The meaning in empathy: distinguishing conceptual encoding from facial mimicry, trait empathy, and attention to emotion

In order to truly empathise with another, we need to recognise and understand how they feel. Perception-action models of empathy predict that attending to another's emotion will spontaneously activate the observer's own conceptual knowledge for the state, but it is unclear how this activation is related to facial mimicry, trait empathy, or attention to emotion more generally. In the current study, participants did spontaneously encode background facial expressions at a conceptual level even though they were irrelevant to the task (the Emostroop effect; Preston & Stansfield, 2008), but this encoding was not associated with mimicry of the faces, trait empathy, the ability to resolve competing semantic representations (Colour-naming Stroop task), or the tendency to be distracted by emotional information more generally (Intrusive Cognitions task). Our results suggest that trait empathy increases attention to emotional information, but conceptual encoding occurs across individuals as a natural consequence of attended perception.     

Attenuated response to methamphetamine sensitization and deficits in motor learning and memory after selective deletion of β-catenin in dopamine neurons

In the present study, we analyzed mice with a targeted deletion of β-catenin in DA neurons (DA-βcat KO mice) to address the functional significance of this molecule in the shaping of synaptic responses associated with motor learning and following exposure to drugs of abuse. Relative to controls, DA-βcat KO mice showed significant deficits in their ability to form long-term memories and displayed reduced expression of methamphetamine-induced behavioral sensitization after subsequent challenge doses with this drug, suggesting that motor learning and drug-induced learning plasticity are altered in these mice. Morphological analyses showed no changes in the number or distribution of tyrosine hydroxylase-labeled neurons in the ventral midbrain. While electrochemical measurements in the striatum determined no changes in acute DA release and uptake, a small but significant decrease in DA release was detected in mutant animals after prolonged repetitive stimulation, suggesting a possible deficit in the DA neurotransmitter vesicle reserve pool. However, electron microscopy analyses did not reveal significant differences in the content of synaptic vesicles per terminal, and striatal DA levels were unchanged in DA-βcat KO animals. In contrast, striatal mRNA levels for several markers known to regulate synaptic plasticity and DA neurotransmission were altered in DA-βcat KO mice. This study demonstrates that ablation of β-catenin in DA neurons leads to alterations of motor and reward-associated memories and to adaptations of the DA neurotransmitter system and suggests that β-catenin signaling in DA neurons is required to facilitate the synaptic remodeling underlying the consolidation of long-term memories.     

Questionnaire of executive function for dancers: an ecological approach

There is a current debate about the ecological validity of executive function (EF) tests. Consistent with the verisimilitude approach, this research proposes the ballet executive scale (BES), a self-rating questionnaire that assimilates idiosyncratic executive behaviors of classical dance community. The BES was administrated to 149 adolescents, students of the Cuban Ballet School. Results present a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of .80 and a split-half Spearman-Brown coefficient r (SB) = .81. An exploratory factor analysis describes a bifactorial pattern of EF dimensions, with a self-regulation component, which explains more than 40% of variance, and a Developmental component, which accounts for more than 20% of variance. The questionnaire's total scores fit linear regression models with two external criteria of academic records, confirming concurrent validity. These findings support the hypothesis that the internalization of specific contextual cultural meanings has a mediating influence in the development of EF.     

Brief Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Exposure for Panic Disorder: A Pilot Study

Cognitive and biobehavioral coping skills are central to psychosocial therapies and are taught to facilitate and improve exposure therapy. While traditional coping skills are aimed at controlling maladaptive thoughts or dysregulations in physiology, newer approaches that explore acceptance, defusion, and values-based direction have been gaining interest. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) involves creating an open, nonjudgmental stance toward whatever thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations arise in a given moment, experiencing them for what they are, and moving toward them while inner experiences such as anxiety are present. This approach can be seen as consistent with exposure therapies and may be utilized to organize and facilitate engagement in exposure exercises. This study examines the feasibility and efficacy for combining a brief ACT protocol with traditional exposure therapy. Eleven patients with panic disorder with or without agoraphobia received 4 sessions of ACT followed by 6 sessions of exposure therapy, with data collected on a weekly basis. Acquisition of ACT skills and their application during exposure was monitored using a novel “think-aloud” technology. Treatment was associated with clinically significant improvements in panic symptom severity, willingness to allow inner experiences to occur, and reductions in avoidant behavior. Although preliminary, results suggest that our brief training in ACT only (as assessed prior to exposure exercises) and in combination with exposure therapy was acceptable to patients and offered benefits on the order of large effect sizes. Clinical and research implications are discussed.     

The role of optimism and pessimism in chronic pain patients adjustment

This study analyses the relationships between patients' dispositional optimism and pessimism and the coping strategies they use. In addition, the coping strategies repercussions on adjustment to chronic pain were studied. Ninety-eight patients with heterogeneous chronic pain participated. The assessment tools were as follows: Life Orientation Test (LOT), the Vanderbilt Pain Management Inventory (VPMI), the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the Impairment and Functioning Inventory for Chronic Pain Patients (IFI). The hypothetical model establishes positive relationships between optimism and the use of active coping strategies, whereas pessimism is related to the use of passive coping. Active coping is associated with low levels of pain, anxiety, depression and impairment and high levels of functioning. However, passive coping is related to high levels of pain, anxiety, depression and impairment and low levels of functioning. The hypothetical model was empirically tested using the LISREL 8.20 software package and the unweighted least squares method. The results support the hypotheses formulated regarding the relations among optimism, pessimism, coping and adjust of chronic pain patients. By analysing optimism among chronic pain patients, clinicians could make better predictions regarding coping and adjustment.     

Different recognition cues reveal the decision rules used for egg rejection by hosts of a variably mimetic avian brood parasite

Brood parasitism imposes several fitness costs on the host species. To reduce these costs, hosts of avian brood parasites have evolved various defenses, of which egg rejection is the most prevalent. In the face of variable host-parasite mimicry and the costs of egg discrimination itself, many hosts reject only some foreign eggs. Here, we experimentally varied the recognition cues to study the underlying cognitive mechanisms used by the Chalk-browed Mockingbird (Mimus saturninus) to reject the white immaculate eggs laid by the parasitic Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis). Immaculate eggs are the only parasite eggs rejected by this host, as it accepts all polymorphic, spotted eggs laid by cowbirds. Using a within-breeding pair experimental design, we tested for the salience of spotting, UV reflectance, and brightness in eliciting rejection. We found that the presence of spotting significantly decreased the probability of rejection while increments in brightness significantly increased rejection frequencies. The cognitive rules underlying mockingbird rejection behavior can be explained by a decision-making model which predicts changes in the levels of rejection in direct relation to the number of relevant attributes shared between host and parasite eggs.     

The effects of young children's affiliations with prosocial peers on subsequent emotionality in peer interactions

Preschoolers’ (60 boys and 64 girls, M age = 50.73 months) affiliations with prosocial peers were observed in naturally occurring interactions and then examined in relation to positive and negative emotionality within their peer interactions one semester later. Greater affiliation with prosocial peers in the fall was related to enhanced positive emotionality (especially for girls) and decreased negative emotionality (especially for boys) in later peer interactions. These findings held when initial levels of the emotion were controlled and were found above and beyond variations in classroom levels of prosociality. The findings suggest that peers exert influence in early childhood and that these effects can positively affect the quality of young children's later peer interactions.