Reduced or increased influence of non-pertinent information in patients with schizophrenia?

We tested the ability of 18 patients with schizophrenia and 18 matched controls to filter non-pertinent information in orientation matching tasks. The non-pertinent information consisted of pictures conveying semantic information. The pertinent information consisted of oriented line-segments drawn inside pictures or was represented by the overall orientation of the picture itself.

Ultrafast laser-induced phase transitions in amorphous GeSb films.

Time-resolved measurements of the spectral dielectric function reveal new information about ultrafast phase transitions induced by femtosecond laser pulses in Sb-rich amorphous GeSb films. The excitation generates a nonthermal phase within 200 fs. The dielectric function of this phase differs from that of the crystalline phase, contrary to previous suggestions of a disorder-to-order transition.

Behavioral effects of GM1 ganglioside treatment and intrahippocampal septal grafts in rats with fimbria-fornix lesions.

The monosialoganglioside GM1 is a compound with neurotrophic properties found to foster functional recovery in various paradigms of brain damage. The present experiment examined whether systemic treatment with GM1 may facilitate behavioral recovery in rats with fimbria-fornix lesions and intrahippocampal grafts rich in cholinergic neurons. Among 68 Long-Evans female rats, 46 sustained a bilateral electrolytic lesion of the fimbria and the dorsal fornix and 22 were sham-operated.

The effects of intrahippocampal grafts, training, and postoperative housing on behavioral recovery after septohippocampal damage in the rat.

This study examined whether the expression of behavioral effects of grafts rich in cholinergic neurons placed into the hippocampus of rats with septohippocampal damage may be modulated by postoperative housing or training conditions. Among 91 Long-Evans female rats, 61 sustained a bilateral aspirative lesion of the fimbria-fornix fibers and all overlying tissue, while 30 were given sham operations. Ten days after surgery, fetal septal suspension grafts were performed in the hippocampus of half the lesioned rats.