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At least 415 records · Page 23Linked to original sources
PubMed2006

Last night I had the strangest dream: Varieties of rational thought processes in dream reports.

From the neurophysiological perspective, thinking in dreaming and the quality of dream thought have been considered hallucinatory, bizarre, illogical, improbable, or even impossible. This empirical phenomenological research concentrates on testing whether dream thought can be defined as rational in the sense of an intervening mental process between sensory perception and the creation of meaning, leading to a conclusion or to taking action. From 10 individual dream journals of male participants aged 22-59 years and female participants aged 25-49 years, we delimited four dreams per journal and randomly selected five thought units from each dream for scoring. The units provided a base for testing a hypothesis that the thought processes of dream construction are rational. The results support the hypothesis and demonstrate that eight fundamental rational thought processes can be applied to the dreaming process.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Psychosis after open heart surgery: a phenomenological study.

This brief self-reflective phenomenological study attempts to throw light on the inner mental processes that go on immediately following open heart surgery. The combination of organic assault, medication, post-traumatic stress, and psychological injury involved produces an abnormal mental state that can better be treated if it is understood from the point of view of the patient.

Atrial Fibrillation↗
PubMed1997

The shadow of object love: reconstructing Freud's theory of preoedipal guilt.

The systematic terms of metapsychology expressed in Freud's theory of oedipal guilt have overshadowed his emergent ideas about preoedipal internal objects and preoedipal guilt. This article reconstructs the latent theory of preoedipal guilt in his notions of narcissism, fantasy, aggression, and ambivalence. Special attention is devoted to his discussions of the narcissistic function of creating fantasized objects through identificatory processes, in order to compensate for loss or disturbances in object relating. Although Freud put forward the notion of oedipal guilt as a derivative of secondary mental processes, he intuitively grasped that guilt emerges from the conflict-bound sphere of preoedipal relations. "A Child Is Being Beaten" is used as an illustration, as are clinical examples drawn from the author's practice.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Exploring the nature and functions of the mind: a Tibetan Buddhist meditative perspective.

The Tibetan Buddhist classification of mind, its divisions and the system of meditation practices aimed at achieving ideal states of being are a complex presentation of psychological, behavioral and spiritual concepts and processes that demand thorough understanding before assessing their value and outcome (Yeshe, 1995). It is the authors' belief that with the rapid advances in the neuroscience of mental processes, both scientist and Tibetan practitioner can benefit from each other's knowledge and experience to enhance our search for greater understanding of the relationship between mind, body and spirit.

Buddhism↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Animal models of mental retardation: from gene to cognitive function.

About 2-3% of all children are affected by mental retardation, and genetic conditions rank among the leading causes of mental retardation. Alterations in the information encoded by genes that regulate critical steps of brain development can disrupt the normal course of development, and have profound consequences on mental processes. Genetically modified mouse models have helped to elucidate the contribution of specific gene alterations and gene-environment interactions to the phenotype of several forms of mental retardation. Mouse models of several neurodevelopmental pathologies, such as Down and Rett syndromes and X-linked forms of mental retardation, have been developed. Because behavior is the ultimate output of brain, behavioral phenotyping of these models provides functional information that may not be detectable using molecular, cellular or histological evaluations. In particular, the study of ontogeny of behavior is recommended in mouse models of disorders having a developmental onset. Identifying the role of specific genes in neuropathologies provides a framework in which to understand key stages of human brain development, and provides a target for potential therapeutic intervention.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Fictionality of schizophrenic delusions.

A state in which the phenomena of the surrounding world are transformed into a set of symbols that transmit indefinite meanings is thought to provide the circumstances under which delusions arise. The surrounding world is interpreted as a written text, and when the schizophrenic reads this and attempts to construct a coherent fictional account of it, a process of delusion formation takes place, and this process corresponds symptomatologically to a delusional system. If delusions are considered in comparison with fictions, in particular fantastic fictions, areas are found in the paranoid patient's mental processes where contingency is left out, and for that reason it is not possible for the delusional account to be satisfactorily completed.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

[Disorders of higher mental functions in localization of separate infarctions in the optic thalamus and in the region of thalamo-frontal tracts].

The paper presents 9 patients (5 women, 4 men, average age 58 years) with small infarctions located in either thalamus (T) or in the region of thalamofrontal ways. Such infarctions resulted in acute development of mental disorders which corresponded to dementia in 7 cases and to slight cognitive disorders in 2 cases. The complex of mental disorders resembled one in "Frontal Syndrome" and was characterised mainly by aspontaneity, adynamia, hypersomnia, disorientation, memory impairment, attention deficit, delay of all mental processes, lack of criticism and adequacy. Accompanying focal neurologic symptoms were slight in 7 patients, moderate or pronounced in 2 cases. In 5 patients the manifestation of mental disorders decreased gradually. Computer tomography revealed small infarctions in anterior or medial areas of T in 7 cases, and in thalamofrontal routes in 2 patients. Infarctions were located in dominant hemisphere of brain in 5 patients, in nondominant one--in 3 cases, in both hemispheres--in one patient. Location of all the foci corresponded to the structures through which the routes passed and connected T and reticular formation localized lower with frontal lobes of brain. It was suggested that separation of these routes resulted in cognitive disorders or dementia because of functional inactivation of the cortex of frontal lobes of brain.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Event-related desynchronization during an auditory oddball task.

OBJECTIVE: The present study addressed what kind of mental processes would be presented by the event-related desynchronization (ERD) relevant to the stimuli of an auditory oddball count task. METHODS: Electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded from nine healthy subjects while target tones (2000 Hz, P = 0.2) and non-target tones (1000 Hz, P = 0.8) were presented randomly with constant stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) of 3.3 s. To improve time resolution of ERD analysis, obtained EEG epochs were digitally convoluted by Gabor wavelet and averaged respectively. RESULTS: For target stimulus, prominent ERD was observed in left parieto-occipital areas (peak latency: 400-600 ms), but there were no significant ERD for non-target stimulus. CONCLUSION: Our result suggests that magnitude of ERD would reflect amount of mental effort which was associated with intentional and voluntary processes rather than automatically sensory process.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Disorders of higher mental function due to single infarctions in the thalamus and in the area of the thalamofrontal tracts.

Nine patients (five female and four male, mean age 58 years) with small infarcts in the thalamus (TH) or in the region of the thalamofrontal tracts and producing acute mental disturbances which in the acute phase of insult consisted of dementia in seven cases and mild cognitive disturbances in two cases. The complex of mental changes was similar to that seen in "frontal syndrome" and was characterized largely by lack of spontaneity, adynamia, disorientation, loss of attention and memory, slowing of all mental processes, and lack of criticality and adequacy. Accompanying focal neurological symptoms were mild in seven patients and moderate or pronounced in two. In five patients, the severity of mental disturbances decreased with time. Computer tomography demonstrated small infarcts in the anterior or medial parts of the TH in seven patients and in the posteromedial parts of the anterior limb of the internal capsule, i.e., the thalamofrontal tracts, in two cases. In five cases, infarcts were located in the dominant hemisphere, with lesions in the non-dominant hemisphere in three and in both hemispheres in one. The positions of all foci corresponded to structures traversed by pathways connecting the TH and the lower part of the reticular formation to the frontal lobes. It is suggested that disconnection of these pathways leads to cognitive lesions or dementia because of functional inactivation of the frontal cortex.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Reflective thinking in clinical nursing education: a concept analysis.

Over decades nursing had an interest in clarifying and developing its knowledge base and its conceptual foundation. Reflective thinking has become a popular word in nursing education world wide, but its meaning and effective use remains debatable because of lack of clarity in its meaning (Mackintosh, 1998:553). The researcher engaged in the concept analysis of reflective thinking so as to fully understand its meaning and interpretation, hence the research question to be addressed by this article is: "What is the meaning of reflective thinking in clinical nursing education?" This article seeks to explore and describe the conceptual meaning of reflective thinking in clinical nursing education using the method of concept analysis as outlined by Wilson (1963:23-39) and Gift (1997:75,76). Concept analysis of reflective thinking constitutes the first phase of a study to develop a model to facilitate reflective thinking in clinical nursing education, thus ensuring theoretical validity of the model. An extensive examination of domain specific and various disciplines' literature was explored as part of the concept analysis. A selection of information regarding variations and similarities in the use and interpretation of reflective thinking across clinical nursing education was drawn from computerised data bases. This increased the rigor and the findings of the analysis. Through deductive reasoning and drawing of inferences, attributes were clustered in an attempt to identify the apparent essence of the concept. Three categories and the related connotations emerged as follows: Antecedents (Cognitive and affective thinking skills). Process (The three phases of reflective thinking). Outcome ( New insight and changed perspective). Reflective thinking was considered from the result of concept analysis as a cyclic, interactive constructing mental process to improve practice in a specific context. It is recommended that a model to facilitate reflective thinking in clinical nursing education be developed based on the results of this concept analysis.

Cognition↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Current concepts regarding the cerebellum and cognition].

OBJECTIVE: To review the main cognitive processes regulated by the cerebellum and the anatomical circuits involved in their clinical correlation. DEVELOPMENT: The cerebellum is generally regarded as a regulator of motor function with a key role in movement coordination. Clinical evidence of the relation of the cerebellum to neural functions typically considered as cortical, is supplied by several neuropsychological alterations detected in both degenerative disorders and acute insult to the region such as vascular event and surgery. More anatomical circuits between the cerebellum and several cortical areas and limbic system, with the ventral pons region as main afference and efference relay of all these pathways. Cerebellar structures that are phylogenetically older such as the floculonodullar lobe, vermix, fastigial nuclei and globus nuclei have a tight relationship to emotional control and autonomic manifestations. More complex circuits are founded in the regulation of learning, motor planning and language. Functional imaging studies have helped to confirm the relationship between the cerebellum and memory processes, finding a selective activation of lateral regions during to cerebellar damage, such a frontal like syndromes, memory deficits and aphasia and even though dysmetria with incoordination between mental process velocity and its motor execution. CONCLUSIONS: All the data from clinical and functional studies indicate that the cerebellum has a central co-ordinating function not only of movement but also regulating thought. The cerebellum should, therefore, be reconsidered as a complex neurone system at much the same level as the more advanced cortical structures.

Cerebellum↗
PubMed2000

Sequential information processing during a mental arithmetic is reflected in the time course of event-related brain potentials.

OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that mental arithmetic is a complex of sequential information processing. In order to test the hypothesis, event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured during 3 mental tasks. METHODS: Fifteen normal human subjects performed the following tasks; (1) subjects added up every digit delivered successively on a computer display, (2) subjects counted the number of presented digits, or (3) subjects counted the number of meaningless patterns. Spatiotemporal differences between ERP waveforms under the 3 tasks were studied within the period of 1200 ms post-stimulus. RESULTS: During the adding task, N120-P180-N220 complex advanced in latency in the left frontal, central and parietal regions. P300 increased in amplitude in the frontal and temporal regions during adding and counting digits, which was specific to the digit presentation. A positive slow potential depended on the adding task and showed two spatiotemporal distributions; one was a widespread brain activity over the frontal, central, temporal and parietal regions observed within 400-820 ms, and another was a brain activity restricted to the frontal region lasting up to 1150 ms. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the early portion of ERPs reflects identification of physical attributes of stimuli and numeric meaning of digits, and that the positive slow potential reflects processes associated with calculation.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Varieties of numerical abilities.

This paper provides a tutorial introduction to numerical cognition, with a review of essential findings and current points of debate. A tacit hypothesis in cognitive arithmetic is that numerical abilities derive from human linguistic competence. One aim of this special issue is to confront this hypothesis with current knowledge of number representations in animals, infants, normal and gifted adults, and brain-lesioned patients. First, the historical evolution of number notations is presented, together with the mental processes for calculating and transcoding from one notation to another. While these domains are well described by formal symbol-processing models, this paper argues that such is not the case for two other domains of numerical competence: quantification and approximation. The evidence for counting, subitizing and numerosity estimation in infants, children, adults and animals is critically examined. Data are also presented which suggest a specialization for processing approximate numerical quantities in animals and humans. A synthesis of these findings is proposed in the form of a triple-code model, which assumes that numbers are mentally manipulated in an arabic, verbal or analogical magnitude code depending on the requested mental operation. Only the analogical magnitude representation seems available to animals and preverbal infants.

Aptitude↗
PubMed1975

EGG analysis: a history and a prospectus.

Progress in EGGy has been largely limited to those clinical situations in which there are pragmatic associations between observed electrical activity and disease processes. Lack of understanding of the functional significances of EEG patterns continues to present the major challenge to those who would use computational methods to increase our understanding of mental processes.

Anesthesia↗
PubMed1993

Quantitative perceptual estimates: verbal versus nonverbal retrieval techniques.

Examples of the inaccessibility of mental processes by means of verbal recall are described with particular reference to the accuracy of quantitative estimates of size, distance, and duration. Evidence is presented in support of the hypothesis that nonverbal retrieval techniques are more accurate than quantitative verbal estimates. Implications for the judicial process are considered.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Neuroscience, genetics, and the future of psychiatric diagnosis.

Nearly three decades after Robins and Guze's seminal delineation of the steps required to validate a psychiatric diagnosis, a pathophysiologically based classification of psychiatric disorders remains elusive. Contrary to optimistic expectations, approaches to diagnostic validity based on clinical description, laboratory studies, natural history of illness, and familial aggregation have not converged to yield a nosology based on valid disease entities. Defining a rational nosology for disorders of the brain, the body's most complex organ, is clearly one of the great challenges for modern medical science. Nonetheless, fundamental advances in our understanding of the genetic and environmental determinants of disease risk, and of the neural circuitry supporting normal and pathological mental processes promises to form the basis of improved classification in the coming decades.

Brain↗
PubMed2000

[Dynamics of mental disorders after extracerebral implantation of embryonal nervous tissue in epilepsy].

The paper presents the method elaborated by the authors for production, storage and implantation of embryonal nervous tissue (ENT). Extracerebral implantation was performed in 33 epileptic patients aged 2-58 years. Clinical state of the patients and EEG alterations were studied. Before treatment the patients' mental status was characterized by affective disorders, dysphoria, depression, exhaustion of mental processes, varying intellectual-mnestic decrease and behavioral disinhibition. Oligophrenia as of debility was observed in several cases. After implantation the pronounced positive changes in both paroxysmal states and overall mental status were observed in all the cases irrespective of their age of the patients. These clinical changes correlated with the dynamics of EEG changes (EEG changes were not observed in 2 individuals with positive clinical effects).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

The value of reconstruction in adult psychoanalysis.

Reconstruction is clinically valuable for the patient and fundamental for the analyst. The analyst will inevitably use reconstruction in order to comprehend the patient and to understand how that adult has remained a disturbed child with that particular psychopathology. Although not necessarily specified, reconstruction remains a very important dimension of psychoanalytic technique that is regaining analytic attention. After reviewing reasons for the shift of attention away from reconstruction, the signifcance of reconstruction is emphasized for restoring personality continuity and cohesion and for explaining neurotic repetition as it has developed in life and in the analytic transference. This utilization of reconstruction is illustrated in a case of anniversary depression, demonstrating the linkage between historical events and their intrapsychic interpretation and response, as well as the linkage between past and present, childhood and adult disorder. Reconstruction does not always automatically follow from the transference and analytic work. It is an inferential and integrative act which may overcome resistance and amnesia, which synthesizes memories and genetic interpretations in addition to substituting for missing memory and gaps in history. Without reconstruction, the personal and familial myths of the past may be joined by current analytic myth. The reconstructive integration identifies patterns and interrelationships rather than isolated conflicts and experiences, and the intrapsychic configurations, consequences, and developmental influences are far more important than actual historical facts. The past is transformed to new meanings and reorganized on new levels of development. Reconstruction leads to consideration and investigation of the mental processes of childhood and early infancy. It has had a significant role in the development of psychoanalysis, and reconstruction contributes to the formation, testing, and validation of psychoanalytic theory. For clinical research, it will be particularly rewarding to reconstruct the different phases of the psychoanalytic process.

Adjustment Disorders↗