Autonomic correlates of social anxiety and embarrassment in shy and non-shy individuals

Quadratic associations between cardiovascular stress reactivity and development of cool and hot executive functions in adolescents

Stress affects executive functions and exploring the association between stress-induced physiological reactivity and executive functions could highlight the potential mechanism of the stress-cognitive function link. Our study examined the linear and nonlinear associations between cardiovascular stress reactivity and cool and hot executive functions among adolescents. In November 2021 (T1), 273 Chinese adolescents between 11 and 14 (Mage = 12.93, SDage = 0.79) underwent a speech task during which their cardiovascular data were recorded, and they completed a Flanker task and an Emotional Stroop task. In May 2023 (T2), 253 adolescents again completed the Flanker and Emotional Stroop tasks. Cool and hot executive functions were assessed using the intra-individual reaction time variability of the Flanker task and Emotional Stroop task, respectively. Results showed that cardiovascular stress reactivity was positively linearly associated with cool executive functions at T1 and quadratically (inverted U-shaped) associated with cool executive functions at T1 and hot executive functions at T1 and T2. These findings suggest that compared to very high and very low cardiovascular reactivity, moderate to high cardiovascular reactivity to a structured social challenge is associated with better cool and hot executive functions.

Why do plants blush when they are hungry?

Foliar anthocyanins, as well as other secondary metabolites, accumulate transiently under nutritional stress. A misconception that only nitrogen or phosphorus deficiency induces leaf purpling/reddening has led to overuse of fertilizers that burden the environment. Here, we emphasize that several other nutritional imbalances induce anthocyanin accumulation, and nutrient-specific differences in this response have been reported for some deficiencies. A range of ecophysiological functions have been attributed to anthocyanins. We discuss the proposed functions and signalling pathways that elicit anthocyanin synthesis in nutrient-stressed leaves. Knowledge from the fields of genetics, molecular biology, ecophysiology and plant nutrition is combined to deduce how and why anthocyanins accumulate under nutritional stress. Future research to fully understand the mechanisms and nuances of foliar anthocyanin accumulation in nutrient-stressed crops could be utilized to allow these leaf pigments to act as bioindicators for demand-oriented application of fertilizers. This would benefit the environment, being timely due to the increasing impact of the climate crisis on crop performance.

The psychophysiology of guilt in healthy adults

Guilt is a negative emotion, elicited by realizing one has caused actual or perceived harm to another person. Anecdotally, guilt often is described as a visceral and physical experience. However, while the way that the body responds to and contributes to emotions is well known in basic emotions, little is known about the characteristics of guilt as generated by the autonomic nervous system. This study investigated the physiologic signature associated with guilt in adults with no history of psychological or autonomic disorder. Healthy adults completed a novel task, including an initial questionnaire about their habits and attitudes, followed by videos designed to elicit guilt, as well as the comparison emotions of amusement, disgust, sadness, pride, and neutral. During the video task, participants' swallowing rate, electrodermal activity, heart rate, respiration rate, and gastric activity rate were continuously recorded. Guilt was associated with alterations in gastric rhythms, electrodermal activity, and swallowing rate relative to some or all the comparison emotions. These findings suggest that there is a mixed pattern of sympathetic and parasympathetic activation during the experience of guilt. These results highlight potential therapeutic targets for modulation of guilt in neurologic and psychiatric disorders with deficient or elevated levels of guilt, such as frontotemporal dementia, posttraumatic stress disorder, and Obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Emotions in social anxiety disorder: A review

Extant cognitive behavioral models of social anxiety disorder (SAD) have primarily focused on cognitions and behaviors that maintain the disorder. Emotional aspects of SAD have been investigated but have not been sufficiently integrated into current models. To facilitate such integration, we reviewed the literature on emotional constructs (emotional intelligence, emotional knowledge, emotional clarity, emotion differentiation, and emotion regulation), and discrete emotions (anger, shame, embarrassment, loneliness, guilt, pride, and envy) in SAD and social anxiety. We present the studies conducted on these constructs, summarize the main findings, suggest areas for future research, discuss the findings in the context of existing models of SAD and attempt to integrate the findings into these existing models of the disorder. Clinical implications of our findings are also discussed.

Self-Conscious Affect Is Modulated by Rapid Eye Movement Sleep but Not by Targeted Memory Reactivation-A Pilot Study

The neurophysiological properties of rapid eye movement sleep (REMS) are believed to tune down stressor-related emotional responses. While prior experimental findings are controversial, evidence suggests that affective habituation is hindered if REMS is fragmented. To elucidate the topic, we evoked self-conscious negative affect in the participants (N = 32) by exposing them to their own out-of-tune singing in the evening. Affective response to the stressor was measured with skin conductance response and subjectively reported embarrassment. To address possible inter-individual variance toward the stressor, we measured the shame-proneness of participants with an established questionnaire. The stressor was paired with a sound cue to pilot a targeted memory reactivation (TMR) protocol during the subsequent night's sleep. The sample was divided into three conditions: control (no TMR), TMR during slow-wave sleep, and TMR during REMS. We found that pre- to post-sleep change in affective response was not influenced by TMR. However, REMS percentage was associated negatively with overnight skin conductance response habituation, especially in those individuals whose REMS was fragmented. Moreover, shame-proneness interacted with REM fragmentation such that the higher the shame-proneness, the more the affective habituation was dependent on non-fragmented REMS. In summary, the potential of REMS in affective processing may depend on the quality of REMS as well as on individual vulnerability toward the stressor type.

Temperament is Linked to Avoidant Responses to Stuttering Anticipation

PURPOSE

The purpose of the present study was to examine the degree to which certain temperament constructs predict individual differences in three types of behavioral responses to anticipation among children and adults who stutter (CWS and AWS, respectively): avoidance, physical change, and approach.

METHODS

Participants included 64 CWS (9- to 17-years-old) and 54 AWS (18- to 50-years-old) who completed an online survey package including a temperament questionnaire (Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised for the CWS; Adult Temperament Questionnaire for the AWS) and the Stuttering Anticipation Scale. The data were analyzed separately for CWS and AWS using multivariate multiple regressions to assess how each temperament construct predicted avoidance, physical change, and approach responses to anticipation.

RESULTS

CWS who reported higher levels of shyness were more likely to engage in avoidant behavioral responses when they anticipate an upcoming moment of stuttering. AWS who reported higher levels of orienting sensitivity were more likely to engage in avoidant behavioral responses when they anticipate an upcoming moment of stuttering. No temperament constructs predicted physical change or approach responses to anticipation among either age group.

CONCLUSION

Specific aspects of temperament appear to be linked to the degree that CWS and AWS engage in avoidant behavioral responses to stuttering anticipation. These findings support the continued study of how individual differences impact the internal experience and outward manifestation of stuttering behaviors.

Longitudinal investigation of shyness and physiological vulnerability: Moderating influences of attention biases to threat and safety

Shyness has long been identified as a vulnerability factor to developing psychosocial problems, but there is heterogeneity in these observed outcomes. One potential factor underlying these relations is individual differences in threat sensitivity. Using a longitudinal design, we examined whether attentional biases toward social threat and safety measured during adulthood moderated the association between shyness measured in emerging adulthood (N = 83, n_female = 48; M_age = 23.56 years, SD_age = 1.09 years) and frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry at rest, a physiological index of vulnerability to psychopathology, measured nearly a decade later in adulthood (M_age = 31.68 years, SD_age = 2.27 years). We found that only biases to threat moderated the association between shyness and resting frontal EEG asymmetry longitudinally. In individuals who displayed relative vigilance to social threat, shyness was associated with greater relative right frontal EEG activity at rest (i.e., increased physiological vulnerability). These findings suggest that attentional biases to threat may play a role in understanding the relation between shyness and some known physiological vulnerabilities to psychopathology in adults.

Cardiovascular Responses to Stress Utilizing Anticipatory Singing Tasks

Abstract. Models of psychobiological stress reactivity have a foundation in the measurement of responses to standardized stress tasks. Tasks with anticipatory phases have been proposed as an effective method of stress induction, either as a stand-alone task or replacement constituent elements for existing stressor paradigms. Tasks utilizing singing as a primary stressor have been proposed but the efficacy of these tasks have not been demonstrated while maintaining adherence to a resting/reactivity/recovery framework desirable for heart rate variability (HRV) measurement. This study examines the viability of an anticipatory sing-a-song task as a method for inducing mental stress and examines the utility of the task with specific reference to measures of cardiovascular reactivity and recovery activity, and standard protocols to examine HRV reactivity and recovery. Participants completed a dual task with a math task and an anticipation of singing component. Responses were examined according to a resting/reactivity/recovery paradigm and the findings indicate that the sing-a-song stimulus is effective in generating a stress response. Significant differences in heart rate and self-reported stress between baseline and stressor conditions were detected, with greater magnitude differences between baseline and anticipatory phases. This study has demonstrated the viability of the anticipation of singing as a standardized stressor using cardiovascular measures and has described variants of this task that may be used for repeated measures study designs.

A study on the embarrassment of senders who missend emojis with opposite meanings on social apps: taking WeChat as an example

With the increasing popularity of social apps, sending emojis has become a very common way of expressing one’s emotions. However, situations often arise when people send the wrong emoji by mistake, or sometimes even an emoji with an opposite meaning, which can cause embarrassment to the sender. Taking WeChat as an example, which is widely used in Chinese communities, this study summarizes 10 types of dialogue situations in which the meaning of an emoji is wrongly sent and 12 types of emotional components that are related to embarrassment. The purpose of this study was to analyze the extent to which the 12 emotional components that are associated with embarrassment actually explain what embarrassment is, as well as the different degrees of embarrassment among the different genders and age groups. The results showed that (1) among the emotional components of embarrassment, shame has the highest explanation degree for embarrassment; (2) males are more likely to be affected by embarrassment than females; and (3) users aged 18–25 and 26–30 years are more likely to be affected by embarrassment than those aged between 31 and 40 when they mistakenly send WeChat emojis. This study provides a reference value for their sustainable psychological impact on social app users.

Loratadine augments emotional blushing

The aim of this study was to determine whether loratadine, a selective inverse agonist of peripheral histamine H₁ receptors, would reduce emotional blushing. Loratadine (10 mg) or placebo was administered orally one hour before 31 healthy participants sang a children's nursery rhyme to evoke embarrassment and blushing. Skin blood flow was monitored via a laser Doppler probe attached to the cheek. Increases in facial blood flow while participants sang were greater in the loratadine than the placebo group (mean increase ± standard deviation 71 ± 52% in the loratadine group versus 35 ± 37%, p = .036). However, perceptions of blushing were similar in both groups. These findings suggest that loratadine augmented blushing rather than inhibiting it. Thus, histamine released during blushing may inhibit acute increases in facial blood flow by evoking H₁ receptor-mediated vasoconstriction.

Relationship Between Shyness and Generalized Pathological Internet Use Among Chinese School Students: The Serial Mediating Roles of Loneliness, Depression, and Self-Esteem

The present study aimed to explore the mediating effects of loneliness, depression, and self-esteem on the association between shyness and generalized pathological Internet use (GPIU). A total of 5215 school students completed questionnaires regarding shyness, loneliness, depression, self-esteem, and GPIU (aged 11-23 years old, M = 16.19, SD = 3.10). The self-reported scores for GPIU, shyness, loneliness, depression, and self-esteem were tested in students from elementary schools to universities. The results of a variance analysis indicated that senior high school students had the greatest prevalence of GPIU of all the study stages. With the study stages resolved, the results of a structural equation model revealed that: (a) shyness positively predicted GPIU; (b) shyness/loneliness/depression predicted GPIU through self-esteem; (c) shyness predicted GPIU through loneliness/depression → self-esteem; and (d) shyness predicted GPIU through loneliness → depression → self-esteem. In conclusion, these results provided significant implications for preventing or reducing GPIU in Chinese school students.

Effects of Creative Thinking and Its Personality Determinants on Negative Emotion Regulation

This study investigated the relationship between creativity and negative emotion, and the effects of integrating creative insight into the reappraisal process on negative emotions. In Study 1, participants' creativity and baseline anxiety levels were measured; then anxiety was induced, and anxiety levels were reassessed. In Study 2, participants wrote about past negative events and then completed the positive and negative affect schedule. They were split into three groups (insight reappraisal, simple reappraisal, or control groups); each of them received a separate intervention, and then they completed positive and negative affect schedule again. In Study 3, participants were randomly assigned to insight reappraisal or control groups; apart from measuring cognitive changes, the procedures were identical to Study 2. All participants were undergraduate students. Results showed that flexibility, originality, risk-taking, and complexity are negatively correlated with anxiety, and that insight reappraisal can induce insight experience and enhance cognitive changes, and reduce negative emotional responses. Therefore, integrating creative insight into the reappraisal process can enhance its effectiveness in reducing negative emotions.

Seeing a Blush on the Visible and Invisible Spectrum: A Functional Thermal Infrared Imaging Study

So far blushing has been examined in the context of a negative rather than a positive reinforcement where visual displays of a blush were based on subjective measures. The current study used infrared imaging to measure thermal patterns of the face while with the use of a video camera quantified on the visible spectrum alterations in skin color related to a compliment. To elicit a blush a three-phase dialog was adopted ending or starting with a compliment on a female sample (N = 22). When the dialog ended with a compliment results showed a linear increase in temperature for the cheek, and forehead whereas for the peri-orbital region a linear decrease was observed. The compliment phase marked the highest temperature on the chin independent of whether or not the experiment started with a compliment contrary to other facial regions, which did not show a significant change when the experiment started with a compliment. Analyses on the visible spectrum showed that skin pigmentation was getting deep red in the compliment condition compared to the serious and social dialog conditions for both the forehead and the cheeks. No significant association was observed between temperature values and erythrocyte displays on the forehead and cheek. Heat is the physiological product of an arousing social scenario, however, preconceived notions about blushing propensity seem to drive erythrocyte displays and not necessarily conscious awareness of somatic sensations.

The Role of Threat Level and Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) in Anxiety: An Experimental Test of IU Theory

Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) has been proposed as an important transdiagnostic variable within mood- and anxiety-related disorders. The extant literature has suggested that individuals high in IU interpret uncertainty more negatively. Furthermore, theoretical models of IU posit that those elevated in IU may experience an uncertain threat as more anxiety provoking than a certain threat. However, no research to date has experimentally manipulated the certainty of an impending threat while utilizing an in vivo stressor. In the current study, undergraduate participants (N = 79) were randomized to one of two conditions: certain threat (participants were told that later on in the study they would give a 3-minute speech) or uncertain threat (participants were told that later on in the study they would flip a coin to determine whether or not they would give a 3-minute speech). Participants also completed self-report questionnaires measuring their baseline state anxiety, baseline trait IU, and prespeech state anxiety. Results indicated that trait IU was associated with greater state anticipatory anxiety when the prospect of giving a speech was made uncertain (i.e., uncertain condition). Further, findings indicated no significant difference in anticipatory state anxiety among individuals high in IU when comparing an uncertain versus certain threat (i.e., uncertain and certain threat conditions, respectively). Furthermore, results found no significant interaction between condition and trait IU when predicting state anticipatory anxiety. This investigation is the first to test a crucial component of IU theory while utilizing an ecologically valid paradigm. Results of the present study are discussed in terms of theoretical models of IU and directions for future work.

Effects of hearing loss on heart rate variability and skin conductance measured during sentence recognition in noise

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of hearing loss and noise on (1) two autonomic nervous system measures associated with stress (skin conductance and heart rate variability) and on (2) subjective ratings of workload/stress. The authors hypothesized that hearing loss would increase psychophysiological and subjective reactivity to noise during speech recognition tasks. Both psychophysiological and subjective indicators of workload/stress were expected to increase with a reduction in signal-to-noise ratio.

DESIGN

Sentence recognition in the presence of babble noise was assessed in 15 adults with clinically normal hearing and 18 adults with sensorineural hearing loss. Mean sentence recognition was equalized for the two groups using an adaptive procedure to estimate 80% recognition of words in sentences. Sentences were then presented in quiet and at four fixed signal-to-noise ratios: -6, -3, 0, and +3 dB relative to the individually determined signal-to-noise thresholds. Electrocardiography and skin conductance recordings were obtained during each listening condition. The high-frequency spectral component of heart rate variability was extracted from the electrocardiographic recordings as a measure of parasympathetic nervous system activity. Subjective ratings of effort, mental demand, stress, and perceived performance were obtained after each listening condition using the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index.

RESULTS

Recognition scores referenced to the adaptive threshold were similar for the two groups. Participants with hearing loss showed a decrease in high-frequency heart rate variability at lower signal-to-noise ratios, whereas those with normal hearing did not. Skin conductance levels were not sensitive to changes in signal-to-noise ratio. However, overall skin conductance reactivity to noise (relative to quiet) was higher for those with hearing loss than for those with normal hearing. In contrast to the psychophysiological findings, there were no significant differences between subjective ratings for the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Listeners with hearing loss show greater autonomic nervous system reactivity to babble noise during speech recognition than do listeners with normal hearing, when recognition performance is equal. The findings are consistent with the conclusion that listeners with hearing loss experience increased effort and/or stress during speech recognition in noise.

(1)H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy in social anxiety disorder

BACKGROUND

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by excessive anxiety about social interaction or performance situations, leading to avoidance and clinically significant distress. A growing literature on the neurobiology of SAD has suggested that the reward/avoidance basal ganglia circuitry in general and the glutamatergic system in particular may play a role. In the current study, we investigated (1)H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) concentrations in cortical, striatal, and thalamic circuitry, as well as their associations with measures of social anxiety and related symptoms, in patients with primary SAD.

METHODOLOGY

Eighteen adult individuals with SAD and 19 age- and sex- matched controls participated in this study. (1)H-MRS was used to determine relative metabolite concentrations in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) using single voxel spectroscopy (reporting relative N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA), N-acetyl-aspartate with N-acetyl-aspartyl-glutamate (NAA+NAAG), glycerophosphocholine with phosphocholine (GPC+PCh), myo-inositol, glutamate (Glu), and glutamate with its precursor glutamine (Glu+Gln)), and the caudate, putamen and thalami bilaterally using two dimensional chemical shift imaging (reporting relative NAA+NAAG and GPC+PCh). Relationships between metabolite concentrations and measures of social anxiety and related symptoms were also determined. Measures of social anxiety included symptom severity, blushing propensity, and gaze anxiety/avoidance.

RESULTS

We found, first, decreased relative glutamate concentration in the ACC of SAD and changes in myo-inositol with measures of social anxiety. Second, NAA metabolite concentration was increased in thalamus of SAD, and choline metabolite concentrations were related to measures of social anxiety. Lastly, choline metabolite concentration in the caudate and putamen showed changes in relation to measures of social anxiety.

CONCLUSION

These findings are consistent with evidence that the reward/avoidance basal ganglia circuitry, as well as the glutamatergic system, play a role in mediating SAD symptoms.

Empathy as a "risky strength": a multilevel examination of empathy and risk for internalizing disorders

Learning to respond to others' distress with well-regulated empathy is an important developmental task linked to positive health outcomes and moral achievements. However, this important interpersonal skill set may also confer risk for depression and anxiety when present at extreme levels and in combination with certain individual characteristics or within particular contexts. The purpose of this review is to describe an empirically grounded theoretical rationale for the hypothesis that empathic tendencies can be "risky strengths." We propose a model in which typical development of affective and cognitive empathy can be influenced by complex interplay among intraindividual and interindividual moderators that increase risk for empathic personal distress and excessive interpersonal guilt. These intermediate states in turn precipitate internalizing problems that map onto empirically derived fear/arousal and anhedonia/misery subfactors of internalizing disorders. The intraindividual moderators include a genetically influenced propensity toward physiological hyperarousal, which is proposed to interact with genetic propensity to empathic sensitivity to contribute to neurobiological processes that underlie personal distress responses to others' pain or unhappiness. This empathic personal distress then increases risk for internalizing problems, particularly fear/arousal symptoms. In a similar fashion, interactions between genetic propensities toward negative thinking processes and empathic sensitivity are hypothesized to contribute to excess interpersonal guilt in response to others' distress. This interpersonal guilt then increases the risk for internalizing problems, especially anhedonia/misery symptoms. Interindividual moderators, such as maladaptive parenting or chronic exposure to parents' negative affect, further interact with these genetic liabilities to amplify risk for personal distress and interpersonal guilt as well as for consequent internalizing problems. Age-related increases in the heritability of depression, anxiety, and empathy-related constructs are consistent with developmental shifts toward greater influence of intraindividual moderators throughout childhood and adolescence, with interindividual moderators exerting their greatest influence during early childhood. Efforts to modulate neurobiological and behavioral expressions of genetic dysregulation liabilities and to promote adaptive empathic skills must thus begin early in development.

A new paradigm to induce mental stress: the Sing-a-Song Stress Test (SSST)

We here introduce a new experimental paradigm to induce mental stress in a quick and easy way while adhering to ethical standards and controlling for potential confounds resulting from sensory input and body movements. In our Sing-a-Song Stress Test, participants are presented with neutral messages on a screen, interleaved with 1-min time intervals. The final message is that the participant should sing a song aloud after the interval has elapsed. Participants sit still during the whole procedure. We found that heart rate and skin conductance during the 1-min intervals following the sing-a-song stress message are substantially higher than during intervals following neutral messages. The order of magnitude of the rise is comparable to that achieved by the Trier Social Stress Test. Skin conductance increase correlates positively with experienced stress level as reported by participants. We also simulated stress detection in real time. When using both skin conductance and heart rate, stress is detected for 18 out of 20 participants, approximately 10 s after onset of the sing-a-song message. In conclusion, the Sing-a-Song Stress Test provides a quick, easy, controlled and potent way to induce mental stress and could be helpful in studies ranging from examining physiological effects of mental stress to evaluating interventions to reduce stress.

Social phobia and selective mutism

Social phobia (SOP) and selective mutism (SM) are related anxiety disorders characterized by distress and dysfunction in social situations. SOP typically onsets in adolescence and affects about 8% of the general population, whereas SM onsets before age 5 and is prevalent in up to 2% of youth. Prognosis includes a chronic course that confers risk for other disorders or ongoing social disability, but more favorable outcomes may be associated with young age and low symptom severity. SOP treatments are relatively more established, whereas dissemination of promising and innovative SM-treatment strategies is needed.

Speech presentation cues moderate frontal EEG asymmetry in socially withdrawn young adults

Socially withdrawn individuals display solitary behavior across wide contexts with both unfamiliar and familiar peers. This tendency to withdraw may be driven by either past or anticipated negative social encounters. In addition, socially withdrawn individuals often exhibit right frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry at baseline and when under stress. In the current study we examined shifts in frontal EEG activity in young adults (N=41) at baseline, as they viewed either an anxiety-provoking or a benign speech video, and as they subsequently prepared for their own speech. Results indicated that right frontal EEG activity increased, relative to the left, only for socially withdrawn participants exposed to the anxious video. These results suggest that contextual affective cues may prime an individual's response to stress, particularly if they illustrate or substantiate an anticipated negative event.

The relationship between specific cognitive impairment and behaviour in Prader-Willi syndrome

BACKGROUND

Individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) have been shown to demonstrate a particular cognitive deficit in attention switching and high levels of preference for routine and temper outbursts. This study assesses whether a specific pathway between a cognitive deficit and behaviour via environmental interaction can exist in individuals with PWS.

METHODS

Four individuals with PWS participated in a series of three single-case experiments including laboratory-based and natural environment designs. Cognitive (computer-based) challenges placed varying demands on attention switching or controlled for the cognitive demands of the tasks while placing no demands on switching. Unexpected changes to routines or expectations were presented in controlled games, or imposed on participants' natural environments and compared with control conditions during which no unexpected changes occurred. Behaviour was observed and heart rate was measured.

RESULTS

Participants showed significantly increased temper outburst related behaviours during cognitive challenges that placed demands on attention switching, relative to the control cognitive challenges. Participants showed significantly increased temper outburst related behaviours when unexpected changes occurred in an experimental or the natural environment compared with when no changes occurred.

CONCLUSIONS

Difficult behaviours that could be triggered reliably in an individual by a specific cognitive demand could also be triggered via manipulation of the environment. Results suggest that a directional relationship between a specific cognitive deficit and behaviour, via environmental interaction, can exist in individuals with PWS.

Autonomic nervous system activity in emotion: a review

Autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity is viewed as a major component of the emotion response in many recent theories of emotion. Positions on the degree of specificity of ANS activation in emotion, however, greatly diverge, ranging from undifferentiated arousal, over acknowledgment of strong response idiosyncrasies, to highly specific predictions of autonomic response patterns for certain emotions. A review of 134 publications that report experimental investigations of emotional effects on peripheral physiological responding in healthy individuals suggests considerable ANS response specificity in emotion when considering subtypes of distinct emotions. The importance of sound terminology of investigated affective states as well as of choice of physiological measures in assessing ANS reactivity is discussed.

A specific pathway can be identified between genetic characteristics and behaviour profiles in Prader-Willi syndrome via cognitive, environmental and physiological mechanisms

BACKGROUND

Behavioural phenotypes associated with genetic syndromes have been extensively investigated in order to generate rich descriptions of phenomenology, determine the degree of specificity of behaviours for a particular syndrome, and examine potential interactions between genetic predispositions for behaviour and environmental influences. However, relationships between different aspects of behavioural phenotypes have been less frequently researched and although recent interest in potential cognitive phenotypes or endophenotypes has increased, these are frequently studied independently of the behavioural phenotypes.

METHOD

Taking Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) as an example, we discuss evidence suggesting specific relationships between apparently distinct aspects of the PWS behavioural phenotype and relate these to specific endophenotypic characteristics.

RESULTS

The framework we describe progresses through biological, cognitive, physiological and behavioural levels to develop a pathway from genetic characteristics to behaviour with scope for interaction with the environment at any stage.

CONCLUSIONS

We propose this multilevel approach as useful in setting out hypotheses in order to structure research that can more rapidly advance theory.

How to handle anxiety: The effects of reappraisal, acceptance, and suppression strategies on anxious arousal

It has been suggested that reappraisal strategies are more effective than suppression strategies for regulating emotions. Recently, proponents of the acceptance-based behavior therapy movement have further emphasized the importance of acceptance-based emotion regulation techniques. In order to directly compare these different emotion regulation strategies, 202 volunteers were asked to give an impromptu speech in front of a video camera. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The Reappraisal group was instructed to regulate their anxious arousal by reappraising the situation; the Suppression group was asked to suppress their anxious behaviors; and the Acceptance group was instructed to accept their anxiety. As expected, the Suppression group showed a greater increase in heart rate from baseline than the Reappraisal and Acceptance groups. Moreover, the Suppression group reported more anxiety than the Reappraisal group. However, the Acceptance and Suppression groups did not differ in their subjective anxiety response. These results suggest that both reappraising and accepting anxiety is more effective for moderating the physiological arousal than suppressing anxiety. However, reappraising is more effective for moderating the subjective feeling of anxiety than attempts to suppress or accept it.

Neural response to self- and other referential praise and criticism in generalized social phobia

CONTEXT

Generalized social phobia (GSP) is characterized by fear/avoidance of social situations. Previous studies have examined the neural responses in GSP to one class of social stimuli, facial expressions. However, studies have not examined the neural response in GSP to another equally important class of social stimuli, the communication of praise or criticism.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the neural response to receipt of praise or criticism in GSP; specifically, to determine whether patients with GSP show an increased response to the receipt of both praise and criticism and whether self-relevance modulates this relationship.

DESIGN

Case-control study.

SETTING

Government clinical research institute.

PARTICIPANTS

Unmedicated individuals with GSP (n = 17) and age-, IQ-, and sex-matched healthy comparison individuals (n = 17).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Blood oxygenation level-dependent signal, as measured via functional magnetic resonance imaging. During functional magnetic resonance imaging scans, individuals read positive (eg, You are beautiful), negative (eg, You are ugly), and neutral (eg, You are human) comments that could be either about the self or about somebody else (eg, He is beautiful).

RESULTS

Hypothesized significant group x valence x referent interactions were observed within regions of the medial prefrontal cortex and bilateral amygdala. In these regions, the patients with GSP showed significantly increased blood oxygenation level-dependent responses, relative to comparison individuals, to negative comments (criticism) referring to themselves. However, in contrast, there were no significant group differences with respect to negative comments referring to others or neutral or positive comments referring to self or others.

CONCLUSIONS

These results implicate the medial prefrontal cortex, involved in the representation of the self, together with the amygdala, in the pathophysiology of GSP. Further, findings demonstrate a meaningful effect of psychological context on neural-circuitry hyperactivity in GSP.