyana; Erbar, Stephanie; Matrosovich, Mikhail; Maisner, Andrea

2016-07-01

Highly pathogenic Nipah virus (NiV) causes symptomatic infections in pigs and humans. The severity of respiratory symptoms is much more pronounced in pigs than in humans, suggesting species-specific differences of NiV replication in porcine and human airways. Here, we present a comparative study on productive NiV replication in primary airway epithelial cell cultures of the two species. We reveal that NiV growth substantially differs in primary cells between pigs and humans, with a more rapid spread of infection in human airway epithelia. Increased replication, correlated with higher endogenous expression levels of the main NiV entry receptor ephrin-B2, not only significantly differed between airway cells of the two species but also varied between cells from different human donors. To our knowledge, our study provides the first experimental evidence of species-specific and individual differences in NiV receptor expression and replication kinetics in primary airway epithelial cells. It remains to be determined whether and how these differences contribute to the viral host range and pathogenicity.

Western Cultural Identification Explains Variations in the Objectification Model for Eating Pathology Across Australian Caucasians and Asian Women

PubMed Central

Tan, Charmain S.; Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, Matthew; Utpala, Ranjani; Yeung, Victoria Wai Lan; De Paoli, Tara; Loughan, Stephen; Krug, Isabel

2016-01-01

Objective: To assess differences in trait objectifying measures and eating pathology between Australian Caucasians and Asian women living in Australia and in Hong Kong with high and low levels of western cultural identification (WCI) and to see if exposure to objectifying images had an effect on state-objectification. A further aim was to assess using path analyses whether an extended version of the objectification model, including thin-ideal internalization, differed depending on the level of WCI. Method: A total of 424 participants comprising 162 Australian Caucasians and 262 Asians (n = 183 currently residing in Australia and n = 79 living in Hong Kong) took part in the study. Of the overall Asian sample, 133 individuals were classified as high-WCI and 129 participants as low-WCI. Participants were randomly allocated into one of two conditions, presenting either objectifying images of attractive and thin Asian and Caucasian female models (objectification group, n = 204), or showing neutral images of objects (e.g., chairs, tables; control group, n = 220). Subsequently, participants were asked to complete a series of questionnaires assessing objectification processes and eating pathology. Results: Findings revealed that the Caucasian group presented with significantly higher internalization and body surveillance scores than either of the two Asian groups and also revealed higher scores on trait-self-objectification than the low-WCI Asian sample. As regards to the effects of objectifying images on state self-objectification, we found that ratings were higher after exposure to women than to control objects for all groups. Finally, multi-group analyses revealed that our revised objectification model functioned equally across the Caucasian and the high-WCI Asian group, but differed between the Caucasian and the low-WCI Asian group. Conclusion: Our findings outline that individuals with varying levels of WCI might respond differently to self-objectification processes. Levels of WCI should therefore be taken into consideration when working with women from different cultural backgrounds. PMID:27790176

Mapping temporal dynamics in social interactions with unified structural equation modeling: A description and demonstration revealing time-dependent sex differences in play behavior

PubMed Central

Beltz, Adriene M.; Beekman, Charles; Molenaar, Peter C. M.; Buss, Kristin A.

2013-01-01

Developmental science is rich with observations of social interactions, but few available methodological and statistical approaches take full advantage of the information provided by these data. The authors propose implementation of the unified structural equation model (uSEM), a network analysis technique, for observational data coded repeatedly across time; uSEM captures the temporal dynamics underlying changes in behavior at the individual level by revealing the ways in which a single person influences – concurrently and in the future – other people. To demonstrate the utility of uSEM, the authors applied it to ratings of positive affect and vigor of activity during children’s unstructured laboratory play with unfamiliar, same-sex peers. Results revealed the time-dependent nature of sex differences in play behavior. For girls more than boys, positive affect was dependent upon peers’ prior positive affect. For boys more than girls, vigor of activity was dependent upon peers’ current vigor of activity. PMID:24039386

Facial emotion recognition in male antisocial personality disorders with or without adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Bagcioglu, Erman; Isikli, Hasmet; Demirel, Husrev; Sahin, Esat; Kandemir, Eyup; Dursun, Pinar; Yuksek, Erhan; Emul, Murat

2014-07-01

We aimed to investigate facial emotion recognition abilities in violent individuals with antisocial personality disorder who have comorbid attention deficient hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or not. The photos of happy, surprised, fearful, sad, angry, disgust, and neutral facial expressions and Wender Utah Rating Scale have been performed in all groups. The mean ages were as follows: in antisocial personality disorder with ADHD 22.0 ± 1.59, in pure antisocial individuals 21.90 ± 1.80 and in controls 22.97 ± 2.85 (p>0.05). The mean score in Wender Utah Rating Scale was significantly different between groups (p<0.001). The mean accurate responses to each facial emotion between groups were insignificant (p>0.05) excluding disgust faces which was significantly impaired in ASPD+ADHD and pure ASPD groups. Antisocial individuals with attention deficient and hyperactivity had spent significantly more time to each facial emotion than healthy controls (p<0.05) while pure antisocial individual had more time to recognize disgust and neutral faces than healthy controls (p<0.05). Study of complex social cognitive abilities in adults with ADHD and violent behaviors is lacking. This study is the first, investigating the differences according to social cognition cues in violent individual that revealed no significance within pure antisocial individuals and antisocial individuals with ADHD. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Inferring Social Status and Rich Club Effects in Enterprise Communication Networks

PubMed Central

Dong, Yuxiao; Tang, Jie; Chawla, Nitesh V.; Lou, Tiancheng; Yang, Yang; Wang, Bai

2015-01-01

Social status, defined as the relative rank or position that an individual holds in a social hierarchy, is known to be among the most important motivating forces in social behaviors. In this paper, we consider the notion of status from the perspective of a position or title held by a person in an enterprise. We study the intersection of social status and social networks in an enterprise. We study whether enterprise communication logs can help reveal how social interactions and individual status manifest themselves in social networks. To that end, we use two enterprise datasets with three communication channels — voice call, short message, and email — to demonstrate the social-behavioral differences among individuals with different status. We have several interesting findings and based on these findings we also develop a model to predict social status. On the individual level, high-status individuals are more likely to be spanned as structural holes by linking to people in parts of the enterprise networks that are otherwise not well connected to one another. On the community level, the principle of homophily, social balance and clique theory generally indicate a “rich club” maintained by high-status individuals, in the sense that this community is much more connected, balanced and dense. Our model can predict social status of individuals with 93% accuracy. PMID:25822343

Combining complexity measures of EEG data: multiplying measures reveal previously hidden information

PubMed Central

Burns, Thomas; Rajan, Ramesh

2015-01-01

Many studies have noted significant differences among human electroencephalograph (EEG) results when participants or patients are exposed to different stimuli, undertaking different tasks, or being affected by conditions such as epilepsy or Alzheimer's disease. Such studies often use only one or two measures of complexity and do not regularly justify their choice of measure beyond the fact that it has been used in previous studies. If more measures were added to such studies, however, more complete information might be found about these reported differences. Such information might be useful in confirming the existence or extent of such differences, or in understanding their physiological bases. In this study we analysed publically-available EEG data using a range of complexity measures to determine how well the measures correlated with one another. The complexity measures did not all significantly correlate, suggesting that different measures were measuring unique features of the EEG signals and thus revealing information which other measures were unable to detect. Therefore, the results from this analysis suggests that combinations of complexity measures reveal unique information which is in addition to the information captured by other measures of complexity in EEG data. For this reason, researchers using individual complexity measures for EEG data should consider using combinations of measures to more completely account for any differences they observe and to ensure the robustness of any relationships identified. PMID:26594331

Combining complexity measures of EEG data: multiplying measures reveal previously hidden information.

PubMed

Burns, Thomas; Rajan, Ramesh

2015-01-01

Many studies have noted significant differences among human electroencephalograph (EEG) results when participants or patients are exposed to different stimuli, undertaking different tasks, or being affected by conditions such as epilepsy or Alzheimer's disease. Such studies often use only one or two measures of complexity and do not regularly justify their choice of measure beyond the fact that it has been used in previous studies. If more measures were added to such studies, however, more complete information might be found about these reported differences. Such information might be useful in confirming the existence or extent of such differences, or in understanding their physiological bases. In this study we analysed publically-available EEG data using a range of complexity measures to determine how well the measures correlated with one another. The complexity measures did not all significantly correlate, suggesting that different measures were measuring unique features of the EEG signals and thus revealing information which other measures were unable to detect. Therefore, the results from this analysis suggests that combinations of complexity measures reveal unique information which is in addition to the information captured by other measures of complexity in EEG data. For this reason, researchers using individual complexity measures for EEG data should consider using combinations of measures to more completely account for any differences they observe and to ensure the robustness of any relationships identified.

Early development and the emergence of individual differences in behavior among littermates of wild rabbit pups.

PubMed

Rödel, Heiko G; Bautista, Amando; Roder, Manuel; Gilbert, Caroline; Hudson, Robyn

2017-05-01

The ontogeny of associated individual differences in behavior and physiology during early postnatal life, and in particular the emergence of such differences among litter siblings, has been hardly explored in mammals under natural conditions. We studied such within-litter differences in behavior in European rabbit pups Oryctolagus cuniculus prior to weaning, and whether and how these differences co-varied with other individual characteristics such as postnatal body temperature and early growth. The study was conducted under semi-natural conditions in a colony of rabbits of wild origin, where the young were born and developed in nursery burrows. We equipped two siblings per litter with interscapular skin temperature loggers on postnatal day 2 and recorded temperature profiles for 48h. Individual body (skin) temperatures of pups within litters were repeatable across time, indicating the existence of consistent individual differences. Such differences within litters were associated with relative differences in pre-weaning growth, revealing that relatively warmer pups showed a greater increase in body mass during the nest period. Between postnatal days 12 and 17, after the pups had reached a developmental stage of greater mobility, we carried out different behavioral tests: a handling-restraint test, an open field test and a jump-down test from a platform. Individual responses in the former two tests were associated, as those pups showing a quicker struggling response to restraint during handling also exhibited greater exploratory activity in the open field. This correlation across contexts suggests the existence of personality types in wild rabbits at an early developmental stage. Furthermore, pups' behavioral responses were strongly associated with their relative within-litter body mass at testing. Animals with a lower body mass compared to their siblings showed a relatively quicker struggle response to handling restraint and covered a relatively larger distance in the open field, suggesting greater reactivity and responsiveness of relatively lighter pups in these tests. In contrast, relatively heavier pups jumped sooner from the platform, which may have been due to their greater physical maturation. In conclusion, our study shows that individual differences in behavior and associated differences in body temperature and growth are already present during early postnatal life, although such relationships can be easily overlooked, as they predominantly emerge as relative differences among littermates. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Latent change models of adult cognition: are changes in processing speed and working memory associated with changes in episodic memory?

PubMed

Hertzog, Christopher; Dixon, Roger A; Hultsch, David F; MacDonald, Stuart W S

2003-12-01

The authors used 6-year longitudinal data from the Victoria Longitudinal Study (VLS) to investigate individual differences in amount of episodic memory change. Latent change models revealed reliable individual differences in cognitive change. Changes in episodic memory were significantly correlated with changes in other cognitive variables, including speed and working memory. A structural equation model for the latent change scores showed that changes in speed and working memory predicted changes in episodic memory, as expected by processing resource theory. However, these effects were best modeled as being mediated by changes in induction and fact retrieval. Dissociations were detected between cross-sectional ability correlations and longitudinal changes. Shuffling the tasks used to define the Working Memory latent variable altered patterns of change correlations.

They don't all look alike: individuated impressions of other racial groups.

PubMed

Zebrowitz, L A; Montepare, J M; Lee, H K

1993-07-01

Reliability, content, and homogeneity of own- and other-race impressions were assessed: U.S. White, U.S. Black, and Korean students rated faces of White, Black, or Korean men. High intraracial reliabilities revealed that people of 1 race showed equally high agreement regarding the traits of own- and other-race faces. Racially universal appearance stereotypes--the attractiveness halo effect and the babyface overgeneralization effect--contributed substantially to interracial agreement, which was only marginally lower than intraracial agreement. Moreover, similar attention to variations in appearance yielded similar degrees of own- and other-race trait differentiation. When own- and other-race differences in the differentiation of faces on babyfaceness were statistically controlled, differences in trait differentiation were eliminated. Despite the individuated impressions of other-race faces, certain racial stereotypes persisted.

Discrimination of Single Base Pair Differences Among Individual DNA Molecules Using a Nanopore

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vercoutere, Wenonah; DeGuzman, Veronica

2003-01-01

The protein toxin alpha-hemolysin form nanometer scale channels across lipid membranes. Our lab uses a single channel in an artificial lipid bilayer in a patch clamp device to capture and examine individual DNA molecules. This nanopore detector used with a support vector machine (SVM) can analyze DNA hairpin molecules on the millisecond time scale. We distinguish duplex stem length, base pair mismatches, loop length, and single base pair differences. The residual current fluxes also reveal structural molecular dynamics elements. DNA end-fraying (terminal base pair dissociation) can be observed as near full blockades, or spikes, in current. This technique can be used to investigate other biological processes dependent on DNA end-fraying, such as the processing of HIV DNA by HIV integrase.

Flow experience in the daily lives of older adults: an analysis of the interaction between flow, individual differences, serious leisure, location, and social context.

PubMed

Heo, Jinmoo; Lee, Youngkhill; Pedersen, Paul M; McCormick, Bryan P

2010-09-01

This study examined how serious leisure, individual differences, social context, and location contribute to older adults' experiences of flow - an intense psychological state - in their daily lives. The Experience Sampling Method was used with 19 older adults in a Midwestern city in the United States. Experience of flow was the outcome measure, and the data were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling. Results indicated that location and employment status influenced the subjects' flow experience. Furthermore, the findings revealed that retirement was negatively related to experiencing flow, and there was a significant association between home and the flow experience. The results of this study enhance the understanding of flow experiences in the everyday lives of older adults.

Individual differences in children's innovative problem-solving are not predicted by divergent thinking or executive functions

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Recent studies of children's tool innovation have revealed that there is variation in children's success in middle-childhood. In two individual differences studies, we sought to identify personal characteristics that might predict success on an innovation task. In Study 1, we found that although measures of divergent thinking were related to each other they did not predict innovation success. In Study 2, we measured executive functioning including: inhibition, working memory, attentional flexibility and ill-structured problem-solving. None of these measures predicted innovation, but, innovation was predicted by children's performance on a receptive vocabulary scale that may function as a proxy for general intelligence. We did not find evidence that children's innovation was predicted by specific personal characteristics. PMID:26926280

The faces of pain: a cluster analysis of individual differences in facial activity patterns of pain.

PubMed

Kunz, M; Lautenbacher, S

2014-07-01

There is general agreement that facial activity during pain conveys pain-specific information but is nevertheless characterized by substantial inter-individual differences. With the present study we aim to investigate whether these differences represent idiosyncratic variations or whether they can be clustered into distinct facial activity patterns. Facial actions during heat pain were assessed in two samples of pain-free individuals (n = 128; n = 112) and were later analysed using the Facial Action Coding System. Hierarchical cluster analyses were used to look for combinations of single facial actions in episodes of pain. The stability/replicability of facial activity patterns was determined across samples as well as across different basic social situations. Cluster analyses revealed four distinct activity patterns during pain, which stably occurred across samples and situations: (I) narrowed eyes with furrowed brows and wrinkled nose; (II) opened mouth with narrowed eyes; (III) raised eyebrows; and (IV) furrowed brows with narrowed eyes. In addition, a considerable number of participants were facially completely unresponsive during pain induction (stoic cluster). These activity patterns seem to be reaction stereotypies in the majority of individuals (in nearly two-thirds), whereas a minority displayed varying clusters across situations. These findings suggest that there is no uniform set of facial actions but instead there are at least four different facial activity patterns occurring during pain that are composed of different configurations of facial actions. Raising awareness about these different 'faces of pain' might hold the potential of improving the detection and, thereby, the communication of pain. © 2013 European Pain Federation - EFIC®

Ancient DNA reveals kinship burial patterns of a pre-Columbian Andean community

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background A detailed genetic study of the pre-Columbian population inhabiting the Tompullo 2 archaeological site (department Arequipa, Peru) was undertaken to resolve the kin relationships between individuals buried in six different chullpas. Kin relationships were an important factor shaping the social organization in the pre-Columbian Andean communities, centering on the ayllu, a group of relatives that shared a common land and responsibilities. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether this Andean model of a social organization had an influence on mortuary practices, in particular to determine whether chullpas served as family graves. Results The remains of forty-one individuals were analyzed with both uniparental (mtDNA, Y–chromosome) and biparental (autosomal microsatellites) markers. Reproducible HVRI sequences, autosomal and Y chromosomal STR profiles were obtained for 24, 16 and 11 individuals, respectively. Mitochondrial DNA diversity was comparable to that of ancient and contemporary Andean populations. The Tompullo 2 population exhibited the closest relationship with the modern population from the same region. A kinship analysis revealed complex pattern of relations within and between the graves. However mean relatedness coefficients regarding the pairs of individuals buried in the same grave were significantly higher than those regarding pairs buried in different graves. The Y chromosome profiles of 11 males suggest that only members of one male line were buried in the same grave. Conclusions Genetic investigation of the population that inhabited Tompullo 2 site shows continuity between pre-Columbian and modern Native Amerindian populations inhabiting the Arequipa region. This suggests that no major demographic processes have influenced the mitochondrial DNA diversity of these populations during the past five hundred years. The kinship analysis involving uni- and biparental markers suggests that the community that inhabited the Tompullo 2 site was organized into extended family groups that were buried in different graves. This finding is in congruence with known models of social organization of Andean communities. PMID:22524324