Categorical View Research Articles

Markers of subsyndromal depression in very old persons

To investigate factors associated with subsyndromal depression (SSD) in very old persons, and to develop a model for prediction of SSD among very old persons. A cross-sectional, population-based study was undertaken on 85-year-old persons in Sweden. Data were collected from a postal questionnaire, assessments in the participants' homes and at reception visits. Depressiveness was screened with GDS-15 (Geriatric Depression Scale), and the results were classified into three outcome categories: non-depression (ND), SSD and syndromal depression. Data were analysed with binary logistic, ordinal logistic and linear regression. With univariate logistic regression 20 factors associated with SSD were identified in very old persons, and the four hypothesized domains--sociodemographic factors, declining physical functioning, neuropsychiatric factors and existential factors--significantly related to SSD. The multivariate logistic model included seven independent factors that increase the likelihood of SSD instead of ND (lower self-perceived health, life not meaningful, problems with self-care, use of tranquilizing medication, no contact with neighbours, history of affective disorder and history of stroke). The ordinal logistic and the linear regression models resulted in seven partly different factors for predicting SSD and depressiveness, in the very old. The identified markers may help clinicians with the detection, prevention and treatment of SSD in very old persons. The findings indicate the importance of a comprehensive functional approach to diagnosing and treating depressiveness in this population, and the findings might be interpreted as offering support for the coexistence of a dimensional and a categorical view on depressive disorders.

Reward System Dysfunction as a Neural Substrate of Symptom Expression Across the General Population and Patients With Schizophrenia.

Dysfunctional patterns of activation in brain reward networks have been suggested as a core element in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. However, it remains unclear whether this dysfunction is specific to schizophrenia or can be continuously observed across persons with different levels of nonclinical and clinical symptom expression. Therefore, we sought to investigate whether the pattern of reward system dysfunction is consistent with a dimensional or categorical model of psychosis-like symptom expression. 23 patients with schizophrenia and 37 healthy control participants with varying levels of psychosis-like symptoms, separated into 3 groups of low, medium, and high symptom expression underwent event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a Cued Reinforcement Reaction Time task. We observed lower activation in the ventral striatum during the expectation of high vs no reward to be associated with higher symptom expression across all participants. No significant difference between patients with schizophrenia and healthy participants with high symptom expression was found. However, connectivity between the ventral striatum and the medial orbitofrontal cortex was specifically reduced in patients with schizophrenia. Dysfunctional local activation of the ventral striatum depends less on diagnostic category than on the degree of symptom expression, therefore showing a pattern consistent with a psychosis continuum. In contrast, aberrant connectivity in the reward system is specific to patients with schizophrenia, thereby supporting a categorical view. Thus, the results of the present study provide evidence for both continuous and discontinuous neural substrates of symptom expression across patients with schizophrenia and the general population.

A categorical view of textural approximation spaces

The basic motivation of the theory of textures is to find a convenient point-set based setting for fuzzy sets. Recent works on textures show that they also provide a useful model for rough set theory. In this paper, we show that i-c spaces (interior-closure texture spaces) can be regarded as a textural rough set systems on a single universe. Then we consider the approaches containing direlations and dicovers for textural rough sets and we give some basic results related to direlations and dicovers. Considering the discrete textures we discuss on these results for rough sets based on relations and coverings. Finally, we prove that the category of topological spaces and continuous functions is isomorphic to the category of (covering) approximation spaces and continuous functions.

Quantum Physics, Topology, Formal Languages, Computation: A Categorical View as Homage to David Hilbert

The deep structural properties of a quantum information theoretic approach to formal languages and universal computation (the unifying tool being the Quantum Spin Network Automaton scheme of computation), as well as those of the topology problem of defining the presentation of the Mapping Class Group of a smooth, compact manifold are shown to be grounded in the common categorical features of the two problems.

Resolving human object recognition in space and time

A comprehensive picture of object processing in the human brain requires combining both spatial and temporal information about brain activity. Here, we acquired human magnetoencephalography (MEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) responses to 92 object images. Multivariate pattern classification applied to MEG revealed the time course of object processing: whereas individual images were discriminated by visual representations early, ordinate and superordinate category levels emerged relatively later. Using representational similarity analysis, we combine human fMRI and MEG to show content-specific correspondence between early MEG responses and primary visual cortex (V1), and later MEG responses and inferior temporal (IT) cortex. We identified transient and persistent neural activities during object processing, with sources in V1 and IT., Finally, human MEG signals were correlated to single-unit responses in monkey IT. Together, our findings provide an integrated space- and time-resolved view of human object categorization during the first few hundred milliseconds of vision.

Maternal Ratings of the ADHD Symptoms

Objective: This study used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), latent class analysis (LCA), and factor mixture model (FMM) to ascertain the best model for ADHD symptoms, as presented in the Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD-Symptoms and Normal Behavior Scale (SWAN). Method: Mother ratings of the ADHD symptoms of 418 clinic-referred children and adolescents were obtained. Results: The findings provided most support for an FMM with two classes (less severe inattention [IA] and hyperactivity/impulsivity [HI] symptoms and more severe IA/HI symptoms) and two factors (IA and HI) model. The more severe class had more individuals with the ADHD diagnosis, especially the combined type. Conclusion: The findings are discussed in relation to dimensional and categorical views of ADHD.

A Transdiagnostic Perspective on Cognitive, Affective, and Neurobiological Processes Underlying Human Suffering

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and International Classification of Diseases classify mental health disorders on the basis of their putatively distinct symptom profiles. Although these nosologies are highly influential, they also have been derided as mere “field guides” because they focus solely on the superficial symptomatic expression of psychiatric syndromes rather than on the commonalities underlying psychiatric disorders. Recently, an alternative transdiagnostic perspective has emerged. This review addresses transdiagnostic processes that underlie a wide range of psychosocial problems commonly addressed by social work practitioners. First, we describe how the transdiagnostic perspective differs from categorical views of psychopathology and accords more closely with scientific evidence. Next, we review current experimental psychopathology and neuroscience research to detail the cognitive, affective, and neurobiological features of five transdiagnostic processes. Finally, we discuss how the transdiagnostic perspective may improve therapeutic outcomes and guide the implementation of targeted social work interventions.

Patología dual y rasgos de personalidad: situación actual y líneas futuras de trabajo

Dual diagnosis (DD) is the co-occurrence, in the same person, of a mental disorder (MD) and a substance use disorder (SUD). Nowadays, the study of the personality with DD is realized mainly from a categorical view, focusing on the detection of personality disorders and not on the traits associated to DD and the possible differential profile compared to those patients with only MD or SUD. Studies analyzing personality traits of patients with DD and their possible differential profile are very limited. However, existing data indicates that DD patients show higher levels of Sensation Seeking, Impulsivity, Harm Avoidance and Neuroticism; and lower levels of Persistence, Self-Direction, Self-Transcendence and Cooperation. Therefore, DD is associated to personality characteristics that suggest more disruptive behaviors, fewer resources for recovering and keeping abstinent and worse prognosis compared to those with only one disorder. Progress in the characterization of personality traits in DD, taking into consideration the methodological aspects to be improved could allow better adaptation of the integrated treatment of these patients in the future.

Categoricalism, dispositionalism, and the epistemology of properties

Notoriously, the dispositional view of natural properties is thought to face a number of regress problems, one of which points to an epistemological worry. In this paper, I argue that the rival categorical view is also susceptible to the same kind of regress problem. This problem can be overcome, most plausibly, with the development of a structuralist epistemology. After identifying problems faced by alternative solutions, I sketch the main features of this structuralist epistemological approach, referring to graph-theoretic modelling in the process. Given that both the categoricalists and dispositionalists are under pressure to adopt this same epistemological approach in light of the regress problem, this suggests that the categoricalist versus dispositionalist debate is best fought on metaphysical rather than epistemological grounds.

The Psychology of Eating

SPECIALTY GRAND CHALLENGE article Front. Psychol., 25 April 2013Sec. Eating Behavior Volume 4 - 2013 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00215

3001 – Are mental illnesses disorders of the brain?

The term „illness” implies a medical disease model, namely that symptoms or syndromes indicate an underlying organic disease - in the case of psychiatry a disorder of the brain. But no brain markers could be identified until today, which would indicate a psychiatric illness or in particular a certain psychiatric illness. Furthermore organic causes of a mental disorder are an exclusion criterion for a diagnosis of a mental disorder. For all these reasons all international classifications systems use the term “disorder” instead of “illness”. Beyond the question if mental disorders are disorders of the brain one might challenge the concept of psychiatric diagnoses at all. Most diagnostic thresholds are arbitrary or imposed on pragmatic grounds. For a categorical diagnosis to be scientifically valid, clear symptom boundaries should separate it from other conditions. But this is rarely the case concerning psychiatric diagnoses. In many respects a dimensional approach would be much more appropriate than a categorical view. A dimensional approach would reflect the fact that mental problems are part of the human condition, which turn into psychiatric disorders when the affected individual cannot perform his or her social roles any longer. The personal, social and environmental factors that determine mental health and mental illness may be clustered conceptually around themes like the development and maintenance of healthy communities and each person's ability to deal with the social world and manage his or her life. All this would be much more helpful than the conceptualisation of mental disorders as brain diseases.

Analyzing and forecasting global business markets: Reflections and recommendations

My goal in this article is to distill some key ideas I have learned over 50 years of analyzing and forecasting global markets that should be useful to academics as well as practitioners. The discussion moves from the general to the specific and back, offers illustrations, and concludes with a few lessons and guidelines. Part 1 shows why a two-fold view of categorization is far too narrow in a complex world. Part 2 demonstrates that both academics and practitioners face three underlying challenges, namely topic choice, budgeting and procedure; then Part 3 reveals how to tackle these and related issues. In Part 4 the discussion traces the expanding scope of global market research and the key challenge of building consistent market analysis and forecasts in an age of information overload. Part 5 shows illustrative case studies drawn from books and monographs. Finally, Part 6 offers lessons and guidelines. A bibliography and a short biography are provided.

Mechanisms of developmental change in infant categorization

Computational models are tools for testing mechanistic theories of learning and development. Formal models allow us to instantiate theories of cognitive development in computer simulations. Model behavior can then be compared to real performance. Connectionist models, loosely based on neural information processing, have been successful in capturing a range of developmental phenomena, in particular on-line within-task category learning by young infants. Here we describe two new models. One demonstrates how age dependent changes in neural receptive field sizes can explain observed changes in on-line category learning between 3 and 10 months of age. The other aims to reconcile two conflicting views of infant categorization by focusing on the different task requirements of preferential looking and manual exploration studies. A dual-memory hypothesis posits that within-task category learning that drives looking time behaviors is based on a fast-learning memory system, whereas categorization based on background experience and assessed by paradigms requiring complex motor behavior relies on a second, slow-learning system. The models demonstrate how emphasizing the mechanistic causes of behaviors leads to discovery of deeper, more explanatory accounts of learning and development.

Boundaries of the Psychosis Phenotype

Since Emil Kraepelin classified psychosis into 3 major categories (organic, affective, and schizophrenic) in the late 19th century, the unitary concept of psychosis was abandoned. This categorical conceptualization of psychosis was more or less accepted by clinicians through the 20th century with some refinements. During my residency training, teachers would highlight qualitative differences in reality distortions across disorders; for instance, unusual visual perceptual distortions associated with substance abuse or the affective tone of delusional thinking in psychosis associated with bipolar illness. Such observations were used to support the categorical view of psychosis and stress phenomenological and biological differences in psychosis across various major psychotic disorders. In the past several years, extensive epidemiological and clinical research has yielded information that challenges the categorical models of psychosis. Epidemiological studies of self-reported psychotic symptoms of hallucinations and delusions show that about a quarter of the general population endorse such symptoms. Multivariate taxometric analyses of these epidemiological survey data suggest a dimensional rather than taxonomic structure for these psychotic experiences.1 Within this dimensional model of psychosis, symptoms vary in severity with most persistent and severe psychosis needing treatment (see Jim van Os and Richard Linscott in the current issue2). There is no discontinuity of psychosis across major psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorders, although the frequency of symptoms and severity may vary. Less severe symptoms may indicate vulnerability to develop schizophrenia or bipolar disorder or even the prodromal phase particularly in individuals with a family history of these disorders. The dimensional model further posits that the underlying biological underpinnings are uniform. This thesis is supported by neurocognitive and neurophysiological findings in individuals with schizotypal personality disorders, with magical thinking, perceptual distortions, and rare hallucinations indicating the lower end of the psychosis dimension. Furthermore, the dimensional model would suggest that psychotic symptoms occurring in different psychiatric disorders such schizophrenia and bipolar disorder share the same neurobiology and etiological factors. The hypothesis of an extensive overlap in the phenomenology and etiopathophysiology of psychosis occurring across different disorders is a fundamental challenge to the Kraepelinian conceptualization of major psychotic disorders. Several lines of evidence support this hypothesis: phenomenological similarities in psychosis across disorders are frequently observed in clinical practice. Slight qualitative differences in reality distortions can easily be due to the modulating effects of the other features of the disorder. For instance, depressed or elated mood may modulate the expression of psychotic symptoms in affective illness. Studies have extensively compared brain function and structure in order to define the underlying neurobiology of psychosis in different conditions. Findings suggest a large overlap in cognitive impairments in schizophrenia and psychotic affective disorders.3 Similarly, sensory gating, sensory-motor gating, eye tracking, and other information processing impairments known to mark schizophrenia liability are frequently observed in other psychotic disorders.4 Brain imaging studies show some overlap but there are significant differences brain structure between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.5 Most of these findings come from studies in patient cohorts that support the notion of shared neurobiology, but very few studies compare neurobiology among nonill relatives of psychotic disorders. Similar neurobiological findings in relatives of probands with different psychotic disorders would implicate shared etiological, likely genetic, factors. The Bipolar and Schizophrenia Network on Intermediate Phenotypes (B-SNIP) was organized specifically to address this issue. The consortium has recruited about a thousand families of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder with psychosis probands and administered a comprehensive battery that includes cognitive, neurophysiological, and brain imaging measures. Findings from this project will clarify the extent of overlap in the etiopathophysiology of psychosis in schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. Previous genetic studies have identified several linkage “hot-spots” (such as 18p11, 22q11, 13q32, 10p14, and 1q32) and candidate genes (such as DISC1, NRG1, Dysbindin, NOS1, GRM4, and G30/G72) that are implicated both in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.6 Together, these data suggest psychotic symptoms that occur in different conditions are in most part similar in phenomenology, neurobiology, and etiology. However, studies have also found significant differences in brain function and structure between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder cohorts. These findings may be driven by unique aspects of each of these disorders. For instance, neurobiology associated with the affective component of the bipolar disorder, or the primary negative symptoms in schizophrenia, may explain the differences found in neurobiology between the 2 disorders. Studies similar to the B-SNIP project that also include families of probands with nonpsychotic bipolar and schizoid disorders are needed to clarify to what extent the neurobiology of psychosis is uniform across disorders.

Reflective Full Subcategories of the Category of L‐Posets

This paper focuses on the relationship between L‐posets and complete L‐lattices from the categorical view. By considering a special class of fuzzy closure operators, we prove that the category of complete L‐lattices is a reflective full subcategory of the category of L‐posets with appropriate morphisms. Moreover, we characterize the Dedekind‐MacNeille completions of L‐posets and provide an equivalent description for them.

P-677 - Personality disorders and criminal responsibility in italy: forensic psychiatric considerations about the importance of going beyond a categorical view

In 2005 the Italian Supreme Court held that also persons suffering from “severe personality disorders” may enter a plea of NGRI. Since then, offenders with personality disorders have become a challenge for the Italian forensic psychiatric system, because criminal offenders have a high rate of personality disorders and the identification of the “severe” threshold is particularly difficult in a jurisdiction which includes the volitional prong. The aim of this study is to determine how personality disorders are viewed in relation to criminal responsibility within the Italian criminal judicial system, discussing the results in light of evidence from international literature. We conducted a retrospective study of sentences of the Italian Supreme Court between 2006 and 2010, collected via a judicial database and we reviewed the articles published in English from 2000 to 2010 with the keywords “personality disorder” and “criminal responsibility”. The results indicate that personality disorders have become very common in Italian insanity defense cases. The disorders most frequently indicated are antisocial, borderline and non otherwise specified. The majority of these are associated with another Axis I disorder, in particular with substance abuse. According to the literature, the proof of a “mental disease” is necessary, but not sufficient, to establish an “insanity defense”. In fact, in forensic psychiatry a mental disorder can be defined as “insanity” only if, in the specific case, it has caused such “psychopathological functioning” of the acting subject as to compromise his capacity for cognition and/or volition and that it was causally linked with the crime.

Ön-tür kuramı çerçevesinde Türkçede anlamsal ulamların incelenmesi

Rosch’s prototype theory is a cognition-based categorization theory which was born as a reaction to Aristotelian view of categorization which has been acknowledged for centuries. Contrary to the Aristotelian view, Rosch claimed that internal structure of a category is not homogeneous, i.e. it has a prototype, good and bad members. Category boundaries are not clear cut and they have transition zones which means that the category is always open to new members. There are a typical member named as prototype in the center and other peripheral members ranking in a hierarchical order, steadily having less representative attributes. Prototypes have some privileges; they are the cognitive reference points, they are easily retrieved and they belong to the basic level category, which children learn first while acquiring their mother tongue. In the experimental part of the research, a group of 210 subjects formed by children, teenagers and adults have been asked for to write down seven typical examples under 22 concrete and abstract category names. The results, within the scope of the research, showed that, the semantic categories in Turkish are formed around prototypes. However, some differences between abstract and concrete categories have been detected.

Working memory does not dissociate between different perceptual categorization tasks.

Working memory is crucial for many higher level cognitive functions, ranging from mental arithmetic to reasoning and problem solving. Likewise, the ability to learn and categorize novel concepts forms an indispensable part of human cognition. However, very little is known about the relationship between working memory and categorization. This article reports 2 studies that related people's working memory capacity (WMC) to their learning performance on multiple rule-based and information-integration perceptual categorization tasks. In both studies, structural equation modeling revealed a strong relationship between WMC and category learning irrespective of the requirement to integrate information across multiple perceptual dimensions. WMC was also uniformly related to people's ability to focus on the most task-appropriate strategy, regardless of whether or not that strategy involved information integration. Contrary to the predictions of the multiple systems view of categorization, working memory thus appears to underpin performance in both major classes of perceptual category-learning tasks.

P1-50 Should heart failure be considered as categorical or dimensional?

IntroductionThe categorical view dominates the traditional diagnostic approach to heart failure (HF) but ignores possible within-class heterogeneity such as individual differences in severity.ObjectiveTo assess if HF should be considered as...

Psychiatric evidence in criminal courts: the need for better understanding

The rules of admissibility of expert evidence from mental health professionals are not clear. The task of a psychiatrist providing expert opinion to criminal courts is far from clear. Psychiatric experts are trained in a particular set of ethical and philosophical frameworks. They have expertise in the diagnosis and management of behaviours arising from mental disorders. The concept of mental disorder itself is a dimensional one. Such a dimensional view of human behaviour and mental disorders is hard to fit into the categorical view of human behaviour that the law follows. The task of the psychiatric expert is to marry these two philosophically different branches. Such a task would be facilitated by clear rules of admissibility of expert psychiatric evidence, clear definition of the roles and limitations of psychiatric evidence in criminal cases, a better understanding and training of mental health professionals in legal principles and a better understanding by the legal professionals of the mental health concepts. This article aims to analyse the legal basis of the admissibility of expert mental health evidence, the differences in the philosophies of the two disciplines and the challenges in addressing legal criteria while staying faithful to the ethos of psychiatry and psychology.