Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Logic in an asymmetrical (social) brain: Transitive inference in the young domestic chick

The ability of animals to perform transitive inference is associated with social group formation and dominance hierarchies. Brain lateralization is also linked to the selective pressures associated with social life. We investigated whether transitive inference is better performed by lateralized than non-lateralized brains. In the domestic chick (Gallus gallus) exposure of eggs to light before hatching leads to the development of lateralization of some visual functions. Thus, it is possible to obtain chicks with strong (light-incubated, Li-chicks) or weak (dark-incubated, Di-chicks) lateralization. Di- and Li-chicks were trained to discriminate stimulus pairs, in order to build a hierarchy (A > B > C > D > E). Chicks were subsequently tested on stimulus pairs never seen together before (AE and BD). Li-chicks performed the discrimination BD better than did Di-chicks, suggesting that exposure to light in the egg leads to an increased ability to carry out representational learning. Moreover, lateralized chicks using their left eye only (right hemisphere) during test showed a better performance than did right eye only (left hemisphere) chicks on the BD task. Females also tended to perform better than males. Results demonstrate that chicks with lateralized brain hemispheres show greater inference, and this is under right hemisphere control: the brain hemisphere that is dominant in social interactions.
Resisting motor mimicry: Control of imitation involves processes central to social cognition in patients with frontal and temporo-parietal lesions

Perception and execution of actions share a common representational and neural substrate and thereby facilitate unintentional motor mimicry. Controlling automatic imitation is therefore a crucial requirement of such a “shared representational” system. Based on previous findings from neuroimaging, we suggest that resisting motor mimicry recruits the same underlying computational mechanisms also involved in higher-level social cognitive processing, such as self − other differentiation and the representation of mental states. The aim of the present study was to investigate on a behavioral level whether there is a functional association between the inhibition of imitation and tasks, assessing the understanding of mental states and of different perspectives of self and other. In a sample of neuropsychological patients with frontal lesions, a correlation between the ability for mental state attribution and the control of imitation was found, with a similar effect in the control group. Temporo-parietal lesioned patients showed a highly significant correlation between imitative control and visual and cognitive perspective-taking. Even after controlling for executive functions, the results remained significant, indicating the functional specificity of this relationship. These findings provide new insight into the functional processes underlying the control of shared representations and suggest a novel link between embodied and higher-level social cognition.
Novel psychoactive substances as a novel challenge for health professionals: results from an Italian survey

Novel psychoactive substances (NPS; a.k.a. ‘legal highs’ or ‘smart drugs’) are advertised online as ‘safe’ and ‘legal’ natural/synthetic analogues of controlled illicit drugs. However, only little research has been carried out in identifying the health professionals' knowledge and expertise relating to the intake of these compounds.
Bedside Burr Hole for Intracranial Pressure Monitoring Performed by Pediatric Intensivists in Children With CNS Infections in a Resource-Limited Setting: 10-Year Experience at a Single Center

Objective: Intracranial pressure monitoring can help in early identification of raised intracranial pressure and in setting more informed goals for treatment. We describe our 10-year experience of bedside burr holes performed by pediatric intensivists to establish intracranial pressure monitoring in children with CNS infections in a resource-limited setting and the technical difficulties and complications encountered. Design: Descriptive study of prospectively recorded data. Setting: PICU of a tertiary care academic institute. Patients: Consecutive comatose patients with raised intracranial pressure who underwent intracranial pressure monitoring from 2004 to 2013. Intervention: An intraparenchymal (1.2 mm) or an intraventricular transducer (3.4 mm) (Codman) was placed by a pediatric intensivist through a micro burr hole using a standard protocol. Technical difficulties during the procedure and complications were recorded. Measurements and Main Results: Over 10 years, 265 intracranial pressure catheters were placed in 259 patients, mainly for acute CNS infections (n = 242, 93.4%). Median age of patients was 4.8 years, youngest being 6 weeks; 21 patients (8.1%) were younger than 1 year. Intraparenchymal transducer was used in 252 patients (97.3%). Median (interquartile range) duration of intracranial pressure monitoring was 96 hours (72–144 hr). Complications were seen in 3.5% of patients (n = 9/259); the incidence was 0.28 per 1,000 hours of intracranial pressure monitoring. Procedure-related ventriculitis occurred in three of seven patients (42.8%) with intraventricular catheter, in contrast to none in patients with intraparenchymal transducer. Overall mortality was 32.8% (n = 85). On Cox-regression analysis, “blood component therapy” was an independent predictor of poor outcome defined as death or severe neurodisability (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.16–2.16; p = 0.004). Conclusions: In a resource-limited setting, pediatric intensivists can safely and successfully perform burr holes at bedside for establishing intraparenchymal intracranial pressure monitoring in children with acute CNS infections. However, our data do not support placement of ventriculostomy catheters by pediatric intensivists in similar settings.
Thatcherization impacts the processing of own-race faces more so than other-race faces: An ERP study

It has been suggested that differential use of configural processing strategies may underlie racially based recognition deficits (known as the “other-race effect”). By employing a well-known configural manipulation (Thatcherization, i.e., rotating the eyes and mouth by 180°), we aimed to demonstrate, electrophysiologically, that configural processing is used to a greater extent when viewing same-race faces than when viewing other-race faces. Face-related event-related potential (ERP) responses were measured for participants viewing normal and Thatcherized faces of their own race (Caucasian) and of another race (African-American). The P1 and N170 components were modulated to a greater extent by Thatcherization for same-race faces, suggesting that the processing of these faces is, in fact, more reliant on configural information than other-race faces. Thatcherization also affected the P250 component more so for same-race faces independently of orientation. The race-dependent effects of Thatcherization as early as P1 suggest that configural encoding may be occurring much earlier than the well-cited N170.
Reasonable Suspicion of Child abuse: Finding a Common Language

In the United States, the implementation of a successful system of mandated reporting of suspected child abuse continues to be plagued by the absence of a clear standard for when one must report. All 50 states of the U.S. have laws requiring certain individuals to report suspected child abuse. However, at present, there are variable thresholds for mandated reporting and no clear consensus on how existing thresholds should be interpreted. Because "child abuse" is often present as a possible etiology for injuries and non-infectious conditions that beset children, it is problematic to suggest that "the mere possibility of child abuse" qualifies as cause to report. In an effort to move toward a more effective system of mandated reporting of child maltreatment, this paper discusses how the absence of a clear threshold affects mandated reporters, examines the relevant legal and conceptual issues, and suggests future directions for policy, practice, and research. Language: en
Comorbidity of obsessive–compulsive disorder and substance use disorder: a new heuristic

Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and substance use disorder share several aspects of phenomenology and may be underpinned by a common mechanism with compulsivity at the core. Despite this overlap, the two disorders show a variable pattern of comorbidity. Here, we review the current evidence for comorbidity across clinical and epidemiological studies, and propose a new heuristic for substance use comorbidity in OCD, based on a hypothetical threshold of OCD severity. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Consumerism and professional work in the community pharmacy

In this paper we consider the professional role and status of the community pharmacist (chemist) in the context of consumerist health care. The sociological perspective of pharmacy as an incomplete or marginal profession has been challenged in more recent work, which describes how pharmacists act to ‘transform’natural objects (drugs) into more valued social objects (medicines). We consider this process as it applies to the everyday and ‘taken-for-granted’ act of buying medicines in the pharmacy. We draw on focus group and interview data from a study involving consumers and pharmacy staff in the North West of England. The consumers had purchased one of a group of ‘deregulated’ medicines, which were previously available only with a doctor’s prescription. One way in which pharmacists have sought to develop their professional role is by trying to formalise their involvement in the surveillance of medicine sales. We show how this professionalising strategy is challenged by the consumer’s power in the commercial transaction and perceived expertise in the management of minor illness. This challenge forms a boundary to the pharmacists’‘transformatory’ work, and forms part of an ongoing negotiation of the meaning and relevance of their expertise. We present the strategies adopted by consumers and pharmacy staff to (respectively) obtain the desired medicines and fulfil professional responsibilities against a background of differing and contested assessments of the risks associated with medicines use.
EEG reveals an early influence of social conformity on visual processing in group pressure situations

Humans are social beings and often have to perceive and perform within groups. In conflict situations, this puts them under pressure to either adhere to the group opinion or to risk controversy with the group. Psychological experiments have demonstrated that study participants adapt to erroneous group opinions in visual perception tasks, which they can easily solve correctly when performing on their own. Until this point, however, it is unclear whether this phenomenon of social conformity influences early stages of perception that might not even reach awareness or later stages of conscious decision-making. Using electroencephalography, this study has revealed that social conformity to the wrong group opinion resulted in a decrease of the posterior-lateral P1 in line with a decrease of the later centro-parietal P3. These results suggest that group pressure situations impact early unconscious visual perceptual processing, which results in a later diminished stimulus discrimination and an adaptation even to the wrong group opinion. These findings might have important implications for understanding social behavior in group settings and are discussed within the framework of social influence on eyewitness testimony.
Neural processing of dynamic emotional facial expressions in psychopaths

Facial expressions play a critical role in social interactions by eliciting rapid responses in the observer. Failure to perceive and experience a normal range and depth of emotion seriously impact interpersonal communication and relationships. As has been demonstrated across a number of domains, abnormal emotion processing in individuals with psychopathy plays a key role in their lack of empathy. However, the neuroimaging literature is unclear as to whether deficits are specific to particular emotions such as fear and perhaps sadness. Moreover, findings are inconsistent across studies. In the current experiment, 80 incarcerated adult males scoring high, medium, and low on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning while viewing dynamic facial expressions of fear, sadness, happiness, and pain. Participants who scored high on the PCL-R showed a reduction in neuro-hemodynamic response to all four categories of facial expressions in the face processing network (inferior occipital gyrus, fusiform gyrus, and superior temporal sulcus (STS)) as well as the extended network (inferior frontal gyrus and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)), which supports a pervasive deficit across emotion domains. Unexpectedly, the response in dorsal insula to fear, sadness, and pain was greater in psychopaths than non-psychopaths. Importantly, the orbitofrontal cortex and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), regions critically implicated in affective and motivated behaviors, were significantly less active in individuals with psychopathy during the perception of all four emotional expressions.
Changes in the Temperament and Character Inventory dimensions after paroxetine treatment in patients with major depressive disorder

Previous studies have reported changes in the dimensions of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) after patients with major depressive disorder are treated. We aimed to investigate the changes in the TCI dimensions after paroxetine treatment in patients with major depressive disorder. Forty‐eight patients were enrolled in this study and were treated with 10–40 mg/day of paroxetine for 6 weeks. The TCI was completed twice, at weeks 0 and 6. We used the Montgomery–Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) to evaluate patients. The participants were divided into three groups (responders, non‐responders, and early responders) based on treatment response. The scores of each dimension of the TCI were compared before and after treatment using repeated‐measures two‐way analyses of variance. In the responders group (n = 24), no TCI dimension scores changed significantly during treatment, but the interaction between sex and MADRS score change was significantly associated with the results. In the non‐responders group (n = 15), the self‐directedness score increased significantly during the treatment period (p = 0.000), and the change in MADRS score significantly affected the results. In the early responders group (n = 9), no TCI dimension scores changed significantly during treatment. The results of the present study may reveal a possible correlation between paroxetine treatment and changes in personality traits. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The mediation effect of menstrual phase on negative emotion processing: Evidence from N2

Numerous studies have shown a ‘negativity bias’ in emotion processing and effect of menstrual phase on emotion processing. Most of these results, however, did not match the arousal of different types of stimuli. The present study examined the time course of negative emotion processing across different menstrual phases (e.g., late luteal/premenstrual phase and follicular phase) when the arousal level of negative and neutral stimuli was equal. Following previous studies, an oddball paradigm was utilized in present study. Participants viewed neutral and negative (highly (HN) and moderately negative (MN)) stimuli with matched arousal and were asked to make deviant vs. standard judgments. The behavioral results showed a higher accuracy for HN stimuli than neutral stimuli, and the other comparisons were not significant. The major event-related potential (ERP) finding was that N2 amplitude was larger for MN than neutral in the late luteal phase, whereas such difference was absent during the follicular phase. Moreover, The N2 for HN stimuli was larger in late luteal phase than in follicular phase. Therefore, female may be with higher sensitivity to MN stimuli during late luteal phase than during follicular phase when the arousal of stimuli was well controlled. These results provide additional insight to premenstrual affective syndrome and affective disorder.
Self-rated and performance-based empathy in schizophrenia: The impact of cognitive deficits

People may be much less empathic than they think they are. It is not clear whether patients with schizophrenia who have impaired empathic abilities also exhibit diminished ability to accurately appraise their own such skills. The present study aimed to examine: (a) the accuracy of self-appraisal of empathy and (b) the impact of specific cognitive functions on both self-rated and performance-based empathy in schizophrenia patients and healthy volunteers. Self-reported empathy and performance-based empathy were assessed in 52 chronic patients with schizophrenia and 45 matched healthy participants with the empathy quotient and the empathy score in the Faux Pas test, respectively. Neuropsychological functioning and symptom severity were also assessed. No significant correlations between self-reported and performance-based empathy scores were found in patients, whereas these correlations were significant and positive in the control group, with the exception of Faux Pas recognition. Cognitive deficits, specifically in processing speed and theory of mind, negatively affected performance-based but not self-rated empathy in schizophrenia. Patients with less negative and more positive symptoms and lower set shifting ability reported higher empathic abilities. Self-reported empathy and empathic abilities do not show a simple relationship. Our findings highlight a double deficit related to empathic responding in schizophrenia: diminished performance associated with cognitive deficits and inaccurate self-appraisal of empathic abilities.
Changes in Cardiovascular Risk Factors Related with Menopause in Rural Japanese Women

To examine menopause-related changes in cardiovascular risk factors in women, we analyzed the data of a 1981-84 cross-sectional study of rural Japanese women aged 40-69 years and a 4. 3-year subsequent follow-up of premenopausal women. In the cross-sectional study, mean serum total cholesterol was higher in women aged 50 and over than in women aged 40-44 years. Women showed a significantly higher serum cholesterol level than men for aged 50 and over. For women aged 45-49, in which 50% of women turned into postmenopausal status, postmenopausal women showed a significantly higher cholesterol level than premenopausal women : 194 mg/dl vs. 183 mg/ dl, respectively (p<0.05). Blood pressure levels were lower in women than in men, but the sex difference was smaller for aged 50 and over. Mean body mass index and skinfold thickness were higher in women than in men. During the follow-up period, women showed a significant increase in mean serum total cholesterol (16 mg/dl) and subscapular skinfold thickness (2 mm) while men did not. Triceps skinfold thickness did not change in either sex. Blood pressure levels increased for both women and men in a similar magnitude. In conclusion, we found the increase in serum total cholesterol and the change in body fat distribution related with menopause in Japanese women. Whether these menopause-related risk factor changes would raise the risk of subsequent cardiovascular disease require further studies. J Epidemiol, 1995; 5 : 23-28.
4,4′‐Dimethylaminorex (“4,4′‐DMAR”; “Serotoni”) misuse: A Web‐based study

4,4′‐DMAR (4,4′‐dimethylaminorex; “Serotoni”) is a potent stimulant drug that has recently been associated with a number of fatalities in Europe. Over the last few years, online communities have emerged as important resources for disseminating levels of technical knowledge on novel psychoactive substances.
The relationship between osteoporotic fracture risk and a surrogate: Apparent discrepancies between analyses based on individual patient data and summary statistics

There is debate within the osteoporosis research community about the relationship between the risk of osteoporotic fracture and the surrogate measures of fracture risk. Meta‐regression analyses based on summary data have shown a linear relationship between fracture risk and surrogate measures, whereas analyses based on individual patient data (IPD) have shown a nonlinear relationship. We investigated the association between changes in a surrogate measure of fracture incidence, in this case a bone turnover marker for resorption assessed in the three risedronate phase III clinical programmes, and incident osteoporosis‐related fracture risk using regression models based on patient‐level and trial‐level information. The relationship between osteoporosis‐related fracture risk and changes in bone resorption was different when analysed on the basis of IPD than when analysed on the basis of a meta‐analytic approach (i.e., meta‐regression) using summary data (e.g., treatment effect based on treatment group estimates). This inconsistency in our findings was consistent with those in the published literature. Meta‐regression based on summary statistics at the trial level is not expected to reflect causal relationships between a clinical outcome and surrogate measures. Analyses based on IPD make possible a more comprehensive analysis since all relevant data on a patient level are available. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Causal attribution in individuals with subclinical and clinical autism spectrum disorder: An fMRI study

This neuroimaging study compares brain activation during causal attribution to three different attribution loci (i.e., self, another person, and situation) across a typical population without (N = 20) or with subclinical autism spectrum symptoms (N = 18) and a clinical population with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; N = 11). While they underwent fMRI, all participants read short sentences describing positive and negative behaviors and thoughts of another person directed toward the participant (i.e., “you”). Participants were then asked to attribute these behaviors to themselves, the other person, or the situation. Behavioral measures revealed self-serving attributions (i.e., attributing positive events to the self, while attributing negative events externally from the self) in all three participant groups. Neural measures revealed a great deal of shared activation across the three attribution loci and across the three participant groups in the temporo-parietal junction, the posterior superior sulcus, and the precuneus. Comparison between groups revealed more widespread activation in both subclinical and clinical ASD participants, which may be indicative of the extraneural resources these participants invest to compensate their impairments.