Stereokinetic effect and its relation to the kinetic depth effect.

The stereokinetic effect (SKE) has been defined and studied by nested circular patterns rotating on a turntable. Circles must appear not to rotate as they revolve, which in turn results in their appearing to translate relative to one another. A powerful illusion of object depth results even though the individual circles do not undergo an appropriate foreshortening consistent with their apparent changes in slant. It is suggested and tested that the SKE is based on the changing positions between the nested contours despite the absence of any change within each contour, whereas the kinetic depth effect (KDE) entails both kinds of change. It follows that a turntable method of presentation is not necessary, and between-contour transformations can be stimulated by computer animation. Displays consisting of simple translations were shown to evoke robust depth impressions as were patterns consisting of contours of varying shapes. Comparisons of the depth, compellingness, and rigidity of matched SKE and KDE displays are reported. The SKE is taken to be paradigmatic for how the visual system perceives depth when observing small object rotations that occur in everyday situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Eye-movement-based memory effect: A reprocessing effect in face perception.

An eye-movement-based memory effect was demonstrated in 2 experiments showing different patterns of eye movements elicited to famous versus nonfamous faces, across a range of different processing tasks. The effects of prior exposure emerged early in viewing, within the first 5 fixations, and were observed on multiple measures of eye-movement behavior, reflecting a change in viewers' sampling behavior to the famous faces. Accordingly, the eye-movement-based memory effect can be seen as a change in the nature of processing of novel versus repeated items, with implications for other effects of prior exposure such as those seen in examples of repetition priming. The authors argue that the eye-movement-based memory effect is an obligatory consequence of previous exposure—a reprocessing effect caused by re-engaging the visual pattern analyzers and face processing machinery of the brain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Amantadine: aggressive effect; effect on apomorphine-induced aggressivity in the rat

In rats characterized by aggressive behaviour induced by apomorphine, only amantadine in doses of 10 mg/kg i.v. and 50 mg/kg i.p. induces a very slight aggressive effect, but in doses of 30 and 50 mg/kg i.p. it inhibits the aggressive behaviour induced by 1 mg/kg apomorphine. The effect is dose-related and it is more pronounced when amantadine (50 mg/kg i.p.) is injected 30 min rather than 1 h before apomorphine.     

The effect of carbon disulphide on the stereotypic effect of dopamine agonists

Exposure to CS2 increased the intensity of apomorphine-induced stereotypy in male rats without increasing the reaction time. With amphetamine, an indirect agonist of dopamine, exposure to CS2 had a more intensive effect and significantly prolonged the length of reaction.     

Antiemetic effect of propofol

Propofol is known to possess direct antiemetic effects. Its use for induction and maintenance of anaesthesia has been shown to be associated with a lower incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) when compared to any other anaesthetic drug or technique. However, its mechanism of action in this context is still not well understood. In this article, the best ways to take advantage of propofol's antiemetic properties are emphasized. The possible effects of propofol on the cerebral cortex, its interactions with the dopaminergic and the serotoninergic systems are evaluated by the known clinical and basic science results. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of using propofol to decrease the incidence of PONV in clinical practice are discussed.     

Thermal arrest memory effect

The course of the martensitic transformation is affected by strain fields in the untransformed parent phase, One of the consequences of this NiTi shape memory alloys is the “Thermal Arrest Memory Effect” (TAME), where the martensite to parent phase transformation “remembers” the temperature of arrest in the previous thermal cycle. From the results of the calorimetric investigations in this study, it is deduced that the TAME is the result of locked-in transformation strain energy in the self-accomodating martensitic microstructure. Thus it is found that on account of the large difference in the degree of self-accomodation achieved in the martensitic microstructures, TAME is observed to be significant in NiTi and not in CuAnAl shape memory alloys.     

Amplified migration inhibition effect

Upon exposure to specific antigen in tissue culture, sensitive lymphocytes released macrophage migration inhibition factor and other lymphokines into the supernatant culture medium. Migration of peritoneal macrophages from nonsensitive animals was inhibited in the presence of such supernatants. However, with previous techniques it was found that an inhibitory effect was present at only low low titers (less than 10(2)). It is therfore of great interest that by increasing cellular density, the total number of cells being kept constant, inhibitory activity can be amplified by a factor as great as 10(10). This amplification was observed only when lymphocytes and macrophages were loosely packed, as by spontaneous sedimentation in a conical test tube. The effect was abolished by dispersing the cell suspension in a flat-bottomed flask or, alternatively, by shaking the test tube so that intimate prolonged intercellular contact was prevented.