Psychiatric illness and behavioural problems in adults with learning disability and epilepsy

We retrospectively collected data on the rate and type of psychiatric illness and behavioural problems on 143 adults with learning disability and epilepsy. 55% behavioural problems. 19% verbal aggression and temper tantrums, and 13% injurious behaviour. The overall rates of behavioural problems and different types of behaviours found in the current study cohort are similar to what was found before in learning disabled adults in general, as well as in epileptic and non-epileptic learning disabled adults. Psychiatric diagnosis was made in 12.6% combined diagnosis of schizophrenia, delusional disorder and schizo-affective disorder was most common (5%) diagnosis of depressive episode (3%) bipolar affective disorder.     

The Boundaries of the Analytic Encounter: Clinical and Ethical Dimensions: A Roundtable Discussion: January 15, 1998

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

A computational and perceptual account of motion lines

To indicate motion in a static drawing, artists often include lines trailing a moving object. The use of these motion lines is notable because they do not seem to be related to anything in the optic array. The dynamic behavior of a neural-network model for contour detection is analyzed and it is shown that it generates trails of oriented responses behind moving stimuli. The properties of the oriented response trails are shown to correspond to motion lines. The model generates trails of different orientations depending on the speed and length of the movement, and thereby predicts different uses of two types of motion lines. The model further predicts that motion lines should bias real motion in some situations. An experiment relating motion lines to ambiguous motion percepts demonstrates that motion lines contribute to motion percepts.     

Book Reviews

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

Role of monoamines in the control by hormones of sexual receptivity in the female rat.

The involvement of indole- and catecholamines in the hormonal regulation of sexual receptivity has been investigated in ovariectomized female rats. Drugs that reduce 5-hydroxytryptamine, dopamine, and adrenaline or increase noradrenaline neurotransmission tended to facilitate the occurrence of estrous behavior in estrogen-treated females, and drugs having opposite effects tended to inhibit receptivity induced by estrogen and progesterone. Estrogen decreased noradrenaline turnover in cortex and brain stem; progesterone enhanced this effect in brain stem but prevented it in cortex. Both hormones tended to block noradrenaline uptake in hypothalamus in vitro. In a schedule used to induce receptivity, estrogen accelerated serotonin turnover, an effect prevented by progesterone. Thus a number of monoamines may be involved in the control by hormones of estrous behavior. Furthermore, hormones affect both amine turnover and uptake mechanisms.