Consciousness, the affectome, and human life

I have been working on interactions between conscious and non-conscious processes since the late 1970s. In this commentary, I offer a perspective on conscious/non-conscious interactions that might a useful adjunct to the Human Affectome Project as it evolves.

EEG Microstates in Social and Affective Neuroscience

Social interactions require both the rapid processing of multifaceted socio-affective signals (e.g., eye gaze, facial expressions, gestures) and their integration with evaluations, social knowledge, and expectations. Researchers interested in understanding complex social cognition and behavior face a "black box" problem: What are the underlying mental processes rapidly occurring between perception and action and why are there such vast individual differences? In this review, we promote electroencephalography (EEG) microstates as a powerful tool for both examining socio-affective states (e.g., processing whether someone is in need in a given situation) and identifying the sources of heterogeneity in socio-affective traits (e.g., general willingness to help others). EEG microstates are identified by analyzing scalp field maps (i.e., the distribution of the electrical field on the scalp) over time. This data-driven, reference-independent approach allows for identifying, timing, sequencing, and quantifying the activation of large-scale brain networks relevant to our socio-affective mind. In light of these benefits, EEG microstates should become an indispensable part of the methodological toolkit of laboratories working in the field of social and affective neuroscience.

Affective Neuroscience Personality Scale (ANPS) and clinical implications: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Affective neuroscience (AN) theory assumes the existence of seven basic emotional systems (i.e., SEEKING, ANGER, FEAR, CARE, LUST, SADNESS, PLAY) that are common to all mammals and evolutionarily determined to be tools for survival and, in general, for fitness. Based on the AN approach, the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS) questionnaire was developed to examine individual differences in the defined basic emotional systems. The current systematic review aims to examine the use of ANPS in clinical contexts attempting to define those behavioral elements associated with underlying stable personality traits.

METHODS

The systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA statements. PubMed and PsycInfo were used for research literature from March 2003 to November 2021.

RESULTS

Forty-four studies including ANPS were identified from 1763 studies reviewed. Sixteen studies met the inclusion criteria.

LIMITATIONS

The review comprised some papers with incomplete psychological assessments (e.g., lack of other measures in addition to the ANPS) and missing information (e.g., on the [sub]samples), which may affect the generalizability of findings.

CONCLUSION

Specific endophenotypes and/or patterns of emotional/motivational systems were found for several mental disorders. Specifically, endophenotypes emerged for the Depressive and Autism Spectrum Disorders, Borderline and Avoidant Personality Disorders, type I and II Bipolar Disorders, and the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. The endophenotypes can provide useful reflective elements for both psychodiagnosis and intervention. Overall, the current study may represent an attempt to contribute to the understanding of the basic emotional systems involved in the psychopathological manifestations identified by AN.

Psychometric validation of the polish version of the emotional style questionnaire

In three studies, we document the validity of the Polish version of the Emotional Style Questionnaire (ESQ)-a 24-item self-report measure that captures how people vary across six dimensions that make up a healthy emotional life. Study 1 provides support for the proposed factorial structure of the Polish version of the scale and gender measurement invariance, demonstrates the similarity of the Polish and English versions of the scale, and reveals the excellent test-retest reliability of the scale across an interval of two months. Study 2 confirms the adequacy of the factorial structure in another sample, shows that the construct validity for each of the six subscales is similar to that of the original scale, and documents the age measurement invariance of the scale. Finally, in Study 3, we investigate measurement invariance across Polish and American samples and demonstrate that Poles are characterized by lower scores on healthy emotionality and its dimensions compared to Americans. We conclude that the Polish version of the ESQ is a psychometrically valid and easily implementable measurement tool that can be applied in research settings to measure healthy emotionality and its components.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-03323-4.

The automatic detection of unexpected emotion and neutral body postures: A visual mismatch negativity study

The ability to automatically detect emotional changes in the environment is crucial for social interaction. In the visual system, expression-related mismatch negativity (EMMN) reflects the automatic processing of emotional changes in facial expression. However, body postures also carry visual emotional information that can be recognized effectively and processed automatically, although their processing mechanism remains unknown. In this study, the reverse oddball paradigm was used to investigate the mismatch responses of unexpected fear and neutral body postures. The nonparametric cluster permutation test revealed significant fear and neutral visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) activities, and the fear-related vMMN was enhanced prior (130-230 ms) to the neutral vMMN (180-230 ms). The body-sensitive N190 component may partially account for the vMMN obtained in this study. The fearful body posture evoked a greater N190 response over the neutral body, and amplitudes of N190 were more negative in the deviant condition than the standard condition. Additionally, the body-related visual mismatch oscillatory responses were associated with enhancement of the alpha band oscillation, especially for the fearful body posture. These results expanded the applicable scope of body posture cues corresponding to mismatch signals, objectively defined the electrophysiological activities evoked, and revealed the processing bias toward negative emotion.

Inflammation mediates depression and generalized anxiety symptoms predicting executive function impairment after 18 years

INTRODUCTION

Scar theories propose that elevated depression and anxiety can predispose people to future decreased executive function (EF) via heightened inflammation across decades. However, more longitudinal (versus cross-sectional) research on this topic is needed.

OBJECTIVE

We thus investigated if increased major depressive disorder (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and panic disorder (PD) severity predicted EF decrement 18 years later via heightened inflammation.

METHOD

Community-dwelling adults participated in this study. Time 1 (T1) MDD, GAD, and PD severity (Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Short Form), T2 inflammation (interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, and fibrinogen blood levels concentration), and T2 and T3 EF (Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone) were measured. The waves of assessment were spaced approximately 9 years apart. Structural equation modeling was conducted.

RESULTS

Higher T1 MDD and GAD (but not PD) severity forecasted elevated T2 inflammation (Cohen's d = 0.116-0.758). Greater T2 inflammation level predicted lower T3 EF following 9 years (d = -0.782--0.636). The T1 MDD-T3 EF and T1 GAD-T3 EF negative associations were mediated by T2 inflammation, and explained 38% and 19% of the relations, respectively. Direct effects of higher T1 GAD and MDD predicting lower T3 EF were also observed (d = -0.585--0.560). Significant effects remained after controlling for socio-demographic, lifestyle, medication use, various illness variables across time, and T2 EF.

CONCLUSIONS

Inflammation may be a mechanism explaining the T1 MDD-T3 EF and T1 GAD-T3 EF relations. Treatments that target inflammation, worry, and/or depression may prevent future EF decline.

Non-invasive vagal nerve stimulation enhances cognitive emotion regulation

Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) has been proposed as a potential new tool in the treatment of major depressive disorder. Prior studies have demonstrated that taVNS enhances cognitive control and is able to modulate brain activity in key regions involved in cognitive emotion regulation, such as the anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortex, which is known to be impaired in depressed patients. Preclinical studies are lacking but may provide important insights into the working mechanisms of taVNS on cognitive emotion regulatory processes. In this between-subject study, 83 healthy subjects underwent a single-session of active taVNS or sham stimulation, after which cognitive reappraisal was examined using a computer-based cognitive emotion regulation task. Our results indicate that participants receiving active taVNS, compared to sham, were better at using cognitive reappraisal and rated their response to emotion-eliciting pictures as less intense. Yet, even though we found significant differences in behavioral measures of cognitive emotion regulation, no differences between groups were found in terms of physiological responses to the emotional stimuli. Overall, these findings suggest a positive effect of taVNS on the cognitive reappraisal of emotions, but future studies assessing objective measures of neural activity during cognitive emotion regulation following taVNS are warranted.

Within-person increase in pathological worry predicts future depletion of unique executive functioning domains

BACKGROUND

Affective neuroscience and scar theories propose that increased excessive worry, the hallmark symptom of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), predicts future declines in executive functioning (EF). However, the preponderance of cross-sectional designs used to examine between-person chronic worry-EF relationships has blocked progress on understanding their potentially causal within-person associations. Accordingly, this study used bivariate dual latent change score (LCS) models to test whether within-person increased GAD severity might relate to future reduced EF.

METHODS

Community-dwelling adults (N = 2581, 46 years on average, s.d. = 11.40, 54.71% female) were assessed for GAD symptom severity (Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Short Form) across three waves, spaced about 9 years apart. Three aspects of EF [inhibition, set-shifting, and mixing costs (MCs; a measure related to common EF)], were assessed with stop-and-go switch tasks. Participants responded to 20 normal and 20 reverse single-task block trials and 32 mixed-task switch block trials. EF tests were administered at time 2 (T2) and time 3 (T3), but not at time 1 (T1).

RESULTS

After controlling for T1 depression, LCS models revealed that within-person increased T1 - T2 GAD severity substantially predicted future reduced T2 - T3 inhibition and set-shifting (both indexed by accuracy and latency), and MC (indexed by latency) with moderate-to-large effect sizes (|d| = 0.51-0.96).

CONCLUSIONS

Results largely support scar theories by offering preliminary within-person, naturalistic evidence that heightened excessive worry can negatively predict future distinct aspects of cognitive flexibility. Effectively targeting pathological worry might prevent difficulties arising from executive dysfunction.

Uncertainty Potentiates Neural and Cardiac Responses to Visual Stimuli in Anxiety Disorders

BACKGROUND

Intolerance of uncertainty and worry about future events are cardinal features of anxiety. However, the neurobiological and physiological mechanisms underlying these characteristics of anxiety remain to be fully elucidated.

METHODS

Individuals with diagnosed anxiety disorders (n = 29, 22 female) and age-matched comparison subjects (n = 28, 17 female) completed a task in which pictures (aversive or neutral content) were preceded by cues indicating certainty or uncertainty about the emotional valence of the subsequent pictures. We assessed functional magnetic resonance imaging and heart rate activity with respect to the 1) cue period, 2) emotional valence of the pictures, and 3) modulatory effect of uncertainty on responses to subsequent pictures.

RESULTS

Individuals with anxiety disorders and comparison subjects exhibited similar functional magnetic resonance imaging and cardiac activity during the cue period and for the aversive versus neutral picture contrast. However, individuals with anxiety disorders exhibited greater modulatory effects of uncertainty on their responses to subsequent pictures. Specifically, they displayed greater functional magnetic resonance imaging activity in a number of cortical regions (visual cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, superior temporal gyrus, and anterior insula), as well as significantly reduced cardiac deceleration to pictures preceded by the uncertainty cue.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that heightened neural and autonomic reactivity to stimuli during conditions of uncertainty may be a key psychobiological mechanism of anxiety.

Psychometric validation of the Persian version of the Emotional Style Questionnaire

Emotions play a central role in scientific models of decision-making, human development, interpersonal processes, psychopathology, and well-being. The Emotional Style Questionnaire (ESQ) is a novel and multifaceted psychometric scale that assesses the dimensions of individual’s emotional styles. The present study evaluated the validity and factor structure of the Persian ESQ. The original version of the ESQ was translated and back-translated into Persian, followed by a pilot study. A sample of university students and staff participated in a survey (n = 822) which included the ESQ, Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS), World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Results showed that the Persian ESQ had very good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient: 0.84; Composite reliability = 0.89) and adequate test-retest reliability after four weeks (intraclass coefficient, r = .71 with 95% CI [.63, .77]). The confirmatory factor analysis model fitted the data well (χ²/df = 2.86, CFI = .970, SRMR = .046, PCLOSE = .85 > .05, RMSEA = .048, 90% CI [.043, .053]). Also, measurement invariance indicated the ESQ had acceptable construct validity among different groups. As for criterion-related validity, the ESQ positively correlated with scores on the WHOQOL-BREF (r = .76) and PANAS-positive affect (r = .62), and negatively correlated with the scores on the OASIS (r = −.68), DERS (r = −.39), and PANAS-negative affect (r = −72). The findings provide evidence that the ESQ is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing healthy emotionality among Persian speaking individuals. The Persian ESQ can be used in psychological intervention and clinical research in Iran and other Persian-speaking countries.

Discussing digital technology overuse in children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: On the importance of considering Affective Neuroscience Theory

INTRODUCTION

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown/social distancing, many scientists pointed towards the problem of increased digital technology overuse in both children and adolescents.

METHODS

Although a review of the literature shows that digital technology overuse in youth represents an important topic to be studied itself (during the pandemic and afterwards), the present work also takes into account findings from Affective Neuroscience Theory (ANT).

RESULTS

An investigation of digital overuse while the COVID-19 pandemic (and beyond) against the background of ANT calls for a shift of perspective in research, at least as an important supplement to research efforts querying the actual nature of digital overuse. In the present work, we argue that it is high time to more comprehensively address why children spend too much time with screens and to also highlight the indirect media effects of screen time use (e.g. less mammalian rough and tumble PLAY time outside and elevated SADNESS due to parental neglect).

CONCLUSIONS

In sum, insights from ANT are put forward to guide research shedding light on detrimental aspects of too much screen time in youth.

Love at first taste: Activation in reward-related brain regions during single-trial naturalistic appetitive conditioning in humans

Palatable food can trigger appetitive responses, such as salivation and approach tendencies. Though evolutionarily functional, these conditioned responses can encourage overeating and obesity when food is abundant. The current study examines the neural correlates of 'denovo' Pavlovian appetitive conditioning, pairing one class of unknown objects (conditioned stimuli, CS) with their sweet taste (unconditioned stimulus, US) during a single trial. To do so, 23 participants consumed unknown (marzipan) objects of one particular color (CS+) while only interacting with control stimuli of different color and shape (CS-). After this single-trial conditioning procedure, participants viewed and rated images of the marzipan figures and the control objects during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Relative to the CS-, the CS+ elicited stronger activation in the dorsal striatum, a brain region associated with cue-reward coupling. Furthermore, conditioning effects in subjective 'craving', defined as increased palatability and desire to eat, were observed, and these were positively related to conditioning effects in the amygdala, a brain region associated with the need-dependent value of a reward. Thus, the study identified reward-related brain regions involved in single-trial appetitive learning, thereby providing a potential mechanism that contributes to the etiology of food craving. These findings might help to understand clinically relevant food cravings in individuals with eating or weight related concerns and might support the development of extinction based treatments.

Affect in the Aging Brain: A Neuroimaging Meta-Analysis of Older Vs. Younger Adult Affective Experience and Perception

We report the first functional neuroimaging meta-analysis on age-related differences in adult neural activity during affect. We identified and coded experimental contrasts from 27 studies (published 1997-2018) with 490 older adults (55-87 years, M _age  = 69 years) and 470 younger adults (18-39 years, M _age  = 24 years). Using multilevel kernel density analysis, we assessed functional brain activation contrasts for older vs. younger adult affect across in-scanner tasks (i.e., affect induction and perception). Relative to older adults, younger adults showed more reliable activation in subcortical structures (e.g., amygdala, thalamus, caudate) and in relatively more posterior aspects of specific brain structures (e.g., posterior insula, mid- and posterior cingulate). In contrast, older adults exhibited more reliable activation in the prefrontal cortex and more anterior aspects of specific brain structures (e.g., anterior insula, anterior cingulate). Meta-analytic coactivation network analyses further revealed that in younger adults, the amygdala and mid-cingulate were more central, locally efficient network nodes, whereas in older adults, regions in the superior and medial prefrontal cortex were more central, locally efficient network nodes. Collectively, these findings help characterize age differences in the brain basis of affect and provide insights for future investigations into the neural mechanisms underlying affective aging.

Theoretical, and epistemological challenges in scientific investigations of complex emotional states in animals

This review brings to light critical epistemological and theoretical considerations when studying complex emotional states in animals. We discuss anthropomorphic and Umwelt perspectives of nonhuman animals and the ways in which distinct theories of consciousness and neural processing may restrict the potential for the development of knowledge on the topic. Within the same line of argumentation, we consider influences of the debate between monism and dualism and psychology's behaviorism and cognitive theories. Finally, we contrast the affective consciousness, higher-order emotional consciousness, and constructed emotion theories to further our understanding of complex emotional states in animals.

The neuroscience of sadness: A multidisciplinary synthesis and collaborative review

Sadness is typically characterized by raised inner eyebrows, lowered corners of the mouth, reduced walking speed, and slumped posture. Ancient subcortical circuitry provides a neuroanatomical foundation, extending from dorsal periaqueductal grey to subgenual anterior cingulate, the latter of which is now a treatment target in disorders of sadness. Electrophysiological studies further emphasize a role for reduced left relative to right frontal asymmetry in sadness, underpinning interest in the transcranial stimulation of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex as an antidepressant target. Neuroimaging studies - including meta-analyses - indicate that sadness is associated with reduced cortical activation, which may contribute to reduced parasympathetic inhibitory control over medullary cardioacceleratory circuits. Reduced cardiac control may - in part - contribute to epidemiological reports of reduced life expectancy in affective disorders, effects equivalent to heavy smoking. We suggest that the field may be moving toward a theoretical consensus, in which different models relating to basic emotion theory and psychological constructionism may be considered as complementary, working at different levels of the phylogenetic hierarchy.

Disease-specific profiles of apathy in Alzheimer's disease and behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia differ across the disease course

Apathy is one of the most prevalent and disabling non-cognitive symptoms of dementia. This loss of motivation and pervasive decline in goal-directed behaviour represents a core diagnostic feature of behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and is also common in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, despite growing recognition of a multidimensional model, apathy has typically been examined as a unitary symptom. Here, we employed a cross-sectional design to characterise the multidimensional nature of apathy across syndromes and disease course. 92 participants (44 bvFTD, 20 AD, 28 controls) completed the Dimensional Apathy Scale (DAS) to quantify emotional, executive, and initiation apathy. Patients were divided into early and late stages based on time since symptom onset. All participants underwent structural MRI and voxel-based morphometry was used to identify neural correlates of apathy dimensions. In the early stage of the disease (< 5 years since onset), emotional apathy was greater in bvFTD than AD. In contrast, in the late stage (> 5 years since onset), executive apathy was greater in AD than bvFTD, although apathy was elevated across all dimensions compared to controls. Notably, apathy was observed in the absence of self-reported depression in 46.2% of patients, with no patients classified as depressed only. Neuroimaging analyses revealed both common and divergent prefrontal and subcortical neural correlates associated with apathy dimensions. Our results reveal differing profiles of apathy across the disease course, in AD and bvFTD, with distinct brain regions mediating these dimensions. These findings will inform the development of appropriate treatment targets to ameliorate the impact of apathy in dementia.

Opponent Effects of Hyperarousal and Re-experiencing on Affective Habituation in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

BACKGROUND

Aberrant emotion processing is a hallmark of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with neurobiological models suggesting both heightened neural reactivity and diminished habituation to aversive stimuli. However, empirical work suggests that these response patterns may be specific to subsets of those with PTSD. This study investigates the unique contributions of PTSD symptom clusters (re-experiencing, avoidance and numbing, and hyperarousal) to neural reactivity and habituation to negative stimuli in combat-exposed veterans.

METHODS

Ninety-five combat-exposed veterans (46 with PTSD) and 53 community volunteers underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while viewing emotional images. This study examined the relationship between symptom cluster severity and hemodynamic responses to negative compared with neutral images (NEG>NEU).

RESULTS

Veterans exhibited comparable mean and habituation-related responses for NEG>NEU, relative to civilians. However, among veterans, habituation, but not mean response, was differentially related to PTSD symptom severity. Hyperarousal symptoms were related to decreased habituation for NEG>NEU in a network of regions, including superior and inferior frontal gyri, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, superior and middle temporal gyri, and anterior insula. In contrast, re-experiencing symptoms were associated with increased habituation in a similar network. Furthermore, re-experiencing severity was positively related to amygdalar functional connectivity with the left inferior frontal gyrus and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex for NEG>NEU.

CONCLUSIONS

These results indicate that hyperarousal symptoms in combat-related PTSD are associated with decreased neural habituation to aversive stimuli. These impairments are partially mitigated in the presence of re-experiencing symptoms, such that during exposure to negative stimuli, re-experiencing symptoms are positively associated with amygdalar connectivity to prefrontal regions implicated in affective suppression.

Dispositional negativity, cognition, and anxiety disorders: An integrative translational neuroscience framework

When extreme, anxiety can become debilitating. Anxiety disorders, which often first emerge early in development, are common and challenging to treat, yet the underlying mechanisms have only recently begun to come into focus. Here, we review new insights into the nature and biological bases of dispositional negativity, a fundamental dimension of childhood temperament and adult personality and a prominent risk factor for the development of pediatric and adult anxiety disorders. Converging lines of epidemiological, neurobiological, and mechanistic evidence suggest that dispositional negativity increases the likelihood of psychopathology via specific neurocognitive mechanisms, including attentional biases to threat and deficits in executive control. Collectively, these observations provide an integrative translational framework for understanding the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders in adults and youth and set the stage for developing improved intervention strategies.

Fear of negative and positive evaluation and reactivity to social-evaluative videos in social anxiety disorder

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is marked by persistent fear of being scrutinized by others. This and most diagnostic symptoms relate to some form of fear of negative evaluation (FNE). More recent accounts of SAD, such as the Bivalent Fear of Evaluation Model, however, complement FNE with fear of positive evaluation (FPE), described as distress and avoidance of positive feedback. An explicit test of the incremental validity of FPE in discriminating SAD patients from controls - over and on top of the explanatory power of FPE - is currently missing and generally, well controlled laboratory experiments with positive and negative social stimuli in this patient group are rare. To fill this gap, we exposed 35 patients with SAD and healthy controls (HCs) to short social-evaluative video clips with actors expressing negative and positive as well as neutral statements while recording reactivity on experiential measures (valence, arousal, and approval ratings) as well as on facial electromyography and electrocardiography. In addition, participants completed questionnaire measures of FNE and FPE. Results revealed that FPE questionnaire scores as well as experiential (valence and appreciation) and electromyographical reactivity measures to positive videos improved prediction of group membership beyond the predictive power of FNE questionnaires scores and reactivity to negative videos. Results document the importance of FPE to more fully characterize and understand social anxiety and SAD. Implications include amendments to future diagnostic criteria, theoretical models, and treatment approaches for SAD.

Peritraumatic Neural Processing and Intrusive Memories: The Role of Lifetime Adversity

BACKGROUND

Pathological peritraumatic encoding is proposed as a proximal risk factor for the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with trauma-analog studies linking increased neural processing of trauma films to intrusive trauma recollections, a core symptom of PTSD. Cumulative lifetime adversity is proposed as a more distal risk factor, with research indicating a tipping point at about five events with regard to PTSD development following re-exposure to trauma. Thus, within a diathesis × stress framework, increased peritraumatic neural processing may constitute a specific risk factor for PTSD, particularly in individuals with several lifetime adversities.

METHODS

Fifty-three healthy women watched highly aversive films depicting severe interpersonal violence versus neutral films during functional magnetic resonance imaging, and they reported involuntary recollections during subsequent days. Moderation analyses tested the interactive relationship between peritraumatic neural processing and lifetime adversity in predicting intrusion load, i.e., the total number of intrusions weighted for their average distress.

RESULTS

Increased processing of aversive versus neutral films in the amygdala, anterior insula, dorsal and rostral anterior cingulate cortices, and hippocampus predicted increased intrusion load only in participants reporting above five lifetime adversities; for participants reporting few to none, no such relationship was found. This interactive relationship explained ≤59% of variance. Conditioned stimuli preceding film viewing mirrored this pattern.

CONCLUSIONS

Peritraumatic neural processing in multiple salience network regions and cumulative lifetime adversity interactively predicted PTSD-like symptomatology, representing a diathesis × stress framework that might guide identification of at-risk individuals and potential targets for symptom prevention after traumatic incidents.

Parsing the neural correlates of anxious apprehension and anxious arousal in the grey-matter of healthy youth

Neuroscientific and psychological research posits that there are two transdiagnostic facets of anxiety: anxious arousal and anxious apprehension. Though these two facets of anxiety are distinct, they are often subsumed into one domain (e.g., trait anxiety). The primary goal of the current study was to delineate the relationship between anxious arousal and cortical thickness versus the relationship between anxious apprehension and cortical thickness in a sample of typically functioning youth. The secondary aim was to determine where in the brain cortical thickness significantly correlated with both components of anxiety. Results indicated that the right anterior insula has a stronger relationship to anxious arousal, whereas the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and left anterior insula were found to correlate with both anxious arousal and apprehension. We also observed volumetric differences in the amygdala and hippocampus between anxious arousal and anxious apprehension. Whereas anxious arousal, but not apprehension, predicted left amygdala volume, anxious apprehension, but not arousal, predicted right hippocampal volume. These findings demonstrated that there are both differences and similarities in the neural regions that contribute to independent facets of anxiety. Results are discussed in terms of previous findings from the affective and developmental cognitive neurosciences.

The emotional brain: Fundamental questions and strategies for future research

Emotions play a central role in human experience. Over time, methods for manipulating emotion have become increasingly refined and techniques for making sense of the underlying neurobiology have become ever more powerful and precise, enabling new insights into the organization of emotions in the brain. Yet recent years have witnessed a remarkably vigorous debate about the nature and origins of emotion, with leading scientists raising compelling concerns about the canon of facts and principles that has inspired and guided the field for the past quarter century. Here, we consider ways in which recent neuroimaging research informs this dialogue. By focusing attention on the most important outstanding questions about the nature of emotion and the architecture of the emotional brain, we hope to stimulate the kinds of work that will be required to move the field forward. Addressing these questions is critical, not just for understanding the mind, but also for elucidating the root causes of many of its disorders.

The central extended amygdala in fear and anxiety: Closing the gap between mechanistic and neuroimaging research

Anxiety disorders impose a staggering burden on public health, underscoring the need to develop a deeper understanding of the distributed neural circuits underlying extreme fear and anxiety. Recent work highlights the importance of the central extended amygdala, including the central nucleus of the amygdala (Ce) and neighboring bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST). Anatomical data indicate that the Ce and BST form a tightly interconnected unit, where different kinds of threat-relevant information can be integrated to assemble states of fear and anxiety. Neuroimaging studies show that the Ce and BST are engaged by a broad spectrum of potentially threat-relevant cues. Mechanistic work demonstrates that the Ce and BST are critically involved in organizing defensive responses to a wide range of threats. Studies in rodents have begun to reveal the specific molecules, cells, and microcircuits within the central extended amygdala that underlie signs of fear and anxiety, but the relevance of these tantalizing discoveries to human experience and disease remains unclear. Using a combination of focal perturbations and whole-brain imaging, a new generation of nonhuman primate studies is beginning to close this gap. This work opens the door to discovering the mechanisms underlying neuroimaging measures linked to pathological fear and anxiety, to understanding how the Ce and BST interact with one another and with distal brain regions to govern defensive responses to threat, and to developing improved intervention strategies.

Studying emotion in invertebrates: what has been done, what can be measured and what they can provide

Until recently, whether invertebrates might exhibit emotions was unknown. This possibility has traditionally been dismissed by many as emotions are frequently defined with reference to human subjective experience, and invertebrates are often not considered to have the neural requirements for such sophisticated abilities. However, emotions are understood in humans and other vertebrates to be multifaceted brain states, comprising dissociable subjective, cognitive, behavioural and physiological components. In addition, accumulating literature is providing evidence of the impressive cognitive capacities and behavioural flexibility of invertebrates. Alongside these, within the past few years, a number of studies have adapted methods for assessing emotions in humans and other animals, to invertebrates, with intriguing results. Sea slugs, bees, crayfish, snails, crabs, flies and ants have all been shown to display various cognitive, behavioural and/or physiological phenomena that indicate internal states reminiscent of what we consider to be emotions. Given the limited neural architecture of many invertebrates, and the powerful tools available within invertebrate research, these results provide new opportunities for unveiling the neural mechanisms behind emotions and open new avenues towards the pharmacological manipulation of emotion and its genetic dissection, with advantages for disease research and therapeutic drug discovery. Here, we review the increasing evidence that invertebrates display some form of emotion, discuss the various methods used for assessing emotions in invertebrates and consider what can be garnered from further emotion research on invertebrates in terms of the evolution and underlying neural basis of emotion in a comparative context.

Neural activity during traumatic film viewing is linked to endogenous estradiol and hormonal contraception

Women are at higher risk for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and recent research has highlighted a modulating role of female sex hormones for cognitive and emotional processes potentially underlying PTSD symptoms. However, studies combining fMRI recordings of brain activity during trauma film viewing with assessment of female sex hormones are missing. The trauma film paradigm - a widely used experimental analogue for trauma exposure - confronts healthy participants with traumatic film clips and thus allows studying peritraumatic processing under laboratory conditions. Following this paradigm, the current fMRI study examined the role of endogenous estradiol and synthetic sex hormones for the neural processing of traumatic (i.e., depicting interpersonal violence) vs. neutral films in 53 healthy women (mean age 22.3 years; 23 using hormonal contraception, HC). As predicted, traumatic films strongly activated areas of the fear processing network, such as amygdala, insula, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. Estradiol levels in women not using HC were positively correlated with ventromedial prefrontal activity. Furthermore, women using HC as compared to women without HC demonstrated heightened insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex activity during traumatic film viewing. These experimental results highlight the effects of both gonadal hormone status and HC intake on peritraumatic processing in neural regions relevant for emotion generation and regulation that have been found to be abnormal in PTSD.

Heightened activity in social reward networks is associated with adolescents' risky sexual behaviors

Adolescent sexual risk behavior can lead to serious health consequences, yet few investigations have addressed its neurodevelopmental mechanisms. Social neurocircuitry is postulated to underlie the development of risky sexual behavior, and response to social reward may be especially relevant. Typically developing adolescents (N=47; 18M, 29F; 16.3±1.4years; 42.5% sexual intercourse experience) completed a social reward fMRI task and reported their sexual risk behaviors (e.g., lifetime sexual partners) on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Neural response and functional connectivity to social reward were compared for adolescents with higher- and lower-risk sexual behavior. Adolescents with higher-risk sexual behaviors demonstrated increased activation in the right precuneus and the right temporoparietal junction during receipt of social reward. Adolescents with higher-risk sexual behaviors also demonstrated greater functional connectivity between the precuneus and the temporoparietal junction bilaterally, dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, and left anterior insula/ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. The greater activation and functional connectivity in self-referential, social reward, and affective processing regions among higher sexual risk adolescents underscores the importance of social influence underlying sexual risk behaviors. Furthermore, results suggest an orientation towards and sensitivity to social rewards among youth engaging in higher-risk sexual behavior, perhaps as a consequence of or vulnerability to such behavior.

The OXTR gene, implicit learning and social processing: Does empathy evolve from perceptual skills for details?

Oxytocin is an important messenger in the brain that has been linked to a variety of social functions in pharmacological studies. Besides, functional genetic variations on the oxytocin receptor gene have been repeatedly associated with social processing and functioning. Despite this knowledge, there are very few studies investigating the mechanisms that may explain the link between oxytocin and social functions. In the endeavor to fill this gap in the literature, the current study searches for associations between the prominent rs2268498 polymorphism on the oxytocin receptor gene and participants' ability to perceive and store implicit social information, which is a fundamental function in social information processing. N=121 healthy participants were experimentally tested with an implicit learning paradigm, answered questionnaires assessing empathy and autistic traits, and were genotyped for the rs2268498 polymorphism. T-allele carriers (TT and TC genotypes) exhibited significantly better implicit learning performance than carriers of the CC-genotype, and learning performance was positively associated with self-reported empathy and negatively with self-reported autistic traits. Results indicate that differences in implicit perception and storing of environmental details while watching social interactions could be an important mechanism to explain the association between differences in endogenous oxytocin activity and social functioning.

Convergent individual differences in visual cortices, but not the amygdala across standard amygdalar fMRI probe tasks

The amygdala (AMG) has been repeatedly implicated in the processing of threatening and negatively valenced stimuli and multiple fMRI paradigms have reported personality, genetic, and psychopathological associations with individual differences in AMG activation in these paradigms. Yet the interchangeability of activations in these probes has not been established, thus it remains unclear if we can interpret AMG responses on specific tasks as general markers of its reactivity. In this study we aimed to assess if different tasks that have been widely used within the Affective Neuroscience literature consistently recruit the AMG.

METHOD

Thirty-two young healthy subjects completed four fMRI tasks that have all been previously shown to probe the AMG during processing of threatening stimuli: the Threat Face Matching (TFM), the Cued Aversive Picture (CAP), the Aversive and Erotica Pictures (AEP) and the Screaming Lady paradigm (SLp) tasks. Contrasts testing response to aversive stimuli relative to baseline or neutral stimuli were generated and correlations between activations in the AMG were calculated across tasks were performed for ROIs of the AMG.

RESULTS

The TFM, CAP and AEP, but not the SLp, successfully recruit the AMG, among other brain regions, especially when contrasts were against baseline or nonsocial stimuli. Conjunction analysis across contrasts showed that visual cortices (VisCtx) were also consistently recruited. Correlation analysis between the extracted data for right and left AMG did not yield significant associations across tasks. By contrast, the extracted signal in VisCtx showed significant associations across tasks (range r=0.511-r=0.630).

CONCLUSIONS

Three of the four paradigms revealed significant AMG reactivity, but individual differences in the magnitudes of AMG reactivity were not correlated across paradigms. By contrast, VisCtx activation appears to be a better candidate than the AMG as a measure of individual differences with convergent validity across negative emotion processing paradigms.

Positive animal welfare states and encouraging environment-focused and animal-to-animal interactive behaviours

Affective neuroscience, incorporating neurophysiology and neuropsychology, is providing increasing evidence that certain behaviours of animals may be interpreted in terms of what they are intending to achieve, i.e. their goals. It is also providing evidence that allows inferences to be made about the affective contents of some goal-directed behaviours. These neuroscience-supported inferences are aligned with recommendations based on prior behaviour-based investigations of animals' preferences, aversions and priorities, and these observations together support the cautious use of particular behaviours to infer what the accompanying affects may be. In this review, therefore, some attention is given to negative affects and their relationships to poor animal welfare, but the primary focus is the positive affects animals may experience when they successfully engage in rewarding goal-directed behaviours, encapsulated in the concept of positive affective engagement. The review draws together reports of environment-focused and animal-to-animal interactive behaviours observed in a range of species and under diverse circumstances in order to illustrate the likely widespread occurrence of the positive affects that may accompany them. Particular consideration is given to affects that are potentially associated with some aspects of exploration and food acquisition in stimulus rich or impoverished environments, and to those that may be associated with aspects of the affiliative interactions of bonding or bond affirmation, maternal care, play and sexual activity. It is concluded that animals given the opportunity to engage in such activities may experience some positive affects. However, the intensity of an animal's experience of particular positive affects is likely to range from zero to very high because the associated behaviours occur intermittently, variation may occur during different phases of a goal-directed behaviour, and other positive or negative affects experienced at the same time may have greater impact. As good welfare is achieved both by minimising negative affects and promoting positive ones and as conscious sentient animals may be expected to have an interest in experiencing as little pain and as much pleasure as possible, it is argued that there is an ethical obligation to take practical steps to help them to achieve these outcomes. Such steps would include providing them with opportunities to express more behaviours that are associated with rewarding or satisfying experiences understood in terms of positive affective engagement.

Positive animal welfare states and reference standards for welfare assessment

Developments in affective neuroscience and behavioural science during the last 10-15 years have together made it increasingly apparent that sentient animals are potentially much more sensitive to their environmental and social circumstances than was previously thought to be the case. It therefore seems likely that both the range and magnitude of welfare trade-offs that occur when animals are managed for human purposes have been underestimated even when minimalistic but arguably well-intentioned attempts have been made to maintain high levels of welfare. In light of these neuroscience-supported behaviour-based insights, the present review considers the extent to which the use of currently available reference standards might draw attention to these previously neglected areas of concern. It is concluded that the natural living orientation cannot provide an all-embracing or definitive welfare benchmark because of its primary focus on behavioural freedom. However assessments of this type, supported by neuroscience insights into behavioural motivation, may now carry greater weight when used to identify management practices that should be avoided, discontinued or substantially modified. Using currently accepted baseline standards as welfare reference points may result in small changes being accorded greater significance than would be the case if they were compared with higher standards, and this could slow the progress towards better levels of welfare. On the other hand, using "what animals want" as a reference standard has the appeal of focusing on the specific resources or conditions the animals would choose themselves and can potentially improve their welfare more quickly than the approach of making small increments above baseline standards. It is concluded that the cautious use of these approaches in different combinations could lead to recommendations that would more effectively promote positive welfare states in hitherto neglected areas of concern.

Enhancing animal welfare by creating opportunities for positive affective engagement

In line with an increasing emphasis on promoting positive welfare states in animals, this review extends previous accounts of how recent affective neuroscience observations may be used to identify and then to encourage animals to engage in reward-motivated behaviours. The terms affective states or affects are used to mean the subjective experiences, feelings or emotions that may motivate animals to behave in goal-directed ways and which may accompany success or failure to achieve those goals. These motivational affects may be positive, experienced as rewarding or pleasurable, or negative, experienced as aversive or punishing. There are two overall types: homeostasis-related negative affects that reflect an animal's internal physiological state, and situation-related positive or negative affects that reflect an animal's perception of its external circumstances. The major emphasis is on positive situation-related affects, in particular those that are potentially associated with exploration, feeding and animal-to-animal affiliative behaviours. The review introduces the new concept of positive affective engagement which represents the experience animals may have when they actively respond to motivations to engage in rewarding behaviours, and it incorporates all associated affects that are positive. For example, it would represent a state of engaged aliveness that may attend an animal's goal-directed, energised exploration of and interactions with a stimulus-rich environment. It also represents some states of equally energised, highly focused predatory stalking by carnivores or the focused and engaged foraging by herbivores when they are grazing in natural environments where food sources are abundant. Positive affective engagement may also be anticipated to accompany some aspects of reciprocated affiliative interactions between animals, the dedicated maternal nurturing and care of young, the joyfulness of rough-and-tumble play, and the eroticism and orgasmic pleasures of sexual activity. It is argued that highlighting the genetically pre-programmed, affectively positive impulses to engage in reward-motivated activities such as these, and the positive affects that may attend different facets of the process, draws attention to a wider spectrum of welfare enhancing experiences than has hitherto been considered to be important to animals. These neuroscience-supported observations strengthen many prior inferences made from predominantly behaviour-based investigations of animals' preferences, aversions and priorities, the associated development of successful environmental enrichments and the inclusion of these, where practicable, in more recent codes of practice or welfare.

A comparison of neural responses to appetitive and aversive stimuli in humans and other mammals

Distinguishing potentially harmful or beneficial stimuli is necessary for the self-preservation and well-being of all organisms. This assessment requires the ongoing valuation of environmental stimuli. Despite much work on the processing of aversive- and appetitive-related brain signals, it is not clear to what degree these two processes interact across the brain. To help clarify this issue, this report used a cross-species comparative approach in humans (i.e. meta-analysis of imaging data) and other mammals (i.e. targeted review of functional neuroanatomy in rodents and non-human primates). Human meta-analysis results suggest network components that appear selective for appetitive (e.g. ventromedial prefrontal cortex, ventral tegmental area) or aversive (e.g. cingulate/supplementary motor cortex, periaqueductal grey) processing, or that reflect overlapping (e.g. anterior insula, amygdala) or asymmetrical, i.e. apparently lateralized, activity (e.g. orbitofrontal cortex, ventral striatum). However, a closer look at the known value-related mechanisms from the animal literature suggests that all of these macroanatomical regions are involved in the processing of both appetitive and aversive stimuli. Differential spatiotemporal network dynamics may help explain similarities and differences in appetitive- and aversion-related activity.

Lifelong opioidergic vulnerability through early life separation: a recent extension of the false suffocation alarm theory of panic disorder

The present paper is the edited version of our presentations at the "First World Symposium On Translational Models Of Panic Disorder", in Vitoria, E.S., Brazil, on November 16-18, 2012. We also review relevant work that appeared after the conference. Suffocation-False Alarm Theory (Klein, 1993) postulates the existence of an evolved physiologic suffocation alarm system that monitors information about potential suffocation. Panic attacks maladaptively occur when the alarm is erroneously triggered. The expanded Suffocation-False Alarm Theory (Preter and Klein, 2008) hypothesizes that endogenous opioidergic dysregulation may underlie the respiratory pathophysiology and suffocation sensitivity in panic disorder. Opioidergic dysregulation increases sensitivity to CO2, separation distress and panic attacks. That sudden loss, bereavement and childhood separation anxiety are also antecedents of "spontaneous" panic requires an integrative explanation. Our work unveiling the lifelong endogenous opioid system impairing effects of childhood parental loss (CPL) and parental separation in non-ill, normal adults opens a new experimental, investigatory area.

Influence of postural threat on postural responses to aversive visual stimuli

Recent research has shown that emotion influences postural control. The objective of the present study was to establish whether or not postural threat influences postural and physiological responses to aversive visual stimuli. In order to investigate the coupling between emotional reactions, motivated behavior and postural responses, we studied the displacement of the subject's center of pressure (COP) and the changes in electrodermal activity (EDA), heart rate (HR) and postural muscle activation. Thirty-two participants (15 males, 17 females; mean ± SD age: 21.4 ± 2.3) viewed affective and neutral pictures while standing still on a force platform in the presence or absence of postural threat. The HR and EDA data revealed that the emotional state varied as a function of the postural condition. The mean displacement in the anteroposterior (AP) axis was more rearwards in response to aversive stimuli that in response to neutral stimuli, in both the absence of postural threat (-0.65 mm and +0.90 mm for aversive and neutral stimuli, respectively) and the presence of postural threat (-0.00 mm vs. +0.89 mm, respectively). An aversive stimulus was associated with a shorter AP COP sway path than a neutral stimulus in the presence of a postural threat (167.26 mm vs. 174.66 mm for aversive and neutral stimuli, respectively) but not in the latter's absence (155.85 mm vs. 154.48 mm, respectively). Our results evidenced withdrawal behavior in response to an aversive stimulus (relative to a neutral stimulus) in the absence of postural threat. Withdrawal behavior was attenuated (but nevertheless active) in the presence of a postural threat.

Neural correlates of dysfunctional emotion regulation in major depressive disorder. A systematic review of neuroimaging studies

Abnormal emotion processing is a core feature of major depressive disorder (MDD). Since the emergence of functional neuroimaging techniques, many studies have been conducted in MDD subjects to elucidate the underlying abnormalities in the neural systems involved in emotion regulation. In this systematic review, we discuss this research in the context of the neural model of emotion regulation previously described by Phillips et al. (2008). This model differentiates between automatic and voluntary emotion regulation subprocesses. Automatic regulation subprocesses were shown to involve predominantly medial prefrontal cortical structures, in addition to the hippocampus and parahippocampus, while voluntary regulation processes additionally recruited lateral prefrontal cortical regions. In conclusion, although the available data is limited, findings suggest that MDD subjects demonstrate abnormally reduced activity in lateral prefrontal cortices during explicit voluntary control of emotional experience. During early, automatic stages of emotion regulation, on the other hand, MDD subjects appear to achieve successful emotion regulation by recruiting additional lateral prefrontal neural regions, that may be mediated by medial prefrontal, especially rostral/dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG) functioning. Dysfunctional automatic regulation may impair successful voluntary emotion regulation, and may present a target for novel therapeutic approaches in MDD.

What affective neuroscience means for science of consciousness

The field of affective neuroscience has emerged from the efforts of Jaak Panksepp in the 1990s and reinforced by the work of, among others, Joseph LeDoux in the 2000s. It is based on the ideas that affective processes are supported by brain structures that appeared earlier in the phylogenetic scale (as the periaqueductal gray area), they run in parallel with cognitive processes, and can influence behaviour independently of cognitive judgements. This kind of approach contrasts with the hegemonic concept of conscious processing in cognitive neurosciences, which is based on the identification of brain circuits responsible for the processing of (cognitive) representations. Within cognitive neurosciences, the frontal lobes are assigned the role of coordinators in maintaining affective states and their emotional expressions under cognitive control. An intermediary view is the Damasio-Bechara Somatic Marker model, which puts cognition under partial somatic-affective control. We present here our efforts to make a synthesis of these views, by proposing the existence of two interacting brain circuits; the first one in charge of cognitive processes and the second mediating feelings about cognitive contents. The coupling of the two circuits promotes an endogenous feedback that supports conscious processes. Within this framework, we present the defence that detailed study of both affective and cognitive processes, their interactions, as well of their respective brain networks, is necessary for a science of consciousness.

The neurobiology of depression and antidepressant action. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2013;37:2331-2371. [PMID: 23261405 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2012.12.007]

We present a comprehensive overview of the neurobiology of unipolar major depression and antidepressant drug action, integrating data from affective neuroscience, neuro- and psychopharmacology, neuroendocrinology, neuroanatomy, and molecular biology. We suggest that the problem of depression comprises three sub-problems: first episodes in people with low vulnerability ('simple' depressions), which are strongly stress-dependent; an increase in vulnerability and autonomy from stress that develops over episodes of depression (kindling); and factors that confer vulnerability to a first episode (a depressive diathesis). We describe key processes in the onset of a 'simple' depression and show that kindling and depressive diatheses reproduce many of the neurobiological features of depression. We also review the neurobiological mechanisms of antidepressant drug action, and show that resistance to antidepressant treatment is associated with genetic and other factors that are largely similar to those implicated in vulnerability to depression. We discuss the implications of these conclusions for the understanding and treatment of depression, and make some strategic recommendations for future research.