Time estimation in Alzheimer's disease and the role of the central executive

The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of short-term memory and attention in time estimation. For this purpose we studied prospective time verbal estimation in 21 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and compared their performance with that of 21 matched normal controls in two different conditions: during a digit span task and during an attentional task. Results showed that the performance of AD patients was significantly worse than that of the controls; the interaction between group and condition was significant. We suggest a role of attentional-executive functions in prospective time estimation.     

Shaping Individuality: Human Inheritable Germ Line Gene Modification

In this paper I deal with ethical factors surrounding germline gene therapy. Such implications include intergenerational responsibility, human dignity, moral status of embryos and so on. I will explore the relevance of the above mentioned issues to discuss the ethical implication of human germline gene therapy (HGLT). We will see that most of arguments claimed by bioethicists do not provide valid reason to oppose HGLT. I will propose an alternative view, based on personal identity issues, to discuss the ethics of human inheritable gene modification. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Between Fears,Contacts and Family Dynamics: the Anti-Immigrant Attitudes in Italy

Empirical research on sources of prejudice and anti-immigrant hostility has grown considerably over the years, and the literature on the topic has become substantial firstly in classical receiving countries and in recent years also in Europe. This work analyses the anti-immigrant attitudes in Italy. The main results of this study are three. The first is the importance of individual characteristics in explaining anti-immigrant hostility: much of the variability in anti-immigrant hostility is due to individual characteristics, and in particular to the educational level achieved. Second, contacts have opposite effect on hostility: real contacts (i.e., real interpersonal contacts) decrease anti-immigrant hostility, while abstract contacts (i.e., contacts mediated by mass media) increase hostility towards migrants. Third, anti-immigrant hostility is lower among issues concerning family immigration dynamics.     

Th.o.m.a.s.: an exploratory assessment of Theory of Mind in schizophrenic subjects

A large body of literature agrees that persons with schizophrenia suffer from a Theory of Mind (ToM) deficit. However, most empirical studies have focused on third-person, egocentric ToM, underestimating other facets of this complex cognitive skill. Aim of this research is to examine the ToM of schizophrenic persons considering its various aspects (first- vs. second-order, first- vs. third-person, egocentric vs. allocentric, beliefs vs. desires vs. positive emotions vs. negative emotions and how each of these mental state types may be dealt with), to determine whether some components are more impaired than others. We developed a Theory of Mind Assessment Scale (Th.o.m.a.s.) and administered it to 22 persons with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia and a matching control group. Th.o.m.a.s. is a semi-structured interview which allows a multi-component measurement of ToM. Both groups were also administered a few existing ToM tasks and the schizophrenic subjects were administered the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale and the WAIS-R. The schizophrenic persons performed worse than control at all the ToM measurements; however, these deficits appeared to be differently distributed among different components of ToM. Our conclusion is that ToM deficits are not unitary in schizophrenia, which also testifies to the importance of a complete and articulated investigation of ToM.     

Motor constraints on the development of perception-action matching in infant reaching

Previous studies on reaching and grasping have suggested that infants need considerable experience at both seeing and touching in order to develop responses adapted to the environment. Such an account, however, does not reveal how appropriate perception-action matching emerges from these repeated experiences at seeing and touching. The present research addresses this issue by investigating the dynamics of perceiving and acting in 5- to 9-month-old infants as they saw, reached for, touched, and grasped objects of different sizes and texture. To gain insights into the mechanisms of change that underlie pattern formation, we observed infants’ responses as a function of time, as infants reached for and manipulated objects successively. We found that the developmental process by which appropriate perception-action matching emerges is tied to important changes in the motor system. Before 8 months, infants’ reaching responses are constrained by systemic motor tendencies that conflict with the process of perceptual-motor mapping. When these motor tendencies disappear, infants are able to use and integrate visual and haptic information to scale their actions to objects. These results are consistent with a dynamic systems approach, which views behavioral changes and their underlying psychological processes as the product of continuous tensions and interactions between the organism’s own constraints and the characteristics of the task at hand.     

Understanding of action-related and abstract verbs in comparison: a behavioral and TMS study

Does the comprehension of both action-related and abstract verbs rely on motor simulation? In a behavioral experiment, in which a semantic task was used, response times to hand-action-related verbs were briefer than those to abstract verbs and both decreased with repetition of presentation. In a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) experiment, single-pulse stimulation was randomly delivered over hand motor area of the left primary motor cortex to measure cortical-spinal excitability at 300 or 500 ms after verb presentation. Two blocks of trials were run. In each block, the same verbs were randomly presented. In the first block, stimulation induced an increase in motor evoked potentials only when TMS was applied 300 ms after action-related verb presentation. In the second block, no modulation of motor cortex was found according to type of verb and stimulation-delay. These results confirm that motor simulation can be used to understand action rather than abstract verbs. Moreover, they suggest that with repetition, the semantic processing for action verbs does not require activation of primary motor cortex anymore.     

Neuropsychological tools to predict conversion from amnestic mild cognitive impairment to dementia. The TREDEM Registry

Most of the studies about conversion from Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to dementia have focused on amnestic MCI (aMCI) which is considered a preclinical phase of Alzheimer’s disease. The aim of the present study was to identify neuropsychological tools that would best predict conversion from aMCI to dementia. Fifty-five aMCI subjects on the Treviso Dementia Registry were investigated. They underwent a neuropsychological evaluation during their first assessment and again at follow-up. Cox proportional-hazard regression models were created to measure the association between the dependent variable (dementia diagnosis or MCI status maintenance) and the neuropsychological test scores at baseline. The sample (28 women and 27 men; mean age 76.82 ± 5.88 years; education 7.62 ± 3.99 years) was observed for an average time of 2.17 ± 1.25 years. A Cox backward stepwise regression showed that the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Delayed Recall (p = .041) and Semantic Verbal Fluency tests (p = .031) appear to be useful in predicting conversion to dementia.     

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation of the Left Temporal Lobe Modulates Insight

Creativity is the ability to come up with new and original solutions to problems. It is characterized along a dipole spectrum, with the opposing ends defined as convergent and divergent thinking. Previous studies have provided evidence that various cognitive functions and insight into non-verbal problems can be enhanced using non-invasive brain stimulation. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate whether convergent and divergent thinking, as well as insight, can be modulated by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the anterior temporal lobe (ATL). Bilateral tDCS (1.5 mA, 20 minutes) was used to modulate activity of the right (AR tDCS) and the left (AL tDCS) ATL. Twenty-one participants performed a divergent thinking test (DTT) during tDCS, while a Remote Associates Task (RAT) was administered before and after tDCS to assess convergent thinking. A control experiment, using a Simple Reaction Time (SRT) Task, was conducted in 10 subjects before and after ATL tDCS in order to investigate whether its effects reflect attention or motor effects on the dominant hand. Results from this preliminary study showed that AL tDCS reduced RAT reaction times (RTs) by 20%. Both AL and AR tDCS did not change RAT accuracy, or the DTT total or sub-item scores. No differences were found in the SRT task after either AL or AR tDCS. These findings suggest that left but not right ATL is involved in convergent thinking. Conversely, both left and right temporal cortex tDCS-induced excitability changes failed to modulate divergent thinking. Limitations are discussed.     

Receiving slaps,receiving words. The violence of separation in a public service time limited psychotherapy group for adolescents

The authors propose a reflection on a time-limited psychoanalytic group for children, adolescents and families, run in a public service. Some patients in the group give accounts of violent relationships and traumatic experiences. The accounts of violent, interpersonal and intrapsychic relationships influence the group’s capacity of thinking, which leads to difficulties in the processing of symbolic aspects. The fundamental question is that of whether it is possible to work in a time-limited, institutional, psychoanalytical framework, in which psychotherapists have to attempt to give meaning to experiences which take place in a repetitive present, in a space/time in which the prospect of a conclusion appears to be inconceivable. By means of a clinical example, and with particular emphasis on the first sessions and the dream brought up by a patient who has been a victim of domestic violence, the authors discuss the possibility of modifying, chiefly from within, the feeling of the immutability of early psychic material, which is itself intrinsically violent.