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Kleckner IR, Wormwood JB, Jones RM, Culakova E, Barrett LF, Lord C, Quigley KS, Goodwin MS. Adaptive thresholding increases sensitivity to detect changes in the rate of skin conductance responses to psychologically arousing stimuli in both laboratory and ambulatory settings. Int J Psychophysiol 2024; 196:112280. [PMID: 38104772 PMCID: PMC10872538 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2023.112280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Revised: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Psychophysiologists recording electrodermal activity (EDA) often derive measures of slow, tonic activity-skin conductance level (SCL)-and faster, more punctate changes-skin conductance responses (SCRs). A SCR is conventionally considered to have occurred when the local amplitude of the EDA signal exceeds a researcher-determined threshold (e.g., 0.05 μS), typically fixed across study participants and conditions. However, fixed SCR thresholds can preferentially exclude data from individuals with low SCL because their SCRs are smaller on average, thereby reducing statistical power for group-level analyses. Thus, we developed a fixed plus adaptive (FA) thresholding method that adjusts identification of SCRs based on an individual's SC at the onset of the SCR to increase statistical power and include data from more participants. We assess the utility of applying FA thresholding across two independent samples and explore age and race-related associations with EDA outcomes. Study 1 uses wired EDA measurements from 254 healthy adults responding to evocative images and sounds in a laboratory setting. Study 2 uses wireless EDA measurements from 20 children with autism in a clinical environment while they completed behavioral tasks. Compared to a 0.01, 0.03, and 0.05 μS fixed threshold, FA thresholding at 1.9% modestly increases statistical power to detect a difference in SCR rate between tasks with higher vs. lower subjective arousal and reduces exclusion of participants by up to 5% across both samples. This novel method expands the EDA analytical toolbox and may be useful in populations with highly variable basal SCL or when comparing groups with different basal SCL. Future research should test for reproducibility and generalizability in other tasks, samples, and contexts. IMPACT STATEMENTS: This article is important because it introduces a novel method to enhance sensitivity and statistical power in analyses of skin conductance responses from electrodermal data.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Rebecca M Jones
- Weill Cornell Medicine, The Center for Autism and the Developing Brain, White Plains, NY, USA
| | - Eva Culakova
- University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Lisa Feldman Barrett
- Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Catherine Lord
- Weill Cornell Medicine, The Center for Autism and the Developing Brain, White Plains, NY, USA; Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Xu Z, Hu J, Wang Y. Bilateral eye movements disrupt the involuntary perceptual representation of trauma-related memories. Behav Res Ther 2023; 165:104311. [PMID: 37037182 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2023.104311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Revised: 03/29/2023] [Accepted: 04/07/2023] [Indexed: 04/12/2023]
Abstract
Bilateral eye movement (EM) is a critical component in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), an effective treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. However, the role of bilateral EM in alleviating trauma-related symptoms is unclear. Here we hypothesize that bilateral EM selectively disrupts the perceptual representation of traumatic memories. We used the trauma film paradigm as an analog for trauma experience. Nonclinical participants viewed trauma films followed by a bilateral EM intervention or a static Fixation period as a control. Perceptual and semantic memories for the film were assessed with different measures. Results showed a significant decrease in perceptual memory recognition shortly after the EM intervention and subsequently in the frequency and vividness of film-related memory intrusions across one week, relative to the Fixation condition. The EM intervention did not affect the explicit recognition of semantic memories, suggesting a dissociation between perceptual and semantic memory disruption. Furthermore, the EM intervention effectively reduced psychophysiological affective responses, including the skin conductance response and pupil size, to film scenes and subjective affective ratings of film-related intrusions. Together, bilateral EMs effectively reduce the perceptual representation and affective response of trauma-related memories. Further theoretical developments are needed to elucidate the mechanism of bilateral EMs in trauma treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenjie Xu
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310028, Zhejiang, China
| | - Jie Hu
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310028, Zhejiang, China
| | - Yingying Wang
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310028, Zhejiang, China.
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Savage HS, Davey CG, Wager TD, Garfinkel SN, Moffat BA, Glarin RK, Harrison BJ. Neural mediators of subjective and autonomic responding during threat learning and regulation. Neuroimage 2021; 245:118643. [PMID: 34699966 PMCID: PMC9533324 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2021] [Revised: 10/07/2021] [Accepted: 10/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Threat learning elicits robust changes across multiple affective domains, including changes in autonomic indices and subjective reports of fear and anxiety. It has been argued that the underlying causes of such changes may be dissociable at a neural level, but there is currently limited evidence to support this notion. To address this, we examined the neural mediators of trial-by-trial skin conductance responses (SCR), and subjective reports of anxious arousal and valence in participants (n = 27; 17 females) performing a threat reversal task during ultra-high field functional magnetic resonance imaging. This allowed us to identify brain mediators during initial threat learning and subsequent threat reversal. Significant neural mediators of anxious arousal during threat learning included the dorsal anterior cingulate, anterior insula cortex (AIC), and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), subcortical regions including the amygdala, ventral striatum, caudate and putamen, and brain-stem regions including the pons and midbrain. By comparison, autonomic changes (SCR) were mediated by a subset of regions embedded within this broader circuitry that included the caudate, putamen and thalamus, and two distinct clusters within the vmPFC. The neural mediators of subjective negative valence showed prominent effects in posterior cortical regions and, with the exception of the AIC, did not overlap with threat learning task effects. During threat reversal, positive mediators of both subjective anxious arousal and valence mapped to the default mode network; this included the vmPFC, posterior cingulate, temporoparietal junction, and angular gyrus. Decreased SCR during threat reversal was positively mediated by regions including the mid cingulate, AIC, two sub-regions of vmPFC, the thalamus, and the hippocampus. Our findings add novel evidence to support distinct underlying neural processes facilitating autonomic and subjective responding during threat learning and threat reversal. The results suggest that the brain systems engaged in threat learning mostly capture the subjective (anxious arousal) nature of the learning process, and that appropriate responding during threat reversal is facilitated by participants engaging self- and valence-based processes. Autonomic changes (SCR) appear to involve distinct facilitatory and regulatory contributions of vmPFC sub-regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah S Savage
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Melbourne, Victoria 3053 Australia.
| | - Christopher G Davey
- Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3053 Australia
| | - Tor D Wager
- Department of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755 United States
| | - Sarah N Garfinkel
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AZ United Kingdom
| | - Bradford A Moffat
- Melbourne Biomedical Centre Imaging Unit, Department of Radiology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Rebecca K Glarin
- Melbourne Biomedical Centre Imaging Unit, Department of Radiology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Ben J Harrison
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Melbourne, Victoria 3053 Australia.
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Klein Selle N, Ben-Shakhar G, Kindt M, Verschuere B. Preliminary evidence for physiological markers of implicit memory. Biol Psychol 2018; 135:220-235. [PMID: 29477478 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2018.02.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2017] [Revised: 02/18/2018] [Accepted: 02/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The Concealed Information Test (CIT) aims to detect concealed knowledge and is known to be sensitive to explicit memory. In two experiments, we examined whether the CIT is also sensitive to implicit memory using skin conductance, respiration and heart rate measures. For each participant, previously studied items were either categorized as explicitly remembered, implicitly remembered or forgotten. The two experiments differed in the strength of memory encoding, the type of implicit memory test, the delay between study and test and the number of critical CIT items. The results of Experiment 1 revealed that CIT detection efficiency was weak and significant only in the explicit memory condition. In Experiment 2, however, CIT detection efficiency was stronger and significant in both the explicit and implicit memory conditions as indexed by skin conductance and respiration. Altogether, our results provide initial evidence that the CIT may be sensitive to implicit memory. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathalie Klein Selle
- Department of Psychology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 91905, Israel; Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 15933, 1001 NK Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Gershon Ben-Shakhar
- Department of Psychology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 91905, Israel
| | - Merel Kindt
- Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 15933, 1001 NK Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Bruno Verschuere
- Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 15933, 1001 NK Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Trotzke P, Starcke K, Pedersen A, Müller A, Brand M. Impaired decision making under ambiguity but not under risk in individuals with pathological buying-behavioral and psychophysiological evidence. Psychiatry Res 2015; 229:551-8. [PMID: 26165961 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2015.05.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2014] [Revised: 03/29/2015] [Accepted: 05/03/2015] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Pathological buying (PB) is described as dysfunctional buying behavior, associated with harmful consequences. It is discussed whether decision-making deficits are related to PB, because affected individuals often choose the short-term rewarding option of buying despite persistent negative long-term consequences. We investigated 30 patients suffering from PB and 30 matched control participants with two different decision-making tasks: the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) measures decisions under ambiguity and involves emotional feedback processing, whereas the Game of Dice Task (GDT) measures decisions under risk and can be solved strategically. Potential emotional and cognitive correlates of decision making were investigated by assessing skin conductance response (SCR) and executive functioning. In comparison to the control participants, the patients showed more disadvantageous decisions under ambiguity in the IGT. These data were supported by the SCR results: patients failed to generate SCRs that usually occur before disadvantageous decisions. The physiological and behavioral performance on decisions under risk and executive functioning did not differ between groups. Thus, deficits in emotional feedback processing might be one potential factor in etiology and pathogenesis of PB and should be considered in theory and treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Trotzke
- Department of General Psychology: Cognition, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany.
| | - Katrin Starcke
- Department of General Psychology: Cognition, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany.
| | - Anya Pedersen
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Kiel, Germany.
| | - Astrid Müller
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Germany.
| | - Matthias Brand
- Department of General Psychology: Cognition, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany; Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Essen, Germany.
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Sevenster D, Hamm A, Beckers T, Kindt M. Heart rate pattern and resting heart rate variability mediate individual differences in contextual anxiety and conditioned responses. Int J Psychophysiol 2015; 98:567-76. [PMID: 26393823 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2015.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2014] [Revised: 07/21/2015] [Accepted: 09/11/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Dieuwke Sevenster
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Amsterdam Brain and Cognition, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Alfons Hamm
- Biological and Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Tom Beckers
- Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Amsterdam Brain and Cognition, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, Department of Psychology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Merel Kindt
- Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Amsterdam Brain and Cognition, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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