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Funder: Amazon Web Services (AWS) Imagine Grant, Funder: Kingston University (Kingston University, London); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/100010049, Funder: Association Nationale de la Recherche et de la Technologie (National Association for Research and Technology); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003032, Funder: Association Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique and Pacifica (CIFRE grant 2017/0245), Funder: PRIMUS/20/HUM/009, Funder: UID/PSI/03125/2019 from the Portuguese National Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT)., Funder: PSA research grant ($285.59) for the PSACR projects data collection, Funder: The work of Dmitrii Dubrov was supported within the framework of the Basic Research Program at HSE University, RF, Funder: Agentúra na podporu výskumu a vývoja (Slovak Research and Development Agency) - APVV-17-0596, Funder: Progres Q18, Charles University, Funder: JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers JP18K12015 and JP20H04581, Funder: National Science Centre, Poland (2019/35/B/HS6/00528), Funder: Slovak Research and Development Agency - APVV-17-0596, Funder: Huo Family Foundation, Funder: The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI [19K14370], Funder: The Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Funder: Program FUTURE LEADER of Lorraine Université d’Excellence within the program Investissements Avenir (ANR-15-IDEX-04-LUE) operated by the French National Research Agency, Funder: Rubicon grant (019.183SG.007) from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), Funder: Australian Research Council (DP180102384), Funder: HSE University Basic Research Program, Funder: Horizon 2020 grant 964728 (JITSUVAX) from the European Commission and was supported by a United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) Research Fellowship grant ES/V011901/1, Funder: Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Funder: Dominican University Faculty Support Grant, Funder: FONDECYT 1221538, Funder: Vicerrectoria de Investigaciones, Uniandes, Funder: Statutory funds of the Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Funder: University of Desarrollo, Faculty of Psychology, Funder: IDN Being Human Lab (University of Wrocław), Funder: ANID - Fondecyt 1201513, In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate re-use and further analyses. The dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore coping, framing, and self-determination across a diverse, global sample obtained at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data.

Contains fulltext : 285229.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Adolescent loneliness can have detrimental effects on physical and mental health, but there is limited understanding of its antecedents in infancy and childhood. A 20-year longitudinal, multi-informant, and multi-methods study (first data collection in 1998) was conducted to examine mechanisms underlying adolescent loneliness (N = 128, 52% boys, Mage_baseline = 1.23, SD = 0.02, 99% White, recruitment in Dutch urban, healthcare centers). Structural equation modeling showed that high infant behavioral inhibition (BI) was indirectly associated with high loneliness during adolescence via high childhood social withdrawal. This indirect effect was equally strong during early, middle, and late adolescence. Contrary to expectations, infant parenting did not moderate the relation between BI and social withdrawal. The results suggest a developmental cascade with infant BI showing long-lasting indirect effects on adolescent loneliness up to 20 years later via childhood social withdrawal. 17 p.

The extent to which high-level, complex functions can proceed unconsciously has been a topic of considerable debate. While unconscious processing has been demonstrated for a range of low-level processes, from feature integration to simple forms of conditioning and learning, theoretical contributions suggest that increasing complexity requires conscious access. Here, we focus our attention on instrumental conditioning, which has been previously shown to proceed without stimulus awareness. Yet, instrumental conditioning also involves integrating information over a large temporal scale and distinct modalities in order to deploy selective action, constituting a process of substantial complexity. With this in mind, we revisit the question of feasibility of instrumental conditioning in the unconscious domain. Firstly, we address the theoretical and practical considerations relevant to unconscious learning in general. Secondly, we aim to replicate the first study to show instrumental conditioning in the absence of stimulus awareness (Pessiglione et al., 2008), following the original design and supplementing the original crucial analyses with a Bayesian approach (Experiment 1). We found that apparent unconscious learning took place when replicating the original methods directly and according to the tests of awareness used. However, we could not establish that the full sample was unaware in a separate awareness check. We therefore attempted to replicate the effect yet again with improved methods to address the issues related to sensitivity and immediacy (Experiment 2), including an individual threshold-setting task and a trial-by-trial awareness check permitting exclusion of individual aware trials. Here, we found evidence for absence of unconscious learning. This result provides evidence that instrumental conditioning did not occur without stimulus awareness in this paradigm, supporting the view that complex forms of learning may rely on conscious access. Our results provides support for the proposal that perceptual consciousness may be necessary for complex, flexible processes, especially where selective action and behavioural adaptation are required.

Contains fulltext : 294461.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Background: Stress-related mental disorders are highly prevalent and pose a substantial burden on individuals and society. Improving strategies for the prevention and treatment of mental disorders requires a better understanding of their risk and resilience factors. This multicenter study aims to contribute to this endeavor by investigating psychological resilience in healthy but susceptible young adults over 9 months. Resilience is conceptualized in this study as the maintenance of mental health or quick recovery from mental health perturbations upon exposure to stressors, assessed longitudinally via frequent monitoring of stressors and mental health. Objective: This study aims to investigate the factors predicting mental resilience and adaptive processes and mechanisms contributing to mental resilience and to provide a methodological and evidence-based framework for later intervention studies. Methods: In a multicenter setting, across 5 research sites, a sample with a total target size of 250 young male and female adults was assessed longitudinally over 9 months. Participants were included if they reported at least 3 past stressful life events and an elevated level of (internalizing) mental health problems but were not presently affected by any mental disorder other than mild depression. At baseline, sociodemographic, psychological, neuropsychological, structural, and functional brain imaging; salivary cortisol and α-amylase levels; and cardiovascular data were acquired. In a 6-month longitudinal phase 1, stressor exposure, mental health problems, and perceived positive appraisal were monitored biweekly in a web-based environment, while ecological momentary assessments and ecological physiological assessments took place once per month for 1 week, using mobile phones and wristbands. In a subsequent 3-month longitudinal phase 2, web-based monitoring was reduced to once a month, and psychological resilience and risk factors were assessed again at the end of the 9-month period. In addition, samples for genetic, epigenetic, and microbiome analyses were collected at baseline and at months 3 and 6. As an approximation of resilience, an individual stressor reactivity score will be calculated. Using regularized regression methods, network modeling, ordinary differential equations, landmarking methods, and neural net–based methods for imputation and dimension reduction, we will identify the predictors and mechanisms of stressor reactivity and thus be able to identify resilience factors and mechanisms that facilitate adaptation to stressors. Results: Participant inclusion began in October 2020, and data acquisition was completed in June 2022. A total of 249 participants were assessed at baseline, 209 finished longitudinal phase 1, and 153 finished longitudinal phase 2. Conclusions: The Dynamic Modelling of Resilience–Observational Study provides a methodological framework and data set to identify predictors and mechanisms of mental resilience, which are intended to serve as an empirical foundation for future intervention studies. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/39817 23 p.

Contains fulltext : 249039.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Stress initiates a cascade of (neuro)biological, physiological, and behavioral changes, allowing us to respond to a challenging environment. The human response to acute stress can be studied in detail in controlled settings, usually in a laboratory environment. To this end, many studies employ acute stress paradigms to probe stress-related outcomes in healthy and patient populations. Though valuable, these studies in themselves often have relatively limited sample sizes. We established a data-sharing and collaborative interdisciplinary initiative, the STRESS-NL database, which combines (neuro)biological, physiological, and behavioral data across many acute stress studies in order to accelerate our understanding of the human acute stress response in health and disease (www.stressdatabase.eu). Researchers in the stress field from 12 Dutch research groups of 6 Dutch universities created a database to achieve an accurate inventory of (neuro)biological, physiological, and behavioral data from laboratory-based human studies that used acute stress tests. Currently, the STRESS-NL database consists of information on 5529 individual participants (2281 females and 3348 males, age range 6-99 years, mean age 27.7 ± 16 years) stemming from 57 experiments described in 42 independent studies. Studies often did not use the same stress paradigm; outcomes were different and measured at different time points. All studies currently included in the database assessed cortisol levels before, during and after experimental stress, but cortisol measurement will not be a strict requirement for future study inclusion. Here, we report on the creation of the STRESS-NL database and infrastructure to illustrate the potential of accumulating and combining existing data to allow meta-analytical, proof-of-principle analyses. The STRESS-NL database creates a framework that enables human stress research to take new avenues in explorative and hypothesis-driven data analyses with high statistical power. Future steps could be to incorporate new studies beyond the borders of the Netherlands; or build similar databases for experimental stress studies in rodents. In our view, there are major scientific benefits in initiating and maintaining such international efforts. 9 p.

Contains fulltext : 292660.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Evolutionary threats (ETs), such as predatory animals and heights, elicit stronger fear responses and are more often the subject of specific phobias, as compared to modern threats (MTs, such as guns and motorcycles). Since processing of ET depends on lower-order, phylogenetically conserved neural fear circuits, it may be less susceptible to higher-order (vs. simpler) cognitive emotion regulation. Given the relevance for treatment of specific phobias, we tested this hypothesis in an ERP study. Sixty-one female participants passively watched high- and low-threat pictures of evolutionary (snakes, lizards) and modern (guns, water-guns) origin, and downregulated responses to the high-threat pictures (snakes and guns) using either cognitive reappraisal or a simpler cognitive distraction strategy. ET elicited stronger early (EPN) and sustained (LPP) attention processing compared to MT. Both strategies successfully downregulated subjective and LPP (but not EPN) responses compared to passive watching. Although reappraisal was more effective subjectively, distraction downregulated the LPP earlier and stronger than reappraisal, irrespective of the threat type. These findings provide novel evidence that neural responses to physical threat might be less susceptible to cognitive emotion regulation via higher-order (reappraisal) versus simpler (distraction) strategies, irrespective of the evolutionary or modern relevance of threat. Combining both strategies could be beneficial for the emotion regulation-enhancing interventions for specific phobias. Distraction could be used during initial exposure, to reduce immediate emotion responding and help endure the contact with the feared stimulus, whereas reappraisal could be used subsequently, when emotions are less intense, to change maladaptive thoughts about the stimulus for future encounters. 10 mei 2023 16 p.

Contains fulltext : 289359.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Functional movement disorder (FMD) is a common manifestation of functional neurological disorder presenting with diverse phenotypes such as tremor, weakness and gait disorder. Our current understanding of the basic epidemiological features of this condition is unclear. We aimed to describe and examine the relationship between age at onset, phenotype and gender in FMD in a large meta-analysis of published and unpublished individual patient cases. An electronic search of PubMed was conducted for studies from 1968 to 2019 according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Individual patient data were collected through a research network. We described the distribution of age of onset and how this varied by gender and motor phenotype. A one-stage meta-analysis was performed using multilevel mixed-effects linear regression, including random intercepts for country and data source. A total of 4905 individual cases were analysed (72.6% woman). The mean age at onset was 39.6 years (SD 16.1). Women had a significantly earlier age of onset than men (39.1 years vs 41.0 years). Mixed FMD (23.1%), tremor (21.6%) and weakness (18.1%) were the most common phenotypes. Compared with tremor (40.7 years), the mean ages at onset of dystonia (34.5 years) and weakness (36.4 years) were significantly younger, while gait disorders (43.2 years) had a significantly later age at onset. The interaction between gender and phenotype was not significant. FMD peaks in midlife with varying effects of gender on age at onset and phenotype. The data gives some support to ‘lumping’ FMD as a unitary disorder but also highlights the value in ‘splitting’ into individual phenotypes where relevant.Data are available upon reasonable request. 8 p.

The COVID-19 pandemic might affect mental health. Data from population-representative panel surveys with multiple waves including pre-COVID data investigating risk and protective factors are still rare. Methods: In a stratified random sample of the German household population (n=6,684), we conducted survey-weighted multiple linear regressions to determine the association of various psychological risk and protective factors assessed between 2015 and 2020 with changes in psychological distress (PD; measured via PHQ-4) from pre-pandemic (average of 2016 and 2019) to peri-pandemic (both 2020 and 2021) time points. Control analyses on PD change between two pre-pandemic time points (2016 and 2019) were conducted. Regularized regressions were computed to inform on which factors were statistically most influential in the multicollinear setting. Results: PHQ-4 scores in 2020 (M=2.45) and 2021 (M=2.21) were elevated compared to 2019 (M=1.79). Several risk factors (catastrophizing, neuroticism, asking for instrumental support) and protective factors (perceived stress recovery, positive reappraisal, optimism) were identified for the peri-pandemic outcomes. Control analyses revealed that in pre-pandemic times, neuroticism and optimism were predominantly related to PD changes. Regularized regression mostly confirmed the results and highlighted perceived stress recovery as most consistent influential protective factor across peri-pandemic outcomes. Conclusions: We identified several psychological risk and protective factors related to PD outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Comparison to pre-pandemic data stress the relevance of longitudinal assessments to potentially reconcile contradictory findings. Implications and suggestions for targeted prevention and intervention programs during highly stressful times such as pandemics are discussed, This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement numbers 777084 (DynaMORE) and 101016127 (RESPOND). ‘SOEP-CoV: The Spread of the Coronavirus in Germany: Socio-Economic Factors and Consequences’ was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). AR was supported by Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes. HK was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Science Foundation) Grants – 415809395, 427279591, and 40965412. The data can be accessed via the research data center of the SOEP

Item does not contain fulltext While strong claims have been made that testosterone increases risk-taking, the existing literature is inconclusive. Thus, our experiment aimed at addressing some shortcomings of previous work. First, risk-taking was assessed using the Columbia Card Task, which allows to decompose overt risk-taking into three task factors - gain amount, loss amount, and the probability of losing - in both a dynamic, more affective ("hot") and a static, more deliberative ("cold") decision-making context. Second, we conducted a testosterone administration study in 80 females using a triple-blind (i.e., blinded participants, experimenters, and data-analysts), placebo-controlled, randomized, between-subjects design to investigate the causal effect of exogenous testosterone on risk-taking. Reviewers were also blind to the treatment conditions during the reviews. Third, we preregistered our analyses. We investigated (a) the main effect of testosterone, (b) the influence of gain amount, loss amount, and the probability of losing on risky decision-making, each in a more affective and more deliberative decision-making context, and (c) whether testosterone moderated any of those effects. Although we replicated previous studies showing that risk-taking was affected by gains, losses, probabilities, and decision-making context, we found no evidence for a main or interaction effect involving testosterone. This finding was further supported by our meta-analysis, which suggests that the effect of administered testosterone on risk-taking in women is smaller than a small effect size. In conclusion, these results provide no evidence for an effect of exogenous testosterone on decision-making under risk, raising some doubts about the commonly suggested direct link between the two. 19 p.

Contains fulltext : 285164.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) The amygdala is a region critically implicated in affective processes. Downregulation of the amygdala is one of the hallmarks of successful emotion regulation. Top-down inhibition of the amygdala is thought to involve activation of the executive control network. This reciprocal relationship, however, is not exclusive to explicit emotion regulation. It has been noted that any cognitively demanding task that activates executive control network may downregulate the amygdala, including a standard working memory task. Such downregulation is likely established in a load-dependent fashion with more cognitive demand leading to stronger deactivation. Using a coordinate-based meta-analysis, we examined whether a standard working memory task downregulates the amygdala similarly to cognitive reappraisal. We found that a standard 2-back working memory task indeed systematically downregulates the amygdala and that deactivated clusters strongly overlap with those observed during a cognitive reappraisal task. This finding may have consequences for the interpretation of the underlying mechanism of cognitive reappraisal: amygdala downregulation may be related to the cognitively demanding nature of reappraisal and not per se by the act of the reappraisal itself. Moreover, it raises the possibility of applying working memory tasks in clinical settings as an alternative emotion regulation strategy. 21 p.

Contains fulltext : 292767.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Emotion regulation is essential to survive in a world full of challenges with rapidly changing contextual demands. The ability to flexibly shift between different emotional control strategies is critical to successfully deal with these demands. Recently, decision neuroscience has shown the importance of monitoring alternative control strategies. However, this insight has not been incorporated into current neurocognitive models of emotional control. Here, we integrate insights from decision and affective sciences into a novel viewpoint on emotion control, the Flexible Emotion Control Theory (FECT). This theory explains how an individual can flexibly change emotion-regulatory behavior to adapt to varying goals and contextual demands. Crucially, FECT proposes that rapid switching between alternative emotional control strategies requires concurrent evaluation of current as well as alternative (unchosen) options. The neural implementation of FECT relies on the involvement of distinct prefrontal structures, including the lateral frontal pole (FPl) and its connections with other cortical (prefrontal, parietal, motor) and subcortical systems. This novel account of emotion control integrates insights from decision sciences, clinical research, as well as meta-analytic evidence for the consistent FPl involvement during emotional control when monitoring of alternative emotional control strategies is required. Moreover, it provides novel, neurocognitively grounded starting points for interventions to improve emotion control in affective disorders, such as anxiety and aggression. 11 mei 2023 13 p.

Contains fulltext : 293105.pdf (Author’s version postprint ) (Open Access) Defensive stress reactions, such as freezing and active fight-or-flight, are relevant for coping with threat. Action-preparatory activity supporting these reactions, including the amygdala, has been posited as a potential marker for stress-resilience. We considered the successive COVID-19 lockdowns as two pervasive stressors, to prospectively investigate the predictive value of neural threat-responses towards symptom development. Five years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 17-year-old adolescents (n = 64, Baseline-17) performed the fMRI-adapted Go/Nogo Under Threat (GUNT) task, where threat-anticipatory freezing reactions and transition to action are evoked to avoid a shock. A majority (n = 44) made themselves available for follow-up assessments before COVID (Baseline-20, age 20), during the first COVID-19 lockdown in the Netherlands (LD1, age 22.5), and during a second lockdown (LD2, age 23). The GUNT task quantified neural (thalamic, subcortical, amygdala) and physiological (bradycardia) markers of threat-anticipatory freezing and transition to action (mediated by anterior cingulate cortex). Threat-anticipatory amygdala responses (Baseline-17) were linked to stressor resilience, as quantified by self-reported anxiety symptoms between LD1 and LD2. However, stronger amygdala responses to low threat cues (Baseline-17) were associated with stronger anxiety symptoms. These effects occurred over and above early-life stress, COVID-19 stress burden, and overall symptom changes between age 17 and 20. These findings suggest that amygdala responses to acute threat provide a marker for resilience against real-life stressors, with adequate threat discrimination signaling resilience and stronger amygdala responses to low threat predicting vulnerability. The findings support the notion that neural responses to threat are instrumental for adaptive coping with pervasive stress. 12 p.

Contains fulltext : 292566.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) When choosing between sooner-smaller and later-larger rewards (i.e., intertemporal choices), adults typically prefer later-larger rewards more often than children. Intertemporal choice preferences have been implicated in various impulsivity-related psychopathologies, making it important to understand the underlying mechanisms not only in terms of how reward magnitude and delay affect choice but also in terms of how these mechanisms develop across age. We administered an intertemporal choice paradigm to 60 children (8-11 years), 79 adolescents (14-16 years), and 60 young adults (18-23 years). The paradigm systematically varied amounts and delays of the available rewards, allowing us to identify mechanisms underlying age-related differences in patience. Compared with young adults, both children and adolescents made fewer later–larger choices. In terms of underlying mechanisms, variation in delays, absolute reward magnitudes, and relative amount differences affected choice in each age group, indicating that children showed sensitivity to the same choice-relevant factors as young adults. Sensitivity to both absolute reward magnitude and relative amount differences showed a further monotonic age-related increase, whereas no change in delay sensitivity occurred. Lastly, adolescents and young adults weakly displayed a present bias (i.e., overvaluing immediate vs. future rewards; nonsignificant and trend, respectively), whereas children showed a nonsignificant but opposite pattern, possibly indicating that specifically dealing with future rewards changed with age. These findings shed light on the underlying mechanisms that contribute to the development of patience. By decomposing overt choices, our results suggest that the age-related increase in patience may be driven specifically by stronger sensitivity to amount differences with age. 12 p.

Contains fulltext : 293449.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Individuals with hostile expectations (HEX) anticipate harm from seemingly neutral or ambiguous stimuli. However, it is unclear how HEX are acquired, and whether specific components of HEX learning can predict antisocial thought, conduct, and personality. In an online sample of healthy young individuals (n = 256, 69% women), we administered a virtual shooting task and applied computational modelling of behaviour to investigate HEX learning and its constellation of correlates. HEX acquisition was best explained by a hierarchical reinforcement learning mechanism. Crucially, we found that individuals with relatively higher self-reported aggressiveness and psychopathy developed stronger and less accurate hostile beliefs as well as larger prediction errors. Moreover, aggressive and psychopathic traits were associated with more temporally stable hostility representations. Our study thus shows that aggressiveness and psychopathy are linked with the acquisition of robust yet imprecise hostile beliefs through reinforcement learning. 12 p.

Contains fulltext : 291411.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Functional neurological disorder (FND) is a common and disabling disorder, often misunderstood by clinicians. Although viewed sceptically by some, FND is a diagnosis that can be made accurately, based on positive clinical signs, with clinical features that have remained stable for over 100 years. Despite some progress in the last decade, people with FND continue to suffer subtle and overt forms of discrimination by clinicians, researchers and the public. There is abundant evidence that disorders perceived as primarily affecting women are neglected in healthcare and medical research, and the course of FND mirrors this neglect. We outline the reasons why FND is a feminist issue, incorporating historical and contemporary clinical, research and social perspectives. We call for parity for FND in medical education, research and clinical service development so that people affected by FND can receive the care they need. 28 maart 2023 7 p.

Item does not contain fulltext The notion that humans avoid effortful action is one of the oldest and most persistent in psychology. Influential theories of effort propose that effort valuations are made according to a cost-benefit trade-off: we tend to invest mental effort only when the benefits outweigh the costs. While these models provide a useful conceptual framework, the affective components of effort valuation remain poorly understood. Here, we examined whether primitive components of affective response - positive and negative valence, captured via facial electromyography (fEMG) - can be used to better understand valuations of cognitive effort. Using an effortful arithmetic task, we find that fEMG activity in the corrugator supercilii - thought to index negative valence - 1) tracks the anticipation and exertion of cognitive effort and 2) is attenuated in the presence of high rewards. Together, these results suggest that activity in the corrugator reflects the integration of effort costs and rewards during effortful decision-making. 14 april 2023 12 p.

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Emotional cues draw attention, thereby enabling enhanced processing. Electrophysiological brain research in humans suggests that increased gamma band activity and decreased alpha band activity over posterior brain areas is associated with the allocation of attention. However, emotional events can alternate quickly, like rapidly changing news items and it remains unknown whether the modulation of brain oscillations happens in a stimulus induced manner, changing with each individual stimulus, or whether the events lead to prolonged, state-like changes. To investigate this, we measured the electroencephalogram (EEG) during a passive viewing task (N = 32) while emotional pictures International Affective Picture System (IAPS) were presented in blocks containing either pleasant and neutral or unpleasant and neutral pictures. As predicted, we found decreased alpha and increased gamma power over posterior areas in response to unpleasant compared to pleasant pictures (and also compared to neutral pictures for gamma power). When testing the neutral pictures of the unpleasant and pleasant block against each other, we found no significant difference, which speaks to a stimulus induced effect of alpha and gamma power rather than a state effect. In addition, the inter-trial interval (ITI) between the pictures did not differ between the unpleasant and pleasant block either, corroborating this conclusion. Since emotional pictures can at the same time elicit a freezing-like response and we were interested in whether this freezing-like response co-occurs with enhanced attention, we also collected postural sway data. However, within this EEG-setup, postural analyses indicated no stimulus-related effects nor a correlation with EEG-data. We interpret the alpha and gamma band results as reflecting event-related attention toward unpleasant compared to pleasant (and neutral) pictures and discuss this finding in light of previous EEG research and in combination with behavioral research on threat-induced reductions in body sway (freezing-like response).

Contains fulltext : 288062.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) There is limited convergence in neuroimaging investigations into volumes of subcortical brain regions in social anxiety disorder (SAD). The inconsistent findings may arise from variations in methodological approaches across studies, including sample selection based on age and clinical characteristics. The ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group initiated a global mega-analysis to determine whether differences in subcortical volumes can be detected in adults and adolescents with SAD relative to healthy controls. Volumetric data from 37 international samples with 1115 SAD patients and 2775 controls were obtained from ENIGMA-standardized protocols for image segmentation and quality assurance. Linear mixed-effects analyses were adjusted for comparisons across seven subcortical regions in each hemisphere using family-wise error (FWE)-correction. Mixed-effects d effect sizes were calculated. In the full sample, SAD patients showed smaller bilateral putamen volume than controls (left: d = -0.077, pFWE = 0.037; right: d = -0.104, pFWE = 0.001), and a significant interaction between SAD and age was found for the left putamen (r = -0.034, pFWE = 0.045). Smaller bilateral putamen volumes (left: d = -0.141, pFWE

Contains fulltext : 292209.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) A paradox of testosterone effects is seen in adolescents versus adults in social emotional approach-avoidance behavior. During adolescence, high testosterone levels are associated with increased anterior prefrontal (aPFC) involvement in emotion control, whereas during adulthood this neuro-endocrine relation is reversed. Rodent work shows that, during puberty, testosterone transitions from a neuro-developmental to a social-sexual activating hormone. In this study, we explored whether this functional transition is also present in human adolescents and young adults. Using a prospective longitudinal design, we investigated the role of testosterone on neural control of social emotional behavior during the transitions from middle to late adolescence and into young adulthood. Seventy-one individuals (tested at ages 14, 17, and 20 years) performed an fMRI-adapted approach-avoidance (AA) task involving automatic and controlled actions in response to social emotional stimuli. In line with predictions from animal models, the effect of testosterone on aPFC engagement decreased between middle and late adolescence, and shifted into an activational role by young adulthood-impeding neural control of emotions. This change in testosterone function was accompanied by increased testosterone-modulated amygdala reactivity. These findings qualify the testosterone-dependent maturation of the prefrontal-amygdala circuit supporting emotion control during the transition from middle adolescence into young adulthood. 21 juni 2023 14 p.

Contains fulltext : 292550.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Signals related to uncertainty are frequently observed in regions of the cognitive control network, including anterior cingulate/medial prefrontal cortex (ACC/mPFC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), and anterior insular cortex. Uncertainty generally refers to conditions in which decision variables may assume multiple possible values and can arise at multiple points in the perception-action cycle, including sensory input, inferred states of the environment, and the consequences of actions. These sources of uncertainty are frequently correlated: noisy input can lead to unreliable estimates of the state of the environment, with consequential influences on action selection. Given this correlation amongst various sources of uncertainty, dissociating the neural structures underlying their estimation presents an ongoing issue: a region associated with uncertainty related to outcomes may estimate outcome uncertainty itself, or it may reflect a cascade effect of state uncertainty on outcome estimates. In this study, we derive signals of state and outcome uncertainty from mathematical models of risk and observe regions in the cognitive control network whose activity is best explained by signals related to state uncertainty (anterior insula), outcome uncertainty (dlPFC), as well as regions that appear to integrate the two (ACC/mPFC). 14 april 2023 14 p.

Children's learning capabilities change while growing up. One framework that describes the cognitive and neural development of children's growing learning abilities is the two‐component model. It distinguishes processes that integrate separate features into a coherent memory representation (associative component) and executive abilities, such as elaboration, evaluation, and monitoring, that support memory processing (strategic component). In an fMRI study using an object‐location association paradigm, we investigated how the two components influence memory performance across development. We tested children (10–12 years, n = 31), late adolescents (18 years, n = 29), and adults (25+ years, n = 30). For studying the associative component, we also probed how the utilisation of prior knowledge (schemas) facilitates memory across age groups. Children had overall lower retrieval performance, while adolescents and adults did not differ from each other. All groups benefitted from schemas, but this effect did not differ between groups. Performance differences between groups were associated with deactivation of the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), which in turn was linked to executive functioning. These patterns were stronger in adolescents and adults and seemed absent in children. Thus, the children's executive system, the strategic component, is not as mature and thus cannot facilitate memory performance in the same way as in adolescents/adults. In contrast, we did not find age‐related differences in the associative component; with activity in the angular gyrus predicting memory performance systematically across groups. Overall, our results suggest that differences of executive rather than associative abilities explain memory differences between children, adolescents, and adults., In an fMRI study, we investigated whether memory differences between children, adolescents, and adults stem from developmental changes in executive abilities, the strategic component, or rather from differences in mechanisms related to binding different features together into a memory representation, the associative component. Overall, our results suggest that differences of executive rather than associative abilities explain memory differences between children, adolescents and adults.

Contains fulltext : 253747.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) A compelling amount of animal and human research has shown that perceived maternal stress during pregnancy can affect the neurodevelopment of the offspring. Prenatal maternal cortisol is frequently proposed as the biological key mechanism underlying this link; however, literature that investigates the effects of prenatal cortisol on subsequent neurodevelopment in humans is scarce. By using longitudinal data from a relatively large community sample of mother-child dyads (N = 73), this pre-registered study prospectively examined the role of maternal prenatal cortisol concentrations on subsequent individual differences in gray matter volume (GMV) and hippocampal subfield volumes at the onset of puberty of the offspring (12 years of age). Two markers of cortisol, that is, evening cortisol and circadian decline over the day, were used as indicators of maternal physiological stress during the last trimester of pregnancy. The results indicate that prenatal maternal cortisol levels were not associated with GMV or hippocampal subfield volumes of the children. These findings suggest that late pregnancy maternal cortisol may not be related to the structural development of the offspring’s brain, at least not in healthy community samples and at the onset of puberty. When examining the influence of prenatal stress on offspring neurodevelopment, future investigations should delineate gestational timing effects of the cortisol exposure, cortisol assessment method, and impact of additional biomarkers, as these were not investigated in this study. 12 p.

Contains fulltext : 227418.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) The COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented societal changes limiting us in our mobility and our ability to connect with others in person. These unusual but widespread changes provide a unique opportunity for studies using digital phenotyping tools. Digital phenotyping tools, such as mobile passive monitoring platforms (MPM), provide a new perspective on human behavior and hold promise to improve human behavioral research. However, there is currently little evidence that these tools can reliably detect changes in behavior. Considering the Considering the COVID-19 pandemic as a high impact common environmental factor we studied potential impact on behavior of participants using our mobile passive monitoring platform BEHAPP that was ambulatory tracking them during the COVID-19 pandemic. We pooled data from three MPM studies involving Schizophrenia (SZ), Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Bipolar Disorder (BD) patients (N = 12). We compared the data collected on weekdays during three weeks prior and three weeks subsequent to the start of the quarantine. We hypothesized an increase in communication and a decrease in mobility. We observed a significant increase in the total time spent on communication applications (median 179 and 243 min per week respectively, p = 0.005), and a significant decrease in the number of unique places visited (median 6 and 3 visits per week respectively, p = 0.007), while the total time spent at home did not change significantly (median 64 and 77 h per week, respectively, p = 0.594). The data provides a proof of principle that digital phenotyping tools can identify changes in human behavior incited by a common external environmental factor. 6 p.

Contains fulltext : 237848.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate emerging adults' mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether social support from mothers, fathers, and best friends moderated the change in mental health. Participants were 98 emerging adults (46% men) who were assessed prior to COVID-19 (Mage = 20.60 years) and during the first lockdown (Mage = 22.67 years). Results indicated that the pandemic did not uniformly lead to elevated levels of mental health problems, but instead depended on level of mental health problems prior to COVID-19 and the source of support. For emerging adults who already experienced more problems prior to COVID-19, more maternal support was related to decreases in general psychological distress and depressive symptoms, whereas more paternal support was related to increases in general psychological distress and depressive symptoms. Support from best friends were not associated with (changes in) mental health. 13 p.

Contains fulltext : 230530.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Regulating social emotional actions is essential for coping with life stressors and is associated with control by the anterior prefrontal cortex (aPFC) over the amygdala. However, it remains unclear to what extent prefrontal emotion regulation capacities contribute to resilience against developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Here, 185 police recruits who experienced their core trauma in the line of duty participated in a prospective longitudinal study. Pre- and post-trauma, they performed a well-established functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) approach-avoidance task, mapping impulsive and controlled emotional actions. Higher baseline aPFC, dorsal and medial frontal pole activity was related to lower PTSD symptoms after trauma exposure. aPFC activity predicted symptom development over and above self-reported and behavioural measures. Trauma exposure, but not trauma symptoms, predicted amygdala activation at follow-up. These findings suggest that prefrontal emotion regulation activity predicts increased resilience against developing post-traumatic stress symptoms and may provide fruitful starting points for prediction and intervention studies. 10 p.

The endeavor to understand the human brain has seen more progress in the last few decades than in the previous two millennia. Still, our understanding of how the human brain relates to behavior in the real world and how this link is modulated by biological, social, and environmental factors is limited. To address this, we designed the Healthy Brain Study (HBS), an interdisciplinary, longitudinal, cohort study based on multidimensional, dynamic assessments in both the laboratory and the real world. Here, we describe the rationale and design of the currently ongoing HBS. The HBS is examining a population-based sample of 1,000 healthy participants (age 30–39) who are thoroughly studied across an entire year. Data are collected through cognitive, affective, behavioral, and physiological testing, neuroimaging, bio-sampling, questionnaires, ecological momentary assessment, and real-world assessments using wearable devices. These data will become an accessible resource for the scientific community enabling the next step in understanding the human brain and how it dynamically and individually operates in its bio-social context. An access procedure to the collected data and bio-samples is in place and published on https://www.healthybrainstudy.nl/en/data-and-methods/access. Trail registration: https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/7955.

Rationale Interoception is the signalling, perception, and interpretation of internal physiological states. Many mental disorders associated with changes of interoception, including depressive and anxiety disorders, are treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). However, the causative link between SSRIs and interoception is not yet clear. Objectives To ascertain the causal effect of acute changes of serotonin levels on cardiac interoception. Methods Using a within-participant placebo-controlled design, forty-seven healthy human volunteers (31 female, 16 male) were tested on and off a 20 mg oral dose of the commonly prescribed SSRI, citalopram. Participants made judgements on the synchrony between their heartbeat and auditory tones and then expressed confidence in each judgement. We measured three types of interoceptive cognition. Results Citalopram increased cardiac interoceptive insight, measured as correspondence of self-reported confidence to the likelihood that interoceptive judgements were actually correct. This effect was driven by enhanced confidence for correct interoceptive judgements and was independent of measured cardiac and reported subjective effects of the drug. Conclusions An acute change of serotonin levels can increase insight into the reliability of inferences made from cardiac interoceptive sensations.

Contains fulltext : 278933.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) In this study we verified the causal role of the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in emotional regulation using a strategy of reappraisal, which involves intentionally changing the meaning of an affective event to reduce its emotional impact. Healthy participants (n = 26; mean age = 25.4) underwent three sessions of inhibitory continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) applied on three different days over the left or right DLPFC, or the vertex. After applying the stimulation protocol participants were presented with neutral and negative pictorial stimuli that had to be either passively watched or reappraised. The efficacy of emotional control was quantified using the Late Positive Potential (LPP), the neural marker of motivated attention and elaborated stimulus processing. The results showed that reappraisal was compromised after inhibitory stimulation of the right DLPFC compared to the vertex. This impairment of affective modulation was reflected in both early (350-750 ms) and late (750-1500 ms) time windows. As no session differences during the passive watching conditions were found, the decrease in reappraisal efficacy due to non-specific changes in basic perceptual processing was considered unlikely. Instead, we suggest that inhibition of the right DLPFC primarily affects the top-down mechanism of attentional deployment. This results in disturbances of attentional processes that are necessary to thoroughly elaborate the content of affective stimuli to enable their new, less negative interpretation. 12 p.

Contains fulltext : 217451.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Social-emotional cues, such as affective vocalizations and emotional faces, automatically elicit emotional action tendencies. Adaptive social-emotional behavior depends on the ability to control these automatic action tendencies. It remains unknown whether neural control over automatic action tendencies is supramodal or relies on parallel modality-specific neural circuits. Here, we address this largely unexplored issue in humans. We consider neural circuits supporting emotional action control in response to affective vocalizations, using an approach–avoidance task known to reliably index control over emotional action tendencies elicited by emotional faces. We isolate supramodal neural contributions to emotional action control through a conjunction analysis of control-related neural activity evoked by auditory and visual affective stimuli, the latter from a previously published data set obtained in an independent sample. We show that the anterior pFC (aPFC) supports control of automatic action tendencies in a supramodal manner, that is, triggered by either emotional faces or affective vocalizations. When affective vocalizations are heard and emotional control is required, the aPFC supports control through negative functional connectivity with the posterior insula. When emotional faces are seen and emotional control is required, control relies on the same aPFC territory downregulating the amygdala. The findings provide evidence for a novel mechanism of emotional action control with a hybrid hierarchical architecture, relying on a supramodal node (aPFC) implementing an abstract goal by modulating modality-specific nodes (posterior insula, amygdala) involved in signaling motivational significance of either affective vocalizations or faces. 12 p.

Contains fulltext : 219339.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) A better understanding of context in decision-making - that is, the internal and external conditions that modulate decisions - is required to help bridge the gap between natural behaviors that evolved by natural selection and more arbitrary laboratory models of anxiety and fear. Because anxiety and fear are mechanisms evolved to manage threats from predators and other exigencies, the large behavioral, ecological and evolutionary literature on predation risk is useful for re-framing experimental research on human anxiety-related disorders. We review the trade-offs that are commonly made during antipredator decision-making in wild animals along with the context under which the behavior is performed and measured, and highlight their relevance for focused laboratory models of fear and anxiety. We then develop an integrative mechanistic model of decision-making under risk which, when applied to laboratory and field settings, should improve studies of the biological basis of normal and pathological anxiety and may therefore improve translational outcomes. 9 p.

Contains fulltext : 250368.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Threatening situations ask for rapid and accurate perceptual decisions to optimize coping. Theoretical models have stated that psychophysiological states, such as bradycardia during threat-anticipatory freezing, may facilitate perception. However, it's unclear if this occurs via enhanced bottom-up sensory processing or by relying more on prior expectations. To test this, 52 (26 female) participants completed a visual target-detection paradigm under threat-of-shock (15% reinforcement rate) with a manipulation of prior expectations. Participants judged the presence of a backward-masked grating (target presence rate 50%) after systematically manipulating their decision criterion with a rare (20%) or frequent (80%) target presence rate procedure. Threat-of-shock induced stronger heart rate deceleration compared to safe, indicative of threat-anticipatory freezing. Importantly, threat-of-shock enhanced perceptual sensitivity but we did not find evidence of an altered influence of the effect of prior expectations on current decisions. Correct target detection (hits) was furthermore accompanied by an increase in the magnitude of this heart rate deceleration compared to a missed target. While this was independent of threat-of-shock manipulation, only under threat-of-shock this increase was accompanied by more hits and increased sensitivity. Together, these findings suggest that under acute threat participants may rely more on bottom-up sensory processing versus prior expectations in perceptual decision-making. Critically, bradycardia may underlie such enhanced perceptual sensitivity. 11 p.

Item does not contain fulltext One of the hallmarks of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is abnormalities in the HPA-axis. This includes alterations in its negative feedback regulation. Although altered glucocorticoid receptor (GR) mRNA expression is thought to play a crucial role herein, direct longitudinal evidence in humans is lacking to support this assumption. The current prospective longitudinal study assessed the consequence of repeated trauma exposure on GR mRNA expression from saliva samples in early-career police recruits (n = 112) by assessing them before and after trauma exposure. We did not observe a relationship between change in GR mRNA expression and development of PTSD symptom severity. However, the more traumatic events were experienced during police training the stronger GR mRNA expression was increased. Moreover, increases in GR mRNA expression were associated with blunted HPA-axis stress-reactivity at follow-up compared to baseline. This study provides the first longitudinal evidence of a dose-response relationship between trauma and human GR mRNA expression (extracted from saliva) changes; therefore, replication is warranted. Our finding might contribute a possible explanatory framework for blunted HPA-axis function associated with PTSD. 8 p.

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Contains fulltext : 246942.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Substantial individual differences exist in how acute stress affects large-scale neurocognitive networks, including salience (SN), default mode (DMN), and central executive networks (CEN). Changes in the connectivity strength of these networks upon acute stress may predict vulnerability to long-term stress effects, which can only be tested in prospective longitudinal studies. Using such longitudinal design, we investigated whether the magnitude of acute-stress-induced functional connectivity changes (delta-FC) predicts the development of post-traumatic stress-disorder (PTSD) symptoms in a relatively resilient group of young police students that are known to be at high risk for trauma exposure. Using resting-state fMRI, we measured acute-stress-induced delta-FC in 190 police recruits before (baseline) and after trauma exposure during repeated emergency-aid services (16-month follow-up). Delta-FC was then linked to the changes in perceived stress levels (PSS) and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PCL and CAPS). Weakened connectivity between the SN and DMN core regions upon acute-stress induction at baseline predicted longitudinal increases in perceived-stress level but not of post-traumatic stress symptoms, whereas increased coupling between the overall SN and anterior cerebellum was observed in participants with higher clinician-rated PTSD symptoms, particularly intrusion levels. All the effects remained significant when controlling for trauma-exposure levels and cortisol-stress reactivity. Neither hormonal nor subjective measures exerted similar predictive or acquired effects. The reconfiguration of large-scale neural networks upon acute-stress induction is relevant for assessing and detecting risk and resilience factors for PTSD. This study highlights the SN connectivity-changes as a potential marker for trauma-related symptom development, which is sensitive even in a relatively resilient sample. 8 p.

Significance\ud \ud Communicating in ways that motivate engagement in social distancing remains a critical global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study tested motivational qualities of messages about social distancing (those that promoted choice and agency vs. those that were forceful and shaming) in 25,718 people in 89 countries. The autonomy-supportive message decreased feelings of defying social distancing recommendations relative to the controlling message, and the controlling message increased controlled motivation, a less effective form of motivation, relative to no message. Message type did not impact intentions to socially distance, but people’s existing motivations were related to intentions. Findings were generalizable across a geographically diverse sample and may inform public health communication strategies in this and future global health emergencies.\ud \ud \ud \ud Abstract\ud \ud Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges.

Contains fulltext : 251669.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) The use of landmarks for navigation develops throughout childhood. Here, we examined the developmental trajectory of egocentric and allocentric navigation based on landmark information in an on-screen virtual environment in 39 5-6-year-olds, 43 7-8-year-olds, and 41 9-10-year-olds. We assessed both categorical performance, indicating the notion of location changes based on the landmarks, as well as metrical performance relating to the precision of the representation of the environment. We investigated whether age, sex, spatial working memory, verbal working memory, and verbal production of left and right contributed to the development of navigation skills. In egocentric navigation, Categorical performance was already above chance at 5 years of age and was positively related to visuo-spatial working memory and the production of left/right, whereas metrical performance was only related to age. Allocentric navigation started to develop between 5 and 8 years of age and was related to sex, with boys outperforming girls. Both boys and girls seemed to rely more on directional landmark information as compared to positional landmark information. To our knowledge, this study is the first to give insight into the relative contribution of different cognitive abilities to navigation skills in school-aged children. 18 p.

Contains fulltext : 284232.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) The COVID-19 pandemic (and its aftermath) highlights a critical need to communicate health information effectively to the global public. Given that subtle differences in information framing can have meaningful effects on behavior, behavioral science research highlights a pressing question: Is it more effective to frame COVID-19 health messages in terms of potential losses (e.g., "If you do not practice these steps, you can endanger yourself and others") or potential gains (e.g., "If you practice these steps, you can protect yourself and others")? Collecting data in 48 languages from 15,929 participants in 84 countries, we experimentally tested the effects of message framing on COVID-19-related judgments, intentions, and feelings. Loss- (vs. gain-) framed messages increased self-reported anxiety among participants cross-nationally with little-to-no impact on policy attitudes, behavioral intentions, or information seeking relevant to pandemic risks. These results were consistent across 84 countries, three variations of the message framing wording, and 560 data processing and analytic choices. Thus, results provide an empirical answer to a global communication question and highlight the emotional toll of loss-framed messages. Critically, this work demonstrates the importance of considering unintended affective consequences when evaluating nudge-style interventions. 26 p.

In keeping with the view that individuals invest cognitive effort in accordance with its relative costs and benefits, reward incentives typically improve performance in tasks that require cognitive effort. At the same time, increasing effort investment may confer larger or smaller performance benefits-that is, the marginal value of effort-depending on the situation or context. On this view, we hypothesized that the magnitude of reward-induced effort modulations should depend critically on the marginal value of effort for the given context, and furthermore, the marginal value of effort of a context should be learned over time as a function of direct experience in the context. Using two well-characterized cognitive control tasks and simple computational models, we demonstrated that individuals appear to learn the marginal value of effort for different contexts. In a task-switching paradigm (Experiment 1), we found that participants initially exhibited reward-induced switch cost reductions across contexts-here, task switch rates-but over time learned to only increase effort in contexts with a comparatively larger marginal utility of effort. Similarly, in a flanker task (Experiment 2), we observed a similar learning effect across contexts defined by the proportion of incongruent trials. Together, these results enrich theories of cost-benefit effort decision-making by highlighting the importance of the (learned) marginal utility of cognitive effort. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

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Contains fulltext : 251259pre.pdf (Author’s version preprint ) (Open Access) Contains fulltext : 251259.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Animals have sophisticated mechanisms for coping with danger. Freezing is a unique state that, upon threat detection, allows evidence to be gathered, response possibilities to be previsioned and preparations to be made for worst-case fight or flight. We propose that - rather than reflecting a passive fear state - the particular somatic and cognitive characteristics of freezing help to conceal overt responses, while optimizing sensory processing and action preparation. Critical for these functions are the neurotransmitters noradrenaline and acetylcholine, which modulate neural information processing and also control the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system. However, the interactions between autonomic systems and the brain during freezing, and the way in which they jointly coordinate responses, remain incompletely explored. We review the joint actions of these systems and offer a novel computational framework to describe their temporally harmonized integration. This reconceptualization of freezing has implications for its role in decision-making under threat and for psychopathology. 13 p.

Contains fulltext : 284129.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Synesthesia is a phenomenon where sensory stimuli or cognitive concepts elicit additional perceptual experiences. For instance, in a commonly studied type of synesthesia, stimuli such as words written in black font elicit experiences of other colors, e.g., red. In order to objectively verify synesthesia, participants are asked to choose colors for repeatedly presented stimuli and the consistency of their choices is evaluated (consistency test). Previously, there has been no publicly available and easy-to-use tool for analyzing consistency test results. Here, the R package synr is introduced, which provides an efficient interface for exploring consistency test data and applying common procedures for analyzing them. Importantly, synr also implements a novel method enabling identification of participants whose scores cannot be interpreted, e.g., who only give black or red color responses. To this end, density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) is applied in conjunction with a measure of spread in 3D space. An application of synr with pre-existing openly accessible data illustrating how synr is used in practice is presented. Also included is a comparison of synr’s data validation procedure and human ratings, which found that synr had high correspondence with human ratings and outperformed human raters in situations where human raters were easily mislead. Challenges for widespread adoption of synr as well as suggestions for using synr within the field of synesthesia and other areas of psychological research are discussed. 10 november 2022 13 p.