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Hellwig AF, Wroblewski KL, Krol KM, Connelly JJ, Allen JP. Epigenetic regulation of the oxytocin system as an indicator of adaptation to over-controlling parenting and psychosocial functioning in adulthood. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2024; 168:107123. [PMID: 39002450 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2024.107123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2024] [Revised: 06/06/2024] [Accepted: 07/01/2024] [Indexed: 07/15/2024]
Abstract
The oxytocin system plays a role in social stress adaptation, and this role is likely to be particularly important in adolescence. One method of regulating the oxytocin system is through DNA methylation in the promoter of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTRm), which reduces the gene's expression. This multi-method, longitudinal study, using a diverse community sample of 184 adolescents followed from age 13-28, examined the links between OXTRm and exposure to over-controlling parenting in adolescence and conflict with romantic partners and internalizing symptoms in adulthood. Female, but not male, adolescents who were exposed to psychologically controlling parenting at age 13 had lower levels of OXTRm at site -924 at age 28. Reduced OXTRm at site -924 was associated with greater romantic partner-reported relationship conflict at age 27, and reduced OXTRm at site -934 was marginally associated with greater participant-reported conflict for males. Reduced OXTRm at site -924 was also associated with fewer internalizing symptoms at ages 24-25. These results in adulthood are consistent with an upregulated oxytocin system reducing the salience of negative socioemotional stimuli. Overall, findings are consistent with oxytocin playing a role in the stress response system, and more specifically, by helping us to adapt to social environments like parenting and romantic relationships, reducing the salience of negativity, and reducing risk for common emotional problems.
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van Berlo E, Roth TS, Kim Y, Kret ME. Selective and prolonged attention to emotional scenes in humans and bonobos. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20240433. [PMID: 39106955 PMCID: PMC11303022 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.0433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2024] [Revised: 05/07/2024] [Accepted: 07/03/2024] [Indexed: 08/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Perceiving emotions in others is at the foundation of higher-order social cognition. The importance of emotions is evidenced by the fact that they receive prioritized attention at early stages of processing the environment in humans and some other primates. Nevertheless, we do not fully understand how emotion modulates attention over longer durations in primates, particularly in great apes. Bonobos, one of our closest relatives, stand out in emotion processing and regulation among great apes. This makes them an interesting comparison species and a valuable model for studying the evolution of emotion perception in hominids. We investigated how bonobos and humans spontaneously attend to emotionally valent scenes in a preferential looking task using eye-tracking. With Bayesian mixed modelling, we found that bonobos and humans generally looked longer at emotional scenes, mainly of conspecifics. Moreover, while bonobos did not have a bias toward emotional human scenes, humans sustained their attention toward bonobos playing, grooming and having sex. Furthermore, when exploring an immediate bias for emotions, humans showed a bias toward affiliative human scenes, and bonobos showed a bias away from bonobos-in-distress scenes. These findings suggest that emotions modulate attention at early and later attentional stages in bonobos, similar to humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evy van Berlo
- Institute of Psychology, Cognitive Psychology Unit, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Evolutionary and Population Biology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Tom S. Roth
- Institute of Psychology, Cognitive Psychology Unit, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Department of Biology, Animal Behaviour and Cognition, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Yena Kim
- Institute of Psychology, Cognitive Psychology Unit, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Mariska E. Kret
- Institute of Psychology, Cognitive Psychology Unit, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Abado E, Aue T, Pourtois G, Okon-Singer H. Expectancy and attention bias to spiders: Dissecting anticipation and allocation processes using ERPs. Psychophysiology 2024; 61:e14546. [PMID: 38406863 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Revised: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/03/2024] [Indexed: 02/27/2024]
Abstract
The current registered report focused on the temporal dynamics of the relationship between expectancy and attention toward threat, to better understand the mechanisms underlying the prioritization of threat detection over expectancy. In the current event-related potentials experiment, a-priori expectancy was manipulated, and attention bias was measured, using a well-validated paradigm. A visual search array was presented, with one of two targets: spiders (threatening) or birds (neutral). A verbal cue stating the likelihood of encountering a target preceded the array, creating congruent and incongruent trials. Following cue presentation, preparatory processes were examined using the contingent negative variation (CNV) component. Following target presentation, two components were measured: early posterior negativity (EPN) and late positive potential (LPP), reflecting early and late stages of natural selective attention toward emotional stimuli, respectively. Behaviorally, spiders were found faster than birds, and congruency effects emerged for both targets. For the CNV, a non-significant trend of more negative amplitudes following spider cues emerged. As expected, EPN and LPP amplitudes were larger for spider targets compared to bird targets. Data-driven, exploratory, topographical analyses revealed different patterns of activation for bird cues compared to spider cues. Furthermore, 400-500 ms post-target, a congruency effect was revealed only for bird targets. Together, these results demonstrate that while expectancy for spider appearance is evident in differential neural preparation, the actual appearance of spider target overrides this expectancy effect and only in later stages of processing does the cueing effect come again into play.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elinor Abado
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
- The Integrated Brain and Behavior Research Center (IBBRC), University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Tatjana Aue
- Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Gilles Pourtois
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Hadas Okon-Singer
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
- The Integrated Brain and Behavior Research Center (IBBRC), University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
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4
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Zugman A, Winkler AM, Qamar P, Pine DS. Current and Future Approaches to Pediatric Anxiety Disorder Treatment. Am J Psychiatry 2024; 181:189-200. [PMID: 38425255 PMCID: PMC11256210 DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.20231037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
This overview critically appraises the literature on the treatment of pediatric anxiety disorders. The two established treatments for these conditions comprise cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and antidepressant medications. Many youths receiving these treatments fail to achieve remission, which creates a need for new treatments. After summarizing the literature on CBT and currently available medications, the authors describe research that lays a foundation for improvements in the treatment of pediatric anxiety disorders. This foundation leverages neuroscientific investigations, also described in the overview, which provide insights on mechanisms of successful treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andre Zugman
- Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience (SDAN), Emotion and Development Branch (EDB), National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States
| | - Anderson M. Winkler
- Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience (SDAN), Emotion and Development Branch (EDB), National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States
- Division of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, Texas, United States
| | - Purnima Qamar
- Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience (SDAN), Emotion and Development Branch (EDB), National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States
| | - Daniel S. Pine
- Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience (SDAN), Emotion and Development Branch (EDB), National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States
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Kirshenbaum JS, Pagliaccio D, Pizzagalli DA, Auerbach RP. Neural sensitivity following stress predicts anhedonia symptoms: a 2-year multi-wave, longitudinal study. Transl Psychiatry 2024; 14:106. [PMID: 38388454 PMCID: PMC10884408 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-024-02818-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2024] [Revised: 02/03/2024] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Animal models of depression show that acute stress negatively impacts functioning in neural regions sensitive to reward and punishment, often manifesting as anhedonic behaviors. However, few human studies have probed stress-induced neural activation changes in relation to anhedonia, which is critical for clarifying risk for affective disorders. Participants (N = 85, 12-14 years-old, 53 female), oversampled for risk of depression, were administered clinical assessments and completed an fMRI guessing task during a baseline (no-stress) period to probe neural response to receipt of rewards and losses. After the initial task run of the fMRI guessing task, participants received an acute stressor and then, were re-administered the guessing task. Including baseline, participants provided up to 10 self-report assessments of life stress and symptoms over a 2 year period. Linear mixed-effects models estimated whether change in neural activation (post- vs. pre-acute stressor) moderated the longitudinal associations between life stress and symptoms. Primary analyses indicated that adolescents with stress-related reductions in right ventral striatum response to rewards exhibited stronger longitudinal associations between life stress and anhedonia severity (β = -0.06, 95%CI[-0.11, -0.02], p = 0.008, pFDR = 0.048). Secondary analyses showed that longitudinal positive associations between life stress and depression severity were moderated by stress-related increases in dorsal striatum response to rewards (left caudate β = 0.11, 95%CI[0.07,0.17], p < 0.001, pFDR = 0.002; right caudate β = 0.07, 95%CI[0.02,0.12], p = 0.002, pFDR = 0.003; left putamen β = 0.09, 95%CI[0.04, 0.14], p < 0.001, pFDR = 0.002; right putamen β = 0.08, 95%CI[0.03, 0.12], p < 0.001, pFDR = 0.002). Additionally, longitudinal positive associations among life stress and anxiety severity were moderated by stress-related reductions in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (β = -0.07, 95%CI[-0.12,.02], p = 0.008, pFDR = 0.012) and right anterior insula (β = -0.07, 95%CI[-0.12,-0.02], p = 0.002, pFDR = 0.006) response to loss. All results held when adjusting for comorbid symptoms. Results show convergence with animal models, highlighting mechanisms that may facilitate stress-induced anhedonia as well as a separable pathway for the emergence of depressive and anxiety symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaclyn S Kirshenbaum
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA.
| | - David Pagliaccio
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Diego A Pizzagalli
- Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Randy P Auerbach
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
- Division of Clinical Developmental Neuroscience, Sackler Institute, New York, NY, USA
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Ranfaing S, De Zorzi L, Ruyffelaere R, Honoré J, Critchley H, Sequeira H. The impact of attention bias modification training on behavioral and physiological responses. Biol Psychol 2024; 186:108753. [PMID: 38244853 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2024.108753] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 01/22/2024]
Abstract
Attention bias modification training aims to alter attentional deployment to symptom-relevant emotionally salient stimuli. Such training has therapeutic applications in the management of disorders including anxiety, depression, addiction and chronic pain. In emotional reactions, attentional biases interact with autonomically-mediated changes in bodily arousal putatively underpinning affective feeling states. Here we examined the impact of attention bias modification training on behavioral and autonomic reactivity. Fifty-eight participants were divided into two groups. A training group (TR) received attention bias modification training to enhance attention to pleasant visual information, while a control group (CT) performed a procedure that did not modify attentional bias. After training, participants performed an evaluation task in which pairs of emotional and neutral images (unpleasant-neutral, pleasant-neutral, neutral-neutral) were presented, while behavioral (eye movements) and autonomic (skin conductance; heart rate) responses were recorded. At the behavioral level, trained participants were faster to orientate attention to pleasant images, and slower to orientate to unpleasant images. At the autonomic level, trained participants showed attenuated skin conductance responses to unpleasant images, while stronger skin conductance responses were generally associated with higher anxiety. These data argue for the use of attentional training to address both the attentional and the physiological sides of emotional responses, appropriate for anxious and depressive symptomatology, characterized by atypical attentional deployment and autonomic reactivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stéphane Ranfaing
- PSyCOS - ETHICS EA 7446, Université Catholique de Lille, F-59000 Lille, France.
| | - Lucas De Zorzi
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193 - SCALab - Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Rémi Ruyffelaere
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193 - SCALab - Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Jacques Honoré
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193 - SCALab - Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Hugo Critchley
- Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Henrique Sequeira
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193 - SCALab - Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, F-59000 Lille, France
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Schacter HL, Marusak HA, Borg BA, Jovanovic T. Facing ambiguity: Social threat sensitivity mediates the association between peer victimization and adolescent anxiety. Dev Psychopathol 2024; 36:112-120. [PMID: 36200351 PMCID: PMC10151014 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579422001018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Peer victimization is a developmentally salient stressor that elevates adolescents' risk for anxiety disorders. However, modifiable mechanisms that explain this link and can be targeted via therapeutic interventions remain poorly understood. Drawing from psychobiological models implicating aberrant threat sensitivity in the development and maintenance of psychopathology, the current study investigated sensitivity to peer-related social threats as a mechanism underlying the association between peer victimization and anxiety. A sample of 197 dyads of early adolescents (M age = 12.02; 46% female) and parents/guardians (M age = 41.46; 90% female) completed online surveys assessing peer victimization, sensitivity to potential (i.e., ambiguous) social threats, and anxiety. Controlling for potentially confounding demographic and psychosocial factors, both self- and parent-reported peer victimization were positively associated with adolescent anxiety symptoms. Additionally, there were significant indirect effects from self- and parent-reported peer victimization to anxiety via social threat sensitivity. Supplemental analyses indicated unique effects of covert, but not overt, peer victimization on social threat sensitivity and anxiety. The findings provide initial evidence that peer victimization experiences lower adolescents' threshold for interpreting threats in ambiguous social situations, which contributes to heightened anxiety. These results implicate social threat sensitivity as a potential therapeutic target for interrupting links from peer victimization to psychological distress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah L. Schacter
- Wayne State University, Department of Psychology, 5057 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202
- Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child and Family Development, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202
| | - Hilary A. Marusak
- Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child and Family Development, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202
- Wayne State University, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, 3901 Chrysler Service Drive, Detroit, MI 48201
| | - Breanna A. Borg
- Wayne State University, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, 3901 Chrysler Service Drive, Detroit, MI 48201
| | - Tanja Jovanovic
- Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child and Family Development, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202
- Wayne State University, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, 3901 Chrysler Service Drive, Detroit, MI 48201
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8
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Díaz DE, Tseng WL, Michalska KJ. Pre-scan state anxiety is associated with greater right amygdala-hippocampal response to fearful versus happy faces among trait-anxious Latina girls. BMC Psychiatry 2024; 24:1. [PMID: 38167015 PMCID: PMC10759434 DOI: 10.1186/s12888-023-05403-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 11/24/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Unfamiliarity with academic research may contribute to higher levels of anticipatory state anxiety about affective neuroimaging tasks. Children with high trait anxiety display differences in brain response to fearful facial affect compared to non-anxious youth, but little is known about the influence of state anxiety on this association. Because reduced engagement in scientific research and greater mistrust among minoritized groups may lead to systematic differences in pre-scan state anxiety, it is crucial to understand the neural correlates of state anxiety during emotion processing so as to disambiguate sources of individual differences. METHODS The present study probed the interactive effects of pre-scan state anxiety, trait anxiety, and emotional valence (fearful vs. happy faces) on neural activation during implicit emotion processing in a community sample of 46 preadolescent Latina girls (8-13 years). RESULTS Among girls with mean and high levels of trait anxiety, pre-scan state anxiety was associated with greater right amygdala-hippocampal and left inferior parietal lobe response to fearful faces relative to happy faces. CONCLUSIONS Anticipatory state anxiety in the scanning context may cause children with moderate and high trait anxiety to be hypervigilant to threats, further compounding the effects of trait anxiety. Neuroimaging researchers should control for state anxiety so that systematic differences in brain activation resulting from MRI apprehension are not misleadingly attributed to demographic or environmental characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dana E Díaz
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Wan-Ling Tseng
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
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Mąka S, Chrustowicz M, Okruszek Ł. Can we dissociate hypervigilance to social threats from altered perceptual decision-making processes in lonely individuals? An exploration with Drift Diffusion Modeling and event-related potentials. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14406. [PMID: 37547994 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Revised: 07/09/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023]
Abstract
It has been hypothesized that lonely individuals demonstrate hypervigilance toward social threats. However, recent studies have raised doubts about the reliability of tasks commonly used to measure attentional biases toward threats. Two alternative approaches have been suggested to overcome the limitations of traditional analysis of attentional bias. First, the neurophysiological indicators of orienting to threats were shown to have superior psychometric characteristics compared to overt measures of behavioral performance. The second approach involves utilizing computational modeling to isolate latent components corresponding to specific cognitive mechanisms from observable data. To test the usefulness of these approaches in loneliness research, we analyzed behavioral and electroencephalographic (EEG) data from 26 lonely and 26 non-lonely participants who performed a dot-probe task using a computational modeling approach. We applied the Drift Diffusion Model (DDM) and extracted N2pc-an event-related potential that serves as an indicator of spatial attention. No evidence for social threat hypervigilance has been found in DDM parameters nor in N2pc characteristics in the current study. However, we did observe decreased drift rate and increased variability in drift rate between trials within the lonely group, indicating reduced efficiency in perceptual decision-making among lonely individuals. These effects were not detected using standard behavioral measures used in the dot-probe paradigm. Given that DDM indicators were sensitive to differences in perceptual discrimination between the two groups, even when no overt differences were found in standard behavioral measures, it may be postulated that computational approaches offer a more comprehensive understanding of cognitive processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Szymon Mąka
- Social Neuroscience Lab, Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Marta Chrustowicz
- Social Neuroscience Lab, Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Łukasz Okruszek
- Social Neuroscience Lab, Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
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Huang J, Wu H, Sun X, Qi S. The impact of threat of shock-induced anxiety on alerting, orienting, and executive function in women: an ERP study. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2023; 23:1513-1533. [PMID: 37853300 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-023-01133-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/26/2023] [Indexed: 10/20/2023]
Abstract
The present study used a combination of the Threat-of-Shock paradigm and the Attention Network Test (ANT) to investigate how induced anxiety affects alerting, orienting, and executive control and whether individual differences in threat sensitivity moderate these effects. Forty-two female subjects completed the ANT task in alternation under shock-threat and no-shock ("safe") conditions while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. The results showed that anxiety induced by the threat of shock had a significant impact on alerting and executive control functions at the neural level. Specifically, alerting-related N1 and stimulus-preceding negativity (SPN) differences between double cue and no cue conditions were greater in the threat versus safe state, suggesting that the induced anxiety promoted the early perception of cues and preparation for the target. Moreover, executive control-related P3 and sustained potential (SP) differences between incongruent and congruent trials were greater in the threat versus safe state, indicating that the induced anxiety might improve the attentional allocation efficiency and stimulate subjects to recruit more cognitive resources to resolve conflicts. However, orienting-related ERPs were not affected by the threat of shock, but the threat of shock promoted the processing efficiency of spatial-cue at the behavioral level. Analysis of individual differences revealed that trait anxiety moderated the attentional allocation efficiency when performing executive control related tasks in the threat versus safe state. Our findings demonstrate the adaptive significance of the threat of shock-induced anxiety in that being in an anxious state can enhance individuals' alerting, orienting, and executive functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junjie Huang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Modern Teaching Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710062, China
| | - Huimin Wu
- MOE Key Laboratory of Modern Teaching Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710062, China
| | - Xinyan Sun
- MOE Key Laboratory of Modern Teaching Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710062, China
| | - Senqing Qi
- MOE Key Laboratory of Modern Teaching Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710062, China.
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Allen KB, Tan PZ, Sullivan JA, Baumgardner M, Hunter H, Glovak SN. An Integrative Model of Youth Anxiety: Cognitive-Affective Processes and Parenting in Developmental Context. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 2023; 26:1025-1051. [PMID: 37819403 DOI: 10.1007/s10567-023-00458-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023]
Abstract
Multiple theoretical frameworks have been proposed to provide a more comprehensive picture of the risk factors that influence anxiety-related developmental trajectories. Nonetheless, there remains a need for an integrative model that outlines: (1) which risk factors may be most pertinent at different points in development, and (2) how parenting may maintain, exacerbate, or attenuate an affective style that is characterized by high negative emotional reactivity to unfamiliar, uncertain, and threatening situations. A developmentally informed, integrative model has the potential to guide treatment development and delivery, which is critical to reducing the public health burden associated with these disorders. This paper outlines a model integrating research on many well-established risk mechanisms for anxiety disorders, focusing on (1) the developmental progression from emotional reactivity constructs early in life to those involving higher-level cognitive processes later in youth, and (2) potential pathways by which parenting may impact the stability of youth's cognitive-affective responses to threat-relevant information across development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristy Benoit Allen
- Departments of Applied Behavioral Science and Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA.
| | - Patricia Z Tan
- Department of Psychiatry/Mental Health, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | | | - Megan Baumgardner
- Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
| | - Hannah Hunter
- Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
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12
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Suarez-Jimenez B, Lazarov A, Zhu X, Pine DS, Bar-Haim Y, Neria Y. Attention allocation to negatively-valenced stimuli in PTSD is associated with reward-related neural pathways. Psychol Med 2023; 53:4666-4674. [PMID: 35652602 PMCID: PMC9715854 DOI: 10.1017/s003329172200157x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2021] [Revised: 03/13/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND In a recent eye-tracking study we found a differential dwell time pattern for negatively-valenced and neutral faces among patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), trauma-exposed healthy control (TEHCs), and healthy control (HC) participants. Here, we explored whether these group differences relate to resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) patterns of brain areas previously linked to both attention processes and PTSD. These encompass the amygdala, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC), and nucleus accumbens (NAcc). METHODS Ten minutes magnetic resonance imaging rsFC scans were recorded in 17 PTSD patients, 21 TEHCs, and 16 HCs. Participants then completed a free-viewing eye-tracking task assessing attention allocation outside the scanner. Dwell time on negatively-valenced stimuli (DT%) were assessed relative to functional connectivity in the aforementioned seed regions of interest (amygdala, dACC, dlPFC, vlPFC, and NAcc) to whole-brain voxel-wise rsFC. RESULTS As previously reported, group differences occurred in attention allocation to negative-valence stimuli, with longer dwell time on negatively valence stimuli in the PTSD and TEHC groups than the HC group. Higher DT% correlated with weaker NAcc-orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) connectivity in patients with PTSD. Conversely, a positive association emerged in the HC group between DT% and NAcc-OFC connectivity. CONCLUSIONS While exploratory in nature, present findings may suggest that reward-related brain areas are involved in disengaging attention from negative-valenced stimuli, and possibly in regulating ensuing negative emotions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez
- Department of Neuroscience, The Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Amit Lazarov
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Xi Zhu
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Daniel S. Pine
- Section on Developmental Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Yair Bar-Haim
- School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Yuval Neria
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
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13
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Pagliaccio D, Pizzagalli D, Auerbach R, Kirshenbaum J. Neural Sensitivity following Stress Predicts Anhedonia Symptoms: A 2-Year Multi-wave, Longitudinal Study. RESEARCH SQUARE 2023:rs.3.rs-3060116. [PMID: 37398118 PMCID: PMC10312918 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3060116/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/04/2023]
Abstract
Animal models of depression show that acute stress negatively impacts functioning in neural regions sensitive to reward and punishment, often manifesting as anhedonic behaviors. However, few human studies have probed stress-induced neural activation changes in relation to anhedonia, which is critical for clarifying risk for affective disorders. Participants (N = 85 , 12-14-years-old, 53 female), oversampled for risk of depression, were administered clinical assessments and completed an fMRI guessing task to probe neural response to receipt of rewards and losses. After the initial task run, participants received an acute stressor and then, were re-administered the guessing task. Including baseline, participants provided up to 10 self-report assessments of life stress and symptoms over a 2-year period. Linear mixed-effects models estimated whether change in neural activation (post- vs. pre-acute stressor) moderated the longitudinal associations between life stress and symptoms over time. Primary analyses indicated that adolescents with stress-related reductions in right ventral striatum response to rewards exhibited stronger longitudinal associations between life stress and anhedonia severity p F D R = . 048 . Secondary analyses showed that longitudinal associations among life stress and depression severity were moderated by stress-related increases in dorsal striatum response to rewards p F D R < . 002 . Additionally, longitudinal associations among life stress and anxiety severity were moderated by stress-related reductions in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and right anterior insula response to loss p F D R ≤ . 012 . All results held when adjusting for comorbid symptoms. Results show convergence with animal models, highlighting mechanisms that may facilitate stress-induced anhedonia as well as a separable pathway for the emergence of depressive and anxiety symptoms.
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14
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Eskola E, Kataja EL, Hyönä J, Nolvi S, Häikiö T, Carter AS, Karlsson H, Karlsson L, Korja R. Higher attention bias for fear at 8 months of age is associated with better socioemotional competencies during toddlerhood. Infant Behav Dev 2023; 71:101838. [PMID: 36996588 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2023.101838] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2022] [Revised: 03/17/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND In previous studies, an attention bias for signals of fear and threat has been related to socioemotional problems, such as anxiety symptoms, and socioemotional competencies, such as altruistic behaviors in children, adolescents and adults. However, previous studies lack evidence about these relations among infants and toddlers. AIMS Our aim was to study the association between the individual variance in attention bias for faces and, specifically, fearful faces during infancy and socioemotional problems and competencies during toddlerhood. STUDY DESIGN AND SUBJECTS The study sample was comprised of 245 children (112 girls). We explored attentional face and fear biases at the age of 8 months using eye tracking and the face-distractor paradigm with neutral, happy and fearful faces and a scrambled-face control stimulus. Socioemotional problems and competencies were reported by parents with the Brief Infant and Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (BITSEA) when children were 24 months old. OUTCOME MEASURES AND RESULTS A higher attentional fear bias at 8 months of age was related to higher levels of socioemotional competence at 24 months of age (β = .18, p = .008), when infants' sex and temperamental affectivity, maternal age, education and depressive symptoms were controlled. We found no significant association between attentional face or fear bias and socioemotional problems. CONCLUSIONS We found that the heightened attention bias for fearful faces was related to positive outcomes in early socioemotional development. Longitudinal study designs are needed to explore the changes in the relation between the attention bias for fear or threat and socioemotional development during early childhood.
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15
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Meyer HC, Fields A, Vannucci A, Gerhard DM, Bloom PA, Heleniak C, Opendak M, Sullivan R, Tottenham N, Callaghan BL, Lee FS. The Added Value of Crosstalk Between Developmental Circuit Neuroscience and Clinical Practice to Inform the Treatment of Adolescent Anxiety. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY GLOBAL OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 3:169-178. [PMID: 37124361 PMCID: PMC10140450 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2022.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Revised: 02/01/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Significant advances have been made in recent years regarding the developmental trajectories of brain circuits and networks, revealing links between brain structure and function. Emerging evidence highlights the importance of developmental trajectories in determining early psychiatric outcomes. However, efforts to encourage crosstalk between basic developmental neuroscience and clinical practice are limited. Here, we focus on the potential advantage of considering features of neural circuit development when optimizing treatments for adolescent patient populations. Drawing on characteristics of adolescent neurodevelopment, we highlight two examples, safety cues and incentives, that leverage insights from neural circuit development and may have great promise for augmenting existing behavioral treatments for anxiety disorders during adolescence. This commentary seeks to serve as a framework to maximize the translational potential of basic research in developmental populations for strengthening psychiatric treatments. In turn, input from clinical practice including the identification of age-specific clinically relevant phenotypes will continue to guide future basic research in the same neural circuits to better reflect clinical practices. Encouraging reciprocal communication to bridge the gap between basic developmental neuroscience research and clinical implementation is an important step toward advancing both research and practice in this domain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heidi C. Meyer
- Department of Psychiatry, Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Andrea Fields
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York
| | - Anna Vannucci
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York
| | - Danielle M. Gerhard
- Department of Psychiatry, Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York
| | - Paul A. Bloom
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York
| | | | - Maya Opendak
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, New York
- Department of Neuroscience, Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Regina Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, New York
| | - Nim Tottenham
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York
| | - Bridget L. Callaghan
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
| | - Francis S. Lee
- Department of Psychiatry, Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York
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16
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Dikstein H, Gilon-Mann T, Halevi-Yosef R, Enoch-Levi A, Hamdan S, Gur E, Haim YB, Lazarov A, Treasure J, Stein D. Attention bias modification add-on to inpatient treatment for young women with anorexia nervosa-A randomized controlled trial. EUROPEAN EATING DISORDERS REVIEW 2023; 31:285-302. [PMID: 36433884 DOI: 10.1002/erv.2957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2022] [Revised: 09/30/2022] [Accepted: 11/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) display elevated anxiety and attention biases (ABs) in threat processing. Attention bias modification treatment (ABMT) is considered promising for anxiety disorders, but its potential for AN is limited. In this study, 154 young women hospitalised because of AN were assigned to ED-related and anxiety-related threat stimuli, or to a non-ABMT intervention control condition in a randomized control trial. Hundred-and-ten patients completed the study. ABMT was an add-on to the regular inpatient treatment. Research participants completed two pretreatment training sessions and eight biweekly sessions of ABMT. AB, ED-related symptoms, depression, anxiety and stress were assessed before and after ABMT in the research groups, and, similarly, 5 weeks apart, in the controls. We found that despite the different patterns of change in AB between the three groups following ABMT, the reduction in AB, or the between-group differences in AB-reduction, were not significant. While the severity of ED-symptoms, depression, anxiety and stress was reduced following ABMT, or control condition, in all groups, there were no between-group differences in these changes. Changes in AB were not correlated with baseline and pre-post-treatment changes in ED-related and comorbid symptomatology. Methodological and inpatient treatment-related considerations may explain our negative ABMT-related results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hadar Dikstein
- Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel.,Tel Aviv-Yaffo Academic College, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | | | | | | | - Sami Hamdan
- Tel Aviv-Yaffo Academic College, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Eitan Gur
- Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel
| | - Yair Bar Haim
- School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Amit Lazarov
- School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Janet Treasure
- Eating Disorders Unit, Maudsley Hospital, Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College, London, UK
| | - Daniel Stein
- Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel.,Department of Psychiatry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, The Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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17
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Rayson H, Ryan ZJ, Dodd HF. Behavioural inhibition and early neural processing of happy and angry faces interact to predict anxiety: a longitudinal ERP study. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2023; 60:101207. [PMID: 36764038 PMCID: PMC9929676 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Revised: 01/17/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Limited prospective research has examined whether attention biases to emotion moderate associations between Behavioural Inhibition (BI) and anxiety in preschool-aged children. Furthermore, there has been an over-reliance on behavioral measures in previous studies. Accordingly, we assessed anxiety in a sample of preschool-aged children (3-4 years) at baseline, and again approximately 6 and 11 months later, after they started school. At baseline, children completed an assessment of BI and an EEG task where they were presented with angry, happy, and neutral faces. EEG analyses focused on ERPs (P1, P2, N2) associated with specific stages of attention allocation. Interactions between BI and emotion bias (ERP amplitude for emotional versus neutral faces) were found for N2 and P1. For N2, BI was significantly associated with higher overall anxiety when an angry bias was present. Interestingly for P1, BI was associated with higher overall anxiety when a happy bias was absent. Finally, interactions were found between linear time and happy and angry bias for P1, with a greater linear decrease in anxiety over time when biases were high. These results suggest that attention to emotional stimuli moderates the BI-anxiety relationship across early development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Rayson
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS / Université Claude Bernard Lyon, France.
| | - Zoe J Ryan
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, UK
| | - Helen F Dodd
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, UK; Children and Young People's Mental Health Research Collaboration (ChYMe), Exeter Medical School, University of Exeter, UK
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18
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Egotubov A, Gordon-Hacker A, Sheiner E, Gueron-Sela N. Maternal anxiety and toddler depressive/anxiety behaviors: The direct and moderating role of children's focused attention. Infant Behav Dev 2023; 70:101800. [PMID: 36527828 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2022.101800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2022] [Revised: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 11/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Attention mechanisms have a pertinent role in shaping developmental pathways to anxiety and depressive disorders. The current study examined the direct and interactive associations between maternal anxiety symptoms, children's focused attention, and children's anxiety and depression behaviors in early toddlerhood. Participants were 150 mother-child dyads (50 % female) that were assessed at two time points. At 12 months of child age, mothers reported about their anxiety symptoms and children's focused attention. Children's focused attention was also observed and rated from an individual play task. At 18 months of age, mothers reported about children's anxiety and depression behaviors. Focused attention predicted child anxiety and depressive behaviors, with different patterns of associations between observed and reported measures of attention. There was also a significant interaction between maternal anxiety symptoms and observed children's focused attention. A positive association between maternal anxiety symptoms and child anxiety and depression symptoms was evident only for children with above-average levels of observed focused attention during play. Results suggest that different aspects of focused attention play a role in maternal reported anxiety and depression behaviors in early development and may modulate the intergenerational transmission of anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Eyal Sheiner
- Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soroka University Medical Center, Israel
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19
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Fedorenko EJ, Barnwell PV, Selby EA, Contrada RJ. Associations between the late positive potential and PTSD, anxiety, and depressive symptoms among trauma-exposed undergraduates. Biol Psychol 2023; 177:108499. [PMID: 36669617 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2022] [Revised: 12/01/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The late positive potential (LPP) is a neural marker of attention to emotional stimuli; dysregulations in those attentional processes might contribute to trauma-related psychopathology. Although higher LPP amplitudes to negative images have been found to be associated with anxiety symptoms, results have been mixed regarding depressive and PTSD symptoms, especially among trauma-exposed populations. Further, the relationships between the LPP to positive and neutral images and psychopathology symptoms have been underexamined. The purpose of the current study was to test the effects of image valence, and PTSD, anxiety, and depressive symptoms on LPP amplitude among trauma-exposed undergraduates. METHOD Seventy-three trauma-exposed undergraduates viewed a series of negative, positive, and neutral images while LPPs were recorded. Self-report measures were used to assess recent PTSD, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Hierarchical linear modeling tested valence and symptom main effects, as well as Valence by Symptom interactions on LPP amplitude. RESULTS We found a main effect of valence such that individuals exhibited higher LPP amplitudes to negative images compared to neutral images. We also found a Valence by Depressive Symptoms interaction such that there was an inverse relationship between depressive symptoms and the LPP to neutral images but no associations between depressive symptoms and the LPP for positive or negative images. We found no main effects or interactions for anxiety and PTSD symptoms. CONCLUSION Depressive symptoms might be related to diminished attention to neutral stimuli among trauma-exposed undergraduates. Further investigation of the relationship between the LPP and psychopathology is needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erick J Fedorenko
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
| | - Patrick V Barnwell
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
| | - Edward A Selby
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
| | - Richard J Contrada
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
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20
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Iosifyan M, Arina G, Nikolaeva V. Beliefs about COVID-19 as a threat to values are related to preventive behaviors and fear of COVID-19. J Health Psychol 2023:13591053221142348. [PMID: 36591645 PMCID: PMC9810504 DOI: 10.1177/13591053221142348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
We investigated factors related to preventive behaviors and fear of COVID-19: values and beliefs about threat to values because of COVID-19. In two studies, participants reported their own values and evaluated how COVID-19 may threaten values. They also reported their preventive behaviors (washing hands, wearing a facial mask, keeping social distance, and avoiding public places) and fear of COVID-19. COVID-19 is perceived as a threat to personal focused values (openness and self-enhancement values) rather than social focused values (conservation and self-transcendence values). Both value importance and perceived threats to values are related to preventive behaviors and fear of COVID-19. Greater importance of conservation values was related to engaging in preventive behaviors and increased fear of COVID-19. Perceived threats to personal focused values (self-enhancement and openness values) were also related to engaging in preventive behaviors and fear of COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Iosifyan
- University of St Andrews,
Scotland,Marina Iosifyan, School of Divinity, St
Mary’s College, University of Queen’s Terrace, St Andrews KY16 9TS, Scotland.
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21
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Xing C, Zhang Y, Lu H, Zhu X, Miao D. Trait anxiety affects attentional bias to emotional stimuli across time: A growth curve analysis. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:972892. [PMID: 36188484 PMCID: PMC9516103 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.972892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Many studies have illustrated the close relationship between anxiety disorders and attentional functioning, but the relationship between trait anxiety and attentional bias remains controversial. This study examines the effect of trait anxiety on the time course of attention to emotional stimuli using materials from the International Affective Picture System. Participants with high vs. low trait anxiety (HTA vs. LTA) viewed four categories of pictures simultaneously: dysphoric, threatening, positive, and neutral. Their eye-movements for each emotional stimulus were recorded for static and dynamic analysis. Data were analyzed using a mixed linear model and growth curve analysis. Specifically, the HTA group showed a greater tendency to avoid threatening stimuli and more pupil diameter variation in the early period of stimulus presentation (0–7.9 s). The HTA group also showed a stronger attentional bias toward positive and dysphoric stimuli in the middle and late period of stimulus presentation (7.9–30 s). These results suggest that trait anxiety has a significant temporal effect on attention to emotional stimuli, and that this effect mainly manifests after 7 s. In finding stronger attentional avoidance of threatening stimuli and more changes in neural activity, as well as a stronger attentional bias toward positive stimuli, this study provides novel insights on the relationship between trait anxiety and selective attention.
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22
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Zhang W, Li K, Yang H, Xu Y, Li Z, Lin F. “Threatening” mechanism of disorder: evidence from attentional bias. JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/20445911.2022.2106235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Wenjun Zhang
- School of Education and Psychology, University of Jinan, Jinan, People’s Republic of China
| | - Kaiyun Li
- School of Education and Psychology, University of Jinan, Jinan, People’s Republic of China
| | - Huijing Yang
- School of Education and Psychology, University of Jinan, Jinan, People’s Republic of China
| | - YuanYuan Xu
- School of Fine Arts and Design, University of Jinan, Jinan, People’s Republic of China
| | - Zhuoyi Li
- School of Education and Psychology, University of Jinan, Jinan, People’s Republic of China
| | - Fengxun Lin
- School of Education and Psychology, University of Jinan, Jinan, People’s Republic of China
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23
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Biggs AT, Suss J, Sherwood S, Hamilton JA, Olson T. Perception Over Personality in Lethal Force: Aggression, Impulsivity, and Big Five Traits in Threat Assessments and Behavioral Responses due to Weapon Presence and Posture. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.5406/19398298.135.2.06] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The use of lethal force is a combination of threat perception and individual judgment that sometimes warrants a behavioral response. This simplified description implicates perceptual factors and individual differences in lethal force decision making, which ongoing research continues to address. However, personality-based factors have been less explored as to how they might affect either threat perception or behavioral responses in a lethal force decision. The current investigation examined multiple personality traits with the potential to influence lethal force decision making, including aggression, impulsivity, and the Big Five traits. These measures were compared to threat perception and behavioral responses made to a variety of lethal force stimuli broadly categorized as clear threats, ambiguous threats, and clear nonthreats. Samples were recruited from combat-trained infantry, military recruits, and the civilian community to control for prior lethal force training. Although there was a strong omnibus relationship between threat perception and the likelihood of a behavioral response, neither military training nor personality differences had any impact on threat perception or a binary (e.g., shoot/don't-shoot) behavioral response. Therefore, we conclude that perception dominates personality in lethal force decision making when the threat assessment decision is limited to factors such as weapon presence or posture rather than emotion.
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24
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Jiang S, Qian YIM, Jiang Y, Cao ZQ, Xin BM, Wang YC, Wu B. Effects of 15-Days −6° Head-Down Bed Rest on the Attention Bias of Threatening Stimulus. Front Psychol 2022; 13:730820. [PMID: 35832905 PMCID: PMC9272770 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.730820] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 05/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous researchers have found that head-down bed rest (HDBR) will affect the emotional state of individuals, and negative emotions such as anxiety are closely related to attention bias. The present study adopted the dot-probe task to evaluate the effects of 15-days of −6° HDBR on the attention bias of threatening stimulus in 17 young men, which was completed before (Pre-HDBR), during (HDBR-1, HDBR-8, HDBR-15), after (Post-HDBR) the bed rest. In addition, self-report inventories (State Anxiety Inventory, SAI; Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale, PANAS) were conducted to record emotional changes. The results showed that the participants’ negative affect scores on HDBR-8 were significantly lower than the HDBR-1 in PANAS while there was no significant difference on positive affect scores and anxiety scores in SAI. And the results showed that at the Pre-HDBR, HDBT-1, HDBR-15, Post-HDBR, the response speed to threatening stimulus was faster than neutral stimulus, but no statistical significance. However, reaction time of threatening stimulus is significantly longer than neutral stimulus in the HDBR-8, indicating that HDBR may have an effect on the participants’ attention bias, and this effect is manifested as attention avoidance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shan Jiang
- Department of Psychology, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China
| | - YI-Ming Qian
- Department of Psychology, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China
| | - Yuan Jiang
- China Astronaut Research and Training Center, Beijing, China
| | - Zi-Qin Cao
- China Astronaut Research and Training Center, Beijing, China
| | - Bing-Mu Xin
- Engineering Research Center of Human Circadian Rhythm and Sleep, Shenzhen, China
- Space Science and Technology Institute, Shenzhen, China
| | - Ying-Chun Wang
- Department of Psychology, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China
- *Correspondence: Ying-Chun Wang,
| | - Bin Wu
- China Astronaut Research and Training Center, Beijing, China
- Bin Wu,
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25
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Azriel O, Britton JC, Gober CD, Pine DS, Bar-Haim Y. Development and validation of the Attention Bias Questionnaire (ABQ). Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 2022; 31:e1905. [PMID: 35297127 PMCID: PMC9159693 DOI: 10.1002/mpr.1905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2021] [Revised: 12/18/2021] [Accepted: 01/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Various psychopathologies are associated with threat-related attention biases, which are typically measured using mechanized behavioral tasks. While useful and objective, behavioral measures do not capture the subjective experience of biased attention in daily-living. To complement extant behavioral measures, we developed and validated a self-report measure of threat-related attention bias - the Attention Bias Questionnaire (ABQ). METHODS The ABQ consists of nine items reflecting the subjective experience of attention bias towards threats. To enable personalized relevance in threat-content, the general term "threat" was used, and respondents were instructed to refer to specific things that threaten them personally. In a set of five studies, the ABQ was developed and validated. Internal consistency, discriminant validity, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity were tested. RESULTS The ABQ emerged as a coherent and stable measure with two sub-scales: Engagement with Threat and Difficulty to Disengage from Threat. ABQ scores were positively correlated with trait anxiety, social anxiety, PTSD, and depression, as well as behaviorally measured attention bias. CONCLUSION Assessing the subjective experience of threat-related attention bias can enrich existing knowledge about the cognitive mechanisms underlying psychopathology and complement extant behavioral bias measures in research and clinical evaluation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Omer Azriel
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Jennifer C Britton
- Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, USA
| | - Chelsea D Gober
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Daniel S Pine
- Section on Developmental Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Yair Bar-Haim
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.,Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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26
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Mullin BC, Holzman JBW, Pyle L, Perks EL, Chintaluru Y, Gulley LD, Haraden DA, Hankin BL. Relationships between attention to emotion and anxiety among a community sample of adolescents. Psychol Med 2022; 52:1548-1559. [PMID: 33641686 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291720003360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Attentional bias to threat has been implicated as a cognitive mechanism in anxiety disorders for youth. Yet, prior studies documenting this bias have largely relied on a method with questionable reliability (i.e. dot-probe task) and small samples, few of which included adolescents. The current study sought to address such limitations by examining relations between anxiety - both clinically diagnosed and dimensionally rated - and attentional bias to threat. METHODS The study included a community sample of adolescents and employed eye-tracking methodology intended to capture possible biases across the full range of both automatic (i.e. vigilance bias) and controlled attentional processes (i.e. avoidance bias, maintenance bias). We examined both dimensional anxiety (across the full sample; n = 215) and categorical anxiety in a subset case-control analysis (n = 100) as predictors of biases. RESULTS Findings indicated that participants with an anxiety disorder oriented more slowly to angry faces than matched controls. Results did not suggest a greater likelihood of initial orienting to angry faces among our participants with anxiety disorders or those with higher dimensional ratings of anxiety. Greater anxiety severity was associated with greater dwell time to neutral faces. CONCLUSIONS This is the largest study to date examining eye-tracking metrics of attention to threat among healthy and anxious youth. Findings did not support the notion that anxiety is characterized by heightened vigilance or avoidance/maintenance of attention to threat. All effects detected were extremely small. Links between attention to threat and anxiety among adolescents may be subtle and highly dependent on experimental task dimensions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin C Mullin
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA
- Pediatric Mental Health Institute, Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Jacob B W Holzman
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA
- Pediatric Mental Health Institute, Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Laura Pyle
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA
- Department of Biostatistics and Informatics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, School of Public Health, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Emmaly L Perks
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA
| | | | - Lauren D Gulley
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Dustin A Haraden
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
| | - Benjamin L Hankin
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
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27
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Positive valence systems in youth anxiety development: A scoping review. J Anxiety Disord 2022; 89:102588. [PMID: 35691120 DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2022.102588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2021] [Revised: 05/23/2022] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Research on pathophysiological mechanisms supporting anxiety development in youth has traditionally focused on the role of threat systems. However, emerging research suggests that the positive valence system (PVS) may also play a strong and unique role in the development and maintenance of anxiety during childhood and adolescence. To better understand the connection between the PVS and anxiety, this scoping review describes current research spanning multiple units of analysis (i.e., self-report, behavior, neural circuits) linking child and adolescent anxiety and risk for anxiety to various PVS constructs (i.e., positive affect, reward responsiveness, reward learning and decision-making). After screening, 78 peer-reviewed articles and dissertations published between 1998 and May 2021 were included in a qualitative review. Though some consistencies in the literature were found, such as high neural reactivity to incentive anticipation in youth at temperamental risk for social anxiety and blunted positive affect in youth with social anxiety disorder, the literature is largely inconsistent. Inconsistencies could be related to the small number of similar studies, small and homogenous study samples, and variability in methodologies employed in this research. It cannot be confirmed whether findings linking PVS constructs to anxiety are unique to anxiety symptoms or better accounted for by co-occurring depressive symptoms. This review concludes with recommendations for robust future research in this area.
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28
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Childhood adversity and approach/avoidance-related behaviour in boys. J Neural Transm (Vienna) 2022; 129:421-429. [PMID: 35275248 PMCID: PMC9007772 DOI: 10.1007/s00702-022-02481-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2020] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Childhood adversity has been suggested to affect the vulnerability for developmental psychopathology, including both externalizing and internalizing symptoms. This study examines spontaneous attention biases for negative and positive emotional facial expressions as potential intermediate phenotypes. In detail, typically developing boys (6-13 years) underwent an eye-tracking paradigm displaying happy, angry, sad and fearful faces. An approach bias towards positive emotional facial expressions with increasing childhood adversity levels was found. In addition, an attention bias away from negative facial expressions was observed with increasing childhood adversity levels, especially for sad facial expressions. The results might be interpreted in terms of emotional regulation strategies in boys at risk for reactive aggression and depressive behaviour.
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29
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Social support mediates the influence of cerebellum functional connectivity strength on postpartum depression and postpartum depression with anxiety. Transl Psychiatry 2022; 12:54. [PMID: 35136017 PMCID: PMC8826948 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-022-01781-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2021] [Revised: 12/09/2021] [Accepted: 12/21/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Post-Partum Depression (PPD) is the most common health issue impacting emotional well being in women and is often comorbid with anxiety (PPD-A). Previous studies have shown that adequate social support can protect against PPD and PPD-A. However, how the brain connectome is disrupted in PPD and PPD-A and the neural basis underlying the role of social support in PPD and PPD-A remains unclear. The present study aims to explore these issues in patients with PPD and PPD-A. Well-established questionnaires and resting-state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (rsfMRI) were performed in 45 PPD, 31 PDD-A patients and 62 Healthy Postnatal Women (HPW). Brain functional integration was measured by analysis of Functional Connectivity Strength (FCS). Association and mediation analyses were performed to investigate relationships between FCS, PPD and PPD-A symptoms and social support. PPD patients showed specifically higher FCS in right parahippocampus, whereas PPD-A patients showed specifically higher FCS in left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. In all postpartum women, depression symptoms positively correlated with FCS in left paracentral lobule; depression and anxiety symptoms were negatively correlated with FCS in right cerebellem posterior lobe (CPL), a brain region implicated in supporting social cognition and regulation of emotion. Subsequent mediation analysis revealed that perceived social support mediated the association between right CPL FCS and PPD and PPD-A symptoms. Measurement of FCS in disorder-specific neural circuits offers a potential biomarker to study and measure the efficacy of social support for PPD and PPD-A.
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30
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Wang Q, Wei X, Dang R, Zhu F, Yin S, Hu B. An Eye Tracking and Event-Related Potentials Study With Visual Stimuli for Adolescents Emotional Issues. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:933793. [PMID: 35845451 PMCID: PMC9282230 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.933793] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Psychological issues are common among adolescents, which have a significant impact on their growth and development. However, the underlying neural mechanisms of viewing visual stimuli in adolescents are poorly understood. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study applied the Chinese version of the DSM-V self-assessment scales to evaluate 73 adolescents' psychological characteristics for depressive and manic emotional issues. Combined with eye-tracking and event-related potential (ERP), we explored the characteristics of their visual attention and neural processing mechanisms while freely viewing positive, dysphoric, threatening and neutral visual stimuli. RESULTS Compared to controls, adolescents with depressive emotional tendencies showed more concentrated looking behavior with fixation distribution index than the controls, while adolescents with manic emotional tendencies showed no such trait. ERP data revealed individuals with depressive tendencies showed lower arousal levels toward emotional stimuli in the early stage of cognitive processing (N1 amplitude decreased) and with prolonged reaction time (N1 latency increased) than the control group. We found no significant difference between the manic group and the control group. Furthermore, the depression severity scores of the individuals with depressive tendencies were negatively correlated with the total fixation time toward positive stimuli, were negatively correlated with the fixation distribution index toward threatening stimuli, and were positively correlated with the mean N1 amplitudes while viewing dysphoric stimuli. Also, for the individuals with depressive tendencies, there was a positive correlation between the mean N1 amplitudes and the fixation time on the area of interest (AOI) while viewing dysphoric stimuli. For the individuals with manic tendencies, the manic severity scores of the individuals with manic tendencies were positively correlated with the total fixation time toward the positive stimuli. However, no significant correlations were found between the manic severity scores and N1 amplitudes, and between N1 amplitudes and eye-tracking output variables. CONCLUSION This study proposes the application of eye-tracking and ERP to provide better biological evidence to alter the neural processing of emotional stimuli for adolescents with emotional issues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quan Wang
- Key Laboratory of Spectral Imaging Technology, Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China.,Key Laboratory of Biomedical Spectroscopy of Xi'an, Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China
| | - Xiaojie Wei
- Key Laboratory of Spectral Imaging Technology, Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Biomedical Spectroscopy of Xi'an, Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China
| | - Ruochen Dang
- Key Laboratory of Spectral Imaging Technology, Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Biomedical Spectroscopy of Xi'an, Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China
| | - Feiyu Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Spectral Imaging Technology, Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Biomedical Spectroscopy of Xi'an, Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China
| | - Shaokang Yin
- Key Laboratory of Spectral Imaging Technology, Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Biomedical Spectroscopy of Xi'an, Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China
| | - Bingliang Hu
- Key Laboratory of Spectral Imaging Technology, Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China.,Key Laboratory of Biomedical Spectroscopy of Xi'an, Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China
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31
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Cheng B, Zhou Y, Kwok VPY, Li Y, Wang S, Zhao Y, Meng Y, Deng W, Wang J. Altered Functional Connectivity Density and Couplings in Postpartum Depression with and Without Anxiety. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2021; 17:756-766. [PMID: 34904174 PMCID: PMC9340108 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsab127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2021] [Revised: 10/28/2021] [Accepted: 12/13/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Postpartum depression (PPD) is the most common psychological health issue among women, which often comorbids with anxiety (PPD-A). PPD and PPD-A showed highly overlapping clinical symptoms. Identifying disorder-specific neurophysiological markers of PDD and PPD-A is important for better clinical diagnosis and treatments. Here, we performed functional connectivity density (FCD) and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) analyses in 138 participants (45 unmedicated patients with first-episode PPD, 31 PDD-A patients and 62 healthy postnatal women, respectively). FCD mapping revealed specifically weaker long-range FCD in right lingual gyrus (LG.R) for PPD patients and significantly stronger long-range FCD in left ventral striatum (VS.L) for PPD-A patients. The follow-up rsFC analyses further revealed reduced functional connectivity between dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and VS.L in both PPD and PPD-A. PPD showed specific changes of rsFC between LG.R and dmPFC, right angular gyrus and left precentral gyrus, while PPD-A represented specifically abnormal rsFC between VS.L and left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. Moreover, the altered FCD and rsFC were closely associated with depression and anxiety symptoms load. Taken together, our study is the first to identify common and disorder-specific neural circuit disruptions in PPD and PPD-A, which may facilitate more effective diagnosis and treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bochao Cheng
- Department of Radiology, West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.,Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Yushan Zhou
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.,Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Veronica P Y Kwok
- Center for Language and Brain, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China
| | - Yuanyuan Li
- Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of the Ministry of Education, School of life Science and technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 625014, China
| | - Song Wang
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Yajun Zhao
- School of Sociality and Psychology, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, China
| | - Yajing Meng
- Department of Psychiatry, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Wei Deng
- Department of Psychiatry, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Jiaojian Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research, Institute of Primate Translational Medicine, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China
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32
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Harrison OK, Marlow L, Finnegan SL, Ainsworth B, Pattinson KTS. Dissociating breathlessness symptoms from mood in asthma. Biol Psychol 2021; 165:108193. [PMID: 34560173 PMCID: PMC9355895 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2020] [Revised: 09/09/2021] [Accepted: 09/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
It is poorly understood why asthma symptoms are often discordant with objective medical tests. Differences in interoception (perception of internal bodily processes) may help explain symptom discordance, which may be further influenced by mood and attention. We explored inter-relationships between interoception, mood and attention in 63 individuals with asthma and 30 controls. Questionnaires, a breathing-related interoception task, two attention tasks, and standard clinical assessments were performed. Questionnaires were analysed using exploratory factor analysis, and linear regression examined relationships between measures. K-means clustering also defined asthma subgroups. Two concordant asthma subgroups (symptoms related appropriately to pathophysiology, normal mood) and one discordant subgroup (moderate symptoms, minor pathophysiology, low mood) were found. In all participants, negative mood correlated with decreased interoceptive ability and faster reaction times in an attention task. Our findings suggest that interpreting bodily sensations relates to mood, and this effect may be heightened in subgroups of individuals with asthma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivia K Harrison
- Translational Neuromodeling Unit, Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland; Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand; Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, and Nuffield Division of Anaesthetics, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Lucy Marlow
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, and Nuffield Division of Anaesthetics, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, United Kingdom; Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom
| | - Sarah L Finnegan
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, and Nuffield Division of Anaesthetics, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Ben Ainsworth
- Department of Psychology, University of Bath, United Kingdom
| | - Kyle T S Pattinson
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, and Nuffield Division of Anaesthetics, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.
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33
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Kret ME, van Berlo E. Attentional Bias in Humans Toward Human and Bonobo Expressions of Emotion. EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY 2021; 19:14747049211032816. [PMID: 34318723 PMCID: PMC10358346 DOI: 10.1177/14747049211032816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Accepted: 06/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Correctly recognizing and efficiently attending to emotional situations are highly valuable skills for social species such as humans and bonobos, humans' closest living relatives. In the current study, we investigated whether humans perceive a range of emotional situations differently when these involved other humans compared to bonobos. A large group of children and adults participated in an emotion perception task and rated scenes showing either bonobos or humans in situations depicting distressed or aggressive behavior, yawning, scratching, grooming, playing, sex scenes or neutral situations. A new group of people performed a dot-probe task to assess attentional biases toward these materials. The main finding is that humans perceive emotional scenes showing people similarly as emotional scenes of bonobos, a result reflecting a shared evolutionary origin of emotional expressions. Other results show that children interpreted bonobos' bared teeth displays as a positive signal. This signal is related to the human smile, but is frequently seen in distressed situations, as was the case in the current experiment. Children may still need to learn to use contextual cues when judging an ambiguous expression as positive or negative. Further, the sex scenes were rated very positively, especially by male participants. Even though they rated these more positively than women, their attention was captured similarly, surpassing all other emotion categories. Finally, humans' attention was captured more by human yawns than by bonobo yawns, which may be related to the highly contagious nature of yawns, especially when shown by close others. The current research adds to earlier work showing morphological, behavioral and genetic parallels between humans and bonobos by showing that their emotional expressions have a common origin too.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariska E. Kret
- Leiden University, Institute of Psychology, Cognitive Psychology Unit, CoPAN lab, Wassenaarseweg, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands
| | - Evy van Berlo
- Leiden University, Institute of Psychology, Cognitive Psychology Unit, CoPAN lab, Wassenaarseweg, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands
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34
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Dagan O, Bernard K. It takes a village: a call for engaging attachment with adjunct disciplines to clarify "in-house" clinical conundrums. Attach Hum Dev 2021; 23:455-467. [PMID: 33886408 DOI: 10.1080/14616734.2021.1918455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Researchers have long discussed the rich clinical applications of attachment theory. Specifically, clinicians have been compelled by the idea that insecure attachment, broadly speaking, may bring about stressful (real or perceived) interpersonal experiences that increases risk for internalizing symptoms. However, recent meta-analyses examining the links between attachment representations and internalizing symptoms have challenged this assumption, highlighting the importance of considering insecure attachment subtypes in understanding one's vulnerability for internalizing symptoms. Here we expand on this special issue's target papers and propose that, despite an increase in citation impact of clinically relevant attachment research, there are still core theoretical and methodological questions left unanswered. We highlight three clinical conundrums: (1) hyperactivating, but not deactivating, attachment is linked to increased internalizing symptoms in adolescence and adulthood; (2) the magnitude of the associations between insecure attachment subtypes and internalizing symptoms varies depending on the developmental period; and (3) self-reported, but not narrative-based, deactivating attachment is associated with increased internalizing symptoms. We call for engagement with adjunct academic disciplines to elucidate these issues. These clinical conundrums have important ethical implications regarding how we understand insecure attachment and necessitate close theoretical and empirical attention before attachment findings can truly inform clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Or Dagan
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
| | - Kristin Bernard
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
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35
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Brain and Behavior Correlates of Risk Taking in Pediatric Anxiety Disorders. Biol Psychiatry 2021; 89:707-715. [PMID: 33451676 PMCID: PMC9037066 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2020] [Revised: 10/28/2020] [Accepted: 11/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Avoidant behavior is a defining feature of pediatric anxiety disorders. Although prior research has examined it from the perspective of early information processing events, there has been relatively less consideration of the processes by which anxious youth make avoidant decisions and how these choices are reinforced over time. Studies of risk taking are valuable in this regard because they consider how individuals identify the pros and cons of their choices, how they weigh potential gains and losses and estimate their respective probabilities, and how they tolerate the uncertainty intrinsic to any decision. In this review, we place risk taking within existing models of information processing in pediatric anxiety disorders and highlight the particular value of this construct for informing models of developmental psychopathology and individual differences in outcome over time. We review existing behavioral and neurobiological studies of risk taking in anxious youth and conclude by identifying directions for future research.
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36
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Kohei K, Toyohiro H, Jun T, Toshiyuki I, Hiromi NT, Yuji K, Naoki N, Michiko K, Shigeru M. Efficacy of attention bias modification combined with cognitive behavioral therapy for reducing anxiety in patients with hematopoietic malignancies: a quasi-randomized controlled trial. JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS REPORTS 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jadr.2021.100122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022] Open
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37
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Emerging Domain-Based Treatments for Pediatric Anxiety Disorders. Biol Psychiatry 2021; 89:716-725. [PMID: 33451677 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.08.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2020] [Revised: 08/19/2020] [Accepted: 08/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Domain-specific cognitive training treatments for pediatric anxiety disorders rely on accurate and reliable identification of specific underlying deficits and biases in neurocognitive functions. Once identified, such biases can serve as specific targets for therapeutic intervention. Clinical translations typically reflect mechanized training protocols designed to rectify the identified biases. Here, we review and synthesize research on key neurocognitive processes that emerge as potential targets for specialized cognitive training interventions in pediatric anxiety disorders in the domains of attention, interpretation, error monitoring, working memory, and fear learning. For each domain, we describe the current status of target establishment (i.e., an association between pediatric anxiety and a specific neurocognitive process), and then review extant translational efforts regarding these targets and the evidence supporting their clinical utility in youths. We then localize each of the domains within the path leading to efficacious, evidence-supported treatments for pediatric anxiety, providing a roadmap for future research. The review indicates that specific cognitive targets in pediatric anxiety have been established in all the reviewed domains except for fear learning, where a clear target is yet to be elucidated. In contrast, evidence for clinical efficacy emerged only in the threat-related attention domain, with some preliminary findings in the domains of interpretation and working memory. The path to clinical translation in the domain of error monitoring is yet unclear. Implications and potential avenues for future research and translation are discussed.
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38
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Vervoort L, Braun M, De Schryver M, Naets T, Koster EHW, Braet C. A Pictorial Dot Probe Task to Assess Food-Related Attentional Bias in Youth With and Without Obesity: Overview of Indices and Evaluation of Their Reliability. Front Psychol 2021; 12:644512. [PMID: 33746859 PMCID: PMC7965983 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.644512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 02/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Several versions of the dot probe detection task are frequently used to assess maladaptive attentional processes associated with a broad range of psychopathology and health behavior, including eating behavior and weight. However, there are serious concerns about the reliability of the indices derived from the paradigm as measurement of attentional bias toward or away from salient stimuli. The present paper gives an overview of different attentional bias indices used in psychopathology research and scrutinizes three types of indices (the traditional attentional bias score, the dynamic trial-level base scores, and the probability index) calculated from a pictorial version of the dot probe task to assess food-related attentional biases in children and youngsters with and without obesity. Correlational analyses reveal that dynamic scores (but not the traditional and probability indices) are dependent on general response speed. Reliability estimates are low for the traditional and probability indices. The higher reliability for the dynamic indices is at least partially explained by general response speed. No significant group differences between youth with and without obesity are found, and correlations with weight are also non-significant. Taken together, results cast doubt on the applicability of this specific task for both experimental and individual differences research on food-related attentional biases in youth. However, researchers are encouraged to make and test adaptations to the procedure or computational algorithm in an effort to increase psychometric quality of the task and to report psychometric characteristics of their version of the task for their specific sample.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leentje Vervoort
- Department of Developmental Psychology, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Maya Braun
- Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Maarten De Schryver
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Faculty Research Support Office, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Tiffany Naets
- Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Department Health Care (Dietetics), Odisee University College, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Ernst H. W. Koster
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Caroline Braet
- Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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39
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Yeung RC, Lee CM, Fernandes MA. The influence of social anxiety-provoking contexts on context reinstatement effects. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2021; 74:1170-1184. [PMID: 33586485 PMCID: PMC8189001 DOI: 10.1177/1747021821998489] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The context reinstatement (CR) effect is the finding that target stimuli are better remembered when presented in the same context as during initial encoding, compared with a different context. It remains unclear, however, whether emotional features of the context affect this memory benefit. In two experiments, we investigated whether the anxiety-provoking nature of a context scene might influence the CR effect. During encoding, participants viewed target faces paired with scenes validated as either highly anxiety-provoking or not, half of which contained other faces embedded within the scene. During retrieval, target faces were presented again with either the same or a new context scene. In Experiment 1, the expected CR effect was observed when the contexts were low-anxiety scenes or high-anxiety scenes without embedded faces. In contrast, the CR effect was absent when the contexts were high-anxiety scenes containing embedded faces. In Experiment 2, to determine whether the presence of embedded faces or the anxiety level of scenes reduced the CR effect, we included an additional context type: low-anxiety scenes with embedded faces. Once again, the CR effect was absent only when the context scene was highly anxiety-provoking with embedded faces: reinstating this context type failed to benefit memory for targets. Results suggest that the benefit to target memory via reinstating a context depends critically on emotional characteristics of the reinstated context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan C Yeung
- Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
| | - Christopher M Lee
- Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
| | - Myra A Fernandes
- Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
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40
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Eskola E, Kataja EL, Hyönä J, Häikiö T, Pelto J, Karlsson H, Karlsson L, Korja R. Behavioral Regulatory Problems Are Associated With a Lower Attentional Bias to Fearful Faces During Infancy. Child Dev 2021; 92:1539-1553. [PMID: 33474751 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
To investigate the role of early regulatory problems (RP), such as problems in feeding, sleeping, and calming down during later development, the association between parent-reported RP at 3 months (no-RP, n = 110; RP, n = 66) and attention to emotional faces at 8 months was studied. Eight-month-old infants had a strong tendency to look at faces and to specifically fearful faces, and the individual variance in this tendency was assessed with eye tracking using a face-distractor paradigm. The early RPs were related to a lower attention bias to fearful faces compared to happy and neutral faces after controlling for temperamental negative affectivity. This suggests that early RPs are related to the processing of emotional information later during infancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eeva Eskola
- University of Turku.,Turku University Hospital
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41
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A mu-opioid feedback model of human social behavior. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 121:250-258. [PMID: 33359094 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.12.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2020] [Revised: 11/26/2020] [Accepted: 12/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Since the discovery of pain relieving and rewarding properties of opiates such as morphine or heroin, the human mu-opioid system has been a target for medical research on pain processing and addiction. Indeed, pain and pleasure act mutually inhibitory on each other and the mu-opioid system has been suggested as an underlying common neurobiological mechanism. Recently, research interest extended the role of the endogenous mu-opioid system beyond the hedonic value of pain and pleasure towards human social-emotional behavior. Here we propose a mu-opioid feedback model of social behavior. This model is based upon recent findings of opioid modulation of human social learning, bonding and empathy in relation to affiliative and protective tendencies. Fundamental to the model is that the mu-opioid system reinforces socially affiliative or protective behavior in response to positive and negative social experiences with long-term consequences for social behavior and health. The functional implications for stress, anxiety, depression and attachment behaviors are discussed.
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Yoshimura S, Kobayashi K, Ueno T, Miyagi T, Oishi N, Murai T, Fujiwara H. Autistic traits are associated with the functional connectivity of between-but not within-attention systems in the general population. BMC Neurosci 2020; 21:49. [PMID: 33228525 PMCID: PMC7686764 DOI: 10.1186/s12868-020-00603-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2020] [Accepted: 11/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous studies have demonstrated that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit dysfunction in the three attention systems (i.e., alerting, orienting, and executive control) as well as atypical relationships among these systems. Additionally, other studies have reported that individuals with subclinical but high levels of autistic traits show similar attentional tendencies to those observed in ASD. Based on these findings, it was hypothesized that autistic traits would affect the functions and relationships of the three attention systems in a general population. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed in 119 healthy adults to investigate relationships between autistic traits and within- and between-system functional connectivity (FC) among the three attention systems. Twenty-six regions of interest that were defined as components of the three attention systems by a previous task-based fMRI study were examined in terms of within- and between-system FC. We assessed autistic traits using the Autism-Spectrum Quotient. RESULTS Correlational analyses revealed that autistic traits were significantly correlated with between-system FC, but not with within-system FC. CONCLUSIONS Our results imply that a high autistic trait level, even when subclinical, is associated with the way the three attention systems interact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sayaka Yoshimura
- Faculty of Human Health Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53 Shogoin-Kawaharacho, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.
| | - Kei Kobayashi
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Shogoin-Kawaharacho, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan
| | - Tsukasa Ueno
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Shogoin-Kawaharacho, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan
| | - Takashi Miyagi
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Shogoin-Kawaharacho, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan
| | - Naoya Oishi
- Medical Innovation Center, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Shogoin-Kawaharacho, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan
| | - Toshiya Murai
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Shogoin-Kawaharacho, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan
| | - Hironobu Fujiwara
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Shogoin-Kawaharacho, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.,RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, Artificial Intelligence Ethics and Society Team, Nihonbashi 1-chome Mitsui Building, 15th floor, 1-4-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-Ku, Tokyo, 103-0027, Japan
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Horovitz O, Roitburd B, Abend R, Ziskind D, Shechner T. Distraction versus training attention away from threat: How to best wait for the dentist? AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/ajpy.12128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Omer Horovitz
- Psychology Department, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel,
| | | | - Rany Abend
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel‐Aviv University, Tel‐Aviv, Israel,
| | | | - Tomer Shechner
- Psychology Department, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel,
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Baker AE, Galván A. Threat or thrill? the neural mechanisms underlying the development of anxiety and risk taking in adolescence. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2020; 45:100841. [PMID: 32829216 PMCID: PMC7451699 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2020] [Revised: 08/12/2020] [Accepted: 08/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Anxiety is common in adolescence and has been linked to a plethora of negative outcomes across development. While previous studies of anxiety have focused on threat sensitivity, less work has considered the concurrent development of threat- and reward-related neural circuitry and how these circuits interact and compete during puberty to influence typical adolescent behaviors such as increased risk taking and exploration. The current review integrates relevant findings from clinical and developmental neuroimaging studies to paint a multidimensional picture of adolescent-onset anxiety against the backdrop of typical adolescent development. Ultimately, this paper argues that longitudinal neuroimaging studies tracking approach and avoidance motivations across development are needed to fully understand the mechanisms underlying the development of anxiety in adolescence and to identify and provide effective interventions for at-risk youth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda E Baker
- Department of Psychology, University of California, 502 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
| | - Adriana Galván
- Department of Psychology, University of California, 502 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, 757 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States.
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Smith AR, Haller SP, Haas SA, Pagliaccio D, Behrens B, Swetlitz C, Bezek JL, Brotman MA, Leibenluft E, Fox NA, Pine DS. Emotional distractors and attentional control in anxious youth: eye tracking and fMRI data. Cogn Emot 2020; 35:110-128. [PMID: 32954946 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2020.1816911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Attentional control theory suggests that high cognitive demands impair the flexible deployment of attention control in anxious adults, particularly when paired with external threats. Extending this work to pediatric anxiety, we report two studies utilising eye tracking (Study 1) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (Study 2). Both studies use a visual search paradigm to examine anxiety-related differences in the impact of threat on attentional control at varying levels of task difficulty. In Study 1, youth ages 8-18 years (N = 109), completed the paradigm during eye tracking. Results indicated that youth with more severe anxiety took longer to fixate on and identify the target, specifically on difficult trials, compared to youth with less anxiety. However, no anxiety-related effects of emotional distraction (faces) emerged. In Study 2, a separate cohort of 8-18-year-olds (N = 72) completed a similar paradigm during fMRI. Behaviourally, youth with more severe anxiety were slower to respond on searches following non-threatening, compared to threatening, distractors, but this effect did not vary by task difficulty. The same interaction emerged in the neuroimaging analysis in the superior parietal lobule and precentral gyrus-more severe anxiety was associated with greater brain response following non-threatening distractors. Theoretical implications of these inconsistent findings are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley R Smith
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Simone P Haller
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Sara A Haas
- Uppsala Child and Baby Lab, Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - David Pagliaccio
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Brigid Behrens
- Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
| | - Caroline Swetlitz
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jessica L Bezek
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Melissa A Brotman
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Ellen Leibenluft
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Nathan A Fox
- College of Education, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Daniel S Pine
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, MD, USA
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Abado E, Sagi J, Silber N, De Houwer J, Aue T, Okon-Singer H. Reducing attention bias in spider fear by manipulating expectancies. Behav Res Ther 2020; 135:103729. [PMID: 32980587 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2020.103729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2019] [Revised: 08/01/2020] [Accepted: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
The present series of studies examines the causal interaction between expectancy and attention biases in spider fear. Previous studies found that a-priori expectancy does not affect attention bias toward spiders, as measured by detection of spider targets in a subsequent visual search array compared to detection of bird targets (i.e. neutral targets) that appeared equally often. In the present series of studies, target frequency was manipulated. Targets were preceded by a verbal cue stating the likelihood that a certain target would appear. The aim was to examine whether manipulation of expectancies toward either target affects attention bias. In Experiment 1, birds appeared more frequently than spiders. Among a representative sample of the student population, attention bias toward spiders was significantly reduced. Experiment 2 replicated these results with both low- and high-fearful participants. In Experiment 3, spiders appeared more frequently than birds. Attention bias was reduced among low- and high-fearful groups, but not as strongly as the reduction in Experiments 1 and 2. These results suggest that target salience plays a role in attention bias, in competition with expectancy. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that varying expectancy can reduce attention bias, most importantly in high fear.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elinor Abado
- Department of Psychology, School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel; The Integrated Brain and Behavior Research Center (IBBR), University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
| | - Jasmine Sagi
- Department of Psychology, School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel; The Integrated Brain and Behavior Research Center (IBBR), University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Nir Silber
- Department of Psychology, School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel; The Integrated Brain and Behavior Research Center (IBBR), University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Jan De Houwer
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Tatjana Aue
- Department of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Hadas Okon-Singer
- Department of Psychology, School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel; The Integrated Brain and Behavior Research Center (IBBR), University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
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Linetzky M, Kahn M, Lazarov A, Pine DS, Bar-Haim Y. Gaze-Contingent Music Reward Therapy for Clinically Anxious 7- to 10-Year-Olds: An Open Multiple Baseline Feasibility Study. JOURNAL OF CLINICAL CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOLOGY : THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL FOR THE SOCIETY OF CLINICAL CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOLOGY, AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION, DIVISION 53 2020; 49:618-625. [PMID: 30908085 PMCID: PMC7646125 DOI: 10.1080/15374416.2019.1573685] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
This multiple-baseline open pilot trial examined feasibility, compliance, acceptability, and preliminary indices of efficacy of Gaze-Contingent Music Reward Therapy (GC-MRT) for anxious 7- to 10-year-old children. GC-MRT is a novel therapy for anxiety disorders that relies on eye-tracking technology and operant conditioning principles to divert attention toward neutral over threat stimuli, with music serving as a reward. Using a multiple-baseline design, 12 children (M age = 8.3 years, SD = .72, range = 7-10; 4 girls) with social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, or separation anxiety disorder received 8 therapy sessions. Clinical status was determined via semistructured interviews and questionnaires. Patients were randomized to wait 1, 3, or 5 weeks between initial assessment and beginning of therapy. Self-reported anxiety was recorded weekly, and comprehensive clinical assessments were obtained pre- and posttreatment. All 12 patients completed the full course of GC-MRT within the allocated therapy period. Therapy credibility rates were moderate to high as reported by both children and parents. Clinician-rated anxiety levels remained consistent during baseline measurement and decreased significantly following treatment. Parent-reports also yielded significant reductions in child anxiety symptoms from pre- to posttreatment. However, child-reported anxiety did not change significantly. The results provide preliminary evidence for feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of GC-MRT for young children with anxiety disorders. Efficacy should now be tested in randomized controlled trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marian Linetzky
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University
- Section on Developmental Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health
- School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University
| | - Michal Kahn
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University
- Section on Developmental Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health
- School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University
| | - Amit Lazarov
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University
- Section on Developmental Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health
- School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University
| | - Daniel S Pine
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University
- Section on Developmental Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health
- School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University
| | - Yair Bar-Haim
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University
- Section on Developmental Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health
- School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University
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48
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Morris LS, McCall JG, Charney DS, Murrough JW. The role of the locus coeruleus in the generation of pathological anxiety. Brain Neurosci Adv 2020; 4:2398212820930321. [PMID: 32954002 PMCID: PMC7479871 DOI: 10.1177/2398212820930321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2020] [Accepted: 04/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
This review aims to synthesise a large pre-clinical and clinical
literature related to a hypothesised role of the locus coeruleus
norepinephrine system in responses to acute and chronic threat, as
well as the emergence of pathological anxiety. The locus coeruleus has
widespread norepinephrine projections throughout the central nervous
system, which act to globally modulate arousal states and adaptive
behavior, crucially positioned to play a significant role in
modulating both ascending visceral and descending cortical
neurocognitive information. In response to threat or a stressor, the
locus coeruleus–norepinephrine system globally modulates arousal,
alerting and orienting functions and can have a powerful effect on the
regulation of multiple memory systems. Chronic stress leads to
amplification of locus coeruleus reactivity to subsequent stressors,
which is coupled with the emergence of pathological anxiety-like
behaviors in rodents. While direct in vivo evidence for locus
coeruleus dysfunction in humans with pathological anxiety remains
limited, recent advances in high-resolution 7-T magnetic resonance
imaging and computational modeling approaches are starting to provide
new insights into locus coeruleus characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurel S Morris
- The Depression and Anxiety Center for Discovery and Treatment, Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jordan G McCall
- Department of Anesthesiology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Dennis S Charney
- Dean's Office, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - James W Murrough
- The Depression and Anxiety Center for Discovery and Treatment, Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
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Hsu KJ, McNamara ME, Shumake J, Stewart RA, Labrada J, Alario A, Gonzalez GD, Schnyer DM, Beevers CG. Neurocognitive predictors of self-reported reward responsivity and approach motivation in depression: A data-driven approach. Depress Anxiety 2020; 37:682-697. [PMID: 32579757 PMCID: PMC7951991 DOI: 10.1002/da.23042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2019] [Revised: 03/18/2020] [Accepted: 04/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Individual differences in reward-related processes, such as reward responsivity and approach motivation, appear to play a role in the nature and course of depression. Prior work suggests that cognitive biases for valenced information may contribute to these reward processes. Yet there is little work examining how biased attention, processing, and memory for positively and negatively valenced information may be associated with reward-related processes in samples with depression symptoms. METHODS We used a data-driven, machine learning (elastic net) approach to identify the best predictors of self-reported reward-related processes using multiple tasks of attention, processing, and memory for valenced information measured across behavioral, eye tracking, psychophysiological, and computational modeling approaches (n = 202). Participants were adults (ages 18-35) who ranged in depression symptom severity from mild to severe. RESULTS Models predicted between 5.0-12.2% and 9.7-28.0% of held-out test sample variance in approach motivation and reward responsivity, respectively. Low self-referential processing of positively valenced information was the most robust, albeit modest, predictor of low approach motivation and reward responsivity. CONCLUSIONS Self-referential processing of positive information is the strongest predictor of reward responsivity and approach motivation in a sample ranging from mild to severe depression symptom severity. Experiments are now needed to clarify the causal relationship between self-referential processing of positively valenced information and reward processes in depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kean J. Hsu
- Department of Psychiatry, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC,Institute for Mental Health Research and Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX,Corresponding Author: Kean J. Hsu, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry, Georgetown University Medical Center, 2115 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20007 ()
| | - Mary E. McNamara
- Institute for Mental Health Research and Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
| | - Jason Shumake
- Institute for Mental Health Research and Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
| | | | - Jocelyn Labrada
- Institute for Mental Health Research and Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
| | - Alexandra Alario
- Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
| | - Guadalupe D.S. Gonzalez
- Institute for Mental Health Research and Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
| | - David M. Schnyer
- Institute for Mental Health Research and Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
| | - Christopher G. Beevers
- Institute for Mental Health Research and Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
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Morales S, Miller NV, Troller-Renfree SV, White LK, Degnan KA, Henderson HA, Fox NA. Attention bias to reward predicts behavioral problems and moderates early risk to externalizing and attention problems. Dev Psychopathol 2020; 32:397-409. [PMID: 30837014 PMCID: PMC6731161 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579419000166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
The current study had three goals. First, we replicated recent evidence that suggests a concurrent relation between attention bias to reward and externalizing and attention problems at age 7. Second, we extended these findings by examining the relations between attention and behavioral measures of early exuberance (3 years), early effortful control (4 years), and concurrent effortful control (7 years), as well as later behavioral problems (9 years). Third, we evaluated the role of attention to reward in the longitudinal pathways between early exuberance and early effortful control to predict externalizing and attention problems. Results revealed that attention bias to reward was associated concurrently and longitudinally with behavioral problems. Moreover, greater reward bias was concurrently associated with lower levels of parent-reported effortful control. Finally, attention bias to reward moderated the longitudinal relations between early risk factors for behavioral problems (gender, exuberance, and effortful control) and later externalizing and attention problems, such that these early risk factors were most predictive of behavioral problems for males with a large attention bias to reward. These findings suggest that attention bias to reward may act as a moderator of early risk, aiding the identification of children at the highest risk for later behavioral problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Santiago Morales
- Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Natalie V Miller
- Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Sonya V Troller-Renfree
- Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Lauren K White
- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Kathryn A Degnan
- Department of Psychology, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, USA
| | | | - Nathan A Fox
- Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
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