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Loss aversion is often assumed to be a basic and far-reaching psychological regularity in behavior. Yet empirical evidence is accumulating to challenge the assumption of widespread loss aversion in choice. We suggest that a key reason for the apparently elusive nature of loss aversion may be that its manifestation in choice is state-dependent and distinct from a more state-independent principle of heightened attention to losses relative to gains. Using data from process-tracing studies, we show that people invest more attentional resources when evaluating losses than when evaluating gains, even when their choices do not reflect loss aversion. Our evidence converges with previous findings on how losses influence exploratory search as well as physiological, hormonal, and neural responses. Increased attention to losses relative to gains seems to be a necessary but not a sufficient condition for loss aversion in choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary angiitis of the central nervous system (PACNS) is a rare and heterogeneous inflammatory disease of the CNS vasculature with poorly understood pathophysiology. Comprehensive immune-cell phenotyping revealed increased frequencies of leukocytes in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of PACNS patients compared to patients with multiple sclerosis, ischemic stroke, and somatoform disorders (n = 18 per group). Changes in the intrathecal immune-cell profile were heterogeneous in PACNS. While proportions of T-cell subsets remained unaltered, some PACNS patients showed a shift toward NK- or B cells. Intrathecal immunoglobulin synthesis was observed in a subgroup of PACNS patients with an increased frequency of antibody producing plasma cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A flashlight enables a person to see part of the world in the dark. As a person directs a flashlight beam to certain places in the environment, it serves as a manifestation of their attention, interest and focus. In this paper we introduce Flashlight, an open-source (free) web-based software package that can be used to collect continuous and non-obtrusive measures of users’ information acquisition behavior. Flashlight offers a cost effective and rapid way to collect data on how long and how often a participant reviews information in different areas of visual stimuli. It provides the functionality of other open source process tracing tools, like MouselabWeb, and adds the capability to present any static visual stimulus. We report the results from three different types of stimuli presented with both the Flashlight tool and a traditional eye-tracker. We found no differences measuring simple outcome data (e.g., choices in gambles or performance on algebraic tasks) between the two methods. However, due to the nature of the more complicated information acquisition, task completion takes longer with Flashlight than with an eye-tracking system. Other differences and commonalities between the two recording methods are reported and discussed. Additionally we provide detailed instructions on the installation and setup of Flashlight, the construction of stimuli, and the analysis of collected data. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective. We investigated intrathecal and peripheral immune profiles in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients compared to controls free of neurological disorders (CTRL) and patients with dementia (DEM) or primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) to elucidate whether compartment-specific inflammation contributes to ALS pathophysiology. Methods. Conventional cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) parameters were examined in 308 patients including 132 ALS patients. In a subgroup of 41 ALS patients, extensive flow-cytometric immune cell profiling in peripheral blood (PB) and CSF was performed and compared with data from 26 CTRL, 57 DEM and 27 PPMS patients. Results. ALS patients presented with significantly altered proportions of monocyte subsets in PB and increased frequencies of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells expressing the activation marker HLA-DR in PB and CSF compared to CTRL. The increased intrathecal levels of T-cell activation were comparable to DEM and PPMS and resulted from in situ differentiation rather than trans-migration from the PB. Moreover, peripheral CD4+ and CD8+ T cell HLA-DR expression significantly exceeded DEM and PPMS. While T-cell activation did not correlate with clinical measures, patients with high disease disability and rapid progression showed reduced intrathecal levels of immune-regulatory CD56bright natural killer (NK) cells. The integration of these parameters into a composite score facilitated the differentiation of patients with high ALS severity and rapid disease progression from patients from all other cohorts. Conclusion. Increased peripheral and intrathecal activation of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells concomitant with diminished immune regulation by CD56bright NK cells suggest an involvement of these immune cells in ALS pathophysiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distinguishing neurosarcoidosis (NS) from multiple sclerosis (MS) remains challenging and available parameters lack discriminatory power. Comprehensive flow cytometry data of blood and CSF leukocytes of patients with NS (n = 24), MS (n = 49) and idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH, n = 52) were analyzed by machine learning algorithms. NS featured a specific immune cell pattern with increased activated CD4+ T cells in CSF and increased plasma cells in blood. Combining blood and CSF parameters improved the differentiation. We thereby identify and independently validate a multi-dimensional model of blood and CSF supporting the difficult differential diagnosis between NS and MS. Blood and CSF of NS patients exhibit adistinct features that allow a predictive model to distinguish NS from MS. Parts of the images have been adapted from Servier Medical Art and from SVG SILH available under Creative Commons Attribution License. Unlabelled Image • Activated CD4+ T cells in CSF and plasma cells in blood are increased in NS compared to MS. • The combination of blood and CSF parameters aids distinguishing between NS and MS. • We generated and validated a multi-dimensional model of blood and CSF parameters to discriminate NS from MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]