Correlates of implicit semantic processing as revealed by representational similarity analysis applied to EEG.

Most researchers agree that some stages of object recognition can proceed implicitly. Implicit recognition occurs when an object is automatically and unintentionally encoded and represented in the brain even though the object is irrelevant to the current task. No consensus has been reached as to what level of semantic abstraction processing can go implicitly.

Unconscious processing effects manifest only if conscious processing is excluded.

In their discussion paper Steinkrauss and Slotnick argue against a role for the hippocampus in unconscious memory formation and retrieval. Unfortunately, they omitted highly relevant evidence that supports a role for the hippocampus in unconscious memory. They criticize four articles, two from our laboratory, pointing out long-known confounds like residual consciousness.

Episodic long-term memory formation during slow-wave sleep.

We are unresponsive during slow-wave sleep but continue monitoring external events for survival. Our brain wakens us when danger is imminent. If events are non-threatening, our brain might store them for later consideration to improve decision-making.

Feasibility, efficacy, and functional relevance of automated auditory closed-loop suppression of slow-wave sleep in humans.

Slow-wave sleep (SWS) is a fundamental physiological process, and its modulation is of interest for basic science and clinical applications. However, automatised protocols for the suppression of SWS are lacking. We describe the development of a novel protocol for the automated detection (based on the whole head topography of frontal slow waves) and suppression of SWS (through closed-loop modulated randomised pulsed noise), and assessed the feasibility, efficacy and functional relevance compared to sham stimulation in 15 healthy young adults in a repeated-measure sleep laboratory study.

Inverse forgetting in unconscious episodic memory.

Forming memories of experienced episodes calls upon the episodic memory system. Episodic encoding may proceed with and without awareness of episodes. While up to 60% of consciously encoded episodes are forgotten after 10 h, the fate of unconsciously encoded episodes is unknown.

Closed-loop modulation of local slow oscillations in human NREM sleep.

Slow-wave sleep is the deep non-rapid eye-movement (NREM) sleep stage that is most relevant for the recuperative function of sleep. Its defining property is the presence of slow oscillations (<2 Hz) in the scalp electroencephalogram (EEG). Slow oscillations are generated by a synchronous back and forth between highly active UP-states and silent DOWN-states in neocortical neurons.

Sleep-learning impairs subsequent awake-learning.

Although we can learn new information while asleep, we usually cannot consciously remember the sleep-formed memories - presumably because learning occurred in an unconscious state. Here, we ask whether sleep-learning expedites the subsequent awake-learning of the same information. To answer this question, we reanalyzed data (Züst et al.

Larger capacity for unconscious versus conscious episodic memory.

Episodic memory is the memory for experienced events. A peak competence of episodic memory is the mental combination of events to infer commonalities. Inferring commonalities may proceed with and without consciousness of events.

Bi-Temporal Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation during Slow-Wave Sleep Boosts Slow-Wave Density but Not Memory Consolidation.

Slow-wave sleep (SWS) has been shown to promote long-term consolidation of episodic memories in hippocampo-neocortical networks. Previous research has aimed to modulate cortical sleep slow-waves and spindles to facilitate episodic memory consolidation. Here, we instead aimed to modulate hippocampal activity during slow-wave sleep using transcranial direct current stimulation in 18 healthy humans.

Learning During Sleep: A Dream Comes True?

Can information that is processed during sleep influence awake behavior? Recent research demonstrates that learning during sleep is possible, but that sleep-learning invariably produces memory traces that are consciously inaccessible in the awake state. Thus, sleep-learning can likely exert implicit, but not explicit, influences on awake behavior.

Implicit Vocabulary Learning during Sleep Is Bound to Slow-Wave Peaks.

Learning while asleep is a dream of mankind, but is often deemed impossible because sleep lacks the conscious awareness and neurochemical milieu thought to be necessary for learning. Current evidence for sleep learning in humans is inconclusive. To explore conditions under which verbal learning might occur, we hypothesized that peaks of slow waves would be conducive to verbal learning because the peaks define periods of neural excitability.

Primary Nursing: A Call for Clarity, Empowerment, and Accountability.

Registered nurses' (RNs') unique educational preparation, skills, scope of practice, and relationship with those we serve must be articulated and honored. The Primary Nursing care delivery model gives practical, functional life to the relationship of professional trust between RNs and their patients.

Subliminally and Supraliminally Acquired Long-Term Memories Jointly Bias Delayed Decisions.

Common wisdom and scientific evidence suggest that good decisions require conscious deliberation. But growing evidence demonstrates that not only conscious but also unconscious thoughts influence decision-making. Here, we hypothesize that both consciously and unconsciously acquired memories guide decisions.

Skepticism toward Emerging Infectious Diseases and Influenza Vaccination Intentions in Nurses.

Nurses generally show low compliance with vaccination recommendations. We assessed whether low vaccine acceptance is due to skeptical attitudes toward emerging infectious diseases (EIDs). Skepticism toward EIDs manifests as doubts about the real threat of emerging diseases and as distrust in the motives and the competence of institutions that fight these diseases.

Subliminal messages exert long-term effects on decision-making.

Subliminal manipulation is often considered harmless because its effects typically decay within a second. So far, subliminal long-term effects on behavior were only observed in studies which repeatedly presented highly familiar information such as single words. These studies suggest that subliminal messages are only slowly stored and might not be stored at all if they provide novel, unfamiliar information.

Hippocampus is place of interaction between unconscious and conscious memories.

Recent evidence suggests that humans can form and later retrieve new semantic relations unconsciously by way of hippocampus-the key structure also recruited for conscious relational (episodic) memory. If the hippocampus subserves both conscious and unconscious relational encoding/retrieval, one would expect the hippocampus to be place of unconscious-conscious interactions during memory retrieval. We tested this hypothesis in an fMRI experiment probing the interaction between the unconscious and conscious retrieval of face-associated information.

The role of nanostructures and hydrophilicity in osseointegration: In-vitro protein-adsorption and blood-interaction studies.

Protein adsorption and blood coagulation play important roles in the early stages of osseointegration and are strongly influenced by surface properties. We present a systematic investigation of the influence of different surface properties on the adsorption of the blood proteins fibrinogen and fibronectin and the degree of early blood coagulation. Experiments on custom-made and commercially available, microroughened hydrophobic titanium (Ti) surfaces (Ti SLA-Hphob ), hydrophilic (Hphil ) microroughened Ti surfaces with nanostructures (Ti SLActive-Hphil NS), and on bimetallic Ti zirconium alloy (TiZr, Roxolid®) samples were performed, to study the biological response in relation to the surface wettability and the presence of nanostructures (NS).

Word encoding during sleep is suggested by correlations between word-evoked up-states and post-sleep semantic priming.

To test whether humans can encode words during sleep we played everyday words to men while they were napping and assessed priming from sleep-played words following waking. Words were presented during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Priming was assessed using a semantic and a perceptual priming test.

New iridium catalysts for the selective alkylation of amines by alcohols under mild conditions and for the synthesis of quinolines by acceptor-less dehydrogenative condensation.

A novel family of iridium catalysts stabilised by P,N-ligands have been introduced. The ligands are based on imidazo[1,5-b]pyridazin-7-amines and can be synthesised with a broad variety of substitution patterns. The catalysts were synthesised quantitatively from the protonated ligands and a commercially available iridium precursor.

Parabrachial-hypothalamic interactions are required for normal conditioned taste aversions.

Rats with bilateral excitotoxic lesions of the parabrachial nuclei (PBN) fail to acquire a conditioned taste aversion (CTA), yet they retain the ability to express a CTA learned prior to incurring the damage. Rats with bilateral electrolytic lesions of the lateral hypothalamus (LH) also have CTA learning deficits. The PBN have reciprocal neural connections with the LH.

Sleep stage II contributes to the consolidation of declarative memories.

Various studies suggest that non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, especially slow-wave sleep (SWS), is vital to the consolidation of declarative memories. However, sleep stage 2 (S2), which is the other NREM sleep stage besides SWS, has gained only little attention. The current study investigated whether S2 during an afternoon nap contributes to the consolidation of declarative memories.

Primary nursing: a call for clarity, empowerment, and accountability.

Registered nurses' (RNs') unique educational preparation, skills, scope of practice, and relationship with those we serve must be articulated and honored. The Primary Nursing care delivery model gives practical, functional life to the relationship of professional trust between RNs and their patients.

Parabrachial and hypothalamic interaction in sodium appetite.

Rats with bilateral lesions of the lateral hypothalamus (LH) fail to exhibit sodium appetite. Lesions of the parabrachial nuclei (PBN) also block salt appetite. The PBN projection to the LH is largely ipsilateral.