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Recovery of speed of information processing in closed-head-injury patients.

After severe traumatic brain injury, patients almost invariably demonstrate a slowing of reaction time, reflecting a slowing of central information processing. Methodological problems associated with the traditional method for the analysis of longitudinal data (MANOVA) severely complicate studies on cognitive recovery. It is argued that multilevel models are often better suited for the analysis of improvement over time in clinical settings. Multilevel models take into account individual differences in both overall performance level and recovery. These models enable individual predictions for the recovery of speed of information processing. Recovery is modelled in a group of closed-head-injury patients (N = 24). Recovery was predicted by age and severity of injury, as indicated by coma duration. Over a period up to 44 months post trauma, reaction times were found to decrease faster for patients with longer coma duration.

Adolescent↗

Naloxone increases electrophysiological measures of selective information processing in humans.

The effects of the opiate antagonist naloxone on electrophysiological measures of human selective attention were examined utilizing a paradigm which dissociates selective information processing from any concurrent processes of general arousal that may be present. Subjects were injected with naloxone (2 mg, i.v.) or placebo prior to performing a three-channel selective listening task. The measure of selective attention was the difference between the auditory event-related potential (AERP) to a sequence of tones when they were attended and to the same sequence of tones when they were ignored. Typically, the AERP to attended channel tones is more negative, and this increased negativity is designated the attention effect. In this study, naloxone produced a significant augmentation of the AERP attention effect at frontal electrode sites, primarily by decreasing the negativity of AERPs to inattended tones. Naloxone had no effect on the AERPs from the undistracted and divided attention tasks or on the sensitivity of the AERP to a physical parameter of stimulus presentation, interstimulus interval. The effects of naloxone on selective attention appear to be independent of any alterations in arousal, as the drug had no effect on autonomic measures, reaction times, or auditory sensitivity, and the attention changes could be dissociated from any naloxone-induced alterations of mood. These data indicate that naloxone can have the specific effect of increasing AERP measures of selective information processing, thus suggesting a role for endogenous opioid peptides in the regulation of auditory selective attention in humans.

Adult↗

The role of information processing between the brain and peripheral physiological systems in pacing and perception of effort.

This article examines how pacing strategies during exercise are controlled by information processing between the brain and peripheral physiological systems. It is suggested that, although several different pacing strategies can be used by athletes for events of different distance or duration, the underlying principle of how these different overall pacing strategies are controlled is similar. Perhaps the most important factor allowing the establishment of a pacing strategy is knowledge of the endpoint of a particular event. The brain centre controlling pace incorporates knowledge of the endpoint into an algorithm, together with memory of prior events of similar distance or duration, and knowledge of external (environmental) and internal (metabolic) conditions to set a particular optimal pacing strategy for a particular exercise bout. It is proposed that an internal clock, which appears to use scalar rather than absolute time scales, is used by the brain to generate knowledge of the duration or distance still to be covered, so that power output and metabolic rate can be altered appropriately throughout an event of a particular duration or distance. Although the initial pace is set at the beginning of an event in a feedforward manner, no event or internal physiological state will be identical to what has occurred previously. Therefore, continuous adjustments to the power output in the context of the overall pacing strategy occur throughout the exercise bout using feedback information from internal and external receptors. These continuous adjustments in power output require a specific length of time for afferent information to be assessed by the brain's pace control algorithm, and for efferent neural commands to be generated, and we suggest that it is this time lag that crates the fluctuations in power output that occur during an exercise bout. These non-monotonic changes in power output during exercise, associated with information processing between the brain and peripheral physiological systems, are crucial to maintain the overall pacing strategy chosen by the brain algorithm of each athlete at the start of the exercise bout.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Clinical manifestations of visual information processing: part I.

This paper discusses three aspects of visual information processing and their significance to clinical optometric practice. It analyzes the factors involved in central-peripheral organization, pictorial-linguistic interaction and total versus partial utilization os sensorimotor information as they relate to perceptual style and visual function. It emphasizes these factors as possibly being the commonalities behind many of the divergent yet generally successful theoretical frameworks and techniques utilized in optometric diagnosis and therapy.

Child↗

Noradrenergic control of auditory information processing in female canaries.

An ethological procedure, based on the study of the sexual responsiveness of female canaries (Serinus canaria) to song playbacks was used to investigate the function of central noradrenergic inputs in the processing of auditory information. The effects of a noradrenergic denervation on sexual responses was analyzed in females exposed to playbacks of biological relevant auditory stimuli, i.e. sexually stimulating songs, presented alone or masked by auditory distractors. A decrease in behavioral responsiveness was observed as a function of the amount of masking distractors indicating that female canaries have the perceptual ability to discriminate and selectively attend to biologically relevant songs. After the systemic administration of DSP-4, a specific noradrenergic neurotoxin, females exhibited an overall decrease in sexual responsiveness to songs masked or not by distractors. No effect of DSP-4 were detected on the motor activity nor on reproductive behaviors. These results indicate that central noradrenergic inputs modulate the sexual behavior of female canaries by affecting the auditory processing of relevant information contained in sexually stimulating songs.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

Hemisphere specialization of the animal brain for information processing principles.

The experiments were performed on white rats. Different techniques for forming conditioned reflexes were used. Hemisphere cortex inactivation was carried out by means of spreading depression. The right hemisphere was shown to dominate for space perception, simultaneous information processing, concrete characteristics perception, and deductive processing; the left hemisphere was shown to dominate for time perception, successive information processing, abstract characteristics perception, and inductive processing. A hypothesis of induction and deduction being the main factors determining function lateralization in the hemispheres of the animal brain was put forward.

Animals↗

Dependent personality traits and information processing: assessing the interpretation of ambiguous information using the Thematic Apperception Test.

OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to investigate interpretation bias in people with dependent personality traits. METHOD: Eight Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) cards were administered to participants (N=56) who scored high or low on DSM-III-R dependent personality pathology. Two independent judges rated the TAT stories using a rating list based on the cognitive model of the dependent and paranoid personality disorder. RESULTS: Controlling for self-esteem, the dependent interpretation bias appeared to be specific for dependent personality pathology. SEM analysis supported a mediation model in which beliefs mediate the relationship between DSM-III-R traits and interpretation bias. CONCLUSIONS: The findings in this study support the hypothesis that people with dependent traits are characterized by a schema-related interpretation bias and that this bias is mediated by dependent beliefs.

Adult↗

Sensory information processing in neuroleptic-naive first-episode schizophrenic patients: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

BACKGROUND: Schizophrenic disorders are thought to involve widespread abnormalities in information processing. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging and a simple and robust paradigm that involved auditory and visual activation to examine basic sensory input circuits. Our aim was to determine which stages of the input processing network are disturbed in first-episode schizophrenic patients. METHODS: Twelve neuroleptic-naive inpatients (paranoid subtype) were compared with 11 healthy subjects by means of echo-planar functional magnetic resonance imaging. In a block design, the paradigm included the simultaneous presentation of a moving 6-Hz checkerboard and auditory stimuli in the form of drumbeats. The subjects were asked to simply look and listen. RESULTS: In comparison with control subjects, patients showed reduced activation in the right thalamus, the right prefrontal cortex, and the parietal lobe (restricted to the dorsal visual pathway) bilaterally. There were no notable differences in the primary visual cortex or the object-specific occipitotemporal pathway. In addition, patients presented with a reduced signal change to auditory stimulation in the left acoustic cortex. CONCLUSIONS: The present study supports the concept of widespread cortical and subcortical deficits in schizophrenia. Our findings suggest abnormal functioning early in the information processing and in high-order association cortices already at illness onset, before the administration of medication or the most confounding effects of illness duration. The main regions have been implicated in visual motion perception and discrimination as well as in attention to sensorial events and perceptual synthesis.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

ERP analysis of reafferent information processing during the performance of an arithmetical task.

Reafferent information processing accomplished by distributed cerebral systems was studied by analysing concomitant event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by weak electrical stimulation of the skin of the hand. The subjects were instructed to interpret this stimulus as feedback information indicating whether their solution of an arithmetical task was correct or not. ERPs elicited by positive or negative feedback signals showed striking differences. ERPs were also influenced by the subject's confidence in the correctness of the solution, while probability of stimulus occurrence was less important in the design. Neurophysiological implications of ERP-disclosed influences on feedback processing are discussed.

Adult↗

Hemispheric differences in the rates of information processing for simple non-verbal stimuli.

An inspection time task, used to gauge differences in speed of information processing between the hemispheres, was administered to 22 normal subjects. It was found that the left visual field-right hemisphere (LVF-RH) exhibited an inferior performance relative to the right visual field-left hemisphere (RVF-LH). These results were consistent with other studies which have found an RVF-LH advantage for the processing of temporal/serial information. The possible ramifications of these results for models of asymmetry which do and do not attribute the left hemisphere's preferential capacity for language to these fundamental processes are then discussed.

Adult↗

Information processing and classical conditioning: implications for exposure therapy and the integration of cognitive therapy and behavior therapy.

This article reviews Wagner's standard operating procedures (SOP) model, an information processing model of conditioning, and some of its supporting evidence. The implications of this model for behavior therapy are explored. Applying the SOP model to the anxiety reduction technique of exposure, it is predicted that: (1) rehearsal and attention-focusing should facilitate whereas distraction should attenuate the long-term benefits of exposure; and (2) successful exposure therapy should be associated with a demonstrable allocation of cognitive processing resources and indications of enhanced elaborative processing of the feared stimuli. At a more general level, the SOP model may provide a bridge between traditional behavior therapy techniques and the principles that underly cognitive therapy. That is, the SOP model suggests that even those behavior therapy techniques which represent the most straightforward applications of conditioning procedures can be seen as being mediated by information processing mechanisms.

Anxiety Disorders↗

Age-related modifications of contextual information processing in rats: role of emotional reactivity, arousal and testing procedure.

Two experiments were conducted to examine contextual information processing in adult (7 months) and aged (22 months) Wistar rats. In Experiment 1, rats were tested for contextual fear conditioning when exposed to six series, one per day, of ten pairings of a tone (CS) with a foot-shock (US) delivered in one of a two-compartment apparatus. Conditioned fear was estimated by recording: (1) the amount of freezing in the shock compartment; and (2) the time spent avoiding the shock compartment. Results show that, after only one series of ten CS-US pairings, all rats showed freezing in the shock compartment, with aged rats exhibiting the stronger response. Adult rats also avoided the shock compartment during place preference tests in contrast to aged rats, that spent an equivalent time - with an intense freezing reaction - in both the shock and the safe compartments. After 60 CS-US pairings, contextual freezing in the shock compartment decreased in both groups, but, contrary to adults, aged rats were still not avoiding that compartment. In Experiment 2, radial maze performance was studied under distinct quantitative extra-maze cueing conditions (poor versus rich) and successive context shifts. Compared to adults, aged rats were impaired when trained initially under poor cueing conditions. No group difference was evident when rats were transferred to a context involving more cues (rich cueing conditions), but age-related impairments re-emerged when rats were returned to the original poor cueing conditions. Thus, the fact that performance deficits in a given task were restricted to certain testing procedures suggests that aging affects more the utilization than the processing of contextual information.

Aging↗

Information processing and developmental assessments in 3-month-old infants exposed prenatally to cocaine.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of prenatal cocaine exposure on 3-month infant information processing and developmental assessments. METHODS: One hundred and eight infants, 61 cocaine-exposed and 47 controls, participated at 3 months of age in an infant-control habituation and novelty responsiveness procedure and in a developmental assessment using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development both administered by experimenters blind to the drug exposure status of the infant. RESULTS: Compared to the non-drug-exposed group, infants exposed prenatally to cocaine were significantly more likely to fail to start the habituation procedure and, for those who did, significantly more likely to react with irritability early in the procedure. The majority of infants in both groups reached the habituation criterion, and among those who did there were no significant differences between cocaine and non-cocaine-exposed infants in habituation or in recovery to a novel stimulus. Infants who were cocaine-exposed showed comparatively depressed performance on the motor (Psychomotor Developmental Index) but not the mental (Mental Developmental Index (MDI)) scales of the Bayley. These results obtained for habituation and Bayley MDI controlling for both perinatal and sociodemographic factors. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in reactivity to novelty but not in information processing between cocaine-exposed and non-cocaine-exposed infants suggest that the effects of prenatal cocaine exposure may be on arousal and attention regulation rather than early cognitive processes.

Adult↗

Regulation of health information processing in an outsourcing environment.

Policy makers must consider the work force, technology, cost, and legal implications of their legislative proposals. AHIMA, AAMT, CHIA, and MTIA urge lawmakers to craft regulatory solutions that enforce HIPAA and support advancements in modern health information processing practices that improve the quality and cost of healthcare. We also urge increased investment in health information work force development and implementation of new technologies to advance critical healthcare outcomes--timely, accurate, accessible, and secure information to support patient care. It is essential that state legislatures reinforce the importance of improving information processing solutions for healthcare and not take actions that will produce unintended and detrimental consequences.

Accreditation↗

Symptom formation as an expression of disordered information processing in schizophrenic children.

The possible mechanisms that underlie symptom formation in childhood schizophrenia are discussed. A body of research evidence has been reviewed in which dissociation in relation to information processing was examined for its possible consequence in the formation and expression of symptomatology. Schizophrenic children have been found to exhibit dissociation of integrative processes among the sense systems at a level which is several years below normal expectation, and they usually fail to improve as age increases. The clinical manifestations of schizophrenia are considered to be the consequence of the conflict, distortion, and deprivation that derive from failure in information processing. These consequences can best be understood within a developmental framework which encompasses the different age-stages of function. This approach to the understanding of symptom formation is discussed in relationship to other evidence which suggests that primary neurological abnormality is present in schizophrenic children. Thus the identification of abnormality of intersensory integrative function may increase our understanding of etiology as well as of the mechanisms of symptom formation in schizophrenic children.

Attention↗

What nucleic acids cannot do: a model for information processing in protein molecules.

Biological functions of proteins that are not realizable by nucleic acids as a genetic material are investigated. Based on the essential differences of the information processing mechanism between proteins and nucleic acids, i.e. the possibility of error propagation in a molecule, a simple model of proteins is proposed. The Monte Carlo simulation for two-dimensional binary dodecamers shows that the sequence-specific conformation selectivity for isolated and some associated states can be reproduced. Moreover, the allostery-like cooperative conformational change in a dimeric state, orientation-controlled polymerization and one-directional sliding along a fibrous structure can be induced by a site-specific substitution, which mimics a post-translational modification within a chain. These results suggest that such a class of dynamic behaviors represent the information processing proper to proteins and that they are the elementary processes of intermolecular communication.

Allosteric Site↗