Exploring autobiographical memory specificity and narrative emotional processing in alexithymia

© John Benjamins Publishing Company Alexithymia encompasses difficulties in identifying and expressing feelings along with an externally oriented cognitive style. While previous studies found that higher alexithymia scores were related to an impaired memory for emotional content, no study so far investigated how alexithymia affects autobiographical narratives. Narrating personal events, however, is impaired in emotionally disturbed patients in that they tend to recall overgeneral descriptions instead of specific episodes, which impairs their narrative emotional processing. Adopting a qualitative approach, this pilot study explored autobiographical memory specificity, cognitive, perceptual and emotional word use, and narrative closure in eight alcohol-dependent participants scoring very high or low in alexithymia. High alexithymia participants showed no reduced memory specificity but impaired emotional processing and narrative elaboration, especially when talking about negative events. Presumably because of this we found no group differences regarding narrative closure. Results are discussed in terms of cognitive and emotional processing, avoidance strategies, and narrative psychology

Oxytocin makes us trusting but not gullible

Originally known for its role in childbirth and lactation, oxytocin (OT) has recently proved to play a key role in social behavior. Deprived of OT, humans are unable to recognize and to bond to their peers. Inversely, once boosted with OT, people become more caring, trusting and generous. Effect-sizes on trust and generosity were sufficiently large that OT started to be perceived as a natural drug that would make people credulous. But could OT really impede judgment and lead individuals to trust untrustworthy peers? Here we show that oxytocin makes people trusting, but not gullible. Namely, OT did not have a trust-enhancing effect on people who interacted with seemingly unreliable peers. These results emphasize that the effect of OT is much more context-dependent than previously thought. This finding therefore invalidates some of the potential commercial or military applications of oxytocin

Belgique (épisode 1)

Voici donc la première chronique de ce laboratoire mémoriel Belgique–België. Notre volonté est de rendre compte du foisonnement actuel des recherches menées sur des questions mémorielles en lien avec la Belgique et/ou par des chercheurs qui travaillent dans des institutions scientifiques belges. Le périmètre d’investigation est donc plus large que strictement la réflexion portant sur les mémoires collectives relatives à la Belgique et à son histoire même si cela restera le premier point d’ana..

Is there a publication bias in behavioral intranasal oxytocin research on humans? Opening the file drawer of one lab

The neurohormone oxytocin (OT) has been one the most studied peptides in behavioral sciences over the past two decades. Primarily known for its crucial role in labor and lactation, a rapidly growing literature suggests that intranasal OT (IN-OT) may also play a role in humans’ emotional and social lives. However, the lack of a convincing theoretical framework explaining IN-OT's effects that would also allow to predict which moderators exert their effects and when, has raised healthy skepticism regarding the robustness of human behavioral IN-OT research. The poor knowledge of OT's exact pharmacokinetic properties, crucial statistical and methodological issues and the absence of direct replication efforts may have lead to a publication bias in IN-OT literature with many unpublished studies with null results lying in laboratories’ drawers. Is there a file drawer problem in IN-OT research? If this is the case, it may also be the case in our laboratory. This paper aims to answer that question, document the extent of the problem and discuss its implications for OT research. Through eight studies (including 13 dependent variables overall, assessed through 25 different paradigms) performed in our lab between 2009 and 2014 on 453 subjects, results were too often not those expected. Only five publications emerged from our studies and only one of these reported a null-finding. After realizing that our publication portfolio has become less and less representative of our actual findings and because the non-publication of our data might contribute to generating a publication bias in IN-OT research, we decided to get these studies out of our drawer and encourage other laboratories to do the same

Souvenirs d’une enfance douloureuse : l’expérience des enfants juifs cachés en Belgique

En Belgique, de nombreux enfants juifs ont survécu aux persécutions nazies en se cachant. Parmi ces enfants, certains ont été cachés sous une fausse identité et étaient “visibles” et forcés de mener une double vie à l’extérieur, tandis que d’autres étaient contraints à rester dans un endroit clos, à l’abri du regard de l’autre et non scolarisés. À partir de l’été 1942, les enfants juifs ont commencé à être placés dans des familles d’accueil ou dans un environnement institutionnel (couvents, o..

Transmission within family from both sides: What is transmitted, what is remembered ?

Family is a privileged context for memory to express its social function. Whereas numerous studies examined the transmission of memories of specific events (e.g., WW2), no study compared the bottom-up and top-down perceptions of general memory transmission in the family. We created an online study asking parents and grandparents to report how frequently they share memories from the past with the younger generations (top-down approach) and children and grandchildren to report how frequently older generations talk to them about their past (bottom-up approach). Frequency of transmission of memories was probed for public and personal events that took place before the young generation was born, after the young generation’s birth and recently. We collected data from 129 grandparents, 155 parents, and 96 children/grandchildren. Respondents were French-speaking respondents. Results show that when there is only one generation gap, younger people report receiving more memories than older generations report they share. In contrast, perceived frequency of transmission from grandparents to grandchildren does not differ as a function of perspective. From both top-down and bottom-up perspectives, recent and personal events are more discussed overall. When considering top-down perceived transmission, older memories from after the receiver’s birth are told more frequently than memories from before the receiver’s birth. In contrast, from the bottom-up perspective, the younger generation does not perceive any difference in transmission of older memories that happened before and after their birth. These results suggest that transmission from older generations to younger ones is perceived differently from bottom-up or top-down perspective. These differences could be due to different functions that memory carry throughout the life

An empirical investigation of the Pathways Model of problem gambling through the conjoint use of self-reports and behavioural tasks

Background and aims Blaszczynski and Nower (2002) conceptualized their Pathways Model by postulating the existence of three subtypes of problem gamblers who share common characteristics, but also present specific ones. Methods This study investigated how the psychological mechanisms postulated in the Pathways Model predict clinical status in a sample that combined treatment-seeking gamblers (n = 59) and non-problematic community gamblers (n = 107). To test the Pathways Model, we computed a hierarchic logistic regression in which variables associated with each postulated pathway were entered sequentially to predict the status of the treatment-seeking gambler. Self-report questionnaires measured gambling-related cognitions, alexithymia, emotional reactivity, emotion regulation strategies and impulsivity. Behavioural tasks measured gambling persistence (slot machine task), decision-making under uncertainty (Iowa Gambling Task) and decision-making under risk (Game of Dice Task). Results We showed that specific factors theorized as underlying mechanisms for each pathway predicted the status of clinical gambler. For each pathway, significant predictors included gambling-related cognitive distortions and behaviourally measured gambling persistence (behaviourally conditioned pathway), emotional reactivity and emotion regulation strategies (emotionally vulnerable pathway), and lack of premeditation impulsivity facet (impulsivist-antisocial pathway). Discussion and conclusions Our study adds to the body of literature confirming the validity of the Pathways Model and hold important implications in terms of assessment and treatment of problem gambling. In particular, a standardized assessment based on the Pathways Model should promote individualized treatment strategies to allow clinicians to take into account the high heterogeneity that characterizes gambling disorder

Expulsion des sans-papiers : Mayotte, territoire d’exception ?

Il n’est pas de bon ton d’être malade lorsque vous êtes sans-papiers, même dans une démocratie moderne où le système de santé s’est bâti sur le concept de solidarité entre les individus, et alors que le droit à la santé a valeur constitutionnelle. À Mayotte plus qu’ailleurs, l’accès aux soins des plus précaires est mis à mal par une pression sécuritaire et financière sans précédent dans l’histoire médicale contemporaine de la France

The Associations between Self-Consciousness, Depressive State and Craving to Drink among Alcohol Dependent Patients Undergoing Protracted Withdrawal

Context In order to understand how certain personality traits influence the relation between depression symptoms and craving for alcohol, trait self-consciousness (trait SC) was examined during a withdrawal and detoxification program. Methods: Craving (Obsessive and Compulsive Drinking Scale), depressive state (Beck Depression Inventory) and trait SC (Revised Self-Consciousness Scale) were assessed in alcohol-dependent inpatients (DSM-IV, N = 30) both at the beginning (T1: day 1 or 2) and at the end (T2: day 14 to18) of protracted withdrawal during rehabilitation. Results: A significant decrease in craving and depressive symptoms was observed from T1 to T2, while SC scores remained stable. At both times, strong positive correlations were observed between craving and depression. Moreover, regression analyses indicated that trait SC significantly moderated the impact of depression on cravings for alcohol. Limitations This study was performed on a relatively small sample size. Administration of medications during detoxification treatment can also be a confounding factor. Finally, craving could have been evaluated through other types of measurements. Conclusions: During protracted withdrawal, alcohol craving decreased with the same magnitude as depressive mood. Depressive symptoms were related to alcohol craving but only among patients with high trait SC scores. Our results suggest that metacognitive approaches targeting SC could decrease craving and, in turn, prevent future relapses