The Neural Correlates of Updating Information in Verbal Working Memory

The aim of the present study was to re-examine cerebral areas subserving the updating function of the central executive with a running span task requiring subjects to watch strings of consonants of unknown length and then to recall serially a specific number of recent items. In order to dissociate more precisely the updating process from the storage function, a four-item instead of a six-item memory load was used, contrary to our previous study (Salmon et al., 1996). In addition, a serial recall procedure was preferred to a recognition procedure in order to suppress the use of visuospatial strategies. The most significant increase of rCBF occurred in the left frontopolar cortex (Brodmann's area 10), spreading to the left middle frontal (Brodmann's area 46). Results suggest that frontopolar activation underlies an updating process in working memory.     

Colour fluctuations in grapheme‐colour synaesthesia: The effect of clinical and non‐clinical mood changes

Synaesthesia is a condition that gives rise to unusual secondary sensations (e.g., colours are perceived when listening to music). These unusual sensations tend to be reported as being stable throughout adulthood (e.g., Simner & Logie, 2007, Neurocase, 13, 358) and the consistency of these experiences over time is taken as the behavioural hallmark of genuineness. Our study looked at the influence of mood states on synaesthetic colours. In Experiment 1, we recruited grapheme‐colour synaesthetes (who experience colours from letters/digits) and elicited their synaesthetic colours, as well as their mood and depression states, in two different testing sessions. In each session, participants completed the PANAS‐X (Watson & Clark, 1999) and the BDI‐II (Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996, Manual for Beck Depression Inventory‐II), and chose their synaesthetic colours for letters A‐Z from an interactive colour palette. We found that negative mood significantly decreased the luminance of synaesthetic colours. In Experiment 2, we showed that synaesthetic colours were also less luminant for synaesthetes with anxiety disorder, versus those without. Additional evidence suggests that colour saturation, too, may inversely correlate with depressive symptoms. These results show that fluctuations in mood within both a normal and clinical range influence synaesthetic colours over time. This has implications for our understanding about the longitudinal stability of synaesthetic experiences, and of how mood may interact with the visual (imagery) systems.     

Unadulterated Arrogance: Autopsy of the Narcissistic Parental Alienator

This article guides professionals to recognize and gain insight of the inner dynamics and profile of the narcissist and the chronic parental alienator. It covers and exposes the commonalities of both their modus operandi and characteristics. Parental Alienation stems from intolerance, denigration, prejudice, and deep-seated dysfunction. In like manner, narcissistic abuse is caused by malignant self love and unadulterated arrogance. The deception of the Narcissistic Parental Alienator (NPA) is a cruel act. It often has many players on different stages that corrode the soul. The NPA is one who systematically deceives and turns their own children into little abuser proxies. Narcissists lie, manipulate, and speak in mixed messages. They cannot part with their illusions, and if their illusions are gone, they may still exist, but they have ceased to live.

All too often mental health and legal professionals and judges do not listen to the target parent and they are fooled or tolerate NPAs out of faith, trust and a sense of fairness. The NPA's deceit and defiance must be recognized and seen for what it is. Evaluators, courts, and therapists, at that point, should consider this danger directly and act swiftly. The quote by François de la Rochefoucauld; “The most deceitful persons spend their lives in blaming deceit, so as to use it on some great occasion to promote some great interest,” is strikingly similar to the conception of a divorce or custody dispute among NPAs, within the context of this topic. It is discouragingly common to see how few people are not shocked by deceit and how many are shocked by honesty. Educating, exposure, accountability, and resolve are the threads of the tapestry of this article on what these authors have coined the “Narcissistic Parental Alienator.”     

The roles of ethnic identity,anti-white attitudes,and academic self-concept in African American student achievement

Conventional wisdom in much of the educational and psychological literatures states that the ethnic and racial identity of African American students is related to their academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to determine whether ethnic identity and anti-white attitudes predicted the academic achievement of African American students at a historically Black university. A hypothesized path model was proposed that included ethnic identity, attitudes toward other ethnic groups, anti-white attitudes, perceptions of caring faculty, academic self-concept, and devaluing academic success. The path analysis model explained 27% of the variance in grade point average and revealed three direct effects on grade point average: (a) academic self-concept (positive), (b) devaluing academic success (negative), and (c) anti-white attitudes (negative). Ethnic identity was indirectly linked with grade point average (GPA) through academic self-concept and devaluing academic success. Tests of two alternative nested models suggest that even in an indirect role, ethnic identity may be more important than anti-white attitudes in a model of African American academic achievement.

The Psychological and Physical Health Effects of Stigma: The Role of Self‐threats

Being a member of a group that is stigmatized (i.e., low status, devalued, negatively stereotyped, and victimized by prejudice and discrimination) can affect health. In this paper, I consider threats to the social self as a mediator in the relationship between stigmatizing experiences and health. I discuss experiences associated with stigmatization that can pose a potential threat to the sense of self and how each of these aspects of stigma relates to health. Our current knowledge is heavily centered on how discrimination experiences relate to health. More research is needed on how other aspects of stigma affect health. In addition, research addressing coping strategies, and especially how they influence health behaviors, will be useful in gaining a better understanding of the mechanisms through which stigma affects health.     

Illness perception and quality of life of HIV-positive persons: mediation effects of tenacious and flexible goal pursuit

Medical advances contribute to raise life expectancy of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV). However, they still face challenges related to the disease, thus, quality of life (QOL) became a priority on the field. The self-regulatory model (SRM) guided this study. Illness perceptions (IP) are the beliefs, cognitions, representations of a disease, impacting PLHIV coping strategies and QOL. Tenacious goal pursuit (TGP) is the pursuit of goals with determination, flexible goal adjustment (FGA) is doing it with flexibility, disengaging if necessary, they can both be considered as coping strategies. This study aims to measure the impact of HIV Perception in the QOL of PLHIV mediated by the TGP and FGA. Data was collected from 196 PLHIV with the WHOQOL-HIV Bref, the Brief-IPQ and the FGA and TGP scales. Structural equation model provided a good fit consistent with the theoretical SRM. IP, TGP and FGA had direct effects on the QOL of PLHIV. IP had also an indirect effect (partially mediated by TGP/FGA), suggesting that TGP/FGA reduce the impact of a threatening IP in the QOL. Goal oriented interventions should focus in the HIV perception of PLHIV to ameliorate their QOL.     

Beyond the image

By imposing itself as the dominant model of modern medicine, the biomedical model leaves little or no place for the psychical/subjective dimension of illnesses. The author presents a clinical case illustrating the essential contribution psychoanalysis can make to understanding the causes of a serious neurological disorder of indeterminate origin, its psychic determinism and its unconscious dimension. This original contribution argues in favour of the idea that understanding the development of neurological disorders associated with an unexplained lesion cannot be reduced exclusively to the organic level, and must not overlook the notion of unconscious. More generally, it emphasizes that body and mind form an integrated inseparable unit, thus breaking with the traditional dualistic conception of the human being.     

Alzheimer' Disease as a Disconnection Syndrome?

This paper reviews the growing amount of evidence supporting the hypothesis that Alzheimer's disease includes a disconnection syndrome. This evidence came mainly from neuropathological, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging studies. Moreover, a few recent neuropsychological studies have also explored the effects of a disconnection between cerebral areas on cognitive functioning. Finally, and more generally, the contribution of this interpretation to the understanding of Alzheimer's disease cognitive deficits is considered.