Effects of colour-coded compartmentalised syringe trays on anaesthetic drug error detection under cognitive load.

BACKGROUND: Anaesthetic drug administration is complex, and typical clinical environments can entail significant cognitive load. Colour-coded anaesthetic drug trays have shown promising results for error identification and reducing cognitive load. METHODS: We used experimental psychology methods to test the potential benefits of colour-coded compartmentalised trays compared with conventional trays in a simulated visual search task. Effects of cognitive load were also explored through an accompanying working memory-based task. We hypothesised that colour-coded compartmentalised trays would improve drug-detection error, reduce search time, and reduce cognitive load. This comprised a cognitive load memory task presented alongside a visual search task to detect drug errors. RESULTS: All 53 participants completed 36 trials, which were counterbalanced across the two tray types and 18 different vignettes. There were 16 error-present and 20 error-absent trials, with 18 trials presented for each preloaded tray type. Syringe errors were detected more often in the colour-coded trays than in the conventional trays (91% vs 83%, respectively; P=0.006). In signal detection analysis, colour-coded trays resulted in more sensitivity to the error signal (2.28 vs 1.50, respectively; P<0.001). Confidence in response accuracy correlated more strongly with task performance for the colour-coded tray condition, indicating improved metacognitive sensitivity to task performance (r=0.696 vs r=0.447). CONCLUSIONS: Colour coding and compartmentalisation enhanced visual search efficacy of drug trays. This is further evidence that introducing standardised colour-coded trays into operating theatres and procedural suites would add an additional layer of safety for anaesthetic procedures.

Standardised colour-coded compartmentalised syringe trays improve anaesthetic medication visual search and mitigate cognitive load.

BACKGROUND: Anaesthetic procedures are complex and subject to human error. Interventions to alleviate medication errors include organised syringe storage trays, but no standardised methods for drug storage have yet been widely implemented. METHODS: We used experimental psychology methods to explore the potential benefits of colour-coded compartmentalised trays compared with conventional trays in a visual search task. We hypothesised that colour-coded compartmentalised trays would reduce search time and improve error detection for both behavioural and eye-movement responses. We recruited 40 volunteers to identify syringe errors presented in pre-loaded trays for 16 trials in total: 12 error present and four error absent, with eight trials presented for each tray type. RESULTS: Errors were detected faster when presented in the colour-coded compartmentalised trays than in conventional trays (11.1 s vs 13.0 s, respectively; P=0.026). This finding was replicated for correct responses for error-absent trays (13.3 s vs 17.4 s, respectively; P=0.001) and in the verification time of error-absent trays (13.1 s vs 17.2 s, respectively; P=0.001). On error trials, eye-tracking measures revealed more fixations on the drug error for colour-coded compartmentalised trays (5.3 vs 4.3, respectively; P<0.001), whilst more fixations on the drug lists for conventional trays (8.3 vs 7.1, respectively; P=0.010). On error-absent trials, participants spent longer fixating on the conventional trials (7.2 s vs 5.6 s, respectively; P=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Colour-coded compartmentalisation enhanced visual search efficacy of pre-loaded trays. Reduced fixations and fixation times for the loaded tray were shown for colour-coded compartmentalised trays, indicating a reduction in cognitive load. Overall, colour-coded compartmentalised trays were associated with significant performance improvements when compared with conventional trays.

Nurturing compassion in schools: A randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of a Compassionate Mind Training program for teachers.

OBJECTIVES: Schools are experiencing an unprecedented mental health crisis, with teachers reporting high levels of stress and burnout, which has adverse consequences to their mental and physical health. Addressing mental and physical health problems and promoting wellbeing in educational settings is thus a global priority. This study investigated the feasibility and effectiveness of an 8-week Compassionate Mind Training program for Teachers (CMT-T) on indicators of psychological and physiological wellbeing. METHODS: A pragmatic randomized controlled study with a stepped-wedge design was conducted in a sample of 155 public school teachers, who were randomized to CMT-T (n = 80) or a waitlist control group (WLC; n = 75). Participants completed self-report measures of psychological distress, burnout, overall and professional wellbeing, compassion and self-criticism at baseline, post-intervention, and 3-months follow-up. In a sub-sample (CMT-T, n = 51; WLC n = 36) resting heart-rate variability (HRV) was measured at baseline and post-intervention. RESULTS: CMT-T was feasible and effective. Compared to the WLC, the CMT-T group showed improvements in self-compassion, compassion to others, positive affect, and HRV as well as reductions in fears of compassion, anxiety and depression. WLC participants who received CMT-T revealed additional improvements in compassion for others and from others, and satisfaction with professional life, along with decreases in burnout and stress. Teachers scoring higher in self-criticism at baseline revealed greater improvements post CMT-T. At 3-month follow-up improvements were retained. CONCLUSIONS: CMT-T shows promise as a compassion-focused intervention for enhancing compassion, wellbeing and reducing psychophysiological distress in teachers, contributing to nurturing compassionate, prosocial and resilient educational environments. Given its favourable and sustainable effects on wellbeing and psychophysiological distress, and low cost to deliver, broader implementation and dissemination of CMT-T is encouraged.

Influence of the COVID-19 Lockdown on the Physical and Psychosocial Well-being and Work Productivity of Remote Workers: Cross-sectional Correlational Study.

BACKGROUND: Lockdowns imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted the living and working habits of millions of people, with potentially important implications for their physical, mental, and social well-being. OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of this study was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on remote workers who were not directly affected by COVID-19. METHODS: This was a correlational cross-sectional study (with an additional qualitative component) of 184 remote workers surveyed during the first COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom. Standard measures of mental health (Kessler-6 Distress Scale), productivity (Brief Instrument to Assess Workers' Productivity During a Working Day), and physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire) were used, and respondents were further surveyed on changes to their dietary, exercise, smoking, drinking, and socialization habits to produce a well-being change index. RESULTS: The results revealed associations between sedentary behavior and poorer mental health (τ b=0.14) and between poorer mental health and low work productivity (τ b=-0.39). However, both positive and negative lifestyle changes were reported; a self-reported increase in well-being (with respect to diet, exercise, smoking, alcohol consumption, and socialization) since the start of the pandemic was associated with both better mental health (τ b=-0.14) and better work productivity (τ b=0.14). Of note, among respondents without a mental health diagnosis (137/184, 74.4%), we observed rates of moderate (76/137, 55.5%) and severe (17/137, 12.4%) psychological distress, which were markedly higher than those reported in large prepandemic studies; moreover, 70.1% (129/184) of our respondents reported more sedentary behavior, 41% (69/168) increased their alcohol consumption, and 38.6% (71/184) increased their overall food intake. However, 46% (75/163), 44.8% (39/87) and 51.8% (57/110) of respondents reported spending more time walking and engaging in more moderate and vigorous exercise, respectively. Qualitative analysis revealed many positive adaptations to lockdowns (eg, decreased commuting expenses, flexibility) but also a number of structural obstacles to remote working (eg, lack of support and high expectations from employers, childcare duties). CONCLUSIONS: These findings may be of practical importance for policy makers and employers in a world in which work involves long-term remote or hybrid employment arrangements; strategies to promote more sustainable remote working are discussed.

A Systematic Review of Self-Report Measures of Negative Self-Referential Emotions Developed for Non-Clinical Child and Adolescent Samples.

The crisis in child and adolescent mental health and wellbeing has prompted the development of school and community-based interventions to tackle negative emotions towards the self. Providing an evidence-base for such interventions is therefore a priority for policy makers and practitioners. This paper presents the first systematic review of self-referential and self-report measures of negative emotions for use with non-clinical child/adolescent populations, and evaluation of their psychometric properties. A systematic search of electronic databases and grey literature was conducted. Peer reviewed articles that introduced a new measure or included psychometric evaluation of a negative self-referential emotion for children and/or adolescents were identified. Study characteristics were extracted, and psychometric properties rated using internationally recognised quality criteria. Initially, 98 measures designed for evaluating children and adolescents' negative self-referential emotions were found. Measures were primarily excluded if they were intended for clinical diagnosis or did not focus on self-referential emotions. The remaining eight measures (Brief Shame and Guilt Questionnaire; Self-Consciousness Scale-Children; Shame and Guilt Scale for Adolescents; Test of Self-Conscious Affect- Adolescents; The Child-Adolescent Perfectionism Scale [CAPS]; Child and Adolescent Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale Revised; Children Automatic Thoughts Scale [CATS]; Negative Affect Self-Statement Questionnaire) were organised into domains consisting of self-conscious emotions, self-oriented perfectionism and negative self-cognitions. Psychometric quality ratings identified the CAPS (Flett et al. in J Psychoeduc Assess 34:634-652, 2016) and the CATS (Schniering and Rapee in Behav Res Ther 40:1091-1109, 2002) as having the strongest psychometric qualities. However, all reviewed measures lacked full evaluation of essential psychometric properties. Our review revealed a paucity of self-referential emotional measures suitable for assessing adverse negative self-referential emotions in general child and adolescent populations. Measures suitable for use in non-clinical samples were identified, but these require further evaluation and/or new scale developments are needed. The psychometric findings and methodological issues identified will guide researchers and practitioners to make evidence-based decisions in order to select optimal measures.

Interpretation Biases in Pain: Validation of Two New Stimulus Sets.

Adults with chronic pain interpret ambiguous information in a pain and illness related fashion. However, limitations have been highlighted with traditional experimental paradigms used to measure interpretation biases. Whilst ambiguous scenarios have been developed to measure interpretation biases in adolescents with pain, no scenario sets exist for use with adults. Therefore, the present study: (i) sought to validate a range of ambiguous scenarios suitable for measuring interpretation biases in adults, whilst also allowing for two response formats (forced-choice and free response); and (ii) investigate paradigm efficacy, by assessing the effects of recent pain experiences on task responding. A novel ambiguous scenarios task was administered to adults (N = 241). Participants were presented with 62 ambiguous scenarios comprising 42 that could be interpreted in a pain/pain-illness or non-pain/non-pain illness manner: and 20 control scenarios. Participants generated their own solutions to each scenario (Word Generation Task), then rated how likely they would be to use two researcher-generated solutions to complete each scenario (Likelihood Ratings Task). Participants also rated their subjective experiences of pain in the last 3 months. Tests of reliability, including inter-rater agreement and internal consistency, produced two ambiguous scenario stimulus sets containing 18 and 20 scenarios, respectively. Further analyses revealed adults who reported more recent pain experiences were more likely to endorse the pain/pain-illness solutions in the Likelihood Ratings Task. This study provides two new stimulus sets for use with adults (including control items) in pain research and/or interventions. Results also provide evidence for a negative endorsement bias in adults.

The Visual Search Strategies Underpinning Effective Observational Analysis in the Coaching of Climbing Movement.

Despite the importance of effective observational analysis in coaching the technical aspects of climbing performance, limited research informs this aspect of climbing coach education. Thus, the purpose of the present research was to explore the feasibility and the utility of a novel methodology, combining eye tracking technology and cued retrospective think-aloud (RTA), to capture the cognitive-perceptual mechanisms that underpin the visual search behaviors of climbing coaches. An analysis of gaze data revealed that expert climbing coaches demonstrate fewer fixations of greater duration and fixate on distinctly different areas of the visual display than their novice counterparts. Cued RTA further demonstrated differences in the cognitive-perceptual mechanisms underpinning these visual search strategies, with expert coaches being more cognizant of their visual search strategy. To expand, the gaze behavior of expert climbing coaches was underpinned by hierarchical and complex knowledge structures relating to the principles of climbing movement. This enabled the expert coaches to actively focus on the most relevant aspects of a climber's performance for analysis. The findings demonstrate the utility of combining eye tracking and cued RTA interviewing as a new, efficient methodology of capturing the cognitive-perceptual processes of climbing coaches to inform coaching education/strategies.

Can compassion, happiness and sympathetic concern be differentiated on the basis of facial expression?

Recent research has demonstrated the importance of positive emotions, and especially compassion, for well-being. Via two investigations, we set out to determine if facial expressions of happiness, "kind" compassion and sympathetic concern can be distinguished, given limitations of previous research. In investigation one, prototypes of the three expressions were analysed for similarities and differences using the facial action coding system (FACS) by two certified independent coders. Results established that each expression comprised distinct FACS units. Thus, in investigation 2, a new photographic stimulus set was developed using a gender/racially balanced group of actors to pose these expressions of "kind" compassion, happiness, sympathetic concern, and the face in a relaxed/neutral pose. 75 participants were then asked to name the FACS generated expressions using not only forced categorical quantitative ratings but, importantly, free response. Results revealed that kind compassionate facial expressions: (i) engendered words associated with contented and affiliative emotions (although, interestingly, not the word "kind"); (ii) were labelled as compassionate significantly more often than any of the other emotional expressions; but (iii) in common with happiness expressions, engendered happiness word groupings and ratings. Findings have implications for understandings of positive emotions, including specificity of expressions and their veridicality.

An international study of analgesic dependence among people with pain in the general population.

BACKGROUND: Overuse of and dependence on analgesics (including opioids and other pain medications) are major international public health problems. OBJECTIVE: To identify influences on analgesic dependence among analgesic users in the general populations of different countries. METHODS: Online surveys of 1,283 people with pain in the UK, USA, Australia, Germany, Egypt and China/Macau/Hong Kong. RESULTS: Levels of analgesic overuse and dependence were highest in Egypt and lowest in China/Macau/Hong Kong. In every country except Egypt, frequency of pain and frequency of analgesic use were correlated with analgesic dependence, and scores on the Need subscale of the Pain Medication Attitudes Questionnaire (PMAQ) independently predicted analgesic dependence. In the UK, USA, Australia, and Germany, frequency of analgesic use mediated the effects of pain frequency or intensity, and Need scores mediated the effects of frequency of analgesic use. In Egypt, more recent pain, analgesic overuse, and the Emotion and Solicitude subscales of the Survey of Pain Attitudes independently predicted analgesic dependence. CONCLUSIONS: Across multiple countries, the impact of pain on analgesic dependence was mediated by frequency of analgesic use rather than overuse or abuse, and self-reported need for analgesics was the strongest independent predictor of dependence. Asking people directly about their feelings of needing analgesics could therefore identify those who could be helped to use analgesics less frequently, which should reduce their risk of dependence.

The physiological and emotional effects of touch: Assessing a hand-massage intervention with high self-critics.

Research demonstrates that highly self-critical individuals can respond negatively to the initial introduction of a range of therapeutic interventions. Yet touch as a form of therapeutic intervention in self-critical individuals has received limited prior investigation, despite documentation of its beneficial effects for well-being. Using the Forms of Self-Criticism/Self-Reassuring Scale, 15 high- and 14 low- self-critical individuals (from a sample of 139 females) were recruited to assess how self-criticism impacts upon a single instance of focused touch. All participants took part in a hand massage- and haptic control- intervention. Salivary cortisol and alpha amylase, as well as questionnaire measures of emotional responding were taken before and after the interventions. Following hand massage, analyses revealed cortisol decreased significantly across all participants; and that significant changes in emotional responding reflected well-being improvements across all participants. Supplementary analyses further revealed decreased alpha amylase responding to hand massage as compared to a compassion-focused intervention in the same (highly self-critical) individuals. Taken together, the physiological and emotional data indicate high self-critical individuals responded in a comparable manner to low self-critical individuals to a single instance of hand massage. This highlights that focused touch may be beneficial when first engaging highly self-critical individuals with specific interventions.

Development and validation of a short-form Pain Medication Attitudes Questionnaire (PMAQ-14).

Attitudes to pain medication are important aspects of adjustment to chronic pain. They are measured by the 47-item Pain Medication Attitudes Questionnaire (PMAQ). To measure those attitudes more quickly and easily, we developed and evaluated a 14-item PMAQ using data from 3 separate surveys of people with pain in the general population. In survey 1, participants (n = 295) completed the 47-item PMAQ and measures of pain, analgesic use, analgesic dependence, and attitudes to self-medication. For each of the 7 PMAQ scales, the 2 items that best preserved the content of the full parent scales were identified using correlation and regression. The 2-item and full parent scales had very similar relationships with other measures, indicating that validity had been maintained. The resulting 14-item PMAQ was then completed by participants in survey 2 (n = 241) and survey 3 (n = 147), along with the same other measures as in survey 1. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the 14-item PMAQ retained the 7-factor structure of the 47-item version, and correlations with other measures showed that it retained the validity of the 47-item version. The PMAQ scale Need was the most significant independent predictor of analgesic dependence in each of 4 separate multiple regression analyses. This short form of the PMAQ allows attitudes to pain medications to be measured in a valid and more efficient way.

Investigating the relationship between consultation length and patient experience: a cross-sectional study in primary care.

BACKGROUND: Longer consultations in primary care have been linked with better quality of care and improved health-related outcomes. However, there is little evidence of any potential association between consultation length and patient experience. AIM: To examine the relationship between consultation length and patient-reported communication, trust and confidence in the doctor, and overall satisfaction. DESIGN AND SETTING: Analysis of 440 videorecorded consultations and associated patient experience questionnaires from 13 primary care practices in England. METHOD: Patients attending a face-to-face consultation with participating GPs consented to having their consultations videoed and completed a questionnaire. Consultation length was calculated from the videorecording. Linear regression (adjusting for patient and doctor demographics) was used to investigate associations between patient experience (overall communication, trust and confidence, and overall satisfaction) and consultation length. RESULTS: There was no evidence that consultation length was associated with any of the three measures of patient experience (P >0.3 for all). Adjusted changes on a 0-100 scale per additional minute of consultation were: communication score 0.02 (95% confidence interval [CI] = -0.20 to 0.25), trust and confidence in the doctor 0.07 (95% CI = -0.27 to 0.41), and satisfaction -0.14 (95% CI = -0.46 to 0.18). CONCLUSION: The authors found no association between patient experience measures of communication and consultation length, and patients may sometimes report good experiences from very short consultations. However, longer consultations may be required to achieve clinical effectiveness and patient safety: aspects also important for achieving high quality of care. Future research should continue to study the benefits of longer consultations, particularly for patients with complex multiple conditions.

Attentional biases towards familiar and unfamiliar foods in children. The role of food neophobia.

Familiarity of food stimuli is one factor that has been proposed to explain food preferences and food neophobia in children, with some research suggesting that food neophobia (and familiarity) is at first a predominant of the visual domain. Considering visual attentional biases are a key factor implicated in a majority of fear-related phobias/anxieties, the purpose of this research was to investigate attentional biases to familiar and unfamiliar fruit and vegetables in 8 to 11 year old children with differing levels of food neophobia. To this end, 70 primary aged children completed a visual-probe task measuring attentional biases towards familiar and unfamiliar fruit/vegetables, as well as the food neophobia, general neophobia and willingness to try self-report measures. Results revealed that as an undifferentiated population all children appeared to demonstrate an attentional bias towards the unfamiliar fruit and vegetable stimuli. However, when considering food neophobia, this bias was significantly exaggerated for children self-reporting high food neophobia and negligible for children self-reporting low food neophobia. In addition, willingness to try the food stimuli was inversely correlated with attentional bias towards the unfamiliar fruits/vegetables. Our results demonstrate that visual aspects of food stimuli (e.g. familiarity) play an important role in childhood food neophobia. This study provides the first empirical test of recent theory/models of food neophobia (e.g. Brown & Harris, 2012). Findings are discussed in light of these models and related anxiety models, along with implications concerning the treatment of childhood food neophobia.

Do therapeutic imagery practices affect physiological and emotional indicators of threat in high self-critics?

OBJECTIVES: Imagery is known to be a powerful means of stimulating various physiological processes and is increasingly used within standard psychological therapies. Compassion-focused imagery (CFI) has been used to stimulate affiliative emotion in people with mental health problems. However, evidence suggests that self-critical individuals may have particular difficulties in this domain with single trials. The aim of the present study was to further investigate the role of self-criticism in responsiveness to CFI by specifically pre-selecting participants based on trait self-criticism. DESIGN: Using the Forms of Self-Criticism/Self-Reassuring Scale, 29 individuals from a total sample of 139 were pre-selected to determine how self-criticism impacts upon an initial instance of imagery. METHODS: All participants took part in three activities: a control imagery intervention (useable data N = 25), a standard CFI intervention (useable data N = 25), and a non-intervention control (useable data N = 24). Physiological measurements (alpha amylase) as well as questionnaire measures of emotional responding (i.e., the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, the Types of Positive Affect Scale, and the State Adult Attachment Scale) were taken before and after the different interventions. RESULTS: Following both imagery interventions, repeated measures analyses revealed that alpha amylase increased significantly for high self-critics compared with low self-critics. High self-critics (HSC) also reported greater insecurity on entering the imagery session and more negative CFI experiences compared with low self-critics. CONCLUSIONS: Data demonstrate that HSC respond negatively to imagery interventions in a single trial. This highlights that imagery focused therapies (e.g., CFI) need interventions that manage fears, blocks, and resistances to the techniques, particularly in HSC. PRACTITIONER POINTS: An initial instance of imagery (e.g., CFI) can be frightening for people who have a tendency to be self-critical. This research provides examples of physiological and emotional responses to imagery type therapies in high and low self-critics, and associated clinical implications. Therapists may find it helpful to be mindful that when introducing imagery based therapies, highly self-critical patients need interventions that manage fears, blocks, and resistances to the techniques.

Emotion based attentional priority for storage in visual short-term memory.

A plethora of research demonstrates that the processing of emotional faces is prioritised over non-emotive stimuli when cognitive resources are limited (this is known as 'emotional superiority'). However, there is debate as to whether competition for processing resources results in emotional superiority per se, or more specifically, threat superiority. Therefore, to investigate prioritisation of emotional stimuli for storage in visual short-term memory (VSTM), we devised an original VSTM report procedure using schematic (angry, happy, neutral) faces in which processing competition was manipulated. In Experiment 1, display exposure time was manipulated to create competition between stimuli. Participants (n = 20) had to recall a probed stimulus from a set size of four under high (150 ms array exposure duration) and low (400 ms array exposure duration) perceptual processing competition. For the high competition condition (i.e. 150 ms exposure), results revealed an emotional superiority effect per se. In Experiment 2 (n = 20), we increased competition by manipulating set size (three versus five stimuli), whilst maintaining a constrained array exposure duration of 150 ms. Here, for the five-stimulus set size (i.e. maximal competition) only threat superiority emerged. These findings demonstrate attentional prioritisation for storage in VSTM for emotional faces. We argue that task demands modulated the availability of processing resources and consequently the relative magnitude of the emotional/threat superiority effect, with only threatening stimuli prioritised for storage in VSTM under more demanding processing conditions. Our results are discussed in light of models and theories of visual selection, and not only combine the two strands of research (i.e. visual selection and emotion), but highlight a critical factor in the processing of emotional stimuli is availability of processing resources, which is further constrained by task demands.

Predictors of painkiller dependence among people with pain in the general population.

OBJECTIVES: Self-medication with painkillers is widespread and increasing, and evidence about influences on painkiller dependence is needed to inform efforts to prevent and treat problem painkiller use. DESIGN: Online questionnaire survey. PARTICIPANTS: People in the general population who had pain and used painkillers in the last month (N = 112). MEASUREMENTS: Pain frequency and intensity, use of over-the-counter and prescription painkillers, risk of substance abuse (Screener and Opioid Assessment for Patients with Pain [SOAPP] scale), depression, anxiety, stress, alexithymia, pain catastrophizing, pain anxiety, pain self-efficacy, pain acceptance, mindfulness, self-compassion, and painkiller dependence (Leeds Dependence Questionnaire). RESULTS: In multiple regression, the independent predictors of painkiller dependence were prescription painkiller use (ß 0.21), SOAPP score (ß 0.31), and pain acceptance (ß -0.29). Prescription painkiller use mediated the influence of pain intensity. Alexithymia, anxiety, and pain acceptance all moderated the influence of pain. CONCLUSIONS: The people most at risk of developing painkiller dependence are those who use prescription painkillers more frequently, who have a prior history of substance-related problems more generally, and who are less accepting of pain. Based on these findings, a preliminary model is presented with three types of influence on the development of painkiller dependence: 1) pain leading to painkiller use, 2) risk factors for substance-related problems irrespective of pain, and 3) psychological factors related to pain. The model could guide further research among the general population and high-risk groups, and acceptance-based interventions could be adapted and evaluated as methods to prevent and treat painkiller dependence.

Early gamma-band activity as a function of threat processing in the extrastriate visual cortex.

Various neuroimaging investigations have revealed that perception of emotional pictures is associated with greater visual cortex activity than their neutral counterparts. It has further been proposed that threat-related information is rapidly processed, suggesting that the modulation of visual cortex activity should occur at an early stage. Additional studies have demonstrated that oscillatory activity in the gamma band range (40­100 Hz) is associated with threat processing. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used to investigate such activity during perception of task-irrelevant, threat-related versus neutral facial expressions. Our results demonstrated a bilateral reduction in gamma band activity for expressions of threat, specifically anger, compared with neutral faces in extrastriate visual cortex (BA 18) within 50­250 ms of stimulus onset. These results suggest that gamma activity in visual cortex may play a role in affective modulation of visual processing, in particular with the perception of threat cues.

Temporal processing of emotional stimuli: the capture and release of attention by angry faces.

Neuroimaging data suggest that emotional information, especially threatening faces, automatically captures attention and receives rapid processing. While this is consistent with the majority of behavioral data, behavioral studies of the attentional blink (AB) additionally reveal that aversive emotional first target (T1) stimuli are associated with prolonged attentional engagement or "dwell" time. One explanation for this difference is that few AB studies have utilized manipulations of facial emotion as the T1. To address this, schematic faces varying in expression (neutral, angry, happy) served as the T1 in the current research. Results revealed that the blink associated with an angry T1 face was, primarily, of greater magnitude than that associated with either a neutral or happy T1 face, and also that initial recovery from this processing bias was faster following angry, compared with happy, T1 faces. The current data therefore provide important information regarding the time-course of attentional capture by angry faces: Angry faces are associated with both the rapid capture and rapid release of attention.

Having a word with yourself: neural correlates of self-criticism and self-reassurance.

Self-criticism is strongly correlated with a range of psychopathologies, such as depression, eating disorders and anxiety. In contrast, self-reassurance is inversely associated with such psychopathologies. Despite the importance of self-judgements and evaluations, little is known about the neurophysiology of these internal processes. The current study therefore used a novel fMRI task to investigate the neuronal correlates of self-criticism and self-reassurance. Participants were presented statements describing two types of scenario, with the instruction to either imagine being self-critical or self-reassuring in that situation. One scenario type focused on a personal setback, mistake or failure, which would elicit negative emotions, whilst the second was of a matched neutral event. Self-criticism was associated with activity in lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) regions and dorsal anterior cingulate (dAC), therefore linking self-critical thinking to error processing and resolution, and also behavioural inhibition. Self-reassurance was associated with left temporal pole and insula activation, suggesting that efforts to be self-reassuring engage similar regions to expressing compassion and empathy towards others. Additionally, we found a dorsal/ventral PFC divide between an individual's tendency to be self-critical or self-reassuring. Using multiple regression analyses, dorsolateral PFC activity was positively correlated with high levels of self-criticism (assessed via self-report measure), suggesting greater error processing and behavioural inhibition in such individuals. Ventrolateral PFC activity was positively correlated with high self-reassurance. Our findings may have implications for the neural basis of a range of mood disorders that are characterised by a preoccupation with personal mistakes and failures, and a self-critical response to such events.