Addressing Parent–Child Conflict: Attachment‐Based Interventions With Parents

This article describes the use of attachment theory to address parent–child conflict. The authors propose that parent–child conflict is attributable to the unmet attachment needs of both children and parents and that attachment insecurity results in problematic patterns of attachment in parent–child relationships. Three conversational frames are presented as a model for applying attachment theory to assist parents in resolving parent–child conflict.     

Perforant path activation modulates the induction of long-term potentiation of the schaffer collateral--hippocampal CA1 response: theoretical and experimental analyses

In one computational model of hippocampal function, the entorhinal cortical input to CA1 is hypothesized to play a key role in the ability of CA1 to decode CA3 recodings. Here, we develop a modification of this CA1 decoder hypothesis that is applicable to several computational theories of hippocampal function, and then we electrophysiologically investigate one assumption of this new hypothesis. First, using biologically realistic estimates, we calculate that CA3-induced CA1 excitation is too high and that inhibition plausibly plays a role in this CA1 decoder model. Thus motivated, we turn to a physiological demonstration to substantiate the plausibility of the proposed mechanism. Using the rat hippocampal slice, we examine an interlaminar interaction between the distal perforant path input to hippocampal CA1 stratum moleculare and the more proximal Schaffer collateral input to stratum radiatum. Perforant path activation provides sufficient inhibition to block homosynaptic long-term potentiation elicited by a suitably strong stratum radiatum input. For this interlaminar interaction to be most effective, perforant path activation must both precede and follow Schaffer collateral activation. Perforant path-evoked inhibition in CA1 can thus serve as a viable mechanism in the learned decoder theory of hippocampal CA1.     

Supervisor estimation of abilities required in jobs

The Minnesota Job Requirements Questionnaire (MJRQ) was developed and administered to supervisors of 11 selected jobs who rated the ability requirements of the job they supervised. The MJRQ represented each of nine GATB aptitudes by five items in a Likert-type format. MJRQ ratings were compared with expert ratings in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) and Occupational Ability Patterns (OAPs) derived from administration of the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB). Reliability of MJRQ ratings was shown by high Hoyt reliability coefficients. Comparison of mean ratings and variabilities of ratings by supervisors in a job showed construct validity for the MJRQ approach, as did intercorrelations of MJRQ ratings. OAPs derived from the MJRQ compared favorably with those derived from the GATB and DOT, showing promise for the parsimonious MJRQ approach to the development of OAPs.     

Body image change in obese and overweight women enrolled in a weight-loss intervention: the importance of perceived versus actual physical changes

Using the exercise and self-esteem model as a guiding framework, this study examined variables related to body image change among 88 overweight and obese women (M(age)=28.4±7.8; M(BMI)=31.6±3.5) participating in a 16-week diet and exercise weight-loss intervention. Measures of body image and potential mechanisms of body image change (actual and perceived physical changes, self-efficacy) were administered at baseline, Weeks 8 and 16. Body image improved significantly over the study time-points (ps<.001). Perceived physical changes accounted for most explained variance (12-37%) in body image change (total R(2)(adj)=.21-.50). Improved perceptions of body fat were a particularly important predictor in each model (ps≤.04). Results support the notion that to improve body image, perceived changes to the body are more important than actual changes. Such information is integral to developing theories to explain body image change and interventions to maximize it.     

Emotional reactivity following surgery to the prefrontal cortex

We aimed to elicit emotion in patients with surgically circumscribed lesions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in order to elucidate the precise functional roles in emotion processing of the discrete subregions comprising the ventromedial PFC, including the medial PFC and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Three components of emotional reactivity were measured: subjective experience, behaviour, and physiological response. These included measures of self‐reported emotion, observer‐rated facial expression of emotion and measurements of heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV) during film viewing, and a measure of subjective emotional change since surgery. Patients with lesions to the ventromedial PFC demonstrated significant differences compared with controls in HRV during the film clips, suggesting a shift to greater dominance of sympathetic input. In contrast, patients with lesions restricted to the OFC showed significant differences in HRV suggesting reduced sympathetic input. They also showed less facial expression of emotion during positive film clips, and reported more subjective emotional change since surgery compared with controls. This human lesion study is important for refining theoretical models of emotion processing by the ventromedial PFC, which until now have primarily been based on anatomical connectivity, animal lesion, and human functional neuroimaging research. Such theories have implications for the treatment of a wide variety of emotional disorders.     

A note on some modifications of latent roots and vectors

When an arbitrary positive scalar matrix is added to a correlation matrix the latent roots of the sum are equal to the corresponding roots of the correlation matrix plus an amount equal to the scalar number of the scalar matrix. The latent vectors of the sum are identical with those of the correlation matrix. An approximation to these relationships is suggested for the case in which the sum is of a correlation matrix and of a positive semidefinite diagonal matrix. The approximation is used to allow the solution of a characteristic problem for a correlation matrix with unities in the main diagonal to provide a family of solutions for the same correlation matrix.This research has been supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, MH 7864-01.     

Physiological changes during operations on the limbic system in man

The limbic system is a phylogenetically old part of the brain which is concerned with a variety of emotional and viscerosomatic functions. It has been found that small discrete lesions, placed by stereotaxis in this system during limbic leukotomy, may result in marked clinical improvement in severely incapacitated psychiatric patients who have failed to respond to any other type of treatment. In one patient, electrical stimulation of the anterior cingulate gyrus was carried out under local anesthesia to locate a suitable site for a limbic lesion. Physiological arousal was produced, as evidenced by changes in heart rate, forearm blood flow, sweat gland activity and respiration. Bilateral lesions, 8 mm in diameter, produced by freezing this site, resulted in marked clinical improvement. Peripheral physiological changes are now being used to aid in the selection of target sites in various parts of the limbic system. Under general anesthesia marked respiratory changes have been found on stimulation of the lower medial quadrant of the frontal lobe, anterior cingulate gyrus, above the roof of the lateral ventricle, and in the amygdala nucleus of the temporal lobe. Lesions are made with a cryogenic probe at sites of maximum physiological response. It is postulated that physiological monitoring during electrical stimulation of target areas will improve the accuracy of lesion placement. Some of the results of this procedure are described.     

The rapid-smoking technique: Some physiological effects

The effects of rapid smoking on the blood pressure, pulse rate and cardiac functioning of 58 smokers (30 women and 28 men) are reported. All subjects were healthy volunteers, 45 were under 40 yr of age, the remaining 13 between 40 and 50 yr. They received between 6 and 12 rapid smoking sessions. It was found that, in both the under and over 40 age groups, blood pressure levels and pulse rates increased significantly following rapid smoking sessions. There were, however, significant decreases between sessions and no evidence of a cumulative effect of successive rapid smoking sessions. Some qualitative changes in cardiac functioning were observed, namely the appearance of T wave flattening and S-T depression. None of the changes were considered to be of sufficient magnitude to necessitate exclusion from the programme, but confirm the need to monitor closely the physiological functioning of persons undergoing rapid smoking.