Inter-Identity Autobiographical Amnesia in Patients with Dissociative Identity Disorder

Background: A major symptom of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID; formerly Multiple Personality Disorder) is dissociative amnesia, the inability to recall important personal information. Only two case studies have directly addressed autobiographical memory in DID. Both provided evidence suggestive of dissociative amnesia. The aim of the current study was to objectively assess transfer of autobiographical information between identities in a larger sample of DID patients. Methods: Using a concealed information task, we assessed recognition of autobiographical details in an amnesic identity. Eleven DID patients, 27 normal controls, and 23 controls simulating DID participated. Controls and simulators were matched to patients on age, education level, and type of autobiographical memory tested. Findings: Although patients subjectively reported amnesia for the autobiographical details included in the task, the results indicated transfer of information between identities. Conclusion: The results call for a revision of the DID definition. The amnesia criterion should be modified to emphasize its subjective nature.Psycholog

Assessing the application of latent class and latent profile analysis for evaluating the construct validity of complex posttraumatic stress disorder:cautions and limitations

Background: The diagnosis of complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) has been suggested for inclusion in the 11th version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), with support for its construct validity coming from studies employing Latent Class Analysis (LCA) and Latent Profile Analysis (LPA).Objective: The current study aimed to critically evaluate the application of the techniques LCA and LPA as applied in previous studies to substantiate the construct validity of CPTSD.Method: Both LCA and LPA were applied systematically in one sample (n = 245), replicating the setup of previous studies as closely as possible. The interpretation of classes was augmented with the use of graphical visualization.Results: The LCA and LPA analyses indicated divergent results in the same dataset. LCA and LPA partially supported the existence of classes of patients endorsing different PTSD and CPTSD symptom patterns. However, further inspection of the results with scatterplots did not support a clear distinction between PTSD and CPTSD, but rather suggested that there is much greater variability in clinical presentations amongst adult PTSD patients than can be fully accounted for by either PTSD or CPTSD.Discussion: We argue that LCA and LPA may not be sufficient methods to decide on the construct validity of CPTSD, as different subgroups of patients are identified, depending on the statistical exact method used and the interpretation of the fit of different models. Additional methods, including graphical inspection should be employed in future studies. Antecedentes: El diagnostico de Trastorno por Estres Postraumatico Complejo (TEPTC) ha sido sugerido para su inclusion en la 11 version de la Clasificacion Internacional de Enfermedades (CIE-11), con el respaldo de su validez de constructo proveniente de estudios que emplean Analisis de Clases Latentes (LCA) y Analisis de Perfil Latente (APL).Objetivo: El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo evaluar criticamente la aplicacion de las tecnicas LCA y APL, utilizadas en estudios anteriores, para corroborar la validez de constructo del TEPTC.Metodo: Se aplicaron sistematicamente, tanto la tecnica LCA como la tecnica APL, en una muestra (n = 245), que busco replicar lo mas fielmente posible las configuraciones empleadas en estudios previos. La interpretacion de las clases se potencio con el uso de visualizacion grafica.Resultados: Los analisis LCA y APL indicaron resultados divergentes en el mismo conjunto de datos. LCA y APL apoyaron parcialmente la existencia de clases de pacientes que validan diferentes patrones de sintomas para el TEPT y el TEPTC. Sin embargo, una mayor inspeccion de los resultados con diagramas de dispersion no respaldo una distincion clara entre el TEPT y el TEPTC, sino que sugirieron que existe una variabilidad mucho mayor en las presentaciones clinicas entre los pacientes adultos con TEPT de lo que pueda explicarse ya sea por el TEPT o el TEPTC.Discusion: Proponemos que los analisis LCA y APL pueden ser metodos insuficientes para decidir sobre la validez de constructo del TEPTC, ya que se identifican diferentes subgrupos de pacientes, que depende del metodo estadistico utilizado y la interpretacion del ajuste de diferentes modelos. En futuros estudios deben emplearse metodos adicionales que incluyan la inspeccion grafica. ??: ?????????? (CPTSD) ??????????11?> (ICD-11) , ?????????? (LCA) ??????? (LPA) ?????????????: ????????LCA?LPA???????CPTSD?????????????: ???245????????LCA?LPA, ????????????????????????????????: LCA?LPA???????????????? LCA?LPA???????PTSD?CPTSD????????????, ???????????????PTSD?CPTSD????????, ??????PTSD???????????????PTSD?CPTSD?????????????: ????, LCA?LPA??????CPTSD?????, ????????????????????????, ???????????????????????, ??????

Лечение послеинсультной депрессии

Выявлены метаболические нарушения в серотониновой системе, которые могут быть общим патогенетическим звеном развития послеинсультной депрессии и других депрессивных расстройств различного генеза. Показана эффективность применения селективных ингибиторов захвата серотонина для лечения послеинсультной депрессии и возможность ее контроля с помощью определения уровня серотонина в крови.The metabolic disorders in the serotonin system, which can be a common pathogenetic link of post−stroke depression and other depressive disorders of various origin, were revealed. The efficacy of selective inhibitors of serotonin uptake in treatment of post−stroke depression as well as possibility to control it with determining blood serotonin level were shown

Collaboration enhances later individual memory for emotional material

Research on collaborative remembering suggests that collaboration hampers group memory (i.e., collaborative inhibition), yet enhances later individual memory. Studies examining collaborative effects on memory for emotional stimuli are scarce, especially concerning later individual memory. In the present study, female undergraduates watched an emotional movie and recalled it either collaboratively (n=60) or individually (n=60), followed by an individual free recall test and a recognition test. We replicated the standard collaborative inhibition effect. Further, in line with the literature, the collaborative condition displayed better post-collaborative individual memory. More importantly, in post-collaborative free recall, the centrality of the information to the movie plot did not play an important role. Recognition rendered slightly different results. Although collaboration rendered more correct recognition for more central details, it did not enhance recognition of background details. Secondly, the collaborative and individual conditions did not differ with respect to overlap of unique correct items in free recall. Yet, during recognition former collaborators more unanimously endorsed correct answers, as well as errors. Finally, extraversion, neuroticism, social anxiety, and depressive symptoms did not moderate the influence of collaboration on memory. Implications for the fields of forensic and clinical psychology are discussed

The role of dissociation-related beliefs about memory in trauma-focused treatment

OBJECTIVE: Dysfunctional cognitions play a central role in the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However the role of specific dissociation-related beliefs about memory has not been previously investigated. This study aimed to investigate the role of dissociation-related beliefs about memory in trauma-focused treatment. It was hypothesized that patients with the dissociative subtype of PTSD would show higher levels of dissociation-related beliefs, dissociation-related beliefs about memory would decrease after trauma-focused treatment, and higher pre-treatment dissociation-related beliefs would be associated with fewer changes in PTSD symptoms.METHOD: Post-traumatic symptoms, dissociative symptoms, and dissociation-related beliefs about memory were assessed in a sample of patients diagnosed with PTSD ( n = 111) or the dissociative subtype of PTSD ( n  = 61). They underwent intensive trauma-focused treatment consisting of four or eight consecutive treatment days. On each treatment day, patients received 90 min of individual prolonged exposure (PE) in the morning and 90 min of individual eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy in the afternoon. The relationship between dissociation-related beliefs about memory and the effects of trauma-focused treatment was investigated. RESULTS: Dissociation-related beliefs about memory were significantly associated with PTSD and its dissociative symptoms. In addition, consistent with our hypothesis, patients with the dissociative subtype of PTSD scored significantly higher on dissociation-related beliefs about memory pre-treatment than those without the dissociative subtype. Additionally, the severity of these beliefs decreased significantly after trauma-related treatment. Contrary to our hypothesis, elevated dissociation-related beliefs did not negatively influence treatment outcome.CONCLUSION: The results of the current study suggest that dissociation-related beliefs do not influence the outcome of trauma-focused treatment, and that trauma-focused treatment does not need to be altered specifically for patients experiencing more dissociation-related beliefs about memory because these beliefs decrease in association with treatment.</p

Manipulating the reported age in earliest memories

Previous work suggests that the estimated age in adults' earliest autobiographical memories depends on age information implied by the experimental context [e.g., Kingo, O. S., Bohn, A., & Krojgaard, P. (2013). Warm-up questions on early childhood memories affect the reported age of earliest memories in late adolescence. Memory, 21(2), 280-284. doi:] and that the age in decontextualised snippets of memory is younger than in more complete accounts (i.e., event memories [Bruce, D., Wilcox-O'Hearn, L. A., Robinson, J. A., Phillips-Grant, K., Francis, L., & Smith, M. C. (2005). Fragment memories mark the end of childhood amnesia. Memory & Cognition, 33(4), 567-576. doi:]). We examined the malleability of the estimated age in undergraduates' earliest memories and its relation with memory quality. In Study 1 (n = 141), vignettes referring to events happening at age 2 rendered earlier reported ages than examples referring to age 6. Exploratory analyses suggested that event memories were more sensitive to the age manipulation than memories representing a single, isolated scene (i.e., snapshots). In Study 2 (n = 162), asking self-relevant and public-event knowledge questions about participants' preschool years prior to retrieval yielded comparable average estimated ages. Both types of semantic knowledge questions rendered earlier memories than a no-age control task. Overall, the reported age in snapshots was younger than in event memories. However, age-differences between memory types across conditions were not statistically significant. Together, the results add to the growing literature indicating that the average age in earliest memories is not as fixed as previously thought