Decision-making after continuous wins or losses in a randomized guessing task: implications for how the prior selection results affect subsequent decision-making

BACKGROUND: Human decision-making is often affected by prior selections and their outcomes, even in situations where decisions are independent and outcomes are unpredictable. METHODS: In this study, we created a task that simulated real-life non-strategic gambling to examine the effect of prior outcomes on subsequent decisions in a group of male college students. RESULTS: Behavioral performance showed that participants needed more time to react after continuous losses (LOSS) than continuous wins (WIN) and discontinuous outcomes (CONTROL). In addition, participants were more likely to repeat their selections in both WIN and LOSS conditions. Functional MRI data revealed that decisions in WINs were associated with increased activation in the mesolimbic pathway, but decreased activation in the inferior frontal gyrus relative to LOSS. Increased prefrontal cortical activation was observed during LOSS relative to WIN and CONTROL conditions. CONCLUSION: Taken together, the behavioral and neuroimaging findings suggest that participants tended to repeat previous selections during LOSS trials, a pattern resembling the gambler’s fallacy. However, during WIN trials, participants tended to follow their previous lucky decisions, like the ‘hot hand’ fallacy

Numerical Analysis of Partial Abrasion of the Straddle-type Monorail Vehicle running Tyre

The finite element model of the running tyre and the pre-stressed concrete (PC) track beam are created in the study. The wheel-rail contact status under the conditions such as acceleration or braking, lateral deviation, and roll is analysed. The wear law of the running tyre under the operating condition of driving on winding roads is discussed. The results show that the running tyre will unevenly wear when driving on the winding road; the smaller curve radius and the faster speed result in heavier and more uneven wear. There is a larger slip between the running tyre on the inner side of the curve and the rail surface, and this tyre has more uneven wear than the running tyre on the outer side of the curve. The research findings provide a theoretical basis for solving the problem of reducing the uneven wear of the running tyre

Sex difference in the effect of Internet gaming disorder on the brain functions: evidence from resting-state fMRI

Objective: Studies have shown that males are more prevalence than females in Internet gaming disorder (IGD). This study was set to explore the sex difference on the effect of IGD in resting states of the brain. Methods: Resting-state fMRI data were collected from 58 recreational Internet game users (RGU, male = 29) and 46 IGD subjects (male = 23). Regional homogeneity (ReHo) was used to calculate group difference between the subjects. A two-way ANOVA was used to explore the IGD-by-sex interactions. Correlations between addiction severity and the ReHo values were also calculated. Results: Significant sex-by-group interactions were found associated with the brain features in the right posterior cingulate (rPCC), left middle occipital gyrus (lMOG), right middle temporal gyrus (rMTG), and right postcentral gyrus (rPG). Post-hoc analysis revealed that comparing with same-sex RGUs, male IGD showed decreased ReHo in the rPCC, and the ReHo in the rPCC was also negatively associated with Internet addiction test (IAT) scores for male subjects. Moreover, male IGDs showed increased ReHo, but female ones showed decreased ReHo, in both lMOG and rMTG, when comparing with same-sex RGUs. Conclusions: Sex differences were observed in brain regions that are responsible for executive control, visual and auditory perception. These sex differences should be taken into consideration in future studies and the treatment of IGD

Functional Neural Changes and Altered Cortical–Subcortical Connectivity Associated with Recovery from Internet Gaming Disorder

Background and aims: Although studies have suggested that individuals with Internet gaming disorder (IGD) may have impairments in cognitive functioning, the nature of the relationship is unclear given that the information is typically derived from cross-sectional studies. Methods: Individuals with active IGD (n = 154) and those individuals no longer meeting criteria (n = 29) after 1 year were examined longitudinally using functional magnetic resonance imaging during performance of cue-craving tasks. Subjective responses and neural correlates were contrasted at study onset and at 1 year. Results: Subjects’ craving responses to gaming cues decreased significantly at 1 year relative to study onset. Decreased brain responses in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and lentiform nucleus were observed at 1 year relative to onset. Significant positive correlations were observed between changes in brain activities in the lentiform nucleus and changes in self-reported cravings. Dynamic causal modeling analysis showed increased ACC–lentiform connectivity at 1 year relative to study onset. Conclusions: After recovery from IGD, individuals appear less sensitive to gaming cues. This recovery may involve increased ACC-related control over lentiform-related motivations in the control over cravings. The extent to which cortical control over subcortical motivations may be targeted in treatments for IGD should be examined further

Altered brain functional networks in Internet gaming disorder: independent component and graph theoretical analysis under a probability-discounting task

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is becoming a matter of concern around the world. However, the neural mechanism underlying IGD remains unclear. In present study, we used independent component analysis (ICA) and graph theoretical analysis (GTA) to explore the potential changed networks in IGD subjects compared to recreational game user (RGU) under a probability-discounting task. Imaging and behavioral data were collected from 18 IGD and 20 RGU subjects. Behavioral results showed the IGD subjects, comparing to RGU, prefer risky options to the fixed ones and spent less time in making risky decisions. In imaging results, the ICA analysis revealed that the IGD showed stronger functional connectivity (FC) in reward circuits and executive control network, as well as lower FC in anterior salience network (ASN) than RGU; for the GTA results, the IGD showed impaired FC in reward circuits and ASN compared to RGU. Taken all, these results suggest that IGD subjects were more sensitive to rewards and, at the same time, they usually neglect the potential punishment under a risky circumstance. Besides this, they were more impulsive in decision-making as they could not control their impulsivity effectively. This might explain why IGD subjects cannot stop their gaming behaviors even facing serve negative consequences

Ethyl 2-benzyl-1-propyl-1H-indole-3-carboxyl­ate

In the title compound, C21H23NO2, the dihedral angle between the indole ring system and the benzyl ring is 75.92 (9)°. The crystal packing is controlled by C—H⋯O and C—H⋯π inter­actions

Meta-analyses of the functional neural alterations in subjects with Internet gaming disorder: similarities and differences across different paradigms

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) has become a global public health concern due to its increasing prevalence and potential negative consequences. Researchers have sought to identify which brain regions are associated with this disorder. However, inconsistent results have been reported among studies due to the heterogeneity of paradigms and subjects. The present research aimed to combine the results of individual studies to provide a more coherent and powerful explanation. By selecting 40 studies utilizing a qualified whole-brain analysis, we performed a comprehensive series of meta-analyses that employed seed-based d mapping. We divided the existing experimental paradigms into 3 categories: game-related cue-reactivity, executive control, and risk-reward-related decision-making tasks. We divided all studies into three subgroups according to their paradigms. In cue-reactivity tasks, patients with IGD exhibited significant hyperactivation in the bilateral precuneus and bilateral cingulate and significant hypoactivation in the insula, but there were no differences in the striatum. In executive control tasks, patients with IGD displayed significant hyperactivation in the right superior temporal gyrus, bilateral precuneus, bilateral cingulate, and insula and hypoactivation in the left inferior frontal gyrus. In risky decision-making paradigms, IGD patients exhibited significant hyperactivation in the left striatum, right inferior frontal gyrus, and insula and hypoactivation in the left superior frontal gyrus, left inferior frontal gyrus, and right precentral gyrus. Our study aimed to discover the similarities among all studies and to explore the uniqueness of the different paradigms. This study further confirmed the critical role of reward circuitry and executive control circuitry in IGD but not under all conditions

Ubiquitination in Scleroderma Fibrosis and Its Treatment

Scleroderma (systemic sclerosis, SSc) is a highly heterogeneous rheumatic disease, and uncontrolled fibrosis in visceral organs is the major cause of death in patients. The transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and WNT/β-catenin signaling pathways, along with signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), play crucial roles in this fibrotic process. Currently, no therapy is available that effectively arrests or reverses the progression of fibrosis in patients with SSc. Ubiquitination is an important post-translational modification that controls many critical cellular functions. Dysregulated ubiquitination events have been observed in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis and fibrotic diseases. Inhibitors targeting the ubiquitination pathway have considerable potential for the treatment of rheumatic diseases. However, very few studies have examined the role and mechanism of ubiquitination in patients with SSc. In this review, we will summarize the molecular mechanisms of ubiquitination in patients with SSc and explore the potential targets for treatment

Maternal ambient air pollution exposure with spatial-temporal variations and preterm birth risk assessment during 2013-2017 in Zhejiang Province, China.

Preterm birth (PTB) can give rise to significant neonatal morbidity and mortality, as well as children's long-term health defects. Many studies have illustrated the associations between ambient air pollution exposure during gestational periods and PTB risks, but most of them only focused on one single air pollutant, such as PM2.5. In this population-based environmental-epidemiology study, we recruited 6275 pregnant mothers in Zhejiang Province, China, and evaluated their gestational exposures to various air pollutants during 2013-2017. Time-to-event logistic regressions were performed to estimate risk associations after adjusting all confounders, and Quasi-AQI model and PCA-GLM analysis were applied to resolve the collinearity issues in multi-pollutant regression models. It was found that gestational exposure to ambient air pollutants was significantly associated with the occurrence of PTB, and SO2 was the largest contributor with a proportion of 29.4%. Three new variables, prime factor (a combination of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and NO2), carbon factor (CO), and ozone factor (O3), were generated by PCA integration, contributing 63.4%, 17.1%, and 19.5% to PTB risks, respectively. The first and third trimester was the most crucial exposure window, suggesting the pregnant mothers better to avoid severe air pollution exposures during these sensitive periods