Faculty Bibliography

Presents a model for describing cognitive change during cognitive therapy for depression, while discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the 3 models of change described by S. D. Hollon et al (1988). J. P. Barber and R. J. DeRubeis point out some of the conceptual ambiguities regarding cognitive processes and contents as they have been applied in the cognitive therapy literature. They propose that short-term cognitive therapy works primarily through the teaching of compensatory skills. This proposal is motivated, in part, by the paucity of differential effects of cognitive therapy when compared with antidepressant medications on existing cognitive measures, when at the same time there are reports of differential relapse prevention for these 2 treatments. A set of features is described that a measure of compensatory skills should possess.

A system of emotional control of behavior is believed to be lateralized to the right hemisphere. Given that dopaminergic pathways are involved in affective behavior, depression, which is recognized as an integral part of Parkinson's disease, may be associated with a dopamine imbalance. The present study examined this hypothesis in patients with unilateral symptomatology indicating either left hemisphere parkinsonism (LHP) or right hemisphere parkinsonism (RHP). Sixteen patients were tested on a battery of neuropsychological tests and several scales for evaluating mood. The two groups did not differ significantly on either cognitive or emotional measures. However, RHP patients rated themselves higher on the Present Scale of Cantril, and showed some neglect of the left visual field, as compared to LHP patients.