Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

Effects Of Chlorpromazine On Feeding And Wheel Running On Rats With Acute Wheel Access, Graham Gregory Parfeniuk

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is characterized by a self-imposed starvation and is often accompanied by excessive exercise that results in severe malnutrition and sometimes death. Behavioural and pharmacological treatments of AN need to be improved. In rats, acute 3 h daytime wheel access suppresses ad lib feeding over the subsequent night relative to no wheel controls, a phenomenon that has been suggested as an animal model of AN. This acute wheel induced feeding suppression (WIFS), can be induced reliably when rats are given limited wheel access exposure during the light cycle (Lattanzio & Eikelboom, 2003). The acute WIFS is useful because …

Mental Disorders And The "System Of Judgmental Responsibility", Anita L. Allen

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Functionality, Parsimony, Discovery, Avoiding Hamartia: How Evolutionary Perspectives Are Changing Psychology, Brooke N. Jenkins, Aaron T. Goetz

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Evolutionary psychology offers an important perspective to scientific psychology. Evolutionary psychology, in its short existence, has added an abundance of knowledge to the social sciences, let alone psychology. The study of human cognition and behavior remains incomplete without an evolutionary perspective. Here, we argue that evolutionary psychology uniquely provides a complete understanding of scientific psychology because it explains the functions of our psychological traits, provides us with the most parsimonious explanation of many psychological phenomena, predicts undocumented phenomena, and possibly allows us to avoid the downfalls of some of our contemptible evolved psychological mechanisms.

Large Scale Neural Dynamics Of Rhythmic Sensorimotor Coordination And Stability, Joseph W. (Joseph William) Borrell

WWU Graduate School Collection

Coordination Dynamics posits that the stability of coordinated patterns of movement may be a key variable for organizing neural activity underlying coordinated action. In support, recent findings suggest that premotor areas play an important role in maintaining pattern stability. The present EEG study investigates how changes in neural activation (assessed via event-related power) are affected both by rate and stability of coordination. Nineteen participants coordinated finger taps with an auditory metronome in either a synchronized or syncopated pattern presented at five different rates (1.00, 1.25, 1.50, 1.75, and 2.00 Hz). Premotor areas demonstrated increases in event-related synchronization (neural deactivation) within …

The Impact Of Stress On Older Adult Caregivers' Everyday Memory, Jessica H. Anderson

WWU Graduate School Collection

The goal of the present study was to explore the relationship of stress with everyday memory and basic cognitive abilities in informal older adult caregivers. Caregivers completed a pseudo-medication regimen, measured using an electronic pill cap. The cap monitored the number of openings and the timing of the openings for 14 days. In addition, caregivers completed a daily stress assessment. Hierarchical linear models found no effect of stress, but speed of processing and working memory were related to the correct timing of openings. A cross-level interaction of speed of processing with stress on the timing of openings was found. Individuals …

The Eroticization Of Lesbianism By Heterosexual Men, Kristin Puhl

WWU Graduate School Collection

The stereotyping of lesbians includes both a traditional masculine, "butch" lesbian and a feminine, sexualized lesbian. The perception of lesbianism as erotic extends throughout mainstream society, with images of lesbianism targeted to heterosexual men in advertising, film, and pornography. If men do not perceive lesbians as either inherently bisexual or hypersexual, why are lesbians eroticized by heterosexual men? Here, subliminal priming with homosexual or heterosexual male or females primes was designed to elicit chronically accessible eroticization of lesbianism. Findings revealed that, contrary to expectations, priming with heterosexual-female prime sets did not increase reported erotic value of lesbianism relative to other …

Thought In The Absence Of Attention, Kurt Braunlich

WWU Graduate School Collection

Although many researchers have been unsuccessful in doing so, I was able to partially replicate Dijksterhuis' (2004) "unconscious thought" effect. I found that participants who were distracted with the performance of an irrelevant task made better decisions than participants who engaged in conscious thought or participants who made immediatedecisions. Task directions and population differences in the evaluation of option attributes likely represent confounding variables that can disrupt the unconscious thought effect. While Dijksterhuis has argued that his findings necessitate the existence of an unconscious thought process capable of operating in the absence of attention, I suspect that there is a …

Reading Sheet Music Activates The Mirror Neuron System Of Musicians: An Eeg Investigation., Lawrence Paul Behmer

WWU Graduate School Collection

Recent brain imaging studies have demonstrated that the mirror system, in addition to becoming active while viewing the actions of others, also responds to abstract visual and auditory stimuli associated with specific actions. Growing evidence suggests that such mappings are learned leading to the hypothesis that the motor system may respond to any stimuli strongly associated to a specific motor response. Reading sheet music is an excellent example in which musicians rapidly and automatically translate arbitrary visual symbols into music by a well practiced series of actions. Here we test the hypothesis that when musicians read sheet music an associated …

Borderline Personality Disorder And Suicidal Attempts: How To Calm An Uprising Dilemma, Ashley Anne Welter

Graduate Research Papers

Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) are more likely than patients with any other personality disorder to commit suicide. Many programs have been found successful in helping these patients control their thoughts. Using the Behavioral Activation Treatment for Depression (BATD) with a cathartic journal process in addition to the treatment, instead of hospitalization, it is hypothesized that BPD patients will reduce thoughts and attempts of suicide. This is a five year program that will be implemented to see how patients progress through the treatment. There will be a pretest-posttest control group design used in this research. With adding a journaling …

The Impact Of A Mental Health-Related Diagnosis On Readmission Rates For Heart Failure, Ronald S. Freudenberger Md, Carol A. Foltz Phd, Lou A. Lukas Md, Donna F. Petruccelli Crnp, Hannah D. Paxton Rn, Mph, Victoria Sabella Bsn

Department of Medicine

No abstract provided.

Flight Attendant/Pilot Communication, In A Post 9/11 Environment: Viewed From Both Sides Of The Fortress Door"., Lori Brown

Lori J. Brown

Reports and a recent global survey (Brown, et al., 2010) reported that out of 271 pilots and flight attendants, 13% indicated a discrete wireless communication device would not enhance safety, 18% indicate a slight effect, 33% indicated a device may somewhat enhance safety, and 21% indicated the device would greatly enhance safety. ...

Weight Gain In Psychiatric Treatment: Risks, Implications, And Strategies For Prevention And Management, Amresh Srivastava, Megan Johnston

Amresh Srivastava

Weight gain in psychiatric populations is a common clinical challenge. Many patients suffering from mental disorders, when exposed to psychotropic medications, gain significant weight with or without other side effects. In addition to reducing the patients’ willingness to comply with treatment, this weight gain may create added psychological or physiological problems that need to be addressed. Thus, it is critical that clinicians take precautions to monitor and control weight gain and to take into account and treat all problems facing an individual. In this review, we examine some of the key issues surrounding weight gain in individuals suffering from mental …

Persistent Suicide Risk In Clinically Improved Schizophrenia Patients: Challenge Of The Suicidal Dimension, Amresh Shrivastava, Megan Johnston, Nilesh Shah, Marco Innamorati, Larry Stitt, Meghana Thakar, David Lester, Maurizio Pompili

Amresh Srivastava

BACKGROUND: Suicide is a major problem in schizophrenia, estimated to affect 9%-13% of patients. About 25% of schizophrenic patients make at least one suicide attempt in their lifetime. Current outcome measures do not address this problem, even though it affects quality of life and patient safety. The aim of this study was to assess suicidality in long-term clinically improved schizophrenia patients who were treated in a nongovernmental psychiatric treatment centre in Mumbai, India.

METHOD: Participants were 61 patients out of 200 consecutive hospitalized first-episode patients with schizophrenia diagnosed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders who were …

Effects Of Duration Of Untreated Psychosis On Long-Term Outcome Of ‘People Hospitalized With First Episode Schizophrenia”, Amresh Srivastava, Larry Stitt, Meghana Thakar, Gurusamy Chinnasamy, Nilesh Shah

Amresh Srivastava

AIM: Duration of untreated psychosis (DUP), which has emerged as a reliable predictor of outcome continues to remain under scientific scrutiny . The present study examines effect of differential periods of DUP on long-term outcome of first episode schizophrenia at Mumbai, India. Method: This is a prospective, ten year follow up naturalistic study. Hospitalized patients of first episode schizophrenia were selected and followed up Results: The mean DUP was higher for group, which showed clinical recovery on Clinical Global Impression Scale [14.0 months (SD=8.0) in recovered and 10.8 months (SD=5.7) in non-recovered group (p=0.091)]. DUP was not found to be …

Testing Self-Efficacy As A Pathway That Supports Self Care Among Family Caregivers In A Psychoeducational Intervention, Marie Savundranayagam, M. Brintnall-Peterson

Marie Y Savundranayagam

This study investigated the extent to which a psychoeducational intervention supports family-centered care by influencing health risk and self-care behaviors of caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease (N = 325). Moreover, this study investigated the extent to which changes in self-efficacy explained changes in health risk and self-care behaviors. Data were analyzed using repeated measures and multivariate analysis of variance and multiple regression. Qualitative written accounts of the impact of the intervention augmented the quantitative findings. The study's findings revealed that family caregivers experienced reductions in health risk behaviors and improvements in exercise, stress management, and relaxation activities as a …

Improved Schizophrenia Patient’S Ability To Work And Live Independently In The Community: A Ten-Year Long-Term Outcome Study From Mumbai, India, Amresh Srivastava, Larry Stitt, Meghana Thakar, Nilesh Shah, Gurusamy Chinnasamy

Amresh Srivastava

Background: The outcome of schizophrenia has several determinants. Socio-ecological factors, particularly living conditions, migration, community and culture, not only affect the level of risk but also the outcome. Mega cities around the world show a unique socio-ecological condition which has several challenges for mental health. The present study reports the long-term status of patients with schizophrenia in such a mega city - Mumbai, India. Aim: This study aims to reveal long-term outcome of patients suffering from schizophrenia with special reference to clinical symptoms and social functioning. Methods: The cohort for this study was drawn from a 10-year follow-up of first …

Desired Outcomes Of An Undergraduate Education In Psychology From Departmental, Student, And Societal Perspectives, R. Landrum, Bernard Beins, Mukul Bhalla, Karen Brakke, Deborah Briihl, Rita Curl-Langager, Thomas Pusateri, Jaye Van Kirk

R. Eric Landrum

What are the desired outcomes of an undergraduate education in psychology? It is vital to identify the desired outcomes that benefit departments, students, and society, because the pursuit of these goals helps psychology educators achieve the best possible learning experience for their students. We purposely take a different approach to what might be expected of an outcomes chapter in a review of undergraduate psychology education. We address methods that departments and educational institutions use to assess the outcomes of psychology education from the standpoint of departmental performance and student achievement. We identify goals of the undergraduate experience held by psychology …

Early Intervention In Psychotic Disorders: Challenges And Relevance In The Indian Context, Matcheri Keshavan, Amresh Shrivastava, Bangalore Gangadhar

Amresh Srivastava

Over the last two decades, there has been an increasing interest in the concept of early intervention (EI) in psychotic disorders, notably schizophrenia. Several lines of research underlie this emerging paradigm shift: (a) an increasingly well-established association between the duration of prolonged untreated illness and poor outcome; (b) evidence of progressive neurobiological changes in the early course of schizophrenia both in the pre-psychotic and psychotic phases, as evidenced by brain imaging studies in schizophrenia; and (c) emerging data, albeit preliminary, suggesting the efficacy and effectiveness of EI programs in improving the outcome in these patients. Mental health service systems across …

Weight-Gain In Psychiatric Treatment: Risks, Implications, And Strategies For Prevention And Management, Amresh Srivastava, Megan Johnston

Amresh Srivastava

Weight-gain in psychiatric populations is a common clinical challenge. Many patients suffering from mental disorders, when exposed to psychotropic medications, gain significant weight with or without other side-effects. In addition to reducing the patients' willingness to comply with treatment, this weight-gain may create added psychological or physiological problems that need to be addressed. Thus, it is critical that clinicians take precautions to monitor and control weight-gain and take into account and treat all problems facing an individual. In this review, we examine some of the key issues surrounding weight-gain in individuals suffering from mental disorders for contemporary practitioners in community …

Lessons Learned From Research In Prodromal Phase Of Schizophrenia, Amresh Shrivastava, Megan Johnston

Amresh Srivastava

In the last ten years, a significant amount of research data has accumulated to identify and predict the vulnerability of individuals to develop psychosis. At a time when DSM-V academia is becoming active with field trials, researchers in prodromal psychosis research are arguing for inclusion of 'risk syndrome for psychosis,' which has generated an interesting debate. Studies indicate that approximately 80-85% of cases experience subsyndromal symptoms for a period lasting from several months to several years prior to the onset of the illness, including impaired perception, thought processes, subjective cognitive functions and mood. Also, much of the functional decline associated …