Persisting inhibition biases efficient rule inference under uncertainty

Introduction

Task set inhibition supports optimal switching among tasks by actively suppressing the interference from recently executed competing task sets. It is typically studied in cued task-switching paradigms where there is no uncertainty about the task set or rule to prepare for on each trial. While inhibition has been shown to influence the speed and the accuracy of task execution, affecting task set retrieval, preparation, or implementation in conditions of task set switching, it remains uninvestigated whether it also affects rule selection under uncertainty.

Methods

We implemented an ad-hoc four-rule card sorting task and categorized the rules selected by participants after a rule shift according to the recency of their last usage. We included a measure of working memory capacity (WMC) to control for its involvement in the rule selection process.

Results

Participants exhibited a reduced preference for recently abandoned rules than less recently abandoned ones. Furthermore, we found that such a preference was not associated with WMC.

Discussion

The results suggest that decision-making processes underlying rule inference and selection may be influenced by task-set inhibition, configuring as a conflict adjustment mechanism to the sequential history of rules application.

Gambling and virtual reality: unraveling the illusion of near-misses effect

Introduction

Studying gambling behavior is a crucial element in reducing the impact of problem gambling. Nevertheless, most current research is carried out in controlled laboratory settings rather than real-life situations, which raises concerns about how applicable the findings are in the broader context. Virtual reality (VR) has proven to be a valuable tool and has been utilized in various experimental scenarios. A limited number of studies have employed VR to investigate gambling behaviors, and few have explored them in an older adolescent context.

Methods

This study examined the behavioral and physiological effects of gambling behavior, including problem gambling, gaming addiction, and risk-taking decision-making in a sample of 36 high-school students aged between 18 to 20 years using an ad-hoc constructed VR scenario designed to simulate a slot-machine platform.

Results

The behavioral results highlighted that participants reporting more problem gambling were sensitive to near-misses: i.e., they bet more after near-misses than after losses. This result may reflect the false belief that gamblers, after near-misses, are closer to winning. Physiological data showed that participants exhibited heart rate deceleration during the anticipation of the outcome, which has been suggested to represent a marker of feedback anticipation processing and hyposensitivity to losses.

Discussion

Overall, this study provides evidence for a new VR tool to assess gambling behaviors and new insights into gambling-related behavioral and physiological factors. Implications for the treatment of problem gambling are discussed.

Decision-Making and Risk-Propensity Changes during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown

The imposition of lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic placed individuals under conditions of environmental stress, threatening individual and collective wellbeing. This study aimed to investigate the temporal effects of isolation and confinement during and after the Italian lockdown on decision-making, risk propensity, and cognitive control processes. The present study covered almost the entire Italian lockdown period (each week from the end of March to mid-May 2020), plus a follow-up measure (September 2020). At each time-point, respondents completed online behavioral tasks, which involved measuring risk-propensity (Balloon Analogue Risk Task), decision-making (Iowa Gambling Task), and cognitive flexibility (Category Switch Task). They also filled in questionnaires regarding subjective stress and anxiety. The main findings showed that the decision-making abilities of the respondents were affected as the confinement progressed. Furthermore, individuals who were more subjectively impacted by the lockdown/isolation experience exhibited impaired decision-making, especially during the lockdown. The results of the study highlight that prolonged confinement may affect human decision making, and help understand individuals' misbehaviors during emergencies and develop effective countermeasures aimed at reducing the burden of the healthcare system.

Changes in sleep pattern and dream activity across and after the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy: A longitudinal observational study

A large body of evidence has documented the impact of the global COVID‐19 outbreak – and especially the lockdown period – on sleep quality and quantity. Here, we present the first Italian longitudinal study on sleep and COVID‐19 considering four different time points collected during lockdown (from 29 March 2020 to 3 May 2020) and a subsequent follow‐up period (October 2020). We used an online survey to collect socio‐demographic and COVID‐19 related information. Subjects were also asked to complete a sleep diary at each time point of the study. Our longitudinal sample included 147 participants. Statistical comparison across time intervals showed remarkable changes in sleep patterns during and after the lockdown. In particular, during lockdown we observed longer sleep latency, less ease of falling asleep, a higher total bedtime, and a lower dream frequency. The week‐by‐week evaluation described relatively stable patterns in the observed measures during the lockdown period, except for dream frequency, affected by a rapid increase in the early phase of lockdown. Our findings are in line with the current literature. Furthermore, the prospective longitudinal investigation comprising several time points offered the possibility of (a) observing the temporal dynamics and the different entities of such changes over time, and (b) reducing the typical memory bias for these studies.

"Stay at Home" in Italy during the COVID-19 Outbreak: A Longitudinal Study on Individual Well-Being among Different Age Groups

The restrictions imposed by the Italian government because of the coronavirus outbreak have been shown to be demanding on the Italian population. Data were collected at four different time points from 29 March 2020 to 3 May 2020 and during the final follow-up survey on 12 October 2020. In the present study, we provided longitudinal evidence on the relationship between the lockdown and mental health dimensions, such as emotional state, perceived stress, and time perspective, for three age groups. The results allowed us to observe their psychological status from different perspectives at five different time points. Notably, a negative effect of the lockdown individual well-beings emerged as a trend, and differences in individual adaptation strategies to a prolonged stressful situation were observed at the follow-up. Indeed, pairwise comparisons between age groups showed that the young adult group (18-23 years old) seemed to be the most psychologically affected by the lockdown. The findings are discussed according to the most recent literature on the topic. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first longitudinal studies carried out in Italy concerning the general psychological effects of the coronavirus lockdown.

COVID-19 lockdown and poor sleep quality: Not the whole story

A growing body of evidence consistently describes the side‐effects of coronavirus disease 2019 lockdown on mental health and sleep quality. We conducted a longitudinal web‐based survey of 217 Italian participants at two time points: lockdown and subsequent follow‐up. To thoroughly investigate lockdown‐related changes in sleep quality, we first evaluated variations in overall sleep quality assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. We then examined sleep changes in specific components of sleep quality. Results revealed a clear dissociation of sleep effects, as a function of the specific domain considered, with longer sleep latency, worse sleep efficiency, and massive sleep medication use during forced confinement. On the other hand, we simultaneously observed an increased sleep duration and better daytime functioning. Our present findings highlight the importance of an accurate examination of sleep quality during lockdown, as the effects were not uniform across populations and different sleep domains.

Sleep in Isolated, Confined, and Extreme (ICE): A Review on the Different Factors Affecting Human Sleep in ICE

The recently renewed focus on the human exploration of outer space has boosted the interest toward a variety of questions regarding health of astronauts and cosmonauts. Among the others, sleep has traditionally been considered a central issue. To extend the research chances, human sleep alterations have been investigated in several analog environments, called ICEs (Isolated, Confined, and Extreme). ICEs share different features with the spaceflight itself and have been implemented in natural facilities and artificial simulations. The current paper presents a systematic review of research findings on sleep disturbances in ICEs. We looked for evidence from studies run in polar settings (mostly Antarctica) during space missions, Head-Down Bed-Rest protocols, simulations, and in a few ICE-resembling settings such as caves and submarines. Even though research has shown that sleep can be widely affected in ICEs, mostly evidencing general and non-specific changes in REM and SWS sleep, results show a very blurred picture, often with contradictory findings. The variable coexistence of the many factors characterizing the ICE environments (such as isolation and confinement, microgravity, circadian disentrainment, hypoxia, noise levels, and radiations) does not provide a clear indication of what role is played by each factor per se or in association one with each other in determining the pattern observed, and how. Most importantly, a number of methodological limitations contribute immensely to the unclear pattern of results reported in the literature. Among them, small sample sizes, small effect sizes, and large variability among experimental conditions, protocols, and measurements make it difficult to draw hints about whether sleep alterations in ICEs do exist due to the specific environmental characteristics, and which of them plays a major role. More systematic and cross-settings research is needed to address the mechanisms underlying the sleep alterations in ICE environments and possibly develop appropriate countermeasures to be used during long-term space missions.