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At least 865 records · Page 48Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

Towards an integration of biochemical and biophysical models of neuronal information processing: a case study in the nigro-striatal system.

The experimental and theoretical study of intracellular biochemical signaling mechanisms lags considerably behind our understanding of electrical processes of neuronal membranes. Both signaling processes, however, are extensively intertwined and can be analyzed and modeled using formally similar mathematical tools. With the nigro-striatal system as an example, we review various formal approaches to describe metabotropic signaling in dopamine- and calcium-dependent pathways and their interactions with electrical membrane processes. These demonstrate the feasibility of synthetic modeling and afford insights into a variety of specific signaling mechanisms. Extending and linking hitherto isolated models has the potential to transcend descriptive levels and to provide a fuller understanding of the molecular basis of macroscopic information processing in the central nervous system.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Testing the level of response to alcohol: social information processing model of alcoholism risk--a 20-year prospective study.

BACKGROUND: The low level of response (LR) to alcohol is a genetically influenced characteristic associated with an enhanced risk for alcohol use disorders (AUDs). An optimal understanding of how this intermediate phenotype relates to the AUD risk requires evaluation of the milieu in which LR operates, and this study tested an LR/social information processing model in adult men. METHODS: Almost 300 Caucasian males (97% of those eligible, to date) from the San Diego Prospective Study participated in an alcohol challenge at approximately age 20 and were evaluated with a structural equation model regarding their expectations of the effects of alcohol, drinking among peers, use of alcohol to cope with stress, and alcohol-related problems during follow-up. RESULTS: The direct paths in the structural equation model in these 40-year-old men explained 58% of the variance of the alcoholic outcome at age 40 and 35% at age 35 while demonstrating good fitness characteristics. The LR to alcohol was related to the family history of AUDs and to the alcoholic outcome; the latter primarily operated through the use of alcohol to cope with stress. Although drinking in peers and expectations of the effects of alcohol both contributed to the model in these 40-year-old men, they were not directly related to LR. CONCLUSIONS: The results continue to support the importance of the low LR to alcohol as a predictor of AUDs, even when evaluated in the context of additional relevant characteristics. Future evaluations of adolescent and young adult subjects will also explore the potential importance of expectations of the effects of alcohol and drinking among peers as mediators or moderators of alcoholism risk among subjects with a low LR.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1985

Visual perspective taking in children: further ramifications of an information-processing model.

Forty children between ages 6 and 8 were administered a set of spatial perspective tasks. On half of the items, children responded by rotating a duplicate of the target display; on the remainder, children reconstructed the displays to correspond to a perspective view. The displays differed as to whether they contained marked or unmarked objects. On the basis of an information-processing analysis of these tasks, we predicted that the response-type variables and stimulus variables would interact in known ways. Analysis of variance results revealed a good fit with the hypothesized outcomes. Main effects were detected for age, which favored older children, and for display, which favored unmarked objects; the rotation task proved easier. Significant interactions revealed that task demands increasing task difficulty were more problematic in the construction task than in the rotation task, as predicted.

Child↗
PubMed1998

Pathophysiologically correlated deficits of information processing in obstructive sleep apnea patients.

In obstructive sleep apnea patients, who intermittently stop breathing at night for some seconds, functions of vigilance and attention seem to be impaired. The aim of our study was to investigate if nocturnal hypoxia as one possible detrimental factor is associated with the degree of modality shift effect expressing attention function at a very basic level of information processing. For the first time an experimental approach was applied to examine attention deficits in sleep apnea patients. Correlation analyses between pathophysiological parameters and attention function revealed a stronger association for the modality shift effect than for simple reaction times.

Cognition Disorders↗
PubMed2005

Projections from orbitofrontal cortex to anterior piriform cortex in the rat suggest a role in olfactory information processing.

The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) has been characterized as a higher-order, multimodal sensory cortex. Evidence from electrophysiological and behavioral studies in the rat has suggested that OFC plays a role in modulating olfactory guided behavior, and a significant projection to OFC arises from piriform cortex, the traditional primary olfactory cortex. To discern how OFC interacts with primary olfactory structures, the anterograde tracer Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin was injected into orbitofrontal cortical areas in adult male rats. Labeled fibers were found in the piriform cortex and olfactory bulb on the side ipsilateral to the injection. Notably, the projection to piriform cortex was predominantly from ventrolateral orbital cortex, and was not uniform; rostrally, the projection to the ventral portion of the anterior piriform cortex (APC) was substantial, while the dorsal APC was virtually free of labeled fibers. Labeled fibers were found in both the dorsal and ventral portions in more caudal regions of APC. Most labeled fibers were found in layer III, although a substantial number of fibers were observed in layers Ib and II. Labeled fibers in posterior piriform cortex also were seen after injection into orbitofrontal areas. Taken together with previous reports, these findings suggest that piriform cortex includes multiple subdivisions, which may perform separate, parallel functions in olfactory information processing. Further, these results suggest that the OFC, in addition to its putative role in encoding information about the significance of olfactory stimuli, may play a role in modulating odor response properties of neurons in piriform cortex.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Information processing in anxiety: a pilot study of the effect of manipulating 5-HT function.

We gave the indirect 5-HT agonist, D-fenfluramine (30 mg), the 5 -HT antagonist methysergide (2 mg) and placebo to 11 patients with an anxiety disorder and 12 controls in a double-blind, balanced-order, cross-over design. Compared to controls, patients had significantly higher anxiety ratings, were slower in naming colours in computerized Stroop tests and showed greater interference for anxiety-related words. Patients tended to have a lower critical flicker fusion threshold (CFFT) than controls and in the subjects taken as a whole there was a significant inverse correlation between CFFT and Spielberger state (r=-0.54, p<0.01) and trait anxiety (r=-0.55, p<0.01). Neither drug had significant effects on anxiety ratings or on Stroop interference. D-Fenfluramine significantly increased CFFT (p < 0.02) and methysergide non-significantly reduced CFFT with no significant differences between patients and controls. 5-HT may be involved in lower-level visual information processing but we found no evidence for its direct involvement in the attentional bias for anxiety-related information in the emotional Stroop.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Children with adequate academic achievement scores referred for evaluation of school difficulties: information processing deficiencies.

Children (7-11 years old) with standardized academic achievement test scores in the normal range referred for evaluation of learning problems were compared to low-achieving children matched for age, sex, and nonverbal cognitive ability, and to children with no known history of learning difficulty matched for age, sex, and reading (all N = 65) on a battery of computerized tasks of nonverbal information processing. The normally achieving referred children performed similarly to the low-achieving group but worse than reading-matched nonreferred counterparts. These findings suggest that children who struggle in school yet perform adequately on standardized achievement measures can have heightened neurodevelopmental vulnerability. Implications are discussed with respect to the underlying substrate of learning disabilities, as well as their diagnosis, classification, and remediation.

Achievement↗
PubMed2005

Anatomical and physiological foundations of cerebellar information processing.

A coordinated movement is easy to recognize, but we know little about how it is achieved. In search of the neural basis of coordination, we present a model of spinocerebellar interactions in which the structure-functional organizing principle is a division of the cerebellum into discrete microcomplexes. Each microcomplex is the recipient of a specific motor error signal - that is, a signal that conveys information about an inappropriate movement. These signals are encoded by spinal reflex circuits and conveyed to the cerebellar cortex through climbing fibre afferents. This organization reveals salient features of cerebellar information processing, but also highlights the importance of systems level analysis for a fuller understanding of the neural mechanisms that underlie behaviour.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Information processing components of Koppitz errors on the Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test.

Correlated performance and latencies on the Bender, Matching Familiar Figures Test and Draw-a-Person along with the Slosson Intelligence Test for 39 male and 35 female middle-class black first graders. The results suggest that the Bender may owe much of its clinical validity to loadings across all stages of human information processing. General intelligence accounted for 9% of Bender variance. With the higher order variable intelligence partialed out, the preprocessing and central processing stages accounted for 16% and the response selection and response execution stages accounted for 6% of Bender variance. Kagan's hypothesis with retard to the involvement of conceptual tempo in Bender performance was not supported. However, Kagan's contention that impulsivity is measured only in situations with high response uncertainty did receive some support.

Black or African American↗
PubMed2003

Hipnic modulation of cerebellar information processing: implications for the cerebro-cerebellar dialogue.

Recent evidence indicates that during the sleep-waking cycle the forebrain and the cerebellum show parallel changes of their operating capabilities and suggest that cooperation between these two structures plays a different role in the different behavioral states. In particular, a high degree of cerebro-cerebellar cooperation is expected in waking and in paradoxical sleep when enhanced information processing within the cerebellum and the cortex is associated with effective reciprocal cerebro-cerebellar signal transmission. We first speculate that during waking, a state in which a wide range of behaviors is produced by the interaction with the external world, the cerebellum might assist the cortex to develop the neural dynamic patterns which underlie behaviors and that this could be accomplished via cerebellar modulation of both short- and long-range cortical synchronization. In particular, we propose that the cerebellum might favour the automatic triggering of the patterns already acquired, when requested by the context, as well as the acquisition of novel patterns, when found to be of adaptive value, and might even modulate the access to consciousness of brain operations, if producing unpredicted results, by regulating pattern complexity. This proposal is based on the experimental evidence that oscillatory activity may flow within the cerebro-cerebellar loops and that stimulation or lesion of the cerebellar structures affects cortical synchronization. Then we report evidence indicating that during paradoxical sleep, when brain activation occurs in the absence of sensory inflow and motor output, cerebro-cerebellar cooperation mainly favours consolidation of newly acquired waking patterns and/or savings of old patterns from disruption possibly through a non-utilitarian replay process. Finally, we propose that cerebro-cerebellar cooperation weakens during slow wave sleep, given that in this sleep state neuronal activity and excitability decrease both in the cerebellum and in the forebrain and cerebello-cortical signal transmission is at least partially gated at the thalamic level.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

[Cardiovascular state and efficiency of information processing depend from work load in operators of heat power stations].

Increased working load appeared to cause unfavorable cardiovascular state in operators: dyastolic hypertension stage I, lower than average hemodynamic parameters, lower values of Kerdo index (within negative zone) vs those in lesser occupational load, more marked changes in parameters by the end of working shifts, evening-out of their regular diurnal periodicity. Lower efficiency of information processing was also seen.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Facilitation of cognitive performance in aged rats by past experience depends on the type of information processing involved: a combined cross-sectional and longitudinal study.

The impact of past history on behavior across the life span is largely unknown. This is why the role of previous experience in subsequent memory performances has been studied in a combined longitudinal (animals repeatedly tested) and cross-sectional (animals tested once at various ages) study, in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Different types of memory (reference and working memory) and/or information processing (route or place learning) were assessed in three different tasks (T-maze, Morris water maze, and eight-arm radial maze). Our results indicate that experience prevents age-related impairments in the learning phase of the T-maze and the Morris water maze, in both middle-aged and old rats. Nonexperienced animals of the same age were found to present age-related memory deficits. However, previous experience did not have any effect on the learning of the radial maze or on the reversal performance. It is suggested that controlled processes (intentional and attentional) are impaired by aging and cannot be improved by training, whereas automated processes appear to benefit from it. These data underline the heterogeneity of cognitive aging and indicate that aging is not inevitably accompanied by a decline in performance.

Aging↗
PubMed1988

Effects of protriptyline on vigilance and information processing in narcolepsy.

Vigilance, memory function, and response latency on the Sternberg short-term memory scanning task were examined in eight narcoleptic patients on and off medication. Off medication, half of the patients demonstrated reduced vigilance and all displayed diminished automatic memory encoding and longer response latencies on the Sternberg memory scanning procedure relative to the treated condition. Protriptyline normalized vigilance in half of the patients, while response latency and automatic information processing significantly improved in all. These findings are discussed with regard to the potential effect of the medication on central nervous system arousal.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Information processing in anxiety and depression.

Performance on explicit and implicit memory tasks was compared among non-clinical participants (N = 47) who reported low anxiety and low depression, high anxiety and low depression, or high anxiety and high depression. No differences were found among the groups in explicit memory. Differences in our measure of implicit memory were attributable to higher anxiety, regardless of depression. Increased implicit memory was specific to personally relevant information. The study highlights the need for further exploration of information processing in mixed anxiety and depression.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1997

The development of a model for geodesic learning: the geodesic information processing model.

The current article suggests that alternatives to the current traditional learning methods are essential if learning institutions are to provide people with effective life skills that enable them to be autonomous learners. This suggestion is based on a body of literature on alternative learning which stresses the need for fundamental change and hence, a paradigm shift in the perception of learning in order to cope with the world-wide information explosion. The alternative non-traditional approach proposed is geodesic learning which stresses learning how to learn and self-directed inquiry as essential life-skills which enable systems as well as the people in the systems to bring about their own transformation in response to changing situations and requirements. The current article discusses an alternative service delivery model, the geodesic information processing model, which falls within the realms of the geodesic philosophy. The implications of this alternative approach for the speech-language therapist are discussed.

Child↗
PubMed1988

[Logical structure and meaning in information processing].

Investigating the influence the dimensions "Meaning", and "Logical Structure" feature in the process of solving verbally-presented problems is the purpose of this study. 120 13-year-old boys and girls were administered 12 problems built around two different logical structures with six different "Meaning" dimensions. The results indicate that the logical structure of the problems is an important factor when information processing is at stake.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Patterns of chromatic information processing in the lobula of the honeybee, Apis mellifera L.

The honeybee, Apis mellifera L., is one of the living creatures that has its colour vision proven through behavioural tests. Previous studies of honeybee colour vision has emphasized the relationship between the spectral sensitivities of photoreceptors and colour discrimination behaviour. The current understanding of the neural mechanisms of bee colour vision is, however, rather limited. The present study surveyed the patterns of chromatic information processing of visual neurons in the lobula of the honeybee, using intracellular recording stimulated by three light-emitting diodes, whose emission spectra approximately match the spectral sensitivity peaks of the honeybee. The recorded visual neurons can be divided into two groups: non-colour opponent cells and colour opponent cells. The non-colour opponent cells comprise six types of broad-band neurons and four response types of narrow-band neurons. The former might detect brightness of the environment or function as chromatic input channels, and the latter might supply specific chromatic input. Amongst the colour opponent cells, the principal neural mechanism of colour vision, eight response types were recorded. The receptive fields of these neurons were not centre surround as observed in primates. Some recorded neurons with tonic post-stimulus responses were observed, however, suggesting temporal defined spectral opponency may be part of the colour-coding mechanisms.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Verbal skills, finger tapping, and cognitive tempo define a second-order factor of temporal information processing.

Adolescents with academic and social problems are often characterized as impulsive, having poor verbal skills, and having poor motor coordination. Language and skilled movements have long been hypothesized to share a common neural basis. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that verbal skills, fine motor tasks that require a continuous sequential response, and cognitive tempo (impulsiveness, time judgment) would interrelate to define a higher-order dimension of "temporal information processing." Subjects were 155 males of high school age. The results confirmed the basic hypothesis.

Adolescent↗