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Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW While there are reports of differences in emotion processing in autism, it is less understood whether the emotion of disgust, in particular, plays a significant role in these effects. Here, we review literature on potential disgust processing differences in autism and its possible associations with autistic traits. RECENT FINDINGS In autism, there is evidence for differences in physical disgust processing, pica behaviors, attention away from other's disgust facial expressions, and differences in neural activity related to disgust processing. In typically developing individuals, disgust processing is related to moral processing, but modulated by individual differences in interoception and alexithymia. Autistic individuals may experience atypical disgust, which may lead to difficulty avoiding contaminants and affect socio-emotional processing. In autism, such outcomes may lead to increased occurrences of illness, contribute to gastrointestinal issues, diminish vicarious learning of disgust expression and behaviors, and potentially contribute to differences in processes related to moral reasoning, though further research is needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aditya Jayashankar
- USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.
| | - Lisa Aziz-Zadeh
- USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
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Magnon V, Dutheil F, Vallet GT. The heart to make the right choice: Vagal (re)activity and recovery predict advantageous decision-making. Physiol Behav 2022; 254:113911. [PMID: 35820625 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2022.113911] [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: 03/01/2022] [Revised: 06/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
From simple everyday choices to life-altering decisions, decision-making is a crucial cognitive process in our daily life. Psychophysiological theories of heart-brain interactions involvement in cognition predict that general self-regulation capacities underlie cognitive processes including decision-making. Yet, in the context of decision-making, the somatic maker hypothesis postulates that the adaptability of the current physiological state should be the best predictor of advantageous decision-making. The present study tests compare self-regulation in general (indexed by resting vagal activity) and in a specific decisional context (vagal reactivity and recovery) to explain advantageous decision-making. Young adults (n = 54) completed a decision-making task while wearing a heart rate monitor. Bayesian regressions show that vagal reactivity and recovery combined is the preferred statistical model to explain advantageous decision-making (BF10 = 163.85). Those findings 1) support the somatic marker hypothesis highlighting the key role of in situ self-regulation in decision-making processes and 2) show that the popular and often used index of general self-regulation, resting vagal activity, is not the best predictor of decision-making performance, and perhaps even for other cognitive functions. A next step could be interventional studies to test whether vagal modulation of heart rate underlies decision-making through interventions that influence vagal activity, which could provide relevant clinical leads.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentin Magnon
- Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, LaPSCo, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France.
| | - Frederic Dutheil
- University Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, LaPSCo, CHU Clermont-Ferrand, WittyFit, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France
| | - Guillaume T Vallet
- Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, LaPSCo, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France.
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Shen W, Tong Y, Yuan Y, Zhan H, Liu C, Luo J, Cai H. Feeling the Insight: Uncovering Somatic Markers of the "aha" Experience. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 2018; 43:13-21. [PMID: 29075938 DOI: 10.1007/s10484-017-9381-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Whether internal insight can be recognized by experiencing (somatic feeling) remains an unexplored problem. This study investigated the issue by examining potential somatic markers of the "aha" experience occurring at the moment of sudden insight. Participants were required to solve a set of compound remote associates (CRA) problems and were simultaneously monitored via electrodermal and cardiovascular recordings. The "aha"-related psychological components and somatic markers were determined by contrasting insightful solutions with non-insightful solutions. Results showed that the "aha" experience was an amalgam entailing positive affects and approached cognition accompanied by a greater mean skin conductance response (mSCR) amplitude and a marginally accelerated heart rate than the "no-aha" one. These results confirm and extend findings of the multidimensionality of the "aha" feeling and offer the first direct evidence of somatic markers, particularly an electrodermal signature of an "aha" feeling, which suggests a sudden insight could likely be experienced by individuals' external soma.
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Babalian A, Eichenberger S, Bilella A, Girard F, Szabolcsi V, Roccaro D, Alvarez-Bolado G, Xu C, Celio MR. The orbitofrontal cortex projects to the parvafox nucleus of the ventrolateral hypothalamus and to its targets in the ventromedial periaqueductal grey matter. Brain Struct Funct 2018; 224:293-314. [PMID: 30315416 PMCID: PMC6373537 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-018-1771-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2018] [Accepted: 10/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Although connections between the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)-the seat of high cognitive functions-the lateral hypothalamus and the periaqueductal grey (PAG) have been recognized in the past, the precise targets of the descending fibres have not been identified. In the present study, viral tracer-transport experiments revealed neurons of the lateral (LO) and the ventrolateral (VLO) OFC (homologous to part of Area 13 in primates) to project to a circumscribed region in the ventrolateral hypothalamus, namely, the horizontally oriented, cylindrical parvalbumin- and Foxb1-expressing (parvafox) nucleus. The fine collaterals stem from coarse axons in the internal capsule and form excitatory synapses specifically with neurons of the parvafox nucleus, avoiding the rest of the hypothalamus. In its further caudal course, this contingent of LO/VLO-axons projects collaterals to the Su3- and the PV2 nuclei, which lie ventral to the aqueduct in the (PAG), where the terminals fields overlap those deriving from the parvafox nucleus itself. The targeting of the parvafox nucleus by the LO/VLO-projections, and the overlapping of their terminal fields within the PAG, suggest that the two cerebral sites interact closely. An involvement of this LO/VLO-driven circuit in the somatic manifestation of behavioural events is conceivable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Babalian
- Anatomy and Programme in Neuroscience, Faculty of Science and Medicine, University of Fribourg, Rte. A. Gockel 1, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Simone Eichenberger
- Anatomy and Programme in Neuroscience, Faculty of Science and Medicine, University of Fribourg, Rte. A. Gockel 1, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Alessandro Bilella
- Anatomy and Programme in Neuroscience, Faculty of Science and Medicine, University of Fribourg, Rte. A. Gockel 1, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Franck Girard
- Anatomy and Programme in Neuroscience, Faculty of Science and Medicine, University of Fribourg, Rte. A. Gockel 1, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Viktoria Szabolcsi
- Anatomy and Programme in Neuroscience, Faculty of Science and Medicine, University of Fribourg, Rte. A. Gockel 1, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Diana Roccaro
- Anatomy and Programme in Neuroscience, Faculty of Science and Medicine, University of Fribourg, Rte. A. Gockel 1, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Gonzalo Alvarez-Bolado
- Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Heidelberg, im Neuenheimer Feld 307, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Chun Xu
- Friedrich Miescher Institute, Maulbeerstrasse 66, 4058, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Marco R Celio
- Anatomy and Programme in Neuroscience, Faculty of Science and Medicine, University of Fribourg, Rte. A. Gockel 1, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland.
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Weissman DG, Guyer AE, Ferrer E, Robins RW, Hastings PD. Adolescents' brain-autonomic coupling during emotion processing. Neuroimage 2018; 183:818-827. [PMID: 30189339 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.08.069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [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: 05/15/2018] [Revised: 08/08/2018] [Accepted: 08/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity is a core component of emotion processing. The limbic system and medial prefrontal cortex play important roles in the regulation of ANS activity. However, the integration of brain activity and ANS activity has yet to be investigated in adolescents despite independent evidence of adolescents' heightened neural and physiological sensitivity to emotional stimuli. The present study examined the relations of ANS activity in the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) with brain activity during emotional face processing in adolescents. 135 adolescents (65 female; M = 17.15 yr, SD = 0.42) completed an emotional faces task during an fMRI scan while electrocardiography and skin conductance were recorded simultaneously. Using linear mixed-effect modelling, we tested the effect of change in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a measure of PNS activity, and number of skin conductance responses (SCRs), a measure of SNS activity, on neural activity while adolescents viewed emotional faces. Greater RSA withdrawal, indicating decreased PNS activity, was associated with increased activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). More SCRs, indicating greater SNS activity, were associated with decreased activation in several regions including the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and increased activation in the left hippocampus. Left hippocampus-SCR coupling and vmPFC-RSA coupling predicted baseline SCR and RSA respectively. These findings implicate the hippocampus for potentiating SNS activity, document that regulation of SNS and PNS activity are coordinated with distinct regions of the medial prefrontal cortex, and suggest potential developmental differences in vmPFC regulation of PNS activity between adolescents and adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- David G Weissman
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA; Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
| | - Amanda E Guyer
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, CA, USA; Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Emilio Ferrer
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Richard W Robins
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Paul D Hastings
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA; Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
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Biernacki K, Terrett G, McLennan SN, Labuschagne I, Morton P, Rendell PG. Decision-making, somatic markers and emotion processing in opiate users. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2018; 235:223-232. [PMID: 29063138 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-017-4760-0] [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] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2017] [Accepted: 10/11/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE Opiate use is associated with deficits in decision-making. A possible explanation for these deficits is provided by the somatic marker hypothesis, which suggests that substance users may experience abnormal emotional responses during decision-making involving reward and punishment. This in turn may interfere with the brief physiological arousal, i.e. somatic markers that normally occur in anticipation of risky decisions. To date, the applicability of the somatic marker hypothesis to explain decision-making deficits has not been investigated in opiate users. OBJECTIVES This study assessed whether decision-making deficits in opiate users were related to abnormal emotional responses and reduced somatic markers. METHODS Opiate users enrolled in an opiate substitute treatment program (n = 28) and healthy controls (n = 32) completed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) while their skin conductance responses (SCRs) were recorded. Participants' emotional responses to emotion-eliciting videos were also recorded using SCRs and subjective ratings. RESULTS Opiate users displayed poorer decision-making on the IGT than did controls. However, there were no differences between the groups in SCRs; both groups displayed stronger SCRs following punishment than following reward, and both groups displayed stronger anticipatory SCRs prior to disadvantageous decisions than advantageous decisions. There were no group differences in objective or subjective measures of emotional responses to the videos. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that deficits in emotional responsiveness are not apparent in opiate users who are receiving pharmacological treatment. Thus, the somatic marker hypothesis does not provide a good explanation for the decision-making deficits in this group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn Biernacki
- Cognition and Emotion Research Centre, School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia.
| | - Gill Terrett
- Cognition and Emotion Research Centre, School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Skye N McLennan
- Cognition and Emotion Research Centre, School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Izelle Labuschagne
- Cognition and Emotion Research Centre, School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Phoebe Morton
- Cognition and Emotion Research Centre, School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Peter G Rendell
- Cognition and Emotion Research Centre, School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia
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Odle M, Ouellette JA. Anticipatory Electrodermal Response as a Differentiating Somatic Marker Between Children with ADHD and Controls. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 2016; 41:375-380. [PMID: 27272970 DOI: 10.1007/s10484-016-9336-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Six children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and five control children between the ages of 9 and 11 years were administered an adapted version of the Iowa Gambling Task while measuring anticipatory electrodermal response (EDR). Anticipatory EDR measures were compared between groups. Results indicate that the ADHD group exhibited significantly lower autonomic reactivity to anticipated consequences, evidencing a neuropsychological profile similar to patients with lesions in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michie Odle
- Department of Psychology, State University of New York College at Cortland, Old Main Room 132, P.O. Box 2000, Cortland, NY, 13045, USA.
| | - Judith A Ouellette
- Department of Psychology, State University of New York College at Cortland, Old Main Room 132, P.O. Box 2000, Cortland, NY, 13045, USA
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Barnard MP, Chapman P. Are anxiety and fear separable emotions in driving? A laboratory study of behavioural and physiological responses to different driving environments. Accid Anal Prev 2016; 86:99-107. [PMID: 26536073 DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2015.10.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2015] [Revised: 10/01/2015] [Accepted: 10/20/2015] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Research into anxiety and driving has indicated that those higher in anxiety are potentially more dangerous on the roads. However, simulator findings suggest that conclusions are mixed at best. It is possible that anxiety is becoming confused with fear, which has a focus on more clearly defined sources of threat from the environment, as opposed to the internal, thought-related process associated with anxiety. This research aimed to measure feelings of fear, as well as physiological and attentional reactions to increasing levels of accident risk. Trait anxiety was also measured to see if it interacted with levels of risk or its associated reactions. Participants watched videos of driving scenarios with varying levels of accident risk and had to rate how much fear they would feel if they were the driver of the car, whilst skin conductance, heart rate, and eye movements were recorded. Analysis of the data suggested that perceptions of fear increased with increasing levels of accident risk, and skin conductance reflected this pattern. Eye movements, when considered alongside reaction times, indicated different patterns of performance according to different dangerous situations. These effects were independent of trait anxiety, which was only associated with higher rates of disliking driving and use of maladaptive coping mechanisms on questionnaires. It is concluded that these results could provide useful evidence in support for training-based programmes; it may also be beneficial to study trait anxiety within a more immersive driving environment and on a larger scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- M P Barnard
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
| | - P Chapman
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
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Garcia-Barrera MA, Davidow JH. Anticipation in stuttering: A theoretical model of the nature of stutter prediction. J Fluency Disord 2015; 44:1-15. [PMID: 25841698 DOI: 10.1016/j.jfludis.2015.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2014] [Revised: 03/18/2015] [Accepted: 03/19/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED The fact that some people who stutter have the ability to anticipate a stuttering moment is essential for several theories of stuttering and important for maximum effectiveness of many currently used treatment techniques. The "anticipation effect," however, is poorly understood despite much investigation into this phenomenon. In the present paper, we combine (1) behavioral evidence from the stuttering-anticipation literature, (2) speech production models, and (3) models of error detection to propose a theoretical model of anticipation. Integrating evidence from theories such as Damasio's Somatic Marker Hypothesis, Levelt's Perceptual Monitoring Theory, Guenther's The Directions Into Velocities of Articulators (DIVA) model, Postma's Covert Repair Hypothesis, among others, our central thesis is that the anticipation of a stuttering moment occurs as an outcome of the interactions between previous learning experiences (i.e., learnt associations between stuttered utterances and any self-experienced or environmental consequence) and error monitoring. Possible neurological mechanisms involved in generating conscious anticipation are also discussed, along with directions for future research. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES The reader will be able to: (a) describe historical theories that explain how PWS may learn to anticipate stuttering; (b) state some traditional sources of evidence of anticipation in stuttering; (c) describe how PWS may be sensitive to the detection of a stuttering; (d) state some of the neural correlates that may underlie anticipation in stuttering; and (e) describe some of the possible utilities of incorporating anticipation into stuttering interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mauricio A Garcia-Barrera
- Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, PO Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V8W 2Y2.
| | - Jason H Davidow
- Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, Hofstra University, 110 Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY 11549, United States.
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Tan Y, Zhang Q, Li W, Wei D, Qiao L, Qiu J, Hitchman G, Liu Y. The correlation between emotional intelligence and gray matter volume in university students. Brain Cogn 2014; 91:100-7. [PMID: 25282329 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2014.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2013] [Revised: 08/20/2014] [Accepted: 08/29/2014] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
A number of recent studies have investigated the neurological substrates of emotional intelligence (EI), but none of them have considered the neural correlates of EI that are measured using the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Scale (SSREIS). This scale was developed based on the EI model of Salovey and Mayer (1990). In the present study, SSREIS was adopted to estimate EI. Meanwhile, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) were used to evaluate the gray matter volume (GMV) of 328 university students. Results found positive correlations between Monitor of Emotions and VBM measurements in the insula and orbitofrontal cortex. In addition, Utilization of Emotions was positively correlated with the GMV in the parahippocampal gyrus, but was negatively correlated with the VBM measurements in the fusiform gyrus and middle temporal gyrus. Furthermore, Social Ability had volume correlates in the vermis. These findings indicate that the neural correlates of the EI model, which primarily focuses on the abilities of individuals to appraise and express emotions, can also regulate and utilize emotions to solve problems.
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