Temporal integration of speech prosody is shaped by language experience: an fMRI study

Differences in hemispheric functions underlying speech perception may be related to the size of temporal integration windows over which prosodic features (e.g., pitch) span in the speech signal. Chinese tone and intonation, both signaled by variations in pitch contours, span over shorter (local) and longer (global) temporal domains, respectively. This cross-linguistic (Chinese and English) study uses functional magnetic resonance imaging to show that pitch contours associated with tones are processed in the left hemisphere by Chinese listeners only, whereas pitch contours associated with intonation are processed predominantly in the right hemisphere. These findings argue against the view that all aspects of speech prosody are lateralized to the right hemisphere, and promote the idea that varying-sized temporal integration windows reflect a neurobiological adaptation to meet the 'prosodic needs' of a particular language.     

N200, N250r, and N400 event-related brain potentials reveal three loci of repetition priming for familiar names

The authors assessed immediate repetition effects on event-related potentials (ERPs) while participants performed familiarity decisions for written personal names. For immediately repeated familiar names, the authors observed 3 distinct ERP modulations. At 180-220 ms, a posterior N200 effect occurred for names preceded by same-font primes only. In addition, an increased left temporal negativity (N250r, 220-300 ms) and a reduced central-parietal negativity (N400, 300-400 ms) were seen both for same-font and different-font repetitions. In a 2nd experiment, when names were preceded by either their corresponding face or the face of a different celebrity, only the N400 effect was preserved. These findings suggest that the N200, N250r, and N400 effects reflect facilitated processing at font-specific featural, lexical, and semantic levels of processing, respectively.     

Dynamic variations in affective priming

The present study investigates the dynamics of emotional processing and awareness using an affective facial priming paradigm in conjunction with a multimodal assessment of awareness. Key facial primes are visually masked, and are presented for brief (unconscious) and extended (conscious) durations. Using a preference measure, we examine whether the effects of the primes differ qualitatively (Murphy & Zajonc, 1993). We show that: (a) unconscious affective priming with faces emerges strongly in initial presentations and diminishes rapidly with repetition; (b) conscious affective priming also emerges strongly in initial presentations, however it persists in strength with repetition; and (c) in contrast to other reports on the salience of negative stimuli, happy faces appear more salient than sad faces when presented outside awareness. We discuss the limits and extensions of unconscious affective priming with faces, and consider several methodological and conceptual questions concerning emotional processing out of awareness.     

Confirmatory factor analysis of the WMS-III in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy

Five competing models specifying the factor structure underlying the Wechsler Memory Scale-Third Edition (D. Wechsler, 1997b) primary subtest scores were evaluated in a sample of patients with intractable temporal lobe epilepsy (N = 254). Models specifying separate immediate and delayed constructs resulted in inadmissible parameter estimates and model specification error. There were negligible goodness-of-fit differences between a 3-factor model of working memory, auditory memory, and visual memory and a nested--more parsimonious--2-factor model of working memory and general memory. The results suggest that specifying a separate visual memory factor provides little advantage for this sample--an unexpected finding in a population with lateralized dysfunction, for which one might have predicted separate auditory and visual memory dimensions.     

Are UN Peacekeepers at Risk for Suicide?

Media reports connecting UN peacekeeping duties by Canadian soldiers to their subsequent suicide prompted this study of peacekeeping as suicide risk. In a case-control design we retrospectively compared 66 suicides in the Canadian military between 1990 and 1995 with two control groups: (a) 2,601 controls randomly selected from the electronic military database and (b) 66 matched controls with complete personnel and medical data. We found no increased risk of suicide in peacekeepers except among a subgroup of air force personnel. Here confounding individual factors, isolation from supports, and possibly inadequate preparation for deployment elucidated their suicides. Theater of deployment (e.g., Bosnia) did not affect the suicide rate. Military suicides experienced psychosocial stresses and psychiatric illness more often than their matched controls. We conclude that although peacekeeping per se does not increase overall suicide risk, military life-styles may strain interpersonal relationships, encourage alcohol abuse, and contribute to psychiatric illness and suicide in a minority of vulnerable individuals irrespective of peacekeeping assignment. Careful selection, and preparatory military training that encourages intragroup bonding and mutual support, may protect against suicide risk.     

Self-injurious behavior: gene-brain-behavior relationships

This paper summarizes a conference held at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development on December 6-7, 1999, on self-injurious behavior [SIB] in developmental disabilities. Twenty-six of the top researchers in the U.S. from this field representing 13 different disciplines discussed environmental mechanisms, epidemiology, behavioral and pharmacological intervention strategies, neurochemical substrates, genetic syndromes in which SIB is a prominent behavioral phenotype, neurobiological and neurodevelopmental factors affecting SIB in humans as well as a variety of animal models of SIB. Findings over the last decade, especially new discoveries since 1995, were emphasized. SIB is a rapidly growing area of scientific interest to both basic and applied researchers. In many respects it is a model for the study of gene-brain-behavior relationships in developmental disabilities.     

Anxiety, signal anxiety, and unconscious anticipation: neuroscientific evidence for an unconscious signal function in humans

A central tenet of psychoanalysis, and arguably of any comprehensive theory of mind, is the existence of a psychological unconscious. Years of clinical investigation into the nature of unconscious processes have facilitated the development of psychoanalysis as a clinical method. Empirical investigations of unconscious mental processes, however, have lagged behind clinical inquiry. With few exceptions, attempts to understand unconscious processes using rigorous experimental controls have remained sequestered in scientific domains other than psychoanalysis, where they have proliferated recently. In view of this recent upsurge of research on unconscious processes outside of psychoanalysis, efforts to integrate such knowledge into general theories of psychopathology and clinical investigation are critical. In this paper, an interdisciplinary approach is taken to the study of one aspect of unconscious mental functioning--what Freud originally termed signal anxiety. Signal anxiety is examined using information from cognitive psychology and learning theory, psychophysiology, behavioral neuroscience, and psychoanalytic theory. Though the original concept of signal anxiety is supported by recent research, it is concluded that signal anxiety is probably best thought of not as the affect of anxiety but as a subset of unconscious mental processes that have a signal function of anticipating danger. Such unconscious anticipatory processes are a general feature of the mind that includes responses to both real and imagined (neurotic) appraisals of a situation. The neurophysiological structures and processes associated with unconscious anticipation in humans are just beginning to be understood.     

Authority,Psychotherapy and the Authority of the Therapist in the Religious Haredi Community

This article considers the meaning and significance of authority, and its relevance to the transference process, within the framework of psychotherapy in the orthodox Jewish (Haredi) community in Israel. In this community, deeply-rooted habits of obedience to the commandments of the Torah and the authority of the Rabbi are integral to maintaining an orthodox way of life. Clinical vignettes with Haredi patients are presented to illustrate the complexities that arise when both patient and therapist belong to the orthodox community, and highlight the authority-related issues that are central to the therapy. This combination of factors requires a sensitive and finely-tuned approach which will enable the therapist to maintain the treatment framework while still accommodating the orthodox way of life.     

Stress regulation and incision in borderline personality disorder-a pilot study modeling cutting behavior

Emotion dysregulation in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is characterized by high baseline negative intensity, high reactivity, and slow return to baseline. Patients with BPD often engage in self-injurious behavior because it leads to immediate relief of stress levels. We aimed to assess stress regulation as well as the influence of tissue damage on subjective (aversive tension) and objective (heart rate) stress correlates in BPD. In 14 unmedicated patients with BPD and 18 healthy controls, a stress induction was followed by an incision into the forearm conducted by an investigator. For aversive tension, we found elevated baseline levels as well as slower return to baseline in BPD. In controls, incision resulted in a short-term increase of aversive tension, whereas tension and heart rate decreased in the BPD group. Our preliminary results support the hypothesis that tissue damage may play a role in disturbed stress regulation in BPD.     

A comparison of working memory profiles in school-aged children with Specific Language Impairment, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Comorbid SLI and ADHD and their typically developing peers

The association between specific language impairment (SLI), attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and working memory (WM) was examined. WM has been implicated in language acquisition and models of ADHD; however, evidence for WM deficits in SLI and ADHD has been inconsistent. The components of Baddeley's WM model were investigated in 18 children with SLI, 16 children with ADHD, 11 children with comorbid SLI+ADHD, and 24 typically developing (TD) children. The presence of SLI resulted in deficits in more components of WM than the presence of ADHD indicating that children with SLI are more vulnerable to WM deficits than those with ADHD.