Now in its fifth edition, this accessible and comprehensive text highlights the most important theoretical, conceptual and methodological issues in cognitive neuroscience. Written by two experienced researchers who excel at teaching, the consistent narrative ensures that concepts are linked across chapters, and the careful selection of topics enables readers to grasp the big picture without getting distracted by details. Clinical applications such as developmental disorders, brain injuries and dementias are highlighted. In addition, the analogies and examples, opening case studies, and 'In Focus' boxes both engage and demonstrate the relevance of the material to real-world concerns. Revised for even greater clarity, the fifth edition features new and updated artwork, 'Key Questions' to review concepts, and 'Thought Questions' which develop the critical thinking skills needed to evaluate future developments in this fast-moving field. An expanded set of online resources is also available.

Behavioural reactions towards a dead conspecific have been observed rarely in wild canids and there is no documented scientific evidence of grief in pet dogs. A quantitative analysis of grief-related responses in both dogs and owners was conducted, using the validated online Mourning Dog Questionnaire. The survey was completed by 426 Italian adults who had owned at least two dogs, one of whom died while the other was still alive. This research aims to explore whether, how and what a dog may experience over the loss of a companion dog. Multiple logistic regression indicates that both a friendly or parental relationship between two dogs but also the fact that dogs used to share food and the owner’s grief and anger are principal predictors of negative behavioural changes. According to dog owners’ answers, the surviving dog after the death of the companion dog changed both in terms of activities (“playing”, “sleeping”, and “eating”) and emotions (fearfulness), which occurred as a function of the quality of the relationship between the two animals. By contrast, the time the two dogs had spent together had no effect on the behaviours of surviving dog. Owner perceptions about their dog’s reactions and emotions were not related to the memory or suffering of the event that tended to diminish over time. These findings indicate that a dog may show grief-related behavioural and emotional patterns when a close conspecific dies, with aspects of the latter possibly related to the owner’s emotional status.

A Arousal Predisposition Scale (APS) é um instrumento com 12 itens, elaborado para mensurar o nível de arousal de um indivíduo. O termo arousal, traduzido para o português falado no Brasil, significa excitação, isto é, a resposta do organismo frente a um estímulo externo ou estresse ambiental. A escala visa abordar o arousal como uma predisposição ou característica individual de excitação diante de um estressor ambiental. O objetivo deste estudo foi realizar tradução, adaptação e avaliação das propriedades psicométricas da APS para crianças e adolescentes. O estudo foi realizado com 189 alunos, de ambos os sexos, de escolas públicas, com idade entre 10 e 17 anos. A pesquisa foi dividida em duas etapas: a primeira foi a adaptação transcultural e a segunda etapa envolveu a avaliação das propriedades psicométricas da versão final. Os resultados apresentaram uma consistência interna dos itens aceitável para os grupos pré-adolescentes e adolescentes (alfa de Cronbach > 0,700). Não houve diferença significativa entre a escala total em médias de teste-reteste e uma correlação significativa de moderada a forte de validade de critério. A APS foi traduzida, adaptada e validada no Brasil para o grupo etário de 11 anos de idade. Destaca-se ainda a importância da utilização dessa escala por diferentes setores de saúde e da educação, em escolas de ensino fundamental e médio, contribuindo para identificar precocemente problemas de comportamento.

People often develop strong emotional connections with their dogs and consider them to be members of the family. The purpose of this study was to develop a novel validated tool, the Mourning Dog Questionnaire, to recognise and evaluate the mourning process in people who have lost a dog. The research model was based on a grid of five different questionnaires: the Pet Bereavement Questionnaire, the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale, the Animal-Human Continuity Scale, the Positivity Scale, and the Testoni Death Representation Scale. The Italian version of the survey was posted on social networks. A sample of 369 Italian dog owners filled in the questionnaire (mean age ± SD 42.00 ± 10.70 years). Reliability indices were good for all instruments. The total scores of the five questionnaires correlated with each other. The results from the Mourning Dog Questionnaire support the negative view of life after the death of a pet and people's tendency to humanise their pet, since dog owners perceived animals no differently from humans in terms of emotions, needs and legal rights. Findings arising from the use of the Mourning Dog Questionnaire will help the implementation of rationality-based strategies to improve the wellbeing, resilience and quality of life of people in the world experiencing the loss of a pet.

Recently, many universities have implemented programmes in which therapy dogs and their handlers visit college campuses. Despite the immense popularity of therapy dog sessions, few randomized studies have empirically tested the efficacy of such programmes. The present study evaluates the efficacy of such a therapy dog programme in improving the well-being of university students. This research incorporates two components: (a) a pre/post within-subjects design, in which 246 participants completed a brief questionnaire immediately before and after a therapy dog session and (b) an experimental design with a delayed-treatment control group, in which all participants completed baseline measures and follow-up measures approximately 10 hr later. Only participants in the experimental condition experienced the therapy dog session in between the baseline and follow-up measures. Analyses of pre/post data revealed that the therapy dog sessions had strong immediate benefits, significantly reducing stress and increasing happiness and energy levels. In addition, participants in the experimental group reported a greater improvement in negative affect, perceived social support, and perceived stress compared with those in the delayed-treatment control group. Our results suggest that single, drop-in, therapy dog sessions have large and immediate effects on students' well-being, but also that the effects after several hours are small.