Aesthetic value of paintings affects pain thresholds

Pain is modulated by cognitive factors, including attention and emotions. In this study we evaluated the distractive effect of aesthetic appreciation on subjectively rated pain (visual analogue scale;VAS) and multi-channel evoked potentials induced by CO₂ laser stimulation of the left hand in twelve healthy volunteers. Subjects were stimulated by laser in the absence of other external stimulation (baseline condition) and while looking at different paintings they had previously rated as beautiful, neutral or ugly. The view of paintings previously appreciated as beautiful produced lower pain scores and a clear inhibition of the P2 wave amplitude, localized in the anterior cingulate cortex; the inhibition of P2 wave amplitude was lesser or not significant during the presentation of the ugly or neutral paintings, respectively. Dipole source localization analysis of the LEP peaks showed significant changes during different conditions, with a shift from the posterior to the anterior right cingulated cortex while looking at paintings previously rated as beautiful.Our results provide evidence that pain may be modulated at cortical level by the aesthetic content of the distracting stimuli.     

Breastfeeding and the mother–infant relationship—A review

A positive effect of breastfeeding on the mother–infant relationship is often assumed in the scientific literature, but this has not been systematically reviewed. This review aims to clarify the role of breastfeeding in the mother–infant relationship, which is conceptualized as the maternal bond toward the infant and infant attachment toward the mother. Our findings indicate that theoretical mechanisms through which breastfeeding may enhance the maternal bond or infant attachment (i.e., endocrine and sensory factors involved in breastfeeding) can be found in both humans and animal models. However, the few empirical studies investigating this association have not found convincing support for a relation between breastfeeding and the quality of the mother–infant relationship. We therefore conclude that assumptions on a positive role of breastfeeding on the mother–infant relationship are not supported by empirical evidence, and recommendation of breastfeeding should solely be based on its well-documented positive effects on infant and maternal health.     

Environmental cue saliency influences the vividness of a remote spatial memory in rats

The Morris water maze is frequently used to evaluate the acquisition and retrieval of spatial memories. Few experiments, however, have investigated the effects of environmental cue saliency on the strength or persistence of such memories after a short vs. long post-acquisition interval. Using a Morris water maze, we therefore tested in rats the effect of the saliency of distal cues on the vividness of a recent (5 days) vs. remote (25 days) memory. Rats trained in a cue-enriched vs. a cue-impoverished context showed a better overall level of performance during acquisition. Furthermore, the probe trials revealed that the rats trained and tested in the cue-impoverished context (1) spent less time in the target quadrant at the 25-day delay, and (2) swam shorter distances in the target area, with fewer crossings at both 5- and 25-day delays, as compared to their counterparts trained and tested in the cue-enriched context. Thus, the memory trace formed in the cue-enriched context shows better resistance to time, suggesting an implication of cue saliency in the vividness of a spatial memory.     

A study of EEG coherence in DCD children during motor synchronization task

This paper investigates the hypothesis that the coordination difficulties of DCD children are associated with an increased coherence in the cortical motor regions, which persists with age. Forty-eight children participated in the study (24 DCD and 24 Controls). Their ages ranged from 8 to 13 years, divided into three groups (8-9, 10-11, and 12-13 years old). Children were required to perform finger flexion or extension either in synchrony or in syncopation with a rhythmic metronome, while a 32-channel EEG was recorded. Along with stability measures of motor performance, we analyzed the spectral EEG coherence between intrahemispheric (left frontal/left central; left central/left parietal) and interhemispheric (left central/right central) sites. Spectral coherence assesses functional coupling between distant areas of the brain. Two frequency bands related to sensorimotor activation were chosen: alpha (8-12 Hz) and beta (12-30 Hz). The synchrony task was chosen as a rest condition against which the two syncopation conditions at 0.5 Hz and 1.3 Hz were contrasted. For intrahemispheric comparison, 8-9-year-old DCD children showed that coherence between fronto-central regions increased for both rhythms and conditions, as compared to controls. No difference was found for interhemispheric comparisons. As frontal sites are related to motor planning, our results suggest that youngest DCD children were forced to maintain a high level of pre-programming to compensate for the difficulties caused by the perceptual-motor requirements of the task in light of their coordination disorder.     

Parental Influence on Work and Family Plans of Adolescents of Different Ethnic Backgrounds in The Netherlands

This paper examined the work and family plans of adolescents from five different ethnic origins. The way in which parents influence these plans was studied by using a representative sample of secondary school pupils (N?=?52,000) in The Netherlands. Results showed that substantial proportions of adolescents had traditional work and family plans. The study showed that work and family plans of adolescents of non-Dutch origin overall were at least as egalitarian as those of Dutch origin. Girls of all ethnic origins held more egalitarian plans than boys. Logistic regression analyses revealed that adolescents’ plans were associated with parents’ socio-demographic characteristics and role-modeling. The processes of intergenerational transmission were found to be highly similar for girls and boys in all ethnic groups.     

Invariance and convergent and discriminant validity between mothers' and fathers' ratings of oppositional defiant disorder toward adults, ADHD-HI, ADHD-IN, and academic competence factors within Brazilian, Thai, and American children

Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the invariance of an oppositional defiant disorder toward adults, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-hyperactivity/impulsivity, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-inattention, and an Academic Competence factor model between mothers' and fathers' ratings within Brazilian (n = 894), Thai (n = 2,075), and American (n = 817) children with the Child and Adolescent Disruptive Behavior Inventory (G. L. Burns, T. Taylor, & J. Rusby, 2001a, 2001b). The results showed invariance of item loadings, intercepts, and residuals, as well as factor variances, covariances, and means between mothers' and fathers' ratings within each sample. Convergent and discriminant validity was also observed for the between-parent factor correlations, thus providing additional support for the construct validity of the Child and Adolescent Disruptive Behavior Inventory. The confirmatory factor analysis invariance procedure provides a much better way to examine between-source ratings of behavior problems in children than do the simple correlation and raw discrepancy score procedures.     

Anxiety and post-traumatic stress symptoms following wisdom tooth removal

The purpose of the present study was to determine the psychological impact of wisdom teeth removal and to identify the psychological risk factors for the development of dental anxiety and post-traumatic stress symptoms. Participants were 34 consecutive elective patients referred for surgical removal of a wisdom tooth under local anesthesia. Frequency of previous distressing dental events and general traumatic life events were assessed at baseline (t1), and emotional distress (pain, state anxiety and disturbance) immediately after treatment (t2). Post-traumatic stress responses were determined three days after treatment (t3), and at four weeks follow-up (t4), while severity of dental trait anxiety was assessed at t1 and at t4. Two patients (8%) met screening criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) at t4. Multivariate analysis revealed that previous exposure to distressing dental events and pre-operative anxiety level predicted anxiety level at t4, accounting for 71% of the variance. Severity of pain during treatment was a significant predictor variable of PTSD symptom severity at t4 (25% explained variance). The findings underline the importance of pain-free treatments and awareness of patients' individual predisposition to anxiety or trauma-related symptoms to reduce the risk of iatrogenic psychological harm.     

Body weight increase in expectant males and helpers of cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus): a symptom of the Couvade syndrome?

In the cooperative breeding system of cotton-top tamarin (TCB; Saguinus oedipus) males gain weight during the last months of pregnancy of their partners as a way to cope with energy costs of reproduction. This phenomenon was described only in humans as a symptom of . As after infants' birth, TCB male and female helpers lose weight, the same as fathers do, it might be expected that previously, they also gain weight. In 8 groups of TCB, we explored body weight changes of the three categories of individuals, in periods of six months, under three different reproductive conditions: control (no pregnancy and without offspring), pregnancy (pregnancy and without offspring), and raising (with offspring). We found that across pregnancy, TCBs increase their weight in the last trimester of that period while across breeding TCBs reduce their weight in the first trimester. Expectant males and also helpers could be preparing during pregnancy in relation to the weight losses they experience when raising their young.