Electroencephalographic intercentral interaction as a reflection of normal and pathological human brain activity

The authors summarized EEG findings and defined the nature of the intercentral EEG relationships in different functional states in healthy subjects and patients with organic cerebral pathology, based on a coherence analysis. Similar EEG characteristics in healthy individuals were identified: an anterior-posterior gradient of average coherence levels, the type of cortical-subcortical relationships in anterior cerebral structures. Right- and left-handed individuals showed frequent and regional differences in EEG coherence, which mainly reflected specificity of intracortical relationships. Development and regression of pathology in right-and left-handed individuals with organic brain lesions were thought to be caused by these differences. Lesions of regulatory structures (diencephalic, brain stem and limbic structures) provoked a more diffused kind of changes of intercentral relationships, in contrast to cortical pathology. These changes tended to reciprocate. The dynamic nature of intercentral relationships and their interhemispheric differences was revealed when changing functional states of the brain (increase and decrease of functional level) in healthy individuals and patients with organic cerebral pathology in the process of conscious and psychic activity restoration. Changing activity predominance of certain regulatory structures was considered one of the most important factors determining the dynamic nature of EEG coherence.     

Neuronal manifestation of two-way connections in conditioning

Neuronal characteristics of two-way conditional connections were studied in chronic experiments with alert cats during different types of alimentary conditional reflexes. Single unit and multi-unit activities were chronically recorded in the visual and motor cortex and the lateral hypothalamic nucleus. Cross-correlational analysis of neuronal impulse trains was used to characterize the organization of neuron groups in brain structures involved in the formation of a conditional reflex. The experimental data showed an increase in the number of neuronal two-way connections after learning in all three investigated coordinations: visual-motor, visual-hypothalamic, and motor-hypothalamic. With visual-motor interneuronal coordination, the strengthening of two-way connections was due to the enhancement of connections from the motor to the visual neuron (backward connections); with visual- and motor-hypothalamic coordination, the number of interneuronal connections was equal in both directions. In all investigated coordinations, the analysis of the temporal parameters of the interactions between the neurons of different groups showed a dependence of the conditioning procedure on delays of up to 30 ms and a dependence of the motivational state on the interval range of 90–100 ms. The polyfunctional and polycomponent character of two-way neuronal connections in conditioning can be inferred from these data. Evaluation of the activity of neurons of different brain structures suggests the specific organization of intracortical and cortical-subcortical integrity in learning.     

Social dominance mediates the association of testosterone and neurobehavioral disinhibition with risk for substance use disorder.

This investigation determined the influence of testosterone and neurobehavioral disinhibition (ND) on risk for substance use disorder (SUD). Testosterone level during puberty was hypothesized to promote social dominance associated with norm-violating behavior that, in turn, predisposes individuals to use of illicit drugs and, subsequently, SUD. Using a prospective paradigm, the authors recruited 179 boys (mean age=11.62 years, SD=0.88) and followed up when participants were ages 12-14, 16, 19, and 22. Results indicated that social dominance/norm-violating behavior (SD/NVB) at age 16 mediated the association between testosterone level (ages 12-14) and SUD (age 22). In addition, SD/NVB mediated the association between ND and SUD. These findings suggest that development of SUD is influenced by androgen-dependent and neurobehavioral processes via a social motivational style characterized by SD/NVB.     

Testing the subtractive pattern of cultural identification

Identity integration, and more specifically, the subtractive pattern of cultural identification, is investigated in this article. This pattern is hypothesized to occur when individuals integrate a new group identity of higher and legitimate status than their original identity, resulting in lower identification with the original group. The first study examined how relative status predicts the subtractive pattern of identification in immigrants living in Canada. Studies 2 and 3—conducted among Kyrgyz and Canadian participants—extended these results by measuring the impact of legitimacy on the subtractive pattern of identification. Results support the hypothesis that the subtractive pattern of identification takes place when the new identity has a higher and legitimate status compared with the original one, highlighting the possible different patterns of identity integration.     

Development and Psychometric Evaluation of an Item Bank for Computerized Adaptive Testing of the EORTC Insomnia Dimension in Cancer Patients (EORTC CAT-SL)

To further advance assessment of patient-reported outcomes, the European Organisation of Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Group has developed computerized adaptive test (CAT) versions of all EORTC Quality of Life Core Questionnaire (QLQ-C30) scales/items. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate an item bank for CAT measurement of insomnia (CAT-SL). In line with the EORTC guidelines, the developmental process comprised four phases: (I) defining the concept insomnia and literature search, (II) selection and formulation of new items, (III) pre-testing and (IV) field-testing, including psychometric analyses of the final item bank. In phase I, the literature search identified 155 items that were compatible with our conceptualisation of insomnia, including both quantity and quality of sleep. In phase II, following a multistep-approach, this number was reduced to 15 candidate items. Pre-testing of these items in cancer patients (phase III) resulted in an item list of 14 items, which were field-tested among 1094 patients in phase IV. Psychometric evaluations showed that eight items could be retained in a unidimensional model. The final item bank yielded greater measurement precision than the original QLQ-C30 insomnia item. It was estimated that administering two or more items from the insomnia item bank with CAT results in a saving in sample size between approximately 15–25%. The 8-item EORTC CAT-SL item bank facilitates precise and efficient measurement of insomnia as part of the EORTC CAT system of health-related quality life assessment in both clinical research and practice.

     

Every cloud has a silver lining: positive effects of deviant coworkers

Drawing on the labeling perspective of deviance, we investigate employee reactions to coworkers perceived as deviants. We look at two positive effects for employees in the presence of a deviant coworker. First, in comparison to a deviant individual, other employees can draw more positive conclusions about themselves; and second, a deviant can be informative about organizational norms, thereby improving employee role clarity. We also examine individual and situational moderators. For the purpose of the study, we developed a measure of the presence of a deviant. The hypothesized relationships were tested in two large samples using multiple regression analyses. The results revealed that in the presence of a deviant coworker, employees reported enhanced self-evaluation. The presence of a deviant coworker was associated with better role clarity only for employees with more interdependent jobs. We also discuss practical implications of the findings and future research directions.     

Pediatric Symptom Checklist Ratings by Mothers with a Recent History of Intimate Partner Violence: A Primary Care Study

Screening for psychosocial problems is an effective way to identify children who need further evaluation, and many brief, psychometrically strong measures exist for this purpose. More research is needed, however, about the performance of these measures in special populations who are familiar to primary care settings. The purpose of this study was to examine and compare maternal ratings on the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) between low-income, urban mothers who had suffered intimate partner violence (IPV) in the past year (n = 23) and a demographically-matched comparison group of mothers (n = 23). Victims of violence rated their children as having significantly more problems in a number of categories (Total PSC Score, Externalizing, and Internalizing) than did mothers in the comparison group. The PSC shows promise as an adequate screening tool for psychosocial problems in the children of women who have suffered IPV, but more research is needed.     

Not my will but thine be done: Church versus magic in contemporary Russia

In contemporary Russia, the Orthodox Church has started to assume its traditional but long‐lost role as a guardian of morality and a source of coherent ontological foundations. At the same time, magic and alternative healing have become pervasive and conspicuously public phenomena, thriving on the new institutions of the market and the free media. The article examines the nature of ideological offensive deployed by the Russian Church against magic and healing. It suggests that the controversy between Church and magic reflects conflicting ontologies of self and incompatible constructions of agency inherent in these respective cultural fields. It argues that magic and healing are built on the Western models of agency as empowerment of an autonomous individualistic self, and explores contrasting models of agency offered by the Orthodox Christianity. In the light of this argument, seemingly premodern practices of healing and magic appear as phenomena deeply embedded in globalised modernity.     

Effects of laboratory-induced controllable and uncontrollable stress on Rorschach variables m and Y.

The research literature regarding stress and the Rorschach has frequently produced contradictory results. A possible explanation for the lack of consensus may be that past research has failed to consider the nature of the stressor. A potentially important dimension is whether the stressor is perceived as controllable or uncontrollable, particularly because these two types of stressors invoke distinctive sets of biobehavioral reactions. We examined the effects of experimentally induced uncontrollable and controllable stress on m and Y Rorschach responses. Uncontrollable laboratory stress was associated with an increase in both m and Y variants, whereas controllable laboratory stress was associated with an increase only in m. Potential implications and directions for future research are discussed.