A multi-lab test of the facial feedback hypothesis by the Many Smiles Collaboration.

Following theories of emotional embodiment, the facial feedback hypothesis suggests that individuals' subjective experiences of emotion are influenced by their facial expressions. However, evidence for this hypothesis has been mixed. We thus formed a global adversarial collaboration and carried out a preregistered, multicentre study designed to specify and test the conditions that should most reliably produce facial feedback effects. Data from n = 3,878 participants spanning 19 countries indicated that a facial mimicry and voluntary facial action task could both amplify and initiate feelings of happiness. However, evidence of facial feedback effects was less conclusive when facial feedback was manipulated unobtrusively via a pen-in-mouth task.

Functional Connectivity in Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder - Systematic Review of Literature and Study on Heterosexual Males.

BACKGROUND: Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder (CSBD) was recently included in ICD-11 as a new impulse control disorder. While this certainly improved the diagnosis of CSBD, the underlying brain mechanisms of the disorder are still poorly understood. Better description of brain functional deficits is required. AIM: Here we investigate patterns of resting-state brain functional connectivity (fc) in a group of CSBD patients compared to a group of healthy controls (HC). METHODS: A MATLAB toolbox named CONN functional connectivity toolbox was employed to study patterns of brain connectivity. Also correlation between fc and severity of CSBD symptoms and other psychological characteristics, assessed with questionnaires, were examined. OUTCOMES: We collected resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 81 heterosexual males: 52 CSBD patients and 29 HC. RESULTS: We found increased fc between left inferior frontal gyrus and right planum temporale and polare, right and left insula, right Supplementary Motor Cortex (SMA), right parietal operculum, and also between left supramarginal gyrus and right planum polare, and between left orbitofrontal cortex and left insula when compared CSBD and HC. The decreased fc was observed between left middle temporal gyrus and bilateral insula and right parietal operculum. No significant correlations between psychological questionnaires assessing CSBD symptoms and resting-state functional connectivity were observed. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Results from our study extend the knowledge of brain mechanisms differentiating CSBD from HC. STRENGTHS & LIMITATIONS: The study was the first large sample study showing 5 distinct functional brain networks differentiating CSBD patients and HC. However, the sample was limited only to heterosexual men, in the future a greater diversity in studied sample and longitudinal studies are needed. Also, the present study examined functional connectivity at the level of regions of interest (ROIs). Future studies could verify these results by examining functional connectivity at the voxel level. CONCLUSION: The identified functional brain networks differentiate CSBD from HC and provide some support for incentive sensitization as mechanism underlying CSBD symptoms. The correlation between psychological assessment (ie, severity of CSBD, depression and anxiety symptoms, level of impulsivity and compulsivity) and resting-state functional connectivity need further examination. Draps M, Adamus S, Wierzba M, et al. Functional Connectivity in Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder - Systematic Review of Literature and Study on Heterosexual Males. J Sex Med 2022;19:1463-1471.

Situational factors shape moral judgements in the trolley dilemma in Eastern, Southern and Western countries in a culturally diverse sample.

The study of moral judgements often centres on moral dilemmas in which options consistent with deontological perspectives (that is, emphasizing rules, individual rights and duties) are in conflict with options consistent with utilitarian judgements (that is, following the greater good based on consequences). Greene et al. (2009) showed that psychological and situational factors (for example, the intent of the agent or the presence of physical contact between the agent and the victim) can play an important role in moral dilemma judgements (for example, the trolley problem). Our knowledge is limited concerning both the universality of these effects outside the United States and the impact of culture on the situational and psychological factors affecting moral judgements. Thus, we empirically tested the universality of the effects of intent and personal force on moral dilemma judgements by replicating the experiments of Greene et al. in 45 countries from all inhabited continents. We found that personal force and its interaction with intention exert influence on moral judgements in the US and Western cultural clusters, replicating and expanding the original findings. Moreover, the personal force effect was present in all cultural clusters, suggesting it is culturally universal. The evidence for the cultural universality of the interaction effect was inconclusive in the Eastern and Southern cultural clusters (depending on exclusion criteria). We found no strong association between collectivism/individualism and moral dilemma judgements.

Parcellation of the human amygdala using recurrence quantification analysis.

Several previous attempts have been made to divide the human amygdala into smaller subregions based on the unique functional properties of the subregions. Although these attempts have provided valuable insight into the functional heterogeneity in this structure, the possibility that spatial patterns of functional characteristics can quickly change over time has rarely been considered in previous studies. In the present study, we explicitly account for the dynamic nature of amygdala activity. Our goal was not only to develop another parcellation method but also to augment existing methods with novel information about amygdala subdivisions. We performed state-specific amygdala parcellation using resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI) data and recurrence quantification analysis (RQA). RsfMRI data from 102 subjects were acquired with a 3T Trio Siemens scanner. We analyzed values of several RQA measures across all voxels in the amygdala and found two amygdala subdivisions, the ventrolateral (VL) and dorsomedial (DM) subdivisions, that differ with respect to one of the RQA measures, Shannon's entropy of diagonal lines. Compared to the DM subdivision, the VL subdivision can be characterized by a higher value of entropy. The results suggest that VL activity is determined and influenced by more brain structures than is DM activity. To assess the biological validity of the obtained subdivisions, we compared them with histological atlases and currently available parcellations based on structural connectivity patterns (Anatomy Probability Maps) and cytoarchitectonic features (SPM Anatomy toolbox). Moreover, we examined their cortical and subcortical functional connectivity. The obtained results are similar to those previously reported on parcellation performed on the basis of structural connectivity patterns. Functional connectivity analysis revealed that the VL subdivision has strong connections to several cortical areas, whereas the DM subdivision is mainly connected to subcortical regions. This finding suggests that the VL subdivision corresponds to the basolateral subdivision of the amygdala (BLA), while the DM subdivision has some characteristics typical of the centromedial amygdala (CMA). The similarity in functional connectivity patterns between the VL subdivision and BLA, as well as between the DM subdivision and CMA, confirm the utility of our parcellation method. Overall, the study shows that parcellation based on BOLD signal dynamics is a powerful tool for identifying distinct functional systems within the amygdala. This tool might be useful for future research on functional brain organization.