Weakened feedback abolishes neural oblique effect evoked by pseudo-natural visual stimuli in area 17 of the cat.

The psychological oblique effect, a well-known phenomenon that humans and some mammals are more visually sensitive to cardinal (vertical and horizontal) contours than to oblique ones, has commonly been associated with the overrepresentation of cardinal orientations in the visual cortex. In contrast to the oblique effect, however, Essock et al. [E.A. Essock, J.K. DeFord, B.C. Hansen, M.J. Sinai, Oblique stimuli are seen best (not worst!) broad-band stimuli: a horizontal effect, Vision Res. 43 (2003) 1329-1335] reported a psychological 'horizontal effect', in which visual stimuli dominated by oblique orientations were best perceived by human subjects when tested with unique natural broad-band stimuli. In this study, using optical imaging and the similar visual stimuli, we found an overrepresentation of cardinal orientations, i.e. the neural oblique effect, but not 'horizontal effect', in area 17 of the cat. In addition, the oblique effect was abolished by GABA administration in area 21a due to the preferred orientation shifting (6.0%) and decrease of orientation selectivity strength of neurons (26.9%) in area 17. These results indicate a neuronal basis of the oblique effect when animals watch a more natural scene, whereas no evidence was found for the 'horizontal effect'.

Chemo-orientation using conspecific chemical cues in the stripe-necked terrapin (Mauremys leprosa).

Although chemical communication has been studied intensively in may reptilian species, little attention has been paid to the role that chemical signals play in aquatic reptiles, such as freshwater turtles. Here, I tested the hypothesis that the stripe-necked terrapin (Mauremys leprosa), an abundant freshwater turtle that inhabits the Iberian peninsula, is able to recognize chemical cues from conspecifics in the water and to modify its behavior in response to such cues. I compared the time spent by adult males and adult females in clean water to the time spent in water that presumably contained their own odor, odor from other males, and odor from other females, both during and outside the mating season. Results show that outside the mating season, both males and females avoid water that contains chemical cues from conspecifics of the opposite sex. During the mating season, male turtles clearly select water with chemical cues from females. Moreover, males prefer to occupy water from their home containers over clean water, and avoid water with chemical cues from other conspecific males. Conversely, during the mating season, females prefer to occupy water with chemical cues from other females, but do not select water from their home containers or water from males. The evolution of chemical communication in turtles, its relation to sexual selection processes, and the implications for turtle behavior are discussed.

Proposta de reorientacao e encaminhamento para reabilitacao e recolocacao profissional / ?

Hanseniase ou Mal de Hansen (M.H.) pode tornar seu portador limitado fisicamente, necessitando ser submetido a um processo de reabilitacao com uma equipe multiprofissional. Reabilitacao compreende uma restauracao fisica e mental, visando a reincorporacao do paciente a sociedade, de forma util e produtiva. Para atingir esse objetivo um dos recursos seria a reorientacao, reabilitacao e recolocacao profissional como forma de reintegracao do incapacitado a sociedade, resgatando seus valores, auto-estima e identidade social. Pretende-se a implatacao de atividades de reorientacao, encaminhamento para reabilitacao e recolocacao profissional, com pacientes internados no ILSL, idade entre 14 e 30 anos, em tratamento de incapacidades fisicas de correntes da hanseniase