Piagetian stage 5 in two infant chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): The development of permanence of objects and the spatialization of causality

We investigated the level of cognitive development of two chimpanzee infants, both tested at 14 and 19 months of age, within the Piagetian framework of cognitive development. We administered tasks related to the understanding of object-concept—visible displacement tasks-and the operation of physical causality—the support problem-and observed responses similar to those of human infants. Both subjects reached stage 5 object-concept when they were 19 months of age: only at this time, in fact, were chimpanzees able to find the object wherever it was hidden. Stage 4 errors still characterized infants' performance when they were 14 months old. However, only one of the 19-month-old subjects was able to solve the support problem: she ignored the support when the goal object did not rest on it, showing that the understood the necessity of spatial contact between the target and the intermediary object. On the contrary, the other subject was not proficient in such a task because he drew the support even when the reward was placed beside it. At 19 months of age its level of causality still remained characteristic of the fourth stage.     

Foraging Behavior in Two Species of Ectatomma (Formicidae: Ponerinae): Individual Learning of Orientation and Timing

The foraging behavior of marked individuals of Ectatomma ruidum and E. tuberculatum (Formicidae: Ponerinae) was observed on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, in order to determine whether learning of orientation and timing is involved when foraging on patchy resources on the forest floor. Foraging experiments under seminatural conditions were designed to control for the spatiotemporal distribution of resources at one or two preying sites. Using both single- and multi–event past experience, individual foragers of E. ruidum and (although less significantly) E. tuberculatum made directional and temporal adjustments to their behavior in response to previous differential foraging success. In spite of considerable individual variation in foraging efficiency, it is hypothesized that the observed differences in cognitive abilities can be invoked to explain ecological differences among both species.     

研究报告：果蝇习得性无助影响空间位置记忆

目的 习得性无助（learned helplessness）是指动物经历了不可逃避性刺激后而产生的无助状态。它对随后实验动物的运动能力、生理状态等多方面都会产生影响,也是人类抑郁症的有效动物模型之一。目前已在多种动物模型中建立了研究习得性无助神经机制的行为实验范式,包括黑腹果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）。之前的研究发现,经历过不可逃避高温惩罚的果蝇在活跃程度等方面有显著改变。然而,果蝇的习得性无助状态是否也影响学习认知能力,目前仍然未知。本文对果蝇空间位置学习能力是否受到习得性无助状态影响进行了研究。方法 此研究中,我们完善实验范式,分别检测果蝇在新范式中的空间位置学习行为和习得性无助行为,以及经过长时程随机刺激后果蝇空间位置学习能力的变化。结果 野生型果蝇可在此范式中展现空间位置学习能力与习得性无助状态,而经过长时程不可逃避刺激训练的果蝇,空间位置记忆有显著下降。结论 此研究完善了果蝇习得性无助行为实验范式,实验结果表明习得性无助对果蝇空间位置记忆存在影响。这将对进一步加深对动物习得性无助行为的理解,进而其发生机制研究起到推进作用。     

Can a Welfarist Approach be Used to Justify a Moral Duty to Cognitively Enhance Children?

The desire to self‐improve is probably as old as humanity: most of us want to be smarter, more athletic, more beautiful, or more talented. However, in the light of an ever increasing array of possibilities to enhance our capacities, clarity about the purpose and goal of such efforts becomes crucial. This is especially true when decisions are made for children, who are exposed to their parents’ plans and desires for them under a notion of increasing wellbeing. In recent years, cognitive enhancement has become a popular candidate for the promotion of wellbeing; welfarists even impose a moral duty on parents to cognitively enhance their children for the sake of their wellbeing. In this article, I aim to show that welfarists are mistaken in inferring such a moral obligation from the potential benefit of cognitive enhancement. In support of this, I offer three arguments: (a) the vagueness of wellbeing as a theoretical concept means it becomes impossible to apply in practice; (b) the link between cognition and wellbeing is far from unequivocal; and (c) quantification issues with regard to cognition make a duty impossible to discharge. In conclusion, I reject the welfarist approach as a justification for a parental moral obligation to cognitively enhance children.     

Using dreams in cognitive behavioral psychotherapy: Theory, method, and examples.

Dream analysis can be a fruitful complementary technique in cognitive–behavioral therapy, providing it is based on a theoretical conception of dreaming and an interpretation method that are both compatible with the principles and methodology of CBT. The present paper first presents some aspects of a cognitive conception of dreaming explaining the occurrence and specificities of dream representations by their production processes. The next section describes an interpretation method that gives the patients the opportunity to find some sources and meanings of their dreams. Finally examples are given of the different ways in which the result of a dream interpretation contributed to therapy. Thanks to their condensed and often exaggerated treatment of a theme, dreams often facilitate becoming aware of cognitive distortions and schemas and help to proceed to cognitive restructuring. They also give to the therapists an opportunity to underline the patient’s resources. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Monitoring the social behavior of a bachelor mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) dyad participating in touchscreen‐mediated cognitive testing

Cognitive testing of primates in zoos is becoming increasingly common. Cognition experiments are generally thought to be beneficial as they provide participants with an opportunity to engage in species‐specific cognitive functioning, perhaps more so than with traditional forms of environmental enrichment. However, testing may increase competition and aggression between conspecifics if it has monopolizable features or creates social tension within groups. The purpose of this study was to monitor the social behavior of a bachelor mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) dyad participating in a touchscreen‐mediated cognition study. The mandrills' behavior was monitored before and after testing sessions for 8 months. Positive changes in the mandrills' affiliative behavior were observed. Rates of play, presentations, and silent bared‐teeth face increased posttesting. No change in rates of agonism were observed between pre‐ and posttesting conditions. The observed positive changes in affiliative behavior suggest cognitive testing was enriching for the mandrills and participating in testing improved their welfare. Zoos beginning cognitive studies should monitor participant behavior to ensure their welfare is not compromised and is, ideally, enhanced.     

The Influence of Spike Rate and Stimulus Duration on Noradrenergic Neurons

We model spiking neurons in locus coeruleus (LC), a brain nucleus involved in modulating cognitive performance, and compare with recent experimental data. Extracellular recordings from LC of monkeys performing target detection and selective attention tasks show varying responses dependent on stimuli and performance accuracy. From membrane voltage and ion channel equations, we derive a phase oscillator model for LC neurons. Average spiking probabilities of a pool of cells over many trials are then computed via a probability density formulation. These show that: (1) Post-stimulus response is elevated in populations with lower spike rates; (2) Responses decay exponentially due to noise and variable pre-stimulus spike rates; and (3) Shorter stimuli preferentially cause depressed post-activation spiking. These results allow us to propose mechanisms for the different LC responses observed across behavioral and task conditions, and to make explicit the role of baseline firing rates and the duration of task-related inputs in determining LC response.     

The impact of neuroscience on society: cognitive enhancement in neuropsychiatric disorders and in healthy people

In addition to causing distress and disability to the individual, neuropsychiatric disorders are also extremely expensive to society and governments. These disorders are both common and debilitating and impact on cognition, functionality and wellbeing. Cognitive enhancing drugs, such as cholinesterase inhibitors and methylphenidate, are used to treat cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer''s disease and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, respectively. Other cognitive enhancers include specific computerized cognitive training and devices. An example of a novel form of cognitive enhancement using the technological advancement of a game on an iPad that also acts to increase motivation is presented. Cognitive enhancing drugs, such as methylphenidate and modafinil, which were developed as treatments, are increasingly being used by healthy people. Modafinil not only affects ‘cold’ cognition, but also improves ‘hot’ cognition, such as emotion recognition and task-related motivation. The lifestyle use of ‘smart drugs'' raises both safety concerns as well as ethical issues, including coercion and increasing disparity in society. As a society, we need to consider which forms of cognitive enhancement (e.g. pharmacological, exercise, lifelong learning) are acceptable and for which groups (e.g. military, doctors) under what conditions (e.g. war, shift work) and by what methods we would wish to improve and flourish.     

Cognitive disorder in brain concussion

This paper presented original study results concerning the prevalence and clinical characteristics of cognitive impairment associated with brain concussion. The cognitive functions of 80 consecutive patients （mean age = 37.40±1l.74years; 50 men and 30 women） admitted to the hospital with brain concussions were evaluated. Their cognitive scores were compared with 40 age- and education-matched healthy volunteers without history of cranial trauma. Cognitive impairment without dementia was found in 93% of the patients. Cognitive impairment in brain concussion was also characterized by prominent cognitive slowness （bradyphrenia）, concentration decrease, free recall insufficiency, and visual-spatial dysfunction. Age and severity of anxiety significantly influence the cognitive performance of patients.     

两种诊断方法对术后认知功能障碍评估分析

目的：探讨更有利于术后认知功能障碍早期诊断的评估方法。方法：选择青年患者（18-45岁）60例,ASAⅠ～Ⅱ级,在全凭静脉麻醉或椎管内麻醉下行手术;青年健康志愿者30例为对照组,术前一天（T1）,术后3天（T2）行认知功能6项测定。所得结果分别采用1个标准差法（SD）和Z计分法对术后认知功能进行评定。P＆lt;0.05差异有统计学意义。结果：术后3天,依据SD法诊断认知功能受损25/90例（27.8%）,术后认知功能障碍2/90例（2.2%）,Z计分法认知受损18/90（20%）例,认知障碍3/90例（3.3%）,两种诊断方法之间差异无统计学意义（P＆gt;0.05）。经K系数检验,SD法与Z计分法诊断吻合度无统计学意义（kappa=0.000,P＆gt;0.05）。结论：两种评估方法同时进行评估,可以弥补相互不足,较大程度地避免了术后认知功能受损假阴性的诊断,更有利于术后认知功能障碍的早期发现。     

Cognitive Experience and Its Effect on Age-Dependent Cognitive Decline in Beagle Dogs

Test-sophisticated beagle dogs show marked age sensitivity in a size discrimination learning task, with old and senior dogs performing significantly more poorly than young dogs. By contrast, age differences in learning were not seen in dogs naïve with respect to neuropsychological test experience. These results indicate that old animals benefit less from prior cognitive experience than young animals, which is an example of an age-dependent loss in plasticity. This finding also suggests that behaviorally experienced animals are a more useful model of human cognitive aging than behaviorally naïve animals. We also looked at the effect of a program of behavioral enrichment in aged dogs. One year of enrichment did not lead to significant differences, but after 2 years the behaviorally enriched group performed significantly better than the control group. The effect after 2 years indicates that a prolonged program of cognitive enrichment can serve as an effective intervention in aged dogs. These findings demonstrate that cognitive abilities in aged animals can be modified by providing behavioral experience, indicating that cognitive abilities remain moderately plastic, even in very old animals.     

Looking on the bright side: biased attention and the human serotonin transporter gene

Humans differ in terms of biased attention for emotional stimuli and these biases can confer differential resilience and vulnerability to emotional disorders. Selective processing of positive emotional information, for example, is associated with enhanced sociability and well-being while a bias for negative material is associated with neuroticism and anxiety. A tendency to selectively avoid negative material might also be associated with mental health and well-being. The neurobiological mechanisms underlying these cognitive phenotypes are currently unknown. Here we show for the first time that allelic variation in the promotor region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) is associated with differential biases for positive and negative affective pictures. Individuals homozygous for the long allele (LL) showed a marked bias to selectively process positive affective material alongside selective avoidance of negative affective material. This potentially protective pattern was absent among individuals carrying the short allele (S or SL). Thus, allelic variation on a common genetic polymorphism was associated with the tendency to selectively process positive or negative information. The current study is important in demonstrating a genotype-related alteration in a well-established processing bias, which is a known risk factor in determining both resilience and vulnerability to emotional disorders.     

Preys’ exploitation of predators’ fear: when the caterpillar plays the Gruffalo

Alike the little mouse of the Gruffalo''s tale, many harmless preys use intimidating deceptive signals as anti-predator strategies. For example, several caterpillars display eyespots and face-like colour patterns that are thought to mimic the face of snakes as deterrents to insectivorous birds. We develop a theoretical model to investigate the hypothesis that these defensive strategies exploit adaptive cognitive biases of birds, which make them much more likely to confound caterpillars with snakes than vice versa. By focusing on the information-processing mechanisms of decision-making, the model assumes that, during prey assessment, the bird accumulates noisy evidence supporting either the snake-escape or the caterpillar-attack motor responses, which compete against each other for execution. Competition terminates when the evidence for either one of the responses reaches a critical threshold. This model predicts a strong asymmetry and a strong negative correlation between the prey- and the predator-decision thresholds, which increase with the increasing risk of snake predation and assessment uncertainty. The threshold asymmetry causes an asymmetric distribution of false-negative and false-positive errors in the snake–caterpillar decision plane, which makes birds much more likely to be deceived by the intimidating signals of snake-mimicking caterpillars than by the alluring signals of caterpillar-mimicking snakes.     

How intelligent is a cephalopod? Lessons from comparative cognition

The soft-bodied cephalopods including octopus, cuttlefish, and squid are broadly considered to be the most cognitively advanced group of invertebrates. Previous research has demonstrated that these large-brained molluscs possess a suite of cognitive attributes that are comparable to those found in some vertebrates, including highly developed perception, learning, and memory abilities. Cephalopods are also renowned for performing sophisticated feats of flexible behaviour, which have led to claims of complex cognition such as causal reasoning, future planning, and mental attribution. Hypotheses to explain why complex cognition might have emerged in cephalopods suggest that a combination of predation, foraging, and competitive pressures are likely to have driven cognitive complexity in this group of animals. Currently, it is difficult to gauge the extent to which cephalopod behaviours are underpinned by complex cognition because many of the recent claims are largely based on anecdotal evidence. In this review, we provide a general overview of cephalopod cognition with a particular focus on the cognitive attributes that are thought to be prerequisites for more complex cognitive abilities. We then discuss different types of behavioural flexibility exhibited by cephalopods and, using examples from other taxa, highlight that behavioural flexibility could be explained by putatively simpler mechanisms. Consequently, behavioural flexibility should not be used as evidence of complex cognition. Fortunately, the field of comparative cognition centres on designing methods to pinpoint the underlying mechanisms that drive behaviours. To illustrate the utility of the methods developed in comparative cognition research, we provide a series of experimental designs aimed at distinguishing between complex cognition and simpler alternative explanations. Finally, we discuss the advantages of using cephalopods to develop a more comprehensive reconstruction of cognitive evolution.