Women with early maltreatment experience show increased resting-state functional connectivity in the theory of mind (ToM) network.

Background: Experience of childhood maltreatment significantly increases the risk for the development of psychopathology and is associated with impairments in socio-cognitive skills including theory-of-mind (ToM). In turn, neural alterations in ToM processing might then influence future interpersonal interaction and social-emotional understanding. Objective: To assess resting-state activity in the theory-of-mind network in traumatized and non-traumatized persons. Methods: Thirty-five women with a history of childhood maltreatment and 31 unaffected women completed a resting-state scan and a ToM localizer task. The peak coordinates from the localizer were used as the seed regions for the resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) analyses (temporo-parietal junction, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, middle temporal gyrus and precuneus). Results: Child abuse was associated with increased RSFC between various ToM regions including the precuneus and the brainstem suggesting altered hierarchical processing in ToM regions. Number of types of abuse was driving the effect for the temporo-parietal junction and the brainstem, while the severity of abuse was linked to increased RSFC between the middle temporal gyrus and the frontal cortex. Post-hoc analyses of brainstem regions indicated the involvement of the serotonergic system (dorsal raphe). Conclusions: The data indicate a lasting impact of childhood maltreatment on the neural networks involved in social information processing that are integral to understanding others' emotional states. Indeed, such altered neural networks may account for some of the interpersonal difficulties victims of childhood maltreatment experience

Direct and indirect links between children’s socio-economic status and education: pathways via mental health, attitude, and cognition

AbstractA child’s socio-economic environment can profoundly affect their development. While existing literature focusses on simplified metrics and pair-wise relations between few variables, we aimed to capture complex interrelationships between several relevant domains using a broad assessment of 519 children aged 7–9 years. Our analyses comprised three multivariate techniques that complimented each other, and worked at different levels of granularity. First, an exploratory factor analysis (principal component analysis followed by varimax rotation) revealed that our sample varied along continuous dimensions of cognition, attitude and mental health (from parallel analysis); with potentially emerging dimensions speed and socio-economic status (passed Kaiser’s criterion). Second, k-means cluster analysis showed that children did not group into discrete phenotypes. Third, a network analysis on the basis of bootstrapped partial correlations (confirmed by both cross-validated LASSO and multiple comparisons correction of binarised connection probabilities) uncovered how our developmental measures interconnected: educational outcomes (reading and maths fluency) were directly related to cognition (short-term memory, number sense, processing speed, inhibition). By contrast, mental health (anxiety and depression symptoms) and attitudes (conscientiousness, grit, growth mindset) showed indirect relationships with educational outcomes via cognition. Finally, socio-economic factors (neighbourhood deprivation, family affluence) related directly to educational outcomes, cognition, mental health, and even grit. In sum, cognition is a central cog through which mental health and attitude relate to educational outcomes. However, through direct relations with all components of developmental outcomes, socio-economic status acts as a great ‘unequaliser’.</jats:p

Psycho-social factors associated with mental resilience in the Corona lockdown

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is not only a threat to physical health but is also having severe impacts on mental health. Although increases in stress-related symptomatology and other adverse psycho-social outcomes, as well as their most important risk factors have been described, hardly anything is known about potential protective factors. Resilience refers to the maintenance of mental health despite adversity. To gain mechanistic insights about the relationship between described psycho-social resilience factors and resilience specifically in the current crisis, we assessed resilience factors, exposure to Corona crisis-specific and general stressors, as well as internalizing symptoms in a cross-sectional online survey conducted in 24 languages during the most intense phase of the lockdown in Europe (22 March to 19 April) in a convenience sample of N = 15,970 adults. Resilience, as an outcome, was conceptualized as good mental health despite stressor exposure and measured as the inverse residual between actual and predicted symptom total score. Preregistered hypotheses (osf.io/r6btn) were tested with multiple regression models and mediation analyses. Results confirmed our primary hypothesis that positive appraisal style (PAS) is positively associated with resilience (p < 0.0001). The resilience factor PAS also partly mediated the positive association between perceived social support and resilience, and its association with resilience was in turn partly mediated by the ability to easily recover from stress (both p < 0.0001). In comparison with other resilience factors, good stress response recovery and positive appraisal specifically of the consequences of the Corona crisis were the strongest factors. Preregistered exploratory subgroup analyses (osf.io/thka9) showed that all tested resilience factors generalize across major socio-demographic categories. This research identifies modifiable protective factors that can be targeted by public mental health efforts in this and in future pandemics

Brain structural and functional asymmetry in human situs inversus totalis

Magnetic resonance imaging was used to investigate brain structural and functional asymmetries in 15 participants with complete visceral reversal (situs inversus totalis, SIT). Language-related brain structural and functional lateralization of SIT participants, including peri-Sylvian gray and white matter asymmetries and hemispheric language dominance, was similar to those of 15 control participants individually matched for sex, age, education, and handedness. In contrast, the SIT cohort showed reversal of the brain (Yakovlevian) torque (occipital petalia and occipital bending) compared to the control group. Secondary findings suggested different asymmetry patterns between SIT participants with (n = 6) or without (n = 9) primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD, also known as Kartagener syndrome) although the small sample sizes warrant cautious interpretation. In particular, reversed brain torque was mainly due to the subgroup with PCD-unrelated SIT and this group also included 55% left handers, a ratio close to a random allocation of handedness. We conclude that complete visceral reversal has no effect on the lateralization of brain structural and functional asymmetries associated with language, but seems to reverse the typical direction of the brain torque in particular in participants that have SIT unrelated to PCD. The observed differences in asymmetry patterns of SIT groups with and without PCD seem to suggest that symmetry breaking of visceral laterality, brain torque, and language dominance rely on different mechanisms

What you see is what you get : motor resonance in peripheral vision

Observation of others\u2019 actions evokes a motor resonant (MR) response, mediated by the mirror neuron system, which reflects the motor program encoding the observed actions. Presumably factors internal (attention, motivation, emotion) or external (location, salience) to observers, can modulate MR responses. We have started a series of studies evaluating the role of some of these factors, such as attention (Cerri et al. 2010) and emotion (Borroni et al. 2012). Here we explore the importance of location of the action in the visual field of observers. A grasping action was presented in the near peripheral vision of subjects (10\ub0 from fixation point), who were asked to maintain their gaze on a fixation point in the left lower corner of a computer screen while, on the right, a short video showed an avatar hand grasping a ball. Motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) were elicited in the right Opponens Pollicis by transcranial magnetic stimulation of primary motor cortex, at different delays during the observed action. Two different grasping actions were shown to two different groups of 20 subjects: a normal (palmar finger flexion) or an impossible grasping (dorsal finger flexion). After the experiment, subjects were questioned about the action they had observed. All subjects, whether they had observed the normal or the impossible action, reported seeing a normal grasping movement. Consistently, the same response was recorded in both conditions: MEPs were significantly larger at all dynamic delays compared to baseline for both normal and impossible actions. Thus motor responses were elicited by observation of an action in peripheral vision, though the corresponding motor program was grossly imprecise. We propose two complementary interpretations: 1. peripheral vision did not provide enough visual information to evoke distinct MR responses in the different conditions and delays, and 2. the action that was explicitly perceived influenced the shape of responses

Attention is necessary for the motor resonant response in human subjects

A large body of evidence has shown that the observation of actions done by others evokes a subliminal activation in motor pathways of observers (motor resonance, MR). In all MR published studies subjects\u2019 attention is always explicitly focused on the observed action. In this study we evaluate the role played by attention in the development of the MR response with three experiments. Expt1: 14 subjects are instructed to observe a 1Hz flexion-extension sinusoidal hand movement (explicit observation). Expt2: 14 different subjects are instructed to count how many times a small light, on the dorsal surface of the experimenter\u2019s hand, is turned on, while the experimenter performs the same hand movement as in Expt1 (implicit observation). Expt 3: 14 different subjects observed the same light/hand regime as in Expt2, but are instructed to report if when the last light is turned on the hand upon which it rested was flexed upward or downward (implicit observation with some attention to movement). MR is measured as the amplitude modulation of the H-reflex in the Flexor Carpi Radialis muscle (FCR) of observers. The number of times the light is turned on varies randomly in both experiments; the task is easy, but requires constant attention. Explicit observation evokes a significant (R2=0.42; p<0.0001) sinusoidal modulation in the observer\u2019s FCR H-reflex. During implicit observation the amplitude of the reflex modulation is almost completely eliminated in Expt2 (R2 = 0.11; p<0.007) while it remains more evident, though also greatly reduced, in Expt3 (R2=0.18; p<0.0003)

Motor resonance in peripheral vision and the role of covert attention

In this study we investigate whether action observation in peripheral vision evokes a motor resonant (MR) response and whether this response can be modulated by the attention of observers. Two groups of subjects observed two different actions -either a \u2018natural\u2019 or an \u2018impossible\u2019 hand grasping performed by an avatar- that were shown on the right side of a computer screen, at 10\ub0 from their fixation point. TMS-evoked motor potentials (MEPs) were recorded in the Opponens Pollicis (OP) and in the Abductor Digiti Minimi (ADM) muscles at different delays during the observation of the 4s video showing one of the grasping actions. In Experiment 1 subjects were asked to maintain their gaze on a fixation point, while viewing the action in peripheral vision; in Experiment 2 different subjects were asked to do the same but also to pay covert attention at the video showed in periphery. Eye movements were monitored. Results show that MEPs in both muscles were significantly modulated by observation of both possible and impossible actions shown in peripheral vision, although the overall MR responses were grossly imprecise in timing and muscle specificity and did not differentiate between the two actions. However, when subjects paid covert attention to the grasping action the specificity of the MR response improved, showing a different modulation in the two muscles consistent with (but not equal to) their activation during observation of the two actions in foveal vision. These results support the hypothesis that MR responses are shaped by both sensory and cognitive processes

Can motor resonance be evoked by both static and dynamic components of observed movements?

The observation of movements done by others induces the subliminal activation of motor circuits (motor resonance, MR), reproducing the specific motor program encoding the same movements. Here we investigate whether both static and dynamic components of an observed action are effective in evoking a MR response. Single pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation was applied to the left primary motor cortex of 15 subjects, eliciting motor evoked potentials (MEPs) in the right flexor and extensor carpi radialis (FCR, ECR) muscles. MR-induced MEP amplitude modulation was sampled at different intervals during the observation of a single oscillation of a prone hand, starting in mid-flexion and continuing through a protracted full extension of the wrist. In the FCR, motor resonant MEP modulation showed the expected significant (p<0.004) positive peak during the observation of flexion and dis-facilitation during extension, while no significant modulation was observed in the ECR during either dynamic or static wrist extensions. Subjects were also asked to execute the identical movement: in this condition a single EMG burst was measured in the FCR during flexion, while constant activity was recorded in the ECR during both dynamic and static movement phases, with a short silent period occurring during flexion. The present data suggest that MR, failing to reproduce the constant motor command necessary to organize the entire observed movement, is selectively sensitive to its dynamic parameters