Dopaminergic modulation of the persistence of one-trial hippocampus-dependent memory

The persistence of new memory traces in the hippocampus, encoded following appropriate activation of glutamatergic receptors and the induction of synaptic plasticity, can be influenced by heterosynaptic activation of neuromodulatory brain systems. We therefore investigated the effects of a hippocampus-specific blockade of dopamine D1/D5 receptors on the persistence of spatial memory encoded in one trial using a delayed matching-to-place (DMP) task in a watermaze in which rats learn a new escape location each day. A within-subjects design was used such that both short (20 min) and long (6 h) retention intervals, and both drug (SCH23390, a D1/D5 receptor antagonist) and vehicle (aCSF) infusions were tested on different days in the same animals. Bilateral intrahippocampal infusion of SCH23390 (5 microg in 1 microL per side) prior to trial 1 (encoding) caused a differential impairment as a function of memory delay-with no effect during trial 2 (memory retrieval) after a 20-min interval, but a block of memory at 6 h. Further experiments revealed that infusion of SCH23390 immediately after trial 1 had no effect on retention 6 h later, and the poor memory seen at long retention intervals when the drug was present at encoding was not due to a state-dependent failure of retrieval. These results suggest that activation of D1/D5 receptors during memory encoding is necessary for the formation of a persistent memory trace in the hippocampus. The complementary effects of D1/D5 receptor blockade on the persistence of LTP and the duration of memory are consistent with the idea that changes in synaptic strength underlie memory.     

Color-based grouping and inhibition in visual search: evidence from a probe detection analysis of preview search

In four experiments, we examined selection processes in visual search using a probe detection task to measure the allocation of attention. Under preview search conditions, probes were harder to detect on old relative to new distractors (Experiment 1). This cannot be attributed solely to low-level sensory factors (Experiment 2). In addition, probe detection was sensitive to color-based grouping of old distractors and to color similarity between old distractors (Experiments 3 and 4). These effects were dissociated when the color of the old distractors changed but probe detection effects remained. Collectively, the data indicate both group-based suppression of distractors and the separate inhibition of distractor features in search.     

Freedom to play,dream and think

The intention in this paper is to study what we mean when we say that play is a mediator of an inner psychic world. The internal scene becomes furnished with your own impressions from the external world. The passions and the experiences from within have no forms of their own and will use the forms in time and space in external reality. An inner object world will be created, and thus far it is the same process as it is for the creation of the dream image and its furniture. In play, there is a circular movement: the furnishings from the inner world intrude into external reality; the external form and the form of the inner object create a double exposure. We look at the object in the room with a binocular view. The experience from psychoanalysis with three children is presented to give different perspectives on the internal movements inherent in play and playing.     

Fewer intrusions after an attentional bias modification training for perceptual reminders of analogue trauma

The present experimental analogue study used computerised attention training to investigate the role of attention bias in the prediction of intrusive memories. After exposure to a trauma film, participants in a training group (n=22) were presented with a variant of the exogenic cueing task (ECT) in which visual film reminders (i.e., stills from the trauma film) were always presented during invalid and neutral control stimuli always during valid trials. The purpose of this cue–location contingency was reinforcing the direction of attention away from film reminders. Control participants (n=23) performed a similar training without such a contingency. Post-training processing bias was assessed with a single target Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) task, in which trauma-film reminders served as task-irrelevant distracters appearing shortly before a neutral target. The frequency of film-related intrusions was recorded in a take-home diary and at a follow-up session three days after film viewing. Participants who underwent attention training reported fewer film-related intrusions and showed less interference by visual film distracters than controls. Implications for research on attention bias after real-life trauma are discussed.     

Changes of the Health Service System and the Search for Evidence and Rationality

The health service systems of the Western world are transforming rapidly. These systems are under pressure from an increase of new biomedical possibilities for intervention in the processes of the human body, from the rising expectations of the public, and from demographic developments that are leading to an increase in the number of elderly people in the Western world. Parallel to these changes on the macro level there are major changes on the micro level, that is, there is a search for methods to manage the basic way that the health system functions. In short, the financing, organization and practice of medicine will be changed considerably over the next 5-10 years. In the search for a harmonious development in this field the concept "evidence" must be seen in a broad perspective that encompasses, among other things, the increasing multidisciplinary nature of modern medicine.     

The Relationships between Individualism,Nationalism, Ethnocentrism,and Authoritarianism in Flanders: A Continuous Time-Structural Equation Modeling Approach

This article analyzes the relationships among nationalism (N), individualism (I), ethnocentrism (E), and authoritarianism (A) in continuous time (CT), estimated as a structural equation model. The analysis is based on the General Election Study for Flanders, Belgium, for 1991, 1995, and 1999. We find reciprocal effects between A and E and between E and I as well as a unidirectional effect from A on I. We furthermore find relatively small, but significant, effects from both I and E on N but no effect from A on N or from N on any of the other variables. Because of its central role in the N-I-E-A complex, mitigation of authoritarianism has the largest potential to reduce the spread of nationalism, ethnocentrism, and racism in Flanders.     

An Introductory Course in Group Psychotherapy in The Netherlands: Use of a Knowledge-Sampling Test

Abstract

We offer comments regarding two articles in this issue, one titled “Bridging the Practitioner-Scientist Gap in Group Psychotherapy Research” and a complementary article providing the results of a survey, entitled “A Survey of Canadian Group Psychotherapist Association Members” Perceptions of Psychotherapy Research.’ We also make several recommendations for collaborative research between practitioners and scientists, such as the inclusion of clinicians on the research team, practice research networks, and improved approaches to communicating clinically relevant research findings. Also discussed are reflections and recommendations from the authors’ experience as scientist-practitioners.     

Existential themes in the treatment of people at suicide risk. Understandings and practices of specialist healthcare professionals

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study focuses on the ways in which existential themes were understood and addressed in therapeutic relationships with patients who had attempted suicide. Health care professionals (HCP) from Norway specialist healthcare participated in focus groups. The interviews were transcribed and analysed by systematic text-condensation through a four-step procedure. We found that the HCPs emphasised the context-specific functions of their departments. They considered these conversations essential but demanding. They indicated existential themes of hope/hopelessness, loneliness, meaning, life/death, shame, religion and suicide. The HCPs’ understandings of themes deemed to be existential and how they should be addressed were primarily based on clinical experience. This appeared to exacerbate the pressure on their personal involvement, leading to the question of whether patients’ existential needs are tackled or instead disappear into a conversational vacuum. The study suggests that HCPs' professional competence of existential themes pertaining to patients at suicide risk needs to be strengthened.     

Attribution style and post-traumatic stress severity in the Central Region of Kenya: Influences of dwelling location

This study investigated the influence of attribution styles as predictors of post-traumatic stress severity (PTSS) by dwelling in Kenya. A non-clinical convenience sample of 354 rural (n = 178) and urban (n = 176) Kenyans from the Central Region of Kenya were participants. They responded to a post-traumatic stress screener, attribution style questionnaire and post-traumatic disorder (PTSD) checklist. A regression analysis showed that the urban dweller (UD) sample was significantly more likely to attribute negative events to internal, specific causes than the rural dweller (RD) sample. Findings suggest social support protections in RD to buffer them from negative self-attributions for PTSS among this Kenyan sample.     

Service learning in custodial settings in South Africa

This study describes the findings of a community engaged service learning program in which nine female and three male students ranging between 22 and 31 years of age from a large South African university participated in a study conducted in two metropolitan areas of South Africa. They were all senior level students registered for Criminological Evaluation and Assessment, a practically-oriented module aimed at equipping students with the required knowledge and skills to conduct criminological assessments. The students voluntarily assisted correctional centres with the assessment of sentenced offenders and in the compilation of individualized Correctional Sentence Plans (CSP) to inform the rehabilitation process of offenders. Students reported their reflections on their service learning experiences using on-line interviews and with question prompts. Extracts from the thematic data analysis suggest students perceived themselves to be instrumental to the Department of Correctional Services in the fulfilment of its goals, while they benefitted from enhanced learning and social responsibility.