Article
Acoustics
Yibo Wang, Lili Niu, Wen Meng, Zhengrong Lin, Junjie Zou, Tianyuan Bian, Xiaowei Huang, Hui Zhou, Long Meng, Ping Xie, Hairong Zheng
Summary: This study demonstrated that LIFUS stimulation of the PAG induced defensive behaviors in mice, without causing any injury to the brain tissue. LIFUS may be a novel neuromodulatory tool for treating psychological diseases associated with defensive behaviors.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ULTRASONICS FERROELECTRICS AND FREQUENCY CONTROL
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Felix H. Klaassen, Leslie Held, Bernd Figner, Jill X. O'Reilly, Floris Klumpers, Lycia D. de Voogd, Karin Roelofs
Summary: Successful responding to acutely threatening situations requires adequate approach-avoidance decisions. However, the impact of threat-induced states, like freezing-related bradycardia, on decision-making remains unclear. This study found that individual action-tendencies and bradycardia influenced choice behavior under threat. Threat-related bradycardia interacted with subjective value, depending on the action-context, affecting decision-making.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Communication
Russell B. Clayton
Summary: This study combines dual-motivational theory and psychological reactance theory to explore the cognitive and emotional responses of audience members when they encounter a message that threatens their freedom and experience psychological reactance. The results show that daily e-cigarette users who watched anti-vaping public service announcements with dogmatic language reported more unpleasantness, freedom threat, psychological reactance, and intentions to use e-cigarettes. Additionally, these users exhibited stronger defensive motivational reactivity during message exposure.
JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Jun Ma, Johann du Hoffmann, Morgan Kindel, B. Sofia Beas, Yogita Chudasama, Mario A. Penzo
Summary: The study found that in mice, the paraventricular thalamus (PVT) mediates the selection of defensive behaviors by interacting with the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) and the nucleus accumbens (NAc), driving passive or active defensive responses respectively. The PVT-CeA pathway drives conditioned freezing responses, while the PVT-NAc pathway signals active avoidance events. Optogenetic manipulations showed that activity in these pathways biases behavior towards passive or active defensive responses, demonstrating the PVT's role in flexible switching between different defensive behaviors.
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yang Bai, Bryce Grier, Erez Geron
Summary: By studying fear learning in mice, researchers discovered that negative tone responses in the primary motor cortex (M1) are developed after conditioning, depending on the weakening of active dendritic spines during training. Blocking this form of anti-Hebbian plasticity disrupts negative tone responses and freezing. Therefore, reducing the strength of active dendritic spines during memory encoding leads to negative responses in M1, aiding freezing.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Rebecca Younk, Alik Widge
Summary: This study used a commercially available electrophysiology head-stage with accelerometry integration to quantify rodent defensive behavior. The best approach for tracking defensive behavior from accelerometry was Gaussian filter smoothing of the first derivative. The correlations between accelerometry, video, and bar press metrics were statistically significant but moderate. Accelerometry shows potential advantages in detecting behavior in resource-constrained or real-time applications.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE METHODS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Daniel Jercog, Nanci Winke, Kibong Sung, Mario Martin Fernandez, Claire Francioni, Domitille Rajot, Julien Courtin, Fabrice Chaudun, Pablo E. Jercog, Stephane Valerio, Cyril Herry
Summary: The study found that threat representations and avoidance behavior initiation are dynamically encoded in the overall population activity of dmPFC neurons in mice. While dmPFC population activity at stimulus onset encodes sustained threat representations driven by the amygdala, it does not predict action outcome. Transient dmPFC population activity before the initiation of action reliably predicts avoided from non-avoided trials, revealing the dynamic process of information linking threats with defensive actions within prefrontal networks.
Article
Psychology, Biological
Michael W. Lewis, Daniel E. Bradford, Eylul Akman, Kevin Frederiks, Scott L. Rauch, Isabelle M. Rosso
Summary: Unconditioned responding (UCR) to an aversive stimulus is associated with defensive responding during fear acquisition, but its relationships with extinction training, PTSD symptom severity, and fearful traits are unknown. This study found that UCR, particularly unconditioned startle, is positively associated with defensive responding and fearful traits, but not with PTSD symptom severity.
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Konstantinos Kalafatakis, Georgina M. Russell, Stuart G. Ferguson, Meryem Grabski, Catherine J. Harmer, Marcus R. Munafo, Nicola Marchant, Aileen Wilson, Jonathan C. Brooks, Jamini Thakrar, Patrick Murphy, Ngoc J. Thai, Stafford L. Lightman
Summary: The study investigated the effects of different glucocorticoid rhythms on mood and neural activity in healthy volunteers through pharmacological interventions. The results suggest that changes in the timing of glucocorticoid replacement can impact morning levels of vigor, fatigue, and concentration, diurnal patterns of mood variation, as well as functional connectivity of various large-scale resting state networks in the human brain.
PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Alexa Brown, Melissa Martins, Isabelle Richard, Nadia Chaudhri
Summary: This study investigated whether different coping responses are susceptible to renewal using the shock-probe defensive burying task. The results showed that renewal of passive coping responses was observed in all groups, while renewal of active coping responses linked to defensive burying was not observed in any group. These findings suggest that passive coping responses may be more reliable indicators for assessing renewal than active coping behaviors.
LEARNING & BEHAVIOR
(2023)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Mahur M. Hashemi, Wei Zhang, Reinoud Kaldewaij, Saskia B. J. Koch, Annika Smit, Bernd Figner, Rosa Jonker, Floris Klumpers, Karin Roelofs
Summary: The study found that reductions in body sway in response to anticipated threat were related to lower hair cortisol concentrations and higher trait anxiety. These freezing reactions may serve as a physiological marker for individual differences in stress vulnerability and resilience.
PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Silvia Natale, Maria Esteban Masferrer, Senthilkumar Deivasigamani, Cornelius T. Gross
Summary: The study suggests that the cerebral cortex is involved in controlling cognition, processing learned information, and regulating innate responses. By using a precise, rapid, and reversible inhibition approach on mice, it was found that inhibiting neural activity in the cerebral cortex led to an increase in defensive behaviors triggered by aggressive conspecifics, novel prey, and physically stressful stimuli.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Johannes Rennig, Michael S. Beauchamp
Summary: Regions of the human posterior superior temporal gyrus and sulcus are responsible for processing visual and auditory speech, and successful integration of visual and auditory speech produces a characteristic neural signature that benefits the comprehension of noisy auditory speech.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Ashley Y. Kim, David T. Rankin, Erin E. Wilson Rankin
Summary: Hummingbirds utilize olfactory cues to make foraging decisions and avoid resources occupied by certain insects. This study demonstrates the significance of olfaction in shaping hummingbird foraging decisions, raising new questions about the underrated importance of olfaction in avian foraging, specifically hummingbird foraging.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Anyuan Li, Norikazu Matsuoka, Fujun Niu, Jing Chen, Zhenpeng Ge, Wensi Hu, Desheng Li, Bernard Hallet, Johan van de Koppel, Nigel Goldenfeld, Quan-Xing Liu
Summary: Patterned ground, characterized by segregation of stones in soil, is a prominent self-organized feature in polar and high-alpine landscapes. Despite its widespread presence, quantitative field data on the patterns and their slow dynamics have been lacking, hindering our understanding of pattern formation mechanisms. Through laboratory experiments, numerical simulations, theory, and experiments, it has been shown that stone transport is strongly influenced by local stone concentration and ice needle height, leading to pattern formation driven by needle ice activity, reminiscent of phase separation patterns in binary alloys. These results provide insights into landscape patterns and may help interpret spatial structures on diverse planetary landscapes, including Mars.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Manon Giraudier, Carlos Ventura-Bort, Julia Wendt, Alexander Lischke, Mathias Weymar
Summary: The Covid-19 pandemic has led researchers to conduct empirical research online. This study compared participants' memory performance for trustworthy and untrustworthy facial stimuli in both a supervised laboratory setting and an unsupervised web setting. The results showed that web-based procedures can be a promising tool for memory research, as the memory bias was consistent across both settings.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Martin Lotze, G. Lorimer Moseley
Summary: Movement limitation is a common characteristic of chronic pain, particularly in conditions like complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Graded Motor Imagery (GMI), a clinical approach that involves progressive movement imagery training, has shown growing evidence of efficacy in treating CRPS. This article reviews experiences and research on GMI over the past 20 years, discussing its historical background, implementation challenges, potential applications beyond CRPS, and its effects on neurophysiological biomarkers.
Article
Psychology, Biological
Carlos Ventura-Bort, Julia Wendt, Mathias Weymar
Summary: This study used representational similarity analysis to investigate the correspondence between subjective affect and physiological reactions across various emotion induction contexts. The results showed that skin conductance response was significantly related to arousal in the picture viewing task, while none of the other physiological measures showed a significant relation with valence and arousal ratings in any of the tasks.
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Artemis Zavaliangos-Petropulu, Bethany Lo, Miranda R. Donnelly, Nicolas Schweighofer, Keith Lohse, Neda Jahanshad, Giuseppe Barisano, Nerisa Banaj, Michael R. Borich, Lara A. Boyd, Cathrin M. Buetefisch, Winston D. Byblow, Jessica M. Cassidy, Charalambos C. Charalambous, Adriana B. Conforto, Julie A. DiCarlo, Adrienne N. Dula, Natalia Egorova-Brumley, Mark R. Etherton, Wuwei Feng, Kelene A. Fercho, Fatemeh Geranmayeh, Colleen A. Hanlon, Kathryn S. Hayward, Brenton Hordacre, Steven A. Kautz, Mohamed Salah Khlif, Hosung Kim, Amy Kuceyeski, David J. Lin, Jingchun Liu, Martin Lotze, Bradley J. MacIntosh, John L. Margetis, Feroze B. Mohamed, Fabrizio Piras, Ander Ramos-Murguialday, Kate P. Revill, Pamela S. Roberts, Andrew D. Robertson, Heidi M. Schambra, Na Jin Seo, Mark S. Shiroishi, Cathy M. Stinear, Surjo R. Soekadar, Gianfranco Spalletta, Myriam Taga, Wai Kwong Tang, Gregory T. Thielman, Daniela Vecchio, Nick S. Ward, Lars T. Westlye, Emilio Werden, Carolee Winstein, George F. Wittenberg, Steven L. Wolf, Kristin A. Wong, Chunshui Yu, Amy Brodtmann, Steven C. Cramer, Paul M. Thompson, Sook-Lei Liew
Summary: This study identified novel associations between chronic poststroke sensorimotor impairments and ipsilesional hippocampal volume, which may be stronger in women.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sook-Lei Liew, Bethany P. Lo, Miranda R. Donnelly, Artemis Zavaliangos-Petropulu, Jessica N. Jeong, Giuseppe Barisano, Alexandre Hutton, Julia P. Simon, Julia M. Juliano, Anisha Suri, Zhizhuo Wang, Aisha Abdullah, Jun Kim, Tyler Ard, Nerisa Banaj, Michael R. Borich, Lara A. Boyd, Amy Brodtmann, Cathrin M. Buetefisch, Lei Cao, Jessica M. Cassidy, Valentina Ciullo, Adriana B. Conforto, Steven C. Cramer, Rosalia Dacosta-Aguayo, Ezequiel de la Rosa, Martin Domin, Adrienne N. Dula, Wuwei Feng, Alexandre R. Franco, Fatemeh Geranmayeh, Alexandre Gramfort, Chris M. Gregory, Colleen A. Hanlon, Brenton G. Hordacre, Steven A. Kautz, Mohamed Salah Khlif, Hosung Kim, Jan S. Kirschke, Jingchun Liu, Martin Lotze, Bradley J. MacIntosh, Maria Mataro, Feroze B. Mohamed, Jan E. Nordvik, Gilsoon Park, Amy Pienta, Fabrizio Piras, Shane M. Redman, Kate P. Revill, Mauricio Reyes, Andrew D. Robertson, Na Jin Seo, Surjo R. Soekadar, Gianfranco Spalletta, Alison Sweet, Maria Telenczuk, Gregory Thielman, Lars T. Westlye, Carolee J. Winstein, George F. Wittenberg, Kristin A. Wong, Chunshui Yu
Summary: Accurate lesion segmentation is critical in stroke rehabilitation research. Current automated methods lack accuracy and reliability. To encourage better algorithm development, a larger dataset has been released. The use of this dataset and unbiased performance evaluation through hidden datasets should lead to improved algorithms and facilitate large-scale stroke research.
Article
Psychology, Biological
Adrian Wroblewski, Maike Hollandt, Yunbo Yang, Isabelle C. Ridderbusch, Anne Pietzner, Christoph Szeska, Martin Lotze, Hans-Ulrich Wittchen, Ingmar Heinig, Andre Pittig, Volker Arolt, Katja Koelkebeck, Constantin A. Rothkopf, Dirk Adolph, Juergen Margrap, Ulrike Lueken, Paul Pauli, Martin J. Herrmann, Markus H. Winkler, Andreas Strohle, Udo Dannlowski, Tilo Kircher, Alfons O. Hamm, Benjamin Straube, Jan Richter
Summary: The ability to distinguish between threat and safety is impaired in individuals with high dispositional negativity, leading to maladaptive behavior. Research has shown that individual differences in intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and trait anxiety (TA) have an impact on fear conditioning and extinction protocols. However, the results are heterogeneous, possibly due to the different levels of induced threat/safety uncertainty. This study compared groups with high and low IU/TA during periods of low and high uncertainty, and found that high dispositional negativity is associated with greater responding to threat cues during the beginning of delayed extinction, indicating altered learning patterns under changing environments.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Educational
Kai Klepzig, Katharina Stender, Martin Lotze, Alfons O. Hamm
Summary: This study investigated facial expressions associated with pleasant and unpleasant chills during music and harsh sounds, using electromyographic activity measurements. The results showed that harsh sounds elicited painful facial expressions, which were intensified when a chill experience was reported. In contrast, pleasant chill experiences during music were associated with slightly increased facial expressions.
PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSIC
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Nicola Neumann, Miquel A. Fullana, Joaquim Radua, Thomas Brandt, Marianne Dieterich, Martin Lotze
Summary: This study conducted a meta-analysis of earlier fMRI studies and found that vestibular stimulation and fear conditioning share common clusters of concordance in the brain, including the bilateral anterior insula cortex, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, and the right temporal pole. Additionally, peak areas of high concordance were found in the posterior insula and S2, where activations were observed during vestibular stimulation but deactivations during fear conditioning.
JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
L. Witt, K. Klepzig, B. von Sarnowski, U. Horn, M. Domin, A. Hamm, M. Lotze
Summary: This study compared stroke patients with insula lesions and a control group, and found that bodily responses were decreased in the stroke group, which was related to impaired interaction between the insula and temporal pole structures.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Tomas Veverka, Pavel Hok, Marketa Trneckov, Pavel Otruba, Jana Zapletalov, Zbynek Tuedos, Martin Lotze, Petr Kanovsky, Petr Hlustik
Summary: In patients with post-stroke spasticity (PSS), treatment with botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) leads to a temporary decrease in activation of the ipsilesional superior parietal lobule (SPL) and intraparietal sulcus (IPS). This study aimed to assess the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the ipsilesional SPL/IPS in chronic stroke patients with and without PSS, and explore the relationship between SPL/IPS rsFC and PSS severity.
JOURNAL OF THE NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Anesthesiology
Nicola Neumann, Martin Domin, Carsten-Oliver Schmidt, Martin Lotze
Summary: This study found that chronic pain is often associated with decreased grey matter volume in the brain. Patients with chronic back pain, migraine, and craniomandibular disorder showed reduced grey matter volume, which may be related to stress and mild depression.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PAIN
(2023)
Review
Psychology, Biological
Julia Wendt, Manuel Kuhn, Alfons O. Hamm, Tina B. Lonsdorf
Summary: The startle response, a defensive reflex, is an important tool in cross-species emotion research. While extensive studies have been conducted on rodents, technical challenges have hindered research on brain-behavior interactions in humans. However, recent non-invasive assessments have overcome these challenges. This work provides key paradigms and methodological tools for assessing startle response in both rodents and humans, reviews the neural circuits underlying startle responses and their affective modulation, and suggests a refined model for these pathways in humans.
Article
Neurosciences
Ariane Flechsig, Dorothee Bernheim, Anna Buchheim, Martin Domin, Renate Mentel, Martin Lotze
Summary: This longitudinal neuroimaging study explored the attachment representations in BPD patients and the neural changes associated with DBT intervention. Increased activations in the anterior medial cingulate cortex and left amygdala were observed in BPD patients at baseline, but not after treatment. Amygdala activation correlated with pre-treatment scores, while aMCC activation was predictive of treatment outcomes.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Kai Klepzig, Martin Domin, Julia Wendt, Bettina von Sarnowski, Alexander Lischke, Alfons O. Hamm, Martin Lotze
Summary: Klepzig et al. found that stroke patients with left insula damage had impaired recognition of fearful and angry facial expressions, which was associated with decreased white-matter integrity of tracts reaching from the left insula. The role of the insula in facial emotion recognition is controversial, especially regarding lesion-location-dependent impairment following stroke. In this study, the researchers investigated the lesion location of stroke patients and quantified the structural white-matter integrity of insula regions using tractography-based fractional anisotropy. The findings suggest that a multimodal investigation of structural alterations could enhance our understanding of emotion recognition impairments after stroke.
BRAIN COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Friederike Contier, Mathias Weymar, Isabel Wartenburger, Milena Rabovsky
Summary: This study found that the P600 component is sensitive to sustained attention, while the N400 component is not. These results support the view that P600 amplitudes reflect more controlled aspects of sentence comprehension, while N400 amplitudes reflect more automatic aspects.
JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)