The effects of acute and chronic stress on choice consistency

The relationship between gender differences in dietary habits, neuroinflammation, and Alzheimer's disease

Neurocognitive decline is one of the foremost dire issues in medicine today. The mechanisms by which dementia pathogenesis ensues are complicated and multifactorial, particularly in the case of Alzheimer's disease (AD). One irrefutable, yet unexplained factor is the gender disparity in AD, in which women are disproportionately affected by AD, both in the rate and severity of the disease. Examining the multifaceted contributing causes along with unique gender dynamics in modifiable risk factors, such as diet, may lend some insight into why this disparity exists and potential paths forward. The aim of this brief narrative review is to summarize the current literature of gender differences in dietary habits and how they may relate to neuroinflammatory states that contribute to AD pathogenesis. As such, the interplay between diet, hormones, and inflammation will be discussed, along with potential interventions to inform care practices.

The influence of stress on mental health among Chinese college students: The moderating role of psychological suzhi

Depending on its duration, stress can be divided into chronic and acute stress, both of which can be detrimental to an individual's mental health. Psychological suzhi may act as a protective factor that buffers the adverse effects of stress. This study aimed to explore the moderating role of psychological suzhi in the relationship between these two types of stress and mental health based on a dual-factor model of mental health. Study 1 explored the moderating role of psychological suzhi on the relationship between chronic stress and mental health using the Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Check List, College Student Psychological Suzhi Scale Brief Mental Health Version, Satisfaction With Life Scale, and 12-item General Health Questionnaire to investigate 919 Chinese college students. A hierarchical regression model was used to examine the moderating effects. Study 2 examined the moderating role of psychological suzhi on the relationship between acute stress and mental health. Participants (N = 56) were classified into high (N = 30) and low (N = 26) psychological suzhi groups based on the Psychological Suzhi Scale. They completed the Trier Social Stress Test for Groups and a specific control condition, and their state anxiety and happiness levels were assessed. Data were analyzed using a mixed-design repeated-measures ANOVA. The results of Study 1 revealed that psychological suzhi moderated the influence of chronic stress on the negative indicator of mental health (psychological symptoms) (β = -0.18, t = -6.90, p < 0.001). The results of Study 2 showed that psychological suzhi moderated the effect of acute stress on the negative indicator of mental health (state anxiety) [F (1, 54) = 4.79, p < 0.05, η2 = 0.08]. Psychological suzhi can moderate the influence of both chronic and acute stress on the negative indicators of college students' mental health but cannot moderate the influence on the positive indicators of mental health.

On the reliability of individual economic rationality measurements

A contemporary research agenda in behavioral economics and neuroeconomics aims to identify individual differences and (neuro)psychological correlates of rationality. This research has been widely received in important interdisciplinary and field outlets. However, the psychometric reliability of such measurements of rationality has been presumed without enough methodological scrutiny. Drawing from multiple original and published datasets (in total over 1,600 participants), we unequivocally show that contemporary measurements of rationality have moderate to poor reliability according to common standards. Further analyses of the variance components, as well as a allowing participants to revise previous choices, suggest that this is driven by low between-subject variance rather than high measurement error. As has been argued previously for other behavioral measurements, this poses a challenge to the predominant correlational research designs and the search for sociodemographic or neural predictors. While our results draw a sobering picture of the prospects of contemporary measurements of rationality, they are not necessarily surprising from a theoretical perspective, which we outline in our discussion.

Why stress and hunger both increase and decrease prosocial behaviour

Humans are regularly in suboptimal psychophysiological states like stressed or hungry. Previous research has made both claims that such impairments should decrease and that they should increase prosocial behaviour. We describe the overarching theoretical reasoning underlying these opposing predictions. Then we discuss empirical research on the two impairments most frequently studied, acute stress and acute hunger, and we find that neither alters prosocial behaviour clearly in one direction. We argue that this is because even under impairments, humans react flexibly to the incentive structure of the specific social situation they are in. Hence, either prosocial or egoistic tendencies get expressed, depending on which strategy can lead to fulfilment of the need the impairment triggered.