Mimetic Responses Research Articles

Rapid facial mimicry responses are preserved in youth with first presentation borderline personality disorder

BackgroundEmpathy is a complex and multifaceted construct comprising cognitive and affective components. Abnormal empathic responses are implicated in borderline personality disorder (BPD). Specifically, unconscious motor mimicry (a primitive component of affective empathy evident from infancy) is theorized to be heightened and to contribute to the heightened emotional contagion often seen in people with BPD. Yet, no study has directly tested whether abnormally heightened unconscious motor mimicry is associated with BPD features or whether this is present early in the course of BPD. MethodsIn the present study, facial electromyography was used to assess the rapid facial mimicry responses (a form of unconscious motor mimetic responding) of 32 outpatient youths (aged 15–25 years) with early stage BPD features and 47 demographically matched healthy control participants (HC). ResultsThe results showed no group differences in rapid facial mimetic responses to either positive (happy) or negative (angry) facial emotions. LimitationsCo-occurring psychopathology and the potential impact of state affect on rapid facial mimicry were considered and discussed. ConclusionsThese data indicate that there is no evidence for abnormally heightened rapid motor mimicry in youth early in the course of BPD, suggesting that rapid facial mimicry is preserved in this group. It is thus unlikely that abnormally heightened unconscious simulation contributes to heightened emotional contagion in youth with first presentation BPD. Future research should explore alternative mechanisms for this phenomenon and also whether abnormalities in motor mimetic responses are evident in later stages of the disorder.

One Disaster, Three Institutional Responses

Public discourses over the same social crisis—the most deadly train crash in recent times in China, in July 2011—show three divergent but interactive packages across the government, the media, and online public opinion. The government dominated public discourse and framed the crash as an intra-institutional flaw. The media sought to legitimize the official rhetoric by focusing on victim compensation, official concern, and rescue. Online public opinion, however, contested both official rhetoric and media discourse, and highlighted the train crash as terrible malfeasances of the government. Constructed as a result of the state legitimation crisis, the three perspectives are entangled in a tense “dominator–mediator–challenger” relationship. However, the seemingly diversified opinions and conflicting ideas have been maintained within the sphere of legitimate controversy that does not necessarily undermine state legitimacy. The coercive state’s control and the mimetic organizational responses to crisis direct social actors to behave similarly and form institutional isomorphism. The dominance of political power over social power is thus manifest in the process of discursive competition and interaction. The discursive framework developed in this study illuminates similar crisis events in Asia and in Western democracies where social trust in government and in media is relatively low.

Crisis, Mimetic Desire, and Communal Violence in William Faulkner’s Sanctuary

Faulkner' Journal Kevin G. Wilson Crisis, Mimetic Desire, and Communal Violence in William Faulkner’s Sanctuary ULYSSES. O, when degree is shak’d, Which is the ladder ofall high designs, The enterprise is sick! How could communities, Degrees in schools, and brotherhoods in cities, Peaceful commerce from dividable shores, The primogenity and due ofbirth, Prerogative of age, crowns, sceptres, laurels, But by degree, stand in authentic place? Take but degree away, untune that string, And hark what discord follows! Each thing melts In mere oppugnancy.... —William Shakespeare 'Troilus and Cressida 1.3) I decided I might just as well make some of it [money] my­ self. I took a little time out, and speculated what a person in Mississippi would believe to be current trends, chose what I thought was the right answer and invented the most hor­ rific tale I could imagine and wrote it in about three weeks. —William Faulkner (qtd. in Blotner 605) Introduction Sanctuary stands apart from the novels of Faulkners Yoknapatawpha cycle. Most notably, the focus is community and not the family (Kerr, “Creative” 15). Themes identified by many Faulkner scholars do not seem to apply. Signs of disorder and corruption permeate the novel as bedrock institutions of family, social class, patriarchy, and the courts fail to secure peace and protection for the novel’s protagonists. Southern myths are shattered. Hypocrisy is exposed as the righteous members of proper society are shown to be lacking in Christian mercy, and the deviant members of outlaw communities are shown to be car­ ing and faithful. Novelistically, the work is also problematic. The characters do not grow. There is no salvation or redemption. Indeed, apart from the rape of Temple Drake and the lynching of Lee Goodwin, nothing happens (Tate 426). Moreover, Faulkner provides few clues to the reader concerning the meaning of these violent events. 49 50 Kevin G. Wilson Crisis, Mimetic Desire, and Communal Violence in Sanctuary Rene Girard’s theory of scapegoating is a useful lens through which to view the violence in the novel. According to Girard, scapegoating is a cultural mechanism designed to defuse the uncontrolled spiral of violence that a com­ munity in crisis would otherwise direct against itself. The origins of this vio­ lence are to be found in mimetic behavior—the propensity ofhuman beings to imitate or borrow from others, including others’ desires. When the concepts of mimetic desire and mimetic rivalry are applied to an interpretation of Sanctu­ ary, it becomes clear that Temple’s rape and the lynching and rape of Goodwin are related in unexpected ways. In Sanctuary, it is not so much the presence of Temple Drake and Ruby Lamar as objects of male desire that unsettles these communities. Rather, it is the encounter between exclusive groups and the excluded other (in the per­ sons of Temple Drake, Lee Goodwin, and Ruby Lamar) that prompts a series of mimetic responses which culminate in conflict and violence. According to Girard, the seeds of communal violence are sown when members of a group enter into mimetic relationships and these relationships become continuously doubled through repetition (Girard, Mimesis 227; Ciuba 8). When mimetic ri­ valry spirals out of control, it produces a crisis of differentiation in the social and cultural order of the group. Faulkner’s Sanctuary portrays such a world through its dramatization of mimetic relationships involving Temple Drake, Ruby Lamar, and Narcissa Sartoris. However, the most significant index of mimetic appropriation is the relationship between Horace Benbow and Lee Goodwin. In effect, Goodwin becomes the model-mediator of Horace’s desire to affirm himself as a virile male capable of exerting patriarchal authority over his family/household. More importantly, these mimetic relationships, involv­ ing members ofexcluded and exclusive communities, demonstrate how far so­ cial differentiation has broken down in Mississippi society under Prohibition. Sanctuary’s Triptych Structure and its Geography of Exclusive and Excluded Places Paying careful attention to the geography of Sanctuary, Arthur Kinney notes that Faulkner organized the novel according to narrative blocks correspond­ ing to three locations: the Old Frenchman place, Jefferson, and Memphis. The first third of the novel takes place almost entirely at the Old Frenchman place with the remainder divided between...

FIRM STRATEGIC CHOICE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: LESSONS FROM LARGE PUBLIC LATIN AMERICAN FIRMS.

Utilizing a conservationist metaphor adapted from Moyle (1997), we observe the strategic choice of 207 large Latin American public firms engaging in sustainable development (SD) schemas. Our results indicate global pressures drive normative responses towards the legitimization of firm-level SD initiatives, whereas local pressures influence mimetic responses.

Role of Brainstem Sodium/Proton Exchanger 3 for Breathing Control during Chronic Acid–Base Imbalance

The sodium/proton exchanger (NHE) 3 is expressed in brainstem areas with prevalence for central chemosensitivity. Selective NHE3 inhibitors can evoke CO(2) mimetic responses both in vitro and in vivo, demonstrating the functional significance of this pH-regulating protein. Moreover, levels of NHE3 expression are inversely correlated to interindividual differences of baseline ventilation in conscious rabbits. We explored the influence of chronic acid-base disturbances on mRNA levels of brainstem NHE3 in relation to breathing control. Alveolar ventilation (Va), blood gases, systemic base excess (BE), and metabolic Vco(2) were determined in rabbits shortly after exposure to either CO(2)-enriched air for 3 days (n = 5) or to ammonium chloride with drinking water for 2 days (n = 6). Untreated animals served as controls (n = 24). NHE3 mRNA within the obex region was quantified by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. After chronic hypercapnia, we found a compensatory rise of BE (mean +/- SEM) to 5.3 +/- 0.5 mmol x L(-1) with slightly elevated Pa(CO(2)). Brainstem NHE3 mRNA as well as Va were not significantly different from control levels. In the NH(4)Cl group, arterial pH was approximately 0.09 units lower than control, and BE decreased to -6.5 +/- 1.6 mmol x L(-1) with slightly decreased Pa(CO(2)), but considerably reduced Va (by approximately 25%; P < 0.05) and Vco(2). Concomitantly, brainstem NHE3 mRNA had increased from control level of 1.45 +/- 0.19 to 3.64 +/- 0.37 fg cDNA/mug RNA; P < 0.01. Expression of brainstem NHE3 is up-regulated by chronic metabolic acidosis but not by prolonged hypercapnia. It is proposed that elevated brainstem NHE3 expression contributes to limit maladaptive hyperventilation during metabolic acidosis.

The Neuroscience of Pleasure. Focus on “Ventral Pallidum Firing Codes Hedonic Reward: When a Bad Taste Turns Good”

For more than 2,000 years, philosophers have struggled to define, let alone explain, pleasure or hedonics. With contemporary animal models and techniques, scientists now have the ability to provide a comprehensive description of this affective state by examining its neural underpinnings. In this issue of the Journal of Neurophysiology (p. 2399 –2409), Tindell and colleagues use an elegant, reductionist approach to take a profound step in defining these neural foundations (Tindell 2006). The authors control for various elements of reward that historically have confounded researchers ambitious enough to attempt to study such an intangible topic. Specifically, Tindell and colleagues establish a role for ventral pallidum (VP) neurons in encoding hedonics. The authors infused an unpalatable concentration of saline into the oral cavities of rats while recording the extracellular electrophysiological activity of single VP neurons. Aversive orofacial reactions to the unpalatable taste were simultaneously measured. Three days later, rats were made sodium deplete and retested. In a sodium-depleted state, these rats now exhibited a behavioral switch from aversive taste reactivity to appetitive taste reactivity coincident with increased VP activity to the infusion of saline (similar to responses for a palatable sucrose solution). The clever implicit controls indicate that the altered electrophysiological activity encodes a hedonic shift rather than alterations in motivated behavior or sensory coding.

Mechanisms of Capsaicin- and Citric-Acid-Induced Cough Reflexes in Guinea Pigs

Previously, we developed a novel coughing model that evoked coughs via citric acid microinjection into the larynx of unanesthetized, unrestrained guinea pigs. Here, we compared the effects of capsaicin and citric acid administration into the larynx using this model. Inhalation of capsaicin (30 µM) or citric acid (0.4 M) for 5 min induced cough mimetic responses over a 10-min observation period (mean ± S.E.M.: 8.85 ± 1.60 and 10.40 ± 1.17 coughs, respectively, n = 18). Microinjection of 0.4 M citric acid into the larynx (20 µl in total in 10 aliquots of 2 µl at 30-s intervals) induced 27.29 ± 2.69 coughs over a 10-min observation period, whereas microinjection of 3 mM capsaicin evoked a maximum of 8.32 ± 1.82 coughs (n = 18). Desensitization of C-fibers by capsaicin (100 mg/kg, s.c.) abolished the coughs evoked upon inhalation or microinjection of capsaicin and inhalation of citric acid, but had no significant effect on those induced by microinjection of citric acid. These results indicate that there were fewer nonmyelinated C-fiber afferents in the larynx area than in other regions (bronchi or alveoli). Consequently, citric acid microinjected into the larynx may induce the cough reflex by stimulating other fibers (for example, Aδ-fibers), rather than C-fibers. In contrast, inhaled citric acid predominantly stimulated C-fibers, and hardly affected Aδ-fibers.

Taste reactivity to ethanol in rats: Influence of adrenalectomy or ipsapirone

The affective mimetic responses of male Wistar rats with prior access to 6% ethanol in their home cages were observed during intraoral infusions of an equivalent alcohol solution. Ethanol preference in the home cage appeared unrelated to measures of aversion and ingestion in the taste reactivity tests in normal rats. Adrenalectomy, which significantly reduced home cage ethanol preference, failed to influence the taste reactions elicited by ethanol or water. On the other hand, treatment of intact rats with the 5-HT 1A receptor agonist ipsapirone (2.5 mg/kg), a drug that also decreases ethanol drinking in two-bottle intake tests, did increase the duration of aversive groomings, whereas measures of ingestion remained unaffected. These results suggest that ipsapirone, but not adrenalectomy, may alter the palatibility of ethanol; this perceptual change may partly underlie the ability of ipsapirone to reduce home cage alcohol drinking in the rat.

Mimetic behavior of rats in flavor aversion learning

Rats exposed to odor (almond), taste (saccharin) or an odor/taste-compound (almond/ saccharin) in a one-trial conditioning were subsequently poisoned with lithium chloride either 5 min (Ex) or 16 h (Co) after drinking. We measured various behavioral CRs elicited by these conditioned stimuli. All stimuli and compounds produced strong flavor aversions and elicited a pattern of agitated behavior characterized by increased general activity, rearing, and the specific mimetic response ‘gaping’ in the experimental groups. No comparable patterns were observed in the control groups. In the compound-experimental group an overshadowing effect for the odor component by the new taste was found. However, odor in this condition still elicited somewhat reduced drinking and the typical aversive reaction pattern. Behaviors induced by pairing odor with illness were more strongly controlled by the presence of the poisoned odor in the compound condition than in the odor condition. The compound experimental group discriminated more strongly, in general, behaviors and in their mimetic responses between the time when odor was presented or not in a test procedure, which alternated poisoned odor and air.

The effects of facial control and facial mimicry on subjective reactions to comedy routines

The impact of facial control on subjective reactions to dubbed (created with inserts of smiling people) and undubbed comedy routines was examined. The presence of dubs increased EMG activity over thezygomaticus major andorbicularis oculi muscle regions for spontaneous-condition subjects, but not for inhibit-condition subjects. Analyses also showed that spontaneous-condition subjects exhibited increased smiling at dub points, a finding that is consistent with the notion that subjects mimicked the inserted facial displays. Self-report findings revealed that spontaneous-condition subjects reported significantly greater amusement to the dubbed compared with the undubbed routines, whereas inhibit-condition subjects' self-reports of amusement did not differentiate dub conditions. Furthermore, spontaneous-condition subjects reported significantly more amusement to the dubbed routines than did inhibit-condition subjects. Despite strong facial control effects on facial EMG activity, no main effect of facial condition on self-reported amusement was found, and therefore, the data provide no support for a general version of facial feedback theory. The data are consistent with the view that mimetic responses enhanced subjective reactions, and they are compatible with the Leventhal and Tomkins versions of facial feedback theory.

Bicarbonate-dependence of responses to ethylenediamine in the guinea-pig isolated ileum: involvement of ethylenediamine-monocarbamate.

gamma-Aminobutyric-acid (GABA)-mimetic responses were induced by ethylenediamine (EDA) in the isolated ileum of the guinea-pig maintained in bicarbonate buffered Krebs-Henseleit (KBC) solution, pH 7.4, 37 degrees C, the responses consisting of a contraction followed by a relaxation. There were no such responses to EDA in bicarbonate-free phosphate buffered (KPO) or HEPES buffered (KHO) Krebs solution, gassed with 100% O2, pH 7.4, 37 degrees C, yet the ileum responded to GABA in bicarbonate-free Krebs solution. Similar GABA-mimetic responses were induced by EDA in the isolated ileum maintained in bicarbonate-free KPO or KHO modified Krebs solution, gassed with O2, if HCO3- (5mM) was first added immediately before the test dose of EDA (0.1-1 mM), the threshold [HCO3-]being 2 mM for EDA-induced responses in these preparations. However, ileal GABA-mimetic responses were induced in bicarbonate-free KPO or KHO solutions by EDA that had been pretreated with carbon dioxide, where the final [HCO3-]in the bath did not exceed 25 microM. Ethylenediamine monocarbamate (synthetic EDAC) released [3H]-GABA from preloaded segments of ileum maintained in bicarbonate-free KPO or KHO solution containing amino-oxyacetic acid and beta-alanine, the release being sensitive to 3-mercaptopropionic acid which prevents GABA release. EDA itself did not evoke any such release in the absence of bicarbonate, but released [3H]-GABA from segments maintained in KBC solution. 4 GABA-mimetic responses were induced by EDAC in the isolated ileum maintained in bicarbonate-free KPO solution, as was a delta-aminovalerate-sensitive depression of ileal twitch responses elicited by transmural stimulation, all of which were also sensitive to 3-mercaptopropionic acid. 5 It is concluded that GABA-mimetic responses to EDA in the isolated ileum of the guinea-pig, maintained in normal Krebs bicarbonate medium, result from the release of endogenous GABA by ethylenediamine monocarbamate formed through the rapid reaction of EDA with the carbon dioxide of bicarbonate buffered Krebs solution. Furthermore, in the ileum, HCO3 ions per se are not necessary for this GABA-releasing property of EDA if the latter is first converted to the monocarbamate, since syntheticethylenediamine monocarbamate elicits ileal GABA-mimetic responses in the total absence of bicarbonate.

Caffeine-induced taste aversion and mimetic responses

Novel tastes preceded a range of caffeine doses (10–80 mg/kg) in a taste aversion training trial. One week later rats which had doses of 30 mg or higher showed strong aversions as measured by a single bottle consumption test. The 10 and 20 mg dose produced the most hyperactivity and apparently enhanced intake of the taste paired with caffeine. During the training trial, rats receiving the 80 mg dose exhibited copious gapes and chin-rubs, mimetic responses to noxious tastes. Gapes also occurred in these subjects during the aversion test. Consumption was more sensitive than mimetic responding as a measure of the aversive effects of caffeine. Only the 80 mg dose produced neophobia. Tests with isotonic injections indicated that tonicity was not the source of the aversions.

Crowd Noise and Mimicry

It was hypothesized that increasing the sound level of the emotional expressions of a crowd would heighten arousal in observers and enhance their performance of dominant mimetic responses. Observers viewed a videotaped arm wrestling match under two levels of crowd noise (high and low). The results show that the observers' arm activity was greater under high level than low level crowd noise; this difference was most apparent after a brief time period. In addition, arousal (as measured by skin conductance) was greater under high level than low level crowd noise. These findings are interpreted in terms of drive and ideomotor theories.

The taste reactivity test. II. Mimetic responses to gustatory stimuli in chronic thalamic and chronic decerebrate rats

The taste reactivity test described in the preceding paper was used to begin determining the capacity of brain stem structures to execute and regulate ingestive behavior. Both chronic thalamic and chronic decerebrate rat preparations were examined repeatedly, and their gustatory mimetic responses compared through frame-by-frame videotape analysis with the responses of neurologically normal controls. In response to orally injected taste stimuli, chronic decerebrate rats executed the same mimetic response components, and very similar response sequences observed in intact rats. In contrast, all taste stimuli elicited a quinine-like rejection sequence from chronic thalamic rats. In thalamic rats mimetic responses associated with ingestion were completely absent. Based on the similarities in the ingestion and rejection responses of decerebrate and intact rats, it appears that discriminative responses to taste result from integrative mechanisms complete within, or caudal to, the midbrain. Since decerebrate rats have the capacity to execute both ingestion and rejection response sequences, neural mechanisms rostral to the midbrain in some way suppress ingestion and/or releaser ejection responses in the thalamic preparation.

The taste reactivity test. I. Mimetic responses to gustatory stimuli in neurologically normal rats

One or two bottle preference tests, i.e., relative fluid consumption, constitute the primary methodology for determining acceptance or rejection of tastes in animals other than humans. These tests require organisms to initiate and maintain drinking behavior and, therefore, can not be applied to preparations which do not eat or drink spontaneously. The taste reactivity test, a new method for assessing responses to gustatory stimuli, circumvents this shortcoming. A 50 μl taste stimulus is injected directly into the oral cavity of a freely moving rat and the immediate response videotaped for frame by frame analysis. Each of the sapid stimuli used (4 concentrations of sucrose, NaCl, HCl, and quinine HCl) generated a stereotyped response derived from 3 lexicon of 4 mimetic (movements of lingual, masticatory, and facial musculature) and 5 body response components. Responses to taste stimuli were highly consistent within and between rats. For example, sapid sucrose, NaCl and HCl stimuli elicited a response sequence beginning with low amplitude, rhythmic mouth movements, followed by rhythmic tongue protrusions, and then lateral tongue movements. No body movements accompanied these mimetic responses. In contrast, quinine in concentrations at and above 3 × 10−5 M (12 log step above the absolute behabioral threshold for quinine) elicited a response pattern beginning with gaping and proceeding through as many as 5 body responses. These normative data for the intact rat can be directly compared to the taste reactivity of neurally ablated preparations which do not spontaneously feed or drink. Such comparisons can be utilized in determining the neural substrates necessary for the execution and regulation of ingestive behavior.

Levels of brain stem and diencephalon controlling micturition reflex.

ArticlesLEVELS OF BRAIN STEM AND DIENCEPHALON CONTROLLING MICTURITION REFLEXPei Chin TangPei Chin TangPublished Online:01 Nov 1955https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.1955.18.6.583MoreSectionsPDF (2 MB)Download PDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesGet permissionsTrack citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInWeChat Previous Back to Top Next Download PDF FiguresReferencesRelatedInformation Cited ByNeuroanatomy Relevant for the Urologist29 August 2018NEUROANATOMY AND NEUROPHYSIOLOGY: INNERVATION OF THE LOWER URINARY TRACTVOIDING AND SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION AFTER CEREBROVASCULAR ACCIDENTSThe Journal of Urology, Vol. 165, No. 2Volume-evoked micturition reflex is mediated by the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray in anesthetized ratsShinobu Matsuura, Gary V. Allen, and John W. Downie1 December 1998 | American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol. 275, No. 6Strain-Gauge Force Transducer Method for Evaluating Urethral Motility in Conscious DogsThe Journal of UrologyEvidence for widespread afferents to barrington's nucleus, a brainstem region rich in corticotropin-releasing hormone neuronsNeuroscience, Vol. 62, No. 1The effects of MK-801, an NMDA receptor antagonist, on the micturition reflex in the ratNeuroscience Letters, Vol. 126, No. 2Pharmacological modulation of the pontine micturition centerBrain Research, Vol. 546, No. 2Effect of colchicine on micturition reflex in ratsNeurotoxicology and Teratology, Vol. 10, No. 6Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis: A neurourological studyExperimental Neurology, Vol. 99, No. 2Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) immunoreactivity in the dorsolateral pontine tegmentum: further studies on the micturition reflex systemBrain Research, Vol. 308, No. 2The inhibitory effect of opioid peptides and morphine applied intrathecally and intracerebroventricularly on the micturition reflex in the catBrain Research, Vol. 298, No. 1The role of the fastigial nucleus in bladder controlExperimental Neurology, Vol. 66, No. 3Localization of the micturition reflex center at dorsolateral pontine tegmentum of the ratNeuroscience Letters, Vol. 8, No. 1The taste reactivity test. II. Mimetic responses to gustatory stimuli in chronic thalamic and chronic decerebrate ratsBrain Research, Vol. 143, No. 2Integral storage and voiding reflexesUrology, Vol. 9, No. 1Nervous control of the urinary bladder of the catBrain Research, Vol. 87, No. 2-3Triphasic brain stem response to detrusor contractionBrain Research, Vol. 35, No. 1Cerebellar influence on the micturition reflexExperimental Neurology, Vol. 23, No. 3Extrapyramidal inhibition of the urinary bladderBrain Research, Vol. 4, No. 4Influence of brain stem on intra-abdominal pressure reflex of pelvic nerve originExperimental Neurology, Vol. 7, No. 1 More from this issue > Volume 18Issue 6November 1955Pages 583-595 https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.1955.18.6.583PubMed13272043History Published online 1 November 1955 Published in print 1 November 1955 Metrics

MECHANISM OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF OBESITY IN ANIMALS WITH HYPOTHALAMIC LESIONS

MECHANISM OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF OBESITY IN ANIMALS WITH HYPOTHALAMIC LESIONS