Schizophrenia is often associated with severe difficulties in social functioning, resulting in increased isolation and subsequent loneliness. Interpersonal distance - the amount of space around an individual's body during social interaction - can signal such difficulties. However, little is known about how individuals with schizophrenia regulate their interpersonal distance during social encounters. Summarizing the current empirical findings of interpersonal distance regulation in schizophrenia can bring novel perspectives for understanding interpersonal difficulties observed in this clinical population.
The authors discuss diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of flexion adduction contractures of the thumb - so-called congenital clasped thumb - in patient with distal arthrogryposis type I. The diagnosis is based on classification of distal arthrogryposis elaborated by Hall et al. in 1982. For the prognosis of the deformity and strategy of treatment it is an advantage to divide congenital clasped thumb (CCT) into four groups, as recommended by Weckesser et al. in 1968. The demonstrated patient belongs according to the mentioned criteria into group 2. Associated congenital developmental defects were dealt with in preschool age - a tracheal cyst, inguinal hernias, cryptorchism. Orthopaedic treatment extended over a long period (from 3 months to 12 years); the surgical operations were performed in several stages. The very satisfactory functional results or the reconstruction operations of the hands could not be expressed objectively by EMG examination of the thenar musculature due to hypotrophy and a fixed flexion adduction contracture. Repeated EMG examinations of selected muscles of the upper and lower extremity revealed progression of a neurogenic lesion. An important dermatoglyphic finding was the vertical course of the main papillary lines, the monkey line of the palms and absence of flexional lines of the fingers. Key words: flexion adduction contracture of the thumbs, congenital clasped thumb, distal arthrogryposis, surgery of the hand, electromyography, dermatoglyphs.
Using 212 adolescents from a central-European country (mean age = 14.02, SD = 2.05, ranged from 11 to 18 years; females = 54%) and a multi-informant method to measure adolescents' behavioral and emotional adjustments, the present study explored three aspects regarding the attachment hierarchy. (1) The three types of behavioral systems of Rosenthal and Kobak's important people interview (IPI) were initially validated using an exploratory factor analysis with a US sample. Using a confirmatory factor analysis with a Czech sample, we replicated these three behavioral systems: attachment bond, support seeking, and affiliation. (2) We found that adolescents who developed attachment bond to multiple primary attachment figures were likely to score lower on both teacher-rated and parent-rated internalizing problems compared to those who had a single primary attachment figure. These multiple primary attachment figures tended to be family members (not peers). (3) Early adolescents who placed parents low in their attachment hierarchy scored higher on self-reported negative affect and lower on self-reported positive affect compared to early adolescents who placed parents high. The present study highlights multiple (vs. single) primary attachment figures as a protective factor and the premature reorganization of attachment hierarchy as a risk factor for adolescents' emotional and affective adjustments.
Social touch seems to modulate emotions, but its brain correlates are poorly understood. Here, we investigated if frontal power band activity in the electroencephalogram (EEG) during aversive mental imagery is modulated by social touch from one’s romantic partner and a stranger. We observed the highest theta and beta power when imaging alone, next so when being touched by a stranger, with lowest theta and beta activity during holding hands with the loved one. Delta power was higher when being alone than with a stranger or a partner, with no difference between the two. Gamma power was highest during the stranger condition and lower both when being alone and with the partner, while alpha power did not change as a function of social touch. Theta power displayed a positive correlation with electrodermal activity supporting its relation to emotional arousal. Attachment style modulated the effect of touch on the EEG as only secure but not insecure partner bonding was associated with theta power reductions. Because theta power was sensitive to the experimental perturbations, mapped onto peripheral physiological arousal and reflected partner attachment style we suggest that frontal theta power might serve as an EEG derived bio‐marker for social touch in emotionally significant dyads.
The primary attachment figure shifts from parents to romantic partners in the course of development. The present study examined how this developmental shift occurs during adolescence and how its shift influences adolescents’ developmental outcomes.
Abstract Social touch may modulate emotions, but the neurobehavioral correlates are poorly understood. Here, we investigated neural responses to a picture of a deceased close person and if neural activity and connectivity are modulated by social touch from one’s romantic partner. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we found altered reactivity in several brain areas including the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the anterior insula in response to the personal picture compared to a picture of an unfamiliar person. Hand holding with the romantic partner, compared to being alone, reduced reactivity in the ACC and cerebellum and provided subjective comfort. To separate physical touch from the emotional effect of partner presence, we evaluated hand holding with the partner relative to a stranger and found reduced reactivity in the anterior insula. Connectivity between the anterior insula and the ACC was reduced during partner touch, and the connectivity strength was negatively related to attachment security, with higher reported partner security associated with weaker connectivity. Overall, holding hands with one’s partner attenuates reactivity in emotional brain areas and reduces between-region connectivity.
