Touching in Psychotherapy: A Case Study

There is a wide range of opinion among psychotherapists as to the appropriateness of physical contact between therapist and client. Some suggest that touching facilitates the development of the therapeutic relationship; others, however, argue that potentially harmful effects far outweigh possible benefits. In the present case study, touching was manipulated using an ABA reversal design during each of four initial meetings of a male therapist and female client. Dependent measures included therapist and client immediacy and speech production, and client self-disclosure. Time series data for each dependent measure were examined to determine whether client and/or therapist behavior changed in response to touch. Additional correlational analyses were performed to provide information on patterns of concomitant variation, over time, among the various immediacy, speech, and disclosure measures. Therapist-initiated touch increased client speech production in two of the sessions, but also produced compensatory reductions in client immediacy (e.g. reduced gaze, backward lean), especially in early sessions. The results suggest that the effects of touch on the client-therapist relationship can be quite complex and may change as the therapeutic relationship develops. The results also highlight the importance of examining therapist as well as client response to physical contact

A comprehensive transcriptional map of primate brain development.

The transcriptional underpinnings of brain development remain poorly understood, particularly in humans and closely related non-human primates. We describe a high-resolution transcriptional atlas of rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) brain development that combines dense temporal sampling of prenatal and postnatal periods with fine anatomical division of cortical and subcortical regions associated with human neuropsychiatric disease. Gene expression changes more rapidly before birth, both in progenitor cells and maturing neurons. Cortical layers and areas acquire adult-like molecular profiles surprisingly late in postnatal development. Disparate cell populations exhibit distinct developmental timing of gene expression, but also unexpected synchrony of processes underlying neural circuit construction including cell projection and adhesion. Candidate risk genes for neurodevelopmental disorders including primary microcephaly, autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, and schizophrenia show disease-specific spatiotemporal enrichment within developing neocortex. Human developmental expression trajectories are more similar to monkey than rodent, although approximately 9% of genes show human-specific regulation with evidence for prolonged maturation or neoteny compared to monkey

A comprehensive transcriptional map of primate brain development

The transcriptional underpinnings of brain development remain poorly understood, particularly in humans and closely related non-human primates. We describe a high resolution transcriptional atlas of rhesus monkey brain development that combines dense temporal sampling of prenatal and postnatal periods with fine anatomical parcellation of cortical and subcortical regions associated with human neuropsychiatric disease. Gene expression changes more rapidly before birth, both in progenitor cells and maturing neurons, and cortical layers and areas acquire adult-like molecular profiles surprisingly late postnatally. Disparate cell populations exhibit distinct developmental timing but also unexpected synchrony of processes underlying neural circuit construction including cell projection and adhesion. Candidate risk genes for neurodevelopmental disorders including primary microcephaly, autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, and schizophrenia show disease-specific spatiotemporal enrichment within developing neocortex. Human developmental expression trajectories are more similar to monkey than rodent, and approximately 9% of genes show human-specific regulation with evidence for prolonged maturation or neoteny