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Clinical Psychology Review Apr 2024What are the major vulnerabilities in people with social anxiety? What are the most promising directions for translational research pertaining to this condition? The... (Review)
Review
What are the major vulnerabilities in people with social anxiety? What are the most promising directions for translational research pertaining to this condition? The present paper provides an integrative summary of basic and applied translational research on social anxiety, emphasizing vulnerability factors. It is divided into two subsections: intrapersonal and interpersonal. The intrapersonal section synthesizes research relating to (a) self-representations and self-referential processes; (b) emotions and their regulation; and (c) cognitive biases: attention, interpretation and judgment, and memory. The interpersonal section summarizes findings regarding the systems of (a) approach and avoidance, (b) affiliation and social rank, and their implications for interpersonal impairments. Our review suggests that the science of social anxiety and, more generally, psychopathology may be advanced by examining processes and their underlying content within broad psychological systems. Increased interaction between basic and applied researchers to diversify and elaborate different perspectives on social anxiety is necessary for progress.
Topics: Humans; Emotions; Fear; Judgment; Attention; Anxiety; Interpersonal Relations
PubMed: 38493675
DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2024.102415 -
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience 2024Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is a category of hearing loss that often leads to difficulty in understanding speech and other sounds. Auditory system dysfunction,... (Review)
Review
Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is a category of hearing loss that often leads to difficulty in understanding speech and other sounds. Auditory system dysfunction, including deafness and auditory trauma, results in cognitive deficits via neuroplasticity. Cognitive impairment (CI) refers to an abnormality in the brain's higher intellectual processes related to learning, memory, thinking and judgment that can lead to severe learning and memory deficits. Studies have established a strong correlation between SNHL and CI, but it remains unclear how SNHL contributes to CI. The purpose of this article is to describe three hypotheses regarding this relationship, the mainstream cognitive load hypothesis, the co-morbidity hypothesis, and the sensory deprivation hypothesis, as well as the latest research progress related to each hypothesis.
PubMed: 38482343
DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2024.1368232 -
BioRxiv : the Preprint Server For... Jun 2024In natural behavior, observers must separate relevant information from a barrage of irrelevant information. Many studies have investigated the neural underpinnings of...
In natural behavior, observers must separate relevant information from a barrage of irrelevant information. Many studies have investigated the neural underpinnings of this ability using artificial stimuli presented on simple backgrounds. Natural viewing, however, carries a set of challenges that are inaccessible using artificial stimuli, including neural responses to background objects that are task-irrelevant. An emerging body of evidence suggests that the visual abilities of humans and animals can be modeled through the linear decoding of task-relevant information from visual cortex. This idea suggests the hypothesis that irrelevant features of a natural scene should impair performance on a visual task only if their neural representations intrude on the linear readout of the task relevant feature, as would occur if the representations of task-relevant and irrelevant features are not orthogonal in the underlying neural population. We tested this hypothesis using human psychophysics and monkey neurophysiology, in response to parametrically variable naturalistic stimuli. We demonstrate that 1) the neural representation of one feature (the position of a central object) in visual area V4 is orthogonal to those of several background features, 2) the ability of human observers to precisely judge object position was largely unaffected by task-irrelevant variation in those background features, and 3) many features of the object and the background are orthogonally represented by V4 neural responses. Our observations are consistent with the hypothesis that orthogonal neural representations can support stable perception of objects and features despite the tremendous richness of natural visual scenes.
PubMed: 38464018
DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.14.580134 -
Addictive Behaviors Jun 2024Previous research has found that individuals with Internet gaming disorder (IGD) show different patterns of social function impairments in game-related and real-life...
Previous research has found that individuals with Internet gaming disorder (IGD) show different patterns of social function impairments in game-related and real-life social contexts. Impaired social reward processing may be the underlying mechanism according to the Social Motivation Theory. Thus, in this study, event-related potentials were recorded from 24 individuals with IGD and 24 healthy gamers during a social judgement task. We focused on reward positivity (RewP) elicited by game-related and real-life social rewards, and N170 elicited by game avatar faces and real faces. These indicators were used to explore the neurocognitive mechanism of impaired social reward processing in individuals with IGD and its relationship with early face perception. Results showed that (1) the RewP elicited by real-life social reward was considerably reduced in individuals with IGD relative to healthy gamers. (2) The N170 elicited by game avatar faces in individuals with IGD was larger than that elicited by real faces. However, the N170 was not associated with RewP in either group. (3) The score for IGD severity was correlated with the RewP elicited by real-life social reward and the N170 elicited by game avatar face. In conclusion, the present study suggests that the impaired social reward processing in individuals with IGD is mainly manifested in a decreased neural sensitivity to real-life social reward. Meanwhile, the reduced RewP elicited by real-life social reward and the enhanced N170 elicited by game avatar face might serve as potential biomarkers for IGD.
Topics: Humans; Brain; Brain Mapping; Internet Addiction Disorder; Facial Recognition; Behavior, Addictive; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Reward; Internet; Video Games
PubMed: 38457987
DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2024.108006 -
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2024Our brain continuously maps our body in space. It has been suggested that at least two main frames of reference are used to process somatosensory stimuli presented on...
INTRODUCTION
Our brain continuously maps our body in space. It has been suggested that at least two main frames of reference are used to process somatosensory stimuli presented on our own body: the anatomical frame of reference (based on the somatotopic representation of our body in the somatosensory cortex) and the spatial frame of reference (where body parts are mapped in external space). Interestingly, a mismatch between somatotopic and spatial information significantly affects the processing of bodily information, as demonstrated by the "crossing hand" effect. However, it is not clear if this impairment occurs not only when the conflict between these frames of reference is determined by a static change in the body position (e.g., by crossing the hands) but also when new associations between motor and sensory responses are artificially created (e.g., by presenting feedback stimuli on a side of the body that is not involved in the movement).
METHODS
In the present study, 16 participants performed a temporal order judgment task before and after a congruent or incongruent visual-tactile-motor- task in virtual reality. During the VR task, participants had to move a cube using a virtual stick. In the congruent condition, the haptic feedback during the interaction with the cube was provided on the right hand (the one used to control the stick). In the incongruent condition, the haptic feedback was provided to the contralateral hand, simulating a sort of 'active' crossed feedback during the interaction. Using a psychophysical approach, the point of subjective equality (or PSE, i.e., the probability of responding left or right to the first stimulus in the sequence in 50% of the cases) and the JND (accuracy) were calculated for both conditions, before and after the VR-task.
RESULTS
After the VR task, compared to the baseline condition, the PSE shifted toward the hand that received the haptic feedback during the interaction (toward the right hand for the congruent condition and toward the left hand for the incongruent condition).
DICUSSION
This study demonstrated the possibility of inducing spatial biases in the processing of bodily information by modulating the sensory-motor interaction between stimuli in virtual environments (while keeping constant the actual position of the body in space).
PubMed: 38445099
DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1354633 -
Journal of the American Medical... Jul 2024This study aims to determine how prevalent suspected cognitive impairment is in older people visiting hearing aid dispensers, and to assess whether hearing aid... (Observational Study)
Observational Study
OBJECTIVES
This study aims to determine how prevalent suspected cognitive impairment is in older people visiting hearing aid dispensers, and to assess whether hearing aid dispensers' judgment on cognition was in accordance with the outcome of a cognitive screening.
DESIGN
This observational study was conducted between April and May 2022.
SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS
Four private hearing aid retail stores in the Netherlands, where cognitive impairment was screened in people aged ≥60 years.
METHODS
The Mini-Cog was used for cognitive screening. In addition, hearing aid dispensers were asked to provide their professional judgment if they suspected cognitive impairment.
RESULTS
Of the total 239 older individuals screened, 133 were men [56%, mean age: 79 years (SD 8.6)], and 51 (21.3%) had abnormal outcomes on the Mini-Cog test. The recognition of possible cognitive impairment by the hearing aid dispensers compared to the outcome of the Mini-Cog resulted in correct predictions for 183 of the 239 individuals.
CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS
Cognitive screening in hearing-impaired older adults who visit a hearing aid dispenser suggests that cognitive impairment might be present in approximately 1 in 5 individuals. Hearing aid dispensers' response to the presence of a cognitive impairment was in 2 of 3 in accordance with an abnormal outcome on cognitive screening. To improve hearing care for people with cognitive impairment, it might be important to enhance hearing care professionals' recognition of cognitive impairment in older individuals.
Topics: Humans; Aged; Netherlands; Male; Female; Hearing Aids; Cognitive Dysfunction; Aged, 80 and over; Mass Screening; Hearing Loss; Middle Aged
PubMed: 38442875
DOI: 10.1016/j.jamda.2024.01.027 -
Social Neuroscience Feb 2024Sociocognitive impairment is well known in the relapsing-remitting form of multiple sclerosis (RR-MS). The purpose of the present study was to assess explicit and...
Sociocognitive impairment is well known in the relapsing-remitting form of multiple sclerosis (RR-MS). The purpose of the present study was to assess explicit and implicit humor abilities in this population. Based on clinical observation and contrary to the current cognitive model, we hypothesized that implicit performances (happy facial expressions) would be better than explicit ones (humor judgment assessed by explicit humor comprehension, subjective feeling of amusement as a conscious appreciation of funniness, and verbal justifications of funniness). Twenty-five RR-MS patients and twenty-five healthy participants completed the tasks. Their face was filmed during humor ratings. Patients' results suggest that 32% of them showed an impairment in explicit humor comprehension, with normal facial expressions. Both groups found great difficulty in justifying the cause of their amusement. All these results may suggest the existence of a supplementary implicit pathway in humor processing. The preservation of this implicit pathway may be advantageous for future remediation. Contrary to the current model, we found that the subjective feeling of amusement was preserved when comprehension was impaired. Further studies will be needed to clarify this component, and adjust the theoretical modeling.
Topics: Humans; Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting; Wit and Humor as Topic; Female; Male; Adult; Facial Expression; Comprehension; Middle Aged; Judgment; Neuropsychological Tests
PubMed: 38424715
DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2024.2315817 -
International Journal of Nursing Studies May 2024Nurses are pivotal in averting patient falls through their assessment of cues presented by patients and their environments, rendering clinical judgments regarding the...
BACKGROUND
Nurses are pivotal in averting patient falls through their assessment of cues presented by patients and their environments, rendering clinical judgments regarding the risk of falling, and implementing tailored interventions. Despite the intricate cognitive processes entailed in nurses' judgment, no prior studies have explored their approach to assessing the risk of falling.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to examine how nurses judge the risk of falling among patients with different conditions, whether there are differences in the importance of risk factors as judged by nurses, how they justify their judgments, and what attributes of the nurses influence their judgments.
DESIGN
A mixed method approach using the Q Methodology was employed.
SETTING(S)
Three public and private hospitals in Japan.
PARTICIPANTS
Eighteen nurses participated in the study.
METHODS
Participants were tasked with ranking 36 patient scenarios, each featuring a distinct set of fall risk factors. Subsequently, post-sorting interviews were conducted to gather insights into their typical approach to assessing fall risk and the rationale behind their ranking decisions. A by-person principal component factor extraction was employed to examine differences in the rankings of the scenarios. The interview data were analyzed descriptively to elucidate the reasons behind these discrepancies.
RESULTS
Nurses engage in complex cognitive manipulations when evaluating the risk of patient falls, drawing extensively from their wealth of experience while utilizing assessment tools to support their judgments. In essence, nurses identify patients' tendency to act alone without calling a nurse, impaired gait and cognition, sedative use, drains, and limited information sharing among healthcare professionals as key fall risks. In addition, nurses vary in the importance they attribute to certain risk factors, leading to the discrimination of three distinct judgment profiles. One group of nurses judges patients with cognitive impairment and acting alone as high risk. Another group of nurses considers patients with unstable gait and acting alone as high risk. The last group of nurses sees patients wearing slippers as high risk. The post-sorting interviews revealed that their judgments are closely related to the healthcare context and patient population.
CONCLUSIONS
Nurses operate within diverse contexts, wherein they interact with patients of varying characteristics, collaborate with professionals from diverse disciplines, and have access to varying levels of human and physical resources. This nuanced understanding empowers the formulation of judgments that are finely attuned to the specific context at hand.
STUDY REGISTRATION
Not registered.
Topics: Accidental Falls; Humans; Risk Factors; Judgment; Nursing Staff, Hospital; Adult; Female; Japan; Male; Middle Aged; Risk Assessment
PubMed: 38408403
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2024.104720 -
PloS One 2024Given that burnout is a major problem in many societies and that employers are legally obliged to act in preventing job stress, there is a need of validated and reliable...
Given that burnout is a major problem in many societies and that employers are legally obliged to act in preventing job stress, there is a need of validated and reliable short self-report instruments. The Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) is developed to measure burnout as a syndrome with four core components (exhaustion, mental distance, cognitive and emotional impairment). So far, the BAT was tested in over 40 studies with encouraging results. Although a short, 12-item version of the BAT exists, there is need for an ultra-short version with even less items. The overall aim is to develop an ultra-short 4-item version of the BAT (BAT4) and to evaluate its construct validity using Rasch analysis in samples from various countries along with its measurement invariance regarding country, age and gender. The BAT4 was developed using mixed methods, i.e. combining the results from a Rasch analysis, a subject matter analysis and expert judgements. Construct validity was tested on data from national representative samples from eight countries (the Netherlands, Belgium (Flanders), Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Ireland, and Japan) and in a pooled sample combing the data from all eight countries. Differential item functioning regarding age, gender and country was investigated. The BAT4 fulfilled all the criteria required by the Rasch measurement model to constitute a valid measure in the pooled and country specific samples, except Austria and Japan. In the pooled sample, measurement invariance between the eight countries as well as between gender and age was found. Analyses within different countries showed occasional gender and age DIF for some items. The results were promising regarding BAT4's construct validity and measurement invariance. Although the BAT4 includes only four items, its content coverage is acceptable. The BAT4 can be used as a short screening instrument for burnout complaints at the group or organisational level.
Topics: Humans; Surveys and Questionnaires; Psychometrics; Burnout, Psychological; Burnout, Professional; Belgium; Reproducibility of Results
PubMed: 38394265
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297843 -
Eating Disorders 2024Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions that are accompanied by negative health outcomes, high mortality rates, impaired functioning, and comorbid mental...
Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions that are accompanied by negative health outcomes, high mortality rates, impaired functioning, and comorbid mental health conditions. Despite many empirically supported interventions for eating disorders, it remains one of the most challenging mental disorders to treat, as individuals often struggle to maintain treatment gains. One method of improving our understanding of effective eating disorder treatment is to identify important processes of change to target during therapy. The aim of the current study was to test two candidate mediators of disordered eating symptom change during residential treatment: self-compassion and body image inflexibility. In the present study, women and adolescent girls ( = 132) completed a battery of measures, including eating disorder severity, self-compassion, and body image inflexibility, at admission to and discharge from a residential eating disorder facility. Our results indicated that changes in body image inflexibility and self-compassion, specifically self-judgment, were both mediators between ED symptom severity from pre- to post-treatment. These results have potential treatment implications, pointing to the possible importance of targeting body image inflexibility, self-judgment, and self-compassion while treating eating disorders.
Topics: Humans; Female; Feeding and Eating Disorders; Body Image; Adolescent; Self Concept; Residential Treatment; Empathy; Adult; Young Adult; Treatment Outcome
PubMed: 38389388
DOI: 10.1080/10640266.2024.2306440