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Deng W, Tuominen L, Sussman R, Leathem L, Vinke LN, Holt DJ. Changes in responses of the amygdala and hippocampus during fear conditioning are associated with persecutory beliefs. Sci Rep 2024; 14:8173. [PMID: 38589562 PMCID: PMC11001942 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-57746-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 03/21/2024] [Indexed: 04/10/2024] Open
Abstract
The persecutory delusion is the most common symptom of psychosis, yet its underlying neurobiological mechanisms are poorly understood. Prior studies have suggested that abnormalities in medial temporal lobe-dependent associative learning may contribute to this symptom. In the current study, this hypothesis was tested in a non-clinical sample of young adults without histories of psychiatric treatment (n = 64), who underwent classical Pavlovian fear conditioning while fMRI data were collected. During the fear conditioning procedure, participants viewed images of faces which were paired (the CS+) or not paired (the CS-) with an aversive stimulus (a mild electrical shock). Fear conditioning-related neural responses were measured in two medial temporal lobe regions, the amygdala and hippocampus, and in other closely connected brain regions of the salience and default networks. The participants without persecutory beliefs (n = 43) showed greater responses to the CS- compared to the CS+ in the right amygdala and hippocampus, while the participants with persecutory beliefs (n = 21) failed to exhibit this response. These between-group differences were not accounted for by symptoms of depression, anxiety or a psychosis risk syndrome. However, the severity of subclinical psychotic symptoms overall was correlated with the level of this aberrant response in the amygdala (p = .013) and hippocampus (p = .033). Thus, these findings provide evidence for a disruption of medial temporal lobe-dependent associative learning in young people with subclinical psychotic symptoms, specifically persecutory thinking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wisteria Deng
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th, St. Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Lauri Tuominen
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th, St. Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Rachel Sussman
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th, St. Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA
| | - Logan Leathem
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th, St. Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA
| | - Louis N Vinke
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th, St. Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Daphne J Holt
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th, St. Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
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Social avoidance behavior modulates motivational responses to social reward-threat conflict signals: A preliminary fMRI study. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2023; 23:42-65. [PMID: 36127489 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-022-01031-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Social avoidance behavior (SAB) produces impairment in multiple domains and contributes to the development and maintenance of several psychiatric disorders. Social behaviors such as SAB are influenced by approach-avoidance (AA) motivational responses to affective facial expressions. Notably, affective facial expressions communicate varying degrees of social reward signals (happiness), social threat signals (anger), or social reward-threat conflict signals (co-occurring happiness and anger). SAB is associated with dysregulated modulation of automatic approach-avoidance (AA) motivational responses exclusively to social reward-threat conflict signals. However, no neuroimaging research has characterized SAB-related modulation of automatic and subjective AA motivational responses to social reward-threat conflict signals. We recruited 30 adults reporting clinical, moderate, or minimal SAB based on questionnaire cutoff scores. SAB groups were matched on age range and gender. During fMRI scanning, participants completed implicit and subjective approach-avoidance tasks (AATs), which involved more incidental or more explicit evaluation of facial expressions that parametrically varied in social reward signals (e.g., 50%Happy), social threat signals (e.g., 50%Angry), or social reward-threat conflict signals (e.g., 50%Happy + 50%Angry). In the implicit AAT, SAB was associated with slower automatic avoidance actions and weaker amygdala-pgACC connectivity exclusively as a function of social reward-threat conflict signals. In the subjective AAT, SAB was associated with smaller increases in approach ratings, smaller decreases in avoidance ratings, and weaker dlPFC-pgACC connectivity exclusively in response to social reward-threat conflict signals. Thus, SAB is associated with dysregulated modulation of automatic and subjective AA motivational sensitivity to social reward-threat conflict signals, which may be facilitated by overlapping neural systems.
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Hinojosa CA, VanElzakker MB, Hughes KC, Offringa R, Sangermano LM, Spaulding IG, Staples-Bradley LK, Whitman ET, Lasko NB, Rauch SL, Orr SP, Pitman RK, Shin LM. Exaggerated amygdala activation to ambiguous facial expressions is a familial vulnerability factor for posttraumatic stress disorder. J Psychiatr Res 2022; 156:451-459. [PMID: 36332360 PMCID: PMC9742331 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.10.049] [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: 06/13/2022] [Revised: 09/14/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Previous research has reported hyperresponsivity in the amygdala and hyporesponsivity in ventral portions of the medial prefrontal cortex to threat-related stimuli in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Whether such findings generalize to more ambiguous stimuli and whether such brain activation abnormalities reflect familial vulnerabilities, trauma-exposure, or acquired characteristics of PTSD remain unclear. In this study, we measured brain responses to emotionally ambiguous stimuli (i.e., surprised facial expressions) in identical twin pairs discordant for trauma exposure to elucidate the origin of brain activation abnormalities. METHODS Participants with PTSD (n = 12) and their trauma-unexposed identical cotwins (n = 12), as well as trauma-exposed participants without PTSD (n = 15) and their trauma-unexposed identical cotwins (n = 15), passively viewed surprised and neutral facial expressions during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Afterward, participants labeled and rated each facial expression on valence and arousal. RESULTS Amygdala activation to Surprised and Neutral facial expressions (versus Fixation) was greater in the participants with PTSD and their trauma-unexposed identical cotwins without PTSD, compared to the control twin pairs. In contrast, medial frontal gyrus (MFG) activation to Surprised facial expressions (versus Fixation) was diminished in the PTSD group relative to the other three groups. CONCLUSIONS Amygdala hyperresponsivity to emotionally ambiguous facial expressions may be a familial vulnerability factor that increases the likelihood of developing PTSD after experiencing a traumatic event. In contrast, MFG hyporesponsivity may be an acquired characteristic of the disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cecilia A Hinojosa
- Department of Psychology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Michael B VanElzakker
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Katherine C Hughes
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Reid Offringa
- Department of Psychology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA
| | - Lisa M Sangermano
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Isabella G Spaulding
- Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience, Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Lindsay K Staples-Bradley
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Ethan T Whitman
- Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Natasha B Lasko
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Scott L Rauch
- Department of Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
| | - Scott P Orr
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Roger K Pitman
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Lisa M Shin
- Department of Psychology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
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4
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Tamm S, Harmer CJ, Schiel J, Holub F, Rutter MK, Spiegelhalder K, Kyle SD. No Association Between Amygdala Responses to Negative Faces and Depressive Symptoms: Cross-Sectional Data from 28,638 Individuals in the UK Biobank Cohort. Am J Psychiatry 2022; 179:509-513. [PMID: 35775158 DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.21050466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Tamm
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, U.K. (Tamm, Harmer); Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm (Tamm); Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Freiburg Medical Centre and Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany (Schiel, Holub, Spiegelhalder); Centre for Biological Timing, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester and the Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism Centre, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, U.K. (Rutter); Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K. (Kyle)
| | - Catherine J Harmer
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, U.K. (Tamm, Harmer); Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm (Tamm); Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Freiburg Medical Centre and Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany (Schiel, Holub, Spiegelhalder); Centre for Biological Timing, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester and the Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism Centre, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, U.K. (Rutter); Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K. (Kyle)
| | - Julian Schiel
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, U.K. (Tamm, Harmer); Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm (Tamm); Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Freiburg Medical Centre and Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany (Schiel, Holub, Spiegelhalder); Centre for Biological Timing, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester and the Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism Centre, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, U.K. (Rutter); Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K. (Kyle)
| | - Florian Holub
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, U.K. (Tamm, Harmer); Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm (Tamm); Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Freiburg Medical Centre and Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany (Schiel, Holub, Spiegelhalder); Centre for Biological Timing, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester and the Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism Centre, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, U.K. (Rutter); Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K. (Kyle)
| | - Martin K Rutter
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, U.K. (Tamm, Harmer); Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm (Tamm); Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Freiburg Medical Centre and Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany (Schiel, Holub, Spiegelhalder); Centre for Biological Timing, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester and the Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism Centre, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, U.K. (Rutter); Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K. (Kyle)
| | - Kai Spiegelhalder
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, U.K. (Tamm, Harmer); Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm (Tamm); Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Freiburg Medical Centre and Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany (Schiel, Holub, Spiegelhalder); Centre for Biological Timing, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester and the Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism Centre, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, U.K. (Rutter); Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K. (Kyle)
| | - Simon D Kyle
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, U.K. (Tamm, Harmer); Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm (Tamm); Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Freiburg Medical Centre and Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany (Schiel, Holub, Spiegelhalder); Centre for Biological Timing, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester and the Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism Centre, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, U.K. (Rutter); Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K. (Kyle)
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Affiliation(s)
- Shannon E. Grogans
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 USA
| | - Andrew S. Fox
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616 USA,California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA 95616 USA
| | - Alexander J. Shackman
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 USA.,Department of Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 USA.,Maryland Neuroimaging Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 USA
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Wang X, Gao J, Zhang J, Yang Y, Zhang W, Zhang X, Lu L, Wang R. Factors associated with psychological resilience in patients with chronic heart failure and efficacy of psycho-cardiology intervention. Am J Transl Res 2022; 14:4104-4113. [PMID: 35836861 PMCID: PMC9274571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2022] [Accepted: 05/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To explore the value of psycho-cardiology intervention on psychological resilience in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and investigate the associated factors. METHODS A retrospective study of 142 patients with CHF was carried out. These patients were admitted to the Department of Cardiology, Provincial Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical University from January 2017 to January 2021. They were grouped according to intervention method, including 74 patients with psycho-cardiology intervention and 68 with conventional intervention. The psychological resilience and the levels of anxiety and depression before and after intervention were assessed with the Connor-Davidson resilience scale (CD-RISC), self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), and self-rating depression scale (SDS), respectively. The factors associated with psychological resilience in patients with CHF were observed. The relationship between psychological resilience and SAS scores before intervention was studied. RESULTS Using multivariate logistic regression analysis, we found that age (OR (95% CI): 3.452 (0.862-4.872), P=0.015), gender (OR, (95% CI): 3.389 (0.872-5.023), P=0.035), SAS score (OR (95% CI) 5.433 (1.543-14.333), P=0.027) and SDS score (OR (95% CI): 5.654 (1.572-15.823), P=0.021) were factors associated with psychological resilience in patients with CHF (all P<0.05). The average CD-RISC scores were 56.55±8.89 points in patients with CHF. The psychological resilience was inversely correlated with SAS score (r=-0.450, P<0.001) and SDS scores (r=-0.401, P<0.001). The CD-RISC scores of the observation group after intervention were higher than before intervention and higher than the control group, while SAS and SDS scores were decreased (all P<0.05). CONCLUSION Age, gender, SAS, and SDS scores are factors associated with psychological resilience in patients with CHF. Psychological resilience was inversely associated with both anxiety and depression. Psycho-cardiology intervention can improve patients' psychological resilience, and reduce their anxiety and depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinkang Wang
- Shengli Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical UniversityFuzhou 350122, Fujian Province, China
- Department of Electrocardiographic Diagnosis, Fujian Provincial HospitalFuzhou 350001, Fujian Province, China
| | - Jie Gao
- Shengli Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical UniversityFuzhou 350122, Fujian Province, China
- Department of Electrocardiographic Diagnosis, Fujian Provincial HospitalFuzhou 350001, Fujian Province, China
| | - Jianchun Zhang
- Shengli Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical UniversityFuzhou 350122, Fujian Province, China
- Department of Electrocardiographic Diagnosis, Fujian Provincial HospitalFuzhou 350001, Fujian Province, China
| | - Yanqiu Yang
- Shengli Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical UniversityFuzhou 350122, Fujian Province, China
- Department of Electrocardiographic Diagnosis, Fujian Provincial HospitalFuzhou 350001, Fujian Province, China
| | - Weixin Zhang
- Shengli Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical UniversityFuzhou 350122, Fujian Province, China
- Department of Electrocardiographic Diagnosis, Fujian Provincial HospitalFuzhou 350001, Fujian Province, China
| | - Xiling Zhang
- Shengli Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical UniversityFuzhou 350122, Fujian Province, China
| | - Lihong Lu
- Shengli Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical UniversityFuzhou 350122, Fujian Province, China
- Department of Cardiology, Fujian Provincial HospitalFuzhou 350001, Fujian Province, China
| | - Rehua Wang
- Shengli Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical UniversityFuzhou 350122, Fujian Province, China
- Department of Cardiology, Fujian Provincial HospitalFuzhou 350001, Fujian Province, China
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Saviola F, Pappaianni E, Monti A, Grecucci A, Jovicich J, De Pisapia N. Trait and state anxiety are mapped differently in the human brain. Sci Rep 2020; 10:11112. [PMID: 32632158 PMCID: PMC7338355 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-68008-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2020] [Accepted: 06/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Anxiety is a mental state characterized by an intense sense of tension, worry or apprehension, relative to something adverse that might happen in the future. Researchers differentiate aspects of anxiety into state and trait, respectively defined as a more transient reaction to an adverse situation, and as a more stable personality attribute in experiencing events. It is yet unclear whether brain structural and functional features may distinguish these aspects of anxiety. To study this, we assessed 42 healthy participants with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and then investigated with MRI to characterize structural grey matter covariance and resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC). We found several differences in the structural-functional patterns across anxiety types: (1) trait anxiety was associated to both structural covariance of Default Mode Network (DMN), with an increase in dorsal nodes and a decrease in its ventral part, and to rs-FC of DMN within frontal regions; (2) state anxiety, instead, was widely related to rs-FC of Salience Network and of DMN, specifically in its ventral nodes, but not associated with any structural pattern. In conclusion, our study provides evidence of a neuroanatomical and functional distinction between state and trait anxiety. These neural features may be additional markers in future studies evaluating early diagnosis or treatment effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Saviola
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Rovereto, TN, Italy
| | - Edoardo Pappaianni
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences (DiPSCo), University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, 38068, Rovereto, TN, Italy
| | - Alessia Monti
- Department of Neurorehabilitation Sciences, Casa Di Cura Privata del Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Alessandro Grecucci
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences (DiPSCo), University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, 38068, Rovereto, TN, Italy
| | - Jorge Jovicich
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Rovereto, TN, Italy
| | - Nicola De Pisapia
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences (DiPSCo), University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, 38068, Rovereto, TN, Italy.
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