ADHD and Behavioral Inhibition: A Re-examination of the Stop-signal Task

The current study investigates two recently identified threats to the construct validity of behavioral inhibition as a core deficit of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) based on the stop-signal task: calculation of mean reaction time from go-trials presented adjacent to intermittent stop-trials, and non-reporting of the stop-signal delay metric. Children with ADHD (n = 12) and typically developing (TD) children (n = 11) were administered the standard stop-signal task and three variant stop-signal conditions. These included a no-tone condition administered without the presentation of an auditory tone; an ignore-tone condition that presented a neutral (i.e., not associated with stopping) auditory tone; and a second ignore-tone condition that presented a neutral auditory tone after the tone had been previously paired with stopping. Children with ADHD exhibited significantly slower and more variable reaction times to go-stimuli, and slower stop-signal reaction times relative to TD controls. Stop-signal delay was not significantly different between groups, and both groups’ go-trial reaction times slowed following meaningful tones. Collectively, these findings corroborate recent meta-analyses and indicate that previous findings of stop-signal performance deficits in ADHD reflect slower and more variable responding to visually presented stimuli and concurrent processing of a second stimulus, rather than deficits of motor behavioral inhibition.     

Metaphors in behavioral genetics

Behavioral geneticists sometimes use metaphorsto describe the role of genes in humanbehavior. In this paper, five sample texts areanalyzed: a popular book, a textbook, ascientific review article, and two originalscientific articles representing differentapproaches in behavioral genetics. Metaphorsare found in all the different kinds of sampletexts, not only in the popular book and thetextbook. This suggests that metaphors are usednot only for rhetorical or pedagogical purposesbut play a more fundamental role in scientificunderstanding. In the sample texts, themetaphors tend to be antideterministic, i.e.,they do not imply genetic determinism butstress the interaction of multiple genes andmultiple environmental factors. No conclusioncan be drawn, however, as to whetherantideterminism is representative ofpresent-day behavioral geneticists in general.Certain historically important metaphors thatmay imply genetic determinism are qualified,avoided, or explicitly rejected. There aretensions between some of the metaphors, makingthem difficult to combine. All the metaphorsthat are used appear empirically apt, howeversometimes only with certain qualifications.     

非药物成瘾的遗传学和神经生物学机制研究述评

非药物成瘾又称“非物质相关性成瘾”或“行为成瘾”。特征性表现包括对成瘾对象的渴望、受损的冲动控制、对成瘾对象的耐受、撤退反应和高复发率等。目前发现的非药物成瘾类型包括病理性赌博、网络成瘾、购物成瘾、游戏成瘾、性瘾以及贪食等。非药物成瘾与药物成瘾在症状学上表现出很高的相似性且具有较高的共病率, 提示二者之间可能存在着共同的发病机制。从遗传学和神经生物学的角度探讨非药物成瘾的机制具有重要的理论价值和临床应用价值。家庭研究和双生子研究发现, 男性的病理性赌博和贪食障碍具有中度以上的遗传度。分子遗传学研究发现, 单胺能神经递质相关基因, 如5-羟色胺转运体基因、多巴胺受体基因和单胺氧化酶A基因等, 与非药物成瘾有关。神经影像学研究发现, 非药物成瘾者脑内负责奖赏,线索加工和冲动控制的神经通路活动性异于正常对照。未来研究需要进一步从多个角度入手, 探讨非药物成瘾与药物成瘾的共性和特性。     

儿童2～7岁行为抑制性发展对7岁时问题行为、学校适应的预测作用

本研究采用陌生实验室的录像观察考察了中国2~7岁儿童行为抑制性的发展,并且采用教师评价量表报告了儿童7岁时的学校适应,采用父母填写儿童行为调查表CBCL来测查儿童7岁时的问题行为,从而考察了儿童2~7岁的行为抑制性对其7岁时的问题行为和学校适应的预测作用。儿童2岁时,共有208名儿童参加了这项追踪研究,4岁时,由于被试拒绝参加、搬家或失约,共有176名儿童参加了实验室的录像观察。7岁时,共有124名儿童参加了实验室实验和学校教师的评价,并且父母对7岁儿童的问题行为进行了报告。同时参加2、4、7岁研究的儿童为66人,其中男孩为28人,女孩38人。协方差结构模型分析表明:儿童2岁时的抑制性水平越高,7岁时的学习问题越少;儿童4岁时的抑制性水平越高,7岁时的攻击行为越少,挫折耐受力、任务定向能力越强,但同时抑郁问题也越多。而7岁时的抑制性可以边缘显著地预测儿童7岁时母亲所报告的退缩问题,即7岁时抑制性水平越高,母亲所报告的退缩问题越多。而且,本研究还发现女孩7岁的抑制性水平越高,任务定向能力和果断的社交技能越差。男孩2岁的抑制水平越高,任务定向能力越强;男孩7岁时抑制水平越高,攻击行为越多。     

反社会行为潜在遗传因素的全基因组关联分析

反社会行为是一种受基因和环境共同影响的复杂性行为, 但单个基因如单胺氧化酶基因(MAOA)、5-羟色胺转运体启动因子基因(5-HTT)、儿茶酚-o-甲基转移酶(COMT)基因的影响并不能全面解释其产生的分子遗传机制。来自分子遗传学研究取向的方法—— 全基因组关联分析(genome-wide association study, GWAS), 把人类基因组中数以百万计的单核苷酸(SNPs)和复制数变异(CNVs)作为遗传标记, 在全基因组层面上, 开展多中心、大样本的关联研究, 经过反复验证来发现与外在表型相关的基因位点, 为进一步了解反社会行为复杂分子遗传机制提供了重要的线索。未来的研究应该通过科学的实验设计将精确的基因分型技术与心理、环境因素相结合, 实现对复杂性行为或特质的基因-心理-环境模型的成因性分析。     

诺贝尔医学奖遗传学实验材料更替现象述评——兼与宋昌鹏同志商榷

诺贝尔生理学或医学奖已有百余年历史,其间遗传学获奖项目运用了很多实验材料。它们有的已淡出人们的视线;有的还在使用,并频繁获奖;呈现出此起彼伏、交相更迭的\"诺贝尔医学奖实验材料更替现象\"。本文旨在探讨与诺贝尔生理学或医学奖相关的遗传学实验材料更替现象,总结其更替规律,并在此基础上预测其选用趋势。     

基因多态性对情绪调节神经回路的影响

随着脑成像和基因分析等新技术手段的综合运用, 情绪调节的神经生物学基础研究有了很大进展。综述相关研究表明: 情绪调节的神经回路涉及背侧-腹侧前额叶、前额叶-杏仁核和皮层-边缘系统的相互作用, 这些神经回路受到5-羟色胺传运体(5-hydroxytryptamine transporter, 5-HTT)、儿茶酚转甲酶 (Catechol-O-methyltransferase, COMT)和色氨酸羟化酶2(Tryptophan hydroxylase 2, TPH2)等基因变异, 以及不同基因多态之间交互作用的影响。情绪调节神经回路的功能出现障碍将导致情绪疾病的产生。     

Relations of positive and negative expressivity and effortful control to kindergarteners’ student–teacher relationship,academic engagement,and externalizing problems at school

The current study examined the role of naturally-occurring negative and positive emotion expressivity in kindergarten and children’s effortful control (EC) on their relationships with teachers, academic engagement, and problems behaviors in school. Further, the potential moderating role of EC on these important school outcomes was assessed. Emotion and engagement were observed at school. EC was assessed by multiple methods. Teachers reported on their student–teacher relationships and students’ externalizing behaviors. Children’s emotion expressivity and EC were related to engagement and relationships with teachers as well as behavioral problems at school. Children low in EC may be particularly vulnerable to the poor outcomes associated with relatively intense emotion expressivity as they struggle to manage their emotions and behaviors in the classroom.     

STIRPICULTURE: SCIENCE‐GUIDED HUMAN PROPAGATION AND THE ONEIDA COMMUNITY

Between 1869 and 1879, the communal Christian group the Oneida Community undertook a pioneering eugenics experiment called “stirpiculture” in upstate New York. Stirpiculture resulted in the planned conception, birth, and communal rearing of fifty‐eight children, bred from selected members of the Oneida Community. This article concerns how the Oneida Community's unique approach to religion and science provided the framework for the creation, process, and eventual dissolution of the stirpiculture experiment. The work seeks to expand current understanding of the early history of eugenics in the United States by placing its practice more than two decades earlier than is generally considered. Additionally, this article situates the Community's leader John Humphrey Noyes as an early eugenics and social scientific thinker. Finally, the treatment provides a case study for the transitional period in mid to late nineteenth century America whereby scientific modes of epistemology were accommodated within or supplanted by theological worldviews.     

The revised perceived locus of causality in physical education scale: Psychometric evaluation among youth

Objectives

Given instances of less than optimal internal consistency levels of the Perceived Locus of Causality (PLOC) scale when applied to school-based physical education (PE), the aim of the study was to examine the psychometrics of a revised PLOC instrument for use in PE.

Design

A cross-sectional study in which self-report data on behavioral regulations, perceived autonomy support by the PE teacher, and subjective vitality were collected from 1729 students in relation to their PE participation at the elementary school (5th and 6th grade), middle school, and high school levels, including boys and girls.

Results

The revised instrument (PLOC-R) demonstrated satisfactory levels of internal consistency; a sound factor structure; evidence in support of a simplex-like structure; configural, metric, strong, and strict measurement invariance across boys and girls, students who participate or not in out-of-school sport activities, and across the three school grade levels; and nomological validity.

Conclusions

Initial evidence has emerged in favor of the PLOC-R as a scale appropriate for use with 5th and 6th grade elementary, middle school, and high school students to measure the degree of self-determined motivation for participation in compulsory school-based physical education classes.