Rhetorical Argumentation in Italian Academic Discourse

The recent trend in institutional communication research seems to foster the image of the University as a private organization significantly oriented towards a policy of customer satisfaction. Following the concept of organizational culture, institutional settings too are conceived as organizational contexts, where discourse is a privileged vehicle to convey and spread values, traditions and artifacts, both through internal and external communication practices. Thus, within academic discourse organizational culture is shaped and perpetuated by specific devices of rhetorical argumentation. The corpus of data consists of two different examples of academic discourse: the self promotional endorsement letters of the academic candidates to the chancellor’s position on occasion of the elections and the inaugural speeches proclaimed by the chancellors in charge during the opening celebration of the academic year. The first kind of academic discourse could be meant as an example of political discourse since the candidates use communication strategically and manipulate their academic membership as a rhetorical device to support their aims. On the other hand, the second example is a mere celebration of academic culture which through linguistic rituals recalls and perpetuates the basic values of this microcosm. The data have been analysed with the critical discourse analysis and diatextual analysis which pay particular attention to the context of speech. Moreover, attention has been focused on the metaphors and on the meta-discursive cues. The results show that although with different purposes academic discourse use similar discursive and rhetorical strategies as both belong to the same organization.     

Personality functioning in patients with a progressive course of multiple sclerosis

This study intended to describe general personality functioning in patients with a progressive course of multiple sclerosis. 55 consecutive rehabilitation inpatients with progressive course of multiple sclerosis were assessed with a multimethod test battery: the Expanded Disability Status Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, and the Rorschach Test administered and scored with Comprehensive System. The control group comprised 55 healthy participants with similar sociodemographic characteristics. Specific differences were found for both cognitive and affective aspects, as the patients with progressive course of multiple sclerosis had less positive self-image, less effective mediation processing, and an affective approach to reality. Present data illustrated the usefulness of examining patients with a progressive course of multiple sclerosis to identify abilities and difficulties in cognitive and affective patterns, and support better adaptation to relationships and the environment.     

Improving left spatial neglect through music scale playing

The study assessed whether the auditory reference provided by a music scale could improve spatial exploration of a standard musical instrument keyboard in right‐brain‐damaged patients with left spatial neglect. As performing music scales involves the production of predictable successive pitches, the expectation of the subsequent note may facilitate patients to explore a larger extension of space in the left affected side, during the production of music scales from right to left. Eleven right‐brain‐damaged stroke patients with left spatial neglect, 12 patients without neglect, and 12 age‐matched healthy participants played descending scales on a music keyboard. In a counterbalanced design, the participants' exploratory performance was assessed while producing scales in three feedback conditions: With congruent sound, no‐sound, or random sound feedback provided by the keyboard. The number of keys played and the timing of key press were recorded. Spatial exploration by patients with left neglect was superior with congruent sound feedback, compared to both Silence and Random sound conditions. Both the congruent and incongruent sound conditions were associated with a greater deceleration in all groups. The frame provided by the music scale improves exploration of the left side of space, contralateral to the right hemisphere, damaged in patients with left neglect. Performing a scale with congruent sounds may trigger at some extent preserved auditory and spatial multisensory representations of successive sounds, thus influencing the time course of space scanning, and ultimately resulting in a more extensive spatial exploration. These findings offer new perspectives also for the rehabilitation of the disorder.     

Unrepressed unconscious and unsaid in addictive symptomatology

The aim of this work is to understand, from a developmental-relational perspective, the emotional nature of addictive symptoms. Many studies have shown that addictions are linked to traumatic emotions that, once activated, could cause a feeling of emotional confusion that in the most severe cases could be connected to the fear that the Self might disintegrate. Before understanding the relationship between dissociation and addictions, it is essential to distinguish disintegration (désagrégation, in the language of Pierre Janet) and dissociation. Indeed, if the disintegration is a structural and pathological condition of the personality caused by early and chronic emotional traumatic memories, the dissociation is a defensive reaction to a stress: this reaction can be normal (flexible and adequate) or pathological (rigid and inadequate). Thus, addictive behaviours could be associated to a dissociative reaction in individuals with a structural dissociation of the personality (désagrégation). This disintegration would be linked to traumatic emotions: unconscious and unsymbolised emotions. On the unconscious nature of these emotions, the author of this paper underlines the role of the unrepressed unconscious, which in addicts would seem to be impaired.     

The role of ingroup threat and conservative ideologies on prejudice against immigrants in two samples of Italian adults

This research investigated the relationship among perception of ingroup threats (realistic and symbolic), conservative ideologies (social dominance orientation [SDO] and right-wing authoritarianism [RWA]), and prejudice against immigrants. Data were collected with a cross-sectional design in two samples: non-student Italian adults (n = 223) and healthcare professionals (n = 679). Results were similar in both samples and indicated that symbolic and realistic threats, as well as SDO and RWA, positively and significantly predicted anti-immigrant prejudice. Moreover, the model considering SDO and RWA as mediators of threats’ effects on prejudice showed a better fit than the model in which ingroup threats mediated the effects of SDO and RWA on prejudice against immigrants. Accordingly, SDO and RWA partially mediated the effect of both symbolic and realistic threats, which maintained a significant effect on prejudice against immigrants, however.     

Neuropathological determinants of acquired attention disorders in traumatic brain injury

Attentional disorders are frequently mentioned neuropsychological sequalae following traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, little is known about the recovery of attention, or the determinants of variability of attentional functioning following TBI. The present study was undertaken to examine (1) the extent to which attentional disorders are present among patients at various chronicity stages following TBI, (2) differences in performance on a number of measures of attention as a function of different clinical-neuropathological syndromes. A sample of 70 TBI subjects were rated according to different clinical-neuropathological syndromes and neuropsychologically evaluated. The results suggest that TBI patients of different chronicity stages, with significantly different lengths of coma, did not significantly differ in terms of the type or severity of attentional disorders. However, when the same patients were classified according to clinical-neuropathological syndromes, significant differences in the severity and type of attentional disorders were evident. The findings were interpreted to suggest that typical indices of severity of TBI do not correlate with the severity and type of attentional disorders and that qualitative aspects of the subjects' pathology may be more important in determining the nature of the attentional disorders.     

Extracellular amino acid levels in the paraventricular nucleus and the central amygdala in high- and low-anxiety dams rats during maternal aggression: regulation by oxytocin

Brain oxytocin (OT) regulates aspects of emotionality and stress coping including maternal behavior and maternal aggression. Maternal aggression correlates with the amount of OT released within the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and the central amygdala (CeA). OT, a key neurotransmitter or neuromodulator, is likely to modulate other neurotransmitter systems. Here, we investigated the dynamic changes in extracellular concentrations of the amino acids aspartate, glutamate, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), serine, histidine, arginine and taurine in the PVN and CeA in lactating rats bred for high (HAB) and low (LAB) anxiety-related behavior under basal conditions and during maternal aggression. Further, to determine whether local OT is involved in the regulation of amino acid release we infused a selective OT receptor antagonist (OTA) via local retrodialysis. Within the CeA, HAB and LAB dams differed in the basal release of glutamate and arginine. Infusion of a selective OTA increased the concentrations of glutamate and aspartate in LAB dams and GABA in HAB dams. In OTA-treated HAB and LAB dams taurine levels increased during maternal aggression. Within the PVN, the highly-aggressive HAB dams showed a more pronounced increase in aspartate and serine levels; the latter being attenuated by local OTA administration. However, OTA did not affect the level of any amino acid in the LAB dams. Thus, the extracellular concentrations of selected amino acids differed between lactating HAB and LAB dams under both basal conditions and following maternal aggression. The effects of OT within the CeA and PVN on maternal aggressive behavior might be related to its regulation of local amino acid release.     

Do Feelings of Loneliness Mediate the Relationship between Sociocognitive Understanding and Depressive Symptoms During Late Childhood and Early Adolescence?

An interesting association between sociocognitive understanding and depression has been documented in clinical populations, with high levels of depression apparently related to theory-of-mind deficits. Yet no research has so far investigated this relationship among typically developing preadolescents. Therefore, the authors' main aim was to extend previous findings to the general population and to a younger age group. A secondary aim was to explore the role of feelings of loneliness referring to the previous link. A sociocognitive understanding task followed by self-report questionnaires on depressive symptoms and perceived loneliness were administered to a sample of 326 students attending primary and middle schools. Mediation analyses revealed that feelings of loneliness mediated the effect of sociocognitive understanding on depressive symptoms, but only among girls. In boys, depressive symptoms were directly linked to sociocognitive skills. In girls, on the contrary, the relationship between sociocognitive skills and depressive symptoms was significantly mediated by feelings of loneliness. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.