William Forde Thompson

Arousal, Mood, and The Mozart Effect

The “Mozart effect” refers to claims that people perform better on tests of spatial abilities after listening to music composed by Mozart. We examined whether the Mozart effect is a consequence of between-condition differences in arousal and mood. Participants completed a test of spatial abilities after listening to music or sitting in silence. The music was a Mozart sonata (a pleasant and energetic piece) for some participants and an Albinoni adagio (a slow, sad piece) for others. We also measured enjoyment, arousal, and mood. Performance on the spatial task was better following the music than the silence condition, but only for participants who heard Mozart. The two music selections also induced differential responding on the enjoyment, arousal, and mood measures. Moreover, when such differences were held constant by statistical means, the Mozart effect disappeared. These findings provide compelling evidence that the Mozart effect is an artifact of arousal and mood.

A modified protocol for rapid DNA isolation from plant tissues using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide

We describe a modification of the DNA extraction method, in which cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) is used to extract nucleic acids from plant tissues. In contrast to the original method, the modified CTAB procedure is faster, omits the selective precipitation and CsCl gradient steps, uses less expensive and toxic reagents, requires only inexpensive laboratory equipment and is more readily adapted to high-throughput DNA extraction. This protocol yields approximately 5–30 μg of total DNA from 200 mg of tissue fresh weight, depending on plant species and tissue source. It can be completed in as little as 5–6 h.Note: In the version of this article initially published online, the name of the coauthor S Krasnyanski was misspelled as S Krasynanski. This error has been corrected in all versions of the article.

Use of matrix attachment regions (MARs) to minimize transgene silencing.

Matrix attachment regions (MARs) are operationally defined as DNA elements that bind specifically to the nuclear matrix in vitro. It is possible, although unproven, that they also mediate binding of chromatin to the nuclear matrix in vivo and alter the topology of the genome in interphase nuclei. When MARs are positioned on either side of a transgene their presence usually results in higher and more stable expression in transgenic plants or cell lines, most likely by minimizing gene silencing. Our review explores current data and presents several plausible models to explain MAR effects on transgene expression.

Positional distribution and turnover of fatty acids in phosphatidic acid, phosphoinositides, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine in rat brain in vivo

Abstract 1. 1. Experiments were designed to examine the possible relation between fatty acids of phosphatidic acid and the phospholipids derived from phosphatidic acid in rat brain in vivo. After intracerebral injection of radioactive fatty acids, distribution studies revealed that the enzymes for phosphatidic acid synthesis in brain were selective with respect to placement of the major saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Thus, stearate and palmitate were incorporated preferentially into the 1-position and arachidonate almost exclusively into the 2-position. Oleate and linoleate were almost equally divided between both positions. 2. 2. The uptake of [3H]arachidonate by phosphatidylcholine and monophosphoinositide was very rapid and exceeded that by phosphatidic acid. Incorporation into phosphatidylethanolamine was less and appeared to be biphasic. Double-label ratios from simultaneously injected [3H]arachidonate and [14C]glycerol suggested that the rapid incorporation of arachidonate resulted from acyl-exchange reactions independent of de novo synthesis. Double-label ratios of di-and triphosphoinositides were much lower than monophosphoinositide, indicating there was a compartment of monophosphoinositide, highly labelled with arachidonate, that did not equilibrate with the polyphosphoinositides. 3. 3. A sequential transfer of stearoyl groups from phosphatidic acid to other phospholipids was indicated, since incorporation of [3H]stearate into phosphatidic acid preceded that into monophosphoinositide, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine. However, double-label experiments with [14C]glycerol suggested that a fraction of the stearoyl groups may be turning over by acyl-exchange reactions. 4. 4. I-Acyl lysophosphatidylcholine, labelled with [3H]stearate and [14C]glycerol, injected intracerebrally, was incorporated intact into diacyl phosphatidylcholine, confirming that direct acylation of lysointermediates could occur in brain. I-Acyl lysomonophosphoinositide was degraded rapidly and there was no significant conversion to diacyl lipid.

Seeing music performance: Visual influences on perception and experience

Abstract Drawing from ethnographic, empirical, and historical / cultural perspectives, we examine the extent to which visual aspects of music contribute to the communication that takes place between performers and their listeners. First, we introduce a framework for understanding how media and genres shape aural and visual experiences of music. Second, we present case studies of two performances, and describe the relation between visual and aural aspects of performance. Third, we report empirical evidence that visual aspects of performance reliably influence perceptions of musical structure (pitch related features) and affective interpretations of music. Finally, we trace new and old media trajectories of aural and visual dimensions of music, and highlight how our conceptions, perceptions and appreciation of music are intertwined with technological innovation and media deployment strategies.

Deficits in facial emotion perception in adults with recent traumatic brain injury

UNLABELLED We examined whether facial emotion perception was compromised in adults with recent traumatic brain injury (TBI). Few studies have examined emotion perception in TBI; those that have, examined chronic patients only. Recent and chronic TBI populations differ according to degree of functional reorganization of the brain, use of compensatory strategies, and severity of cognitive impairments--any of which might differentially affect presentation of emotion perception deficits. A secondary aim of the study was to utilize the TBI population--in whom diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is a cardinal neurological feature--to examine the suggestion of Adolphs et al. [Journal of Neuroscience 20(7) (2000) 2683] that damage to white matter tracts should give rise to emotion perception deficits. METHODS Thirty TBI participants and 30 age-matched controls were tested. A 2 x 3 mixed design was employed. The dependent variable was accuracy on neutral and emotional face perception tests. RESULTS (1) The TBI group performed significantly less accurately than the matched controls on the facial emotion perception tasks, whereas the groups performed equivalently on a non-emotional face perception control task. (2) A sub-group of TBI participants without evidence of focal injury to areas of the brain most commonly implicated in facial emotion perception was as impaired on the emotion perception tasks as a second sub-group who had sustained focal lesions to these areas. This suggests an alternative neurological mechanism for deficits in the first sub-group, such as DAI. CONCLUSIONS Patients with recently acquired TBI are impaired in their ability to perceive emotions in faces. DAI alone may cause facial emotion perception deficits.

Genome-Wide Analysis of the Core DNA Replication Machinery in the Higher Plants Arabidopsis and Rice

Core DNA replication proteins mediate the initiation, elongation, and Okazaki fragment maturation functions of DNA replication. Although this process is generally conserved in eukaryotes, important differences in the molecular architecture of the DNA replication machine and the function of individual subunits have been reported in various model systems. We have combined genome-wide bioinformatic analyses of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and rice (Oryza sativa) with published experimental data to provide a comprehensive view of the core DNA replication machinery in plants. Many components identified in this analysis have not been studied previously in plant systems, including the GINS (go ichi ni san) complex (PSF1, PSF2, PSF3, and SLD5), MCM8, MCM9, MCM10, NOC3, POLA2, POLA3, POLA4, POLD3, POLD4, and RNASEH2. Our results indicate that the core DNA replication machinery from plants is more similar to vertebrates than single-celled yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), suggesting that animal models may be more relevant to plant systems. However, we also uncovered some important differences between plants and vertebrate machinery. For example, we did not identify geminin or RNASEH1 genes in plants. Our analyses also indicate that plants may be unique among eukaryotes in that they have multiple copies of numerous core DNA replication genes. This finding raises the question of whether specialized functions have evolved in some cases. This analysis establishes that the core DNA replication machinery is highly conserved across plant species and displays many features in common with other eukaryotes and some characteristics that are unique to plants.

Facing the Music

From the phonograph of the 19th century to the iPod today, music technologies have typically isolated the auditory dimension of music, filtering out nonacoustic information and transmitting what most people assume is the essence of music. Yet many esteemed performers over the past century, such as Judy Garland and B.B. King, are renowned for their dramatic use of facial expressions (Thompson, Graham, & Russo, 2005). Are such expressions merely show business, or are they integral to experiencing music? In the investigation reported here, we considered whether the facial expressions and head movements of singers communicate melodic information that can be ‘‘read’’ by viewers. Three trained vocalists were recorded singing ascending melodic intervals. Subjects saw the visual recordings (without sound) and rated the size of the intervals they imagined the performers were singing.

Decoding speech prosody in five languages

Abstract Twenty English-speaking listeners judged the emotive intent of utterances spoken by male and female speakers of English, German, Chinese, Japanese, and Tagalog. The verbal content of utterances was neutral but prosodic elements conveyed each of four emotions: joy, anger, sadness, and fear. Identification accuracy was above chance performance levels for all emotions in all languages. Across languages, sadness and anger were more accurately recognized than joy and fear. Listeners showed an in-group advantage for decoding emotional prosody, with highest recognition rates for English utterances and lowest recognition rates for Japanese and Chinese utterances. Acoustic properties of stimuli were correlated with the intended emotion expressed. Our results support the view that emotional prosody is decoded by a combination of universal and culture-specific cues.

A possible relation between phosphoinositides and the diglyceride pool in rat brain

Abstract 1. 1. Ox brain triphosphoinositide was incubated with a solubilized preparation of ox brain phosphoinositide phosphodiesterase and at different time intervals the fatty acid compositions of the hydrolysis product, diglyceride, and the residual substrate were examined. The fatty acid compositions of both fractions at all times were essentially constant indicating no high degree of selectivity of particular molecular species of triphosphoinositide by the enzyme. Since the liberated diglycerides largely reflected the original composition of the substrate, it was concluded that the major product of phosphoinositide hydrolysis was 1-stearoyl-2-arachidonoyl-sn-glycerol. 2. 2. Mono-, di- and triphosphoinositides from rat brain were rich in stearate and arachidonate, which were in equimolar proportions and accounted for about 80% of the total fatty acids. Similarly, the total diglycerides of rat brain contained about 30% each of stearate and arachidonate, while, in contrast, mono- and triglycerides had very little arachidonate. 3. 3. The rat brain diglycerides were acetylated and separated and quantitated by argentation-thin-layer chromatography and gas-liquid chromatography. The tetraene species greatly predominated and consisted largely of stearate paired with arachidonate. Hydrolysis of rat brain diglycerides with pancreatic lipase showed that arachidonate was located in the 2-position and stearate mostly in the 1(3)-position. The diglycerides were converted to phosphatidylphenols, which were hydrolysed with snake venom phospholipase A2. About 90% of the phosphatidylphenols were converted to lysophosphatidylphenols and all the arachidonate was liberated as free fatty acid. The collective evidence suggests that almost all the brain diglyceride is 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycerol and that 1-stearoyl-2-arachidonoyl-sn-glycerol accounts for about 60% of this fraction. 4. 4. The possibility is raised that the pool of arachidonoyl diglyceride in brain may be derived, in part, from hydrolysis of phosphoinositides by the phospho-diesterase.