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This article presents the results of a recent study that explores the connection between empathy and cognitive abilities in Brazilian schoolchildren with developmental neurodisabilities and a history of school warnings for violent behavior. The study adapted the Affective and Cognitive Measure of Empathy (ACME) instrument for the Brazilian context and found robust psychometric properties for assessing empathy in this population. The study included a sample of 349 schoolchildren diagnosed with developmental neurodisabilities, with the most common issues being autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and learning difficulties. The study revealed associations between affective dissonance, episodic memory, and executive function, highlighting the complex relationship between cognitive domains and empathy. The authors emphasize the importance of understanding the broader sociocultural context in which these children, regardless of their neurodevelopmental status, find themselves, and call for inclusive and contextually relevant research to address the challenges posed by psychosocial vulnerability in Brazil. [Extracted from the article]

This letter to the editor is on the original article by Dorris et al. The article is available at https://doi.org/10.1111/dmcn.15263 Portuguese translation of this letter to the editor is available in the online issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personality and psychopathology features may play an important role as predisposing factors for fibromyalgia (FM). However, psychological heterogeneity of FM patients has been suggested. Based on two personality psychopathology clusters, we intend to explore psychological heterogeneity in FM patients, specifically, to identify if personality features had other psychological and psychopathological correlates. Secondarily, we also want to identify if personality features have association with health‐related correlates. The participants were female FM patients (n = 56) between 30 and 60 years old. The instruments were: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI‐2) content and supplementary scales, Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), and Numerical Rating Scale (NRS‐11). Multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) identified that Cluster 2 (n = 24), characterized by a combination of negative affectivity and social inhibition, presented a more disturbed profile, with several features of symptomatic behavior, general maladjustment, and important clinical problem areas. The associations of personality variables with FM impact and self‐reported pain are null, with the exception of Disconstraint scale. In conclusion, FM patients may be very different at the psychological level, concerning personality and psychopathological features that may compromise their treatment. Personality and health‐related dimensions do not seem to be associated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human monopoiesis is a tightly coordinated process which starts in the bone marrow ( BM) haematopoietic stem cell ( HSC) compartment and leads to the production of circulating blood mature monocytes. Although mature monocytes/macrophages have been extensively studied in both normal or inflammatory conditions, monopoiesis has only been assessed in vitro and in vivo animal models, due to low frequency of the monocytic precursors in the normal human BM. Here we investigated the transcriptional profile along normal human BM monopoiesis. Five distinct maturation-associated stages of monocytic precursors were identified and isolated from (fresh) normal human BM through fluorescence-activated cell sorting, and the gene expression profile ( GEP) of each monocytic precursor subset was analysed by DNA-oligonucleotide microarrays. Overall, >6000 genes (18% of the genes investigated) were expressed in ≥1 stage of BM monopoiesis at stable or variable amounts, showing early decrease in cell proliferation with increased levels of expression of genes linked with cell differentiation. The here-defined GEP of normal human BM monopoiesis might contribute to better understand monocytic differentiation and the identification of novel monocytic candidate markers, while also providing a frame of reference for the study of monocytic maturation in both neoplastic and non-neoplastic disease conditions involving monocytic precursor cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]