The levels of soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) in saliva are influenced by acute stress.

Although elevations in systemic suPAR levels have been associated with inflammatory conditions and with exposure to life stress and adversity, it is not yet clear whether acute psychological stress influences suPAR levels, either systemically and/or in saliva. The aim of this study was to investigate whether salivary suPAR levels are increased following exposure to acute psychological stress. Healthy subjects, aged 18-40 years, completed a laboratory psychological stressor and provided saliva samples before and after the stress test (60 min apart).

Effects of active engagement and spaced retrieval practice on knowledge and application of a self-assessment rubric.

Purpose/objectives: This study examined effects of active engagement (ENG) and spaced retrieval practice (SRP) on D1 dental students' self-assessment knowledge acquisition.

Methods: D1 dental students (N = 120) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions in a 2 (ENG or no ENG) X 2 (SRP or no SRP) design. Students were tested on their knowledge of a self-assessment grading rubric (on a 30-item multiple-choice exam) and their ability to apply the rubric (on a simulated dentoform assessment).

Why are consistently-handed individuals more authoritarian? The role of need for cognitive closure.

Recent studies indicate that individuals with consistent hand preference are more authoritarian than individuals whose preference is relatively inconsistent. We explored the role of epistemic needs in the handedness-authoritarianism relationship. Based on findings that consistent individuals are less cognitively flexible than inconsistent individuals, we hypothesized that consistent-handers would report greater need for definite knowledge.

Is self-report a valid measure of unimanual object-based task performance?

Hand preference is commonly measured via self-report using instruments known as handedness inventories. These instruments query which hand subjects use to perform unimanual object-based tasks and also the consistency of usage. Scores reveal which hand people report using most (i.

Handedness and the neurocognitive foundations of public attitudes about international laws and norms.

Whether Geneva Conventions (GC) rights should apply to terrorists is a contentious question that has received little attention in public opinion research. Both personality and contextual factors may be important. We queried participants' support for applying the GC to alleged terrorists, but first we measured participants' authoritarianism and presented them with a scenario concerning an alleged terrorist.

Effects of handedness consistency and saccade execution on eyewitness memory in cued- and free-recall procedures.

Identifying characteristics that distinguish between people with relatively good versus poor episodic memory is an important goal of eyewitness-memory research, as is identifying activities that can improve people's ability to retrieve episodic memories. Consistency of hand preference is a trait associated with the quality of people's episodic memory and repetitive saccade execution is an activity known to improve people's ability to retrieve episodic memories. These factors were examined in relation to cued and free recall of a staged criminal event.

Making remembering more memorable.

Memory retrieval is a cognitive operation that itself can be remembered or forgotten, with potentially important consequences. To study memory for prior remembering, we had participants first study target words (e.g.

Bimanual coordination positively predicts episodic memory: A combined behavioral and MRI investigation.

Some people remember events more completely and accurately than other people, but the origins of individual differences in episodic memory are poorly understood. One way to advance understanding is by identifying characteristics of individuals that reliably covary with memory performance. Recent research suggests motor behavior is related to memory performance, with individuals who consistently use a single preferred hand for unimanual actions performing worse than individuals who make greater use of both hands.

Salivary cytokine response in the aftermath of stress: An emotion regulation perspective.

Elevated inflammation in the context of stress has been implicated in mental and physical health. Approaching this from an emotion regulation perspective, we tested whether the salivary cytokine response to stress is dampened by using distraction to minimize opportunity for poststressor rumination. Healthy young adults were randomized to an acute stressor: modified Trier Social Stress Test (TSST, Study 1) or angry memory retrieval (Study 2).

Acute stress induces increases in salivary IL-10 levels.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the stress-reactivity of the anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10, in saliva and to determine how salivary IL-10 levels change in relation to those of IL-1β, a pro-inflammatory cytokine, following stress. Healthy young adults were randomly assigned to retrieve a negative emotional memory (n = 46) or complete a modified version of the Trier Social Stress Test (n = 45). Saliva samples were taken 10 min before (baseline) and 50 min after (post-stressor) onset of a 10-min stressor, and were assayed using a high sensitivity multiplex assay for cytokines.

A ten-year follow-up of a study of memory for the attack of September 11, 2001: Flashbulb memories and memories for flashbulb events.

Within a week of the attack of September 11, 2001, a consortium of researchers from across the United States distributed a survey asking about the circumstances in which respondents learned of the attack (their flashbulb memories) and the facts about the attack itself (their event memories). Follow-up surveys were distributed 11, 25, and 119 months after the attack. The study, therefore, examines retention of flashbulb memories and event memories at a substantially longer retention interval than any previous study using a test-retest methodology, allowing for the study of such memories over the long term.

On the use (and misuse?) of the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory.

Researchers who study human cognition and behavior, especially from a neuroscience perspective, often measure subjects' handedness. The most common measure of handedness is the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (EHI; Oldfield, 1971). Several potential problems with the EHI have been identified during its long history.

Why does saccade execution increase episodic memory retrieval? A test of the top-down attentional control hypothesis.

Making repetitive saccadic eye movements has been found to increase subsequent episodic memory retrieval and also to increase subsequent top-down attentional control. We theorise that these effects are related such that saccade-induced changes in attentional processing facilitate memory retrieval. We tested this idea by examining the effect of saccade execution on retrieval conditions that differed in relative ease of consciously accessing episodic memories.

Memory for hand-use depends on consistency of handedness.

Individuals who do not consistently use the same hand to perform unimanual tasks (inconsistent-handed) outperform consistent right- and left-handed individuals on tests of episodic memory. We explored whether the inconsistent-hander (ICH) memory advantage extends to memory for unimanual hand use itself. Are ICHs better able to remember which hand they used to perform actions? Opposing predictions are possible, stemming from the finding that some regions of the corpus callosum are larger in ICHs, especially those that connect motor areas.

Consistent-handed individuals are more authoritarian.

Individuals differ in the consistency with which they use one hand over the other to perform everyday activities. Some individuals are very consistent, habitually using a single hand to perform most tasks. Others are relatively inconsistent, and hence make greater use of both hands.

The effect of repetitive saccade execution on the attention network test: enhancing executive function with a flick of the eyes.

The simple act of repeatedly looking left and right can enhance subsequent cognition, including divergent thinking, detection of matching letters from visual arrays, and memory retrieval. One hypothesis is that saccade execution enhances subsequent cognition by altering attentional control. To test this hypothesis, we compared performance following repetitive bilateral saccades or central fixation on the revised attention network test, which measures the operation of three distinct attentional networks: alerting, orienting, and executive function.

Is handedness related to anxiety? New answers to an old question.

Is handedness related to anxiety? Two separable dimensions of handedness have been considered in previous studies: Direction of the preferred hand (left or right) and the consistency with which the preferred hand is used over the nonpreferred hand (consistent or inconsistent). Findings have included (1) left-handedness being associated with greater anxiety than right-handedness, (2) consistent-handedness being associated with greater anxiety than inconsistent-handedness and (3) neither dimension being associated with anxiety. Here, we administered measures of trait anxiety, state anxiety and worry to individuals classified as consistent-left, inconsistent-left, inconsistent-right or consistent-right.

Inconsistent handedness and saccade execution benefit face memory without affecting interhemispheric interaction.

Individuals who consistently use their dominant hand for most tasks exhibit poorer memory than individuals whose handedness is relatively inconsistent, but consistent-handers' memory can be enhanced by making repetitive saccadic eye movements before attempting retrieval. One account of these effects is that inconsistent handedness and saccade execution are associated with increased interhemispheric interaction, which putatively facilitates retrieval. We tested this account by having participants classify faces as famous or novel.

Consistency of handedness, regardless of direction, predicts baseline memory accuracy and potential for memory enhancement.

Research has shown that consistently right-handed individuals have poorer memory than do inconsistently right- or left-handed individuals under baseline conditions but more reliably exhibit enhanced memory retrieval after making a series of saccadic eye movements. From this it could be that consistent versus inconsistent handedness, regardless of left/right direction, is an important individual difference factor in memory. Or, more specifically, it could be the presence or absence of consistent right-handedness that matters for memory.

Is saccade-induced retrieval enhancement a potential means of improving eyewitness evidence?

Saccade-induced retrieval enhancement (SIRE) is the effect whereby making bilateral saccades enhances the subsequent retrieval of memories. Two experiments explored SIRE's potential to improve eyewitness evidence. Participants viewed slideshows depicting crimes, and received contradictory and additive misinformation about event details either once (Experiment 1) or three times (Experiment 2).

Bilateral saccades increase intrahemispheric processing but not interhemispheric interaction: Implications for saccade-induced retrieval enhancement.

Retrieval of memories is enhanced when bilateral saccades are made immediately before attempting retrieval. One hypothesis is that saccades enhance retrieval by increasing interaction of the brain hemispheres. To test this, subjects viewed arrays of lateralized letters and indicated whether target letters matched either of two probe letters.

Using popular films to enhance classroom learning: the good, the bad, and the interesting.

Popular history films sometimes contain major historical inaccuracies. Two experiments investigated how watching such films influences people's ability to remember associated texts. Subjects watched film clips and studied texts about various historical topics.

Long-term memory for the terrorist attack of September 11: flashbulb memories, event memories, and the factors that influence their retention.

More than 3,000 individuals from 7 U.S. cities reported on their memories of learning of the terrorist attacks of September 11, as well as details about the attack, 1 week, 11 months, and/or 35 months after the assault.

Age-related deficits in reality monitoring of action memories.

The authors describe 3 theoretical accounts of age-related increases in falsely remembering that imagined actions were performed (A. K. Thomas & J.

Handedness is related to memory via hemispheric interaction: evidence from paired associate recall and source memory tasks.

Strongly right (SR)-handedness is associated with poorer memory performance than nonstrongly right (nSR)-handedness (e.g., Propper, Christman, & Phaneuf, 2005).