Inner speech and clarity of self-concept in thought disorder and auditory-verbal hallucinations

Eighty patients and thirty controls were interviewed using one interview that promoted personal disclosure and another about everyday topics. Speech was scored using the Thought, Language and Communication scale (TLC). All participants completed the Self-Concept Clarity Scale (SCCS) and the Varieties of Inner Speech Questionnaire (VISQ). Patients scored lower than comparisons on the SCCS. Low scores were associated the disorganized dimension of TD. Patients also scored significantly higher on condensed and other people in inner speech, but not on dialogical or evaluative inner speech. The poverty of speech dimension of TD was associated with less dialogical inner speech, other people in inner speech, and less evaluative inner speech. Hallucinations were significantly associated with more other people in inner speech and evaluative inner speech. Clarity of self-concept and qualities of inner speech are differentially associated with dimensions of TD. The findings also support inner speech models of hallucinations

The role of social isolation and social cognition in thought disorder

A better understanding of how social factors relate to the psychological processes in thought disorder (TD) is necessary for the development of effective psychological interventions. Sixty-eight participants diagnosed with psychosis (18–65; 47.1% female) were recruited and evaluated on social cognition (Hinting Task, HT; and reading the mind in the eyes test, RMET), social isolation (size of social network, frequency and quality of contact), psychotic symptoms (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, PANSS) and TD (Thought, Language and Communication Disorders Scale, TLC). A mediation model was tested with isolation as the predictor, TD as the outcome, and performance on HT and RMET as the mediators. The final model, with adjustment for comorbid symptoms (i.e. delusions, suspiciousness, hallucinations, and negative symptoms), supported full mediation and explained a significant amount of the observed variance (60%). Performance on the HT was a significant mediator of the relationship between social isolation and TD. From the covariates, delusions contributed independently and significantly to TD. The implications of the findings for psychological practice, and TD-specific interventions, are discussed as well as the limitations of the study. Further avenues for symptom-specific research are discussed, in particular with reference to more complex psychosocial models. © 201

Effect of an inhomogeneous external magnetic field on a quantum dot quantum computer

We calculate the effect of an inhomogeneous magnetic field, which is invariably present in an experimental environment, on the exchange energy of a double quantum dot artificial molecule, projected to be used as a 2-qubit quantum gate in the proposed quantum dot quantum computer. We use two different theoretical methods to calculate the Hilbert space structure in the presence of the inhomogeneous field: the Heitler-London method which is carried out analytically and the molecular orbital method which is done computationally. Within these approximations we show that the exchange energy J changes slowly when the coupled dots are subject to a magnetic field with a wide range of inhomogeneity, suggesting swap operations can be performed in such an environment as long as quantum error correction is applied to account for the Zeeman term. We also point out the quantum interference nature of this slow variation in exchange.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures embedded in tex

BMP-SMAD Signaling Regulates Lineage Priming, but Is Dispensable for Self-Renewal in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

Naive mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) are in a metastable state and fluctuate between inner cell mass- and epiblast-like phenotypes. Here, we show transient activation of the BMP-SMAD signaling pathway in mESCs containing a BMP-SMAD responsive reporter transgene. Activation of the BMP-SMAD reporter transgene in naive mESCs correlated with lower levels of genomic DNA methylation, high expression of 5-methylcytosine hydroxylases Tet1/2 and low levels of DNA methyltransferases Dnmt3a/b. Moreover, naive mESCs, in which the BMP-SMAD reporter transgene was activated, showed higher resistance to differentiation. Using double Smad1;Smad5 knockout mESCs, we showed that BMP-SMAD signaling is dispensable for self-renewal in both naive and ground state. These mutant mESCs were still pluripotent, but they exhibited higher levels of DNA methylation than their wild-type counterparts and had a higher propensity to differentiate. We showed that BMP-SMAD signaling modulates lineage priming in mESCs, by transiently regulating the enzymatic machinery responsible for DNA methylation