Key Steps in Developing a Cognitive Vaccine against Traumatic Flashbacks: Visuospatial Tetris versus Verbal Pub Quiz

Background: Flashbacks (intrusive memories of a traumatic event) are the hallmark feature of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, however preventative interventions are lacking. Tetris may offer a 'cognitive vaccine' [1] against flashback development after trauma exposure. We previously reported that playing the computer game Tetris soon after viewing traumatic material reduced flashbacks compared to no-task [1]. However, two criticisms need to be addressed for clinical translation: (1) Would all games have this effect via distraction/enjoyment, or might some games even be harmful? (2) Would effects be found if administered several hours post-trauma? Accordingly, we tested Tetris versus an alternative computer game - Pub Quiz - which we hypothesized not to be helpful (Experiments 1 and 2), and extended the intervention interval to 4 hours (Experiment 2).Methodology/Principal Findings: The trauma film paradigm was used as an experimental analog for flashback development in healthy volunteers. In both experiments, participants viewed traumatic film footage of death and injury before completing one of the following: (1) no-task control condition (2) Tetris or (3) Pub Quiz. Flashbacks were monitored for 1 week. Experiment 1: 30 min after the traumatic film, playing Tetris led to a significant reduction in flashbacks compared to no-task control, whereas Pub Quiz led to a significant increase in flashbacks. Experiment 2: 4 hours post-film, playing Tetris led to a significant reduction in flashbacks compared to no-task control, whereas Pub Quiz did not.Conclusions/Significance: First, computer games can have differential effects post-trauma, as predicted by a cognitive science formulation of trauma memory. In both Experiments, playing Tetris post-trauma film reduced flashbacks. Pub Quiz did not have this effect, even increasing flashbacks in Experiment 1. Thus not all computer games are beneficial or merely distracting post-trauma - some may be harmful. Second, the beneficial effects of Tetris are retained at 4 hours post-trauma. Clinically, this delivers a feasible time-window to administer a post-trauma "cognitive vaccine".</p

Can Playing the Computer Game “Tetris” Reduce the Build-Up of Flashbacks for Trauma? A Proposal from Cognitive Science

Background: Flashbacks are the hallmark symptom of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Although we have successful treatments for full-blown PTSD, early interventions are lacking. We propose the utility of developing a ‘cognitive vaccine ’ to prevent PTSD flashback development following exposure to trauma. Our theory is based on two key findings: 1) Cognitive science suggests that the brain has selective resources with limited capacity; 2) The neurobiology of memory suggests a 6-hr window to disrupt memory consolidation. The rationale for a ‘cognitive vaccine ’ approach is as follows: Trauma flashbacks are sensory-perceptual, visuospatial mental images. Visuospatial cognitive tasks selectively compete for resources required to generate mental images. Thus, a visuospatial computer game (e.g. ‘‘Tetris’’) will interfere with flashbacks. Visuospatial tasks post-trauma, performed within the time window for memory consolidation, will reduce subsequent flashbacks. We predicted that playing ‘‘Tetris’ ’ half an hour after viewing trauma would reduce flashback frequency over 1-week. Methodology/Principal Findings: The Trauma Film paradigm was used as a well-established experimental analog for Posttraumatic Stress. All participants viewed a traumatic film consisting of scenes of real injury and death followed by a 30-min structured break. Participants were then randomly allocated to either a no-task or visuospatial (‘‘Tetris’’) condition which they undertook for 10-min. Flashbacks were monitored for 1-week. Results indicated that compared to the no-tas

Induced transparency in optomechanically coupled resonators

In this work we theoretically investigate a hybrid system of two optomechanically coupled resonators, which exhibits induced transparency. This is realized by coupling an optical ring resonator to a toroid. In the semiclassical analyses, the system displays bistabilities, isolated branches (isolas), and self-sustained oscillation dynamics. Furthermore, we find that the induced transparency window sensitively relies on the mechanical motion. Based on this fact, we show that the described system can be used as a weak force detector and the optimal sensitivity can beat the standard quantum limit without using feedback control or squeezing under available experimental conditions

Effects of emotion recognition training on mood among individuals with high levels of depressive symptoms: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: We have developed a new paradigm that targets the recognition of facial expression of emotions. Here we report the protocol of a randomised controlled trial of the effects of emotion recognition training on mood in a sample of individuals with depressive symptoms over a 6-week follow-up period. METHODS/DESIGN: We will recruit 190 adults from the general population who report high levels of depressive symptoms (defined as a score ≥ 14 on the Beck Depression Inventory-II). Participants will attend a screening session and will be randomised to intervention or control procedures, repeated five times over consecutive days (Monday to Friday). A follow-up session will take place at end-of -treatment, 2-weeks and 6-weeks after training. Our primary study outcome will be depressive symptoms, Beck Depression Inventory- II (rated over the past two weeks). Our secondary outcomes are: depressive symptoms, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression; anxiety symptoms, Beck Anxiety Inventory (rated over the past month); positive affect, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (rated as 'how you feel right now'); negative affect, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (rated as 'how you feel right now'); emotion sensitivity, Emotion Recognition Task (test phase); approach motivation and persistence, the Fishing Game; and depressive interpretation bias, Scrambled Sentences Test. DISCUSSION: This study is of a novel cognitive bias modification technique that targets biases in emotional processing characteristic of depression, and can be delivered automatically via computer, Internet or Smartphone. It therefore has potential to be a valuable cost-effective adjunctive treatment for depression which may be used together with more traditional psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioural therapy and pharmacotherapy. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials: ISRCTN17767674.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

General description of quasi-adiabatic dynamical phenomena near exceptional points

The appearance of so-called exceptional points in the complex spectra of non-Hermitian systems is often associated with phenomena that contradict our physical intuition. One example of particular interest is the state-exchange process predicted for an adiabatic encircling of an exceptional point. In this work we analyse this and related processes for the generic system of two coupled oscillator modes with loss or gain. We identify a characteristic system evolution consisting of periods of quasi-stationarity interrupted by abrupt non-adiabatic transitions, and we present a qualitative and quantitative description of this switching behaviour by connecting the problem to the phenomenon of stability loss delay. This approach makes accurate predictions for the breakdown of the adiabatic theorem as well as the occurrence of chiral behavior observed previously in this context, and provides a general framework to model and understand quasi-adiabatic dynamical effects in non-Hermitian systems.Comment: Main text: 9 pages; 5 figures. Appendix: 4 pages; 1 figur

Using an Experimental Medicine Model to Explore Combination Effects of Pharmacological and Cognitive Interventions for Depression and Anxiety

Selective serotonergic reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and cognitive therapies are effective in the treatment of anxiety and depression. Previous research suggests that both forms of treatments may work by altering cognitive biases in the processing of affective information. The current study assessed the effects of combining an SSRI with a cognitive intervention on measures of affective processing bias and resilience to external challenge. A total of 62 healthy participants were randomly assigned to receive either 7 days of citalopram (20 mg) or placebo capsules while also completing either an active or a control version of a computerized cognitive bias training task. After treatment, standard measures of affective processing bias were collected. Participants' resilience to external stress was also tested by measuring the increase in negative symptoms induced by a negative mood induction. Participants who received both citalopram and the active cognitive bias training task showed a smaller alteration in emotional memory and categorization bias than did those who received either active intervention singly. The degree to which memory for negative information was altered by citalopram predicted participants' resistance to the negative mood induction. These results suggest that co-administration of an SSRI and a cognitive training intervention can reduce the effectiveness of either treatment alone in terms of anxiety- and depression-relevant emotional processing. More generally, the findings suggest that pinpointing the cognitive actions of treatments may inform future development of combination strategies in mental health

Formation of octapod MnO nanoparticles with enhanced magnetic properties through kinetically-controlled thermal decomposition of polynuclear manganese complexes

Polynuclear manganese complexes are used as precursors for the synthesis of manganese oxide nanoparticles (MnO NPs). Altering the thermal decomposition conditions can shift the nanoparticle product from spherical, thermodynamically-driven NPs to unusual, kinetically-controlled octapod structures. The resulting increased surface area profoundly alters the NP's surface-dependent magnetism and may have applications in nanomedicine

Transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in long-term care facilities and their related healthcare networks.

BACKGROUND: Long-term care facilities (LTCF) are potential reservoirs for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), control of which may reduce MRSA transmission and infection elsewhere in the healthcare system. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has been used successfully to understand MRSA epidemiology and transmission in hospitals and has the potential to identify transmission between these and LTCF. METHODS: Two prospective observational studies of MRSA carriage were conducted in LTCF in England and Ireland. MRSA isolates were whole-genome sequenced and analyzed using established methods. Genomic data were available for MRSA isolated in the local healthcare systems (isolates submitted by hospitals and general practitioners). RESULTS: We sequenced a total of 181 MRSA isolates from the two study sites. The majority of MRSA were multilocus sequence type (ST)22. WGS identified one likely transmission event between residents in the English LTCF and three putative transmission events in the Irish LTCF. WGS also identified closely related isolates present in colonized Irish residents and their immediate environment. Based on phylogenetic reconstruction, closely related MRSA clades were identified between the LTCF and their healthcare referral network, together with putative MRSA acquisition by LTCF residents during hospital admission. CONCLUSIONS: These data confirm that MRSA is transmitted between residents of LTCF and is both acquired and transmitted to others in referral hospitals and beyond. Our data present compelling evidence for the importance of environmental contamination in MRSA transmission, reinforcing the importance of environmental cleaning. The use of WGS in this study highlights the need to consider infection control in hospitals and community healthcare facilities as a continuum.UKCRC Translational Infection Research (TIR) Initiative, Medical Research Council (Grant ID: G1000803), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, National Institute for Health Research, Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health Directorate, Hospital Infection Society (Major Research Grant), Wellcome Trust (Grant ID: 098051), Academy of Medical Sciences, Health Foundation, National Institute for Health Research Cambridge Biomedical Research Centr