Nature against nurture: calcification in the right thalamus in a young man with anorexia nervosa and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder

This report describes the case of a young man with a large calcification in the right thalamus that was first diagnosed at 9 years of age. Case history reveals specific eating rituals and other obsessive-compulsive personality traits during the patient's childhood and adolescence, fulfilling diagnostic criteria of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. After a critical life event the patient develops anorexia nervosa. We suggest that our case and further literature provide evidence for an involvement of specific thalamic structures, such as the dorsomedial nucleus, in the development of anorexia nervosa. Furthermore, the treatment of the patient by a combined psychotherapeutic and pharmacotherapeutic approach is described. We focus on the beneficial effect of the atypical antipsychotic olanzapine, which can induce weight gain by an increase of leptin levels.     

Randomized Trial Comparing Two Treatment Strategies Using Prize-Based Reinforcement of Abstinence in Cocaine and Opiate Users

We compared two strategies of prize-based contingency management (CM) in methadone-maintained outpatients. Urine was tested thrice weekly for 5 weeks pre-CM, 12 weeks CM, and 8 weeks post-CM. Participants were randomly assigned to a cocaine contingency (four prize draws for each cocaine-negative urine, N  =  29) or an opiate-cocaine contingency (one draw for each urine negative for opiates or cocaine, four draws if negative for both, N  =  38). There were no group differences in cocaine abstinence during CM or post-CM and no differences in opiate abstinence during CM. Opiate abstinence was greater in the opiate-cocaine group post-CM, and heroin craving was reduced in this group during and post-CM. Draws earned per cocaine-negative urine (four vs. one) did not affect cocaine use.     

Zur Instrumentalisierung des Opferstatus

The article deals with the instrumentalization of victim status, which achieves a definite material psychosocial and narcissistic advantage. Talk shows cultivate victims and idealize them as heroes thus producing ersatz identities. To be singled out from society as ?innocent“ and to be pitied, admired and perhaps envied by others for the attention they attract, might prove to be a source of narcissistic gratification. So whilst victim identity may transform impotence and weakness into a medium for approval, it also fixes the dichotomy between offender and victim.     

Pilot Evaluation of Outcomes of Combined Parent-Child Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy for Families at Risk for Child Physical Abuse

Child physical abuse (CPA) is not only a highly prevalent public health problem, but it has been associated with a wide range of debilitating psychosocial sequelae that may develop during childhood and persist into adulthood. This paper outlines a treatment model, Combined Parent-Child Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CPC-CBT), that addresses the complex needs of the parent who engages in physically abusive behavior and the traumatized child. This pilot program was conducted to examine the feasibility of a CBT group approach that incorporates the child into the offending parent's treatment. It highlights the use of gradual exposure, developing a trauma narrative and abuse clarification to address PTSD symptoms in children. Parent components include motivational interviewing and consequence review, cognitive and behavioral anger-control strategies, and the examination of parent-child interactions to assist parents in modulating their emotions, remaining calm, and using effective problem-solving during child-rearing situations. Pilot data examining pre- to posttreatment changes for parents and children participating in the 16-week group treatment program are presented. Participants were 12 caregivers, ages 25 to 54, and their 21 children, ages 4 to 14, who were referred for the treatment of issues related to CPA. About 48% of participating parents were referred for substantiated CPA against their children, while the other parents were deemed to be at-risk for CPA. Both parents and children reported significant pre- to posttreatment reductions in the use of physical punishment. Results also demonstrated pre- to posttreatment improvements in parental anger toward their children, and consistent parenting as well as children's posttraumatic stress symptoms and behavioral problems. Clinical and research implications for these preliminary findings are discussed.     

Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) and bonobos (Pan paniscus) point to inform a human about the location of a tool

Although pointing is not part of great apes’ natural gestural repertoire, they can learn to point to food, in order to request it. To assess the flexibility with which they can use this gesture, one can vary the potential referent of the point. In two previous studies, three orangutans (two of them human-reared) have shown the ability to point to the location of a tool which a human experimenter needed in order to give them food. Here, we tested six orangutans and five bonobos using a set-up in which our subjects had to guide a human experimenter to the hiding place of a fork which was needed in order to retrieve a piece of food for the subject out of a vertical tube. We further examined the potential role of a competitive/deceptive context by varying the identity of the person responsible for hiding the tool. In addition, we implemented three different control conditions in which an object was hidden but it was not necessary to indicate its location to get the food. We found that the majority of subjects spontaneously guided the experimenter to the hiding place of the fork by pointing to it when it was necessary and they did so significantly less in control conditions. We did not find an effect of the person hiding the fork. Our results show that mother-reared orangutans and bonobos are able to point to inform a human about the location of an object that the human needs to procure food for the subject and that they can take into account whether it is relevant or not to do so.

Gray matter and intelligence factors: Is there a neuro-g?

Heterogeneous results among neuro-imaging studies using psychometric intelligence measures may result from the variety of tests used. The g-factor may provide a common metric across studies. Here we derived a g-factor from a battery of eight cognitive tests completed by 6929 young adults, 40 of whom also completed structural MRI scans. Regional gray matter (GM) was determined using voxel-based-morphometry (VBM) and correlated to g-scores. Results showed correlations distributed throughout the brain, but there was limited overlap with brain areas identified in a similar study that used a different battery of tests to derive g-scores. Comparable spatial scores (with g variance removed) also were derived from both batteries, and there was considerable overlap in brain areas where GM was correlated to the respective spatial scores. The results indicate that g-scores derived from different test batteries do not necessarily have equivalent neuro-anatomical substrates, suggesting that identifying a “neuro-g” will be difficult. The neuro-anatomical substrate of a spatial factor, however, appears more consistent and implicates a distributed network of brain areas that may be involved with spatial ability. Future imaging studies directed at identifying the neural basis of intelligence may benefit from using a psychometric test battery chosen with specific criteria.     

Hempel's Paradox, Law-likeness and Causal Relations

It is widely thought that Bayesian confirmation theory has provided a solution to Hempel's Paradox (the Ravens Paradox). I discuss one well-known example of this approach, by John Mackie, and argue that it is unconvincing. I then suggest an alternative solution, which shows that the Bayesian approach is altogether mistaken. Nicod's Condition should be rejected because a generalisation is not confirmed by any of its instances if it is not law-like. And even law-like non-basic empirical generalisations, which are expressions of assumed underlying causal regularities, are not so confirmed if they are absurd in the light of our causal background knowledge or if their instances are not also possible instances of the relevant causal claim.     

Factorial structure of traits delineating personality disorders in clinical and general population samples.

Categorical and dimensional models for classifying personality disorders were evaluated by comparing the structure of personality pathology in a clinical sample (n = 158) with the structure in a general population sample (n = 274). Subjects completed 100 personality scales. Separate factor analyses revealed similar structures in the 2 samples. An underlying structure in a combined sample showed limited agreement with the concepts of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1987). Fifteen factors were retained: Generalized Distress, Rejection, Restricted Expression, Compulsivity, Stimulus Seeking, Insecure Attachment, Diffidence, Intimacy Problems, Oppositionality, Interpersonal Disesteem, Conduct Problems, Cognitive Dysfunction, Affective Reactivity, Narcissism, and Social Apprehensiveness. The results are consistent with a dimensional representation of personality disorder.     

A microcomputer-based cardiotachometer with video display

A KIM-1 single board microcomputer implementation of a cardiotachometer that provides a low-cost versatile heart-rate data acquisition system is described. Unique features include telemetry, a composite video output signal of a video frame displaying elapsed time and heart-rate, and a TV camera signal of the behavior. Data is videotape- and/or audiotape-recorded for further analysis with a larger computer.