Brain network interactions in auditory, visual and linguistic processing

In the paper, we discuss the importance of network interactions between brain regions in mediating performance of sensorimotor and cognitive tasks, including those associated with language processing. Functional neuroimaging, especially PET and fMRI, provide data that are obtained essentially simultaneously from much of the brain, and thus are ideal for enabling one to assess interregional functional interactions. Two ways to use these types of data to assess network interactions are presented. First, using PET, we demonstrate that anterior and posterior perisylvian language areas have stronger functional connectivity during spontaneous narrative production than during other less linguistically demanding production tasks. Second, we show how one can use large-scale neural network modeling to relate neural activity to the hemodynamically-based data generated by fMRI and PET. We review two versions of a model of object processing - one for visual and one for auditory objects. The regions comprising the models include primary and secondary sensory cortex, association cortex in the temporal lobe, and prefrontal cortex. Each model incorporates specific assumptions about how neurons in each of these areas function, and how neurons in the different areas are interconnected with each other. Each model is able to perform a delayed match-to-sample task for simple objects (simple shapes for the visual model; tonal contours for the auditory model). We find that the simulated electrical activities in each region are similar to those observed in nonhuman primates performing analogous tasks, and the absolute values of the simulated integrated synaptic activity in each brain region match human fMRI/PET data. Thus, this type of modeling provides a way to understand the neural bases for the sensorimotor and cognitive tasks of interest.     

Light and Shadow as a Function of the Religious Psyche: The Evil Eye

Psychology today has a tendency to pathologize anything which deviates from the Cartesian medical paradigm. It is a great injustice of the field to rob the psyche of its shadow, its evil side. The late Rabbi Shneerson spoke about this aspect of personality in terms of light and shadow (good and evil) and how we need to allow both in an attempt to create balance which then leads to harmony. This paper is an attempt to look at the ancient struggle of good and evil in terms of the Etz Chayim, or the Tree of Life. The ancient knowledge of Judaism has much to offer the young field of psychology concerning human nature and life cycle. The evil eye as a religious function of the psyche is an attempt to expound on the importance of taking the full spectrum of human nature into account, seeing and understanding the entire picture. Perhaps we can change from pathology to the stories of our monsters or gremlins and what they have to teach us. It is only through allowing the light and the dark to co-exist, that we can create a place for balance and unity. Lectures extensively at universities, to professional organizations, and community groups     

Forty years of group psychotherapy at the Menninger Clinic

Despite the skepticism and indifference to group psychotherapy that existed in the 1950s and 1960s within the psychoanalytic community in general and among the staff and administration of the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas in particular, a few clinicians there forged ahead in pursuit of incorporating this modality as an accepted treatment. After gaining some acceptance first in the hospital, we experienced a slow rate of growth, except with our trainees who were generally enthusiastic about group work. Many of them were intrigued first by their exposure to the group dynamics seminars and later by the didactic courses and supervised group work that eventually came to be required by the accrediting body for residency programs of the American Psychiatric Association. Visiting senior consultants and teachers, mainly associated with the American Group Psychotherapy Association, as well as an esteemed clinician from the Tavistock Clinic, also lent credibility and legitimacy to our effort. When group treatment began to be adopted by units of the Menninger Hospital in the early 1970s, there was a significant sea change in the attitude of the organization and group psychotherapy became a well established modality.     

Parental Coping in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Fifty-six mothers of premature infants who participated in a study to reduce symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) completed the Brief COPE, a self-report inventory of coping mechanisms, the Stanford Acute Stress Reaction Questionnaire to assess acute stress disorder (ASD) and the Davidson Trauma Scale to assess PTSD. 18 % of mothers had baseline ASD while 30 % of mothers met the criteria for PTSD at the 1-month follow-up. Dysfunctional coping as measured by the Brief COPE was positively associated with elevated risk of PTSD in these mothers (RR = 1.09, 95 % CI 1.02–1.15; p = .008). Maternal education was positively associated with PTSD; each year increase in education was associated with a 17 % increase in the relative risk of PTSD at 1 month follow-up (RR = 1.17, 95 % CI 1.02–1.35; p = .03). Results suggest that dysfunctional coping is an important issue to consider in the development of PTSD in parents of premature infants.     

Child and Family Team Meeting Characteristics and Outcomes in a Statewide System of Care

Systems of care (SOC) have relied on the wraparound care process to individualize community‐based services for children and youth with serious emotional and behavioral difficulties. A core element of wraparound care is Child and Family Team meetings (CFTs), which are designed to give youth and families a leadership role in developing and guiding their plan of care. The National Wraparound Initiative (NWI) has identified Practice Standards regarding CFT implementation. This study examined CFT characteristics and the association between those characteristics and youth and family outcomes in a statewide SOC. Participants were 363 youth (M_age = 10.89, SD = 3.72) and their caregivers. Families completed measures of youth and caregiver functioning and symptoms at enrollment and 6‐month follow‐up. Care coordinators completed a survey assessing CFT implementation and characteristics following each meeting. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between CFT characteristics and youth and caregiver outcomes. Results indicated that a higher number of CFTs was associated with poorer outcomes, while a higher percentage of natural supports at meetings was associated with better youth outcomes. Number of days to the first CFT was associated with greater caregiver strain. Implications for CFT implementation within wraparound are discussed.     

Adults sexually abused as children: Legal actions and Issues

This article first briefly discusses the problem of delayed memories and long-term effects of child sexual abuse and the current trend to bring civil lawsuits or criminal prosecutions for childhood sexual abuse. The article addresses the primary obstacle to such actions—the statute of limitations—which in most states places a time limit on when legal actions can be commenced. It describes the purpose of the statute of limitations and the need for changing or extending it in child sexual abuse cases; it then summarizes and analyzes the methods used by state legislation and judicial decisions to change or extend the statute of limitations in both criminal and civil actions. The article examines the pros and cons of bringing legal actions for child sexual abuse many years later, and concludes with a discussion regarding the current debate about the accuracy and authenticity of long-term memory and the advisability of legal reforms to extend or eliminate the statute of limitations in this area.     

Sex-role expectations,power, and psychological distress

Data collected in a community survey of psychiatric epidemiology in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1967 are reanalyzed to examine the relationship of sex-role expectations and power to rates of psychological distress. The results indicate that people who occupy powerful roles have low rates of distress, regardless of whether they conform to or deviate from role expectations. The occupation of the powerless role, however, is particularly productive of distress when the occupant of this role deviates from sex-appropriate behavior. The findings suggest that sex differences in distress may in part be deducible from more general differences in power and role expectations.The author is grateful to Jerome K. Myers for generously allowing use of his data in this article. Myers' research was supported by PGS Contract No. 43-67-743 and Research Grant No. MH 15522 from the National Institute of Mental Health, Department of Health, Education and Welfare.     

Language ability in right and left hemiplegic children

The language abilities of three right and three left hemiplegic children between 6 and 8 years of age were compared. All children presented pre- or perinatally acquired unilateral lesions confirmed by CT scan, normal hearing, comparable performance I.Q.'s, and were being educated in regular classrooms. Right hemiplegic children were found to be inferior to the left hemiplegics on tasks of speech production, vocabulary comprehension, and syntactic comprehension and formulation. Right hemiplegics also acquired single words and two-word combinations later than did left hemiplegics.     

A functional lesion in developmental dyslexia: left angular gyral blood flow predicts severity.

Functional imaging studies have shown reduced regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in temporal and inferior parietal regions in dyslexia. To relate such abnormalities to the severity of dyslexia, correlations between reading skill and rCBF during a series of reading tasks and visual fixation were mapped for 17 right-handed dyslexic men, ages 18-40, and 14 matched controls. These correlations uniquely identified the left angular gyrus as the most probable site of a functional lesion in dyslexia: Here, higher rCBF was associated with better reading skill in controls (p <.01), but with worse reading skill in dyslexia (p <.01). This suggests that greater reliance on this region normally facilitates reading, but impairs reading in dyslexia. Thus, developmental dyslexia may share a common localization with alexia.