Verbal adynamia in parkinsonian syndromes: behavioral correlates and neuroanatomical substrate

ABSTRACT

Verbal adynamia (impaired language generation, as during conversation) has not been assessed systematically in parkinsonian disorders. We addressed this in patients with Parkinson’s dementia, progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration. All disease groups showed impaired verbal fluency and sentence generation versus healthy age-matched controls, after adjusting for general linguistic and executive factors. Dopaminergic stimulation in the Parkinson’s group selectively improved verbal generation versus other cognitive functions. Voxel-based morphometry identified left inferior frontal and posterior superior temporal cortical correlates of verbal generation performance. Verbal adynamia warrants further evaluation as an index of language network dysfunction and dopaminergic state in parkinsonian disorders.     

The role of Tai Chi,cultural dancing,playing a musical instrument and singing in the prevention of chronic disease in Chinese older adults: a mind–body meditative approach

Older adults with chronic diseases have a high level of depression and poor mental health status. Previous public health interventions have attempted to reduce chronic disease-related health risks including depression and to improve mental health, but have had limited success. This study examined whether 15 months of regular participation in Tai Chi (TC) exercise, dancing, instrument playing and singing, as part of a mind–body meditative approach (MBMA), improves brain executive function, psychological functioning and mental health in Chinese older adults. Results indicated that the MBMA programme improved participants' executive function, psychological functioning, mental health and resilience, compared with a control group. These findings indicate that MBMA activities may be adopted as lifestyle approaches to promote mental health in different areas as follows: (1) TC and dancing have the biggest effect for reducing the prevalence of depression and for improving their mental health and resilience in older people with chronic conditions and (2) playing a musical instrument and singing have moderate effect for reducing depression symptoms and promoting mental health. The findings of the study suggest that there are mental health promotion implications relating to exercise type and minimal exercise dosage for older adults. Cultural dancing and TC may be a form of physical activity that is more likely to appeal to older people, when they are most at risk of being overweight or obese, of suffering from depression and/or of experiencing a decline in brain function. TC has been found to be highly effective in preventing depression and promoting brain executive function, and appears to be a form of physical activity that appeals to older people. Dancing, in combination with TC and singing, may be highly effective in protecting older adults from metabolic syndrome and brain function decline and in promoting a positive quality of life including psychological health. Playing a musical instrument may be used as an alternative method for maintaining good mental health in healthy people and for promoting mental health in people suffering from stress and its related depression and anxiety.     

Contribution of β-phenethylamine, a component of chocolate and wine, to dopaminergic neurodegeneration： implications for the pathogenesis of Parkinson＇s disease

While the cause of dopaminergic neuronal cell death in Parkinson＇s disease（PD）is not yet understood,many endogenous molecules have been implicated in its pathogenesis.β-phenethylamine（β-PEA）,a component of various food items including chocolate and wine,is an endogenous molecule produced from phenylalanine in the brain.It has been reported recently that long-term administration ofβ-PEA in rodents causes neurochemical and behavioral alterations similar to that produced by parkinsonian neurotoxins.The toxicity ofβ-PEA has been linked to the production of hydroxyl radical（.OH）and the generation of oxidative stress in dopaminergic areas of the brain,and this may be mediated by inhibition of mitochondrial complex-I.Another significant observation is that administration ofβ-PEA to rodents reduces striatal dopamine content and induces movement disorders similar to those of parkinsonian rodents.However,no reports are available on the extent of dopaminergic neuronal cell death after administration ofβ-PEA.Based on the literature,we set out to establishβ-PEA as an endogenous molecule that potentially contributes to the progressive development of PD.The sequence of molecular events that could be responsible for dopaminergic neuronal cell death in PD by consumption ofβ-PEA-containing foods is proposed here.Thus,long-term over-consumption of food items containingβ-PEA could be a neurological risk factor having significant pathological consequences.     

Forms of bullying reported by middle-school students in Latin America and the Caribbean

Nationally representative data from more than 25,000 middle-school students in 15 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean who participated in the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) between 2004 and 2009 were analyzed. The proportion of students by country who reported being the victim of a bully in the past month ranged from 17% to 39%. None of the countries had statistically significant differences in bullying prevalence by sex. For girls, the most common form of bullying reported in 14 countries was appearance-based (‘made fun of because of how the body or face looks’). For boys, physical aggression (‘being hit, kicked, pushed, shoved around, or locked indoors’) was the most common form in 10 countries and appearance-based bullying was the most common form reported in 4 countries. School-based anti-bullying efforts in this region must address a variety of bullying mechanisms as well as contributing factors such as body dissatisfaction.     

Life satisfaction and cardiovascular disease risk in Poland

Introduction

Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death. Life satisfaction is a predictor of morbidity and mortality, irrespectively of objective measures of health status. The aim of the study was to evaluate the relationship between life satisfaction (LS) and cardiovascular disease risk (CVD) assessed with the Framingham Risk Score (FRS) in Polish adults.

Material and methods

Past, present and projected LS were estimated. The FRS reflecting 10-year CVD risk was calculated from health indices and lifestyle parameters. Relationships between LS and FRS were tested by two-way analysis of variance in 489 men and 591 women, 40–50 years of age.

Results

Subjects with a reduction in LS over time had a higher FRS compared to peers with an improvement in LS. The relationship between current LS and FRS had a J-shape in men; FRS was lowest in men with an LS of 5–7 (average LS), slightly higher in men with an LS of 8–10 (highest LS), and highest in men with an LS of 1–4 (lowest LS). Among women, there was an inverse linear relationship between LS and FRS: the higher the LS, the lower FRS. There was a strong linear relationship between predicted LS and CVD risk. Highest risk was evident in subjects with low LS in whom low LS was predicted over the next five years.

Conclusions

Low LS (dissatisfaction) thus has a long-term negative effect on CVD risk in Polish adults of both sexes.     

体现中医诊疗特点的人体功能检测系统的研究进展

体现中医诊疗特点的人体功能检测系统理论研究表明,机体单位时间内从外界摄取并消化吸收的供能物质量、单位时间内为维持五脏功能消耗的能量和单位时间体内存储供能物质的耗散量3个指标能全面反映人体生理和病理状态的改变.基于这一理论,通过中医症状分类的重新认识以及中医症状的生命特征、中医症状单元、中医症状的属性等几方面的研究数据,可以实现中医症状信息的仪器检测,而这一人体功能检测将会实现中医诊法的延伸,补充中医症状的内容,并有望成为中医疗效评价的定量检测手段.     

Report on the European Association of Body Psychotherapy: Bodies of Knowledge: Resources for a World in Crisis

The heterogeneous field of body oriented psychotherapy (BOP) provides a range of unique contributions for the treatment of mental disorders. Practice based clinical evidence and a few empirical studies point towards good efficacy of these non-verbal intervention strategies. This is particularly relevant for those disorders with body image aberration and other body-related psychopathology, but also for mental disorders with limited treatment response to traditional talking therapies, e.g. somatoform disorders/medically unexplained syndromes, PTSD, anorexia nervosa or chronic schizophrenia. However, the evidence base is not yet sufficiently developed in order to get BOP recognised as suitable mainstream treatment by national health services and their commissioning bodies. Strong academic links are urgently required in order to support practitioners in their efforts to evaluate the clinical work in systematic research. The field would greatly benefit from the development of international higher education training in integrated clinical body psychotherapy, enabling practitioners to obtain a master's degree. From a scientific perspective, projects on the interface between neuroscience and psychotherapy research should be conducted in order to understand more fully the therapeutic processes in BOP, particularly with regard to emotional processing, movement behaviour and body/self perception. Qualitative research is needed to further investigate the specific interactive therapeutic relationship, the dynamics of touch in psychotherapy and the additional self-helping potential of creative/arts therapy components. Provided that these requirements will be fulfilled, BOP could be established as one of the main psychotherapeutic modalities in clinical care, alongside other mainstream schools such as psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioural and systemic.     

The body as theatre of passions and conflicts: Affects,emotions, and defences

We can say that emotions and affects, as well as psychological defences against anxieties, find their channels of expression through the body and movements in ways that often are hidden or not immediately obvious. This paper will address the ways in which Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) (1950), and the studies by Kestenberg (1975 Kestenberg, JS. 1975. Children and parents: Psychoanalytic studies in development, New York: Jason Aronson.  [Google Scholar], 1977, 1999 Kestenberg, JS, Amighi, J, Loman, S, Lewis, P and Sossin, KM. 1999. The meaning of movement. Developmental and clinical perspectives of the KMP, The Netherlands: Gordon and Breach.  [Google Scholar]), Bartenieff (1980 Bartenieff, I and Lewis, D. 1980. Body movement: Coping with the environment, Amsterdam: Gordon and Breach Publishers.  [Google Scholar]), Whitehouse (1979 Whitehouse, MS. 1979. “C. G. Jung and Dance Therapy, Two Major Principles”. In Authentic movement: Essays by Mary Starks Whitehouse, Janet Adler and Joan Chodorow, Edited by: Pallaro, P. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 1999 [Google Scholar], 1988), and Chodorow (2001 Chodorow, J. 2001. Emotions and the archetypal imagination Presented at the National Conference of Jungian Analysts, February [Google Scholar]) can be used to facilitate the understanding of the psychodynamic processes at their source, regarding emotions/affects in relation to the defence mechanisms. In a Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) setting, processes like identification, body empathy, and somatic countertransference are some of the tools to understand and to give meaning to the client's clinical issues, according to the developmental level of their needs. A specific quality of attention, respect, and containment is required for the creation of trust. The capacity to observe, to “witness” (Adler, 1987 Adler, J. 1987. “Who is the witness”. In Authentic movement: Essays by Mary Starks Whitehouse, Janet Adler and Joan Chodorow, Edited by: Pallaro, P. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 1999 [Google Scholar]), and to “listen” deeply offers a way to work with the subtle nuances of movement expression and to understand their hidden meaning in a therapeutic way.     

The self-healing forest: Between self-regulation and dyadic regulation

Throughout the history of body psychotherapy, self-regulation in general and somatic self-regulation in particular were a central concept. This study examines the development of theoretical, clinical and applicatory aspects of self- and dyadic regulation through academic, clinical and personal accounts. It explores the presuppositions behind self-regulation and proposes that dyadic regulation, which is based on intersubjectivity, has both regressive and generative aspects. Thus, this study links psychoanalytic thinking with systemic theory and contemporary body psychotherapeutic principles. This study is based on a talk given in the 13th EABP conference in Cambridge.     

The rationale behind a Dance Movement Psychotherapy intervention used in a small research pilot in a further education context to develop awareness about young people's body image

This study includes some of the comments from a small piece of quantitative research conducted in a British Further Education College. It was designed to investigate young people's experience of a Dance and Movement Psychotherapy intervention in relation to their body awareness and their body image.