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Behavioural Brain Research Jul 2024Safety behaviors are responses that can reduce or even prevent an expected threat. Moreover, empirical studies have shown that using safety behaviors to a learnt safety...
Safety behaviors are responses that can reduce or even prevent an expected threat. Moreover, empirical studies have shown that using safety behaviors to a learnt safety stimulus can induce threat beliefs to it. No research so far has examined whether threat beliefs induced this way generalize to other novel stimuli related to the safety stimulus. Using a fear and avoidance conditioning model, the current study (n=116) examined whether threat beliefs induced by safety behaviors generalize to other novel generalization stimuli (GSs). Participants first acquired safety behaviors to a threat predicting conditioned stimulus (CSthreat). Safety behaviors could then be performed in response to one safe stimulus (CSsafeShift) but not to another (CSsafe). In a following generalization test, participants showed a significant but small increase in threat expectancies to GSs related to CSsafeShift compared to GSs related to CSsafe. Interestingly, the degree of safety behaviors used to the CSsafeShift predicted the subsequent increase in generalized threat expectancies, and this link was elevated in trait anxious individuals. The findings suggest that threat beliefs induced by unnecessary safety behaviors generalize to other related stimuli. This study provides a potential explanation for the root of threat belief acquisition to a wide range of stimuli or situations.
Topics: Humans; Fear; Male; Generalization, Psychological; Female; Young Adult; Conditioning, Classical; Avoidance Learning; Safety; Adult; Anxiety; Adolescent
PubMed: 38825020
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.115078 -
BMC Cancer May 2024Death anxiety is thought to cause a range of mental disorders among cancer patients, which may affect their mental health and even quality of life. This study sought to...
BACKGROUND
Death anxiety is thought to cause a range of mental disorders among cancer patients, which may affect their mental health and even quality of life. This study sought to investigate experiential avoidance, meaning in life, and death anxiety among Chinese cancer patients and then explore the relationship between these 3 variables.
METHODS
A total of 300 cancer patients recruited from a tertiary cancer hospital participated in this study from October to December 2021. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a demographic and clinical characteristics questionnaire, the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire II, the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, and Templer's Death Anxiety Scale. Correlation analysis, hierarchical regression analysis, and mediating effect analysis were used to analyze the relationship among experiential avoidance, meaning in life (including 2 dimensions: presence of meaning and search for meaning), and death anxiety.
RESULTS
A total of 315 questionnaires were distributed, and 300 valid questionnaires were returned, resulting in a valid response rate of 95.2%. Experiential avoidance (r = 0.552, p < 0.01) was moderately positively correlated with death anxiety. Presence of meaning (r = - 0.400, p < 0.01) was moderately negatively correlated with death anxiety, while search for meaning (r = - 0.151, p < 0.01) was weakly negatively correlated with death anxiety. Regression analysis showed that experiential avoidance (β = 0.464) and presence of meaning (β = -0.228) were predictors of death anxiety. Mediating effect analysis revealed that presence of meaning either completely or partially mediated the effect of experiential avoidance and death anxiety, and the indirect effect accounted for 14.52% of the total effect.
CONCLUSION
Overall, experiential avoidance predicts death anxiety in cancer patients, and meaning in life can mediate this effect. The results of this study provide a new path for studying the mechanism of death anxiety and suggest a more positive and promising strategy for its management.
Topics: Humans; Cross-Sectional Studies; Male; Female; Neoplasms; Middle Aged; Anxiety; Attitude to Death; Surveys and Questionnaires; Quality of Life; Adult; Aged; Avoidance Learning; China
PubMed: 38822257
DOI: 10.1186/s12885-024-12433-0 -
Physiology & Behavior May 2024In honey bees, most studies of circadian rhythms involve a locomotion test performed in a small tube, a tunnel, or at the hive entrance. However, despite feeding playing...
In honey bees, most studies of circadian rhythms involve a locomotion test performed in a small tube, a tunnel, or at the hive entrance. However, despite feeding playing an important role in honey bee health or fitness, no demonstration of circadian rhythm on feeding has been performed until recently. Here, we present the BeeBox, a new laboratory platform for bees based on the concept of the Skinner box, which dispenses discrete controlled amounts of food (sucrose syrup) following entrance into an artificial flower. We compared caged groups of bees in 12 h-12 h light/dark cycles, constant darkness and constant light and measured average hourly syrup consumption per living bee. Food intake was higher in constant light and lower in constant darkness; mortality increased in constant light. We observed rhythmic consumption with a period longer than 24 h; this is maintained in darkness without environmental cues, but is damped in the constant light condition. The BeeBox offers many new research perspectives and numerous potential applications in the study of nectar foraging animals.
PubMed: 38821143
DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2024.114598 -
Neuropharmacology Sep 2024The endogenous opioid system has been implicated in alcohol consumption and preference in both humans and animals. The mu opioid receptor (MOR) is expressed on multiple...
The endogenous opioid system has been implicated in alcohol consumption and preference in both humans and animals. The mu opioid receptor (MOR) is expressed on multiple cells in the striatum, however little is known about the contributions of specific MOR populations to alcohol drinking behaviors. The current study used mice with a genetic deletion of MOR in cholinergic cells (ChAT-Cre/Oprm1) to examine the role of MORs expressed in cholinergic interneurons (CINs) in home cage self-administration paradigms. Male and female ChAT-Cre/Oprm1 mice were generated and heterozygous Cre+ (knockout) and Cre- (control) mice were tested for alcohol consumption in two drinking paradigms: limited access "Drinking in the Dark" and intermittent access. Quinine was added to the drinking bottles in the DID experiment to test aversion-resistant, "compulsive" drinking. Nicotine and sucrose drinking were also assessed so comparisons could be made with other rewarding substances. Cholinergic MOR deletion did not influence consumption or preference for ethanol (EtOH) in either drinking task. Differences were observed in aversion-resistance in males with Cre + mice tolerating lower concentrations of quinine than Cre-. In contrast to EtOH, preference for nicotine was reduced following cholinergic MOR deletion while sucrose consumption and preference was increased in Cre+ (vs. Cre-) females. Locomotor activity was also greater in females following the deletion. These results suggest that cholinergic MORs participate in preference for rewarding substances. Further, while they are not required for consumption of alcohol alone, cholinergic MORs may influence the tendency to drink despite negative consequences.
Topics: Animals; Receptors, Opioid, mu; Reward; Male; Female; Mice; Quinine; Alcohol Drinking; Mice, Knockout; Nicotine; Ethanol; Cholinergic Neurons; Self Administration; Sucrose; Avoidance Learning; Interneurons
PubMed: 38810926
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2024.110019 -
Physiological Reports Jun 2024Inflammation and oxidative stress upset memory. We explored influence of sodium nitroprusside (SNP) on memory deficits resulted from lipopolysaccharide (LPS).Groups...
Inflammation and oxidative stress upset memory. We explored influence of sodium nitroprusside (SNP) on memory deficits resulted from lipopolysaccharide (LPS).Groups include control, LPS, LPS + SNP 1 mg/kg, LPS + SNP 2 mg/kg, and LPS + SNP 3 mg/kg. Morris water maze and passive avoidance tests and biochemical measurements were carried out.In Morris water maze, LPS prolonged time and distance for finding the platform. In probe trial, it diminished time spent and traveled distance in the target zone. Injection of 2 and 3 mg/kg of SNP overturned the effect of LPS. In passive avoidance task, LPS postponed entrance into darkroom and reduced time spent in light room and incremented time spent in darkroom in 3, 24, and 72 h after electrical shock. All three doses of SNP restored the effects of LPS. Biochemical experiments confirmed that LPS elevated interleukin-6 and malondialdehyde concentration and declined total thiol content and superoxide dismutase and catalase activity in the hippocampus and cortex tissues. SNP particularly at a 3 mg/kg dose ameliorated LPS effects on these parameters.SNP attenuated memory disabilities resulting from LPS through modifying inflammation and boosting antioxidant defense.
Topics: Animals; Lipopolysaccharides; Nitroprusside; Male; Oxidative Stress; Rats; Memory Disorders; Rats, Wistar; Inflammation; Avoidance Learning; Maze Learning; Hippocampus
PubMed: 38806440
DOI: 10.14814/phy2.16053 -
Behavioural Brain Research Jul 2024The hippocampus has a central role in regulating contextual processes in memory. We have shown that pharmacological inactivation of ventral hippocampus (VH) attenuates...
The hippocampus has a central role in regulating contextual processes in memory. We have shown that pharmacological inactivation of ventral hippocampus (VH) attenuates the context-dependence of signaled active avoidance (SAA) in rats. Here, we explore whether the VH mediates intertrial responses (ITRs), which are putative unreinforced avoidance responses that occur between trials. First, we examined whether VH inactivation would affect ITRs. Male rats underwent SAA training and subsequently received intra-VH infusions of saline or muscimol before retrieval tests in the training context. Rats that received muscimol performed significantly fewer ITRs, but equivalent avoidance responses, compared to controls. Next, we asked whether chemogenetic VH activation would increase ITR vigor. In male and female rats expressing excitatory (hM3Dq) DREADDs, systemic CNO administration produced a robust ITR increase that was not due to nonspecific locomotor effects. Then, we examined whether chemogenetic VH activation potentiated ITRs in an alternate (non-training) test context and found it did. Finally, to determine if context-US associations mediate ITRs, we exposed rats to the training context for three days after SAA training to extinguish the context. Rats submitted to context extinction did not show a reliable decrease in ITRs during a retrieval test, suggesting that context-US associations are not responsible for ITRs. Collectively, these results reveal an important role for the VH in context-dependent ITRs during SAA. Further work is required to explore the neural circuits and associative basis for these responses, which may be underlie pathological avoidance that occurs in humans after threat has passed.
Topics: Animals; Avoidance Learning; Male; Hippocampus; Muscimol; Female; Rats; GABA-A Receptor Agonists; Rats, Long-Evans; Clozapine
PubMed: 38806099
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.115071 -
Journal of Gambling Studies May 2024Blaszczynski and Nower (2002) proposed a theoretical model that leads to problem gambling via three pathways: (1) operant conditioning; (2) emotional vulnerability; and...
BACKGROUND
Blaszczynski and Nower (2002) proposed a theoretical model that leads to problem gambling via three pathways: (1) operant conditioning; (2) emotional vulnerability; and (3) impulsivity and psychopathy. In the current investigation, we explored the relationship between these three putative causative dimensions and clinical core features of Gambling Disorder (GD): gambling craving, gambling-related cognitive distortions, gambling (wagering) behavior, and gambling severity.
RESULTS
Data on 343 people with disordered gambling were analyzed. Measures representing the three pathways were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA). The PCA generated three profiles. The original dimension of impulsivity/psychopathy was divided into two parts; the impulsivity-related traits were combined with symptoms of depression and anxiety to form one single component representing a volatile emotional, cognitive and behavioral style, named the Affect-instability component. The other two components were Psychopathy and Operant Behavior. Linear regression models for each PCA component found that the Affect-instability component was associated with all core features of GD, i.e., craving, cognitive distortions, gambling behavior and severity (standardized Β range: 0.298-0.448, all p < 0.001). Operant Behavior was significantly associated with gambling behavior (standardized Β=-0.137, p = 0.038) and gambling severity (standardized Β=-0.157, p = 0.006). Psychopathy was associated only with gambling cognitive distortions (standardized Β=-0.300, p < 0.001), suggesting a wider dimension of cognitive challenges in GD.
DISCUSSION
An instability component encompassing emotional and cognitive dysregulation was the strongest predictor of all clinical features of GD. The correlation between operant conditioning and gambling severity suggests that behavioral conditioning plays a role in the persistence of maladaptive gambling.
PubMed: 38802627
DOI: 10.1007/s10899-024-10316-4 -
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) May 2024Pain experience increases individuals' perception and contagion of others' pain, but whether pain experience affects individuals' affiliative or antagonistic responses...
Pain experience increases individuals' perception and contagion of others' pain, but whether pain experience affects individuals' affiliative or antagonistic responses to others' pain is largely unknown. Additionally, the neural mechanisms underlying how pain experience modulates individuals' responses to others' pain remain unclear. In this study, we explored the effects of pain experience on individuals' responses to others' pain and the underlying neural mechanisms. By comparing locomotion, social, exploration, stereotyped, and anxiety-like behaviors of mice without any pain experience (naïve observers) and mice with a similar pain experience (experienced observers) when they observed the pain-free demonstrator with intraperitoneal injection of normal saline and the painful demonstrator with intraperitoneal injection of acetic acid, we found that pain experience of the observers led to decreased social avoidance to the painful demonstrator. Through whole-brain c-Fos quantification, we discovered that pain experience altered neuronal activity and enhanced functional connectivity in the mouse brain. The analysis of complex network and graph theory exhibited that functional connectivity networks and activated hub regions were altered by pain experience. Together, these findings reveal that neuronal activity and functional connectivity networks are involved in the modulation of individuals' responses to others' pain by pain experience.
Topics: Animals; Mice; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; Male; Pain; Brain; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Social Behavior; Avoidance Learning; Neural Pathways
PubMed: 38798004
DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae207 -
Neuropharmacology Sep 2024Ketamine (KET), a non-competitive N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, has rapid onset of antidepressant effects in Treatment-Resistant Depression patients...
Ketamine (KET), a non-competitive N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, has rapid onset of antidepressant effects in Treatment-Resistant Depression patients and repeated infusions are required to sustain its antidepressant properties. However, KET is an addictive drug, and so more preclinical and clinical research is needed to assess the safety of recurring treatments in both sexes. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the reinforcing properties of various doses of KET (0-, 0.125-, 0.25-, 0.5 mg/kg/infusion) and assess KET's cue-induced reinstatement and neuronal activation in both sexes of Long Evans rats. Neuronal activation was assessed using the protein expression of the immediate early gene cFos in the nucleus accumbens (Nac), an important brain area implicated in reward, reinforcement and reinstatement to most drug-related cues. Our findings show that KET has reinforcing effects in both male and female rats, albeit exclusively at the highest two doses (0.25 and 0.5 mg/kg/infusion). Furthermore, we noted sex differences, particularly at the highest dose of ketamine, with female rats displaying a higher rate of self-administration. Interestingly, all groups that self-administered KET reinstated to drug-cues. Following drug cue-induced reinstatement test in rats exposed to KET (0.25 mg/kg/infusion) or saline, there was higher cFos protein expression in KET-treated animals compared to saline controls, and higher cFos expression in the core compared to the shell subregions of the Nac. As for reinstatement, there were no notable sex differences reported for cFos expression in the Nac. These findings reveal some sex and dose dependent effects in KET's reinforcing properties and that KET at all doses induced similar reinstatement in both sexes. This study also demonstrated that cues associated with ketamine induce comparable neuronal activation in the Nac of both male and female rats. This work warrants further research into the potential addictive properties of KET, especially when administered at lower doses which are now being used in the clinic for treating various psychopathologies.
Topics: Animals; Ketamine; Male; Nucleus Accumbens; Female; Cues; Rats, Long-Evans; Reinforcement, Psychology; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; Rats; Sex Characteristics; Self Administration; Conditioning, Operant
PubMed: 38797243
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2024.110008 -
BMC Psychology May 2024Experiential avoidance represents the tendency to avoid negative internal experiences, which is a key concept in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. However, existing...
BACKGROUND
Experiential avoidance represents the tendency to avoid negative internal experiences, which is a key concept in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. However, existing measures of experiential avoidance (i.e., Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II, AAQ-II) have some limitations. This study aims to assess the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of Multidimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire-30 (MEAQ-30) and provide evidence for the reliability and validity of this new instrument.
METHODS
Two questionnaire surveys were conducted. The first sample (N = 546) was analyzed using classical test theory (CTT), and the second sample (N = 511) was analyzed using multidimensional item response theory (MIRT).
RESULTS
CTT supported the six-factor structure of MEAQ-30, indicating good internal consistency and measurement invariance across genders. Furthermore, the Chinese version of MEAQ-30 showed satisfactory convergent and discriminant validity. The incremental validity test showed that after controlling for the effects of neuroticism and AAQ-II, the Chinese version of MEAQ-30 could still significantly predict depression, anxiety, and stress. MIRT indicated that 30 items had good discrimination and difficulty, and the six subscales were sufficiently reliable across the continuum of experiential avoidance.
CONCLUSION
The Chinese version of MEAQ-30 has good reliability and validity and is suitable for assessing experiential avoidance among Chinese populations.
Topics: Humans; Psychometrics; Male; Female; Surveys and Questionnaires; Reproducibility of Results; Adult; Young Adult; China; Avoidance Learning; Middle Aged; Adolescent; Anxiety; Depression
PubMed: 38790020
DOI: 10.1186/s40359-024-01790-x