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S S Flitman

Publications and source records attributed to S S Flitman.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Toward neuroanatomical models of analogy: a positron emission tomography study of analogical mapping.

Several brain regions associated with analogical mapping were identified using (15)O-positron emission tomography with 12 normal, high intelligence adults. Each trial presented during scanning consisted of a source picture of colored geometric shapes, a brief delay, and a target picture of colored geometric shapes. Analogous pictures did not share similar geometric shapes but did share the same system of abstract visuospatial relations. Participants judged whether each source-target pairing was analogous (analogy condition) or identical (literal condition). The results of the analogy-literal comparison showed activation in the dorsomedial frontal cortex and in the left hemisphere; the inferior, middle, and medial frontal cortices; the parietal cortex; and the superior occipital cortex. Based on these results as well as evidence from relevant cognitive neuroscience studies of reasoning and of executive working memory, we hypothesize that analogical mapping is mediated by the left prefrontal and inferior parietal cortices.

Adult↗

Tranquilizers, stimulants, and enhancers of cognition.

For patients with cognitive dysfunction, the appropriate use of neurotransmitter specific medication may permit independent living. This article examines a variety of tranquilizers, stimulants, and enhancers of cognition and evaluates which may be most effective given their side effect profiles.

Anti-Anxiety Agents↗

Linguistic processing during repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.

To determine if linguistic processing could be selectively disrupted with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), rTMS was performed during a picture-word verification task. Seven right-handed subjects were trained in two conditions: picture-word verification, which required the subject to verify whether the picture of an object matched the subtitle name on the same page, and frame verification, which required subjects to verify whether there was a rectangular frame around the combined object picture and subtitle. Half of the trials were performed during rTMS. The effects of rTMS on performance were evaluated at the following four scalp positions: left anterior (the area where rTMS produced speech arrest), a mirror site on the right, and two positions in the left and right parietal region. Stimulation over the left deltoid muscle served as a control. Subjects had less difficulty in making picture-word matching decisions during unstimulated compared with stimulated trials at the left anterior and posterior positions. No significant difference in accuracy was detected in the frame verification condition, but response times in the frame verification condition were longer with stimulation at the left anterior position. Because rTMS of the dominant hemisphere affected linguistic processing independent of speech motor output, we confirm that rTMS may be used to investigate language and other cognitive functions.

Adult↗