In this article, we examine similarities and differences in the academic, social, and behavioral skills of high school students with emotional disturbances (ED) and learning disabilities (LD). Two groups of high school students with ED (n = 45) and LD (n = 49) were compared on nine measures in academic, behavioral, and social domains using multivariate procedures. Results indicated that there were significant differences in the characteristics of these students, with seven of the original nine variables differentiating group membership. In general, adolescent students with LD exhibited higher levels of social competence and lower levels of behavioral problems as compared to adolescent students with ED. Findings also revealed that a substantial percentage of the variance (50%) between adolescents with ED and adolescents with LD could be explained. Furthermore, the variables in this model differentiated between these two groups, with 78.57% of students with ED and 78.95% of students with LD being correctly classified. Limitations of the study are discussed and directions for future research are offered.
We recorded electrical activity from 532 neurons in the rostral part of inferior area 6 (area F5) of two macaque monkeys. Previous data had shown that neurons of this area discharge during goal-directed hand and mouth movements. We describe here the properties of a newly discovered set of F5 neurons ("mirror neurons', n = 92) all of which became active both when the monkey performed a given action and when it observed a similar action performed by the experimenter. Mirror neurons, in order to be visually triggered, required an interaction between the agent of the action and the object of it. The sight of the agent alone or of the object alone (three-dimensional objects, food) were ineffective. Hand and the mouth were by far the most effective agents. The actions most represented among those activating mirror neurons were grasping, manipulating and placing. In most mirror neurons (92%) there was a clear relation between the visual action they responded to and the motor response they coded. In approximately 30% of mirror neurons the congruence was very strict and the effective observed and executed actions corresponded both in terms of general action (e.g. grasping) and in terms of the way in which that action was executed (e.g. precision grip). We conclude by proposing that mirror neurons form a system for matching observation and execution of motor actions. We discuss the possible role of this system in action recognition and, given the proposed homology between F5 and human Brocca's region, we posit that a matching system, similar to that of mirror neurons exists in humans and could be involved in recognition of actions as well as phonetic gestures.
Work stress, worry, anxiety, fatigue? Want to learn meditation, mindfulness, time-management, balance, and efficiency? Active Relaxation is a practical guide for anyone, from executives to mothers, to students, to laborers, who wants to be more productive and less anxious. It contains a plethora of simple and effective tools that help the reader reduce stress and achieve balance. The book is aimed toward people who want to live a more relaxed and balanced lifestyle, but have no time for traditional forms of relaxation, have tried them without success, or fear that relaxing may sacrifice their success.
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the acute and chronic effects of yoga practice. DESIGN: Quantitative study using a one-group pre-posttest design. SETTING: Visao Futuro Institute, Porangaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil. PARTICIPANTS: 22 volunteers (7 men and 15 women). INTERVENTION: Six weeks of a tantric yoga program (TYP), 50 minutes per session, held twice a week from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. The local ethics committee approved the protocol. OUTCOME MEASURES: Data were collected in the first week and at the end of the sixth week of TYP. Salivary cortisol concentration (SCC) was used to measure physiology of distress and to analyze the short- and long-term effects of TYP. Psychological distress was evaluated by applying a specific perceived stress questionnaire (PSQ). Results (mean+/-standard deviation) were analyzed by Wilcoxon test (p<0.05). RESULTS: SCC decreased 24% after the first (0.66+/-0.20 mug/dL versus 0.50+/-0.13 mug/dL) and last (1.01+/-0.37 versus 0.76+/-0.31 mug/dL) sessions, showing the short-term effect of yoga. Long-term effects were analyzed by daily rhythm of cortisol production. In the beginning, volunteers showed altered SCC during the day, with nighttime values (0.42+/-0.28) higher than those at noon (0.30+/-0.06). After the TYP, SCC was higher in the morning (1.01+/-0.37) and decreased during the day, with lower values before sleep (0.30+/-0.13). The TYP was also efficient to reduce PSQ scores (0.45+/-0.13 versus 0.39+/-0.07). Specifically, the irritability, tension, and fatigue domains on the PSQ decreased (0.60+/-0.20 versus 0.46+/-0.13), as did the fear and anxiety domains (0.54+/-0.30 versus 0.30+/-0.20). CONCLUSION: Over the short term, TYP led to the decrease of cortisol production. Over the long term, TYP induced higher cortisol production in the morning and lower production in the evening. Those effects contributed to the physical and mental well-being of the participants.
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the acute and chronic effects of yoga practice. DESIGN: Quantitative study using a one-group pre-posttest design. SETTING: Visao Futuro Institute, Porangaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil. PARTICIPANTS: 22 volunteers (7 men and 15 women). INTERVENTION: Six weeks of a tantric yoga program (TYP), 50 minutes per session, held twice a week from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. The local ethics committee approved the protocol. OUTCOME MEASURES: Data were collected in the first week and at the end of the sixth week of TYP. Salivary cortisol concentration (SCC) was used to measure physiology of distress and to analyze the short- and long-term effects of TYP. Psychological distress was evaluated by applying a specific perceived stress questionnaire (PSQ). Results (mean+/-standard deviation) were analyzed by Wilcoxon test (p<0.05). RESULTS: SCC decreased 24% after the first (0.66+/-0.20 mug/dL versus 0.50+/-0.13 mug/dL) and last (1.01+/-0.37 versus 0.76+/-0.31 mug/dL) sessions, showing the short-term effect of yoga. Long-term effects were analyzed by daily rhythm of cortisol production. In the beginning, volunteers showed altered SCC during the day, with nighttime values (0.42+/-0.28) higher than those at noon (0.30+/-0.06). After the TYP, SCC was higher in the morning (1.01+/-0.37) and decreased during the day, with lower values before sleep (0.30+/-0.13). The TYP was also efficient to reduce PSQ scores (0.45+/-0.13 versus 0.39+/-0.07). Specifically, the irritability, tension, and fatigue domains on the PSQ decreased (0.60+/-0.20 versus 0.46+/-0.13), as did the fear and anxiety domains (0.54+/-0.30 versus 0.30+/-0.20). CONCLUSION: Over the short term, TYP led to the decrease of cortisol production. Over the long term, TYP induced higher cortisol production in the morning and lower production in the evening. Those effects contributed to the physical and mental well-being of the participants.
Patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have elevated sympathetic nervous system reactivity and impaired sympathetic and cardiovagal baroreflex sensitivity (BRS). Device-guided slow breathing (DGB) has been shown to lower blood pressure (BP) and sympathetic activity in other patient populations. We hypothesized that DGB acutely lowers BP, heart rate (HR), and improves BRS in PTSD. In 23 prehypertensive veterans with PTSD, we measured continuous BP, ECG, and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) at rest and during 15 min of DGB at 5 breaths/min ( n = 13) or identical sham device breathing at normal rates of 14 breaths/min (sham; n = 10). Sympathetic and cardiovagal BRS was quantified using pharmacological manipulation of BP via the modified Oxford technique at baseline and during the last 5 min of DGB or sham. There was a significant reduction in systolic BP (by −9 ± 2 mmHg, P < 0.001), diastolic BP (by −3 ± 1 mmHg, P = 0.019), mean arterial pressure (by −4 ± 1 mmHg, P = 0.002), and MSNA burst frequency (by −7.8 ± 2.1 bursts/min, P = 0.004) with DGB but no significant change in HR ( P > 0.05). Within the sham group, there was no significant change in diastolic BP, mean arterial pressure, HR, or MSNA burst frequency, but there was a small but significant decrease in systolic BP ( P = 0.034) and MSNA burst incidence ( P = 0.033). Sympathetic BRS increased significantly in the DGB group (−1.08 ± 0.25 to −2.29 ± 0.24 bursts·100 heart beats −1
·mmHg
−1
, P = 0.014) but decreased in the sham group (−1.58 ± 0.34 to –0.82 ± 0.28 bursts·100 heart beats
−1
·mmHg
−1
, P = 0.025) (time × device, P = 0.001). There was no significant difference in the change in cardiovagal BRS between the groups (time × device, P = 0.496). DGB acutely lowers BP and MSNA and improves sympathetic but not cardiovagal BRS in prehypertensive veterans with PTSD.
NEW & NOTEWORTHY Posttraumatic stress disorder is characterized by augmented sympathetic reactivity, impaired baroreflex sensitivity, and an increased risk for developing hypertension and cardiovascular disease. This is the first study to examine the potential beneficial effects of device-guided slow breathing on hemodynamics, sympathetic activity, and arterial baroreflex sensitivity in prehypertensive veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.
<p>The article describes the changing salt trade in Nepal. The article is based on the result of research undertaken in Nepal from October 1975 to July 1977. This article describes the changes which have occurred and the manner in which Humla traders have adapted to maintain long-distance trade as a viable strategy. (Rajeev Ranjan Singh 2007-01-25)</p>
BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to determine whether hatha yoga is an efficacious adjunctive intervention for individuals with continued depressive symptoms despite antidepressant treatment. METHOD: We conducted a randomized controlled trial of weekly yoga classes (n = 63) v. health education classes (Healthy Living Workshop; HLW; n = 59) in individuals with elevated depression symptoms and antidepressant medication use. HLW served as an attention-control group. The intervention period was 10 weeks, with follow-up assessments 3 and 6 months afterwards. The primary outcome was depression symptom severity assessed by blind rater at 10 weeks. Secondary outcomes included depression symptoms over the entire intervention and follow-up periods, social and role functioning, general health perceptions, pain, and physical functioning. RESULTS: At 10 weeks, we did not find a statistically significant difference between groups in depression symptoms (b = -0.82, s.e. = 0.88, p = 0.36). However, over the entire intervention and follow-up period, when controlling for baseline, yoga participants showed lower levels of depression than HLW participants (b = -1.38, s.e. = 0.57, p = 0.02). At 6-month follow-up, 51% of yoga participants demonstrated a response (50% reduction in depression symptoms) compared with 31% of HLW participants (odds ratio = 2.31; p = 0.04). Yoga participants showed significantly better social and role functioning and general health perceptions over time. CONCLUSIONS: Although we did not see a difference in depression symptoms at the end of the intervention period, yoga participants showed fewer depression symptoms over the entire follow-up period. Benefits of yoga may accumulate over time.
Studies on aging and emotion suggest an increase in reported positive affect, a processing bias of positive over negative information, as well as increasingly adaptive regulation in response to negative events with advancing age. These findings imply that older individuals evaluate information differently, resulting in lowered reactivity to, and/or faster recovery from, negative information, while maintaining more positive responding to positive information. We examined this hypothesis in an ongoing study on Midlife in the US (MIDUS II) where emotional reactivity and recovery were assessed in a large number of respondents (N = 159) from a wide age range (36-84 years). We recorded eye-blink startle magnitudes and corrugator activity during and after the presentation of positive, neutral and negative pictures. The most robust age effect was found in response to neutral stimuli, where increasing age is associated with a decreased corrugator and eyeblink startle response to neutral stimuli. These data suggest that an age-related positivity effect does not essentially alter the response to emotion-laden information, but is reflected in a more positive interpretation of affectively ambiguous information. Furthermore, older women showed reduced corrugator recovery from negative pictures relative to the younger women and men, suggesting that an age-related prioritization of well-being is not necessarily reflected in adaptive regulation of negative affect.
Studies on aging and emotion suggest an increase in reported positive affect, a processing bias of positive over negative information, as well as increasingly adaptive regulation in response to negative events with advancing age. These findings imply that older individuals evaluate information differently, resulting in lowered reactivity to, and/or faster recovery from, negative information, while maintaining more positive responding to positive information. We examined this hypothesis in an ongoing study on Midlife in the US (MIDUS II) where emotional reactivity and recovery were assessed in a large number of respondents (N = 159) from a wide age range (36-84 years). We recorded eye-blink startle magnitudes and corrugator activity during and after the presentation of positive, neutral and negative pictures. The most robust age effect was found in response to neutral stimuli, where increasing age is associated with a decreased corrugator and eyeblink startle response to neutral stimuli. These data suggest that an age-related positivity effect does not essentially alter the response to emotion-laden information, but is reflected in a more positive interpretation of affectively ambiguous information. Furthermore, older women showed reduced corrugator recovery from negative pictures relative to the younger women and men, suggesting that an age-related prioritization of well-being is not necessarily reflected in adaptive regulation of negative affect.
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The use of alternative medicine was assessed by questionnaire in 96 patients with irritable bowel syndrome, 143 patients with organic upper gastrointestinal disorders and 222 patients with Crohn's disease of comparable age and sex. Significantly more patients with the irritable bowel syndrome (16%) had consulted practitioners of alternative medicine about their condition than had patients in either of the other groups. Similarly, significantly more irritable bowel syndrome patients said they would consult an alternative medicine practitioner (41%) if conventional treatment failed. Current usage of alternative medicine remedies was significantly greater in the irritable bowel syndrome patients (11%) than in patients with Crohn's disease (4%) and tended to be greater than in patients with organic upper gastrointestinal disorders (6%). This study has shown that the use of alternative medicine is common in patients with irritable bowel syndrome and this does not appear to be explicable in terms of the nature, chronicity or refractoriness to treatment of symptoms.
Context As the prevalence of obesity and diabetes continues to increase there is a need for new interventions to control this epidemic. Multiple alternative treatment methods exist for type 2 diabetes mellitus such as acupuncture, bariatric surgery, yoga, aromatherapy, herbal remedies, etc. Whole Body Vibration is a relatively new area of interest recently utilized as an adjunctive therapy in type 2 diabetes mellitus, representing a potentially new and novel treatment for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Objective The primary objective of this study was to summarize current literature regarding the effects of whole body vibration on type 2 diabetes mellitus. This review details the effect of whole body vibration on areas of high clinical impact in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus such as glycemic control, body composition, renal function, inflammatory indices, peripheral neuropathy, and wound healing. Methods Reviewers independently screened abstracts and full texts in journal articles and books to extract data from multiple studies and literature to compile a current review on the topic of whole body vibration and diabetes mellitus. Results Current literature in murine and human models reported an overall improvement in glycemic control, renal function, inflammatory indices, and peripheral neuropathy following whole body vibration therapy. Whole body vibration effect on body mass composition is controversial with inconsistent reports of the effect on lean mass, bone density, and fat mass. Conclusions Whole body vibration has demonstrated significant promise in improving multiple systems related to the sequela of type 2 diabetes mellitus, thereby suggesting a new and novel treatment modification in this patient population. Subsequent studies are needed to further analyze the effect of whole body vibration on type 2 diabetes mellitus.
In a world supposedly governed by ruthless survival of the fittest, why do we see acts of goodness in both animals and humans? This problem plagued Charles Darwin in the 1850s as he developed his theory of evolution through natural selection. Indeed, Darwin worried that the goodness he observed in nature could be the Achilles heel of his theory. Ever since then, scientists and other thinkers have engaged in a fierce debate about the origins of goodness that has dragged politics, philosophy, and religion into what remains a major question for evolutionary biology.The Altruism Equation traces the history of this debate from Darwin to the present through an extraordinary cast of characters-from the Russian prince Petr Kropotkin, who wanted to base society on altruism, to the brilliant biologist George Price, who fell into poverty and succumbed to suicide as he obsessed over the problem. In a final surprising turn, William Hamilton, the scientist who came up with the equation that reduced altruism to the cold language of natural selection, desperately hoped that his theory did not apply to humans.
Hamilton's Rule, which states that relatives are worth helping in direct proportion to their blood relatedness, is as fundamental to evolutionary biology as Newton's laws of motion are to physics. But even today, decades after its formulation, Hamilton's Rule is still hotly debated among those who cannot accept that goodness can be explained by a simple mathematical formula. For the first time, Lee Alan Dugatkin brings to life the people, the issues, and the passions that have surrounded the altruism debate. Readers will be swept along by this fast-paced tale of history, biography, and scientific discovery.
Among younger adults, the ability to willfully regulate negative affect, enabling effective responses to stressful experiences, engages regions of prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the amygdala. Because regions of PFC and the amygdala are known to influence the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, here we test whether PFC and amygdala responses during emotion regulation predict the diurnal pattern of salivary cortisol secretion. We also test whether PFC and amygdala regions are engaged during emotion regulation in older (62- to 64-year-old) rather than younger individuals. We measured brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging as participants regulated (increased or decreased) their affective responses or attended to negative picture stimuli. We also collected saliva samples for 1 week at home for cortisol assay. Consistent with previous work in younger samples, increasing negative affect resulted in ventral lateral, dorsolateral, and dorsomedial regions of PFC and amygdala activation. In contrast to previous work, decreasing negative affect did not produce the predicted robust pattern of higher PFC and lower amygdala activation. Individuals demonstrating the predicted effect (decrease < attend in the amygdala), however, exhibited higher signal in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) for the same contrast. Furthermore, participants displaying higher VMPFC and lower amygdala signal when decreasing compared with the attention control condition evidenced steeper, more normative declines in cortisol over the course of the day. Individual differences yielded the predicted link between brain function while reducing negative affect in the laboratory and diurnal regulation of endocrine activity in the home environment.
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Although the co-occurrence of negative affect and pain is well recognized, the mechanism underlying their association is unclear. To examine whether a common self-regulatory ability impacts the experience of both emotion and pain, we integrated neuroimaging, behavioral, and physiological measures obtained from three assessments separated by substantial temporal intervals. Our results demonstrated that individual differences in emotion regulation ability, as indexed by an objective measure of emotional state, corrugator electromyography, predicted self-reported success while regulating pain. In both emotion and pain paradigms, the amygdala reflected regulatory success. Notably, we found that greater emotion regulation success was associated with greater change of amygdalar activity following pain regulation. Furthermore, individual differences in degree of amygdalar change following emotion regulation were a strong predictor of pain regulation success, as well as of the degree of amygdalar engagement following pain regulation. These findings suggest that common individual differences in emotion and pain regulatory success are reflected in a neural structure known to contribute to appraisal processes.
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BACKGROUND: Autism is a syndrome of unknown cause, marked by abnormal development of social behavior. Attempts to link pathological features of the amygdala, which plays a key role in emotional processing, to autism have shown little consensus.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate amygdala volume in individuals with autism spectrum disorders and its relationship to laboratory measures of social behavior to examine whether variations in amygdala structure relate to symptom severity.
DESIGN: We conducted 2 cross-sectional studies of amygdala volume, measured blind to diagnosis on high-resolution, anatomical magnetic resonance images. Participants were 54 males aged 8 to 25 years, including 23 with autism and 5 with Asperger syndrome or pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, recruited and evaluated at an academic center for developmental disabilities and 26 age- and sex-matched community volunteers. The Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised was used to confirm diagnoses and to validate relationships with laboratory measures of social function.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Amygdala volume, judgment of facial expressions, and eye tracking.
RESULTS: In study 1, individuals with autism who had small amygdalae were slowest to distinguish emotional from neutral expressions (P=.02) and showed least fixation of eye regions (P=.04). These same individuals were most socially impaired in early childhood, as reported on the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (P<.04). Study 2 showed smaller amygdalae in individuals with autism than in control subjects (P=.03) and group differences in the relation between amygdala volume and age. Study 2 also replicated findings of more gaze avoidance and childhood impairment in participants with autism with the smallest amygdalae. Across the combined sample, severity of social deficits interacted with age to predict different patterns of amygdala development in autism (P=.047).
CONCLUSIONS: These findings best support a model of amygdala hyperactivity that could explain most volumetric findings in autism. Further psychophysiological and histopathological studies are indicated to confirm these findings.
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<p>Abstract Meditation offers a rich and complex field of study. Over the past 40 years, several hundred research studies have demonstrated numerous significant findings including changes in psychological, physiological, and transpersonal realms. This paper attempts to summarize these findings, and to review more recent meditation research. We then suggest directions for future research, emphasizing the necessity to continue to expand the paradigm from which meditation research is conducted, from a predominantly re‐ductionistic, biomedical model to one which includes subjective and transpersonal domains and an integral perspective.</p>
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Abstract Ecopsychologists theorize that a sense of connection to nonhuman nature inspires empathy that should lead to proenvironmental behavior. Widely used measures of connectedness to nature consist largely of items we suspect may be endorsed by individuals who feel affectively or spiritually connected to nature yet rarely, if ever, subjectively experience their fundamental physical interdependence with the larger ecosystem. In this paper, we borrow the phrase ?participation in nature? (PIN; Elpel, 1999) to refer to activities that involve unmediated intimate interaction with, and immersion in, the wild ecosystem for the purpose of meeting one's basic survival needs. We suggest that these activities represent a form of corporeal connection to nature that is not captured by existing conceptualizations and measures. To explore the relationship between PIN, existing measures of connectedness to nature, and environmental behavior, we surveyed 50 participants at a weeklong earth-living skills gathering, some of whom participate in nature as a lifestyle. As predicted, PIN was significantly positively correlated with connection measures and, like other forms of connection, predicted self-reported environmental decision making. Importantly, regression analyses revealed PIN to be the only significant predictor of green decision making for this particular sample; thus, we consider it a valuable addition to the ecological connection construct. Results of this study and other researchers' recent work point to the importance of conceptually and operationally teasing apart affective, cognitive, and behavioral connections to nature. Key Words: Ecopsychology?Measurement?Connectedness to nature?Primitive skills?Quantitative research.
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