Recent studies support the hypothesis that oxytocin plays an important role in mother-infant interactions. The aim of the present research was to investigate the connection between Maternal Affect Attunement and levels of oxytocin in mothers and infants during early mother-infant communication, and to explore the relationship between maternal and infants' oxytocin levels. Forty three mother-infant dyads participated in the present study when infants were four months. They were observed in three conditions: 1) Baseline - where no communication took place, 2) Natural Interaction between mother and infant and 3) Modified Interactions - where natural interaction between mothers and infants was disrupted in various ways. During this procedure four saliva samples from mothers and their infants were collected to determine their levels of oxytocin at different time points. To assess individual maternal interactive style Maternal Affect Attunement (Maintaining Attention, Warm Sensitivity) was coded during the Natural Interaction. Results indicated that maternal and infants' oxytocin levels were stable at the four collection points. Maternal oxytocin levels at all collection points as well as overall mean oxytocin level were negatively related to her Warm Sensitivity. Significant positive synchronized as...

Human aging is associated with structural and functional brain deteriorations and a corresponding cognitive decline. Exergaming (i.e., physically active video-gaming) has been supposed to attenuate age-related brain deteriorations and may even improve cognitive functions in healthy older adults. Effects of exergaming, however, vary largely across studies. Moreover, the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms by which exergaming may affect cognitive and brain function are still poorly understood. Therefore, we systematically reviewed the effects of exergame interventions on cognitive outcomes and neurophysiological correlates in healthy older adults (>60 years). After screening 2709 studies (Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, Pubmed, Scopus), we found 15 eligible studies, four of which comprised neurophysiological measures. Most studies reported within group improvements in exergamers and favorable interaction effects compared to passive controls. Fewer studies found superior effects of exergaming over physically active control groups and, if so, solely for executive functions. Regarding individual cognitive domains, results showed no consistence. Positive effects on neurophysiological outcomes were present in all respective studies. In summary, exergaming seems to be equally or slightly more effective than other physical interventions on cognitive functions in healthy older adults. Tailored interventions using well-considered exergames and intervention designs, however, may result in more distinct effects on cognitive functions.

En människas röst är komplex och ofta svår för otränade lyssnare att beskriva verbalt. Det gör att värdefull information riskerar att gå förlorad när öronvittnen intervjuas i samband med en brottsutredning. Syftet i denna studie var att göra öronvittnesmål mer användbara genom att undersöka akustiska korrelat till vanliga röstbeskrivningar. 126 otränade lyssnare deltog i en enkätundersökning och bedömde röstegenskaper hos sju medelålders män som läste en text på svenska. Resultaten visade att röster med högre förstaformant bedömdes som mer spända och hårda, och röster med högre tredjeformant uppfattades som mer vanliga. Kvinnor bedömde röster med högre grundtonsfrekvens som ljusare. Röster som uppfattades som ljusa bedömdes i hög grad som spända och ostadiga, och de som bedömdes som mjuka tenderade att bedömas som mer avslappnade och melodiska. Resultaten bör betraktas med viss försikthet då antalet stimuli var lågt, men de indikerar att formanter har en avgörande betydelse för vår röstperception. Resultaten kan bidra till en ökad förståelse för den information som förmedlas i ett öronvittnesmål samt till att utforma effektiva metoder för att intervjua öronvittnen. På sikt är även akustiska fantomröster en intressant tillämpning. Kommande studier uppmanas att undersöka liknande frågeställningar med fler talare och med andra typer av talmaterial. / A person's voice is complex and often difficult for untrained listeners to describe verbally. This may lead to valuable information being lost in criminal investigations involving earwitnesses. The purpose of this study was to investigate acoustic correlates to common voice descriptions in order to enhance the usefulness of earwitness testimonies. 126 untrained listeners assessed voice characteristics of seven middle-aged men reading a Swedish text. Voices with a higher first formant were judged as more tense and harsh, and voices with a higher third formant were perceived as more common. Women rated voices with a higher fundamental frequency as higher. Voices that were perceived as high were also judged as tense and unstable, and those perceived as soft tended to be judged as relaxed and melodic. The results should be considered with some caution due to the low number of stimuli, but they indicate that formants play a crucial role in voice perception. The results can contribute to the understanding of earwitness testimonies as well as to develop effective methods for interviewing earwitnesses. Acoustic phantom voices are discussed as an interesting application. Future studies should investigate similar questions with more speakers as well as other types of speech material.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第21669号 / 医博第4475号 / 新制||医||1035(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 村井 俊哉, 教授 古川 壽亮, 教授 宮本 享 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

The WSCC ADN program had 66.57% persistence rate between the years 2000-2004. This retrospective study analyzed 28 demographic, pre-clinical, and clinical variables to identify correlates for persistence within the WSCC ADN program. The population size was 730 first-time candidates or the entire population of five consecutive clinical classes graduating between the years of 2000-2004. The candidates were identified and the variables tabulated using the WSCC student information system. SPSS 13.0 software was employed to conduct descriptive, frequency, multiple regression, multivariate analysis of variance, and univariate analysis of variance tests. The criterion variables included persistence within the entire population, gender-specific persistence factors, and age-specific factors within the traditional and non-traditional populations that persisted. Descriptive and frequency analysis found that most candidates were female (90.82%), Caucasian (96.44%), and classified as non-traditional (63.97%). Females and particularly non-traditional females maintained the highest persistence rates. The mean pre-clinical and clinical admittance ages were 25.04 and 28.39 years. Seventy percent of the candidates lived within the WSCC service area. The mean distance commuted was 37.71 miles. Statistical tests revealed that nine predictor variables influenced persistence within the entire population. The largest contributors of variance were 2nd semester clinical GPA (η2 = .33), cumulative pre-clinical GPA (η2 = .15), and grades in microbiology (η2 = .14). These variables along with the number of course withdrawals and/or grades of “F” were found to be major indicators for persistence within the female and male sub-populations. The number of full-time semesters was a more significant contributor in the male population (η2 = .12) than the female population (η2 = .02). Data analysis revealed that non-traditional students who persisted had higher human anatomy and physiology II grades while the traditional students had a higher rate of transferring coursework into the nursing program. These findings will aid in the direction of the recruitment, evaluation, and selection of potential candidates for this very demanding program of study while validating the importance of prerequisite core knowledge. The findings should serve as predictive evidence to better identify and inform potential “at-risk” candidates of the factors that affect persistence in this nursing program.

<p dir="ltr">Individuals with typical audiometric sensitivity exhibit varying speech perception abilities in noisy environments, which may decline with age. Temporal processing plays a pivotal role in speech perception, especially in challenging listening conditions. Auditory decline due to aging involves both peripheral pathology and central auditory system changes, impacting temporal processing. To delineate the contributions of these changes, measurements of within- and across-channel temporal processing were conducted in a wide age range of normal-hearing individuals. Robust perception of within-channel temporal cues requires precise coding at both peripheral and central auditory pathway levels, while cross-channel processing relies on central mechanisms. Comprehensive data collection involved behavioral and electrophysiological measures, revealing age-related increases in behavioral thresholds, less robust cortical responses to gaps and temporal-coherence changes, and declining SPIN performance. Cross-channel measures proved to be more predictive of speech perception outcomes, emphasizing the significance of central auditory changes in age-related perceptual deficits.</p><p dir="ltr">A mini-EEG cap to record cortical EEG auditory responses to gaps in chinchillas using a new sedation protocol was validated. This advancement enhances translational potential and paves the way for exploring cortical auditory processing using complex stimuli in animal models. By facilitating simultaneous exploration of both subcortical and cortical consequences of auditory system pathologies, this development contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of auditory processes across species.</p>

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It is well-known that the early assignment of prominence in sequences like THIRteen MEN vs. thirTEEN, (defined as the Rhythm Rule, or post-lexical stress shift), is an optional phenomenon. This dissertation examines some of the factors that encourage the application of stress shift in English and how it is phonetically realised. The aim is to answer two sets of questions related to why and how stress shift occurs in English: 1a) Does prosodic boundary strength influence stress shift? 1b) Does the adjacency of prominences above the level of the segmental string encourage stress shift? 2) How is stress shift realized? a) Is stress shift only a perceptual phenomenon? and b) Which syllables, if any, change acoustically when stress shift is perceived? To answer these questions, four experiments were designed. The first three experiments test whether the strength of the prosodic boundaries before and after the target word (e.g., canteen) influence stress shift. The effect of the strength of the left-edge prosodic boundary was investigated by comparing perceived stress patterns of the target (e.g., canteen) as produced in isolation where it is preceded by an utterance- and a phrase- initial prosodic boundary (the Isolated condition) with its rendition when embedded in a frame sentence (e.g., Say canteen again) where the left prosodic boundary before canteen is weaker (the Embedded condition). Results show a very clear tendency towards late phrasal prominence on the final accentable syllable (e.g., -teen in canteen) in the Embedded condition while in the Isolated condition this pattern appeared in less than half of the targets, showing that the stronger left boundary increased the incidence of stress shift. Two more experiments manipulated the strength of the boundary to the right of the target (#) respectively by changing the syntactic parse of the critical phrase (e.g. canteen cook) in sequences like (1) and by manipulating constituent length as in (2). Results showed that the syntactic manipulation significantly affected the strength of the prosodic boundary between the clashing words which was stronger in (1b) relative to (1a), and affected the incidence of stress shift, which was higher in (1a) relative to (1b). The length manipulation also affected the rate of stress shift, which was significantly higher in the phrase with the shorter word, e.g., soups (2a) relative to phrase with the longer word, e.g., supervisors (2b). (1) Example from the Syntax Experiment a. Who is the canteen (#) cook these days? (Pre-modifier + Noun) b. How do the canteen (#) cook these days? (NP + VP) (2) Example from the Length Experiment a. It should include the canteen (#) soups again. (Shorter constituent) b. It should include the canteen (#) supervisors again. (Longer constituent) Whilst we knew from the literature that the grouping of the clashing words within one Intonational Phrase (IP) encourages stress shift, results from the Syntax and Length experiments indicate that this (i.e., the phrasing of the clashing words within same IP) is not sufficient condition for the occurrence of stress shift, and that fine-grained degrees of boundary strength below the Intonational Phrase can drive changes in prominence pattern. The fact that higher rates of stress shift (and associated significant acoustic changes) were driven by manipulations of constituent length --for sequences with the same syntactic structure-- provides support for the idea that prosodic (rather than syntactic) boundaries directly influence stress shift. The fourth experiment tests the definition of stress clash in English in cases like fourteen candles where the two main lexical prominences are strictly adjacent along the time dimension, in fourteen canoes where the prominences are not adjacent in time, but adjacent at the higher levels of the metrical hierarchy, and in fourteen canteens where the main lexical prominences are not adjacent, and do not clash. This experiment highlighted and resolved an unacknowledged disagreement about what clash status sequences with one weak intervening syllable (e.g., fourTEEN caNOES). The fourTEEN caNOES type were shown to behave like metrically clashing sequences (e.g., fourteen CANdles) in attracting stress shift, and differently from the non-metrically-clashing sequences (e.g., fourteen CANTEENS) in discouraging it. These results provide empirical support for the Standard Metrical Theory (e.g. Selkirk, 1984; Nespor & Vogel, 1989) claim that 1) stress clash matters in triggering stress shift and that 2) stress clash in English is defined at the higher prosodic levels and not restricted to the level of the segmental string as indirectly assumed in a growing body of research (e.g., Vogel, Bunnel & Hoskins, 1995; Tomlinson, Liu & Fox Tree, 2014). Along with the establishment of prosodic boundary strength as one of the predictors influencing stress shift, another important contribution of the thesis is providing empirical evidence that the English Rhythm Rule is not solely a perceptual phenomenon and that it is associated with acoustic correlates. The main correlates of perceived stress shift consistently appearing across experiments is the decrease in the duration of the main lexical prominence of the target (e.g., -teen in canteen) and the increase of fundamental frequency and Sound Pressure Level peaks and on the initial syllable (e.g., canin canteen), when followed by a main clashing phrasal prominence. The acoustic analysis shows that the first accentable syllable also contributes in the perception of stress shift. This latter result does not lend support to the deletion formulation of the Rhythm Rule (Gussenhoven, 1991) which stipulates that the impressions of stress shift are solely associated with changes of prominence in the last accentable syllable of the target (e.g. -teen in canteen). Along with the determination of the acoustic correlates of perceived stress shift in English, the present research 1) indicates that fine-grained gradations of prosodic boundary strength can influence stress shift, 2) shows that while stress clash can increase the incidence of stress shift, stress shift can take place even in environments completely free of stress clash, and 3) provides evidence that stress clash should not be construed simply as the concatenation of two main lexical prominences along the time dimension.

Titre : Étude des déterminants psychosociaux du poids corporel dans la population québécoise adulte. Objectif : L’objectif principal des travaux effectués était l'étude des déterminants psychosociaux du poids corporel dans quatre groupes d’adultes qui ont participé à l’Enquête sociale et de santé 1998 (ESS 98). Méthodologie : Les microdonnées de l'ESS 98 ont été accédées en utilisant les services de l’Institut de la statistique du Québec. Les groupes étudiés étaient les hommes et les femmes âgés entre 25 et 44 ans ou 45 et 64 ans. Résultats : La pratique d’activités physiques reliées au transport et un niveau de scolarité plus élevé ont été associés à moins de probabilités de rapporter un excès de poids chez les hommes âgés entre 25 et 44 ans. Une meilleure perception des habitudes alimentaires a aussi été associée à moins de probabilités d’avoir un excès de poids dans la plupart des groupes à l’exception des femmes âgées entre 25 et 44 ans. Le niveau d’AP a été associé négativement à l’excès de poids uniquement chez les femmes plus âgées. Une meilleure perception de l’état de santé a été associée à moins de probabilités de rapporter un excès de poids chez les femmes âgées entre 25 et 44 ans et à plus de probabilités chez les hommes âgés entre 45 et 64 ans. Chez les hommes des deux groupes, le tabagisme a été associé à moins de probabilités de rapporter avoir un excès de poids. Chez les femmes, la consommation d’alcool a été associée à moins de probabilités d’avoir un excès de poids. Dans tous les groupes, tenter présentement de perdre du poids a été associé à plus de probabilités de rapporter un excès de poids. Les travaux effectués démontrent que ces déterminants du poids corporel ne sont pas nécessairement associés aux habitudes alimentaires et au niveau d’AP. Conclusion : Les déterminants psychosociaux associés à l’obésité divergent selon le sexe et l’âge. L’identification de ces associations illustre le besoin d’intégrer les spécificités de chacun de ces groupes dans les interventions populationnelles qui visent la problématique du poids corporel. / Title: Psychosocial correlates of body weight in the Quebec Adults Population. Objective: Within the variables available in the 1998 Social and Health survey, identify psycho-social correlates of body mass index (BMI) in the Quebec population. Method: Access to the Social Lifestyles and Health 1998 survey was done at the «Institut de la Statistique du Québec». Groups studied included the 25- to 44-years and the 45- to 64- years old men and women. Results: Higher number of physical activity (PA) related to transport and levels of education were associated with less odds of reporting an excess body weight only in the 25- to 44-years old men. Cigarette smoking was also associated with less odds of reporting an excess weight in both men groups. Regular practice of leisure time PA was associated with less odds of reporting an excess weight only in 45- to 64-years old women. In both women groups, more frequent consumption of alcoholic beverages decreased the odds of reporting an excess weight. Perceived eating habits were also associated with less odds of an excess weight in most groups except in the 25- to 44-yearsold women where the trend was not significant. Opposite associations were observed between perceived health and BMI. In the 45- to 64-year old men, better perceived health increased the odds of reporting an excess weight. On the opposite, the odds of reporting an excess weight decreased with better health in 25- to 44-years-old women. In all groups, currently trying to loose weight increased the odds of reporting an excess weight. Others analyses also indicate that those correlates are not always associated with eating habits and PA level as it would be expected. Conclusion: Many correlates differ between age-group and sex. The identification of these factors illustrates the need to adapt obesity related program toward specific sub-group within the general population.

Le but de cette thèse est d'étudier les corrélats comportementaux et neuronaux du transfert inter-linguistique (TIL) dans l'apprentissage d’une langue seconde (L2). Compte tenu de nos connaissances sur l'influence de la distance linguistique sur le TIL (Paradis, 1987, 2004; Odlin, 1989, 2004, 2005; Gollan, 2005; Ringbom, 2007), nous avons examiné l'effet de facilitation de la similarité phonologique à l’aide de la résonance magnétique fonctionnelle entre des langues linguistiquement proches (espagnol-français) et des langues linguistiquement éloignées (persan-français). L'étude I rapporte les résultats obtenus pour des langues linguistiquement proches (espagnol-français), alors que l'étude II porte sur des langues linguistiquement éloignées (persan-français). Puis, les changements de connectivité fonctionnelle dans le réseau langagier (Price, 2010) et dans le réseau de contrôle supplémentaire impliqué dans le traitement d’une langue seconde (Abutalebi & Green, 2007) lors de l’apprentissage d’une langue linguistiquement éloignée (persan-français) sont rapportés dans l’étude III. Les résultats des analyses d’IRMF suivant le modèle linéaire général chez les bilingues de langues linguistiquement proches (français-espagnol) montrent que le traitement des mots phonologiquement similaires dans les deux langues (cognates et clangs) compte sur un réseau neuronal partagé par la langue maternelle (L1) et la L2, tandis que le traitement des mots phonologiquement éloignés (non-clang-non-cognates) active des structures impliquées dans le traitement de la mémoire de travail et d'attention. Toutefois, chez les personnes bilingues de L1-L2 linguistiquement éloignées (français-persan), même les mots phonologiquement similaires à travers les langues (cognates et clangs) activent des régions connues pour être impliquées dans l'attention et le contrôle cognitif. Par ailleurs, les mots phonologiquement éloignés (non-clang-non-cognates) activent des régions usuellement associées à la mémoire de travail et aux fonctions exécutives. Ainsi, le facteur de distance inter-linguistique entre L1 et L2 module la charge cognitive sur la base du degré de similarité phonologiques entres les items en L1 et L2. Des structures soutenant les processus impliqués dans le traitement exécutif sont recrutées afin de compenser pour des demandes cognitives. Lorsque la compétence linguistique en L2 augmente et que les tâches linguistiques exigent ainsi moins d’effort, la demande pour les ressources cognitives diminue. Tel que déjà rapporté (Majerus, et al, 2008; Prat, et al, 2007; Veroude, et al, 2010; Dodel, et al, 2005; Coynel, et al ., 2009), les résultats des analyses de connectivité fonctionnelle montrent qu’après l’entraînement la valeur d'intégration (connectivité fonctionnelle) diminue puisqu’il y a moins de circulation du flux d'information. Les résultats de cette recherche contribuent à une meilleure compréhension des aspects neurocognitifs et de plasticité cérébrale du TIL ainsi que l'impact de la distance linguistique dans l'apprentissage des langues. Ces résultats ont des implications dans les stratégies d'apprentissage d’une L2, les méthodes d’enseignement d’une L2 ainsi que le développement d'approches thérapeutiques chez des patients bilingues qui souffrent de troubles langagiers. / The purpose of this thesis was to study the behavioral and neural correlates of Cross-linguistic Transfer effects (CLT) at the word level, in second language learning. Moreover, given that language distance has an impact on CLT, (Paradis, 1987, 2004, Odlin, 1989, 2004, 2005, Gollan, 2005, Ringbom, 2007), two distinct language pairs were examined: Close language pairs (Spanish-French) and distant language pairs (Persian-French). This thesis comprises three studies. In study I, Spanish speakers and in study II Persian speakers were trained for lexical learning until consolidation level. Cognates (phonologically and semantically similar words), Clangs (phonologically similar words with different meanings), and Non-cognate-non-clangs (semantically similar words), were presented in a picture naming task. Accuracy rates and response times as well as event-related fMRI BOLD responses to each word category were measured. Simple and direct contrasts with phonologically similar and phonologically distant words were performed. Thus, Study I reports the results of close languages (Spanish-French) and Study II, reports the results of distant languages (Persian-French). The neurocognitive processing of language learning was further investigated in terms of networks using functional connectivity analysis in distant languages (Persian-French) and the results are reported in Study III. The Results with the General Linear Model analysis show that with close language pairs (French-Spanish), the processing of phonologically similar words (cognates and clangs) relies upon a shared L1-L2 language specific neural areas, whereas processing of phonologically distant words (non-clang-non-cognates), activates L1 language processing areas, but also relies upon working memory, attentional, and processing structures. However, with distant language pairs (French-Persian), even phonologically similar words (cognates and clangs) activate areas known to be involved in attentional processing and cognitive control. Moreover, phonologically distant words (non-clang-non-cognates) also activate areas involved in working memory and executive function processing structures. Thus, the factor of L1-L2 cross-linguistic distance appears to modulate the executive load imposed to the system, on the basis of the degree of phonological overlap between L1-L2 items; thus in order to compensate for more effortful processing demands, the system recruits executive function supporting structures. The results of the connectivity analysis show that, in line with literature (Majerus, et al., 2008; Prat, et al., 2007; Veroude, et al., 2010; Dodel, et al., 2005; Coynel, et al., 2009), when the language proficiency is low, there is enhanced functional connectivity between and within language specific and other cognitive processing (working memory, attentional and cognitive control) networks. However, as proficiency increases, integration values (functional connectivity) decrease. This reflects that language tasks become less effortful and demand less cognitive resources. The results of this dissertation contribute to a better understanding of CLT effects on L2 learning, both in regards to different word types and L1-L2 language distance. These results have implications with regards to L2 learning and teaching strategies and approaches as well as with regards to the development of data-driven therapy approaches in the case of language break down in bilingual population.