Brain circuits involved in understanding our own and other’s internal states in the context of romantic relationships

ABSTRACT

Social interactions require the capacity to understand both our and other’s internal states. These semi-independent skills, the ability to understand oneself and others, seem to rely on the same type of representations and recruit similar brain areas. In this study, we looked at the neural basis of self and other processing in the context of an interaction with a significant other. Fourty-two participants in a monogamous relationship completed an fMRI task in which they watched a set of video-vignettes of his/her romantic partner expressing emotional contents. Participants were asked to elaborate on his/her spouse´s experience (other condition) and on his/her own experience when watching the video-vignettes (self-condition). The results showed a significant overlap in the brain activation for both conditions (e.g. anterior insula, posterior cingulate/precuneus, inferior frontal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule). In addition, the self-condition recruited brain areas associated with interoceptive processing and affect sharing (e.g., posterior insula), whereas the other-condition engaged brain areas involved in the cognitive representation of another’s internal states and self-other distinction (e.g., fusiform, supramarginal gyrus, angular gyrus and temporoparietal junction).     

Social cognition and Reading comprehension in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders or typical development

BackgroundMany individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) exhibit social cognitive impairments in the development of theory of mind (ToM), or the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others. ToM has been shown to relate to reading comprehension for children and adolescents with typical development (TD) and with ASD. This study examined the relation between reading comprehension, word recognition, oral language, and ToM for higher-functioning children and adolescents with ASD (HFASD) as compared to those with TD.Method70 children with HFASD and 40 children with TD, aged 9–17 years, participated in the study. In order to describe the HFASD as compared to the TD sample, a series of ANOVAs and ANCOVAs were conducted. Multiple regression analyses were conducted with reading comprehension as the outcome variable. Separate regression models (TD & HFASD) were run with IQ, word recognition, oral language, and two ToM measures (Happé’s Strange Stories and the Silent Films Task) as predictors.ResultsThe TD group performed better than the HFASD group on all standardized and experimental measures. Regression analyses revealed that after controlling for IQ, word recognition, and oral language, both ToM measures predicted unique variance in reading comprehension in the HFASD, but not the TD, sample. Furthermore, the TD and HFASD groups displayed different patterns of significant predictors of reading comprehension.ConclusionsThis study suggests that in addition to oral language and higher-order linguistic comprehension, social cognition is an important factor to consider when designing reading interventions for students with ASD.     

The development of theory of mind: predictors and moderators of improvement in kindergarten

ABSTRACT

Theory of mind describes the ability to engage in perspective-taking, infer mental states, and predict intentions, behavior, and actions in others. Theory of mind performance is associated with foundational cognitive and socioemotional skills, including verbal ability (receptive and expressive vocabulary), executive function (inhibitory control and working memory), and emotion knowledge. In a sample of 354 children from low-income households, theory of mind and foundational skills were directly assessed before and after kindergarten. Results indicate emotion knowledge, inhibitory control, and expressive language predicted improvement in theory of mind. Expressive language also served as a moderator such that children with low expressive language failed to improve in theory of mind regardless of initial theory of mind performance.     

云南省昭通市巧家县地震后患者心理状态及心理恢复

目的:研究云南省昭通市巧家县地震后患者心理状态及心理恢复。方法:2014年8月23日到9月11日笔者和同事对巧家县共计258例就诊者进行前瞻性观察性研究,国际疾病伤害及死因分类标准第十版(ICD-10)分析抑郁、恐惧和品行障碍情况。结果:重伤和轻伤各个时间段之间心理状态差距具有统计学意义(χ2=12.522,P=0.000)。轻伤者心理状态较重伤者普遍好,恢复也快。两组入院和出院的品行障碍在组间和组内之间均无统计学差异(P0.05)。两组入院抑郁发作和广泛焦虑均无统计学差异(P0.05)。出院时重伤组与轻伤组相比具有统计学差异(t=3.243,P0.05)。重伤组和轻伤组入院和出院时相比具有统计学差异(t=4.531,P0.05)。结论:巧家县地震后重症和轻症患者心理状态均恢复良好,出院时比入院时心理恢复好。患者能很快恢复正常生活,以美好的心态迎接未来的人生。     

What is the role of motor simulation in action and object recognition? Evidence from apraxia

An important issue in contemporary cognitive neuroscience concerns the role of motor production processes in perceptual and conceptual analysis. To address this issue, we studied the performance of a large group of unilateral stroke patients across a range of tasks using the same set of common manipulable objects. All patients (n = 37) were tested for their ability to demonstrate the use of the objects, recognize the objects, recognize the corresponding object-associated pantomimes, and imitate those same pantomimes. At the group level we observed reliable correlations between object use and pantomime recognition, object use and object recognition, and pantomime imitation and pantomime recognition. At the single-case level, we document that the ability to recognize actions and objects dissociates from the ability to use those same objects. These data are problematic for the hypothesis that motor processes are constitutively involved in the recognition of actions and objects and frame new questions about the inferences that are merited by recent findings in cognitive neuroscience.     

Searching for the elusive neural substrates of body part terms: A neuropsychological study

Previous neuropsychological studies suggest that, compared to other categories of concrete entities, lexical and conceptual aspects of body part knowledge are frequently spared in brain-damaged patients. To further investigate this issue, we administered a battery of 12 tests assessing lexical and conceptual aspects of body part knowledge to 104 brain-damaged patients with lesions distributed throughout the telencephalon. There were two main outcomes. First, impaired oral naming of body parts, attributable to a disturbance of the mapping between lexical-semantic and lexical-phonological structures, was most reliably and specifically associated with lesions in the left frontal opercular and anterior/inferior parietal opercular cortices and in the white matter underlying these regions (8 patients). Also, 1 patient with body part anomia had a left occipital lesion that included the “extrastriate body area” (EBA). Second, knowledge of the meanings of body part terms was remarkably resistant to impairment, regardless of lesion site; in fact, we did not uncover a single patient who exhibited significantly impaired understanding of the meanings of these terms. In the 9 patients with body part anomia, oral naming of concrete entities was evaluated, and this revealed that 4 patients had disproportionately worse naming of body parts relative to other types of concrete entities. Taken together, these findings extend previous neuropsychological and functional neuroimaging studies of body part knowledge and add to our growing understanding of the nuances of how different linguistic and conceptual categories are operated by left frontal and parietal structures.     

The relationship between positive and negative automatic thought and activity in the prefrontal and temporal cortices: A multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) study

Background

Recently, neurobiological studies of the cognitive model of depression have become vastly more important, and a growing number of such studies are being reported. However, the relationship between the proportion of positive and negative automatic thought and activity in the prefrontal and temporal cortices has not yet been explored. We examined the relationship between brain activity and the proportion of positive and negative automatic thought in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), using multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).

Methods

We recruited 75 individuals with MDD (36 females; mean age=39.23±12.49). They completed the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire-Revised, Japanese version of the National Adult Reading Test, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Brain activation was measured by 52-channel NIRS.

Results

We found that activation in the vicinity of the right superior temporal gyrus is related to a deviation to negative of the proportion of positive and negative thoughts in individuals with MDD. Left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity was higher in the group with comparatively frequent positive thought.

Limitations

Our participants were patients taking antidepressant medication, which is known to influence brain activity. Second, the poor spatial resolution of NIRS increases the difficulty of identifying the measurement position.

Conclusions

We found that activation of the prefrontal and temporal cortices is related to the proportion of automatic thoughts in the cognitive model of depression.     

Theory of mind performance and prefrontal connectivity in adolescents at clinical high risk for psychosis

Theory of mind(ToM) impairment is a key feature of psychotic disorders and has been documented in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHR), suggesting that it may predate illness onset. However, no study to date has examined brain functional correlates of ToM in individuals at CHR during adolescence. The “Reading-the-Mind-in-the-Eyes” test was used to measure ToM performance in 50 CHR youth, 15 of whom transitioned to psychosis (CHR-t) at follow-up (12 ± 6 months) and 36 healthy volunteers. Resting-state functional MRI was acquired to evaluate functional connectivity within the default mode network. Group by age interaction revealed an age-positive association in ToM performance in healthy volunteers, which was not present in adolescents at CHR-t. Intrinsic functional connectivity in the medial prefrontal cortex was reduced in adolescents at CHR-t relative to those who did not transition and to healthy volunteers. Survival analyses revealed that participants at CHR with lower medial prefrontal cortex connectivity were at greatest risk of developing psychosis at follow-up. We demonstrate that lack of age-related maturation of ToM and reduced medial prefrontal cortex connectivity both precede the onset of psychosis during adolescence. Medial prefrontal cortex connectivity holds potential as a brain-based marker for the early identification of transition to psychosis.     

基于思维导图的培训在儿科门诊护士心肺复苏教学中的应用效果

目的:探讨基于思维导图的培训在儿科门诊护士心肺复苏教学中的应用效果。方法:选取2019年1月—2019年12月医院儿科门诊43名护理人员为研究对象,随机将其分为对照组21人和观察组22人,对照组采用常规培训方法进行心肺复苏教学,观察组采用基于思维导图的培训方法进行心肺复苏教学。比较两组护理人员培训后复苏理论知识、复苏技能及临床综合能力的变化。结果:培训后观察组儿科门诊护理人员心肺复苏理论成绩、心肺复苏按压技能、正压通气技能、电除颤操作技能评分均高于对照组(P<0.05),培训后观察组儿科门诊护理人员心肺复苏知识运用及理解能力、分析问题能力、评判性思维能力、临床与实践结合能力、自主学习能力及临床综合能力评分高于对照组(P<0.05)。结论:基于思维导图的培训不仅能提高儿科门诊护理人员心肺复苏知识及技能水平,同时有助于儿科护理人员综合急救能力的培养,进而提高心搏骤停患儿心肺复苏的成功率。     

具身认知理论的镜像训练对脑梗死上肢运动障碍的效果

目的 探索在具身认知视角下,改良镜像训练对脑梗死患者上肢运动障碍的影响以及对比一般镜像训练的效果差异。方法 选取2018年12月~2019年12月在成都中医药大学附属医院招募符合纳入排除标准的80例脑梗死偏瘫患者,利用计算机随机法将其分为试验组（改良镜像训练组）和对照组（一般镜像训练组）,每组各40例。试验组和对照组均遵循基础治疗及护理方案,在施行此方案的基础上,试验组运用改良镜像训练,对照组应用一般镜像训练。在干预前、干预4周后进行简化Fugl Meyer运动功能评分法上肢部分(FMA UE)、Brunnstrom分级评定、改良Barthel指数（MBI）的评定。结果 干预4周后,两组FMA UE、偏瘫Brunnstrom 分级、MBI评分均比干预前有明显的提高,且试验组各项评分均显著高于对照组,差异存在统计学意义（P＜0.05）。结论 基于具身认知理论的改良镜像训练和一般镜像训练均能安全有效地促进脑梗死偏瘫病人上肢运动功能的恢复,同时加快病人上肢Brunnstrom 分期运动康复进程,从而进一步提高其日常生活活动能力;并且基于具身认知理论的改良镜像训练在脑梗死偏瘫病人上肢运动功能及整体康复方面的干预效果均显著优于一般镜像训练。