Are You Being Rejected or Excluded? Insights from Neuroimaging Studies Using Different Rejection Paradigms

Rejection sensitivity is the heightened tendency to perceive or anxiously expect disengagement from others during social interaction. There has been a recent wave of neuroimaging studies of rejection. The aim of the current review was to determine key brain regions involved in social rejection by selectively reviewing neuroimaging studies that employed one of three paradigms of social rejection, namely social exclusion during a ball-tossing game, evaluating feedback about preference from peers and viewing scenes depicting rejection during social interaction. A cross the different paradigms of social rejection, there was concordance in regions for experiencing rejection, namely dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), subgenual ACC and ventral ACC. Functional dissociation between the regions for experiencing rejection and those for emotion regulation, namely medial prefrontal cortex, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) and ventral striatum, was evident in the positive association between social distress and regions for experiencing rejection and the inverse association between social distress and the emotion regulation regions. The paradigms of social exclusion and scenes depicting rejection in social interaction were more adept at evoking rejection-specific neural responses. These responses were varyingly influenced by the amount of social distress during the task, social support received, self-esteem and social competence. Presenting rejection cues as scenes of people in social interaction showed high rejection sensitive or schizotypal individuals to under-activate the dorsal ACC and VLPFC, suggesting that such individuals who perceive rejection cues in others down-regulate their response to the perceived rejection by distancing themselves from the scene

Linking density functional and mode coupling models for supercooled liquids

We compare predictions from two familiar models of the metastable supercooled liquid respectively constructed with thermodynamic and dynamic approach. In the so called density functional theory (DFT) the free energy $F[\rho]$ of the liquid is a functional of the inhomogeneous density $\rho({\bf r})$. The metastable state is identified as a local minimum of $F[\rho]$. The sharp density profile characterizing $\rho({\bf r})$ is identified as a single particle oscillator, whose frequency is obtained from the parameters of the optimum density function. On the other hand, a dynamic approach to supercooled liquids is taken in the mode coupling theory (MCT) which predict a sharp ergodicity-nonergodicity transition at a critical density. The single particle dynamics in the non-ergodic state, treated approximately, represents a propagating mode whose characteristic frequency is computed from the corresponding memory function of the MCT. The mass localization parameters in the above two models (treated in their simplest forms) are obtained respectively in terms of the corresponding natural frequencies depicted and are shown to have comparable magnitudes.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figure

How do incorrect results change the processing of arithmetic information? Evidence from a divided visual field experiment

Despite several recent important developments in understanding numerical processing of both isolated numbers and numbers in the context of arithmetic equations, the relative impact of congruency on high, compared to low, level processing remains unclear. The current study investigated hemispheric differences in the processing of arithmetic material, as a function of semantic and perceptual congruency, using a delayed answer verification task and divided visual field paradigm. A total of 37 participants (22 females and 15 males, mean age 30.06, SD 9.78) were presented unilaterally or bilaterally with equation results that were either correct or incorrect and had a consistent or inconsistent numerical notation. Statistical analyses showed no visual field differences in a notation consistency task, whereas when judgements had to be made on mathematical accuracy there was a right visual field advantage for incorrect equations that were notation consistent. These results reveal a clear differential processing of arithmetic information by the two cerebral hemispheres with a special emphasis on erroneous calculations. Faced with incorrect results and with a consistent numerical notation, the left hemisphere outperforms its right counterpart in making mathematical accuracy decisions

The path from schizotypy to depression and aggression and the role of family stress

Background. Schizotypy is a multidimensional construct that is linked to the vulnerability for psychosis. Positive schizotypy includes having paranormal beliefs. Negative schizotypy includes social anhedonia. Disorganized schizotypy includes social anxiety and communication disorder. Schizotypy relates to depression and aggression. Family stress from high expressed emotion (EE; a rating of criticism, hostility, and emotional overinvolvement in a close relative toward a person showing signs of mental disorder) may mediate the link between schizotypy, depression and aggression. This study tested, using path analyses, the hypotheses that schizotypy predicts depression and aggression through high perceived EE as criticism and irritability (hypothesis 1) and praise and intrusiveness in a close relative (hypothesis 2). Methods. One hundred and four healthy participants listened to and rated the self-relevance of standard criticism and standard praise that denote EE. Participants rated their level of schizotypy, depression, aggression, and perceived EE in self-report questionnaires. Two path models tested the hypotheses. Results. Disorganized schizotypy, more than positive schizotypy, predicted the path to depression and aggression when perceived criticism and perceived EE-irritability were mediators. Disorganised schizotypy, more than negative schizotypy, predicted the path to depression and aggression when perceived praise and perceived EE-intrusiveness were mediators. Conclusions. Greater perceived criticism and less perceived praise in family communication explain the path from disorganized schizotypy (more so than positive or negative schizotypy) to depression and aggression. These findings indicate a need to consider the thought disorder-EE link as a potential contributor to depression and aggression in people with schizophrenia

FIR Filter Implementation by Efficient Sharing of Horizontal and Vertical Common Sub-expressions

No abstract availabl

Adjunctive quetiapine for serotonin reuptake inhibitor-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled treatment trials

Small studies have shown positive effects from adding a variety of antipsychotic agents in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder who are unresponsive to treatment with serotonin reuptake inhibitors. The evidence, however, is contradictory. This paper reports a meta-analysis of existing double-blind randomized placebo-controlled studies looking at the addition of the second-generation antipsychotic quetiapine in such cases. Three studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Altogether 102 individuals were subjected to analysis using Review Manager (4.2.7). The results showed evidence of efficacy for adjunctive quetiapine (< 400 mg/day) on the primary efficacy criterion, measured as changes from baseline in total Yale–Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale scores (P = 0.008), the clinical significance of which was limited by between-study heterogeneity. The mechanism underlying the effect may involve serotonin and/or dopamine neurotransmission