Exploring the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness in youth aged 7-17 years.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to adapt the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) questionnaire for younger respondents. METHOD: The language of the MAIA was revised and children aged 7-10 years (n = 212) and adolescents aged 11-17 years (n = 217) completed the questionnaire. RESULTS: The original eight-factor model was tested for fit using confirmatory factor analysis. The model had an acceptable fit in the total sample and younger subsample and overall fit in the older subsample was adequate following modification. Internal consistency was good, except for the Noticing, Not-Distracting and Not-Worrying scales. Results also demonstrated a negative linear relationship between the trusting scale and age, suggesting that youths may lose trust in their body as they age. CONCLUSION: The adapted MAIA can be used with a younger population and, depending on the research question, individual MAIA scales may be selected. The survey is available at https://osher.ucsf.edu/maia.

Correlates of implicit cognitive line length representation in two-dimensional space.

Twenty-eight sex- and age-matched participants, half dextrals and half sinstrals, were instructed to move a pen-sized planometer three inches (7.6 cm) while blindfolded. Under separate trials, movements were made at four angles, towards and away from the body, and at two distances from the body (30 cm, 53 cm). Half were made with the right hand and half with the left hand. Line estimates increased in length across blocks of trials in a linear fashion and progressively overestimated the three-inch imagined criterion. Lines made moving towards the body were longer than those made moving away from the body, implying an egocentric frame of reference in making the estimates. Line estimates made at an oblique angle differed significantly from estimates made at other angles. No influences of sex, handedness, or the hand used in making the estimates were observed. The findings suggest that motoric estimates of line lengths made without visual cues-a unique measure of an implicit cognitive concept-are significantly altered by temporal and spatial factors, but not by sex or hemispheric laterality.

Null effects of temporal prediction on recognition memory but evidence for differential neural activity at encoding. A registered report.

Previous research has demonstrated that rhythmic presentation of stimuli during encoding boosts subsequent recognition and is associated with distinct neural activity compared with when stimuli are presented in an arrhythmic manner. However, it is unclear whether the effect is driven by automatic entrainment to rhythm or non-rhythmic temporal prediction. This registered report presents an Electroencephalographic (EEG) study aimed at establishing the cognitive and neural mechanisms of the effect of temporal prediction on recognition. In a blocked design, stimulus onset during encoding was systematically manipulated in four conditions prior to recognition testing: rhythmic fixed (RF), rhythmic variable (RV), arrhythmic fixed (AF), and arrhythmic variable (AV). By orthogonally varying rhythm and temporal position we were able to assess their independent contributions to recognition enhancement. Our behavioural results did not replicate previous findings that show a difference in recognition memory based on temporal predictability at encoding. However, event-related potential (ERP) component analysis did show an early (N1) interaction effect of temporal position and rhythm, and later (N2 and Dm) effects driven by temporal position only. Taken together, we observed effects of temporal prediction at encoding, but these differences did not translate to later effects of memory, suggesting that effects of temporal prediction on recognition are less robust than previously thought.

Spatial attention is not affected by alpha or beta transcranial alternating current stimulation: A registered report.

Using Electroencephalography (EEG) an event-related change in alpha activity has been observed over primary sensory cortices during the allocation of spatial attention. This is most prominent during top-down, or endogenous, attention, and nearly absent in bottom-up, or exogenous orienting. These changes are highly lateralised, such that an increase in alpha power is seen ipsilateral to the attended region of space and a decrease is seen contralaterally. Whether these changes in alpha oscillatory activity are causally related to attentional resources, or to perceptual processes, or are simply epiphenomenal, is unknown. If alpha oscillations are indicative of a causal mechanism whereby attention is allocated to a region of space, it remains an open question as to whether this is driven by ipsilateral increases or contralateral decreases in alpha power. This preregistered report set out to test these questions. To do so, we used transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) to modulate alpha activity in the somatosensory cortex whilst measuring performance on established tactile attention paradigms. All participants completed an endogenous and exogenous tactile attention task in three stimulation conditions; alpha, sham and beta. Sham and beta stimulation operated as controls so that any observed effects could be attributed to alpha stimulation specifically. We replicated previous behavioural findings in all stimulation conditions showing a facilitation of cued trials in the endogenous task, and inhibition of return in the exogenous task. However, these were not affected by stimulation manipulations. Using Bayes-factor analysis we show strong support for the null hypotheses - that the manipulation of Alpha by tACS does not cause changes in tactile spatial attention. This well-powered study, conducted over three separate days, is an important contribution to the current debate regarding the efficiency of brain stimulation.

The seductive allure of technical language and its effect on covid-19 vaccine beliefs and intentions.

Previous research has demonstrated a 'seductive allure' of technical or reductive language such that bad (e.g., circular) explanations are judged better when irrelevant technical terms are included. We aimed to explore if such an effect was observable in relation to a covid-19 vaccinations and if this subsequently affected behavioural intentions to take up a covid-19 vaccine. Using a between subjects design we presented participants (N = 996) with one of four possible types of vignette that explained how covid-19 vaccination and herd immunity works. The explanations varied along two factors: (1) Quality, explanations were either good or bad (i.e., tautological); (2) Language, explanations either contained unnecessary technical language or did not. We measured participants' evaluation of the explanations and intentions to vaccinate. We demonstrate a 'seductive allure' effect of technical language on bad vaccine explanations. However, an opposite 'repellent disdain' effect occurred for good explanations which were rated worse when they contained technical language. Moreover, we show that evaluations of explanations influence intentions to vaccinate. We suggest that misinformation that includes technical language could be more detrimental to vaccination rates. Importantly, however, clear explanatory public health information that omits technical language will be more effective in increasing intentions to vaccinate.

Event-related alpha desynchronization in touch - Comparing attention and perception.

An event-related decrease in alpha power contralateral to the presentation of a stimulus is now a well-established phenomenon. Two distinct accounts of the functional role of alpha changes are present in the literature that either focus on alpha changes observed during attentional or simple perceptual tasks. This study directly compares tasks that invoke alpha decreases during exogenous, endogenous and perceptual processing. Using a data driven approach to compare alpha changes we show that alpha decreases differ only between exogenous and endogenous attention tasks for only a short time window, 500-600 ms after cue onset. We suggest this indicates a role for alpha in voluntary orientating and stimulus predictability.

The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness, Version 2 (MAIA-2).

Interoception, the process by which the nervous system senses, interprets, and integrates signals originating from within the body, has become major research topic for mental health and in particular for mind-body interventions. Interoceptive awareness here is defined as the conscious level of interoception with its multiple dimensions potentially accessible to self-report. The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) is an 8-scale state-trait questionnaire with 32 items to measure multiple dimensions of interoception by self-report and was published in November 2012. Its numerous applications in English and other languages revealed low internal consistency reliability for two of its scales. This study's objective was to improve these scales and the psychometrics of the MAIA by adding three new items to each of the two scales and evaluate these in a new sample. Data were collected within a larger project that took place as part of the Live Science residency programme at the Science Museum London, UK, where visitors to the museum (N = 1,090) completed the MAIA and the six additional items. Based on exploratory factor analysis in one-half of the adult participants and Cronbach alphas, we discarded one and included five of the six additional items into a Version 2 of the MAIA and conducted confirmatory factor analysis in the other half of the participants. The 8-factor model of the resulting 37-item MAIA-2 was confirmed with appropriate fit indices (RMSEA = 0.055 [95% CI 0.052-0.058]; SRMR = 0.064) and improved internal consistency reliability. The MAIA-2 is public domain and available (www.osher.ucsf.edu/maia) for interoception research and the evaluation of clinical mind-body interventions.

Influences of temporal lobe epilepsy and temporal lobe resection on olfaction.

Although temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and resection (TLR) impact olfactory eloquent brain structures, their influences on olfaction remain enigmatic. We sought to more definitively assess the influences of TLE and TLR on olfaction using three well-validated olfactory tests and measuring  the tests' associations with the volume of numerous temporal lobe brain structures. The University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test and an odor detection threshold test were administered to 71 TLE patients and 71 age- and sex-matched controls; 69 TLE patients and controls received an odor discrimination/memory test. Fifty-seven patients and 57 controls were tested on odor identification and threshold before and after TLR; 27 patients and 27 controls were similarly tested for odor detection/discrimination. Scores were compared using analysis of variance and correlated with pre- and post-operative volumes of the target brain structures. TLE was associated with bilateral deficits in all test measures. TLR further decreased function on the side ipsilateral to resection. The hippocampus and other structures were smaller on the focus side of the TLE subjects. Although post-operative volumetric decreases were evident in most measured brain structures, modest contralateral volumetric increases were observed in some cases. No meaningful correlations were evident pre- or post-operatively between the olfactory test scores and the structural volumes. In conclusion, we demonstrate that smell dysfunction is clearly a key element of both TLE and TLR, impacting odor identification, detection, and discrimination/memory. Whether our novel finding of significant post-operative increases in the volume of brain structures contralateral to the resection side reflects plasticity and compensatory processes requires further study.

Frontal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) abolishes list-method directed forgetting.

It is a point of controversy as to whether directed forgetting effects are a result of active inhibition or a change of context initiated by the instruction to forget. In this study we test the causal role of active inhibition in directed forgetting. By applying cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the right prefrontal cortex we suppressed cortical activity commonly associated with inhibitory control. Participants who underwent real brain stimulation before completing the directed forgetting paradigm showed no directed forgetting effects. Conversely, those who underwent sham brain stimulation demonstrated classical directed forgetting effects. We argue that these findings suggest that inhibition is the primary mechanism that results in directed forgetting costs and benefits.

Taste function in early stage treated and untreated Parkinson's disease.

Since brain stem regions associated with early Parkinson's disease (PD) pathology encroach upon those involved in taste function, the ability to taste may be compromised in PD. However, studies on this point have been contradictory. We administered well-validated whole-mouth and regional taste tests that incorporated multiple concentrations of sucrose, citric acid, caffeine, and sodium chloride to 29 early stage PD patients and 29 age-, sex-, and race-matched controls. Electrogustometry was also performed on the anterior tongue. The PD cohort was tested both on and off dopamine-related medications in counterbalanced test sessions. While whole-mouth taste identification test scores for all stimuli were, on average, nominally lower for the PD patients than for the controls, a trend in the opposite direction was noted for the intensity ratings at the lower stimulus concentrations for all stimuli except caffeine. Moreover, regional testing found that PD subjects tended to rate the stimuli, relative to the controls, as more intense on the anterior tongue and less intense on the posterior tongue. No significant associations were evident between taste test scores and UPDRS scores, L-DOPA medication equivalency values, or [(99m)Tc]TRODAT-1 SPECT imaging of dopamine transporter uptake within the striatum and associated regions. Our findings suggest that suprathreshold measures of taste function are influenced by PD and that this disease differentially influences taste function on anterior (CN VII) and posterior (CN IX) tongue regions. Conceivably PD-related damage to CN IX releases central inhibition on CN VII at the level of the brainstem, resulting in enhanced taste intensity on the anterior tongue.

Sensitivity of 'mu' rhythm modulation to the relevance of an observed movement but not to goal congruency.

There is some dispute over whether the primary role of a system that processes both performed and observed actions (the mirror neuron system) is action understanding or the coordination of action with others. We present behavioural and EEG data from a motor priming task that shed some light on this debate. Participants are asked to make one of two simple actions whilst watching video clips of movements that differ in terms of their visuospatial overlap with, and goal-related relevance to, the required performed action. The reaction time data appear to support a direct matching account where visuospatial overlap is prioritised over relevance. However, the EEG data appear to reflect a system that is sensitive to the relevance of the observed movement and suggest an action prediction role for a mirror neuron system.

Sex and individual differences in induced and evoked EEG measures of action observation.

We used two established methods for analysing the EEG response of the neurotypical adult human brain to examine the execution and observation of simple motor actions. In one, execution or observation of a button-press in response to a tone caused a decrease in the power at 8-13 Hz ("mu") frequencies. In the other, the response preparation (or the inferred response preparation when these actions are observed in another person) was measured by the averaged response time-locked potentials measured over motor cortex--the "readiness potential". Results indicated that the mirrored readiness potentials were bilaterally generated. We found sex differences for both measures. However, whereas females showed a greater degree of response for the mu power measure during the observation of movement only, males showed larger readiness potentials during both movement performance and observation. Both measures have been claimed to be neural correlates of mirror systems in the brain where processes responsible for actions are linked to the perception of such actions. Such mirror systems have also been implicated in higher order social cognition such as empathy. However, we found no correlations between either of our EEG measures and self-report scales of social cognition. The results imply sex differences in the measured systems and for mirroring that are not directly related to social cognition. We suggest that the results may indicate two dissociable motor mirroring systems that can be measured by induced and evoked EEG.