Increased Risk of Suicidal Ideation in Smokers and Former Smokers Compared to Never Smokers: Evidence from the Baltimore ECA Follow‐Up Study

The incidence rate of suicidal ideation among current and former smokers versus never smokers is not known. In this study, the age‐adjusted incidence of suicidal ideation was highest among current smokers, followed by former, then never smokers. The adjusted hazard for suicide ideation was 2.22 (95%CI = 1.48, 3.33) and 1.19 (95%CI = 0.78, 1.82) for current and former smokers, respectively, compared to never smokers. Results indicate that current smokers have increased risks of suicidal ideation above and beyond the risk for never and former smokers regardless of age, gender, history of depressive disorder or anxiety symptoms, and alcohol abuse/dependence. Smoking cessation might be beneficial for some suicide prevention efforts.     

Impairment of voice and face recognition in patients with hemispheric damage

Voice and face recognition were tested in 21 left- and 9 right-hemisphere-damaged patients. Test materials were photographs and recordings of famous political and entertainment personalities. Pathological face recognition (prosopagnosia) and voice recognition (phonagnosia) were both significantly more prevalent in the right-hemisphere group. Only one instance of prosopagnosia and one of phonagnosia were observed in the left-hemisphere group, all of whom were aphasic. Of the right-hemisphere cases, there were four instances of each agnosia, with three patients showing a dual impairment. These findings are discussed in relation to differential modes of processing by the two cerebral hemispheres.     

Personal Autonomy or the Deconstructed Subject? A Reply to Hekman

A response to Susan Hekman's article “Reconstituting the Subject: Feminism, Modernism, and Postmodernism” and to her review of Diana T. Meyers’ book Self, Society, and Personal Choice both of which appeared in Hypatia 6(2).