Human alcoholics exhibit similar cognitive deficits suggesting that OFC neurons are susceptible to alcohol-induced dysfunction. A previous study from this laboratory examined OFC mediated cognitive behaviors in mice and showed

that behavioral flexibility during a reversal learning discrimination task was reduced in alcohol-dependent mice. Despite these intriguing findings, the actions of alcohol on OFC neuron function are unknown. To address this issue, slices containing the lateral OFC (lOFC) were prepared from adult C57BL/6J mice and whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology was used to characterize the effects of ethanol (EtOH) on neuronal function. EtOH (66 mM) had no effect on AMPA-mediated EPSCs but decreased those mediated by NMDA receptors. EtOH (11-66 mM) also decreased learn more current-evoked spike firing and this was accompanied by a decrease in input resistance and a modest hyperpolarization. EtOH inhibition of spike firing was prevented by the GABA(A) antagonist picrotoxin, but EtOH had no effect on evoked or spontaneous GABA IPSCs. EtOH increased the holding current of voltage-clamped neurons and this action was blocked by picrotoxin but not the more selective GABA(A) antagonist biccuculine. The glycine receptor antagonist

strychnine also prevented EtOH’s effect on holding current and spike firing, and western blotting revealed the presence of glycine receptors in lOFC. Overall, these results suggest that acutely, EtOH may reduce lOFC function via https://www.selleck.cn/products/RO4929097.html a glycine receptor AZD5363 chemical structure dependent process and this may trigger neuroadaptive mechanisms that contribute to the impairment of OFC-dependent behaviors in alcohol-dependent subjects.”
“This article proposes a unified framework for understanding creative problem solving, namely, the explicit implicit interaction theory. This new theory of creative problem solving constitutes

an attempt at providing a more unified explanation of relevant phenomena (in part by reinterpreting/integrating various fragmentary existing theories of incubation and insight). The explicit implicit interaction theory relies mainly on 5 basic principles, namely, (a) the coexistence of and the difference between explicit and implicit knowledge, (b) the simultaneous involvement of implicit and explicit processes in most tasks, (c) the redundant representation of explicit and implicit knowledge, (d) the integration of the results of explicit and implicit processing, and (e) the iterative (and possibly bidirectional) processing. A computational implementation of the theory is developed based on the CLARION cognitive architecture and applied to the simulation of relevant human data. This work represents an initial step in the development of process-based theories of creativity encompassing incubation, insight, and various other related phenomena.