The effects of FG7142 on two types of forgetting in 18-day-old rats.

The authors studied the role of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in 2 types of forgetting of fear in the developing rat. One type of forgetting studied was that observed after an intermediate retention interval (the "Kamin effect"); the other type studied was that observed after a longer interval (infantile amnesia). Rats were given pairings of an auditory conditioned stimulus with shock, and learned fear was assessed by freezing. Forgetting at an intermediate retention interval (1 hr) was not alleviated by the GABAA receptor partial inverse agonist FG7142 (0, 1, 5, or 10 mg/kg), whereas forgetting at a longer retention interval (48 hr) was alleviated. These results suggest that in the developing rat, forgetting observed at different retention intervals is mediated by different physiological mechanisms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of short-term storage on phenolic content,o-diphenolase and peroxidase activities of cut yam tubers (Dioscorea sp)

The effect of short-term storage on the protein, phosphorus and phenolic content as well as peroxidase and o-diphenolase activities of cut, harvested Jamaican yam (Dioscorea sp) tubers (D rotundata. D alata and D cayenensis) was studied. There was an initial increase in the total phenolic content up to the third week of storage followed by a gradual decrease to the sixth week. Phenolic content was found to be highest in D cayenensis followed by D rotundata and D alata. The activities of peroxidase (EC 1. 11. 1. 7) and o-diphenolase (EC 1. 10.3.1) increased steadily up to the third week of storage and thereafter decreased to the fifth week. The intensity and rapidity of browning in tubers when cut, correlated very closely with the tuber o-diphenolase and phenolic content levels while the onset of rotting correlated with the peroxidase activity levels in the species studied.     

The time course of plausibility effects on eye movements in reading: Evidence from noun-noun compounds.

Readers' eye movements were monitored as they read sentences containing noun-noun compounds that varied in frequency (e.g., elevator mechanic, mountain lion). The left constituent of the compound was either plausible or implausible as a head noun at the point at which it appeared, whereas the compound as a whole was always plausible. When the head noun analysis of the left constituent was implausible, reading times on this word were inflated, beginning with the first fixation. This finding is consistent with previous demonstrations of very rapid effects of plausibility on eye movements. Compound frequency did not modulate the plausibility effect, and all disruption was resolved by the time readers' eyes moved to the next word. These findings suggest (contra Kennison, 2005) that the parser initially analyzes a singular noun as a head instead of a modifier. In addition, the findings confirm that the very rapid effect of plausibility on eye movements is not due to strategic factors, because in the present experiment, unlike in previous demonstrations, this effect appeared in sentences that were globally plausible. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Normality and impairment following profound early institutional deprivation: A longitudinal follow-up into early adolescence.

Longitudinal analyses on normal versus impaired functioning across 7 domains were conducted in children who had experienced profound institutional deprivation up to the age of 42 months and were adopted from Romania into U.K. families. Comparisons were made with noninstitutionalized children adopted from Romania and with nondeprived within-U.K. adoptees placed before the age of 6 months. Specifically, the validity of the assessment, the degree of continuity and change in levels of functioning from 6 to 11 years, and the factors in the pre- and postadoption environment accounting for heterogeneity in outcome were examined. Pervasive impairment was significantly raised in children experiencing institutional deprivation for ≥6 months of life, with a minority within this group showing no impairment. There was no additional significant effect of duration of deprivation beyond the 6-month cutoff, and few other predictors explained outcome. The pattern of normality/impairment was mainly established by 6 years of age, with considerable continuity at the individual level between 6 and 11 years. The findings are discussed in terms of the possibility of a sensitive period for development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distinctiveness and Correlation in Conceptual Structure: Behavioral and Computational Studies.

Patients with category-specific deficits have motivated a range of hypotheses about the structure of the conceptual system. One class of models claims that apparent category dissociations emerge from the internal structure of concepts rather than fractionation of the system into separate substores. This account claims that distinctive properties of concepts in the living domain are vulnerable because of their weak correlation with other features. Given the assumption that mutual activation among correlated properties produces faster activation in the normal system, the authors predicted a disadvantage for the distinctive features of living things for unimpaired adults. Results of a speeded feature verification study supported this prediction, as did a computational simulation in which networks mapped from orthography to semantics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)