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The goal of this study was to identify the information concealment features during polygraph testing by persons with analytical and holistic types of mentality. Participants of the study (N = 23) were individuals who underwent personnel polygraph testing, which ensured environmental validity. The experiment was di- vided into three parts: a pre-test conversation to find out information about the events being checked; tests filling; polygraph testing (concealed information test in the option of the name and number hiding). The analysis revealed that if the subject is closer to the holistic pole of the analytical-holistic scale, there are less pronounced differences in the physiological parameters changings when answering relevant and irrelevant questions about numbers (p

Studies of the contribution of institutional identity to the formation of psychological structures suggest that such identity imposes restrictions on the formation of new experience. The aim of this work was to describe strategies for solving analytical and holistic problems that are characteristic for individuals with analytical and holistic types of mentality. Participants (N = 105) were solving analytical (a) and holistic (h) word problems (a-problems: “Knights and Knaves” and “Grid-logic”; h-problems: “Anagrams” and “Moral dilemmas”). The results have shown that “normativity” was the principle characteristic of the problem-solving strategy accounting for the observed differences between individuals with analytical and holistic types of mentality.

In order to investigate activity correspondence between brain components with different phylogenetic age during learning processes we analyzed neuronal activations of the retrosplenial disgranular (RSD) cortex along rostro-caudal axis. This cortex was chosen due to its structural organization which suggest that it includes neurons of different phylogenetic affiliation. The RSD cortex is known to be the region of interest for the studies of memory acquisition, memory consolidation and memory reconsolidation. In our experiments we trained animals different instrumental food-acquisition tasks and analysed gene expression changes in neurons by Fos-mapping (transcription factor Fos is a product of c-fos gene expression) on brain slices. The experimental groups differed by novelty degree, i.e. the degree of mismatch between the recent experience and the experience previously formed in the experiment, namely the difference was in the number of new key elements in the experimental chamber which animals had to interact with to get food during the last session. We found uneven activation of the RSD cortex along rostro-caudal axis and significant differences in this cortical activity patterns between the “high novelty” group and the “low novelty” group. The “low novelty” group animals showed significantly fewer Fos-positive neurons in the caudal part of the RSD than the “high novelty” group animals. There were no differences found in the rostral part of the RSD. It might be assumed that in the caudal part of the cortex, neurons are specialized relative to the systems of “older” low-differentiated experience. While the younger part of the cortex contains neurons belonging to a highly differentiated newer experience. The obtained data also indicate that Fos mapping of brain activity reflects the processes of accommodation reconsolidation of earlier acquired memory and marks differences in individual experience.

Interruption of one behavior and transition to the execution of another are associated with cognitive load that leads to a decrease in task performance. The details of incipience of stable performance after switching on the level of single neurons remain unclear. Here we address two issues concerning the involvement of neurons in subserving of behavioral execution. First, the behavioral difference between the first and subsequent trials after switching lacks full explanation in terms of engagement of neurons that underlies task performance. Second, we asked whether functionally similar neurons belong to the same or different putative types of cells. We propose that the task switching requires selection of neurons akin to reinstatement of learning. Therefore, we hypothesized that the after-switch dynamics of neuronal activity is related to the degree of the neuron’s involvement in task execution. This link has been revealed in rabbits’ anterior and posterior cingulate single-cell activity recorded during alternation of two instrumental appetitive behaviors. We imply that the view of switching as a learning episode seems to disentangle the relationship between several aspects of cingulate activity: conflict monitoring, initiation and control of behavior after switching, novelty, and memory retrieval – they all include reorganization of individual experience. No relationship was found between the specialization of neurons and their putative cell-type. Since the cell-type coincides with the metabolic properties of neurons, we assume that the functional assembly of neurons is derived from complementarity of their divergent properties.

Current research on the molecular mechanisms of learning and memory is based on the "stimulus-response" paradigm, in which the neural circuits connecting environmental events with behavioral responses are strengthened. By contrast, cognitive and systems neuroscience emphasize the intrinsic activity of the brain that integrates information, establishes anticipatory actions, executes adaptive actions, and assesses the outcome via regulatory feedback mechanisms. We believe that the difference in the perspectives of systems and molecular studies is a major roadblock to further progress toward understanding the mechanisms of learning and memory. Here, we briefly overview the current studies in molecular mechanisms of learning and memory and propose that studying the predictive properties of neuronal metabolism will significantly advance our knowledge of how intrinsic, predictive activity of neurons shapes a new learning event. We further suggest that predictive metabolic changes in the brain may also take place in non-neuronal cells, including those of peripheral tissues. Finally, we present a path forward toward more in-depth studies of the role of cell metabolism in learning and memory.

Recent research strongly supports the idea that cardiac activity is involved in the organization of social behavior and social cognition. The aim of this study was to explore the dynamics of heart rate irregularity, as measured by permutation entropy (PE), while individuals were making moral judgments about actions and omissions leading to serious physical harm to another person. The results have shown that participants (N = 58, 50% women, age 21–52 years old) judged harmful actions as less permissible than equivalently harmful omissions (phenomenon known as the “omission bias”). Importantly, the response times were significantly longer and PE values were higher when participants were evaluating harmful omissions, as compared to harmful actions. These results may be viewed as a psychophysiological manifestation of differences in causal attribution between actions and omissions, viewed by some authors as one of the bases for intuitive moral judgment. We discuss the obtained results from the positions of the system-evolutionary theory, which proposes that any behavior is based on co-operative activity of morphologically different cell groups distributed across the brain and the rest of the body that comprise functional systems. Thus, heart rate irregularity originates in co-operation of cardiovascular and other components of actualized functional systems, and reflects complexity of the dynamics of the organism-environment interactions, including their social aspects.

As shown in our previous paper ('Regression I. Experimental approaches to regression', JAP, 65, 2, 345-65), the common mechanism of regression can be described as reversible dedifferentiation, which is understood as a relative increase of the proportion of low-differentiated (older) systems in actualized experience. Experimental data show that regression following disease (chronic tension headache) is followed by adaptation and an increase in system differentiation in that experience domain which contains systems responsible for that adaptation. The results of mathematical modelling support the idea that reversible dedifferentiation can be one of the mechanisms for increasing the effectiveness of adaptation through learning. Reversible dedifferentiation, which is phenomenologically described as regression, is a general mechanism for restructuring the organism-environment interactions in situations where behaviours that were effective in the past become ineffective. Reversible dedifferentiation has evolved as a component of adaptation when new behaviours are formed and large-scale modifications in the existing behaviours are required in the face of changes in the external and/or internal environment. Thus, the authors believe that this article provides evidence for Jung's view that regression is not only a 'return' to past forms of thinking, affects and behaviour, but that regressive processes provide a significant impetus for psychological growth and development.Comme nous l’avons montré dans notre article précédent (« Régression I. Les approches expérimentales de la régression »), le mécanisme propre à la régression peut être décrit en tant que dé-différentiation réversible, ce que l’on peut comprendre comme une hausse relative de la proportion de systèmes peu différentiés (plus vieux) dans l’expérience actualisée. Les données expérimentales montrent que la régression suite à une maladie (mal de tête de tension chronique) est suivie par une adaptation et un accroissement dans la différentiation des systèmes dans le domaine d’expérience qui contient les systèmes responsables de cette adaptation. Les résultats de la modélisation mathématique soutiennent l’idée que la dé-différentiation réversible peut être l’un des mécanismes pour accroitre l’efficacité de l’adaptation par l’apprentissage. La dé-différentiation réversible, qui est décrite phénoménologiquement comme régression, est un mécanisme général pour restructurer les interactions organisme-environnement dans des situations où les comportements qui fonctionnaient par le passé sont devenus inefficaces. La dé-différentiation réversible a évolué comme un élément de l’adaptation quand de nouveaux comportements se développent et que des changements dans l’environnement extérieur ou intérieur requièrent des modifications à grande échelle dans les comportements existants. Ainsi, les auteurs pensent que cet article apporte un soutien à la perspective de Jung selon laquelle la régression n’est pas seulement un « retour » à des formes anciennes de fonctionnement, d’affects et de comportement, mais que les processus régressifs fournissent un élan significatif pour la croissance et le développement psychologiques.Wie wir in unserem vorangegangenen Artikel gezeigt haben (‘Regression I. Experimentelle Ansätze zur Regression’), kann der gewöhnliche Regressionsmechanismus als reversible Entdifferenzierung beschrieben werden, die als relative Zunahme des Anteils niedrig differenzierter (älterer) Systeme innerhalb aktualisierten Erlebens verstanden wird. Experimentelle Daten zeigen, daß auf die nach einer Krankheit (chronischer Spannungskopfschmerz) auftretende Regression eine Anpassung und eine Zunahme der Systemdifferenzierung in jenem Erfahrungsbereich folgt, der Systeme enthält, die für diese Anpassung verantwortlich sind. Die mit Hilfe eines mathematischen Modells gewonnenen Ergebnisse stützen die Idee, daß reversible Entdifferenzierung einer der Mechanismen zur Steigerung der Wirksamkeit der Anpassung durch Lernen sein kann. Reversible Entdifferenzierung, die phänomenologisch als Regression bezeichnet wird, ist ein allgemeiner Mechanismus zur Restrukturierung der Wechselwirkungen zwischen Organismus und Umwelt in Situationen, in denen Verhaltensweisen, die in der Vergangenheit wirksam waren, unwirksam werden. Reversible Entdifferenzierung hat sich als Bestandteil der Anpassung entwickelt, wenn neue Verhaltensweisen gebildet werden und umfangreiche Änderungen an den vorhandenen Verhaltensweisen angesichts von Änderungen in der externen und/oder internen Umgebung erforderlich sind. Die Autoren gehen daher davon aus, daß dieser Artikel die Ansicht von Jung belegt, daß Regression nicht nur eine 'Rückkehr' zu früheren Formen des Denkens, von Affekten und Verhalten ist, sondern daß regressive Prozesse einen signifikanten Impuls für psychologisches Wachstum und Entwicklung liefern.Come abbiamo mostrato nel nostro precedente articolo ('Regressione I. Approcci sperimentali alla regressione'), il comune meccanismo di regressione può essere descritto come una de-differenziazione reversibile, che è intesa come un aumento dei sistemi poco differenziati (vecchi) nell'esperienza concreta. I dati sperimentali mostrano che la regressione successiva ad un disturbo (come il mal di testa da tensione cronica) è seguita dall'adattamento e da un aumento della differenziazione del sistema in quel settore di esperienza che contiene i sistemi responsabili di tale adattamento. I risultati della modellazione matematica supportano l'idea che la de-differenziazione reversibile possa essere uno dei meccanismi che aumentano l'efficacia dell'adattamento attraverso l'apprendimento. La de-differenziazione reversibile, che è fenomenologicamente descritta come regressione, è un meccanismo generale per la riorganizzazione delle interazioni organismo-ambiente in situazioni in cui comportamenti che erano efficaci in passato diventano inefficaci. La de-differenziazione reversibile si è evoluta in una componente dell’adattamento rispetto a nuovi comportamenti o modifiche su larga scala nei comportamenti esistenti, a fronte di cambiamenti nell'ambiente esterno e/o interno. Pertanto, gli Autori ritengono che questo articolo offra sostegno all’idea di Jung secondo cui la regressione non è solo un “ritorno” a forme passate di pensiero, affetti e comportamento, ma fornisca anche un impulso significativo per la crescita e lo sviluppo psicologico.Как мы показали в нашей предыдущей статье («Регрессия I. Экспериментальные подходы к регрессии»), общий механизм регрессии можно описать как обратимую дедифференциацию, которая понимается как относительное увеличение доли низкодифференцированных (более старых) систем в актуализированном опыте. Экспериментальные данные показывают, что возникающая после заболевания (например, после хронической головной боли напряжения) регрессия сопровождается адаптацией и увеличением системной дифференциации в то м домене опыта, которыйсодержит системы, ответственные за эту адаптацию. Результаты математического моделирования подтверждают идею о том, что обратимая дедифференциация может быть одним из механизмов повышения эффективности адаптации посредством обучения. Обратимая дедифференциация, которая феноменологически описывается как регрессия, является общим механизмом реструктуризации взаимодействий организм-среда в ситуациях, когда поведение, которое было эффективным в прошлом, становится неэффективным. Обратимая дедифференциация развивается как компонент адаптации, когда формируется новое поведение и требуются крупномасштабные изменения в существующем поведении перед лицом изменений во внешней и/или внутренней среде. Таким образом, авторы полагают, что в этой статье подтверждается мнение Юнга о том, что регрессия - это не только «возврат» к прошлым формам мышления, аффектов и поведения, но и то, что регрессивные процессы дают значительный импульс для психологического роста и развития.Como hemos mostrado en nuestros trabajos previos (‘Regresión I. Abordajes experimentales hacia la regresión’), el mecanismo común de la regresión puede ser descripto como desdiferenciación reversible, el cual es comprendido como un relativo incremento en la proporción de sistemas de baja-diferenciación en la experiencia actual. Data experimental muestra que la regresión luego de una enfermedad (tensión de cabeza crónica) es seguida por la adaptación y por un incremento en la diferenciación de sistemas en aquel dominio de la experiencia, que contiene sistemas responsables para tal adaptación. Los resultados del modelo matemático sostienen la idea de que la desdiferenciación reversible puede ser uno de los mecanismos para incrementar la efectividad de la adaptación a través del aprendizaje. La desdiferenciación reversible, la cual fenomenológicamente se describe como regresión, es un mecanismo general para restructurar las interacciones entre el organismo y el medio ambiente, en situaciones en las que las conductas que eran efectivas en el pasado se vuelven ineficaces. La desdiferenciación reversible ha evolucionado como un componente de la adaptación cuando se forman nuevas conductas y se requieren modificaciones a gran escala en las conductas existentes frente a los cambios en el medio ambiente externo y/o interno. Así, los autores consideran que el artículo proporciona evidencia a la perspectiva de Jung sobre la regresión, no solamente como un ‘retorno’ a formas de pensar, sentir y actuar del pasado sino que los procesos regresivos proveen un estímulo significativo para el desarrollo y el crecimiento psicológico.退行II:通过退行得以发展 在第一篇文章中 (退行I:退行的实证取向), 退行的一般机制可以被描述为一种可逆的去分化, 这可以理解为, 低分化的 (旧的)系统在实际经验中所占比例的相对增长。实验数据显示, 与退行相随的疾病 (慢性紧张性头痛)之后, 会发生适应, 以及系统分化的增长, 因为这一经验领域包含了作用于适应的系统。数学建模的研究结果也支持这一观念, 即可逆的去分化是一种通过学习来增进适应效率的机制。可逆的去分化在现象学上被描述为退行, 它是一种普遍的机制, 用以重建有机环境中的互动, 在这些情境中, 以往有效的行为开始失效。当新的行为形成, 个体为了面对内外环境的变化, 对已有行为进行必要的大尺度调整时, 可逆的去分化便进化为适应的一个组成部分。于是, 作者相信这篇文章为荣格的退行观点提供了支持, 即退行不仅仅是“回归”过往的思维方式、情感和行为, 而是说, 退行还为心理成长与发展提供了重要的动力。.

It is intended in this study to present initial reliability and validity data for the Russian adaptation of the Multidimensional Inventory of Religious/Spiritual Well-being (MI-RSWB-R), as being related to personality factors and psychopathology. Therefore, the first version of the MI-RSWB-R was applied to a sample of 192 (147 females) non-clinical subjects, together with the NEO Five Factor Inventory and the Symptom-Check-List (SCL-90-R). The original six-factor structure of the scale could be replicated for the MI-RSWB-R, which also provides satisfying psychometric properties. In accordance with previous research the RSWB total score was linked to more favorable personality traits such as Extraversion ( r = .45), Openness to Experience ( r = .39), and Agreeableness ( r = .38), which was paralleled by substantial negative correlations with increased psychopathology. Our findings support the reliability and structural validity of the MI-RSWB-R as a standardized instrument for addressing the spiritual dimension in Russian populations. Further research in clinical surroundings is now recommended.

10.1093/scan/nsy099 People socialized in different cultures differ in their thinking styles. Eastern-culture people view objects more holistically by taking context into account, whereas Western-culture people view objects more analytically by focusing on them at the expense of context. Here we studied whether participants, who have different thinking styles but live within the same culture, exhibit differential brain activity when viewing a drama movie. A total of 26 Finnish participants, who were divided into holistic and analytical thinkers based on self-report questionnaire scores, watched a shortened drama movie during functional magnetic resonance imaging. We compared intersubject correlation (ISC) of brain hemodynamic activity of holistic vs analytical participants across the movie viewings. Holistic thinkers showed significant ISC in more extensive cortical areas than analytical thinkers, suggesting that they perceived the movie in a more similar fashion. Significantly higher ISC was observed in holistic thinkers in occipital, prefrontal and temporal cortices. In analytical thinkers, significant ISC was observed in right-hemisphere fusiform gyrus, temporoparietal junction and frontal cortex. Since these results were obtained in participants with similar cultural background, they are less prone to confounds by other possible cultural differences. Overall, our results show how brain activity in holistic vs analytical participants differs when viewing the same drama movie.

This paper presents a novel rodent avoidance test. We have developed a specialized device and procedures that expand the possibilities for exploration of the processes of learning and memory in a psychophysiological experiment. The device consists of a current stimulating electrode-platform and custom software that allows to control and record real-time experimental protocols as well as reconstructs animal movement paths. The device can be used to carry out typical footshock-avoidance tests, such as passive, active, modified active and pedal-press avoidance tasks. It can also be utilized in the studies of prosocial behavior, including cooperation, competition, emotional contagion and empathy. This novel footshock-avoidance test procedure allows flexible current-stimulating settings. In our work, we have used slow-rising current. A test animal can choose between the current rise and time-out intervals as a signal for action in footshock avoidable tasks. This represents a choice between escape and avoidance. This method can be used to explore individual differences in decision-making and choice of avoidance strategies. It has been shown previously that a behavioral act, for example, pedal-pressing is ensured by motivation-dependent brain activity (avoidance or approach). We have created an experimental design based on tasks of instrumental learning: pedal-pressing in an operant box results in a reward, which is either a piece of food in a feeder (food-acquisition behavior) or an escape-platform (footshock-avoidance behavior). Data recording and analysis were performed using custom software, the open source Accord.NET Framework was used for real-time object detection and tracking.

Prior research shows that North Americans and Western Europeans react to threats with defensive strategies based on behavioral approach vs. inhibition systems (BAS/BIS) -- i.e., a desire to approach a goal or to avoid a threat. In the present research, we explored whether this phenomenon is more pronounced in tight cultures (e.g., Germany) as compared to loose cultures (e.g., Russia), testing how Germans and Russians respond to societal threats. We expected that due to the higher levels of cultural tightness, Germans would show stronger defensive reactions to threats than Russians. Additionally, we investigated the role of need for tightness (i.e., need for strict regulation of social order) in threat management processes. In Study 1, Germans recalling violations of societal norms produced stronger rightward bias on the line bisection task than Russians, indicative of greater BAS activation in Germans than in Russians. In Study 2, we used frontal alpha asymmetry, providing the first cross-cultural test of BIS-BAS reactions utilizing neuronal markers. In this study, presentation of societal threat in a video portraying Islamic immigration as a large-scale violation of social norms led to higher BIS activation among Germans than among Russians, if their need for tightness was high. We discuss the role of tightness, need for tightness, and type of threat for cross-cultural particularities of threat-induced motivational shifts.

Frequency spectra of the induced brain activity function in the range of 0.13 to 27 Hz of 16 female subjects aged 18–20 were studied. The activity was caused by reading of taste adjectives from the screen. The function significantly differs for different hemispheres in the studied frequency range. Frequency shifts ranges in the stimulation (maxima) and inhibition (minima) zones of the brain activity differential function were determined. ANOVA model implemented within the Statistica 10.0 software was used for statistical analysis of the measured data. The authors would like to thank Janna Glozman and group of organizers for the excellent organization and holding of the congress of Luria and for helping to publish materials.

Despite the years of studies in the field of systems neuroscience, functions of neural circuits and behavior-related systems are still not entirely clear. The systems description of brain activity has recently been associated with cognitive concepts, e.g. a cognitive map, reconstructed via place-cell activity analysis and the like, and a cognitive schema, modeled in consolidation research. The issue we find of importance is that a cognitive unit reconstructed in neuroscience research is mainly formulated in terms of environment. In other words, the individual experience is considered as a model or reflection of the outside world and usually lacks a biological meaning, such as describing a given part of the world for the individual. In this chapter, we present the idea of a cognitive component that serves as a model of behavioral interaction with environment, rather than a model of the environment itself. This intangible difference entails the need in substantial revision of several well-known phenomena, including the long-term potentiation.The principal questions developed here are how the cognitive units appear and change upon learning and performance, and how the links between them create the whole structure of individual experience. We argue that a clear distinction between processes that provide the emergence of new components and those underlying the retrieval and/or changes in the existing ones is necessary in learning and memory research. We then describe a view on learning and corresponding neuronal activity analysis that may help set this distinction.

The concept of regression is considered with an emphasis on the differences between the positions of Freud and Jung regarding its significance. The paper discusses the results of experimental analyses of individual experience dynamics (from gene expression changes and impulse neuronal activity in animals to prosocial behaviour in healthy humans at different ages, and humans in chronic pain) in those situations where regression occurs: stress, disease, learning, highly emotional states and alcohol intoxication. Common mechanisms of regression in all these situations are proposed. The mechanisms of regression can be described as reversible dedifferentiation, which is understood as a relative increase of the representation of low-differentiated (older) systems in the actualized experience. In all of the cases of dedifferentiation mentioned above, the complexity of the systemic organization of behaviour significantly decreases.Le concept de régression est étudié en mettant l’accent sur les différences entre les positions de Freud et celles de Jung concernant sa portée. L’article discute les résultats des analyses expérimentales de dynamiques de l’expérience individuelle (de changements dans l’expression des gènes et de l’activité des réflexes neuronaux chez les animaux aux comportements pro-sociaux chez des humains en bonne santé et à des âges de vie divers, et chez des humains en situation de souffrance chronique) dans ces situations où se produit la régression: le stress, la maladie, l’apprentissage, les états hautement émotionnels et l’intoxication par l’alcool. Les mécanismes communs de régression dans toutes ces situations sont présentés. Les mécanismes de régression peuvent être décrits en tant que dé-différentiation réversible, ce qui est interprété comme un accroissement relatif de la représentation de systèmes peu-différenciés (plus vieux) dans l’expérience actualisée. Dans tous les cas de dé-différentiation mentionnés plus haut, la complexité de l’organisation systémique du comportement décroit de manière significative.Das Konzept der Regression wird unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Unterschiede zwischen den Positionen von Freud und Jung auf seine Tragweite hin untersucht. Der Aufsatz diskutiert die Ergebnisse experimenteller Analysen der individuellen Erlebensdynamik (von Veränderungen der Genexpression und der impulsiven neuronalen Aktivität bei Tieren bis hin zu prosozialem Verhalten bei gesunden Menschen unterschiedlichen Alters und Menschen mit chronischen Schmerzen) in Situationen, in denen Regressionen auftreten: Streß, Krankheit, Lernen, sehr emotionale Zustände und Alkoholvergiftung. In all diesen Situationen werden gemeinsame Regressionsmechanismen angenommen. Diese Regressionsmechanismen können als reversible Entdifferenzierungen beschrieben werden, die als relativer Anstieg der Repräsentation niedrig differenzierter (älterer) Systeme in der aktualisierten Erfahrung verstanden wird. In allen oben genannten Fällen der Entdifferenzierung nimmt die Komplexität der systemischen Organisation des Verhaltens signifikant ab.Il concetto di regressione viene considerato con un’enfasi sulle differenze tra le posizioni di Freud e Jung riguardo al suo significato. L’articolo discute i risultati di analisi sperimentali delle dinamiche dell’esperienza individuale (dalle modificazioni nell’espressione genetica e dall’impulso dell'attività neuronale negli animali fino al comportamento prosociale in esseri umani sani in età differenti, e in esseri umani con dolore cronico) in quelle situazioni in cui si verifica la regressione: stress, malattia, apprendimento, stati altamente emotivi e intossicazione alcolica. Vengono proposti meccanismi comuni di regressione in tutte queste situazioni. I meccanismi di regressione possono essere descritti come dedifferenziazione reversibile, che è intesa come un aumento relativo della rappresentazione di sistemi a bassa differenziazione (più vecchi) nell’esperienza attualizzata. In tutti i casi di dedifferenziazione sopra menzionati, la complessità dell’organizzazione sistemica del comportamento diminuisce significativamente.Понятие регрессии рассматривается в свете различий взглядов Фрейда и Юнга на значение регрессии. В статье обсуждаются результаты экспериментального анализа динамики индивидуального опыта (начиная от изменений генной экспрессии и спайковой активности нейронов у животных до просоциального поведения у здоровых людей в разные возрастные периоды и людей, испытывающих хроническую боль) в ситуациях, в которых происходит регрессия: стресс, болезнь, обучение, состояния сильного эмоционального возбуждения, алкогольная интоксикация. Обосновывается представление об общности механизмов регрессии во всех этих ситуациях. Механизмы регрессии могут быть описаны как обратимая дедифференциация, под которой понимается относительное увеличение представленности низко-дифференцированных (старых) систем в актуализированном опыте. Во всех случаях упомянутой выше дедифференциации, сложность системной организации поведения существенно снижается.Se considera el concepto de regresión, con énfasis en las diferencias entre Freud y Jung en lo que concierne a su significado. El trabajo desarrolla los resultados de análisis experimentales sobre dinámicas experienciales individuales (desde cambios en la expresión genética y actividad neuronal en animales a conductas prosociales en humanos saludables en diferentes edades, y humanos en dolor crónico) en aquellas situaciones donde la regresión ocurre: estrés, enfermedad, aprendizaje, estados altamente emocionales e intoxicación alcohólica. Se proponen mecanismos comunes de regresión en todas estas situaciones. Los mecanismos de regresión pueden describirse como de-diferenciación reversible, la cual es comprendida como un incremento relativo de la representación de sistemas de baja-diferenciación (antiguos) en la experiencia actualizada. En todos los casos de de-diferenciación mencionados anteriormente, la complejidad de la organización sistemática de conducta decrece significativamente.退行I:退行的实证取向 退行的概念被认为凸显了弗洛伊德和荣格关于退行的重要性的不同理解。文章讨论了关于个体处于退行发生的情境时, 其经验动力的实证分析的结果 (这些分析涉及动物基因表达的改变和神经元脉冲活性, 以及不同年龄健康人类亲社会的行为, 和慢性疼痛的病人), 这些导致退行的情境包括:压力, 疾病, 学习, 高情绪化状态, 酒精中毒。这些情境下常见的退行机制都在文中提及。退行的机制可以被描述为可逆的去分化, 这可以被理解为在实现经验中, 低分化的 (老一些的)系统表现出的相对增长。在所有以上提及的去分化案例中, 系统化组织的行为的复杂性显著降低了。.

Despite the years of studies in the field of systems neuroscience, functions of neural circuits and behavior-related systems are still not entirely clear. The systems description of brain activity has recently been associated with cognitive concepts, e.g. a cognitive map, reconstructed via place-cell activity analysis and the like, and a cognitive schema, modeled in consolidation research. The issue we find of importance is that a cognitive unit reconstructed in neuroscience research is mainly formulated in terms of environment. In other words, the individual experience is considered as a model or reflection of the outside world and usually lacks a biological meaning, such as describing a given part of the world for the individual. In this chapter, we present the idea of a cognitive component that serves as a model of behavioral interaction with environment, rather than a model of the environment itself. This intangible difference entails the need in substantial revision of several well-known phenomena, including the long-term potentiation.The principal questions developed here are how the cognitive units appear and change upon learning and performance, and how the links between them create the whole structure of individual experience. We argue that a clear distinction between processes that provide the emergence of new components and those underlying the retrieval and/or changes in the existing ones is necessary in learning and memory research. We then describe a view on learning and corresponding neuronal activity analysis that may help set this distinction.

To address the issue of how hippocampal neurons are involved into learning progress, we studied c-Fos expression in rat hippocampal subfields at different stages of appetitive instrumental learning. To model the first stage of learning, we pre-trained animals to approach the lever to obtain the food, and then made this behavior ineffective by not reinforcing it during the last session (“mismatch” group). Another group just acquired lever-pressing behavior at that day (“acquisition” group). Animals of the third group performed this well-trained behavior (“performance” group). The number of Fos-positive neurons in all hippocampal regions of the “mismatch” group animals was higher than in the ones of the home cage control group animals. The number of Fos-positive neurons was increased in CA1 and CA3 areas, but not in the dentate gyrus of both the “acquisition” and “performance” group animals as compared with the control group. We also found segmented c-Fos expression, which was more evident in “acquisition” group animals. Thus, our results suggest that during the first (mismatch) stage of learning hippocampal neurons are activated in an equally distributed manner. The following clustered pattern of activated CA1 neurons during the acquisition stage may reflect specialization of these neurons in respect to the specific lever-pressing behavior.

Walter Freeman's work emphasises the role of individual activity and intentionality as opposed to the traditional stimulus-reaction view and the machine metaphor. The results of our computer modeling studies suggest the nonlinear dynamics of experience emerging from perception-action cycles. We consider the perception-action cycle as a behavioral continuum of anticipated outcomes of actions. Neuroscientific research shows that each behavioral act is based on the activity of behaviorally specialized neurons distributed across the brain. Active learning during individual development leads to an increasing differentiation of the structure of individual experience through the formation of such groups of behaviorally specialized neurons. We consider the differentiation of individual experience as a nonlinear process which is implemented at different levels, and argue that consciousness and emotion can be described as dynamic characteristics prominent at the most and least differentiated systemic levels, correspondingly.

We have previously shown that both acute and chronic ethanol treatment depresses neural activity, specifically in the cingulate cortex. Minor influences were found in the motor cortex. The acute effect of ethanol in the hippocampus was intermediate to those in the cingulate and motor cortices. In the present study, we concentrate on the chronic effects of ethanol on the hippocampus. We demonstrate how the neuronal activity underlying food-acquisition behavior is modified after chronic ethanol treatment, and how the hippocampus subserves formation of newly-formed alcohol-acquisition behavior. Neuronal activity in CA1 was more sensitive to chronic ethanol than the Dg area. Acute administration of ethanol had a normalizing effect on the chronically-treated animals: their performance and the hippocampal neural activity approached a normal range. The sets of neurons involved in food-acquisition behavior formed before chronic ethanol treatment, and those involved in alcohol-acquisition behavior formed after treatment significantly overlapped supporting the view that the neuronal mechanisms of pre-existing behavior provide the basis for the formation of new behavior. Additionally, we also discovered alcohol-acquisition selective neurons. Assuming that the formation of new neuronal specializations underlies learning, we believe that alcohol-selective neurons are specialized during the formation of alcohol-acquisition behavior. Our data demonstrate several new findings on the effect of acute and chronic ethanol on hippocampus activity, and how the neuronal activity relates to behavior before and after ethanol treatment.

Gender, age, and culturally specific beliefs are often considered relevant to observed variation in social interactions. At present, however, the scientific literature is mixed with respect to the significance of these factors in guiding moral judgments. In this study, we explore the role of each of these factors in moral judgment by presenting the results of a web-based study of Eastern (i.e., Russia) and Western (i.e., USA, UK, Canada) subjects, male and female, and young and old. Participants (n = 659) responded to hypothetical moral scenarios describing situations where sacrificing one life resulted in saving five others. Though men and women from both types of cultures judged (1) harms caused by action as less permissible than harms caused by omission, (2) means-based harms as less permissible than side-effects, and (3) harms caused by contact as less permissible than by non-contact, men in both cultures delivered more utilitarian judgments (save the five, sacrifice one) than women. Moreover, men from Western cultures were more utilitarian than Russian men, with no differences observed for women. In both cultures, older participants delivered less utilitarian judgments than younger participants. These results suggest that certain core principles may mediate moral judgments across different societies, implying some degree of universality, while also allowing a limited range of variation due to sociocultural factors.

Emotion plays a significant role in goal‐directed behavior, yet its neural basis is yet poorly understood. In several psychological models the cardinal dimensions that characterize the emotion space are considered to be valence and arousal. Here 3T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to reveal brain areas that show valence‐ and arousal‐dependent blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal responses. Seventeen healthy adults viewed pictures from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) for brief 100 ms periods in a block design paradigm. In many brain regions BOLD signals correlated significantly positively with valence ratings of unpleasant pictures. Interestingly, partly in the same regions but also in several other regions BOLD signals correlated negatively with valence ratings of pleasant pictures. Therefore, there were several areas where the correlation across all pictures was of inverted U‐shape. Such correlations were found bilaterally in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) extending to anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and insula. Self‐rated arousal of those pictures which were evaluated to be unpleasant correlated with BOLD signal in the ACC, whereas for pleasant pictures arousal correlated positively with the BOLD signal strength in the right substantia innominata. We interpret our results to suggest a major division of brain mechanisms underlying affective behavior to those evaluating stimuli to be pleasant or unpleasant. This is consistent with the basic division of behavior to approach and withdrawal, where differentiation of hostile and hospitable stimuli is crucial. Hum Brain Mapp, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

To construct an environment consisting of artificial objects it is helpful to use descriptions of how individuals behave. Implicitly, we do this on the basis that outward behavior reflects the dynamics of the subjective world and is a deployment of brain processes. But this is only partly correct: outwardly `similar' behavioral acts or environmental patterns may correspond to very different neural activities (the view `from inside' the subject). This is because behavior is the result of the history of behavioral development, such that the brain organizations that correspond to an `object' are the ones that were constructed during the subject's past experience in the course of performing related activity. As the construction of brain organizations takes place in the context of a goal-oriented activity, the very nature of the neural organizations involved stays connected to this goal. Empirically, the goal aspect of the object seems more structuring than the pattern of the object itself. This article compares the view from outside and the view from inside for different kinds of specific experimental situations. We show that `externally' similar objects may correspond to very different brain activations. Alternatively, behaviors and environmental events that seem different to an external observer may actually appear similar when viewed from inside the agent's brain. Experimental findings suggest that what is stable in an `object' for a living organism is its subjective status: at the neural level, meaning for the agent is more important than `objective' form. We also show that the nature of objects as seen from the inside depends on the way they were constructed through the organism's experience: behaviors or objects that may look similar from the outside are in this respect also different from the inside perspective. This has implications for the way we should construct objects in the digital world: building by mimicking the appearance of the physical world as seen from the outside may result in poor design.

We examined how emotional context influences processing of emotionally neutral acoustic stimuli in the human auditory cortex. Nine subjects performed a simple discrimination task. In the positive-emotional trials correct performance was awarded with money, whereas in the negative-emotional trials, correct performance resulted in avoidance of the loss of money. Auditory stimuli were identical in both trial types. An event-related brain potential (ERP) N100 deflection, generated in the auditory cortex, was significantly larger in the negative as compared to the positive-emotional trials. This result demonstrates that emotional context influences early sensory-specific cortical processing. In addition, we found some evidence in favor of assumption that processing of positive visual feedback was faster in negative-emotional trials. This was reflected in the tendency for the latency of visual ERPs to be shorter in the latter case. We suggest that our results indicate that the systemic organization at all stages of deployment of behavior depends on emotional context. Dynamics of learning the discrimination task was also dependent on emotional context.

The present report has the following two objectives: to provide a survey of systemic conceptions in psychophysiology that are rooted in the theory of functional systems, and to compare the development of these conceptions with tendencies characterizing progress in world science. On the basis of ample experimental material in the framework of systems psychophysiology, views are formulated on the formative and dynamic regularities of individual experience. Within this framework, applying a systemic approach to the study of cognition entails multidisciplinary investigation of the systemogenesis and actualization of neurocognitive systems. Science, being a part of culture, along with invariant characteristics reflecting its global character, possesses also certain local, national features. Peculiarities of Russian science are discussed, as well as the complementarity of local culture-specific components of world science.

The application of the concept "uncertainty" causes considerable difficulties. In this paper an analysis of the intrinsic contradictions of the concept itself and its relationship with the statements of metrology is given with the aim of establishing possible reasons for these difficulties. As a result of this analysis several examples are presented to demonstrate the conflicts of the concept and its several statements in the general fundamental notions of metrology.

The role of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR) in synaptic transmission and plasticity of field potentials (fEPs) evoked by subicular stimulation of the cingulate cortex was investigated in freely moving adult rats. Tetanic stimulation with 100 Hz trains caused an enhancement of synaptic transmission in the cingulate cortex which lasted at least 24 hours, and can thus, be regarded as long-term potentiation (LTP). I.c.v. injection of the metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) antagonist (R,S)-α-methyl-4-carboxyphenylglycine (MCPG) did not influence either baseline synaptic transmission or LTP of the fEPs. In contrast to the hippocampus mGluRs of the cingulate cortex seem not to be critically involved in the development of late LTP stages. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper considers the present-day approach to traceability of measurements in chemical analysis. Specific features of concentration as a physical quantity are discussed. It is shown that the traceability of concentration measurements is the main task of metrology applications in quantitative analysis. It is proved that there is no need for a special traceability chain for measuring the properties used to identify components. The differences in the requirements for the composition measurements of standard samples and of reference materials are discussed by analysing the role played by these materials in calibration processes and accuracy checks.

Learning is known to be accompanied by induction of c-Fos expression in cortical neurons. However, not all neurons are involved in this process. What the c-Fos expression pattern depends on is still unknown. In the present work we studied whether and to what degree previous animal experience about Task 1 (the first phase of an instrumental learning) influenced neuronal c-Fos expression in the retrosplenial cortex during acquisition of Task 2 (the second phase of an instrumental learning). Animals were progressively shaped across days to bar-press for food at the left side of the experimental chamber (Task 1). This appetitive bar-pressing behavior was shaped by nine stages (“9 stages” group), five stages (“5 stages” group) or one intermediate stage (“1 stage” group). After all animals acquired the first skill and practiced it for five days, the bar and feeder on the left, familiar side of the chamber were inactivated, and the animals were allowed to learn a similar instrumental task at the opposite side of the chamber using another pair of a bar and a feeder (Task 2). The highest number of c-Fos positive neurons was found in the retrosplenial cortex of “1 stage” animals as compared to the other groups. The number of c-Fos positive neurons in “5 stages” group animals was significantly lower than in “1 stage” animals and significantly higher than in “9 stages” animals. The number of c-Fos positive neurons in the cortex of “9 stages” animals was significantly higher than in home caged control animals. At the same time, there were no significant differences between groups in such behavioral variables as the number of entrees into the feeder or bar zones during Task 2 learning. Our results suggest that c-Fos expression in the retrosplenial cortex during Task 2 acquisition was influenced by the previous learning history.

Language acquisition is based on our knowledge about the world and forms through multiple sensory-motor interactions with the environment. We link the properties of individual experience formed at different stages of ontogeny with the phased development of sensory modalities and with the acquisition of words describing the appropriate forms of sensitivity. To test whether early-formed experience related to skin sensations, olfaction and taste differs from later-formed experience related to vision and hearing, we asked Russian-speaking participants to categorize or to assess the pleasantness of experience mentally reactivated by sense-related adjectives found in common dictionaries. It was found that categorizing adjectives in relation to vision, hearing and skin sensations took longer than categorizing adjectives in relation to olfaction and taste. In addition, experience described by adjectives predominantly related to vision, hearing and skin sensations took more time for the pleasantness judgment and generated less intense emotions than that described by adjectives predominantly related to olfaction and taste. Interestingly the dynamics of skin resistance corresponded to the intensity and pleasantness of reported emotions. We also found that sense-related experience described by early-acquired adjectives took less time for the pleasantness judgment and generated more intense and more positive emotions than that described by later-acquired adjectives. Correlations were found between the time of the pleasantness judgment of experience, intensity and pleasantness of reported emotions, age of acquisition, frequency, imageability and length of sense-related adjectives. All in all these findings support the hypothesis that early-formed experience is less differentiated than later-formed experience.

Unit activity was recorded from the motor cortex of eight freely moving rabbits in order to examine the acute effect of ethanol (1 g kg-1) on organization of unit activity and to compare it with our earlier results from the limbic cortex. The rabbits performed a food-acquisition task in the experimental cage. Unit activity was recorded during behaviour in the control experiment followed by the alcohol experiment on the next day. After ethanol, behavioural mistakes and the duration of the behavioural cycle significantly increased. In the control experiments activation of 58% of the units had no constant relation to the phases of the behavioural cycle (non-involved units), whereas 42% of the units were constantly activated during certain phases (involved units). Two per cent of the latter units were activated in relation to newly learned behavioural acts (e.g. pedal pressing; L units), 28% in relation to food seizure and/or grinding (S units) and 12% in relation to certain movements during different behavioural acts (M units). Ethanol had no effect on the number of active units and the same relation between the number of non-involved and involved units or between the number of different types of involved units was found. However, the number of involved units decreased in the upper and increased in the lower cortical layers. Also the number of units with low background frequency increased, although the frequency within activations did not change. In our earlier study the number of active units in the limbic cortex decreased after ethanol by one third and the relation between the number of L and M units was reversed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

We suggest a united concept of consciousness and emotion, based on the systemic cognitive neuroscience perspective regarding organisms as active and goal-directed. We criticize the idea that consciousness and emotion are psychological phenomena having quite different neurophysiological mechanisms. We argue that both characterize a unified systemic organization of behavior, but at different levels. All systems act to achieve intended behavioral results in interaction with their environment. Differentiation of this interaction increases during individual development. Any behavioral act is a simultaneous realization of systems ranking from the least to the most differentiated. We argue that consciousness and emotion are dynamic systemic characteristics that are prominent at the most and least differentiated systemic levels, correspondingly. These levels are created during development. Our theory is based on both theoretical and empirical research and provides a solid framework for experimental work.

The effect of alcohol (ethanol) on cortical processing of Finnish vs. English words in Finnish-speaking subjects was studied by recording auditory event-related potentials in 10 subjects who had started studying English at the age of 9-10 years. At the beginning of the block of 100 words, the subject heard an introductory sentence. Half of the words completed the sentence well and the other half did not. The subject pressed a reaction key immediately after hearing a proper word. After the control condition, the subject ingested alcohol (1 ml/kg). Alcohol attenuated the amplitude of N100 to both Finnish and English words, this attenuation being significantly stronger for English than for Finnish words. The early differential effect of alcohol suggests that language-specific information is extracted in the cortex already approximately 100 ms from the word onset. The results are in line with animal experiments demonstrating that alcohol selectively affects the activity of single units involved in newer forms of behavior.

The occurrence of frontal midline theta activity (4–7 Hz) was studied in a simulated driving task during consecutive phases of goal-directed behaviour. Electrical activity of the forebrain (Fz) was analysed in a simulated traffic situation in which the subject had to find the correct way to drive a car through a set of roads in a computer game. The occurrence of theta activity was analysed during seven consecutive sections of the game. The results showed that the occurrence of theta activity increased during learning — successful behaviour produced more theta than unsuccessful behaviour. In some sections of the game the percentage of theta was larger than in others. It is suggested that the theta activity reflects relaxed concentration after mastering the game.

Acute ethanol's influence on field L auditory-evoked potentials (AEP) was studied in 4–7-days-old altricial nestlings of the pied flycatcher. Nestlings were presented with behaviorally meaningful tone pips (2.0 and 5.0 kHz) and control tone pips (3.0 kHz). Ethanol ingestion was found to reduce the N1 amplitude and maturity index (MI) of the AEP in response to “behavioral” but not to control frequencies. This effect was first observed on day 5, when the nestlings' behavior became more complex (their eyes opened and defence behavior appeared), and when previously formed feeding behavior was undergoing modifications. The MI increase during the early postembryonic ontogeny was probably due to the selective involvement of neurons with newly formed behavioral specializations into the subserving of new behavioral patterns, while the decrease of the MI under alcohol was due to the depression of activity in these neurons.

Natural gas is an important energy vector. The determination of its composition is often used as the basis for the calculation of the calorific value. The calorific value in turn is one of the two key parameters used in natural gas trade. In the first series of key comparisons (CCQM-K1e-g), natural gas was already included with three different compositions. These mixtures contained carbon dioxide, nitrogen, ethane, propane and n-butane in methane (matrix) and were only to a limited extent representative of real natural gas. In the past years, national metrology institutes have broadened the range of components by including, e.g., i-butane, neo-pentane, n-pentane, i-pentane and n-hexane. Based on this extended components list, two new mixtures have been defined, one characteristic for a low calorific mixture (type IV) and the other for a high calorific mixture (type V). In the low calorific mixture, helium was also present. Due to presence of the butane and pentane isomers, the mixtures of type IV and V are more demanding with respect to the separation technique than the mixtures used in CCQM-K1e-g. The measurements in this key comparison took place in 2001. There were eight participants and two coordinating laboratories. The key comparison reference value (KCRV) was based on the gravimetric preparation for all components. Even for the heavier hydrocarbons (pentanes and n-hexane) the effects of, e.g., adsorption can be controlled to such an extent that this approach is still valid. The uncertainty evaluation of the KCRVs reflected also the extent to which the preparation data could be demonstrated to be valid. The validity of the preparation data was demonstrated by comparing the composition of the mixtures prepared for this comparison with measurement standards maintained by the coordinating laboratories. The key comparisons demonstrated that the results of the laboratories agreed within 1% relative to the reference value for most components. Even better agreement was obtained for nitrogen in the low calorific mixture (0.5%), carbon dioxide (0.5%), ethane (0,5%), propane (0.5%) and methane (0.1%). In some cases, larger differences were observed, which then also exceeded the associated expanded uncertainty Main text. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCQM, according to the provisions of the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA).