Body Image of Greek Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Mastectomy or Breast Conserving Surgery

The aim of this study was to assess and compare the body image of breast cancer patients (n = 70) whom underwent breast conserving surgery or mastectomy, as well as to compare patients’ scores with that of a sample of healthy control women (n = 70). A secondary objective of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the 10-item Greek version of the Body Image Scale, a multidimensional measure of body image changes and concerns. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on the items of this scale resulted in a two factor solution, indicating perceived attractiveness, and body and appearance satisfaction. Comparison of the two surgical groups revealed that women treated with mastectomy felt less attractive and more self-conscious, did not like their overall appearance, were dissatisfied with their scar, and avoided contact with people. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that more general body image concerns were associated with belonging to the mastectomy group, compared to the cancer-free group of women. Implications for clinical practice and recommendations for future investigations are discussed.     

Lexical prediction in the aging brain: The effects of predictiveness and congruency on the N400 ERP component

Although the N400 ERP component has been extensively studied in younger adults, the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. In older adults, N400 ERP studies have shown less efficient use of context compared to younger adults. Here, we asked whether the mechanisms underlying the N400 effect are the same in terms of predictiveness and congruency in younger and older adults. We used a simple picture-word matching task in which we crossed predictiveness and congruency. Our results indicate a three-way interaction between predictiveness, congruency, and age, in that, younger adults showed an N400 effect only in strongly constrained conditions; whereas, older adults showed an effect in both strongly- and weakly constrained conditions. This interaction was not modulated by language experience or cognitive decline. Our results support either two separate mechanisms (lexical access and integration) that run in parallel and are modulated by age or a common prediction error mechanism that changes with age.