“转换-坚持”对低阶层健康的保护作用及其机制

低社会阶层是不良健康状况最可靠的社会决定因素之一。然而, 很少有人理解为什么同样处于低阶层, 有些个体却能保持良好的健康状况。在大量实证研究的基础上, 研究者们发现“转换-坚持”策略这一心理因素能有效保护处于逆境中的低阶层者的健康, 使其免于受到疾病的侵扰。当个体面临持续或频繁的压力时, “转换-坚持”策略减轻了下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴的急性生理激活, 有效抑制了低阶层面临逆境时的生理应激反应, 随着时间的推移, 阻止了致病过程的发展; 同时, 该策略还减少了低阶层者的不良健康行为, 进而对健康起到保护作用。未来研究应在深入探索核心机制基础上开发出有效的干预方案, 为解决我国相对贫困问题中的健康贫困提供新的路径。     

Cognitive deficits in relation to personality type and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction in women with stress-related exhaustion

Exhaustion caused by long-term work-related stress may cause cognitive dysfunction. We explored factors that may link chronic stress and cognitive impairment. Personality, psychiatric screening, and behavior were assessed by self-reporting measures in 20 female patients (mean age 39.3 years; range 26-53) with a preliminary diagnosis of stress-related exhaustion and in 16 healthy matched controls. Cognitive performance was investigated with a detailed neuropsychological test battery. Cortisol axis function was assessed by urinary and saliva collections of cortisol, dexamethasone suppression, Synacthen response, and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) tests. Proinflammatory cytokines were measured. Hippocampal volumes were estimated by magnetic resonance imaging. Multivariate and univariate statistical methods were used to explore putative differences between groups and factors linked to cognitive impairment. Cognitive function clearly differed between groups, with decreased attention and visuospatial memory in the patient group, suggesting frontal cortex/medial temporal cortex-network dysfunction. Increased harm avoidance and persistence was present among patients, with lowered self-directedness linked to lower quality of life, increased anxious and depressive tendencies, and experiences of psychosocial stress. Attention was decreased with concomitantly impaired visuospatial memory. The pituitary (adrenocorticotropic hormone, ACTH) response to CRH was decreased in patients, with an increased cortisol/ACTH response to CRH. However, cortisol production rates, diurnal or dexamethasone-suppressed saliva cortisol levels, and the cortisol response to Synacthen were unaltered. Hippocampal volumes did not differ between groups. These findings suggest that cognitive dysfunction in stress-related exhaustion is linked to distinct personality traits, low quality of life, and a decreased ACTH response to CRH.     

Relation of intimate partner violence to salivary cortisol among couples expecting a first child

Despite advances in understanding the role that several physiological systems play in the occurrence of general violence, little progress has been made toward understanding biological correlates of intimate partner violence (IPV). We explored involvement of one physiological system, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Among 137 heterosexual couples expecting a first child, baseline level of HPA activity-assessed via salivary cortisol collected before a couple conflict discussion-was linked to both men's and women's violence perpetration. HPA reactivity to the conflict bout did not show an independent association with IPV. However, persisting elevation in men's, and down-regulation in women's, HPA activity during a further recovery period was linked to men's violence perpetration.     

The relationship between pitch and space in congenital amusia

Congenital amusia manifests as a lifelong difficulty in making sense of musical sound. The extent to which this disorder is accompanied by deficits in visuo-spatial processing is an important question, bearing on the issue of whether pitch processing draws on supramodal spatial representations. The present study assessed different aspects of visuo-spatial processing with a range of tasks (Shepard-Metzler Mental Rotation, Corsi Blocks Task, Visual Patterns Test) in 14 amusics and matched controls. The absence of a group difference on any of these tasks fails to support a previous claim that the disorder is strongly related to deficits in spatial processing. However, a subgroup of amusics, with significantly elevated thresholds on a pitch direction discrimination task relative to the rest of the group, were slower, but equally accurate, at Mental Rotation. This finding is discussed in relation to the nature of supramodal representations of contour and strategies for dynamic mental transformation.     

Where East meets West: in the house of individuation

The psychological process of individuation as experienced in Jungian work may lead to states of consciousness that resemble advanced spiritual developments across religious traditions and cultures. This is where Westerners may reach a common ground with the East. In the essentials and with respect to the final goal there is little difference among the many ways to the self, even if the cultural features in the landscape are disparate. In late stage Jungian analysis and individuation and in what Erich Neumann calls ‘centroversion’, the personal and the impersonal aspects of the personality accumulate around the ego‐self axis to form a composite identity. In this complex structure the ego does not vanish but is joined to the impersonal archetypal levels of the psyche and identity thus becomes at once individual and archetypal. This is the third stage of conjunction as described by Jung in Mysterium Coniunctionis and it is identical to the type of consciousness depicted in the final scenes of Zen Buddhism's Ten Ox‐Herding Pictures.     

The Spatiality of Cognition in the Zhuangzi

In this paper I explore the conception of cognition and action found in the Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi. More specifically, I focus on the role of explicit and implicit spatial imagery in the context of this complex problem. Spatial imagery suggests that cognition is understood as fundamentally bimodal in the text: (1) the default modality, which is informed by an entrenched distinction pattern, is cast in terms of fullness and bulk; and (2) the auxiliary modality, which is free from this kind of constraint, is imagined in terms of emptiness and lack of bulk, as an axis or point. The latter is the preferred mode of engagement with the environment, according to the Zhuangzi. Spatial imagery brings out the crucial characteristics of this cognitive modality: its radical openness and infinite fecundity in the context of distinction–drawing and action. It also connects with other metaphorical schemata at work in the text, including organic imagery. Interestingly, the notion of emptiness and the figure of an axis do not mark an experience of undifferentiated oneness but the state of heightened sensitivity to the makeup of one’s environment. Such sensitivity allows the agent to entertain the situation at hand without bias and to move around (relatively) conflict–free.     

急性心理性应激诱发的神经内分泌反应及其影响因素

急性心理性应激源分别通过下丘脑-脑垂体-肾上腺轴(hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis,HPAA)和交感神经-肾上腺髓质轴(sympathetic-adrenal medulla axis)诱发神经内分泌反应。唾液皮质醇被认为是检测急性心理性应激所诱发的HPA轴反应的稳定指标。以特里尔社会应激测试(Trier Social Stress Test,TSST)及其变式作为应激源, 以HPA轴的反应作为应激指标, 影响个体在急性心理性应激情境中发生特异性神经内分泌反应的因素主要包括人口统计学、环境和应激频率三大方面, 未来应加强急性心理性应激所诱发的神经内分泌反应的纵向研究。     

经后路枢椎椎板螺钉内固定的可行性研究

为提供国人枢椎的解剖学测量数据,探讨国人枢椎椎板螺钉固定的可行性,采用96例成人枢椎干燥骨标本,测量枢椎椎板的厚度、高度、长度、棘突根部高度、进针点至椎板外缘、进针点侧块中点及侧块外缘、椎板轴线与矢状面的夹角等相关参数,结果显示国人枢椎具备行经后路椎板螺钉内固定的条件。     

Rivers of milk and honey ‐ an exploration of nurturing the self in a Russian context

This paper is an exploration of the relationship between nurturing in all its contexts ‐ among them, the nursing couple and the therapeutic relationship ‐ and the evolution of an individual self. The ideas are illustrated by a case vignette of a Russian patient. An attempt is made to show that when the self as an integral unity of body and soul is addressed in the analytic setting, ‘nutritional dreams’ emerge as expressions of the self‐in‐action. Certain psycholinguistic features of the Russian cultural context are described which suggest a link of meaning between development of the self and secure parenting. This linguistic association may facilitate the process of self‐centering.     

The Impact of Early Life Stress on the Neurodevelopment of the Stress Response System

The focus of this article is on the impact of early life stress on the neurodevelopment of the stress response mechanisms of the brain. The functioning of the stress response system and mechanisms of neurodevelopmental change are described. The theoretical and clinical implications of the reviewed literature are discussed.