Perfectionism, weight and shape concerns, and low self-esteem: Testing a model to predict bulimic symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

La Mela, Carmelo; Maglietta, Marzio; Caini, Saverio; Casu, Giuliano P; Lucarelli, Stefano; Mori, Sara; Ruggiero, Giovanni Maria

2015-12-01

Previous studies have tested multivariate models of bulimia pathology development, documenting that a confluence of perfectionism, body dissatisfaction, and low self-esteem is predictive of disordered eating. However, attempts to replicate these results have yielded controversial findings. The objective of the present study was to test an interactive model of perfectionism, weight and shape concerns, and self-esteem in a sample of patients affected by Eating Disorder (ED). One-hundred-sixty-seven ED patients received the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I (SCID-I), and they completed the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS-F). Several mediation analysis models were fit to test whether causal effects of concern over weight and shape on the frequency of bulimic episodes were mediated by perfectionism and moderated by low levels of self-esteem. Contrary to our hypotheses, we found no evidence that the causal relationship investigated was mediated by any of the dimensions of perfectionism. As a secondary finding, the dimensions of perfectionism, perceived criticism and parental expectations, were significantly correlated with the presence of bulimic symptoms. The validity of the interactive model remains controversial, and may be limited by an inadequate conceptualization of the perfectionism construct.

Examining impulsivity as a moderator of the relationship between body shame and bulimic symptoms in Black and White young women.

Science.gov (United States)

Higgins, M K; Lin, Stacy L; Alvarez, Alexandra; Bardone-Cone, Anna M

2015-06-01

Impulsivity has been linked to bulimic symptomatology in a number of studies; however, few have examined this relationship among Black women. We investigated the correlations between impulsivity and bulimic symptoms, and tested impulsivity as a moderator of the body shame/bulimic symptoms relationship among a sample of female undergraduates (N=276; 97 Blacks, 179 Whites). These participants provided data on body shame, impulsivity, and bulimic symptoms (EDE-Q binge eating frequency, BULIT-R, EDI-Bulimia). Among Blacks, impulsivity was significantly positively associated with all bulimic symptoms measures; among Whites, impulsivity was only positively correlated with binge eating frequency. Furthermore, among Blacks, the combination of high body shame and high impulsivity was associated with the highest levels of bulimic symptoms; these findings were not observed among Whites. This study highlights the importance of impulsivity and body shame in identifying bulimic symptomatology among Black women. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Subjective Experience of Episodic Memory and Metacognition: A Neurodevelopmental Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Souchay, Céline; Guillery-Girard, Bérengère; Pauly-Takacs, Katalin; Wojcik, Dominika Zofia; Eustache, Francis

2013-01-01

Episodic retrieval is characterized by the subjective experience of remembering. This experience enables the co-ordination of memory retrieval processes and can be acted on metacognitively. In successful retrieval, the feeling of remembering may be accompanied by recall of important contextual information. On the other hand, when people fail (or struggle) to retrieve information, other feelings, thoughts, and information may come to mind. In this review, we examine the subjective and metacognitive basis of episodic memory function from a neurodevelopmental perspective, looking at recollection paradigms (such as source memory, and the report of recollective experience) and metacognitive paradigms such as the feeling of knowing). We start by considering healthy development, and provide a brief review of the development of episodic memory, with a particular focus on the ability of children to report first-person experiences of remembering. We then consider neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) such as amnesia acquired in infancy, autism, Williams syndrome, Down syndrome, or 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. This review shows that different episodic processes develop at different rates, and that across a broad set of different NDDs there are various types of episodic memory impairment, each with possibly a different character. This literature is in agreement with the idea that episodic memory is a multifaceted process. PMID:24399944

Adding thin-ideal internalization and impulsiveness to the cognitive-behavioral model of bulimic symptoms.

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Schnitzler, Caroline E; von Ranson, Kristin M; Wallace, Laurel M

2012-08-01

This study evaluated the cognitive-behavioral (CB) model of bulimia nervosa and an extension that included two additional maintaining factors - thin-ideal internalization and impulsiveness - in 327 undergraduate women. Participants completed measures of demographics, self-esteem, concern about shape and weight, dieting, bulimic symptoms, thin-ideal internalization, and impulsiveness. Both the original CB model and the extended model provided good fits to the data. Although structural equation modeling analyses suggested that the original CB model was most parsimonious, hierarchical regression analyses indicated that the additional variables accounted for significantly more variance. Additional analyses showed that the model fit could be improved by adding a path from concern about shape and weight, and deleting the path from dieting, to bulimic symptoms. Expanding upon the factors considered in the model may better capture the scope of variables maintaining bulimic symptoms in young women with a range of severity of bulimic symptoms. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of trait and ability emotional intelligence in bulimic symptoms.

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Gardner, Kathryn Jane; Quinton, Stephanie; Qualter, Pamela

2014-04-01

Bulimia is characterized by poor affect regulation, yet the role of emotional intelligence (EI) is little understood. This study examined associations between EI and bulimic symptoms using 235 women from community and student populations. They completed measures of trait and ability EI, and the Eating Disorders Diagnostic Scale. Results showed that deficiencies in different aspects of trait EI and/or ability EI are a function of symptom type: binge eating, compensatory behaviours or weight and shape concerns. Consistent with affect regulation models, self-regulatory aspects of trait EI were related to two bulimic symptoms: binge eating and weight and shape concerns. Ability-based self-emotion management was not important, and explanatory power of lower-level EI facets (traits or abilities) was not superior to more broadly defined EI factors. Results support the conclusion that trait and ability EI may maintain subclinical levels of bulimic symptoms but have different paths. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Association between objective and subjective binge eating and psychopathology during a psychological treatment trial for bulimic symptoms.

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Goldschmidt, Andrea B; Accurso, Erin C; Crosby, Ross D; Cao, Li; Ellison, Jo; Smith, Tracey L; Klein, Marjorie H; Mitchell, James E; Crow, Scott J; Wonderlich, Stephen A; Peterson, Carol B

2016-12-01

Although loss of control (LOC) while eating is a core construct of bulimia nervosa (BN), questions remain regarding its validity and prognostic significance independent of overeating. We examined trajectories of objective and subjective binge eating (OBE and SBE, respectively; i.e., LOC eating episodes involving an objectively or subjectively large amount of food) among adults participating in psychological treatments for BN-spectrum disorders (n = 80). We also explored whether changes in the frequency of these eating episodes differentially predicted changes in eating-related and general psychopathology and, conversely, whether changes in eating-related and general psychopathology predicted differential changes in the frequency of these eating episodes. Linear mixed models with repeated measures revealed that OBE decreased twice as rapidly as SBE throughout treatment and 4-month follow-up. Generalized linear models revealed that baseline to end-of-treatment reductions in SBE frequency predicted baseline to 4-month follow-up changes in eating-related psychopathology, depression, and anxiety, while changes in OBE frequency were not predictive of psychopathology at 4-month follow-up. Zero-inflation models indicated that baseline to end-of-treatment changes in eating-related psychopathology and depression symptoms predicted baseline to 4-month follow-up changes in OBE frequency, while changes in anxiety and self-esteem did not. Baseline to end-of-treatment changes in eating-related psychopathology, self-esteem, and anxiety predicted baseline to 4-month follow-up changes in SBE frequency, while baseline to end-of-treatment changes in depression did not. Based on these findings, LOC accompanied by objective overeating may reflect distress at having consumed an objectively large amount of food, whereas LOC accompanied by subjective overeating may reflect more generalized distress related to one's eating- and mood-related psychopathology. BN treatments should

Subjective quality of life in first-episode psychosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gardsjord, Erlend Strand; Romm, Kristin Lie; Friis, Svein

2016-01-01

UNLABELLED: Subjective quality of life (S-QoL) is an important outcome measure in first episode psychosis (FEP). The aims of this study were to describe S-QoL-development the first 10-years in FEP patients and to identify predictors of this development. METHODS: A representative sample of 272...... patients with a first episode psychotic disorder was included from 1997 through 2000. At 10year follow-up 186 patients participated. QoL was measured by the Lehman's Quality of Life Interview. Linear mixed model analyses were performed to investigate longitudinal effects of baseline psychiatric symptoms...

Weight Suppression Predicts Bulimic Symptoms at 20-year Follow-up: The Mediating Role of Drive for Thinness

Science.gov (United States)

Bodell, Lindsay P.; Brown, Tiffany A.; Keel, Pamela K.

2016-01-01

Weight suppression predicts the onset and maintenance of bulimic syndromes. Despite this finding, no study has examined psychological mechanisms contributing to these associations using a longitudinal design. Given societal pressures to be thin and an actual history of higher weight, it is possible that greater weight suppression contributes to increased fear of gaining weight and preoccupation with being thin, which increase vulnerability to eating disorders. The present study investigated whether greater drive for thinness mediates associations between weight suppression and bulimic symptoms over long-term follow-up. Participants were women (n = 1190) and men (n = 509) who completed self-report surveys in college and 10- and 20- years later. Higher weight suppression at baseline predicted higher bulimic symptoms at 20-year follow-up (p symptoms, body mass index, and drive for thinness. Increased drive for thinness at 10-year follow-up mediated this effect. Findings highlight the long-lasting effect of weight suppression on bulimic symptoms and suggest that preoccupation with thinness may help maintain this association. Future studies would benefit from incorporating other hypothesized consequences of weight suppression, including biological factors, into risk models. PMID:27808544

The effects of social support and stress perception on bulimic behaviors and unhealthy food consumption.

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Kwan, Mun Yee; Gordon, Kathryn H

2016-08-01

Two studies tested a model where perceived stress was the proposed mediator for the relationship between perceived social support and bulimic behaviors, and between perceived social support and unhealthy food consumption among undergraduate students. Study 1 was a longitudinal, online study in which undergraduate students completed the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and the Bulimia Test-Revised at the Time 1 assessment, and the Perceived Stress Scale and the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire at the Time 2 assessment, approximately four weeks later. Study 2 was an experimental study in which female participants were randomly assigned into a group with or without social support. Stress was induced with a speech task, followed by a bogus taste task paradigm designed to assess unhealthy food consumption. Bootstrap analyses revealed an indirect effect of perceived social support on bulimic behaviors and unhealthy food consumption through perceived stress. Perceived social support was associated with lower perceived stress in both studies. Lower perceived stress was associated with less self-reported bulimic behaviors in Study 1 and greater consumption of unhealthy foods in Study 2. The negative association between perceived stress and calorie consumption in Study 2 was moderated by dietary restraint. Findings suggest that stress perception helps to explain the relationship between perceived social support and bulimic behaviors, and between perceived social support and calorie consumption. Stress perception may be an important treatment target for eating disorder symptoms among undergraduate students. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Subjective binge eating with compensatory behaviors: a variant presentation of bulimia nervosa.

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Watson, Hunna J; Fursland, Anthea; Bulik, Cynthia M; Nathan, Paula

2013-03-01

To determine whether a variant bulimic-type presentation, whereby one meets criteria for bulimia nervosa (BN) except that binge eating episodes are not objectively large (i.e., "subjective bulimia nervosa," SBN), has comparable clinical severity to established eating disorders, particularly BN. Treatment-seeking adults with BN (N = 112), SBN (N = 28), anorexia nervosa restricting type (AN-R) (N = 45), and AN-binge/purge type (AN-B/P) (N = 24) were compared. Overall, SBN could not be meaningfully distinguished from BN. SBN and BN had equivalent eating pathology, depression and anxiety symptoms, low quality of life, impulsivity, Axis I comorbidity, and lifetime psychiatric history, and comparable clinical severity to AN-R and AN-B/P. Individuals with SBN, differing from BN only by the smaller size of their binge eating episodes, had a form of eating disorder comparable in clinical severity to threshold AN and BN and warranting clinical attention. Health professionals and the community require greater awareness of this variant to optimize detection, treatment-seeking, and outcomes. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The dysregulated cluster in personality profiling research: Longitudinal stability and associations with bulimic behaviors and correlates

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Slane, Jennifer D.; Klump, Kelly L.; Donnellan, M. Brent; McGue, Matthew; Iacono, William G.

2013-01-01

Among cluster analytic studies of the personality profiles associated with bulimia nervosa, a group of individuals characterized by emotional lability and behavioral dysregulation (i.e., a dysregulated cluster) has emerged most consistently. However, previous studies have all been cross-sectional and mostly used clinical samples. This study aimed to replicate associations between the dysregulated personality cluster and bulimic symptoms and related characteristics using a longitudinal, population-based sample. Participants were females assessed at ages 17 and 25 from the Minnesota Twin Family Study, clustered based on their personality traits. The Dysregulated cluster was successfully identified at both time points and was more stable across time than either the Resilient or Sensation Seeking clusters. Rates of bulimic symptoms and related behaviors (e.g., alcohol use problems) were also highest in the dysregulated group. Findings suggest that the dysregulated cluster is a relatively stable and robust profile that is associated with bulimic symptoms. PMID:23398096

Examination of Psychosocial and Physiological Risk for Bulimic Symptoms in Youth With Type 1 Diabetes Transitioning to an Insulin Pump: A Pilot Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, Claire M; Young-Hyman, Deborah; Fischer, Sarah; Markowitz, Jessica T; Muir, Andrew B; Laffel, Lori M

2018-01-01

This study tested hypotheses drawn from a risk model positing that psychosocial risk plus disease-related and treatment factors contribute to bulimic symptoms in youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D) transitioning to an insulin pump. The goal of this study was to examine whether disease-related factors, particularly disease- and treatment-based disruption in hunger and satiety, contribute to report of bulimic symptoms in youth with T1D after accounting for psychosocial risk factors. 43 youth (ages 10-17, 54% female) with established T1D were recruited before transition from multiple daily injections to insulin-pump therapy from three tertiary pediatric diabetes centers. Participants completed measures of bulimic symptoms, depressive symptoms dietary restraint, and the Diabetes Treatment and Satiety Scale, a diabetes-specific questionnaire assessing hunger and satiety cues and eating behavior in response to blood glucose levels and treatment. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to assess contributions of psychosocial and disease-based risk to report of bulimic symptoms. After assessing the contributions of body mass index, body image dissatisfaction, and dietary restraint, a significant 2-way interaction emerged between depression and diabetes-related uncontrollable hunger related to bulimic symptoms (β = 1.82, p < .01). In addition to psychosocial risk, disease- and treatment-based hunger and satiety dysregulation appear to be important factors contributing to report of bulimic symptoms in youth with T1D. These preliminary findings have significant treatment implications for bulimic symptoms in youth with T1D. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Poor self-recognition of disordered eating among girls with bulimic-type eating disorders: cause for concern?

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Gratwick-Sarll, Kassandra; Bentley, Caroline; Harrison, Carmel; Mond, Jonathan

2016-08-01

Bulimic-type eating disorders are common among young women and associated with high levels of distress and disability and low uptake of mental health care. We examined self-recognition of disordered eating and factors associated with this among female adolescents with bulimic-type eating disorders (n = 139) recruited from a large, population-based sample. A vignette of a fictional character with bulimia nervosa was presented, followed by a series of questions addressing the nature and treatment of the problem described. One of these questions required participants to indicate whether they currently had a problem such as the one described. Self-report measures of eating disorder symptoms, general psychological distress and quality of life were also completed. More than half of participants (58%) did not believe that they currently had a problem with their eating. In multivariable analysis, impairment in emotional well-being and self-induced vomiting were the only variables independently associated with self-recognition. Participants who recognized a problem with their eating were more likely to have sought treatment for an eating problem than those who did not. Recognition of disordered eating among adolescents with bulimic-type eating disorders may be poor and this may be a factor in low uptake of mental health care. Health promotion efforts may need to address the misconception that only bulimic-type disorders involving self-induced vomiting are pathological. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

A 4-Year Longitudinal Investigation of the Processes by Which Parents and Peers Influence the Development of Early Adolescent Girls' Bulimic Symptoms

Science.gov (United States)

Blodgett Salafia, Elizabeth H.; Gondoli, Dawn M.

2011-01-01

Bulimic symptoms are fairly common among adolescent girls, and the dual pathway model outlines one possible etiological chain leading to bulimic symptoms. The present study seeks to longitudinally examine the pathways proposed by this model while focusing on the relative contribution of parents and peers (via direct encouragement or pressure to be…

The Assessment of Bulimic Symptoms and Personality Correlates in Female College Students.

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Nagelberg, Daniel B.; And Others

1984-01-01

Classified college women (N=244) into three groups according to bulimic symptoms: (1) binge eating; (2) purging; and (3) controls. Results indicated purging may represent the critical behavior in bulimia assessment. Purgers showed lower self-esteem, lowered will control, and less regard for social demands, suggesting significant differences…

Associação entre comportamento alimentar, consumo de cigarro, drogas e episódios depressivos em adolescentes Association between eating behavior and smoking, use of illicit drugs and depressive episodes in adolescents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juliany Piazzon Gomes

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Objetivo Identificar a prevalência de sintomas de transtornos alimentares em estudantes do sexo feminino matriculadas no ensino fundamental da rede estadual do município de Toledo (PR, bem como relacionar esses sintomas com o hábito de fumar, o uso de drogas e episódios depressivos. Métodos Foram utilizados os instrumentos Teste de Investigação Bulímica de Edimburgo, com escala de sintoma e gravidade, e o Eating Attitudes Test-26, acrescido de perguntas sobre tabagismo, uso de drogas e episódios depressivos. A amostra constituiu-se de cerca de 300 estudantes do sexo feminino, na faixa etária entre 10 e 15 anos. Resultados Os resultados demonstraram que as estudantes apresentaram prevalências de sintomas de transtornos alimentares na ordem de 4,2% para a escala Teste de Investigação Bulímica de Edimburgo e 3,6% para o Eating Attitudes Test-26. A prevalência de consumo de cigarro foi de 4,2%, do uso de drogas, 4,9% e de episódios depressivos, 10,7%. Observaram-se associações significativas entre episódios depressivos e os seguintes parâmetros: Teste de Investigação Bulímica de Edimburgo - escala de sintomas (p=0,04 e Teste de Investigação Bulímica de Edimburgo - escala de gravidade (p=0,02. Os hábitos de fumar (p=0,01 e de usar drogas (p=0,04 também apresentaram associação com Teste de Investigação Bulímica de Edimburgo - escala de sintomas. Conclusão Verificou-se nas estudantes deste estudo elevada probabilidade de desenvolver comportamentos de risco, tais como transtornos alimentares e episódios depressivos.Objective The goal of this study was to identify the prevalence of symptoms of eating disorders in female students enrolled in state elementary schools and investigate a possible association between these eating disorders and smoking, illicit drug use and depressive episodes. Methods The Bulimic Investigatory Test of Edinburgh with symptom and severity scales and the Eating Attitudes Test - 26 with

Determinants of subjective quality of life in first-episode schizophrenia: perspective from Malaysia.

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Chee, K Y

2010-05-01

This study sought to examine the determinants of subjective quality of life among patients with first-episode schizophrenia in a developing country. One-hundred and twenty patients registered with National Mental Health Registry for Schizophrenia from 1 January 2003 to 31 August 2005 were included. They were diagnosed with first-episode schizophrenia, schizoaffective and schizophreniform disorders and had been compliant to treatment. Sociodemographic data were obtained and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-Anchored Version, Health of The Nation Outcome Scales, Simpson-Angus Extrapyramidal Side Effects Scale, Barnes Akathisia Scale and the World Health Organization Quality of Life were used to assess psychopathology, side effects from antipsychotics and subjective quality of life. Gender, positive and disorganized symptoms of schizophrenia, and cognitive and physical impairments appeared to be the most important predictors of subjective quality of life among the patients from this centre in Malaysia. Different domains of self-rated quality of life correlated with different sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Some of the characteristics were malleable and a better understanding of these could lead to improvements in the management of patients with schizophrenia.

Reduction in total plasma ghrelin levels following catecholamine depletion: relation to bulimic and depressive symptoms.

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Homan, Philipp; Grob, Simona; Milos, Gabriella; Schnyder, Ulrich; Hasler, Gregor

2013-09-01

There is increasing preclinical and clinical evidence of the important role played by the gastric peptide hormone ghrelin in the pathogenesis of symptoms of depression and eating disorders. To investigate the role of ghrelin and its considered counterpart, peptide tyrosine tyrosine (PYY), in the development of bulimic and depressive symptoms induced by catecholamine depletion, we administered the tyrosine hydroxylase inhibitor alpha-methyl-paratyrosine (AMPT) in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover, single-site experimental trial to 29 healthy controls and 20 subjects with fully recovered bulimia nervosa (rBN). We found a decrease between preprandial and postprandial plasma ghrelin levels (psymptoms (psymptoms induced by catecholamine depletion. These findings suggest a relationship between catecholamines and ghrelin with depressive symptoms. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bulimics with and without Prior Anorexia Nervosa: A Comparison of Personality Characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

Katzman, Melanie A.; Wolchik, Sharlene A.

A controversial issue in the literature on eating disorders is whether or not bulimia is a disorder distinct from anorexia nervosa. To compare the personality and behavioral characteristics of bulimic women with and without prior anorexia nervosa, 14 female college students (mean age 19.6 years, 86 percent white) were divided into two groups…

Depressive Symptoms, Emotion Dysregulation, and Bulimic Symptoms in Youth With Type 1 Diabetes

Science.gov (United States)

Young-Hyman, Deborah L.; Peterson, Claire M.; Fischer, Sarah; Markowitz, Jessica T.; Muir, Andrew B.; Laffel, Lori M.

2016-01-01

This study evaluated the associations between depressive symptoms, emotion dysregulation and bulimic symptoms in youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D) in the context of the diagnosis and treatment of T1D. Study participants were 103 youth in 2 distinct groups: newly diagnosed (New) or transitioning to pump therapy (continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion [CSII]; “Pump”), who completed questionnaires regarding symptoms of depression, emotion dysregulation, and bulimia. Glycemic control (A1c), height, weight, and questionnaires were evaluated within 10 days of diagnosis (n = 58) or at education/clinic visit before starting insulin utilizing CSII (n = 45). In the newly diagnosed group, only depression accounted for significant variance in bulimia scores (β = .47, P symptoms and emotion dysregulation were associated with greater bulimic symptoms. Depressive symptoms and emotion dysregulation, an indicator of poor coping/behavioral control, could help explain adoption of disordered eating behaviors in youth with T1D who are transitioning to pump therapy. PMID:27137457

Perspectives on Episodic-like and Episodic Memory

OpenAIRE

Bettina M Pause; Armin eZlomuzica; Kiyoka eKinugawa; Jean eMariani; Reinhard ePietrowsky; Ekrem eDere

2013-01-01

Episodic memory refers to the conscious recollection of a personal experience that contains information on what has happened and also where and when it happened. Recollection from episodic memory also implies a kind of first-person subjectivity that has been termed autonoetic consciousness. Episodic memory is extremely sensitive to cerebral aging and neurodegenerative diseases. In Alzheimer’s disease deficits in episodic memory function are among the first cognitive symptoms observed. Further...

Bulimic behaviours and psychopathology in obese adolescents and in their parents

OpenAIRE

Isnard, Pascale; Quantin, Laure; Cortese, Samuele; Falissard, Bruno; Musher-Eizenman, Dara; Guedeney, Antoine; Frelut, Marie-Laure; Mouren, Marie-Christine

2010-01-01

Objective. To help identify and advance the understanding of the potential mechanisms underlying the association between parents? and adolescents? psychological maladjustment in obesity, we evaluated bulimic behaviours and psychopathology in a clinical sample of obese adolescents and in their parents. Methods. This is a cross-sectional cohort study including 115 severely obese, treatment-seeking adolescents aged 12?17 years (mean age: 14.2; mean body mass index z-score: 4.32), and their paren...

Metabolic syndrome in subjects with bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder in a current depressive episode: Population-based study: Metabolic syndrome in current depressive episode.

Science.gov (United States)

Moreira, Fernanda Pedrotti; Jansen, Karen; Cardoso, Taiane de Azevedo; Mondin, Thaíse Campos; Magalhães, Pedro Vieira da Silva; Kapczinski, Flávio; Souza, Luciano Dias de Mattos; da Silva, Ricardo Azevedo; Oses, Jean Pierre; Wiener, Carolina David

2017-09-01

To assess the differences in the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and their components in young adults with bipolar disorder (BD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) in a current depressive episode. This was a cross-sectional study with young adults aged 24-30 years old. Depressive episode (bipolar or unipolar) was assessed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview - Plus version (MINI Plus). The MetS was assessed using the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP/ATP III). The sample included 972 subjects with a mean age of 25.81 (±2.17) years. Both BD and MDD patients showed higher prevalence of MetS compared to the population sample (BD = 46.9%, MDD = 35.1%, population = 22.1%, p depressive episode compared to the general population. Moreover, there was a significant difference on BMI values in the case of BD and MDD subjects (p = 0.016). Metabolic components were significantly associated with the presence of depressive symptoms, independently of the diagnosis. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Online cognitive behavioral therapy for bulimic type disorders, delivered in the community by a nonclinician: qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

McClay, Carrie-Anne; Waters, Louise; McHale, Ciaran; Schmidt, Ulrike; Williams, Christopher

2013-03-15

Cognitive behavioral therapy is recommended in the National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines for the treatment of bulimia nervosa. In order to make this treatment option more accessible to patients, interactive online CBT programs have been developed that can be used in the user's own home, in privacy, and at their convenience. Studies investigating online CBT for bulimic type eating disorders have provided promising results and indicate that, with regular support from a clinician or trained support worker, online CBT can be effective in reducing bulimic symptoms. Two main factors distinguish this study from previous research in this area. First, the current study recruited a wide range of adults with bulimic type symptoms from the community. Second, the participants in the current study had used cCBT with support from a nonclinical support worker rather than a specialist eating disorder clinician. To investigate participants' experiences of using an online self-help cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) package (Overcoming Bulimia Online) for bulimia nervosa (BN) and eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS). Eight participants with a mean age of 33.9 years took part in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a 6-step thematic analysis process. Saturation was achieved, and 7 themes were identified in the dataset. These were: (1) conceptualizing eating disorders, (2) help-seeking behavior, (3) aspects of the intervention, (4) motivation to use the online package, (5) privacy and secrecy with regard to their eating problems, (6) recovery and the future, and (7) participant engagement describing individuals' thoughts on taking part in the online research study. Participants suggested that online CBT self-help represented a generally desirable and acceptable treatment option for those with bulimic type eating problems, despite some difficulties with motivation and implementation of some elements of the package

Behavioural and magnetoencephalographic evidence for the interaction between semantic and episodic memory in healthy elderly subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

La Corte, Valentina; Dalla Barba, Gianfranco; Lemaréchal, Jean-Didier; Garnero, Line; George, Nathalie

2012-10-01

The relationship between episodic and semantic memory systems has long been debated. Some authors argue that episodic memory is contingent on semantic memory (Tulving 1984), while others postulate that both systems are independent since they can be selectively damaged (Squire 1987). The interaction between these memory systems is particularly important in the elderly, since the dissociation of episodic and semantic memory defects characterize different aging-related pathologies. Here, we investigated the interaction between semantic knowledge and episodic memory processes associated with faces in elderly subjects using an experimental paradigm where the semantic encoding of famous and unknown faces was compared to their episodic recognition. Results showed that the level of semantic awareness of items affected the recognition of those items in the episodic memory task. Event-related magnetic fields confirmed this interaction between episodic and semantic memory: ERFs related to the old/new effect during the episodic task were markedly different for famous and unknown faces. The old/new effect for famous faces involved sustained activities maximal over right temporal sensors, showing a spatio-temporal pattern partly similar to that found for famous versus unknown faces during the semantic task. By contrast, an old/new effect for unknown faces was observed on left parieto-occipital sensors. These findings suggest that the episodic memory for famous faces activated the retrieval of stored semantic information, whereas it was based on items' perceptual features for unknown faces. Overall, our results show that semantic information interfered markedly with episodic memory processes and suggested that the neural substrates of these two memory systems overlap.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy for subthreshold bulimia nervosa: A case series.

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, C B; Miller, K B; Willer, M G; Ziesmer, J; Durkin, N; Arikian, A; Crow, S J

2011-09-01

The extent to which cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is helpful in treating individuals with bulimic symptoms who do not meet full criteria for bulimia nervosa is unclear. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the potential efficacy of CBT for eating disorder individuals with bulimic symptoms who do not meet full criteria for bulimia nervosa. Twelve participants with subthreshold bulimia nervosa were treated in a case series with 20 sessions of CBT. Ten of the 12 participants (83.3%) completed treatment. Intent-to-treat abstinent percentages were 75.0% for objectively large episodes of binge eating (OBEs), 33.3% for subjectively large episodes of binge eating (SBEs), and 50% for purging at end of treatment. At one year follow-up, 66.7% were abstinent for OBEs, 41.7% for SBEs, and 50.0% for purging. The majority also reported improvements in associated symptoms. This case series provides support for the use of CBT with individuals with subthreshold bulimia nervosa.

Screening for Binge Eating Disorders Using the Patient Health Questionnaire in a Community Sample

Science.gov (United States)

Striegel-Moore, Ruth H.; Perrin, Nancy; DeBar, Lynn; Wilson, G. Terence; Rosselli, Francine; Kraemer, Helena C.

2009-01-01

Objective To examine the operating characteristics of the Patient Health Questionnaire eating disorder module (PHQ-ED) for identifying bulimia nervosa/binge eating disorder (BN/BED) or recurrent binge eating (RBE) in a community sample, and to compare true positive (TP) versus false positive (FP) cases on clinical validators. Method 259 screen positive individuals and a random sample of 89 screen negative cases completed a diagnostic interview. Sensitivity, specificity, and Positive Predictive Value (PPV) were calculated. TP and FP cases were compared using t-tests and Chi-Square tests. Results The PHQ-ED had high sensitivity (100%) and specificity (92%) for detecting BN/BED or RBE, but PPV was low (15% or 19%). TP and FP cases did not differ significantly on frequency of subjective bulimic episodes, objective overeating, restraint, on BMI, and on self-rated health. Conclusions The PHQ-ED is recommended for use in large populations only in conjunction with follow-up questions to rule out cases without objective bulimic episodes. PMID:19424976

Online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Bulimic Type Disorders, Delivered in the Community by a Nonclinician: Qualitative Study

Science.gov (United States)

McClay, Carrie-Anne; Waters, Louise; McHale, Ciaran; Schmidt, Ulrike

2013-01-01

Background Cognitive behavioral therapy is recommended in the National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines for the treatment of bulimia nervosa. In order to make this treatment option more accessible to patients, interactive online CBT programs have been developed that can be used in the user’s own home, in privacy, and at their convenience. Studies investigating online CBT for bulimic type eating disorders have provided promising results and indicate that, with regular support from a clinician or trained support worker, online CBT can be effective in reducing bulimic symptoms. Two main factors distinguish this study from previous research in this area. First, the current study recruited a wide range of adults with bulimic type symptoms from the community. Second, the participants in the current study had used cCBT with support from a nonclinical support worker rather than a specialist eating disorder clinician. Objective To investigate participants’ experiences of using an online self-help cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) package (Overcoming Bulimia Online) for bulimia nervosa (BN) and eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS). Methods Eight participants with a mean age of 33.9 years took part in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a 6-step thematic analysis process. Results Saturation was achieved, and 7 themes were identified in the dataset. These were: (1) conceptualizing eating disorders, (2) help-seeking behavior, (3) aspects of the intervention, (4) motivation to use the online package, (5) privacy and secrecy with regard to their eating problems, (6) recovery and the future, and (7) participant engagement describing individuals’ thoughts on taking part in the online research study. Conclusions Participants suggested that online CBT self-help represented a generally desirable and acceptable treatment option for those with bulimic type eating problems, despite some difficulties with motivation and

Perspectives on Episodic-Like and Episodic Memory

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Pause, Bettina M.; Zlomuzica, Armin; Kinugawa, Kiyoka; Mariani, Jean; Pietrowsky, Reinhard; Dere, Ekrem

2013-01-01

Episodic memory refers to the conscious recollection of a personal experience that contains information on what has happened and also where and when it happened. Recollection from episodic memory also implies a kind of first-person subjectivity that has been termed autonoetic consciousness. Episodic memory is extremely sensitive to cerebral aging and neurodegenerative diseases. In Alzheimer’s disease deficits in episodic memory function are among the first cognitive symptoms observed. Furthermore, impaired episodic memory function is also observed in a variety of other neuropsychiatric diseases including dissociative disorders, schizophrenia, and Parkinson disease. Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to induce and measure episodic memories in the laboratory and it is even more difficult to measure it in clinical populations. Presently, the tests used to assess episodic memory function do not comply with even down-sized definitions of episodic-like memory as a memory for what happened, where, and when. They also require sophisticated verbal competences and are difficult to apply to patient populations. In this review, we will summarize the progress made in defining behavioral criteria of episodic-like memory in animals (and humans) as well as the perspectives in developing novel tests of human episodic memory which can also account for phenomenological aspects of episodic memory such as autonoetic awareness. We will also define basic behavioral, procedural, and phenomenological criteria which might be helpful for the development of a valid and reliable clinical test of human episodic memory. PMID:23616754

El "presente cíclico" de las crisis bulímicas The 'cyclical present' of bulimic crisis

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Gustavo Federico Del Cioppo

2006-12-01

Full Text Available La incidencia poblacional y el crecimiento progresivo de los denominados "Trastornos de la conducta alimentaria", muestran un papel cada vez mas destacado de la bulimia nerviosa y más específicamente, una cada vez mayor frecuencia de síntomas bulímicos. Analizando las crisis bulímicas, y buscando articular la modalidad subjetiva y trascendental de la temporalidad, se puede señalar una estructura temporal de características restrictivas a la que se denominará "presente cíclico". Con esta noción, se busca dar razón no sólo del"circulo vicioso" o ciclo "atracón-culpa-purga...", sino también esa modalidad de ser propia que gira alrededor de la circularidad. No sólo se trata del ciclo "me atracovoy a engordar-siento culpa-vomito", del fenómeno puntual de la crisis, sino también de un "presente viviente"que se halla constantemente "atracado".The incidence of population and the progressive growth of the "eating conduct disorders" show an increasing and outstanding role of bulimia nervosa and, more specifically, more frequent bulimic symptoms. When analyzing bulimic crisis, and searching the articulation of the subjective and transcendental modality of temporality, it can be found a temporal structure of restrictive characteristics that will be called 'cyclical present'. The purpose of this concept is to give grounds not only to the 'vicious cycle' or 'binge-eating/guilt/purge' cycle, but to that own modality of being that goes around circularity. It is not only the cycle 'I over eat-I'm going to put on weight- I feel guilty - I vomit' of the punctual crisis phenomenon but a 'living present' that is continuously'binge-eaten'.

The development of subjective quality of life over the first 2 years in first-episode psychosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Melle, Ingrid; Røssberg, Jan Ivar; Joa, Inge

2010-01-01

The main aim of this study was to examine changes in subjective quality of life (general s-QoL) in patients with first-episode psychosis from baseline to 2 years follow-up. A total of 201 of 252 patients had full quality of life assessment at both baseline and at 2 years. Repeated measure analyse...

A Lack of Clinical Effect of High-frequency rTMS to Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex on Bulimic Symptoms: A Randomised, Double-blind Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Gay, Aurelia; Jaussent, Isabelle; Sigaud, Torrance; Billard, Stephane; Attal, Jerome; Seneque, Maude; Galusca, Bogdan; Van Den Eynde, Frederique; Massoubre, Catherine; Courtet, Philippe; Guillaume, Sebastien

2016-11-01

Studies suggest that stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) reduces food craving in bulimic patients, but evidence supporting repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) as a therapeutic tool is lacking. We investigated the safety and therapeutic efficacy of an adjunct high-frequency rTMS programme targeting the left DLPFC. Forty-seven women with bulimia nervosa were randomised to a real or sham stimulation group. The real group underwent 10 rTMS sessions, each consisting of 20 trains of 5 seconds with 55-second intervals between trains, at a frequency of 10 Hz. The main outcome was the number of binge episodes in the 15 days following the end of stimulation. Overall, no significant improvement in bingeing and purging symptoms was noted after the programme. rTMS was well tolerated. This suggests that 10 sessions of high-frequency rTMS to the left DLPFC provide no greater benefit than placebo. Future studies should consider methodological issues as well as alternative targets. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Development and Validation of the Eating Loss of Control Scale

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Blomquist, Kerstin K.; Roberto, Christina A.; Barnes, Rachel D.; White, Marney A.; Masheb, Robin M.; Grilo, Carlos M.

2014-01-01

Recurrent objective bulimic episodes (OBE) are a defining diagnostic characteristic of binge eating disorder (BED) and bulimia nervosa (BN). OBEs are characterized by experiencing loss of control (LOC) while eating an unusually large quantity of food. Despite nosological importance and complex heterogeneity across patients, measurement of LOC has been assessed dichotomously (present/absent). This study describes the development and initial validation of the Eating Loss of Control Scale (ELOCS), a self-report questionnaire that examines the complexity of the LOC construct. Participants were 168 obese treatment-seeking individuals with BED who completed the Eating Disorder Examination interview and self-report measures. Participants rated their LOC-related feelings or behaviors on continuous Likert-type scales and reported the number of LOC episodes in the past 28 days. Principal component analysis identified a single-factor, 18-item scale, which demonstrated good internal reliability (α=0.90). Frequency of LOC episodes was significantly correlated with frequency of OBEs and subjective bulimic episodes. The ELOCS demonstrated good convergent validity and was significantly correlated with greater eating pathology, greater emotion dysregulation, greater depression, and lower self-control, but not with BMI. The findings suggest that the ELOCS is a valid self-report questionnaire that may provide important clinical information regarding experiences of LOC in obese persons with BED. Future research should examine the ELOCS in other eating disorders and non-clinical samples. PMID:24219700

Rapid Evolution from the First Episode of Acute Pancreatitis to Chronic Pancreatitis in Human Subjects

OpenAIRE

Elie Aoun; Adam Slivka; Dionysios J Papachristou; David C Whitcomb; Ferga C Gleeson; Georgios I Papachristou

2007-01-01

Context Growing evidence suggests that recurrent acute pancreatitis leads to chronic pancreatitis, but this sequence is seldom reported in human subjects. The sentinel acute pancreatitis event hypothesis suggests that an initial episode of acute pancreatitis is the first step in a complicated series of events ultimately leading to chronic pancreatitis. Objective To identify patients who evolved from recurrent acute pancreatitis to chronic pancreatitis. Setting The Severity of Acute Pancreatit...

Posttraumatic stress disorder as a moderator of the association between negative affect and bulimic symptoms: an ecological momentary assessment study.

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Karr, Trisha M; Crosby, Ross D; Cao, Li; Engel, Scott G; Mitchell, James E; Simonich, Heather; Wonderlich, Stephen A

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the potential moderating effect of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on the emotion-behavior relationship in individuals with bulimia nervosa (BN). A total of 119 women with BN were involved in the study. Participants were divided into 2 groups: those with BN and PTSD (n = 20) and those with BN only (n = 99). Ecological momentary assessment procedures were used for the examination of affect, frequency of bulimic behaviors, and the relationship of affect and bulimic behavior over time. The Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Axis I Disorders was conducted for the diagnosis of BN, PTSD, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and substance use disorders. Mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and substance use disorders functioned as covariates in all analyses. Statistical models showed that those in the PTSD group reported a greater daily mean level of negative affect (NA) and a greater daily frequency of bulimic behaviors than those in the BN-only group. Moderation was found for the association between NA and time in that the PTSD group showed a faster acceleration in NA before purging and faster deceleration in NA after purging. The association between positive affect and time was also moderated by group, indicating that the PTSD group had a faster acceleration in positive affect after purging than the BN-only group. These findings highlight the importance of recognizing PTSD when interpreting the emotion-behavior relationship in individuals with BN. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The subjective experience and phenomenology of depression following first episode psychosis: a qualitative study using photo-elicitation.

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Sandhu, Amrita; Ives, Jonathan; Birchwood, Max; Upthegrove, Rachel

2013-07-01

Depression following first episode psychosis (FEP) is a frequent occurrence, with profound impact on recovery and outcome. Whilst many theories exist about the causes of depression here, research to date has been based on nosology imported wholesale from affective disorder, with little primary research on the subjective experience. This study aimed to explore the subjective experience and phenomenological features of post-psychotic depression in FEP. A qualitative methodology, photo-elicitation, together with unstructured interviews, was used to characterise aspects of depression following FEP and analysed using contemporary framework analysis. Depression was reported by participants as linked to the experience of and recovery from psychosis. The psychotic episode was a traumatic event followed by subjective doubt, shame and embarrassment. Loss and social isolation were central. Core biological symptoms did not feature. Despite the relatively small sample size, this study was able to generate in-depth data that provides useful and novel insight. Whilst generalisability is incompatible with qualitative methodology, further research using the same methodology would generate a wider range of experiences and perspectives. Understanding this dimension of psychosis in and of itself has the potential to improve and aid development of more effective and appropriately targeted interventions and associated outcomes. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Aortic stiffness and hypotension episodes are associated with impaired cognitive function in older subjects with subjective complaints of memory loss.

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Scuteri, Angelo; Tesauro, Manfredi; Guglini, Letizia; Lauro, Davide; Fini, Massimo; Di Daniele, Nicola

2013-11-20

Though CV risk factors and markers of arterial aging are recognized risky for cognition, no study has simultaneously investigated the impact of multiple cardiac, arterial (large and small vessels), and hemodynamic parameters on cognitive function in older subjects. Two hundred eighty older subjects with subjective complaints of memory loss and no previous stroke (mean age 78.3 ± 6.3 years) were studied. Global cognitive function was evaluated with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Cognitive impairment was defined as a MMSE cognitive function-controlling for age, sex, education, depression, traditional CV risk factors, and medications. LV mass was no longer associated with cognition in multiple regression. Older subjects with stiffer arteries or episodes of hypotension presented a 4-fold and an 11-fold, respectively, greater odds for progression from normal cognitive function to cognitive impairment. A synergistic effect between PWV, WML, and hypotension was observed: the occurrence of any two of PWV, WML, or hypotension was accompanied by lower MMSE; in the presence of all three factors, a further significant decline in cognitive function was observed. Systemic hemodynamic parameters (higher PWV and hypotension) together with cerebral microvascular damage (WML) are significantly associated with poorer cognitive function and may identify older subjects with subjective complaints of memory loss at higher risk of cognitive decline. © 2013.

[A new assessment for episodic memory. Episodic memory test and caregiver's episodic memory test].

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Ojea Ortega, T; González Álvarez de Sotomayor, M M; Pérez González, O; Fernández Fernández, O

2013-10-01

The purpose of the episodic memory test and the caregiver's episodic memory test is to evaluate episodic memory according to its definition in a way that is feasible for families and achieves high degrees of sensitivity and specificity. We administered a test consisting of 10 questions about episodic events to 332 subjects, of whom 65 had Alzheimer's disease (AD), 115 had amnestic MCI (aMCI) and 152 showed no cognitive impairment according to Reisberg's global deterioration scale (GDS). We calculated the test's sensitivity and specificity to distinguish AD from episodic aMCI and from normal ageing. The area under the ROC curve for the diagnosis of aMCI was 0.94 and the best cut-off value was 20; for that value, sensitivity was 89% and specificity was 82%. For a diagnosis of AD, the area under the ROC curve was 0.99 and the best cut-off point was 17, with a sensitivity of 98% and a specificity of 91%. A subsequent study using similar methodology yielded similar results when the test was administered directly by the caregiver. The episodic memory test and the caregiver's episodic memory test are useful as brief screening tools for identifying patients with early-stage AD. It is suitable for use by primary care medical staff and in the home, since it can be administered by a caregiver. The test's limitations are that it must be administered by a reliable caregiver and the fact that it measures episodic memory only. Copyright © 2012 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Prevalência de comportamento bulímico e fatores associados em universitárias Prevalence of bulimic behavior and associated factors in undergraduate female students

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Monalisa Cenci

2009-01-01

Full Text Available CONTEXTO: A bulimia nervosa caracteriza-se por episódios repetidos de compulsões alimentares seguidos de comportamentos compensatórios inadequados. A prevalência entre mulheres adolescentes e adultas jovens é de aproximadamente 1% a 3%. OBJETIVO: Estimar a prevalência de comportamento bulímico e os fatores associados em universitárias ingressantes. MÉTODOS: Foi examinada uma amostra aleatória sistemática (n = 220 de universitárias a respeito da presença de comportamento bulímico, identificado de acordo com a pontuação obtida no teste de investigação bulímica de Edimburgo (BITE. Investigou-se, entre outros aspectos, a satisfação com a imagem corporal e o estado nutricional. Os fatores associados ao comportamento bulímico (BITE > 15 foram analisados a partir de regressão logística múltipla não condicional. RESULTADOS: A taxa de resposta foi igual a 98,7%. A prevalência de sintomas de bulimia nervosa foi de 3,6% (IC 95% 1,1; 6,1 e a de insatisfação com a imagem corporal foi igual a 20% (IC 95% 14,7; 25,3. As universitárias que apresentaram insatisfação com a imagem corporal demonstraram 15,4 vezes a chance de desenvolver comportamento bulímico quando comparadas àquelas satisfeitas com a própria imagem, independentemente das outras variáveis analisadas. CONCLUSÃO: A insatisfação com a imagem corporal revelou-se como o mais importante fator associado com a presença de comportamento bulímico na população estudada.CONTEXT: Bulimia nervosa is characterized by repetitive binge eating episodes followed by inadequate compensatory behaviors. Prevalence in teenager girls and young women is about 1% to 3%. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of bulimic behavior and associated factors for first year undergraduate women. METHODS: A systematic random sample (n = 220 was analyzed and the bulimic investigatory test Edinburgh (BITE criteria was used to evaluate bulimia nervosa behaviors. Satisfaction with body image and

Neuroanatomical correlates of episodic encoding and retrieval in young and elderly subjects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Daselaar, S.M.; Veltman, D.J.; Rombouts, S.A.R.B.; Raaijmakers, J.G.W.; Jonker, C.

2003-01-01

Lesion studies have shown convincingly that the medial temporal lobes (MTL) and frontal lobes are critical to episodic memory. Ageing generally has been found to have a generally negative effect on episodic memory performance, which might relate to neurofunctional changes in the frontal and medial

Mental images in episodic memory

OpenAIRE

Han, KyungHun

2009-01-01

Episodic memory, i.e. memorization of information within a spatiotemporal environment, is affected by Alzheimer's disease (AD) but its loss may also occur in the normal aging process. The purpose of this study is to analyze and evaluate episodic memory in patients with AD by examining their cognitive skills in episodic memory through the introspection technique. A new method was used, wherein we assessed mental images of the subject's own past recalled in the mind like projected pictures and ...

Nibbling and picking in obese patients with Binge Eating Disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Masheb, Robin M; Roberto, Christina A; White, Marney A

2013-12-01

The goal of this study was to examine the clinical utility of nibbling behavior, defined as eating in an unplanned and repetitious manner between meals and snacks without a sense of loss of control, in obese patients with Binge Eating Disorder (BED). Two-hundred seventeen (N = 217) consecutive, treatment-seeking, obese patients with BED were assessed with the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE). Nibbling frequency was examined in relation to current weight, eating disorder psychopathology and eating patterns. Results found that nibbling/picking was not related to body mass index, objective bulimic, subjective bulimic, or overeating episodes, food avoidance, sensitivity to weight gain, or any subscales of the EDE. However, nibbling/picking was significantly related to frequency of morning and afternoon snacking (r = .21, p = .002; r = .27, p < .001). The assessment of nibbling/picking behaviors among individuals with BED might not provide clinically significant information. © 2013.

Gray matter changes in subjects at high risk for developing psychosis and first-episode schizophrenia: a voxel-based structural MRI study

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Kazue eNakamura

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Objectives: The aim of the present study was to use a voxel-based MRI method to investigate the neuroanatomical characteristics in subjects at high risk of developing psychosis compared with those of healthy controls and first-episode schizophrenia patients. Methods: This study included 14 subjects with at-risk mental state (ARMS, 34 patients with first-episode schizophrenia, and 51 healthy controls. We used voxel-based morphometry (VBM with the Diffeomorphic Anatomical Registration Through Exponentiated Lie Algebra (DARTEL tools to investigate the whole-brain difference in gray matter volume among the three groups. Results: Compared with the healthy controls, the schizophrenia patients showed significant gray matter reduction in the left anterior cingulate gyrus. There was no significant difference in the gray matter volume between the ARMS and other groups. Conclusion: The present study suggests that alteration of the anterior cingulate gyrus may be associated with development of frank psychosis. Further studies with a larger ARMS subjects would be required to examine the potential role of neuroimaging methods in the prediction of future transition into psychosis.

Strengthening of Existing Episodic Memories Through Non-invasive Stimulation of Prefrontal Cortex in Older Adults with Subjective Memory Complaints

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Rosa Manenti

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Episodic memory is critical to daily life functioning. This type of declarative memory declines with age and is the earliest cognitive function to be compromised in Alzheimer’s disease (AD. Subjective memory complaints are commonly reported by older adults and have been considered a risk factor for developing AD. The possibilities for prevention of memory disorders in older adults have increased substantially in recent years. Previous studies have shown that anodal transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS applied over the left lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC after a contextual reminder strengthened existing verbal episodic memories, conceivably through reconsolidation, in elderly people. In this study, we hypothesized that anodal tDCS applied over the left lateral PFC after a contextual reminder would improve delayed memory retrieval relative to placebo (sham stimulation in elderly individuals with SMC. Twenty-two subjects learned a list of words. Twenty-four hour later, tDCS (anodal or placebo was applied over the left lateral PFC after a contextual reminder. Memory retrieval was tested 48h and 30 days later. These findings showed that anodal tDCS over the left lateral PFC strengthened existing episodic memories, a behavioral effect documented by improved recognition up to 30 days, relative to placebo stimulation. This study suggests that tDCS after a contextual reminder can induce long-lasting beneficial effects by facilitating the consolidation processes and opens up the possibility to design specific non-invasive interventions aimed at preventing memory decline in this at-risk population.

Prevalence of disturbed eating behaviour in girls with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, and the influence of disturbed eating behaviour on metabolic control (HbA1c)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Lene Juel; Thastum, Mikael; Schnieber, Anette

2008-01-01

Girls with diabetes mellitus (DM) (N = 21, age 11-17 years) completed measures of objective overeating episodes (OOE) and objective bulimic episodes (OBE) from the EDE-Q. Data regarding metabolic control (HbA1c) were obtained through a national diabetes register. 41 % of the girls had one or more...

Depressive Symptoms, Emotion Dysregulation, and Bulimic Symptoms in Youth With Type 1 Diabetes: Varying Interactions at Diagnosis and During Transition to Insulin Pump Therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Young-Hyman, Deborah L; Peterson, Claire M; Fischer, Sarah; Markowitz, Jessica T; Muir, Andrew B; Laffel, Lori M

2016-07-01

This study evaluated the associations between depressive symptoms, emotion dysregulation and bulimic symptoms in youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D) in the context of the diagnosis and treatment of T1D. Study participants were 103 youth in 2 distinct groups: newly diagnosed (New) or transitioning to pump therapy (continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion [CSII]; "Pump"), who completed questionnaires regarding symptoms of depression, emotion dysregulation, and bulimia. Glycemic control (A1c), height, weight, and questionnaires were evaluated within 10 days of diagnosis (n = 58) or at education/clinic visit before starting insulin utilizing CSII (n = 45). In the newly diagnosed group, only depression accounted for significant variance in bulimia scores (β = .47, P symptoms and emotion dysregulation were associated with greater bulimic symptoms. Depressive symptoms and emotion dysregulation, an indicator of poor coping/behavioral control, could help explain adoption of disordered eating behaviors in youth with T1D who are transitioning to pump therapy. © 2016 Diabetes Technology Society.

Patients with first-episode, drug-naive schizophrenia and subjects at ultra-high risk of psychosis shared increased cerebellar-default mode network connectivity at rest.

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Wang, Houliang; Guo, Wenbin; Liu, Feng; Wang, Guodong; Lyu, Hailong; Wu, Renrong; Chen, Jindong; Wang, Shuai; Li, Lehua; Zhao, Jingping

2016-05-18

Increased cerebellar-default mode network (DMN) connectivity has been observed in first-episode, drug-naive patients with schizophrenia. However, it remains unclear whether increased cerebellar-DMN connectivity starts earlier than disease onset. Thirty-four ultra-high risk (UHR) subjects, 31 first-episode, drug-naive patients with schizophrenia and 37 healthy controls were enrolled for a resting-state scan. The imaging data were analyzed using the seed-based functional connectivity (FC) method. Compared with the controls, UHR subjects and patients with schizophrenia shared increased connectivity between the right Crus I and bilateral posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus and between Lobule IX and the left superior medial prefrontal cortex. There are positive correlations between the right Crus I-bilateral precuneus connectivity and clinical variables (Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes/Positive and Negative Symptom Scale negative symptoms/total scores) in the UHR subjects. Increased cerebellar-DMN connectivity shared by the UHR subjects and the patients not only highlights the importance of the DMN in the pathophysiology of psychosis but also may be a trait alteration for psychosis.

A Reduction in Delay Discounting by Using Episodic Future Imagination and the Association with Episodic Memory Capacity.

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Hu, Xiaochen; Kleinschmidt, Helena; Martin, Jason A; Han, Ying; Thelen, Manuela; Meiberth, Dix; Jessen, Frank; Weber, Bernd

2016-01-01

Delay discounting (DD) refers to the phenomenon that individuals discount future consequences. Previous studies showed that future imagination reduces DD, which was mediated by functional connectivity between medial prefrontal valuation areas and a key region for episodic memory (hippocampus). Future imagination involves an initial period of construction and a later period of elaboration, with the more elaborative latter period recruiting more cortical regions. This study examined whether elaborative future imagination modulated DD, and if so, what are the underlying neural substrates. It was assumed that cortical areas contribute to the modulation effect during the later period of imagination. Since future imagination is supported by episodic memory capacity, we additionally hypothesize that the neural network underlying the modulation effect is related to individual episodic memory capacity. Twenty-two subjects received an extensive interview on personal future events, followed by an fMRI DD experiment with and without the need to perform elaborative future imagination simultaneously. Subjects' episodic memory capacity was also assessed. Behavioral results replicate previous findings of a reduced discount rate in the DD plus imagination condition compared to the DD only condition. The behavioral effect positively correlated with: (i) subjective value signal changes in midline brain structures during the initial imagination period; and (ii) signal changes in left prefrontoparietal areas during the later imagination period. Generalized psychophysiological interaction (gPPI) analyses reveal positive correlations between the behavioral effect and functional connectivity among the following areas: right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and left hippocampus; left inferior parietal cortex (IPC) and left hippocampus; and left IPC and bilateral occipital cortices. These changes in functional connectivity are also associated with episodic memory capacity. A hierarchical

Subjective memory complaint only relates to verbal episodic memory performance in mild cognitive impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Gifford, Katherine A; Liu, Dandan; Damon, Stephen M; Chapman, William G; Romano Iii, Raymond R; Samuels, Lauren R; Lu, Zengqi; Jefferson, Angela L

2015-01-01

A cognitive concern from the patient, informant, or clinician is required for the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI); however, the cognitive and neuroanatomical correlates of complaint are poorly understood. We assessed how self-complaint relates to cognitive and neuroimaging measures in older adults with MCI. MCI participants were drawn from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative and dichotomized into two groups based on the presence of self-reported memory complaint (no complaint n = 191, 77 ± 7 years; complaint n = 206, 73 ± 8 years). Cognitive outcomes included episodic memory, executive functioning, information processing speed, and language. Imaging outcomes included regional lobar volumes (frontal, parietal, temporal, cingulate) and specific medial temporal lobe structures (hippocampal volume, entorhinal cortex thickness, parahippocampal gyrus thickness). Linear regressions, adjusting for age, gender, race, education, Mini-Mental State Examination score, mood, and apolipoprotein E4 status, found that cognitive complaint related to immediate (β = -1.07, p memory performances assessed on a serial list learning task (β = -1.06, p = 0.001) but no other cognitive measures or neuroimaging markers. Self-reported memory concern was unrelated to structural neuroimaging markers of atrophy and measures of information processing speed, executive functioning, or language. In contrast, subjective memory complaint related to objective verbal episodic learning performance. Future research is warranted to better understand the relation between cognitive complaint and surrogate markers of abnormal brain aging, including Alzheimer's disease, across the cognitive aging spectrum.

Subjective memory complaint only relates to verbal episodic memory performance in mild cognitive impairment

Science.gov (United States)

Gifford, Katherine A.; Liu, Dandan; Damon, Stephen M.; Chapman, William G.; Romano, Raymond R.; Samuels, Lauren R.; Lu, Zengqi; Jefferson, Angela L.

2015-01-01

Background A cognitive concern from the patient, informant, or clinician is required for the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI); however, the cognitive and neuroanatomical correlates of complaint are poorly understood. Objective We assessed how self-complaint relates to cognitive and neuroimaging measures in older adults with MCI. Method MCI participants were drawn from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative and dichotomized into two groups based on the presence of self-reported memory complaint (no complaint n=191, 77±7 years; complaint n=206, 73±8 years). Cognitive outcomes included episodic memory, executive functioning, information processing speed, and language. Imaging outcomes included regional lobar volumes (frontal, parietal, temporal, cingulate) and specific medial temporal lobe structures (hippocampal volume, entorhinal cortex thickness, parahippocampal gyrus thickness). Results Linear regressions, adjusting for age, gender, race, education, Mini-Mental State Examination score, mood, and apolipoprotein E-4 status, found that cognitive complaint related to immediate (β=−1.07, pmemory performances assessed on a serial list learning task (β=−1.06, p=0.001) but no other cognitive measures or neuroimaging markers. Conclusions Self-reported memory concern was unrelated to structural neuroimaging markers of atrophy and measures of information processing speed, executive functioning, or language. In contrast, subjective memory complaint related to objective verbal episodic learning performance. Future research is warranted to better understand the relation between cognitive complaint and surrogate markers of abnormal brain aging, including Alzheimer’s disease, across the cognitive aging spectrum. PMID:25281602

The relation of weight suppression and BMIz to bulimic symptoms in youth with bulimia nervosa.

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Accurso, Erin C; Lebow, Jocelyn; Murray, Stuart B; Kass, Andrea E; Le Grange, Daniel

2016-01-01

Weight suppression (WS), which is the difference between a patient's highest and current weight, has been associated with bulimic symptom severity in adults with bulimia nervosa (BN). However, the impact of WS on eating disorder psychopathology in youth with BN is unknown. Participants included 85 youth with DSM-5 BN who presented for outpatient treatment. Current WS was calculated as the difference between highest and current body mass index z-score (BMIz), while greatest WS was the difference between highest and lowest BMIz, both assessed at participants' current height. Separate multivariable linear regressions were conducted to determine if current or greatest WS was significantly associated with frequency of binge eating, compensatory behaviors, or dietary restraint. A secondary analysis was conducted on youth ages 16 and older, given the limitation of assessing WS at current height in younger participants with greater height instability. Youth with higher levels of greatest WS (but not current WS) were older, had a longer duration of illness, and reported greater weight and shape concern. When adjusting for BMIz, neither current nor greatest WS was significantly associated with bulimic behaviors or dietary restraint in the full sample. However, in the subset of youth ages 16 and older, current WS moderated the effect of BMIz on binge eating and compensatory behaviors. For youth with high WS, those with a high current BMIz engaged in more frequent binge eating than those with low current BMIz, and the negative impact of BMIz on compensatory behaviors became weaker. Our findings suggest that WS is clinically relevant in the presentation of youth with BN, and that it may need to be addressed as one important factor in BN psychopathology. Future studies using growth charts to determine historically highest and lowest BMIz may help to further elucidate the link (or lack thereof) between WS and BN psychopathology in youth.

Responsivity to food cues in bulimic women and controls.

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Staiger, P; Dawe, S; McCarthy, R

2000-08-01

The current study investigated responsivity to individualized food cues consisting of binge/favourite foods in 17 women with bulimic nervosa (BN) and 17 women with no history or current symptoms of eating disorders (C). The hypothesis that increasing cue salience would be associated with an increase in responsivity was tested by comparison of self reported urges, affective responses and salivation to the sight and smell (SS) and the sight, smell and taste (SST) of a binge/favourite food compared to a neutral stimulus (lettuce leaf). As predicted, the BN group reported a greater urge to binge and higher levels of stress/arousal to selected binge/favourite food cues compared to the C group. The BN group also reported lower confidence to resist the urge to binge and control over food intake compared to the C group. Further, a series of planned comparisons in the BN group found that the urge to binge, stress, and loss of control were greater when participants were exposed to the SST cue than to the SS cue. There was no difference between the groups in salivary responsivity to food cues. These results are discussed in terms of a conditioning model of cue reactivity. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.

Social and health adjustment of bulimic women 7-9 years following therapy.

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Jäger, B; Liedtke, R; Lamprecht, F; Freyberger, H

2004-08-01

To examine the long-term social adaptation and long-term follow-up of bulimic women after therapy. Eighty women with bulimia nervosa were investigated 7-9 years after the beginning of either conflict-oriented in-patient therapy or systemic out-patient therapy. Data was gathered through interviews and patient questionnaires. At the time of follow-up, 28.9% still had DSM-III-R bulimia, 10.1% suffered from subthreshold bulimia or anorexia (EDNOS), 61.2% did not suffer from any DSM-III-R eating disorder. Compared with statistics on the normal population, the social adaptation of the women was quite good with regard to work, household and living conditions. Some dimensions representing probable aetiological factors (i.e. restrictions of intake, feelings of ineffectiveness) showed a delayed reaction to therapy. Long-term outcome of bulimia nervosa may be expected to be moderately good. During therapy, greater attention should be paid to characteristics of the disorder less responsive to treatment.

An open trial of outpatient group therapy for bulimic disorders: combination program of cognitive behavioral therapy with assertive training and self-esteem enhancement.

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Shiina, Akihiro; Nakazato, Michiko; Mitsumori, Makoto; Koizumi, Hiroki; Shimizu, Eiji; Fujisaki, Mihisa; Iyo, Masaomi

2005-12-01

The purposes of this study were to examine the therapeutic efficacy of combined group cognitive behavioral therapy (CGCBT) and to explore the characteristics of the patients who failed to complete it. Our group cognitive behavioral therapy combined with assertiveness training for alexithymia and self-esteem enhancement therapy were attended over a 10-week period. Twenty-five participants were enrolled in the study. The clinical symptoms were assessed before and after treatment, using rating scales including the Eating Disorder Inventory-2, the Bulimic Investigatory Test, Edinburgh, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and Global Assessment of Functioning. Sixteen participants (64%) completed the CGCBT program. Completion of the CGCBT resulted in significant improvements in reducing binge-eating behavior and improving social functioning. Eight patients (32%) significantly improved using the Clinical Global Impression Change (CGI-C). Stepwise logistic regression analysis of the results indicated that a lower age (P=0.04) and psychiatric comorbidity (P=0.06) were predictors of dropout from the CGCBT program. Our CGCBT program is a promising first-line treatment for bulimic outpatients. Lower age and the presence of comorbidity had effects on dropout rates.

Episodic memory for human-like agents and human-like agents for episodic memory

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Brom, C.; Lukavský, Jiří; Kadlec, R.

2010-01-01

Roč. 2, č. 2 (2010), s. 227-244 ISSN 1793-8473 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z70250504 Keywords : episodic memory * virtual agent * modelling Subject RIV: AN - Psychology http://www.worldscinet.com/ijmc/02/0202/S1793843010000461.html

The McLean-Harvard First-Episode Project: Early Course in 114 Cases of First-Episode Nonaffective Psychoses.

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Tohen, Mauricio; Khalsa, Hari-Mandir K; Salvatore, Paola; Zarate, Carlos A; Strakowski, Stephen M; Sanchez-Toledo, Jesús Pérez; Baldessarini, Ross J

2016-06-01

Early course in contemporary, clinically treated, nonaffective psychotic disorders other than schizophrenia remains incompletely defined. We prospectively, repeatedly, and systematically assessed 114 patients hospitalized for a first episode of DSM-IV-TR nonaffective psychotic illness for ≥ 2 years (1989-1996) using structured (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R, Patient Edition; Clinical Global Impressions scale; Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms; Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms; and the expanded version of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale) and unstructured (best-estimate procedure, life charting) naturalistic follow-up procedures and survival analysis. Duration of untreated psychosis (22 ± 38 months) was longest with schizophrenia. Within 2 years, syndromal remission sustained for ≥ 8 weeks (recovery) was attained by 75 subjects (65.8%); median latency to syndromal recovery was 9.4 (95% CI, 5.7-13.3) weeks and was shorter with cycloid features, initial diagnosis of brief psychosis or schizophreniform disorder, and shorter initial hospitalization. Functional recovery within 2 years was achieved by 28 of 68 subjects (41.2%), more often without initial mood-psychomotor instability or homicidal ideation. New episodes occurred in 52 of 114 subjects (45.6%) and were more likely with less affective flattening, younger age, and white race. Median time to new episodes (43.7 [27.9-70.6] weeks) was earlier with initial first-rank auditory hallucinations, substance abuse, and functional nonrecovery. Diagnosis changed to other nonaffective, schizoaffective, or affective disorders within 2 years in 62 of 108 cases (57.4%). Three-quarters of patients presenting in first lifetime, nonaffective psychotic episodes achieved recovery within 2 years, but only 41% returned to baseline functioning, and nearly half experienced new episodes. Patients with schizophrenia had the longest duration of untreated psychosis. A majority changed diagnosis

β-Amyloid binding in elderly subjects with declining or stable episodic memory function measured with PET and [11C]AZD2184

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mattsson, Patrik; Forsberg, Anton; Halldin, Christer; Persson, Jonas; Nilsson, Lars-Goeran; Nyberg, Lars; Farde, Lars

2015-01-01

Cognitive decline has been suggested as an early marker for later onset of Alzheimer's disease. We therefore explored the relationship between decline in episodic memory and β-amyloid using positron emission tomography (PET) and [ 11 C]AZD2184, a radioligand with potential to detect low levels of amyloid deposits. Healthy elderly subjects with declining (n = 10) or stable (n = 10) episodic memory over 15 years were recruited from the population-based Betula study and examined with PET. Brain radioactivity was measured after intravenous administration of [ 11 C]AZD2184. The binding potential BP ND was calculated using linear graphical analysis with the cerebellum as reference region. The binding of [ 11 C]AZD2184 in total grey matter was generally low in the declining group, whereas some binding could be observed in the stable group. Mean BP ND was significantly higher in the stable group compared to the declining group (p = 0.019). An observation was that the three subjects with the highest BP ND were ApoE ε4 allele carriers. We conclude that cognitive decline in the general population does not seem to stand by itself as an early predictor for amyloid deposits. (orig.)

From sixty-two interviews on 'the worst and the best episode of your life'. Relationships between internal working models and a grammatical scale of subject-object affective connections.

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Seganti, A; Carnevale, G; Mucelli, R; Solano, L; Target, M

2000-06-01

The authors address the issue of inferring unconscious internal working models of interaction through language. After reviewing Main's seminal work of linguistic assessment through the 'adult attachment interview', they stress the idea of adults' internal working models (IWMs) as information-processing devices, which give moment-to-moment sensory orientation in the face of any past or present, animate or inanimate object. They propose that a selective perception of the objects could match expected with actual influence of objects on the subject's self, through very simple 'parallel-processed' categories of internal objects. They further hypothesise that the isomorphism between internal working models of interaction and grammatical connections between subjects and objects within a clause could be a key to tracking positive and negative images of self and other during discourse. An experiment is reported applying the authors' 'scale of subject/object affective connection' to the narratives of sixty-two subjects asked to write about the 'worst' and 'best' episodes of their lives. Participants had previously been classified using Hazan & Shaver's self-reported 'attachment types' (avoidant, anxious and secure) categorising individuals' general expectations in relation to others. The findings were that the subject/object distribution of positive and negative experience, through verbs defined for this purpose as either performative or state verbs, did significantly differ between groups. In addition, different groups tended, during the best episodes, significantly to invert the trend of positive/negative subject/object distribution shown during the worst episode. Results are discussed in terms of a psychoanalytic theory of improvement through co-operative elaboration of negative relational issues.

Evidence for a vagal pathophysiology for bulimia nervosa and the accompanying depressive symptoms.

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Faris, Patricia L; Eckert, Elke D; Kim, Suck-Won; Meller, William H; Pardo, Jose V; Goodale, Robert L; Hartman, Boyd K

2006-05-01

The bilateral vagus nerves (Cranial X) provide both afferent and efferent connections between the viscera and the caudal medulla. The afferent branches increasingly are being recognized as providing significant input to the central nervous system for modulation of complex behaviors. In this paper, we review evidence from our laboratory that increases in vagal afferent activity are involved in perpetuating binge-eating and vomiting in bulimia nervosa. Preliminary findings are also presented which suggest that a subgroup of depressions may have a similar pathophysiology. Two main approaches were used to study the role of vagal afferents. Ondansetron (ONDAN), a 5-HT3 antagonist, was used as a pharmacological tool for inhibiting or reducing vagal afferent neurotransmission. Second, somatic pain detection thresholds were assessed for monitoring a physiological process known to be modulated by vagal afferents, including the gastric branches involved in meal termination and satiety. High levels of vagal activity result in an increase in pain detection thresholds. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Positron Emission Tomography (PET) was used to identify higher cortical brain areas activated by vagal stimulation produced by proximal gastric distention in normal eating subjects. Double-blind treatment of severe bulimia nervosa subjects with ONDAN resulted in a rapid and significant decrease in binge-eating and vomiting compared to placebo controls. The decrease in abnormal eating episodes was accompanied by a return of normal satiety. Pain detection thresholds measured weekly over the course of the treatment protocol were found to dynamically fluctuate in association with bulimic episodes. Thresholds were the most elevated during periods of short-term abstinence from the behaviors, suggesting that not engaging in a binge/vomit episode is accompanied by an increase in vagal activity. ONDAN also resulted in abolition of the

Key features of human episodic recollection in the cross-episode retrieval of rat hippocampus representations of space.

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Eduard Kelemen

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Neurophysiological studies focus on memory retrieval as a reproduction of what was experienced and have established that neural discharge is replayed to express memory. However, cognitive psychology has established that recollection is not a verbatim replay of stored information. Recollection is constructive, the product of memory retrieval cues, the information stored in memory, and the subject's state of mind. We discovered key features of constructive recollection embedded in the rat CA1 ensemble discharge during an active avoidance task. Rats learned two task variants, one with the arena stable, the other with it rotating; each variant defined a distinct behavioral episode. During the rotating episode, the ensemble discharge of CA1 principal neurons was dynamically organized to concurrently represent space in two distinct codes. The code for spatial reference frame switched rapidly between representing the rat's current location in either the stationary spatial frame of the room or the rotating frame of the arena. The code for task variant switched less frequently between a representation of the current rotating episode and the stable episode from the rat's past. The characteristics and interplay of these two hippocampal codes revealed three key properties of constructive recollection. (1 Although the ensemble representations of the stable and rotating episodes were distinct, ensemble discharge during rotation occasionally resembled the stable condition, demonstrating cross-episode retrieval of the representation of the remote, stable episode. (2 This cross-episode retrieval at the level of the code for task variant was more likely when the rotating arena was about to match its orientation in the stable episode. (3 The likelihood of cross-episode retrieval was influenced by preretrieval information that was signaled at the level of the code for spatial reference frame. Thus key features of episodic recollection manifest in rat hippocampal

Exploring the Relationship Between Social Anxiety and Bulimic Symptoms: Mediational Effects of Perfectionism Among Females

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Menatti, Andrew R.; Weeks, Justin W.; Levinson, Cheri A.; McGowan, Maggie M.

2013-01-01

Previous findings indicate that social anxiety and bulimia co-occur at high rates; one mechanism that has been proposed to link these symptom clusters is perfectionism. We tested meditational models among 167 female undergraduates in which maladaptive evaluative perfectionism concerns (MEPC; i.e., critical self-evaluative perfectionism) mediated the relationship between social anxiety and bulimic symptoms. Results from a first model indicated that MEPC mediated the relationship between fear of public scrutiny and bulimia symptoms. This indirect effect was significant above and beyond the indirect effects of maladaptive body-image cognitions and perfectionism specific to pure personal standards. A second model was tested with MEPC mediating the relationship between social interaction anxiety and bulimia symptoms. Similar results were obtained; however, in this model, a significant direct effect remained after partialing out the indirect effect of the mediators. Theoretical implications are discussed. PMID:24932054

Episodic-like memory in the rat.

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Babb, Stephanie J; Crystal, Jonathon D

2006-07-11

A fundamental question in comparative cognition is whether animals remember unique, personal past experiences. It has long been argued that memories for specific events (referred to as episodic memory) are unique to humans. Recently, considerable evidence has accumulated to show that food-storing birds possess critical behavioral elements of episodic memory, referred to as episodic-like memory in acknowledgment of the fact that behavioral criteria do not assess subjective experiences. Here we show that rats have a detailed representation of remembered events and meet behavioral criteria for episodic-like memory. We provided rats with access to locations baited with distinctive (e.g., grape and raspberry) or nondistinctive (regular chow) flavors. Locations with a distinctive flavor replenished after a long but not a short delay, and locations with the nondistinctive flavor never replenished. One distinctive flavor was devalued after encoding its location by prefeeding that flavor (satiation) or by pairing it with lithium chloride (acquired taste aversion), while the other distinctive flavor was not devalued. The rats selectively decreased revisits to the devalued distinctive flavor but not to the nondevalued distinctive flavor. The present studies demonstrate that rats selectively encode the content of episodic-like memories.

Risk Factors for a Second Episode of Hemoptysis

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Nobuhiko Seki

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives Hemoptysis is an alarming symptom of underlying lung disease. Clinicians are often unsure how to deal with and follow up patients who have had a single episode of hemoptysis, especially if the cause remains unknown despite thorough examination, because a second, more severe episode of hemoptysis might occur despite an apparently stable condition. Investigations were done, using multivariate analyses, to see whether several clinical factors present during an initial episode of hemoptysis could be used to predict a second episode. Subjects and Methods Eighty patients with an initial episode of hemoptysis who underwent both computed tomographic and bronchoscopic examinations from 2003 through 2005 were reviewed. Results The isolation of bacteria from bronchial lavage fluid (odds ratio 13.5, P = 0.001 and the failure to determine the cause of the initial episode of hemoptysis (odds ratio 7.0, P = 0.014 were significant independent predictors of a second episode of hemoptysis. Subset analysis showed that isolation of either Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Haemophilus influenzae increased the likelihood of a second episode of hemoptysis (P = 0.077, even if colonization, representing host-bacterial equilibrium, had occurred. Furthermore, the failure to determine the etiology of an initial episode of hemoptysis was associated with an increased risk of a massive second episode (P = 0.042, regardless of the volume of the initial episode. Conclusions In patients with bacterial colonization of the respiratory tract or an initial episode of hemoptysis of unknown etiology, there is an increased possibility of a second episode of hemoptysis.

β-Amyloid binding in elderly subjects with declining or stable episodic memory function measured with PET and [{sup 11}C]AZD2184

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Mattsson, Patrik [Karolinska Institutet, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Stockholm (Sweden); Karolinska University Hospital, Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Stockholm (Sweden); Forsberg, Anton; Halldin, Christer [Karolinska Institutet, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Stockholm (Sweden); Persson, Jonas; Nilsson, Lars-Goeran [Karolinska Institute and Stockholm University, Aging Research Center (ARC), Stockholm (Sweden); Nyberg, Lars [Umeaa University, Department of Radiation Sciences (Diagnostic Radiology), Umeaa (Sweden); Farde, Lars [Karolinska Institutet, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Stockholm (Sweden); AstraZeneca Translational Science Center at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm (Sweden)

2015-09-15

Cognitive decline has been suggested as an early marker for later onset of Alzheimer's disease. We therefore explored the relationship between decline in episodic memory and β-amyloid using positron emission tomography (PET) and [{sup 11}C]AZD2184, a radioligand with potential to detect low levels of amyloid deposits. Healthy elderly subjects with declining (n = 10) or stable (n = 10) episodic memory over 15 years were recruited from the population-based Betula study and examined with PET. Brain radioactivity was measured after intravenous administration of [{sup 11}C]AZD2184. The binding potential BP{sub ND} was calculated using linear graphical analysis with the cerebellum as reference region. The binding of [{sup 11}C]AZD2184 in total grey matter was generally low in the declining group, whereas some binding could be observed in the stable group. Mean BP{sub ND} was significantly higher in the stable group compared to the declining group (p = 0.019). An observation was that the three subjects with the highest BP{sub ND} were ApoE ε4 allele carriers. We conclude that cognitive decline in the general population does not seem to stand by itself as an early predictor for amyloid deposits. (orig.)

Episodic autobiographical memories over the course of time: cognitive, neuropsychological and neuroimaging findings.

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Piolino, Pascale; Desgranges, Béatrice; Eustache, Francis

2009-09-01

The critical attributes of episodic memory are self, autonoetic consciousness and subjectively sensed time. The aim of this paper is to present a theoretical overview of our already published researches into the nature of episodic memory over the course of time. We have developed a new method of assessing autobiographical memory (TEMPau task), which is specially designed to measure these specific aspects, based on the sense of re-experiencing events from across the entire lifespan. Based on our findings of cognitive, neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies, new insights into episodic autobiographical memories are presented, focusing on the effects of age of the subjects interacting with time interval in healthy subjects and lesioned patients. The multifaceted and complex nature of episodic memory is emphasized and it is suggested that mental time travel through subjective time, which allows individuals to re-experience specific past events through a feeling of self-awareness, is the last feature of autobiographical memory to become fully operational in development and the first feature to go in aging and most amnesias. Our findings highlight the critical role of frontotemporal areas in constructive autobiographical memory processes, and especially hippocampus, in re-experiencing episodic details from the recent or more distant past.

Absence of an increase in the duration of the circadian melatonin secretory episode in totally blind human subjects

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Klerman, E. B.; Zeitzer, J. M.; Duffy, J. F.; Khalsa, S. B.; Czeisler, C. A.

2001-01-01

The daily rhythm of melatonin influences multiple physiological measures, including sleep tendency, circadian rhythms, and reproductive function in seasonally breeding mammals. The biological signal for photoperiodic changes in seasonally breeding mammals is a change in the duration of melatonin secretion, which in a natural environment reflects the different durations of daylight across the year, with longer nights leading to a longer duration of melatonin secretion. These seasonal changes in the duration of melatonin secretion do not simply reflect the known acute suppression of melatonin secretion by ocular light exposure, but also represent long-term changes in the endogenous nocturnal melatonin episode that persist in constant conditions. As the eyes of totally blind individuals do not transmit ocular light information, we hypothesized that the duration of the melatonin secretory episode in blind subjects would be longer than those in sighted individuals, who are exposed to light for all their waking hours in an urban environment. We assessed the melatonin secretory profile during constant posture, dim light conditions in 17 blind and 157 sighted adults, all of whom were healthy and using no prescription or nonprescription medications. The duration of melatonin secretion was not significantly different between blind and sighted individuals. Healthy blind individuals after years without ocular light exposure do not have a longer duration of melatonin secretion than healthy sighted individuals.

The Interaction between Semantic Representation and Episodic Memory.

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Fang, Jing; Rüther, Naima; Bellebaum, Christian; Wiskott, Laurenz; Cheng, Sen

2018-02-01

The experimental evidence on the interrelation between episodic memory and semantic memory is inconclusive. Are they independent systems, different aspects of a single system, or separate but strongly interacting systems? Here, we propose a computational role for the interaction between the semantic and episodic systems that might help resolve this debate. We hypothesize that episodic memories are represented as sequences of activation patterns. These patterns are the output of a semantic representational network that compresses the high-dimensional sensory input. We show quantitatively that the accuracy of episodic memory crucially depends on the quality of the semantic representation. We compare two types of semantic representations: appropriate representations, which means that the representation is used to store input sequences that are of the same type as those that it was trained on, and inappropriate representations, which means that stored inputs differ from the training data. Retrieval accuracy is higher for appropriate representations because the encoded sequences are less divergent than those encoded with inappropriate representations. Consistent with our model prediction, we found that human subjects remember some aspects of episodes significantly more accurately if they had previously been familiarized with the objects occurring in the episode, as compared to episodes involving unfamiliar objects. We thus conclude that the interaction with the semantic system plays an important role for episodic memory.

Blunted cortisol response to stress in patients with eating disorders: Its association to bulimic features.

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Vaz-Leal, Francisco J; Ramos-Fuentes, María I; Rodríguez-Santos, Laura; Chimpén-López, Carlos; Fernández-Sánchez, Nieves; Zamora-Rodríguez, Francisco J; Beato-Fernández, Luis; Rojo-Moreno, Luis; Guisado-Macías, Juan A

2018-05-01

Clinical research on cortisol response to stress in patients with eating disorders has provided controversial and even contradictory results. As this might be the consequence of the inclusion in the studies of heterogeneous clinical populations, 3 highly selected samples were studied. Dexamethasone suppression test was performed on 15 restricting anorexia nervosa patients without history of bulimia nervosa (BN), 17 BN patients with normal weight and no history of anorexia nervosa, and 22 healthy controls. Three days later, the Trier Social Stress Test was applied, and 8 saliva samples were collected along the trial for cortisol assessment. When the patients were considered as a single group, a slightly blunted cortisol response to stress was observed, but when the 3 groups were considered separately, the blunted response was observed only in the BN patients. The results support the association between blunted cortisol response and bulimic features. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Episodic future thinking reduces delay discounting and cigarette demand: an investigation of the good-subject effect.

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Stein, Jeffrey S; Tegge, Allison N; Turner, Jamie K; Bickel, Warren K

2018-04-01

Episodic future thinking (EFT), an intervention involving mental simulation of future events, has been shown to reduce both delay discounting and cigarette self-administration. In the present study, we extended these findings by showing that EFT in a web-based sample of smokers reduces delay discounting and intensity of demand for cigarettes (ad libitum consumption) in a hypothetical purchase task. No effect was observed on elasticity of demand (sensitivity to price) or cigarette craving. We also explored whether demand characteristics (specifically, the "good-subject" effect) might be responsible for observed effects. EFT participants were significantly better able than control participants to discern the experimental hypothesis. However, EFT participants were not better than controls at identifying whether they had been assigned to the experimental group and, likewise, showed no differences in attitudes about the experiment and experimenter. Importantly, effects of EFT on delay discounting and demand remained significant even when controlling for measures of demand characteristics, indicating that EFT's effects are independent of participants' perceptions about the experiment.

Modeling HIV-1 drug resistance as episodic directional selection.

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Murrell, Ben; de Oliveira, Tulio; Seebregts, Chris; Kosakovsky Pond, Sergei L; Scheffler, Konrad

2012-01-01

The evolution of substitutions conferring drug resistance to HIV-1 is both episodic, occurring when patients are on antiretroviral therapy, and strongly directional, with site-specific resistant residues increasing in frequency over time. While methods exist to detect episodic diversifying selection and continuous directional selection, no evolutionary model combining these two properties has been proposed. We present two models of episodic directional selection (MEDS and EDEPS) which allow the a priori specification of lineages expected to have undergone directional selection. The models infer the sites and target residues that were likely subject to directional selection, using either codon or protein sequences. Compared to its null model of episodic diversifying selection, MEDS provides a superior fit to most sites known to be involved in drug resistance, and neither one test for episodic diversifying selection nor another for constant directional selection are able to detect as many true positives as MEDS and EDEPS while maintaining acceptable levels of false positives. This suggests that episodic directional selection is a better description of the process driving the evolution of drug resistance.

Modeling HIV-1 drug resistance as episodic directional selection.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ben Murrell

Full Text Available The evolution of substitutions conferring drug resistance to HIV-1 is both episodic, occurring when patients are on antiretroviral therapy, and strongly directional, with site-specific resistant residues increasing in frequency over time. While methods exist to detect episodic diversifying selection and continuous directional selection, no evolutionary model combining these two properties has been proposed. We present two models of episodic directional selection (MEDS and EDEPS which allow the a priori specification of lineages expected to have undergone directional selection. The models infer the sites and target residues that were likely subject to directional selection, using either codon or protein sequences. Compared to its null model of episodic diversifying selection, MEDS provides a superior fit to most sites known to be involved in drug resistance, and neither one test for episodic diversifying selection nor another for constant directional selection are able to detect as many true positives as MEDS and EDEPS while maintaining acceptable levels of false positives. This suggests that episodic directional selection is a better description of the process driving the evolution of drug resistance.

Cognitive dissonance resolution depends on episodic memory.

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Chammat, Mariam; Karoui, Imen El; Allali, Sébastien; Hagège, Joshua; Lehongre, Katia; Hasboun, Dominique; Baulac, Michel; Epelbaum, Stéphane; Michon, Agnès; Dubois, Bruno; Navarro, Vincent; Salti, Moti; Naccache, Lionel

2017-01-23

The notion that past choices affect preferences is one of the most influential concepts of social psychology since its first report in the 50 s, and its theorization within the cognitive dissonance framework. In the free-choice paradigm (FCP) after choosing between two similarly rated items, subjects reevaluate chosen items as more attractive and rejected items as less attractive. However the relations prevailing between episodic memory and choice-induced preference change (CIPC) remain highly debated: is this phenomenon dependent or independent from memory of past choices? We solve this theoretical debate by demonstrating that CIPC occurs exclusively for items which were correctly remembered as chosen or rejected during the choice stage. We used a combination of fMRI and intra-cranial electrophysiological recordings to reveal a modulation of left hippocampus activity, a hub of episodic memory retrieval, immediately before the occurrence of CIPC during item reevaluation. Finally, we show that contrarily to a previous influential report flawed by a statistical artifact, this phenomenon is absent in amnesic patients for forgotten items. These results demonstrate the dependence of cognitive dissonance on conscious episodic memory. This link between current preferences and previous choices suggests a homeostatic function of this regulative process, aiming at preserving subjective coherence.

The psychosexual histories of young women with bulimia.

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Abraham, S F; Bendit, N; Mason, C; Mitchell, H; O'Connor, N; Ward, J; Young, S; Llewellyn-Jones, D

1985-03-01

While it is known that anorexia nervosa patients show a wide range of sexual knowledge, attitudes and practices, the psychosexual histories of bulimia patients have not been studied. In this paper the psychosexual histories of 20 bulimic patients and 20 matched control subjects are presented. Bulimic patients were more likely to experience orgasm with masturbation, were more likely to have experimented with anal intercourse, and were more likely to describe their libido as 'above average.' Control subjects were more likely to experience orgasm during sexual intercourse. Bulimic patients associated high body weights with unattractiveness, and tended to withdraw from social and sexual activity at high weights. In other aspects of their sexual behaviour, and in their attitudes to sexual matters, the two groups were similar.

Multimodal Feature Integration in the Angular Gyrus during Episodic and Semantic Retrieval

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Bonnici, Heidi M.; Richter, Franziska R.; Yazar, Yasemin

2016-01-01

Much evidence from distinct lines of investigation indicates the involvement of angular gyrus (AnG) in the retrieval of both episodic and semantic information, but the region's precise function and whether that function differs across episodic and semantic retrieval have yet to be determined. We used univariate and multivariate fMRI analysis methods to examine the role of AnG in multimodal feature integration during episodic and semantic retrieval. Human participants completed episodic and semantic memory tasks involving unimodal (auditory or visual) and multimodal (audio-visual) stimuli. Univariate analyses revealed the recruitment of functionally distinct AnG subregions during the retrieval of episodic and semantic information. Consistent with a role in multimodal feature integration during episodic retrieval, significantly greater AnG activity was observed during retrieval of integrated multimodal episodic memories compared with unimodal episodic memories. Multivariate classification analyses revealed that individual multimodal episodic memories could be differentiated in AnG, with classification accuracy tracking the vividness of participants' reported recollections, whereas distinct unimodal memories were represented in sensory association areas only. In contrast to episodic retrieval, AnG was engaged to a statistically equivalent degree during retrieval of unimodal and multimodal semantic memories, suggesting a distinct role for AnG during semantic retrieval. Modality-specific sensory association areas exhibited corresponding activity during both episodic and semantic retrieval, which mirrored the functional specialization of these regions during perception. The results offer new insights into the integrative processes subserved by AnG and its contribution to our subjective experience of remembering. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Using univariate and multivariate fMRI analyses, we provide evidence that functionally distinct subregions of angular gyrus (An

Multimodal Feature Integration in the Angular Gyrus during Episodic and Semantic Retrieval.

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Bonnici, Heidi M; Richter, Franziska R; Yazar, Yasemin; Simons, Jon S

2016-05-18

Much evidence from distinct lines of investigation indicates the involvement of angular gyrus (AnG) in the retrieval of both episodic and semantic information, but the region's precise function and whether that function differs across episodic and semantic retrieval have yet to be determined. We used univariate and multivariate fMRI analysis methods to examine the role of AnG in multimodal feature integration during episodic and semantic retrieval. Human participants completed episodic and semantic memory tasks involving unimodal (auditory or visual) and multimodal (audio-visual) stimuli. Univariate analyses revealed the recruitment of functionally distinct AnG subregions during the retrieval of episodic and semantic information. Consistent with a role in multimodal feature integration during episodic retrieval, significantly greater AnG activity was observed during retrieval of integrated multimodal episodic memories compared with unimodal episodic memories. Multivariate classification analyses revealed that individual multimodal episodic memories could be differentiated in AnG, with classification accuracy tracking the vividness of participants' reported recollections, whereas distinct unimodal memories were represented in sensory association areas only. In contrast to episodic retrieval, AnG was engaged to a statistically equivalent degree during retrieval of unimodal and multimodal semantic memories, suggesting a distinct role for AnG during semantic retrieval. Modality-specific sensory association areas exhibited corresponding activity during both episodic and semantic retrieval, which mirrored the functional specialization of these regions during perception. The results offer new insights into the integrative processes subserved by AnG and its contribution to our subjective experience of remembering. Using univariate and multivariate fMRI analyses, we provide evidence that functionally distinct subregions of angular gyrus (AnG) contribute to the retrieval of

Overeating among Seriously Overweight Children Seeking Treatment: Results of the Children’s Eating Disorder Examination

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Levine, Michele D.; Ringham, Rebecca M.; Kalarchian, Melissa A.; Wisniewski, Lucene; Marcus, Marsha D.

2010-01-01

Objective We sought to examine rates of eating disorder symptoms among seriously overweight children seeking treatment using the Eating Disorder Examination for Children (ChEDE) and to provide initial data about their association with treatment outcome. Method Overweight children (N = 27) 8–13 years old were interviewed using the ChEDE before participating in a family-based behavioral treatment program. Height and weight were measured pretreatment, posttreatment, and approximately 8 months posttreatment. Results Fifteen percent of children reported subjective bulimic episodes (SBE). Weight loss did not differ for children with and without SBEs, but concerns about body shape were related to larger weight losses during treatment. Conclusion A considerable minority of treatment-seeking overweight children report an episodic sense of loss of control over eating. Loss of control is related to other disordered eating attitudes and behaviors, but does not appear to affect treatment outcome. Future studies are needed to replicate these initial findings. PMID:16231347

Time Course of Visual Attention to High-Calorie Virtual Food in Individuals with Bulimic Tendencies.

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Kim, Jiwon; Kim, Kiho; Lee, Jang-Han

2016-01-01

The aim of the present study was to use an eye-tracking device to investigate attention bias and its mechanism toward high-calorie virtual food in individuals with bulimic tendencies (BT). A total of 76 participants were divided into two groups: a BT group (n = 38) and a control group (n = 38). The eye movements of all participants were continuously measured while the participants were confronted with pairs of high-calorie, low-calorie, and nonfood virtual stimuli (pictures). It was found that the BT group detected high-calorie food more quickly than they did the low-calorie food and nonfood stimuli, but they also avoided the high-calorie food. These results indicate that individuals with BT automatically allocate their attention toward high-calorie food and, subsequently, try to avoid it. Based on these results, we suggest that this approach-avoidance pattern for high-calorie virtual food could be a factor in the development and maintenance of bulimia symptoms by encouraging individuals with BT to be in conflict with the urge to overeat.

The Influence of Personality Traits on Emotion Expression in Bulimic Spectrum Disorders: A Pilot Study.

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Giner-Bartolomé, Cristina; Steward, Trevor; Wolz, Ines; Jiménez-Murcia, Susana; Granero, Roser; Tárrega, Salomé; Fernández-Formoso, José Antonio; Soriano-Mas, Carles; Menchón, José M; Fernández-Aranda, Fernando

2016-07-01

Facial expressions are critical in forming social bonds and in signalling one's emotional state to others. In eating disorder patients, impairments in facial emotion recognition have been associated with eating psychopathology severity. Little research however has been carried out on how bulimic spectrum disorder (BSD) patients spontaneously express emotions. Our aim was to investigate emotion expression in BSD patients and to explore the influence of personality traits. Our study comprised 28 BSD women and 15 healthy controls. Facial expressions were recorded while participants played a serious video game. Expressions of anger and joy were used as outcome measures. Overall, BSD participants displayed less facial expressiveness than controls. Among BSD women, expressions of joy were positively associated with reward dependence, novelty seeking and self-directedness, whereas expressions of anger were associated with lower self-directedness. Our findings suggest that specific personality traits are associated with altered emotion facial expression in patients with BSD. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Episodic future thinking and episodic counterfactual thinking: intersections between memory and decisions.

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Schacter, Daniel L; Benoit, Roland G; De Brigard, Felipe; Szpunar, Karl K

2015-01-01

This article considers two recent lines of research concerned with the construction of imagined or simulated events that can provide insight into the relationship between memory and decision making. One line of research concerns episodic future thinking, which involves simulating episodes that might occur in one's personal future, and the other concerns episodic counterfactual thinking, which involves simulating episodes that could have happened in one's personal past. We first review neuroimaging studies that have examined the neural underpinnings of episodic future thinking and episodic counterfactual thinking. We argue that these studies have revealed that the two forms of episodic simulation engage a common core network including medial parietal, prefrontal, and temporal regions that also supports episodic memory. We also note that neuroimaging studies have documented neural differences between episodic future thinking and episodic counterfactual thinking, including differences in hippocampal responses. We next consider behavioral studies that have delineated both similarities and differences between the two kinds of episodic simulation. The evidence indicates that episodic future and counterfactual thinking are characterized by similarly reduced levels of specific detail compared with episodic memory, but that the effects of repeatedly imagining a possible experience have sharply contrasting effects on the perceived plausibility of those events during episodic future thinking versus episodic counterfactual thinking. Finally, we conclude by discussing the functional consequences of future and counterfactual simulations for decisions. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Properties of tonic episodes of masseter muscle activity during waking hours and sleep in subjects with and without history of orofacial pain.

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Mude, Acing Habibie; Kawakami, Shigehisa; Kato, Seiya; Minagi, Shogo

2018-04-01

To provide a scientific data related to the tonic activity of masseter muscle in subjects with and without history of orofacial pain during their normal daily life. Thirty-three subjects were divided into two groups, a pain history group (PHG) and a non-pain history group (non-PHG), based on their responses to the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders questionnaire. After excluding four subjects with incomplete recordings, full-day masseter muscle surface EMGs of 29 subjects (10 men, 19 women; mean age 24.1 years) were analyzed. Tonic episode (TE) was defined as continuous EMG activity with a duration at least 2s with intensities above twice the baseline noise level. TEs were classified into 6 strength categories (40% of the maximum voluntary clenching (MVC)). The mean duration of activity observed in the non-PHG+2 SD was adopted as a cutoff for identifying sustained TE. During waking hours, the incidence of sustained TEs was significantly higher in the PHG than in the non-PHG (porofacial pain and the intensity range of 7.5-25% MVC would be an important range for future clenching studies. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Episodic Memories

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Conway, Martin A.

2009-01-01

An account of episodic memories is developed that focuses on the types of knowledge they represent, their properties, and the functions they might serve. It is proposed that episodic memories consist of "episodic elements," summary records of experience often in the form of visual images, associated to a "conceptual frame" that provides a…

Functional neuroimaging of semantic and episodic musical memory.

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Platel, Hervé

2005-12-01

The distinction between episodic and semantic memory has become very popular since it was first proposed by Tulving in 1972. So far, very few neuropsychological, psychophysical, and imaging studies have related to the mnemonic aspects of music, notably on the long-term memory features, and practically nothing is known about the functional anatomy of long-term memory for music. Numerous functional imaging studies have shown that retrieval from semantic and episodic memory is subserved by distinct neural networks. For instance, the HERA model (hemispheric encoding/retrieval asymmetry) ascribes to the left prefrontal cortex a preferential role in the encoding process of episodic material and the recall of semantic information, while the right prefrontal cortex would preferentially operate in the recall of episodic information. However, these results were essentially obtained with verbal and visuo-spatial material. We have done a study to determine the neural substrates underlying the semantic and episodic components of music using familiar and nonfamiliar melodic tunes. Two distinct patterns of activations were found: bilateral activation of the middle and superior frontal areas and precuneus for episodic memory, and activation of the medial and orbital frontal cortex bilaterally, left angular gyrus, and the anterior part of the left middle and superior temporal gyri for semantic memory. We discuss these findings in light of the available neuropsychological data obtained in brain-damaged subjects and functional neuroimaging studies.

Correlates of Non-suicidal Self-injury and Suicide Attempts in Bulimic Spectrum Disorders

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Alexandra Gómez-Expósito

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the implication of personality, impulsivity, and emotion regulation difficulties in patients with a bulimic-spectrum disorder (BSD and suicide attempts (SA, BSD patients with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI, and BSD patients without these behaviors. Method: 122 female adult BSD patients were assessed using self-report questionnaires. Patients were clustered post-hoc into three groups depending on whether they presented BSD without NSSI or SA (BSD, BSD with lifetime NSSI (BSD+NSSI or BSD with lifetime SA (BSD+SA. Results: The BSD+NSSI and BSD+SA groups presented more emotion regulation difficulties, more eating and general psychopathology, and increased reward dependence in comparison with the BSD group. In addition, BSD+SA patients specifically showed problems with impulse control, while also presenting higher impulsivity than both the BSD and BSD+NSSI groups. No differences in impulsivity between the BSD and BSD+NSSI groups were found. Conclusions: The results show that BSD + NSSI and BSD+SA share a common profile characterized by difficulties in emotion regulation and low reward dependence, but differ in impulsivity and cooperativeness. This suggests that self-injury, in patients without a history of suicide attempts (i.e. BSD+NSSI, may have a regulatory role rather than being due to impulsivity.

Increased glucose levels are associated with episodic memory in nondiabetic women.

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Rolandsson, Olov; Backeström, Anna; Eriksson, Sture; Hallmans, Göran; Nilsson, Lars-Göran

2008-02-01

Patients with type 2 diabetes have an increased risk of a reduction in cognitive function. We investigated the hypothesis that plasma glucose is associated with a reduction in episodic and/or semantic memory already in nondiabetic subjects. We linked two large population-based datasets in Sweden: the Betula study, in which a random sample from the population aged 35-85 years was investigated for cognitive function, including episodic and semantic memory; and the Västerbotten Intervention Program, a health survey with subjects aged 40, 50, and 60 years, that includes measuring of fasting and 2-h plasma glucose, along with other risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. We identified 411 (179 men and 232 women, mean age 50.6 +/- 8.0 years) nondiabetic subjects, free from dementia, who had participated in the two surveys within 6 months. Women had better episodic (score 7.37 +/- 1.42) and semantic memory (score 16.05 +/- 2.76) than men (score 6.59 +/- 1.29 and 15.15 +/- 2.92, respectively, P glucose (fPG) and 2-h plasma glucose (2hPG) were significantly negatively associated with episodic memory (fPG: B -0.198, SE 0.068, beta -0.209, P = 0.004; and 2hPG: B -0.061, SE 0.031, beta -0.148, P = 0.048, respectively) in women but not in men. The association was not found in relation to semantic memory. We conclude that an increase in plasma glucose is associated with impairment in episodic memory in women. This could be explained by a negative effect on the hippocampus caused by raised plasma glucose levels.

Episodic Memory and Beyond: The Hippocampus and Neocortex in Transformation.

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Moscovitch, Morris; Cabeza, Roberto; Winocur, Gordon; Nadel, Lynn

2016-01-01

The last decade has seen dramatic technological and conceptual changes in research on episodic memory and the brain. New technologies, and increased use of more naturalistic observations, have enabled investigators to delve deeply into the structures that mediate episodic memory, particularly the hippocampus, and to track functional and structural interactions among brain regions that support it. Conceptually, episodic memory is increasingly being viewed as subject to lifelong transformations that are reflected in the neural substrates that mediate it. In keeping with this dynamic perspective, research on episodic memory (and the hippocampus) has infiltrated domains, from perception to language and from empathy to problem solving, that were once considered outside its boundaries. Using the component process model as a framework, and focusing on the hippocampus, its subfields, and specialization along its longitudinal axis, along with its interaction with other brain regions, we consider these new developments and their implications for the organization of episodic memory and its contribution to functions in other domains.

Low episodic memory performance in cognitively normal elderly subjects is associated with increased posterior cingulate gray matter N-acetylaspartate: a 1H MRSI study at 7 Tesla.

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Schreiner, Simon J; Kirchner, Thomas; Wyss, Michael; Van Bergen, Jiri M G; Quevenco, Frances C; Steininger, Stefanie C; Griffith, Erica Y; Meier, Irene; Michels, Lars; Gietl, Anton F; Leh, Sandra E; Brickman, Adam M; Hock, Christoph; Nitsch, Roger M; Pruessmann, Klaas P; Henning, Anke; Unschuld, Paul G

2016-12-01

Low episodic memory performance characterizes elderly subjects at increased risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and may reflect neuronal dysfunction within the posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus (PCP) region. To investigate a potential association between cerebral neurometabolism and low episodic memory in the absence of cognitive impairment, tissue-specific magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging at ultrahigh field strength of 7 Tesla was used to investigate the PCP region in a healthy elderly study population (n = 30, age 70 ± 5.7 years, Mini-Mental State Examination 29.4 ± 4.1). The Verbal Learning and Memory Test (VLMT) was administered as part of a neuropsychological battery for assessment of episodic memory performance. Significant differences between PCP gray and white matter could be observed for glutamate-glutamine (p = 0.001), choline (p = 0.01), and myo-inositol (p = 0.02). Low Verbal Learning and Memory Test performance was associated with high N-acetylaspartate in PCP gray matter (p = 0.01) but not in PCP white matter. Our data suggest that subtle decreases in episodic memory performance in the elderly may be associated with increased levels of N-acetylaspartate as a reflection of increased mitochondrial energy capacity in PCP gray matter. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Episode cycles with increasing recurrences in first-episode bipolar-I disorder patients.

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Baldessarini, R J; Salvatore, P; Khalsa, H-M K; Imaz-Etxeberria, H; Gonzalez-Pinto, A; Tohen, M

2012-01-01

Preliminary review of a century of studies of the course of manic-depressive syndromes produced 40 reports, of which approximately one-third report evidence of shortening wellness intervals or cycle-lengths with more recurrences, and two-thirds did not. We evaluated inter-episode intervals (cycle-length) in 128 clinically-treated, DSM-IV bipolar-I disorder patients followed prospectively and systematically over 5.7 years, with 6.5 episodes/person. As expected, cycle-length varied inversely with total cycle-count/person; however, multivariate linear regression found only longer initial hospitalization and fewer total cycles to be associated with cycle-length, whereas cycle-number (1, 2, 3, etc.), sex, intake-age, and first-episode polarity were not. Regression of within-subject cycle-length versus cycle-number yielded individual slope-functions with pseudo-random distribution (28% fell within ±1 month/cycle of the null [zero-slope]). Mean duration of early and late euthymic intervals (cycles 2 vs. 5) in patients with matched recurrence-counts was nearly identical. The course of bipolar-I disorder from onset was largely random or chaotic over nearly 6 years from onset. Only a minority of patients showed either cycle-acceleration or slowing, without changes in wellness intervals. The findings may be influenced by treatment-effects, but seem to indicate that most current bipolar-I disorder patients are unlikely to show progressive shortening of recurrence-cycles. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Verbal episodic memory in young hypothyroid patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vatsal Priyadarshi Pandey

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Context: Hypothyroidism affects cognitive functions especially memory. However, most of the previous studies have generally evaluated older hypothyroid patients and sample size of these studies varied in terms of age range. Aims: To see whether hypothyroidism affects memory in young patients. Settings and Design: The sample consisted of 11 hypothyroid patients with an age of 18–49 and 8 healthy controls matched on age and education. Subjects and Methods: Verbal episodic memory was assessed using Hindi adaptation of Rey-Auditory Verbal Learning Test. Statistical Analysis Used: An independent t-test was used to see the difference between mean performance of the patient group and healthy control on memory measures. Results: Results indicated nonsignificant difference between verbal episodic memory of patient group and healthy controls. Conclusions: On the basis of these findings, it was concluded that hypothyroidism may not affect younger patients in terms of episodic verbal memory the same way as it does in the older patients.

A pilot study of cognitive insight and structural covariance in first-episode psychosis.

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Kuang, Corin; Buchy, Lisa; Barbato, Mariapaola; Makowski, Carolina; MacMaster, Frank P; Bray, Signe; Deighton, Stephanie; Addington, Jean

2017-01-01

Cognitive insight is described as a balance between one's self-reflectiveness (recognition and correction of dysfunctional reasoning), and self-certainty (overconfidence). Neuroimaging studies have linked the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) to cognitive insight in people with psychosis. However, the relationship between cognitive insight and structural connectivity between the VLPFC and other brain areas is unknown. Here, we investigated the modulation of cognitive insight on structural covariance networks involving the VLPFC in a first-episode psychosis sample. Fifteen patients with a first-episode psychosis provided magnetic resonance (MR) scans and completed the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS). MR scans were also available for 15 historical controls. Seed-based analysis of structural covariance was conducted using the Mapping Anatomical Correlations Across the Cerebral Cortex (MACACC) methodology, whereby Pearson correlation coefficients were extracted between seed regions in left and right VLPFC and cortical thickness across the brain. Structural covariance maps between groups were compared at each vertex. In first-episode subjects, we evaluated the modulation of BCIS scores on cortical covariance between VLPFC and every other vertex. Findings showed no significant group difference between first-episode psychosis subjects and controls in thickness covariance seeded from left or right VLPFC. However, in first-episode psychosis subjects, a positive association with self-certainty was found in networks seeded from both left and right VLPFC with thickness in medial frontal cortex and right pars triangularis. No significant associations were found for self-reflectiveness. These results suggest that self-certainty, but not self-reflectiveness, positively modulated cortical covariance in a frontal network in patients with a first-episode psychosis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Comorbidity of eating disorders and bipolar affective disorders].

Science.gov (United States)

Kamińska, Katarzyna; Rybakowski, Filip

2006-01-01

Eating disorders--anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS) occur usually in young females. The significant pathogenic differences between patients who only restrict food, and patients with binge eating and compensatory behaviours, such as vomiting and purging were described. The prevalence of bipolar affective disorders--especially bipolar II and bipolar spectrum disorders (BS) may reach 5% in the general population. About half of the depressive episodes are associated with a "mild" bipolar disorder, and such a diagnosis is suggested by impulsivity and mood-instability. Previously, majority of research on the comorbidity between eating and affective disorders focused on depressive symptomatology, however difficulties in the reliable assessment of hypomania may obfuscate the estimation of the co-occurrence of eating disorders with BS. Epidemiological studies suggest the association between BS and eating disorders with binge episodes (bulimia nervosa, anorexia- bulimic type and EDNOS with binge episodes). Co-occurrence of such disorders with depressive symptoms probably suggests the diagnosis of BS, not recurrent depression. Bulimic behaviours, impulsivity and affective disorders might be related to the impairment of the serotonergic neurotransmission, which may result from the genetic vulnerability and early life trauma. Currently, the first-line pharmacological treatment of co-occurring eating disorders with binge episodes and BS are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. However in some cases, the use of mood-stabilising agents as monotherapy or in combination with serotonergic drugs may be helpful.

Right lateralized white matter abnormalities in first-episode, drug-naive paranoid schizophrenia.

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Guo, Wenbin; Liu, Feng; Liu, Zhening; Gao, Keming; Xiao, Changqing; Chen, Huafu; Zhao, Jingping

2012-11-30

Numerous studies in first-episode schizophrenia suggest the involvement of white matter (WM) abnormalities in multiple regions underlying the pathogenesis of this condition. However, there has never been a neuroimaging study in patients with first-episode, drug-naive paranoid schizophrenia by using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) method. Here, we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) with TBSS method to investigate the brain WM integrity in patients with first-episode, drug-naive paranoid schizophrenia. Twenty patients with first-episode, drug-naive paranoid schizophrenia and 26 healthy subjects matched with age, gender, and education level were scanned with DTI. An automated TBSS approach was employed to analyze the data. Voxel-wise statistics revealed that patients with paranoid schizophrenia had decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) values in the right superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) II, the right fornix, the right internal capsule, and the right external capsule compared to healthy subjects. Patients did not have increased FA values in any brain regions compared to healthy subjects. There was no correlation between the FA values in any brain regions and patient demographics and the severity of illness. Our findings suggest right-sided alterations of WM integrity in the WM tracts of cortical and subcortical regions may play an important role in the pathogenesis of paranoid schizophrenia. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Episodic and Semantic Memory Contribute to Familiar and Novel Episodic Future Thinking.

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Wang, Tong; Yue, Tong; Huang, Xi Ting

2016-01-01

Increasing evidence indicates that episodic future thinking (EFT) relies on both episodic and semantic memory; however, event familiarity may importantly affect the extent to which episodic and semantic memory contribute to EFT. To test this possibility, two behavioral experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, we directly compared the proportion of episodic and semantic memory used in an EFT task. The results indicated that more episodic memory was used when imagining familiar future events compared with novel future events. Conversely, significantly more semantic memory was used when imagining novel events compared with familiar events. Experiment 2 aimed to verify the results of Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, we found that familiarity moderated the effect of priming the episodic memory system on EFT; particularly, it increased the time required to construct a standard familiar episodic future event, but did not significantly affect novel episodic event reaction time. Collectively, these findings support the hypothesis that event familiarity importantly moderates episodic and semantic memory's contribution to EFT.

The Episodic Nature of Episodic-Like Memories

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Easton, Alexander; Webster, Lisa A. D.; Eacott, Madeline J.

2012-01-01

Studying episodic memory in nonhuman animals has proved difficult because definitions in humans require conscious recollection. Here, we assessed humans' experience of episodic-like recognition memory tasks that have been used with animals. It was found that tasks using contextual information to discriminate events could only be accurately…

Cognitive impairment and medial temporal lobe structure in young adults with a depressive episode.

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Donix, Markus; Haussmann, Robert; Helling, Franziska; Zweiniger, Anne; Lange, Jan; Werner, Annett; Donix, Katharina L; Brandt, Moritz D; Linn, Jennifer; Bauer, Michael; Buthut, Maria

2018-09-01

Cognitive deficits are common in patients with a depressive episode although the predictors for their development and severity remain elusive. We investigated whether subjective and objective cognitive impairment in young depressed adults would be associated with cortical thinning in medial temporal subregions. High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging, cortical unfolding data analysis, and comprehensive assessments of subjective and objective cognitive abilities were performed on 27 young patients with a depressive episode (mean age: 29.0 ± 5.8 years) and 23 older participants without a history of a depressive disorder but amnestic mild cognitive impairment (68.5 ± 6.6 years) or normal cognition (65.2 ± 8.7 years). Thickness reductions in parahippocampal, perirhinal and fusiform cortices were associated with subjective memory deficits only among young patients with a depressive episode and a measurable cognitive impairment. Long-term longitudinal data would be desirable to determine the trajectories of cognitive impairment associated with depression in patients with or without cortical structure changes. The presence of clinically significant cognitive deficits in young people with a depressive episode may identify a patient population with extrahippocampal cortical thinning. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Assessment of Behavioural Markers of Autonoetic Consciousness during Episodic Autobiographical Memory Retrieval: A Preliminary Analysis

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M. Irish

2008-01-01

Full Text Available There is ongoing theoretical debate regarding episodic memory and how it can be accurately measured, in particular if the focus should be content-based recall of episodic details or something more experiential involving the subjective capacity to mentally travel back in time and “re-live” aspects of the original event. The autonoetic subscale of the Episodic Autobiographical Memory Interview (EAMI is presented here as a new test instrument that attempts to redress theoretical and methodological shortcomings in autobiographical memory assessment. The EAMI merges a phenomenological detail-based approach with an assessment of autonoetic consciousness, departing considerably from traditional Remember/Know paradigms used within this field. We present findings from an initial pilot study investigating the potential markers of autonoetic consciousness that may accompany episodic retrieval. Key behavioural indices of autonoetic consciousness, notably those of viewer perspective, visual imagery, and emotional re-experiencing, emerged as being inextricably bound with the level of phenomenological detail recalled and the overall re-living judgment. The autonoetic subscale of the EAMI permits conceptually refined assessment of episodic personal memories and the accompanying subjective experience of mental re-living, characteristic of episodic memory.

Depression and quality of life in first-episode psychosis.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Renwick, Laoise

2012-07-01

Quality of life (QOL) has gained recognition as a valid measure of outcome in first-episode psychosis (FEP). This study aimed to determine the influence of specific groups of depressive symptoms on separate domains of subjectively appraised QOL.

Recovery from episodic acidification delayed by drought and high sea salt deposition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Laudon

2008-03-01

Full Text Available For the prediction of episodic acidification large uncertainties are connected to climatic variability and its effect on drought conditions and sea-salt episodes. In this study data on 342 hydrological episodes in 25 Swedish streams, sampled over 10 years, have been analyzed using a recently developed episode model. The results demonstrate that drought is the most important factor modulating the magnitude of the anthropogenic influence on pH and ANC during episodes. These modulating effects are especially pronounced in southern and central Sweden, where the historically high acid deposition has resulted in significant S pools in catchment soils. The results also suggest that the effects of episodic acidification are becoming less severe in many streams, but this amelioration is less clear in coastal streams subject to high levels of sea-salt deposition. Concurrently with the amelioration of the effects of episodic acidification, regional climate models predict that temperatures will increase in Sweden during the coming decades, accompanied by reductions in summer precipitation and more frequent storms during fall and winter in large areas of the country. If these predictions are realized delays in streams' recovery from episodic acidification events can be expected.

Episodic and Semantic Memory Contribute to Familiar and Novel Episodic Future Thinking

OpenAIRE

Tong Wang; Tong Yue; Xi ting Huang

2016-01-01

Abstract Increasing evidence indicates that episodic future thinking (EFT) relies on both episodic and semantic memory; however, event familiarity may importantly affect the extent to which episodic and semantic memory contribute to EFT. To test this possibility, two behavioral experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, we directly compared the proportion of episodic and semantic memory used in an EFT task. The results indicated that more episodic memory was used when imagining familiar fut...

Patient satisfaction with treatment in first-episode psychosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haahr, Ulrik Helt; Simonsen, Erik; Røssberg, Jan Ivar

2012-01-01

Purpose: To examine first-episode psychotic patients' satisfaction with elements of a comprehensive 2-year treatment program. Subjects and method: The TIPS (Early Treatment and Intervention in Psychosis) project provided a 2-year treatment program consisting of milieu therapy (inpatient), individ......Purpose: To examine first-episode psychotic patients' satisfaction with elements of a comprehensive 2-year treatment program. Subjects and method: The TIPS (Early Treatment and Intervention in Psychosis) project provided a 2-year treatment program consisting of milieu therapy (inpatient......), individual psychotherapy, family intervention and medication. Of 140 patients at baseline, 112 were included at 2-year follow-up. Eighty-four participants were interviewed using a questionnaire eliciting levels of satisfaction with different treatment elements at two of the four sites. Results: Participants...... and non-participants did not differ on demographic or clinical data at baseline. Of those participating, 75% were satisfied with treatment in general. Individual and milieu therapy received higher rating than medication or family intervention. No predictors of general satisfaction with treatment were...

Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Smartphone Assisted Versus Traditional Guided Self-Help for Adults with Binge Eating

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Hildebrandt, Tom; Michaelides, Andreas; Mackinnon, Dianna; Greif, Rebecca; DeBar, Lynn; Sysko, Robyn

2017-01-01

Objective Guided self-help treatments based on cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT-GSH) are efficacious for binge eating. With limited availability of CBT-GSH in the community, mobile technology offers a means to increase use of these interventions. The purpose of this study was to test the initial efficacy of Noom Monitor, a smartphone application designed to facilitate CBT-GSH (CBT-GSH+Noom), on study retention, adherence, and eating disorder symptoms compared to traditional CBT-GSH. Method Sixty-six men and women with DSM-5 binge eating disorder (BED) or bulimia nervosa (BN) were randomized to receive 8 sessions of CBT-GSH + Noom (n = 33) or CBT-GSH (n = 33) over 12 weeks. Primary symptom outcomes were Eating Disorder Examination objective bulimic episodes (OBEs), subjective bulimic episodes (SBEs), and compensatory behaviors. Assessments were collected at 0, 4, 8, 12, 24, and 36 weeks. Behavioral outcomes were modeled using zero-inflated negative-binomial latent growth curve models with intent-to-treat. Results There was a significant effect of treatment on change in OBEs (β =−0.84, 95%CI = −1.49, −0.19) favoring CBT-GSH + Noom. Remission rates were not statistically different between treatments for OBEs (βlogit =−0.73, 95%CI = −1.86, 3.27; CBT-GSH + Noom = 17/27, 63.0% vs. CBT-GSH 11/27, 40.7%, NNT = 4.5), but CBT-GSH + Noom participants reported greater meal and snack adherence and regular meal adherence mediated treatment effects on OBEs. The treatments did not differ at the 6-month follow-up. Discussion Smartphone applications for the treatment binge eating appear to have advantages for adherence, a critical component of treatment dissemination. PMID:28960384

Episodic Autobiographical Memories over the Course of Time: Cognitive, Neuropsychological and Neuroimaging Findings

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Piolino, Pascale; Desgranges, Beatrice; Eustache, Francis

2009-01-01

The critical attributes of episodic memory are self, autonoetic consciousness and subjectively sensed time. The aim of this paper is to present a theoretical overview of our already published researches into the nature of episodic memory over the course of time. We have developed a new method of assessing "autobiographical" memory (TEMPau task),…

Correlates of Non-suicidal Self-Injury and Suicide Attempts in Bulimic Spectrum Disorders

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Gómez-Expósito, Alexandra; Wolz, Ines; Fagundo, Ana B.; Granero, Roser; Steward, Trevor; Jiménez-Murcia, Susana; Agüera, Zaida; Fernández-Aranda, Fernando

2016-01-01

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the implication of personality, impulsivity, and emotion regulation difficulties in patients with a bulimic-spectrum disorder (BSD) and suicide attempts (SA), BSD patients with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), and BSD patients without these behaviors. Method: One hundred and twenty-two female adult BSD patients were assessed using self-report questionnaires. Patients were clustered post-hoc into three groups depending on whether they presented BSD without NSSI or SA (BSD), BSD with lifetime NSSI (BSD + NSSI) or BSD with lifetime SA (BSD + SA). Results: The BSD + NSSI and BSD + SA groups presented more emotion regulation difficulties, more eating and general psychopathology, and increased reward dependence in comparison with the BSD group. In addition, BSD + SA patients specifically showed problems with impulse control, while also presenting higher impulsivity than both the BSD and BSD + NSSI groups. No differences in impulsivity between the BSD and BSD + NSSI groups were found. Conclusions: The results show that BSD + NSSI and BSD + SA share a common profile characterized by difficulties in emotion regulation and low reward dependence, but differ in impulsivity and cooperativeness. This suggests that self-injury, in patients without a history of suicide attempts (i.e., BSD + NSSI), may have a regulatory role rather than being due to impulsivity. PMID:27597836

The Role of Episodic and Semantic Memory in Episodic Foresight

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Martin-Ordas, Gema; Atance, Cristina M.; Louw, Alyssa

2012-01-01

In this paper we describe a special form of future thinking, termed "episodic foresight" and its relation with episodic and semantic memory. We outline the methodologies that have largely been developed in the last five years to assess this capacity in young children and non-human animals. Drawing on Tulving's definition of episodic and semantic…

Hemorrhagic episodes in hemophiliacs stimulating abdominal surgical emergencies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rabie, Mohammad E.; Al-Tayeb, Abdul-Rehman E.; Zafer, Mubarak H.; Seikha, Anwar A.

2004-01-01

Hemophiliacs are subjected to develop episodes of spontaneous bleeding at different sites of the body, primarily the knees. On occasions such episodes affect the abdomen. The picture engendered in such cases may mimic that of an abdominal emergency requiring surgical intervention.Such ill advised and unwarranted intervention may end with the patient's death.With the proper emloyment of radiology, the correct diagonosis may be reached and consequently, conservative treatment, in which factor VIII plays the major role, instituted. Here we describe the clinical course of two patients with hemophilia A who suffered bleeding in the abdomen and were treated conservatively with a successfull outcome. (author)

Correlation between Inter-Blink Interval and Episodic Encoding during Movie Watching

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Shin, Young Seok; Chang, Won-du; Park, Jinsick; Im, Chang-Hwan; Lee, Sang In; Kim, In Young; Jang, Dong Pyo

2015-01-01

Human eye blinking is cognitively suppressed to minimize loss of visual information for important real-world events. Despite the relationship between eye blinking and cognitive state, the effect of eye blinks on cognition in real-world environments has received limited research attention. In this study, we focused on the temporal pattern of inter-eye blink interval (IEBI) during movie watching and investigated its relationship with episodic memory. As a control condition, 24 healthy subjects watched a nature documentary that lacked a specific story line while electroencephalography was performed. Immediately after viewing the movie, the subjects were asked to report its most memorable scene. Four weeks later, subjects were asked to score 32 randomly selected scenes from the movie, based on how much they were able to remember and describe. The results showed that the average IEBI was significantly longer during the movie than in the control condition. In addition, the significant increase in IEBI when watching a movie coincided with the most memorable scenes of the movie. The results suggested that the interesting episodic narrative of the movie attracted the subjects’ visual attention relative to the documentary clip that did not have a story line. In the episodic memory test executed four weeks later, memory performance was significantly positively correlated with IEBI (pmovie. PMID:26529091

The influence of encoding strategy on episodic memory and cortical activity in schizophrenia.

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Bonner-Jackson, Aaron; Haut, Kristen; Csernansky, John G; Barch, Deanna M

2005-07-01

Recent work suggests that episodic memory deficits in schizophrenia may be related to disturbances of encoding or retrieval. Schizophrenia patients appear to benefit from instruction in episodic memory strategies. We tested the hypothesis that providing effective encoding strategies to schizophrenia patients enhances encoding-related brain activity and recognition performance. Seventeen schizophrenia patients and 26 healthy comparison subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging scans while performing incidental encoding tasks of words and faces. Subjects were required to make either deep (abstract/concrete) or shallow (alphabetization) judgments for words and deep (gender) judgments for faces, followed by subsequent recognition tests. Schizophrenia and comparison subjects recognized significantly more words encoded deeply than shallowly, activated regions in inferior frontal cortex (Brodmann area 45/47) typically associated with deep and successful encoding of words, and showed greater left frontal activation for the processing of words compared with faces. However, during deep encoding and material-specific processing (words vs. faces), participants with schizophrenia activated regions not activated by control subjects, including several in prefrontal cortex. Our findings suggest that a deficit in use of effective strategies influences episodic memory performance in schizophrenia and that abnormalities in functional brain activation persist even when such strategies are applied.

Visual Hallucinations in First-Episode Psychosis: Association with Childhood Trauma.

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Solesvik, Martine; Joa, Inge; Larsen, Tor Ketil; Langeveld, Johannes; Johannessen, Jan Olav; Bjørnestad, Jone; Anda, Liss Gøril; Gisselgård, Jens; Hegelstad, Wenche Ten Velden; Brønnick, Kolbjørn

2016-01-01

Hallucinations are a core diagnostic criterion for psychotic disorders and have been investigated with regard to its association with childhood trauma in first-episode psychosis samples. Research has largely focused on auditory hallucinations, while specific investigations of visual hallucinations in first-episode psychosis remain scarce. The aims of this study were to describe the prevalence of visual hallucinations, and to explore the association between visual hallucination and childhood trauma in a first-episode psychosis sample. Subjects were included from TIPS-2, a first episode psychosis study in south Rogaland, Norway. Based on the medical journal descriptions of the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS), a separate score for visual and auditory hallucinations was created (N = 204). Patients were grouped according to hallucination severity (none, mild, and psychotic hallucinations) and multinomial logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with visual hallucination group. Visual hallucinations of a psychotic nature were reported by 26.5% of patients. The experience of childhood interpersonal trauma increased the likelihood of having psychotic visual hallucinations. Visual hallucinations are common in first-episode psychosis, and are related to childhood interpersonal trauma.

Children's episodic memory.

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Ghetti, Simona; Lee, Joshua

2011-07-01

Episodic memory develops during childhood and adolescence. This trajectory depends on several underlying processes. In this article, we first discuss the development of the basic binding processes (e.g., the processes by which elements are bound together to form a memory episode) and control processes (e.g., reasoning and metamemory processes) involved in episodic remembering. Then, we discuss the role of these processes in false-memory formation. In the subsequent sections, we examine the neural substrates of the development of episodic memory. Finally, we discuss atypical development of episodic memory. As we proceed through the article, we suggest potential avenues for future research. WIREs Cogni Sci 2011 2 365-373 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.114 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Entorhinal Tau Pathology, Episodic Memory Decline, and Neurodegeneration in Aging.

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Maass, Anne; Lockhart, Samuel N; Harrison, Theresa M; Bell, Rachel K; Mellinger, Taylor; Swinnerton, Kaitlin; Baker, Suzanne L; Rabinovici, Gil D; Jagust, William J

2018-01-17

The medial temporal lobe (MTL) is an early site of tau accumulation and MTL dysfunction may underlie episodic-memory decline in aging and dementia. Postmortem data indicate that tau pathology in the transentorhinal cortex is common by age 60, whereas spread to neocortical regions and worsening of cognition is associated with β-amyloid (Aβ). We used [ 18 F]AV-1451 and [ 11 C]PiB positron emission tomography, structural MRI, and neuropsychological assessment to investigate how in vivo tau accumulation in temporal lobe regions, Aβ, and MTL atrophy contribute to episodic memory in cognitively normal older adults ( n = 83; age, 77 ± 6 years; 58% female). Stepwise regressions identified tau in MTL regions known to be affected in old age as the best predictor of episodic-memory performance independent of Aβ status. There was no interactive effect of MTL tau with Aβ on memory. Higher MTL tau was related to higher age in the subjects without evidence of Aβ. Among temporal lobe subregions, episodic memory was most strongly related to tau-tracer uptake in the parahippocampal gyrus, particularly the posterior entorhinal cortex, which in our parcellation includes the transentorhinal cortex. In subjects with longitudinal MRI and cognitive data ( n = 57), entorhinal atrophy mirrored patterns of tau pathology and their relationship with memory decline. Our data are consistent with neuropathological studies and further suggest that entorhinal tau pathology underlies memory decline in old age even without Aβ. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Tau tangles and β-amyloid (Aβ) plaques are key lesions in Alzheimer's disease (AD) but both pathologies also occur in cognitively normal older people. Neuropathological data indicate that tau tangles in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) underlie episodic-memory impairments in AD dementia. However, it remains unclear whether MTL tau pathology also accounts for memory impairments often seen in elderly people and how Aβ affects this relationship

A trade-off between local and distributed information processing associated with remote episodic versus semantic memory.

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Heisz, Jennifer J; Vakorin, Vasily; Ross, Bernhard; Levine, Brian; McIntosh, Anthony R

2014-01-01

Episodic memory and semantic memory produce very different subjective experiences yet rely on overlapping networks of brain regions for processing. Traditional approaches for characterizing functional brain networks emphasize static states of function and thus are blind to the dynamic information processing within and across brain regions. This study used information theoretic measures of entropy to quantify changes in the complexity of the brain's response as measured by magnetoencephalography while participants listened to audio recordings describing past personal episodic and general semantic events. Personal episodic recordings evoked richer subjective mnemonic experiences and more complex brain responses than general semantic recordings. Critically, we observed a trade-off between the relative contribution of local versus distributed entropy, such that personal episodic recordings produced relatively more local entropy whereas general semantic recordings produced relatively more distributed entropy. Changes in the relative contributions of local and distributed entropy to the total complexity of the system provides a potential mechanism that allows the same network of brain regions to represent cognitive information as either specific episodes or more general semantic knowledge.

Impaired visual, working, and verbal memory in first-episode, drug-naive patients with major depressive disorder in a Chinese population.

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Chen, Ce; Jiang, Wen-Hui; Wang, Wei; Ma, Xian-Cang; Li, Ye; Wu, Jin; Hashimoto, Kenji; Gao, Cheng-Ge

2018-01-01

Cognitive impairment has been observed in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, it remains unclear whether the deficits in specific cognitive domains are present in first-episode, drug-naïve patients or medicated patients. In the present study, using the CogState battery (CSB) Chinese language version, we evaluated the visual, working, and verbal memory in first-episode drug-naive patients and medicated patients with MDD in a Chinese population. We measured the cognitive function in first-episode drug-naïve patients (n = 36), medicated MDD patients (n = 71), and age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects (n = 59) in a Chinese population. The CSB composite scores in both first-episode drug-naive patients and medicated patients were significantly poorer than those in the healthy control subjects. The CSB sub-scores, including visual, working, and verbal memory were also significantly poorer in both patient groups than those in the healthy control subjects. In contrast, processing speed, attention/vigilance, executive function, spatial working memory, and social cognition were no different from healthy controls, whereas the executive function was significantly better in the medicated patients than in the healthy control subjects and first-episode drug-naïve patients. These findings suggest an impairment in the visual, working, and verbal memory in first-episode, drug-naive MDD patients in a Chinese population.

Relationship between menarche and psychosis onset in women with first episode of psychosis.

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Rubio-Abadal, Elena; Usall, Judith; Barajas, Anna; Carlson, Janina; Iniesta, Raquel; Huerta-Ramos, Elena; Baños, Iris; Dolz, Montserrat; Sánchez, Bernardo; Ochoa, Susana

2016-10-01

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between age at menarche and age at first episode of psychosis, as well as clinical severity and outcome, in a population of women with first-episode psychosis. Clinical and socio-demographical data, age at menarche and at first-episode psychosis, parental history of psychosis and cannabis-use habits were obtained from 42 subjects with a first episode of psychosis. Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, Clinical Global Impression, Global Assessment Function, Disability Assessment Schedule, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, European Quality of Life, and Lewis and Murray Obstetric Complication Scales were administered. Statistical analysis was performed by means of zero-order correlations and Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests using SPSS version 17.0. We found no significant correlation between age at menarche and age at first-episode psychosis, or with the clinical scores performed. We observed that subjects with earlier age at menarche had more parental history of psychosis. Our negative results do not support the theory of a possible protective role of oestrogen, which seems to be more complex than previously thought. We would suggest that further research is needed to investigate developmental influences of sex steroids on the onset of psychosis and potentially therapeutic benefits based upon oestrogen. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Aberrant topology of striatum's connectivity is associated with the number of episodes in depression.

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Meng, Chun; Brandl, Felix; Tahmasian, Masoud; Shao, Junming; Manoliu, Andrei; Scherr, Martin; Schwerthöffer, Dirk; Bäuml, Josef; Förstl, Hans; Zimmer, Claus; Wohlschläger, Afra M; Riedl, Valentin; Sorg, Christian

2014-02-01

In major depressive disorder, depressive episodes reoccur in ∼60% of cases; however, neural mechanisms of depressive relapse are poorly understood. Depressive episodes are characterized by aberrant topology of the brain's intrinsic functional connectivity network, and the number of episodes is one of the most important predictors for depressive relapse. In this study we hypothesized that specific changes of the topology of intrinsic connectivity interact with the course of episodes in recurrent depressive disorder. To address this hypothesis, we investigated which changes of connectivity topology are associated with the number of episodes in patients, independently of current symptoms and disease duration. Fifty subjects were recruited including 25 depressive patients (two to 10 episodes) and 25 gender- and age-matched control subjects. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, Harvard-Oxford brain atlas, wavelet-transformation of atlas-shaped regional time-series, and their pairwise Pearson's correlation were used to define individual connectivity matrices. Matrices were analysed by graph-based methods, resulting in outcome measures that were used as surrogates of intrinsic network topology. Topological scores were subsequently compared across groups, and, for patients only, related with the number of depressive episodes and current symptoms by partial correlation analysis. Concerning the whole brain connectivity network of patients, small-world topology was preserved but global efficiency was reduced and global betweenness-centrality increased. Aberrant nodal efficiency and centrality of regional connectivity was found in the dorsal striatum, inferior frontal and orbitofrontal cortex as well as in the occipital and somatosensory cortex. Inferior frontal changes were associated with current symptoms, whereas aberrant right putamen network topology was associated with the number of episodes. Results were controlled for effects of total grey matter

Imagining the personal past: Episodic counterfactuals compared to episodic memories and episodic future projections

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Özbek, Müge; Bohn, Annette; Berntsen, Dorthe

2017-01-01

Episodic counterfactuals are imagined events that could have happened, but did not happen, in a person’s past. Such imagined past events are important aspects of mental life, affecting emotions, decisions, and behaviors. However, studies examining their phenomenological characteristics and content...... are few. Here we introduced a new method to systematically compare self-generated episodic counterfactuals to self-generated episodic memories and future projections with regard to their phenomenological characteristics (e.g., imagery, emotional valence, rehearsal) and content (e.g., reference to cultural...... distance. The findings show that imagined events are phenomenologically different from memories of experienced events, consistent with reality monitoring theory, and that imagined future events are different from both actual and imagined past events, consistent with some theories of motivation....

How do episodic and semantic memory contribute to episodic foresight in young children?

Science.gov (United States)

Martin-Ordas, Gema; Atance, Cristina M; Caza, Julian S

2014-01-01

Humans are able to transcend the present and mentally travel to another time, place, or perspective. Mentally projecting ourselves backwards (i.e., episodic memory) or forwards (i.e., episodic foresight) in time are crucial characteristics of the human memory system. Indeed, over the past few years, episodic memory has been argued to be involved both in our capacity to retrieve our personal past experiences and in our ability to imagine and foresee future scenarios. However, recent theory and findings suggest that semantic memory also plays a significant role in imagining future scenarios. We draw on Tulving's definition of episodic and semantic memory to provide a critical analysis of their role in episodic foresight tasks described in the developmental literature. We conclude by suggesting future directions of research that could further our understanding of how both episodic memory and semantic memory are intimately connected to episodic foresight.

HOW DO EPISODIC AND SEMANTIC MEMORY CONTRIBUTE TO EPISODIC FORESIGHT IN YOUNG CHILDREN?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gema eMartin Ordas

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Humans are able to transcend the present and mentally travel to another time, place, or perspective. Mentally projecting ourselves backwards (i.e., episodic memory or forwards (i.e., episodic foresight in time are crucial characteristics of the human memory system. Indeed, over the past few years, episodic memory has been argued to be involved both in our capacity to retrieve our personal past experiences and in our ability to imagine and foresee future scenarios. However, recent theory and findings suggest that semantic memory also plays a significant role in imagining future scenarios. We draw on Tulving’s definition of episodic and semantic memory to provide a critical analysis of their role in episodic foresight tasks described in the developmental literature. We conclude by suggesting future directions of research that could further our understanding of how both episodic memory and semantic memory are intimately connected to episodic foresight.

How do episodic and semantic memory contribute to episodic foresight in young children?

Science.gov (United States)

Martin-Ordas, Gema; Atance, Cristina M.; Caza, Julian S.

2014-01-01

Humans are able to transcend the present and mentally travel to another time, place, or perspective. Mentally projecting ourselves backwards (i.e., episodic memory) or forwards (i.e., episodic foresight) in time are crucial characteristics of the human memory system. Indeed, over the past few years, episodic memory has been argued to be involved both in our capacity to retrieve our personal past experiences and in our ability to imagine and foresee future scenarios. However, recent theory and findings suggest that semantic memory also plays a significant role in imagining future scenarios. We draw on Tulving’s definition of episodic and semantic memory to provide a critical analysis of their role in episodic foresight tasks described in the developmental literature. We conclude by suggesting future directions of research that could further our understanding of how both episodic memory and semantic memory are intimately connected to episodic foresight. PMID:25071690

Retrospective study on structural neuroimaging in first-episode psychosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricardo Coentre

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Background. No consensus between guidelines exists regarding neuroimaging in first-episode psychosis. The purpose of this study is to assess anomalies found in structural neuroimaging exams (brain computed tomography (CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI in the initial medical work-up of patients presenting first-episode psychosis. Methods. The study subjects were 32 patients aged 18–48 years (mean age: 29.6 years, consecutively admitted with first-episode psychosis diagnosis. Socio-demographic and clinical data and neuroimaging exams (CT and MRI were retrospectively studied. Diagnostic assessments were made using the Operational Criteria Checklist +. Neuroimaging images (CT and MRI and respective reports were analysed by an experienced consultant psychiatrist. Results. None of the patients had abnormalities in neuroimaging exams responsible for psychotic symptoms. Thirty-seven percent of patients had incidental brain findings not causally related to the psychosis (brain atrophy, arachnoid cyst, asymmetric lateral ventricles, dilated lateral ventricles, plagiocephaly and falx cerebri calcification. No further medical referral was needed for any of these patients. No significant differences regarding gender, age, diagnosis, duration of untreated psychosis, in-stay and cannabis use were found between patients who had neuroimaging abnormalities versus those without. Discussion. This study suggests that structural neuroimaging exams reveal scarce abnormalities in young patients with first-episode psychosis. Structural neuroimaging is especially useful in first-episode psychosis patients with neurological symptoms, atypical clinical picture and old age.

Social Media Use and Episodic Heavy Drinking Among Adolescents.

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Brunborg, Geir Scott; Andreas, Jasmina Burdzovic; Kvaavik, Elisabeth

2017-06-01

Objectives Little is known about the consequences of adolescent social media use. The current study estimated the association between the amount of time adolescents spend on social media and the risk of episodic heavy drinking. Methods A school-based self-report cross-sectional study including 851 Norwegian middle and high school students (46.1% boys). frequency and quantity of social media use. Frequency of drinking four or six (girls and boys, respectively) alcoholic drinks during a single day (episodic heavy drinking). The MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale - Brief, the Brief Sensation Seeking Scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 items for Adolescents, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Peer Relationship problems scale, gender, and school grade. Results Greater amount of time spent on social media was associated with greater likelihood of episodic heavy drinking among adolescents ( OR = 1.12, 95% CI (1.05, 1.19), p = 0.001), even after adjusting for school grade, impulsivity, sensation seeking, symptoms of depression, and peer relationship problems. Conclusion The results from the current study indicate that more time spent on social media is related to greater likelihood of episodic heavy drinking among adolescents.

Computational Model-Based Prediction of Human Episodic Memory Performance Based on Eye Movements

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Sato, Naoyuki; Yamaguchi, Yoko

Subjects' episodic memory performance is not simply reflected by eye movements. We use a ‘theta phase coding’ model of the hippocampus to predict subjects' memory performance from their eye movements. Results demonstrate the ability of the model to predict subjects' memory performance. These studies provide a novel approach to computational modeling in the human-machine interface.

First-episode psychosis: An update | Chiliza | South African Journal ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Interest in the subject of first-episode psychosis has increased considerably in the last two decades. At present, a number of centres around the world focus on early identification and intervention in people with psychotic disorders. Researchers have focused particularly on people who are possibly experiencing the ...

Mismatch negativity in chronic schizophrenia and first-episode schizophrenia.

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Salisbury, Dean F; Shenton, Martha E; Griggs, Carlye B; Bonner-Jackson, Aaron; McCarley, Robert W

2002-08-01

Mismatch negativity (MMN) is an event-related brain potential that is sensitive to stimulus deviation from a repetitive pattern. The MMN is thought primarily to reflect the activity of sensory memory, with, at most, moderate influences of higher-level cognitive processes, such as attention. The MMN is reported to be reduced in patients with chronic schizophrenia. However, it is unknown whether MMN is reduced in patients with first-episode schizophrenia (at first hospitalization). Subject groups comprised patients with chronic schizophrenia (n = 16) and older control subjects (n = 13), and patients with first-episode schizophrenia (n = 21) and younger control subjects (n = 27). The MMN was visualized by subtracting the averaged event-related brain potential to standard tones (1 kHz [95% of all tones]) from the event-related brain potential to pitch-deviant tones (1.2 kHz [5% of all tones]). The MMN voltage was the mean voltage from 100 to 200 milliseconds. Pitch-deviant MMN was reduced by approximately 47% in patients with chronic illness along the sagittal midline relative to controls. The MMN was not reduced in patients with first-episode schizophrenia. All 4 groups showed approximately 64% larger MMN to pitch-deviant tones over the right hemisphere compared with the left hemisphere. The pitch-deviant MMN reductions present in patients with chronic schizophrenia are not present at first hospitalization. The sensory, echoic memory functions indexed by MMN seem unaffected early in the schizophrenia disease process. Reductions in MMN amplitude may develop over time and index the progression of the disorder, although that can only be definitively determined by longitudinal assessments.

Episodic Specificity in Acquiring Thematic Knowledge of Novel Words from Descriptive Episodes.

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Zhang, Meichao; Chen, Shuang; Wang, Lin; Yang, Xiaohong; Yang, Yufang

2017-01-01

The current study examined whether thematic relations of the novel words could be acquired via descriptive episodes, and if yes, whether it could be generalized to thematically related words in a different scenario. In Experiment 1, a lexical decision task was used where the novel words served as primes for target words in four conditions: (1) corresponding concepts of the novel words, (2) thematically related words in the same episodes as that in learning condition, (3) thematically related words in different episodes, or (4) unrelated words served as targets. Event related potentials elicited by the targets revealed that compared to the unrelated words, the corresponding concepts and thematically related words in the same episodes elicited smaller N400s with a frontal-central distribution, whereas the thematically related words in different episodes elicited an enhanced late positive component. Experiment 2 further showed a priming effect of the corresponding concepts on the thematically related words in the same episodes as well as in a different episode, indicating that the absence of a priming effect of the learned novel words on the thematically related words in different episode could not be attributed to inappropriate selection of thematically related words in the two conditions. These results indicate that only the corresponding concepts and the thematically related words in the learning episodes were successfully primed, whereas the thematic association between the novel words and the thematically related words in different scenarios could only be recognized in a late processing stage. Our findings suggest that thematic knowledge of novel words is organized via separate scenarios, which are represented in a clustered manner in the semantic network.

[Study of the categorization process among patients with eating disorders: a new cognitive approach to psychopathology].

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Urdapilleta, I; Mirabel-Sarron, C; Meunier, J M; Richard, J F

2005-01-01

Anorexic and bulimic patients have a highly distorted relationship with food and eating, even though they tend to be knowledgeable about diet and nutrition. The progress of this disease, as well as its complications and associated difficulties, are increasingly understood, while the etiopathogeny of eating disorders remains obscure. The approach that we are proposing involves the study of one of the most fundamental cognitive functions of human reasoning--the cognitive process of categorization. The purpose of this study is to understand the procedures used by these patients to construct representations of food. Categorization, one of the basic features of human cognition, allows individuals to organize their subjective experience of the surrounding environment by structuring its contents. This ability to group different objects into the same category based on their common characteristics is important for explaining the major cognitive activities of planning, memorization, communication and perception. Indeed, our categories reflect our conceptions of the world. They depend on our experiences and representations, as well as the expertise acquired in a specific field. The differences that appear in the categories created by subjects when they are asked to classify objects reveal the properties that are most salient to them and, as a result, the interests, values and ideas associated with these properties. There are three types of properties: perceptive properties, which describe the object's shape, color, odor and texture; structural properties, which relate to the object's components; and functional properties, which specify the way in which the object is used and provide an answer to the question, "What is it used for?". Subjects attribute these functional properties by means of knowledge or inference according to their representation of the object's role; such properties are especially likely to emerge during top-down (theory-driven) processing. The type of

Just Desserts? Exploring Constructions of Food in Women's Experiences of Bulimia.

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Churruca, Kate; Ussher, Jane M; Perz, Janette

2017-08-01

Bulimia, an eating disorder that affects more women than men, involves binging and compensatory behaviors. Given the importance of food in experiences of these behaviors, in this article, we examine constructions of food in accounts of bulimic behavior: how these constructions relate to cultural discourses, and their implications for subjectivity. Fifteen women who engaged in bulimic behaviors were interviewed. Through a thematic decomposition of their accounts, we identified six discursive constructions of food: "good/healthy" or "bad/unhealthy," "contaminating body and soul," "collapsed into fat," "pleasurable reward," "comfort," and "fuel for the body." Many constructions were consolidated through participants' embodied experiences, but made available through discourses in public health, biomedicine, and femininity, and had implications for subjectivity in terms of morality, spirituality, and self-worth. Thus, despite women deploying these constructions to make sense of their bulimic behaviors, they are culturally normative; this point has implications for therapeutic and preventive strategies for bulimia.

Randomized controlled trial comparing smartphone assisted versus traditional guided self-help for adults with binge eating.

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Hildebrandt, Tom; Michaelides, Andreas; Mackinnon, Dianna; Greif, Rebecca; DeBar, Lynn; Sysko, Robyn

2017-11-01

Guided self-help treatments based on cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT-GSH) are efficacious for binge eating. With limited availability of CBT-GSH in the community, mobile technology offers a means to increase use of these interventions. The purpose of this study was to test the initial efficacy of Noom Monitor, a smartphone application designed to facilitate CBT-GSH (CBT-GSH + Noom), on study retention, adherence, and eating disorder symptoms compared to traditional CBT-GSH. Sixty-six men and women with DSM-5 binge-eating disorder (BED) or bulimia nervosa (BN) were randomized to receive eight sessions of CBT-GSH + Noom (n = 33) or CBT-GSH (n = 33) over 12 weeks. Primary symptom outcomes were eating disorder examination objective bulimic episodes (OBEs), subjective bulimic episodes (SBEs), and compensatory behaviors. Assessments were collected at 0, 4, 8, 12, 24, and 36 weeks. Behavioral outcomes were modeled using zero-inflated negative-binomial latent growth curve models with intent-to-treat. There was a significant effect of treatment on change in OBEs (β = -0.84, 95% CI = -1.49, -0.19) favoring CBT-GSH + Noom. Remission rates were not statistically different between treatments for OBEs (β logit  = -0.73, 95% CI = -1.86, 3.27; CBT-GSH-Noom = 17/27, 63.0% vs. CBT-GSH 11/27, 40.7%, NNT = 4.5), but CBT-GSH-Noom participants reported greater meal and snack adherence and regular meal adherence mediated treatment effects on OBEs. The treatments did not differ at the 6-month follow-up. Smartphone applications for the treatment binge eating appear to have advantages for adherence, a critical component of treatment dissemination. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Episodic memory in detoxified alcoholics: contribution of grey matter microstructure alteration.

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Sandra Chanraud

Full Text Available Even though uncomplicated alcoholics may likely have episodic memory deficits, discrepancies exist regarding to the integrity of brain regions that underlie this function in healthy subjects. Possible relationships between episodic memory and 1 brain microstructure assessed by magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI, 2 brain volumes assessed by voxel-based morphometry (VBM were investigated in uncomplicated, detoxified alcoholics.Diffusion and morphometric analyses were performed in 24 alcohol dependent men without neurological or somatic complications and in 24 healthy men. The mean apparent coefficient of diffusion (ADC and grey matter volumes were measured in the whole brain. Episodic memory performance was assessed using a French version of the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT. Correlation analyses between verbal episodic memory, brain microstructure, and brain volumes were carried out using SPM2 software.In those with alcohol dependence, higher ADC was detected mainly in frontal, temporal and parahippocampal regions, and in the cerebellum. In alcoholics, regions with higher ADC typically also had lower grey matter volume. Low verbal episodic memory performance in alcoholism was associated with higher mean ADC in parahippocampal areas, in frontal cortex and in the left temporal cortex; no correlation was found between regional volumes and episodic memory scores. Regression analyses for the control group were not significant.These findings support the hypothesis that regional microstructural but no macrostructural alteration of the brain might be responsible, at least in part, for episodic memory deficits in alcohol dependence.

Making the case that episodic recollection is attributable to operations occurring at retrieval rather than to content stored in a dedicated subsystem of long-term memory

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Klein, Stanley B.

2013-01-01

Episodic memory often is conceptualized as a uniquely human system of long-term memory that makes available knowledge accompanied by the temporal and spatial context in which that knowledge was acquired. Retrieval from episodic memory entails a form of first–person subjectivity called autonoetic consciousness that provides a sense that a recollection was something that took place in the experiencer's personal past. In this paper I expand on this definition of episodic memory. Specifically, I suggest that (1) the core features assumed unique to episodic memory are shared by semantic memory, (2) episodic memory cannot be fully understood unless one appreciates that episodic recollection requires the coordinated function of a number of distinct, yet interacting, “enabling” systems. Although these systems—ownership, self, subjective temporality, and agency—are not traditionally viewed as memorial in nature, each is necessary for episodic recollection and jointly they may be sufficient, and (3) the type of subjective awareness provided by episodic recollection (autonoetic) is relational rather than intrinsic—i.e., it can be lost in certain patient populations, thus rendering episodic memory content indistinguishable from the content of semantic long-term memory. PMID:23378832

Making the Case that Episodic Recollection is Attributable to Operations Occurring at Retrieval rather than to Content Stored in a Dedicated Subsystem of Long-Term Memory

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Stan eKlein

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Episodic memory often is conceptualized as a uniquely human system of long-term memory that makes available knowledge accompanied by the temporal and spatial context in which that knowledge was acquired. Retrieval from episodic memory entails a form of first–person subjectivity called autonoetic consciousness that provides a sense that a recollection was something that took place in the experiencer’s personal past. In this paper I expand on this definition of episodic memory. Specifically, I suggest that (a the core features assumed unique to episodic memory are shared by semantic memory, (b episodic memory cannot be fully understood unless one appreciates that episodic recollection requires the coordinated function of a number of distinct, yet interacting, enabling systems. Although these systems – ownership, self, subjective temporality, and agency – are not traditionally viewed as memorial in nature, each is necessary for episodic recollection and jointly they may be sufficient, and (c the type of subjective awareness provided by episodic recollection (autonoetic is relational rather than intrinsic – i.e., it can be lost in certain patient populations, thus rendering episodic memory content indistinguishable from the content of semantic long-term memory.

An electroconvulsive therapy procedure impairs reconsolidation of episodic memories in humans

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Kroes, Marijn C. W.; Tendolkar, Indira; van Wingen, Guido A.; van Waarde, Jeroen A.; Strange, Bryan A.; Fernández, Guillén

2014-01-01

Despite accumulating evidence for a reconsolidation process in animals, support in humans, especially for episodic memory, is limited. Using a within-subjects manipulation, we found that a single application of electroconvulsive therapy following memory reactivation in patients with unipolar

High prevalence of normal tests assessing hypercortisolism in subjects with mild and episodic Cushing's syndrome suggests that the paradigm for diagnosis and exclusion of Cushing's syndrome requires multiple testing.

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Friedman, T C; Ghods, D E; Shahinian, H K; Zachery, L; Shayesteh, N; Seasholtz, S; Zuckerbraun, E; Lee, M L; McCutcheon, I E

2010-11-01

Many Endocrinologists believe that a single determination of eucortisolism or a single demonstration of appropriate suppression to dexamethasone excluded Cushing's syndrome, except in what was previously thought to be the rare patient with episodic or periodic Cushing's syndrome. We hypothesize that episodic Cushing's syndrome is relatively common and a single test assessing hypercortisolism may not be sufficient to accurately rule out or diagnose Cushing's syndrome and retrospectively examined the number of normal and abnormal tests assessing hypercortisolism performed on multiple occasions in 66 patients found to have mild and/or episodic Cushing's syndrome compared to a similar group of 54 patients evaluated for, but determined not to have Cushing's syndrome. We found that 65 of the 66 patients with Cushing's syndrome had at least one normal test of cortisol status and most patients had several normal tests. The probability of having Cushing's syndrome when one test was negative was 92% for 23:00 h salivary cortisol, 88% for 24-h UFC, 86% for 24-h 17OHS, and 54% for nighttime plasma cortisol. These results demonstrated that episodic hypercortisolism is highly prevalent in subjects with mild Cushing's syndrome and no single test was effective in conclusively diagnosing or excluding the condition. Rather, the paradigm for the diagnosis should be a careful history and physical examination and in those patients in whom mild Cushing's syndrome/disease is strongly suspected, multiple tests assessing hypercortisolism should be performed on subsequent occasions, especially when the patient is experiencing signs and symptoms of short-term hypercortisolism. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Bi-Hemispheric Engagement in the Retrieval of Autobiographical Episodes

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Marie M. P. Vandekerckhove

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI was used to study the neural correlates of neutral, stressful, negative and positive autobiographical memories. The brain activity produced by these different kinds of episodic memory did not differ significantly, but a common pattern of activation for different kinds of autobiographical memory was revealed that included (1 largely bilateral portions of the medial and superior temporal lobes, hippocampus and parahippocampus, (2 portions of the ventral, medial, superior and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, (3 the anterior and posterior cingulate, including the retrosplenial, cortex, (4 the parietal cortex, and (5 portions of the cerebellum. The brain regions that were mainly activated constituted an interactive network of temporal and prefrontal areas associated with structures of the extended limbic system. The main bilateral activations with left-sided preponderance probably reflected reactivation of complex semantic and episodic self-related information representations that included previously experienced contexts. In conclusion, the earlier view of a strict left versus right prefrontal laterality in the retrieval of semantic as opposed to episodic autobiographical memory, may have to be modified by considering contextual variables such as task demands and subject variables. Consequently, autobiographical memory integration should be viewed as based on distributed bi-hemispheric neural networks supporting multi-modal, emotionally coloured components of personal episodes.

Estimates of the width of the wetting zone along a fracture subjected to an episodic infiltration event in variably saturated, densely welded tuff

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buscheck, T.A.; Nitao, J.J.

1988-01-01

A central issue to be addressed within the Nevada Nuclear Waste Storage Investigations (NNWSI) is the role which fractures will play as the variably saturated, fractured rock mass surrounding the waste package responds to heating, cooling, and episodic infiltration events. Understanding the role of fractures during such events will, in part, depend on our ability to make geophysical measurements of perturbations in the moisture distribution in the vicinity of fractures. In this study we first examine the details of the perturbation in the moisture distribution in and around a fracture subjected to an episodic infiltration event, and then integrate that behavior over the scale at which moisture measurements are likely to be made during the Engineered Barrier Design Test of the NNWSI project. To model this system we use the TOUGH hydrothermal code and fracture and matrix properties considered relevant to the welded ash flow tuff found in the Topopah Spring member at Yucca Mountain as well as in the Grouse Canyon member within G-Tunnel at the Nevada Test Site. Our calculations provide insight into the anticipated spatial and temporal resolution obtainable through the use of the geophysical techniques being considered. These calculations should prove useful both in planning the implementation of these methods as well as in the interpretation of their results. 41 refs., 28 figs

The evolution of episodic memory

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Allen, Timothy A.; Fortin, Norbert J.

2013-01-01

One prominent view holds that episodic memory emerged recently in humans and lacks a “(neo)Darwinian evolution” [Tulving E (2002) Annu Rev Psychol 53:1–25]. Here, we review evidence supporting the alternative perspective that episodic memory has a long evolutionary history. We show that fundamental features of episodic memory capacity are present in mammals and birds and that the major brain regions responsible for episodic memory in humans have anatomical and functional homologs in other species. We propose that episodic memory capacity depends on a fundamental neural circuit that is similar across mammalian and avian species, suggesting that protoepisodic memory systems exist across amniotes and, possibly, all vertebrates. The implication is that episodic memory in diverse species may primarily be due to a shared underlying neural ancestry, rather than the result of evolutionary convergence. We also discuss potential advantages that episodic memory may offer, as well as species-specific divergences that have developed on top of the fundamental episodic memory architecture. We conclude by identifying possible time points for the emergence of episodic memory in evolution, to help guide further research in this area. PMID:23754432

Retrograde episodic memory and emotion: a perspective from patients with dissociative amnesia.

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Reinhold, Nadine; Markowitsch, Hans J

2009-09-01

With his recent definition of episodic memory Tulving [Tulving, E. (2005). Episodic memory and autonoesis: Uniquely human? In H. Terrace & J. Metcalfe (Eds.), The missing link in cognition: Evolution of self-knowing consciousness (pp. 3-56). New York: Oxford University Press] claims that this memory system is uniquely human and thereby distinguishes human beings from other, even highly developed, mammals. First we will define the term episodic memory as it is currently used in neuropsychological research by specifying the three underlying concepts of subjective time, autonoëtic consciousness, and the self. By doing so, we will strongly focus on retrograde episodic memory and its relation to emotion and self-referential processing. We support this relation with a discussion of autobiographical memory functions in psychiatric disorders such as dissociative amnesia. To illustrate the connection of emotion and retrograde episodic memory we shortly present neuropsychological data of two cases of dissociative amnesia. Both cases serve to point to the protective mechanism of a block of self-endangering memories from the episodic memory system, often described as the mnestic block syndrome. On the basis of these cases and supportive results from further cases we will conclude by pointing out similarities and differences of patients with organic and dissociative (psychogenic) amnesia.

Mentalization deficit in bipolar patients during an acute depressive and manic episode: association with cognitive functions.

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Bodnar, Anna; Rybakowski, Janusz K

2017-12-06

A number of studies in bipolar patients have shown a deficit in mentalization (theory of mind), one of the main aspects of social cognition. The aim of current study was to assess both cognitive and affective mentalization in well-defined groups of depressed and manic bipolar patients, compared to healthy control subjects, using a battery of tests measuring mentalization processes. The second aim was to investigate a possible relationship between cognitive and affective mentalization and cognitive functions in bipolar patients during a depressive and manic episode. The study involved 25 bipolar disorder type I patients (10 male, 15 female) during a depressive episode (mean 24 ± 2 points in the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale) and 25 patients (10 male, 15 female) during a manic episode (mean 27 ± 4 points in the Young Mania Rating Scale). The control group consisted of 25 healthy subjects (10 male, 15 female) without psychiatric disorders. To measure mentalization, a revised version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (R-MET), the Strange Stories (SS), the Faux Pas Recognition (FPR), and the Moving Shapes Paradigm (MSP) tests were used. Assessment of cognitive functioning was made using the Digit Span, Trail Making, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Tests. In bipolar patients significant deficits in both cognitive and affective mentalization were demonstrated during both acute depressive and manic episodes. The impairment in FPR in manic patients was more severe than that in the depressive ones. On the other hand, in MSP, manic patients showed significantly increased intentionality for non-mentalization animations, compared with depressive patients and for "cause and effect" animations compared with control subjects. A significant relationship was found between the decrease in cognitive and affective mentalization and deficits of cognitive functions during both the depressive and manic episodes. The results obtained confirm the deficits of mentalization in

Auditory cortical function during verbal episodic memory encoding in Alzheimer's disease.

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Dhanjal, Novraj S; Warren, Jane E; Patel, Maneesh C; Wise, Richard J S

2013-02-01

Episodic memory encoding of a verbal message depends upon initial registration, which requires sustained auditory attention followed by deep semantic processing of the message. Motivated by previous data demonstrating modulation of auditory cortical activity during sustained attention to auditory stimuli, we investigated the response of the human auditory cortex during encoding of sentences to episodic memory. Subsequently, we investigated this response in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and probable Alzheimer's disease (pAD). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, 31 healthy participants were studied. The response in 18 MCI and 18 pAD patients was then determined, and compared to 18 matched healthy controls. Subjects heard factual sentences, and subsequent retrieval performance indicated successful registration and episodic encoding. The healthy subjects demonstrated that suppression of auditory cortical responses was related to greater success in encoding heard sentences; and that this was also associated with greater activity in the semantic system. In contrast, there was reduced auditory cortical suppression in patients with MCI, and absence of suppression in pAD. Administration of a central cholinesterase inhibitor (ChI) partially restored the suppression in patients with pAD, and this was associated with an improvement in verbal memory. Verbal episodic memory impairment in AD is associated with altered auditory cortical function, reversible with a ChI. Although these results may indicate the direct influence of pathology in auditory cortex, they are also likely to indicate a partially reversible impairment of feedback from neocortical systems responsible for sustained attention and semantic processing. Copyright © 2012 American Neurological Association.

Using imagination to understand the neural basis of episodic memory

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Hassabis, Demis; Kumaran, Dharshan; Maguire, Eleanor A.

2008-01-01

Functional MRI (fMRI) studies investigating the neural basis of episodic memory recall, and the related task of thinking about plausible personal future events, have revealed a consistent network of associated brain regions. Surprisingly little, however, is understood about the contributions individual brain areas make to the overall recollective experience. In order to examine this, we employed a novel fMRI paradigm where subjects had to imagine fictitious experiences. In contrast to future thinking, this results in experiences that are not explicitly temporal in nature or as reliant on self-processing. By using previously imagined fictitious experiences as a comparison for episodic memories, we identified the neural basis of a key process engaged in common, namely scene construction, involving the generation, maintenance and visualisation of complex spatial contexts. This was associated with activations in a distributed network, including hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, and retrosplenial cortex. Importantly, we disambiguated these common effects from episodic memory-specific responses in anterior medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus. These latter regions may support self-schema and familiarity processes, and contribute to the brain's ability to distinguish real from imaginary memories. We conclude that scene construction constitutes a common process underlying episodic memory and imagination of fictitious experiences, and suggest it may partially account for the similar brain networks implicated in navigation, episodic future thinking, and the default mode. We suggest that further brain regions are co-opted into this core network in a task-specific manner to support functions such as episodic memory that may have additional requirements. PMID:18160644

Posttraumatic growth following a first episode of psychosis: a mixed methods research protocol using a convergent design.

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Jordan, Gerald; Malla, Ashok; Iyer, Srividya N

2016-07-25

The suffering people experience following a first episode of psychosis is great, and has been well-investigated. Conversely, potential positive outcomes following a first episode of psychosis have been under-investigated. One such outcome that may result from a first episode of psychosis is posttraumatic growth, or a positive aftermath following the trauma of a first psychotic episode. While posttraumatic growth has been described following other physical and mental illnesses, posttraumatic growth has received very little attention following a first episode of psychosis. To address this research gap, we will conduct a mixed methods study aimed at answering two research questions: 1) How do people experience posttraumatic growth following a first episode of psychosis? 2) What predicts, or facilitates, posttraumatic growth following a first episode of psychosis? The research questions will be investigated using a mixed methods convergent design. All participants will be service-users being offered treatment for a first episode of psychosis at a specialized early intervention service for young people with psychosis, as well as their case managers.. A qualitative descriptive methodology will guide data-collection through semi-structured interviews with service-users. Service-users and case managers will complete questionnaires related to posttraumatic growth and its potential predictors using quantitative methods. These predictors include the impact a first episode of psychosis on service-users' lives, the coping strategies they use; the level of social support they enjoy; and their experiences of resilience and recovery. Qualitative data will be subject to thematic analysis, quantitative data will be subject to multiple regression analyses, and results from both methods will be combined to answer the research questions in a holistic way. Findings from this study are expected to show that in addition to suffering, people with a first episode of psychosis may experience

Widespread hypermetabolism in symptomatic and asymptomatic episodes in Kleine-Levin syndrome.

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Yves Dauvilliers

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: No reliable biomarkers are identified in KLS. However, few functional neuroimaging studies suggested hypoactivity in thalamic and hypothalamic regions during symptomatic episodes. Here, we investigated relative changes in regional brain metabolism in Kleine-Levin syndrome (KLS during symptomatic episodes and asymptomatic periods, as compared to healthy controls. METHODS: Four drug-free male patients with typical KLS and 15 healthy controls were included. 18-F-fluorodeoxy glucose positron emission tomography (PET was obtained in baseline condition in all participants, and during symptomatic episodes in KLS patients. All participants were asked to remain fully awake during the whole PET procedure. RESULTS: Between state-comparisons in KLS disclosed higher metabolism in paracentral, precentral, and postcentral areas, supplementary motor area, medial frontal gyrus, thalamus and putamen during symptomatic episodes, and decreased metabolism in occipital and temporal gyri. As compared to healthy control subjects, KLS patients in the asymptomatic phase consistently exhibited significant hypermetabolism in a wide cortical network including frontal and temporal cortices, posterior cingulate and precuneus, with no detected hypometabolism. In symptomatic KLS episodes, hypermetabolism was additionally found in orbital frontal and supplementary motor areas, insula and inferior parietal areas, and right caudate nucleus, and hypometabolism in the middle occipital gyrus and inferior parietal areas. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated significant hypermetabolism and few hypometabolism in specific but widespread brain regions in drug-free KLS patients at baseline and during symptomatic episodes, highlighting the behavioral state-dependent nature of changes in regional brain activity in KLS.

Investigating Direct Links between Depression, Emotional Control, and Physical Punishment with Adolescent Drive for Thinness and Bulimic Behaviors, Including Possible Moderation by the Serotonin Transporter 5-HTTLPR Polymorphism.

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Rozenblat, Vanja; Ryan, Joanne; Wertheim, Eleanor H; King, Ross; Olsson, Craig A; Krug, Isabel

2017-01-01

Objectives: To examine the relationship between psychological and social factors (depression, emotional control, sexual abuse, and parental physical punishment) and adolescent drive for Thinness and Bulimic behaviors in a large community sample, and to investigate possible genetic moderation. Method: Data were drawn from the Australian Temperament Project (ATP), a population-based cohort study that has followed a representative sample of 2443 participants from infancy to adulthood across 16 waves since 1983. A subsample of 650 participants (50.2% female) of Caucasian descent who provided DNA were genotyped for a serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism ( 5-HTTLPR ). Adolescent disordered eating attitudes and behaviors were assessed using the Bulimia and Drive for Thinness scales of the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (15-16 years). Depression and emotional control were examined at the same age using the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire, and an ATP-devised measure of emotional control. History of sexual abuse and physical punishment were assessed retrospectively (23-24 years) in a subsample of 467 of those providing DNA. Results: EDI-2 scores were associated with depression, emotional control, and retrospectively reported parental physical punishment. Although there was statistically significant moderation of the relationship between parental physical punishment and bulimic behaviors by 5-HTTLPR ( p = 0.0048), genotypes in this subsample were not in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium. No other G×E interactions were significant. Conclusion: Findings from this study affirm the central importance of psychosocial processes in disordered eating patterns in adolescence. Evidence of moderation by 5-HTTLPR was not conclusive; however, genetic moderation observed in a subsample not in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium warrants further investigation.

Investigating Direct Links between Depression, Emotional Control, and Physical Punishment with Adolescent Drive for Thinness and Bulimic Behaviors, Including Possible Moderation by the Serotonin Transporter 5-HTTLPR Polymorphism

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Vanja Rozenblat

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Objectives: To examine the relationship between psychological and social factors (depression, emotional control, sexual abuse, and parental physical punishment and adolescent drive for Thinness and Bulimic behaviors in a large community sample, and to investigate possible genetic moderation.Method: Data were drawn from the Australian Temperament Project (ATP, a population-based cohort study that has followed a representative sample of 2443 participants from infancy to adulthood across 16 waves since 1983. A subsample of 650 participants (50.2% female of Caucasian descent who provided DNA were genotyped for a serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR. Adolescent disordered eating attitudes and behaviors were assessed using the Bulimia and Drive for Thinness scales of the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (15–16 years. Depression and emotional control were examined at the same age using the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire, and an ATP-devised measure of emotional control. History of sexual abuse and physical punishment were assessed retrospectively (23–24 years in a subsample of 467 of those providing DNA.Results: EDI-2 scores were associated with depression, emotional control, and retrospectively reported parental physical punishment. Although there was statistically significant moderation of the relationship between parental physical punishment and bulimic behaviors by 5-HTTLPR (p = 0.0048, genotypes in this subsample were not in Hardy–Weinberg Equilibrium. No other G×E interactions were significant. Conclusion: Findings from this study affirm the central importance of psychosocial processes in disordered eating patterns in adolescence. Evidence of moderation by 5-HTTLPR was not conclusive; however, genetic moderation observed in a subsample not in Hardy–Weinberg Equilibrium warrants further investigation.

Subjective effects of cannabis before the first psychotic episode

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Peters, Bart D.; de Koning, Pelle; Dingemans, Peter; Becker, Hiske; Linszen, Don H.; de Haan, Lieuwe

2009-01-01

Objective: The aim of the present study was to gain more insight into the positive and negative effects of cannabis in the prodromal phase of schizophrenia and in the ultrahigh-risk (UHR) state for psychosis. Method: A theory-driven questionnaire was used to examine subjective effects in the

Use of electromyographic and electrocardiographic signals to detect sleep bruxism episodes in a natural environment.

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Castroflorio, Tommaso; Mesin, Luca; Tartaglia, Gianluca Martino; Sforza, Chiarella; Farina, Dario

2013-11-01

Diagnosis of bruxism is difficult since not all contractions of masticatory muscles during sleeping are bruxism episodes. In this paper, we propose the use of both EMG and ECG signals for the detection of sleep bruxism. Data have been acquired from 21 healthy volunteers and 21 sleep bruxers. The masseter surface EMGs were detected with bipolar concentric electrodes and the ECG with monopolar electrodes located on the clavicular regions. Recordings were made at the subjects' homes during sleeping. Bruxism episodes were automatically detected as characterized by masseter EMG amplitude greater than 10% of the maximum and heart rate increasing by more than 25% with respect to baseline within 1 s before the increase in EMG amplitude above the 10% threshold. Furthermore, the subjects were classified as bruxers and nonbruxers by a neural network. The number of bruxism episodes per night was 24.6 ± 8.4 for bruxers and 4.3 ± 4.5 for controls ( P bruxism.

Temperament and personality in bipolar I patients with and without mixed episodes.

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Röttig, Dörthe; Röttig, Stephan; Brieger, Peter; Marneros, Andreas

2007-12-01

Personality and temperament are supposed to have an impact on the clinical expression and course of an affective disorder. There is some indication, that mixed episodes result from an admixture of inverse temperamental factors to a manic syndrome. In a preliminary report [Brieger, P., Roettig, S., Ehrt, U., Wenzel, A., Bloink, R., Marneros, A., 2003. TEMPS-a scale in 'mixed' and 'pure' manic episodes: new data and methodological considerations on the relevance of joint anxious-depressive temperament traits. J. Affect. Disord. 73, 99-104] we reported support for this assumption. The present study completes the preliminary results and compares patients with and without mixed episodes with respect to personality and personality disorders in addition. Patients who had been hospitalized for bipolar I disorder were reassessed after 4.8 years. We examined temperament (TEMPS-A), personality (NEO-FFI) and frequency of personality disorders (SCID-II). Furthermore, illness-related parameters like age at first treatment, depressive and manic symptomatology, frequency and type of episodes and level of functioning were obtained and patients with and without mixed episodes were compared. Patients with (n=49) and without mixed episodes (n=86) did not differ significantly with regard to the illness-related parameters and personality dimensions. The frequency of personality disorders was significantly higher in patients with prior mixed episodes. With respect to temperament, scores of the depressive, cyclothymic, irritable and anxious temperament were significantly higher in patients with mixed episodes. We were not able to assess premorbid temperament and premorbid personality. The findings of the present study support the assumption of Akiskal [Akiskal, H.S., 1992b. The distinctive mixed states of bipolar I, II, and III. Clin. Neuropharmacol. 15 Suppl 1 Pt A, 632-633.] that mixed episodes are more frequent in subjects with inverse temperament.

The association of major depressive episode and personality traits in patients with fibromyalgia

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Danyella de Melo Santos

2011-01-01

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Personality traits have been associated with primary depression. However, it is not known whether this association takes place in the case of depression comorbid with fibromyalgia. OBJECTIVE: The authors investigated the association between a current major depressive episode and temperament traits (e.g., harm avoidance. METHOD: A sample of 69 adult female patients with fibromyalgia was assessed with the Temperament and Character Inventory. Psychiatric diagnoses were assessed with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview severity of depressive symptomatology with the Beck Depression Inventory, and anxiety symptomatology with the IDATE-state and pain intensity with a visual analog scale. RESULTS: A current major depressive episode was diagnosed in 28 (40.5% of the patients. They presented higher levels of harm avoidance and lower levels of cooperativeness and self-directedness compared with non-depressed patients, which is consistent with the Temperament and Character Inventory profile of subjects with primary depression. However, in contrast to previous results in primary depression, no association between a major depressive episode and self-transcendence was found. CONCLUSIONS: The results highlight specific features of depression in fibromyalgia subjects and may prove important for enhancing the diagnosis and prognosis of depression in fibromyalgia patients.

Moral judgment in episodic amnesia.

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Craver, Carl F; Keven, Nazim; Kwan, Donna; Kurczek, Jake; Duff, Melissa C; Rosenbaum, R Shayna

2016-08-01

To investigate the role of episodic thought about the past and future in moral judgment, we administered a well-established moral judgment battery to individuals with hippocampal damage and deficits in episodic thought (insert Greene et al. 2001). Healthy controls select deontological answers in high-conflict moral scenarios more frequently when they vividly imagine themselves in the scenarios than when they imagine scenarios abstractly, at some personal remove. If this bias is mediated by episodic thought, individuals with deficits in episodic thought should not exhibit this effect. We report that individuals with deficits in episodic memory and future thought make moral judgments and exhibit the biasing effect of vivid, personal imaginings on moral judgment. These results strongly suggest that the biasing effect of vivid personal imagining on moral judgment is not due to episodic thought about the past and future. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Study of metamemory in patients with chronic alcoholism using a feeling-of-knowing episodic memory task.

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Le Berre, Anne-Pascale; Pinon, Karine; Vabret, François; Pitel, Anne-Lise; Allain, Philippe; Eustache, Francis; Beaunieux, Hélène

2010-11-01

Alcoholism affects various cognitive processes, including components of memory. Metamemory, though of particular interest for patient treatment, has not yet been extensively investigated.  A feeling-of-knowing (FOK) measure of metamemory was administered to 28 alcoholic patients and 28 healthy controls during an episodic memory task including the learning of 20 pairs of items, followed by a 20-minute delayed recall and a recognition task. Prior to recognition, participants rated their ability to recognize each nonrecalled word among 4 items. This episodic FOK measure served to compare predictions of future recognition performance and actual recognition performance. Furthermore, a subjective measure of metamemory, the Metamemory In Adulthood (MIA) questionnaire, was completed by patients and controls. This assessment of alcoholic patients' metamemory profile was accompanied by an evaluation of episodic memory and executive functioning. FOK results revealed deficits in accuracy, with the alcoholic patients providing overestimations. There were also links between FOK inaccuracy, executive decline, and episodic memory impairment in patients. MIA results showed that although alcoholics did display memory difficulties, they did not differ from controls on questions about memory capacity. Chronic alcoholism affects both episodic memory and metamemory for novel information. Patients were relatively unaware of their memory deficits and believed that their memory was as good as that of the healthy controls. The monitoring measure (FOK) and the subjective measure of metamemory (MIA) showed that patients with chronic alcoholism overestimated their memory capacities. Episodic memory deficit and executive dysfunction would explain metamemory decline in this clinical population. Copyright © 2010 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

The effects of age, glucose ingestion and gluco-regulatory control on episodic memory.

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Riby, Leigh Martin; Meikle, Andrew; Glover, Cheryl

2004-09-01

Previous research has been inconclusive regarding the impact of glucose ingestion and gluco-regulatory control on cognitive performance in healthy older adults. The aim of this research was to determine whether glucose specifically enhanced episodic memory in an older population. In addition, the link between individual differences in glucose regulation and the magnitude of the enhancement effect was examined. A within subjects, counterbalanced, crossover design was used with 20 participants (60-80 year olds), each serving as his/her control. Episodic memory was tested by presenting unrelated paired associates followed by immediate and delayed cued recall, and delayed recognition, under single and dual task conditions. In addition, a battery of cognitive tests was administered, including tests of semantic memory, working memory and speed of processing. Glucose ingestion was found to largely facilitate performance of episodic memory. Furthermore, subsidiary analyses found that gluco-regulatory efficiency predicted episodic memory performance in both control and glucose conditions. A boost in performance after glucose ingestion was particularly seen in the episodic memory domain. Notably, strong evidence was provided for the utility of gluco-regulatory control measures as indicators of cognitive decline in the elderly.

Spatial navigation and episodic-memory tests in screening of dementia

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Vlček, Kamil; Laczó, J.; Vajnerová, O.; Ort, Michael; Kalina, M.; Blahna, Karel; Vyhnálek, M.; Hort, J.

2006-01-01

Roč. 10, č. S3 (2006), s. 35-38 ISSN 1211-7579 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) 1M0517; GA ČR(CZ) GA309/05/0693; GA ČR(CZ) GA309/06/1231 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50110509 Keywords : spatial navigation * episodic memory * Alzheimer’s disease Subject RIV: FH - Neurology

Contribution of Prior Semantic Knowledge to New Episodic Learning in Amnesia

Science.gov (United States)

Kan, Irene P.; Alexander, Michael P.; Verfaellie, Mieke

2009-01-01

We evaluated whether prior semantic knowledge would enhance episodic learning in amnesia. Subjects studied prices that are either congruent or incongruent with prior price knowledge for grocery and household items and then performed a forced-choice recognition test for the studied prices. Consistent with a previous report, healthy controls'…

How do episodic and semantic memory contribute to episodic foresight in young children?

OpenAIRE

Martin-Ordas, Gema; Atance, Cristina M.; Caza, Julian S.

2014-01-01

Humans are able to transcend the present and mentally travel to another time, place, or perspective. Mentally projecting ourselves backwards (i.e., episodic memory) or forwards (i.e., episodic foresight) in time are crucial characteristics of the human memory system. Indeed, over the past few years, episodic memory has been argued to be involved both in our capacity to retrieve our personal past experiences and in our ability to imagine and foresee future scenarios. However, recent theory and...

The optimal timing of stimulation to induce long-lasting positive effects on episodic memory in physiological aging.

Science.gov (United States)

Manenti, Rosa; Sandrini, Marco; Brambilla, Michela; Cotelli, Maria

2016-09-15

Episodic memory displays the largest degree of age-related decline. A noninvasive brain stimulation technique that can be used to modulate memory in physiological aging is transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS). However, an aspect that has not been adequately investigated in previous studies is the optimal timing of stimulation to induce long-lasting positive effects on episodic memory function. Our previous studies showed episodic memory enhancement in older adults when anodal tDCS was applied over the left lateral prefrontal cortex during encoding or after memory consolidation with or without a contextual reminder. Here we directly compared the two studies to explore which of the tDCS protocols would induce longer-lasting positive effects on episodic memory function in older adults. In addition, we aimed to determine whether subjective memory complaints would be related to the changes in memory performance (forgetting) induced by tDCS, a relevant issue in aging research since individuals with subjective memory complaints seem to be at higher risk of later memory decline. The results showed that anodal tDCS applied after consolidation with a contextual reminder induced longer-lasting positive effects on episodic memory, conceivably through reconsolidation, than anodal tDCS during encoding. Furthermore, we reported, providing new data, a moderate negative correlation between subjective memory complaints and forgetting when anodal tDCS was applied after consolidation with a contextual reminder. This study sheds light on the best-suited timing of stimulation to induce long-lasting positive effects on memory function and might help the clinicians to select the most effective tDCS protocol to prevent memory decline. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keeping track of time: evidence for episodic-like memory in great apes.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin-Ordas, Gema; Haun, Daniel; Colmenares, Fernando; Call, Josep

2010-03-01

Episodic memory, as defined by Tulving, can be described in terms of behavioural elements (what, where and when information) but it is also accompanied by an awareness of one's past (chronesthesia) and a subjective conscious experience (autonoetic awareness). Recent experiments have shown that corvids and rodents recall the where, what and when of an event. This capability has been called episodic-like memory because it only fulfils the behavioural criteria for episodic memory. We tested seven chimpanzees, three orangutans and two bonobos of various ages by adapting two paradigms, originally developed by Clayton and colleagues to test scrub jays. In Experiment 1, subjects were fed preferred but perishable food (frozen juice) and less preferred but non-perishable food (grape). After the food items were hidden, subjects could choose one of them either after 5 min or 1 h. The frozen juice was still available after 5 min but melted after 1 h and became unobtainable. Apes chose the frozen juice significantly more after 5 min and the grape after 1 h. In Experiment 2, subjects faced two baiting events happening at different times, yet they formed an integrated memory for the location and time of the baiting event for particular food items. We also included a memory task that required no temporal encoding. Our results showed that apes remember in an integrated fashion what, where and when (i.e., how long ago) an event happened; that is, apes distinguished between different events in which the same food items were hidden in different places at different times. The temporal control of their choices was not dependent on the familiarity of the platforms where the food was hidden. Chimpanzees' and bonobos' performance in the temporal encoding task was age-dependent, following an inverted U-shaped distribution. The age had no effect on the performance of the subjects in the task that required no temporal encoding.

The Composition of Episodic Memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Underwood, Benton J.; And Others

This study examined the interrelationships among a number of episodic memory tasks and among various attributes of memory. A sample of 200 college students was tested for ten sessions; 28 different measures of episodic memory were obtained. In addition, five measures of semantic memory were available. Results indicated that episodic and semantic…

Episodic and working memory deficits in alcoholic Korsakoff patients: the continuity theory revisited.

Science.gov (United States)

Pitel, Anne Lise; Beaunieux, Hélène; Witkowski, Thomas; Vabret, François; de la Sayette, Vincent; Viader, Fausto; Desgranges, Béatrice; Eustache, Francis

2008-07-01

The exact nature of episodic and working memory impairments in alcoholic Korsakoff patients (KS) remains unclear, as does the specificity of these neuropsychological deficits compared with those of non-Korsakoff alcoholics (AL). The goals of the present study were therefore to (1) specify the nature of episodic and working memory impairments in KS, (2) determine the specificity of the KS neuropsychological profile compared with the AL profile, and (3) observe the distribution of individual performances within the 2 patient groups. We investigated episodic memory (encoding and retrieval abilities, contextual memory and state of consciousness associated with memories), the slave systems of working memory (phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad and episodic buffer) and executive functions (inhibition, flexibility, updating and integration abilities) in 14 strictly selected KS, 40 AL and 55 control subjects (CS). Compared with CS, KS displayed impairments of episodic memory encoding and retrieval, contextual memory, recollection, the slave systems of working memory and executive functions. Although episodic memory was more severely impaired in KS than in AL, the single specificity of the KS profile was a disproportionately large encoding deficit. Apart from organizational and updating abilities, the slave systems of working memory and inhibition, flexibility and integration abilities were impaired to the same extent in both alcoholic groups. However, some KS were unable to complete the most difficult executive tasks. There was only a partial overlap of individual performances by KS and AL for episodic memory and a total mixture of the 2 groups for working memory. Korsakoff's syndrome encompasses impairments of the different episodic and working memory components. AL and KS displayed similar profiles of episodic and working memory deficits, in accordance with neuroimaging investigations showing similar patterns of brain damage in both alcoholic groups.

Exploring the content and quality of episodic future simulations in semantic dementia.

Science.gov (United States)

Irish, Muireann; Addis, Donna Rose; Hodges, John R; Piguet, Olivier

2012-12-01

Semantic dementia (SD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterised by the amodal loss of semantic knowledge in the context of relatively preserved recent episodic memory. Recent studies have demonstrated that despite relatively intact episodic memory the capacity for future simulation in SD is profoundly impaired, resulting in an asymmetric profile where past retrieval is significantly better than future simulation (referred to as a past>future effect). Here, we sought to identify the origins of this asymmetric profile by conducting a fine-grained analysis of the contextual details provided during past retrieval and future simulation in SD. Participants with SD (n=14), Alzheimer's disease (n=11), and healthy controls (n=14) had previously completed an experimental past-future interview in which they generated three past events from the previous year, and three future events in the next year, and provided subjective qualitative ratings of vividness, emotional valence, emotional intensity, task difficulty, and personal significance for each event described. Our results confirmed the striking impairment for future simulation in SD, despite a relative preservation of past episodic retrieval. Examination of the contextual details provided for past memories and future simulations revealed significant impairments irrespective of contextual detail type for future simulations in SD, and demonstrated that the future thinking deficit in this cohort was driven by a marked decline in the provision of internal (episodic) event details. In contrast with this past>future effect for internal event details, SD patients displayed a future>past effect for external (non-episodic) event details. Analyses of the qualitative ratings provided for past and future events indicated that SD patients' phenomenological experience did not differ between temporal conditions. Our findings underscore the fact that successful extraction of episodic elements from the past is not

Visual integration dysfunction in schizophrenia arises by the first psychotic episode and worsens with illness duration

OpenAIRE

Keane, Brian P.; Paterno, Danielle; Kastner, Sabine; Silverstein, Steven M.

2016-01-01

Visual integration dysfunction characterizes schizophrenia, but prior studies have not yet established whether the problem arises by the first psychotic episode or worsens with illness duration. To investigate the issue, we compared chronic schizophrenia patients (SZs), first episode psychosis patients (FEs), and well-matched healthy controls on a brief but sensitive psychophysical task in which subjects attempted to locate an integrated shape embedded in noise. Task difficulty depended on th...

Treatment and violent behavior in persons with first episode psychosis during a 10-year prospective follow-up study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Langeveld, Johannes; Bjørkly, Stål; Auestad, Bjørn

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: First episode psychosis (FEP) patients have an increased risk for violence and criminal activity prior to initial treatment. However, little is known about the prevalence of criminality and acts of violence many years after implementation of treatment for a first episode psychosis. AIM......: To assess the prevalence of criminal and violent behaviors during a 10-year follow-up period after the debut of a first psychosis episode, and to identify early predictors and concomitant risk factors of violent behavior. METHOD: A prospective design was used with comprehensive assessments of criminal...... follow-up period, 20% of subjects had been apprehended or incarcerated. At 10-year follow-up, 15% of subjects had exposed others to threats or violence during the year before assessment. Illegal drug use at baseline and five-year follow-up, and a longer duration of psychotic symptoms were found...

Impact of daily number of urgency urinary incontinence episodes on overactive bladder patient reported outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Angulo, J C; Brenes, F J; Lizarraga, I; Rejas, J; Trillo, S; Ochayta, D; Arumi, D

2016-04-01

To explore the impact of urgency urinary incontinence (UUI) on well-being in non-institutionalized patients with overactive bladder (OAB) in a community sample. A cross-sectional web-based study was conducted in the general population, including males and females, >18 years of age. Patients with probable OAB were identified using a validated algorithm together with a score ≥8 on the OAB-V8 scale. Presence of coping behavior was considered determinant for the clinical diagnosis of OAB. Individual well-being was determined through a battery of patient-reported outcomes (PRO) measurements including assessment of health-related quality of life (EQ-5D), sleep disturbances (MOS Sleep), and life satisfaction (LISAT-8). Patients were grouped according to the number of daily UUI episodes (UUI severity): 0 (dry OAB),1, 2-3, or ≥4. Multivariate analysis to evaluate factors independently affecting quality of life was undertaken. A total of 396 patients (52.5% women, mean age: 55.3 [11.1] years, OAB-V8 mean score: 14.5 [7.9]) out of 2035 subjects participating from the general population met the criteria for OAB: 203 (51.3%) with 0episodes, 119 (30.1%) with 1, 52 (13.1%) with 2 or 3, and 22 (5.6%) with ≥4 episodes. A statistically significant linear adjusted association was found between number of UUI episodes and PRO scores. Participants with more episodes had poorer health profiles and self-evaluated quality of life, worse life satisfaction, and more sleep disturbances and fewer hours of sleep per night. Number of incontinence episodes was independent factor to affect quality of life using both LISAT-8 and MOS questionnaires. Severity of UUI was significantly associated with poorer individual well-being in subjects with OAB in a community sample in Spain. Copyright © 2015 AEU. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Episodic memory deficits slow down the dynamics of cognitive procedural learning in normal ageing

Science.gov (United States)

Beaunieux, Hélène; Hubert, Valérie; Pitel, Anne Lise; Desgranges, Béatrice; Eustache, Francis

2009-01-01

Cognitive procedural learning is characterized by three phases, each involving distinct processes. Considering the implication of the episodic memory in the first cognitive stage, the impairment of this memory system might be responsible for a slowing down of the cognitive procedural learning dynamics in the course of aging. Performances of massed cognitive procedural learning were evaluated in older and younger participants using the Tower of Toronto task. Nonverbal intelligence and psychomotor abilities were used to analyze procedural dynamics, while episodic memory and working memory were assessed to measure their respective contributions to learning strategies. This experiment showed that older participants did not spontaneously invoke episodic memory and presented a slowdown in the cognitive procedural learning associated with a late involvement of working memory. These findings suggest that the slowdown in the cognitive procedural learning may be linked with the implementation of different learning strategies less involving episodic memory in older subjects. PMID:18654928

Apathy in first episode psychosis patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Evensen, Julie; Røssberg, Jan Ivar; Barder, Helene

2012-01-01

Apathy is a common symptom in first episode psychosis (FEP), and is associated with poor functioning. Prevalence and correlates of apathy 10 years after the first psychotic episode remain unexplored.......Apathy is a common symptom in first episode psychosis (FEP), and is associated with poor functioning. Prevalence and correlates of apathy 10 years after the first psychotic episode remain unexplored....

Apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 and episodic memory decline in Alzheimer's disease: A review.

Science.gov (United States)

El Haj, Mohamad; Antoine, Pascal; Amouyel, Philippe; Lambert, Jean-Charles; Pasquier, Florence; Kapogiannis, Dimitrios

2016-05-01

A growing body of research has examined the relationship between episodic memory decline, the cognitive hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and the presence of Apolipoprotein E ε4 (APOE ε4) allele, a major genetic risk factor for the disease. Our review attempts to summarize and critically evaluate this literature. We performed a systematic search for studies assessing episodic memory in AD patients who were genotyped for APOE ε4 and identified fourteen papers. Although most of these papers reported significant relationships between APOE ε4 and episodic memory decline in AD, some papers did not confirm this relationship. Our review links this controversy to the conflicting literature about the effects of APOE ε4 on general cognitive functioning in AD. We identify several shortcoming and limitations of the research on the relationship between APOE ε4 and episodic memory in AD, such as small sample sizes, non-representative populations, lack of comparison of early-onset vs. late-onset disease, and lack of comparison among different genotypes that include APOE ε4 (i.e., zero, one, or two ε4 alleles). Another major shortcoming of the reviewed literature was the lack of comprehensive evaluation of episodic memory decline, since episodic memory was solely evaluated with regard to encoding and retrieval, omitting evaluation of core episodic features that decline in AD, such as context recall (e.g., how, where, and when an episodic event has occurred) and subjective experience of remembering (e.g., reliving, emotion and feeling during episodic recollection). Future research taking these limitations into consideration could illuminate the nature of the relationship between APOE ε4 and episodic memory decline in AD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Does virtual reality have a future for the study of episodic memory in aging?

Science.gov (United States)

Abichou, Kouloud; La Corte, Valentina; Piolino, Pascale

2017-03-01

Episodic memory is the memory of personally lived events located in time and space, it shapes our identity and allows us to project ourselves into the past and the future. This form of memory is vulnerable to the effects of age and its alteration, hindering the autonomy of the subjects, can predict the evolution towards neurodegenerative disorders. Hence, a better understanding of this type of memory is a priority in the field of public health. Actually, traditional neuropsychological tools are often decontextualized, using simplistic situations that did not require the mobilization of all the characteristics of episodic memory, thus they just offer a partial measure of this complex mnemonic capacity. Nowadays, the virtual reality (VR) is a tool allowing the immersion of subjects in simulations of real situations, rich in spatial and temporal naturalistic contexts. Due to its many characteristics, the VR allows to solve several limitations of the traditional tests. The purpose of this review is to expose studies that investigated episodic memory in normal and Alzheimer's disease using VR in order to address its relevance as a new tool in the future practice of neuropsychology of aging.

Low Cerebral Oxygen Consumption and Blood Flow in Patients With Cirrhosis and an Acute Episode of Hepatic Encephalopathy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Iversen, Peter; Bak, Lasse Kristoffer; Waagepetersen, Helle Sønderby

2009-01-01

(15)O-water PET in 6 patients with liver cirrhosis and an acute episode of overt HE, 6 cirrhotic patients without HE, and 7 healthy subjects. RESULTS: Neither whole-brain CMRO(2) nor CBF differed significantly between cirrhotic patients without HE and healthy subjects, but were both significantly...... that the reductions in CMRO(2) and CBF in patients with HE were essentially generalized throughout the brain. CONCLUSIONS: The observations imply that reduced cerebral oxygen consumption and blood flow in cirrhotic patients with an acute episode of overt HE are associated with HE and not cirrhosis as such...

Effect of normal aging and of Alzheimer's disease on, episodic memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Le Moal, S; Reymann, J M; Thomas, V; Cattenoz, C; Lieury, A; Allain, H

1997-01-01

Performances of 12 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), 15 healthy elderly subjects and 20 young healthy volunteers were compared on two episodic memory tests. The first, a learning test of semantically related words, enabled an assessment of the effect of semantic relationships on word learning by controlling the encoding and retrieval processes. The second, a dual coding test, is about the assessment of automatic processes operating during drawings encoding. The results obtained demonstrated quantitative and qualitative differences between the population. Manifestations of episodic memory deficit in AD patients were shown not only by lower performance scores than in elderly controls, but also by the lack of any effect of semantic cues and the production of a large number of extra-list intrusions. Automatic processes underlying dual coding appear to be spared in AD, although more time is needed to process information than in young or elderly subjects. These findings confirm former data and emphasize the preservation of certain memory processes (dual coding) in AD which could be used in future therapeutic approaches.

More Effective Consolidation of Episodic Long-Term Memory in Children Than Adults-Unrelated to Sleep.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jing-Yi; Weber, Frederik D; Zinke, Katharina; Inostroza, Marion; Born, Jan

2017-06-08

Abilities to encode and remember events in their spatiotemporal context (episodic memory) rely on brain regions that mature late during childhood and are supported by sleep. We compared the temporal dynamics of episodic memory formation and the role of sleep in this process between 62 children (8-12 years) and 57 adults (18-37 years). Subjects recalled "what-where-when" memories after a short 1-hr retention interval or after a long 10.5-hr interval containing either nocturnal sleep or daytime wakefulness. Although children showed diminished recall of episodes after 1 hr, possibly resulting from inferior encoding, unlike adults, they showed no further decrease in recall after 10.5 hr. In both age groups, episodic memory benefitted from sleep. However, children's more effective offline retention was unrelated to sleep. © 2017 The Authors. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Episodic Memory and Episodic Foresight in 3- and 5-Year-Old Children

Science.gov (United States)

Hayne, Harlene; Gross, Julien; McNamee, Stephanie; Fitzgibbon, Olivia; Tustin, Karen

2011-01-01

In the present study, we examined the development of episodic memory and episodic foresight. Three- and 5-year-olds were interviewed individually using a personalised timeline that included photographs of them at different points in their life. After constructing the timeline with the experimenter, each child was asked to discuss a number of…

Rutherford Memorial Lecture, 1977. Some episodes of the α-particle story, 1903-1977

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feather, N.

1977-01-01

In this lecture an episodic account of more than seventy years experimental and theoretical α -particle physics is given, largely centred on the work of Rutherford and his colleagues but also including recent advances in the subject. Amongst the episodes included are, the birth of α- radiation in the winter of 1902 -3 when α - radiation finally assumed the character of a stream of 'charged bodies projected with a great velocity', work on measuring the α - particle charge, the discovery of the nucleus, scattering experiments, work on long-range α - Particles, and lastly α - particles in fission. (U.K.)

A magnetic resonance imaging study in first-episode disorganized-type patients with schizophrenia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohnuma, Tohru; Kimura, Michihiro; Takahashi, Tadashi; Iwamoto, Norihiko; Arai, Heii

1997-01-01

Although a number of radiological studies have suggested that brains of patients suffering from schizophrenia have morphological abnormalities, the results are inconsistent. In the present study, in order to examine the brain, morphological features of homogeneous schizophrenics' brain magnetic resonance imagings (MRI) were taken, before neuroleptic treatment, from subjects suffering from disorganized-type schizophrenia, (DOS) during their first episodes. Results showed that DOS had significantly smaller indices for bilateral frontal gray matter (GM), left hippocampal formation (HF), left parahippocampal gray matter (PHGM) and left cingulate gyrus gray matter (CGM) than normal controls. These findings support the previous computed tomography (CT) and MRI studies on schizophrenic brains, although the subjects were not defined as disorganized-type, and may suggest the involvement of a neurocircuit between the bilateral frontal lobe and the left side of limbic system in the first-episode DOS group. (author). 54 refs

Relationship between muscle strength and fall episodes among the elderly: the Yilan study, Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Nan-Ping; Hsu, Nai-Wei; Lin, Ching-Heng; Chen, Hsi-Chung; Tsao, Hsuan-Ming; Lo, Su-Shun; Chou, Pesus

2018-04-13

Fall episodes are not unusual among community residents, especially the elderly, and lower muscle strength is an important issue to address in order to prevent falls. A community health survey was conducted in a suburban area of Taiwan, and 1067 older adults were selected for enrollment in the present study. All the enrolled subjects had been visited at their homes; the subjects' strength of both hands and muscle mass of both legs were measured and well-established questionnaires were finished by certificated paramedic staffs. The incidence of fall episodes in the previous 1 year in the Yilan elderly population was 15.1%, and the female predominance was significant. A significantly higher prevalence of cataracts was found in group who experienced a fall in the past year (64% vs. 54.9% in the non-fall group). Mild or more severe dementia was much more prevalent in the group who experienced a recent fall (33.8% vs. 25.7% in the non-fall group). The strength of both hands tested as the physical function was 17.6 ± 8.0 kg in the recent fall group, significantly weaker than that in the non-fall group (20.7 ± 8.7 kg). Multivariate regression analysis revealed a greater weekly exercise duration and greater strength of both hands reduced the occurrence of falls among the whole and the female population. The standardized effect sizes of hand grip strength between both groups, not trivial, were 0.29 and 0.37 for the total population and the female subpopulation respectively. Less weekly exercise duration and weaker muscle strength were f ound to be independent risk factors of fall episode(s) in an elderly Taiwanese population, especially in the female sub-population. Muscle strength, measured by average of both hands grip strength, was the most significantly factor of one-year fall episode(s) accessed retrospectively.

Is verbal episodic memory in elderly with amyloid deposits preserved through altered neuronal function?

Science.gov (United States)

Ossenkoppele, Rik; Madison, Cindee; Oh, Hwamee; Wirth, Miranka; van Berckel, Bart N M; Jagust, William J

2014-08-01

A potential mechanism that enables intellectual preservation in cognitively normal elderly that harbor beta-amyloid (Aβ) pathology is heightened cerebral glucose metabolism. To investigate cross-sectional inter-relationships between Aβ, glucose metabolism, and cognition, 81 subjects (mean age: 75 ± 7 years) underwent [(11)C]Pittsburgh Compound-B and [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography scans and neuropsychological testing. They were divided into low-Aβ (n = 53), intermediate-Aβ (n = 13) and high-Aβ (n = 15) groups as defined by their global cortical [(11)C]PIB retention. Glucose metabolism was assessed using a MetaROI mask that covers metabolically critical regions in Alzheimer's disease (AD) (i.e., posterior cingulate and bilateral angular and inferior temporal gyri). Previously validated factor scores for verbal and visual episodic memory, semantic memory, working memory, and executive functioning were used to evaluate cognitive performances. Greater Aβ deposition in the precuneus was associated with higher metabolic activity (at trend level) and lower visual episodic memory scores. Glucose metabolism did not correlate with cognition across all subjects. However, heightened metabolic activity was associated with better verbal episodic memory performance in subjects with elevated amyloid levels. This preliminary study suggests that neural compensation, as a manifestation of brain reserve, enables elderly supposedly on the path to AD, at least temporarily, to preserve cognitive function. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The Role of Episodic Structure and of Story Length in Children's Recall of Simple Stories

Science.gov (United States)

Glenn, Christine G.

1978-01-01

It was hypothesized that if the episodic structure of a story determines subjects' organization of that story in memory, then variation in structure should affect the organization of information in recall. (Author/NCR)

Dissociations in Hippocampal and Frontal Contributions to Episodic Memory Performance

OpenAIRE

Kramer, Joel H.; Rosen, Howard J.; Du, An-Tao; Schuff, Norbert; Hollnagel, Caroline; Weiner, Michael W.; Miller, Bruce L.; Delis, Dean C.

2005-01-01

The hippocampus and frontal lobes both contribute to episodic memory performance. In the present study, the authors evaluated the relative contributions of hippocampus, frontal lobes, anterior temporal cortex, and posterior cortex to memory performance in neurodegenerative patients and normal older controls. Subjects (n = 42) were studied with structural MRI and a memory paradigm that measured delayed recall, semantic clustering during recall, recognition discriminability, and recognition res...

Does age at onset of first major depressive episode indicate the subtype of major depressive disorder?: the clinical research center for depression study.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Seon-Cheol; Hahn, Sang-Woo; Hwang, Tae-Yeon; Kim, Jae-Min; Jun, Tae-Youn; Lee, Min-Soo; Kim, Jung-Bum; Yim, Hyeon-Woo; Park, Yong Chon

2014-11-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of age at onset of the first major depressive episode on the clinical features of individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) in a large cohort of Korean depressed patients. We recruited 419 MDD patients of age over 18 years from the Clinical Research Center for Depression study in South Korea. At the start of the study, the onset age of the first major depressive episode was self-reported by the subjects. The subjects were divided into four age-at-onset subgroups: childhood and adolescent onset (ages depressive episodes (F=3.475, p=0.016) and higher scores on the brief psychiatric rating scale (F=3.254, p=0.022), its negative symptom subscale (F=6.082, pdepressive episode is a promising clinical indicator for the clinical presentation, course, and outcome of MDD.

Altered frontal inter-hemispheric resting state functional connectivity is associated with bulimic symptoms among restrained eaters.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Shuaiyu; Dong, Debo; Jackson, Todd; Su, Yanhua; Chen, Hong

2016-01-29

Theory and research have indicated that restrained eating (RE) increases risk for binge-eating and eating disorder symptoms. According to the goal conflict model, such risk may result from disrupted hedonic-feeding control and its interaction with reward-driven eating. However, RE-related alterations in functional interactions among associated underlying brain regions, especially between the cerebral hemispheres, have rarely been examined directly. Therefore, we investigated inter-hemispheric resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) among female restrained eaters (REs) (n=23) and unrestrained eaters (UREs) (n=24) following food deprivation as well as its relation to overall bulimia nervosa (BN) symptoms using voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC). Seed-based RSFC associated with areas exhibiting significant VMHC differences was also assessed. Compared to UREs, REs showed reduced VMHC in the dorsal-lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), an area involved in inhibiting hedonic overeating. REs also displayed decreased RSFC between the right DLPFC and regions associated with reward estimation--the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). Finally, bulimic tendencies had a negative correlation with VMHC in the DLPFC and a positive correlation with functional connectivity (DLPFC and VMPFC) among REs but not UREs. Findings suggested that reduced inter-hemispheric functional connectivity in appetite inhibition regions and altered functional connectivity in reward related regions may help to explain why some REs fail to control hedonically-motivated feeding and experience higher associated levels of BN symptomatology. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Episodic memory in nonhuman animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Templer, Victoria L; Hampton, Robert R

2013-09-09

Episodic memories differ from other types of memory because they represent aspects of the past not present in other memories, such as the time, place, or social context in which the memories were formed. Focus on phenomenal experience in human memory, such as the sense of 'having been there', has resulted in conceptualizations of episodic memory that are difficult or impossible to apply to nonhuman species. It is therefore a significant challenge for investigators to agree on objective behavioral criteria that can be applied in nonhuman animals and still capture features of memory thought to be critical in humans. Some investigators have attempted to use neurobiological parallels to bridge this gap; however, defining memory types on the basis of the brain structures involved rather than on identified cognitive mechanisms risks missing crucial functional aspects of episodic memory, which are ultimately behavioral. The most productive way forward is likely a combination of neurobiology and sophisticated cognitive testing that identifies the mental representations present in episodic memory. Investigators that have refined their approach from asking the naïve question "do nonhuman animals have episodic memory" to instead asking "what aspects of episodic memory are shared by humans and nonhumans" are making progress. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of episodic and working memory impairments on semantic and cognitive procedural learning at alcohol treatment entry.

Science.gov (United States)

Pitel, Anne Lise; Witkowski, Thomas; Vabret, François; Guillery-Girard, Bérengère; Desgranges, Béatrice; Eustache, Francis; Beaunieux, Hélène

2007-02-01

Chronic alcoholism is known to impair the functioning of episodic and working memory, which may consequently reduce the ability to learn complex novel information. Nevertheless, semantic and cognitive procedural learning have not been properly explored at alcohol treatment entry, despite its potential clinical relevance. The goal of the present study was therefore to determine whether alcoholic patients, immediately after the weaning phase, are cognitively able to acquire complex new knowledge, given their episodic and working memory deficits. Twenty alcoholic inpatients with episodic memory and working memory deficits at alcohol treatment entry and a control group of 20 healthy subjects underwent a protocol of semantic acquisition and cognitive procedural learning. The semantic learning task consisted of the acquisition of 10 novel concepts, while subjects were administered the Tower of Toronto task to measure cognitive procedural learning. Analyses showed that although alcoholic subjects were able to acquire the category and features of the semantic concepts, albeit slowly, they presented impaired label learning. In the control group, executive functions and episodic memory predicted semantic learning in the first and second halves of the protocol, respectively. In addition to the cognitive processes involved in the learning strategies invoked by controls, alcoholic subjects seem to attempt to compensate for their impaired cognitive functions, invoking capacities of short-term passive storage. Regarding cognitive procedural learning, although the patients eventually achieved the same results as the controls, they failed to automate the procedure. Contrary to the control group, the alcoholic groups' learning performance was predicted by controlled cognitive functions throughout the protocol. At alcohol treatment entry, alcoholic patients with neuropsychological deficits have difficulty acquiring novel semantic and cognitive procedural knowledge. Compared with

Semantic and episodic memory of music are subserved by distinct neural networks.

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Platel, Hervé; Baron, Jean-Claude; Desgranges, Béatrice; Bernard, Frédéric; Eustache, Francis

2003-09-01

Numerous functional imaging studies have shown that retrieval from semantic and episodic memory is subserved by distinct neural networks. However, these results were essentially obtained with verbal and visuospatial material. The aim of this work was to determine the neural substrates underlying the semantic and episodic components of music using familiar and nonfamiliar melodic tunes. To study musical semantic memory, we designed a task in which the instruction was to judge whether or not the musical extract was felt as "familiar." To study musical episodic memory, we constructed two delayed recognition tasks, one containing only familiar and the other only nonfamiliar items. For each recognition task, half of the extracts (targets) were presented in the prior semantic task. The episodic and semantic tasks were to be contrasted by a comparison to two perceptive control tasks and to one another. Cerebral blood flow was assessed by means of the oxygen-15-labeled water injection method, using high-resolution PET. Distinct patterns of activations were found. First, regarding the episodic memory condition, bilateral activations of the middle and superior frontal gyri and precuneus (more prominent on the right side) were observed. Second, the semantic memory condition disclosed extensive activations in the medial and orbital frontal cortex bilaterally, the left angular gyrus, and predominantly the left anterior part of the middle temporal gyri. The findings from this study are discussed in light of the available neuropsychological data obtained in brain-damaged subjects and functional neuroimaging studies.

Divergent thinking and constructing episodic simulations.

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Addis, Donna Rose; Pan, Ling; Musicaro, Regina; Schacter, Daniel L

2016-01-01

Divergent thinking likely plays an important role in simulating autobiographical events. We investigated whether divergent thinking is differentially associated with the ability to construct detailed imagined future and imagined past events as opposed to recalling past events. We also examined whether age differences in divergent thinking might underlie the reduced episodic detail generated by older adults. The richness of episodic detail comprising autobiographical events in young and older adults was assessed using the Autobiographical Interview. Divergent thinking abilities were measured using the Alternative Uses Task. Divergent thinking was significantly associated with the amount of episodic detail for imagined future events. Moreover, while age was significantly associated with imagined episodic detail, this effect was strongly related to age-related changes in episodic retrieval rather than divergent thinking.

Episodic payments (bundling): PART I.

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Jacofsky, D J

2017-10-01

Episodic, or bundled payments, is a concept now familiar to most in the healthcare arena, but the models are often misunderstood. Under a traditional fee-for-service model, each provider bills separately for their services which creates financial incentives to maximise volumes. Under a bundled payment, a single entity, often referred to as a convener (maybe the hospital, the physician group, or a third party) assumes the risk through a payer contract for all services provided within a defined episode of care, and receives a single (bundled) payment for all services provided for that episode. The time frame around the intervention is variable, but defined in advance, as are included and excluded costs. Timing of the actual payment in a bundle may either be before the episode occurs (prospective payment model), or after the end of the episode through a reconciliation (retrospective payment model). In either case, the defined costs over the defined time frame are borne by the convener. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2017;99-B:1280-5. ©2017 The British Editorial Society of Bone & Joint Surgery.

Two retrievals from a single cue: A bottleneck persists across episodic and semantic memory.

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Orscheschek, Franziska; Strobach, Tilo; Schubert, Torsten; Rickard, Timothy

2018-05-01

There is evidence in the literature that two retrievals from long-term memory cannot occur in parallel. To date, however, that work has explored only the case of two retrievals from newly acquired episodic memory. These studies demonstrated a retrieval bottleneck even after dual-retrieval practice. That retrieval bottleneck may be a global property of long-term memory retrieval, or it may apply only to the case of two retrievals from episodic memory. In the current experiments, we explored whether that apparent dual-retrieval bottleneck applies to the case of one retrieval from episodic memory and one retrieval from highly overlearned semantic memory. Across three experiments, subjects learned to retrieve a left or right keypress response form a set of 14 unique word cues (e.g., black-right keypress). In addition, they learned a verbal response which involved retrieving the antonym of the presented cue (e.g., black-"white"). In the dual-retrieval condition, subjects had to retrieve both the keypress response and the antonym word. The results suggest that the retrieval bottleneck is superordinate to specific long-term memory systems and holds across different memory components. In addition, the results support the assumption of a cue-level response chunking account of learned retrieval parallelism.

Therapeutic alliance in a randomized clinical trial for bulimia nervosa.

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Accurso, Erin C; Fitzsimmons-Craft, Ellen E; Ciao, Anna; Cao, Li; Crosby, Ross D; Smith, Tracey L; Klein, Marjorie H; Mitchell, James E; Crow, Scott J; Wonderlich, Stephen A; Peterson, Carol B

2015-06-01

This study examined the temporal relation between therapeutic alliance and outcome in two treatments for bulimia nervosa (BN). Eighty adults with BN symptoms were randomized to 21 sessions of integrative cognitive-affective therapy (ICAT) or enhanced cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT-E). Bulimic symptoms (i.e., frequency of binge eating and purging) were assessed at each session and posttreatment. Therapeutic alliance (Working Alliance Inventory) was assessed at Sessions 2, 8, 14, and posttreatment. Repeated-measures analyses using linear mixed models with random intercepts were conducted to determine differences in alliance growth by treatment and patient characteristics. Mixed-effects models examined the relation between alliance and symptom improvement. Overall, patients in both treatments reported strong therapeutic alliances. Regardless of treatment, greater therapeutic alliance between (but not within) subjects predicted greater reductions in bulimic behavior; reductions in bulimic behavior also predicted improved alliance. Patients with higher depression, anxiety, or emotion dysregulation had a stronger therapeutic alliance in CBT-E than ICAT, while those with more intimacy problems had greater improvement in therapeutic alliance in ICAT compared to CBT-E. Therapeutic alliance has a unique impact on outcome, independent of the impact of symptom improvement on alliance. Within- and between-subjects effects revealed that changes in alliance over time did not predict symptom improvement, but rather that individuals who had a stronger alliance overall had better bulimic symptom outcomes. These findings indicate that therapeutic alliance is an important predictor of outcome in the treatment of BN. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Metamemory ratings predict long-term changes in reactivated episodic memories

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Amnon eYacoby

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Reactivation of long-term memory can render the memory item temporarily labile, offering an opportunity to modify it via behavioral or pharmacological intervention. Declarative memory reactivation is accompanied by a metamemory ability to subjectively assess the knowledge available concerning the target item (Feeling of knowing, FOK. We set out to examine whether FOK can predict the extent of change of long-term episodic memories by post-retrieval manipulations. To this end, participants watched a short movie and immediately thereafter tested on their memory for it. A day later, they were reminded of that movie, and either immediately or one day later, were presented with a second movie. The reminder phase consisted of memory cues to which participants were asked to judge their FOK regarding the original movie. The memory performance of participants to whom new information was presented immediately after reactivating the original episode corresponded to the degree of FOK ratings upon reactivation such that the lower their FOK, the less their memory declined. In contrast, no relation was found between FOK and memory strength for those who learned new information one day after the reminder phase. Our findings suggest that the subjective accessibility of reactivated memories may determine the extent to which new information might modify those memories.

Selective deficits in episodic feeling of knowing in ageing: a novel use of the general knowledge task.

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Morson, Suzannah M; Moulin, Chris J A; Souchay, Céline

2015-05-01

Failure to recall an item from memory can be accompanied by the subjective experience that the item is known but currently unavailable for report. The feeling of knowing (FOK) task allows measurement of the predictive accuracy of this reflective judgement. Young and older adults were asked to provide answers to general knowledge questions both prior to and after learning, thus measuring both semantic and episodic memory for the items. FOK judgements were made at each stage for all unrecalled responses, providing a measure of predictive accuracy for semantic and episodic knowledge. Results demonstrated a selective effect of age on episodic FOK resolution, with older adults found to have impaired episodic FOK accuracy while semantic FOK accuracy remained intact. Although recall and recognition measures of episodic memory are equivalent between the two age groups, older adults may have been unable to access contextual details on which to base their FOK judgements. The results suggest that older adults are not able to accurately predict future recognition of unrecalled episodic information, and consequently may have difficulties in monitoring recently encoded memories. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Episodic Memories in Anxiety Disorders: Clinical Implications

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Zlomuzica, Armin; Dere, Dorothea; Machulska, Alla; Adolph, Dirk; Dere, Ekrem; Margraf, Jürgen

2014-01-01

The aim of this review is to summarize research on the emerging role of episodic memories in the context of anxiety disorders (AD). The available literature on explicit, autobiographical, and episodic memory function in AD including neuroimaging studies is critically discussed. We describe the methodological diversity of episodic memory research in AD and discuss the need for novel tests to measure episodic memory in a clinical setting. We argue that alterations in episodic memory functions might contribute to the etiology of AD. We further explain why future research on the interplay between episodic memory function and emotional disorders as well as its neuroanatomical foundations offers the promise to increase the effectiveness of modern psychological treatments. We conclude that one major task is to develop methods and training programs that might help patients suffering from AD to better understand, interpret, and possibly actively use their episodic memories in a way that would support therapeutic interventions and counteract the occurrence of symptoms. PMID:24795583

Episodic memories in anxiety disorders: Clinical implications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Armin eZlomuzica

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The aim of this review is to summarize research on the emerging role of episodic memories in the context of anxiety disorders (AD. The available literature on explicit-, autobiographical- and episodic memory function in AD including neuroimaging studies is critically discussed. We describe the methodological diversity of episodic memory research in AD and discuss the need for novel tests to measure episodic memory in a clinical setting. We argue that alterations in episodic memory functions might contribute to the etiology of AD. We further explain why future research on the interplay between episodic memory function and emotional disorders as well as its neuroanatomical foundations offers the promise to increase the effectiveness of modern psychological treatments. We conclude that one major task is to develop methods and training programs that might help patients suffering from AD to better understand, interpret and possibly actively use their episodic memories in a way that would support therapeutic interventions and counteract the occurrence of symptoms.

Predictors of suicide attempt in early-onset, first-episode psychoses: a longitudinal 24-month follow-up study.

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Sanchez-Gistau, Vanessa; Baeza, Inmaculada; Arango, Celso; González-Pinto, Ana; de la Serna, Elena; Parellada, Mara; Graell, Motserrat; Paya, Beatriz; Llorente, Cloe; Castro-Fornieles, Josefina

2013-01-01

To study the prevalence of suicide attempts and factors associated with risk for suicide during the first episode of psychosis, and to identify early predictors of suicide attempts over a 24-month follow-up period in an early-onset, first-episode psychosis cohort. 110 subjects in their first episode of psychosis aged between 9 and 17 years were assessed by using the DSM-IV diagnostic interview Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version and a battery of clinical instruments at baseline and at 12 and 24 months. Patients were enrolled in the study from March 2003 through November 2005. Suicide attempts and level of suicidality at each assessment were evaluated by using the Clinical Global Impression for Severity of Suicidality and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Subjects were classified as being at high, low, or no risk of suicide, depending on their scores on certain items of these scales. Clinical associations between the outcome measures high risk for suicide during acute episode and suicide attempts during follow-up were investigated by 2 sets of logistic regression analyses. The 24-month prevalence of suicide attempters was 12.4%. History of suicide attempts prior to psychotic episode (OR = 20.13; 95% CI, 1.83-220.55; P = .01), severe depressive symptoms (OR = 8.78; 95% CI, 1.15-67.11; P = .003), and antidepressant treatment (OR = 15.56; 95% CI, 2.66-90.86; P = .002) were associated with being classified as high suicide risk at baseline. The categorization of high suicide risk at baseline predicted suicide attempts during follow-up (OR = 81.66; 95% CI, 11.61-574.35; P = .000). Suicide is a major concern in early-onset first-episode psychosis. Suicidal behavior and depressive symptoms at psychosis onset are important signs to be aware of to prevent suicide attempts during the early period after first-episode psychosis. © Copyright 2013 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.

Predictors of functional and clinical outcome in early-onset first-episode psychosis: the child and adolescent first episode of psychosis (CAFEPS) study.

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Parellada, Mara; Castro-Fornieles, Josefina; Gonzalez-Pinto, Ana; Pina-Camacho, Laura; Moreno, Dolores; Rapado-Castro, Marta; Otero, Soraya; de la Serna, Elena; Moreno, Carmen; Baeza, Inmaculada; Graell, Montserrat; Arango, Celso

2015-11-01

The objective of this study was to study baseline clinical and biological predictors of 2-year outcome in a cohort of children and adolescents with a first episode of psychosis. Standard instruments were used to evaluate symptoms and functioning in 110 children and adolescents (mean age = 15.47 years) with first episode of psychosis at admission (between 2003 and 2005) and after 2-year follow-up. Clinical assessments included diagnostic assessment to yield DSM-IV diagnosis, developmental, premorbid, and past-year data, together with structural neuroimaging and other biological parameters (genetics and oxidative stress). Eighty-three subjects had assessments at baseline (including the Strauss-Carpenter Outcome Scale [SCOS]) and at 2-year follow-up. Association and multistep regression analyses were conducted to show correlates and predictors of primary outcome measures: functional outcome (Children's Global Assessment Scale [CGAS]), improvement (CGAS change), and primary negative symptoms (Proxy for the Deficit Syndrome Scale). The SCOS predicted 27.46% (P < .001) of the variance in CGAS score at 2 years. Baseline severity (measured by CGAS) predicted 30.9% (P < .001) of CGAS improvement after 2 years, and SCOS total score predicted an added 24.1% (P < .001). A diagnosis of nonaffective psychosis, primary negative symptoms, and less white matter at baseline predicted more primary negative symptoms at follow-up. The prediction of functional outcome was not increased by genetic, oxidative stress, or neurostructural markers. Baseline clinical assessments have a better predictive value than biological assessments for 2-year follow-up functioning of children and adolescents with a first episode of psychosis. Patients with primary negative symptoms at baseline continue to have negative symptoms 2 years later, and neurostructural markers predict these. Clinicians must still rely on clinical variables to judge the functional prognosis of early-onset first psychotic episodes

Transcranial magnetic stimulation reveals cortical hyperexcitability in episodic cluster headache.

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Cosentino, Guiseppe; Brighina, Filippo; Brancato, Sara; Valentino, Francesca; Indovino, Serena; Fierro, Brigida

2015-01-01

Evidence shows involvement of the cerebral cortex in the pathophysiology of cluster headache (CH). Here we investigated cortical excitability in episodic CH patients by using transcranial magnetic stimulation. In 25 patients with episodic CH and 13 healthy subjects we evaluated the motor cortical response to single-pulse (ie, motor threshold, input-output curves, cortical silent period) and paired-pulse (ie, intracortical facilitation, short intracortical inhibition) transcranial magnetic stimulation in both hemispheres. Thirteen patients were evaluated outside bout and the remaining 12 patients inside bout. Our results showed increased slope of the input-output curves after stimulation of both hemispheres in patients outside bout and in the hemisphere contralateral to the headache side in patients inside bout. Increased intracortical facilitation was observed in the hemisphere ipsilateral to the headache side in patients evaluated both outside and inside bout; reduced short intracortical inhibition was observed in patients inside bout ipsilateral to the side of pain. In conclusion, we provide evidence of increased cortical excitability in episodic CH both outside and inside bout, especially in the hemisphere ipsilateral to the side of headache attacks. Our results suggest that an abnormal regulation of cortical excitability could be involved in the pathophysiology of CH. We investigated cortical excitability in episodic cluster headache by using transcranial magnetic stimulation, providing evidence of cortical hyperexcitability in patients both inside and outside bout. We suggest that an abnormal state of cortical excitability could be involved in the pathophysiology of the disease. Copyright © 2015 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Does goal relevant episodic future thinking amplify the effect on delay discounting?

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O'Donnell, Sara; Oluyomi Daniel, Tinuke; Epstein, Leonard H

2017-05-01

Delay discounting (DD) is the preference for smaller immediate rewards over larger delayed rewards. Research shows episodic future thinking (EFT), or mentally simulating future experiences, reframes the choice between small immediate and larger delayed rewards, and can reduce DD. Only general EFT has been studied, whereby people reframe decisions in terms of non-goal related future events. Since future thinking is often goal-oriented and leads to greater activation of brain regions involved in prospection, goal-oriented EFT may be associated with greater reductions in DD than general goal-unrelated EFT. The present study (n=104, M age =22.25, SD=3.42; 50% Female) used a between-subjects 2×2 factorial design with type of episodic thinking (Goal, General) and temporal perspective (Episodic future versus recent thinking; EFT vs ERT) as between factors. Results showed a significant reduction in DD for EFT groups (p<0.001, Cohen's d effect size=0.89), and goal-EFT was more effective than general-EFT on reducing DD (p=0.03, d=0.64). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Attentional episodes in visual perception

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wyble, Brad; Potter, Mary C.; Bowman, Howard; Nieuwenstein, Mark

Is one's temporal perception of the world truly as seamless as it appears? This article presents a computationally motivated theory suggesting that visual attention samples information from temporal episodes (episodic simultaneous type/serial token model; Wyble, Bowman, & Nieuwenstein, 2009). Breaks

Episodic memory, semantic memory, and amnesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Squire, L R; Zola, S M

1998-01-01

Episodic memory and semantic memory are two types of declarative memory. There have been two principal views about how this distinction might be reflected in the organization of memory functions in the brain. One view, that episodic memory and semantic memory are both dependent on the integrity of medial temporal lobe and midline diencephalic structures, predicts that amnesic patients with medial temporal lobe/diencephalic damage should be proportionately impaired in both episodic and semantic memory. An alternative view is that the capacity for semantic memory is spared, or partially spared, in amnesia relative to episodic memory ability. This article reviews two kinds of relevant data: 1) case studies where amnesia has occurred early in childhood, before much of an individual's semantic knowledge has been acquired, and 2) experimental studies with amnesic patients of fact and event learning, remembering and knowing, and remote memory. The data provide no compelling support for the view that episodic and semantic memory are affected differently in medial temporal lobe/diencephalic amnesia. However, episodic and semantic memory may be dissociable in those amnesic patients who additionally have severe frontal lobe damage.

Personality traits of Japanese patients in remission from an episode of primary unipolar depression.

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von Zerssen, D; Asukai, N; Tsuda, H; Ono, Y; Kizaki, Y; Cho, Y

1997-07-01

Personality traits were assessed by means of the Munich Personality Test (MPT) in 75 Japanese subjects, 27 patients in remission from an episode of moderate to severe primary unipolar depression, with melancholic features during one episode or more of the disorder, in 24 patients in remission from other non-organic mental disorders and in 24 healthy controls. Compared with healthy controls, unipolar depressives displayed decreased Frustration Tolerance and elevated Rigidity as well as a stronger Orientation towards Social Norms. No significant difference was found between patients in remission from either unipolar depression or other mental disorders. However, the increase in Rigidity in comparison with healthy subjects was significant in the depressives only whereas the other patients, in contrast to the depressives, had significantly lower scores in Extraversion than the healthy subjects. Our results in Japanese patients are similar to findings of previous German studies, including two high risk studies, in which the same assessment instrument was used. This suggests that, beyond cultural differences, Rigidity, possibly in combination with a strong Orientation towards Social Norms and a reduced Frustration Tolerance, is a stable vulnerability marker for at least the more severe forms of primary unipolar depression.

Caregiver psychoeducation for first-episode psychosis.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

McWilliams, Stephen

2010-01-01

International best-practice guidelines for the management of first-episode psychosis have recommended the provision of psychoeducation for multifamily groups. While there is ample evidence of their efficacy in multiepisode psychosis, there is a paucity of evidence supporting this approach specifically for first-episode psychosis. We sought to determine whether a six-week caregiver psychoeducation programme geared specifically at first-episode psychosis improves caregiver knowledge and attitudes.

Episodic memory impairment in Addison's disease: results from a telephonic cognitive assessment.

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Henry, Michelle; Thomas, Kevin G F; Ross, Ian L

2014-06-01

Patients with Addison's disease frequently self-report memory and attention difficulties, even when on standard replacement therapy. However, few published studies examine, using objective measures and assessing across multiple domains, the cognitive functioning of Addison's disease patients relative to healthy controls. The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether the previously reported subjective cognitive deficits in Addison's disease are confirmed by objective measures. Conducting comprehensive neuropsychological assessments of patients with relatively rare clinical disorders, such as Addison's disease, is challenging because access to those patients is often limited, and because their medical condition might prevent extended testing sessions. Brief telephonic cognitive assessments are a useful tool in such circumstances. Hence, we administered the Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone to 27 Addison's disease patients and 27 matched healthy controls. The instrument provides objective assessment of episodic memory, working memory, executive functioning, reasoning, and speed of processing. Statistical analyses confirmed that, as expected, patients performed significantly more poorly than controls on the episodic memory subtest. There were, however, no significant between-group differences on the attention, executive functioning, reasoning, and speed of processing subtests. Furthermore, patients with a longer duration of illness performed more poorly across all domains of cognition. We conclude that, for Addison's disease patients, previously reported subjective cognitive deficits are matched by objective impairment, but only in the domain of episodic memory. Future research might investigate (a) whether these memory deficits are material-specific (i.e., whether non-verbal memory is also affected), and (b) the neurobiological mechanisms underlying these deficits.

In vivo gamma-aminobutyric acid and glutamate levels in people with first-episode schizophrenia: A proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study.

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Chiu, P W; Lui, Simon S Y; Hung, Karen S Y; Chan, Raymond C K; Chan, Queenie; Sham, P C; Cheung, Eric F C; Mak, Henry K F

2018-03-01

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) dysfunction and its consequent imbalance are implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Reduced GABA production would lead to a disinhibition of glutamatergic neurons and subsequently cause a disruption of the modulation between GABAergic interneurons and glutamatergic neurons. In this study, levels of GABA, Glx (summation of glutamate and glutamine), and other metabolites in the anterior cingulate cortex were measured and compared between first-episode schizophrenia subjects and healthy controls (HC). Diagnostic potential of GABA and Glx as upstream biomarkers for schizophrenia was explored. Nineteen first-episode schizophrenia subjects and fourteen HC participated in this study. Severity of clinical symptoms of patients was measured with Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Metabolites were measured using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and quantified using internal water as reference. First-episode schizophrenia subjects revealed reduced GABA and myo-inositol (mI), and increased Glx and choline (Cho), compared to HC. No significant correlation was found between metabolite levels and PANSS scores. Receiver operator characteristics analyses showed Glx had higher sensitivity and specificity (84.2%, 92.9%) compared to GABA (73.7%, 64.3%) for differentiating schizophrenia patients from HC. Combined model of both GABA and Glx revealed the best sensitivity and specificity (89.5%, 100%). This study simultaneously showed reduction in GABA and elevation in Glx in first-episode schizophrenia subjects, and this might provide insights on explaining the disruption of modulation between GABAergic interneurons and glutamatergic neurons. Elevated Cho might indicate increased membrane turnover; whereas reduced mI might reflect dysfunction of the signal transduction pathway. In vivo Glx and GABA revealed their diagnostic potential for schizophrenia. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Do substantial BMI reduction episodes among Swedish schoolchildren have any impact on their final height?

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Nilsen, Bente B; Yngve, Agneta; Werner, Bo

2018-02-06

This study investigated whether substantial body mass index (BMI) reductions in Swedish schoolchildren aged seven years to 19 years, caused by disease, healthy or unhealthy behaviour, had any impact on their final height. We used height and weight data on 6572 subjects from two nationally representative longitudinal samples of Swedish children born in 1973 and 1981. These provided information on their final height and any BMI reduction episodes. Of the 6572 subjects (50.9% boys), among individuals with information on final height, 1118 had a BMI reduction of 5% and BMI reduction of 10% or more. On a group level, there was no statistically significant difference in the final height of individuals with BMI reductions of 10% or more and those without. The findings were independent of age and the subject's BMI at the start of the reduction episode. However, there were a number of cases where a substantial BMI reduction probably had an impact on the subject's final height. Our study found no evidence that a substantial BMI reduction had any impact on final height on a group level, but further analyses of specific case studies are necessary to determine whether substantial BMI reduction might have an impact on final height. ©2018 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Factitious psychogenic nonepileptic paroxysmal episodes

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Alissa Romano

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Mistaking psychogenic nonepileptic paroxysmal episodes (PNEPEs for epileptic seizures (ES is potentially dangerous, and certain features should alert physicians to a possible PNEPE diagnosis. Psychogenic nonepileptic paroxysmal episodes due to factitious seizures carry particularly high risks of morbidity or mortality from nonindicated emergency treatment and, often, high costs in wasted medical treatment expenditures. We report a case of a 28-year-old man with PNEPEs that were misdiagnosed as ES. The patient had been on four antiseizure medications (ASMs with therapeutic serum levels and had had multiple intubations in the past for uncontrolled episodes. He had no episodes for two days of continuous video-EEG monitoring. He then disconnected his EEG cables and had an episode of generalized stiffening and cyanosis, followed by jerking and profuse bleeding from the mouth. The manifestations were unusually similar to those of ES, except that he was clearly startled by spraying water on his face, while he was stiff in all extremities and unresponsive. There were indications that he had sucked blood from his central venous catheter to expel through his mouth during his PNEPEs while consciously holding his breath. Normal video-EEG monitoring; the patient's volitional and deceptive acts to fabricate the appearance of illness, despite pain and personal endangerment; and the absence of reward other than remaining in a sick role were all consistent with a diagnosis of factitious disorder.

Seasonal versus Episodic Performance Evaluation for an Eulerian Photochemical Air Quality Model

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Jin, Ling; Brown, Nancy J.; Harley, Robert A.; Bao, Jian-Wen; Michelson, Sara A; Wilczak, James M

2010-04-16

This study presents detailed evaluation of the seasonal and episodic performance of the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system applied to simulate air quality at a fine grid spacing (4 km horizontal resolution) in central California, where ozone air pollution problems are severe. A rich aerometric database collected during the summer 2000 Central California Ozone Study (CCOS) is used to prepare model inputs and to evaluate meteorological simulations and chemical outputs. We examine both temporal and spatial behaviors of ozone predictions. We highlight synoptically driven high-ozone events (exemplified by the four intensive operating periods (IOPs)) for evaluating both meteorological inputs and chemical outputs (ozone and its precursors) and compare them to the summer average. For most of the summer days, cross-domain normalized gross errors are less than 25% for modeled hourly ozone, and normalized biases are between {+-}15% for both hourly and peak (1 h and 8 h) ozone. The domain-wide aggregated metrics indicate similar performance between the IOPs and the whole summer with respect to predicted ozone and its precursors. Episode-to-episode differences in ozone predictions are more pronounced at a subregional level. The model performs consistently better in the San Joaquin Valley than other air basins, and episodic ozone predictions there are similar to the summer average. Poorer model performance (normalized peak ozone biases <-15% or >15%) is found in the Sacramento Valley and the Bay Area and is most noticeable in episodes that are subject to the largest uncertainties in meteorological fields (wind directions in the Sacramento Valley and timing and strength of onshore flow in the Bay Area) within the boundary layer.

Emotional Intelligence in a Group of Patients with First-Episode Psychosis in Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamid Reza Pooretemad

2012-02-01

Full Text Available This study was aimed to evaluate the Emotional Intelligence (EI of a group of patients with first episode psychosis in Iran as compared with a healthy control group. A case-control design was used. EI was assessed using Persian version of Bar-On Emotional Quotient inventory (EQ-i administered on 25 patients with history of a single psychotic episode in the last two years, as well as 64 healthy participants. The mean (±SD of EI scores of patients and healthy controls group was 319.8 (±40.9 and 328.8 (±33.3, respectively. Two-independent sample t-test revealed no significant difference in the EI scores of two groups (P=0.29. In contrast with chronic schizophrenia, the patients with first-episode psychosis were not different from the healthy subjects in terms of emotional intelligence score. It might be implied that the low emotional intelligence of the patients with chronic psychotic disorders is an accumulative result of the underlying disease over time.

Controlled family study of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa: evidence of shared liability and transmission of partial syndromes.

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Strober, M; Freeman, R; Lampert, C; Diamond, J; Kaye, W

2000-03-01

Lifetime rates of full and partial anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa were determined in first-degree relatives of diagnostically pure proband groups and relatives of matched, never-ill comparison subjects. Rates of each eating disorder were obtained for 1,831 relatives of 504 probands on the basis of personal structured clinical interviews and family history. Best-estimate diagnoses based on all available information were rendered without knowledge of proband status and pedigree identity. Only definite and probable diagnoses were considered. Whereas anorexia nervosa was rare in families of the comparison subjects, full and partial syndromes of anorexia nervosa aggregated in female relatives of both anorexic and bulimic probands. For the full syndrome of anorexia nervosa, the relative risks were 11.3 and 12.3 in female relatives of anorexic and bulimic probands, respectively. Bulimia nervosa was more common than anorexia nervosa in female relatives of comparison subjects, but it, too, aggregated in the families of ill probands; the corresponding relative risks for bulimia nervosa were 4.2 and 4.4 for female relatives of anorexic and bulimic probands, respectively. When partial syndromes of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa were considered, relative risks fell by one-half in each group of ill probands. Both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are familial. Their cross-transmission in families suggests a common, or shared, familial diathesis. The additional observation that familial aggregation and cross-transmission extend to milder phenotypes suggests the validity of their inclusion in a continuum of familial liability.

To forget or not to forget: mnemonic “renunciation” effect and the subjective evaluation of the truth of autobiographical memories

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nourkova V. V.

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Identifying patterns of influence deliberate lie on deferred confidence of reliability of autobiographical memories is current problem for legal psychology. We reviewed the variability of autobiographical memories in the context of legal practice. In addition, we conducted the experimental field study of the dynamics of subjective assessments of the reliability of memories. It was found that truthful confirmation and false refutation of reliable last episodes, as well as after a truthful refutation and false confirmation of unreliable last episodes lead to regular changes in the subjective assessment of the reliability. The mnemonic "renunciation effect" is that a false refutation of a reliable episode leads to its forgetting and a truthful refutation of an unreliable episode leads to its erroneous inclusion in autobiographical memory.

Early detection of first-episode psychosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Tor K; Melle, Ingrid; Auestad, Bjørn

2006-01-01

Early intervention is assumed to improve outcome in first-episode psychosis, but this has not been proven.......Early intervention is assumed to improve outcome in first-episode psychosis, but this has not been proven....

Episodic Memory: A Comparative Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Martin-Ordas, Gema; Call, Josep

2013-01-01

Historically, episodic memory has been described as autonoetic, personally relevant, complex, context-rich, and allowing mental time travel. In contrast, semantic memory, which is theorized to be free of context and personal relevance, is noetic and consists of general knowledge of facts about the world. The field of comparative psychology has adopted this distinction in order to study episodic memory in non-human animals. Our aim in this article is not only to reflect on the concept of episodic memory and the experimental approaches used in comparative psychology to study this phenomenon, but also to provide a critical analysis of these paradigms. We conclude the article by providing new avenues for future research. PMID:23781179

Bulimia symptoms and other risk behaviors during pregnancy in women with bulimia nervosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Crow, Scott J; Keel, Pamela K; Thuras, Paul; Mitchell, James E

2004-09-01

The current study examined the change in bulimic symptoms as well as alcohol, drug, and tobacco use during pregnancy in subjects with bulimia nervosa. A self-report questionnaire was used to collect retrospective data on eating disorder symptoms and substance use during pregnancy from 129 participants in a long-term study of bulimia nervosa. Follow-up data were collected for a total of 322 pregnancies occurring over a 10-15-year period. Overall, subjects reported that body dissatisfaction worsened, but binge eating and purging improved during pregnancy. However, the number of women completely abstinent from bulimic symptoms did not change significantly with pregnancy. Body esteem often worsened with pregnancy, particularly for women with active bulimia symptoms. Self-reported alcohol use significantly declined with pregnancy. In general, bulimia nervosa symptoms decreased during pregnancy, although the number of women completely abstinent did not change significantly.

Superficial Priming in Episodic Recognition

Science.gov (United States)

Dopkins, Stephen; Sargent, Jesse; Ngo, Catherine T.

2010-01-01

We explored the effect of superficial priming in episodic recognition and found it to be different from the effect of semantic priming in episodic recognition. Participants made recognition judgments to pairs of items, with each pair consisting of a prime item and a test item. Correct positive responses to the test item were impeded if the prime…

Analysis of clinical characteristics and antipsychotic medication prescribing practices of first-episode schizophrenia in Israel: a naturalistic prospective study.

Science.gov (United States)

Strous, Rael D; Bar, Faina; Keret, Noa; Lapidus, Raya; Kosov, Nikolai; Chelben, Joseph; Kotler, Moshe

2006-01-01

Investigation of the clinical presentation and treatment of first-episode psychosis is important in order to exclude effects of age, chronic illness, long-term treatment and institutionalization. The aim of this descriptive study was to investigate the management practices of first-episode schizophrenia in a cohort of patients in Israel and to document use of the various "typical" or "atypical" antipsychotic agents. Fifty-one consecutive patients (26 M, 25 F) with first-episode psychosis were recruited for study participation and were administered either typical or atypical antipsychotic medications in a naturalistic manner. While an approximately equal number of subjects received typical and atypical medications at illness onset, a prominent shift to atypical antipsychotic treatment occurred over the study course; 18 subjects had medication class shifts: 17 from typical to atypical, and one from atypical to typical. Negative symptoms did not affect length of hospitalization, but were associated with aggression. Higher depression rates were noted in patients with long hospitalizations who received typical antipsychotic medications. Immigrants were admitted at an age approximately four years older than native-born Israelis. The prominent shift from "typical" to "atypical" antipsychotic medications may indicate sensitivity of first-episode psychotic patients to side-effects of "typical" medications and prominence of use of atypical medications in this patient subpopulation be it due to improved efficacy over time or successful marketing. Unique cultural and population characteristics may contribute to the manifestation of first-episode psychosis and suggest the importance of more effective outreach to the immigrant population in order to manage an apparent treatment delay.

Associations between arrhythmia episodes and temporally and spatially resolved black carbon and particulate matter in elderly patients

Science.gov (United States)

Zanobetti, Antonella; Coull, Brent A.; Gryparis, Alexandros; Kloog, Itai; Sparrow, David; Vokonas, Pantel S; Wright, Robert O.; Gold, Diane R; Schwartz, Joel

2015-01-01

Objectives Ambient air pollution has been associated with sudden deaths, some of which are likely due to ventricular arrhythmias. Defibrillator discharge studies have examined the association of air pollution with arrhythmias in sensitive populations. No studies have assessed this association using residence-specific estimates of air pollution exposure. Methods In the Normative Aging Study, we investigated the association between temporally-and spatially-resolved black carbon (BC) and PM2.5 and arrhythmia episodes (bigeminy, trigeminy or couplets episodes) measured as ventricular ectopy (VE) by 4-min electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring in repeated measures of 701 subjects, during the years 2000 to 2010. We used a binomial distribution (having or not a VE episode) in a mixed effect model with a random intercept for subject, controlling for seasonality, temperature, day of the week, medication use, smoking, having diabetes, BMI and age. We also examined whether these associations were modified by genotype or phenotype. Results We found significant increases in VE with both pollutants and lags; for the estimated concentration averaged over the three days prior to the health assessment we found increases in the odds of having VE with an OR of 1.52 (95% CI: 1.19–1.94) for an IQR (0.30 μg/m3) increase in BC and an OR of 1.39 (95% CI: 1.12–1.71) for an IQR (5.63 μg/m3) increase in PM2.5. We also found higher effects in subjects with the GSTT1 and GSTM1 variants and in obese (P-valuespollutants may increase the risk of ventricular arrhythmia in elderly subjects. PMID:24142987

Epilepsy Characteristics and Clinical Outcome in Patients With Mitochondrial Encephalomyopathy, Lactic Acidosis, and Stroke-Like Episodes (MELAS).

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Ha Neul; Eom, Soyong; Kim, Se Hoon; Kang, Hoon-Chul; Lee, Joon Soo; Kim, Heung Dong; Lee, Young-Mock

2016-11-01

Epileptic seizures in patients with mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) are heterogeneous with no pathognomonic features. We reviewed epilepsy characteristics and clinical outcome exclusively in a pediatric population. Twenty-two children and adolescents (13 males) with confirmed mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes due to mitochondrial DNA A3243G mutation and epilepsy were recruited. Clinical data including seizure semiology, treatment response, neuroimaging findings, and electroencephalography were analyzed. We also examined the effect of the age at seizure onset and initial symptoms on the clinical variables. Seizure semiology and electroencephalography abnormalities showed no syndrome-specific findings. Focal seizures occurred in 21 of 22 subjects (95.5%), whereas generalized seizures developed in seven of 22 subjects (31.8%). Twenty of 22 subjects (90.9%) achieved partial to complete reduction of clinical seizures for more than one year with a combination of more than two antiepileptic drugs. The subgroup with earlier seizure onset presented significantly earlier and showed significantly higher rates of drug-resistant epilepsy compared with the late onset group, although there were no significant differences in the initial symptoms. The subjects with severe epileptic conditions tended to have more severe clinical dysfunction and more severe organ involvement. Both focal and generalized seizures occurred in patients with MELAS. Epilepsy in this population is drug resistant, but a certain degree of clinical seizure reduction was achievable with antiepileptic drugs, with more favorable outcomes than historically expected. Close observation and active epilepsy treatment of individuals with MELAS episodes and earlier seizure onset might improve the prognosis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Methylation of BDNF in women with bulimic eating syndromes: associations with childhood abuse and borderline personality disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Thaler, Lea; Gauvin, Lise; Joober, Ridha; Groleau, Patricia; de Guzman, Rosherrie; Ambalavanan, Amirthagowri; Israel, Mimi; Wilson, Samantha; Steiger, Howard

2014-10-03

DNA methylation allows for the environmental regulation of gene expression and is believed to link environmental stressors to such mental-illness phenotypes as eating disorders. Numerous studies have shown an association between bulimia nervosa (BN) and variations in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF has also been linked to borderline personality disorder (BPD) and to such traits as reward dependence. We examined the extent to which BDNF methylation corresponded to bulimic or normal-eater status, and also to the presence of comorbid borderline personality disorder (BPD) and childhood abuse. Our sample consisted of 64 women with BN and 32 normal-eater (NE) control women. Participants were assessed for eating-disorder symptoms, comorbid psychopathology, and childhood trauma, and then they were required to provide blood samples for methylation analyses. We observed a significant site×group (BN vs. NE) interaction indicating that women with BN showed increases in methylation at specific regions of the BDNF promoter. Furthermore, examining effects of childhood abuse and BPD, we observed significant site×group interactions such that groups composed of individuals with childhood abuse or BPD had particularly high levels of methylation at selected CpG sites. Our findings suggest that BN, especially when co-occurring with childhood abuse or BPD, is associated with a propensity towards elevated methylation at specific BDNF promoter region sites. These findings imply that hypermethylation of the BDNF gene may be related to eating disorder status, developmental stress exposure, and comorbid psychopathology. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Repeated episodes of ozone inhalation attenuates airway injury/repair and release of substance P, but not adaptation.

Science.gov (United States)

Schelegle, Edward S; Walby, William F; Alfaro, Mario F; Wong, Viviana J; Putney, Lei; Stovall, Mary Y; Sterner-Kock, Anja; Hyde, Dallas M; Plopper, Charles G

2003-02-01

To determine the impact of repeated episodes of ozone exposure on physiologic adaptation, epithelial injury/repair, and tracheal substance P levels, adult rats were subjected to episodes of ozone (5 days, 1 ppm, 8 h/day) followed by 9 days of filtered air for four cycles. Rats were sampled on days 1 and 5 of each episode and 9 days after day 5 of episodes 1, 2, and 4. One hour before being euthanized each rat was injected with 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine to label proliferating cells. Each 5-day episode showed a characteristic pattern of rapid shallow breathing (days 1 and 2), epithelial injury, and interstitial and intraluminal inflammation. In contrast, the neutrophil component of inflammation, tracheal substance P release, and cell proliferation became attenuated with each consecutive episode of exposure. Concurrent with this cyclic and attenuated response there was progressive hypercellularity and hyperplasia in all airways studied and a progressive remodeling present in the terminal bronchioles. Our findings are consistent with the notion that the cumulative distal airway lesion is at least in part the result of a depressed cell proliferative response to injury in these airways. This depressed cell proliferative response may be in part the result of diminished neutrophil inflammation and/or release of mitogenic neuropeptides in response to ozone-induced injury.

Neocortical connectivity during episodic memory formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Summerfield, Christopher; Greene, Matthew; Wager, Tor; Egner, Tobias; Hirsch, Joy; Mangels, Jennifer

2006-05-01

During the formation of new episodic memories, a rich array of perceptual information is bound together for long-term storage. However, the brain mechanisms by which sensory representations (such as colors, objects, or individuals) are selected for episodic encoding are currently unknown. We describe a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment in which participants encoded the association between two classes of visual stimuli that elicit selective responses in the extrastriate visual cortex (faces and houses). Using connectivity analyses, we show that correlation in the hemodynamic signal between face- and place-sensitive voxels and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is a reliable predictor of successful face-house binding. These data support the view that during episodic encoding, "top-down" control signals originating in the prefrontal cortex help determine which perceptual information is fated to be bound into the new episodic memory trace.

Neocortical connectivity during episodic memory formation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher Summerfield

2006-05-01

Full Text Available During the formation of new episodic memories, a rich array of perceptual information is bound together for long-term storage. However, the brain mechanisms by which sensory representations (such as colors, objects, or individuals are selected for episodic encoding are currently unknown. We describe a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment in which participants encoded the association between two classes of visual stimuli that elicit selective responses in the extrastriate visual cortex (faces and houses. Using connectivity analyses, we show that correlation in the hemodynamic signal between face- and place-sensitive voxels and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is a reliable predictor of successful face-house binding. These data support the view that during episodic encoding, "top-down" control signals originating in the prefrontal cortex help determine which perceptual information is fated to be bound into the new episodic memory trace.

Values in First-Episode Schizophrenia.

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Agid, Ofer; Mcdonald, Krysta; Fervaha, Gagan; Littrell, Romie; Thoma, Jessica; Zipursky, Robert B; Foussias, George; Remington, Gary

2015-11-01

Functional impairment continues to represent a major challenge in schizophrenia. Surprisingly, patients with schizophrenia report a level of happiness comparable with control subjects, even in the face of the prominent functional deficits, a finding at odds with evidence indicating a positive relation between happiness and level of functioning. In attempting to reconcile these findings, we chose to examine the issue of values, defined as affectively infused criteria or motivational goals used to select and justify actions, people, and the self, as values are related to both happiness and functioning. Fifty-six first-episode patients in remission and 56 healthy control subjects completed happiness and values measures. Statistical analyses included correlations, analysis of variance, structural equation modelling, and smallest space analysis. Results indicated that patients with schizophrenia placed significantly greater priority on the value dimensions of Tradition (P = 0.02) and Power (P = 0.03), and significantly less priority on Self-direction (P = 0.007) and Stimulation, (P = 0.008). Essentially, people with schizophrenia place more emphasis on the customs and ideas that traditional culture or religion provide in conjunction with a decreased interest in change, which is at odds with the expectations of early adulthood. This value difference could be related to functional deficits. To this point, we have assumed that people hold to the same values that guided them before the illness' onset, but this may not be the case. Our study indicates that values differ in people with schizophrenia, compared with control subjects, even early in the illness and in the face of symptomatic remission.

Variation in payments for spine surgery episodes of care: implications for episode-based bundled payment.

Science.gov (United States)

Kahn, Elyne N; Ellimoottil, Chandy; Dupree, James M; Park, Paul; Ryan, Andrew M

2018-05-25

OBJECTIVE Spine surgery is expensive and marked by high variation across regions and providers. Bundled payments have potential to reduce unwarranted spending associated with spine surgery. This study is a cross-sectional analysis of commercial and Medicare claims data from January 2012 through March 2015 in the state of Michigan. The objective was to quantify variation in payments for spine surgery in adult patients, document sources of variation, and determine influence of patient-level, surgeon-level, and hospital-level factors. METHODS Hierarchical regression models were used to analyze contributions of patient-level covariates and influence of individual surgeons and hospitals. The primary outcome was price-standardized 90-day episode payments. Intraclass correlation coefficients-measures of variability accounted for by each level of a hierarchical model-were used to quantify sources of spending variation. RESULTS The authors analyzed 17,436 spine surgery episodes performed by 195 surgeons at 50 hospitals. Mean price-standardized 90-day episode payments in the highest spending quintile exceeded mean payments for episodes in the lowest cost quintile by $42,953 (p accounting for patient-level covariates, the remaining hospital-level and surgeon-level effects accounted for 2.0% (95% CI 1.1%-3.8%) and 4.0% (95% CI 2.9%-5.6%) of total variation, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Significant variation exists in total episode payments for spine surgery, driven mostly by variation in post-discharge and facility payments. Hospital and surgeon effects account for relatively little of the observed variation.

Left Posterior Parietal Cortex Participates in Both Task Preparation and Episodic Retrieval

OpenAIRE

Phillips, Jeffrey S.; Velanova, Katerina; Wolk, David A.; Wheeler, Mark E.

2009-01-01

Optimal memory retrieval depends not only on the fidelity of stored information, but also on the attentional state of the subject. Factors such as mental preparedness to engage in stimulus processing can facilitate or hinder memory retrieval. The current study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to distinguish preparatory brain activity before episodic and semantic retrieval tasks from activity associated with retrieval itself. A catch-trial imaging paradigm permitted separation...

Rats Remember Items in Context Using Episodic Memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Panoz-Brown, Danielle; Corbin, Hannah E; Dalecki, Stefan J; Gentry, Meredith; Brotheridge, Sydney; Sluka, Christina M; Wu, Jie-En; Crystal, Jonathon D

2016-10-24

Vivid episodic memories in people have been characterized as the replay of unique events in sequential order [1-3]. Animal models of episodic memory have successfully documented episodic memory of a single event (e.g., [4-8]). However, a fundamental feature of episodic memory in people is that it involves multiple events, and notably, episodic memory impairments in human diseases are not limited to a single event. Critically, it is not known whether animals remember many unique events using episodic memory. Here, we show that rats remember many unique events and the contexts in which the events occurred using episodic memory. We used an olfactory memory assessment in which new (but not old) odors were rewarded using 32 items. Rats were presented with 16 odors in one context and the same odors in a second context. To attain high accuracy, the rats needed to remember item in context because each odor was rewarded as a new item in each context. The demands on item-in-context memory were varied by assessing memory with 2, 3, 5, or 15 unpredictable transitions between contexts, and item-in-context memory survived a 45 min retention interval challenge. When the memory of item in context was put in conflict with non-episodic familiarity cues, rats relied on item in context using episodic memory. Our findings suggest that rats remember multiple unique events and the contexts in which these events occurred using episodic memory and support the view that rats may be used to model fundamental aspects of human cognition. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prediction of the period of psychotic episode in individual schizophrenics by simulation-data construction approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Chun-Jung; Wang, Hsiao-Fan; Chiu, Hsien-Jane; Lan, Tsuo-Hung; Hu, Tsung-Ming; Loh, El-Wui

2010-10-01

Although schizophrenia can be treated, most patients still experience inevitable psychotic episodes from time to time. Precautious actions can be taken if the next onset can be predicted. However, sufficient information is always lacking in the clinical scenario. A possible solution is to use the virtual data generated from limited of original data. Data construction method (DCM) has been shown to generate the virtual felt earthquake data effectively and used in the prediction of further events. Here we investigated the performance of DCM in deriving the membership functions and discrete-event simulations (DES) in predicting the period embracing the initiation and termination time-points of the next psychotic episode of 35 individual schizophrenic patients. The results showed that 21 subjects had a success of simulations (RSS) ≥70%. Further analysis demonstrated that the co-morbidity of coronary heart diseases (CHD), risks of CHD, and the frequency of previous psychotic episodes increased the RSS.

Severity of depressive episodes according to ICD-10

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kessing, Lars Vedel

2004-01-01

BACKGROUND: The ICD-10 categorisation of severity of depression into mild, moderate and severe depressive episodes has not been validated. AIMS: To validate the ICD-10 categorisation of severity of depression by estimating its predictive ability on the course of illness and suicidal outcome. METHOD......: All psychiatric in-patients in Denmark who had received a diagnosis of a single depressive episode at their first discharge between 1994 and 1999 were identified. The risk of relapse and the risk of suicide were compared for patients discharged with an ICD-10 diagnosis of a single mild, moderate...... or severe depressive episode. RESULTS: At their first discharge, 1103 patients had an ICD-10 diagnosis of mild depressive episode, 3182 had a diagnosis of moderate depressive episode and 2914 had a diagnosis of severe depressive episode. The risk of relapse and the risk of suicide were significantly...

Temporal associations between affective instability and dysregulated eating behavior in bulimia nervosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Berner, Laura A; Crosby, Ross D; Cao, Li; Engel, Scott G; Lavender, Jason M; Mitchell, James E; Wonderlich, Stephen A

2017-09-01

Prior research suggests that the construct of emotional instability may be salient to bulimia nervosa (BN), but no study to date has used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine its temporal association with binge eating and purging. In the current study, 133 women with DSM-IV BN used portable digital devices to provide multiple daily negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA) ratings and record eating disorder behaviors over 2 weeks. Two state-of-the art indices quantified affective instability: probability of acute change (PAC), which represents the likelihood of extreme affective increases, and mean squared successive difference (MSSD), which represents average change over successive recordings. For extreme affective change, results revealed that on bulimic behavior days, extreme NA increases were less likely after bulimic behaviors than before them, and extreme increases in PA were more likely after bulimic behaviors than during the same time period on non-bulimic behavior days. However, average NA instability (i.e., MSSD) was (a) greater on bulimic behavior days than non-bulimic behavior days, (b) greater after bulimic behaviors than during the same time period on non-bulimic behavior days, and (c) greater after bulimic behaviors than before them. Results lend support to the notion that bulimic behaviors are negatively reinforcing (i.e., via post-behavior acute affective changes), but also indicate that these behaviors may exacerbate overall affective dysregulation. These findings may improve understanding of BN maintenance and inform the development of novel interventions or refinement of existing treatments. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Event-related potentials P₃₀₀ with memory function and psychopathology in first-episode paranoid schizophrenia].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Wei-bo; Chen, Qiao-zhen; Yin, Hou-min; Zheng, Lei-lei; Yu, Shao-hua; Chen, Yi-ping; Li, Hui-chun

2011-11-01

To investigate the variability of event-related potentials P(300) and the relationship with memory function/psychopathology in patients with first-episode paranoid schizophrenia. Thirty patients with first-episode paranoid schizophrenia (patient group) and twenty health subjects (control group) were enrolled in the study. The auditory event-related potentials P₃₀₀ at the scalp electrodes Cz, Pz and Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) were examined in both groups, Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was evaluated in patient group. In comparison with control group, patients had longer latency of P₃₀₀ [(390.6 ± 47.6)ms at Cz and (393.3 ± 50.1)ms at Pz] (Pparanoid schizophrenia has memory deficit, which can be evaluated comprehensively by P₃₀₀ and WMS. The longer latency of P₃₀₀ might be associated with the increased severity of first-episode paranoid schizophrenia.

On the Development of Episodic Memory: Two Basic Questions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dahl, Jonna Jelsbak; Sonne, Trine; Kingo, Osman Skjold

2013-01-01

In this focused review we present and discuss two basic questions related to the early development of episodic memory in children: (1) “What is an episode?”, and (2) “How do preverbal children recall a specific episode of a recurring event?” First, a brief introduction to episodic memory...... is outlined. We argue in favor of employing a definition of episodic memory allowing us to investigate the development of episodic memory by purely behavioral measures. Second, research related to each of the two questions are presented and discussed, at first separately, and subsequently together. We argue...... and attempt to demonstrate, that pursuing answers to both questions is of crucial importance – both conceptually and methodologically - if we are ever to understand the early development of episodic memory. ...

Sex differences in cognitive functioning in at-risk mental state for psychosis, first episode psychosis and healthy control subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

Ittig, S; Studerus, E; Papmeyer, M; Uttinger, M; Koranyi, S; Ramyead, A; Riecher-Rössler, A

2015-02-01

Several sex differences in schizophrenia have been reported including differences in cognitive functioning. Studies with schizophrenia patients and healthy controls (HC) indicate that the sex advantage for women in verbal domains is also present in schizophrenia patients. However, findings have been inconsistent. No study focused on sex-related cognitive performance differences in at-risk mental state for psychosis (ARMS) individuals yet. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate sex differences in cognitive functioning in ARMS, first episode psychosis (FEP) and HC subjects. We expected a better verbal learning and memory performance of women in all groups. The neuropsychological data analysed in this study were collected within the prospective Früherkennung von Psychosen (FePsy) study. In total, 118 ARMS, 88 FEP individuals and 86 HC completed a cognitive test battery covering the domains of executive functions, attention, working memory, verbal learning and memory, IQ and speed of processing. Women performed better in verbal learning and memory regardless of diagnostic group. By contrast, men as compared to women showed a shorter reaction time during the working memory task across all groups. The results provide evidence that women generally perform better in verbal learning and memory, independent of diagnostic group (ARMS, FEP, HC). The finding of a shorter reaction time for men in the working memory task could indicate that men have a superior working memory performance since they responded faster during the target trials, while maintaining a comparable overall working memory performance level. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Severity of depressive episodes during the course of depressive disorder

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kessing, L.V.

2008-01-01

Background It is not clear whether the severity of depressive episodes changes during the course of depressive disorder. Aims To investigate whether the severity of depressive episodes increases during the course of illness. Method Using a Danish nationwide case register, all psychiatric inpatients...... and out-patients with a main ICD-10 diagnosis of a single mild, moderate or severe depressive episode at the end of first contact were identified. Patients included in the study were from the period 1994-2003. Results A total of 19 392 patients received a diagnosis of a single depressive episode at first...... contact. The prevalence of severe depressive episodes increased from 25.5% at the first episode to 50.0% at the 15th episode and the prevalence of psychotic episodes increased from 8.7% at the first episode to 25.0% at the 15th episode. The same pattern was found regardless of gender, age at first contact...

Severity of depressive episodes during the course of depressive disorder

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kessing, Lars Vedel

2008-01-01

BACKGROUND: It is not clear whether the severity of depressive episodes changes during the course of depressive disorder. AIMS: To investigate whether the severity of depressive episodes increases during the course of illness. METHOD: Using a Danish nationwide case register, all psychiatric in......-patients and out-patients with a main ICD-10 diagnosis of a single mild, moderate or severe depressive episode at the end of first contact were identified. Patients included in the study were from the period 1994-2003. RESULTS: A total of 19 392 patients received a diagnosis of a single depressive episode at first...... contact. The prevalence of severe depressive episodes increased from 25.5% at the first episode to 50.0% at the 15th episode and the prevalence of psychotic episodes increased from 8.7% at the first episode to 25.0% at the 15th episode. The same pattern was found regardless of gender, age at first contact...

The OCAPI collaborative platform: study of two particle pollution episodes in 2016 in Paris

Science.gov (United States)

Foret, Gilles; Michoud, Vincent; Formenti, Paola; Gratien, Aline; Beekmann, Matthias; Peinado, Florian; Favez, Olivier; Haeffelin, Martial; Dupont, Jean-Charles; Bodichon, Renaud; Gros, Valérie; Ghersi, Véronique; Meleux, Frédérik; Xuéref-Rémy, Irène

2017-04-01

Air pollution and its impacts are subject to an expanded interest since the middle of the 20th century, especially in urban areas which gathered an important part of emission sources. These polluted urban air masses are composed by a complex mixture of gases and aerosols coming from various emission sources (vehicular traffic, industries, residential heating, agricultural activities, natural sources) or chemical processes. To efficiently reduce this pollution and its impacts on population, it is important to understand its drivers, its sources and its impact on human health. To get some insights in Paris air pollution, a collaborative measurement platform called OCAPI ("Observation de la Composition Atmosphérique Parisienne de l'IPSL") has been built and implies several Parisian research laboratories of IPSL institute (CEREA, LSCE, LMD, LISA, LATMOS, LERMA and METIS) as well as public agencies and institutes in charge of Paris air pollution monitoring (AIRPARIF, INERIS). OCAPI platform aims at gathering skills and instruments of these laboratories to measure the composition and dynamics of Paris atmosphere. In this framework, multi-site measurements were performed during two intense particle pollution episodes which occurred in March 2016 and between November and December 2016. These two episodes were characterized by different meteorological conditions and different type of emission sources. Indeed, March episode was related to intense agricultural activities and high ammonium nitrate contribution to aerosol composition; while end of year episode was related to low wind speed, cold conditions and thin boundary layer which favoured the stagnation of locally emitted pollutants. This latter episode was characterized by large contribution of organics in aerosol composition. In this presentation, a study of these two episodes will be presented. We will first present the context and the OCAPI platform. Then, first results of dynamics and aerosol composition

Elements of episodic-like memory in animal models.

Science.gov (United States)

Crystal, Jonathon D

2009-03-01

Representations of unique events from one's past constitute the content of episodic memories. A number of studies with non-human animals have revealed that animals remember specific episodes from their past (referred to as episodic-like memory). The development of animal models of memory holds enormous potential for gaining insight into the biological bases of human memory. Specifically, given the extensive knowledge of the rodent brain, the development of rodent models of episodic memory would open new opportunities to explore the neuroanatomical, neurochemical, neurophysiological, and molecular mechanisms of memory. Development of such animal models holds enormous potential for studying functional changes in episodic memory in animal models of Alzheimer's disease, amnesia, and other human memory pathologies. This article reviews several approaches that have been used to assess episodic-like memory in animals. The approaches reviewed include the discrimination of what, where, and when in a radial arm maze, dissociation of recollection and familiarity, object recognition, binding, unexpected questions, and anticipation of a reproductive state. The diversity of approaches may promote the development of converging lines of evidence on the difficult problem of assessing episodic-like memory in animals.

Database of episode-integrated solar energetic proton fluences

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Zachary D.; Adams, James H.; Xapsos, Michael A.; Stauffer, Craig A.

2018-04-01

A new database of proton episode-integrated fluences is described. This database contains data from two different instruments on multiple satellites. The data are from instruments on the Interplanetary Monitoring Platform-8 (IMP8) and the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) series. A method to normalize one set of data to one another is presented to create a seamless database spanning 1973 to 2016. A discussion of some of the characteristics that episodes exhibit is presented, including episode duration and number of peaks. As an example of what can be understood about episodes, the July 4, 2012 episode is examined in detail. The coronal mass ejections and solar flares that caused many of the fluctuations of the proton flux seen at Earth are associated with peaks in the proton flux during this episode. The reasoning for each choice is laid out to provide a reference for how CME and solar flares associations are made.

Database of episode-integrated solar energetic proton fluences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robinson Zachary D.

2018-01-01

Full Text Available A new database of proton episode-integrated fluences is described. This database contains data from two different instruments on multiple satellites. The data are from instruments on the Interplanetary Monitoring Platform-8 (IMP8 and the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES series. A method to normalize one set of data to one another is presented to create a seamless database spanning 1973 to 2016. A discussion of some of the characteristics that episodes exhibit is presented, including episode duration and number of peaks. As an example of what can be understood about episodes, the July 4, 2012 episode is examined in detail. The coronal mass ejections and solar flares that caused many of the fluctuations of the proton flux seen at Earth are associated with peaks in the proton flux during this episode. The reasoning for each choice is laid out to provide a reference for how CME and solar flares associations are made.

First Episode Psychosis

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... About Psychosis Treatment Share Fact Sheet: First Episode Psychosis Download PDF Download ePub Order a free hardcopy En Español Facts About Psychosis The word psychosis is used to describe conditions ...

The Strauss and Carpenter Prognostic Scale in subjects clinically at high risk of psychosis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nieman, D. H.; Velthorst, E.; Becker, H. E.; de Haan, L.; Dingemans, P. M.; Linszen, D. H.; Birchwood, M.; Patterson, P.; Salokangas, R. K. R.; Heinimaa, M.; Heinz, A.; Juckel, G.; von Reventlow, H. G.; Morrison, A.; Schultze-Lutter, F.; Klosterkötter, J.; Ruhrmann, S.; McGorry, Patrick D.; McGlashan, Thomas H.; Knapp, Martin; van de Fliert, Reinaud; Klaassen, Rianne; Picker, Heinz; Neumann, Meike; Brockhaus-Dumke, Anke; Pukrop, Ralf; Svirskis, Tanja; Huttunen, Jukka; Laine, Tiina; Ilonen, Tuula; Ristkari, Terja; Hietala, Jarmo; Skeate, Amanda; Gudlowski, Yehonala; Ozgürdal, Seza; French, Paul; Stevens, Helen

2013-01-01

To investigate the predictive value of the Strauss and Carpenter Prognostic Scale (SCPS) for transition to a first psychotic episode in subjects clinically at high risk (CHR) of psychosis. Two hundred and forty-four CHR subjects participating in the European Prediction of Psychosis Study were

Functional-anatomic study of episodic retrieval using fMRI. I. Retrieval effort versus retrieval success.

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Buckner, R L; Koutstaal, W; Schacter, D L; Wagner, A D; Rosen, B R

1998-04-01

A number of recent functional imaging studies have identified brain areas activated during tasks involving episodic memory retrieval. The identification of such areas provides a foundation for targeted hypotheses regarding the more specific contributions that these areas make to episodic retrieval. As a beginning effort toward such an endeavor, whole-brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine 14 subjects during episodic word recognition in a block-designed fMRI experiment. Study conditions were manipulated by presenting either shallow or deep encoding tasks. This manipulation yielded two recognition conditions that differed with regard to retrieval effort and retrieval success: shallow encoding yielded low levels of recognition success with high levels of retrieval effort, and deep encoding yielded high levels of recognition success with low levels of effort. Many brain areas were activated in common by these two recognition conditions compared to a low-level fixation condition, including left and right prefrontal regions often detected during PET episodic retrieval paradigms (e.g., R. L. Buckner et al., 1996, J. Neurosci. 16, 6219-6235) thereby generalizing these findings to fMRI. Characterization of the activated regions in relation to the separate recognition conditions showed (1) bilateral anterior insular regions and a left dorsal prefrontal region were more active after shallow encoding, when retrieval demanded greatest effort, and (2) right anterior prefrontal cortex, which has been implicated in episodic retrieval, was most active during successful retrieval after deep encoding. We discuss these findings in relation to component processes involved in episodic retrieval and in the context of a companion study using event-related fMRI.

Examination of anomalous self-experience in first-episode psychosis: interrater reliability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Paul; Haug, Elisabeth; Raballo, Andrea

2011-01-01

-rater correlation above 0.80 (Spearman's rho, p values at an item level were very good in 9 items, good in 20 items, moderate in 11 items and fair in 4 items. Conclusion: The EASE provides a reliable and internally......) is a phenomenologically inspired checklist, specifically designed to support the comprehensive assessment of these characteristic subjective experiences. Aim: To assess the interrater reliability of the EASE. Sampling and Methods: Twenty-five first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients were interviewed with the EASE...

Does anger mediate between personality and eating symptoms in bulimia nervosa?

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Amianto, Federico; Siccardi, Sara; Abbate-Daga, Giovanni; Marech, Lucrezia; Barosio, Marta; Fassino, Secondo

2012-12-30

The goals of the study were to explore anger correlation with bulimic symptoms and to test the mediation power of anger between personality and eating psychopathology. A total of 242 bulimia nervosa (BN) outpatients and 121 healthy controls were recruited. Assessment was performed using Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI); State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory 2 (STAXI-2); Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2); Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ); Binge Eating Scale (BES); and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Mediation was tested on the whole BN group, on controls and on two BN subgroups based on a previous history of anorexia nervosa. Self-Directedness and Cooperativeness extensively relate to anger and psychopathology in bulimic group. Bulimic symptoms are related to Trait Reactive Anger. Trait Anger and Anger Expression fully mediate Cooperativeness effects on binge eating and Impulsiveness in the BN subjects. Anger Expression-In partially mediates between Harm Avoidance and Social Insecurity/Interpersonal Distrust in BN subjects. The comparison with controls and the analysis of subgroups underlines that these patterns are specific for BN. Anger mediation between Cooperativeness, and binge eating and impulsive behaviours confirm the relevance of relational dynamics in the expression of these core eating symptoms. Relational skills may represent a relevant target for the treatment of BN. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Functional connectivity pattern during rest within the episodic memory network in association with episodic memory performance in bipolar disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Oertel-Knöchel, Viola; Reinke, Britta; Matura, Silke; Prvulovic, David; Linden, David E J; van de Ven, Vincent

2015-02-28

In this study, we sought to examine the intrinsic functional organization of the episodic memory network during rest in bipolar disorder (BD). The previous work suggests that deficits in intrinsic functional connectivity may account for impaired memory performance. We hypothesized that regions involved in episodic memory processing would reveal aberrant functional connectivity in patients with bipolar disorder. We examined 21 patients with BD and 21 healthy matched controls who underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a resting condition. We did a seed-based functional connectivity analysis (SBA), using the regions of the episodic memory network that showed a significantly different activation pattern during task-related fMRI as seeds. The functional connectivity scores (FC) were further correlated with episodic memory task performance. Our results revealed decreased FC scores within frontal areas and between frontal and temporal/hippocampal/limbic regions in BD patients in comparison with controls. We observed higher FC in BD patients compared with controls between frontal and limbic regions. The decrease in fronto-frontal functional connectivity in BD patients showed a significant positive association with episodic memory performance. The association between task-independent dysfunctional frontal-limbic FC and episodic memory performance may be relevant for current pathophysiological models of the disease. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Episodic runoff generation at Central European headwater catchments studied using water isotope concentration signals

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Votrubová, J.; Dohnal, M.; Vogel, T.; Šanda, M.; Tesař, Miroslav

2017-01-01

Roč. 65, č. 2 (2017), s. 114-122 ISSN 0042-790X Grant - others:Grantová agentura České republiky (GA ČR)(CZ) GC14-15201J Institutional support: RVO:67985874 Keywords : O isotope * headwater catchment runoff * subsurface runoff * tracer * rainfall-runoff episodes Subject RIV: DA - Hydrology ; Limnology OBOR OECD: Hydrology Impact factor: 1.654, year: 2016

Cumulative social disadvantage, ethnicity and first-episode psychosis: a case-control study.

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, C; Kirkbride, J; Hutchinson, G; Craig, T; Morgan, K; Dazzan, P; Boydell, J; Doody, G A; Jones, P B; Murray, R M; Leff, J; Fearon, P

2008-12-01

Numerous studies have reported high rates of psychosis in the Black Caribbean population in the UK. Recent speculation about the reasons for these high rates has focused on social factors. However, there have been few empirical studies. We sought to compare the prevalence of specific indicators of social disadvantage and isolation, and variations by ethnicity, in subjects with a first episode of psychosis and a series of healthy controls. All cases with a first episode of psychosis who made contact with psychiatric services in defined catchment areas in London and Nottingham, UK and a series of community controls were recruited over a 3-year period. Data relating to clinical and social variables were collected from cases and controls. On all indicators, cases were more socially disadvantaged and isolated than controls, after controlling for potential confounders. These associations held when the sample was restricted to those with an affective diagnosis and to those with a short prodrome and short duration of untreated psychosis. There was a clear linear relationship between concentrated disadvantage and odds of psychosis. Similar patterns were evident in the two main ethnic groups, White British and Black Caribbean. However, indicators of social disadvantage and isolation were more common in Black Caribbean subjects than White British subjects. We found strong associations between indicators of disadvantage and psychosis. If these variables index exposure to factors that increase risk of psychosis, their greater prevalence in the Black Caribbean population may contribute to the reported high rates of psychosis in this population.

Recall from Semantic and Episodic Memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Gillund, Gary; Perlmutter, Marion

Although research in episodic recall memory, comparing younger and older adults, favors the younger adults, findings in semantic memory research are less consistent. To examine age differences in semantic and episodic memory recall, 72 young adults (mean age, 20.8) and 72 older adults (mean age 71) completed three memory tests under varied…

White matter integrity as a predictor of response to treatment in first episode psychosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Reis Marques, Tiago; Taylor, Heather; Chaddock, Chris; Dell'acqua, Flavio; Handley, Rowena; Reinders, A A T Simone; Mondelli, Valeria; Bonaccorso, Stefania; Diforti, Marta; Simmons, Andrew; David, Anthony S; Murray, Robin M; Pariante, Carmine M; Kapur, Shitij; Dazzan, Paola

2014-01-01

The integrity of brain white matter connections is central to a patient's ability to respond to pharmacological interventions. This study tested this hypothesis using a specific measure of white matter integrity, and examining its relationship to treatment response using a prospective design in patients within their first episode of psychosis. Diffusion tensor imaging data were acquired in 63 patients with first episode psychosis and 52 healthy control subjects (baseline). Response was assessed after 12 weeks and patients were classified as responders or non-responders according to treatment outcome. At this second time-point, they also underwent a second diffusion tensor imaging scan. Tract-based spatial statistics were used to assess fractional anisotropy as a marker of white matter integrity. At baseline, non-responders showed lower fractional anisotropy than both responders and healthy control subjects (P psychosis. These data, together with earlier findings on cortical grey matter, suggest that grey and white matter integrity at the start of treatment is an important moderator of response to antipsychotics. These findings can inform patient stratification to anticipate care needs, and raise the possibility that antipsychotics may restore white matter integrity as part of the therapeutic response.

EATING DISORDERS: DENTAL IMPLICATIONS – CASE REPORT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matjaž Rode

2003-10-01

Full Text Available Background. Obesity, anorexia and bulimia are typical civilisation diseases or diseases of unhealthy living. They affect mainly white women in their childhood and adolescence. Occurrence of these diseases is getting higher also in Slovenia. Changes inside the oral cavity of a bulimic patient may be detected during a routine clinical examination. This places dental professionals in a position to be among the first to detect bulimia which is usually characterized by episodes of purging behaviors such as self-induced vomiting. Such vomiting brings stomach acids in contact with the mouth and teeth, causing erosion of tooth enamel which often leads to severely decayed teeth.Methods. This study presents a case of successful treatment of oral symptoms and dental rehabilitation in female patient with bulimia.Conclusions. Dental rehabilitation for bulimic patients is more than just a substituting of their bad and lost teeth. It is actually the first step toward their regained self-respect. Therefore it is important for the dentist to be familiar with the clinical symptoms of these diseases that can be revealed in oral cavity to efficiently contribute to a patient rehabilitation.

Family Intervention in First-Episode Psychosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anvar Sadath

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Family interventions have produced benefits on clinical and family outcomes in long standing psychosis. However, little is known about the efficacy of such interventions in the early stages of psychosis. This article reviews published research over the last two decades on family intervention in first-episode psychosis. Electronic databases, such as PubMed, PsycINFO, and ScienceDirect, have been systematically searched. In addition, an exhaustive Internet search was also carried out using Google and Google Scholar to identify the potential studies that evaluated family interventions in first-episode psychosis. We have identified seven reports of five randomized controlled trials (RCTs and five non-randomized and uncontrolled studies of family intervention. Our review on 12 reports of family intervention studies has shown mixed effects on outcomes in first-episode psychosis. Most of the reports showed no added benefits or very short-term benefits on primary clinical or family outcome variables. There is a dearth of family intervention studies in first-episode psychosis. More RCTs are needed to reach reliable conclusions.

Disjunction and conjunction fallacies in episodic memory.

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Nakamura, K; Brainerd, C J

2017-09-01

It has recently been found that episodic memory displays analogues of the well-known disjunction and conjunction fallacies of probability judgement. The aim of the present research was, for the first time, to study these memory fallacies together under the same conditions, and test theoretical predictions about the reasons for each. The focus was on predictions about the influence of semantic gist, target versus context recollection, and proactive versus retroactive interference. Disjunction and conjunction fallacies increased in conditions in which subjects were able to form semantic connections among list words. In addition, disjunction fallacies were increased by manipulations that minimised proactive interference, whereas conjunction fallacies were increased by manipulations that minimised retroactive interference. That pattern suggests that disjunction fallacies are more dependent on target recollection, whereas conjunction fallacies are more dependent on context recollection.

Episodic memory and episodic future thinking impairments in high-functioning autism spectrum disorder: an underlying difficulty with scene construction or self-projection?

Science.gov (United States)

Lind, Sophie E; Williams, David M; Bowler, Dermot M; Peel, Anna

2014-01-01

There appears to be a common network of brain regions that underlie the ability to recall past personal experiences (episodic memory) and the ability to imagine possible future personal experiences (episodic future thinking). At the cognitive level, these abilities are thought to rely on "scene construction" (the ability to bind together multimodal elements of a scene in mind--dependent on hippocampal functioning) and temporal "self-projection" (the ability to mentally project oneself through time--dependent on prefrontal cortex functioning). Although autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by diminished episodic memory, it is unclear whether episodic future thinking is correspondingly impaired. Moreover, the underlying basis of such impairments (difficulties with scene construction, self-projection, or both) is yet to be established. The current study therefore aimed to elucidate these issues. Twenty-seven intellectually high-functioning adults with ASD and 29 age- and IQ-matched neurotypical comparison adults were asked to describe (a) imagined atemporal, non-self-relevant fictitious scenes (assessing scene construction), (b) imagined plausible self-relevant future episodes (assessing episodic future thinking), and (c) recalled personally experienced past episodes (assessing episodic memory). Tests of narrative ability and theory of mind were also completed. Performances of participants with ASD were significantly and equally diminished in each condition and, crucially, this diminution was independent of general narrative ability. Given that participants with ASD were impaired in the fictitious scene condition, which does not involve self-projection, we suggest the underlying difficulty with episodic memory/future thinking is one of scene construction.

Binging & Purging: Youth Who Suffer Bulimia.

Science.gov (United States)

Strodel, Donna

1990-01-01

Describes bulimia, its symptoms, characteristics and bulimic's family profile. Disorder may be more difficult to hide at camp. Camp staff could be first to recognize symptoms. Describes behavior indicators of bulimics. Suggests appropriate responses and counseling techniques for helping bulimic campers. (TES)

The Burden of Repeated Mood Episodes in Bipolar I Disorder: Results From the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Amy T; West, Amy E; Eisner, Lori; Baek, Jihyun; Deckersbach, Thilo

2016-02-01

The aim of this study was to examine the association between previous mood episodes and clinical course/functioning in a community sample (National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions [NESARC]). Subjects (n = 909) met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, criteria for bipolar I disorder and provided data on number of previous episode recurrences. Number of previous mood episodes was used to predict outcomes at wave 1 and wave 2 of the NESARC. Previous mood episodes accounted for small but unique variance in outcomes. Recurrence was associated with poorer functioning, psychiatric and medical comorbidity, and increased odds of suicidality, disability, unemployment, and hospitalization at wave 1. Recurrences were associated with greater risk for new onset suicidality, psychiatric comorbidity, disability, unemployment, and poor functioning by wave 2. The course of bipolar disorder does worsen with progressive mood episodes but is attenuated in community, relative to clinical samples. Interventions to prevent future relapse may be particularly important to implement early in the course of illness.

Episode-Centered Guidelines for Teacher Belief Change toward Technology Integration

Science.gov (United States)

Er, Erkan; Kim, ChanMin

2017-01-01

Teachers' episodic memories influence their beliefs. The investigation of episodic memories can help identify the teacher beliefs that limit technology-integration. We propose the Episode-Centered Belief Change (ECBC) model that utilizes teachers' episodic memories for changing beliefs impeding effective technology integration. We also propose…

Aging-related episodic memory decline: are emotions the key?

Science.gov (United States)

Kinugawa, Kiyoka; Schumm, Sophie; Pollina, Monica; Depre, Marion; Jungbluth, Carolin; Doulazmi, Mohamed; Sebban, Claude; Zlomuzica, Armin; Pietrowsky, Reinhard; Pause, Bettina; Mariani, Jean; Dere, Ekrem

2013-01-01

Episodic memory refers to the recollection of personal experiences that contain information on what has happened and also where and when these events took place. Episodic memory function is extremely sensitive to cerebral aging and neurodegerative diseases. We examined episodic memory performance with a novel test in young (N = 17, age: 21–45), middle-aged (N = 16, age: 48–62) and aged but otherwise healthy participants (N = 8, age: 71–83) along with measurements of trait and state anxiety. As expected we found significantly impaired episodic memory performance in the aged group as compared to the young group. The aged group also showed impaired working memory performance as well as significantly decreased levels of trait anxiety. No significant correlation between the total episodic memory and trait or state anxiety scores was found. The present results show an age-dependent episodic memory decline along with lower trait anxiety in the aged group. Yet, it still remains to be determined whether this difference in anxiety is related to the impaired episodic memory performance in the aged group. PMID:23378831

Deficits in episodic memory are related to uncontrolled eating in a sample of healthy adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, A A; Davidson, T L; McCrory, M A

2018-05-01

Despite a substantial amount of animal data linking deficits in memory inhibition to the development of overeating and obesity, few studies have investigated the relevance of memory inhibition to uncontrolled eating in humans. Further, although memory for recent eating has been implicated as an important contributor to satiety and energy intake, the possibility that variations in episodic memory relate to individual differences in food intake control has been largely neglected. To examine these relationships, we recruited ninety-three adult subjects to attend a single lab session where we assessed body composition, dietary intake, memory performance, and eating behaviors (Three Factor Eating Questionnaire). Episodic recall and memory inhibition were assessed using a well-established measure of memory interference (Retrieval Practice Paradigm). Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that memory inhibition was largely unrelated to participants' eating behaviors; however, episodic recall was reliably predicted by restrained vs. uncontrolled eating: recall was positively associated with strategic dieting (β = 2.45, p = 0.02), avoidance of fatty foods (β = 3.41, p = 0.004), and cognitive restraint (β = 1.55, p = 0.04). In contrast, recall was negatively associated with uncontrolled eating (β = -1.15, p = 0.03) and emotional eating (β = -2.46, p = 0.04). These findings suggest that episodic memory processing is related to uncontrolled eating in humans. The possibility that deficits in episodic memory may contribute to uncontrolled eating by disrupting memory for recent eating is discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Recovery from episodes during the course of affective disorder

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kessing, L V; Mortensen, P B

1999-01-01

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate whether the duration of treated episodes changes during the course of unipolar and bipolar affective disorder. METHOD: The rate of recovery from successive hospitalized episodes was estimated with survival analyses in a case-register study...... including all hospital admissions with primary affective disorder in Denmark during the period 1971-1993. RESULTS: A total of 9174 patients with recurrent episodes were followed from their first admission. The rate of recovery from hospitalized episodes did not change with the number of episodes in unipolar...... or bipolar disorder. Furthermore, the rate of recovery was constant across episodes, regardless of the combination of age, gender and type of disorder. Initially in the course of the illness, the rate was a little faster for bipolar than for unipolar patients, but later in the course of the illness the rate...

Concealed semantic and episodic autobiographical memory electrified.

Science.gov (United States)

Ganis, Giorgio; Schendan, Haline E

2012-01-01

Electrophysiology-based concealed information tests (CIT) try to determine whether somebody possesses concealed information about a crime-related item (probe) by comparing event-related potentials (ERPs) between this item and comparison items (irrelevants). Although the broader field is sometimes referred to as "memory detection," little attention has been paid to the precise type of underlying memory involved. This study begins addressing this issue by examining the key distinction between semantic and episodic memory in the autobiographical domain within a CIT paradigm. This study also addresses the issue of whether multiple repetitions of the items over the course of the session habituate the brain responses. Participants were tested in a 3-stimulus CIT with semantic autobiographical probes (their own date of birth) and episodic autobiographical probes (a secret date learned just before the study). Results dissociated these two memory conditions on several ERP components. Semantic probes elicited a smaller frontal N2 than episodic probes, consistent with the idea that the frontal N2 decreases with greater pre-existing knowledge about the item. Likewise, semantic probes elicited a smaller central N400 than episodic probes. Semantic probes also elicited a larger P3b than episodic probes because of their richer meaning. In contrast, episodic probes elicited a larger late positive complex (LPC) than semantic probes, because of the recent episodic memory associated with them. All these ERPs showed a difference between probes and irrelevants in both memory conditions, except for the N400, which showed a difference only in the semantic condition. Finally, although repetition affected the ERPs, it did not reduce the difference between probes and irrelevants. These findings show that the type of memory associated with a probe has both theoretical and practical importance for CIT research.

Concealed semantic and episodic autobiographical memory electrified

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giorgio eGanis

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Electrophysiology-based concealed information tests (CIT try to determine whether somebody possesses concealed information about a probe item by comparing event-related potentials (ERPs between this item and comparison items (irrelevants. Although the broader field is sometimes referred to as memory detection, little attention has been paid to the precise type of underlying memory involved. This study begins addressing this issue by examining the key distinction between semantic and episodic memory in the autobiographical domain within a CIT paradigm. This study also addressed the issue of whether multiple repetitions of the items over the course of the session habituate the brain responses. Participants were tested in a 3-stimulus CIT with semantic autobiographical probes (their own date of birth and episodic autobiographical probes (a secret date learned just before the study. Results dissociated these two memory conditions on several ERP components. Semantic probes elicited a smaller frontal N2 than episodic probes, consistent with the idea that the frontal N2 decreases with greater pre-existing semantic knowledge about the item. Likewise, semantic probes elicited a smaller central N400 than episodic probes. Semantic probes also elicited a larger P3b than episodic probes because of their richer meaning. In contrast, episodic probes elicited a larger late positive component (LPC than semantic probes, because of the recent episodic memory associated with them. All these ERPs showed a difference between probes and irrelevants in both memory conditions, except for the N400, which showed a difference only in the semantic condition. Finally, although repetition affected the ERPs, it did not reduce the difference between probes and irrelevants. Thus, the type of memory associated with a probe has both theoretical and practical importance for CIT research.

Episodic memory for natural and transformed food.

Science.gov (United States)

Aiello, Marilena; Vignando, Miriam; Foroni, Francesco; Pergola, Giulio; Rossi, Paola; Silveri, Maria Caterina; Rumiati, Raffaella I

2018-05-10

It has been proposed that the conceptual knowledge of food and its putative subdivision into natural (i.e., fruit/vegetables) and transformed (i.e., food that underwent thermic or non-thermic processing) may follow the living/non-living distinction. In the present study, we investigated whether the advantage for living things compared to non-living things observed in episodic memory (the so-called animacy effect) extends to natural foods and transformed foods respectively. We pursued this issue in two experiments. In Experiment 1, we measured episodic memory for natural and transformed foods in young participants. In Experiment 2, we enrolled dementia-free centenarians, patients with Alzheimer's disease (DAT), Progressive primary aphasia (PPA), and healthy controls whose episodic memory was also tested for living/non-living things. Results showed that young participants had better recognition memory for transformed foods compared to natural foods. This difference disappeared in centenarians and patients. However, centenarians and PPA exhibited enhanced levels of false alarms (FA) with natural food, and DAT patients with both natural and transformed food. As far as the living/non-living distinction is concerned, the episodic memory for the living category appears more resilient to the decline compared to the non-living category in patients, particularly those with PPA. In conclusion, our study shows that transformed food is better remembered than natural food, suggesting that it is more salient and possibly relevant from an evolutionary perspective. The natural/transformed distinction appears susceptible to erosion only in the presence of a high degree of episodic memory impairment. These results offer novel insight on episodic memory of food, and also extend the current knowledge on the animacy effect in episodic memory. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Concealed semantic and episodic autobiographical memory electrified

Science.gov (United States)

Ganis, Giorgio; Schendan, Haline E.

2013-01-01

Electrophysiology-based concealed information tests (CIT) try to determine whether somebody possesses concealed information about a crime-related item (probe) by comparing event-related potentials (ERPs) between this item and comparison items (irrelevants). Although the broader field is sometimes referred to as “memory detection,” little attention has been paid to the precise type of underlying memory involved. This study begins addressing this issue by examining the key distinction between semantic and episodic memory in the autobiographical domain within a CIT paradigm. This study also addresses the issue of whether multiple repetitions of the items over the course of the session habituate the brain responses. Participants were tested in a 3-stimulus CIT with semantic autobiographical probes (their own date of birth) and episodic autobiographical probes (a secret date learned just before the study). Results dissociated these two memory conditions on several ERP components. Semantic probes elicited a smaller frontal N2 than episodic probes, consistent with the idea that the frontal N2 decreases with greater pre-existing knowledge about the item. Likewise, semantic probes elicited a smaller central N400 than episodic probes. Semantic probes also elicited a larger P3b than episodic probes because of their richer meaning. In contrast, episodic probes elicited a larger late positive complex (LPC) than semantic probes, because of the recent episodic memory associated with them. All these ERPs showed a difference between probes and irrelevants in both memory conditions, except for the N400, which showed a difference only in the semantic condition. Finally, although repetition affected the ERPs, it did not reduce the difference between probes and irrelevants. These findings show that the type of memory associated with a probe has both theoretical and practical importance for CIT research. PMID:23355816

Episodic memory for spatial context biases spatial attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Ciaramelli, Elisa; Lin, Olivia; Moscovitch, Morris

2009-01-01

The study explores the bottom-up attentional consequences of episodic memory retrieval. Individuals studied words (Experiment 1) or pictures (Experiment 2) presented on the left or on the right of the screen. They then viewed studied and new stimuli in the centre of the screen. One-second after the appearance of each stimulus, participants had to respond to a dot presented on the left or on the right of the screen. The dot could follow a stimulus that had been presented, during the study phase, on the same side as the dot (congruent condition), a stimulus that had been presented on the opposite side (incongruent condition), or a new stimulus (neutral condition). Subjects were faster to respond to the dot in the congruent compared to the incongruent condition, with an overall right visual field advantage in Experiment 1. The memory-driven facilitation effect correlated with subjects' re-experiencing of the encoding context (R responses; Experiment 1), but not with their explicit memory for the side of items' presentation (source memory; Experiment 2). The results indicate that memory contents are attended automatically and can bias the deployment of attention. The degree to which memory and attention interact appears related to subjective but not objective indicators of memory strength.

Large Genomic Deletions in CACNA1A Cause Episodic Ataxia Type 2

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jijun eWan

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Episodic ataxia (EA syndromes are heritable diseases characterized by dramatic episodes of imbalance and incoordination. Episodic ataxia type 2 (EA2, the most common and the best characterized subtype, is caused by mostly nonsense, splice site, small indel and sometimes missense mutations in CACNA1A. Direct sequencing of CACNA1A fails to identify mutations in some patients with EA2-like features, possibly due to incomplete interrogation of CACNA1A or defects in other EA genes not yet defined. Previous reports described genomic deletions between 4-40kb in EA2. In 47 subjects with EA (26 with EA2-like features who tested negative for mutations in the known EA genes, we used Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA to analyze CACNA1A for exonic copy number variations. Breakpoints were further defined by long-range PCR. We identified distinct multi-exonic deletions in three probands with classic EA2-like features: episodes of prolonged vertigo and ataxia triggered by stress and fatigue, interictal nystagmus, with onset during infancy or early childhood. The breakpoints in all three probands are located in Alu sequences, indicating errors in homologous recombination of Alu sequences as the underlying mechanism. The smallest deletion spanned exons 39 and 40, while the largest deletion spanned 200kb, missing all but the first three exons. One deletion involving exons 39 through 47 arose spontaneously. The search for mutations in CACNA1A appears most fruitful in EA patients with interictal nystagmus and onset early in life. The finding of large heterozygous deletions suggests haploinsufficiency as a possible pathomechanism of EA2.

Does the Inclusion of Virtual Reality Games within Conventional Rehabilitation Enhance Balance Retraining after a Recent Episode of Stroke?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. S. Rajaratnam

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This randomised controlled and double-blinded pilot study evaluated if interactive virtual reality balance related games integrated within conventional rehabilitation sessions resulted in more superior retraining of dynamic balance compared to CR after stroke. 19 subjects diagnosed with a recent episode of stroke were recruited from a local rehabilitation hospital and randomly assigned to either a control or an experimental group. Subjects in the control groups underwent 60 minutes of conventional rehabilitation while those in the experimental groups underwent 40 minutes of convention rehabilitation and 20 minutes of self-directed virtual reality balanced rehabilitation. Functional Reach Test, Timed Up and Go, Modified Barthel Index, Berg Balance Scale, and Centre of Pressure of subjects in both groups were evaluated before and on completion of the rehabilitation sessions. Results indicate that the inclusion of interactive virtual reality balance related games within conventional rehabilitation can lead to improved functional mobility and balance after a recent episode of stroke without increasing treatment time that requires more health professional manpower.

Intermittent inhaled corticosteroids in infants with episodic wheezing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bisgaard, Hans; Hermansen, Mette Northman; Loland, Lotte

2006-01-01

BACKGROUND: We hypothesized that asthma is preceded by a stage of recurrent episodes of wheezing during the first years of life and that inhaled corticosteroid therapy during symptomatic episodes in this early phase may delay progression to persistent wheezing. METHODS: We assigned one-month-old ......BACKGROUND: We hypothesized that asthma is preceded by a stage of recurrent episodes of wheezing during the first years of life and that inhaled corticosteroid therapy during symptomatic episodes in this early phase may delay progression to persistent wheezing. METHODS: We assigned one......-month-old infants to treatment with two-week courses of inhaled budesonide (400 mug per day) or placebo, initiated after a three-day episode of wheezing, in this single-center, randomized, double-blind, prospective study of three years' duration. The primary outcome was the number of symptom-free days; key...... secondary outcomes were the time to discontinuation due to persistent wheezing and safety, as evaluated by height and bone mineral density at the end of the study. RESULTS: We enrolled 411 infants and randomly assigned 294 to receive budesonide at a first episode of wheezing. The proportion of symptom...

Episodic-like memory in zebrafish.

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Hamilton, Trevor J; Myggland, Allison; Duperreault, Erika; May, Zacnicte; Gallup, Joshua; Powell, Russell A; Schalomon, Melike; Digweed, Shannon M

2016-11-01

Episodic-like memory tests often aid in determining an animal's ability to recall the what, where, and which (context) of an event. To date, this type of memory has been demonstrated in humans, wild chacma baboons, corvids (Scrub jays), humming birds, mice, rats, Yucatan minipigs, and cuttlefish. The potential for this type of memory in zebrafish remains unexplored even though they are quickly becoming an essential model organism for the study of a variety of human cognitive and mental disorders. Here we explore the episodic-like capabilities of zebrafish (Danio rerio) in a previously established mammalian memory paradigm. We demonstrate that when zebrafish were presented with a familiar object in a familiar context but a novel location within that context, they spend more time in the novel quadrant. Thus, zebrafish display episodic-like memory as they remember what object they saw, where they saw it (quadrant location), and on which occasion (yellow or blue walls) it was presented.

Cognitive dissonance resolution is related to episodic memory.

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Salti, Moti; El Karoui, Imen; Maillet, Mathurin; Naccache, Lionel

2014-01-01

The notion that our past choices affect our future behavior is certainly one of the most influential concepts of social psychology since its first experimental report in the 50 s, and its initial theorization by Festinger within the "cognitive dissonance" framework. Using the free choice paradigm (FCP), it was shown that choosing between two similarly rated items made subjects reevaluate the chosen items as more attractive and the rejected items as less attractive. However, in 2010 a major work by Chen and Risen revealed a severe statistical flaw casting doubt on most previous studies. Izuma and colleagues (2010) supplemented the traditional FCP with original control conditions and concluded that the effect observed could not be solely attributed to this methodological flaw. In the present work we aimed at establishing the existence of genuine choice-induced preference change and characterizing this effect. To do so, we replicated Izuma et al.' study and added a new important control condition which was absent from the original study. Moreover, we added a memory test in order to measure the possible relation between episodic memory of choices and observed behavioral effects. In two experiments we provide experimental evidence supporting genuine choice-induced preference change obtained with FCP. We also contribute to the understanding of the phenomenon by showing that choice-induced preference change effects are strongly correlated with episodic memory.

First episode schizophrenia

African Journals Online (AJOL)

with schizophrenia present clinically with psychotic, negative and cognitive ... changes in their emotions, cognition or behaviour which may indicate a ... contribute 80% to the risk of schizophrenia developing. A number of .... Positive symptoms ... Depression ... treatment of first episode schizophrenia is of critical importance.

Comparative Cognition: Action Imitation Using Episodic Memory.

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Crystal, Jonathon D

2016-12-05

Humans encounter a myriad of actions or events and later recall some of these events using episodic memory. New research suggests that dogs can imitate recently encountered actions using episodic memory. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Alterations of Intrinsic Connectivity Networks in Antipsychotic-Naïve First-Episode Schizophrenia

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Anhøj, Simon; Ødegaard Nielsen, Mette; Jensen, Maria Høj

2018-01-01

Background: The investigation of large-scale intrinsic connectivity networks in antipsychotic-naïve first-episode schizophrenia increases our understanding of system-level cerebral dysfunction in schizophrenia while enabling control of confounding effects of medication and disease progression. Re......-parietal networks suggested to be involved in the control of cognitive and sensory functions. Moreover, the present study suggests that the problem of not disengaging the VAN leads to difficulties with attention and possibly subjective awareness....

Suicide risk in placebo-controlled trials of treatment for acute manic episode and prevention of manic-depressive episode

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Storosum, Jitschak G.; Wohlfarth, Tamar; Gispen-de Wied, Christine C.; Linszen, Don H.; Gersons, Berthold P. R.; van Zwieten, Barbara J.; van den Brink, Wim

2005-01-01

Objective: The authors' goal was to investigate whether there is a greater suicide risk in the placebo arms of placebo-controlled studies of active medication for the treatment of acute manic episode and the prevention of manic/depressive episode. If so, this would be a strong ethical argument

Childhood trauma and dissociation in first-episode psychosis, chronic schizophrenia and community controls.

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Braehler, Christine; Valiquette, Luc; Holowka, Darren; Malla, Ashok K; Joober, Ridha; Ciampi, Antonio; Pawliuk, Nicole; King, Suzanne

2013-11-30

Increasing evidence supports the role of childhood trauma in the etiology of psychosis but underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Early maltreatment has been linked to dissociative symptoms in psychosis patients. We explored associations between childhood trauma (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) and dissociation (Dissociative Experiences Scale) in first-episode psychotic patients (n=62), chronic psychotic patients (n=43), and non-psychotic community controls (n=66). Multivariate analyses of covariance were used to test associations between childhood trauma and dissociation by group while controlling for sex. Chronic patients reported the highest level of dissociation. More severe childhood trauma was associated with greater dissociative symptoms in all groups although most strongly in chronic patients. Emotional abuse showed the strongest associations with dissociation, with these being strongest for chronic patients, followed by first-episode patients--and least for controls. Men showed a stronger association between physical neglect and dissociation than women, irrespective of group. There were no significant group by sex interactions. Our findings replicate the strong association between childhood trauma and dissociative symptoms in chronic and first-episode psychotic patients relative to non-psychotic control subjects. We also demonstrate the salience of emotional abuse in explaining variance in dissociation, especially in chronic patients. © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of heavy episodic drinking and hostile sexism in men's sexual aggression toward female intimate partners.

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Lisco, Claire G; Parrott, Dominic J; Tharp, Andra Teten

2012-11-01

Research indicates that men's heavy episodic drinking is a significant risk factor for their perpetration of sexual aggression toward intimate partners. The aim of this investigation was to examine how hostile sexism (i.e., antipathy toward women) and benevolent sexism (i.e., subjectively positive, yet patriarchal, views of women) influence the relation between men's heavy episodic drinking and their perpetration of sexual aggression toward intimate partners. Participants were 205 heterosexual drinking men who completed self-report measures of quantity of alcohol consumption during the past 12 months, hostile sexism, and sexual aggression toward an intimate partner during the past 12 months. Men's heavy episodic drinking was positively associated with sexual aggression perpetration toward intimate partners amongst men who endorsed high, but not low, levels of hostile sexism. No such interactive effect emerged for men's endorsement of benevolent sexism. These results have important implications for understanding cumulative risk factors for the perpetration of sexual aggression toward intimates. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Computational dissection of human episodic memory reveals mental process-specific genetic profiles.

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Luksys, Gediminas; Fastenrath, Matthias; Coynel, David; Freytag, Virginie; Gschwind, Leo; Heck, Angela; Jessen, Frank; Maier, Wolfgang; Milnik, Annette; Riedel-Heller, Steffi G; Scherer, Martin; Spalek, Klara; Vogler, Christian; Wagner, Michael; Wolfsgruber, Steffen; Papassotiropoulos, Andreas; de Quervain, Dominique J-F

2015-09-01

Episodic memory performance is the result of distinct mental processes, such as learning, memory maintenance, and emotional modulation of memory strength. Such processes can be effectively dissociated using computational models. Here we performed gene set enrichment analyses of model parameters estimated from the episodic memory performance of 1,765 healthy young adults. We report robust and replicated associations of the amine compound SLC (solute-carrier) transporters gene set with the learning rate, of the collagen formation and transmembrane receptor protein tyrosine kinase activity gene sets with the modulation of memory strength by negative emotional arousal, and of the L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1CAM) interactions gene set with the repetition-based memory improvement. Furthermore, in a large functional MRI sample of 795 subjects we found that the association between L1CAM interactions and memory maintenance revealed large clusters of differences in brain activity in frontal cortical areas. Our findings provide converging evidence that distinct genetic profiles underlie specific mental processes of human episodic memory. They also provide empirical support to previous theoretical and neurobiological studies linking specific neuromodulators to the learning rate and linking neural cell adhesion molecules to memory maintenance. Furthermore, our study suggests additional memory-related genetic pathways, which may contribute to a better understanding of the neurobiology of human memory.

Computational dissection of human episodic memory reveals mental process-specific genetic profiles

Science.gov (United States)

Luksys, Gediminas; Fastenrath, Matthias; Coynel, David; Freytag, Virginie; Gschwind, Leo; Heck, Angela; Jessen, Frank; Maier, Wolfgang; Milnik, Annette; Riedel-Heller, Steffi G.; Scherer, Martin; Spalek, Klara; Vogler, Christian; Wagner, Michael; Wolfsgruber, Steffen; Papassotiropoulos, Andreas; de Quervain, Dominique J.-F.

2015-01-01

Episodic memory performance is the result of distinct mental processes, such as learning, memory maintenance, and emotional modulation of memory strength. Such processes can be effectively dissociated using computational models. Here we performed gene set enrichment analyses of model parameters estimated from the episodic memory performance of 1,765 healthy young adults. We report robust and replicated associations of the amine compound SLC (solute-carrier) transporters gene set with the learning rate, of the collagen formation and transmembrane receptor protein tyrosine kinase activity gene sets with the modulation of memory strength by negative emotional arousal, and of the L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1CAM) interactions gene set with the repetition-based memory improvement. Furthermore, in a large functional MRI sample of 795 subjects we found that the association between L1CAM interactions and memory maintenance revealed large clusters of differences in brain activity in frontal cortical areas. Our findings provide converging evidence that distinct genetic profiles underlie specific mental processes of human episodic memory. They also provide empirical support to previous theoretical and neurobiological studies linking specific neuromodulators to the learning rate and linking neural cell adhesion molecules to memory maintenance. Furthermore, our study suggests additional memory-related genetic pathways, which may contribute to a better understanding of the neurobiology of human memory. PMID:26261317

Lower LINE-1 methylation in first-episode schizophrenia patients with the history of childhood trauma.

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Misiak, Błażej; Szmida, Elżbieta; Karpiński, Paweł; Loska, Olga; Sąsiadek, Maria M; Frydecka, Dorota

2015-01-01

We investigated methylation of DNA repetitive sequences (LINE-1 and BAGE) in peripheral blood leukocytes from first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients and healthy controls (HCs) with respect to childhood adversities. Patients were divided into two subgroups based on the history of childhood trauma - FES(+) and FES(-) subjects. The majority of HCs had a negative history of childhood trauma - HCs(-) subjects. FES(+) patients had significantly lower LINE-1 methylation in comparison with FES(-) patients or HC(-) subjects. Emotional abuse and total trauma score predicted lower LINE-1 methylation in FES patients, while general trauma score was associated with lower BAGE methylation in HCs. Childhood adversities might be associated with global DNA hypomethylation in adult FES patients.

Hippocampal functional connectivity and episodic memory in early childhood.

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Riggins, Tracy; Geng, Fengji; Blankenship, Sarah L; Redcay, Elizabeth

2016-06-01

Episodic memory relies on a distributed network of brain regions, with the hippocampus playing a critical and irreplaceable role. Few studies have examined how changes in this network contribute to episodic memory development early in life. The present addressed this gap by examining relations between hippocampal functional connectivity and episodic memory in 4- and 6-year-old children (n=40). Results revealed similar hippocampal functional connectivity between age groups, which included lateral temporal regions, precuneus, and multiple parietal and prefrontal regions, and functional specialization along the longitudinal axis. Despite these similarities, developmental differences were also observed. Specifically, 3 (of 4) regions within the hippocampal memory network were positively associated with episodic memory in 6-year-old children, but negatively associated with episodic memory in 4-year-old children. In contrast, all 3 regions outside the hippocampal memory network were negatively associated with episodic memory in older children, but positively associated with episodic memory in younger children. These interactions are interpreted within an interactive specialization framework and suggest the hippocampus becomes functionally integrated with cortical regions that are part of the hippocampal memory network in adults and functionally segregated from regions unrelated to memory in adults, both of which are associated with age-related improvements in episodic memory ability. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

[Comparison of Inflammatory Biomarkers Between Bipolar Disorder I Patients and Control Subjects].

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Palacio, Juan David; Guzman, Sandra; Vargas, Cristian; Díaz-Zuluaga, Ana María; López-Jaramillo, Carlos

2016-01-01

Inflammatory changes have been described in different affective episodes, as well as in the euthymic phase of Bipolar I Disease. These changes have been proposed as possible peripheral markers of the disease. For this reason well-designed studies are needed to explore this hypothesis. Quantify and compare the serum levels of interleukins (IL) and tumour necrosis factor (TNF) in bipolar I patients and healthy subjects, including the comparison between the affective episodes of the disease. Cross-sectional study including 41 bipolar I patients and 11 healthy control subjects. Serum levels of IL-1B, IL-RA, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, and TNF were measured during the euthymic, depressive, and manic phases and were compared with the serum levels of the healthy subjects. Manic phase patients had low education and high number of hospitalisations. Depressive phase patients showed high number of depressive episodes throughout life. No statistically significant differences were found in IL and TNF levels between bipolar I patients and healthy controls, or between the bipolar I subgroups (euthymic, manic and depressive states). An increase in the size of the sample is necessary in future studies, in order to enhance the statistical value of the results, and explore the inflammatory hypothesis of the bipolar disease. Copyright © 2015 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

The contributions of handedness and working memory to episodic memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahu, Aparna; Christman, Stephen D; Propper, Ruth E

2016-11-01

Past studies have independently shown associations of working memory and degree of handedness with episodic memory retrieval. The current study takes a step ahead by examining whether handedness and working memory independently predict episodic memory. In agreement with past studies, there was an inconsistent-handed advantage for episodic memory; however, this advantage was absent for working memory tasks. Furthermore, regression analyses showed handedness, and complex working memory predicted episodic memory performance at different times. Results are discussed in light of theories of episodic memory and hemispheric interaction.

The Generalized Quantum Episodic Memory Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Trueblood, Jennifer S; Hemmer, Pernille

2017-11-01

Recent evidence suggests that experienced events are often mapped to too many episodic states, including those that are logically or experimentally incompatible with one another. For example, episodic over-distribution patterns show that the probability of accepting an item under different mutually exclusive conditions violates the disjunction rule. A related example, called subadditivity, occurs when the probability of accepting an item under mutually exclusive and exhaustive instruction conditions sums to a number >1. Both the over-distribution effect and subadditivity have been widely observed in item and source-memory paradigms. These phenomena are difficult to explain using standard memory frameworks, such as signal-detection theory. A dual-trace model called the over-distribution (OD) model (Brainerd & Reyna, 2008) can explain the episodic over-distribution effect, but not subadditivity. Our goal is to develop a model that can explain both effects. In this paper, we propose the Generalized Quantum Episodic Memory (GQEM) model, which extends the Quantum Episodic Memory (QEM) model developed by Brainerd, Wang, and Reyna (2013). We test GQEM by comparing it to the OD model using data from a novel item-memory experiment and a previously published source-memory experiment (Kellen, Singmann, & Klauer, 2014) examining the over-distribution effect. Using the best-fit parameters from the over-distribution experiments, we conclude by showing that the GQEM model can also account for subadditivity. Overall these results add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that quantum probability theory is a valuable tool in modeling recognition memory. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Cannabis use and first manic episode.

Science.gov (United States)

Bally, Nathalie; Zullino, Daniele; Aubry, Jean-Michel

2014-08-01

Cannabis is the most commonly abused drug among patients with bipolar disorder. Available data has shown that the risk of psychotic disorders increases with the frequency and intensity of cannabis abuse. The present purpose was to review relevant studies to investigate whether cannabis use can be linked to the onset of mania in bipolar disorder. Articles published between 1972 and December 2013 were searched on Medline and PsychInfo using the following keywords: first manic episode, or onset mania, or bipolar disorder and cannabis. Relevant papers cited in the references of selected articles were further considered for inclusion into the review. Lifetime use of cannabis among bipolar patients appears to be around 70% and approximately 30% of patients with a bipolar disorder present a comorbidity of cannabis abuse or dependence. Cannabis use is associated with younger age at onset of first mania and with more frequent depressive or manic episodes, although the evidence is somewhat inconsistent. Likewise cannabis consumption is related to poorer outcome and an increased risk of rapid cycling or mixed episodes. In contrast, neuro-cognitive functioning seems to be positively affected in patients with psychiatric comorbidity. While cannabis use often precedes first manic episodes, the causal direction remains to be determined. Variations in definition of cannabis use/dependence. Lack of controlled studies limiting definite conclusions about a putative causal relationship between cannabis and onset of mania. Further investigations are needed to clarify the relationships between cannabis use and first manic episode. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Elements of episodic-like memory in animals.

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Clayton, N S; Griffiths, D P; Emery, N J; Dickinson, A

2001-09-29

A number of psychologists have suggested that episodic memory is a uniquely human phenomenon and, until recently, there was little evidence that animals could recall a unique past experience and respond appropriately. Experiments on food-caching memory in scrub jays question this assumption. On the basis of a single caching episode, scrub jays can remember when and where they cached a variety of foods that differ in the rate at which they degrade, in a way that is inexplicable by relative familiarity. They can update their memory of the contents of a cache depending on whether or not they have emptied the cache site, and can also remember where another bird has hidden caches, suggesting that they encode rich representations of the caching event. They make temporal generalizations about when perishable items should degrade and also remember the relative time since caching when the same food is cached in distinct sites at different times. These results show that jays form integrated memories for the location, content and time of caching. This memory capability fulfils Tulving's behavioural criteria for episodic memory and is thus termed 'episodic-like'. We suggest that several features of episodic memory may not be unique to humans.

Emotion episodes of Afrikaans-speaking employees in the workplace

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cara S. Jonker

2013-07-01

Research purpose: The objective of this study was to determine the positive and negative emotion episodes and frequencies of working Afrikaans-speaking adults. Motivation for the study: To date, no study has been conducted to determine emotion episodes amongst White Afrikaans-speaking working adults in South Africa. Gooty, Connelly, Griffith and Gupta also argue for research on emotions in the natural settings in which they occur – the workplace. Research design, approach and method: A survey design with an availability sample was used. The participants (N = 179 consisted of White Afrikaans-speaking working adults. The Episode Grid was administered to capture the emotion episodes. Main findings: The main emotion episodes reported on with positive content included goal achievement, receiving recognition and personal incidents. Emotion episodes with negative content included categories such as behaviour of work colleagues, acts of boss/superior/management and task requirements. Practical and/or managerial implications: The findings are useful for managers who want to enhance the emotional quality of the work-life of employees. Changes could be made, for example, to practices of giving recognition within work environments and the clarification of task requirements. The knowledge on emotion episodes could be very useful in planning interventions. Contribution and/or value-adding: The findings and results of this study provided insight into emotion episodes as events in the workplace can cause positive and negative workplace experiences. This information should be taken into consideration with regard to wellness and emotion measurement efforts.

Point prevalence of vertigo and dizziness in a sample of 2672 subjects and correlation with headaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Teggi, R; Manfrin, M; Balzanelli, C; Gatti, O; Mura, F; Quaglieri, S; Pilolli, F; Redaelli de Zinis, L O; Benazzo, M; Bussi, M

2016-06-01

Vertigo and dizziness are common symptoms in the general population, with an estimated prevalence between 20% and 56%. The aim of our work was to assess the point prevalence of these symptoms in a population of 2672 subjects. Patients were asked to answer a questionnaire; in the first part they were asked about demographic data and previous vertigo and or dizziness. Mean age of the sample was 48.3 ± 15 years, and 46.7% were males. A total of 1077 (40.3%) subjects referred vertigo/dizziness during their lifetime, and the mean age of the first vertigo attack was 39.2 ± 15.4 years; in the second part they were asked about the characteristics of vertigo (age of first episode, rotational vertigo, relapsing episodes, positional exacerbation, presence of cochlear symptoms) and lifetime presence of moderate to severe headache and its clinical features (hemicranial, pulsatile, associated with phono and photophobia, worse on effort). An age and sex effect was demonstrated, with symptoms 4.4 times more elevated in females and 1.8 times in people over 50 years. In the total sample of 2672 responders, 13.7% referred a sensation of spinning, 26.3% relapsing episodes, 12.9% positional exacerbation and 4.8% cochlear symptoms; 34.8% referred headache during their lifetime. Subjects suffering from headache presented an increased rate of relapsing episodes, positional exacerbation, cochlear symptoms and a lower age of occurrence of the first vertigo/dizziness episode. In the discussion, our data are compared with those of previous studies, and we underline the relationship between vertigo/dizziness from one side and headache with migrainous features on the other. © Copyright by Società Italiana di Otorinolaringologia e Chirurgia Cervico-Facciale, Rome, Italy.

Lifespan trends of autobiographical remembering: episodicity and search for meaning.

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Habermas, Tilmann; Diel, Verena; Welzer, Harald

2013-09-01

Autobiographical memories of older adults show fewer episodic and more non-episodic elements than those of younger adults. This semantization effect is attributed to a loss of episodic memory ability. However the alternative explanation by an increasing proclivity to search for meaning has not been ruled out to date. To test whether a decrease in episodicity and an increase in meaning-making in autobiographical narratives are related across the lifespan, we used different instructions, one focussing on specific episodes, the other on embedding events in life, in two lifespan samples. A continuous decrease of episodic quality of memory (memory specificity, narrative quality) was confirmed. An increase of search for meaning (interpretation, life story integration) was confirmed only up to middle adulthood. This non-inverse development of episodicity and searching for meaning in older age speaks for an autonomous semantization effect that is not merely due to an increase in interpretative preferences. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Examining Duration of Binge Eating Episodes in Binge Eating Disorder

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Schreiber-Gregory, Deanna N.; Lavender, Jason M.; Engel, Scott G.; Wonderlich, Steve A.; Crosby, Ross D.; Peterson, Carol B.; Simonich, Heather; Crow, Scott; Durkin, Nora; Mitchell, James E.

2013-01-01

Objective The primary goal of this paper is to examine and clarify characteristics of binge eating in individuals with binge eating disorder (BED), particularly the duration of binge eating episodes, as well as potential differences between individuals with shorter compared to longer binge eating episodes. Method Two studies exploring binge eating characteristics in BED were conducted. Study 1 examined differences in clinical variables among individuals (N = 139) with BED who reported a short (binge duration. Study 2 utilized an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) design to examine the duration and temporal pattern of binge eating episodes in the natural environment in a separate sample of nine women with BED. Results Participants in Study 1 who were classified as having long duration binge eating episodes displayed greater symptoms of depression and lower self-esteem, but did not differ on other measures of eating disorder symptoms, compared to those with short duration binge eating episodes. In Study 2, the average binge episode duration was approximately 42 minutes, and binge eating episodes were most common during the early afternoon and evening hours, as well as more common on weekdays versus weekends. Discussion Past research on binge episode characteristics, particularly duration, has been limited to studies of binge eating episodes in BN. This study contributes to the existing literature on characteristics of binge eating in BED. PMID:23881639

The Impact of an Early Eclectic Rehabilitative Intervention on Symptoms in First Episode Depression among Employed People

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tero Raiskila

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. To evaluate the effect of an early vocational-orientated eclectic intervention on beck depression inventory (BDI scores compared to treatment as usual in first ever depressive episode among employed people. Design. A randomized controlled trial comparing the rehabilitative intervention and the conventional treatment. Subjects. The subjects came from occupational health care units. Methods. Employees were sent to a rehabilitation center after being screened for depression using the BDI. They were diagnosed using the structured clinical interview for DSM-IV. The participating subjects (N=283 were randomized into intervention and control groups. The intervention group received eclectic early depression intervention treatment (N=134 and the control group was treated in the conventional way (N=100. They were followed for one year. Results. The mean decrease in BDI scores within the intervention group was from 20.8 to 11.6 and within the control group from 19.3 to 10.8. BDI score decreased by 10 or more points in 64% of the participants in the intervention group and in 53% of the control group (P=0.013. Conclusions. There was some evidence that early eclectic intervention in first ever episode depression may be more effective than conventional treatments among working age people in employment.

Experimental Effects of Acute Exercise on Iconic Memory, Short-Term Episodic, and Long-Term Episodic Memory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danielle Yanes

2018-06-01

Full Text Available The present experiment evaluated the effects of acute exercise on iconic memory and short- and long-term episodic memory. A two-arm, parallel-group randomized experiment was employed (n = 20 per group; Mage = 21 year. The experimental group engaged in an acute bout of moderate-intensity treadmill exercise for 15 min, while the control group engaged in a seated, time-matched computer task. Afterwards, the participants engaged in a paragraph-level episodic memory task (20 min delay and 24 h delay recall as well as an iconic memory task, which involved 10 trials (at various speeds from 100 ms to 800 ms of recalling letters from a 3 × 3 array matrix. For iconic memory, there was a significant main effect for time (F = 42.9, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.53 and a trend towards a group × time interaction (F = 2.90, p = 0.09, η2p = 0.07, but no main effect for group (F = 0.82, p = 0.37, η2p = 0.02. The experimental group had higher episodic memory scores at both the baseline (19.22 vs. 17.20 and follow-up (18.15 vs. 15.77, but these results were not statistically significant. These findings provide some suggestive evidence hinting towards an iconic memory and episodic benefit from acute exercise engagement.

[Repeated poisoning episodes: Alarm sign of risk situations].

Science.gov (United States)

García González, Elsa; Trenchs Sainz de la Maza, Victoria; Martínez Sánchez, Lidia; Ferrer Bosch, Nuria; Luaces Cubells, Carles

2017-11-01

Prevention is an essential aspect in paediatric poisonings, especially when recurrent episodes are detected. The aims of this article are to detect the recurrence rate for suspected poisoning in emergency consultations, as well as to identify the cases in which specific preventive measures are indicated, and to determine whether the creation of a specific item for recurrent episodes in the computerised medical records system facilitates its detection. A retrospective study was conducted on patients less than 18 years of age treated in the emergency room due to suspected poisoning during 2013 and 2014. Patients were divided according to the presence or absence of previous episodes. From January 2014, a specific item is present in the computerised medical records of the poisoned patient, where the history of previous episodes is registered. The preventive measures used between both groups were compared. A total of 731 consultations were recorded for suspected poisoning. A history of previous episodes was detected in 9% of cases. Medical injury reports and follow-up in outpatient clinics were more often performed in patients with recurrent episodes than in patients without them (28.8% vs 18.0%, P=.034, and 65.2% vs. 18.8%, P<.001, respectively). In 2013, the recurrence rate was 5.9% vs 12% in 2014 (P=.004). The recurrence rate observed is significant. Although preventive measures are more frequently indicated in these patients, their application is low. The creation of a specific item for recurrent episodes in a computerised medical records system facilitates their detection. Copyright © 2016 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Intrusions in Episodic Memory: Reconsolidation or Interference?

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Klingmüller, Angela; Caplan, Jeremy B.; Sommer, Tobias

2017-01-01

It would be profoundly important if reconsolidation research in animals and other memory domains generalized to human episodic memory. A 3-d-list-discrimination procedure, based on free recall of objects, with a contextual reminder cue (the testing room), has been thought to demonstrate reconsolidation of human episodic memory (as noted in a…

Assessment of psychological pain in major depressive episodes.

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Mee, Steven; Bunney, Blynn G; Bunney, William E; Hetrick, William; Potkin, Steven G; Reist, Christopher

2011-11-01

Severe psychological or mental pain is defined as an experience of unbearable torment which can be associated with a psychiatric illness (e.g., major depressive disorder) or a tragic loss such as the death of a child. A brief self-rating scale (Mee-Bunney Psychological Pain Assessment Scale [MBPPAS]) was developed to assess the intensity of psychological pain. The scale was used to measure psychological pain in 73 major depressive episode (MDE) patients and 96 non-psychiatric controls. In addition to the MBPPAS, all subjects completed four additional instruments: Suicidal Behavior Questionnaire (SBQ), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), and the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI). Known-groups, content and convergent validity, and internal reliability of the scale were established. MDE and control subjects were ranked according to MBPPAS scores. A threshold was set at 32 representing 0.5 SD above the mean for MDEs. MDE subjects above the threshold of 32 had significantly higher SBQ scores than those below. A significant linear correlation between psychological pain and SBQ suicidality scores was observed. This is the first study to contrast psychological pain in controls and patients with MDE. Our results suggest that psychological pain is a useful and unique construct in patients with MDE that can be reliably assessed and may aid in the evaluation of suicidal risk. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Visual integration dysfunction in schizophrenia arises by the first psychotic episode and worsens with illness duration.

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Keane, Brian P; Paterno, Danielle; Kastner, Sabine; Silverstein, Steven M

2016-05-01

Visual integration dysfunction characterizes schizophrenia, but prior studies have not yet established whether the problem arises by the first psychotic episode or worsens with illness duration. To investigate the issue, we compared chronic schizophrenia patients (SZs), first episode psychosis patients (FEs), and well-matched healthy controls on a brief but sensitive psychophysical task in which subjects attempted to locate an integrated shape embedded in noise. Task difficulty depended on the number of noise elements co-presented with the shape. For half of the experiment, the entire display was scaled down in size to produce a high spatial frequency (HSF) condition, which has been shown to worsen patient integration deficits. Catch trials-in which the circular target appeared without noise-were also added so as to confirm that subjects were paying adequate attention. We found that controls integrated contours under noisier conditions than FEs, who, in turn, integrated better than SZs. These differences, which were at times large in magnitude (d = 1.7), clearly emerged only for HSF displays. Catch trial accuracy was above 95% for each group and could not explain the foregoing differences. Prolonged illness duration predicted poorer HSF integration across patients, but age had little effect on controls, indicating that the former factor was driving the effect in patients. Taken together, a brief psychophysical task efficiently demonstrates large visual integration impairments in schizophrenia. The deficit arises by the first psychotic episode, worsens with illness duration, and may serve as a biomarker of illness progression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

EEG Suppression Associated with Apneic Episodes in a Neonate

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Evonne Low

2012-01-01

Full Text Available We describe the EEG findings from an ex-preterm neonate at term equivalent age who presented with intermittent but prolonged apneic episodes which were presumed to be seizures. A total of 8 apneic episodes were captured (duration 23–376 seconds during EEG monitoring. The baseline EEG activity was appropriate for corrected gestational age and no electrographic seizure activity was recorded. The average baseline heart rate was 168 beats per minute (bpm and the baseline oxygen saturation level was in the mid-nineties. Periods of complete EEG suppression lasting 68 and 179 seconds, respectively, were recorded during 2 of these 8 apneic episodes. Both episodes were accompanied by bradycardia less than 70 bpm and oxygen saturation levels of less than 20%. Short but severe episodes of apnea can cause complete EEG suppression in the neonate.

Familial Hemiplegic Migraine and Recurrent Episodes of Psychosis

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LaBianca, Sonja; Jensen, Rigmor; van den Maagdenberg, Arn M J M

2015-01-01

Familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM) is a rare autosomal dominant form of migraine with motor aura. We present a case report of a father and son with very similar attacks of hemiplegic migraine and recurrent episodes of accompanying psychoses. Previously, such episodes led to hospitalization...... and extended clinical examinations, which further worsened the psychoses. Since the episodes were recognized as related to the hemiplegic migraine, a treatment strategy combining sleep and sedation was initiated and progression onto psychosis was almost completely avoided in both father and son. Genetic...

Episodes of care: is emergency medicine ready?

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Wiler, Jennifer L; Beck, Dennis; Asplin, Brent R; Granovsky, Michael; Moorhead, John; Pilgrim, Randy; Schuur, Jeremiah D

2012-05-01

Optimizing resource use, eliminating waste, aligning provider incentives, reducing overall costs, and coordinating the delivery of quality care while improving outcomes have been major themes of health care reform initiatives. Recent legislation contains several provisions designed to move away from the current fee-for-service payment mechanism toward a model that reimburses providers for caring for a population of patients over time while shifting more financial risk to providers. In this article, we review current approaches to episode of care development and reimbursement. We describe the challenges of incorporating emergency medicine into the episode of care approach and the uncertain influence this delivery model will have on emergency medicine care, including quality outcomes. We discuss the limitations of the episode of care payment model for emergency services and advocate retention of the current fee-for-service payment model, as well as identify research gaps that, if addressed, could be used to inform future policy decisions of emergency medicine health policy leaders. We then describe a meaningful role for emergency medicine in an episode of care setting. Copyright © 2011. Published by Mosby, Inc.

Episodic memory and the witness trump card.

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Henry, Jeremy; Craver, Carl

2018-01-01

We accept Mahr & Csibra's (M&C's) causal claim that episodic memory provides humans with the means for evaluating the veracity of reports about non-occurrent events. We reject their evolutionary argument that this is the proper function of episodic memory. We explore three intriguing implications of the causal claim, for cognitive neuropsychology, comparative psychology, and philosophy.

Reduced context effects on retrieval in first-episode schizophrenia.

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Lucia M Talamini

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: A recent modeling study by the authors predicted that contextual information is poorly integrated into episodic representations in schizophrenia, and that this is a main cause of the retrieval deficits seen in schizophrenia. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have tested this prediction in patients with first-episode schizophrenia and matched controls. The benefit from contextual cues in retrieval was strongly reduced in patients. On the other hand, retrieval based on item cues was spared. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results suggest that reduced integration of context information into episodic representations is a core deficit in schizophrenia and one of the main causes of episodic memory impairment.

Temporal Clustering and Sequencing in Short-Term Memory and Episodic Memory

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Farrell, Simon

2012-01-01

A model of short-term memory and episodic memory is presented, with the core assumptions that (a) people parse their continuous experience into episodic clusters and (b) items are clustered together in memory as episodes by binding information within an episode to a common temporal context. Along with the additional assumption that information…

Treating bulimia with hypnosis and low-level light therapy: a case report

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Laser, Eleanor; Sassack, Michael

2012-03-01

This case report describes an effort to control bulimia nervosa by combining low-level laser therapy (LLLT)-the application of red and near-infrared light to specific body points-and hypnosis. A 29-year old female with a 14-year history of bulimia received one session of LLLT combined with hypnosis. Two weeks later, following a measurable decrease in bulimic episodes (purging), a session of psychotherapy and hypnosis was administered. Six months post-treatment, the patient has experienced a complete cessation of purging activities without recurrence. LLLT, when used in conjunction with hypnosis and psychotherapy, was effective in managing bulimia and may prove useful in treating other eating disorders.

Episodic and Binge Gambling: An Exploration and Preliminary Quantitative Study.

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Cowlishaw, S; Nespoli, E; Jebadurai, J K; Smith, N; Bowden-Jones, H

2018-03-01

The DSM-5 includes provisions for episodic forms of gambling disorder, with such changes aligned with earlier accounts of potential binge gambling behaviours. However, there is little research that indicates the utility of these classifications of episodic or binge gambling, and this study considered their characteristics in a clinical sample. It involved administration of a new binge gambling screening tool, along with routine measures, to n = 214 patients entering a specialist treatment clinic for gambling problems. Results indicated that episodic gambling was common in this clinical context, with 28 and 32% of patients reporting gambling episodes that were (a) regular and alternating, and (b) irregular and intermittent, respectively. These patterns were distinguished by factors including associations with covariates that indicated differences from continuous gamblers. For example, the irregular episodic gamblers, but not the regular pattern, demonstrated lower levels of problem gambling severity and comorbidity. Rates of potential binge gambling, which was defined in terms of additional criteria, were around 4% and numbers were insufficient for comparable analyses. The findings support inclusion of episodic forms of gambling disorder in the DSM-5, but highlight the need for improved recognition and research on heterogeneous forms of episodic gambling.

White matter structural connectivity and episodic memory in early childhood

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Chi T. Ngo

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Episodic memory undergoes dramatic improvement in early childhood; the reason for this is poorly understood. In adults, episodic memory relies on a distributed neural network. Key brain regions that supporting these processes include the hippocampus, portions of the parietal cortex, and portions of prefrontal cortex, each of which shows different developmental profiles. Here we asked whether developmental differences in the axonal pathways connecting these regions may account for the robust gains in episodic memory in young children. Using diffusion weighted imaging, we examined whether white matter connectivity between brain regions implicated in episodic memory differed with age, and were associated with memory performance differences in 4- and 6-year-old children. Results revealed that white matter connecting the hippocampus to the inferior parietal lobule significantly predicted children’s performance on episodic memory tasks. In contrast, variation in the white matter connecting the hippocampus to the medial prefrontal cortex did not relate to memory performance. These findings suggest that structural connectivity between the hippocampus and lateral parietal regions is relevant to the development of episodic memory. Keywords: White matter, Memory development, Episodic memory, Diffusion weighted imaging

Episodic and semantic memory in children with mesial temporal sclerosis.

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Rzezak, Patricia; Guimarães, Catarina; Fuentes, Daniel; Guerreiro, Marilisa M; Valente, Kette Dualibi Ramos

2011-07-01

The aim of this study was to analyze semantic and episodic memory deficits in children with mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) and their correlation with clinical epilepsy variables. For this purpose, 19 consecutive children and adolescents with MTS (8 to 16 years old) were evaluated and their performance on five episodic memory tests (short- and long-term memory and learning) and four semantic memory tests was compared with that of 28 healthy volunteers. Patients performed worse on tests of immediate and delayed verbal episodic memory, visual episodic memory, verbal and visual learning, mental scanning for semantic clues, object naming, word definition, and repetition of sentences. Clinical variables such as early age at seizure onset, severity of epilepsy, and polytherapy impaired distinct types of memory. These data confirm that children with MTS have episodic memory deficits and add new information on semantic memory. The data also demonstrate that clinical variables contribute differently to episodic and semantic memory performance. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Experimental Effects of Acute Exercise on Iconic Memory, Short-Term Episodic, and Long-Term Episodic Memory.

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Yanes, Danielle; Loprinzi, Paul D

2018-06-11

The present experiment evaluated the effects of acute exercise on iconic memory and short- and long-term episodic memory. A two-arm, parallel-group randomized experiment was employed ( n = 20 per group; M age = 21 year). The experimental group engaged in an acute bout of moderate-intensity treadmill exercise for 15 min, while the control group engaged in a seated, time-matched computer task. Afterwards, the participants engaged in a paragraph-level episodic memory task (20 min delay and 24 h delay recall) as well as an iconic memory task, which involved 10 trials (at various speeds from 100 ms to 800 ms) of recalling letters from a 3 × 3 array matrix. For iconic memory, there was a significant main effect for time (F = 42.9, p memory scores at both the baseline (19.22 vs. 17.20) and follow-up (18.15 vs. 15.77), but these results were not statistically significant. These findings provide some suggestive evidence hinting towards an iconic memory and episodic benefit from acute exercise engagement.

[MELAS: Mitochondrial Encephalomyopathy, Lactic Acidosis and Stroke-Like Episodes].

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Murakami, Hidetomo; Ono, Kenjiro

2017-02-01

Mitochondrial disease is caused by a deficiency in the energy supply to cells due to mitochondrial dysfunction. Mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) is a mitochondrial disease that presents with stroke-like episodes such as acute onset of neurological deficits and characteristic imaging findings. Stroke-like episodes in MELAS have the following features: 1) neurological deficits due to localization of lesions in the brain, 2) episodes often accompany epilepsy, 3) lesions do not follow the vascular supply area, 4) lesions are more often seen in the posterior brain than in the anterior brain, 5) lesions spread to an adjacent area in the brain, and 6) neurological symptoms often disappear together with imaging findings, but later relapse. About 80% of patients with MELAS have an A-to-G transition mutation at the nucleotide pair 3243 in the dihydrouridine loop of mitochondrial tRNALeu(UUR), which causes the absence of posttranscriptional taurine modification at the wobble nucleotide of mitochondrial tRNALeu(UUR) and disrupts protein synthesis. However, the precise pathophysiology of stroke-like episodes is under investigation, with possible hypotheses for these episodes including mitochondrial angiopathy, mitochondrial cytopathy, and neuron-astrocyte uncoupling. With regard to treatment, L-arginine and taurine have recently been suggested for relief of clinical symptoms.

Autobiographical thinking interferes with episodic memory consolidation.

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Michael Craig

Full Text Available New episodic memories are retained better if learning is followed by a few minutes of wakeful rest than by the encoding of novel external information. Novel encoding is said to interfere with the consolidation of recently acquired episodic memories. Here we report four experiments in which we examined whether autobiographical thinking, i.e. an 'internal' memory activity, also interferes with episodic memory consolidation. Participants were presented with three wordlists consisting of common nouns; one list was followed by wakeful rest, one by novel picture encoding and one by autobiographical retrieval/future imagination, cued by concrete sounds. Both novel encoding and autobiographical retrieval/future imagination lowered wordlist retention significantly. Follow-up experiments demonstrated that the interference by our cued autobiographical retrieval/future imagination delay condition could not be accounted for by the sound cues alone or by executive retrieval processes. Moreover, our results demonstrated evidence of a temporal gradient of interference across experiments. Thus, we propose that rich autobiographical retrieval/future imagination hampers the consolidation of recently acquired episodic memories and that such interference is particularly likely in the presence of external concrete cues.

The effect of episodic retrieval on inhibition in task switching.

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Grange, James A; Kowalczyk, Agnieszka W; O'Loughlin, Rory

2017-08-01

Inhibition in task switching is inferred from n-2 repetition costs: the observation that ABA task switching sequences are responded to slower than CBA sequences. This is thought to reflect the persisting inhibition of Task A, which slows reactivation attempts. Mayr (2002) reported an experiment testing a critical noninhibitory account of this effect, namely episodic retrieval: If the trial parameters for Task A match across an ABA sequence, responses should be facilitated because of priming from episodic retrieval; a cost would occur if trial parameters mismatch. In a rule-switching paradigm, Mayr reported no significant difference in n-2 repetition cost when the trial parameters repeated or switched across an ABA sequence, in clear contrast to the episodic retrieval account. What remains unclear is whether successful episodic retrieval modulates the n-2 repetition cost. Across 3 experiments-including a close replication of Mayr-we find clear evidence of reduced n-2 task repetition costs when episodic retrieval is controlled. We find that the effect of episodic retrieval on the n-2 task repetition cost is increased when the cue-task relationship is made more abstract, suggesting the effect is because of interference in establishing the relevant attentional set. We also demonstrate that the episodic retrieval effect is not influenced by retrieval of low-level, perceptual, elements. Together, the data suggest the n-2 task repetition cost-typically attributable to an inhibitory mechanism-also reflects episodic retrieval effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Neural changes underlying the development of episodic memory during middle childhood.

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Ghetti, Simona; Bunge, Silvia A

2012-10-01

Episodic memory is central to the human experience. In typically developing children, episodic memory improves rapidly during middle childhood. While the developmental cognitive neuroscience of episodic memory remains largely uncharted, recent research has begun to provide important insights. It has long been assumed that hippocampus-dependent binding mechanisms are in place by early childhood, and that improvements in episodic memory observed during middle childhood result from the protracted development of the prefrontal cortex. We revisit the notion that binding mechanisms are age-invariant, and propose that changes in the hippocampus and its projections to cortical regions also contribute to the development of episodic memory. We further review the role of developmental changes in lateral prefrontal and parietal cortices in this development. Finally, we discuss changes in white matter tracts connecting brain regions that are critical for episodic memory. Overall, we argue that changes in episodic memory emerge from the concerted effort of a network of relevant brain structures. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neural Changes Underlying the Development of Episodic Memory During Middle Childhood

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Ghetti, Simona; Bunge, Silvia A.

2012-01-01

Episodic memory is central to the human experience. In typically developing children, episodic memory improves rapidly during middle childhood. While the developmental cognitive neuroscience of episodic memory remains largely uncharted, recent research has begun to provide important insights. It has long been assumed that hippocampus-dependent binding mechanisms are in place by early childhood, and that improvements in episodic memory observed during middle childhood result from the protracted development of the prefrontal cortex. We revisit the notion that binding mechanisms are age-invariant, and propose that changes in the hippocampus and its projections to cortical regions also contribute to the development of episodic memory. We further review the role of developmental changes in lateral prefrontal and parietal cortices in this development. Finally, we discuss changes in white matter tracts connecting brain regions that are critical for episodic memory. Overall, we argue that changes in episodic memory emerge from the concerted effort of a network of relevant brain structures. PMID:22770728

Episodic memory impairment in systemic lupus erythematosus: involvement of thalamic structures.

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Zimmermann, Nicolle; Corrêa, Diogo Goulart; Netto, Tania Maria; Kubo, Tadeu; Pereira, Denis Batista; Fonseca, Rochele Paz; Gasparetto, Emerson Leandro

2015-02-01

Episodic memory deficits in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have been frequently reported in the literature; however, little is known about the neural correlates of these deficits. We investigated differences in the volumes of different brain structures of SLE patients with and without episodic memory impairments diagnosed by the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). Groups were paired based on age, education, sex, Mini Mental State Examination score, accumulation of disease burden (SLICC), and focused attention dimension score. Patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Cortical volumetric reconstruction and segmentation of the MR images were performed with the FreeSurfer software program. SLE patients with episodic memory deficits presented shorter time of diagnosis than SLE patients without episodic memory deficits. ANOVA revealed that SLE patients with episodic memory deficits had a larger third ventricle volume than SLE patients without episodic memory deficits and controls. Additionally, covariance analysis indicated group effects on the bilateral thalamus and on the third ventricle. Our findings indicate that episodic memory may be impaired in SLE patients with normal hippocampal volume. In addition, the thalamus may undergo volumetric changes associated with episodic memory loss in SLE.

Obesity and episodic memory function.

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Loprinzi, Paul D; Frith, Emily

2018-04-17

Obesity-related lifestyle factors, such as physical activity behavior and dietary intake, have been shown to be associated with episodic memory function. From animal work, there is considerable biological plausibility linking obesity with worse memory function. There are no published systematic reviews evaluating the effects of obesity on episodic memory function among humans, and examining whether physical activity and diet influences this obesity-memory link. Thus, the purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate the totality of research examining whether obesity is associated with episodic memory function, and whether physical activity and dietary behavior confounds this relationship. A review approach was employed, using PubMed, PsychInfo, and Sports Discus databases. Fourteen studies met our criteria. Among these 14 reviewed studies, eight were cross-sectional, four were prospective, and two employed a randomized controlled experimental design. Twelve of the 14 studies did not take into consideration dietary behavior in their analysis, and similarly, nine of the 14 studies did not take into consideration participant physical activity behavior. Among the 14 studies, ten found an inverse association of weight status on memory function, but for one of these studies, this association was attenuated after controlling for physical activity. Among the 14 evaluated studies, four did not find a direct effect of weight status on memory. Among the four null studies, one, however, found an indirect effect of BMI on episodic memory and another found a moderation effect of BMI and age on memory function. It appears that obesity may be associated with worse memory function, with the underlying mechanisms discussed herein. At this point, it is uncertain whether adiposity, itself, is influencing memory changes, or rather, whether adiposity-related lifestyle behaviors (e.g., physical inactivity and diet) are driving the obesity-memory relationship.

Neural Mechanisms of Episodic Retrieval Support Divergent Creative Thinking.

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Madore, Kevin P; Thakral, Preston P; Beaty, Roger E; Addis, Donna Rose; Schacter, Daniel L

2017-11-17

Prior research has indicated that brain regions and networks that support semantic memory, top-down and bottom-up attention, and cognitive control are all involved in divergent creative thinking. Kernels of evidence suggest that neural processes supporting episodic memory-the retrieval of particular elements of prior experiences-may also be involved in divergent thinking, but such processes have typically been characterized as not very relevant for, or even a hindrance to, creative output. In the present study, we combine functional magnetic resonance imaging with an experimental manipulation to test formally, for the first time, episodic memory's involvement in divergent thinking. Following a manipulation that facilitates detailed episodic retrieval, we observed greater neural activity in the hippocampus and stronger connectivity between a core brain network linked to episodic processing and a frontoparietal brain network linked to cognitive control during divergent thinking relative to an object association control task that requires little divergent thinking. Stronger coupling following the retrieval manipulation extended to a subsequent resting-state scan. Neural effects of the episodic manipulation were consistent with behavioral effects of enhanced idea production on divergent thinking but not object association. The results indicate that conceptual frameworks should accommodate the idea that episodic retrieval can function as a component process of creative idea generation, and highlight how the brain flexibly utilizes the retrieval of episodic details for tasks beyond simple remembering. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Cortical Thickness and Episodic Memory Impairment in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

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Bizzo, Bernardo Canedo; Sanchez, Tiago Arruda; Tukamoto, Gustavo; Zimmermann, Nicolle; Netto, Tania Maria; Gasparetto, Emerson Leandro

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in brain cortical thickness of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with and without episodic memory impairment and healthy controls. We studied 51 patients divided in 2 groups (SLE with episodic memory deficit, n = 17; SLE without episodic memory deficit, n = 34) by the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test and 34 healthy controls. Groups were paired based on sex, age, education, Mini-Mental State Examination score, and accumulation of disease burden. Cortical thickness from magnetic resonance imaging scans was determined using the FreeSurfer software package. SLE patients with episodic memory deficits presented reduced cortical thickness in the left supramarginal cortex and superior temporal gyrus when compared to the control group and in the right superior frontal, caudal, and rostral middle frontal and precentral gyri when compared to the SLE group without episodic memory impairment considering time since diagnosis of SLE as covaried. There were no significant differences in the cortical thickness between the SLE without episodic memory and control groups. Different memory-related cortical regions thinning were found in the episodic memory deficit group when individually compared to the groups of patients without memory impairment and healthy controls. Copyright © 2016 by the American Society of Neuroimaging.

Two-Year Diagnostic Stability in Early-Onset First-Episode Psychosis

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Castro-Fornieles, Josefina; Baeza, Immaculada; de la Serna, Elena; Gonzalez-Pinto, Ana; Parellada, Mara; Graell, Montserrat; Moreno, Dolores; Otero, Soraya; Arango, Celso

2011-01-01

Background: Only one study has used a prospective method to analyze the diagnostic stability of first psychotic episodes in children and adolescents. The Child and Adolescent First-Episode Psychosis Study (CAFEPS) is a 2-year, prospective longitudinal study of early-onset first episodes of psychosis (EO-FEP). Aim: To describe diagnostic stability…

Short desynchronization episodes prevail in synchronous dynamics of human brain rhythms.

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Ahn, Sungwoo; Rubchinsky, Leonid L

2013-03-01

Neural synchronization is believed to be critical for many brain functions. It frequently exhibits temporal variability, but it is not known if this variability has a specific temporal patterning. This study explores these synchronization/desynchronization patterns. We employ recently developed techniques to analyze the fine temporal structure of phase-locking to study the temporal patterning of synchrony of the human brain rhythms. We study neural oscillations recorded by electroencephalograms in α and β frequency bands in healthy human subjects at rest and during the execution of a task. While the phase-locking strength depends on many factors, dynamics of synchrony has a very specific temporal pattern: synchronous states are interrupted by frequent, but short desynchronization episodes. The probability for a desynchronization episode to occur decreased with its duration. The transition matrix between synchronized and desynchronized states has eigenvalues close to 0 and 1 where eigenvalue 1 has multiplicity 1, and therefore if the stationary distribution between these states is perturbed, the system converges back to the stationary distribution very fast. The qualitative similarity of this patterning across different subjects, brain states and electrode locations suggests that this may be a general type of dynamics for the brain. Earlier studies indicate that not all oscillatory networks have this kind of patterning of synchronization/desynchronization dynamics. Thus, the observed prevalence of short (but potentially frequent) desynchronization events (length of one cycle of oscillations) may have important functional implications for the brain. Numerous short desynchronizations (as opposed to infrequent, but long desynchronizations) may allow for a quick and efficient formation and break-up of functionally significant neuronal assemblies.

Vection Modulates Emotional Valence of Autobiographical Episodic Memories

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Seno, Takeharu; Kawabe, Takahiro; Ito, Hiroyuki; Sunaga, Shoji

2013-01-01

We examined whether illusory self-motion perception ("vection") induced by viewing upward and downward grating motion stimuli can alter the emotional valence of recollected autobiographical episodic memories. We found that participants recollected positive episodes more often while perceiving upward vection. However, when we tested a small moving…

Neurofeedback training of EEG alpha rhythm enhances episodic and working memory.

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Hsueh, Jen-Jui; Chen, Tzu-Shan; Chen, Jia-Jin; Shaw, Fu-Zen

2016-07-01

Neurofeedback training (NFT) of the alpha rhythm has been used for several decades but is still controversial in regards to its trainability and effects on working memory. Alpha rhythm of the frontoparietal region are associated with either the intelligence or memory of healthy subjects and are also related to pathological states. In this study, alpha NFT effects on memory performances were explored. Fifty healthy participants were recruited and randomly assigned into a group receiving a 8-12-Hz amplitude (Alpha) or a group receiving a random 4-Hz amplitude from the range of 7 to 20 Hz (Ctrl). Three NFT sessions per week were conducted for 4 weeks. Working memory was assessed by both a backward digit span task and an operation span task, and episodic memory was assessed using a word pair task. Four questionnaires were used to assess anxiety, depression, insomnia, and cognitive function. The Ctrl group had no change in alpha amplitude and duration. In contrast, the Alpha group showed a progressive significant increase in the alpha amplitude and total alpha duration of the frontoparietal region. Accuracies of both working and episodic memories were significantly improved in a large proportion of participants of the Alpha group, particularly for those with remarkable alpha-amplitude increases. Scores of four questionnaires fell in a normal range before and after NFT. The current study provided supporting evidence for alpha trainability within a small session number compared with that of therapy. The findings suggested the enhancement of working and episodic memory through alpha NFT. Hum Brain Mapp 37:2662-2675, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Episodic memory, perceptual memory, and their interaction: foundations for a theory of posttraumatic stress disorder.

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Brewin, Chris R

2014-01-01

A number of autobiographical memory theories and clinical theories of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) make claims that are different from standard views of memory and have been the subject of controversy. These claims include the existence of a long-term perceptual memory system supporting conscious experience separate to episodic memory; greater involvement of perceptual memory in the response to emotion-laden and personally meaningful events; increased perceptual memory intrusions accompanied by impaired episodic memory for the traumatic event among PTSD patients; and a lack of association, or inverse association, between indices of voluntary recall and involuntary images relating to the same traumatic materials. In this article I review current research on perceptual memory, which supports the presence of long-term representations that are selective or incomplete reflections of sensory input. The functional independence of perceptual and episodic memory is illustrated by research on verbal overshadowing but is most clearly exemplified by the strong evidence in favor of enhanced perceptual memory and impaired episodic memory in PTSD. Theoretical predictions concerning the relation between perceptual priming and the development of intrusive images, the effect of verbal versus visuospatial secondary tasks on intrusive trauma images, and the independence of voluntary and involuntary memory for the same materials have garnered widespread support. Reasons for the continuing controversy over traumatic memory are discussed, and some implications of the review for general theories of recall and recognition, clinical theories of PTSD, and "special mechanism" views of memory are set out. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

Distinguishing medication-free subjects with unipolar disorder from subjects with bipolar disorder: state matters.

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Rive, Maria M; Redlich, Ronny; Schmaal, Lianne; Marquand, André F; Dannlowski, Udo; Grotegerd, Dominik; Veltman, Dick J; Schene, Aart H; Ruhé, Henricus G

2016-11-01

Recent studies have indicated that pattern recognition techniques of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data for individual classification may be valuable for distinguishing between major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD). Importantly, medication may have affected previous classification results as subjects with MDD and BD use different classes of medication. Furthermore, almost all studies have investigated only depressed subjects. Therefore, we focused on medication-free subjects. We additionally investigated whether classification would be mood state independent by including depressed and remitted subjects alike. We applied Gaussian process classifiers to investigate the discriminatory power of structural MRI (gray matter volumes of emotion regulation areas) and resting-state fMRI (resting-state networks implicated in mood disorders: default mode network [DMN], salience network [SN], and lateralized frontoparietal networks [FPNs]) in depressed (n=42) and remitted (n=49) medication-free subjects with MDD and BD. Depressed subjects with MDD and BD could be classified based on the gray matter volumes of emotion regulation areas as well as DMN functional connectivity with 69.1% prediction accuracy. Prediction accuracy using the FPNs and SN did not exceed chance level. It was not possible to discriminate between remitted subjects with MDD and BD. For the first time, we showed that medication-free subjects with MDD and BD can be differentiated based on structural MRI as well as resting-state functional connectivity. Importantly, the results indicated that research concerning diagnostic neuroimaging tools distinguishing between MDD and BD should consider mood state as only depressed subjects with MDD and BD could be correctly classified. Future studies, in larger samples are needed to investigate whether the results can be generalized to medication-naïve or first-episode subjects. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley

Microbiology of Peritonitis in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients with Multiple Episodes

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Nessim, Sharon J.; Nisenbaum, Rosane; Bargman, Joanne M.; Jassal, Sarbjit V.

2012-01-01

♦ Background: Peritoneal dialysis (PD)–associated peritonitis clusters within patients. Patient factors contribute to peritonitis risk, but there is also entrapment of organisms within the biofilm that forms on PD catheters. It is hypothesized that this biofilm may prevent complete eradication of organisms, predisposing to multiple infections with the same organism. ♦ Methods: Using data collected in the Canadian multicenter Baxter POET (Peritonitis, Organism, Exit sites, Tunnel infections) database from 1996 to 2005, we studied incident PD patients with 2 or more peritonitis episodes. We determined the proportion of patients with 2 or more episodes caused by the same organism. In addition, using a multivariate logistic regression model, we tested whether prior peritonitis with a given organism predicted the occurrence of a subsequent episode with the same organism. ♦ Results: During their time on PD, 558 patients experienced 2 or more peritonitis episodes. Of those 558 patients, 181 (32%) had at least 2 episodes with the same organism. The organism most commonly causing repeat infection was coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CNS), accounting for 65.7% of cases. Compared with peritonitis caused by other organisms, a first CNS peritonitis episode was associated with an increased risk of subsequent CNS peritonitis within 1 year (odds ratio: 2.1; 95% confidence interval: 1.5 to 2.8; p peritonitis, 48% of repeat episodes occurred within 6 months of the earlier episode. ♦ Conclusions: In contrast to previous data, we did not find a high proportion of patients with multiple peritonitis episodes caused by the same organism. Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus was the organism most likely to cause peritonitis more than once in a given patient, and a prior CNS peritonitis was associated with an increased risk of CNS peritonitis within the subsequent year. PMID:22215659

What is it like to take antipsychotic medication? A qualitative study of patients with first-episode psychosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, R; Deane, K

2016-03-01

What is known on the subject? Antipsychotic drugs are an important part of treatment for most patients with first episode psychosis. We do not know much about what it is like to take these drugs from the patient's point of view. What this paper adds to existing knowledge? We talked to 20 young people with psychosis about their experiences of taking antipsychotic drugs. Patients relationship with medication was complex, young people found medication often to be both good and bad at the same time. We were interested in how seemingly trivial issues--colour, taste, size, name--could be very important to young people and could result in them stopping. What are the implications for practice? We think our study highlights the complicated internal struggles that people with first episode psychosis have with medication. Our study highlights how Nurses and Doctors need to try and better understand what it is like to take these drugs and work collaboratively with patients to support them to make informed choices about treatment. Low-dose antipsychotic medication is an important part of treatment for people experiencing a first episode of psychosis. Little is known about this group of patients' experiences of taking medication. A qualitative study of purposively sampled young people experiencing a first episode of psychosis was carried out. A mental health nurse working in the early psychosis team interviewed participants using a structured topic guide. Interviews were subjected to thematic analysis. Interviews were completed with 20 young people. Thematic analysis generated six themes: (1) the drugs do work, (2) the drugs don't work (as well as I'd like), (3) side effects, (4) the indirect effects of medication, (5) rage against the machine and (6) the not trivial issues about medication. Our overarching meta-theme was that young people's experience of taking antipsychotics was complex; medication was often considered good and bad at the same time. Our observations underpin

Episodic and Semantic Aspects of Memory for Prose.

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Dooling, D. James

This report describes research on Bartlett's theory of constructive memory. In experiment one, schematic retention is related to Tulving's distinction between episodic and semantic memory. With the passage of time, memory for prose reflects decreasing output from episodic memory and increasing output from semantic memory. In experiment two,…

Hauntings and poltergeist-like episodes as a confluence of conventional phenomena: a general hypothesis.

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Houran, J; Lange, R

1996-12-01

Hauntings and poltergeist-like episodes are argued to be products of contagious reactions to ambiguous environmental or cognitive events. In particular, evidence suggests that the subjective and objective effects reported by percipients are the function of independent, nonparanoraml etiologies whose constitutions have been previously established and described. According to this multivariate model, the labeling of ambiguous events as "abnormal" or "paranormal" initiates the reactive process which is subsequently sustained by perceptual contagion, i.e., flurries of paranormal observations due self-reinforcing attentional processes.

Episode forecasting in bipolar disorder: Is energy better than mood?

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Ortiz, Abigail; Bradler, Kamil; Hintze, Arend

2018-01-22

Bipolar disorder is a severe mood disorder characterized by alternating episodes of mania and depression. Several interventions have been developed to decrease high admission rates and high suicides rates associated with the illness, including psychoeducation and early episode detection, with mixed results. More recently, machine learning approaches have been used to aid clinical diagnosis or to detect a particular clinical state; however, contradictory results arise from confusion around which of the several automatically generated data are the most contributory and useful to detect a particular clinical state. Our aim for this study was to apply machine learning techniques and nonlinear analyses to a physiological time series dataset in order to find the best predictor for forecasting episodes in mood disorders. We employed three different techniques: entropy calculations and two different machine learning approaches (genetic programming and Markov Brains as classifiers) to determine whether mood, energy or sleep was the best predictor to forecast a mood episode in a physiological time series. Evening energy was the best predictor for both manic and depressive episodes in each of the three aforementioned techniques. This suggests that energy might be a better predictor than mood for forecasting mood episodes in bipolar disorder and that these particular machine learning approaches are valuable tools to be used clinically. Energy should be considered as an important factor for episode prediction. Machine learning approaches provide better tools to forecast episodes and to increase our understanding of the processes that underlie mood regulation. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Functional mapping of the neural basis for the encoding and retrieval of human episodic memory using H215O PET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jae Sung; Nam, Hyun Woo; Lee, Dong Soo; Lee, Sang Kun; Jang, Myoung Jin; Ahn, Ji Young; Park, Kwang Suk; Chung, June Key; Lee, Myung Chul

2000-01-01

Episodic memory is described as an 'autobiographical' memory responsible for storing a record of the events in our lives. We performed functional brain activation study using H 2 1 5O PET to reveal the neural basis of the encoding and the retrieval of episodic memory in human normal volunteers. Four repeated H 2 1 5O PET scans with two reference and two activation tasks were performed on 6 normal volunteers to activate brain areas engaged in encoding and retrieval with verbal materials. Images from the same subject were spatially registered and normalized using linear and nonlinear transformation. Using the means and variances for every condition which were adjusted with analysis of covariance, t-statistic analysis were performed voxel-wise. Encoding of episodic memory activated the opercular and triangular parts of left inferior frontal gyrus, right prefrontal cortex, medial frontal area, cingulate gyrus, posterior middle and inferior temporal gyri, and cerebellum, and both primary visual and visual association areas. Retrieval of episodic memory activated the triangular part of left inferior frontal gyrus and inferior temporal gyrus, right prefrontal cortex and medial temporal ares, and both cerebellum and primary visual and visual association areas. The activations in the opercular part of left inferior frontal gyrus and the right prefrontal cortex meant the essential role of these areas in the encoding and retrieval of episodic memeory. We could localize the neural basis of the encoding and retrieval of episodic memory using H 2 1 5O PET, which was partly consistent with the hypothesis of hemispheric encoding/retrieval asymmetry.=20

Antipsychotic medication for early episode schizophrenia

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Bola, John; Kao, Dennis; Soydan, Haluk; Adams, Clive E

2014-01-01

Background Long-term treatment with antipsychotic medications in early episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders is common, but both short and long-term effects on the illness are unclear. There have been numerous suggestions that people with early episodes of schizophrenia appear to respond differently than those with multiple prior episodes. The number of episodes may moderate response to drug treatment. Objectives To assess the effects of antipsychotic medication treatment on people with early episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Search methods We searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group register (July 2007) as well as references of included studies. We contacted authors of studies for further data. Selection criteria Studies with a majority of first and second episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders comparing initial antipsychotic medication treatment with placebo, milieu, or psychosocial treatment. Data collection and analysis Working independently, we critically appraised records from 681 studies, of which five studies met inclusion criteria. We calculated risk ratios (RR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) where possible. For continuous data, we calculated mean difference (MD). We calculated numbers needed to treat/harm (NNT/NNH) where appropriate. Main results Five studies (combined total n=998) met inclusion criteria. Four studies (n=724) provided leaving the study early data and results suggested that individuals treated with a typical antipsychotic medication are less likely to leave the study early than those treated with placebo (Chlorpromazine: 3 RCTs n=353, RR 0.4 CI 0.3 to 0.5, NNT 3.2, Fluphenaxine: 1 RCT n=240, RR 0.5 CI 0.3 to 0.8, NNT 5; Thioridazine: 1 RCT n=236, RR 0.44 CI 0.3 to 0.7, NNT 4.3, Trifulperazine: 1 RCT n=94, RR 0.96 CI 0.3 to 3.6). Two studies contributed data to assessment of adverse effects and present a general pattern of more frequent side effects among individuals treated with typical antipsychotic medications

Phenomenology of future-oriented mind-wandering episodes

OpenAIRE

David eStawarczyk; Helena eCassol; Arnaud eD'Argembeau

2013-01-01

Recent research suggests that prospective and non-prospective forms of mind-wandering possess distinct properties, yet little is known about what exactly differentiates between future-oriented and non-future-oriented mind-wandering episodes. In the present study, we used multilevel exploratory factor analyses to examine the factorial structure of various phenomenological dimensions of mind-wandering, and we then investigated whether future-oriented mind-wandering episodes differ from other cl...

Alcohol Storylines in Television Episodes: The Preventive Effect of Countering Epilogues.

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Russell, Cristel Antonia; Russell, Dale Wesley; Grube, Joel W; McQuarrie, Edward

2017-08-01

This experimental study assessed whether alcohol television storylines impact youth drinking attitudes and intentions and whether corrective epilogues can potentially moderate this impact. Television episodes were professionally produced to depict heavy drinking leading to either positive or negative consequences. The pro- and anti-alcohol episodes were shown alone or with an epilogue where a main character discussed the deleterious effects of excessive drinking. Attitudes toward drinkers and drinking intentions were measured subsequently, along with reactions to the episode and demographic data, among participants aged 14-17 using an online study. Exposure to the pro-alcohol episode was related to more positive attitudes toward drinkers. Including an epilogue after a pro-alcohol episode was related to more negative viewers' attitudes toward drinkers and lower drinking intentions compared to a pro-alcohol episode with no epilogue. By contrast, including an epilogue after an anti-alcohol episode was unrelated to attitudes toward drinkers or drinking intentions. Viewing a single television episode with a pro-alcohol message may lead to more positive attitudes toward drinkers. The finding that a brief epilogue may reduce the impact of the pro-alcohol storyline suggests easily implemented preventive strategies to counter the adverse impact of substance use portrayals in entertainment programming.

Functional brain imaging of episodic memory decline in ageing.

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Nyberg, L

2017-01-01

The episodic long-term memory system supports remembering of events. It is considered to be the most age-sensitive system, with an average onset of decline around 60 years of age. However, there is marked interindividual variability, such that some individuals show faster than average change and others show no or very little change. This variability may be related to the risk of developing dementia, with elevated risk for individuals with accelerated episodic memory decline. Brain imaging with functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signalling or positron emission tomography (PET) has been used to reveal the brain bases of declining episodic memory in ageing. Several studies have demonstrated a link between age-related episodic memory decline and the hippocampus during active mnemonic processing, which is further supported by studies of hippocampal functional connectivity in the resting state. The hippocampus interacts with anterior and posterior neocortical regions to support episodic memory, and alterations in hippocampus-neocortex connectivity have been shown to contribute to impaired episodic memory. Multimodal MRI studies and more recently hybrid MRI/PET studies allow consideration of various factors that can influence the association between the hippocampal BOLD signal and memory performance. These include neurovascular factors, grey and white matter structural alterations, dopaminergic neurotransmission, amyloid-Β and glucose metabolism. Knowledge about the brain bases of episodic memory decline can guide interventions to strengthen memory in older adults, particularly in those with an elevated risk of developing dementia, with promising results for combinations of cognitive and physical stimulation. © 2016 The Association for the Publication of the Journal of Internal Medicine.

Imaging episodic memory: implications for cognitive theories and phenomena.

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Nyberg, L

1999-01-01

Functional neuroimaging studies are beginning to identify neuroanatomical correlates of various cognitive functions. This paper presents results relevant to several theories and phenomena of episodic memory, including component processes of episodic retrieval, encoding specificity, inhibition, item versus source memory, encoding-retrieval overlap, and the picture-superiority effect. Overall, by revealing specific activation patterns, the results provide support for existing theoretical views and they add some unique information which may be important to consider in future attempts to develop cognitive theories of episodic memory.

Medial temporal lobe damage causes deficits in episodic memory and episodic future thinking not attributable to deficits in narrative construction.

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Race, Elizabeth; Keane, Margaret M; Verfaellie, Mieke

2011-07-13

The medial temporal lobe (MTL) makes critical contributions to episodic memory, but its contributions to episodic future thinking remain a matter of debate. By one view, imagining future events relies on MTL mechanisms that also support memory for past events. Alternatively, it has recently been suggested that future thinking is independent of MTL-mediated processes and can be supported by regions outside the MTL. The current study investigated the nature and necessity of MTL involvement in imagining the future and tested the novel hypothesis that the MTL contributes to future thinking by supporting online binding processes related to narrative construction. Human amnesic patients with well characterized MTL damage and healthy controls constructed narratives about (1) future events, (2) past events, and (3) visually presented pictures. While all three tasks place similar demands on narrative construction, only the past and future conditions require memory/future thinking to mentally generate relevant narrative information. Patients produced impoverished descriptions of both past and future events but were unimpaired at producing detailed picture narratives. In addition, future-thinking performance positively correlated with episodic memory performance but did not correlate with picture narrative performance. Finally, future-thinking impairments were present when MTL lesions were restricted to the hippocampus and did not depend on the presence of neural damage outside the MTL. These results indicate that the ability to generate and maintain a detailed narrative is preserved in amnesia and suggest that a common MTL mechanism supports both episodic memory and episodic future thinking.

Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Asenapine Maintenance Therapy in Adults With an Acute Manic or Mixed Episode Associated With Bipolar I Disorder.

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Szegedi, Armin; Durgam, Suresh; Mackle, Mary; Yu, Sung Yun; Wu, Xiao; Mathews, Maju; Landbloom, Ronald P

2018-01-01

The authors determined the efficacy and safety of asenapine in preventing recurrence of any mood episode in adults with bipolar I disorder. Adults with an acute manic or mixed episode per DSM-IV-TR criteria were enrolled in this randomized, placebo-controlled trial consisting of an initial 12- to 16-week open-label period and a 26-week double-blind randomized withdrawal period. The target asenapine dosage was 10 mg b.i.d. in the open-label period but could be titrated down to 5 mg b.i.d. After completing the open-label period, subjects meeting stabilization/stable-responder criteria were randomized to asenapine or placebo treatment in the double-blind period. The primary efficacy endpoint was time to recurrence of any mood event during the double-blind period. Kaplan-Meier estimation was performed, and 95% confidence intervals were determined. Safety was assessed throughout. A total of 549 subjects entered the open-label period, of whom 253 enrolled in the double-blind randomized withdrawal period (127 in the placebo group; 126 in the asenapine group). Time to recurrence of any mood episode was statistically significantly longer for asenapine- than placebo-treated subjects. In post hoc analyses, significant differences in favor of asenapine over placebo were seen in time to recurrence of manic and depressive episodes. The most common treatment-emergent adverse events were somnolence (10.0%), akathisia (7.7%), and sedation (7.7%) in the open-label period and mania (11.9% of the placebo group compared with 4.0% of the asenapine group) and bipolar I disorder (6.3% compared with 1.6%) in the double-blind period. Long-term treatment with asenapine was more effective than placebo in preventing recurrence of mood events in adults with bipolar I disorder and was generally well-tolerated.

Subjective visual vertical before and after treatment of a BPPV episode.

Science.gov (United States)

Faralli, Mario; Manzari, Leonardo; Panichi, Roberto; Botti, Fabio; Ricci, Giampietro; Longari, Fabrizio; Pettorossi, Vito Enrico

2011-06-01

The study analyses the behavior of subjective visual vertical (SVV) in benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) before and after treatment, and offers a clinical-pathogenic interpretation. We studied 30 consecutive patients with BPPV of the posterior semicircular canal treated with the Epley repositioning maneuver. SVV was determined at three different stages: at the time of diagnosis (1st test), after the repositioning maneuver (2nd test), and then 7 days after the resolution of the clinical picture (3rd test). The main study parameter was represented by the mean of 6 consecutive measurements (SVV(0)) for each patient. SVV was also examined in 20 healthy subjects, who represented the control group. The comparison between mean values and standard deviations showed a statistical significance of p<0.05. During the first test, the degree of deviation of SVV was significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group. Tilting towards the affected side was observed in all cases. The 2nd test showed an inversion in the orientation of SVV in 16 patients, and as a result of the Epley maneuver there was a statistically significant variation in SVV(0) values in 20 patients with respect to the previous test (2nd test vs. 1st test). This involved 87% (23 patients) of those who then had a negative Dix-Hallpike test, and none of the ones in whom paroxysmal positional nystagmus persisted. Lastly, no differences emerged in the behavior of the patient group vs. the control group during the third test. SVV is often altered during active BPPV. The degree of otolithic dysfunction is never high and, in all cases, it is brief in duration. Tilting towards the dysfunctional side is essentially a constant in untreated BPPV. This could be due to a substantial loss of otoconia, with a decrease in the density and specific weight of the macula, and thus hypofunction of the receptor. The observation of a significant variation in SVV after therapeutic maneuvers has a favorable

Phase delaying the human circadian clock with a single light pulse and moderate delay of the sleep/dark episode: no influence of iris color.

Science.gov (United States)

Canton, Jillian L; Smith, Mark R; Choi, Ho-Sun; Eastman, Charmane I

2009-07-17

Light exposure in the late evening and nighttime and a delay of the sleep/dark episode can phase delay the circadian clock. This study assessed the size of the phase delay produced by a single light pulse combined with a moderate delay of the sleep/dark episode for one day. Because iris color or race has been reported to influence light-induced melatonin suppression, and we have recently reported racial differences in free-running circadian period and circadian phase shifting in response to light pulses, we also tested for differences in the magnitude of the phase delay in subjects with blue and brown irises. Subjects (blue-eyed n = 7; brown eyed n = 6) maintained a regular sleep schedule for 1 week before coming to the laboratory for a baseline phase assessment, during which saliva was collected every 30 minutes to determine the time of the dim light melatonin onset (DLMO). Immediately following the baseline phase assessment, which ended 2 hours after baseline bedtime, subjects received a 2-hour bright light pulse (~4,000 lux). An 8-hour sleep episode followed the light pulse (i.e. was delayed 4 hours from baseline). A final phase assessment was conducted the subsequent night to determine the phase shift of the DLMO from the baseline to final phase assessment.Phase delays of the DLMO were compared in subjects with blue and brown irises. Iris color was also quantified from photographs using the three dimensions of red-green-blue color axes, as well as a lightness scale. These variables were correlated with phase shift of the DLMO, with the hypothesis that subjects with lighter irises would have larger phase delays. The average phase delay of the DLMO was -1.3 +/- 0.6 h, with a maximum delay of ~2 hours, and was similar for subjects with blue and brown irises. There were no significant correlations between any of the iris color variables and the magnitude of the phase delay. A single 2-hour bright light pulse combined with a moderate delay of the sleep/dark episode

Phase delaying the human circadian clock with a single light pulse and moderate delay of the sleep/dark episode: no influence of iris color

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Choi Ho-Sun

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Light exposure in the late evening and nighttime and a delay of the sleep/dark episode can phase delay the circadian clock. This study assessed the size of the phase delay produced by a single light pulse combined with a moderate delay of the sleep/dark episode for one day. Because iris color or race has been reported to influence light-induced melatonin suppression, and we have recently reported racial differences in free-running circadian period and circadian phase shifting in response to light pulses, we also tested for differences in the magnitude of the phase delay in subjects with blue and brown irises. Methods Subjects (blue-eyed n = 7; brown eyed n = 6 maintained a regular sleep schedule for 1 week before coming to the laboratory for a baseline phase assessment, during which saliva was collected every 30 minutes to determine the time of the dim light melatonin onset (DLMO. Immediately following the baseline phase assessment, which ended 2 hours after baseline bedtime, subjects received a 2-hour bright light pulse (~4,000 lux. An 8-hour sleep episode followed the light pulse (i.e. was delayed 4 hours from baseline. A final phase assessment was conducted the subsequent night to determine the phase shift of the DLMO from the baseline to final phase assessment. Phase delays of the DLMO were compared in subjects with blue and brown irises. Iris color was also quantified from photographs using the three dimensions of red-green-blue color axes, as well as a lightness scale. These variables were correlated with phase shift of the DLMO, with the hypothesis that subjects with lighter irises would have larger phase delays. Results The average phase delay of the DLMO was -1.3 ± 0.6 h, with a maximum delay of ~2 hours, and was similar for subjects with blue and brown irises. There were no significant correlations between any of the iris color variables and the magnitude of the phase delay. Conclusion A single 2-hour bright light

Laterality effects in functional connectivity of the angular gyrus during rest and episodic retrieval.

Science.gov (United States)

Bellana, Buddhika; Liu, Zhongxu; Anderson, John A E; Moscovitch, Morris; Grady, Cheryl L

2016-01-08

The angular gyrus (AG) is consistently reported in neuroimaging studies of episodic memory retrieval and is a fundamental node within the default mode network (DMN). Its specific contribution to episodic memory is debated, with some suggesting it is important for the subjective experience of episodic recollection, rather than retrieval of objective episodic details. Across studies of episodic retrieval, the left AG is recruited more reliably than the right. We explored functional connectivity of the right and left AG with the DMN during rest and retrieval to assess whether connectivity could provide insight into the nature of this laterality effect. Using data from the publically available 1000 Functional Connectome Project, 8min of resting fMRI data from 180 healthy young adults were analysed. Whole-brain functional connectivity at rest was measured using a seed-based Partial Least Squares (seed-PLS) approach (McIntosh and Lobaugh, 2004) with bilateral AG seeds. A subsequent analysis used 6-min of rest and 6-min of unconstrained, silent retrieval of autobiographical events from a new sample of 20 younger adults. Analysis of this dataset took a more targeted approach to functional connectivity analysis, consisting of univariate pairwise correlations restricted to nodes of the DMN. The seed-PLS analysis resulted in two Latent Variables that together explained ~86% of the shared cross-block covariance. The first LV revealed a common network consistent with the DMN and engaging the AG bilaterally, whereas the second LV revealed a less robust, yet significant, laterality effect in connectivity - the left AG was more strongly connected to the DMN. Univariate analyses of the second sample again revealed better connectivity between the left AG and the DMN at rest. However, during retrieval the left AG was more strongly connected than the right to non-medial temporal (MTL) nodes of the DMN, and MTL nodes were more strongly connected to the right AG. The multivariate

Episodes, events, and models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sangeet eKhemlani

2015-10-01

Full Text Available We describe a novel computational theory of how individuals segment perceptual information into representations of events. The theory is inspired by recent findings in the cognitive science and cognitive neuroscience of event segmentation. In line with recent theories, it holds that online event segmentation is automatic, and that event segmentation yields mental simulations of events. But it posits two novel principles as well: first, discrete episodic markers track perceptual and conceptual changes, and can be retrieved to construct event models. Second, the process of retrieving and reconstructing those episodic markers is constrained and prioritized. We describe a computational implementation of the theory, as well as a robotic extension of the theory that demonstrates the processes of online event segmentation and event model construction. The theory is the first unified computational account of event segmentation and temporal inference. We conclude by demonstrating now neuroimaging data can constrain and inspire the construction of process-level theories of human reasoning.

Why do we remember? The communicative function of episodic memory

Science.gov (United States)

Mahr, Johannes B.; Csibra, Gergely

2017-01-01

Short Abstract We propose a novel account of episodic memory function based on a conceptual and empirical analysis of its role in belief formation. We provide a critique of the view that episodic memory serves future-directed imagination, and argue that the central features of this capacity can instead be explained by the role it plays in human communication. On this view, episodic memory allows us to communicatively support our interpretations of the past by gauging when we can assert epistemic authority. This capacity is ineliminable in justification of, and negotiations about, social commitments established by past interactions. Long Abstract Episodic memory has been analyzed in a number of different ways in both philosophy and psychology, and most controversy has centered on its self-referential, ‘autonoetic’ character. Here, we offer a comprehensive characterization of episodic memory in representational terms, and propose a novel functional account on this basis. We argue that episodic memory should be understood as a distinctive epistemic attitude taken towards an event simulation. On this view, episodic memory has a metarepresentational format and should not be equated with beliefs about the past. Instead, empirical findings suggest that the contents of human episodic memory are often constructed in the service of the explicit justification of such beliefs. Existing accounts of episodic memory function that have focused on explaining its constructive character through its role in ‘future-oriented mental time travel’ neither do justice to its capacity to ground veridical beliefs about the past nor to its representational format. We provide an account of the metarepresentational structure of episodic memory in terms of its role in communicative interaction. The generative nature of recollection allows us to represent and communicate the reasons for why we hold certain beliefs about the past. In this process, autonoesis corresponds to the capacity to

Characterization of intense aerosol episodes in the Mediterranean basin from satellite observations

Science.gov (United States)

Gkikas, Antonis; Hatzianastassiou, Nikos; Mihalopoulos, Nikolaos

2014-05-01

The properties and distribution of aerosols over the broader Mediterranean region are complex since particles of different nature are either produced within its boundaries or transported from other regions. Thus, coarse dust aerosols are transported primarily from Sahara and secondarily from Middle East, while fine polluted aerosols are either produced locally from anthropogenic activities or they are transported from neighbouring or remote European areas. Also during summer biomass aerosols are transported towards the Mediterranean, originating from massive and extended fires occurring in northern Balkans and Eastern Europe and favoured by the prevailing synoptic conditions. In addition, sea-salt aerosols originate from the Mediterranean Sea or the Atlantic Ocean. Occasionally, aerosols are encountered at very high concentrations (aerosol episodes or events) significantly affecting atmospheric dynamics and climate as well as human health. Given the coexistence of different aerosols as internal and external mixtures characterizing and discriminating between the different types of aerosol episodes is a big challenge. A characterization and classification of intense aerosol episodes in the Mediterranean basin (March 2000 - February 2007) is attempted in the present study. This is achieved by implementing an objective and dynamic algorithm which uses daily aerosol optical properties derived from satellite measurements, namely MODIS-Terra, Earth Probe (EP)-TOMS and OMI-Aura. The aerosol episodes are first classified into strong and extreme ones, according to their intensity, by means of aerosol optical depth at 550nm (AOD550nm). Subsequently, they are discriminated into the following aerosol types: (i) biomass/urban-industrial (BU), (ii) desert dust (DD), (iii) sea-salt like (SS), (iv) mixed (MX) and (v) undetermined (UN). The classification is based on aerosol optical properties accounting for the particles' size (Ångström exponent, Effective radius), the

White matter structural connectivity and episodic memory in early childhood.

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Ngo, Chi T; Alm, Kylie H; Metoki, Athanasia; Hampton, William; Riggins, Tracy; Newcombe, Nora S; Olson, Ingrid R

2017-12-01

Episodic memory undergoes dramatic improvement in early childhood; the reason for this is poorly understood. In adults, episodic memory relies on a distributed neural network. Key brain regions that supporting these processes include the hippocampus, portions of the parietal cortex, and portions of prefrontal cortex, each of which shows different developmental profiles. Here we asked whether developmental differences in the axonal pathways connecting these regions may account for the robust gains in episodic memory in young children. Using diffusion weighted imaging, we examined whether white matter connectivity between brain regions implicated in episodic memory differed with age, and were associated with memory performance differences in 4- and 6-year-old children. Results revealed that white matter connecting the hippocampus to the inferior parietal lobule significantly predicted children's performance on episodic memory tasks. In contrast, variation in the white matter connecting the hippocampus to the medial prefrontal cortex did not relate to memory performance. These findings suggest that structural connectivity between the hippocampus and lateral parietal regions is relevant to the development of episodic memory. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Episodic memory and future thinking during early childhood: Linking the past and future.

Science.gov (United States)

Cuevas, Kimberly; Rajan, Vinaya; Morasch, Katherine C; Bell, Martha Ann

2015-07-01

Despite extensive examination of episodic memory and future thinking development, little is known about the concurrent emergence of these capacities during early childhood. In Experiment 1, 3-year-olds participated in an episodic memory hiding task ("what, when, where" [WWW] components) with an episodic future thinking component. In Experiment 2, a group of 4-year-olds (including children from Experiment 1) participated in the same task (different objects and locations), providing the first longitudinal investigation of episodic memory and future thinking. Although children exhibited age-related improvements in recall, recognition, and binding of the WWW episodic memory components, there were no age-related changes in episodic future thinking. At both ages, WWW episodic memory performance was higher than future thinking performance, and episodic future thinking and WWW memory components were unrelated. These findings suggest that the WWW components of episodic memory are potentially less fragile than the future components when assessed in a cognitively demanding task. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Visual perspective in remembering and episodic future thought.

Science.gov (United States)

McDermott, Kathleen B; Wooldridge, Cynthia L; Rice, Heather J; Berg, Jeffrey J; Szpunar, Karl K

2016-01-01

According to the constructive episodic simulation hypothesis, remembering and episodic future thinking are supported by a common set of constructive processes. In the present study, we directly addressed this assertion in the context of third-person perspectives that arise during remembering and episodic future thought. Specifically, we examined the frequency with which participants remembered past events or imagined future events from third-person perspectives. We also examined the different viewpoints from which third-person perspective events were remembered or imagined. Although future events were somewhat more likely to be imagined from a third-person perspective, the spatial viewpoint distributions of third-person perspectives characterizing remembered and imagined events were highly similar. These results suggest that a similar constructive mechanism may be at work when people remember events from a perspective that could not have been experienced in the past and when they imagine events from a perspective that could not be experienced in the future. The findings are discussed in terms of their consistency with--and as extensions of--the constructive episodic simulation hypothesis.

Memory sources of dreams: the incorporation of autobiographical rather than episodic experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Malinowski, Josie E; Horton, Caroline L

2014-08-01

The present study aimed to explore autobiographical memories (long-lasting memories about the self) and episodic memories (memories about discrete episodes or events) within dream content. We adapted earlier episodic memory study paradigms and reinvestigated the incorporation of episodic memory sources into dreams, operationalizing episodic memory as featuring autonoetic consciousness, which is the feeling of truly re-experiencing or reliving a past event. Participants (n = 32) recorded daily diaries and dream diaries, and reported on wake-dream relations for 2 weeks. Using a new scale, dreams were rated for their episodic richness, which categorized memory sources of dreams as being truly episodic (featuring autonoetic consciousness), autobiographical (containing segregated features of experiences that pertained to waking life) or otherwise. Only one dream (0.5%) was found to contain an episodic memory. However, the majority of dreams (>80%) were found to contain low to moderate incorporations of autobiographical memory features. These findings demonstrate the inactivity of intact episodic memories, and emphasize the activity of autobiographical memory and processing within dreams. Taken together, this suggests that memories for personal experiences are experienced fragmentarily and selectively during dreaming, perhaps in order to assimilate these memories into the autobiographical memory schema. © 2014 European Sleep Research Society.

Border Collie Collapse: Owner Survey Results and Veterinary Description of Videotaped Episodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Susan; Minor, Katie; Shmon, Cindy L; Shelton, G Diane; Patterson, Edward E; Mickelson, James R

Completed surveys were obtained from owners of 165 border collies experiencing repeated episodes of abnormal gait or collapse during strenuous exercise. Unremarkable veterinary evaluation and lack of disease progression over time made common systemic, cardiac, and neurologic causes of exercise intolerance unlikely. Survey questions addressed signalment, age of onset, description of episodes, and owner perception of factors associated with collapse. Most dogs were young adults (median 2 yr) when episodes began, and they had experienced from 2 to more than 100 episodes (median 6) prior to their owners completing the survey. Retrieving was the activity most commonly associated with episodes (112/165 dogs, 68%), followed by herding stock (39/165 dogs, 24%). Owners reported that high environmental temperatures (111/165 dogs, 67%) and excitement (67/165 dogs, 41%) increased the likelihood of their dog having an episode during strenuous activity. Veterinary evaluation of videotapes of presumed border collie collapse (BCC) episodes (40 dogs) were used to provide a description of the typical features of BCC episodes. Altered mentation, symmetrical ataxia affecting all four limbs, increased pelvic limb extensor tone and toe scuffing or knuckling, truncal swaying, and falling to the side were common features, suggesting that BCC may be an episodic diffuse central nervous system disorder.

Longitudinal association between hippocampus atrophy and episodic-memory decline.

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Gorbach, Tetiana; Pudas, Sara; Lundquist, Anders; Orädd, Greger; Josefsson, Maria; Salami, Alireza; de Luna, Xavier; Nyberg, Lars

2017-03-01

There is marked variability in both onset and rate of episodic-memory decline in aging. Structural magnetic resonance imaging studies have revealed that the extent of age-related brain changes varies markedly across individuals. Past studies of whether regional atrophy accounts for episodic-memory decline in aging have yielded inconclusive findings. Here we related 15-year changes in episodic memory to 4-year changes in cortical and subcortical gray matter volume and in white-matter connectivity and lesions. In addition, changes in word fluency, fluid IQ (Block Design), and processing speed were estimated and related to structural brain changes. Significant negative change over time was observed for all cognitive and brain measures. A robust brain-cognition change-change association was observed for episodic-memory decline and atrophy in the hippocampus. This association was significant for older (65-80 years) but not middle-aged (55-60 years) participants and not sensitive to the assumption of ignorable attrition. Thus, these longitudinal findings highlight medial-temporal lobe system integrity as particularly crucial for maintaining episodic-memory functioning in older age. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

White Matter Changes in First Episode Psychosis and their Relation to the Size of Sample Studied: A DTI Study

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Melicher, T.; Horáček, J.; Hlinka, Jaroslav; Španiel, F.; Tintěra, J.; Ibrahim, I.; Mikoláš, P.; Novák, T.; Mohr, P.; Höschl, C.

2015-01-01

Roč. 162, 1-3 (2015), s. 22-28 ISSN 0920-9964 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-23940S Grant - others:GA UK(CZ) 1392213 Institutional support: RVO:67985807 Keywords : first episode psychosis * schizophrenia * diffusion tensor imaging * Tract-Based Spatial Statistics * fractional anisotropy Subject RIV: FL - Psychiatry, Sexuology Impact factor: 4.453, year: 2015

Why do we remember? The communicative function of episodic memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahr, Johannes; Csibra, Gergely

2017-01-19

Episodic memory has been analyzed in a number of different ways in both philosophy and psychology, and most controversy has centered on its self-referential, 'autonoetic' character. Here, we offer a comprehensive characterization of episodic memory in representational terms, and propose a novel functional account on this basis. We argue that episodic memory should be understood as a distinctive epistemic attitude taken towards an event simulation. On this view, episodic memory has a metarepresentational format and should not be equated with beliefs about the past. Instead, empirical findings suggest that the contents of human episodic memory are often constructed in the service of the explicit justification of such beliefs. Existing accounts of episodic memory function that have focused on explaining its constructive character through its role in 'future-oriented mental time travel' neither do justice to its capacity to ground veridical beliefs about the past nor to its representational format. We provide an account of the metarepresentational structure of episodic memory in terms of its role in communicative interaction. The generative nature of recollection allows us to represent and communicate the reasons for why we hold certain beliefs about the past. In this process, autonoesis corresponds to the capacity to determine when and how to assert epistemic authority in making claims about the past. A domain where such claims are indispensable are human social engagements. Such engagements commonly require the justification of entitlements and obligations, which is often possible only by explicit reference to specific past events.

Evaluation of episodic acidification and amphibian declines in the Rocky Mountains

Science.gov (United States)

Frank A. Vertucci; Paul Stephen Corn

1996-01-01

We define criteria for documenting episodic acidification of amphibian breeding habitats and examine whether episodic acidification is responsible for observed declines of amphibian populations in the Rocky Mountains. Anthropogenic episodic acidification, caused by atmospheric deposition of sulfate and nitrate, occurs when the concentration of acid anions increases...

Spatial navigation, episodic memory, episodic future thinking, and theory of mind in children with autism spectrum disorder: evidence for impairments in mental simulation?

Science.gov (United States)

Lind, Sophie E; Bowler, Dermot M; Raber, Jacob

2014-01-01

This study explored spatial navigation alongside several other cognitive abilities that are thought to share common underlying neurocognitive mechanisms (e.g., the capacity for self-projection, scene construction, or mental simulation), and which we hypothesized may be impaired in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Twenty intellectually high-functioning children with ASD (with a mean age of ~8 years) were compared to 20 sex, age, IQ, and language ability matched typically developing children on a series of tasks to assess spatial navigation, episodic memory, episodic future thinking (also known as episodic foresight or prospection), theory of mind (ToM), relational memory, and central coherence. This is the first study to explore these abilities concurrently within the same sample. Spatial navigation was assessed using the "memory island" task, which involves finding objects within a realistic, computer simulated, three-dimensional environment. Episodic memory and episodic future thinking were assessed using a past and future event description task. ToM was assessed using the "animations" task, in which children were asked to describe the interactions between two animated triangles. Relational memory was assessed using a recognition task involving memory for items (line drawings), patterned backgrounds, or combinations of items and backgrounds. Central coherence was assessed by exploring differences in performance across segmented and unsegmented versions of block design. Children with ASD were found to show impairments in spatial navigation, episodic memory, episodic future thinking, and central coherence, but not ToM or relational memory. Among children with ASD, spatial navigation was found to be significantly negatively related to the number of repetitive behaviors. In other words, children who showed more repetitive behaviors showed poorer spatial navigation. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.

Spatial navigation, episodic memory, episodic future thinking, and theory of mind in children with autism spectrum disorder: Evidence for impairments in mental simulation?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sophie Elizabeth Lind

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This study explored spatial navigation alongside several other cognitive abilities that are thought to share common underlying neurocognitive mechanisms (e.g., the capacity for self-projection, scene construction, or mental simulation, and which we hypothesised may be impaired in autism spectrum disorder (ASD. Twenty intellectually high-functioning children with ASD (with a mean age of ~8 years were compared to 20 sex, age, IQ, and language ability matched typically developing children on a series of tasks to assess spatial navigation, episodic memory, episodic future thinking (also known as episodic foresight or prospection, theory of mind, relational memory, and central coherence. This is the first study to explore these abilities concurrently within the same sample. Spatial navigation was assessed using the memory island task, which involves finding objects within a realistic, computer simulated, three-dimensional environment. Episodic memory and episodic future thinking were assessed using a past and future event description task. Theory of mind was assessed using the animations task, in which children were asked to describe the interactions between two animated triangles. Relational memory was assessed using a recognition task involving memory for items (line drawings, patterned backgrounds, or combinations of items and backgrounds. Central coherence was assessed by exploring differences in performance across segmented and unsegmented versions of block design. Children with ASD were found to show impairments in spatial navigation, episodic memory, episodic future thinking, and central coherence, but not theory of mind or relational memory. Among children with ASD, spatial navigation was found to be significantly negatively related to number of repetitive behaviours. In other words, children who showed more repetitive behaviours showed poorer spatial navigation. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.

Spatial navigation, episodic memory, episodic future thinking, and theory of mind in children with autism spectrum disorder: evidence for impairments in mental simulation?

Science.gov (United States)

Lind, Sophie E.; Bowler, Dermot M.; Raber, Jacob

2014-01-01

This study explored spatial navigation alongside several other cognitive abilities that are thought to share common underlying neurocognitive mechanisms (e.g., the capacity for self-projection, scene construction, or mental simulation), and which we hypothesized may be impaired in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Twenty intellectually high-functioning children with ASD (with a mean age of ~8 years) were compared to 20 sex, age, IQ, and language ability matched typically developing children on a series of tasks to assess spatial navigation, episodic memory, episodic future thinking (also known as episodic foresight or prospection), theory of mind (ToM), relational memory, and central coherence. This is the first study to explore these abilities concurrently within the same sample. Spatial navigation was assessed using the “memory island” task, which involves finding objects within a realistic, computer simulated, three-dimensional environment. Episodic memory and episodic future thinking were assessed using a past and future event description task. ToM was assessed using the “animations” task, in which children were asked to describe the interactions between two animated triangles. Relational memory was assessed using a recognition task involving memory for items (line drawings), patterned backgrounds, or combinations of items and backgrounds. Central coherence was assessed by exploring differences in performance across segmented and unsegmented versions of block design. Children with ASD were found to show impairments in spatial navigation, episodic memory, episodic future thinking, and central coherence, but not ToM or relational memory. Among children with ASD, spatial navigation was found to be significantly negatively related to the number of repetitive behaviors. In other words, children who showed more repetitive behaviors showed poorer spatial navigation. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed. PMID:25538661

Medial Temporal Lobe Damage Causes Deficits in Episodic Memory and Episodic Future Thinking Not Attributable to Deficits in Narrative Construction

Science.gov (United States)

Race, Elizabeth; Keane, Margaret M.; Verfaellie, Mieke

2015-01-01

The medial temporal lobe (MTL) makes critical contributions to episodic memory, but its contributions to episodic future thinking remain a matter of debate. By one view, imagining future events relies on MTL mechanisms that also support memory for past events. Alternatively, it has recently been suggested that future thinking is independent of MTL-mediated processes and can be supported by regions outside the MTL. The current study investigated the nature and necessity of MTL involvement in imagining the future and tested the novel hypothesis that the MTL contributes to future thinking by supporting online binding processes related to narrative construction. Human amnesic patients with well-characterized MTL damage and healthy controls constructed narratives about (a) future events, (b) past events, and (c) visually-presented pictures. While all three tasks place similar demands on narrative construction, only the past and future conditions require memory/future thinking to mentally generate relevant narrative information. Patients produced impoverished descriptions of both past and future events but were unimpaired at producing detailed picture narratives. In addition, future-thinking performance positively correlated with episodic memory performance but did not correlate with picture narrative performance. Finally, future-thinking impairments were present when MTL lesions were restricted to the hippocampus and did not depend on the presence of neural damage outside the MTL. These results indicate that the ability to generate and maintain a detailed narrative is preserved in amnesia and suggest that a common MTL mechanism supports both episodic memory and episodic future thinking. PMID:21753003

Episodic future thinking in semantic dementia: a cognitive and FMRI study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Armelle Viard

Full Text Available Semantic dementia (SD is characterized by gradual loss of semantic memory. While episodic autobiographical memory seems relatively preserved, behavioral studies suggest that episodic future thinking is impaired. We used fMRI to measure brain activity in four SD patients (JPL, EP, LL, EG while they envisioned future events and remembered personal past events. Twelve healthy elders served as controls. Episodic quality, emotion, mental imagery and level of consciousness (via remember/know judgements were checked at debriefing. We analyzed the future compared to the past for each patient. All patients presented lateral temporal atrophy, but varied in terms of frontal and anterior hippocampal atrophy. Patient JPL presented atrophy in bilateral superior medial frontal gyri and left anterior hippocampus and was unable to engage in episodic future thinking, despite hyperactivations in frontal and occipital regions. Patient EP presented no atrophy in the anterior hippocampus, but atrophy in bilateral superior medial frontal gyrus and had difficulties to engage in episodic future thinking. Patient LL presented atrophy in left anterior hippocampus, but hyperactivated its right counterpart for future compared to past thinking, permitting her to project efficiently in the future in an episodic way. Patient EG presented no atrophy in the superior medial frontal gyri or anterior hippocampi and was able to engage in episodic future thinking. Altogether, patients' future projections differed depending on the severity and localization of their atrophy. The functional integrity of bilateral superior medial frontal gyri and anterior hippocampus appear crucial for episodic future thinking: atrophy of both structures strongly impairs future projection, while integrity of these structures or hyperactivation of residual tissue normalizes episodic future projection.

Episodic reinstatement in the medial temporal lobe.

Science.gov (United States)

Staresina, Bernhard P; Henson, Richard N A; Kriegeskorte, Nikolaus; Alink, Arjen

2012-12-12

The essence of episodic memory is our ability to reexperience past events in great detail, even in the absence of external stimulus cues. Does the phenomenological reinstatement of past experiences go along with reinstating unique neural representations in the brain? And if so, how is this accomplished by the medial temporal lobe (MTL), a brain region intimately linked to episodic memory? Computational models suggest that such reinstatement (also termed "pattern completion") in cortical regions is mediated by the hippocampus, a key region of the MTL. Although recent functional magnetic resonance imaging studies demonstrated reinstatement of coarse item properties like stimulus category or task context across different brain regions, it has not yet been shown whether reinstatement can be observed at the level of individual, discrete events-arguably the defining feature of episodic memory-nor whether MTL structures like the hippocampus support this "true episodic" reinstatement. Here we show that neural activity patterns for unique word-scene combinations encountered during encoding are reinstated in human parahippocampal cortex (PhC) during retrieval. Critically, this reinstatement occurs when word-scene combinations are successfully recollected (even though the original scene is not visually presented) and does not encompass other stimulus domains (such as word-color associations). Finally, the degree of PhC reinstatement across retrieval events correlated with hippocampal activity, consistent with a role of the hippocampus in coordinating pattern completion in cortical regions.

Episodic Spin-up and Spin-down Torque on Earth

Science.gov (United States)

Slabinski, Victor J.; Mendonca, Antonio A.

2018-04-01

Variations in Earth rotation angle are traditionally expressed by the time difference (ΔT=TT-UT1) between Terrestrial Time (TT) as told by atomic clocks and Universal Time UT1, the time variable used by the Earth-rotation formula. A plot of ΔT versus TT over the past 160 years shows a continuous curve with approximate straight-line segments with different spans of order ~20 years. Removing the tidal and seasonal variations from the data gives these line segments which represent the “decadal variations” in Earth rotation.The slope of a straight-line segment is proportional to the departure of Earth rotation rate from a reference value at the time. The change in slope over the relatively short time between segments indicates an episodic spin-up or spin-down in Earth rotation. The daily combination of VLBI, SLR, and other modern data available since 1973 gives us accurate, daily values of ΔT and the corresponding LOD (Length Of Day) values during these episodes. These allow us to determine the rotational acceleration occurring then.The three largest spin-speed changes found during the VLBI era have the following characteristics:Episode _____________ Duration__ ΔLOD__LOD Rate1983 Dec 30-1984 Jan 28 ... 29 d ...-0.65 ms ..-8.3 ms/y ..........spin-up1989 Mar 15-1989 May 23 ...69 d ....0.68 .......+3.6 ..............spin-down1994 Jan 21-2001 Apr 01 ... 6.5 y ...-2.2 .........-0.36 ..extended spin-upFor the first two episodes listed, we find the acceleration grows from zero (or at least a relatively small value) to its extreme value in ~1 day, stays approximately constant at this value for 29 or 69 days, and then decays back to zero over ~1 day. The acceleration, while it occurs, gives an LOD rate much greater than the 0.02 ms/y rate from tidal friction.The third episode shows that occasionally a several-year-long episode occurs. The acceleration magnitude is smaller but can make a larger total change in LOD (and spin rate). Tidal friction requires >100 y to equal

Volume of hippocampal subfields and episodic memory in childhood and adolescence.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Joshua K; Ekstrom, Arne D; Ghetti, Simona

2014-07-01

Episodic memory critically depends on the hippocampus to bind the features of an experience into memory. Episodic memory develops in childhood and adolescence, and hippocampal changes during this period may contribute to this development. Little is known, however, about how the hippocampus contributes to episodic memory development. The hippocampus is comprised of several cytoarchitectural subfields with functional significance for episodic memory. However, hippocampal subfields have not been assessed in vivo during child development, nor has their relation with episodic memory been assessed during this period. In the present study, high-resolution T2-weighted images of the hippocampus were acquired in 39 children and adolescents aged 8 to 14 years (M=11.30, SD=2.38), and hippocampal subfields were segmented using a protocol previously validated in adult populations. We first validated the method in children and adolescents and examined age-related differences in hippocampal subfields and correlations between subfield volumes and episodic memory. Significant age-related increases in the subfield volume were observed into early adolescence in the right CA3/DG and CA1. The right CA3/DG subfield volumes were positively correlated with accurate episodic memory for item-color relations, and the right CA3/DG and subiculum were negatively correlated with item false alarm rates. Subfield development appears to follow a protracted developmental trajectory, and likely plays a pivotal role in episodic memory development. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Emotion episodes during psychotherapy sessions among women newly diagnosed with gynecological cancers.

Science.gov (United States)

Myers Virtue, Shannon; Manne, Sharon L; Darabos, Kathleen; Heckman, Carolyn J; Ozga, Melissa; Kissane, David; Rubin, Stephen; Rosenblum, Norman

2015-09-01

The aim of this study was to describe emotion episodes during early and late psychotherapy sessions among women newly diagnosed with gynecological cancer and to examine whether the total number of emotion episodes during early and later sessions was associated with baseline psychological distress, dispositional emotion expressivity, and patient-rated therapeutic progress. The study utilized data from an ongoing study examining the efficacy of two psychotherapy interventions, a coping and communication intervention and a supportive counseling intervention, for women diagnosed with gynecological cancer. Emotion episode coding was completed for the first and sixth psychotherapy sessions for each patient randomized to receive psychotherapy (N = 173). Patients completed baseline survey measures of psychological distress and dispositional emotional expressivity and post-session ratings of therapeutic progress. The average number of emotion episodes was 7.4 in the first session and 5.2 episodes in the sixth session. In both sessions, the majority of emotion episodes contained only negative emotions and focused on a cancer-related topic. A higher number of emotion episodes in the first session was associated with higher psychological distress reported in the baseline survey (p = 0.02). A higher number of emotion episodes in the sixth session was associated with a higher number of emotion episodes in the first session (p psychotherapy among women diagnosed with gynecological cancer. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Effect of Taurine on Febrile Episodes in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mina Islambulchilar

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of our study was to evaluate the effect of oral taurine on the incidence of febrile episodes during chemotherapy in young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Methods: Forty young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, at the beginning of maintenance course of their chemotherapy, were eligible for this study. The study population was randomized in a double blind manner to receive either taurine or placebo (2 gram per day orally. Life quality and side effects including febrile episodes were assessed using questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Pearson’s Chi square test. Results: Of total forty participants, 43.8% were female and 56.3 % were male. The mean age was 19.16±1.95 years (ranges: 16-23 years. The results indicated that the levels of white blood cells are significantly (P<0.05 increased in taurine treated group. There was no elevation in blasts count. A total of 70 febrile episodes were observed during study, febrile episodes were significantly (P<0.05 lower in taurine patients in comparison to the control ones. Conclusion: The overall incidence of febrile episodes and infectious complications in acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients receiving taurine was lower than placebo group. Taurine’s ability to increase leukocyte count may result in lower febrile episodes.

[Optical properties of aerosol during haze-fog episodes in Beijing].

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Xing-Na; Li, Xin-Mei; Deng, Zen-Grandeng; De, Qing-Yangzong; Yuan, Shuai

2012-04-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the optical properties of aerosol during haze-fog episodes in Beijing. The aerosol optical depth (AOD), Angstrom exponent (alpha), size distribution and single scattering albedo (omega) during haze-fog episodes were analyzed between 2002 and 2008 using AERONENT data. During haze-fog episodes, the aerosol optical depth showed a decreasing trend with wavelengths, and showed high values with an average 1.34 at 440 nm. The magnitude of Angstrom exponent was relatively high during haze-fog episodes and the mean values reached 1.11. The frequency distribution of alpha was up to 94% when alpha > 0.9, indicating the predominance of fine particles during haze-fog episodes in Beijing. The aerosol volume size distributions presented a bimodal structure (fine and coarse modes). The maxima (peaks) radius of fine mode showed an increasing trend with AOD, however, those of coarse mode showed a decreasing trend with AOD. The size distribution showed a distinct difference in dominant mode for the different AOD. The single scattering albedo showed an increasing trend with AOD during haze-fog episodes in Beijing. The mean value of omega was 0.89 at the four wavelengths and the omega exhibited a low sensitivity to wavelengths.

Brief episodes of intracranial hypertension and cerebral hypoperfusion are associated with poor functional outcome after severe traumatic brain injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Stein, Deborah M; Hu, Peter F; Brenner, Megan; Sheth, Kevin N; Liu, Keng-Hao; Xiong, Wei; Aarabi, Bizhan; Scalea, Thomas M

2011-08-01

Management strategies after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) target prevention and treatment of intracranial hypertension (ICH) and cerebral hypoperfusion (CH). We have previously established that continuous automated recordings of vital signs (VS) are more highly correlated with outcome than manual end-hour recordings. One potential benefit of automated vital sign data capture is the ability to detect brief episodes of ICH and CH. The purpose of this study was to establish whether a relationship exists between brief episodes of ICH and CH and outcome after severe TBI. Patients at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center were prospectively enrolled over a 2-year period. Inclusion criteria were as follows: age >14 years, admission within the first 6 hours after injury, Glasgow Coma Scale score GOSE). Sixty subjects were enrolled with a mean admission Glasgow Coma Scale score of 6.4 ± 3.1, a mean Head Abbreviated Injury Severity Scale score of 4.2 ± 0.7, and a mean Marshall CT score of 2.5 ± 0.9. Significant differences in the mean number of brief episodes of CPP GOSE 1-4 versus GOSE 5-8 (9.4 vs. 4.7, p = 0.02 and 9.3 vs. 4.9, p = 0.03) were found. There were significantly more mean brief episodes per day of ICP >30 (0.52 vs. 0.29, p = 0.02), CPP GOSE 1-4. Number of brief episodes of CPP <50, CPP <60, BTI <2, and BTI <3 all demonstrated high predictive power for unfavorable functional outcome (area under the curve = 0.65-0.75, p < 0.05). This study demonstrates that the number of brief 5-minute episodes of ICH and CH is predictive of poor outcome after severe TBI. This finding has important implications for management paradigms which are currently targeted to treatment rather than prevention of ICH and CH. This study demonstrates that these brief episodes may play a significant role in outcome after severe TBI.

Constructive episodic simulation, flexible recombination, and memory errors.

Science.gov (United States)

Schacter, Daniel L; Carpenter, Alexis C; Devitt, Aleea; Roberts, Reece P; Addis, Donna Rose

2018-01-01

According to Mahr & Csibra (M&C), the view that the constructive nature of episodic memory is related to its role in simulating future events has difficulty explaining why memory is often accurate. We hold this view, but disagree with their conclusion. Here we consider ideas and evidence regarding flexible recombination processes in episodic retrieval that accommodate both accuracy and distortion.

Reducing the duration of untreated first-episode psychosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Melle, Ingrid; Larsen, Tor K; Haahr, Ulrik

2004-01-01

Most studies on first-episode psychosis show an association between a long duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) and poorer short-term outcome, but the mechanisms of this relationship are poorly understood.......Most studies on first-episode psychosis show an association between a long duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) and poorer short-term outcome, but the mechanisms of this relationship are poorly understood....

Elements of episodic-like memory in animals.

OpenAIRE

Clayton, N S; Griffiths, D P; Emery, N J; Dickinson, A

2001-01-01

A number of psychologists have suggested that episodic memory is a uniquely human phenomenon and, until recently, there was little evidence that animals could recall a unique past experience and respond appropriately. Experiments on food-caching memory in scrub jays question this assumption. On the basis of a single caching episode, scrub jays can remember when and where they cached a variety of foods that differ in the rate at which they degrade, in a way that is inexplicable by relative fam...

Focus on the future: Episodic future thinking reduces discount rate and snacking.

Science.gov (United States)

Dassen, Fania C M; Jansen, Anita; Nederkoorn, Chantal; Houben, Katrijn

2016-01-01

Obesity seems related to a preference for immediate gratification. By changing this focus on short term benefits to a more future-oriented outlook, delay discounting (impulsive decision making) can be changed by a manipulation of episodic future thinking (EFT). EFT comprises a vivid mental simulation of general future experiences. EFT may also affect consumption of unhealthy foods, which can be seen as a choice for immediate gratification. Recent research shows that future orientation should be tailored to the behavior at outcome. We therefore hypothesize that the effectiveness of EFT on food intake could be enhanced by making the content food-related. We conducted a 2 (future vs past thinking) by 2 (food vs non-food related thoughts) between-subject design experiment in female undergraduates (N = 94), to compare the efficacy of EFT versus the recalling of episodic past events in reducing discount rate and caloric intake. Content of imagery was either unrestricted or food-related. Participants engaged in EFT or control episodic imagery while snacks were offered to freely consume, and next the Monetary Choice Questionnaire was completed as a measure of delay discounting, while again being engaged in EFT or control imagery. Both types of EFT reduced delay discounting, however, only food-related EFT lead to more restricted caloric consumption. Thus, we found evidence that EFT reduced discount rate during decision making. However, in order to restrict caloric intake, EFT should entail food-related imagery. As discount rate and caloric intake were not related in the current sample, the underlying mechanism remains to be discovered. Results however suggest that EFT is a promising technique to resist immediate gratification. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of 2-Week Data from Two Randomized, Controlled Trials Conducted in Subjects with Frequent Heartburn Treated with Esomeprazole 20 mg.

Science.gov (United States)

Katz, Philip O; Le Moigne, Anne; Pollack, Charles

2017-05-01

These secondary analyses used data from 2 similarly designed studies in subjects experiencing frequent heartburn to evaluate the efficacy of esomeprazole 20 mg once daily for 2 weeks, which reflects the approved over-the-counter dosage and duration. Subjects without endoscopically identified erosive esophagitis who were experiencing heartburn for ≥6 months and ≥4 of 7 days prior to baseline (study 1, N = 368; study 2, N = 349) were randomly assigned to receive double-blind treatment with esomeprazole 40 or 20 mg (administered as esomeprazole magnesium trihydrate 44.5 and 22.3 mg, respectively) or placebo once daily for 4 weeks. Subjects recorded the severity of heartburn in a daily diary, and investigators assessed subjects at each study visit. Two-week assessments were the primary end points of interest in these analyses and included the percentage of subjects with complete heartburn resolution (no episodes during 7 consecutive days), time to sustained complete heartburn resolution (the first of 7 consecutive episode-free days), and heartburn relief (no episodes other than ≤1 mild episode during 7 consecutive days). At week 2, the percentages of subjects who experienced complete heartburn resolution were significantly greater with esomeprazole 40 mg (study 1, 26.1%; study 2, 35.3%) and 20 mg (study 1, 25.2%; study 2, 35.7%) compared with placebo (study 1, 9.0%; study 2, 3.4%) (all, P ≤ 0.001). Beginning on day 1, the percentages of subjects who experienced sustained heartburn resolution was significantly greater in the groups treated with esomeprazole 40 mg (study 1, 19%; study 2, 19%; P heartburn relief were significantly greater with esomeprazole 40 mg (study 1, 35.3%; study 2, 40.5%) and 20 mg (study 1, 34.5%; study 2, 46.4%) compared with placebo (study 1, 16.5%; study 2, 8.6%) (all, P ≤ 0.001). The results of this study demonstrate that once-daily treatment with esomeprazole 20 mg for 2 weeks effectively resolved subjects׳ heartburn compared with

Physical Activity Is Positively Associated with Episodic Memory in Aging.

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Hayes, Scott M; Alosco, Michael L; Hayes, Jasmeet P; Cadden, Margaret; Peterson, Kristina M; Allsup, Kelly; Forman, Daniel E; Sperling, Reisa A; Verfaellie, Mieke

2015-11-01

Aging is associated with performance reductions in executive function and episodic memory, although there is substantial individual variability in cognition among older adults. One factor that may be positively associated with cognition in aging is physical activity. To date, few studies have objectively assessed physical activity in young and older adults, and examined whether physical activity is differentially associated with cognition in aging. Young (n=29, age 18-31 years) and older adults (n=31, ages 55-82 years) completed standardized neuropsychological testing to assess executive function and episodic memory capacities. An experimental face-name relational memory task was administered to augment assessment of episodic memory. Physical activity (total step count and step rate) was objectively assessed using an accelerometer, and hierarchical regressions were used to evaluate relationships between cognition and physical activity. Older adults performed more poorly on tasks of executive function and episodic memory. Physical activity was positively associated with a composite measure of visual episodic memory and face-name memory accuracy in older adults. Physical activity associations with cognition were independent of sedentary behavior, which was negatively correlated with memory performance. Physical activity was not associated with cognitive performance in younger adults. Physical activity is positively associated with episodic memory performance in aging. The relationship appears to be strongest for face-name relational memory and visual episodic memory, likely attributable to the fact that these tasks make strong demands on the hippocampus. The results suggest that physical activity relates to cognition in older, but not younger adults.

What if? Neural activity underlying semantic and episodic counterfactual thinking.

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Parikh, Natasha; Ruzic, Luka; Stewart, Gregory W; Spreng, R Nathan; De Brigard, Felipe

2018-05-25

Counterfactual thinking (CFT) is the process of mentally simulating alternative versions of known facts. In the past decade, cognitive neuroscientists have begun to uncover the neural underpinnings of CFT, particularly episodic CFT (eCFT), which activates regions in the default network (DN) also activated by episodic memory (eM) recall. However, the engagement of DN regions is different for distinct kinds of eCFT. More plausible counterfactuals and counterfactuals about oneself show stronger activity in DN regions compared to implausible and other- or object-focused counterfactuals. The current study sought to identify a source for this difference in DN activity. Specifically, self-focused counterfactuals may also be more plausible, suggesting that DN core regions are sensitive to the plausibility of a simulation. On the other hand, plausible and self-focused counterfactuals may involve more episodic information than implausible and other-focused counterfactuals, which would imply DN sensitivity to episodic information. In the current study, we compared episodic and semantic counterfactuals generated to be plausible or implausible against episodic and semantic memory reactivation using fMRI. Taking multivariate and univariate approaches, we found that the DN is engaged more during episodic simulations, including eM and all eCFT, than during semantic simulations. Semantic simulations engaged more inferior temporal and lateral occipital regions. The only region that showed strong plausibility effects was the hippocampus, which was significantly engaged for implausible CFT but not for plausible CFT, suggestive of binding more disparate information. Consequences of these findings for the cognitive neuroscience of mental simulation are discussed. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The self-reference effect on episodic memory recollection in young and older adults and Alzheimer's disease.

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Lalanne, Jennifer; Rozenberg, Johanna; Grolleau, Pauline; Piolino, Pascale

2013-12-01

The Self-reference effect (SRE) on long-term episodic memory and autonoetic consciousness has been investigated in young adults, scarcely in older adults, but never in Alzheimer's patients. Is the functional influence of Selfreference still present when the individual's memory and identity are impaired? We investigated this issue in 60 young subjects, 41 elderly subjects, and 28 patients with Alzheimer's disease, by using 1) an incidental learning task of personality traits in three encoding conditions, inducing variable degrees of depth of processing and personal involvement, 2) a 2- minute retention interval free recall task, and 3) a 20-minute delayed recognition task, combined with a remember-know paradigm. Each recorded score was corrected for errors (intrusions in free recall, false alarms in recognition, and false source memory in remember responses). Compared with alternative encodings, the Self-reference significantly enhanced performance on the free recall task in the young group, and on the recognition task both in the young and older groups but not in the Alzheimer group. The most important finding in the Alzheimer group is that the Self-reference led the most often to a subjective sense of remembering (especially for the positive words) with the retrieval of the correct encoding source. This Self-reference recollection effect in patients was related to independent subjective measures of a positive and definite sense of Self (measured by the Tennessee Self Concept Scale), and to memory complaints in daily life. In conclusion, these results demonstrated the power and robustness of the Self-reference effect on recollection in long-term episodic memory in Alzheimer's disease, albeit the retrieval is considerably reduced. These results should open new perspectives for the development of rehabilitation programs for memory deficits.

Differences in cannabis-related experiences between patients with a first episode of psychosis and controls.

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Bianconi, F; Bonomo, M; Marconi, A; Kolliakou, A; Stilo, S A; Iyegbe, C; Gurillo Muñoz, P; Homayoun, S; Mondelli, V; Luzi, S; Dazzan, P; Prata, D; La Cascia, C; O'Connor, J; David, A; Morgan, C; Murray, R M; Lynskey, M; Di Forti, M

2016-04-01

Many studies have reported that cannabis use increases the risk of a first episode of psychosis (FEP). However, only a few studies have investigated the nature of cannabis-related experiences in FEP patients, and none has examined whether these experiences are similar in FEP and general populations. The aim of this study was to explore differences in self-reported cannabis experiences between FEP and non-psychotic populations. A total of 252 subjects, who met International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 criteria for FEP, and 217 controls who reported cannabis use were selected from the Genetics and Psychosis (GAP) study. The Medical Research Council Social Schedule and the Cannabis Experience Questionnaire were used to collect sociodemographic data and cannabis use information, respectively. Both 'bad' and 'enjoyable' experiences were more commonly reported by FEP subjects than controls. Principal components factor analysis identified four components which explained 62.3% of the variance. Linear regression analysis on the whole sample showed that the type of cannabis used and beliefs about the effect of cannabis on health all contributed to determining the intensity and frequency of experiences. Linear regression analysis on FEP subjects showed that the duration of cannabis use and amount of money spent on cannabis were strongly related to the intensity and frequency of enjoyable experiences in this population. These results suggest a higher sensitivity to cannabis effects among people who have suffered their first psychotic episode; this hypersensitivity results in them reporting both more 'bad' and 'enjoyable' experiences. The greater enjoyment experienced may provide an explanation of why FEP patients are more likely to use cannabis and to continue to use it despite experiencing an exacerbation of their psychotic symptoms.

Episodic spontaneous hypothermia: a periodic childhood syndrome.

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Ruiz, Cynthia; Gener, Blanca; Garaizar, Carmen; Prats, José M

2003-04-01

Episodic spontaneous hypothermia is an infrequent disorder, with unknown pathogenic mechanisms. A systemic cause or underlying brain lesion has not been found for the disease. We report four new patients, 3-9 years old, with episodic hypothermia lower than 35 degrees C, marked facial pallor, and absent shivering. The episodes could last a few hours or four days, and recurred once a week or every 2-3 months. Two patients also demonstrated bradycardia, mild hypertension, and somnolence during the events; in one of them, profuse sweating was also a feature, and all four presented with either headache, a periodic childhood syndrome, or both (recurrent abdominal pain, cyclic vomiting, or vertigo). Three patients reported a family history of migraine. Neurologic examination, endocrine function, and imaging studies were normal. Migraine prophylactic therapy was of moderate efficacy. Spontaneous resolution was observed in one patient. The clinical characteristics of the syndrome allow for its inclusion as a childhood periodic syndrome related to migraine.

Executive function, episodic memory, and Medicare expenditures.

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Bender, Alex C; Austin, Andrea M; Grodstein, Francine; Bynum, Julie P W

2017-07-01

We examined the relationship between health care expenditures and cognition, focusing on differences across cognitive systems defined by global cognition, executive function, or episodic memory. We used linear regression models to compare annual health expenditures by cognitive status in 8125 Nurses' Health Study participants who completed a cognitive battery and were enrolled in Medicare parts A and B. Adjusting for demographics and comorbidity, executive impairment was associated with higher total annual expenditures of $1488 per person (P episodic memory impairment was found. Expenditures exhibited a linear relationship with executive function, but not episodic memory ($584 higher for every 1 standard deviation decrement in executive function; P < .01). Impairment in executive function is specifically and linearly associated with higher health care expenditures. Focusing on management strategies that address early losses in executive function may be effective in reducing costly services. Copyright © 2017 the Alzheimer's Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Preschool children's proto-episodic memory assessed by deferred imitation.

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Burns, Patrick; Russell, Charlotte; Russell, James

2015-01-01

In two experiments, both employing deferred imitation, we studied the developmental origins of episodic memory in two- to three-year-old children by adopting a "minimalist" view of episodic memory based on its What-When-Where ("WWW": spatiotemporal plus semantic) content. We argued that the temporal element within spatiotemporal should be the order/simultaneity of the event elements, but that it is not clear whether the spatial content should be egocentric or allocentric. We also argued that episodic recollection should be configural (tending towards all-or-nothing recall of the WWW elements). Our first deferred imitation experiment, using a two-dimensional (2D) display, produced superior-to-chance performance after 2.5 years but no evidence of configural memory. Moreover, performance did not differ from that on a What-What-What control task. Our second deferred imitation study required the children to reproduce actions on an object in a room, thereby affording layout-based spatial cues. In this case, not only was there superior-to-chance performance after 2.5 years but memory was also configural at both ages. We discuss the importance of allocentric spatial cues in episodic recall in early proto-episodic memory and reflect on the possible role of hippocampal development in this process.

Dynamic switching between semantic and episodic memory systems.

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Kompus, Kristiina; Olsson, Carl-Johan; Larsson, Anne; Nyberg, Lars

2009-09-01

It has been suggested that episodic and semantic long-term memory systems interact during retrieval. Here we examined the flexibility of memory retrieval in an associative task taxing memories of different strength, assumed to differentially engage episodic and semantic memory. Healthy volunteers were pre-trained on a set of 36 face-name pairs over a 6-week period. Another set of 36 items was shown only once during the same time period. About 3 months after the training period all items were presented in a randomly intermixed order in an event-related fMRI study of face-name memory. Once presented items differentially activated anterior cingulate cortex and a right prefrontal region that previously have been associated with episodic retrieval mode. High-familiar items were associated with stronger activation of posterior cortices and a left frontal region. These findings fit a model of memory retrieval by which early processes determine, on a trial-by-trial basis, if the task can be solved by the default semantic system. If not, there is a dynamic shift to cognitive control processes that guide retrieval from episodic memory.

A critical evaluation of the validity of episodic future thinking: A clinical neuropsychology perspective.

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Ward, Amanda M

2016-11-01

Episodic future thinking is defined as the ability to mentally simulate a future event. Although episodic future thinking has been studied extensively in neuroscience, this construct has not been explored in depth from the perspective of clinical neuropsychology. The aim of this critical narrative review is to assess the validity and clinical implications of episodic future thinking. A systematic review of episodic future thinking literature was conducted. PubMed and PsycInfo were searched through July 2015 for review and empirical articles with the following search terms: "episodic future thinking," "future mental simulation," "imagining the future," "imagining new experiences," "future mental time travel," "future autobiographical experience," and "prospection." The review discusses evidence that episodic future thinking is important for adaptive functioning, which has implications for neurological populations. To determine the validity of episodic future thinking, the construct is evaluated with respect to related constructs, such as imagination, episodic memory, autobiographical memory, prospective memory, narrative construction, and working memory. Although it has been minimally investigated, there is evidence of convergent and discriminant validity for episodic future thinking. Research has not addressed the incremental validity of episodic future thinking. Practical considerations of episodic future thinking tasks and related constructs in a clinical neuropsychological setting are considered. The utility of episodic future thinking is currently unknown due to the lack of research investigating the validity of episodic future thinking. Future work is discussed, which could determine whether episodic future thinking is an important missing piece in standard clinical neuropsychological assessment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Investigating the episodic buffer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alan Baddeley

2010-10-01

Full Text Available A brief account is presented of the three-component working memory model proposed by Baddeley and Hitch. This is followed by an account of some of the problems it encountered in explaining how information from different subsystems with different codes could be combined, and how it was capable of communicating with long-term memory. In order to account for these, a fourth component was proposed, the episodic buffer. This was assumed to be a multidimensional store of limited capacity that can be accessed through conscious awareness. In an attempt to test and develop the concept, a series of experiments have explored the role of working memory in the binding of visual features into objects and verbal sequences into remembered sentences. The experiments use a dual task paradigm to investigate the role of the various subcomponents of working memory in binding. In contrast to our initial assumption, the episodic buffer appears to be a passive store, capable of storing bound features and making them available to conscious awareness, but not itself responsible for the process of binding.

Modelling episodic acidification of surface waters: the state of science.

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Eshleman, K N; Wigington, P J; Davies, T D; Tranter, M

1992-01-01

Field studies of chemical changes in surface waters associated with rainfall and snowmelt events have provided evidence of episodic acidification of lakes and streams in Europe and North America. Modelling these chemical changes is particularly challenging because of the variability associated with hydrological transport and chemical transformation processes in catchments. This paper provides a review of mathematical models that have been applied to the problem of episodic acidification. Several empirical approaches, including regression models, mixing models and time series models, support a strong hydrological interpretation of episodic acidification. Regional application of several models has suggested that acidic episodes (in which the acid neutralizing capacity becomes negative) are relatively common in surface waters in several regions of the US that receive acid deposition. Results from physically based models have suggested a lack of understanding of hydrological flowpaths, hydraulic residence times and biogeochemical reactions, particularly those involving aluminum. The ability to better predict episodic chemical responses of surface waters is thus dependent upon elucidation of these and other physical and chemical processes.

Increased Blood-Reelin-Levels in First Episode Schizophrenia.

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Tobias Hornig

Full Text Available Reelin is an extracellular glycoprotein involved in several functions of brain development, synaptogenesis and dendritic proliferation. Numerous studies found perturbation in the reelin system and altered serum reelin levels in neuropsychiatric patients using the western blot procedure. In the international literature, this is the first study that made use of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to analyze serum reelin protein concentration quantitatively.In order to study possible alterations in reelin blood levels in schizophrenia, we analyzed this signal in schizophrenic patients with a first episode hallucinatory and paranoid syndrome and control subjects in a pilot study design.We found increased blood reelin protein concentration in schizophrenic patients compared to healthy controls.Our findings point to a relevant role of reelin metabolism in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.Reelin could be a biomarker for the course of disease or psychopharmacological treatment.We conclude that the reelin protein blood concentration might be a relevant signal with respect to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.

Hungry today, unhappy tomorrow? Childhood hunger and subjective wellbeing later in life.

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Bertoni, Marco

2015-03-01

I use anchoring vignettes to show that, on data for eleven European countries, exposure to episodes of hunger in childhood leads people to adopt lower subjective standards to evaluate satisfaction with life in adulthood. I also show that, as a consequence, estimates of the association between childhood starvation and late-life wellbeing that do not allow for reporting heterogeneity are biased towards finding a positive correlation. These results highlight the need to consider rescaling when drawing inference on subjective outcomes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sleep benefits in parallel implicit and explicit measures of episodic memory

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Weber, Frederik D.; Wang, Jing-Yi; Born, Jan; Inostroza, Marion

2014-01-01

Research in rats using preferences during exploration as a measure of memory has indicated that sleep is important for the consolidation of episodic-like memory, i.e., memory for an event bound into specific spatio-temporal context. How these findings relate to human episodic memory is unclear. We used spontaneous preferences during visual exploration and verbal recall as, respectively, implicit and explicit measures of memory, to study effects of sleep on episodic memory consolidation in humans. During encoding before 10-h retention intervals that covered nighttime sleep or daytime wakefulness, two groups of young adults were presented with two episodes that were 1-h apart. Each episode entailed a spatial configuration of four different faces in a 3 × 3 grid of locations. After the retention interval, implicit spatio-temporal recall performance was assessed by eye-tracking visual exploration of another configuration of four faces of which two were from the first and second episode, respectively; of the two faces one was presented at the same location as during encoding and the other at another location. Afterward explicit verbal recall was assessed. Measures of implicit and explicit episodic memory retention were positively correlated (r = 0.57, P memory recall was associated with increased fast spindles during nonrapid eye movement (NonREM) sleep (r = 0.62, P memory benefits from sleep. PMID:24634354

The School Counselor and Bulimia.

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Hendrick, Susan S.

1985-01-01

Describes the symptoms, outcome, etiology and treatment for bulimia. Discusses the school counselor's role regarding prevention and intervention with bulimic students, and suggests individual counseling techniques to use with bulimics. (BH)

Acute manic episode is associated with an increased risk of lower limb edema.

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Hochman, Eldar; Krivoy, Amir; Shoval, Gal; Valevski, Avi; Weizman, Abraham; Fischel, Tsvi

2013-12-02

Lower limb edema (LLE) was suggested to be associated with the use of psychotropic drugs among patients suffering from severe mental illnesses; however no direct mechanism was found. Therefore, we examined the association between the occurrence of LLE and acute untreated episode leading to hospitalization. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted using medical charts of 2529 patients admitted to Geha Mental Health Center between 2002 and 2012. Incident cases of LLE, demographic and clinical data were retrieved. Admission clinical status was modeled as three non-overlapping groups of patients: (i) Patients with a non-affective psychosis (NAP) episode (n = 1563), (ii) patients with a manic episode (n = 366), and (iii) patients with a depressive episode (n = 600). We performed a logistic regression analysis with LLE as the dependent variable controlling for the demographic and clinical variables that may be associated with LLE. LLE was diagnosed in 3.8% (n = 95) of the study population. The rate of LLE was 3-fold higher (χ(2) = 51.9, df = 2, p<0.001) in patients admitted with a manic episode (n = 38; 10.4%) compared to patients admitted with a NAP episode (n = 41; 2.6%) and patients admitted with a depressive episode (n = 16; 2.7%). Manic episode was associated with an increased risk for LLE compared to depressive episode (OR 8.72, 95% CI: 3.53-21.52, p<0.001) or NAP episode (OR 3.96, 95% CI: 2.16-7.26, p<0.001) after controlling for relevant confounders. Acute manic episode, leading to hospitalization, is associated with an increased risk of LLE, compared to NAP or depressive episode, suggesting causal relationship between mood and fluid imbalance. Yet, future prospective studies are needed to rule out the contribution of physical agitation and lithium treatment. © 2013.

Electroconvulsive therapy in single manic episodes: a case series ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of electroconvulsive therapy in the treatment of Bipolar I Disorder patients with a single manic episode. Method: In a retrospective study, we reviewed medical records of inpatients who had been admitted to treat a single manic episode of Bipolar I Disorder at Noor University Hospital, ...

Considering the role of semantic memory in episodic future thinking: evidence from semantic dementia.

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Irish, Muireann; Addis, Donna Rose; Hodges, John R; Piguet, Olivier

2012-07-01

Semantic dementia is a progressive neurodegenerative condition characterized by the profound and amodal loss of semantic memory in the context of relatively preserved episodic memory. In contrast, patients with Alzheimer's disease typically display impairments in episodic memory, but with semantic deficits of a much lesser magnitude than in semantic dementia. Our understanding of episodic memory retrieval in these cohorts has greatly increased over the last decade, however, we know relatively little regarding the ability of these patients to imagine and describe possible future events, and whether episodic future thinking is mediated by divergent neural substrates contingent on dementia subtype. Here, we explored episodic future thinking in patients with semantic dementia (n=11) and Alzheimer's disease (n=11), in comparison with healthy control participants (n=10). Participants completed a battery of tests designed to probe episodic and semantic thinking across past and future conditions, as well as standardized tests of episodic and semantic memory. Further, all participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging. Despite their relatively intact episodic retrieval for recent past events, the semantic dementia cohort showed significant impairments for episodic future thinking. In contrast, the group with Alzheimer's disease showed parallel deficits across past and future episodic conditions. Voxel-based morphometry analyses confirmed that atrophy in the left inferior temporal gyrus and bilateral temporal poles, regions strongly implicated in semantic memory, correlated significantly with deficits in episodic future thinking in semantic dementia. Conversely, episodic future thinking performance in Alzheimer's disease correlated with atrophy in regions associated with episodic memory, namely the posterior cingulate, parahippocampal gyrus and frontal pole. These distinct neuroanatomical substrates contingent on dementia group were further qualified by correlational

Temperamental dimensions of the TEMPS-A in females with co-morbid bipolar disorder and bulimia.

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Rybakowski, Janusz K; Kaminska, Katarzyna; Charytonik, Jolanta; Akiskal, Kareen K; Akiskal, Hagop S

2014-08-01

We investigated the effect of co-morbid bipolar disorder and bulimia on temperamental dimensions measured by TEMPS-A, relative to "pure" bulimia and "pure" bipolar disorder, in female patients. The study was performed on 47 patients with bipolar disorder (BD) with a mean age of 36±10 years, 96 patients with bulimia or bulimic type of anorexia, mean age 26±9 years and 50 control healthy females (HC), mean age 29±6 years. Among bulimic patients, a group of 68 subjects with co-morbid bulimia with bipolarity (BD+B) was identified, based on positive score of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ). The TEMPS-A questionnaire, 110 questions version, has been used, evaluating five temperament domains: depressive, cyclothymic, hyperthymic, irritable and anxious. Parametric analysis was performed for 4 groups (BD, "pure" bulimia (PB), BD+B and HC), with 28 subjects randomly chosen from each group, using analysis of variance and cluster analysis. All clinical groups significantly differed from control group by having higher scores of depressive, cyclothymic, irritable and anxious temperaments and lower of hyperthymic one. Among patients, significantly higher scores of cyclothymic and irritable temperaments were found in BD+B compared to both PB and BD. These differences were also reflected in cluster analysis, where two clusters were identified. Bipolarity in bulimic patients assessed only by the MDQ. These results show that co-morbid bulimia and bipolar disorder is characterized by extreme dimensions of both cyclothymic and irritable temperaments, significantly higher than each single diagnosis. Possible clinical implications of such fact are discussed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The social location of heavy episodic alcohol consumption in the Victorian population.

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Matthews, Sharon; Dietze, Paul; Room, Robin; Chikritzhs, Tanya; Jolley, Damien

2013-03-01

To examine heavy episodic drinking across demographic subgroups to identify where heavy episodic drinking is socially located in an Australian state. Cross-sectional survey, 2483 adult Victorians using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing. Two measures of heavy drinking were used: (i) heavy episodic drinking-more than five standard drinks at least weekly; and (ii) typically heavy drinking-50% or more of all drinking occasions involving consumption of 5+ standard drinks. Associations between heavy episodic drinking and eight potential sociodemographic correlates (gender, age, education, income, marital status, ethnic origin, religion and geographical remoteness) were examined. There were few significant correlates of heavy episodic drinking apart from gender and age, once gender and age were controlled. Men were more likely to report heavy episodic drinking than women, but this was attenuated in the measure of typically heavy drinking, suggesting that women reporting heavy episodic drinking were more likely to typically drink that much when they drank. Younger people were more likely to report weekly heavy episodic drinking and more likely to report engaging in this pattern on at least half of their drinking occasions, and this was also true for those unmarried or in de facto relationships. Those of Asian background were less likely to report heavy drinking. In multivariate analysis, the remaining sociodemographic variables were largely unrelated to the drinking measures. The study clearly shows that the prevalence of heavy episodic drinking varies particularly across gender and age groups in Victoria. These variations appear to hold across key sociodemographic variables such as income and education. © 2012 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

The characteristics of Beijing aerosol during two distinct episodes: Impacts of biomass burning and fireworks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng, Yuan; Engling, Guenter; He, Ke-bin; Duan, Feng-kui; Du, Zhen-yu; Ma, Yong-liang; Liang, Lin-lin; Lu, Zi-feng; Liu, Jiu-meng; Zheng, Mei; Weber, Rodney J.

2014-01-01

The chemical composition of Beijing aerosol was measured during summer and winter. Two distinct episodes were identified. Water-soluble potassium (K + ) increased significantly during the firework episode in winter with an episode to non-episode ratio of 4.97, whereas the biomass burning (BB) episode in summer was characterized by high episode to non-episode ratios of levoglucosan (6.38) and K + (6.90). The BB and firework episodes had only a minor influence on the water-soluble OC (organic carbon) to OC ratio. Based on separate investigations of episode and non-episode periods, it was found that: (i) sulfate correlated strongly with both relative humidity and nitrate during the typical winter period presumably indicating the importance of the aqueous-phase oxidation of sulfur dioxide by nitrogen dioxide, (ii) oxalate and WSOC during both winter and summer in Beijing were mainly due to secondary formation, and (iii) high humidity can significantly enhance the formation potential of WSOC in winter. -- Highlights: • Two episodes were identified based on the chemical composition of Beijing aerosol. • Levoglucosan and K + increased significantly during the biomass burning episode. • The firework episode was characterized by high concentrations of K + . • WSOC and oxalate exhibited secondary nature during both summer and winter. • High humidity can significantly enhance the formation of WSOC in winter. -- This study suggests the benefits of investigating aerosol composition separately during episode and non-episode periods, and introducing organic tracers to the speciation measurements of PM 2.5

The neuropsychology of emerging psychosis and the role of working memory in episodic memory encoding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pflueger MO

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Marlon O Pflueger,1 Pasquale Calabrese,2 Erich Studerus,3 Ronan Zimmermann,4 Ute Gschwandtner,4 Stefan Borgwardt,5 Jacqueline Aston,3 Rolf-Dieter Stieglitz,6 Anita Riecher-Rössler3 1Department of Forensic Psychiatry, University of Basel Psychiatric Clinics, Basel, Switzerland; 2Division of Molecular and Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; 3Center for Gender Research and Early Detection, University of Basel Psychiatric Hospital, Basel, Switzerland; 4Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Hospital of the University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; 5Department of Psychiatry (UPK, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; 6Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland Background: Episodic memory encoding and working memory (WM deficits are among the first cognitive signs and symptoms in the course of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. However, it is not clear whether the deficit pattern is generalized or specific in nature. We hypothesized that encoding deficits at an early stage of the disease might be due to the more fundamental WM deficits. Methods: We examined episodic memory encoding and WM by administering the California Verbal Learning Test, a 2-back task, and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test in 90 first-episode psychosis (FE patients and 116 individuals with an at-risk mental state for psychosis (ARMS compared to 57 healthy subjects. Results: Learning progress, but not span of apprehension, was diminished to a similar extent in both the ARMS and the FE. We showed that this was due to WM impairment by applying a structural equation approach. Conclusion: Thus, we conclude that verbal memory encoding deficits are secondary to primary WM impairment in emerging psychosis. Keywords: at-risk mental state, first-episode psychosis, cognition, serial position effect, recency, semantic cluster ratio, 2-back task, rate of learning

Infectious episodes in runners before and after a roadrace.

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Nieman, D C; Johanssen, L M; Lee, J W

1989-09-01

Various researchers have implied that regular and moderate exercise training may improve the ability of the immune system to protect the host from infection. In contrast, acute, maximal, and exhaustive exercise may have negative effects of the immune system. This study compared the incidence of infectious episodes in 273 runners during a two month training period prior to a 5 K, 10 K, or half-marathon race. In addition, the effect of the race experience on infectious episodes was studied. Twenty-five percent of the runners training more than 15 miles per week reported at least one infectious episode as compared with 34.3% of runners training less than 15 miles per week (p = 0.09). Only 6.8% of the runners preparing for the half-marathon race reported becoming sick with the flu versus 17.9% of the 5 K and 10 K runners (p = 0.067). During the week following the roadrace, runners did not report an increase in infectious episodes as compared to the week prior to the race. These trends suggest that runners with a more serious commitment to regular exercise may experience less infectious episodes than recreational runners because of both direct and indirect affects on immunosurveillance. In addition, the stressful race experience does not appear to increase risk of acquiring an acute respiratory infection.

Modeling Regional Pollution Episodes With The Ctm Mocage.

Science.gov (United States)

Dufour, A.; Brocheton, F.; Amodei, M.; Peuch, V.-H.

Several regional ozone pollution episodes have been studied in the context of two recent extensive field campaigns in France: ESQUIF, in the Paris region and ES- COMPTE, in the vicinity of Marseilles. MOCAGE is an off-line multi-scale Chem- istry and Transport Model (CTM), driven by the operational numerical weather pre- diction models of Météo-France, ARPEGE and ALADIN. It covers from the global to the regional scale, by means of up to four levels of nested domains, and extends up to the middle stratosphere; thus, there is no need for external boundary conditions, neither on the horizontal or on the vertical. These original features allows to cover with MOCAGE a wide range of scientific applications, from routine air-pollution fore- casts to long-term simulations related to climate issues. The present study focuses on the simulation of regional-scale photo-oxidant episodes and on the impact on larger scales of the transport of ozone, of precursors and of reservoir species. The first ex- ample concerns a polluted episode of the ESQUIF campaign (IOP6). In addition to ground measurements, 8 flights have documented the situation, showing a diversity of chemical regimes. This variability is quite satisfactorily reproduced by the model. A special attention was also paid to vertical and horizontal exchanges, particularly to interactions between the boundary layer and the free troposphere. An interesting case of an ill-represented residual nocturnal plume in the simulation of ESQUIF IOP5 will be presented: during this IOP, the vertical structure of the lower troposphere was well characterized by four flights. Free troposphere concentrations of ozone appear to be well reproduced by the model, except for the intensity and vertical extent of a residual plume, which are overestimated. For the day after, in addition to a direct impact on surface concentrations, the simulated development of the boundary layer is found to be too slow ; both errors contribute to an

Career Decision-Making Processes of Young Adults With First-Episode Psychosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Boychuk, Christa; Lysaght, Rosemary; Stuart, Heather

2018-05-01

The first episode of psychosis often emerges during young adulthood, when individuals are pursuing important educational and career goals that can become derailed because of the development of major impairments. Past research has neglected the developmental nature of employment and education decisions that young adults with first-episode psychosis make within the context of their lives. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to advance a model of the career decision-making processes of young adults with first-episode psychosis, and the influences that affect their career decision-making. The career decision-making of young adults with first-episode psychosis emerged as a multistaged, iterative process that unfolded over three phases of illness, and was affected by several internal and environmental influences. These findings suggest the phase of illness and career decision-making stage should be considered in future vocational programming for young adults with first-episode psychosis.

Smog episodes, fine particulate pollution and mortality in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Maigeng; He, Guojun; Fan, Maoyong; Wang, Zhaoxi; Liu, Yang; Ma, Jing; Ma, Zongwei; Liu, Jiangmei; Liu, Yunning; Wang, Linhong; Liu, Yuanli

2015-01-01

Starting from early January 2013, northern China was hit by multiple prolonged and severe smog events which were characterized by extremely high-level concentrations of ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) with hourly peaks of PM2.5 over 800 µg/m(3). However, the consequences of this severe air pollution are largely unknown. This study investigates the acute effect of the smog episodes and PM2.5 on mortality for both urban and rural areas in northern China. We collected PM2.5, mortality, and meteorological data for 5 urban city districts and 2 rural counties in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province of China from January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2013. We employed the generalized additive models to estimate the associations between smog episodes or PM2.5 and daily mortality for each district/county. Without any meteorological control, the smog episodes are positively and statistically significantly associated with mortality in 5 out of 7 districts/counties. However, the findings are sensitive to the meteorological factors. After controlling for temperature, humidity, dew point and wind, the statistical significance disappears in all urban districts. In contrast, the smog episodes are consistently and statistically significantly associated with higher total mortality and mortality from cardiovascular/respiratory diseases in the two rural counties. In Ji County, a smog episode is associated with 6.94% (95% Confidence Interval, -0.20 to 14.58) increase in overall mortality, and in Ci County it is associated with a 19.26% (95% CI, 6.66-33.34) increase in overall mortality. The smog episodes kill people primarily through its impact on cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. On average, a smog episode is associated with 11.66% (95% CI, 3.12-20.90) increase in cardiovascular and respiratory mortality in Ji County, and it is associated with a 22.23% (95% CI, 8.11-38.20) increase in cardiovascular and respiratory mortality in Ci County. A 10 μg/m(3) increase in PM2

The influence of action on episodic memory: a virtual reality study.

Science.gov (United States)

Plancher, Gaën; Barra, Julien; Orriols, Eric; Piolino, Pascale

2013-01-01

A range of empirical findings suggest that active learning is important for memory. However, few studies have focused on the mechanisms underlying this enactment effect in episodic memory using complex environments. Research using virtual reality has yielded inconsistent results. We postulated that the effect of action depends on the degree of interaction with the environment and freedom in the planning of an itinerary. To test these hypotheses, we disentangled the interaction and planning components of action to investigate whether each enhances factual and spatial memory. Seventy-two participants (36 male and 36 female) explored a virtual town in one of three experimental conditions: (a) a passive condition where participants were immersed as passenger of the car (no interaction, no planning); (b) a planning-only condition (the subject chose the itinerary but did not drive the car); (c) an interaction-only condition (the subject drove the car but the itinerary was fixed). We found that itinerary choice and motor control both enhanced spatial memory, while factual memory was impaired by online motor control. The role of action in memory is discussed.

Episodic foresight and anxiety: Proximate and ultimate perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Miloyan, Beyon; Bulley, Adam; Suddendorf, Thomas

2016-03-01

In this paper, we examine the relationship between episodic foresight and anxiety from an evolutionary perspective, proposing that together they confer an advantage for modifying present moment decision-making and behaviour in the light of potential future threats to fitness. We review the body of literature on the role of episodic foresight in anxiety, from both proximate and ultimate perspectives. We propose that anxious feelings associated with episodic simulation of possible threat-related future events serve to imbue these simulations with motivational currency. Episodic and semantic details of a future threat may be insufficient for motivating its avoidance, but anxiety associated with a simulation can provoke adaptive threat management. As such, we detail how anxiety triggered by a self-generated, threat-related future simulation prepares the individual to manage that threat (in terms of its likelihood and/or consequences) over greater temporal distances than observed in other animals. We then outline how anxiety subtypes may represent specific mechanisms for predicting and managing particular classes of fitness threats. This approach offers an inroad for understanding the nature of characteristic future thinking patterns in anxiety disorders and serves to illustrate the adaptive function of the mechanism from which clinical anxiety deviates. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Subtypes of depressive episodes according to ICD-10

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kessing, Lars Vedel

2003-01-01

a period from 1994 to 1999 were identified. The risk of relapse leading to readmission and the risk of committing suicide were compared for patients discharged with an ICD-10 diagnosis of a single depressive episode with and without melancholic syndrome and for patients with and without psychotic symptoms......BACKGROUND: The long-term predictive ability of the ICD-10 subtypes of depression with melancholic syndrome and depression with psychosis has not been investigated. SAMPLING AND METHODS: All patients in Denmark who had a diagnosis of a single depressive episode at their first ever discharge during......, respectively. RESULTS: In all, 1,639 patients had a diagnosis of depressive episode without psychotic symptoms, 1,275 patients a diagnosis with psychotic symptoms, 293 a diagnosis without melancholic syndrome, and 248 a diagnosis with melancholic symptoms at first discharge. The risk of relapse leading...

Process-specific analysis in episodic memory retrieval using fast optical signals and hemodynamic signals in the right prefrontal cortex

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Sunghee; Jeong, Jichai

2018-02-01

Objective. Memory is formed by the interaction of various brain functions at the item and task level. Revealing individual and combined effects of item- and task-related processes on retrieving episodic memory is an unsolved problem because of limitations in existing neuroimaging techniques. To investigate these issues, we analyze fast and slow optical signals measured from a custom-built continuous wave functional near-infrared spectroscopy (CW-fNIRS) system. Approach. In our work, we visually encode the words to the subjects and let them recall the words after a short rest. The hemodynamic responses evoked by the episodic memory are compared with those evoked by the semantic memory in retrieval blocks. In the fast optical signal, we compare the effects of old and new items (previously seen and not seen) to investigate the item-related process in episodic memory. The Kalman filter is simultaneously applied to slow and fast optical signals in different time windows. Main results. A significant task-related HbR decrease was observed in the episodic memory retrieval blocks. Mean amplitude and peak latency of a fast optical signal are dependent upon item types and reaction time, respectively. Moreover, task-related hemodynamic and item-related fast optical responses are correlated in the right prefrontal cortex. Significance. We demonstrate that episodic memory is retrieved from the right frontal area by a functional connectivity between the maintained mental state through retrieval and item-related transient activity. To the best of our knowledge, this demonstration of functional NIRS research is the first to examine the relationship between item- and task-related memory processes in the prefrontal area using single modality.

Process-specific analysis in episodic memory retrieval using fast optical signals and hemodynamic signals in the right prefrontal cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Sunghee; Jeong, Jichai

2018-02-01

Memory is formed by the interaction of various brain functions at the item and task level. Revealing individual and combined effects of item- and task-related processes on retrieving episodic memory is an unsolved problem because of limitations in existing neuroimaging techniques. To investigate these issues, we analyze fast and slow optical signals measured from a custom-built continuous wave functional near-infrared spectroscopy (CW-fNIRS) system. In our work, we visually encode the words to the subjects and let them recall the words after a short rest. The hemodynamic responses evoked by the episodic memory are compared with those evoked by the semantic memory in retrieval blocks. In the fast optical signal, we compare the effects of old and new items (previously seen and not seen) to investigate the item-related process in episodic memory. The Kalman filter is simultaneously applied to slow and fast optical signals in different time windows. A significant task-related HbR decrease was observed in the episodic memory retrieval blocks. Mean amplitude and peak latency of a fast optical signal are dependent upon item types and reaction time, respectively. Moreover, task-related hemodynamic and item-related fast optical responses are correlated in the right prefrontal cortex. We demonstrate that episodic memory is retrieved from the right frontal area by a functional connectivity between the maintained mental state through retrieval and item-related transient activity. To the best of our knowledge, this demonstration of functional NIRS research is the first to examine the relationship between item- and task-related memory processes in the prefrontal area using single modality.

The characteristics of Beijing aerosol during two distinct episodes: Impacts of biomass burning and fireworks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cheng, Yuan [State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing (China); Engling, Guenter [Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan (China); He, Ke-bin [State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing (China); State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Sources and Control of Air Pollution Complex, Beijing (China); Duan, Feng-kui; Du, Zhen-yu; Ma, Yong-liang; Liang, Lin-lin; Lu, Zi-feng [State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing (China); Liu, Jiu-meng [School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States); Zheng, Mei [College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing (China); Weber, Rodney J. [School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)

2014-02-15

The chemical composition of Beijing aerosol was measured during summer and winter. Two distinct episodes were identified. Water-soluble potassium (K{sup +}) increased significantly during the firework episode in winter with an episode to non-episode ratio of 4.97, whereas the biomass burning (BB) episode in summer was characterized by high episode to non-episode ratios of levoglucosan (6.38) and K{sup +} (6.90). The BB and firework episodes had only a minor influence on the water-soluble OC (organic carbon) to OC ratio. Based on separate investigations of episode and non-episode periods, it was found that: (i) sulfate correlated strongly with both relative humidity and nitrate during the typical winter period presumably indicating the importance of the aqueous-phase oxidation of sulfur dioxide by nitrogen dioxide, (ii) oxalate and WSOC during both winter and summer in Beijing were mainly due to secondary formation, and (iii) high humidity can significantly enhance the formation potential of WSOC in winter. -- Highlights: • Two episodes were identified based on the chemical composition of Beijing aerosol. • Levoglucosan and K{sup +} increased significantly during the biomass burning episode. • The firework episode was characterized by high concentrations of K{sup +}. • WSOC and oxalate exhibited secondary nature during both summer and winter. • High humidity can significantly enhance the formation of WSOC in winter. -- This study suggests the benefits of investigating aerosol composition separately during episode and non-episode periods, and introducing organic tracers to the speciation measurements of PM{sub 2.5}.

Episodic and Semantic Autobiographical Memory and Everyday Memory during Late Childhood and Early Adolescence.

Science.gov (United States)

Willoughby, Karen A; Desrocher, Mary; Levine, Brian; Rovet, Joanne F

2012-01-01

Few studies have examined both episodic and semantic autobiographical memory (AM) performance during late childhood and early adolescence. Using the newly developed Children's Autobiographical Interview (CAI), the present study examined the effects of age and sex on episodic and semantic AM and everyday memory in 182 children and adolescents. Results indicated that episodic and semantic AM both improved between 8 and 16 years of age; however, age-related changes were larger for episodic AM than for semantic AM. In addition, females were found to recall more episodic AM details, but not more semantic AM details, than males. Importantly, this sex difference in episodic AM recall was attenuated under conditions of high retrieval support (i.e., the use of probing questions). The ability to clearly visualize past events at the time of recollection was related to children's episodic AM recall performance, particularly the retrieval of perceptual details. Finally, similar age and sex effects were found between episodic AM and everyday memory ability (e.g., memory for everyday activities). More specifically, older participants and females exhibited better episodic AM and everyday memory performance than younger participants and males. Overall, the present study provides important new insight into both episodic and semantic AM performance, as well as the relation between episodic AM and everyday memory, during late childhood and adolescence.

Episodic and Semantic Autobiographical Memory and Everyday Memory during Late Childhood and Early Adolescence

Science.gov (United States)

Willoughby, Karen A.; Desrocher, Mary; Levine, Brian; Rovet, Joanne F.

2012-01-01

Few studies have examined both episodic and semantic autobiographical memory (AM) performance during late childhood and early adolescence. Using the newly developed Children’s Autobiographical Interview (CAI), the present study examined the effects of age and sex on episodic and semantic AM and everyday memory in 182 children and adolescents. Results indicated that episodic and semantic AM both improved between 8 and 16 years of age; however, age-related changes were larger for episodic AM than for semantic AM. In addition, females were found to recall more episodic AM details, but not more semantic AM details, than males. Importantly, this sex difference in episodic AM recall was attenuated under conditions of high retrieval support (i.e., the use of probing questions). The ability to clearly visualize past events at the time of recollection was related to children’s episodic AM recall performance, particularly the retrieval of perceptual details. Finally, similar age and sex effects were found between episodic AM and everyday memory ability (e.g., memory for everyday activities). More specifically, older participants and females exhibited better episodic AM and everyday memory performance than younger participants and males. Overall, the present study provides important new insight into both episodic and semantic AM performance, as well as the relation between episodic AM and everyday memory, during late childhood and adolescence. PMID:22403560

[Possibilities of preventive therapy in frequent episodic tension-type headache].

Science.gov (United States)

Tabeeva, G R; Fokina, N M

2016-01-01

To study the efficacy and safety of tenoten in the preventive treatment of frequent episodic tension-type headache (FETHA) compared to patients treated with pain relievers. A study included 60 patients with FETHA. Patients of the main group (n=30) received tenoten in addition to standard treatment. The study comprised 3 visits: beginning of treatment, after one month and after three months. All patients underwent physical and clinical/neurological examinations. In each visit, treatment efficacy was assessed according the following parameters: VAS scores (0-10) for assessment of pain and tension in pericranial muscles in 6 standard points, mean frequency and duration of the headache episode, quality of life indices, Beck depression scores, Spilberger trait and state anxiety, autonomic symptom severity, parameters of sleep disorders, frequency of adverse effects, CGI scores (0-7). Tenoten as a preventive medication reduced the frequency of headache episodes that allowed to diagnose patients with rare episodic tension-type headache in the end of treatment. At the same time, there was a significant reduction in headache intensity during the episode and decrease in amount of analgesics used by the patients.

Remembering in Contradictory Minds: Disjunction Fallacies in Episodic Memory

Science.gov (United States)

Brainerd, C. J.; Reyna, V. F.; Aydin, C.

2010-01-01

Disjunction fallacies have been extensively studied in probability judgment. They should also occur in episodic memory, if remembering a cue's episodic state depends on how its state is described on a memory test (e.g., being described as a target vs. as a distractor). If memory is description-dependent, cues will be remembered as occupying…

REDEFINING ENSO EPISODES BASED ON CHANGED CLIMATE REFERENCES

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LI Xiao-yan; ZHAI Pan-mao; REN Fu-min

2005-01-01

Through studying changes in ENSO indices relative to change of climate reference from 1961~1990 to 1971~2000, the study generated new standards to define ENSO episodes and their intensities. Then according to the new climate references and new index standards, ENSO episodes and their intensities for the period 1951 -2003 have been classified. Finally, an analysis has been performed comparing the new characteristics with the old ones for ENSO period, peak values and intensities.

Diatom diversity in chronically versus episodically acidified adirondack streams

Science.gov (United States)

Passy, S.I.; Ciugulea, I.; Lawrence, G.B.

2006-01-01

The relationship between algal species richness and diversity, and pH is controversial. Furthermore, it is still unknown how episodic stream acidification following atmospheric deposition affects species richness and diversity. Here we analyzed water chemistry and diatom epiphyton dynamics and showed their contrasting behavior in chronically vs. episodically acidic streams in the Adirondack region. Species richness and diversity were significantly higher in the chronically acidic brown water stream, where organic acidity was significantly higher and the ratio of inorganic to organic monomeric aluminum significantly lower. Conversely, in the episodically acidic clear water stream, the inorganic acidity and pH were significantly higher and the diatom communities were very species-poor. This suggests that episodic acidification in the Adirondacks may be more stressful for stream biota than chronic acidity. Strong negative linear relationships between species diversity, Eunotia exigua, and dissolved organic carbon against pH were revealed after the influence of non-linear temporal trends was partialled out using a novel way of temporal modeling. ?? 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.

Intermittent hypoxic episodes in preterm infants: do they matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Richard J; Wang, Katherine; Köroğlu, Ozge; Di Fiore, Juliann; Kc, Prabha

2011-01-01

Intermittent hypoxic episodes are typically a consequence of immature respiratory control and remain a troublesome challenge for the neonatologist. Furthermore, their frequency and magnitude are underestimated by clinically employed pulse oximeter settings. In extremely low birth weight infants the incidence of intermittent hypoxia progressively increases over the first 4 weeks of postnatal life, with a subsequent plateau followed by a slow decline beginning at weeks 6-8. Such episodic hypoxia/reoxygenation has the potential to sustain a proinflammatory cascade with resultant multisystem morbidity. This morbidity includes retinopathy of prematurity and impaired growth, as well as possible longer-term cardiorespiratory instability and poor neurodevelopmental outcome. Therapeutic approaches for intermittent hypoxic episodes comprise determination of optimal baseline saturation and careful titration of supplemental inspired oxygen, as well as xanthine therapy to prevent apnea of prematurity. In conclusion, characterization of the pathophysiologic basis for such intermittent hypoxic episodes and their consequences during early life is necessary to provide an evidence-based approach to their management. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Episodic Future Thinking in Semantic Dementia: A Cognitive and fMRI Study

Science.gov (United States)

Viard, Armelle; Piolino, Pascale; Belliard, Serge; de La Sayette, Vincent; Desgranges, Béatrice; Eustache, Francis

2014-01-01

Semantic dementia (SD) is characterized by gradual loss of semantic memory. While episodic autobiographical memory seems relatively preserved, behavioral studies suggest that episodic future thinking is impaired. We used fMRI to measure brain activity in four SD patients (JPL, EP, LL, EG) while they envisioned future events and remembered personal past events. Twelve healthy elders served as controls. Episodic quality, emotion, mental imagery and level of consciousness (via remember/know judgements) were checked at debriefing. We analyzed the future compared to the past for each patient. All patients presented lateral temporal atrophy, but varied in terms of frontal and anterior hippocampal atrophy. Patient JPL presented atrophy in bilateral superior medial frontal gyri and left anterior hippocampus and was unable to engage in episodic future thinking, despite hyperactivations in frontal and occipital regions. Patient EP presented no atrophy in the anterior hippocampus, but atrophy in bilateral superior medial frontal gyrus and had difficulties to engage in episodic future thinking. Patient LL presented atrophy in left anterior hippocampus, but hyperactivated its right counterpart for future compared to past thinking, permitting her to project efficiently in the future in an episodic way. Patient EG presented no atrophy in the superior medial frontal gyri or anterior hippocampi and was able to engage in episodic future thinking. Altogether, patients' future projections differed depending on the severity and localization of their atrophy. The functional integrity of bilateral superior medial frontal gyri and anterior hippocampus appear crucial for episodic future thinking: atrophy of both structures strongly impairs future projection, while integrity of these structures or hyperactivation of residual tissue normalizes episodic future projection. PMID:25333997

Interdependence of episodic and semantic memory: evidence from neuropsychology.

Science.gov (United States)

Greenberg, Daniel L; Verfaellie, Mieke

2010-09-01

Tulving's (1972) theory of memory draws a distinction between general knowledge (semantic memory) and memory for events (episodic memory). Neuropsychological studies have generally examined each type of memory in isolation, but theorists have long argued that these two forms of memory are interdependent. Here we review several lines of neuropsychological research that have explored the interdependence of episodic and semantic memory. The studies show that these forms of memory can affect each other both at encoding and at retrieval. We suggest that theories of memory should be revised to account for all of the interdependencies between episodic and semantic memory; they should also incorporate forms of memory that do not fit neatly into either category.

Plastic modulation of episodic memory networks in the aging brain with cognitive decline.

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Feng; Yuan, Yonggui; Yu, Hui; Zhang, Zhijun

2016-07-15

Social-cognitive processing has been posited to underlie general functions such as episodic memory. Episodic memory impairment is a recognized hallmark of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) who is at a high risk for dementia. Three canonical networks, self-referential processing, executive control processing and salience processing, have distinct roles in episodic memory retrieval processing. It remains unclear whether and how these sub-networks of the episodic memory retrieval system would be affected in aMCI. This task-state fMRI study constructed systems-level episodic memory retrieval sub-networks in 28 aMCI and 23 controls using two computational approaches: a multiple region-of-interest based approach and a voxel-level functional connectivity-based approach, respectively. These approaches produced the remarkably similar findings that the self-referential processing network made critical contributions to episodic memory retrieval in aMCI. More conspicuous alterations in self-referential processing of the episodic memory retrieval network were identified in aMCI. In order to complete a given episodic memory retrieval task, increases in cooperation between the self-referential processing network and other sub-networks were mobilized in aMCI. Self-referential processing mediate the cooperation of the episodic memory retrieval sub-networks as it may help to achieve neural plasticity and may contribute to the prevention and treatment of dementia. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The characteristics of Beijing aerosol during two distinct episodes: impacts of biomass burning and fireworks.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Yuan; Engling, Guenter; He, Ke-bin; Duan, Feng-kui; Du, Zhen-yu; Ma, Yong-liang; Liang, Lin-lin; Lu, Zi-feng; Liu, Jiu-meng; Zheng, Mei; Weber, Rodney J

2014-02-01

The chemical composition of Beijing aerosol was measured during summer and winter. Two distinct episodes were identified. Water-soluble potassium (K(+)) increased significantly during the firework episode in winter with an episode to non-episode ratio of 4.97, whereas the biomass burning (BB) episode in summer was characterized by high episode to non-episode ratios of levoglucosan (6.38) and K(+) (6.90). The BB and firework episodes had only a minor influence on the water-soluble OC (organic carbon) to OC ratio. Based on separate investigations of episode and non-episode periods, it was found that: (i) sulfate correlated strongly with both relative humidity and nitrate during the typical winter period presumably indicating the importance of the aqueous-phase oxidation of sulfur dioxide by nitrogen dioxide, (ii) oxalate and WSOC during both winter and summer in Beijing were mainly due to secondary formation, and (iii) high humidity can significantly enhance the formation potential of WSOC in winter. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Intermittent or daily montelukast versus placebo for episodic asthma in children.

Science.gov (United States)

Valovirta, Erkka; Boza, Maria L; Robertson, Colin F; Verbruggen, Nadia; Smugar, Steven S; Nelsen, Linda M; Knorr, Barbara A; Reiss, Theodore F; Philip, George; Gurner, Deborah M

2011-06-01

No standard, optimal treatment exists for severe intermittent (ie, episodic) asthma in children. However, evidence suggests that both daily and episode-driven montelukast are effective for this phenotype. To assess the regimen-related efficacy of montelukast in treating pediatric episodic asthma. A multicenter, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, parallel-group, 52-week study was performed in children 6 months to 5 years of age comparing placebo with two regimens of montelukast 4 mg: (1) daily; or (2) episode-driven for 12 days beginning with signs/symptoms consistent with imminent cold or breathing problem. The main outcome measure was the number of asthma episodes (symptoms requiring treatment) culminating in an asthma attack (symptoms requiring physician visit, emergency room visit, corticosteroids, or hospitalization). Five hundred eighty-nine patients were randomized to daily montelukast, 591 to intermittent montelukast, and 591 to placebo. Compared with placebo, no significant difference was seen between daily montelukast (P = .510) or intermittent montelukast (P = .884) in the number of asthma episodes culminating in an asthma attack over 1 year. Daily montelukast reduced symptoms over the 12-day treatment period of asthma episodes compared with placebo (P = .045). Beta-agonist use was reduced with both daily (P = .048) and intermittent montelukast (P = .028) compared with placebo. However, because of prespecified rules for multiplicity adjustments (requiring a positive primary endpoint), statistical significance for secondary endpoints cannot be concluded. All treatments were well tolerated. Montelukast did not reduce the number of asthma episodes culminating in an asthma attack over 1 year in children 6 months to 5 years of age, although numerical improvements occurred in some endpoints. Copyright © 2011 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Role for the Left Angular Gyrus in Episodic Simulation and Memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Thakral, Preston P; Madore, Kevin P; Schacter, Daniel L

2017-08-23

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies indicate that episodic simulation (i.e., imagining specific future experiences) and episodic memory (i.e., remembering specific past experiences) are associated with enhanced activity in a common set of neural regions referred to as the core network. This network comprises the hippocampus, medial prefrontal cortex, and left angular gyrus, among other regions. Because fMRI data are correlational, it is unknown whether activity increases in core network regions are critical for episodic simulation and episodic memory. In the current study, we used MRI-guided transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to assess whether temporary disruption of the left angular gyrus would impair both episodic simulation and memory (16 participants, 10 females). Relative to TMS to a control site (vertex), disruption of the left angular gyrus significantly reduced the number of internal (i.e., episodic) details produced during the simulation and memory tasks, with a concomitant increase in external detail production (i.e., semantic, repetitive, or off-topic information), reflected by a significant detail by TMS site interaction. Difficulty in the simulation and memory tasks also increased after TMS to the left angular gyrus relative to the vertex. In contrast, performance in a nonepisodic control task did not differ statistically as a function of TMS site (i.e., number of free associates produced or difficulty in performing the free associate task). Together, these results are the first to demonstrate that the left angular gyrus is critical for both episodic simulation and episodic memory. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Humans have the ability to imagine future episodes (i.e., episodic simulation) and remember episodes from the past (i.e., episodic memory). A wealth of neuroimaging studies have revealed that these abilities are associated with enhanced activity in a core network of neural regions, including the hippocampus, medial prefrontal

Hippocampal activation during retrieval of spatial context from episodic and semantic memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoscheidt, Siobhan M; Nadel, Lynn; Payne, Jessica; Ryan, Lee

2010-10-15

The hippocampus, a region implicated in the processing of spatial information and episodic memory, is central to the debate concerning the relationship between episodic and semantic memory. Studies of medial temporal lobe amnesic patients provide evidence that the hippocampus is critical for the retrieval of episodic but not semantic memory. On the other hand, recent neuroimaging studies of intact individuals report hippocampal activation during retrieval of both autobiographical memories and semantic information that includes historical facts, famous faces, and categorical information, suggesting that episodic and semantic memory may engage the hippocampus during memory retrieval in similar ways. Few studies have matched episodic and semantic tasks for the degree to which they include spatial content, even though spatial content may be what drives hippocampal activation during semantic retrieval. To examine this issue, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in which retrieval of spatial and nonspatial information was compared during an episodic and semantic recognition task. Results show that the hippocampus (1) participates preferentially in the retrieval of episodic memories; (2) is also engaged by retrieval of semantic memories, particularly those that include spatial information. These data suggest that sharp dissociations between episodic and semantic memory may be overly simplistic and that the hippocampus plays a role in the retrieval of spatial content whether drawn from a memory of one's own life experiences or real-world semantic knowledge. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Deficits in Neurite Density Underlie White Matter Structure Abnormalities in First-Episode Psychosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Rae, Charlotte L; Davies, Geoff; Garfinkel, Sarah N; Gabel, Matt C; Dowell, Nicholas G; Cercignani, Mara; Seth, Anil K; Greenwood, Kathryn E; Medford, Nick; Critchley, Hugo D

2017-11-15

Structural abnormalities across multiple white matter tracts are recognized in people with early psychosis, consistent with dysconnectivity as a neuropathological account of symptom expression. We applied advanced neuroimaging techniques to characterize microstructural white matter abnormalities for a deeper understanding of the developmental etiology of psychosis. Thirty-five first-episode psychosis patients, and 19 healthy controls, participated in a quantitative neuroimaging study using neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging, a multishell diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging technique that distinguishes white matter fiber arrangement and geometry from changes in neurite density. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity images were also derived. Tract-based spatial statistics compared white matter structure between patients and control subjects and tested associations with age, symptom severity, and medication. Patients with first-episode psychosis had lower regional FA in multiple commissural, corticospinal, and association tracts. These abnormalities predominantly colocalized with regions of reduced neurite density, rather than aberrant fiber bundle arrangement (orientation dispersion index). There was no direct relationship with active symptoms. FA decreased and orientation dispersion index increased with age in patients, but not control subjects, suggesting accelerated effects of white matter geometry change. Deficits in neurite density appear fundamental to abnormalities in white matter integrity in early psychosis. In the first application of neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging in psychosis, we found that processes compromising axonal fiber number, density, and myelination, rather than processes leading to spatial disruption of fiber organization, are implicated in the etiology of psychosis. This accords with a neurodevelopmental origin of aberrant brain-wide structural connectivity predisposing individuals to

Comparison of Visuospatial and Verbal Abilities in First Psychotic Episode of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder: Impact on Global Functioning and Quality of Life

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Rodriquez, M.; Španiel, F.; Konrádová, L.; Sedláková, K.; Dvorská, K.; Prajsová, J.; Kratochvílová, Z.; Levčík, David; Vlček, Kamil; Fajnerová, Iveta

2015-01-01

Roč. 9, Dec 18 (2015), s. 322 ISSN 1662-5153 R&D Projects: GA MZd(CZ) NT13386 Institutional support: RVO:67985823 Keywords : cognitive deficit * first psychotic episode * schizophrenia spectrum disorder * global functioning * quality of life * visuospatial functions * verbal functions * antipsychotic medication Subject RIV: FH - Neurology Impact factor: 3.392, year: 2015

Dopamine transporter gene polymorphism and psychiatric symptoms seen in schizophrenic patients at their first episode

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Inada, Toshiya; Sugita, Tetsuyoshi; Dobashi, Izumi [National Institute of Mental Health, Chiba (Japan)] [and others

1996-07-26

To investigate the possible role of the dopamine transporter (DAT) gene in determining the phenotype in human subjects, allele frequencies for the 40-bp variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) polymorphism at this site were compared between 117 Japanese normal controls and 118 schizophrenic patients, including six subgroups: early-onset, those with a family history, and those suffering from one of the following psychiatric symptoms at their first episode: delusion and hallucination; disorganization; bizarre behavior; and negative symptoms. No significant differences were observed between the group as a whole or any subgroup of schizophrenic patients and controls. The results indicate that VNTR polymorphism in the DAT gene is unlikely to be a major contributor to any of the psychiatric parameters examined in the present population of schizophrenic subjects. 12 refs., 1 fig., 2 tabs.

Predicting heavy episodic drinking using an extended temporal self-regulation theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Black, Nicola; Mullan, Barbara; Sharpe, Louise

2017-10-01

Alcohol consumption contributes significantly to the global burden from disease and injury, and specific patterns of heavy episodic drinking contribute uniquely to this burden. Temporal self-regulation theory and the dual-process model describe similar theoretical constructs that might predict heavy episodic drinking. The aims of this study were to test the utility of temporal self-regulation theory in predicting heavy episodic drinking, and examine whether the theoretical relationships suggested by the dual-process model significantly extend temporal self-regulation theory. This was a predictive study with 149 Australian adults. Measures were questionnaires (self-report habit index, cues to action scale, purpose-made intention questionnaire, timeline follow-back questionnaire) and executive function tasks (Stroop, Tower of London, operation span). Participants completed measures of theoretical constructs at baseline and reported their alcohol consumption two weeks later. Data were analysed using hierarchical multiple linear regression. Temporal self-regulation theory significantly predicted heavy episodic drinking (R 2 =48.0-54.8%, ptheory and the extended temporal self-regulation theory provide good prediction of heavy episodic drinking. Intention, behavioural prepotency, planning ability and inhibitory control may be good targets for interventions designed to decrease heavy episodic drinking. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Physical activity in schizophrenia is higher in the first episode than in subsequent ones

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Sebastian eWalther

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Schizophrenia is frequently associated with abnormal motor behavior, particularly hypokinesia. The course of the illness tends to deteriorate in the first years. We aimed to assess gross motor activity in patients with a first episode (n = 33 and multiple episodes (n = 115 of schizophrenia spectrum disorders using wrist actigraphy. First episode patients were younger, had higher motor activity and reduced negative symptom severity. Covarying for age, chlorpromazine equivalents and negative symptoms, first episode patients still had higher motor activity. This was also true after excluding patients with schizophreniform disorder from the analyses. In first episode patients but not in patients with multiple episodes, motor activity was correlated with antipsychotic dosage. In conclusion, after controlling for variables related to disorder chronicity, patients with first episodes were still more active than patients with multiple episodes. Thus, reduced motor activity is a marker of deterioration in the course of schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Automatic cough episode detection using a vibroacoustic sensor.

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Mlynczak, Marcel; Pariaszewska, Katarzyna; Cybulski, Gerard

2015-08-01

Cough monitoring is an important element of the diagnostics of respiratory diseases. The European Respiratory Society recommends objective assessment of cough episodes and the search for methods of automatic analysis to make obtaining the quantitative parameters possible. The cough "events" could be classified by a microphone and a sensor that measures the vibrations of the chest. Analysis of the recorded signals consists of calculating the features vectors for selected episodes and of performing automatic classification using them. The aim of the study was to assess the accuracy of classification based on an artificial neural networks using vibroacoustic signals collected from chest. Six healthy, young men and eight healthy, young women carried out an imitated cough, hand clapping, speech and shouting. Three methods of parametrization were used to prepare the vectors of episode features - time domain, time-frequency domain and spectral modeling. We obtained the accuracy of 95% using artificial neural networks.

Egocentric-updating during navigation facilitates episodic memory retrieval.

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Gomez, Alice; Rousset, Stéphane; Baciu, Monica

2009-11-01

Influential models suggest that spatial processing is essential for episodic memory [O'Keefe, J., & Nadel, L. (1978). The hippocampus as a cognitive map. London: Oxford University Press]. However, although several types of spatial relations exist, such as allocentric (i.e. object-to-object relations), egocentric (i.e. static object-to-self relations) or egocentric updated on navigation information (i.e. self-to-environment relations in a dynamic way), usually only allocentric representations are described as potentially subserving episodic memory [Nadel, L., & Moscovitch, M. (1998). Hippocampal contributions to cortical plasticity. Neuropharmacology, 37(4-5), 431-439]. This study proposes to confront the allocentric representation hypothesis with an egocentric updated with self-motion representation hypothesis. In the present study, we explored retrieval performance in relation to these two types of spatial processing levels during learning. Episodic remembering has been assessed through Remember responses in a recall and in a recognition task, combined with a "Remember-Know-Guess" paradigm [Gardiner, J. M. (2001). Episodic memory and autonoetic consciousness: A first-person approach. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 356(1413), 1351-1361] to assess the autonoetic level of responses. Our results show that retrieval performance was significantly higher when encoding was performed in the egocentric-updated condition. Although egocentric updated with self-motion and allocentric representations are not mutually exclusive, these results suggest that egocentric updating processing facilitates remember responses more than allocentric processing. The results are discussed according to Burgess and colleagues' model of episodic memory [Burgess, N., Becker, S., King, J. A., & O'Keefe, J. (2001). Memory for events and their spatial context: models and experiments. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B

Major events and minor episodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amaldi, U.

2014-01-01

Bruno Pontecorvo was a freshly graduated twenty one years old physicist when he joined, in the summer of 1934, the research group led by Enrico Fermi. In October the Panisperna boys would make their most important discovery – radioactivity induced by slow neutrons – and shortly thereafter would be parted by personal and historical events. This paper describes some episodes of those early years and of later periods, sketching a portrait of the team: starting from the extraordinary human and scientific experience of via Panisperna, up to the patent negotiations in USA, to which Pontecorvo’s flight to URSS put an end with unexpected consequences; getting to his first return in Italy, allowed by the sovietic government in 1978, on the occasion of the conference celebrating Edoardo Amaldi’s 70. anniversary. That was the first of several encounters of the author of this paper with Bruno Pontecorvo, which are here briefly recounted, as minor episodes giving a personal perspective on the man.

Priming in Episodic and Semantic Memory.

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McKoon, Gail; Ratcliff, Roger

1979-01-01

Four experiments examined priming between newly learned paired associates through two procedures, lexical decision and item recognition. Results argue against a functional separation of the semantic and episodic memory systems. (Author/AM)

Afforestation, seasalt episodes and acidification - A paired catchment study in western Norway

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larssen, Thorjorn; Holme, Jorun

2006-01-01

As acid deposition has declined during the past 15-20 years in western Norway, afforestation and episodic seasalt deposition have become factors of increasing importance in explaining the mobilization of toxic aluminum (Al n+ ) to rivers and lakes. We conducted a paired catchment at four sites in western Norway across a gradient in acid deposition to evaluate the importance of afforestation and seasalt episodes. Streamwater was sampled intensively before, during and after seasalt episodes over a three-year period. A seasalt episode in January 2003 caused considerable impact on the streamwater chemistry. pH dropped and concentrations of Al n+ increased due to cation exchange of Na + ions for H + and Al n+ in the soil. The response was larger in streams draining the catchments which receive high acid deposition and in those afforested with spruce as compared with adjacent catchments in native birch. The results indicate that acid pulses induced by episodic inputs of seasalts are exacerbated by land use change from native birch to planted spruce. - Seasalt episodes cause higher mobilization of toxic aluminum in sites afforested with spruce

The parallel impact of episodic memory and episodic future thinking on food intake.

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Vartanian, Lenny R; Chen, William H; Reily, Natalie M; Castel, Alan D

2016-06-01

This research examined the effects of both episodic memory and episodic future thinking (EFT) on snack food intake. In Study 1, female participants (n = 158) were asked to recall their lunch from earlier in the day, to think about the dinner they planned to have later in the day, or to think about a non-food activity before taking part in a cookie taste test. Participants who recalled their lunch or who thought about their dinner ate less than did participants who thought about non-food activities. These effects were not explained by group differences in the hedonic value of the food. Study 2 examined whether the suppression effect observed in Study 1 was driven by a general health consciousness. Female participants (n = 74) were asked to think about their past or future exercise (or a non-exercise activity), but thinking about exercise had no impact on participants' cookie consumption. Overall, both thinking about past food intake and imagining future food intake had the same suppression effect on participants' current food intake, but further research is needed to determine the underlying mechanism. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[How our subjective coherence is built? The model of cognitive dissonance].

Science.gov (United States)

Naccache, Lionel; El Karoui, Imen; Salti, Moti; Chammat, Mariam; Maillet, Mathurin; Allali, Sébastien

2015-01-01

Our conscious, subjective discourse, demonstrates a temporal coherence that distinguishes it from the many unconscious cognitive representations explored by cognitive neuroscience. This subjective coherence, --particularly its dynamics--can be modified in certain psychiatric syndromes including a " dissociative state " (e.g. schizophrenia), or in several neuropsychiatric disorders (e.g. frontal lobe syndrome). The medical and environmental consequences of these changes are significant. However, the psychological and neural mechanisms of this fundamental property remain largely unknown. We explored the dynamics of subjective coherence in an experimental paradigm (the "free choice "paradigm) originating for the field of cognitive dissonance. Using a series of behavioral experiments, conducted in healthy volunteers, we have discovered a key role for the episodic memory in the preference change process when simply making a choice. These results highlight the importance of conscious memory in the construction of subjective consistency, of which the subjects do not yet seem to be the conscious agents.

Episodic autobiographical memory is associated with variation in the size of hippocampal subregions.

Science.gov (United States)

Palombo, Daniela J; Bacopulos, Agnes; Amaral, Robert S C; Olsen, Rosanna K; Todd, Rebecca M; Anderson, Adam K; Levine, Brian

2018-02-01

Striking individual differences exist in the human capacity to recollect past events, yet, little is known about the neural correlates of such individual differences. Studies investigating hippocampal volume in relation to individual differences in laboratory measures of episodic memory in young adults suggest that whole hippocampal volume is unrelated (or even negatively associated) with episodic memory. However, anatomical and functional specialization across hippocampal subregions suggests that individual differences in episodic memory may be linked to particular hippocampal subregions, as opposed to whole hippocampal volume. Given that the DG/CA 2/3 circuitry is thought to be especially critical for supporting episodic memory in humans, we predicted that the volume of this region would be associated with individual variability in episodic memory. This prediction was supported using high-resolution MRI of the hippocampal subfields and measures of real-world (autobiographical) episodic memory. In addition to the association with DG/CA 2/3 , we further observed a relationship between episodic autobiographical memory and subiculum volume, whereas no association was observed with CA 1 or with whole hippocampal volume. These findings provide insight into the possible neural substrates that mediate individual differences in real-world episodic remembering in humans. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PROBABILISTIC ANALYSIS OF DEPRESSIVE EPISODES: APPLICATION OF RENEWAL THEORY UNDER UNIFORM PROBABILITY LAW.

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Runjun Phookun

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The renewal process has been formulated on the basis of hazard rate of time between two consecutive occurrences of depressive episodes. The probabilistic analysis of depressive episodes can be performed under various forms of hazard rate viz. constant, linear etc. In this paper we are considering a particular form of hazard rate which is h(x=(b-x^- where b is a constant, x is the time between two consecutive episodes of depression. As a result time between two consecutive occurrences of depressive episodes follows uniform distribution in (a,b The distribution of range i.e. the difference between the longest and the shortest occurrence time to a depressive episode, and the expected number of depressive episodes in a random interval of time are obtained for the distribution under consideration. If the closed form of expression for the waiting time distribution is not available, then the Laplace transformation is used for the study of probabilistic analysis. Hazard rate of occurrence and expected number of depressive episodes have been presented graphically

Neurological soft signs discriminating mood disorders from first episode schizophrenia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boks, MPM; Liddle, PF; Burgerhof, JGM; Knegtering, R; Bosch, RJ

Objective: To investigate the specificity of neurological soft signs (NSS) for first episode schizophrenia compared with mood disorders. Method: We assessed NSS in a sample of 60 healthy controls, 191 first episode psychosis patients and 81 mood disorder patients. We used a principle component

Functional neuroimaging studies of episodic memory. Functional dissociation in the medial temporal lobe structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsukiura, Takashi

2008-01-01

Previous functional neuroimaging studies have demonstrated the critical role of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) regions in the encoding and retrieval of episodic memory. It has also been shown that an emotional factor in human memory enhances episodic encoding and retrieval. However, there is little evidence regarding the specific contribution of each MTL region to the relational, contextual, and emotional processes of episodic memory. The goal of this review article is to identify differential activation patterns of the processes between MTL regions. Results from functional neuroimaging studies of episodic memory show that the hippocampus is involved in encoding the relation between memory items, whereas the entorhinal and perirhinal cortices (anterior parahippocampal gyrus) contribute to the encoding of a single item. Additionally, the parahippocampal cortex (posterior parahippocampal gyrus) is selectively activated during the processing of contextual information of episodic memory. A similar pattern of functional dissociation is found in episodic memory retrieval. Functional neuroimaging has also shown that emotional information of episodic memory enhances amygdala-MTL correlations and that this enhancement is observed during both the encoding and retrieval of emotional memories. These findings from pervious neuroimaging studies suggest that different MTL regions could organize memory for personally experienced episodes via the 'relation' and 'context' factors of episodic memory, and that the emotional factor of episodes could modulate the functional organization in the MTL regions. (author)

Effects of Short-Term Inpatient Treatment on Sensitivity to a Size Contrast Illusion in First-Episode Psychosis and Multiple-Episode Schizophrenia

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Steven M Silverstein

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: In the Ebbinghaus illusion, a shape appears larger than its actual size when surrounded by small shapes and smaller than its actual size when surrounded by large shapes. Resistance to this illusion has been previously reported in schizophrenia, and linked to disorganized symptoms and poorer prognosis in cross-sectional studies. It is unclear, however, when in the course of illness this resistance first emerges or how it varies longitudinally with illness phase. Method: First-episode psychosis patients, multiple-episode schizophrenia patients and healthy controls completed a psychophysical task at two different time points, corresponding to hospital admission and discharge for patients. The task required judging the relative size of two circles centered on either side of the screen. Targets were presented without context (baseline, or were surrounded by shapes that made the size judgment harder or easier (misleading and helpful contexts, respectively. Context sensitivity was operationalized as improvement relative to baseline in the helpful condition minus the amount of decrement (relative to baseline in the misleading condition. Results: At admission, context sensitivity was lower in the multiple-episode group than in the other groups, and was marginally less in the first episode than in the control group. In addition, schizophrenia patients were significantly more and less accurate than the other groups in the misleading and helpful conditions, respectively. At discharge, all groups exhibited similar context sensitivity. Poorer context sensitivity was related to higher levels of disorganized symptoms, and lower level of depression, excitement, and positive symptoms. Discussion: Resistance to the Ebbinghaus illusion, as a characteristic of the acute phase of schizophrenia, emerges after the first episode of psychosis. This suggests that visual context processing is a state-marker in schizophrenia and a biomarker of relapse and

Effects of short-term inpatient treatment on sensitivity to a size contrast illusion in first-episode psychosis and multiple-episode schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Silverstein, Steven M; Keane, Brian P; Wang, Yushi; Mikkilineni, Deepthi; Paterno, Danielle; Papathomas, Thomas V; Feigenson, Keith

2013-01-01

In the Ebbinghaus illusion, a shape appears larger than its actual size when surrounded by small shapes and smaller than its actual size when surrounded by large shapes. Resistance to this visual illusion has been previously reported in schizophrenia, and linked to disorganized symptoms and poorer prognosis in cross-sectional studies. It is unclear, however, when in the course of illness this resistance first emerges or how it varies longitudinally with illness phase. We addressed these issues by having first-episode psychosis patients, multiple-episode schizophrenia patients and healthy controls complete a psychophysical task at two different time points, corresponding to hospital admission and discharge for patients. The task required judging the relative size of two circular targets centered on either side of the screen. Targets were presented without context (baseline), or were surrounded by shapes that made the size judgment harder or easier (misleading and helpful contexts, respectively). Context sensitivity was operationalized as the amount of improvement relative to baseline in the helpful condition minus the amount of decrement relative to baseline in the misleading condition. At hospital admission, context sensitivity was lower in the multiple-episode group than in the other groups, and was marginally less in the first episode than in the control group. In addition, schizophrenia patients were significantly more and less accurate than the other groups in the misleading and helpful conditions, respectively. At discharge, all groups exhibited similar context sensitivity. In general, poorer context sensitivity was related to higher levels of disorganized symptoms, and lower level of depression, excitement, and positive symptoms. Resistance to the Ebbinghaus illusion, as a characteristic of the acute phase of illness in schizophrenia, increases in magnitude after the first episode of psychosis. This suggests that visual context processing is a state-marker in

Using virtual reality to characterize episodic memory profiles in amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease: influence of active and passive encoding.

Science.gov (United States)

Plancher, G; Tirard, A; Gyselinck, V; Nicolas, S; Piolino, P

2012-04-01

Most neuropsychological assessments of episodic memory bear little similarity to the events that patients actually experience as memories in daily life. The first aim of this study was to use a virtual environment to characterize episodic memory profiles in an ecological fashion, which includes memory for central and perceptual details, spatiotemporal contextual elements, and binding. This study included subjects from three different populations: healthy older adults, patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and patients with early to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD). Second, we sought to determine whether environmental factors that can affect encoding (active vs. passive exploration) influence memory performance in pathological aging. Third, we benchmarked the results of our virtual reality episodic memory test against a classical memory test and a subjective daily memory complaint scale. Here, the participants were successively immersed in two virtual environments; the first, as the driver of a virtual car (active exploration) and the second, as the passenger of that car (passive exploration). Subjects were instructed to encode all elements of the environment as well as the associated spatiotemporal contexts. Following each immersion, we assessed the patient's recall and recognition of central information (i.e., the elements of the environment), contextual information (i.e., temporal, egocentric and allocentric spatial information) and lastly, the quality of binding. We found that the AD patients' performances were inferior to that of the aMCI and even more to that of the healthy aged groups, in line with the progression of hippocampal atrophy reported in the literature. Spatial allocentric memory assessments were found to be particularly useful for distinguishing aMCI patients from healthy older adults. Active exploration yielded enhanced recall of central and allocentric spatial information, as well as binding in all groups. This led a

Episodes of non-employment among immigrants from developing countries in Canada

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Said Ahmed Aboubacar

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Using data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID, we analyze non-employment episodes for immigrants from developing countries, and compare their situation to that of immigrants from developed countries and Canadian-born individuals between 1996 and 2006. The methods used allowed us to draw the following conclusion: significant differences exist between these three groups in labour market mobility, the average duration of a non-employment episode, and the factors that affect the propensity to exit from a non-employment episode. These differences demonstrate a particular disadvantage for immigrants from developing countries. In fact, they tend to spend more time in non-employment episodes compared to their counterparts from developed countries, and compared to Canadian-born individuals.

Episodes of non-employment among immigrants from developing countries in Canada

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Said Ahmed Aboubacar

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Using data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID, we analyze non-employment episodes for immigrants from developing countries, and compare their situation to that of immigrants from developed countries and Canadian-born individuals between 1996 and 2006. The methods used allowed us to draw the following conclusion: significant differences exist between these three groups in labour market mobility, the average duration of a non-employment episode, and the factors that affect the propensity to exit from a nonemployment episode. These differences demonstrate a particular disadvantage for immigrants from developing countries. In fact, they tend to spend more time in non-employment episodes compared to their counterparts from developed countries, and compared to Canadian-born individuals.

Episodic reinforcement learning control approach for biped walking

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Katić Duško

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a hybrid dynamic control approach to the realization of humanoid biped robotic walk, focusing on the policy gradient episodic reinforcement learning with fuzzy evaluative feedback. The proposed structure of controller involves two feedback loops: a conventional computed torque controller and an episodic reinforcement learning controller. The reinforcement learning part includes fuzzy information about Zero-Moment- Point errors. Simulation tests using a medium-size 36-DOF humanoid robot MEXONE were performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of our method.

The Role of Episodic Memory in Learning from University Lectures.

Science.gov (United States)

Lapadat, Judith C.; Martin, Jack

1994-01-01

Results from a study involving 34 undergraduates supported the prediction from Paivo's dual coding theory (1986) that imaginal elaborations during lectures assist students' recall of both episodic and declarative information. The prediction that episodic memories would mediate retention of declarative information from the lecture was not…

Physiologic basis for intermittent hypoxic episodes in preterm infants.

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Martin, R J; Di Fiore, J M; Macfarlane, P M; Wilson, C G

2012-01-01

Intermittent hypoxic episodes are typically a consequence of immature respiratory control and remain a troublesome challenge for the neonatologist. Furthermore, their frequency and magnitude are commonly underestimated by clinically employed pulse oximeter settings. In extremely low birth weight infants the incidence of intermittent hypoxia [IH] progressively increases over the first 4 weeks of postnatal life, with a subsequent plateau followed by a slow decline beginning at weeks six to eight. Over this period of unstable respiratory control, increased oxygen-sensitive peripheral chemoreceptor activity has been associated with a higher incidence of apnea of prematurity. In contrast, infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia [chronic neonatal lung disease] exhibit decreased peripheral chemosensitivity, although the effect on respiratory stability in this population is unclear. Such episodic hypoxia/reoxygenation in early life has the potential to sustain a proinflammatory cascade with resultant multisystem, including respiratory, morbidity. Therapeutic approaches for intermittent hypoxic episodes comprise careful titration of baseline or supplemental inspired oxygen as well as xanthine therapy to prevent apnea of prematurity. Characterization of the pathophysiologic basis for such intermittent hypoxic episodes and their consequences during early life is necessary to provide an evidence-based approach to their management.

[Is cocoa a psychotropic drug? Psychopathologic study of a population of subjects self-identified as chocolate addicts].

Science.gov (United States)

Dallard, I; Cathebras, P; Sauron, C; Massoubre, C

2001-01-01

The aim of this work was to search for eating disorders, DSM III-R Axis I mental disorders, personality disorders, and addictive behavior, in self-labeled "chocolate addicts". Subjects were recruited through advertisements placed in a university and a hospital. Fifteen subjects were included, 3 men and 12 women aged between 18 and 49. Most of them were not overweight, although 7 thought they had a weight problem. They consumed an average of 50 g per day of pure cacao and, for 13 subjects, this consumption was lasting since childhood or adolescence. The psychological effects of chocolate, as indicated by the subjects, consisted in feelings of increased energy or increased concentration ability, and in an anxiolytic effect during stress. Seven subjects described minor withdrawal symptoms. None of the subjects reached the thresholds for eating disorders on the EAT and BULIT scales. The structured interview (MINI) identified an important ratio of subjects with a history of major depressive episode (13/15), and one woman was currently experiencing a major depressive episode. Four people suffered, or had suffered from anxiety disorders. Although only one subject satisfied all criteria for a personality disorder on the DIP-Q, seven displayed some pathological personality features. The self-labeled "chocoholics" do not seem to suffer from eating disorders, but may represent a population of psychologically vulnerable and depression--or anxiety--prone people. They seem to use chocolate as a light psychotropic drug able to relieve some of their distress. The amount of cacao consumed, although very chronically, remains moderate, and they rarely display other addictive behaviors.

Benefits and Costs of Context Reinstatement in Episodic Memory: An ERP Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bramão, Inês; Johansson, Mikael

2017-01-01

This study investigated context-dependent episodic memory retrieval. An influential idea in the memory literature is that performance benefits when the retrieval context overlaps with the original encoding context. However, such memory facilitation may not be driven by the encoding-retrieval overlap per se but by the presence of diagnostic features in the reinstated context that discriminate the target episode from competing episodes. To test this prediction, the encoding-retrieval overlap and the diagnostic value of the context were manipulated in a novel associative recognition memory task. Participants were asked to memorize word pairs presented together with diagnostic (unique) and nondiagnostic (shared) background scenes. At test, participants recognized the word pairs in the presence and absence of the previously encoded contexts. Behavioral data show facilitated memory performance in the presence of the original context but, importantly, only when the context was diagnostic of the target episode. The electrophysiological data reveal an early anterior ERP encoding-retrieval overlap effect that tracks the cost associated with having nondiagnostic contexts present at retrieval, that is, shared by multiple previous episodes, and a later posterior encoding-retrieval overlap effect that reflects facilitated access to the target episode during retrieval in diagnostic contexts. Taken together, our results underscore the importance of the diagnostic value of the context and suggest that context-dependent episodic memory effects are multiple determined.

Episodic memories and their relevance for psychoactive drug use and addiction.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, Christian P

2013-01-01

The majority of adult people in western societies regularly consume psychoactive drugs. While this consumption is integrated in everyday life activities and controlled in most consumers, it may escalate and result in drug addiction. Non-addicted drug use requires the systematic establishment of highly organized behaviors, such as drug-seeking and -taking. While a significant role for classical and instrumental learning processes is well established in drug use and abuse, declarative drug memories have largely been neglected in research. Episodic memories are an important part of the declarative memories. Here a role of episodic drug memories in the establishment of non-addicted drug use and its transition to addiction is suggested. In relation to psychoactive drug consumption, episodic drug memories are formed when a person prepares for consumption, when the drug is consumed and, most important, when acute effects, withdrawal, craving, and relapse are experienced. Episodic drug memories are one-trial memories with emotional components that can be much stronger than "normal" episodic memories. Their establishment coincides with drug-induced neuronal activation and plasticity. These memories may be highly extinction resistant and influence psychoactive drug consumption, in particular during initial establishment and at the transition to "drug instrumentalization." In that, understanding how addictive drugs interact with episodic memory circuits in the brain may provide crucial information for how drug use and addiction are established.

Episodic memories and their relevance for psychoactive drug use and addiction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian P. Müller

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The majority of adult people in western societies regularly consume psychoactive drugs. While this consumption is integrated in everyday life activities and controlled in most consumers, it may escalate and result in drug addiction. Non-addicted drug use requires the systematic establishment of highly organized behaviours, such as drug seeking and -taking. While a significant role for classical and instrumental learning processes is well established in drug use and abuse, declarative drug memories have largely been neglected in research. Episodic memories are an important part of the declarative memories. Here a role of episodic drug memories in the establishment of non-addicted drug use and its transition to addiction is suggested. In relation to psychoactive drug consumption, episodic drug memories are formed when a person prepares for consumption, when the drug is consumed and, most important, when acute effects, withdrawal, craving, and relapse are experienced. Episodic drug memories are one-trial memories with emotional components that can be much stronger than ‘normal’ episodic memories. Their establishment coincides with drug-induced neuronal activation and plasticity. These memories may be highly extinction resistant and influence psychoactive drug consumption, in particular during initial establishment and at the transition to ‘drug instrumentalization’. In that, understanding how addictive drugs interact with episodic memory circuits in the brain may provide crucial information for how drug use and addiction are established.

Looking for episodic memory in animals and young children: prospects for a new minimalism.

Science.gov (United States)

Clayton, Nicola S; Russell, James

2009-09-01

Because animals and young children cannot be interrogated about their experiences it is difficult to conduct research into their episodic memories. The approach to this issue adopted by Clayton and Dickinson [Clayton, N. S., & Dickinson, A. (1998). Episodic-like memory during cache recovery by scrub jays. Nature, 395, 272-274] was to take a conceptually minimalist definition of episodic memory, in terms of integrating information about what was done where and when [Tulving, E. (1972). Episodic and semantic memory. In E. Tulving, & W. Donaldson (Eds.), Organisation of memory (pp. 381-403). New York: Academic Press], and to refer to such memories as 'episodic-like'. Some claim, however, that because animals supposedly lack the conceptual abilities necessary for episodic recall one should properly call these memories 'semantic'. We address this debate with a novel approach to episodic memory, which is minimalist insofar as it focuses on the non-conceptual content of a re-experienced situation. It rests on Kantian assumptions about the necessary 'perspectival' features of any objective experience or re-experience. We show how adopting this perspectival approach can render an episodic interpretation of the animal data more plausible and can also reveal patterns in the mosaic of developmental evidence for episodic memory in humans.

Extremely Bright GRB 160625B with Multiple Emission Episodes: Evidence for Long-term Ejecta Evolution

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Lü, Hou-Jun; Lü, Jing; Zhong, Shu-Qing; Huang, Xiao-Li; Zhang, Hai-Ming; Lan, Lin; Lu, Rui-Jing; Liang, En-Wei [Guangxi Key Laboratory for Relativistic Astrophysics, Department of Physics, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004 (China); Xie, Wei, E-mail: lhj@gxu.edu.edu, E-mail: lew@gxu.edu.cn [School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China)

2017-11-01

GRB 160625B is an extremely bright GRB with three distinct emission episodes. By analyzing its data observed with the Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM) and Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi mission, we find that a multicolor blackbody (mBB) model can be used to fit very well the spectra of the initial short episode (Episode I) within the hypothesis of photosphere emission of a fireball model. The time-resolved spectra of its main episode (Episode II), which was detected with both GBM and LAT after a long quiescent stage (∼180 s) following the initial episode, can be fitted with a model comprising an mBB component plus a cutoff power-law (CPL) component. This GRB was detected again in the GBM and LAT bands with a long extended emission (Episode III) after a quiescent period of ∼300 s. The spectrum of Episode III is adequately fitted with CPL plus single power-law models, and no mBB component is required. These features may imply that the emission of the three episodes are dominated by distinct physics processes, i.e., Episode I is possible from the cocoon emission surrounding the relativistic jet, Episode II may be from photosphere emission and internal shock of the relativistic jet, and Episode III is contributed by internal and external shocks of the relativistic jet. On the other hand, both X-ray and optical afterglows are consistent with the standard external shocks model.

Overlap in the functional neural systems involved in semantic and episodic memory retrieval.

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Rajah, M N; McIntosh, A R

2005-03-01

Neuroimaging and neuropsychological data suggest that episodic and semantic memory may be mediated by distinct neural systems. However, an alternative perspective is that episodic and semantic memory represent different modes of processing within a single declarative memory system. To examine whether the multiple or the unitary system view better represents the data we conducted a network analysis using multivariate partial least squares (PLS ) activation analysis followed by covariance structural equation modeling (SEM) of positron emission tomography data obtained while healthy adults performed episodic and semantic verbal retrieval tasks. It is argued that if performance of episodic and semantic retrieval tasks are mediated by different memory systems, then there should differences in both regional activations and interregional correlations related to each type of retrieval task, respectively. The PLS results identified brain regions that were differentially active during episodic retrieval versus semantic retrieval. Regions that showed maximal differences in regional activity between episodic retrieval tasks were used to construct separate functional models for episodic and semantic retrieval. Omnibus tests of these functional models failed to find a significant difference across tasks for both functional models. The pattern of path coefficients for the episodic retrieval model were not different across tasks, nor were the path coefficients for the semantic retrieval model. The SEM results suggest that the same memory network/system was engaged across tasks, given the similarities in path coefficients. Therefore, activation differences between episodic and semantic retrieval may ref lect variation along a continuum of processing during task performance within the context of a single memory system.

Is Adolescent-Onset First-Episode Psychosis Different from Adult Onset?

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Ballageer, Trevor; Malla, Ashok; Manchanda, Rahul; Takhar, Jatinder; Haricharan, Raj

2005-01-01

Objective: To examine whether first-episode psychosis patients with onset during adolescence (ages 15-18) differ significantly from those with young-adult onset (ages 19-30). Method: Consecutive patients presenting with first-episode psychosis (N = 242) were assessed for demographic and illness characteristics such as duration of untreated…

How Does Intentionality of Encoding Affect Memory for Episodic Information?

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Craig, Michael; Butterworth, Karla; Nilsson, Jonna; Hamilton, Colin J.; Gallagher, Peter; Smulders, Tom V.

2016-01-01

Episodic memory enables the detailed and vivid recall of past events, including target and wider contextual information. In this paper, we investigated whether/how encoding intentionality affects the retention of target and contextual episodic information from a novel experience. Healthy adults performed (1) a "What-Where-When"…

Childhood trauma and cognitive function in first-episode affective and non-affective psychosis.

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Aas, Monica; Dazzan, Paola; Fisher, Helen L; Morgan, Craig; Morgan, Kevin; Reichenberg, Abraham; Zanelli, Jolanta; Fearon, Paul; Jones, Peter B; Murray, Robin M; Pariante, Carmine M

2011-06-01

A history of childhood trauma is reportedly more prevalent in people suffering from psychosis than in the general population. Childhood trauma has also been linked to cognitive abnormalities in adulthood, and cognitive abnormalities, in turn, are one of the key clinical features of psychosis. Therefore, this study investigated whether there was a relationship between childhood trauma and cognitive function in patients with first-episode psychosis. The potential impact of diagnosis (schizophrenia or affective psychosis) and gender on this association was also examined. Data were available for 138 first-episode psychosis patients and 138 geographically-matched controls recruited from a catchment area based organisation. History of childhood trauma was obtained using the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire. Cognitive function was assessed through a comprehensive and standardised neuropsychological test battery. A history of childhood trauma was associated with worse cognitive performances, predominantly in affective psychoses, and in male patients. No association between a history of childhood trauma and cognition was found amongst female patients, or female controls. The results need replication, but underline the necessity of investigating biological and psychosocial mechanisms underlying these subjects' sensitivity to the negative effect of childhood stress. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Suicide attempts in major depressive episode: evidence from the BRIDGE-II-Mix study.

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Popovic, Dina; Vieta, Eduard; Azorin, Jean-Michel; Angst, Jules; Bowden, Charles L; Mosolov, Sergey; Young, Allan H; Perugi, Giulio

2015-11-01

The Bipolar Disorders: Improving Diagnosis, Guidance, and Education (BRIDGE-II-Mix) study aimed to estimate the frequency of mixed states in patients with a major depressive episode (MDE) according to different definitions and to compare their clinical validity, looking into specific features such as suicidality. A total of 2,811 subjects were enrolled in this multicenter cross-sectional study. Psychiatric symptoms, and sociodemographic and clinical variables were collected. The analysis compared the characteristics of patients with MDE with (MDE-SA group) and without (MDE-NSA) a history of suicide attempts. The history of suicide attempts was registered in 628 patients (22.34%). In the MDE-SA group, women (72.5%, p = 0.028), (hypo)mania in first-degree relatives (20.5%, p suicide attempts. In the MDE-SA group, 75 patients (11.9%) fulfilled Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-5 criteria for MDE with mixed features, and 250 patients (39.8%) fulfilled research-based diagnostic criteria for a mixed depressive episode. Important differences between MDE-SA and MDE-NSA patients have emerged. Early identification of symptoms such as risky behavior, psychomotor agitation, and impulsivity in patients with MDE, and treatment of mixed depressive states could represent a major step in suicide prevention. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Development in the Organization of Episodic Memories in Middle Childhood and Adolescence

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Yan eChen

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The basic elements of autobiographical or episodic memory are established in early childhood, although the exact age at which memories gain episodic status is still under contention. The self-memory system proposed that adults use lifetime periods to group episodic memories together into life story chapters. Two studies examined at what point in development children or adolescents begin to take advantage of lifetime-period chapters to organize their episodic memories. The results of Study 1 with 8- to 12-year-olds revealed that the ability to provide life story chapters began to emerge as early as 8 years of age. In Study 2 with adolescents aged 12 to 21, this ability continued to develop into late adolescence among New Zealand European and New Zealand Chinese adolescents; however, cultural differences also existed in the specificity of memories. New Zealand Chinese adolescents narrated fewer life story chapters containing specific memories than New Zealand European adolescents. These findings support and extend current theories of episodic memory by specifying that pre-adolescents are starting to organize their episodic memories into lifetime periods, but this achievement is not fully realized until later in adolescence.

The role of the episodic buffer in working memory for language processing.

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Rudner, Mary; Rönnberg, Jerker

2008-03-01

A body of work has accumulated to show that the cognitive process of binding information from different mnemonic and sensory sources as well as in different linguistic modalities can be fractionated from general executive functions in working memory both functionally and neurally. This process has been defined in terms of the episodic buffer (Baddeley in Trends Cogn Sci 4(11):417-423, 2000). This paper considers behavioural, neuropsychological and neuroimaging data that elucidate the role of the episodic buffer in language processing. We argue that the episodic buffer seems to be truly multimodal in function and that while formation of unitary multidimensional representations in the episodic buffer seems to engage posterior neural networks, maintenance of such representations is supported by frontal networks. Although, the episodic buffer is not necessarily supported by executive processes and seems to be supported by different neural networks, it may operate in tandem with the central executive during effortful language processing. There is also evidence to suggest engagement of the phonological loop during buffer processing. The hippocampus seems to play a role in formation but not maintenance of representations in the episodic buffer of working memory.

Childhood trauma and hippocampal and amygdalar volumes in first-episode psychosis.

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Hoy, Katrina; Barrett, Suzanne; Shannon, Ciaran; Campbell, Clodagh; Watson, David; Rushe, Teresa; Shevlin, Mark; Bai, Feng; Cooper, Stephen; Mulholland, Ciaran

2012-11-01

A history of childhood trauma is common in individuals who later develop psychosis. Similar neuroanatomical abnormalities are observed in people who have been exposed to childhood trauma and people with psychosis. However, the relationship between childhood trauma and such abnormalities in psychosis has not been investigated. This study aimed to explore the association between the experience of childhood trauma and hippocampal and amygdalar volumes in a first-episode psychosis (FEP) population. The study employed an observational retrospective design. Twenty-one individuals, who had previously undergone magnetic resonance imaging procedures as part of the longitudinal Northern Ireland First-Episode Psychosis Study, completed measures assessing traumatic experiences and were included in the analysis. Data were subject to correlation analyses (r and r (pb)). Potential confounding variables (age at FEP and delay to scan from recruitment) were selected a priori for inclusion in multiple regression analyses. There was a high prevalence of lifetime (95%) and childhood (76%) trauma in the sample. The experience of childhood trauma was a significant predictor of left hippocampal volume, although age at FEP also significantly contributed to this model. There was no significant association between predictor variables and right hippocampal volume. The experience of childhood trauma was a significant predictor of right and total amygdalar volumes and the hippocampal/amygdalar complex volume as a whole. The findings indicate that childhood trauma is associated with neuroanatomical measures in FEP. Future research controlling for childhood traumatic experiences may contribute to explaining brain morphology in people with psychosis.

The significance of the second cave episode in Jerome’s Vita Malchi