Pastoral communication with the confused

Three basic kinds of strategies can aid the pastor in communicting with a confused person: (1) focusing the person's attention, (2) fostering orientation to time, place, and person, (3) finding meaning in the person's experience. Despite the logical incongruities in the communications of a confused person, on a feeling level there is a basis of reality. To persist in the effort to communicate is to care on the deepest level.     

The hippocampus: hub of brain network communication for memory

A complex brain network, centered on the hippocampus, supports episodic memories throughout their lifetimes. Classically, upon memory encoding during active behavior, hippocampal activity is dominated by theta oscillations (6-10Hz). During inactivity, hippocampal neurons burst synchronously, constituting sharp waves, which can propagate to other structures, theoretically supporting memory consolidation. This 'two-stage' model has been updated by new data from high-density electrophysiological recordings in animals that shed light on how information is encoded and exchanged between hippocampus, neocortex and subcortical structures such as the striatum. Cell assemblies (tightly related groups of cells) discharge together and synchronize across brain structures orchestrated by theta, sharp waves and slow oscillations, to encode information. This evolving dynamical schema is key to extending our understanding of memory processes.     

高血压病患者双向转诊临床路径的效果效益评价

为了评价高血压病患者双向转诊临床路径的效果效益,采用病例查阅、专家咨询、现场考察、试点研究、个人访谈等方法,评价试验组和对照组高血压患者双向转诊临床路径的效果效益.结果显示,试验组首次就诊时间和再次就诊率与对照组间差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05);两组间医疗费用和对医护人员服务态度满意率差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05);两组间治疗效果差异无统计学意义(P＞0.05),提示实施高血压病患者双向转诊临床路径有很好的社会和经济效益.     

Exploring the brain with drugs

The nature and distribution of drag-induced or dragmodified responses, in health and in disease or experimental approximations of similarly disturbed function, have been investigated. From the results it appears that: 1. A sensitive substrate of drag action is the neurohumorally-determined synaptic equilibrium, which is transiently disturbed by transmission and distorted by drugs. These act through their ability to mimic or alter the duration of action of the cholinergic, excitatory, or adrenergic and serotoninergic inhibitory neurohumors. 2. Cerebral synaptic responsiveness to drugs isqualitatively identical at various cerebral sites sampled, including the cortex, subcortex and brainstem. This, therefore, is a general characteristic which, however, exhibits markedquantitative differences. 3. Because of such differential thresholds, drugs can cause disruption of normal relations or equilibrium between parts of the brain, as with LSD, or, if appropriately used, can act to promote restoration of equilibrium, as with tranquilizers and antidepressants. 4. A concept of cerebral homeostasis can be equated with mental health and its disturbance with psychosis, which is then regarded as a failure of cerebral integration. Clinical yardsticks for measuring degrees of functional integration are proposed, which make use of subclinical doses of drugs to challenge cerebral homeostasis in quantified lever-pressing and perceptual aberration-tracking situations. Exploration of the brain with drugs allows also exploration of the mind, for which it is the substrate. Drugs may be used to increase understanding of cerebral function in health and disease and to assess functional disintegration, as in brain damage, aging, mental retardation and mental disturbance. Proposed clinical yardsticks based on this could be used for diagnosis, evaluation of therapy, screening populations for individuals in need of preventive or prophylactic care, and in evaluation of new drugs.     

Psychology of communication technology use in the workplace.

It is generally understood that employees in organizations misuse technology in specific ways--by sending and receiving personal email, frequenting chat rooms, and using the Web for non-work-related reasons. However, little research has focused on what motivates this type of use. The present study extends existing communication technology and organizational literatures by going beyond usage assessments and examining how an employee's psychological state influences motivations for non-work-related communication technology use during company time.     

Global-local interference modulated by communication between the hemispheres.

Three experiments examined whether interhemispheric interaction modulates selective attention in a same-different version of D. Navon's (1977) global-local paradigm. In Experiments 1 and 2, interhemispheric interaction reduced interstimulus interference produced when two stimuli matched at a preassigned level (e.g., local) but differed at the irrelevant level (e.g., global). This effect was greater for stimuli made of a few large elements than for those made of many small elements. Experiment 3 demonstrated that (a) the ability of interhemispheric interaction to reduce interstimulus interference is not constrained by hemispheric differences for global and local processing and (b) interhemispheric interaction does not strongly modulate intrastimulus interference produced when the forms at the preassigned (e.g., local) and irrelevant (e.g., global) levels differ within an individual stimulus. These findings indicate that interaction between the hemispheres is a neural mechanism that may aid selective attention.     

Nonverbal communication affect in children.

A paradign was tested for measuting the tendency of children to send accurate nonverbal signals to others via spontaneous facial expressions and gestures. This paradign was derived from studies on adults that suggest that women are more accurate nonverbal "sendres" than men in certain situations. Eighteeen male and 11 female preschoolers (aged 4 to 6 years) watched a series of emotionally loaded color slides while they were observed via a hidden television camera by their mothers. Results indicated that significant overall communciation occurred, with large individual differences in "sending ability" between children. There was no evidence of a large sex difference in sending ability in choldren, although on one measure girls were more accurate senders than boys when viewed by undergraduates. Sending ability was positively related to teacher's ratings of activity level, aggressiveness, impulsiveness, bossiness, sociability, etc., and negatively related ti shyness, cooperation, emotional inhibition and control, etc.     

Verbal memory abilities of children with brain tumors.

Several critical neuroanatomical structures and pathways for memory performance are located in the third ventricle region. This led us to predict that verbal memory abilities would be more impaired in children treated for third ventricle tumors compared to those treated for cerebellar tumors. Archival data was obtained from 24 pediatric patients with third ventricle region tumors and 18 pediatric patients with cerebellar tumors. Neuroradiological verifications of tumor involvement and hydrocephalus severity (i.e., Evans Index) on preoperative scans and MRIs proximal to the time of the neuropsychological evaluation were conducted. The potential confounds of hydrocephalus severity, seizure medication, age, radiation treatment, and chemotherapy were addressed. Verbal IQ was comparable between tumor groups and in the Average range. The third ventricle region group performed significantly worse on list learning and delayed list recall compared to the cerebellar group. Their mean performance was in the clinically impaired range on both trials. The third ventricle region tumor group performed better than the cerebellar tumor group on Digit Span, a basic repetition, attention span task. These findings support the hypothesis that pediatric patients with third ventricle region brain tumors are more likely to be impaired on verbal recall tasks compared to pediatric patients with cerebellar brain tumors. In contrast, patients who were treated for cerebellar tumors were more impaired on the basic repetition, attention span task compared to patients who were treated for third ventricle tumors. Future studies should examine the specific neuroanatomical structures and pathways that are damaged and may influence differential cognitive impairments in children.     

Attention and memory in children with brain tumors.

The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test was utilized to examine attention, learning, and memory abilities in 42 children with cerebellar (N = 18) and third ventricle tumors (N = 24). Children with cerebellar tumors exhibited significant auditory attentional impairments and displayed adequate encoding and retrieval across subsequent learning and memory trials. In contrast, children with third ventricle tumors exhibited average auditory attentional abilities, but they displayed mild encoding deficits across trials 2-5. Furthermore, the third ventricle group's compromised performance on the delayed recall trial and average performance on the delayed recognition trial is suggestive of underlying retrieval deficits.     

Asymmetrical transfer of training between hands: implications for interhemispheric communication in normal brain

Two experiments are presented which investigated claims of asymmetrical transfer of training between the hands/hemispheres. In Experiment 1, 96 right- and left-handed male undergraduates practiced an inverted-reversed printing task with either the right or the left hand. Transfer to the opposite hand was then compared to same-hand transfer, in a between-subject design. In Experiment 2, 176 right-handed boys and girls were tested at ages 7, 9, and 11 years. For right-handed subjects in both experiments, the left hand benefited more from opposite-hand training than did the right. The reverse was true for left-handers in Experiment 1, although one group (who wrote with the "inverted" position) showed little transfer in either direction. Two current models of interhemispheric interaction do not satisfactorily explain these findings. A third model, based on cross-activation, may provide a more effective alternative.     

Imaging the developing brain with fMRI

Advancements in magnetic imaging techniques have revolutionized our ability to study the developing human brain in vivo. The ability to noninvasively image both anatomy and function in healthy volunteers, including young children, has already enhanced our understanding of brain and behavior relations. The application of these techniques to developmental research offers the opportunity to further explore these relationships and allows us to ask questions about where, when and how cognitive abilities develop in relation to changes in underlying brain systems. It is also possible to explore the contributions of maturation versus learning in the development of these abilities through cross-sectional and longitudinal research involving training and intervention procedures. Current imaging methodologies, in conjunction with new and rapidly evolving techniques, hold the promise of even greater insights into developmental issues in the near future. These methodologies and their application to development and learning are discussed in the current paper.