Executive disorders and perceived socio‐emotional changes after traumatic brain injury

Although socio‐emotional changes are very frequently encountered after traumatic brain injury (TBI), the psychological mechanisms underlying these disorders are still poorly understood. This study aimed to explore the relationships between dysexecutive syndrome (assessed with the Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome [BADS]) and socio‐emotional changes assessed by the Iowa scales of personality change (ISPC) in patients with TBI. The BADS was thus administered to 25 patients with TBI and to 25 healthy controls. Simultaneously, a close relative of each patient was given the ISPC in order to assess socio‐emotional changes. Results indicated that patients displayed significantly lower executive performances than controls and experimented significant socio‐emotional changes. The Modified Six Elements Test was the only subtask of the BADS to be significantly related to behavioural changes, and more specifically to externalizing disorders. It is concluded that executive functions, and especially multitasking, encompass processes whereby one can consciously control one's emotional reactions and behaviours.     

The knowledge content of statistical data

An information-theoretic framework is used to analyze the knowledge content in multivariate cross classified data. Several related measures based directly on the information concept are proposed: the knowledge content (S) of a cross classification, its terseness (Zeta), and the separability (Gamma _X ) of one variable, given all others. Exemplary applications are presented which illustrate the solutions obtained where classical analysis is unsatisfactory, such as optimal grouping, the analysis of very skew tables, or the interpretation of well-known paradoxes. Further, the separability suggests a solution for the classic problem of inductive inference which is independent of sample size.     

Balint After Lacan ... and After

This paper examines Balint and Lacan's views about regression and symbolism, language, and transference. The author points out their similarities, their differences, and then proposes a synthesis through his approach of history, genealogy, trauma, and crisis. Freud's notions of masochism, of fixation (innate or phylogenetic) may thus be renewed, leading to the analyst's capacity to cope with deep regression and borderline (Balint) psychosis and perversion (Lacan) or to psychosomatics, including epilepsy.     

Difficulties in disengaging attentional resources from self-generated thoughts moderate the link between dysphoria and maladaptive self-referential thinking

Negative emotions increase self-focused attention, a core feature of depression and anxiety-related disorders. However, the cognitive mechanisms associated with the tendency to self-focus—and, conversely, with the ability to voluntarily disengage attentional resources from the self and direct them towards the external environment—remain poorly understood. Thus, this study aimed to examine whether a specific cognitive control mechanism that directs attention between self-generated thoughts and external information might moderate the relationship between dysphoria and maladaptive self-referential thinking. Results showed that dysphoria increases the frequency of rumination, self-blame, and catastrophising, especially for participants who have more difficulty in switching from self-generated thoughts to information provided by the environment. These results shed new light on the cognitive mechanisms underlying maladaptive self-referential thinking associated with dysphoria. More specifically, this specific cognitive mechanism might play a key role in the maintenance or amplification of a depressed mood.     

Enhancing inhibition: How impulsivity and emotional activation interact with different implementation intentions

Implementation intentions, a strategy in which a strong link is created between a cue and a to-be-performed action, have been shown to be efficacious in improving self-regulation. The relative efficacy of verbal and visual implementation intentions, however, has yet to be determined. Implementation intentions have also been shown to be inefficacious in participants with high impulsivity, specifically in individuals who reported having a high tendency to commit rash or regrettable actions as a result of intense affect (high urgency). Nevertheless, previous studies did not assess whether the individuals were in an emotional context at the time of the experiment. In the current study, we compared different forms of implementation intentions (verbal/visual/combined verbal–visual) on a computerized inhibition task while assessing impulsivity and emotional activation. The results showed that all types of implementation intentions improved inhibition performances significantly in participants with high urgency, but only when their emotional activation was low. There was no difference between the three types of implementation intentions.     

Fear and Loathing: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Specificity of Anger in PTSD

The available empirical literature suggests that anger may be characteristic of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Meta-analytic strategies were used to evaluate the extent to which the experience of anger is specific to PTSD rather than anxiety disorders in general. Thirty-four anxiety disorder patient samples (n = 2,169) from 28 separate studies were included in the analysis. Results yielded a large effect size indicating greater anger difficulties among anxiety disorder patients versus controls. Compared to control samples, a diagnosis of PTSD was associated with significantly greater difficulties with anger than was any other anxiety disorder diagnosis. Other anxiety disorder diagnoses did not differ significantly from each other. However, the specific association between PTSD and anger did vary depending on the anger domain assessed. Difficulties with anger control, anger in, and anger out significantly differentiated PTSD from non-PTSD anxiety disorder samples, whereas difficulties with anger expression, state anger, and trait anger did not. These findings are discussed in the context of future research on the role of anger in PTSD.     

Integrating core conflictual relationship themes in neurobiological assessment of interpersonal processes in psychotherapy

Interpersonal processes are a key target in counselling and psychotherapy. It is of paramount importance to sharpen their assessment using integrated methods. Hence, this methodological paper describes how fields of research in psychotherapy and neuroimaging can be integrated into one novel complementary neurobehavioural paradigm that can be applied to enhance our understanding of interpersonal processes in psychotherapy. To illustrate this integration, we present selected data from a pre–post pilot study where the authors assessed interpersonal processes in brief treatment for borderline personality disorder using the core conflictual relationship theme, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and outcome questionnaires. To do so, they measured individual changes in neural activity using an fMRI task pre‐ and post‐treatment where clients gave feedback on the emotional valence of sentences extracted from their own Relationship Anecdotes Paradigm interviews mixed with neutral ones. In this paper, using data from two participants of said study, we discuss how to implement this methodology and what can be achieved in terms of results.     

Implementation Intentions Improve Prospective Memory and Inhibition Performances in Older Adults: The Role of Visualization

Implementation intentions have been shown to be a very effective strategy in improving prospective memory in older adults. However, their efficacy in improving inhibition has never been assessed in aging. We thus examined the efficacy of implementation intentions in a prospective memory task and an inhibition task in 87 older participants. Following a crossover design, half of the participants were instructed to form an implementation intention in the prospective memory task, the other half in the inhibition task. The moderating role of working memory, visualization and verbalization habits, and impulsivity were also assessed. Regression analyses revealed that for both tasks, participants benefited from implementation intentions but only if they were used to using visual strategies in daily life. The efficacy of implementation intentions was not moderated by working memory, impulsivity, or the use of verbal strategies in everyday life. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Who am I to judge? Self-disgust predicts less punishment of severe transgressions

Although recent research has shown that experimentally induced disgust and the personality trait of disgust sensitivity is associated with more severe moral decisions, no study to date has examined how disgust, experienced specifically toward the self, influences morally relevant decisions. Participants (n = 109) in the present study completed a measure of self-disgust, disgust sensitivity, and depressive symptoms and then evaluated nonoffenses, moderate offenses, and severe offenses with regard to level of disgust and punishment deserved. The results showed that self-disgust significantly predicted more disgust and punishment ratings of nonoffenses when controlling for individual differences in both depressive symptoms and disgust sensitivity. In contrast, self-disgust significantly predicted less disgust and punishment ratings of severe offenses when controlling for individual differences in depressive symptoms and disgust sensitivity. The implications of these findings for further conceptualizing how the heterogeneous construct of disgust operates in the moral domain are discussed.     

A Multidimensional Approach to Apathy after Traumatic Brain Injury

Apathy is commonly described following traumatic brain injury (TBI) and is associated with serious consequences, notably for patients’ participation in rehabilitation, family life and later social reintegration. There is strong evidence in the literature of the multidimensional nature of apathy (behavioural, cognitive and emotional), but the processes underlying each dimension are still unclear. The purpose of this article is first, to provide a critical review of the current definitions and instruments used to measure apathy in neurological and psychiatric disorders, and second, to review the prevalence, characteristics, neuroanatomical correlates, relationships with other neurobehavioural disorders and mechanisms of apathy in the TBI population. In this context, we propose a new multidimensional framework that takes into account the various mechanisms at play in the facets of apathy, including not only cognitive factors, especially executive, but also affective factors (e.g., negative mood), motivational variables (e.g., anticipatory pleasure) and aspects related to personal identity (e.g., self-esteem). Future investigations that consider these various factors will help improve the understanding of apathy. This theoretical framework opens up relevant prospects for better clinical assessment and rehabilitation of these frequently described motivational disorders in patients with brain injury.