Cognitive development in children with chronic protein energy malnutrition

Background  

Malnutrition is associated with both structural and functional pathology of the brain. A wide range of cognitive deficits has been reported in malnourished children. Effect of chronic protein energy malnutrition (PEM) causing stunting and wasting in children could also affect the ongoing development of higher cognitive processes during childhood (>5 years of age). The present study examined the effect of stunted growth on the rate of development of cognitive processes using neuropsychological measures.     

Dissociation of neural correlates of verbal and non-verbal visual working memory with different delays

Background  

Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), posterior parietal cortex, and regions in the occipital cortex have been identified as neural sites for visual working memory (WM). The exact involvement of the DLPFC in verbal and non-verbal working memory processes, and how these processes depend on the time-span for retention, remains disputed.     

On the Importance of Knowing Your Partner’s Views: Attitude Familiarity is Associated with Better Interpersonal Functioning and Lower Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Daily Life

Background  

Relationships have been linked to significant physical health outcomes. However, little is known about the more specific processes that might be responsible for such links.     

The relevance of social anxiety for understanding social functioning and facial emotion recognition in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis

Aim

Individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis often experience poor social functioning and impaired facial emotion recognition (FER); however, the impact of frequently comorbid symptoms upon these processes is underexplored. In particular, social anxiety is characteristic of this population and also related to poor social functioning and FER biases, such as misinterpreting neutral faces as negative or threatening; however, little is known about how social anxiety relates to these processes in CHR individuals. The present study examined the overlap of social anxiety, social functioning, and FER accuracy and bias.

Method

Participants (CHR N = 62, healthy controls N = 52) completed the self-report Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), Penn Emotion Recognition-40 (ER-40) behavioural task, and interviewer-rated Global Functioning Scale-Social (GFS-S). The ER-40 was used to assess both FER accuracy (e.g., overall number of correct responses) and bias (e.g., mislabelling neutral faces as angry).

Results

Consistent with previous research, relative to controls, CHR participants had more social anxiety (d = −1.07), poorer social functioning (d = −1.62), and performed more poorly on the FER task (e.g., d = −.37). Within CHR participants, social anxiety was related to an anger detection bias (r = .28), above and beyond positive symptom severity, which in turn was related to FER accuracy (r = .26) and social functioning (r = −.28).

Conclusion

These findings suggest that ongoing work examining social processes within CHR individuals needs to account for social anxiety and that social anxiety may be a useful preventive intervention target.     

EEG correlates of verbal and nonverbal working memory

Background  

Distinct cognitive processes support verbal and nonverbal working memory, with verbal memory depending specifically on the subvocal rehearsal of items.     

The presentation order of cue and target matters in deception study

Background  

Two experimental procedures (cue-target and target-cue) were used in studying the processes of deception. How the task will affect participants' performances is not clear. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of the order of presentation of cue and target on the processes of deception.     

Sleep and Inflammation: Psychoneuroimmunology in the Context of Cardiovascular Disease

Background  

Poor sleep is prospectively linked to all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Inflammatory processes may be an important biological mechanism linking poor sleep to cardiovascular disease. Such processes involve active participation of signaling molecules called cytokines in development of atherosclerotic plaques.     

Implicit Attitudes and Explicit Motivation Prospectively Predict Physical Activity

Background  

Contemporary approaches to physical activity motivation and promotion focus on explicit motivational processes which regulate intentional physical activity. Less is known about the role of implicit processes, which may be instrumental in regulating habitual aspects of unintentional (i.e., incidental) physical activity (PA).     

Adoption, adolescence et difficultés de comportement : quels facteurs de risque ?

Objective

To explore the impact of the age at adoption, gender and country from origin in developing problem behaviours for adopted adolescents.

Patients

Three hundred and fifty-eight adolescents adopted in Quebec from 1985 aged from 12- to 18-year-old.

Methods

Parents-reported and self-reported questionnaires on problem behaviours, and information about adoption (date and country).

Results

We found that adolescents that have been adopted lately and from Eastern Europe were the most vulnerable to problem behaviours. We identify problems related to adoption in itself and problems related to age at adoption and country from origin. But if children are adopted before 6 months or between 12 and 24 months, the country of origin has no impact on problem behaviours.

Conclusion

It appears that there are two critical periods in which children are more vulnerable for change related to adoption. The first is between 6 to 12 months, when differentiated relationships are created, and the second one appears to be after 24 months, during the stabilization of attachment processes.     

Validity of Processes of Change in Physical Activity Among College Students in the TIGER Study

Objective  

To test the factorial validity and measurement equivalence/invariance of scales used to measure processes of change derived from the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) applied to physical activity.     

Delayed inhibition of an anticipatory action during motion extrapolation

Background  

Continuous visual information is important for movement initiation in a variety of motor tasks. However, even in the absence of visual information people are able to initiate their responses by using motion extrapolation processes. Initiation of actions based on these cognitive processes, however, can demand more attentional resources than that required in situations in which visual information is uninterrupted. In the experiment reported we sought to determine whether the absence of visual information would affect the latency to inhibit an anticipatory action.     

Behavioral and experiential avoidance in patients with hoarding disorder

Background and objectives

This study examined the relationship between experiential and behavioral avoidance and hoarding symptom severity, controlling for anxiety and depression symptoms, in 66 adult individuals (M age = 61.41; SD = 9.03) with HD.

Methods

Hierarchical regression was used to test the associations between hoarding severity, as defined by the Savings Inventory-Revised (SI-R) total and its three subscales, and avoidance, as defined by the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire II (AAQ-II) and two scales from the Brief COPE (Self-Distraction and Behavioral Disengagement) when controlling for anxiety and depression symptoms.

Results

Experiential avoidance (AAQ-II) and behavioral avoidance (Brief COPE subscales Self-Distraction and Behavioral Disengagement) uniquely accounted for aspects of hoarding severity (SI-R) in regression models. Behavioral avoidance contributed significant additional variance to the SI-R Clutter subscale, whereas experiential avoidance was uniquely predictive of additional variance in the SI-R Difficulty Discarding and the SI-R Acquisition subscales.

Limitations

Future research should examine the effect of experiential avoidance on hoarding behaviors experimentally.

Conclusions

Given that the AAQ-II and Self-Distraction and Behavioral Disengagement subscales were not correlated, these findings suggest that experiential and behavioral avoidance are two distinct processes contributing to the severity of specific HD. Results support the utility of avoidance in the cognitive-behavioral model for HD.     

Depressive Symptoms,Trait Aggression,and Cardiovascular Reactivity to a Laboratory Stressor

Background  

Depression and anger/aggression-related traits are thought to promote coronary disease, at least in part, through their associations with stress-related cardiovascular processes. It is unclear whether the effects of these factors on cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) are redundant, additive, or synergistic.     

CSF Catecholamine Profile in Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Patients with Neurogenic Cardiomyopathy

Background  

Patients experiencing apoplectic intracranial processes may develop neurogenic cardiomyopathy (NC). The purpose of this research is to determine whether cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) catecholamine levels are elevated in subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) patients with NC when compared to those without NC.     

Inflammation in rat pups subjected to short hyperthermic seizures enhances brain long-term excitability

Inflammatory processes in response to infection are involved in the pathophysiological mechanisms of febrile seizures (FS). Prolonged FS may promote the development of temporal lobe epilepsy. It has been shown in rats that prolonged hyperthermic seizures (HS) are followed by long-term modification of brain excitability. To examine whether short FS results in modification of brain excitability, we induced an inflammatory response in combination with short HS.

Methods

HS were induced in rat pups at either P11 or P16 using a heating lamp with a continuous monitoring of the core temperature. Rat pups were maintained at the temperature seizure threshold during 5 min. In order to induce an inflammatory response, lipopolysaccharide (LPS, Eschericha coli 055:B5) was injected i.p. at 5 μg/kg or 50 μg/kg, 2 h prior seizure induction. After 1 month, pentylenetetrazol threshold (PTZth) was used to assess the change of brain excitability. Histological studies were performed 24 h after the FS (Fluorojade-B) and after the PTZth (cresyl violet).

Results

The temperature thresholds to induce the seizures were not different among the groups. The PTZth was not significantly different between sham and FS only groups, and decreased dose-dependently when LPS was combined to FS. Histological studies suggested the absence of cell injury.

Conclusion

Lower PTZth obtained by using LPS in combination with HS in rat pups suggests a change in brain excitability. Our model with only 5 min of HS in combination with LPS suggests that an inflammatory response could, in part, explain long-term change in brain excitability following short FS.     

Body-related cognitions,affect and post-event processing in body dysmorphic disorder

Background and objectives

Cognitive behavioural models postulate that individuals with BDD engage in negative appearance-related appraisals and affect. External representations of one's appearance are thought to activate a specific mode of processing characterized by increased self-focused attention and an activation of negative appraisals and affect.

Methods

The present study used a think-aloud approach including an in vivo body exposure to examine body-related cognitions and affect in individuals with BDD (n = 30), as compared to individuals with major depression (n = 30) and healthy controls (n = 30). Participants were instructed to think aloud during baseline, exposure and follow-up trials.

Results

Individuals with BDD verbalized more body-related and more negative body-related cognitions during all trials and reported higher degrees of negative affect than both control groups. A weaker increase of positive body-related cognitions during exposure, a stronger increase of sadness and anger after exposure and higher levels of post-event processing, were specific processes in individuals with BDD.

Limitations

Individuals with major depression were not excluded from the BDD group. This is associated with a reduction of internal validity, as the two clinical groups are somewhat interwoven. Key findings need to be replicated.

Conclusion

The findings indicate that outcomes such as negative appearance-related cognitions and affect are specific to individuals with BDD. An external representation of one's appearance activates a specific mode of processing in BDD, manifesting itself in the absence of positive body-related cognitions, increased anger and sadness, and high levels of post-event processing. These specific processes may contribute toward maintenance of BDD psychopathology.     

Prevalence of early childhood disability in a rural district of Sind,Pakistan

Aim

Children born in low‐ and mid‐income countries are at a high risk of developing disabilities, yet estimates of population‐based prevalence are sparse. Our aim was to determine the prevalence of early childhood (0–5 year) disability in Sind, a rural area of Pakistan.

Method

We conducted a cross‐sectional household survey in a population of 25 196 households. The Ten Questions screen and the Signs of Disability in Newborn and Infants screen were used.

Results

The disability prevalence in a population of 176 364 individuals was 5.5 out of 1000 in children under 2 years and 5.4 out of 1000 in children aged 2–5 years. Fifty‐six per cent were males, and 56% had the disability recognized from birth or soon after. The mortality rate of children aged 0–5 years in the area was estimated as 30 out of 1000 live births. Cerebral palsy was the most common disability identified. The Ten Questions screen had better interrater agreement than the Signs of Disability in Newborn and Infants screen.

Interpretation

This is the largest reported household screening survey for early childhood disability at a population level from rural Pakistan. The comparatively low prevalence may be due to the younger age studied and high early childhood mortality. Our data highlight the importance of prospective surveillance at a population level and the need for preventive and support services.     

Relationship of social factors including trust,control over life decisions,problems with transport and safety,to psychological distress in the community

Purpose  

Psychological distress encompasses anxiety and depression with the previous studies showing that psychological distress is unequally distributed across population groups. This paper explores the mechanisms and processes which may affect the distribution of psychological distress, including a range of individual and community level socioeconomic determinants.     

Hypometabolism of the left middle/medial frontal lobe on FDG-PET in anti–NMDA receptor encephalitis: Comparison with MRI and EEG findings

Objectives

To investigate changes in brain-glucose metabolism in anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis, and compare results with MRI and electroencephalography (EEG) findings at different disease stages.

Methods

The clinical data of 18 patients (median age, 35 years; 11 men) were retrospectively collected. Patients were divided into groups based on the time of symptom onset to examination, (≤1 month, >1 but ≤3 months, >3 months). Two-sample t-test results were compared with age and sex-paired healthy controls using statistical parametric mapping and verified using a NeuroQ software normal database with a discriminating z-score of 2.

Results

Abnormal patterns on FDG-PET differed over time (T = 3.21–8.74, Z = 2.68–4.23, p < 0.005). Regional analysis showed hypometabolic left middle or medial frontal cortex in 4/5, 5/7, and 5/6 patients, respectively. Time-subgroup analysis revealed hypermetabolic supertemporal cortex in 4/5, 5/7, and 2/6, patients, respectively. MRI and EEG abnormalities in any region and stage occurred in 10/18 and 10/16 patients, respectively. MRI and EEG time-subgroup analysis showed abnormalities in 5/9, 4/5, and 1/4, and 1/3, 6/7, and 3/6 patients, respectively. Abnormal temporal lobes were detected most frequently in MRI analyses and occurred in 3/10 patients.

Conclusions

Decreased left middle/medial frontal metabolism could be common to all stages. Metabolism in other regions, MRI, and EEG results were associated with the progression of anti-NMDAR encephalitis. The sensitivity rate of FDG-PET was superior to that of MRI and EEG.