Physiological, behavioral and subjective sadness reactivity in frontotemporal dementia subtypes.

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a neurodegenerative disease broadly characterized by socioemotional impairments, includes three clinical subtypes: behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD), semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) and non-fluent variant primary progressive aphasia (nfvPPA). Emerging evidence has shown emotional reactivity impairments in bvFTD and svPPA, whereas emotional reactivity in nfvPPA is far less studied. In 105 patients with FTD (49 bvFTD, 31 svPPA and 25 nfvPPA) and 27 healthy controls, we examined three aspects of emotional reactivity (physiology, facial behavior and subjective experience) in response to a sad film. In a subset of the sample, we also examined the neural correlates of diminished aspects of reactivity using voxel-based morphometry. Results indicated that all three subtypes of FTD showed diminished physiological responding in respiration rate and diastolic blood pressure; patients with bvFTD and svPPA also showed diminished subjective experience, and no subtypes showed diminished facial behavior. Moreover, there were differences among the clinical subtypes in brain regions where smaller volumes were associated with diminished sadness reactivity. These results show that emotion impairments extend to sadness reactivity in FTD and underscore the importance of considering different aspects of sadness reactivity in multiple clinical subtypes for characterizing emotional deficits and associated neurodegeneration in FTD

Negative emotional reactivity as a marker of vulnerability in the development of borderline personality disorder symptoms

Negative emotionality is a distinguishing feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, this person-level characteristic has not been examined as a marker of vulnerability in the development of this disorder. The current study utilized a multi-method approach to examine the interplay between negative emotional reactivity and cumulative exposure to family adversity on the development of BPD symptoms across three years (ages 16–18) in a diverse, at-risk sample of adolescent girls (N=113). A latent variable of negative emotional reactivity was created from multiple assessments at age 16: (1) self-report, (2) emotion ratings to stressors from ecological assessments across one week, and (3) observer-rated negative affectivity during a mother-daughter conflict discussion task. Exposure to family adversity was measured cumulatively between ages 5 and 16 from annual assessments of family poverty, single parent household, and difficult life circumstances. Results from latent growth curve models demonstrated a significant interaction between negative emotional reactivity and family adversity, such that exposure to adversity strengthened the association between negative emotional reactivity and BPD symptoms. Additionally, family adversity predicted increasing BPD symptoms during late adolescence. These findings highlight negative emotional reactivity as a marker of vulnerability that ultimately increases risk for the development of BPD symptoms

Early affective changes and increased connectivity in preclinical Alzheimer's disease.

IntroductionAffective changes precede cognitive decline in mild Alzheimer's disease and may relate to increased connectivity in a "salience network" attuned to emotionally significant stimuli. The trajectory of affective changes in preclinical Alzheimer's disease, and its relationship to this network, is unknown.MethodsOne hundred one cognitively normal older adults received longitudinal assessments of affective symptoms, then amyloid-PET. We hypothesized amyloid-positive individuals would show enhanced emotional reactivity associated with salience network connectivity. We tested whether increased global connectivity in key regions significantly related to affective changes.ResultsIn participants later found to be amyloid positive, emotional reactivity increased with age, and interpersonal warmth declined in women. These individuals showed higher global connectivity within the right insula and superior temporal sulcus; higher superior temporal sulcus connectivity predicted increasing emotional reactivity and decreasing interpersonal warmth.ConclusionsAffective changes should be considered an early preclinical feature of Alzheimer's disease. These changes may relate to higher functional connectivity in regions critical for social-emotional processing

Individual differences in vicarious pain perception linked to heightened socially elicited emotional states

For some people (vicarious pain responders), seeing others in pain is experienced as pain felt on their own body and this has been linked to differences in the neurocognitive mechanisms that support empathy. Given that empathy is not a unitary construct, the aim of this study was to establish which empathic traits are more pronounced in vicarious pain responders. The Vicarious Pain Questionnaire (VPQ) was used to divide participants into three groups: (1) non-responders (people who report no pain when seeing someone else experiencing physical pain), (2) sensory-localized responders (report sensory qualities and a localized feeling of pain) and (3) affective-general responders (report a generalized and emotional feeling of pain). Participants completed a series of questionnaires including the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), the Empathy Quotient (EQ), the Helping Attitudes Scale (HAS), and the Emotional Contagion Scale (ECS) as well as The Individualism - Collectivism Interpersonal Assessment Inventory (ICIAI) and a self-other association task. Both groups of vicarious pain responders showed significantly greater emotional contagion and reactivity, but there was no evidence for differences in other empathic traits or self-other associations. Subsequently, the variables were grouped by a factor analysis and three main latent variables were identified. Vicarious pain responders showed greater socially elicited emotional states which included the ECS, the Emotional Reactivity Subscale of EQ and the HAS. These results show that consciously feeling the physical pain of another is mainly linked to heightened emotional contagion and reactivity which together with the HAS loaded on the socially elicited emotional states factor indicating that, in our population, these differences lead to a more helpful rather than avoidant behavior

Social interactions, emotion and sleep: a systematic review and research agenda

Sleep and emotion are closely linked, however the effects of sleep on socio-emotional task performance have only recently been investigated. Sleep loss and insomnia have been found to affect emotional reactivity and social functioning, although results, taken together, are somewhat contradictory. Here we review this advancing literature, aiming to 1) systematically review the relevant literature on sleep and socio-emotional functioning, with reference to the extant literature on emotion and social interactions, 2) summarize results and outline ways in which emotion, social interactions, and sleep may interact, and 3) suggest key limitations and future directions for this field. From the reviewed literature, sleep deprivation is associated with diminished emotional expressivity and impaired emotion recognition, and this has particular relevance for social interactions. Sleep deprivation also increases emotional reactivity; results which are most apparent with neuro-imaging studies investigating amygdala activity and its prefrontal regulation. Evidence of emotional dysregulation in insomnia and poor sleep has also been reported. In general, limitations of this literature include how performance measures are linked to self-reports, and how results are linked to socio-emotional functioning. We conclude by suggesting some possible future directions for this field

Conscientiousness predicts greater recovery from negative emotion

Greater levels of conscientiousness have been associated with lower levels of negative affect. We focus on one mechanism through which conscientiousness may decrease negative affect: effective emotion regulation, as reflected by greater recovery from negative stimuli. In 273 adults who were 35 - 85 years old, we collected self-report measures of personality including conscientiousness and its self-control facet, followed on average 2 years later by psychophysiological measures of emotional reactivity and recovery. Among middle-aged adults (35 - 65 years old), the measures of conscientiousness and self-control predicted greater recovery from, but not reactivity to, negative emotional stimuli. The effect of conscientiousness and self-control on recovery was not driven by other personality variables or by greater task adherence on the part of high conscientiousness individuals. In addition, the effect was specific to negative emotional stimuli and did not hold for neutral or positive emotional stimuli

Adolescents' Emotional Reactivity Across Relationship Contexts

Adolescents' emotional reactivity in family, close friendships, and romantic relationships was examined in a community-based sample of 416 two-parent families. Six waves of annual data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Emotional reactivity to interparental conflict during early adolescence was associated prospectively with adolescents' reactivity to conflict in friendships and romantic relationships during middle adolescence. Close friendship reactivity partially explained the prospective association between reactivity to interparental conflict and romantic relationship reactivity. The association between perceived emotional reactivity and relationship conflict was stronger for girls than boys. Results have important developmental implications regarding adolescents' emotional reactivity across salient interpersonal contexts during adolescence

Effects of Elevated Prenatal Progesterone on Postnatal Emotional Reactivity in Bobwhite Quail (Colinus Virginianus) Neonates

Non-genetic maternal influences on prenatal development have a significant effect on the development of early life behavior. This study assessed the behavioral effect of elevated prenatal progesterone on postnatal emotional reactivity, or underlying fear and stress, in embryos of Northern bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus). Test groups of progesterone treated eggs, vehicle treated, and no injection were exposed to three measures of emotional reactivity at 48 and 96 hours after hatch: an open field, an emergence test, and a tonic immobility test. Heightened levels of emotional reactivity in the tonic immobility emergence tasks, and decreased levels of emotional reactivity in the open field suggest that elevated prenatal progesterone modifies post natal emotional reactivity up to 96 hours of age

Emotional reactivity and perseveration: Independent dimensions of trait positive and negative affectivity and differential associations with psychological distress

Background: Theoretically, two types of emotional responding could underlie individual differences in trait affect: 1) a disposition reflecting increased probability of experiencing positive or negative emotions (emotional reactivity), and 2) a disposition to experience prolonged emotional reactions once elicited (emotional perseveration). We developed a measure of these dimensions and investigated whether emotional reactivity and perseveration 1) account for unique variance in trait affect, and 2) are differentially associated with symptoms of psychological distress. Method: In Study 1, participants (T1: n = 90; T2: n = 51) completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and the Emotional Reactivity and Perseveration Scale (ERPS, adapted from the PANAS). In study 2, participants (n = 228) completed the PANAS, ERPS, and Depression Anxiety Stress Scales. Results: Study 1 established the basic psychometric properties of the ERPS and demonstrated that emotional reactivity and perseveration accounted for unique variance in trait positive and negative effect. Study 2 confirmed these findings and established that emotional reactivity and perseveration are differentially associated with depression, anxiety, and stress scores. Conclusion: Emotional reactivity and perseveration represent independent dimensions of trait affect. Considering these dimension in future research could further the understanding of both normal emotional responding and emotional vulnerability

Focused Attention vs. Open Monitoring: An Event-Related Potential Study of Emotion Regulation by Two Distinct Forms of Mindfulness Meditation

This study investigated the effects of two novel forms of 8-week mindfulness meditation training, focused attention (FA) and open monitoring (OM), relative to an established training, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), on early emotional reactivity to negative emotional images as assessed by electroencephalography (EEG). Data on the late-positive potential (LPP) were analyzed to address whether the three mindfulness interventions attenuated the LPP from pre- to post-intervention, and if significant differences existed between groups in LPP at post-intervention. Rather than an attenuation, results indicated an average increase in LPP amplitude from pre- to post-intervention. No significant differences were found in the LPP between the training conditions at post-intervention. These results provide preliminary evidence that mindfulness training in novice practitioners may heighten initial emotional reactivity. Further, well-designed research is needed to examine a wider range of neural responses to better understand emotion regulation process effects of different forms of mindfulness training