DATE: June 26, 2024 at 10:45AM
SOURCE: Psychiatric Times
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Resilient individuals have improved cognition, better regulation of emotions, and were more mindful of their feelings, according to new research. https://t.co/WixkyI7ORGhttps://t.co/tAilpc5xfS
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A new study published in Psychology and Aging examined the links between personality, psychological characteristics, and cognitive outcomes in older adults, finding that higher levels of positive affect and Openness are associated with reduced cognitive decline, even when accounting for brain atrophy.
Cognitive decline in older age has profound implications for one’s dependence and need for care. Prior studies have linked personality traits to cognitive outcomes, suggesting personality may influence one’s risk of cognitive decline. Most of these studies have focused on Big Five personality in often homogenous populations without considering brain integrity as a potential moderating factor. In this work, Sarah Tomaszewski Farias and colleagues expanded on this limitation.
This study recruited 157 English- or Spanish-speaking older adults over age 60 from the University of California Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center’s Longitudinal Diversity Cohort. Exclusion criteria included unstable major medical illness or serious psychiatric disorder. This sample received annual clinical evaluations, including detailed medical history, physical and neurological exams, as well as diagnoses of cognitive syndromes.
Participants completed various questionnaires between January 2018 and February 2020 assessing the Big 5 traits (i.e., Openness, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Neuroticism, Extraversion) and traits such as positive and negative affect, sense of purpose, loneliness, grit, and self-efficacy.
Cognitive outcomes were measured with the Spanish and English Neuropsychological Assessment Scales, which assesses cognitive domains like episodic and semantic memory, executive function, and spatial ability. Baseline brain MRI scans also provided measures of gray matter, hippocampal volume, and total white matter hyperintensity volume, allowing the researchers to assess for brain atrophy.
Tomaszewski Farias and colleagues observed associations between various psychological traits and cognitive outcomes. Higher levels of positive affect and Openness were linked to less cognitive decline over time, even after controlling for baseline brain atrophy measures, suggesting these traits have a direct influence on cognitive trajectories.
On the other hand, higher levels of sadness were associated with more cognitive decline, but this relationship was not significant after adjusting for brain atrophy, suggesting that the impact of sadness on cognitive outcomes may partly be mediated by brain health. Traits such as grit, self-efficacy, and purpose in life revealed weaker and less consistent associations with cognitive outcomes.
Cross-sectional analyses involve looking at data at a single point in time to identify relationships between variables. In this snapshot, sadness was a consistent predictor of poorer cognitive performance across episodic memory and spatial ability. Positive affect and Openness, while strongly associated with longitudinal cognitive trajectories, showed less consistent cross-sectional relationships with specific cognitive domains.
A limitation to this research is the relatively small sample size which may limit the generalizability of findings.
Overall, this study highlights the important role of psychological well-being in mitigating cognitive decline in older adulthood.
The study, “Associations between personality and psychological characteristics and cognitive outcomes among older adults”, was authored by Sarah Tomaszewski Farias, Fransia S. De Leon, Brandon E. Gavett, Evan Fletcher, Oanh L. Meyer, Rachel A. Whitmer, Charles DeCarli, and Dan Mungas.
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DATE: June 26, 2024 at 08:01AM
SOURCE: Psychiatric Times
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Children are subject to the world’s largest biosocial experiment. https://t.co/G4kC4X9QTa
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A recent study published in the journal Psychological Research has shed light on how sexual arousal and psychopathic traits can influence our sense of agency, the feeling of control over our actions and their outcomes. The researchers found that while sexual arousal tends to decrease the sense of agency, individuals with psychopathic traits exhibit a reduced effect of high arousal on their sense of agency.
Psychopathic traits are a set of personality characteristics that include reduced emotional responses, lack of empathy, manipulativeness, deceitfulness, and a tendency toward antisocial behaviors. Individuals with high levels of these traits tend to have a shallow emotional life, showing little remorse or guilt for their actions. On a physiological level, psychopathy is associated with abnormalities in brain areas responsible for emotional regulation and reward processing, such as the amygdala and the ventral striatum.
Psychopathy is significant not only because of its implications for individual behavior but also because it is associated with a disproportionate amount of crime and violence. Understanding how psychopathic traits influence various cognitive and emotional processes can provide insights into the behavior of individuals with these traits and inform strategies for managing their behavior in social and legal contexts.
The researchers conducted their new study to explore how positive emotional states affect the sense of agency in individuals with varying levels of psychopathic traits. The sense of agency is the feeling of being in control of one’s actions and their outcomes. Previous research has shown that negative emotional states can diminish the sense of agency, but less is known about the effects of positive high-arousal states.
“My mother worked at the Ministry of Justice in Germany in the mental health space which inspired me to study psychology and criminology,” said study author Anna Render, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Passau in Germany.
“These days, my husband and best friend both work in forensic clinics with people that have offended but have been deemed not fully liable for their actions due to addictions. I guess I am frequently reminded that evaluations about the sense of agency determine people’s lives in that space and there is little research about the sense of agency in people that show psychopathic traits, a very common personality trait among people that have offended.”
The researchers conducted an experiment with 59 participants aged between 18 and 35, recruited through flyers and social media platforms. The participants were divided into three groups: sexual arousal, calm pleasure, and neutral control. Each group watched a specific film clip designed to induce different levels of arousal and valence. The sexual arousal group watched a sexually explicit scene, the calm pleasure group viewed pleasant, romantic scenes, and the neutral control group observed a pedestrian street scene.
To measure the participants’ physiological responses during the film clips, the researchers recorded pupil dilation, skin conductance, and heart rate. These measures provided objective data on the participants’ arousal levels. Additionally, participants self-reported their feelings of arousal and valence using the affective grid, a tool that captures emotional experiences on two dimensions: valence (positive or negative) and arousal (high or low).
The sense of agency was assessed using the Libet Clock Task, a well-established method for measuring temporal binding. In this task, participants pressed a key and then estimated the timing of their action and its outcome (a tone). Temporal binding refers to the perceived compression of time between the action and its outcome, indicating a stronger sense of agency.
The researchers found that sexual arousal decreased temporal binding, indicating a reduced sense of agency. Participants who watched the sexually explicit film clip perceived a greater separation between their actions and the outcomes, suggesting that high-arousal positive states can diminish the feeling of control over one’s actions.
In contrast, the calm pleasure group did not exhibit significant changes in temporal binding. While the pleasant film clip did increase subjective arousal and valence, it did not affect the participants’ sense of agency in the same way as the sexual arousal clip. This finding suggests that the level of arousal, rather than valence alone, plays a crucial role in influencing the sense of agency.
Interestingly, individuals with higher levels of psychopathic traits showed a different pattern. While their physiological responses to arousal were similar to those of other participants, their sense of agency was less affected by the high-arousal state induced by the sexual film clip. This indicates that psychopathic traits may buffer the impact of high arousal on the sense of agency, allowing individuals with these traits to maintain a stronger feeling of control over their actions even in emotionally charged situations.
“People’s personality, especially psychopathic tendencies, seem to play a role in the adjustment to high arousing emotional states,” Render told PsyPost. “Our emotional response influences our sense of agency. On average people tend to show less binding towards actions when sexually aroused, however, people high on psychopathy seem less vulnerable to those effects.”
“I was surprised that the effects, psychopathic traits lessen the effects of sexual arousal on temporal binding, were measurable in a lab context and on such a basic level of implicit processing (subjectively compressing the time interval between key presses and tones). It would not be surprising if differences arose in more relevant contexts, but that these alterations can even be observed with this set up says a lot, I think.”
The researchers also explored the role of physiological arousal and striatal dopamine levels (indicated by eye blink rates) in modulating the sense of agency. They found that greater increases in pupil dilation were generally associated with reduced action binding, except in the sexual arousal group where the effect was not significant. Higher blink rates, which suggest higher dopaminergic activity, were linked to increased action binding, indicating that dopamine might enhance the sense of agency.
The study provides new insights into how sexual arousal and personality traits interact to influence the sense of agency. But as with all research, there are some limitations to consider. The sample size was relatively small, limiting the generalizability of the results. Larger studies, particularly those including more individuals with higher levels of psychopathic traits, would help to confirm and expand these findings.
“The sense of agency also is a complex construct and we merely measured one facet of it, temporal binding, thus we cannot generalize the effects at this stage to the entirety of the sense of agency,” Render said. “It would be amazing to find reliable but more wholesome way of measuring the sense of agency and more broadly to connect the cognitive field and the forensic field a bit more.”
The study, “Arousal, interindividual differences and temporal binding a psychophysiological study,” was authored by Anna Render, Hedwig Eisenbarth, Matt Oxner, and Petra Jansen.
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Researchers recently discovered that women with larger breasts tend to produce milk with lower lactose concentration compared to women with smaller breasts. This groundbreaking finding suggests that while large breast size is not necessary for adequate milk production, it may influence the composition of the milk. The findings have been published in the American Journal of Human Biology.
Breastfeeding is widely recognized for its numerous health benefits for infants, including its role in promoting long-term health and development. Breast milk is not only a source of essential nutrients but also contains various bioactive components that can influence a child’s growth and development. While it is known that breast milk composition can vary significantly among women, the factors contributing to these variations are not fully understood.
Prior studies have explored the influence of maternal traits such as body fat, diet, and feeding frequency on milk composition, but the relationship between breast size and milk composition had not been thoroughly investigated. In their new study, the researchers aimed to fill that gap by examining whether breast size during established lactation is associated with the macronutrient content of breast milk.
The researchers recruited 162 exclusively breastfeeding women from Wroclaw, Poland, between February 2017 and July 2018. Participants were selected based on several criteria to ensure a homogeneous and healthy study sample. These criteria included being mothers of full-term, single births, not suffering from chronic diseases, and not using hormonal contraception. After exclusions due to incomplete data or unusual dietary intake, the final sample consisted of 137 women.
The study involved collecting detailed data on each mother and infant. This included anthropometric measurements such as breast and under-breast circumference, body mass index, and body fat percentage. Additionally, participants completed a general questionnaire about their socioeconomic status, reproductive history, and breastfeeding patterns.
Breast milk samples were collected using a hospital-grade breast pump. The samples were taken mid-morning, a time identified as optimal for standardizing milk composition measurements. Researchers analyzed the milk samples for energy content, fat, protein, and lactose concentration using a specialized human milk composition analyzer.
Contrary to their expectations, the researchers found a negative relationship between breast size and lactose concentration in breast milk. Women with larger breasts produced milk with lower lactose content than those with smaller breasts. Importantly, these findings held even after controlling for maternal body adiposity, dietary caloric and macronutrient intake, feeding frequency, infant size, maternal age, parity, and socioeconomic status.
This inverse relationship between breast size and lactose concentration is noteworthy because lactose is synthesized solely in the mammary gland. The researchers hypothesized that hormonal factors might explain this finding. Larger breast size is associated with higher levels of the hormones estradiol and progesterone. These hormones can decrease overall milk production and inhibit lactose synthesis by reducing the levels of a specific protein, alpha-lactalbumin, in breast milk.
“This is the first study to report a negative relationship between lactose concentration in breast milk and maternal breast size during fully established lactation. The demonstrated association indicates that women with larger breasts size may, via hormonal control, produce milk with lower lactose concentration than women with smaller breasts,” the researchers wrote.
Interestingly, no significant relationship was found between breast size and other macronutrients such as fat and protein.
Furthermore, the study found that feeding frequency and maternal caloric intake also influenced lactose concentration. More frequent breastfeeding sessions were associated with higher lactose content, likely due to the increased secretion of prolactin, a hormone that stimulates milk production. On the other hand, higher maternal caloric intake was linked to lower lactose concentration, possibly due to its impact on glucose metabolism and availability for lactose synthesis.
Lactose is a vital component of breast milk, providing a significant portion of the energy required by infants and supporting the development of the central nervous system. The variability in lactose concentration linked to breast size could have implications for infant nutrition and growth. Infants of mothers with larger breasts, who produce milk with lower lactose content, might receive different nutritional benefits compared to those of mothers with smaller breasts.
Understanding these differences can help healthcare providers offer more personalized breastfeeding advice and support. It also underscores the need for ongoing research into the factors that influence breast milk composition and how they impact infant health outcomes.
The study, “Breast size in lactating women and the content of macronutrients in human milk,” was authored by Magdalena Babiszewska-Aksamit, Agnieszka Żelaźniewicz, Anna Apanasewicz, Magdalena Piosek, Patrycja Winczowska, Olga Barbarska, and Anna Ziomkiewicz.
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Posttraumatic growth among mental health officers who treat soldiers with non-suicidal self-harm/suicidal behavior: The role of cognitive and personality characteristics,Posttraumatic growth among mental health officers who treat soldiers with non-suicidal self-harm/suicidal behavior: The role of cognitive and personality characteristics
Teenagers are less likely to drink, smoke, or use drugs when their parents keep track of their activities. A new study published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs reveals that this is not necessarily because kids are more likely to be punished for substance use. Instead, the mere awareness that their parents are monitoring their behavior deters them from trying alcohol or drugs.
Previous studies have established a link between greater parental knowledge of teens’ whereabouts and lower rates of substance use. However, the exact reasons for this association were unclear. In their new study, the researchers sought to investigate whether parental monitoring works by increasing the likelihood of punishment for substance use or by deterring use through the perception that parents might find out.
The study utilized data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, a large, ongoing research project following a diverse cohort of adolescents across the United States. For this specific investigation, the researchers focused on survey responses from 4,503 adolescents aged 11 to 15 years old, collected in May 2021.
Participants were invited to complete a web-based survey, which asked about their substance use over the past 30 days, including alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, prescription drugs, inhalants, and other substances. The teens also reported whether their parents knew about their substance use and if there were instances when they refrained from using substances because their parents might find out.
To measure parental monitoring, teens completed the Parental Monitoring Questionnaire (PMQ). This questionnaire assessed how frequently parents knew the teens’ whereabouts, how easily teens could contact their parents when home alone, the extent of daily plan discussions, and the frequency of family dinners.
The survey results revealed that only 3.6% of the teens had used substances in the past 30 days, with the prevalence of substance use increasing with age: 0.2% among 11-year-olds to 8.6% among 15-year-olds. Alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis were the most commonly reported substances. Notably, only 31% of the teens who used substances indicated that their parents were aware of their use.
The researchers tested two hypotheses to understand how parental monitoring influences teen substance use. The first hypothesis, the Increasing Punishment Hypothesis, suggested that parents who monitor more would be more likely to catch and punish their children for substance use. However, the study found no significant link between parental monitoring and parents knowing about substance use, indicating that monitoring did not increase the likelihood of punishment.
The second hypothesis, the Direct Prevention/Avoidance Hypothesis, proposed that monitoring deters substance use because teens believe their parents will find out and punish them. This hypothesis was supported by the findings. This perception of being monitored was effective in reducing substance use, regardless of whether parents actually caught their teens in the act.
Understanding these mechanisms can help provide more specific advice to parents on how to effectively reduce the risk of substance use. As the lead researcher, William Pelham, noted, “Some parents think drinking or using drugs is something that kids are just going to do, no matter what. But that’s not true. Parents can make a difference.”
The study, “How Does Parental Monitoring Reduce Adolescent Substance Use? Preliminary Tests of Two Potential Mechanisms,” was authored by William E. Pelham III, Susan F. Tapert, Marybel R. Gonzalez, Uzoma Ahiarakwe, Herry Patel, Isabella S. Davis, Alejandro D. Meruelo, Amandine M. Van Rinsveld, Andrew T. Marshall, Anthony Steven Dick, Mathieu Guillaume, Gayathri J. Dowling, Arielle Baskin-Sommers, and Sandra A. Brown.
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A new review paper in the Journal of Sexual Medicine has analyzed existing research to identify characteristics that influence the likelihood of individuals cheating on their partners. Some of these are individual characteristics (e.g. dark personality traits), while others have to do with the characteristics of the relationship (e.g. commitment). For infidelity to happen, there must also be an opportunity (e.g., an attractive alternative partner available).
Infidelity is the act of being unfaithful or disloyal to a romantic or sexual partner. It typically involves a breach of trust by engaging in a relationship or sexual activity with someone other than the primary romantic partner (i.e., wife/husband or girlfriend/boyfriend). Infidelity severely damages the trust and emotional bond between partners, leading to feelings of betrayal, hurt, and insecurity. In this way, infidelity destabilizes relationships and families, resulting in emotional distress, conflict, and, in many cases, the dissolution of the relationship.
The impact of infidelity extends beyond the immediate relationship. Individuals affected by infidelity often experience intense emotional pain, depression, anxiety, and a loss of self-esteem. The ripple effects can also impact children and other family members, creating widespread emotional turmoil. Legal consequences, such as divorce or custody battles, further complicate the lives of those involved. Long-term effects may include difficulties in forming new relationships and persistent trust issues.
Study authors Charlene F. Belu and Lucia F. O’Sullivan reviewed the existing scientific literature to identify characteristics that make individuals and couples more or less prone to infidelity. They note that because infidelity is so frequent and the consequences of infidelity often so costly, many researchers have worked on identifying factors that can predict whether a person or a couple will experience or engage in infidelity.
The researchers categorized these predictive factors into three groups: individual characteristics, relationship characteristics, and contextual factors. Individual predictors include personal traits that make someone more or less likely to cheat. Relationship predictors involve the dynamics within the romantic relationship. Contextual factors refer to opportunities for infidelity to occur.
In terms of individual characteristics, studies consistently show that individuals low in conscientiousness are more likely to cheat. This tendency increases if their partner also has low conscientiousness. Such individuals often display disorganization, carelessness, and a lack of goal orientation, resulting in unreliability and persistence issues.
Individuals low in agreeableness and high in extraversion are also more prone to infidelity. Women high in neuroticism, as well as individuals with pronounced dark personality traits—Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy—are more likely to be unfaithful. Women with high attachment anxiety are more prone to infidelity, whereas avoidantly attached individuals are less likely to cheat. A higher willingness to engage in casual sex also increases the likelihood of infidelity. While men historically admit to infidelity more often, this gender gap appears to be narrowing.
Individuals in relationships of better quality and those with higher commitment to their partner are less likely to engage in infidelity. On the other hand, those dissatisfied with their relationship and individuals experiencing sexual dissatisfaction are more likely to be unfaithful. Relationship dissatisfaction is particularly likely to drive women to infidelity, while sexual dissatisfaction is more strongly associated with infidelity in men. That said, even couples reporting high quality of their relationships are at a non-zero risk of infidelity.
Finally, for infidelity to occur, an opportunity must be present. The availability of an attractive alternative partner is a crucial contextual factor. Adults in exclusive romantic relationships often have a crush on someone who is not their partner. However, having a crush most often does not lead to infidelity. For a crush to lead to infidelity, this attraction needs to be communicated in some form and reciprocated by the other individual. Only then does the opportunity for infidelity exist.
Infidelity risk is particularly high for individuals working in environments that contain many potential partners. When an individual spends a long time in such places (e.g., at work), there are many opportunities for infidelity to happen. If one’s social environment does not provide opportunities for meeting or communicating with potential partners, the likelihood of infidelity happening is much lower.
“Given the high cost of infidelity for individuals and relationships and the potential collateral damage beyond, research predicting infidelity has valuable implications for relationships and professionals who are working with partners in distress, Blue and O’Sullivan concluded. “Although individual characteristics are often investigated, relationship factors tend to be stronger predictors of infidelity. Research is needed that explores the sequence of interactions leading to infidelity and important contexts and exchanges with an attractive alternative.”
The review provides a valuable overview of factors associated with risk of infidelity. However, it should be noted that all of the reported factors are just based on statistical associations. A person may exhibit many traits linked to infidelity and still remain faithful, while others may lack these traits and still cheat.
The paper, “Predictors of infidelity among couples,” was authored by Charlene F. Belu and Lucia F. O’Sullivan.
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DATE: June 25, 2024 at 03:06PM
SOURCE: Psychiatric Times
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How do you balance clinical work with social media advocacy? Dr. Judith Joseph MD MBA shares how she uses her social media to leverage her experiences, clinical research, and expertise to help patients as well as to advocate for better treatments. https://t.co/K1jYigGRPI
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In a recent study, researchers developed a new procedure to understand how the tendency to use alcohol as a coping mechanism increases the vulnerability to compulsive drinking. Using rats as subjects, the researchers identified individual differences in coping strategies and how these relate to compulsive alcohol consumption. The research has been published in Brain Communications.
Alcohol use disorder is a significant public health issue, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen increased rates of problem drinking. Previous preclinical models of alcohol use disorder have not adequately addressed the role of individual tendencies to use alcohol as self-medication. The new study aimed to fill this gap by creating a model that mimics the human experience of drinking to cope with stress.
“I have been working in the individual vulnerability to develop substance use disorder for over 20 years. The fact that not all individuals who engage in recreational drug use develop an addiction remains something that the general public may not grasp, but it has long been established,” said study author David Belin, a professor at the University of Cambridge and the head of the Cambridge Laboratory for Research on Impulsive and Compulsive Disorders (CliC).
“The psychological and neural basis of such vulnerability have not been elucidated yet. However, epidemiological research has long suggested that the reasons why someone takes drugs (self-medication for instance); hence the psychoaffective state of the individual at the time they use, rather than the primary effects of the drugs, may be determinant contributors to the transition from recreational drug use to addiction. This is the hypothesis we set out parametrically to test in this longitudinal study.”
The researchers used a procedure called schedule-induced polydipsia (SIP) to study excessive drinking behavior in rats. SIP involves exposing rats to intermittent food delivery while they have free access to water or alcohol. This setup creates a situation where some rats develop excessive drinking behavior as a way to cope with the stress of intermittent food availability.
In the first stage, the rats were subjected to 20 sessions where they had free access to water while food pellets were intermittently delivered. The researchers measured the water consumption of each rat to identify those that developed excessive drinking behaviors (High Drinkers, HD) and those that did not (Low Drinkers, LD).
The second stage involved replacing the water with a 10% alcohol solution and repeating the 20 sessions. This SIP alcohol training allowed the researchers to observe if the rats developed a drinking response with alcohol.
To further understand the rats’ coping mechanisms, the researchers categorized the rats based on their drinking behaviors. They identified rats that used water as a coping mechanism (water copers) and those that only developed a coping response when alcohol was available (alcohol copers).
One of the key findings was the persistence of drinking behavior despite negative consequences. The alcohol copers continued to drink the alcohol even when it was adulterated with quinine, making it bitter and unpalatable. This persistence mirrors the compulsive alcohol consumption seen in humans with alcohol use disorder.
“That we could identify individual rats that, very much like some humans do, rely on alcohol to cope with stress was incredible,” Belin told PsyPost.
The study also highlighted the role of stress in driving these behaviors. The intermittent food delivery created a stressful environment, leading some rats to develop maladaptive coping strategies, such as excessive drinking. The introduction of alcohol provided an alternative coping mechanism for some rats, leading to a transition from water to alcohol consumption.
Overall, the study provides a valuable model for understanding how the use of alcohol as a coping mechanism can lead to compulsive drinking. The findings suggest that individual differences in coping strategies play a significant role in the development of alcohol use disorder. This model can be used to further investigate the neural and psychological mechanisms underlying these behaviors and to test potential therapeutic interventions.
The findings also highlight that “one should never drink or take any other drugs as a means to alleviate/numb emotional or physical pain or anxiety,” Belin said.
“In the future, we hope to develop a machine learning-based classifier to identify vulnerable individuals more objectively,” he added. “This requires a much larger dataset than the one we have produced so far.”
The study, “Characterization in the rat of the individual tendency to rely on alcohol to cope with distress and the ensuing vulnerability to drink compulsively,” was authored by Lucia Marti-Prats and David Belin.
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A recent study published in The Journal of Social Psychology has uncovered a significant link between understanding of politics and belief in climate change conspiracies. Researchers found that individuals with a lower political knowledge are more likely to have a stronger sense of national pride, which further encouraged the endorsement of conspiracy theories denying climate change.
Climate change has been a hot topic for decades, with scientific evidence from many independent sources supporting the idea that carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are the main driver behind the rising global temperatures.
Despite this, a portion of the population remains skeptical, swayed by conspiracy theories that claim climate change is a hoax orchestrated by scientists and nefarious entities to control the population.
The study, conducted by a team of researchers led by Piotr Michalski from the Polish Academy of Sciences, aimed to understand why some people are more susceptible to such conspiracy beliefs.
They proposed that a lack of political knowledge could lead to an inflated defensiveness of national identity i.e. national narcissism explaining that “understanding the rules governing the society alters the way people identify with their nation. In other words, people who know how democracy works should not perceive different ideas or suggestions as a way to gain control over the society but rather as a result of democratic processes.”
The authors then noted, “individuals high in collective narcissism are motivated to show everyone that their ingroup does not succumb to pressure from other groups and international organizations,” and suggested that this attitude could foster belief in climate change conspiracy theories.
To test their hypothesis, Michalski’s team conducted a study involving 558 Polish participants (272 females, 286 males) who were aged 18-25, where data was collected at two time points six months apart.
“We decided to focus on young people because understanding why they endorse climate-related conspiracy beliefs is important due to the long-term social change potential they have. Furthermore, this age group has been actively engaged in various climate change-related social activities and had a significant impact on the public awareness of the environmental crisis,” the researchers explained.
Using questionnaires, they measured the participants’ political knowledge along two dimensions current political knowledge (i.e. knowledge of the current political landscape, including key political figures and events) as well as theoretical political knowledge (i.e. understanding of the theoretical structure of the political system). Also measured was national narcissism, national identification and belief in global warming conspiracies.
Michalski’s team discovered that individuals with lower levels of current and theoretical political knowledge were more likely to believe in climate change conspiracies. Furthermore, national narcissism (but not national identification) partially acted as a mediator in this relationship, meaning that those with less understanding of their country’s political system were more likely to identify with their nation in a narcissistic way, which was associated with a denial of climate change.
The researchers concluded, “it seems that political education [provides] young people with both dimensions of political knowledge … could be an important factor influencing their attitudes regarding climate change. Providing young people with information about the principles of democracy could also potentially have an impact on various negative outcomes of this type of in-group identity, such as resistance to pro-environmental policies, out-group hostility, support for populism, or endorsement of other types of conspiracy beliefs.”
Some limitations to their analyses should be noted. For instance, the study did not include a measurement of how much individuals placed distrust in scientific theories, which may have influenced the relationship between political knowledge and global warming conspiracy beliefs.
The study, “When the sun goes down: Low political knowledge and high national narcissism predict climate change conspiracy beliefs”, was authored by Piotr Michalski, Marta Marchlewska, Paulina Górska, Marta Rogoza, Zuzanna Molenda, and Dagmara Szczepańska.
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DATE: June 25, 2024 at 11:30AM
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Researchers have found that people with difficult-to-treat major depressive disorder who show lower activation of the amygdala — a part of the brain involved in processing emotions — when viewing sad versus happy faces are less likely to experience improvement in their depressive symptoms after four months of standard treatment. This discovery, published in the journal Psychological Medicine, could help in developing personalized treatment plans for patients with depression by identifying those less likely to respond to conventional therapies.
Only about half of patients with depression respond to their initial treatment, and even fewer achieve remission. This low success rate underscores the need for better ways to predict treatment outcomes, which could facilitate personalized treatment plans. A group of research, led by Diede Fennema, aimed to find reliable markers that could predict how well a patient would respond to standard depression treatments.
They focused on the brain’s response to emotional stimuli, building on the understanding that people with depression often process negative emotions more strongly than positive ones. The study’s methodology involved examining the brain responses of individuals with difficult-to-treat depression to emotional stimuli using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
“Recording functional MRI signal whilst seeing pictures of facial expressions of emotions has been used widely to detect an unconscious bias towards negative versus positive emotional stimuli in anxious individuals with and without depression,” explained senior author Roland Zahn, a professor of mood disorders and cognitive neuroscience at King’s College London.
“Most of these studies, however, were not pre-registered or were carried out in patients who had been selected for clinical trials or specialist settings with very specific inclusion criteria such as having to be free of medication. This means it was unclear whether these results would also apply to people seen clinically by GPs in the United Kingdom where most people with depression are treated.”
“Pre-registration (i.e. publishing the details of how one is going to analyse one’s data on an open database) is important as it increases the likelihood of reproducible findings that could be used clinically. We had therefore pre-registered our analysis plan and were able to recruit a sample of people with difficult-to-treat major depression who are typical of those receiving primary care in the United Kingdom, often taking an antidepressant medication.”
The participants included 38 adults aged 18 or older, all experiencing a current major depressive episode and who had not benefited from at least two different serotonergic antidepressants. Participants were recruited from an existing trial on antidepressant treatments and through online advertisements.
The researchers used a backward masking task during the fMRI scans to present emotional stimuli. In this task, participants were shown pairs of facial expressions, where a target face displaying a sad, happy, or neutral emotion was quickly followed by a neutral face. This method ensured that the target face was presented subliminally, meaning the participants were not consciously aware of it. The task was designed to measure the participants’ neural responses to these emotional stimuli without their explicit awareness.
The study found that lower bilateral amygdala activation in response to sad faces compared to happy faces predicted poorer clinical outcomes. Participants with a weaker amygdala response to positive emotions were less likely to see an improvement in their depressive symptoms after four months of standard treatment.
This finding suggests that the brain’s ability to process positive emotions may be crucial for recovery in patients with difficult-to-treat depression. The effect was particularly notable in the right amygdala, indicating that this hemisphere might play a more significant role in the subliminal processing of emotional stimuli.
“We confirmed our prediction based on previous research that people with a weaker amygdala response to positive relative to negative facial expressions were less likely to improve their depressive symptoms after four months,” Zahn told PsyPost.
Interestingly, participants who showed a greater improvement in their depressive symptoms had stronger amygdala responses to happy faces. This pattern suggests that a positive emotional processing bias—potentially facilitated by treatment—may be linked to better clinical outcomes. The researchers proposed that treatments that enhance the brain’s response to positive stimuli could be beneficial for individuals with depression.
The study also examined the activation of the dorsal/pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, another brain region associated with emotional processing. However, they found no significant association between activation in this region and treatment outcomes. This result contrasts with some previous studies and may be due to differences in the sample population and study design.
While the study’s findings are promising, there are several limitations. The sample size was relatively small, which limits the power of the study to detect significant effects. Additionally, the participants were taking a variety of antidepressant medications, which could introduce variability in the observed brain responses. Future research should aim to replicate these findings in larger and more homogenous samples.
Additionally, exploring the role of co-morbid anxiety in modulating brain responses to emotional stimuli could provide further insights. The researchers suggest that enhancing amygdala responses to positive stimuli could be a potential target for new treatment approaches.
“Dr. Diede Fennema has submitted another paper where she combines different fMRI measures to show how together these get much closer to making individual predictions, although not quite,” Zahn added. “Overall, her PhD work shows that by using reproducible functional MRI signatures of negative perceptual biases, self-blaming biases and resting-state fMRI changes, one can detect that individuals with depression differ and that for some people one neural system is more relevant than for the other. This will help us to design better treatments such as specific brain training methods tailored to the individual.”
The study, “Neural responses to facial emotions and subsequent clinical outcomes in difficult-to-treat depression,” was authored by Diede Fennema, Gareth J. Barker, Owen O’Daly, Suqian Duan, Beata R. Godlewska, Kimberley Goldsmith, Allan H. Young, Jorge Moll, and Roland Zahn.
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A recent bibliometric analysis conducted by Andrea Zagaria (2024) compared the prevalence of evolutionary psychology and the Standard Social Science Model (SSSM) concluding that SSSM is more prominent and growing at a faster rate than evolutionary psychology, casting doubt on the field’s revolutionary status in psychology. In a commentary published in Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, William Costello and Andrew G. Thomas reevaluated Zagaria’s conclusion, arriving at a more optimistic view of evolutionary psychology’s current status and trajectory.
“Our article was a commentary on an original analysis by Zagaria which found that evolutionary psychology was being outpaced by the SSSM in terms of publications and pace of growth,” said Costello (@CostelloWilliam), a doctoral researcher of Individual Differences and Evolutionary Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.
“A cursory look at these findings makes for dispiriting reading for an evolutionary psychologist. Initially I accepted these findings at face value and began to shape our commentary around 1) the idea that the replication crisis that psychology finds itself mired in is no surprise if most scholars pursue an explicitly non evolutionary psychology framework, and 2) that some metrics should be weighted more heavily than just volume of publications, e.g., universality, magnitude and replicability of findings.”
“However, a closer look at the analysis led us to believe that the extent to which evolutionary psychology was being outpaced by the SSSM was overstated and our own analysis suggests that the two are growing at a similar pace in psychology.”
Costello and Thomas revised the search terms and scope of the bibliometric analysis conducted by Zagaria, refining the search syntax for both evolutionary psychology and SSSM. They replaced the SSSM term “cultur*” with “cultural” to exclude biomedical contexts that are unrelated to psychological research, with a goal of eliminating papers irrelevant to SSSM (e.g., tissue cultures in a biomedical context). When conducting literature searches, using an asterisks captures various forms and spellings of a word (for example, cultur* would capture culture, cultures, cultural, culturally).
For the evolutionary psychology search terms, the researchers added previously excluded terms, including “inclusive fitness,” “parental investment” and “psychological adaptation” which they argue to be fundamental to evolutionary psychology and capturing the extent of research in the field. They further removed “animal behavior” to avoid disciplines that do not align with evolutionary psychology principles.
The researchers sourced data between 1975-2023, analyzing data on a year-by-year basis and 5- and 10-year rolling averages to account for annual fluctuations and highlight long-term trends.
The final dataset was restricted to empirical papers published in high-impact psychology journals to focus on the most influential and scientifically rigorous publications, thereby eliminating the bias introduced by including non-scientific and interdisciplinary journals captured in Zagaria’s original study.
The reanalysis revealed several findings that contrast with Zagaria’s conclusions. Here, between 1975 to 2023, the average annual growth rate for evolutionary psychology was 8.1%, while SSSM showed a slightly higher growth rate of 9.8%, indicating comparable growth. The high correlation between evolutionary psychology and SSSM growth rates (r = .93) suggest that both paradigms are expanding in tandem.
The reanalysis further showed that the ratio of SSSM to evolutionary psychology papers was overstated by approximately 23% in Zagaria’s analysis, revealing a ratio of 1.78 (vs. 2.31 previously reported). The researchers also observed variability in publication trends over the years, with occasional spikes and declines in both EP and SSSM research. However, the ratio of EP to SSSM papers showed a consistent pattern, indicating that EP is not lagging behind as much as presumed.
“We outline a number of reasons to be optimistic about the position and direction of travel for evolutionary psychology. Since its inception in the late 1980s, evolutionary psychology has seen enormous growth in terms of scholars, courses, topics investigated, conferences, societies, theories, findings, journals and much more. We tried to show that in our paper.”
“Also, psychological science now finds itself mired in what has colloquially become known as the ‘replication crisis’, which arises from the inability to replicate many well-known ‘classic’ findings in the field. Evolutionary psychology, however, has remained relatively unaffected by this replication crisis.”
“Evolutionary psychology differs from the SSSM in providing consilient meta-theory, which links a wide range of concepts, including a universal criteria for social status and morality and the adaptive nature of depression and anxiety. The extraordinary predictive power of the evolutionary psychology paradigm could be a solution to the replication crisis.”
“Ultimately, the scientific revolution proposed by my supervisor David Buss in 2020 is still well underway and we think our paper shows that.”
“What still needs to be addressed is why much of the scientific community is still resistant to the evolutionary psychology paradigm given it consistently proves to be explanatorily powerful,” Costello told PsyPost.
“We propose some potential reasons, such as ideological resistance, misperceptions of evolutionary psychology, and poor training about evolutionary theory among social scientists. We intend to explore these reasons in future work.”
The paper, “The Scientific Revolution of Evolutionary Psychology: Current Status and Future Directions. A Commentary on Zagaria (2024)” was authored by William Costello and Andrew G. Thomas.
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Recent research published in the Journal of Neuroscience reveals a fascinating link between the texture of fatty foods and the brain’s reward system. The study found that the smooth texture of high-fat liquid foods activates a specific area in the brain called the orbitofrontal cortex, which is involved in assigning economic value to sensory experiences. This discovery could pave the way for designing healthier low-calorie foods that still satisfy our cravings for rich, fatty textures.
The motivation behind the new study stemmed from a growing need to understand why humans have a strong preference for high-fat foods. Previous research has established that foods rich in fat and sugar tend to elicit a pleasurable mouthfeel, which can drive eating behavior and contribute to obesity.
By investigating the neural mechanisms behind this preference, the researchers aimed to uncover how the brain translates the physical properties of food into subjective valuations that influence eating habits. This understanding could help develop low-calorie foods that mimic the rewarding texture of high-fat foods, potentially aiding in the fight against obesity.
The study involved 22 healthy volunteers aged 19 to 36, who participated in a series of experiments designed to isolate and examine their responses to different textures and flavors of liquid foods. The participants were asked to sample various high-fat and low-fat milkshakes with controlled sugar content, while their brain activity was monitored using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The milkshakes were designed to vary in texture by altering their viscosity (thickness) and coefficient of sliding friction (CSF), which measures how smoothly the liquid moves in the mouth.
Participants were trained to move their tongues in a standardized way while sampling the milkshakes to ensure consistent distribution and sensory stimulation. They rated the sensations of sweetness, thickness, and oiliness of each sample and placed monetary bids indicating how much they would pay to consume more of each milkshake. This allowed the researchers to link sensory perceptions with economic valuations and neural activity.
The study found that the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) was particularly sensitive to the smooth texture of high-fat foods. When participants sampled milkshakes with lower sliding friction (smoother texture), this brain area showed increased activity. Moreover, the OFC activity patterns not only reflected the physical texture but also correlated with the participants’ economic valuations (willingness to pay) for the foods.
Interestingly, while viscosity also influenced texture perceptions, it was the CSF that had a stronger impact on the ratings of thickness and oiliness, as well as on the economic valuations. Foods with lower CSF were generally rated higher for oiliness and thickness, and participants were willing to pay more for these smooth-textured, high-fat foods.
Additionally, the study showed that the sensitivity of the OFC to these textures predicted participants’ preferences for high-fat foods in a separate naturalistic eating test. This suggests that the OFC plays a key role in how we perceive and value the smooth textures of fatty foods, linking sensory input to economic decisions.
The study provides valuable insights into the neural mechanisms underlying food texture valuation. But it has some limitations. The sample size was relatively small, and the study focused on a specific age and health demographic, which may not be representative of the broader population. Future research could include a more diverse group of participants to see if these findings hold across different ages, health conditions, and cultural backgrounds.
Additionally, the study focused on liquid foods. Solid foods have more complex textures and may interact differently with the oral surfaces, potentially leading to different neural and economic responses. Further research could explore how various textures of solid foods influence brain activity and eating behavior.
Another area for future research is the investigation of how these findings can be applied to develop healthier food options. By understanding how the brain values food textures, food scientists can design low-calorie fat replacements that mimic the desirable textures of high-fat foods, potentially helping to curb overeating and obesity.
“Here we showed that the frictional properties of liquid foods influence not only subjective perceptions but also economic valuations measured in incentive-compatible auctions, naturalistic eating behavior, and neural reward responses,” the researchers wrote. “Our approach using biologically plausible tribology tools to quantify food textures and relate them to human perceptions, economic valuations, and neural measures could help validate the design of foods that have both healthy nutrient compositions and attractive oral-texture properties.”
“In conclusion, our findings show that the human OFC responded to foods in the mouth by encoding the CSF, a physical oral-texture parameter that mediated the influence of fat content on subjects’ economic food valuations. Activity patterns in OFC combined sliding-friction signals with representations of subjective oiliness and economic value and explained fat preferences during naturalistic eating. Future studies could investigate how the presently identified neural mechanism for linking oral-textural properties of high-fat foods to eating behavior could contribute to overeating and obesity.”
The study, “A Neural Mechanism in the Human Orbitofrontal Cortex for Preferring High-Fat Foods Based on Oral Texture,” was authored by Putu A. Khorisantono, Fei-Yang Huang (黃飛揚), Michael P. F. Sutcliffe, Paul C. Fletcher, I. Sadaf Farooqi, and Fabian Grabenhorst.
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Despite what we’re often taught to believe, daydreaming can be immensely useful. Not only can it be a source of pleasure and a way to relieve boredom, research shows that our ability to mentally escape the present can also boost creativity, problem-solving and planning, and provide an antidote to loneliness.
Daydreaming, when defined as thoughts that aren’t tied to what you’re currently doing, occupies a good chunk of our waking lives – an average of around 30% of the time if you randomly probe people. It’s part of our everyday conscious experience. You might even think of it as our default mode which we return to, especially when doing things that don’t require a lot of brain power, such as mundane tasks like hanging out washing.
But it’s estimated 2.5% of adults experience a type of excessive daydreaming which is defined as the disorder “maladaptive daydreaming”. So-called maladaptive daydreamers compulsively engage in vivid fantasies and daydreaming plots so excessively that it interferes with their ability to function in daily life.
What is maladaptive daydreaming?
Maladaptive daydreaming differs from typical daydreaming in several ways.
Unlike typical daydreams which can be fleeting (lasting seconds), maladaptive daydreamers can spend several hours at a time in a single daydream. According to one study, maladaptive daydreamers spent an average of at least half their waking hours immersed in deliberately constructed fantasy worlds. These invented worlds are often rich and fantastical, with complex plots and intricate storylines that evolve over many years.
Maladaptive daydreamers’ fantasy worlds are vivid and rewarding, and the need to continue the fantasy can be compulsive and addictive. With maladaptive daydreaming, there’s a strong urge to daydream and annoyance when this is not possible or interrupted. Most also find it difficult to stop or even reduce the amount of time they spend daydreaming.
But prioritising spending time in alternative, imagined realities at the expense of physical and social needs can create problems at work, at school and in maintaining close relationships. Many people with maladaptive daydreaming report experiencing psychological distress, difficulty sleeping and feelings of shame about their daydreaming activity – something that they may hide from others.
It’s important to note that immersive daydreaming and vivid fantasy activity isn’t by default maladaptive. What makes daydreaming “maladaptive” is when it becomes difficult to control, when time to daydream takes precedence over real life, and when the compulsion to daydream interferes with important life goals and relationships.
Why does it happen?
Researchers suspect that people who struggle with maladaptive daydreaming may have an innate ability for immersive imaginative fantasies. Many discover this ability early on in childhood, realising fantasy and daydreams can be used to regulate distress. By creating an inner world of comfort, they’re able to escape from reality.
Some – but not all – maladaptive daydreamers may use daydreaming as a coping strategy. For example, daydreaming activity can distract from an unpleasant reality which may help to cope with trauma, difficult life events or social isolation. But doing so can lead to a vicious cycle of compulsive fantasy, where using fantasy to avoid negative emotions exacerbates the urge to daydream.
In many ways, daydreaming becomes an addictive behaviour that fuels the very problems it was intended to alleviate. Perhaps unsurprisingly, maladaptive daydreaming tends to occur alongside other disorders, the most common being ADHD, anxiety, depression and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
There seems to be a strong relationship between OCD and maladaptive daydreaming. One study found that over half of participants with maladaptive daydreaming also exhibited signs of OCD. This may suggest possible shared mechanisms between the two disorders, including intrusive thoughts, dissociation and a lack of cognitive control.
Though maladaptive daydreaming has been garnering an increasing amount of attention online and through social media, it’s not yet formally recognised in psychiatric diagnostic manuals.
This means many health professionals may be unaware of the condition, leading to misdiagnosis or dismissal of symptoms, creating further distress, isolation, and shame for maladaptive daydreamers. Many instead turn to online forums for peer support and recognition.
The fact that maladaptive daydreaming is not recognised as a psychiatric condition also means we know little about treatment options. There is one documented case study published in a peer-reviewed journal showing a 25-year-old man was able to cut the time he spent daydreaming in half – from nearly three hours daily to under an hour and a half. This was done over the course of six months using a combination of psychological treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy and mindfulness.
Although treatment didn’t affect how rewarding his daydreaming felt, he reported improvements in work and social functioning as well as in underlying obsessions. It’s hoped that with increasing recognition and understanding of maladaptive daydreaming, more treatment options will become available for sufferers.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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A recent study published in JAMA Network Open has shed light on the relationship between depressive symptoms and memory decline in older adults. By examining data spanning 16 years, researchers have identified a bidirectional link: depressive symptoms can lead to memory decline, while poorer memory can subsequently increase depressive symptoms.
The aging process often brings about subtle cognitive declines in older adults, and in more severe cases, it can lead to conditions like mild cognitive impairment or dementia. Simultaneously, depressive symptoms are prevalent in older adults, often triggered by severe life events or underlying health conditions.
Both cognitive decline and depressive symptoms are frequently observed together in this age group. Given their co-occurrence, understanding whether one influences the other—or if there is a bidirectional relationship—can help improve treatment and care strategies for older adults.
The researchers utilized data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging, which includes a representative sample of adults aged 50 and older in England. This study tracked participants over a 16-year period, from 2002 to 2018, ensuring a robust dataset for analysis.
The study began with 11,391 core members, eventually narrowing down to 8,268 participants who had complete data for cognitive function and depressive symptoms assessments. Cognitive functioning was measured using memory recall tests and verbal fluency tests. Memory recall involved remembering a list of 10 unrelated words immediately and after a short delay, while verbal fluency was assessed by asking participants to name as many animals as they could in one minute.
Depressive symptoms were measured using an eight-item version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, which asked participants about their depressive symptoms in the past week. This scale provided a score ranging from 0 to 8, with higher scores indicating more severe depressive symptoms.
The researchers found that higher levels of depressive symptoms at the beginning of the study were linked to poorer memory and a faster rate of memory decline over the 16-year period. Poorer memory at baseline, on the other hand, was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms over time. This indicates that not only can depression impact memory, but memory problems can also worsen depression.
“It is known that depression and poor memory often occur together in older people, but what comes first has been unclear,” said senior author Dorina Cadar of University College London. “Our study shows that the relationship between depression and poor memory cuts both ways, with depressive symptoms preceding memory decline and memory decline linked to subsequent depressive symptoms. It also suggests that interventions to reduce depressive symptoms may help to slow down memory decline.”
While depressive symptoms at baseline were linked to poorer verbal fluency, there was no evidence that depressive symptoms influenced changes in verbal fluency over time. In contrast, baseline verbal fluency did not significantly predict changes in depressive symptoms.
Lead author Jiamin Yin, who graduated from University College London and is now a doctoral student at the University of Rochester, New York, explained: “These findings underscore the importance of monitoring memory changes in older adults with increasing depressive symptoms to identify memory loss early and prevent further worsening of depressive function. It is also critical to address depressive symptoms among those with memory decline to protect them from developing depression and memory dysfunction.”
The study controlled for age, sex, education, wealth, long-standing illness, self-rated health, smoking status, alcohol consumption, and physical activity to account for potential confounding factors in the relationship between depressive symptoms and cognitive function. But as with all research, there are some limitations.
First, a significant number of participants were lost to follow-up, often due to death, potentially skewing the results. These participants were typically older, less educated, and in poorer health, which might mean that the true extent of the associations observed could be more pronounced.
Moreover, depressive symptoms were measured broadly, without distinguishing between different types of depressive symptoms, which could have varying impacts on cognitive functions. Future research could benefit from exploring these nuances in greater detail.
Another limitation was the shorter follow-up period for verbal fluency compared to memory. More extended follow-up periods could provide a clearer picture of the relationship between depressive symptoms and verbal fluency.
Cadar added: “Depression can cause changes in brain structures, such as the hippocampus, which is critical for memory formation and retrieval. Chronic stress and high levels of cortisol associated with depression can damage neurons in these areas. However, a further understanding of mechanisms linking memory decline and depression is crucial for developing targeted interventions aimed at improving mood and slowing cognitive decline in individuals with depression and memory impairment.”
The study, “Bidirectional Associations of Depressive Symptoms and Cognitive Function Over Time,” was authored by Jiamin Yin, Amber John, and Dorina Cadar.
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A new study has found that microdosing with LSD can lead to earlier bedtimes and longer sleep durations. Participants in the study, published in Translational Psychiatry, slept an average of 24 minutes longer on the night following a microdose. They also went to bed 25 minutes earlier than usual while waking up at their typical time.
Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD, is a potent hallucinogenic drug that alters perception, mood, and various cognitive processes. It belongs to the class of drugs known as psychedelics. LSD was first synthesized in 1938 by Albert Hofmann and became widely known in the 1960s for its mind-altering effects. It primarily interacts with serotonin receptors in the brain, leading to altered sensory experiences and sometimes profound changes in consciousness.
LSD and most other psychedelics are illegal in many countries due to their potent psychoactive effects and potential for misuse. However, recent years have seen growing interest in the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelics. Microdosing, the practice of taking sub-hallucinogenic doses of psychedelics, is claimed by some to enhance creativity, focus, and overall well-being without inducing intense hallucinations.
Individuals microdose on psychedelics hoping that it will enhance their creativity, focus, and overall well-being without experiencing the intense hallucinations associated with higher doses. Also, multiple recent studies reported beneficial effects of different psychedelics on symptoms of mental health disorders such as depression and posttraumatic stress disorder.
Study author Nathan Allen and his colleagues wanted to explore the effects of microdosing with LSD on sleep characteristics. They noted that previous studies mainly measured subjective changes in sleep quality. The effects these studies reported were mixed. To improve on this, they conducted an experimental study using objective measures of sleep.
The study included 80 healthy male volunteers aged 25 to 60, randomly assigned to either microdose with LSD for six weeks or receive a placebo. Participants took their assigned treatments using oral syringes.
Participants microdosing on LSD took 10 micrograms of LSD dissolved in 1 ml of water every third day for six weeks. During the study period, participants wore Fitbit Charge 3/4 devices on their wrists. This allowed the researchers to objectively monitor participants’ sleep and activity patterns. On microdosing days, participants took their dose at 11 am to avoid any potential disruption of their nighttime sleep.
Results showed that, on the night after microdosing with LSD, participants slept longer compared to the placebo group (the group that was taking doses containing only water). The duration of their REM sleep was also longer. The increase in total sleep was 24 minutes, in the time spent asleep it was 21 minutes. REM sleep phase on those nights was 8 minutes longer on average. On those nights, participants who took LSD went to bed some 25 minutes earlier. The time they woke up did not change.
“Given the significant modification in total sleep observed here with LSD microdosing and the potential clinical implications, this result provides a strong justification to incorporate wearable devices for sleep monitoring in our Phase 2 trials of LSD microdosing in patients with major depressive disorder which are currently underway. More generally, the observation that participants who microdose may require extra sleep the following night suggests that taking “off” days between microdosing days is important to allow the brain and body to recover between microdoses,” the study authors concluded.
The study sheds light on the effects microdoses of LSD have on sleep patterns. However, it should be noted that the study did not collect subjective data, so it remains unknown how the observed objective changes in sleep patterns translate into psychological effects. Additionally, all participants were healthy males, so results may differ for females or individuals with health conditions.
The study, “LSD increases sleep duration the night after microdosing”, was authored by Nathan Allen, Aron Jeremiah, Robin Murphy, Rachael Sumner, Anna Forsyth, Nicholas Hoeh, David B. Menkes, William Evans, Suresh Muthukumaraswamy, Frederick Sundram, and Partha Roop.
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21%
"The military spouse unemployment rate, according to the National Military Spouse Network :
DATE: June 24, 2024 at 10:55AM
SOURCE: Psychiatric Times
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Should social media come with a warning label for youth? The Surgeon General thinks so. https://t.co/pMAUJt7d9d
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DATE: June 24, 2024 at 10:25AM
SOURCE: Psychiatric Times
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Our nervous system is intricately designed to sense and respond to fear, a crucial survival mechanism. Fear helps us stay vigilant and avoid potential dangers, whether it’s the unsettling sounds we hear alone at night or the imminent threat of a growling animal. However, when fear manifests in the absence of real danger, it can severely impact our well-being. This phenomenon, known as fear generalization, often plagues individuals who have experienced severe stress or trauma, leading to conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite its prevalence, the underlying mechanisms of generalized fear have remained largely elusive.
A team of neurobiologists at the University of California San Diego, led by former Assistant Project Scientist Hui-quan Li and Distinguished Professor Nick Spitzer, has made significant strides in understanding these mechanisms. Their study, published in the journal Science, reveals the biochemical changes and neural circuitry involved in stress-induced generalized fear. This research not only sheds light on how fear responses are triggered but also opens up new avenues for potential interventions.
The primary motivation behind this study was to uncover the cellular and circuit mechanisms responsible for fear generalization. While fear responses are essential for survival, they can become detrimental when generalized to non-threatening situations. Such maladaptive fear responses are common in various stress-related disorders, including PTSD. The researchers aimed to identify the specific neurotransmitters and neural circuits involved in this process, hoping to pave the way for targeted treatments that could mitigate the harmful effects of generalized fear.
The researchers conducted their study using mice, focusing on a region of the brain known as the dorsal raphe, located in the brainstem. This area plays a crucial role in regulating fear responses. The team examined how acute stress affected neurotransmitter signals within neurons in this region, particularly focusing on a switch from excitatory neurotransmitters (glutamate) to inhibitory ones (GABA).
To induce stress, the mice were subjected to footshocks of varying intensities. The researchers then measured the mice’s fear responses in different contexts. Specifically, they observed the amount of time the mice spent “freezing,” a common fear response, in both the original context where the shock was administered and a new, different context. This allowed them to distinguish between conditioned fear (specific to the original context) and generalized fear (extending to the new context).
The team also employed advanced techniques to track changes in neurotransmitter expression within the dorsal raphe neurons. This involved immunostaining to identify the presence of specific neurotransmitters and their synthetic enzymes. Additionally, they utilized genetic tools to manipulate neurotransmitter synthesis, enabling them to assess the impact of these changes on fear responses.
The study revealed that strong footshocks led to generalized fear responses in mice. This was accompanied by a notable switch in the neurotransmitter signals within the dorsal raphe neurons, from glutamate to GABA. Specifically, neurons that initially co-expressed glutamate began to co-express GABA instead, a change that persisted for several weeks.
Further investigations showed that this neurotransmitter switch was critical for the development of generalized fear. When the researchers used genetic tools to suppress the synthesis of GABA in the dorsal raphe neurons, the mice did not exhibit generalized fear, even after experiencing strong footshocks. This finding underscores the pivotal role of the glutamate-to-GABA switch in mediating stress-induced fear generalization.
“Our results provide important insights into the mechanisms involved in fear generalization,” said Spitzer, a member of UC San Diego’s Department of Neurobiology and Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind. “The benefit of understanding these processes at this level of molecular detail — what is going on and where it’s going on — allows an intervention that is specific to the mechanism that drives related disorders.”
Building on their findings in mice, the researchers examined postmortem brain samples from individuals who had suffered from PTSD. They discovered a similar switch from glutamate to GABA in the dorsal raphe neurons of these individuals, suggesting that the mechanisms observed in mice are relevant to human PTSD.
The team also explored potential interventions to prevent the development of generalized fear. They found that administering an adeno-associated virus (AAV) to suppress the gene responsible for GABA synthesis in the dorsal raphe before the experience of acute stress effectively prevented generalized fear in mice. Additionally, treating mice with the antidepressant fluoxetine (commonly known as Prozac) immediately after a stressful event also prevented the neurotransmitter switch and the subsequent onset of generalized fear.
While the study provides valuable insights, it also has limitations. The research was primarily conducted on mice, and although similar mechanisms were observed in human PTSD samples, further studies are needed to confirm these findings. Additionally, the long-term effects of manipulating neurotransmitter synthesis and the potential side effects of such interventions require further investigation.
Future research could explore the broader implications of these findings. For instance, understanding whether similar neurotransmitter switches occur in response to other forms of stress, such as psychological stress, could provide a more comprehensive understanding of fear generalization. Moreover, investigating the specific neural circuits downstream of the dorsal raphe that mediate generalized fear responses could lead to more targeted and effective treatments.
“Now that we have a handle on the core of the mechanism by which stress-induced fear happens and the circuitry that implements this fear, interventions can be targeted and specific,” said Spitzer.
The study, “Generalized fear following acute stress is caused by change in co-transmitter identity of serotonergic neurons,” was authored by Hui-quan Li, Wuji Jiang, Lily Ling, Vaidehi Gupta, Cong Chen, Marta Pratelli, Swetha K. Godavarthi, and Nicholas C. Spitzer.
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Some scientists argue that evolutionary psychology is revolutionary within the field of psychology. David Buss, a prominent figure in the field, suggests that evolutionary psychology has already triggered a paradigm shift, fundamentally altering how scientists view human behavior and cognition. He draws a parallel to Kuhn’s concept of paradigm shifts, which posits the emergence of a new dominant paradigm that replaces the old one marks a scientific revolution.
Other researchers suggest that the state of evolutionary psychology is contentious, and its acceptance as the dominant paradigm is not as widespread as suggested. In recent work, researcher Andrea Zagaria conducted a bibliometric analysis to assess the prevalence of evolutionary psychology relative to the socio-cultural approach (that is, the Standard Social Science Model; SSSM), to determine whether evolutionary psychology is indeed revolutionary. This study was published in Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology.
Zagaria sourced data from PsycInfo, a comprehensive database of psychological literature, and compared frequency of words associated with evolutionary psychology (e.g., natural selection, ethology) and SSSM (e.g., social identity, acculturation) across a variety of peer-reviewed journals between 1950-2022. The researcher selected terms based on the APA Thesaurus to ensure a broad representation of both subdisciplines. The percentage of publications related to each approach, as well as their intersection, was calculated to visualize the growth and relative prominence of each field within psychological literature over time.
Zagaria found that while the prominence of evolutionary psychology has steadily grown over the past decade, it has not surpassed SSSM. Between 1950 to 1990, evolutionary psychology-related publications were relatively stable at roughly 3% of the total psychological literature. There was a notable increase post-1990, which peaked at approximately 4% in 2005.
However, this growth has plateaued since. SSSM-related publications significantly increased between 1950 to early 2000s, with publications surging from 5% of the total literature in the 1950s to approximately 11% by 2005, stabilizing around 10% in recent years. Zagaria argues this trend shows SSSM has maintained, if not strengthened, its position as a dominant approach in psychology.
The ratio between SSSM and evolutionary psychology has steadily increased over time, with SSSM contributions, on average, being more than twice as prevalent as evolutionary psychology contributions This gap has been widening in recent years, indicating that SSSM is growing at a faster pace than evolutionary psychology.
There were few contributions that integrated both evolutionary psychology and SSSM, showing there are minimal efforts to integrate the two bodies of research–i.e., the cultural-evolutionary approach. This lack of integration further suggests that evolutionary psychology has not achieved a revolutionary status. Engaging in interdisciplinary research may help foster the integration of evolutionary perspectives in understanding human behavior.
Zagaria maintains the continued dominance of the SSSM suggests that psychology is still a pre-paradigmatic science that is characterized by competing schools of thought, rather than one unified paradigm.
A limitation of this study is the reliance on keyword-based searches, which may not fully capture the complexity of theoretical and empirical contributions to psychology.
The study, “Is Evolutionary Psychology a Scientific Revolution? A Bibliometric Analysis”, was conducted by Andrea Zagaria.
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A new study published in the journal Nutrients has found that a combination of creatine nitrate and caffeine significantly enhances cognitive function more effectively than caffeine alone. However, this combination does not improve exercise performance. This research offers valuable insights for those seeking to enhance mental sharpness through dietary supplements.
Athletes and fitness enthusiasts often use dietary supplements like caffeine and creatine to boost performance. Caffeine is well-known for its ability to reduce fatigue and enhance alertness. Creatine, particularly creatine monohydrate, helps in quickly replenishing adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is crucial for short bursts of high-intensity exercise. Creatine nitrate, a newer form, is thought to offer the benefits of creatine while also enhancing nitric oxide production, which can improve blood flow and muscle oxygenation.
Despite the known benefits of these supplements individually, the effects of combining them have been less studied. Some evidence suggests potential interactions that could either amplify or diminish their benefits. In their new study, the researchers aimed to evaluate the cognitive and physical performance effects of a week-long high-dose intake of caffeine, creatine nitrate, and their combination in resistance-trained males.
“I was intrigued by the potential ergogenic and cognitive benefits of both creatine and caffeine, which are well-documented individually but less understood when combined. Given their popularity among athletes, it was important to explore whether their combination could yield synergistic benefits, particularly for enhancing physical and cognitive performance,” said study author Majid Koozehchian, an associate professor of kinesiology at Jacksonville State University.
The study took place at the Human Performance Laboratory of Jacksonville State University. Recruitment targeted resistance-trained males with at least two years of multi-joint resistance training experience. Participants were required to maintain their usual training and dietary habits and avoid new exercises or dietary changes during the study.
The final sample included 12 participants, aged 18 to 40, who met strict inclusion criteria. They had to be free of metabolic disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and other specific health conditions, and not on prescription medications. They also had to have a body mass index (BMI) between 18.5 and 24.9 and no known intolerance to caffeine or natural stimulants.
Participants underwent a familiarization session where they practiced the exercise tests and provided baseline health data. The study followed a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design, with participants cycling through four treatment phases: creatine nitrate, caffeine, their combination, and a placebo. Each phase lasted seven days, separated by a week-long washout period.
The supplements included 5 grams of creatine nitrate, 400 milligrams of caffeine, a combination of both, or a placebo of maltodextrin. These were administered 45 minutes before exercise tests. The rationale for the dosages was based on previous research showing these amounts could enhance performance and cognitive function.
Performance was assessed using bench press and leg press exercises, measuring repetitions to failure and lifting volume. The Wingate test, a 30-second cycle ergometer sprint, evaluated anaerobic performance indicators like peak power, mean power, and fatigue index.
Cognitive function was assessed using the Stroop Word–Color Test, which measures attention, processing speed, and cognitive flexibility. Participants also completed the Visual Analog Scale to rate their readiness to perform, alongside comprehensive questionnaires on sleep quality, caffeine tolerance, and side effects.
Blood samples were taken to measure various markers, including muscle and liver enzymes, and a complete blood count was performed. Heart rate and blood pressure were monitored before and after exercise.
Contrary to the researchers’ expectations, no significant improvements in exercise performance were observed. Bench press and leg press repetitions and volumes, as well as Wingate test parameters like peak power and mean power, remained unchanged across all conditions. These findings suggest that while the supplements may enhance cognitive function, they do not provide additional benefits for physical performance.
“I was surprised to find that the co-ingestion of creatine nitrate and caffeine did not significantly improve exercise performance, as we initially hypothesized. This contrasts with previous findings suggesting potential ergogenic benefits from these supplements, highlighting the complex interactions and the need for personalized approaches to supplementation.”
But the researchers found that the combination of creatine nitrate and caffeine significantly improved cognitive performance on the Stroop Word–Color Test. This enhancement was more pronounced than with caffeine alone. The combination treatment showed a medium-to-large effect size, indicating a robust impact on cognitive processing.
“The primary takeaway from our study is that while the combination of creatine nitrate and caffeine significantly improved cognitive function, particularly in tasks involving cognitive interference, it did not enhance short-term exercise performance. This suggests that athletes and individuals seeking cognitive benefits may consider this combination, but those looking solely for physical performance enhancements may not see additional benefits.”
While this study offers important insights, it has several limitations. The sample size was relatively small and limited to resistance-trained males, which may not represent broader or more diverse populations. The washout period between treatments, though practical, may have been too short to fully eliminate the effects of the previous supplement phase.
“A major caveat of our study is its relatively small sample size and the focus on male resistance-trained athletes, which may limit the generalizability of the findings,” Koozehchian noted. “Additionally, the short duration of supplementation (seven days) might not capture longer-term effects, and we did not measure peak blood levels of caffeine and nitrate, which could influence the outcomes.”
Future research could explore these supplements’ effects over longer periods and in more diverse populations. Longitudinal studies could also help in understanding how these supplements affect muscle growth, intramuscular signaling pathways, and hormonal responses over time.
“Long-term, I aim to explore the effects of these supplements over more extended periods and in more diverse populations, including different athletic and non-athletic groups and both genders,” Koozehchian explained. “Additionally, investigating the underlying mechanisms through which these supplements influence cognitive and physical performance could provide more nuanced insights.”
“I believe our findings contribute to the growing body of evidence supporting a personalized approach to supplementation. The interplay between different supplements and individual responses underscores the need for tailored strategies to optimize both cognitive and physical performance.”
The study, “The Effect of Creatine Nitrate and Caffeine Individually or Combined on Exercise Performance and Cognitive Function: A Randomized, Crossover, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial,” was authored by by Gina Mabrey, Majid S. Koozehchian, Andrew T. Newton, Alireza Naderi, Scott C. Forbes, and Monoem Haddad.
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