Naturalistic use of psychedelics does not modulate processing of self-related stimuli (but it might modulate attentional mechanisms): An event-related potentials study.

Classic psychedelics are able to profoundly alter the state of consciousness and lead to acute experiences of ego dissolution - the blurring of the distinction between representations of self and the external world. However, whether repeated use of psychedelics is associated with more prolonged and permanent modifications to the concept of self remains to be investigated. Therefore, we conducted a preregistered, cross-sectional study in which experienced psychedelics users (15 or more lifetime experiences with psychedelics; N = 56) were compared to nonusers (N = 57) in terms of neural reactivity to a Self-name (i.e., each participant's own name) stimulus, which is known to robustly activate a representation of self. Two control stimuli were additionally used: an Other-name stimulus, as a passive control condition in which no reaction was required, and a Target-name stimulus, to which participants provided a manual response and which thus constituted an active control condition. Analysis of the amplitude of the P300 ERP component evoked by the Self- or Target-names revealed no difference between the psychedelics users and nonusers. However, psychedelic users exhibited increased P300 amplitude during perception of Other-names. In addition, in comparison to nonusers, psychedelics users exhibited a smaller increase in P300 amplitude when processing the task-relevant Target-names (in relation to both Self- and Other-names). Therefore, our data suggests that regular naturalistic use of psychedelics may not be related to long-term changes in the representation of self, but it might potentially affect the allocation of attentional resources to task-relevant stimuli.

Assessing psychotic-like experiences using categorical and metacognitive approaches: A validation of polish self-report measures.

AIM: Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) are experiences in the general population that, in their extreme form, are attributed to clinical psychosis. They are correlated with general psychopathology and increased risk of developing psychosis. Previous research show a multitude of measuring tools which most often lack psychometric validation. This study aimed to examine both categorical and metacognitive measures of PLEs. METHODS: Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used in seven online studies with n's ranging from 259 to 6772 to explore factor structures of Prodromal Questionnaire 16 item (PQ-16), Revised Green et al. Paranoid Thoughts Scale (R-GPTS), Multi-Modality Unusual Sensory Experiences Questionnaire (MUSEQ), Beliefs about Paranoia Scale (BAPS) and Interpretation of Voices Inventory (IVI). Additionally, we explored measurement invariance between diagnosed with psychiatric disorders and undiagnosed individuals in PQ-16, R-GPTS and BAPS. RESULTS: We confirmed the factor structures of all questionnaires except IVI. We confirmed configural, threshold and metric measurement invariance in R-GPTS and BAPS and partially PQ-16. CONCLUSIONS: The current results demonstrate structural validity and measurement invariance of several categorical and metacognitive measures of PLEs.

The relation between naturalistic use of psychedelics and perception of emotional stimuli: An event-related potential study comparing non-users and experienced users of classic psychedelics.

BACKGROUND: Previous research has suggested that controlled administration of psychedelic substances can modulate emotional reactivity, enhancing positive and diminishing negative emotions. However, it is unclear whether similar effects are associated with using psychedelics in less-controlled naturalistic environments. AIMS: This cross-sectional study investigated the neural markers associated with the perception of emotional stimuli in individuals with extensive experience of naturalistic psychedelic use (15 or more lifetime experiences), comparing them to non-users. METHODS: Electroencephalography (EEG) signals were recorded from two groups: experienced psychedelics users (N = 56) and non-users (N = 55). Participants were presented with facial images depicting neutral or emotional expressions (anger, sadness, and happiness). Event-related potential (ERP) components were analyzed as indices of emotional reactivity. RESULTS: Psychedelic users were characterized by significantly lower amplitudes of the N200 component in response to fearful faces, in comparison to non-users. In addition, interaction effects between Group and Emotional expression were observed on N170 and N200 amplitudes, indicating group differences in the processing of fearful faces. However, no significant between-group differences emerged in the analysis of later ERP components associated with attention and cognitive processes (P200 and P300). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that naturalistic use of psychedelics may be linked to reduced reactivity to emotionally negative stimuli at the early and automatic processing stages. Our study contributes to a better understanding of the effects related to using psychedelics in naturalistic contexts.

Naturalistic use of psychedelics is related to emotional reactivity and self-consciousness: The mediating role of ego-dissolution and mystical experiences.

BACKGROUND: Psychedelics are able to acutely alter emotional reactivity and self-consciousness. However, whether the regular naturalistic use of psychedelics can be linked to more persistent trait-level changes in these domains remains an open question. AIM: To test the hypotheses that (1) using psychedelics is related to higher positive and lower negative emotional reactivity; and (2) an adaptive pattern of self-consciousness, including diminished public self-consciousness and rumination, and increased reflection and self-awareness; and (3) these relations are mediated by the intensity of past ego-dissolution and mystical experiences. METHOD: An online survey including questions about the history of psychoactive substance use; questionnaires measuring trait levels of emotional reactivity and self-consciousness; questionnaires for retrospective assessment of ego-dissolution and mystical experiences. Data collected from 2516 participants (1661 psychedelics users) were analyzed using robust linear regression and mediation analysis. RESULTS: A higher number of lifetime uses of psychedelics predicted greater positive and lower negative emotional reactivity; also, in the domain of self-consciousness, it predicted greater reflection and internal state awareness, and reduced rumination tendency and public self-consciousness. Finally, the intensity of past mystical and ego-dissolution experiences mediated almost all the observed relationships between the lifetime number of psychedelics uses and psychological variables. CONCLUSIONS: Lifetime psychedelics use predicts an adaptive pattern of trait-level emotional reactivity and self-consciousness. Ego-dissolution and mystical experiences are essential in understanding the long-lasting psychological effects of psychedelics use. Our findings might potentially explain previous observations of increased well-being in psychedelics users.

Abnormal behavioral and neural responses in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during emotional interference for cognitive control in pedophilic sex offenders.

Studies within the last decade have reported neural and behavioral differences in cognitive control between men with the pedophilic disorder who commit (CSO+) and do not commit (CSO-) child sexual abuse. Prior studies reported a higher number of errors in Go/Nogo task and lower activity of the prefrontal cortex in NoGo trials, in CSO+ compared with CSO-. Moreover, negative mood was reported as a risk factor for child sexual abuse in pedophilic men. We aimed to examine differences in brain function and behavior between CSO+ and CSO- patients regarding emotional interference on cognitive processes and inhibition. We recruited CSO+ (n = 11) and CSO- (n = 14) patients as well as matched healthy controls (HC) (n = 17). Participants performed the affective Go/NoGo task in a block-design functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment. The task comprised the following four conditions: Negative Go, including only Go stimuli and negatively valenced pictures; Negative NoGo, including 50% of Go and 50% of NoGo trials as well as negatively valenced pictures; and two corresponding conditions with neutral pictures. Brain analysis was restricted to the dorsolateral prefrontal (DLPFC), orbitofrontal, and anterior cingulate cortices. The HC and CSO- groups, but not the CSO+ group, showed significantly slower reactions in negative blocks compared with neutral blocks. Brain analysis revealed increased activation in the right DLPFC during emotional interference contrast (Negative > Neutral) in the HC and CSO- groups; however, there was decreased activation in the CSO+ group. In the CSO+ group, negative distractors did not increase cognitive control processes, which was observed in the CSO- and HC groups at the behavioral and neural levels. These results support previous reports indicating offender status is associated with cognitive and emotional impairments.

Impulsivity Scale-12 and its utilization in alcohol use disorder.

INTRODUCTION: One of the core symptoms of alcohol use disorder (AUD) is impulsivity. The recently published study on the Impulsivity Scale 12 (IS-12) offers a promising tool to use in clinics working with clients with AUD due to its simplicity. IS-12 includes subscales related tocognitive impulsivity and behavioral impulsivity, which are related to different aspects of AUD symptomatology. The aim of the study was to adapt IS-12 to polish and test its utility in a sample of patients diagnosed with AUD. METHODS: Using a Confirmatory Factor Analysis, we compared the two-factor model of the Polish adaptation of the BIS-11 and the IS-12 on a sample of 615 patients diagnosed with AUD. Additionally, we explored the association between the IS-12's cognitive impulsivity and behavioral impulsivity subscales and depressive symptoms, AUD severity, and suicidal ideation using Structural Equation Modeling on a subsample of 450 patients with AUD. RESULTS: The IS-12 demonstrated a better model fit and good reliability compared to the BIS-11. Moreover, cognitive impulsivity predicted suicidal ideation, but not AUD severity, while behavioral impulsivity predicted AUD severity, but not suicidal ideation. Both subscales of IS-12 predicted depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: Consistent with prior work, findings indicate that the second-order factor model of the BIS-11 had reliability issues and evidenced poor model fit. In contrast, the IS-12 demonstrated a satisfactory model fit and was predictive of clinical symptomatology. Thus, utilizing an easy tool, such as IS-12, might be beneficial for researchers and clinicians working with patients with AUD.

Psychometric properties of the polish version of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT).

BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption is one of the risk factors associated with over 200 types of diseases, being strongly correlated with unemployment, low socioeconomic status, traffic accidents, and violence. Alcohol is also one of the main causes of premature deaths, especially among males. Early diagnosis based on screening may help to prevent the evolution from alcohol misuse to dependence by counseling or treatment. METHODS: 1024 participants took part in the study: 300 of alcohol dependents and 724 of controls (405 students and 319 patients from General Practice) (M ± SD age = 33.7 ± 15.4 years). Finally, group of 877 participants were included to the statistical analysis due to the missing data - 453 were male and 424 were female. The median AUDIT score was 17 (IQR = 11). RESULTS: Correlation analysis showed that AUDIT scores were strongly correlated with MAST (rho = 0.764, p < 0.001) and CAGE scores (rho = 759, p < 0.001). The ROC analysis resulted in an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.95 (p < 0.001; 95 % C.I.: 0.936-0.963). The cutoff point of 22 for alcohol dependence corresponded to a sensitivity of 0.893 and a specificity of 0.863. CONCLUSION: According to our results, the AUDIT scale proved to be a useful tool with high sensitivity and specificity and therefore can be used as a valid screening measure in Poland.

Familiarity with children improves the ability to recognize children's mental states: an fMRI study using the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task and the Nencki Children Eyes Test.

Theory of mind plays a fundamental role in human social interactions. People generally better understand the mental states of members of their own race, a predisposition called the own-race bias, which can be significantly reduced by experience. It is unknown whether the ability to understand mental states can be similarly influenced by own-age bias, whether this bias can be reduced by experience and, finally, what the neuronal correlates of this processes are. We evaluate whether adults working with children (WC) have an advantage over adults not working with children (NWC) in understanding the mental states of youngsters. Participants performed fMRI tasks with Adult Mind (AM) and Child Mind (CM) conditions based on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test and a newly developed Nencki Children Eyes test. WC had better accuracy in the CM condition than NWC. In NWC, own-age bias was associated with higher activation in the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) in AM than in CM. This effect was not observed in the WC group, which showed higher activation in the pSTS and inferior frontal gyri in CM than in AM. Therefore, activation in these regions is required for the improvement in recognition of children's mental states caused by experience.

Adaptation and Validation of the Polish Version of the 10-Item Mobile Phone Problematic Use Scale.

Pathological use of smartphones may be the biggest non-drug addiction of the 21st century. Therefore, rapid screening tools designed for easy identification of people with problematic mobile phone use are needed. The main aim of the present study was to validate a short version of the Mobile Phone Problematic Use Scale (MPPUS-10) in the Polish population. The study comprised 640 university students aged 18-38 years. We used a self-report questionnaire that included questions regarding socio-demographic variables and Polish versions of the Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale (MPPUS-10), Mobile Phone Addiction Assessment Questionnaire (MPAAQ in Polish KBUTK), and Internet Addiction Test (IAT) by Kimberly Young. The analysis showed high reliability for the final Polish version of MPPUS-10 (Cronbach's α = 0.78) and confirmed a significant correlation between the MPPUS-10 and the MPAAQ, which was previously used in Poland (rho = 0.56; p < 0.001). Due to the poor correlation of item number 10 with other items, we suggest dropping this item and using the nine-item Polish version. Our result also confirmed significant correlation between the MPPUS-10 and the IAT (rho = 0.54; p < 0.001). The contribution of the study is the Polish validation and adaptation of the MPPUS-10 scale with confirmed psychometric values. It provides a quick and convenient screening tool to assess problematic mobile phone use. Our results also indicate the need for a revision of available diagnostic tools in Poland.

Psychometric Properties of the Polish version of the Drug-Use Disorders Identification Test.

BACKGROUND: Substance use is a growing problem worldwide, and there is a great need to develop national policies addressing prevention and treatment of substance-use disorders (SUD). However, the lack of a commonly used, valuable diagnostic tool to assess the symptoms of SUDs precludes comparison of the prevalence of drug-use problems as well as the efficacy of policy strategies applied in different countries. This study was conducted to validate one of the commonly used scales the Drug Use Disorders Identification Test (the DUDIT) for use in Polish condition. OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to test the reliability of the DUDIT in the Polish population, to confirm the comparative stability of the factor structure of the instrument, and to verify previously proposed DUDIT cutoff scoring. METHODS: The group of drug users comprised 127 patients aged 19-40 years (mean age 30.37, SD 6.36) with a diagnosis of SUD, while the control group consisted of 533 students aged 19-25 years (mean age 20.72, SD 1.88). All participants completed the Polish version of the DUDIT. Internal consistency of the Polish version of the DUDIT was determined, and subsequently external validation was performed. RESULTS: Analysis showed that the Polish version of the DUDIT was characterized by a good reliability based on Cronbach's α, with a value of 0.92. The between-group comparison revealed a significant difference between the control group and substance-dependent patients corresponding to a large effect size (Cohen's d = 3.27). The receiver-operating characteristic analysis, comparing the DUDIT score to the ICD-10 diagnosis of SUD, showed an optimal cutoff value of 7 points, with a sensitivity of 0.929 and a specificity of 0.974. CONCLUSION: These results constitute preliminary evidence that the Polish version of the DUDIT may be a valid and reliable screening tool for drug-use disorders in the Polish population.

Dopamine dysregulation hypothesis: the common basis for motivational anhedonia in major depressive disorder and schizophrenia?

Abnormalities in reward processing are crucial symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD) and schizophrenia (SCH). Recent neuroscientific findings regarding MDD have led to conclusions about two different symptoms related to reward processing: motivational and consummatory anhedonia, corresponding, respectively, to impaired motivation to obtain rewards ('wanting'), and diminished satisfaction from consuming them ('liking'). One can ask: which of these is common for MDD and SCH. In our review of the latest neuroscientific studies, we show that MDD and SCH do not share consummatory anhedonia, as SCH patients usually have unaltered liking. Therefore, we investigated whether motivational anhedonia is the common symptom across MDD and SCH. With regard to the similarities and differences between the neural mechanisms of MDD and SCH, here we expand the current knowledge of motivation deficits and present the common underlying mechanism of motivational anhedonia - the dopamine dysregulation hypothesis - stating that any prolonged dysregulation in tonic dopamine signaling that exceeds the given equilibrium can lead to striatal dysfunction and motivational anhedonia. The implications for further research and treatment of MDD and SCH are also discussed.