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Journal of Intelligence Apr 2024We tested predictions deriving from the "Pleasure-Interest Model of Aesthetic Liking" (PIA Model), whereby aesthetic preferences arise from two fluency-based processes:...
We tested predictions deriving from the "Pleasure-Interest Model of Aesthetic Liking" (PIA Model), whereby aesthetic preferences arise from two fluency-based processes: an initial automatic, default process and a subsequent reflective process. One key trigger for reflective processing is stimulus complexity. Moreover, if meaning can be derived from such complexity, then this can engender increased and elevated liking. Experiment 1 involved graffiti street-art images, pre-normed to elicit low, moderate and high levels of interest. Subjective reports indicated a predicted enhancement in liking across increasing interest levels. Electroencephalography (EEG) recordings during image viewing revealed different patterns of alpha power in temporal brain regions across interest levels. Experiment 2 enforced a brief initial image-viewing stage and a subsequent reflective image-viewing stage. Differences in alpha power arose in most EEG channels between the initial and deliberative viewing stages. A linear increase in aesthetic liking was again seen across interest levels, with different patterns of alpha activity in temporal and occipital regions across these levels. Overall, the phenomenological data support the PIA Model, while the physiological data suggest that enhanced aesthetic liking might be associated with "flow-feelings" indexed by alpha activity in brain regions linked to visual attention and reducing distraction.
PubMed: 38667709
DOI: 10.3390/jintelligence12040042 -
Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) Apr 2024Compassion satisfaction, the pleasure gained from assisting others in their recovery from trauma, can help reduce the effects of burnout and secondary traumatic stress....
Compassion satisfaction, the pleasure gained from assisting others in their recovery from trauma, can help reduce the effects of burnout and secondary traumatic stress. As such, nurses' job satisfaction can be increased by increasing compassion satisfaction and decreasing compassion fatigue. This study examined the incidence of compassion fatigue and other influencing variables, such as compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress, among Saudi nurses. This was a cross-sectional study using convenience sampling. Participants comprised 177 registered nurses from various nursing departments. Data collection included the Professional Quality of Life Scale based on lifestyle, demographic details, and occupation-related questions. The averages of scores for the variables, compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress, were recorded (37.1 ± 7.4, 25.7 ± 7.5, and 26.7 ± 6.4). Participants aged 36 or older comprised a negative factor for compassion satisfaction, while years of nursing experience and higher job satisfaction were favorable predictors. Together, these three variables accounted for 30.3% of the overall variation. Low job satisfaction and poor sleep negatively affected burnout, accounting for 39.8% of the total variance. The results offer insights into identifying the risks of compassion fatigue in nurses and help design strategies to address burnout and secondary traumatic stress while enhancing their compassion satisfaction levels.
PubMed: 38667609
DOI: 10.3390/healthcare12080847 -
Behavioral Sciences (Basel, Switzerland) Apr 2024The present study proves the construct validity of the German versions of the Feeling Scale (FS) and the Felt Arousal Scale (FAS) for measuring the affective responses...
The Affective Responses to Moderate Physical Activity: A Further Study to Prove the Convergent and the Discriminant Validity for the German Versions of the Feeling Scale and the Felt Arousal Scale.
The present study proves the construct validity of the German versions of the Feeling Scale (FS) and the Felt Arousal Scale (FAS) for measuring the affective responses (affective valence and arousal) for a moderate-intensity jogging (JG) exercise. In previous studies, both scales were validated for a high-intensity bicycle ergometer exercise and for relaxation techniques. In the present study, 194 participants performed the JG exercise for 45 min and completed the FS and the FAS, as well as the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM), for a self-other comparison in a pre-test-intervention-post-test design. The results of the correlation analyses replicated the previous findings for the high-intensity bicycle ergometer exercise and the relaxation techniques, revealing significant positive correlations for the valence dimension between the FS and the SAM-Pleasure subscale ( = 0.50) and for the arousal dimension between the FAS and the SAM-Arousal subscale ( = 0.16). These findings suggest that the German versions of the FS and the FAS are also suitable for exercises of moderate intensity.
PubMed: 38667113
DOI: 10.3390/bs14040317 -
BioRxiv : the Preprint Server For... Apr 2024Cholinergic interneurons (ChIs) act as master regulators of striatal output, finely tuning neurotransmission to control motivated behaviors. ChIs are a cellular target...
Cholinergic interneurons (ChIs) act as master regulators of striatal output, finely tuning neurotransmission to control motivated behaviors. ChIs are a cellular target of many peptide and hormonal neuromodulators, including corticotropin releasing factor, opioids, insulin and leptin, which can influence an animal's behavior by signaling stress, pleasure, pain and nutritional status. However, little is known about how sex hormones via estrogen receptors influence the function of these other neuromodulators. Here, we performed in situ hybridization on mouse striatal tissue to characterize the effect of sex and sex hormones on choline acetyltransferase ( ), estrogen receptor alpha ( ), and corticotropin releasing factor type 1 receptor ( ) expression. Although we did not detect sex differences in ChAT protein levels in the striatum, we found that female mice have more mRNA-expressing neurons than males. At the population level, we observed a sexually dimorphic distribution of - and -expressing ChIs in the ventral striatum that demonstrates an antagonistic correlational relationship, which is abolished by ovariectomy. Only in the NAc did we find a significant population of ChIs that co-express and . At the cellular level, and transcript levels were negatively correlated only during estrus, indicating that changes in sex hormones levels can modulate the interaction between and mRNA levels. Together, these data provide evidence for the unique expression and interaction of and in ventral striatal ChIs, warranting further investigation into how these transcriptomic patterns might underlie important functions for ChIs at the intersection of stress and reproductive behaviors.
PubMed: 38659848
DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.13.589360 -
Heliyon Apr 2024Shenyu Ningshen (SYNS) tablet is the first pure Chinese medicinal small compound preparation approved for clinical trials for the treatment of depression in China....
CONTEXT
Shenyu Ningshen (SYNS) tablet is the first pure Chinese medicinal small compound preparation approved for clinical trials for the treatment of depression in China. Clinical experiments confirmed that the formulation had a significant Improvement effect against depression due to the deficiency of both qi and yin. It has been shown to exhibit noticeable anti-inflammatory effect in an animal model of depression. Our previous study showed that SYNS could effectively inhibit the inflammatory response in a depression model.
AIM OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective effects of SYNS on neurons and explore whether the underlying mechanism was associated with A1s.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The depression model of solitary raising-chronic restraint stress (CRS) rats was established; body weight examination, sugar water preference test, open field test, and histological analysis were performed to preliminarily verify the efficacy of the formulation. Subsequently, neuronal nucleus (NeuN) and synaptic-associated proteins (MAP2 and PSD95) were labeled, and the protective effect of SYNS on hippocampal neurons was observed based on the fluorescence intensity of the above indicators. Western blotting, histological examination, and immunofluorescence were used to evaluate the inhibitory effects of SYNS on neuroinflammation and activation of A1s in CRS depression model.
RESULTS
SYNS improved behavioral indicators such as weight loss, pleasure loss, and reduced exercise volume in CRS rat model. SYNS restored the CRS-induced histopathological changes in the hippocampus. SYNS showed a certain degree of protective effect on synapses. Further, SYNS inhibited the activation of A1s by inhibiting neuroinflammatory factors in the hippocampus.
CONCLUSION
Our results showed that SYNS had a certain degree of neuroprotective effect, which might be related to its inhibition of the inflammatory response and A1s.
PubMed: 38655362
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e28916 -
PloS One 2024Groove, or the pleasurable urge to move to music, offers unique insight into the relationship between emotion and action. The predictive coding of music model posits...
Groove, or the pleasurable urge to move to music, offers unique insight into the relationship between emotion and action. The predictive coding of music model posits that groove is linked to predictions of music formed over time, with stimuli of moderate complexity rated as most pleasurable and likely to engender movement. At the same time, listeners vary in the pleasure they derive from music listening: individuals with musical anhedonia report reduced pleasure during music listening despite no impairments in music perception and no general anhedonia. Little is known about musical anhedonics' subjective experience of groove. Here we examined the relationship between groove and music reward sensitivity. Participants (n = 287) heard drum-breaks that varied in perceived complexity, and rated each for pleasure and wanting to move. Musical anhedonics (n = 13) had significantly lower ratings compared to controls (n = 13) matched on music perception abilities and general anhedonia. However, both groups demonstrated the classic inverted-U relationship between ratings of pleasure & move and stimulus complexity, with ratings peaking for intermediately complex stimuli. Across our entire sample, pleasure ratings were most strongly related with music reward sensitivity for highly complex stimuli (i.e., there was an interaction between music reward sensitivity and stimulus complexity). Finally, the sensorimotor subscale of music reward was uniquely associated with move, but not pleasure, ratings above and beyond the five other dimensions of musical reward. Results highlight the multidimensional nature of reward sensitivity and suggest that pleasure and wanting to move are driven by overlapping but separable mechanisms.
Topics: Humans; Music; Anhedonia; Female; Male; Adult; Pleasure; Reward; Young Adult; Auditory Perception; Emotions; Adolescent; Acoustic Stimulation
PubMed: 38652721
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301478 -
Addiction & Health Feb 2024Despite the legal acceptance of homosexuality in India, it remains a social taboo, resulting in various challenges being faced by homosexual males. These challenges...
BACKGROUND
Despite the legal acceptance of homosexuality in India, it remains a social taboo, resulting in various challenges being faced by homosexual males. These challenges mainly include issues such as addiction/drug use and inconsistent and/ or incorrect condom usage which increase the risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV among them. This study was thus conducted with the objective of studying the patterns of addiction/drug use and condom usage among homosexual males.
METHODS
The study was conducted at outreach sites of a non-governmental organization (NGO). A total of 240 participants, consisting of homosexual and bisexual males aged 18-24 years who were residing in the metropolitan city of Mumbai for at least 1 year, were enrolled. Data about addiction/drug use and patterns of condom usage was collected, compiled, entered into Microsoft Excel, and subsequently analyzed using SPSS.
FINDINGS
Out of the total participants, 171 (71.2%) reported engaging in addiction/drug use, Among those participants, 105 (61.4%) engaged in alcohol consumption prior to sexual contact to enhance pleasure or delay climax. Cigarette smoking was the most common type of addiction. Statistically significant association was found between habitual addiction/drug use (=0.0023), use of ecstasy/aphrodisiac drugs (=0.00654) and, inconsistent and/or incorrect condom use among the participants. However, planned addiction/drug use only before sexual contact did not show a significant association (=0.066).
CONCLUSION
Habitual addiction/drug use among homosexual males increases the likelihood of engaging in inconsistent and/ or incorrect condom use, thereby elevating the risk of acquiring STIs and HIV. To mitigate this risk, interventions targeting addiction/ drug use prevention should be initiated during adolescence to address this issue at an earlier stage of life.
PubMed: 38651029
DOI: 10.34172/ahj.2024.1472 -
Frontiers in Public Health 2024The need for money, the pursuit of pleasure, and the liberalized access to gambling have been documented in several pieces of literature as the drivers of gambling. Such...
INTRODUCTION
The need for money, the pursuit of pleasure, and the liberalized access to gambling have been documented in several pieces of literature as the drivers of gambling. Such drivers are predicated on commercialized gambling, leading to the growth of the gambling industry and constituting a structural influence that normalizes the activity among young people.
METHODS
Through a qualitative inquiry, this study investigates the social agentic factors of individuals who are susceptible to gambling. Fifteen non-gamblers were recruited across three commercial cities in Africa, namely Nairobi, Lagos, and Johannesburg. We first established the gambling susceptibility of the participants: their need for money, their passion for football, ownership of a smartphone, access to the internet, and exposure to football gambling marketing.
RESULTS
Consequently, we probed for their agency, which is indicative of why they do not gamble, despite being susceptible to engaging in the activity. Four major agentic factors were identified from the participants; knowledge of the industry's business model, conserving the integrity of football, identity of self, morality and/or religion model.
DISCUSSION
As such, these factors may be utilized to develop an intervention program for gamblers within the geographical context.
Topics: Humans; Gambling; Male; Female; Adult; Qualitative Research; Football; Young Adult; Africa; Internet
PubMed: 38645456
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1325465 -
Heliyon Apr 2024Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is associated with positive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes, including increased contraceptive use, lower rates of...
INTRODUCTION
Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is associated with positive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes, including increased contraceptive use, lower rates of unintended pregnancy and prevention of sexual violence. However, implementation of and requirements for CSE vary across the United States which can negatively impact students, both during and beyond high school, including among college students.
METHODS
and Analysis: This paper describes the research protocol for a multi-staged approach for designing, implementing and evaluating an SRH course for up to 60 undergraduate students at a public university in California. Before the class is offered, we will conduct 20 in-depth interviews with current students, educators and course design experts to learn from their experiences and seek their guidance on course design. To evaluate the course, enrolled students will complete a pre-course and a post-course survey before and after class is taught, to assess students' attitudes and values relevant to educational concepts and the format and delivery of the course and its modules and activities. Approximately 20 students will take part in an in-depth exit interview, after completing the course, to gather perceptions about how the course impacted their knowledge and behavior. The goal is to refine materials for future in-person course offerings and develop a prototype for a fully online version of the course.
DISCUSSION
This study introduces a novel university-level course to provide young adult students comprehensive, evidence-based education on sexual and reproductive health from a public health perspective. The program leverages existing CSE efforts, enhancing them with academic rigor, inclusive content and digital inclusion. This approach, inclusive of diverse sexual orientations, content on pleasure and sexual violence prevention, aims to fill existing gaps in university curricula and also set a new standard in CSE. The project's innovative and multidisciplinary design offers a model for broader impact within a large public university system and beyond.
PubMed: 38644866
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e28503 -
Journal of Neuroinflammation Apr 2024Colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) signaling is crucial for the maintenance and function of various myeloid subsets. CSF1R antagonism was previously shown to...
BACKGROUND
Colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) signaling is crucial for the maintenance and function of various myeloid subsets. CSF1R antagonism was previously shown to mitigate clinical severity in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). The associated mechanisms are still not well delineated.
METHODS
To assess the effect of CSF1R signaling, we employed the CSF1R antagonist PLX5622 formulated in chow (PLX5622 diet, PD) and its control chow (control diet, CD). We examined the effect of PD in steady state and EAE by analyzing cells isolated from peripheral immune organs and from the CNS via flow cytometry. We determined CNS infiltration sites and assessed the extent of demyelination using immunohistochemistry of cerebella and spinal cords. Transcripts of genes associated with neuroinflammation were also analyzed in these tissues.
RESULTS
In addition to microglial depletion, PD treatment reduced dendritic cells and macrophages in peripheral immune organs, both during steady state and during EAE. Furthermore, CSF1R antagonism modulated numbers and relative frequencies of T effector cells both in the periphery and in the CNS during the early stages of the disease. Classical neurological symptoms were milder in PD compared to CD mice. Interestingly, a subset of PD mice developed atypical EAE symptoms. Unlike previous studies, we observed that the CNS of PD mice was infiltrated by increased numbers of peripheral immune cells compared to that of CD mice. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that CNS infiltrates in PD mice were mainly localized in the cerebellum while in CD mice infiltrates were primarily localized in the spinal cords during the onset of neurological deficits. Accordingly, during the same timepoint, cerebella of PD but not of CD mice had extensive demyelinating lesions, while spinal cords of CD but not of PD mice were heavily demyelinated.
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that CSF1R activity modulates the cellular composition of immune cells both in the periphery and within the CNS, and affects lesion localization during the early EAE stages.
Topics: Mice; Animals; Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental; Organic Chemicals; Spinal Cord; Microglia; Receptors, Colony-Stimulating Factor; Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; Mice, Inbred C57BL
PubMed: 38643194
DOI: 10.1186/s12974-024-03063-1