Observation and Imitation of Social Emotions Are Essential for Improving Cognitive and Affective Theory of Mind in Schizophrenia: A Meta-analysis.

People with schizophrenia often demonstrate deficits in theory of mind (ToM), which may be addressed via social cognition training that includes observation and imitation of social emotions. We examined the effect of observation and imitation on ToM and whether computerized cognitive training (CCT) can improve ToM. Among 14 controlled trials, 264 of 494 people with schizophrenia received treatment.

Testing a model of stress and health using meta-analytic path analysis.

The goal of this study was to use meta-analytic path analysis to evaluate a theoretical model of stress and health. A meta-analysis technique was adopted to combine and re-analyze 477 studies that investigated stress-related topics between January 1980 and December 2003 in Taiwan. Databases searched included PerioPath-Index to Chinese Periodical Literature, Electronic Theses and Dissertations System, and NSC (National Science Council) Science and Technology Information System.

Roles of hippocampal N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II in amphetamine-produced conditioned place preference in rats.

This study investigates the roles of hippocampal N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptors and CaMKII (calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II) in amphetamine-produced conditioned place preference (AMPH-CPP) in rats. An earlier report showed that AMPH-CPP resulted in the enhancement of hippocampal CaMKII activity. In this study, AMPH-CPP significantly increased hippocampal GluR1 receptors, though AMPH-CPP was impaired by either blockade of NMDA receptors (AP5) or inhibition of CaMKII (KN-93) during conditioning.

A meta-analysis of the association between stress and health in Taiwan.

This study adopted the meta-analysis technique to analyze 354 journal articles, theses, and dissertations that had investigated the association between stress and health in Taiwan between January 1980 and December 2003. This study was conducted with the purpose of understanding the association between general stress and general health, the discrepant associations between different stress types and health facets, and the possible moderators between general stress and general health. A computer search for relevant studies was conducted on several databases using the key words "stress" and "life event".

Functional performance of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia in southern Taiwan.

This study investigated the functional performance of two major subtypes of dementia, Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD), by the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), and to understand the need for assistance in performing activities of daily living. The subjects comprised 64 AD and 21 VaD patients who were recruited from two epidemiologic studies of dementia with a total of 3,931 community residents aged 65 years and above in southern Taiwan. The results showed that the severity of dementia was similar between the two groups.

Relationship between post-stroke depression and lesion location: a meta-analysis.

Our understanding of the relationship between the neuroanatomic loci of brain damage and the incidence of post-stroke depression (PSD) is not complete. Many studies have investigated this relationship and the evidence is conflicting. With the purpose of gaining a consistent, strong, and credible conclusion on the relationship between PSD and the loci of brain damage, a meta-analysis was used in this study to systematically reanalyze the findings of related studies and to investigate the sources of heterogeneity among study results.

Meta-analysis of counseling and psychotherapy outcome studies in Taiwan.

This study applied the meta-analysis method to investigate the effectiveness of counseling and psychotherapy. It began with a systematic search of the literature through computer search and previous narrative reviews to locate counseling and psychotherapy outcome studies conducted in Taiwan between January 1971 and August 2000. Salient characteristics of each study were recorded systematically.