1,721,056 research outputs found
The Evolution of Symbolic Thought: At the Intersection of Schizophrenia Psychopathology, Ethnoarchaeology, and Neuroscience
No full text: The human capacity for symbolic representation arises, evolutionarily and developmentally, from the exploitation of a widespread sensorimotor network, along a fundamental continuity between embodied and symbolic modes of experience. In this regard, the fine balancing between constrained sensorimotor connections (responsible for self-embodiment processing) and more untethered neural associations (responsible for abstract and symbolic processing) is context dependent and plastically neuromodulated, thus intersubjectively constructed within a specific socio-cultural milieu. Instead, in the schizophrenia spectrum this system falls off catastrophically, due to an unbalance toward too unconstrained sensorimotor connectivity, leading to a profound distortion of self/world relation with a symbolic activity detached from its embodied ground. For this very reason, however, schizophrenia psychopathology may contribute to unveil, in a distorted or magnified way, ubiquitous structural features of human symbolic activity, beneath the various, historically determined cultural systems. In this respect, a comparative approach, linking psychopathology and ethnoarchaeology, allows highlight the following invariant formal characteristics of symbolic processing: (1) Emergence of salient perceptive fragments, which stand out from the perceptual field. (2) Spreading of a multiplicity of new significances with suspension of common-sense meaning. (3) Dynamic and passive character through which meaning proliferation is experienced. This study emphasizes the importance of fine-grained psychopathology to elucidate, within a cross-disciplinary framework, the evolutionarily and developmental pathways that shape the basic structures of human symbolization
La "mente rituale": una prospettiva interdisciplinare
No full textIl rituale in etologia implica un processo evoluzionistico per il quale un pattern di comportamento viene modificato nella sua funzione originaria e cooptato per altri scopi e in altri contesti. Comportamenti rituali, ripetitivi e fortemente invarianti, sono presenti sia in ambito individuale che collettivo, apparendo come fenomeno ubiquitario nel mondo animale, inclusi l’uomo e ogni sua espressione culturale. Inoltre le caratteristiche formali del rituale risultano altamente conservate nella filogenesi (mantenendo una struttura circolare entro precisi parametri spazio-temporali, con ripetizione di atti non funzionali e perdita di automaticità dell’azione). E’ possibile pertanto ipotizzare una continuità, sottesa da circuiti cortico-striatali altamente conservati, tra comportamento rituale animale e rituali umani, individuali e culturali, con le compulsioni psicopatologiche come elemento di intersezione.
Riguardo al significato adattativo del rituale, studi di etologia comparata evidenziano come condizioni di non-predicibilità dell’ambiente sociale o non-sociale favoriscano la ritualizzazione del comportamento, che pertanto rivelerebbe una specifica funzione “omeostatica”. Nicchie eco-culturali umane posso inoltre aver rappresentato un terreno favorevole per l’innesco di un rapporto circolare tra rituale e sviluppo delle capacità simboliche esitato in una ulteriore spinta alla ritualizzazione culturale.
La mente umana è un fenomeno emergente per le sue caratteristiche estese, incarnate e culturali, sottese dai condizionamenti biologici della nostra storia evolutiva. Lo studio del rituale risente tuttavia di limitati tentativi di contaminazione interdisciplinare. Pertanto, lo scopo primario del presente contributo è quello di indagare i rapporti di continuità-discontinuità tra rituale biologico e culturale secondo una prospettiva evoluzionistica ed un approccio interdisciplinare.
Il primo capitolo illustra un modello animale di Disturbo Ossessivo-Compulsivo (DOC). In particolare, è stata condotta una analisi etologica del test “marble burying”, al fine di indagare la struttura formale di un comportamento simil-compulsivo nei roditori. I risultati confermano il modello etologico di compulsione come rilascio inappropriato di “moduli fissi d’azione”, conservando la specifica struttura del comportamento rituale.
Il secondo capitolo riguarda lo studio dei rituali compulsivi nel DOC. Il primo obiettivo era quello di valutare le possibili variabili psicopatologiche associate alla perdita di insight. Quindi, è stata condotta una analisi etologica su registrazioni filmate di atti compulsivi confrontati con corrispondenti atti fisiologici di controlli sani al fine di indagare la struttura formale delle compulsioni e se questa sia modificata da variabili psicopatologiche e/o esperienze traumatiche infantili. I nostri risultati indicano che: 1) il principale fattore nel predire la perdita di insight è la gravità del DOC; le compulsioni conservano la specifica struttura del comportamento rituale, indipendentemente da altre variabili psicopatologiche del DOC; 3) una vulnerabilità schizotassica e traumi infantili sono associati ad una più complessa struttura del rituale compulsivo. Questi risultati confermerebbero l’ipotesi di una funzione omeostatica del comportamento rituale, diretta ad una sottostante processualità biologica o evolutiva.
Il terzo capitolo riguarda i rituali culturali. Sono state confrontate registrazioni di pratiche rituali di differenti culture con corrispondenti comportamenti compulsivi di pazienti affetti da DOC. I comportamenti rituali culturali e psicopatologici non differivano per le caratteristiche formali, avvalorando pertanto l’ipotesi di una continuità evoluzionistica tra rituali biologici e culturali.From an ethological and evolutionary perspective, ritualization is a selective process by which an original pattern of behavior is functionally modified and co-opted (exapted) for a different use than the original one and in a different context. Ritualized, repetitive and rigid forms of actions are evident both in social or non-social environmental contexts, representing an ubiquitous phenomenon in animal life, including human individuals and cultures. Moreover, formal features of rituals appear to be highly conserved along phylogeny (with a circular and spatio-temporal structure, built on the repetition of non-functional acts and loss of automaticity). A continuity, based on highly conserved cortico-striatal loops, can be traced from animal rituals to human individual and collective rituals with psychopathological compulsions at the crossing point. As far as its adaptive significance, ethological comparative studies show that the tendency to ritualization is driven by the unpredictability of social or non-social environmental stimuli. In this perspective, rituals may have a "homeostatic" function on the environment under conditions of unpredictability. Finally, within human eco-cultural niches, a circular loop may have occurred among ritual practices and symbolic activity, which emphasized the drive to ritualization, to face the “emergent” problem of ordering a novel cultural-mediated world.
Actually, human mind represents a unique and emergent phenomenon due to its extended, embodied and cultural mediated character, underpinned by the biological constraints of its long evolutionary history. What is presently missing is a systematic attempt to bridge the gap between the different fields in the study of rituals in order to depict a broader cross-disciplinary framework of human behaviour. Therefore, the present contribution was aimed to investigate a possible continuity between biological and cultural rituals from an evolutionary perspective and through the lens of an integrated approach.
The first chapter presents an animal model of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). We conducted an ethological analysis of the “marble burying” test in rodents to investigate the formal structure of animal compulsive-like behaviour. Our findings confirm the ethological model of compulsions as inappropriate release of fixed-action patterns, conserving the formal structure of ritual behavior.
The second chapter focuses on psychopathological compulsions in OCD. The first objective was to investigate the psychopathological variables associated to the loss of insight in OCD compulsions. Then, we conducted an ethological analysis on videotape recordings of OCD compulsions compared to physiological acts of healthy individuals, to investigate the formal structure of compulsions and to assess whether it might vary according to psychopathological variables and/or childhood trauma experiences. Our results indicate that: 1) the main factor of poor insight in compulsions is OCD severity; 2) psychopathological compulsions conserve the specific, invariant formal structure of ritual behaviour; regardless to OCD psychopathology; 3) underlying schizotaxic vulnerability and childhood trauma are associated to a more complex structure of compulsions. Altogether, these results would confirm the “homeostatic” function of rituals, directed to an underlying biological or higher-order level disorganizing process.
The third chapter concerns cultural rituals. In this study, we compared the videotapes of different cultural practices to analogous OCD compulsions. No differences were found in formal structure between cultural and psychopathological rituals, thus corroborating the hypothesis of an evolutionary continuity between biological and cultural rituals
The biological origins of rituals: An interdisciplinary perspective
Full text linkRitual behavior is ubiquitous, marking animal motor patterns, normal and psychopathological behavior in human individuals as well as every human culture. Moreover, formal features of rituals appear to be highly conserved along phylogeny and characterized by a circular and spatio-temporal structure typical of habitual behavior with internal repetition of non-functional acts and redirection of attention to the "script" of the performance. A continuity, based on highly conserved cortico-striatal loops, can be traced from animal rituals to human individual and collective rituals with psychopathological compulsions at the crossing point. The transition from "routinization" to "ritualization" may have been promoted to deal with environmental unpredictability in non-social contexts and, through motor synchronization, to enhance intra-group cohesion and communication in social contexts. Ultimately, ritual, following its biological constraints exerts a "homeostatic" function on the environment (social and non-social) under conditions of unpredictability
An Investigation of the Experience of Control Through the Sense of Agency in People with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Review and Meta-Analysis
No full textThe TAS-20 more likely measures negative affects rather than alexithymia itself in patients with major depression, panic disorder, eating disorders and substance use disorders
No full textBackground This study evaluates whether the difference in Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 item (TAS-20) between patients with major depression (MD), panic disorder (PD), eating disorders (ED), and substance use disorders (SUD) and healthy controls persisted after controlling for the severity of anxiety and depression. Methods Thirty-eight patients with MD, 58 with PD, 52 with ED, and 30 with SUD and 78 healthy controls (C) completed the TAS-20, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (Ham-A), the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (Ham-D). Results The differences in TAS-20 scores observed between patient groups, regardless of the type of their disorders, and controls disappeared after controlling for the effect of anxiety and depression severity. In contrast, the differences in severity of anxiety and depression between patients and controls were still present, after excluding the effect of alexithymic levels. Conclusions Our data suggest that alexithymic levels, as measured by the TAS-20, are modulated by the severity of symptoms, supporting the view that alexithymia can represent a state phenomenon in patients with MD, PD, ED and SUD, because the TAS-20 seems overly sensitive to a general distress syndrome, and it is more likely to measure negative affects rather than alexithymia itself. © 2014 Elsevier Inc
Obsessive-compulsive disorder followed by psychotic episode in long-term ecstasy misuse
No full textAim. We report the case of two young subjects who developed an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) during a heavy use of ecstasy. After several months of discontinuation of the drug, major depression with psychotic features developed in one subject and a psychotic disorder in the other individual. No mental disorder preceded the use of ecstasy in any subject. Findings. A familial and personality vulnerability for mental disorder was revealed in one subject, but not in the other, and all physical, laboratory and cerebral NMR evaluations showed normal results in both patients. Remission of OCD and depressive episode or psychotic disorder was achieved after treatment with a serotoninergic medication associated with an antipsychotic. Conclusions. The heavy long-term use of ecstasy may induce an alteration in the brain balance between serotonin and dopamine, which might constitute a pathophysiological mechanism underlying the onset of obsessive-compulsive, depressive and psychotic symptoms. The heavy use of ecstasy probably interacted with a vulnerability to psychiatric disorder in one subject, whereas we cannot exclude that an "ecstasy disorder" ex novo affected the other individual. © 2009 Informa UK Ltd All rights reserved
Obsessive compulsive/compulsive disorder in companion animals: An ethological approach
No full textAbnormal repetitive behaviors are complex and varied, likely originating from both environmental and genetic factors. Diagnostic criteria emphasize behaviors that are in excess of that required to accomplish what would be any functional goal of the class of behavior, for example, non-functional acts and behaviors that interfere with the patient's ability to engage in normal social behavior or to avoid pain or risk. There is a lack of consensus on when and how a repetitive behavior can be considered a pathological condition, that is, obsessive-compulsive/compulsive disorder (CD/OCD). This diagnosis is now frequently used in veterinary medicine to characterize ritualistic and repetitive behaviors that are excessive compared to what is necessary for proper function and without interference with daily functioning. The present study was aimed at revealing specific ethological patterns involved in CD/OCD in order to help clinicians early recognize signs of CD/OCD and thus target therapeutic interventions. We found that compulsive disorders present a specific motor structure compared to their corresponding ordinary actions. According to our results, not only repetition (repeated actions) and frequency (the rate at which actions occur over a particular period of time) but also redundancy (superfluous actions that are non-functional for the achievement of a goal) of behaviors should be considered as key feature in CD/OCD in companion animals
Mood-congruent and mood-incongruent psychotic symptoms in major depression: The role of severity and personality
No full textBackground: Whether psychotic symptoms in major depression (MD) are better explained by a severity model or by a vulnerability model, with personality as a predisposing factor, is still debated. The aim of the present study was to evaluate in MD the relationship between the content of psychotic features (mood congruent (MC) or mood incongruent (MI)) and severity of depression or personality traits. Methods: 62 inpatients affected by MD with psychotic features were divided into three groups on the basis of the content of psychotic symptoms: MC, MI, mixed MC-MI. All subjects completed the SCID-IV, the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. Personality was assessed after MD remission. Results: MI psychotic symptoms were positively associated with schizotypal traits, whereas MC symptoms were positively related to obsessive-compulsive traits and severity of depression. Patients with both MC and MI psychotic symptoms were characterized by a personality profile and depression severity standing in a middle position between the MC and MI groups. Limitations: The main limitations of the study are represented by the small sample size, the time of assessment of personality and the inclusion of only unipolar depression. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that both depression severity and personality profile, independently from each other, model the content of psychotic symptoms, confirming the validity of subgrouping psychotic depression into two distinct MC and MI types and supporting the inclusion of a third mixed MC-MI type because of its intermediate position in personality profile and severity between the MC or MI group. © 2012 Elsevier B.V
Is placebo useful in the treatment of major depression in clinical practice?
Full text linkBackground: For many years, placebo has been defined by its inert content and use in clinical trials. In recent years, several studies have demonstrated its effect in the treatment of major depression. The aim of this paper is to present the conclusions of recent meta-analyses of the placebo effect in major depression, to explain the mechanism by which placebo exerts its effect, and to discuss whether placebo can be used in the treatment of patients with major depression in clinical practice. Recent meta-analyses have demonstrated that the placebo effect is estimated to account for 67% of the treatment effect in patients receiving antidepressants, and furthermore that placebo is as effective as antidepressants in patients with mild to moderate major depression (reporting a Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score lower than 25), whereas placebo is less effective than antidepressants in severely depressed patients. However, several limitations make the translation of these conclusions into clinical practice impracticable. Clinicians should learn from the "placebo lesson" to maximize the nonspecific effects of treatment when they prescribe an antidepressant, particularly in less severely depressed patients, who show a higher placebo response in randomized controlled trials. This strategy can increase the antidepressant effect and may reduce nonadherence with treatment. © 2013 Marchesi et al, publisher and licensee Dove Medical Press Ltd
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