Emotional memory processing in post-traumatic stress disorder affected Colombian youth

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a neuropsychological condition caused by exposure to chronic stressors and extreme trauma. In past decades, Colombia (South America) has experienced high levels of armed conflict, which created an environment of chronic stress, resulting in an increased incidence of PTSD in children. Limited research exists on the effects of PTSD on emotional memory functioning of these Colombian youth living in chronically stressful environments. In the present study, 23 PTSD affected youth and 26 controls were asked to recall items from a memorised word list, as well as remembering details from a short emotional story. Although no significant differences were found for word list memory, deficits for emotional story content were found in the PTSD youth, particularly for facts involving negative emotional details. The latter may suggest a deficit in executive functioning for the integration of emotionally laden stimuli, perhaps induced as a by-product of their traumatic experiences.     

From Constraints to Opportunities? Provision of Psychosocial Support in Portuguese Oncogenetic Counseling Services

Although available guidelines for familial cancer risk counseling clearly state the need to provide adequate psychosocial assessments and support, this feature of care is only available in part for individuals and families in oncogenetic counseling protocols in Portugal. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychosocial aspects of oncogenetic counseling provided by a sample of Portuguese genetics professionals. We sought to ascertain perceived need for the provision of psychosocial services and ways to enhance the psychosocial focus in service delivery. A qualitative study was designed; semi-structured focus groups and individual interviews were performed with 30 professionals from Portuguese healthcare institutions where oncogenetic counseling is offered. Findings suggest: current practice is aligned with the teaching model, with a mainly information-based focus; use of psychosocial counseling techniques and psychosocial support is limited throughout the genetic counseling timeline; there is a limited workforce of adequately trained psychosocial professionals, who are disadvantaged by structural and organizational constraints. These factors are considered to be serious barriers for psychosocial delivery. Development of multidisciplinary teams working in oncogenetics, and need for further counselling skills and training for genetics healthcare professionals were identified as priorities. Implications for practice and policy are discussed. Portuguese genetic counselors who have recently completed their training, may therefore contribute to enhanced psychosocial services delivery.     

Nature and Nurturing: Parenting in the Context of Child Temperament

Accounting for both bidirectional and interactive effects between parenting and child temperament can fine-tune theoretical models of the role of parenting and temperament in children’s development of adjustment problems. Evidence for bidirectional and interactive effects between parenting and children’s characteristics of frustration, fear, self-regulation, and impulsivity was reviewed, and an overall model of children’s individual differences in response to parenting is proposed. In general, children high in frustration, impulsivity and low in effortful control are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of negative parenting, while in turn, many negative parenting behaviors predict increases in these characteristics. Frustration, fearfulness, and effortful control also appear to elicit parenting behaviors that can predict increases in these characteristics. Irritability renders children more susceptible to negative parenting behaviors. Fearfulness operates in a very complex manner, sometimes increasing children’s responses to parenting behaviors and sometimes mitigating them and apparently operating differently across gender. Important directions for future research include the use of study designs and analytic approaches that account for the direction of effects and for developmental changes in parenting and temperament over time.     

Questionnaire of executive function for dancers: an ecological approach

There is a current debate about the ecological validity of executive function (EF) tests. Consistent with the verisimilitude approach, this research proposes the ballet executive scale (BES), a self-rating questionnaire that assimilates idiosyncratic executive behaviors of classical dance community. The BES was administrated to 149 adolescents, students of the Cuban Ballet School. Results present a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of .80 and a split-half Spearman-Brown coefficient r (SB) = .81. An exploratory factor analysis describes a bifactorial pattern of EF dimensions, with a self-regulation component, which explains more than 40% of variance, and a Developmental component, which accounts for more than 20% of variance. The questionnaire's total scores fit linear regression models with two external criteria of academic records, confirming concurrent validity. These findings support the hypothesis that the internalization of specific contextual cultural meanings has a mediating influence in the development of EF.     

Improving instruction for adults with developmental disabilities: Evaluation of a staff training package

Improvements in adaptive behavior among adults with developmental disabilities often depends on the quality of instruction delivered by direct-care staff. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a multifaceted package for improving the quality of instructional interactions among three staff/adult dyads. Instructional interactions were first analyzed to identify areas for improvement. A multifaceted intervention package consisting of inservice training, participative management, and on-going feedback was then implemented in a multiple-baseline design across dyads. The package trained staff to increase their use of time delay and reinforcement strategies and these changes were associated with greater independence in a sandwich making task among two of the three participating adults. The results suggest direct observation of existing instructional interactions may provide valuable information when training staff to implement effective habilitative programs for adults with developmental disabilities.     

Contextual risk and parenting as predictors of effortful control and social competence in preschool children

Using a short-term longitudinal design (6 months), this study examined cumulative contextual risk as a predictor of effortful control (EC) and social competence in a community sample of children (N = 80, ages 33-40 months at time 1). Maternal parenting was examined as a mediator of contextual risk. EC was assessed using laboratory tasks, and parenting was assessed using observational ratings. Time 1 contextual risk was negatively related to time 2 EC after controlling for time 1 EC. Mothers' limit setting and scaffolding predicted higher time 2 EC and accounted for the effect of contextual risk. Time 1 EC, contextual risk, and parenting predicted time 2 social competence, and contextual risk had an indirect effect on social competence through parenting. Results suggest that contextual risk predicts smaller relative increases in EC and that parenting accounts for this effect. Knowledge of the factors that divert or promote effortful control can provide targets for intervention to enhance effortful control abilities and better adjustment.     

Mutation at the TrkB PLC{gamma}-docking site affects hippocampal LTP and associative learning in conscious mice

Previous in vitro studies have characterized the electrophysiological properties and molecular events associated with long-term potentiation (LTP), but as yet there are no in vivo data from molecular-level dissection that directly identify LTP as the biological substrate for learning and memory. Understanding whether the molecular pathways required for learning are also those generating LTP when measured directly on the relevant circuit of a learning animal is clearly important, although so far has proved technically difficult. Here, for the first time, we combine highly defined genetic mouse models with behavior and in vivo recordings. We recorded the activity-dependent changes taking place at the CA3-CA1 synapses during the acquisition and extinction of a simple form of an associative learning task in mice carrying point mutations on specific docking sites of TrkB receptors (trkB(SHC), trkB(PLC)). The learning task consisted of a classical eyeblink conditioning using a trace paradigm. The conditioned stimulus (CS) consisted of a tone and was followed by a periorbital electrical shock as an unconditioned stimulus (US). The US started 500 msec after the end of the CS. We show that a single pulse presented to the Schaffer collateral-commissural pathway during the CS-US interval evoked a monosynaptic field excitatory postsynaptic potential (fEPSP) at the CA1 pyramidal cells, with a slope linearly related to learning evolution in controls and trkB(SHC) mutants, but the relationship was impaired in trkB(PLC) mice. These data support a link between the PLCgamma-docking site downstream of TrkB and the activity-dependent synaptic changes evoked at the CA3-CA1 synapses during associative learning in conscious mice, and indicate that TrkB PLCgamma-site-activated molecular pathway(s) underlie both associative learning and LTP triggered at the CA3-CA1 synapse.     

Olfaction in autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review

Olfactory function is a well-known early biomarker for neurodegeneration and neural functioning in the adult population, being supported by a number of brain structures that could be dysfunctioning in neurodegenerative processes. Evidence has suggested that atypical sensory and, particularly, olfactory processing is present in several neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). In this paper, we present data obtained by a systematic literature review, conducted according to PRISMA guidelines, regarding the possible association between olfaction and ASDs, and analyze them critically in order to evaluate the occurrence of olfactory impairment in ASDs, as well as the possible usefulness of olfactory evaluation in such conditions. The results obtained in this analysis suggested a possible involvement of olfactory impairment in ASDs, underlining the importance of olfactory evaluation in the clinical assessment of ASDs. This assessment could be potentially included as a complementary evaluation in the diagnostic protocol of the condition. Methods for study selection and inclusion criteria were specified in advance and documented in PROSPERO protocol #CRD42014013939.