The ways in which humour can be used are related to the manifold interpersonal functions humour can serve, some of which are positive, and some negative. In the present study, phasic changes in the functional coupling of prefrontal and posterior cortex (EEG coherence) during other people’s auditory displays of happy and sad mood were recorded to predict people’s typical use of humour in social interactions. Greater use of benevolent humour, the intentions of which are in keeping with the characteristics of “laughing-with” humour, was associated with greater decreases of prefrontal-posterior coupling during the processing of happy laughter. More loose prefrontal-posterior coupling indicates loosening of control of the prefrontal cortex over the incoming perceptual information, thereby opening up the perceptual gate and allowing the brain to become more affected by the social-emotional signals. Greater use of humour styles linked to malicious intentions of “laughing-at” humour was associated with responses indicating a wider opened perceptual gate during the processing of other people’s crying. The findings are consistent with the idea that typical humour styles develop in line with the rewarding values of their outcomes (e.g., interaction partners are happy or hurt), which in turn are defined through the individuals’ latent interpersonal goals.

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions. Nomenclatural and distribution updates published elsewhere are provided as Suppl. material 1.

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92 infants were studied in order to determine the prognostic value of bioelectric brain maturity assessment during newborn period. Psychomotor development was followed up until infants were at least one year old. Infants with abnormal follow-up examination findings showed a statistically significant retardation of "EEG-maturity" in comparison with infants who developed normally. The more unfavourable the psychomotor development was, the more immature was the EEG-pattern. The prognosis of 6 infants whose "EEG-maturity" was extremely retarded (= 4 weeks immature) was severe; their follow-up examination revealed either definite pathological findings or severe cerebral damage. All newborns whose abnormal electroencephalogram recording did not allow assessment of "EEG-maturity" developed severe cerebral damage. Comparing the prognostic value of risk factors with the bioelectric brain maturity the last method proved to be more valuable. Especially in infants with perinatal hypoxia this method showed the highest prognostic value.

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