Prospective Memory Impairment in Mild Cognitive Impairment: An Analytical Review

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a heterogeneous condition characterized by the presence in an otherwise healthy elderly individual of cognitive deficits involving specific domains in the absence of significant functional impairments. Reports indicate that prospective memory (PM), that is, the ability to remember to execute delayed intentions, is impaired in individuals with MCI. The present review discusses the current debate in the literature on PM functioning in MCI by focusing on the relationship between prospective retrieval and retrospective memory functioning. Analysis of the reported evidence revealed that both the prospective component and the retrospective component of PM can be impaired in MCI. Declarative memory dysfunction may account for the retrospective memory impairment, while either reduced executive abilities or a deficit of reflexive mechanisms could explain the prospective component impairment.     

Communication of Genetic Risk Information to Daughters in Families with Fragile X Syndrome: The Parent’s Perspective

Parental approaches to communicating information about genetic disorders to their children may be an important determinant in how the children manage stress as well as their adjustment and adaptation to that information. We explored communication patterns through structured interviews with 46 parents of daughters who learned about their genetic risk status as minors. Three different levels of knowledge about fragile X syndrome were explored: 1) informing that it has been diagnosed in the family and is an inherited disorder, 2) informing about the possibility of a daughter being a carrier, and 3) if testing had been done, informing the daughter of her actual carrier status. Additionally, parental perceptions of their daughter’s understanding of the information were explored along with frequency of discussions. We found that communication about genetic risk was initiated by the parents. Five disclosure patterns were identified with variations in style, content, and frequency of communication related to the information that was being disclosed. Aspects of resilient communication were present for all levels of disclosure; however, as the information became more personally relevant for the daughter such as disclosure about the possibility of “being a carrier” for fragile X syndrome and there was uncertainty regarding potential outcomes, the conversations included fewer resilient characteristics. Uncertainty about what and how to present information may negatively affect a parent’s ability to include elements of resilient communication when disclosing genetic risk information.     

Evaluating reading and metacognitive deficits in children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

The reading achievement of children and adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has scarcely been explored in research conducted in the Spanish language and when it has, the results have been contradictory. The focus of the present research is to analyze participants' reading competency and metacognitive strategies as they carry out reading comprehension tasks. The sample was comprised of 187 Argentine schoolchildren aged 9 to 13 years old. 94 constituted the control group and the clinical group consisted of 93 schoolchildren diagnosed with ADHD. The metacognitive assessment was made up of two metacognitive tests, the Reading Awareness Scale (ESCOLA; acronym in Spanish) and a Spanish adaptation of Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI), and one test of reading comprehension, the Evaluation of Reading Processes for Secondary Education Students (PROLEC-SE; acronym in Spanish). Students with ADHD had lower achievement on tests o reading comprehension compared to the control group. Nevertheless, our results suggest their difficulties did not stem from readin comprehension problems, but rather from alterations in their Executive Functions, because when subjects' reading comprehensio was equalized, students with ADHD still exhibited a lower level of Metacognition, particularly when it came to planning.     

Prevalence and associated factors with body image dissatisfaction among adults in southern Brazil: A population-based study

We investigated the prevalence of body image dissatisfaction (BID) and associated factors in Florianopolis, Brazil. BID was analyzed in a sample (N = 1720) of adults through the Figure Rating Scale. The independent variables were sociodemographic factors, health behaviors, and morbidities. A multinomial logistic regression analysis was used. More men (14.2%) than women (6.1%) presented BID by being lighter than ideal (LI). Conversely, more women (66.6%) than men (46.3%) showed BID by being heavier than ideal (HI). BID by being HI was higher among older women, those with high BMI and those with a partner. In men, lower BMI and the presence of common mental disorders were associated with BID due to being LI. Advanced ages, alcohol abuse, physical inactivity, and obesity were associated with BID due to being HI. We must consider different public health interventions for men and women to reduce BID in Brazilian adults.     

Minimal functional brain differences between older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment during the stroop

This investigation compared the neural correlates of inhibition in normal older adults (OAs) and OAs with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). It was hypothesized the MCI group would require a greater amount of resources for inhibition, and therefore display greater functional activation in specific regions of interest (ROIs). Twenty-six OAs without and 17 with MCI completed the Stroop task during functional neuroimaging, and completed additional out-of-scanner neuropsychological measures. During inhibition, there were minimal functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) differences found between groups in a priori specified ROIs and with post-hoc multiple regression analyses. However, these minimal differences did not survive corrected thresholds. Robust differences were found with several tasks of a neuropsychological screening battery. The results of this study suggest only very minimal group differences in fMRI activation during inhibition which may not reliably identify MCI, and this condition may be best detected by traditional neuropsychological techniques.     

Differences between children and adults in the recognition of enjoyment smiles

The authors investigated the differences between 8-year-olds (n=80) and adults (n=80) in recognition of felt versus faked enjoyment smiles by using a newly developed picture set that is based on the Facial Action Coding System. The authors tested the effect of different facial action units (AUs) on judgments of smile authenticity. Multiple regression showed that children base their judgment on AU intensity of both mouth and eyes, with relatively little distinction between the Duchenne marker (AU6 or "cheek raiser") and a different voluntary muscle that has a similar effect on eye aperture (AU7 or "lid tightener"). Adults discriminate well between AU6 and AU7 and seem to use eye-mouth discrepancy as a major cue of authenticity. Bared-teeth smiles (involving AU25) are particularly salient to both groups. The authors propose and discuss an initial developmental model of the smile recognition process.     

Contexts and experimentalism in the psychology of Gabriele Buccola (1875-1885)

Gabriele Buccola, since his untimely death, often has been mentioned as the first Italian psychologist who developed a strict program of laboratory research. Buccola, a Sicilian of Albanian ancestry, is a "case" in the history of Italian psychology. A self-taught positivist, he established a relation with the major representatives of the European positivism. Kraepelin mentions him as one of the precursors of his project of applying experimental psychology to psychopathology. Buccola actually carried out research on the psychological, chemical-biological, and psychopathological "modifiers" of reaction times, following an experimental program dealing mainly with the differential study both of basic and superior psychological processes, with mental hygiene ends. Historians of psychology agree in considering Buccola the first Italian laboratory psychologist to plan a program of research that was close to European psychological experimentalism.The present article, starting from an outline of Buccola's role in the rising Italian scientific psychology, recontextualizes his experimentalism in an international sphere. This operation, which is carried out through a careful survey of Buccola's entire production-both theoretical and more properly scientific-is based on the search of the Darwinian, Spencerian, and Haeckelian evolutionist themes emerging from Buccola's program of research-a program that was influenced by the variegated European experimental panorama and characterized by the vision of science as a knowledge capable of transforming the nature of man and of society.     

Relations between church and state in Russia today ∗

Abstract

According to its constitution the Russian Federation is a secular state in which all religious associations are equal before the law. The constitution also guarantees freedom of religious choice and practice. Federal legislation, as well as the legislation of the republics, should be in accordance with these clearly formulated principles. Many provisions in the federal law on religion of 1997, however, are in conflict with them. Moreover, in practice the statement in the preamble to that law regarding the historical role of Orthodoxy and that of other ‘traditional religions’ is arbitrarily interpreted to justify a privileged position for Orthodoxy and to some extent for Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. The ‘secularity’ of a state does not entail the marginalisation of religion. A secular state should take account of the historical role and importance of each religion. The Russian state may legitimately award Orthodoxy a position of primus inter pares and privileges of honour in comparison with other religions on the basis of proportionality. These should not, however, take the form of legal advantages. Orthodoxy can perfectly well play the role of ‘official’ religion, but it should not be a ‘state’ religion. It would be advisable to establish a system of bilateral agreements between each religious association and the state and to create a fiscal system that allowed citizens who declare that they belong to a given religious faith to devote part of their taxes to the financial support of that faith.