Neural alterations in working memory of mild-moderate TBI: An fMRI study in Malaysia.

Working memory (WM) encompasses crucial cognitive processes or abilities to retain and manipulate temporary information for immediate execution of complex cognitive tasks in daily functioning such as reasoning and decision-making. The WM of individuals sustaining traumatic brain injury (TBI) was commonly compromised, especially in the domain of WM. The current study investigated the brain responses of WM in a group of participants with mild-moderate TBI compared to their healthy counterparts employing functional magnetic resonance imaging. All consented participants (healthy: n = 26 and TBI: n = 15) performed two variations of the n-back WM task with four load conditions (0-, 1-, 2-, and 3-back). The respective within-group effects showed a right hemisphere-dominance activation and slower reaction in performance for the TBI group. Random-effects analysis revealed activation difference between the two groups in the right occipital lobe in the guided n-back with cues, and in the bilateral occipital lobe, superior parietal region, and cingulate cortices in the n-back without cues. The left middle frontal gyrus was implicated in the load-dependent processing of WM in both groups. Further group analysis identified that the notable activation changes in the frontal gyri and anterior cingulate cortex are according to low and high loads. Though relatively smaller in scale, this study was eminent as it clarified the neural alterations in WM in the mild-moderate TBI group compared to healthy controls. It confirmed the robustness of the phenomenon in TBI with the reproducibility of the results in a heterogeneous non-Western sample.

'I have high self-compassion': A face-valid single-item self-compassion scale for resource-limited research contexts.

The original 26-item Self-Compassion Scale (SCS; Neff, 2003) and 12-item Short-Form Self-Compassion Scale (SF-SCS; Raes et al., 2011) are scales commonly used in cross-sectional and longitudinal research to assess the global self-compassion construct and its six facets. We introduce the Single-Item Self-Compassion Scale (SISC; 'I have high self-compassion') to measure the global self-compassion construct in time-, space- and resource-limited contexts (e.g., daily diaries, experience sampling and nationally representative surveys). Additionally, the SISC will expand knowledge about self-compassion by providing researchers whose primary interest is not self-compassion with a convenient, face-valid option to measure self-compassion. Across 10 samples (four cross-sectional, four longitudinal and two 7-day daily diary; N = 2,477), we demonstrated that the SISC has acceptable psychometric properties. Specifically, the SISC was temporally consistent, correlated adequately with the SCS and SF-SCS, exhibited nearly identical correlational patterns when compared with the SCS and SF-SCS with a wide range of criterion measures (e.g., self-esteem, personality, affective and social functioning, mental health and demographic variables) and saved 12 min over a 7-day diary. Results replicated among students, community samples and across the United States, Turkey and Malaysia. Thus, we provide the field with an alternative measure of the global self-compassion construct that complements the SCS and SF-SCS.

Neurodevelopmental effects of childhood malnutrition: A neuroimaging perspective.

Approximately one in five children worldwide suffers from childhood malnutrition and its complications, including increased susceptibility to inflammation and infectious diseases. Due to improved early interventions, most of these children now survive early malnutrition, even in low-resource settings (LRS). However, many continue to exhibit neurodevelopmental deficits, including low IQ, poor school performance, and behavioral problems over their lifetimes. Most studies have relied on neuropsychological tests, school performance, and mental health and behavioral measures. Few studies, in contrast, have assessed brain structure and function, and to date, these have mainly relied on low-cost techniques, including electroencephalography (EEG) and evoked potentials (ERP). The use of more advanced methods of neuroimaging, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), has been limited by cost factors and lack of availability of these technologies in developing countries, where malnutrition is nearly ubiquitous. This report summarizes the current state of knowledge and evidence gaps regarding childhood malnutrition and the study of its impact on neurodevelopment. It may help to inform the development of new strategies to improve the identification, classification, and treatment of neurodevelopmental disabilities in underserved populations at the highest risk for childhood malnutrition.

Reinforcer pathology of internet-related behaviors among college students: Data from six countries.

Research has demonstrated that repeated engagement in low-effort behaviors that are associated with immediate reward, such as Internet use, can result in a pathological reinforcement process in which the behavior is increasingly selected over other activities due, in part, to a low availability of alternative activities and to a strong preference for immediate rather than delayed rewards (delay discounting). However, this reinforcer pathology model has not been generalized to other Internet-related behaviors, such as online gaming or smartphone use. Given the widespread availability of these technologies, it is also important to examine whether reinforcer pathology of Internet-related behaviors is culturally universal or culture-specific. The current study examines relations between behavioral economic constructs (Internet demand, delay discounting, and alternative reinforcement) and Internet-related addictive behaviors (harmful Internet use, smartphone use, online gaming, and Internet sexual behavior) in a cross-sectional sample of college students (N = 1,406) from six different countries (Argentina, Australia, India, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, and the United States). Using structural equation modeling, Internet demand was associated with harmful Internet use, smartphone use, and online gaming; delay discounting was associated with harmful smartphone use; and alternative reinforcement was associated with harmful Internet and smartphone use. The models were partially invariant across countries. However, mean levels of behavioral economic variables differed across countries, country-level gross domestic product, person-level income, and sex at birth. Results support behavioral economic theory and highlight the importance of considering both individual and country-level sociocultural contextual factors in models for understanding harmful engagement with Internet-related behaviors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Alteration in the Functional Organization of the Default Mode Network Following Closed Non-severe Traumatic Brain Injury.

The debilitating effect of traumatic brain injury (TBI) extends years after the initial injury and hampers the recovery process and quality of life. In this study, we explore the functional reorganization of the default mode network (DMN) of those affected with non-severe TBI. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a wide-spectrum disease that has heterogeneous effects on its victims and impacts everyday functioning. The functional disruption of the default mode network (DMN) after TBI has been established, but its link to causal effective connectivity remains to be explored. This study investigated the differences in the DMN between healthy participants and mild and moderate TBI, in terms of functional and effective connectivity using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Nineteen non-severe TBI (mean age 30.84 ± 14.56) and twenty-two healthy (HC; mean age 27.23 ± 6.32) participants were recruited for this study. Resting-state fMRI data were obtained at the subacute phase (mean days 40.63 ± 10.14) and analyzed for functional activation and connectivity, independent component analysis, and effective connectivity within and between the DMN. Neuropsychological tests were also performed to assess the cognitive and memory domains. Compared to the HC, the TBI group exhibited lower activation in the thalamus, as well as significant functional hypoconnectivity between DMN and LN. Within the DMN nodes, decreased activations were detected in the left inferior parietal lobule, precuneus, and right superior frontal gyrus. Altered effective connectivities were also observed in the TBI group and were linked to the diminished activation in the left parietal region and precuneus. With regard to intra-DMN connectivity within the TBI group, positive correlations were found in verbal and visual memory with the language network, while a negative correlation was found in the cognitive domain with the visual network. Our results suggested that aberrant activities and functional connectivities within the DMN and with other RSNs were accompanied by the altered effective connectivities in the TBI group. These alterations were associated with impaired cognitive and memory domains in the TBI group, in particular within the language domain. These findings may provide insight for future TBI observational and interventional research.

Disruption of white matter integrity and its relationship with cognitive function in non-severe traumatic brain injury.

Background: Impairment in cognitive function is a recognized outcome of traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, the degree of impairment has variable relationship with TBI severity and time post injury. The underlying pathology is often due to diffuse axonal injury that has been found even in mild TBI. In this study, we examine the state of white matter putative connectivity in patients with non-severe TBI in the subacute phase, i.e., within 10 weeks of injury and determine its relationship with neuropsychological scores. Methods: We conducted a case-control prospective study involving 11 male adult patients with non-severe TBI and an age-matched control group of 11 adult male volunteers. Diffusion MRI scanning and neuropsychological tests were administered within 10 weeks post injury. The difference in fractional anisotropy (FA) values between the patient and control groups was examined using tract-based spatial statistics. The FA values that were significantly different between patients and controls were then correlated with neuropsychological tests in the patient group. Results: Several clusters with peak voxels of significant FA reductions (p < 0.05) in the white matter skeleton were seen in patients compared to the control group. These clusters were located in the superior fronto-occipital fasciculus, superior longitudinal fasciculus, uncinate fasciculus, and cingulum, as well as white matter fibers in the area of genu of corpus callosum, anterior corona radiata, superior corona radiata, anterior thalamic radiation and part of inferior frontal gyrus. Mean global FA magnitude correlated significantly with MAVLT immediate recall scores while matrix reasoning scores correlated positively with FA values in the area of right superior fronto-occipital fasciculus and left anterior corona radiata. Conclusion: The non-severe TBI patients had abnormally reduced FA values in multiple regions compared to controls that correlated with several measures of executive function during the sub-acute phase of TBI.

A Compassionate Self Is a True Self? Self-Compassion Promotes Subjective Authenticity.

Theory and research converge to suggest that authenticity predicts positive psychological adjustment. Given these benefits of authenticity, there is a surprising dearth of research on the factors that foster authenticity. Five studies help fill this gap by testing whether self-compassion promotes subjective authenticity. Study 1 found a positive association between trait self-compassion and authenticity. Study 2 demonstrated that on days when people felt more self-compassionate, they also felt more authentic. Study 3 discovered that people experimentally induced to be self-compassionate reported greater state authenticity relative to control participants. Studies 4 and 5 recruited samples from multiple cultures and used a cross-sectional and a longitudinal design, respectively, and found that self-compassion predicts greater authenticity through reduced fear of negative evaluation (Study 4) and heightened optimism (Study 5). Across studies, self-compassion's effects on authenticity could not be accounted for by self-esteem. Overall, the results suggest that self-compassion can help cultivate subjective authenticity.

Working Memory From the Psychological and Neurosciences Perspectives: A Review.

Since the concept of working memory was introduced over 50 years ago, different schools of thought have offered different definitions for working memory based on the various cognitive domains that it encompasses. The general consensus regarding working memory supports the idea that working memory is extensively involved in goal-directed behaviors in which information must be retained and manipulated to ensure successful task execution. Before the emergence of other competing models, the concept of working memory was described by the multicomponent working memory model proposed by Baddeley and Hitch. In the present article, the authors provide an overview of several working memory-relevant studies in order to harmonize the findings of working memory from the neurosciences and psychological standpoints, especially after citing evidence from past studies of healthy, aging, diseased, and/or lesioned brains. In particular, the theoretical framework behind working memory, in which the related domains that are considered to play a part in different frameworks (such as memory's capacity limit and temporary storage) are presented and discussed. From the neuroscience perspective, it has been established that working memory activates the fronto-parietal brain regions, including the prefrontal, cingulate, and parietal cortices. Recent studies have subsequently implicated the roles of subcortical regions (such as the midbrain and cerebellum) in working memory. Aging also appears to have modulatory effects on working memory; age interactions with emotion, caffeine and hormones appear to affect working memory performances at the neurobiological level. Moreover, working memory deficits are apparent in older individuals, who are susceptible to cognitive deterioration. Another younger population with working memory impairment consists of those with mental, developmental, and/or neurological disorders such as major depressive disorder and others. A less coherent and organized neural pattern has been consistently reported in these disadvantaged groups. Working memory of patients with traumatic brain injury was similarly affected and shown to have unusual neural activity (hyper- or hypoactivation) as a general observation. Decoding the underlying neural mechanisms of working memory helps support the current theoretical understandings concerning working memory, and at the same time provides insights into rehabilitation programs that target working memory impairments from neurophysiological or psychological aspects.