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Ram H, Grinfeld G, Liberman N. Anticipated variability increases generalization of predictive learning. NPJ SCIENCE OF LEARNING 2024; 9:55. [PMID: 39244561 PMCID: PMC11380665 DOI: 10.1038/s41539-024-00269-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2024] [Indexed: 09/09/2024]
Abstract
We show that learners generalized more broadly around the learned stimulus when they expected more variability between the learning set and the generalization set, as well as within the generalization set. Experiments 1 and 3 used a predictive learning task and demonstrated border perceptual generalization both when expected variability was manipulated explicitly via instructions (Experiment 1), and implicitly by increasing temporal distance to the anticipated application of learning (Experiment 3). Experiment 2 showed that expecting to apply learning in the more distant future increases expected variability in the generalization set. We explain the relation between expected variability and generalization as an accuracy-applicability trade-off: when learners anticipate more variable generalization targets, they "cast a wider net" during learning, by attributing the outcome to a broader range of stimuli. The use of more abstract, broader categories when anticipating a more distant future application aligns with Construal Level Theory of psychological distance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hadar Ram
- Bar-Ilan University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
| | | | - Nira Liberman
- Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- International Faculty, Key Profile Area II: Behavioral Economic Engineering and Social Cognition, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
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2
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Fiocchi FR, van Dorp NES, Dijkhuizen S, van den Berg M, Wong A, De Zeeuw CI, Boele HJ. Discrimination training affects stimulus generalization in mice during Pavlovian eyeblink conditioning. Front Behav Neurosci 2024; 18:1446991. [PMID: 39247713 PMCID: PMC11377223 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1446991] [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] [Received: 06/10/2024] [Accepted: 07/15/2024] [Indexed: 09/10/2024] Open
Abstract
The delicate balance between discrimination and generalization of responses is crucial for survival in our ever-changing environment. In particular, it is important to understand how stimulus discrimination affects the level of stimulus generalization. For example, when we use non-differential training for Pavlovian eyeblink conditioning to investigate generalization of cerebellar-related eyelid motor responses, we find generalization effects on amount, amplitude and timing of the conditioned responses. However, it is unknown what the generalization effects are following differential training. We trained mice to close their eyelids to a 10 kHz tone with an air-puff as the reinforcing stimulus (CS+), while alternatingly exposing them to a tone frequency of either 4 kHz, 9 kHz or 9.5 kHz without the air-puff (CS-) during the training blocks. We tested the generalization effects during the expression of the responses after the training period with tones ranging from 2 kHz to 20 kHz. Our results show that the level of generalization tended to positively correlate with the difference between the CS+ and the CS- training stimuli. These effects of generalization were found for the probability, amplitude but not for the timing of the conditioned eyelid responses. These data indicate the specificity of the generalization effects following differential versus non-differential training, highlighting the relevance of discrimination learning for stimulus generalization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Romana Fiocchi
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, United States
| | - Nikki E S van Dorp
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States
| | | | | | - Aaron Wong
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Chris I De Zeeuw
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Royal Dutch Academy of Arts & Science (KNAW), Netherland Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Henk-Jan Boele
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States
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3
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Kapatsinski V, Bramlett AA, Idemaru K. What do you learn from a single cue? Dimensional reweighting and cue reassociation from experience with a newly unreliable phonetic cue. Cognition 2024; 249:105818. [PMID: 38772253 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2024.105818] [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: 06/21/2023] [Revised: 05/14/2024] [Accepted: 05/15/2024] [Indexed: 05/23/2024]
Abstract
In language comprehension, we use perceptual cues to infer meanings. Some of these cues reside on perceptual dimensions. For example, the difference between bear and pear is cued by a difference in voice onset time (VOT), which is a continuous perceptual dimension. The present paper asks whether, and when, experience with a single value on a dimension behaving unexpectedly is used by the learner to reweight the whole dimension. We show that learners reweight the whole VOT dimension when exposed to a single VOT value (e.g., 45 ms) and provided with feedback indicating that the speaker intended to produce a /b/ 50% of the time and a /p/ the other 50% of the time. Importantly, dimensional reweighting occurs only if 1) the 50/50 feedback is unexpected for the VOT value, and 2) there is another dimension that is predictive of feedback. When no predictive dimension is available, listeners reassociate the experienced VOT value with the more surprising outcome but do not downweight the entire VOT dimension. These results provide support for perceptual representations of speech sounds that combine cues and dimensions, for viewing perceptual learning in speech as a combination of error-driven cue reassociation and dimensional reweighting, and for considering dimensional reweighting to be reallocation of attention that occurs only when there is evidence that reallocating attention would improve prediction accuracy (Harmon, Z., Idemaru, K., & Kapatsinski, V. 2019. Learning mechanisms in cue reweighting. Cognition, 189, 76-88.).
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Affiliation(s)
- Vsevolod Kapatsinski
- University of Oregon, Department of Linguistics, 161 Straub Hall, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1290, United States of America.
| | - Adam A Bramlett
- Carnegie-Mellon University, Department of Modern Languages, 341 Posner Hall, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States of America.
| | - Kaori Idemaru
- University of Oregon, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, 114 Friendly Hall University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1248, United States of America.
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Song Y, Zhao S, Rong M, Liu Y, Gao Y, Chen W, Zhang D, Zheng X. The Impact of Continuous and Partial Reinforcement on the Acquisition and Generalization of Human-Conditioned Fear. Behav Sci (Basel) 2024; 14:630. [PMID: 39199026 PMCID: PMC11351138 DOI: 10.3390/bs14080630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2024] [Revised: 07/06/2024] [Accepted: 07/22/2024] [Indexed: 09/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Fear over-generalization as a core symptom of anxiety disorders is manifested by fear responses even to safe stimuli that are very dissimilar to the original dangerous stimulus. The present study investigated the effects of two separate conditioned stimuli-unconditioned stimuli (CS-US) pairing procedures on fear acquisition and generalization using a perceptual discrimination fear-conditioning paradigm, with US expectancy ratings and skin conductance response (SCR) as indicators. One group accepted continuous followed by partial CS-US pairings (C-P group); the other group accepted partial followed by continuous CS-US pairings (P-C group). It was found that compared to the P-C group, the C-P group showed stronger perceptual discrimination of CS+ and CS- in the fear acquisition and showed weaker SCRs and stronger extinction of US expectancy in the generalization. These findings emphasize that CS-US pairings significantly influence fear acquisition and generalization and suggest that continuous-following partial CS-US pairings promote individual discrimination of threat and safety signals and inhibit the generalization of conditioned fear. The results of this study have implications for clinical interventions for patients experiencing negative events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yidan Song
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Shaochen Zhao
- Research Center for Guangdong-HongKong-Marcao Policing Model Innovation, China People’s Police University, Guangzhou 510663, China
| | - Muxin Rong
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Ying Liu
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Yu Gao
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Wei Chen
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Donghuan Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Xifu Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
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5
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Wang S, Vasas V, Freeland L, Osorio D, Versace E. Spontaneous biases enhance generalization in the neonate brain. iScience 2024; 27:110195. [PMID: 38989452 PMCID: PMC11233965 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110195] [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] [Received: 08/30/2023] [Revised: 03/25/2024] [Accepted: 06/03/2024] [Indexed: 07/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Inductive generalization is adaptive in novel contexts for both biological and artificial intelligence. Spontaneous generalization in inexperienced animals raises questions on whether predispositions (evolutionarily acquired biases, or priors) enable generalization from sparse data, without reinforcement. We exposed neonate chicks to an artificial social partner of a specific color, and then looked at generalization on the red-yellow or blue-green ranges. Generalization was inconsistent with an unbiased model. Biases included asymmetrical generalization gradients, some preferences for unfamiliar stimuli, different speed of learning, faster learning for colors infrequent in the natural spectrum. Generalization was consistent with a Bayesian model that incorporates predispositions as initial preferences and treats the learning process as an update of predispositions. Newborn chicks are evolutionarily prepared for generalization, via biases independent from experience, reinforcement, or supervision. To solve the problem of induction, biological and artificial intelligence can use biases tuned to infrequent stimuli, such as the red and blue colors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuge Wang
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Vera Vasas
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Laura Freeland
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Daniel Osorio
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
| | - Elisabetta Versace
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
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Hosch AK, Wirtz P, von Helversen B. Prior experience of variability influences generalisation of unspecified categories. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2024; 77:1518-1532. [PMID: 37872688 PMCID: PMC11181731 DOI: 10.1177/17470218231210491] [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: 05/12/2022] [Revised: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
Category variability or diversity is an important factor influencing generalisation. However, expectations of category variability may not only depend on the variability of encountered category members, but may also be shaped by prior experiences with similar categories. In this study, we investigated whether we could influence category generalisation by inducing different category representations in an A/Non-A categorisation task: Participants either learned about a homogeneous category Non-A or a diverse category Non-A during a priming phase. To better understand the transfer process, we varied the nature of the learning phase from implicit transfer to explicit instructions that actively requested participants to use their prior experiences. We found that while with a homogeneous Non-A representation, generalisation of the A and Non-A categories was equal, the generalisation of category Non-A widened after a priming phase with a diverse representation. In a second experiment, we found that the widening of generalisation of category Non-A occurred when the exemplars in this category were themselves diverse (feature-diverse condition) but not when the category contained distinct exemplars (exemplar-diverse condition). These results suggests that categorisation is influenced by previous categorisation experiences possibly altering the representation of a category. Furthermore, the study gives a hint what kind of heterogeneity is needed to observe the commonly reported broader generalisation of diverse categories. The finding has implications not only to understand the influence of prior experiences on category learning, but any cognitive process that hinges on generalisation.
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Reinhard J, Mittermeier A, Brandstetter L, Mowat K, Slyschak A, Reiter AMF, Gamer M, Romanos M. Fear conditioning and fear generalization in children and adolescents with anxiety disorders. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2024; 33:2163-2172. [PMID: 37794273 PMCID: PMC11255079 DOI: 10.1007/s00787-023-02304-7] [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: 03/03/2022] [Accepted: 09/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/06/2023]
Abstract
Overgeneralization of conditioned fear is associated with anxiety disorders (AD). Most results stem from studies done in adult patients, but studies with children are rare, although the median onset of anxiety disorders lies already in childhood. Thus, the goal of the present study was to examine fear learning and generalization in youth participants, aged 10-17 years, with AD (n = 39) compared to healthy controls (HC) (n = 40). A discriminative fear conditioning and generalization paradigm was used. Ratings of arousal, valence, and US expectancy (the probability of an aversive noise following each stimulus) were measured, hypothesizing that children with AD compared to HC would show heightened ratings of arousal and US expectancy, and decreased positive valence ratings, respectively, as well as overgeneralization of fear. The results indicated that children with AD rated all stimuli as more arousing and less pleasant, and demonstrated higher US expectancy ratings to all stimuli when compared to HC. Thus, rather than displaying qualitatively different generalization patterns (e.g., a linear vs. quadratic slope of the gradient), differences between groups were more quantitative (similar, but parallel shifted gradient). Therefore, overgeneralization of conditioned fear does not seem to be a general marker of anxiety disorders in children and adolescents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Reinhard
- Center of Mental Health, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
| | - Anna Mittermeier
- Center of Mental Health, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Lisa Brandstetter
- Center of Mental Health, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Kimberly Mowat
- Center of Mental Health, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Anna Slyschak
- Center of Mental Health, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Andrea M F Reiter
- Center of Mental Health, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Matthias Gamer
- Department of Psychology (Experimental Clinical Psychology), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Marcel Romanos
- Center of Mental Health, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
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8
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Duggins P, Eliasmith C. A scalable spiking amygdala model that explains fear conditioning, extinction, renewal and generalization. Eur J Neurosci 2024; 59:3093-3116. [PMID: 38616566 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.16338] [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: 09/07/2023] [Revised: 02/03/2024] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 04/16/2024]
Abstract
The amygdala (AMY) is widely implicated in fear learning and fear behaviour, but it remains unclear how the many biological components present within AMY interact to achieve these abilities. Building on previous work, we hypothesize that individual AMY nuclei represent different quantities and that fear conditioning arises from error-driven learning on the synapses between AMY nuclei. We present a computational model of AMY that (a) recreates the divisions and connections between AMY nuclei and their constituent pyramidal and inhibitory neurons; (b) accommodates scalable high-dimensional representations of external stimuli; (c) learns to associate complex stimuli with the presence (or absence) of an aversive stimulus; (d) preserves feature information when mapping inputs to salience estimates, such that these estimates generalize to similar stimuli; and (e) induces a diverse profile of neural responses within each nucleus. Our model predicts (1) defensive responses and neural activities in several experimental conditions, (2) the consequence of artificially ablating particular nuclei and (3) the tendency to generalize defensive responses to novel stimuli. We test these predictions by comparing model outputs to neural and behavioural data from animals and humans. Despite the relative simplicity of our model, we find significant overlap between simulated and empirical data, which supports our claim that the model captures many of the neural mechanisms that support fear conditioning. We conclude by comparing our model to other computational models and by characterizing the theoretical relationship between pattern separation and fear generalization in healthy versus anxious individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Duggins
- Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Systems Design Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
| | - Chris Eliasmith
- Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Systems Design Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Philosophy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
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Qiu Y, Dou H, Wang J, Zhang H, Zhang S, Shen D, Li H, Lei Y. Reduced generalization of reward among individuals with subthreshold depression: Behavioral and EEG evidence. Int J Psychophysiol 2024; 200:112339. [PMID: 38554769 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2024.112339] [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: 10/16/2023] [Revised: 02/19/2024] [Accepted: 03/27/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024]
Abstract
Altered stimulus generalization has been well-documented in anxiety disorders; however, there is a paucity of research investigating this phenomenon in the context of depression. Depression is characterized by impaired reward processing and heightened attention to negative stimuli. It is hypothesized that individuals with depression exhibit reduced generalization of reward stimuli and enhanced generalization of loss stimuli. Nevertheless, no study has examined this process and its underlying neural mechanisms. In the present study, we recruited 25 participants with subthreshold depression (SD group) and 24 age-matched healthy controls (HC group). Participants completed an acquisition task, in which they learned to associate three distinct pure tones (conditioned stimuli, CSs) with a reward, a loss, or no outcome. Subsequently, a generalization session was conducted, during which similar tones (generalization stimuli, GSs) were presented, and participants were required to classify them as a reward tone, a loss tone, or neither. The results revealed that the SD group exhibited reduced generalization errors in the early phase of generalization, suggesting a diminished ability to generalize reward-related stimuli. The event-related potential (ERP) results indicated that the SD group exhibited decreased generalization of positive valence to reward-related GSs and heightened generalization of negative valence to loss-related GSs, as reflected by the N1 and P2 components. However, the late positive potential (LPP) was not modulated by depression in reward generalization or loss generalization. These findings suggested that individuals with subthreshold depression may have a blunted or reduced ability to generalize reward stimuli, shedding light on potential treatment strategies targeting this particular process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiwen Qiu
- College of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China; Center for Neurogenetics, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China
| | - Haoran Dou
- Institution for Brain and Psychological Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610066, China; Center for Neurogenetics, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China
| | - Jinxia Wang
- Institution for Brain and Psychological Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610066, China; Center for Neurogenetics, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China; Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä 40014, Finland
| | - Huoyin Zhang
- College of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China; Center for Neurogenetics, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China
| | - Shiyunmeng Zhang
- College of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China; Center for Neurogenetics, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China
| | - Die Shen
- College of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China; Center for Neurogenetics, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China
| | - Hong Li
- College of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China; Center for studies of Psychological Applications Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science Key Laboratory of Brain Cognition and Educational Science, Ministry of Education School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China; Center for Neurogenetics, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China.
| | - Yi Lei
- Institution for Brain and Psychological Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610066, China; Center for Neurogenetics, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China.
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Agliari E, Alemanno F, Aquaro M, Barra A, Durante F, Kanter I. Hebbian dreaming for small datasets. Neural Netw 2024; 173:106174. [PMID: 38359641 DOI: 10.1016/j.neunet.2024.106174] [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: 07/20/2023] [Revised: 01/02/2024] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/17/2024]
Abstract
The dreaming Hopfield model constitutes a generalization of the Hebbian paradigm for neural networks, that is able to perform on-line learning when "awake" and also to account for off-line "sleeping" mechanisms. The latter have been shown to enhance storing in such a way that, in the long sleep-time limit, this model can reach the maximal storage capacity achievable by networks equipped with symmetric pairwise interactions. In this paper, we inspect the minimal amount of information that must be supplied to such a network to guarantee a successful generalization, and we test it both on random synthetic and on standard structured datasets (i.e., MNIST, Fashion-MNIST and Olivetti). By comparing these minimal thresholds of information with those required by the standard (i.e., always "awake") Hopfield model, we prove that the present network can save up to ∼90% of the dataset size, yet preserving the same performance of the standard counterpart. This suggests that sleep may play a pivotal role in explaining the gap between the large volumes of data required to train artificial neural networks and the relatively small volumes needed by their biological counterparts. Further, we prove that the model Cost function (typically used in statistical mechanics) admits a representation in terms of a standard Loss function (typically used in machine learning) and this allows us to analyze its emergent computational skills both theoretically and computationally: a quantitative picture of its capabilities as a function of its control parameters is achieved and consistency between the two approaches is highlighted. The resulting network is an associative memory for pattern recognition tasks that learns from examples on-line, generalizes correctly (in suitable regions of its control parameters) and optimizes its storage capacity by off-line sleeping: such a reduction of the training cost can be inspiring toward sustainable AI and in situations where data are relatively sparse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Agliari
- Department of Mathematics of Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome, Italy.
| | - Francesco Alemanno
- Department of Mathematics and Physics of Università del Salento, Lecce, Italy
| | - Miriam Aquaro
- Department of Mathematics of Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome, Italy
| | - Adriano Barra
- Department of Mathematics and Physics of Università del Salento, Lecce, Italy.
| | - Fabrizio Durante
- Department of Economic Sciences of Università del Salento, Lecce, Italy
| | - Ido Kanter
- Department of Physics of Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
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Meulders A, Traxler J, Vandael K, Scheepers S. High-Anxious People Generalize Costly Pain-Related Avoidance Behavior More to Novel Safe Contexts Compared to Low-Anxious People. THE JOURNAL OF PAIN 2024; 25:702-714. [PMID: 37832901 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2023.09.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Revised: 08/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023]
Abstract
Pain-related avoidance is adaptive when there is a bodily threat, but when it generalizes to safe movements/situations, it may become disabling. Both subclinical anxiety-a vulnerability marker for chronic pain-and chronic pain are associated with excessive fear generalization to safe stimuli/situations. Previous research focused mainly on passive fear correlates (psychophysiological arousal and self-reports) leaving avoidance behavior poorly understood. Therefore, we tested whether high-anxious individuals generalize their pain-related avoidance behavior more to novel, safe contexts than low-anxious people. In a robotic-arm-reaching task, both groups (low vs high trait anxiety) performed 1 of 3 movements to reach a target. In the threat context (black background), a painful stimulus could be partly/completely prevented by performing more effortful trajectories (longer and more force needed); in the safe context (white background), no pain occurred. Generalization of avoidance was tested in 2 novel contexts (light/dark gray backgrounds). We assessed pain expectancy, pain-related fear, startle eyeblink responses for all trajectories, and avoidance behavior (ie, maximal deviation from shortest trajectory). Results indicated that differential fear and expectancy selectively generalized to the novel context resembling the original threat context in both groups. Interestingly and in contrast with the verbal reports, high-anxious participants avoided more in the novel context resembling the original safe context, but not in the 1 resembling the threat context. No generalization emerged in the startle data. Because excessive pain-related avoidance specifically may cause withdrawal from daily life activities, these findings suggest that high-anxious individuals may be vulnerable to developing chronic pain disability. PERSPECTIVE: This paper shows that high-anxious people do not overgeneralize pain-related fear and pain expectancy learned in a threat context more to novel, safe contexts than low-anxious individuals, but that they do avoid more in those contexts. These findings suggest that high-anxious individuals may be vulnerable to developing chronic pain disability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ann Meulders
- Experimental Health Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Research Group Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Juliane Traxler
- Experimental Health Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Research Group Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Leuven, Belgium; Institute for Health Services Research in Dermatology and Nursing, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Kristof Vandael
- Experimental Health Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Silke Scheepers
- Research Group Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Leuven, Belgium
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12
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Sharpe MJ. The cognitive (lateral) hypothalamus. Trends Cogn Sci 2024; 28:18-29. [PMID: 37758590 PMCID: PMC10841673 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.08.019] [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: 07/13/2023] [Revised: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023]
Abstract
Despite the physiological complexity of the hypothalamus, its role is typically restricted to initiation or cessation of innate behaviors. For example, theories of lateral hypothalamus argue that it is a switch to turn feeding 'on' and 'off' as dictated by higher-order structures that render when feeding is appropriate. However, recent data demonstrate that the lateral hypothalamus is critical for learning about food-related cues. Furthermore, the lateral hypothalamus opposes learning about information that is neutral or distal to food. This reveals the lateral hypothalamus as a unique arbitrator of learning capable of shifting behavior toward or away from important events. This has relevance for disorders characterized by changes in this balance, including addiction and schizophrenia. Generally, this suggests that hypothalamic function is more complex than increasing or decreasing innate behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa J Sharpe
- Department of Psychology, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia; Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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13
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Ha J, Lee K, Yang E, Kim W, Song H, Hwang I, Lee-Cruz L, Park J, Song J, Park CR, Lee W, Jablonski P, Lee SI. Unlearned adaptive responses to heterospecific referential alarm calls in two bird species from separate evolutionary lineages. Sci Rep 2023; 13:20287. [PMID: 37985886 PMCID: PMC10662011 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-47052-5] [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: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 11/08/2023] [Indexed: 11/22/2023] Open
Abstract
The interspecific responses to alarm signals may be based on unlearned mechanisms but research is often constrained by the difficulties in differentiating between unlearned and learned responses in natural situations. In a field study of two Paridae species, Parus minor and Sittiparus varius, who originated from a common ancestor 8 million years ago, we found a considerable degree of between-species overlap in acoustic properties of referential snake-alarm calls. Playback of these calls triggered unlearned adaptive fledging behavior in conspecific and heterospecific naive nestlings, suggesting a between-species overlap in the hypothetical unlearned neural templates involved in nestlings' reactions to alarm calls in both species. This suggests that similar calls and similar unlearned sensitivity might have been present in the common ancestor of the two species, and possibly in the ancestor of the whole family Paridae that originated 10-15 million years ago in Asian regions rich in snakes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jungmoon Ha
- Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Keesan Lee
- Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Eunjeong Yang
- Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Woojoo Kim
- Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Hokyung Song
- Jeju National University, Jeju-Si, Jeju-Do, Republic of Korea
| | - Injae Hwang
- National Institute of Biological Resources, Seo-Gu, Incheon, Republic of Korea
| | - Larisa Lee-Cruz
- INRAE, UMR TETIS, Maison de La Télédétection, 500 Rue Jean François Breton, 34090, Montpellier, France
| | - Jinseok Park
- Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jihyeon Song
- Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Chan-Ryul Park
- Urban Forests Division, National Institute of Forest Science (NIFoS), Dongdaemun-Gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Wooshin Lee
- Department of Forest Sciences, CALS, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Piotr Jablonski
- Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
- Behavioral Ecology Group, Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Sang-Im Lee
- Laboratory of Integrative Animal Ecology, Department of New Biology, DGIST, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
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14
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Huang X, Yin J, Liu X, Tan W, Lao M, Wang X, Liu S, Ou Q, Tang D, Wu W. The overgeneralization of pain-related fear in individuals with higher pain sensitivity: A behavioral and event-related potential study. Brain Res 2023; 1818:148473. [PMID: 37414269 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2023.148473] [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: 11/03/2022] [Revised: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 07/08/2023]
Abstract
Fear generalization contributes to the development and maintenance of pain. Pain sensitivity has been proposed to predict the strength of fear responses to aversive stimuli. However, whether individual variation in pain sensitivity affects pain-related fear generalization and its underlying cognitive processing remains unclear. To address this gap, we recorded behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) data among 22 high pain sensitivity (HPS) and 22 low pain sensitivity (LPS) healthy adults when exposed to a fear generalization paradigm. The behavioral results indicate that the HPS group displayed higher unconditioned stimulus expectancy and greater fear, arousal, and anxiety ratings to conditioned stimulus and generalization stimulus than the LPS group (all p values < 0.05). The ERP results showed that the HPS group exhibited a larger late positive potential evoked by GS2, GS3 and CS- (all p < 0.005) but a smaller N1 evoked by all CS and GSs (all p values < 0.05) relative to the LPS group. These findings suggest that individuals with a high level of pain sensitivity allocate more attention resources to pain-related threatening stimuli, which contributes to an overgeneralization of pain-related fear.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaomin Huang
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510280, China
| | - Junxiao Yin
- Department of Clinical Medical College of Acupuncture and Rehabilitation, University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510006, China
| | - Xinli Liu
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510280, China
| | - Wenwei Tan
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510280, China
| | - Mengting Lao
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510280, China
| | - Xianglong Wang
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510280, China
| | - Sishi Liu
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510280, China
| | - Qiling Ou
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510280, China
| | - Danzhe Tang
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510280, China
| | - Wen Wu
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510280, China.
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15
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Vandael K, Vervliet B, Peters M, Meulders A. Excessive generalization of pain-related avoidance behavior: mechanisms, targets for intervention, and future directions. Pain 2023; 164:2405-2410. [PMID: 37498749 PMCID: PMC10578424 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2022] [Revised: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Kristof Vandael
- Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Bram Vervliet
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Madelon Peters
- Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Ann Meulders
- Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
- Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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16
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Ghirlanda S, Enquist M. How associations become behavior. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2023; 205:107833. [PMID: 37778687 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2023.107833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2022] [Revised: 09/06/2023] [Accepted: 09/24/2023] [Indexed: 10/03/2023]
Abstract
The Rescorla and Wagner (1972) model is the first mathematical theory to explain associative learning in the presence of multiple stimuli. Its main theoretical construct is that of associative strength, but this is connected to behavior only loosely. We propose a model in which behavior is described by a collection of Poisson processes, each with a rate proportional to an associative strength. The model predicts that the time between behaviors follows an exponential or hypoexponential distribution. This prediction is supported by two data sets on autoshaped and instrumental behavior in rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Ghirlanda
- Department of Psychology, Brooklyn College, United States; Departments of Psychology and Biology, CUNY Graduate Center, United States; Centre for Cultural Evolution, Stockholm University, Sweden.
| | - Magnus Enquist
- Centre for Cultural Evolution, Stockholm University, Sweden
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17
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Roberts HE, Fanson KV, Hodgens N, Parrott ML, Bennett P, Jamieson LT. Scent detection dogs as a novel method for oestrus detection in an endangered species, the Tasmanian devil ( Sarcophilus harrisii). Front Vet Sci 2023; 10:1224172. [PMID: 37915949 PMCID: PMC10616266 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1224172] [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] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/21/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Captive breeding is a critical tool for conservation of endangered species. Identifying the correct time to pair males and females can be a major challenge for captive breeding programmes, with current methods often being invasive or slow. Detection dogs may provide a non-invasive way to determine female receptivity, but this has not been explored in captive wildlife. This exploratory study investigated the use of detection dogs as a novel method of oestrus detection in the endangered Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii). Faecal samples were collected from 11 captive female devils during the breeding seasons of 2020 and 2021. Three dogs with prior detection experience were trained and subsequently assessed (n = 188 searches per dog), on their ability to discriminate between oestrus and non-oestrus devil faecal samples, in a one sample set-up. When assessed on training samples, dogs were able to correctly discriminate oestrus from non-oestrus with a mean sensitivity of 69.1% and mean specificity of 65.7%. When assessed on novel samples, their sensitivity to oestrus dropped (mean sensitivity of 48.6%). However, they were still able to correctly identify non-oestrus samples (mean specificity of 68.1%). This study is the first to explore detection dogs' ability to identify oestrus in a captive breeding programme for endangered wildlife, providing a promising tool for non-invasive monitoring of reproductive status in wildlife.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah E. Roberts
- Wildlife Conservation and Reproductive Endocrinology Lab, School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Kerry V. Fanson
- Wildlife Conservation and Reproductive Endocrinology Lab, School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Naomi Hodgens
- Wildlife Detection Dog Program, Wildlife Conservation & Science, Zoos Victoria, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Marissa L. Parrott
- Wildlife Conservation & Science, Zoos Victoria, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Pauleen Bennett
- Anthrozoology Research Group, Department of Psychology, Counselling and Therapy, La Trobe University, Bendigo, VIC, Australia
| | - La Toya Jamieson
- Wildlife Detection Dog Program, Wildlife Conservation & Science, Zoos Victoria, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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18
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Arbon JJ, Hahn LG, McIvor GE, Thornton A. Competition and generalization impede cultural formation in wild jackdaws. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230705. [PMID: 37554031 PMCID: PMC10410225 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0705] [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: 03/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 08/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Animal cultures have now been demonstrated experimentally in diverse taxa from flies to great apes. However, experiments commonly use tasks with unrestricted access to equal pay-offs and innovations seeded by demonstrators who are trained to exhibit strong preferences. Such conditions may not reflect those typically found in nature. For example, the learned preferences of natural innovators may be weaker, while competition for depleting resources can favour switching between strategies and generalizing from past experience. Here we show that in experiments where wild jackdaws (Corvus monedula) can freely discover depleting supplies of novel foods, generalization has a powerful effect on learning, allowing individuals to exploit multiple new opportunities through both social and individual learning. Further, in contrast to studies with trained demonstrators, individuals that were first to innovate showed weak preferences. As a consequence, many individuals ate all available novel foods, displaying no strong preference and no group-level culture emerged. Individuals followed a 'learn from adults' strategy, but other demographic factors played a minimal role in shaping social transmission. These results demonstrate the importance of generalization in allowing animals to exploit new opportunities and highlight how natural competitive dynamics may impede the formation of culture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josh J. Arbon
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall, UK
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, UK
| | - Luca G. Hahn
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall, UK
| | - Guillam E. McIvor
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall, UK
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall, UK
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19
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Yu K, Tuerlinckx F, Vanpaemel W, Zaman J. Humans display interindividual differences in the latent mechanisms underlying fear generalization behaviour. COMMUNICATIONS PSYCHOLOGY 2023; 1:5. [PMID: 39242719 PMCID: PMC11290606 DOI: 10.1038/s44271-023-00005-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2024]
Abstract
Human generalization research aims to understand the processes underlying the transfer of prior experiences to new contexts. Generalization research predominantly relies on descriptive statistics, assumes a single generalization mechanism, interprets generalization from mono-source data, and disregards individual differences. Unfortunately, such an approach fails to disentangle various mechanisms underlying generalization behaviour and can readily result in biased conclusions regarding generalization tendencies. Therefore, we combined a computational model with multi-source data to mechanistically investigate human generalization behaviour. By simultaneously modelling learning, perceptual and generalization data at the individual level, we revealed meaningful variations in how different mechanisms contribute to generalization behaviour. The current research suggests the need for revising the theoretical and analytic foundations in the field to shift the attention away from forecasting group-level generalization behaviour and toward understanding how such phenomena emerge at the individual level. This raises the question for future research whether a mechanism-specific differential diagnosis may be beneficial for generalization-related psychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Jonas Zaman
- KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- University of Hasselt, Hasselt, Belgium
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20
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Gao Y, Zhao S, Yang Z, Fu H, Luo K, Chen W, Fan M, Song Y, Zheng X. Role of Cue Training, Context, and Stimulus Intensity on Fear Generalization in Humans. Behav Sci (Basel) 2023; 13:479. [PMID: 37366731 DOI: 10.3390/bs13060479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2023] [Revised: 05/27/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Fear generalization is a crucial mechanism underlying maladaptive behavior, but factors influencing this process are not fully understood. We investigated the effects of cue training and context on fear generalization and how cognitive rules influence responses to different conditions. We also examined the role of stimulus intensity in fear generalization to provide insight into fear generalization mechanisms. Participants (n = 104) completed a fear emotion task with two stages: acquisition and generalization testing. Subjective fear expectancy ratings were used as outcome measures. Participants who received single threat cue training exhibited stronger fear generalization responses than those who received discrimination training with threat and safe cues. Participants who received discrimination training and used linear rules had the strongest fear response to the largest stimulus. Therefore, a safe cue may mitigate fear generalization but could increase fear responses to more intense stimuli. Altering context did not change the fear generalization response because fear generalization is mainly governed by the association between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned fear stimulus. The present study emphasizes the multifaceted nature of fear generalization and the importance of examining multiple factors to understand this phenomenon. These findings elucidate fear learning and provide insights needed for effective interventions for maladaptive behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Gao
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Shaochen Zhao
- Research Center for Guangdong-HongKong-Marcao Policing Model Innovation, China People's Police University, Guangzhou 510663, China
| | - Zifan Yang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Haote Fu
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Keying Luo
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Wei Chen
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Min Fan
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Yidan Song
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Xifu Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
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21
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Langbein J, Moreno-Zambrano M, Siebert K. How do goats "read" 2D-images of familiar and unfamiliar conspecifics? Front Psychol 2023; 14:1089566. [PMID: 37275711 PMCID: PMC10236219 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1089566] [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] [Received: 11/04/2022] [Accepted: 05/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/07/2023] Open
Abstract
To study individual recognition in animals, discrimination tasks are often conducted by presenting 2D images of real conspecifics. However, animals may discriminate the images merely as visual stimulus combinations without establishing referential relationships to the individuals depicted. In the current study, we investigated whether goats are able to discriminate photos of familiar and unfamiliar conspecifics, whether they not only process the photos as visual stimuli, but also understand them as virtual copies of real conspecifics and whether they grasp the concept of familiarity. Using a computer-controlled learning device, in three tests, goats of two experimental groups (A and B) had to discriminate portrait (Te1), profile (Te2) or headless body photos (Te3) of conspecifics. Tests were presented as 4-choice tasks, with one photo from Group A (rewarded) plus three photos from Group B (distractors). That is, the rewarded photo was familiar to Group A, but unfamiliar to Group B. Finally, in a reversal test (Te4) we reversed this principle. The goats learned the discriminations in Te1 to Te3 within two (Te1 and Te2) and three training days (Te3), respectively, and they needed between 91 [CL (66, 126)] and 174 [CL (126, 241)] trials to reach the learning criterion, with no statistically significant differences between the groups. In Te4, in contrast, the animals took 403 [Group A; CL (291, 557)] and 385 [Group B; CL (286, 519)] trials, respectively, to learn the task. The lack of spontaneous preferences for the photo of the familiar conspecific in the pretests of Te1 to Te3 in Group A, as well as the lack of differences in the number of trials to learn the discriminations between both groups, do not at first glance suggest that the goats established a correspondence between real conspecifics and their 2D representations. However, the higher number of trials in Te4 suggests that both groups formed the learning rule of choosing either the known (Group A) or the unknown goat (Group B) over the course of Te1 to Te3 and then failed after the rule was reversed, providing evidence that goats can associate 2D photos of conspecifics with real animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Langbein
- Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Institute of Behavioural Physiology, Dummerstorf, Germany
| | - Mauricio Moreno-Zambrano
- Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Institute of Genetics and Biometry, Dummerstorf, Germany
| | - Katrin Siebert
- Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Institute of Behavioural Physiology, Dummerstorf, Germany
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22
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Strang C, Muth F. Judgement bias may be explained by shifts in stimulus response curves. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:221322. [PMID: 37035286 PMCID: PMC10073905 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.221322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Judgement bias, or 'optimism' and 'pessimism', has been demonstrated across many taxa, yet the cognitive mechanisms underlying this behaviour remain unclear. In an optimism paradigm, animals are trained to an association, and, if given a positive experience, behave more favourably towards 'ambiguous' stimuli. We tested whether this effect could be explained by changes to stimulus response gradients by giving bees a task where their response was tested across a wider gradient of stimuli than typically tested. In line with previous work, we found that bees given a positive experience demonstrated judgement bias, being more likely to visit ambiguous stimuli. However, bees were also less likely to visit a stimulus on the other side of the rewarded stimulus (S+), and as such had a shifted stimulus response curve, showing a diminished peak shift response. In two follow-up experiments we tested the hypothesis that our manipulation altered bees' stimulus response curves via changes to the peak shift response by reducing peak shift in controls. We found that, in support of our hypothesis, elimination of peak shift also eliminated differences between treatments. Our results point towards a cognitive explanation of 'optimistic' behaviour in non-human animals and offer a new paradigm for considering emotion-like states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Strang
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
- School of Behavioural and Social Sciences, Brescia University College, London, Ontario, Canada N6G 1H2
| | - Felicity Muth
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
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23
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Dorey N, Anderson MA, Mims D, Peruyero P. The Effects of Cue Modality on Reliability and Generalization of Training Outcomes with Domestic Dog. J Vet Behav 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jveb.2023.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
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24
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Farina WM, Arenas A, Díaz PC, Susic Martin C, Corriale MJ. In-hive learning of specific mimic odours as a tool to enhance honey bee foraging and pollination activities in pear and apple crops. Sci Rep 2022; 12:20510. [PMID: 36443327 PMCID: PMC9705528 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-22985-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2022] [Accepted: 10/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The areas devoted to agriculture that depend on pollinators have been sharply increased in the last decades with a concomitant growing global demand for pollination services. This forces to consider new strategies in pollinators' management to improve their efficiency. To promote a precision pollination towards a specific crop, we developed two simple synthetic odorant mixtures that honey bees generalized with their respective natural floral scents of the crop. We chose two commercial crops for fruit production that often coexist in agricultural settings, the apple (Malus domesticus) and the pear trees (Pyrus communis). Feeding colonies with sucrose solution scented with the apple mimic (AM) or the pear mimic (PM) odour enabled the establishment of olfactory memories that can bias bees towards the flowers of these trees. Encompassing different experimental approaches, our results support the offering of scented food to improve foraging and pollination activities of honey bees. The circulation of AM-scented sucrose solution inside the hive promoted higher colony activity, probably associated with greater activity of nectar foragers. The offering of PM-scented sucrose solution did not increase colony activity but led to greater pollen collection, which is consistent with pear flowers offering mainly pollen as resources for the bees. Results obtained from apple and pear crops suggest that the offering of AM- and PM-scented sucrose solution increased fruit yields. This preliminary study highlights the role of in-hive olfactory learning to bias foraging preferences within pome fruit crops.
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Affiliation(s)
- Walter M Farina
- Laboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| | - Andrés Arenas
- Laboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Paula C Díaz
- Laboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Instituto Nacional de Medicina Tropical, Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud (ANLIS), Ministerio de Salud de la Nación, Puerto Iguazú, Misiones, Argentina
| | - Cinthia Susic Martin
- Laboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - María J Corriale
- Grupo de Estudios sobre Biodiversidad en Agroecosistemas, Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires (IEGEBA), CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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25
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Colas JT, Dundon NM, Gerraty RT, Saragosa‐Harris NM, Szymula KP, Tanwisuth K, Tyszka JM, van Geen C, Ju H, Toga AW, Gold JI, Bassett DS, Hartley CA, Shohamy D, Grafton ST, O'Doherty JP. Reinforcement learning with associative or discriminative generalization across states and actions: fMRI at 3 T and 7 T. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:4750-4790. [PMID: 35860954 PMCID: PMC9491297 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2022] [Revised: 05/20/2022] [Accepted: 06/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The model-free algorithms of "reinforcement learning" (RL) have gained clout across disciplines, but so too have model-based alternatives. The present study emphasizes other dimensions of this model space in consideration of associative or discriminative generalization across states and actions. This "generalized reinforcement learning" (GRL) model, a frugal extension of RL, parsimoniously retains the single reward-prediction error (RPE), but the scope of learning goes beyond the experienced state and action. Instead, the generalized RPE is efficiently relayed for bidirectional counterfactual updating of value estimates for other representations. Aided by structural information but as an implicit rather than explicit cognitive map, GRL provided the most precise account of human behavior and individual differences in a reversal-learning task with hierarchical structure that encouraged inverse generalization across both states and actions. Reflecting inference that could be true, false (i.e., overgeneralization), or absent (i.e., undergeneralization), state generalization distinguished those who learned well more so than action generalization. With high-resolution high-field fMRI targeting the dopaminergic midbrain, the GRL model's RPE signals (alongside value and decision signals) were localized within not only the striatum but also the substantia nigra and the ventral tegmental area, including specific effects of generalization that also extend to the hippocampus. Factoring in generalization as a multidimensional process in value-based learning, these findings shed light on complexities that, while challenging classic RL, can still be resolved within the bounds of its core computations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaron T. Colas
- Department of Psychological and Brain SciencesUniversity of CaliforniaSanta BarbaraCaliforniaUSA
- Division of the Humanities and Social SciencesCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPasadenaCaliforniaUSA
- Computation and Neural Systems Program, California Institute of TechnologyPasadenaCaliforniaUSA
| | - Neil M. Dundon
- Department of Psychological and Brain SciencesUniversity of CaliforniaSanta BarbaraCaliforniaUSA
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and PsychosomaticsUniversity of FreiburgFreiburg im BreisgauGermany
| | - Raphael T. Gerraty
- Department of PsychologyColumbia UniversityNew YorkNew YorkUSA
- Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia UniversityNew YorkNew YorkUSA
- Center for Science and SocietyColumbia UniversityNew YorkNew YorkUSA
| | - Natalie M. Saragosa‐Harris
- Department of PsychologyNew York UniversityNew YorkNew YorkUSA
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of CaliforniaLos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
| | - Karol P. Szymula
- Department of BioengineeringUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Koranis Tanwisuth
- Division of the Humanities and Social SciencesCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPasadenaCaliforniaUSA
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
| | - J. Michael Tyszka
- Division of the Humanities and Social SciencesCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPasadenaCaliforniaUSA
| | - Camilla van Geen
- Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia UniversityNew YorkNew YorkUSA
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Harang Ju
- Neuroscience Graduate GroupUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Arthur W. Toga
- Laboratory of Neuro ImagingUSC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern CaliforniaLos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
| | - Joshua I. Gold
- Department of NeuroscienceUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Dani S. Bassett
- Department of BioengineeringUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
- Department of Electrical and Systems EngineeringUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
- Department of NeurologyUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
- Department of PsychiatryUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
- Department of Physics and AstronomyUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
- Santa Fe InstituteSanta FeNew MexicoUSA
| | - Catherine A. Hartley
- Department of PsychologyNew York UniversityNew YorkNew YorkUSA
- Center for Neural ScienceNew York UniversityNew YorkNew YorkUSA
| | - Daphna Shohamy
- Department of PsychologyColumbia UniversityNew YorkNew YorkUSA
- Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia UniversityNew YorkNew YorkUSA
- Kavli Institute for Brain ScienceColumbia UniversityNew YorkNew YorkUSA
| | - Scott T. Grafton
- Department of Psychological and Brain SciencesUniversity of CaliforniaSanta BarbaraCaliforniaUSA
| | - John P. O'Doherty
- Division of the Humanities and Social SciencesCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPasadenaCaliforniaUSA
- Computation and Neural Systems Program, California Institute of TechnologyPasadenaCaliforniaUSA
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26
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Dutour M, Fernández GJ, Randler C. How great tits respond to urgency‐based information in allopatric Southern house wren mobbing calls. Ethology 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mylène Dutour
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences University of Western Australia Crawley Western Australia Australia
| | - Gustavo J. Fernández
- Grupo de Investigación en Ecofisiología de Fauna Silvestre, INIBIOMA‐CONICET, Asentamiento Universitario San Martín de los Andes (AUSMA) Universidad Nacional del Comahue Neuquén Argentina
| | - Christoph Randler
- Department of Biology Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen Tübingen Germany
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27
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Boddez Y, Van Dessel P, De Houwer J. Learned helplessness and its relevance for psychological suffering: a new perspective illustrated with attachment problems, burn-out, and fatigue complaints. Cogn Emot 2022; 36:1027-1036. [PMID: 36107793 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2022.2118239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
We develop a new perspective on various forms of psychological suffering - including attachment issues, burn-out, and fatigue complaints - by drawing on the construct of learned helplessness. We conceptualise learned helplessness in operant terms as the behavioural effects of a lack of reinforcement and in goal-directed terms as the dysregulation of goal-directed behaviour. Our central claim is that if one fails to reach a goal (e.g. the goal to secure a job), then not only this goal but also other related goals (e.g. the goal to maintain social relationships) may lose their motivating effects. The similarity relation between goal stimuli can therefore shed light on how failure in one life domain can come to affect various other life domains. We detail the relation between our proposal and existing theories and discuss new research and clinical directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yannick Boddez
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.,Center for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Pieter Van Dessel
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Jan De Houwer
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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28
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Sened H, Zilcha-Mano S, Shamay-Tsoory S. Inter-brain plasticity as a biological mechanism of change in psychotherapy: A review and integrative model. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16:955238. [PMID: 36092652 PMCID: PMC9458846 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.955238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2022] [Accepted: 08/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent models of psychopathology and psychotherapy highlight the importance of interpersonal factors. The current review offers a biological perspective on these interpersonal processes by examining inter-brain synchrony-the coupling of brain activity between people interacting with one another. High inter-brain synchrony is associated with better relationships in therapy and in daily life, while deficits in the ability to achieve inter-brain synchrony are associated with a variety of psychological and developmental disorders. The review suggests that therapy improves patients' ability to achieve such synchrony through inter-brain plasticity-a process by which recurring exposure to high inter-brain synchrony leads to lasting change in a person's overall ability to synchronize. Therapeutic sessions provide repeated situations with high inter-brain synchrony. This can lead to a long-term increase in the ability to synchronize, first with the therapist, then generalized to other interpersonal relationships, ultimately leading to symptom reduction. The proposed inter-brain plasticity model offers a novel biological framework for understanding relational change in psychotherapy and its links to various forms of psychopathology and provides testable hypotheses for future research. Understanding this mechanism may help improve existing psychotherapy methods and develop new ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haran Sened
- Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
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29
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Dutour M, Ridley AR, Randler C. Is the urgency message encoded in heterospecific alarm calls perceived by domestic chickens? J Zool (1987) 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.13008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M. Dutour
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences University of Western Australia Crawley WA Australia
| | - A. R. Ridley
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences University of Western Australia Crawley WA Australia
| | - C. Randler
- Department of Biology Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen Tübingen Germany
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30
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Wei J, Liu Q, Riebel K. Generalisation of early learned tutor song preferences in female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). Behav Processes 2022; 201:104731. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2022] [Revised: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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31
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Vandael K, Vasilache A, Meulders A. Know Your Movements: Poorer Proprioceptive Accuracy is Associated With Overprotective Avoidance Behavior. THE JOURNAL OF PAIN 2022; 23:1400-1409. [PMID: 35341984 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2022.03.233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2021] [Revised: 02/23/2022] [Accepted: 03/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Pain-related avoidance of movements that are actually safe (ie, overprotective behavior) plays a key role in chronic pain disability. Avoidance is reinforced through operant learning: after learning that a certain movement elicits pain, movements that prevent pain are more likely to be performed. Proprioceptive accuracy importantly contributes to motor learning and memory. Interestingly, reduced accuracy has been documented in various chronic pain conditions, prompting the question whether this relates to avoidance becoming excessive. Using robotic arm-reaching movements, we tested the hypothesis that poor proprioceptive accuracy is associated with excessive pain-related avoidance in pain-free participants. Participants first performed a task to assess proprioceptive accuracy, followed by an operant avoidance training during which a pain stimulus was presented when they performed one movement trajectory, but not when they performed another trajectory. During a test phase, movements were no longer restricted to 2 trajectories, but participants were instructed to avoid pain. Unbeknownst to the participants, the pain stimulus was never presented during this phase. Results supported our hypothesis. Furthermore, exploratory analyses indicated a reduction in proprioceptive accuracy after avoidance learning, which was associated with excessive avoidance and higher trait fear of pain. PERSPECTIVE: This study is the first to show that poorer proprioceptive accuracy is associated with excessive pain-related avoidance. This finding is especially relevant for chronic pain conditions, as reduced accuracy has been documented in these populations, and points toward the need for research on training accuracy to tackle excessive avoidance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristof Vandael
- Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Laboratory of Biological Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Alexandra Vasilache
- Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Ann Meulders
- Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
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32
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Schoenlein MA, Schloss KB. Colour-concept association formation for novel concepts. VISUAL COGNITION 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2022.2089418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Melissa A. Schoenlein
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Karen B. Schloss
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, WI, USA
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33
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Ward RT, Gilbert FE, Pouliot J, Chiasson P, McIlvanie S, Traiser C, Riels K, Mears R, Keil A. The Relationship Between Self-Reported Misophonia Symptoms and Auditory Aversive Generalization Leaning: A Preliminary Report. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:899476. [PMID: 35812229 PMCID: PMC9260228 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.899476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 06/02/2022] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Misophonia is characterized by excessive aversive reactions to specific "trigger" sounds. Although this disorder is increasingly recognized in the literature, its etiological mechanisms and maintaining factors are currently unclear. Several etiological models propose a role of Pavlovian conditioning, an associative learning process heavily researched in similar fear and anxiety-related disorders. In addition, generalization of learned associations has been noted as a potential causal or contributory factor. Building upon this framework, we hypothesized that Misophonia symptoms arise as a consequence of overgeneralized associative learning, in which aversive responses to a noxious event also occur in response to similar events. Alternatively, heightened discrimination between conditioned threat and safety cues may be present in participants high in Misophonia symptoms, as predicted by associative learning models of Misophonia. This preliminary report (n = 34) examines auditory generalization learning using self-reported behavioral (i.e., valence and arousal ratings) and EEG alpha power reduction. Participants listened to three sine tones differing in pitch, with one pitch (i.e., CS+) paired with an aversive loud white noise blast, prompting aversive Pavlovian generalization learning. We assessed the extent to which overgeneralization versus heightened discrimination learning is associated with self-reported Misophonia symptoms, by comparing aversive responses to the CS+ and other tones similar in pitch. Behaviorally, all participants learned the contingencies between CS+ and noxious noise, with individuals endorsing elevated Misophonia showing heightened aversive sensitivity to all stimuli, regardless of conditioning and independent of hyperacusis status. Across participants, parieto-occipital EEG alpha-band power reduction was most pronounced in response to the CS+ tone, and this difference was greater in those with self-reported Misophonia symptoms. The current preliminary findings do not support the notion that overgeneralization is a feature of self-reported emotional experience in Misophonia, but that heightened sensitivity and discrimination learning may be present at the neural level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard T. Ward
- Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Faith E. Gilbert
- Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Jourdan Pouliot
- Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Payton Chiasson
- Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Skylar McIlvanie
- Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Caitlin Traiser
- Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Kierstin Riels
- Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Ryan Mears
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Andreas Keil
- Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
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34
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Nakayama H, Gerkin RC, Rinberg D. A behavioral paradigm for measuring perceptual distances in mice. CELL REPORTS METHODS 2022; 2:100233. [PMID: 35784646 PMCID: PMC9243525 DOI: 10.1016/j.crmeth.2022.100233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Revised: 02/20/2022] [Accepted: 05/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Perceptual similarities between a specific stimulus and other stimuli of the same modality provide valuable information about the structure and geometry of sensory spaces. While typically assessed in human behavioral experiments, perceptual similarities-or distances-are rarely measured in other species. However, understanding the neural computations responsible for sensory representations requires the monitoring and often manipulation of neural activity, which is more readily achieved in non-human experimental models. Here, we develop a behavioral paradigm that enables the quantification of perceptual similarity between sensory stimuli using mouse olfaction as a model system.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Richard C. Gerkin
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
| | - Dmitry Rinberg
- Neuroscience Institute, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
- Department of Physics, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
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35
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Cowie S, Davison M. Choosing a future from a murky past: A generalization-based model of behavior. Behav Processes 2022; 200:104685. [PMID: 35690289 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104685] [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: 10/31/2021] [Revised: 04/07/2022] [Accepted: 06/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Remembering the past appears critical in allowing organisms to detect order in an environment, and hence to behave in accordance with likely future events. Yet the shortcomings of remembering and perceiving typically mean that the remembered past differs from the actual past, and hence that behavior does not perfectly track the structure of the environment. Here, we outline how the process of generalization might be used to understand differences between what an organism does, and the structure of the past and potential structure of the environment. We explore how different sources of generalization - both from within the same stimulus situation, and from different stimulus situations - might be modeled quantitatively, and how predictions made by this modeling approach are supported by research. Finally, we discuss how generalization from multiple stimulus situations, longer-term experience, and from stimulus situations in the past that are not identical to the stimulus situation in the present, might contribute to our understanding of how an organism's experience translates into behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Cowie
- The University of Auckland, New Zealand.
| | - M Davison
- The University of Auckland, New Zealand
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36
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Wang J, Sun X, Becker B, Lei Y. Common and separable behavioral and neural mechanisms underlie the generalization of fear and disgust. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2022; 116:110519. [PMID: 35101603 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2022.110519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2021] [Revised: 01/21/2022] [Accepted: 01/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Generalization represents the transfer of a conditioned responses to stimuli that resemble the conditioned stimulus (CS). Previous studies on generalization of defensive avoidance responses have primarily focused on fear and have neglected disgust generalization, which represents a key pathological mechanism in some anxiety disorders. In the present study we examined common and distinct mechanisms of fear and disgust generalization by means of a fear or disgust multi-CS conditioning and generalization paradigm with concomitant event-related potential (ERPs) acquisition in n = 62 subjects. We demonstrate that compared to fear, disgust-relevant generalized stimuli (GS) elicited larger expectancy ratings and longer reaction times (RTs) reflecting stronger ratings of 'risk'. On the electrophysiological level, increased P2 amplitudes were found in response to conditioned CS+ versus CS- across both domains, possibly reflecting higher motivational and attentional salience of aversive conditioned stimuli per se. Contingent negative variation (CNV) amplitude was significantly larger for disgust-CS+ than disgust-CS-, reflecting a stronger preparation of the disgust US. Additionally, we found that the contingent negative variation (CNV) fear generalization gradient, and CNV amplitude were increased with similarity to CS+. In contrast the CNV to disgust-GS did not differ and did not reflect disgust generalization. Together this may indicate that the CNV represents a highly fear-specific index for generalization learning. This study provides the first neurobiological evidence for common and distinct generalization learning in fear versus disgust suggesting that dysregulations in separable defensive avoidance mechanisms may underly different anxiety disorder subtypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinxia Wang
- Institute for Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610066, China; Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland
| | - Xiaoying Sun
- Ningxia College of Construction, Ningxia 750021, China
| | - Benjamin Becker
- Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
| | - Yi Lei
- Institute for Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610066, China.
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37
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Dunsmoor JE, Cisler JM, Fonzo GA, Creech SK, Nemeroff CB. Laboratory models of post-traumatic stress disorder: The elusive bridge to translation. Neuron 2022; 110:1754-1776. [PMID: 35325617 PMCID: PMC9167267 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2022] [Revised: 02/18/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating mental illness composed of a heterogeneous collection of symptom clusters. The unique nature of PTSD as arising from a precipitating traumatic event helps simplify cross-species translational research modeling the neurobehavioral effects of stress and fear. However, the neurobiological progress on these complex neural circuits informed by animal models has yet to produce novel, evidence-based clinical treatment for PTSD. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of popular laboratory models of PTSD and provide concrete ideas for improving the validity and clinical translational value of basic research efforts in humans. We detail modifications to simplified animal paradigms to account for myriad cognitive factors affected in PTSD, which may contribute to abnormalities in regulating fear. We further describe new avenues for integrating different areas of psychological research underserved by animal models of PTSD. This includes incorporating emerging trends in the cognitive neuroscience of episodic memory, emotion regulation, social-emotional processes, and PTSD subtyping to provide a more comprehensive recapitulation of the human experience to trauma in laboratory research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph E Dunsmoor
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, Austin, TX, USA; Center for Psychedelic Research and Therapy, University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, Austin, TX, USA.
| | - Josh M Cisler
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, Austin, TX, USA; Institute for Early Life Adversity Research, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA; Center for Psychedelic Research and Therapy, University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Gregory A Fonzo
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, Austin, TX, USA; Institute for Early Life Adversity Research, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA; Center for Psychedelic Research and Therapy, University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Suzannah K Creech
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, Austin, TX, USA; Institute for Early Life Adversity Research, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Charles B Nemeroff
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, Austin, TX, USA; Institute for Early Life Adversity Research, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA; Center for Psychedelic Research and Therapy, University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, Austin, TX, USA.
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38
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Ben-Oren Y, Truskanov N, Lotem A. House sparrows use learned information selectively based on whether reward is hidden or visible. Anim Cogn 2022; 25:1545-1555. [PMID: 35641754 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01637-1] [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: 09/12/2021] [Revised: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Abstract
Based on past experience, food-related-cues can help foragers to predict the presence and the expected quality of food. However, when the food is already visible there is no need to predict its presence or its other visible attributes, but only those that are still cryptic, such as expected handling time or taste. Optimal foragers should therefore use only knowledge that is relevant to the current setting. Nevertheless, the extent to which they do so is not clear. In a set of experiments, we examined how a change in setting, from hidden to visible reward, affects the reliance of house sparrows (Passer domesticus) on three previously learned attributes of food-related cues (sand colors): the setting of the cue (e.g., whether the food was hidden or exposed), the expected amount of the reward (number of seeds), and the expected handling time. We found that sparrows used all three attributes when the rewards were hidden but reached decisions mainly based on handling time when the rewards were visible. This selective use of cue-related information suggests that animals do not simply associate cues with their average expected value but rather learn different attributes of a cue and use all, or only some of them, in a context-appropriate manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yotam Ben-Oren
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel. .,Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
| | - Noa Truskanov
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.,Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall, UK
| | - Arnon Lotem
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
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39
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Season does not influence the response of great tits (Parus major) to allopatric mobbing calls. J ETHOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10164-022-00752-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
AbstractMany species of birds emit mobbing calls to recruit prey to join mobbing events. This anti-predator strategy often involves several species and, therefore, implies heterospecific communication. Some species of tit exhibit a sensitivity to allopatric mobbing calls, suggesting that heterospecific recognition is based on an innate component. To date, however, we have no information on whether the perception of allopatric calls varies with season, despite seasonality playing an important role in the perception of heterospecific call in some species. In this study, I investigate the responses of European great tits (Parus major) to the calls of a North American bird species, the black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus), during two seasons: spring and in autumn (breeding and non-breeding seasons, respectively). Great tits approached the sound source during both seasons, with no significant difference in response between seasons. These findings indicate that season does not influence the response of birds to allopatric calls, and will help to shed light on the evolution of interspecific communication.
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40
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Manassero E, Giordano A, Raimondo E, Cicolin A, Sacchetti B. Sleep Deprivation During Memory Consolidation, but Not Before Memory Retrieval, Widens Threat Generalization to New Stimuli. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:902925. [PMID: 35663560 PMCID: PMC9160568 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.902925] [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: 03/23/2022] [Accepted: 05/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Past aversive experiences shape our ability to deal with future dangers, through the encoding of implicit and explicit memory traces and through the ability to generalize defensive reactions to new stimuli resembling learned threats. Numerous evidence demonstrate that sleep is important for the consolidation of memories related to threatening events. However, there is a lack of studies examining the effects of sleep deprivation on the retrieval of consolidated threat memories, and previous studies on the role of sleep in threat generalization have produced mixed results. To address these issues, here we adopted a differential threat conditioning and a delayed (second half of the night) sleep deprivation during the first or the seventh night after learning. We found no effects of sleep deprivation on either implicit or explicit threat memories, regardless of its occurrence timing. Conversely, implicit but not explicit responses to novel cues similar to a learned threat displayed a widened generalization pattern, but only if sleep deprivation took place during the first night after conditioning and not if it occurred during the seventh night after conditioning. Therefore, we propose that sleeping after exposure to danger may support optimal implicit discrimination processes to evaluate new signals in the future and that even a brief period of sleeplessness may widen threat generalization to new stimuli, which is a hallmark of several threat-related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugenio Manassero
- Department of Neurosciences “Rita Levi Montalcini”, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Alessandra Giordano
- Sleep Disorder Center, Department of Neurosciences “Rita Levi Montalcini”, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Erika Raimondo
- Sleep Disorder Center, Department of Neurosciences “Rita Levi Montalcini”, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Alessandro Cicolin
- Sleep Disorder Center, Department of Neurosciences “Rita Levi Montalcini”, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Benedetto Sacchetti
- Department of Neurosciences “Rita Levi Montalcini”, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
- *Correspondence: Benedetto Sacchetti,
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41
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Derenne A, Veenstra CC, Ruthig JC. Effects of Stimulus Discriminability on Peak Shift: An Investigation with COVID-19 Risk Assessments. LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.lmot.2022.101813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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42
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Weng L, Peerdeman KJ, Della Porta D, van Laarhoven AIM, Evers AWM. Can placebo and nocebo effects generalize within pain modalities and across somatosensory sensations? Pain 2022; 163:548-559. [PMID: 34232926 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2021] [Accepted: 06/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Pain and other somatosensory sensations, such as itch, can be effectively decreased by placebo effects and increased by nocebo effects. There are indications that placebo effects on pain generalize to other sensations and that nocebo effects generalize within itch modalities. However, it has not yet been investigated whether learned effects can generalize within pain stimulus modalities or from pain to itch. Our aims were to test whether placebo and nocebo effects can generalize within pain modalities, ie, from heat pain to pressure pain, and across somatosensory sensations with psychophysiological similarities, ie, from heat pain to cowhage-evoked itch. For this purpose, 65 healthy participants were randomized to either a placebo or nocebo group. All participants first underwent a conditioning and verbal suggestion procedure with heat pain stimuli. Subsequently, responses to heat pain, pressure pain, and cowhage-evoked itch stimuli were tested. Results showed altered levels of heat and pressure pain with the conditioned cue in both placebo and nocebo groups in the expected directions, but no significant difference in itch in both groups. In conclusion, placebo and nocebo effects on pain may generalize within but not across stimulus modalities. This study provides a novel perspective on the role that response generalization plays in physical symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lingling Weng
- Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Kaya J Peerdeman
- Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Delia Della Porta
- Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Antoinette I M van Laarhoven
- Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Andrea W M Evers
- Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
- Medical Delta, Leiden University, Technical University Delft, Rotterdam University, the Netherlands
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43
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Masuy R, Bamelis L, Bogaerts K, Depreitere B, De Smedt K, Ceuppens J, Lenaert B, Lonneville S, Peuskens D, Van Lerbeirghe J, Van Schaeybroeck P, Vorlat P, Zijlstra S, Meulders A, Vlaeyen JWS. Generalization of fear of movement-related pain and avoidance behavior as predictors of work resumption after back surgery: a study protocol for a prospective study (WABS). BMC Psychol 2022; 10:39. [PMID: 35193697 PMCID: PMC8862001 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-022-00736-5] [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: 06/03/2021] [Accepted: 02/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Previous studies indicated that about 20% of the individuals undergoing back surgery are unable to return to work 3 months to 1 year after surgery. The specific factors that predict individual trajectories in postoperative pain, recovery, and work resumption are largely unknown. The aim of this study is to identify modifiable predictors of work resumption after back surgery. Methods In this multisite, prospective, longitudinal study, 300 individuals with radicular pain undergoing a lumbar decompression will be followed until 1-year post-surgery. Prior to surgery, participants will perform a computer task to assess fear of movement-related pain, avoidance behavior, and their generalization to novel situations. Before and immediately after surgery, participants will additionally complete questionnaires to assess fear of movement-related pain, avoidance behavior, optimism, expectancies towards recovery and work resumption, and the duration and severity of the pain. Six weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months after surgery, they will again complete questionnaires to assess sustainable work resumption, pain severity, disability, and quality of life. The primary hypothesis is that (generalization of) fear of movement-related pain and avoidance behavior will negatively affect sustainable work resumption after back surgery. Second, we hypothesize that (generalization of) fear of movement-related pain and avoidance behavior, negative expectancies towards recovery and work resumption, longer pain duration, and more severe pain before the surgery will negatively affect work resumption, pain severity, disability, and quality of life after back surgery. In contrast, optimism and positive expectancies towards recovery and work resumption are expected to predict more favorable work resumption, better quality of life, and lower levels of pain severity and disability after back surgery. Discussion With the results of this research, we hope to contribute to the development of strategies for early identification of risk factors and appropriate guidance and interventions before and after back surgery. Trial registration The study was preregistered on ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04747860 on February 9, 2021. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40359-022-00736-5.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rini Masuy
- Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Lotte Bamelis
- Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Centre for Translational Psychological Research TRACE, Genk, Belgium.,Department of Psychology, Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg, Genk, Belgium
| | - Katleen Bogaerts
- Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,REVAL - Rehabilitation Research Center, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Hasselt University, Diepenbeek, Belgium
| | - Bart Depreitere
- Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Kris De Smedt
- Department of Neurosurgery, GasthuisZusters Antwerpen, Wilrijk, Belgium
| | | | - Bert Lenaert
- Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.,School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.,Limburg Brain Injury Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Sarah Lonneville
- Department of Neurosurgery, Centre Hospitalier de Wallonie picarde, Tournai, Belgium
| | - Dieter Peuskens
- Department of Neurosurgery, Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg, Genk, Belgium.,Department of Neurosurgery, Noorderhart Mariaziekenhuis, Pelt, Belgium
| | | | - Patrick Van Schaeybroeck
- Department of Neurosurgery, Imeldaziekenhuis, Bonheiden, Belgium.,Department of Neurosurgery, Regional Hospital Sacred Heart Tienen, Tienen, Belgium
| | - Peter Vorlat
- Department of Orthopedics, Noorderhart Mariaziekenhuis, Pelt, Belgium
| | | | - Ann Meulders
- Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Johan W S Vlaeyen
- Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
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44
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Pazhoohi F, Jacobs OLE, Kingstone A. Contrapposto Pose Influences Perceptions of Attractiveness, Masculinity, and Dynamicity of Male Statues from Antiquity. EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s40806-021-00310-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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45
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Weng L, van Laarhoven AIM, Peerdeman KJ, Evers AWM. Induction and generalization of nocebo effects on itch. Exp Dermatol 2022; 31:878-889. [PMID: 35000228 PMCID: PMC9304305 DOI: 10.1111/exd.14522] [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] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Nocebo effects, that is, negative treatment outcomes due to negative expectancies, can increase itch. Moreover, indirect evidence has shown that nocebo hyperknesis can generalize to another itch modality. Knowledge on response generalization can help to prevent and decrease negative effects. The aims of this study were to investigate (1) the efficacy of inducing nocebo effects on cowhage‐evoked itch via verbal suggestions and (2) whether these effects can generalize to (2a) mechanically evoked touch and (2b) mechanically evoked itch. Forty‐four healthy participants watched a video suggesting that a nocebo solution increases cowhage‐evoked itch and that a control solution does not affect itch. Subsequently, cowhage, mechanical itch, and mechanical touch stimuli were applied. Nocebo effects were measured as the difference in both mean and peak of the outcomes itch and urge to scratch between nocebo and control trials. Main analyses revealed significant nocebo effects on mean and peak itch for all stimuli. For urge to scratch, a significant nocebo effect was only observed for mechanical touch (peak). As mechanical stimuli did not induce pure sensations as planned, posthoc sensitivity analyses were run for mechanical stimuli that individually induced either touch or itch at baseline. These analyses showed similar results for generalization to mechanical itch, but generalization to mechanical touch was non‐significant. This study showed that merely verbal suggestion can induce nocebo effects on cowhage‐evoked itch and that these effects can generalize to another itch modality. Future studies may examine how to prevent negative experiences from generalizing to subsequent encounters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lingling Weng
- Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Antoinette I M van Laarhoven
- Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Kaya J Peerdeman
- Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Andrea W M Evers
- Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.,Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.,Medical Delta, Leiden University, Technical University Delft, Rotterdam University, the Netherlands
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46
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Gallegos S, Aviles-Rosa EO, Hall NJ, PradaTiedemann PA. Headspace Sampling of Smokeless Powder Odor in a Dynamic Airflow Context. Forensic Chem 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.forc.2022.100402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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47
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Fear conditioning and stimulus generalization in association with age in children and adolescents. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2022; 31:1581-1590. [PMID: 33983460 PMCID: PMC9532335 DOI: 10.1007/s00787-021-01797-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2020] [Accepted: 05/01/2021] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The aim of the study was to investigate age-related differences in fear learning and generalization in healthy children and adolescents (n = 133), aged 8-17 years, using an aversive discriminative fear conditioning and generalization paradigm adapted from Lau et al. (2008). In the current task, participants underwent 24 trials of discriminative conditioning of two female faces with neutral facial expressions, with (CS+) or without (CS-) a 95-dB loud female scream, presented simultaneously with a fearful facial expression (US). The discriminative conditioning was followed by 72 generalization trials (12 CS+, 12 GS1, 12 GS2, 12 GS3, 12 GS4, and 12 CS-): four generalization stimuli depicting gradual morphs from CS+ to CS- in 20%-steps were created for the generalization phases. We hypothesized that generalization in children and adolescents is negatively correlated with age. The subjective ratings of valence, arousal, and US expectancy (the probability of an aversive noise following each stimulus), as well as skin conductance responses (SCRs) were measured. Repeated-measures ANOVAs on ratings and SCR amplitudes were calculated with the within-subject factors stimulus type (CS+, CS-, GS1-4) and phase (Pre-Acquisition, Acquisition 1, Acquisition 2, Generalization 1, Generalization 2). To analyze the modulatory role of age, we additionally calculated ANCOVAs considering age as covariate. Results indicated that (1) subjective and physiological responses were generally lower with increasing age irrespective to the stimulus quality, and (2) stimulus discrimination improved with increasing age paralleled by reduced overgeneralization in older individuals. Longitudinal follow-up studies are required to analyze fear generalization with regard to brain maturational aspects and clarify whether overgeneralization of conditioned fear promotes the development of anxiety disorders or vice versa.
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48
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Young honeybees show learned preferences after experiencing adulterated pollen. Sci Rep 2021; 11:23327. [PMID: 34857828 PMCID: PMC8640054 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-02700-6] [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: 08/12/2021] [Accepted: 11/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Pollen selection affects honeybee colony development and productivity. Considering that pollen is consumed by young in-hive bees, and not by foragers, we hypothesized that young bees learn pollen cues and adjust their preferences to the most suitable pollens. To assess whether young bees show preferences based on learning for highly or poorly suitable pollens, we measured consumption preferences for two pure monofloral pollens after the bees had experienced one of them adulterated with a deterrent (amygdalin or quinine) or a phagostimulant (linoleic acid). Preferences were obtained from nurse-aged bees confined in cages and from nurse bees in open colonies. Furthermore, we tested the bees' orientation in a Y-maze using a neutral odour (Linalool or Nonanal) that had been previously associated with an amygdalin-adulterated pollen. Consumption preferences of bees, both in cages and in colonies, were reduced for pollens that had been adulterated with deterrents and increased for pollens that had been supplemented with linoleic acid. In the Y-maze, individuals consistently avoided the odours that they had previously experienced paired with the deterrent-adulterated pollen. Results show that nurse-aged bees associate pollen-based or pollen-related cues with either a distasteful/malaise experience or a tasty/nutritious event, leading to memories that bias their pollen-mediated response.
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49
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Kloos T, van Vliet C, Riecke J, Meulders A. Indoor or outdoor? Generalization of costly pain-related avoidance behavior to conceptually related contexts. THE JOURNAL OF PAIN 2021; 23:657-668. [PMID: 34793960 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2021.10.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2021] [Revised: 10/22/2021] [Accepted: 10/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
When pain persists beyond healing time and becomes a "false alarm" of bodily threat, protective strategies, such as avoidance, are no longer adaptive. More specifically, generalization of avoidance based on conceptual knowledge may contribute to chronic pain disability. Using an operant robotic-arm avoidance paradigm, healthy participants (N=50), could perform more effortful movements in the threat context (e.g. pictures of outdoor scenes) to avoid painful stimuli, whereas no pain occured in the safe context (e.g. pictures of indoor scenes). Next, we investigated avoidance generalization to conceptually related contexts (i.e. novel outdoor/indoor scenes). As expected, participants avoided more when presented with novel contexts conceptually related to the threat context than in novel exemplars of the safe context. Yet, exemplars belonging to one category (outdoor/indoor scenes) were not interchangeable; there was a generalization decrement. Posthoc analyses revealed that contingency-aware participants (n=27), but not non-aware participants (n=23), showed the avoidance generalization effect and also generalized their differential pain-expectancy and pain-related fear more to novel background scenes conceptually related to the original threat context. In contrast, the fear-potentiated startle response was not modulated by context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tabea Kloos
- Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Christine van Vliet
- Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jenny Riecke
- Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Ann Meulders
- Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
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50
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Glogan E, Vandael K, Gatzounis R, Meulders A. When Do We Not Face Our Fears? Investigating the Boundary Conditions of Costly Pain-Related Avoidance Generalization. THE JOURNAL OF PAIN 2021; 22:1221-1232. [PMID: 33852945 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2021.03.149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2020] [Revised: 03/24/2021] [Accepted: 03/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Excessive generalization of fear and avoidance are hallmark symptoms of chronic pain disability, yet research focusing on the mechanisms underlying generalization of avoidance specifically, is scarce. Two experiments investigated the boundary conditions of costly pain-related avoidance generalization in healthy participants who learned to avoid pain by performing increasingly effortful (in terms of deviation and force) arm-movements using a robot-arm (acquisition). During generalization, novel, but similar arm-movements, without pain, were tested. Experiment 1 (N = 64) aimed to facilitate generalization to these movements by reducing visual contextual changes between acquisition and generalization, whereas Experiment 2 (N = 70) aimed to prevent extinction by increasing pain uncertainty. Both experiments showed generalization of pain-expectancies and pain-related fear. However, Experiment 2 was the first and only to also demonstrate generalization of avoidance, ie, choosing the novel effortful arm-movements in the absence of pain. These results suggest that uncertainty about the occurrence of pain may delay recovery, due to reduced disconfirmation of threat beliefs when exploring, resulting in persistent avoidance. PERSPECTIVE: This article demonstrates generalization of instrumentally acquired costly pain-related avoidance in healthy people under conditions of uncertainty. The results suggest that targeting pain-related uncertainty may be a useful tool for clinicians adopting a psychological approach to treating excessive pain-related avoidance in chronic pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eveliina Glogan
- Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Kristof Vandael
- Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Laboratory of Biological Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Rena Gatzounis
- Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Ann Meulders
- Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
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