Results of a study of glucocorticoid receptors in lymphocytes of patients with endogenous depression

Increased plasma cortisol levels are found not only in patients with Cushing disease but also in patients suffering from endogenous depression. Because patients with endogenous depression fail to show any clinical signs of Cushing disease, it is supposed that the cells of these patients are relatively resistant to increased glucocorticoid levels. To test this hypothesis 20 patients with endogenous depression and 20 healthy controls were examined for plasma cortisol level and modulation of mitogen induced lymphocyte transformation by glucocorticoids. Results point to a relative resistance of patient's T-lymphocyte transformation to the inhibitory effect of glucocorticoids when compared with controls.     

Shape from shading in different frames of reference

It has often been reported that, in the absence of information about the direction of illumination, people interpret surface convexities and concavities in accordance with the assumption that illumination comes from above. However, 'above' could mean with reference to gravity, the head or the retina. Yonas et al reported that four-year-old infants use the head more than gravity as the frame of reference in interpreting surface relief but that seven-year-olds make about equal use of the two frames of reference. The potency of these two frames of reference when acting separately and when pitted against each other was measured on adult subjects. For all subjects the 'assumption' about the direction of illumination was predominantly with respect to the head. The gravitational frame was used only when the headcentric frame was irrelevant, and then not consistently.     

MRI evaluation of the size and symmetry of the planum temporale in adolescents with developmental dyslexia

MRI technique was used to examine the size and symmetry of the plana temporale in 19 dyslexic students in grade 8 and in carefully matched control subjects. The results demonstrated a high frequency of planum symmetry among the dyslexics (70%) whereas symmetry was observed in only 30% of the control subjects. It was not possible to demonstrate any clear association between symmetry/asymmetry of planum temporale and handedness. Word-reading strategies among the dyslexics and control subjects were investigated with computerized tasks where accuracy and naming latency were recorded. All subjects with pure phonological deficits in reading had symmetrical plana temporale indicating a possible neuroanatomical basis for a characteristic symptom of linguistic processing deficiency in developmental dyslexia.     

The role of the left and right thalamus in language asymmetry: dichotic listening in Parkinson patients undergoing stereotactic thalamotomy

Fourteen patients with Parkinson's disease (rigidity and unilateral tremor as main symptoms) were treated with stereotactic thalamotomy. The operation was performed in either the left or right ventrolateral thalamus, depending on which hand (or foot) was most affected with tremor. Nine patients were operated on the left side and four on the right side. All patients were tested for asymmetry of language functioning with dichotic presentations of consonant-vowel (CV) syllables. The patients had to indicate which of the two syllables he/she heard on each trial. Dichotic listening was performed before and after the operation, as well as during electrical stimulation of the VL nucleus just before the lesion was carried out. The results revealed essentially three things: an overall reduced right ear advantage (REA) in the patient group compared to what is known from studies of healthy individuals; an increase in REA during left-sided stimulations; and a marked reduction in REA after left-sided lesions. It is concluded that the present data support the notion put forward by Ojemann (e.g., 1975) of a lateralized activating gating mechanism in the left VL nucleus that gates access for language information to the appropriate cortical areas. The gating mechanism seems to be activated by stimulation, and deactivated after lesions. Dichotic listening may thus be a heuristic instrument in assessment of language functions in Parkinson patients.     

The effects of head and eye turns on the right ear advantage in dichotic listening

The aim of the present experiment was to investigate the effects of head and eye turns on the ear advantage in dichotic listening (DL) to CV-syllables. Since head and eye turns also mean focusing attention to either the left or right side in space, a second aim was to evaluate recent arguments that ear advantages seen in DL are caused by the perceived position in space of the sound source. Forty right-handed females had 36 trials of CV-syllables under four different instructions. One group (n = 20) was instructed to turn their head (but not their eyes) to the right, the left, or straight ahead during stimulus presentations. The fourth condition was a standard (no instruction) condition. A second group (n = 20) had the same instructions but were told to turn their eyes instead of their heads. Conditions were pseudo-counterbalanced across subjects. Consistent with other studies, results showed a right ear advantage (REA) in both groups during all conditions. However, the REA was largest for the standard condition. Also, more subjects showed a REA during the standard condition, and especially compared to the turn-right condition. It is concluded that dichotic performance is not caused by selective attention to either side in space, and that lateral turns of the head and the eyes contralateral to the left hemisphere have an inhibitory (if anything) effect on the REA.     

Coping with job stress and burnout in the human services

A mail survey of 141 human service workers investigated the effects of coping on psychological strain and "burnout" produced by job stress. The survey assessed job stressors and coping strategies with open-ended questions and measured strain using closed-ended alienation, satisfaction, and symptom scales. Because previous research suggested that individual coping responses do not alleviate strain produced by job stress, the survey elicited information on group coping (social support) and on coping strategies initiated by agencies. Job stress was associated with high levels of strain, and group coping with low levels, but individual responses had little effect. Although workers identified many strategies that agencies could use to reduce stress and strain, actual use of such strategies was slight. Because men and women worked in the same jobs, no sex differences in individual coping were predicted and none were found; women, however, reported more social support than men. There was no evidence for moderating (interaction) effects of stress and coping on strain.     

Results of cerebral computer tomography in the diagnosis of tumors of the sella region

Computer tomography (CT) is an important aid to the diagnosis of sella tumours because it images the tumour directly and delineates it from the healthy tissues. The tumour type can be identified to a certain extent, but angiography is necessary to distinguish tumours from aneurysms. The study is based on 140 surgical and histological examinations, the results of which were compared wit those obtained by CT. Suprasellar inflammations could always be identified by CT. Although intrasellar tumours may be identifiable by CT if full use is made of the potential of the equipment, negative CT results do not necessarily mean that there is no tumour. The diagnostic validity of the method is restricted by the absence of "standards", against which the variable images of intrasellar structures can be judged, and the restricted resolution of CT.     

Prognosis in primarily pure absence epilepsy

17 patients out of a total of 93 treated for primarily pure absence-epilepsy experienced secondary grand mal-seizures and eeg of 8 patients showed a grand mal-disposition (irregular s-w). These 25 patients, compared with the remaining 68 patients, attended more frequently a special school for mentally retarded children, their marks were worse, they left school in a lower form, and their vocational education was less qualified. 8 patients out of 65, who were primarily treated with Suxilep and without additional grand mal-remedy, experienced secondary grand mal-seizures (relative frequency 0.12). The question of the necessity of primary grand mal-prophylaxis is beeing discussed.     

Color preferences, extraversion, and neuroticism of art students.

Color preferences of 190 art students (G?tz & G?tz, 1974, 1975) were compared with the corresponding scores on extraversion (E) and neuroticism (N). It was found that the preferences of a group of 27 highly gifted young artists were different from preferences of average and less gifted Ss who had little or no artistic practice. In the latter group extraverts and ambiverts mainly preferred primary and secondary colors (light clear and dark clear tones included), while introverts preferred tertiary colors (earth colors) and achromatics. However, in the group of highly gifted Ss no significant differences between positive and negative rankings in both color categories were found. Neuroticism had no effect on color preferences; this holds for introverts and extraverts and for each single color.     

Color preferences of art students: surface colors: II.

In a previous study (G?tz & G?tz, 1974b) the preferences of 14 surface colors were analyzed. While this set contained only one red, one blue, one yellow, etc., the color set of the present investigation was extended, and the preferences of 5 different reds, blues, yellow, etc. were analyzed. Between the five variations of red and yellow, respectively, the greatest affective differences were found, while the opposite was true for the 5 oranges, pinks, and grays. The most preferred colors are 2 reds, 2 blues, and 2 yellows; least preferred are a greenish yellow, a penetrating red-violet, and all 5 pinks. Significant sex differences were found for 8 colors.