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Background: During informal interviews in the course of an ethnographic study on intergenerational dialogue between individuals with neurofibromatosis and their parents, many members of Canadian neurofibromatosis associations stated they continue to be told the condition that afflicts them or their children is the ''elephant man's'' disease. Today, even though well established clinical criteria make it possible to diagnose and differentiate the two diseases, the confusion between NF1 and the disease of Joseph Merrick, the ''elephant man'', persists in both media representations and those of physicians. The objective of this article is to document the persistence of this confusion, to identify the factors that contribute to it, and to identify its impact on the well being of individuals with NF1. Methodology: Preliminary stages of an ethnographic study. Principal Findings: Our findings show that some reference sources, past medical training, and print and online news media have all contributed to the persistence of the association between NF1 and the disease of Joseph Merrick, the ''elephant man''. Our observations suggest that this misconception can have negative medical, social, and psychological impacts on patients and their families and thus increase the burden of the disease. Conclusions: Changes of attitude regarding medical teaching and the media could lead to definitively clearing up the confusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional neuroimaging studies show substantial individual variation in brain activation accompanying the experience of emotion, including sadness. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 104 pairs of 8-year-old twins (47 MZ, 57 DZ) to assess genetic-environmental contributions to individual differences in neural activation in two prefrontal cortex (PFC) areas previously shown to be involved in sadness. No genetic effects were found for any area, individual environmental factors entirely accounting for individual variation in brain activation related to sadness. Sadness being the prevailing mood in depression, these findings may be of relevance to the etiology of childhood depressive disorders. Hum Brain Mapp 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compassion towards oneself and towards others has been associated with positive psychological outcomes, however, research is limited by the availability of valid psychometric measures, particularly in languages other than English. The current study translated (English to French) and validated the following measures: the Compassionate Engagement and Action Scales (CEAS), assessing self-compassion (CEAS-SC), compassion to others (CEAS-TO), and compassion from others (CEAS-FROM); the Compassion Scale (CS); and the Sussex-Oxford Compassion Scales for Self (SOCS-S) and Others (SOCS-O). French-speaking participants were recruited online (N = 384) and completed the translated measures as well as questionnaires assessing self-compassion, depression, anxiety, stress, insecure attachment, mindfulness, and well-being. Confirmatory Factor Analysis supports the original factor structures proposed for the CEAS-FROM (two-factor hierarchical), CS (four-factor hierarchical), SOCS-S and SOCS-O (five-factor hierarchical), with alternate factor structures proposed for CEAS-SC (three-factor) and CEAS-TO (two-factor). Results showed good internal consistency and convergent validity for all scales, supporting the use of total scores for the translated measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]