The design, build and test of a re-programmable neural switch (RNS) are carried out. The function of such a switch is to operate as a synaptic processor behaving in an adaptive manner and suitable to be used as a compact programmable device with other artificial neural network hardware. Interaction between constituent materials forming the switch is discussed and carrier interaction during the Programming cycles is explained. Programmability of the switch is proved to be bi-directional and reversible with hysteresis effect which is due to excess charge storage.
Extremely low-frequency magnetic field (ELF-MF) has been suggested to influence the cognitive capability but this should be dynamically evaluated in a longitudinal study. Previous training can affect performance, but the influence under magnetic field is unclear. This study aims to evaluate the effects of previous training and ELF-MF exposure on learning and memory using the Morris water maze (MWM). Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to MWM training, ELF-MF exposure (50 Hz, 100 μT), or ELF-MF exposure combined with MWM training for 90 days. Normal rats were used as controls. The MWM was used to test. The data show that the rats exposed to training and ELF-MF with training performed better on spatial acquisition when re-tested. However, during the probe trial the rats showed no change between the training phase and the test phase. Compared with the control group, the ELF-MF group showed no significant differences. These results confirm that previous training can improve the learning and memory capabilities regarding spatial acquisition in the MWM and this effect can last for at least 90 days. However, this improvement in learning and memory capabilities was not observed during the probe trial. Furthermore, ELF-MF exposure did not interfere with the improvement in learning and memory capabilities., Y. Li, C. Zhang, T. Song., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Předkládaná studie se věnuje specifikům dětské výpovědi. Mapuje možné zdroje její nespolehlivosti (nízká schopnost zapamatovat si a vybavit si události, vysoká sugestibilita, snadnost vzniku falešných vzpomínek, neporozumění pro procesy a interakce v okolí, možnost záměrného lhaní). Jsou uvedeny některé postupy, které mohou pomoci zkvalitnit, nebo naopak znehodnotit informace, podané dítětem. Schopnost dítěte porozumět své vlastní motivaci, prožívání a chování, stejně tak jako chování a prožívání jiných lidí je často zpochybňována. Ukazuje se však, že dětský úhel pohledu na události, které zažívá, a na sociální interakce, kterým je vystaveno, je obohacující. Přináší smysluplné informace, je jedinečný a přispívá jak k pochopení prožívání a chování dítěte a jeho aktuálních potíží, tak ke hlubšímu porozumění rodinným vztahům a jiným skutečnostem., The present study maps the possible sources of unreliability of child,s testimony (lower ability to remember and recall events, high suggestibility, easier formation of false memories, misunderstanding of the processes and interactions in surroundings, probability of deliberate lying) as well as its potential benefits in research and counselling practices. There are some procedures that can help improve or conversely depreciate information given by child. Child,s ability to understand their own motivation, experience and behaviour as well as behaviour and feelings of others are often questioned. But despite all mentioned risks, child,s testimony is very useful not only in judicial proceedings in which the child may be the only witness to the events but also in psychological research and counselling. It turns out that a child is more sensitive to some aspects of family life (conflicts) than an adult and gives even more accurate information than its parents. Child,s view of family life is important for understanding its behaviour and experience., Xenie Uholyeva., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
a1_In the present study, the effect of the medial septal (MS) lesions on exploratory activity in the open field and the spatial and object recognition memory has been investigated. This experiment compares three types of MS lesions: electrolytic lesions that destroy cells and fibers of passage, neurotoxic -ibotenic acid lesions that spare fibers of passage but predominantly affect the septal noncholinergic neurons, and immunotoxin - 192 IgG -saporin infusions that only eliminate cholinergic neurons. The main results are: the MS electrolytic lesioned rats were impaired in habituat ing to the environment in the repeated spatial environment, but rats with immuno - or neurotoxic lesions of the MS did not differ from control ones; the MS electrolytic and ibotenic acid lesioned rats showed an increase in their exploratory activity to the objects and were impaired in habituating to the objects in the repeated spatial environment; rats with immunolesions of the MS did not differ from control rats; electrolytic lesions of the MS disrupt spatial recognition memory; rats with immuno - or neurotoxic lesions of the MS were normal in detecting spatial novelty; all of the MS - lesioned and control rats clearly reacted to the object novelty by exploring the new object more than familiar ones. Results observed across lesion techniques indicate that: (i) the deficits after nonselective damage of MS are limited to a subset of cognitive processes dependent on the hippocampus, (ii) MS is substantial for spatial, but not for object recognition memory - the object recognition memory can be supported outside the septohippocampal system; (iii) the selective loss of septohippocampal cholinergic or noncholinergic projections does not disrupt the function of the hippocampus to a sufficient extent to impair spatial recognition memory;, a2_(iv) there is dissociation between the two major components (cholinergic and noncholinergic) of the septohippocampal pathway in exploratory behavior assessed in the open field - the memory exhibited by decrements in exploration of repeated object presentations is affected by either electr olytic or ibotenic lesions, but not saporin., M. G. Dashniani, M. A. Burjanadze, T. L. Naneishvili, N. C. Chkhikvishvili, G. V. Beselia, L. B. Kruashvili, N. O. Pochkhidze, M. R. Chighladze., and Obsahuje bibliografii
A characteristic feature of Milada Součková’s works consists in her references to her own and her family’s memories. She often combines the memories and returns to the past with ekphrastic descriptions of the photographs. This is her way to set in order (in words and pictures) the occurrences that have already happened. The photographs become sources that enliven the memory images. They activate memory and connect memories into chains of mnemonic associations. The present article explores the references in Milada Součková’s poetry and prose texts to the photographs.
During the early postnatal age environmental signals underlie the development of sensory systems. The visual system is considered as an appropriate system to evaluate role of sensory experience in postnatal development of sensory systems. This study was made to assess the effect of visual deprivation on strategy of arm selection in navigation of radial arm maze. Six-week-old light- (LR, control) and dark-reared (DR) rats were trained for correct choices and adjacent arms tasks. Our results showed that both the LR and DR animals equally selected correct arms. In the adjacent arms task, however, the control group significantly outperformed the DR animals. While the LR males and females displayed some differences in performing the tasks, no sex dependency was found in the performance of the DR group. These findings indicate that the lack of visual experience is likely to influence the strategy selection as well as sex differences. Thus the difference in the performance of LR and DR animals seems to be due to the male rather than female behavior., M. Salami., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
The perception of danger represents a crucial component of everyday life (not only) in the city. The recording of the development of perception of danger in diachronic perspective of the twentieth century, as it reflected in the memory of the female inhabitants of Pilsen, enables to ascertain some changes that reflect the historical development. In its concrete parts, the research focused on the modes of „making“ of the urban space through the perception of danger (mental topography of danger), the perception of danger in general, as wall as the impact of the danger on the everyday life of the inhabitants. The qualitative methodology of the research included the making of mental maps and the half-structured interviews. The informers were nine women of age 80–91 years. For the purpose of presentation of the results of the research that aimed at ascertaining the ways of perceiving danger by the oldest generation of female inhabitants of Pilsen, the twentieth century was divided into several periods that to great degree reflected the political-historical development: the period before the Second World War; the period of the war; after-war period (1945–1960), the 1960s to 1980s and finally the period after the year 1990 up to the present. In the memory of the informers, these periods were characterized partly by differing types of danger (if danger at all) and their varying intensity. The perception of danger (or the absence of danger) was also influenced by the different development of life cycles in cases of concrete women. Besides individual differences, there was crucial influence of the general social development, the development of the city and the technological development, especially the increase of automobile transport and the media of communication.
Several diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have reported on the anatomical neural tracts between the amygdala and specific brain regions. However, no study on the neural connectivity of the amygdala has been reported. In the current study, using probabilistic DTI tractography, we attempted to investigate the neural connectivity of the amygdala in normal subjects. Forty eight healthy subjects were recruited for this study. A seed region of interest was drawn at the amygdala using the FMRIB Software Library based on probabilistic DTI tractography. Connectivity was defined as the incidence of connection between the amygdala and each brain region at the threshold of 1 and 5 streamlines. The amygdala showed 100% connectivity to the hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, and medial temporal cortex regardless of the thresholds. In contrast, regarding the thresholds of 1 and 5 streamlines, the amygdala showed high conncetivity (over 60%) to the globus pallidus (100% and 92.7%), brainstem (83.3% and 78.1%), putamen (72.9% and 63.5%), occipito-temporal cortex (72.9% and 67.7%), orbitofrontal cortex (70.8 and 43.8%), caudate nucleus (63.5% and 45.8%), and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (63.5% and 31.3%), respectively. The amygdala showed high connectivity to the hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, medial temporal cortex, basal ganglia, brainstem, occipito-temporal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. We believe that the methods and results of this study provide useful information to clinicians and researchers studying the amygdala.
Since close relationship was shown between drug addiction and memory formation, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of interaction between prenatal methamphetamine (MA) exposure and MA treatment in adulthood on spatial and non-spatial memory and on the structure of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in the hippocampus. Adult male rats prenatally exposed to MA (5 mg/kg) or saline were tested in adulthood. Non-spatial memory was examined in the Object Recognition Test (ORT) and spatial memory in the Object Location Test (OLT) and in the Memory Retention Test (MRT) conducted in the Morris Water Maze (MWM), respectively. Based on the type of the memory test animals were injected either acutely (ORT, OLT) or long-term (MWM) with MA (1 mg/kg). After each testing, animals were sacrificed and brains were removed. The hippocampus was then examined in Western Blot analysis for occurrence of different NMDA receptors’ subtypes. Our results demonstrated that prenatal MA exposure affects the development of the NMDA receptors in the hippocampus that might correspond with improvement of spatial memory tested in adulthood in the MWM. On the other hand, the effect of prenatal MA exposure on nonspatial memory examined in the ORT was the opposite. In addition, we showed that the effect of MA administration in adulthood on NMDA receptors is influenced by prenatal MA exposure, which seems to correlate with the spatial memory examined in the OLT., R. Šlamberová, M. Vrajová, B. Schutová, M. Mertlová, E. Macúchová, K. Nohejlová, L. Hrubá, J. Puskarčíková, V. bubeníková-Valešová, A. Yamamotová., and Obsahuje bibliografii