“活记忆”与“死记忆”——钱锺书记忆研究的中式范例

1957年钱锺书在《宋诗选注》一书中提出"活记忆"与"死记忆"之说,从记忆角度关照中国古典研究的诗史问题。参照西方记忆研究,他区分的"活记忆"和"死记忆"属于过去呈现的范畴,而非记忆力、记忆术的范畴。较之西方记忆理论,"活记忆"与"死记忆"以"对祖国的忆念"为区分原则,立足于中国书写传统,成型于"现在的需要"。以"活记忆"和"死记忆"为起点,钱锺书首创了记忆研究与中国文史传统结合的路径,并将中国文史研究纳入到记忆研究的国际话语体系。

Effect of Zinc Deficiency on Blood Cortisol and ACTH Concentrations,Cerebrum Cortex NO Synthase Activity in Rat

The effects of zinc deficiency on the serum cortisol and adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) concentration,and the cerebrum nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity in rats were studied.Growing rats were allotted to three groups,which were zinc deficiency (ZD),paired fed (PF) and zinc supplementation after feeding zinc deficient food for 21 days (ZS).The duration of feed test was 35 days.Compared with PF rats,serum cortisol concentration in ZD ones was significantly increased,whereas serum ACTH concentration and cerebrum NOS activity were significantly decreased.The results suggested that zinc might influence the metabolism of hypothalamic hypophysial adrenocortical axis and NOS.

The Ghost Daughter Returns Home： Memory of Slavery in Toni Morrison＇s Beloved

This article aims to present Beloved, a ghost-in-the-flesh protagonist of Toni Morrison＇s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Beloved （1987）, as an incarnation of memory of slavery. Interpreted as personal and shared experience, Beloved will be analyzed on the basis of memory＇s dynamic nature as an active mnemonic agent operating in and between the individual and collective zones. It will be also argued that on the one hand, Beloved embodies memories of past slaved lives of the novel＇s central characters, Sethe and Paul D, while on the other hand she plays the role of an allegoric reminder of all Black slaves who lived and died in bondage on the American continent. Finally, Beloved will be symbolically seen as a historical, cultural and psychological link between contemporary African Americans and their African ancestors of the Middle Passage. The theoretical framework for this study of Morrison＇s most memorable ghost figure will follow from a discussion of memory＇s individual and shared qualities, as well as from the concepts of a collective consciousness, the collective unconscious, and collective memory.

Celebrating the Harvest and san yklk： Exploring Festival and Public Ritual as Collective Memory to Sustain Cultural Identity

This paper argues that ritual is not only restricted to religious activities, but can also be ethological, sociological, and ecological in nature. The artistic, stylistic, and functional characteristics of one particular festival of the Bamana in Mali to celebrate the harvest and new planting season will be analyzed. This festival primarily takes on the form of animal masquerades in which masks, puppets, drumming, singing, and dancing are blended into a ritualistic celebration of a certain cultural identity. The Bamana culture has lost religion as a marker, as Islam is now the dominant religion in Mali, but traditional social relationships and morals among the Bamana as a patriarchal society are concretized and objectified by their animal masquerades. Apart from being a seasonal festival, events from the past are commemorated; customary gender roles are defined; and some fundamental and complex social concepts are reinforced by a performance mode which relies on a collective memory and oral transmission.

Effects of Bushen Huoxue Formula on the Learning and Memory Function and the Cerebral Neurotransmitters in Diabetic Mice

Objective: To observe the effects of Bushen Huoxue Formula (Formula for reinforcing the kidney and activating blood circulation) on the learning and memory function and the cerebral neurotransmitters in diabetic mice. Methods: Forty ICR mice were randomized into the normal control group, model group, Nimotop group and Chinese medicine group, 10 mice in each group. Tail intravenous injection of alloxan was applied to prepare diabetic model. Four weeks later, intragastric administration of Bushen Huoxue Formula for the Chinese medicine group, Nimotop for the Nimotop group, and isometric distilled water for the other two groups were respectively given for 8 weeks. The changes in the blood sugar level were observed; the learning and memory function was detected by Morris labyrinth test; and the contents of norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA), 5-hydroxyltryptamine (5-HT) and 5-hydroxyl indole acetic acid (5-HIAA) in cerebral cortex were determined in mice of all the groups. Results: The blood sugar levels in the diabetic model mice significantly increased as compared with those of the normal control group determined 72 h and 12 weeks later (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Latencies for Morris labyrinth test in the Nimotop group and the Chinese medicine group were significantly shortened as compared with that in the model group (P<0.01). The contents of cortical NE in the Chinese medicine group was significantly higher than that in the model group (P<0.01). Conclusion: Bushen Huoxue Formula can improve the learning and memory function in the diabetic mice, and the mechanism is possibly related with change of the cortical NE content.

On brain activity mapping: Insights and lessons from Brain Decoding Project to map memory patterns in the hippocampus

The BRAIN project recently announced by the president Obama is the reflection of unrelenting human quest for cracking the brain code, the patterns of neuronal activity that define who we are and what we are. While the Brain Activity Mapping proposal has rightly emphasized on the need to develop new technologies for measuring every spike from every neuron, it might be helpful to consider both the theoretical and experimental aspects that would accelerate our search for the organizing principles of the brain code. Here we share several insights and lessons from the similar proposal, namely, Brain Decoding Project that we initiated since 2007. We provide a specific example in our initial mapping of real-time memory traces from one part of the memory circuit, namely, the CA1 region of the mouse hippocampus. We show how innovative behavioral tasks and appropriate mathematical analyses of large datasets can play equally, if not more, important roles in uncovering the specific-to-general feature-coding cell assembly mechanism by which episodic memory, semantic knowledge, and imagination are generated and organized. Our own experiences suggest that the bottleneck of the Brain Project is not only at merely developing additional new technologies, but also the lack of efficient avenues to disseminate cutting edge platforms and decoding expertise to neuroscience community. Therefore, we propose that in order to harness unique insights and extensive knowledge from various investigators working in diverse neuroscience subfields, ranging from perception and emotion to memory and social behaviors, the BRAIN project should create a set of International and National Brain Decoding Centers at which cutting-edge recording technologies and expertise on analyzing large datasets analyses can be made readily available to the entire community of neuroscientists who can apply and schedule to perform cutting-edge research.

Effect of Yizhitongxuan decoction on learning and memory ability,Gαq/11 expression and Na^+-K^+-ATP enzyme activity in rat models of Alzheimer's Disease

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of Yizhitongxuan decoction on learning and memory abilities, Gαq/11expression and Na+-K+-ATPenzymeactivityin rat models of Alzheimer's disease(AD) caused by injecting Aβ25-35 into the hippocampus.METHODS: Ninety male Wistar rats(age ≥10 months)were selected and injected with Aβ25-35 into their hippocampi to establish model animals,which were randomly divided into six groups including a sham-operated group(blank group), a model group, a donepezil HCL group(Western Medicinegroup),and ahigh/general/dilute concentrations of Yizhitongxuan decoction groups(TCMⅠⅡⅢgroup).The Morris watermaze was used to examine the learning and memory abilities of rats in each group by place navigation and spatial probe tests.Then, the rats were sacrificed to collect the hippocampi for biochemical tests, using western blotting to detect the expression of Gαq/11 and an ultramicro Na+-K+-ATP enzyme kit to measure Na+-K+-ATP enzyme activity.RESULTS:Yizhitongxuan decoction improved model rats' learning and memory abilities, and increased the expression of Gαq/11 in the hippocampus and the level of Na+-K+-ATP enzyme activity in braintissue.CONCLUSION: Yizhitongxuan decoction could improve model rats' learning and memory abilities,and had a regulating effect on the expression of Gαq/11and Na+-K+-ATP enzyme activity.

Neural basis for successful encoding and retrieval of prospective memory

Prospective memory (PM) refers to memory for future intentions.Difference due to memory (Dm effect) is the difference in neural activity related to stimuli that were subsequently remembered or forgotten.Using event-related potentials (ERPs),the present study investigated the Dm effect for PM using a subsequent task-switching paradigm.The results showed that a Dm effect of ERP P150 was more positive-going for later PM hit trials than for later PM forgotten trials during 100–200 ms.This Dm effect may reflect the process for the production of future intention or the process for attention.Consistent with previously reported Dm effects of other types of memory,we found that the fbN2 (250–280 ms) and late positivity component (400–700 ms) were stronger in later PM hit trials than in forgotten trials.The fbN2 was evoked by Chinese characters.The late positivity component was related to the precise encoding process.In conclusion,because of the early P150,PM encoding appears to be somewhat different from previously identified Dm effects.However,further research is needed.Our findings reveal that Dm effects of PM share similar characteristics with known Dm effects of other types of episodic memory after the very early stage of neural processing.

Behavioral interventions to eliminate fear responses

Fear memory underlies anxiety-related disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder(PTSD). PTSD is a fear-based disorder,characterized by difficulties in extinguishing the learned fear response and maintaining extinction. Currently, the first-line treatment for PTSD is exposure therapy, which forms an extinction memory to compete with the original fear memory. However,the extinguished fear often returns under numerous circumstances, suggesting that novel methods are needed to eliminate fear memory or facilitate extinction memory. This review discusses research that targeted extinction and reconsolidation to manipulate fear memory. Recent studies indicate that sleep is an active state that can regulate memory processes. We also discuss the influence of sleep on fear memory. For each manipulation, we briefly summarize the neural mechanisms that have been identified in human studies. Finally, we highlight potential limitations and future directions in the field to better translate existing interventions to clinical settings.

Adhesive aero-hydrogel hybrid conductor assembled from silver nanowire architectures

Conductive and adhesive hydrogels are promising materials for designing bioelectronics.To satisfy the high conductivity of bioelectronic devices,metal nanomaterials have been used to fabricate composite hydrogels.However,the fabrication of a conductive-nanomaterial-incorporated hydrogel with high performance is a great challenge because of the easy aggregation nature of conductive nanomaterials making processing difficult.Here,we report a kind of adhesive aero-hydrogel hybrid conductor(AAHC)with stretchable,adhesive and anti-bacteria properties by in situ formation of a hydrogel network in the aerogel-silver nanowires(AgNWs)assembly.The AgNWs with good conductivity are wellintegrated on the inner-surface of shape-memory chitosan aerogel,which created a conductive framework to allow hydrogel back-filling.Reinforcement by the aerogel-silver makes the hybrid hydrogel tough and stretchable.Functional groups from the hydrogel allow strong adhesion to wet tissues through molecular stitches.The inherent bacteria-killing ability of silver ions endows the conductive hydrogel with excellent anti-bacteria performance.The proposed facile strategy of aerogel-assisted assembly of metal nanomaterials with hydrogel opens a new route to incorporate functional nanoscale building blocks into hydrogels.