Cognitive habilitation in schizophrenia: A theoretical review and model of treatment

Evidence has accumulated for information processing deficits in schizophrenia. The functional significance of these deficits is only beginning to be understood. There are indications that these deficits may respond to intervention. Training on deficient functions has been demonstrated to relate to improvements in performance. A treatment program of cognitive rehabilitation is deduced from the literature and induced from clinical experience. The treatment is designed to impact directly on the information processing deficits of schizophrenic patients and indirectly to ameliorate functional deficits.     

Bilateral Transcranial Direct Stimulation Over the Primary Motor Cortex Alters Motor Modularity of Multiple Muscles

Abstract

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the primary motor cortex (M1) has been demonstrated to modulate the motor performance of both healthy individuals and patients with neuromuscular disorders. However, the effect of tDCS on motor control of multiple muscles, which is a prerequisite to change in motor performance, is currently unknown. Using dimensionality reduction analysis, we investigated whether bilateral tDCS over M1 modulates the coordinated activity of 12 muscles. Fifteen healthy men participated in this randomized, double-blind crossover study. Each participant received a 20-min sham and 2-mA stimulation bilaterally over M1 (anode on the right M1 and cathode on the left M1), with a minimum washout period of 4?days. Muscle activation and end-point kinematics were evaluated during a task where participants reached out to a marked target with non-dominant hand as fast as possible, before and immediately after tDCS application. We found decreased similarity in motor modularity and significant changes in muscle activation in a specific motor module, particularly when reaching out to a target placed within arm’s length and improved smoothness index of movement only following 2-mA stimulation. These findings indicate that clinicians and researchers need to consider the simultaneous effect of bilateral tDCS over M1 on multiple muscles when they establish tDCS protocol to change in motor performance of patients with neuromuscular deficits.     

Effects of right and left hemisphere damage on performance of the "Right Hemisphere Communication Battery"

A Hebrew adaptation of Gardner and Brownell's (1986) "Right Hemisphere Communication Battery" (HRHCB) was administered to 27 right brain-damaged (RBD) patients, 31 left brain-damaged (LBD) patients, and 21 age-matched normal controls. Both patient groups showed deficits relative to controls and overall there was no difference between the two patient groups. A factor analysis of patients' scores on the HRHCB yielded two interpretable factors, a verbal and a nonverbal one. These factors were not lateralized. Performance of patients on the HRHCB correlated significantly and positively with performance on most tests of basic language functions, measured with a Hebrew adaptation of the "Western Aphasia Battery" (HWAB) and with other cognitive functions measured with standardized neuropsychological tests. There were stronger correlations of HRHCB with subtests of the HWAB in LBD patients and with nonlanguage cognitive tests in RBD patients. In the LBD group, HRHCB subtests' scores correlated negatively with lesion extent in frontal and temporal perisylvian regions. Such localization was not observed in RBD patients. The results argue against selective right hemisphere (RH) involvement in the RHCB, alleged to measure pragmatic aspects of language use, and show, instead, bilateral involvement. The results also argue against a modular organization of these functions of language use, especially in the RH.     

对伪医学现象的思考

伪医学是当今社会的普遍现象,给社会、家庭造成极大损失和危害。分析伪医学的滋生背景,并提出加强自身建设,加大科普宣传和媒体管理等扫除伪医学现象的对策。     

Does right hemisphere damaged patients' impaired performance on a sentence insertion task indicate a syntactic or a lexical level deficit?

The present paper focuses on two studies, one on English (Schneiderman & Saddy, 1988) and the other on Italian (De Vreese, Neri Rubichi, & Salvioli, 1996), which report on right hemisphere damaged subjects' inability to correctly insert a word or phrase into an already well-formed sentence under certain stimulus conditions. Despite their strikingly similar findings, the results of the studies are interpreted quite differently. Schneiderman & Saddy consider the deficit to be syntactic, while De Vreese et al. view it as occurring at the lexical category or morphological level. An analysis and regrouping of the stimulus items from both studies indicate that a single syntactic interpretation could account for their results. Suggestions are made for further analyses and research to increase our understanding of the syntactic capacities of the intact right hemisphere.     

Weak coherence,no theory of mind,or executive dysfunction? Solving the puzzle of pragmatic language disorders

Deficits in pragmatic language ability are common to a number of clinical populations, for example, right-hemisphere damage (RHD), Autism and traumatic brain injury (TBI). In these individuals the basic structural components of language may be intact, but the ability to use language to engage socially is impaired. Despite the nature of these difficulties being well documented, exactly what causes these difficulties is less clear. Furthermore, the current status of causal explanations for pragmatic difficulties across these populations is divergent and sometimes contradictory. This paper explores the empirical validity of three theories that attempt to explain pragmatic language impairment. It is recommended that a new, more convergent approach to investigating the causes of pragmatic language disability be adopted.     

The Metaethical Paradox of Just War Theory

The traditional requirements upon the waging of a just war are ostensibly independent, but in actual practice each tenet is subject ultimately to the interpretation of a legitimate authority, whose declaration becomes the necessary and sufficient condition. While just war theory presupposes that some acts are absolutely wrong, it also implies that the killing of innocents can be rendered permissible through human decree. Nations are conventionally delimited, and leaders are conventionally appointed. Any group of people could band together to form a nation, and any person could, in principle, be appointed the leader of any nation. Because the just war approach assumes absolutism while implying relativism, the stance is paradoxical and hence rationally untenable.     

For the greater goods? Ownership rights and utilitarian moral judgment

People often judge it unacceptable to directly harm a person, even when this is necessary to produce an overall positive outcome, such as saving five other lives. We demonstrate that similar judgments arise when people consider damage to owned objects. In two experiments, participants considered dilemmas where saving five inanimate objects required destroying one. Participants judged this unacceptable when it required violating another’s ownership rights, but not otherwise. They also judged that sacrificing another’s object was less acceptable as a means than as a side-effect; judgments did not depend on whether property damage involved personal force. These findings inform theories of moral decision-making. They show that utilitarian judgment can be decreased without physical harm to persons, and without personal force. The findings also show that the distinction between means and side-effects influences the acceptability of damaging objects, and that ownership impacts utilitarian moral judgment.     

正常高值血压者血压昼夜节律与靶器官损害的相关性研究

探讨正常高值血压昼夜节律与靶器官损害的相关性。入选正常高值血压者150例,其中杓型组72例,非杓型组78例,60例正常血压者为对照组。检测尿白蛋白排泄率（UAE）、颈动脉内膜中层厚度（IMT）和左心室重量指数（LVMI）。杓型组和非杓型组UAE、IMT、LVMI高于对照组（P＜0．01）。非杓型组UAE、IMT、LVMI高于杓型组（P＜0．05）。正常高值血压人群已出现靶器官损害,血压昼夜节律异常与早期靶器官损害密切相关。     

Rate of Torque Development and Feedforward Control of the Hip and Knee Extensors: Gender Differences

The purpose of this study was to determine whether women demonstrate decreased rate of torque development (RTD) of the hip and knee extensors and altered onset timing of the vastus lateralis and gluteus maximus during a drop-jump task when compared with men. On average, women demonstrated significantly lower normalized RTD of the hip extensors (women: 11.6 ± 1.3 MVT.s^?1, men: 13.1 ± 0.9 MVT.s^?1; p ≤ .01); however, there was no significant difference in knee extensor RTD. Women also demonstrated significantly earlier activation of their vastus lateralis (women: 206.0 ± 130.6 ms, men: 80.9 ± 69.6 ms; p ≤ .01) and gluteus maximus (women: 85.7 ± 58.6 ms, men: 54.5 ± 35.4 ms; p = .02). In both men and women, there was a significant negative correlation between the hip extensor RTD and the vastus lateralis electromyographic onset time (men: r = –.386, p = .046; women: r = –.531, p = .008). The study findings suggest that women may utilize a feedforward control strategy in which they activate their knee extensors earlier than men to compensate for deficits in hip extensor RTD. The impaired capacity to rapidly stabilize the hip and knee joints during dynamic maneuvers may contribute to the increased risk of anterior cruciate ligament injury observed in women.