Reproductive Toxicology
August 2012
M Barenys, B Flick, N Boix et al.
MDMA consumers are young people of childbearing age. Consequently, developmental exposure to this drug is a potential public health concern. Several studies have addressed MDMA neurotoxicity in adults; however, knowledge of the effects of MDMA on developing embryos is limited. After administration, MDMA is metabolized species specifically via two main pathways. One leads to the formation of MDA...
European Neuropsychopharmacology
August 2012
Carlos Rozas, Sebastian Loyola, G Ugarte et al.
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) is a drug of abuse that induces learning and memory deficit. However, there are no experimental data that correlate the behavioral evidence with models of synaptic plasticity such as long-term potentiation (LTP) or long-term depression (LTD). Using field potential recordings in rat hippocampal slices of young rats, we found that acute...
Advances in Consciousness Research
July 11, 2012
Tomer Fekete, Shimon Edelman
The proponents of machine consciousness predicate the mental life of a machine, if any, exclusively on its formal, organizational structure, rather than on its physical composition. Given that matter is organized on a range of levels in time and space, this generic stance must be further constrained by a principled choice of levels on which the posited structure is supposed to reside. Indeed,...
Advances in Consciousness Research
July 11, 2012
Rick Dale, Deborah P. Tollefsen, Christopher T. Kello
2 citations
We review theories and empirical research on underlying mechanisms of selfhood, awareness, and conscious experience. The mechanisms that have been identified for these phenomena are many and multifarious, lying at many levels of space and time, and complexity and abstractness. Proposals have included the global workspace for conscious information, action and its centrality to self awareness,...
PLoS One
July 10, 2012
Janelle H. P. van Wel, Kim P. C. Kuypers, Eef L. Theunissen et al.
121 citations
UNLABELLED: MDMA induces positive mood and increases impulse control during intoxication, but only a few studies on the neuropharmacological mechanisms underlying these processes have been conducted. It was hypothesized that pretreatment with 5-HT(1) and 5-HT(2) receptor blockers would prevent MDMA effects on mood and impulsivity. Subjects (N = 17) participated in a double-blind, placebo...
Psychology of Addictive Behaviors
July 9, 2012
Katie Witkiewitz, M Kathleen B Lustyk, Sarah Bowen
Addiction has generally been characterized as a chronic relapsing condition (Leshner, 1999). Several laboratory, preclinical, and clinical studies have provided evidence that craving and negative affect are strong predictors of the relapse process. These states, as well as the desire to avoid them, have been described as primary motives for substance use. A recently developed behavioral...
Cerebral Cortex
July 2012
Jean-Michel Hupé, Cécile Bordier, Michel Dojat
The subjective experience of color by synesthetes when viewing achromatic letters and numbers supposedly relates to real color experience, as exemplified by the recruitment of the V4 color center observed in some brain imaging studies. Phenomenological reports and psychophysics tests indicate, however, that both experiences are different. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we tried to...
Metaphilosophy
July 1, 2012
Paul R. Smart
Abstract: This article explores the notion of theWeb‐extended mind, which is the idea that the technological and informational elements of theWeb can sometimes serve as part of the mechanistic substrate that realizes human mental states and processes. It is argued that while current forms of theWeb may not be particularly suited to the realization ofWeb‐extended minds, new forms of user...
Kanz Philosophia : A Journal for Islamic Philosophy and Mysticism
June 23, 2012
Hadi Vakili
Abstrak : Isu imanensi dan transendensi sangat penting dalam pemikiran keagamaan. Salah satu alasan mengapa masalah ini tidak pernah terselesaikan adalah bahwa ia memiliki banyak makna dan muncul dalam konteks yang berbeda. Pandangan yang menekankan imanensi dalam satu konteks mungkin menekankan transendensi pada konteks lain. Arti keduanya pun sangat tergantung pada asumsi metafisik mereka yang...
Kanz Philosophia : A Journal for Islamic Philosophy and Mysticism
June 23, 2012
Abulfazel Kiashemshaki
Abstrak : Para mistikus melampaui tahap-tahap (derajat kesempurnaan mistik) dan maqam spiritual dalam perjalanan mereka menuju Allah yang sulit dimengerti oleh non-mistikus. Karena itu, sebagian besar kalangan reflektif berusaha mengandalkan prinsip-prinsip intelektual dan teoritis mereka untuk memperoleh penjelasan atas pengalaman mistis dan ekstasi. Namun, keberhasilan penjelasannya sepenuhnya...