Patterns of emotion-network dynamics are orthogonal to mood disorder status: An experience sampling investigation.

Individuals differ markedly in how they experience the ebb and flow of emotions. In this study, we used daily experience sampling to examine whether these differences reflect the nature and presence of mood disorders or whether they can better be characterized as distinct dynamic emotion profiles that cut-across diagnostic boundaries. We followed 105 individuals in 2019-2020 with diagnoses of major depression, remitted major depression, bipolar disorder, or no history of disorder, over 14 days (n = 6,543 experience-sampling assessments). We applied group iterative multiple model estimation, using both diagnosis-based and data-driven methods to investigate similarities in unfolding within-person emotion-network time-courses. Results did not support diagnosis-based subgroupings but rather revealed two significant data-driven subgroups based on dynamic emotion patterns. These data-driven subgroups did not significantly differ in terms of clinical features or demographics, but did differ on key emotion metrics-instability, granularity, and inertia. These data-driven subgroupings, agnostic to diagnostic status, provide insights into the nature of idiographic emotion-network dynamics that cut-across clinical diagnostic divisions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Technology and Reflection: Mood and Memory Mechanisms for Well-Being.

BACKGROUND: We report a psychologically motivated intervention to explore Technology Mediated Reflection (TMR), the process of systematically reviewing rich digital records of past personal experiences. Although TMR benefits well-being, and is increasingly being deployed, we know little about how one's mood when using TMR influences these benefits. We use theories of memory and emotion-regulation to motivate hypotheses about the relationship between reflection, mood, and well-being when using technology. We test these hypotheses in a large-scale month long real world deployment using a web-based application, MoodAdaptor. MoodAdaptor prompted participants to reflect on positive or negative memories depending on current mood. METHODS: We evaluated how mood and memory interact during written reflection and measured effects on well-being. We analyzed qualitative and quantitative data from 128 participants who generated 11157 mood evaluations, 5051 logfiles, 256 surveys, and 20 interviews. RESULTS: TMR regulated emotion; when participants reflected on memories with valences opposite to their current mood, their mood became more neutral. However this did not impact overall well-being. Our findings also clarify underlying TMR mechanisms. Moods and memories competed with each other; when positive moods prevailed over negative memories, people demonstrated classic mechanisms shown in prior work to influence well-being. When negative moods prevailed over positive memories, memories became negatively tainted. CONCLUSIONS: Our results have implications for new well-being interventions and technologies that capitalize on the interconnectedness of memory and emotion.

Navigating through digital folders uses the same brain structures as real world navigation.

Efficient storage and retrieval of digital data is the focus of much commercial and academic attention. With personal computers, there are two main ways to retrieve files: hierarchical navigation and query-based search. In navigation, users move down their virtual folder hierarchy until they reach the folder in which the target item is stored. When searching, users first generate a query specifying some property of the target file (e.g., a word it contains), and then select the relevant file when the search engine returns a set of results. Despite advances in search technology, users prefer retrieving files using virtual folder navigation, rather than the more flexible query-based search. Using fMRI we provide an explanation for this phenomenon by demonstrating that folder navigation results in activation of the posterior limbic (including the retrosplenial cortex) and parahippocampal regions similar to that previously observed during real-world navigation in both animals and humans. In contrast, search activates the left inferior frontal gyrus, commonly observed in linguistic processing. We suggest that the preference for navigation may be due to the triggering of automatic object finding routines and lower dependence on linguistic processing. We conclude with suggestions for future computer systems design.

Pharmacological inhibition of a microRNA family in nonhuman primates by a seed-targeting 8-mer antimiR.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate many aspects of human biology. They target mRNAs for translational repression or degradation through base pairing with 3' untranslated regions, primarily via seed sequences (nucleotides 2 to 8 in the mature miRNA sequence). A number of individual miRNAs and miRNA families share seed sequences and targets, but differ in the sequences outside of the seed. miRNAs have been implicated in the etiology of a wide variety of human diseases and therefore represent promising therapeutic targets. However, potential redundancy of different miRNAs sharing the same seed sequence and the challenge of simultaneously targeting miRNAs that differ significantly in nonseed sequences complicate therapeutic targeting approaches. We recently demonstrated effective inhibition of entire miRNA families using seed-targeting 8-mer locked nucleic acid (LNA)-modified antimiRs in short-term experiments in mammalian cells and in mice. However, the long-term efficacy and safety of this approach in higher organisms, such as humans and nonhuman primates, have not been determined. We show that pharmacological inhibition of the miR-33 family, key regulators of cholesterol/lipid homeostasis, by a subcutaneously delivered 8-mer LNA-modified antimiR in obese and insulin-resistant nonhuman primates results in derepression of miR-33 targets, such as ABCA1, increases circulating high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and is well tolerated over 108 days of treatment. These findings demonstrate the efficacy and safety of an 8-mer LNA-antimiR against an miRNA family in a nonhuman primate metabolic disease model, suggesting that this could be a feasible approach for therapeutic targeting of miRNA families sharing the same seed sequence in human diseases.

Quantitative plasma biomarker analysis in HDI exposure assessment.

Quantification of amines in biological samples is important for evaluating occupational exposure to diisocyanates. In this study, we describe the quantification of 1,6-hexamethylene diamine (HDA) levels in hydrolyzed plasma of 46 spray painters applying 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI)-containing paint in vehicle repair shops collected during repeated visits to their workplace and their relationship with dermal and inhalation exposure to HDI monomer. HDA was detected in 76% of plasma samples, as heptafluorobutyryl derivatives, and the range of HDA concentrations was < or =0.02-0.92 microg l(-1). After log-transformation of the data, the correlation between plasma HDA levels and HDI inhalation exposure measured on the same workday was low (N = 108, r = 0.22, P = 0.026) compared with the correlation between plasma HDA levels and inhalation exposure occurring approximately 20 to 60 days before blood collection (N = 29, r = 0.57, P = 0.0014). The correlation between plasma HDA levels and HDI dermal exposure measured on the same workday, although statistically significant, was low (N = 108, r = 0.22, P = 0.040) while the correlation between HDA and dermal exposure occurring approximately 20 to 60 days before blood collection was slightly improved (N = 29, r = 0.36, P = 0.053). We evaluated various workplace factors and controls (i.e. location, personal protective equipment use and paint booth type) as modifiers of plasma HDA levels. Workers using a downdraft-ventilated booth had significantly lower plasma HDA levels relative to semi-downdraft and crossdraft booth types (P = 0.0108); this trend was comparable to HDI inhalation and dermal exposure levels stratified by booth type. These findings indicate that HDA concentration in hydrolyzed plasma may be used as a biomarker of cumulative inhalation and dermal exposure to HDI and for investigating the effectiveness of exposure controls in the workplace.