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Contier F, Wartenburger I, Weymar M, Rabovsky M. Are the P600 and P3 ERP components linked to the task-evoked pupillary response as a correlate of norepinephrine activity? Psychophysiology 2024:e14565. [PMID: 38469647 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14565] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2023] [Revised: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 02/29/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
During language comprehension, anomalies and ambiguities in the input typically elicit the P600 event-related potential component. Although traditionally interpreted as a specific signal of combinatorial operations in sentence processing, the component has alternatively been proposed to be a variant of the oddball-sensitive, domain-general P3 component. In particular, both components might reflect phasic norepinephrine release from the locus coeruleus (LC/NE) to motivationally significant stimuli. In this preregistered study, we tested this hypothesis by relating both components to the task-evoked pupillary response, a putative biomarker of LC/NE activity. 36 participants completed a sentence comprehension task (containing 25% morphosyntactic violations) and a non-linguistic oddball task (containing 20% oddballs), while the EEG and pupil size were co-registered. Our results showed that the task-evoked pupillary response and the ERP amplitudes of both components were similarly affected by both experimental tasks. In the oddball task, there was also a temporally specific relationship between the P3 and the pupillary response beyond the shared oddball effect, thereby further linking the P3 to NE. Because this link was less reliable in the linguistic context, we did not find conclusive evidence for or against a relationship between the P600 and the pupillary response. Still, our findings further stimulate the debate on whether language-related ERPs are indeed specific to linguistic processes or shared across cognitive domains. However, further research is required to verify a potential link between the two ERP positivities and the LC/NE system as the common neural generator.
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Affiliation(s)
- Friederike Contier
- Cognitive Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Isabell Wartenburger
- Cognitive Sciences, Department of Linguistics, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Cognitive Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Milena Rabovsky
- Cognitive Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
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Schiller D, Yu ANC, Alia-Klein N, Becker S, Cromwell HC, Dolcos F, Eslinger PJ, Frewen P, Kemp AH, Pace-Schott EF, Raber J, Silton RL, Stefanova E, Williams JHG, Abe N, Aghajani M, Albrecht F, Alexander R, Anders S, Aragón OR, Arias JA, Arzy S, Aue T, Baez S, Balconi M, Ballarini T, Bannister S, Banta MC, Barrett KC, Belzung C, Bensafi M, Booij L, Bookwala J, Boulanger-Bertolus J, Boutros SW, Bräscher AK, Bruno A, Busatto G, Bylsma LM, Caldwell-Harris C, Chan RCK, Cherbuin N, Chiarella J, Cipresso P, Critchley H, Croote DE, Demaree HA, Denson TF, Depue B, Derntl B, Dickson JM, Dolcos S, Drach-Zahavy A, Dubljević O, Eerola T, Ellingsen DM, Fairfield B, Ferdenzi C, Friedman BH, Fu CHY, Gatt JM, de Gelder B, Gendolla GHE, Gilam G, Goldblatt H, Gooding AEK, Gosseries O, Hamm AO, Hanson JL, Hendler T, Herbert C, Hofmann SG, Ibanez A, Joffily M, Jovanovic T, Kahrilas IJ, Kangas M, Katsumi Y, Kensinger E, Kirby LAJ, Koncz R, Koster EHW, Kozlowska K, Krach S, Kret ME, Krippl M, Kusi-Mensah K, Ladouceur CD, Laureys S, Lawrence A, Li CSR, Liddell BJ, Lidhar NK, Lowry CA, Magee K, Marin MF, Mariotti V, Martin LJ, Marusak HA, Mayer AV, Merner AR, Minnier J, Moll J, Morrison RG, Moore M, Mouly AM, Mueller SC, Mühlberger A, Murphy NA, Muscatello MRA, Musser ED, Newton TL, Noll-Hussong M, Norrholm SD, Northoff G, Nusslock R, Okon-Singer H, Olino TM, Ortner C, Owolabi M, Padulo C, Palermo R, Palumbo R, Palumbo S, Papadelis C, Pegna AJ, Pellegrini S, Peltonen K, Penninx BWJH, Pietrini P, Pinna G, Lobo RP, Polnaszek KL, Polyakova M, Rabinak C, Helene Richter S, Richter T, Riva G, Rizzo A, Robinson JL, Rosa P, Sachdev PS, Sato W, Schroeter ML, Schweizer S, Shiban Y, Siddharthan A, Siedlecka E, Smith RC, Soreq H, Spangler DP, Stern ER, Styliadis C, Sullivan GB, Swain JE, Urben S, Van den Stock J, Vander Kooij MA, van Overveld M, Van Rheenen TE, VanElzakker MB, Ventura-Bort C, Verona E, Volk T, Wang Y, Weingast LT, Weymar M, Williams C, Willis ML, Yamashita P, Zahn R, Zupan B, Lowe L. The Human Affectome. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 158:105450. [PMID: 37925091 PMCID: PMC11003721 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [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: 06/11/2022] [Revised: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 11/06/2023]
Abstract
Over the last decades, theoretical perspectives in the interdisciplinary field of the affective sciences have proliferated rather than converged due to differing assumptions about what human affective phenomena are and how they work. These metaphysical and mechanistic assumptions, shaped by academic context and values, have dictated affective constructs and operationalizations. However, an assumption about the purpose of affective phenomena can guide us to a common set of metaphysical and mechanistic assumptions. In this capstone paper, we home in on a nested teleological principle for human affective phenomena in order to synthesize metaphysical and mechanistic assumptions. Under this framework, human affective phenomena can collectively be considered algorithms that either adjust based on the human comfort zone (affective concerns) or monitor those adaptive processes (affective features). This teleologically-grounded framework offers a principled agenda and launchpad for both organizing existing perspectives and generating new ones. Ultimately, we hope the Human Affectome brings us a step closer to not only an integrated understanding of human affective phenomena, but an integrated field for affective research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Schiller
- Department of Psychiatry, the Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, and the Friedman Brain Institute, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States.
| | - Alessandra N C Yu
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, United States.
| | - Nelly Alia-Klein
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Susanne Becker
- Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, J5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany; Integrative Spinal Research Group, Department of Chiropractic Medicine, University Hospital Balgrist, University of Zurich, Balgrist Campus, Lengghalde 5, 8008 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Howard C Cromwell
- J.P. Scott Center for Neuroscience, Mind and Behavior, Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, United States
| | - Florin Dolcos
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States
| | - Paul J Eslinger
- Departments of Neurology, Neural & Behavioral Science, Radiology, and Public Health Sciences, Penn State Hershey Medical Center and College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States
| | - Paul Frewen
- Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Andrew H Kemp
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Health & Life Science, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom
| | - Edward F Pace-Schott
- Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Jacob Raber
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, United States; Departments of Neurology, Radiation Medicine, Psychiatry, and Division of Neuroscience, ONPRC, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States
| | - Rebecca L Silton
- Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Elka Stefanova
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Serbia; Neurology Clinic, Clinical Center of Serbia, Serbia
| | - Justin H G Williams
- Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, 1 Parklands Dr, Southport, QLD 4215, Australia
| | - Nobuhito Abe
- Institute for the Future of Human Society, Kyoto University, 46 Shimoadachi-cho, Yoshida Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Moji Aghajani
- Institute of Education & Child Studies, Section Forensic Family & Youth Care, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, Location VUMC, GGZ InGeest Research & Innovation, Amsterdam Neuroscience, the Netherlands
| | - Franziska Albrecht
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; Clinic for Cognitive Neurology, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Division of Physiotherapy, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Karolinska University Hospital, Women's Health and Allied Health Professionals Theme, Medical unit Occupational Therapy & Physiotherapy, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Rebecca Alexander
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Silke Anders
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany; Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Oriana R Aragón
- Yale University, 2 Hillhouse Ave, New Haven, CT, United States; Cincinnati University, Marketing Department, 2906 Woodside Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0145, United States
| | - Juan A Arias
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Health & Life Science, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom; Department of Statistics, Mathematical Analysis, and Operational Research, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain; The Galician Center for Mathematical Research and Technology (CITMAga), 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Shahar Arzy
- Department of Medical Neurobiology, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Tatjana Aue
- Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Fabrikstr. 8, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | | | - Michela Balconi
- International Research Center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience, Catholic University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Tommaso Ballarini
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Scott Bannister
- Durham University, Palace Green, DH1 RL3 Durham, United Kingdom
| | | | - Karen Caplovitz Barrett
- Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States; Department of Community & Behavioral Health, Colorado School of Public Health, Denver, CO, United States
| | | | - Moustafa Bensafi
- Research Center in Neurosciences of Lyon, CNRS UMR5292, INSERM U1028, Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, Lyon, Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, 95 bd Pinel, 69675 Bron Cedex, France
| | - Linda Booij
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada; CHU Sainte-Justine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada
| | - Jamila Bookwala
- Department of Psychology, Lafayette College, Easton, PA, United States
| | - Julie Boulanger-Bertolus
- Department of Anesthesiology and Center for Consciousness Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Sydney Weber Boutros
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, United States
| | - Anne-Kathrin Bräscher
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy and Experimental Psychopathology, University of Mainz, Wallstr. 3, 55122 Mainz, Germany; Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United States
| | - Antonio Bruno
- Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morpho-Functional Imaging - University of Messina, Italy
| | - Geraldo Busatto
- Laboratory of Psychiatric Neuroimaging (LIM-21), Departamento e Instituto de Psiquiatria, Hospital das Clinicas HCFMUSP, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Lauren M Bylsma
- Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology; and the Center for Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | | | - Raymond C K Chan
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Nicolas Cherbuin
- Centre for Research on Ageing, Health, and Wellbeing, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Julian Chiarella
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada; CHU Sainte-Justine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada
| | - Pietro Cipresso
- Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab., Istituto Auxologico Italiano (IRCCS), Milan, Italy; Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Hugo Critchley
- Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS), University of Sussex, Sussex, United Kingdom
| | - Denise E Croote
- Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Friedman Brain Institute, New York, NY 10029, United States; Hospital Universitário Gaffrée e Guinle, Universidade do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Heath A Demaree
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States
| | - Thomas F Denson
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Brendan Depue
- Departments of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, United States
| | - Birgit Derntl
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Joanne M Dickson
- Edith Cowan University, Psychology Discipline, School of Arts and Humanities, 270 Joondalup Dr, Joondalup, WA 6027, Australia
| | - Sanda Dolcos
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States
| | - Anat Drach-Zahavy
- The Faculty of Health and Welfare Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Olga Dubljević
- Neurology Clinic, Clinical Center of Serbia, Serbia; Institute for Biological Research "Siniša Stanković", National Institute of Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Tuomas Eerola
- Durham University, Palace Green, DH1 RL3 Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Dan-Mikael Ellingsen
- Department of Diagnostic Physics, Division of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Beth Fairfield
- Department of Humanistic Studies, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy; UniCamillus, International Medical University, Rome, Italy
| | - Camille Ferdenzi
- Research Center in Neurosciences of Lyon, CNRS UMR5292, INSERM U1028, Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, Lyon, Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, 95 bd Pinel, 69675 Bron Cedex, France
| | - Bruce H Friedman
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, United States
| | - Cynthia H Y Fu
- School of Psychology, University of East London, United Kingdom; Centre for Affective Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, United Kingdom
| | - Justine M Gatt
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, Sydney, NSW, Australia; School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Randwick, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Beatrice de Gelder
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Guido H E Gendolla
- Geneva Motivation Lab, University of Geneva, FPSE, Section of Psychology, CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland
| | - Gadi Gilam
- The Institute of Biomedical and Oral Research, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel; Systems Neuroscience and Pain Laboratory, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA, United States
| | - Hadass Goldblatt
- Department of Nursing, Faculty of Social Welfare & Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | | | - Olivia Gosseries
- Coma Science Group, GIGA Consciousness & Centre du Cerveau2, University and University Hospital of Liege, Liege, Belgium
| | - Alfons O Hamm
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Jamie L Hanson
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15206, United States
| | - Talma Hendler
- Tel Aviv Center for Brain Function, Wohl Institute for Advanced Imaging, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel; School of Psychological Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Cornelia Herbert
- Department of Applied Emotion and Motivation Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Stefan G Hofmann
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Philipps University Marburg, Germany
| | - Agustin Ibanez
- Universidad de San Andres, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile; Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), University of California San Francisco (UCSF), United States and Trinity Collegue Dublin (TCD), Ireland
| | - Mateus Joffily
- Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique (GATE), 93 Chemin des Mouilles, 69130 Écully, France
| | - Tanja Jovanovic
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavaioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
| | - Ian J Kahrilas
- Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Maria Kangas
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Yuta Katsumi
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States; Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Elizabeth Kensinger
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Boston College, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Lauren A J Kirby
- Department of Psychology and Counseling, University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX, United States
| | - Rebecca Koncz
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Specialty of Psychiatry, The University of Sydney, Concord, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Ernst H W Koster
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | | | - Sören Krach
- Social Neuroscience Lab, Translational Psychiatry Unit, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Mariska E Kret
- Leiden University, Cognitive Psychology, Pieter de la Court, Waassenaarseweg 52, Leiden 2333 AK, the Netherlands
| | - Martin Krippl
- Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Psychology, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Universitätsplatz 2, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Kwabena Kusi-Mensah
- Department of Psychiatry, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, P. O. Box 1934, Kumasi, Ghana; Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Darwin College, Silver Street, CB3 9EU Cambridge, United Kingdom; Behavioural Sciences Department, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
| | - Cecile D Ladouceur
- Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology and the Center for Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Steven Laureys
- Coma Science Group, GIGA Consciousness & Centre du Cerveau2, University and University Hospital of Liege, Liege, Belgium
| | - Alistair Lawrence
- Scotland's Rural College, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, Scotland; The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Scotland
| | - Chiang-Shan R Li
- Connecticut Mental Health Centre, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Belinda J Liddell
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Randwick, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Navdeep K Lidhar
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, Canada
| | - Christopher A Lowry
- Department of Integrative Physiology and Center for Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States
| | - Kelsey Magee
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States
| | - Marie-France Marin
- Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Canada; Research Center, Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, Montreal, Canada
| | - Veronica Mariotti
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Loren J Martin
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, Canada
| | - Hilary A Marusak
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavaioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States; Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child and Family Development, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
| | - Annalina V Mayer
- Social Neuroscience Lab, Translational Psychiatry Unit, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Amanda R Merner
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States
| | - Jessica Minnier
- School of Public Health, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States
| | - Jorge Moll
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroinformatics Unit, D'Or Institute for Research and Education, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Robert G Morrison
- Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Matthew Moore
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States; War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC), Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA, United States
| | - Anne-Marie Mouly
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS-UMR 5292, INSERM U1028, Universite Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Sven C Mueller
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Andreas Mühlberger
- Department of Psychology (Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy), University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Nora A Murphy
- Department of Psychology, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | | | - Erica D Musser
- Center for Children and Families, Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Tamara L Newton
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, United States
| | - Michael Noll-Hussong
- Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, TU Muenchen, Langerstrasse 3, D-81675 Muenchen, Germany
| | - Seth Davin Norrholm
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavaioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
| | - Georg Northoff
- Mind, Brain Imaging and Neuroethics Research Unit, University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research, Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, Canada
| | - Robin Nusslock
- Department of Psychology and Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, 2029 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL, United States
| | - Hadas Okon-Singer
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Thomas M Olino
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701N. 13th St, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Catherine Ortner
- Thompson Rivers University, Department of Psychology, 805 TRU Way, Kamloops, BC, Canada
| | - Mayowa Owolabi
- Department of Medicine and Center for Genomic and Precision Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan; University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria; Blossom Specialist Medical Center Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
| | - Caterina Padulo
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, University of Chieti, Chieti, Italy
| | - Romina Palermo
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Rocco Palumbo
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, University of Chieti, Chieti, Italy
| | - Sara Palumbo
- Department of Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology and of Critical Care, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Christos Papadelis
- Jane and John Justin Neuroscience Center, Cook Children's Health Care System, Fort Worth, TX, United States; Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, United States
| | - Alan J Pegna
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Silvia Pellegrini
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Kirsi Peltonen
- Research Centre for Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; INVEST Research Flagship, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Brenda W J H Penninx
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, Location VUMC, GGZ InGeest Research & Innovation, Amsterdam Neuroscience, the Netherlands
| | | | - Graziano Pinna
- The Psychiatric Institute, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Rosario Pintos Lobo
- Center for Children and Families, Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Kelly L Polnaszek
- Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Maryna Polyakova
- Neurology Department, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Christine Rabinak
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
| | - S Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestraße 13, Münster, Germany
| | - Thalia Richter
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Giuseppe Riva
- Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab., Istituto Auxologico Italiano (IRCCS), Milan, Italy; Humane Technology Lab., Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
| | - Amelia Rizzo
- Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morpho-Functional Imaging - University of Messina, Italy
| | | | - Pedro Rosa
- Laboratory of Psychiatric Neuroimaging (LIM-21), Departamento e Instituto de Psiquiatria, Hospital das Clinicas HCFMUSP, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Perminder S Sachdev
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Neuropsychiatric Institute, The Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia
| | - Wataru Sato
- Psychological Process Research Team, Guardian Robot Project, RIKEN, 2-2-2 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Matthias L Schroeter
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; Clinic for Cognitive Neurology, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Susanne Schweizer
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Youssef Shiban
- Department of Psychology (Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy), University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany; Department of Psychology (Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy Research), PFH - Private University of Applied Sciences, Gottingen, Germany
| | - Advaith Siddharthan
- Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, United Kingdom
| | - Ewa Siedlecka
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Robert C Smith
- Departments of Medicine and Psychiatry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States
| | - Hermona Soreq
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Edmond and Lily Safra Center of Brain Science and The Institute of Life Sciences, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Derek P Spangler
- Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, United States
| | - Emily R Stern
- Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United States; New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Charis Styliadis
- Neuroscience of Cognition and Affection group, Lab of Medical Physics and Digital Innovation, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | | | - James E Swain
- Departments of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health, Psychology, Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Medicine, and Program in Public Health, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, New York, United States
| | - Sébastien Urben
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Jan Van den Stock
- Neuropsychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Michael A Vander Kooij
- Translational Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Universitatsmedizin der Johannes Guttenberg University Medical Center, Mainz, Germany
| | | | - Tamsyn E Van Rheenen
- University of Melbourne, Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, 161 Barry Street, Carlton, VIC, Australia
| | - Michael B VanElzakker
- Division of Neurotherapeutics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Carlos Ventura-Bort
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Edelyn Verona
- Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States
| | - Tyler Volk
- Professor Emeritus of Biology and Environmental Studies, New York University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Yi Wang
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Leah T Weingast
- Department of Social Work and Human Services and the Department of Psychological Sciences, Center for Young Adult Addiction and Recovery, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, United States
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany; Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, University of Potsdam, Germany
| | - Claire Williams
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Health & Life Science, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom; Elysium Neurological Services, Elysium Healthcare, The Avalon Centre, United Kingdom
| | - Megan L Willis
- School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Paula Yamashita
- Department of Integrative Physiology and Center for Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States
| | - Roland Zahn
- Centre for Affective Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, United Kingdom
| | - Barbra Zupan
- Central Queensland University, School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Bruce Highway, Rockhampton, QLD, Australia
| | - Leroy Lowe
- Neuroqualia (NGO), Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada.
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3
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Ventura‐Bort C, Weymar M. Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation modulates the processing of interoceptive prediction error signals and their role in allostatic regulation. Hum Brain Mapp 2024; 45:e26613. [PMID: 38379451 PMCID: PMC10879907 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26613] [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: 08/17/2023] [Revised: 01/03/2024] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024] Open
Abstract
It has recently been suggested that predictive processing principles may apply to interoception, defined as the processing of hormonal, autonomic, visceral, and immunological signals. In the current study, we aimed at providing empirical evidence for the role of cardiac interoceptive prediction errors signals on allostatic adjustments, using transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) as a tool to modulate the processing of interoceptive afferents. In a within-subject design, participants performed a cardiac-related interoceptive task (heartbeat counting task) under taVNS and sham stimulation, spaced 1-week apart. We observed that taVNS, in contrast to sham stimulation, facilitated the maintenance of interoceptive accuracy levels over time (from the initial, stimulation-free, baseline block to subsequent stimulation blocks), suggesting that vagus nerve stimulation may have helped to maintain engagement to cardiac afferent signals. During the interoceptive task, taVNS compared to sham, produced higher heart-evoked potentials (HEP) amplitudes, a potential readout measure of cardiac-related prediction error processing. Further analyses revealed that the positive relation between interoceptive accuracy and allostatic adjustments-as measured by heart rate variability (HRV)-was mediated by HEP amplitudes. Providing initial support for predictive processing accounts of interoception, our results suggest that the stimulation of the vagus nerve may increase the precision with which interoceptive signals are processed, favoring their influence on allostatic adjustments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Ventura‐Bort
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human SciencesUniversity of PotsdamPotsdamGermany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human SciencesUniversity of PotsdamPotsdamGermany
- Faculty of Health Sciences BrandenburgUniversity of PotsdamPotsdamGermany
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4
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Herr T, Kleger P, Strauss S, Szeska C, Khalil N, Badran BW, Weymar M, Grothe M. Effect of non-invasive transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation on cerebral motor excitability-Study protocol for a randomized, sham controlled trial. Front Neurol 2024; 14:1341898. [PMID: 38283680 PMCID: PMC10811126 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1341898] [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: 11/21/2023] [Accepted: 12/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/30/2024] Open
Abstract
Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) is becoming increasingly established in the treatment of various neurological and psychiatric diseases. However, only a few studies have focused on the overall influence of taVNS on cortical excitability in general. The planned study will investigate the effect of taVNS on the excitability of the motor cortex in young healthy subjects. The aim of the study is to gain better understand of the physiological mechanism of taVNS to contribute to new fields of application of taVNS in new areas such as the treatment of stroke or multiple sclerosis. This protocol describes a single-center, prospective, double blind, sham-controlled trial that evaluates the effect of taVNS on motor cortex excitability with a planned sample size of 30 participants. The effect of taVNS is investigated by neuronavigation and electromyography (EMG) coupled transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) applied before and after taVNS stimulation. The following parameters are assessed: resting motor threshold (RMT), active motor threshold (AMT), recruitment curve (RC), short intracortical inhibition (SICI), intracortical facilitation (ICF). All parameters will be assessed for taVNS on the basis of perception threshold and tolerance threshold. All investigations performed in the study were reviewed and approved by the local ethics committee of the University Medical Center Greifswald (study reference number: BB048/22). Clinical trial registration www.drks.de, number: DRKS00029937.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thorsten Herr
- Department of Neurology, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Paula Kleger
- Department of Neurology, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Sebastian Strauss
- Department of Neurology, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Christoph Szeska
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Nura Khalil
- Department of Neurology, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Bashar W. Badran
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Neuro-X Lab, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
- Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Matthias Grothe
- Department of Neurology, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
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5
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Blaser BL, Weymar M, Wendt J. The effect of a single-session heart rate variability biofeedback on attentional control: does stress matter? Front Psychol 2023; 14:1292983. [PMID: 38034309 PMCID: PMC10687403 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1292983] [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] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Vagally mediated heart rate variability is an index of autonomic nervous system activity that is associated with a large variety of outcome variables including psychopathology and self-regulation. While practicing heart rate variability biofeedback over several weeks has been reliably associated with a number of positive outcomes, its acute effects are not well known. As the strongest association with vagally mediated heart rate variability has been found particularly within the attention-related subdomain of self-regulation, we investigated the acute effect of heart rate variability biofeedback on attentional control using the revised Attention Network Test. Methods Fifty-six participants were tested in two sessions. In one session each participant received a heart rate variability biofeedback intervention, and in the other session a control intervention of paced breathing at a normal ventilation rate. After the biofeedback or control intervention, participants completed the Attention Network Test using the Orienting Score as a measure of attentional control. Results Mixed models revealed that higher resting baseline vagally mediated heart rate variability was associated with better performance in attentional control, which suggests more efficient direction of attention to target stimuli. There was no significant main effect of the intervention on attentional control. However, an interaction effect indicated better performance in attentional control after biofeedback in individuals who reported higher current stress levels. Discussion The results point to acute beneficial effects of heart rate variability biofeedback on cognitive performance in highly stressed individuals. Although promising, the results need to be replicated in larger or more targeted samples in order to reach stronger conclusions about the effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Berenike L. Blaser
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
- Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Julia Wendt
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
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6
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Blaser BL, Weymar M, Wendt J. [Efficient assessment of premenstrual symptoms - German translation of the shortened Premenstrual Assessment Form and its psychometric evaluation]. Psychother Psychosom Med Psychol 2023; 73:405-412. [PMID: 37619601 PMCID: PMC10777709 DOI: 10.1055/a-2136-6941] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023]
Abstract
Premenstrual symptomatology is a widespread and yet under-researched problem. To date, there is no German instrument for assessing the broad spectrum of possible symptoms and their degree of expression. For this reason, the short versions of the Premenstrual Assessment Form with 20 and 10 items were translated and validated in a sample of N=147 menstruating persons. The internal consistencies of the 20-item and 10-item versions are high (Cronbach's αPAF20=0.93 and αPAF10=0.88, respectively) and comparable to the original versions. Factor analysis identified two scales that assess psychological and physiological symptoms. Convergent validity was demonstrated by a correlation with the PMS Impact Questionnaire (rPAF20=0.66, p<.001). This association was significantly higher (z=2.67, p=0.004) than the correlation with the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (rPAF20=0.50, p<0.001), which verifies divergent validity. Additionally, cut-off values for suspected diagnoses based on DSM-V diagnostic criteria for both short forms were calculated. The translated Premenstrual Assessment Form is a valid, reliable, and parsimonious instrument that can be used flexibly. It is suitable for quantifying premenstrual symptomatology in research.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Julia Wendt
- Emotions- und Biopsychologie, Universität Potsdam
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7
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Ventura-Bort C, Panza D, Weymar M. Words matter when inferring emotions: a conceptual replication and extension. Cogn Emot 2023:1-15. [PMID: 36856025 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2023.2183491] [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] [Indexed: 03/02/2023]
Abstract
It is long known that facial configurations play a critical role when inferring mental and emotional states from others. Nevertheless, there is still a scientific debate on how we infer emotions from facial configurations. The theory of constructed emotion (TCE) suggests that we may infer different emotions from the same facial configuration, depending on the context (e.g. provided by visual and lexical cues) in which they are perceived. For instance, a recent study found that participants were more accurate in inferring mental and emotional states across three different datasets (i.e. RMET, static and dynamic emojis) when words were provided (i.e. forced-choice task), compared to when they were not (i.e. free-labelling task), suggesting that words serve as contexts that modulate the inference from facial configurations. The goal of the current within-subject study was to replicate and extend these findings by adding a fourth dataset (KDEF-dyn), consisting of morphed human faces (to increase the ecological validity). Replicating previous findings, we observed that words increased accuracy across the three (previously used) datasets, an effect that was also observed for the facial morphed stimuli. Our findings are in line with the TCE, providing support for the importance of contextual verbal cues in emotion perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Ventura-Bort
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - D Panza
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - M Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.,Research Focus Cognitive Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.,Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
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8
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Giraudier M, Ventura-Bort C, Burger AM, Claes N, D'Agostini M, Fischer R, Franssen M, Kaess M, Koenig J, Liepelt R, Nieuwenhuis S, Sommer A, Usichenko T, Van Diest I, von Leupoldt A, Warren CM, Weymar M. Modulating effect of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) on salivary alpha-amylase as indirect noradrenergic marker. Brain Stimul 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2023.01.153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/17/2023] Open
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9
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Ventura-Bort C, Wendt J, Weymar M. New insights on the correspondence between subjective affective experience and physiological responses from representational similarity analysis. Psychophysiology 2022; 59:e14088. [PMID: 35543530 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [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: 06/08/2021] [Revised: 04/04/2022] [Accepted: 04/05/2022] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Classical views suggest that experienced affect is related to a specific bodily response, whereas recent perspectives challenge this view postulating that similar affective experiences rather evoke different physiological responses. To further advance this debate in the field, we used representational similarity analysis to investigate the correspondence between subjective affect (arousal and valence ratings) and physiological reactions (skin conductance response [SCR], startle blink response, heart rate, and corrugator activity) across various emotion induction contexts (picture viewing task, sound listening task, and imagery task). Significant similarities were exclusively observed between SCR and arousal in the picture viewing task. However, none of the other physiological measures showed a significant relation with valence and arousal ratings in any of the tasks. These findings are discussed within the framework of the Populations hypothesis, suggesting that physiological responses do not depend on the experienced affect but are directly associated with the context in which they are evoked.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Ventura-Bort
- Faculty of Human Sciences, Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Julia Wendt
- Faculty of Human Sciences, Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Faculty of Human Sciences, Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
- Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
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10
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Giraudier M, Ventura-Bort C, Burger AM, Claes N, D'Agostini M, Fischer R, Franssen M, Kaess M, Koenig J, Liepelt R, Nieuwenhuis S, Sommer A, Usichenko T, Van Diest I, von Leupoldt A, Warren CM, Weymar M. Evidence for a modulating effect of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) on salivary alpha-amylase as indirect noradrenergic marker: A pooled mega-analysis. Brain Stimul 2022; 15:1378-1388. [PMID: 36183953 DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2022.09.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [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: 04/12/2022] [Revised: 09/22/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Non-invasive transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) has received tremendous attention as a potential neuromodulator of cognitive and affective functions, which likely exerts its effects via activation of the locus coeruleus-noradrenaline (LC-NA) system. Reliable effects of taVNS on markers of LC-NA system activity, however, have not been demonstrated yet. METHODS The aim of the present study was to overcome previous limitations by pooling raw data from a large sample of ten taVNS studies (371 healthy participants) that collected salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) as a potential marker of central NA release. RESULTS While a meta-analytic approach using summary statistics did not yield any significant effects, linear mixed model analyses showed that afferent stimulation of the vagus nerve via taVNS increased sAA levels compared to sham stimulation (b = 0.16, SE = 0.05, p = 0.001). When considering potential confounders of sAA, we further replicated previous findings on the diurnal trajectory of sAA activity. CONCLUSION(S) Vagal activation via taVNS increases sAA release compared to sham stimulation, which likely substantiates the assumption that taVNS triggers NA release. Moreover, our results highlight the benefits of data pooling and data sharing in order to allow stronger conclusions in research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manon Giraudier
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
| | - Carlos Ventura-Bort
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | | | - Nathalie Claes
- Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | | | - Rico Fischer
- Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | | | - Michael Kaess
- University Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Julian Koenig
- University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Cologne, Germany
| | - Roman Liepelt
- Department of General Psychology: Judgment, Decision Making, Action, Faculty of Psychology, University of Hagen (FernUniversität in Hagen), Hagen, Germany
| | - Sander Nieuwenhuis
- Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Netherlands
| | - Aldo Sommer
- Department of General Psychology: Judgment, Decision Making, Action, Faculty of Psychology, University of Hagen (FernUniversität in Hagen), Hagen, Germany; Department of Exercise Physiology, German Sport University Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Taras Usichenko
- Department of Anesthesiology, University Medicine of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany; Department of Anesthesia, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
| | - Ilse Van Diest
- Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | | | - Christopher M Warren
- Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services, Utah State University, United States
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany; Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
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11
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Contier F, Weymar M, Wartenburger I, Rabovsky M. Sustained Attention as Measured by Reaction Time Variability Is a Strong Modulator for the P600, but Not the N400. J Cogn Neurosci 2022; 34:2297-2310. [PMID: 36166302 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
The functional significance of the two prominent language-related ERP components N400 and P600 is still under debate. It has recently been suggested that one important dimension along which the two vary is in terms of automaticity versus attentional control, with N400 amplitudes reflecting more automatic and P600 amplitudes reflecting more controlled aspects of sentence comprehension. The availability of executive resources necessary for controlled processes depends on sustained attention, which fluctuates over time. Here, we thus tested whether P600 and N400 amplitudes depend on the level of sustained attention. We reanalyzed EEG and behavioral data from a sentence processing task by Sassenhagen and Bornkessel-Schlesewsky [The P600 as a correlate of ventral attention network reorientation. Cortex, 66, A3-A20, 2015], which included sentences with morphosyntactic and semantic violations. Participants read sentences phrase by phrase and indicated whether a sentence contained any type of anomaly as soon as they had the relevant information. To quantify the varying degrees of sustained attention, we extracted a moving reaction time coefficient of variation over the entire course of the task. We found that the P600 amplitude was significantly larger during periods of low reaction time variability (high sustained attention) than in periods of high reaction time variability (low sustained attention). In contrast, the amplitude of the N400 was not affected by reaction time variability. These results thus suggest that the P600 component is sensitive to sustained attention whereas the N400 component is not, which provides independent evidence for accounts suggesting that P600 amplitudes reflect more controlled and N400 amplitudes reflect more automatic aspects of sentence comprehension.
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12
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Giraudier M, Ventura-Bort C, Wendt J, Lischke A, Weymar M. Memory advantage for untrustworthy faces: Replication across lab- and web-based studies. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0264034. [PMID: 35176058 PMCID: PMC8853483 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2021] [Accepted: 01/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The Covid-19 pandemic imposed new constraints on empirical research and forced researchers to transfer from traditional laboratory research to the online environment. This study tested the validity of a web-based episodic memory paradigm by comparing participants’ memory performance for trustworthy and untrustworthy facial stimuli in a supervised laboratory setting and an unsupervised web setting. Consistent with previous results, we observed enhanced episodic memory for untrustworthy compared to trustworthy faces. Most importantly, this memory bias was comparable in the online and the laboratory experiment, suggesting that web-based procedures are a promising tool for memory research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manon Giraudier
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Carlos Ventura-Bort
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Julia Wendt
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Alexander Lischke
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
- Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
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13
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Kohn N, Morawetz C, Weymar M, Yuan J, Dolcos F. Editorial: Cognitive Control of Emotions in Challenging Contexts. Front Behav Neurosci 2021; 15:785875. [PMID: 34795567 PMCID: PMC8593243 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.785875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2021] [Accepted: 10/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Nils Kohn
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmengen, Netherlands
| | - Carmen Morawetz
- Faculty of Psychology and Sport Science, Institute for Psychology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.,Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Jiajin Yuan
- The Affect Cognition and Regulation Laboratory (ACRLab), Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of Ministry of Education, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Florin Dolcos
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States.,Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States
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14
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Ventura-Bort C, Wendt J, Weymar M. The Role of Interoceptive Sensibility and Emotional Conceptualization for the Experience of Emotions. Front Psychol 2021; 12:712418. [PMID: 34867591 PMCID: PMC8636600 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.712418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [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: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The theory of constructed emotions suggests that different psychological components, including core affect (mental and neural representations of bodily changes), and conceptualization (meaning-making based on prior experiences and semantic knowledge), are involved in the formation of emotions. However, little is known about their role in experiencing emotions. In the current study, we investigated how individual differences in interoceptive sensibility and emotional conceptualization (as potential correlates of these components) interact to moderate three important aspects of emotional experiences: emotional intensity (strength of emotion felt), arousal (degree of activation), and granularity (ability to differentiate emotions with precision). To this end, participants completed a series of questionnaires assessing interoceptive sensibility and emotional conceptualization and underwent two emotion experience tasks, which included standardized material (emotion differentiation task; ED task) and self-experienced episodes (day reconstruction method; DRM). Correlational analysis showed that individual differences in interoceptive sensibility and emotional conceptualization were related to each other. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed two independent factors that were referred to as sensibility and monitoring. The Sensibility factor, interpreted as beliefs about the accuracy of an individual in detecting internal physiological and emotional states, predicted higher granularity for negative words. The Monitoring factor, interpreted as the tendency to focus on the internal states of an individual, was negatively related to emotional granularity and intensity. Additionally, Sensibility scores were more strongly associated with greater well-being and adaptability measures than Monitoring scores. Our results indicate that independent processes underlying individual differences in interoceptive sensibility and emotional conceptualization contribute to emotion experiencing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Ventura-Bort
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Julia Wendt
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Brandenburg Medical School, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
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15
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Ventura-Bort C, Wirkner J, Wendt J, Hamm AO, Weymar M. Establishment of Emotional Memories Is Mediated by Vagal Nerve Activation: Evidence from Noninvasive taVNS. J Neurosci 2021; 41:7636-7648. [PMID: 34281991 PMCID: PMC8425981 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2329-20.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [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: 09/04/2020] [Revised: 04/01/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Emotional memories are better remembered than neutral ones, but the mechanisms leading to this memory bias are not well understood in humans yet. Based on animal research, it is suggested that the memory-enhancing effect of emotion is based on central noradrenergic release, which is triggered by afferent vagal nerve activation. To test the causal link between vagus nerve activation and emotional memory in humans, we applied continuous noninvasive transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) during exposure to emotional arousing and neutral scenes and tested subsequent, long-term recognition memory after 1 week. We found that taVNS, compared with sham, increased recollection-based memory performance for emotional, but not neutral, material. These findings were complemented by larger recollection-related brain potentials (parietal ERP Old/New effect) during retrieval of emotional scenes encoded under taVNS, compared with sham. Furthermore, brain potentials recorded during encoding also revealed that taVNS facilitated early attentional discrimination between emotional and neutral scenes. Extending animal research, our behavioral and neural findings confirm a modulatory influence of the vagus nerve in emotional memory formation in humans.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Emotionally relevant information elicits stronger and more enduring memories than nonrelevant information. Animal research has shown that this memory-enhancing effect of emotion is related to the noradrenergic activation in the brain, which is triggered by afferent fibers of the vagus nerve (VN). In the current study, we show that noninvasive transcutaneous auricular VN stimulation enhances recollection-based memory formation specifically for emotionally relevant information as indicated by behavioral and electrophysiological indices. These human findings give novel insights into the mechanisms underlying the establishment of emotional episodic memories by confirming the causal link between the VN and memory formation which may help understand the neural mechanisms underlying disorders associated with altered memory functions and develop treatment options.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Ventura-Bort
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, 14476, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Janine Wirkner
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, 17489, Germany
| | - Julia Wendt
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, 14476, Potsdam, Germany
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, 17487, Germany
| | - Alfons O Hamm
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, 17487, Germany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, 14476, Potsdam, Germany
- Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, 14476, Germany
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16
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D'Agostini M, Burger AM, Franssen M, Claes N, Weymar M, von Leupoldt A, Van Diest I. Effects of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation on reversal learning, tonic pupil size, salivary alpha-amylase, and cortisol. Psychophysiology 2021; 58:e13885. [PMID: 34245461 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [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: 06/08/2020] [Revised: 04/26/2021] [Accepted: 05/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
This study investigated whether transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) enhances reversal learning and augments noradrenergic biomarkers (i.e., pupil size, cortisol, and salivary alpha-amylase [sAA]). We also explored the effect of taVNS on respiratory rate and cardiac vagal activity (CVA). Seventy-one participants received stimulation of either the cymba concha (taVNS) or the earlobe (sham) of the left ear. After learning a series of cue-outcome associations, the stimulation was applied before and throughout a reversal phase in which cue-outcome associations were changed for some (reversal), but not for other (distractor) cues. Tonic pupil size, salivary cortisol, sAA, respiratory rate, and CVA were assessed at different time points. Contrary to our hypothesis, taVNS was not associated with an overall improvement in performance on the reversal task. Compared to sham, the taVNS group performed worse for distractor than reversal cues. taVNS did not increase tonic pupil size and sAA. Only post hoc analyses indicated that the cortisol decline was steeper in the sham compared to the taVNS group. Exploratory analyses showed that taVNS decreased respiratory rate but did not affect CVA. The weak and unexpected effects found in this study might relate to the lack of parameters optimization for taVNS and invite to further investigate the effect of taVNS on cortisol and respiratory rate.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Andreas M Burger
- Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Laboratory for Biological Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | | | - Nathalie Claes
- Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.,Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | | | - Ilse Van Diest
- Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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17
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Koenig J, Abler B, Agartz I, Åkerstedt T, Andreassen OA, Anthony M, Bär KJ, Bertsch K, Brown RC, Brunner R, Carnevali L, Critchley HD, Cullen KR, de Geus EJC, de la Cruz F, Dziobek I, Ferger MD, Fischer H, Flor H, Gaebler M, Gianaros PJ, Giummarra MJ, Greening SG, Guendelman S, Heathers JAJ, Herpertz SC, Hu MX, Jentschke S, Kaess M, Kaufmann T, Klimes-Dougan B, Koelsch S, Krauch M, Kumral D, Lamers F, Lee TH, Lekander M, Lin F, Lotze M, Makovac E, Mancini M, Mancke F, Månsson KNT, Manuck SB, Mather M, Meeten F, Min J, Mueller B, Muench V, Nees F, Nga L, Nilsonne G, Ordonez Acuna D, Osnes B, Ottaviani C, Penninx BWJH, Ponzio A, Poudel GR, Reinelt J, Ren P, Sakaki M, Schumann A, Sørensen L, Specht K, Straub J, Tamm S, Thai M, Thayer JF, Ubani B, van der Mee DJ, van Velzen LS, Ventura-Bort C, Villringer A, Watson DR, Wei L, Wendt J, Schreiner MW, Westlye LT, Weymar M, Winkelmann T, Wu GR, Yoo HJ, Quintana DS. Cortical thickness and resting-state cardiac function across the lifespan: A cross-sectional pooled mega-analysis. Psychophysiology 2021; 58:e13688. [PMID: 33037836 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [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: 01/24/2020] [Revised: 07/27/2020] [Accepted: 07/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the association between autonomic nervous system [ANS] function and brain morphology across the lifespan provides important insights into neurovisceral mechanisms underlying health and disease. Resting-state ANS activity, indexed by measures of heart rate [HR] and its variability [HRV] has been associated with brain morphology, particularly cortical thickness [CT]. While findings have been mixed regarding the anatomical distribution and direction of the associations, these inconsistencies may be due to sex and age differences in HR/HRV and CT. Previous studies have been limited by small sample sizes, which impede the assessment of sex differences and aging effects on the association between ANS function and CT. To overcome these limitations, 20 groups worldwide contributed data collected under similar protocols of CT assessment and HR/HRV recording to be pooled in a mega-analysis (N = 1,218 (50.5% female), mean age 36.7 years (range: 12-87)). Findings suggest a decline in HRV as well as CT with increasing age. CT, particularly in the orbitofrontal cortex, explained additional variance in HRV, beyond the effects of aging. This pattern of results may suggest that the decline in HRV with increasing age is related to a decline in orbitofrontal CT. These effects were independent of sex and specific to HRV; with no significant association between CT and HR. Greater CT across the adult lifespan may be vital for the maintenance of healthy cardiac regulation via the ANS-or greater cardiac vagal activity as indirectly reflected in HRV may slow brain atrophy. Findings reveal an important association between CT and cardiac parasympathetic activity with implications for healthy aging and longevity that should be studied further in longitudinal research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julian Koenig
- University Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Section for Experimental Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Birgit Abler
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy III, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Ingrid Agartz
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Psychiatry, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Psychiatric Research, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Torbjörn Åkerstedt
- Stress Research Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ole A Andreassen
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Mia Anthony
- University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Karl-Jürgen Bär
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Katja Bertsch
- Department of General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Rebecca C Brown
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Romuald Brunner
- Clinic and Polyclinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatic and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Luca Carnevali
- Stress Physiology Lab, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Hugo D Critchley
- Psychiatry, BSMS Department of Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS), University of Sussex, Falmer, UK
| | - Kathryn R Cullen
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Eco J C de Geus
- Department of Biological Psychology, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | | | - Isabel Dziobek
- Department of Psychology, Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt Universität, Berlin, Germany
| | - Marc D Ferger
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy III, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Håkan Fischer
- Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Herta Flor
- Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Michael Gaebler
- Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- MindBrainBody Institute, Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Peter J Gianaros
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Melita J Giummarra
- School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Caulfield Pain Management and Research Centre, Caulfield, VIC, Australia
| | - Steven G Greening
- Department of Psychology, Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
| | - Simon Guendelman
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt Universität, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Sabine C Herpertz
- Department of General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Mandy X Hu
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Sebastian Jentschke
- Cluster "Languages of Emotion", Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Michael Kaess
- University Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Section for Translational Psychobiology in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Tobias Kaufmann
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Bonnie Klimes-Dougan
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, College of Liberal Arts, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Stefan Koelsch
- Cluster "Languages of Emotion", Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Marlene Krauch
- Department of General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Deniz Kumral
- Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- MindBrainBody Institute, Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Femke Lamers
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Tae-Ho Lee
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Mats Lekander
- Stress Research Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Feng Lin
- University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Martin Lotze
- Functional Imaging Unit, Center of Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Elena Makovac
- Centre for Neuroimaging Science, King's College London, London, UK
- Neuroimaging Laboratory, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Matteo Mancini
- Clinical Imaging Sciences Centre, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, UK
- Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London, UK
| | - Falk Mancke
- Department of General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Kristoffer N T Månsson
- Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Stephen B Manuck
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Mara Mather
- Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Frances Meeten
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
| | - Jungwon Min
- Emotion and Cognition Lab, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Bryon Mueller
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Vera Muench
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Frauke Nees
- Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
| | - Lin Nga
- Emotion and Cognition Lab, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Gustav Nilsonne
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Berge Osnes
- Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- Bjorgvin District Psychiatric Centre, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
| | - Cristina Ottaviani
- Neuroimaging Laboratory, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Brenda W J H Penninx
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Allison Ponzio
- Emotion and Cognition Lab, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Govinda R Poudel
- Behaviour Environment and Cognition Research Program, Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Janis Reinelt
- Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Ping Ren
- University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Michiko Sakaki
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
- Research Institute, Kochi University of Technology, Kami, Japan
| | - Andy Schumann
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Lin Sørensen
- Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Karsten Specht
- Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- Department of Education, UiT/The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Joana Straub
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Sandra Tamm
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Psychiatry, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
| | - Michelle Thai
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Julian F Thayer
- Department of Psychological Science, The University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Benjamin Ubani
- Boston University, School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Denise J van der Mee
- Department of Biological Psychology, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Laura S van Velzen
- Department of Psychiatry, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University, Medical Center and GGZ inGeest, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, Australia
- Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Carlos Ventura-Bort
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Arno Villringer
- Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- MindBrainBody Institute, Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - David R Watson
- Clinical Imaging Sciences Centre, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Falmer, UK
| | - Luqing Wei
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Julia Wendt
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | | | - Lars T Westlye
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
- Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Tobias Winkelmann
- Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Guo-Rong Wu
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Hyun Joo Yoo
- Emotion and Cognition Lab, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Daniel S Quintana
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
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Weymar M, Zaehle T. Editorial: New Frontiers in Noninvasive Brain Stimulation: Cognitive, Affective and Neurobiological Effects of Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation. Front Psychol 2021; 12:694723. [PMID: 34108924 PMCID: PMC8180912 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.694723] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Accepted: 04/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.,Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Tino Zaehle
- Department of Neurology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany.,Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Magdeburg, Germany
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19
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Szeska C, Richter J, Wendt J, Weymar M, Hamm AO. Attentive immobility in the face of inevitable distal threat-Startle potentiation and fear bradycardia as an index of emotion and attention. Psychophysiology 2021; 58:e13812. [PMID: 33759212 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [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: 10/07/2020] [Revised: 02/05/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
During fear conditioning, a cue (CS) signals an inevitable distal threat (US) and evokes a conditioned response that can be described as attentive immobility (freezing). The organism remains motionless and monitors the source of danger while startle responses are potentiated, indicating a state of defensive hypervigilance. Although in animals vagally mediated fear bradycardia is also reliably observed under such circumstances, results are mixed in human fear conditioning. Using a single-cue fear conditioning and extinction protocol, we tested cardiac reactivity and startle potentiation indexing low-level defensive strategies in a fear-conditioned (n = 40; paired presentations of CS and US) compared with a non-conditioned control group (n = 40; unpaired presentations of CS and US). Additionally, we assessed shock expectancy ratings on a trial-by-trial basis indexing declarative knowledge of the previous contingencies. Half of each group underwent extinction under sham or active transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS), serving as additional proof of concept. We found stronger cardiac deceleration during CS presentation in the fear learning relative to the control group. This learned fear bradycardia was positively correlated with conditioned startle potentiation but not with declarative knowledge of CS-US contingencies. TVNS abolished differences in heart rate changes between both groups and removed the significant correlation between late cardiac deceleration and startle potentiation in the fear learning group. Results suggest, fear-conditioned cues evoke attentive immobility in humans, characterized by cardiac deceleration and startle potentiation. Such defensive response pattern is elicited by cues predicting inevitable distal threat and resembles conditioned fear responses observed in rodents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christoph Szeska
- Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Jan Richter
- Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Julia Wendt
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.,Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Alfons O Hamm
- Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
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20
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Farmer AD, Strzelczyk A, Finisguerra A, Gourine AV, Gharabaghi A, Hasan A, Burger AM, Jaramillo AM, Mertens A, Majid A, Verkuil B, Badran BW, Ventura-Bort C, Gaul C, Beste C, Warren CM, Quintana DS, Hämmerer D, Freri E, Frangos E, Tobaldini E, Kaniusas E, Rosenow F, Capone F, Panetsos F, Ackland GL, Kaithwas G, O'Leary GH, Genheimer H, Jacobs HIL, Van Diest I, Schoenen J, Redgrave J, Fang J, Deuchars J, Széles JC, Thayer JF, More K, Vonck K, Steenbergen L, Vianna LC, McTeague LM, Ludwig M, Veldhuizen MG, De Couck M, Casazza M, Keute M, Bikson M, Andreatta M, D'Agostini M, Weymar M, Betts M, Prigge M, Kaess M, Roden M, Thai M, Schuster NM, Montano N, Hansen N, Kroemer NB, Rong P, Fischer R, Howland RH, Sclocco R, Sellaro R, Garcia RG, Bauer S, Gancheva S, Stavrakis S, Kampusch S, Deuchars SA, Wehner S, Laborde S, Usichenko T, Polak T, Zaehle T, Borges U, Teckentrup V, Jandackova VK, Napadow V, Koenig J. International Consensus Based Review and Recommendations for Minimum Reporting Standards in Research on Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation (Version 2020). Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 14:568051. [PMID: 33854421 PMCID: PMC8040977 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.568051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 108] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Given its non-invasive nature, there is increasing interest in the use of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) across basic, translational and clinical research. Contemporaneously, tVNS can be achieved by stimulating either the auricular branch or the cervical bundle of the vagus nerve, referred to as transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation(VNS) and transcutaneous cervical VNS, respectively. In order to advance the field in a systematic manner, studies using these technologies need to adequately report sufficient methodological detail to enable comparison of results between studies, replication of studies, as well as enhancing study participant safety. We systematically reviewed the existing tVNS literature to evaluate current reporting practices. Based on this review, and consensus among participating authors, we propose a set of minimal reporting items to guide future tVNS studies. The suggested items address specific technical aspects of the device and stimulation parameters. We also cover general recommendations including inclusion and exclusion criteria for participants, outcome parameters and the detailed reporting of side effects. Furthermore, we review strategies used to identify the optimal stimulation parameters for a given research setting and summarize ongoing developments in animal research with potential implications for the application of tVNS in humans. Finally, we discuss the potential of tVNS in future research as well as the associated challenges across several disciplines in research and clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam D. Farmer
- Department of Gastroenterology, University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, Stoke on Trent, United Kingdom
| | - Adam Strzelczyk
- Department of Neurology, Epilepsy Center Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | | | - Alexander V. Gourine
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, Centre for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Alireza Gharabaghi
- Institute for Neuromodulation and Neurotechnology, University Hospital and University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Alkomiet Hasan
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Andreas M. Burger
- Laboratory for Biological Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | | | - Ann Mertens
- Department of Neurology, Institute for Neuroscience, 4Brain, Ghent University Hospital, Gent, Belgium
| | - Arshad Majid
- Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
| | - Bart Verkuil
- Clinical Psychology and the Leiden Institute of Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Bashar W. Badran
- Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States
| | - Carlos Ventura-Bort
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Charly Gaul
- Migraine and Headache Clinic Koenigstein, Königstein im Taunus, Germany
| | - Christian Beste
- Cognitive Neurophysiology, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | | | - Daniel S. Quintana
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Dorothea Hämmerer
- Medical Faculty, Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences Magdeburg (CBBS), Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Elena Freri
- Department of Pediatric Neuroscience, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy
| | - Eleni Frangos
- Pain and Integrative Neuroscience Branch, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, NIH, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Eleonora Tobaldini
- Department of Internal Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
- Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Eugenijus Kaniusas
- Institute of Electrodynamics, Microwave and Circuit Engineering, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria
- SzeleSTIM GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Felix Rosenow
- Department of Neurology, Epilepsy Center Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Fioravante Capone
- Unit of Neurology, Neurophysiology, Neurobiology, Department of Medicine, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, Italy
| | - Fivos Panetsos
- Faculty of Biology and Faculty of Optics, Complutense University of Madrid and Institute for Health Research, San Carlos Clinical Hospital (IdISSC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Gareth L. Ackland
- Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Gaurav Kaithwas
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (A Central University), Lucknow, India
| | - Georgia H. O'Leary
- Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States
| | - Hannah Genheimer
- Department of Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Heidi I. L. Jacobs
- Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Alzheimer Centre Limburg, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Ilse Van Diest
- Research Group Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jean Schoenen
- Headache Research Unit, Department of Neurology-Citadelle Hospital, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Jessica Redgrave
- Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
| | - Jiliang Fang
- Functional Imaging Lab, Department of Radiology, Guang An Men Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jim Deuchars
- School of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Biological Science, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
| | - Jozsef C. Széles
- Division for Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Julian F. Thayer
- Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Kaushik More
- Institute for Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany
- Neuromodulatory Networks, Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Kristl Vonck
- Department of Neurology, Institute for Neuroscience, 4Brain, Ghent University Hospital, Gent, Belgium
| | - Laura Steenbergen
- Clinical and Cognitive Psychology and the Leiden Institute of Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Lauro C. Vianna
- NeuroV̇ASQ̇ - Integrative Physiology Laboratory, Faculty of Physical Education, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil
| | - Lisa M. McTeague
- Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States
| | - Mareike Ludwig
- Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Mersin University, Mersin, Turkey
| | - Maria G. Veldhuizen
- Mental Health and Wellbeing Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Marijke De Couck
- Faculty of Health Care, University College Odisee, Aalst, Belgium
- Division of Epileptology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico C. Besta, Milan, Italy
| | - Marina Casazza
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Marius Keute
- Institute for Neuromodulation and Neurotechnology, University Hospital and University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Marom Bikson
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City College of New York, New York, NY, United States
| | - Marta Andreatta
- Department of Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Martina D'Agostini
- Research Group Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
- Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Matthew Betts
- Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Mersin University, Mersin, Turkey
- Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE), Magdeburg, Germany
- Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Matthias Prigge
- Neuromodulatory Networks, Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Michael Kaess
- University Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Section for Translational Psychobiology in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Michael Roden
- Division of Endocrinology and Diabetology, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Institute for Clinical Diabetology, German Diabetes Center, Leibniz Center for Diabetes Research at Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany
- German Center for Diabetes Research, Munich, Germany
| | - Michelle Thai
- Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Nathaniel M. Schuster
- Department of Anesthesiology, Center for Pain Medicine, University of California, San Diego Health System, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Nicola Montano
- Department of Internal Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
- Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Niels Hansen
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
- Laboratory of Systems Neuroscience and Imaging in Psychiatry (SNIPLab), University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Nils B. Kroemer
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Peijing Rong
- Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Rico Fischer
- Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Robert H. Howland
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Roberta Sclocco
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States
- Department of Radiology, Logan University, Chesterfield, MO, United States
| | - Roberta Sellaro
- Cognitive Psychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, Netherlands
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialisation, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Ronald G. Garcia
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Sebastian Bauer
- Department of Neurology, Epilepsy Center Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Sofiya Gancheva
- Division of Endocrinology and Diabetology, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Institute for Clinical Diabetology, German Diabetes Center, Leibniz Center for Diabetes Research at Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Heart Rhythm Institute, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
| | - Stavros Stavrakis
- Faculty of Biological Science, School of Biomedical Science, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
| | - Stefan Kampusch
- Institute of Electrodynamics, Microwave and Circuit Engineering, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria
- SzeleSTIM GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Susan A. Deuchars
- School of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Biological Science, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
| | - Sven Wehner
- Department of Surgery, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Sylvain Laborde
- Department of Performance Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Deutsche Sporthochschule, Köln, Germany
| | - Taras Usichenko
- Department of Anesthesiology, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
- Department of Anesthesia, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | - Thomas Polak
- Laboratory of Functional Neurovascular Diagnostics, AG Early Diagnosis of Dementia, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Clinic Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Tino Zaehle
- Department of Neurology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Uirassu Borges
- Department of Performance Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Deutsche Sporthochschule, Köln, Germany
- Department of Social and Health Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Deutsche Sporthochschule, Köln, Germany
| | - Vanessa Teckentrup
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Vera K. Jandackova
- Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czechia
- Department of Human Movement Studies, Faculty of Education, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czechia
| | - Vitaly Napadow
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States
- Department of Radiology, Logan University, Chesterfield, MO, United States
| | - Julian Koenig
- University Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Section for Experimental Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
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Abstract
Stressful events affect mnemonic processing, in particular for emotionally arousing events. Previous research on the mechanisms underlying stress effects on human memory focused on stress-induced changes in the neural activity elicited by a stimulus. We tested an alternative mechanism and hypothesized that stress may already alter the neural context for successful memory formation, reflected in the neural activity preceding a stimulus. Therefore, 69 participants underwent a stress or control procedure before encoding neutral and negative pictures. During encoding, we recorded high-density EEG and analyzed-based on multivariate searchlight analyses-oscillatory activity and cross-frequency coupling patterns before stimulus onset that were predictive of memory tested 24 hr later. Prestimulus theta predicted subsequent memory in controls but not in stressed participants. Instead, prestimulus gamma predicted successful memory formation after stress, specifically for emotional material. Likewise, stress altered the patterns of prestimulus theta-beta and theta-gamma phase-amplitude coupling predictive of subsequent memory, again depending on the emotionality of the presented material. Our data suggest that stress changes the neural context for building new memories, tuning this neural context specifically to the encoding of emotionally salient events. These findings point to a yet unknown mechanism through which stressful events may change (emotional) memory formation.
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22
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Ventura-Bort C, Dolcos F, Wendt J, Wirkner J, Hamm AO, Weymar M. Item and source memory for emotional associates is mediated by different retrieval processes. Neuropsychologia 2020; 145:106606. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.12.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2017] [Revised: 11/13/2017] [Accepted: 12/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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23
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Giraudier M, Ventura-Bort C, Weymar M. Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation (tVNS) Improves High-Confidence Recognition Memory but Not Emotional Word Processing. Front Psychol 2020; 11:1276. [PMID: 32733306 PMCID: PMC7363946 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [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: 03/10/2020] [Accepted: 05/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous clinical research found that invasive vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) enhanced word recognition memory in epileptic patients, an effect assumed to be related to the activation of brainstem arousal systems. In this study, we applied non-invasive transcutaneous auricular VNS (tVNS) to replicate and extend the previous work. Using a single-blind, randomized, between-subject design, 60 healthy volunteers received active or sham stimulation during a lexical decision task, in which emotional and neutral stimuli were classified as words or non-words. In a subsequent recognition memory task (1 day after stimulation), participants' memory performance on these words and their subjective memory confidence were tested. Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) levels, a putative indirect measure of central noradrenergic activation, were also measured before and after stimulation. During encoding, pleasant words were more accurately detected than neutral and unpleasant words. However, no tVNS effects were observed on task performance or on overall sAA level changes. tVNS also did not modulate overall recognition memory, which was particularly enhanced for pleasant emotional words. However, when hit rates were split based on confidence ratings reflecting familiarity- and recollection-based memory, higher recollection-based memory performance (irrespective of emotional category) was observed during active stimulation than during sham stimulation. To summarize, we replicated prior findings of enhanced processing and memory for emotional (pleasant) words. Whereas tVNS showed no effects on word processing, subtle effects on recollection-based memory performance emerged, which may indicate that tVNS facilitates hippocampus-mediated consolidation processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manon Giraudier
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Carlos Ventura-Bort
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
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24
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Dolcos F, Katsumi Y, Bogdan PC, Shen C, Jun S, Buetti S, Lleras A, Bost KF, Weymar M, Dolcos S. The impact of focused attention on subsequent emotional recollection: A functional MRI investigation. Neuropsychologia 2020; 138:107338. [PMID: 31926178 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [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: 07/09/2019] [Revised: 12/18/2019] [Accepted: 01/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
In his seminal works, Endel Tulving argued that functionally distinct memory systems give rise to subjective experiences of remembering and knowing (i.e., recollection- vs. familiarity-based memory, respectively). Evidence shows that emotion specifically enhances recollection, and this effect is subserved by a synergistic mechanism involving the amygdala (AMY) and hippocampus (HC). In extreme circumstances, however, uncontrolled recollection of highly distressing memories may lead to symptoms of affective disorders. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors that can diminish such detrimental effects. Here, we investigated the effects of Focused Attention (FA) on emotional recollection. FA is an emotion regulation strategy that has been proven quite effective in reducing the impact of emotional responses associated with the recollection of distressing autobiographical memories, but its impact during emotional memory encoding is not known. Functional MRI and eye-tracking data were recorded while participants viewed a series of composite negative and neutral images with distinguishable foreground (FG) and background (BG) areas. Participants were instructed to focus either on the FG or BG content of the images and to rate their emotional responses. About 4 days later, participants' memory was assessed using the R/K procedure, to indicate whether they Recollected specific contextual details about the encoded images or the images were just familiar to them - i.e., participants only Knew that they saw the pictures without being able to remember specific contextual details. First, results revealed that FA was successful in decreasing memory for emotional pictures viewed in BG Focus condition, and this effect was driven by recollection-based retrieval. Second, the BG Focus condition was associated with decreased activity in the AMY, HC, and anterior parahippocampal gyrus for subsequently recollected emotional items. Moreover, correlation analyses also showed that reduced activity in these regions predicted greater reduction in emotional recollection following FA. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of FA in mitigating emotional experiences and emotional recollection associated with unpleasant emotional events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florin Dolcos
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA; Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
| | - Yuta Katsumi
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
| | - Paul C Bogdan
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
| | - Chen Shen
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
| | - Suhnyoung Jun
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
| | - Simona Buetti
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
| | - Alejandro Lleras
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
| | - Kelly Freeman Bost
- Family Resiliency Center, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Sanda Dolcos
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA.
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25
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Weymar M, Ventura-Bort C, Wendt J, Lischke A. Behavioral and neural evidence of enhanced long-term memory for untrustworthy faces. Sci Rep 2019; 9:19217. [PMID: 31844252 PMCID: PMC6915708 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-55705-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2019] [Accepted: 12/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
In daily life, we automatically form impressions of other individuals on basis of subtle facial features that convey trustworthiness. Because these face-based judgements influence current and future social interactions, we investigated how perceived trustworthiness of faces affects long-term memory using event-related potentials (ERPs). In the current study, participants incidentally viewed 60 neutral faces differing in trustworthiness, and one week later, performed a surprise recognition memory task, in which the same old faces were presented intermixed with novel ones. We found that after one week untrustworthy faces were better recognized than trustworthy faces and that untrustworthy faces prompted early (350–550 ms) enhanced frontal ERP old/new differences (larger positivity for correctly remembered old faces, compared to novel ones) during recognition. Our findings point toward an enhanced long-lasting, likely familiarity-based, memory for untrustworthy faces. Even when trust judgments about a person do not necessarily need to be accurate, a fast access to memories predicting potential harm may be important to guide social behaviour in daily life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
| | - Carlos Ventura-Bort
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Julia Wendt
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.,Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Alexander Lischke
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
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26
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Wirkner J, Ventura-Bort C, Schwabe L, Hamm AO, Weymar M. Chronic stress and emotion: Differential effects on attentional processing and recognition memory. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2019; 107:93-97. [PMID: 31121343 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.05.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [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: 10/19/2018] [Revised: 05/09/2019] [Accepted: 05/09/2019] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Previous research indicates that acute stress around the time of learning facilitates attention and memory for emotionally salient information. Despite accumulating evidence for these acute stress effects, less is known about the role of chronic stress. In the present study, we therefore tested emotional and neutral scene processing and later recognition memory in female participants using hair cortisol concentrations as a biological marker for chronic stress. Event-related potentials recorded during picture viewing indicated enhanced late positive potentials (LPPs) for emotional, relative to neutral contents. These brain potentials varied as a function of long-term hair cortisol levels: hair-cortisol levels were positively related to overall LPP amplitudes. Results from recognition memory testing one week after encoding revealed better memory for emotional relative to neutral scenes. Hair-cortisol levels, however, were related to poorer memory accuracy. Taken together, our results indicate that chronic stress enhanced attentional processing during encoding of new stimuli and impaired later recognition memory. Results are discussed with regard to putatively opposite effects of chronic stress on certain brain regions (e.g., amygdala and hippocampus).
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Affiliation(s)
- Janine Wirkner
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology/ Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Franz-Mehring-Str. 47, 17489, Greifswald, Germany.
| | - Carlos Ventura-Bort
- Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24/25, 14476, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Lars Schwabe
- Department of Cognitive Psychology, University of Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 5, 20146, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Alfons O Hamm
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology/ Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Franz-Mehring-Str. 47, 17489, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24/25, 14476, Potsdam, Germany
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27
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Ventura-Bort C, Wirkner J, Dolcos F, Wendt J, Hamm AO, Weymar M. Enhanced spontaneous retrieval of cues from emotional events: An ERP study. Biol Psychol 2019; 148:107742. [PMID: 31442479 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2019.107742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [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: 10/12/2018] [Revised: 08/07/2019] [Accepted: 08/19/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Recent evidence points to enhanced episodic memory retrieval not only for emotional items but also for neutral information encoded in emotional contexts. However, prior research only tested instructed explicit recognition, and hence here we investigated whether memory retrieval is also heightened for cues from emotional contexts when retrieval is not explicitly probed. During the first session of a two-session experiment, neutral objects were presented on different background scenes varying in emotional and neutral contents. One week later, objects were presented again (with no background) intermixed with novel objects. In both sessions, participants were instructed to attentively watch the stimuli (free viewing procedure), and during the second session, ERPs were also collected to measure the ERP Old/New effect, an electrophysiological correlate of episodic memory retrieval. Analyses were performed using cluster-based permutation tests in order to identify reliable spatio-temporal ERP differences. Based on this approach, old relative to new objects, were associated with larger ERP positivity in an early (364-744 ms) and late time window (760-1148 ms) over distinct central electrode clusters. Interestingly, significant late ERP Old/New differences were only observed for objects previously encoded with emotional, but not neutral scenes (504 to 1144 ms). Because these ERP differences were observed in a non-instructed retrieval context, our results indicate that long-term, spontaneous retrieval for neutral objects, is particularly heightened if encoded within emotionally salient contextual information. These findings may assist in understanding mechanisms underlying spontaneous retrieval of emotional associates and the utility of ERPs to study maladaptive involuntary memories in trauma- and stress-related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Janine Wirkner
- Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Florin Dolcos
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Psychology Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA; Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Julia Wendt
- Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Alfons O Hamm
- Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
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28
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Pahnke R, Mau-Moeller A, Junge M, Wendt J, Weymar M, Hamm AO, Lischke A. Oral Contraceptives Impair Complex Emotion Recognition in Healthy Women. Front Neurosci 2019; 12:1041. [PMID: 30804733 PMCID: PMC6378414 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2018.01041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [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: 09/03/2018] [Accepted: 12/21/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the widespread use of oral contraceptives (OCs), remarkably little is known about the effects of OCs on emotion, cognition, and behavior. However, coincidental findings suggest that OCs impair the ability to recognize others’ emotional expressions, which may have serious consequences in interpersonal contexts. To further investigate the effects of OCs on emotion recognition, we tested whether women who were using OCs (n = 42) would be less accurate in the recognition of complex emotional expressions than women who were not using OCs (n = 53). In addition, we explored whether these differences in emotion recognition would depend on women’s menstrual cycle phase. We found that women with OC use were indeed less accurate in the recognition of complex expressions than women without OC use, in particular during the processing of expressions that were difficult to recognize. These differences in emotion recognition did not depend on women’s menstrual cycle phase. Our findings, thus, suggest that OCs impair women’s emotion recognition, which should be taken into account when informing women about the side-effects of OC use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rike Pahnke
- Department of Sport Sciences, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany
| | - Anett Mau-Moeller
- Department of Sport Sciences, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany.,Department of Orthopaedics, University Medicine Rostock, Rostock, Germany
| | - Martin Junge
- Institute for Community Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Julia Wendt
- Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Alfons O Hamm
- Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Alexander Lischke
- Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
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Ventura-Bort C, Wirkner J, Genheimer H, Wendt J, Hamm AO, Weymar M. Effects of Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation (tVNS) on the P300 and Alpha-Amylase Level: A Pilot Study. Front Hum Neurosci 2018; 12:202. [PMID: 29977196 PMCID: PMC6021745 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.2] [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: 09/12/2017] [Accepted: 04/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent research suggests that the P3b may be closely related to the activation of the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) system. To further study the potential association, we applied a novel technique, the non-invasive transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS), which is speculated to increase noradrenaline levels. Using a within-subject cross-over design, 20 healthy participants received continuous tVNS and sham stimulation on two consecutive days (stimulation counterbalanced across participants) while performing a visual oddball task. During stimulation, oval non-targets (standard), normal-head (easy) and rotated-head (difficult) targets, as well as novel stimuli (scenes) were presented. As an indirect marker of noradrenergic activation we also collected salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) before and after stimulation. Results showed larger P3b amplitudes for target, relative to standard stimuli, irrespective of stimulation condition. Exploratory post hoc analyses, however, revealed that, in comparison to standard stimuli, easy (but not difficult) targets produced larger P3b (but not P3a) amplitudes during active tVNS, compared to sham stimulation. For sAA levels, although main analyses did not show differential effects of stimulation, direct testing revealed that tVNS (but not sham stimulation) increased sAA levels after stimulation. Additionally, larger differences between tVNS and sham stimulation in P3b magnitudes for easy targets were associated with larger increase in sAA levels after tVNS, but not after sham stimulation. Despite preliminary evidence for a modulatory influence of tVNS on the P3b, which may be partly mediated by activation of the noradrenergic system, additional research in this field is clearly warranted. Future studies need to clarify whether tVNS also facilitates other processes, such as learning and memory, and whether tVNS can be used as therapeutic tool.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Janine Wirkner
- Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Hannah Genheimer
- Department of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Julia Wendt
- Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Alfons O. Hamm
- Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
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Weymar M, Bradley MM, Sege CT, Lang PJ. Neural activation and memory for natural scenes: Explicit and spontaneous retrieval. Psychophysiology 2018; 55:e13197. [PMID: 29732578 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2017] [Revised: 03/23/2018] [Accepted: 04/05/2018] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Stimulus repetition elicits either enhancement or suppression in neural activity, and a recent fMRI meta-analysis of repetition effects for visual stimuli (Kim, 2017) reported cross-stimulus repetition enhancement in medial and lateral parietal cortex, as well as regions of prefrontal, temporal, and posterior cingulate cortex. Repetition enhancement was assessed here for repeated and novel scenes presented in the context of either an explicit episodic recognition task or an implicit judgment task, in order to study the role of spontaneous retrieval of episodic memories. Regardless of whether episodic memory was explicitly probed or not, repetition enhancement was found in medial posterior parietal (precuneus/cuneus), lateral parietal cortex (angular gyrus), as well as in medial prefrontal cortex (frontopolar), which did not differ by task. Enhancement effects in the posterior cingulate cortex were significantly larger during explicit compared to implicit task, primarily due to a lack of functional activity for new scenes. Taken together, the data are consistent with an interpretation that medial and (ventral) lateral parietal cortex are associated with spontaneous episodic retrieval, whereas posterior cingulate cortical regions may reflect task or decision processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathias Weymar
- Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.,Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainsville, Florida, USA
| | - Margaret M Bradley
- Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainsville, Florida, USA
| | - Christopher T Sege
- Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainsville, Florida, USA
| | - Peter J Lang
- Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainsville, Florida, USA
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Wendt J, Weymar M, Junge M, Hamm AO, Lischke A. Heartfelt memories: Cardiac vagal tone correlates with increased memory for untrustworthy faces. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018; 19:178-182. [PMID: 29553757 DOI: 10.1037/emo0000396] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
During social interactions, we rapidly judge others' trustworthiness on basis of their facial characteristics. Face-based trustworthiness judgments may not only affect our current but also our future interactions because we seem to be more inclined to remember untrustworthy than trustworthy faces. Memory formation of salient stimuli like untrustworthy faces may be modulated by the interplay between the autonomic and central nervous system, which can be indexed by changes in vagally mediated heart rate variability (HRV). To test this assumption, we investigated whether differences in HRV would be associated with differences in memory formation of untrustworthy faces in a sample of healthy participants (n = 34, all female). Untrustworthy faces were remembered more accurately than trustworthy faces, albeit only by participants with high and not low HRV. Across participants, increased memory accuracy for untrustworthy faces was associated with increased HRV. We discuss these findings in the context of neurobiological theories regarding the interplay between the autonomic and central nervous system during the regulation of autonomic, emotional and cognitive processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Wendt
- Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald
| | | | - Martin Junge
- Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald
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Wirkner J, Ventura-Bort C, Schulz P, Hamm AO, Weymar M. Event-related potentials of emotional and neutral memories: The role of encoding position and delayed testing. Psychophysiology 2018; 55:e13069. [DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2017] [Revised: 01/09/2018] [Accepted: 01/15/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Janine Wirkner
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology; University of Greifswald; Greifswald Germany
| | | | - Paul Schulz
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology; University of Greifswald; Greifswald Germany
| | - Alfons O. Hamm
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology; University of Greifswald; Greifswald Germany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Psychology; University of Potsdam; Potsdam Germany
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Dolcos F, Katsumi Y, Weymar M, Moore M, Tsukiura T, Dolcos S. Emerging Directions in Emotional Episodic Memory. Front Psychol 2017; 8:1867. [PMID: 29255432 PMCID: PMC5723010 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01867] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.1] [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: 06/07/2017] [Accepted: 10/09/2017] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Building upon the existing literature on emotional memory, the present review examines emerging evidence from brain imaging investigations regarding four research directions: (1) Social Emotional Memory, (2) The Role of Emotion Regulation in the Impact of Emotion on Memory, (3) The Impact of Emotion on Associative or Relational Memory, and (4) The Role of Individual Differences in Emotional Memory. Across these four domains, available evidence demonstrates that emotion- and memory-related medial temporal lobe brain regions (amygdala and hippocampus, respectively), together with prefrontal cortical regions, play a pivotal role during both encoding and retrieval of emotional episodic memories. This evidence sheds light on the neural mechanisms of emotional memories in healthy functioning, and has important implications for understanding clinical conditions that are associated with negative affective biases in encoding and retrieving emotional memories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florin Dolcos
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States
- Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States
| | - Yuta Katsumi
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Matthew Moore
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States
| | - Takashi Tsukiura
- Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Sciences, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Sanda Dolcos
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States
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Wendt J, Löw A, Weymar M, Lotze M, Hamm AO. Active avoidance and attentive freezing in the face of approaching threat. Neuroimage 2017; 158:196-204. [PMID: 28669911 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.06.054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [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: 12/05/2016] [Revised: 06/14/2017] [Accepted: 06/21/2017] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Defensive behaviors in animals and humans vary dynamically with increasing proximity of a threat and depending upon the behavioral repertoire at hand. The current study investigated physiological and behavioral adjustments and associated brain activation when participants were exposed to dynamically approaching threat that was either inevitable or could be avoided by motor action. When the approaching threat was inevitable, attentive freezing was observed as indicated by fear bradycardia, startle potentiation, and a dynamic increase in activation of the anterior insula and the periaqueductal grey. In preparation for active avoidance a switch in defensive behavior was observed characterized by startle inhibition and heart rate acceleration along with potentiated activation of the amygdala and the periaqueductal grey. Importantly, the modulation of defensive behavior according to threat imminence and the behavioral option at hand was associated with activity changes in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. These findings improve our understanding of brain mechanisms guiding human behavior during approaching threat depending on available resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Wendt
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, 17487 Greifswald, Germany.
| | - Andreas Löw
- Helmut-Schmidt-University, University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, 22043 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- University of Potsdam, Department of Psychology, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Martin Lotze
- Functional Imaging Unit, Center of Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, University of Greifswald, 17475 Greifswald, Germany
| | - Alfons O Hamm
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, 17487 Greifswald, Germany
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35
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Abstract
During social interactions, individuals rapidly and automatically judge others' trustworthiness on the basis of subtle facial cues. To investigate the behavioral and neural correlates of these judgments, we conducted 2 studies: 1 study for the construction and evaluation of a set of natural faces differing in trustworthiness (Study 1: n = 30) and another study for the investigation of event-related potentials (ERPs) in response to this set of natural faces (Study 2: n = 30). Participants of both studies provided highly reliable and nearly identical trustworthiness ratings for the selected faces, supporting the notion that the discrimination of trustworthy and untrustworthy faces depends on distinct facial cues. These cues appear to be processed in an automatic and bottom-up-driven fashion because the free viewing of these faces was sufficient to elicit trustworthiness-related differences in late positive potentials (LPPs) as indicated by larger amplitudes to untrustworthy as compared with trustworthy faces. Taken together, these findings suggest that natural faces contain distinct cues that are automatically and rapidly processed to facilitate the discrimination of untrustworthy and trustworthy faces across various contexts, presumably by enhancing the elaborative processing of untrustworthy as compared with trustworthy faces. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Martin Junge
- Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald
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36
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Wirkner J, Weymar M, Löw A, Hamm C, Struck AM, Kirschbaum C, Hamm AO. Cognitive functioning and emotion processing in breast cancer survivors and controls: An ERP pilot study. Psychophysiology 2017; 54:1209-1222. [PMID: 28432781 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.12874] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [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: 07/21/2016] [Revised: 02/07/2017] [Accepted: 03/15/2017] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer is a very emotionally aversive and stressful life event, which can lead to impaired cognitive functioning and mental health. Breast cancer survivors responding with repressive emotion regulation strategies often show less adaptive coping and adverse outcomes. We investigated cognitive functioning and neural correlates of emotion processing using ERPs. Self-report measures of depression, anxiety, and fatigue, as well as hair cortisol as an index of chronic stress, were assessed. Twenty breast cancer survivors (BCS) and 31 carefully matched healthy controls participated in the study. After neuropsychological testing and subjective assessments, participants viewed 30 neutral, 30 unpleasant, and 30 pleasant pictures, and ERPs were recorded. Recognition memory was tested 1 week later. BCS reported stronger complaints about cognitive impairments and more symptoms of depression, anxiety, and fatigue. Moreover, they showed elevated hair cortisol levels. Except for verbal memory, cognitive functioning was predominantly in the normative range. Recognition memory performance was decreased in cancer survivors, especially for emotional contents. In ERPs, survivors showed smaller late positive potential amplitudes for unpleasant pictures relative to controls in a later time window, which may indicate less elaborative processing of this material. Taken together, we found cognitive impairments in BCS in verbal memory, impaired emotional picture memory accuracy, and reduced neural activity when breast cancer survivors were confronted with unpleasant materials. Further studies and larger sample sizes, however, are needed to evaluate the relationship between altered emotion processing and reduced memory in BCS in order to develop new treatment strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janine Wirkner
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Andreas Löw
- University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Carmen Hamm
- Psycho-oncological Outpatient Unit, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Anne-Marie Struck
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Clemens Kirschbaum
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Alfons O Hamm
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
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Neubert J, Hillbrandt K, Weymar M, Hamm AO, Wendt J. Acquisition and inhibition of conditioned fear is modulated by individual stimulus fear-relevance. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2017; 137:114-122. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2016.11.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2016] [Revised: 11/21/2016] [Accepted: 11/25/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Ventura-Bort C, Löw A, Wendt J, Dolcos F, Hamm AO, Weymar M. When neutral turns significant: brain dynamics of rapidly formed associations between neutral stimuli and emotional contexts. Eur J Neurosci 2016; 44:2176-83. [DOI: 10.1111/ejn.13319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2016] [Revised: 06/17/2016] [Accepted: 06/22/2016] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Ventura-Bort
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology; University of Greifswald; Franz-Mehring-Str. 47 17487 Greifswald Germany
- Department of Basic and Clinical Psychology, and Psychobiology; Universitat Jaume I; Castellón Spain
| | - Andreas Löw
- Department of Humanities and Social Sciences; Helmut-Schmidt-University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg; Hamburg Germany
| | - Julia Wendt
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology; University of Greifswald; Franz-Mehring-Str. 47 17487 Greifswald Germany
| | - Florin Dolcos
- Psychology Department; Neuroscience Program; Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Champaign IL USA
| | - Alfons O. Hamm
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology; University of Greifswald; Franz-Mehring-Str. 47 17487 Greifswald Germany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology; University of Greifswald; Franz-Mehring-Str. 47 17487 Greifswald Germany
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39
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald Greifswald, Germany
| | - Lars Schwabe
- Department of Cognitive Psychology, University of Hamburg Hamburg, Germany
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40
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Abstract
When detecting a threat, humans and other animals engage in defensive behaviors and supporting physiological adjustments that vary with threat imminence and potential response options. In the present study, we shed light on the dynamics of defensive behaviors and associated physiological adjustments in humans using multiple psychophysiological and brain measures. When participants were exposed to a dynamically approaching, uncontrollable threat, attentive freezing was augmented, as indicated by an increase in skin conductance, fear bradycardia, and potentiation of the startle reflex. In contrast, when participants had the opportunity to actively avoid the approaching threat, attention switched to response preparation, as indicated by an inhibition of the startle magnitude and by a sharp drop of the probe-elicited P3 component of the evoked brain potentials. These new findings on the dynamics of defensive behaviors form an important intersection between animal and human research and have important implications for understanding fear and anxiety-related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Löw
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald
| | - Alfons O. Hamm
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald
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Michalowski JM, Weymar M, Hamm AO. Remembering the object you fear: brain potentials during recognition of spiders in spider-fearful individuals. PLoS One 2014; 9:e109537. [PMID: 25296032 PMCID: PMC4190313 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0109537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2014] [Accepted: 09/12/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In the present study we investigated long-term memory for unpleasant, neutral and spider pictures in 15 spider-fearful and 15 non-fearful control individuals using behavioral and electrophysiological measures. During the initial (incidental) encoding, pictures were passively viewed in three separate blocks and were subsequently rated for valence and arousal. A recognition memory task was performed one week later in which old and new unpleasant, neutral and spider pictures were presented. Replicating previous results, we found enhanced memory performance and higher confidence ratings for unpleasant when compared to neutral materials in both animal fearful individuals and controls. When compared to controls high animal fearful individuals also showed a tendency towards better memory accuracy and significantly higher confidence during recognition of spider pictures, suggesting that memory of objects prompting specific fear is also facilitated in fearful individuals. In line, spider-fearful but not control participants responded with larger ERP positivity for correctly recognized old when compared to correctly rejected new spider pictures, thus showing the same effects in the neural signature of emotional memory for feared objects that were already discovered for other emotional materials. The increased fear memory for phobic materials observed in the present study in spider-fearful individuals might result in an enhanced fear response and reinforce negative beliefs aggravating anxiety symptomatology and hindering recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Alfons O. Hamm
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
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42
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Jaworek
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Andreas Löw
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Alfons O. Hamm
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
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Weymar M, Bradley MM, Hamm AO, Lang PJ. Encoding and reinstatement of threat: recognition potentials. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2014; 107:87-92. [PMID: 24274959 PMCID: PMC3902191 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2013.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [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: 05/10/2013] [Revised: 11/04/2013] [Accepted: 11/06/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
On a recognition test, stimuli originally encoded in the context of shock threat show an enhanced late parietal positivity during later recognition compared to stimuli encoded during safety, particularly for emotionally arousing stimuli. The present study investigated whether this ERP old/new effect is further influenced when a threat context is reinstated during the recognition test. ERPs were measured in a yes-no recognition test for words rated high or low in emotional arousal that were encoded and recognized in the context of cues that signaled threat of shock or safety. Correct recognition of words encoded under threat, irrespective of reinstatement, was associated with an enhanced old-new ERP difference (500-700ms; centro-parietal), and this difference was only reliable for emotionally arousing words. Taken together, the data suggest that information processed in a stressful context are associated with better recollection on later recognition, an effect that was not modulated by reinstating the stressful context at retrieval.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathias Weymar
- Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention (CSEA), University of Florida, USA; Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, Germany.
| | - Margaret M Bradley
- Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention (CSEA), University of Florida, USA.
| | - Alfons O Hamm
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, Germany.
| | - Peter J Lang
- Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention (CSEA), University of Florida, USA.
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Wirkner J, Weymar M, Löw A, Hamm AO. Effects of pre-encoding stress on brain correlates associated with the long-term memory for emotional scenes. PLoS One 2013; 8:e68212. [PMID: 24039697 PMCID: PMC3764063 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0068212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2013] [Accepted: 05/27/2013] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent animal and human research indicates that stress around the time of encoding enhances long-term memory for emotionally arousing events but neural evidence remains unclear. In the present study we used the ERP old/new effect to investigate brain dynamics underlying the long-term effects of acute pre-encoding stress on memory for emotional and neutral scenes. Participants were exposed either to the Socially Evaluated Cold Pressure Test (SECPT) or a warm water control procedure before viewing 30 unpleasant, 30 neutral and 30 pleasant pictures. Two weeks after encoding, recognition memory was tested using 90 old and 90 new pictures. Emotional pictures were better recognized than neutral pictures in both groups and related to an enhanced centro-parietal ERP old/new difference (400–800 ms) during recognition, which suggests better recollection. Most interestingly, pre-encoding stress exposure specifically increased the ERP old/new-effect for emotional (unpleasant) pictures, but not for neutral pictures. These enhanced ERP/old new differences for emotional (unpleasant) scenes were particularly pronounced for those participants who reported high levels of stress during the SECPT. The results suggest that acute pre-encoding stress specifically strengthens brain signals of emotional memories, substantiating a facilitating role of stress on memory for emotional scenes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janine Wirkner
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
- * E-mail: (JW); (AOH)
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
- Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Andreas Löw
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Alfons O. Hamm
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
- * E-mail: (JW); (AOH)
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Weymar M, Bradley MM, El-Hinnawi N, Lang PJ. Explicit and spontaneous retrieval of emotional scenes: electrophysiological correlates. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2013; 13:981-8. [PMID: 23795588 DOI: 10.1037/a0033109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
When event-related potentials (ERP) are measured during a recognition task, items that have previously been presented typically elicit a larger late (400-800 ms) positive potential than new items. Recent data, however, suggest that emotional, but not neutral, pictures show ERP evidence of spontaneous retrieval when presented in a free-viewing task (Ferrari, Bradley, Codispoti, Karlsson, & Lang, 2012). In two experiments, we further investigated the brain dynamics of implicit and explicit retrieval. In Experiment 1, brain potentials were measured during a semantic categorization task, which did not explicitly probe episodic memory, but which, like a recognition task, required an active decision and a button press, and were compared to those elicited during recognition and free viewing. Explicit recognition prompted a late enhanced positivity for previously presented, compared with new, pictures regardless of hedonic content. In contrast, only emotional pictures showed an old-new difference when the task did not explicitly probe episodic memory, either when making an active categorization decision regarding picture content, or when simply viewing pictures. In Experiment 2, however, neutral pictures did prompt a significant old-new ERP difference during subsequent free viewing when emotionally arousing pictures were not included in the encoding set. These data suggest that spontaneous retrieval is heightened for salient cues, perhaps reflecting heightened attention and elaborative processing at encoding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathias Weymar
- Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention (CSEA), University of Florida
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Weymar M, Keil A, Hamm AO. Timing the fearful brain: unspecific hypervigilance and spatial attention in early visual perception. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2013; 9:723-9. [PMID: 23547244 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nst044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [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: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Numerous studies suggest that anxious individuals are more hypervigilant to threat in their environment than nonanxious individuals. In the present event-related potential (ERP) study, we sought to investigate the extent to which afferent cortical processes, as indexed by the earliest visual component C1, are biased in observers high in fear of specific objects. In a visual search paradigm, ERPs were measured while spider-fearful participants and controls searched for discrepant objects (e.g., spiders, butterflies, flowers) in visual arrays. Results showed enhanced C1 amplitudes in response to spatially directed target stimuli in spider-fearful participants only. Furthermore, enhanced C1 amplitudes were observed in response to all discrepant targets and distractors in spider-fearful compared with non-anxious participants, irrespective of fearful and non-fearful target contents. This pattern of results is in line with theoretical notions of heightened sensory sensitivity (hypervigilance) to external stimuli in high-fearful individuals. Specifically, the findings suggest that fear facilitates afferent cortical processing in the human visual cortex in a non-specific and temporally sustained fashion, when observers search for potential threat cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, Franz-Mehring-Strasse 47, 17487 Greifswald, Germany.
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Weymar M, Gerdes ABM, Löw A, Alpers GW, Hamm AO. Specific fear modulates attentional selectivity during visual search: electrophysiological insights from the N2pc. Psychophysiology 2012; 50:139-48. [PMID: 23252841 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.12008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2012] [Accepted: 11/07/2012] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In the present study, we used high-density EEG during a visual search task to investigate the dynamics of spatial attention to fear-relevant targets and background stimuli in small animal phobia during a visual search task. Twenty-five spider fearful (22 females) and 25 healthy nonfearful participants (19 females) were measured, while searching for discrepant objects in visual arrays. Compared to nonfearful participants, spider fearful individuals showed a more enhanced posterior N2pc to spider (vs. butterfly) targets in an array of flowers. Furthermore, spider fearful participants showed enhanced hypervigilance for all presented stimuli compared to controls as reflected by enhanced N1 amplitudes (160-200 ms). Our findings provide neural evidence for early, enhanced selective spatial attention for fear-relevant stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
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Weymar M, Bradley MM, Hamm AO, Lang PJ. When fear forms memories: threat of shock and brain potentials during encoding and recognition. Cortex 2012; 49:819-26. [PMID: 22483973 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2012.02.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2011] [Revised: 01/09/2012] [Accepted: 02/21/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
The anticipation of highly aversive events is associated with measurable defensive activation, and both animal and human research suggests that stress-inducing contexts can facilitate memory. Here, we investigated whether encoding stimuli in the context of anticipating an aversive shock affects recognition memory. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured during a recognition test for words that were encoded in a font color that signaled threat or safety. At encoding, cues signaling threat of shock, compared to safety, prompted enhanced P2 and P3 components. Correct recognition of words encoded in the context of threat, compared to safety, was associated with an enhanced old-new ERP difference (500-700 msec; centro-parietal), and this difference was most reliable for emotional words. Moreover, larger old-new ERP differences when recognizing emotional words encoded in a threatening context were associated with better recognition, compared to words encoded in safety. Taken together, the data indicate enhanced memory for stimuli encoded in a context in which an aversive event is merely anticipated, which could assist in understanding effects of anxiety and stress on memory processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathias Weymar
- NIMH Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
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Abstract
Emotional memories can be extremely robust and long-lasting and can contribute to the development of anxiety disorders. Despite tremendous work on neural responses underlying the memory formation of emotional events, less is known about long-term retention. In the present study, behavioral and electrophysiological measures were used to investigate long-term recognition memory for emotional (unpleasant and pleasant) and neutral pictures after two retention intervals (1 week vs. 1 year) in 21 male subjects. The results show enhanced recognition performance for emotional relative to neutral pictures for both test delays. On the neural side, the retrieval of emotional pictures compared to neutral pictures was accompanied after 1 week by an enhanced old/new effect (500-800 ms), originating in the parietal cortex. After 1-year retention delay, only unpleasant but not pleasant pictures were different from neutral pictures in the recollection-sensitive ERP component. Analysis of the subjective awareness (confidence ratings) during recognition indicated that behavioral and electrocortical response patterns were exclusively driven by high confidence responses, an indication for recollection-based recognition. These results suggest that high arousing emotional memories were highly consistent over time relative to neutral memories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
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Weymar M, Schwabe L, Löw A, Hamm AO. Stress sensitizes the brain: increased processing of unpleasant pictures after exposure to acute stress. J Cogn Neurosci 2011; 24:1511-8. [PMID: 22185496 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
A key component of acute stress is a surge in vigilance that enables a prioritized processing of highly salient information to promote the organism's survival. In this study, we investigated the neural effects of acute stress on emotional picture processing. ERPs were measured during a deep encoding task, in which 40 male participants categorized 50 unpleasant and 50 neutral pictures according to arousal and valence. Before picture encoding, participants were subjected either to the Socially Evaluated Cold Pressor Test (SECPT) or to a warm water control procedure. The exposure to the SECPT resulted in increased subjective and autonomic (heart rate and blood pressure) stress responses relative to the control condition. Viewing of unpleasant relative to neutral pictures evoked enhanced late positive potentials (LPPs) over centro-parietal scalp sites around 400 msec after picture onset. Prior exposure to acute stress selectively increased the LPPs for unpleasant pictures. Moreover, the LPP magnitude for unpleasant pictures following the SECPT was positively associated with incidental free recall performance 24 hr later. The present results suggest that acute stress sensitizes the brain for increased processing of cues in the environment, particularly priming the processing of unpleasant cues. This increased processing is related to later long-term memory performance.
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