Ethical Issues Raised by Epigenetic Testing for Alcohol,Tobacco, and Cannabis

Epigenetic testing is one of the most significant new technologies to provide insight into the behavioral and environmental factors that influence the development and reconfiguration of the human genetic code. This technology allows us to identify structural changes in the genome that occur due to exposure to a wide variety of substances including alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis. The information gained can be used to promote health but it also raises a variety of ethical, legal, and social issues. As society progresses in understanding the epigenetic mechanisms of substance use and addiction, there is an opportunity to use these use this knowledge to enable medical, behavioral, and environmental interventions to alleviate the burden of addiction. This article describes the ethical issues associated with use of epigenetic testing for alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis and the implications of this technology. A further review of the scientific basis for the relevance of epigenetics is found in the accompanying article by Philibert and Erwin in this issue. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Structural Stability within the Lateral Cerebellar Nucleus of the Rat Following Complex Motor Learning

Complex motor learning, but not mere motor activity, has been previously shown to induce structural modifications within the cerebellar cortex. The present experiment examined whether similar changes occur within one of the primary output targets of the region of the cerebellar cortex in which these structural changes were described, the lateral cerebellar nucleus (LCN; dentate nucleus). Adult female rats were randomly allocated to one of three training conditions. Acrobatic condition (AC) rats were trained to complete a complex motor learning task consisting of a series of elevated obstacles while motor control (MC) condition animals were forced to traverse a flat obstacle-free runway equal in length to the AC task. Inactive condition (IC) animals received no motor training. Unbiased stereological techniques and electron microscopy were used to obtain estimates of synapse number and postsynaptic density (PSD) length within the LCN. Results showed that neither synapse number nor PSD length was significantly altered as a function of training condition. These results indicate that complex motor skill learning is associated with structural plasticity within the cerebellar cortex and with structural stability within the lateral cerebellar nucleus.     

Facilitated Communication as an Ideomotor Response

Forty college students were taught facilitated communication via a commercially available training videotape. They were then asked to facilitate the communication of a confederate, who was described as developmentally disabled and unable to speak. All 40 participants produced responses that they attributed at least partially to the confederate, and most attributed all of the communication entirely to her. Eighty-nine percent produced responses corresponding to information they had received, most of which was unknown to the confederate. Responding was significantly correlated with simple ideomotor responses with a pendulum and was not affected by information about the controversy surrounding facilitated communication. These data support the hypothesis that facilitated communication is an instance of automatic writing, akin to that observed in hypothesis and with Ouija boards, and that the ability to produce automatic writing is more common than previously thought.     

Theology of the Cross and the Experience of God's Presence: A Lutheran Response to Pentecostal Wonderings

As Lutherans and Pentecostals begin an official international dialogue, the author, a Lutheran member of the dialogue, responds to two related sets of questions raised by a Pentecostal member of the dialogue during a preceding six‐year consultation between these traditions: whether there is a place in the Lutheran tradition for a “theology of glory,” considering the centrality of “a theology of the cross” for Luther; and how Lutherans speak about experiencing the presence of God, and the means through which one encounters God.     

Adolescents in Residential Treatment: Caregiver and Peer Predictors of Risk Behavior and Academic Performance

The purpose of this research was to better understand the substance use and sexual risk taking behavior among high-risk adolescent populations placed in residential treatment facilities, including those in the foster care and juvenile justice systems. The primary predictors considered in this study included caregiver support, caregiver closeness, other adult support, adolescent self-disclosure/communication with caregiver, caregiver expectations about sexual behavior, and peer influence regards to drugs/alcohol and sexual behavior. Participants included 120 adolescent females in grades 7 to 12 (median grade?=?10; mean age 15.7 years), primarily African American (57.2 %) and White (29 %), in a residential treatment setting in a large urban area in the Midwest. Caregiver support and self-disclosure/communication with caregivers predicted condom use at most recent intercourse, but variables related to substance use were most consistently predictive of sexuality variables including onset and frequency of behavior. None of these support variables significantly predicted onset and frequency of substance use. Caregiver support was the contributing variable in predicting academic achievement.     

Multicultural Counseling Competencies: An Exploratory Factor Analysis

The author examined the underlying factors of the Association of Multicultural Counseling and Development's (AMCD) Multicultural Competencies. One hundred fifty‐one professional counselors who are members of the American Counseling Association responded to a survey that included items reflecting AMCD's multicultural competencies and Explanatory Statements. An exploratory factor analysis revealed 5 multicultural competencies factors: Awareness, Knowledge, Definitions of Terms, Racial Identity Development, and Skills.     

The role of expectation and memory‐retrieval techniques in the construction of beliefs about past events

This study assessed social factors affecting the elicitation of false reports for events occurring the day after birth. High, medium and low hypnotizable participants (N=170) were randomly assigned to hypnotic, guided imagery (non‐hypnotic), expectancy or control conditions. Participants were led to believe that they had experienced a specific event on the day after birth. Hypnotic and guided imagery participants were age regressed, while participants in the expectancy condition were provided with cues suggesting access to this memory was feasible. Relative to controls, these participants recalled higher levels of day‐after‐birth reports, although age‐regressed participants reported significantly more event specific details than expectancy participants. Furthermore, high and medium hypnotizables were more likely than low hypnotizables to recall events occurring the day after birth. Implications of this study within the therapeutic setting are discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of peripheral immune activation on social behavior and adrenocortical activity in aggressive mice: Genotype-environment interactions

To explore genetic-developmental differences in the biobehavioral effects of induced illness, males from two lines of mice selectively bred for high or low levels of aggressive behavior were injected with endotoxin (Escherichia coli, LPS: 0.25 mg/kg, 1.25 mg/kg, or 2.5 mg, i.p.) or saline. Body temperature, weight, and locomotor activity were monitored immediately before and 8 and 24 hr after injection. Twenty-four hours after injection, social behaviors were assessed in a 10-min dyadic test, and hypothalamus, spleen, and serum were collected. In both lines, endotoxin treatment increased behavioral immobility ("freezing") and decreased social exploration. Other effects showed line differences: Males from the high-aggressive line had a lower threshold to endotoxin-induced effects on body temperature, weight loss, spleen weight, and corticosterone. Social reactivity (startle response to mild social investigation) increased in the high-aggressive line and decreased in the low-aggressive line after treatment. In the high-aggressive line only, endotoxin decreased attack frequency and increased latency to attack. The interactions between selected line (genotype) and endotoxin treatment (environment) demonstrate that genetic-developmental differences in social and aggressive behavior may indicate the extent to which immune stimuli (e.g., bacteria, viruses, cytokines) function as "biobehavioral stressors." Aggr. Behav. 23:93–105, 1997.© 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.