Vulnerabilities in social anxiety: Integrating intra- and interpersonal perspectives.

What are the major vulnerabilities in people with social anxiety? What are the most promising directions for translational research pertaining to this condition? The present paper provides an integrative summary of basic and applied translational research on social anxiety, emphasizing vulnerability factors. It is divided into two subsections: intrapersonal and interpersonal. The intrapersonal section synthesizes research relating to (a) self-representations and self-referential processes; (b) emotions and their regulation; and (c) cognitive biases: attention, interpretation and judgment, and memory. The interpersonal section summarizes findings regarding the systems of (a) approach and avoidance, (b) affiliation and social rank, and their implications for interpersonal impairments. Our review suggests that the science of social anxiety and, more generally, psychopathology may be advanced by examining processes and their underlying content within broad psychological systems. Increased interaction between basic and applied researchers to diversify and elaborate different perspectives on social anxiety is necessary for progress.

Parents regulate arousal while sharing experiences with their child: a study of pupil diameter change responses.

Introduction: Parents provide their children with their first exposures to reciprocal shared experiences, and parental modeling of socio-emotional behaviors and regulatory responses largely influences their child's behavioral and neurological development. Some parental reactions are conscious, while others are non-volitional. This project aimed to explore parent-child pupil dilation change responses during shared interactions, specifically, whether parents' neuro-regulatory responses when sharing experiences with their child are different than responses of children interacting with their parents or children and adult peers sharing with each other. Methods: To test this, four distinct interacting groups were recruited: (1) Parents sharing with their child; (2) Children sharing with their parent; (3) Children sharing with peers; and (4) Adults sharing with peers. All dyads engaged in a computerized shared imagery task, which facilitates communication and mental imagery during a shared experience. During the task, pupil diameter change was recorded as a measure of regulatory response. Results: Findings highlight that parents sharing with their child have lower pupil diameter change than children sharing with their parents (p < 0.01), children sharing with peers (p < 0.01), and adults sharing with peers (p < 0.05), While no differences were seen between children sharing with parents, children sharing with peers or adults sharing with peers. Discussion: Findings deepen the understanding of the neuroscience of parenting, by suggesting that parents, even of older children and adolescents, tend to regulate their arousal when interacting with their child, a response that proves to be unique compared to other dyad types for sharing experiences. Considering this dynamic, findings may direct future parent-led intervention methods to improve the child's socio-emotional development.

Missed meal boluses and poorer glycemic control impact on neurocognitive function may be associated with white matter integrity in adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

Background: The notion that pediatric type 1 diabetes impacts brain function and structure early in life is of great concern. Neurological manifestations, including neurocognitive and behavioral symptoms, may be present from childhood, initially mild and undetectable in daily life. Despite intensive management and technological therapeutic interventions, most pediatric patients do not achieve glycemic control targets for HbA1c. One of the most common causes of such poor control and frequent transient hyperglycemic episodes may be lifestyle factors, including missed meal boluses. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the association between specific neurocognitive accomplishments-learning and memory, inhibition ability learning, and verbal and semantic memory-during meals with and without bolusing, correlated to diffusion tensor imaging measurements of major related tracts, and glycemic control in adolescents with type 1 diabetes compared with their healthy siblings of similar age. Study design and methods: This is a case-control study of 12- to 18-year-old patients with type 1 diabetes (N = 17, 8 male patients, diabetes duration of 6.53 ± 4.1 years) and their healthy siblings (N = 13). All were hospitalized for 30 h for continuous glucose monitoring and repeated neurocognitive tests as a function of a missed or appropriate pre-meal bolus. This situation was mimicked by controlled, patient blinded manipulation of lunch pre-meal bolus administration to enable capillary glucose level of <180 mg/dl and to >240 mg/d 2 hours after similar meals, at a similar time. The diabetes team randomly and blindly manipulated post-lunch glucose levels by subcutaneous injection of either rapid-acting insulin or 0.9% NaCl solution before lunch. A specific neurocognitive test battery was performed twice, after each manipulation, and its results were compared, along with additional neurocognitive tasks administered during hospitalization without insulin manipulation. Participants underwent brain imaging, including diffusion tensor imaging and tractography. Results: A significant association was demonstrated between glycemic control and performance in the domains of executive functions, inhibition ability, learning and verbal memory, and semantic memory. Inhibition ability was specifically related to food management. Poorer glycemic control (>8.3%) was associated with a slower reaction time. Conclusion: These findings highlight the potential impairment of brain networks responsible for learning, memory, and controlled reactivity to food in adolescents with type 1 diabetes whose glycemic control is poor.

When the Mind Comes to Live Inside the Body: The Ontogeny of the Perceptual Control Clock.

In this editorial, we discuss the neurobiological processes underlying the early emergence of awareness that we term the "when" and "how" the mind comes to live inside the body. We describe an accumulative developmental process starting during embryonic life and continuing to fetal and postnatal development, of coupling of heart rate, body movements, and sleep states on the behavioral level with underlying mechanisms on the structural, functional, cellular, and molecular levels. A developmental perspective is proposed based on Perceptual Control Theory (PCT). This includes a developing sequence of modules starting from early sensing of neural intensities to early manifestation of human mindful capacities. We also address pharmacological treatments administered to preterm infants, which may interfere with this development, and highlight the need to consider this potential "side effect" of current pharmaceuticals when developing novel pharmacogenomic treatments.

Hyper and hypo attention networks activations affect social development in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience a range of social and non-social attention deficits. To date, most studies assessed the neurological framework or discrete behavioral traits related to one attention network, leaving a gap in the understanding of the developmental cascade affecting the inter-relations among attention networks in ASD in a pervasive manner. We propose a theoretical framework that integrates the behavioral deficits and neurological manifestations through a cohesive developmental prism of attention networks' activations while assessing their impact on social deficits in children with ASD. Insights arising from the model suggest hyper-and-hypoactivation of posterior attention networks leads to an altered prefrontal anterior attention network weight in ways that conjointly impact social performance in ASD. This perspective on how attention networks develop and interact in ASD may inform future research directions regarding ASD and attention development.

Development of the Ontogenetic Self-Regulation Clock.

To date, there is no overarching proposition for the ontogenetic-neurobiological basis of self-regulation. This paper suggests that the balanced self-regulatory reaction of the fetus, newborn and infant is based on a complex mechanism starting from early brainstem development and continuing to progressive control of the cortex over the brainstem. It is suggested that this balance occurs through the synchronous reactivity between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, both which originate from the brainstem. The paper presents an evidence-based approach in which molecular excitation-inhibition balance, interchanges between excitatory and inhibitory roles of neurotransmitters as well as cardiovascular and white matter development across gestational ages, are shown to create sympathetic-parasympathetic synchrony, including the postnatal development of electroencephalogram waves and vagal tone. These occur in developmental milestones detectable in the same time windows (sensitive periods of development) within a convergent systematic progress. This ontogenetic stepwise process is termed "the self-regulation clock" and suggest that this clock is located in the largest connection between the brainstem and the cortex, the corticospinal tract. This novel evidence-based new theory paves the way towards more accurate hypotheses and complex studies of self-regulation and its biological basis, as well as pointing to time windows for interventions in preterm infants. The paper also describes the developing indirect signaling between the suprachiasmatic nucleus and the corticospinal tract. Finally, the paper proposes novel hypotheses for molecular, structural and functional investigation of the "clock" circuitry, including its associations with other biological clocks. This complex circuitry is suggested to be responsible for the developing self-regulatory functions and their neurobehavioral correlates.

The Brainstem-Informed Autism Framework: Early Life Neurobehavioral Markers.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have long-term implications on functioning at multiple levels. In this perspective, we offer a brainstem-informed autism framework (BIAF) that traces the protracted neurobehavioral manifestations of ASD to early life brainstem dysfunctions. Early life brainstem-mediated markers involving functions of autonomic/arousal regulation, sleep-wake homeostasis, and sensorimotor integration are delineated. Their possible contributions to the early identification of susceptible infants are discussed. We suggest that the BIAF expands our multidimensional understanding of ASD by focusing on the early involvement of brainstem systems. Importantly, we propose an integrated BIAF screener that brings about the prospect of a sensitive and reliable early life diagnostic scheme for weighing the risk for ASD. The BIAF screener could provide clinicians substantial gains in the future and may carve customized interventions long before the current DSM ASD phenotype is manifested using dyadic co-regulation of brainstem-informed autism markers.

Hyper-Reactivity to Salience Limits Social Interaction Among Infants Born Pre-term and Infant Siblings of Children With ASD.

The ability to engage attention with selected stimuli is essential for infants to explore the world and process information relating to their surroundings. There are two main populations with a higher risk to develop attentional and social deficits whose deficits may arise from difficulties in regulating attention to salient cues: (1) siblings of children diagnosed with Autism; and (2) infants who were born pre-term. This study investigated infants' (N = 97) attention-engagement and pupil-dilation (PD) at 9 months of age, using a gaze-contingent paradigm and a structured social interaction. Specifically, we explored attention to stimuli with simple salient features (e.g., clear defined shapes, colors, and motions) vs. more complex non-social cues (amorphous shapes, colors, and motions) and social interaction in typically developing infants (TD, N = 25) and among two groups of infants at-risk to develop social difficulties (pre-terms, N = 56; siblings of children with Autism, N = 16). Findings show that the two risk groups preferred stimuli with simple features (F = 11.306, p < 0.001), accompanied by increased PD (F = 6.6, p < 0.001). Specifically, pre-term infants showed increased PD toward simple vs. complex stimuli (p < 0.001), while siblings showed a pervasive hyper-arousal to both simple and complex stimuli. Infants in the TD group preferred complex stimuli with no change in PD. Finally, the preference for the simple stimulus mediated the relationship between increased risk for social difficulties and decreased engagement duration in face-to-face interaction with the experimenter. Results suggest that activation of the attention-salience network shapes social abilities at infancy. Further, hyper-reactivity to salient stimuli limits social interaction among infants born pre-term and siblings of children with ASD.

Cognitive strategies for managing cheating: The roles of cognitive abilities in managing moral shortcuts.

Cheating and immorality are highly researched phenomena, likely due to their great impact. However, little research has examined the real-time cognitive mechanisms that are involved in cheating and conflict management. Much of the cheating research to date concentrates on binary cheating; however, in more prevalent real-world scenarios, people often engage in more ambiguous self-serving mistakes. To execute such self-serving decisions, one may make use of conflict-management strategies to help balance an internal struggle between gain and self-concept. We propose that to enact such strategies one must employ sufficient cognitive resources. To test this, we employed a simple effortful control task that allows for comparisons of gain and no-gain errors, isolating self-serving mistakes while recording gaze and response-time measures. Findings revealed that individuals can make use of conflict management strategies that mimicked errors made inadvertently. Two strategies included gaze avert and quick response times during gain blocks, whereby participants simulated out-of-control-like behaviors while engaging in self-serving mistakes, plausibly as a method of self-justification. Strategy use was dependent upon individuals' cognitive abilities. Participants reporting high inhibitory control abilities were able to use gaze aversion to engage in self-serving mistakes, while those reporting high attention resources were able to employ faster response times when making more profitable errors. Taken together, this paper contributes to (1) the debate on whether honesty/dishonesty is the dominant response, (2) the debate on self-control and inhibition on cheating, and (3) the understudied area of cognitive justifications to maintain a positive self-concept.

Preterm Birth and the Development of Visual Attention During the First 2 Years of Life: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Importance: Preterm birth is associated with an increased risk for long-lasting attention deficits. Early-life markers of attention abnormalities have not been established to date but could provide insights into the pathogenesis of attention abnormalities and could help identify susceptible individuals. Objective: To examine whether preterm birth is associated with visual attention impairments in early life, and if so, in which attention functions and at which developmental period during the first 2 years of life. Data Sources: PubMed and PsycINFO were searched on November 17, 2019, to identify studies involving visual attention outcomes in infants born preterm vs full term. Study Selection: Peer-reviewed studies from the past 50 years met the eligibility criteria if they directly assessed visual attention outcomes until the age of 2 years in generally healthy infants born preterm or full term. The selection process was conducted by 2 independent reviewers. Data Extraction and Synthesis: The Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) reporting guideline was followed. Random-effects models were used to determine standardized mean differences. The risk of bias was assessed both within and between studies. Main Outcomes and Measures: Five nascent indices of visual attention were analyzed, including very basic functions-namely, the abilities to follow and fixate on visual targets-and more complex functions, such as visual processing (ie, habituation), recognition memory (ie, novelty preference), and the ability to effortfully focus attention for learning. Results: A total of 53 studies were included, with 69 effect sizes and assessing a total of 3998 infants (2047 born preterm and 1951 born full term; of the 3376 for whom sex was reported, 1693 [50.1%] were girls). Preterm birth was associated with impairments in various attention indices, including visual-following in infancy (Cohen d, -0.77; 95% CI, -1.23 to -0.31), latency to fixate (Cohen d, -0.18; 95% CI, -0.33 to -0.02), novelty preference (Cohen d, -0.20; 95% CI, -0.32 to -0.08), and focused attention (Cohen d, -0.28; 95% CI, -0.45 to -0.11). In the neonatal period, preterm birth was associated with superior visual-following (Cohen d, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.03 to 0.40), possibly owing to the additional extrauterine exposure to sensory stimulation. However, this early association waned rapidly in infancy (Cohen d, -0.77; 95% CI, -1.23 to -0.31). Conclusions and Relevance: The findings suggest that preterm birth is associated with impingements to visual attention development in early life, as manifested in basic and then complex forms of attention. Advancements in neonatal care may underlie improvements found in the current era and accentuate several early protective factors.

In the eye of the beholder: Using a multiple-informant approach to examine the mediating effect of cognitive functioning on emotional and behavioral problems in children with an active epilepsy.

PURPOSE: Childhood epilepsy is often associated with cognitive impairments and psychosocial problems. However, it is not clear which factors mediate symptom severity and child's resilience. Emotional and behavioral problems have been associated with various home and school environments, suggesting that information collected may vary depending on both context and informant. In this study we examined the mediating effect of child's cognitive functions on the association between child and epilepsy-related factors and psychosocial problems. Additionally, the differences in psychosocial problems reported by various informants (parents, teachers) in different school settings were explored. METHODS: Participants were 155 children with epilepsy (50 % girls), age range 5-18 years who completed a brief neuropsychological battery. Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and teachers completed the corresponding Teacher's Rating Form (TRF), to assess a child's emotional and behavior problems. RESULTS: The cognitive profile of the sample was within average to low-average range. Parents and teachers both reported high levels of emotional and behavioral problems, and teachers reported relatively higher levels of symptoms. A mediation effect of cognition on the association between child and epilepsy-related factors (i.e., number of antiseizure medications and illness duration) and child's emotional and behavioral problems was evident only for teachers' reports. CONCLUSIONS: The results emphasize that the complex interactions between epilepsy, cognition and psychosocial outcomes are perceived differently in diverse contexts by different informants. The incongruities in informants' perceptions regarding the role of cognition in child's psychological state should be acknowledged and incorporated when planning effective educational and rehabilitation interventions for children with epilepsy.

Participant-experimenter rapport in experimental settings: A test case of executive functions among children with ADHD.

There is a growing interest in the effects of social engagement on cognition, yet, research on the effects of social engagement with the experimenter in empirical contexts has been sparse. During an experiment, the experimenter and participant form a dyad, establishing a certain level of rapport-a sense of a positive and congruent relationship. This rapport is thought to promote performance by providing a comfortable testing environment, thereby reducing resource demand, and enhancing participant engagement and willingness to exert effort to perform. The current study sought to better understand the role of rapport by examining the effects of perceived rapport on effortful control, that is, inhibition and shifting, in an experimental setting among children with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Forty-nine children (9 to 12 years old) were divided into two groups based on ADHD classification (i.e., typically developing children, n = 27; children with ADHD, n = 22). Participants completed the day/night Stroop task and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task following a short rapport-building conversation with the experimenter. Later, both participant and experimenter filled the CHARM questionnaire reporting the rapport constructed during the experiment. Results show moderating effects of ADHD on the relationship between perceived rapport quality and congruency, and participant's executive functions performance. Specifically, children with ADHD showed higher susceptibility to rapport quality and were impervious to the effects of rapport congruency. Results highlight the importance of rapport with the experimenter in experimental research and suggest incorporating considerations concerning rapport, both in designing the experimental paradigm as well as an independent factor affecting task performance and outcome. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Transition From Nasogastric Tube to Oral Feeding: The Role of Parental Guided Responsive Feeding.

Background and Objective: Strategies to transition preterm infants from tube to oral feeding vary greatly and the transition may take days to weeks. The study objective was to evaluate the effect of parental guided responsive feeding (PGRF) on this transition. Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial on infants born at <32 weeks gestation. The PGRF intervention was performed by parents, and included feeding intervals and volumes which were guided by the infants' behavioral cues of hunger and satiety. If a minimum volume was not taken orally, an intermediate volume was supplemented via nasogastric tube. The control group was traditionally fed (TF), with pre-planned volumes of intake and at given scheduled intervals. Results: The study comprised 67 infants (PGRF 32, TF 35). PGRF infants reached full oral feeding within less days (median 2 vs. 8 days, p = 0.001), at an earlier age (median 34.28 vs. 35.14 weeks, p < 0.001), returned to baseline weight gain at 35 weeks (1.77 ± 0.70 vs. 1.25 ± 0.63 g/kg/day, p = 0.002), were discharged earlier (36.34 ± 0.6 vs. 36.86 ± 0.9 weeks, p = 0.001), were more likely to be fed by their parents (p < 0.001), and experienced less apnea/bradycardia events at 34 weeks (median 3.5 vs. 9 per week p = 0.047) compared to the TF infants. The regression model demonstrated that independent variables predicted 43.7% of the variance of time to full oral feeding [F (9, 65) = 4.84 p < 0.001]. The only significant variable was feeding group (B = -6.43 p < 0.001); The PGRF infants were more likely to reach full oral feeding earlier. Conclusion: PGRF is safe, and associated with short-term advantages, higher parental engagement, and earlier discharge. Clinical Trial Registration: Identifier: SHEBA-12-9574-IM-CTIL; "Adjusted Individual Oral Feeding for Improving Short and Long Term Outcomes of Preterm Infants."

Cheating behavior in children: Integrating gaze allocation and social awareness.

Children's cheating and factors supporting honesty are not well understood. The current work explored variables involved in children's cheating through eye-tracking and an implicit manipulation in which extrinsic awareness of the effects of one's behaviors on others was primed. Participants played a computer game with the option for a monetary gain in which they could earn more if they selectively erred in response to more profitable stimuli. Results show that children cheat by making selective effort toward more profitable errors; however, extrinsic awareness inhibits these cheating behaviors. Importantly, gaze toward children's earnings mediates this relationship, suggesting that extrinsic awareness mitigates an impulsive looking pattern, which in turn results in less cheating. Findings suggest that an implicit manipulation, highlighting the potential implications of one's actions for others, seems to effectively suppress cheating among children. Furthermore, attention toward earnings offers a cognitive process that acts to mediate the effect of this manipulation on cheating. Taken together, this framework suggests psychoneurocognitive and social processes that influence cheating in children, offering a direction for future implicit intervention techniques to support honest performance.

Feeding Imprinting: The Extreme Test Case of Premature Infants Born With Very Low Birth Weight.

Feeding imprinting, considered a survival-enabling process, is not well understood. Infants born very preterm, who first feed passively, are an effective model for studying feeding imprinting. Retrospective analysis of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) records of 255 infants (Mgestational age  = 29.98 ± 1.64) enabled exploring the notion that direct breastfeeding (DBF) during NICU stay leads to consumption of more mother's milk and earlier NICU discharge. Results showed that DBF before the first bottle feeding is related to shorter transition into oral feeding, a younger age of full oral feeding accomplishment and earlier discharge. Furthermore, the number of DBF meals before first bottle feeding predicts more maternal milk consumption and improved NICU outcomes. Improved performance in response to initial exposure to DBF at the age of budding feeding abilities supports a feeding imprinting hypothesis.

Brainstem as a developmental gateway to social attention.

BACKGROUND: Evolution preserves social attention due to its key role in supporting survival. Humans are attracted to social cues from infancy, but the neurobiological mechanisms for the development of social attention are unknown. An evolutionary-based, vertical-hierarchical theoretical model of self-regulation suggests that neonatal brainstem inputs are key for the development of well-regulated social attention. METHODS: Neonates born preterm (N = 44, GA 34 w.) were recruited and diagnosed at birth as a function of their auditory brainstem evoked responses (ABR). Participants enrolled in a prospective 8-year-long, double-blind, follow-up study comparing participants with brainstem dysfunctions and well-matched controls. Groups had comparable fetal, neonatal, and familial characteristics. Methods incorporated EEG power analysis and gaze tracking during the Attention Network Test (ANT, four cue types, and two targets) and a Triadic Gaze Engagement task (TGE, three social cue levels). RESULTS: Results showed that neonatal brainstem compromise is related to long-term changes in Alpha- and Theta-band power asymmetries (p < .034, p < .016, respectively), suggesting suppressed bottom-up input needed to alert social attention. Gaze tracking indicated dysregulated arousal-modulated attention (p < .004) and difficulty in gaze engagement to socially neutral compared to nonsocial cues (p < .012). CONCLUSIONS: Integrating models of Autism and cross-species data with current long-term follow-up of infants with discrete neonatal brainstem dysfunction suggests neonatal brainstem input as a gateway for bottom-up regulation of social attention.

Memory, Executive Skills, and Psychosocial Phenotype in Children with Pharmacoresponsive Epilepsy: Reactivity to Intervention.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies on pharmacoresponsive epilepsies demonstrate specific memory, executive functions (EF), and psychosocial deficits in this group. These deficits are often undertreated, and little is known about the neuropsychological factors that may support moderation of the deficits through intervention. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of a structured cognitive behavioral group intervention on both memory and emotional domains and to evaluate the factors influencing its efficacy. METHODS: The feasibility study implemented a newly designed intervention for children with pharmacoresponsive epilepsies (N = 33, aged 9-14 years, 51% girls), hypothesizing that memory and psychosocial symptoms in children with pharmacoresponsive epilepsies are sensitive to intervention using structured memory and psychosocial modules in a weekly group session setting. Comparable memory and psychosocial assessments were used to evaluate performance at baseline and post-intervention. Results were compared to age- and education-matched healthy controls (N = 27, aged 9-14 years). RESULTS: Pre-post-intervention comparisons show improvements in STM (p < 0.01, η2 = 0.358), optimism (p < 0.05, η2 = 0.245), and self-efficacy (p < 0.05, η2 = 0.164). Unique negative relations between memory deficits and psychosocial phenotype were seen in epilepsy patients and not in controls in response to the intervention. EF moderated this intervention effect (p < 0.05, η2 = 0.252), whereas psychosocial status and pharmacological profile did not. CONCLUSION: Cognitive behavioral therapy focusing on memory and psychosocial perceptions for children with pharmacoresponsive epilepsies seems promising, with greater improvement in memory and psychosocial functioning in children with more affected EF.

Reward Dependence and Harm Avoidance among Patients with Binge-Purge Type Eating Disorders.

INTRODUCTION: The Cloninger's Psychobiological Model of Temperament and Character includes temperamental dimensions such as reward dependence (RD) and harm avoidance (HA). Studies of RD differentiate between sensitivity to reward (SR) versus to punishment (SP). We investigated the interrelationship between HA and RD in acutely ill patients with binge/purge (B/P) type eating disorders (EDs) and following symptomatic stabilization. METHODS: Fifty patients with B/P EDs were assessed at admission to inpatient treatment, 36 of whom were reassessed at discharge. Thirty-six controls were similarly assessed. Participants completed Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ), Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ), and took the Gambling Task. RESULTS: Patients with B/P EDs had higher TPQ-RD and lower TPQ-HA accompanied by lower SPSRQ-SR and SPSRQ-SP. SPSRQ-SP correlated positively and negatively with TPQ-HA and TPQ-RD, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Combination of lower TPQ-HA, lower SPSRQ-SP, and greater risk-taking inclination may maintain disordered eating in patients with B/P EDs. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Hot executive control and response to a stimulant in a double-blind randomized trial in children with ADHD.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is thought to involve an executive inhibitory control (IC) deficit, yet it is not clear if this is a general deficit affecting both cold and hot EC, and if methylphenidate (MPH) affects both systems in treated children. We explored this by using a Stroop-like task in children with ADHD as compared to controls, containing different types of emotional stimuli (six levels), and we investigated the role of intervention with MPH on IC as compared to placebo. Children with ADHD and controls (N = 40; 7-13 years old) were tested with a hot and cold Stroop-like task. This was followed by a double-blind placebo-controlled crossover trial of the effect of MPH on these skills. Children with ADHD showed a specific difficulty inhibiting their responses, particularly to hot, angry and frustration-inducing stimuli. Further, treatment with MPH was effective in reducing errors toward frustration-inducing stimuli as compared to placebo (p < .05, η 2 = .347), particularly with repeated exposure to the stimuli. Results indicate that children with ADHD experience executive control difficulties, particularly in hot negative emotional contexts. These emotion regulation difficulties are amenable to stimulant intervention.

Talk the Walk: Does Socio-Cognitive Resource Reallocation Facilitate the Development of Walking?

Walking is of interest to psychology, robotics, zoology, neuroscience and medicine. Human's ability to walk on two feet is considered to be one of the defining characteristics of hominoid evolution. Evolutionary science propses that it emerged in response to limited environmental resources; yet the processes supporting its emergence are not fully understood. Developmental psychology research suggests that walking elicits cognitive advancements. We postulate that the relationship between cognitive development and walking is a bi-directional one; and further suggest that the initiation of novel capacities, such as walking, is related to internal socio-cognitive resource reallocation. We shed light on these notions by exploring infants' cognitive and socio-communicative outputs prospectively from 6-18 months of age. Structured bi/tri weekly evaluations of symbolic and verbal development were employed in an urban cohort (N = 9) for 12 months, during the transition from crawling to walking. Results show links between preemptive cognitive changes in socio-communicative output, symbolic-cognitive tool-use processes, and the age of emergence of walking. Plots of use rates of lower symbolic play levels before and after emergence of new skills illustrate reductions in use of previously attained key behaviors prior to emergence of higher symbolic play, language and walking. Further, individual differences in age of walking initiation were strongly related to the degree of reductions in complexity of object-use (r = .832, p < .005), along with increases, counter to the general reduction trend, in skills that serve recruitment of external resources [socio-communication bids before speech (r = -.696, p < .01), and speech bids before walking; r = .729, p < .01)]. Integration of these proactive changes using a computational approach yielded an even stronger link, underscoring internal resource reallocation as a facilitator of walking initiation (r = .901, p<0.001). These preliminary data suggest that representational capacities, symbolic object use, language and social developments, form an integrated adaptable composite, which possibly enables proactive internal resource reallocation, designed to support the emergence of new developmental milestones, such as walking.