ERP evidence of cognitive strategy change in motivational conditions with varying level of difficulty

Recent research suggests that motivation improves cognitive functions but the particular mechanisms and precise behavioural conditions involved in such improvement still remain unknown. Particularly, it is unclear when in time and in which conditions these mechanisms are engaged. In the present study, we aimed to look at the neural markers of cognitive control strategies in different motivational conditions (motivation vs neutral) with different levels of difficulty (high vs low). Twenty-five adults completed a newly designed task in the four conditions above. Three ERP components were analysed: the CNV, LRP and P3b. We found that a motivational situation triggers the use of a proactive strategy when low cognitive control is required. A reactive strategy was used in a non-motivational situation and for difficult trials. Our study is also the first to provide evidence that the difference between proactive and reactive strategies occurs after the first stimulus (cue) is processe

Oxytocin increases emotional theory of mind, but only for low socioeconomic status individuals.

Studies have linked oxytocin to emotional theory of mind (eToM) - the ability to recognise and understand others' emotions. However, multiple replications have so far failed to reach a consistent result. Growing evidence suggests that oxytocin's positive effects on social-emotional tasks such as eToM are highly dependent on trait-level individual differences. In the present study, we theorised that socioeconomic status (SES) could influence oxytocin's impact on emotional mentalising processes. We tested our hypothesis in a double-blind between-subjects oxytocin nasal spray study on 147 Caucasian white male participants in the United Kingdom. In accordance with our hypothesis, we found that oxytocin (as compared to placebo) did boost emotional theory of mind, but only in people from low subjective SES backgrounds. Our results expand existing theory on how individual differences moderate oxytocin's role on social behaviours

It’s all about beliefs: Believing emotions are uncontrollable is linked to symptoms of anxiety and depression through cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression

The aim of this study was to examine the link between personal beliefs about emotion controllability and symptoms of anxiety and depression, with a particular focus on the mediating role of emotion regulation. To date, there has been little research examining the mediating role of cognitive reappraisal or expressive suppression in the link between beliefs about emotion controllability and symptoms of anxiety. Online questionnaires measuring emotion regulation, beliefs about emotion controllability, and depression and anxiety, were completed by 1227 participants (n = 336 males; Mage = 25.3, SD = 10.1; range = 16 to 83 years). The results indicated that perceived control over one’s own emotions predicted better psychological health (fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression). This link between beliefs about emotion controllability and psychological heath was partially mediated by cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression, with cognitive reappraisal predicting a reduction in clinical symptoms and expressive suppression predicting an increase in clinical symptoms. These findings suggest that individuals’ beliefs about emotion controllability, leads to the use of certain emotion regulation strategies which in turn, have important consequences for psychological health

Caring helps: trait empathy is related to better coping strategies and differs in the poor versus the rich

Coping has been extensively studied in health psychology; however, factors influencing the usage of different coping strategies have received limited attention. In five studies (N = 3702), we explored the relationship between trait empathy and coping strategies, and how subjective socioeconomic status (SES) moderates this relationship. In Studies 1–4, we found that people with higher level of empathic concern use more adaptive coping strategies, seek more social support, and use fewer maladaptive coping strategies. Moreover, higher trait empathy related to more adaptive coping strategies among the poor, and fewer maladaptive coping strategies among the rich. In Study 5, we tested the potential biological basis of the relationship between trait empathy and coping by examining the effect of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) rs53576 polymorphism on coping. We found that individuals with the GG phenotype—who in previous research have been found to be more empathic—were more likely to seek social support than AG or AA individuals. Furthermore, in line with findings in Studies 1–4, amongst people with low SES, individuals with GG genotype used more adaptive coping strategies than AG or AA individuals. Our results highlight the selective role trait empathy plays in influencing coping strategy deployment, depending on the SES of individuals

Modulation of haloperidol-induced patterns of the transcription factor Nur77 and Nor-1 expression by serotonergic and adrenergic drugs in the mouse brain

Different patterns of expression of the transcription factors of Nur77 and Nor-1 are induced following acute administration of typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs. The pharmacological profile of atypical antipsychotics suggests that serotonergic and/or adrenergic receptors might contribute to these reported differences. In order to test this possibility, we examined the abilities of serotonin 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A/2C, and α1- and α2-adrenergic receptor drugs to modify the pattern of Nur77 (NR4A1) and Nor-1 (NR4A3) mRNA expression induced by haloperidol. Various groups of mice were treated with either saline, DOI, a 5-HT2A/2C agonist, MDL11939, a 5-HT2A antagonist, 8-OH-DPAT, a 5-HT1A agonist, prazosin, an α1-adrenergic antagonist and idazoxan, an α2-adrenergic antagonist, alone or in combination with haloperidol. The 5-HT2A/2C agonist DOI alone significantly increased Nur77 expression in the medial striatum and nucleus accumbens. DOI reduced Nor-1 expression, while MDL11939 increased the expression of this transcript in the cortex. Prazosin reduced Nur77 expression in the dorsal striatum and nucleus accumbens. Interestingly, 8-OH-DPAT and MDL11939 partially prevented haloperidol-induced Nur77 up-regulation, while MDL11939 completely abolished Nor-1 expression in the striatum. In addition, MDL11939 decreased haloperidol-induced Nur77 and Nor-1 mRNA levels in the ventral tegmental area. On the contrary, idazoxan (α2 antagonist) consistently potentiated haloperidol-induced Nur77, but not Nor-1 mRNA levels in the striatum, whereas prazosin (α1 antagonist) remained without effect. Taken together, these results show the ability of a 5-HT1A agonist or a 5-HT2A antagonist to reduce haloperidol-induced Nur77 and Nor-1 striatal expression, suggesting that these serotonin receptor subtypes participate in the differential pattern of gene expression induced by typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs

Unusual Sensory Disturbances Revealing Posterior Spinal Artery Infarct

Spinal cord infarctions are rare, especially at the cervical level and in the posterior spinal artery territory. Moreover, this diagnosis is difficult to establish as the clinical picture varies. Even if sensory patterns appear as cardinal signs, their distribution can be very variable. We report a rare case of posterior cervical cord infarction revealed by an unusual pure sensory clinical picture

Les Iles oubliées : les Baléares, la Corse et la Sardaigne impressions de voyage

Resolució de la versió digital: 150 ppp503 pàgines : ilustrades per l'auto

Emotional Processing, P50 Sensory Gating, and Social Functioning in Bipolar Disorder

Emotional processing has been reported to effect sensory gating as measured by the event-related potential known as P50. Because both P50 and emotional processing are dysfunctional in bipolar disorder (BD), we sought to investigate the impact that concurrent emotional processing has on sensory gating in this psychiatric population. P50 was recorded using a pairedclick paradigm. Peak-to-peak amplitudes for stimulus 1 (S1) and stimulus 2 (S2) were acquired during the presentation of disgust and neutral faces to young adults with BD (n = 19) and controls (n = 20). Social functioning and quality-of-life selfreported measures were also obtained. The BD group had significantly larger P50 amplitudes elicited by the S2-disgust response compared with controls, but no significant difference in overall P50 sensory gating was found between the groups. There were also no differences between groups in S1-disgust or in either of the neutral P50 amplitudes. The BD group showed significant associations between sensory gating to disgust and measures of social functioning. Importantly, BD showed impaired filtering of auditory information when paired with an emotionally salient image. Thus, it appears that patients with the greatest impairment in sensory gating also have the most difficulty engaging in social situations