مهدی خدامرادی

Passing through metaphorical language and reaching literal language requires a path from ambiguity to clarity of meaning. This path starts with seemingly unrelated expressions in terms of meaning, and by passing through the area of unconventional metaphors and transforming these elements into conventional metaphors, it finally leads to literal combinations. Fuyama (2023), considers the process of understanding metaphorical expressions similar to the performance of particles in the double-slit experiment in quantum physics, based on which, determining the particle or wave characteristics of particles, like understanding the category of compositional and non-compositional expressions, after passing through the filter the meaning is accepted by the speakers. To test this hypothesis, through internet questionnaires, 108 participants were asked to answer 192 metaphorical expressions according to the degree of ambiguity; rating them from 1 to 7. The method of conducting this research is descriptive-analytical and the data were extracted from the works of several contemporary Iranian poets. The results show that seemingly unrelated expressions have the highest degree of ambiguity and are responsible for generating new meanings. Also, the overlapping of some areas indicates the change of the category of metaphorical expressions, which depends on the acceptance of new meanings by the speakers.

Methamphetamine is one of the stimulant drugs that leads to the occurrence of cognitive and behavioral dysfunctions. Among the disorders that occur after methamphetamine abuse are learning and memory disorders as well as social interactions and anxiety. On the other hand, the function of sex steroids in the development of brain regions involved in reproduction has been the subject of extensive research over the years. In this context, testosterone plays an important role in neuronal and glial organization in prenatal and postnatal periods. Recent studies showed the effect of sex hormones on the nervous system and highlight the brain as a main target tissue for androgens. On the other hand, studies have shown that testosterone has neuroprotective effects against cognitive and behavioral disorders. Clinical manifestations of testosterone-related brain changes include cognitive impairments such as reduced memory efficiency related to the frontal cortex, as well as reduced long-term memory related to the hippocampus and other temporal regions of the midbrain. Androgens, especially testosterone, play an important role in memory function whereby the decrease and absence of testosterone leads to cognitive impairment and also neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease. Therefore, in this study, the role of testosterone hormone in social memory, novel object recognition memory, as well as anxiety-like behavior and brain edema induced by a neurotoxic regimen of methamphetamine were investigated.

This study was conducted on 48 gonadectomized rats in 6 groups including control groups, methamphetamine (6mg/kg), solvent (sesame oil), methamphetamine + testosterone (0.25mg /kg), methamphetamine + testosterone (0.5 mg/kg) and methamphetamine + testosterone (1 mg/kg) were performed. At first, mice were anesthetized and gonadectomy surgery was performed. After 2 weeks of recovery, the evaluation of social memory was done using the three-chamber social interaction test, and anxiety-like behavior index using the open field test. Finally, the animals were killed and the brain tissue was evaluated for brain edema.

The findings of the study showed that social memory was significantly impaired in rats that received methamphetamine compared to the control group (P<0.001). On the other hand, results showed that there was a significant increase in anxiety-like behaviors as well as brain edema in rats that received methamphetamine (P<0.001). Statistical analysis also showed that the administration of testosterone hormone was able to improve cognitive functions and reduce anxiety-like behaviors and brain edema caused by methamphetamine (P<0.05).

Overall, the present study suggests that the male sex hormone testosterone can be effective in improving behavioral disorders and anxiety, as well as brain edema caused by the administration of methamphetamine. Further research is needed to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the effects of this hormone.

Empathy is one of the special cognitive functions that play an important role in the evolution of social behaviors and the formation of social memory. Testosterone have neuroprotective effects against cognitive and behavioral disorders and may be very important in the development of social and cognitive behaviors. Therefore, this study investigated the role of testosterone hormone in social behaviors, novel object recognition memory, and anxiety-like behaviors in a rat model of empathic pain.

In this study, 32 gonadectomized male rats were divided into four groups: control, pain, observer + vehicle (castor oil), and observer + testosterone. The emotional pain experienced by a family member who received five formalin injections was socially transferred to the observing rat within the same family through observation. The observation groups received vehicle or testosterone before observing the suffering of mice. Then, social memory, novel object recognition memory, and anxiety-like behaviors were tested.

The results indicated that in the pain group, both social memory and novel object recognition memory were impaired compared to the control group, and anxiety-like behaviors were increased. Conversely, testosterone injection partially improved social memory and novel object recognition memory deficits, and reduced anxiety-like behaviors compared with the observer+vehicle group.

In conclusion, empathy causes anxious behavior and social and novel object recognition memory impairments. Furthermore, testosterone hormones can play a protective role against cognitive and behavioral damages caused by empathy in rats.

The present era is the era of science's control over human beliefs. Man's need to know the nature of himself and the world around him has led him to believe in phenomena based on objective evidence, and this has caused cognitive science to become the favorite field of many scholars today. One of the main fields of cognitive sciences is linguistics, which is based on the study of language. Since language can be considered as a tool to represent the mind; therefore, cognitive linguistics goes beyond the study of the apparent structure of language and investigates very complex fundamental operations that play a major role in the development of language grammar, conceptualization, speaking and thinking. The theoretical approach of this field is based on experimental observations and scientific experiments of psychology and neuroscience, and its purpose is to understand how linguistic information is represented in the mind, to learn language and to understand and use it. In recent decades, the analysis and explanation of metaphor understanding processes has been the focus of many linguists. One of the main challenges in this direction is to find a solution that can explain the processes involved in understanding different types of metaphor. In this research, considering the mechanism of language understanding in the brain, we examined two different groups of conventional metaphors and unconventional metaphors. This research is descriptive-analytical and based on the articles, books and research done in the field of brain connection with metaphor understanding process. The results of this research show that understanding conventional metaphors causes activity in the left middle temporal gyrus, the right fusiform part and the inferior frontal gyrus. While, the fusiform part of the right side is related to the integration of visual and semantic information. On the other hand, unconventional metaphors continuously activate the left fusiform gyrus and the right precone.

Insomnia is a common sleep disorder with negative consequences such as decreased quality of life. In this study, the effect of sleep deprivation on memory in both young and older adults was investigated using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

In this retrospective study, fMRI data of 40 healthy subjects (17 young and 23 older people) who had a one-month sleep deprivation period (during the experiment they woke up three hours earlier than usual) were obtained. Then, pre-processing was done to remove artifacts and noise. Finally, data processing was completed in order to extract the brain activity map focusing on brain areas related to memory.

Findings showed that the brain activity of most areas are reduced due to insomnia. In the young group, 17 functional connections were obtained at the beginning of the study which decreased to only one connection after the insomnia period. In older adults there were seven connections at the beginning of the study that decreased to four after the insomnia period (P< 0.05).

Brain map analysis, including connections and activity levels of memory-related areas, showed that sleep deprivation affects the brains of young and old people. Our findings can pave the way for future studies to understand the effect of insomnia on memory and brain.

Methamphetamine (METH) is one of the most powerful drugs that leads to many cognitive and behavioral side effects such as anxiety. On the other hand, studies have shown that ovarian hormones such as estrogen and progesterone have neuroprotective effects on a wide range of cognitive and behavioral disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of estrogen and progesterone on anxiety-like behaviors, body temperature, brain edema, and neuronal death induced by neurotoxic regimen of methamphetamine.

This study was performed in 48 ovariectomized rats divided into six groups including: control, METH (6mg / kg), vehicle (sesame oil), METH + estrogen (1mg / kg), METH + progesterone (8mg / kg), and METH + estrogen + progesterone. Body temperature and anxiety-like behaviors were investigated, then, the animals were killed and brain tissues were harvested to evaluate brain edema and neuronal death in hippocampal CA1.

Body temperature, brain water content, motor activity, and anxiety-related behaviors significantly increased in animals that received METH (P<0.001), but, treatment with estrogen and progesterone attenuated motor activity, and anxiety-related behaviors induced by METH. Brain edema, body temperature, and neuronal cell death in hippocampal CA1 area partially decreased in METH+estrogen and METH + progesterone groups.

This study suggests that ovarian hormones such as estrogen and progesterone are effective in improving behavioral deficits and neuronal death induced by METH in ovariectomized rats.

Bilateral basal ganglia abnormality، especially in globus pallidus، is a rare disorder of young childhood that can result in variety of problems such as speech disorders. Case report: A 7. 5 -year-old male child was referred by multiple problems such as disorders of gag reflex and swallowing، voice tremor، monoton speech and weakness of mastication muscles. The patient''s MRI scan revealed bilateral focal lesions in the globus pallidus with unclear reason. He had failed to respond to drug treatment، so he went on rehabilitation therapy when his problem progressed. Because of their association with cerebral cortex، especially with Broca''s area، the basal ganglia can influence the motor features of speech. Probably in the present patient، disturbances in the circuits between the basal ganglia and the language motor area of the cerebral cortex resulted in motor speech disorders. However، more investigations needed to be done.