Medical Research Council Unit Research Articles

Medial Rostral Prefrontal Cortex and the Episodic Prospection of Future Rewards

Event Abstract Back to Event Medial Rostral Prefrontal Cortex and the Episodic Prospection of Future Rewards R G Benoit1, 2*, P W Burgess1 and S J Gilbert1 1 University College London, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, United Kingdom 2 Medical Research Council, Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, United Kingdom Humans can vividly envisage possible future episodes. This study tested the adaptive significance of this faculty: Pre-experiencing the future might bias decisions towards farsighted choices. Moreover, using functional MRI, the hypothesis was tested that medial rostral prefrontal cortex (mrPFC) might be involved in processing the reward value of the pre-experienced event. Therefore, participants considered different amounts of money in two tasks. They either imagined specific episodes of spending the money (e.g., £35 in 90 days at a Pub), or merely estimated what it could purchase in the scenario. The former task was associated with a stronger feeling of experiencing an event. Following each trial, participants made an intertemporal choice, i.e., they indicated their preference for either a larger reward that would only be delivered after a delay (e.g., £35 in 90 days) or a smaller reward that they would receive immediately. Consistent with the hypothesis, the larger but delayed reward was chosen more often following the Imagine than the Estimate task. In addition, BOLD signal in overlapping aspects of mrPFC was (i) greater during the former task, (ii) modulated by the reward value of the imagined event (e.g., £35), and (iii) predictive of the degree of future-oriented choices. Conference: The 20th Annual Rotman Research Institute Conference, The frontal lobes, Toronto, Canada, 22 Mar - 26 Mar, 2010. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Cognitive Neuroscience Citation: Benoit R, Burgess P and Gilbert S (2010). Medial Rostral Prefrontal Cortex and the Episodic Prospection of Future Rewards. Conference Abstract: The 20th Annual Rotman Research Institute Conference, The frontal lobes. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2010.14.00093 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 29 Jun 2010; Published Online: 29 Jun 2010. * Correspondence: R G Benoit, University College London, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, London, United Kingdom, roland.benoit@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers R G Benoit P W Burgess S J Gilbert Google R G Benoit P W Burgess S J Gilbert Google Scholar R G Benoit P W Burgess S J Gilbert PubMed R G Benoit P W Burgess S J Gilbert Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

From metabolic cycles to compartmentation: another first for Krebs

Professor Sir Hans Krebs, who was always referred to as ‘Prof’, is best known for his elucidation of two metabolic cycles: the urea (or ornithine) cycle in 1932 and the tricarboxylic acid (or citric acid or Krebs) cycle in 1937, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize (Physiology) in 1953. The urea cycle was elucidated while he was in Freiburg and the tricarboxylic acid cycle during his time in Sheffield. In 1954, Krebs moved to Oxford where, together with his student Hans Kornberg (later to become yet another Professor Sir Hans), he was soon to elucidate yet another metabolic cycle: the glyoxylate cycle. Thus it was in the 1960s, when Krebs (born 1900) was in his sixties, that the Krebs laboratory in Oxford was one of the premier international centres for metabolic research. Krebs was also Director of the MRC (Medical Research Council) Unit for Research in Cell Metabolism and his group generally comprised some 20 or so researchers. These included the staff of the MRC unit, postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and a generous sprinkling of international visitors, frequently senior scientists spending sabbaticals in the laboratory. Krebs had no problem keeping abreast of the activities of his large laboratory group and made daily rounds, discussing the day’s experiment or yesterday’s results with each person. It was at this time that Dermot Williamson (always known as Derek) and Patricia Lund joined the MRC unit. Figure 1 shows many of the members of the Krebs laboratory in 1967. Krebs had an uncanny knack of attracting bright and committed research technicians. He stimulated their interest in research, mentored them and, if they were so inclined, encouraged them to take research degrees and become independent scientists. Both Derek Williamson and Pat Lund belonged to this tradition. Born in New Zealand, Derek Williamson spent his first 3 years there until his family moved to England. After his secondary education in County Durham, he joined the Krebs laboratory, in Sheffield, in 1946. He was only 16 years old and a junior technician. After his National Service (1950–1952), Derek returned to Sheffield, but, when Krebs was appointed to the Whitley Chair at Oxford in 1954, Derek decided to move to London, where he became Research Technician with Professor Frank Dickens at the Courtauld Institute. He rejoined the Krebs laboratory in 1960 and, in 1963, was encouraged by Krebs to write up his research work for a B.Sc. which was then Oxford’s equivalent of a Masters degree. This was followed by a D.Phil. in 1967. He went on to become a member of the MRC External Scientific Staff and, after Prof’s death in 1981, became Head of the MRC Unit [1]. Derek made many major contributions to metabolic research and there are few modern parallels to his unusual career path of laboratory boy to head of the unit. Derek died in 1998. Pat Lund was originally from North Yorkshire and came to Oxford as Hans Kornberg’s technician in 1957. After 3 years working for Boris Magasanik at Harvard and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), she returned to the U.K. in 1962 and completed her D.Phil. under the supervision of Hans Krebs Figure 1. Some members of the Krebs laboratory in 1967

Effects of Cotrimoxazole on Hematologic Parameters in HIV-Infected Adults in a Community-Based Clinic in Entebbe, Uganda

We and others have previously reported reduced mortality and malaria incidence with cotrimoxazole prophylaxis for HIV-1-infected adults in Uganda and elsewhere. This evidence has led to widespread implementation of cotrimoxazole prophylaxis for HIV-1-infected persons in sub-Saharan Africa. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that implementation at the country level should be carefully monitored and that this monitoring should evaluate rates of toxicity including hematologic toxicity through the measurement of blood cell counts every 6 months. Cotrimoxazole interferes with folate metabolism and there have been several reports of hematologic abnormalities associated with its use. These abnormalities could potentially worsen if cotrimoxazole is used in conjunction with myelosuppressive or antifolate drugs such as zidovudine. There is scanty evidence of these abnormalities associated with cotrimoxazole use in Uganda however. Cotrimoxazole prophylaxis was introduced in August 2000 in an open cohort of HIV-1-infected participants in EntebbeUganda. Here we report hematologic changes in participants before and after the introduction of cotrimoxazole. (excerpt)

James (“Jake”) Knox Russell

James Knox Russell (“Jake” as he was always known) was a former professor of obstetrics and gynaecology who introduced a new medical curriculum that was widely adopted. In 1958 Jake...

Violence Level in African Cities Prompts PTSD Concerns

Violence Level in African Cities Prompts PTSD Concerns

Molecular structure of nucleic acids: a structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid.

WE wish to suggest a structure for the salt of deoxyribose nucleic acid (D.N.A.). This structure has novel features which are of considerable biological interest. A structure for nucleic acid has already been proposed by Pauling and Corey1. They kindly made their manuscript available to us in advance of publication. Their model consists of three intertwined chains, with the phosphates near the fibre axis, and the bases on the outside. In our opinion, this structure is unsatisfactory for two reasons: (1) We believe that the material which gives the X-ray diagrams is the salt, not the free acid. Without the acidic hydrogen atoms it is not clear what forces would hold the structure together, especially as the negatively charged phosphates near the axis will repel each other. (2) Some of the van der Waals distances appear to be too small. Another three-chain structure has also been suggested by Fraser

The Cavendish Laboratory and structural biology

On 25 April 1953 James Watson and Francis Crick, working in a small Medical Research Council unit in the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, published a short letter in Nature. It described a remarkable two-chain helical structure for DNA, the biological polymer that constitutes the hereditary material in living organisms. The structural details of their model immediately suggested a mechanism by which the genetic material would replicate itself. Furthermore, the model indicated clearly what principle is used by the genetic material to store all the information needed to synthesize the proteins required to build a living organism.

Reconstructing life. Molecular biology in postwar Britain

The Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (formerly the Medical Research Council Unit for the Study of Molecular Structure of Biological Systems) in Cambridge (England) played a key role in the postwar history of molecular biology. The paper, focussing on the early history of the institution, aims to show that the creation of the laboratory and the making of molecular biology were part of a new scientific culture set in place after World War II. In five interlinked parts it deals with the institutional creation of the MRC unit dedicated to the crystallographic analysis of biological molecules; the attraction of postwar biophysics, the heading under which the work of the unit initially fell; the people who joined the laboratory and their appropriation of new technologies, in particular the electronic computer for protein crystal structure determination; the cultural appeal of postwar crystallography, as exemplified in the use of crystal structure diagrams for a wide series of consumer goods at the Festival of Britain in 1951 and the display of molecular models at the Brussels World’s Fair in 1958, a key site for the presentation of science and its role in the postwar world.

A very brief 3 session psychotherapy intervention was effective in subsyndromal depression

Barkham M, Shapiro DA, Gillian EH , et al. Psychotherapy in two-plus-one sessions: outcomes of a randomized controlled trial of cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic-interpersonal therapy for subsyndromal depression. J Clin Consult...

Particles in the Air: The Enigma of Urban Air Pollution

As British cities grew during the Industrial Revolution, so they became increasingly polluted by the smoke from factory and domestic coal combustion. During winter time, episodes of temperature inversion kept the smoke close to ground level and gave rise to the famous smogs of the first half of this century, culminating in the London smog of December 1952, which was associated with some 4000 excess deaths in 1 weekl. Knowledge of an association between cold weather and excess deaths was not new, meteorologists having studied it from the middle of the nineteenth century2, but in the early twentieth century it became apparent that cold alone did not explain the excess and that the concurrence of fogs was a likely additional factor3. The 1952 message that air pollution is bad for you, delivered so close to Parliament itself, had a dramatic effect and smoke control in towns and cities was enforced by the Clean Air Act of 1956. The pioneering Medical Research Council (MRC) air pollution unit was also set up at St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School under Professor Pat Lawther and an important series of studies of the interactions of air pollutants and health, notably by Lawther and Waller, began4. This was the heyday of the 'English disease', chronic bronchitis, and the researchers concentrated (understandably) on the lung as a target for pollutants. They did, however, recognize that deaths during these episodes were often from heart disease. The legislation was so successful that smoke and sulphur dioxide concentrations in our cities fell progressively through the following three decades, and the MRC unit was eventually closed, its work apparently done. Why the excess deaths occurred has never convincingly been explained but it has been assumed that air pollution episodes, acting as the grim reaper, harvest those who, on account of severe heart or lung disease, are about to die. The closure of the MRC unit occurred at a time of rapid increase in the numbers of vehicles on our roads. As the smokey chimneys disappeared, so the streets filled with cars and lorries and their attendant exhaust fumes and gases. This increase in motor vehicles has accelerated, although fortunately there has not been a corresponding rise in air pollutants because engine and fuel technology has to date kept pace. However, the fall in air pollutants has been checked and the centres of some cities have again become unpleasant places to live in or to pass through during large parts of the day. In appropriate weather conditions, episodes of quite severe air pollution have started to return, although the constituents are not the same as those associated with the urban smogs of earlier years. And epidemiologists have once again shown associations between modem air pollution, disease and death5-7.

Medical Research Council unit takes tobacco cash

Medical Research Council unit takes tobacco cash

The Medical Research Council Unit in Child Psychiatry.

To understand anything, it is helpful to know its history. All psychiatrists are confronted by clinical problems that have developed over a large part of their patients' life span. This applies most obviously to the disorders of personality, but it is also true of many disorders arising in adult life. The roots of depression can sometimes be traced back to suffering and loss in childhood. Schizophrenia is often preceded by long periods of cumulative problems in personal relationships; and recent theory has drawn attention to very early signs of abnormality in the perinatal period. Many child psychiatric disorders present as enduring traits. The model of ‘psychiatric illness’ tends to emphasize the change and discontinuity from previous life, but it is also necessary to understand the extent to which an individual's plight can be seen as the product of character and stress.

The use of clonogenic assays in assessing the response of human lung cancer cell lines to α and gamma interferons alone or in combination with adriamycin : Jabbar SAB, Twentyman PR. Medical Research Council, Clinical Oncology and Radiotherapeutics Unit, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QH. Int J Cancer 1990;46:546–551

The use of clonogenic assays in assessing the response of human lung cancer cell lines to α and gamma interferons alone or in combination with adriamycin : Jabbar SAB, Twentyman PR. Medical Research Council, Clinical Oncology and Radiotherapeutics Unit, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QH. Int J Cancer 1990;46:546–551

Factors influencing the relationship between carbamazepine plasma concentration and its clinical effects in patients with epilepsy.

Medical Research Council Unit and University Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, England

The Experimental Aspects of Cancer

The Experimental Aspects of Cancer

Book Reviews : The Hierarchical Nature of Personal Illness. By G. A. FOULDS. Medical Research Council Unit for Epidemeiological Studies in Psychiatry, Royal Edinburg Hospital, Edinburg. EH 105 HF pp.viii+ 158. Academic Press. London, New York, San Francisco 1976. Price: $14.75

Book Reviews : The Hierarchical Nature of Personal Illness. By G. A. FOULDS. Medical Research Council Unit for Epidemeiological Studies in Psychiatry, Royal Edinburg Hospital, Edinburg. EH 105 HF pp.viii+ 158. Academic Press. London, New York, San Francisco 1976. Price: $14.75

Making decisions under the influence of memory.

John FoxUniversity of Sheffield, Sheffield, EnglandTheories of decision making are reviewed, particularly those that shed light onclinical decision making. Two approaches are examined in detail, traditionalprescriptive theories (derived from probability theory) and theories based onnonprobabilistic inference processes with a supportive memory mechanism. Anexperiment using a laboratory analogue of clinical diagnosis supplied data aboutseveral aspects of the decision process including information seeking and theterminal decision. A second task interleaved with the diagnostic task was de-signed to provide some insight into the subjects' organization of the diagnostictask material in memory using the proposition confirmation/disconnrmationmethod. Systematic effects of task structure on the availability of knowledgeabout the task were obtained. In two computer simulations the traditionalprescriptive approach to decision making gave a moderately good account ofthe behavior observed in the diagnostic task, but the cognitive theory based onnonprobabilistic inference rules interacting with simple recall processes gaveequal or better quantitative predictions. It is concluded that the nonprobabil-istic approach holds considerable promise for the description of complex deci-sion processes.From an information-processing standpoint,human decision making depends on the inter-action of two main cognitive components: thevarious logical and inferential processes thatcontribute to the final decision and, at leastconceptually distinct, the processes that makethe knowledge or data available that are re-quired for the decision task at hand. Untilrecently, however, decision theorists havebeen more preoccupied with the mathematicaldescription of human decision behavior thanwith a general cognitive account of its processes(see, e.g., Slovic, Fischoff, & Lichtenstein,1977). The tide has recently begun to turn withwork like that on heuristics by Tversky andKahneman (1974), but we have not yet reachedthe point where decision processes can beMany thanks to Richard M. Young for his criticalreading of an early draft of this article, and particularthanks to Vicki Bruce, whose careful and insightfulcomments contributed so much to the final manuscript.Requests for reprints should be sent to John Fox,Medical Research Council, Social and Applied Psy-chology Unit, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN,England.described in any detail, certainly not decisionsof natural or everyday complexity.This study looks at a more naturalistic de-cision task than is usual and examines somealternative theoretical frameworks for charac-terizing the decision process. The contrast thatemerges is that between the decision theoristswho have tried to develop algebraic and sta-tistical models that are largely fre of performa-tive elements and the thrust elsewhere incognitive psychology, which has been towardmore complete accounts. The decision theoristshave, notably, failed to suggest what sorts ofinference or problem-solving processes de-cision makers typically engage in or howknowledge influences and interacts with thoseprocesses.For illustration we focus on a task modeledon clinical decision making, a field in which theimportance of knowledge is particularly promi-nent. Several possible theoretical accounts ofclinical decision behavior are briefly reviewed,and a decision study is described, which isdesigned to shed light on some of these pro-posals. Finally, two computer simulations of

The Prospects for ESN(M) Leavers

Bryan Rodgers questions the arguments of a recent contributor on the employment prospects of ESIM(M) school leavers. The author is a psychologist working at a Medical Research Council Unit, London School of Economics.

Myocardial metabolism in health & disease: L.H. Opie, Medical Research Council Unit, Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town

Myocardial metabolism in health & disease: L.H. Opie, Medical Research Council Unit, Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town

Episodic secretion of growth hormone in a male trans-sexual during treatment with oestrogen both before and after orchidectomy.

*University Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Jessop Hospital for Women, Sheffield, S3 7RE, †University Department of Paediatrics, Childrens Hospital, Sheffield, S10 2TH and ‡Medical Research Council Unit for Metabolic Studies in Psychiatry, Middlewood Hospital, Sheffield, S6 1TD (Received 22 February 1977) In 1965, Frantz & Rabkin reported a difference between the mean concentrations of growth hormone (GH) in the plasma of men and women during fasting, and recently the level of GH in the plasma has been shown to fluctuate from minute to minute (Finkelstein, Roffward, Boyar, Kream & Hellman, 1972). This work describes the spontaneous episodic pattern of GH secretion in a 27-year-old male trans-sexual before and after stilboestrol therapy, and after gonadectomy, again with and without oestrogen supplementation. Blood samples were collected for 15 min on four occasions: the patient as a normal male (test 1); several months after the patient had been prescribed diethylstilboestrol (5 mg daily,