Providentia

Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation for obsessive compulsive disorder

 Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common psychiatric disorder that can be chronic and debilitating if not properly treated. Current first-line treatments for OCD include cognitive-behavioral therapy with exposure and response prevention (CBT) and serotonin uptake inhibitor medications (SRI); however, these therapies are not effective for all individuals. Areas covered Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS) has been hypothesized to be an effective alternative for individuals with treatment-resistant OCD. dTMS has thought to be favorable due to its low side effect profile and its minimally invasive nature. A new review published in Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, evaluates the current research on effectiveness of dTMS therapy for individuals with treatment-resistant OCD. This review also investigates shortcomings in current dTMS research and the hypothesized future of dTMS therapy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)

For the abstract

Can an intelligent personal assistant (IPA) be your friend? Para-friendship development mechanism between IPAs and their users.

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the creation of human-like intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and imitate intelligent human behavior. Among the various AI devices available to consumers, the most prevalent is an intelligent personal assistant (IPA). However, IPAs have advanced technologically, and their higher skills now provide consumers with more than just functional and utilitarian benefits. A new study published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior addresses this issue by examining the mechanism with which users develop virtual friendships with IPAs. While IPAs have reached the stage of sensing and imitating human emotions, less is understood about whether users perceive emotional traits in their IPAs and identify these devices as a friend with whom they can share their honest feelings and exchange social support, and thus they continuously use their IPAs. This study addresses this issue by investigating the mechanism with which users develop para-friendships with IPAs. This study provides further insights into this aspect by showing that self-disclosure and social support are the two important components that facilitate the development of para-friendships with IPAs. Both self-disclosure and social support are affected by the feeling that users' IPAs are real and present around them in terms of a sense of intimacy, understanding, enjoyability, and involvement. The results showed that enjoyability is also critical in building parafriendships. Enjoyability is the feeling that IPAs are fun, friendly, pleasant, and enjoyable to interact with. Involvement with IPAs was found to be another important trait that enhanced para-friendships. Finally, the study expanded the understanding of human-IPA interactions by investigating whether and how the para-friendship mechanism between IPAs and their users differ by the users' personal tendency to feel lonely or isolated from others. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)

For the abstract

The Road to Better Mobile Mental Health Apps

Practicing psychologists are being faced with the reality that mobile mental health apps for smartphones and tablet devices are increasing in popularity. This growth area within e-mental health has been well documented in Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. A new article published in this journal provides an update on the issues of safety and efficacy in mental health app development, two of the biggest concerns that practicing psychologists have about these new digital tools. Governments and medical authorities are wrestling with how to regulate the health app market to avoid harm to users. At the same time, a lack of research into the efficacy and effectiveness of most mental health apps in the various app stores leaves clinicians and consumers with uncertainty. The vast majority of the limited research to date has been completed by those involved in an app’s development. Further independent research and replication are required to demonstrate legitimacy and increase the acceptance of mental health apps as valid sources of therapy. Complicating this issue is disparity about an acceptable methodology for examining the effectiveness of a mental health app. This article proposes a new approach to incorporate multiple baseline single-case designs to increase the amount of evidence and to guide larger-scale randomized controlled trials, something that could and should include practicing psychologists. This novel approach also proposes that mental health apps undergo a new “certification” process with the participation of app store marketplaces.

For the abstract

Can Digital Mental Health Make a Difference?

There is no disputing that we are currently facing a crisis in mental health care.   Even before the coronavirus crisis, there simply weren't enough psychologists, psychiatrists, and other health professionals for people in need.

Nearly one person in five suffers from some form of mental or substance abuse disorder and the cost to society, including reduced productivity, death rates, and medical disability expenses, are a major drain on health care systems across the U.S.  But, despite thus rising need for mental health services,  the actual number of health professionals providing these services is barely holding steady. According to a 2019 report released by the Health Resources and Services Administration, the supply of workers in selected behavioral health professions will be approximately 250,000 workers short of the projected demand in 2025.  And a 2017 report from the physician search firm Merritt Hawkins titled, "Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives" indicates that psychiatrists will be in particularly short supply.  

To read more, check out my new Psychology Today blog post.

Predicting Dementia With a Smartwatch

As part of a broad-based project by Alzheimer's Research UK, a million British people over the age of 40 will begin wearing special smartwatches designed to help detect early signs of dementia.  Over the three years of the planned study, the prototype smartwatches will monitor over thirty potential indicators of dementia, including changes in speech, fine motor skills, memory, and sleep patterns.   Researchers are hoping to use the data collected in the study to identify early "fingerprints" that will allow them to predict people at risk for developing dementia later in life.   All participants have been recruited by the U.K. government's Accelerating Detection of Disease programme.

In a recent article in the Daily Telegraph, former British Prime Minister David Cameron, who is current president of Alzheimer's Research UK, described the new project as an example of how technology can be use to help dementia sufferers who are "slipping into a world of darkness".   "It has an achievable aim: to develop a gadget - a combination of a wearable device and smartphone app - to detect the earliest digital fingerprints of a disease," he wrote.  "‘This isn’t some Big Brother intervention. Just as we measure our cholesterol levels to tell us when we need a statin, we need to identify these fingerprints of diseases such as Alzheimer’s to see when we need a statin for the brain.... As prime minister, I was determined to prove this wasn’t an inevitable part of ageing but was being caused by diseases of the brain that can be tackled with research.  That’s why I put the issue on the global agenda, through summits such as the G8, and we doubled the research funding at home. And it’s why I made it my focus post-politics."

Carol Routledge, director of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, stressed the importance of Early Detection of Neurodegenerative diseases (EDoN) technology in detecting diseases in the very early stages.  "Our research shows that 85% of UK adults would be willing to take a test that could tell them if they were in the early stages of a disease like Alzheimer’s, even before symptoms show," she said in a recent media interview.  "EDoN aims to harness the growing popularity of digital health technology and big data to revolutionise how we develop early tests for these diseases. Developing digital fingerprints that can be detected using phone apps or wearable technologies like smart watches would provide a low-cost approach to identifying those most at risk of disease,” says 

Dementia is already the leading cause of death in the U.K. and, in many cases, failure to make a proper diagnosis in the early stages can mean a significant delay in receiving treatment.  While there is, at present, no cure for more types of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, early diagnosis and treatment can help slow down decline and allow people with dementia to remain functioning as long as possible. 

The initiative is a collaboration between Alzheimer’s Research UK and organisations including the Alan Turing Institute, University College London, and Newcastle, Exeter and Cambridge universities.   Partially sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the project hopes to secure at least £67 million in funding in the first six years and up to £100 million by 2030.

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McDonalds Japan Reeling Over "Adult Cream Pie" Storm

It must have seemed like a good idea at the time.

When McDonald Japan released a creamy new dessert option at outlets across the country this month, they were likely pleased at the buzz it generated on Facebook and Twitter.   Unfortunately, they quickly realized that conversations about the new dessert had nothing to do with the dessert itself, only its name.

The dessert, a cream pie available in semi-sweet "fromage" and Belgian chocolate flavours, had been released under the name, Otona No Kuriimu Pai (大人のクリームパイ).   While the direct English translation,  “Cream Pie for Grownups”, seems harmless enough,  the English-language Twitterverse quickly came up  with a more titillating alternative:  Adult Cream Pie.

As numerous Twitter and Facebook posters pointed out, the "Adult" in "Adult CreamPie" immediately linked it to the various pornographic videos and other products marketed as "adult" content.  For that matter, "cream pie" had long been associated with slang for a very lewd sex act.  While most of the intended customers for the new dessert probably had no idea that the name was so controversial,  stories about the "Adult Cream Pie" Twitter storm quickly spread on major English-language news outlets around the world, including Kotaku, News.Com.Au, GaijinPot, Lad Bible and Daily Mail.

But the media storm has also sparked controversy over whether an English mistranslation of a Japanese product name should be taken so seriously.   Not only is Otona No Kuriimu Pai perfectly innocuous in the original Japanese, but many  commentators question whether marketing campaigns aimed at Japanese consumers should be concerned about how Japan's English-speaking minority might react.  As independent journalist Thoton Akimoto pointed out in responding to callscalls on Twitter that McDonald's should have asked a native English-speaker to review the product name before launch,  " I don't agree. Otona No Kuriimu Pai is Japanese. Whatever the English-speaking world thinks it means has nothing to with Japan. For example, even if we Japanese think it's strange when Italians say “Ti Manco” (note: this phrase includes a sexual slang word in Japanese), we would never complain."

This latest controversy follows closely on an embarrassing announcement by the Japanese car maker Subaru over the launch of its new Forester Unlimited Customized Kit Special edition (F.U.C.K.S. for short) on the Singapore market.   While Subaru of America quickly distanced itself from the launch,  the inevitable problems caused by language and culture clashes mean that more stories about Japanese cream pies and other media controversies seem inevitable.

Where Are We Going With Human Augmentation?

Human augmentation is a field of research that aims to enhance human abilities through medicine or technology. This has historically been achieved by consuming chemical substances that improve a selected ability or by installing implants which require medical operations. Both of these methods of augmentation can be invasive. Augmented abilities have also been achieved with external tools, such as eyeglasses, binoculars, microscopes or highly sensitive microphones. Lately, augmented reality and multimodal interaction technologies have enabled non-invasive ways to augment human. In a new article published in the journal International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, we first discuss the field and related terms. We provide relevant definitions based on the present understanding of the field. This is followed by a summary of existing work in augmented senses, action, and cognition. Our contribution to the future includes a model for wearable augmentation. In addition, we present a call for research to realize this vision. Then, we discuss future human abilities. Wearable technologies may act as mediators for human augmentation, in the same manner as eyeglasses once revolutionized human vision. Non-invasive and easy-to-use wearable extensions will enable lengthening the active life for aging citizens or supporting the full inclusion of people with special needs in society, but there are also potential problems. Therefore, we conclude by discussing ethical and societal issues: privacy, social manipulation, autonomy and side effects, accessibility, safety and balance, and unpredictable future. 

For the abstract

The Brain of Eadweard Muybridge

On October 17, 1872,  Major Harry Larkyns received an unexpected visitor.  

A well-known bon vivant, drama critic, and traveler, Larkyns certainly had his share of friends (and enemies) dropping in on him without prior warning.   Still, given that he was visiting the Yellow Jacket mine in Napa Country, Nevada at the time (he had some financial interests there), there was no advance warning of what was about to descent on him.    On answering the door, Larkyns was confronted by a total stranger who simply stated, "Good evening, Major, my name is Muybridge and here's the answer to the letter you sent my wife."  He then shot Larkyns at point blank range. 

While the wound was serious, Larkyns was still able to retreat back into the house where he had been staying.  Muybridge followed him in and was prepared to shoot Larkyns again when several of the other people staying in the house intervened.   Larkyns died soon afterward.   As for the man who shot him, he surrendered to mine officials without any argument and allowed himself to be taken into police custody.   It was only after his arrest that he was identified as Eadweard Muybridge, a professional photographer who had already made a considerable name for himself with his magnificent photographs of Yosemite Valley.   At the time, he had been working for the Bradley and Rulofson photography studio in San Francisco though his most illustrious contributions to photography would occur later in his future.     

As for his motive in killing Larkyn, that apparently stemmed from Muybridge's  recent marriage to 21-year-old Flora Shalcross Stone.  Described by newspapers at the time as a "handsome woman of petite but plump figure",  her marriage to Muybridge likely surprised most people given the age difference (he was 47 at the time).    Despite doting on his new wife,  he was still enraged after discovering that she had been in a long-time relationship with Major Larkyns.   What made it even worse was that Larykns seemed determined to continue that relationship despite knowing about her new marriage.   

There was also the question of Flora's son, Floraldo, born soon after her marriage to Muybridge and whether or not he had been fathered by Larkyns rather than Muybridge as assumed.   Though Muybridge had already warned Larkyns off,  any chance at domestic harmony ended when he discoveredv several graphic love letters that Larkyns had been foolish enough to send Flora.  This precipitated an extremely emotional scene witnessed by his employer, William Herman Rulofson.   As the venerable photographer would later tell police, Muybridge showed him parts of the letters that left no doubt that Flora had been unfaithful.  He also appeared so distraught that Rulofson was afraid that he would kill either Flora or himself.   Instead, having learned of Larkyns' whereabouts somehow,  he immediately left San Francisco and traveled to Calistoga, Nevada and the nearby mine.  The murder happened just hours later.

While awaiting trial for murder, Eadweard Muybridge and his defense counsel already began preparing his defense.   Along with focusing on Flora's infidelity, the defense attorney, W.W. Prendergast had one more card left to play:   a possible insanity plea based on a serious head injury that his client had sustained in an August, 1860 stagecoach accident.   According to one newspaper description of the accident itself, "In his efforts to stop the horses, the driver drove out off the road, and they came in collision with a tree, literally smashing the coach in pieces, killing one man ... and injuringevery other person on the stage to a greater or less extent."   As for Muybridge, he was thrown from the coach and struck a rock or a tree stump.   Along with requiring months to recover, he was also left with a permanent gap in his memory relating to the accident and what happened afterward.  The accident also left him with permanent impairments in his senses of taste and smell.

Though the exact nature of the head injury can't be determined (no diagnostic imaging in those days), later medical historians have suggested that Muybridge sustained permanent damage to the orbitofrontal cortex of his brain's frontal lobe.   Along with the changes to his taste and smell,  he would also demonstrate many of the other signs of this kind of injury seen in similar patients.   This included increased aggression and impulsiveness as well as some of the other peculiar behaviour that he is recorded as displaying in the years that followed.  For example, he would change the spelling of his name repeatedly, beginning with "Edward Muggeridge",  then "Muggridge", "Muygridge" and eventually, "Muybridge"  (his tombstone would later read "Maybridge").  It was also around this time that he changed his name from Edward to Eadweard.  

Recognizing the affect that the accident had on him, Muybridge returned to England and arranged to see Dr. William Gull, prominent neurologist and Queen Victoria's personal physician.  It was Dr. Gull who, recognizing the changes in his patient, first suggested that Muybridge become a photographer (he had been a bookseller up to then).  Taking to this idea right away, he soon educated himself in the basics of photography, including the wet-collodion method that was the choice of most professionals in those days.   He then returned to America and pursued his new career as a nature photographer.  This included compiling spectacular footage of Yosemite and San Francisco which made him world-famous. 

Then came his marriage to Flora, Floredo's birth, and the murder of Harry Larkyns...

While Muybridge emphatically rejected the idea of an insanity plea (he insisted that the murder had been completely justified), Prendergast prepared his case by calling a number of witnesses to testify how his client had changed after the accident.   This included William Rulafson who told the court that he had seen Muybridge do "strange things ... during the period of his acquaintance with him. One thing was, that while Muybridge was a strictly honest man, he would make a bargain or contract with one at night and next morning go back on it in tote and make a new contract. " The witness said he could go on and " fill whole volumes with the peculiar things Muybridge had done . Among the strange freaks which Muybridge had committed was to have his picture taken on a rock at Yosemite valley, where a biscuit, if slightly tilted, would have fallen down 2,000 feet."  Another witness, fellow photographer Silas Selleck, reported that, prior to the accident,  Muybridge was "was active, energetic, strict in all his dealings, open and candid. When he came back he had changed entirely. He was eccentric, peculiar, and had the queerest of odd notions, so much so that he seemed like a different man."   Other witnesses gave similar accounts when they were called to testify.

Ironically though, this testimony hardly mattered in the end.   On February 6, 1875, the all-male jury flatly rejected any hint of insanity and ruled that the murder had been completely justifiable.  This decision was apparently based completely on the  "unwritten law" concerning a husband's right to avenge infidelity which had figured in numerous similar murder cases.  According to one newspaper story about the verdict, "The jury discarded entirely the theory of insanity, and meeting the case on the bare issue left, acquitted the defendant on the ground that he was justified in killing Larkyns for seducing his wife. This was directly contrary to the charge of the Judge, but the jury do not mince the matter, or attempt to excuse the verdict. They say that if their verdict was not in accord with the law of the books, it is with the law of human nature; that, in short, under similar circumstances they would have done as Muybridge did, and they could not conscientiously punish him for doing what they would have done themselves."   

Muybridge's reaction to the verdict was certainly memorable.   In the same news story, "Mr. Pendegast caught him in his arms and thus prevented his falling to the floor, but his body was limp as a wet cloth. His emotion became convulsive and frightful. His eyes were glassy, his jaws set and his face livid. The veins of his hands and forehead swelled out like whipcord. He moaned and wept convulsively, but uttered no word of pain or rejoicing. Such a display of overpowering emotion has seldom, if ever, been witnessed in a Court of justice.... He rocked to and fro in his chair. His face was absolutely horrifying in its contortions as convulsion succeeded convulsion.... Pendegast begged Muybridge to control himself and thank the jurymen for their verdict. He arose to his feet, and tried to speak, but sank back in another convulsion. He was carried out of the room by Pendegast and laid on a lounge in the latter’s office."

Still, despite being a free man, Eadweard Muybridge had to deal with the damage the murder and trial had done to his career.   Almost immediately after his acquittal, he went to Central America on another photography assignment leaving Flora and Floredo to  fend for themselves.   While Flora managed to get a divorce, the court was hardly favourable and, given the publicity surrounding her affair with Larkyns, had few prospects for the future.   Whether or not this contributed to her death soon afterward is impossible to determine at this late date (no cause of death was ever given).    In any event, Muybridge wasted little time in sending Floredo to a Catholic orphanage though, to be fair, he did pay for the child's upkeep.   In any event, he had no further contact with his one-time son.

Muybridge himself soon returned from Central America and went on to establish himself as one of the great pioneers of nature and action photography.   In fact, his work photographing horse gaits also made him one of the early pioneers in stop-motion animation as well.    He was even one of the first to show movie pictures to a paying audience at the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 which, along with his numerous books and lectures, helped cement his reputation.   He retired soon afterward and returned to England to live his final years until his death in 1904.  

As for Floredo, not much is known about him except that he worked most of his life as a ranch hand and gardener.   Ironically enough, the few surviving photographs of him as an adult show a rather strong resemblance to Muybridge which may, or  may not, have been coincidental.   He died in 1944 at the age of seventy and his own opinion about his paternity, and the circumstances surrounding his being placed in an orphanage, are pretty much a mystery.

Did that long-ago accident play a role in Eadweard Muybridge's later life, including the murder of Harry Larkyns?   Despite the evidence raised at his murder trial, it's hard to judge what changes resulted from his head injury based on what little medical data is available.     Though a 2015 article in the journal Neurosurgical Focus raises some intriguing speculations, including exploring the possibility that his amazing artistic ability may have been due to atrophy in the orbitofrontal cortex.   Other patients showing this kind of atrophy have developed new artistic abilities due to their reduced inhibition in expressing emotion through art.  Neurological changes might also explain Muybridge's frequent risk-taking behaviour, including seeking out dangerous assignments and his willingness to take nude photographs of men and women (a scandalous practice in those more conservative times).    Frontal lobe damage might also help explain his obsessive perfectionism which guided his photographic career.  

Speculations aside, there is no disputing that Eadweard Muybridge's contributions revolutionized photography and paved the way for later developments in animation and cinematography.   Whether or not it was a  head injury helped transform an ordinary bookseller into an innovative (not to mention murderous) genius remains a mystery.

The Problem with Fake News

A new study in the journal Computers in Human Behavior examines the effects of conformity to others online when individuals respond to fake news. It finds that after exposure to others' comments critical of a fake news article, individuals' attitudes, propensity to make positive comments and intentions to share the fake news were lower than after exposure to others' comments supportive of a fake news article. Furthermore, this research finds that the use of a disclaimer from a social media company alerting individuals to the fact that the news might be fake does not lower individuals’ attitudes, propensity to make positive comments and intentions to share the fake news as much as critical comments from other users. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)

For the abstract

Do We Have a Left Cheek Bias?

In social media’s attention economy “likes” are currency; photos showing faces attract more “likes.” Previous research has established a left cheek bias in photos uploaded to social media, but whether left cheek poses induce more engagement than right cheek poses remains to be determined. A new study in the journal Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition examined whether pose orientation influences the number of “likes” and comments garnered by photos uploaded to Instagram. The top 20 single-user Instagram accounts were identified, and the most recent 10 left and 10 right cheek images were selected, resulting in a total of 400 images. The number of “likes” and comments were tallied for each image, netting over 1 billion “likes” and 14 million comments for analysis. Results confirmed that pose orientation influences audience engagement: left cheek poses garner >10% more “likes” than right cheek poses. Gender did not influence “likes”. Comments were not affected by either pose orientation or gender, likely reflecting the different levels of effort and motivations involved in “liking” vs. commenting on an image. These data indicate that a seemingly inconsequential turn of the head profoundly impacts audience engagement: left cheek poses gained >330,000 more “likes”, offering clear implications for marketers and others in the social media economy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)

For the abstract