vaughanbell

Brain damage and the social chameleon

The BPS Research Digest has picked up on a curious case study of a brain injured man whose identity appears dependent on the environment he is in, owing to severe memory problems.

The case was published in the neurological journal Neurocase by psychologist Giovannina Conchiglia and colleagues.

The patient was investigated by the team after he suffered left-focused damage to the frontal and temporal lobes after the oxygen supply to the brain was cut off during a heart attack.

Unfortunately, the full paper isn’t available online, but it’s well worth reading if you do have access to the journal.

The researchers put the patient, named AD, in various environments, such as a bar or kitchen, where he assumed the identity of a barmen and chef.

Interestingly, this didn’t happen in all cases:

During the first two experiments A.D was attracted by social and environmental stimuli, and did not in fact hesitate after a short while to interpret the role expected of him, and to “take on” the personality of the barman and chef, respectively. It is to be emphasised that in none of the experiments proposed did A.D. imitate the characters interpreted by the actors/experimenters, but rather assumed his own role in keeping with the context. In the last experiment, however, the patient manifested a different form of behaviour, in that he did not assume any role, as he considered that specific context inadequate…

His refusal to take on the role of laundryman in Experiment 3 is relevant since it is unlikely to be suited to him. The roles he adopts, therefore, must in some way correspond to certain traits of his personality structure or his social prerogatives, however versatile these may be.

There is now a growing recognition that symptoms caused by brain injury might be influenced not only by physical damage, but also by the wishes and desires of the patient.

Recent research has looked at this effect in both confabulations and delusions and found a strong interaction between unusual neurological conditions and the motivations of the patient.

This suggests that symptoms are influenced as much by the remaining intact brain areas, as the damaged ones.

Link to BPSRD article ‘Brain damage turns man into human chameleon’.
Link to abstract of Neurocase paper.

Carrying a lethal gene

The New York Times has a fantastic article and video documentary on people who have decided to find out whether they carry the gene for the degenerative brain disorder Huntingdon’s disease, even before it’s started to causes any symptoms.

The disorder is caused by a single gene which, if inherited, causes a progressive deterioration in areas of the basal ganglia and frontal lobe which are eventually lethal.

The symptoms usually only appear in middle age and include, most visibly, uncontrolled movements of the body.

However, cognitive problems (such as impairments in memory, concentration, perception and strategic thinking), and the development of mood disorders and psychosis are also possible.

Because the disorder only takes hold in later years, many people with parents or grandparents with the disorder have to decide whether to get tested, and discover whether they have the gene and are fated to develop Huntingdon’s later in life.

The NYT article reports on how one young woman, who has taken the test and found out that she will develop the disorder, deals with the knowledge of her neurological fate.

Ms. Moser is still part of a distinct minority. But some researchers say her attitude is increasingly common among young people who know they may develop Huntington’s.

More informed about the genetics of the disease than any previous generation, they are convinced that they would rather know how many healthy years they have left than wake up one day to find the illness upon them. They are confident that new reproductive technologies can allow them to have children without transmitting the disease and are eager to be first in line should a treatment become available.

“We’re seeing a shift,” said Dr. Michael Hayden, a professor of human genetics at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver who has been providing various tests for Huntington’s for 20 years. “Younger people are coming for testing now, people in their 20s and early 30s; before, that was very rare. I’ve counseled some of them. They feel it is part of their heritage and that it is possible to lead a life that’s not defined by this gene.”

As well as showing some of the striking and distinctive movements associated with the disorder, the videos also relate some insightful reflections from Katie Moser, the subject of the article.

It’s common for there to be no cure for neurological illness, but usually there are some treatments which can slow down the symptoms.

Unlike some other disorders, there are remarkably few of these treatments for Huntingdon’s disease, although research is currently being undertaken to try and improve the situation.

Link to NYT article ‘Facing Life With a Lethal Gene’.
Link to Wikipedia page on Huntingdon’s.

At the 15th European Congress of Psychiatry

I’ve spent the day at the 15th European Congress of Psychiatry and have been catching up with some of the latest developments in the field.

As is common with these sorts of things, the exhibition hall is largely an exercise for drug companies to promote their products using giveaways and selective education.

My favourite tagline was on the stand for the antidepressant drug tianeptine: ‘Treating Depression Beyond the Symptoms’.

I can’t quite picture what this refers to. Maybe they send a drug rep round to improve people’s housing, finances and difficult family situation?

In terms of antipsychotic promotion, the big selling point seems to be avoiding weight gain.

Many of the companies are advertising that there drug causes less weight gain, or are promoting ways of using their drug to minimise strain on the cardiovascular system.

In terms of research being presented, there’s a fantastic selection from across Europe. Here’s just a few that have caught my eye.

A study by Esmina Avdibegoviƒá and colleagues from University Clinical Centre of Tuzla in Bosnia and Herzegovina found that the suicide rate dropped during the Bosnian war, and that even after the war, less people committed suicide than before.

Another study from the Tuzla Clinic by Izet Pajevic and colleagues looked at religiosity in war veterans from the same conflict, and found that religious practice was associated with better mental health and less risky, agressive and psychopathic behaviour.

In fact, there’s a lot of interesting research here from Bosnia and Herzegovina and I look forward to hearing more.

An elegant study by Krzystof Krstya and colleagues from the Silesian Medical Academy in Poland looked at improvements in cognitive function during treatment for anxiety disorders, and found that combined drug therapy and psychotherapy had the most significant benefit for short-term memory and attention.

Monica Sigaudo and colleagues from the University of Turin Medical School reported that an inert pill could actually increase pain perception when given with the suggestion that it raised sensitivity – something known as the ‘nocebo effect‘.

Finally, a neuroimaguing study by Jan Prasko and colleagues from the Prague Psychiatric Centre found that in the treatment of panic disorder, both cognitive behavioural therapy and antidepressants were equally as effective, and interestingly, had a similar effect on the brain.

Anyway, just time to grab something to eat and prepare for my own talk…

On not drowning in a teaspoon of water

The Stanford Magazine has an article an the work of psychologist Prof Carole Dweck who argues that the key to success lies in how you deal with failure.

Dweck’s research was recently the subject of a great deal of interest after it was discussed in a widely read New York Magazine article on the sometimes paradoxical effects of praising children in certain ways.

In the Stanford Magazine article, Dweck discusses how her findings have been applied to achievement in general, and how we attribute or give credit for success has a significant impact on our future successes.

A 60-year-old academic psychologist might seem an unlikely sports motivation guru. But Dweck’s expertise ‚Äî and her recent book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success ‚Äî bear directly on the sort of problem facing the Rovers. Through more than three decades of systematic research, she has been figuring out answers to why some people achieve their potential while equally talented others don’t ‚Äî why some become Muhammad Ali and others Mike Tyson. The key, she found, isn’t ability; it’s whether you look at ability as something inherent that needs to be demonstrated or as something that can be developed.

Link to Stanford Magazine article ‘The Effort Effect’.
Link to details on Dweck’s book Mindset.

Vote for the greatest discovery in psychology

PsyBlog has just published the last of its articles on the top ten psychology studies, so you can now read through and vote for your favourite.

The list is wide ranging and comprehensive, covering developmental psychology, perception, false memory, conformity, psychotherapy, personality and several other keys discoveries in the history of psychology.

Head on over for the complete list and cast your vote to support your personal choice for the most influential study in of all time.

Link to PsyBlog’s ‘Top Ten Psychology Studies’.

Madrid, Dublin and a prior warning

Just a quick note to say posting may be a bit irregular over the next week or so, as I’m going to be travelling.

I’m off to Madrid at the weekend to attend the European Congress of Psychiatry, where I’ve kindly been invited to speak at the Monday afternoon ‘Fringes of Psychosis’ symposium organised by Andrea Raballo.

I’m then off to the fair city of Dublin to find somewhere to live!

I’m going to be there for four months from the beginning of April working with children and adults with neurodevelopmental disorders and learning disabilities.

Which brings me to a request…

If you know anyone that has a room to rent in Dublin from April to July, do get in touch!

Artists look differently at visual scenes

Cognitive Daily has a fantastic piece on a eye-tracking study looking at how artists and non-artists look differently at visual scenes.

The study concluded that artists spend more time looking at areas of the visual scene that the rest of us pass over as less important.

So why do artists look at pictures — especially non-abstract pictures — differently from non-artists? Vogt and Magnussen argue that it comes down to training: artists have learned to identify the real details of a picture, not just the ones that are immediately most salient to the perceptual system, which is naturally disposed to focusing on objects and faces.

The study is reminiscent of research completed in collaboration with artist Humphrey Ocean, whose eye movements were similarly recorded by eye-tracking technology when completing various drawings.

Ocean was also put in a fMRI scanner while he drew, and his brain activation was compared to a non-artist. The study reported that Ocean had much greater activation in the parietal lobe – an area heavily implicated in visual and spatial abilities.

Link to CogDaily article ‘Artists look different’.

2007-03-16 Spike activity

Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news:

Esquire Magazine has an article on pioneering neurosurgery on Iraq vets to reconstruct large areas of damaged skull.

Cognitive Daily looks at research suggesting that judges may be biased in their belief in the truth of videotaped confessions – depending on the angle of the camera.

Technology Review reviews Marvin Minksy’s new book on emotion and the future of AI.

Developing Intelligence asks whether visual binding is an automatic process.

Science and Consciousness Review has a feature article / extended book review on the science of consciousness – where it is and where it should be.

Steven Pinker has been speaking recently on the ‘decline of violence’.

Subliminal messages in video games to treat addiction? OmniBrain investigates.

Deric Bownds discusses a study finding that the brain’s response to threat is reduced by hand holding.

The Neurophilosopher dissects a notoriously flawed study from 1906 that tried to argue for differences in the ‘negro brain’.

Can we wear out self-control? Frontal Cortex examines research that suggests that it might be a resource we can deplete.

Taking oxytocin helps empathy

Brain Ethics has found an intriguing study which suggests that giving people the hormone oxytocin makes them better at reading emotion from other people’s eyes.

Oxytocin is a hormone that also works as a neurotransmitter, and is known to be involved in bonding experiences.

It is released during sex, and also when mothers breast feed their infants.

A 2005 study published in Nature [pdf] suggested that oxytocin increased trustfulness in people playing a co-operative investment game.

This study, published in Biological Psychiatry, is the first to suggest that the a burst of the hormone actually makes us better at perceiving others’ emotions.

The full text of the study is available online as a pdf file if you want to get more details about the research.

Link to Brain Ethics article ‘Oxytocin is the window to the soul’.
pdf of full-text of scientific study.

Encephalon 18 at Pharyngula

The 18th edition of psychology and neuroscience writing carnival has been posted online, this time ably hosted on Pharyngula.

PZ has grouped the posts into four categories: understanding brains, fixing brains, improving brains and evolving brains.

A couple of my favourites include a study on how often neurosurgeons accidentally drop bits of the skull when doing brain surgery, and a fascinating article on the brains of gamblers.

Link to Encephalon 18.

Help discover the link between music and personality

Jeremy Dean, owner of PsyBlog and postgraduate psychology researcher, is asking for participants to take part in an online study looking at the links between music preferences and personality.

The psychology and neuroscience of music has recently become an exciting area, as indicated by the popularity of books and articles on the area.

For example, a few months ago The New York Times ran a feature article that looked at the work of Prof Daniel Levitin and his recent highly-regarded book (as we reported previously on Mind Hacks).

Research into the links between music and personality is also becoming more established, as it becomes clear that our musical preferences are influenced by and reflect our personal characteristics.

One of my favourite studies looked at the links between personality and bass sounds and found that “Psychoticism, gender, and Extraversion are all positively related to preference for enhanced bass”!

Jeremy’s study aims to further this research, and is asking for volunteers to complete some online questionnaires.

Crucially, he’s only recruiting people from United Kingdom or Ireland who are over 18 years of age, but if you fit the bill and are interested in taking part, follow the link below.

UPDATE: Jeremy has emailed to say the study is now over and thanks very much to everyone who volunteered!

Link to PsyBlog page ‘Take Part in Research on Music and Personality’.

Treating brain injury with a sleeping pill

New Scientist has a short report on recent research again suggesting that sleeping pill zolpidem (trade name Ambien) might help people with impaired consciousness after brain injury.

This comes after a 2006 study reported that zolpidem temporarily roused three brain-injured patients who were in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) a coma-like state of impaired consciousness.

Consequently, the media was full of new stories that described patients ‘waking’ from ‘coma’ after being given the drug.

The results were treated with some scepticism by the medical community, who are always suspicious of anything sounding like a ‘miracle cure’.

The plot thickened when zolpidem became the focus of a legal case last year when a UK court ruled that it could be given to a patient who had spent three years in a persistent vegetative state, against the wishes of the family.

In the event, the treatment didn’t work, and the patient was eventually allowed to die as the family wanted.

Interestingly, a new paper published in the medical journal Annals of Neurology reports similar results to the initial study, although this time in a patient with akinetic mutism rather than PVS.

Akinetic mutism is a state of absent motivation where a patient does not initiate any action or speech, although may sometimes be capable of it when prompted.

It usually occurs after severe frontal lobe damage or damage to subcortical areas that connect directly to the frontal lobes.

In this case, the patient became able to spontaneously move and walk after being given zolpidem.

Interestingly, the researchers also use a PET brain scan to see how blood flow to the brain changed after zolpidem when compared to placebo.

It turned out that the sleeping pill increased blood flow to the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortices – both areas of the frontal lobe.

It seems the sleeping pill may have paradoxical and poorly understood effects on the damaged brain, but will need to be studied in much more detail to see if it is genuinely an effective treatment for people with certain types of brain injury.

Link to NewSci article ‘Sedative ‘reactivates’ damaged brains’.
Link to abstract of scientific study.

Physical and psychological torture has similar impact

The New York Times reports on a study that interviewed people who had been either physically or psychologically tortured during the conflict in Yugoslavia and found both groups were equally likely to develop post traumatic stress disorder, otherwise known as PTSD.

The research was led by Dr Metin Basoglu and has just been published in the medical journal Archives of General Psychiatry.

This is powerful research, not least because the United Nations Convention Against Torture uses the potential for ‘prolonged mental harm’ as a way of distinguishing between physical torture and other coercive interrogation techniques that may be frowned upon but are not considered against international law.

The conclusions appear to contradict a Justice Department memorandum of Dec. 30, 2004. Citing the United Nations Convention Against Torture, the memorandum argued that a broad range of interrogation techniques, among them forced standing, hooding, subjection to loud noises and deprivation of sleep, food and drink, might be inhumane but did not constitute torture unless they resulted in “prolonged mental harm.”

“Until now, both sides of the debate have expressed opinions based on personal impressions,” said Dr. Metin Basoglu, the lead author of the study. “But these data clearly suggest that you cannot make a distinction between physical forms of torture and something else called ‘cruel and degrading treatment.’ “

This is likely to inflame the ongoing debate about the American Psychological Association allowing its members to take part in US Military interrogations while US medical associations have banned physicians and psychiatrists from participating in the same.

Link to NYT article ‘The Line Between Torture and Cruelty’.
Link to abstract of study on PubMed.

Interactive websites make false memories more likely

Collision Detection has some interesting coverage of recently published research suggesting websites with interactive graphics are more likely to produce false memories about the pictured products than sites with static images.

The article also makes an interesting point about the focus of consumer psychology in this area:

One interesting thing [researcher] Schlosser points out is that market-research folks almost never study the false-memory effects of advertising. Sure, they test to see whether consumers who’ve looked at promotional material can recall true information about a product. But they rarely check to see whether the consumers also remember false information.

There’s more in the Collision Detection article and a link to the full-text of the paper.

Link to Collision Detection article (thanks Katerina!).

Commercial brain computer interface on sale

Neurophilosopher reports on a commercial brain-computer interface system called g.MOBIlab that has just become available.

The system comes in various versions that can be hooked up to PCs and PDAs using various interfaces including wireless and across the internet.

To quote from the company’s website:

g.MOBIlab – g.tec’s portable biosignal acquisition and analysis system – is the perfect tool for recording multimodal biosignal data on a standard Pocket PC, PC or notebook. This allows to investigate brain-, heart-, muscle-activity, eye movement, respiration, galvanic skin response, pulse and other body signals.

Reading electrical signals from the brain and other parts of the body is relatively simple.

The thing that will determine whether the system is of reasonable standard will be the post recording electronics such as the signal amplifiers, filters and digital signal processing software, to make sense of noisy data that is generated when the brain is at work.

Neurophilosopher has also linked to a video where someone is navigating through a virtual world using the system.

Link to Neurophilosopher on the g.MOBIlab system.

How neurolaw is shaping the courtroom

The New York Times has an in-depth article on the increasing use of neuroscience evidence in court cases and how this is shaping concepts of justice and responsibility.

The article examines the science and technology which is being used as the basis of this evidence and questions whether courts are competent to use the knowledge.

It also looks at whether the notion of free will is being eroded by excusing criminal acts on the basis of disturbed brain function.

To suggest that criminals could be excused because their brains made them do it seems to imply that anyone whose brain isn’t functioning properly could be absolved of responsibility. But should judges and juries really be in the business of defining the normal or properly working brain? And since all behavior is caused by our brains, wouldn’t this mean all behavior could potentially be excused?
…
Proponents of neurolaw say that neuroscientific evidence will have a large impact not only on questions of guilt and punishment but also on the detection of lies and hidden bias, and on the prediction of future criminal behavior. At the same time, skeptics fear that the use of brain-scanning technology as a kind of super mind-reading device will threaten our privacy and mental freedom, leading some to call for the legal system to respond with a new concept of “cognitive liberty.”

If you want to keep track of developments in this area, you could do a lot worse than reading a great new blog called The Situationist from the Harvard Law School’s Project on Law and Mind Sciences.

It’s got some fantastic contributors and, so far, has published some great articles.

Finally, if you want a good academic review of the area and have access to the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences, the feature article from the March edition is on ‘Cognitive Science and the Law’.

Unfortunately, neither of the authors have put the full version online, but the abstract is listed on PubMed.

Link to NYT article ‘The Brain on the Stand’.
Link to blog The Situationist.
Link to abstract of TiCS article ‘Cognitive Science and the Law’.