Does Speaking Two Dialects in Daily Life Affect Executive Functions? An Event-Related Potential Study

Whether using two languages enhances executive functions is a matter of debate. Here, we take a novel perspective to examine the bilingual advantage hypothesis by comparing bi-dialect with mono-dialect speakers’ performance on a non-linguistic task that requires executive control. Two groups of native Chinese speakers, one speaking only the standard Chinese Mandarin and the other also speaking the Southern-Min dialect, which differs from the standard Chinese Mandarin primarily in phonology, performed a classic Flanker task. Behavioural results showed no difference between the two groups, but event-related potentials recorded simultaneously revealed a number of differences, including an earlier P2 effect in the bi-dialect as compared to the mono-dialect group, suggesting that the two groups engage different underlying neural processes. Despite differences in the early ERP component, no between-group differences in the magnitude of the Flanker effects, which is an index of conflict resolution, were observed in the N2 component. Therefore, these findings suggest that speaking two dialects of one language does not enhance executive functions. Implications of the current findings for the bilingual advantage hypothesis are discussed.     

Unraveling the Relationship between Motor Symptoms,Affective States and Contextual Factors in Parkinson’s Disease: A Feasibility Study of the Experience Sampling Method

Background

In Parkinson''s disease (PD), the complex relationship between motor symptoms, affective states, and contextual factors remains to be elucidated. The Experience Sampling Method provides (ESM) a novel approach to this issue. Using a mobile device with a special purpose application (app), motor symptoms, affective states and contextual factors are assessed repeatedly at random moments in the flow of daily life, yielding an intensive time series of symptoms and experience. The aim of this study was to study the feasibility of this method.

Method

We studied the feasibility of a five-day period of ESM in PD and its ability to objectify diurnal fluctuations in motor symptom severity and their relation with affect and contextual factors in five PD patients with motor fluctuations.

Results

Participants achieved a high compliance, with 84% of assessment moments completed without disturbance of daily activities. The utility of the device was rated 8 on a 10-point scale. We were able to capture extensive diurnal fluctuations that were not revealed by routine clinical assessment. In addition, we were able to detect clinically relevant associations between motor symptoms, emotional fluctuations and contextual factors at an intra-individual level.

Conclusions

ESM represents a viable and novel approach to elucidate relationships between motor symptoms, affective states and contextual factors at the level of individual subjects. ESM holds promise for clinical practice and scientific research.     

Marginalizing Experience: A Critical Analysis of Public Discourse Surrounding Stem Cell Research in Australia (2005�C6)

Over the past decade, stem cell science has generated considerable public and political debate. These debates tend to focus on issues concerning the protection of nascent human life and the need to generate medical and therapeutic treatments for the sick and vulnerable. The framing of the public debate around these issues not only dichotomises and oversimplifies the issues at stake, but tends to marginalise certain types of voices, such as the women who donate their eggs and/or embryos to stem cell research and the patients who might benefit from its potential clinical outcomes. This paper draws on empirical research conducted on a recent stem cell policy episode in Australia. From the qualitative examination of 109 newspaper opinion editorials and twenty-three in-depth interviews, it is argued that these voices are marginalised because they are based on discourses that have less epistemological status in public debate. Our results suggest that the personal experiences of women and patients are marginalised by the alliances that form between more powerful discourse communities that use science as a source of authority and legitimation. It is argued that members of these communities establish legitimacy and assert authority in public debate by discursively deploying science in claims that marginalise other epistemologies. Implications are discussed along with suggestions for a more enriched and inclusive public debate.     

ABRF�CMIRG Benchmark Study: Molecular Interactions in a Three-Component System

Protein–protein interactions identified through high-throughput proteomics efforts continue to advance our understanding of the protein interactome. In addition to highly specific protein–protein interactions, it is becoming increasingly more common for yeast two-hybrid, pull-down assays, and other proteomics techniques to identify multiple protein ligands that bind to the same target protein. A resulting challenge is to accurately characterize the assembly of these multiprotein complexes and the competition among multiple protein ligands for a given target. The Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities–Molecular Interactions Research Group recently conducted a benchmark study to assess participants'' ability to correctly describe the interactions between two protein ligands and their target protein using primarily biosensor technologies, such as surface plasmon resonance. Participants were provided with microgram quantities of three proteins (A, B, and C) and asked to determine if a ternary A-B-C complex can form or if protein-B and protein-C bind competitively to protein-A. This article will summarize the experimental approaches taken by participants to characterize the molecular interactions, the interpretation of the data, and the results obtained using different biosensor instruments.