Diminished sensitivity and specificity at recognising facial emotional expressions of varying intensity underlie emotion-specific recognition deficits in autism spectrum disorders

BackgroundA plethora of research on facial emotion recognition in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) exists and reported deficits in ASD compared to controls, particularly for negative basic emotions. However, these studies have largely used static high intensity stimuli. The current study investigated facial emotion recognition across three levels of expression intensity from videos, looking at accuracy rates to investigate impairments in facial emotion recognition and error patterns (’confusions’) to explore potential underlying factors.MethodTwelve individuals with ASD (9 M/3F; M(age) = 17.3) and 12 matched controls (9 M/3F; M(age) = 16.9) completed a facial emotion recognition task including 9 emotion categories (anger, disgust, fear, sadness, surprise, happiness, contempt, embarrassment, pride) and neutral, each expressed by 12 encoders at low, intermediate, and high intensity.ResultsA facial emotion recognition deficit was found overall for the ASD group compared to controls, as well as deficits in recognising individual negative emotions at varying expression intensities. Compared to controls, the ASD group showed significantly more, albeit typical, confusions between emotion categories (at high intensity), and significantly more confusions of emotions as ‘neutral’ (at low intensity).ConclusionsThe facial emotion recognition deficits identified in ASD, particularly for negative emotions, are in line with previous studies using other types of stimuli. Error analysis showed that individuals with ASD had difficulties detecting emotional information in the face (sensitivity) at low intensity, and correctly identifying emotional information (specificity) at high intensity. These results suggest different underlying mechanisms for the facial emotion recognition deficits at low vs high expression intensity.     

Segregating the significant from the mundane on a moment-to-moment basis via direct and indirect amygdala contributions

If the amygdala is involved in shaping perceptual experience when affectively significant visual items are encountered, responses in this structure should be correlated with both visual cortex responses and behavioral reports. Here, we investigated how affective significance shapes visual perception during an attentional blink paradigm combined with aversive conditioning. Behaviorally, following aversive learning, affectively significant scenes (CS⁺) were better detected than neutral (CS⁻) ones. In terms of mean brain responses, both amygdala and visual cortical responses were stronger during CS⁺ relative to CS⁻ trials. Increased brain responses in these regions were associated with improved behavioral performance across participants and followed a mediation-like pattern. Importantly, the mediation pattern was observed in a trial-by-trial analysis, revealing that the specific pattern of trial-by-trial variability in brain responses was closely related to single-trial behavioral performance. Furthermore, the influence of the amygdala on visual cortical responses was consistent with a mediation, although partial, via frontal brain regions. Our results thus suggest that affective significance potentially determines the fate of a visual item during competitive interactions by enhancing sensory processing through both direct and indirect paths. In so doing, the amygdala helps separate the significant from the mundane.     

老年人抑郁与情绪调节及血脂水平的关系研究

目的 探讨老年人抑郁与情绪调节、血脂水平之间的关系.方法 从成都医学院第一附属医院随机抽取60例年龄≥60岁的住院患者作为研究对象,采用简易老年抑郁量表和情绪调节问卷作为测量工具,将患者分为老年抑郁组37例,老年非抑郁组23例,并抽取患者5 mL血液进行血脂水平检验.应用Pearson相关分析,独立样本t检验,分析老年人抑郁与情绪调节、血脂水平的相关性.结果 老年人抑郁组与认知重评呈负相关,抑郁组与非抑郁组在情绪调节方面比较,差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05);抑郁组与总胆固醇、甘油三酯指标具有相关性,且抑郁组与非抑郁组在总胆固醇指标方面比较,差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05).结论 老年人选择积极的情绪调节策略可降低抑郁情绪的发生率;抑郁情绪会影响血脂中胆固醇水平.     

Effects of Oxytocin on Attention to Emotional Faces in Healthy Volunteers and Highly Socially Anxious Males

Background:

Evidence suggests that individuals with social anxiety demonstrate vigilance to social threat, whilst the peptide hormone oxytocin is widely accepted as supporting affiliative behaviour in humans.

Methods:

This study investigated whether oxytocin can affect attentional bias in social anxiety. In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, within-group study design, 26 healthy and 16 highly socially anxious (HSA) male volunteers (within the HSA group, 10 were diagnosed with generalized social anxiety disorder) were administered 24 IU of oxytocin or placebo to investigate attentional processing in social anxiety. Attentional bias was assessed using the dot-probe paradigm with angry, fearful, happy and neutral face stimuli.

Results:

In the baseline placebo condition, the HSA group showed greater attentional bias for emotional faces than healthy individuals. Oxytocin reduced the difference between HSA and non-socially anxious individuals in attentional bias for emotional faces. Moreover, it appeared to normalize attentional bias in HSA individuals to levels seen in the healthy population in the baseline condition. The biological mechanisms by which oxytocin may be exerting these effects are discussed.

Conclusions:

These results, coupled with previous research, could indicate a potential therapeutic use of this hormone in treatment for social anxiety.     

A scientific theory of gist communication and misinformation resistance,with implications for health,education, and policy

A framework is presented for understanding how misinformation shapes decision-making, which has cognitive representations of gist at its core. I discuss how the framework goes beyond prior work, and how it can be implemented so that valid scientific messages are more likely to be effective, remembered, and shared through social media, while misinformation is resisted. The distinction between mental representations of the rote facts of a message—its verbatim representation—and its gist explains several paradoxes, including the frequent disconnect between knowing facts and, yet, making decisions that seem contrary to those facts. Decision makers can falsely remember the gist as seen or heard even when they remember verbatim facts. Indeed, misinformation can be more compelling than information when it provides an interpretation of reality that makes better sense than the facts. Consequently, for many issues, scientific information and misinformation are in a battle for the gist. A fuzzy-processing preference for simple gist explains expectations for antibiotics, the spread of misinformation about vaccination, and responses to messages about global warming, nuclear proliferation, and natural disasters. The gist, which reflects knowledge and experience, induces emotions and brings to mind social values. However, changing mental representations is not sufficient by itself; gist representations must be connected to values. The policy choice is not simply between constraining behavior or persuasion—there is another option. Science communication needs to shift from an emphasis on disseminating rote facts to achieving insight, retaining its integrity but without shying away from emotions and values.     

综合心理干预对调节中职护生学业情绪的影响

目的：评估综合心理干预对调节中职护生学业情绪的影响,为探索适合中职护生学业情绪的心理干预方法提供依据。方法采用《情感量表》和《自我描述Ⅱ》针对分层随机抽样的102名中职护生的学业情绪进行系统心理干预实验研究。结果102名中职护生通过综合心理干预方案的实施正向学业情绪明显增加,有效减少了负向学业情绪,自我概念提升,明显地提高了学业成绩。结论综合心理干预能有效调节中职护生的学业情绪。     

Emotion differentiation in early recovery from alcohol use disorder: Associations with in-the-moment affect and 3-month drinking outcomes

Background

Early recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD) is commonly associated with high levels of negative affect, stress, and emotional vulnerability, which confer significant relapse risk. Emotion differentiation—the ability to distinguish between discrete emotions—has been shown to predict relapse after treatment for a drug use disorder, but this relationship has not been explored in individuals recovering from AUD.

Methods

The current study used thrice daily random and up to thrice daily self-initiated ecological momentary assessment surveys (N = 42, observations = 915) to examine whether 1) moments of high affective arousal are characterized by momentary differences in emotion differentiation among individuals in the first year of a current AUD recovery attempt, and 2) individuals’ average emotion differentiation would predict subsequent alcohol use measured by the timeline follow-back over a 3-month follow-up period.

Results

Multilevel models showed that moments (Level 1) of higher-than-average negative affect (p < 0.001) and/or stress (p = 0.033) were characterized by less negative emotion differentiation, while moments of higher-than-average positive affect were characterized by greater positive emotion differentiation (p < 0.001). At the between-person level (Level 2), participants with higher stress overall had lower negative emotion differentiation (p = 0.009). Linear regression showed that average negative, but not positive, emotion differentiation was inversely associated with percent drinking days over the subsequent 3-month follow-up period (p = 0.042). Neither form of average emotion differentiation was associated with drinking quantity.

Conclusions

We found that for individuals in early AUD recovery, affective states are associated with acute shifts in the capacity for emotion differentiation. Further, we found that average negative emotion differentiation prospectively predicts subsequent alcohol use.

     

Subtypes of anhedonia and facial electromyography response to negative affective pictures in non-psychiatric adults

Introduction. Flat/constricted affect and anhedonia are symptoms found in several psychiatric disorders such as depression and schizophrenia. However, there are very few studies on the relationships between specific anhedonia subtypes and objectively assessed flat affect, and it appears that none of the existing studies examined potential moderation by sex.

Methods. Forty-seven undergraduate students (60% male) completed self-report questionnaires assessing three subtypes of anhedonia – non-social consummatory (CON) and anticipatory (ANT) anhedonia, and overall social anhedonia. Participants viewed 15 pictures (5 neutral and 10 negative) from the International Affective Picture System, whereas facial muscle reaction was recorded using electromyography (EMG).

Results. Male participants reporting a greater level of overall social or non-social CON anhedonia showed a greater EMG activity increase in the corrugator supercilii muscle to negative (vs. neutral) pictures. In females, the relationship was only found with social anhedonia and was opposite in direction, as increased social anhedonia related to less EMG activity change in the corrugator muscle.

Conclusions. The relationship between anhedonia and flat affect varied as a function of sex and anhedonia subtype. These findings may help explain discrepancies in the sparse existing literature examining this relationship in psychiatric populations and have implications for assessment and treatment of these symptoms across psychiatric disorders.     

情感安抚策略对于行电子结肠镜下息肉摘除术患者其负性情绪、疼痛程度及应激指标的影响

摘要：目的 探究情感安抚策略对于行电子结肠镜下息肉摘除术患者其负性情绪、疼痛程度及应激指标的影响。方法 选取我院于2014年2月~2016年2月收治的76例行电子结肠镜下息肉摘除术患者,以随机数字表作为分组手段,将纳入对象划分为研究组和对照组各38例。其中对照组开展常规护理干预,研究组则在对照组基础上引入情感安抚策略。记录两组患者在入院时、术前1d及退镜后15min的收缩压、心率值;记录两组患者在入院时、术前1d及术后1d的焦虑自评量表（SAS）和抑郁自评量表（SDS）评分;记录两组患者在入院时、术前1d及术后1d的视觉模拟疼痛评分。 结果 在入院时,两组患者的收缩压及心率值比较无统计学差异（P>0.05）;术前1d及退镜后15min的收缩压及心率值均低于对照组,差异有统计学意义（P<0.05）。在入院时,两组患者的焦虑及抑郁情绪评分差异无统计学意义（P>0.05）;术前1d及退镜后15min的焦虑及抑郁情绪评分均低于对照组（P<0.05）。两组患者在入院时的视觉模拟疼痛程度评分无统计学差异（P>0.05）;术前1d和术后1d的视觉模拟疼痛程度评分均低于对照组（P<0.05）。结论 情感安抚策略应用于行电子结肠下息肉摘除术患者,有助于改善其不良情绪,还能降低其疼痛程度及生理应激相关指标,取得较为可观的临床成效。