31 research outputs found
Russian Blues
No full textMaterials associated with the publication:
Winawer J, Witthoft N, Frank M , Wu L, Wade A, Boroditsky L. (2007) The Russian Blues reveal effects of language on color discrimination. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 104:7780-7785. https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.070164410
Biofeedback as a short-intervention to improve cardiac interoception
No full textThe processing of internal bodily signals - interoception - is a multifaceted construct, including the accurate detection of body sensations (interoceptive accuracy), the interpretation and integration of these (Khalsa et al., 2018).
An altered perception of interoceptive stimuli is a relevant etiological factor with regards to chronification of somatic symptoms (Barsky, 1992). According to the predictive coding framework for medically unexplained symptoms, the perception of symptoms might be decoupled from actual somatosensory input and be more dependent on central nervous predictions of the occurrence of symptoms. Decoupling of perception from somatosensory input can be assessed with signal detection tasks. Here, the sensitivity for a certain (bodily) signal is separated from a response bias ranging from conservative to liberal. A liberal “better safe than sorry” strategy corresponds to decoupled, illusory perceptions (Van den Bergh, Brosschot, Critchley, Thayer, & Ottaviani, 2021; Van den Bergh, Witthoft, Petersen, & Brown, 2017).
Empirical evidence supports the notion of a more liberal perception of interoceptive stimuli given high levels of somatic distress (Pohl et al., 2021; Wolters, Gerlach, & Pohl, 2021). Hence, biofeedback might not only address deviant interoceptive accuracy, but also biased processing in situations with uncertainty. Cardiovascular biofeedback was reported to be an effective intervention to reduce somatic symptoms (Schaefer, Egloff, Gerlach, & Witthoft, 2014) and improve interoceptive accuracy (Meyerholz, Irzinger, Witthoft, Gerlach, & Pohl, 2019). Nonetheless, the methodology used when measuring interoception as well as the use of biofeedback in the field of cardiovascular interoception are debated (Brener & Ring, 2016; Rominger, Grassmann, Weber, & Schwerdtfeger, 2021; Zamariola, Maurage, Luminet, & Corneille, 2018). Recently, we examined a novel cardiovascular signal detection task for the assessment of cardiac interoceptive perception (Pohl et al., 2021). In this study, we aim to replicate our previous findings that cardiac biofeedback improves cardiac accuracy in a mental tracking task (Meyerholz et al., 2019) and examine the raised concerns regarding the biofeedback training and the interoception assessment.
References:
Barsky A. J. (1992). Amplification, somatization, and the somatoform disorders. Psychosomatics, 33(1), 28–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0033-3182(92)72018-0
Brener, J., & Ring, C. (2016). Towards a psychophysics of interoceptive processes: The measurement of heartbeat detection. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, (1708), 371. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.0015.
Khalsa, S. S., Adolphs, R., Cameron, O. G., Critchley, H. D., Davenport, P. W., Feinstein, J.
S., ... Paulus, M. P. (2018). Interoception and mental health: A roadmap. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging, 3(6), 501–513. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2017.12.004.
Meyerholz, L., et al. (2019). "Contingent biofeedback outperforms other methods to enhance the accuracy of cardiac interoception: A comparison of short interventions." J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry 63: 12-20.
Pohl, A., Hums, A.-C., Kraft, G., Köteles, F., Gerlach, A. L., & Witthöft, M. (2021). Cardiac interoception: A novel signal detection approach and relations to somatic symptom distress. Psychological Assessment, No Pagination Specified-No Pagination Specified. https://doi/10.1037/pas0001012
Rominger, C., et al. (2021). "Does contingent biofeedback improve cardiac interoception? A preregistered replication of Meyerholz, Irzinger, Withoft, Gerlach, and Pohl (2019) using the heartbeat discrimination task in a randomised control trial." PLoS One 16(3): e0248246.
Schaefer, M., Egloff, B., Gerlach, A. L., & Witthöft, M. (2014). Improving heartbeat perception in patients with medically unexplained symptoms reduces symptom distress. Biological Psychology, 101, 69–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2014.05.012.
Van den Bergh, O., Witthöft, M., Petersen, S., & Brown, R. J. (2017). Symptoms and the body: Taking the inferential leap. Neurosci Biobehav Rev, 74(Pt A), 185-203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.01.015.
Van den Bergh, O., Brosschot, J., Critchley, H., Thayer, J. F., & Ottaviani, C. (2021). Better safe than sorry: A common signature of general vulnerability for psychopathology. Perspectives on psychological science, 16(2), 225-246. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F174569162095069
Synesthetes with learned matches are subject to the same influences as the larger population.
No full text<p><b>A</b>. The colors in the toy (upper row), the modal color choice for each letter from the 6188 synesthetes (middle row), and the most commonly assigned color for each letter for the 400 synesthetes from <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0118996#pone.0118996.g002" target="_blank">Fig. 2C</a>, when the choice does not match the toy (bottom row). Letters for which the magnet set color is the same as the modal color for all synesthetes are indicated in gray. When the 400 synesthetes have letter color matches that don’t match the toy, they generally follow the same pattern as the rest of the population (15/20 letters the same). <b>B</b>. Relationship between the probability that a letter is matched to the modal choice in the 400 synesthetes from <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0118996#pone.0118996.g002" target="_blank">Fig. 2C</a> and the other 6188 synesthetes. The strong positive correlation indicates that the two populations are subject to similar influences. <b>C</b>. Correlation between the probability that a latter matches the magnet set in the 400 synesthetes and the probability a letter matches the modal choice in the other 6158 synesthetes. The negative correlation signals competition between the two sources of influence in the magnet synesthetes, the toy versus general cultural/linguistic tendencies. Analyses in this section are limited to the subset of 20 letters which are not same for the magnet set and modal choice (excludes A, C, H, M, N, and W; grayed out in the bottom row of panel A).</p
augustin
No full textGreen tea catechins (GTC) have been shown to inhibit the activities of enzymes involved in folate uptake. Hence, regular green tea drinkers may be at risk of impaired folate status. The present experiments aimed at studying the impact of dietary GTC on folate concentrations and metabolism. In a human pilot study (parallel design) healthy men consumed for 3 weeks 6 capsules (~670 mg GTC) per day (2 capsules with each principal meal) containing aqueous extracts of the leaves of Camellia sinensis (n=17) or placebo (n=16). No differences in plasma folate concentrations were observed between treatments. We further fed groups of 10 male rats diets fortified with 0, 0.05, 0.5, 1, or 5 g GTC/kg for 6 weeks. Only at the highest intake, GTC significantly decreased serum 5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate concentrations in rats, while mRNA concentrations of reduced folate carrier, proton-coupled folate transporter/heme carrier protein 1, and dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) remained unchanged in intestinal mucosa. Using an in vitro enzyme activity assay, we observed a time-and dose-dependent inhibition of DHFR activity by epigallocatechin gallate and a green tea extract. Our data suggest that regular green tea consumption is unlikely to impair folate status in healthy males, despite the DHFR inhibitory activity of GTC. K e y w o r d s : folates, catechins, bioavailability, human, rat MATERIAL AND METHODS Dihydrofolate reductase activity The inhibition of human dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) activity by (-) epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and a standardized green tea extract (Polyphenon 60 (P60); Sigma Chemical Co., St Louis, MO, USA) was measured using a commercial dihydrofolate reductase assay kit (Sigma-Aldrich) according to the manufacturer's protocol. Methotrexate, a well-known competitive DHFR inhibitor was used as a positive control. EGCG and P60 were dissolved in ultra pure-water (containing 1% ascorbic acid (w/v) (Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany) to stabilize the catechins) on the day of the experiments. DHFR was used at a final activity of 1.5 x 10 -3 units per reaction. Final concentrations of EGCG and methotrexate were 1000, 100 and 10 nmol/L per reaction. P60 was used at final concentrations of 1428 .57, 142.86, and 14.29 µg/L and, thus, contained 1060 , 106, and 10.6 nmol/L EGCG and 1427.3 nmol/L of the gallated catechins (EGCG, ECG and gallocatechin gallate), respectively. Rat study Fifty male Wistar rats (Harlan Winkelmann GmbH, Borchen, Germany) with an initial body weight of 99.8 ± 2.0 g (mean ± SEM) were randomized into 5 groups of 10 animals each and housed pair-wise with sawdust bedding under controlled environmental conditions (23 ± 2°C and 65 ± 5% relative humidity, 12 h dark-light cycle). The rats were kept for 5 days on a folate-adjusted rat diet for growing animals containing 2 mg of folic acid/kg (C1027; Altromin GmbH, Lage, Germany) and thereafter received their respective experimental diets consisting of the standard diet supplemented with 0, 0.05, 0.5, 1, or 5 g green tea catechins per kg diet using P60 as the source of catechins (see The animal experiment was conducted in accordance with the German Guidelines and Regulations on Animal Care (Deutsches Tierschutzgesetz, 2006) and was approved by the University of Kiel Ethics Committee on Animal Care. Human pilot study Healthy males were recruited by advertisement at the University and local community of Reading (United Kingdom) and amongst volunteers who previously participated in nutritional trials at the Hugh Sinclair Human Nutrition Unit. Inclusion criteria were: male gender, 18-55 y of age, and a BMI in the range of 22-32 kg/m 2 . Subjects were excluded from the trial if they were diagnosed with any illness or on long-term medication, used dietary supplements, participated in >5 h of aerobic exercise activity per week, or were involved in a clinical trial within 3 months prior to the study. The study protocol was approved by the University of Reading ethics committee and all subjects gave written informed consent before participation. A standardized aqueous green tea extract prepared from the leaves of Camellia sinensis L. (a kind gift of Cognis Deutschland GmbH & Co KG, Monheim am Rhein, Germany) was used to make the green tea extract (GTE) capsules. The composition of the GTE is given in The trial was designed as a double-blind placebo-controlled parallel study. Thirty-one volunteers were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups (GTE, n=16 or placebo, n=15) with similar BMI and age (data not shown). Subjects took 6 capsules per day, two with each principal meal, for 3 weeks and were instructed to limit their daily tea and coffee consumption to ≤ 3 cups, but to otherwise maintain their normal diet and exercise patterns. Compliance was determined by counting of the returned capsules at the end of the trial and was high (>98%). Blood samples (20 ml) were drawn into tubes containing 0.05 mL 15% K 3 EDTA (Vacutainer; Becton Dickinson UK Ltd., Oxford, UK) after an overnight fast on the first and last day of the intervention period. Plasma was immediately obtained by centrifugation (1,000 x g, 10 min) and 3 ml aliquots were stored at -80°C until analysis. Folate quantification by HPLC Procedures for extraction and purification of folates from human plasma and rat serum and liver samples by strong anion exchange solid-phase extraction were described previously by Witthoft et al. (18). Dialysed rat serum (500 µl/g) was used to ensure complete deconjugation of folate polyglutamates in liver samples; modified from Patring et al. (19). Analyses were performed using an HPLC system (Agilent 1100) consisting of a 104 10-formyltetrahydrofolate (10-HCO-H 4 folate), and 5,10-methenyltetrahydrofolate (5,10-CH + -H 4 folate) (a gift of Merck Eprova AG, Schaffhausen, Switzerland, except 10-HCO-H 4 folate, which was purchased from Schircks Laboratories, Jona, Switzerland). Quantification was based on a multilevel (n=7) external calibration curve with a linear range over 1.2-118.0 ng/mL for H 4 folate, 0.6-93.1 ng/mL for 5-CH 3 -H 4 folate, 0.9-184.1 ng/mL for 10-HCO-H 4 folate and 9.3-184.5 ng/mL for 5,10-CH + -H 4 folate. mRNA quantification RNA was isolated from rat duodenal mucosa using the RNeasy Lipid Tissue Kit (Qiagen GmbH, Hilden, Germany) according to the manufacturer's protocol. DNA digestion was performed with RNase-Free DNase Set (Qiagen). RNA integrity was checked by electrophoresis on a denaturing agarose gel and ethidium bromide staining. The concentration and purity of isolated RNA was determined by measuring the absorbance (AB) at 260 and 280 nm in a spectrophotometer (DU800, Beckmann Instruments; Munich, Germany). A ratio of >1.8 between AB 260nm and AB 280nm was considered as acceptable. RNA aliquots were stored at -80°C until analysis. Primer pairs of β-actin, reduced folate carrier (RFC) and proton-coupled folate transporter/heme carrier protein-1 (PCFT/HCP1) were designed to the corresponding sequences of Rattus norvegicus mRNA with Primer3 software (http://frodo.wi.mit.edu/cgi-bin/primer3/ primer3_www.cgi; 03.05.2007) and purchased from MWGBiotech AG (Ebersberg, Germany). The sequences of primers used in this study were as follows: Sense primer for β-actin, 5´-GGGGTGTTGAAGGTCTCAAA-3´, antisense primer for β-actin, 5´-TGTCACCAACTGGGACGATA-3´; sense primer for RFC, 5´-GGCTCGTGTTCTACCTCTGC-3´, antisense primer for RFC, 5´-GGTAGTCGGTGAGCAGGAAG-3´; sense primer for PCFT/HCP1, 5´-TGAGCTAAGCACACCCCTCT-3´, antisense primer for PCFT/HCP1, 5´-TCCGTACCCTGTGAACATGA-3´. The product size was 90 base pair (bp) for β-actin; 183 bp for RFC and 217 bp for PCFT/HCP1. QuantiTect ® Primer Assay (Qiagen) was used for DHFR mRNA amplification, with a product size of 88 bp. For one-step quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (one-step qRT-PCR) two aliquots of RNA were amplified. External relative standard curves of total RNA were determined with each run. Data was normalized by dividing the concentrations of RFC, PCFT/HCP1 or DHFR by the concentrations of β-actin mRNA. Each PCR reaction (final volume 20 µl) contained 0.5 µmol/L of each primer, 10 µl of 2x QuantiTect ® SYBR ® Green RT-PCR Master Mix (Qiagen), 0.2 µl QuantiTect RT-Mix (Qiagen), 8 µl of RNA dilution and 1.4 µl water. Real-time cycler conditions were set according to the manufacturers protocol to 40 cycles with annealing temperatures of 56°C for β-actin, 59°C for RFC, 56°C for PCFT/HCP1 and 55°C for DHFR, respectively. Quantification and melting curves of the amplified products were analysed using the RotorGene 6.0 software (Corbett Lifescience; Sydney, Australia). Melting curve analyses and agarose gel electrophoresis with ethidium bromide staining were performed to exclude non-specific products. Statistical analyses Statistical calculations were performed with GraphPad Prism 4 software (GraphPad Software Inc., San Diego, CA, USA). Analyses of the data from the rat study and the in vitro assay were performed by means of a one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnetts test for multiple comparisons of group means between animals receiving GTC or control diet. Analyses of the data from the human pilot study were performed by means of a paired Student's t-test for comparison of baseline vs. treatment and by means of an unpaired Student's t-test for comparisons between subjects receiving GTE or placebo. Reported values are means ± SEM and effects were considered significant at P<0.05. RESULTS Dihydrofolate reductase activity in vitro Both pure EGCG and P60, at concentrations of 1000 for EGCG and 1060 nmol/L for EGCG from P60, respectively, time-dependently inhibited DHFR activity Serum and liver folate concentrations in rats Feed consumption and final body mass (318.7 ± 4.8 g) of the Wistar rats were similar in all groups. Intake of diets containing 0.5% GTC over a period of 42 days significantly decreased the serum concentration of 5-CH 3 -H 4 folate compared to control rats, whereas the concentrations of H 4 folate remained unchanged ( Relative mRNA levels of reduced folate carrier and dihydrofolate reductase in rat duodenal mucosa The housekeeping gene β-actin was expressed at similar levels in all animals and no significant differences in the relative mRNA levels of RFC, PCFT/HCP1 or DHFR in the duodenal mucosa were observed Plasma folate concentrations in humans Consumption of 670 mg of GTC per day or placebo did not affect plasma folate concentrations in healthy male volunteers. No significant differences in plasma concentrations of 5-CH 3 -H 4 folate were observed between the treatment groups at baseline (placebo, 16.3 ± 2.6 nmol/L; GTE, 19.1 ± 2.4 nmol/L) or after intervention (placebo, 15.5 ± 2.1 nmol/L; GTE, 17.6 ± 2.4 nmol/L). DISCUSSION Green tea is a widely consumed beverage in many countries and contains appreciable amounts of polyphenols. Catechins (flavanols) are the major subclass of bioactive compounds within the polyphenol fraction of green tea. Epidemiological studies associated a high dietary intake of catechins with a reduced risk to suffer from a variety of diseases (reviewed in 20), including certain forms of cancer (21). The underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms by which green tea catechins may mediate anticarcinogenic acitivty seem to be diverse: Cell culture experiments as well as studies in rodents indicate that green tea catechin may inhibit angiogenesis via a down-regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (reviewed in 22). Furthermore it has been suggested that the anticancer activity of green tea catechins against different kind of cancers may find an explanation in direct targeting of lipid rafts (23). Recent in vitro studies have shown that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), the predominant catechin in green tea, competitively inhibits the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) (9, 13). DHFR inhibition is the mechanism by which so-called antifolates, such as the cytostatic drug methotrexate, inhibit cell division and reduce tumor growth (15, 24). Co-administration of folic acid and the DHFR inhibitors methotrexate and pyrimethamine, respectively, reduced plasma folate concentrations in rats The commercial green tea extract Polyphenon 60 (P60) used in the rat study and its principle bioactive ingredient EGCG inhibited DHRF activity time-and concentration-dependently in vitro In order to study whether or not the effects observed in vitro bear a meaning for the more complex physiological processes in vivo, Wistar rats were fed for 42 days with diets fortified with increasing concentrations of green tea catechins (GTC) using a standardized green tea extract (P60). The diets contained 2 mg folic acid per kg, which is equivalent to twice the dietary recommendations for laboratory rats as given by the National Research Council (28). It is noteworthy that folates synthesized by the microflora of the large intestine are absorbed and may significantly contribute to blood folate concentrations (reviewed in 29). The diet used in this study was therefore formulated to provide a minimum of substrate to the intestinal microflora to limit bacterial folate synthesis. Only in those animals fed the highest concentrations of the green tea extract (0.5% GTC), did we observe a significant decrease in serum 5-CH 3 -H 4 folate concentrations as compared to the control group ( At a given substrate affinity and substrate concentration, the capacity of enzymatic turnover of folates as well as the amount of their carrier-mediated transport across cellular membranes is mainly affected by the amount of enzymes/carriers present at the tissue level. Because catechins are known to alter the gene expression for a variety of proteins (35), we quantified relative mRNA concentrations of the RFC, PCFT/HCP1, and DHFR in the duodenal mucosa of rats fed GTC. No significant differences in mRNA concentrations of RFC, PCFT/HCP1, and of DHFR were found between the experimental groups The current findings suggested that GTC might decrease serum folate concentrations only if supplied at supra-nutritional doses. A 70 kg human would have to drink almost 100 cups of green tea infusion per day to match the highest dose fed to rats in the present study. Because such a human study would be unfeasible as well as unrealistic, we designed a pilot study with a standardized green tea extract to assess whether or not regular consumption of high doses of GTC might affect plasma folate concentrations in humans. The intake of 670 mg of GTC per day, which corresponds to about 20 cups of green tea, caused no significant differences in plasma concentrations of 5-CH 3 -H 4 folate between the treatment and placebo groups, both of which consuming a normal diet containing on average ~328 ± 26 µg folate/d. Insufficient dietary intake of folates for as short as 2-3 weeks has been reported to result in reduced blood concentrations of the vitamin (30). Our findings therefore suggest that green tea drinking is unlikely to affect plasma folate concentrations in healthy, free-living subjects and that a longer treatment period and/or even higher doses of dietary GTC may be necessary to induce changes in folate concentrations, if possible at all. Further human studies with GTC and a standardized supply of folic acid (in the absence of naturally occurring reduced folates) are warranted to investigate the influence of GTC on DHFR activity in vivo. In addition, the measurement of (oxidized) serum folic acid should be considered because folic acid has been found in serum of subjects consuming folic acid-fortified foods for 5 d (11). Based on the experiments presented here, it appears unlikely that daily green tea consumption, even at high levels, may affect folate concentrations in healthy humans. Acknowledgement
Prevalence of learned synesthesia in the sample.
No full text<p><b>A</b>. Photograph of the Fisher-Price letter set owned by a child who is now an adult synesthete with colors influenced by the toy. This participant was born in 1988 and has 25 matches to the colors in the toy. <b>B</b>. Histogram of the number of letter matches to the colors in the toy. The red curve shows the matches found in the empirical data while the green curve is derived from the shuffled data. In the shuffled distribution, the number of matches to the toy rarely exceeds 10 of 26 (black dashed line). In the empirical distribution, it can be as high as 26 of 26. <b>C</b>. Same as <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0118996#pone.0118996.g001" target="_blank">Fig. 1</a>, except it shows only the 400 synesthetes with 10 or more letters matching the toy (those to the right of the black dashed line in panel B). <b>D</b>. Prevalence of magnet and modal matching over time. Red bars show proportion of participants with 10 or more matches to the magnet set as a function of year born. Grey bars show participants with 7 or more matches to modal choices. For participants born between 1970 and 1985, the prevalence of synesthesia apparently learned from the Fisher-Price set can exceed 15%.</p
Effect of type of heat treatment of breastmilk on folate content and pattern
No full textBackground: Breastmilk is the recommended aliment for preterm infants. Milk banks provide donated breastmilk for the neonatal care of preterm infants when mother's own milk is not is available. To avoid pathogen transmission, donated breastmilk is heat-treated according to different procedures before administration. There is varying information on the effect of heat treatment on folate in breastmilk. Sufficient folate intake, however, is essential for normal growth and brain development. This study determined and compared the effects of different heat treatments on breastmilk folate content and pattern of individual folate forms. Materials and Methods: Donated Swedish breastmilk samples were heat-treated according to three procedures: two low temperature treatments (57 degrees C, 23 minutes; 62.5 degrees C, 12 minutes) and a rapid high temperature treatment (heating to 73 degrees C in boiling water). The folate content and pattern were determined before and after treatment by high-performance liquid chromatography. Results: The folate content in 38 untreated Swedish breastmilk samples was 15046nmol/L. Two different folate vitamers were detected: 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (78 +/- 7%) and tetrahydrofolate (22 +/- 7%). Heat treatment affected only tetrahydrofolate stability and decreased folate content by 15-24%; however, the effects on folate content did not differ among the investigated heat treatment procedures. Conclusions: Folate losses during heat treatment of human milk were considered acceptable. Yet, native folate content of heat-treated, non-fortified breastmilk supplied only 25% of the recommended daily intake for preterm infants.</p
Mirror-touch synaesthesia: the role of shared representations in social cognition
No full textSynaesthesia is a condition in which one property of a stimulus results in conscious
experiences of an additional attribute. In mirror-touch synaesthesia, the synaesthete
experiences a tactile sensation on their own body simply when observing touch to
another person. This thesis investigates the prevalence, neurocognitive mechanisms,
and consequences of mirror-touch synaesthesia. Firstly, the prevalence and
neurocognitive mechanisms of synaesthesia were assessed. This revealed that mirrortouch
synaesthesia has a prevalence rate of 1.6%, a finding which places mirror-touch
synaesthesia as one of the most common variants of synaesthesia. It also indicated a
number of characteristics of the condition, which led to the generation of a
neurocognitive model of mirror-touch synaesthesia. An investigation into the
perceptual consequences of synaesthesia revealed that the presence of synaesthesia is
linked with heightened sensory perception - mirror-touch synaesthetes showed
heightened tactile perception and grapheme-colour synaesthetes showed heightened
colour perception. Given that mirror-touch synaesthesia has been shown to be linked
to heightened sensorimotor simulation mechanisms, the impact of facilitated
sensorimotor activity on social cognition was then examined. This revealed that
mirror-touch synaesthetes show heightened emotional sensitivity compared with
control participants. To compliment this, two transcranial magnetic stimulation
(TMS) studies were then conducted to assess the impact of suppressing sensorimotor
activity on the expression recognition abilities of healthy adults. Consistent with the
findings of superior emotion sensitivity in mirror-touch synaesthesia (where there is
facilitated sensorimotor activity), suppressing sensorimotor resources resulted in
impaired expression recognition across modalities. The findings of the thesis are
discussed in relation to neurocognitive models of synaesthesia and of social cognition
Folate content in strawberries (Fragina x ananassa): Effects of cultivar, ripeness, year of harvest, storage, and commercial processing.
No full textFolate concentrations in strawberries and folate retention during storage and commercial processing of strawberries were investigated. No previous study has focused on the effects of cultivar, ripeness, and year of harvest of strawberries with respect to the folate content. This study showed the folate concentration in strawberries to significantly depend on all of these different factors. Total folate was quantified using a modified and validated radioprotein-binding assay with external calibration (5-CH3-H4folate). Folate content in 13 different strawberry cultivars varied from 335 g/100 g of dry matter (DM) for cv. Senga Sengana to 644 g/100 g of DM for cv. Elsanta. Swedish harvests from 1999 and 2001 yielded higher folate concentrations than did the harvest from 2000, and the grade of ripeness affected the folate content in strawberries. This study indicated high folate retention in intact berries during storage until 3 or 9 days at 4 C (71-99%) and also in most tested commercial products (79-103%). On the basis of these data fresh strawberries as well as processed strawberry products are recommended to be good folate sources. For instance, 250 g (fresh weight) of strawberries (~125 g of folate) supplies ~50% of the recommended daily folate intake in various European countries (200-300 g/day) or 30% of the U.S. recommendation (400 g/day)
Plasma folate and total homocysteine levels are associated with the risk of myocardial infarction, independently of each other and of renal function
No full textVan Guelpen B, Hultdin J, Johansson I, Witthoft C, Weinehall L, Eliasson M, Hallmans G, Palmqvist R, Jansson J-H, Winkvist A. (Umea University, Umea; University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala; National Public Health Institute, Ostersund; Sunderby Hospital, Lulea; Medicine, Skelleftea Hospital, Skelleftea; The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden). Plasma folate and total homocysteine levels are associated with the risk of myocardial infarction, independently of each other and of renal function. J Intern Med 2009; 266: 182-195.Objectives.To investigate the relationship between plasma folate, vitamin B12 and total homocysteine concentrations, dietary intake of folate and vitamins B12, B6 and B2, and the risk of first acute myocardial infarction (MI).Design.Nested case-referent study with up to 13 years of follow-up.Setting.The population-based Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study, with 73 879 participants at the time of case ascertainment.Subjects.A total of 571 MI cases (406 men) and 1569 matched referents. Of the cases, 530 had plasma samples available, and 247 had dietary B-vitamin intake data.Results.Plasma concentrations of folate were inversely associated, and total homocysteine positively associated, with the risk of MI, independently of each other and of a number of established and novel cardiovascular risk factors, including renal function [multivariate odds ratio for highest vs. lowest quintile of folate 0.52 (95% CI 0.31-0.84), P for trend = 0.036, and homocysteine 1.92 (95% CI 1.20-3.09), P for trend = 0.006]. For plasma vitamin B12 concentrations, and vitamin B12, B6 and B2 intake, no clear risk relationship was apparent. Though not statistically significant, the results for folate intake were consistent with those for plasma concentrations.Conclusions.In this large prospective study of a population without mandatory folic acid fortification, both folate and homocysteine were strongly associated with the risk of myocardial infarction, independently of each other and of renal function. Although randomized trials of folic acid supplementation are needed to determine causality, our findings highlight the potential importance of folate, or sources of folate, in incident cardiovascular disease
