Article
Neurosciences
Tanya L. Procyshyn, Michael Lombardo, Meng-Chuan Lai, Nazia Jassim, Bonnie Auyeung, Sarah K. Crockford, Julia B. Deakin, Sentil Soubramanian, Akeem Sule, David Terburg, Simon Baron-Cohen, Richard A. Bethlehem
Summary: This study found that oxytocin affects the basolateral amygdala in autistic women, increasing activation in the left basolateral amygdala and enhancing functional connectivity with brain regions associated with socio-emotional information processing, reducing group differences observed in the placebo condition.
SOCIAL COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
David Voros, Orsolya Kiss, Tamas Ollmann, Kitti Mintal, Laszlo Peczely, Olga Zagoracz, Erika Kertes, Veronika Kallai, Bettina Reka Laszlo, Beata Berta, Attila Toth, Laszlo Lenard, Kristof Laszlo
Summary: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects a significant portion of children worldwide. Impaired social interaction is a core symptom of ASD and finding effective treatments is crucial. This study investigated the impact of oxytocin (OT) on social interaction in a rat model of ASD induced by valproate (VPA). The results demonstrated that intraamygdaloid OT increased social interaction time in VPA-treated rats, suggesting its potential as a therapeutic intervention for ASD.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Kristof Laszlo, David Voros, Orsolya Kiss, Bettina Reka Laszlo, Tamas Ollmann, Laszlo Peczely, Kitti Mintal, Attila Toth, Anita Kovacs, Olga Zagoracz, Erika Kertes, Veronika Kallai, Beata Berta, Zoltan Karadi, Laszlo Lenard
Summary: This study found that oxytocin injected into the central nucleus of the amygdala has positive reinforcing effects in a rat model of autism induced by valproate. The effects are specific to oxytocin receptors and are blocked by a dopamine D2 receptor antagonist. The findings suggest a potential role for oxytocin and the dopaminergic system in the treatment of autism.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Kristof Laszlo, Orsolya Kiss, David Voros, Kitti Mintal, Tamas Ollmann, Laszlo Peczely, Anita Kovacs, Olga Zagoracz, Erika Kertes, Veronika Kallai, Bettina Laszlo, Edina Hormay, Beata Berta, Attila Toth, Zoltan Karadi, Laszlo Lenard
Summary: In this study, the potential anxiolytic effect of oxytocin (OT) in the amygdala was investigated using the elevated plus maze test in a rodent model of autism induced by valproate (VPA). The results showed that bilateral OT microinjection into the central nucleus of the amygdala reduced anxiety levels in autistic rats.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Ido Shalev, Varun Warrier, David M. Greenberg, Paula Smith, Carrie Allison, Simon Baron-Cohen, Alal Eran, Florina Uzefovsky
Summary: Research shows that individuals with autism have intact emotional empathy but reduced cognitive empathy. Empathic disequilibrium, or the imbalance between emotional and cognitive empathy, is associated with a higher number of autistic traits in the general population. This study examined the predictive role of empathic disequilibrium and empathy on autism traits and diagnosis. The findings suggest that empathic disequilibrium, specifically a tendency towards higher emotional empathy, predicts both autism diagnosis and social traits, while higher cognitive empathy is associated with non-social autistic traits. Empathic disequilibrium is more prominent in autistic females.
Article
Psychology, Social
Peter H. Donaldson, Soukayna Bekkali, George J. Youssef, Melissa Kirkovski, Talitha C. Ford, Peter G. Enticott
Summary: The relationship between cognitive empathy and emotional empathy traits is complex, with self-report measures showing stronger predictive power for autistic traits compared to lab-based measures. Visual attention behavior consistently predicts autism traits, highlighting its importance in studies to avoid erroneous conclusions.
PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
(2022)
Review
Behavioral Sciences
Francis Stevens, Katherine Taber
Summary: Empathy is composed of multiple dimensions and cannot simply be defined as a single term. Recent research suggests that affective empathy plays an important role in promoting pro-social behavior, but there is also evidence to show contradictory effects. Individuals' responses to the suffering of others may lead to different emotional reactions, subsequently influencing motivation for engaging in pro-social behavior.
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Parvaneh Yaghoubi Jami, Behzad Mansouri, Stephen J. Thoma
Summary: The study found that age, educational level, and gender played a role in changes in affective empathy, but had no significant impact on cognitive empathy; this is the first study to investigate developmental changes in self-report empathy scores in a population of Farsi-speaking Iranians.
CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Melissa Chapple, Philip Davis, Josie Billington, Rhiannon Corcoran
Summary: Recent research has shown that reflections on serious literature can challenge social-deficit views of autism, allowing autistic readers to explore social realities more carefully. This study aimed to investigate how an adapted shared reading design, comparing serious literature and non-fiction, would engage autistic and non-autistic readers imaginatively. The findings revealed that autistic readers were better able to grasp the complexity of serious literature, while non-autistic readers tended to simplify information for later generalization.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Olga Holtmann, Insa Schlossmacher, Marcel Franz, Constanze Moenig, Jan-Gerd Tenberge, Christoph Preul, Wolfram Schwindt, Maximilian Bruchmann, Nico Melzer, Wolfgang H. R. Miltner, Thomas Straube
Summary: The insula plays a central role in empathy, but the complex structure of cognitive and affective empathy deficits following insular damage is not fully understood. In this study, patients with insular lesions and healthy controls viewed videos to assess their empathic responses. The results showed that patients differed from controls only in negative affective empathy, rating their own affective state less negative than the target. This deficit was independent of other factors and may be due to intact interpretation of social context by residual networks outside the lesion.
Article
Neurosciences
Aysu Sen, Ali Yucel Kara, Ahmet Koyu, Fatma Simsek, Servet Kizildag, Nazan Uysal
Summary: Chronic restraint stress did not significantly affect empathy-like behaviour in rats, but was found to increase vasopressin levels in the amygdala, leading to higher adrenal glands relative weights and apoptotic cell ratios. Histopathological changes were detected despite no significant differences in behavioral tests. Further research into different stress applications, gender-related changes, and other neurochemical pathways related to stress and empathy is recommended.
NEUROSCIENCE LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Dali Gamsakhurdashvili, Martin I. Antov, Ursula Stockhorst
Summary: The study found that fluctuations of female sex hormones have a differential impact on emotional processing, particularly on empathy-related performance and affective sympathetic reactivity, but not on emotional memory or affective mimic reactivity.
PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Giovanni Laviola, Ludovica Maria Busdraghi, Noemi Meschino, Carla Petrella, Marco Fiore
Summary: Research shows that dysfunction of the HPA axis is a major risk factor for developing psychopathological behavior. Early-life adversity can increase vulnerability to mental illness in adulthood during developmental windows of significant neuroplasticity. In addition to genetic predisposition, environmental factors play a key role in this process.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Review
Psychology, Developmental
Mehreen Fatima, Nandita Babu
Summary: Research consistently demonstrates that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show deficits in empathy. This study systematically reviewed and meta-analyzed previous research on cognitive and affective empathy in Autism, examining the influence of moderators such as age, culture, and the measurement tool used. Using the Meta-essentials tool, the meta-analysis included 35 studies that met the inclusion criteria. The results indicated significant differences in both cognitive and affective empathy between the ASD group and typically developing (TD) group, with a large effect size for cognitive empathy (1.26) and a medium effect size for affective empathy (0.58). The type of measurement tool used also had a significant moderating effect on cognitive empathy. However, the study has limitations regarding the influence of symptom severity and other potential moderating variables on empathy, as well as the generalizability of the findings due to limitations in the included studies.
REVIEW JOURNAL OF AUTISM AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Maital Neta, Rebecca L. Brock
Summary: Negativity bias plays a central role in mood and anxiety disorders and decision-making, and this project examines negativity bias using dual-valence ambiguity. The study reveals that one's propensity toward negativity is predictive of valence bias especially in older adulthood, and social connectedness can also influence an individual's valence bias.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Lizhu Luo, Christelle Langley, Laura Moreno-Lopez, Keith Kendrick, David K. Menon, Emmanuel A. Stamatakis, Barbara J. Sahakian
Summary: This study examined the association between depressive symptoms in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients and altered resting-state functional connectivity (rs-fc) or voxel-based morphology in brain regions involved in emotional regulation and associated with depression. The results showed a positive association between depression scores and rs-fc between limbic regions and cognitive control regions, while there was a negative association between depression scores and rs-fc between limbic and frontal regions involved in emotion regulation. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying depression following TBI and can inform treatment decisions.
PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Peiying Yang, Qian Yu, Christian Montag, Benjamin Becker, Boris Cheval, Fabian Herold, Courvoisier Delphine, Jinming Li, Attila Szabo, Liye Zou
Summary: This study examined the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised (EDS-C) in a sample of Chinese exercisers. The results showed that the EDS-C has a robust factor structure, gender-based invariance, good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Additionally, positive associations were found between the EDS-C and exercise frequency, eating disorder symptoms, body image inflexibility, and generalized anxiety symptoms.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Benjamin Klugah-Brown, Pan Wang, Yuan Jiang, Benjamin Becker, Peng Hu, Lucina Q. Uddin, Bharat Biswal
Summary: In this study, the authors used DTI and RSFC data to examine the structural and functional profiles of the insular cortex and observed moderate to high associations between different insular subregions, providing insight for clinical researchers to identify dysfunctional brain organization in neurological disorders associated with insular pathology.
Article
Neurosciences
Pan Feng, Benjamin Becker, Feng Zhou, Tingyong Feng, Zhiyi Chen
Summary: Sleep deprivation may lead to fear and anxiety-related emotional disorders. This study found that sleep deprivation facilitated fear acquisition, possibly through threat-specific encoding in the basolateral amygdala.
Article
Neurosciences
Yuanyuan Li, Xiaohui Yu, Yingzi Ma, Jing Su, Yue Li, Shunli Zhu, Tongjian Bai, Qiang Wei, Benjamin Becker, Zhiyong Ding, Kai Wang, Yanghua Tian, Jiaojian Wang
Summary: This study investigated the association between the functional reorganization of the default mode network (DMN), antidepressant treatment, and gene expression in major depressive disorder (MDD). The results showed alterations in the static and dynamic functional connectivity of the DMN, which were correlated with brain gene expression profiles. Additionally, the static and dynamic functional connectivity of the DMN before treatment could predict the improvement of depressive symptoms following electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
Article
Neurosciences
Ran Zhang, Weihua Zhao, Ziyu Qi, Ting Xu, Feng Zhou, Benjamin Becker
Summary: This study used a precision pharmacological functional magnetic resonance imaging approach to investigate the effects of the AT1R antagonist losartan on the subjective experience of fear. The results showed that AT1R blockade selectively reduced neurofunctional reactivity to fear and decreased the expression of subjective fear, but did not affect reactivity to threat or nonspecific negative affect.
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY-COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Xi Jiang, Jiadong Yan, Yu Zhao, Mingxin Jiang, Yuzhong Chen, Jingchao Zhou, Zhenxiang Xiao, Zifan Wang, Rong Zhang, Benjamin Becker, Dajiang Zhu, Keith M. Kendrick, Tianming Liu
Summary: In this study, a novel Spatio-Temporal Attention 4D Convolutional Neural Network (STA-4DCNN) model is introduced to characterize individualized spatio-temporal patterns of functional brain networks (FBNs). The experimental results show that STA-4DCNN has superior ability in characterizing FBN patterns and can effectively distinguish abnormal patterns in brain disorders. This study provides a powerful tool for FBN characterization and clinical applications.
Review
Psychiatry
Eric Ettore, Philipp Mueller, Jonas Hinze, Michel Benoit, Bruno Giordana, Danilo Postin, Amandine Lecomte, Hali Lindsay, Philippe Robert, Alexandra Koenig
Summary: This article reviews the current application of digital tools for MDE diagnosis and highlights the shortcomings for further research. The study focuses on digital devices that are easy to use during clinical interviews and mental health issues where depression is common. The findings suggest that a digital phenotype of MDE can be identified based on modifications in speech features, nonverbal behavior, and physiological measurements. However, further longitudinal and prospective studies are needed to validate the potential of these markers.
JMIR MENTAL HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications
Christoph Koenig, Benjamin Becker, Esther Ulitzsch
Summary: Response time modelling is rapidly developing in the field of psychometrics and is increasingly used in psychology. Bayesian estimation techniques are useful in estimating these models, but their implementation in standard statistical software is still limited. This tutorial focuses on the lognormal response time model and provides detailed guidance on how to specify and estimate it in a Bayesian hierarchical context. The model's flexibility allows for adaptation and extension to meet researchers' needs and hypotheses on response behavior, as demonstrated through three recent model extensions.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICAL & STATISTICAL PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Shuxia Yao, Yuanshu Chen, Qian Zhuang, Yingying Zhang, Chunmei Lan, Siyu Zhu, Benjamin Becker, Keith M. Kendrick
Summary: In recent studies, it has been found that intranasal administration of oxytocin can enhance social motivation and cognition in both healthy and clinical populations. However, the mechanisms behind these effects are not fully understood. This study aimed to investigate the contributions of direct brain entry and peripheral increase in oxytocin concentrations to the effects of intranasal oxytocin. The results revealed that intranasal oxytocin alone had significant effects on neural responses, while vasoconstrictor pretreatment reduced both peripheral oxytocin concentrations and the effects on neural responses.
MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Clemens Mielacher, Dirk Scheele, Maximilian Kiebs, Laura Schmitt, Torge Dellert, Alexandra Philipsen, Claus Lamm, Rene Hurlemann
Summary: This study found that there are altered neural responses to social touch in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). Despite clinical improvements after antidepressant treatment, MDD patients still showed aversion to interpersonal touch and reduced brain responses in areas such as the nucleus accumbens compared to healthy controls. These findings reveal the abnormal processing of social touch in MDD, which may contribute to social withdrawal and isolation.
PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Correction
Psychiatry
Eric Ettore, Philipp Mueller, Jonas Hinze, Matthias Riemenschneider, Michel Benoit, Bruno Giordana, Danilo Postin, Rene Hurlemann, Amandine Lecomte, Michel Musiol, Hali Lindsay, Philippe Robert, Alexandra Koenig
JMIR MENTAL HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Lan Wang, Xinqi Zhou, Xinwei Song, Xianyang Gan, Ran Zhang, Xiqin Liu, Ting Xu, Guojuan Jiao, Stefania Ferraro, Mercy Chepngetich Bore, Fangwen Yu, Weihua Zhao, Christian Montag, Benjamin Becker
Summary: This study found that individuals with fear of missing out (FOMO) have structural differences in their brains, particularly in the right precuneus region. This region is associated with social cognitive and self-referential processes, which may drive individuals to use social media and smartphones continuously.
ADDICTIVE BEHAVIORS
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Weihua Zhao, Qi Liu, Xiaolu Zhang, Xinwei Song, Zhao Zhang, Peng Qing, Xiaolong Liu, Siyu Zhu, Wenxu Yang, Keith M. Kendrick
Summary: The mirror neuron system (MNS), which includes the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), inferior parietal lobule (IPL), and superior temporal sulcus (STS), is important for action representation and imitation, but may be dys-functional in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this study, the researchers conducted a facial expression imitation task with healthy male subjects and measured the expression intensity using facial emotion recognition software (FaceReader) and MNS responses using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The results showed distinct patterns of MNS responses during imitation of different facial expressions, which were also associated with autistic traits.
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Chunmei Lan, Yuanshu Chen, Yingying Zhang, Juan Kou, Linghong Huang, Ting Xu, Xi Yang, Dan Xu, Wenxu Yang, Keith M. Kendrick, Weihua Zhao
Summary: In this randomized, placebo-controlled, pharmaco-imaging clinical trial, it was found that oral administration of oxytocin significantly increased the brain reward system's response to emotional faces in females, similar to what was previously observed in males. Additionally, oxytocin enhanced the coupling between reward and social cognition regions in females.
NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY
(2023)