Effects of a prevention program for divorced families on youth cortisol reactivity 15 years later

Objective: We examined whether an empirically based, randomised controlled trial of a preventive intervention for divorced mothers and children had a long-term impact on offspring cortisol regulation.

Design: Divorced mothers and children (age 9–12) were randomly assigned to a literature control condition or the 11-week New Beginnings Program, a family-focused group preventive intervention for mothers and children in newly divorced families.

Main Outcome Measures: Fifteen years after the trial, offspring salivary cortisol (n = 161) was measured before and after a social stress task.

Results: Multilevel mixed models were used to predict cortisol from internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, group assignment and potential moderators of intervention effects. Across the sample, higher externalizing symptoms were associated with lower cortisol reactivity. There was a significant group-by-age interaction such that older offspring in the control group had higher reactivity relative to the intervention group, and younger offspring in the control group exhibited a decline across the task relative to younger offspring in the intervention group.

Conclusions: Preventive interventions for youth from divorced families may have a long-term impact on cortisol reactivity to stress. Results highlight the importance of examining moderators of program effects.     

Emotion and object processing in Parkinson’s disease

The neuropsychological literature on the processing of emotions in Parkinson’s disease (PD) reveals conflicting evidence about the role of the basal ganglia in the recognition of facial emotions. Hence, the present study had two objectives. One was to determine the extent to which the visual processing of emotions and objects differs in PD. The other was to assess the impact of cognitive load on the processing of these types of information. Thirty-one patients with idiopathic PD (IPD) under dopamine replacement therapy (DRT) were compared to 30 control subjects on emotion and object recognition tasks. Recognition of objects was more accurate and faster than recognition of facial expressions of emotion, for both groups of subjects. In a second experiment using an N-back procedure with the same stimuli—a more demanding task with a higher cognitive load—patients with IPD were as accurate as control subjects in detecting the correct sequential presentation of stimuli, but were much slower in their decision responses. This indicates that IPD patients under DRT are not impaired in encoding emotion or object information, but that they have difficulty with the processing demands of the N-back task. Thus, patients with IPD appear to be more sensitive to cognitive load than to type of information, whether facial emotions or objects. In this perspective, one must consider that a deafferented dopaminergic system has problems processing more complex information before one can posit the existence of deficits affecting a specific type of information.     

MARITAL SATISFACTION AMONG MOTHERS OF INFANTS WITH CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE: THE CONTRIBUTION OF ILLNESS SEVERITY,ATTACHMENT STYLE,AND THE COPING PROCESS

This study examined the contribution of illness severity and attachment style to marital satisfaction among mothers of infants with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) as well as the mediating role of cognitive appraisal and ways of coping with motherhood tasks. Eighty-five mothers of newborns with CHD rated their attachment style 2 weeks after the infant's CHD diagnosis and two physicians rated the severity of the disease. One year later, mothers completed self-reports scales tapping marital satisfaction, appraisal of motherhood tasks, and ways of coping with these tasks. The severity of infant's disease and mothers’ attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance were related to less marital satisfaction. Moreover, whereas illness severity and attachment anxiety had direct effects on marital satisfaction, the negative effects of attachment avoidance were mediated by the appraisal of motherhood in threatening terms and the reliance on emotion-focused coping. The interconnections between attachment style, the process of coping with the stress of a chronic illness, and marital satisfaction were discussed.     

Cortisol,stress, and attentional bias toward threat

Abstract

Attentional bias toward threatening stimuli is a central characteristic of anxiety and acute stress. Recent small-scale studies have provided divergent perspectives on the association between the stress hormone cortisol and attentional bias toward threat cues. In a larger sample size than previous studies, we examined this association by investigating the impact of cortisol on attentional bias in two studies using a psychological stressor (N=35) and a physical stressor (N=65), respectively. Attentional bias and salivary cortisol were measured prior to and following the administration of a stressful task designed to increase cortisol levels. Results across these studies were equivocal relative to the association between baseline cortisol and baseline attentional bias. In addition, the association between acute change in cortisol and change in attentional bias appeared to differ as a function of the presence or absence of psychological stress. There was a trend toward a stronger negative association between acute cortisol change and attentional bias change among women relative to men. These results imply that the association between cortisol and attentional bias may be moderated by additional factors, such as gender or presence of stress.     

Basal ganglia, dopamine and temporal processing: performance on three timing tasks on and off medication in Parkinson's disease

A pervasive hypothesis in the timing literature is that temporal processing in the milliseconds and seconds range engages the basal ganglia and is modulated by dopamine. This hypothesis was investigated by testing 12 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), both 'on' and 'off' dopaminergic medication, and 20 healthy controls on three timing tasks. In a seconds range (30-120 s) time production task, patients tested 'on' medication showed a significantly different accuracy profile compared to controls and when tested 'off' medication. However, no group or on vs off medication differences in accuracy were found on a time reproduction task and a warned reaction time task requiring temporal processing within the 250-2000 ms range. Variability was measured using the coefficient of variation, with the performance of the patient group on the time reproduction task violating the scalar property, suggesting atypical temporal processing mechanisms. The data suggest that the integrity of the basal ganglia is necessary for 'typical' time production in the seconds range as well as for time reproduction at shorter intervals. Exploratory factor analysis suggested that the time production task uses neural mechanisms distinct from those used in the other two timing tasks. The dissociation of the effects of dopaminergic medication and nature of task on performance in PD raises interesting questions about the pharmacological mediation and task-specificity of deficits in temporal processing.     

自尊与心理性应激的关系初探

自尊水平影响着个体在应激情境中的内分泌反应,在以人个人主义文化下的研究发现,由于低自尊具有较低的内部控制力,因此在应激情境中的唾液皮质醇反应更强烈。但是在中国集体主义文化中,由于集体性自我的评价是自尊的一个重要组成部分,高自尊更加期望集体或社会的积极性评价,因此假设在心理性应激情境下（即个体的能力被否定的时候）,高自尊的应激反应会比低自尊更加强烈。本研究以健康大学生为被试,分别以Rosenberg自尊量表和特里尔社会应激测试（TSST）为实验手段,以自尊量表得分、主观应激报告（5点量表）和客观应激参数（心率和唾液皮质醇）为指标,在中国文化背景下探讨自尊与心理性应激的关系。结果发现,在TSST开始时（20分钟）自尊与心率呈正相关,自尊水平越高,心率越快;在TSST结束后（60分钟）自尊与唾液皮质醇水平呈正相关,自尊水平越高,唾液皮质醇水平越高。总体来说,相对于低自尊被试而言,高自尊被试在心理性应激情境中的反应更为强烈。     

Continuity and Change in Emotional Reactivity in Rhesus Monkeys Throughout the Prepubertal Period

We examined continuity and change in emotional reactiviy as assessed by hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) activity in rhesus monkeys. Plasma samples were obtained from mother-peer–reared and surrogate-peer–reared monkeys and assayed for cortisol concentrations at 5 time points in infancy. Both plasma and saliva samples were collected for cortisol assay from the same monkeys as 1-, 2-, and 3-year-old juveniles, respectively. Plasma cortisol concentrations increased during the first 5 months of life and decreased from 1 to 3 years of age. Females consistently had higher plasma cortisol concentrations than males. Plasma cortisol concentrations were lower in surrogate-peer–reared than mother-peer–reared monkeys during the first month of life. Juvenile plasma cortisol concentrations were significantly correlated with infant cortisol levels at all but the earliest time point. Analysis of salivary cortisol from a subset of animals showed a similar age-related decline and the presence of a significant rearing effect, with lower concentrations in surrogate-peer–reared juveniles, but no sex difference. Salivary and plasma cortisol concentrations in these animals were significantly correlated.     

Neuronal symphonies: Musical improvisation and the centrencephalic space of functional integration

Musical improvisation is a sophisticated activity in which a performer realizes, real-time, melodic, and rhythmic sequences in harmony with those from other musicians. The study of musical improvisation helps one to understand not only the cognition of creativity, but also the complex neuronal basis of executive functions, the relation between conscious and unconscious action, and even more. So far, the prevailing models, founded on the brain imaging method, have focused on the connection between the cortical areas and their cognitive processes. Little attention, on the other hand, has been given to the huge variety of subcortical activities, especially in the basal ganglia. This fundamental subcortical component, through its implicit procedures and the role it plays in memory, is responsible to produce new information all the time, allowing the prefrontal cortex to transform a huge and disordered amount of data in explicit creative acts. The basal ganglia are strongly related to the activation of chemical signals generated by dissonance or lack of symmetry between perception and expectation, participating even in the responses to environmental demands according to the circumstances. Thus, they interact with the frontal cortex and with the limbic system, playing a key role in planning and selecting appropriate actions and in decision making. In this text, we try to explain in which sense improvisation is connected to the processes of executive functions, to creativity and to the integrated activity of cortical–subcortical areas controlling the free flow of ideas and to expressive spontaneity. Eventually, we purpose a model according to which structure (improvisational field) and process (improvisational time) take part at the centrencephalic space of functional integration, which, through both competing and cooperating dynamics, gives way to spontaneous composition.     

Hair cortisol in relation to acute and post-traumatic stress symptoms in children and adolescents

Background: We report on the preliminary results of two independent studies that (1) compare the hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) of healthy controls with patients displaying post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS, study 1+2), (2) investigate whether pre-trauma HCC are predictive for the development of acute stress symptoms (ASS) and PTSS (study 1) and (3) determine whether HCC correlate with PTSS in a clinical sample of children (study 2).

Methods: In study 1, the clinical symptoms of 35 minors were examined one (T1) and seven weeks (T2) after surgery following an accident. Hair samples were taken after the accident that reflect cortisol secretion over the past three months before the accident (healthy controls). In study 2, HCC and PTSS symptoms were cross-sectionally assessed in 22 minors who had experienced a psychological trauma.

Results: The HCC of patients with PTSS were lower than the HCC of healthy controls (study 1+2). Secondary analyses showed that HCC were significantly lower in male PTSS patients than in male healthy controls, whereas the HCC in females were comparably low in both groups. Pre-trauma HCC did not predict the total ASS and PTSS scores (study 1) and HCC were not directly related to the total PTSS scores (study 2).     

创伤后应激障碍患者的HPA轴功能变化的时间序列特征

已知创伤后应激障碍(posttraumatic stress disorder, PTSD)患者表现出HPA轴(hypothalamic-pituitary- adrenocortical axis)功能异常, 而皮质醇是反映PTSD患者HPA轴功能的重要生物标记。近期的研究结果提示, PTSD患者的皮质醇水平变化可能有明显的时间序列特征, 即应激事件发生后先升高, 后下降至正常水平之下。这一特征受到生物标记的时间特性, 患者病程, 应激源类型和强度, 伴生疾病等因素的干扰和掩蔽。未来研究应进一步采用长期追踪设计, 控制干扰因素的影响, 结合急性应激和慢性应激生物标记来综合验证PTSD患者皮质醇水平变化的时间序列特征|并利用该特征预测PTSD的发生、发展, 以便及时进行干预|考虑皮质醇的代谢、拮抗等机制, 结合多种生物标记综合评估、诊断PTSD患者的HPA轴功能活性。