Exploring the Moderation Effect of Educational Stage on Visual Magnocellular Functioning Linked to Reading: A Study in French Primary School Children.

Many studies have investigated the visual magnocellular system functioning in dyslexia. However, very little is known on the relationship between the visual magnocellular system functioning and reading abilities in typical developing readers. In this study, we aimed at studying this relationship and more specifically the moderation effect of educational stage on this link.

Attentional Processing of Letter Strings by Children.

Reading a letter string requires attentional orienting toward the beginning of the string (left-dominant orientation), followed by orienting along the string. These attentional-orienting processes differ according to the lexicality of the letter string: Sequential processes apply when reading nonwords or pseudowords, while words can be processed more globally. The aim of this study was to evaluate the development of these attentional processes involved in reading.

Uncertainty in fast task-irrelevant perceptual learning boosts learning of images in women but not men.

A key tenet of models of reinforcement learning is that learning is most desirable in the times of maximum uncertainty. Here we examine the role of uncertainty in the paradigm of fast task-irrelevant perceptual learning (fast-TIPL), where stimuli that are consistently presented at relevant points in times (e.g.

Encoding of episodic information through fast task-irrelevant perceptual learning.

The mechanisms guiding our learning and memory processes are of key interest to human cognition. While much research shows that attention and reinforcement processes help guide the encoding process, there is still much to know regarding how our brains choose what to remember. Recent research of task-irrelevant perceptual learning (TIPL) has found that information presented coincident with important events is better encoded even if participants are not aware of its presence (see Seitz & Watanabe, 2009).

Enhancement from targets and suppression from cues in fast task-irrelevant perceptual learning.

Task-irrelevant perceptual learning (TIPL) refers to the phenomenon where the stimulus features of a subject's task are learned when they are consistently presented at times when behaviorally relevant events occur. In this article, we addressed two points concerning TIPL. First, we address the question, are all behaviorally relevant events equal in their impact on encoding processes? Second, we address the hypothesis that TIPL involves mechanisms of the alerting attentional system.

Development of endogenous orienting of attention in school-age children.

Orienting of attention was investigated in 6-, 8-, and 10-year-olds and in young adults, in a spatial cueing experiment comparing nonpredictive, predictive, and counterpredictive cues (in different blocks). A larger positive orienting effect (advantage of valid over invalid cues) in the predictive than in the nonpredictive condition occurred in all groups, showing efficient endogenous orienting of attention. However, this effect was larger in 6-year-olds, as if the ability to distribute attention between the different locations (and not only to orient to the most probable location) developed between 6 and 8 years.

Fast-TIPL occurs for salient images without a memorization requirement in men but not in women.

Recent research of task-irrelevant perceptual learning (TIPL) demonstrates that stimuli that are consistently presented at relevant point in times (e.g. with task-targets or rewards) are learned, even in the absence of attention to these stimuli.

The impact of orienting attention in fast task-irrelevant perceptual learning.

Task-irrelevant perceptual learning (TIPL) refers to the phenomenon where the stimulus features are learned when they are consistently presented at behaviorally relevant times (e.g., with task targets or rewards).

Fast task-irrelevant perceptual learning is disrupted by sudden onset of central task elements.

The basic phenomenon of task-irrelevant perceptual learning (TIPL) is that the stimulus features of a subject's task will be learned when they are consistently presented at times of reward or behavioral success. Recent progress in studies of TIPL has been made by the discovery of a fast form of TIPL (fast-TIPL), which can be observed with as little as a single trial of exposure. In the present study, we investigated the task-conditions required to observe fast-TIPL.

Initial depletion of regulatory T cells: the missing solution to preserve the immune functions of T lymphocytes designed for cell therapy.

We investigated the causes of the altered functionality of T cells cultured under conditions designed for cell and gene therapy and the strategies to prevent their defects. We first showed that human T cells cultured for 6 days with anti-CD3 +/- anti-CD28 antibodies and interleukin-2 presented a 50% decrease of their proliferative responses to allogeneic or recall antigens. Similarly, day-6 cultured murine T cells completely lost their capacity to reject allogeneic skin grafts and to provoke graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) when infused into irradiated semi-allogeneic mice.

Highly active antiretroviral therapy corrects hematopoiesis in HIV-1 infected patients: interest for peripheral blood stem cell-based gene therapy.

Objectives: To study, in asymptomatic HIV-1-infected (HIV+) patients, whether peripheral blood hematopoietic progenitor/stem cells (PBPC) mobilized by granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), can be used as a source of cells for retroviral gene therapy.

Design: PBPC from two groups of HIV+ patients (treated or untreated by highly active antiretroviral therapy) and from seronegative donors were mobilized with G-CSF.

Methods: PBPC collected by leukapheresis were enriched for CD34 cells, immunophenotypically and functionally characterized, cultured and infected with retroviral vectors.