Search

This project contains the data used in the article "Enhanced neural empathic responses in patients with X-SBMA: An electrophysiological study" by Palmieri, A., Meconi, F., Vallesi, A., Capizzi, M., Kleinbub, J.R., Pick, E., Marcato, S., Querin, G., Sorarù, G., and Sessa, P. Each dataset file and each folder is accompanied by a .txt description and codebook file

This dataset contains the psychological assessment of three groups of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis patients.

Empathy functioning is among the criteria to delineate psychiatric diagnosis. However, the self-oriented empathy dimension is almost neglected in the existing literature. On the basis of previous fragmented contributions, we hypothesised that an individual's level of personality organisation is explained by this facet of empathy more than the other components of empathy, both transversally and independently from the specific psychiatric diagnosis.Fifty-nine psychiatric inpatients were evaluated with clinical interviews inspired by the Structured Clinical Interview forThe first series of models revealed self-oriented empathy (IRI personal distress subscale) as the best empathic dimension to explain levels of personality organisation. The second series revealed that none of the four IRI subscales explained psychiatric diagnoses.The consistency of our findings with evolutionary concepts pertaining to both traditional psychodynamic models and contemporary models of psychopathology, such as the

Emanuele Pick,1 Johann R Kleinbub,1 Stefania Mannarini,1,2 Arianna Palmieri1,3 1Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education, and Applied Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; 2Interdepartmental Center for Family Research, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; 3Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, ItalyCorrespondence: Emanuele PickDepartment of Philosophy, Sociology, Education, and Applied Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia, 14, Padova 35131, ItalyTel +39 049 8276696Email emanuele.pick@phd.unipd.itIntroduction: Empathy, in its affective and cognitive components, is a crucial interpersonal ability. It is broadly studied in the field of psychopathology, whereas its study in the neurodegenerative diseases is relatively recent. Existing literature, though, focused on a reduced subset of considered diseases, which often found a compromise in empathy abilities. Organized knowledge about a more comprehensive set of diseases is lacking.Method: The present PRISMA systematic review was aimed at collecting the current available literature concerning empathic alterations in adult patients affected by neurodegenerative diseases. It considered the different empathy components, evaluated existing patterns, the impact on patients’ lives, and treatment considerations.Results: Overall, the 32 retrieved studies describe a spread deterioration of empathic abilities in patients, with each disease displaying its own pattern of empathy functioning. Literature in this field is fragmented and of heterogeneous quality, and further studies are warranted to increase evidence of many preliminary results.Discussion: In conclusion, we highlight the crucial importance of acknowledging empathy deficits in these diseases, showing their repercussion on both patients’ and caregivers’ quality of life, the establishment of a functional doctor–patient relationship, and the development of efficacious psychological intervention. These clinical approaches can be enriched by the knowledge of the spared abilities of patients affected by neurodegenerative diseases.Keywords: neurodegenerative diseases, empathy, mentalizing, doctor-patient relationship, psychological intervention, quality of life

The growing field of study on physiological synchronization shows that co-regulation of patient’s and therapist’s autonomic activity is associated to desirable relationship traits such as empathy and clinical alliance. Few studies, though, have investigated the link between physiological synchronization and precise therapy process markers. Among various instruments developed to rate the therapy content, the Innovative Moments Coding System (IMCS) identifies exceptionalinstancesof the therapeutic dialog in which thepatient’sproblems are narrated in novel ways. These markers of meaning transformation are associated with change in different models of therapy anddiverse diagnoses. In the present study we present the first exploration of the physiological correlates of Innovative Moments markers. In detail, we video recorded a 16-sessions psychodynamic therapy collecting simultaneous skin conductance in patient and therapist. Physiological synchronization was assessed through Adaptive Matching Interpolated Correlation analyses, and the transcripts were coded through the IMCS. We present quantitative and qualitative analyses showing the associations between different IMCS codes and physiological dynamics. We aim to show how physiology (both individual signals and the dyadic synchronization), session transcripts, and Innovative Moments codes can be meaningfully combined. We argue that these types of data representation and analyses, integrating objective and subjective measures, can offer powerful insights for the study of the therapeutic process at a micro level.

Peculiar cognitive profile of patients with SBMA has been described by fragmented literature. Our retrospective study reports the neuropsychological evaluations of a large cohort of patients in order to contribute towards the understanding of this field. We consider 64 neuropsychological evaluations assessing mnesic, linguistic and executive functions collected from 2013 to 2015 in patients attending at Motor Neuron Disease Centre of University of Padova. The battery consisted in: Digit Span forwards and backwards, Prose Memory test, Phonemic Verbal fluency and Trail making tests. ANCOVA statistics were employed to compare tests scores results with those obtained from a sample of healthy control subjects. Multiple linear regressions were used to study the effect on cognitive performance of CAG-repeat expansion, the degree of androgen insensitivity and their interaction to cognitive performance. Statistical analyses did not reveal altered scores in any neuropsychological tests among those adopted. Interestingly, patients performed significantly better in the Prose Memory test’s score. No relevant associations were found with genetic, hormonal or clinical patients’ profile. Results inconsistent with previous studies have been interpreted according to the phenomenon of somatic mosaicism. We suggest a testosterone-related and the mood state-dependant perspectives as two possible interpretations of the enhanced performances in the Prose Memory test. Further studies employing more datailed tests batteries are encouraged.

Family caregivers of people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) live stressful lives in which they spend most of their time caring for their loved ones and managing difficult situations, thereby reducing the time spent in taking care of themselves. This situation may last several years. Previous literature has widely highlighted that this situation reduces caregivers' quality of life and increases their psychological distress and risk of health problems, but there is a lack of studies that focus on psychological interventions for these situations. This qualitative study examined a pilot experience of two mutual support groups for family caregivers of people with ALS. The aim was to identify caregivers' needs, the prominent aspects of their experience, and to understand whether and how this intervention strategy might help them. Six partners (four men and two women) and six adult children (five women and one man) participated in the groups, which were conducted in northern Italy. After the support groups finished, participants underwent semi-structured interviews. The authors conducted a content analysis of the transcripts of the interviews and the 20 group sessions. The thematic areas identified were "caregiving," "being the son/daughter of a person with ALS," "being the partner of a person with ALS," "group experience" and "group evaluation." The caregiving experience was profoundly different depending on whether the caregiver was a son/daughter or a partner of a patient with ALS. Moreover, comparison with peers and mutual support helped participants to better cope with ALS and its consequences, to improve their care for their relatives and to overcome typical caregiver isolation. These results suggest the usefulness of involving communities in caregiver support in order to create new networks and activate personal and social resources for well-being.

The idea that the transference/countertransference process is characterized by a somatic component is rooted in classical psychoanalytic tradition. But, unlike others, this theoretical construct does not seem to have been developed in the literature as much as it deserves, given its importance in the clinical process.A research was conducted in the peer-reviewed literature indexed in the principal scientific databases to identify contributions on the somatic transference and countertransference constructs. The resulting studies were then combined with further considerations drawn from the postfreudian and contemporary psychoanalytic literature.Focusing on the evidence of the somatic transference/countertransference phenomenon in its development as well as in the psychopathology and its treatment is crucial for researchers and clinicians, and further researches should be encouraged toward this direction. The hypothesis of a neural correlate of the interpersonal transference/countertransference phenomena as being the outcome of mirror-type neural mechanisms has been provided, prompting a proposal for a line of future research on the psychophysiological signals between psychotherapist and patient.