Body Mapping and Body Scan: Meditation and Art Therapy: A Literature Review

The methods of body mapping, including if the research used both body scans and body maps, and who the populations served were the aims of the research. Two published body mapping manuals were found by Gastaldo et al., (2012) and Solomon (2002). Informed consent and ethical considerations were of high priority. The findings consisted of no concrete method for conducting and creating body maps. Art therapists were not a part of the research teams. Body maps were used mostly with female identifying participants, most of which were adults. The major gap in the research consisted of external validity (Gastaldo et al., 2012; Solomon, 2002)

Caractérisation d'un canal sodique "de fuite" essentiel pour la détection do sodium dans les neurones MnPo

Une majorité de neurones du noyau préoptique médian (MnPO) chez le rat sont sensibles aux variations de la concentration extracellulaire de sodium (Na⁺). L'objectif de cette étude était de déterminer le mécanisme cellulaire impliqué dans la détection du Na⁺ dans le MnPO. Pour étudier ce mécanisme, des enregistrements électrophysiologiques ont été réalisés sur des neurones dissociés et des neurones présents dans une tranche de l'hypothalamus. On a d'abord démontré la présence de "senseurs" de Na⁺ dans les neurones du MnPO. Ensuite, on a déterminé que la détection du Na⁺ extracellulaire était spécifiquement attribuée à un flux d'ions Na⁺ à travers un canal de fuite bloqué par le rubidium. Les propriétés de ce canal étaient similaires à celles d'un canal sodique. Même si cela reste à confirmer, la présence d'ARNm codant pour le canal Nax dans le MnPO fait de ce canal un candidat potentiel

Effets de la stimulation cérébrale sur la compréhension des métaphores dans la maladie de Parkinson

Différents déficits langagiers sont souvent observés dans la maladie de Parkinson (MP), incluant des difficultés à comprendre les métaphores. Ces difficultés seraient associées à une hypo-activation du cortex préfrontal dorsolatéral (CPFDL), possiblement causée par le dysfonctionnement des boucles fronto-striatales. La polysémie (plusieurs sens associés à un mot) est un facteur linguistique intrinsèque à la composition d’une métaphore et pourrait avoir un impact sur ces déficits, mais son influence est méconnue. La compréhension des métaphores pourrait également être influencée par différentes techniques de stimulation cérébrale pouvant avoir un impact sur le fonctionnement des circuits fronto-striataux, notamment la Stimulation Cérébrale Profonde (SCP) (un traitement chirurgical produisant une stimulation électrique continue) et la Stimulation Magnétique Transcrânienne (TMS) (une approche expérimentale non invasive en mesure d’influencer l’activité cérébrale par influx magnétique transitoire). Selon plusieurs études évaluant à la fois les effets de la chirurgie et des stimulations électriques, la SCP entraînerait une altération du langage. Cependant, les effets dissociés des stimulations électriques sur le langage, incluant la compréhension des métaphores, sont encore à éclaircir. En outre, les effets de la TMS, qui pourrait potentiellement améliorer le dysfonctionnement du CPFDL, n’ont jamais été évalués sur les difficultés à comprendre les métaphores dans la MP. La visée de cette thèse était donc d’évaluer les effets de la SCP et la TMS sur la compréhension des métaphores dans la MP. Les résultats de la première étude, évaluant l’influence de la polysémie, ont d’abord permis de contrôler adéquatemment l’impact de ce facteur lors de l’évaluation de la compréhension des métaphores. Dans la deuxième étude, portant sur les effets de la SCP, aucun impact des stimulations électriques n’a été observé sur la compréhension des métaphores. Enfin, dans la troisième étude, l'application d’un protocole particulier en TMS sur le CPFDL a entraîné une amélioration de la compréhension des métaphores chez un participant atteint de la MP. Ainsi, cette thèse a contribué à l’avancement des connaissances sur la compréhension des métaphores dans la MP et sur l’influence de différentes techniques de stimulation cérébrale sur cette habileté. Elle a également apporté de nouvelles hypothèses neuroanatomiques qui pourront servir dans de futures études.Different language deficits are often observed in Parkinson's disease (PD), including difficulties to understand metaphors. These difficulties seem to be associated with a decreased activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), possibly caused by fronto-striatal network dysfunctions. Polysemy (the property of a word to have multiple related meanings) is a linguistic factor intrinsic to the composition of a metaphor and could have an impact on this deficit, but its influence is unknown. Metaphor comprehension is also likely to be influenced by different brain stimulation technics that may have an impact on the fronto-striatal loops and the DLPFC, including Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) (a surgical treatment producing subcortical continuous electrical stimulation) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) (a noninvasive experimental approach that can influence brain activity by transient magnetic pulses). According to several studies evaluating both the effects of electrical stimulation and surgery, DBS generally impairs language abilities. However, differentiated effects of electrical stimulation on language, including metaphor comprehension, are still unclear. Additionally, TMS could potentially improve the DLPFC dysfunction, but its effects on metaphor comprehension deficits in PD have never been evaluated. Thus, the aim of this thesis is to evaluate the effects of DBS and TMS on metaphor comprehension in PD. The results of the first study, evaluating the influence of polysemy, showed how to properly control the impact of this factor when evaluating metaphor comprehension in this disease. In the second study, which focused on DBS effects, we observed no impact of electrical stimulation on metaphor comprehension. Finally, in the third study, the application of a particular TMS protocol on the DLPFC improved metaphor comprehension in a participant with PD. Overall, this thesis has contributed to advance knowledge on metaphor comprehension in PD and on the influence of different brain stimulation technics on this ability. It also provided new neuroanatomical hypotheses that could be used in future studies

Online competency-based resident assessment for the discipline of anesthesiology: a needs assessment

In Canada, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) are implementing a model of competency-based medical education (CBME) for all specialty-training programs called Competence by Design (CBD). Anesthesiology is an RCPSC discipline that is represented at all medical schools in Canada and is among the first specialties to adopt CBD. The RCPSC model of CBD includes frequent observations and assessment of resident performance; competence committees review this data in order to make decisions on resident progress. Electronic portfolios are an important enabler in moving to CBD given the volume of assessment data, the complexity of data generated, and the need for comprehensive reporting of resident competence. The purpose of my study was to describe the perceived data needs and challenges of anesthesiology programs when implementing CBD. In stage 1 of my study, stakeholders were interviewed regarding their needs and challenges in handling CBD assessment data. Stakeholders in stage 1 included 13 experts from the RCPSC CBD working group charged with defining the competencies for anesthesiology at the national level. The findings from this stage were used to help structure questions for stage 2 of my study, which included three focus groups. The resident focus group comprised of 4 residents, the faculty focus group comprised of 3 faculty members, and CBD focus group comprised of 5 CBD experts. Participants were recruited from across Canada

Are Verbal Fluency and Nonliteral Language Comprehension Deficits Related to Depressive Symptoms in Parkinson's Disease?

Depression in Parkinson's disease (PD) is frequently associated with executive deficits, which can influence nonliteral comprehension and lexical access. This study explores whether depressive symptoms in PD modulate verbal fluency and nonliteral language comprehension. Twelve individuals with PD without depressive symptoms, 13 with PD and depressive symptoms (PDDSs), and 13 healthy controls completed a semantic and phonemic verbal fluency task and an indirect speech acts comprehension task. All groups had the same performance in the phonemic fluency task while the PDDS group was impaired in the semantic task. For the indirect speech act comprehension task, no difference was observed between the groups. However, the PDDS group had difficulty answering direct speech act questions. As some language impairments in PD become apparent when depressive symptoms are associated with the disease, it would appear to be important to take the presence of depressive symptoms into account when evaluating language abilities in PD

Lower Cortisol Activity is Associated with First-Time Driving while Impaired

Driving while impaired (DWI) is a grave and persistent high-risk behavior. Previous work demonstrated that DWI recidivists had attenuated cortisol reactivity compared to non-DWI drivers. This suggests that cortisol is a neurobiological marker of high-risk driving. The present study tested the hypothesis that this initial finding would extend to first-time DWI (fDWI) offenders compared to non-DWI drivers. Male fDWI offenders (n = 139) and non-DWI drivers (n = 31) were exposed to a stress task, and their salivary cortisol activity (total output and reactivity) was measured. Participants also completed questionnaires on sensation seeking, impulsivity, substance use, and engagement in risky and criminal behaviors. As hypothesized, fDWI offenders, compared to non-DWI drivers, had lower cortisol reactivity; fDWI offenders also showed lower total output. In addition, cortisol activity was the most important predictor of group membership, after accounting for alcohol misuse patterns and consequences and other personality and problem behavior characteristics. The findings indicate that attenuated cortisol activity is an independent factor associated with DWI offending risk at an earlier stage in the DWI trajectory than previously detected

Moose Alces alces habitat use at multiple temporal scales in a human-altered landscape

publishedVersio

A standard protocol to report discrete stage-structured demographic information

Stage-based demographic methods, such as matrix population models (MPMs), are powerful tools used to address a broad range of fundamental questions in ecology, evolutionary biology and conservation science. Accordingly, MPMs now exist for over 3000 species worldwide. These data are being digitised as an ongoing process and periodically released into two large open-access online repositories: the COMPADRE Plant Matrix Database and the COMADRE Animal Matrix Database. During the last decade, data archiving and curation of COMPADRE and COMADRE, and subsequent comparative research, have revealed pronounced variation in how MPMs are parameterized and reported. Here, we summarise current issues related to the parameterisation and reporting of MPMs that arise most frequently and outline how they affect MPM construction, analysis, and interpretation. To quantify variation in how MPMs are reported, we present results from a survey identifying key aspects of MPMs that are frequently unreported in manuscripts. We then screen COMPADRE and COMADRE to quantify how often key pieces of information are omitted from manuscripts using MPMs. Over 80% of surveyed researchers (n = 60) state a clear benefit to adopting more standardised methodologies for reporting MPMs. Furthermore, over 85% of the 300 MPMs assessed from COMPADRE and COMADRE omitted one or more elements that are key to their accurate interpretation. Based on these insights, we identify fundamental issues that can arise from MPM construction and communication and provide suggestions to improve clarity, reproducibility and future research utilising MPMs and their required metadata. To fortify reproducibility and empower researchers to take full advantage of their demographic data, we introduce a standardised protocol to present MPMs in publications. This standard is linked to www.compa dre-db.org, so that authors wishing to archive their MPMs can do so prior to submission of publications, following examples from other open-access repositories such as DRYAD, Figshare and Zenodo. Combining and standardising MPMs parameterized from populations around the globe and across the tree of life opens up powerful research opportunities in evolutionary biology, ecology and conservation research. However, this potential can only be fully realised by adopting standardised methods to ensure reproducibility