The theme of my target article was dysfunction of inhibition in the spinal cord as an important factor in the development of chronic pain states. Some commentaries focused on the role of more central mechanisms and the limited usefulness of animal models for understanding mechanisms of human pain. More specific comments concerned the roles of GABA and cholecystokinin in pain control.

Injury to the central or peripheral nervous system is often associated with persistent pain. After ischemic injury to the spinal cord, rats develop severe mechanical allodynia-like symptoms, expressed as a pain-like response to innocuous stimuli. In its short-lasting phase the allodynia can be relieved with the [gamma]-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-B receptor agonist baclofen, which also reverses the hyperexcitability of dorsal horn interneurons to mechanical stimuli. Furthermore, there is a reduction in GABA immunoreactivity in the dorsal horn of allodynic rats. Clinical neuropathic (...) pain of peripheral and central origin often cannot be relieved by opiates at doses that do not cause side effects. The loss of sensitivity to opiates may be associated with the up-regulation of endogenous antiopioid substances, such as the neuropeptide cholecystokinin (CCK). CCK and its receptor (CCK-R) protein is normally not detectable in rat dorsal root ganglion cells. After peripheral nerve section, both CCK and CCK-R are up-regulated in the dorsal root ganglia. Furthermore, CI 988, an antagonist of the CCK-B receptor, chronically coadministered with morphine, reduces autotomy, a behavior that may be a sign of neuropathic pain following peripheral nerve section. Thus, opiate insensitivity may be due to the release of CCK from injured primary afferents. Similarly, in the chronic phase of the spinal ischemic model of central pain, the allodynia-like symptom is not relieved by systemic morphine, but is significantly reversed by the CCK-B antagonist. Consequently, up-regulation of CCK and CCK-R in the CNS may also underlie opiate drug insensitivity following CNS injury. Thus, dysfunction of central inhibition involving GABA and endogenous opioids may be a factor underlying the development of sensory abnormalities and/or pain following injury to neural tissue. (shrink)

Dysfunction or injury of pain-transmitting primary afferents' central pathways can result in pain. The organism as a whole responds to such injury and consequently many symptoms of neuropathic pain develop. The nervous system responds to painful events and injury with neuroplasticity. Both peripheral sensitization and central sensitization take place and are mediated by a number of biochemical factors, including genes and receptors. Correction of altered receptors activity is the logical way to intervene therapeutically. [berkley; blumberg et al.; coderre & katz; (...) dickenson; mcmahon; wiesenfeld-hallin et al.]. (shrink)

The persistence of both inflammatory and neuropathic pain can only be explained when learning processes are taken into account in addition to sensitizing mechanisms. Learning processes such as classical and operant conditioning create memories for pain that are based on altered synaptic connections in supraspinal structures and persist without peripheral input. [coderre & katz; dickenson; wiesenfeld-hallin et al.].

Plastic changes in spinal cord function like neuronal wind-up and increased receptive field are too short-lived to explain chronic pain without structural changes. It is possible that learning could be a mechanism for longlasting changes in nociceptive regulation. A learning process localized to the spinal cord has been shown to be important for the development of tolerance to the analgetic effect of ethanol, suggesting that nociceptive control systems may be changed by learning. Long term potentiation (LTP) is regarded as a (...) useful model of learning and memory. LTP-like changes have been observed in invitro preparations from the spinal cord and in spinal cord field potentials. Recently a long term increase in spinal A-[beta] and C-fibre evoked responses after painful stimulation has been observed. [coderre & katz, dickenson, wiesenfeld-hallin et al.]. (shrink)

Central sensitization and related neurochemical mechanisms are also induced in V nociceptive pathways after craniofacial injury or inflammation. Their characteristics raise additional possibilities that may explain some of the phenomena outlined by coderre & katz, dickenson, and wiesenfeld-hallin et al. They also underscore the need for therapeutic approaches to reduce nociceptive inputs to the CNS or their neuroplastic effects which can potentially enhance post-traumatic pain.

The central hyperexcitability observed in animal models supports a pathophysiological explanation for chronic human pain. Novel information on cholecystokinin (CCK) upregulation offers a rationale for reduced opioid response in neuropathic pain. However, the basic information provided by scientists should not lead clinicians to equate experimental models to chronic human conditions. Clinicians should provide careful reports and attempt to classify pathophysiologically clinical conditions that have so far been grouped generically. [blumberg et al.; coderre & katz; dickenson; wiesenfeld-hallin et al.].

Numerous mediators are involved in both the control and the transmission of nociceptive messages, and several lines of research have been developed in the management of pain. Complete enkephalin- degrading enzyme inhibitors, which produce naloxone-reversible analgesia in all tests where morphine has been found to be active, remains the most promising way. CCK compounds, especially the CCKB antagonists also may be interesting drugs. Indeed, they are able to strongly potentiate the antinociceptive effects of the opioids. [dickenson, wiesenfeld-hallin et (...) al.]. (shrink)

The possible dysfunction of [gamma] aminobutyric acid (GABA) and opioid inhibitory mechanisms following central and peripheral nervous system injury is an important and potentially useful finding. However, effective clinical application must take into account the specific characteristics of the models used in the studies and the relationship of these models to specific clinical conditions. [dickenson; wiesenfeld-hallin et al.].

Both the sensory and the motivational-affective component of pain must be taken into account in studies on sex differences as well as on neuropathic, postoperative, sympathetic, and visceral pain. In all these cases, therapeutic strategies should be aimed at controlling the peripheral, central, and psychological mechanisms underlying the global pain experience. Similarly, it should be recalled that some neuropeptides act on both sensory and affective pain mechanisms. [berkley; mcmahon; dickenson; coderre & katz; wiesenfeld-hallin et al.; blumberg et al.].

The authors presume that activity in the dorsal horn or nociceptors is well correlated with pain sensations and behavior. This overlooks the myriad of interactions between cortex and our spinothalamic tract. It is better to think of our nociceptors, the dorsal horn, and the pain centers in our brain as all components in one larger and complex pain sensory system. [berkley; blumberg et al.; coderre & katz; dickenson; mcmahon; wiesenfeld-hallin et al.].

Neuroplastic changes in the inhibitory systems contribute to pathological pains such as hyperalgesia. Activation or inhibition of the intrinsic inhibitory systems may depend on the pathophysiology which induces a sustained pain state. The mechanisms of hyperalgesia, opioid insensitivity following nerve injury, and opioid tolerance may be related to common neuroplastic changes. [wiesenfeld-hallin et al.].

This commentary on coderre & katz, wiesenfeld-hallin et al., and dickenson focuses on: (a) the brain as an under-recognized contributor to pain facilitation at the spinal cord; (b) these brain-to-spinal pathways being activated by learning or by body infection/inflammation; and (c) the resultant spinal release of anti-analgesic neuropeptides, activators of the NMDA-NO cascade, and activators of glia.

In this paper, we argue that there are reasons to believe that an implicit bias for normalcy influences what are considered medically necessary treatments in psychiatry. First, we outline two prima facie reasons to suspect that this is the case. A bias for ‘the normal’ is already documented in disability studies; it is reasonable to suspect that it affects psychiatry too, since psychiatric patients, like disabled people, are often perceived as ‘weird’ by others. Secondly, psychiatry's explicitly endorsed values of well-being (...) and function are hard to measure directly, which is why we see simpler box-ticking conceptions of recovery used in large research studies. This need not be problematic, but might lead to researchers and clinicians focusing too much on treatments that promote easy-to-measure proxies for recovery, instead of what actually matters to psychiatric patients themselves. Next, we provide examples of treatments and treatment decisions within two areas – self-injury and psychosis – which are hard to explain unless we assume that an implicit and harmful normalcy bias is at work. We conclude with some suggestions for clinicians and future research. (shrink)

Many worry about the over-medicalisation of mental illness, and some even argue that we should abandon the term mental illness altogether. Yet, this is a commonly used term in popular discourse, in policy making, and in research. In this paper I argue that if we distinguish between disease, illness, and sickness (where illness refers to the first-personal, subjective experience of the sufferer), then the concept of mental illness is a useful way of understanding a type of human experience, inasmuch as (...) the term is (i) apt or accurate, (ii) a useful hermeneutical resource for interpreting and communicating experience, and (iii) can be a good way for at least some of us to establish a liveable personal identity within our culture. (shrink)

Our paper consists of three parts. In the first part we provide an overall picture of the concept of the Cartesian mind. In the second, we outline some of the crucial tenets of the theory of the embodied mind and the main objections it makes to the concept of the Cartesian mind. In the third part, we take aim at the heart of the theory of the embodied mind; we present three examples which show that the thesis of embodiment of (...) the subjective perspective is an untenable position. However, everything these examples testify to can be accommodated and explained by our non-embodied or Cartesian view. (shrink)

Enactivism has much to offer to moral, social and political philosophy through giving a new perspective on existing ethical problems and improving our understanding of morally ambiguous behaviours. I illustrate this through the case of self-injury, a common problematic behaviour which has so far received little philosophical attention. My aim in this paper has been to use ideas from enactivism in order to explore self-injury without assuming a priori that it is morally or socially wrong under all circumstances, seeking to (...) establish a less implicitly value-laden analysis. Enactivism can help us in making this behaviour more intelligible and contextualising it through examining the relations of individual embodied action and social practices with the help of enactivist theories of habits and affordances. (shrink)

Social media is an endless source of texts and images about almost everything. Accordingly, the number of analyses based on this source increases daily. Among the numerous methods social media can be analysed by, our attention focusses on discourse analysis. DA is a complex approach which makes it possible to capture not only the linguistic characteristics of given texts, but also their socially constructive and socially constructed features. Therefore, we carried out a systematic examination of the articles at one of (...) the largest academic databases, EBSCO available in 2019 which used DA in social media research. Our investigation studies not only the geographical distribution of this corpus, but the different self-proclaimed DA approaches. Furthermore, we developed a three-level scale in order to capture the methodological complexity of the collected articles. At one end of the scale there are those research papers where discourse appears only as a label for the textual material gathered, without further indication of any DA theories or methodologies. The other end, however, refers to those research projects which applied DA both in their theoretical and methodological frameworks, providing complex discourse analytical investigations of social media texts. This way we were able to demonstrate the wide array of DA perspectives employed in social media research. (shrink)

In spite of the global diffusion of democracy and a general commitment to democratic values, there is a widespread alienation from the political process in advanced democracies. Deliberative democracy has received much attention in recent years as a possible solution to this malaise. Its promise of a more engaged and collective form of politics has drawn the interest of policy makers and political philosophers – generating new avenues of thought in contemporary democratic theory as well as heated debates about its (...) utility in practice. -/- This book provides an ideal starting point in understanding the core concepts of deliberative democracy. It is the first text to offer a systematic introduction to the theories and debates in the field and to combine this with a detailed critique of both the theory and the practice of deliberative democracy. It examines the core values of deliberative democrats and evaluates the implementation of deliberative practices at the local, national and global level – considering, along the way, how far it is possible to introduce meaningful deliberative reform in existing democracies. Giving readers a state-of-the-art account of the field, this book addresses fundamental questions about deliberative democracy and also charts the future directions for contemporary democratic thought. (shrink)

Democracy is usually justified either on intrinsic or instrumental, particularly epistemic, grounds. Intrinsic justifications stress the values inherent in the democratic process itself, whereas epistemic ones stress that it results in good outcomes. This article examines whether epistemic justifications for deliberative democracy are superior to intrinsic ones. The Condorcet jury theorem is the most common epistemic justification of democracy. I argue that it is not appropriate for deliberative democracy. Yet deliberative democrats often explicitly state that the process will favour the (...) best argument. This can only be the case if deliberation improves the overall competence of the group and of the individuals that constitute it. I analyse when deliberation will increase competences and when it will not do so and find that individual competences will not reliably increase as a result of deliberation. In order for deliberative democracy to be epistemically more effective than representative democracy, strong procedural assumptions need to be made and deliberative democracy needs to be justified based on a combination of epistemic and intrinsic elements. (shrink)

Remnants of ancient retroviral infections during evolution litter all mammalian genomes. In modern humans, such endogenous retroviral (ERV) sequences comprise at least 8% of the genome. While ERVs and other types of transposable elements undoubtedly contribute to the genomic “junk yard”, functions for some ERV sequences have been demonstrated, with growing evidence that ERVs can be important players in gene regulatory processes. Here we focus on one particular large family of human ERVs, termed HERVH, which several recent studies suggest has (...) a key regulatory role in human pluripotent stem cells. Remarkably, this is not the first instance of an ERV controlling pluripotency. We speculate as to why this convergent evolution might have come about, suggesting that it may reflect selection on the virus to extend the time available for transposition. Alternatively it may reflect serendipity alone. (shrink)

Recent results confirm that long‐term expression of therapeutic transgenes can be achieved by using a transposon‐based system in primary stem cells and in vivo. Transposable elements are natural DNA transfer vehicles that are capable of efficient genomic insertion. The latest generation, Sleeping Beauty transposon‐based hyperactive vector (SB100X), is able to address the basic problem of non‐viral approaches – that is, low efficiency of stable gene transfer. The combination of transposon‐based non‐viral gene transfer with the latest improvements of non‐viral delivery techniques (...) could provide a long‐term therapeutic effect without compromising biosafety. The new challenges of pre‐clinical research will focus on further refinement of the technology in large animal models and improving the safety profile of SB vectors by target‐selected transgene integration into genomic “safe harbors.” The first clinical application of the SB system will help to validate the safety of this approach. (shrink)

The figure of the refugee and asylum seeker, hidden from the masses, de-humanised, deprived of existence and rights, are in sharp contrast with their representation in the Hungarian mass media and in visual and textual materials of the Hungarian Governmental Information, which constructs a manipulated, extremist and xenophobic, ideologically biased reality. In this sense, the discourse on the refugee crisis has an actual and an untimely form. The first chapter of the paper is an ideology-criticism analysis, aiming at the deconstruction (...) of the ideological subject-construct of the contemporary refugee existence. This analysis focuses on the Hungarian political language used to refer to the European refugee crisis since 2015, primarily the political questionnaire entitled National Consultation on Immigration and Terrorism and the text and poster campaign of the Governmental Information related to it, with references to the later, 2017 Let’s Stop Brussels campaign, 2016 Hungarian Migrant quota referendum, 2017 Soros-plan Consultation, and materials of the information campaign Wirtschaft Zusammen Integrationsinitiativen der Deutschen Wirtschaft in Germany. In the second part, this contemporary constructed form of refugee and asylum seeker existence is paralleled with its untimely discourse. (shrink)

Although the title of the study contains even two questions, who is Zarathustra? and who is the »Who«?, it cannot be claimed that the main goal of this study is to answer them. In particularly, it cannot be claimed that these questions are answerable at all. The questions serve as leitmotif for displaying the untimely program of Nietzsche and the deconstruction of Derrida, showing analogy aspects between them, which are related to the critique of western metaphysics and its language as (...) well as to de(con)struction of the concepts of subject and identity. (shrink)

In this paper, I would like to investigate how Gadamer explores the hermeneutic potential of Kant’s aesthetic theory in the third Critique with regard to the notion of imagination. For the first time, by making some references, Gadamer discussed the question of imagination in his Truth and Method of 1960, and we can read as a further substantial contribution his essay entitled Anschauung und Anschaulichkeit (Intuition and Intuitiveness) published in 1980. Although Gadamer’s approach was influenced by some Heideggerian impulses, he (...) offered another alternative that is completely different from Heidegger’s one. I shall argue that even if the question of imagination is not so much stressed by Gadamer, it proves important to the development and ontological basis of the Gadamerian hermeneutics in Wahrheit und Methode. My hypothesis is that through the themes of intuition and education (Bildung), the imagination is concerned with the human understanding and our interpreting work, thus, its significance transcends the scope of aesthetics. (shrink)

The purpose of our contribution in this paper is to provide an overview of development of Heidegger’s account of imagination with a special focus to the affinity between phenomenology and psychology. (I.) Firstly, we reconstruct how – by his reading Husserl and Aristotle – the early Heidegger got to know the function of imagination as it can open the realm of the things themselves. (II.) Secondly, we investigate that in his Kant-book, Heidegger gave up his plan to further think the (...) viewpoints envisioned by Husserl and the Neo-Kantians, and he entirely transformed his previous concept of imagination by the chapter on Schematism. Ourcore thesis is that Heidegger’s account of imagination is concerned with the emergence of schemes of our thinking, that is to say, Heidegger went beyond the psychological Kant-interpretation, and at the same time he turned to discover the field of phenomenological unconscious. (shrink)

Scholarly discussions of the live burials of Gauls and Greeks in the Forum Boarium in the mid- and late Republic replay the debate on Roman imperialism; those supporting the theory of “defensive” imperialism connect religious fears with military ones, while other scholars separate this ritual and the “enemy nations” involved in it from the actual enemies of current warfare in order to corroborate a more aggressive sense of Roman imperialism. After reviewing earlier interpretations and the problems of ancient evidence for (...) these Roman instances of “human sacrifice,” I propose a new reading based on a ritual parallel, a slightly earlier Greek oracle related to purification from avenging spirits. As burials of symbolic former enemies haunting Rome, the ritual suggests an insight into the experience of constant warfare and close-contact killing by citizen-soldiers in an aggressively imperialistic state. Especially with the disappearance of captive killings in the symbolic context of aristocratic burials and the emergence of Hellenistic epic to address elite glory, the live burials could have been critical in providing psychological closure to the once-soldiers back in Rome. Remarkably, the ritual offered an outlet in the religious realm for sentiments unwelcome in the Roman army: in the larger dynamic of the military and religious spheres, the strict world of military discipline was complemented by a religious realm that was much more open to external influence and innovation. (shrink)

It may strike some as incongruous to discuss both new media and Heidegger in a single article. Heidegger died in 1976, so he can hardly be considered as having first-hand experience with so-called new media. He is best known for his endeavour of destructing traditional Western metaphysics, and for an organic extension of this destruction, his philosophy of technology. He explicitly touches upon two communications-oriented technological inventions: the radio and the typewriter. In both cases, his criticism is quite obvious. Despite (...) all this, some of his considerations make it worthwhile to further investigating his criticism. I will start with an overview of the longstanding critical attitude toward any new media, and I will attempt to define some key terms with regard to old and new media. Then I will outline the philosophical background of the Heideggerian criticism, and investigate the lessons we can learn from Heidegger. (shrink)

Casting a glance at philosophical inquiries of the last decades, with regard to human cognition (in a broad sense), we are witnesses to turns one after the other. The settings were based on the change of scope and perspective of investigations. The so-called linguistic turn refers to “the view that philosophical problems are problems which may be solved (or dissolved) either by reforming language or by understanding more about the language we presently use”. In the 90s, W. J. T. Mitchell (...) coined the phrase pictorial turn, calling attention to the fact that “pictures form a point of peculiar friction and discomfort across a broad range of intellectual inquiry”. In order to eliminate this intellectual discomfort, Mitchell considers exploratory and explicatory approaches that focus on non-linguistic symbol systems and do not consider language as the only source of a significant paradigm regarding meaning. Recently, there has been a shift of emphasis regarding the basis of cognitive skills. This may be the next turn, a sensorimotor or activist one. Although this turn has massive roots in the past, and there is some controversy regarding whether it is fully reconcilable with various findings of cognitive neurology, this view seems to be capable of providing a framework within which the verbalist approach can cease to be the dominant view. (shrink)

Although scientific practice sometimes encounters philosophical dif- ficulties, it cannot shoulder the burden of resolving them. This can lead to controversies. An unavoidable difficulty is rooted in the linguistic attitude, i.e., in the fact that to a considerable extent we express our thoughts in words. I will attempt to illuminate some important characteristics of linguistic expres- sion which lead to paradoxical situations, identifiable thanks to philosophy. In my argument, I will investigate how the notion of consciousness has altered over the (...) course of philosophical investigation and how it relates to recent scientific practice. In conclusion, I will focus on a few recent so-called radical positions in philosophy with regard to a framework within which consciousness and more generally mental phenomena can be regarded in a new light, as well as on the barriers we face when trying to unify scientific results. (shrink)

Various theories suggest conscious phenomena are based exclusively on brain activity, while others regard them as a result of the interaction between embodied agents and their environment. In this paper, I will consider whether this divergence entails the acceptance of the fact that different theories can be applied in different scales (as in the case of physics), or if they are reconcilable. I will suggest that investigating how the term representation is used can reveal some hints, building upon which we (...) can bridge the gulf between the two poles in the long run. In my argumentation I will rely on some earlier philosophical insights, such as those of Descartes, James, Wittgenstein and Merleau-Ponty, as well as research based on global workspace theory, and the conceptions of embodied and enacted cognition. I will suggest that within a wider horizon of investigation, the ambiguity as regards the term representation will decrease. (shrink)

In the present paper, I will investigate how language and the concepts we use can delude us when scientific theories suggest that abstraction, as a necessary condition of concepts, is rooted in anatomical structures of the brain, and that language as it expresses meaning is based on embodied cognition, i.e., language is deeply integrated into our physical structure. First, I will outline the characteristics of language and concepts that might provide ground for delusion. In so doing, I will rely on (...) some ideas from Bergson, Wittgenstein, and Maturana. Then, I will delineate theories suggesting that the capability of abstraction is hardwired as Ramachandran explicates, and the meaning of linguistic expression is rooted in embodied cognition as Merleau-Ponty, and later, cognitive metaphor theory suggest. In conclusion, I will attempt to reconcile the seemingly conflicting views – language is deluding and hardwired at the same time – with the help of Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenological account. -/- . (shrink)

Accepting the idea that the mental representations of concepts, diagrams, relations, plans, etc., are thought-shapers, I suggest going a bit further. Any kind of representation, be it mental or public, i.e., accessible to others, bears thought-shaping potential, albeit not in the same manner. Just as the idea of embodied cognition takes into consideration environmental facilities and obstacles, I suggest investigating thought processes in a broader context, i.e., placing thought-shapers in the context of their formation. I propose that the elements of (...) the above mentioned definition of thought-shapers are built upon a structure that consists of representational skills, means, and institutions. In accordance with the idea of embeddedness and enactment, the need for communication and the given cognitive and physical aptitudes result in different kinds of expression, i.e., different kinds of representations available to others. When an expressional mode solidifies, it opens up new possibilities and limitations. I propose that mundane, almost unnoticeable affordances and their accompanying limits do shape our thoughts thoroughly. In my argument for the thought-shaper potential of the generative technique of public representations, I will delineate a historical overview of representational means in tandem with the main characteristics of different eras’ crucial ideals and patterns of reasoning. I will close the historical overview with a terminological excursion exploring how publicly available representation and mental representation relate to each other and the kinds of ambiguities that accompany the latter term’s use. Accordingly, embedding thought-shapers, I will outline the evolution of different representational techniques and skills. Then, because language is a decisive representational means, I will investigate its orientating and distortive potential. I will rely on some of Bergson’s lesser-known remarks. I will illuminate how ocular-centrism was able to be a decisive metaphor in science and philosophy for long centuries, until recently even. In conclusion, as a case study, I will illuminate how the term “mental representation” as a highly abstract term facilitates and at the same time hinders philosophical and scientific inquiry. (shrink)