Integrated cross-network connectivity of amygdala,insula, and subgenual cingulate associated with facial emotion perception in healthy controls and remitted major depressive disorder

Emotion perception deficits could be due to disrupted connectivity of key nodes in the salience and emotion network (SEN), including the amygdala, subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC), and insula. We examined SEN resting-state (rs-)fMRI connectivity in rMDD in relation to Facial Emotion Perception Test (FEPT) performance. Fifty-two medication-free people ages 18 to 23 years participated. Twenty-seven had major depressive disorder (MDD) in remission (rMDD, 10 males), as MDD is associated with emotion perception deficits and alterations in rsfMRI. Twenty-five healthy controls (10 males) also participated. Participants completed the FEPT during fMRI, in addition to an 8-minute eyes-open resting-state scan. Seed regions of interest were defined in the amygdala, anterior insula and sgACC. Multiple regression analyses co-varied diagnostic group, sex and movement parameters. Emotion perception accuracy was positively associated with connectivity between amygdala seeds and regions primarily in the SEN and cognitive control network (CCN), and also the default mode network (DMN). Accuracy was also positively associated with connectivity between the sgACC seeds and other SEN regions, and the DMN, particularly for the right sgACC. Connectivity negatively associated with emotion perception was mostly with regions outside of these three networks, other than the left insula and part of the DMN. This study is the first to our knowledge to demonstrate relationships between facial emotion processing and resting-state connectivity with SEN nodes and between SEN nodes and regions located within other neural networks.     

Emptiness and Work: a Meaning-Making Perspective

This paper aims to put forward the foundation for building a theory of meaning-making based on emptiness. The theoretical perspective underlying the discussion is the cultural psychology of semiotic mediation. According to this perspective, meaning-making is the result of the process through witch human beings use signs to build their relationship with their environment. Three topics unfold in the paper. First, emptiness is defined as a potential absence. Second, the paper identifies the two ways in which emptiness enters into the meaning-making process, either fostering it or, to the contrary, blocking it. When it fosters meaning construction, emptiness acts as a catalytic factor, that is, as a reservoir of possibilities, in the sense of a future-oriented set of new meanings to be built by the agent. However, when emptiness plays the role of a blocking or anti-catalytic factor, emptiness become a hyper-generalized sign, i.e., an empty meaning. Third, this paper illustrates the applicability of these theoretical reflections on emptiness through the example of work. Specifically, both the burnout and the so-called “placardisation” phenomena are analyzed in terms of the anti-catalytic factors at play in work, which lead to feeling it as empty.     

Age slowing down in detection and visual discrimination under varying presentation times

The reaction time has been described as a measure of perception, decision making, and other cognitive processes. The aim of this work is to examine age‐related changes in executive functions in terms of demand load under varying presentation times. Two tasks were employed where a signal detection and a discrimination task were performed by young and older university students. Furthermore, a characterization of the response time distribution by an ex‐Gaussian fit was carried out. The results indicated that the older participants were slower than the younger ones in signal detection and discrimination. Moreover, the differences between both processes for the older participants were higher, and they also showed a higher distribution average except for the lower and higher presentation time. The results suggest a general slowdown in both tasks for age under different presentation times, except for the cases where presentation times were lower and higher. Moreover, if these parameters are understood to be a reflection of executive functions, these findings are consistent with the common view that age‐related cognitive deficits show a decline in this function.     

Previously acquired cue–outcome structural knowledge guides new learning: Evidence from the retroactive-interference-between-cues effect

The effect of retroactive interference between cues predicting the same outcome (RIBC) occurs when the behavioral expression of a cue–outcome association (e.g., A→O1) is reduced due to the later acquisition of an association between a different cue and the same outcome (e.g., B→O1). In the present experimental series, we show that this effect can be modulated by knowledge concerning the structure of these cue–outcome relationships. In Experiments 1A and 1B, a pretraining phase was included to promote the expectation of either a one-to-one (OtO) or a many-to-one (MtO) cue–outcome structure during the subsequent RIBC training phases. We hypothesized that the adoption of an OtO expectation would make participants infer that the previously learned A→O1 relationship would not hold any longer after the exposure to B→O1 trials. Alternatively, the adoption of an MtO expectation would prevent participants from making such an inference. Experiment 1B included an additional condition without pretraining, to assess whether the OtO structure was expected by default. Experiment 2 included control conditions to assess the RIBC effect and induced the expectation of an OtO or MtO structure without the addition of a pretraining phase. Overall, the results suggest that participants effectively induced structural expectations regarding the cue–outcome contingencies. In turn, these expectations may have potentiated (OtO expectation) or alleviated (MtO expectation) the RIBC effect, depending on how well these expectations could accommodate the target A→O1 test association. This pattern of results poses difficulties for current explanations of the RIBC effect, since these explanations do not consider the incidence of cue–outcome structural expectations.     

Inverse reference in subtraction performance: an analysis from arithmetic word problems

Studies of elementary calculation have shown that adults solve basic subtraction problems faster with problems presented in addition format (e.g., 6 ± =?13) than in standard subtraction format (e.g., 13 - 6?=?). Therefore, it is considered that adults solve subtraction problems by reference to the inverse operation (e.g., for 13 - 6?=?7, "I know that 13 is 6?+?7") because presenting the subtraction problem in addition format does not require the mental rearrangement of the problem elements into the addition format. In two experiments, we examine whether adults' use of addition to solve subtractions is modulated by the arrangement of minuend and subtrahend, regardless of format. To this end, we used arithmetic word problems since single-digit problems in subtraction format would not allow the subtrahend to appear before the minuend. In Experiment 1, subtractions were presented by arranging minuend and subtrahend according to previous research. In Experiment 2, operands were reversed. The overall results showed that participants benefited from word problems where the subtrahend appears before the minuend, including subtractions in standard subtraction format. These findings add to a growing body of literature that emphasizes the role of inverse reference in adults' performance on subtractions.     

How modality specific is the iambic-trochaic law? Evidence from vision

The iambic-trochaic law has been proposed to account for the grouping of auditory stimuli: Sequences of sounds that differ only in duration are grouped as iambs (i.e., the most prominent element marks the end of a sequence of sounds), and sequences that differ only in pitch or intensity are grouped as trochees (i.e., the most prominent element marks the beginning of a sequence). In 3 experiments, comprising a familiarization and a test phase, we investigated whether a similar grouping principle is also present in the visual modality. During familiarization, sequences of visual stimuli were repeatedly presented to participants, who were asked to memorize their order of presentation. In the test phase, participants were better at remembering fragments of the familiarization sequences that were consistent with the iambic-trochaic law. Thus, they were better at remembering fragments that had the element with longer duration in final position (iambs) and fragments that had the element with either higher temporal frequency or higher intensity in initial position (trochees), as compared with fragments that were inconsistent with the iambic-trochaic law or that never occurred during familiarization.     

Assessing the forms and functions of aggression using self-report: factor structure and invariance of the Peer Conflict Scale in youths

This study examined the structure of a self-report measure of the forms and functions of aggression in 855 adolescents (582 boys, 266 girls) aged 12 to 19 years recruited from high school, detained, and residential settings. The Peer Conflict Scale (PCS) is a 40-item measure that was developed to improve upon existing measures and provide an efficient, reliable, and valid assessment of four dimensions of aggression (i.e., reactive overt, reactive relational, proactive overt, and proactive relational) in youths. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that a 4-factor model represented a satisfactory solution for the data. The factor structure fit well for both boys and girls and across high school, detained, and residential samples. Internal consistency estimates were good for the 4 factors, and they showed expected associations with externalizing variables (i.e., arrest history, callous-unemotional traits, and delinquency). Reactive and proactive subtypes showed unique associations consistent with previous literature. Implications for the use of the PCS to assess aggression and inform intervention decisions in diverse samples of youths are discussed.