Nonverbal expression of psychological states in psychiatric patients

Nonverbal behavior, especially facial expression, appears as one of the most important means for communicating affective states. Studies on groups of psychiatric patients and control subjects are reported in which nonverbal behavior is analyzed from videotaped dialogues. Using a quantitative approach, results on facial behavior, speech, and gaze are described, which shed light on the expressive and communicative functions of nonverbal behavior. From longitudinal observations on depressed patients it emerged that individualspecific associations have to be taken into account for the relationship between expressive behavior and mood changes. The predominance of facial behavior in the speaker role of an individual found in patients and control groups points to the integrated communicative function of the verbal and nonverbal elements. However, recovered schizophrenic patients exhibited a dissociation of these elements. Implications for our understanding of nonverbal communications are discussed

Sprechgeschwindigkeit und Sprechpausen von Depressiven

No abstract availabl

Situational effects on the syntax of speech and gaze behaviour in dyads

A substantial literature exists on the coordination of speaking and looking behaviour and their significance as indicators for the production and reception of social information. Within this framework, the temporal organisation of such behaviour has been 'shown to reflect both the coordination within the individual and between participants in a situation. In this paper, it is proposed that observed behavioural sequences may be formally described by rules of syntax, thus implying the likelihood of structural organisation as opposed to, for example, linear time dependence between behavioural states. This being the case, differing sets of rules and grammars respectively can be expected for various social situations. Clinical interviews and discu~sions between couples on a topic of marital conflict were analysed, the on-off patterns of speech and gaze being taken as data. The resulting behavioural repertoire was regarded, in the sense of a formal grammar, as the terminal vocabulary. A set of rewriting rules was determined and their associated probabilities inferred. The situational conditions were found to be reflectedin the syntactic features of the grammatical model - the terminal vocabulary, the production rules and the production probabilities

Nonverbal communication in depression

No abstract availabl

Kognitiiv-käitumuslik koolitusprogramm Parkinsoni tõve patsientidele ja tugiisikutele: projekt EduPark

Parkinsoni tõbi kroonilise neuroloogilise haigusena põhjustab lisaks füüsilistele vaevustele ka psühholoogilisi probleeme, millega toimetulek mõjutab otseselt patsientide elukvaliteeti. Toimetuleku soodustamiseks kasutatakse mitmesuguseid psühholoogilisi sekkumismeetodeid, sealhulgas kognitiivset käitumisteraapiat. Eesti Arst 2005; 84 (6): 402-40

Video Review of Baseline Performance on Global Ratings in a Double‐Blind Placebo Surgery Trial

BACKGROUND A randomized double‐blind sham surgery‐controlled trial was conducted to determine the effectiveness of implantation of human embryonic dopamine neurons into the putamen of patients with advanced Parkinson\u27s disease (PD). The present analyses determined whether patients viewing a video of themselves performing motor activities off medications at baseline would affect self‐ratings 12 months later on the Global Rating Scale (GRS). OBJECTIVES To examine changes in GRS scores pre‐/post‐video review for the total sample; to examine differences in scores between actual implant and sham groups, as well as perceived groups pre‐ and post‐video review; to examine differences among four subgroups of patients based on actual and perceived treatment (i.e., actual implant/perceived implant). METHODS Forty participants were recruited and randomly assigned to receive either neural implantation or sham surgery. The primary outcome variable was a one‐item GRS ranging from ‐3 (much worse since surgery) to +3 (much improved since surgery). At 12 months (before the blind was lifted) patients rated themselves on the GRS before and after viewing the baseline video. RESULTS Total sample GRS scores improved after the video (P = .001). There were no differences between the actual implant and sham groups before or after the video, but there were differences between perceived groups at both times (P \u3c .001). Among subgroups, improvement after the video was found only in the group receiving the implant but who thought sham (P = .011). CONCLUSION When self‐ratings are an outcome variable, review of baseline videos is recommended before making comparative ratings

Средства всережимного анализа устойчивости узлов двигательной нагрузки систем электроснабжения и условий ее обеспечения

Научный доклад посвящен проблеме достаточно полного и достоверного анализа устойчивости синхронных и асинхронных двигателей (СД и АД) узлов нагрузки систем электроснабжения (СЭС) и условий ее обеспечения, в значительной мере определяющих технологическую, экономическую эффективность и нередко безопасность функционирования большинства промышленных предприятий, особенно нефте-, газо-, химических отраслей.The scientific report is devoted to the problem of sufficiently complete and reliable analysis of the stability of synchronous and induction motors (SM and IM) load nodes of power supply systems (PSS) and its provision conditions, which to a considerable extent determine the technological, economic efficiency and often operation safety of large industrial enterprises, oil-, gas- and chemical

Dynamic Facial Expression of Emotion and Observer Inference

Research on facial emotion expression has mostly focused on emotion recognition, assuming that a small number of discrete emotions is elicited and expressed via prototypical facial muscle configurations as captured in still photographs. These are expected to be recognized by observers, presumably via template matching. In contrast, appraisal theories of emotion propose a more dynamic approach, suggesting that specific elements of facial expressions are directly produced by the result of certain appraisals and predicting the facial patterns to be expected for certain appraisal configurations. This approach has recently been extended to emotion perception, claiming that observers first infer individual appraisals and only then make categorical emotion judgments based on the estimated appraisal patterns, using inference rules. Here, we report two related studies to empirically investigate the facial action unit configurations that are used by actors to convey specific emotions in short affect bursts and to examine to what extent observers can infer a person's emotions from the predicted facial expression configurations. The results show that (1) professional actors use many of the predicted facial action unit patterns to enact systematically specified appraisal outcomes in a realistic scenario setting, and (2) naïve observers infer the respective emotions based on highly similar facial movement configurations with a degree of accuracy comparable to earlier research findings. Based on estimates of underlying appraisal criteria for the different emotions we conclude that the patterns of facial action units identified in this research correspond largely to prior predictions and encourage further research on appraisal-driven expression and inference

Effects of Perceived Treatment on Quality of Life and Medical Outcomesin a Double-blind Placebo Surgery Trial

Context This study was part of a large double-blind sham surgery–controlled trial designed to determine the effectiveness of transplantation of human embryonic dopamine neurons into the brains of persons with advanced Parkinson\u27s disease. This portion of the study investigated the quality of life (QOL) of participants during the 1 year of double-blind follow-up. Objectives To determine whether QOL improved more in the transplant group than in the sham surgery group and to investigate outcomes at 1 year based on perceived treatment (the type of surgery patients thought they received). Design Participants were randomly assigned to receive either the transplant or sham surgery. Reported results are from the 1-year double-blind period. Setting Participants were recruited from across the United States and Canada. Assessment and surgery were conducted at 2 separate university medical centers. Participants A volunteer sample of 40 persons with idiopathic Parkinson\u27s disease participated in the transplant ( parent ) study, and 30 agreed to participate in the related QOL study: 12 received the transplant and 18 received sham surgery. Interventions Interventions in the parent study were transplantation and sham brain surgery. Assessments of QOL were made at baseline and 4, 8, and 12 months after surgery. Main Outcome Measures Comparison of the actual transplant and sham surgery groups and the perceived treatment groups on QOL and medical outcomes. We also investigated change over time. Results There were 2 differences or changes over time in the transplant and sham surgery groups. Based on perceived treatment, or treatment patients thought they received, there were numerous differences and changes over time. In all cases, those who thought they received the transplant reported better scores. Blind ratings by medical staff showed similar results. Conclusions The placebo effect was very strong in this study, demonstrating the value of placebo-controlled surgical trials