Preventive effects of Lamaze training for first-time parents: A short-term longitudinal study.

Evaluated whether Lamaze Childbirth Preparation prevents negative effects on the marital relationship typically experienced by 1st-time parents. 39 couples who participated in Lamaze training and 37 couples who did not completed questionnaires 3 mo before birth, 1 wk after birth, and 9–20 wks after birth. Results indicate that the Lamaze group reported approximately the same levels of marital satisfaction, state anxiety, and birth-related problems, whereas the non-Lamaze couples showed sharp decreases in marital satisfaction and increases in anxiety and postbirth problems. The potential preventive value of Lamaze training for couples is discussed. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Exuberant" neuronal growth after brain damage in adult rats: the essential role of behavioral experience

Wilms tumor can be explained only partially by the "two hit" model that was originally developed for retinoblastoma. Heterogeneity of two kinds operates. The first is that four other primary tumors are regularly observed in children, and the second is that Wilms tumor itself appears to represent more than one genetic entity. All five of these primary renal tumors arise from primary or secondary mesenchyme, renal blastema, or renal epithelium. Mesoblastic nephroma, and possibly clear cell sarcoma, may have some genetic affinity with Wilms tumor, but rhabdoid tumor of the kidney and renal carcinoma do not. At least three different genes seem to be important in the origin of Wilms tumor. One, WT1, whose mutations may be associated with aniridia, may follow the "two hit" model in that there are cases in which both copies of the gene are defective or lost, as expected for a tumor suppressor gene. A second gene, which is associated with Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome (BWS) and which has not been cloned, appears to be imprinted in females, and may have an oncogene function. It is evidently activated by gain of a paternal allele or by loss of the inactive, but possibly trans-sensing, maternal allele. Activation of the insulin-like growth factor II gene may be a final common pathway for mutation in both WT1 and BWS. A third gene is unlinked to either of the other two, but its location and function are unknown. It shares with WT1 specificity for Wilms tumor, which is not true of the BWS gene.     

Predicting the effects of leadership training and experience from the contingency model: A clarification.

Clarifies some points that the author's article (see record 1972-27994-001), which presented a new interpretation of leadership training and experience, did not make sufficiently clear, and corrects the various misinterpretations of the findings as well as of the underlying theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implementing a time-limited therapy program: Differential effects of training and experience.

Assessed the relationship between level of clinical experience, training format (no training, self-instructional, or intensive training), and therapeutic outcome in time-limited therapy (TLT). Six experienced therapists (aged 40–55 yrs) and 6 therapists-in-training (aged 25–31 yrs) underwent 1 of the 3 training formats prior to conducting 8 TLT sessions with a prescreened homogeneous group of 57 clients at a university counseling center. Clients of experienced therapists had consistently superior outcomes when compared with clients of their less experienced counterparts, with the exception of intake officers' outcome ratings. The more intensely trained therapists realized better outcomes, irrespective of therapist experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive and behavioral treatments of agoraphobia: Clinical, behavioral, and psychophysiological outcomes.

39 severe and chronic agoraphobics with panic attacks, diagnosed using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) criteria, were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 cognitive-behavioral treatments: paradoxical intention (PI), graduated exposure (GE), or progressive deep muscle relaxation training (RT). Treatment consisted of 12 2-hr weekly sessions conducted by experienced therapists whose treatment integrity was objectively monitored. All 31 23–63 yr old Ss who completed the program received an extensive rationale emphasizing self-directed exposure and programmed practice in addition to their primary treatment. A comprehensive assessment battery consisting of clinical ratings of severity, phobia, anxiety, depression, and panic, as well as direct measures of behavioral, psychophysiological, and cognitive response systems was administered at pre-, mid- (6 wks), and posttreatment (12 wks) and at 3-mo follow-up. Analyses revealed significant improvement for all Ss. GE and RT tended to evoke more rapid effects. At follow-up, GE and RT evidenced the greatest potency and stability, as compared with PI. The GE condition experienced twice the drop-out rate of PI and RT. The phenomenon of synchrony appeared to be associated with overall improvement at 12 wks and follow-up. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting the effects of leadership training and experience from the contingency model.

Attempts to reconcile previous findings that leadership experience and training very often do not improve group and organizational performance. Experience and training can be viewed as improving the favorableness of the leadership situation. According to F. Fiedler's contingency model, this should increase the performance of low-least preferred coworker (LPC) leaders in very favorable and unfavorable situations, but decrease the performance of high-LPC leaders. It should increase performance of high-LPC leaders in intermediate situations but decrease that of low-LPC leaders. These hypotheses are supported by analyses of data from previous studies. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On rating empathy and other psychotherapy variables: An experience with the effects of training.

Compared 3 methods of assessing the psychotherapist's empathy: (a) the Accurate Empathy Scale, (b) the Conjunctive Empathy Scale, and (c) the Raskin Empathy Scale. 5 moderately to very experienced judges rated 10 4-min segments of a tape-recorded psychotherapy session during pre- and posttraining phases. The mean reliability of the 3 scales increased significantly, and intercorrelations were nearly perfect when corrected for unreliability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting the effects of leadership training and experience from the contingency model: Some remaining problems.

F. F. Fiedler's (see PA, Vol 52:Issue 2) clarifying remarks on using the contingency model to predict effects of leadership training and experience have resolved many of the original article's apparent inconsistencies. Some problems still remain, however, which could seriously impair the usefulness of Fiedler's recommendations. Some of these problems and some possible courses of action are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Phosphorylation of dystrophin:effects on actin binding

Dominant symphalangism in three generations is presented in this paper. Conductive hearing loss of 14 year old male patient with proximal symphalangism was due to fixation of the stapes.     

Novel experience prior to training attenuates the amnestic effects of posttraining ECS.

In this article, mice were given a novel exploratory experience 1 hr prior to training on a one-trial inhibitory avoidance task or a Y-maze shock-motivated visual discrimination task. Half of the animals in each group received immediate posttraining electroconvulsive shock (ECS) delivered through implanted cortical screws. Retention was tested 24 hr later. In the inhibitory avoidance task, retention was assessed by the response latencies on Day 2. In the Y-maze, the discrimination was reversed on Day 2 and retention of the original discrimination was assessed by errors made on six reversal training trials. Comparable results were obtained in the two tasks: ECS impaired retention in controls not given the novel experience but did not affect retention in mice given the novel experience. These findings are interpreted in terms of previous evidence, which suggests that ECS-induced amnesia may be mediated by the release of brain β-endorphin. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Binding of thiopental to plasma proteins: effects on distribution in the brain and heart

Thiopental-14C (30 mg and 10 muCi/kg) was injected intravenously into rats 36-48 hours following bilateral nephrectomy and one minute after pretreatment with sulfadimethoxine (30 mg/kg, iv). Control groups of normal and sham-operated animals were used. The distributions of radioactivity in plasma, brain, and heart 1, 5, and 30 minutes after injection were examined. Uremic and sulfonamide-pretreated rats showed significantly higher levels of 14C in brain and heart and more free thiopental in plasma at each time than did control animals. There was a significant correlation between the free thiopental in plasma and total drug concentrations in the brain and heart. Uremic rats bound less thiopental in plasma compared with controls in spite of normal total plasma protein and albumin concentrations. It is concluded that reduced protein binding of thiopental leads to accelerated distribution and increased drug concentrations in the brain and and heart.     

Fat metabolism during exercise: a review--part II: regulation of metabolism and the effects of training

This article reports on a case-control study conducted in Recife, Brazil, between November 1993 and July 1994, to determine how leprosy patients' perceptions and notions influence disease management and use of health services. The sample was composed of 183 residents of Recife between the ages of 20 and 70 years who sought diagnostic services in the dermatology clinics of two referral centers situated in the third, fourth, and sixth political and administrative regions. Sixty-four patients having handicaps or their precursor lesions were classified as cases; the remaining 119 were used as controls. All were diagnosed during the study period. For the analysis, adjustments were made for sex, age, schooling, and a previous history of Hansen's disease among patients. The study revealed the simultaneous presence of two types of "invisibility" of the disease in an area where endemicity is increasing: 1) for patients in both groups, the low frequency of spontaneous explanatory models related to the illness, even in the presence of disease, and 2) for health professionals, the limitations of detection methods. Since such deficiencies affect decisions bearing on individual and collective disease management, they are a risk factor in and of themselves and stand in the way of eliminating leprosy as a public health problem.     

Acceptability of behavioral treatments: Review of variables that influence treatment selection.

Researchers interested in teachers' choices of classroom interventions have begun to amass evidence about several variables relevant to the treatment selection stage of consultative interactions between psychologists and teachers. Variables of primary importance include psychologists' jargon and rationales for treatment, teachers' philosophy about behavior changes, teachers' personal resources, and of course the severity of the target child's problem. Thus the central purpose of this article was to review 20 recent empirical investigations concerning teachers' acceptability of behavioral treatments of misbehaving school children. This review focused on teachers' reactions to treatments, but because children's and psychologists' reactions to treatments have the potential to influence teachers' reactions, they also were reviewed. In addition to a detailed presentation of conceptual issues and research methods concerning treatment acceptability, the review is concluded with a pragmatic discussion of the major findings for the practice of behavioral consultation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Broad-spectrum behavioral approach to smoking cessation: Effects of social support and paraprofessional training on the maintenance of treatment effects.

Conducted 2 treatment programs to determine the efficacy of a multi-component smoking intervention and various maintenance procedures. Prior to Program 1, 60 smokers were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 experimental conditions—a smoking abstinence program (SAP), a smoking abstinence program plus social support (SAP-SS), a smoking abstinence program plus social support and paraprofessional training (SAP-SS-PT)—or to 1 of 2-control conditions—effort control (EC) or a waiting list (WL). Individuals assigned to EC and WL conditions became treatment participants (EC-SAP-SS, WL-SAP-SS) during Program 2 and received training from SAP-SS-PT Ss. Results indicate that social support and paraprofessional training tended to facilitate maintenance, although 6-mo follow-up data revealed considerable relapse across treatment conditions. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enhanced sensitivity of the MRL/MpJ mouse to the neuroplastic and behavioral effects of acute and chronic antidepressant treatments.

Adult hippocampal neurogenesis has been implicated in the pathophysiology of depression and in the therapeutic effects of antidepressant drugs. Current immunohistochemical methods that study neurogenesis are time consuming and labor intensive. Therefore, a significantly more rapid flow cytometric method was characterized to measure neurogenesis in the adult mouse brain. The sensitivity of mice to the effects of antidepressant treatments is dependent on genetic background. Thus, studies were conducted comparing the responsiveness of 2 inbred mouse strains, MRL/MpJ and C57BL/6J, to the acute and chronic effects of antidepressants on neurochemistry and behavior. Acutely, MRL/MpJ mice displayed more robust behavioral and neurochemical responses to pharmacologically distinct antidepressants than C57BL/6J mice. Chronic administration of the antidepressant drugs fluoxetine and desipramine produced robust elevations in hippocampal cell proliferation and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) protein levels in MRL/MpJ mice. C57BL/6J mice treated similarly with antidepressant drugs were mainly unresponsive on these measures. Mice were tested in the novelty-induced hypophagia (NIH) paradigm to examine a behavioral response associated with chronic, but not acute, antidepressant treatment. Only MRL/MpJ mice were behaviorally responsive to chronic antidepressant administration in the NIH paradigm. The positive effects of chronic antidepressants on hippocampal cell proliferation and BDNF paralleled the ability of these drugs to produce changes in NIH behavior. These studies highlight the advantages of using flow cytometry to study hippocampal neurogenesis and identify the MRL/MpJ mouse as a strain with superior response to antidepressant drug treatments that may lead to a better understanding of the genetics behind antidepressant efficacy and sensitivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesion model in behavioral brain research. Analysis of functional deficits, recovery and treatments

Lesions with the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) have provided an important tool to study dopamine neurons in the brain. The most common version of such lesions is the unilateral one where the toxin is placed in the area of mesencephalic dopamine cell bodies or their ascending fibers. This approach leads to a lateralized destruction of mesencephalic dopamine neurons and to a lateralized loss of striatal dopamine innervation. Such lesions have contributed substantially to neuroscientific knowledge both, at the basic and clinical level. Physiologically, they have been used to clarify the neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, and electrophysiology of mesencephalic DA neurons and their relationships with the basal ganglia; the relevant findings have been summarized in a previous review (Schwarting, R.K.W. and Huston, J.P. (1996) Unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of meso-striatal dopamine neurons and their physiological sequelae, Progress in Neurobiology 49, 215-266). Furthermore, 6-OHDA lesions have been used extensively to investigate the role of these dopamine neurons with respect to behavior, to examine the brain's capacity to recover from or compensate for specific neurochemical depletions, and to investigate the promotive effects of experimental and clinical approaches which are relevant for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. These findings are summarized here, including the spectrum of behavioral deficits (turning, sensory neglect, etc.), functional recovery and its possible mechanisms, the behavioral effects of widely used pharmacological challenges (amphetamines, apomorphine, selective receptor agonists, L-DOPA), and the effects of treatments which can promote recovery (like neuropeptides, neurotrophins, and grafts).