Do fixation cues ensure fixation accuracy in split-fovea studies of word recognition?

Many studies have claimed that hemispheric processing is split precisely at the foveal midline and so place great emphasis on the precise location at which words are fixated. These claims are based on experiments in which a variety of fixation procedures were used to ensure fixation accuracy but the effectiveness of these procedures is unclear. We investigated this issue using procedures matched to the original studies and an eye-tracker to monitor the locations actually fixated. Four common types of fixation cues were used: cross, two vertical gapped lines, two vertical gapped lines plus a secondary task in which a digit was presented at the designated fixation point, and a dot. Accurate fixations occurred on <35% of trials for all fixation conditions. Moreover, despite the usefulness often attributed to a secondary task, no increase in fixation accuracy was produced in this condition. The indications are that split-fovea theory should not assume that fixation of specified locations occurs in experiments without appropriate eye-tracking control or, indeed, that consistent fixation of specified locations is plausible under normal conditions of word recognition.     

Preserved recognition in a case of developmental amnesia: implications for the acquisition of semantic memory?

We report the performance on recognition memory tests of Jon, who, despite amnesia from early childhood, has developed normal levels of performance on tests of intelligence, language, and general knowledge. Despite impaired recall, he performed within the normal range on each of six recognition tests, but he appears to lack the recollective phenomenological experience normally associated with episodic memory. His recall of previously unfamiliar newsreel events was impaired, but gained substantially from repetition over a 2-day period. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that the recollective process of episodic memory is not necessary either for recognition or for the acquisition of semantic knowledge.     

Transitional object use in adolescence: a developmental phenomenon or a sign of problems?

Background: Transitional object (TO) use is suggested to be related with various health problems. Prolonged TO use in adolescence is quite common, and research on its associations with health and psychosocial wellbeing is relevant because it does not necessarily represent pathologies in this age group.

Aims: To investigate the role of transitional phenomena and attachment to an inanimate object in adolescence, possible explanatory variables were studied, including sociodemographic and psychosocial factors and self-image.

Methods: The study group consisted of 992 subjects (433 boys and 559 girls), mean age 14.5 years (SD?=?0.5), who were studying at comprehensive schools in the City of Turku, Finland. Information about the TO use and background data were collected with a semi-structured questionnaire. Mental distress and self-esteem were assessed by the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (OSIQ).

Results: The multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that, in the whole study group, significant explanatory factors for the TO use included female gender (p?p?=?0.008), and, of the OSIQ sub-scales, low Emotional Health (p?=?0.006). For girls, significant explanatory factors for the TO use were pain and aches (p?=?0.003) and low Emotional Health (p?=?0.002). For boys, the only statistically significant explanatory factor was pain and aches (p?=?0.02).

Conclusions: The TO may serve as a soothing element for somatoform pain symptoms in adolescence. Identifying of the TO use may help one see an adolescent’s possible distress, symptoms of pains, and problems in psychological resilience.     

Components of recognition memory: dissociable cognitive processes or just differences in representational complexity?

Many current theoretical views within the literature on recognition memory-a representative sample of which is provided by the present special issue-advocate the dissociation of recognition memory into two cognitive processes: familiarity-based recognition, and recollection/recall. Furthermore, these processes are proposed to be mediated by distinct and dissociable anatomical regions, usually the perirhinal cortex and hippocampus, respectively. In this article, we describe a representational-hierarchical view that provides an account of cognition, including mnemonic and perceptual processing, within a brain pathway we term the ventral visual-perirhinal-hippocampal stream. According to this view cognition, perception, memory, and indeed amnesia may be understood by considering the content and organization of stimulus representations in the brain. Taking this view leads us to question the idea of cognitive modules for introspectively derived notions such as familiarity and recollection. We begin by reviewing the representational-hierarchical framework, explain how it has been used to account for object recognition memory in perirhinal cortex, and review the rationale for extending this framework to the hippocampus. We then discuss whether the principles of the representational-hierarchical framework can be used to understand recollection and familiarity in terms of stimulus complexity, and use these principles to reconsider some of the evidence for neuroanatomical, dual-process models of recognition memory.     

Mother to infant or infant to mother? Reciprocal regulation of responsiveness to stress in rodents and the implications for humans

Optimal early development in most species is dependent upon a stable relationship between the mother and her infant. The research described here focuses on the reciprocal nature of this dyad in rodents and humans, with respect to the regulation of responsiveness to stress in both mother and offspring. Dietary influences are critical not only to regulate infant growth but also to modulate the response of the neuroendocrine system to stress and, possibly, to influence some aspects of brain development. In particular, we discuss the role of leptin, a protein produced in the adipose tissue and present in maternal milk, that reduces responses to stress in the infant. We suggest that leptin acts on both central (hypothalamus and hippocampus) and peripheral (pituitary, adrenal gland) targets in the infant to reduce exposure to glucocorticoids and enhance hippocampal development during a sensitive period of brain development. There is also evidence to support the reverse regulatory influence, in which maternal state is profoundly affected by stimulation from the young. During the period of lactation, mothers exhibit lower neuroendocrine and behavioural responses to several types of stressors, except possibly those representing a threat to the infant. This ability to "filter" relevant from irrelevant stimuli while caring for their young might be viewed as adaptive for the mother-infant dyad, and the inability to filter adequately stressful stimuli could at least in part be associated with the development of postpartum depression.     

Confrontation naming in normally developing children: Word-retrieval or word knowledge?

This study presents normative data on the Boston Naming Test (BNT) for 382 normally developing children as a framework for evaluating what the BNT measures: word-retrieval or vocabulary. A Revised Children's BNT is proposed based on item analyses of the 212 boys' responses. Some BNT items were part of the boys' vocabulary at all ages, some entered their working vocabulary with age, some were affected by age and experience, and others were not part of the boys' working vocabulary at any age. Error analyses revealed that the pattern of errors in the boys differed from that of adult aphasics. Two error types, semantic and circumlocution, accounted for 82% of the boys' errors whereas three types characterize adult aphasics: semantic, phonemic, and circumlocution. The boys made semantic errors most frequently on age-related items; circumlocution errors were made on items that were not part of their working vocabulary. Suggestions for evaluating aphasic-like errors are presented.     

Through your eyes or mine? The neural correlates of mental state recognition in Huntington's disease

Huntington's disease (HD) can impair social cognition. This study investigated whether patients with HD exhibit neural differences to healthy controls when they are considering mental and physical states relating to the static expressions of human eyes. Thirty‐two patients with HD and 28 age‐matched controls were scanned with fMRI during two versions of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task: The standard version requiring mental state judgments, and a comparison version requiring judgments about age. HD was associated with behavioral deficits on only the mental state eyes task. Contrasting the two versions of the eyes task (mental state > age judgment) revealed hypoactivation within left middle frontal gyrus and supramarginal gyrus in HD. Subgroup analyses comparing premanifest HD patients to age‐matched controls revealed reduced activity in right supramarginal gyrus and increased activity in anterior cingulate during mental state recognition in these patients, while manifest HD was associated with hypoactivity in left insula and left supramarginal gyrus. When controlling for the effects of healthy aging, manifest patients exhibited declining activation within areas including right temporal pole. Our findings provide compelling evidence for a selective impairment of internal emotional status when patients with HD appraise facial features in order to make social judgements. Differential activity in temporal and anterior cingulate cortices may suggest that poor emotion regulation and emotional egocentricity underlie impaired mental state recognition in premanifest patients, while more extensive mental state recognition impairments in manifest disease reflect dysfunction in neural substrates underlying executive functions, and the experience and interpretation of emotion.     

Features of developmental dyspraxia in the general speech-impaired population?

A typical clinical population with speech impairment was investigated to determine the extent of the presence of features of developmental dyspraxia and its interaction between the severity of impairment. Thirty diagnostic features of developmental dyspraxia were identified from the post-1981 literature and two scales of severity were devised. First the severity of these 30 features was measured (feature severity rating, FSR), and secondly severity of speech impairment was based on percentage of consonants correct (PCC). Using these features and severity ratings a retrospective file audit was conducted of 50 paediatric clients aged 2–8 years with impaired articulation or phonology. It was found that many characteristics regarded as diagnostic for developmental dyspraxia occur in the general speech-impaired population. The relationship between the variables was analysed, and support was found for the hypotheses that: (a) there is a relationship between the number of dyspraxic features expressed and the severity of impairment of speech production and (b) developmental dyspraxia is not characterized by severe impairment, but may occur in a range of severities from mild to severe.     

Features of developmental dyspraxia in the general speech-impaired population?

A typical clinical population with speech impairment was investigated to determine the extent of the presence of features of developmental dyspraxia and its interaction between the severity of impairment. Thirty diagnostic features of developmental dyspraxia were identified from the post-1981 literature and two scales of severity were devised. First the severity of these 30 features was measured (feature severity rating, FSR), and secondly severity of speech impairment was based on percentage of consonants correct (PCC). Using these features and severity ratings a retrospective file audit was conducted of 50 paediatric clients aged 2-8 years with impaired articulation or phonology. It was found that many characteristics regarded as diagnostic for developmental dyspraxia occur in the general speech-impaired population. The relationship between the variables was analysed, and support was found for the hypotheses that: (a) there is a relationship between the number of dyspraxic features expressed and the severity of impairment of speech production and (b) developmental dyspraxia is not characterized by severe impairment, but may occur in a range of severities from mild to severe.     

Early recognition and early treatment of schizophrenia: chance or dilemma?

The early recognition and treatment of schizophrenia in children and adolescents is one of the most important therapeutic goals because of the postulated relation between delayed initiation of treatment and an unfavourable developmental course. The duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) seems to be significantly prolonged in adolescents compared to adults due to both a protracted development of psychotic features and the failure of families and health workers to take seriously the initial signs of psychosis. The idea of primary prevention is criticized since the unspecificity of prodromal signs precludes any specific intervention to prevent schizophrenia. The tree hit model of pathogenesis is outlined and strategies of risk evaluation in early psychotic phases on the basis of the biopsychosocial model are promoted.     

Predictors of outcome in infant and toddlers functional or behavioral disorders after a brief parent–infant psychotherapy

The efficacy of parent–child psychotherapies is widely recognized today. There are, however, less data on predictive factors for outcome in infants and toddlers and their parents. The aim of this study was to highlight predictive factors for outcome after a brief psychotherapy in a population of 49 infants and toddlers aged 3–30 months presenting functional or behavioral disorders. Two assessments were performed, the first before treatment and the second a month after the end of the therapy. These assessments included an evaluation of the child’s symptoms, and of depressive or anxiety symptoms in the parents. The assessments after therapy show complete or partial improvement in the child’s symptoms for nearly three quarters, and a decrease in the number of anxious and depressive mothers, and also in the number of depressive fathers. Three independent factors appear as predictive of unfavorable outcome for the child: frequency and intensity of behavioral problems and fears, and the absence of the father at more than two-thirds of consultations. The outcome for the mother is associated solely with her anxiety score at the start of the therapy. This study underlines the particular difficulties involved in the treatment of infants and toddlers presenting behavioral disturbances and emotional difficulties, and the value of involving the father in treatment.     

Altered Brain Reward Circuits in Eating Disorders: Chicken or Egg?

The eating disorders anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) are severe psychiatric disorders with high mortality. Our knowledge about the neurobiology of eating disorders is very limited, and the question remains whether alterations in brain structure or function in eating disorders are state related, remnants of the illness or premorbid traits. The brain reward system is a relatively well-characterized brain circuitry that plays a central role in the drive to eat and individuals with current or past eating disorders showed alterations in those pathways compared to controls. Here we propose that structural and functional alterations in the insula and frontal cortex, including orbitofrontal and cingulate regions, areas that contribute to reward and anxiety processing, could predispose to developing an eating disorder and that adaptive changes in those circuits in response to malnutrition or repeated binge eating and purging could further promote illness behavior, hinder recovery and contribute to relapse.