Researchers have recently begun to use the tools of neuroscience to examine the social psychological responses associated with race. This article serves as a review of the developing literature in this area. It advances the argument that neuroscience studies of race have the potential to shape fundamental assumptions about race, and the interplay…

This article relates recent findings in neuropsychology to the practice of art therapy. Based on published literature and the author?s experiences as a therapist, it illustrates how knowledge of neurological functioning can be used to therapeutic advantage with art therapy clients. Case examples reveal that providing clients with a basic…

In this paper we review the literature on visual constraints in written word processing. We notice that not all letters are equally visible to the reader. The letter that is most visible is the letter that is fixated. The visibility of the other letters depends on the distance between the letters and the fixation location, whether the letters are…

General intelligence (g) poses a problem for evolutionary psychology's modular view of the human brain. The author advances a new evolutionary psychological theory of the evolution of general intelligence and argues that general intelligence evolved as a domain-specific adaptation for the originally limited sphere of evolutionary novelty in the…

One of the core issues in psycholinguistic research concerns the relationship between word category information and verb-argument structure (e.g. transitivity) information of verbs in the process of sentence parsing. In two experiments (visual versus auditory presentation) using event-related brain potentials (ERPs), we addressed this question by…

Visually presented letter strings consistently yield three MEG response components: the M170, associated with letter-string processing (Tarkiainen, Helenius, Hansen, Cornelissen, & Salmelin, 1999); the M250, affected by phonotactic probability, (Pylkkanen, Stringfellow, & Marantz, 2002); and the M350, responsive to lexical frequency (Embick,…

This paper reviews the role of orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) lesions in antisocial behaviors and the adequacy of a strict OFC account of antisocial disorders where there is no evidence of lesion. Neurocognitive accounts of antisocial behaviors are extended beyond the OFC. Several methodological shortcomings specific to this neuroscience approach to…

The paper presents a computational model of language in which linguistic abilities evolve in organisms that interact with an environment. Each individual's behavior is controlled by a neural network and we study the consequences in the network's internal functional organization of learning to process different classes of words. Agents are selected…

There are two significant problems in using functional neuroimaging methods to study language. Improving the state of functional brain imaging will depend on understanding how the dependent measure of brain imaging differs from behavioral dependent measures (the ''dependent measure problem'') and how the activation of the motor system may be…

For more than 50 years, methamphetamine has been a widely used stimulant drug taken to maintain wakefulness and performance and, in high doses, to cause intense euphoria. Animal studies show that methamphetamine can cause short-term and even persistent depletion of brain levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine. However, the clinical features of…

Patients with Taylor's type focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) present with seizures that are often medically intractable. Here, we attempted to identify the cellular and pharmacological mechanisms responsible for this epileptogenic state by using field potential and K[superscript +]-selective recordings in neocortical slices obtained from epileptic…

Although we are far from a universally accepted pattern of impaired function at altitude, there is evidence indicating motor, perceptual, memory and behavioural deficits in adults. Even relatively low altitudes (2500 m) may delay reaction time, and impair motor function. Extreme altitude exposure (greater than 5000 m) may result in more pronounced…

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a potent modulator of synaptic transmission and plasticity in the CNS, acting both pre- and postsynaptically. We demonstrated recently that BDNF/TrkB signaling increases dendritic spine density in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons. Here, we tested whether activation of the prominent ERK (MAPK) signaling…

Extensive evidence indicates that the insular cortex (IC), also termed gustatory cortex, is critically involved in conditioned taste aversion and taste recognition memory. Although most studies of the involvement of the IC in memory have investigated taste, there is some evidence that the IC is involved in memory that is not based on taste. In…

An increasing focus on early childhood education and brain research offers a prime opportunity for higher education institutions to research and formulate thought concerning quality child care. Currently, there is limited research examining the impact and roles of child care centers on university campuses. To add to the base of knowledge, this…