Increased associated movements: influence of attention deficits and movement difficulties

This study was designed to examine whether increased associated movements (AMs) reflect motor difficulties or the symptoms associated with attention disorders. Four groups of male children (N=51) aged 6-8 years participated: Group 1 consisted of 13 children diagnosed with developmental coordination disorder (DCD); Group 2 consisted of 13 children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); Group 3 consisted of 10 children diagnosed with co-occurring DCD and ADHD, and Group 4 was a control sample of 15 children, with no known movement or attention difficulties. Various AM tasks were selected from established assessments and previous research to measure AM severity. The results supported the hypothesis that increased severity of AMs reflect movement difficulties with children in the DCD and DCD/ADHD groups displaying significantly more AMs than children in the ADHD and control groups (p<.001). No differences were found between the ADHD only and control groups (p=.67) or the DCD and DCD/ADHD groups (p=.81) suggesting that AM severity is not influenced by the neurodevelopmental symptoms associated with ADHD.     

Is overgeneral autobiographical memory an isolated memory phenomenon in major depression?

The present study explored the relation between overgeneral autobiographical memory (AM) and other aspects of memory functioning in depression. A total of 26 patients with major depressive disorder completed a set of memory tasks measuring AM specificity (AMT; Williams & Broadbent, 1986), working memory, semantic memory, verbal learning, delayed verbal recall, recognition memory, and source memory. Reduced specificity of AM was related to poor working memory (central executive functioning) and poor source memory. The former finding conforms to the idea that the voluntary retrieval of specific autobiographical memories (AMs) involves central executive processes (e.g., Conway & Pleydell-Pearce, 2000). The latter finding replicates and extends recent findings suggesting that overgeneral AM is part of a broader memory deficit in retrieving the specific details of the context in which information was acquired (Ramponi, Barnard, & Nimmo-Smith, 2004). Furthermore, in line with Ramponi et al. (2004), rumination was found to be related to both overgeneral AM and poor source memory.     

Movement abnormalities and the progression of prodromal symptomatology in adolescents at risk for psychotic disorders

The link between movement abnormalities and psychotic disorders is presumed to reflect common neural mechanisms that influence both motor functions and vulnerability to psychosis. The prodromal period leading to psychotic disorders represents both a viable point for intervention and a developmental period that, if studied, could shed light on etiology; however, no published studies have examined the temporal progression of this link. A group with high levels of prodromal symptomatology (i.e., adolescents with schizotypal personality disorder [SPD]; n = 42) and both psychiatric controls (with other personality disorders or conduct disorder [OD]; n = 30) and nonpsychiatric controls ([NC]; n = 49) were recruited. Videotapes of structured psychiatric interviews were coded for movement abnormalities by raters blind to participants' diagnostic status, and follow-up assessments were conducted 1 year later. Controlling for psychotropic medications, the authors found that adolescents with SPD exhibited significantly more motor abnormalities in the face and upper body than did OD and NC controls. At baseline, movement abnormalities were positively correlated with the severity of positive, negative, and total prodromal symptoms. Within the SPD group, baseline movement abnormalities predicted symptom severity 1 year later. Movement abnormalities represent an early risk indicator that may be predictive of later symptom severity and potentially of psychosis onset.     

Neural correlates of deficient response inhibition in mentally disordered violent individuals

In this study, response inhibition and associated neural activation during a motor inhibition paradigm were investigated in (i) men with antisocial personality disorder (APD) with a history of violence (n = 14), (ii) men with schizophrenia with a history of violence (n = 12), (iii) men with schizophrenia without a history of violence (n = 12), and (iv) healthy control subjects (n = 14) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). At the behavioural level, individuals with schizophrenia showed impaired performance across all conditions, whereas an increased error rate was seen in the APD group only during the conditions requiring inhibition. At the neural level, both violent groups showed reduced thalamic activity, compared with controls, in association with modulation of inhibition by task demands. In addition, the violent schizophrenia group, compared with controls, showed reduced activity in the caudate nucleus during the condition requiring inhibition. It is concluded that violence may not be specifically associated with impaired voluntary inhibition in schizophrenia but this is likely in APD. Reduced thalamic function, perhaps due to its known association with sensorimotor disturbances, is implicated in violent behaviour across both disorders. In addition, caudate dysfunction may contribute, given its role in timing and temporal processing as well as suppression of motor actions, to deficient inhibition and violent behaviour in schizophrenia.     

Suicide attempts: Patients with and without an affective disorder show impaired autobiographical memory specificity

A number of studies have shown reduced recall of specific autobiographical memories (AMs) in patients after attempted suicide, but in all of them the study samples were confounded with diagnoses of affective disorders. The present study aims to demonstrate impaired specific autobiographical memory in patients after a suicide attempt without a diagnosis of an affective disorder. Four groups were compared: (1) patients with an actual major depression and a suicide attempt; (2) patients after a suicide attempt without a lifetime history of an affective diagnosis; (3) patients currently suffering from major depression without a suicide attempt; and (4) control persons not suffering from either of the two conditions during their entire life. Individuals with major depression and a suicide attempt showed reduced specificity of AM and, most importantly, patients with a suicide attempt—despite the absence of an affective disorder—were equally impaired with recall of specific AMs as were patients with major depression. The authors propose that reduced specific AM is a common vulnerability factor that can lead either to the development of an affective disorder and/or to a suicide attempt.     

Clinical features of tic-related obsessive-compulsive disorder: results from a large multicenter study

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical features of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients with comorbid tic disorders (TD) in a large, multicenter, clinical sample.MethodA cross-sectional study was conducted that included 813 consecutive OCD outpatients from the Brazilian OCD Research Consortium and used several instruments of assessment, including the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, the Dimensional Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS), the USP Sensory Phenomena Scale, and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders. RESULTS: The sample mean current age was 34.9 years old (SE 0.54), and the mean age at obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) onset was 12.8 years old (SE 0.27). Sensory phenomena were reported by 585 individuals (72% of the sample). The general lifetime prevalence of TD was 29.0% (n = 236), with 8.9% (n = 72) presenting Tourette syndrome, 17.3% (n = 141) chronic motor tic disorder, and 2.8% (n = 23) chronic vocal tic disorder. The mean tic severity score, according to the YGTSS, was 27.2 (SE 1.4) in the OCD + TD group. Compared to OCD patients without comorbid TD, those with TD (OCD + TD group, n = 236) were more likely to be males (49.2% vs. 38.5%, p < .005) and to present sensory phenomena and comorbidity with anxiety disorders in general: separation anxiety disorder, social phobia, specific phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, impulse control disorders in general, and skin picking. Also, the "aggressive," "sexual/religious," and "hoarding" symptom dimensions were more severe in the OCD + TD group.ConclusionTic-related OCD may constitute a particular subgroup of the disorder with specific phenotypical characteristics, but its neurobiological underpinnings remain to be fully disentangled.     

Target-related autobiographical memories affect dietary intake intentions*

ABSTRACT

Although there is evidence that autobiographical memory (AM) recall impacts behaviour in multiple domains, the mechanisms for this effect are unclear. Two experiments examined how AM Frame and Relatedness to target behaviour affect intention to control future dietary intake. Participants completed an AM task where they recalled success or fail-framed memories of behaviour in the target domain (dietary intake), a related domain (exercise), and an unrelated domain (work). Next they completed questionnaires about attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavioural intention for controlling dietary intake. In Experiment 1, Frame and Relatedness of AMs recalled did not affect attitudes or self-efficacy ratings of controlling dietary intake. However, Related AMs resulted in higher intention ratings to control future dietary intake compared to Unrelated AMs. Experiment 2 replicated these results for attitude and self-efficacy, but showed no effect on behavioural intention. A mini-meta analysis was conducted to clarify the effect of AM recall on intention. This analysis confirmed a significant effect of AM Relatedness on intention ratings (meta-analysis Cohen’s d?=?.25, Z?=?2.54, p?=?.011). These results provide evidence that recalling related AM can affect dietary behaviour intentions directly, without changes attitudes or ratings of personal control regarding dietary intake.     

依恋安全对自传记忆提取现象学特征的影响

个体在回忆自传记忆时的主观体验特征称为自传记忆的现象学特征,而这种个体精神现象学特征的早期推动是个体依恋特征。研究采用依恋故事阅读启动范式,探讨依恋安全对自传记忆现象学特征提取的影响。研究结果显示,安全依恋启动组自传记忆的可得性、具体性、清晰性、生动性和关系自我构念显著高于不安全依恋启动组,且关系自我构念在依恋安全与自传记忆现象学特征之间起中介作用。研究从新的角度表明,依恋真实地生活在复杂的人际关系中,建构着个体关系自我构念,并真切影响着自传记忆现象学特征,积蓄着个体精神现象学特征的形成。     

Social perception in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

Although the profile of social cognitive difficulties is well recognized in children with certain neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), this profile is not as well established in other clinical pediatric populations. The objective of the present study is to examine patterns of social perception in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) compared to typically-developing (TD) control children. A total of 56 children between 8 and 12 years of age—35 with FASD and 21 TD—completed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task – Children’s Version (RMET-C). The RMET-C accuracy scores were compared between groups and also by item difficulty and emotional valence. The relation between cognitive functioning, age, FASD severity, and RMET-C performance was also investigated. The children in the FASD group did not perform as well as the children in the TD group on the RMET-C Total score and Easy items, as well as the Positive, Negative, and Neutral emotional valence items. When age and IQ were investigated, there was a significant effect of age on the Positive items in the TD group, with scores increasing with age. With regard to FASD severity, children with alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder were outperformed by children with full/partial fetal alcohol syndrome on the Positive and Negative items. Overall, these results further the understanding of the social cognitive profile in children with FASD and how this profile relates to other childhood-onset neurodevelopmental disorders.     

A positron emission tomography (PET) study of autobiographical memory retrieval

Memory for the experiences of one's life, autobiographical memory (AM), is one of the most human types of memory, yet comparatively little is known of its neurobiology. A positron emission tomography (PET) study of AM retrieval revealed that the left frontal cortex was significantly active during retrieval (compared to memory control tasks), together with activation in the inferior temporal and occipital lobes in the left hemisphere. We propose that this left frontal lobe activation reflects the operation of control processes that modulate the construction of AMs in posterior neocortical networks.     

Self-punishment as a regulation strategy in borderline personality disorder

Studies using the Thought Control Questionnaire (TCQ; Wells & Davies, 1994) suggest that the tendency to use self-punishment (e.g., shouting at oneself) in order to control unpleasant internal experiences (e.g., cognitive and emotional) is associated with psychopathology. To evaluate the role of self-punishment in borderline personality disorder (BPD), we first examined whether TCQ scales, including Self-Punishment, were different among adults with BPD (n = 31) when compared to those with other personality disorders (OPD; n = 24), elevated symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD; n = 24), and healthy controls (n = 105). Findings indicated that Self-Punishment was elevated in the BPD group relative to other groups. Next, Self-Punishment was examined as a potential mediator in the relationship between negative affectivity and BPD symptom severity in all participants. Results indicated that Self-Punishment did not mediate this relationship, but did account for significant variance in BPD symptoms over and above negative affectivity. Implications and future research directions are discussed.     

A test of the bidirectional association between sleep and mood in bipolar disorder and insomnia

The present study investigates sleep, mood, and the proposed bidirectional relationship between the two in psychiatric disorders. Participants with interepisode bipolar disorder (n = 49), insomnia (n = 34), and no psychiatric history (n = 52) completed seven consecutive days of sleep diaries and mood measures. The interepisode bipolar and insomnia participants exhibited greater sleep disturbance than the healthy control individuals. Negative mood was equally heightened in both interepisode bipolar disorder and insomnia, and there were no differences between the three groups in positive mood. Total wake time was associated with next morning negative mood in bipolar disorder, whereas evening negative mood was associated with subsequent total wake time in both bipolar disorder and insomnia. Additionally, positive mood was associated with subsequent total wake time for the insomnia group. Results support the theory that disruptions in nighttime sleep and daytime mood may be mutually maintaining and suggest the potential importance of transdiagnostic or universal processes.     

A Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Study of Autobiographical Memory Retrieval

Memory for the experiences of one's life, autobiographical memory (AM), is one of the most human types of memory, yet comparatively little is known of its neurobiology. A positron emission tomography (PET) study of AM retrieval revealed that the left frontal cortex was significantly active during retrieval (compared to memory control tasks), together with activation in the inferior temporal and occipital lobes in the left hemisphere. We propose that this left frontal lobe activation reflects the operation of control processes that modulate the construction of AMs in posterior neocortical networks.     

Long live Proust: the odour-cued autobiographical memory bump

The autobiographical memory bump is an increase in the frequency of reported autobiographical memories (AMs) from a particular age range, and has been reported by numerous investigators (for reviews, see Conway, M. A. & Rubin, D. C. (1993). The structure of autobiographical memory. In A. F. Collins, S. E. Gathercole, M. A. Conway & P. E. Morris, Theories of memory. Hove: Lawrence Erlbaum; Rubin, D. C., Rahhal, T. A. & Poon, L. W. (1998). Things learned in early adulthood are remembered best. Memory and Cognition, 26, 3-19) to occur in the second and third decades of life. Invariably, word labels have been used as AM cues but, given that a popular interpretation of the anecdotal 'Proust phenomenon' is that odours evoke AMs which are especially aged, we wondered if a different pattern in the AM bump might emerge if AMs were cued by odours rather than labels. Here we report an attempt to substantiate this aspect of the 'Proust phenomenon' by comparing the distributions of memories across the lifespan when cued by odour and label. Data showed that, in line with previous studies, the bump for label cues was found to peak between ages 11 and 25 years and was confirmed to be quadratic in form. In contrast, the odour-cued memory distribution peaked at 6-10 years and decreased linearly thereafter. In the earliest age interval, 6-10 years, the proportion of AMs retrieved in response to odour cues was significantly greater than that for the label cues. These results provide empirical support for the Proust phenomenon, and have more general implications for the structure and age distribution of stored AMs.     

The association between avoidant personality traits and motor impairment in a population-based sample of 11-12-year-old children

The aim of the study was to examine the association between avoidant personality traits and motor impairment in childhood. The relationship between other personality traits and motor function was also explored. A population-based screened sample of 150 11-12-year-old children (50 socially anxious, 50 impulsive and 50 nonsocially anxious/nonimpulsive) was assessed using the Coolidge Personality and Neuropsycho- logical Inventory for Children (CPNI) and the Motor Assessment Battery for Children (MABC). Among the personality scales, avoidant personality traits were most strongly associated with motor impairment. Children with clinically avoidant personality traits (n = 31) showed a significantly poorer motor performance than children in the nonclinical avoidance group (n = 119). About 50% of the children with clinical avoidance obtained a motor score below the 5th percentile. No gender differences in motor performance were found in the clinical avoidance group. More research on the impact of motor impairment on psychological development is needed.     

Premotor and motor reaction time of educable mentally retarded youths in a Taekwondo program

This study investigated the educational effect of a Taekwondo program on premotor and motor reaction time in high school students who were mentally retarded but educable. Subjects were voluntarily recruited from the Special High School for the Mentally Retarded in Busan, South Korea. Subjects were divided into a trained group (n = 10) and a control group (n = 10) with balanced ages, physical conditions, and IQ. Subjects took part in pretests after practicing a Taekwondo motion 10 times with a signal presented randomly between 2 and 8 sec. after "Ready!" The motion was raising the right knee powerfully enough to crush a pine board. Subjects in the trained group took a Taekwondo course three times a week for 7 mo. This program was designed for the cognitive and physical characteristics of mentally retarded persons. After 7 mo., all subjects underwent posttests like the pretests. A four-channel EMG analyzing device (LAXTHA Inc., 2001) recorded EMG activity. Analysis of co-variance analyzed the difference of mean pre- and posttests for the two groups. For premotor RT, mean performance of the groups showed no significant difference, but significant improvement in mean motor RT by the trained group (p <.01) was noted.     

Effects of luminance and contrast on direction of ambiguous apparent motion

A study is reported of the role of luminance and contrast in resolving ambiguous apparent motion (AM). Different results were obtained for the short-range (SR) and the long-range (LR) motion-detecting processes. For short-range jumps (7.5 min arc), the direction of ambiguous AM depended on brightness polarity, with AM only from white to white and from black to black. But for larger jumps, or when an interstimulus interval (ISI) was introduced, AM was less dependent on polarity, with white often jumping to black and black jumping to white. Two potential AMs were pitted against each other, one carried by a light stimulus and the other by a dark stimulus. The stimulus whose luminance differed most from the uniform surround captured the AM. Visual response to luminance was linear, not logarithmic. When the stimulus was modified to give continuous AM in one direction it was followed by a negative aftereffect of motion only when the spatial displacement was 1 min arc. A larger displacement (10 min arc) gave good AM but no motion aftereffect. Thus only short-range motion adapts motion-sensitive channels.     

Functional cerebral changes in multiple sclerosis patients during an autobiographical memory test

Our aim was to investigate the functional underpinnings of autobiographical memory (AM) impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. To that end, 18 patients and 18 controls underwent the autobiographical interview (AI). Subsequently, the 36 participants underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) session designed to assess the construction and elaboration of AMs. A categorical control task was also presented. Patients were trained in the fMRI procedure to optimise the procedural aspects accompanying the task itself. Although the patients obtained significantly poorer AI scores (p < .001), their performance on the easier AM fMRI task was efficiently carried out, allowing relevant comparisons with healthy controls. Relatively to healthy controls, the patients showed increased and bilateral cerebral activations (p < .005) during the construction and elaboration phases. The prefrontal, temporal and posterior cerebral region activations were located within the core network sustaining AM, with the bilateral prefrontal region being centrally involved. The parametric neural responses to the difficulty of access and amount of details of memories were also significantly different for the two groups, with the right hippocampal region showing a particularly increased recruitment (p < .005). The findings suggested the presence of functional cerebral changes during AM performance and supported the presence of AM retrieval deficit in MS patients.     

Slow gait as a motor marker of mild cognitive impairment? the relationships between functional mobility and mild cognitive impairment

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between functional mobility and mild cognitive impairment in older adults. A total of 800 older adults were recruited (653 controls and 147 subjects with MCI [88 subjects with aMCI and 59 subjects with naMCI]). Motor performance was measured with the Timed Up and Go test (TUG). The demographic factors associated with MCI were: age (OR = 1.05; 95% CI: 1.01–1.09) and the level of education (OR = 0.73; 95% CI: 0.68–0.79). An independent clinical factor associated with MCI was the TUG (OR = 1.14; 95% CI: 1.03–1.27). In the aMCI group, the relation between the TUG and cognitive status occurred (OR = 1.15; 95% CI: 1.02–1.31), whereas in the naMCI group this relationship was not observed. There is an association between cognitive dysfunction and impaired motor performance in older adults with MCI.     

Impaired re-weighting of sensory feedback for maintenance of postural control in children with developmental coordination disorder

To further the understanding of postural control impairments seen in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and the effect of these impairments on motor performance in these children, 30 children with and without DCD (mean age=9 years, 7 months +/- 1 year, 10 months) were administered the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC), Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence and the Sensory Organization Test. Analyses of covariance revealed that children with DCD had greater difficulty maintaining postural control when visual and somatosensory feedback were compromised in sensory conflict environments (p=.031). Group differences in postural control were independent of age. Additionally, no correlation was seen between motor performance on the M-ABC and postural control measures for the Sensory Organization Test. Our results demonstrate that impaired ability to utilize vestibular feedback while re-weighting somatosensory and visual feedback for orientation may be responsible, in part, for the postural control impairments observed in some children with DCD.