1,721,213 research outputs found
Alcolisti Anonimi e Al-Anon: quale legame?
No full textDopo aver esposto storia e funzionamento degli Alcolisti Anonimi, descriveremo i principali meccanismi di cambiamento del comportamento agenti nel gruppo. Si mo-strerà come gli Alcolisti Anonimi siano efficaci nel ridurre la tendenza al consumo di sostanza attraverso l’attivazione di reti sociali adattive. Si passerà a descrivere come fa-miglie supportate da gruppi di auto aiuto specifici (Al-Anon) possano essere preparate a gestire meglio la relazione con il loro caro aiutandolo nel recupero. Si rifletterà, infine, sulla sinergia possibile tra gli Alcolisti Anonimi e gli Al-Anon, mostrando l’interdipen-denza dei soggetti coinvolti e la potenzialità della partecipazione attiva al proprio disa-gio
The Factors Involved in the Exit from Sex Trafficking: A Review
Full text linkSexual trafficking and exploitation are a worldwide phenomenon affecting a huge number of women. Many studies have examined the process of sex trafficking entering, but less have analyzed the exit process. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of factors that intervene on the sex trafficking exit, starting from the most common theoretical models in literature. We used the Sociological Abstract and Scopus database to identify articles; further relevant studies have been identified with the snowballing method. We focused on empirical studies, the exit factors, and studies based on victims’ point of view. There was no limitation for sample’s nationality, gender of trafficked people or age of victims, or timing. We included 13 empirical studies (9 qualitative, 3 quantitative, and 1 mixed method). The review revealed several factors that intervene in the exit process at the individual, relational, and structural level. For each level, facilitating, hindering, and controversial factors have been identified. Results show the complexity of the process of exiting sex trafficking; 4 ambivalent factors were identified, 7 hindering, and 21 facilitators. The review operationally suggests which factors are to be strengthened (like the social capital) to facilitate the emancipation of women from trafficking, which ones should be limited (as the stigma of women who have come out of prostitution) for the social inclusion of people, and which ones should be studied in more detail (for example, the role of families) because they are sometimes facilitators and barriers to the exit of sexual exploitation. The limitations of this study include that it only includes English studies, there is little coherence in defining sex trafficking among the scientific community, and secondary information (type of exploitation, destination of trafficking) is not present in the selected articles that complicate the exhaustive interpretation of the results
rTMS stimulation on left DLPFC increases the correct recognition of memories for emotional target and distractor words
No full textAccording to a recent hypothesis, the prefrontal cortex has been proposed as the site of emotional memory integration, because it is sensitive to the recognition of emotional contents. In the present research, we explored the role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in memory recognition processes for positive versus negative emotional stimuli when old (target) and new (distractor, either semantically related or unrelated to the target) stimuli were presented. The role of the DLPFC was analysed using an rTMS (repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation) paradigm that induced increased cortical activation of the left DLPFC. The subjects were required to perform a task that consisted of two experimental phases (i.e., an encoding and a recognition phase) in which the targets and the distractors were presented and recognition performance was measured. rTMS stimulation was provided over the left DLPFC during the recognition phase. We found that the rTMS stimulation affected the memory recognition of positive emotional material. Moreover, related and unrelated distractors were discarded better when they were positively valenced, and a more significant effect (i.e., increased performance) was produced in response to related distractors. This result suggests that the activation of the left DLPFC favours the memory recognition of positive emotional information, and that such activation is able to induce a more appropriate selective process to distinguish target from distractor stimuli in the presence of more complex processes (related distractors). The valence model of emotional cue processing may explain this increased performance by demonstrating the distinct role of the left hemisphere in the retrieval of positive emotional information
DLPFC in emotional memory retrieval. rTMS effect on familiarity and salience
No full textIntroduction
There is a general agreement about the role of the DorsoLateral Profrontal Cortex (DLPFC) in memory processes. However, the debate on how and when the DLPFC may be specifically involved is still open: some studies suggested its involvement in the encoding phase while others reported it in the retrieval phase (Turrizzani et al., 2010). Moreover, recent fMRI studies found that the retrieval of emotional material activates DLPFC. In addition, DLPFC seems to be crucial in familiarity effect. The aim of the present study is to investigate the role of DLPFC during the retrieval phase by using verbal material with emotional traumatic (more salient) and emotional non traumatic content (less salient) in subjects with different levels of familiarity to the stimuli.
Methods
Twenty five participants were asked to performance a retrieval task composed by verbal material with and without traumatic emotional content. Ripetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) was provided during the retrieval phase over the left DLPFC.
Results
We found an interaction effect between the stimulation site and the traumatic content of the retrieved material as function of the familiarity effect.
Conclusions
Our study provided evidences in favour to the hypothesis that DLPFC is involved in the retrieval phase, and that this frontal network may be involved in the processing of salient material
DLPFC, meta-cognitive control and emotional expression. What role of the frontal network for emotion and cogniton in memory mechanisms?
No full textA recent hypothesis proposed that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) may be identified as the site of emotion-memory integration, since it was shown to be particularly sensitive to the encoding and retrieval of emotional contents and it was observed to have a meta-cognitive control on emotional behavior (Balconi & Ferrari, in press). Thus, PFC could be crucial in mechanisms underlying the regulation of emotion, such as inhibition. It was found PFC governs the executive control of information processing, including the ability to inhibit irrelevant stimuli and impulses, and evaluate and select the appropriate response. Specifically a top-down meta-control of PFC on the amygdala allows for a cognitive modulation of emotional processes by frontal brain structures. However, some evidence suggests that multiple regions of the PFC have the capacity to perform multiple types of executive control functions (i.e. evaluate, maintain, inhibit, or select). In particular, evidence indicates that PFC extending to the ventrolateral PFC, could facilitate successful goal-oriented behavior by inhibiting the influence of emotional information in the context of physical sensation, selective attention, and emotion regulation. In the present research we explored the role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in memory retrieval process of positive vs. negative emotional stimuli when old (target) and new (distractor, semantically related and unrelated to the target) stimuli were presented. This effect was analyzed by using a rTMS (repeated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) paradigm that induced an increased cortical activation of the left DLPFC. Subjects were required to perform a task consisting in two experimental phases: an encoding-phase, where some lists composed by positive and negative emotional words were presented to the subjects; a retrieval-phase, where the old stimuli and the new stimuli were presented for a recognition performance. The rTMS stimulation was provided during the retrieval-phase over the left DLPFC. We found that the rTMS stimulation over this area affects the memory retrieval of positive emotional material, with higher memory efficiency (shorter Response Times, RTs). Moreover, related and unrelated distractors were better discarded when they were positively valenced, and the more significant effect was produced in response to related distractors with an increased effectiveness (better accuracy) and efficiency (reduced RTs). This result suggested that left DLPFC activation favours the memory retrieval of positive emotional information and secondly that it is able to induce a more appropriate selective process to distinguish target from distractor stimuli. The valence model of emotional cue processing may explain the increased performance, by pointing out the distinct role the left hemisphere has in positive emotional information recall
rTMS stimulation on left DLPFC affects emotional cue retrieval as a function of anxiety level and gender
No full textBackground: Anxiety behaviour showed a consistent attentional bias toward negative and aversive memories, induced by a right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) hyperactivation. In the present research, we explored the possible effect of rTMS (repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation) on the left DLPFC in memory retrieval of positive versus negative emotional words, to induce a balanced response between the two hemispheres. Moreover, the gender effect in emotional memory processing was verified as a function of the stimulus valence.
Methods: Thirty subjects, who were divided in two different groups depending on their anxiety level (high/low anxiety, State-Trait-Anxiety Inventory (STAI)), were required to perform a task consisting of two experimental phases: an encoding phase (lists composed by positive and negative emotional words); and a retrieval phase (old stimuli and new stimuli to be recognized).
Results: We found that the rTMS stimulation over left DLPFC affects the memory retrieval. Specifically, high-anxiety subjects benefitted in greater measure to the frontal left stimulation with a reduced negative bias (increased accuracy and reduced response time (RT) for the positive stimuli). Whereas females showed a significant bias toward the negative memories, they did not benefit in greater measure to the TMS stimulation on the left hemisphere.
Conclusion: These results suggested that left DLPFC activation favors the memory retrieval of positive emotional information and may limit the “unbalance effect” induced by a right frontal hemispheric superiority in high levels of anxiety
LE DONNE USCITE DAL SEX TRAFFICKING: DALLA MARGINILITA' DEVIANTE ALL'IMPEGNO IN ASSOCIAZIONE
No full textL’uscita della tratta a scopo di sfruttamento sessuale è un tema poco esplorato nella letteratura internazionale e nazionale. A tal proposito occorre sottolineare come negli ultimi anni stia crescendo l’interesse verso coloro che, allontanatisi dalla rete criminale, scelgono di diventare parte attiva dei movimenti anti-tratta per contrastare lo stesso fenomeno attraverso il loro impegno in organizzazioni. Nonostante l’attenzione verso questo tipo di traiettoria sembri star maturando, scarsa è la letteratura scientifica che cerca di problematizzarla e analizzarla.
Proprio per questo si è scelto di focalizzare la nostra attenzione su questo particolare (s)oggetto di ricerca. Nello specifico, le domande che hanno guidato il percorso di ricerca sono state le seguenti:
1. Quali sono gli snodi nella carriera di vita che portano le donne uscite dallo sfruttamento sessuale a impegnarsi nelle organizzazioni che operano per contrastare il sex trafficking?
2. Secondo quale processo riflessivo tali donne arrivano a occupare un ruolo sociale attivo nel contrastare la tratta sessuale?
Gli obiettivi dello studio sono stati duplici: in primo luogo analizzare le contingenze di carriera che hanno portato le donne, in precedenza vittime di tratta a impegnarsi in enti anti-tratta e, in seconda battuta, esplorare eventuali cambiamenti nell’organizzazione dei propri ultimate concern definiti dalla pratica riflessiva (Archer, 2007). Per la realizzazione della ricerca sono state condotte, trascritte e analizzate (attraverso l’ausilio del Software NVivo 12) 10 intervite semi-strutturate con operatori impiegati negli enti anti-tratta presenti sul territorio nazionale; 25 racconti di vita con persone uscite dalla tratta sessuale, attualmente impegnate a contrastare il fenomeno negli stessi enti anti trafficking.The exit of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation is a little explored topic in international and national literature. In this regard, it should be emphasized that in recent years there has been growing interest in those who, having moved away from the criminal network, choose to become an active part of anti-trafficking movements to combat the same phenomenon through their commitment to organizations. Although attention to this type of trajectory seems to be maturing, there is little scientific literature that tries to problematize and analyze it. Precisely for this reason we have chosen to focus our attention on this particular research’s objects. Specifically, the questions that guided the research path were the following
1. What are the milestones in the life career that lead women who have come out of sexual exploitation to engage in organizations that work to combat sex trafficking?
2. 2. According to what reflective process do such women come to occupy an active social role in countering sexual trafficking?
The objectives of the study were twofold: firstly, to analyze career contingencies that led previously trafficked women to engage in anti-trafficking bodies and, secondly, to explore possible changes in the organization of their ultimate concerns. defined by reflective practice (Archer, 2007). 10 semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed and analyzed (with the help of the NVivo 12 software) with operators employed in anti-trafficking bodies present on the national territory; 25 stories of life with people who have come out of sexual trafficking, currently engaged in combating the phenomenon in the same anti-trafficking bodies
The improvement of positive emotional memories for target and distractor words through the rTMS stimulation of left DLPFC
No full textThe prefrontal cortex is supposed to be crucial in emotion-memory integration: it was shown to be particularly sensitive to the encoding and retrieval of emotional contents. Furthermore, the valence model of emotional cue processing may explain the distinct role of the left and right hemisphere involvement in positive/negative valenced emotional information recall. The present research explores the role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in memory retrieval process of positive vs. negative emotional stimuli when old (target) and new (distractor, semantically related and unrelated to the target) stimuli were presented. A rTMS (repeated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) paradigm inducing an increased cortical activation of the left DLPFC was used. Subjects were required to perform a task consisting in an encoding-phase, where some lists composed by positive and negative emotional words were presented to the subjects; and a retrieval-phase, where a recognition performance on the old stimuli and the new stimuli were required during the rTMS stimulation over the left DLPFC. We found that the rTMS stimulation over this area affects the memory retrieval efficiency (shorter Response Times) of positive emotional material. Moreover, related and unrelated distractors were better discarded when they were positively valenced, specifically related distractors were recognized with an increased effectiveness (better accuracy) and efficiency (reduced RTs). This result suggested that left DLPFC activation favour the memory retrieval of positive emotional information and that it is able to induce a more appropriate selective process to distinguish target from distractor stimuli
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