Virtual Reality for Enhanced Ecological Validity and Experimental Control in the Clinical, Affective and Social Neurosciences

This article highlights the potential of virtual reality environments for enhanced ecological validity in the clinical, affective, and social neurosciences

Evaluating Attentional Impulsivity: A Biomechatronic Approach

Executive function, also known as executive control, is a multifaceted construct encompassing several cognitive abilities, including working memory, attention, impulse control, and cognitive flexibility. To accurately measure executive functioning skills, it is necessary to develop assessment tools and strategies that can quantify the behaviors associated with cognitive control. Impulsivity, a range of cognitive control deficits, is typically evaluated using conventional neuropsychological tests. However, this study proposes a biomechatronic approach to assess impulsivity as a behavioral construct, in line with traditional neuropsychological assessments. The study involved thirty-four healthy adults who completed the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) as an initial step. A low-cost biomechatronic system was developed, and an approach based on standard neuropsychological tests, including the trail-making test and serial subtraction-by-seven, was used to evaluate impulsivity. Three tests were conducted: WTMT-A (numbers only), WTMT-B (numbers and letters), and a dual-task of WTMT-A and serial subtraction-by-seven. The preliminary findings suggest that the proposed instrument and experiments successfully generated an attentional impulsivity score and differentiated between participants with high and low attentional impulsivity.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 5 table

Interpersonal hypersensitivity and Social Cognition in Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious psychiatric condition, which is characterised by interpersonal difficulties, intense fears of abandonment, affective instabilities, and impulsivity. The current research investigated some key mechanisms underlying hypersensitivity to social threats in individuals with BPD traits from developmental, cognitive, and interpersonal perspectives using a multimethod approach. Study 1, using self-report measurements, found that developmental factors including attachment anxiety and self-criticism mediated and moderated the association between rejection sensitivity and BPD features (n = 256). Study 2, using the similar methodological approach, found that intolerance of ambiguity and effortful control mediated and moderated the association between rejection sensitivity and BPD features (n = 256). Study 3 examined the impact of the activation of the attachment system on learning among people with BPD features (n = 96) using the Go/No-go paradigm. Study 4 investigated the impact of ambiguous social interactions on effortful control and mentalizing using a behavioural paradigm (n = 42). Study 5 examined the effect of expectation violation and social rejection, manipulated by the Cyberball paradigm, on effortful control and mentalizing in non-clinical participants (n = 123). Study 6 examined the effect of inclusive and exclusive social interactions, manipulated by the Cyberball paradigm, on mentalizing in BPD patients (n = 22) compared to healthy individuals (n = 28). Overall, results indicate that possible maladaptive coping strategies (anxious attachment, self-criticism) may be developed in response to heightened rejection sensitivity among individuals with BPD features. Furthermore, social cues perceived as threats (ambiguity, social interactions) may 4 activate the attachment system and impair various cognitive functions including contingency learning, effortful control and mentalizing among individuals with BPD symptoms. Future studies are needed to replicate the current findings and examine the impact of negative emotional arousal in response to interpersonal threats on cognitive capacities in larger non-clinical and clinical BPD populations

Relationships among the Behavioral Inhibition System, response inhibition, heart rate variability, and anxiety sensitivity between older adolescents with and without significant anxiety

Differences in the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS; Gray, 1982), response inhibition, and cardiac vagal control are evident between individuals with anxiety and nonclinical control participants. In this study, the role of inhibition in anxiety was examined, as well as relationships between the primary indexes of inhibition including the behavioral inhibition system (BIS), response inhibition, and cardiac vagal tone (or heart rate variability) at rest and during tasks of response inhibition. Additionally, anxiety sensitivity, an established risk factor for developing anxiety disorders, was examined and how it relates to indexes of inhibition. As expected, inhibition and anxiety sensitivity were found to be related symptoms of anxiety in an older adolescent sample. Indexes of inhibition were found to be related to each other; however, several relationships were not statistically supported. Finally, inhibition was found to be a related and likely an important factor in anxiety sensitivity. These findings extend research in the area of anxiety risk factors and neurophysiology of anxiety and have implications for informing etiological models of anxiety

Attention biases and executive control in severe weather phobia: An ERP study

Severe Weather Phobia is the excessive and unreasonable fear or anxiety regarding severe weather events. Literature on this topic is largely limited to case studies and no study has aimed to document potential maintenance factors. Utilizing models from other anxiety disorders, worry and attention biases may be investigated as potential maintenance factors. The current investigation aimed to determine whether attention biases towards pictorial (Study 1) and written (Study 2) stimuli are present within severe weather anxiety. Study 1 also aimed to evaluate whether engaging in worry regarding an upcoming severe weather event modulates attention biases using event related potentials. Results of Study 1 indicated that engaging in worry did result in increased anxiety regarding an upcoming severe weather threat; however, this increase in anxiety was present in those with and without elevations in trait severe weather anxiety. This study failed to observe any attentional biases within severe weather anxiety. Similarly, no attention biases were observed in Study 2. Overall, results of Study 1 and 2, generally, failed to support hypothesized attention biases to both pictorial and written stimuli. These results could suggest that those with severe weather anxiety do not present attentional biases similar to those observed in other anxiety disorders; however, a potentially more likely explanation is that the valance, arousal, and intensity of the stimuli presented in the paradigms were not robust enough to elicit an anxious response or bias in attention. A wider variety of severe weather stimuli should be investigated to determine which stimuli and at what intensity results in attention biases, increases in state anxiety, and psychological arousal. Once stimuli are developed, investigations into their impact on executive function and psychophysiology can be pursued

LITERATURE REVIEW: How are Self-Compassion, Self-Criticism and Self-Blame, Related to Executive Function Skills: A Systematic Review EMPIRICAL PAPER: Skills for Self-Compassion After Trauma: The Role of Executive Function

Systematic Literature Review Abstract Objective: Self-compassion is associated with greater well-being and happiness and reduced symptoms of psychological distress. Negative self-compassion such as self-criticism, has the opposite effect. Having higher self-compassion involves the use of a range of emotion regulation strategies, including aspects of cognitive and attentional control. Executive function (EF) describe skills involved in these ‘higher order’ or supervisory cognitive processes such as the ability to shift attention, inhibit automatic responses and use working memory (WM). Research to date has shown that interventions either self-compassion or EF skills can result in improvements to the other. To explore the association between these two variables, this systematic review collated studies that measured the relationship between EF and self-compassion, self-criticism and self-blame. Method: Studies that measured self-compassion, self-criticism or self-blame, and assessed EF skills in adults, were selected from a number of databases, both multidisciplinary and subject-specific, prior to 1st April 2020. The search strategy provided 183 results,128 after duplicates were removed. Full text screening of 39 studies led to the inclusion of seven papers for this review. Results: Results provided partial support for the association of WM with self-criticism, but no confirmed support for the association of self-compassion, self-criticism or self-blame with other aspects of EF. Results were not conclusive due to the lack of quality research. Conclusions: There is scant support at present for the association of levels of self-compassion, self-criticism or self-blame, with EF skills, however there is also little quality support for the lack of a relationship between them. Further research would be needed to address what appears to be a gap in the evidence base. Keywords: self-compassion, self-criticism, self-blame, executive function, systematic review Empirical Paper Abstract Objective: PTSD is known to cause significant impairments to social interactions and general functioning. It is associated with poor self-image and low levels of self-compassion. Cognitive difficulties associated with the disorder include deficiencies in levels of executive function (EF). Low self-compassion and poor EF skills are suggested to be involved in the maintenance of PTSD. Despite this, little is known about the association between self-compassion and EF, and still less of their combined role in PTSD. To address this gap, the association of trait and state levels of self-compassion, with EF skills was investigated in a population who had experienced traumatic events. Methods: Fifty-two adults (M=33.71 years; SD = 17.01) participated in the study. Of this, 33 met a current diagnosis of PTSD (26 women, 7 men) and 19 had symptoms below the diagnostic threshold (13 women, 6 men). The participants completed measures of trait self-compassion, PTSD symptoms and a self-report EF measure before completing Trails and Stroop tests to assess specific attention switching and inhibition skills. State levels of self-compassion were measured before and after listening to a recording of a self-compassion induction. Results: Findings showed that (1) state levels of self-compassion increased significantly following the induction, but the degree of change was not predictable from the other factors, (2) PTSD symptom severity was predicted independently and significantly by both the trait measure of self-compassion and the self-report measure of EF, furthermore (3) levels of trait self-compassion were associated to, and predicted by, self-report measures of EF. Conclusion: The study did not confirm any factors that could predict change in levels of state self-compassion; however, it demonstrated that PTSD symptoms were associated with both EF and self-compassion, increasing support for interventions to target these areas. In addition, the association of EF skills to levels of self-compassion increases our understanding of the role of cognitive functions in supporting well-being. Keywords: PTSD, self-compassion, executive functio