Is "reading mind in the eyes" impaired in Parkinson's disease?

Theory of mind (ToM) is the specific cognitive ability to understand other people's mental states. Several studies have examined ToM ability in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), using the "reading mind in the eyes" test (RMET). However, there has been no agreement as to whether or not ToM ability in this task is affected by PD. In order to obtain conclusive evidence regarding ToM ability in PD, we examined RMET-related performance in nondemented PD patients; we also used the semantic discrimination task to exclude the possibility that PD patients had difficulty in distinguishing emotional adjectives. Results indicated that ToM ability in the RMET is impaired in PD patients, and that this finding was not attributable to the visual processing of faces or the verbal comprehension of emotional adjectives. Thus, the affective aspects of ToM can be impaired in PD patients.     

Where is the "straight ahead" in spatial neglect?

We investigated the subjective straight-ahead (SSA) projection of body-midline parts (head and trunk) in patients with neglect and patients with nonneglect, using a method disentangling lateral shift and lateral tilt components of the bias. Patients with neglect showed a similar counterclockwise SSA tilt for each body part and an ipsilesional lateral shift, more severe for the trunk than for the head. Thus, neglect results in a tilt of the body midline representation.     

Images of the "Insane," the "Mentally Ill," and the "Depressed" in Nouméa,New Caledonia

Social representations of mental health in the population of Nouméa and its suburbs (Greater Nouméa) in New Caledonia were studied during the third phase of the survey "Mental Health in the General Population: Images and Realities," conducted in August 2006. Method: A representative sample of 904 participants taken from the population of Nouméa and Greater Nouméa were interviewed using the survey questionnaire. Analytical results were interpreted in the light of the results of the preceding survey, the specialized literature, and the cultural and social context in New Caledonia. Results: Data for the social representation of the "insane" person revealed dehumanizing aspects related to a lack of human features, incomprehensible behavior, and danger. The social representation of the mentally ill person was found to be a medicalized transition of the insane person, bearing more human and comprehensible aspects similar to those observed in France. Conclusions: The social representation of the depressed person comprise cultural variants and may be a promising gateway for campaigns to promote mental health. The social representation of the insane person comprises cultural invariants that are more archaic and probably involve universal features of human disposition (i.e., fear of the unknown in someone who violates the norms of human behavior). These variations may be essential to the understanding of exclusionary attitudes.     

"Sunbursts" in the inner plexiform layer: a spectacular feature of Müller cells in the retina of the cat.

A previously unrecognised structure in the cat retina is described. Seen in Golgi-impregnated, wholemounted retinas, each such structure comprises processes radiating across the inner plexiform layer from a dense, vellate core. The processes are numerous, and largely unbranched, and give the impression of rays radiating from a point source; the structure is therefore termed a "sunburst." Evidence is presented from Golgi-impregnated retinas, and from retinas labelled with monoclonal antibodies to Müller cells, that the core of each sunburst is the inner process of a Müller cell. The sunbursts are numerous and overlap extensively, so that when neighbouring sunbursts are impregnated, they are seen to form a dense mat of processes extending across the IPL. It is suggested that each Müller cell forms a sunburst and that sunbursts form a major glial component of the neuropil of the inner plexiform layer.     

Treatment of hysteria in the 19th century--in which way did German psychiatrists view castration?

Until the late 19 th century treatment of hysteria, this inhomogeneous group of somatic, neurological and psychiatric symptoms, hardly differed from the methods of the Greco-Roman epoch. Dietetics, physical applications, and smaller surgical operations made up the standard forms of intervention for this illness which was regarded as belonging to the field of gynecology. Thus, it is not astonishing that oophorectomy (ovariectomy) was included into the therapeutic spectrum for hysteria both in Germany and beyond at the end of the 19 th century. It was above all gynecologist Alfred Hegar (1830 - 1914) who tried to extend the application of this method to nervous illnesses. This therapeutic alternative did not, however, meet with an unanimously positive response among psychiatrists. Richard von Krafft-Ebing (1840 - 1902) as a follower of the degeneration theory as well as Paul Flechsig (1847 - 1929) supported it, applying it as the ultima ratio. But since these operations produced no lasting curative impact, functional neurological disorders were regarded more important. From Emil Kraepelin (1856 - 1926) then, psychiatrists began to understand the psychological component of this illness, for which Leipzig neurologist Paul Julius M?bius (1853 - 1907) had made major contributions. Thus, surgical interventions were rejected and conservative methods of treatment were developed further considering psychological aspects. It was Adolf Strümpell (1853 - 1925) who had laid the basis for this postulating a "psychic trauma" as the cause for hysteria as early as in 1884. On the other hand, M?bius had developed a psychotherapeutic concept for the treatment of these disorders long before Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939) came out with his psychocathartic method.     

Abstracts of the British Neuropsychological Society Spring 2008 Meeting 8th–9th April 2008

ABSTRACT

This study describes a patient with herpes simplex encephalitis. Brain MRI showed the expected finding of medial temporal damage. Neuropsychological assessment results were consistent with the location of damage, with profound memory impairment and mildly impaired naming, but normal visuospatial and executive skills. The patient also showed a typical testing pattern of insufficient effort and possible malingering, which was concerning as she was seeking disability compensation. In spite of this, we chose to place greatest weight on the finding of deficits consistent with the type, location, and severity of brain damage, considering this to be true cognitive impairment.     

Communication in the Laboratory and Communication in the Clinic†

IT IS now 25 years since Frieda Fromm-Reichmann died—over 30 years since she published her only book, Principles of Intensive Psychotherapy. Most of those who now attend the presentations of the annual research award of the Academy or the annual lectures of the Washington School of Psychiatry, both of which are named in her honor, never saw her. It seem appropriate to ask whether she still speaks to us today, whether in any significant way she influenced the development of what is now common practice in our field.     

Maintenance in working memory or response selection? Functions of NMDA receptors in the pigeon "prefrontal cortex"

The prefrontal cortex is involved in various aspects of working memory like stimulus maintenance and response selection functions. Neurobehavioral studies and neurocomputational models assume a role for NMDA receptors in prefrontal cortex for maintenance processes, while our previous studies on NMDA receptors in the avian prefrontal cortex-analogue, the nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL), showed them to be involved in response selection functions. Various tasks used in PFC-related research address in fact both functions, so they cannot disambiguate their separate contributions to performance. In order to investigate the role of NMDA receptors in avian NCL for stimulus maintenance and response selection, we trained pigeons in a delayed matching-to sample (DMTS) task, requiring both functions, and a simultaneous matching to sample (SMTS) task, requiring only response selection. After reaching criterion, pigeons had to perform the tasks alternately under local NMDA receptor blockade in NCL (DL-AP5) and after infusion of vehicle (saline solution). Blockade of NCL-based NMDA receptors led to significant increases in error rates in both DMTS and SMTS--compared with the same subjects' performance during training and in the control condition. However, there was no additional increase in errors due to the additional maintenance component, so the impairment appears to be due to deficits in adequate selection of responses, the function necessary for both tasks. We conclude that NMDA receptors in the pigeon NCL participate in response selection rather than stimulus maintenance in tasks requiring the processing of context information.