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Biomedical subjects

R Penman

Publications and source records attributed to R Penman.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1983

Synchrony in mother-infant interaction: a possible neurophysiological base.

The extent to which mothers and their infants can synchronize their activity levels and cycles of engagement and disengagement has been seen as fundamental to healthy affective development in the infant. Ten mothers and their infants were studied to consider the possibility of a neurophysiological base to synchronization potential. The infants' neurophysiological capacities were examined within two to three days of birth using the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioural Assessment Scale. The same infants and their mothers were assessed in their interactions after three months. The mothers' physiological responses to stimulation also were examined. Significant correlations were found between neonatal responsivity to stimuli and motor maturity, maternal stimulus screening capacity and the nature of the mother-infant interaction at three months. In particular, infants who were more socially responsive and attentive to stimuli had mothers with a greater capacity for 'screening out' redundant stimuli. Moreover, these same dyads spent more time in social engagement and had fewer cycles of disengagement. These findings, together with other studies, suggest that particular neurophysiological capacities of mothers and infants may be more conducive to the synchronization of their interactions than others. This raises the possibility that the chaotic asynchrony observed in clinically diagnosed mother-infant disturbances may have a neurophysiological base.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1982

Some origins of the 'difficult' child: the Brazelton scale and the mother's view of her new-born's character.

Thirty-two mothers and their new-born babies were studied in order to consider, in a limited way, the manner in which a mother comes to attribute personality traits to her infant. The child's expected 'difficulty' was rated by means of a standardized inventory. In addition, a semi-structured interview was conducted with the mother, and her baby was examined by means which have been described by Brazelton. The circumstances of birth were taken from hospital records. Mothers who did not expect the child to be difficult showed a 'general flexibility' which probably related to coping ability. Babies who were seen as unlikely to be difficult had high scores on 'state control' and 'physiological response to stress'. These measures include ratings for habituation and seem to reflect an efficient means of dealing with stimuli. These infantile factors did not correlate with the maternal one, suggesting that a genetic explanation of the findings was not likely. The effect of the circumstances of birth was not strong, but medication level seemed important. The transcripts of the mothers' interviews were consistent with the view that the mother's assessment of her infant's character was not only influenced by a fine observation of the infant's behaviour but also by something like 'projective identification'. The transcripts also suggested that mechanisms which have been seen as important in the development of identity in adolescence may be operating from the first days of life.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A preliminary study on pain perception and tobacco smoking.

Ischaemic pain onset and tolerance in response to a pneumatic blood pressure cuff were compared in 17 non-deprived smokers, 30 deprived smokers, 15 smokers chewing nicotine gum and 16 non-smokers. Following removal of the cuff, all subjects completed the McGill pain questionnaire, rating pain in terms of its sensory, affective, evaluative and miscellaneous qualities. Group differences were found in the time elapsing before reporting the first twinge of pain. Non-deprived smokers had the shortest period to onset of pain. The longer the smokers had been deprived of cigarettes, the longer before the onset of pain. Non-deprived smokers also had a significantly shorter period of pain tolerance compared to deprived smokers. Non-deprived smokers tended to have a faster pain onset and a shorter tolerance period compared to non-smokers. Smokers' indices of pain were significantly higher on the several sub-scales describing the qualitative pain experience compared to non-smokers and to smokers deprived of cigarettes for more than one hour. Deprivation of cigarettes appears to diminish smokers' sensitivity to pain significantly below that of non-smokers and smoking cigarettes tends to heighten sensitivity to, or beyond, the level of non-smokers.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Pleural effusion: a rare manifestation of acute pulmonary blastomycosis.

A 47-year-old woman presented with cough, pleuritic chest pain and fever of three weeks duration. Although the patient lived in an area where blastomycosis is endemic, this diagnosis was not initially considered owing to the presence of consolidation and a large pleural effusion on the initial chest roentgenogram. Cultures of sputa, bronchial washings and pleural fluid documented the presence of pleuropulmonary infection with Blastomyces dermatitidis. Therapy with amphotericin B was associated with rapid clinical, roentgenographic and bacteriologic resolution of both pleural and parenchymal lung disease.

Acute Disease↗