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PNAS Nexus Jun 2024Although much of human morality evolved in an environment of small group living, almost 6 billion people use the internet in the modern era. We argue that the... (Review)
Review
Although much of human morality evolved in an environment of small group living, almost 6 billion people use the internet in the modern era. We argue that the technological transformation has created an entirely new ecosystem that is often mismatched with our evolved adaptations for social living. We discuss how evolved responses to moral transgressions, such as compassion for victims of transgressions and punishment of transgressors, are disrupted by two main features of the online context. First, the of the internet exposes us to an unnaturally large quantity of extreme moral content, causing compassion fatigue and increasing public shaming. Second, the physical and psychological between moral actors online can lead to ineffective collective action and virtue signaling. We discuss practical implications of these mismatches and suggest directions for future research on morality in the internet era.
PubMed: 38864008
DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae193 -
Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare 2024Treatment of anorectal malformations (ARM) and the management of clinical outcomes are challenging for families. While most studies focus on mothers suffering from care...
BACKGROUND
Treatment of anorectal malformations (ARM) and the management of clinical outcomes are challenging for families. While most studies focus on mothers suffering from care burden, high stress, and low quality of life, there is limited knowledge of what fathers of children with ARM experience; therefore, this study aimed to examine how both mothers and fathers have experience caring for children with ARM and how beliefs and cultural issues affect the perception of congenital anomalies.
METHODS
A qualitative design. Consolidated criteria for reporting the qualitative research guidelines were used in this study. The guidelines for thematic analysis were followed for data analysis.
RESULTS
Ten mothers and six fathers were interviewed, and their mean age was 32.5 ± 4.2 years. Of the 75% (n = 12) illiterate and 93.7% (n = 15) had an expanded family type, all their religious affiliations were Muslim. The four main themes were (1) ambiguity, (2) challenges, (3) stigma, and (4) coping, which were determined in line with the results of the data analysis of parents' views on having and caring for children with ARM.
CONCLUSION
In this study, many Somali parents reported that they lacked disease and treatment knowledge, physical exhaustion, and some difficulties related to a lack of access to the hospital because of living in rural areas, caring for the child, and dealing with long-term complications, colostomy, anal dilatation, and enema before or after anoplasty. While all parents mentioned that having a child with ARM was a fate, it was seen as punishment by their close social environment. Consequently, this study could serve as a foundation for planning comprehensive healthcare and physical and psychosocial support for multidisciplinary health professionals.
PubMed: 38863765
DOI: 10.2147/JMDH.S462391 -
Learning & Memory (Cold Spring Harbor,... May 2024Associative learning enables the adaptive adjustment of behavioral decisions based on acquired, predicted outcomes. The valence of what is learned is influenced not only...
Associative learning enables the adaptive adjustment of behavioral decisions based on acquired, predicted outcomes. The valence of what is learned is influenced not only by the learned stimuli and their temporal relations, but also by prior experiences and internal states. In this study, we used the fruit fly to demonstrate that neuronal circuits involved in associative olfactory learning undergo restructuring during extended periods of low-caloric food intake. Specifically, we observed a decrease in the connections between specific dopaminergic neurons (DANs) and Kenyon cells at distinct compartments of the mushroom body. This structural synaptic plasticity was contingent upon the presence of allatostatin A receptors in specific DANs and could be mimicked optogenetically by expressing a light-activated adenylate cyclase in exactly these DANs. Importantly, we found that this rearrangement in synaptic connections influenced aversive, punishment-induced olfactory learning but did not impact appetitive, reward-based learning. Whether induced by prolonged low-caloric conditions or optogenetic manipulation of cAMP levels, this synaptic rearrangement resulted in a reduction of aversive associative learning. Consequently, the balance between positive and negative reinforcing signals shifted, diminishing the ability to learn to avoid odor cues signaling negative outcomes. These results exemplify how a neuronal circuit required for learning and memory undergoes structural plasticity dependent on prior experiences of the nutritional value of food.
Topics: Animals; Mushroom Bodies; Drosophila melanogaster; Neuronal Plasticity; Dopaminergic Neurons; Eating; Optogenetics; Association Learning; Smell; Olfactory Perception; Reward; Animals, Genetically Modified
PubMed: 38862177
DOI: 10.1101/lm.053997.124 -
Learning & Memory (Cold Spring Harbor,... May 2024Across animal species, dopamine-operated memory systems comprise anatomically segregated, functionally diverse subsystems. Although individual subsystems could operate... (Review)
Review
Across animal species, dopamine-operated memory systems comprise anatomically segregated, functionally diverse subsystems. Although individual subsystems could operate independently to support distinct types of memory, the logical interplay between subsystems is expected to enable more complex memory processing by allowing existing memory to influence future learning. Recent comprehensive ultrastructural analysis of the mushroom body revealed intricate networks interconnecting the dopamine subsystems-the mushroom body compartments. Here, we review the functions of some of these connections that are beginning to be understood. Memory consolidation is mediated by two different forms of network: A recurrent feedback loop within a compartment maintains sustained dopamine activity required for consolidation, whereas feed-forward connections across compartments allow short-term memory formation in one compartment to open the gate for long-term memory formation in another compartment. Extinction and reversal of aversive memory rely on a similar feed-forward circuit motif that signals omission of punishment as a reward, which triggers plasticity that counteracts the original aversive memory trace. Finally, indirect feed-forward connections from a long-term memory compartment to short-term memory compartments mediate higher-order conditioning. Collectively, these emerging studies indicate that feedback control and hierarchical connectivity allow the dopamine subsystems to work cooperatively to support diverse and complex forms of learning.
Topics: Animals; Dopamine; Mushroom Bodies; Drosophila; Feedback, Physiological; Memory Consolidation; Nerve Net; Dopaminergic Neurons; Neural Pathways
PubMed: 38862171
DOI: 10.1101/lm.053807.123 -
Addiction Neuroscience Jun 2024Addiction is characterized by continued drug use despite negative consequences. In an animal model, a subset of rats continues to self-administer cocaine despite...
Addiction is characterized by continued drug use despite negative consequences. In an animal model, a subset of rats continues to self-administer cocaine despite footshock consequences, showing punishment resistance. We sought to test the hypothesis that punishment resistance arises from failure to exert goal-directed control over habitual cocaine seeking. While habits are not inherently permanent or maladaptive, continued use of habits under conditions that should encourage goal-directed control makes them maladaptive and inflexible. We trained male and female Sprague Dawley rats on a seeking-taking chained schedule of cocaine self-administration. We then exposed them to four days of punishment testing in which footshock was delivered randomly on one-third of trials. Before and after punishment testing (four days pre-punishment and ≥ four days post-punishment), we assessed whether cocaine seeking was goal-directed or habitual using outcome devaluation via cocaine satiety. We found that punishment resistance was associated with continued use of habits, whereas punishment sensitivity was associated with increased goal-directed control. Although punishment resistance for cocaine was not predicted by habitual responding pre-punishment, it was associated with habitual responding post-punishment. In parallel studies of food self-administration, we similarly observed that punishment resistance was associated with habitual responding post-punishment but not pre-punishment in males, although it was associated with habitual responding both pre- and post-punishment in females, indicating that punishment resistance was predicted by habitual responding in food-seeking females. These findings indicate that punishment resistance is related to habits that have become inflexible and persist under conditions that should encourage a transition to goal-directed behavior.
PubMed: 38859977
DOI: 10.1016/j.addicn.2024.100148 -
Journal of Safety Research Jun 2024In many countries, a new road user group, e-scooter riders, share the existing cycling infrastructure. The study aimed to investigate if an individual's status as a...
PROBLEM
In many countries, a new road user group, e-scooter riders, share the existing cycling infrastructure. The study aimed to investigate if an individual's status as a cyclist or e-scooter rider affects their social identity and whether it results in ingroup favoritism or outgroup discrimination.
METHOD
An online experiment involving 179 cyclists and 64 e-scooter riders was conducted, where they rated the behavior of ingroup or outgroup members in six traffic scenarios.
RESULTS
Participants rated dispositional attributions as more causally relevant than situational ones across all traffic scenarios. Cyclists and e-scooter riders were inclined to judge ingroup members' rule violations more harshly than those of outgroup members in terms of dispositional attribution ratings and punishment severity. For situational attributions, few indications of ingroup favoritism were observed for the e-scooter rider group.
SUMMARY
Findings suggest initial indications of considerate coexistence, from the perspective of social identity theory, between the two modes of transport, supporting current regulations on the use of cycling infrastructure by e-scooter riders. Indications of ingroup discrimination, however, suggest that safety campaigning may target to promote courtesy within the cyclist and e-scooter rider groups.
Topics: Humans; Bicycling; Male; Female; Adult; Young Adult; Social Identification; Middle Aged; Adolescent; Safety
PubMed: 38858058
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsr.2024.01.008 -
Journal of Epidemiology Jun 2024No previous study reported an association between paternal involvement in childcare and housework and maternal physical punishment.
BACKGROUND
No previous study reported an association between paternal involvement in childcare and housework and maternal physical punishment.
METHODS
Using data from the Japanese Longitudinal Survey of Newborns in the 21st century (N = 38,554), we analyzed responses about fathers' involvement in childcare and housework at 6 months and mothers' spanking of children at 3.5 years. Fathers' involvement in childcare and housework was scored and categorized into quartiles. Spanking frequency was asked in the "often", "sometimes", or "not at all" categories. Multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the mothers' often spanking children were computed for the fathers' involvement in childcare and housework. We also stratified the association by fathers' working hours (40-49, 50-59, or ≥ 60 hours/week).
RESULTS
Among the 16,373 respondents, the proportion of mothers who often spanked their children was 4.8%. Compared with the lowest quartile, a higher frequency of paternal involvement in housework was associated with a lower risk of spanking children (p = 0.001). Adjustment for covariates attenuated the association, but significant association was observed in the 3 quartile of paternal involvement in housework [OR (95% CI): 0.77 (0.62-0.96)]. When the fathers worked fewer than 50 hours a week, a significant negative association was observed between the fathers' frequency of childcare and the likeliness of the mothers' spanking their children (p = 0.02).
CONCLUSIONS
The fathers' active involvement in childcare and housework could reduce the mothers' physical punishment for their children.
PubMed: 38853010
DOI: 10.2188/jea.JE20230270 -
Nature Communications Jun 2024Parvalbumin (PV)-expressing GABAergic neurons of the basal forebrain (BFPVNs) were proposed to serve as a rapid and transient arousal system, yet their exact role in...
Parvalbumin (PV)-expressing GABAergic neurons of the basal forebrain (BFPVNs) were proposed to serve as a rapid and transient arousal system, yet their exact role in awake behaviors remains unclear. We performed bulk calcium measurements and electrophysiology with optogenetic tagging from the horizontal limb of the diagonal band of Broca (HDB) while male mice were performing an associative learning task. BFPVNs responded with a distinctive, phasic activation to punishment, but showed slower and delayed responses to reward and outcome-predicting stimuli. Optogenetic inhibition during punishment impaired the formation of cue-outcome associations, suggesting a causal role of BFPVNs in associative learning. BFPVNs received strong inputs from the hypothalamus, the septal complex and the median raphe region, while they synapsed on diverse cell types in key limbic structures, where they broadcasted information about aversive stimuli. We propose that the arousing effect of BFPVNs is recruited by aversive stimuli to serve crucial associative learning functions.
Topics: Animals; Parvalbumins; Basal Forebrain; Male; Optogenetics; Mice; GABAergic Neurons; Reward; Punishment; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Learning; Neurons; Association Learning
PubMed: 38849336
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48755-7 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2024Despite unresolved questions about replicability, a substantial number of studies find that disgust influences and arises from evaluations of immoral behavior and...
Despite unresolved questions about replicability, a substantial number of studies find that disgust influences and arises from evaluations of immoral behavior and people. Departing from prior emphases, the current research examines a novel, related question: Are people who are viewed as disgusting (i.e., people whose habits seem disgusting) perceived as more immoral than typical or unusual people? Four experiments examined this, also exploring the downstream impacts of moral character judgments. Adults who seemed disgusting were regarded as more immoral for purity and non-purity violations (Experiment 1) and less praiseworthy for prosocial acts (Experiment 2). In Experiment 3, an 8-year-old with typical (but seemingly disgusting) habits was rated as "naughtier" and likelier to misbehave than an atypical child who loved vegetables and disliked sweets. Experiment 4 revealed how, when no behavioral information is available, beliefs about target disgust influence beliefs about future behavior, helping explain why seemingly disgusting targets are viewed as more immoral, but not always more punishable for their bad behavior.
PubMed: 38845773
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1395439 -
Brain and Cognition Aug 2024Most of the literature on the neural bases of human reward and punishment processing has used monetary gains and losses, but less is known about the neurophysiological...
Most of the literature on the neural bases of human reward and punishment processing has used monetary gains and losses, but less is known about the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the anticipation and consumption of other types of rewarding stimuli. In the present study, EEG was recorded from 19 participants who completed a modified version of the Monetary Incentive Delay (MID) task. During the task, cues providing information about potential future outcomes were presented to the participants. Then, they had to respond rapidly to a target stimulus to win money or listening to pleasant music, or to avoid losing money or listening to unpleasant music. Results revealed similar responses for monetary and music cues, with increased activity for cues indicating potential gains compared to losses. However, differences emerged in the outcome phase between money and music. Monetary outcomes showed an interaction between the type of the cue and the outcome in the Feedback Related Negativity and Fb-P3 ERPs and increased theta activity increased for negative feedbacks. In contrast, music outcomes showed significant interactions in the Fb-P3 and theta activities. These findings suggest similar neurophysiological mechanisms in processing cues for potential positive or negative outcomes in these two types of stimuli.
Topics: Humans; Reward; Music; Male; Female; Electroencephalography; Young Adult; Anticipation, Psychological; Adult; Cues; Evoked Potentials; Brain; Motivation; Acoustic Stimulation
PubMed: 38843763
DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2024.106186