phuEGO: A Network-Based Method to Reconstruct Active Signaling Pathways From Phosphoproteomics Datasets.

Signaling networks are critical for virtually all cell functions. Our current knowledge of cell signaling has been summarized in signaling pathway databases, which, while useful, are highly biased toward well-studied processes, and do not capture context specific network wiring or pathway cross-talk. Mass spectrometry-based phosphoproteomics data can provide a more unbiased view of active cell signaling processes in a given context, however, it suffers from low signal-to-noise ratio and poor reproducibility across experiments. While progress in methods to extract active signaling signatures from such data has been made, there are still limitations with respect to balancing bias and interpretability. Here we present phuEGO, which combines up-to-three-layer network propagation with ego network decomposition to provide small networks comprising active functional signaling modules. PhuEGO boosts the signal-to-noise ratio from global phosphoproteomics datasets, enriches the resulting networks for functional phosphosites and allows the improved comparison and integration across datasets. We applied phuEGO to five phosphoproteomics data sets from cell lines collected upon infection with SARS CoV2. PhuEGO was better able to identify common active functions across datasets and to point to a subnetwork enriched for known COVID-19 targets. Overall, phuEGO provides a flexible tool to the community for the improved functional interpretation of global phosphoproteomics datasets.

Relationship Between Life Satisfaction and Psychological Characteristics Among Community-Dwelling Oldest-old: Focusing on Erikson's Developmental Stages and the Big Five Personality Traits.

OBJECTIVE: To clarify the relationship between life satisfaction and the psychological characteristics of the oldest-old, and explore the factors for achieving mental health and longevity. DESIGN: This cross-sectional study conducted questionnaire surveys and face-to-face interviews as part of a larger prospective cohort study. SETTING: Arakawa Ward, a district in Tokyo, Japan. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 247 oldest-old individuals from two age groups, 85+ (aged 85-87 years) and 95+ (aged 95 years or older). MEASUREMENTS: Life satisfaction was assessed using the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), developmental stages of the elderly (Erikson's 8th and 9th stages, i.e., ego integrity, and gerotranscendence), and the Big Five personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism) using the NEO-Five Factor Inventory. Multiple regression analyses were performed to examine the relationship between the SWLS scores and each assessment, controlling for age, sex, education, activities of daily living, depressive symptoms, and cognitive function. RESULTS: The SWLS scores of 85+ were positively correlated with scores of ego integrity, extraversion, and conscientiousness. Contrastingly, the SWLS scores of 95+ were positively correlated with gerotranscendence scores. CONCLUSIONS: Psychological characteristics associated with the level of life satisfaction among community-dwelling oldest-old individuals were identified, but a causal relationship between these factors and life satisfaction was not established. Ego integrity, extraversion, conscientiousness, and gerotranscendence may be associated with enhanced life satisfaction and mental health in the oldest-old. Further, the factors associated with life satisfaction in the 85+ and 95+ age groups varied, suggesting that life satisfaction among the oldest-old has different foundations in different age groups.

Changes in pupil size track self-control failure.

People are more likely to perform poorly on a self-control task following a previous task requiring self-control (ego-depletion), but the mechanism for this effect remains unclear. We used pupillometry to test the role of attentional effort in ego-depletion. We hypothesized that an elevated pupil diameter (PD)-a common physiological measure of effort-during an initial task requiring self-control should be negatively associated with performance on a subsequent control task. To test this hypothesis, participants were first assigned to either a high- or low-demand attention task (manipulation; a standard ego-depletion paradigm), after which all participants completed the same Stroop task. We then separately extracted both sustained (low-frequency) and phasic (high-frequency) changes in PD from both tasks to evaluate possible associations with lapses of cognitive control on the Stroop task. We first show that in the initial task, sustained PD was larger among participants who were assigned to the demanding attention condition. Furthermore, ego-depletion effects were serially mediated by PD: an elevated PD response emerged rapidly among the experimental group during the manipulation, persisted as an elevated baseline response during the Stroop task, and predicted worse accuracy on incongruent trials, revealing a potential indirect pathway to ego-depletion via sustained attention. Secondary analyses revealed another, independent and direct pathway via high levels of transient attentional control: participants who exhibited large phasic responses during the manipulation tended to perform worse on the subsequent Stroop task. We conclude by exploring the neuroscientific implications of these results within the context of current theories of self-control.

Mapping the pre-reflective experience of "self" to the brain - An ERP study.

The neural underpinnings of selfhood encompass pre-reflective and reflective self-experience. The former refers to a basic, immediate experience of being a self, while the latter involves cognition and introspection. Although neural correlates of reflective self-experience have been studied, the pre-reflective remains underinvestigated. This research aims to bridge this gap by comparatively investigating ERP correlates of reading first- vs. third-person pronouns - approximating pre-reflective self-experience - and self- vs. other-related adjectives - approximating reflective self-experience - in 30 healthy participants. We found differential neural engagement between pre-reflective and reflective self-experience at 254-310 ms post-stimulus onset. Source estimation suggested that our sensor-level results could be plausibly explained by the involvement of cortical midline structures and default mode network in the general sense of self but selective recruitment of anterior cingulate and top-down dorsal attention network in the pre-reflective self. These findings offer a deeper understanding of the experiential self, especially pre-reflective, providing a foundation for investigating self-disorders.

Clarifying and measuring the characteristics of experiences that involve a loss of self or a dissolution of its boundaries.

Mystical experience, non-dual awareness, selflessness, self-transcendent experience, and ego-dissolution have become increasingly prominent constructs in meditation and psychedelic research. However, these constructs and their measures tend to be highly overlapping, imprecise, and poorly integrated with similar pathological experiences. The present study seeks to clarify the common factors involved in the characteristics of these experiences using precise distinctions across an array of experience contexts (including meditation, psychedelics, and psychopathology). Participants (N = 386) completed an online survey about an experience that involved either a dissolution of self-boundaries or a loss of selfhood. Confirmatory factor analyses resulted in 16 experience characteristics, including multiple types of changes in sense of self, co-occurring phenomenology, and cognitive and affective responses. Qualitative thematic analysis provided rich descriptions of experience characteristics. Taken together, results lead to a more specific measurement model and descriptive account of experiences involving a loss of self or self-boundary.

Exploring the connection between ego-resiliency and health behaviors: a cross-sectional study of Polish health sciences students.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between ego-resiliency and the intensity of health behaviors among Polish health sciences students. METHODS: The study involved 483 students from health-related faculties in southern Poland, consisting of 314 women (63.7%) and 179 men (36.3%). The average age of the participants was 21.7 ± 2.5 years. To assess resiliency (ER), the Ego-Resiliency Scale (ER89-R12) by Block and Kremen was used in its Polish adaptation. The intensity of health behaviors was examined using the Health Behavior Inventory (HBI) developed by Z. Juczynski. RESULTS: The results revealed a positive correlation between the intensity of health behaviors and ER (r = 0.43, p < 0.001), both for the general factor and its categories (positive mental attitude, proper eating habits, preventive actions, and prohealth activities). Students with a high level of health behaviors exhibited significantly higher ER (M = 38.95, SD = 5.15) compared to those with average (M = 35.93, SD = 5.03) and low (M = 32.97, SD = 5.12) HBI levels. Among the HBI categories, Positive Mental Attitude showed the strongest correlation with both general ER and its factors: optimal regulation (OR) and openness to life experiences (OL). Furthermore, the correlation was found to be stronger with the OR and weaker with OL. CONCLUSION: Higher ER in students is correlated with a greater frequency of health behaviors. Nurturing the development of ER may contribute to the maintenance of prohealth practices despite life difficulties and temporary loss of motivation. This, in turn, promotes the regularity of health behaviors, which is crucial for their positive impact on overall health.

Ego- and Geo-Centered References: A Functional Neuroimagery Study.

INTRODUCTION: The integration of vestibular, visual, and somatosensory cues allows the perception of space through the orientation of our body and surrounding objects with respect to gravity. The main goal of this study was to identify the cortical networks recruited during the representation of body midline and the representation of verticality. METHODS: Thirty right-handed healthy participants were evaluated using fMRI. Brain networks activated during a subjective straight-ahead (SSA) task were compared to those recruited during a subjective vertical (SV) task. RESULTS: Different patterns of cortical activation were observed, with differential increases in the angular gyrus and left cerebellum posterior lobe during the SSA task, in right rolandic operculum and cerebellum anterior lobe during the SV task. DISCUSSION: The activation of these areas involved in visuo-spatial functions suggests that bodily processes of great complexity are engaged in body representation and vertical perception. Interestingly, the common brain networks involved in SSA and SV tasks were comprised of areas of vestibular projection that receive multisensory information (parieto-occipital areas) and the cerebellum, and reveal a predominance of the right cerebral and cerebellar hemispheres. The outcomes of this first fMRI study designed to unmask common and specific neural mechanisms at work in gravity- or body-referenced tasks pave a new way for the exploration of spatial cognitive impairment in patients with vestibular or cortical disorders.

The interplay between ego-resiliency, math anxiety and working memory in math achievement.

Previous research has suggested that math anxiety may contribute to poor math performance by interfering with working memory. However, only a limited number of studies investigated the mediating role of working memory in the math anxiety-math performance link in school-aged children. Unlike math anxiety, ego-resiliency is a personality resource that promotes the management of challenges and has been positively associated with math performance and negatively with anxiety. Nevertheless, there is still limited understanding regarding the specific role of ego-resiliency in math learning and how it relates to math anxiety. This study aimed to investigate conjunctly the interplay between primary school children's ego-resiliency, math anxiety, working memory, and performance on two different math tasks (i.e., arithmetic task and word problem-solving task), after controlling for general anxiety and age. The study involved 185 Italian children from grades 3 to 5. Serial multi-mediational analyses revealed that: (1) ego-resiliency has a positive indirect effect on math achievement through two paths - math anxiety, and math anxiety and working memory; (2) the study replicated previous findings showing that working memory partially mediated the relationship between math anxiety and math performance; (3) similar patterns of results were found for both math skills. The study identifies ego-resiliency as a possible protective factor in the development of math anxiety and suggests that ego-resiliency could be worth considering when designing interventions aimed at reducing negative emotions towards mathematics.

Influence of perceived parental child-rearing attitudes and ego identity on college adjustment among Korean nursing students.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to examine the relationship between nursing students' perceived parental child-rearing attitude, ego identity, and college adjustment in Korea and explore factors that influence college adjustment. METHODS: This study surveyed 224 nursing students enrolled in universities located in two regions within South Korea. Data were collected from October 14 to November 31, 2019. Perceived parental child-rearing attitude (paternal emotional warmth, paternal rejection, paternal overprotection, maternal emotional warmth, maternal rejection, and maternal overprotection) and ego identity of nursing students were used as independent variables on college adjustment. Collected data were subjected to correlation analysis using SPSS version 26.0 for Windows. Further, regression analysis was performed on the influence of parental child-rearing attitude and ego identity on college adjustment. RESULTS: Among the parental child-rearing attitudes, paternal emotional warmth (r = .30, p < .001), maternal emotional warmth (r = .38, p < .001), and ego identity (r = .71, p < .001) were positively correlated with nursing students' college adjustment, whereas maternal rejection was negatively correlated with ego identity (r = - .28, p < .001) and college adjustment (r = - .15, p = .025). Regression analysis of the effects of nursing students' perceived parental child-rearing attitude and ego identity on college adjustment, with grade as a control variable, revealed that ego identity (p < .001) had a significant effect on college adjustment, and the higher the ego identity (ß = 0.712), the higher the college adjustment. Further, the explanatory power of explaining college adjustment was high at 49.9%. CONCLUSIONS: The nursing students' perceived paternal emotional warmth, maternal emotional warmth, and ego identity were positively correlated with college adjustment. Additionally, ego identity was found as the influencing factor in Korean nursing students' college adjustment. Therefore, programs to strengthen ego identity should be developed and implemented for college adjustment among nursing students.

The effects of online art therapy on ego functions, emotion regulation, and interpersonal relationship styles in neurotic personality organization.

Art therapy, as an effective therapeutic intervention, is used to improve positive self-image and self-awareness, promote insight, and enhance therapeutic communication. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of art psychotherapy on ego functions, emotion regulation, and interpersonal relationship styles of individuals with neurotic personality organization. Using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design, 60 participants were assigned to intervention and control groups, each further divided into three subgroups (n = 10 per subgroup). The intervention group engaged in online art therapy sessions twice weekly over nine weeks, while the control group received no intervention. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, paired samples t-tests, and independent t-tests. There was a significant decrease in the intervention group's judgmental subdimensions of the Ego Function Assessment Scale. A significant decrease was found in the intervention group in "awareness" (p < 0.01), "clarity" (p < 0.05), and "impulse" (p < 0.001) subdimensions and total scores of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. There was no statistical difference between the intervention and control groups' mean pretests and posttests and comparing those groups with each other concerning IRSQ scores. The online group art therapy led to successful improvements in participants' ego functions and emotion regulations.

Relationship Between Nostalgia Proneness, Generativity, and Ego Integrity.

This study examined the effect of nostalgia proneness on the level of achievement of developmental tasks during the later stages of adulthood (generativity and ego integrity) and the indirect effect of nostalgia on ego integrity. The level of nostalgia proneness changes with age and contributes to subjective well-being in old age. We assumed that nostalgia proneness affects generativity and ego integrity. To confirm the causal relationship between nostalgia proneness and achievement of developmental tasks, a longitudinal study was conducted. We conducted an Internet survey twice with 600 Japanese adults (aged 20-87). The first and second surveys (T1 and T2) were conducted in March 2021 and March 2022, respectively. The questionnaire comprised the Inventory of Psychosocial Balance scale, positive/negative nostalgia proneness scale, and state functions of the nostalgia scale. An autoregressive path model indicated that high and low levels of positive and negative proneness, respectively, predicted ego integrity. The results of the mediation analysis suggested that social connections have an indirect effect on ego integrity and that people who tend to feel positive emotions are less likely to feel negative emotions when they remember nostalgic memories, which leads to a sense of social connection and the acquisition of ego integrity. The findings provide an understanding of the processes through which developmental tasks are facilitated in later adulthood and elucidate the efficacy of psychosocial interventions in older adults.

Diversity, integration, and variability of intergenerational relationships in old age: New insights from personal network research.

Relationships between family members from different generations have long been described as a source of solidarity and support in aging populations and, more recently, as a potential risk factor for COVID-19 contagion. Personal or egocentric network research offers a powerful kit of conceptual and methodological tools to study these relationships, but this has not yet been employed to its full potential in the literature. We investigate the heterogeneity, social integration, and individual correlates of intergenerational relationships in old age analyzing highly granular data on the personal networks of 230 older adults (2747 social ties) from a local survey in one of the areas of the world at the forefront of global aging trends (northern Italy). Using information on different layers in broad egocentric networks and on the structure of connectivity among the social contacts of aging people, we propose multiple conceptualizations and measures of intergenerational connectedness. Results show that intergenerational relationships are strongly integrated, but also highly diverse and variable, in older adults' social networks. Different types of intergenerational ties exist in different network layers, with various relational roles, degrees of tie strength, and patterns of association with individual and tie characteristics. We discuss how new and existing personal network data can be leveraged to consider novel questions and hypotheses about intergenerational relationships in contemporary aging families.

A place with a view: A first-person perspective in the hippocampal memory space.

How do rodents' and primates' differences in visual perception impact the way the brain constructs egocentric and allocentric reference frames to represent stimuli in space? Strikingly, there are important similarities in the egocentric spatial reference frames through which cortical regions represent objects with respect to an animal's head or body in rodents and primates. These egocentric representations are suitable for navigation across species. However, while the rodent hippocampus represents allocentric place, I draw on several pieces of evidence suggesting that an egocentric reference frame is paramount in the primate hippocampus, and relates to the first-person perspective characteristic of a primate's field of view. I further discuss the link between an allocentric reference frame and a conceptual frame to suggest that an allocentric reference frame is a semantic construct in primates. Finally, I discuss how views probe memory recall and support prospective coding, and as they are based on a first-person perspective, are a powerful tool for probing episodic memory across species.

LSD, madness and healing: Mystical experiences as possible link between psychosis model and therapy model.

BACKGROUND: For a century, psychedelics have been investigated as models of psychosis for demonstrating phenomenological similarities with psychotic experiences and as therapeutic models for treating depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. This study sought to explore this paradoxical relationship connecting key parameters of the psychotic experience, psychotherapy, and psychedelic experience. METHODS: In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design, 24 healthy volunteers received 50 µg d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) or inactive placebo. Psychotic experience was assessed by aberrant salience (Aberrant Salience Inventory, ASI), therapeutic potential by suggestibility (Creative Imagination Scale, CIS) and mindfulness (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, FFMQ; Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, MAAS; Experiences Questionnaire, EQ), and psychedelic experience by four questionnaires (Altered State of Consciousness Questionnaire, ASC; Mystical Experiences Questionnaire, MEQ; Challenging Experiences Questionnaire, CEQ; Ego-Dissolution Inventory, EDI). Relationships between LSD-induced effects were examined. RESULTS: LSD induced psychedelic experiences, including alteration of consciousness, mystical experiences, ego-dissolution, and mildly challenging experiences, increased aberrant salience and suggestibility, but not mindfulness. LSD-induced aberrant salience correlated highly with complex imagery, mystical experiences, and ego-dissolution. LSD-induced suggestibility correlated with no other effects. Individual mindfulness changes correlated with aspects of aberrant salience and psychedelic experience. CONCLUSIONS: The LSD state resembles a psychotic experience and offers a tool for healing. The link between psychosis model and therapeutic model seems to lie in mystical experiences. The results point to the importance of meaning attribution for the LSD psychosis model and indicate that psychedelic-assisted therapy might benefit from therapeutic suggestions fostering mystical experiences.

A novel ego dissolution scale: A construct validation study.

Ego dissolution (i.e., ego loss, ego disintegration, ego death, or self-loss) is a conscious state marked by a loss or diminution of one's sense of self and a lack of first-person experience. We developed a novel, valid, and internally consistent ego dissolution scale to both (a) assess trait-like aspects of ego dissolution, which have received scant attention to date, and (b) facilitate future research in a variety of contexts (e.g., personality, psychopathology, substance use/psychedelics, contemplative practices). We determined that the 10-item Ego Dissolution Scale (EDS; Cronbach's α = 0.80) and its identified subfactors of Ego-Loss (Cronbach's α = 0.84) and Unity (Cronbach's α = 0.75) were internally consistent, possessed strong convergent (e.g., depersonalization/derealization, mysticism, unusual experiences) and discriminant validity (e.g., neuroticism, social desirability). We found ego dissolution and dissociation to be empirically related yet discriminable on a statistical basis.

Health-based homophily in public housing developments.

Public housing residents in the United States face disproportionately high risks for disease, presenting an urgent need for interventions. Evidence suggests interventions leveraging social networks can be successful when relationships are homophilous, as this leads to pooling of risk behaviors among interconnected alters. Yet, we know little about networks of public housing residents. To assess the feasibility of network-based interventions, we investigate the incidence of health-based homophily in public housing developments in Boston, Massachusetts. Employing multilevel models (HLM), we find that respondents report their own health characteristics to be similar to their network partners on oral health, weight, and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and foods. We discuss the implications of our findings for health-based interventions in low-income communities.

Love's place in the spectrum of affect, one of 24 secondary emotions: implications for psychiatry.

Love is defined and examined as an emotion, using the psychoevolutionary theory of emotions developed by Robert Plutchik and extended to social psychiatry by Henry Kellerman. This theory posits a fourfold ethogram, representing the valanced adaptive reactions to problems of life which define the eight primary emotions. The problem of identity is addressed by acceptance and disgust; temporality, by joy-happiness and sadness. Using a hierarchical classification system, love is defined as a secondary-level emotion, a mixture of joy and acceptance. Examination of the brain infrastructure of these emotions supports their interpretation as basic emotions. In romantic and other forms of love, there is a global acceptance-incorporation, of the other, together with the joy of sexual pair-bonding. This can rise to the level of a clinical disposition that is both histrionic and manic, akin to a Durkheimian collective effervescence. The emotions of acceptance and joy are in everyday life constrained by ego-defense mechanisms: acceptance is constrained by a more critical, less idealised, view of a potential love object; uninhibited joy of sexuality is defended against by sublimation, in which libidinal energy is deflected into an emphasis on correct and proper behaviour, and purposive and productive activities.

The social side of personality: Do affiliation and intimacy motives moderate associations of personal relationships with well-being?

BACKGROUND: The quantity of social relationships and social interactions is positively related to well-being, but the underlying role of personality dispositions in these associations is unclear. The present study investigated whether social motives for affiliation and intimacy moderate associations of personal networks with well-being. METHOD: We analyzed data from N = 389 individuals living alone (aged 35-60 years) who provided self-reports of social motives and well-being, and who completed an ego-centered social network task. A subsample of N = 331 individuals participated in a social network diary with daily questions about social interactions within their personal networks. RESULTS: Overall, we found little support for moderations. Individuals higher in affiliation felt less lonely than individuals lower in affiliation when having more frequent in-person contact. Multilevel analyses of the diary data revealed that highly affiliative individuals reported being more satisfied than individuals lower in affiliation when having more daily social interactions than usual. No moderations were found in the context of intimacy. DISCUSSION: Findings suggest that, especially in the context of daily social encounters, affiliation might moderate associations of social interaction quantity with well-being. Implications for future research on personality-relationship dynamics in personal networks and daily social interactions are discussed.

Heading perception depends on time-varying evolution of optic flow.

There is considerable support for the hypothesis that perception of heading in the presence of rotation is mediated by instantaneous optic flow. This hypothesis, however, has never been tested. We introduce a method, termed "nonvarying phase motion," for generating a stimulus that conveys a single instantaneous optic flow field, even though the stimulus is presented for an extended period of time. In this experiment, observers viewed stimulus videos and performed a forced-choice heading discrimination task. For nonvarying phase motion, observers made large errors in heading judgments. This suggests that instantaneous optic flow is insufficient for heading perception in the presence of rotation. These errors were mostly eliminated when the velocity of phase motion was varied over time to convey the evolving sequence of optic flow fields corresponding to a particular heading. This demonstrates that heading perception in the presence of rotation relies on the time-varying evolution of optic flow. We hypothesize that the visual system accurately computes heading, despite rotation, based on optic acceleration, the temporal derivative of optic flow.

Emotional intelligence predicting ego integrity in healthy older adults.

OBJECTIVES: A characteristic task in aging is the process of reevaluating and reflecting on one's life in order to give it meaning. The successful resolution of this task is defined as ego-integrity, and it is related to various psychological phenomena that foster the person's adaptation to change. The objective was to adapt an ego-integrity scale in a sample of older adults and study the relationships between emotional intelligence, coping strategies, and mood to find out whether they are predictors of ego-integrity. METHODS: The sample included 401 healthy older adults (241 women; ages 65-95, M = 73.69, SD = 6.83). Statistical analyses included structural equation models. Northwestern Ego-integrity Scale 9-item was tested showing that a structure with two unrelated factors fitted the data well. The internal consistency was satisfactory (.82 integrity and .72 despair). RESULTS: Emotional intelligence positively predicted problem-focused adaptive coping strategies (problem solving and positive reassessment) and negatively predicted state of mind (depression and hopelessness), whereas adaptive coping positively predicted integrity, and mood predicted it negatively. CONCLUSION: Emotional intelligence skills, adaptive coping strategies, and mood largely determine the successful resolution of the ego integrity conflict and are relevant resources in successful aging.