Autism spectrum disorder classification based on interpersonal neural synchrony: Can classification be improved by dyadic neural biomarkers using unsupervised graph representation learning?

Research in machine learning for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) classification bears the promise to improve clinical diagnoses. However, recent studies in clinical imaging have shown the limited generalization of biomarkers across and beyond benchmark datasets. Despite increasing model complexity and sample size in neuroimaging, the classification performance of ASD remains far away from clinical application. This raises the question of how we can overcome these barriers to develop early biomarkers for ASD. One approach might be to rethink how we operationalize the theoretical basis of this disease in machine learning models. Here we introduced unsupervised graph representations that explicitly map the neural mechanisms of a core aspect of ASD, deficits in dyadic social interaction, as assessed by dual brain recordings, termed hyperscanning, and evaluated their predictive performance. The proposed method differs from existing approaches in that it is more suitable to capture social interaction deficits on a neural level and is applicable to young children and infants. First results from functional near-infrared spectroscopy data indicate potential predictive capacities of a task-agnostic, interpretable graph representation. This first effort to leverage interaction-related deficits on neural level to classify ASD may stimulate new approaches and methods to enhance existing models to achieve developmental ASD biomarkers in the future.Comment: Accepted in Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention - MICCAI 2022: The 5th International Workshop on Machine Learning in Clinical Neuroimagin

Children’s mental health problems and their relation to parental stress in foster mothers and fathers

Lohaus A, Chodura S, Möller C, et al. Children’s mental health problems and their relation to parental stress in foster mothers and fathers. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health. 2017;11(1): 43.Background This study focuses on children living in foster families with a history of maltreatment or neglect. These children often show adverse mental health outcomes reflected in increased externalizing and internalizing problems. It is expected that these adverse outcomes are associated with increased parental stress levels experienced by foster mothers as well as foster fathers. Methods The study sample included 79 children living in foster families and 140 children living in biological families as comparison group. The age of the children ranged from 2 to 7 years. Mental health problems were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist, while parenting stress was measured with a parenting stress questionnaire including subscales on the amount of experienced stress and the amount of perceived support. The Child Behavior Checklist assessments were based mainly on maternal reports, while the parental stress assessments were based on maternal as well as paternal reports. Results As expected the results showed increased externalizing and internalizing scores for the foster children accompanied by increased parental stress experiences in the foster family sample (however only in the maternal, but not in the paternal stress reports). The stress differences between the foster and biological family groups disappeared, when the children’s mental health problem scores were included as covariates. Moreover, especially the externalizing scores were strong predictors of parental stress in both, the groups of foster and biological parents. The amount of perceived social support was associated with reduced parental stress, but only in the group of biological fathers. Conclusion The emergence of parental stress in biological as well as foster parents is closely related to child characteristics (mainly externalizing child problems). Possible implications for the reduction of parental stress are discussed as a consequence of the present results

COSINUS: Cryogenic Calorimeters for the Direct Dark Matter Search with NaI Crystals

COSINUS (Cryogenic Observatory for SIgnatures seen in Next-generation Underground Searches) is an experiment employing cryogenic calorimeters, dedicated to direct dark matter search in underground laboratories. Its goal is to cross-check the annual modulation signal the DAMA collaboration has been detecting for about 20 years (Bernabei et al. in Nucl Part Phys Proc 303-305:74-79, 2018. 10.1016/j.nuclphysbps.2019.03.015) and which has been ruled out by other experiments in certain dark matter scenarios. COSINUS can provide a model-independent test by the use of the same target material (NaI), with the additional chance of discriminating beta/gamma events from nuclear recoils on an event-by-event basis, by the application of a well-established temperature sensor technology developed within the CRESST collaboration. Each module is constituted by two detectors: the light detector, that is a silicon beaker equipped with a transition edge sensor (TES), and the phonon detector, a small cubic NaI crystal interfaced with a carrier of a harder material (e.g. CdWO4), also instrumented with a TES. This technology had so far never been applied to NaI crystals because of several well-known obstacles, and COSINUS is the first experiment which succeeded in operating NaI crystals as cryogenic calorimeters. Here, we present the COSINUS project, describe the achievements and the challenges of the COSINUS prototype development and discuss the status and the perspectives of this NaI-based cryogenic frontier

Interpersonal neural synchrony and mental disorders: unlocking potential pathways for clinical interventions

Introduction: Interpersonal synchronization involves the alignment of behavioral, affective, physiological, and brain states during social interactions. It facilitates empathy, emotion regulation, and prosocial commitment. Mental disorders characterized by social interaction dysfunction, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), and Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), often exhibit atypical synchronization with others across multiple levels. With the introduction of the “second-person” neuroscience perspective, our understanding of interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) has improved, however, so far, it has hardly impacted the development of novel therapeutic interventions. Methods: To evaluate the potential of INS-based treatments for mental disorders, we performed two systematic literature searches identifying studies that directly target INS through neurofeedback (12 publications; 9 independent studies) or brain stimulation techniques (7 studies), following PRISMA guidelines. In addition, we narratively review indirect INS manipulations through behavioral, biofeedback, or hormonal interventions. We discuss the potential of such treatments for ASD, RAD, and SAD and using a systematic database search assess the acceptability of neurofeedback (4 studies) and neurostimulation (4 studies) in patients with social dysfunction. Results: Although behavioral approaches, such as engaging in eye contact or cooperative actions, have been shown to be associated with increased INS, little is known about potential long-term consequences of such interventions. Few proof-of-concept studies have utilized brain stimulation techniques, like transcranial direct current stimulation or INS-based neurofeedback, showing feasibility and preliminary evidence that such interventions can boost behavioral synchrony and social connectedness. Yet, optimal brain stimulation protocols and neurofeedback parameters are still undefined. For ASD, RAD, or SAD, so far no randomized controlled trial has proven the efficacy of direct INS-based intervention techniques, although in general brain stimulation and neurofeedback methods seem to be well accepted in these patient groups. Discussion: Significant work remains to translate INS-based manipulations into effective treatments for social interaction disorders. Future research should focus on mechanistic insights into INS, technological advancements, and rigorous design standards. Furthermore, it will be key to compare interventions directly targeting INS to those targeting other modalities of synchrony as well as to define optimal target dyads and target synchrony states in clinical interventions

Searches for Light Dark Matter with the CRESST-III Experiment

Cryogenic Rare Event Search with Superconducting Thermometers (CRESST) is a long-standing direct dark matter detection experiment with cryogenic detectors located at the underground facility Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. CRESST-III, the third generation of CRESST, was specifically designed to have a world-leading sensitivity for low-mass dark matter (DM) (less than 2\ua0GeV/c 2) to probe the spin-independent DM-nucleus cross section. At present, a large part of the parameter space for spin-independent scattering off nuclei remains untested for dark matter particles with masses below few GeV/c 2 although many motivated theoretical models having been proposed. The CRESST-III experiment employs scintillating CaWO 4 crystals of ∼ 25\ua0g as target material for dark matter interactions operated as cryogenic scintillating calorimeters at\ua0∼ 10\ua0mK. CRESST-III first data taking was successfully completed in 2018, achieving an unprecedented energy threshold for nuclear recoils. This result extended the present sensitivity to DM particles as light as ∼ 160\ua0MeV/c 2. In this paper, an overview of the CRESST-III detectors and results will be presented

Lithium-Containing Crystals for Light Dark Matter Search Experiments

In the current direct dark matter search landscape, the leading experiments in the sub-GeV mass region mostly rely on cryogenic techniques which employ crystalline targets. One attractive type of crystals for these experiments is those containing lithium, due to the fact that 7Li is an ideal candidate to study spin-dependent dark matter interactions in the low mass region. Furthermore, 6Li can absorb neutrons, a challenging background for dark matter experiments, through a distinctive signature which allows the monitoring of the neutron flux directly on site. In this work, we show the results obtained with three different detectors based on LiAlO 2, a target crystal never used before in cryogenic experiments

Concurrent and lagged physiological synchrony during mother–child interaction and their relationship to positive affect in 8- to 10-year-old children

Abstract Mother–child interaction has been characterized by a fine-tuning of behavior and physiological activity. Yet, little is known about the dynamics of mother–child physiological synchrony during early school age and their associations to positive affect. To investigate these processes, 42 mother–child dyads, with children aged 8 to 10 years, played an interactive game while their interbeat intervals (IBI) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were measured simultaneously. IBI/RSA synchrony was calculated using cross-correlations of the IBI/RSA second-by-second time series for lags − 3 to + 3 seconds. Mother’s and child’s individual and shared positive affect were microcoded. During the interactive tasks, IBI and RSA synchrony significantly increased compared to control conditions. RSA and affect synchrony were significantly stronger for negative compared to positive lags indicating a stronger child leads/mother follows covariation. Further, dyad’s IBI and RSA synchrony were significantly associated to mother’s and child’s individual positive affect. Our data suggest that in low-risk community samples, mothers may respond to their children’s positive affect by matching their own affect and physiology. Investigating these temporally precise, concurrent and lagged synchrony processes may open up new avenues for understanding the ways in which parent–child interactions contribute to child developmental outcomes

Brain-to-brain synchrony in parent-child dyads and the relationship with emotion regulation revealed by fNIRS-based hyperscanning

Parent-child synchrony, the coupling of behavioral and biological signals during social contact, may fine-tune the child's brain circuitries associated with emotional bond formation and the child's development of emotion regulation. Here, we examined the neurobiological underpinnings of these processes by measuring parent's and child's prefrontal neural activity concurrently with functional near-infrared spectroscopy hyperscanning. Each child played both a cooperative and a competitive game with the parent, mostly the mother, as well as an adult stranger. During cooperation, parent's and child's brain activities synchronized in the dorsolateral prefrontal and frontopolar cortex (FPC), which was predictive for their cooperative performance in subsequent trials. No significant brain-to-brain synchrony was observed in the conditions parent-child competition, stranger-child cooperation and stranger-child competition. Furthermore, parent-child compared to stranger-child brain-to-brain synchrony during cooperation in the FPC mediated the association between the parent's and the child's emotion regulation, as assessed by questionnaires. Thus, we conclude that brain-to-brain synchrony may represent an underlying neural mechanism of the emotional connection between parent and child, which is linked to the child's development of adaptive emotion regulation. Future studies may uncover whether brain-to-brain synchrony can serve as a neurobiological marker of the dyad's socio-emotional interaction, which is sensitive to risk conditions, and can be modified by interventions