فصلنامه علوم اعصاب شفای خاتم
سال نهم شماره 4 (پیاپی 49، پاییز 1400)

This study aimed to investigate the predictive role of the affective and emotional composite temperament (AFECT) model concerning negative attitudes toward delinquency in secondary high school students.

This study was a descriptive- correlational investigation and its statistical population was all secondary high school students of Ardabil city. 221 students were selected using the multi- stage cluster sampling method. Data was collected by Affective and Emotional Temperament questionnaires, Lara (2012) and Questionnaire of Delinquency, Fazli (2010). Pearson correlation and stepwise regression were used to analyze data.

The results revealed that the anger, inhibition, and sensitivity of the AFECT model have a negative and significant relationship with a negative attitude towards delinquency, and control. Furthermore, coping has a significant positive relationship with negative attitudes towards delinquency. Among the affective temperaments, anxiety, obsession, euthymia, and hyperthermia have a positive and significant relationship with a negative attitude towards delinquency. Moreover, apathetic, cyclothymic, volatile, and euphoric had a negative and significant relationship with negative attitudes towards delinquency.

Our data have important implications for use of the AFECT model with the aim of identifying groups at risk of delinquency and can be used to design preventive interventions to reduce the occurrence of delinquent behavior in students.

The purpose of the present study was the comparison of phonological skills, memory self-cued and around- cued, and selective attention on students with and without dyslexia.

The statistical population of the present study was normal and dyslexic male students of the fifth and sixth grades of Tabriz, Iran primary schools in 2018-2019. Multi- stage sampling methods were used to select the participants. For data collection, the phonological skills Landerl, memory self- cued, and around-cued Crawford et al, and Stroop test were used.

There is a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the two groups in the skills of naming numbers, verbal fluidity and voice exchange, memory- centered and peripheral memory, and the number of errors and time of attention. Dyslexic students have lower phonological skills, memory, and selective attention.

Attentions are required to the role of phonological skills, memory improvement, and selective attention in dyslexic students.

Attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has several negative consequences. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation on improving executive functions (planning and problem solving) in children with ADHD and symptoms of this disorder (attention deficit, hyperactivity /impulsivity).

This is a quasi- experimental study. The statistical population of this study was children with ADHD aged 7-12 years who were referred to Armaghane Psychiatric Neurology Clinic, Shiraz, Iran. Thirty individuals were selected through purposive sampling and randomly divided into experimental and control groups (15 in each group). The experimental group underwent cognitive rehabilitation. All participants were assessed before and after the intervention using the Snape Scale and the Tower of London Test.

Analysis of pre- test and post- test data indicated that the experimental group had improvement in executive functions (planning and problem- solving) and attention deficit, as well as hyperactivity /impulsivity syndrome, compared to the control group.

Designing and using cognitive rehabilitation programs for children with ADHD improve executive functions and consequently the symptoms of this disorder.

According to the previous studies, the role of psychological factors in the incidence of heart disease is undeniable. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between behavioral and metacognitive brain systems sensitivity and emotion regulation in heart patients.

The present study is a descriptive correlational study. The statistical population of this study consists of patients (n=180) with heart failure in the Cardiovascular Center of Shahid Madani Tabriz, Iran in 2018. The sample was selected based on the Morgan table and using the available sampling method (n=120). Gary Wilson's personality questionnaires, Wells metacognition, and Gratz and Romer's emotional disorder were used to collect data.

Our findings have shown that emotional disorder has a negative and significant relationship with the behavioral activating system and a positive and significant relationship with behavioral inhibition systems and war and escape. There is also a positive and significant relationship between emotional distress and positive beliefs about worry, negative beliefs about worry, cognitive confidence, and cognitive awareness. There was no relationship between emotional disorder and superstition, punishment, and responsibility. The results of regression analysis also showed that volatile variables, behavioral inhibition system, and behavioral activator were able to predict changes in emotional variability in heart patients, respectively.

The sensitivity of behavioral and metacognitive brain systems plays an important role in emotion regulation in patients with heart failure.

We encounter different information or stimuli. However, the combination of these stimuli and the quality of their presentation can influence our perception and decision. Despite the importance of these combined stimuli to our judgments and decisions, it is not yet clear how the characteristics of these stimuli affect the decision- making processes. For example, it is not clear whether the time interval between the information we receive can affect the accuracy and speed of decision- making. This study aimed to investigate the effect of the time interval between two different visual stimuli on perceptual decision- making.

According to psychophysical experiments, it was possible to measure the response to perceptual stimuli and compare perceptual choices. In a Random Dot Motion (RDM), the task was displayed to the participants as the primary visual stimulus and a graphic cue as the second visual stimulus, at different intervals, and then the participant's decision accuracy and reaction time to each of these two stimuli were recorded and analyzed.

We found that in RDM (primary stimulus), the accuracy of participants' decisions is not affected by the time interval between the presentation of two stimuli. Instead, the accuracy of the response to the Cue (second visual stimulus) decreases in long time intervals between two stimuli. Interestingly, if two stimuli are presented simultaneously, the decision about each of these stimuli is reasonably accurate; yet, the speed of the decision- making process is slower than when a person encounters two stimuli separated by a time interval.

The human visual system can distinguish visual stimuli that are presented with a short time interval in between; however, in exchange for correctly identifying these stimuli, the speed of decision- making may be slowed down.

The decision- making process in the human brain is controlled by two mechanisms: Pavlovian and instrumental learning systems. The Pavlovian system learns the stimulus- outcome association independent of action; a process that manifests itself in the tendency to approach reward- associated stimuli. The instrumental controller, on the other hand, learns the action- outcome association. Instrumental learning is not limited to the current action's outcome and may evaluate a sequence of future actions in the form of forward planning. Nonetheless, forward planning may not be the only planning process used by instrumental learning. Humans may also use backward planning to evaluate actions sequences. However, backward planning has received less attention so far. Previous research has shown that despite the independence of Pavlovian and instrumental learning, they interact with each other such that the Pavlovian approach tendency biases forward planning, causing it to make decisions that may not be optimal actions from the instrumental learning perspective. Nevertheless, the effect of Pavlovian learning on backward planning has not yet been studied.

This paper designs a navigation experiment that allows investigating forward, backward, and bidirectional planning. Moreover, we embed Pavlovian approach cues into the maps to investigate how they bias the three forms of planning.

Statistical analysis of the collected data indicates the existence of backward planning and shows that the Pavlovian- approach cues bias the planning. This bias is stronger in forward planning compared to backward planning and is even stronger in bidirectional planning. In the context of reinforcement learning, we developed a bidirectional planning algorithm under the Pavlovian approach tendency.

The simulation results are consistent with the experimental results and indicate that the effect of Pavlovian bias can be modeled as pruning of decision trees.

As multiple sclerosis (MS) affects both the body and mind, people with MS need to be treated by both pharmacological and psychological interventions. Psychological interventions include using a variety of counseling and psychotherapy approaches, such as mindfulness- based cognitive therapy and compassion-focused therapy. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of mindfulness- based cognitive therapy and compassion-focused therapy on resilience and psychological well- being in patients with MS.

This study was semi-experimental with a pre- test, post- test control group design. This study consisted of all men with MS in Tabriz who were members of the MS Society in 2018. In total, 30 men were selected and randomly divided into three groups by a purposive sampling method. Members of both experimental groups received their treatment, respectively, in eight sessions of 1.5 hours; however, the control group did not receive any treatment.

There was no significant difference between resilience and psychological well-being scores in the treatment and control groups in the pre-test. The results showed that mindfulness- based cognitive therapy and compassion-focused therapy compared to the control group led to increased resilience & psychological well-being in MS patients in the post- test. In the follow-up phase, the effect of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and compassion-focused therapy on resilience and psychological well-being persisted. Furthermore, the impact of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and compassion-focused therapy on resilience and psychological well-being in the post-test and follow- up was significantly not different. 

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and compassion-focused therapy are likely to reduce anxiety, thereby better coping with the disease and increasing resilience and psychological well- being in patients with MS.

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common chronic diseases in children, which potentially threatens their life. This disease affects the mood, personality, and emotions of children and families. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the transdiagnostic treatment program (TTP) on improving the quality of life and reducing depression in children with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D).

This experimental study has been done on 22 children with T1D who were referred to two medical centers located in Tehran, Iran in 2020. The patients were randomized into 2 groups; 1) intervention with TTP (n=10, 15 sessions, 60-minute ‎) and 2) control (n=12). The Child Depression Inventory and the Pediatric Quality of Life Questionnaire, before, after, and one month following treatment filled out by participants.

Our findings revealed that the intervention group showed a significant decrease in the mean of the variable of depression (-0.66 vs. -0.15, P<0.001) and an increase in quality of life components such as physical functioning (0.71 vs. 0.1, P<0.001), emotional functioning (0.74 vs. -0.02, P<0.001), social performance (0.56 vs. 0.02, P<0.001) and school performance (0.68 vs. 0.15, P<0.001) compared to the control group.

The results of the present study showed that TTP will be an effective method to reduce depression and increase the quality of life of children with TD1.

Transcranial direct- current stimulation is a nerve modulation technique that induces low- intensity direct current to brain cells that stimulate or inhibit spontaneous neural activity. In recent decades, the use of electrical stimulation has been used as an effective method to improve the cognitive, psychological, and physical performance of athletes. In this study, using meta- analysis, the effectiveness of extracranial electrical stimulation on optimizing athletes' performance was investigated.

The present study is a systematic review and meta-analysis research model. In the first phase of the study, all Persian and English studies on the effectiveness of Transcranial direct- current stimulation on athlete's performance were systematically reviewed (N=474), and among them, studies with meta- analysis criteria were reviewed by Meta- Analysis Basics and Applications (N=26). In the second stage, a specific intervention model for athletes was developed based on various components affecting performance.

The results showed the effect size (ES) of transcranial direct- current stimulation (Cohen's d=1.187) is large according to Cohen's table (Cohen's D>0.8). Therefore, transcranial direct- current stimulation improves the performance of athletes. In the second stage, the factors affecting the performance of athletes following transcranial direct- current stimulation were developed in the form of a specific intervention model for athletes.

The findings of this meta- analysis showed a large ES for transcranial direct- current stimulation on athletic performance optimization.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory neurological disease with unknown etiology that causes demyelination and axonal damage through the activation of the immune system and entry of leukocytes into the CNS. Although various genetic and environmental factors have been proposed for the initiation and progression of MS, exact mechanisms that cause this disorder are not known. In recent years, the role of non- coding RNAs (ncRNA) has been extensively investigated in the pathogenesis of various diseases, including CNS disorders. A subgroup of ncRNAs that have a length of more than 200 nucleotides is called long non- coding RNAs or lncRNAs. The Discovery of lncRNAs and their role in gene expression regulation has opened a new area of research in cell biology as well as in studies that focus on disease mechanisms. Several investigations have suggested that lncRNAs regulate immune cells and immunological processes, including those affecting CNS disorders. This review article is focused on the role of lncRNA in the pathogenesis of MS.

lncRNAs regulate gene expression and cellular functions, including proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. lncRNAs are important players in human health and disease. They are also involved in the activation and functioning of innate and adaptive immune cells and hence in immune- related disorders. Understanding the type and function of lncRNAs involved in the pathogenesis of MS can promote the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.