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Marinovic W, Nguyen AT, Vallence AM, Tresilian JR, Lipp OV. The interplay of perceptual processing demands and practice in modulating voluntary and involuntary motor responses. Psychophysiology 2024:e14672. [PMID: 39154364 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14672] [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: 02/06/2024] [Revised: 08/08/2024] [Accepted: 08/08/2024] [Indexed: 08/20/2024]
Abstract
Understanding how sensory processing demands affect the ability to ignore task-irrelevant, loud auditory stimuli (LAS) during a task is key to performance in dynamic environments. For example, tennis players must ignore crowd noise to perform optimally. We investigated how practice affects this ability by examining the effects of delivering LASs during preparatory phase of an anticipatory timing (AT) task on the voluntary and reflexive responses in two conditions: lower and higher visual processing loads. Twenty-four participants (mean age = 23.1, 11 females) completed the experiment. The AT task involved synchronizing a finger abduction response with the last visual stimulus item in a sequence of four Gabor grating patches briefly flashed on screen. The lower demand condition involved only this task, and the higher demand condition required processing the orientations of the patches to report changes in the final stimulus item. Our results showed that higher visual processing demands affected the release of voluntary actions, particularly in the first block of trials. When the perceptual load was lower, responses were released earlier by the LAS compared to the high-load condition. Practice reduced these effects largely, but high perceptual load still led to earlier action release in the second block. In contrast, practice led to more apparent facilitation of eyeblink latency in the second block. These findings indicate that a simple perceptual load manipulation can impact the execution of voluntary motor actions, particularly for inexperienced participants. They also suggest distinct movement preparation influences on voluntary and involuntary actions triggered by acoustic stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Welber Marinovic
- School of Population Health, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - An T Nguyen
- School of Population Health, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Ann-Maree Vallence
- School of Psychology and Exercise Science, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia
| | | | - Ottmar V Lipp
- School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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Klöbl M, Reed MB, Handschuh P, Kaufmann U, Konadu ME, Ritter V, Spurny-Dworak B, Kranz GS, Lanzenberger R, Spies M. Gender Dysphoria and Sexual Euphoria: A Bayesian Perspective on the Influence of Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy on Sexual Arousal. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2024; 53:1859-1871. [PMID: 38216784 PMCID: PMC11106106 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-023-02778-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2022] [Revised: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/14/2024]
Abstract
Self-reported sexual orientation of transgender individuals occasionally changes over transition. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we tested the hypothesis that neural and behavioral patterns of sexual arousal in transgender individuals would shift from the assigned to the experienced gender (e.g., trans women's responses becoming more dissimilar to those of cis men and more similar to those of cis women). To this aim, trans women (N = 12) and trans men (N = 20) as well as cisgender women (N = 24) and cisgender men (N = 14) rated visual stimuli showing male-female, female-female or male-male intercourse for sexual arousal before and after four months of gender-affirming hormone therapy. A Bayesian framework allowed us to incorporate previous behavioral findings. The hypothesized changes could indeed be observed in the behavioral responses with the strongest results for trans men and female-female scenes. Activation of the ventral striatum supported our hypothesis only for female-female scenes in trans women. The respective application or depletion of androgens in trans men and trans women might partly explain this observation. The prominent role of female-female stimuli might be based on the differential responses they elicit in cis women and men or, in theory, the controversial concept of autogynephilia. We show that correlates of sexual arousal in transgender individuals might change in the direction of the experienced gender. Future investigations should elucidate the mechanistic role of sex hormones and the cause of the differential neural and behavioral findings.The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02715232), March 22, 2016.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manfred Klöbl
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria
- Comprehensive Center for Clinical Neurosciences and Mental Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Murray Bruce Reed
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria
- Comprehensive Center for Clinical Neurosciences and Mental Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Patricia Handschuh
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria
- Comprehensive Center for Clinical Neurosciences and Mental Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ulrike Kaufmann
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Melisande Elisabeth Konadu
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria
- Comprehensive Center for Clinical Neurosciences and Mental Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Vera Ritter
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria
- Comprehensive Center for Clinical Neurosciences and Mental Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Benjamin Spurny-Dworak
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria
- Comprehensive Center for Clinical Neurosciences and Mental Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Georg S Kranz
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria
- Comprehensive Center for Clinical Neurosciences and Mental Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
| | - Rupert Lanzenberger
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria.
- Comprehensive Center for Clinical Neurosciences and Mental Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Marie Spies
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria
- Comprehensive Center for Clinical Neurosciences and Mental Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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Petranker R, Anderson T, Fewster EC, Aberman Y, Hazan M, Gaffrey M, Seli P. Keeping the promise: a critique of the current state of microdosing research. Front Psychiatry 2024; 15:1217102. [PMID: 38374976 PMCID: PMC10875010 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1217102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction The practice of taking small, sub-hallucinogenic doses of psychedelics, known as microdosing, has exploded in popularity over the last decade. Users claim benefits ranging from improved mood and enhanced creativity to an increased sense of meaning and connectedness in life. While research on microdosing is still lagging behind the shift in public opinion, several papers have been published in the last five years which attempted to assess the effects of microdosing. Methods This review paper aimed to critically analyze the research practices used in the recent wave of microdosing research: We reviewed 15 papers published before the closing date of this review in March 2022. Results Our review concludes that it is premature to draw any conclusions about the efficacy or safety of microdosing since the research quality cannot be considered confirmatory. Discussion We propose some potential causes for the current state of the literature and some suggestions for how these causes may be ameliorated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rotem Petranker
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | - Thomas Anderson
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | | | | | - Marik Hazan
- Independent Researcher, New York, NY, United States
| | - Michael Gaffrey
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Paul Seli
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
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