Cognitive disorganisation in schizotypy is associated with deterioration in visual backward masking.

To understand the causes of schizophrenia, a search for stable markers (endophenotypes) is ongoing. In previous years, we have shown that the shine-through visual backward masking paradigm meets the most important characteristics of an endophenotype. Here, we tested masking performance differences between healthy students with low and high schizotypy scores as determined by the self-report O-Life questionnaire assessing schizotypy along three dimensions, i.e. positive schizotypy (unusual experiences), cognitive disorganisation, and negative schizotypy (introvertive anhedonia). Forty participants performed the shine-through backward masking task and a classical cognitive test, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST). We found that visual backward masking was impaired for students scoring high as compared to low on the cognitive disorganisation dimension, whereas the positive and negative schizotypy dimensions showed no link to masking performance. We also found group differences for students scoring high and low on the cognitive disorganisation factor for the WCST. These findings indicate that the shine-through paradigm is sensitive to differences in schizotypy which are closely linked with the pathological expression in schizophrenia.

The Visual Dysphagia Questionnaire: Evaluating the first Tool for Assessing Food Consistency-Dependent Dysphagia in Eosinophilic Esophagitis

Background and Aims: The international EEsAI study group iscurrently developing the first a ctivity index specific forEosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE). None of the existing dysphagiaquestionnaires take into account the consistency of theingested food t hat considerably impacts the symptompresentation. Goal: To d evelop and evaluate an E oE-specificquestionnaire assessing dysphagia caused by foods of differentconsistencies.Methods: B ased on patient interviews and chart reviews, a nexpert panel ( EEsAI study g roup) identified internationallystandardizedfood prototypes t ypically a ssociated with EoErelateddysphagia. Food consistencies were c orrelated withEoE-related d ysphagia, t aking into account p otential f oodavoidance and f ood processing. This V isual D ysphagiaQuestionnaire (VDQ) was piloted in 20 patients and is currentlyevaluated in a cohort of 150 adult EoE patients.Results: T he following 8 food c onsistency prototypes w ereidentified: soft foods (pudding, jelly), grits, toast bread, Frenchfries, dry rice, ground meat, raw fibrous f oods (eg. apple,carrot), s olid m eat. Dysphagia was r anked o n a 4-point Likertscale (0=no difficulties; 3= severe difficulties, food will not pass).First analysis demonstrated that severity of dysphagia is relatedto the eosinophil load and presence of esophageal strictures.Conclusions: T he VDQ i s the first EoE-specific tool f orassessing dysphagia caused by i nternationally-standardizedfoods of different consistencies. This instrument also addressesfood avoidance behaviour and food processing habits. This toolperformed well in a p ilot study a nd is currently evaluated in acohort of 150 adult EoE patients.

Visual activity predicts auditory recovery from deafness after adult cochlear implantation.

Modern cochlear implantation technologies allow deaf patients to understand auditory speech; however, the implants deliver only a coarse auditory input and patients must use long-term adaptive processes to achieve coherent percepts. In adults with post-lingual deafness, the high progress of speech recovery is observed during the first year after cochlear implantation, but there is a large range of variability in the level of cochlear implant outcomes and the temporal evolution of recovery. It has been proposed that when profoundly deaf subjects receive a cochlear implant, the visual cross-modal reorganization of the brain is deleterious for auditory speech recovery. We tested this hypothesis in post-lingually deaf adults by analysing whether brain activity shortly after implantation correlated with the level of auditory recovery 6 months later. Based on brain activity induced by a speech-processing task, we found strong positive correlations in areas outside the auditory cortex. The highest positive correlations were found in the occipital cortex involved in visual processing, as well as in the posterior-temporal cortex known for audio-visual integration. The other area, which positively correlated with auditory speech recovery, was localized in the left inferior frontal area known for speech processing. Our results demonstrate that the visual modality's functional level is related to the proficiency level of auditory recovery. Based on the positive correlation of visual activity with auditory speech recovery, we suggest that visual modality may facilitate the perception of the word's auditory counterpart in communicative situations. The link demonstrated between visual activity and auditory speech perception indicates that visuoauditory synergy is crucial for cross-modal plasticity and fostering speech-comprehension recovery in adult cochlear-implanted deaf patients.

Auditory Neurons with Transitory Axons to Visual Areas Form Short Permanent Projections.

The kitten's auditory cortex (including the first and second auditory fields AI and AII) is known to send transient axons to either ipsi- or contralateral visual areas 17 and 18. By the end of the first postnatal month the transitory axons, but not their neurons of origin, are eliminated. Here we investigated where these neurons project after the elimination of the transitory axon. Eighteen kittens received early (postnatal day (pd) 2 - 5) injections of long lasting retrograde fluorescent traces in visual areas 17 and 18 and late (pd 35 - 64) injections of other retrograde fluorescent tracers in either hemisphere, mostly in areas known to receive projections from AI and AII in the adult cat. The middle ectosylvian gyrus was analysed for double-labelled neurons in the region corresponding approximately to AI and AII. Late injections in the contralateral (to the analysed AI, AII) hemisphere including all of the known auditory areas, as well as some visual and 'association' areas, did not relabel neurons which had had transient projections to either ipsi- or contralateral visual areas 17 - 18. Thus, AI and AII neurons after eliminating their transient juvenile projections to visual areas 17 and 18 do not project to the other hemisphere. In contrast, relabelling was obtained with late injections in several locations in the ipsilateral hemisphere; it was expressed as per cent of the population labelled by the early injections. Few neurons (0 - 2.5%) were relabelled by large injections in the caudal part of the posterior ectosylvian gyrus and the adjacent posterior suprasylvian sulcus (areas DP, P, VP). Multiple injections in the middle ectosylvian gyrus relabelled a considerably larger percentage of neurons (13%). Single small injections in the middle ectosylvian gyrus (areas AI, AII), the caudal part of the anterior ectosylvian gyrus and the rostral part of the posterior ectosylvian gyrus relabelled 3.1 - 7.0% of neurons. These neurons were generally near (<2.0 mm) the outer border of the late injection sites. Neurons with transient projections to ipsi- or contralateral visual areas 17 and 18 were relabelled in similar proportions by late injections at any given location. Thus, AI or AII neurons which send a transitory axon to ipsi- or contralateral visual areas 17 and 18 are most likely to form short permanent cortical connections. In that respect, they are similar to medial area 17 neurons that form transitory callosal axons and short permanent axons to ipsilateral visual areas 17 and 18.

LEVERAGING SANDBOX IMMERSIVE 3D VIRTUAL WORLDS TO DEVELOP DO-IT- YOURSELF TEACHING GAMES: IMPLEMENTATION TO MARKETING CASE STUDY TEACHING IN SECOND LIFE

Games are powerful and engaging. On average, one billion people spend at least 1 hour a day playing computer and videogames. This is even more true with the younger generations. Our students have become the < digital natives >, the < gamers >, the < virtual generation >. Research shows that those who are most at risk for failure in the traditional classroom setting, also spend more time than their counterparts, using video games. They might strive, given a different learning environment. Educators have the responsibility to align their teaching style to these younger generation learning styles. However, many academics resist the use of computer-assisted learning that has been "created elsewhere". This can be extrapolated to game-based teaching: even if educational games were more widely authored, their adoption would still be limited to the educators who feel a match between the authored games and their own beliefs and practices. Consequently, game-based teaching would be much more widespread if teachers could develop their own games, or at least customize them. Yet, the development and customization of teaching games are complex and costly. This research uses a design science methodology, leveraging gamification techniques, active and cooperative learning theories, as well as immersive sandbox 3D virtual worlds, to develop a method which allows management instructors to transform any off-the-shelf case study into an engaging collaborative gamified experience. This method is applied to marketing case studies, and uses the sandbox virtual world of Second Life. -- Les jeux sont puissants et motivants, En moyenne, un milliard de personnes passent au moins 1 heure par jour jouer à des jeux vidéo sur ordinateur. Ceci se vérifie encore plus avec les jeunes générations, Nos étudiants sont nés à l'ère du numérique, certains les appellent des < gamers >, d'autres la < génération virtuelle >. Les études montrent que les élèves qui se trouvent en échec scolaire dans les salles de classes traditionnelles, passent aussi plus de temps que leurs homologues à jouer à des jeux vidéo. lls pourraient potentiellement briller, si on leur proposait un autre environnement d'apprentissage. Les enseignants ont la responsabilité d'adapter leur style d'enseignement aux styles d'apprentissage de ces jeunes générations. Toutefois, de nombreux professeurs résistent lorsqu'il s'agit d'utiliser des contenus d'apprentissage assisté par ordinateur, développés par d'autres. Ceci peut être extrapolé à l'enseignement par les jeux : même si un plus grand nombre de jeux éducatifs était créé, leur adoption se limiterait tout de même aux éducateurs qui perçoivent une bonne adéquation entre ces jeux et leurs propres convictions et pratiques. Par conséquent, I'enseignement par les jeux serait bien plus répandu si les enseignants pouvaient développer leurs propres jeux, ou au moins les customiser. Mais le développement de jeux pédagogiques est complexe et coûteux. Cette recherche utilise une méthodologie Design Science pour développer, en s'appuyant sur des techniques de ludification, sur les théories de pédagogie active et d'apprentissage coopératif, ainsi que sur les mondes virtuels immersifs < bac à sable > en 3D, une méthode qui permet aux enseignants et formateurs de management, de transformer n'importe quelle étude de cas, provenant par exemple d'une centrale de cas, en une expérience ludique, collaborative et motivante. Cette méthode est appliquée aux études de cas Marketing dans le monde virtuel de Second Life.

Blood corticosterone levels and intersexual selection games: best-of-bad-job strategies of male common lizards

Glucocorticoids affect physiology and behaviour, reproduction and potentially sexual selection as well. Shortterm and moderate glucocorticoid elevations are suggested to be adaptive, and prolonged and high elevations may be extremely harmful. This suggests that optimal reproductive strategies, and thus sexual selection, may be dose dependent. Here, we investigate effects of moderate and high elevations of blood corticosterone levels on intra- and intersexual behaviour and mating success of male common lizards Lacerta vivipara. Females showed less interest and more aggressive behaviour towards high corticosterone males and blood corticosterone levels affected male reproductive strategy. Males of moderate and high corticosterone elevations, compared with Control males, showed increased interest (i.e., higher number of chases, tongue extrusions, and approaches) towards females and high corticosterone males initiated more copulation attempts. However, neither increased male interest nor increased copulation attempts resulted in more copulations. This provides evidence for a best-of-a-bad-job strategy, where males with higher corticosterone levels compensated for reduced female interest and increased aggressive female behaviour directed towards them, by showing higher interest and by conducting more copulation attempts. Blood corticosterone levels affected intrasexual selection as well since moderate corticosterone levels positively affected male dominance, but dominance did not affect mating success. These findings underline the importance of female mate choice and are in line with adaptive compensatory behaviours of males. They further show that glucocorticoid effects on behaviour are dose dependent and that they have important implications for sexual selection and social interactions, and might potentially affect Darwinian fitness.

Alpha-band suppression in the visual word form area as a functional bottleneck to consciousness.

The current state of empirical investigations refers to consciousness as an all-or-none phenomenon. However, a recent theoretical account opens up this perspective by proposing a partial level (between nil and full) of conscious perception. In the well-studied case of single-word reading, short-lived exposure can trigger incomplete word-form recognition wherein letters fall short of forming a whole word in one's conscious perception thereby hindering word-meaning access and report. Hence, the processing from incomplete to complete word-form recognition straightforwardly mirrors a transition from partial to full-blown consciousness. We therefore hypothesized that this putative functional bottleneck to consciousness (i.e. the perceptual boundary between partial and full conscious perception) would emerge at a major key hub region for word-form recognition during reading, namely the left occipito-temporal junction. We applied a real-time staircase procedure and titrated subjective reports at the threshold between partial (letters) and full (whole word) conscious perception. This experimental approach allowed us to collect trials with identical physical stimulation, yet reflecting distinct perceptual experience levels. Oscillatory brain activity was monitored with magnetoencephalography and revealed that the transition from partial-to-full word-form perception was accompanied by alpha-band (7-11 Hz) power suppression in the posterior left occipito-temporal cortex. This modulation of rhythmic activity extended anteriorly towards the visual word form area (VWFA), a region whose selectivity for word-forms in perception is highly debated. The current findings provide electrophysiological evidence for a functional bottleneck to consciousness thereby empirically instantiating a recently proposed partial perspective on consciousness. Moreover, the findings provide an entirely new outlook on the functioning of the VWFA as a late bottleneck to full-blown conscious word-form perception.

Recovery of postoperative visual loss following treatment of severe anaemia.

A 29-year-old pregnant woman noted acute visual loss following emergent Caesarean section complicated by excessive uterine bleeding. Postoperative visual acuity was count fingers in both eyes. Funduscopic changes were consistent with a diagnosis of anaemia-associated ischaemic optic neuropathy and retinopathy. One month later, because of persistent anaemia and poor visual recovery, blood transfusion was given. Following transfusion, the patient's vision improved over the next 6 months. In an otherwise healthy patient, visual loss associated with postoperative blood loss may still be partially reversible with correction of the anaemia, even after a delayed period of time.

La stratégie thérapeutique anti-VEGF améliore le pronostic visuel de la dégénérescence maculaire liée à l'âge exsudative [Intravitreal anti-VEGF injections improve the visual prognosis of wet age related macular degeneration].

Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is an ocular disease with high prevalence among elderly persons. Two different forms exist: dry AMD, usually slowly progressive, and neovascular AMD (wet form) more aggressive. Photodynamic therapy is used to treat the wet form and anti VEGF treatments recently became available and offer a real change in the prognostic of wet AMD. Two products are registered and used in Switzerland (Macugen and Lucentis), a third "off labels product", Avastin is also currently used in clinical practice. Nevertheless, both the duration of treatment and the number of injection requested to stabilise the disease were not defined in the studies. Ongoing studies are mainly evaluating combined treatments and long acting form of the drug.