Implicit sequence learning in young people with Tourette syndrome with and without co-occurring attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Impaired habit-learning has been proposed to underlie the tic symptoms of Tourette syndrome (TS). However, accounts differ in terms of how habit-learning is altered in TS, with some authors proposing habit formation is impaired due to a deficient ‘chunking’ mechanism, and others proposing habit-learning is overactive and tics reflect hyperlearned behaviours. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently co-occurs with TS and is known to affect cognitive function in young people with co-occurring TS and ADHD (TS + ADHD). It is unclear, however, how co-occurring ADHD symptoms affect habit-learning in TS. In this study, we investigated whether young people with TS would show deficient or hyperactive habit-learning, and assessed the effects of co-occurring ADHD symptoms on habit-learning in TS. Participants aged 9–17 years with TS (n = 18), TS + ADHD (n = 17), ADHD (n = 13), and typical development (n = 20) completed a motor sequence learning task to assess habit-learning. We used a 2 (TS-yes, TS-no) × 2 (ADHD-yes, ADHD-no) factorial analysis to test the effects of TS, ADHD, and their interaction on accuracy and reaction time indices of sequence learning. TS was associated with intact sequence learning, but a tendency for difficulty transitioning from sequenced to non-sequenced performance was suggestive of hyper-learning. ADHD was associated with significantly poorer accuracy during acquisition of the sequence, indicative of impaired habit-learning. There were no interactions between the TS and ADHD factors, indicating young people with TS + ADHD showed both TS- and ADHD-related atypicalities in habit-learning.     

The relationship between beliefs about emotions and quality of life in irritable bowel syndrome

Suppression of undesirable emotions, as well as beliefs about the unacceptability of experiencing and expressing emotions, have both been shown to be related to poorer health-related outcomes in several clinical groups. Potential models through which these variables relate have yet to be tested in those with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and are therefore examined in the current article. Online questionnaires were administered to people with IBS (n = 84) to test a mediation model in which beliefs about the unacceptability of emotions are associated with greater emotional suppression, which in turn relates to increased affective distress and consequently poorer quality of life. An alternate model to test the direction of effect along with two further models using support-seeking as mediators of the same predictor and outcome were also tested. Emotional suppression and affective distress (in that particular order) mediate the relationship between beliefs about emotions and quality of life IBS. The models using support-seeking as mediators of the relationship between beliefs about emotions and the two outcomes were not supported. These findings suggest a role for emotional processing in medically unexplained symptoms and imply the need to address such beliefs about emotions in psychological therapies.     

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome increases source‐confusion errors: A pilot study

We explored external source monitoring (i.e., discrimination between memories of two externally derived sources) in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS). Our specific aim was to ascertain whether, relative to controls, patients exhibit more source‐confusion errors when there are similarities between two external memory sources. We recruited 22 patients with OSAS and 22 controls matched for sex, age, and education. The experimental procedure we used came in three phases. First, participants viewed a target film. Second, they were shown a mixed set of photographs, some taken from the film (target photographs), others not (photographs taken from other films not viewed by participants; lures). Lures differed either conceptually or perceptually from the target film. Third, the following day, participants were shown a set of photographs and urged to determine whether the photographs were taken from the target film or whether they were images they had seen for the first time in Phase 2. Patients correctly attributed the same number of target photographs to the target film as controls. By contrast, they incorrectly attributed more lures to the target film than controls did, especially when the lures were semantically similar to the film (perceptual lures). Both perceptual and conceptual source‐confusion errors were significantly correlated with oxygen desaturation during sleep. Results suggest that the higher number of source‐confusion errors observed in patients with OSAS was linked to an impaired ability to recollect specific perceptual details of the study items and that hypoxia is the main contributing factor to this deficit.     

Psychopathology and behavior problems in children and adolescents with Williams syndrome: Distinctive relationships with cognition

Several studies have documented the high prevalence of psychopathology and behavior problems in Williams syndrome (WS). However, the links between cognitive development and such symptoms need further clarification. Our study aims to expand current knowledge on levels of behavior problems and its links to cognition in a sample of Brazilian individuals with WS. A total of 25 children and adolescents with WS and their parents participated in this study. The participants’ IQs were assessed with the Wechsler Scales of Intelligence (for children or adults) and parental reports of psychopathology/behavior problems were collected using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). The presence of clinically significant attention problems was a main feature in our sample of children and adolescents with WS. In the children, higher IQ scores were found to be significantly associated with less externalizing problems, while in the adolescents cognitive abilities were found to be associated with less internalizing symptoms. These results provide further insight into the links between psychopathology and behavior problems and cognitive abilities in WS, and suggest the need to take age into consideration when analyzing such relationships.     

Beyond differences between the body schema and the body image: insights from body hallucinations

The distinction between the body schema and the body image has become the stock in trade of much recent work in cognitive neuroscience and philosophy. Yet little is known about the interactions between these two types of body representations. We need to account not only for their dissociations in rare cases, but also for their convergence most of the time. Indeed in our everyday life the body we perceive does not conflict with the body we act with. Are the body image and the body schema then somehow reshaping each other or are they relatively independent and do they only happen to be congruent? On the basis of the study of bodily hallucinations, we consider which model can best account for the body schema/body image interactions.     

中医"证"本质研究的无序与有序

中医"证"本质的研究结果呈现弱特异性的.证是宏观概念,既呈现着多态性,又呈现着同态性,无序中包含着有序,有序中亦体现着无序.对于"证"研究中出现的弱特异性的研究结果,应将其看成这一证候的几种不同状态;对不同证候得出的同一研究结果的处理也是如此.具体技术上的处理包括:对研究思路更新;对证候规范化;大范围科研协作.强调了大范围科研协作.     

"证"与"辨证"之我见

以"证"与"辨证"的关系阐发有关概念,认为对证的概念不应一概而论,在此基础上把证细分为两个概念,提出有形之证和无形之证,辨证的过程就是构建一个"无形之证"理论模型的过程,用来解说有形之证,达到无形之证与有形之证的最大吻合.