Reduced right hemisphere activation in severely abused violent offenders during a working memory task: An fMRI study

This study uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to address two important gaps in our knowledge of brain functioning and violence: (1) What are the brain correlates of adults in the community who have suffered severe physical abuse early in life and who go on to perpetrate serious violence in adulthood? (2) What characterizes those who experience severe physical abuse but who refrain from serious violence? Four groups of participants recruited from the community (controls, severe physical child abuse only, serious violence only, and severely abused, seriously violent offenders) underwent fMRI while performing a visual/verbal working memory task. Violent offenders who had suffered severe child abuse show reduced right hemisphere functioning, particularly in the right temporal cortex. Abused individuals who refrain from serious violence showed relatively lower left, but higher right, activation of the superior temporal gyrus. Abused individuals, irrespective of violence status, showed reduced cortical activation during the working memory task, especially in the left hemisphere. Brain deficits were independent of IQ, history of head injury, task performance, cognitive strategy, and mental activity during the control task. Findings constitute the first fMRI study of brain dysfunction in violent offenders, and indicate that initial right hemisphere dysfunction, when combined with the effects of severe early physical abuse, predisposes to serious violence but that relatively good right hemisphere functioning protects against violence in physically abused children. Aggr. Behav. 27:111–129, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

社会情绪的神经基础

该文提出了社会情绪概念的界定及其分类,回顾并总结了近年来对社会情绪神经基础的研究结果,指出了现有的研究范式和方法存在的局限,并对该领域未来的研究方向和研究重点做了进一步展望     

图形型归纳推理的神经机制:一项fMRI研究

利用fMRI脑成像技术探讨图形型归纳推理的神经机制。设计了一种由图形形状和条纹方向描述的简单几何图形组成的归纳推理任务,这种图形型任务与以往研究中常用的语句型归纳推理任务是同质的。根据两个图形共享特征数量的不同设计了两种实验任务:共享两个特征(2T)和共享一个特征(1T),以休息基线(Rest)作为控制任务。2T和1T任务均为归纳推理任务,但2T任务包含知觉特征整合成分,而1T任务不包括。结果发现:与控制任务相比,归纳推理任务在前额区(BA6、9、11、46、47)、尾状核、壳核和丘脑等脑区有显著激活,反映了"前额皮层-纹状体-丘脑"通路在图形型归纳推理中的重要作用;图形型归纳推理中的知觉信息整合与右侧额下回(BA47)、双侧尾状核头部、壳核等脑区有关。     

医患会话不同研究方法进展

医患会话研究是研究医患矛盾和医患关系的关键,从社会学和语言学的视角,对国内外的医患会话研究进行了梳理。社会学和语言学视角对会话的分析有很大的差异。社会学家是研究如何进行会话,认为会话能透视社会生活,而语言学家则研究语言如何建构以产生会话,认为作为社会生活资源的会话可以帮助发现语言的本质。医患会话研究还应该拓展到认知神经科学、心理学和医学领域。只有更好地开展医患会话的研究才能指导医生的会话策略,提高医患沟通能力,改善医患关系。     

The stability of function of automatically reinforced vocal stereotypy over time

Although prior research has suggested the function of socially reinforced problem behavior can change across time, the stability of the function of automatically reinforced behavior is largely unknown. Further, some authors have suggested automatically reinforced behavior is likely to enter into socially mediated contingencies. The present study compared 2 functional analyses conducted on the same target behavior at least 1 year apart. Participants were 6 individuals diagnosed with an intellectual or developmental disability displaying automatically reinforced vocal stereotypy. Results indicated the function of each participant's vocal stereotypy remained stable over time (i.e., no new functions were acquired); however, future research on functional stability for automatically reinforced behavior of other topographies is needed.     

Further extensions of precision medicine to behavior analysis: A demonstration using functional communication training

The potential applicability of concepts and methods of the paradigm of precision medicine to the field of applied behavior analysis is only beginning to be explored. Both precision medicine and applied behavior analysis seek to understand and classify clinical problems through identification of their causal pathways. Both aim to develop treatments directly targeting those causal pathways, which also requires an understanding of the mechanisms by which treatments produce change (treatment-action pathways). In the current study, we extend the data-analytic methods and concepts described by Hagopian et al. (2018) toward the identification of variables that predict response to functional communication training (FCT). We discuss emerging conceptual issues, including the importance of distinguishing predictive behavioral markers from predictor variables based on their purported involvement in the causal or treatment-action pathways. Making these discriminations is a complex undertaking that requires knowledge of these mechanisms and how they interact.     

ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR AND SELF-RESTRAINT

Many individuals who exhibit self-injurious behavior (SIB) also exhibit self-restraint. Three hypotheses about the determinants of self-restraint have been suggested: (a) Self-restraint is maintained by escape from or avoidance of aversive aspects of SIB, (b) self-restraint and SIB are members of the same functional class, and (c) self-restraint and SIB are functionally independent. This study examined a method by which the relationship between self-restraint and SIB may be investigated using functional analysis. Data were collected on the self-restraint and SIB exhibited by 5 mentally retarded males, while conditions suspected to maintain SIB were manipulated. Results suggested that self-restraint, like SIB, may be maintained by idiosyncratic contingencies. Implications of an understanding of self-restraint for the analysis and treatment of SIB are discussed, as are some general possibilities for future research.     

ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF TASK PREFERENCES,TASK DEMANDS,AND ADULT ATTENTION ON CHILD BEHAVIOR IN OUTPATIENT AND CLASSROOM SETTINGS

Two studies were conducted with children who displayed behavior problems to evaluate the effects of task preference, task demands, and adult attention on child behavior. In Study 1, we conducted brief functional analyses in an outpatient clinic to identify variables that facilitated appropriate behavior. For 8 of 10 children, distinct patterns of performance occurred; 3 children displayed improved behavior with changes in task demands, 1 child displayed improved behavior with a preferred task, and 4 children displayed improved behavior with changes in adult attention. In most cases, the children's parents carried out the assessments with adequate procedural integrity. In Study 2, we applied similar assessment methods to a classroom setting over an extended period of time. We identified independent variables controlling appropriate, on-task, and academic behavior for 2 children on two tasks, with slightly different treatment procedures across tasks for both children. In addition, the results of brief functional analyses for both children corresponded to the extended classroom assessments.