Systems Approaches to Occupational Vocal Health: Considerations for Community Faith Leaders

Journal of Religion and Health - Systems thinking approaches can benefit the occupational vocal health of vocally reliant workers. This paper explores community faith leaders as an example of a...     

Understanding HIV Prevention With College‐Going Black Women: An NIMH‐Funded Pilot Study

Black women are disproportionately affected by HIV. Limited research has examined race and gender as psychological variables of influence. In this National Institute of Mental Health pilot study, the authors used semistructured interviews to explore the heterogeneity of identity within race and gender and possible interactions with sexual risk perceptions and behavior in a sample of Black women attending college in an urban city. The article presents emergent themes, recommendations, and questions for future research. El VIH afecta a las mujeres negras de forma desproporcionada. Un número limitado de investigaciones ha examinado la raza y el sexo como variables psicológicas de influencia. En este estudio piloto del Instituto Nacional de Salud Mental, los autores usaron entrevistas semiestructuradas para explorar la heterogeneidad de la identidad dentro de la raza y el sexo, así como posibles interacciones con las percepciones de riesgo y comportamiento sexual en una muestra de mujeres negras cursando estudios universitarios en una ciudad urbana. El artículo presenta temas emergentes, recomendaciones y preguntas para futuras investigaciones.     

The role of the perirhinal cortex and hippocampus in learning, memory, and perception

One traditional and long-held view of medial temporal lobe (MTL) function is that it contains a system of structures that are exclusively involved in memory, and that the extent of memory loss following MTL damage is simply related to the amount of MTL damage sustained. Indeed, human patients with extensive MTL damage are typically profoundly amnesic whereas patients with less extensive brain lesions centred upon the hippocampus typically exhibit only moderately severe anterograde amnesia. Accordingly, the latter observations have elevated the hippocampus to a particularly prominent position within the purported MTL memory system. This article reviews recent lesion studies in macaque monkeys in which the behavioural effects of more highly circumscribed lesions (than those observed to occur in human patients with MTL lesions) to different subregions of the MTL have been examined. These studies have reported new find-ings that contradict this concept of a MTL memory system. First, the MTL is not exclusively involved in mnemonic processes; some MTL structures, most notably the perirhinal cortex, also contribute to perception. Second, there are some forms of memory, including recognition memory, that are not always affected by selective hippocampal lesions. Third, the data support the idea that regional functional specializations exist within the MTL. For example, the macaque perirhinal cortex appears to be specialized for processing object identity whereas the hippocampus may be specialized for processing spatial and temporal relationships.     

Acute Alcohol Co‐Ingestion and Hospital‐Treated Deliberate Self‐Poisoning: Is There an Effect on Subsequent Self‐Harm?

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between alcohol co‐ingestion in an index deliberate self‐poisoning (DSP) episode with repeated DSP and subsequent suicide. A retrospective cohort study was conducted involving 5,669 consecutive index presentations to a toxicology service following DSP between January 1, 1996, and October 31, 2010. Records were probabilistically matched to National Coronial Information System data to identify subsequent suicide. Index DSPs were categorized on co‐ingestion of alcohol, and primary outcomes analyzed were repetition of any DSP, rates of repeated DSP, time to first repeat DSP, and subsequent suicide. Co‐ingestion of alcohol occurred in 35.9% of index admissions. There was no difference between those who co‐ingested alcohol (ALC+) and those who did not co‐ingest alcohol (ALC?) in terms of proportion of repeat DSP, number of DSP events, or time to first repeat DSP event. Forty‐one (1.0%) cases were probabilistically matched to a suicide death; there was no difference in the proportion of suicide between ALC+ and ALC? at 1 or 3 years. There was no significant relationship between the co‐ingestion of alcohol in an index DSP and subsequent repeated DSP or suicide. Clinically, this highlights the importance of mental health assessment of patients that present after DSP, irrespective of alcohol co‐ingestion at the time of event.     

Relationship-Based Home Visiting Services for Families Affected by Substance Use Disorders: A Qualitative Study

Journal of Child and Family Studies - Home visiting programs face many challenges when providing evidence-based services to families affected by substance use disorders (SUDs). We conducted...