The influence of nocebo information on fatigue and urge to stop: an experimental investigation

Background and objectives: Fatigue is an adaptive state after prolonged effort and often goes hand in hand with changes in behavior and motivation, such as the urge to stop exerting further effort. However, fatigue may become chronic in nature, as seen in multiple psychiatric disorders and chronic diseases, thereby losing its adaptive function. The etiology of fatigue symptoms remains poorly understood. We aimed to investigate whether nocebo information about the fatigue inducing nature of a cognitive task may contribute to the experience of fatigue and the motivational urge to stop. Methods: Participants (N = 46) repeatedly rated currently experienced fatigue while engaging in cognitive effort (working memory task). Crucially, half of participants received nocebo instructions prior to this task, whereas the other half only received neutral information. Results: Over the entire sample, results showed an increase in fatigue and urge to stop as the task progressed. Crucially, participants in the nocebo condition reported a higher urge to stop throughout the task relative to participants in the neutral condition. No significant effects were found for fatigue. Interestingly however, after controlling for baseline differences between conditions in negative affect, there was a significant Condition*Task block interaction effect on fatigue. Limitations: Limitations include the relatively short experimental protocol and the underrepresentation of male relative to female participants. Conclusions: These findings suggest that heightened awareness among clinicians and therapists about potential nocebo effects in their communication is warranted

Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas (SOCAT) V6

The Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas (SOCAT) is a synthesis activity by the international marine carbon research community (>100 contributors). SOCAT version 6 has 23.4 million quality-controlled, surface ocean fCO2 (fugacity of carbon dioxide) observations from 1957 to 2017 for the global oceans and coastal seas. Calibrated sensor data are also available. Automation allows annual, public releases. SOCAT data is discoverable, accessible and citable. SOCAT enables quantification of the ocean carbon sink and ocean acidification and evaluation of ocean biogeochemical models. SOCAT represents a milestone in biogeochemical and climate research and in informing policy. 424 datasets Version 5: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.877863 Version 4: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.866856 Version 3: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.849770 Version 2: https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.81515