Communication Impairments in Mice Lacking Shank1: Reduced Levels of Ultrasonic Vocalizations and Scent Marking Behavior

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a strong genetic component. Core symptoms are abnormal reciprocal social interactions, qualitative impairments in communication, and repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior with restricted interests. Candidate genes for autism include the SHANK gene family, as mutations in SHANK2 and SHANK3 have been detected in several autistic individuals. SHANK genes code for a family of scaffolding proteins located in the postsynaptic density of excitatory synapses. To test the hypothesis that a mutation in SHANK1 contributes to the symptoms of autism, we evaluated Shank1−/− null mutant mice for behavioral phenotypes with relevance to autism, focusing on social communication. Ultrasonic vocalizations and the deposition of scent marks appear to be two major modes of mouse communication. Our findings revealed evidence for low levels of ultrasonic vocalizations and scent marks in Shank1−/− mice as compared to wildtype Shank1+/+ littermate controls. Shank1−/− pups emitted fewer vocalizations than Shank1+/+ pups when isolated from mother and littermates. In adulthood, genotype affected scent marking behavior in the presence of female urinary pheromones. Adult Shank1−/− males deposited fewer scent marks in proximity to female urine than Shank1+/+ males. Call emission in response to female urinary pheromones also differed between genotypes. Shank1+/+ mice changed their calling pattern dependent on previous female interactions, while Shank1−/− mice were unaffected, indicating a failure of Shank1−/− males to learn from a social experience. The reduced levels of ultrasonic vocalizations and scent marking behavior in Shank1−/− mice are consistent with a phenotype relevant to social communication deficits in autism.National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.) (Intramural Research Program)Simons Foundatio

Genetic variants in novel pathways influence blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk.

Blood pressure is a heritable trait influenced by several biological pathways and responsive to environmental stimuli. Over one billion people worldwide have hypertension (≥140 mm Hg systolic blood pressure or  ≥90 mm Hg diastolic blood pressure). Even small increments in blood pressure are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events. This genome-wide association study of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, which used a multi-stage design in 200,000 individuals of European descent, identified sixteen novel loci: six of these loci contain genes previously known or suspected to regulate blood pressure (GUCY1A3-GUCY1B3, NPR3-C5orf23, ADM, FURIN-FES, GOSR2, GNAS-EDN3); the other ten provide new clues to blood pressure physiology. A genetic risk score based on 29 genome-wide significant variants was associated with hypertension, left ventricular wall thickness, stroke and coronary artery disease, but not kidney disease or kidney function. We also observed associations with blood pressure in East Asian, South Asian and African ancestry individuals. Our findings provide new insights into the genetics and biology of blood pressure, and suggest potential novel therapeutic pathways for cardiovascular disease prevention

The Japanese American Wartime Incarceration: Examining the Scope of Racial Trauma

Ten weeks after the 1941 Japanese military attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the U.S. government authorized the removal of more than 110,000 Japanese American men, women, and children from their homes in Western portions of the country to incarceration camps in desolate areas of the United States. The mass incarceration was portrayed as necessary to protect the country from potential acts of espionage or sabotage that might be committed by someone of Japanese ancestry. However, an extensive government review initiated in 1980 found no evidence of military necessity to support the removal decision and concluded that the incarceration was a grave injustice fueled by racism and war hysteria. The Japanese American wartime experience represents a powerful case example of race-based historical trauma. This article describes the consequences of the incarceration for Japanese Americans during and after their unjust imprisonment, their coping responses and healing strategies, as well as the impacts of receiving governmental redress more than four decades after the war's end. Examination of this specific event provides a perspective for understanding the long-term, radiating effects of racial trauma and the process of healing, over a broad arc of time and across social contexts. Current relevance of the Japanese American incarceration and implications for the field of psychology are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)

Overcoming Constraints of the Model Minority Stereotype to Advance Asian American Health

Asian Americans are the fastest growing U.S. immigrant group, projected to become the largest immigrant group by 2065, but the quantity of research on Asian Americans' health has not mirrored changing demographics. Asian Americans have been understudied for more than 25 years, with only 0.17% of National Institutes of Health (NIH) expenditures allocated to projects including Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander populations (Ðoàn et al., 2019). This disproportionality may result in part from the model minority stereotype (MMS) being extended to health, perpetuating the ideas that Asian Americans are well-positioned with regard to health status and that associated research is not essential. Accordingly, the aims for this article are threefold: (a) bring attention to the inadequate representation of the Asian American population in health-related science, (b) question the MMS in health, and (c) outline potential pathways through which the MMS limits what is knowable on Asian American health issues and needs. We discuss the limited meaningfulness of nonrepresentative aggregated statistics purporting the model minority image and provide counterexamples. We also present a stereotype-constraints model with the MMS contributing to a bottleneck for Asian American health-related knowledge, accompanied by present-day circumstances (e.g., sparse data, few psychologists/behavioral medicine scientists focused on Asian American health). We conclude with initial recommendations for addressing MMS-associated constraints in psychology and more broadly. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

Perception of Sibling Relationships and Birth Order Among Asian American and European American Emerging Adults

Drawing from an ecological systems framework, we qualitatively explored how Confucian-heritage Asian American emerging adults compared with non-Hispanic European American emerging adults on views of sibling relationships and birth order. Thematic analysis of 48 semi-structured interviews revealed positive sibling relationship themes for both ethnocultural groups: mutual support, companionship, and appreciation; comfort from shared burden of negative parental interactions; and pride in one another. Birth-order themes were also similar across the groups. First-borns overall reported a strong pressure to be a role model to later-borns, provide sibling care, assume family responsibilities, and not expect to rely on younger siblings. Despite these similarities, Asian American first-borns were unique in taking comfort in having siblings who shared a less traditional Asian cultural perspective than their parents. They also described additional pressure from being the oldest within an immigrant family

Longitudinal Relations between Emotion Restraint Values, Life Stress, and Internalizing Symptoms among Vietnamese American and European American Adolescents

Objective: Recent research has documented cultural differences in the extent and manner in which various forms of emotion regulation are linked with psychological well-being. Most of these studies, however, have been cross-sectional, nor have they directly examined the values underlying the use of emotion regulation. The present study examined emotion restraint values and their interactions with life stress in predicting internalizing symptoms across time among Vietnamese American and European American adolescents. The study focused on adolescence as a critical developmental period during which life stress and internalizing symptoms increase significantly. Method: Vietnamese American (n = 372) and European American (n = 304) adolescents' levels of emotion restraint values, internalizing symptoms, and stress were assessed at two timepoints six months apart. Results: Results indicated differential associations between emotion restraint values, stress, and symptoms over time for the two groups. For Vietnamese American adolescents, emotion restraint values did not predict depressive, anxiety, or somatic symptoms. For European American adolescents, emotion restraint values predicted higher somatic symptoms but buffered against the effects of interpersonal stress on anxiety and depressive symptoms. Conclusions: These results provide increased understanding of the role of values related to emotion restraint in shaping adolescent internalizing symptoms and responses to stress across cultural groups. Implications of the findings for guiding intervention efforts are discussed

Cultural variation in temporal associations among somatic complaints, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in adolescence

ObjectiveDifferent domains of internalizing symptoms (somatic, anxiety, depressive) often occur concurrently, suggesting that they may share common etiology. In longitudinal analyses of internalizing among youth, anxiety is often found to precede depression. However, relatively few studies have also assessed how somatic problems, the third symptom domain, are involved in longitudinal patterns of internalizing. In addition, temporal relations among internalizing symptom domains may vary by cultural group as somatic symptoms are posited to be a more culturally-normative way of communicating or experiencing distress in non-Western, interdependent cultures. Thus, the present study examined longitudinal relations among these three internalizing symptom domains in three ethnocultural adolescent samples.Methods304 European American, 420 Vietnamese American, and 717 Vietnamese adolescents' self-reported internalizing symptoms (somatic, anxiety, depressive) were assessed at three time points, spaced three months apart, using multigroup cross-lagged path analysis.ResultsAnxiety symptoms consistently predicted increases in depressive symptoms in European American adolescents. In contrast, for Vietnamese and Vietnamese American adolescents, the most consistent relation was with somatic complaints predicting increases in anxiety. Anxiety and depressive symptoms bidirectionally predicted each other among the Vietnamese and Vietnamese American adolescents.ConclusionsCultural group differences were evident in the temporal course of internalizing symptoms. The pattern of results have implications for culturally relevant intervention targets, during a developmental period of risk for internalizing disorders