Complex Mental Tasks Research Articles

Job Satisfaction Analysis of Nurses, who Work in Neurology and Neurosurgery Units

Introduction. Satisfaction, facing problems and motivation are currently strategic points to be analysed in terms of nurses’ work. All positive or negative perceptions and attitudes towards work translate into commitment, identity creation, turnover and also status. The fit between the individual and the organisation draws attention. Both the complementary and supplementary dimensions show to what extent the employee’s needs are met and whether the recognised values of the two groups are the same. For the employee, this translates into identification with the workplace. A high degree of fit influences the status of the workplace, the involvement of employees in the tasks at hand increasing their quality. On the other hand, the existence of mismatches generates bad interpersonal relations, inappropriate division of responsibilities, loss of trust, and leads to conflicts.
 Aim. Comparative analysis of changes in the context of sense of job satisfaction of nurses working in neurological and neurosurgical wards in the Silesian province over the last decade.
 Material and Methods. The study was conducted in 2012 and 2022 among nurses working in neurological and neurosurgical wards of the N.M.P. Regional Specialist Hospital in Częstochowa and the Prof. K. Gibiński University Medical Centre in Katowice. The study used an original questionnaire containing 61 questions on various aspects of the work performed.
 Results. Among the respondents, the predominant age group is over 51 years old with a master’s degree, whereas in the earlier survey it was 31–40 years old with a secondary vocational education. The survey showed that 33% more respondents felt that their job involved a lot of physical exertion. The percentage of those able to cope with complex mental tasks has decreased significantly, the percentage of nurses who are overburdened with too many tasks has increased, 75% of them notice the impact of work on family life. Professional qualifications are being improved by 40% more of those surveyed than ten years ago, but 29% are attending fewer conferences and training courses, and 24% are introducing innovations into their workplace less than in 2012. A sense of meaningfulness and usefulness of the tasks performed at work is shared by 66% of respondents, previously 91% in 2012. The impact of the ward’s equipment on the work performed is now noted by 70% more nurses, and is considered by 66% of respondents as a factor giving greater job satisfaction, a decade ago it was 86% of respondents. Nursing staffing is considered sufficient by 34% more respondents than the previous survey showed. Far fewer respondents now perceive the impact of aggressive patient behaviour on their work. The percentage of respondents noticing conflicts with doctors increased by 72%. 77% more respondents feel they are treated fairly by their superiors than a decade ago. Low social prestige of the profession is noticed by only 6% of nurses.
 Conclusions. Nurses do not feel satisfaction with their work, even though they see a sense of purpose in the activities they undertake. This means that their need for development has been disrupted by low motivation both socially and economically, a sense of being undervalued and insufficient identification with the workplace. Most of the same people took part in the current survey as ten years ago, their attitude to their work has changed dramatically. Nurses are coping less well with their tasks. The work is associated with too much physical and mental strain. Relationships between nurses and patients and between nurses and other team members have changed. Nursing staffing in neurological and neurosurgical wards, where patients with severe conditions are often hospitalised, is insufficient. (JNNN 2022;11(3):114–123)

Motor Imagery Analysis from Extensive EEG Data Representations Using Convolutional Neural Networks.

Motor imagery is a complex mental task that represents muscular movement without the execution of muscular action, involving cognitive processes of motor planning and sensorimotor proprioception of the body. Since the mental task has similar behavior to that of the motor execution process, it can be used to create rehabilitation routines for patients with some motor skill impairment. However, due to the nature of this mental task, its execution is complicated. Hence, the classification of these signals in scenarios such as brain–computer interface systems tends to have a poor performance. In this work, we study in depth different forms of data representation of motor imagery EEG signals for distinct CNN-based models as well as novel EEG data representations including spectrograms and multidimensional raw data. With the aid of transfer learning, we achieve results up to 93% accuracy, exceeding the current state of the art. However, although these results are strong, they entail the use of high computational resources to generate the samples, since they are based on spectrograms. Thus, we searched further for alternative forms of EEG representations, based on 1D, 2D, and 3D variations of the raw data, leading to promising results for motor imagery classification that still exceed the state of the art. Hence, in this work, we focus on exploring alternative methods to process and improve the classification of motor imagery features with few preprocessing techniques.

The Psychosocial and Economic Effects of Caring for Terminally Ill Patients: The Case of Hospice Africa Uganda

Introduction Giving care to a patient at the end-of-life can be a challenging experience. The responsibilities of caregiving may include executing complex physical and mental tasks, financial planning, patient care, decision-making, emotional support and coordination of care. This mixed-methods observational study aims to identify the psychosocial and economic effects of caregiving for terminally-ill patients by carers on the Hospice Africa Uganda Kampala program. It used both quantitative and qualitative data of caregivers caring for terminally-ill patients attending Hospice Africa Uganda Kampala. Simple random sampling was conducted to select caregivers who were invited to participate in the study. Results Results indicate that the majority of patients who were receiving palliative care (60.9%, 103) had been diagnosed with cancer. Most participants (62%, n=105) had spent less than one year caring for their patients, while (18%, n=31) were cared for between 1-5 years. Our results show that the responsibility of caregiving has significant effects on the psychosocial well-being of caretakers. In particular, it reduced the amount of time they spent attending social gatherings and caring for their children, their religious commitment (p<0.05), as well as their level of fatigue and exhaustion (p<0.05), and negatively impacted job finding activities. Conclusion Terminal caregiving has significant effects on the psychosocial well-being and incomes of caretakers, and their ability to find a job alongside caring for the patient. Based on these findings, it is therefore recommended that caregivers be given ongoing support to help them provide care to their own family members and patients with life limiting illnesses early in the disease trajectory.

Синдром поліорганної недостатності в пацієнтів із тяжким перебігом коронавірусної хвороби (COVID-19)

У статті аналізуються механізми розвитку та клінічні прояви поліорганної дисфункції та синдрому поліорганної недостатності, що часто супроводжують тяжкий перебіг коронавірусного захворювання. Більше того, оскільки порушення роботи декількох органів під час тяжкого перебігу COVID-19 може бути спричинене «цитокіновим штормом», підвищенням рівня медіаторів запалення, дисфункцією ендотелію, порушенням згортання крові й інфільтрацією запальних клітин, необхідні подальші дослідження для виявлення точних механізмів патогенезу. Оскільки залучення кількох органів до патологічного процесу захворювання під час коронавірусної інфекції є важливою і надскладною медичною, розумовою, тактичною, фізичною, емоційною та економічною задачею як для клініцистів, так і для пацієнтів та їх родини, розширення знань про патологічний процес може допомогти поліпшити результати та зменшити рівень захворюваності та смертності. Наведено окремі результати власного досвіду лікування тяжких випадків коронавірусної хвороби.

Gait impairments on single and dual tasks in cerebral amyloid angiopathy

AbstractBackgroundCerebral Amyloid Angiopathy (CAA) is a small vessel disease wherein amyloid beta protein is deposited in the vessels of the cerebral cortex and leptomeninges. Little is known about CAA and gait impairment, even though gait is known to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We hypothesized that gait would be impaired in CAA compared to normal controls (NC), and that more complex mental tasks would elicit further impairments in AD compared to CAA.MethodParticipants were NC (n=44), non‐demented CAA (n=31), and mild AD‐dementia (n=16). The ProtoKinetics Walkway was used to capture footfalls over a 6 m walk during a single task (walking only) and two dual tasks of differing complexity (counting backwards by ones [simple task] and naming animals [complex task]). For gait velocity, the dual task cost was calculated as the percent change during dual task compared to preferred pace walking. Analysis of covariance was used to test group differences, controlling for age, sex, and height.ResultCAA participants were older and more likely to be men (Table 1). Gait parameters during preferred pace walk, dual task with counting backwards, and dual task with animal naming are shown in Tables 2‐4. Across all three tasks, both CAA and AD performed poorer than NC on mean Stride Length, Stride Length variability, mean Stride Time, mean Velocity, and mean Cadence. However, mean Stride Width, and Stride Width variability did not differ. There were no differences between CAA and AD (Tables 2‐4). On measures of Velocity, the dual task cost for going from single task to counting backwards (simple dual task) was greater in AD than NC but not in CAA than NC (Table 5). The dual task cost for going from single task to naming animals (complex dual task) was greater in AD than CAA and NC.ConclusionGait is impaired in CAA to a similar extent as in AD, however dual task cost was higher for AD possibly because of greater cognitive impairment. Future research should investigate causes of gait impairments in CAA, including the effects of hemorrhagic and ischemic lesions such as white matter hyperintensities.

Eye behavior predicts susceptibility to visual distraction during internally directed cognition

When we engage in internally directed cognition (e.g., planning or imagination), our eye behavior decouples from external stimuli and couples to internal representations (e.g., internal visualizations of ideas). Here, we investigated whether eye behavior predicts the susceptibility to visual distraction during internally directed cognition. To this end, participants performed a divergent thinking task, which required internally directed attention, and we measured distraction in terms of attention capture by unrelated images. We used multilevel mixed models to predict visual distraction by eye behavior right before distractor onset. In Study 1 (N = 38), visual distraction was predicted by increased saccade and blink rate, and higher pupil dilation. We replicated these findings in Study 2 using the same task, but with less predictable distractor onsets and a larger sample (N = 144). We also explored whether individual differences in susceptibility to visual distraction were related to cognitive ability and task performance. Taken together, variation in eye behavior was found to be a consistent predictor of visual distraction during internally directed cognition. This highlights the relevance of eye parameters as objective indicators of internal versus external attentional focus and distractibility during complex mental tasks.

Using Your Brain (Not Just Your Eyes) to Find Lost Objects

Think about how often you search your messy room for lost objects, or search the fridge for a snack. Visual search is the process of finding things like keys, lost toys, clothes, and anything else you may need to find. It is a complex mental task we perform countless times throughout each day. It seems relatively simple for us to find someone (like your friend in the hall at school), or to find places and things (like your favorite store at the mall, or your parents' car in the parking lot). But this mental task is a lot more complex than it seems. In this article, you will learn that visual search is more than just moving your eyes to the thing you are searching for. As you will come to find out, your brain is even more important than your eyes in helping you find lost objects.

Left Right Judgement Task and Sensory, Motor, and Cognitive Assessment in Participants with Wrist/Hand Pain.

The Left Right Judgement Task (LRJT) involves determining if an image of the body part is of the left or right side. The LRJT has been utilized as part of rehabilitation treatment programs for persons with pain associated with musculoskeletal injuries and conditions. Although studies often attribute changes and improvement in LRJT performance to an altered body schema, imaging studies suggest that the LRJT implicates other cortical regions. We hypothesized that cognitive factors would be related to LRJT performance of hands and feet and that sensory, motor, and pain related factors would be related to LRJT in the affected hand of participants with wrist/hand pain. In an observational cross-sectional study, sixty-one participants with wrist/hand pain participated in a study assessing motor imagery ability, cognitive (Stroop test), sensory (Two-Point Orientation Discrimination, pressure pain thresholds), motor (grip strength, Purdue Pegboard Test), and pain related measures (West Haven Yale Multidimensional Pain Inventory) as well as disability (Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand). Multiple linear regression found Stroop test time and motor imagery ability to be related to LRJT performance. Tactile acuity, motor performance, participation in general activities, and the taking of pain medications were predictors of LRJT accuracy in the affected hand. Participants who took pain medications performed poorly in both LRJT accuracy (p=0.001) and reaction time of the affected hand (p=0.009). These participants had poorer cognitive (p=0.013) and motor function (p=0.002), and higher pain severity scores (p=0.010). The results suggest that the LRJT is a complex mental task that involves cognitive, sensory, motor, and behavioural processes. Differences between persons with and without pain and improvement in LRJT performance may be attributed to any of these factors and should be considered in rehabilitation research and practice utilizing this task.

Response Time Reduction Due to Retesting in Mental Speed Tests: A Meta-Analysis.

As retest effects in cognitive ability tests have been investigated by various primary and meta-analytic studies, most studies from this area focus on score gains as a result of retesting. To the best of our knowledge, no meta-analytic study has been reported that provides sizable estimates of response time (RT) reductions due to retesting. This multilevel meta-analysis focuses on mental speed tasks, for which outcome measures often consist of RTs. The size of RT reduction due to retesting in mental speed tasks for up to four test administrations was analyzed based on 36 studies including 49 samples and 212 outcomes for a total sample size of 21,810. Significant RT reductions were found, which increased with the number of test administrations, without reaching a plateau. Larger RT reductions were observed in more complex mental speed tasks compared to simple ones, whereas age and test-retest interval mostly did not moderate the size of the effect. Although a high heterogeneity of effects exists, retest effects were shown to occur for mental speed tasks regarding RT outcomes and should thus be more thoroughly accounted for in applied and research settings.

MID-LIFE COMPLEX AND NOVEL ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT INCREASE CORTICOSTERONE AND EXACERBATE AB NEUROPATHOLOGY IN A MOUSE MODEL OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

Background: The biggest risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is advancing age, however modifiable factors such as level of education and job complexity are also associated with dementia risk. Complex cognitive activity has the potential to promote an array of neuroplastic alterations, and the ageing brain also has capacity to benefit from engaging in complex mental tasks. On the other hand, a high cognitive demand can induce stress. Findings from epidemiological studies have revealed that lifestyle factors, including stress, modulate the progression of AD. Methods: In this study we examined the effect of environmental enrichment (EE) initiated in mid-life in a transgenic (Tg) AD mouse model (APP/PS1) and healthy wildtype (Wt) mice. At 6 months of age, when the Tg mice have established Aβ plaque pathology, mice were randomly assigned to one of three different housing conditions for 6 months. Mice were randomly allocated to standard housing (SH), EE (toys, tunnels, running wheel, larger exploratory space), or EE+. Mice assigned to EE+ were housed in EE, however also entered a novel environment weekly. Following the 6-month differential housing period, we analysed the effect of environmental stimulation on Aβ pathological burden and blood corticosterone levels. Results: Tg AD mice housed in EE+ showed increased Aβ plaque pathology (M = 2.70%) compared to SH (M = 1.51%) or EE (M = 1.98%) mice (p = .02). In addition, they had significantly increased blood corticosterone levels (ng/mL) (SH M = 124.59; EE M = 133.03; EE+ M = 216.29, p = .01). Interestingly, the Tg EE+ mice demonstrated no significant cognitive differences to those in SH or EE despite increases in Aβ pathology and the stress marker corticosterone. In addition, healthy Wt mice in EE+ did not show this pattern of heightened corticosterone. Conclusions: Our data suggest that long-term complex environmental stimulation introduced later in life induces stress and exacerbates existing Aβ neuropathology in AD. The findings indicate that this kind of chronic stress may be a significant contributing factor in the development and progression of AD, particularly for those susceptible to the disease.

Influence of Subclinical Neck Pain on the Ability to Perform a Mental Rotation Task: A 4-Week Longitudinal Study With a Healthy Control Group Comparison

ObjectiveMental rotation of objects and the frame of reference of those objects are critical for executing correct and skillful movements and are important for object recognition, spatial navigation, and movement planning. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to compare the mental rotation ability of those with subclinical neck pain (SCNP) to healthy controls at baseline and after 4 weeks. MethodsTwenty-six volunteers (13 SCNP and 12 healthy controls) were recruited from a university student population. Subclinical neck pain participants had scores of mild to moderate on the Chronic Pain Grade Scale, and controls had minimal or no pain. For the mental rotation task, participants were presented with an object (letter “R”) on a computer screen presented randomly in either normal or backwards parity at various orientations (0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, 180°, 225°, 270°, and 315°). Participants indicated the object's parity by pressing “N” for normal or “B” for backwards. Each orientation for normal and backward parities was presented 5 times, and the average response time for all letter presentations was calculated for each participant, at baseline and 4 weeks later. ResultsBoth groups had overall improved response times from baseline to 4 weeks. Healthy participants had significantly improved response times compared to SCNP, both at baseline (P < .05) and 4 weeks (P < .05). ConclusionsHealthy participants performed better than the SCNP group at both time points. Subclinical neck pain may impair the ability to perform a complex mental rotation task involving cerebellar connections, possibly due to altered body schema.

Improved depth perception with three-dimensional auxiliary display and computer generated three-dimensional panoramic overviews in robot-assisted laparoscopy.

In comparison to open surgery, endoscopic surgery offers impaired depth perception and narrower field-of-view. To improve depth perception, the Da Vinci robot offers three-dimensional (3-D) video on the console for the surgeon but not for assistants, although both must collaborate. We improved the shared perception of the whole surgical team by connecting live 3-D monitors to all three available Da Vinci generations, probed user experience after two years by questionnaire, and compared time measurements of a predefined complex interaction task performed with a 3-D monitor versus two-dimensional. Additionally, we investigated whether the complex mental task of reconstructing a 3-D overview from an endoscopic video can be performed by a computer and shared among users. During the study, 925 robot-assisted laparoscopic procedures were performed in three hospitals, including prostatectomies, cystectomies, and nephrectomies. Thirty-one users participated in our questionnaire. Eighty-four percent preferred 3-D monitors and 100% reported spatial-perception improvement. All participating urologists indicated quicker performance of tasks requiring delicate collaboration (e.g., clip placement) when assistants used 3-D monitors. Eighteen users participated in a timing experiment during a delicate cooperation task in vitro. Teamwork was significantly (40%) faster with the 3-D monitor. Computer-generated 3-D reconstructions from recordings offered very wide interactive panoramas with educational value, although the present embodiment is vulnerable to movement artifacts.

The relation of susceptibility levels of hypnosis and different mental tasks

The analysis of electroencephalogram (EEG) signals plays an important role in a various applications. EEG during pure hypnosis has different characteristics compared to normal non-hypnotic EEG especially in the frontal area of the brain. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether there is any similarity between different levels of hypnosis susceptibility and mental tasks using Fuzzy Similarity Index (FSI) method. In the first step, some of nonlinear features of EEG signals extracted; the next part of this method is to calculate the similarity between the features set of the reference segment (mental tasks) and the test segment (hypnosis signal) using fuzzy measure. Our results demonstrate that FSI is suitable for discriminating the relations between different status of brain activity in the non-hypnotic and hypnosis EEG signals. The more complex mental task, the behavior of the brain is more like a hypnotic state. Our results confirm previous ones that more activity of the right hemisphere during hypnosis was reported in right-hand subjects.

Sex differences in event-related potential components during the solution of complex mental rotation tasks

The objective of the study was to evaluate the factor of sex in terms of its influence on event-related potential components during the solution of a complex mental rotation task. To evaluate the factor of sex, independent of differences in ability levels and hormonal changes, women and men were equalized with respect to general intelligence and spatial ability. In addition, all women were tested during the low-estrogen phase of the menstrual cycle. The event-related potential analysis indicated that men showed shorter P3 and longer P1 latencies, as well as lower N1 amplitudes. These results suggest that men devoted more time to the analysis of irrelevant information presented in the rotation tasks, which resulted in mental rotation taking place earlier in men than in women. It can be concluded that, even though men and women showed similar performances on complex rotation tasks, they differed in their solution processes.

Wavelet packet-based independent component analysis for feature extraction from motor imagery EEG of complex movements

ObjectiveThe main goal of this study was to develop a novel spatial filtering method for better extracting the feature information underlying the event-related de-synchronisation and synchronisation (ERD/ERS) during complex motor imagery of lower limb action. MethodsThe algorithm used a wavelet packet-based independent component analysis (WPICA) method to extract the ERD/ERS patterns in different frequency bands. Time–frequency decomposition in the wavelet packet domain was designed to avoid the statistical correlation between different electroencephalographic (EEG) rhythms. The subband-specific principal components were extracted after independent component analysis and projected back to the time–frequency domain of corresponding electrodes for better fitting the varying EEG spatial distributions. ResultsThe present method was tested with the EEG data from 10 human subjects performing three complex mental tasks (i.e., imagery standing up, imagery left/right foot movement combined with homolateral hand movement). A classification rate of about 80% was achieved using the WPICA-based technique, which is better than the traditional ICA method with the rate of 72.30% and the non-spatial filtering condition of 68.34%. ConclusionsWe developed a novel spatial filtering method based on WPICA to extract the ERD/ERS patterns in different frequency bands. The overall performance of this algorithm was better than that of the conventional methods. SignificanceThe current method promised to provide an effective way for ERD/ERS patterns recognition and thus could improve the pattern classification performance of complex mental tasks from scalp EEGs.

Mental rotation: Cross-task training and generalization.

It is well established that performance on standard mental rotation tasks improves with training (Peters et al., 1995), but thus far there is little consensus regarding the degree of transfer to other tasks which also involve mental rotation. In Experiment 1, we assessed the effect of mental rotation training on participants' Mental Rotation Test (MRT) scores. Twenty-eight participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a "One-Day Training," "Spaced Training," or "No Training" group. Participants who received training achieved higher scores on the MRT, an advantage that was still evident after 1 week. Distribution of training did not affect performance. Experiment 2 assessed generalization of mental rotation training to a more complex mental rotation task, laparoscopic surgery. Laparoscopic surgical skills were assessed using Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) tasks. Thirty-four participants were randomly assigned to a "Full Mental Rotation Training, MRT and FLS," "MRT and FLS," or "FLS-only" group. MRT results from Experiment 1 were replicated and mental rotation training was found to elicit higher scores on the MRT. Further, mental rotation training was found to generalize to certain laparoscopic surgical tasks. Participants who obtained mental rotation training performed significantly better on mental-rotation dependent surgical tasks than participants who did not receive training. Therefore, surgical training programs can use simple computer or paper-based mental rotation training instead of more expensive materials to enhance certain aspects of surgical performance of trainees.

The Effects of a Secondary Task on Forward and Backward Walking in Parkinson's Disease

People with Parkinson's disease (PD) often fall while multitasking or walking backward, unavoidable activities in daily living. Dual tasks involving cognitive demand during gait and unfamiliar motor skills, such as backward walking, could identify those with fall risk, but dual tasking while walking backward has not been examined in those with PD, those who experience freezing of gait (FOG), or healthy older controls. A total of 78 people with PD (mean age = 65.1 +/-9.5 years; female, 28%) and 74 age-matched and sex-matched controls (mean age = 65.0 +/-10.0 years; female, 23%) participated. A computerized walkway measured gait velocity, stride length, swing percent, stance percent, cadence, heel to heel base of support, functional ambulation profile, and gait asymmetry during forward and backward walking with and without a secondary cognitive task. Direction and task effects on walking performance were similar between healthy controls and those with PD. However, those with PD were more affected than controls, and freezers were more affected than nonfreezers, by backward walking and dual tasking. Walking backward seemed to affect gait more than dual tasking in those with PD,although the subset of freezers appeared particularly affected by both challenges. People with PD are impaired while performing complex motor and mental tasks simultaneously,which may put them at risk for falling. Those with FOG are more adversely affected by both motor and mental challenges than those without. Evaluation of backward walking while performing a secondary task might be an effective clinical tool to identify locomotor difficulties.

Dynamic Changes in the Mental Rotation Network Revealed by Pattern Recognition Analysis of fMRI Data

We investigated the temporal dynamics and changes in connectivity in the mental rotation network through the application of spatio-temporal support vector machines (SVMs). The spatio-temporal SVM [Mourao-Miranda, J., Friston, K. J., et al. (2007). Dynamic discrimination analysis: A spatial-temporal SVM. Neuroimage, 36, 88-99] is a pattern recognition approach that is suitable for investigating dynamic changes in the brain network during a complex mental task. It does not require a model describing each component of the task and the precise shape of the BOLD impulse response. By defining a time window including a cognitive event, one can use spatio-temporal fMRI observations from two cognitive states to train the SVM. During the training, the SVM finds the discriminating pattern between the two states and produces a discriminating weight vector encompassing both voxels and time (i.e., spatio-temporal maps). We showed that by applying spatio-temporal SVM to an event-related mental rotation experiment, it is possible to discriminate between different degrees of angular disparity (0 degrees vs. 20 degrees , 0 degrees vs. 60 degrees , and 0 degrees vs. 100 degrees ), and the discrimination accuracy is correlated with the difference in angular disparity between the conditions. For the comparison with highest accuracy (0 degrees vs. 100 degrees ), we evaluated how the most discriminating areas (visual regions, parietal regions, supplementary, and premotor areas) change their behavior over time. The frontal premotor regions became highly discriminating earlier than the superior parietal cortex. There seems to be a parcellation of the parietal regions with an earlier discrimination of the inferior parietal lobe in the mental rotation in relation to the superior parietal. The SVM also identified a network of regions that had a decrease in BOLD responses during the 100 degrees condition in relation to the 0 degrees condition (posterior cingulate, frontal, and superior temporal gyrus). This network was also highly discriminating between the two conditions. In addition, we investigated changes in functional connectivity between the most discriminating areas identified by the spatio-temporal SVM. We observed an increase in functional connectivity between almost all areas activated during the 100 degrees condition (bilateral inferior and superior parietal lobe, bilateral premotor area, and SMA) but not between the areas that showed a decrease in BOLD response during the 100 degrees condition.

Mum's the Word: Intersubjectivity, Alterity, and the Maternal Subject

Where motherhood and ethics are brought together, it is usually under the rubric of an “ethic of care,” with the mother-child relationship figured as a paradigmatic example of such an ethic. In this article I make use of Levinas' account of ethics as first philosophy to flesh out a notion of “maternal alterity” as an alternative to a maternal ethics based on the various complex mental and emotional tasks that make up care. This represents an attempt to recuperate something for the mother out of her often bewildering encounter with the enigmatic otherness of her child. Situating Levinas alongside a dialogue between Jessica Benjamin and Judith Butler on intersubjectivity, I attempt to disentangle maternal subjectivity from the developing subjectivity of the child and offer an account of the maternal subject as an ethical subject situated, perhaps, “otherwise” to a discourse of care.

The human brain.

The human brain is an organ with distinct regions that mediate specific cerebral functions; regions are linked together into cerebral systems that mediate complex mental tasks. Even though the cellular constituents of brain regions can be similar (large neurons, interneurons, glia, and neurophil), their local and long tract connections are distinctive, as are aspects of their anatomy and neurochemistry. Almost all regions are structurally and functionally plastic well into maturity. The cerebral cortex has distinct regions (frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital); subcortical structures (basal ganglia, thalamus, hypothalamus) interact with the cortex, often topographically. The cortex, both limbic and neocortex, is organized into layers that subserve its inputs, local circuits, and outputs. Even without a full understanding of how the human brain functions, systems of regional classification have sprung up to facilitate communication. One of the best known is the Brodmann’s Area classification, a system based on cellular morphology. Brodmann divided the cerebral regions into 46 surface areas. The regional demarcations are still used today because they describe regions that may be a “unit” size for behavioral function and are an easy descriptive tool. Both anatomic and functional features of the human brain are often mapped onto Brodmann’s areas.