Figurative Aspects Research Articles

Entendeu, ou quer que eu desenhe?

Neste ensaio, busca-se discutir os aspectos figurativos e operativos envolvidos na construção dos conceitos científicos e, mais especificamente, o papel da imagem mental como suporte figurativo para o estabelecimento das relações lógicas implicadas na construção desses conceitos. Além disso, busca-se contribuir para a discussão da formação dos conceitos científicos em alunos do ensino superior.

Cortical responses to contextual influences in amodal completion

Amodal completion refers to the process in the visual system that enables us to perceive partly occluded objects as whole objects. Both the overall shape of a visual object (global aspect) and the region immediately surrounding the occluder (local aspect) are known to determine the process of completion. We investigated the influence of overall shape context in completion on human brain activity using MEG recordings. Subjects were presented with two different types of shapes that were partly occluded by a rectangle. In the so-called convergent shapes, the local and global contexts trigger the same completion, and in the so-called divergent shapes, local and global contexts trigger different completions. The occluder was removed after 1 s, revealing the whole (completed) shape where expectancies based on the local and global context could either be fulfilled or violated. We found an early (from 200 ms on) left occipital component, which was predominantly sensitive to the figural aspects of the uncovered continuation, but was also modulated by the congruency between the physical shape and the perceived shape (based on the contextual cues). In contrast, an early right occipital component and a later (400 ms) anterior temporal component were sensitive only to the congruency between the physical and the perceived shape, showing the relevance of the global context in amodal completion.

Syndromes majeurs de l'hémisphère mineur

For more than 50 years, the right hemisphere is no longer considered the minor partner of the brain. Several syndromes that preferentially emerge after right hemisphere damage (such as unilateral spatial neglect, anosognosia, topographical disorientation and dysprosody) have shown its dominant role on the left hemisphere. Such contexts confirm that, in physiological conditions, the right hemisphere has a central role in those attention and polymodal sensorial integration processes that are necessary for self- and environment appraisal. The pathogenesis of the right hemisphere specific syndromes is an active domain of neurosciences research. The confabulatory phenomena that characterize the anosognosia, misidentification syndromes, or other neuropsychiatric conditions due to right brain damage, give further relevance to the role of right polymodal associative brain areas in the neural process that elaborates self and environment awareness. Another field of interest is the role of the right brain in emotional processes. Although lexical and linguistic abilities depend on the left hemisphere, the right hemisphere plays a central role in the affective aspects of communication such as prosody and comprehension of facial expressions, and in the understanding of abstractions and figurative aspects of language. The individual with extensive right brain damage almost always seems to adequately communicate in superficial conversations, without evident phonological impairment, but with a more detailed analysis he may appear less communicative, distracted or abrupt, verbose but less perspicacious and emotionally flat. Unlike aphasic syndromes due to left hemisphere damage, right brain communicative deficits may not be integrated in any cognitive or anatomo-functional model but they are the subject of very active neuropsychological and neurophysiological research.

Miradas que peregrinan: a Santiago desde Aránzazu

The text aims to show the importance of constructed experience in time and the continuity that patient search provides in creative work in the face of the common tendency for criticism of confusion between operative levels, this being achieved by means of parallel commentary on purely figurative aspects. Based on the joint experience of Oiza and Oteiza in Aranzazu and their constructive process, a new interpretation of the innovative Chapel project on the Camino de Santiago is proposed, which defends both the value of constructed experience in the architectural project faced with the excessively protagonist role conferred on ideological and iconographic aspects such as the constant migration of dense perceptions, views charged with outside elements which are the basis for the architects creative memory, views which are carried from one project to another.

Contextual influences in amodal completion: evidence from magnetic brain responses

In the process of perceiving partly occluded objects as whole objects, so-called amodal completion, there are two influences that can lead to qualitatively different sorts of completions. Global influences originate from the overall figural aspects of the shape, while local influences originate from parts of the shape. Here we measured the influence of these contextual aspects of partly occluded shapes using MEG recordings. Subjects were presented with a partly occluded shape, and after 1 s the occluder was removed, revealing a physical (possible) completion. There were two sorts of partly occluded shapes: one in which global and local influences result in different perceived completions, so-called ambiguous shapes, and another in which local and global influences result in the same perceived completion, so-called convergent shapes. We found an early left-occipital component, which was sensitive to both the figural aspects of the physical completion and the congruence between the physical completion and the perceived completion. In contrast, an early right-occipital component and a later anterior temporal component were sensitive only to the congruence between the physical completion and the perceived completion. We conclude that the left early component may reflect the figural aspects of the physical completion, modulated by the contextual aspects, whereas the early right-occipital component and the later component mainly reflect the violation of the expectancy of the perceived completion that was built up by the context.

Earning One's Inheritance: Rhetorical Criticism, Everyday Talk, and the Analysis of Public Discourse

This article answers critical and theoretical calls for the study of ordinary talk by analyzing a transcribed speech in which Alvertis Simmons, a member of the Denver, Colorado, African American community, engaged a panel of school board officials on the topic of racial stereotypes in an elementary school science experiment. Simmons's discourse can be shown symbolically to reorganize features of integrationist and nationalist ways of speaking-two dominant strands of mid- to late-twentieth century African American public address. Building a theory of "oratorical influence" from these intertextual relationships, this essay concludes that the force of public discourse may reside less in a speaker's ability to persuade an audience than in an audience's willingness to recycle and revise figural aspects of a speaker's discourse in their everyday talk. An interpretive stance such as this can encourage rhetorical critics to expand their objects of critique, to include more ordinary ways of speaking that follow after highly styled public texts.

Sweet's syndrome in a woman with a prothrombin gene (G20210A) mutation

A 46-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with tender, erythematous plaques on her palms of 1-year duration (Fig. 1). She had a history of fever and upper respiratory tract infection. On dermatological examination, there were found to be tender erythematous papules and plaques on the palms. Physical examination was normal. Ophthalmologic examination revealed bilateral episcleritis. Laboratory tests showed the following values: white blood cell count, 15,600 cells/µL with 3% band forms, 74% segmented neutrophils, 3% monocytes, and 20% lymphocytes; red blood cell count, 4.53 × 106 cells/µL; hemoglobin, 13.2 g/dL; hematocrit value, 40.9%, and platelet count, 241 × 109 platelets/µL. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 52 mm/ h, and the C-reactive protein level was 38.8 mg/dL. Cultures from blood and throat swabs for bacteria revealed no pathogenic growths. Urinanalysis, liver and kidney function tests were within normal limits. Antinuclear, anti-DNA, and antiphospholipid antibodies were negative, and total C3 and C4 complement levels were normal. In histopathological examination, large infiltrates of neutrophils and nuclear dust were seen in a diffuse pattern within the edematous dermis. There were scattered neutrophils within the epidermis. The vascular endothelial cells were plump, but there was no fibrin in the wall of the venules (Figs 2 and 3). In addition, there was a heterozygous prothrombin (G20210A) gene mutation in rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. She had no history of venous thrombosis or hematologic disorders. The following coagulation and thrombophilic tests were normal: activated protein C ratio (2.6; normal > 2), protein C (84%; normal: 78–106%), prothrombin time (9.8 s; normal: 7–13 s), activated partial thromboplastin time (29.6 s; normal: 22.6–35.0 s), fibrinogen (312 mg/dL; normal: 146–400 mg/dL), bleeding time (30 s, Duke method), and clotting time (5 min, Lee-White method). Chest X-ray, abdominal ultrasound findings and tumor marker levels were normal. Based on clinical, laboratory and histopathological findings a diagnosis of Sweet's syndrome associated with prothrombin gene mutation was made. The skin lesions resolved rapidly on treatment with wet compresses of Burrow's solution and oral prednisolone (1 mg/kg). The dose of prednisolone was gradually reduced, and was discontinued after 4 weeks. Figure 1. Erythematous plaques on the palmar aspect of the hand Download figure to PowerPoint Figure 2. Large infiltrates of neutrophils and nuclear dust of neutrophils were seen in a diffuse pattern in the dermis (hematoxylin and eosin, ×65) Download figure to PowerPoint Figure 3. Higher magnification of Fig. 2 (hematoxylin and eosin, ×130) Download figure to PowerPoint

Le rêve touche au mort. Du rêver au créer — la montée des visages

In this study, from a model of the dream and its function of presenting a visual enactment of the traces recalled in memory of times gone by, we shall attempt to analyze the very nature of the images that appear therein. We advance the hypothesis that these visual reminders signify the living return of a death, and of the sometimes malformed presence that triggers emotions such as distress, a disturbing sense of strangeness, a feeling of other-wordliness... The subject is “contaminated” by an image of the dead that he does not yet recognize, but which the figurative aspects of the dream and also the creation of images in artistic work render possible. It appears to the present author that both states, i.e. creation, and the dream (which is not creation, but imposation, the passing of images onto the screen provided by the dream) concern the evanescent aspect of death, and attempt to optically capture what is the most unfamiliar aspect of these images. It is by touching that eyes sees the dead, and it is from this contact that the creative work can be born. In this sense, the creation of a work becomes a sacrifical rite of commemoration of the dead by the “exhuming”, to quote the words of an artist in connection with his work. The image redresses (i.e. makes vertical) those traces buried in the most ancient of strata. The moment an image is recognized is in this sense a form of “discovery”, which then leads to recall of the past, and then to the creative act. It is from these psychic/plastic elements that we reconstitute an appearance for that which is absent. It is in so doing that the faces of the right then “come to light”.

A variable mapping task produces symmetrical interference between global information and local information

When processing global and local aspects of compound visual figures, a robust finding is that global targets are detected faster and more accurately than local targets. Moreover, unidirectional interference is often observed. Despite the convincing evidence that global information and local information are available together, when attention is focused on the global level, items from the local level often have very little, if any, effect on behavior. If local information is available with global information, then why is global dominance so often observed under such a wide range of conditions? This paper is concerned with the fate of the ignored, and apparently ineffective, local distractors. In our experiments, at least one critical factor was stimulus-response (S-R) mapping. We compared a consistent S-R task, which facilitated a speed advantage for global, with a variable S-R task, which required a higher degree of semantic analysis for each stimulus. The two tasks produced large differences in behavior, showing unidirectional interference in the consistent S-R task, and strong bidirectional interference in the variable S-R task. Thus, the identity of ignored local distractors was available, even under conditions that favored focused attention to global information. The results provide support for a model in which global processing proceeds more quickly at early perceptual stages and in which local processing can catch up if processing demands are increased at later stages.

Motor cortical activity during drawing movements: population representation during spiral tracing.

Monkeys traced spirals on a planar surface as unitary activity was recorded from either premotor or primary motor cortex. Using the population vector algorithm, the hand's trajectory could be accurately visualized with the cortical activity throughout the task. The time interval between this prediction and the corresponding movement varied linearly with the instantaneous radius of curvature; the prediction interval was longer when the path of the finger was more curved (smaller radius). The intervals in the premotor cortex fell into two groups, whereas those in the primary motor cortex formed a single group. This suggests that the change in prediction interval is a property of a single population in primary motor cortex, with the possibility that this outcome is due to the different properties generated by the simultaneous action of separate subpopulations in premotor cortex. Electromyographic (EMG) activity and joint kinematics were also measured in this task. These parameters varied harmonically throughout the task with many of the same characteristics as those of single cortical cells. Neither the lags between joint-angular velocities and hand velocity nor the lags between EMG and hand velocity could explain the changes in prediction interval between cortical activity and hand velocity. The simple spatial and temporal relationship between cortical activity and finger trajectory suggests that the figural aspects of this task are major components of cortical activity.

Response from Paulesu and Mehler

As discussed by ourselves[1xRight on in sign language. Paulesu, E. and Mehler, J. Nature. 1998; 392: 233–234Crossref | PubMed | Scopus (17)See all References][1]and also by Hickok and colleagues in the preceding comment[2xWhat's right about the neural organization of sign language? A perspective on recent neuroimaging results. Hickok, G., Bellugi, U., and Klima, E. Trends Cognit. Sci. 1998; 2: 465–468Abstract | Full Text | Full Text PDF | PubMed | Scopus (33)See all References][2]and elsewhere[3xLanguage, modality and the brain. Bellugi, U., Poizner, H., and Klima, E. Trends Neurosci. 1989; 12: 380–388Abstract | Full Text PDF | PubMed | Scopus (79)See all References][3], we believe that the available evidence from fMRI and other studies points to a left hemispheric dominance for language, even in the case of sign language[4xThe neurobiology of sign language and its implications for the neural basis of language. Hickok, G., Bellugi, U., and Klima, E. Nature. 1996; 381: 699–702Crossref | PubMed | Scopus (97)See all References, 5xNeural correlates of thinking in sign language. McGuire, P. et al. NeuroReport. 1997; 8: 695–698Crossref | PubMedSee all References, 6xSign language aphasia during left-hemisphere Amytal injection. Damasio, A. et al. Nature. 1986; 322: 363–365Crossref | PubMed | Scopus (35)See all References]. However, while the left hemispheric activations seen in recent imaging data for sign language could be largely predicted from lesion data, we are still inclined to believe, in contrast to Hickok et al.[2xWhat's right about the neural organization of sign language? A perspective on recent neuroimaging results. Hickok, G., Bellugi, U., and Klima, E. Trends Cognit. Sci. 1998; 2: 465–468Abstract | Full Text | Full Text PDF | PubMed | Scopus (33)See all References][2], that the right hemispheric activations described by Neville et al.[7xCerebral organization for language in deaf and hearing subjects: biological constraints and effects of experience. Neville, H. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 1998; 95: 922–929Crossref | PubMed | Scopus (302)See all References][7]are not artefactual—even though a real surprise, given the expectation from patient data. The baseline for the sign-language comprehension task used by Neville et al. (observation of non-linguistic gestures made by a signer) was closely matched to the experimental task. Auditory-language comprehension tasks using a similarly close baseline, such as backwards speech, do not show such prominent activations in the right hemisphere[8xThe bilingual brain: proficiency and age of acquisition of the second language. Perani, D. et al. Brain. 1998; 121: 1841–1852Crossref | PubMed | Scopus (370)See all References][8].As we proposed in our commentary[1xRight on in sign language. Paulesu, E. and Mehler, J. Nature. 1998; 392: 233–234Crossref | PubMed | Scopus (17)See all References][1], reconciliation of the mismatch between functional imaging and lesion data will require further investigations on both sides. Even if our suggestion[1xRight on in sign language. Paulesu, E. and Mehler, J. Nature. 1998; 392: 233–234Crossref | PubMed | Scopus (17)See all References][1]turned out to be true—that the right hemispheric activations seen for sign language by Neville et al. could have been due to prosodic processing[9xDominant language functions of the right hemisphere? Prosody and emotional gesturing. Ross, E. and Mesulam, M. Arch. Neurol. 1979; 36: 144–148Crossref | PubMed | Scopus (381)See all References][9]—this would still be a challenge for our understanding of the biological causes of the regional brain distribution of linguistic competences in both hearing and congenitally deaf subjects. Left-sided `dominance', together with right-sided linguistic competence of the kind seen in hearing subjects[9xDominant language functions of the right hemisphere? Prosody and emotional gesturing. Ross, E. and Mesulam, M. Arch. Neurol. 1979; 36: 144–148Crossref | PubMed | Scopus (381)See all References, 10xThe role of the right hemisphere in the interpretation of figurative aspects of language: a positron emission tomography activation study. Bottini, G. et al. Brain. 1994; 117: 1231–1253Crossref | PubMed | Scopus (407)See all References], is a complex scenario that is not evaluated by the hypotheses usually discussed in neuro-linguistics and neither is it discussed by Hickok et al. in their present comment.

Effects of temporal lobe epilepsy on spatial and figural aspects of memory for a complex geometric figure.

The preoperative delayed memory performance on the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (Lezak, 1983) of 54 patients with complex partial seizures of temporal lobe origin was analyzed using 3 different indices. One index (composite) was derived using a common scoring method that included both spatial and figural aspects of memory in its score. The other two indices were derived emphasizing either spatial or figural aspects of memory for the elements of the figure separately. All 3 indices distinguished between individuals with right-sided (RTLE) and left-sided (LTLE) seizure onset. However, spatial memory was significantly lower than figural memory in individuals with RTLE as compared to those with LTLE. Both the spatial and figural memory indices were significantly lower in the presence of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evidence for hippocampal sclerosis in individuals with RTLE. Results suggest that while both the spatial and figural aspects of nonverbal memory are sensitive to right hippocampal dysfunction, figural memory may be less vulnerable to the effects of RTLE.

Evolution of Principles of Stereotactic Neurosurgery

Stereotactic neurosurgery is the arena in which the past meets the present on many levels. Preserved skulls from South America, Africa, and Europe testify to man's early attempts at cranial surgery. Stereotactic approaches and systems, as well as the new innovative interactive image-guided devices, are efforts to explore and treat the afflictions of the human brain in both its literal and figurative aspects.

Effet de la déformation de la série sur la conservation de l'ordre de longueur en fonction de l'âge

Studies on length seriation suggested that subjects fall back on spatial properties of the series (the staircase) to put lengths in order. The aim of presented research is to determine the role of this vivid representation of type « staircase » in the organization and the control of length seriation tasks. 80 subjects aged 7 to 11 years were asked to construct a series behind a screen in an irregular-bottomed box, that deforms the global shape of the series, while keeping the order. When subjects see their result (deformed) most of them call the order constructed before into question. These results corroborate that, at least before 11, subjects estimate that if the series hasn't the shape of a staircase, lengths are not in order. Finally, we emphasize the importance of the place hold by figurative aspects of the thought in seriation tasks.

Images, power, and politics: figurative aspects of Esarhaddon's Babylonian policy

Images, power, and politics: figurative aspects of Esarhaddon's Babylonian policy

Gods' Intervention and Epiphany in Sophocles

As I have illustrated in three recent papers, the Iliad and the Odyssey use different emphases in presenting the physical figure of the gods when the divine beings intervene among mortals and are perceived as being there (epiphany). It is difficult to summarize a complex matter in a few words, but I may safely say that the Iliad does not invite its reader to imagine the shape and the form of the divine bodies and does not claim to describe them in their visible appearance, but either presents the divine beings in disguised human figures or covers their physical presence with extreme reticence. With a very few exceptions, the text lets us imagine nothing of the semblance of the epiphanic god. We confront, so to speak, a blank figure. Often the hero recognizes only the voice of the god: this is the only way through which Odysseus receives and recognizes the presence of Athena (II. 2.282, 6 6e ^vve,xE 0eFag 6ojn ()ov0oVTorag, and 10.512). Gods have a special voice that sometimes makes them recognizable even when they appear in disguise. The invisibility of the gods is not an easy concept. It is representable by language as the negative speech act that declares that their full manifestation is intolerable for human senses and unutterable. At the sight of the goddess's luminous beauty Metaneira remains without voice (aphthongos) (Hymn to Demeter 275-80). Accordingly, it is starting from their invisibility that their visibility becomes thinkable and imaginable, but it becomes so in the mode of its unutterability, in the mode of the unsayable. When in the Iliad the gods are imagined as presenting themselves disguised, they generally assume the aspect of a familiar figure, one that the hero to whom the god presents himself or herself easily recognizes. When the Iliad presents an anonymous disguise, as in 21.285, we know only that Poseidon and Athena look like men (andressi eikten) and nothing more. Tie Odyssey practically ignores the technique of the blank figure, and the recognition by the mere voice. This poem prefers the disguised epiphany that is staged in a lavish way. We have Athena in the disguised figure of Mentor, traveling with Telemachos through the Mediterranean

The role of the right hemisphere in the interpretation of figurative aspects of language. A positron emission tomography activation study.

We investigated cerebral activity in six normal volunteers using PET to explore the hypothesis that the right hemisphere has a specific role in the interpretation of figurative aspects of language such as metaphors. We also mapped the anatomical structures involved in sentence comprehension. During regional cerebral blood flow measurement subjects were asked to perform three different linguistic tasks: (i) metaphorical comprehension; (ii) literal comprehension of sentences; and (iii) a lexical-decision task. We found that comprehension of sentences compared with the lexical-decision task, induced extensive activation in several regions of the left hemisphere, including the prefrontal and basal frontal cortex, the middle and inferior temporal gyri and temporal pole, the parietal cortex and the precuneus. Comprehension of metaphors was associated with similar activations in the left hemisphere, but in addition, a number of sites were activated in the right hemisphere: the prefrontal cortex, the middle temporal gyrus, the precuneus and the posterior cingulate. We conclude that the interpretation of language involves widespread distributed systems bilaterally with the right hemisphere having a special role in the appreciation of metaphors.

Laterality, Implicit Memory and Attention Disorder

Summary Children who presented behaviours characteristic of attention disorder/hyper‐activity deficit (ADHD), but who were functioning adequately in ordinary schools, were assessed on a range of tests including some focused particularly on cognitive abilities, including verbal and figural aspects of problem solving and creativity. An attempt was made to replicate an earlier study, incorporating refinements to the manner in which pupils were selected from the schools. In spite of cultural differences, the pattern of results substantially duplicated the earlier findings, suggesting a stable pattern of characteristics associated with ADHD and high intelligence. Specifically these children were found to have more mixed laterality and allergies, to gather and use more diverse, nonverbal and poorly focused information, and to show higher figural creativity than did high‐IQ children without attention problems. It was concluded that uncommon information was made use of by ADHD children when exhibiting novelty in ...

Perception of ambiguous figures after focal brain lesions

Forty patients with unilateral frontal or posterior brain damage and 20 normal control subjects were tested on an ambiguous figures task (AFT). For each figure they were asked to recognize both ambiguous images. Subjects failing to recognize the second aspect of an ambiguous figure were prompted with the name of the image not yet perceived. The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) was also administered to all subjects. Frontal patients exhibited greater difficulty in shifting from one aspect of an ambiguous figure to the other than did patients with more posterior lesions and control subjects. In addition, frontal-posterior and control differences were highly significant for number of prompts given. For the frontal patients, significant correlations were found between the number of prompts on the AFT and the number of perseverative errors on the WCST. Poor performance on the AFT can be considered as a “frontal lobe sign” of perceptual perseveration.

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the oral soft tissues

Between 1944 and 1984, six patients with a malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the oral soft tissues were treated at the M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute. From the time of the first description of this tumor until 1984, another 10 documented cases of malignant fibrous histocytoma involving the oral soft tissues were reported in the English-language literature. With respect to these 16 patients (including our 6 cases), the clinicopathologic aspects of malignant fibrous histiocytoma, treatment, and survival figures are discussed. The treatment of choice is early and radical surgery, including neck dissection, since in four of the six patients treated at the M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute regional lymph node metastases were found. The response to chemotherapy, except for the response of patients with the inflammatory type of malignant fibrous histiocytoma, and radiotherapy is usually poor. The 2-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates respectively, are, 36%, 30%, and 20%.