Executive functions

in Morris, R. G.; Becker, J. T. (Eds.) The cognitive Neuropsychology of Alzheimer's disease (2004)

Différences interindividuelles dans la propension aux faux souvenirs

in Brédart, Serge (Ed.) Souvenirs récupérés, souvenirs oubliés et faux souvenirs (2004)

Further evidence of the multi-dimensionality of hallucinatory predisposition: factor structure of a modified version of the Launay-Slade Hallucinations Scale in a normal sample

in European Psychiatry (2004), 19

Recent years has seen an increasing interest in the hallucinatory experience, including investigations of its phenomenological prevalence and character both in pathological and normal (predisposed ... [more ▼]

Recent years has seen an increasing interest in the hallucinatory experience, including investigations of its phenomenological prevalence and character both in pathological and normal (predisposed) populations. We investigated the multi-dimensionality of hallucinatory experiences in 265 subjects from the normal population, who completed a modified version of the Launay-Slade Hallucinations Scale. Principal components analysis was performed on the data. Four factors were obtained loading on items reflecting (1) sleep-related hallucinatory experiences (2) vivid daydreams (3) intrusive thoughts or realness of thought and (4) auditory hallucinations. The results offer further evidence of the multi-dimensionality of hallucinatory disposition in the normal population. Directions for future research in hallucinatory predisposition are discussed. <LF>(C) 2003 Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved. [less ▲]

Verbal short-term memory reflects the sublexical organization of the phonological language network: Evidence from an incidental phonotactic learning paradigm

in Journal of Memory & Language (2004), 51

Does sustained ERP activity in posterior lexico-semantic processing areas during short-term memory tasks only reflect activated long-term memory?

in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (2003), 26(6), 746-747

We challenge Ruchkin et al.'s claim in reducing short-term memory (STM) to the active part of long-term memory (LTM), by showing that their data cannot rule out the possibility that activation of ... [more ▼]

We challenge Ruchkin et al.'s claim in reducing short-term memory (STM) to the active part of long-term memory (LTM), by showing that their data cannot rule out the possibility that activation of posterior brain regions could also reflect the contribution of a verbal STM buffer. [less ▲]

Identity and expression memory for happy and angry faces in social anxiety

in Acta Psychologica (2003), 114(1), 1-15

We examined the influence of social anxiety on memory for both identity and emotional expressions of unfamiliar faces. Participants high and low in social anxiety were presented with happy and angry faces ... [more ▼]

We examined the influence of social anxiety on memory for both identity and emotional expressions of unfamiliar faces. Participants high and low in social anxiety were presented with happy and angry faces and were later asked to recognise the same faces displaying a neutral expression. They also had to remember what the initial expressions of the faces had been. Remember/know/guess judgements were asked both for identity and expression memory. For participants low in social anxiety, both identity and expression memory were more often associated with "remember" responses when the faces were previously seen with a happy rather than an angry expression. In contrast, the initial expression of the faces did not affect either identity or expression memory for participants high in social anxiety. We interpreted these findings by arguing that most people tend to preferentially elaborate positive rather than negative social stimuli that are important to the self and that this tendency may be reduced in high socially anxious individuals because of the negative meaning they tend to ascribe to positive social information. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. [less ▲]

Phonological short-term memory networks following recovery from Landau and Kleffner syndrome

in Human Brain Mapping (2003), 19(3), 133-144

Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS) is a rare acquired aphasia occurring in otherwise healthy children, together with spike-wave discharges predominating over superior temporal regions and activated by sleep ... [more ▼]

Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS) is a rare acquired aphasia occurring in otherwise healthy children, together with spike-wave discharges predominating over superior temporal regions and activated by sleep. Although the outcome of language abilities is variable, a residual impairment in verbal short-term memory (STM) is frequent. This STM deficit might be related to the persistent dysfunction of those temporal lobe regions where epileptic discharges were observed during the active phase of the disorder. We tested this hypothesis by measuring brain activation during immediate serial recall of lists of 4 words, compared to single word repetition, using H(2) (15)O positron emission tomography (PET), in 3 LKS patients after recovery and in 14 healthy controls. The patients (TG, JPH, and DC) had shown abnormally increased or decreased glucose metabolism in left or right superior temporal gyrus (STG) at different stages during the active phase of their disease. At the time of this study, the patients were 6-10 years from the active phase of LKS. Results showed that Patients JPH and DC had impaired performance in the STM condition, whereas TG showed near normal performance. PET data showed that JPH and DC activated significantly less than controls left and right posterior STG. TG, having near normal STM performance, showed increased activity in the posterior part of the right STG. These data suggest that impaired verbal STM at late outcome of LKS might indeed be related to a persistent decrease of activity in those posterior superior temporal gyri that were involved in the epileptic focus during the active phase. [less ▲]

Long-term memory effects on verbal short-term memory : a replication study

in British Journal of Developmental Psychology (2003), 21(Part 2), 303-310

The influence of lexico-semantic language representations stored in long-term memory (LTM) on short-term memory (STM) performance has been studied extensively in adults. However, there are relatively few ... [more ▼]

The influence of lexico-semantic language representations stored in long-term memory (LTM) on short-term memory (STM) performance has been studied extensively in adults. However, there are relatively few data on lexico-semantic LTM effects on STM in children. On the other hand, the influence of phonological LTM effects on STM has been studied more extensively in children than in adults. In this study, we explored whether these different LTM effects on verbal STM could be replicated in both adults and children by administering immediate serial recall tasks (ISR) for high- and low-frequency words, for high- and low-imageability words, for words and non-words, and for high and low phonotactic frequency non-words to 6-, 8-, and 10-year-old children, to adolescents and to adults. Significant word frequency, lexicality and phonotactic frequency effects were observed in all age groups, as well as a word imageability effect which was, however, weaker than the other three effects. Our data suggest that LTM effects on STM are equivalent in both children and adults. [less ▲]

Neural correlates of "hot" and "cold" emotional processing : a multilevel approach to the functional anatomy of emotion

in Neuroimage (2003), 18(4), 938-949

The neural correlates of two hypothesized emotional processing modes, i.e., schematic and propositional modes, were investigated with positron emission tomography. Nineteen subjects performed an emotional ... [more ▼]

The neural correlates of two hypothesized emotional processing modes, i.e., schematic and propositional modes, were investigated with positron emission tomography. Nineteen subjects performed an emotional mental imagery task while mentally repeating sentences linked to the meaning of the imagery script. In the schematic conditions, participants repeated metaphoric sentences, whereas in the propositional conditions, the sentences were explicit questions about specific emotional appraisals of the imagery scenario. Five types of emotional scripts were proposed to the subjects (happiness, anger, affection, sadness, and a neutral scenario). The results supported the hypothesized distinction between schematic and propositional emotional processing modes. Specifically, schematic mode was associated with increased activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex whereas propositional mode was associated with activation of the anterolateral prefrontal cortex. In addition, interaction analyses showed that schematic versus propositional processing of happiness (compared with the neutral scenario) was associated with increased activity in the ventral striatum whereas "schematic anger" was tentatively associated with activation of the ventral pallidum. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved. [less ▲]

Sensation-seeking and impulsivity in young and older adults' decision making

in Brain & Cognition (2003), 51(2), 237-239

The somatic marker hypothesis asserts that decision-making processes involve emotion. Using a gambling task that models real-life decisions, studies showed that old adults perform less efficiently than ... [more ▼]

The somatic marker hypothesis asserts that decision-making processes involve emotion. Using a gambling task that models real-life decisions, studies showed that old adults perform less efficiently than younger adults, by adopting a strategy that is disadvantageous on the long term. This study aimed at re-examining the age effect on decisionmaking with the same paradigm, and to explore whether differences are related to sensation-seeking and impulsivity traits of personality. Young and older adults were compared on the gambling task (Bechara, Damasio, & Damasio, 2000a), and on questionnaires of sensationseeking and impulsivity. Results confirmed an age effect on the gambling task performance. Moreover, performance in both young and older adults on this task was correlated to scores on the sensation-seeking scale, but not to the rating of impulsivity [less ▲]