Affective visual event-related potentials: arousal, repetition, and time-on-task

Affective stimulus pictures that differed in valence (unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant) were repeated as targets in an oddball task to elicit event-related potentials (ERPs) in young female adults. Each picture target was repeated consecutively four times, with picture order counterbalanced and time-on-task influences assessed across subjects. Response time decreased from the first to second stimulus presentation and remained stable. Stimulus repetition was associated with voltage increases for N1, P2, N2, and P3, from initial to subsequent presentations. Arousal effects did not interact with stimulus repetition at any latency range. Time-on-task was associated with decreased voltages for the N2 and P3 potentials but was unaffected by stimulus valence. The findings suggest affective arousal, stimulus repetition, and time-on-task independently modulate ERP outcomes at overlapping time ranges. Theoretical implications are discussed.     

Children's affect regulation during a disappointment: psychophysiological responses and relation to parent history of depression

Psychophysiological responses during affect regulation were examined in 57 children ages 3-9 years, 41 of whom had a parent history of childhood-onset depression (COD). During a structured laboratory task, children were given first a disappointing toy and then a desired toy. Frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), heart period, and heart period variability were measured during resting and task conditions. Affective and self-regulatory behaviors were coded from videotape. In 3-5-year olds, greater relative right frontal activity was associated with withdrawal behavior. High heart period was associated with approach behavior. Compared with children of psychiatrically healthy parents, children of parents with COD exhibited poor heart period recovery after disappointment. For children of parents with COD, greater relative left frontal activity was related to concurrent internalizing and externalizing problems, and low resting RSA was related to internalizing problems. Physiological responses associated with affect regulation may help identify children at risk for depression.     

大学生体育锻炼对正、负性情绪体验的影响

目的:考察大学生体育锻炼现状及体育锻炼对个体正负性情绪体验的影响。方法:采用大学生体育锻炼调查问卷和正负性情绪量表对300名在校大学生进行问卷调查。结果:跑步是大学生选择最多的锻炼项目(70.3%);强身健体是大学生锻炼的主要目的(80.7%);制约大学生参加体育锻炼既有主观因素也有客观因素;大学生主要选择与朋友、同学一起锻炼(65.7%);以中等以下强度的锻炼为主(50.3%);每次锻炼时间在30分钟以上的人数较多(51.0%);每月锻炼2~3次的人数最多(32.7%)。方差分析表明,不同体育锻炼方式大学生在正、负性情绪体验上有显著差异(F=8.912,4.254;P0.01)。不同体育锻炼强度大学生在正、负性情绪体验上无差异。不同锻炼时间大学生在正、负性情绪体验有显著差异(F=11.619,P0.01;F=2.968,P0.05)。不同锻炼频率大学生在正性情绪体验上有显著差异(F=7.291,P0.01),在负性情绪体验上无差异。结论:体育锻炼可以同时提高正性情绪体验和降低负性情绪体验。     

The role of physical activity enjoyment on the acute mood experience of exercise among smokers with elevated depressive symptoms

ProblemDepressive symptoms are consistently shown to be related to poor smoking cessation outcomes. Aerobic exercise is a potential treatment augmentation that, given its antidepressant and mood enhancing effect, may bolster cessation outcomes for smokers with elevated depressive symptoms. Lower enjoyment of physical activity may inhibit the acute mood enhancing effects of aerobic exercise. The current study investigated the associations between depressive symptoms, physical activity enjoyment and the acute mood experience from exercise among low-active smokers with elevated depressive symptoms.MethodDaily smokers with elevated depressive symptoms (N = 159; M_age = 45.1, SD = 10.79; 69.8% female) were recruited for a randomized controlled exercise-based smoking cessation trial. Participants self-reported levels of depressive symptoms, physical activity enjoyment, and rated their mood experience (assessed as “mood” and “anxiety”) before and after a standardized aerobic exercise test.ResultsHierarchical regression analysis revealed that depressive symptom severity accounted for significant unique variance in physical activity enjoyment (R² = 0.041, t = −2.61, p = 0.010), beyond the non-significant effects of gender and level of tobacco dependence. Additionally, physical activity enjoyment was a significant mediator of the association between depressive symptom severity and acute mood experience (“mood” and “anxiety”) following the exercise test.ConclusionsPhysical activity enjoyment may explain, at least in part, how depressive symptom severity is linked to the acute mood experience following a bout of activity. Interventions that target increasing physical activity enjoyment may ultimately assist in enhancing the mood experience from exercise, and therefore improve smoking cessation likelihood, especially for smokers with elevated depressive symptoms.     

The temporal dynamics of ambivalence: changes in positive and negative affect in relation to consumption of an "emotionally charged" food

Ambivalence is thought to impact consumption of food, alcohol and drugs, possibly via influences on craving, with cravers often being simultaneously drawn toward and repelled from ingestion. So far, little is known about the temporal dynamics of ambivalence, especially as it varies in relationship to consumption. Participants (n = 482, 56.8% female) completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule prior to, immediately and 30 min after the opportunity to eat a bar of chocolate. Affective ambivalence was calculated based on the relative strengths of and discrepancy between ratings of positive and negative affect. Ambivalence peaked prior to a decision about consumption and subsequently decreased, whether or not the decision was in favor of or against consuming. Decreasing ambivalence was driven by a drop in positive affect over time; positivity decreased more rapidly in those who consumed chocolate. Findings represent a first step in characterizing the dynamics of ambivalence in interactions with a target stimulus.     

Positive emotion speeds up conflict processing: ERP responses in an auditory Simon task

Emotions signal the particular relevance of situations, threatening or rewarding, and influence perception and behaviour accordingly. Research to date has predominantly investigated the impact of negative emotional stimuli. However, rapid reactions to positive emotional stimuli are similarly adaptive. Here, we tested the influence of positive emotional stimuli on attentional control, which enables reacting to conflicting stimulation. We therefore presented positive emotional and neutral words in an auditory Simon task. Reaction times revealed faster resolution of conflict when target stimuli were positive compared to neutral words. Also, emotion modulated the first conflict-sensitive event-related brain potential, a negativity at 420 ms, indicating an influence on early stages of conflict processing. These results complement recent data on negative stimuli and suggest that positive stimuli are equally salient. The rapid impact on attentional control is evolutionary highly adaptive as it reduces the time that conflict yields an organism incapable of responding to reward-signalling stimuli.     

Parental bonding and alexithymia: A meta-analysis

Aim

The primary purpose of this meta-analysis was to explore, clarify and report the strength of the relationship between alexithymia, as measured by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), and parenting style as measured by the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI).

Methods

Web of Science, PsycInfo, PubMed and ProQuest: Dissertations and Theses searches were undertaken, yielding nine samples with sufficient data to be included in the meta-analysis.

Results

Evidence indicated moderate to strong relationships between maternal care and alexithymia, and between maternal care and two of the three TAS-20 alexithymia facets (Difficulties Describing Feelings and Difficulties Identifying Feelings, but not Externally Oriented Thinking). Moderate relationships were observed for both maternal- and paternal-overprotection and alexithymia respectively, and for overprotection (both maternal and paternal) and Difficulties Describing Feelings.

Conclusion

This study is the first meta-analysis of the relationship between parenting styles and alexithymia, and findings confirm an especially strong association between maternal care and key elements of alexithymia. This review highlights the issues that still remain to be addressed in exploring the link between parenting style and alexithymia.     

Predictors of compulsory admission in schizophrenia-spectrum patients: excitement, insight, emotion perception

Purpose

We explored socio-demographic and clinical variables associated with compulsory admissions (CA) compared with voluntary admissions in schizophrenia-spectrum patients; moreover, we investigated the ability of excitement, emotion perception, and lack of insight to predict CA.

Methods

119 consecutive schizophrenia-spectrum patients admitted to the Servizio Psichiatrico di Diagnosi e Cura (SPDC = PES = psychiatric emergency service) of the Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health-San Giovanni Battista Hospital of Turin in the period between December 2007 and December 2009 were enrolled in the study. A backward stepwise logistic regression was used to test factors contributing to CA.

Results

CA rate in our sample was 28.5%. Previous CAs, drop-out, severity of illness, positive symptoms, excitement, emotion perception, and insight were significantly different in CA patients compared to voluntary ones. After backward selection of variables, three variables predicted CA in our sample: excitement, impaired emotion perception and lesser insight. Finally, the effect of excitement on CA status seemed partially mediated by emotion perception, the prediction model accounting for 53.8% of the variance of CA status. Conversely, insight seemed not to be a mediator of excitement on CA.

Implications

Understanding CA patterns in special populations represents a first step towards improving clinical decision-making and developing appropriate interventions and service-provision.     

Deficits in sustaining reward responses in subsyndromal and syndromal major depression

Preliminary findings suggest a reduction in capacity to sustain reward responses in major depression. However, relatively little is known about the stability of reward learning over time and the effect of stress on reward responses in depressed individuals. This study aimed to evaluate sustained behaviour to maximize reward in the context of known reinforcement contingencies and to evaluate the extent to which stress influences such behaviour in clinically depressed patients (n = 43), subsyndromally depressed individuals (n = 43), and healthy controls (n = 44). A probabilistic reward learning task with contingencies known to participants was used to evaluate the change of reward response over time in both ‘stress’ and ‘non-stress’ conditions. Stress was induced by salient negative feedback during the task performance. Questionnaires capturing subjective affect were also administered to all participants after completion of the task. Response bias to the stimulus signaling greater reward decreased significantly over time in both subsyndromally and clinically depressed participants, but not in healthy controls. Healthy controls demonstrated a trend of dysfunctional reward processing under the stress condition. Moreover, in the stress condition, the deficit in sustaining behaviour to maximize reward was associated with subjective rating of pleasure in participants with either subsyndromal depression or major depression. These findings suggest that individuals with depression have difficulty sustaining behaviour during a known reinforcement schedule. Participants with anhedonic symptoms are even less likely to sustain behaviour to maximize reward under stress.     

磷脂酶A_2抑制剂对家兔内毒素休克血中血小板活化因子活性的调节作用观察

通过家兔内毒素休克模型重点观察了磷脂酶Ａ２（ＰＬＡ２）抑制剂磷酸氯喹和地塞米松对血中ＰＬＡ２及其相关脂介质的影响。实验分成４组：（１）假手术组（ＳＯ）；（２）内毒素休克组（ＥＳ）；（３）磷酸氯喹预处理组（ＣＱ）；（４）地塞米松预处理组（ＤＸＭ）．分别于给药前、内毒素或生理盐水注射后５、３０ｍｉｎ，１、３、５、８ｈ取血测ＰＬＡ２血小板活化因子（ＰＡＦ）、ＴＸＢ２／６－ｋｅｔｏ－ＰＧＦ１ａ，同时连续监测平均动脉压（ＭＡＰ）、心率和呼吸，观察动物８ｈ存活率、ＴＸＢ２／６－ｋｅｔｏ－ＰＧＦ１ａ浓度均明显升高，ＰＬＡ２抑制剂能显著抑制ＰＬＡ２及ＰＡＦ活性，其中磷酸氯喹对ＴＸＢ２／６－ｋｅｔｏ－ＰＧＦ１ａ的抑制最为显著。此外，ＰＬＡ２抑制剂可使家兔８ｈ存活率由４８％提高到７５％（ＣＱ组）和７０％（ＤＸＭ组）。提示，用ＰＬＡ２的抑制剂磷酸氯喹和地塞米松均能显著抑制内毒素休克时ＰＬＡ_２的活性及相关脂介质如ＰＡＦ、ＴＸＢ２／６－ｋｅｔｏ－ＰＧＦ１ａ的升高，提高动物存活率，有效地改善休克动物的预后。