Handedness and social anxiety:using Bryden's research as a catalyst to explore the influence of familial sinistrality and degree of handedness

Phil Bryden's work has impacted on many areas of laterality, including degree and measurement of hand preference, as well as influences of familial sinistrality (FS). For example, Bryden[(1977). Measuring handedness with questionnaires. Neuropsychologia, 15, 617–624] is a well-cited and influential paper that remains relevant to this day. Inspired by this we extended our analysis of the relationship between handedness and anxiety in a number of ways. We used familial handedness and strength of handedness to examine their potential influences on anxiety, and extended our research by exploring their relationship to social anxiety, using the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN). Inconsistent left-handers (ILH) were found to be more socially anxious. In all categories of SPIN except avoidance, ILH were significantly more anxious than consistent right- and left-handers. There were FS differences between ILH with a first degree left-handed relative (FS+) compared to ILH with no first degree left-handed relative (FS−) on all categories of anxiety scores. Within FS+ participants, ILH had significantly higher anxiety scores, compared with consistent handers across all categories. This suggests that ILH's social anxiety may be influenced by a close left-handed relative. Inspired by examining Bryden's work for this special issue, we will continue to add both strength of preference and familial handedness to our work

The Problem of Women and Mathematics

Reviews relevant research to determine the reasons for the limited participation of women in advanced mathematics and related fields. Explores options for improving women's mathematics skills and increasing their participation in related fields

ENIGMA and global neuroscience: A decade of large-scale studies of the brain in health and disease across more than 40 countries.

This review summarizes the last decade of work by the ENIGMA (Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta Analysis) Consortium, a global alliance of over 1400 scientists across 43 countries, studying the human brain in health and disease. Building on large-scale genetic studies that discovered the first robustly replicated genetic loci associated with brain metrics, ENIGMA has diversified into over 50 working groups (WGs), pooling worldwide data and expertise to answer fundamental questions in neuroscience, psychiatry, neurology, and genetics. Most ENIGMA WGs focus on specific psychiatric and neurological conditions, other WGs study normal variation due to sex and gender differences, or development and aging; still other WGs develop methodological pipelines and tools to facilitate harmonized analyses of "big data" (i.e., genetic and epigenetic data, multimodal MRI, and electroencephalography data). These international efforts have yielded the largest neuroimaging studies to date in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, epilepsy, and 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. More recent ENIGMA WGs have formed to study anxiety disorders, suicidal thoughts and behavior, sleep and insomnia, eating disorders, irritability, brain injury, antisocial personality and conduct disorder, and dissociative identity disorder. Here, we summarize the first decade of ENIGMA's activities and ongoing projects, and describe the successes and challenges encountered along the way. We highlight the advantages of collaborative large-scale coordinated data analyses for testing reproducibility and robustness of findings, offering the opportunity to identify brain systems involved in clinical syndromes across diverse samples and associated genetic, environmental, demographic, cognitive, and psychosocial factors

Navigational style influences eye movement pattern during exploration and learning of an environmental map

During navigation people may adopt three different spatial styles (i.e., Landmark, Route, and Survey). Landmark style (LS) people are able to recall familiar landmarks but cannot combine them with directional information; Route style (RS) people connect landmarks to each other using egocentric information about direction; Survey style (SS) people use a map-like representation of the environment. SS individuals generally navigate better than LS and RS people. Fifty-one college students (20 LS; 17 RS, and 14 SS) took part in the experiment. The spatial cognitive style (SCS) was assessed by means of the SCS test; participants then had to learn a schematic map of a city, and after 5 min had to recall the path depicted on it. During the learning and delayed recall phases, eye-movements were recorded. Our intent was to investigate whether there is a peculiar way to explore an environmental map related to the individual's spatial style. Results support the presence of differences in the strategy used by the three spatial styles for learning the path and its delayed recall. Specifically, LS individuals produced a greater number of fixations of short duration, while the opposite eye movement pattern characterized SS individuals. Moreover, SS individuals showed a more spread and comprehensive explorative pattern of the map, while LS individuals focused their exploration on the path and related targets. RS individuals showed a pattern of exploration at a level of proficiency between LS and SS individuals. We discuss the clinical and anatomical implications of our data

The gut-brain axis, BDNF, NMDA and CNS disorders

Gastro-intestinal (GI) microbiota and the ‘gut-brain axis’ are proving to be increasingly relevant to early brain development and the emergence of psychiatric disorders. This review focuses on the influence of the GI tract on Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and its relationship with receptors for N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDAR), as these are believed to be involved in synaptic plasticity and cognitive function. NMDAR may be associated with the development of schizophrenia and a range of other psychopathologies including neurodegenerative disorders, depression and dementias. An analysis of the routes and mechanisms by which the GI microbiota contribute to the pathophysiology of BDNF-induced NMDAR dysfunction could yield new insights relevant to developing novel therapeutics for schizophrenia and related disorders. In the absence of GI microbes, central BDNF levels are reduced and this inhibits the maintenance of NMDAR production. A reduction of NMDAR input onto GABA inhibitory interneurons causes disinhibition of glutamatergic output which disrupts the central signal-to-noise ratio and leads to aberrant synaptic behaviour and cognitive deficits. Gut microbiota can modulate BDNF function in the CNS, via changes in neurotransmitter function by affecting modulatory mechanisms such as the kynurenine pathway, or by changes in the availability and actions of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in the brain. Interrupting these cycles by inducing changes in the gut microbiota using probiotics, prebiotics or antimicrobial drugs has been found promising as a preventative or therapeutic measure to counteract behavioural deficits and these may be useful to supplement the actions of drugs in the treatment of CNS disorders

Role of brain imaging in disorders of brain-gut interaction: a Rome Working Team Report.

Imaging of the living human brain is a powerful tool to probe the interactions between brain, gut and microbiome in health and in disorders of brain-gut interactions, in particular IBS. While altered signals from the viscera contribute to clinical symptoms, the brain integrates these interoceptive signals with emotional, cognitive and memory related inputs in a non-linear fashion to produce symptoms. Tremendous progress has occurred in the development of new imaging techniques that look at structural, functional and metabolic properties of brain regions and networks. Standardisation in image acquisition and advances in computational approaches has made it possible to study large data sets of imaging studies, identify network properties and integrate them with non-imaging data. These approaches are beginning to generate brain signatures in IBS that share some features with those obtained in other often overlapping chronic pain disorders such as urological pelvic pain syndromes and vulvodynia, suggesting shared mechanisms. Despite this progress, the identification of preclinical vulnerability factors and outcome predictors has been slow. To overcome current obstacles, the creation of consortia and the generation of standardised multisite repositories for brain imaging and metadata from multisite studies are required

The dimensions of personality in humans and other animals: A comparative and evolutionary perspective

This paper considers the structure and proximate mechanisms of personality in humans and other animals. Significant similarities were found between personality structures and mechanisms across species in at least two broad traits: Extraversion and Neuroticism. The factor space tapped by these personality dimensions is viewed as a general integrative framework for comparative and evolutionary studies of personality in humans and other animals. Most probably, the cross-species similarities between the most broad personality dimensions like Extraversion and Neuroticism as well as other Big Five factors reflect conservative evolution: constrains on evolution imposed by physiological, genetic and cognitive mechanisms. Lower-order factors, which are more species- and situation-specific, would be adaptive, reflecting correlated selection on and trade-offs between many traits

Mathematics learning strategy and mathematics achievement among middle school students in North of Jordan

The results of 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) showed that Jordanian 8th grade students’ achievement in mathematics is low. Mathematics Learning Strategy (MLS) has been identified as one of the attributing factors. To date, there is little study on MLS and mathematics achievement among Jordanian 8th grade students. The study aimed to identify the level of differences between genders based on number, algebra, geometry, mathematics achievement and spatial visualization, and to what extent would the student’s MLS factors such as attitude, motivation, self-regulation, self-efficacy and mathematics anxiety contribute to mathematics achievement. Additionally, the study aimed to determine whether spatial visualization mediates between the MLS factors and mathematics achievement. The respondents in this study, who comprised of 360 students, were selected through stratified random sampling, from eight public middle schools in Alkoura District in the North of Jordan. The study used 65 items to assess the MLS. The mathematics test contains 30 items (number, algebra & geometry) while the spatial visualization test contains 32 items. The findings showed that female students scored higher than male students in numbers, algebra, and mathematics test but there are no gender differences in geometry scores. Male students performed better than their female counterparts in spatial visualization. The results also showed that mathematics attitude, motivation, self-regulation and selfefficacy contributed to mathematics achievement except mathematics anxiety. Spatial visualization plays a mediating effect between mathematics achievement and attitude, motivation, and mathematics anxiety. This study contributes to knowledge and social cognitive theory about the students’ affective domain base on MLS factors and spatial visualization which is important as prerequisite knowledge for learning mathematics. Mathematics educators in Jordan need to consider the MLS factors when teaching mathematics to 8th grade students to help improve their mathematics achievement