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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 Pediatric Orthopedics Jun 2024Ballistic injuries among pediatric populations have become a public health crisis in the United States. The surge in firearm injuries among children has outpaced other...
OBJECTIVES
Ballistic injuries among pediatric populations have become a public health crisis in the United States. The surge in firearm injuries among children has outpaced other causes of death. This study aims to assess the trend in pediatric gunshot injuries (GSIs) over the last decade and investigate the impact, if any, of the pandemic on GSIs statistics.
METHODS
A comprehensive retrospective analysis was conducted using a federated, real-time national database. A total of 15,267,921 children without GSIs and 6261 children with GSIs between 2017 and 2023 were identified. The study evaluated the incidence and annual proportions of GSIs among different demographics. In addition, the incidence proportions per 100,000 for accidental, nonaccidental, fracture-related, and fatal GSIs were analyzed.
RESULTS
The incidence proportions per 100,000 for GSIs, accidental GSIs, nonaccidental GSIs, fatal GSIs, wheelchair-bound cases, and fracture-related GSIs increased significantly from 2017 to 2023, going from 9.7 to 22.8 (Relative Risk: 2.342, 95% CI: 2.041, 2.687, P < 0.001). The overall increase was mostly a result of accidental GSI when compared with nonaccidental (incidence proportion 25.8 vs 2.1; P < 0.001) in 2021 at the height of the pandemic. In patients with an accidental GSI, the incidence proportion per 100k between 2017 and 2023 increased from 8.81 to 21.11 (Relative Risk: 2.397, 95% CI: 2.076, 2.768, P < 0.001).
CONCLUSION
The study supports the shift in the leading cause of death among children from motor vehicle accidents to GSIs, with the continued rise in rates despite the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Accidental injuries constituted the majority of GSIs, indicating the need for enhanced gun safety measures, including requirements for gun storage, keeping firearms locked and unloaded, requiring child supervision in homes with guns, and enforcing stricter punishments as penalties. Comprehensive efforts are required to address this public health crisis. Pediatricians play a vital role in counseling and educating families on firearm safety.
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
Level III.
PubMed: 38853750
DOI: 10.1097/BPO.0000000000002742 -
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 -
Child Abuse & Neglect Jun 2024To examine whether parental corporal punishment is associated with increased risk of concurrent and later sleep disturbances among preschoolers, and whether the...
BACKGROUND
To examine whether parental corporal punishment is associated with increased risk of concurrent and later sleep disturbances among preschoolers, and whether the association is time-sensitive or dose-responsive.
METHODS
This 3-year prospective cohort study used data from the Shanghai Children's Health, Education and Lifestyle Evaluation, Preschool(SCHEDULE-P). Participants were newly enrolled preschoolers in November 2016(wave 1) and followed up in April 2018(wave 2) and April 2019(wave 3). Parents reported the children's corporal punishment experiences and sleep disturbances at each wave survey. Children's risk of sleep disturbances in relation to corporal punishment was examined using logistic regression, adjusting for children's age, gender, emotional/behavioral problems, family annual income, and maternal educational level.
RESULTS
The participants of 19,668 children included 9436(47.98 %) females, with a mean age of 3.73(SD = 0.29) years at wave 1. Exposure to corporal punishment was associated with increased odds of concurrent sleep disturbances at wave 1, 2, and 3 (aOR,1.57; 95 % CI, 1.40-1.75; P < .001; aOR,1.60; 95 % CI, 1.43-1.80; P < .001; aOR,1.74; 95 % CI, 1.54-1.95; P < .001), respectively. Exposure to corporal punishment at any wave of preschool was associated with increased odds of sleep disturbances at wave 3, and the risks were greater for proximal and accumulative corporal punishment exposure.
CONCLUSION
There is a time-sensitive and dose-responsive association between corporal punishment and sleep disturbance among preschoolers, with greater risk of sleep disturbances for proximal and accumulative exposure of corporal punishment. Promoting positive parenting strategies and avoiding corporal punishment can be a promising strategy to prevent and intervene sleep disturbances in preschoolers.
PubMed: 38852431
DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106866 -
Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral... Jun 2024The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is used to assess decision-making in clinical populations. The original IGT does not disambiguate reward and punishment learning; however,...
The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is used to assess decision-making in clinical populations. The original IGT does not disambiguate reward and punishment learning; however, an adaptation of the task, the "play-or-pass" IGT, was developed to better distinguish between reward and punishment learning. We evaluated the test-retest reliability of measures of reward and punishment learning from the play-or-pass IGT and examined associations with self-reported measures of reward/punishment sensitivity and internalizing symptoms. Participants completed the task across two sessions, and we calculated mean-level differences and rank-order stability of behavioral measures across the two sessions using traditional scoring, involving session-wide choice proportions, and computational modeling, involving estimates of different aspects of trial-level learning. Measures using both approaches were reliable; however, computational modeling provided more insights regarding between-session changes in performance, and how performance related to self-reported measures of reward/punishment sensitivity and internalizing symptoms. Our results show promise in using the play-or-pass IGT to assess decision-making; however, further work is still necessary to validate the play-or-pass IGT.
PubMed: 38849641
DOI: 10.3758/s13415-024-01197-6 -
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 -
Proceedings of the National Academy of... Jun 2024Punishment such as electric shock or physical discipline employs a mixture of physical pain and emotional distress to induce behavior modification. However, a neural...
Punishment such as electric shock or physical discipline employs a mixture of physical pain and emotional distress to induce behavior modification. However, a neural circuit that produces behavior modification by selectively focusing the emotional component, while bypassing the pain typically induced by peripheral nociceptor activation, is not well studied. Here, we show that genetically silencing the activity of neurons expressing calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in the parabrachial nucleus blocks the suppression of addictive-like behavior induced by footshock. Furthermore, activating CGRP neurons suppresses not only addictive behavior induced by self-stimulating dopamine neurons but also behavior resulting from self-administering cocaine, without eliciting nocifensive reactions. Moreover, among multiple downstream targets of CGRP neurons, terminal activation of CGRP in the central amygdala is effective, mimicking the results of cell body stimulation. Our results indicate that unlike conventional electric footshock, stimulation of CGRP neurons does not activate peripheral nociceptors but effectively curb addictive behavior.
Topics: Animals; Parabrachial Nucleus; Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; Mice; Neurons; Behavior, Addictive; Male; Dopaminergic Neurons; Cocaine; Behavior, Animal
PubMed: 38843183
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2401929121