Use of Metaphors in Psychoeducation for Depression and Its Relationship With Autistic Traits *

The impact of metaphors employed in psychoeducation for depression on people with a tendency for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) was investigated. Japanese undergraduate students (N = 146, 41 males and 105 females, mean age = 19.45 ± 2.05) were randomly assigned to a metaphor, or a control group. They rated their perceived impressions of a psychoeducation experience using a questionnaire and also completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient instrument (AQ). Exploratory factor analysis of questionnaire responses identified three factors: Subscale 1: "Depth of understanding" (8 items), Subscale 2: "Positive feelings toward the contents" (6 items) and Subscale 3: "New perspective" (2 items). In order to examine how AQ level and metaphor presence affected impressions of psychoeducation, we conducted two-factor ANOVA with AQ (High/Low) and metaphor (With/Without) as independent variables. Results of multiple comparisons conducted on subscale scores indicated that the simple main effect of metaphor presencefor "Positive feelings toward the contents" remained significant in the high-AQ group. This suggests that when metaphors are used in psychoeducation for people with high autistic tendencies, they are more likely to have positive impressions about depression including the feeling of familiarity with depression, and feeling hopeful about psychoeducation. It was concluded that metaphors in psychoeducation might help people with autistic tendencies to build a positive perception of the depression at the state of treatment

White Matter Features Associated With Autistic Traits in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is among the most debilitating psychiatric disorders. Comorbid autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autistic traits may impair treatment response in OCD. To identify possible neurostructural deficits underlying autistic traits, we performed white matter tractography on diffusion tensor images (DTI) and assessed autistic trait severity using the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) in 33 OCD patients. Correlations between AQ and the DTI parameters, fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD) were examined in major white matter tracts that were suggested to be altered in previous OCD studies. We found a negative correlation between AQ and FA and positive correlations between AQ and MD, AD and RD in the left uncinate fasciculus using age, Beck Depression Inventory, Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, intelligence quotient and medication as covariates. However, we could not detect the significant results between AQ and all DTI parameters when adding gender as a covariate. In addition, in the ASD comorbid group, FA in the left uncinate fasciculus was significantly lower than in the non-ASD comorbid group and MD and RD were significantly higher than in the non-ASD group. These results did not survive correction for multiple comparisons. In ASD, the socio-emotional dysfunction is suggested to be related to the alteration of white matter microstructure in uncinate fasciculus. Our results suggest that variations in white matter features of the left uncinate fasciculus might be partly explained by autistic traits encountered in OCD patients

Transient contribution of left posterior parietal cortex to cognitive restructuring.

Cognitive restructuring is a fundamental method within cognitive behavioural therapy of changing dysfunctional beliefs into flexible beliefs and learning to react appropriately to the reality of an anxiety-causing situation. To clarify the neural mechanisms of cognitive restructuring, we designed a unique task that replicated psychotherapy during a brain scan. The brain activities of healthy male participants were analysed using functional magnetic resonance imaging. During the brain scan, participants underwent Socratic questioning aimed at cognitive restructuring regarding the necessity of handwashing after using the restroom. The behavioural result indicated that the Socratic questioning effectively decreased the participants\u27 degree of belief (DOB) that they must wash their hands. Alterations in the DOB showed a positive correlation with activity in the left posterior parietal cortex (PPC) while the subject thought about and rated own belief. The involvement of the left PPC not only in planning and decision-making but also in conceptualization may play a pivotal role in cognitive restructuring