Recall of emotional and neutral words and paragraphs in traumatic brain injury

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) results in verbal recall deficits and impaired processing of emotion encoded in facial appearance, prosody and the linguistic content of messages. Emotion facilitates memory (emotional memory advantage) for non-brain injured (NBI) individuals but the impact of emotion on verbal recall for linguistically encoded stimuli in TBI has not been explored.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of stimulus emotional content on verbal recall of words and paragraphs in TBI compared to NBI individuals.

Methods and procedures: Six 10-item lists, each with five emotional and five neutral words, and six paragraphs (three emotional, three neutral) were counterbalanced and presented in random order to 20 individuals with TBI and 44 NBI. The number of words from lists and the number of content units from paragraphs were compared for the two groups.

Outcomes and results: The NBI participants recalled more words from the lists and content units from the paragraphs than the individuals with TBI. Both groups recalled significantly more emotional than neutral words. NBI but not TBI participants had significantly greater recall for information in paragraphs with emotional content.

Conclusions: Participants with TBI showed impaired recall of words and paragraph content. Emotion facilitated word and paragraph content recall for neurotypical individuals but emotional memory advantage was limited to words for the TBI participants.     

Substance use and associated emotional and behavioral problems in Nepalese adolescents

Background: Research has demonstrated that problem behavior has been associated with substance use, but knowledge is lacking on such associations in a low-income country like Nepal. Aims: This study aimed to find associations between emotional and behavioral problems and substance use among Nepalese adolescents. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the end of 2011, with participants from three schools in the Province 4 of Nepal. We selected 408 adolescents aged 12 to 18 (mean 15.2 years, 54% boys) at one urban and two rural schools. The data were collected using the Youth Self-Report and Adolescents’ Substance Use Measurement. Results: Higher scores on withdrawn/depressed symptoms, thought problems, attention problems, delinquent or aggressive behavior or internalizing or externalizing problems were associated with the use of tobacco, alcohol or other substances. In the broadband scales, only internalizing problems predicted the use of intoxicants. Higher scores for attention problems predicted the use of tobacco, any intoxicants, and high-risk user. Conclusion: Our findings indicated that problem behavior among Nepalese adolescents was associated with substance use. Future studies should explore the association between problem behavior and substance use, including causal factors, so that risky behavior among Nepalese adolescents can be prevented.     

健康教育在白血病护理中的应用效果

目的评价血液科白血病疾病护理中应用健康教育的临床效果,为白血病护理工作提供参考。方法选择医院收治的白血病患者,总计60例。进行白血病患者随机分组护理,对照组与试验组各30例白血病患者,分别采取常规护理和常规护理+健康教育,比较2组白血病患者的负性情绪、自我效能状况评分以及护理满意度、护理依从率。结果试验组白血病患者干预后SAS、SDS、GSES评分均明显优于对照组,护理满意度与护理依从率均明显高于对照组,指标差异具有统计学意义,P>0.05。结论血液科白血病治疗期间配合落实常规护理、健康教育可以在提高患者自我效能的同时提高患者的依从性,符合患者身心护理需求,整体护理效果显著。     

Which constructs can predict emotional exhaustion in a working population? A study into its determinants

The main objective of this study was to examine the psychosocial stress model developed by Taylor and Aspinwall with emotional exhaustion as the outcome variable. Respondents, 409 men and 346 women, who had a paid job for at least 20 hours per week, completed questionnaires concerning demographic variables, personality, temperament, work pressure, workload, perceived social support, appraisal, coping, and emotional exhaustion. Structural equation analyses provided only partial support for the validity of the model. First, on theoretical and statistical grounds, one more path linking external resources to social support was added. Second, contrary to expectations, coping styles did not predict emotional exhaustion. To conclude, when coping is measured retrospectively, it does not add to our understanding of emotional exhaustion. It is suggested that future studies should be longitudinal and include objective measures of stressors and psychosocial health outcomes in addition to self‐reports. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Effect of Quisqualic Acid-Induced Lesions of the Nucleus Basalis Magnocellularis on Latent Inhibition

Latent inhibition (LI) is a reduction in the rate of acquisition of a Pavlovian conditioned response that results from prior nonreinforced preexposure to a conditioned stimulus (CS). LI has been suggested to reflect the operation of mechanisms involved in stimulus selection for subsequent cognitive processing. The present experiment was conducted to assess the effect of bilateral lesions of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) on LI employing a conditioned emotional response paradigm. Bilateral lesions of the NBM were produced by administration of 0.12 M quisqualic acid and resulted in decreased cortical acetylcholinesterase staining, as well as a 40% reduction in cortical choline acetyltransferase activity. Following lever press training, preexposed animals received 40 presentations of a 60-s tone CS. Nonpreexposed animals received no tone presentations. Acquisition of conditioned suppression was then assessed over the course of 4 tone-shock (0.6 mA, 0.5 s) pairings. Control, preexposed animals displayed a retarded rate of acquisition in comparison to nonpreexposed controls, thereby demonstrating that the parameters used in the present experiment produced LI. In contrast, lesioned animals preexposed to the CS acquired conditioned suppression as readily as non-preexposed lesioned animals. However, the acquisition of conditioned suppression in both lesioned groups was found to be similar to that displayed in the preexposed control group. This pattern of results was interpreted as being attributable to a lesion-induced impairment in the ability to maintain stimulus processing, rather than a deficit in the ability to filter a stimulus. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Inc.     

Stress-induced changes in behavior and function of the neurohormonal systems in monkeys differing in social rank

Research Institute of Experimental Pathology and Therapy, Sukhumi. (Presented by Academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences B. A. Lapin.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 114, No. 11, pp. 457–459, November, 1992.     

Potassium and sodium ions in the nerve tissue of emotionally overstrained rabbits

Measurement of K⁺ and Na⁺ concentrations in samples of individual brain nuclei and in ganglia of the autonomic nervous system from rabbits subjected to severe emotional stress (ES) through aperiodic stimulation of ventromedial hypothalamic nuclei and electrocutaneous stimulation revealed significantly altered levels of these ions in locus ceruleus samples from animals predisposed to ES-induced cardiovascular disorders and in samples of neurons of the caudal part of the brainstem from those resistant to such disorders. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 118, No 8, pp. 129–131, August, 1994 Presented by K. V. Sudakov, Member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences     

Irritable bowel syndrome: The role of psychosocial factors

The irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a very common disorder of intestinal function characterized by variable symptoms of abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation and bloating. The spectrum of severity ranges from mild symptoms, not worthy of clinical attention, to intense and continuous symptoms associated with impaired health-related quality of life and high health care use. Psychosocial disturbance is commonly found among patients with irritable bowel, but until recently, its precise role in the disorder was uncertain. The data now suggest that irritable bowel is not a psychiatric disorder per se, but psychosocial factors including life stress, psychiatric comorbidity and abnormal illness behavior, among others, influence how the illness is experienced and acted upon. Patients with mild symptoms usually respond to education, reassurance, dietary modification and, when needed, antimotility agents. However, patients with more severe symptoms, who usually have greater psychosocial disturbance, will also require behavioral interventions, and possibly psychopharmacological agents. In sum, a graduated, multicomponent plan of care that includes dietary, behavioral and pharmacological treatments is recommended.