bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Neurological soft signs and brain morphology in first-episode schizophrenia
Authors: Thomann P. A. , Wüstenberg T. , Santos V. Dos , Bachmann S. , Essig M. , Schröder J. 
Published: June 2008

BackgroundAlthough minor motor and sensory deficits, or neurological soft signs (NSS), are a well-established finding in schizophrenia, the cerebral changes underlying these signs are only partly understood. We therefore investigated the cerebral correlates of NSS by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls.MethodForty-two patients, all receiving atypical neuroleptics, with first-episode schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorder and 22 healthy controls matched for age and gender were included. NSS were examined on the Heidelberg Scale after remission of the acute symptoms before discharge and correlated to density values by using optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM).ResultsNSS scores were significantly higher in patients than healthy controls. Within the patient group NSS were significantly associated with reduced grey or white-matter densities in the pre- and post-central gyrus, pre-motor area, middle and inferior frontal gyri, cerebellum, caudate nucleus and thalamus. These associations did not apply for the control group, in whom only the associations between NSS and reduced frontal gyri densities could be confirmed.ConclusionsThe pattern of cerebral changes associated with NSS clearly supports the model of ‘cognitive dysmetria’ with a disrupted cortico-cerebellar-thalamic-cortical circuit in schizophrenia. The variety of sites may correspond with the clinical diversity of NSS, which comprises both motor and sensory signs, and with the putative heterogeneity of the pathogenetic changes involved. That the respective associations did not apply for the healthy control group indicates that NSS in patients and controls refer to different pathogenetic factors.
Evidence for the cognitive mediational model of cognitive behavioural therapy for depression
Authors: Quilty L. C. , McBride C. , Bagby R. M. 
Published: June 2008

BackgroundAlthough empirical support for the efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) as a treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD) is well established, its mechanism of action is uncertain. In this investigation, we examined evidence for the cognitive mediational model in a randomized control trial involving CBT, interpersonal therapy (IPT) and pharmacotherapy (PHT) in patients with MDD.MethodOne hundred and thirty participants diagnosed with MDD were treated with CBT, IPT or PHT. Participants completed the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Beck Depression Inventory – II and Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale prior to and following treatment.ResultsThe cognitive mediational model, in which dysfunctional attitudes are proposed to mediate depressive symptom reduction in response to treatment, provided a good fit to the data when contrasting CBT v. IPT, with results supporting a mediational role for dysfunctional attitude change in depressive symptom reduction. The complication model, in which dysfunctional attitudes are proposed to be a consequence of depressive symptom reduction, provided a good fit to the data when contrasting CBT v. PHT, with results supporting a mediational role for depressive symptom reduction in dysfunctional attitude change.ConclusionsThere was no evidence for a mediational role for dysfunctional attitude change in IPT. Changes in dysfunctional attitudes accompanied both CBT and PHT; however, empirical evidence suggests that the role of attitudes in treatment outcome may differ between these two treatments.
A population-based twin study of functional somatic syndromes
Authors: Kato K. , Sullivan P. F. , Evengård B. , Pedersen N. L. 
Published: June 2008

BackgroundThe mechanisms underlying the co-occurrence of the functional somatic syndromes are largely unknown. No empirical study has explicitly examined how genetic and environmental factors influence the co-morbidity of these syndromes. We aimed to examine how the co-morbidity of functional somatic syndromes is influenced by genetic and environmental factors that are in common to the syndromes.MethodA total of 31318 twins in the Swedish Twin Registry aged 41–64 years underwent screening interviews via a computer-assisted telephone system from 1998 to 2002. Four functional somatic syndromes (chronic widespread pain, chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, and recurrent headache) and two psychiatric disorders (major depression and generalized anxiety disorder) were assessed using structured questions based on standard criteria for each illness in a blinded manner.ResultsMultivariate twin analyses revealed that a common pathway model with two latent traits that were shared by the six illnesses fit best to the women's data. One of the two latent traits loaded heavily on the psychiatric disorders, whereas the other trait loaded on all four of the functional somatic syndromes, particularly chronic widespread pain, but not on the psychiatric disorders. All illnesses except the psychiatric disorders were also affected by genetic influences that were specific to each.ConclusionsThe co-occurrence of functional somatic syndromes in women can be best explained by affective and sensory components in common to all these syndromes, as well as by unique influences specific to each of them. The findings clearly suggest a complex view of the multifactorial pathogenesis of these illnesses.
A good approach to neural and behavioural development but would be even better if set in a broader context
Authors: Bateson Patrick 
Published: June 2008

AbstractAn attractive feature of Neuroconstructivism, Vol. I: How the Brain Constructs Cognition is its emphasis on the active role of the individual in neural and behavioural development and the importance of the interplay with the environment. Certain aspects of development are omitted, however, such as specializations for the distinctive ecologies of infancy and childhood and the scaffolding-like features of behaviour seen during development. It was also a pity that so little credit was given to many scientists who have contributed to just those aspects of development on which the authors focus.
Unimodal experience constrains while multisensory experiences enrich cognitive construction
Authors: Bremner Andrew J. , Spence Charles 
Published: June 2008

AbstractMareschal and his colleagues argue that cognition consists of partial representations emerging from organismic constraints placed on information processing through development. However, any notion of constraints must consider multiple sensory modalities, and their gradual integration across development. Multisensory integration constitutes one important way in which developmental constraints may lead to enriched representations that serve more than immediate behavioural goals.
Constructing minds: The development of mindreading abilities in typical and atypical trajectories
Authors: Campos Ruth , Sotillo María 
Published: June 2008

AbstractFrom our deep interest in the neuroconstructivist framework, we would like to comment on two fundamental aspects of Mareschal et al.'s work: the role of neuroconstructivism for clinical work with people suffering from developmental disorders; and the relation between the process of progressive specialization and the increasing abstraction of representations in development.
A new manifesto for child development research
Authors: French Robert M. 
Published: June 2008

AbstractThis book is an excellent manifesto for future work in child development. It presents a multidisciplinary approach that clearly demonstrates the value of integrating modeling, neuroscience, and behavior to explore the mechanisms underlying development and to show how internal context-dependent representations arise and are modified during development. Its only major flaw is to have given short shrift to the study of the role of genetics on development.
Representing development: models, meaning, and the challenge of complexity
Authors: Lickliter Robert 
Published: June 2008

AbstractNeuroconstructivism(Mareschal et al. 2007a) provides a useful framework for how to integrate research from different levels of analysis to model the multidimensional dynamics of development. However, the authors overlook the topic ofmeaning, a fundamental feature of cognition and subjective experience and also downplay the nonlinear nature of developmental causality.Neuroconstructivismis overly optimistic on the point of how well current computational models can address the challenge of complexity in developmental science.
It's high time: Cognitive neuroscience lives
Authors: Pribram Karl 
Published: June 2008

AbstractNeuroconstructivism (Mareschal et al. 2007a) heralds a departure from the standard “associationism” that has dominated the English speaking cognitive and neuroscience community for generations. Its central concept is context dependency: encellment, embrainment, embodiment and ensocioment. This reviewer welcomes the breath of fresh air in overcoming the “deconstructions” of postmodernism. The program is carried out with a carefully selected sample of empirical evidence with an emphasis on development. This review points to some of the books' strengths and shortcomings, and adds a few observations that carry the program further.
Mapping autism and schizophrenia onto the ontogenesis of social behaviour: A hierarchical-developmental rather than diametrical perspective
Authors: Behrendt Ralf-Peter 
Published: June 2008

AbstractCo-morbidity of schizophrenia and autism is low because interpersonal concerns of schizophrenic patients presuppose developmental achievements that are absent in autism. Autism may arise if primary anxiety is not overcome at a key developmental stage by affective synchronisation between infant and caregiver. Schizophrenic patients will have learned to regulate primitive anxiety by affectively attuning to narrow social networks but remain highly vulnerable to exclusion from larger groups.
Animal models may help fractionate shared and discrete pathways underpinning schizophrenia and autism
Authors: Burne Thomas H. J. , Eyles Darryl W. , McGrath John J. 
Published: June 2008

AbstractCrespi & Badcock (C&B) present an appealing and parsimonious synthesis arguing that schizophrenia and autism are differentially regulated by maternal versus paternal genomic imprinting, respectively. We argue that animal models related to schizophrenia and autism provide a useful platform to explore the mechanisms outlined by C&B. We also note that schizophrenia and autism share certain risk factors such as advanced paternal age. Apart from genomic imprinting, copy number variants related to advanced paternal age may also contribute to the differential trajectory of brain development associated with autism and schizophrenia.
Heterogeneity and hypothesis testing in neuropsychiatric illness
Authors: Deutsch Curtis K. , Ludwig Wesley W. , McIlvane William J. 
Published: June 2008

AbstractThe confounding effects of heterogeneity in biological psychiatry and psychiatric genetics have been widely discussed in the literature. We suggest an approach in which heterogeneity may be put to use in hypothesis testing, and may find application in evaluation of the Crespi & Badcock (C&B) imprinting hypothesis. Here we consider three potential sources of etiologic subtypes for analysis.
Creativity, psychosis, autism, and the social brain
Authors: Fitzgerald Michael , Hawi Ziarih 
Published: June 2008

AbstractIn the target article, Crespi & Badcock (C&B) propose a novel hypothesis based on observations that a large set of phenotypic traits exhibit diametrically opposite phenotypes in autism-spectrum versus psychotic-spectrum conditions. They propose that development of these conditions is mediated in part by alterations in “genomic imprinting.” This hypothesis is based on the model of the Prader-Willi and Angelman syndromes. The authors have produced a masterful discussion of the differences between psychosis and autism. Of course, another article could be written on the similarities.
Private speech, cognitive-computational control, and the autism-psychosis continuum
Authors: Frawley William 
Published: June 2008

AbstractAutism and psychosis manifest private speech disruptions analogous to their diametrical opposition along the autism-psychosis continuum. Autism has naturally suppressed private speech with predictable structural deficits when it does surface; psychosis has overt but ineffectual private speech with similar structural deficits. These private speech oppositions are best understood in the context of the control processes of cognitive-computational architectures.
Imprinting and psychiatric genetics: Beware the diagnostic phenotype
Authors: Goos Lisa M. 
Published: June 2008

AbstractStudies of the role of imprinted genes in psychological phenomena are long overdue. The target article is comprehensive, presenting a wealth of important and convergent evidence, and provides an excellent point of departure for further research. However, the authors' evidentiary grasp exceeds the explicatory capacity of the proposed model. Greater genotypic and phenotypic precision would significantly enhance its predictive power.
Hypo- or hyper-mentalizing: It all depends upon what one means by “mentalizing”
Authors: Langdon Robyn , Brock Jon 
Published: June 2008

AbstractBy conceiving of autism and psychosis as diametrically opposite phenotypes of underactive and overactive mentalizing, respectively, Crespi & Badcock (C&B) commit themselves to a continuum view of intercorrelated mentalizing functions. This view fails to acknowledge dissociations between mentalizing functions and that psychotic people show a mixture of both hypo- and hyper-mentalizing.
A complete theory of psychosis and autism as diametric disorders of social brain must consider full range of clinical syndromes
Authors: Thakkar Katharine N. , Matthews Natasha , Park Sohee 
Published: June 2008

AbstractWe argue that autism and psychosis spectrum disorders cannot be conceptualized as polar extremes of mentalizing ability. We raise two main objections: (1) the autistic-psychotic continuum, as conceptualized by the authors, excludes defining features of schizophrenia spectrum: negative symptoms, which correlate more strongly with mentalizing impairments; and (2) little evidence exists for a relationship between mentalizing ability and positive symptoms.
Reunifying autism and early-onset schizophrenia in terms of social communication disorders
Authors: Tordjman Sylvie 
Published: June 2008

AbstractAutism and early-onset schizophrenia share common dimensions of social communication deficits. The possible role of common genetic factors has to be seriously considered, such as the serotonin transporter gene that influences the severity of social communication impairments (negative symptoms) and hallucinations (positive symptoms). Autism and the negative syndrome of schizophrenia might be at one extreme of a continuum, and paranoid schizophrenia (positive symptoms) at the other extreme.
Psychosis and autism as two developmental windows on a disordered social brain
Authors: van Rijn Sophie , Swaab Hanna , Aleman André 
Published: June 2008

AbstractWith regard to social-cognitive deficits in autism and psychosis, Crespi & Badcock's (C&B's) theory does not incorporate the developmental context of the disorders. We propose that there is significant overlap in social-cognitive impairments, but that the exact manifestation of social-cognitive deficits is highly dependent on the dynamics of cognitive development and hence different in autism as compared to psychosis.
Evolutionary perspectives on psychoses and autism: Does genomic imprinting contribute to phenomenological antithesis?
Authors: Venkatasubramanian Ganesan 
Published: June 2008

AbstractCrespi & Badcock (C&B) have presented a novel view that the influence of genomic imprinting causes diametrically opposite disorders: namely, psychoses and autism. I propose an extended hypothesis that while genomic imprinting is likely to have an influence on the pathogenesis of psychoses and autism, it might contribute to phenomenological antithesis between as well as within these disorders.
Ship's Fuzzy Domain – a Criterion for Navigational Safety in Narrow Fairways
Authors: Pietrzykowski Zbigniew 
Published: June 2008

The concept of ship's domain plays an important role in navigating a ship. It is a criterion of safety in the process of making decisions by the navigator – in analyzing and assessing a navigational situation and in performing the right manoeuvre. This concept is particularly useful in restricted areas, including narrow fairways, which results from the fact that in such waters a manoeuvring area is restricted so that the criterion of the closest point of approach (CPA) cannot be used. This author has analyzed definitions of ship's domain and methods of its determination found in the literature on the subject. Then a method of navigational safety assessment using the fuzzy domain concept is proposed in reference to a ship in a restricted area. The concept and method of determination have been, respectively, defined and described. The method is based on relevant navigators' knowledge. The methods and tools for knowledge acquisition and representation make use of artificial intelligence. Ships and navigational areas of various size have been considered.
e-Navigation and the Case for eLoran
Authors: Williams Paul , Basker Sally , Ward Nick 
Published: June 2008

International discussions on the concept of e-navigation have identified a robust position-fixing system as one of the essential components. Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are known to have vulnerabilities and onboard alternatives such as inertial systems have limitations. This paper considers the case for an enhanced version of the terrestrial radio-navigation system Loran to provide an alternative with performance comparable to GNSS. The paper reviews recent studies of inertial navigation systems and concludes that they do not present a fully capable backup to GNSS at present. Trials of enhanced Loran carried out in the UK by the General Lighthouse Authorities have shown that eLoran does have the potential to provide equivalent performance to GNSS over long periods and is a fully complementary system. The steps needed to provide eLoran on at least a regional basis, covering critical waterways, are considered. The international process for the specification and standardisation of eLoran is already underway and some projections are made about the timescale for full implementation, in the context of the introduction of e-Navigation. A version of this paper was first presented at NAV 07 held in Church House, London from 30th October – 1st November 2007.
From Black-Grey-White Detention-based Lists of Flags to Black-Grey-White Casualty-based Lists of Categories of Vessels?
Authors: Degré Thomas 
Published: June 2008

The Paris Memorandum of Understanding (Paris MoU) establishes each year in its annual report the traditional “Black-Grey-White” lists of flags. These tables are based on processed performances of flags over a 3-year period, showing the full spectrum between quality flags and flags with a poor performance. The performance of each flag is calculated by the Paris MoU on the basis of inspected and detained ships flying the considered flag, using binomial calculus. Furthermore, black listed flags are one of the criteria, among others, used by the Paris MoU for targeting vessels for their inspections. Using the same binomial calculation method as mentioned above but considering casualties instead of detentions and a multivariate approach instead of considering the flag only, it is possible to extend the Black-Grey-White lists of flags of the Paris MoU based on detentions, to Black-Grey-White lists of categories of vessels with regard to their observed casualties for a given period.At the time when a correspondence group has been set up by the Sub-Committee on Flag State Implementation of IMO for defining “objectives, framework of mechanisms and methodology for a study on the combination of casualty and Port State Control related data”, this paper has the ambition to provide a valuable contribution to the group in discussions on the case for the necessity of combining casualty data and PSC related data with a view to complement current processing of flag State performance and the targeting criteria for ships inspections.
In vitro fertilization in inbred BALB/c mice II: effects of lactate, osmolarity and calcium on in vitro capacitation
Authors: Kito Seiji , Ohta Yuki 
Published: June 2008

SummaryTo elucidate requirements for in vitro sperm capacitation in inbred BALB/c mice, osmolarity, calcium and lactate were optimized using modified simplex optimization medium (mKSOM). Modified human tubal fluid (mHTF), a capacitation-supporting medium, was used as a control. In the first series of experiments, the effects of calcium and osmolarity were studied in the presence of lactate. Although preincubation with ≥5 mM CaCl2 improved fertilization after insemination significantly, it was still significantly lower than incubation with mHTF. To obtain fertilization at the equivalent levels to that of mHTF, isotonic osmolarity (305 mOsmol) was required. Trehalose, an osmotic reagent, could substitute for NaCl partially. In the second series of experiments, the effects of lactate were examined using a concentration of 5 mM calcium and isotonic osmolarity. Preincubation with ≤2.5 mM lactate increased fertilization significantly (>75%), as well as the percentages of B (capacitated) pattern sperm (≥40%) in chlortetracycline (CTC) staining, as compared with incubation in mHTF (46% and 28%, respectively; p < 0.05). In the third series of experiments, the effects of osmolarity and calcium in the absence of lactate were examined. An increase in osmolarity during sperm preincubation increased both fertilization and B-pattern sperm significantly in a dose-dependent manner. Trehalose, sucrose and choline chloride could substitute for NaCl. An increase in CaCl2 concentration during preincubation had no effect on fertilization, but this increase reduced the percentages of B-pattern sperm. In vitro capacitation of inbred BALB/c mice is sensitive to lactate and osmolarity, but that sensitivity for calcium varies depending on the presence or absence of lactate.