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At least 1,783 records · Page 99Linked to original sources
PubMed2006

The mirror neuron system and the consequences of its dysfunction.

The discovery of premotor and parietal cells known as mirror neurons in the macaque brain that fire not only when the animal is in action, but also when it observes others carrying out the same actions provides a plausible neurophysiological mechanism for a variety of important social behaviours, from imitation to empathy. Recent data also show that dysfunction of the mirror neuron system in humans might be a core deficit in autism, a socially isolating condition. Here, we review the neurophysiology of the mirror neuron system and its role in social cognition and discuss the clinical implications of mirror neuron dysfunction.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Psychiatric symptoms and their psychosocial consequences in frontotemporal dementia.

Based on a retrospective study of 19 neuropathologically verified cases with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), neuropsychiatric symptoms related to behavioral disturbances and their psychosocial consequences were studied. The results indicate that frontotemporal dementia is often misdiagnosed early in the clinical course. Behavioural features with impaired social interactions, impaired personal regulation, and loss of insight were seen in all patients. The psychosocial consequences reported in this paper challenge future research in frontotemporal dementia.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Concurrent alcoholism and social anxiety disorder: a first step toward developing effective treatments.

BACKGROUND: Social anxiety disorder (also called social phobia) is an anxiety disorder in which affected individuals fear the scrutiny of others. Clinical reports suggest that individuals with social anxiety disorder often use alcohol to alleviate anxiety symptoms, a practice that leads to alcohol abuse and/or dependence in approximately 20% of affected individuals. The present study investigated whether simultaneous treatment of social phobia and alcoholism, compared with treatment of alcoholism alone, improved alcohol use and social anxiety for clients with dual diagnoses of social anxiety disorder and alcohol dependence. METHODS: The design was a two-group, randomized clinical trial that used 12 weeks of individual cognitive behavioral therapy for alcoholism only (n = 44) or concurrent treatment for both alcohol and social anxiety problems (n = 49). Outcome data were collected at the end of 12 weeks of treatment and at 3 months after the end of treatment. RESULTS: Results with intent-to-treat analyses showed that both groups improved on alcohol-related outcomes and social anxiety after treatment. With baseline scores covaried, there was a significant effect of treatment group on several drinking measures. Counter to the hypothesis, the group treated for both alcohol and social anxiety problems had worse outcomes on three of the four alcohol use indices. No treatment group effects were observed on social anxiety indices. CONCLUSIONS: Implications for the staging of treatments for coexisting social phobia and alcoholism are discussed, as well as ways that modality of treatments might impact outcomes.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

The interface of oxytocin-labeled cells and serotonin transporter-containing fibers in the primate hypothalamus: a substrate for SSRIs therapeutic effects?

Oxytocin (OT) is a neuropeptide synthesized in the paraventricular (PVN) and supraoptic nuclei (SON) in the hypothalamus. Although OT is more commonly known for its role in the milk-ejection reflex, in recent years research has indicated that OT participates in the expression of social behavior, memory processing, modulation of fear, and stress responses. The demonstration that OT influences affiliative behaviors, such as parental care and reproduction, and decreases anxiety has lead to speculations that it may have a role in mood disorders. Evidence from pharmacologic studies, pointing out the modulation of the OT system by serotonin, has argued in favor of OT as a mediator of serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) antidepressant properties. In the present study, we investigated the distribution and overlap of OT-labeled cells and serotonin transporter (5-HTT) immunoreactive (IR) fibers in the Macaque hypothalamus, utilizing immunocytochemical and double-immunofluorescent techniques. Consistent with previous reports, the distribution of OT-labeled cells in the hypothalamus is confined to the PVN and SON. In these nuclei, we demonstrate that the distribution of 5-HTT-labeled fibers follows the distribution of OT-labeled cells. Overlap of OT-labeled neurons and 5-HTT-IR fibers occurs in the parvicellular, magnocellular, dorsal, and posterior subdivisions of the PVN. In the SON, 5-HTT-labeled fibers and OT-labeled cells overlap in the ventromedial subdivision and in the 'capsular' part of the dorsolateral SON. These findings provide neuroanatomic support for the idea that SSRIs' therapeutic effects on social affiliation and anxiety may be mediated in part through components of the OT system.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

The multidimensionality of psychopathology in a community sample.

Some researchers have advocated the use of rating scales that measure global constructs such as mental health or psychological distress. Others have advocated the use of discrete diagnostic categories. Using multidimensional scaling, we examine whether there is a single dimension of psychopathology among community respondents or whether there are distinct types. We find that psychopathology is multidimensional: distinct clusters of symptoms including physiological malaise, antisocial attitudes, demoralization, mistrust, and alcoholism appear. We conclude with a synthesis of the two approaches to measuring psychopathology.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Phone phobia, phact or phantasy? An operant approach to a child's disruptive behavior induced by telephone usage.

The clinical efficacy of a contingency management program for treating a developmentally disabled girl referred for telephone phobia was evaluated using both a multiple baseline across settings design and a reversal design. A descriptive analysis indicated that the 'phobia' was in all probability an operant, rather than a respondent. The treatment, consisting of differential reinforcement, extinction and time-out, was effective in reducing the frequency and intensity of disruptive behaviors in response to telephone usage. Follow-up assessments at 1, 3, and 6 months revealed that treatment gains were maintained.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed2006

Substance abuse in first-episode non-affective psychosis.

Abuse of alcohol and drugs is an important and clinically challenging aspect of first-episode psychosis. Only a few studies have been carried out on large-sized and reliably characterized samples. These are reviewed, and the results are compared with a sample of 300 first-episode psychosis patients recruited for the TIPS (Early Treatment and Identification of Psychosis) study from Norway and Denmark. Prevalence rates from the literature vary from 6% to 44% for drugs and 3% to 35% for alcohol. In our sample, 23% abused drugs and 15% abused alcohol during the last 6 months. When compared to non-abusers, the drug-abusing group is characterized by the following: male gender, younger age, better premorbid social, poor premorbid academic functioning, and more contact with friends in the last year before onset. Alcohol abusers were the oldest group and they had the least contact with friends. A group of patients abusing both drugs and alcohol had poor premorbid academic functioning from early childhood. Overall, drug and alcohol abuse are highly prevalent in contemporary first-episode psychosis samples. In our study, substance abuse comorbidity did not generate differences on diagnosis, duration of untreated psychosis, psychiatric symptoms, or global functioning at onset/baseline. The premorbid profiles of the substance abusers were clearly different from the non-abusers. Drug abusers, in particular, were more socially active both premorbidly and during the year preceding the start of treatment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Validation of the Portuguese version of the Social Adjustment Scale on Brazilian samples.

BACKGROUND: Social dysfunction is reported in several psychiatric diseases and its evaluation is becoming an important measure of treatment outcome. The aim of this study was to obtain normative data, to test the validity and the ability of the Portuguese version of the Self-Report Social Adjustment Scale (SAS-SR) to detect different clinical conditions. METHODS: The Portuguese version of the SAS-SR was applied to a carefully selected non-psychiatric sample, and to depressed, panic, bulimic and cocaine-dependent patients. Depressed and panic patients were evaluated in two different clinical conditions: acutely symptomatic and in remission. RESULTS: SAS overall and sub-scale scores of the normal sample were consistently lower than all patient groups, indicating better social adjustment in all areas. Panic patients were impaired to a lower level than depressed and cocaine-dependent patients in overall adjustment. Depressed patients in remission, although in better condition, were still impaired in relation to normal subjects in overall social functioning, leisure time and marital areas. In panic patients in remission, normalization was not achieved in overall functioning, work and marital areas. LIMITATIONS: Sample size was small in some groups and the evaluation was cross-sectional. CONCLUSIONS: The Portuguese version of SAS-SR is a useful instrument for detecting differences between psychiatric patients and normal subjects and for the evaluation of different clinical conditions, recommending its use in outcome studies.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

A brief smell identification test discriminates between deficit and non-deficit schizophrenia.

Evidence is accumulating that smell identification deficits (SID) and social dysfunction in schizophrenia may share a common pathophysiology. While most schizophrenia studies utilize the lengthy 40-item University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) to assess smell identification ability, a brief 12-item smell identification test (B-SIT) has recently been constructed as a culturally neutral substitute for the UPSIT. By selecting the 12 items of the UPSIT from which the B-SIT was originally derived, we constructed a proxy for the B-SIT and compared the performance of 83 patients with schizophrenia to 69 normal subjects. We examined select properties of the B-SIT proxy in relation to the UPSIT to determine its efficacy for use in psychiatric populations. We considered the sensitivity of the B-SIT proxy and evaluated a cutoff score for identifying deficit syndrome schizophrenia (DS). The UPSIT and B-SIT proxy were significantly related in the patients (n=83, r=0.85, P=0.01) and in comparison subjects (n=69, r=0.83, P=0.01), and both measures similarly distinguished DS from non-deficit syndrome (non-DS) patients. The results of this study support the utility of the B-SIT for schizophrenia research and highlight the robustness of the relationship between SID and social dysfunction in schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Diverse diagnostic and behavioural patterns amongst people with a dual diagnosis.

People who have both an intellectual disability and a mental illness diagnosis are gaining more attention in the mental health and developmental disabilities service systems. This interest is partly because of the challenging behaviours and the complexities of the problems in this population. The present study analyses the diagnoses, behaviour problems and demographic characteristics of a group of people with a dual diagnosis to determine if specific patterns are evident which distinguish this set of subjects. A group of 940 people who were part of a class action lawsuit in North Carolina, USA, were investigated. A factor analysis was conducted to determine whether or not distinct patterns or factors were evident. This analysis revealed six distinct patterns primarily based on the behaviour problems of this group and secondarily based on their diagnoses. These six factors are referred to as: (1) aggressive/disturbing behaviour; (2) withdrawal/asocial behaviour; (3) inappropriate behaviours; (4) sociopathic characteristics; (5) suicidal or runaway crises; and (6) pica disorder. The findings suggest that mental illness is a prominent characteristic of some of the six factors but not of others. Furthermore, an intellectual disability diagnosis and the particular level of intellectual disability are reflected very differently amongst all of these factors.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1996

The effect of Danquah Communication System (DanCS) boards on maladaptive behaviours among individuals with severe intellectual impairment and non-verbal communication skills.

There is evidence that some individuals with severe intellectual impairment who are non-verbal may, out of frustration, display such inappropriate behaviour as aggression and self-injury as a means of communicating their needs to caregivers. The purpose of this study was to develop an inexpensive augmented communication device and to teach individuals with multiple impairment to use this method to communicate their needs in order to reduce their aggressive behaviours. The Dan Communication System (DanCS) symbol boards were therefore designed with computerized voice interface to help the individuals communicate to caregivers by means of audio and visual signs. A working DanCS board has been successfully developed and can now be mass produced by a manufacturer. The DanCS board is illustrated and described. A measurement device called the Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) that focused on three target behaviours; pressing of symbols, control of aggression, and social interaction with caregivers, was used to evaluate progress in the participating subjects (N = 30). Results showed that the multiply impaired individuals in the study significantly improved in all the targeted behaviours through the use of the DanCS. Details of the study are reported.

Adult↗