Reading the mind's eye: online detection of visuo-spatial working memory and visual imagery in the inferior temporal lobe

Several brain regions involved in visual perception have been shown to also participate in non-sensory cognitive processes of visual representations. Here we studied the role of ventral visual pathway areas in visual imagery and working memory. We analyzed intracerebral EEG recordings from the left inferior temporal lobe of an epileptic patient during working memory tasks and mental imagery. We found that high frequency gamma-band activity (50-150 Hz) in the inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) increased with memory load only during visuo-spatial, but not verbal, working memory. Using a real-time set-up to measure and visualize gamma-band activity online - BrainTV - we found a systematic activity increase in ITG when the patient was visualizing a letter (visual imagery), but not during perception of letters. In contrast, only 7 mm more medially, neurons located in the fusiform gyrus exhibited a complete opposite pattern, responding during verbal working memory retention and letter presentation, but not during imagery or visuo-spatial working memory maintenance. Talairach coordinates indicate that the fusiform contact site corresponds to the word form area, suggesting that this region has a role not only in processing letter-strings, but also in working memory retention of verbal information. We conclude that neural networks supporting imagination of a visual element are not necessarily the same as those underlying perception of that element. Additionally, we present evidence that gamma-band activity in the inferior temporal lobe, can be used as a direct measure of the efficiency of top-down attentional control over visual areas with implications for the development of novel brain-computer interfaces. Finally, by just reading gamma-band activity in these two recording sites, it is possible to determine, accurately and in real-time, whether a given memory content is verbal or visuo-spatial.     

Nursing leadership... from the board room to the bedside

Nurses running hospitals is not new. Florence Nightingale could be considered the first hospital administrator. What is changing is the growth of RN chief executive officers (CEOs), from 10% in 2004 to 18% in 2010. Furthermore, nearly 20% of chief nursing officers (CNOs) aspire to be CEOs. Is this a natural growth of CNO to vice president of patient care services to chief operating officer...to RN CEO? The research on RN CEOs is very small. Therefore, the author set out to obtain a journalistic snapshot of Arizona's 12 hospital RN CEOs through interviews. Of the 12, 3 were corporate CEOs at the system level, they saw over several hospitals, and 9 were CEOs over 1 to 2 hospitals. This article discusses some of the finding from these interviews.     

Nursing management of adults in the hospital

This chapter has provided an overview of the nursing process from the initial assessment to discharge planning in the care of the adult AIDS patient. The psychosocial aspects have not been addressed since they are discussed in the article by Govoni. The emotional support required by the patient may be as great as the physical nursing care needed. The AIDS patient may be experiencing social isolation related to discrimination, rejection or isolation by employers, society, family, friends, and even health care workers. It is important not to isolate the patient but to establish a therapeutic relationship. This may be accomplished by being professional, knowledgeable about the issues, nonjudgmental, understanding, and, lastly, sensitive to the patient's needs, fears, and concerns. Patients may be going through the stages of grieving as they try to come to terms with their prognosis. Caring for the adult AIDS patient is both complex and challenging for the nurse as the primary care provider. The nurse can help the patient to cope through the very difficult periods of the disease, even if it means to help the patient have a peaceful and dignified death.