The ascarid nematodes Toxocara canis (Werner, 1782) and Toxocara cati (Schrank, 1788) may infect humans resulting in toxocariasis. A prior study associated species of Toxocara Stiles, 1905 with cognitive deficits in children. To determine if a similar association between toxocariasis and cognition exists in adults, we analysed a large dataset from the United States' Center for Disease Control's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We used linear-regression and multivariate models to examine the association between toxocariasis as assessed by the presence of anti-Toxocara IgG antibodies and three measures of cognitive function - simple reaction time (SRT), symbol-digit substitution (SDS) and serial-digit learning (SDL) in 4 279 adults aged 21 to 59 years. Toxocara seroprevalence did not vary with age or blood-lead concentration but did vary with gender, ethnicity, educational attainment and poverty-to-income ratio. Controlling for gender, age, blood-lead concentration, educational attainment, ethnic background and the poverty-to-income ratio, we found that toxocariasis predicted worse performance on the SDS but not on the SRT or the SDL. Moreover, there were significant interactions between toxocariasis and age, gender and educational attainment. In conclusion, toxocariasis appears to be associated with decreased cognitive function. Interactions between toxocariasis and gender, age and educational attainment further suggest that certain groups may be more susceptible than others to the cognitive dysfunction associated with toxocariasis in adults., Lance D. Erickson, Shawn D. Gale, Andrew Berrett, Bruce L. Brown, Dawson W. Hedges., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The nematodes Toxocara canis (Werner, 1782) and Toxocara cati (Schrank, 1788) have been associated with worse human cognitive function in children and middle-aged adults. In this study, we sought to determine the association between Toxocara seropositivity and serointensity determined by detection of IgG antibodies against the Toxocara antigen recombinant Tc-CTL-1 and cognitive function in older adults, including approximately 1,350 observations from the 2013-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Mean fluorescence intensity was used to quantify IgG antibodies against the Toxocara recombinant Tc-CTL-1 antigen, and respondents were considered positive at values greater than 23.1. In adjusted models from sample sizes ranging from 1,274 to 1,288 depending on the individual cognitive task, we found that Toxocara seropositivity was associated with worse performance on the animal-fluency task (b = -1.245, 95% CI: -2.392 to -0.099, P< 0.05) and the digit-symbol coding task (b = -5.159, 95% CI: -8.337 to -1.980, P< 0.001). Toxocara serointensity assessed using log-transformed mean fluorescence intensity as a continuous variable was associated with worse performance on the digit-symbol coding task (b = -1.880, 95% CI: -2.976 to -0.783, P < 0.001). There were no significant associations with tasks assessing memory. Further, age modified the association between Toxocara and cognitive function, although sex, educational attainment, and income did not. These findings suggest that Toxocara might be associated with deficits in executive function and processing speed in older U.S. adults, although additional research is required to better describe cognitive function in older adults who are seropositive for Toxocara spp.
a1_Bolest je signál ohrožení organizmu. Váže pozornost, narušuje probíhající psychické procesy a vyvolává strach, který neuropsychicky zesiluje bolest, působí hyperestézii a negativní nabuzení (arousal). Kognitivní hodnocení bolesti jako ohrožení vyvolá také strach. Výsledný strach je tedy generovaný neuropsychicky („reflexně“) i kognitivně. Strach, vyvolaný oběma mechanizmy, narušuje zvládání bolesti (coping). Selháváním procesu zvládání vzniká úzkost, zlost a deprese a dále nepříznivé hodnocení vlastní schopnosti zvládat bolest a spokojeně žít. Na předpokladu těchto procesů, jejichž podstatné segmenty byly testované strukturálním modelem EQS, je založen Dynamický model psychologických procesů při chronické bolesti (DM). Původní DM, podobně jako další současné modely chronické bolesti lze považovat za modely lokálně nezávislé (tedy vysvětlené „ze sebe sama“). V této práci jsou analyzovány „spouštějící“ procesy DM, pocit bolesti a kognitivní zpracovávání bolesti, a oběma procesy vyvolaný strach. Protože tyto procesy probíhají v rámci osobnosti jako vyššího psychologického celku, autoři rozšiřují původní předpoklad DM o rys úzkosti, jako další podmínku toho, jak silný bude strach, vyvolaný bolestí a jejím kognitivním zpracováním. Na souboru 272 pacientů s nemaligní bolestí, věk M = 47,93 (SD = 10,73) roků, trvání bolesti v letech = 11,06 (SD = 9,57), byl postupně testován odpovídající regresní model: K původním nezávisle proměnným, faktorům Bolest (Intenzita bolesti, Nepříjemnost bolesti) a Kognitivní zpracovávání bolesti (Očekávání bolesti v budoucnu, Vina druhých aj.), byla nově zavedena „vnější“ proměnná, Rys úzkosti, a vypočítána lineární regrese na Strach z bolesti., a2_Po redukci modelu s 8 měřenými hodnotami (CFI = 0,81) na 5 měřených hodnot (CFI = 0,84) přistoupili autoři k zařazení další proměnné (tj. mimo původní DM), kovariancí mezi (reziduální variancí) Přetrváváním bolesti a Rysem úzkosti. Tento model se dobře shoduje s daty (CFI = 0,95). Předpoklad přímého vztahu mezi Přetrváváním bolesti a Rysem úzkosti tak významně zvyšuje shodu modelu s daty. Strach z bolesti je tedy nejvíce podmíněn kognitivně, a to očekáváním, že bolest potrvá, a přisuzováním viny za bolest druhým. Efekt dispoziční úzkosti je dvojí: a) Strach z bolesti je specifický projev dispoziční úzkosti při bolestivém stavu, b) dispoziční úzkost ovlivňuje nastavení kognitivních procesů a vede k očekávání bolesti v budoucnosti, a tím ke strachu z bolesti. Pocit bolesti, atribut bolestivého stavu, tyto procesy spouští. Efekt intenzity a nepříjemnosti bolesti na strach z bolesti je malý., b1_Pain represents a signal that an organism is in danger. It attracts attention, it disturbs ongoing mental processes and it brings about fear. In addition, cognitive appraisal of the pain brings about fear as well. The resulting fear triggers coping. If the coping fails, it is followed by anxiety, anger, depression and negative evaluation of one‘s ability to cope with the pain and to live well. Assumption of the processes forms the basis of the Dynamic Model of Psychological Processes in Chronic Pain (DM). The original DM, similarly to other recent models of chronic pain, may be considered a locally independent model (i.e., explained “by itself”). The present paper contains an analysis of “triggering” processes of the DM, the feeling and cognitive processing of the pain, as well as the fear caused by both processes. In addition, the DM assumption is expanded by an “external” variable – Trait Anxiety – representing another condition of the fear. In a group of 272 patients with non-malignant pain (age: M=47.9, SD=10.7 years; duration of pain: M=11.1, SD=9.6 years), the authors gradually tested the regression model: together with the original DM factors of Pain (Pain Intensity, Pain Unpleasantness, and Cognitive Processing of Pain) a new “external“ variable Trait Anxiety was entered and the linear regression on the Fear of Pain was calculated. After reducing the model containing 8 measured values (CFI=0.81) to a model having 5 measured values (CFI=0.84), additional variables were included and covariance between Permanence of Pain and Trait Anxiety was computed. Resulting model fits the data very well (CFI=0.95). The assumption of a direct relationship between the Permanence of Pain and Trait Anxiety significantly increases correspondence of the model with the data., b2_ The results show that the fear of pain is primarily cognitively dependent on expectation that pain will last in future and that pain is blamed on the others. Two effects of Trait Anxiety in the Fear of Pain were found: a) the Fear of Pain represents specific manifestation of Trait Anxiety under pain conditions, b) Trait Anxiety influences cognitive setting, which leads to expectation that pain will last and it thus creates Fear of Pain. The effect of Pain Intensity and Pain Unpleasantness on the Fear of Pain is small., Petr Knotek, Helena Knotková, Jaroslava Raudenská., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Objectives. Neuropsychological tests employ several cognitive functions to a different extent. Thus, factor structures of various neuropsychological batteries and their analyses show both similarities and discrepancies. The study explores the Czech comprehensive neuropsychological battery for SuperAgers (older people with excellent cognition) from the cross-sectional and longitudinal point of view in respect to its factor structure and its stability over time. Sample and settings. The study sample consisted of 361 healthy older adults (age 60–94) assessed in years 2012 and 2015 with cognitive tests battery. Statistical analyses. Data were analyzed with confirmatory factor and invariance analyses over time using multiple competing theory-driven models of cognition based on previous studies consisting of 1–5 factors. Results. The results show that the best fitting model consists of four factors: verbal memory, attention/working memory, executive functions, and language. The results also suggest that the four factorial structure of cognition in healthy older people was the most stable. This reflects their cognitive functioning and highlights the need to identify the SuperAgers on the basis of performance in multiple cognitive domains. The authors propose that these four domains should be taken into account for identifying SuperAgers and that comparing competing models should be a standard procedure in future studies.Limitations. The visuospatial or nonverbal memory factors were not represented in our study with relevant tests. Our sample consisted of healthy older adults. and Cíle. Neuropsychologické testy sledují v různé míře řadu kognitivních funkcí. Faktorové struktury různých neuropsychologických baterií a jejich analýzy tak vykazují jak podobnosti, tak 49Metodické studie/rozdíly. Studie zkoumá českou komplexní neuropsychologickou baterii pro SuperAgery (starší osoby s vynikajícími kognitivními schopnostmi) z průřezového a longitudinálního hlediska s ohledem na její faktorovou strukturu a její stabilitu v čase. Soubor. Soubor tvořilo 361 zdravých starších osob (ve věku 60–94 let), které byly v letech 2012 a 2015 hodnoceny pomocí baterie kognitivních testů. Statistické analýzy. Data byla analyzována konfirmační faktorovou analýzou a analýzou invariance v čase s využitím několika konkurenčních modelů kognice založených na teoriích vycházejících z předchozích studií a sestávajících z 1-5 faktorů. Výsledky. Výsledky ukazují, že nejlepší model se skládá ze čtyř faktorů: verbální paměť, pozornost/pracovní paměť, exekutivní funkce a jazyk. Tento model kognice byl také nejstabilnější. Model odráží kognitivní funkce zdravých seniorů a zdůrazňuje potřebu identifikovat SuperAgery na základě výkonu ve více kognitivních oblastech. Autoři navrhují, aby tyto čtyři domény byly brány v úvahu při identifikaci SuperAgerů a aby porovnávání konkurenčních modelů bylo standardním postupem v budoucích studiích. Omezení. Ve studii nebyly zastoupeny faktory vizuálně-prostorové funkce nebo neverbální paměti s příslušnými testy. Vzorek tvořili zdraví starší dospělí.
In the last two decades, cognitive and evolutionary approaches have appeared as new and invigorating attempts to explain what religion is: how religious phenomena emerged, why they persist, and why we find recurring patterns across cultural and historical borders. When addressing such question from perspectives informed by evolutionary biology and cognitive science, a pertinent question arises: How do we reconcile these new theories, and more experimentally inclined approaches, with a more traditional historical and/or sociological study of religion? What can cognitive and evolutionary approaches teach a general science of religion? In this paper I argue that historiography must indeed take theoretical and explanatory models arising from cognitive and evolutionary approaches seriously, but that we need to conceptualize not only the relation between distinct explanatory levels, but also the constraints imposed by the scope of particular scholarly endeavors.
Drug abuse during pregnancy is a growing problem in all developed countries all over the world. The drugs easily cross the placental barrier into the fetal body and are present also in the maternal milk. Therefore, it may affect the development of the child pre- as well as postnatally. The effects of prenatal drug exposure are long-lasting and persist until adulthood. The present review summarizes the clinical and experimental evidence showing how opioids and psychostimulants can affect maternal behavior of drug-abusing mother and the development of their offspring., R. Šlamberová., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Perinatal hypoxia is still one of the greatest threats to the
newborn child, even in developed countries. However, there is
a lack of works which summarize up-to-date information about
that huge topic. Our review covers a broader spectrum of recent
results from studies on mechanisms leading to hypoxia-induced
injury. It also resumes possible primary causes and observed
behavioral outcomes of perinatal hypoxia. In this review, we
recognize two types of hypoxia, according to the localization of
its primary cause: environmental and placental. Later we analyze
possible pathways of prenatal hypoxia-induced injury including
gene expression changes, glutaminergic excitatory damage (and
a role of NMDA receptors in it), oxidative stress with ROS and
RNS production, inflammation and apoptosis. Moreover, we focus
on the impact of these pathophysiological changes on the
structure and development of the brain, especially on its regions:
corpus striatum and hippocampus. These brain changes of the
offspring lead to impairments in their postnatal growth and
sensorimotor development, and in their motor functions, activity,
emotionality and learning ability in adulthood. Later we compare
various animal models used to investigate the impact of prenatal
and postnatal injury (hypoxic, ischemic or combinatory) on living
organisms, and show their advantages and limitations.
It is the aim of this work to interpret magical thinking as a strong tendency towards categorization, towards simplification of an infinitely diverse reality and of its modifications, and its reduction to a limited number of static prototypes. In magical thinking similitu.de and contact (adjacency) are not only crucial principles of the human cognition; moreover they have their ontological dimensions: they direct the course of the world. Numerous examples of human conduct that are motivated by the laws of magic can be found not only in systems and their elements mentioned in canonical studies of magic (Frazer, Mauss) or in Eliade’s phenomenology of religion, but also in texts concerning European medieval and folk culture (Gurevich) or contemporary popular culture (astrology, prophecies etc.). Different phenomena of magical thinking like recurring time, imitations of extra-mundane models or of the past deeds can be described and explained by means of cognitivism. Various forms of popular metaphysics are also based on the tendency towards categorization. It is the tendency to eliminate everything particular and variable, and to inspell what is general and certain. Magical thinking does not acknowledge coincidence or probability, since everything is considered here necessary and can be instantly explained. and Cílem této práce je interpretovat magické myšlení jako výraznou snahu o kategorizaci, o zjednodušení nesmírné rozmanitosti reality a její modifikaci, redukci na omezený počet statických prototypů. Podobnost a dotyk (blízkost) jsou nejen klíčovými principy lidského poznávání; mají také ontologický rozměr, neboť ovlivňují podobu světa. Početné příklady lidského jednání motivovaného magickými zákonitostmi můžeme najít nejen v systémech a jejich součástech, popsaných v kanonických textech věnovaných náboženství (Frazer, Mauss) nebo v Eliadově fenomenologii náboženství, ale také v textech věnovaných evropské středověké a lidové kultuře (Gurevič) nebo současné lidové kultuře (astrologie, proroctví atd.). Různé aspekty magického myšlení, jako je cyklické vnímání času, imitace vzorů z „onoho světa" nebo minulých událostí, mohou být popsány a vysvětleny prostřednictvím kognitivismu. Různé formy lidové metafyziky také vycházejí ze snah o kategorizaci. Pod tímto termínem rozumím tendenci eliminovat vše konkrétní a proměnlivé a zdůraznit vše obecné a stálé. Magické myšlení neuznává náhodu a pravděpodobnost, neboť vše je pokládáno za nutné a objasnitelné.
This article discusses the way in which three different generations
of Lithuanian patriots defined their relationship with the Czech national movement; how the Czech national movement influenced the development of the Lithuanian national movement in the 19th century. The article is methodologically based on a three-stage periodization of the national movement provided by historian, Miroslav Hroch. It draws information primarily on the basis of text analysis of the journals Teka Wileńska, Aušra, and Varpas, which
can be regarded as generational ideological platforms, and correspondence and memories of activists. The author researches the difference in the motivation of Lithuaanian-Polish patriots on one hand and, on the other, by later generations activists of the Lithuanian national movement. and Obsahuje poznámkový aparát pod čarou
The article attempts to evaluate the possible contribution of cognitive psychology to our understanding of Pythia's role in divinatory procedures taking place in the Delphic Oracle. In previous scholarship there was a deep-rooted tendency to search for a natural substance whose digestion should have caused changes in Pythia's mental state. These efforts have recently been revived in the form of a much advertised "Ethylene hypothesis", purportedly harmonizing information of ancient sources with scientific knowledge of modern geology. According to the author of this article, the actual merit of this hypothesis remains very problematic. In contrast, it is argued, based on the evaluation of ancient descriptions of Delphic divinatory consultations and research conducted in the field of cognitive psychology, that Pythia's mental state can be classified as an instance of Patterned Dissociative Identity, which is very often emicly understood as the possession of human mind by spiritual beings. This mental state was adopted by Pythiai routinely and was characterized by stable observable symptoms which warranted the authenticity of spoken oracles in the eyes of consultants and other participants.