Faces and emotions: brain electric field sources during covert emotional processing

Covert brain activity related to task-free, spontaneous (i.e. unrequested), emotional evaluation of human face images was analysed in 27-channel averaged event-related potential (ERP) map series recorded from 18 healthy subjects while observing random sequences of face images without further instructions. After recording, subjects self-rated each face image on a scale from “liked” to “disliked”. These ratings were used to dichotomize the face images into the affective evaluation categories of “liked” and “disliked” for each subject and the subjects into the affective attitudes of “philanthropists” and “misanthropists” (depending on their mean rating across images). Event-related map series were averaged for “liked” and “disliked” face images and for “philanthropists” and “misanthropists”. The spatial configuration (landscape) of the electric field maps was assessed numerically by the electric gravity center, a conservative estimate of the mean location of all intracerebral, active, electric sources. Differences in electric gravity center location indicate activity of different neuronal populations. The electric gravity center locations of all event-related maps were averaged over the entire stimulus-on time (450 ms). The mean electric gravity center for disliked faces was located (significant across subjects) more to the right and somewhat more posterior than for liked faces. Similar differences were found between the mean electric gravity centers of misanthropists (more right and posterior) and philanthropists. Our neurophysiological findings are in line with neuropsychological findings, revealing visual emotional processing to depend on affective evaluation category and affective attitude, and extending the conclusions to a paradigm without directed task.

Cicero, Tullia, and Marcus: Gender-Specific Concerns for Family Tradition?

A fair number of Cicero's letters reveal his concern for his daughter Tullia and his son Marcus. Recent scholarship has read these letters as evidence for a ‘natural’ emotional attachment of a father to his children, in reaction to Philippe Ariès's opposite claim. This chapter considers whether Cicero's letters can be analysed only as expressions of paternal affection. The fact that the pater familias Cicero occupies a political position simultaneously in his nuclear family, his domus, and the Senate, results in a concern for his prestige within the social field of the aristocracy. And this concern is necessarily conferred upon his support of the education and the social and political career of his children. The chapter traces the gender-specific differences between Cicero's treatment of Tullia and Marcus, shows the social construction of parental affection, and contributes to a further understanding of the different functions of daughters and sons in the social force field of family memory.

Life cycle complexity, environmental change and the emerging status of salmonid proliferative kidney disease

P>1. Proliferative kidney disease (PKD) is a disease of salmonid fish caused by the endoparasitic myxozoan, Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae, which uses freshwater bryozoans as primary hosts. Clinical PKD is characterised by a temperature-dependent proliferative and inflammatory response to parasite stages in the kidney.;2. Evidence that PKD is an emerging disease includes outbreaks in new regions, declines in Swiss brown trout populations and the adoption of expensive practices by fish farms to reduce heavy losses. Disease-related mortality in wild fish populations is almost certainly underestimated because of e.g. oversight, scavenging by wild animals, misdiagnosis and fish stocking.;3. PKD prevalences are spatially and temporally variable, range from 0 to 90-100% and are typically highest in juvenile fish.;4. Laboratory and field studies demonstrate that (i) increasing temperatures enhance disease prevalence, severity and distribution and PKD-related mortality; (ii) eutrophication may promote outbreaks. Both bryozoans and T. bryosalmonae stages in bryozoans undergo temperature- and nutrient-driven proliferation.;5. Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae is likely to achieve persistent infection of highly clonal bryozoan hosts through vertical transmission, low virulence and host condition-dependent cycling between covert and overt infections. Exploitation of fish hosts entails massive proliferation and spore production by stages that escape the immune response. Many aspects of the parasite's life cycle remain obscure. If infectious stages are produced in all hosts then the complex life cycle includes multiple transmission routes.;6. Patterns of disease outbreaks suggest that background, subclinical infections exist under normal environmental conditions. When conditions change, outbreaks may then occur in regions where infection was hitherto unsuspected.;7. Environmental change is likely to cause PKD outbreaks in more northerly regions as warmer temperatures promote disease development, enhance bryozoan biomass and increase spore production, but may also reduce the geographical range of this unique multihost-parasite system. Coevolutionary dynamics resulting from host-parasite interactions that maximise fitness in previous environments may pose problems for sustainability, particularly in view of extensive declines in salmonid populations and degradation of many freshwater habitats.

Sex Differences in Semantic Processing: Event-Related Brain Potentials Distinguish between Lower and Higher Order Semantic Analysis during Word Reading

Behavioral studies suggest that women and men differ in the strategic elaboration of verbally encoded information especially in the absence of external task demand. However, measuring such covert processing requires other than behavioral data. The present study used event-related potentials to compare sexes in lower and higher order semantic processing during the passive reading of semantically related and unrelated word pairs. Women and men showed the same early context effect in the P1-N1 transition period. This finding indicates that the initial lexical-semantic access is similar in men and women. In contrast, sexes differed in higher order semantic processing. Women showed an earlier and longer lasting context effect in the N400 accompanied by larger signal strength in temporal networks similarly recruited by men and women. The results suggest that women spontaneously conduct a deeper semantic analysis. This leads to faster processing of related words in the active neural networks as reflected in a shorter stability of the N400 map in women. Taken together, the findings demonstrate that there is a selective sex difference in the controlled semantic analysis during passive word reading that is not reflected in different functional organization but in the depth of processing.

Looking left with left neglect: the role of spatial attention when active vision selects local image features for fixation

When we actively explore the visual environment, our gaze preferentially selects regions characterized by high contrast and high density of edges, suggesting that the guidance of eye movements during visual exploration is driven to a significant degree by perceptual characteristics of a scene. Converging findings suggest that the selection of the visual target for the upcoming saccade critically depends on a covert shift of spatial attention. However, it is unclear whether attention selects the location of the next fixation uniquely on the basis of global scene structure or additionally on local perceptual information. To investigate the role of spatial attention in scene processing, we examined eye fixation patterns of patients with spatial neglect during unconstrained exploration of natural images and compared these to healthy and brain-injured control participants. We computed luminance, colour, contrast, and edge information contained in image patches surrounding each fixation and evaluated whether they differed from randomly selected image patches. At the global level, neglect patients showed the characteristic ipsilesional shift of the distribution of their fixations. At the local level, patients with neglect and control participants fixated image regions in ipsilesional space that were closely similar with respect to their local feature content. In contrast, when directing their gaze to contralesional (impaired) space neglect patients fixated regions of significantly higher local luminance and lower edge content than controls. These results suggest that intact spatial attention is necessary for the active sampling of local feature content during scene perception.

Caregiver Responses to the Language Mixing of a Young Trilingual

The situation once described by Hoffmann (1985), in which children grow up exposed to three languages from an early age, is a reality for an increasing number of families. In Europe – as elsewhere – greater mobility is leading to greater numbers of mixed-language couples (Piller 2002), and, by extension, multilingual families. For such families, questions concerning the acquisition and maintenance of three or more languages in a natural environment are of direct relevance. Researchers in bilingualism have already pointed out the importance of social context for the acquisition of two languages in childhood, focusing in particular on the quantity and quality of exposure to the languages (De Houwer 1990; Döpke 1992; Okita 2002; Lanza 2004) or the prestige of the languages (Lambert 1977). In this paper, I will make use of the insights gained by such researchers and test them in a trilingual setting. The paper will focus mainly on one aspect, namely the conversational style of parents and caretakers. The data come from research being carried out in Switzerland and consist of 33 interviews with multilingual families, as well as case studies of two trilingual children. The findings attest to the importance of conversational style, but at the same time indicate that a number of further factors are also of great significance.

Internationale Kontrolle lokaler Verwaltung in einer Konfliktregion. Das Experiment „Freie Stadt Danzig“ (1920-1939)

The Free City of Danzig was founded by the Allies after World War One to settle the conflict between Poles and Germans as to which territory the town belonged. The League of Nations was designated to be the guarantor of its status. British and American experts and policy advisors saw it as an experiment on the way to new forms of statehood, by means of which nationalism as the founding principle of territorial entities could be overcome. However, the „Free City“ status was rejected by both the city’s inhabitants and German and Polish government agencies, with the result that the League and its local representative, the High Commissioner, were constantly confronted with difficulties in the interpretation of the international treaties and conventions relating to Danzig. In addition, hardly anyone in Danzig, Germany or Poland was interested in the economic and financial situation of the Free City, but were more interested in winning political battles than in the well-being of the city and its inhabitants. As a result, the situation in Danzig became more and more hopeless. The city became increasingly dependent on (illegal) German subsidies, while the High Commissioners generally cared more about their own prestige and that of their home countries than about the interests of the League of Nations. But as no political means of modifying the city’s status had been provided for, nothing changed formally in Danzig until Germany started the Second World War and annexed the city in September 1939. In retrospect, the international control of local government could not contribute to a long-term solution for Danzig. It merely postponed its violent solution for twenty years.

Die Rolle der kommerziellen Akteure im Snowboardsport

Im Snowboardsport spielen kommerzielle Akteure für die informelle Organisation und das Funktionieren der Sportart eine bedeutende Rolle. Der Sport wird meist unabhängig von Vereinen und Verbänden in lokalen Gruppen von Gleichgesinnten betrieben und besitzt im Gegensatz zu klassischen Sportarten eine alternative Organisationsstruktur. Die kommerziellen Akteure springen in diese Lücke und versuchen mit Wettbewerben, Showevents und Snowparks Treffpunkte und Inhalt für Szeneanhänger zu kreieren. Sie liefern ästhetisches Film- und Bildmaterial, sowie zugeschnittene Produkte, um Medienpräsenz zu erhalten und die Anzahl Interessierte zu steigern. Sie sehen sich als «Motoren der Sportart» und engagieren sich mit kommerziellem Hintergrund um die organisationale Entwicklung des Sports. Sie treten als Sponsoren auf, wobei sie Partnerschaften mit ausgewählten Akteuren innerhalb des Szenekerns bilden, welche eine hohe Glaubwürdigkeit bei den Szeneanhängern besitzen. Zusammen inszenieren sie Werte und Normen der Sportkultur und übermitteln diese mit szeneaffinen Medien. Dies führt zur These, dass durch das Sponsoring und Branding von Athleten sowie der Organisation von Wettbewerben und Showevents die kommerziellen Akteure einen direkten Einfluss auf die Genese der Sportart besitzen. Dabei interessiert die Art und Weise, wie die kommerziellen Akteure innerhalb der Snowboardzene Beziehungen knüpfen, Identitäten schaffen und einflussreiche Positionierungen einnehmen und wahren können. Aufbauend auf dem Szenemodell von Hitzler und Niederbacher (2010) wird mit einem Kern-Peripherie-Modell der Szenekern analysiert, wobei das soziale Wissen und die sozialen Kontakte die Positionierung bestimmen. Die Partnerschaften zwischen den Akteuren aus dem Szenekern haben eine hohe gemeinsame Identifikation und verfolgen gemeinsame strategische Ziele. Sie bilden ein soziales Netzwerk von Individuen, wobei die verschiedenen Beziehungen das Funktionieren der Organisationselite bestimmen. In der ethnographischen Studie wurden teilnehmende Beobachtung an zwei europäischen und drei neuseeländischen Events betrieben, welche nach der «Grounded Theory» von Glaser und Strauss (1967) ausgewertet wurden. Darauf aufbauend und vertiefend wurden über 40 Experteninterviews mit Szenekernakteuren aus elf Ländern zur Datengewinnung betrieben. Die teilstandardisierten Gespräche wurden mit der «Inhaltsanalyse» von Mayring (2010) ausgewertet. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die kommerziellen Akteure durch Sponsoring- und Brandingaktivitäten sowie Medienpräsenz die Entwicklung der Sportart prägen. Sie teilen ihr soziales Netzwerk mit ihren Partnern und ermöglichen den einzelnen Akteuren die Inklusion in einen selektiven und exklusiven Kreis von Akteuren, welches ihnen eine privilegierte Positionierung innerhalb der Szene garantiert. Der Image- und Wissenstransfer, welcher zwischen den Akteuren aufgebaut wird, stützen Ansehen, Authentizität und Glaubwürdigkeit der involvierten Akteure innerhalb der Szene. Die von den kommerziellen Akteuren unterstützte Athleten, Events und Resorts bekommen in szeneaffinen Medien Präsentationsplattformen, in welchen Produkte und Markenlogos inszeniert werden. Prestige, Status, soziale Kontakte sowie Zugang zu lukrativen und szenennahen Wettbewerben lassen die Akteure des Snowboardszenekerns mit den in der Szene respektierten kommerziellen Akteuren Partnerschaften bilden. Das Netzwerk und die Positionierung innerhalb des Szenekerns ermöglichen den kommerziellen Akteuren einen privilegierten Zugang zur Organisation des Snowboardsports. Literatur Glaser, B. & Strauss, K. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine. Hitzler, R. & Niederbacher, A. (2010). Leben in Szenen: Formen juveniler Vergemeinschaftung heute. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag. Mayring, P. (2010). Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse: Grundlagen und Techniken. Weinheim: Beltz.

From Similes to Allegory: The Deconstruction of Chariot Imagery in Early Buddhist Texts, Analyzed with Cognitive Metaphor Theory

The presentation will start by unfolding the various layers of chariot imagery in early Indian sources, namely, chariots as vehicles of gods such as the sun (sūrya), i.e. as symbol of cosmic stability; chariots as symbols of royal power and social prestige e.g. of Brahmins; and, finally, chariots as metaphors for the “person”, the “mind” and the “way to liberation” (e.g., Kaṭ.-Up. III.3; Maitr.-Up. II. 6). In Buddhist and non-Buddhist sources, chariots are in certain aspects used as a metaphor for the (old) human body (e.g., Caraka-S., Vi.3.37-38; D II.100; D II.107); apart from that, there is, of course, mention of the “real” use of chariots in sports, cults, journey, and combat. The most prominent example of the Buddhist use of chariot imagery is its application as a model for the person (S I.134 f.; Milindapañha, ed. Trenckner, 26), i.e., for highlighting the “non-substantial self”. There are, however, other significant examples of the usage of chariot imagery in early Buddhist texts. Of special interest are those cases in which chariot metaphors were applied in order to explain how the ‘self’ may proceed on the way to salvation – with ‘mindfulness’ or the ‘self’ as charioteer, with ‘wisdom’ and ‘confidence’ as horses etc. (e.g. S I. 33; S V.7; Dhp 94; or the Nārada-Jātaka, No. 545, verses 181-190). One might be tempted to say that these instances reaffirm the traditional soteriology of a substantial “progressing soul”. Taking conceptual metaphor analysis as a tool, I will, in contrast, argue that there is a special Buddhist use of this metaphor. Indeed, at first sight, it seems to presuppose a non-Buddhist understanding (the “self” as charioteer; the chariot as vehicle to liberation, etc.). Yet, it will be argued that in these cases the chariot imagery is no longer fully “functional”. The Buddhist usage may, therefore, best be described as a final allegorical phase of the chariot-imagery, which results in a thorough deconstruction of the “chariot” itself.

The role of the right frontal eye field in overt visual attention deployment as assessed by free visual exploration

The frontal eye field (FEF) is known to be involved in saccade generation and visual attention control. Studies applying covert attentional orienting paradigms have shown that the right FEF is involved in attentional shifts to both the left and the right hemifield. In the current study, we aimed at examining the effects of inhibitory continuous theta burst (cTBS) transcranial magnetic stimulation over the right FEF on overt attentional orienting, as measured by a free visual exploration paradigm. In forty-two healthy subjects, free visual exploration of naturalistic pictures was tested in three conditions: (1) after cTBS over the right FEF; (2) after cTBS over a control site (vertex); and, (3) without any stimulation. The results showed that cTBS over the right FEF-but not cTBS over the vertex-triggered significant changes in the spatial distribution of the cumulative fixation duration. Compared to the group without stimulation and the group with cTBS over the vertex, cTBS over the right FEF decreased cumulative fixation duration in the left and in the right peripheral regions, and increased cumulative fixation duration in the central region. The present study supports the view that the right FEF is involved in the bilateral control of not only covert, but also of overt, peripheral visual attention.

Milan Kundera et la littérature mondiale

« Les littératures nationales ne signifient plus grand-chose aujourd’hui. Nous entrons dans l’ère de la littérature mondiale et il appartient à chacun de nous de hâter cette évolution » (Goethe). Milan Kundera, écrivain natif de Moravie ayant émigré en France en 1975, reprend à son compte cet idéal formulé en 1827 par Goethe et le réactive : selon lui, en effet, le seul contexte où peuvent véritablement se révéler le sens et la valeur d’une œuvre est le grand contexte de l’histoire supranationale. Dans cet espace de diversité où l’œuvre n’est pas soutenue par son prestige national, mais par son originalité, un roman tchèque (littérature d’une petite nation) aussi bien qu’un roman français (littérature d’une grande nation) peut trouver sa place. Comment faire une histoire de la littérature mondiale sans la présenter comme une juxtaposition d’histoires littéraires nationales ? C’est la question à laquelle cette conférence s’efforcera de répondre en s’appuyant sur les réflexions culturelles aussi bien que politiques de Milan Kundera.

Job satisfaction of Swiss general practitioners with and without proficiency certificate in homeopathy

Introduction: Job satisfaction and therefore wellbeing of physicians is an important issue in high quality and safety of health care provision. The role of additional qualification in complementary medicine (CM) for job satisfaction of general practitioners (GPs), however, has not been explored. This study compared job satisfaction of conventional and homeopathic Swiss GPs. Methods: Participants of the Swiss Family Doctors Conference 2013 and members of the Swiss Association of Homeopathic Physicians participated in the survey. They indicated the extent of job satisfaction on 17 questions covering patient care, work-related burden, income-prestige, personal rewards, and professional relations. Results: Data of n = 125 GPs with homeopathic proficiency certificate and data of n = 143 GPs without any proficiency certificate in CM were analyzed. Overall job satisfaction was high and did not differ between the groups. However, due to lower number of patients per day, homeopathic GPs reported higher satisfaction in relations with patients and with workload, and lower satisfaction with income and in relations with peers compared to conventional GPs. Controlling for further confounding variables (e.g. working hours per week, practice setting), homeopathic GPs reported less satisfaction with their income than their conventional colleagues. Conclusions: Longer consultation time and lower number of patients homeopathic GPs see per day, may allowthem to unfold a deeper and more satisfying relationship with their patients and to lessen the workload. However, this comes along with financial discontent compared to conventional GPs. Certification in homeopathy and increased consultation time, respectively, may represent a way to enhance GPs’ job satisfaction.

Compensatory saccades benefit from prediction during head impulse testing in early recovery from vestibular deafferentation

The head impulse test (HIT) can identify a deficient vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) by the compensatory saccade (CS) generated once the head stops moving. The inward HIT is considered safer than the outward HIT, yet might have an oculomotor advantage given that the subject would presumably know the direction of head rotation. Here, we compare CS latencies following inward (presumed predictable) and outward (more unpredictable) HITs after acute unilateral vestibular nerve deafferentation. Seven patients received inward and outward HITs delivered at six consecutive postoperative days (POD) and again at POD 30. All head impulses were recorded by portable video-oculography. CS included those occurring during (covert) or after (overt) head rotation. Inward HITs included mean CS latencies (183.48 ms ± 4.47 SE) that were consistently shorter than those generated during outward HITs in the first 6 POD (p = 0.0033). Inward HITs induced more covert saccades compared to outward HITs, acutely. However, by POD 30 there were no longer any differences in latencies or proportions of CS and direction of head rotation. Patients with acute unilateral vestibular loss likely use predictive cues of head direction to elicit early CS to keep the image centered on the fovea. In acute vestibular hypofunction, inwardly applied HITs may risk a preponderance of covert saccades, yet this difference largely disappears within 30 days. Advantages of inwardly applied HITs are discussed and must be balanced against the risk of a false-negative HIT interpretation.