In this study, we compared executive functioning in 32 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) individuals with that of normally aging controls. Cognitive planning tests (Trail Making, Porteus Maze Test, verbal fluency tests) show a group difference favoring the normal controls, but tests for inhibition of prepotent responses (no-go accuracy, two measures of the Stroop effect, and negative priming) failed to uncover a significant group difference. The results indicate that there is no general executive control function impairment in MCI; rather, the deficits found are compatible with the hypothesis that MCI is an accelerated form of normal aging.

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Associations between corresponding stimulus-response locations are often characterized as overlearned, producing automatic activation. However, 84 practice trials with an incompatible mapping eliminate the benefit for spatial correspondence in a transfer Simon task, where stimulus location is irrelevant. The authors examined whether transfer occurs for combinations of physical-location, arrow-direction, and location-word modes in the practice and transfer sessions. With 84 practice trials, the Simon effect was reduced for locations and arrows, and there was complete transfer across these modes; location words showed little transfer within or between modes. These results suggest that the acquired short-term associations were based on visual-spatial stimulus codes distinct from semantic-spatial codes activated by the words. With 600 practice trials, words showed transfer to word and arrow but not location Simon tasks, suggesting that arrows share semantic-spatial codes with words. Reaction-time distribution functions for the Simon effect showed distinct shapes for each stimulus mode, with little impact of the practiced mapping on the shapes. Thus, the contribution of the short-term location associations seems to be separate from that of the long-term associations responsible for the Simon effect.

It has been suggested that combined effect of natural products may improve the treatment effectiveness in combating proliferation of cancer cells. Here, we examined the combined anticancer activities of compounds of three natural origin including baicalein, curcumin, and resveratrol with chemotherapy drug paclitaxel respectively, which showed that combination of paclitaxel with curcumin exhibited synergistic growth inhibition and induced significant apoptosis in MCF-7 cell lines. Treatment of MCF-7 cell lines with paclitaxel and curcumin induced the apoptosis of regulatory protein Bcl-2 but decreased Bax expression. In addition, simultaneous treatment with paclitaxel and curcumin strongly inhibited paclitaxel-induced activities of EGFR signaling. Furthermore, the combination of paclitaxel and curcumin exerted increased anti-tumor efficacy on mouse models. Overall, our data described the promising therapeutic potential and underlying mechanisms of combining paclitaxel with curcumin in treating breast cancer.