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The perception of visual motion
“Of particular interest” in the opinion of neurobiologists. Authors of reviews in the Current Opinion series of journals select from the previous year’s papers those they consider to be “of particular interest”. They justify each selection in a short ‘annotation’. Some of the selected references from the April 1992 issue of Current Opinion in Neurobiology, which covers Cognitive Neuroscience, are listed below under the titles of the reviews.
Memory
by Richard
F. Thompson
PONS TP, GARRAGHTY PE, OMMAYA AK, KAAS JH, TAUB E, MISHKIN M: Massive Cortical Reorganization After
Sensory Dealferentation 1991, 252:1857-1860.
in Adult Macaques. Science
A study of adult monkeys that had had a limb deafferented 12 years earlier showed that the cortical map of the primary somatosensory area underwent massive reorganization, suggesting that growth processes may have occurred. &RAMS TW, KARL KA, HANDEL ER: Biochemical Studies of Stimulus Convergence During Classical Conditioning in Aplysia: Dual Regulation of Adenylate Cyclase by Ca2f/Calmodulin and Transmitter. J Neurosci 1991, 11:2655-2665.
The adenylate cyclase in the 4lysia central nervous system that is sensitive to Ca2-~‘/caknodulin exhibits temporal specificity in potentiation in that paired Ca2+ and serotonin applications to cell homogenates, but not unpaired applications, yield potentiation.
S, HAREWR TJ, HARE RD: Abnormal Processing of Affective Words by Psychopaths. Pycbopbysiology 1991, 28:26&273.
WILLIAMSON
This study is another demonstration by Hare and his collaborators that ‘developmental’ psychopaths have deficient cognitive and physiological processing of affective material, despite normal understanding of the content (i.e. manifest meaning) of the material. h-r the words of the authors, the psychopath “. knows the words but not the music”. Lu ST, H&vWAWEN MS, HAtu R, ILMONIEMI RJ, LoUNASMAA OV, SAMSM, VILKMAN V: Seeing Faces Activates Three
Separate Areas Outside Occipital Visual Cortex Man. Neuroscience 1991, 43:287-290.
Protein Kinase and the Disruption of Learning in Transgenie Flies. Neuron 1991, 6:71-82.
Computational approaches to hippocampal function by William E. Skaggs and Bruce L. McNaughton
An ingenious demonstration showing that protein kinase A is involved in learning in Drosophila. The authors used genes encoding a peptide inhibitor of protein kinase A, transformed them into wild-type flies, and induced them by heat shock to overproduce their RNA, resulting in a disruption of odor discrimination acquisition.
TREVESA, ROLLS ET: Computational
systems Tranel
by Antonio
R. Damasio
T, BURGESS PW: Deficits in Strategy Application Following Frontal Lobe Damage in Man. Bruin 1991, 114:727-741.
SHALZE
The investigators employ creative and ‘ecologically valid experimental procedures to demonstrate that patients with frontal lobe lesions, despite having largely normal
in
An electrophysiological investigation suggesting different system components for face processing.
DRAIN P, FOLKERSE, QUINN WG: CAMP-Dependent
Knowledge and Daniel
198
neuropsychological profiles, have significant defects in the planning and execution of complex unstructured tasks.
Constraints Suggest the Need for Two Distinct Input Systems to the Hippocampal CA3 Network. Hippocampus 1992,
in press. Proposes that the function of the fascia dentata is to create good representations in CA3 during memorization of an input, while the direct connections from the entorhinal cortex to CM serve better to re-evoke the stored pattern during recall. Justifies the argument with numerical calculations. SHARPP: Computer Simulations chobiology 1991, 19:103-116.
of Place Cells. Psy
Proposes a very simple model of place cells as a winnertake-all network receiving input from spatial feature detectors. simulates a rat moving in a cylindrical maze, and finds place fields closely resembling those experimentally observed. Examines the consequences of competitive learning on the behavior of the cells. @ 1992 Current
Biology
Memory
by Richard
F. Thompson
PONS TP, GARRAGHTY PE, OMMAYA AK, KAAS JH, TAUB E, MISHKIN M: Massive Cortical Reorganization After
Sensory Dealferentation 1991, 252:1857-1860.
in Adult Macaques. Science
A study of adult monkeys that had had a limb deafferented 12 years earlier showed that the cortical map of the primary somatosensory area underwent massive reorganization, suggesting that growth processes may have occurred. &RAMS TW, KARL KA, HANDEL ER: Biochemical Studies of Stimulus Convergence During Classical Conditioning in Aplysia: Dual Regulation of Adenylate Cyclase by Ca2f/Calmodulin and Transmitter. J Neurosci 1991, 11:2655-2665.
The adenylate cyclase in the 4lysia central nervous system that is sensitive to Ca2-~‘/caknodulin exhibits temporal specificity in potentiation in that paired Ca2+ and serotonin applications to cell homogenates, but not unpaired applications, yield potentiation.
S, HAREWR TJ, HARE RD: Abnormal Processing of Affective Words by Psychopaths. Pycbopbysiology 1991, 28:26&273.
WILLIAMSON
This study is another demonstration by Hare and his collaborators that ‘developmental’ psychopaths have deficient cognitive and physiological processing of affective material, despite normal understanding of the content (i.e. manifest meaning) of the material. h-r the words of the authors, the psychopath “. knows the words but not the music”. Lu ST, H&vWAWEN MS, HAtu R, ILMONIEMI RJ, LoUNASMAA OV, SAMSM, VILKMAN V: Seeing Faces Activates Three
Separate Areas Outside Occipital Visual Cortex Man. Neuroscience 1991, 43:287-290.
Protein Kinase and the Disruption of Learning in Transgenie Flies. Neuron 1991, 6:71-82.
Computational approaches to hippocampal function by William E. Skaggs and Bruce L. McNaughton
An ingenious demonstration showing that protein kinase A is involved in learning in Drosophila. The authors used genes encoding a peptide inhibitor of protein kinase A, transformed them into wild-type flies, and induced them by heat shock to overproduce their RNA, resulting in a disruption of odor discrimination acquisition.
TREVESA, ROLLS ET: Computational
systems Tranel
by Antonio
R. Damasio
T, BURGESS PW: Deficits in Strategy Application Following Frontal Lobe Damage in Man. Bruin 1991, 114:727-741.
SHALZE
The investigators employ creative and ‘ecologically valid experimental procedures to demonstrate that patients with frontal lobe lesions, despite having largely normal
in
An electrophysiological investigation suggesting different system components for face processing.
DRAIN P, FOLKERSE, QUINN WG: CAMP-Dependent
Knowledge and Daniel
198
neuropsychological profiles, have significant defects in the planning and execution of complex unstructured tasks.
Constraints Suggest the Need for Two Distinct Input Systems to the Hippocampal CA3 Network. Hippocampus 1992,
in press. Proposes that the function of the fascia dentata is to create good representations in CA3 during memorization of an input, while the direct connections from the entorhinal cortex to CM serve better to re-evoke the stored pattern during recall. Justifies the argument with numerical calculations. SHARPP: Computer Simulations chobiology 1991, 19:103-116.
of Place Cells. Psy
Proposes a very simple model of place cells as a winnertake-all network receiving input from spatial feature detectors. simulates a rat moving in a cylindrical maze, and finds place fields closely resembling those experimentally observed. Examines the consequences of competitive learning on the behavior of the cells. @ 1992 Current
Biology