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Jung’s original neuroscience research project looked at the neurophysiological responses to the word association test (WAT) in an effort to understand ‘complexes’, those emotionally laden fixations that bother us all, and can be inferred from certain painful responses in the WAT. He measured breathing rates, skin conductance and electrocardiography, but there was no brain functional imaging technology available at the time. One hundred years later, a wide range of brain functional technologies are available, and this chapter describes two studies in which the WAT was performed under functional magnetic resonance imaging and quantitative electroencephalography conditions. In essence, a complexed response first activates the amygdala (many right-sided). This is followed in the next 3 s by bilateral brain activity in the anterior insula, the supplementary motor area and the dorsal cingulum; the premotor mirror neuron areas, the so-called resonance circuitry, which is central to mindfulness (awareness of self) and empathy (sense of the other), negotiations between self-awareness and the ‘internal other’, and has been well described by Dan Siegel. But over the following 2 s, activity shifts to the left hemisphere, seemingly the way the brain deals with a complex in the moment, possibly to dull the pain of the complexed response.

Background: Chronic heart failure adversely affects 300,000 Australians. Symptom stabilization and prognosis are partially determined by patients following medical and lifestyle recommendations. Methods: To test the hypothesis that depression, anxiety, and self-efficacy are independent predictors of such adherence, 115 predominately male (70.6%) volunteers with a mean age of 63 years were recruited from a major teaching hospital in Australia. Results: Depression (Beck Depression Inventory score >10, 33.3%) failed to predict adherence. Trait anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory score >40, 31%) explained minimal variability regarding smoking and alcohol adherence. Self-efficacy strongly predicted adherence behavior. Conclusions: Findings will assist cardiac nurses to prepare strategies to optimize adherence and quality of life while minimizing public health costs.

Annually across Australia about 1,000 people are killed on roads in rural and remote areas, while approximately a further 26,000 people are injured. Those found to be at most risk are young male drivers, truck drivers, pedestrians and those living in these areas, particularly Indigenous Australians. Key behavioural factors associated with increased crash risk include motorists driving while under the influence of alcohol and other drugs, speeding, fatigue and failure to wear seat belts or helmets. Road factors also found to contribute to crashes included roads with poor surfaces, roads with unsealed shoulders, roads with poor delineation and roadside hazards. The study also confirmed the importance of the need to respond rapidly to the occurrence of crashes and to treat those injured quickly. It is clear that crash severity outcome is closely related to the time taken to reach and treat crash victims. The report identifies behavioural, environmental and ITS interventions, and improved medical practices and trauma management services to reduce the incidence and severity of crashes in these areas.

Evaluations of programs for sex offenders report mixed results, are costly and require validation. This study examines recidivism following a sexual offender treatment program in an Australian male offender population over an average at-risk period of five years and one month in the community. The group format cognitive behavioural program was offered to a subgroup of adult male prisoners. Subsequent re-offence types and rates for program completers, dropouts and controls were compared. No statistically significant recidivism reduction was observed following participation in this Sexual Offender Treatment Program, whereas recidivism appears to be related to a history of violent or sexual offences. The initial promise of sexual offender treatment programs must be further examined by individual and meta-analytic studies. Limited follow-up, missing data and fidelity of the program may have contributed to the null result. Monitoring treatment programs to ensure inclusion of proven interventions may enhance future program effectiveness.

Please refer to the university website

Please refer to the university website