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Biological Research

versión impresa ISSN 0716-9760

Biol Res 41: 379-387,2008

Olfactory or auditory stimulation and their hedonic valúes differentially modulate visual working memory

CENÍ, and Program of Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile All authors contributed equally to this work.

Working memory (WM) designates the retention of objects or events in conscious awareness when these are not present in the environment. Many studies have focused on the interference properties of distracter stimuli in working memory, but these studies have mainly examined the influence of the intensity of these stimuli. Little is known about the memory modulation of hedonic content of distracter stimuli as they also may affect WM performance or attentional tasks. In this paper, we have studied the performance of a visual WM task where subjects recollect from five to eight visually presented objects while they are simultaneously exposed to additional - albeit weak- auditory or olfactory distracter stimulus. We found that WM performance decreases as the number of Ítems to remember increases, but this performance was unaltered by any of the distracter stimuli. However, when performance was correlated to the subject's perceived hedonic valúes, distracter stimuli classified as negative exhibit higher error rates than positive, neutral or control stimuli. We demónstrate that some hedonic content of otherwise neutral stimuli can strongly modulate memory processes.

Key terms: Humans, Odor Hedonic, Visual Memory, and Multimodal Memory.

Working memory (WM) designates the retention of objects or events in conscious awareness when these are not present in the environment. It also refers to retention manipulation and its use in guiding behavior (Romanski, 2004). This cognitive ability participates in many essential behaviors, such as planned movements, learning and language comprehension (Baddeley, 1986; Jonides, 1995). According to the múltiple components model (Baddeley, 1996), WM is composed of three systems, one of attention control (or central executive) and the other two independent are buffers for the storage of verbal and of visual-spatial information. The central executive system actively focuses attention on specific events and possesses a very limited capacity of retention (Miller, 1956). This system regulates the flow of information through the two other systems, which maintain the memory for its transitory utilization. Electrophysiological recordings have identified the prefrontal cortex as instrumental in WM tasks and as a neural substrate for the storage buffers of working memory (Bustos, Basoalto, Pinto-Hamuy, 2003; Goldman-Rakic, 1987). The prefrontal dorsolateral cortex (DLPFC), which exhibits interconnections with different cortical áreas for behavioral control (Goldman-Rakic, 1987), also has connections with other sensitive and associative áreas, like the inferotemporal and visual cortices (Suchan, Linnewerth, Koster, Daum, & Schmid, 2006).

The anatomical relationship of DLPFC to primary sensory and association cortices suggests that these cortical áreas not only might be used during WM but might also modulate WM in a multimodal manner. It has been proposed that the visual WM is codified as phonological information in the auditory cortex in order to be recalled with greater facility, but at the same time auditory stimuli, in turn, modulate WM in visual tasks (Valtonen, May, Mákinen, & Tintinen, 2003). An altérnate model to múltiple component theory of WM proposes that these functions arise through the coordinated recruitment, via attention, of brain systems that have evolved to accomplish sensory representation and action-related functions (Romanski, 2004). De Fockert et al. (De Fockert, Rees, Frith, & Lavie, 2001) proposed that WM function controls selective visual attention in the brain. They suggested that WM capacity requires reducing the intrusión of irrelevant distracter stimuli to a minimum in order to maintain the most prominent stimuli activated. Some studies have directly addressed the interaction of different sensory modalities in WM. It has been demonstrated that performance decreases if a visual WM task is carried out while subjects are exposed to irrelevant auditory stimuli, even when subjects are explicitly instructed to ignore the auditory stimulus (Valtonen, May, Mákinen, & Tintinen, 2003). On the other hand, a previous study exposed subjects to a simultaneous WM and olfactory task, in order to study functional interference between both tasks (García, 1992). This study concluded that olfactory stimulation did not produce deterioration in the performance by the subjects memory tasks, not even as a distracter element. A recent study has shown that even environmental odorants can differentially modulate processes involved in visual attention, and that this influence depends on the characteristics of the odorants (Michael, Jacquot, Millot, & Brand, 2005). Besides multimodal influences, hedonic content of distracter stimuli may also affect WM performance or attentional tasks. Emotional stimuli may influence DLPFC activity during WM but only when it is required by task conditions (Perlstein, Elbert, & Stenger, 2002; Pollack, 1972). In order to clarify the relationship of distracter stimulus and the contribution to memory modulation by the hedonic valúes of these distracters, we studied the performance of a visual WM task when subjects are simultaneously exposed to distracter auditory or olfactory stimulation. The aim was to examine a possible correlation between changes in performance during a WM task with the reported hedonic valúes of the distracters, when they do not have sufficient intensity to impede normal performance.

Subjects: All experiments on human subjects were conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and all procedures were carried out with the adequate understanding and written consent signed by the subjects. The experimental protocol and written consent form was approved by the Ethics Committee on Human research at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile. We recruited 80 college students (40 males, 40 females) who ranged from 17 to 30 years of age. The sample was entirely composed of students from medical-related careers and shared similar educational and intellectual abilities. All subjects reported normal audition and normal or corrected visión, with no reported respiratory illnesses.

Working memory task.

The subjects were instructed to visually recollect the images of a circular array of 5 to 8 object presented simultaneously in a computer screen. The object presented in each trial was randomly selected form a set of 12 possible related objects. We used four sets of objects, which were grouped in different categories (food, animáis, clothing and household items). For each session, a single stimulus category was used and 24 different images were presented. Each session lasted approximately 10-15 minutes. The subjects signaled the onset of each trial by pressing a button. Then an image with objects appeared in a screen located in front of the subjects for 8 seconds. Then the image was turned off and the subject pressed the buttons in the pad of those objects he recollected from the images. The subject had up to 20 seconds to complete the task. No verbal or typing action was involved. Figure 1 depicts a scheme of the experimental paradigm.

Distracter stimulation. During each trial, the subject was seated in front of a computer monitor with his/her chin resting in a holder. A funnel connected to a computer-controlled olfactometer was located in front of the subject's nostrils, with a constant flow of puré air drawn from a compressed tank obtained by a commercial supplier (AGA, SA). The subjects also wore a pair of headphones connected to the control computer. During the 8-sec image presentation one of five possible conditions was presented: 1) olfactory stimulation with hexanal (dilution 0.5%, Merck) or 2) olfactory stimulation with artificial honeydew odorant (dilution 11%), 3) auditory stimulation with instrumental music from http//, or 4) auditory stimulation with a "booing" recording, or 5) no stimulation, which served as a control mechanism. The "booing" recording depicted several people shouting in disapproval and was obtained from a web site ( Hexanal odorant and the booing recording were initially used as unpleasant stimulation and honeydew odorant and instrumental music as pleasant stimulation. This hedonic classification was arbitrarily established by preliminary exposures to several types of stimuli explored by the authors. The intensity of the auditory stimulation was set to 60 dB and the olfactory stimulation although at different concentration was rehearsed by the experimenters to be perceptible in a single sniff. In each session, eight control triáis and four triáis of each of the other conditions were presented. Each subject participated with a single session and was assigned at random one of the four stimulus categories.

Data acquisition and analysis. A control computer running custom-made software developed in LabWindows CVI (National Instruments) handled the entire experiment. An A/D card monitored the olfactometer and the response from the subjects. The responses were saved in a file; an automatic algorithm quantified the correct responses, and the total time used to respond. A bell ring signaled the subject that the trial was completed or that the allowed time for response was over. Statistical analysis of the data was performed by using commercial software (StatMost3.2).

Post-session survey. Once each experimental session was completed, subjects were asked to fill out a survey of his/her experience. Since the hedonic valúes of different stimuli could vary among individuáis, we developed an hedonic scale based on three categorizes: a positive stimulus, which was described by the subjects as a pleasant one; a negative stimulus that fell under the category of unpleasant, and a neutral one when subjects were unable to classify it as any of the others categories. This survey was aimed to establish subjective valúes of hedonic content. Subjects were asked to rate each stimulus as neutral, positive or negative. This classification was then used to compare memory performance directly with the subject's experience.

We directed 80 sessions, one with each subject. First, we sorted the responses by the subject's gender and type of stimulus. The main measure of memory performance was based on the number of errors. Two types of errors were committed: commission errors where subject pressed buttons of objects not present during that stimulus exposure, and omission errors where they failed to press the number of buttons corresponding to the number of objects presented in that trial. We observed that nearly all errors were of the first type, so we classified all errors in a single group. We initially examined if the memory task revealed the increased memory load as the number of objects presented in the games increased. This is revealed as an increased number of errors with larger number of objects that needed memorization. Since we present four different numbers of objects, we expressed the number of errors as a fraction of the total number of objects. A normality Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Lilliefors test showed that these distributions were not normal (P<0.01). Thus, we employ non-parametric statistics to compare the fraction of errors for different data groups. Figure 2A shows the statistics of the fraction of errors for all subjects for the control condition. As expected, the fraction of errors increases with memory load. We observed an incremental and significant difference between all stimulus sets (p <0.01 Kuskal-Wallis), when we compared each successive pairs of data, except between 7 and 8 objects. Along with the increase in the fraction of errors with the increased number of objects to memorize, we also observed a systematic and significant increase (p <0.01 Kuskal-Wallis) in the completion time. Figure 2A-summarizes these results. In this figure, we excluded from the distributions those few cases where times exceeded the máximum allowed to respond (20 sec). When this data was separated by gender, we found no differences that would indicate a difference between the performance of males and females.

We examined the overall error incidence during the control versus the auditory and olfactory stimuli responses. We found that the number of errors in the memory task was lower during the control condition. However, we found no statistically significant difference for any of the stimulation condition when compared to the control condition. If we examine the fraction of errors for different numbers of objects, we find that as with the control, errors for olfactory and auditory stimuli systematically increase with memory load. (Figure 2B). Moreover, in our examination we found that this dependency was not statistically different between controls and distracter stimuli for any number of objects. This result demonstrates that the inclusión of distracter stimuli with these intensities interferes little with this WM task. This is confirmed by comparing the response errors during control to the four types of distracter stimulus, as shown in figure 3A, where the fraction of errors for distracter stimulus were always larger than control, but never reached significance (P>0.05).

Finally, we examined the performance of the WM task in relation to the subject's perception of the hedonic valué of the distracter stimuli. During the task, subjects were instructed to ignore all distracter stimuli. However, after the subject finished, we performed a survey where the subjects were asked to rate the four types of distracter in one of three categories: neutral, positive or negative. We then reviewed the performance of the subjects, classifying the responses based on the subject's assessment. The subject's hedonic characterization for all stimuli is shown in Table 1. As expected, hexanal and "booing" were mostly classified as negative, and, conversely, honeydew and music as positive. Interestingly, a large percentage of subjects were reportedly neutral to the distracters. Our results demonstrated that the intensity of the distracters was sufficiently low so as not to alter by themselves the performance of the task. Moreover, we found no significant differences in reaction times between these stimuli regardless of their hedonic valué. When we computed task performance, we observed that stimuli classified as neutral or positive stimuli showed no significant differences in fraction of errors when compared to controls. However, stimuli that were rated as negative (whether auditory or olfactory) did significantly increase the fraction of errors in this WM task (Figure 3B). Positive or neutral stimuli exhibit similar fraction of errors as controls (Figure 3B). Interestingly, while the identity of the distracter stimulus seems to largely correlate with its hedonic classification, significance in the fraction of errors was not achieved by identity but only when pooling data from the subject's reported hedonic valué. This result showed that the hedonic valué and not the identity of the distracter was affecting the performance in this WM task.

Our main objective was to analyze whether the integration of auditory and olfactory sensory modalities and the emotional component of stimuli are capable of modulating a visual WM task. WM is defined by its limited retention capacity, thus by enlarging the number of images to simultaneously memorize, we were increasing the difficulty of the task and consequently we observed a systematic decrease in performance. The subject's number of errors and response time increased as larger numbers of images were presented. No significant difference was observed in the number of errors when showing seven or eight images simultaneously. One likely explanation is that by requesting the memorization of this number of images the máximum retention capacity of the working memory is achieved (Miller, 1956). Other studies have shown that subjects can memorize up to 7 ± 2 items simultaneously (Postle, 2006), but recent evidence has reexamined this issue proposing a lower limit. (Cowan, 2001; Luck, & Vogel, 2007). It is important to emphasize that in these studies, the exposition time of the stimuli was more than the necessary for his cortical integration. Therefore the performance of the subjects may include the full effect of hedonic valúes on WM. Our experiment considered a prolonged stimulus exposition time and yet our results show that when we compare the performance of the subjects under distinct distracting stimuli, we found there were no significant differences in WM for the different distracter categories.

In our study, it was important that the distracter stimuli did not interfere with the WM task primarily by their intensity. Numerous studies show that distracter stimuli, if intense enough, may interfere with performance (Baddeley, & Della Sala, 1998; Jonides, & Nee, 2006; Michael, Jacquot, & Millot, 2003; Postle, 2006). However, when the distracter has lower intensities, WM itself can modulate attention and focus towards what needs to be memorized, despite the presence of these weak distracter (Berti, & Schróger, 2003; Hall, & Blasko, 2005). In these studies, significant interferences were observed in attention towards novel stimulus or significant for subjects who exhibited reduced performance in a WM task. In our experiments we did not find any significant difference in reaction time or number of errors for all distracters. Clearly, none were a novel stimuli and we found no significant inter subject difference, thus we conclude that neither the identity, ñor the intensity or novelty of the distracter stimulus was enough to cause interference in this task.

Though quantitative hedonic scales have been widely used in other studies of working memory, our main goal was to examine whether the presentation of an additional stimulus with a hedonic component had an effect on a working memory task. Therefore in our study, analyzing the quality of the stimulus was more useful to this purpose than using the magnitude of the influence.

When analyzing the effect hedonic valué in our WM task, we observed that distracter stimuli described by the subjects as "negative" increased the number of errors. At the same time, no significant difference in the response time was observed. This demonstrates an integration mode between the emotional activation of the brain and WM. Although studies have shown differences in WM task involving images with emotional contents (Maljkovic, & Martin, 2005; Perlstein, Elbert, & Stenger, 2002; Pollack, 1972), these studies demonstrated that the capacity of memorizing image was increased when the stimulus was described by the subjects as negative, suggesting that attention resources to these stimuli increased. This could explain in part, that when our subjects described distracter stimulus as negative, the performance in the visual WM task decreased. Aside from this work, no other study has investigated how hedonic or emotional components of distracter stimulus sensorial modalities can alter attention and modulate visual WM.

One previous study described a direct modulation of attention arising from the olfactory pathway (Michael, Jacquot, Millot, & Brand, 2003). They observed deterioration in the performance of WM tasks mainly when the olfactory stimuli was an irritant by activating the trigeminal pathway. We cannot rule out that subjects that classiñed olfactory stimulation as "negative" were under trigeminal activation. However, this cannot be the only explanation for the performance differences for hedonic valué, since auditory distracter classiñed as negative also exhibited an increment if the fraction of errors.

This study sustains the hypothesis that the activity of the DLPFC is affected for the emotional qualities of the stimulus. In this regard the amygdala would play a fundamental role as a cerebral structure maintaining string connections with other regions of the brain (frontal and temporal lobes), which enables evaluation of emotional or hedonic meaning of events. Thus, the amygdala may be capable of facilitating memory operations and of acting as a mediator in the emotional learning (Goldman-Rakic, 1996). "According to this, the existence of áreas that codify this emotional information and relate it to the WM system (Compton. 2003), appears necessary. Through them, those stimuli that have a greater emotional meaning will have a priority set against others in the access to selective attention All this implies bottom-up entrance to the amygdala as well as top-down influences of the frontal lobe regions implied in representations that set and maintain goal-oriented behavior in WM. In this way, the prefrontal región modulates the responses that the amygdala provides, comparing potential risks and benefits of possible actions. Despite all this, it's not possible to completely reject the theory that states that our findings were a result of misdirected attention towards the distracting stimuli.

Our main objective was to analyze if the integration of the auditory and olfactory sensory modalities and its hedonic components, are capable of modulating a working memory task. Although it is well known that many phenomena such as the attention itself or arousal can alter the stimuli perception, our study tried to examine its final consequences and not the mechanism with which they are integrated.

Yet, besides the distracter capacity of a stimulus is given by intensity, we conjecture that its emotional or hedonic content may also affect memory tasks. We demónstrate that while the low intensity of distracters does not affect this WM task, the hedonic valué does, implying that these characteristics can strongly modulate memory processes.

This study was supported by Iniciativa Científica Milenio ICM P04-068F. Dedicated to Dr. Teresa Pinto-Hamuy.

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Robbins, L. Weiskrantz (Eds.), The prefrontal cortex: Executive and cognitive functions, Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 9-21.         [ Links ]

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DE FOCKERT JW, REES G, FRITH CD, LAVIE N (2001) The role of working memory in visual selective attention. Science, 291, 1803-1806.         [ Links ]

GARCÍA LM (1992) Memoria y Olfato: Interferencias funcionales, Universidad Complutense de Madrid.         [ Links ]

GOLDMAN-RAKIC PS (1987) Circuitry of the prefrontal cortex and the regulation of behavior by representational memory. In: V. B. Mountcastle, F. Plum, S. R. Geiger (Eds.), Handbook of Physiology, American Physiological Society, Bethesda, pp. 373-417.         [ Links ]

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in judgments of musical timbre: individual differences in working memory. Journal General Psychology, 132, 94-112.        [ Links ]

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Corresponding Author: Pedro E. Maldonado, Ph.D. Programa de Fisiología y Biofísica. Facultad de Medicina. Universidad de Chile. Casilla 70005, Santiago Chile. Tel: 56 (2) 978-6035. Fax: 56 (2) 777-6916. E-mail:

Received: May 12, 2008. In Revised form: December 2, 2008. Accepted: December 24, 2008


Pediatric research

Mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-1 prevents lipopolysaccharide-induced apoptosis in immature rat intestinal epithelial cells.

PMID 25950450

Necrotizing enterocolitis is characterized by intestinal inflammation and epithelial barrier dysfunction. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphatase (MKP)-1 plays a pivotal role in the feedback control of MAPK signaling, which regulates inflammation and apoptosis. We hypothesized that MKP-1 prevents lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced apoptosis in intestinal epithelial cells. Western blot analysis and qPCR were used to assess MKP-1, MAPK (p38, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), and c-Jun N terminal kinases (JNK)), caspase 3, caspase 9, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 expression levels in rIEC-6 enterocytes. MKP-1 expression was inhibited using small interfering RNA (siRNA) methodology. Viable cell number was determined using trypan blue exclusion. LPS stimulation led to activation of p38, JNK, and ERK, and induction of MKP-1 mRNA and protein expression. The induction of MKP-1 was associated with a decrease in p38 phosphorylation, and knockdown of MKP-1 prolonged p38 phosphorylation. While LPS stimulation significantly attenuated proliferation of rIEC-6 cells transfected with scramble siRNA, LPS stimulation resulted in a net decrease in viable cell number in cells transfected with MKP-1 siRNA. Following LPS stimulation, MKP-1 knockdown resulted in greater caspase 3 and 9 activities and greater proinflammatory cytokine (TNF-α, COX-2) expression than in cells transfected with scramble siRNA. Our results demonstrate that MKP-1 has a central role in preventing inflammation-induced apoptosis in rIEC-6 enterocytes.


You Don’t Want to Know What’ll Happen If the U.S. Strikes North Korea First

  • About: 10 days ago
You Don’t Want to Know What’ll Happen If the U.S. Strikes North Korea First - World News

President Trump's "fire and fury" comment has solicited an even stronger verbal retaliation from North Korea. A few hours after the president issued his warning, North Korea reacted with a threat of a missile strike on the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. And Trump has not backed down, wondering Thursday afternoon if his previous warning "wasn't tough enough."

To assess the real probability of war requires an accurate understanding of the U.S. capability and political will to launch a preemptive strike on North Korea. No one questions that U.S. has such technical capability. However, it is the political, military, economic, and diplomatic consequences of such an attack that makes it an undesired option.

The disastrous result of a preemptive strike on North Korea is well understood among policy-makers and military analysts. Conventional wisdom holds that first, without being provoked, the U.S. would not lightly resort to such an extreme option; and second, North Korea as a "rational actor" will not provoke the U.S., an act of suicide. However, what people are indeed concerned with is whether the president's verbal spat with Pyongyang could lead to North Korea's serious miscalculation of U.S. intention, and whether the U.S. will stumble into a nuclear war with North Korea inadvertently.

It's clear that the military option comes with significant risk. A U.S. preemptive strike, namely a targeted nuclear attack to take out North Korea's nuclear weapons, would invite all-out retaliation by North Korea against South Korea, Japan, and U.S. troops in the region. With the massive conventional artilleries deployed near the Korean Demilitarized Zone, North Korea would inflict major casualties on the South.

If the U.S. resorts to a preemptive strike on North Korea without consultation and agreement from Seoul, the costs to South Korea would have a critically damaging effect over the U.S.-South Korea alliance, even possibly lead to its dissolution. Considering President Moon Jae-in's interest in engagement with North Korea, it would be highly unlikely for South Korea to support a U.S. decision to launch a targeted nuclear attack on the North.

A U.S. preemptive strike on North Korea would also likely invite Chinese intervention. The Sino-North Korea Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance Treaty commits China to North Korea's defense in the event of foreign aggression. Although the validity of the 56-year old treaty is constantly debated, few doubt that China would intervene to defend its perceived national interests in the Korean Peninsula, including the preservation of a North Korean state and the prevention of a South Korea-led unification. It would put U.S. and China directly on a collision course and could lead to another Korean War.

Clear signaling is necessary in dealing with North Korea and its leader, Kim Jong-un. Since no one can predict Kim's next move with full confidence, the U.S. should send clear signals and warnings on the dire consequences to deter any ill-contemplated provocation by North Korea. The need to deter requires the preparedness for a preemptive strike and clear messaging to Pyongyang. Nevertheless, there is always the danger that the effort to deter North Korean attack might be misinterpreted and lead to the precise situation that it sets out to prevent.

This is also exactly why we are seeing so much debate over the military options on North Korea. No one sees it as a desired option, yet no one can take the option off the table. I don't believe a preemptive strike, or a nuclear war with North Korea, is imminent. And I don't believe either the U.S. or North Korea are intentionally pushing for a war. Nevertheless, with loose rhetoric backed by powerful weapons, the danger exists.

Yun Sun is a senior associate with the East Asia program at the Stimson Center.

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Discussion groups led by native teachers in bars and cafes

OUR MISSION is to empower every person in the world to speak any language fluenly* It’s that simple.

Fluenly* is an educational project founded in 2016 in England by foreign language teachers that believe there is a better way to learn and improve learning a new language. They are a multicultural team with a shared passion about education and who are committed to making a positive contribution to the global community.

We believe that learning and improving a new language should be an enjoyable, affordable, effective and social experience. We believe that language education build bridges between worlds and brings people from different cultures and religions together.

That´s why we have created fluenly*, to make language education easy, effective and convenient for people of all nationalities, religions, cultures and backgrounds.

This is why we do what we do and this is our passion.

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Ecology of the Displacer Beast (From the DnDBehindTheScreen subreddit)

The Ecology Project at the DnDBehindTheScreen subreddit has been producing some amazing results over the last little while. I took on the Displacer Beast and spent some time looking into what made it tick, and how it could be used in a game. Since it is part of another site’s project, I will just link to it from here. Hope you enjoy!

Ecology of the Displacer Beast »

Using Memes to Create a Sense of Tradition – Items and Clothing

As I have spoken of several times in the past, I find culture to be the absolute most important aspect of designing a believable campaign setting or world. It is what helps us recognize the differences between separate locations, the same way skin color, height, and language help us recognize the difference between separate individuals. After reading some recent posts from one of my new favorite blogs, I have been inspired to talk about culture some more, and discuss some ways to implement small, culturally significant ideas into campaigns.

In 1976, ethologist and author Richard Dawkins introduced to the world the idea of the meme, the individual building blocks of a culture. He explains that memes are culture what DNA is to an individual – they are the single unitary facets that, alone, represent almost nothing, but combined with all the others, create a living, breathing, working culture that is easily recognizable and distinguishable from others.

I’m going to break down these memes into a few different categories, and talk about how you can use them in your campaign to create a sense of “self” for different locations, societies, and cultures.

Items and Clothing

When you see someone wearing a specific piece of clothing that is against the norm of a particular society, such as a Chinese hat, you immediately understand that it has a cultural significance different from your own. Likewise, the khopesh, though given a bit of a druidic stereotype in old Dungeons and Dragons games, would create a sense of Egyptian flair. Specific items, in terms of carry-ons, weapons, clothing, or decoration, all hint towards a distinct identity, which is what we’re aiming for here.

People in specific villages, kingdoms, or even entire continents, may all have similar items they carry, or clothing they wear, which distinguishes them from those of another location. Since we’re working with memes (small units), here is a short list of some real world examples of clothes, items, or weapons that I have found after just a few minutes of browsing the internet:

  • In many southern Asian countries, a sarong is worn as a lower garment. Though there are different regional variations, they all consist of a strap of long cloth that is tied or fastened around the waist.
  • On many of the Pacific and Micronesian isles, the aboriginal people made weapons from the sharpest items they could find – the teeth of sharks!
  • In the Southeast USA, particularly Georgia, and the Charleston, SC region, folks harvest sweet grass to make baskets, jewelry, and decorations from. These baskets are used for groceries and shopping and storing items at home, and the jewelry is worn year-round.
  • The indigenous peoples of the Pacific northwest crafted and carved talismanic poles from the trunks of cedar trees that would stand as a center point for the celebration of specific cultural beliefs, the recounting of familiar legends, or even as mortuary structures.
  • The Ojibwa people used clusters of white sage, bound into smudge sticks, in many ceremonies. Possibly more importantly, though, the burning of the sticks created a long-lasting smoke which would ward off insects!

Obviously there are thousands, or millions, of other memetic items that show up in different cultures that help create that sense of identity within the culture. Wikipedia is an amazing resource, but just start googling for customs, charms, cultural icons, etcetera, and see what you come up with. Maybe there are some eating utensils being used in a north African country that would fit well into your campaign? Or maybe some ancient kingdom had a unique weapon that would really work with your new empire?

And there are just as many good ideas that can be created with just a little bit of thought. Maybe all the women in a particular nation wear a colored headband with small, embedded gems along the top. Perhaps in a certain city-state, all adults wear an oddly-curved dagger at their belts. Possibly, everyone in some kingdom carries around a small silver coin, which they do not spend under any circumstances. What is it for? Was it minted on the day after the kingdom finally won independence from a foreign usurper? Is it a charm given to every child from his or her parents, to ward off evil spirits? Something else entirely?

Just as importantly, what do these things represent to the players and characters in the campaign? Do your players respect the cultural identify of sovereign nations, or is every city in a kingdom just “the place where we stop in between hunting goblins?” Perhaps introducing some of these items to the characters can help them come to grasp with the idea that they are living in an actual world, and not just some static vessel which heals and feeds them between sessions. If the players come across one of the coins from above, will they understand how significant it is, or will it just be another piece of loot to fill their bags?

How do you use memetic items to give cultures a sense of self?

More Inspiration in Odd Places

I posted the original Finding Inspiration in Odd Places as a result of reading a fantastic entry from my 2008 the Zombie Survival Guide desktop calendar. This newest one comes from what many consider to be one of the worst Stephen King books, The Tommyknockers. I have not actually read the book since 1993 or so, and didn’t even remember this plot all that well, but I saw the miniseries on TNT a few nights ago, and just had to watch it. It was just as shamefully terrible as I remember the book being, but it did give me some ideas for a local or regional fantasy-type disaster which could take place in a campaign.

For those of you who blessedly have not read the book, here is the basic gist. In some town (probably in Maine), someone discovers underground the remnants of an ancient ship. Once it is discovered, strange things begin to happen in the town, starting with all radio communications to and from the area being cut off, and ending with the town’s citizens beginning to evolve into the alien beings who originally piloted the ship to earth centuries ago.

In my fantasy version, there is an old, long-boarded-up well at the north end of town that has always been off-limits. Some naughty kids (are there any other kind?) break into the well and find old, dried tunnels. They explore and go missing. Soon, a strange mist settles over the town, and the regulars of the town find themselves taking on strange shapes, and evolving into different beings. The town is magically quarantined, and the PCs are sent to investigate. Once they enter the mist, they only have a few days before they also will begin to show symptoms. The adventurers eventually find the well, and exploring inside, find tunnels that lead deep into the earth. They come to a large, stone door that has been recently opened. The door leads to an ancient city of the mind-flayers (or some other suitably nasty creature), long dead, ruined, and flooded. The “naughty kids” are found, having almost completely taken on the shape of whatever denizen once lived here. Once the door is closed and sealed, the mist will eventually go away – or to make it more climactic, the adventurers may have to travel into the city and find the source of the magical plague and destroy it.

I believe I’ll be using this soon, I’ll let you know how the adventure goes.

What kinds of strange places do you get your inspiration from?

Fantasy Disasters

People love a good disaster story. Comets hitting the earth, the earth’s core stopping its nuclear reactions, crazy ice ages that blanket the globe after just a few days, and trees getting upset and causing everyone to commit suicide are just a few of the most recent premises used in stories about major disasters. I think one of the main reasons we like those kinds of stories is because we get to see normal people becoming heroes and adventurers. We get to think about how we would react in those kinds of situations, and what we would do to save the people we love, or live through the disaster.

In fantasy, there is a much larger area we can explore – things can happen in your campaign setting that could never, ever happen in the real world. I’ve decided to list a few ideas for different kinds of fantasy disasters that could take place, and I hope you guys will bring on your own.

Here are the categories, with examples of real-world catastrophes. Then I will list some fantasy versions.

  1. Local Disaster – something that covers the scope of a small village or town. A tornado that ravages a town.
  2. Regional Disaster – an event that covers perhaps a province or state in a kingdom. A large earthquake.
  3. National Disaster – an entire kingdom is devastated. Massive hurricane.
  4. Continental Disaster – the entire continent is thrown into turmoil. A small meteor strike or a megatsunami.
  5. Global – worldwide devastation takes place, threatening all life as we know it. A supervolcano erupts, a massive meteor or comet strikes the planet, the sun starts burning out.

Here are some examples of more fantastical and magical catastrophes you could use to throw the PCs into the thick of things.

  1. Local: Tainted Watercourse – A magical beast of some kind dies in the river upstream. Strange things begin to happen to villagers who drink the water.
  2. Regional: Underdark Sinkhole – Beneath the region is an evil artifact which has been eating away at the earth for centuries. Finally a sinkhole opens letting nasty things out to the surface and drawing evil creatures, who feel the pull of the exposed artifact.
  3. National: The Return – Long ago an entire city which was once the nation’s seat of power mysteriously disappeared from the face of the earth. For some reason the entire kingdom actually turned ethereal. Now the kingdom has suddenly returned and wishes to once again lay claim to the nation.
  4. Continental: Continental Drift – a ley line eruption beneath the ocean sends out a wave of magical force which literally cuts through the landmass setting a continent adrift upon the ocean.
  5. Global: Cracked Moon – the world’s moon cracks in two, violently altering the tidal patterns. Worldwide tsunamis destroy coastal cities killing millions, and the world’s climate is drastically altered.

What kinds of crazy disasters have you thrown at your players, and how did they respond?

Fantastic Governments – Options of Mortocratic Leadership

The Lich

Living in a Lichdom

Strange Customs or Rituals in Lich-based Mortocracies

The Vampire

Living in a Vampiredom

Strange Customs or Rituals in Vampire-based Mortocracies

The Death knight

Living in a Death knightdom

Strange Customs or Rituals in Death knight-based Mortocracies

Fantastic Governments

This is a repost from October 20, 2008. It is being reposted as there is another article being posted soon that will follow it.

Here I will deal with fantastic forms of government, and the RPG community’s thoughts on it. I would like to focus specifically on the influence magic, psionics, and monstrous races could have on government. Feedback is appreciated, and post your own fantastic forms of government. Some basic concepts I had so far:

Simple enough. A powerful dragon flies in and establishes itself as ruler of a humanoid community. Dracocracies are usually noted for being large exporters of goods, but tend to import mainly a) absolute needs or b) the dragon’s favorite horde items. They tend to have a very aggressive foreign policy, and if the dragon is evil and has been in power for awhile, the communities armed forces tend to consist of a large number of half-dragons bred for this purpose. Other than that, dracocracies tend to follow the views of the dragon that rules them. Due to the long lifespan of their rulers, most dracocracies have a very unstable period when the dragon takes power and when the dragon dies or is deposed, but a very stable period between the two times. This pattern is more common with Lawful dracocracies than chaotic, and most common in Lawful Good dracocracies. Chaotic Evil dracocracies tend to be short lived, as the population is usually rapidly depleted by their master or they flee in fear. Only very powerful (old or older) evil dragons have the power to rule long lasting evil dracocracies, while it is possible for a young “good” dragon to rule a dracocracy. In D&D terms, evil dragons usually need to be adult to enforce their power, while good dragons tend to need to be adult to mature to stay in power.

Dragons tend to take the long view, so they usually employ others to run the day to day business of what they rule. In good dracocracies, this tends to take the form of natives. In evil dracocracies, this is usually done by natives at first, later by half-dragon and draconic offspring of the ruling dragon, who form an elite upper class blessed with longevity as well as additional powers. Dracocacies rarely feature more than one dragon, or a mated pair and their children – most dragons do not show the ability to share territory and work together that would allow for multiple draconic families to rule the same city.

A conferosentenocracy* is ruled by a psionic entity that is formed by powerful psions. This entity, referred to as the Group Sentience, is made up of the emanations of every single psionic entity in the nation that is bound to it, and those who are bound to it are considered citizens. In a nation of psionic races, such as dromites or duegar, this means that every member of the species is a citizen. A conferosentenocracy that arises among humans, however, tends to form an aristocracy of psionically-endowed humans while those born without psionic talent are considered a lower class. Citizenship can be revoked, divorcing yourself from the Group Sentience, while someone can gain citizenship by binding themselves to the Group Sentience. Being bound to the Sentience has no ill effects on the character, or any at all: all it means is that your existence powers the Sentience, who is aware of your existence and is influenced by your viewpoints. They tend to be very democratic in actual implementation, but conferosentenocracies require passive, not active, participation. The Group Sentience itself sometimes tends to take the form of a large psionic entity in crystalline form, similar to a psicrystal, but far more powerful.

*(from Latin confero, meaning group, and sententia, meaning thought. Usually shortened to just Sentocracy in the vernacular.)

A mortocracy is a government by the undead. Any type of intelligent undead can rule, but rulership usually falls to liches and the like. There are many cultures in which the elders of the society are given the right to rule; in the case of mortocracies, this is extended to its logical conclusion. Usually such governments are evilly-inclined, though such a government may be quite tolerable to live in – undead have few material needs, and a lich or cabal of liches may not even find taxes necessary, so long as the community is able to trade for the rare items and research materials they need. Because evil is often quite jealous, these governments are usually autocratic, with one undead ruler or a strict hierarchy of undead answerable to the most powerful of them. A mortocracy may have come about by the conquest of an enterprising undead creature, or perhaps the community was ruled by a spellcaster or other being who decided to extend his rule into un-life. There could be a whole dynasty of lich-kings, each one siring heirs while mortal and then becoming undead, to pass the throne on to their (now also undead) heir once they transcend the mortal realm and attain archlichdom.

In some cases, a mortocracy may be revered, if still feared. Imagine a desert society living around the ancient tombs of their distant ancestors, who now rule as mummies from within. Though few commoners truly want mummies around, the ruling class is still held in considerable respect by the people (their descendants), and perhaps these rotting elders are consulted on occasion – after all, they have had quite a bit of experience in their long existences. These undead might rule through priests or clergymen that act as their bureaucracy within the community. Needless to say, such a community would not look kindly on adventurers arriving with undead-slaying on their minds.

That’s what I’ve got for now. Please bring your own!

Unexplored Genres – The Progressive Apocalypse

This is the first post in a series I plan on working on. I will be focusing on what I’m calling “Unexplored Genres,” but what would much more accurately be called “Non-Typical Genres.” It’s not so much that these genres don’t exist in RPGs, it’s just that they’re so rare, and so … undefined that they could use a little bit of attention. Without further adieu, I present, the Progressive Apocalypse.

What is a Progressive Apocalypse? A progressive apocalypse follows one of two basic premises for the story, though variations are possible: Either the world is undergoing an apocalypse over a slow and drawn out period, or their was a cataclysmic event, followed by a prolonged period of decay. Either way, the defining aspect of the genre is a sense of near hopelessness – although it may not happen for a few hundred or even thousand years, the world is dying slowly but steadily. There is little to no chance of averting the apocalypse.

What makes Progressive Apocalypse different from post apocalypse? Because progressive apocalypse happens during the apocalypse, and creates a sense of decay, urgency, and despair, it works best with settings that have darker themes. The interesting aspect of Progressive Apocalypse settings is that everything will end, no matter what. This may or may not be known to the people who live in this world, but it still shadows the setting, creating a feeling that permeates the air.

How does one play in a Progressive Apocalypse campaign? The way I see it, there are two ways to play in a Prog’Poc campaign. The first, and more obvious way, is to play it much like one would play a Post Apocalyptic campaign – the heroes can change nothing, they can save no one and nothing, and all they can do is make people comfortable while awaiting the inevitable end. The second way is the one in which there is still hope that the apocalypse can be stopped in some way – either through powerful magicks and sciences, or through the fortune of misinterpreting the signs (“Oh, the asteroid was heading for Mars, not for Earth after all! Sorry for the panic!“). This seems to me the more logical choice, but of course, that all depends on the style of gameplay you like – hopeful and inspiring, or dark and dreadful. One can also certainly make the distinction between man-made apocalypses, and natural apocalypses. Generally, I prefer it when the slow decay is human-engineered, and they have only themselves to blame for the slow entropy of their world, but picture our own planet earth 5 billion years from now, as the Sun is expanding and burning out all life on earth – how would you roleplay in those situations?

Have you used Prog’Poc before? How did it work out? Does your setting (or any settings you know of) use this premise as part of the overall theme?


Allegations Of Fraud Against Adjusters – Insurance Lawsuits

When suing an adjuster, the requirements are very specific to keep a case out of Federal Court. This is illustrated in a U.S. Northern District, Fort Worth Division, opinion. The case is styled Southlake Campus, Inc. v. Allstate Insurance Company, et al.
This action arises from a dispute over insurance coverage of a property damaged during a storm. Southlake alleges various causes of action which are specifically asserted against Allstate only. The only part of the petition that includes allegations against the adjuster is the section requesting a declaratory judgment.
This case was removed to Federal Court by Allstate under 28 U.S.C. 1332, for reason of diversity of citizenship and the amount in controversy exceeding $75,000.00. Allstate contends the adjuster was not properly joined as a defendant.
Southlake contends the adjuster was properly joined by the allegations of fraud.
The 5th Circuit has held a Rule 12(b)(6) type of analysis is required in these claims. Also, that the new Texas Civil Rule 91a applies.
The Texas rule is substantially the same as the federal rule. This new rule now allows a state court to do what a federal court can do.
The rule requires that a complaint contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief in order to give the defendant fair notice of what the claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.” Although a complaint need not contain detailed factual allegations, the “showing” contemplated by Rule 8 requires the plaintiff do more than simply allege legal conclusions or recite the elements of a cause of action. Thus, while a court must accept all of the factual allegations in the complaint as true, it need not credit bare legal conclusions that are unsupported by any factual underpinnings.
To survive a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, the facts pleaded must allow the court to infer that plaintiff’s right to relief is plausible. Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for relief is a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense.
For a pleading of fraud to be sufficient, the plaintiff must set forth in the complaint the “who, what, when, where, and how” of any alleged fraud. A plaintiff pleading fraud must specify the statements contended to be fraudulent, identify the speaker, state when and where the statements were made, and explain why the statements are fraudulent.
In this case, all of Southlake’s six claims list only Allstate as defendant. In the motion to remand and reply, Southlake appears to contend that it has alleged a claim for fraud against Oliver. The court was perplexed by this because Southlake’s complaint explicitly states that the claim for fraud is asserted against Allstate only.
While it is true that the section of Southlake’s complaint includes some factual allegations related to the adjuster, a close analysis discloses that they are nothing more than mere conclusions. No facts are alleged that would plausibly lead to the conclusion that Southlake suffered any damage by reason of the conduct of the adjuster, bearing in mind that ultimately Allstate, not the adjuster, was responsible for insurance coverage.
This court found that Southlake failed to state a claim against the adjuster and thus found the joinder of the adjuster was without basis and Southlake’s motion to remand to state court was denied.


Rathlin Island

Rathlin Island is an island and civil parish off the coast of County Antrim and the northernmost point of Northern Ireland.

Rathlin is a small, L -shaped island about 1400 hectares in area and is situated five miles (8km) off the Antrim coast just north of Ballycastle from where the 45 minute ferry journey begins. The island is inhabited by about 100 residents whose ancestors have resided on Rathlin for hundreds of years. The Island’s wildlife is evident before you step ashore as the ferry crossing presents many opportunities to spot auks, gannets and gulls with even a chance of porpoises or dolphins.


The Philosophy of History

Leo Tolstoy is one of the most recognized and world acclaimed historian and novelist. He revolutionized the writing of history by introducing a new way of delivering it in a fictional like manner. The critics eyebrows rose because the notion of Tolstoys historical fiction almost appears to be contradicting in its very sense. However, the literal meaning of historical fiction does not jive with what Tolstoy strives to do in the creation of such concept. In this essay, issues regarding the existence of such contradictions within the inner concepts of Tolstoys thesis will be examined through setting it in the background of related issues such as fatalism, labels and greatness. These issues set by the critics of Tolstoy will be answered in this essay through contextualizing the time and work of Tolstoy based on the way he saw things during his period. The issue on fatalism will be thoroughly discussed in this essay through the notions of moral consciousness and free will. The issue of labels relevance or irrelevance to every day of history making will be closely studied through Christianity and the implications of this name. And lastly, the issue of greatness and its validity will be set against the inevitability of events or predestination.

Is everything predestined Is greatness still relevant
Well no one can really tell, but for a man of great stories, Leo Tolstoy until his death completely assumed that everything is predestined from the very start of time. According to Christian, Tolstoys concept of predestination does not completely refer to a draw out inevitable blueprint where individuals are irrelevant to its results and furthermore to the whole process of making history (15). Christian looks and interprets the predestined conception of Tolstoy as the way a novelist would put the dramatic and almost simultaneous series of events that combine all at once to create a dramatic point of time which people now know as history.

Tolstoy justifies his assumptions on predestination as the only path of history through his experiences in the warring decades of Europe. During the lifespan of Tolstoy, he bore witness to the continuing wars of his country among neighboring countries for the common conflicts on resources, power and control. To be able to fuel the machineries of war, a lot of countries made a lot of unconventional actions and crimes almost forgivable when committed for the sake of war. Steiner sited examples of crimes committed in the time of Tolstoy such as pillages, thievery and other war crimes (56). All of these crimes are nothing but few of the unimaginable things committed by individuals who are not built to do these crimes. In a way it can be said that these crimes are committed by individuals without or beyond the moral conscience that they have before the occurrence of war. According to Christian, Tolstoy saw the absence of moral conscience as a clear sign of the absence of free will of those who have committed the crimes during the war times. However, as of today, the personal experiences of Tolstoy are not enough to silence the criticisms that his works continually receive.

Tolstoys perspective on inevitability of the turning events of wars and social turmoil posted a new conflict within his paradigm. In a world where every action and event is predestined, can there be still place for the existence and recognition of individuals who have achieved a certain level of greatness In Christians comprehensive analysis of the criticisms on Tolstoy, it has been assumed that Tolstoy pertains to a deeper meaning of predestination in relation to greatness. Tolstoy does not debunk the notion of greatness, but he completely reiterates that an individuals greatness lies not only in his capabilities but also to the degree of influence and effect that the individual can do to his or her environment (18). The greater the degree of influence and power an individual have, the more complex and compelling his actions would appear to the eyes of his subordinates. But still, his subordinates play a great part in his or her stage of greatness.

The Relevance of Christianity as a Label
Tolstoy until the end of his days stood his ground and position regarding his assumptions that labels such as greatness is not measurable and accountable to those who have the label. Labels are nothing but the mere results of the perfectly timed actions and decisions of other individuals related to the labeled individual. Steiner reiterated this point by explaining that labels for Tolstoy are the results of a predestined history in the perspective of ordinary individuals (98).

In the case of Christianity as a label, the assumptions of Tolstoy still holds true but only to some extent such as its limits on individual merit. To start the discussion, critics should first note that Christianity is a group bounded by a certain notion of moral ascending individuals. It is relevant not because it is a label instead it is relevant to society in general since it represents a truth and realization that belongs to greater law that made it possible to occur.

Is Fatalism a crime for Tolstoy
Fatalism or the belief that there are existing events which are uncontrollable since they belong to a predestined and pre-drawn course waiting to unfold in front of individuals is the most well said criticism on Tolstoy and his works. This criticism would continue to delve the works of Tolstoy unless its critics will find the effort to find a way of contextualizing the nature of Tolstoys works with theirs. As said by Christian in his work on Tolstoy, the fatalistic of Tolstoy is the result of events that transpired in Tolstoys life without the necessity of finding a moral explanation or a conscientious checking system (27).

Exerting efforts to understand these differing contexts is relevant not only to the academic world but also to ordinary individuals. The importance of Tolstoy is beyond neither simple words of a novelist nor the wide recollection of a historian it appeals to a greater nature of understanding time and space.

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