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Are words with form variations in the stem (e.g. foot ~ feet) perceptually processed in the same way as those without (e.g. table)? The majority of psycholinguistic literature concerning (ir)regular morphology concentrates on the processing or storage of inflected forms (e.g., feet vs. tables or thought vs. walked) in relation to their base forms. This article discusses the recognition of base forms of words in relation to their paradigmatic complexity (stem allomorphy). Do words like foot have some benefits in their recognition because of stem allomorphy, or do they rather cause an inhibition effect because of competition in form variation? Or could it be that there is no activation of the allomorph feet when we process the word foot, and thus no influence on the base form? With these and related questions in mind, we investigated the temporal dynamics of processing Finnish monomorphemic nouns with rich stem allomorphy versus nouns with no variation in stem by conducting an event-related potential (ERP) ...

Cerebral stroke is a major cause for long-term disability in the elderly and it is often manifested in hemiparesis of the upper extremity. Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT), an intensive 2 week rehabilitation program, improves affected upper limb motor abilities in subjects with stroke. Intensive training has also been suggested to modify neural function. We wanted to find out if there are changes in cortical excitabihlity in subjects with chronic stroke after CIMT.Participants were 13 subjects with stroke who fulfilled the entry criteria for the CIMT program. The motor function of the affected arm and hand was assessed using a structured motor behavior test (WMFT). The cortical excitability changes were assessed in regard to involuntary and voluntary motor control, former with transcrania magnetic stimulation (TMS) and latter with movement-related cortical potentials (MRCP).The motor abilities of the affected arm improved after 2 week rehabilitation (total time in WMFT shortened 36%). The motor-evoked potential (MEP) amplitudes were unchanged following the stimulation of the non-affected hemisphere; however, the MEP amplitudes of lateral stimulation locations increased significantly in the affected side after the intervention. The power spectra of MRCPs revealed reduced peak frequency over the supplementary motor area when the affected hand was moved. However, no changes occurred when the healthy hand was moved.We show changes in cortical electrical excitability while performing both involuntary and voluntary movements after 2 weeks of CIMT in subjects with chronic stroke. These changes may be seen as a sign of neural reorganization instigated by the intervention.

For Freud, body ego was the organizing basis of the structural theory. He defined it as a psychic projection of the body surface. Isakower's and Lewin's classical findings suggest that the body surface experiences of nursing provide the infant with sensory-affective stimulation that initiates a projection of sensory processes towards the psychic realm. During nursing, somato-sensory, gustatory and olfactory modalities merge with a primitive somatic affect of satiation, whereas auditory modality is involved more indirectly and visual contact more gradually. Repeated regularly, such nascent experiences are likely to play a part in the organization of the primitive protosymbolic mental experience. In support of this hypothesis, the authors review findings from a neurophysiological study of infants before, during and after nursing. Nursing is associated with a significant amplitude change in the newborn electroencephalogram (EEG), which wanes before the age of 3 months, and is transformed at the age of 6 months into rhythmic 3-5 Hz hedonic theta-activity. Sucking requires active physiological work, which is shown in a regular rise in heart rate. The hypothesis of a sensory-affective organization of the nascent body ego, enhanced by nursing and active sucking, seems concordant with neurophysiological phenomena related to nursing.