Neurocognitive Complications of HIV Disease

Neurocognitive complications are the most common sequelae of HIV infection if the full spectrum of HIV disease—from initial seroconversion to death from advanced AIDS—is considered. Though resembling subcortical neurological disorders from a neuropsychological standpoint, the presentation is variable, and almost any pattern can be seen. Although neuropsychological impairment is often subtle, it can affect day-to-day life and is associated with earlier mortality. It is not clear if milder forms of neurocognitive disturbance necessarily presage advanced dementia, and current data suggest a two-factor model: a subacute relapsing-remitting condition that can occur at any stage of HIV disease and a progressive, more fulminant dementia. The pathological substrates of these conditions are not well characterized, although recent data support the notion that synaptodendritic damage underlies the neuropsychological impairment, and may precede the neuronal loss and other pathological features more characteristic of HIV encephalitis. Some reversibility of neurocognitive disturbance has been reported with zidovudine therapy, though the data are not consistent. New regimens involving protease inhibitors need to be evaluated in terms of benefit to the central nervous system because many drugs of this class do not penetrate the blood-brain barrier efficiently. Finally, studies utilizing experimental treatments that may affect the putative mechanisms of neural injury are in progress.     

A motivational environment for behaviorally deviant junior high school students

A contingency management program was established in a junior high school to better manage and educate students having histories of severe misconduct. School administrators selected 46 eighth-graders having multiple suspensions for misbehavior. Students (N=32) in two of the schools remained in traditional programs, serving as controls, whereas students (N=14) in the third school participated in a token reinforcement program. Reinforcers provided in the afternoon were contingent upon achievement and discipline during morning academic periods. Home-based reinforcers were established to support school behavior. Compared with the control group, significant reductions in negative school behavior as well as greater increases in academic achievement were obtained for the treatment group, thus supporting the efficacy of contingency management for adolescent school misbehavior.Valuable assistance in developing the reinforcement program and curriculum materials was provided by William Brown, principal of the Anne Arundel County Learning Center. Thanks are also due: Dottie Dpwling and Joe Gentile, the teachers in the program; John Jedlicka, principal of Stemmers Run Junior High; and Donnie Williams, research assistant.     

Neuropsychological and MMPI correlates of patients' future employment characteristics

Previous research has suggested that patients' neuropsychological test scores correlate not only with neurologic status but also with their success in coping with some of the demands of daily living. This study investigated the utility of such laboratory test scores in predicting several vocational variables. Patients who had recieved neuropsychological evaluations were recontacted and questioned about their employment over the previous 6 mo. Of the 78 individuals who participated, 25 had been chronically unemployed. The remaining 53 were asked about job stability, hours worked, and wages earned, and were administered the Minnsota Job Requirements Questionnaire. Patients' scores on the Halstead-Reitan Battery, the WAIS and the MMPI were highly correlated with employment status (employed or chronically unemployed), income, and skills required on the jobs held. The results suggest that these tests may have clinical utility in assessing patients' employability, as well as the types of jobs for which they are suited.     

Enhanced perceptual processing of speech in autism

Theories of autism have proposed that a bias towards low-level perceptual information, or a featural/surface-biased information-processing style, may compromise higher-level language processing in such individuals. Two experiments, utilizing linguistic stimuli with competing low-level/perceptual and high-level/semantic information, tested processing biases in children with autism and matched controls. Whereas children with autism exhibited superior perceptual processing of speech relative to controls, and showed no evidence of either a perceptual or semantic processing bias, controls showed a tendency to process speech semantically. The data provide partial support to the perceptual theories of autism. It is additionally proposed that the pattern of results may reflect different patterns of attentional focusing towards single or multiple stimulus cues in speech between children with autism and controls.     

Psychological skills and mindfulness training effects on the psychological wellbeing of undergraduate music students: An exploratory study

This study explored the efficacy of psychological skills and mindfulness training intervention on the psychological wellbeing of undergraduate music students. Participants were undergraduate music students (n = 36) from the Department of Music at a South African university, 21 of whom were elected to take the psychological skills and mindfulness training intervention. Data on their self-reported psychological wellbeing, psychological skills, mindfulness and performance anxiety levels were collected pre-and post-intervention. The analysis applied non-parametric procedures to determine changes in students’ psychological wellbeing after the seven-week intervention programme. Findings suggest improvements in psychological wellbeing, psychological skills, mindfulness and performance anxiety with training. Psychological skills and mindfulness training may have benefits to the psychological wellbeing of music students.     

Changes in Behaviour and Body Weight Following a Single or Double Social Defeat in Rats

In a series of experiments, the consequences of a single and double social conflict on various behaviours and body weight in rats were studied. Animals were subjected to social defeat by placing them into the territory of an aggressive male conspecific for one hour, either once, or twice at the same time on two consecutive days. To assess the consequences of social defeat, three experiments were performed with independent groups of rats. In the first experiment, an open field test was performed two days after the last conflict. Locomotor activity was strongly reduced after social defeat. There were no differences between the single and double defeat group. To assess the effects of social defeat on subsequent social behaviour, a second experiment was performed in which experimental animals were confronted with an unfamiliar non-aggressive rat two days after a single or double conflict. Social defeat resulted in a reduction of social contact with the unfamiliar conspecific. There was no difference between the single and double conflict group. In the third experiment, the effects of social conflict on food intake, body weight and saccharine preference were measured. Food intake was not affected after a single conflict, but in the double conflict group food intake was decreased for several days. Body weight gain was decreased after both single and double social defeat. The decrease was stronger in the double conflict group. Water intake and saccharine preference were not significantly affected. This study revealed that social defeat in rats causes pronounced changes in various behaviours and body weight. Different aspects of behaviour are differentially affected by defeat with respect to the magnitude and time course of the changes induced. Moreover, different behavioural parameters are differentially sensitive to repetition of the stressor.     

Morningness/eveningness, morning-to-afternoon cortisol ratio, and antisocial behavior problems during puberty

The relationship between morningness/eveningness (M/E) and morning-to-afternoon cortisol ratio, pubertal timing, and antisocial behavior was examined in 111 girls and boys ages 8 to 13 years. Cortisol levels showed a significant increase after awakening and declined thereafter (p<.05). Eveningness was related to a composite measure of antisocial behavior and rule-breaking and attention behavior problems and conduct disorder (CD) symptoms in boys and relational aggression in girls. In boys only, lower a.m. to p.m. cortisol ratio, indicating less circadian decrease in cortisol, was related to attention problems. Early pubertal timing was associated with boys' rule-breaking and attention behavior problems and CD symptoms and girls' relational aggression. The findings indicate that evening activity preference; extreme a.m. to p.m. cortisol ratios, in one case; and early pubertal timing were associated with antisocial behavior even in young adolescents, but the findings were stronger for boys than for girls.