Informants' ratings of activity level in infancy predict ADHD symptoms and diagnoses in childhood

We tested the hypothesis that high activity levels in infancy would predict self-regulatory problems and later symptoms of ADHD in a longitudinal study of British families (N = 321). Infants’ activity levels were assessed at 6 months, using three informants’ reports from the Infant Behaviour Questionnaire (IBQ) and Actigraphs during baseline, attention and restraint tasks. At a mean of 33 months, the children were assessed on self-regulatory tasks and at a mean of 36 months three informants reported symptoms of ADHD. At a mean of 7.0 years, the children were assessed on executive function tasks; three informants reported on the child’s symptoms of ADHD; and diagnoses of disorder were obtained using the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment (PAPA). Informants’ reports of high activity levels at 6 months predicted ADHD symptoms in early childhood and diagnoses of ADHD with clinical impairment at age 7. The IBQ activity scale was also associated with the children’s later performance on self-regulation tasks in early and middle childhood. Activity level in infancy reflects normal variation and is not a sign of psychopathology. However, these findings suggest that further study of the correlates of high activity level in infancy may help identify those children most at risk for disorder

Hot and Cool Forms of Inhibitory Control and Externalizing Behavior in Children of Mothers who Smoked during Pregnancy: An Exploratory Study

This study examined whether children exposed to prenatal smoking show deficits in “hot” and/or “cool” executive functioning (EF). Hot EF is involved in regulation of affect and motivation, whereas cool EF is involved in handling abstract, decontextualized problems. Forty 7 to 9-year-old children (15 exposed to prenatal smoking, 25 non-exposed) performed two computerized tasks. The Sustained Attention Dots (SA-Dots) Task (as a measure of “cool” inhibitory control) requires 400 non-dominant hand and 200 dominant hand responses. Inhibitory control of the prepotent response is required for dominant hand responses. The Delay Frustration Task (DeFT) (as a measure of “hot” inhibitory control) consists of 55 simple maths exercises. On a number of trials delays are introduced before the next question appears on the screen. The extent of response-button pressing during delays indicates frustration-induced inhibitory control. Prenatally exposed children showed poorer inhibitory control in the DeFT than non-exposed children. A dose–response relationship was also observed. In addition, prenatally exposed children had significantly higher (dose-dependent) conduct problem- and hyperactivity-inattention scores. There were no significant group differences in inhibitory control scores from the SA-Dots. These results indicate that children exposed to prenatal smoking are at higher risk of hot but not cool executive function deficits

Different aspects of emotional processes in apathy: Application of the French translated dimensional apathy scale

Apathy is a behavioural symptom that occurs in neuropsychiatric, neurological and neurodegenerative disease. It is defined as a lack of motivation and/or a quantitative reduction of goal-directed behaviour. Levy and Dubois Cerebral Cortex, 16(7), 916–928 (2006) proposed a triadic substructure of apathy and similar subtypes can be assessed using the Dimensional Apathy Scale (DAS), via the Executive, Emotional and Initiation subscales. The aim of this study was to translate the DAS in to French (f-DAS), examine its psychometric properties and the substructure of apathy using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The results showed an acceptable internal consistency reliability of the f-DAS and a similar relationship to depression as in the original DAS development study. The CFA supported a triadic dimensional substructure of the f-DAS, similar to the original DAS but suggested a more complex substructure, specifically, two further processes of the Emotional apathy dimension relating to “Social Emotional” and “Individual Emotional” aspects of demotivation. To conclude, the f-DAS is a robust and reliable tool for assessing multidimensional apathy. Further research should explore the utility of the f-DAS in patients with neuropsychiatric diseases in view of social emotional aspects in apathy

Maternal serum steroid levels are unrelated to fetal sex: a study in twin pregnancies

Increased prenatal exposure to testosterone (T) in females of an opposite-sex (OS) twin pair may have an effect on the development of sex-typical cognitive and behavioral patterns. The prenatal exposure to T due to hormone transfer in OS twin females may occur in two ways, one directly via the feto–fetal transfer route within the uterus, the other indirectly through maternal–fetal transfer and based in the maternal–fetal compartment. Although some studies in singletons indeed found that women pregnant with a male fetus have higher T levels during gestation than women pregnant with a female fetus, many other studies could not find any relation between the sex of the fetus and maternal serum steroid levels. Therefore at present it is unclear whether a pregnant woman bearing a male has higher levels of T than a woman bearing a female. Up to this point, no-one has investigated this issue in twin pregnancies. We examined the relationship between maternal serum steroid levels and sex of fetus in 17 female–female, 9 male–male and 29 OS twin pregnancies. No differences were observed between the maternal serum steroid levels of women expecting single-sex and mixed-sex offspring. It is concluded that the source of prenatal T exposure in females probably comes from the fetal unit, which is the direct route of fetal hormone transfer

The ethical desirability of moral bioenhancement: A review of reasons

Background: The debate on the ethical aspects of moral bioenhancement focuses on the desirability of using biomedical as opposed to traditional means to achieve moral betterment. The aim of this paper is to systematically review the ethical reasons presented in the literature for and against moral bioenhancement. Discussion: A review was performed and resulted in the inclusion of 85 articles. We classified the arguments used in those articles in the following six clusters: (1) why we (don't) need moral bioenhancement, (2) it will (not) be possible to reach consensus on what moral bioenhancement should involve, (3) the feasibility of moral bioenhancement and the status of current scientific research, (4) means and processes of arriving at moral improvement matter ethically, (5) arguments related to the freedom, identity and autonomy of the individual, and (6) arguments related to social/group effects and dynamics. We discuss each argument separately, and assess the debate as a whole. First, there is little discussion on what distinguishes moral bioenhancement from treatment of pathological deficiencies in morality. Furthermore, remarkably little attention has been paid so far to the safety, risks and side-effects of moral enhancement, including the risk of identity changes. Finally, many authors overestimate the scientific as well as the practical feasibility of the interventions they discuss, rendering the debate too speculative. Summary: Based on our discussion of the arguments used in the debate on moral enhancement, and our assessment of this debate, we advocate a shift in focus. Instead of speculating about non-realistic hypothetical scenarios such as the genetic engineering of morality, or morally enhancing 'the whole of humanity', we call for a more focused debate on realistic options of biomedical treatment of moral pathologies and the concrete moral questions these treatments raise

The Controversy Surrounding The Man Who Would Be Queen: A Case History of the Politics of Science, Identity, and Sex in the Internet Age

In 2003, psychology professor and sex researcher J. Michael Bailey published a book entitled The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism. The book’s portrayal of male-to-female (MTF) transsexualism, based on a theory developed by sexologist Ray Blanchard, outraged some transgender activists. They believed the book to be typical of much of the biomedical literature on transsexuality—oppressive in both tone and claims, insulting to their senses of self, and damaging to their public identities. Some saw the book as especially dangerous because it claimed to be based on rigorous science, was published by an imprint of the National Academy of Sciences, and argued that MTF sex changes are motivated primarily by erotic interests and not by the problem of having the gender identity common to one sex in the body of the other. Dissatisfied with the option of merely criticizing the book, a small number of transwomen (particularly Lynn Conway, Andrea James, and Deirdre McCloskey) worked to try to ruin Bailey. Using published and unpublished sources as well as original interviews, this essay traces the history of the backlash against Bailey and his book. It also provides a thorough exegesis of the book’s treatment of transsexuality and includes a comprehensive investigation of the merit of the charges made against Bailey that he had behaved unethically, immorally, and illegally in the production of his book. The essay closes with an epilogue that explores what has happened since 2003 to the central ideas and major players in the controversy

Executive functions in preschool children with aggressive behavior: impairments in inhibitory control

The question whether executive function (EF) deficits in children are associated with conduct problems remains controversial. Although the origins of aggressive behavior are to be found in early childhood, findings from EF studies in preschool children with aggressive behavior are inconsistent. The current study aimed to investigate whether preschool children with aggressive behavior show impairments in EF. From a population-based sample, 82 preschool children who were showing aggressive behavior as indicated by scores at or above the 93rd percentile on the Aggressive Behavior Scale of the CBCL 1 1/2-5 were selected. These children with aggressive behavior were matched on IQ to a group of typically developing control children (N=99). Six neuropsychological tasks were administered to assess set shifting, inhibition, working memory and verbal fluency. A factor analysis was conducted which yielded one clear factor: inhibition. Aggressive preschool children showed poorer performance on this inhibition factor than control children and boys performed worse on this factor than girls. This association between aggressive behavior and inhibition deficits was maintained after controlling for attention problems. In addition, gender differences in all EFs measured were found with boys exhibiting more impairment in EF than girls. These findings demonstrate that preschool children with aggressive behavior show impairments in inhibition, irrespective of attention problems