Atypical reward-driven modulation of mimicry-related neural activity in autism

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by deficits in social functioning and difficulties in forming social bonds. According to the social motivation theory of ASD, people with ASD fail to attend social stimuli because they do not experience them as rewarding, resulting in deficits in social cognition. In neurotypical (NT) individuals, more rewarding faces have been shown to elicit greater spontaneous facial mimicry. This association between reward and mimicry is reduced in people with high autistic traits, suggesting that altered reward processing might explain the deficits in spontaneous facial mimicry observed in individuals with ASD. In a previous study, we observed that learned reward value of a face modulates mimicry-related neural response to it and that this modulation is reduced in people with high autistic traits. Using an identical evaluative conditioning paradigm where neutral faces were conditioned with high and low rewards, we tested the modulating effect of reward value on mimicry-related brain activity in a group of adults with and without ASD. We focused on the activity in a cluster within the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) identified through an independent meta-analysis of 139 neuroimaging studies of mimicry, in response to passively viewing videos of the conditioned faces. The blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response contrast of high- vs. low-reward faces was reduced in participants with ASD compared to NT controls. The extent of reward-driven modulation was negatively correlated with autistic traits across the whole sample. Our results indicate that the mimicry-related brain response is less modulated by learned reward value in individuals with ASD when compared to NT controls. In previous studies, we found in a similar sample that being mimicked by faces was associated with less reward-related brain response in individuals ASD compared to an NT sample, suggesting that the link between reward and mimicry is affected in both directions in ASD. Together, this reduced bidirectional link between reward and mimicry can point to a potential mechanism underlying some of the social cognitive features of ASD

Stimulatory Effect of 5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) on Rat Capsaicin-Sensitive Lung Vagal Sensory Neurons via Activation of 5-HT\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e Receptors

5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) is an inflammatory mediator known to be released in lung. Capsaicin-sensitive lung vagal (CSLV) afferents function as a primary sensor for detecting chemical stimuli and produce consequent reflexes during lung inflammation. To characterize the effect of 5-HT on CSLV afferents, responses of cardiorespiratory reflexes and single-unit C-fiber afferents to right-atrial injections of 5-HT were investigated in anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats. Bolus injection of 5-HT (8 μg/kg) caused an immediate augmented breath and apnea, accompanied by hypotension and bradycardia. These initial responses were then followed by a brief pressor response and a more sustained depressor response. After a perineural treatment of both cervical vagi with capsaicin to block the conduction of C fibers, 5-HT still triggered the augmented breath, but no longer evoked the apnea, bradycardia and hypotension, indicating an involvement of C-fiber activation. The remaining augmented breath induced by 5-HT after perineural capsaicin treatment was totally eliminated by vagotomy. To further study the effect of 5-HT on CSLV afferents, activities arising from these afferents were determined using the single-fiber recording technique. Right-atrial injection of 5-HT evoked an intense discharge in CSLV afferents in a dose-dependent manner. The highest dose of 5-HT (16 μg/kg) activated 79% (19/24) of CSLV afferents which were also sensitive to capsaicin (0.8 μg/kg). The pretreatment of tropisetron, a selective antagonist of the 5-HT3 receptor, completely blocked CSLV-afferents stimulation induced by 5-HT but did not affect that by capsaicin. Furthermore, a similar afferent response of CSLV afferents was mimicked by phenylbiguanide, a selective agonist of the 5-HT3 receptor. In isolated rat lung vagal C neurons, 5-HT induced intense calcium transients in a dose-dependent manner. The highest concentration (3 μM) of 5-HT activated 67% (18/27) of the CSLV neurons. The 5-HT-induced response was totally abolished by pretreatment of tropisetron. In conclusion, 5-HT exerts an intense stimulatory effect on lung C-fiber terminals mediated through an activation of the 5-HT3 receptor, which may contribute to the airway hypersensitivity under lung inflammation

Use electrochemistry to charge the next dynamic thermal metamaterials

Electrochemistry has enabled a wide range of important energy technologies such as fuel cells and batteries, emerging as a powerful tool to achieve active materials and devices with novel applications. In this Perspective, we highlight the great potential of electrochemistry in propelling the next generation of dynamic thermal metamaterials with a focus on thermal radiation applications. After a brief introduction of the mechanisms of electrochemistry to change material properties, we discuss the possibilities of achieving highly tunable thermal radiation features by electrochemically manipulating the carrier densities of plasmonic materials. Recent studies in the intersections between electrochemistry, metamaterials, and thermal radiation applications are reviewed, indicating an emerging research direction incorporating these three fields — electrochemically dynamic thermal metamaterials. Towards this direction, we anticipate a promising pathway of employing conducting polymers and point out its remarkable opportunities and potential challenges. We hope this perspective could encourage more researchers to contribute to the development of this interdisciplinary field targeting the next energy technologies and applications

Thinking about others and the future: neural correlates of perspective taking relate to preferences for delayed rewards

We infer the thoughts and feelings of others by taking their perspectives. Similar processes could be used to understand how we will be affected by future events, by allowing us to take the perspective of our future self. In this paper, we test this idea using a previously presented framework for guiding predictions. The framework proposes that a shared neural mechanism is involved in controlling egocentric bias, both while shifting our perspective away from self and towards others, and while shifting our perspective from immediate to future perspectives. To test this framework, 36 adults performed an intertemporal choice task. They were then scanned using 3T functional magnetic resonance imaging while completing a false-belief “localizer” task, which requires egocentric bias control. A positive correlation was observed between the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) response during the false-belief task, and preferences for delayed rewards in intertemporal choices. A subset of participants performed the intertemporal choice task again in the scanner, which revealed that the response of the same rTPJ cluster, individually localized during the false-belief task, was higher during delayed over immediate reward choices. In addition, functional connectivity between the rTPJ and ventromedial prefrontal cortex was found to differ between immediate and delayed choices. The current results indicate an overlap in processes of egocentric bias control and those that determine preferences in intertemporal choices, offering a social cognitive explanation for why rewards are devalued with delay in temporal discounting

An fMRI Study on How Descriptions of Supra-Natural Events Entertain and Enchant

Literature containing supra-natural, or magical events has enchanted generations of readers. When reading narratives describing such events, readers mentally simulate a text world different from the real one. The corresponding violation of world-knowledge during this simulation likely increases cognitive processing demands for ongoing discourse integration, catches readers’ attention, and might thus contribute to the pleasure and deep emotional experience associated with ludic immersive reading. In the present study, we presented participants in an MR scanner with passages selected fromthe Harry Potter book series, half of which described magical events, while the other half served as control condition. Passages in both conditions were closely matched for relevant psycholinguistic variables including, e.g., emotional valence and arousal, passage-wise mean word imageability and frequency, and syntactic complexity. Post-hoc ratings showed that readers considered supra-natural contents more surprising and more strongly associated with reading pleasure than control passages. In the fMRI data, we found stronger neural activation for the supra-natural than the control condition in bilateral inferior frontal gyri, bilateral inferior parietal lobules, left fusiformgyrus, and left amygdala. The increased activation in the amygdala (part of the salience and emotion processing network) appears to be associated with feelings of surprise and the reading pleasure, which supra-natural events, full of novelty and unexpectedness, brought about. The involvement of bilateral inferior frontal gyri likely reflects higher cognitive processing demand due to world knowledge violations, whereas increased attention to supra-natural events is reflected in inferior frontal gyri and inferior parietal lobules that are part of the fronto-parietal attention network

Signal Amplification Assisted by Multiple Sideband Interference in 1D Waveguide QED Systems

This study theoretically investigates signal amplification resulting from multiple Rabi sideband coherence in a one-dimensional waveguide quantum electrodynamical system. Specifically, we explore the behavior of a transmon while strongly driven by a coherent microwave field through a semi-infinite waveguide. To understand the underlying mechanisms of amplification, we develop a theory that explicitly takes into account multiple dressed sidebands under a strong driving field, and analyze the reflection amplitude of the probe signal. Our findings show that amplification can be related to either population inversion or multiple sideband constructive interference in some cases without population inversion. We further examine the effect of qubit dephasing during the amplification process

International Students’ Perceptions of Service Quality in the UK Banking Sector: An Exploratory Study

This study reviews and evaluates international students’ perceptions of UK banks. The specific research objectives were to identify international students’ expectations and perceptions of service quality from UK banks and to assess the quality GAP or dissonance between these. A total of 297 international students studying in the UK responded to the survey. Data gathered was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 16). The study reveals that the main areas of service quality with which international students are generally satisfied relates to tangibles such as physical layout and appearance. The key areas of dissatisfaction that the study identified were with factors related to reliability and empathy. This appears to be the first study in the UK banking sector that has focused on service quality with respect to international students