Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) constitute severe, incapacitating symptoms of schizophrenia. Despite increasing interest in the functional exploration of AVHs, the available findings remain ...difficult to integrate because of their considerable variability. The authors' aim was to perform a robust quantitative review of existing functional data in order to elucidate consistent patterns observed during the emergence of AVHs and to orient new pathophysiological models of hallucinations.
Ten positron emission tomography or functional magnetic resonance imaging studies were selected for the meta-analysis after systematic review. A total of 68 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders experiencing AVHs during scanning were included. According to a random-effects activation likelihood estimation algorithm, stereotaxic coordinates of 129 foci, reported as significant in the source studies, were extracted and computed to estimate the brain locations most consistently associated with AVHs across studies (cluster-extent threshold: 200 mm³).
Patients experiencing AVHs demonstrated significantly increased activation likelihoods in a bilateral neural network, including the Broca's area (activation likelihood estimation=1.84×10⁻³), anterior insula (1.78×10⁻³), precentral gyrus (1.46×10⁻³), frontal operculum (1.29×10⁻³), middle and superior temporal gyri (1.59×10⁻³), inferior parietal lobule (1.33×10⁻³), and hippocampus/parahippocampal region (1.90×10⁻³).
This meta-analysis demonstrated that experiencing AVHs is associated with increased activity in fronto-temporal areas involved in speech generation and speech perception, but also within the medial temporal lobe, a structure notably involved in verbal memory. Such findings support a model for AVHs in which aberrant cortical activations emerge within a distributed network involved at different levels of complexity in the brain architecture. Critical future directions are considered.
To help infer the meanings of novel words, children frequently capitalize on their current linguistic knowledge to constrain the hypothesis space. Children's syntactic knowledge of function words has ...been shown to be especially useful in helping to infer the meanings of novel words, with most previous research focusing on how children use preceding determiners and pronouns/auxiliary to infer whether a novel word refers to an entity or an action, respectively. In the current visual world experiment, we examined whether 28‐ to 32‐month‐olds could exploit their lexical semantic knowledge of an additional class of function words—prepositions—to learn novel nouns. During the experiment, children were tested on their ability to use the prepositions in, on, under, and next to to identify novel creatures displayed on a screen (e.g., The wug is on the table), as well as their ability to later identify the creature without accompanying prepositions (e.g., Look at the wug). Children overall demonstrated understanding of all the prepositions but next to and were able to use their knowledge of prepositions to learn the associations between novel words and their intended referents, as shown by greater‐than chance looks to the target referent when no prepositional phrase was provided.
•The majority of children received more screen time during the pandemic; screen time increases were more pronounced in lower SES children.•Lower SES children were also more likely to experience a ...reduction in reading time than higher SES children.•Overall, children showed no detectable change in vocabulary growth during the pandemic when compared to their pre-pandemic age- and SES-matched peers.•Notably, however, a negative impact on vocabulary growth was observed in lower SES children in the vocabulary spurt age (19 to 29 months).
The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns about children’s development. Here, we examined the impact of the pandemic on Canadian infants’ and toddlers’ (N = 539) language development. Specifically, we assessed changes in 11- to 34-month-olds’ activities that are known to affect vocabulary development (i.e., screen and reading times). We also compared these children’s vocabulary sizes with those of 1365 children collected before the pandemic using standardized vocabulary assessments. Our results show that screen and reading times were most negatively affected in lower-income children. For vocabulary growth, no measurable change was detected in middle- and high-income children, but lower-income 19- to 29-month-olds fared worse during the pandemic than during pre-pandemic times. Moving forward, these data indicate that educators and policymakers should pay particular attention to children from families with lower socioeconomic status during times of crisis and stress.
Once interlocutors settle on a specific label in conversation, they tend to maintain the linguistic precedent and reuse the same label (i.e. they become lexically entrained). This helps to facilitate ...comprehension, with listeners identifying referents more quickly when repeated labels are used compared to new labels. In the current study, we looked at whether listeners are additionally sensitive to repeated infelicitous labels (Experiment 1), as when non-native speakers, for example, overgeneralise a term (e.g. identifying a chair as the chair with tires). In addition, we investigated the extent to which listeners' expectations of incorrect labels are influenced by knowledge of community speaking patterns, testing whether listeners could disregard recently encountered lexical errors from a non-native speaker as possible labels when processing a native speaker, who should not be expected to produce such errors (Experiment 2). Our results provide no evidence that listeners were able to take into account speaker information.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) jeopardizes the effectiveness of essential antimicrobial agents in treating infectious diseases. Accelerated by human activities, AMR is prevalent in Sub-Saharan ...Africa, including Kenya, due to indiscriminate antibiotic use and limited diagnostics. This study aimed to assess Kenya's AMR efforts through a situational analysis of policy efficacy, interventions, and implementation, culminating in recommendations for strengthening mitigation. Employing two methodologies, this study evaluated Kenya's AMR endeavors. A systematic scoping review summarized AMR dynamic, and an expert validated the findings, providing an on-the-ground perspective. Antibiotic resistance is driven by factors including widespread misuse in human medicine due to irrational practices, consumer demand, and substandard antibiotics. Heavy antibiotic use in the agricultural sector leads to contamination of the food chain. The National Action Plan (NAP) reflects a One Health approach, yet decentralized healthcare and funding gaps hinder its execution. Although AMR surveillance includes multiple facets, diagnostic deficiencies persist. Expert insights recognize proactive NAP but underscore implementation obstacles. Kenya grapples with escalating resistance, but commendable policy efforts exist. However, fragmented implementations and complexities persist. Addressing this global threat demands investment in healthcare infrastructure, diagnostics, international partnerships, and sustainable strategies.
The pathophysiology of hallucinations remains mysterious. This research aims to specifically explore the interaction between hallucinations and spontaneous resting-state activity. We used multimodal ...magnetic resonance imaging during hallucinations occurrence in 20 drug-free adolescents with a "brief psychotic disorder." They were furthermore compared with 20 matched controls at rest or during exteroceptive stimuli. Anatomical and functional symptom-mapping demonstrated reduced cortical thickness and increased blood oxygen level-dependent signal in modality-dependent association sensory cortices during auditory, visual, and multisensory hallucinations. On the contrary, primary-sensory-cortex recruitment was not systematic and was shown to be associated with increased vividness of the hallucinatory experiences. Spatiotemporal activity patterns in the default-mode network (DMN) during hallucinations and symptom-free periods in patients were compared with patterns measured in healthy individuals. A disengagement of the DMN was concomitant to hallucinations, as for exogenous stimulations in healthy participants. Specifically, spatial and temporal instabilities of the DMN correlated with the severity of hallucinations but persisted during symptom-free periods. These results suggest that hallucinatory experiences emerge from a spontaneous DMN withdrawal, providing a convincing model for hallucinations beyond the auditory modality.
We examine the effects of a sugar‐sweetened beverage (SSB) tax that took effect in Oakland, California in 2017. Using rich customized universal product code ‐level data, we estimate the effect of the ...SSB tax on prices and volume in the short to medium term in a difference‐in‐differences framework. We pay particular attention to tax‐avoidance strategies that may minimize the policy's intended effect including: (i) transfers to SSBs to the nontaxed border area (i.e., cross‐border shopping), (ii) a move from high‐priced per ounce single serve to their cheaper multipacks or larger format counterparts (i.e., format switching), and (iii) a move from high‐priced beverages to less expensive ones within a category and format (i.e., brand switching). We find that the year‐over‐year tax pass‐through is 49%. We find that volume sold of taxed beverages fell by 14%, but 46% of this decrease is offset with an increase in the border area. We also find evidence of substitution to lower‐priced taxed beverages but no evidence of switching to cheaper formats. Finally, we find important dynamic effects with respect to tax pass‐through, volume sold and cross‐border shopping.
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•Fatigue failure of lattice structures is gradual, exhibiting a so-called grace period.•Fatigue properties of lattices depend on additive manufacturing inherited defects.•A cascading ...failure-based model correctly predicts grace period and fatigue life.
The fatigue properties of lattice structures produced by S-EBM are investigated. Fatigue failure is shown to be gradual, fostering the concept of grace period, defined as the number of cycles lived by the lattice structure after the failure of the first strut. A numerical framework based on the cascading failure of struts is proposed, relying on a damage accumulation law. Each strut is assigned a radius as well as an S-N curve, which both depend on the manufacturing conditions. Through statistical analyses, we demonstrate that the model can correctly predict the grace period and the fatigue life of experimental specimens.
Adults are skilled at using language to construct/negotiate identity and to signal affiliation with others, but little is known about how these abilities develop in children. Clearly, children mirror ...statistical patterns in their local environment (e.g., Canadian children using zed instead of zee), but do they flexibly adapt their linguistic choices on the fly in response to the choices of different peers? To address this question, we examined the effect of group membership on 7‐ to 9‐year‐olds' labeling of objects in a trivia game, exploring whether they were more likely to use a particular label (e.g., sofa vs. couch) if members of their “team” also used that label. In a preregistered study, children (N = 72) were assigned to a team (red or green) and were asked during experimental trials to answer questions—which had multiple possible answers (e.g., blackboard or chalkboard)—after hearing two teammates and two opponents respond to the same question. Results showed that children were significantly more likely to produce labels less commonly used by the community (i.e., dispreferred labels) when their teammates had produced those labels. Crucially, this effect was tied to group membership, and could not be explained by children simply repeating the most recently used label. These findings demonstrate how social processes (i.e., group membership) can guide linguistic variation in children.
Many facilities involved in caring people diagnosed with mental health disorders who committed crime had to adapt to COVID-19 pandemic in France. Particularly, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ...incarcerated people was the subject of many concerns. The COVID-19 pandemic also posed major challenges in secure psychiatric hospitals and for psychiatrist experts. Rapid changes in working practices occurred. Finally, the lockdown period was associated with an increase in domestic violence, especially gender-based violence and child abuse and neglect. Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic emphasized the well-known limitations of the French mental health system to manage people diagnosed with mental health disorders who committed crime and the urgent need for better recognition of forensic psychiatry in France.
•Facilities involved in caring people diagnosed with mental health disorders who committed crime adapted to COVID-19 pandemic.•The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on incarcerated people was the subject of many concerns.•The lockdown period was associated with an increase in domestic violence, especially gender-based violence and child abuse.
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