Begegnung an Schnittstellen

This article sets out to discuss Moreno’s oeuvre in the context of social research approaches and sociological theory. Moreno’s approach to research is introduced to be essentially inductive and characterized by his concepts of sociatry, encounter and warming up, by his focus on “in situ” and the specific psychodramatic methods. Furthermore, Moreno’s role theory is discussed and compared to other sociological role-theoretical currents. Finally some crucial sociological concepts (habitus, biographical research, doing gender, diversity) are examined, placing special emphasis on their potential to enrich psychodramatic practice.     

Morenos Beitrag zu Organisationsberatung,Supervision und Coaching

First is clarified what a good conception of organization consultation, supervision and coaching must achieve. Next Moreno’s specific approach to theory generation is presented. Finally it is explained what this approach can contribute to generate theoretical views which are important for the consulting work: organization as an interactive enactment, sociometric thinking in constellations, good work due to the pursuit of responsible happiness, the consultant as action researcher and the power of creativity for change.     

Inference Through Embodied Simulation in Cognitive Robots

In Professor Taylor’s own words, the most striking feature of any cognitive system is its ability to “learn and reason” cumulatively throughout its lifetime, the structure of its inferences both emerging and constrained by the structure of its bodily experiences. Understanding the computational/neural basis of embodied intelligence by reenacting the “developmental learning” process in cognitive robots and in turn endowing them with primitive capabilities to learn, reason and survive in “unstructured” environments (domestic and industrial) is the vision of the EU-funded DARWIN project, one of the last adventures Prof. Taylor embarked upon. This journey is about a year old at present, and our article describes the first developments in relation to the learning and reasoning capabilities of DARWIN robots. The novelty in the computational architecture stems from the incorporation of recent ideas firstly from the field of “connectomics” that attempts to explore the large-scale organization of the cerebral cortex and secondly from recent functional imaging and behavioral studies in support of the embodied simulation hypothesis. We show through the resulting behaviors’ of the robot that from a computational viewpoint, the former biological inspiration plays a central role in facilitating “functional segregation and global integration,” thus endowing the cognitive architecture with “small-world” properties. The latter on the other hand promotes the incessant interleaving of “top-down” and “bottom-up” information flows (that share computational/neural substrates) hence allowing learning and reasoning to “cumulatively” drive each other. How the robot learns about “objects” and simulates perception, learns about “action” and simulates action (in this case learning to “push” that follows pointing, reaching, grasping behaviors’) are used to illustrate central ideas. Finally, an example of how simulation of perception and action lead the robot to reason about how its world can change such that it becomes little bit more conducive toward realization of its internal goal (an assembly task) is used to describe how “object,” “action,” and “body” meet in the Darwin architecture and how inference emerges through embodied simulation.     

Jakob Levy Moreno – ein Prophet unserer Zeit

The paper first deals with the classic prophets and their characteristics and some motives of the early Moreno for a professional prophetic training are elaborated. Moreno’s God-playing with expressionist background is specified as a consequent warming up to the role of a free professional prophet. The so called Vöslau-event then can be defined as the prophet’s examination for the title of master. The “Testament des Vaters” as Moreno’s prophetic book can be described as it’s consequence.     

Die Integration von Morenos Erbe

The article focuses on a road map for psychodramatists and sociodramatists. First, some historical and epistemological reference markers are underlined in order to make clear some of the challenges and problems in relation to Moreno’s theory (or theories), its validation and application. Then, some strategies are proposed so that our own community could fulfill its global mission linked to what Moreno called the sociatric and sociometric revolutions.     

Erinnerungsräume schaffen

J. L. Moreno lived as a young doctor till 1925 in the Lower Austrian town of Bad Voeslau in the house Maital 4. Since the 1980s, there is an idea and a wide variety of initiatives to adapt this former home in Bad Voeslau for a “Moreno museum” as a memorial and research center. The paper identifies some historical data of the residential building and highlights some of the development steps of the from the beginning internationally supported museum project. Above all, the idea and design of the website, which was established from 2004, is described as an interactive to-use action space. This should and will integrate the actors of the project, the idea of ??to revive the house Maital, distribute, gain donations to the creation of living spaces of memory and make knowledge of the being and work of J. L. Moreno in his years in Vienna and Lower Austria (more) accessible.     

Getting into sync: Data‐driven analyses reveal patterns of neural coupling that distinguish among different social exchanges

In social interactions, each individual's brain drives an action that, in turn, elicits systematic neural responses in their partner that drive a reaction. Consequently, the brain responses of both interactants become temporally contingent upon one another through the actions they generate, and different interaction dynamics will be underpinned by distinct forms of between‐brain coupling. In this study, we investigated this by “performing functional magnetic resonance imaging on two individuals simultaneously (dual‐fMRI) while they competed or cooperated with one another in a turn‐based or concurrent fashion.” To assess whether distinct patterns of neural coupling were associated with these different interactions, we combined two data‐driven, model‐free analytical techniques: group‐independent component analysis and inter‐subject correlation. This revealed four distinct patterns of brain responses that were temporally aligned between interactants: one emerged during co‐operative exchanges and encompassed brain regions involved in social cognitive processing, such as the temporo‐parietal cortex. The other three were associated with competitive exchanges and comprised brain systems implicated in visuo‐motor processing and social decision‐making, including the cerebellum and anterior cingulate cortex. Interestingly, neural coupling was significantly stronger in concurrent relative to turn‐based exchanges. These results demonstrate the utility of data‐driven approaches applied to “dual‐fMRI” data in elucidating the interpersonal neural processes that give rise to the two‐in‐one dynamic characterizing social interaction.     

“Don’t judge me!”: Links between in vivo attention bias toward a potentially critical judge and fronto-amygdala functional connectivity during rejection in adolescent girls

During adolescence, increases in social sensitivity, such as heightened attentional processing of social feedback, may be supported by developmental changes in neural circuitry involved in emotion regulation and cognitive control, including fronto-amygdala circuitry. Less negative fronto-amygdala circuitry during social threat processing may contribute to heightened attention to social threat in the environment. However, “real-world” implications of altered fronto-amygdala circuitry remain largely unknown. In this study, we used multiple novel methods, including an in vivo attention bias task implemented using mobile eye-tracking glasses and socially interactive fMRI task, to examine how functional connectivity between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex (PFC) during rejection and acceptance feedback from peers is associated with heightened attention towards potentially critical social evaluation in a real-world environment. Participants were 77 early adolescent girls (ages 11–13) oversampled for shy/fearful temperament. Results support the reliability of this in vivo attention task. Further, girls with more positive functional connectivity between the right amygdala and anterior PFC during both rejection and acceptance feedback attended more to potentially critical social evaluation during the attention task. Findings could suggest that dysfunction in prefrontal regulation of the amygdala’s response to salient social feedback supports heightened sensitivity to socially evaluative threat during adolescence.     

Towards an Ontology of Cognitive Control

The goal of cognitive neuroscience is to map mental functions onto their neural substrates. We argue here that this goal requires a formal approach to the characterization of mental processes, and we present one such approach by using ontologies to describe cognitive processes and their relations. Using a classifier analysis of data from the BrainMap database, we examine the concept of “cognitive control” to determine whether the proposed component processes in this domain are mapped to independent neural systems. These results show that some subcomponents can be uniquely classified, whereas others cannot, suggesting that these different components may vary in their ontological reality. We relate these concepts to the broader emerging field of phenomics, which aims to characterize cognitive phenotypes on a global scale.     

Sex and gender differences in cognitive and brain reserve: Implications for Alzheimer’s disease in women

Women represent ⅔ of the cases of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Current research has focused on differential risks to explain higher rates of AD in women. However, factors that reduce risk for AD, like cognitive/brain reserve, are less well explored. We asked: what is known about sex and gender differences in how reserve mitigates risk for AD? We conducted a narrative review of the literature, with keywords: “sex/gender differences”, “cognitive/brain reserve”, “Alzheimer’s Disease”, and the following cognitive reserve contributors: “education”, “IQ”, “occupation”, “cognitive stimulation”, “bilingualism”, “socioeconomic status”, “physical activity”, “social support”. Sixteen papers disaggregated their data by sex. Those papers observed sex and gender differences in reserve contributors. There is also evidence that greater reserve may be more beneficial in lowering AD risk in women, although more research is needed. We discuss how traditional reserve contributors are gendered and may not capture factors that support cognition in aging women.     

Tele aus neurobiologischer Sicht

This article from the journal “Zeitschrift für Psychodrama und Soziometrie” discusses Moreno’s tele concept against the background of neurobiological research. Moreno’s idea of man and his philosophy of life is inseparably connected with the concept of mutual relatedness insofar that he even regarded tele as biologically founded. As current neurobiological research seems to support this assumption, Morenos tele concept may be seen as a visionary pioneer work for understanding the function of psychotherapy as well as a challenge for an expanded perception of tele.     

Culture: The Driving Force of Human Cognition

It is often, though sometimes only implicitly, assumed that biological/genetic evolution sets neural substrates, that neural substrates fix cognitive abilities, and that cognitive abilities determine the spectrum of cultural practices exhibited by a biological species. We label this view as the “bottom‐up‐only” view. In this paper we will show that such a “chain of dependence” is much looser than usually assumed, especially as far as recent periods (the last 800,000 years vs. the last 7 million years or more) are considered. We will provide evidence and arguments supporting the idea that cultural innovation may have direct and ascertainable effects both on the cognitive capabilities of populations of hominins (via what we call “cultural exaptation”) and on the neural substrates of the individuals in those populations (via what we call “cultural neural reuse”). Together, cultural exaptation and cultural neural reuse may give raise to a plausible general mechanism for cognitive evolution in which culture is the driving force, thus offering a “top‐down‐also” view of human evolution.     

Understanding motor resonance

The discovery of mirror neurons in monkeys, and the finding of motor activity during action observation in humans are generally regarded to support motor theories of action understanding. These theories take motor resonance to be essential in the understanding of observed actions and the inference of action goals. However, the notions of “resonance,” “action understanding,” and “action goal” appear to be used ambiguously in the literature. A survey of the literature on mirror neurons and motor resonance yields two different interpretations of the term “resonance,” three different interpretations of action understanding, and again three different interpretations of what the goal of an action is. This entails that, unless it is specified what interpretation is used, the meaning of any statement about the relation between these concepts can differ to a great extent. By discussing an experiment we will show that more precise definitions and use of the concepts will allow for better assessments of motor theories of action understanding and hence a more fruitful scientific debate. Lastly, we will provide an example of how the discussed experimental setup could be adapted to test other interpretations of the concepts.     

Soziale Netzwerkanalyse und das soziale Atom

This article in the Zeitschrift für Psychodrama und Soziometrie shows how modern Network Analysis, partly rooting in Moreno’s work may become more effective in transforming social contexts by recalling some aspects of Moreno’s pioneering work. Over the last few decades modern network analysis has developed into a powerful and differentiated instrument for relationship analytics, while increasingly lacking the ability to put results into context, so analyses often remain mere data.It seems inevitable to go back to the basics of Moreno’s pioneering work: only this enables to put things into a meaningful context, that insights become operative and to recognize networks as spaces for encounters again and thus as spaces for creativity and therapy. Both in Moreno’s time and nowadays there is much at stake: then and now we run the risk to lose these spaces of creativity, these spaces of healing.     

Spurensuche zu den Anfängen der Soziometrie

This essay summarizes significant results of a historical research and historical information on the period of J. L. Moreno as a medical student and young doctor during the time of WWI from 1914 to 1918. Some of his statements have been confirmed, others have been corrected. Some background information and further details on the camp for displaced persons in Mitterndorf have also been added. However, no evidence has been found about any sociometric research at that time. Nevertheless, Morenos activities in Mitterndorf must be considered an important basis for the development of his later sociometric concepts.     

“Loser” or “Popular”?: Neural response to social status words in adolescents with major depressive disorder

Concerns about social status are ubiquitous during adolescence, with information about social status often conveyed in text formats. Depressed adolescents may show alterations in the functioning of neural systems supporting processing of social status information. We examined whether depressed youth exhibited altered neural activation to social status words in temporal and prefrontal cortical regions thought to be involved in social cognitive processing, and whether this response was associated with development. Forty-nine adolescents (ages 10–18; 35 female), including 20 with major depressive disorder and 29 controls, were scanned while identifying the valence of words that connoted positive and negative social status. Results indicated that depressed youth showed reduced late activation to social status (vs neutral) words in the superior temporal cortex (STC) and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC); whereas healthy youth did not show any significant differences between word types. Depressed youth also showed reduced late activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and fusiform gyrus to negative (vs positive) social status words; whereas healthy youth showed the opposite pattern. Finally, age was positively associated with MPFC activation to social status words. Findings suggest that hypoactivation in the “social cognitive brain network” might be implicated in altered interpersonal functioning in adolescent depression.     

Neural signatures of social conformity: A coordinate-based activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of functional brain imaging studies

People often align their behaviors with group opinions, known as social conformity. Many neuroscience studies have explored the neuropsychological mechanisms underlying social conformity. Here we employed a coordinate-based meta-analysis on neuroimaging studies of social conformity with the purpose to reveal the convergence of the underlying neural architecture. We identified a convergence of reported activation foci in regions associated with normative decision-making, including ventral striatum (VS), dorsal posterior medial frontal cortex (dorsal pMFC), and anterior insula (AI). Specifically, consistent deactivation of VS and activation of dorsal pMFC and AI are identified when people’s responses deviate from group opinions. In addition, the deviation-related responses in dorsal pMFC predict people’s conforming behavioral adjustments. These are consistent with current models that disagreement with others might evoke “error” signals, cognitive imbalance, and/or aversive feelings, which are plausibly detected in these brain regions as control signals to facilitate subsequent conforming behaviors. Finally, group opinions result in altered neural correlates of valuation, manifested as stronger responses of VS to stimuli endorsed than disliked by others.     

Einladung zu einer Begegnung

The core-concept of Moreno’s work is the scene, referring to a holistic, dynamic interaction of meaning-making influences from different areas in human life. Some influences come from personal biography, stored in the autobiographic memory as well as in the body. Other influences originate in social relations and interactions. Moreover, cultural structures, values and norms, contribute in this shaping process of meaning. Beyond psychodrama, modern psychotherapy develops in a similar direction, integrating different levels and aspects of experience in human life. Particularly, the person-centred systems theory (PCS) describes the interaction of different levels in the processes of creating order in our life-world by using concepts of modern interdisciplinary systems theory. Pcs’ core concept, the person, is similarly integrative, holistic, and dynamic as Moreno’s scene. In order to demonstrate the actuality of Moreno’s work, an encounter of both core-concepts takes place in this essay.     

Parentification and Related Processes: Distinction and Implications for Clinical Practice

ABSTRACT

With the emergence of what can be called “new families,” the place and the role of the child are increasingly questioned. If a child helps a parent or takes care of them, the terms “parentified child,” “parental child,” or “adult child” are used equally. However, these concepts hide different processes that have different impacts on the child’s development. In the present article, based on the current doctoral research and clinical practice experience, the author will try to make the distinction between these concepts and to illustrate them. By a better identification of each process the author is convinced that therapists and social workers can be helped in their interventions with children and their families.