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Integrating independent but converging lines of research on brain function and neurodevelopment across scales, this article proposes that serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) signaling is an evolutionary and developmental driver and potent modulator of the macroscale functional organization of the human cerebral cortex. A wealth of evidence indicates that the anatomical and functional organization of the cortex follows a unimodal-to-transmodal gradient. Situated at the apex of this processing hierarchy - where it plays a central role in the integrative processes underpinning complex, human-defining cognition - the transmodal cortex has disproportionately expanded across human development and evolution. Notably, the adult human transmodal cortex is especially rich in 5-HT2AR expression, and recent evidence suggests that, during early brain development, 5-HT2AR signaling on neural progenitor cells stimulates their proliferation - a critical process for evolutionarily-relevant cortical expansion. Drawing on multimodal neuroimaging and cross-species investigations, we argue that, by contributing to the expansion of the human cortex, and being prevalent at the apex of its hierarchy in the adult brain, 5-HT2AR signaling plays a major role in both human cortical expansion and functioning. Due to its unique excitatory and downstream cellular effects, neuronal 5-HT2AR agonism promotes neuroplasticity, learning, and cognitive and psychological flexibility in a context-(hyper)sensitive manner with therapeutic potential. Overall, we delineate a dual role of 5-HT2ARs in enabling both the expansion and modulation of the human transmodal cortex.

Abstract The neuromodulatory subcortical nuclei within the isodendritic core (IdC) are the earliest sites of tauopathy in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). They project broadly throughout the brain’s white matter. We investigated the relationship between IdC microstructure and whole-brain white matter microstructure to better understand early neuropathological changes in AD. Using multiparametric quantitative magnetic resonance imaging we observed two covariance patterns between IdC and white matter microstructure in 133 cognitively unimpaired older adults (age 67.9 ± 5.3 years) with familial risk for AD. IdC integrity related to 1) whole-brain neurite density, and 2) neurite orientation dispersion in white matter tracts known to be affected early in AD. Pattern 2 was associated with CSF concentration of phosphorylated-tau, indicating AD specificity. Apolipoprotein-E4 carriers expressed both patterns more strongly than non-carriers. IdC microstructure variation is reflected in white matter, particularly in AD-affected tracts, highlighting an early mechanism of pathological development.

ABSTRACT The establishment and spread of invasive species are directly related to intersexual interactions as dispersal and reproductive success are related to distribution, effective population size, and population growth. Accordingly, populations established by r‐selected species are particularly difficult to suppress or eradicate. One such species, the red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) is established globally at considerable ecological and financial costs to natural and human communities. Here, we develop a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci panel for P. clarkii using restriction‐associated DNA‐sequencing data. We use the SNP panel to successfully genotype 1800 individuals at 930 SNPs in southeastern Michigan, USA. Genotypic data were used to reconstruct pedigrees, which enabled the characterization of P. clarkii's mating system and statistical tests for associations among environmental, demographic, and phenotypic predictors and adult reproductive success estimates. We identified juvenile cohorts using genotype‐based pedigrees, body size, and sampling timing, which elucidated the breeding phenology of multiple introduced populations. We report a high prevalence of multiple paternity in each surveyed waterbody, indicating polyandry in this species. We highlight the use of newly developed rapid genomic assessment tools for monitoring population reproductive responses, effective population sizes, and dispersal during ongoing control efforts.

In response to flood risk, design flood estimation is a cornerstone of planning, infrastructure design, setting of insurance premiums, and emergency response planning. Under stationary assumptions, flood guidance and the methods used in design flood estimation are firmly established in practice and mature in their theoretical foundations, but under climate change, guidance is still in its infancy. Human-caused climate change is influencing factors that contribute to flood risk such as rainfall extremes and soil moisture, and there is a need for updated flood guidance. However, a barrier to updating flood guidance is the translation of the science into practical application. For example, most science pertaining to historical changes to flood risk focuses on examining trends in annual maximum flood events or the application of non-stationary flood frequency analysis. Although this science is valuable, in practice, design flood estimation focuses on exceedance probabilities much rarer than annual maximum events, such as the 1 % annual exceedance probability event or even rarer, using rainfall-based procedures, at locations where there are few to no observations of streamflow. Here, we perform a systematic review to summarize the state-of-the-art understanding of the impact of climate change on design flood estimation in the Australian context, while also drawing on international literature. In addition, a meta-analysis, whereby results from multiple studies are combined, is conducted for extreme rainfall to provide quantitative estimates of possible future changes. This information is described in the context of contemporary design flood estimation practice to facilitate the inclusion of climate science into design flood estimation practice.

Abstract In the last decade, the behavioral sciences have described the phenomenon of trypophobia, which is the discomfort felt by some individuals when viewing images containing clusters of bumps or holes. One evolutionary hypothesis for this phenomenon is that this visual discomfort represents an adaptation which helps organisms avoid skin disease and/or ectoparasites. Even though trypophobic imagery and disease imagery are both examples of visual textures, to date there has been no comparison of the visual discomfort elicited by these two specific kinds of textures within the larger context of the visual comfort elicited by natural texture imagery more generally. In the present study, we administered the Trypophobia Questionnaire (TQ) and recorded the visual comfort ratings elicited by a large set of standard natural texture images, including several trypophobic and skin disease images. In two independent samples, we found that while all observers find skin diseases uncomfortable to view, only those scoring high on the TQ rated trypophobic imagery equally uncomfortable. Comparable effects were observed using both standard ANOVA procedures as well as linear mixed effects modeling. Comparing the ratings of both high-TQ and low-TQ participants to the standard textures, we find remarkably consistent rank-order preferences, with the most unpleasant textures (as rated by both groups) exhibiting qualitative similarities to trypophobic imagery. However, we also find that low-level image statistics which have been previously shown to affect visual comfort are poor predictors of the visual comfort elicited by natural textures, including trypophobic and disease imagery. Our results suggest that a full understanding of the visual comfort elicited by natural textures, including those arising from skin disease, will ultimately depend upon a better understanding of cortical areas specialized for the perception of surface and material properties, and how these visual regions interact with emotional brain areas to evoke appropriate behavioral responses, like disgust.

Introduction Individual patient safety processes (such as reporting, investigating, learning and improving patient outcomes) activated following serious adverse incidents (e.g. patient suicide) are not distinct or standalone. Rather, they are embedded within a complex system of multiple interdependent processes enacted by individuals who are subject to an array of implicit and explicit influences (Nathan et al. BJPsych Advances 2022; 1-11). Although some specific elements of the response to adverse incidents have been examined, no previous empirical research has set out to study the complex interacting system within which these elements are situated. Objectives This study’s aim was to characterise a complex patient safety system and to identify types of processes across that system that have an impact on the goal of improving patient safety. Methods Recorded 1:1 semi-structured interviews were undertaken with staff in a range of patient safety roles across a mental health care system to elicit accounts of the system response to serious adverse incidents. These interviews were transcribed, and the transcriptions were subject to thematic analysis using the Framework Method for qualitative research in health care settings (Gale et al. BMC Med. Res. Methodol. 2013; 13.1; 1-8).This preliminary study relates to the analysis of 8 interviews. Results The following six main types of influences on the effectiveness of patient safety system responses to adverse incidents were identified: 1. Differing functions/expectations of investigations into serious incidents (due to differing demands of different parties, such as the health provider, the family, the coroner, etc); 2. Differing methodologies used to investigate serious adverse incidents (although system-based generally preferred, there was a noted risk that this approach may fail to identify occasional examples of poor practice); 3. Relationship between incident investigation processes and patient safety processes (with a particular potential for the latter to dominate the system at the expense of the former); 4. System complexity (multiple interacting processes/processors at multiple levels within the health provider and wider health system); 5. Operationalising recommendations from investigations (with the potential for adverse unintended patient safety consequences) 6. Influence of national directives Conclusions As well as paying attention to individual components of the safety system (e.g. investigation methodology and organisational culture), the development of an effective patient safety system is dependent on an understanding of the complex interacting processes across the system. This study sheds empirical light on key influences that act across a mental health provider system. Both researchers of patient safety and providers intending to improve their approach to patient safety should take account of such systemic influences on effectiveness. Disclosure of Interest None Declared

Usage of the Greek verb ‘to be’ is generally divided into three broad categories — the predicative use, the existential and the veridical—and these usages often inform the way we understand Being in ancient philosophy. This article challenges this approach by arguing that Being is not the product of linguistic reflection in Parmenides, Plato and Aristotle; rather, these thinkers treat Being as the ontological and epistemological primary. Though this may overlap with the linguistic senses, it is not the same thing. The article is divided into three sections: the first one raises several basic issues with the predicative interpretation of Being, the second argues that Being is unified and singular in a significant sense and the third brings out the special pre-immanence of Being.

AbstractLoneliness is associated with differences in resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) within and between large-scale networks in early- and middle-aged adult cohorts. However, age-related changes in associations between sociality and brain function into late adulthood are not well understood. Here, we examined age differences in the association between two dimensions of sociality—loneliness and empathic responding—and RSFC of the cerebral cortex. Self-report measures of loneliness and empathy were inversely related across the entire sample of younger (mean age = 22.6y, n = 128) and older (mean age = 69.0y, n = 92) adults. Using multivariate analyses of multi-echo fMRI RSFC, we identified distinct functional connectivity patterns for individual and age group differences associated with loneliness and empathic responding. Loneliness in young and empathy in both age groups was related to greater visual network integration with association networks (e.g., default, fronto-parietal control). In contrast, loneliness was positively related to within- and between-network integration of association networks for older adults. These results extend our previous findings in early- and middle-aged cohorts, demonstrating that brain systems associated with loneliness, as well as empathy, differ in older age. Further, the findings suggest that these two aspects of social experience engage different neurocognitive processes across human life-span development.

The Millennium Drought lasted more than a decade and is notable for causing persistent shifts in the relationship between rainfall and runoff in many southeastern Australian catchments. Research to date has successfully characterised where and when shifts occurred and explored relationships with potential drivers, but a convincing physical explanation for observed changes in catchment behaviour is still lacking. Originating from a large multi-disciplinary workshop, this paper presents and evaluates a range of hypothesised process explanations of flow response to the Millennium Drought. The hypotheses consider climatic forcing, vegetation, soil moisture dynamics, groundwater, and anthropogenic influence. The hypotheses are assessed against evidence both temporally (e.g. why was the Millennium Drought different to previous droughts?) and spatially (e.g. why did rainfall–runoff relationships shift in some catchments but not in others?). Thus, the strength of this work is a large-scale assessment of hydrologic changes and potential drivers. Of 24 hypotheses, 3 are considered plausible, 10 are considered inconsistent with evidence, and 11 are in a category in between, whereby they are plausible yet with reservations (e.g. applicable in some catchments but not others). The results point to the unprecedented length of the drought as the primary climatic driver, paired with interrelated groundwater processes, including declines in groundwater storage, altered recharge associated with vadose zone expansion, and reduced connection between subsurface and surface water processes. Other causes include increased evaporative demand and harvesting of runoff by small private dams. Finally, we discuss the need for long-term field monitoring, particularly targeting internal catchment processes and subsurface dynamics. We recommend continued investment in the understanding of hydrological shifts, particularly given their relevance to water planning under climate variability and change.

Measurement(s) Blood Oxygen Level-Dependent Functional MRI Technology Type(s) Magnetization-Prepared Rapid Gradient Echo MRI Sample Characteristic - Organism Homo sapiens

Our ability to consciously perceive information from the visual scene relies on a myriad of intrinsic neural mechanisms. Functional neuroimaging studies have sought to identify the neural correlates of conscious visual processing and to further dissociate from those pertaining to preconscious and unconscious visual processing. However, delineating what core brain regions are involved in eliciting a conscious percept remains a challenge, particularly regarding the role of prefrontal-parietal regions. We performed a systematic search of the literature that yielded a total of 54 functional neuroimaging studies. We conducted two quantitative meta-analyses using activation likelihood estimation to identify reliable patterns of activation engaged by i. conscious (n = 45 studies, comprising 704 participants) and ii. unconscious (n = 16 studies, comprising 262 participants) visual processing during various task performances. Results of the meta-analysis specific to conscious percepts quantitatively revealed reliable activations across a constellation of regions comprising the bilateral inferior frontal junction, intraparietal sulcus, dorsal anterior cingulate, angular gyrus, temporo-occipital cortex and anterior insula. Neurosynth reverse inference revealed conscious visual processing to be intertwined with cognitive terms related to attention, cognitive control and working memory. Results of the meta-analysis on unconscious percepts revealed consistent activations in the lateral occipital complex, intraparietal sulcus and precuneus. These findings highlight the notion that conscious visual processing readily engages higher-level regions including the inferior frontal junction and unconscious processing reliably recruits posterior regions, mainly the lateral occipital complex.

Trait ‘absorption’ is a psychological construct with a rich history that was initially born from early work on hypnotic suggestibility. Absorption characterizes an individual's tendency to become effortlessly engrossed in the contents of experience, whether in terms of external sensory phenomena or internal imagery and fantasy, and is reliably associated with a constellation of psychological, cognitive, and behavioral traits. Here, we conducted a comprehensive neuroimaging investigation of associations between trait absorption and the brain. In particular, we assessed multivariate relationships between absorption scores and neuroimaging measures of grey matter density, as well as static and dynamic resting-state functional connectivity. We investigated these relationships using partial least squares in a discovery dataset (n = 201) and then attempted to reproduce results in an independent replication dataset (n = 68). Results revealed a lack of significant associations between absorption and grey matter density across both datasets, and a significant association between absorption and static resting-state functional connectivity in the discovery dataset which was not replicated in the replication dataset. Additional control analyses further indicated the lack of a reliable brain-absorption relationship, whereas we found a replicable association between the closely related trait of ‘openness to experience’ and resting-state functional connectivity. We conclude that absorption is not reliably associated with brain structure or function in the present datasets and discuss factors that may have contributed to this result. This study serves as the first comprehensive and adequately powered investigation of the neural correlates of absorption and motivates future studies to refine the conceptualization of this perplexing trait.

BackgroundSocial prescription programs represent a viable solution to linking primary care patients to nonmedical community resources for improving patient well-being. However, their success depends on the integration of patient needs with local resources. This integration could be accelerated by digital tools that use expressive ontology to organize knowledge resources, thus enabling the seamless navigation of diverse community interventions and services tailored to the needs of individual users. This infrastructure bears particular relevance for older adults, who experience a range of social needs that impact their health, including social isolation and loneliness. An essential first step in enabling knowledge mobilization and the successful implementation of social prescription initiatives to meet the social needs of older adults is to incorporate the evidence-based academic literature on what works, with on-the-ground solutions in the community. ObjectiveThis study aims to integrate scientific evidence with on-the-ground knowledge to build a comprehensive list of intervention terms and keywords related to reducing social isolation and loneliness in older adults. MethodsA meta-review was conducted using a search strategy combining terms related to older adult population, social isolation and loneliness, and study types relevant to reviews using 5 databases. Review extraction included intervention characteristics, outcomes (social [eg, loneliness, social isolation, and social support] or mental health [eg, psychological well-being, depression, and anxiety]), and effectiveness (reported as consistent, mixed, or not supported). Terms related to identified intervention types were extracted from the reviewed literature as well as descriptions of corresponding community services in Montréal, Canada, available from web-based regional, municipal, and community data sources. ResultsThe meta-review identified 11 intervention types addressing social isolation and loneliness in older adults by either increasing social interactions, providing instrumental support, promoting mental and physical well-being, or providing home and community care. Group-based social activities, support groups with educational elements, recreational activities, and training or use of information and communication technologies were the most effective in improving outcomes. Examples of most intervention types were found in community data sources. Terms derived from the literature that were the most commonly congruent with those describing existing community services were related to telehealth, recreational activities, and psychological therapy. However, several discrepancies were observed between review-based terms and those addressing the available services. ConclusionsA range of interventions found to be effective at addressing social isolation and loneliness or their impact on mental health were identified from the literature, and many of these interventions were represented in services available to older residents in Montréal, Canada. However, different terms were occasionally used to describe or categorize similar services across data sources. Establishing an efficient means of identifying and structuring such sources is important to facilitate referrals and help-seeking behaviors of older adults and for strategic planning of resources.

Conscientiousness, and related constructs impulsivity and self-control, have been related to structural and functional properties of regions in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and anterior insula. Network-based conceptions of brain function suggest that these regions belong to a single large-scale network, labeled the salience/ventral attention network (SVAN). The current study tested associations between conscientiousness and resting-state functional connectivity in this network using two community samples (N's = 244 and 239) and data from the Human Connectome Project (N = 1000). Individualized parcellation was used to improve functional localization accuracy and facilitate replication. Functional connectivity was measured using an index of network efficiency, a graph theoretical measure quantifying the capacity for parallel information transfer within a network. Efficiency of a set of parcels in the SVAN was significantly associated with conscientiousness in all samples. Findings are consistent with a theory of conscientiousness as a function of variation in neural networks underlying effective prioritization of goals.

Temporal unwrapping analysis of diffusion weighted MRI connectivity and functional MRI scans reveals that the coupling between structure and function in the human brain is regionally heterogeneous and provides a framework to evaluate these relationships from a dynamic perspective.

Objectives Difficulties with deception detection may leave older adults especially vulnerable to fraud. Interoception, that is, the awareness of one's bodily signals, has been shown to influence deception detection, but this relationship has not been examined in aging yet. The present study investigated effects of interoceptive accuracy on 2 forms of deception detection: detecting interpersonal lies in videos and identifying text-based deception in phishing emails. Methods Younger (18–34 years) and older (53–82 years) adults completed a heartbeat detection task to determine interoceptive accuracy. Deception detection was assessed across 2 distinct, ecologically valid tasks: (i) a lie detection task in which participants made veracity judgments of genuine and deceptive individuals, and (ii) a phishing email detection task to capture online deception detection. Using multilevel logistic regression models, we determined the effect of interoceptive accuracy on lie and phishing detection in younger versus older adults. Results In older, but not younger, adults greater interoceptive accuracy was associated with better accuracy in both detecting deceptive people and phishing emails. Discussion Interoceptive accuracy was associated with both lie detection and phishing detection accuracy among older adults. Our findings identify interoceptive accuracy as a potential protective factor for fraud susceptibility, as measured through difficulty detecting deception. These results support interoceptive accuracy as a relevant factor for consideration in interventions targeted at fraud prevention among older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Central to understanding human behavior is a comprehensive mapping of brain-behavior relations within the context of lifespan development. Reproducible discoveries depend upon well-powered samples of reliable data. We provide to the scientific community two, 10-minute, multi-echo functional MRI (ME-fMRI) runs, and structural MRI (T1-MPRAGE), from 181 healthy younger (ages 18–34 y) and 120 older adults (ages 60–89 y). T2-FLAIR MRIs and behavioral assessments are available in a majority subset of over 250 participants. Behavioral assessments include fluid and crystallized cognition, self-reported measures of personality, and socioemotional functioning. Initial quality control and validation of these data is provided. This dataset will be of value to scientists interested in BOLD signal specifically isolated from ME-fMRI, individual differences in brain-behavioral associations, and cross-sectional aging effects in healthy adults. Demographic and behavioral data are available within the Open Science Framework project “Goal-Directed Cognition in Older and Younger Adults” ( http://osf.io/yhzxe/ ), which will be augmented over time; neuroimaging data are available on OpenNeuro ( https://openneuro.org/datasets/ds003592 ).

Introduction Investigations into health and social care services offered to people who have died by suicide or who have committed a homicide have the potential to facilitate improvements in future practice. Such improvements are, however, dependent on the operationalizability of the recommendations of these investigations. Operationalizability in this context means the potential of the recommendations to alter the thinking/actions of practitioners involved in the areas of practice to which the recommendations relate. Critically, the proposed learning must make sense to practitioners in a multiplicity of single instance episodes of practice when the future is unknown. Although common content themes identified by investigations have been reported, no study has yet specifically examined how the framing of recommendations in investigation reports affects their operationalizability. Objectives Primary objective: to pilot a novel approach to the thematic analysis of investigations into serious incidents which focuses on the operationalizability of recommendations for day-to-day practice. Secondary objective: to explore the operationalizability of the specific recommendations arising from a recent UK review of child homicides. Methods A publicly available UK national review of child homicides by parents under social care services was subjected to a two-stage thematic analysis (firstly, to identify the types of thinking/acting that were scrutinised; and secondly to characterise the ways in which these thoughts/actions were appraised). The frame of reference for the thematic analysis was that of a practitioner involved in typical instances of practice where there is uncertainty about outcomes (i.e. real-life practice). Results Stage 1 - Four types of thinking/acting were identified: (i) information gathering, (ii) interpretation, (iii) judgement formation, and (iv) decision to act (figure 1).Stage 2 - The thoughts/actions were appraised according to three key themes: (a) occurrence of thoughts/actions at a pivotal moment, (b) erroneousness of thoughts/actions, and (c) thoroughness of thoughts/actions. Image: Conclusions With regard to the specific report analysed, the recommendations were found to have differing degrees of operationalizability. For instance, examples of ‘erroneous thinking/acting’ were more readily applicable to future practice (since they can be operationalised in terms of general principles). However, the notion of ‘pivotal moments’ is less useful, since the labelling of moments as ‘pivotal’ is dependent on a knowledge of the outcome and therefore would not have been readily identified contemporaneously in these cases (or, by extension in future similar cases prior to any serious incident). This pilot demonstrates that the novel approach used is a feasible way to examine not just the content, but also the utility, of investigation recommendations. Disclosure of Interest None Declared

The form of the Good in Plato’s Phaedo and Republic seems, by our standards, to do too much: it is presented as the metaphysical princi­ple, the epistemological principle and the principle of ethics. Yet this seemingly chimerical object makes good sense in the broader context of Plato’s philosophical project. He sought certain knowledge of neces­sary truths (in sharp contrast to the contingent truth of modern science). Thus, to be knowable the cosmos must be informed by timeless princi­ples; and this leads to teleology and the Good. The form of the Good, it is argued, is what makes the world knowable insofar as it is knowable. This interpretation plugs a significant gap in the scholarship on the Good and draws attention to a deep connection between Plato’s episte­mology and his teleological understanding of the cosmos.