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European Journal of Cardiovascular... Jun 2024Brain fog and fatigue are common issues after acute coronary syndrome. However, little is known about the nature and impact of these experiences in spontaneous coronary...
AIMS
Brain fog and fatigue are common issues after acute coronary syndrome. However, little is known about the nature and impact of these experiences in spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) survivors. The aims of this study were to understand the experiences of brain fog and the coping strategies used after SCAD.
METHODS AND RESULTS
Participants were recruited from the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute Genetics Study database and were considered eligible if their event occurred within 12-months. Seven semi-structured online focus groups were conducted between December to January 2021-2022, with this study reporting findings related to brain fog and fatigue. Interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed using an iterative approach. Participants (N=30) were a mean age of 52.2 ((9.5) and mostly female (n=27, 90%). The overarching theme of brain fog after SCAD included four main themes: how brain fog is experienced, perceived causes, impacts, and how people cope. Experiences included memory lapses, difficulty concentrating and impaired judgement, and perceived causes included medication, fatigue and tiredness, and menopause and hormonal changes. Impacts of brain fog included rumination, changes in self-perception, disruption to hobbies/pastimes, and limitations at work. Coping mechanisms included setting reminders and expectations, being one's own advocate, lifestyle and self-determined medication adjustments, and support from peers.
CONCLUSION
Brain fog is experienced by SCAD survivors and the impacts are varied and numerous, including capacity to work. SCAD survivors reported difficulty understanding causes and found their own path to coping. Recommendations for clinicians are provided.
PubMed: 38916979
DOI: 10.1093/eurjcn/zvae097 -
Scientific Reports Jun 2024Determining one's confidence in a decision is a vital part of decision-making. Traditionally, psychological experiments have assessed a person's confidence by eliciting...
Determining one's confidence in a decision is a vital part of decision-making. Traditionally, psychological experiments have assessed a person's confidence by eliciting confidence judgments. The notion that such judgments can be elicited without impacting the accuracy of the decision has recently been challenged by several studies which have shown reactivity effects-either an increase or decrease in decision accuracy when confidence judgments are elicited. Evidence for the direction of reactivity effects has, however, been decidedly mixed. Here, we report three studies designed to specifically make reactivity effects more prominent by eliciting confidence judgment contemporaneously with perceptual decisions. We show that confidence judgments elicited contemporaneously produce an impairment in decision accuracy, this suggests that confidence judgments may rely on a partially distinct set of cues/evidence than the primary perceptual decision and, additionally, challenges the continued use of confidence ratings as an unobtrusive measure of metacognition.
Topics: Humans; Judgment; Decision Making; Male; Female; Metacognition; Adult; Young Adult; Perception
PubMed: 38898057
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-64575-7 -
Npj Mental Health Research Jun 2024Anxiety, a condition characterized by intense fear and persistent worry, affects millions each year and, when severe, is distressing and functionally impairing. Numerous...
Anxiety, a condition characterized by intense fear and persistent worry, affects millions each year and, when severe, is distressing and functionally impairing. Numerous machine learning frameworks have been developed and tested to predict features of anxiety and anxiety traits. This study extended these approaches by using a small set of interpretable judgment variables (n = 15) and contextual variables (demographics, perceived loneliness, COVID-19 history) to (1) understand the relationships between these variables and (2) develop a framework to predict anxiety levels [derived from the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)]. This set of 15 judgment variables, including loss aversion and risk aversion, models biases in reward/aversion judgments extracted from an unsupervised, short (2-3 min) picture rating task (using the International Affective Picture System) that can be completed on a smartphone. The study cohort consisted of 3476 de-identified adult participants from across the United States who were recruited using an email survey database. Using a balanced Random Forest approach with these judgment and contextual variables, STAI-derived anxiety levels were predicted with up to 81% accuracy and 0.71 AUC ROC. Normalized Gini scores showed that the most important predictors (age, loneliness, household income, employment status) contributed a total of 29-31% of the cumulative relative importance and up to 61% was contributed by judgment variables. Mediation/moderation statistics revealed that the interactions between judgment and contextual variables appears to be important for accurately predicting anxiety levels. Median shifts in judgment variables described a behavioral profile for individuals with higher anxiety levels that was characterized by less resilience, more avoidance, and more indifference behavior. This study supports the hypothesis that distinct constellations of 15 interpretable judgment variables, along with contextual variables, could yield an efficient and highly scalable system for mental health assessment. These results contribute to our understanding of underlying psychological processes that are necessary to characterize what causes variance in anxiety conditions and its behaviors, which can impact treatment development and efficacy.
PubMed: 38890545
DOI: 10.1038/s44184-024-00074-x -
Comprehensive Psychiatry Aug 2024Although the relationship between schizophrenia and disability is well established, the association between the symptoms of the disorder and functional domains remains...
Although the relationship between schizophrenia and disability is well established, the association between the symptoms of the disorder and functional domains remains unclear. The current study explored the nuances of the relationship between symptoms and domains of functioning in a sample of 1127 patients with schizophrenia. We assessed the symptoms of schizophrenia with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and psychosocial functioning with the mini-ICF-APP (mini-International Classification of Functioning Rating for Limitations of Activities and Participation in Psychological Disorders). The mean PANSS score was 94.28 (27.20), and the mean mini-ICF-APP score was 25.25 (8.96), both of which are indicative of severe symptom load and impairment. We were able to show a strong relationship and overlap between symptoms and disability in patients with schizophrenia. We identified several symptoms related to functional impairment. Deficits in judgment and abstract thinking contribute to impairment through poor adherence (to routines and compliance with rules) and difficulties in planning and organizing. We believe that in schizophrenia, symptoms and their interactions constitute a disorder beyond any single manifestation. Furthermore, we suggest that cognitive testing and cognitive treatment should become part of the standard of care for patients with schizophrenia.
Topics: Humans; Schizophrenia; Female; Male; Adult; Middle Aged; Schizophrenic Psychology; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Activities of Daily Living; Psychosocial Functioning
PubMed: 38820645
DOI: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2024.152501 -
Journal of Oral Rehabilitation May 2024Patients with chronic headaches and chronic oro-facial pain commonly present psychosocial issues that can affect social interactions. A possible reason could be that... (Review)
Review
Facial recognition, laterality judgement, alexithymia and resulting central nervous system adaptations in chronic primary headache and facial pain-A systematic review and meta-analysis.
INTRODUCTION
Patients with chronic headaches and chronic oro-facial pain commonly present psychosocial issues that can affect social interactions. A possible reason could be that patients with these disorders might present impairments in facial recognition, laterality judgement and also alexithymia. However, a systematic review summarizing the effects of facial emotion recognition, laterality judgement and alexithymia in individuals with headaches and oro-facial pain is still not available.
AIM
The main objective of this systematic review (SR) and meta-analysis (MA) was to compile and synthesize the evidence on the occurrence of alexithymia, deficits in laterality or left-right (LR) recognition and/or facial emotion recognition (FER) in patients with chronic headache and facial pain.
METHODS
Electronic searches were conducted in five databases (up to September 2023) and a manual search to identify relevant studies. The outcomes of interest were alexithymia scores, speed and accuracy in LR and/or FER, or any other quantitative data assessing body image distortions. The screening process, data extraction, risk of bias and data analysis were performed by two independent assessors following standards for systematic reviews.
RESULTS
From 1395 manuscripts found, only 34 studies met the criteria. The overall quality/certainty of the evidence was very low. Although the results should be interpreted carefully, individuals with chronic headaches showed significantly higher levels of alexithymia when compared to healthy individuals. No conclusive results were found for the other variables of interest.
CONCLUSION
Although the overall evidence from this review is very low, people with chronic primary headaches and oro-facial pain could be regularly screened for alexithymia to guarantee appropriate management.
PubMed: 38803203
DOI: 10.1111/joor.13742 -
Scientific Reports May 2024Metacognitive systematic bias impairs human learning efficiency, which is characterized by the inconsistency between predicted and actual memory performance. However,...
Metacognitive systematic bias impairs human learning efficiency, which is characterized by the inconsistency between predicted and actual memory performance. However, the underlying mechanism of metacognitive systematic bias remains unclear in existing studies. In this study, we utilized judgments of learning task in human participants to compare the neural mechanism difference in metacognitive systematic bias. Participants encoded words in fMRI sessions that would be tested later. Immediately after encoding each item, participants predicted how likely they would remember it. Multivariate analyses on fMRI data demonstrated that working memory and uncertainty decisions are represented in patterns of neural activity in metacognitive systematic bias. The available information participants used led to overestimated bias and underestimated bias. Effective connectivity analyses further indicate that information about the metacognitive systematic bias is represented in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and inferior parietal cortex. Different neural patterns were found underlying overestimated bias and underestimated bias. Specifically, connectivity regions with the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and supramarginal gyrus form overestimated bias, while less regional connectivity forms underestimated bias. These findings provide a mechanistic account for the construction of metacognitive systematic bias.
Topics: Humans; Parietal Lobe; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex; Female; Metacognition; Young Adult; Adult; Brain Mapping; Memory, Short-Term; Learning; Prefrontal Cortex; Judgment
PubMed: 38762635
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-62343-1 -
Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics : the... Jul 2024To be able to walk safely up or down a staircase, we must be able to judge the configuration and slope of the staircase and our viewing position. Adding markings to the...
PURPOSE
To be able to walk safely up or down a staircase, we must be able to judge the configuration and slope of the staircase and our viewing position. Adding markings to the stairs might help form correct perceptions of the staircase geometry. In this study, we examined how visual judgements about staircase configuration are affected by different marking patterns.
METHODS
Fifteen normally sighted young participants viewed computer-generated images of staircases as seen from the top landing of the stairs. Marking patterns included contrasting baseboard, transverse edge-stripes, longitudinal side-stripes, longitudinal stripes, diamond patterns, longitudinal stripes extended to landing and diamond patterns extended to landing. For comparison, we included the no-marking condition as a control. We tested several contrast levels of marking patterns (3.2%-50%), pitch lines of the staircases (shallow/medium/steep) and viewing positions (left/centre/right). The effect of the overall shape cue of the staircase on participants' performance was also evaluated. We measured participants' accuracies in judging whether the staircase was shallow, medium or steep, and whether the viewing position was located to the left, centre or right.
RESULTS
Transverse edge-stripes markings yielded fewer underestimations of slope (9% [transverse] vs. 18% [others]) when compared with other markers. The presence of an overall shape cue helped both slope (67% [presence] vs. 51% [absence]) and viewing position judgements (79% [presence] vs. 62% [absence]). When the overall shape cue was present, only the transverse edge-stripes markings yielded a significant improvement in performance (compared with no-marking condition). When the cue was absent, performance was significantly better with markings with high and moderate contrasts.
CONCLUSIONS
Adding marking patterns such as high-contrast transverse stripes to stairs may help enhance the visibility of the stairs and judgements of staircase geometry. This might be particularly useful for people with visual impairment or normally sighted individuals under compromised environmental conditions.
Topics: Humans; Male; Female; Young Adult; Adult; Contrast Sensitivity; Visual Acuity; Cues; Photic Stimulation; Walking
PubMed: 38761017
DOI: 10.1111/opo.13333 -
Bioinformatics and Biology Insights 2024Gait analysis serves as a critical diagnostic tool for identifying neurologic and musculoskeletal damage. Traditional manual analysis of motion data, however, is...
Gait analysis serves as a critical diagnostic tool for identifying neurologic and musculoskeletal damage. Traditional manual analysis of motion data, however, is labor-intensive and heavily reliant on the expertise and judgment of the therapist. This study introduces a binary classification method for the quantitative assessment of gait impairments, specifically focusing on Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a prevalent and fatal neuromuscular genetic disorder. The research compares spatiotemporal and sagittal kinematic gait features derived from 2D and 3D human pose estimation trajectories against concurrently recorded 3D motion capture (MoCap) data from healthy children. The proposed model leverages a novel benchmark dataset, collected from YouTube and publicly available datasets of their typically developed peers, to extract time-distance variables (e.g. speed, step length, stride time, and cadence) and sagittal joint angles of the lower extremity (e.g. hip, knee, and knee flexion angles). Machine learning and deep learning techniques are employed to discern patterns that can identify children exhibiting DMD gait disturbances. While the current model is capable of distinguishing between healthy subjects and those with DMD, it does not specifically differentiate between DMD patients and patients with other gait impairments. Experimental results validate the efficacy of our cost-effective method, which relies on recorded RGB video, in detecting gait abnormalities, achieving a prediction accuracy of 96.2% for Support Vector Machine (SVM) and 97% for the deep network.
PubMed: 38757143
DOI: 10.1177/11779322241231108 -
Journal of Communication Disorders 2024This study examined if there were differences in the guilty and not guilty judgments of adults with developmental language disorder (DLD) and those with typical language...
PURPOSE
This study examined if there were differences in the guilty and not guilty judgments of adults with developmental language disorder (DLD) and those with typical language (TL) functioning.
METHOD
Twenty-four adults (12 DLD, 12 TL) were assigned to either the guilty or not guilty conditions. Those in the guilty condition engaged in a mock crime while those in the not guilty condition were informed that a crime had been committed. Peer jurors were presented with video interrogations of the DLD (6 guilty, 6 not guilty) and TL (6 guilty, 6 not guilty) participants and were asked to make categorical judgments of guilty and not guilty and to indicate confidence in their judgments.
RESULTS
In general, peer jurors were not accurate in their judgments of the accused, and were more likely to judge individuals with DLD as guilty relative to accused individuals with TL. Peer jurors were particularly poor at judging innocent adults with DLD as not guilty and guilty adults with TL as guilty. Despite this, peer jurors were more confident than not in their guilty and not guilty determinations.
CONCLUSIONS
Peer jurors are confident in their judgments of the guilt of the accused when they should not be, particularly in the case of accused adults with DLD. Implications are discussed.
Topics: Humans; Male; Female; Guilt; Adult; Judgment; Language Development Disorders; Peer Group; Young Adult; Crime
PubMed: 38754317
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2024.106429 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2024Previous research has found that business culture has a detrimental impact on interpersonal trust. To understand whether this impact extends to rapid, automatic,...
Previous research has found that business culture has a detrimental impact on interpersonal trust. To understand whether this impact extends to rapid, automatic, bottom-up judgments of facial trustworthiness, we conducted 4 experiments involving 244 participants from economic and non-economic backgrounds. We presented participants with both trustworthy and untrustworthy faces and asked them to make judgments on trustworthiness. The results show that individuals who are engaged in studying economics, work in an economics-related occupation, or are exposed to an imagined business culture evaluate trustworthy faces to be less trustworthy. The findings shed light on why and how business culture affects the formation of interpersonal trust.
PubMed: 38751767
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1356305