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Cardiovascular reactivity and hostility: The dynamic cerebral laterality effect
Abstracts from the 19th Annual Meeting
671
ing impaired performance than can be achieved by simply using normative data. Furthermore, the results suggest that variables that may be useful for predicting premorbid IQ may not be useful for predicting premorbid memory or naming ability since demographic variables failed to predict either memory or naming ability, and vocabulary and reading measures failed to predict memory scores.
Lamar, M., & Jackson, W. T. OCD and Atypical Autism in a Young Man with Tuberous Sclerosis. Tuberous sclerosis (TS), a disorder of cell differentiation and proliferation, has been associated with various diagnoses. Developmental disorders are sometimes seen. Epilepsy and motor tics are also prevalent. The most common diagnosis seen in patients with TS is mental retardation (MR). Despite these diagnostic associations, few studies address the underlying neuroanatomical and neuropsychological factors that may contribute to a patient's clinical presentation. Understanding these factors may help address whether these various diagnoses, consistently found in conjunction with TS, represent a spectrum of disorders or are distinctly different. A select subgroup of patients with TS do not develop MR. These individuals provide a unique opportunity to investigate the intricacies of each diagnosis as they co-exist and influence behavior. We report on a patient with TS who displayed average to above average intellectual and academic functioning within the context of awkward social skills, cognitive ruminations, and specific, highly routinized behaviors. PB, a 28-year-old White male with 16 years of education, was seen for a neuropsychological evaluation to assist with cognitive behavior therapy and aid in vocational planning. He presented to a clinic with a history of elaborate hygiene rituals, for example, a complicated pattern of brushing his teeth and tongue requiring a set number of repetitions, as well as obsessive thinking. Although PB was diagnosed with TS later in life, he had been followed for tic-like mannerisms and soft neurological signs the majority of his life. Although PB's epilepsy was fully controlled by medication, he continued to have trouble with social awkwardness and OCD-like symptoms. WAIS-R performance was significant for relative strengths, within the areas of attention/concentration and visuoconstruction to a model. PB had difficulty when required to perform a speeded coding task and find missing details of common objects. All other areas of cognitive functioning were within normal limits. A more qualitative approach to data analysis suggested that PB's visual processing style was piecemeal and he had difficulty integrating parts to a whole unless relying on a detail-oriented approach. Neuroimaging data corroborated more posterior involvement of the temporal regions bilaterally. PB's results are similar to results of human and primate studies of CNS involvement of TS, OCD, and specific developmental disorders such as Asperger's. Results also suggest the disorders associated with TS may occur in a spectrum with the extent of cognitive and neuroanatomical involvement dictating the severity of developmental and behavioral disorders.
Shenal, B. V., Rhodes, R. D., & Harrison, D. W. Cardiovascular Reactivity and Hostility: The Dynamic Cerebral Laterality Effect. The purpose of the first experiment was to demonstrate dynamic cerebral lateralization to affective auditory verbal learning stress by comparing high- and low-hostile individuals' cardiovascular reactivity and bilateral sensory recognition preference following stress. Stress was induced via a cognitive task (Auditory Affective Verbal Learning Test). This experiment utilized a negative affective list learning condition, the dichotic listening presentation of dual-concurrent phonemes to the left and right ears, and car-
672
Abstracts from the 19th Annual Meeting
diovascular measures to demonstrate dynamic cerebral laterality for low- and highhostile participants. Group testing at a large state university, yielded the experimental groups composed of high-hostile and low-hostile male participants (n = 30). Cardiovascular data suggest decreased right-cerebral activation (increased left-cerebral activation) following the verbal listening task and greater right-cerebral activation following the cognitive affective stressor. As expected, significant main effects of Trial were found on HR, SBP, and DBP. Specifically, participants demonstrated decreased cardiovascular arousal after the verbal dichotic listening tasks. The purpose of the second experiment was to demonstrate dynamic cerebral lateralization to physical stress by comparing high- and low-hostile individuals' cardiovascular reactivity and bilateral sensory recognition preference following stress. Further, this experiment was designed to replicate the first experiment with a physical stressor (instead of an affective stressor) and through the visual modality (instead of the auditory modality). Stress was induced via a physical task (cold pressor stressor). This experiment utilized a physical stressor condition, the tachistoscopic presentation of dual-concurrent phonemes to the left and right visual fields, and cardiovascular measures to demonstrate dynamic cerebral laterality for low- and high-hostile participants. Group testing at a large state university, yielded the experimental groups composed of high-hostile and low-hostile male participants (n = 30). Cardiovascular data (HR, SBP, and DBP) collected during this experiment may suggest decreased right-cerebral activation (increased left-cerebral activation) following the tachistoscopic task and greater right-cerebral activation following the painful cold pressor stressor. As expected, significant main effects of Trial were found on HR, SBP, and DBP. Specifically, participants demonstrated decreased arousal after the physical stressor.
Connor, B., Humphreys, G., & Wing, A. Dissociating Neglect From Visual Scanning Deficits. We present the case of a 51-year-old male with aneurysm in the right cerebral artery in 1992 and subsequent damage to right fronto-temporo-parietal areas. He originally presented to the University of Birmingham Psychology Department in October 1996, with a variety of cognitive deficits including: left visual neglect, left extinction, poor visual localization, as well as other nonvisual cognitive problems. However, after 2+ years of participating as a research subject in visual task experiments, including a variety of line bisection tasks, recent paper and pencil testing and computerized line bisection tasks reveal little left neglect but an ongoing visual scanning defect. On a cancellation task omissions were equally distributed in the left and right visual fields, while on a cluttered page of lines to bisect there were 6/21 omissions in the left visual field on plain lines and lines bounded by stimulus endpoints, but no omissions in the right visual field. On the other hand, in the line bisection task, mean error on all lines was 1.9 mm left of center. Maximum error was 11 mm left of center on any single line, with 6/21 plain and 8/21 bounded lines bisected left of center. Similarly, on a computerized task involving moving a vertical line from either the left or right side of the screen to the midpoint of a single 8-cm line presented in the center of the screen, all stimulus types (plain and bounded lines) showed a leftward bias, with no statistically significant difference in bisection error regardless of stimulus type or visual cueing from left or right. As has previously been shown in a study of sustained attention training for unilateral neglect, these results suggest that, for some individuals with left neglect, learning a leftward compensatory strategy when it is superimposed on a nonlateralized attentional deficit, can result in a right neglect, without addressing the underlying visual scanning defect.
671
ing impaired performance than can be achieved by simply using normative data. Furthermore, the results suggest that variables that may be useful for predicting premorbid IQ may not be useful for predicting premorbid memory or naming ability since demographic variables failed to predict either memory or naming ability, and vocabulary and reading measures failed to predict memory scores.
Lamar, M., & Jackson, W. T. OCD and Atypical Autism in a Young Man with Tuberous Sclerosis. Tuberous sclerosis (TS), a disorder of cell differentiation and proliferation, has been associated with various diagnoses. Developmental disorders are sometimes seen. Epilepsy and motor tics are also prevalent. The most common diagnosis seen in patients with TS is mental retardation (MR). Despite these diagnostic associations, few studies address the underlying neuroanatomical and neuropsychological factors that may contribute to a patient's clinical presentation. Understanding these factors may help address whether these various diagnoses, consistently found in conjunction with TS, represent a spectrum of disorders or are distinctly different. A select subgroup of patients with TS do not develop MR. These individuals provide a unique opportunity to investigate the intricacies of each diagnosis as they co-exist and influence behavior. We report on a patient with TS who displayed average to above average intellectual and academic functioning within the context of awkward social skills, cognitive ruminations, and specific, highly routinized behaviors. PB, a 28-year-old White male with 16 years of education, was seen for a neuropsychological evaluation to assist with cognitive behavior therapy and aid in vocational planning. He presented to a clinic with a history of elaborate hygiene rituals, for example, a complicated pattern of brushing his teeth and tongue requiring a set number of repetitions, as well as obsessive thinking. Although PB was diagnosed with TS later in life, he had been followed for tic-like mannerisms and soft neurological signs the majority of his life. Although PB's epilepsy was fully controlled by medication, he continued to have trouble with social awkwardness and OCD-like symptoms. WAIS-R performance was significant for relative strengths, within the areas of attention/concentration and visuoconstruction to a model. PB had difficulty when required to perform a speeded coding task and find missing details of common objects. All other areas of cognitive functioning were within normal limits. A more qualitative approach to data analysis suggested that PB's visual processing style was piecemeal and he had difficulty integrating parts to a whole unless relying on a detail-oriented approach. Neuroimaging data corroborated more posterior involvement of the temporal regions bilaterally. PB's results are similar to results of human and primate studies of CNS involvement of TS, OCD, and specific developmental disorders such as Asperger's. Results also suggest the disorders associated with TS may occur in a spectrum with the extent of cognitive and neuroanatomical involvement dictating the severity of developmental and behavioral disorders.
Shenal, B. V., Rhodes, R. D., & Harrison, D. W. Cardiovascular Reactivity and Hostility: The Dynamic Cerebral Laterality Effect. The purpose of the first experiment was to demonstrate dynamic cerebral lateralization to affective auditory verbal learning stress by comparing high- and low-hostile individuals' cardiovascular reactivity and bilateral sensory recognition preference following stress. Stress was induced via a cognitive task (Auditory Affective Verbal Learning Test). This experiment utilized a negative affective list learning condition, the dichotic listening presentation of dual-concurrent phonemes to the left and right ears, and car-
672
Abstracts from the 19th Annual Meeting
diovascular measures to demonstrate dynamic cerebral laterality for low- and highhostile participants. Group testing at a large state university, yielded the experimental groups composed of high-hostile and low-hostile male participants (n = 30). Cardiovascular data suggest decreased right-cerebral activation (increased left-cerebral activation) following the verbal listening task and greater right-cerebral activation following the cognitive affective stressor. As expected, significant main effects of Trial were found on HR, SBP, and DBP. Specifically, participants demonstrated decreased cardiovascular arousal after the verbal dichotic listening tasks. The purpose of the second experiment was to demonstrate dynamic cerebral lateralization to physical stress by comparing high- and low-hostile individuals' cardiovascular reactivity and bilateral sensory recognition preference following stress. Further, this experiment was designed to replicate the first experiment with a physical stressor (instead of an affective stressor) and through the visual modality (instead of the auditory modality). Stress was induced via a physical task (cold pressor stressor). This experiment utilized a physical stressor condition, the tachistoscopic presentation of dual-concurrent phonemes to the left and right visual fields, and cardiovascular measures to demonstrate dynamic cerebral laterality for low- and high-hostile participants. Group testing at a large state university, yielded the experimental groups composed of high-hostile and low-hostile male participants (n = 30). Cardiovascular data (HR, SBP, and DBP) collected during this experiment may suggest decreased right-cerebral activation (increased left-cerebral activation) following the tachistoscopic task and greater right-cerebral activation following the painful cold pressor stressor. As expected, significant main effects of Trial were found on HR, SBP, and DBP. Specifically, participants demonstrated decreased arousal after the physical stressor.
Connor, B., Humphreys, G., & Wing, A. Dissociating Neglect From Visual Scanning Deficits. We present the case of a 51-year-old male with aneurysm in the right cerebral artery in 1992 and subsequent damage to right fronto-temporo-parietal areas. He originally presented to the University of Birmingham Psychology Department in October 1996, with a variety of cognitive deficits including: left visual neglect, left extinction, poor visual localization, as well as other nonvisual cognitive problems. However, after 2+ years of participating as a research subject in visual task experiments, including a variety of line bisection tasks, recent paper and pencil testing and computerized line bisection tasks reveal little left neglect but an ongoing visual scanning defect. On a cancellation task omissions were equally distributed in the left and right visual fields, while on a cluttered page of lines to bisect there were 6/21 omissions in the left visual field on plain lines and lines bounded by stimulus endpoints, but no omissions in the right visual field. On the other hand, in the line bisection task, mean error on all lines was 1.9 mm left of center. Maximum error was 11 mm left of center on any single line, with 6/21 plain and 8/21 bounded lines bisected left of center. Similarly, on a computerized task involving moving a vertical line from either the left or right side of the screen to the midpoint of a single 8-cm line presented in the center of the screen, all stimulus types (plain and bounded lines) showed a leftward bias, with no statistically significant difference in bisection error regardless of stimulus type or visual cueing from left or right. As has previously been shown in a study of sustained attention training for unilateral neglect, these results suggest that, for some individuals with left neglect, learning a leftward compensatory strategy when it is superimposed on a nonlateralized attentional deficit, can result in a right neglect, without addressing the underlying visual scanning defect.