Alexithymia is a multi-faceted construct consisting of: a) difficulties identifying and describing one's emotions, b) difficulty distinguishing emotional feelings from bodily sensations, c) an "externally-oriented thinking style" focused on external realities with limited self-reflective thought towards inner experience, and d) limited imagination and fantasy life (Nemiah et al., 1976).

While well-represented on clinical measures, co-speech gesture production has never been formally studied in autistic adults. Twenty-one verbally fluent autistic adults and 21 typically developing controls engaged in a controlled conversational task. Group differences were observed in both semantic/pragmatic and motoric features of spontaneously produced co-speech gestures. Autistic adults prioritized different functions of co-speech gesture. Specifically, they used gesture more than controls to facilitate conversational turn-taking, demonstrating a novel nonverbal strategy for regulating conversational dynamics. Autistic adults were more likely to gesture unilaterally than bilaterally, a motoric feature of gesture that was individually associated with autism symptoms. Co-speech gestures may provide a link between nonverbal communication symptoms and known differences in motor performance in autism.

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Measurements of second-harmonic electron cyclotron emission (ECE) were performed on T-10 with a new six-channel grating polychromator, based on the conical diffraction principle. From these measurements, highly time-resolved (25–200 μs) and space-resolved (Δx = 4 cm) direct information on the relative electron temperature was obtained. The temperature scale was calibrated by Thomson scattering and soft-X-ray measurements. Third-harmonic measurements confirmed the second-harmonic Te-profiles and from these measurements an effective wall reflection coefficient r = 0.85 for ECE radiation was deduced. Sawtooth activity gave direct information on the inversion radius, which is related to the q = 1 surface. The location of the q = 1 surface was also independently calculated from Te-profiles, using Spitzer's resistivity. The agreement between the two approaches is good, if one assumes proximity of the inversion layer and the q = 1 surface. The change of the temperature profile observed during the fast relaxation of a sawtooth excludes the evolution to a flat profile in T-10 as predicted by Kadomtsev's full reconnection model. For correlation between the central electron density ne(0), the plasma current I, and the sawtooth period ∇τsaw, the experimental scaling law ∇τsaw = (0.8 ± 0.1) × 10−36 /I was found for plasmas with Te(0) ≈ 1.2 keV. An analysis of the propagation of the heat pulse generated by internal disruptions gave an electron heat conductivity profile i n agreement with profiles deduced from power balance calculations. The absolute magnitude of the electron heat conductivity corresponds to 0.6 times the Alcator-INTOR value. The evolution of the electron temperature profile during first-harmonic ordinary-mode electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) is also given. It was observed for the first time that the sawteeth are stabilized during heating outside the q = 1 radius. Furthermore, it is concluded that not only does high-intensity ECRH heat the bulk of the resonant electrons, but additionally a small (⪅0.35%) population of suprathermal trapped electrons (Tst > 6 keV) is created. The effect of pellet injection on the temperature profile is also shown.

The results of electron cyclotron current drive experiments on the T-10 tokamak are presented.The total RF power was up to 2.5 MW, the electron temperature was up to 7 keV and the maximum driven current was 110 kA. The current drive efficiency qcD was approximately 0.1 A/W. The value of qcD and its dependence on the plasma parameters agree satisfactorily with the linear theory, corrected for the finite confinement time of resonant electrons. In discharges with large beta poloidal, ,9, = 3, complete replacement of the inductive current by non-inductive electron cyclotron current drive and bootstrap current was obtained.

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Results of the electron cyclotron current drive experiment at the second harmonic resonance on the T-10 tokamak are presented. High frequency (HF) power up to 1.2 MW was launched from the low field side. A maximum driven current of 35 kA and current drive efficiency ηCD = 0.05 A/W at an electron temperature Tc(O) = 4 keV and a density nc(0) = 1 × 1013 cm-3 were obtained. For low HF power, the current drive efficiency was less than predicted by the linear theory unless the effect of the elliptical polarization from non-perpendicular injection is considered, in which case the efficiency is close to the theoretical value. The experimental dependence of HF on the absorbed HF power indicated a strong increase of ηCD with power. Suppression of sawtooth oscillations and improvement of confinement during electron cyclotron heating has also been demonstrated

The ultrafast spatiotemporal dynamics of large-scale neural networks can be examined using resting-state EEG microstates, representing transient periods of synchronized neural activity that evolve dynamically over time. In adults, four canonical microstates have been shown to explain most topographic variance in resting-state electroencephalography (EEG). Their temporal structures are age-, sex- and state-dependent, and are susceptible to pathological brain states. However, no studies have assessed the spatial and temporal properties of EEG microstates exclusively during early childhood, a critical period of rapid brain development. Here we sought to investigate EEG microstates recorded with high-density EEG in a large sample of 103, 4-8-year-old children. Using data-driven k-means cluster analysis, we show that the four canonical microstates reported in adult populations already exist in early childhood. Using multiple linear regressions, we demonstrate that the temporal dynamics of two microstates are associated with age and sex. Source localization suggests that attention- and cognitive control-related networks govern the topographies of the age- and sex-dependent microstates. These novel findings provide unique insights into functional brain development in children captured with EEG microstates.