scholarly journals Timbre in the Musical Performance as a Result of Audio-Mental Operations

2021 ◽  
pp. 15-18
Author(s):  
Ana Szilagyi
Keyword(s):  
Classical Music ◽  
Sound Quality ◽  
Emotional Impact ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Good Technique ◽  
Mental Operations ◽  
Music Piece ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain

The aim of this paper is to reveal the relationship between the timbre, i.e. sound quality, obtained by an instrumentalist when playing a music piece, and the role of the hearing, listening, and other musical specific mental operations that take place in the brain of the instrumentalist during the performance, with the focus on the classical music, which depends in the most cases on the score. The timbre is a characteristic of every instrument or voice that makes their tone unique. It is given by the different sound components (partials) with different frequencies and amplitudes. The number and the amplitude of the partials are different from instrument to instrument; they depend on the construction of the instrument and on the art of playing, the last being the point in this article. It is known that timbre has an emotional impact on the perception. Its semantic features are represented through descriptors as: dark, bright, round, dull, dry, harsh, etc. that have to be created by the performers, in order to affect the auditory. Thus, they have to possess a good technique, able to get different timbres. Although, the technique has to be subordinated to the capacity of hearing in advance the sound with all its features: pitch, duration, intensity and timbre.

scholarly journals Kynurenic acid and cancer: facts and controversies

2019 ◽  
Vol 77 (8) ◽  
pp. 1531-1550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Walczak ◽  
Artur Wnorowski ◽  
Waldemar A. Turski ◽  
Tomasz Plech
Keyword(s):  
Kynurenic Acid ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Cancer Cell Proliferation ◽  
Gastrointestinal Microbiota ◽  
Tryptophan Metabolite ◽  
Peripheral Cells ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Kynurenic acid (KYNA) is an endogenous tryptophan metabolite exerting neuroprotective and anticonvulsant properties in the brain. However, its importance on the periphery is still not fully elucidated. KYNA is produced endogenously in various types of peripheral cells, tissues and by gastrointestinal microbiota. Furthermore, it was found in several products of daily human diet and its absorption in the digestive tract was evidenced. More recent studies were focused on the potential role of KYNA in carcinogenesis and cancer therapy; however, the results were ambiguous and the biological activity of KYNA in these processes has not been unequivocally established. This review aims to summarize the current views on the relationship between KYNA and cancer. The differences in KYNA concentration between physiological conditions and cancer, as well as KYNA production by both normal and cancer cells, will be discussed. The review also describes the effect of KYNA on cancer cell proliferation and the known potential molecular mechanisms of this activity.

An experimental investigation of the role of different types of iconic gesture in communication

Gesture ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Beattie ◽  
Heather Shovelton
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Investigation ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Accuracy Score ◽  
Iconic Gesture ◽  
Reliable Effect ◽  
Fundamental Conception ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Original Story ◽  
The Relationship

Respondents, who had either seen or not seen a sample of the iconic gestures that encoders produce when narrating a story, answered questions about the original story and it was found that the overall accuracy score for respondents who saw the iconic gestures in addition to hearing the speech was 56.8% compared to 48.6% for speech only. This was a highly reliable effect and suggests that iconic gestures are indeed communicative. Character viewpoint gestures were also significantly more communicative than observer viewpoint gestures particularly about the semantic feature relative position, but the observer viewpoint gestures were effective at communicating information, particularly about the semantic features speed and shape. There were no significant correlations between the amount of information that gestures added to speech and the amount they conveyed in its absence, which suggests that the relationship between speech and gesture is not fixed but variable. The implications of this research for our fundamental conception of iconic gestures are considered.

Drugs and Drug Policy

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A.R. Kleiman ◽  
Jonathan P. Caulkins ◽  
Angela Hawken
Keyword(s):  
Drug Policy ◽  
Illicit Trade ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Control Drug ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Drugs And Crime ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Drug Free ◽  
The Brain

While there have always been norms and customs around the use of drugs, explicit public policies--regulations, taxes, and prohibitions--designed to control drug abuse are a more recent phenomenon. Those policies sometimes have terrible side-effects: most prominently the development of criminal enterprises dealing in forbidden (or untaxed) drugs and the use of the profits of drug-dealing to finance insurgency and terrorism. Neither a drug-free world nor a world of free drugs seems to be on offer, leaving citizens and officials to face the age-old problem: What are we going to do about drugs? In Drugs and Drug Policy, three noted authorities survey the subject with exceptional clarity, in this addition to the acclaimed series, What Everyone Needs to Know. They begin by, defining "drugs, " examining how they work in the brain, discussing the nature of addiction, and exploring the damage they do to users. The book moves on to policy, answering questions about legalization, the role of criminal prohibitions, and the relative legal tolerance for alcohol and tobacco. The authors then dissect the illicit trade, from street dealers to the flow of money to the effect of catching kingpins, and show the precise nature of the relationship between drugs and crime. They examine treatment, both its effectiveness and the role of public policy, and discuss the beneficial effects of some abusable substances. Finally they move outward to look at the role of drugs in our foreign policy, their relationship to terrorism, and the ugly politics that surround the issue. Crisp, clear, and comprehensive, this is a handy and up-to-date overview of one of the most pressing topics in today's world.

scholarly journals Musical education in the primary schools of Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-76
Author(s):  
Judit Váradi
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
School Students ◽  
Educational Structure ◽  
Live Music ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
The Relationship

The study is a part of international research, the aim of which was to examine a less known aspect of music education in four Central European countries: Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia. The research focused on school students aged between 8 and 12, N=805. The study explored the educational structure and curricula of the participating countries. It also put the emphasis on the teaching methods for introducing music to student; furthermore, it examined the presentation of live music. In the course of our research we examined the role of social variants with regard to the cultural activities of the children. Moreover, we explored the correlation between parental cultural capital and children’s interest in classical music. Another important aspect of our study was the international comparison focusing on the differences and similarities in music education between various countries. The third issue examined in detail was the relationship between the formal and non-formal education, i.e. how the extra-curricular education (such as experience pedagogy and concert pedagogy) can become part of the everyday pedagogical work of the schools.

scholarly journals The Change in William I. Thomas’s View of Biology

Stan Rzeczy ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 75-94
Author(s):  
Łukasz Remisiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Psychological Development ◽  
Departure Point ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain

In this article the author shows how the exploding role of biology in William Thomas’s sociology and social psychology has changed. Since the beginning of his career, this researcher addressed numerous topics that involved both biological and social factors – he commented on the nature of gender, race, instincts, prejudice and evolution. His departure point was biologism, which proclaimed that innate predispositions are a variable independent of social processes. In the following years, Thomas changed his beliefs, recognising that it was culture and society that left its mark on physiological and psychological development. The changes in Thomas’s reasoning are described by the author against the background of past and present views on the relationship between society and the brain, claiming that his late views could resonate with today’s approaches.

Between Mind and Brain:Final and Efficient Causation in Relation to Neuroplasticity

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 194-208
Author(s):  
Derrick L. Hassert
Keyword(s):  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Behavioral Interventions ◽  
Rational Behavior ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Efficient Causation ◽  
Final Causes ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Behavior And Cognition

Reductionism is usually taken for granted in many areas of science, neuroscience and psychology being no exceptions. It is often assumed as scientific orthodoxy that human behavior can be reduced to “what the brain does” without recourse to a consideration of cognition. Although many philosophers and ethicists may seek to reduce or eliminate the concept of mind, other philosophers and ethicists have continually pointed out the logical inconsistencies of such an approach. Via a discussion of efficient and final causes in Aristotelian philosophy, I seek to argue that the understanding of human beings as rational and social creatures has guided and should continue to guide our approach to the care and treatment of the mentally ill. Observations concerning rational behavior and cognition, by necessity, have provided the benchmarks by which clinicians evaluate the effectiveness of somatic/pharmacological or psychological/ behavioral interventions: Eliminative reductionism is inappropriate in this area. In approaching issues pertaining to the relationship between human cognitive functioning and neural functioning, the distinction between capacity and vehicle will be used. However, the fact that mental and behavioral functioning can alter neuronal functioning (and vice versa) necessitates that those working with the mentally ill need to know both the efficient causes—the vehicles of certain capacities—and the role of the capacities themselves and how they relate to possible final causes in giving explanations for behavior. These issues become more significant when considering the ethics of treatment choice for those with mental disorders.

Sex steroids-induced neurogenesis in adult brain: a better look at mechanisms and mediators

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamideh Abotalebi ◽  
Babak Ebrahimi ◽  
Raziyeh Shahriyari ◽  
Reyhaneh Shafieian
Keyword(s):  
Sex Steroids ◽  
Ventricular Zone ◽  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Adult Brain ◽  
Sex Steroid ◽  
Subgranular Zone ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Adult neurogenesis is the production of new nerve cells in the adult brain. Neurogenesis is a clear example of the neuroplasticity phenomenon which can be observed in most of mammalian species, including human beings. This phenomenon occurs, at least, in two regions of the brain: the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus in hippocampus and the ventricular zone of lateral ventricles. Numerous studies have investigated the relationship between sex steroid hormones and neurogenesis of adult brain; of which, mostly concentrated on the role of estradiol. It has been shown that estrogen plays a significant role in this process through both classic and non-classic mechanisms, including a variety of different growth factors. Therefore, the objective of this review is to investigate the role of female sex steroids with an emphasis on estradiol and also its potential implications for regulating the neurogenesis in the adult brain.

L-Dopa metabolism in genetically hypertensive mice: effect of pargyline

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (12) ◽  
pp. 2390-2395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen T. Buu ◽  
Johanne Duhaime ◽  
Karoly Racz ◽  
Otto Kuchel ◽  
Gunther Schlager
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Sympathetic Nervous System ◽  
Monoamine Oxidase ◽  
Hydroxylase Activity ◽  
Sympathetic Nervous ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Genetically Hypertensive

This study on the role of the sympathetic nervous system in the development of hypertension involves the measurement of dopamine and norepinephrine accumulation in various tissues of the hypertensive and random-bred normotensive strains of mice at basal levels, and following a pargyline–L-dopa treatment. Under such a treatment, designed to suppress the homeostatic action of monoamine oxidase and to better expose the relationship between dopamine and norepinephrine, the brain and heart of the hypertensive mice accumulated more dopamine than the normotensive mice. There was a significantly lower norepinephrine accumulation in the heart of the hypertensive mice in spite of comparable dopamine-β-hydroxylase activity in this tissue between the two strains of mice. Under the pargyline–L-dopa treatment, the brain and heart of the older mice in both hypertensive and normotensive strains accumulated significantly (p < 0.05) more dopamine than those of their younger counterparts, while their norepinephrine accumulation remained unchanged. The results demonstrated different patterns of response of dopamine and norepinephrine in the development of hypertension.

scholarly journals The case of CAUSE: neurobiological mechanisms for grounding an abstract concept

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1752) ◽  
pp. 20170129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friedemann Pulvermüller
Keyword(s):  
Real Life ◽  
Family Resemblance ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Abstract Concept ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Cortical Circuits ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
The Brain

How can we understand causal relationships and how can we understand words such as ‘cause’? Some theorists assume that the underlying abstract concept is given to us, and that perceptual correlation provides the relevant hints towards inferring causation from perceived real-life events. A different approach emphasizes the role of actions and their typical consequences for the emergence of the concept of causation and the application of the related term. A model of causation is proposed that highlights thefamily resemblancebetween causal actions and postulates that symbols are necessary forbinding together the different partially shared semantic features of subsetsof causal actions and their goals. Linguistic symbols are proposed to play a key role in binding the different subsets of semantic features of the abstract concept. The model is spelt out at the neuromechanistic level of distributed cortical circuits and the cognitive functions they carry. The model is discussed in light of behavioural and neuroscience evidence, and questions for future research are highlighted. In sum, taking causation as a concrete example, I argue that abstract concepts and words can be learnt and grounded in real-life interaction, and that the neurobiological mechanisms realizing such abstract semantic grounding are within our grasp.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Varieties of abstract concepts: development, use and representation in the brain'.

Allostasis and the developing human brain: Explicit consideration of implicit models

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 955-974 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara L. Ganzel ◽  
Pamela A. Morris
Keyword(s):  
Life Sciences ◽  
Developmental Stress ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Social ◽  
Explicit Consideration ◽  
Emotional Systems ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Stress And Health ◽  
The Brain

AbstractWe previously used the theory of allostasis as the foundation for a model of the current stress process. This work highlighted the core emotional systems of the brain as the central mediator of the relationship between stress and health. In this paper, we extend this theoretical approach to consider the role of developmental timing. In doing so, we note that there are strong implicit models that underlie current developmental stress research in the social and life sciences. We endeavor to illustrate these modelsexplicitlyas we review the evidence behind each one and discuss their implications. We then extend these models to reflect recent findings from research in life span human neuroscience. The result is a new set of developmental allostatic models that provide fodder for future empirical research, as well as novel perspectives on intervention.

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