Trait-related neural basis of attentional bias to emotions: a tDCS study.

Negative emotional stimuli can strongly bias attention, particularly in individuals with high levels of dispositional negative affect (NA). The current study investigated whether the prefrontal cortex (PFC), a brain region involved in the top-down regulation of emotional processing, plays a different role in controlling attention to emotions, depending on the individual NA. Sham and anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) was delivered over the right or left PFC while assessing attentional bias (AB) to emotions (happy, angry, sad faces) in individuals with higher and lower trait NA. When tDCS was inactive (sham), individuals with higher trait NA showed AB toward angry and away from sad faces, while individuals with lower trait NA presented with no AB. Right anodal-tDCS abolished the AB toward angry faces and induced an AB toward sad faces in individuals with higher trait NA, while no effect was found in individuals with lower trait NA. Left anodal-tDCS abolished any AB in individuals with higher trait NA and induced an AB away from happy faces in individuals with lower trait NA. These findings confirm a critical role of trait NA in AB to emotions and demonstrate a different involvement of PFC in emotional processing based on dispositional affect.

Attentional bias to emotions after prolonged endurance exercise is modulated by age.

Physical exercise has an impact in biasing attention to positive or negative emotional stimuli. While attentional shift to emotions varies with age, evidence is lacking on the effect of prolonged endurance exercise on age-related attentional bias to emotions. This study aims at filling this knowledge gap, by applying a dot-probe task to measure attentional bias to emotions before and after a half-marathon in healthy participants of different ages (age range 21-65 years). State anxiety, positive and negative affect were also assessed. Younger adults showed attentional bias towards anger and away from sadness after the race, supporting the hypothesis of the congruency between the high-arousing task and the associated emotion (anger) in the modulation of attention. Conversely, older adults showed a bias away from anger, likely representing an attempt to maintain an optimal emotional level after the competition. This study sheds new light on how age impacts on emotional mechanisms involved in prolonged endurance exercise and suggests that regulatory processes in response to stress may be involved differently, depending on age.

Human memory retrieval and inhibitory control in the brain: beyond correlational evidence.

Retrieving information from long-term memory can result in the episodic forgetting of related material. One influential account states that this retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) phenomenon reflects inhibitory mechanisms called into play to decrease retrieval competition. Recent neuroimaging studies suggested that the prefrontal cortex, which is critically engaged in inhibitory processing, is also involved in retrieval competition situations. Here, we used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to address whether inhibitory processes could be causally linked to RIF. tDCS was administered over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during the retrieval-practice phase in a standard retrieval-practice paradigm. Sixty human participants were randomly assigned to anodal, cathodal, or sham-control groups. The groups showed comparable benefits for practiced items. In contrast, unlike both the sham and anodal groups, the cathodal group exhibited no RIF. This pattern is interpreted as evidence for a causal role of inhibitory mechanisms in episodic retrieval and forgetting.

Assessing the effects of tDCS over a delayed response inhibition task by targeting the right inferior frontal gyrus and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Many situations in our everyday life call for a mechanism deputed to outright stop an ongoing course of action. This behavioral inhibition ability, known as response stopping, is often impaired in psychiatric conditions characterized by impulsivity and poor inhibitory control. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has recently been proposed as a tool for modulating response stopping in such clinical populations, and previous studies in healthy humans have already shown that this noninvasive brain stimulation technique is effectively able to improve response stopping, as measured in a stop-signal task (SST) administered immediately after the stimulation. So far, the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) has been the main focus of these attempts to modulate response stopping by the means of noninvasive brain stimulation. However, other cortical areas such as the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC) have been implicated in inhibitory control with other paradigms. In order to provide new insight about the involvement of these areas in response stopping, in the present study, tDCS was delivered to 115 healthy subjects, using five stimulation setups that differed in terms of target area (rIFG or rDLPFC) and polarity of stimulation (anodal, cathodal, or sham). The SST was performed 15 min after the offset of the stimulation. Consistently with previous studies, only anodal stimulation over rIFG induced a reliable, although weak, improvement in the SST, which was specific for response stopping, as it was not mirrored in more general reaction time measures.

Functional neurological disorder and placebo and nocebo effects: shared mechanisms.

Functional neurological disorder (FND) is characterized by neurological symptoms that cannot be explained by a structural neurological cause. Among the different aetiological models that have been proposed for FND, of note is the Bayesian predictive coding model, which posits that perception relies on top-down cortical predictions (priors) to infer the source of incoming sensory information. This model can also apply to non-pathological experiences, such as placebo and nocebo effects, wherein sensory information is shaped by prior expectations and learning. To date, most studies of the relationship between placebo and nocebo effects and FND have focused on the use of placebos for diagnosis and treatment of FND. Here, we propose that this relationship might go beyond diagnosis and therapy. We develop a framework in which shared cognitive, personality and neuroanatomical factors justify the consideration of a deeper link between FND and placebo and nocebo effects. This new perspective might offer guidance for clarification of the pathogenesis of FND and for the identification of potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

The Role of Expectation and Beliefs on the Effects of Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation.

Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques are used in clinical and cognitive neuroscience to induce a mild magnetic or electric field in the brain to modulate behavior and cortical activation. Despite the great body of literature demonstrating promising results, unexpected or even paradoxical outcomes are sometimes observed. This might be due either to technical and methodological issues (e.g., stimulation parameters, stimulated brain area), or to participants' expectations and beliefs before and during the stimulation sessions. In this narrative review, we present some studies showing that placebo and nocebo effects, associated with positive and negative expectations, respectively, could be present in NIBS trials, both in experimental and in clinical settings. The lack of systematic evaluation of subjective expectations and beliefs before and after stimulation could represent a caveat that overshadows the potential contribution of placebo and nocebo effects in the outcome of NIBS trials.

Vínculo mãe-bebê: acolhimento e intervenções no âmbito institucional, combate aos desamparos da maternidade / Mother-baby bond: reception and interventions in the institutional sphere, combating maternity abandonment / Vínculo madre bebé: acogida e intervenciones en el ámbito institucional, combate a los desamparos de la maternidad

As transformações que a maternidade provoca na mulher, sejam elas psíquicas ou biológicas, pode ser uma vivência marcante e impactante para a gestação. Segundo Melanie Klein, o psiquismo é um funcionamento dinâmico o qual se inicia com o nascimento e finda-se com a morte do indivíduo. Na Psicologia Hospitalar a escuta e o apoio emocional a essas mães são fundamentais para abrandar os sofrimentos e as angústias do pré ou pós-parto. O presente trabalho faz parte das atividades desenvolvidas no estágio obrigatório de Psicologia e Saúde. Pretendeu-se caracterizar o desenvolvimento da afetividade entre mães e seus bebês nos primeiros momentos pós-parto, o pensar e o sentir dessas puérperas, suas perspectivas e possíveis prevenções contraceptivas. O trabalho foi desenvolvido na maternidade da Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Paranaíba-Mato Grosso do Sul. Utilizou-se como instrumentos observação clínica, escuta e roteiro de entrevista semidirigido. As participantes foram 23 mulheres entre puérperas e gestantes. O estudo buscou identificar os laços de afetividade e a qualidade vincular no período perinatal. Os resultados principais sugerem que o acolhimento familiar no período puerperal tem uma incidência de vínculo simbiótico alimentado pela influência da família nos cuidados com a mãe e o bebê. Constata-se ainda que a baixa escolaridade e a falta de acesso a informações sobre contraceptivos contribuem para uma prole numerosa, apontando a necessidade de promover maior acesso as informações dos serviços de saúde da mulher oferecidos pela política pública da cidade.

The changes that motherhood makes in women whatever they are psychic or biological, can be a remarkable and impacting experience for gestation. According to Melanie Klein, the psyche is a dynamic functioning that begins with the birth and ends with the death of the individual. In Hospital Psychology the listening and emotional support to these mothers are the key to slow the sufferings and the anxieties of the pre or postpartum. The present work is part of the activities developed in the obligatory stage of Psychology and Health. It was intended to characterize the development of the affectivity between mothers and their babies in the first moments postpartum, the thinking and the feelings of this puerperal, their perspectives and possible contraceptive preventions. The study was carried out in the maternity ward Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Paranaíba - Mato Grosso do Sul. Clinical observation, listening and semi-guided interviews were used as instruments. The participants were 23 women between puerperal and pregnant women. The study sought to identify the ties of affectivity and quality linked in the puerperal period. The main results suggest that family care in the puerperal period has an incidence of symbiotic relationship fueled by the influence of the family in the care of the mother and the baby. Low schooling and lack of access to information on contraception contribute to a larger number of offspring, pointing to the need to promote greater access to information on women's health services offered by the city's public policy.

Las transformaciones que la maternidad provoca en la mujer ya sean psíquicas o biológicas, puede ser una vivencia marcante e impactante para la gestación. Según Melanie Klein, el psiquismo es un funcionamiento dinámico que se inicia con el nacimiento y se termina con la muerte del individuo. En la Psicología Hospitalaria la escucha y el apoyo emocional a esas madres son fundamentales para ralentizar los sufrimientos y las angustias del pre o post-parto. El presente trabajo forma parte de las actividades desarrolladas en el estadio obligatorio de Psicología y Salud. Se pretendió caracterizar el desarrollo de la afectividad entre madres y sus bebés en los primeros momentos posparto, el pensar y el sentir de esas puérperas, sus perspectivas y posibles prevenciones contraceptivas. El trabajo fue desarrollado en la maternidad de un hospital en la costa este de Mato Grosso del Sur. Se utilizó como instrumentos observación clínica, escucha y guión de entrevista semidirigido. Las participantes fueron 23 mujeres entre puérperas y gestantes. El estudio buscó identificar los lazos de afectividad y la calidad vinculante en el período perinatal. Los resultados principales sugieren que la acogida familiar en el período puerperal tiene una incidencia de vinculo simbiótico alimentado por la influencia de la família en los cuidados con la madre y el bebe. Se constata además que la baja escolaridad y la falta acceso a informaciones sobre contracepción y contribuye a una prole más numerosa, apuntando a la necesidad de promover un acceso mayor a las informaciones de los servicios de salud de la mujer ofrecidos por la política pública de la ciudad.