The role of affinity for prosumption experiences and values

Prosumers are individuals who produce goods they consume themselves. The prosumption literature suggests that prosumption can be enhanced through knowledge sharing, creativity and innovation, and developing expertise. In this article, we investigate the relationships between prosumption experiences, prosumption values, and affinity with a prosumption activity. We use a structural equation model approach to evaluate the relationships between these constructs and assume that affinity can mediate the relationship between prosumption experiences and values. We collect empirical data from prosumers who homebrew their own beer and confirm that prosumption experiences and values are positively related, and that affinity mediates the relationship between experiences and values. Implications deriving from these findings are discussed along with directions for future research.     

Stress regulation and incision in borderline personality disorder-a pilot study modeling cutting behavior

Emotion dysregulation in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is characterized by high baseline negative intensity, high reactivity, and slow return to baseline. Patients with BPD often engage in self-injurious behavior because it leads to immediate relief of stress levels. We aimed to assess stress regulation as well as the influence of tissue damage on subjective (aversive tension) and objective (heart rate) stress correlates in BPD. In 14 unmedicated patients with BPD and 18 healthy controls, a stress induction was followed by an incision into the forearm conducted by an investigator. For aversive tension, we found elevated baseline levels as well as slower return to baseline in BPD. In controls, incision resulted in a short-term increase of aversive tension, whereas tension and heart rate decreased in the BPD group. Our preliminary results support the hypothesis that tissue damage may play a role in disturbed stress regulation in BPD.     

Passt oder passt nicht?

Differential indication in psychotherapy should be a process of decision making, that takes multiple factors into account, and not just the assignment of a particular disorder to the adequate therapeutic method. Unspecific characteristics of the patient, instead of disorder-specific features, as well as personality characteristics of the therapist having therapeutic relevance are important factors either. In this way decisions for an indication then turn into the crucial question of matching between patient and therapist. The receptivity of the patient is a central component. As a result of successful maching, the therapeutic relationship will improve which has a positive influence on the outcome of psychotherapy. According to the generic model of psychotherapy 4 levels of the decision-making process are defined. They serve as orientation for a differential indication taking into account both persons and methods. The realization of this indication model in in-patient treatment has some preconditions. Obligatory is the availability of a variety of therapists differing in therapeutic methods and personal characteristics. The mostly applied principles of matching decisions are listed in tabular form and illustrated by a case report.     

Children's spatial behavior is differentially affected after traumatic brain injury.

Spatial behavior in 20 children with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 20 healthy controls was investigated using the Kiel Locomotor Maze. Children had to remember defined locations in an experimental chamber with completely controlled intra- and extra-maze cues until learning criterion was reached. In a second experiment, spatial orientation strategies were assessed. Children with TBI were shown to be impaired in spatial learning and spatial memory. Spatial orientation was found to be deficient even in cases where spatial learning and memory proved to be unimpaired, especially in tasks that demanded the use of relational place strategies. Children who suffered a TBI at an early age proved to be more severely impaired in spatial learning and orientation than older children.     

A connectionist modeling study of the neural mechanisms underlying pain’s ability to reorient attention

Connectionist modeling was used to investigate the brain mechanisms responsible for pain’s ability to shift attention away from another stimulus modality and toward itself. Different connectionist model architectures were used to simulate the different possible brain mechanisms underlying this attentional bias, where nodes in the model simulated the brain areas thought to mediate the attentional bias, and the connections between the nodes simulated the interactions between the brain areas. Mathematical optimization techniques were used to find the model parameters, such as connection strengths, that produced the best quantitative fits of reaction time and event-related potential data obtained in our previous work. Of the several architectures tested, two produced excellent quantitative fits of the experimental data. One involved an unexpected pain stimulus activating somatic threat detectors in the dorsal posterior insula. This threat detector activity was monitored by the medial prefrontal cortex, which in turn evoked a phasic response in the locus coeruleus. The locus coeruleus phasic response resulted in a facilitation of the cortical areas involved in decision and response processes time-locked to the painful stimulus. The second architecture involved the presence of pain causing an increase in general arousal. The increase in arousal was mediated by locus coeruleus tonic activity, which facilitated responses in the cortical areas mediating the sensory, decision, and response processes involved in the task. These two neural network architectures generated competing predictions that can be tested in future studies.     

Habituation or Normalization? Experiential and Respiratory Recovery From Voluntary Hyperventilation in Treated Versus Untreated Patients With Panic Disorder

Psychophysiological theories postulate respiratory dysregulation as a mechanism contributing to panic disorder (PD). Additionally, symptomatic and respiratory recovery from voluntary hyperventilation (HVT-recovery) have been shown to lag in PD and it is unclear if HVT-recovery normalizes with treatment. Thirty-seven panic disorder patients were randomized to hypoventilation therapy (TX, n = 20) or waitlist control (WL, n = 17) (Meuret et al., 2008). In a secondary analysis, their HVT-recovery was analyzed at pre- and post-TX/WL, compared to 29 healthy controls (HC). HVT included three phases: 5-min baseline, 3-min hyperventilation, and 8-min recovery. HVT-elicited symptom severity and anxiety were rated following each phase, and end-tidal PCO₂ and respiratory rate (RR) were recorded throughout. Treatment, compared to WL, was highly effective in reducing PD pathology (d = 2.21, Meuret et al., 2008). At pre-TX/WL, PD demonstrated delayed HVT-recovery PCO₂ and higher RR. Treated patients demonstrated normalization of HVT-recovery for PCO₂ and RR; however, improvements of HVT-recovery for symptom severity and anxiety did not differ between TX and WL. Results replicate pretreatment HVT respiratory recovery abnormalities in PD and further demonstrate normalization, comparable to HC, following successful treatment. The results provide support for respiratory dysregulation as a feature of PD and demonstrate the utility of HVT respiratory recovery as treatment outcome measure for respiration-based PD therapy.