Increased Error-Related Brain Activity in Six-Year-Old Children with Clinical Anxiety

Anxiety disorders are the most frequently diagnosed form of psychopathology in children and often result in chronic impairment that persists into adulthood. Identifying neurobehavioral correlates of anxiety that appear relatively early in life would inform etiological models of development and allow intervention and prevention strategies to be implemented more effectively. The error-related negativity (ERN), a negative deflection in the event-related potential at fronto-central sites approximately 50 ms following the commission of errors, has been consistently found to be larger among anxious adults. The current study sought to extend these findings to even younger individuals: the ERN was elicited by a Go/NoGo task in 48 six year-old children with a clinical anxiety disorder assessed by diagnostic interview and 48 age-matched controls. In addition to child anxiety disorder, the ERN was examined in relation to maternal history of anxiety disorder, which was previously related to a smaller ERN. Anxious children were characterized by a larger (i.e., more negative) ERN and maternal history of anxiety disorder was associated with a smaller ERN. Thus, the relationship between an increased ERN and clinical anxiety is evident by age 6, and this effect appears independent from an opposing influence of maternal anxiety history on the ERN. These findings support the ERN as a promising neurobehavioral marker of anxiety, and implications are discussed.     

Tracking the Time Course of Word‐Frequency Effects in Auditory Word Recognition With Event‐Related Potentials

Although the word‐frequency effect is one of the most established findings in spoken‐word recognition, the precise processing locus of this effect is still a topic of debate. In this study, we used event‐related potentials (ERPs) to track the time course of the word‐frequency effect. In addition, the neighborhood density effect, which is known to reflect mechanisms involved in word identification, was also examined. The ERP data showed a clear frequency effect as early as 350 ms from word onset on the P350, followed by a later effect at word offset on the late N400. A neighborhood density effect was also found at an early stage of spoken‐word processing on the PMN, and at word offset on the late N400. Overall, our ERP differences for word frequency suggest that frequency affects the core processes of word identification starting from the initial phase of lexical activation and including target word selection. They thus rule out any interpretation of the word frequency effect that is limited to a purely decisional locus after word identification has been completed.     

Reliability and plasticity of response inhibition and interference control

This study investigated the internal reliability, temporal stability and plasticity of commonly used measures of inhibition-related functions. Stop-signal, go/no-go, antisaccade, Simon, Eriksen flanker, Stroop and Continuous Performance tasks were administered twice to 23 healthy participants over a period of approximately 11 weeks in order to assess test–retest correlations, internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha), and systematic between as well as within session performance changes. Most of the inhibition-related measures showed good test–retest reliabilities and internal consistencies, with the exception of the stop-signal reaction time measure, which showed poor reliability. Generally no systematic performance changes were observed across the two assessments with the exception of four variables of the Eriksen flanker, Simon and Stroop task which showed reduced variability of reaction time and an improvement in the response time for incongruent trials at second assessment. Predominantly stable performance within one test session was shown for most measures. Overall, these results are informative for studies with designs requiring temporally stable parameters e.g. genetic or longitudinal treatment studies.     

Conditional automaticity in subliminal morphosyntactic priming

We used a gender-classification task to test the principles of subliminal morphosyntactic priming. In Experiment 1, masked, subliminal feminine or masculine articles were used as primes. They preceded a visible target noun. Subliminal articles either had a morphosyntactically congruent or incongruent gender with the targets. In a gender-classification task of the target nouns, subliminal articles primed the responses: responses were faster in congruent than incongruent conditions (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, we tested whether this congruence effect depended on gender relevance. In line with a relevance-dependence, the congruence effect only occurred in a gender-classification task but was absent in another categorical discrimination of the target nouns (Experiment 2). The congruence effect also depended on correct word order. It was diminished when nouns preceded articles (Experiment 3). Finally, the congruence effect was replicated with a larger set of targets but only for masculine targets (Experiment 4). Results are discussed in light of theories of subliminal priming in general and of subliminal syntactic priming in particular.     

Cognitive Functioning,Behavior, and Quality of Life After Stroke in Childhood

Rationale: To provide a better understanding of cognitive functioning, motor outcome, behavior and quality of life after childhood stroke and to study the relationship between variables expected to influence rehabilitation and outcome (age at stroke, time elapsed since stroke, lateralization, location and size of lesion).

Methods: Children who suffered from stroke between birth and their eighteenth year of life underwent an assessment consisting of cognitive tests (WISC-III, WAIS-R, K-ABC, TAP, Rey-Figure, German Version of the CVLT) and questionnaires (Conner's Scales, KIDSCREEN).

Results: Twenty-one patients after stroke in childhood (15 males, mean 11;11 years, SD 4;3, range 6;10–21;2) participated in the study. Mean Intelligence Quotients (IQ) were situated within the normal range (mean Full Scale IQ 96.5, range IQ 79–129). However, significantly more patients showed deficits in various cognitive domains than expected from a healthy population (Performance IQ p?=?.000; Digit Span p?=?.000, Arithmetic's p?=?.007, Divided Attention p?=?.028, Alertness p?=?.002). Verbal IQ was significantly better than Performance IQ in 13 of 17 patients, independent of the hemispheric side of lesion. Symptoms of ADHD occurred more often in the patients' sample than in a healthy population (learning difficulties/inattention p?=?.000; impulsivity/hyperactivity p?=?.006; psychosomatics p?=?.006). Certain aspects of quality of life were reduced (autonomy p?=?.003; parents' relation p?=?.003; social acceptance p?=?.037). Three patients had a right-sided hemiparesis, mean values of motor functions of the other patients were slightly impaired (sequential finger movements p?=?.000, hand alternation p?=?.001, foot tapping p?=?.043). In patients without hemiparesis, there was no relation between the lateralization of lesion and motor outcome. Lesion that occurred in the midst of childhood (5–10 years) led to better cognitive outcome than lesion in the very early (0–5 years) or late childhood (10–18 years). Other variables such as presence of seizure, elapsed time since stroke and size of lesion had a small to no impact on prognosis.

Conclusion: Moderate cognitive and motor deficits, behavioral problems, and impairment in some aspects of quality of life frequently remain after stroke in childhood. Visuospatial functions are more often reduced than verbal functions, independent of the hemispheric side of lesion. This indicates a functional superiority of verbal skills compared to visuospatial skills in the process of recovery after brain injury. Compared to the cognitive outcome following stroke in adults, cognitive sequelae after childhood stroke do indicate neither the lateralization nor the location of the lesion focus. Age at stroke seems to be the only determining factor influencing cognitive outcome.     

A non-linear model of dynamics: A case of panic

This is a case report of a patient with panic who is on the edge of relapse into alcoholism. It is a case of general theoretical interest, because of the separate phases of containment of his desperation, involving psychopharmacology, sociotherapy, and psychotherapy. It extends the dynamic model into non-linear dynamics, an extension that allows the patient to come to face his amazement at the sudden eruption of unconscious forces, and that allows the psychotherapist to see the therapeutic path of backing up from walking forward, unwittingly, into catastrophe.     

Individual differences in spatial configuration learning predict the occurrence of intrusive memories

The dual-representation model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Brewin, Gregory, Lipton, & Burgess, Psychological Review, 117, 210-232 2010) argues that intrusions occur when people fail to construct context-based representations during adverse experiences. The present study tested a specific prediction flowing from this model. In particular, we investigated whether the efficiency of temporal-lobe-based spatial configuration learning would account for individual differences in intrusive experiences and physiological reactivity in the laboratory. Participants (N = 82) completed the contextual cuing paradigm, which assesses spatial configuration learning that is believed to depend on associative encoding in the parahippocampus. They were then shown a trauma film. Afterward, startle responses were quantified during presentation of trauma reminder pictures versus unrelated neutral and emotional pictures. PTSD symptoms were recorded in the week following participation. Better configuration learning performance was associated with fewer perceptual intrusions, r = ?.33, p < .01, but was unrelated to physiological responses to trauma reminder images (ps > .46) and had no direct effect on intrusion-related distress and overall PTSD symptoms, rs > ?.12, ps > .29. However, configuration learning performance tended to be associated with reduced physiological responses to unrelated negative images, r = ?.20, p = .07. Thus, while spatial configuration learning appears to be unrelated to affective responding to trauma reminders, our overall findings support the idea that the context-based memory system helps to reduce intrusions.