Reporting spiritual needs of older adults living in Bavarian residential and nursing homes

We intended to study unaddressed psychosocial and spiritual needs among older people (of at least 65 years of age) living in nine residential/nursing homes in Bavaria in Southern Germany. We conducted an anonymous cross-sectional study with standardised questionnaires (i.e., Spiritual Needs Questionnaire, Brief Multidimensional Life Satisfaction Scale, Schedule for Meaning in Life Evaluation, etc.). Religious needs were predicted best by residents’ religious trust. Existential needs and inner peace needs correlated moderately with grief, and were predicted best by family/social support needs. All members of an interdisciplinary team should be trained in the specific competence of recognising older people's unmet spiritual needs. When these needs are recognised, caregivers and relatives have the chance to react.     

The shapes associated with approach/avoidance words

People prefer curved and symmetrical shapes to their angular and asymmetrical counterparts. While it is known that stimulus valence is central to approach and avoidance motivation, the exact nature of the relationship between curvature/symmetry and approach/avoidance motivation still needs to be clarified. Experiment 1 was designed to investigate whether simple shapes are associated with approach and avoidance words. Participants found it easier to match more symmetrical shapes with approach words. In Experiment 2, symmetry was differentially associated with approach words and was rated significantly higher on the approach dimension than asymmetry. Next, we assessed whether object valence and object curvature (Experiment 3) or symmetry (Experiment 4) would lead to different associations to approach and avoidance words. Only object valence had a significant influence on participants’ ratings, with the positively-valenced objects being more closely associated with approach words than their negatively-valenced counterparts. These results highlight the complex relation between visual properties of objects, their valence, and appetitive and aversive categories.     

Neuroplastic Changes Following Social Cognition Training in Schizophrenia: A Systematic Review

Social cognitive impairment is a key feature of schizophrenia and social cognition training (SCT) is a promising tool to address these deficits. Neurobiological dysfunction in schizophrenia has been widely researched, but neuronal changes induced by SCT have been scarcely explored. This review aims to assess the neuroplastic effects of SCT in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. PubMed and Web of Science databases were searched for clinical trials testing the effects of SCT in functional and structural brain measurements of adult patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders. A total of 11 studies were included: five used fMRI, two used EEG and ERP, one used ERP only, two used MEG and one study used MRI. Data extracting and processing regarding sociodemographic and clinical variables, intervention characteristics, neuroimaging procedures, neuroplastic findings, effect sizes and study quality criteria was completed by two raters. Results indicate a wide range of structural and functional changes in numerous regions and circuits of the social brain, including early perceptual areas, the limbic system and prefrontal regions. Despite the small number of trials currently available, evidence suggests that SCT is associated with neuroplastic changes in the social brain and concomitant improvements in social cognitive performance. There is a lack of extensive knowledge about the neural mechanisms that underlie social cognitive enhancement after treatment, but the reported findings may shed light on the neural substrates of social cognitive impairment in schizophrenia and how improved treatment procedures can be developed and applied.     

Next Generation Sequencing in the Clinic: a Patterns of Care Study in a Retrospective Cohort of Subjects Referred to a Genetic Medicine Clinic for Suspected Lynch Syndrome

Next generation sequencing (NGS) gene panels are increasingly used in medical genetics clinics for the evaluation of common inherited cancer syndromes, but the clinical efficacy of these tests, and the factors driving clinical providers to order them are unclear. We conducted a patterns-of-care study to compare patients evaluated with NGS gene panels with a reference group. We abstracted demographic, socioeconomic, and clinical information in a retrospective cohort of patients referred to a large medical genetics clinic for evaluation of inherited colorectal cancer and polyposis syndromes. Patients tested with NGS gene panels were more likely to be insured compared to the reference group (85.3 % vs. 69.2 %, p = 0.0068),less likely to have prior tumor tissue testing (29.4 % vs. 54.3 %, p = 0.0004), and less likely to have an abnormal tumor tissue test result (46.7 % vs. 74.5 %, p = 0.01). No significant differences were found between groups in age, gender, race, employment status, personal history of colorectal cancer, or proportion of patients fulfilling Lynch syndrome clinical criteria. Patients with NGS testing were less likely to have a pathogenic/likely pathogenic variant detected (13.7 % vs. 31.9 %, p = 0.002). Patients referred for NGS testing to evaluate inherited colorectal cancer/polyposis risk appear to undergo tumor tissue testing less frequently than non-NGS testing patients. Further studies are needed to assess the most effective and cost-effective approach to genomic diagnosis in this patient population.     

The Care and Development of Children Living in Contexts of Poverty

Human development is determined by both genetic and environmental factors, especially during early childhood. Recently, research has indicated that the circumstances surrounding poverty can significantly influence children’s development. In this study, we aimed to measure the developmental level of children living in low-income, rural areas in northern Colombia. A total of 629 children (aged 0–5 years) were assessed using the Battelle Developmental Inventory. Results indicated that 17?% of the participants had a general developmental delay for their age group. This was especially true for scores on cognitive development (35.5?%) and communication (21.5?%). Moreover, the number of children with developmental delay increased at 6 months of age and continued to increase after 1 year in the communication and cognitive domains. The findings of this study suggest that impoverished social contexts—such as the one studied herein—offer opportunities that favor the development of the social domain, but restrict the development of the cognitive domain. Therefore, to promote cognitive development, individuals within children’s environment need to actively and intentionally stimulate them. Thus, there is a need for interventions that will improve environmental conditions; especially those that will help parents improve their caregiving practices and train educational staff to recognize and respond to the stimulation needs of children, especially those developmental domains that are affected by the environment.     

Choice biases in no-sample and delay testing in pigeons (Columba livia)

Animal Cognition - In experimental tasks that involve stimuli that vary along a quantitative continuum, some choice biases are commonly found. Take, for instance, a matching-to-sample task where...     

Countering Deficits: A Grounded Theory of Success From Graduate Students of Color

The existing research on students of color in counselor education focuses on the barriers they experience, providing a deficit perspective. Using grounded theory and a critical race theory framework, we studied the racialized experiences of 19 graduate students of color in counselor education. Grounded in participants' voices, we propose a liberatory theory of academic success. Implications for promoting the success of students of color in counselor education and for future critical race theory research are discussed. Las investigaciones hasta la fecha sobre estudiantes de color en programas educativos de consejería se centran en las barreras que afrontan, lo cual ofrece un déficit de perspectiva. Usando un muestreo teórico y un marco de teoría crítica de la raza, estudiamos las experiencias racializadas de 19 estudiantes de posgrado de color en programas educativos de consejería. Basándonos en las voces de los participantes, proponemos una teoría liberatoria de éxito académico. Se discuten las implicaciones para fomentar el éxito de estudiantes de color en programas educativos de consejería y para investigaciones futuras de teoría crítica de la raza.