Systematic review and meta-analysis of the visual mismatch negativity in schizophrenia.

Mismatch negativity (MMN) is an event-related potential component automatically elicited by events that violate predictions based on prior events. To elicit this component, researchers use stimulus repetition to induce predictions, and the MMN is obtained by subtracting the brain response to rare or unpredicted stimuli from that of frequent stimuli. Under the Predictive Processing framework, one increasingly popular interpretation of the mismatch response postulates that MMN represents a prediction error. In this context, the reduced MMN amplitude to auditory stimuli has been considered a potential biomarker of Schizophrenia, representing a reduced prediction error and the inability to update the mental model of the world based on the sensory signals. It is unclear, however, whether this amplitude reduction is specific for auditory events or if the visual MMN reveals a similar pattern in schizophrenia spectrum disorder. This review and meta-analysis aimed to summarise the available literature on the vMMN in schizophrenia. A systematic literature search resulted in 10 eligible studies that resulted in a combined effect size of g = -.63, CI [-.86, -.41], reflecting lower vMMN amplitudes in patients. These results are in line with the findings in the auditory domain. This component offers certain advantages, such as less susceptibility to overlap with components generated by attentional demands. Future studies should use vMMN to explore abnormalities in the Predictive Processing framework in different stages and groups of the SSD and increase the knowledge in the search for biomarkers in schizophrenia.

Uncertainty deconstructed: conceptual analysis and state-of-the-art review of the ERP correlates of risk and ambiguity in decision-making.

Risk and uncertainty are central concepts of decision neuroscience. However, a comprehensive review of the literature shows that most studies define risk and uncertainty in an unclear fashion or use both terms interchangeably, which hinders the integration of the existing findings. We suggest uncertainty as an umbrella term that comprises scenarios characterized by outcome variance where relevant information about the type and likelihood of outcomes may be somewhat unavailable (ambiguity) and scenarios where the likelihood of outcomes is known (risk).These conceptual issues are problematic for studies on the temporal neurodynamics of decision-making under risk and ambiguity, because they lead to heterogeneity in task design and the interpretation of the results. To assess this problem, we conducted a state-of-the-art review of ERP studies on risk and ambiguity in decision-making. By employing the above definitions to 16 reviewed studies, our results suggest that: (a) research has focused more on risk than ambiguity processing; (b) studies assessing decision-making under risk often implemented descriptive-based paradigms, whereas studies assessing ambiguity processing equally implemented descriptive- and experience-based tasks; (c) descriptive-based studies link risk processing to increased frontal negativities (e.g., N2, N400) and both risk and ambiguity to reduced parietal positivities (e.g., P2, P3); (d) experience-based studies link risk to increased P3 amplitudes and ambiguity to increased frontal negativities and the LPC component; (e) both risk and ambiguity processing seem to be related with cognitive control, conflict monitoring, and increased cognitive demand; (f) further research and improved tasks are needed to dissociate risk and ambiguity processing.

The multiple facets of psychopathy in attack and defense conflicts.

With respect to De Dreu and Gross's article, we comment on the psychological functions for attack and defense, focusing on associations between individual differences in psychopathic personality traits and the behavioral patterns observed in attack-defense conflicts. We highlight the dimensional nature of psychopathy and formulate hypothetical associations between distinct traits, their different behavioral outcomes, and associated brain mechanisms.

Predictable information in neural signals during resting state is reduced in autism spectrum disorder.

The neurophysiological underpinnings of the nonsocial symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) which include sensory and perceptual atypicalities remain poorly understood. Well-known accounts of less dominant top-down influences and more dominant bottom-up processes compete to explain these characteristics. These accounts have been recently embedded in the popular framework of predictive coding theory. To differentiate between competing accounts, we studied altered information dynamics in ASD by quantifying predictable information in neural signals. Predictable information in neural signals measures the amount of stored information that is used for the next time step of a neural process. Thus, predictable information limits the (prior) information which might be available for other brain areas, for example, to build predictions for upcoming sensory information. We studied predictable information in neural signals based on resting-state magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings of 19 ASD patients and 19 neurotypical controls aged between 14 and 27 years. Using whole-brain beamformer source analysis, we found reduced predictable information in ASD patients across the whole brain, but in particular in posterior regions of the default mode network. In these regions, epoch-by-epoch predictable information was positively correlated with source power in the alpha and beta frequency range as well as autocorrelation decay time. Predictable information in precuneus and cerebellum was negatively associated with nonsocial symptom severity, indicating a relevance of the analysis of predictable information for clinical research in ASD. Our findings are compatible with the assumption that use or precision of prior knowledge is reduced in ASD patients.

Contributions of infant vagal regulation at 1 month to subsequent joint attention abilities.

Since birth, humans develop an ability to regulate their inner states and behaviors, when facing demanding situations, in order to restore calmness and engage with other persons and the surrounding environment. The present study analyzed whether 1-month infant vagal regulation to auditory stimuli was associated with later joint attention abilities-responding to and initiating joint attention-in interaction with their mothers. Twenty-three infants were assessed and measures of respiratory sinus arrhythmia-RSA (baseline and vagal tone change during auditory stimulation) were used as index of vagal regulation. At 12-months, joint attention behaviors were assessed in a 10-min toy-play mother-infant interaction. Correlational analyses showed that lower baseline RSA and larger increases in vagal tone during auditory stimulation were related to more instances of joint attention behaviors at 12 months, especially responding to joint attention. Results suggest that distinct profiles of autonomic functioning may contribute to joint attention skills.

The role of arousal in predictive coding.

Within a predictive coding approach, the arousal/norepinephrine effects described by the GANE (glutamate amplifies noradrenergic effects) model seem to modulate the precision attributed to prediction errors, favoring the selective updating of predictive models with larger prediction errors. However, to explain how arousal effects are triggered, it is likely that different kinds of prediction errors (including interoceptive/affective) need to be considered.

Using signal detection theory in the analysis of emotional sensitivity of male recidivist offenders.

BACKGROUND: Study of emotional responses of antisocial individuals has produced inconsistent findings. Some studies report emotional deficits, while others find no differences between people with and without antisocial behaviours. AIMS: Our aim was to apply signal detection theory methods to compare the sensitivity of antisocial and control participants to emotional stimuli. We hypothesised that offenders would show lower ability to discriminate changes in the level of arousal and valence of emotional stimuli relative to the controls. METHODS: Signal detection theory was applied to study the sensitivity of recidivist offenders in prison to emotional arousal and valence induced by pictures. This approach, novel in this context, provides a departure from the usual reliance on self-report. RESULTS: Offenders reported higher arousal than controls but showed lower sensitivity to changes between different levels of arousal (whereas no differences were found for valence). Also, offenders showed increased response bias for changes in the levels of arousal, as well as in the higher levels of valence. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show that direct observations of emotional arousal, but not valence, discriminate between recidivist offenders with antisocial personality disorder and non-offending controls. Use of such approaches is likely to provide more valid data than self-reports and may prove particularly useful in studies of intervention for recidivists or in assessment of their readiness for release.

Centrality measures in psychological networks: A simulation study on identifying effective treatment targets.

The network theory of psychopathology suggests that symptoms in a disorder form a network and that identifying central symptoms within this network might be important for an effective and personalized treatment. However, recent evidence has been inconclusive. We analyzed contemporaneous idiographic networks of depression and anxiety symptoms. Two approaches were compared: a cascade-based attack where symptoms were deactivated in decreasing centrality order, and a normal attack where symptoms were deactivated based on original centrality estimates. Results showed that centrality measures significantly affected the attack's magnitude, particularly the number of components and average path length in both normal and cascade attacks. Degree centrality consistently had the highest impact on the network properties. This study emphasizes the importance of considering centrality measures when identifying treatment targets in psychological networks. Further research is needed to better understand the causal relationships and predictive capabilities of centrality measures in personalized treatments for mental disorders.

Neuronal Correlates of Empathy: A Systematic Review of Event-Related Potentials Studies in Perceptual Tasks.

Empathy is a crucial component to infer and understand others' emotions. However, a synthesis of studies regarding empathy and its neuronal correlates in perceptual tasks using event-related potentials (ERPs) has yet to occur. The current systematic review aimed to provide that overview. Upon bibliographic research, 30 studies featuring empathy assessments and at least one perceptual task measuring ERP components in healthy participants were included. Four main focus categories were identified, as follows: Affective Pictures, Facial Stimuli, Mental States, and Social Language. The Late Positive Potential was the most analyzed in Affective Pictures and was reported to be positively correlated with cognitive and affective empathy, along with other late components. In contrast, for Facial Stimuli, early components presented significant correlations with empathy scales. Particularly, the N170 presented negative correlations with cognitive and affective empathy. Finally, augmented N400 was suggested to be associated with higher empathy scores in the Mental States and Social Language categories. These findings highlight the relevance of early perceptual stages of empathic processing and how different EEG/ERP methodologies provide relevant information.

Differential effects of attachment security on visual fixation to facial expressions of emotion in 14-month-old infants: an eye-tracking study.

Introduction: Models of attachment and information processing suggest that the attention infants allocate to social information might occur in a schema-driven processing manner according to their attachment pattern. A major source of social information for infants consists of facial expressions of emotion. We tested for differences in attention to facial expressions and emotional discrimination between infants classified as securely attached (B), insecure-avoidant (A), and insecure-resistant (C). Methods: Sixty-one 14-month-old infants participated in the Strange Situation Procedure and an experimental task of Visual Habituation and Visual Paired-Comparison Task (VPC). In the Habituation phase, a Low-Arousal Happy face (habituation face) was presented followed by a VPC task of 6 trials composed of two contrasting emotional faces always involving the same actress: the one used in habituation (trial old face) and a new one (trial new face) portraying changes in valence (Low-Arousal Angry face), arousal (High-Arousal Happy face), or valence + arousal (High-Arousal Angry face). Measures of fixation time (FT) and number of fixations (FC) were obtained for the habituation face, the trial old face, the trial new face, and the difference between the trial old face and the trial new face using an eye-tracking system. Results: We found a higher FT and FC for the trial new face when compared with the trial old face, regardless of the emotional condition (valence, arousal, valence + arousal contrasts), suggesting that 14-month-old infants were able to discriminate different emotional faces. However, this effect differed according to attachment pattern: resistant-attached infants (C) had significantly higher FT and FC for the new face than patterns B and A, indicating they may remain hypervigilant toward emotional change. On the contrary, avoidant infants (A) revealed significantly longer looking times to the trial old face, suggesting overall avoidance of novel expressions and thus less sensitivity to emotional change. Discussion: Overall, these findings corroborate that attachment is associated with infants' social information processing.

Corrigendum: Differential effects of attachment security on visual fixation to facial expressions of emotion in 14-month-old infants: an eye-tracking study.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1302657.].

Autistic traits and event-related potentials in the general population: A scoping review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Differences in short and long-latency Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) can help us infer abnormalities in brain processing, considering early and later stages of stimuli processing across tasks and conditions. In autism research, the adult population remains largely understudied compared to samples at early stages of development. In this context, this scoping review briefly summarises what has been described in community and subclinical adult samples of autism. METHOD: The current scoping review and meta-analysis includes 50 records (N = 1652) and comprehensively explores short and long-latency ERP amplitudes and their relationship with autistic traits in adult community samples. RESULTS: This meta-analysis identified, with small to medium effect sizes, distinctive patterns in late ERP amplitudes, indicating enhanced responses to visual stimuli and the opposite patterns to auditory tasks in the included sample. Additionally, a pattern of higher amplitudes was also found for the component P3b in autistic traits. DISCUSSION: Differential effects in visual and auditory domains are explored in light of the predictive processing framework for Autism. It remains possible that different brain mechanisms operate to explain symptoms related with different sensory modalities. P3b is discussed as a possible component of interest in future studies as it revealed a more robust effect for differentiating severity in the expression of autistic traits in adulthood.

Amplitude modulation of the contingent negative variation in psychopathy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

The CNV is analyzed in tasks related to EEG studies, often with participants presenting psychopathic personality traits. A systematic search of the literature was conducted, to solve some inconsistencies regarding CNV amplitude modulation by psychopathy. Nine studies (N = 317) were retrieved for analysis. Three meta-analyses were run - CNV, iCNV, tCNV. A qualitative analysis - reporting CNV amplitudes modulated by psychopathy dimensional features - was also featured. Overall effects for CNV and iCNV were not significant. Larger tCNV amplitudes were found in participants reporting higher psychopathy traits, g = -0.58, 95% CI [- 0.94, - 0.22]. These findings were surprising when confronted with previous assumptions in the literature, especially considering that no significant heterogeneity between studies was found. Neither of the studies' characteristics was a significant moderator. Findings require the need to discuss key differences between adaptive/(mal)adjustment patterns in participants presenting psychopathic traits. Future studies dissociating iCNV and tCNV modulation by psychopathy, especially in community samples and through a dimensional lens, could help to better understand the construct of psychopathy.

Effects of aging on face processing: An ERP study of the own-age bias with neutral and emotional faces.

Older adults systematically show an enhanced N170 amplitude during the visualization of facial expressions of emotion. The present study aimed to replicate this finding, further investigating if this effect is specific to facial stimuli, present in other neural correlates of face processing, and modulated by own-age faces. To this purpose, younger (n = 25; Mage = 28.36), middle-aged (n = 23; Mage = 48.74), and older adults (n = 25; Mage = 67.36) performed two face/emotion identification tasks during an EEG recording. The results showed that groups did not differ regarding P100 amplitude, but older adults had increased N170 amplitude for both facial and non-facial stimuli. The event-related potentials analysed were not modulated by an own-age bias, but older faces elicited larger N170 in the Emotion Identification Task for all groups. This increased amplitude may reflect a higher ambiguity of older faces due to age-related changes in their physical features, which may elicit higher neural resources to decode. Regarding P250, older faces elicited decreased amplitudes than younger faces, which may reflect a reduced processing of the emotional content of older faces. This interpretation is consistent with the lower accuracy obtained for this category of stimuli across groups. These results have important social implications and suggest that aging may hamper the neural processing of facial expressions of emotion, especially for own-age peers.

Awareness to utilitarian responses in later life: An ERP study with moral dilemmas.

The current study aims to provide the first insights into the neural correlates of utilitarian and deontological responses to moral dilemmas across the lifespan. To this purpose, younger (n = 30), middle-aged (n = 29), and older adults (n = 29) completed moral dilemmas during an EEG recording. Behaviorally, groups did not differ in the number of utilitarian responses and reaction times. However, at the neural level, older adults had higher Error Positivity (Pe) amplitudes than younger adults after utilitarian responses. As this effect was specific to utilitarian responses, it suggests that utilitarian decisions may induce increased conflict in the older group. These findings highlight that older adults may be more aware of the harmful outcomes of utilitarian decisions during moral decision-making.

Predictive processing models and affective neuroscience.

The neural bases of affective experience remain elusive. Early neuroscience models of affect searched for specific brain regions that uniquely carried out the computations that underlie dimensions of valence and arousal. However, a growing body of work has failed to identify these circuits. Research turned to multivariate analyses, but these strategies, too, have made limited progress. Predictive processing models offer exciting new directions to address this problem. Here, we use predictive processing models as a lens to critique prevailing functional neuroimaging research practices in affective neuroscience. Our review highlights how much work relies on rigid assumptions that are inconsistent with a predictive processing approach. We outline the central aspects of a predictive processing model and draw out their implications for research in affective and cognitive neuroscience. Predictive models motivate a reformulation of "reverse inference" in cognitive neuroscience, and placing a greater emphasis on external validity in experimental design.

A dimensional approach to the neuronal correlates of anxiety, depression, and perfectionism: A transdiagnostic dissociation of error-related brain activity.

Transdiagnostic approaches such as the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) highlight the importance of addressing psychopathological constructs dimensionally, since comorbidity and heterogeneity represent prevalent issues in the available categorical diagnosis. The current study analyses distinct internalizing dimensions of depression and anxiety, and the transdiagnostic feature of perfectionism on the modulation of error-related brain activity (i.e., ERN). A sample of 125 participants completed self-reported measures of anxiety, depression, and perfectionism, and performed two versions of the Flanker Task (performance monitoring and sustained-threat) during an EEG recording. In the broad internalizing dimensions, anxiety predicted increased ERN amplitudes when controlling for the shared variance with depression and perfectionism. The narrower dimensions of anxiety and depression revealed a dissociative effect: cognitive anxiety explained blunted ERN amplitudes, while the physiological signs of anxiety and depression predicted increased amplitudes. For perfectionism, no significant results were found. Exploratory analyses further revealed that the Error Positivity component (Pe) was reduced in anxiety and physiological depression. We conclude that anxiety features emerge as the main explanation for the altered patterns of error monitoring in a transdiagnostic sample. Since anxiety is expected to co-occur with other disorders, the current findings suggest that altered patterns of error monitoring will be a transdiagnostic feature of various internalizing and anxiety-related disorders.

Abnormal Habituation of the Auditory Event-Related Potential P2 Component in Patients With Schizophrenia.

Auditory event-related potentials (ERP) may serve as diagnostic tools for schizophrenia and inform on the susceptibility for this condition. Particularly, the examination of N1 and P2 components of the auditory ERP may shed light on the impairments of information processing streams in schizophrenia. However, the habituation properties (i.e., decreasing amplitude with the repeated presentation of an auditory stimulus) of these components remain poorly studied compared to other auditory ERPs. Therefore, the current study used a roving paradigm to assess the modulation and habituation of N1 and P2 to simple (pure tones) and complex sounds (human voices and bird songs) in 26 first-episode patients with schizophrenia and 27 healthy participants. To explore the habituation properties of these ERPs, we measured the decrease in amplitude over a train of seven repetitions of the same stimulus (either bird songs or human voices). We observed that, for human voices, N1 and P2 amplitudes decreased linearly from stimulus 1-7, in both groups. Regarding bird songs, only the P2 component showed a decreased amplitude with stimulus presentation, exclusively in the control group. This suggests that patients did not show a fading of neural responses to repeated bird songs, reflecting abnormal habituation to this stimulus. This could reflect the inability to inhibit irrelevant or redundant information at later stages of auditory processing. In turn schizophrenia patients appear to have a preserved auditory processing of human voices.

The neurophysiological correlates of the triarchic model of psychopathy: An approach to the basic mechanisms of threat conditioning and inhibitory control.

The psychopathic traits boldness, meanness, and disinhibition are theorized to be underlined by trait fearlessness and externalizing vulnerability as etiologic neurobiological processes. However, little is known about the neurophysiological correlates of these traits. In this work, we explored how the three traits are associated with event-related potential (ERP) components targeted at the etiological processes in a partial delayed threat conditioning task and in a go/no-go task. Fifty community-dwelling volunteers (25 women), without history of neurological or psychiatric conditions, were recruited and assessed for psychopathic traits using the triarchic psychopathy measure. Participants performed a threat conditioning task, and a go/no-go task while undergoing an electroencephalography recording. Results from the threat conditioning task showed that boldness was significantly associated with reduced late positive potential. Concerning the go/no-go task, disinhibition was significantly associated with reduced error-related negativity ERP component. Overall, distinct psychopathic traits were found to be associated with distinct neurophysiological correlates of threat conditioning and response inhibition. This is consistent with models of psychopathy entailing trait fearlessness and externalizing proneness, and related brain mechanisms, as distinct processes underlying the expression of psychopathic traits.

Effects of COVID-19 Home Confinement on Eating Behaviour and Physical Activity: Results of the ECLB-COVID19 International Online Survey.

BACKGROUND: Public health recommendations and governmental measures during the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in numerous restrictions on daily living including social distancing, isolation and home confinement. While these measures are imperative to abate the spreading of COVID-19, the impact of these restrictions on health behaviours and lifestyles at home is undefined. Therefore, an international online survey was launched in April 2020, in seven languages, to elucidate the behavioural and lifestyle consequences of COVID-19 restrictions. This report presents the results from the first thousand responders on physical activity (PA) and nutrition behaviours. METHODS: Following a structured review of the literature, the "Effects of home Confinement on multiple Lifestyle Behaviours during the COVID-19 outbreak (ECLB-COVID19)" Electronic survey was designed by a steering group of multidisciplinary scientists and academics. The survey was uploaded and shared on the Google online survey platform. Thirty-five research organisations from Europe, North-Africa, Western Asia and the Americas promoted the survey in English, German, French, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese and Slovenian languages. Questions were presented in a differential format, with questions related to responses "before" and "during" confinement conditions. RESULTS: 1047 replies (54% women) from Asia (36%), Africa (40%), Europe (21%) and other (3%) were included in the analysis. The COVID-19 home confinement had a negative effect on all PA intensity levels (vigorous, moderate, walking and overall). Additionally, daily sitting time increased from 5 to 8 h per day. Food consumption and meal patterns (the type of food, eating out of control, snacks between meals, number of main meals) were more unhealthy during confinement, with only alcohol binge drinking decreasing significantly. CONCLUSION: While isolation is a necessary measure to protect public health, results indicate that it alters physical activity and eating behaviours in a health compromising direction. A more detailed analysis of survey data will allow for a segregation of these responses in different age groups, countries and other subgroups, which will help develop interventions to mitigate the negative lifestyle behaviours that have manifested during the COVID-19 confinement.