CJSP - FrontWrites

 It is well established that exercise is critical for a healthy human body, but it has also provided unique benefits to the vascular and cellular systems that are necessary for a healthy brain. While exercise benefits have been measured in humans of all ages, preclinical models have provided us the systematic opportunity to measure the mechanisms by which exercise protects and supports the brain. In the past twenty-five years, rodent models have established that greater levels of physical activity (eg., voluntary access to a running wheel; or, consistent access to a treadmill with scheduled sessions) elevate neurotrophic factors in the hippocampal and cortical sites, which stimulating and maintains neurotransmission to all areas of the brain. Greater levels of physical occupation facilitate proliferation, maturation, and survival of the dentate gyrus cells, which is necessary for adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Rodent studies are invaluable in this respect, because they demonstrate...

  Child development and early learning are labeled in different terms and organized in different ways in the different fields and disciplines that research, practice, and make policy about children from birth to age 8. In order to organize the discussion in this report, the committee chose to use this approach and these overarching terms. It is not the committee's intention to suggest that this is a best set of terms or a best categorization organization. In fact, it is also imperative to emphasize that the domains shown in also do not exist easily separated or categorized and one could build a case for multiple different categorizations.  For instance, not only do different disciplines classify or categorize different general cognitive processes under the categorical term "executive function", but also general cognitive processes relate to learning competencies like persistence and engagement. In the same way, self-regulation also has cognitive and emotional aspects to s...

  All theories have been proposed to mask confusion, arriving eventually at an affective stance towards what is now termed periods of cognitive dissonance or cognitive disequilibrium (Piaget, 1952). For Kurt Lewin, such a state is a struggle to recognize, assimilate, and accommodate the impediments in the way—a conflict with what is already known. There has been a fair amount of debate and contentious meaning changing about confusion as a substantive entity, but it seems generally accepted that putative experiences of confusion are based on the mismatch of information—a disjunction of information—made between a learning with a prior knowledge. One definition of frustration could be a sensation that occurs when thwarting action stands in the way of a goal. For example, confronting a dead end, or failing to achieve an aim are likely to produce feelings of anger and/or low self-esteem. Conceptually, the typical process of frustration includes a frustrating act with a goal or exp...

  Severe childhood trauma and abuse is often the underlying cause of dissociative identity disorder. In this sense, rather than taking the approach of blaming the client's suggestibility and use of imagination, Dalenberg and his colleagues have examined the role that trauma has in the development of the dissociative symptoms. Several studies have noted that it is a combination of the cognitive suggestion effects and some horrible traumas, be it in a sexual, emotional or physical sense. Traumatic stress can induce a person to take the view that their experiences are not real, leading to symptoms like insomnia and posttraumatic dissociation, or the experience of being separate from your body. The fantasy suggetion theory describes the way these symptoms are more common in those that have a potential psychological precondition to be more vulnerable because of the influence of the media and social isolation. Experienced psychologists and psychiatric professionals use a comprehens...

Many people believe that chronological age is the most important indicator of illness and death.  However, when it comes to the development of health problems and mortality, there is a great deal of individual variance.  Therefore, identifying indicators of biological age and the variables influencing them is essential from a scientific and therapeutic standpoint.  Telomere length (TL) is one such indicator.  TL can predict cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk variables at any age, albeit it tends to decline with age.  Additionally, people with age-related diseases including diabetes and atherosclerosis have shorter telomeres. Telomere shortening appears to be influenced by stress.  The correlations between TL, stress levels, and stress-related thoughts will be examined in this talk, along with the potential effects of mindfulness meditation and its potential advantages when used independently of stress.  Longer life expectancies are contributing to...

 It was previously believed that personality traits were fixed in a person, but there is now evidence to show that they can be altered when undergoing coaching or therapy. Personality assessments can help make treatment more customized for people with bipolar disorder by determining those who are likely to have difficulty in everyday functioning or recurrent depression. Upon studying data of over 1,000 people, scientists found combinations of personality types that enhance or reduce long-term mental health issues. High neuroticism was often seen to be a risk factor, while low neuroticism and other well-balanced personality characteristics were shown to be protective in nature. The idea that personality is unchanging is challenged by these results, which suggest that traits may be modifiable via coaching or therapy. Key Points: Predictive Styles: Some personality types predict depression. Modifiable Traits: Therapy can increase traits that were previously believed to be set. ...