Forming our grief rhythm: The relational window of tolerance for bereaved parents.

The shared loss of a child can present challenges to couple relationships as both partners attempt to cope with their own grief and their partner's grief. In this longitudinal qualitative study, five bereaved parent couples participated in 13 total interviews, revealing coregulatory interactions surrounding their shared loss. Using thematic coding and grounded theory analysis, their reflections were organized into three interrelated process themes: regulating self, regulating other, and forming our grief rhythm. This article explores the complexity of the last theme "forming our grief rhythm" in-depth, and a new theoretical orientation, the relational window of tolerance, is introduced to examine how couples coregulate both fragile and stable states within their shared grief. The reflections of bereaved parents indicated that prolonged "dual fragile states" and prolonged "imbalanced states" may hinder relationship quality. In order to regain relationship stability, couples learned to trade off supporting one another and/or to resonate with one another in their shared pain. Implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed, focusing especially on how to integrate individual and relational needs into grief therapy frameworks.

Isolation and Whole-Genome Sequencing of 12 Mushroom-Associated Bacterial Strains: an Inquiry-Based Laboratory Exercise in a Genomics Course at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Here, we report the isolation, identification, and whole-genome sequences of 12 bacterial strains associated with four mushroom species. The study was done as an inquiry-based exercise in an undergraduate genomics course (BIOL 340) in the Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Codependency and Prefrontal Cortex Functioning: Preliminary Examination of Substance Use Disorder Impacted Family Members.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Substance use disorders (SUDs) have negative impacts on an entire family system and each family member may be at risk to develop a "codependency" on their SUD loved-one. Research has demonstrated that SUDs in the family environment associate with altered brain functioning of family members; however, research has not examined specific associations between codependency and brain functioning. METHODS: Prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation of family members (n = 38) was assessed using functional near-infrared spectroscopy as they viewed images of a SUD loved-one (experimental group; n = 26) or of a "target family member" (control group; n = 12). Correlations between PFC activation and codependency were examined. RESULTS: A significant negative association was found between codependency and left dorsomedial PFC activation in response to images of a loved-one with a SUD. This association was significantly larger than that found in the control group in response to a target family member, and that found in response to other affective images. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: The left dorsomedial PFC is associated with executive functioning during responses to emotional and social situations. Findings may suggest that family members experiencing codependency may be limited in effectively responding to their SUD loved-one, and highlight the importance of systemic treatment and family member recovery. SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: Codependency is often discussed as a learned condition and research has only recently examined brain processes of family members with a loved-one with a SUD. This research is the first to demonstrate an association between codependency and PFC functioning. (Am J Addict 2019;28:367-375).

Exploring Similarity and Stability of Differentiation in Relationships: A Dyadic Study of Bowen's Theory.

Bowen family systems theory (BFST) identifies differentiation of self as a crucial characteristic that relates to one's individual and relational maturity. Bowen theorizes that an individual's level of differentiation typically remains static over time and that individuals select and pair in relationships with others who have similar levels of differentiation. This study aimed to test the hypotheses of BFST by using components of differentiation of self, emotional reactivity, and emotional cutoff, in dyadic structural equation modeling. Specifically, a longitudinal dyadic confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation longitudinal panel model were two analyses utilized to statistically test the dyadic nonindependence and stability of emotional reactivity and emotional cutoff across time. Results indicated mixed support for Bowen's assumptions regarding similarity (nonindependence) and stability. That is, small levels of nonindependence and significant stability paths across time were found. Theoretical implications and considerations for future research are discussed.

Hope, coping skills, and the prefrontal cortex in alcohol use disorder recovery.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol use disorders adversely affect individual and societal health. These disorders are a chronic brain disease, and protective factors against relapse should be studied. Prefrontal cortex (PFC) dysfunction is evident in alcohol use disorders, and research that explores recovery of the PFC in alcohol use disorders is needed, specifically in regard to how psychological and behavioral factors can augment medicalized treatments and protect against relapse. For example, hope or a belief that recovery is possible is an important cognitive construct-thought to precede behavioral action-that has been associated with relapse. OBJECTIVES: In this study, associations between healthy coping skills and hope (psychological/behavioral factors) and PFC regional activation in response to alcohol cue exposure were examined. It was also examined whether such associations were unique to alcohol cues. METHODS: Forty-two participants, 32 males and nine females in recovery from an alcohol use disorder (AUD), were administered a subjective hope and coping in recovery measure. They also viewed alcohol, positive, negative, and neutral cues during functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIR) PFC assessment. RESULTS: Levels of healthy coping skills positively correlated with activation in the right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) in response to alcohol cues. This finding was unique to alcohol cues. CONCLUSION: The association between coping skills and activation of the right DMPFC in response to alcohol cues may reflect greater action restraint and top-down PFC control processing that may protect against relapse.

Functional near infrared spectroscopy as a potential biological assessment of addiction recovery: preliminary findings.

BACKGROUND: Addiction science has primarily utilized self-report, continued substance use, and relapse factors to explore the process of recovery. However, the entry into successful abstinence substantially reduces our assessment abilities. Advances in neuroscience may be the key to objective understanding, treating, and monitoring long-term success in addiction recovery. OBJECTIVES: To explore functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIR) as a viable technique in the assessment of addiction-cue reactivity. Specifically, prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation to alcohol cues was explored among formally alcohol-dependent individuals, across varying levels of successful abstinence. The aim of the investigation was to identify patterns of PFC activation change consistent with duration of abstinence. METHODS: A total of 15 formally alcohol-dependent individuals, with abstinence durations ranging from 1 month to 10 years, viewed alcohol images during fNIR PFC assessment. Participants also subjectively rated the same images for affect and arousal level. RESULTS: Subjective ratings of alcohol cues did not significantly correlate with duration of abstinence. As expected, days of abstinence did not significantly correlate with neutral cue fNIR reactivity. However, for alcohol cues, fNIR results showed increased days of abstinence was associated with decreased activation within the dorsolateral and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex regions. CONCLUSIONS: The present results suggest that fNIR may be a viable tool in the assessment of addiction-cue reactivity. RESULTS also support previous findings on the importance of dorsolateral and dorsomedial PFC in alcohol-cue activation. The findings build upon these past results suggesting that fNIR-assessed activation may represent a robust biological marker of successful addiction recovery.