Reflections on widowhood and its effects on the self

Widowhood has not been written about extensively. Recent books in the mainstream press have focused on the experience of the acute loss. This paper describes the experience of widowhood of the author and of several other women after long marriages. It considers issues around the acute loss but also on the effects on the "self" over many years and on the adaptations and developmental changes that can occur in later years. These are related to previous aspects of the personality of each person. Psychological development can take place at the same time as the process of mourning. Implications of this experience for clinical work are discussed.

Maturation of the human dorsolateral prefrontal cortex coincides with a dynamic shift in microRNA expression

MicroRNA are small RNAs that provide specificity for the RNA induced silencing complex, which forms the basis of an exquisite combinatorial system for posttranscriptional regulation. This system, essential for complex metazoans, is exemplified in the development of the cerebral cortex. To explore the complexity of human cortical miRNA expression in detail, we analyzed RNA from postmortem prefrontal cortex from 97 subjects aged 2 months to 78 years using miRNA microarray. Global miRNA expression was highest in the early years before declining significantly after adolescence (n = 140 decreased, n = 32 increased). Late adolescence was also marked by an inflection point between miRNA on an upward trajectory vs the majority going down. Functional annotation of target genes displaying inverse mRNA expression patterns in the same tissue were overrepresented in neurodevelopmentally significant pathways including neurological disease (most significantly schizophrenia), nervous system development, and cell-to-cell signaling. As mature miRNA expression is largely posttranscriptionally regulated, miRNA biogenesis gene expression was also examined. Dicer and Exportin-5 displayed significant associations with age; however, neither correlated with global miRNA expression across the lifespan. This investigation of cortical miRNA expression provides a framework for understanding the complex posttranscriptional regulatory environment during development and aging that may form a substrate for changes observed in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Mixture modeling methods for the assessment of normal and abnormal personality, part II: longitudinal models

Studying personality and its pathology as it changes, develops, or remains stable over time offers exciting insight into the nature of individual differences. Researchers interested in examining personal characteristics over time have a number of time-honored analytic approaches at their disposal. In recent years there have also been considerable advances in person-oriented analytic approaches, particularly longitudinal mixture models. In this methodological primer we focus on mixture modeling approaches to the study of normative and individual change in the form of growth mixture models and ipsative change in the form of latent transition analysis. We describe the conceptual underpinnings of each of these models, outline approaches for their implementation, and provide accessible examples for researchers studying personality and its assessment.

The trajectory of depressive symptoms across the adult life span

IMPORTANCE

Long-term longitudinal studies are needed to delineate the trajectory of depressive symptoms across adulthood and to individuate factors that may contribute to increases in depressive symptoms in older adulthood.

OBJECTIVES

To estimate the trajectory of depressive symptoms across the adult life span; to test whether this trajectory varies by demographic factors (sex, ethnicity, and educational level) and antidepressant medication use; and to test whether disease burden, functional limitations, and proximity to death explain the increase in depressive symptoms in old age.

DESIGN

Longitudinal study.

SETTING

Community.

PARTICIPANTS

The study included 2320 participants (47.0% female; mean [SD] age at baseline, 58.1 [17.0] years; range, 19-95 years) from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Estimated trajectory of depressive symptoms modeled from 10, 982 assessments (mean [SD] assessments per participant, 4.7 [3.6]; range, 1-21) based on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale and 3 subscales (depressed affect, somatic complaints, and interpersonal problems).

RESULTS

The linear (γ10 = 0.52; P < .01) and quadratic (γ20 = 0.43; P < .01) terms were significant, which indicated that depressive symptoms were highest in young adulthood, decreased across middle adulthood, and increased again in older adulthood. The subscales followed a similar pattern. Women reported more depressed affect at younger ages, but an interaction with age suggested that this gap disappeared in old age. Accounting for comorbidity, functional limitations, and impending death slightly reduced but did not eliminate the uptick in depressive symptoms in old age.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Symptoms of depression follow a U-shaped pattern across adulthood. Older adults experience an increase in distress that is not due solely to declines in physical health or approaching death.

Identity dimensions and related processes in emerging adulthood: helpful or harmful?

OBJECTIVES

The current study evaluated the mediational role of well-being in the relationship between identity development and psychosocial functioning.

METHOD

A sample of 7,649 undergraduate students (73% female; mean age = 19.95, standard deviation = 1.98; 62% Caucasian) completed measures of personal identity, well-being, internalizing symptoms, externalizing problems, and health-risk behaviors.

RESULTS

Results revealed that (a) identity exploration and commitment were negatively associated with internalizing symptoms, health-risk behaviors, and externalizing problems through well-being, (b) ruminative exploration was negatively associated with well-being and positively associated with externalizing problems, and (c) increased levels of ruminative exploration appear more detrimental for men than for women.

CONCLUSION

The study shed light on the mechanisms through which identity processes are related to internalizing symptoms, externalizing problems, and health-risk behaviors. The role of well-being in these associations, and the potentially deleterious "side effects" of exploration and commitment appear to suggest new and important directions for identity research.

The effect of birth cohort on well-being: the legacy of economic hard times

In the present research, we examined the effects of age, cohort, and time of measurement on well-being across adulthood. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of two independent samples-one with more than 10,000 repeated assessments across 30 years (mean assessments per participant = 4.44, SD = 3.47) and one with nationally representative data-suggested that well-being declines with age. This decline, however, reversed when we controlled for birth cohort. That is, once we accounted for the fact that older cohorts had lower levels of well-being, all cohorts increased in well-being with age relative to their own baseline. Participants tested more recently had higher well-being, but time of measurement, unlike cohort, did not change the shape of the trajectory. Although well-being increased with age for everyone, cohorts that lived through the economic challenges of the early 20th century had lower well-being than those born during more prosperous times.

Effect of obesity on linear growth

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

To describe our current understanding of the mechanisms involved in the regulation of linear growth in childhood obesity.

RECENT FINDINGS

The developmental origins hypothesis has focused on low birth weight individuals with subsequent obesity, identifying a cascade of neuroendocrine regulatory factors involved in the progressive increase in body fat and metabolic risk. Yet, tall stature is the common clinical outcome of childhood obesity. Recent data have expanded our understanding of environmental influences on developing systems. Here, we review the elements of neuroendocrine systems contributing to the integration of metabolic controls involved in growth regulation in the obese child with particular emphasis on growth hormone, ghrelin, insulin-like growth factors and insulin.

SUMMARY

Growth patterns of obesity during childhood are well described, documenting increased linear growth in early childhood associated with accelerated pubertal maturation resulting in normal adult height. Despite recent data suggesting that ghrelin and the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, as well as the insulin-like growth factors, their binding proteins and insulin have potential to be mediators of nutrient exposure and linear growth, it remains to be determined how these systems interrelate and determine growth. This is an area of ongoing investigation.

Economic drivers and consequences of stunting

This paper reviews evidence addressing four questions pertinent to the understanding of the economic returns to investing in nutrition: (a) Where are the promising areas of interface between economics and nutrition? (b) What is the contribution of income growth to improving nutrition? (c) Is adult chronic disease being given too little consideration in nutrition programs? (d) More generally, are we using the right outcome measures to assess nutrition interventions?

Visual perceptual strengths and weaknesses in adults with intellectual disabilities compared with a birth year-matched norm

BACKGROUND

The ventral and dorsal streams are considered to be the brain substrates of vision for perception and action, respectively. Using the Developmental Test of Visual Perception (DTVP), the current study examined whether visual perceptual strengths and weaknesses in adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) were attributable to the dichotomy of the visual streams.

METHOD

In study 1, DTVP performance was compared among mild, moderate and severe adult ID groups; study 2 contrasted adult ID groups with and without Down syndrome (DS). To prevent possible contamination by the Flynn effect, participants were matched by birth year with the norm of the DTVP original edition.

RESULTS

Independent of the extent of ID among the three groups in study 1 and the aetiological group difference in study 2, relative strength was found for two DTVP tasks: eye-hand coordination and distinguishing target figures from interference background. Relative weakness was obtained in identifying a figural category. Participants with DS demonstrated exceptional weakness in discerning a target from either mirror-imaged or rotated alternatives, in addition to figural-category detection.

CONCLUSIONS

Visual perceptual strengths and weaknesses in persons with ID were difficult to explain on the basis of two visual streams. An interpretation originating in a different research context (e.g. frontal-lobe dysfunction) appears to be required for explaining visual perceptual weaknesses in persons with ID. For persons with DS, strong frontal-lobe dysfunction with atypical lateralisation might be the pathological determinant of visual perceptual weaknesses.

A four-stage model explaining the higher risk of Type 2 diabetes mellitus in South Asians compared with European populations

With approximately 1.5 billion people at risk, the staggeringly high risk of Type 2 diabetes in South Asians comprises a global problem. The causes of this high risk are complex, with 23 major risk factors identified in a Lancet seminar. This paper proposes a four-stage explanatory model: (1) the birth of a small, adipose, lowlean mass South Asian baby--the phenotype tracking through life; (2) in childhood and early adulthood, the deposition of any excess energy intake preferentially in upper body and ectopic fat stores rather than in the lower body or superficial subcutaneous fat stores; (3) as a consequence of points 1 and 2, and exacerbated by an environment of low physical activity and excess calories, the accelerated appearance of high levels of plasma insulin, triglycerides and glucose, and the fatty-liver vicious cycle; (4) β-cell failure as a result of fewer β-cells at birth, exposure to apoptotic triggers such as fat in the pancreas, and high demand from insulin resistance, which causes diabetes. Other risk factors--especially energy-dense hyperglycaemic diet and low physical activity--play into this pathway. The recommended behavioural changes fit with this model, which brings clarity to guide future research, policy, practice and health promotion.

Fetal programming effects of testosterone on the reward system and behavioral approach tendencies in humans

BACKGROUND

Sex differences are present in many neuropsychiatric conditions that affect emotion and approach-avoidance behavior. One potential mechanism underlying such observations is testosterone in early development. Although much is known about the effects of testosterone in adolescence and adulthood, little is known in humans about how testosterone in fetal development influences later neural sensitivity to valenced facial cues and approach-avoidance behavioral tendencies.

METHODS

With functional magnetic resonance imaging we scanned 25 8-11-year-old children while viewing happy, fear, neutral, or scrambled faces. Fetal testosterone (FT) was measured via amniotic fluid sampled between 13 and 20 weeks gestation. Behavioral approach-avoidance tendencies were measured via parental report on the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Rewards questionnaire.

RESULTS

Increasing FT predicted enhanced selectivity for positive compared with negatively valenced facial cues in reward-related regions such as caudate, putamen, and nucleus accumbens but not the amygdala. Statistical mediation analyses showed that increasing FT predicts increased behavioral approach tendencies by biasing caudate, putamen, and nucleus accumbens but not amygdala to be more responsive to positive compared with negatively valenced cues. In contrast, FT was not predictive of behavioral avoidance tendencies, either through direct or neurally mediated paths.

CONCLUSIONS

This work suggests that testosterone in humans acts as a fetal programming mechanism on the reward system and influences behavioral approach tendencies later in life. As a mechanism influencing atypical development, FT might be important across a range of neuropsychiatric conditions that asymmetrically affect the sexes, the reward system, emotion processing, and approach behavior.

Confluence of genes, environment, development, and behavior in a post Genome-Wide Association Study world

This article serves to outline a research paradigm to investigate main effects and interactions of genes, environment, and development on behavior and psychiatric illness. We provide a historical context for candidate gene studies and genome-wide association studies, including benefits, limitations, and expected payoffs. Using substance use and abuse as our driving example, we then turn to the importance of etiological psychological theory in guiding genetic, environmental, and developmental research, as well as the utility of refined phenotypic measures, such as endophenotypes, in the pursuit of etiological understanding and focused tests of genetic and environmental associations. Phenotypic measurement has received considerable attention in the history of psychology and is informed by psychometrics, whereas the environment remains relatively poorly measured and is often confounded with genetic effects (i.e., gene-environment correlation). Genetically informed designs, which are no longer limited to twin and adoption studies thanks to ever-cheaper genotyping, are required to understand environmental influences. Finally, we outline the vast amount of individual difference in structural genomic variation, most of which remains to be leveraged in genetic association tests. Although the genetic data can be massive and burdensome (tens of millions of variants per person), we argue that improved understanding of genomic structure and function will provide investigators with new tools to test specific a priori hypotheses derived from etiological psychological theory, much like current candidate gene research but with less confusion and more payoff than candidate gene research has to date.

Embodied learning across the life span

Developmental psychologists have long recognized the extraordinary influence of action on learning (Held & Hein, 1963; Piaget, 1952). Action experiences begin to shape our perception of the world during infancy (e.g., as infants gain an understanding of others' goal-directed actions; Woodward, 2009) and these effects persist into adulthood (e.g., as adults learn about complex concepts in the physical sciences; Kontra, Lyons, Fischer, & Beilock, 2012). Theories of embodied cognition provide a structure within which we can investigate the mechanisms underlying action's impact on thinking and reasoning. We argue that theories of embodiment can shed light on the role of action experience in early learning contexts, and further that these theories hold promise for using action to scaffold learning in more formal educational settings later in development.

The developmental significance of late adolescent substance use for early adult functioning

This study examines the predictive significance of late adolescent substance use groups (i.e., abstainers, experimental users, at-risk users, and abusers) for early adult adaptation. Participants (N = 159) were drawn from a prospective longitudinal study of first-born children of low-income mothers. At 17.5 years of age, participants were assigned to substance use groups on the basis of their level of substance use involvement. At 26 years, early adult competence was assessed in the areas of education, work, romantic relationships, and global adaptation. Results indicate that 17.5-year substance use group membership significantly predicted high school completion, regular involvement in a long-term romantic relationship, good or better work ethic, and good or better global adjustment at 26 years when controlling for gender; IQ; 16-year internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, parental monitoring, and peer competence; and current substance use at 26 years. Group comparisons indicate that late adolescent substance use experimenters were significantly more likely in early adulthood to have (a) a high school diploma or higher level of education compared with abstainers (OR = 8.83); (b) regular involvement in long-term romantic relationships (OR = 3.23), and good or better global adaptation (OR = 4.08) compared with at-risk users; and (c) good or better work ethic (OR = 4.04) compared with abusers. This research indicates that patterns of late adolescent substance use has implications for early adult functioning in salient developmental domains.

Withholding response in the face of a smile: age-related differences in prefrontal sensitivity to Nogo cues following happy and angry faces

The modulation of control processes by stimulus salience, as well as associated neural activation, changes over development. We investigated age-related differences in the influence of facial emotion on brain activation when an action had to be withheld, focusing on a developmental period characterized by rapid social-emotional and cognitive change. Groups of kindergarten and young school-aged children and a group of young adults performed a modified Go/Nogo task. Response cues were preceded by happy or angry faces. After controlling for task performance, left orbitofrontal regions discriminated trials with happy vs. angry faces in children but not in adults when a response was withheld, and this effect decreased parametrically with age group. Age-related changes in prefrontal responsiveness to facial expression were not observed when an action was required, nor did this region show age-related activation changes with the demand to withhold a response in general. Such results reveal age-related differences in prefrontal activation that are specific to stimulus valence and depend on the action required.

Trajectories of attentional development: an exploration with the master activation map model

The developmental trajectories of several attention components, such as orienting, inhibition, and the guidance of selection by relevance (i.e., advance knowledge relevant to the task) were investigated in 498 participants (ages 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 20). The paradigm was based on Michael et al.'s (2006) master activation map model and consisted of 3 visual search tasks presented in an intrasubject Latin square design and differing in terms of the probability with which a salient signal was associated with the target or a distractor. The results suggest that, whereas computations of salience were already proficient at age 7, and the use of advance knowledge was efficient throughout childhood, albeit without reaching adult levels, the integration of salience and relevance reached its asymptotic level at age 8. Although moving and engaging attention was proficient at age 7, disengaging attention started to improve at age 9, reaching its adult level at age 11. As regards inhibition of salient distractors, the authors found no developmental pattern before adulthood, regardless of whether advance knowledge was available about the distractor or not, although all participants were able to use such knowledge to reduce overall interference. Finally, some results suggest that the control of resources for strengthening inhibition becomes efficient between ages 9 and 10. The developmental trajectories were compared with the existing literature and discussed.

Integrating varieties of life course concepts

A body of work referred to as the "life course" framework (also known as "life course theory," the "life course paradigm," and the "life course perspective") has been increasingly used to motivate and justify the examination of the relationships among variables in social and behavioral science, particularly in the study of population health and aging. Yet, there is very little agreement on what some of these concepts mean, and there is hardly any agreement on what the "life course" is. This article focuses on the different ways in which the concept of "life course" is used in the contemporary study of aging and human development, particularly with regard to health and well-being. Clarification is given for how "life course" is distinguished from "life span" and "life cycle," among other "life" words. This work reviews the conceptual literature on the life course, beginning with its formative years in the 1960s and 1970s, through to the present time. Detailed research of several literatures across disciplines revealed five different uses of the term "life course": (a) life course as time or age, (b) life course as life stages, (c) life course as events, transitions, and trajectories, (d) life course as life-span human development, and (e) life course as early life influences (and their cumulation) on later adult outcomes. To the extent the concept of life course has a multiplicity of meanings that are at variance with one another, this is problematic, as communication is thereby hindered. On the other hand, to the extent the concept of life course involves a rich tapestry of different emphases, this is a good thing, and the diversity of meanings should be retained. This paper proposes a conceptual integration based in part on Riley's age stratification model that resolves the various meanings of life course into one general framework. Coupled with a demographic conceptualization of the life course, this framework embeds the concept of "life course" within a broader perspective of life-span development. This framework is proposed as an integrated perspective for studying the causes and consequences of "life course events and transitions" and understanding the manner by which "life events" and the role transitions they signify influence the life-span development of outcomes of interest across stages of the life cycle.

The timing of educational investment: a neuroscientific perspective

Economic models of investment in human capital sometimes refer to neuroscience as a means to support their underlying assumptions regarding human development. These assumptions have a crucial influence on the policy implications the models generate. We review the extent to which the neuroscience of development can be used to support a "learning begets learning" principle of human capital accumulation. We conclude that, although early neural development can be considered as foundational, it cannot be considered as a unitary phenomenon that proceeds in continuous fashion. Furthermore, the concept of the sensitive period, which is often used associated with the principle, suggests benefits of investment depend upon an individual's circumstances and developmental history, and particularly whether this can be classified as normal. A more recent model of investment has involved two different types of abilities, with outcomes demonstrating the value of including more sophisticated assumptions about human development. We conclude that, while current discussions of policy would benefit from a more careful interpretation of existing models, the potential for future work combining modern neuroscientific understanding with economic theory is considerable.

The two-component model of memory development, and its potential implications for educational settings

We recently introduced a two-component model of the mechanisms underlying age differences in memory functioning across the lifespan. According to this model, memory performance is based on associative and strategic components. The associative component is relatively mature by middle childhood, whereas the strategic component shows a maturational lag and continues to develop until young adulthood. Focusing on work from our own lab, we review studies from the domains of episodic and working memory informed by this model, and discuss their potential implications for educational settings. The episodic memory studies uncover the latent potential of the associative component in childhood by documenting children's ability to greatly improve their memory performance following mnemonic instruction and training. The studies on working memory also point to an immature strategic component in children whose operation is enhanced under supportive conditions. Educational settings may aim at fostering the interplay between associative and strategic components. We explore possible routes towards this goal by linking our findings to recent trends in research on instructional design.

An envisioned bridge: schooling as a neurocognitive developmental institution

The potential contribution of social science research to close the gap of knowledge between cognitive neuroscience and educational research has been underappreciated. Despite their virtual absence in the interdisciplinary dialog of neuroscience, sociology of education and related study of the cultural impact of formal education have generated research relevant to an understanding of how the social environment, such as widespread schooling, co-evolves with, and enhances neurocognitive development. Two clusters of isolated research literatures are synthesized that taken together anticipates a dynamic integration of neuroscience and education. The first cluster is on the social construction of cognition through formal education in contemporary society, including the effects of schooling on neurological and cognitive development; the demographic expansion of exposure to the developmental influence of schooling; and education's cultural impact on the meaning of the learning experience and reinforcement of cognition as the key human capability across ever more key institutions in postindustrial society. The second cluster turns the issue around by examining current investigations from neuroscience that support neurological hypotheses about the causes behind the schooling effect on neurocognitive development. We propose that further integration of these literatures will provide a more ecologically valid context in which to investigate the evolving functional architecture of the contemporary brain.

Self-development: integrating cognitive, socioemotional, and neuroimaging perspectives

This review integrates cognitive, socioemotional, and neuroimaging perspectives on self-development. Neural correlates of key processes implicated in personal and social identity are reported from studies of children, adolescents, and adults, including autobiographical memory, direct and reflected self-appraisals, and social exclusion. While cortical midline structures of medial prefrontal cortex and medial posterior parietal cortex are consistently identified in neuroimaging studies considering personal identity from a primarily cognitive perspective ("who am I?"), additional regions are implicated by studies considering personal and social identity from a more socioemotional perspective ("what do others think about me, where do I fit in?"), especially in child or adolescent samples. The involvement of these additional regions (including tempo-parietal junction and posterior superior temporal sulcus, temporal poles, anterior insula, ventral striatum, anterior cingulate cortex, middle cingulate cortex, and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex) suggests mentalizing, emotion, and emotion regulation are central to self-development. In addition, these regions appear to function atypically during personal and social identity tasks in autism and depression, exhibiting a broad pattern of hypoactivation and hyperactivation, respectively.