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Large proportions of smokers are unsuccessful in evidence-based smoking cessation treatment and identifying prognostic predictors may inform improvements in treatment. Steep discounting of delayed rewards (delay discounting) is a robust predictor of poor smoking cessation outcome, but the underlying neural predictors have not been investigated. Forty-one treatment-seeking adult smokers completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) delay discounting paradigm prior to initiating a 9-week smoking cessation treatment protocol. Behavioral performance significantly predicted treatment outcomes (verified 7-day abstinence, n = 18; relapse, n = 23). Participants in the relapse group exhibited smaller area under the curve (d = 1.10) and smaller AUC was correlated with fewer days to smoking relapse (r = .56, p

Anger can engender action by individuals and groups. It is thus important to understand anger’s behavioral phenotypes and their underlying neural substrates. Here we introduce a construct we term agentic anger, a state that motivates action to achieve risky goals. We test predictions of our neurobehavioral model in two proof-of-concept studies. Study 1 used the Incentive Balloon Analogue Risk Task (iBART) in a within-subjects, repeated measures design in 39 healthy volunteers to evaluate: a) impact of frustrative non-reward on agentic anger, assessed by self-reports of negative activation (NA), b) impact of achieved reward on exuberance, assessed by self-reports of positive activation (PA), c) their interrelationship, and d) their relationship with traits of positive emotion, negative emotion, immersive emotion and impulsivity. Task-induced NA was positively correlated with task-induced PA (r=0.56, p

Objective: Negative effects of reduced sleep duration and consistency on cognition are well-known. It is also well-known that both decline with age. While emerging research finds that sex interacts with sleep duration, less is known about whether sex interacts with sleep schedule consistency to predict cognitive performance. We hypothesized that reduced sleep consistency would negatively impact cognitive performance and that women would be less affected by inconsistent sleep based on suggested protective effects of brain organization in sleep-deprived women (Corsi-Carbrera et al., 2003). Methods: Participants (N = 77, 96.3% White) were selected from a parent study of community-dwelling older adults. Inclusion criteria: complete demographic data, Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) index scores, and self-reported sleep data. The sample was majority female and well-educated. Results: RBANS performance and sleep measures were within normal limits (see Table). There was a significant main effect of sleep consistency across all RBANS scores, controlling age, education, and sleep duration. There were significant main effects of sex on Immediate Memory, Attention, and Total score. Interactions between sleep consistency and sex were significant for Immediate Memory, Delayed Memory, and Total score. Conclusions: Sleep consistency is associated with better cognitive performance across domains. Women perform better than men globally and in domains of immediate memory and attention, regardless of consistency. Women who sleep consistently are most likely to exhibit better memory and global cognitive function. Findings extend sleep duration effects on cognitive function to variability and suggest consistency may benefit women more than men.

The negative impact of stress on neurocognitive functioning is extensively documented by empirical research. However, emerging reports suggest that stress may also confer positive neurocognitive effects. This hypothesis has been advanced by the hormesis model of psychosocial stress, in which low-moderate levels of stress are expected to result in neurocognitive benefits, such as improved working memory (WM), a central executive function. We tested the hormesis hypothesis, purporting an inverted U-shaped relation between stress and neurocognitive performance, in a large sample of young adults from the Human Connectome Project (n = 1000, Mage = 28.74, SD = 3.67, 54.3% female). In particular, we investigated whether neural response during a WM challenge is a potential intermediary through which low-moderate levels of stress confer beneficial effects on WM performance. Further, we tested whether the association between low-moderate prolonged stress and WM-related neural function was stronger in contexts with more psychosocial resources. Findings showed that low-moderate levels of perceived stress were associated with elevated WM-related neural activation, resulting in more optimal WM behavioral performance (α *β = -0.02, p = .046). The strength of this association tapered off at high-stress levels. Finally, we found that the benefit of low-moderate stress was stronger among individuals with access to higher levels of psychosocial resources (β = -0.06, p = .021). By drawing attention to the dose-dependent, nonlinear relation between stress and WM, this study highlights emerging evidence of a process by which mild stress induces neurocognitive benefits, and the psychosocial context under which benefits are most likely to manifest.

Background. Previous neuroimaging studies examining relations between alcohol misuse and cortical thickness have revealed that increased drinking quantity and alcohol use disorder severity are associated with thinner cortex. Although conflicting regional effects are often observed, associations are generally localized to frontal regions (e.g., dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and anterior cingulate cortex), with parietal and temporal cortex also implicated in some studies. Inconsistent findings may be attributed to methodological differences, modest sample sizes, and limited consideration of sex differences. Method. This study examined neuroanatomical correlates of drinking quantity and heavy episodic drinking in a large sample of young adults (N=706; M age = 28.8; 51% female) using magnetic resonance imaging data from the Human Connectome Project (HCP). Results. Hierarchical linear regression models (controlling for age, sex, education, income, smoking, drug use, twin status, and intracranial volume) revealed significant inverse associations between drinks/week and frequency of heavy drinking and cortical thickness in a majority of regions examined. The largest effect sizes were found for frontal regions (i.e., DLPFC, IFG, and the precentral gyrus). Follow-up regression models revealed that the left DLPFC was uniquely associated with both drinking variables. Sex differences were also observed, with significant effects largely specific to men. Conclusions. This study adds to the understanding of brain correlates of alcohol use in a large, gender-balanced sample of young adults who exhibit a range of drinking levels. Although the cross-sectional methodology used in the present study preclude causal inferences, these findings provide a foundation for rigorous hypothesis testing in future longitudinal investigations.

This study is a replication of an existing large study (N = 507) on the surface-based morphometric correlates of Five-Factor Model (FFM) personality traits. The same methods were used as the original study in another large sample drawn from the same population (N = 597) with results then being aggregated from both samples (N = 1104), providing the largest investigation into the neuroanatomical correlates of FFM personality traits to date. Clusters of association between brain morphometry and each FFM trait are reported. For Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Openness, and Conscientiousness clusters of association were found in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for at least one morphometric index. Morphometry in various other regions was also associated with each personality trait. While some regions found in the original study were confirmed in the replication and full samples, others were not, highlighting the importance of replicating even high-quality, well-powered studies. Effect sizes were very similar in the replication and whole samples as those found in the original study. As a whole, the current results provide the strongest evidence to date on the neuroanatomical correlates of personality and highlights challenges in using this approach to understanding the neural correlates of personality.

Although personality traits have been linked to internalizing and externalizing psychopathology,the extent to which these traits and psychopathological phenotypes share a commonneuroanatomical structure is unclear. To address this gap, we used structural neuroimaging andself-report data from 1104 participants in the Human Connectome Project to characterize theneuroanatomical correlates of Five Factor Model (FFM) traits. We generated neuroanatomicalprofiles (NAPs) of FFM traits and psychopathology indices based on the thickness and surfacearea of each cortical region in the Desikan atlas. We used a profile matching approach tocompare the absolute similarity of the FFM trait NAPs and psychopathology index NAPs.Evaluating the individual regions in the NAPs suggest that FFM traits show small associationswith thickness and surface area in brain regions throughout the cortex, with prefrontal regionsbeing the most strongly related to multiple personality traits. Profile matching analyses indicatedthat the NAPs derived from Neuroticism and Extraversion demonstrated large absolutesimilarities to the NAPs of internalizing psychopathology. Similarly, the NAPs of Agreeablenessand Conscientiousness showed medium to large relations with the NAPs of externalizingpsychopathology. These results suggest that similar neuroanatomical correlates underlie specificpersonality traits and symptoms of psychopathology, providing support for dimensional modelsthat incorporate personality traits into the etiology and manifestation of psychopathology.