P3 amplitude reductions are associated with shared variance between internalizing and externalizing psychopathology

Midfrontal conflict theta and parietal P300 are linked to a latent factor of DSM externalising disorders

Psychiatric illnesses form spectra rather than categories, with symptoms varying continuously across individuals, i.e., there is no clear break between health and disorder. Dimensional measures of behaviour and brain activity are promising targets for studying biological mechanisms that are common across disorders. Here, we assessed the extent to which neural measures of the sensitivity of the three biological systems in the reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) could account for individual differences in a latent general factor estimated from symptom counts across externalising disorders (EXTs). RST explanatory power was pitted against reduced P300, a reliable indicator of externalising per previous research. We assessed 206 participants for DSM-5 EXTs (antisocial personality disorder, conduct disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, intermittent explosive disorder symptoms, alcohol use disorder, and cannabis use disorder). Of the final sample, 49% met diagnostic criteria for at least one of the EXTs. Electroencephalographic measures of the sensitivities of the behavioural activation system (BAS), the fight/flight/freeze system, and the behavioural inhibition system (BIS), as well as P300 were extracted from the gold bar-lemon and stop-signal tasks. As predicted, we found that low neural BIS sensitivity and low P300 were uniquely and negatively associated with our latent factor of externalising. Contrary to prediction, neural BAS/"dopamine" sensitivity was not associated with externalising. Our results provide empirical support for low BIS sensitivity and P300 as neural mechanisms common to disorders within the externalising spectrum; but, given the low N involved, future studies should seek to assess the replicability of our findings and, in particular, the differential involvement of the three RST systems.

The P3 ERP in Relation to General Versus Specific Psychopathology in Early Childhood

There is considerable covariation between externalizing and internalizing problems across the lifespan. Partitioning general and specific psychopathology is crucial to identify (a) processes that confer specific risk for externalizing versus internalizing problems and (b) transdiagnostic processes that confer risk for the covariation between externalizing and internalizing problems. The oddball P3 event-related potential (ERP) component, thought to reflect attentional orienting, has been widely examined in relation to psychopathology. However, prior studies have not examined the P3-or other aspects of neural functioning-in relation to general versus specific psychopathology in children. The present study examined whether children's (N = 124, ages 3-7 years) P3 amplitudes were associated with general versus specific psychopathology. Children's electroencephalography data were recorded during an oddball task. Parents rated their children's externalizing and internalizing problems. Using bifactor models to partition variance in parents' ratings of children's psychopathology symptoms, we examined children's P3 amplitudes in relation to three latent factors: (1) the general factor of psychopathology-the covariation of externalizing and internalizing psychopathology, (2) unique externalizing problems-the variance in externalizing problems after controlling for the general factor, and (3) unique internalizing problems. Results indicated that smaller P3 amplitudes were associated with unique externalizing problems at ages 3-5, and with general psychopathology at ages 6-7. Findings suggest that smaller P3 amplitudes may be associated with externalizing problems from a very young age. Moreover, there may be a developmental shift in the functional significance of the P3 in relation to general and specific psychopathology in childhood.

An exploratory study of functional brain activation underlying response inhibition in major depressive disorder and borderline personality disorder

Cognitive control is associated with impulsive and harmful behaviours, such as substance abuse and suicidal behaviours, as well as major depressive disorder (MDD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD). The association between MDD and BPD is partially explained by shared pathological personality traits, which may be underpinned by aspects of cognitive control, such as response inhibition. The neural basis of response inhibition in MDD and BPD is not fully understood and could illuminate factors that differentiate between the disorders and that underlie individual differences in cross-cutting pathological traits. In this study, we sought to explore the neural correlates of response inhibition in MDD and BPD, as well as the pathological personality trait domains contained in the ICD-11 personality disorder model. We measured functional brain activity underlying response inhibition on a Go/No-Go task using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 55 female participants recruited into three groups: MDD without comorbid BPD (n = 16), MDD and comorbid BPD (n = 18), and controls with neither disorder (n = 21). Whereas response-inhibition-related activation was observed bilaterally in frontoparietal cognitive control regions across groups, there were no group differences in activation or significant associations between activation in regions-of-interest and pathological personality traits. The findings highlight potential shared neurobiological substrates across diagnoses and suggest that the associations between individual differences in neural activation and pathological personality traits may be small in magnitude. Sufficiently powered studies are needed to elucidate the associations between the functional neural correlates of response inhibition and pathological personality trait domains.

Validity and utility of Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP): III. Emotional dysfunction superspectrum

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is a quantitative nosological system that addresses shortcomings of traditional mental disorder diagnoses, including arbitrary boundaries between psychopathology and normality, frequent disorder co-occurrence, substantial heterogeneity within disorders, and diagnostic unreliability over time and across clinicians. This paper reviews evidence on the validity and utility of the internalizing and somatoform spectra of HiTOP, which together provide support for an emotional dysfunction superspectrum. These spectra are composed of homogeneous symptom and maladaptive trait dimensions currently subsumed within multiple diagnostic classes, including depressive, anxiety, trauma-related, eating, bipolar, and somatic symptom disorders, as well as sexual dysfunction and aspects of personality disorders. Dimensions falling within the emotional dysfunction superspectrum are broadly linked to individual differences in negative affect/neuroticism. Extensive evidence establishes that dimensions falling within the superspectrum share genetic diatheses, environmental risk factors, cognitive and affective difficulties, neural substrates and biomarkers, childhood temperamental antecedents, and treatment response. The structure of these validators mirrors the quantitative structure of the superspectrum, with some correlates more specific to internalizing or somatoform conditions, and others common to both, thereby underlining the hierarchical structure of the domain. Compared to traditional diagnoses, the internalizing and somatoform spectra demonstrated substantially improved utility: greater reliability, larger explanatory and predictive power, and greater clinical applicability. Validated measures are currently available to implement the HiTOP system in practice, which can make diagnostic classification more useful, both in research and in the clinic.

Is an anthropomorphic app icon more attractive? Evidence from neuroergonomomics

Exploring what types of app icons are attractive has been a topic of great interest in recent years. The main purpose of this study was to explore the neural mechanism of attention capturing of the anthropomorphic app icons based on neuroergonomics. Participants' perception of different app icons was investigated by using event-related potentials (ERPs) and attractiveness evaluation. The results showed that anthropomorphic app icons were evaluated more attractive and elicted larger P2, P3 and LPP amplitude than non-anthropomorphic app icons, which indicated an attention bias to attractive anthropomprphic app icons. The time course of the attention towards anthropomorphic app icons includes three main processes: an early stimulus-driven perceptual detection of app icon features (P2 during 160-200 ms), an involuntary allocation of attention to evaluate and categorize app icons (P3 during 300-500 ms), and experiencing different emotions to anthropomorphic versus non-anthropomorphic app icons (LPP during 500-800 ms). That is, the process of users' perception and attention toward app icons combines "bottom-up" and "top-down" processes. Our findings suggest a new perspective to use ERP components (P2, P3, and LPP) to deep understanding of app icon design. A practical implication is that app icons could be designed using anthropomorphic elements to attract users.

P300 Event-Related Potentials Mediate the Relationship Between Child Physical Abuse and Externalizing Behavior

The psychophysiological mechanism linking early childhood experiences to behavior problems remains unclear. This study aimed to examine the association of child physical abuse with P300 event-related potentials (ERP), and to test the mediating effect of P300 amplitude and latency in the relationship between child physical abuse and externalizing behaviors. Cross-sectional secondary data were obtained from 155 children (55.5% boys, mean age: 11.28 ± 0.57 years) who participated in the China Jintan Child Cohort Study. Children self-reported maternal and paternal physical abuse and externalizing behaviors, as well as P300 were obtained in 2013. Additionally, parents and teachers reported child externalizing behaviors in preschool in 2007. P300 were recorded during a standard novel auditory oddball task. Path analysis shows that after controlling for child sex, socioeconomic status, area of residence, IQ, and child externalizing behavior in preschool, children exposed to maternal physical abuse exhibited increased novelty P300 amplitude, which links to more externalizing behavior. Novelty P300 amplitude partially mediated the relationship between maternal physical abuse and externalizing behavior. These findings are the first to document the partial mediating effect of P300 amplitude on the abuse-externalizing relationship and are consistent with the view that physical abuse affects the attention bias to novel cues that likely places them at increased risk for the development and maintenance of externalizing behavior.

The Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) effect in highly math-anxious individuals: An ERP study

The Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) effect was examined in highly (HMA) and low math-anxious (LMA) individuals performing a number comparison in an ERP study. The SNARC effect consists of faster latencies when the response side is congruent with number location in the mental number line (MNL). Despite the stronger SNARC effect in the HMA group, their responses in incongruent trials were slower than in congruent trials only for the largest numerical magnitudes. Moreover, HMAs showed a less positive centroparietal P3b component in incongruent trials than in congruent ones, but only for the largest magnitudes. Since the SNARC effect arises during response selection and P3b positivity decreases with the difficulty of decision, this result suggests that HMA individuals might find it more difficult than LMAs to control the conflict between the automatically activated location of numbers in the MNL and the response side, especially in more cognitively demanding trials.