The influence of sex hormones on functional cerebral asymmetries in postmenopausal women

Studies investigating changes in functional cerebral asymmetries (FCAs) with hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle in young women have led to controversial hypotheses about an influence of estrogen (E) and/or progesterone (P) on FCAs. Based on methodical, but also on principal problems in deriving conclusions about hormone effects from correlational designs, the present study investigated hemispheric asymmetries in postmenopausal women, who received hormone replacement either with E alone (E group, n = 32), an E–P combination (E–P group, n = 29) or no hormone substitution (control group, n = 31). Speed and accuracy of responses to a word- and a face decision task, both presented laterally by means of the visual half field technique, were assessed. The control group showed the typical pattern of hemispheric asymmetry with more correct responses to verbal stimuli presented in the right visual field (RVF) and to face stimuli presented in the left visual field (LVF). A hormone-effect was demonstrable only for the verbal task, in which the E group showed an enhanced performance of the right hemisphere (LVF). The E–P group showed no significant differences to the control group or the E group. The results suggest a role of E in the modulation of FCAs at least with regard to verbal processing.     

Portrait of a narcissist: Manifestations of narcissism in physical appearance

Narcissism is characterized in part by an acute concern for one’s appearance. Despite this fundamental aspect of narcissism, little is known about whether narcissism is manifested in features of physical appearance. Can you tell if someone is narcissistic just by looking at them? Our results indicate that snap judgments of narcissism based on full-body photographs are at least as accurate as snap judgments of any of the big five personality traits. Narcissists are more likely to wear expensive, flashy clothing, have an organized, neat appearance requiring a lot of preparation, and (in females) wear makeup and show cleavage. Furthermore, observers’ judgments correlate with the presence of these cues, suggesting that they are drawing on the correct information when making their judgments. Finally, observers’ judgments are associated with three of the four facets of narcissism and capture the unique constellation of personality traits typical of narcissists (i.e., high extraversion and low agreeableness). These findings suggest that physical appearance reflects narcissists’ personality, preoccupation with good looks, and desire to be the center of attention, and serves as a vehicle with which to promote their status.     

Grouping in the shine-through effect

How the elements of a visual scene are grouped into objects is one of the most fundamental but still poorly understood questions in visual neuroscience. Most investigations of perceptual grouping focus on static stimuli, neglecting temporal aspects. Using a masking paradigm, we show that the neural mechanisms underlying grouping seem to be both fast and complex. For example, a vernier target was followed by, first, a briefly presented grating and, then, a long-lasting, extended grating. Under these conditions, the briefly presented grating is hardly visible. Still, vernier discrimination strongly changed with the number of elements of the briefly displayed grating being worst for small gratings. In accordance with a neural network model of masking, we propose that the edges of the briefly presented grating and the vernier interfere in spite of the short presentation time. We suggest that this fast edge processing is a first step for unconscious grouping processes.     

Weiterbildungsmöglichkeiten in der Verhaltensmedizin

Die Psychotherapie - Die Verhaltensmedizin ist das Arbeits- und Forschungsgebiet, in dem empirisch geprüfte Methoden der Verhaltenstherapie in unterschiedlichsten medizinischen Disziplinen...     

Die Psychotherapeutenausbildung aus Sicht der Teilnehmer

Background

A survey was performed to assess the current situation in education and to identify critical issues 10 years after the inception of the German law regulating the education of psychological psychotherapists and child and adolescent psychotherapists. The study reports the results of a nationwide survey of German psychological psychotherapists and child and adolescent psychotherapists currently in training. The aim of the survey was to evaluate the individual sections of training, desired alterations and structural and financial conditions.

Methods

All trainees were contacted via the training institutes and the umbrella organizations. A total of 3,223 trainees participated and answered questions mainly using an online questionnaire.

Results

Most respondents practiced their training part-time and in most cases the trainees thought that the training would last longer than initially expected. The practical training was rated most poorly, whereas practical education and individual supervision were rated as most useful. The survey revealed deficits concerning the evaluation of the quality of several components of the training.

Conclusions

From the perspective of the trainees there is a necessity to modify the financial conditions of the training. This result has been considered in the recommendations of a research expertise on psychotherapy training and should stimulate further research.     

Brain dopamine and kinematics of graphomotor functions

Three experiments were performed in an attempt to achieve a better understanding of the effect of dopamine on handwriting. In the first experiment, kinematic aspects of handwriting movements were compared between healthy participants and patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) on their usual dopaminergic treatment and following withdrawal of dopaminergic medication. In the second experiment, the writing performance of healthy participants with a hyperechogenicity of the substantia nigra as detected by transcranial sonography (TCS) was compared with the performance of healthy participants with low echogenicity of the substantia nigra. The third experiment examined the effect of central dopamine reduction on kinematic aspects of handwriting movements in healthy adults using acute phenylalanine and tyrosine depletion (APTD). A digitising tablet was used for the assessment of handwriting movements. Participants were asked to perform a simple writing task. Movement time, distance, velocity, acceleration and measures of fluency of handwriting movements were measured. The kinematic analysis of handwriting movements revealed that alterations of central dopaminergic neurotransmission adversely affect movement execution during handwriting. In comparison to the automatic processing of handwriting movements displayed by control participants, participants with an altered dopaminergic neurotransmission shifted from an automatic to a controlled processing of movement execution. Central dopamine appears to be of particular importance with regard to the automatic execution of well-learned movements.     

Deciding whether to work after retirement: The role of the psychological experience of aging

Due to the graying of the global labor markets, post-retirement employment is becoming increasingly important in the 21st century. To better understand older people's decisions to engage in post-retirement employment, the current study investigated the role of the psychological experience of aging. Two dimensions that capture positive aging experience (i.e., personal growth and gaining self-knowledge) and two dimensions that capture negative aging experience (i.e., physical loss and social loss) were differentiated and their relations to post-retirement employment were hypothesized. We argue that aging experience may influence the decision to work after retirement by generating both, approach and avoidance responses. Longitudinal data from the German Aging Survey (N = 551) were used to test the hypotheses. The results of structural equation modeling indicated that retirees who experienced aging as social loss and as personal growth were more likely to engage in post-retirement employment a decade later, while retirees who experienced aging as gaining self-knowledge were less likely to engage in post-retirement employment. Theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed.     

Self-Report and Observer Ratings of Personality Functioning: A Study of the OPD System

Recent considerations around DSM–5 criteria of personality disorders (PDs) demand new concepts of assessing levels of personality functioning. Of special interest are multiperspective approaches accounting for clinicians’ as well as patients’ points of view. The study investigates observer-rated and self-assessed levels of personality functioning measured by the level of structural integration as defined by the Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnosis System (OPD). Both perspectives were positively related. The combination of both measures was most efficient in discriminating among 3 diagnostic groups of varying degrees of personality dysfunction. Future studies should take into account expert ratings as well as self-report data.