Internalizing and externalizing traits predict changes in sleep efficiency in emerging adulthood: an actigraphy study

Research on psychopathology and experimental studies of sleep restriction support a relationship between sleep disruption and both internalizing and externalizing disorders. The objective of the current study was to extend this research by examining sleep, impulsivity, antisocial personality traits, and internalizing traits in a university sample. Three hundred and eighty six individuals (161 males) between the ages of 18 and 27 years (M = 18.59, SD = 0.98) wore actigraphs for 7 days and completed established measures of disorder-linked personality traits and sleep quality (i.e., Personality Assessment Inventory, Triarchic Psychopathy Measure, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index). As expected, sleep measures and questionnaire scores fell within the normal range of values and sex differences in sleep and personality were consistent with previous research results. Similar to findings in predominantly male forensic psychiatric settings, higher levels of impulsivity predicted poorer subjective sleep quality in both women and men. Consistent with well-established associations between depression and sleep, higher levels of depression in both sexes predicted poorer subjective sleep quality. Bidirectional analyses showed that better sleep efficiency decreases depression. Finally, moderation analyses showed that gender does have a primary role in sleep efficiency and marginal effects were found. The observed relations between sleep and personality traits in a typical university sample add to converging evidence of the relationship between sleep and psychopathology and may inform our understanding of the development of psychopathology in young adulthood

Sleep in Infancy Predicts Gender Specific Social-Emotional Problems in Toddlers

Despite strong evidence linking sleep to developmental outcomes, the longitudinal relationship between sleep and emotional well-being remains largely unknown. To address this gap in our knowledge, the current study examined sleep in infancy, measured via actigraphy, as a predictor of social-emotional problems in toddlers. A total of 47 children (29 males) were included in this longitudinal study. At time one, actigraphy measures of sleep were obtained from 3- to 4-month-old infants. At time two, parents rated their 18- to 24-month-old toddler’s social-emotional well-being using the Brief Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment. Results indicated that boys tended to have higher levels of externalizing behaviors than did girls. Additionally, boys with longer sleep durations also showed lower sleep efficiency. In girls, sleep duration in infancy was a significant predictor of autism spectrum disorder behaviors and approached significance as a predictor of externalizing problems in toddlerhood. Our findings are the first to show a relationship between sleep measured in infancy and autism spectrum disorder symptomatology measured in early childhood. They suggest that the etiology of social-emotional problems may differ between genders and raise the possibility that sleep/wake cycles may be differentially related to autism spectrum disorder symptoms in girls and boys.The open access fee for this work was funded through the Texas A&M University Open Access to Knowledge (OAK) Fund

Postnatal Testosterone Concentrations and Male Social Development

Converging evidence from over 40 years of behavioral research indicates that higher testicular androgens in prenatal life and at puberty contribute to the masculinization of human behavior. However, the behavioral significance of the transient activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal (HPG) axis in early postnatal life remains largely unknown. Although early research on non-human primates indicated that suppression of the postnatal surge in testicular androgens had no measurable effects on the later expression of the male behavioral phenotype, recent research from our laboratory suggests that postnatal testosterone concentrations influence male infant preferences for larger social groups and temperament characteristics associated with the later development of aggression. In later assessment of gender-linked behavior in the second year of life, concentrations of testosterone at 3–4 months of age were unrelated to toy choices and activity levels during toy play. However, higher concentrations of testosterone predicted less vocalization in toddlers and higher parental ratings on an established screening measure for autism spectrum disorder. These findings suggest a role of the transient activation of the HPG axis in the development of typical and atypical male social relations and suggest that it may be useful in future research on the exaggerated rise in testosterone secretion in preterm infants or exposure to hormone disruptors in early postnatal life to include assessment of gender-relevant behavioral outcomes, including childhood disorders with sex-biased prevalence rates.The open access fee for this work was funded through the Texas A&M University Open Access to Knowledge (OAK) Fund

Infants Prefer Female Body Phenotypes; Infant Girls Prefer They Have an Hourglass Shape

Adolescents and adults show preferences for male and female body shapes consistent with evolutionary theories of reproductive fitness and mate selection. However, when these preferences for females with narrow waists (i.e., 0.7 waist-to-hip ratio) and men with broad shoulders (i.e., mesomorphic body shape) emerge during the lifespan is largely unknown. To address this knowledge gap, eye-movements were tracked in 144 infants (3 to 18 months of age) during computer presentation of three-dimensional human figures varying in body features thought relevant for reproductive success (e.g., secondary sex characteristics, waist-to-hip ratio). When presented with pairs of figures differing in apparent sex, male and female infants looked significantly longer at the female figure compared to the male figure, a new finding that extends previous research showing preferences for female faces in infancy. When presented with same-sex figures differing in characteristics associated with mate value, male and female infants looked longer at a low mate value male (i.e., an endomorphic body type) compared to a high mate value male (i.e., a mesomorphic body type), a finding that replicates the results of previous research. In addition, the novel use of high and low mate value female figures showed a sex difference in visual attention, such that female infants looked longer at the high mate value female figure compared to the low mate female figure whereas male infants showed the opposite pattern of results. In sum, these findings suggest that infants generally do not possess preferences for adult-defined attractive male body shapes. However, infant girls’ greater attention to a female figure with an adult-preferred waist-to-hip ratio raises the possibility that evolved preferences for 0.7 waist-to-hip ratio influence girls’ later preference for toys representing females with an hourglass shape, perhaps supporting elaboration of adult social behaviors that enhance reproductive success (e.g., cooperative breeding)

Neural Substrates of Self-Regulatory Control in Children and Adults with Tourette Syndrome

To identify the neural substrate of self-regulatory control in children and adults with Tourette syndrome (TS)

A Survey to Measure the Effects of Forced Transition to 100% Online Learning on Community Sharing, Feelings of Social Isolation, Equity, Resilience, and Learning Content During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Survey of student perceptions and experiences with online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic.The vast majority of the 19.9 million students and 1.5 million faculty at U.S. colleges and universities have been suddenly forced to replace their physical classes with online class formats. Many instructors and students are not prepared nor used to teaching/learning virtually, causing a number of unwanted effects, including social isolation, exacerbated inequity, and potentially reduced learning. Thus, there is a critical need to determine what the effects are and how we can best address them. In the absence of such knowledge, the effects of the coronavirus may expand well beyond the illness and fatalities and cause irreparable damage to our nation’s students’ education and mental and physical wellness. It is a crucial time to react and collect pertinent data immediately. As such we have created a survey to measure and monitor the effects of forced transition to 100% online learning on community sharing, feelings of social isolation, equity, resilience, and learning content during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are sharing this survey as a Texas A&M University tech report so that other universities can use this survey to measure the effects elsewhere

The sounds of science - A symphony for many instruments and voices

Sounds of Science is the first movement of a symphony for many (scientific) instruments and voices, united in celebration of the frontiers of science and intended for a general audience. John Goodenough, the maestro who transformed energy usage and technology through the invention of the lithium-ion battery, opens the programme, reflecting on the ultimate limits of battery technology. This applied theme continues through the subsequent pieces on energy-related topics - the sodium-ion battery and artificial fuels, by Martin Månsson - and the ultimate challenge for 3D printing, the eventual production of life, by Anthony Atala. A passage by Gerianne Alexander follows, contemplating a related issue: How might an artificially produced human being behave? Next comes a consideration of consciousness and free will by Roland Allen and Suzy Lidström. Further voices and new instruments enter as Warwick Bowen, Nicolas Mauranyapin and Lars Madsen discuss whether dynamical processes of single molecules might be observed in their native state. The exploitation of chaos in science and technology, applications of Bose-Einstein condensates and the significance of entropy follow in pieces by Linda Reichl, Ernst Rasel and Roland Allen, respectively. Mikhail Katsnelson and Eugene Koonin then discuss the potential generalisation of thermodynamic concepts in the context of biological evolution. Entering with the music of the cosmos, Philip Yasskin discusses whether we might be able to observe torsion in the geometry of the Universe. The crescendo comes with the crisis of singularities, their nature and whether they can be resolved through quantum effects, in the composition of Alan Coley. The climax is Mario Krenn, Art Melvin and Anton Zeilinger\u27s consideration of how computer code can be autonomously surprising and creative. In a harmonious counterpoint, his \u27Guidelines for considering AIs as coauthors\u27, Roman Yampolskiy concludes that code is not yet able to take responsibility for coauthoring a paper. An interlude summarises a speech by Zdeněk Papoušek. In a subsequent movement, new themes emerge as we seek to comprehend how far we have travelled along the path to understanding, and speculate on where new physics might arise. Who would have imagined, 100 years ago, a global society permeated by smartphones and scientific instruments so sophisticated that genes can be modified and gravitational waves detected

A Survey to Measure the Effects of Forced Transition to 100% Online Learning on Community Sharing, Feelings of Social Isolation, Equity, Resilience, and Learning Content During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Survey of student perceptions and experiences with online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic.The vast majority of the 19.9 million students and 1.5 million faculty at U.S. colleges and universities have been suddenly forced to replace their physical classes with online class formats. Many instructors and students are not prepared nor used to teaching/learning virtually, causing a number of unwanted effects, including social isolation, exacerbated inequity, and potentially reduced learning. Thus, there is a critical need to determine what the effects are and how we can best address them. In the absence of such knowledge, the effects of the coronavirus may expand well beyond the illness and fatalities and cause irreparable damage to our nation’s students’ education and mental and physical wellness. It is a crucial time to react and collect pertinent data immediately. As such we have created a survey to measure and monitor the effects of forced transition to 100% online learning on community sharing, feelings of social isolation, equity, resilience, and learning content during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are sharing this survey as a Texas A&M University tech report so that other universities can use this survey to measure the effects elsewhere

Testosterone and cognitive aspects of sexual behavior in women and men

Two prospective investigations of periodicity of sexual behavior, well-being and testosterone (T) levels in women using and not using oral contraceptives (OCs) found no relationship between daily ratings of sexual desire and well-being across one pill and menstrual cycle. T, but not estradiol or progesterone, was positively correlated with sexual desire and sexual enjoyment in OC-users when T levels were below normal menstrual values. Other evidence suggested on association between post-ovulatory decreases in T and sexual desire in women. A bias to attend to sexual stimuli on a dichotic listening task was associated with sexual arousability in men. Moreover, task performance indicated T may enhance attention to relevant stimuli. While social variables are clearly important determinants of sexual behavior, these findings suggest a relationship between T and cognitive aspects of sexual behavior in young, healthy individuals

Sex Differences In The Fingers Of 3 To 5Month Old Infants Do Not Predict Concurrent Salivary Testosterone Levels

Testosterone was assayed in the saliva of 32 female and 42 male 3-5. month old infants, and the lengths of their finger segments between flexion creases were measured. While expected sex differences were identified in the finger measures, these sex differences were not correlated with salivary testosterone in either sex. © 2011