Ontogeny of the social brain in utero and in infancy: risk factors and resilience in socioemotional development

One can never know the internal workings of another person – one can only infer others’ mental states based on external cues. In contrast, each person has direct access to the contents of their own mind. Here we test the hypothesis that this privileged access shapes the way people represent internal mental experiences, such that they represent their own mental states more distinctly than the states of others. Across four studies, participants considered their own and others’ mental states; analyses measured the distinctiveness of mental state representations. Two neuroimaging studies used representational similarity analyses to demonstrate that the social brain manifests more distinct activity patterns when thinking about one’s own states versus others’. Two behavioral studies support these findings. Further, they demonstrate that people differentiate between states less as social distance increases. Together these results suggest that we represent our own mind with greater granularity than the minds of others.

Download Full-text

Political psychology in the digital (mis)information age: A model of news belief and sharing

10.31234/osf.io/u5yts ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jay Joseph Van Bavel ◽

Elizabeth Ann Harris ◽

Philip Pärnamets ◽

Steve Rathje ◽

Kimberly Doell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Cognitive Psychology ◽

Information Age ◽

Policy Research ◽

Integrative Model ◽

Future Research ◽

Fake News ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Conspiracy Theories ◽

The Social

The spread of misinformation, including “fake news,” propaganda, and conspiracy theories, represents a serious threat to society, as it has the potential to alter beliefs, behavior, and policy. Research is beginning to disentangle how and why misinformation is spread and identify processes that contribute to this social problem. We propose an integrative model to understand the social, political, and cognitive psychology risk factors that underlie the spread of misinformation and highlight strategies that might be effective in mitigating this problem. However, the spread of misinformation is a rapidly growing and evolving problem; thus scholars need to identify and test novel solutions, and work with policy makers to evaluate and deploy these solutions. Hence, we provide a roadmap for future research to identify where scholars should invest their energy in order to have the greatest overall impact.

Download Full-text

Association between Genetic Variants in NOS2 and TNF Genes with Congenital Zika Syndrome and Severe Microcephaly

Viruses ◽

10.3390/v13020325 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 325

Author(s):

Julia A. Gomes ◽

Eduarda Sgarioni ◽

Juliano A. Boquett ◽

Ana Cláudia P. Terças-Trettel ◽

Juliana H. da Silva ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Zika Virus ◽

Genetic Variants ◽

Educational Level ◽

Congenital Anomalies ◽

Family Income ◽

First Trimester ◽

In Utero ◽

Zikv Infection ◽

Congenital Zika Syndrome

Zika virus (ZIKV) causes Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS) in individuals exposed prenatally. Here, we investigated polymorphisms in VEGFA, PTGS2, NOS3, TNF, and NOS2 genes as risk factors to CZS. Forty children with CZS and forty-eight children who were in utero exposed to ZIKV infection, but born without congenital anomalies, were evaluated. Children with CZS were predominantly infected by ZIKV in the first trimester (p < 0.001) and had mothers with lower educational level (p < 0.001) and family income (p < 0.001). We found higher risk of CZS due the allele rs2297518[A] of NOS2 (OR = 2.28, CI 95% 1.17–4.50, p = 0.015). T allele and TT/CT genotypes of the TNF rs1799724 and haplotypes associated with higher expression of TNF were more prevalent in children with CZS and severe microcephaly (p = 0.029, p = 0.041 and p = 0.030, respectively). Our findings showed higher risk of CZS due ZIKV infection in the first trimester and suggested that polymorphisms in NOS2 and TNF genes affect the risk of CZS and severe microcephaly.

Download Full-text

Lifestyle in urology: Benign diseases

Urologia Journal ◽

10.1177/0391560321994386 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 039156032199438

Author(s):

Riccardo Bientinesi ◽

Carlo Gandi ◽

Luigi Vaccarella ◽

Emilio Sacco

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Risk Factors ◽

Social Impact ◽

Clinical Evidence ◽

Prostatic Hyperplasia ◽

Benign Diseases ◽

Related Risk ◽

The Social ◽

The Relationship ◽

Urological Diseases

Modifiable lifestyle-related risk factors are the object of increasing attention, with a view to primary and tertiary prevention, to limit the onset and development of diseases. Also in the urological field there is accumulating evidence of the relationship between urological diseases and lifestyle-related risk factors that can influence their incidence and prognosis. Risk factors such as nutrition, physical activity, sexual habits, tobacco smoking, or alcohol consumption can be modified to limit morbidity and reduce the social impact and the burdensome costs associated with diagnosis and treatment. This review synthesizes the current clinical evidence available on this topic, trying to satisfy the need for a summary on the relationships between the most important lifestyle factors and the main benign urological diseases, focusing on benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), infections urinary tract (UTI), urinary incontinence (UI), stones, erectile dysfunction, and male infertility.

Download Full-text