Automating the analysis of facial emotion expression dynamics: A computational framework and application in psychotic disorders

Facial emotion expressions play a central role in interpersonal interactions; these displays are used to predict and influence the behavior of others. Despite their importance, quantifying and analyzing the dynamics of brief facial emotion expressions remains an understudied methodological challenge. Here, we present a method that leverages machine learning and network modeling to assess the dynamics of facial expressions. Using video recordings of clinical interviews, we demonstrate the utility of this approach in a sample of 96 people diagnosed with psychotic disorders and 116 never-psychotic adults. Participants diagnosed with schizophrenia tended to move from neutral expressions to uncommon expressions (e.g., fear, surprise), whereas participants diagnosed with other psychoses (e.g., mood disorders with psychosis) moved toward expressions of sadness. This method has broad applications to the study of normal and altered expressions of emotion and can be integrated with telemedicine to improve psychiatric assessment and treatment.

Generalizable Links Between Borderline Personality Traits and Functional Connectivity

BACKGROUND

Symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD) often manifest during adolescence, but the underlying relationship between these debilitating symptoms and the development of functional brain networks is not well understood. Here, we aimed to investigate how multivariate patterns of functional connectivity are associated with borderline personality traits in large samples of young adults and adolescents.

METHODS

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging data from young adults and adolescents from the HCP-YA (Human Connectome Project Young Adult) (n = 870, ages 22-37 years, 457 female) and the HCP-D (Human Connectome Project Development) (n = 223, ages 16-21 years, 121 female). A previously validated BPD proxy score was derived from the NEO Five-Factor Inventory. A ridge regression model with cross-validation and nested hyperparameter tuning was trained and tested in HCP-YA to predict BPD scores in unseen data from regional functional connectivity. The trained model was further tested on data from HCP-D without further tuning. Finally, we tested how the connectivity patterns associated with BPD aligned with age-related changes in connectivity.

RESULTS

Multivariate functional connectivity patterns significantly predicted out-of-sample BPD scores in unseen data in young adults (HCP-YA ppermuted = .001) and older adolescents (HCP-D ppermuted = .001). Regional predictive capacity was heterogeneous; the most predictive regions were found in functional systems relevant for emotion regulation and executive function, including the ventral attention network. Finally, regional functional connectivity patterns that predicted BPD scores aligned with those associated with development in youth.

CONCLUSIONS

Individual differences in functional connectivity in developmentally sensitive regions are associated with borderline personality traits.

Reward-based option competition in human dorsal stream and transition from stochastic exploration to exploitation in continuous space

Primates exploring and exploiting a continuous sensorimotor space rely on dynamic maps in the dorsal stream. Two complementary perspectives exist on how these maps encode rewards. Reinforcement learning models integrate rewards incrementally over time, efficiently resolving the exploration/exploitation dilemma. Working memory buffer models explain rapid plasticity of parietal maps but lack a plausible exploration/exploitation policy. The reinforcement learning model presented here unifies both accounts, enabling rapid, information-compressing map updates and efficient transition from exploration to exploitation. As predicted by our model, activity in human frontoparietal dorsal stream regions, but not in MT+, tracks the number of competing options, as preferred options are selectively maintained on the map, while spatiotemporally distant alternatives are compressed out. When valuable new options are uncovered, posterior β1/α oscillations desynchronize within 0.4 to 0.7 s, consistent with option encoding by competing β1-stabilized subpopulations. Together, outcomes matching locally cached reward representations rapidly update parietal maps, biasing choices toward often-sampled, rewarded options.

Generalizable links between symptoms of borderline personality disorder and functional connectivity

Background |

Symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD) often manifest in adolescence, yet the underlying relationship between these debilitating symptoms and the development of functional brain networks is not well understood. Here we aimed to investigate how multivariate patterns of functional connectivity are associated with symptoms of BPD in a large sample of young adults and adolescents.

Methods |

We used high-quality functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) data from young adults from the Human Connectome Project: Young Adults (HCP-YA; N = 870, ages 22-37 years, 457 female) and youth from the Human Connectome Project: Development (HCP-D; N = 223, age range 16-21 years, 121 female). A previously validated BPD proxy score was derived from the NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). A ridge regression model with 10-fold cross-validation and nested hyperparameter tuning was trained and tested in HCP-YA to predict BPD scores in unseen data from regional functional connectivity, while controlling for in-scanner motion, age, and sex. The trained model was further tested on data from HCP-D without further tuning. Finally, we tested how the connectivity patterns associated with BPD aligned with age-related changes in connectivity.

Results |

Multivariate functional connectivity patterns significantly predicted out-of-sample BPD proxy scores in unseen data in both young adults (HCP-YA; pperm = 0.001) and older adolescents (HCP-D; pperm = 0.001). Predictive capacity of regions was heterogeneous; the most predictive regions were found in functional systems relevant for emotion regulation and executive function, including the ventral attention network. Finally, regional functional connectivity patterns that predicted BPD proxy scores aligned with those associated with development in youth.

Conclusion |

Individual differences in functional connectivity in developmentally-sensitive regions are associated with the symptoms of BPD.

Dissociation of basolateral and central amygdala effective connectivity predicts the stability of emotion-related impulsivity in adolescents and emerging adults with borderline personality symptoms: a resting-state fMRI study

BACKGROUND

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with altered activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and amygdala, yet no studies have examined fronto-limbic circuitry in borderline adolescents and emerging adults. Here, we examined the contribution of fronto-limbic effective connectivity (EC) to the longitudinal stability of emotion-related impulsivity, a key feature of BPD, in symptomatic adolescents and young adults.

METHODS

We compared resting-state EC in 82 adolescents and emerging adults with and without clinically significant borderline symptoms (n BPD = 40, ages 13-30). Group-specific directed networks were estimated amongst fronto-limbic nodes including PFC, ventral striatum (VS), central amygdala (CeN), and basolateral amygdala (BLA). We examined the association of directed centrality metrics with initial levels and rates of change in emotion-related impulsivity symptoms over a one-year follow-up using latent growth curve models (LGCMs).

RESULTS

In controls, ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and dorsal ACC had a directed influence on CeN and VS, respectively. In the BPD group, bilateral BLA had a directed influence on CeN, whereas in the healthy group CeN influenced BLA. LGCMs indicated that emotion-related impulsivity was stable across a one-year follow-up in the BPD group. Further, higher EC of R CeN to other regions in controls was associated with stronger within-person decreases in emotion-related impulsivity.

CONCLUSIONS

Functional inputs from BLA and vmPFC appear to play competing roles in influencing CeN activity. In borderline adolescents and young adults, BLA may predominate over CeN activity, while in controls the ability of CeN to influence BLA activity predicted more rapid reductions in emotion-related impulsivity.

Suicidal urges and attempted suicide at multiple time scales in borderline personality disorder

BACKGROUND

There is strong evidence for an enduring suicidal diathesis among individuals with a history of suicide attempts, particularly among people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, the progression of suicidal crises among people predisposed to suicidal behavior remains poorly understood.

METHODS

Via multilevel structural equation modeling we tested the hypothesis that a history of attempted suicide predicts a stronger dynamic link between affect and impulsivity with suicidal ideation (i.e., suicidal urges) - both moment-to-moment and day-to-day. 153 patients diagnosed with BPD, 105 of whom had a history of medically serious suicide attempts completed a 21-day ecological momentary assessment protocol (17,926 total assessments).

RESULTS

Individuals with higher average levels of negative affect reported more suicidal thoughts. Moments characterized by more negative affect, hostility, impulsivity, and less positive affect were also characterized by elevated suicidal ideation. For hostility and positive affect, these significant links generalized to the daily level. At the same time, for negative affect and hostility the within-person coupling was stronger among attempters in comparison to non-attempters, and these effects did not significantly differ across timescales.

LIMITATIONS

Follow-up studies replicating our findings of the dysregulation-suicidality nexus in clinically more diverse samples are needed.

CONCLUSIONS

The diathesis for suicidal behavior manifests in tighter dynamic links between negative affect or hostility and suicidal ideation. Because these within-person links were amplified in attempters compared to non-attempters, differential coupling patterns may index potentially lethal processes that generalize beyond BPD reflecting distinct diathesis components.

The Dark Side of Mentalizing: Learning Signals in the Default Network During Social Exchanges Support Cooperation and Exploitation

The evolution of human social cognitive capacities such as mentalizing was associated with the expansion of frontoparietal cortical networks, particularly the default network. Mentalizing supports prosocial behaviors, but recent evidence indicates it may also serve a darker side of human social behavior. Using a computational reinforcement learning model of decision-making on a social exchange task, we examined how individuals optimized their approach to social interactions based on a counterpart's behavior and prior reputation. We found that learning signals encoded in the default network scaled with reciprocal cooperation and were stronger in individuals who were more exploitative and manipulative, but weaker in those who were more callous and less empathic. These learning signals, which help to update predictions about others' behavior, accounted for associations between exploitativeness, callousness, and social reciprocity. Separately, we found that callousness, but not exploitativeness, was associated with a behavioral insensitivity to prior reputation effects. While the entire default network was involved in reciprocal cooperation, sensitivity to reputation was selectively related to the activity of the medial temporal subsystem. Overall, our findings suggest that the emergence of social cognitive capacities associated with the expansion of the default network likely enabled humans to not only cooperate effectively with others, but to exploit and manipulate others as well.

Striatal dopamine supports reward expectation and learning: A simultaneous PET/fMRI study

Converging evidence from both human neuroimaging and animal studies has supported a model of mesolimbic processing underlying reward learning behaviors, based on the computation of reward prediction errors. However, competing evidence supports human dopamine signaling in the basal ganglia as also contributing to the generation of higher order learning heuristics. Here, we present data from a large (N = 81, 18-30yo), multi-modal neuroimaging study using simultaneously acquired task fMRI, affording temporal resolution of reward system function, and PET imaging with [¹¹C]Raclopride (RAC), assessing striatal dopamine (DA) D2/3 receptor binding, during performance of a probabilistic reward learning task. Both fMRI activation and PET DA measures showed ventral striatum involvement for signaling rewards. However, greater DA release was uniquely associated with learning strategies (i.e., learning rates) that were more task-optimal within the best fitting reinforcement learning model. This DA response was associated with BOLD activation of a network of regions including anterior cingulate cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, thalamus and posterior parietal cortex, primarily during expectation, rather than prediction error, task epochs. Together, these data provide novel, human in vivo evidence that striatal dopaminergic signaling interacts with a network of cortical regions to generate task-optimal learning strategies, rather than representing reward outcomes in isolation.

Personality (Dys)Function and General Instability

Humans adapt to a dynamic environment while maintaining psychological equilibrium. Systems theories of personality hold that generalized processes control stability by regulating how strongly a person reacts to various situations. Research shows there are higher-order traits of general personality function (Stability) and dysfunction (general personality pathology; GPP), but whether or not they capture individual differences in reactivity is largely theoretical. We tested this hypothesis by examining how general personality functioning manifests in everyday life in two samples (Ns=205; 342 participants and 24,920; 17,761 observations) that completed an ambulatory assessment protocol. Consistent with systems theories, we found (1) there is a general factor reflecting reactivity across major domains of functioning, and (2) reactivity is strongly associated with Stability and GPP. Results provide insight into how people fundamentally adapt (or not) to their environments, and lays the foundation for more practical, empirical models of human functioning.

Humans adaptively resolve the explore-exploit dilemma under cognitive constraints: Evidence from a multi-armed bandit task

When navigating uncertain worlds, humans must balance exploring new options versus exploiting known rewards. Longer horizons and spatially structured option values encourage humans to explore, but the impact of real-world cognitive constraints such as environment size and memory demands on explore-exploit decisions is unclear. In the present study, humans chose between options varying in uncertainty during a multi-armed bandit task with varying environment size and memory demands. Regression and cognitive computational models of choice behavior showed that with a lower cognitive load, humans are more exploratory than a simulated value-maximizing learner, but under cognitive constraints, they adaptively scale down exploration to maintain exploitation. Thus, while humans are curious, cognitive constraints force people to decrease their strategic exploration in a resource-rational-like manner to focus on harvesting known rewards.

Relations between social attention, expressed positive affect and behavioral inhibition during play

Flexible social attention, including visually attending to social interaction partners, coupled with positive affect may facilitate adaptive social functioning. However, most research assessing social attention relies on static computer-based paradigms, overlooking the dynamics of social interactions and limiting understanding of individual differences in the deployment of naturalistic attention. The current study used mobile eye-tracking to examine relations between social attention, expressed affect, and behavioral inhibition during naturalistic play in young children. Children (N = 28, Mage = 6.12, 46.4% girls, 92.9% White) participated in a 5-min free play with a novel age- and sex-matched peer while mobile eye-tracking data were collected. Interactions were coded for social attention and expressed affect and modeled second-by-second, generating 4,399 observations. Children spent more time dwelling on toys than on peers or anywhere else in the room. Further analyses demonstrated children were almost twice as likely to gaze at their peer when simultaneously self-expressing positive affect. Additionally, children were more than twice as likely and more than three times as likely to self-express positive affect when dwelling on peer or in the presence of peer-expressed positive affect, respectively. Behavioral inhibition was not significantly related to social attention. However, children higher in behavioral inhibition were less likely to self-express positive affect in the presence of peer-expressed positive affect. The current results provide a snapshot of relations between social attention, expressed affect and individual differences during play and provide guidance for future work assessing the roles of social attention and positive affect in facilitating positive social interactions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Momentary interpersonal processes of suicidal surges in borderline personality disorder

BACKGROUND

Suicide rates are high in borderline personality disorder (BPD) where interpersonal problems trigger intense affective dysregulation and impulses to act on suicidal thoughts. To date, however, no study has examined how interpersonal stressors contribute to momentary within-person links among affect and impulsivity with suicidal ideation (SI), and how those links vary over time in people's daily lives.

METHODS

A total of 153 individuals diagnosed with BPD and 52 healthy controls completed a 21-day ecological momentary assessment protocol. Of these 153 individuals with BPD, 105 had a history of suicide attempts. Multilevel structural equation modeling was used to examine dynamic links among interpersonal perceptions, affect, state impulsivity, and suicidal intent.

RESULTS

Aggregated across interactions, lower perceived warmth in others was associated with SI. This direct relationship, however, did not extend to momentary within-person associations. Instead, interpersonal conflicts were linked to SI indirectly via greater negative affect and lower positive affect. While a robust within-person link between interpersonal perceptions and impulsivity emerged, impulsivity did not account for the relationship between interpersonal perceptions and SI.

CONCLUSION

This intensive longitudinal study illustrates momentary interpersonal signatures of an emerging suicidal crisis. Among people with BPD at high risk for suicide, interpersonal triggers initiate a cascade of affective dysregulation, which in turn gives rise to SI.

Negative affectivity and disinhibition as moderators of an interpersonal pathway to suicidal behavior in borderline personality disorder

This longitudinal study examined whether personality traits moderate the link between interpersonal dysfunction and suicidal behavior in a high-risk sample of 458 individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Participants were assessed annually for up to 30 years (mean number of follow-ups = 7.82). Using multilevel structural equation modeling, we examined i) longitudinal, within-person relationships among interpersonal dysfunction, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts; and ii) moderation of these relationships by negative affectivity and disinhibition. Negative affectivity predicted a stronger within-person coupling between interpersonal dysfunction and suicidal ideation. Disinhibition predicted a stronger coupling between ideation and suicide attempts. Assessing negative affectivity and disinhibition in a treatment setting may guide clinician vigilance toward those at highest risk for interpersonally triggered suicidal behaviors.

Transdiagnostic Associations With Interpersonal and Affective Variability in Borderline Personality Pathology

Emotional and behavioral variability are unifying characteristics of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Ambulatory assessment (AA) has been used to quantify this variability in terms of the categorical BPD diagnosis, but evidence suggests that BPD instead reflects general personality pathology. This study aimed to clarify the conceptualization of BPD by mapping indices of variability in affect, interpersonal behavior, and perceptions of others onto general and specific dimensions of personality pathology. A sample of participants who met diagnostic criteria for BPD (n = 129) and healthy controls (n = 47) reported on their daily interactions during a 21-day AA protocol. Multilevel SEM was used to examine associations between shared and specific variance in maladaptive traits with dynamic patterns of functioning. The authors found that variability is an indicator of shared trait variance and Negative Affectivity, not any other specific traits, reinforcing the idea that BPD is best understood as general personality pathology.

Borderline personality disorder: stress reactivity or stress generation? A prospective dimensional study

BACKGROUND

Individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) often describe their lives as stressful and unpredictable. However, it is unclear whether the adversity faced by those with BPD is a product of stress reactivity or stress generation. Here, we examined the dynamic, prospective associations between BPD and stressful life events over 3 years. Given the heterogeneity present in BPD, we sought to understand which empirically derived dimensions of this heterogeneous disorder explain stress reactivity v. stress generation.

METHODS

Participants included 355 individuals diagnosed with BPD and followed longitudinally at three annual assessments. Auto-regressive cross-lagged panel models were used to examine prospective associations between stressful life events and three latent dimensions implicated in BPD: negative affect, disinhibition, and antagonism.

RESULTS

Antagonism and disinhibition, but not negative affect, prospectively predicted dependent stressful life events (events the individual may have some role in). Evidence for decompensation under stress was more tenuous, with independent stressful life events (those presumably outside the individual's control) predicting increases in negative affect.

CONCLUSIONS

Our longitudinal study of a well-characterized clinical sample found more evidence for stress generation than for stress-induced decompensation in BPD. Stress generation in BPD is driven by externalizing dimensions: antagonism and disinhibition. These results highlight the utility of empirically derived dimensions for parsing heterogeneity present in BPD, leading to improvements in diagnostic evaluation, clinical prediction, and individualized approaches to treatment planning.

Protective effects of reasons for living against suicidal ideation in daily life

How do individuals resist suicidal urges in a crisis? Deterrents for suicide can be conceptualized as reasons for living (RFL), but our understanding of their protective effects is predominantly informed by cross-sectional research. We examined the protective effects of RFL on suicidal ideation (SI) in daily life in a high-risk sample. We also tested whether personality traits moderated the strength of the dynamic RFL-SI link. Adults with a borderline personality disorder diagnosis (N = 153, n_{suicide attempters} = 105) completed a 21-day ambulatory assessment protocol. Daily endorsements of RFL were negatively linked to SI at the within-person but not the between-person level. Whereas suicide attempters endorsed RFL less frequently than non-attempters, the protective effect of RFL was undiminished in this group. Furthermore, RFL's protective effect was particularly pronounced in those with higher average levels of suicidal ideation. While people high on extraversion endorsed RFL more often, this increase was not protective against SI, indicating that RFL reflect heterogeneous underlying psychological processes, only some of which protect against SI.

Sleep and next-day negative affect and suicidal ideation in borderline personality disorder

Sleep disturbance is associated with elevated suicidal ideation and negative affect. To date, however, no study has investigated the temporal relationship between sleep and suicidality among those diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD). This preregistered (https://osf.io/4vugk) study tested whether nightly sleep (self-reported sleep duration, sleep onset latency, and subjective sleep quality) represents a (within-person) short-term risk factor for affective dysregulation and increases in suicide risk from day-to-day, as well as whether between-person differences in sleep, negative affect, and suicidality were associated. We used a 21-day ecological momentary assessment protocol in a sample of 153 people diagnosed with BPD, 105 of which had a history of serious suicide attempts, and 52 healthy controls (N = 4076 days). We found a within-person association between worse subjective sleep quality and greater next-day negative affect. At the between-person level, we found positive relationships between sleep latency and suicidal ideation, and a negative association between subjective sleep quality and negative affect. BPD severity did not significantly moderate the strength of any within-person associations, although BPD was positively associated with average levels of suicidal ideation, sleep latency, and negative affect, and negatively related to subjective sleep quality. These findings suggest that the association of sleep with suicidal ideation and BPD exists largely at the between-persons rather than the within-person level. Disturbed sleep, therefore, seems to largely coincide, rather than specifically contribute to, the exacerbation of suicidal crises in BPD. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Answering questions about the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP): Analogies to whales and sharks miss the boat

This commentary discusses questions and misconceptions about HiTOP raised by Haeffel et al. (2021). We explain what the system classifies and why it is descriptive and atheoretical, highlighting benefits and limitations of this approach. We clarify why the system is organized according to patterns of covariation or comorbidity among signs and symptoms of psychopathology, and we discuss how it is designed to be falsifiable and revised in a manner that is responsive to data. We refer to the body of evidence for HiTOP's external validity and for its scientific and clinical utility. We further describe how the system is currently used in clinics. In sum, many of Haeffel et al.'s concerns about HiTOP are unwarranted, and for those concerns that reflect real current limitations of HiTOP, our consortium is working to address them, with the aim of creating a nosology that is comprehensive and useful to both scientists and clinicians.

Integrating a functional view on suicide risk into idiographic statistical models

Acute risk of death by suicide manifests in heightened suicidal ideation in certain contexts and time periods. These increases are thought to emerge from complex and mutually reinforcing relationships between dispositional vulnerability factors and individually suicidogenic short-term stressors. Together, these processes inform clinical safety planning and our therapeutic tools accommodate a reasonable degree of idiosyncrasy when we individualize interventions. Unraveling these multifaceted factors and processes on a quantitative level, however, requires estimation frameworks capable of representing idiosyncrasies relevant to intervention and psychotherapy. Using, data from a 21-day ambulatory assessment protocol that included six random prompts per day, we developed personalized (i.e., idiographic) models of interacting risk factors and suicidal ideation via Group Iterative Multiple Model Estimation (GIMME) in a sample of people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (N = 95) stratified for a history of high lethality suicide attempts. Our models revealed high levels of heterogeneity in state risk factors related to suicidal ideation, with no features shared among the majority of participants or even among relatively homogenous clusters of participants (i.e., empirically derived subgroups). We discuss steps toward clinical implementation of personalized models, which can eventually capture suicidogenic changes in proximal risk factors and inform safety planning and interventions.

Explanatory personality science in the neuroimaging era: The map is not the territory

The recent rise of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has led to a proliferation of studies that seek to link individual differences in personality directly to their neural correlates. These studies function to describe personality at a lower level of analysis, but they do little to advance the field's understanding of the causal mechanisms that give rise to personality traits. To transition to a more explanatory personality neuroscience, researchers should strive to conduct theory-driven empirical studies that bridge multiple levels of analysis. Effectively doing so will require a continued reliance on rich description, strong theories, large samples, and careful behavioral experimentation. Integrating these components will lead to more robust and informative studies of personality neuroscience that help to move the field closer to explaining the causal sources of individual differences.

Neural connectivity biotypes: associations with internalizing problems throughout adolescence

BACKGROUND

Neurophysiological patterns may distinguish which youth are at risk for the well-documented increase in internalizing symptoms during adolescence. Adolescents with internalizing problems exhibit altered resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) of brain regions involved in socio-affective processing. Whether connectivity-based biotypes differentiate adolescents' levels of internalizing problems remains unknown.

METHOD

Sixty-eight adolescents (37 females) reported on their internalizing problems at ages 14, 16, and 18 years. A resting-state functional neuroimaging scan was collected at age 16. Time-series data of 15 internalizing-relevant brain regions were entered into the Subgroup-Group Iterative Multi-Model Estimation program to identify subgroups based on RSFC maps. Associations between internalizing problems and connectivity-based biotypes were tested with regression analyses.

RESULTS

Two connectivity-based biotypes were found: a Diffusely-connected biotype (N = 46), with long-range fronto-parietal paths, and a Hyper-connected biotype (N = 22), with paths between subcortical and medial frontal areas (e.g. affective and default-mode network regions). Higher levels of past (age 14) internalizing problems predicted a greater likelihood of belonging to the Hyper-connected biotype at age 16. The Hyper-connected biotype showed higher levels of concurrent problems (age 16) and future (age 18) internalizing problems.

CONCLUSIONS

Differential patterns of RSFC among socio-affective brain regions were predicted by earlier internalizing problems and predicted future internalizing problems in adolescence. Measuring connectivity-based biotypes in adolescence may offer insight into which youth face an elevated risk for internalizing disorders during this critical developmental period.

Disentangling cognitive processes in externalizing psychopathology using drift diffusion modeling: Antagonism, but not disinhibition, is associated with poor cognitive control

Although externalizing psychopathology has been linked to deficits in cognitive control, the cognitive processes underlying this association are unclear. Here, we provide a theoretical account of how research on cognitive processes can help to integrate and distinguish personality and psychopathology. We then apply this account to connect the two major subcomponents of externalizing, Antagonism and Disinhibition, with specific control processes using a battery of inhibitory control tasks and corresponding computational modeling. Participants (final N = 104) completed the flanker, go/no-go, and recent probes tasks, as well as normal and maladaptive personality inventories and measures of psychological distress. We fit participants' task behavior using a hierarchical drift diffusion model (DDM) to decompose their responses into specific cognitive processes. Using multilevel structural equation models, we found that Antagonism was associated with faster RTs on the flanker task and lower accuracy on flanker and go/no-go tasks. These results were complemented by DDM parameter associations: Antagonism was linked to decreased threshold and drift rate parameter estimates in the flanker task and a decreased drift rate on no-go trials. Altogether, our findings indicate that Antagonism is associated with specific impairments in fast (sub-second) inhibitory control processes involved in withholding prepared/prepotent responses and filtering distracting information. Disinhibition and momentary distress, however, were not associated with task performance.

Search for solutions, learning, simulation, and choice processes in suicidal behavior

Suicide may be viewed as an unfortunate outcome of failures in decision processes. Such failures occur when the demands of a crisis exceed a person's capacity to (i) search for options, (ii) learn and simulate possible futures, and (iii) make advantageous value‐based choices. Can individual‐level decision deficits and biases drive the progression of the suicidal crisis? Our overview of the evidence on this question is informed by clinical theory and grounded in reinforcement learning and behavioral economics. Cohort and case–control studies provide strong evidence that limited cognitive capacity and particularly impaired cognitive control are associated with suicidal behavior, imposing cognitive constraints on decision‐making. We conceptualize suicidal ideation as an element of impoverished consideration sets resulting from a search for solutions under cognitive constraints and mood‐congruent Pavlovian influences, a view supported by mostly indirect evidence. More compelling is the evidence of impaired learning in people with a history of suicidal behavior. We speculate that an inability to simulate alternative futures using one's model of the world may undermine alternative solutions in a suicidal crisis. The hypothesis supported by the strongest evidence is that the selection of suicide over alternatives is facilitated by a choice process undermined by randomness. Case–control studies using gambling tasks, armed bandits, and delay discounting support this claim. Future experimental studies will need to uncover real‐time dynamics of choice processes in suicidal people. In summary, the decision process framework sheds light on neurocognitive mechanisms that facilitate the progression of the suicidal crisis.

This article is categorized under:

Economics > Individual Decision‐Making

Psychology > Emotion and Motivation

Psychology > Learning

Neuroscience > Behavior

Rethinking the Diagnosis of Mental Disorders: Data-Driven Psychological Dimensions, Not Categories, as a Framework for Mental-Health Research, Treatment, and Training

Generations of psychologists have been taught that mental disorder can be carved into discrete categories, each qualitatively different from the others and from normality. This model is now outdated. A preponderance of evidence indicates that (a) individual differences in mental health (health vs. illness) are a matter of degree, not kind, and (b) broad mental-health conditions (e.g., internalizing) account for the tendency of narrower ones (e.g., depression, social anxiety, panic) to co-occur. With these observations in mind, we discuss an alternative diagnostic system, called the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP), that describes the broad and specific components of mental disorder. It deconstructs traditional diagnostic categories, such as those listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and recasts them in terms of profiles of dimensions. Recent findings support the utility of this approach for mental-health research and intervention efforts. HiTOP has the potential to put mental-health research, training, and treatment on a much sounder scientific footing.

Detecting Task-Dependent Functional Connectivity in Group Iterative Multiple Model Estimation with Person-Specific Hemodynamic Response Functions

Introduction: Group iterative multiple model estimation (GIMME) has proven to be a reliable data-driven method to arrive at functional connectivity maps that represent associations between brain regions across time in groups and individuals. However, to date, GIMME has not been able to model time-varying task-related effects. This article introduces HRF-GIMME, an extension of GIMME that enables the modeling of the direct and modulatory effects of a task on functional magnetic resonance imaging data collected by using event-related designs. Critically, hemodynamic response function (HRF)-GIMME incorporates person-specific modeling of the HRF to accommodate known variability in onset delay and shape. Methods: After an introduction of the technical aspects of HRF-GIMME, the performance of HRF-GIMME is evaluated via both a simulation study and application to empirical data. The simulation study assesses the sensitivity and specificity of HRF-GIMME by using data simulated from one slow and two rapid event-related designs, and HRF-GIMME is then applied to two empirical data sets from similar designs to evaluate performance in recovering known neural circuitry. Results: HRF-GIMME showed high sensitivity and specificity across all simulated conditions, and it performed well in the recovery of expected relations between convolved task vectors and brain regions in both simulated and empirical data, particularly for the slow event-related design. Conclusion: Results from simulated and empirical data indicate that HRF-GIMME is a powerful new tool for obtaining directed functional connectivity maps of intrinsic and task-related connections that is able to uncover what is common across the sample as well as crucial individual-level path connections and estimates. Impact statement Group iterative multiple model estimation (GIMME) is a reliable method for creating functional connectivity maps of the connections between brain regions across time, and it is able to detect what is common across the sample and what is shared between subsets of participants, as well as individual-level path estimates. However, historically, GIMME does not model task-related effects. The novel HRF-GIMME algorithm enables the modeling of direct and modulatory task effects through individual-level estimation of the hemodynamic response function (HRF), presenting a powerful new tool for assessing task effects on functional connectivity networks in functional magnetic resonance imaging data.

Problems with Centrality Measures in Psychopathology Symptom Networks: Why Network Psychometrics Cannot Escape Psychometric Theory

Understanding patterns of symptom co-occurrence is one of the most difficult challenges in psychopathology research. Do symptoms co-occur because of a latent factor, or might they directly and causally influence one another? Motivated by such questions, there has been a surge of interest in network analyses that emphasize the putatively direct role symptoms play in influencing each other. In this critical paper, we highlight conceptual and statistical problems with using centrality measures in cross-sectional networks. In particular, common network analyses assume that there are no unmodeled latent variables that confound symptom co-occurrence. The traditions of clinical taxonomy and test development in psychometric theory, however, greatly increase the possibility that latent variables exist in symptom data. In simulations that include latent variables, we demonstrate that closeness and betweenness are vulnerable to spurious covariance among symptoms that connect subgraphs (e.g., diagnoses). We further show that strength is redundant with factor loading in several cases. Finally, if a symptom reflects multiple latent causes, centrality metrics reflect a weighted combination, undermining their interpretability in empirical data. Our results suggest that it is essential for network psychometric approaches to examine the evidence for latent variables prior to analyzing or interpreting patterns at the symptom level. Failing to do so risks identifying spurious relationships or failing to detect causally important effects. Altogether, we argue that centrality measures do not provide solid ground for understanding the structure of psychopathology when latent confounding exists.

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP): A Quantitative Nosology Based on Consensus of Evidence

Traditional diagnostic systems went beyond empirical evidence on the structure of mental health. Consequently, these diagnoses do not depict psychopathology accurately, and their validity in research and utility in clinicalpractice are therefore limited. The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) consortium proposed a model based on structural evidence. It addresses problems of diagnostic heterogeneity, comorbidity, and unreliability. We review the HiTOP model, supporting evidence, and conceptualization of psychopathology in this hierarchical dimensional framework. The system is not yet comprehensive, and we describe the processes for improving and expanding it. We summarize data on the ability of HiTOP to predict and explain etiology (genetic, environmental, and neurobiological), risk factors, outcomes, and treatment response. We describe progress in the development of HiTOP-based measures and in clinical implementation of the system. Finally, we review outstanding challenges and the research agenda. HiTOP is of practical utility already, and its ongoing development will produce a transformative map of psychopathology.

Dispositional attachment style moderates the effects of physiological coregulation on short-term changes in attachment anxiety and avoidance

Individuals with personality disorders often experience romantic relationship dysfunction and have an insecure attachment style. Here, we examined attachment dynamics in dyadic interactions, focusing specifically on the role of physiological coregulation in state attachment processes in couples oversampled for personality pathology. A total of 121 couples completed a 10-minute discussion about an area of disagreement in their relationship and a 5-minute discussion in which they planned an event together. We used a dynamical model of heart rate changes to estimate coregulation. We found that (a) increases in state attachment avoidance were associated with contrarian coregulation (heart rate becoming misaligned with the partner's physiology) and (b) conversely, increases in state attachment anxiety were associated with dependent coregulation (heart rate becoming aligned with the partners' physiology). Dispositional attachment insecurity moderated the effects of state attachment insecurity on physiological coregulation. Whereas dispositional anxiety predicted individuals exhibiting dependent coregulation in response to state insecurity, dispositional avoidance predicted contrarian coregulation in response to state insecurity. This work provides insight into the role of physiological coregulation in attachment dynamics among couples oversampled for personality pathology, suggesting that disruptions to coregulation contribute to impaired emotion regulation during romantic conflicts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Differential reinforcement encoding along the hippocampal long axis helps resolve the explore-exploit dilemma

When making decisions, should one exploit known good options or explore potentially better alternatives? Exploration of spatially unstructured options depends on the neocortex, striatum, and amygdala. In natural environments, however, better options often cluster together, forming structured value distributions. The hippocampus binds reward information into allocentric cognitive maps to support navigation and foraging in such spaces. Here we report that human posterior hippocampus (PH) invigorates exploration while anterior hippocampus (AH) supports the transition to exploitation on a reinforcement learning task with a spatially structured reward function. These dynamics depend on differential reinforcement representations in the PH and AH. Whereas local reward prediction error signals are early and phasic in the PH tail, global value maximum signals are delayed and sustained in the AH body. AH compresses reinforcement information across episodes, updating the location and prominence of the value maximum and displaying goal cell-like ramping activity when navigating toward it.

From Description to Explanation: Integrating Across Multiple Levels of Analysis to Inform Neuroscientific Accounts of Dimensional Personality Pathology

Dimensional approaches to psychiatric nosology are rapidly transforming the way researchers and clinicians conceptualize personality pathology, leading to a growing interest in describing how individuals differ from one another. Yet, in order to successfully prevent and treat personality pathology, it is also necessary to explain the sources of these individual differences. The emerging field of personality neuroscience is well-positioned to guide the transition from description to explanation within personality pathology research. However, establishing comprehensive, mechanistic accounts of personality pathology will require personality neuroscientists to move beyond atheoretical studies that link trait differences to neural correlates without considering the algorithmic processes that are carried out by those correlates. We highlight some of the dangers we see in overpopulating personality neuroscience with brain-trait associational studies and offer a series of recommendations for personality neuroscientists seeking to build explanatory theories of personality pathology.

The Emotional Bank Account and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Romantic Relationships of People with Borderline Personality Disorder: A Dyadic Observational Study

Few studies have examined behaviors in romantic relationships associated with borderline personality disorder (BPD). We assessed critical variables from marital research: the "emotional bank account" (positive-to-negative behaviors; Gottman, 1993) and the "four horsemen of the apocalypse" (criticism, defensiveness, contempt, and stonewalling; Gottman & Silver, 1999; Gottman & Krokoff, 1989). Couples (N = 130, or 260 participants) engaged in a conflict task and reported relationship satisfaction at intake and 12-months. Clinician-rated BPD and avoidant PD (APD) criteria were examined. People with more BPD symptoms and their partners were less satisfied, which worsened by follow-up. Conflict behaviors partially explained these associations. Partners of people with more BPD symptoms had a worse emotional bank account, which then predicted (a) poorer satisfaction for both members and (b) worsening partner satisfaction. People with more BPD symptoms criticized more; their partners defended and stonewalled more. APD predicted worsening satisfaction. BPD appears to link specifically with relationship dysfunction, partly through associations with partner behavior.

Disrupted physiological coregulation during a conflict predicts short-term discord and long-term relationship dysfunction in couples with personality pathology

Interpersonal dysfunction is a core feature of personality disorders, often affecting close relationships. Nevertheless, little is known about the moment-to-moment dynamic processes by which personality pathology contributes to dysfunctional relationships. Here, we investigated the role of physiological attunement during a conflict discussion in romantic couples oversampled for personality pathology. We hypothesized that physiological coregulation would be disrupted in individuals with personality pathology, subsequently predicting short-term discord and long-term relationship dissatisfaction. One hundred twenty-one couples completed a 10-min discussion about an area of disagreement while cardiovascular physiology and behavior were recorded. We quantified coregulation using a dynamical systems model of heart rate changes. We found that greater interpersonal problem severity was associated with more contrarian coregulation, exacerbating negative affect and interpersonal perceptions. Furthermore, the extent to which coregulation was associated with increased discord prospectively predicted relationship dissatisfaction 1 year later. Altogether, this work sheds light on a pathway by which personality pathology contributes to problems in romantic relationships. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Predicting future courses of psychotherapy within a grouped LASSO framework

Objective: There is a paucity of studies examining the experience of clients who undergo multiple courses of psychotherapy. Conducted within a large practice research network, this study demonstrated that returning therapy clients comprise a considerable portion of the clinical population in university counseling settings, and identified variables associated with return to therapy. Method: Utilizing data spanning 2013 to 2017, statistical variable selection for predicting return to therapy was conducted via grouped least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (grouped LASSO) applied to logistic regression. The grouped LASSO approach is described in detail to facilitate learning and replication. The paper also addresses methodological considerations related to this approach, such as sample size, generalizability, as well as general strengths and limitations. Results: Attendance rate, duration of initial treatment course, social anxiety, perceived social support, academic distress, and alcohol use were identified as predictive of return to therapy. Conclusions: Findings could help inform more cost-effective policies for session limits (e.g., extending session limits for clients with social anxiety), referral decisions (e.g., for clients with alcohol use problems), and appointment reminders (based on the association between poor attendance rate and return to therapy). Taking into account the many reasons that can explain why clients do or do not return to therapy, these findings also could inform clinicians' early case conceptualizations and treatment interventions.

Ventromedial prefrontal value signals and functional connectivity during decision-making in suicidal behavior and impulsivity

Suicide is linked to impaired value-based decision-making and impulsivity, but whether these risk factors share neural underpinnings is unclear. Disrupted ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) value signals may underlie this behavioral phenotype. We investigated vmPFC value signals, vmPFC-frontoparietal connectivity, and the impact of impulsivity during decision-making in depressed individuals with and without suicidal behavior. Middle-aged and older adults (n = 116; 35 with a history of suicide attempts, 25 with ideation only, 25 depressed controls with no ideation, and 31 nonpsychiatric controls) completed a decision-making task with drifting reward probabilities during fMRI. Values of choices, estimated by a reinforcement learning model, were regressed against BOLD signal. VmPFC value activation was compared between groups. Moderating effects of impulsivity on vmPFC-frontoparietal connectivity were assessed in nonpsychiatric controls and compared among patient groups. VmPFC value responses in participants with a history of suicide attempts were reduced relative to nonpsychiatric controls (p < 0.05). In nonpsychiatric controls, vmPFC-frontoparietal connectivity was negatively moderated by impulsivity (pFWE corrected < 0.05). This effect was preserved in comparison patient groups but abolished in suicide attempters (p < 0.001). This change in neural connectivity patterns also affected behavior: people with a history of suicide attempts showed a disrupted effect of vmPFC-frontoparietal connectivity, impulsivity, and reinforcement on choice quality (p < 0.001). These effects were specific to vmPFC and not to striatum. In summary, findings from this study largely support disrupted vmPFC value signals in suicidal behavior. In addition, it uncovers an altered pattern of vmPFC-frontoparietal connectivity in impulsive people with suicidal behavior, which may underlie disrupted choice processes in a suicidal crisis.

Disinhibition and Detachment in Adolescence: A Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective on the Alternative Model for Personality Disorders

Personality pathology often emerges during adolescence, but attempts to understand its neurocognitive basis have traditionally been undermined by problems associated with the categorical classification of personality disorders. In contrast, dimensional models of personality pathology, such as the Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD) in DSM-5, may provide a stronger foundation for neurobiological investigations of maladaptive individual differences in personality. As an example, we review studies of the adolescent development of reward processing and cognitive control and connect these systems to the normal personality hierarchy and to two dimensions included in the AMPD - Detachment and Disinhibition. We argue that by linking developmental changes in these systems to the AMPD, researchers will be better positioned to understand the relationship between neurocognitive development and the expression of personality pathology in adolescence and early adulthood.

A Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology Can Transform Mental Health Research

For more than a century, research on psychopathology has focused on categorical diagnoses. Although this work has produced major discoveries, growing evidence points to the superiority of a dimensional approach to the science of mental illness. Here we outline one such dimensional system-the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP)-that is based on empirical patterns of co-occurrence among psychological symptoms. We highlight key ways in which this framework can advance mental-health research, and we provide some heuristics for using HiTOP to test theories of psychopathology. We then review emerging evidence that supports the value of a hierarchical, dimensional model of mental illness across diverse research areas in psychological science. These new data suggest that the HiTOP system has the potential to accelerate and improve research on mental-health problems as well as efforts to more effectively assess, prevent, and treat mental illness.

Value-Based Choice, Contingency Learning, and Suicidal Behavior in Mid- and Late-Life Depression

BACKGROUND

Suicidal behavior is associated with impaired decision making in contexts of uncertainty. Existing studies, however, do not definitively address whether suidice attempers have 1) impairment in learning from experience or 2) impairment in choice based on comparison of estimated option values. Our reinforcement learning model-based behavioral study tested these hypotheses directly in middle-aged and older suicide attempters representative of those who die by suicide.

METHODS

Two samples (sample 1, n = 135; sample 2, n = 125) of suicide attempters with depression (n_attempters = 54 and 39, respectively), suicide ideators, nonsuicidal patients with depression, and healthy control participants completed a probabilistic three-choice decision-making task. A second experiment in sample 2 experimentally dissociated long-term learned value from reward magnitude. Analyses combined computational reinforcement learning and mixed-effects models of decision times and choices.

RESULTS

With regard to learning, suicide attempters (vs. all comparison groups) were less sensitive to one-back reinforcement, as indicated by a reduced effect on both choices and decision times. Learning deficits scaled with attempt lethality and were partially explained by poor cognitive control. With regard to value-based choice, suicide attempters (vs. all comparison groups) displayed abnormally long decision times when choosing between similarly valued options and were less able to distinguish between the best and second-best options. Group differences in value-based choice were robust to controlling for cognitive performance, comorbidities, impulsivity, psychotropic exposure, and possible brain damage from attempts.

CONCLUSIONS

Serious suicidal behavior is associated with impaired reward learning, likely undermining the search for alternative solutions. Attempted suicide is associated with impaired value comparison during the choice process, potentially interfering with the consideration of deterrents and alternatives in a crisis.

Attachment styles, social behavior, and personality functioning in romantic relationships

Personality disorders (PDs) are commonly associated with romantic relationship disturbance. However, research has seldom evaluated who people with high PD severity partner with, and what explains the link between PD severity and romantic relationship disturbance. First, we examined the degree to which people match with partners with similar levels of personality and interpersonal problems. Second, we evaluated whether the relationship between PD severity and romantic relationship satisfaction would be explained by attachment styles and demand/withdraw behavior. Couples selected for high PD severity (n = 130; 260 participants) engaged in a conflict task, were assessed for PDs and attachment using semi-structured interviews, and self-reported their relationship satisfaction. Dyad members were not similar in terms of PD severity but evidenced a small degree of similarity on specific attachment styles and were moderately similar on attachment insecurity and interpersonal problems. PD severity also moderated the degree to which one person's attachment anxiety was associated with their partner's attachment avoidance. In addition, using a dyadic analytic approach, we found attachment anxiety and actor and partner withdrawal explained some of the relationship between PD severity and relationship satisfaction. Our results indicate people often have romantic partners with similar levels of attachment disturbance and interpersonal problems and that attachment styles and related behavior explains some of the association between PD severity and relationship satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Selective maintenance of value information helps resolve the exploration/exploitation dilemma

In natural environments with many options of uncertain value, one faces a difficult tradeoff between exploiting familiar, valuable options or searching for better alternatives. Reinforcement learning models of this exploration/exploitation dilemma typically modulate the rate of exploratory choices or preferentially sample uncertain options. The extent to which such models capture human behavior remains unclear, in part because they do not consider the constraints on remembering what is learned. Using reinforcement-based timing as a motivating example, we show that selectively maintaining high-value actions compresses the amount of information to be tracked in learning, as quantified by Shannon's entropy. In turn, the information content of the value representation controls the balance between exploration (high entropy) and exploitation (low entropy). Selectively maintaining preferred action values while allowing others to decay renders the choices increasingly exploitative across learning episodes. To adjudicate among alternative maintenance and sampling strategies, we developed a new reinforcement learning model, StrategiC ExPloration/ExPloitation of Temporal Instrumental Contingencies (SCEPTIC). In computational studies, a resource-rational selective maintenance approach was as successful as more resource-intensive strategies. Furthermore, human behavior was consistent with selective maintenance; information compression was most pronounced in subjects with superior performance and non-verbal intelligence, and in learnable vs. unlearnable contingencies. Cognitively demanding uncertainty-directed exploration recovered a more accurate representation in simulations with no foraging advantage and was strongly unsupported in our human study.

Graph theory approaches to functional network organization in brain disorders: A critique for a brave new small-world

Over the past two decades, resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) methods have provided new insights into the network organization of the human brain. Studies of brain disorders such as Alzheimer's disease or depression have adapted tools from graph theory to characterize differences between healthy and patient populations. Here, we conducted a review of clinical network neuroscience, summarizing methodological details from 106 RSFC studies. Although this approach is prevalent and promising, our review identified four challenges. First, the composition of networks varied remarkably in terms of region parcellation and edge definition, which are fundamental to graph analyses. Second, many studies equated the number of connections across graphs, but this is conceptually problematic in clinical populations and may induce spurious group differences. Third, few graph metrics were reported in common, precluding meta-analyses. Fourth, some studies tested hypotheses at one level of the graph without a clear neurobiological rationale or considering how findings at one level (e.g., global topology) are contextualized by another (e.g., modular structure). Based on these themes, we conducted network simulations to demonstrate the impact of specific methodological decisions on case-control comparisons. Finally, we offer suggestions for promoting convergence across clinical studies in order to facilitate progress in this important field.

Interpersonal dysfunction in borderline personality: a decision neuroscience perspective

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by disadvantageous decisions that are often expressed in close relationships and associated with intense negative emotions. Although functional neuroimaging studies of BPD have described regions associated with altered social cognition and emotion processing, these correlates do not inform an understanding of how brain activity leads to maladaptive choices. Drawing on recent research, we argue that formal models of decision-making are crucial to elaborating theories of BPD that bridge psychological constructs, behavior, and neural systems. We propose that maladaptive interactions between Pavlovian and instrumental influences play a crucial role in the expression of interpersonal problems. Finally, we articulate specific hypotheses about how clinical features of BPD may map onto neural systems that implement separable decision processes.

Modeling Heterogeneity in Momentary Interpersonal and Affective Dynamic Processes in Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a diagnosis defined by impairments in several dynamic processes (e.g., interpersonal relating, affect regulation, behavioral control). Theories of BPD emphasize that these impairments appear in specific contexts, and emerging results confirm this view. At the same time, BPD is a complex construct that encompasses individuals with heterogeneous pathology. These features-dynamic processes, situational specificity, and individual heterogeneity-pose significant assessment challenges. In the current study, we demonstrate assessment and analytic methods that capture both between-person differences and within-person changes over time. Twenty-five participants diagnosed with BPD completed event-contingent, ambulatory assessment protocols over 21 days. We used p-technique factor analyses to identify person-specific psychological structures consistent with clinical theories of personality. Five exemplar cases are selected and presented in detail to showcase the potential utility of these methods. The presented cases' factor structures reflect not only heterogeneity but also suggest points of convergence. The factors also demonstrated significant associations with important clinical targets (self-harm, interpersonal violence).

The effect of pathological narcissism on interpersonal and affective processes in social interactions

Narcissism has significant interpersonal costs, yet little research has examined behavioral and affective patterns characteristic of narcissism in naturalistic settings. Here we studied the effect of narcissistic features on the dynamic processes of interpersonal behavior and affect in daily life. We used interpersonal theory to generate transactional models of social interaction (i.e., linkages among perceptions of others' behavior, affect, and one's own behavior) predicted to be characteristic of narcissism. Psychiatric outpatients (N = 102) completed clinical interviews and a 21-day ecological momentary assessment protocol using smartphones. After social interactions (N = 5,781), participants reported on perceptions of their interaction partner's behavior (scored along the dimensions of dominant-submissive and affiliative-quarrelsome), their own affect, and their own behavior. Multilevel structural equation modeling was used to examine dynamic links among behavior and affect across interactions, and the role of narcissism in moderating these links. Results showed that perceptions of others' dominance did not predict dominant behavior, but did predict quarrelsome behavior, and this link was potentiated by narcissism. Furthermore, the link between others' dominance and one's own quarrelsome behavior was mediated by negative affect. Moderated mediation was also found: Narcissism amplified the link between ratings of others' dominance and one's own quarrelsomeness and negative affect. Narcissism did not moderate the link between other dominance and own dominance, nor the link between other affiliation and own affiliation. These results suggest that narcissism is associated with specific interpersonal and affective processes, such that sensitivity to others' dominance triggers antagonistic behavior in daily life. (PsycINFO Database Record

Incentives facilitate developmental improvement in inhibitory control by modulating control-related networks

Adolescence is a period of heightened sensitivity to incentives and relatively weak cognitive control, which may contribute to risky behaviors. Studies of brain activity have generally identified greater activation of the ventral striatum to rewards and less activation of prefrontal regions during control tasks in adolescents compared to adults. Little is known, however, about age-related changes in the functional brain networks underlying incentive processing and cognitive control. This cross-sectional study characterized the effects of incentives on inhibitory control during an oculomotor task using whole-brain functional connectivity analyses. During an fMRI scan, one hundred forty typically developing individuals completed an incentivized antisaccade task consisting of incentive cue, preparation, and response phases. We found that task modulation of control networks increased gradually from childhood to adulthood, whereas a network including ventral striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex displayed an adolescent-specific peak in response to the receipt of outcomes, consistent with dual-systems models. Notably, however, greater modulation of salience and motor networks during the preparation phase mediated age-related improvements in antisaccade accuracy, whereas adolescent enhancement of value-related circuitry did not. Relative to neutral cues, both reward and loss cues enhanced task-related connectivity of the salience network when preparing to inhibit a saccade. Altogether, our findings suggest that incentives facilitate inhibitory control by enhancing the salience of one's responses and that over development, the recruitment of functional networks involved in saliency and motor preparation supports better performance.

MplusAutomation: An R Package for Facilitating Large-Scale Latent Variable Analyses in Mplus

MplusAutomation is a package for R that facilitates complex latent variable analyses in Mplus involving comparisons among many models and parameters. More specifically, MplusAutomation provides tools to accomplish three objectives: to create and manage Mplus syntax for groups of related models; to automate the estimation of many models; and to extract, aggregate, and compare fit statistics, parameter estimates, and ancillary model outputs. We provide an introduction to the package using applied examples including a large-scale simulation study. By reducing the effort required for large-scale studies, a broad goal of MplusAutomation is to support methodological developments in structural equation modeling using Mplus.

Development of White Matter Microstructure and Intrinsic Functional Connectivity Between the Amygdala and Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex: Associations With Anxiety and Depression

BACKGROUND

Connectivity between the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is compromised in multiple psychiatric disorders, many of which emerge during adolescence. To identify to what extent the deviations in amygdala-vmPFC maturation contribute to the onset of psychiatric disorders, it is essential to characterize amygdala-vmPFC connectivity changes during typical development.

METHODS

Using an accelerated cohort longitudinal design (1-3 time points, 10-25 years old, n = 246), we characterized developmental changes of the amygdala-vmPFC subregion functional and structural connectivity using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion-weighted imaging.

RESULTS

Functional connectivity between the centromedial amygdala and rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), anterior vmPFC, and subgenual cingulate significantly decreased from late childhood to early adulthood in male and female subjects. Age-associated decreases were also observed between the basolateral amygdala and the rACC. Importantly, these findings were replicated in a separate cohort (10-22 years old, n = 327). Similarly, structural connectivity, as measured by quantitative anisotropy, significantly decreased with age in the same regions. Functional connectivity between the centromedial amygdala and the rACC was associated with structural connectivity in these same regions during early adulthood (22-25 years old). Finally, a novel time-varying coefficient analysis showed that increased centromedial amygdala-rACC functional connectivity was associated with greater anxiety and depression symptoms during early adulthood, while increased structural connectivity in centromedial amygdala-anterior vmPFC white matter was associated with greater anxiety/depression during late childhood.

CONCLUSIONS

Specific developmental periods of functional and structural connectivity between the amygdala and the prefrontal systems may contribute to the emergence of anxiety and depressive symptoms and may play a critical role in the emergence of psychiatric disorders in adolescence.

Protracted development of executive and mnemonic brain systems underlying working memory in adolescence: A longitudinal fMRI study

Working memory (WM), the ability to hold information on-line to guide planned behavior, improves through adolescence in parallel with continued maturation of critical brain systems supporting cognitive control. Initial developmental neuroimaging studies with one or two timepoints have provided important though varied results limiting our understanding of which and how neural systems change during this transition into mature WM. In this study, we leverage functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) longitudinal data spanning up to 9 years in 129 normally developing individuals to identify which systems demonstrate growth changes that accompany improvements in WM performance. We used a memory guided saccade task that allowed us to probe encoding, pure maintenance, and retrieval neural processes of WM. Consistent with prior research, we found that WM performance continued to improve into the early 20's. fMRI region of interest (ROI) analyses revealed developmental (1) increases in sensorimotor-related (encoding/retrieval) activity in visual cortex from childhood through early adulthood that were associated with WM accuracy and (2) decreases in sustained (maintenance) activity in executive regions from childhood through mid-adolescence that were associated with response latency in childhood and early adolescence. Together these results provide compelling evidence that underlying the maturation of WM is a transition from reliance on executive systems to specialized regions related to the domain of mnemonic requirements of the task leading to optimal performance.

Modulation of reward-related neural activation on sensation seeking across development

Sensation seeking is a personality construct associated with an increased propensity for engaging in risk-taking. Associations with deleterious outcomes ranging from mental health impairments to increased mortality rates highlight important public health concerns related to this construct. Although some have suggested that increased neural responsivity to reward within the ventral striatum (e.g., nucleus accumbens) may drive sensation seeking behaviors, few studies have examined the neural mechanisms associated with stable individual differences in sensation seeking across development. To address this issue, the current study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the association between neural responding to reward and stable patterns of sensation seeking across a three-year follow-up period among healthy adolescents and young adults (N = 139). Results indicated that during early adolescence (~ages 10-12), increased reactivity to reward within the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) was associated with lower levels of sensation seeking across a three-year follow-up. In middle adolescence (~ages 12-16), there was no evidence of a relationship between NAcc reactivity and sensation seeking. However, during the transition from late adolescence into adulthood (~ages 17-25), heightened reward-related reactivity in the NAcc was linked to increased sensation seeking. Findings suggest that the neural mechanisms underlying individual differences in trait-like levels of sensation seeking change from early to late adolescence.

Poor self-control and harsh punishment in childhood prospectively predict borderline personality symptoms in adolescent girls

Developmental theories of borderline personality disorder (BPD) propose that harsh, invalidating parenting of a child with poor self-control and heightened negative emotionality often leads to a coercive cycle of parent-child transactions that increase risk for BPD symptoms such as emotion dysregulation. Although parenting practices and child temperament have previously been linked with BPD, less is known about the prospective influences of caregiver and child characteristics. Using annual longitudinal data from the Pittsburgh Girls Study (n = 2,450), our study examined how reciprocal influences among harsh parenting, self-control, and negative emotionality between ages 5 and 14 predicted the development of BPD symptoms in adolescent girls ages 14 to 17. Consistent with developmental theories, we found that harsh punishment, poor self-control, and negative emotionality predicted BPD symptom severity at age 14. Only worsening self-control between ages 12 and 14, however, predicted growth in BPD symptoms from 14 to 17. Furthermore, the effects of harsh punishment and poor self-control on age 14 BPD symptoms were partially mediated by their earlier reciprocal effects on each other between ages 5 and 14. Our findings underscore the need to address both child and parental contributions to dysfunctional transactions in order to stem the development of BPD symptoms. Moreover, problems with self-regulation in early adolescence may indicate heightened risk for subsequent BPD. Altogether, these results increase our understanding of developmental trajectories associated with BPD symptoms in adolescent girls.