In-vivo Measures Research Articles

Empathy in Boys with Gender Identity Disorder: A Comparison to Externalizing Clinical Control Boys and Community Control Boys and Girls

The construct of empathy was examined in 20 boys with gender identity disorder (GID), 20 clinical control boys with externalizing disorders (ECC), 20 community control boys (NCB), and 20 community control girls (NCG). The mean age of the children was 6.86 years (range = 4-8 years). It was hypothesized that boys with GID would show similar levels of empathy to those shown by NC girls and higher levels of empathy than the NC and ECC boys. Three measures of empathy were administered: a maternal-report questionnaire, a self-report questionnaire, and an in vivo evaluation in which children's reactions to pain simulations to two adult actors (mother, experimenter) were coded for empathy levels. On the maternal report and in-vivo measures, the NC girls had significantly higher empathy levels than the NC boys, but not on the self-report measure. By maternal report, the NC girls were rated as significantly more empathic than were the GID boys, with a "large" effect size. There were no significant differences between the GID boys and the NC girls on the self-report and in-vivo measures and the effect size differences were "small." No significant differences were observed between the GID and NC boys; however, there were "medium" and "small" effect size differences with boys with GID showing more empathy on the in-vivo and self-report measures, respectively. On the maternal-report measure, the GID boys were rated as significantly more empathic than the ECC boys and there was a trend for the GID boys to show greater levels of empathy than the ECC boys on both the self-report and in-vivo measures. The effect size differences on all three empathy measures were "medium" to "large," with GID boys showing more empathy than ECC boys. Empathy as a dispositional characteristic in the genesis and perpetuation of GID in boys is discussed.

206. Dorsal and ventral PFC responses to working memory differ in schizophrenia

How dorsal prefrontal cortex (PFC) neuronal pathology in schizophrenia might be reflected in neuroimaging studies of schizophrenic patients (SCZ) remains an area of active debate. One potential confound is that dorsal and ventral PFC are often grouped together under general labels (‘hypofrontality’) applied to putative physiological abnormalities of PFC function identified by imaging studies. In healthy subjects, there is growing evidence for a functional distinction between dorsal ‘executive’ (e.g., manipulation or inhibition) and ventral (maintenance) PFC sub-regions in the context of cognitive operations like working memory (WM). We looked for such a distinction in the fMRI response to varying WM load in SCZ and matched controls using the n-back WM task. We concurrently collected an independent in-vivo measure of neuronal pathology using 1H-MRSI (n-acetylaspartate or NAA measures). We found a distinction between dorsal and ventral PFC in their fMRI response to varying WM load and also in the relationship of these responses to WM performance and NAA measures. While both dorsal and ventral PFC fMRI responses were abnormal, only the dorsal PFC response differed from controls in all three analyses. In particular, the magnitude of the abnormal response in dorsal PFC was the only regional fMRI response predicted by the magnitude of PFC pathology in SCZ (i.e. PFC NAA measures). These data suggest that there is greater impairment of dorsal v. ventral PFC function in SCZ and that a failure to appropriately modulate activity within dorsal PFC may be the most germane physiological signature of PFC neuronal dysfunction in SCZ.

Response of human hair cortical cells to fractionated radiotherapy

Hair cortical cell counting (HCCC) represents a non-invasive, in-vivo measure of cell kill in the human integument. Sixty-six patients undergoing conventionally fractionated, external beam radiotherapy for early stage carcinoma of the prostate had groin hair samples counted. This technique is a sensitive and reproducible measure of radiation effect and may have applicability as an in-vivo prediction tool or in the field of biological dosimetry. A repopulative follicular response occurring at 3–4 weeks may explain flattening of the dose response curve.

Velocity percepts of apparent laser speckle motion modulated by voluntary changes of visual accommodation: Real-time, in-vivo measurements of the accommodative response

This study examined negative volitional accommodation under open-loop viewing conditions by means of a coherent laser light pattern (633 nm) whose direction and velocity of motion is determined by the refractive state of the eye. Using the direct scaling procedure of free magnitude estimation, the subjects were required to quantitatively judge velocities of speckles when the retinal image of the subjects' eye was minimally influenced and when the subject was instructed to exert voluntary negative accommodation. Real-time, in-vivo measures of accommodation indicated that the dioptric strength of the crystalline eye lens was reduced under the condition of mental effort, and that the volitional accommodation values ranged between −0.26 and −1.90 D. The amplitude of these responses were noticeably correlated with individual measures of dark focus, so that larger dark focus values were associated with higher amplitudes of the voluntary negative response, and vice versa. By converting the dioptric strength of added optical lenses and the in-vivo measures of the eye lens curvature into angular velocities of laser speckles whose speed changes with focus relative the plane of stationarity, a specification of the proximal stimulus flow was obtained. The psychophysical functions describing the relationship between subjective speed and angular velocity generated either by placing lenses in front of the eye or by voluntary changes in accommodation had approximately the same appearance suggesting that the percepts reported by the subjects were valid and veridical estimates of the velocity of speckle movement.

Treatment of Cutaneous Neoplasia with Etretinate in Renal Transplant Recipients

Six patients who had developed neoplastic and pre-neoplastic cutaneous lesions following a successful renal transplant were treated with etretinate, 1 mg/kg/day, for six months. In four cases there was almost complete resolution of the lesions; one patient had only a partial response, and one patient developed further lesions whilst on treatment. Patients were observed for six months after treatment was discontinued. Two patients in the group that had responded well to treatment developed further lesions. No deterioration in renal function, as measured by serial serum creatinine concentrations and creatinine clearance, occurred in any of the patients treated. In-vivo measures of the cutaneous cell-mediated immune response were unaltered, but cell kinetic studies demonstrated an increase in proliferative activity in sun-exposed skin during treatment, suggesting that the anti-tumour effect of etretinate is not due to a cytostatic action, and does not require an intact immune system. On the basis of our observations, we feel that further studies are warranted with larger numbers of patients.

Measurement of assertive behavior: Construct and predictive validity of self-report, role-playing, and in-vivo measures

Examined the predictive validity and construct equivalence of the three major procedures used to measure assertive behavior: Self-report, behavioral role-playing, and in-vivo assessment. Seventy-five Ss, who spanned the range of assertiveness, completed two self-report measures of assertiveness, the Rathus Assertiveness Scale (RAS) and the College Self-Expression Scale (CSES); two scales from the Endler S-R Inventory of General Trait Anxiousness, the interpersonal and general anxiety scales; eight role-playing situations that involved the expression of positive and negative assertiveness; and a telephone in-vivo task. In general, the study revealed the following: (1) assertiveness measures are task-dependent in that there was more overlap within task than between tasks; (2) there is a moderate degree of correspondence between self-report and role-playing measures, although this was true only for negative assertion; (3) positive and negative assertion do not appear to have the same topography of responding; and (4) there appears to be no consistent relationship between the in-vivo measure and any other type of assertiveness measure.