RESUMEN
Thirty-five prepubertal children, 17 boys and 18 girls, between the ages of 8 and 11 years, were studied to examine electrophysiological and cognitive sex differences during a face-recognition-memory (FRM) task and a facial-affect-identification task (FAIT). All participants were prepubertal, as determined by J. M. Tanner's (1962) staging and endocrine evaluation. Sex-dependent event-related potential (ERP) amplitude asymmetries were found during FRM. Boys displayed greater right versus left ERP amplitude to auditory tone probes during the task, whereas girls displayed the opposite pattern. In addition, positive correlations were obtained between ERP amplitude during FRM and FAIT accuracy scores for boys, but not for girls. Results suggest that girls and boys may use different neuronal systems in the processing of faces and facial affect. Findings are consistent with developmental theories regarding sex differences in visuospatial processing.
Asunto(s)
Afecto , Potenciales Evocados/fisiología , Cara , Expresión Facial , Reconocimiento en Psicología/fisiología , Encéfalo/fisiología , Niño , Desarrollo Infantil/fisiología , Electroencefalografía , Femenino , Lateralidad Funcional/fisiología , Humanos , Masculino , Memoria/fisiología , Psicología Infantil , Tiempo de Reacción , Factores Sexuales , Percepción Espacial/fisiología , Percepción Visual/fisiologíaRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the influence of depressed mood on functional motor asymmetry among school-aged boys. Thus, left- and right-hand grip strength as well as fatigue across successive trials was examined among 38 right-handed school-aged boys, half of whom had been classified as depressed (n = 19) and the other half as nondepressed (n = 19). BACKGROUND: There is support in the literature that depressed individuals experience relative right anterior activation, and previous reports of functional motor asymmetries among depressed adults are generally supportive of this notion. To date, however, little is known regarding the neuropsychology of depression as it may pertain to children; in particular, the possibility of functional motor asymmetry within this population has yet to be explored. METHOD: Participants were asked to squeeze a hand dynamometer four times successively with each hand. The order of hand presentation was counterbalanced, and the dependent measure was in kilograms. RESULTS: As hypothesized, depressed boys failed to demonstrate asymmetry for grip strength, although nondepressed boys exhibited right-hand grip strength. In addition, based on trend, right-hand grip strength for depressed boys fatigued more rapidly across successive trials than did right-hand grip strength for nondepressed boys. In contrast, depressed boys maintained left-hand grip strength longer across successive trials than did nondepressed boys. CONCLUSIONS: The data are interpreted as consistent with current neuropsychological theories of emotion, particularly depression, and suggest that the functional motor asymmetries (i.e., failure to demonstrate asymmetric grip strength) observed in depressed adults are also present among depressed children. Implications for increased right hemisphere activation, decreased left hemisphere activation, or a combination of both are discussed.
Asunto(s)
Trastorno Depresivo Mayor/psicología , Fuerza de la Mano/fisiología , Trastornos Psicomotores/etiología , Trastornos Psicomotores/fisiopatología , Encéfalo/fisiopatología , Niño , Lateralidad Funcional/fisiología , Humanos , Masculino , Trastornos Psicomotores/diagnóstico , Índice de Severidad de la EnfermedadRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the accuracy of affective prosodic speech identification of 38 right-handed school-aged boys, half of whom had been classified as having depression and the other half as not having depression. BACKGROUND: There is support in the literature for relative right posterior hemisphere dysfunction in patients with depression. The literature also suggests that patients with depression may have difficulty processing receptive affective prosodic speech. Less is known, however, regarding the neuropsychology of depression in children. It was hypothesized that children with depression would demonstrate decreased ability in the identification of affective prosody. METHOD: Participants were asked to identify happy, angry, sad, and neutral prosodies within congruent and incongruent verbal statements. RESULTS: As predicted, the ability of boys with depression to identify congruent and incongruent affective prosody was significantly lower compared with boys without depression. CONCLUSION: The results of this experiment are discussed in terms of a right-hemisphere dysfunction model for depression in childhood.
Asunto(s)
Afecto/fisiología , Depresión/fisiopatología , Lateralidad Funcional , Percepción del Habla/fisiología , Análisis de Varianza , Niño , Dominancia Cerebral/fisiología , Humanos , MasculinoRESUMEN
The present case study utilizes neuropsychological procedures, quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to identify neural substrates of "autism" in a 25 year old Caucasian male. A priori hypotheses formed from a neuropsychological evaluation were supported by data from QEEG and MRI. Specifically, the neuropsychological evaluation was suggestive of left anterior deactivation and right frontal activation. Consistent with these results, QEEG data revealed relative activation of the right frontal region, while MRI results were suggestive of multiple small focal areas over the left frontal region and a teardrop shaped area of low attenuation across the right frontal region. The possible relation of right cerebral dysfunction and autism is discussed.
Asunto(s)
Trastorno Autístico/diagnóstico , Electroencefalografía , Pruebas Neuropsicológicas , Adulto , Trastorno Autístico/psicología , Ritmo Delta , Humanos , Imagen por Resonancia Magnética , MasculinoRESUMEN
This study assessed the influence of age (younger women and elderly women living in communities) on cerebral laterality using dichotic listening. Previous research has purported to show a relative right cerebral decline with age. To date, however, research on the right hemiaging hypothesis has provided mixed findings. It is possible that these mixed findings are caused by use of simple versus complex dichotic listening tasks. As a test of this hypothesis, older women were expected to have a heightened right ear advantage (REA) for phonemic speech sounds and greater difficulty switching intention to the left ear when instructed to focus to either the left or the right ear. No age difference was found using the traditional presentation of concurrent phonemes. However, the right hemiaging hypothesis was supported on the intentional task, in which older women were less able to switch intention to the left but not to the right ear. Implications for right hemiaging are discussed.
Asunto(s)
Envejecimiento/fisiología , Encéfalo/fisiopatología , Pruebas de Audición Dicótica , Lateralidad Funcional , Adulto , Anciano , Femenino , Humanos , ProhibitinasRESUMEN
The present study evaluated the effects of bright light therapy on a patient with cortical blindness. Behavioral indices of functioning included the appraisal of mood, fatigue, appetite and orientation. Physiological measures assessed were blood pressure and temperature. Blood serum samples were analyzed for 5-HIAA and norepinephrine (NE). For the control and follow-up, the patient was exposed to 30 minutes of red light (300-lux), and thirty minutes of white light (10,000-lux) was used for treatment. High-pressure liquid chromatography analyses of blood serum samples revealed no change in serotonin (5-HT). However, an increase in blood NE was indicated following light treatment (red light: 12.7 ng/ml, white light: 43.5 ng/ml and, red light: 27.5 ng/ml). Analysis of data revealed significant differences in baseline and treatment scores for 4 of the outcome measures.
Asunto(s)
Ceguera/fisiopatología , Ceguera/terapia , Encefalopatías/fisiopatología , Corteza Cerebral , Fototerapia , Adulto , Afecto/fisiología , Apetito/fisiología , Ceguera/psicología , Presión Sanguínea/fisiología , Temperatura Corporal/fisiología , Encefalopatías/metabolismo , Encefalopatías/psicología , Fatiga/psicología , Humanos , Masculino , Orientación/fisiología , Serotonina/metabolismo , Tomografía Computarizada por Rayos XRESUMEN
The effects of combinations of bright or dim light and noise levels on hand strength, fatigue, motor perseveration, and tapping rate were evaluated in 13 undergraduate and 13 elderly females. Increments in the intensity of sensory conditions produced opposite effects on grip strength at the left, as opposed to the right hand. Reliable asymmetry in hand strength (right > left) was observed in bright but not dim lighting in the younger group. In the elderly group, the extent of asymmetrical hand strength was related to the combination of light and noise intensity. Data suggest that increments in sensory conditions may differentially activate the cerebral hemispheres of the elderly and younger groups affecting grip strength. Results are discussed in relation to the hemiaging hypothesis.
Asunto(s)
Envejecimiento/fisiología , Nivel de Alerta/fisiología , Dominancia Cerebral , Mano/fisiología , Desempeño Psicomotor/fisiología , Sensación/fisiología , Adolescente , Adulto , Anciano , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Envejecimiento/psicología , Tronco Encefálico/fisiología , Femenino , Humanos , Iluminación , Contracción Muscular , Fatiga Muscular , RuidoRESUMEN
Hemispheric asymmetry in 14 left- and 14 right-handed persons shown tachistoscopically presented emotional stimuli to left and right visual fields was examined using a forced-choice, reaction-time paradigm in which subjects were asked to identify positive and negative faces. Neutral faces were included within the two-alternative forced-choice paradigm. Reaction time and response-bias measures were recorded. Analysis indicated differential lateralization for left-handed and right-handed subjects with respect to neutral affective stimuli. While right-handed subjects' perceptions of neutral stimuli remained consistent across visual fields, left-handed ones identified neutral stimuli as more positive (happy) when presented to the left visual field and negative (angry) when presented to the right visual field. Implications for differential lateralization patterns among left- and right-handed adults are discussed.