It takes longer to recognize the eyes than the whole face in humans.

Brain responses to eyes and whole face were studied by magnetoencephalography (MEG). We used five different visual stimuli, face with opened eyes, face with closed eyes, eyes, scrambled face, and hand. 1M was evoked in response to all kinds of stimuli but 2M peaking at approximately 180 ms was recorded only for face and eyes. The peak latencies of 1M and 2M and the interpeak latency 1M-2M to eyes were significantly longer than those to face, and there was no significant difference of latency between face with opened eyes and face with closed eyes. The 2M both for face and eyes was generated in the same area, the inferior temporal cortex, around the fusiform gyrus.     

It is always the woman who is raped.

Rape is described as an act of power that is sanctioned by literature, myth, and culture. Rape is a dire experience for women because it implies total loss of self--the woman is a function, not a person. The victim experiences total emptiness and isolation from self and society. The author believes that an effective "treatment" for the rape victim is community. Women asserting themselves by speaking out about their experience validate themselves as persons.     

CNTF is specifically expressed in developing rat pineal gland and eyes

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) attracts considerable attention because it supports survival and differentiation of various types of neurons and glial cells in vitro. Although CNTF functions as a moderate neurotrophic factor in mature motor neurons, its role in embryonic development remains unknown. Here, we found a specific CNTF expression in the rat pineal gland and eyes during embryonic development. In vitro, neonatal rat pineal extract including CNTF supported the survival of neonatal sympathetic neurons, which innervate pineal glands immediately after birth.     

Intraocular pressure is low in eyes with giant cell arteritis.

BACKGROUND: Although ocular ischemia occurs in giant cell arteritis (GCA), intraocular pressure (IOP) has not been systematically evaluated as a diagnostic sign. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective, case-controlled, observational study of IOP in patients with ocular manifestations of GCA (GCA patients), age-matched patients diagnosed with nonarteritic ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION patients), and age-matched patients with cataract (control patients). Medical records were examined for all consecutive patients with the diagnosis of GCA from 1995 to 2004 (n = 16) and NAION from 2002 to 2004 (n = 16) and for patient candidates for cataract extraction (n = 16). The eye intended for cataract extraction was chosen as the "affected eye" in the control patients. RESULTS: The mean IOP in the affected eye of 16 GCA patients was 11.9 mm Hg, significantly lower than the 15.1 mm Hg in affected eyes of age-matched NAION patients and 15.8 mm Hg in control patients (P = 0.002). At presentation, 5 GCA patients had IOP < 10 mm Hg (mean 6.8 mm Hg) without other signs of anterior segment ischemia. None of the NAION or control patients displayed such low IOPs. CONCLUSIONS: IOP was significantly lower in the patients with GCA than in patients with NAION or cataract. Hypotony occurred in one third of GCA patients without other signs of anterior ocular ischemia. These findings suggest that low IOP may be a distinguishing factor between GCA and NAION in patients with ischemic optic neuropathy, but evaluation of a larger group of patients is needed for confirmation.     

Cryptochrome is present in the compound eyes and a subset of Drosophila's clock neurons

Cryptochrome (CRY) is intimately associated with the circadian clock of many organisms. In the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, CRY seems to be involved in photoreception as well as in the core clockwork. In spite of the critical role of CRY for the clock of Drosophila, it was not quite clear whether CRY is expressed in every clock cell. With the help of a new antibody and a mutant that lacks CRY, we show here that CRY is expressed in specific subsets of Drosophila's pacemaker neurons and in the photoreceptor cells of the compound eyes. In the pacemaker neurons, CRY levels and kinetics under light-dark cycles are quite different from each other. High-amplitude oscillations are observed in only three groups of clock neurons, suggesting that these three groups are strongly receptive to light. The different CRY kinetics may account for phase differences in oscillations of the clock proteins observed in these three groups in earlier studies. The molecular clock of the neurons that contain lower CRY levels or are completely CRY negative can still be synchronized by light, probably via intercellular communication with the CRY-positive neurons as well as via external photoreceptors.     

Who is the Dreamer Who Dreams the Dream and Who is the Dreamer Who Understands It

Sandra Buechler has made a very important contribution to our understanding of the role psychoanalytic training can play in the generation and deepening of shame in psychoanalytic candidates. Unfortunately, it is inevitable that this culture of shame will come to include our patients unless we become more aware of humiliation processes in training. Likewise. Andrew Morrison again movingly describes for us the personal experience of shame. My contribution is to contextualize shame, and to argue that while shame may be experienced individually, it is a relational and systemic phenomenon in its genesis, maintenance, and consequences.     

The posterior superior temporal sulcus is involved in social communication not specific for the eyes

Neuroimaging and lesion studies suggest that the superior temporal sulcus (STS) region is involved in eye gaze processing. Hence, the STS region is suggested to be the location of the "eye-direction detector", a key element in the "mindreading model" proposed by Baron-Cohen [Baron-Cohen, S. (1995). Mindblindness: An essay on autism and theory of mind. Cambridge: The MIT Press]. Not only the eyes, but also a pointing finger of another person can inform us about the direction of attention of the other one. In an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment, healthy human subjects actively followed a directional cue provided either by the eyes or, alternatively, the pointing finger of another person to make an eye movement toward an object in space. Our results show clearly that the posterior STS region is equally involved in processing directional information from either source. The only difference between the two cues was found in the lingual gyrus, in which a stronger blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) response was observed during the finger pointing compared to the gaze following task. We suggest that different structures might be involved in the initial processing of directional information coming from the eyes or the pointing finger. These different streams of information may then converge in the posterior STS region, orchestrating the usage of a wider range of socially relevant directional cues able to inform us about the direction of attention and the intentions of another person.     

Hypersensitivity to low intensity fearful faces in autism when fixation is constrained to the eyes

Previous studies that showed decreased brain activation in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) viewing expressive faces did not control that participants looked in the eyes. This is problematic because ASD is characterized by abnormal attention to the eyes. Here, we collected fMRI data from 48 participants (27 ASD) viewing pictures of neutral faces and faces expressing anger, happiness, and fear at low and high intensity, with a fixation cross between the eyes. Group differences in whole brain activity were examined for expressive faces at high and low intensity versus neutral faces. Group differences in neural activity were also investigated in regions of interest within the social brain, including the amygdala and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). In response to low intensity fearful faces, ASD participants showed increased activation in the social brain regions, and decreased functional coupling between the amygdala and the vmPFC. This oversensitivity to low intensity fear coupled with a lack of emotional regulation capacity could indicate an excitatory/inhibitory imbalance in their socio‐affective processing system. This may result in social disengagement and avoidance of eye‐contact to handle feelings of strong emotional reaction. Our results also demonstrate the importance of careful control of gaze when investigating emotional processing in ASD. Hum Brain Mapp 38:5943–5957, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Resting state connectivity differences in eyes open versus eyes closed conditions

Functional magnetic resonance imaging data are commonly collected during the resting state. Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs‐fMRI) is very practical and applicable for a wide range of study populations. Rs‐fMRI is usually collected in at least one of three different conditions/tasks, eyes closed (EC), eyes open (EO), or eyes fixated on an object (EO‐F). Several studies have shown that there are significant condition‐related differences in the acquired data. In this study, we compared the functional network connectivity (FNC) differences assessed via group independent component analysis on a large rs‐fMRI dataset collected in both EC and EO‐F conditions, and also investigated the effect of covariates (e.g., age, gender, and social status score). Our results indicated that task condition significantly affected a wide range of networks; connectivity of visual networks to themselves and other networks was increased during EO‐F, while EC was associated with increased connectivity of auditory and sensorimotor networks to other networks. In addition, the association of FNC with age, gender, and social status was observed to be significant only in the EO‐F condition (though limited as well). However, statistical analysis did not reveal any significant effect of interaction between eyes status and covariates. These results indicate that resting‐state condition is an important variable that may limit the generalizability of clinical findings using rs‐fMRI.