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BACKGROUND: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a significant public health problem that is associated with a broad range of physical, neurocognitive, and behavioral effects resulting from prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been an important tool for advancing our knowledge of abnormal brain structure and function in individuals with FASD. However, whereas only a small number of studies have applied graph theory-based network analysis to resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) data in individuals with FASD additional research in this area is needed. METHODS: Resting-state fMRI data were collected from adolescent and young adult participants (ages 12-22) with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND) and neurotypically developing controls (CNTRL) from previous studies. Group independent components analysis (gICA) was applied to fMRI data to extract components representing functional brain networks. Functional network connectivity (FNC), measured by Pearson correlation of the average independent component (IC) time series, was analyzed under a graph theory framework to compare network modularity, the average clustering coefficient, characteristic path length, and global efficiency between groups. Cognitive intelligence, measured by the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI), was compared and correlated to global network measures. RESULTS: Group comparisons revealed significant differences in the average clustering coefficient, characteristic path length, and global efficiency. Modularity was not significantly different between groups. The FAS and ARND groups scored significantly lower than the CNTRL group on Full Scale IQ (FS-IQ) and the Vocabulary subtest, but not the Matrix Reasoning subtest. No significant associations between intelligence and graph theory measures were detected. CONCLUSION: Our results partially agree with previous studies examining global graph theory metrics in children and adolescents with FASD and suggest that the exposure to alcohol during prenatal development leads to disruptions in aspects of functional network segregation and integration.
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Transtornos do Espectro Alcoólico Fetal/diagnóstico por imagem , Rede Nervosa/diagnóstico por imagem , Adolescente , Adulto , Criança , Feminino , Transtornos do Espectro Alcoólico Fetal/psicologia , Humanos , Inteligência , Testes de Linguagem , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Masculino , Transtornos do Neurodesenvolvimento/induzido quimicamente , Transtornos do Neurodesenvolvimento/diagnóstico por imagem , Transtornos do Neurodesenvolvimento/psicologia , Testes Neuropsicológicos , Gravidez , Efeitos Tardios da Exposição Pré-Natal , Análise de Componente Principal , Escalas de Wechsler , Adulto JovemRESUMO
The most common behavioral test of hippocampus-dependent, spatial learning and memory is the Morris water task, and the most commonly studied behavioral correlate of hippocampal neurons is the spatial specificity of place cells. Despite decades of intensive research, it is not completely understood how animals solve the water task and how place cells generate their spatially specific firing fields. Based on early work, it has become the accepted wisdom in the general neuroscience community that distal spatial cues are the primary sources of information used by animals to solve the water task (and similar spatial tasks) and by place cells to generate their spatial specificity. More recent research, along with earlier studies that were overshadowed by the emphasis on distal cues, put this common view into question by demonstrating primary influences of local cues and local boundaries on spatial behavior and place-cell firing. This paper first reviews the historical underpinnings of the "standard" view from a behavioral perspective, and then reviews newer results demonstrating that an animal's behavior in such spatial tasks is more strongly controlled by a local-apparatus frame of reference than by distal landmarks. The paper then reviews similar findings from the literature on the neurophysiological correlates of place cells and other spatially correlated cells from related brain areas. A model is proposed by which distal cues primarily set the orientation of the animal's internal spatial coordinate system, via the head direction cell system, whereas local cues and apparatus boundaries primarily set the translation and scale of that coordinate system.
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Comportamento Animal/fisiologia , Cognição/fisiologia , Comportamento Espacial/fisiologia , Animais , Sinais (Psicologia) , Hipocampo/fisiologia , Aprendizagem/fisiologia , Modelos Animais , Orientação/fisiologia , RatosRESUMO
PURPOSE: As populations shift to include a larger proportion of older adults, the necessity of research targeting older populations is becoming increasingly apparent. Dietary interventions with blueberry have been associated with positive outcomes in cell and rodent models of aging. We hypothesized that dietary blueberry would improve mobility and cognition among older adults. METHODS: In this study, 13 men and 24 women, between the ages of 60 and 75 years, were recruited into a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in which they consumed either freeze-dried blueberry (24 g/day, equivalent to 1 cup of fresh blueberries) or a blueberry placebo for 90 days. Participants completed a battery of balance, gait, and cognitive tests at baseline and again at 45 and 90 days of intervention. RESULTS: Significant supplement group by study visit interactions were observed on tests of executive function. Participants in the blueberry group showed significantly fewer repetition errors in the California Verbal Learning test (p = 0.031, ηp2 = 0.126) and reduced switch cost on a task-switching test (p = 0.033, ηp2 = 0.09) across study visits, relative to controls. However, no improvement in gait or balance was observed. CONCLUSIONS: These findings show that the addition of easily achievable quantities of blueberry to the diets of older adults can improve some aspects of cognition.
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Mirtilos Azuis (Planta) , Cognição , Disfunção Cognitiva/prevenção & controle , Fenômenos Fisiológicos da Nutrição do Idoso , Alimentos em Conserva , Frutas , Alimento Funcional , Idoso , Disfunção Cognitiva/dietoterapia , Disfunção Cognitiva/fisiopatologia , Método Duplo-Cego , Função Executiva , Feminino , Liofilização , Marcha , Transtornos Neurológicos da Marcha/dietoterapia , Transtornos Neurológicos da Marcha/fisiopatologia , Transtornos Neurológicos da Marcha/prevenção & controle , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Equilíbrio Postural , Transtornos de Sensação/dietoterapia , Transtornos de Sensação/fisiopatologia , Transtornos de Sensação/prevenção & controle , Índice de Gravidade de DoençaRESUMO
The present study was aimed at examining spatial learning and memory, in 33 men and 12 women with alcohol use disorder (AUD) undergoing ethanol detoxification, by using a virtual Morris task. As controls, we recruited 29 men and 10 women among episodic drinkers without a history of alcohol addiction or alcohol-related diseases. Elevated latency to the first movement in all trials was observed only in AUD persons; furthermore, control women had longer latencies compared with control men. Increased time spent to reach the hidden platform in the learning phase was found for women of both groups compared with men, in particular during trial 3. As predicted, AUD persons (more evident in men) spent less time in the target quadrant during the probe trial; however, AUD women had longer latencies to reach the platform in the visible condition during trials 6 and 7 that resulted in a greater distance moved. As for the probe trial, men of both groups showed increased virtual locomotion compared with the women of both groups. The present investigation confirms and extends previous studies showing (i) different gender responses in spatial learning tasks, (ii) some alterations due to alcohol addiction in virtual spatial learning, and (iii) differences between AUD men and AUD women in spatial-behaviour-related paradigms.
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Abstinência de Álcool , Análise e Desempenho de Tarefas , Interface Usuário-Computador , Adulto , Alcoolismo/fisiopatologia , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Tempo de Reação , Fatores de TempoRESUMO
Videotaping of experimental sessions is a common practice across many disciplines of psychology, ranging from clinical therapy, to developmental science, to animal research. Audio-visual data are a rich source of information that can be easily recorded; however, analysis of the recordings presents a major obstacle to project completion. Coding behavior is time-consuming and often requires ad-hoc training of a student coder. In addition, existing software is either prohibitively expensive or cumbersome, which leaves researchers with inadequate tools to quickly process video data. We offer the Simple Video Coder-free, open-source software for behavior coding that is flexible in accommodating different experimental designs, is intuitive for students to use, and produces outcome measures of event timing, frequency, and duration. Finally, the software also offers extraction tools to splice video into coded segments suitable for training future human coders or for use as input for pattern classification algorithms.
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Comportamento , Software , Gravação em Vídeo , Algoritmos , Codificação Clínica , Humanos , Interface Usuário-ComputadorRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Past studies of moderate prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) have focused on specific brain regions, neurotransmitter systems, and behaviors. However, the effects of PAE on brain function and behavior are complex and not limited to discrete brain regions. Thus, there is a critical need to understand the global effects of moderate PAE on neural function. A primary aim of this research was to explore the functional relationships in neural activity of spatially distinct areas by applying a widely used computational algorithm-group-independent component analysis (gICA)-to resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from rats exposed to either an alcohol or saccharin control solution via maternal consumption during pregnancy. METHODS: Long-Evans rat dams consumed either 5% (v/v) alcohol or a saccharin control solution throughout gestation. Adult offspring from each prenatal treatment group were anesthetized for functional, structural, and perfusion magnetic resonance-based image acquisition sequences. gICA was applied to the functional data to extract components. To determine connectivity, component time-course correlations were computed and compared. Additionally, spectral power analyses were utilized as an additional measure of functional connectivity. Finally, blood perfusion-assessed by arterial spin labeling-and whole-brain volumetric analyses were evaluated. RESULTS: Analyses revealed 17 components in several brain regions such as the cortex, hippocampus, and thalamus. PAE was associated with reductions in coordinated activity between components, especially in males. PAE was also associated with reductions in low-frequency spectral power, an effect that was more robust in females. Brain volumetric analyses revealed sex-dependent reductions in females while blood flow analyses revealed sex-dependent reductions in males. CONCLUSIONS: Moderate PAE leads to persistent changes in functional connectivity in the absence of whole-brain volume or blood flow measures. Future studies will investigate the relationships between alterations in functional network connectivity and behavior.
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Encéfalo/efeitos dos fármacos , Encéfalo/fisiopatologia , Etanol/toxicidade , Vias Neurais/efeitos dos fármacos , Vias Neurais/fisiopatologia , Efeitos Tardios da Exposição Pré-Natal/fisiopatologia , Animais , Atrofia/patologia , Encéfalo/irrigação sanguínea , Encéfalo/patologia , Feminino , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Masculino , Neuroimagem , Gravidez , Ratos , Ratos Long-Evans , Caracteres SexuaisRESUMO
The recent study by Willams and colleagues utilized a novel robotic virtual reality measurement system to measure sensory-motor processing deficits in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). This system and the precise quantitation of distinct constituent behavioral processes may hold considerable utility and importance for the study of FASD-related motor deficits, their neural bases, and translational research efforts using homologous behavioral approaches in animal and human studies..
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Transtornos do Espectro Alcoólico Fetal/diagnóstico , Desempenho Psicomotor/fisiologia , Tempo de Reação/fisiologia , Robótica/métodos , Terapia de Exposição à Realidade Virtual/métodos , Feminino , Humanos , MasculinoRESUMO
BACKGROUND: We previously reported that prenatal alcohol-induced deficits in dentate gyrus (DG) long-term potentiation (LTP) are ameliorated by the histamine H3 receptor inverse agonist ABT-239. ABT-239 did not enhance LTP in control rats, suggesting that the possibility of a heightened H3 receptor-mediated inhibition of LTP in prenatal alcohol-exposed (PAE) offspring. METHODS: To further investigate this mechanism, we examined the effect of methimepip, a selective histamine H3 receptor agonist, on DG granule cell responses and LTP in saccharin control and PAE rats. Long-Evans rat dams voluntarily consumed either a 0 or 5% ethanol solution 4 hours each day throughout gestation. Adult male offspring from these dams were anesthetized with urethane and electrodes implanted into the entorhinal cortical perforant path and the DG. RESULTS: In control offspring, methimepip reduced the coupling of fast excitatory postsynaptic field potentials to population spikes (E-S coupling), the probability of glutamate release, as measured by paired-pulse ratio (PPR) and diminished DG LTP. Similar reductions in E-S coupling and LTP were observed in saline-treated PAE offspring. In contrast to the control group, methimepip did not exacerbate PAE-induced reductions in E-S coupling or LTP. CONCLUSIONS: While the effects of methimepip in control offspring were consistent with speculation of a PAE-induced enhancement of H3 receptor-mediated inhibition of E-S coupling and LTP, the absence of an added effect of methimepip in PAE offspring could indicate either an inability to further inhibit these responses with methimepip in PAE rats or the presence of more complex regulatory neural interactions with in vivo recordings in PAE rats. Follow-up studies of H3 receptor-mediated responses in DG slice preparations are under way to provide clearer insights into the role of the H3 receptor regulation of excitatory transmission in PAE rats.
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Giro Denteado/citologia , Giro Denteado/efeitos dos fármacos , Etanol/efeitos adversos , Agonistas dos Receptores Histamínicos/farmacologia , Imidazóis/farmacologia , Potenciação de Longa Duração/efeitos dos fármacos , Plasticidade Neuronal/efeitos dos fármacos , Piperidinas/farmacologia , Efeitos Tardios da Exposição Pré-Natal/fisiopatologia , Animais , Giro Denteado/fisiologia , Córtex Entorrinal/fisiologia , Potenciais Pós-Sinápticos Excitadores/efeitos dos fármacos , Potenciais Pós-Sinápticos Excitadores/fisiologia , Feminino , Potenciação de Longa Duração/fisiologia , Masculino , Plasticidade Neuronal/fisiologia , Neurônios/efeitos dos fármacos , Neurônios/fisiologia , Gravidez , Efeitos Tardios da Exposição Pré-Natal/induzido quimicamente , RatosRESUMO
Prenatal alcohol exposure can have persistent effects on learning, memory, and synaptic plasticity. Previous work from our group demonstrated deficits in long-term potentiation (LTP) of excitatory synapses on dentate gyrus granule cells in adult offspring of rat dams that consumed moderate levels of alcohol during pregnancy. At present, there are no pharmacotherapeutic agents approved for these deficits. Prior work established that systemic administration of the histaminergic H3R inverse agonist ABT-239 reversed deficits in LTP observed following moderate PAE. The present study examines the effect of a second H3R inverse agonist, SAR-152954, on LTP deficits following moderate PAE. We demonstrate that systemic administration of 1 mg/kg of SAR-152954 reverses deficits in potentiation of field excitatory post-synaptic potentials (fEPSPs) in adult male rats exposed to moderate PAE. Time-frequency analyses of evoked responses revealed PAE-related reductions in power during the fEPSP, and increased power during later components of evoked responses which are associated with feedback circuitry that are typically not assessed with traditional amplitude-based measures. Both effects were reversed by SAR-152954. These findings provide further evidence that H3R inverse agonism is a potential therapeutic strategy to address deficits in synaptic plasticity associated with PAE.
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Potenciação de Longa Duração , Efeitos Tardios da Exposição Pré-Natal , Receptores Histamínicos H3 , Animais , Potenciação de Longa Duração/efeitos dos fármacos , Feminino , Masculino , Ratos , Gravidez , Receptores Histamínicos H3/metabolismo , Receptores Histamínicos H3/efeitos dos fármacos , Agonistas dos Receptores Histamínicos/farmacologia , Ratos Sprague-Dawley , Etanol/farmacologia , Agonismo Inverso de Drogas , Potenciais Pós-Sinápticos Excitadores/efeitos dos fármacosRESUMO
The question of What is learned when navigating to a place is reinforced has been the subject of considerable debate. Prevailing views emphasize cognitive structures (e.g., maps) or associative learning, which has shaped measurement in spatial navigation tasks (e.g., the Morris water task [MWT]) toward selection of coarse measures that do not capture precise behaviors of individual animals. We analyzed the navigation paths of 15 rats (60 trials each) in the MWT at high temporal resolution (30Hz) and utilized dynamic time warping to quantify the similarity of paths within and between animals. Paths were largely direct, yet suboptimal, and included changes in speed and trajectory that were established early in training and unique to each animal. Individual rats executed similar paths from the same release point from trial to trial, which were distinct from paths executed by other rats as well as paths performed by the same rat from other release points. These observations suggest that rats learn to execute similar path sequences from trial to trial for each release point in the MWT. Occasional spontaneous deviations from the established, unique behavioral sequence, resulted in profound disruption in navigation accuracy. We discuss the potential implications of sequence navigation behaviors for understanding relations between behavior and spatial neural signals such as place cells, grid cells, and head direction cells. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40614-024-00402-8.
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BACKGROUND: Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) continues to be a worldwide problem. Affected offspring display impaired neurodevelopment, including difficulties with executive control. Although PAE has also been associated with decreased blood flow to fetuses, the relationship between PAE and altered blood flow is not well understood. METHODS: We used preclinical models of PAE, transient systemic hypoxia ischemia (TSHI), and PAE + TSHI combined to assess the effects on neurodevelopmental outcomes using translationally relevant touchscreen operant platform testing. Twenty-eight Long-Evans (Blue Spruce, Strain HsdBlu:LE) dams were randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups: Saccharin Control (Sham), 5% Ethanol (PAE), TSHI, or 5% Ethanol and TSHI (PAE + TSHI). Dams consumed either saccharin or 5% ethanol during gestation. TSHI was induced on Embryonic Day 19 (E19) during an open laparotomy where the uterine arteries were transiently occluded for 1 h. Pups were born normally and, after weaning, were separated by sex. A total of 80 offspring, 40 males and 40 females, were tested on the 5-Choice Continuous Performance paradigm (5C-CPT). RESULTS: Female offspring were significantly impacted by TSHI, but not PAE, with an increase in false alarms and a decrease in hit rates, omissions, accuracy, and correct choice latencies. In contrast, male offspring were mildly affected by PAE, but not TSHI, showing decreases in premature responses and increases in accuracy. No significant interactions between PAE and TSHI were detected on any measure. CONCLUSION: Transient systemic hypoxia ischemia impaired performance on the 5C-CPT in females, leading to a bias toward stimulus responsivity regardless of stimulus type. In contrast, TSHI did not affect male offspring, and only slight effects of PAE were seen. Together, these data suggest that TSHI in females may cause alterations in cortical structures that override alterations caused by moderate PAE.
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The medieval period in Sicily was turbulent, involving successive regime changes, from Byzantine (Greek Christian), Aghlabid (Sunni Muslim), Fatimid (Shi'a Muslim), to Normans and Swabians (Latin Christian). To shed new light on the local implications of regime changes, we conducted a multidisciplinary analysis of 27 individuals buried in adjacent Muslim and Christian cemeteries at the site of Segesta, western Sicily. By combining radiocarbon dating, genome-wide sequencing, stable and radiogenic isotopic data, and archaeological records, we uncover genetic differences between the two communities but find evidence of continuity in other aspects of life. Historical and archaeological evidence shows a Muslim community was present by the 12th century during Norman governance, with the Christian settlement appearing in the 13th century under Swabian governance. A Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates from the burials finds the abandonment of the Muslim cemetery likely occurred after the establishment of the Christian cemetery, indicating that individuals of both faiths were present in the area in the first half of the 13th century. The biomolecular results suggest the Christians remained genetically distinct from the Muslim community at Segesta while following a substantially similar diet. This study demonstrates that medieval regime changes had major impacts beyond the political core, leading to demographic changes while economic systems persisted and new social relationships emerged.
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Learning and memory dysfunction is the most common neuropsychological effect of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, and because the underlying neurobiology is poorly understood, there are no pharmacological strategies to help restore memory function in these patients. We have demonstrated impairments in the acquisition of an allocentric spatial task, in patients with unilateral hippocampal sclerosis. We also show that patients have accelerated forgetting of the learned spatial task and that this is associated with damage to the non-dominant hippocampal formation. We go on to show a very similar pattern of chronic allocentric learning and accelerated forgetting in a status epilepticus model of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy in rats, which is associated with reduced and abnormal hippocampal neurogenesis. Finally, we show that reversal of the neurogenic deficit using fluoxetine is associated with reversal of the learning deficit but not the accelerated forgetting, pointing to a possible dissociation in the underlying mechanisms, as well as a potential therapeutic strategy for improving hippocampal-dependent learning in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.
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Epilepsia do Lobo Temporal/tratamento farmacológico , Fluoxetina/uso terapêutico , Aprendizagem/efeitos dos fármacos , Aprendizagem em Labirinto/efeitos dos fármacos , Transtornos da Memória/tratamento farmacológico , Comportamento Espacial/efeitos dos fármacos , Adulto , Animais , Epilepsia do Lobo Temporal/epidemiologia , Epilepsia do Lobo Temporal/psicologia , Feminino , Fluoxetina/farmacologia , Humanos , Aprendizagem/fisiologia , Masculino , Aprendizagem em Labirinto/fisiologia , Transtornos da Memória/epidemiologia , Transtornos da Memória/psicologia , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Estimulação Luminosa/métodos , Ratos , Ratos Long-Evans , Comportamento Espacial/fisiologiaRESUMO
In three experiments, we examined whether overshadowing of geometric cues by a discrete landmark (beacon) is due to the relative saliences of the cues. Using a virtual water maze task, human participants were required to locate a platform marked by a beacon in a distinctively shaped pool. In Experiment 1, the beacon overshadowed geometric cues in a trapezium, but not in an isosceles triangle. The longer escape latencies during acquisition in the trapezium control group with no beacon suggest that the geometric cues in the trapezium were less salient than those in the triangle. In Experiment 2, we evaluated whether generalization decrement, caused by the removal of the beacon at test, could account for overshadowing. An additional beacon was placed in an alternative corner. For the control groups, the beacons were identical; for the overshadow groups, they were visually unique. Overshadowing was again found in the trapezium. In Experiment 3, we tested whether the absence of overshadowing in the triangle was due to the geometric cues being more salient than the beacon. Following training, the beacon was relocated to a different corner. Participants approached the beacon rather than the trained platform corner, suggesting that the beacon was more salient. These results suggest that associative processes do not fully explain cue competition in the spatial domain.
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Aprendizagem por Associação , Sinais (Psicologia) , Aprendizagem por Discriminação , Aprendizagem em Labirinto , Reconhecimento Visual de Modelos , Adulto , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Percepção Espacial , Interface Usuário-ComputadorRESUMO
Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) has been extensively studied for its profound impact on neurodevelopment, synaptic plasticity, and cognitive outcomes. While PAE, particularly at moderate levels, has long-lasting cognitive implications for the exposed individuals, there remains a substantial gap in our understanding of the precise mechanisms underlying these deficits. This review provides a framework for comprehending the neurobiological basis of learning and memory processes that are negatively impacted by PAE. Sex differences, diverse PAE protocols, and the timing of exposure are explored as potential variables influencing the diverse outcomes of PAE on long-term potentiation (LTP). Additionally, potential interventions, both pharmacological and non-pharmacological, are reviewed, offering promising avenues for mitigating the detrimental effects of PAE on cognitive processes. While significant progress has been made, further research is required to enhance our understanding of how prenatal alcohol exposure affects neural plasticity and cognitive functions and to develop effective therapeutic interventions for those impacted. Ultimately, this work aims to advance the comprehension of the consequences of PAE on the brain and cognitive functions.
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Dementia remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in older adults. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia, affecting over 55 million people worldwide. AD is characterized by distinct neurobiological changes, including amyloid-beta protein deposits and tau neurofibrillary tangles, which cause cognitive decline and subsequent behavioral changes, such as distress, insomnia, depression, and anxiety. Recent literature suggests a strong connection between stress systems and AD progression. This presents a promising direction for future AD research. In this review, two systems involved in regulating stress and AD pathogenesis will be highlighted: serotonin (5-HT) and corticotropin releasing factor (CRF). Throughout the review, we summarize critical findings in the field while discussing common limitations with two animal models (3xTg-AD and TgF344-AD), novel pharmacotherapies, and potential early-intervention treatment options. We conclude by highlighting promising future pharmacotherapies and translational animal models of AD and anxiety.
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Introduction: Intimate partner violence is a serious public health problem that costs the United States more than $4.1 billion in direct medical and mental health costs alone. Furthermore, alcohol use contributes to more frequent and more severe intimate partner violence incidents. Compounding this problem is treatments for intimate partner violence have largely been socially informed and demonstrate poor efficacy. We argue that improvements in intimate partner treatment will be gained through systematic scientific study of mechanisms through which alcohol is related to intimate partner violence. We hypothesize that poor emotional and behavioral regulation as indexed by the respiratory sinus arrythymia measure of heart rate variability is a key mechanism between alcohol use and intimate partner violence. Method: The present study is a placebo-controlled alcohol administration study with an emotion-regulation task that investigated heart rate variability in distressed violent and distressed nonviolent partners. Results: We found a main effect for alcohol on heart rate variability. We also found a four-way interaction whereby distressed violent partners exhibited significant reductions in heart rate variability when acutely intoxicated and attempting to not respond to their partners evocative stimuli. Discussion: These findings suggest that distressed violent partners may adopt maladaptive emotion regulation strategies such as rumination and suppression when intoxicated and attempting to not respond to partner conflict. Such strategies of emotion regulation have been shown to have many deleterious emotional, cognitive and social consequences for individuals who adopt them, possibly including intimate partner violence. These findings also highlight an important novel treatment target for intimate partner violence and suggest that novel treatments should focus on teaching effective conflict resolution and emotion-regulation strategies that may be augmented by biobehavioral treatments such as heart rate variability biofeedback.
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The present study investigated the effects of approach versus avoidance motivation on declarative learning. Human participants navigated a virtual reality version of the Morris water task, a classic spatial memory paradigm, adapted to permit the experimental manipulation of motivation during learning. During this task, participants were instructed to navigate to correct platforms while avoiding incorrect platforms. To manipulate motivational states participants were either rewarded for navigating to correct locations (approach) or punished for navigating to incorrect platforms (avoidance). Participants' skin conductance levels (SCLs) were recorded during navigation to investigate the role of physiological arousal in motivated learning. Behavioral results revealed that, overall, approach motivation enhanced and avoidance motivation impaired memory performance compared to nonmotivated spatial learning. This advantage was evident across several performance indices, including accuracy, learning rate, path length, and proximity to platform locations during probe trials. SCL analysis revealed three key findings. First, within subjects, arousal interacted with approach motivation, such that high arousal on a given trial was associated with performance deficits. In addition, across subjects, high arousal negated or reversed the benefits of approach motivation. Finally, low-performing, highly aroused participants showed SCL responses similar to those of avoidance-motivation participants, suggesting that for these individuals, opportunities for reward may evoke states of learning similar to those typically evoked by threats of punishment. These results provide a novel characterization of how approach and avoidance motivation influence declarative memory and indicate a critical and selective role for arousal in determining how reinforcement influences goal-oriented learning.
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Aprendizagem da Esquiva/fisiologia , Memória/fisiologia , Motivação , Punição , Reforço Psicológico , Recompensa , Comportamento Espacial , Adulto , Nível de Alerta/fisiologia , Eletrochoque , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Aprendizagem em Labirinto , Punição/psicologia , Interface Usuário-Computador , Adulto JovemRESUMO
Higher negative affectivity (NA) has an association with decreased executive function and cognitive control. Heart rate variability (HRV) may index cardiac vagal regulation differences in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) for both cognition and emotion. The current study investigates this association using a set-shifting variant of the Virtual Morris Water Task (VMWT) to study discrimination learning, spatial learning, reversal learning, and attentional set-shifting in a virtual environment. 73 participants completed affective questionnaires (Beck Depression Inventory-II, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Positive and Negative Affective Scale), a 5-minute baseline electrocardiogram, and the VMWT. Individuals who failed to complete the task exhibited significantly lower baseline RMSSD then those who completed the task. There was no direct effect between affective measures and task performance. Higher baseline HRV was predictive of better performance during set-shifting. Trait NA moderated the effect of baseline HRV, as well as trait positive affectivity (PA), on performance during the extradimensional shift condition. Increased behavioral flexibility performance was only predicted by higher HRV and PA in low NA individuals. High trait NA negates the positive effects of HRV and PA on behavioral flexibility.
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Sistema Nervoso Autônomo , Função Executiva , Atenção/fisiologia , Eletrocardiografia , Função Executiva/fisiologia , Frequência Cardíaca/fisiologia , HumanosRESUMO
The brain undergoes substantial structural and functional remodeling during adolescence, including alterations in memory-processing regions influenced by stress. This study evaluated brain activation using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during spatial memory performance using a virtual Morris water task (MWT) and examined the associations between default mode network (DMN) activation, task performance, and perceived stress and rejection. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired at 3 Tesla from 59 (34 female) adolescents (13-14 years). The NIH Emotion Toolbox was used to measure perceived stress and rejection. During the MWT, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex showed greater activation during memory retrieval relative to motor performance. Templates of brain functional networks from the Human Connectome Project study were used to extract individual participants' brain network activation strengths for the retrieval > motor contrast for two sub-networks of the default mode network: medial temporal lobe (MTL-DMN) and dorsomedial prefrontal (dMPFC-DMN). For the MTL-DMN sub-network only, activation was significantly associated with worse MWT performance (p = .008) and greater perceived stress (p = .008) and perceived rejection (p = .002). Further, MWT performance was negatively associated with perceived rejection (p = .007). These findings suggest that perceived stress and rejection are related to engagement of MTL-DMN during spatial memory and that engagement of this network impacts performance. These findings also demonstrate the utility of examining task-related network activation strength to identify the impact of perceived stress and rejection on large-scale brain network functioning during adolescence.