New Research From Clinical Psychological Science

Read about the latest research published in Clinical Psychological Science:

Dysfunctional Activation of the Cerebellum in Schizophrenia: A Functional Neuroimaging Meta-Analysis

Jessica A. Bernard and Vijay A. Mittal

The cognitive dysmetria framework posits that the deficits seen in schizophrenia are the result of cerebello-thalamo-cortical dysfunction. To better understand the role of the cerebellum in people with schizophrenia, Bernard and Mittal completed an activation-likelihood estimation meta-analysis of 42 studies in which the authors had used functional neuroimaging techniques to examine cerebellar activation in people with and without schizophrenia while they engaged in emotion, executive function/attention, language, motor, or working memory tasks. The cerebellar activity of people with schizophrenia was found to be altered compared with healthy control subjects across a wide range of tasks, which lends support to the cognitive dysmetria framework.

The Effects of a Working Memory Load on Delay Discounting in Those With Externalizing Psychopathology

Peter R. Finn, Rachel L. Gunn, and Kyle R. Gerst

Executive working memory (EWM) is thought to play a role in self-regulation and adaptive decision making; however, few studies have examined the link between EWM capacity and impulsive decision making in people with externalizing behaviors. Participants with low, medium, and high levels of externalizing psychopathology were assessed for working memory capacity and completed a delayed discounting task with or without a concurrent working memory load task. The authors found that externalizing behavior was related to greater delay discounting and lower EWM capacity and that cognitive load increased delay discounting rates for all subjects, regardless of their level of externalizing behavior. Although more research is needed, these findings add to our understanding of the role of working memory capacity in impulsive decision making in those with externalizing problems.

Early Parenting Moderates the Association Between Parental Depression and Neural Reactivity to Rewards and Losses in Offspring

Autumn Kujawa, Greg H. Proudfit, Rebecca Laptook, and Daniel N. Klein

Recent research has indicated that the children of parents with depression exhibit differences in the way they process rewards. Could parenting behavior influence the relationship between parental depression and reward processing in children? Observational and self-report measures of parenting style and behavior were collected from the parents of 3-year-old children. When the children turned 9, they completed a reward-and-loss feedback task while undergoing electroencephalography. Maternal parenting style and behavior influenced the relationship between maternal and paternal depression and reward processing in children, suggesting that parenting plays an important role in shaping the neural systems related to reward processing in children.