脑岛在成瘾中的结构和功能异常

脑岛位于大脑外侧裂的深处, 与情绪和内感受等多种心理功能有关。脑岛在成瘾中的结构变化和功能连接异常, 表明了脑岛在成瘾中的作用, 刺激脑岛区域干预成瘾也逐渐成为研究者们关注的领域。未来的研究应该通过对脑岛进行精细分割和多种方法相结合来进一步考察脑岛在成瘾中的具体作用, 并挖掘不同成瘾类型的共性和特性, 以便更好开展基于脑的成瘾干预。     

Central executive function in mild cognitive impairment: a PET activation study

Using positron emission tomography (PET), we explored the neural correlates of an executive function, dual tasking, in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and in elderly controls. The experiment employed simple auditory and visual tasks that were presented both in isolation and simultaneously to create a task condition requiring enhanced attentional control. Behaviorally, both groups performed well, albeit the patients made more errors on the visual task. The PET analysis focused at prefrontal regions where group differences in task-related activation patterns were expected. During dual task performance, the patients showed attenuated activity in the left inferior frontal region when compared to the controls. This suggests abnormalities in the neural processes underlying attentional control in aMCI.     

Neural correlates of successful and unsuccessful verbal memory encoding

Recent neuroimaging studies suggest that episodic memory encoding involves a network of neocortical structures which may act interdependently with medial temporal lobe (mTL) structures to promote the formation of durable memories, and that activation in certain structures is modulated according to task performance. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to determine the neural structures recruited during a verbal episodic encoding task and to examine the relationship between activation during encoding and subsequent recognition memory performance across subjects. Our results show performance-correlated activation during encoding both in neocortical and medial temporal structures. Neocortical activations associated with later successful and unsuccessful recognition memory were found to differ not only in magnitude, but also in hemispheric laterality. These performance-related hemispheric effects, which have not been previously reported, may correspond to between-subject differences in encoding strategy.     

Body Temperature Influence on Time Perception

The chemical clock hypothesis implies a causal link between body temperature and the perception of duration. A strict interpretation of this construct requires a common slope value in an Arrhenius plot that relates time to temperature for every individual tested. Previous studies testing this proposition have confirmed a general relationship for data summed across multiple subjects. However, the same studies raise doubts as to whether this relationship holds for each and every individual tested. Unfortunately, these investigations have been limited by methodological constraints, thus, one could argue that the strong isomorphism intrinsic to the chemical clock hypothesis has yet to be fairly tested. In the present experiment, I sought to distinguish the effects of selective head temperature changes on the estimation of duration. Nonlinear decreases in estimated duration were observed with ascending deep auditory canal temperature. These findings support the contention of a thermally stable region of temporal perception bounded by conditions in which temporal estimates directly depend on body temperature. In contradicting physiological adequacy as an explanatory construct, the present results suggest a direct relationship between time perception and the homeothermic platform. I compare these results with earlier findings concerning the chemical clock concept and examine respective discrepancies as a basis for a fuller understanding of a temporal phenomenon that is frequently referred to as me internal clock.     

Stressors and Stress Reactions Among University Personnel

A large, ethnically diverse, and representative sample of university workers in administrative, instructional, and blue-collar/clerical support categories were administered a battery of questionnaires designed to assess job and nonwork stress, biopsychosocial reactions to stress, emotionality, medical symptoms and utilization, and perceived social support, among other variables. A total of 831 participants returned questionnaires. The principal results showed that job and nonwork stress correlated positively with behavioral, cognitive, and physiological reactions to stress as well as with negative emotionality. Job and nonwork stress correlated meaningfully with medical symptoms; nonwork stress also correlated at a useful level with reported medical utilization. Social support did not generally modulate reports of stress or reactions to stress. It was also found that support staff reported higher levels of nonwork stress and lower levels of work stress, but that 2 measures of job stress did not differentiate administrative and instructional personnel. Younger staff reported higher levels of job and nonwork stress, and females reported higher levels of nonwork stress, irrespective of job category. The results were discussed in terms of their importance for understanding the nature of stress among personnel on the university campus and in relation to prior research.     

Testing emotional memories: does negative emotional significance influence the benefit received from testing?

A large body of research shows that emotionally significant stimuli are better stored in memory. One question that has received much less attention is how emotional memories are influenced by factors that influence memories after the initial encoding of stimuli. Intriguingly, several recent studies suggest that post-encoding factors do not differ in their effects on emotional and neutral memories. However, to date, only detrimental factors have been addressed. In the present study, we examined whether emotionally negative memories are differentially influenced by a well-known beneficial factor: the testing of memories. We employed a standard cued recall testing-effect paradigm where participants studied cue-target pairs for negative and neutral target pictures. In a subsequent post-encoding phase, one third of the cue-target pairs were tested and one third restudied; the remaining third served as control pairs. After one week, memory for all cue-target pairs was tested. While replicating both the testing effect and the emotional enhancement effect, no differences between negative and neutral memories in the benefits received from testing and restudying were observed. Thus, it seems to be true that post-encoding factors do not influence emotional memories in any other way than neutral memories, even when they are beneficial.     

医学生情绪调节方式的干预实验

采用《情绪调节习惯问卷》对某医大296名大二学生进行调查。选取其中情绪调节方式较为单一的34名学生进行干预实验,再用《情绪调节习惯问卷》和《大学生一般学业情绪问卷》考察干预效果。结果表明,医学生四种情绪调节方式（包括忽视、重视、抑制、宣泄）的使用较为均衡。实验组增加了对负性情绪的宣泄和抑制策略,其焦虑、厌烦和愉快学业情绪发生了积极转变;记忆组改善了记忆策略的同时其焦虑、羞愧和兴趣学业情绪发生了积极转变。说明情绪调节策略训练和记忆策略训练均可使医学生一些学业情绪发生积极转变,但前者效果较优。     

系统心理干预增进初二学生良好学业情绪的实验研究

采用2(实验班、对照班)×2(班级辅导+教师与家长辅导、注意即心理安慰剂)×3(学业情绪、自我概念、学业成绩)的实验设计,对65名初中二年级学生进行系统心理干预实验研究.实验研究结果表明:班级辅导+教师与家长辅导的系统心理干预方法可以增加初二学生的正向学业情绪,减少负向学业情绪,并且干预后间隔一个月有延续效应;经过系统心理干预,学生的自我概念也有相应的提升,同时也明湿地提高了学业成绩.说明系统心理干预对增进初二学生良好学业情绪足有效的.     

A meta-analysis of studies on psychological preparation of children facing medical procedures

Abstract

The results of a meta-analysis of 75 controlled intervention studies between 1953 and 1985 concerning psychological preparation of children facing medical procedures are analyzed. Both the subject matter and methodological characteristics of the studies were subjected to multiple coding procedures. 125 controlled comparisons were carried out in the 75 studies. and 916 individual effect sue scores were calculated. The overall effect size was found to be 0.44. The effectiveness of modeling techniques, which were wed most frequently. was below average. With regard to coping-modeling films, systematic desensitization and cognitive-behavioral packages, the effect of psychological preparation is dependent in large pan on the methodological quality of the control strategy. Very few evaluations have been made of interventions with children considered to be at risk for psychological stress. Preparation r measures can attain higher effect rue scores when they are undertaken in conjunction with major medical operations. series of treatments or children in poor health. With regard to the validity of the studies analyzed, no relationship could be found with the effect size scores. In general, the poor level of documentation of the reported research findings is criticized.     

Another Search for the “Hot” Cognitions: Appraisal, Irrational Beliefs, Attributions, and Their Relation to Emotion

One study examined the hypothesized status of appraisal and irrational beliefs relative to attributions, as proximal antecedents of emotion. In our study, which looked at 4 pairs of functional and dysfunctional negative emotions (i.e., concern/anxiety, sadness/depression, remorse/guilt, annoyance/anger), undergraduates (N = 120) reported on their attributions, appraisal, irrational beliefs, and emotions during past encounters associated with various negative events. Congruent with both Smith and Lazarus' (1993) appraisal theory and Ellis' (1994) cognitive theory of emotion, the results of this study indicate that the emotions (both functional and dysfunctional negative emotions) were more directly associated with appraisal and with irrational beliefs (dysfunctional negative emotions only) than they were with attributions. Also, irrational beliefs were strongly associated with appraisal; while demandingness (DEM) was associated more with primary appraisal, awfulizing/catastrophizing, low frustration tolerance, and global evaluation of human worth (including self-downing) were associated more with secondary appraisal. Dysfunctional emotions seem to involve primary appraisal associated with DEM while functional emotions involve primary appraisal associated with preferences. These findings lend to support the status of appraisal and irrational beliefs as the proximal cognitive antecedents of emotion and the status of irrational beliefs as a differencing factor between functional and dysfunctional emotions.