Assessment measures for specific language impairment in Brazil: A systematic review

Specific Language Impairment (SLI) is defined as an unexpected failure in linguistic abilities during a child\u27s early years of development. Children with SLI do not present significant impairment in nonverbal intellectual outcomes and do not lack normal environmental exposure to language. Brazilian and worldwide researchers have sought to understand the cultural implications of SLI in the Brazilian Portuguese language. Standardized and validated measures must be used in empirical studies. The present study systematically reviewed the instruments used to assess linguistic abilities in quantitative SLI research in Brazil. Three databases were chosen: Medline, SciELO, and Google Scholar. From a total of 828 articles retrieved, only 10 met the inclusion criteria. Seven standardized assessment measures were identified. However, only two of these reported psychometric properties using adequate normative data. No normalized instrument measured the entire spectrum of linguistic abilities. We discuss the results from the perspective of SLI theories and evidence in Brazil and worldwide

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Psychobiological Aspects of Panic Disorder

Anxiety is a useful warning sign that helps an individual face potential or real danger. At appropriate levels, it serves as a warning for the presence of internal or external threats, causing a person to be alert and prepare to deal appropriately with such situations. Moreover, moderate levels of anxiety can lead to improved performance in several activities. However, anxiety becomes pathological when its duration is excessively long or its intensity is extremely high and leads to significant suffering and distress. In such cases, anxiety is appropriately described as part of a pathological response, characterizing an anxiety disorder. The historical concept of a unitary anxiety disorder has been replaced by a heterogeneous group of psychopathologies with different etiologies. Panic disorder is a complex anxiety disorder that involves both recurrent, unexpected panic attacks, and persistent concern about having additional attacks. The present chapter reviews current psychobiological perspectives in the etiology and treatment of panic disorder. The first section describes the current classification of this anxiety disorder. We then explore possible neural circuitry associated with panic disorder. Finally, the chapter addresses current treatment approaches, considering the efficacy of different forms of psychotherapy and pharmacological treatments

Modulatory effect of diphenyl diselenide in Carioca High- and Low-conditioned Freezing rats

AbstractDiphenyl diselenide ([PhSe]2)is an organoselenium compound that has interesting pharmacological properties, including antioxidant, glutathione peroxidase-mimetic, and neuroprotective effects. The objective of the present study was to investigate the possible modulatory effect of (PhSe)2 in 17th-generation Carioca high-and low-conditioned freezing (CHF and CLF) rats, an animal model of generalized anxiety disorders. (PhSe)2 was administered at three doses (10, 50, and 100mg/kg) in CHF and CLF rats, and their anxiety-like profiles (conditioned freezing patterns) were measured before and 30min after treatment. A significant difference was found in freezing scores between CHF and CLF animals before treatment (t70=12.50, p<0.001). Treatment with (PhSe)2 at 10 and 50mg/kg decreased freezing in CHF rats but significantly increased freezing at 100mg/kg. (PhSe)2 increased freezing in CLF animals at 50 and 100mg/kg (p<0.01). These results indicate that (PhSe)2 exerts both anxiolytic- and anxiogenic-like effects in bi-directional rat lines. Distinct genetic profiles of the CHF and CLF lines may influence biochemical functions and lead to differential responses to aversive situations and various drugs like (PhSe)2

Aspectos psicométricos de instrumentos neuropsicológicos: revisão conceitual, proposta de interpretação de percentis e classificações

A avaliação neuropsicológica é um procedimento fundamental especialmente a pacientes que possam apresentar suspeita de transtornos neurológicos, psicológicos ou psiquiátricos. Uma de suas finalidades é mapear aspectos do perfil psicológico e comportamental do examinando e, com isso, auxiliar o diagnóstico em saúde mental. Frequentemente, esse processo integra os resultados obtidos por instrumentos de medida e aspectos dinâmicos relacionados à interpretação clínica. No entanto é possível identificar algumas dificuldades relacionadas a esse processo, tais como 1) limitações na compreensão de aspectos psicométricos e estatísticos por parte dos profissionais, 2) a utilização de instrumentos, em contextos clínicos que originalmente foram desenvolvidos para avaliação de trânsito e seleção organizacional e 3) um baixo consenso da relação entre percentil e classificação, o que pode gerar inconsistências entre resultados e avaliações. Posto isso, o presente trabalho é um estudo teórico que revisita conceitos fundamentais em Estatística e Psicometria associados à Neuropsicologia, discute condições em que testes voltados para trânsito e organizações são utilizados em Neuropsicologia e apresenta uma proposta de classificação

WORKING MEMORY IN ALZHEIMER DISEASE: A 5-YEAR SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF EMPIRICAL EVIDENCES FROM BADDELEY’S WORKING MEMORY MODEL

The Alzheimer’s disease is the most common of theneurogenerative conditions associated with dementia. Itis known as a pathological frame that comes with severalimpairments in cognitive and psychological processes.This study aimed to understand the relationship betweenAlzheimer’s disease and Working Memory impairments.We adopted Baddeley’s Working Memory Model tosystematically review if impairments in the subcomponentsof this theoretical model – phonological loop, visualsketchpad, episodic buffer and central executive – followdistinct or similar paths. The systematic review consultedMedline, Psycinfo and Scielo databases. From 329 articles,only 11 were accepted by the established criteria. Resultssuggested that episodic buffer and central executive,respectively, decline with AD severity. Phonological loopand visual sketchpad are the last of the Baddeley’s WorkingMemory Model subcomponents impaired

Distinct Contributions of Median Raphe Nucleus to Contextual Fear Conditioning and Fear-Potentiated Startle

Ascending 5-HT projections from the median raphe nucleus (MRN), probably to the hippocampus, are implicated in the acquisition of contextual fear (background stimuli), as assessed by freezing behavior. Foreground cues like light, used as a conditioned stimulus (CS) in classical fear conditioning, also cause freezing through thalamic transmission to the amygdala. As the MRN projects to the hippocampus and amygdala, the role of this raphe nucleus in fear conditioning to explicit cues remains to be explained. Here we analyzed the behavior of rats with MRN electrolytic lesions in a contextual conditioning situation and in a fear-potentiated startle procedure. The animals received MRN electrolytic lesions either before or on the day after two consecutive training sessions in which they were submitted to 10 conditioning trials, each in an experimental chamber (same context) where they. received foot-shocks (0.6 mA, 1 sec) paired to a 4-sec light CS. Seven to ten days later, the animals were submitted to testing sessions for assessing conditioned fear when they were placed for five shocks, and the duration of contextual freezing was recorded. The animals were then submitted to a fear-potentiated startle in response to a 4-sec light-CS, followed by white noise (100 dB, 50 ms). Control rats (sham) tested in the same context showed more freezing than did rats with pre- or post-training MRN lesions. Startle was clearly potentiated in the presence of light CS in the sham-lesioned animals. Whereas pretraining lesions reduced both freezing and fear-potentiated startle, the post-training lesions reduced only freezing to context, without changing the fear-potentiated startle. In a second experiment, neurotoxic lesions of the MRN with local injections of N-methyl-D-aspartate or the activation of 5-HT1A somatodendritic auto-receptors of the MRN by microinjections of the 5-HT1A receptor agonist 8-hydroxy- 2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin (8-OH-DPAT) before the training sessions also reduced the amount of freezing and the fear-potentiated startle. Freezing is a prominent response of contextual fear conditioning, but does not seem to be crucial for the enhancement of the startle reflex by explicit aversive cues. As fear-potentiated startle may be produced in posttraining lesioned rats that are unable to freeze to fear contextual stimuli, dissociable systems seem to be recruited in each condition. Thus, contextual fear and fear-potentiated startle are conveyed by distinct 5-HT-mediated circuits of the MRN