A new aspect of cell membrane structure is presented, based on the dynamic clustering of sphingolipids and cholesterol to form rafts that move within the fluid bilayer. It is proposed that these rafts function as platforms for the attachment of proteins when membranes are moved around inside the cell and during signal transduction.

Functional rafts in cell membranes

The emerging field of emotion regulation studies how individuals influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express them. This review takes an evolutionary perspective and characterizes emotion in terms of response tendencies. Emotion regulation is denned and distinguished from coping, mood regulation, defense, and affect regulation. In the increasingly specialized discipline of psychology, the field of emotion regulation cuts across traditional boundaries and provides common ground. According to a process model of emotion regulation, emotion may be regulated at five points in the emotion generative process: (a) selection of the situation, (b) modification of the situation, (c) deployment of attention, (d) change of cognitions, and (e) modulation of responses. The field of emotion regulation promises new insights into age-old questions about how people manage their emotions.

http://www.elaborer.org/cours/A13/lectures/Gross1998.pdf

The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review.

We are in the midst of a technological revolution whereby, for the first time, researchers can link daily word use to a broad array of real-world behaviors. This article reviews several computerized text analysis methods and describes how Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) was created and validated. LIWC is a transparent text analysis program that counts words in psychologically meaningful categories. Empirical results using LIWC demonstrate its ability to detect meaning in a wide variety of experimental settings, including to show attentional focus, emotionality, social relationships, thinking styles, and individual differences.

/pdf/the-psychological-meaning-of-words-liwc-and-computerized-4sd1bn03dk.pdf

The psychological meaning of words: LIWC and computerized text analysis methods

People are capable of thinking about the future, the past, remote locations, another person's perspective, and counterfactual alternatives. Without denying the uniqueness of each process, it is proposed that they constitute different forms of traversing psychological distance. Psychological distance is egocentric: Its reference point is the self in the here and now, and the different ways in which an object might be removed from that point-in time, in space, in social distance, and in hypotheticality-constitute different distance dimensions. Transcending the self in the here and now entails mental construal, and the farther removed an object is from direct experience, the higher (more abstract) the level of construal of that object. Supporting this analysis, research shows (a) that the various distances are cognitively related to each other, (b) that they similarly influence and are influenced by level of mental construal, and (c) that they similarly affect prediction, preference, and action.

/pdf/construal-level-theory-of-psychological-distance-g5kjiydrew.pdf

Construal-Level Theory of Psychological Distance

A review is presented of the book “Heuristics and Biases: The Psychology of Intuitive Judgment,” edited by Thomas Gilovich, Dale Griffin, and Daniel Kahneman.

Heuristics and Biases: The Psychology of Intuitive Judgment

Three studies examined the cognitive implications of linguistic categories in the interpersonal domain. On the basis of conceptual and linguistic criteria, we advance a four-level classification that distinguishes between verbs and adjectives in the interpersonal domain. These four levels (in terms of increasing abstractness) are descriptive action verbs, interpretive action verbs, state verbs, and adjectives. Results from the first two studies reveal a systematic relation between the respective linguistic category and the temporal stability of the quality expressed in the sentence, the sentence's infonnativeness about the subject, the sentence's verinability and disputability, and the sentence's informativeness about a specific situation. Results from the last study support the four-level linguistic classification and its differential cognitive functions. Implications for social cognition and personality research are discussed. In the three studies reported in this article, we examine the cognitive functions of different linguistic categories used to describe persons and their behaviors. The aim is to elucidate how language mediates between social cognition and social reality. The interface between language and social cognition remains a relatively neglected issue in the burgeoning field of social cogni

/pdf/the-cognitive-functions-of-linguistic-categories-in-k8tkr7pplk.pdf

The cognitive functions of linguistic categories in describing persons: Social cognition and language.

Cytoplasmic domains of members of the p24 family of putative cargo receptors were shown to bind to coatomer, the coat protein of COPI-coated transport vesicles. Domains that contained dilysine endoplasmic reticulum retrieval signals bound the alpha-, beta'-, and epsilon-COP subunits of coatomer, whereas other p24 domains bound the beta-, gamma-, and zeta-COP subunits and required a phenylalanine-containing motif. Transit of a CD8-p24 chimera from the endoplasmic reticulum through the Golgi complex was slowed when the phenylalanine motif was mutated, suggesting that this motif may function as an anterograde transport signal. The either-or bimodal binding of coatomer to p24 tails suggests models for how coatomer can potentially package retrograde-directed and anterograde-directed cargo into distinct COPI-coated vesicles.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/273/5280/1396.full.pdf

Bimodal Interaction of Coatomer with the p24 Family of Putative Cargo Receptors

The role of n-glycans in the secretory pathway

In simple epithelial cells, the delivery of apical and basolateral proteins to the cell surface is mediated by sorting in the trans-Golgi network and transport via separate vesicular carriers In order to identify the molecular machinery involved in protein sorting, we have recently studied a detergent-insoluble complex in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells, following CHAPS extraction of exocytic carrier vesicles, specifically including the apical marker protein influenza hemagglutinin (HA) Previously, a Triton X-100 insoluble membrane residue that was enriched in glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored (GPI) proteins and glycolipids was characterized and implicated in transport to the apical cell surface [Brown, D, & Rose, J (1991) Cell 68, 533-544] In this report, the protein compositions of the CHAPS and Triton complexes have been compared by two-dimensional gel analysis Only a few major membrane proteins are found in the complexes The protein compositions are qualitatively similar, but differ quantitatively in the individual components The CHAPS complex is depleted of GPI-linked proteins and retains a minor fraction of lipids similar in composition to that of the Triton X-100 insoluble complex We propose that in vivo the complexes form part of a sorting platform that mediates protein segregation and delivery to the apical cell surface

Glycosphingolipid-enriched, detergent-insoluble complexes in protein sorting in epithelial cells

Many decisions in the lives of animals and humans require a fine balance between the exploration of different options and the exploitation of their rewards. Do you buy the advertised car, or do you test drive different models? Do you continue feeding from the current patch of flowers, or do you fly off to another one? Do you marry your current partner, or try your luck with someone else? The balance required in these situations is commonly referred to as the exploration– exploitation tradeoff. It features prominently in a wide range of research traditions, including learning, foraging, and decision making literatures. Here, we integrate findings from these and other often-isolated literatures in order to gain a better understand- ing of the possible tradeoffs between exploration and exploitation, and we propose new theoretical insights that might guide future research. Specifically, we explore how potential tradeoffs depend on (a) the conceptualization of exploration and exploitation; (b) the influencing environmental, social, and individual factors; (c) the scale at which exploration and exploitation are considered; (d) the relationship and types of transitions between the 2 behaviors; and (e) the goals of the decision maker. We conclude that exploration and exploitation are best conceptualized as points on a continuum, and that the extent to which an agent’s behavior can be interpreted as exploratory or exploitative depends upon the level of abstraction at which it is considered.

Klaus Fiedler

Papers

The cognitive functions of linguistic categories in describing persons: Social cognition and language.

Bimodal Interaction of Coatomer with the p24 Family of Putative Cargo Receptors

The role of n-glycans in the secretory pathway

Glycosphingolipid-enriched, detergent-insoluble complexes in protein sorting in epithelial cells

Unpacking the exploration–exploitation tradeoff: A synthesis of human and animal literatures.