T lymphopoiesis in the thymus was thought to be completed once it reaches the single positive (SP) stage, a stage when T cells are "fully mature" and waiting to be exported at random or follow a "first-in-first-out" manner. Recent evidence, however, has revealed that the newly generated SP thymocytes undergo a multistage maturation program in the thymic medulla. Such maturation is followed by a...

This study investigated the redundant target effect (RTE) in partial split-brain (anterior section sparing the splenium), total split-brain, and neurologically intact individuals. All completed an RTE protocol in which targets were presented on the midline or in an inter- or intrahemispheric manner. Stimuli of different nature (luminance, equiluminant colour, and global motion) were used separa...

Although substantial research has examined the effects of stress on cognition, much of this research has focused on acute stress (e.g. manipulated in the laboratory) or chronic stress (e.g. persistent interpersonal or financial difficulties). In contrast, the effects of recent life stress on cognition have been relatively understudied. To address this issue, we examined how recent life stress i...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW The present review organises the recent literature on the role of memory in eating behaviours and provides an overview of the current evidence relating to the associations between memory and weight gain. RECENT FINDINGS Research over the last few years has highlighted working memory as an important cognitive process that underpins many aspects of appetite control. Recent wor...

Long-term potentiation (LTP) is a process that certain types of synaptic stimulation lead to a long-lasting enhancement in the strength of synaptic transmission. Studies in recent years indicate the importance of molecular pathways in the development of memory and learning. Tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB) is a member of the neurotrophin receptor tyrosine kinase family, that its ligand is b...

The extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway is a member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) superfamily, which is an important, highly conserved family of enzymes associated with cell membrane receptors and regulative targets. In the central nervous system, there is almost no mature neuronal proliferation and differentiation, but the regulation of MAPK and its upstream an...

Skeletal muscle adapts to different patterns of motor nerve activity by alterations in gene expression that match specialized properties of contraction, metabolism, and muscle mass to changing work demands (muscle plasticity). Calcineurin, a calcium/calmodulin-dependent, serine-threonine protein phosphatase, has been shown to control programs of gene expression in skeletal muscles, as in other ...

The Cognitive Neuroscience of Working Memory (CNWM) is an edited volume, inspired by The Second International Conference on Working Memory, which took place in Kyoto, Japan in the summer of 2004. Each of the invited speakers was invited to contribute a chapter for the volume. The upside of this approach is that the book provides the reader with a broad sampling of state-of-the-art research in t...