All posts; Tags Include "Clinical Psychology"
- April 15, 2014
- 11:43 AM
- 210 views
Religious Belief and Depression Resilience
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Identifying risk factors for brain disorders is a key element in clinical research.Understanding protective or resilience factors for brain disorders is also important and receiving increased attention in clinical research.Factors that promote resilience to brain disorders may come from a variety of domains. Religious belief is one domain receiving attention as a potential resilience factor.Miller and colleagues recently published a longitudinal study of religious belief and risk for major ........ Read more »
Miller L, Wickramaratne P, Gameroff MJ, Sage M, Tenke CE, & Weissman MM. (2012) Religiosity and major depression in adults at high risk: a ten-year prospective study. The American journal of psychiatry, 169(1), 89-94. PMID: 21865527
- April 14, 2014
- 10:24 AM
- 188 views
Some exploratory evidence that wait-list conditions may act as a nocebo in psychotherapy trials
by Kristoffer Magnusson in R Psychologist
The hypothesis that wait-lists could be nocebo conditions was investigated by Furukawa et al (2014). The authors performed a network meta-analysis of 49 RCT that involved cognitive-behaviour therapy for depression. ... Read more »
Furukawa TA, Noma H, Caldwell DM, Honyashiki M, Shinohara K, Imai H, Chen P, Hunot V, & Churchill R. (2014) Waiting list may be a nocebo condition in psychotherapy trials: a contribution from network meta-analysis. Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica. PMID: 24697518
- April 7, 2014
- 11:37 AM
- 203 views
The Genetics of Religious Belief
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
In the next few posts, I will review some of the recent brain-related research related to religious belief.Religious belief and religious affiliation run in families. This effect is not surprising as parents influence their children's type of religious experience during development.However, there is increasing evidence that adult religious belief and behavior is also influenced by genetic factors independent of family environment experience.Twin studies represent a powerful research model to tea........ Read more »
Button TM, Stallings MC, Rhee SH, Corley RP, & Hewitt JK. (2011) The etiology of stability and change in religious values and religious attendance. Behavior genetics, 41(2), 201-10. PMID: 20711848
Hvidtjørn, D., Petersen, I., Hjelmborg, J., Skytthe, A., Christensen, K., & Hvidt, N. (2013) Familial Resemblance in Religiousness in a Secular Society: A Twin Study. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 16(02), 544-553. DOI: 10.1017/thg.2013.3
Kandler C, & Riemann R. (2013) Genetic and environmental sources of individual religiousness: the roles of individual personality traits and perceived environmental religiousness. Behavior genetics, 43(4), 297-313. PMID: 23681197
- March 27, 2014
- 12:51 PM
- 209 views
Is Insomnia Relief Just a Mouse Click Away?
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Cognitive behavioral treatment of insomnia (CBT-I) is increasingly recognized as an important treatment option.However, in some regions of the U.S. and the world, access to this type of therapy is limited and may be cost prohibitive.A recent review of the diagnosis and treatment of insomnia noted the promise of internet-based CBT-I. The promise of internet-based CBT-I is based on several randomized controlled trials.Ritterband and colleagues published a study 44 subjects randomize........ Read more »
Buysse DJ. (2013) Insomnia. JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association, 309(7), 706-16. PMID: 23423416
Ritterband LM, Thorndike FP, Gonder-Frederick LA, Magee JC, Bailey ET, Saylor DK, & Morin CM. (2009) Efficacy of an Internet-based behavioral intervention for adults with insomnia. Archives of general psychiatry, 66(7), 692-8. PMID: 19581560
Espie CA, Kyle SD, Williams C, Ong JC, Douglas NJ, Hames P, & Brown JS. (2012) A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of online cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic insomnia disorder delivered via an automated media-rich web application. Sleep, 35(6), 769-81. PMID: 22654196
- March 25, 2014
- 11:08 AM
- 227 views
When Sleeping Pills Don't Work
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Hypnotics or sleeping pills typically are effective and indicated as an option for the short-term relief of transient insomnia.However, a minority of individuals report persistent insomnia and lack of sleep despite use of a hypnotic.When drugs that typically treat a disorder fail to work, it is important to reconsider the accuracy of the diagnosis.Yun Li and colleagues from China recently published a case report illustrating this issue in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.They reported on a........ Read more »
Li Y, Li Z, Lei F, Du L, & Tang X. (2013) Persistent insomnia despite long-term nightly use of sleeping pills. Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 9(8), 834-6. PMID: 23946716
- March 19, 2014
- 12:01 PM
- 238 views
Naptime Stories Boost Word Learning in Children
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Sleep is known to have a beneficial effect on the consolidation of memory.There have been few studies to demonstrate how this effect my be utilized.Williams and Horst recently tested the effect of storybook reading, sleep and word learning in group of 3 year old children.Their study recently published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology randomized 48 three year old children into four groups:Group one: children were read the same story before a napsGroup two: children were read different stori........ Read more »
Williams SE, & Horst JS. (2014) Goodnight book: sleep consolidation improves word learning via storybooks. Frontiers in psychology, 184. PMID: 24624111
- March 18, 2014
- 11:46 AM
- 234 views
Short Sleep Duration in Children with Autism
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Parents of children with autism and autism spectrum disorder commonly report sleep problems in their child.However, there have been few prospective systematic studies of sleep in this disorder.Joanna Humphreys from Canada and colleagues from England recently published an important manuscript addressing this topic.They used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. This data set includes prospective data collected from a cohort of over 14,000 children born between April 1991 ........ Read more »
Humphreys JS, Gringras P, Blair PS, Scott N, Henderson J, Fleming PJ, & Emond AM. (2014) Sleep patterns in children with autistic spectrum disorders: a prospective cohort study. Archives of disease in childhood, 99(2), 114-8. PMID: 24061777
- March 17, 2014
- 11:10 AM
- 199 views
Brain Gray Matter Volumes in Primary Insomnia
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Chronic primary insomnia is a sleep disorder characterized by delayed sleep onset, reduced total sleep duration and fatigue on morning awakening.In addition, by definition chronic primary insomnia cannot be due to a primary medical or psychiatric disorder. Some patients with chronic primary insomnia also demonstrate subjective and objective impairment in concentration and memory.Eun Yeon Joo and colleagues from South Korea recently published an analysis of brain structural features in 27 su........ Read more »
Joo EY, Noh HJ, Kim JS, Koo DL, Kim D, Hwang KJ, Kim JY, Kim ST, Kim MR, & Hong SB. (2013) Brain Gray Matter Deficits in Patients with Chronic Primary Insomnia. Sleep, 36(7), 999-1007. PMID: 23814336
- March 13, 2014
- 12:11 PM
- 214 views
Outcome in REM Sleep Behavior Disorder
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
This is the second in series of posts examining recent research in sleep and the brain.Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder is a complex sleep problem seen primarily in older adults.REM, or dream sleep, typically occurs with atonia. Atonia is the temporary state of muscle paralysis. This prohibits muscular activity or acting out during dream states.With REM sleep behavior disorder, atonia is not present with REM sleep resulting in motor restlessness, agitation and occasio........ Read more »
Iranzo A, Fernández-Arcos A, Tolosa E, Serradell M, Molinuevo JL, Valldeoriola F, Gelpi E, Vilaseca I, Sánchez-Valle R, Lladó A.... (2014) Neurodegenerative Disorder Risk in Idiopathic REM Sleep Behavior Disorder: Study in 174 Patients. PloS one, 9(2). PMID: 24587002
- March 11, 2014
- 11:09 AM
- 212 views
Depression-related Sleep Abnormalities Vary By Age
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
This month I will be focusing on sleep and the brain. The importance of sleep to normal and abnormal brain functioning is receiving increased research attention.A variety of sleep abnormalities have been described in major depression and bipolar affective disorder. Depression has been linked to delayed sleep onset, reduced time to first rapid eye movement (REM) period, reduced sleep efficiency and disruption of the circadian rhythm of sleep.Sleep physiology also varies throughout the lifesp........ Read more »
Robillard, R., Naismith, S., Smith, K., Rogers, N., White, D., Terpening, Z., Ip, T., Hermens, D., Whitwell, B., Scott, E.... (2014) Sleep-Wake Cycle in Young and Older Persons with a Lifetime History of Mood Disorders. PLoS ONE, 9(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0087763
- March 9, 2014
- 12:49 PM
- 384 views
Matters of Appearance: Eating Disorder Patients’ Interpretations of Therapists’ Bodies
by Andrea in Science of Eating Disorders
Therapeutic alliance is often highlighted in studies looking at treatment effectiveness, both in and beyond the realm of eating disorder therapy. Evidently, there are a number of factors that can impact how well we get along with our therapists, ranging from disagreements with the course of treatment or type of therapy to a simple, unnamable dislike for the person. But what about their appearance? What kind of impact could a therapist’s body size have on the therapy relationship?
Rance, ........ Read more »
Rance, N,M., Clarke, V., & Moller, N.P. (2014) "If I See Somebody … I'll Immediately Scope Them Out": Anorexia Nervosa Clients' Perceptions of Their Therapists' Body. Eating Disorders, 22(2), 111-20. PMID: 24555509
- February 24, 2014
- 03:34 PM
- 248 views
Taking a Transdiagnostic Approach to Understanding Self-Injury
by amikulak in Daily Observations
Millions of people are affected by self-injury, especially adolescents and young adults. Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) has been the focus of numerous studies and, yet, there is still a lot to […]... Read more »
Bentley, K.H., Nock, M.K., & Barlow, D.H. (2014) The Four-Function Model of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury: Key Directions for Future Research. Clinical Psychological Science. DOI: 10.1177/2167702613514563
- February 9, 2014
- 11:26 PM
- 270 views
Multiple Functional Motifs Are Required for the Tumor Suppressor Activity of a Constitutively-Active ErbB4 Mutant
by JCRTO in JScholar Publishers
ErbB4 (HER4) is a member of the ErbB family of receptor tyrosine kinases, which includes the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR/ErbB1), ErbB2 (HER2/Neu), and ErbB3 (HER3). Mounting evidence indicates that ErbB4, unlike EGFR or ErbB2, functions as a tumor suppressor in many human malignancies. Previous analyses of the constitutively-dimerized and –active ErbB4 Q646C mutant indicate that ErbB4 kinase activity and phosphorylation of ErbB4 Tyr1056 are both required for the tumor suppressor........ Read more »
Richard M. Gallo#, Ianthe N. Bryant#, Christopher P. Mill, Steven Kaverman, David J. Riese II*. (2013) Multiple Functional Motifs Are Required for the Tumor Suppressor Activity of a Constitutively-Active ErbB4 Mutant. Journal of Cancer Research and Therapeutic Oncology, 1(1), 1-10. info:other/1:104
- February 9, 2014
- 08:21 PM
- 223 views
I Wanna Hold Your Hand (after 23 sessions of Emotionally Focused Therapy)
by The Neurocritic in The Neurocritic
Can neuroscience illuminate the nature of human relationships? Or does it primarily serve as a prop to sell self-help books? The neurorelationship cottage industry touts the importance of brain research for understanding romance and commitment. But any knowledge of the brain is completely unnecessary for issuing take-home messages like tips on maintaining a successful marriage.In an analogous fashion, we can ask whether successful psychotherapy depends on having detailed knowledge of the mechan........ Read more »
Coan JA, Schaefer HS, & Davidson RJ. (2006) Lending a hand: social regulation of the neural response to threat. Psychological science, 17(12), 1032-9. PMID: 17201784
Johnson SM, Moser MB, Beckes L, Smith A, Dalgleish T, Halchuk R, Hasselmo K, Greenman PS, Merali Z, & Coan JA. (2013) Soothing the threatened brain: leveraging contact comfort with emotionally focused therapy. PloS one, 8(11). PMID: 24278126
- February 5, 2014
- 10:18 AM
- 263 views
Exercise Trial for Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Current drug treatments for cognitive impairment and dementia show limited effectiveness.Alternative adjunctive treatments in those with early cognitive impairment are needed.In a previous post, I outlined a review of what we know about exercise and cognition in elderly populations.An additional study is relevant to this topic and important.Takao Suzuki and colleagues in Japan conducted a randomized controlled trial of multicomponent exercise in older adults with evidence of mild cognitive impai........ Read more »
Suzuki T, Shimada H, Makizako H, Doi T, Yoshida D, Ito K, Shimokata H, Washimi Y, Endo H, & Kato T. (2013) A randomized controlled trial of multicomponent exercise in older adults with mild cognitive impairment. PloS one, 8(4). PMID: 23585901
- February 3, 2014
- 10:12 AM
- 325 views
Aging, Exercise and Brain Plasticity
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Over the next month, I will be focusing on the effects of exercise on the brain.This topic is important for several reasons. Exercise appears to play a preventive role in the effects of brain aging in normal adults.Exercise may aid in the slowing of progression of brain disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.Exercise is a promising adjunct to treatment of a variety of other brain disorders including depression and anxiety disorder.For this post, I want to highlight wh........ Read more »
Erickson KI, Gildengers AG, & Butters MA. (2013) Physical activity and brain plasticity in late adulthood. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience, 15(1), 99-108. PMID: 23576893
- January 15, 2014
- 09:43 AM
- 297 views
Why Me? Perceptions of Justice Influence Pain Experiences
by amikulak in Daily Observations
Life has its many twists and turns – to make sense of all of it, people sometimes take a “just world” approach, reasoning that people get more or less what […]... Read more »
McParland, J., & Eccleston, C. (2013) “It’s not fair”: Social justice appraisals in the context of chronic pain. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22(6), 484-489. DOI: 10.1177/0963721413496811
- January 8, 2014
- 10:00 AM
- 346 views
Examining Mandometer(r) Founders’ 10 “Reasons” Why Eating Disorders Are Not Mental Disorders
by Tetyana in Science of Eating Disorders
This is Part III of my mini-series on the Mandometer® treatment. In my first post, I wrote about the history and rationale of the Mandometer® treatment. In my second post, I evaluated a recent study published by the creators of Mandometer® (Bergh et al., 2013); I wanted to see whether their data supported their claims (spoiler alert: it didn’t). In this post, I’m going to focus on the first five of Bergh et al.’s ten reasons why eating disorders are not mental disorders........ Read more »
Bergh C, Callmar M, Danemar S, Hölcke M, Isberg S, Leon M, Lindgren J, Lundqvist A, Niinimaa M, Olofsson B.... (2013) Effective treatment of eating disorders: Results at multiple sites. Behavioral Neuroscience, 127(6), 878-89. PMID: 24341712
- December 18, 2013
- 10:07 AM
- 307 views
A Screening Tool For Autism Spectrum in Adults
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Progress in the early diagnosis of autism and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is being made for young children.However, there has been less attention to the diagnosis of autism in adults.Many adults with autism and ASD passed through childhood before much was known about these disorders.This means many adults with ASD may still be not be diagnosed and are not being referred for potentially beneficial services.A recent study from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden supports the validity of a new s........ Read more »
Eriksson JM, Andersen LMJ, Bejerot S. (2013) RAADS-14 Screen: validity of a screening tool for autism spectrum disorder in an adult psychiatric population. Molecular Autism. DOI: 10.1186/2040-2392-4-49
- December 10, 2013
- 11:42 AM
- 311 views
Football Concussion, CTE and Brain Pathology
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
The relationship between football-related head injury and brain disorders is an important research topic.Case reports of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) continue to emerge among retired NFL football players.In a previous post, I have summarized a Mayo Clinic study finding limited evidence for increased brain injury in a cohort of high school football players.In another related post, I summarized research demonstrating college football players with sport-related head trauma had evidence of........ Read more »
Hazrati LN, Tartaglia MC, Diamandis P, Davis KD, Green RE, Wennberg R, Wong JC, Ezerins L, & Tator CH. (2013) Absence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in retired football players with multiple concussions and neurological symptomatology. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 222. PMID: 23745112
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