Academic literature on the topic 'Imitation – Physiological aspects'

Observing someone speak automatically triggers cognitive and neural mechanisms required to produce speech, a phenomenon known as automatic imitation. Automatic imitation of speech can be measured using the Stimulus Response Compatibility (SRC) paradigm that shows facilitated response times (RTs) when responding to a prompt (e.g., say aa) in the presence of a congruent distracter (a video of someone saying aa), compared with responding in the presence of an incongruent distracter (a video of someone saying oo). Current models of the relation between emotion and cognitive control suggest that automatic imitation can be modulated by varying the stimulus-driven task aspects, that is, the distracter’s emotional valence. It is unclear how the emotional state of the observer affects automatic imitation. The current study explored independent effects of emotional valence of the distracter (Stimulus-driven Dependence) and the observer’s emotional state (State Dependence) on automatic imitation of speech. Participants completed an SRC paradigm for visual speech stimuli. They produced a prompt superimposed over a neutral or emotional (happy or angry) distracter video. State Dependence was manipulated by asking participants to speak the prompt in a neutral or emotional (happy or angry) voice. Automatic imitation was facilitated for emotional prompts, but not for emotional distracters, thus implying a facilitating effect of State Dependence. The results are interpreted in the context of theories of automatic imitation and cognitive control, and we suggest that models of automatic imitation are to be modified to accommodate for state-dependent and stimulus-driven dependent effects.

Human handwriting changes throughout life, undergoing natural changes. Handwriting undergoes significant changes in the process of transition from mature to advanced and senile age. Aging is a natural, regular process of organism change at physiological, psychological, social levels. Over the past 50 years, the process of aging of the nation on a global scale is developing at a high speed. This article discusses the urgent issue of the study of signatures made by elderly and senile people: first of all, an attempt is made to determine the age boundaries of such concepts as «advanced» and «senile», as well as signs characteristic of signatures made by elderly or senile people are given age, and signs that the artist is trying to reproduce the signature with imitation. The problematic aspects that have arisen by experts during posthumous handwriting examinations of signatures are revealed, the main of which is the quality and quantity of lifetime free samples of signatures and the handwriting of the deceased. This is due to the fact that it is no longer possible to take experimental samples of signatures and handwriting from a deceased person, and free face samples, due to the peculiarity of the deceased’s life, may be in very limited numbers and may not correspond to the time of writing the document under study. Finally, the authors come to the conclusion that the methodology developed in 1983 for the forensic investigation of signatures made on behalf of elderly and senile people still remains effective and relevant, allows us to successfully detect the fact that signatures were performed by this category of people, but needs to be improved, experimental research, continuous monitoring of current trends in the physiological and psychological development of man.

В статье представлен анализ опыта организации преподавания нормальной физиологии в дистанционном (онлайн) формате в период пандемии новой коронавирусной инфекции COVID-19 в 2020-2021 и 2021-2022 учебных годах. Обоснован выбор приложения Discord в качестве платформы онлайн -коммуникации между студентами и преподавателем, обсуждаются его преимущества и недостатки. Рассматривается классификация средств дистанционной имитации физиологического эксперимента в педагогических целях: среди них учебные видеофильмы, снятые на профессиональных студиях научной кинематографии и изготовленные при участии сотрудников кафедры нормальной физиологии СПбГПМУ, онлайн -лаборатории, использование расчетных и аналитических заданий, практических работ, выполняемых при участии студента и преподавателя в качестве испытуемого. Обсуждаются вопросы эффективности контроля знаний, полученных студентами после учебного онлайн -занятия. Анализируется адекватность методики экзамена по типу «открытой книги» с целью борьбы с недобросовестным поведением студентов. Приводятся результаты сравнения однородности распределения оценок, полученных студентами педиатрического и иностранного факультетов на экзамене по нормальной физиологии в летнюю сессию в 2016-2017 и 2019-2020 учебных годах по сравнению с 2020-2021 и 2021-2022 учебными годами. Обсуждаются перспективы применения электронных образовательных технологий в учебном процессе в медицинском вузе при изучении медико -биологических дисциплин. Все аспекты обучения, рассмотренные в статье, сопоставляются с результатами педагогических исследований из современной отечественной и зарубежной литературы. The article is devoted to the analysis of the experience of teaching human physiology in the context of organizing the educational process in a remote (online) format during the pandemic of a new coronavirus disease COVID-19 in the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022. The choice of the Discord application as an online communication platform between students and a teacher is substantiated, the advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The classification of the means of remote imitation of a physiological experiment for pedagogical purposes is considered. Among them are educational videos shot at professional studios of scientific cinematography and made with the participation of employees of the Department of Human Physiology of St. Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University, online laboratories, the use of calculation and analytical tasks, practical work performed with the participation of a student and a teacher as a test subject. The issues of the effectiveness of monitoring the knowledge gained by students after an online training session are discussed. The adequacy of the «open book» exam methodology is analyzed in order to combat the dishonest behavior of students. The results of a comparison of the uniformity of the distribution of the grades obtained as a result of the exam in human physiology in the summer session of 2016-2017, 2019-2020 in comparison to 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 academic years for students of pediatric and foreign faculties are presented. The prospects for the use of electronic educational technologies in the educational process at a medical university in the study of biomedical disciplines are discussed. All aspects of education discussed in the article are discussed with the results of pedagogical research from modern domestic and foreign literature.

Olive tree growth and reproduction are severely affected by temperature extremes, compromising fruit yield. In that aspect, the olive varieties “Koroneiki” and “Mastoidis” were employed in a mild cold stress experiment, imitating night frost incidents to assess their biochemical, physiological and reproductive functions in relation to genotype. The physiological performance of the stressed plants was not significantly altered, suggesting that both cultivars were well adapted to mild cold night stress. The biochemical response of the plants, regarding antioxidant enzymes, H2O2 and TBARS accumulation, confirmed that both cultivars could cope with the stress applied. The mRNA levels of the PPO gene, which participates in hydroxytyrosol biosynthesis and plant defense, were elevated after 24-h stress at 0 °C, in both cultivars with “Mastoidis” plants exhibiting higher levels for a longer period. Three more genes involved in hydroxytyrosol biosynthesis upregulated their expression levels as a response to cold stress. The numerous plant phenology aspects measured reinforced the conclusion that both cultivars responded to the stress applied. The results of the present study may contribute to better understanding olive tree adaptive responses to low temperature events, an abiotic stress condition that is often present in an open plantation, thus assisting farmers on breeding and cultivar selection.

Water supply is the main yield-limiting factor of oil palm crops. A water deficit affects virtually all aspects of metabolism and plant structure, while a water excess leads to waterlogging, an abiotic stress that affects crop production because of a reduction of oxygen in the soil. To determine the effect of water stress on the physiology of oil palms (Elaeis guineensis) during the nursery stage, clones from three em-bryogenic lines of three different ortets (LE 33-7, LE 28-59 and LE 16-79) were subjected to four water conditions (moderate deficit, field capacity, partial and continuous waterlogging) for 60 days under a completely randomized split-plot design with four replications. The gas exchange, vegetative growth and nutrient content variables were evaluated. There was no interaction between the water conditions and embryogenic lines for any variable. The moderate water-deficit stress significantly reduced the stomatic conductance, photosynthesis, transpiration and growth. Under waterlogged conditions, the seedlings developed root aerenchyma and pneumatophores as adaptation mechanisms, and their gas exchange or their micronutrient reduction and assimilation processes (with the exception of copper) were not affected. However, under permanent waterlogging, the seedlings had poor growth because of higher leaf respiration rates and probably pneumatophore maintenance and imitations in the absorption and transport of macronutrients. while the plants under partial waterlogging exhibited a growth pattern similar to that observed under optimal soil moisture conditions.

The article considers the influence of emotional and physical component on the development of intellectual abilities of students. On the basis of modern scientific studies, it is confirmed that the level of physical development of students has decreased significantly in recent years over the use of harmful substances. In addition, it is established that negative emotions also have a destructive effect on the academic success of students. It is revealed that negative emotions destroy the physiological components of students’ health. Students with low academic success are recommended to cooperate more closely with lecturers, and lecturers – to constantly show students a positive portrait for imitation.

AbstractMore than 35 years ago, Meltzoff and Moore (1977) published their famous article, “Imitation of facial and manual gestures by human neonates.” Their central conclusion, that neonates can imitate, was and continues to be controversial. Here, we focus on an often-neglected aspect of this debate, namely, neonatal spontaneous behaviors themselves. We present a case study of a paradigmatic orofacial “gesture,” namely tongue protrusion and retraction (TP/R). Against the background of new research on mammalian aerodigestive development, we ask: How does the human aerodigestive system develop, and what role does TP/R play in the neonate's emerging system of aerodigestion? We show that mammalian aerodigestion develops in two phases: (1) from the onset of isolated orofacial movementsin uteroto the postnatal mastery of suckling at 4 months after birth; and (2) thereafter, from preparation to the mastery of mastication and deglutition of solid foods. Like other orofacial stereotypies, TP/R emerges in the first phase and vanishes prior to the second. Based upon recent advances in activity-driven early neural development, we suggest a sequence of three developmental events in which TP/R might participate: the acquisition of tongue control, the integration of the central pattern generator (CPG) for TP/R with other aerodigestive CPGs, and the formation of connections within the cortical maps of S1 and M1. If correct, orofacial stereotypies are crucial to the maturation of aerodigestion in the neonatal period but also unlikely to co-occur with imitative behavior.