Where Am I? A new case of developmental topographical disorientation

Recently, developmental topographical disorientation (DTD) was described (Bianchini et al., 2010, J Clin Exp Neuropsychol, 20, 807–27; Iaria & Barton, 2010, Exp Brain Res, 206, 189–96; Iaria, Bogod, Fox, & Barton, 2009, Neuropsychologia, 47, 30–40) as a navigational deficit in the absence of neurological or psychiatric disorders. Here, we reported the case of a healthy subject who presented this disorder. Dr. WAI was a 29‐year‐old right‐handed man with normal development and no clinical history of neurological or psychiatric diseases who was affected by a very pervasive topographical orientation and navigational disorder. A neuroradiological exam confirmed the absence of structural and anatomical alterations of the brain. Dr. WAI was submitted to an extensive neuropsychological examination and to a battery of tests specifically developed to assess developmental topographical disorder. Using this battery, we analysed Dr. WAI's acquisition of navigational information and re‐orientation processes. He showed severe DTD accompanied by deficits of different cognitive processes directly or indirectly involved in navigational skills. Dr. WAI showed a deficit in developing cognitive maps, already found in previous cases, plus difficulties in evaluating distances and computing metric environmental features. He represents a further confirmation of the existence of DTD suggesting dissociations within the disorder related to the level of development of the ability to build cognitive maps and the association of different imagery deficits. Dr. WAI can help in shedding some light on the mechanisms underlying lack of development of navigational skills.     

The Effect of Age and Socio-Cultural Factors on Self-Rated Well-Being and Metacognitive and Mnestic Efficiency Among Healthy Elderly People

The aim of the present research was to investigate the effect of cross-cultural and age-related factors on self-referent metacognitive efficiency, psychological well-being, and mnestic performance in late adulthood. Ninety-three healthy adults recruited in individualistic northwest Italian and collectivistic Sardinian contexts were respectively assigned to the Old (i.e., 65–74 years) and Very Old (i.e., ≥ 75 years) groups and were individually administered a battery of well-being and metacognitive measures and working memory tasks. A series of MANOVAs was carried out on well-being and metacognitive measures and working memory tasks. Sardinians showed greater levels of perceived well-being, less marked psychological distress, and more preserved mnestic functions than the controls from the northwest Italian context. Moreover, participants from the Old group self-referred more coping strategies, emotional competencies, and personal satisfaction, and less depressive symptoms. Then, a hierarchical linear regressions where different socio-demographic, working memory metacognitive and social desirability measures were used as predictors of general psychological well-being shows that socio cultural context, social desirability, visuo-spatial sequential working memory and metamemory measures predict perceived well-being. Socio-cultural contexts emphasizing the positive social role of the elderly seem to promote psychological well-being, that is, life quality in late adulthood.     

Perceived Cognitive Efficiency and Subjective Well-Being in Late Adulthood: The Impact of Developmental Factors

The current literature shows cross-cultural differences related to implicit theories of ageing. Specifically, in the Western individualistic cultural context, elderly people are perceived as obsolete, weak and unable to contribute usefully to society, whereas in collectivistic cultures, older people are venerated as a source of knowledge and cultural traditions (e.g. Yoon et al. in Psychol Aging 15:694–704, 2000). The focus of the current study was to investigate the effect of age-related factors affecting self-referent well-being in the Italian population. One hundred and thirty-nine healthy adults (20–99 years) were recruited in Northern Italian (i.e. individualistic context) and Sardinian (i.e. collectivist context) contexts and were, respectively, assigned to the following groups: Young (20–30 years old), Old (65–74 years old) and Very Old (>75 years old). Participants were administered a battery of tests, including self-referent cognitive efficiency scales, subjective psychological well-being, depression and psychological distress scales. Participants from Sardinia showed greater levels of well-being and lower levels of psychological distress than adults from Northern Italy. Moreover, participants from the Old group reported more coping strategies, emotional competencies and personal satisfaction, as well as fewer depressive symptoms, than the Very Old group. One possible explanation is that sociocultural contexts emphasising the positive social role of the elderly like that prevailing in Sardinia promote psychological well-being in late adulthood.     

Hemispheric asymmetry in discriminating faces differing for featural or configural (second-order relations) aspects

The human capacity to discriminate among different faces relies on distinct parallel subprocesses, based either on the analysis of configural aspects or on the sequential analysis of the single elements of a face. A particular type of configural processing consists of considering whether two faces differ in terms of internal spacing among their features, referred to as second-order relations processing. Findings from electrophysiological, neuroimaging, and lesion studies suggest that, overall, configural processes rely more on the right hemisphere, whereas analysis of single features would involve more the left. However, results are not always consistent, and behavioral evidence for a right-hemisphere specialization in second-order relations processing is lacking. Here, we used divided visual field presentation to investigate the possible different contributions of the two hemispheres to face discrimination based on relational versus featural processing. Our data indicate a right-hemispheric specialization in relational processing of upright (but not inverted) faces. Furthermore, we provide evidence regarding the involvement of both the right and left hemispheres in the processing of faces differing for inner features, suggesting that both analytical and configural modes of processing are at play.     

Executive functions,math anxiety and math performance in middle school students

Previous studies mainly investigated working memory (WM) and math anxiety (MA) leaving almost unexplored other aspects of executive functions (EFs) in middle school period. Filling the gap in the literature, the aims of this study were: (1) to better examine the relationship between MA and math performance, (2) to better examine the relationship between EFs and math performance and (3) to investigate the interplay between EFs and MA on math performances. This study confirmed a significant and negative relationship between MA and math performance, indicates a significant and positive relationship between visuospatial WM and math performance, shifting and math performance and highlight a scarcely investigated indirect influence of MA through the measure of shifting on math performance. Our findings shed further light on the mediating role of EFs between MA and math performance and underline some future perspectives.     

DS14 is more likely to measure depression rather than a personality disposition in patients with acute coronary syndrome

It has been suggested that Type D Personality is a risk factor for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and the DS14 has been developed for its assessment. However, some of the items on the DS14 seem to evaluate depressive symptoms rather than personality features. Therefore, the present study aims to verify whether an overlap exists between the constructs of Type D Personality and depression. Three‐hundred‐and‐four consecutive patients who were both presenting their first ACS and had no history of major depression completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the DS14 to assess Type D personality at baseline and have been re‐evaluated at 1, 2, 4, 6, 9 and 12‐month follow‐ups. Out of 304 subjects (80.6% males), 40 were diagnosed as depressed. An exploratory factor analysis of HADS and the DS14 in the second month revealed that four out of seven items on the depressive subscale of HADS (HADS‐D) and six out of seven items on the Negative Affectivity (NA) subscale of the DS14 segregated on the same factor. Results were verified by a Partial Confirmatory Factor Analysis performed at the twelfth month when most of the patients achieved complete remission from the depressive episode. Temporal stability was poor for NA and Type D Personality and these construct co‐vary with HADS‐D over time. Our data suggests that NA and depression are overlapping constructs, supporting the idea that the DS14 measures depressed features, rather than a personality disposition.     

Neuropsychological tools to predict conversion from amnestic mild cognitive impairment to dementia. The TREDEM Registry

Most of the studies about conversion from Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to dementia have focused on amnestic MCI (aMCI) which is considered a preclinical phase of Alzheimer’s disease. The aim of the present study was to identify neuropsychological tools that would best predict conversion from aMCI to dementia. Fifty-five aMCI subjects on the Treviso Dementia Registry were investigated. They underwent a neuropsychological evaluation during their first assessment and again at follow-up. Cox proportional-hazard regression models were created to measure the association between the dependent variable (dementia diagnosis or MCI status maintenance) and the neuropsychological test scores at baseline. The sample (28 women and 27 men; mean age 76.82 ± 5.88 years; education 7.62 ± 3.99 years) was observed for an average time of 2.17 ± 1.25 years. A Cox backward stepwise regression showed that the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Delayed Recall (p = .041) and Semantic Verbal Fluency tests (p = .031) appear to be useful in predicting conversion to dementia.     

Shades of Sexualization: When Sexualization Becomes Sexual Objectification

Sexualization in mass media is a widespread phenomenon. Although sexualization and sexual objectification are often used as synonymous, they are two different concepts. Across two studies, we investigated how sexualization affects perceptions of women (Study 1) and men (Study 2) as sexual objects. Participants were asked to judge sexual objectification, competence, and sexiness of female and male models portrayed with different degrees of sexualization, namely, as Non-Revealing (dressed), merely Revealing (undressed), and Sexualized Revealing (undressed and provocative). The results of both studies showed that as the level of sexualization increased so did participants’ perceptions of the targets as sexual objects. However, the level of sexualization affected perceived competence and sexiness differently depending on the target’s gender. Male models’ competence decreased as the level of sexualization increased, whereas female models portrayed as merely Revealing and as Sexualized Revealing were judged as equally incompetent. Male targets’ sexiness was not affected by the level of portrayals’ sexualization, whereas Sexualized Revealing portrayals enhanced the perceived sexiness of female targets. Finally, in Study 2, the results showed that male targets in Sexualized Revealing portrayals were judged as less masculine. Our findings suggest that sexualization contributes similarly to the perception of both women and men as sexual objects but affects other variables depending on the target’s gender. Our work extends previous literature and informs us about the consequences that sexualization of men and women have on others’ judgments.     

Attentional WM is not necessarily specifically related with fluid intelligence: the case of smart children with ADHD symptoms

Executive functions and, in particular, Attentional (active) Working Memory (WM) have been associated with fluid intelligence. The association contrasts with the hypothesis that children with ADHD exhibit problems with WM tasks requiring controlled attention and may have a good fluid intelligence. This paper examines whether children who are intelligent but present ADHD symptoms fail in attentional WM tasks. The latter result would be problematic for theories assuming the generality of a strict relationship between intelligence and WM. To study these issues, a battery of tests was administered to a group of 58 children who all displayed symptoms of ADHD. All children were between the age of 8 and 11 years, and were described by their teachers as smart. Children were compared to a control group matched for age, schooling, and gender. The battery included a test of fluid intelligence (Raven’s Coloured Matrices), and a series of visuospatial WM tasks. Results showed that children with ADHD were high in intelligence but significantly lower than the controls in WM tasks requiring high attentional control, whereas there was no difference in WM tasks requiring low attentional control. Furthermore, only high attentional control WM tasks were significantly related to Raven’s performance in the control group, whereas all WM tasks were similarly related in the ADHD group. It is concluded that performance in high attentional control WM tasks may be related to fluid intelligence, but also to a specific control component that is independent of intelligence and is poor in children with ADHD.