Impaired processing of prosodic and musical patterns after right hemisphere damage

The distinction between the processing of musical information and segmental speech information (i.e., consonants and vowels) has been much explored. In contrast, the relationship between the processing of music and prosodic speech information (e.g., intonation) has been largely ignored. We report an assessment of prosodic perception for an amateur musician, KB, who became amusic following a right-hemisphere stroke. Relative to matched controls, KB's segmental speech perception was preserved. However, KB was unable to discriminate pitch or rhythm patterns in linguistic or musical stimuli. He was also impaired on prosodic perception tasks (e.g., discriminating statements from questions). Results are discussed in terms of common neural mechanisms that may underlie the processing of some aspects of both music and speech prosody.     

Effects of environmental enrichment on spatial memory and neurochemistry in middle-aged mice

The present study compared the effects of environmental enrichment on spatial memory, glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) activity, and synaptophysin levels in middle-aged male and female mice. Prior to testing, a subset of 18-month-old male and female C57BL/6 mice was housed with two to three toys and a running wheel in the home cage for up to 29 d. Adult mice (7 mo) of both sexes and the remaining middle-aged mice were group (social) housed, but not exposed to enriching objects. After the enrichment period, all mice were tested in a 1-day version of the Morris water maze, in which both spatial and nonspatial memory were assessed. Immediately after testing, the hippocampus and frontoparietal cortex were dissected, and GAD activity and synaptophysin levels were measured. Environmental enrichment reduced the age-related impairment in spatial acquisition and retention; relative to adult social controls, middle-aged enriched mice were unimpaired, whereas middle-aged social controls were impaired. This reduction was similar in middle-aged males and females. Enrichment did not affect cued memory in either sex. Although hippocampal GAD activity was increased by enrichment in males, all other neurochemical measurements were unaffected by enrichment or aging in either sex. These data suggest that environmental enrichment initiated at middle age can reduce age-related impairments in spatial memory in males and females, although the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of this effect remain unknown.     

Stress within a bicultural context for adolescents of Mexican descent

Folkman and Lazarus's theory of stress and coping was used to develop a measure assessing the perceived stress within a bicultural context. Middle school students of Mexican descent (N = 881) reported their perceived stress from intergenerational acculturation gaps, within-group discrimination, out-group discrimination, and monolingual stress. Although immigrant youths reported more total number of stressors, U.S.-born youths reported more stress from needing better Spanish and impact of parents' culture. Immigrant youths reported more stress from needing better English in school. Higher stress was associated with more depressive symptoms for both U.S.-born and immigrant youths. Although this study has identified some elements of stress, it has not identified positive coping mechanisms of the bicultural context for Latino youths.     

Neural Recruitment and CognitiveAging: Two Hemispheres Are Better Than One, Especially as You Age

Several neuroimaging studies have reported that older adults show weaker activations in some brain areas together with stronger activations in other areas, compared with younger adults performing the same task. This pattern may reflect neural recruitment that compensates for age-related neural declines. The recruitment hypothesis was tested in a visual laterality study that investigated age differences in the efficiency of bihemispheric processing. Letter-matching tasks of varying complexity were performed under two conditions: (a) matching letters projected to the same visual field (hemisphere) and (b) matching letters projected to opposite visual fields (hemispheres). As predicted by the recruitment hypothesis, older adults generally performed better in the bilateral than unilateral condition, whereas younger adults showed this pattern onlyfor the most complex task. We discuss the relation between these results and neuroimaging evidence for recruitment, and the relevance of the present bihemispheric advantage to other evidence for age-related changes in interhemispheric transfer.     

Callous-Unemotional Traits and Subtypes of Conduct Disorder

There has been growing consensus that children with conduct disorder (CD) constitute a very heterogeneous group containing children who vary substantially on the development, course, and causes of the disorder. While many have recognized the importance of this heterogeneity for developing better causal theories and for developing more effective treatments, there has been little consensus as to the best way to subtype children with CD. In this paper, we review a number of approaches to subtyping, each with some evidence for its validity for certain purposes. We focus on two recent approaches that have great potential for integrating past subtyping approaches and for advancing causal theory. The first approach is the division of children with CD into those with a childhood onset to their severe antisocial behavior and those with an adolescent onset to their behavior. The second approach is to designate children within the childhood-onset group who show callous and unemotional traits, which is analogous to adult conceptualizations of psychopathy. Both approaches help designate children who many show different causal processes underlying their severe aggressive and antisocial behavior, and who may warrant different approaches to treatment.     

A grouping interpretation of the modality effect in immediate probed recognition

In a series of experiments on immediate probed recognition for eight 3-digit numbers, it was shown that if the target modality involved auditory components and the effect of the similarity of the modality of the probe to that of the targets was controlled, unequivocal evidence was obtained for an auditory superiority effect (modality effect) for hit rates for the final items of the list. Moreover, false-alarm rates were significantly lower following targets with an auditory component than they were following silently seen targets. It is argued that this pattern of hits and false alarms is consistent with the idea that targets that have an auditory component yield memory representations that are better grouped as units than are those for targets that are only silently seen; in particular, if a new probe has a first digit that accidentally matches the first digit of a target item, it is more likely that the subject will mistakenly identify this new probe as old (give a false alarm) if the target has only been partially encoded because it was only silently seen.     

Gender, Somatization, and Psychopathic Traits in a College Sample

The structure of psychopathic traits and their association with somatization symptoms were investigated in a sample of 199 undergraduate college students enrolled in introductory psychology classes. Using multiple measures of psychopathic traits, an iterated principal axis (IPA) analysis revealed two dimensions of psychopathy that were similar to ones typically found in forensic samples. One dimension focused on a cold, callous, and unemotional interpersonal style and the second dimension focused on an impulsive and antisocial lifestyle. These two dimensions emerged for both men and women, although the correlation between the two was somewhat higher for men than women. Also, the callous and unemotional dimension was negatively correlated with somatization symptoms, and the impulsive and antisocial dimension was positively associated with somatization symptoms. This pattern of associations was similar for both men and women and it suggests that somatization symptoms may be one aspect of the high rate of negative affectivity experienced by antisocial individuals.     

Dimensional Personality Traits Broadly and Selectively Associated with Normative Externalizing Behavior

This study aimed to distinguish personality traits that are widely associated with several types of externalizing behaviors from personality traits that are more selectively associated with one or only a few specific types of externalizing behavior. A wide range of externalizing behaviors (e.g. alcohol and drug use, risky driving, aggressive acts, sexual promiscuity and relationship infidelity, academic misconduct) typical among an undergraduate population (N?=?257) were examined along with a range of personality traits measured using the Section III personality model for the DSM-5. We found that externalizing behavior was best associated with the domain level trait Antagonism and, to a lesser degree, Disinhibition. Antagonism’s association with problematic behavior was primarily accounted for by the facet trait Deceitfulness. Deceitfulness was found to be associated with a wide range of behaviors including relationship infidelity, theft, aggressive acts, and drug and alcohol use. Associations between Disinhibition and problem behavior, especially risky driving and poor work or school performance, were best accounted for by the Irresponsibility facet, as opposed to the Impulsivity or Distractibility facet traits. This comprehensive multivariate approach is important for a more complete understanding of the complex relationship that exists between personality traits and externalizing behavior. A better understanding of factors precipitating externalizing behavior could ultimately lead to an increased ability to target interventions to individuals most susceptible to engage in problematic behavior.     

Executive Functioning Correlates of <Emphasis Type="Italic">DSM-5</Emphasis> Maladaptive Personality Traits: Initial Evidence from an Italian Sample of Consecutively Admitted Adult Outpatients

In order to evaluate the associations between computer-administered tasks of executive functioning (EF), and maladaptive personality domains and traits listed in DSM-5 Alternative Model of Personality Disorders, 53 consecutively admitted psychotherapy outpatients (female participants: n?=?27, 50.9%; male participants: n?=?26, 49.1%; participants’ mean age?=?37.28 years, SD?=?11.50 years) were administered the Psychology Experiment Building Language (PEBL) EF tasks and the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5). According to rank-order correlation analyses, a number of non-negligible and specific associations were observed between selected PID-5 scales and indices of participants’ performance on EF tasks. MM robust regression models showed that participants’ performance on computer-administered EF tasks explained a non-negligible amount of variance in selected PID-5 scale scores (median R² value?=?.17). As a whole, our trait-level analyses of PID-5 dimensions suggest the clinical usefulness of integrating self-reports and EF laboratory tasks in routine clinical assessment.