Beyond Aromas: Exploring the Development and Potential Applications of Electroencephalography in Olfactory Research - From General Scents to Food Flavor Science Frontiers

Olfaction is crucial to our dietary choices and significantly influences our emotional and cognitive landscapes. Understanding the underlying neural mechanisms is pivotal, especially through the use of electroencephalography (EEG). This technology has strong temporal resolution, allowing it to capture the dynamics of neural responses to odors, bypassing the need for subjective interpretations. The application of EEG in food flavor research is still relatively new, but it has great potential. This review begins with an examination of general scent stimulation, charts the advances in using EEG to understand odor perception, and explores its future in food flavor science. By analyzing EEG&#39;s ability to detect distinct patterns and strengths in brain activity, we can elucidate the perceptual, affective, and cognitive frameworks associated with food odors. Event-related potentials and oscillatory activities, markers of central olfactory processing, provide insights into the neural architecture of olfaction. These markers are instrumental in assessing the influence of food odors on health, emotions, and decision-making processes. We argue that EEG&#39;s application in olfaction research holds considerable promise for the food industry to innovate products that are not only healthier but also more appealing, thereby promoting human well-being.</p

Dynamic interactions among schizotypal traits, affective and prodromal symptoms, social functioning in a large sample of college students: A cross-lagged panel network analysis

Objective: Previous studies suggested that schizotypal traits are closely related with affective symptoms and social dysfunction in general population. However, the dynamic interactions among these variables across time remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate this issue using cross-sectional and longitudinal network analysis. Methods: A total of 9136 college students completed self-report scales measuring schizotypal traits, anxiety, depression, prodromal risk, and social functioning at timepoint 1 (T1) and six months later. Classical contemporaneous network analysis was used to estimate the associations among all variables at T1, and the cross-lagged panel network analysis was performed to estimate the predictive effects at follow-up. In addition, prodromal high-risk and low-risk subgroups at T1 were identified using Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ-16) to investigate differences on network constructs and edge weights using Network Comparison Tests (NCT). Results: Contemporaneous network showed that negative dimension of schizotypal traits, anxiety, and depression interacted and were all negatively correlated with social functioning. Of all the nodes in the network, interpersonal features of schizotypal traits was the most centralized. The results of cross-lagged network analysis further verified the predictive effect of personality traits and emotions on social function. In addition, NCT revealed significant difference between prodromal high-risk and low-risk subgroups in network structure and strength of edges connecting schizotypal traits, affective symptoms with prodromal risk, but not in global strength. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that schizotypal traits, affective symptoms, and prodromal risk relate to social functioning, both independently and through their dynamic interactions.</p

Effects of Mindful Breathing Exercise on Attention Bias in Chinese College Students With Sub-Threshold Depression

Objectives The attention bias of people with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is associated with difficulty disengaging from negative stimuli (e.g., images of sad faces). However, the mechanism of attention bias in individuals with sub-threshold depression (sD) is less studied. The objective of this research was to investigate the characteristics of attention bias in sD group and the effects of mindful breathing exercise as a possible intervention method. Method A dot probe task, which measures attention by presenting dot probes following emotional and neutral stimuli, was used. It provides three indices based on reaction time: the bias index (BI) indicates if the participant has attention bias towards emotional stimuli; the orientation index (OI) indicates if the participant has faster reaction towards emotional stimuli, and the disengagement difficulty index (DI) indicates if the participant has more attention dwell time thus more difficulty disengaging from emotional stimuli. Facial images displaying sad, fearful, happy, and neutral expressions were used as stimuli. In Study 1, a comparison was made between sD group (n = 30) and healthy control (HC) group (n = 28); in Study 2, a comparison between two sD groups, the intervention group (n = 23) completed a 20-day mindful breathing exercise (15 min per day) and the control group (n = 22) did not. Dot probe tasks were done before and after the intervention. Results In Study 1, the sD group had greater attention bias index (BI) (p < 0.05), and greater disengagement difficulty index (DI) to a marginal extent (p = 0.07) towards sad faces than the HC group; In Study 2 post-test, the BI (p < 0.05) and DI (p < 0.05) of the intervention group towards sad faces were significantly smaller than the control group. Conclusions Individuals with sub-threshold depression have negative attention bias associated with attention disengagement difficulty towards sad faces; a 20-day mindful breathing exercise reduces the attention bias and the associated attention disengagement difficulty towards sad faces

Personal Goal-Related Mental Time Travel and Its Association With Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Individuals With High Schizotypal Traits

Background and Hypothesis Mental time travel (MTT) is a crucial ability for daily life. Personal goal-related MTT events has stronger phenomenological characteristics than personal goal-unrelated ones, ie, the "personal goal-advantage effect". However, it remains unclear whether this effect is impacted in individuals with high schizotypal traits (HST) and the neural correlates of this effect have yet to be elucidated. The present study aimed to fill these knowledge gaps. We hypothesized that HST would show a reduced "personal goal-advantage effect" in MTT and would exhibit altered relationships with resting-state functional connectivity.Study Design In Study 1, 37 HST and 40 individuals with low schizotypal traits (LST) were recruited. Participants generated MTT events with personal goal-related and personal goal-unrelated cues. In Study 2, 39 HST and 38 LST were recruited, they completed the same behavioral task and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning.Study Results Both Study 1 and Study 2 revealed that HST exhibited reduced "personal goal-advantage effect" on MTT specificity. Moreover, Study 2 showed that compared with LST, HST exhibited altered association between the "personal goal-advantage effect" and functional connectivity (ie, between the right precuneus and the left postcentral gyrus and "personal goal-advantage effect" on emotional valence, between the left hippocampus and the right temporal fusiform gyrus and "personal goal-advantage effect" on emotional intensity).Conclusions These findings suggest that HST exhibit a reduced "personal goal-advantage effect" in MTT specificity and altered neural correlates related to this effect. The "personal goal-advantage effect" may be a potential target for intervention in HST

Sex differences in the prevalence and clinical correlates of autistic features in patients with chronic schizophrenia: a large scale cross-sectional study

ObjectiveSex differences have been suggested in both schizophrenia (SCZ) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study aims to assess the prevalence and clinical correlates of autistic features in male and female patients with chronic SCZ.MethodsA total of 1690 chronic SCZ patients (M/F: 1122/568) were recruited from ten psychiatric hospitals in China. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale Autism Severity Score and the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) were utilised to assess the presence of autistic features and measure cognitive function, respectively.ResultsFemale SCZ patients had a higher prevalence of autistic features than male SCZ patients. In male patients, those with autistic features exhibited higher illness duration and RBANS scores, but lower years of education. Whereas in female patients, those with autistic features had higher RBANS scores, but lower years of education. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that years of education, illness duration, visuospatial/constructional abilities, and language were correlated with autistic features in male patients. In female patients, years of education, language, and delayed memory were correlated with the presence of autistic features.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that sex differences exist in the prevalence and clinical correlates of autistic features in chronic SCZ patients

Inhibition of the basolateral amygdala to prelimbic cortex pathway enhances risk-taking during risky decision-making shock task in rats

Many animal studies have explored decision-making under risk and punishment, particularly regarding potential rewards, but less focus has been placed on contexts involving net losses. Understanding decision-making under net loss conditions can shed light on the neural mechanisms involved. The basolateral amygdala to prelimbic cortex (BLA-*PL) pathway is crucial for risky decision-making. In this study, we investigated how rats make decisions under no-reward but shock conditions, specifically examining the role of the BLA-*PL pathway. In the risky decision-making shock task (RDST), rats chose between a &quot;small/certain&quot; lever, which consistently delivered one pellet, and a &quot;large/risky&quot; lever, offering variable rewards with a 50 % probability of reward and a 50 % probability of 1-s foot-shock. The results showed that the shock condition decreased the preference for the large/ risky lever, despite increasing rewards. Importantly, inhibiting the BLA-*PL pathway significantly increased the selection of the &quot;large/risky&quot; lever compared to the control. Although rats in the clozapine N-oxide (CNO) group did not exhibit significant differences in response latency between levers, they exhibited heightened sensitivity to rewards and losses, suggesting that the BLA-*PL pathway affects the encoding of the relationship between aversive stimuli and reward-seeking. Overall, these results provide valuable insights into the neural mechanisms of risk-taking, particularly regarding how inhibition in the BLA-*PL pathway can influence reward processing and decision-making under no-reward but shock conditions, with implications for understanding risk-related psychiatric disorders.</p

Appearance anxiety: concept and measurement

外貌焦虑一般指个体因可能或预期会受到他人对自己外貌的负面评价而引发的担忧。外貌焦虑不仅与社交焦虑、躯体变形障碍、进食障碍等精神障碍有关，还与普通人群中的焦虑和抑郁症状、身体不满、低自尊、对运动持有的负面态度和不健康运动行为、社交回避行为等均存在关联。然而，国内外现有的外貌焦虑概念的内涵和外延存在差异，所采用的测量工具也各有侧重。该文通过梳理和比较国内外外貌焦虑的相关概念和主要测量工具，总结并提出了一个更为全面的外貌焦虑概念。开发适合我国各类人群的外貌焦虑测量工具将是未来研究的重要方向。</p

The Relationship Among Range Adaptation, Social Anhedonia, and Social Functioning: A Combined Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Resting-State fMRI Study

Background and Hypothesis Social anhedonia is a core feature of schizotypy and correlates significantly with social functioning and range adaptation. Range adaptation refers to representing a stimulus value based on its relative position in the range of pre-experienced values. This study aimed to examine the resting-state neural correlates of range adaptation and its associations with social anhedonia and social functioning.Study Design In study 1, 60 participants completed resting-state magnetic resonance spectroscopy and fMRI scans. Range adaptation was assessed by a valid effort-based decision-making paradigm. Self-reported questionnaires was used to measure social anhedonia and social functioning. Study 2 utilized 26 pairs of participants with high (HSoA) and low levels of social anhedonia (LSoA) to examine the group difference in range adaptation&#39;s neural correlates and its relationship with social anhedonia and social functioning. An independent sample of 40 pairs of HSoA and LSoA was used to verify the findings.Study Results Study 1 showed that range adaptation correlated with excitation-inhibition balance (EIB) and ventral prefrontal cortex (vPFC) functional connectivity, which in turn correlating positively with social functioning. Range adaptation was specifically determined by the EIB via mediation of ventral-medial prefrontal cortex functional connectivities. Study 2 found HSoA and LSoA participants exhibiting comparable EIB and vPFC connectivities. However, EIB and vPFC connectivities were negatively correlated with social anhedonia and social functioning in HSoA participants.Conclusions EIB and vPFC functional connectivity is putative neural correlates for range adaptation. Such neural correlates are associated with social anhedonia and social functioning.</p

The Relationship Between Freshmen's Body Image Self-Discrepancy and Social Media Use Motivation: The Perspective of Online Social Compensation

为揭示数字化时代大学新生的心理适应机制，探讨体像自我差异与社交媒体使用动机的关系，以及社交焦虑在二者之间的作用，采用身体意像评估量表、社交焦虑量表以及社交媒体使用动机量表对1350名大一新生开展调查。结果显示：体像自我差异与社交焦虑显著正向联系，社交焦虑与社交媒体使用动机显著正向联系；社交焦虑在体像自我差异与社交媒体使用动机之间中介效应显著；相比男生，社交焦虑的中介效应在女生群体中显著。研究整合了自我差异理论和网络社会补偿理论，为高校构建促进新生人际适应的线上支持系统提供理论和实践参考。</p

Emotion regulation repertoires predict the risk of major depressive disorder

Background: Few studies explored emotion regulation (ER) repertoires (the tendency to utilize multiple ER strategies in different contexts) in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). It remains unclear to what extent ER repertoires can assess the risk of MDD and other psychiatric disorders. Method: Three subsamples including 1397 non-clinical individuals, 135 MDD patients, and 127 healthy controls (HCs) were combined to explore ER repertoires. We further built classifiers of ER repertoires to distinguish MDD patients from HCs, and additionally examined its performance based on published studies (total N = 4918). Results: Adaptive, average, maladaptive, and intensely maladaptive repertoires were identified. The classifier based on ER repertoires effectively distinguished MDD patients from HCs, demonstrating an AUC of 0.803 (SD = 0.067). Additionally, the classifier exhibited discriminatory power for various psychopathologies in published studies, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, PTSD, and personality disorders (AUC: 0.616-0.779). Limitations: Future studies should investigate the longitudinal influence of ER repertoires on the development of psychopathologies. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that an individual's ER repertoire is a critical psychopathological risk that can serve as a valuable indicator for assessing risk and imply the potential utility of reforming ER repertoire