16 PF Profile of Schizophrenics With and Without Criminal Record

This study examined the personality characteristics of sixty Schizophrenics with and without criminal record on inpatients of Ranchi Institute of Neuro-Psychiatry and Allied Sciences, Ranchi (RINPAS) India. A comparison of their personality profiles on 16 PF test revealed that Schizophrenics with criminal record were more assertive, less reserved, less conscientious, and more extraverted than Schizophrenics without criminal record. It indicates that Schizophrenics who commit offences may be differentiated from those who are not involved in criminal act on the basis of their personality characteristics.     

Asparagus recemosus enhances memory and protects against amnesia in rodent models

Asparagus Racemosus (AR) is an Ayurvedic rasayana possessing multiple neuropharmacological activities. The adpatogenic and antidepressant activity of AR is well documented. The present study was undertaken to assess nootropic and anti-amnesic activities of MAR in rats. The Morris water maze (MWM) and elevated plus maze (EPM) models were employed to evaluate learning and memory activity. Subsequently, the anti-amnestic activity was evaluated in scopolamine and sodium nitrite (NaNO₂)-induced amnestic models in rats. Rats pre-treated with MAR (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg, p.o) for 7 days showed significant decrease in escape latency in the MWM test indicating nootropic activity. MAR also significantly reversed scopolamine and sodium nitrite-induced increase in transfer latency on EPM indicating anti-amnesic activity. Further, MAR dose-dependently inhibited acetylcholinesterase enzyme in specific brain regions (prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and hypothalamus). Thus, MAR showed nootropic and anti-amnesic activities in the models tested and these effects may probably be mediated through augmentation of cholinergic system due to its anti-cholinesterase activity.     

Early adversity in rural India impacts the brain networks underlying visual working memory

There is a growing need to understand the global impact of poverty on early brain and behavioural development, particularly with regard to key cognitive processes that emerge in early development. Although the impact of adversity on brain development can trap children in an intergenerational cycle of poverty, the massive potential for brain plasticity is also a source of hope: reliable, accessible, culturally agnostic methods to assess early brain development in low resource settings might be used to measure the impact of early adversity, identify infants for timely intervention and guide the development and monitor the effectiveness of early interventions. Visual working memory (VWM) is an early marker of cognitive capacity that has been assessed reliably in early infancy and is predictive of later academic achievement in Western countries. Here, we localized the functional brain networks that underlie VWM in early development in rural India using a portable neuroimaging system, and we assessed the impact of adversity on these brain networks. We recorded functional brain activity as young children aged 4–48 months performed a VWM task. Brain imaging results revealed localized activation in the frontal cortex, replicating findings from a Midwestern US sample. Critically, children from families with low maternal education and income showed weaker brain activity and poorer distractor suppression in canonical working memory areas in the left frontal cortex. Implications of this work are far‐reaching: it is now cost‐effective to localize functional brain networks in early development in low‐resource settings, paving the way for novel intervention and assessment methods.     

The effects of social comparison on inaction inertia

In this paper, we examine inaction inertia in a social context where the decision-maker is among others who are faced with similar current and past opportunities. We specifically investigate whether the likelihood of taking advantage of a current opportunity after having missed a previous, relatively superior opportunity depends on whether a referent other did or did not take advantage of the previous opportunity. We report results from three studies that provide evidence for the interplay between the past actions and inactions of a referent other and the extent of inaction inertia displayed by a focal decision-maker. We also show that the proximity of the other and the valence of the relationship between the decision-maker and the other influence the extent to which the decision of the other impacts the likelihood to take action. And, finally, we show that regret mediates the relationship between the decision of the other with respect to the past opportunity and the decision-maker's likelihood of taking advantage of the current opportunity.     

Predictive validity of the Dutch PCL:YV for institutional disruptive behavior: findings from two samples of male adolescents in a juvenile justice treatment institution

The present prospective study examined the predictive validity of the Dutch version of the Psychopathy Check List: Youth Version for disruptive behavior in male adolescents during treatment. The study comprised two samples admitted to different secure treatment institutions in The Netherlands, Jongerenhuis Harreveld (n = 81) and Rentray (n = 66). Overall, the results demonstrate that psychopathy is a significant predictor of institutional disruptive behavior, and physical violence in particular. Furthermore, Hare's traditional Factor 2 was more strongly related to disruptive incidents than Factor 1. By using the recently proposed three- and four-factor models of psychopathy, insight into the pattern of associations between psychopathy dimensions and different types of disruptive behavior was obtained. The antisocial dimension of psychopathy appeared to be more strongly related to severe incidents than the lifestyle dimension. Regression analyses identified significant contributions of the antisocial and lifestyle dimensions to the prediction of incidents. The relatively small degree of variance explained underlines the importance of other risk factors to identify adolescents at risk of disruptive behavior during institutional treatment.     

Fostering Employee Creativity through Transformational Leadership: Moderating Role of Creative Self-Efficacy

This study examined the moderating role of creative self-efficacy in predictions of employees’ creativity through transformational leadership. Data from a dyadic sample of 424 employees and their immediate supervisors were collected and analyzed. The results signify that transformational leaders promote creativity among their subordinates. Further, a significant moderating role of creative self-efficacy was found in the relationship between transformational leadership and employee creativity. The findings reveal that employees working under transformational leaders more likely to resort creative behavior when they perceive high creative-self-efficacy.     

Maternal substance use and mother–infant feeding interactions

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of maternal polydrug cocaine use during pregnancy and associated risk factors such as maternal psychopathology and negative infant temperament on the quality of mother–infant feeding interactions at 2 months of infant age. Participants were 45 mother–infant dyads (19 cocaine‐exposed and 26 nonexposed) who were recruited at birth and assessed again 2 months of infant age. Mother–infant interactions during feeding were videotaped and coded with regard to dyadic reciprocity, maternal noncontingency, and dyadic conflict. Results indicated that maternal cocaine use was associated with higher dyadic conflict. Moreover, cocaine‐using mothers were also more likely to use marijuana and alcohol, and use of such substances was associated with lower dyadic reciprocity and higher maternal noncontingency during interactions. Results also suggested that one pathway to higher dyadic conflict during interactions among cocaine‐using mothers was through the impact of cocaine on infant risk conditions like lower gestational age and negative temperament (e.g., higher distress to novelty). Interventions focusing on promoting the quality of mother–infant interactions in combination with substance abuse treatment may be especially promising for this population. ©2001 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Using functional near‐infrared spectroscopy to assess social information processing in poor urban Bangladeshi infants and toddlers

Children living in low‐resource settings are at risk for failing to reach their developmental potential. While the behavioral outcomes of growing up in such settings are well‐known, the neural mechanisms underpinning poor outcomes have not been well elucidated, particularly in the context of low‐ and middle‐income countries. In this study, we measure brain metabolic responses to social and nonsocial stimuli in a cohort of 6‐ and 36‐month‐old Bangladeshi children. Study participants in both cohorts lived in an urban slum and were exposed to a broad range of adversity early in life including extreme poverty, malnutrition, recurrent infections, and low maternal education. We observed brain regions that responded selectively to social stimuli in both ages indicating that these specialized brain responses are online from an early age. We additionally show that the magnitude of the socially selective response is related to maternal education, maternal stress, and the caregiving environment. Ultimately our results suggest that a variety of psychosocial hazards have a measurable relationship with the developing social brain.     

In a bid to restate the culture-psyche problematic: revisiting The Essential Writings of Suhir Kakar

This book assembles a broad sweep of its author's writings in one volume. Sudhir Kakar is an erudite psychoanalyst who has written nearly fifteen previous books on various aspects of Indian psyche and culture. Most are concerned with alternative healing practices and traditions, aspects of Indian childhood, and the place of sexuality in Indian culture. Informed by psychohistory and influenced by Erikson's theory of identity and its psychosocial development within the life cycle of an individual in a given society, Kakar accurately articulates issues of identity and separation-individuation dynamics that operate within Indian psyche and culture. In discussing the subject book, the author of this essay applies a psychoanalytically focused approach, emphasizing the teachings of French psychoanalysis and the British object relations school in particular.