Bayesian inference, predictive coding and delusions

Author(s): Rick A. Adams,Harriet R. Brown,Karl John Friston / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2014

This paper considers psychotic symptoms in terms of false inferences or beliefs. It is based on the notion that the brain is an organ of inference that actively constructs hypotheses to explain or predict its sensations. This perspective provides a normative (Bayes optimal) account of action and perception that emphasises probabilistic representations; in particular, the confidence or precision of beliefs about the world. We consider sensory attenuation deficits, catatonia and delusions as various expressions of the same core pathology: namely, an aberrant encoding of precision in a predictive coding hierarchy. In predictive coding, precision is thought to be encoded by the postsynaptic gain of neurons reporting prediction error. This suggests that both pervasive trait abnormalities and florid failures of inference in the psychotic state can be linked to factors controlling postsynaptic gain—such as NMDA receptor function and (dopaminergic) neuromodulation. We illustrate these points using a biologically plausible simulation of attribution of agency—showing how a reduction in the precision of prior beliefs, relative to sensory evidence, can lead to false inference.

Becoming a Mother after Infertility: A Theoretical Analysis

Author(s): Ilkay Boz,Elif Özçetin,Gamze Teskereci / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2018

In order to have a baby due to infertility, couples often resort to assisted reproduction therapy. In cases of pregnancy, even if the meaning of pregnancy is a happy and enjoyable process for these couples, the burden of infertility diagnosis and treatments can turn into a challenging process. Especially women can experience emotions such as not accepting pregnancy, fear of losing their baby, worrying about their health, uncertainty. It is known that pregnant women after infertility treatment can be ignored among spontaneous pregnancies. In qualitative studies at international literature, pregnant women with assisted reproductive treatments do not easily adjust to gestation and postpartum period. With this review, the experiences of the mother who became pregnant after infertility treatment were reviewed and analyzed theoretically.

Being her own biographer – Su Meck’s memoir I Forgot to Remember and the fallibility of memory from the perspective of neuroscience and cognitive psychology

Author(s): Anita Jarczok / Language(s): English / Issue: 28/2017

Su Meck’s memoir relates her loss of memory as a result of the brain injury that she suffered when a kitchen fan fell on her head. Meck never recovered her memories from before the incident, and for some time after it she was also unable to form any new memories. In this dramatic account of the loss of memory, Meck tries to understand her experiences and to rebuild her sense of self. I describe the dire consequences of such a total memory failure, especially to our sense of self. However, I also argue that this memoir is about the fallibility of memory in general, not only in such an extreme case as the brain injury. Trying to reconstruct her story, Meck discovers that others have either incomplete or conflicting stories to tell her. I Forgot to Remember brings the transient and biased nature of our own memories into sharp focus. However, Meck’s narrative not only exposes the limitation of our memory and highlights its importance to our sense of self but also brings to light the fluid boundaries of various life writing genres and reveals the pitfalls of placing too much emphasis on memory in relation to self.

Beliren yetişkinlik ve kayıp yaşantıları: Bağlanma temelli zihinsel temsiller ve psikolojik belirtilerin incelenmesi: Beliren Yetişkinlik ve Kayıp Yaşantıları

Author(s): Gizem Cesur,Sezin Basbug / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 1/2017

The aim of this study is to examine the psychological symptoms and Attachment-Based Mental Representations of university students who experienced the death of first and second-degree relatives or the break-up of their romantic relationships. The sample consisted of 122 female and 102 male students. The age of the participants ranged between 18 and 29 with a mean of 21.31 years (SD = 1.90). Demo- graphic Information Form, Brief Symptom Inventory and Attachment-Based Mental Representation Scale were used to collect data. One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) results showed that there was no significant difference on Attachment-Based Mental Representations among the groups. There- fore, all groups are assumed to be homogeneous in terms of attachment-based mental representations. To compare psychological symptom levels of the groups, ANOVA was also conducted. The results indicated that there were significant differences between the groups who lost their second-degree relatives and who break-up their romantic relationship. However, there was no significant differences between the groups who lost their first-degree relatives and who break-up their romantic relationships. Regression analysis revealed that negative self-representation and negative father-representation significantly predicted psychological symptoms of the group who experienced the break-up. Consequently, break-up of the romantic relationship is quite important for emerging adulthood. In addition, current study revealed that negative self-representation and negative father-representation of adolescents who experienced the break-up led to the risk factors for psychological symptoms.

Belirsizliğin Psikolojik Etkileri

Author(s): Sanem Küçükkömürler / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 10/2017

Uncertainty is defined in relation with concepts of incompatibility, unpredictability, misidentification, and dubiousness from different researchers in the literature. Also, need to reduce uncertainty is defined as a tendency to decrease uncertainties in order to gain certainty. The need to reduce uncertainty, which was proposed as a basic motivation from different researchers, is encountering frequently in daily life. In some cases, collective uncertainties follow daily uncertainties, which can be faced under normal conditions. Collective uncertainties include both cultural tendencies related with uncertainty and collectively experienced uncertainties. Turkey’s cultural tendency to avoid uncertainty and collective events including uncertainties experienced recently such as terrorist attacks and coup attempt increase impact of the topic for Turkey. In this paper, aim is to introduce psychology of uncertainty and examine uncertain events experienced in Turkey. It was emphasized that strategies to reduce uncertainty become unfunctional in some cases in our country. For this reason, new strategies which can be useful to reduce uncertainty in Turkey were suggested as (a) introducing uncertainty as manageable with respect to positive uncertainty experiences, (b) giving exact information under uncertain conditions, and (c) presenting peaceful speeches considering possible intergroup conflicts result from uncertainty management.

Bezbronni - Lucyna Kicińska w rozmowie z Katarzyną Jabłońską

Author(s): Katarzyna Jablonska,Lucyna Kicinska / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 675/2019

Współczesne dzieci i nastolatki nie zostały wyposażone w wiedzę, że trudności i niepowodzenia są naturalną częścią życia. Nie nauczono ich, jak sobie z nimi radzić, nie pokazano, że bardzo często wpisane są one w drogę do sukcesu.

Bipolar Spectrum Disorders in a Clinical Sample of Patients With Internet Addiction: Hidden Comorbidity or Differential Diagnosis?

Author(s): Klaus Wölfling,Manfred E. Beutel,Michael Dreier,Kai W. Müller / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2015

Behavioral addictions and bipolar disorders have a certain probability of co-occurrence. While the presence of a manic episode has been defined as an exclusion criterion for gambling disorder, no such exclusion has been formulated for Internet addiction. Methods: A clinical sample of 368 treatment seekers presenting with excessive to addictive Internet use was screened for bipolar spectrum disorders using the Mood Disorder Questionnaire. Psychopathology was assessed by the Symptom Checklist 90R and a clinical interview was administered to screen for comorbid disorders. Results: Comorbid bipolar disorders were more frequent in patients meeting criteria for Internet addiction (30.9%) than among the excessive users (5.6%). This subgroup showed heightened psychopathological symptoms, including substance use disorders, affective disorders and personality disorders. Further differences were found regarding frequency of Internet use regarding social networking sites and online-pornography. Discussion: Patients with Internet addiction have a heightened probability for meeting criteria of bipolar disorders. It is not possible to draw conclusions regarding the direction of this association but it is recommended to implement screening for bipolar disorders in patients presenting with Internet addiction. Conclusion: Similar to gambling disorder, it might prove necessary to subsume bipolar disorders as an exclusion criterion for the future criteria of Internet addiction.

Body esteem in adolescent hair pullers

Author(s): Erin M. Altenburger,Esther S. Tung,Nancy J. Keuthen / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2014

Trichotillomania (TTM) often first presents in adolescence, a developmental period marked by vulnerability in body image. To date, no one has studied the relationship between this disorder and body esteem. Methods: 49 adolescents with DSM-IV TTM or chronic hair pulling (HP) and 23 control adolescents were administered diagnostic assessments and self-report measures of hair pulling and body esteem. Results: HP youth vs. controls reported lower levels of body esteem on all Body-Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (BESAA) subscales (appearance, attribution and weight satisfaction). HP contributed to lowered body esteem, independent of comorbid anxiety or depression. As expected, HP youth with vs. without comorbid anxiety or depression reported lowered levels of body esteem. Further, greater HP severity and distress were significantly associated with lower levels of body esteem. HP severity alone but not distress/impairment predicted lower levels of body esteem, independent of comorbid anxiety and depression. Conclusions: Both hair pulling and comorbid anxiety and depression can independently impact body esteem in adolescent hair pullers.

Body mass index, personality traits, and body image in Italian pre-adolescents: An opportunity for overweight prevention

Author(s): Veronica Rosa,Manuela Tomai,Marco Lauriola,Gabriela Martino,Michela Di Trani / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2019

We investigated the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and personality traits, socioeconomic status (SES), and body image (BI) at the beginning of preadolescence. Data were collected from 238 Italian children aged 10–11 years using self-report scales. Information about SES was derived from parental education and professional status. BI was the variable the most strongly associated with BMI. Controlling for BI, SES, and gender, Agreeableness was inversely associated with BMI, whilst Extroversion was related to BMI in girls only. Gender did not moderate the associations between BI and BMI at this age. The relationship of certain personality traits with BMI is likely to emerge during preadolescence. Early interventions to reduce overweight and obesity could consider the interplay of Agreeableness and Extroversion with gender, BI, and SES.

Ból – analiza zagadnienia, przegląd piśmiennictwa

Author(s): Krzysztof Wróbel,Adam Wróbel / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 2/2015

Pain is the most frequent medical problem, not only for diseased people, but doctors as well. It performs a warndefense function. Most often, pain occurs as a result of a damaging stimulus or a disease, through the stimulation of the nociceptive system, which releases proteolytic enzymes out of tissues. International Association for the Study of Pain has attempted to define this phenomenon. To systemize pain, the following categories have been provided: acute, chronic, inflammatory, pathological, located, projected and generalized ones. To determine the strength of pain feeling as well as the effectiveness of the therapy chosen, there have been developed a number of scales and questionnaires such as: McGill Pain Questionnaire, Visual Analogue Scales (VAS), Verbal Rating Scale (VRS) and Numeral Rating Scale (NRS). Different studies prove that the perception of pain may be affected, among others, by environmental conditions, genetic predispositions, social factors as well as current life situation. Pain therapy is always difficult due to its complexity. Therefore, it does not always bring the expected results. Except for standard phonological methods of pain treatment, Placebo effect, whose effectiveness reaches 35%, is of great importance.

BOLESTI DUŠE I TIJELA – IZAZOV SVJESNOSTI

Author(s): Branka Jakelic / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 4/2015

Book Reviews

Author(s): Virág Márta,Tamás Kollár / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2016

The review of: -„Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind (International student edition) (4th ed.)“ by Michael S. Gazzaniga, Richard B. Ivry and George R. Mangun; New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, 2013, 752 pp. ISBN: 978-0-3939-2228-8 -„The Neurobiology of Addiction“ by Trevor W. Robbins, Barry J. Everitt and David J. Nutt; Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2010, 318 pp. ISBN: 978-0-1995-6215-2

Book Reviews

Author(s): Attila Körmendi,Csilla Ágoston / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2015

The reviews of: -“Mindfulness-based sobriety: A clinician’s treatment guide for addiction recovery using relapse prevention therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and motivational interviewing” by N. Turner, P. Welches and S. Conti; New Harbinger, Oakland, 2013, 256 pp. ISBN 978-1-60882-853-1 -“Internet Gambling: Current Research Findings and Implications” by S. Gainsbury; Springer, New York, 2012, 151 pp. ISBN 978-1-4614-3390-3

Book Reviews

Author(s): Kata Mónok,Borbála Hende / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2015

The reviews of: -„Data analysis with Mplus“ by Christian Geiser; The Guilford Press, 2013, 305 pp. Paperback ISBN 9781462502455, Hardcover ISBN 9781462507825 -„Trichotillomania, skin picking, and other body-focused repetitive behaviours“ by J. E. Grant, D. J. Stein, D. W. Woods and N. J. Keuthen; American Psychiatric Publishing, Arlington, 2011, 268 pp. ISBN: 1585623989

Book Reviews

Author(s): Gyöngyi Kökönyei,Renáta Cserjési / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2015

The reviews of: -“Handbook of emotion regulation (second edition)” by James J. Gross (Editor); The Guilford Press, New York, London, 2014, 669 pp. ISBN 978-1-4625-0350-6 -“The behavioral addictions” by Michael S. Ascher (Author, Editor) and Petros Levounis (Editor); American Psychiatric Publishing, Arlington, 2014, 235 pp. ISBN: 1585624853

Borderline Knowing: (Re)Valuing Borderline Personality Disorder as (Counter) Knowledge

Author(s): Sarah Redikopp / Language(s): English / Issue: 01/2018

This article explores Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) as an epistemic standpoint defiant of dominant Western knowledge frameworks, which are (supposedly) rational, objective and linear. I engage with feminist, critical psychiatry and Mad critiques of BPD as a medicalization of trauma and ameliorate these critiques by engaging BPD as both a psychiatric diagnosis and as a (non-pathological) response to traumatic experiences. I conceptualize the ‘borderline standpoint’ as a subversive epistemology and examine the capacity of queer-crip temporalities to meaningfully engage with the borderline standpoint, arguing that a framework of queer time is useful insofar as trauma (and borderline knowing) are necessarily nonlinear. Ultimately, I employ concepts of queer-crip time, including the works of Alison Kafer and Elizabeth Freeman, to open new avenues of engagement with the ‘ugly’ affect of borderline and to embark on a maddening epistemological project.

Both active and sham low-frequency rTMS single sessions over the right DLPFC decrease cue-induced cravings among pathological gamblers seeking treatment: A randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled crossover trial

Author(s): Anne Sauvaget,Samuel Bulteau,Alice Guilleux,Juliette Leboucher,Anne Pichot,Pierre Valrivière,Jean-Marie Vanelle,Véronique Sébille-Rivain,Marie Grall-Bronnec / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2018

Craving is a core symptom of addictive disorders, such as pathological gambling for example. Over the last decade, several studies have assessed the efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in the addiction field, which triggers the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) to decrease craving. The STIMJEU study investigated whether a single session of low-frequency (LF, i.e., 1 Hz) rTMS applied to the right DLPFC reduced cueinduced gambling craving in a sample of treatment-seeking pathological gamblers. Methods: Thirty patients received both active and sham rTMS in random order and were blinded to the condition in a within-subject crossover design. Outcome measures included self-reported gambling craving (Visual Analog Scale and Gambling Craving Scale) and physiological measures (heart rate and blood pressure). Results: The rTMS sessions were associated with a significant decrease in the gambling urge, regardless of whether the session was active or sham. When controlling cue-induced craving levels, no effects were observed on craving for active rTMS. Overall, rTMS was well-tolerated, and the credibility of the sham procedure was assessed and appeared to be appropriate. Conclusions: We failed to demonstrate the specific efficacy of one session of LF rTMS to decrease cue-induced craving in pathological gamblers. A strong placebo-effect and rTMS parameters may partly explain these results. Yet, we are convinced that rTMS remains a promising therapeutic method. Further studies are required to examine its potential effect.

Building Resilience in Chronic Trauma through SelfRegulation

Author(s): Hasna Abu Khalid / Language(s): English / Issue: Special/2019

Self-regulation is a life skill that benefits human development in general and can support building of resilience with which to survive and thrive through experiences of trauma, especially when impact of trauma has a chronic nature. Academic study provides an experience that requires exercise of self-regulation to attain success much as the need to survive and thrive through trauma. Research has indicated role of student-driven factors such as self-regulation in academic performance. A study conducted with educators in training provided indication that educators are enriched to help students grow in self-regulation as the educators themselves practice facets of selfregulation The study examined self-regulation from selected scales of the MSLQ of Organization, Resource Management, Effort regulation, and HelpSeeking. Discussion of results provides implications for building resilience for support in trauma. Study results will assist educators in promotion of student self-regulation behaviors that can facilitate successful academic endeavor and habit formation of resilience practices. Answers will also provide guidance to educators and institutions on priority of effort in students support for selfregulation.

Buletin de Psihiatrie Integrativa

Frequency: 4 issues / Country: Romania

The first number of the Bulletin appeared in 1919 and was printed in Iaşi. Society’s monthly meetings were rich in clinical data and facts, as well as experimental. They constituted a sufficient material for a regular publication of the Bulletin of the Society.

Prof. Parhon, gradually gathered around him the youth willing to learn. The society became quickly a lively organism. At its meetings attended many doctors, young and old people attracted by the scientific level of the communications and discussions and also of the mutilaterallity of the scientific concerns of Professor C.I. Parhon. The fame of the society spread in the rest of the country too. This was an objective condition for organizing the congresses of Neurology, Psychiatry, Psychology and Endocrinology Society in our country. Each congress was held in another city, where there were hospitals with this profile.

The journal was sent in many countries: U.S.S.R., France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, USA, Brazil, Argentina, Turkey and in other countries in Europe, in all 250 numbers of the journal were sent off. The journal was not subsidized by the state but once with the sum of 10.000 lei, after the attempt of the governors of the time to dissolve the „Socola” Hospital, for the progressive orientation of the comprised medical school. This attempt arose a great protest movement between the intellectuals and the doctors across the country, forcing the government of the time to reconsider this decision.

Cardiovascular effects of antidepressants

Author(s): Maria-Magdalena LEON-CONSTANTIN,Ovidiu MITU,Radu GAVRIL,Mihai Roca,Alexandra MA?TALERU,Ioana Magherca,Florin Mitu / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2017

Depression and cardiovascular disease are extremely frequent, often being associated and requiring a careful selection of antidepressant therapy. There are an increasing number of studies suggesting that depression is associated with both the development of coronary artery disease and increased mortality after myocardial infarction and stroke. Objectives - Using the PubMed platform we identified studies designed to evaluate the effects of antidepressants on cardiovascular function and the safety of their use for patients with known cardiovascular pathology. Results and conclusions - Depression seems to be an independent risk factor in the development of coronary heart disease and for cardiac death after myocardial infarction and stroke. The use of some antidepressants (tricyclics) may be associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction, while the use of other medication (Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors – SSRIs) may reduce the risk of myocardial infarction. Recent studies have shown that the use of SSRIs and mirtazapine is safe after myocardial infarction and may even reduce mortality, although response to treatment may be a prerequisite for this beneficial effect. Antidepressants like citalopram and paroxetine appear to be safe in coronary heart disease, while others (especially SSRIs) can improve mortality after stroke. The use of antidepressants is complicated by various cardiovascular effects, although SSRIs and mirtazapine have few important cardiovascular side effects.