The mediating and moderating effects of resilience on the relationship between perceived stress and depression in heroin addicts

The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating and moderating roles of resilience on the relationship between perceived stress and depression among heroin addicts. A total of 138 heroin addicts completed the measures of perceived stress, resilience, and depression. Correlation analysis indicated that perceived stress was positively associated with depression. Resilience was negatively correlated with perceived stress and depression. Mediation analysis revealed that resilience partially mediated the relationship between perceived stress and depression. However, resilience did not moderate the influence of perceived stress on depression. These findings might provide a better understanding of the mental health among heroin addicts.     

The reality of “food porn”: Larger brain responses to food‐related cues than to erotic images predict cue‐induced eating

While some individuals can defy the lure of temptation, many others find appetizing food irresistible. The goal of this study was to investigate the neuropsychological mechanisms that increase individuals' vulnerability to cue‐induced eating. Using ERPs, a direct measure of brain activity, we showed that individuals with larger late positive potentials in response to food‐related cues than to erotic images are more susceptible to cue‐induced eating and, in the presence of a palatable food option, eat more than twice as much as individuals with the opposite brain reactivity profile. By highlighting the presence of individual brain reactivity profiles associated with susceptibility to cue‐induced eating, these findings contribute to the understanding of the neurobiological basis of vulnerability to obesity.     

Temporal dynamic modulation of acute stress on error processing in healthy males

Error processing is critical for adaptive behaviors. Acute stress has been found to influence error processing. However, the neural dynamic correlates underlying this modulation remain elusive. To address this issue, we recruited 39 healthy male participants, who performed a two‐session task before and after an acute stress test while their behavioral and EEG data were recorded. The participants were randomly exposed to either a stress condition (Maastricht Acute Stress Test) or a control condition. The stress test consisted of several hand immersion tasks (ice‐cold water, 2°C) and mental arithmetic tasks. A color‐word Stroop task was used to investigate the stress effect on error responses. Based on the level of stress‐induced cortisol, the participants in the stress group were further classified as low (N = 13) or high (N = 13) cortisol responders. The results indicated that only in the high cortisol responders, the error‐related negativity (ERN) amplitude was reduced after acute stress. In addition, the ?ERN in the high cortisol responders was significantly smaller than that in the low cortisol responders. These results suggest that acute stress impairs error detection. However, the error positivity amplitudes increased in the stress group compared to the control group, indicating that acute stress leads to greater error assessment. Taken together, these results suggest that acute stress impairs error detection, which is modulated by individuals’ response level following acute stress, and leads to more emotional and/or motivational responses to the error signal once the error is consciously realized.