هدی پوررضاییان

The consequences of cancer do not just impact on the body only, but expands into the other levels of human existence, including psychological levels. Sometimes these consequences are even more painful and more destructive than physical harms, especially in children. Therefore, the use of psychotherapy for children, particularly art-based psychotherapies, is necessary. So, the main objective of the present research was to develop a new family-based art therapy for hospitalized children with cancer and to evaluation its effectiveness on the symptoms of depression (DEP) and pain anxiety (PA). Five hospitalized children with cancer, participated in this single-subject study (A-B type) accompanied with their mothers. The intervention was applied in eight sessions (30-60 minutes per session). Children’s depression and pain anxiety were measured repeatedly in two phases and data were analyzed by graphs and tables. The effect size (ES) and reliable change index (RCI) are also reported in addition to the customary values. The results showed that family-based art therapy was significantly effective in reducing the symptoms of depression and pain anxiety in all of the children. The findings indicate the effectiveness of family-based art therapy in helping to modify the psychological consequences of cancer, and clarify the need for this approach to be applied in similar conditions.

The default-mode network (DMN) is one of the human brain’s networks activated in resting and self-referential thinking states. The nature of this network and its normal or abnormal changes has been the subject of various studies. The aim of this study was to systematical review and integrating the findings of that studies focused on the relationship of DMN with mental disorders and aging-induced changes in it. Of the more than 100 evidences found, 32 studies in each of two specific subjects (psychopathologicaland aging-related changes of DMN) were selected and scientifically mentioned the most important results of them. Based on the findings, some of the mental disorders including major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Alzheimer disease are associated with functional or connectional abnormalities in DMN. Aging can cause functional changes in the activation or deactivation of the DMN’s regions or inter/intra-network connectivity of this network. Although most of studies have a pathological perspective on DMN changes; one article pointed out the positive role of DMN changes during aging in terms of emotion regulation.