Oxytocin reduces interoceptive influences on empathy-for-pain in the anterior insula

Empathy-for-pain states are underpinned by interoception, i.e the central representation of internal states. Cardiac signals occur in a phasic manner; baroreceptor discharges at systole communicate the heartbeats′ strength. These signals modulate pain and emotion processing. We tested whether these phasic interoceptive signals modulate empathy-for-pain. As oxytocin (OT) enhances empathy and modulates interoceptive signals′ precision, we also tested if OT administration impacts empathy-for-pain via interoceptive mechanisms. Male subjects (N=32) attended three sessions to perform psychometric tests and an fMRI empathy-for-pain task, after intranasal administration of OT or placebo (40IU). Pictures of hands in painful or non-painful context were presented at systole or diastole. Effects of drug, emotion and cardiac timing on behaviour and brain activity was tested using general and mixed-effects linear models. Across conditions, activation was observed within regions implicated in pain and empathy-for-pain, with insula activation greater in the right than left hemisphere. OT administration, compared to placebo, attenuated the reactivity of some regions, including anterior cingulate cortex, but presentation of stimuli at systole blocked the OT attenuating effect. Our data suggest that OT alters the processing of motivationally-salient social cues, interacting with interoceptive signals. Our findings may inform targeted use of OT in psychiatric conditions linked to aberrant interoceptive processing.

Signatures of vibration frequency tuning in human neocortex

Humans can perceive and discriminate vibration frequency, yet the central representation of this fundamental feature is unknown. Using fMRI, we discovered that cortical responses are tuned for vibration frequency. Voxel tuning was biased in a manner that reflects perceptual sensitivity and the response profile of the Pacinian afferent system. These results imply the existence of tuned populations that may encode naturalistic vibrations according to their constituent spectra.

Altered relationship between subjective perception and central representation of touch hedonics in adolescents with autism-spectrum disorder

An impairment of social communication is a core symptom of autism-spectrum disorder (ASD). Affective touch is an important means of social interaction, and C-Tactile (CT) afferents are thought to play a key role in the peripheral detection and encoding of these stimuli. Exploring the neural and behavioral mechanisms for processing CT-optimal touch (~3 cm/s) may therefore provide useful insights into the pathophysiology of ASD. We examined the relationship between touch hedonics (i.e. the subjective pleasantness with which affective touch stimuli are perceived) and neural processing in the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS). This region is less activated to affective touch in individuals with ASD, and, in typically developing individuals (TD), is correlated positively with touch pleasantness. TD and ASD participants received brushing stimuli at CT-optimal, and CT-non-optimal speeds during fMRI. Touch pleasantness and intensity ratings were collected, and affective touch awareness, a measure of general touch hedonics was calculated. As expected, slow touch was perceived as more pleasant and less intense than fast touch in both groups, whereas affective touch awareness was moderately higher in TD compared to ASD. There was a strong, positive correlation between right pSTS activation and affective touch awareness in TD, but not in ASD. Our findings suggest that altered neural coupling between right pSTS and touch hedonics in ASD may be associated with social touch avoidance in ASD.

Mechanoreceptor synapses in the brainstem shape the central representation of touch

Mammals use glabrous (hairless) skin of their hands and feet to navigate and manipulate their environment. Cortical maps of the body surface across species contain disproportionately large numbers of neurons dedicated to glabrous skin sensation, potentially reflecting a higher density of mechanoreceptors that innervate these skin regions. Here, we find that disproportionate representation of glabrous skin emerges over postnatal development at the first synapse between peripheral mechanoreceptors and their central targets in the brainstem. Mechanoreceptor synapses undergo developmental refinement that depends on proximity of their terminals to glabrous skin, such that those innervating glabrous skin make synaptic connections that expand their central representation. In mice that do not sense gentle touch, mechanoreceptors innervating glabrous skin still make more powerful synaptic connections in the brainstem. We propose that the skin region a mechanoreceptor innervates controls refinement of its central synapses over development to shape the representation of touch in the brain.

Koneksi Pusat dan Pinggiran: Perbandingan Teks Primbon Palinḍon Kraton Yogyakarta dan Palilinḍon Merapi-Merbabu

The aims of this research are (1) to inventory and classify the corpus of the Javanese palilinḍon text and (2) to compare the palilinḍon text of Merapi Merbabu with the Primbon Palinḍon Kraton Yogyakarta text. The primary data of this study are the text of Palilinḍon, 29 L 328 (copied at Merapi Merbabu) and the text of Sĕrat Primbon Palintangan Palinḍon Pakĕdutan Add 12311 (copied at Yogyakarta Palace). The secondary data of this study are a cataloges containing information about manuscripts stored in libraries and museums in Indonesia and abroad. This research method is modern philology. There are 13 texts containing Javanese texts about palilinḍon. The 13 texts can be classified into two groups, the first copied at Merapi Merbabu and the second copied outside the Merapi Merbabu environment. Each group was taken one, namely Palilinḍon 29 L 328 which was copied at Merapi Merbabu and Primbon Palintangan Palinḍon Pakĕdutan Add 12311 which was copied in Yogyakarta Palace to be compared. Broadly speaking, the contents of the two texts are the same, namely containing information about events that followed the earthquake that occurred on the 12th month of Java. This proves the two texts are very strong connected. In the limited context of the Palilinḍon text, the connection of both of texts indicates the connection of both of scriptorium. Even though there are differences in word choices in the both of texts. In the text Palilinḍon 29 L 328 it is stated that if an earthquake occurs in a particular month, disaster will happen to the nagara while in the Primbon Palinḍon text Add 12311 it is stated that if an earthquake occurs in a particular month, the disaster will strike the desa. Nagara refers to the center, while the desa refers to the periphery. Nagara is the central representation, the residence of nobles and officials, if the negara is damaged the palace is also damaged. In the court's view this should not happen, then in Primbon Palinḍon Add 12311 the word 'nagara' was removed and the word ‘desa' was added as an object of disaster sufferers.

Spies, Sex, and Balloons

Chapter 8 examines the Russian exiles’ anti-communist activities in divided Germany and particularly Berlin, the city whose penetrable internal border made it the essential base for Cold War human-intelligence activities. The CIA utilized the NTS and another Russian organization, the Central Representation of Postwar Emigrants (TsOPE), in operations devoted to inciting defection among Soviet soldiers and civilians positioned in East Germany. Utilizing documents from the East German Ministry for State Security, the chapter examines the Berlin operations and the Soviet and East German actions to thwart them. It focuses attention on how Russian exile agendas in Germany became reliant on the East German civilians who were recruited to spread propaganda and interact with Soviet soldiers and civilians. In this way, the espionage conflicts in Berlin were a transnational affair involving cross-national contacts and networks.

On the Development of Jewish Museums and Jewish Ethnography in Ukraine, 1917–1941

The article explores the development of the Jewish museums and Ethnographic Studies of Jewish culture in the Soviet Ukraine within the framework of the state ethnic policies and local scholarly and cultural initiatives. After 1917, the state’s gradually increased attention – as ambivalent as it was – to Jewish exhibitions can be seen in a number of projects conceived and in part realized in Kyev.The Mendele Moicher Sforim Museum of Jewish culture, opened in Odessa in 1927, was meant to become the central representation of the Soviet Jewish culture. However, despite the initial support of the Soviet administration,the change of the political situation in the early 1930s jeopardized the existence of the museum collections. Numerous displays of Judaica objects in local museums of Ukrainian towns provide insight into the role of the korenization (“giving roots”, indigenization) campaign and the legacy of the pre-revolutionary national movements. The article investigates the process of the museumization of Jewish culture in the interwar period as a confluence of factors of national identity, social construction, and relations between the center and the periphery.

Random graph ensembles

This chapter presents some theoretical tools for defining random graph ensembles systematically via soft or hard topological constraints including working through some properties of the Erdös-Rényi random graph ensemble, which is the simplest non-trivial random graph ensemble where links appear between two nodes with a fixed probability p. The chapter sets out the central representation of graph generation as the result of a discrete-time Markovian stochastic process. This unites the two flavours of graph generation approaches – because they can be viewed as simply moving forwards or backwards through this representation. It is possible to define a random graph by an algorithm, and then calculate the associated stationary probability. The alternative approach is to specify sampling weights and then to construct an algorithm that will have these weights as the stationary probabilities upon convergence.