Transient manic behavior after pallidotomy

We report two cases of transient hypomanic behavior following pallidotomy. Both of the reported patients had lesions involving non-motor portions of the globus pallidus. Patient 1 had a lesion in the left anteromedial portion of GPi, while patient 2 had one lesion involving the anteromedial portion of GPi on the right and a second lesion involving the postero-ventral most portion of the putamen on the left. These cases emphasize the importance of placing lesions within the sensori-motor portion of GPi without infringing on adjacent non-motor portions. Cases involving transient manic behavior after pallidotomy have not been previously reported. Centers performing pallidotomy or DBS should be aware that lesions or stimulation too anterior in the GPi might lead to manic behavior.     

Alcohol as social lubricant.

This study examines how consuming alcohol differentially affects the communicative behavior and perceptions of high and low social self‐esteem (SSE) women as they engage in a brief interaction with a flirtatious male. Alcohol myopia theory proposes that alcohol affects behavior when it blocks a person's normal inhibitions about enacting a behavior. It was predicted that low SSE women would be more inhibited when talking to a flirtatious male than would high SSE women and, therefore administration of a social self‐esteem measure and random assignment to an alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverage condition, participants (N=50) talked with an attractive, flirtatious male confederate. Low SSE women were less anxious and self‐disclosed more when drinking than when sober, whereas high SSE women were not significantly affected by alcohol consumption. The discussion highlights the complex and often contradictory effects of alcohol consumption on social interaction.     

The effects of violent video games on aggression.

Violent content video games such as Mortal Kombat and Doom have become very popular among children and adolescents, causing great concern for parents, teachers, and policy makers. This study cumulates findings across existing empirical research on the effects of violent video games to estimate overall effect size and discern important trends and moderating variables. Results suggest there is a smaller effect of violent video games on aggression than has been found with television violence on aggression. This effect is positively associated with type of game violence and negatively related to time spent playing the games. Directions for future programmatic research on video games are outlined.