Referential Activity Differentially Mediates Expression of Positive and Negative Emotions in Borderline Personality Disorder.

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a high risk and prevalent personality disorder that is associated with increased negative emotions, decreased positive emotions, and impairments in symbolization and impaired reflective functioning. These dimensions, while they may impact one another, have not been investigated concurrently from qualitative, linguistic narratives. We hypothesized a BPD group would have lower expression of positive emotions and greater expression of negative emotions and less reflective function than healthy controls. Additionally, we explored the role of referential activity (an index of symbolic capacity) between BPD and healthy controls in the context of valenced emotional expression. An adult, female BPD group (n = 13) and a demographically matched healthy control group (n = 14) were recruited and administered the Adult Attachment Interview and/or the Object Relations Inventory. Computerized text analyses were used to assess positive emotion and negative emotion, the Weighted Referential Activity Dictionaries to assess referential activity, and the Computerized Reflective Function dictionary. On the Object Relations Inventory, the BPD group expressed more frequent negative emotions and less frequent positive emotions; on the Adult Attachment Interview, the BPD group exhibited less expression of positive emotions. There were no differences between BPD and controls on referential activity or reflective functioning on either interview. However, BPD status fully mediated the significant relationship between referential activity and negative emotion expression. The BPD group utilized more referential activity when expressing negative emotions than controls. Conversely, the control group utilized more referential activity when expressing positive emotions than controls. Referential activity seems to play an important role in explaining the BPD versus control difference in valenced linguistic emotional expression. Furthermore, these results suggest the object relations inventory elicits more robust linguistic features relevant to BPD.

The Impact of Hope and Resilience on Multiple Factors in Neurosurgical Patients.

The purpose of the present article is to outline and review the impact of stable psychological characteristics on the emotional and functional outcomes of neurosurgical patients. Neurosurgical patients face adversity as inherent to their diagnoses and, consequently, experience emotional distress. Despite commonalities in diagnoses, diverse outcomes are seen post-neurosurgery, which are influenced by psychological factors. Therefore, an understanding of neurosurgical patients' behavior, thoughts, and feelings surrounding their diagnoses, informed by psychological concepts, is important for both neuropsychology and neurosurgery.

Cognitive Remediation Therapy for Brain Tumor Survivors with Cognitive Deficits.

Cognitive deficits have been widely observed in patients with primary brain tumors consequent to diagnosis and treatment. Given the early onset and the relatively long survival rate of patients, it seems pertinent to study and refine the techniques used to treat these deficits. The purpose of this article is to discuss cognitive deficits that follow neurosurgical treatment for low-grade gliomas as well as to outline a neuropsychological intervention to treat these deficits, specifically working memory and attention. Cognitive remediation therapy is a neuropsychological intervention that aims to enhance attention, working memory, and executive functioning, thereby diminishing the impact of these deficits on daily functioning. Computerized cognitive remediation training programs facilitate access to treatment through providing online participation. The authors include preliminary results of three participants who have completed the computerized training program as part of an ongoing study that is investigating the efficacy of this program in patients who have undergone treatment for low-grade gliomas. The results so far suggest some improvement in working memory and attention from baseline scores. It is the hope of the present authors to highlight the importance of this treatment in the continuity of care of brain tumor survivors.