Explore the vast range of titles available.

Mu desynchronization is the attenuation of EEG power in the alpha frequency range recorded over central scalp locations thought to reflect motor cortex activation. Mu desynchronization during observation of an action is believed to reflect mirroring system activation in humans. However, this notion has recently been questioned because, among other reasons, the potential contamination of mu rhythm and occipital alpha activity induced by attention processes following presentation of visual stimuli in observation conditions. This study examined the validity of mu desynchronization as a measure of mirroring system activation in infants and further investigated the pattern of functional connectivity between the central and occipital regions during execution and observation of movement. EEG was recorded while 46 9-month-old infants executed grasping actions and observed an experimenter grasping. Current source density (CSD) was applied to EEG data and, time-frequency and connectivity analyses were performed in CSD transformed data. Mu desynchronization was evident over central regions during both execution and observation of movements. Independent alpha desynchronization over occipital region was also present in both conditions. The connectivity analyses revealed that central-occipital areas were functionally more connected compared to other areas of the brain during observation of movements. Collectively, the results demonstrate the validity of mu desynchronization as an index of infant mirroring system activity and support the proposal of a functional connection between distinct mirroring and attention processes during observation of action. •Observation of a movement evoked mirroring activity in infants.•Mirroring activity began before observed movement suggesting anticipation the movement.•Motor and occipital areas were functionally coupled during movement observation.•Mu desynchronization can be used as a valid index of mirroring activity in infant.

While depression is typically associated with reduced levels of empathy, this association differs depending on how empathy is measured. Given the importance of empathy in the parent-child relationship, we sought to examine whether the associations between depression and dispositional empathy would also extend to empathy towards one's own child. Within a non-clinical sample of 150 parents of young children, we examined the associations between self-reported depressive symptoms, dispositional empathic tendencies, and empathy specifically toward their own children, and how these associations might differ based on parent gender. Depressive symptoms were related to lower levels of cognitive and affective empathy, and higher levels of empathic distress. Over and above the association with dispositional empathy, depressive symptoms were associated with reduced levels of parents' affective empathy toward their own child. The associations between depressive symptoms and both dispositional and own-child specific empathy varied by parent gender. For fathers, depressive symptoms predicted own-child specific affective empathy, over and above dispositional affective empathy, while for mothers, depressive symptoms predicted own-child specific empathic distress, over and above dispositional empathic distress. The current findings provide further indication that caregivers with elevated depression may engage in patterns of thoughts and behaviors that have implications for their interactions with their children. Parents' experienced empathy toward their own child may be one mechanism by which depression impacts the early caregiving environment, and thus may be an important target for intervention in improving the early caregiving experiences for children at elevated risk due to parental depression. Differences in cognitive and affective empathy found among those with depression may be even more pronounced in the thoughts and feelings towards one's own child, making this an important clinical target.

Infants’ action perception is connected to and affected by their own action experience. While the association between production and perception of action is robustly found in behavioral studies, less is known about the underlying neural mechanisms that are involved in this link. Recent findings suggest that infants exhibit heightened motor-visual connectivity when observing familiar actions, which scales with their level of action competence. However, it is still an open question whether experience and acquisition of a new action modulate motor visual connectivity. The period between 10-to-12 months is a transitional stage where infants become proficient in grasping while just beginning to develop the ability to point. In the current study, we asked whether 10-to-12 months infants exhibit motor-visual connectivity during observation of grasping and pointing actions, and whether motor-visual connectivity during pointing varies with exposure to an intervention that supports the development of pointing. We re-analyzed data including EEG recordings from 10-to-12-month-old infants during an action perception task, along with measures of their prior experience pointing and participation in a pointing intervention. We replicated previous findings of heightened motor-visual connectivity during the observation of others’ grasping actions, but did not observe differences during the observation of pointing actions. Notably, we found preliminary evidence of an increase in frontal-motor-visual connectivity across the infant brain during the observation of pointing after a pointing intervention. Together, these findings suggest that different stages of action competence may be associated with distinct changes in the neural mechanisms underlying action perception, which are modulated by experience.

The relationships infants and young children have with their caregivers are fundamental to their survival and well-being. Theorists and researchers across disciplines have attempted to describe and assess the variation in these relationships, leading to a general acceptance that caregiving is critical to understanding child functioning, including developmental psychopathology. At the same time, we lack consensus on how to assess these fundamental relationships. In the present paper, we first review research documenting the importance of the caregiver–child relationship in understanding environmental risk for psychopathology. Second, we propose that the National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative provides a useful framework for extending the study of children's risk for psychopathology by assessing their caregivers’ social processes . Third, we describe the units of analysis for caregiver social processes, documenting how the specific subconstructs in the domain of social processes are relevant to the goal of enhancing knowledge of developmental psychopathology. Lastly, we highlight how past research can inform new directions in the study of caregiving and the parent–child relationship through this innovative extension of the RDoC initiative.

Fathers’ child-directed speech across two contexts was examined. Father–child dyads from sixty-nine low-income families were videotaped interacting during book reading and toy play when children were 2;0. Fathers used more diverse vocabulary and asked more questions during book reading while their mean length of utterance was longer during toy play. Variation in these specific characteristics of fathers’ speech that differed across contexts was also positively associated with child vocabulary skill measured on the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory. Results are discussed in terms of how different contexts elicit specific qualities of child-directed speech that may promote language use and development.

The authors ask if participating in an early-childhood theater production improves pretend play and cooperation among preschoolers. They examined play sessions immediately before and after productions of interactive early-childhood performances at Imagination Stage, Inc. and measured children's engagement, cooperation, pretense, and misbehavior. They found that participating in the performances enhanced the cooperation and pretense of preschoolers. The authors discuss their results in relation to the role of the arts and of play in early creativity and social-competence development. Key words: cooperation; creativity; early-childhood development and the arts; make-believe; pretense; social competence

Action understanding is a proposed foundation for communicative development, such that infants can apply a similar process of interpreting the goal-structure of actions to the understanding of others’ gestures as well as spoken language. The mirror neuron system, as indexed by activation of the motor system during both performance and observation of actions, has been implicated as a neural correlate for action understanding, and may be recruited for understanding both gestures and speech. One’s experience with actions influences action understanding measured both behaviorally and neurally. This dissertation examines whether experience with gestures is related to recruitment of the mirror neuron system during observation of gestures in infancy, and whether individual differences in this activity might be related to or support communicative development. Mirror neuron system activity was measured in 10- to 12-month-old infants while they observed an experimenter producing gestures. Their experience with gestures was manipulated through a parent-directed intervention aimed at increasing parents’ use of pointing gestures with their child. Infant-parent dyads visited the lab twice. At the first visit, parent and infant pointing gesture production, infant vocabulary, and infant mirror neuron system activity were measured. Next, parents were randomly assigned to either receive the gesture intervention, or to a passive control group. One month after training, parent pointing, infant pointing and vocabulary, and infant mirror neuron system activity were reassessed. Infant vocabulary was measured a final time one month after the post-training follow-up. The findings suggest that the mirror neuron system plays a role in infants’ communicative development, and that experience with gestures can impact the mirror neuron system response when observing others’ gesture. Infants in the training group showed stronger mirror neuron system activity at follow-up compared to those in the control group. Increases in parents’ pointing production predicted increases in infants’ mirror neuron system activity, which in turn was related to increases in infants’ receptive vocabulary over the same time period. The implications of these findings are discussed.

This study investigated the effect of engaging and responsive reading styles on vocabulary learning in children with varied levels of self-regulation skills. I hypothesized first that, overall, children would demonstrate the greatest learning gains in the most engaging reading conditions, and second that 4- and 5-year olds (N=60) with weak self-regulation skills would be more sensitive to the benefits of more engaging reading styles, as compared to their peers with stronger self-regulation skills. Results supported the second, but not the first hypothesis. Regression analyses predicting scores on a comprehension test and a definition test confirmed a significant interaction and a marginally significant interaction, respectively, between children's self-regulation skill level and reading condition. The effect of the more engaging reading conditions was greatest for children with weaker self-regulation skills.

Background Numerous predictive factors for cutaneous melanoma metastases to sentinel lymph nodes have been identified; however, few have been found to be reproducibly significant. This study investigated the significance of factors for predicting regional nodal disease in cutaneous melanoma using a large multicenter database. Methods Seventeen institutions submitted retrospective and prospective data on 3463 patients undergoing sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy for primary melanoma. Multiple demographic and tumor factors were analyzed for correlation with a positive SLN. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were performed. Results Of 3445 analyzable patients, 561 (16.3%) had a positive SLN biopsy. In multivariate analysis of 1526 patients with complete records for 10 variables, increasing Breslow thickness, lymphovascular invasion, ulceration, younger age, the absence of regression, and tumor location on the trunk were statistically significant predictors of a positive SLN. Conclusions These results confirm the predictive significance of the well-established variables of Breslow thickness, ulceration, age, and location, as well as consistently reported but less well-established variables such as lymphovascular invasion. In addition, the presence of regression was associated with a lower likelihood of a positive SLN. Consideration of multiple tumor parameters should influence the decision for SLN biopsy and the estimation of nodal metastatic disease risk.

The staging of patients with primary melanoma is dependent on adequate sampling of the tumor thickness. Initial biopsies with a positive deep margin suggest inadequate sampling, potentially limiting accurate staging and affecting treatment decisions. To determine the efficacy of shave biopsy to adequately sample the tumor, we retrospectively reviewed our pathology database for original pathology reports of primary melanomas accessioned between 01/01/04 and 6/30/05. The biopsies were evaluated by technique, the presence of tumor at the margins of the specimen, and specimen thickness. We identified 240 cases of primary melanoma; 223/240 were analyzable. The specimens were divided by biopsy technique (excisional, n = 51; punch, n = 44; and shave, n = 128). Shave and punch specimens had a significantly higher percentage of positive margins than excisional specimens (50, 68, and 16%, respectively; P < 0.0001). Shave specimens had a significantly higher percentage of positive deep margins than punch or excisional specimens (22, 7, and 2%, respectively; P = 0.0009). For melanomas

Journal Article

Share this book

Add to My Shelf