Neuropsychiatric Features of Lewy Body Disease

Although traditionally associated with Parkinsons disease, the eosinophilic intracytoplasmic neuronal inclusion known as the Lewy body has recently been regarded as the primary neuropathologic finding in a variety of conditions affecting the aging brain. The term Lewy Body Disease (LBD) will be used in this review to refer to a spectrum of clinical states varying from those due to incidental or mildly symptomatic histopathologic changes to progressive dementia and psychosis. Many unanswered questions remain about the neurobehavioral and neuropathological implications of Lewy bodies, but it is useful to consider the LED spectrum in terms of the variable effects on neuropsychiatric function that can be observed clinically.     

Gender differences in coping: A further test of socialization and role constraint theories

To further test role constraint and socialization theories of gender differences in coping, two studies were conducted to examine coping strategies in individuals occupying similar roles. The relations between coping strategy frequency and effectiveness and between coping strategy use and psychological functioning also were examined. Predominantly Caucasian female and male college students participated in the studies. Results indicated support for both socialization and role constraint theories. Effectiveness and frequency of coping strategy use were moderately correlated. Gender differences in cognitive appraisal varied with dispositional vs. situational assessment. The need for a more integrated model to explain gender differences in coping and implications for existing theories are discussed.     

PHONOLOGICAL CODES ARE AUTOMATICALLY ACTIVATED DURING READING:

Abstract— Subjects read sentences containing target words that were homophones (words with a single pronunciation but different spellings) while their eye movements were recorded A prime word was presented briefly at the onset of fixation on the target region The prime for a given target (e g, beach) was either identical to the target (beach, a phonologically similar word (the homophone beech), a visually similar nonhomophone (bench), or a dissimilar word (noise) Phonological priming effects were assessed by comparing fixation times on the target when It was preceded by the homophone versus the visually similar word Results suggest that phonological codes are automatically activated during eye fixations in reading     

Analysis of long-term stress reactions in emergency room patients: An initial study

The psychological stress reactions of 44 family medicine patients who were treated in the emergency room were examined approximately a year after the event. Patients were assessed on several psychological measures, including one for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and on their perception of how stressful the event was initially and now. Results show continuing stress reactions related to the emergency room event. Three patients endorsed symptoms indicating full PTSD and 13 appeared to have at least partial PTSD. Age appeared to be a factor in the presence of stress symptoms and in degree of perceived communication with the physician.     

Auditory Priming for Nonverbal Information: Implicit and Explicit Memory for Environmental Sounds

Three experiments examined repetition priming for meaningful environmental sounds (e.g., clock ticking, tooth brushing, toilet flushing, etc.) in a sound stem identification paradigm using brief sound cues. Prior encoding of target sounds together with their associated names facilitated subsequent identification of sound stems relative to nonstudied controls. In contrast, prior exposure to names alone in the absence of the environmental sounds did not prime subsequent sound stem identification performance at all (Experiments 1 and 3). Explicit and implicit memory were dissociated such that sound stem cued recall was higher following semantic than nonsemantic encoding, whereas sound priming was insensitive to manipulations of depth encoding (Experiments 2 and 3). These results extend the findings of long-term repetition priming into the auditory nonverbal domain and suggest that priming for environmental sounds is mediated primarily by perceptual processes.