Psychologie und Sportwissenschaften
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Probing the association between resting-state brain network dynamics and psychological resilience
(2022)
Abstract
This study aimed at replicating a previously reported negative correlation between node flexibility and psychological resilience, that is, the ability to retain mental health in the face of stress and adversity. To this end, we used multiband resting-state BOLD fMRI (TR = .675 sec) from 52 participants who had filled out three psychological questionnaires assessing resilience. Time-resolved functional connectivity was calculated by performing a sliding window approach on averaged time series parcellated according to different established atlases. Multilayer modularity detection was performed to track network reconfigurations over time, and node flexibility was calculated as the number of times a node changes community assignment. In addition, node promiscuity (the fraction of communities a node participates in) and node degree (as proxy for time-varying connectivity) were calculated to extend previous work. We found no substantial correlations between resilience and node flexibility. We observed a small number of correlations between the two other brain measures and resilience scores that were, however, very inconsistently distributed across brain measures, differences in temporal sampling, and parcellation schemes. This heterogeneity calls into question the existence of previously postulated associations between resilience and brain network flexibility and highlights how results may be influenced by specific analysis choices.
Author Summary
We tested the replicability and generalizability of a previously proposed negative association between dynamic brain network reconfigurations derived from multilayer modularity detection (node flexibility) and psychological resilience. Using multiband resting-state BOLD fMRI data and exploring several parcellation schemes, sliding window approaches, and temporal resolutions of the data, we could not replicate previously reported findings regarding the association between node flexibility and resilience. By extending this work to other measures of brain dynamics (node promiscuity, degree) we observe a rather inconsistent pattern of correlations with resilience that strongly varies across analysis choices. We conclude that further research is needed to understand the network neuroscience basis of mental health and discuss several reasons that may account for the variability in results.
Visual search in natural scenes is a complex task relying on peripheral vision to detect potential targets and central vision to verify them. The segregation of the visual fields has been particularly established by on-screen experiments. We conducted a gaze-contingent experiment in virtual reality in order to test how the perceived roles of central and peripheral visions translated to more natural settings. The use of everyday scenes in virtual reality allowed us to study visual attention by implementing a fairly ecological protocol that cannot be implemented in the real world. Central or peripheral vision was masked during visual search, with target objects selected according to scene semantic rules. Analyzing the resulting search behavior, we found that target objects that were not spatially constrained to a probable location within the scene impacted search measures negatively. Our results diverge from on-screen studies in that search performances were only slightly affected by central vision loss. In particular, a central mask did not impact verification times when the target was grammatically constrained to an anchor object. Our findings demonstrates that the role of central vision (up to 6 degrees of eccentricities) in identifying objects in natural scenes seems to be minor, while the role of peripheral preprocessing of targets in immersive real-world searches may have been underestimated by on-screen experiments.
In the COVID-19 pandemic, human solidarity plays a crucial role in meeting this maybe greatest modern societal challenge. Public health communication targets enhancing collective compliance with protective health and safety regulations. Here, we asked whether authoritarian/controlling message framing as compared to a neutral message framing may be more effective than moralizing/prosocial message framing and whether recipients’ self-rated trait autonomy might lessen these effects. In a German sample (n = 708), we measured approval of seven regulations (e.g., reducing contact, wearing a mask) before and after presenting one of three Twitter messages (authoritarian, moralizing, neutral/control) presented by either a high-authority sender (state secretary) or a low-authority sender (social worker). We found that overall, the messages successfully increased participants’ endorsement of the regulations, but only weakly so because of ceiling effects. Highly autonomous participants showed more consistent responses across the two measurements, i.e., lower response shifting, in line with the concept of reactive autonomy. Specifically, when the sender was a social worker, response shifting correlated negatively with trait autonomy. We suggest that a trusted sender encourages more variable responses to imposed societal regulations in individuals low in autonomy, and we discuss several aspects that may improve health communication.
Background: Abnormalities of heart rate (HR) and its variability are characteristic of major depressive disorder (MDD). However, circadian rhythm is rarely taken into account when statistically exploring state or trait markers for depression. Methods: A 4-day electrocardiogram was recorded for 16 treatment-resistant patients with MDD and 16 age- and sex-matched controls before, and for the patient group only, after a single treatment with the rapid-acting antidepressant ketamine or placebo (clinical trial registration available on https://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu/ with EUDRACT number 2016-001715-21). Circadian rhythm differences of HR and the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) were compared between groups and were explored for classification purposes. Baseline HR/RMSSD were tested as predictors for treatment response, and physiological measures were assessed as state markers. Results: Patients showed higher HR and lower RMSSD alongside marked reductions in HR amplitude and RMSSD variation throughout the day. Excellent classification accuracy was achieved using HR during the night, particularly between 2 and 3 a.m. (90.6%). A positive association between baseline HR and treatment response (r = 0.55, p = 0.046) pointed toward better treatment outcome in patients with higher HR. Heart rate also decreased significantly following treatment but was not associated with improved mood after a single infusion of ketamine. Limitations: Our study had a limited sample size, and patients were treated with concomitant antidepressant medication. Conclusion: Patients with depression show a markedly reduced amplitude for HR and dysregulated RMSSD fluctuation. Higher HR and lower RMSSD in depression remain intact throughout a 24-h day, with the highest classification accuracy during the night. Baseline HR levels show potential for treatment response prediction but did not show potential as state markers in this study.
Treatment outcomes of a CBT-based group intervention for adolescents with internet use disorders
(2021)
Background and aims: Instances of Internet use disorders (IUD) including Internet gaming disorder (IGD) and non-gaming pathological Internet use (ng-PIU) have the extent that they are now a growing mental health issue. Individuals suffering from IUD show a large range of symptoms, high comorbidities and impairments in different areas of life. To date there is a lack of efficient and evidence-based treatment programs for such adolescents. The present registered single-arm trial (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03582839) aimed to investigate the long-term effects of a brief manualized cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) program for adolescents with IUD. Methods: N = 54 patients (16.7% female), aged 9–19 years (M = 13.48, SD = 1.72) received the CBT group program PROTECT+. IUD symptom severity (primary outcome variable) as well as comorbid symptoms, risk-related variables and potentially protective skills (secondary outcome variables) were assessed at pretest, posttest, as well as 4 and 12 months after admission. Results: Patients showed a significant reduction in IUD symptom severity at the 12-month follow-up. Effect sizes were medium to large depending on the measure. Beyond the statistical significance, the clinical significance was confirmed using the reliable change index. Secondary outcome variables showed a significant reduction in self-reported depression, social anxiety, performance anxiety and school anxiety as well as in parental-reported general psychopathology. Discussion and conclusions: The present study shows long-term effects of a manual-based CBT treatment for adolescents suffering from IUD. The results indicate that even a 4-session brief intervention can achieve a medium to large effect over 12 months. Future work is needed to confirm the efficacy within a randomized controlled trial (RCT).
Finding a bottle of milk in the bathroom would probably be quite surprising to most of us. Such a surprised reaction is driven by our strong expectations, learned through experience, that a bottle of milk belongs in the kitchen. Our environment is not randomly organized but governed by regularities that allow us to predict what objects can be found in which types of scene. These scene semantics are thought to play an important role in the recognition of objects. But when during development are the semantic predictions so far implemented that such scene-object inconsistencies would lead to semantic processing difficulties? Here we investigated how toddlers perceive their environments, and what expectations govern their attention and perception. To this aim, we used a purely visual paradigm in an ERP experiment and presented 24-month-olds with familiar scenes in which either a semantically consistent or an inconsistent object would appear. The scene-inconsistency effect has been previously studied in adults by means of the N400, a neural marker responding to semantic inconsistencies across many types of stimuli. Our results show that semantic object-scene inconsistencies indeed elicited an enhanced N400 over the left anterior brain region between 750 and 1150 ms post stimulus onset. This modulation of the N400 marker provides first indications that by the age of two toddlers have already established their scene semantics allowing them to detect a purely visual, semantic object-scene inconsistency. Our data suggest the presence of specific semantic knowledge regarding what objects occur in a certain scene category.
Innovative ideas are essential to sustainable development. Students’ innovative potential in higher education for sustainable development (HESD) has so far been neglected. Innovation is often associated with an interdisciplinary approach. However, the results of research on diversity and its role in innovation are inconsistent. The present study takes a longitudinal approach to investigating student teams in project-based learning courses in HESD in Germany. This study examines how innovation develops in interdisciplinary student teams in contrast to monodisciplinary student teams. The results of the latent change approach from a sample of 69 student teams indicate significant changes in students’ innovation over time. Monodisciplinary student teams outperform interdisciplinary student teams in idea promotion (convincing potential allies) at the beginning, whereas interdisciplinary student teams outperform monodisciplinary student teams in idea generation (production of novel and useful ideas) in the midterm. There is no difference in the long term. The results indicate that interdisciplinary student teams have an advantage in the generation of novel ideas but need time to leverage their access to different discipline-based knowledge. We discuss practical implications for the design of interdisciplinary learning with strategies to support students in the formation phase in project-based learning in HESD.
Repeated search studies are a hallmark in the investigation of the interplay between memory and attention. Due to a usually employed averaging, a substantial decrease in response times occurring between the first and second search through the same search environment is rarely discussed. This search initiation effect is often the most dramatic decrease in search times in a series of sequential searches. The nature of this initial lack of search efficiency has thus far remained unexplored. We tested the hypothesis that the activation of spatial priors leads to this search efficiency profile. Before searching repeatedly through scenes in VR, participants either (1) previewed the scene, (2) saw an interrupted preview, or (3) started searching immediately. The search initiation effect was present in the latter condition but in neither of the preview conditions. Eye movement metrics revealed that the locus of this effect lies in search guidance instead of search initiation or decision time, and was beyond effects of object learning or incidental memory. Our study suggests that upon visual processing of an environment, a process of activating spatial priors to enable orientation is initiated, which takes a toll on search time at first, but once activated it can be used to guide subsequent searches.
Recent research has identified significant correlations between traumatic events and depression in refugees. However, few studies have addressed the role of acculturation strategies in this relationship. This study explored the relationship between cultural orientation, traumatic events and depression in female refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, and Somalia living in Germany. We expected acculturation strategies to moderate the effect of traumatic experiences on depression. The sample included 98 female refugees in Germany. The depression scale of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL) represented the dependent measure. The trauma checklists derived from the Post-traumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS) and the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ) as well as the Frankfurt Acculturation Scale (FRACC) were used as independent measures for traumatic events and orientation toward the host culture as well as orientation toward the culture of origin, respectively. A moderation analysis was conducted to examine whether the relationship between the number of traumatic events and depression was influenced by the women’s orientation toward the culture of origin and the host culture. We identified a significant model explaining 26.85% of the variance in depressive symptoms (Cohen’s f2 = 0.37). The number of traumatic events and the orientation toward the host culture exerted significant effects on depressive symptoms. The moderating effect was not significant, indicating that the effect of the number of traumatic events was not influenced by cultural orientation. Based on our results, orientation toward the host culture as well as traumatic experiences exert independent effects on depressive symptoms in refugees.
How is semantic information stored in the human mind and brain? Some philosophers and cognitive scientists argue for vectorial representations of concepts, where the meaning of a word is represented as its position in a high-dimensional neural state space. At the intersection of natural language processing and artificial intelligence, a class of very successful distributional word vector models has developed that can account for classic EEG findings of language, that is, the ease versus difficulty of integrating a word with its sentence context. However, models of semantics have to account not only for context-based word processing, but should also describe how word meaning is represented. Here, we investigate whether distributional vector representations of word meaning can model brain activity induced by words presented without context. Using EEG activity (event-related brain potentials) collected while participants in two experiments (English and German) read isolated words, we encoded and decoded word vectors taken from the family of prediction-based Word2vec algorithms. We found that, first, the position of a word in vector space allows the prediction of the pattern of corresponding neural activity over time, in particular during a time window of 300 to 500 ms after word onset. Second, distributional models perform better than a human-created taxonomic baseline model (WordNet), and this holds for several distinct vector-based models. Third, multiple latent semantic dimensions of word meaning can be decoded from brain activity. Combined, these results suggest that empiricist, prediction-based vectorial representations of meaning are a viable candidate for the representational architecture of human semantic knowledge.