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A new virtual reality task was employed which uses preference for interpersonal distance to social stimuli to examine social motivation and emotion perception in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Nineteen children with higher functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder (HFA SD) and 23 age, gender, and IQ matched children with typical development (TD) used a joy stick to position themselves closer or further from virtual avatars while attempting to identify six emotions expressed by the avatars, happiness, fear, anger, disgust, sadness, and surprise that were expressed at different levels of intensity. The results indicated that children with HFA SD displayed significantly less approach behavior to the positive happy expression than did children with TD, who displayed increases in approach behavior to higher intensities of happy expressions. Alternatively, all groups tended to withdraw from negative emotions to the same extent and there were no diagnostic group differences in accuracy of recognition of any of the six emotions. This pattern of results is consistent with theory that suggests that some children with HFA SD display atypical social-approach motivation, or sensitivity to the positive reward value of positive social-emotional events. Conversely, there was little evidence that a tendency to withdraw from social-emotional stimuli, or a failure to process social emotional stimuli, was a component of social behavior task performance in this sample of children with HFA SD. [This article was published in "Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders" (EJ1082530).]

Background: Neurobiological findings and clinical data suggest that dissociative experience inhibits conditioning processes, but experimental studies are lacking. The aim of our study was to determine whether high states of dissociative experience would specifically alter emotional learning, but not declarative knowledge. Methods: We used an aversive differential delay conditioning procedure in 33 unmedicated patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and 35 healthy controls. Results: Patients with BPD who had high state dissociative experiences (BPD D+) showed diminished acquisition of differential aversive delay conditioning with respect to emotional learning compared with those who did not experience dissociative symptoms (BPD D-) and healthy controls (skin conductance response; interaction dissociation x quadratic time x type, p = 0.009). Specifically, the control group and the BPD D- subgroup showed an increase in valence and arousal to the conditioned stimulus (CS+) during the conditioning procedure (all p < 0.012) and demonstrated differential skin conductance responses in the acquisition and extinction phases. In contrast, the BPD D+ subgroup showed no increase in valence and arousal to CS+ or differential response regarding skin conductance. We examined general psychopathology, trauma history, perceptual differences and posttraumatic stress disorder as confounding factors, but we found no evidence of bias. Limitations: Subdividing the BPD group reduced power. In addition, because our sample included only women, the generalizability of our results is constrained. Furthermore, we performed no separate analysis of the influence of different aspects of dissociation on the learning process. Conclusion: Emotional, amygdala-based learning processes seem to be inhibited during state dissociative experience. State dissociative experience may alter acquisition and extinction processes and should be closely monitored in exposure-based psychotherapy. Contexte : Selon des observations et des donnees cliniques neurobiologiques, les etats dissociatifs inhiberaient les processus de conditionnement, mais les etudes experimentales sur le sujet font defaut. La presente etude avait pour but de determiner si les etats hautement dissociatifs peuvent alterer specifiquement certains apprentissages emotionnels, sans influer sur le savoir declaratif. Methodes : Nous avons utilise une technique de conditionnement differe aversif differentiel chez 33 patientes atteintes d&apos;un trouble de personnalite limite non traitees pharmacologiquement et chez 35 temoins en bonne sante. Resultats : Les patientes atteints d&apos;un trouble de personnalite limite et presentant un etat hautement dissociatif (D+) ont manifeste une acquisition plus lente du conditionnement differe aversif differentiel en ce qui a trait a l&apos;apprentissage emotionnel, comparativement aux patientes qui ne presentaient pas de symptomes dissociatifs (D-) et aux temoins en bonne sante (reponse de conductance cutanee; dissociation de type << temps quadratique >> vis-a-vis des interactions, p= 0,009). Plus specifiquement, le groupe temoin et le sous-groupe de patientes D- ont presente une augmentation de la valence et de l&apos;eveil au stimulus conditionne (SC+) durant l&apos;etape de conditionnement (tous p< 0,012) et ont manifeste des reponses de conductance cutanee differentielles durant les phases d&apos;acquisition et d&apos;extinction. En revanche, le sousgroupe de patientes D+ n&apos;a manifeste aucune augmentation de valence et d&apos;eveil au SC+, ni aucune reponse differentielle en ce qui a trait A la conductance cutanee. Parmi les facteurs de confusion, nous avons analyse la psychopathologie generale, les antecedents de traumatisme, les differences perceptuelles et les troubles de type stress post-traumatique, mais nous n&apos;avons releve aucun signe de biais. Limites : La division du groupe atteint d&apos;un trouble de personnalite limite a reduit la puissance de l&apos;etude. De plus, etant donne que notre echantillon n&apos;incluait que des femmes, nos resultats sont plus difficilement generalisables. En outre, nous n&apos;avons effectue aucune analyse distincte de l&apos;influence de divers aspects de la dissociation sur le processus d&apos;apprentissage. Conclusion : Les processus d&apos;apprentissage emotionnels qui dependent de l&apos;amygdale semblent etre inhibes chez les participants presentant un etat dissociatif. Les etats dissociatifs peuvent perturber les processus d&apos;acquisition et d&apos;extinction et meritent d&apos;etre surveilles etroitement lors de psychotherapies par exposition., Introduction Neurobiological findings (1-9) and clinical data (10,11) suggest that conditioning processes are inhibited by dissociation. Regarding neurobiological processes, the corticolimbic disconnection model of dissociation (12) hypothesizes that the medial [...]

Understanding cellular contributions to hemodynamic activity is essential for interpreting blood-based brain mapping signals. Optogenetic studies examining cell-specific influences on local hemodynamics have reported that excitatory activity results in cerebral perfusion and blood volume increase, while inhibitory activity contributes to both vasodilation and vasoconstriction. How specific subpopulations of interneurons regulate the brain's blood supply is less examined. Parvalbumin interneurons are the largest subpopulation of GABAergic neurons in the brain, critical for brain development, plasticity, and long-distance excitatory neurotransmission. Despite their essential role in brain function, the contribution of parvalbumin neurons to neurovascular coupling has been relatively unexamined. Using optical intrinsic signal imaging and laser speckle contrast imaging, we photostimulated awake and anesthetized transgenic mice expressing channelrhodopsin under a parvalbumin promoter. Increased parvalbumin activity reduced local oxygenation, cerebral blood volume, and cerebral blood flow. These "negative" hemodynamic responses were consistent within and across mice and reproducible across a broad range of photostimulus parameters. However, the sign and magnitude of the hemodynamic response resulting from increased parvalbumin activity depended on the type and level of anesthesia used. Opposed hemodynamic responses following increased excitation or parvalbumin-based inhibition suggest unique contributions from different cell populations to neurovascular coupling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the efficacy, mechanisms, and application of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). The treatment of individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD), particularly those who deliberately harm themselves physically or who often think about and/or attempt suicide, is the reason why DBT was developed.

Objectives: To compare patient access to urgent care centers (UCCs) with a diagnosis of sudden hearing loss based on insurance., Methods: One hundred twenty-five random UCCs in states with Medicaid expansion and 125 random UCCs in states without Medicaid expansion were contacted by a research assistant posing as a family member seeking care on behalf of a patient with a one-week history of sudden, unilateral hearing loss. Each clinic was called once as a Medicaid patient and once as a private insurance (PI) patient for 500 total calls. Each phone encounter was evaluated for insurance acceptance and self-pay price. Secondary outcomes included other measures of timely/accessible care. Chi-square/McNemar's tests and independent/paired sample t-tests were performed to determine whether there were statistically significant differences between expansion status and insurance type. Calls ended before answering questions were not included in the analysis., Results: Medicaid acceptance rate was significantly lower than PI (68.1% vs. 98.4%, p < 0.001). UCCs in Medicaid expansion states were significantly more likely to accept Medicaid (76.8% vs. 59.2%, p = 0.003). The mean wage-adjusted self-pay price was significantly greater in states with Medicaid expansion at $169.84 than in states without at $145.34 when called as a Medicaid patient (mean difference: $24.50, 95% Confidence Interval: $0.45-$48.54, p = 0.046). The rates of referral to an emergency department and self-pay price nondisclosure rates were greater for Medicaid calls than for private insurance calls (8.2% vs. 0.4% and 17.4% vs. 5.8%; p < 0.001 for both)., Conclusion: Medicaid patients with otologic emergencies face reduced access to care at UCCs., Level of Evidence: NA Laryngoscope, 2024., (© 2024 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.)