An Opportunity for Genetic Counseling Intervention: Depression in Parents of Individuals with Proteus Syndrome

Depression is common, affecting 2–5% of the general population. Parental depression can confound adjustment to, and caring for, a child with a genetic condition. As part of a study on psychosocial issues of parents caring for children with Proteus syndrome, 31 parents (20 mothers and 11 fathers) completed a depression screening tool, the Beck Depression Inventory. Approximately 23% (4/20 mothers and 3/11 fathers) scored positive on the tool. Pessimism, sense of failure, general lack of satisfaction, sense of punishment, self-dislike, social withdrawal, indecisiveness, work inhibition, somatic preoccupation, and loss of libido were reported more frequently by the group of parents with positive screen results than those with normal results. These data suggest that symptoms of depression may be prevailing among parents of individuals with Proteus syndrome. Because effective interventions for depression are readily available, genetic counselors working with families affected with rare, overgrowth disorders should specifically assess parents for physical and affective symptoms of depression and refer them for appropriate clinical treatment.     

The Effects of a Humanities Reading Program on Economically and Educationally Disadvantaged Individuals

The effects of a 2-semester college-level humanities course were examined in a group of economically and educationally disadvantaged individuals in Portland, OR, and a group of incarcerated males at a medium-security prison in Pendleton, OR. Student responses on a pre- and post-course survey were compared. Within-group comparisons indicated that Portland students displayed significant improvement in participation in volunteer organizations, enrollment in college classes, life satisfaction, verbal ability, and analysis of the major course themes. Inmates improved on desire to participate in community organizations, vote in elections, critical thinking, life satisfaction, and applying major course themes. These results demonstrate that the power of literary classics brings about a wide range of positive changes in individuals from low-income communities and prison settings.     

RESURGENCE OF INFANT CAREGIVING RESPONSES

Two experiments were conducted to identify the conditions likely to produce resurgence among adult human participants. The preparation was a simulated caregiving context, wherein a recorded infant cry sounded and was terminated contingent upon targeted caregiving responses. Results of Experiment 1 demonstrated resurgence with human participants in this negative reinforcement preparation. Results of Experiment 2 showed that responses with a longer history of reinforcement showed a stronger resurgence effect relative to responses with a shorter and more recent history of reinforcement. These results show that the resurgence phenomenon occurs across populations and types of reinforcers. Additionally, results indicate that length of reinforcement history is a variable that may affect the magnitude of resurgence.     

Self‐Enhancement in a Job Search Context

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of self‐enhancement in a job search context. Based on previous theoretical and empirical research on positive illusions and core self‐evaluations, we examined the relationships among core self‐evaluations, self‐enhancement, perceived job alternatives, and job search behaviors. Participants in two different studies were students attending a career fair at a university in the southwestern United States to look for a job. Results showed that self‐enhancement is positively related to preparatory job search and mediates the relationship between core self‐evaluations and perceived job alternatives. The implications of this study are discussed.     

Extinction circuits for fear and addiction overlap in prefrontal cortex

Extinction is a form of inhibitory learning that suppresses a previously conditioned response. Both fear and drug seeking are conditioned responses that can lead to maladaptive behavior when expressed inappropriately, manifesting as anxiety disorders and addiction, respectively. Recent evidence indicates that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is critical for the extinction of both fear and drug-seeking behaviors. Moreover, a dorsal-ventral distinction is apparent within the mPFC, such that the prelimbic (PL-mPFC) cortex drives the expression of fear and drug seeking, whereas the infralimbic (IL-mPFC) cortex suppresses these behaviors after extinction. For conditioned fear, the dorsal-ventral dichotomy is accomplished via divergent projections to different subregions of the amygdala, whereas for drug seeking, it is accomplished via divergent projections to the subregions of the nucleus accumbens. Given that the mPFC represents a common node in the extinction circuit for these behaviors, treatments that target this region may help alleviate symptoms of both anxiety and addictive disorders by enhancing extinction memory.Emotional memories, both in the aversive and appetitive domains, are important for guiding behavior. Regulating the expression of these memories is critical for mental health. Extinction of classical conditioning is one form of emotion regulation that is easily modeled in animals. In the aversive domain, a conditioned stimulus (CS) is typically paired with a shock, while in the appetitive domain, a CS is paired with the availability of food or drug reward. Repeated presentation of the CS in the absence of the reinforcer leads to extinction of conditioned fear or drug-seeking behaviors. In recent years, there have been great advances in our understanding of the neural circuitry responsible for this form of inhibitory learning (for reviews, see Cammarota et al. 2005; Maren 2005; Myers and Davis 2007; Quirk and Mueller 2008). The prefrontal cortex has been strongly implicated in fear expression (Powell et al. 2001; Vidal-Gonzalez et al. 2006; Corcoran and Quirk 2007) and fear extinction (Herry and Garcia 2002; Milad and Quirk 2002; Gonzalez-Lima and Bruchey 2004; Hugues et al. 2004; Burgos-Robles et al. 2007; Hikind and Maroun 2008; Lin et al. 2008; Mueller et al. 2008; Sotres-Bayon et al. 2008), and more recently, in expression of drug seeking after extinction (Peters et al. 2008a,b). These findings are consistent with a well-documented role of the prefrontal cortex in executive function and emotional regulation (Miller 2000; Fuster 2002; Quirk and Beer 2006; Sotres-Bayon et al. 2006).In this review, we propose that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) regulates the expression of both fear and drug memories after extinction, through divergent projections to the amygdala and nucleus accumbens, respectively. Extinction failure in the aversive domain can lead to anxiety disorders (Delgado et al. 2006; Milad et al. 2006), while extinction failure in the appetitive domain can lead to relapse in addicted subjects (Kalivas et al. 2005; Garavan and Hester 2007). A common neural circuit for extinction of fear and drug memories would suggest shared mechanisms and treatment strategies across both domains.     

TELESCOPE + MIRROR = REFLECTIONS ON THE COSMOS: UMBERTO ECO AND THE IMAGE OF RELIGION

Umberto Eco argues that a mirror image is not a sign. At best it is a double, a thing that ceases to be once the reflected object is removed. Harry Mulisch narratively suggests that mirror images function metaphorically as gateways between human suffering and the divine. And interestingly, science employs mirrors and mirror images both to turn our gaze upwards and to show us reflections of our place in the cosmos. Tying together Eco's notion of the double, Mulisch's insistence that mirror images reflect humanity's construction of the divine, and the Giant Magellan Telescope Project's cosmic images, it is my contention that modern, telescopic mirror images are much more than snapshots of the cosmos. They are constructions of human and divine meaning that—signifying—pose the question, what is reflected: the cosmos or humanity?