Neurostructural and Neurophysiological Correlates of Multiple Sclerosis Physical Fatigue: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cross-Sectional Studies

Neuropsychology Review - Fatigue is one of the most debilitating symptoms for people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). By consolidating a diverse and conflicting evidence-base, this systematic review...     

An investigation of neuronal integrity in severe paediatric traumatic brain injury.

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) and its association with neuropsychological functioning was examined in the chronic injury phase of paediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI). Fifteen children, aged 10-16 years, with severe TBIs were compared with 15 controls, matched for age and gender. The TBI group was found to have significantly lower levels of -acetyl aspartate (NAA) and Choline (Cho) in the right frontal lobe and generally displayed reduced performances on neuropsychological tests. A correlation between metabolites and reaction times was also obtained. Findings indicate a role of proton MRS as a measure of neuronal integrity following severe paediatric TBI and suggest a potential association of MRS with specific neuropsychological impairments.     

Ethics in Research in Mathematics Education

Most scientific domains have guidelines concerning ethics in research. These guidelines are designed to enable researchers to conduct good research while avoiding potential harm to research participants. This paper examines the bases for ethical codes in research and discusses how these codes are operationalized in research conducted in the field of mathematics education.     

Habitual starvation and provocative behaviors: Two potential routes to extreme suicidal behavior in anorexia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is perhaps the most lethal mental disorder, in part due to starvation-related health problems, but especially because of high suicide rates. One potential reason for high suicide rates in AN may be that those affected face pain and provocation on many fronts, which may in turn reduce their fear of pain and thereby increase risk for death by suicide. The purpose of the following studies was to explore whether repetitive exposure to painful and destructive behaviors such as vomiting, laxative use, and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) was a mechanism that linked AN-binge-purging (ANBP) subtype, as opposed to AN-restricting subtype (ANR), to extreme suicidal behavior. Study 1 utilized a sample of 787 individuals diagnosed with one or the other subtype of AN, and structural equation modeling results supported provocative behaviors as a mechanism linking ANBP to suicidal behavior. A second, unexpected mechanism emerged linking ANR to suicidal behavior via restricting. Study 2, which used a sample of 249 AN patients, replicated these findings, including the second mechanism linking ANR to suicide attempts. Two potential routes to suicidal behavior in AN appear to have been identified: one route through repetitive experience with provocative behaviors for ANBP, and a second for exposure to pain through the starvation of restricting in ANR.     

Sacred Violations,Perceptions of Injustice,and Anger in Muslims

Anger has been at the center of religiopolitical conflicts and has been associated with well‐being. This study examined the role of Muslim anger in sociopolitical events perceived as a sacred violation. A Muslim sample (N = 151) identified adverse political events that have deeply affected them; and completed measures of anger, sacred violations, perceptions of injustice, and religiousness. Sacred violations and perceptions of injustice were associated with greater levels of anger, with sacred violations being the stronger predictor. Post hoc analyses revealed that surrender problem‐solving style increased anger control. The findings provide broad support for the importance of religious appraisals of adverse political events in Muslim anger.     

The guise of the good and the problem of partiality

According to the guise of the good thesis, we desire things under the ‘guise of the good.’ Here I sympathetically articulate a generic formulation of the guise of the good thesis, and address a problem for the view, which I call the problem of partiality. The problem is, roughly, that our partial pro-attitudes –for example, our special concern for ourselves –do not correspond to what is absolutely good. I criticize three solutions to the problem, and propose an alternative strategy, on which partial pro-attitudes constitute a species of illusion.     

The Church: Intransit and Intransigent

In this essay, I revisit James E. Dittes' first book, The Church in the Way, and discuss its most salient points. Of particular interest is the view that parish ministers should adapt concepts from psychoanalysis for their ministry, especially as concerns the phenomenon of resistant behavior on the part of parishioners. Dittes' central claim is that resistance is a sign of vitality and thus should be embraced and exploited as a resource for ministry. Evaluating that claim alongside the enduring value of the book as a whole, I suggest three ways the work remains contemporarily relevant.     

“They Give Reason a Responsibility Which It Simply Can't Bear”: Ethics, Care of the Self, and Caring Knowledge

We explore briefly Foucault's ideas about the care of the self, creating ourselves and what he meant by ethics. We then examine the work of five artists–Mark Rothko, Cindy Sherman, Helena Hietanen, Samuel Beckett, and Betty Goodwin–to help us begin to think very differently about illness and human suffering. Taking our lead from Beckett, we regard reason as being given too much responsibility for the work of a caring knowledge, and that it is through the arts that new ideas about bioethics can emerge.     

An Associative Interpretation of the Indirect McCollough Effect

Following an induction procedure in which a coloured grid is alternated with a square of a complementary colour, subjects report colour after-effects on both the grid orientation present during induction and the orthogonal non-induced grid orientation. The after-effect reported on the induced grid orientation is called the McCollough effect (ME). The aftereffect reported on the non-induced grid orientation is called the indirect ME. There is evidence that the ME represents an instance of Pavlovian conditioning. The present results support a conditioning interpretation of the indirect ME and are inconsistent with interpretations of the indirect ME that attribute the phenomenon to special orthogonal coding mechanisms within the visual system.