"Distracters" do not always distract : Visual working memory for angry faces is enhanced by incidental emotional words.

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Integrating affect and impulsivity: The role of positive and negative urgency in substance use risk

BACKGROUND: The personality traits of positive and negative urgency refer to the tendencies to act rashly when experiencing unusually positive or negative emotions, respectively. METHODS: The authors review recent empirical work testing urgency theory (Cyders and Smith, 2008a) and consider advances in theory related to these traits. RESULTS: Empirical findings indicate that (a) the urgency traits are particularly important predictors of the onset of, and increases in, substance use in both children and young adults; (b) they appear to operate in part by biasing psychosocial learning; (c) pubertal onset is associated with increases in negative urgency, which in turn predict increases in adolescent drinking behavior; (d) variation in negative urgency trait levels are associated with variations in the functioning of an identified brain system; and (e) variations in the serotonin transporter gene, known to influence the relevant brain system, relate to variations in the urgency traits. CONCLUSION: A recent model (Carver et al., 2008) proposes the urgency traits to be markers of a tendency to respond reflexively to emotion, whether through impulsive action or ill-advised inaction (the latter leading to depressive symptoms); this model has received empirical support. The authors discuss new directions for research on the urgency traits

Sleep problems and their implications from preschool to school age

Sleep plays a significant role in human functioning and wellbeing. It is of particular importance for young children, whose brains undergo significant developmental changes. This dissertation focuses on sleep problems among preschool-age children, the persistence of these problems until school age, and how they relate in establishing a behaviour and emotional wellbeing at school age. The importance of sleep quality to neural basis of sensory information processing and attention regulation among school age children was also assessed. According to the results of a population-based survey, sleep problems are very common in preschool-age children. Parents of almost half of the children surveyed reported frequent sleep problems most typically resistance to going to bed and difficulties falling asleep, followed by snoring, bruxism and sleep talking. Frequent bedtime resistance and difficulties falling asleep were also reported in a follow-up study of school-age children, as well as difficulty getting out of bed in the morning and early morning fatigue. Overall, the frequency of sleep difficulties decreased at school age. However, more than a third of the preschool-age children with sleep difficulties continued to have such problems at school age, when they were at the highest risk of experiencing comorbid emotional and behavioural problems. On the other hand, only a few children developed sleep problems at school age. Sleep quality among school-age children, measured objectively by means of actigraphy was associated with event-related brain potentials reflecting auditory information processing and attention regulation. Children with lower sleep quality had enhanced N2 and mismatch negativity responses, presumably reflecting hypersensitive reactivity to sounds, compared with children who sleep well. Sleep problems, therefore, appear to be a major challenge for the wellbeing of children at preschool and school-age. It appears from the results of this study that such problems are more common in younger age group, and that few children develop them later on. Therefore, preschool-age children and their families should be a major target group in identifying and treating sleep problems. It is essential to attend to such problems at preschool-age so as to prevent them from persisting over the longer term and adversely affecting the development of brain functions and behavioural and socio-emotional regulation.Unella on merkittävä rooli ihmisen toiminnan ja hyvinvoinnin kannalta. Erityisesti unen merkitys korostuu lapsilla, joiden aivot käyvät läpi merkittäviä kehitysvaiheita. Tässä väitöskirjassa tarkastellaan alle kouluikäisten lasten unihäiriöitä, niiden pysyvyyttä kouluikään saakka, yhteyttä psyykkiseen hyvinvointiin kouluiässä, sekä unen laadun merkitystä kouluikäisten lasten varhaisen tason sensorisen informaation käsittelyyn ja tarkkaavaisuuden suuntaamiseen aivotoiminnan tasolla. Väitöskirjan epidemiologisessa seurantatutkimuksessa havaittiin uniongelmien olevan hyvin yleistä alle kouluikäisillä lapsilla. Vanhemmat raportoivat toistuvia uniongelmia melkein puolella 3-6-vuotiaista lapsista. Yleisimmät ongelmat olivat nukkumaan menemisen vastustaminen ja nukahtamisvaikeudet, mutta myös kuorsaaminen, hampaiden narskuttaminen ja unessa puhuminen olivat yleisiä. Myös kouluiässä nukkumaan menoon liittyvä vastustus ja nukahtamisen vaikeudet olivat yleisiä, kuten myös aamuaikainen väsymys ja vaikeudet nousta sängystä. Kokonaisuudessaan univaikeudet vähenivät kouluiässä. Reilulla kolmanneksella 3-6-vuotiaista lapsista, joilla esiintyi uniongelmia alle kouluikäisinä, esiintyi uniongelmia vielä kouluiässä. Erityisesti näillä lapsilla oli erittäin suuri riski tunne-elämän ja käyttäytymisen ongelmien esiintymiseen univaikeuksien rinnalla. Sen sijaan vain harvalla lapsella uniongelmia alkoi esiintyä enää kouluiässä. Kouluikäisten lasten objektiivisesti mitatulla unen laadulla oli yhteys aivojen herätevastetutkimuksella mitattuun aivojen kuuloinformaation käsittelyyn ja tarkkaavaisuuden häiriöherkkyyteen. Lapsilla, joilla unen laatu oli heikentynyttä, esiintyi aivojen yliherkkään reagointiin viittaavaa aisti-informaation käsittelyn ja tarkkaavaisuuden säätelyn ongelmaa. Uniongelmien voidaan siis todeta olevan merkittävä haaste alle kouluikäisten ja kouluikäisten lasten hyvinvoinnille. Koska nyt tehdyn tutkimuksen perusteella alle kouluikäisillä uniongelmien esiintyvyys on selkeästi suurempaa kuin kouluikäisillä, tulisi neuvoloiden roolia univaikeuksien tunnistamisessa ja hoitamisessa kehittää entisestään. On tärkeää, että pienten lasten uniongelmat eivät muuttuisi pysyviksi, koska erityisesti pitkäkestoisina ne voivat haitata lapsen aivotoiminnan, käyttäytymisen ja sosioemotionaalisen säätelyn kehittymistä

I expect, therefore I see: individual differences in visual awareness

Predictive processing theories posit that awareness of the visual world emerges as the brain engages in predictive inference about the causes of its sensory input. At each level of the processing hierarchy top-down predictions are corrected by bottom-up sensory prediction error to form behaviourally optimal inferences about the state of the visual world. Research suggests there may be individual differences in predictive processing mechanisms such that some individuals are more reliant on prior knowledge, whereas others assign more weight to sensory evidence. Predictive processing biases are thought to manifest in a range of typical and atypical perceptual experiences including proneness to perceptual illusions, sensory sensitivity in autism, and hallucinations in psychosis. The overarching aim of this thesis was to investigate whether in the general population predictive processing biases predict individual differences in visual awareness. Change blindness was selected as the central paradigm of investigation, as it can be conceptualised as a failure to incorporate a novel change into the current prediction about the state of the visual world. The empirical work in Chapter 2 aimed to characterise individual differences in visual change detection using naturalistic scenes and to identify the perceptual and cognitive measures that predict noticing ability. There were reliable individual differences in change detection that generalised to ecologically valid displays. The ability to notice visual changes was predicted by the strength and stability of perceptual predictions, as measured by the accuracy of visual short-term memory and attentional control in the face of distractors. In Chapter 3 I used voxel-based-morphometry to investigate whether inter-individual variability in brain structure predicts individual differences in visual awareness. The latter was assessed by the change blindness task as well as its strongest predictor measures (visual short-term memory, attentional capture, and perceptual rivalry). Regions of interest (ROIs) were selected in the parietal and visual cortices based on previous evidence that these areas are causally involved in the awareness of visual stimuli. This study aimed to discover whether the average grey matter density in the ROIs predict susceptibility to CB. The ROI-based analyses revealed the average grey matter density in left posterior parietal cortex predicted visual short-term memory accuracy but none of the other hypothesised relationships were significant. Chapter 4 aimed to measure individual differences in the reliance on prior knowledge by employing the Mooney face detection task. In this task participants disambiguated faces in two-tone degraded images before and after the presentation of the original versions of the images. Better change detection was predicted by Mooney face detection without any prior knowledge of the images, a measure of ‘perceptual closure’ or an ability to generate a gestalt of a scene. The attention to detail subscale of the autism spectrum also predicted superior change detection. Reliance on prior knowledge in visual perception (assessed by improvement in Mooney face detection after seeing original images) did not consistently predict atypical perceptual experiences associated with the autism spectrum or schizotypy. Chapter 5 was an investigation into, firstly, whether there is a general predictive processing bias, which manifests across different methods of inducing prior knowledge, or whether such a bias is paradigm-specific and, secondly, whether reliance on priors predicts perceptual experiences and traits. All prior manipulations in this study lead to an increased tendency to see the expected stimulus in a binocular rivalry display, except adaptation, which lead to a suppression of visual awareness. Attentional control, perceptual priming, expectancy, and imagery loaded onto a common factor, suggesting that the strength of selective attention is closely linked with the facilitatory effect of expectation. The strength of adaptation predicted superior change detection and perceptual priming predicted the propensity to experience perceptual illusions. Taken together, these findings suggest that there are reliable individual differences in visual change detection, and these are predicted by the strength of visual short-term memory representations, attentional control, perceptual closure ability, as well as the strength of low-level adaptation. Possessing expectations facilitates the entry of the corresponding percept into awareness, irrespective of the method of prior induction. The facilitatory effect that priors exert on visual awareness across different methods is closely linked with the ability to exert attentional control. This suggests that the effects of expectations on awareness may be attentional. However, predictive processing biases were method-specific in that a facilitatory effect using one prior induction method will not necessarily predict the magnitude of the effect using a different method. Some prior effects (e.g., perceptual priming, imagery, and adaptation) yielded correlations with perceptual experiences and traits in the general population. As the research in this thesis is correlational, future studies will need to delineate the effects of expectation, attention, and adaptation on visual awareness and explore the neural representations of these mechanisms

Bestial boredom: a biological perspective on animal boredom and suggestions for its scientific investigation

Boredom is likely to have adaptive value in motivating exploration and learning, and many animals may possess the basic neurological mechanisms to support it. Chronic inescapable boredom can be extremely aversive, and understimulation can harm neural, cognitive and behavioural flexibility. Wild and domesticated animals are at particular risk in captivity, which is often spatially and temporally monotonous. Yet biological research into boredom has barely begun, despite having important implications for animal welfare, the evolution of motivation and cognition, and for human dysfunction at individual and societal levels. Here I aim to facilitate hypotheses about how monotony affects behaviour and physiology, so that boredom can be objectively studied by ethologists and other scientists. I cover valence (pleasantness) and arousal (wakefulness) qualities of boredom, because both can be measured, and I suggest boredom includes suboptimal arousal and aversion to monotony. Because the suboptimal arousal during boredom is aversive, individuals will resist low arousal. Thus, behavioural indicators of boredom will, seemingly paradoxically, include signs of increasing drowsiness, alongside bouts of restlessness, avoidance and sensation-seeking behaviour. Valence and arousal are not, however, sufficient to fully describe boredom. For example, human boredom is further characterized by a perception that time ‘drags’, and this effect of monotony on time perception can too be behaviourally assayed in animals. Sleep disruption and some abnormal behaviour may also be caused by boredom. Ethological research into this emotional phenomenon will deepen understanding of its causes, development, function and evolution, and will enable evidence-based interventions to mitigate human and animal boredom

a combined ecological momentary assessment and fMRI study

Regulation of emotions is necessary for successful attainment of short-term and long-term goals. However, over-regulation may also have its costs. In anorexia nervosa (AN), forgoing food intake despite emaciation and endocrine signals that promote eating is an example of “too much” self-control. Here we investigated whether voluntary emotion regulation in AN patients comes with associated disorder-relevant costs. Thirty-five patients with acute AN and thirty-five age-matched healthy controls (HCs) performed an established emotion regulation paradigm during functional magnetic resonance imaging after an overnight fast. The task required reducing emotions induced by positively valenced pictures via distancing. We calculated a neural regulation score from responses recorded in a reward-related brain region of interest (ventral striatum; VS) by subtracting activation measured on “positive distance” trials from that elicited under the “positive watch” (baseline) condition. Complementing the imaging data, we used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to probe disorder-related rumination and affect six times/day for 2 weeks following the scanning session. The neural regulation score indicating reduced VS activation during emotion regulation was used as a predictor in hierarchical linear models with EMA measures as outcomes. No group differences in neural activity were found for the main contrasts of the task. However, regulation of VS activity was associated with increased body-related rumination and increased negative affect in AN, but not in HC. In line with this finding, correlational analysis with longitudinal BMI measurements revealed a link between greater VS regulation and poorer treatment outcome after 60 and 90 days. Together, these results identify a neural correlate of altered emotion regulation in AN, which seems to be detrimental to psychological well-being and may interfere with recovery

The impact of emotional distraction on cognition: from basic brain responses to large-scale network interactions

The goal of the current dissertation was to clarify the behavioral and neural mechanisms associated with the impact and control of emotional distraction by investigating the influences of the nature (positive vs. negative) and source (external vs. internal) of emotional distraction, the types of emotion regulation (spontaneous vs. instructed) engaged to cope with it, and the role of sex differences. The present dissertation comprises three studies, with the first two focusing on external emotional distraction, and the third focusing on internal emotional distraction. Study one investigated the roles of arousal and valence in the impact of external emotional distraction on working memory (WM) performance, and yielded four main findings. First, positive distraction had reduced impact on WM performance, compared with negative distraction. Second, fMRI results identified valence-specific effects in a dorsal executive system (DES) and overlapping arousal and valence effects in a ventral affective system (VAS), suggesting both increased impact of negative distraction and enhanced engagement of coping mechanisms for positive distraction. Third, a valence-related rostro-caudal dissociation was identified in medial frontal regions associated with the default-mode network (DMN). Finally, these DMN regions showed increased functional connectivity with DES regions for negative compared with positive distraction. Study two investigated sex differences in the response to external emotional distraction and yielded three main findings. First, an increased impact of emotional distraction among women was detected, in trials associated with high-confidence responses, in the context of overall similar WM performance in women and men. Second, regarding the fMRI results, women showed increased sensitivity to emotional distraction in VAS regions, whereas men showed increased sensitivity in DES regions, in the context of overall similar patterns of response to emotional distraction in women and men. Third, a sex-related dorsal-ventral hemispheric dissociation emerged in the lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) related to coping with emotional distraction, with women showing a positive correlation with WM performance in left ventral PFC, and men showing similar effects in the right dorsal PFC. Study three investigated the impact and regulation of internal emotional distraction, and yielded four main findings. First, the instructed engagement of emotion regulation (ER) diminished both the subjective negative experience and the objective WM interference. Second, the overall response to internal emotional distraction was linked to deactivation in DES and increased activity in VAS regions, similar to the response to external emotional distraction, as well as with specific increased activity in DMN regions. Third, ER engagement was associated with both diminished activity in VAS regions part of the salience network, and increased activity in executive and memory-related regions. Finally, ER was also associated with increased functional connectivity between fronto-parietal regions. Supplementary, a behavioral pilot study investigated the role of valence and showed that negative but not positive internal distraction interfered with concurrent WM performance. Also, an exploratory analysis tested for sex differences and showed increased impact of internal emotional distraction in women for high-confidence WM performance, linked to increased sensitivity in a medial frontal region associated with the salience network. These findings contribute to a better understanding of healthy functioning under transient emotional distraction. In addition, they have implications for understanding factors linked to increased susceptibility to mood and anxiety disorders, which are afflictions characterized by increased distractibility and altered processing of negative and positive stimuli originating from the external and internal environments, and are more prevalent in women compared to men

Pulling for pleasure? Erotic approach-bias associated with porn use, not problems

Background and Objectives: Addictive behaviors are gaining recognition in the clinical community, leading to more attention for the effects of problematic porn use. As many addictive behaviors are characterized by automatically activated approach-tendencies for disorder-relevant stimuli, we tested whether such tendencies are also present for erotic images and whether these are related to problematic porn use. Methods: Measuring approach-bias for erotic photographs, sixty-two healthy heterosexual and bisexual men completed both a relevant-feature and an irrelevant-feature approach-avoidance task (AAT). Half of participants operated a joystick as response device, the other half a keyboard. We recorded participants’ number of weekly porn-viewing sessions and symptoms of problematic porn use. Results: The irrelevant-feature AAT produced unreliable results and was not analyzed further. In the relevant-feature AAT, participants had an overall approach-bias towards erotic stimuli. Porn use frequency, but not problematic porn use, was associated with with greater erotic approach-bias. This relationship was stronger when measured with a joystick than with a keyboard. Limitations: Our design did not allow to test the causal direction of the relationship between porn use and approach-bias, and our results cannot be generalized to women, non-heterosexual men, and clinical populations. Conclusions: Similar to other addictive behaviors and substances, we found a positive relation between porn use and approach-bias. Future studies using the relevant-feature AAT will likely benefit from using the joystick rather than the keyboard.Sercan Kahveci was supported by the Doctoral College "Imaging the Mind" (FWF; W1233-B)

Closed-loop digital meditation for neurocognitive and behavioral development in adolescents with childhood neglect.

Adverse childhood experiences are linked to poor attentive behaviors during adolescence, as well as increased risk for mental health disorders in adults. However, no study has yet tested targeted interventions to optimize neurocognitive processes in this population. Here, we investigated closed-loop digital interventions in a double-blind randomized controlled study in adolescents with childhood neglect, and evaluated the outcomes using multimodal assessments of neuroimaging, cognitive, behavioral, and academic evaluations. In the primary neuroimaging results, we demonstrate that a closed-loop digital meditation intervention can strengthen functional connectivity of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) in the cingulo-opercular network, which is critically developing during the adolescent period. Second, this intervention enhanced sustained attention and interference-resolution abilities, and also reduced behavioral hyperactivity at a 1-year follow-up. Superior academic performance was additionally observed in adolescents who underwent the digital meditation intervention. Finally, changes in dACC functional connectivity significantly correlated with improvements in sustained attention, hyperactivity, and academic performance. This first study demonstrates that closed-loop digital meditation practice can facilitate development of important aspects of neurocognition and real-life behaviors in adolescents with early childhood neglect