Advances in Cognitive Sciences
Year:2001 | Volume:2 | Issue:3-4|Papers Count:15

The present study examined the relationship between the anhedonia severity and emotional reactivity in depressed population. Forty patients were tested using a series of olfactory stimuli (odorous) in order to assess their emotional reactivity. They were allocated to the low-anhedonic groups on the basis of their scores on the anhedonia scale. The high anhedonic patients showed less emotional reactivity in response to both the pleasant and unpleasant odorous compared to the low-anhedonic patients. Theoretical issues in this regard will be discussed.

Many studies suggest that schizophrenia patients exhibit neuropsychological and cognitive deficits. In this study some neuropsychological functions of 40 acute and chronic schizophrenics were compared with 40 normal controls. The two groups were matched for age, sex, education, economic status, marital state and IQ. The functions evaluated were abstraction, memory, visual-spatial perception, problem solving and visual-motor perception, which were assessed by Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, interpretation proverbs test, similarities, digit span and bock design of WAIS, Tower of Hanoi Test and Bender- Gestalt Test. The results showed that schizophrenic patients performed significantly at a poorer level than control group in abstraction, memory, visual-spatial perception, problem solving and visual-motor perception. On other hand there was no significant difference between the groups with respect to sex in neuropsychological functions. Also there was no significant difference between the acute and chronic schizophrenia in neuropsychological functions.

This study aimed to prepare the ground to tailor TCI-125 for Iranian young population. A sample of students from Tehran and Shiraz universities completed the TCI-125. The results showed that the Persian version of this questionnaire is reliable to be used to assess the four temperament and three character dimensions. The limitations of the findings are discussed.

Improvement of cognitive functioning in brain injured patients is related to the age of injury, premorbid intellectual status and effectiveness of rehabilitative and supportive measures. Most of the improvement occurs during the first two years after trauma. The authors had previously reported the cognitive profile of a 13 year-old boy suffering severe brain damage. In this report the continuation of his cognitive improvement documented by a battery of neuropsychological tests following extensive rehabilitation and training is discussed.

Attention Deficit - Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common disorder. Reports on the incidence of ADHD is about 2 to 20 percent of elementary school children. Affected children suffer minimal – but problematic - brain damages in parts of CNS relating attention, concentration and motor behaviors. Inability to organizing behavior – as their principal deficit - causes numerous problems at home, school and in relationship with peers. ADHD has significant adverse effects on economic areas, occupational areas and personality formation of patient and on the society as well. A combination of pharmacotherapeutic and psychotherapeutic interventions are essential for treatment. Cognitive behavior therapy including psychoeducation of parents and teachers make an important part of therapy.Communicating proper knowledge about the disease and the cognitive behavior methods for supporting affected children has significant effect in promoting global functioning. Considering previous studies and cross cultural issues, a comprehensive therapeutic program is represented and discussed.

During the recent two decades animal cognition especially the study of higher cognitive functions in primates has turned to a center of debate for psychologists, anthropologists, philosophers and clinicians. Apparently the animals even the apes are not proficient imitators but features of imitation, social learning and a kind of primitive culture is met in higher apes. Considering the theory of the memes, capability of social animals in learning from con specifics is a breakthrough in cognitive development. Also debates on whether apes possess "theory of mind" is still heated. Interestingly some human mental disorders including autism is also the focus of similar attention. It seems that studying higher cortical functioning in primates may pave the way for understanding the underlying of mental disorders in men and clarifying issues as consciousness, representations and the mind.

The last decade, has seen a growing interest in formulating theories to explain delusion formation, and a large body of research has been designed to test those theories. In this article, first, difficulties in defining and elucidating the characteristics of delusions are addressed, then the theories are reviewed under the following headings; theory of mind deficits, abnormal perception, disordered reasoning, social attribution theory, and neuropsychological and neural network models; controversies about each are also reported. Still, it seems that we are far from explaining different types of delusions in different types of disorders by a single mechanism; and testable integrating models are needed. However, research on delusions can increase our understanding about this cardinal symptom of psychosis, and can provide many implications for diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders.