Historiography of psychology in Brazil: pioneer works, recent developments

The evolution of the historiography of psychology in Brazil is surveyed, to describe how the field has evolved from the seminal works of the pioneer, mostly self-taught, psychologists, to the now professional historians working from a variety of theoretical models and methods of inquiry. The first accounts of the history of psychology written by Brazilians and by foreigners are surveyed, as well as the recent works made by researchers linked to the Work Group on the History of Psychology of the Brazilian Association of Research and Graduate Education in Psychology and published in periodicals such as Memorandum and Mnemosine. The present historiography focuses mainly the relationship of psychological knowledge to specific social and cultural conditions, emphasizing themes such as women's participation in the construction of the field, the development of psychology as a science and as a profession in education and health, and the development of psychology as an expression of Brazilian culture and of the experience of resistance of local communities to domination. To reveal this process of identity construction, a cultural historiography is an important tool, coupled with methodological pluralism.     

Theoretical foundations of analytical psychology: recent developments and controversies

This article gives an introductory overview of the papers in this volume originally given at the Joint Conference of the IAAP and the University of Basel, Basel, October 18‐20, 2018. The aim of the conference was to bring core concepts of analytical psychology together with theorizing and research from academic sciences, at the very place where Jung started his academic career, the University of Basel. The conference focussed on three fields: the relationship of consciousness and the unconscious and the theory of complexes; the theory of archetypes; and the status of analytical psychotherapy in contemporary psychotherapy research. The aim of the conference was to further the development of theory in analytical psychology in relation to results and insights in contiguous areas of knowledge. In the first area, contributors pointed to the solid evidence especially from the neurosciences for the psychodynamic conceptualizations of the unconscious, and also for the concept of complexes. In contrast to this, the concept of archetypes is controversial, with a majority of contributors questioning Jung’s biological conceptualizations of archetypes, and speaking instead for reformulations from the perspective of cultural theory, dynamic systems theory and other approaches. In the field of psychotherapy research, contributors pointed to the profound need for conducting more empirical studies on the outcome of Jungian psychotherapy, but also for a thorough reconsideration of standard research designs in the field.     

The experimental analysis of human sexual arousal: Some recent developments

Experimental analyses of human sexual arousal have been decidedly sparse. Recent developments in the analysis of derived relational responding, however, have opened the way for a modern behavior-analytic treatment of complex or "novel" human behavior, including specific instances of human sexual arousal. The current article examines some of these developments and their relevance to the analysis of emotional behavior, with a focus on sexual arousal. Recent research that has examined the acquisition of sexual stimulus functions within a relational frame paradigm is then outlined. Finally, a series of relational frame interpretations of a variety of human sexual arousal phenomena is offered.     

Gestalt theory reconfigured: Max Wertheimer's anticipation of recent developments in visual neuroscience

In the 1920s Max Wertheimer enunciated a credo of Gestalt theory: the properties of any of the parts are governed by the structural laws of the whole. Intense efforts at the time to discover these laws had only very limited success. Psychology was in the grips of the Fechnerian tradition to seek exact relationships between the material and the mental and, because the Gestalt movement could not deliver these, it never attained a major standing among students of perception. However, as neurophysiological research into cortical processing of visual stimuli progresses the need for organizing principles is increasingly making itself felt. Concepts like contour salience and figure segregation, once the province of Gestalt psychology, are now taking on renewed significance as investigators combine neural modeling and psychophysical approaches with electrophysiological ones to characterize neural mechanisms of cognition. But it would be perilous not to take heed of some of the lessons that the history of the Gestalt movement teaches.     

A review of recent developments in research and theories on human contingency learning

Over the past 20 years, human contingency learning has resurfaced as an important topic within experimental psychology. This renewed interest was sparked mainly by the proposal that associative models of Pavlovian conditioning might also apply to human contingency learning--a proposal that has led to many new empirical findings and theoretical developments. We provide a brief review of these recent developments and try to point to issues that need to be addressed in future research.     

Speechreading and the Bruce-Young model of face recognition: early findings and recent developments

In the context of face processing, the skill of processing speech from faces (speechreading) occupies a unique cognitive and neuropsychological niche. Neuropsychological dissociations in two cases (Campbell et al., 1986) suggested a very clear pattern: speechreading, but not face recognition, can be impaired by left-hemisphere damage, while face-recognition impairment consequent to right-hemisphere damage leaves speechreading unaffected. However, this story soon proved too simple, while neuroimaging techniques started to reveal further more detailed patterns. These patterns, moreover, were readily accommodated within the Bruce and Young (1986) model. Speechreading requires structural encoding of faces as faces, but further analysis of visible speech is supported by a network comprising several lateral temporal regions and inferior frontal regions. Posterior superior temporal regions play a significant role in speechreading natural speech, including audiovisual binding in hearing people. In deaf people, similar regions and circuits are implicated. While these detailed developments were not predicted by Bruce and Young, nevertheless, their model has stood the test of time, affording a structural framework for exploring speechreading in terms of face processing.     

The relevance of recent developments in classical conditioning to understanding the etiology and maintenance of anxiety disorders

Current etiological models of anxiety disorders emphasize both internal diatheses, or risk factors, and external stressors as important in the development and maintenance of clinical anxiety. Although considerable evidence suggests personality, genetic, and environmental variables are important to these diathesis-stress interactions, this general approach could be greatly enriched by incorporating recent developments in experimental research on fear and anxiety learning. In this article, we attempt to integrate the experimental literature on fear/anxiety learning and the psychopathology literature on clinical anxiety, identify areas of inconsistency, and recommend directions for future research. First, we provide an overview of contemporary models of anxiety disorders involving fear/anxiety learning. Next, we review the literature on individual differences in associative learning among anxious and non-anxious individuals. We also examine additional possible sources of individual differences in the learning of both fear and anxiety, and indicate where possible parallels may be drawn. Finally, we discuss recent developments in basic experimental research on fear conditioning and anxiety, with particular attention to research on contextual learning, and indicate the relevance of these findings to anxiety disorders.     

Microswitch-based programs for persons with multiple disabilities: an overview of some recent developments

Persons with multiple disabilities are often unable to interact with their environment due to their limited response repertoire. Microswitch programs are designed to help them control environmental events, generally preferred stimulation, through simple (feasible) responses. To make microswitch programs a more widely usable and relevant resource for intervention with these persons, a number of new developments were pursued in recent years. This paper examines three of those developments as specifically addressed in our research activity, namely, (a) assessment of new, nontypical responses and matching microswitches, (b) fostering of multiple responses and exercise of choice, and (c) targeting of habilitative and clinical (therapeutic) objectives. The encouraging outcomes of these developments are reviewed in relation to their potentially wide implications for daily practice and the need of additional developments in the area.     

Conclusions from shifts in morbidity patterns of hospitalized children with neuropsychiatric diseases

The decrease of neurological illnesses and the corresponding increase of psychogenic disturbances by patients belonging to clinical departments of neuropsychiatry of child and youth are described. This conversion leads to a frequently longer staying of the patients within the clinics. Furthermore, changes of the behaviours of the whole team for treatment may be observed.     

Role of norepinephrine in the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders

The concatenation of convergent lines of evidence from basic to clinical research continues to reveal that norepinephrine (NE) is a crucial regulator of a myriad of behaviors ranging from stress response to memory formation. Furthermore, many neuropsychiatric disorders involve neurocircuitry that is directly modulated by NE. This report summarizes the physiological roles of NE, as well as the main findings implicating a role for NE system dysfunction in mood and anxiety disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and Alzheimer's disease. In each of these disorders, there appears to be a complex dysregulation of NE function, with changes in locus ceruleus firing, NE availability, and both pre- and postsynaptic receptor regulation. Many symptoms of these disorders are attributable to abnormalities within distributed neural circuits regulated by NE. Appreciation of NE's role in modulating the neural circuitry mediating cognition and affect should help elucidate the pathophysiology of a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders and the development of novel treatments.     

Recognition of facial emotions in neuropsychiatric disorders

Recognition of facial emotions represents an important aspect of interpersonal communication and is governed by select neural substrates. We present data on emotion recognition in healthy young adults utilizing a novel set of color photographs of evoked universal emotions. In addition, we review the recent literature on emotion recognition in psychiatric and neurologic disorders, and studies that compare different disorders.     

Efficacy of noradrenergic-selective agents in the treatment of neuropsychiatric diseases

In recent years, a number of antidepressants with varying degrees of selectivity for the noradrenergic neurotransmitter system have become available. However, these agents represent a pharmacologically heterogeneous group and differ in terms of their precise side-effect profile and, possibly, their clinical efficacy. Bupropion, which is thought to act on both the dopamine and norepinephrine (NE) systems, has not been widely used as an antidepressant and has more recently been licensed as adjunctive therapy for smoking cessation. The serotonin-NE reuptake inhibitors venlafaxine and nefazodone, the noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressant mirtazapine, and the selective NE reuptake inhibitor reboxetine (the only truly NE-selective agent available) have all demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of depressive disorders. Evidence is now emerging for their use in the treatment of anxiety and panic disorders. There is some suggestion of a role for noradrenergic agents in other disorders, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and social phobia. The full range of disorders for which noradrenergic agents can be used remains to be seen and further research in this area is necessary.     

The current role of neurosyphilis in the differential diagnosis of neuropsychiatric diseases

Over a period of eight years, 16 patients from a non-selected number of patients in a neuropsychiatric special hospital were diagnosed to suffer from neurolues not known so far. Apart from the classical clinical pictures (PP and T. d.) meningovascular courses of disease with apoplectiform onset have been dominant since 1980. The patients concerned were nearly exclusively younger male adolescents. The decline in the classical development of neurolues in favour of meningovascular and atypical clinical pictures makes clinical diagnosis more difficult and requires routine application of standardized specific and serological tests in clinical practice.     

严重脓毒症——评价指标带给我们的启示

目前,严重脓毒症的诊断指标已对脓毒症导致的临床情况作出较好的诠释,进一步寻找相关的指标将更有助于临床判断。我们评价了血流动力学和组织灌注参数,免疫紊乱、凝血障碍的相关参数以及前降钙素等指标在临床上的价值。目前所采用的一些指标确实有助于严重脓毒症的诊断,但是,我们需要更特异的指标来指导临床工作。     

严重脓毒症——评价指标带给我们的启示

目前,严重脓毒症的诊断指标已对脓毒症导致的临床情况作出较好的诠释,进一步寻找相关的指标将更有助于临床判断.我们评价了血流动力学和组织灌注参数,免疫紊乱、凝血障碍的相关参数以及前降钙素等指标在临床上的价值.目前所采用的一些指标确实有助于严重脓毒症的诊断,但是,我们需要更特异的指标来指导临床工作.     

Concomitant neuropsychiatric symptoms in a case of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

The case of a 15-year-old boy with Ehlers-Danlos-Syndrome (EDS) is described. Clinically the symptoms of considerable hyperextension of joints, abnormal extensibility of skin, moderate bleeding tendencies and slight vulnerability of the skin, deformity of the thorax are corresponding with type I of EDS. Ocular symptoms are missing. Histologically the picture is that of mitis type resp. type II of EDS. An autosomal dominant inheritance is to be supposed. Psychically an imbecillity likely as a result of perinatally acquired brain damage, and an autistic syndrome of broken home situation are present. Differential diagnosis and genetic significance of EDS are discussed.