Changes in self-representation were quantified with a self-face recognition task, using ‘morphed’

images containing varying proportions of the participant’s face and the face of the unfamiliar other. This task was administered before and after the exposure to the other face. While self-recognition performance for both groups was similar during pre-test, MTS individuals showed a significant change in self-recognition performance following the observation of touch delivered to the other face. Specifically, the images that participants had initially perceived as containing equal quantities of self and other became more likely to be recognised as the self after viewing the other being touched. These results suggest buy Selinexor that observing touch on others not only elicits a conscious experience of touch in MTS, but also elicits a change in the mental representation of the self, blurring self-other boundaries. This is consistent with a multisensory account of the self, whereby integrated multisensory experiences maintain or update self-representations. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Immune system abnormalities in schizophrenia Gemcitabine include

a shift from a Type 1 (cellular) to a Type 2 (humoral) immune response. To characterize the activation status of the immune system in schizophrenia, we examined the pattern of gene expression in peripheral blood cells for three Th1 cytokines (interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-2 (IL-2)), and one Th2 cytokine (interleukin-10 (IL-10)). In a cross-sectional study, we used quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to compare the mRNA levels of IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha. IL-2, and IL-10 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) between 15 schizophrenia patients and 15 matched healthy controls. Expression of IFN-gamma

and TNF-alpha was significantly reduced in patients with schizophrenia compared with normal controls. No differences in IL-2 and IL-10 gene expression were observed. These results are consistent with impaired Type 1 cellular immunity in schizophrenia. While the data illustrate the potential utility of mRNA-based approaches for the identification and analysis of immune biomarkers for neuropsychiatric selleckchem disorders, correlation of gene expression with direct measures of cytokine concentrations is required. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Neurobehavioral research with non-human primates has shown that different attributes of motion stimuli, such as direction and speed can be stored in visual short-term memory (VSTM) with a high degree of accuracy. We examined VSTM for global motion with a memory masking paradigm to determine which stimulus attributes are important in the storage process. We presented in two visual quadrants global motion random dot kinematograms (RDKs), whereas in the two remaining visual quadrants we presented random-motion RDKs.