Marr and Reductionism

David Marr's three-level method for completely understanding a cognitive system and the importance he attaches to the computational level are so familiar as to scarcely need repeating. Fewer seem to recognize that Marr defends his famous method by criticizing the “reductionistic approach.” This sets up a more interesting relationship between Marr and reductionism than is usually acknowledged. I argue that Marr was correct in his criticism of the reductionists of his time—they were only describing (cellular activity), not explaining (cognitive functions). But a careful metascientific account of reductionistic neuroscience over the past two decades reveals that Marr's criticisms no longer have force. Contemporary neuroscience now explains cognition directly, although in a fashion—causal-mechanistically—quite different than Marr recommended. So while Marr was correct to reject the reductionism of his day and offer an alternative method for genuinely explaining cognition, contemporary cognitive scientists now owe us a new defense of Marr's famous method and the advantages of its explanations over the type now pursued successfully in current reductionist neuroscience. There are familiar reasons for thinking that this debt will not be paid easily.     

抑郁症患者心理过程及其对服药依从性的影响

本文阐述了抑郁症患者心理过程及其对服药依从性不良影响,旨在为提高患者的服药依从性提供新思路。文章结合国内外已有研究,分别从抑郁症患者认知、情绪及意志的特点及其在服药依从行为中起到的作用进行总结,认为抑郁症患者的心理特点对服药依从性有影响。     

OTC drug advertising in Japan: the role of need for cognition and celebrity endorser credibility

Abstract

This research explores how the level of consumers’ need for cognition (NFC) is associated with celebrity endorser credibility and examines its effects on advertising-related attitudes. A 3 (endorser types: actor/actress, athlete, TV personality/talent) × 2 (endorser’s gender) factorial experiment with 435 Japanese consumers was conducted. Concerning Japanese OTC drug advertising, lower NFC individuals perceived celebrity endorsers as more credible in comparison to higher NFC individuals. The main effects of NFC and endorser type on endorser credibility existed; however, no interaction between the two variables was found. The endorser type had an influence on attitudes toward ads and the advertised brand.     

Patients Are Knowledge Workers in the Clinical Information Space

Background  Limited research exists on patient knowledge/cognition or “getting inside patients'' heads.” Because patients possess unique and privileged knowledge, clinicians need this information to make patient-centered and coordinated treatment planning decisions. To achieve patient-centered care, we characterize patient knowledge and contributions to the clinical information space. Methods and Objectives  In a theoretical overview, we explore the relevance of patient knowledge to care provision, apply historical perspectives of knowledge acquisition to patient knowledge, propose a representation of patient knowledge types across the continuum of care, and include illustrative vignettes about Mr. Jones. We highlight how the field of human factors (a core competency of health informatics) provides a perspective and methods for eliciting and characterizing patient knowledge. Conclusion  Patients play a vital role in the clinical information space by possessing and sharing unique knowledge relevant to the clinical picture. Without a patient''s contributions, the clinical picture of the patient is incomplete. A human factors perspective informs patient-centered care and health information technology solutions to support clinical information sharing.     

Effect of regular swimming exercise to duration-intensity on neurocognitive function in cerebral infarction rat model

Objective: This study investigated the effect of regular swimming exercise according to the duration-intensity on neurocognitive function in a cerebral infarction rat model.

Methods: Forty male Sprague–Dawley 10-week-old rats, weighing 300 ± 50 g, were subjected to photothrombotic cerebral infarction. The remaining 36 rats were randomly divided into four groups (n = 9 per group: non-exercise (group A); swimming exercise of short duration-intensity (5 min/day, group B); swimming exercise of moderate duration-intensity (10 min/day, group C); and swimming exercise of long duration-intensity (20 min/day, group D). Exercise was performed five times a week for 4 weeks, beginning the day after cerebral infarction. Neurocognitive function was evaluated with the Morris water maze test. Immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis examined brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) at 4 weeks postinfarction.

Results: At 4 weeks postinfarction, escape latency was found to be shorter in group C than in any of groups A, B, or D. Immunohistochemistry revealed the most significant immunoreactivity for BDNF and VEGF in group C. Western blot analysis demonstrated that BDNF and VEGF proteins were markedly expressed in group C.

Conclusions: Regular swimming exercise of moderate duration-intensity may be the most effective exercise protocol for the recovery of neurocognitive function in cerebral infarction rat model.     

慢性老年精神分裂症患者认知功能及其与日常生活能力的比较研究

目的 :了解慢性老年精神分裂症患者认知功能和日常生活能力状况 ,探讨此类患者在额叶执行功能和记忆方面的神经心理功能障碍及其特征。方法 :采用简易智力状态检查 (MMSE)、日常生活能力量表 (ADL)、威斯康星卡片分类测验 (WCST)及韦氏记忆量表 (WMS)对 31例慢性老年精神分裂症和 31例正常对照组进行比较研究。结果 :慢性老年精神分裂症组MMSE得分明显低于正常对照组 (P <0 .0 1) ;而该组ADL总分明显高于正常对照组(P <0 .0 5 )。除非持续错误外 ,慢性老年精神分裂症患者的威斯康星卡片分类测验和韦氏记忆量表的各项测验成绩均差于对照组 (P <0 .0 5 )。结论 :慢性老年精神分裂症患者认知功能的障碍决定了患者日常生活能力的减退 ;这类患者有明显的额叶执行功能障碍和记忆障碍     

Affective neural circuitry during facial emotion processing in pediatric bipolar disorder.

BACKGROUND: Facial emotions are central to human interaction. Identifying pathophysiology in affect processing circuitry that supports the ability to assess facial emotions might facilitate understanding of affect regulation in pediatric bipolar disorder. METHODS: Ten euthymic, unmedicated pediatric bipolar patients and 10 healthy control subjects matched for age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, and IQ were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging. Angry, happy, and neutral faces were presented in 30-sec blocks, with a 20-sec rest period between blocks. Subjects were asked to press a button when each face appeared, to ensure that attention was maintained on-task. RESULTS: In bipolar patients, in response to both angry and happy faces relative to neutral faces, we observed reduced activation of right rostral ventrolateral prefrontal cortex together with increased activity in right pregenual anterior cingulate, amygdala, and paralimbic cortex. Bipolar patients also showed reduced activation of visual areas in occipital cortex together with greater activation in higher-order visual perceptual areas, including superior temporal sulcus and fusiform gyrus with angry faces and posterior parietal cortex with happy faces. CONCLUSIONS: Findings document a disturbance in affective neurocircuitry in pediatric bipolar disorder. Reduced activation in ventrolateral prefrontal cortex might reflect diminished top-down control that leads to the observed exaggerated activation in amygdala and paralimbic areas. Changes in occipital areas might represent an effort to gate sensory input when affective responses to the faces could not be successfully modulated. Disturbances in affect processing circuitry could contribute to emotional dysregulation and social cognitive difficulties in bipolar youth.     

Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors may improve myelin integrity.

Recent clinical trials have revealed that cholinergic treatments are efficacious in a wide spectrum of neuropsychiatric disorders that span the entire human lifespan and include disorders without cholinergic deficits. Furthermore, some clinical and epidemiological data suggest that cholinergic treatments have disease modifying/preventive effects. It is proposed that these observations can be usefully understood in a myelin-centered model of the human brain. The model proposes that the human brain's extensive myelination is the central evolutionary change that defines our uniqueness as a species and our unique vulnerability to highly prevalent neuropsychiatric disorders. Within the framework of this model the clinical, biochemical, and epidemiologic data can be reinterpreted to suggest that nonsynaptic effects of cholinergic treatments on the process of myelination and myelin repair contributes to their mechanism of action and especially to their disease modifying/preventive effects. The ability to test the model in human populations with safe and noninvasive imaging technologies makes it possible to undertake novel clinical trial efforts directed at primary prevention of some of the most prevalent and devastating of human disorders.     

慢性鼻窦炎患儿家长疾病知识认知度调查

目的了解鼻窦炎患儿家长对儿童鼻窦炎相关知识的认知情况,为进一步加强卫生宣教、预防儿童鼻窦炎提供理论依据。方法对65名鼻窦炎患儿家长进行关于儿童鼻窦炎发病因素、临床表现、并发症以及对儿童生长发育影响等问题的问卷调查。结果调查显示95.4%的家长对儿童鼻窦炎知识缺乏了解,且知识获得途径单一。结论应通过各种途径加强儿童鼻窦炎知识的宣教,积极预防儿童鼻窦炎。