The removal of pluto from the class of planets and homosexuality from the class of psychiatric disorders: a comparison

We compare astronomers' removal of Pluto from the listing of planets and psychiatrists' removal of homosexuality from the listing of mental disorders. Although the political maneuverings that emerged in both controversies are less than scientifically ideal, we argue that competition for "scientific authority" among competing groups is a normal part of scientific progress. In both cases, a complicated relationship between abstract constructs and evidence made the classification problem thorny.     

Testosterone, cortisol, and serotonin as key regulators of social aggression: A review and theoretical perspective

In human and non-human animals the steroid hormones cortisol and testosterone are involved in social aggression and recent studies suggest that these steroids might jointly regulate this behavior. It has been hypothesized that the imbalance between cortisol and testosterone levels is predictive for aggressive psychopathology, with high testosterone to cortisol ratio predisposing to a socially aggressive behavioral style. In this review, we focus on the effects of cortisol and testosterone on human social aggression, as well as on how they might modulate the aggression circuitry of the human brain. Recently, serotonin is hypothesized to differentiate between impulsive and instrumental aggression, and we will briefly review evidence on this hypothesis. The aim of this article is to provide a theoretical framework for the role of steroids and serotonin in impulsive social aggression in humans.     

The clinical pain acceptance Q-sort: a tool for assessment and facilitation of pain acceptance

The topic of pain acceptance can be clinically difficult to raise in a respectful way. This article introduces a method of managing the topic of pain acceptance in daily clinical practice: The clinical pain acceptance Q-sort. The Q-sort procedure comprises 13 small cards with printed statements concerning pain acceptance on the one side, score numbers on the other side. The procedure involves the patient handling and prioritizing the statements in a personally meaningful order. Both quantitative and qualitative use of the tool is possible. The method has a three-fold outcome: (1) topics of pain acceptance are presented in a multi-faceted way for the chronic pain patient, (2) an approximate assessment of the level of pain acceptance issues is offered to the clinician, and (3) good opportunities for a therapeutic discussion on pain acceptance are made available. The clinical pain acceptance Q-sort procedure may positively contribute to daily clinical work with pain acceptance in a straightforward way. The method provides options for assessment of pain acceptance, for better understanding of the patient, and for clinical training in psychological pain management.     

Living donation and cosmetic surgery: a double standard in medical ethics?

The commitment of transplant physicians to protect the physical and psychological health of potential donors is fundamental to the process of living donor organ transplantation. It is appropriate that strict regulations to govern an individual's decision to donate have been developed. Some may argue that adherence to such regulations creates a doctor-patient relationship that is rooted in paternalism, which is in drastic contrast with a doctor-patient relationship that is rooted in patients' autonomy, characteristic of most other operative interventions. In this article we analyze the similarities between cosmetic plastic surgery and living donor surgery as examples of surgeries governed by different ethical principles. It is interesting that, while the prevailing ethical approach in living donor surgery is based on paternalism, the ethical principle guiding cosmetic surgery is respect for patients' autonomy. The purpose of this article is not to criticize either practice, but to suggest that, given the similarities between the two procedures, both operative interventions should be guided by the same ethical principle: a respect for patients' autonomy. We further suggest that if living organ donation valued donors' autonomy as much as cosmetic plastic surgery does, we might witness a wider acceptance of and increase in living organ donation.     

The Music of Ritual Practice—An Interpretation

Music is an important philosophical theme in Confucian writings, one that is intimately related to ritual. But the relationship between music and ritual requires clarification. This paper seeks to argue for a general sense of music that reflects a particular aspect of ritual that has to do with performance. There is much material available in classical texts, such as the 'Record of Music' ('Yueji'), that allows for nuanced explications of the musical qualities of such performances. Thus explicated, those musical terms provide for a way of speaking about the overall effects of ritual that is not bound to specific choreographic details or particular ritual rules. Finally, it is suggested that the Confucian notion of ren ?? could be usefully compared to the generalised notion of music.     

Zur Aussagekraft von Neuroimaging-Befunden im Strafprozess

Over the last 30 years the forensic use of brain scanning technology in court has increased considerably. In the U.S. about two thirds of opinions involving positron emission tomography/single photon emission computed tomography (PET/SPECT) evidence are ruled admissible in court and often have a decisive impact on judges and juries. Undoubtedly, the impressive progress in modern functional imaging techniques has improved the differentiated knowledge on the neural basis of discrete aspects of crime-related cognition and behavior. However, there are several general issues which make it difficult to draw individual deductions concerning behavioral patterns from functional imaging results. By analyzing cases from the courtroom, the question will be addressed as to how far neuroimaging-based expert opinions are really supported by concrete findings in neurobiological research.     

A method to monitor upper limb movement direction encoding in the corticomotor pathway

ABSTRACT Abnormal shoulder and elbow muscle coactivation patterns, or muscle synergies, are commonly present following stroke and may arise through dysfunctional descending neural control from the cortex. The authors evaluated a novel technique for examining corticomotor movement encoding of the upper limb in three dimensions. A 6-degree-of-freedom loadcell recorded arm twitch responses in healthy adults following stimulation over the cortex or over Erb's point in the periphery. Stimuli were delivered while the arm generated a 5 N preload in each of the 6 axial directions. The initial force twitch response to stimulation was used to construct twitch direction vectors for each preload direction. General linear mixed model analyses were used to determine the influence of stimulation location, preload direction, posture, and stimulation intensity on twitch direction. Cortical stimulation gave rise to arm twitch responses that were predictably modified by preload direction. Peripheral stimulation elicited stereotypical twitches that were not influenced by preload. Our stimulation, recording, and analysis techniques were able to capture movement encoding of the upper limb in three dimensions. Such techniques could be utilized in the stroke population to determine and monitor the presence of upper limb synergies during muscle activation.     

Need for more evolutionary and developmental perspective on basic emotional mechanisms

Lindquist et al.'s meta-analysis focuses on adult humans; the authors' emotion model might be strengthened by considering research on infants and animals, highlighting the importance of the limbic system. Reliance on the James-Lange theory is questionable; emotions typically occur instantaneously, with dubious dependence on bodily feedback for affect. Stronger evidence for localization might be obtained using more precise emotion terms and alterative localization methods.