scholarly journals Optimism, pessimism and judgement bias in animals: a systematic review and meta-analysis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malgorzata Lagisz ◽  
Josefina Zidar ◽  
Shinichi Nakagawa ◽  
Vikki Neville ◽  
Enrico Sorato ◽  
...  

Just as happy people see the proverbial glass as half-full, ‘optimistic’ or ‘pessimistic’ responses to ambiguity might also reflect affective states in animals. Judgement bias tests, designed to measure these responses, are an increasingly popular way of assessing animal affect and there is now a substantial, but heterogeneous, literature on their use across different species, affect manipulations, and study designs. By conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis of 459 effect sizes from 71 studies of non-pharmacological affect manipulations on 22 non-human species, we show that animals in relatively better conditions, assumed to generate more positive affect, show more ‘optimistic’ judgements of ambiguity than those in relatively worse conditions. Overall effects are small when considering responses to all cues, but become more pronounced when non-ambiguous training cues are excluded from analyses or when focusing only on the most divergent responses between treatment groups. Task type (go/no-go; go/go active choice), training cue reinforcement (reward-punishment; reward-null; reward-reward) and sex of animals emerge as potential moderators of effect sizes in judgement bias tests.

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia L. Cleave ◽  
Stephanie D. Becker ◽  
Maura K. Curran ◽  
Amanda J. Owen Van Horne ◽  
Marc E. Fey

Purpose This systematic review and meta-analysis critically evaluated the research evidence on the effectiveness of conversational recasts in grammatical development for children with language impairments. Method Two different but complementary reviews were conducted and then integrated. Systematic searches of the literature resulted in 35 articles for the systematic review. Studies that employed a wide variety of study designs were involved, but all examined interventions where recasts were the key component. The meta-analysis only included studies that allowed the calculation of effect sizes, but it did include package interventions in which recasts were a major part. Fourteen studies were included, 7 of which were also in the systematic review. Studies were grouped according to research phase and were rated for quality. Results Study quality and thus strength of evidence varied substantially. Nevertheless, across all phases, the vast majority of studies provided support for the use of recasts. Meta-analyses found average effect sizes of .96 for proximal measures and .76 for distal measures, reflecting a positive benefit of about 0.75 to 1.00 standard deviation. Conclusion The available evidence is limited, but it is supportive of the use of recasts in grammatical intervention. Critical features of recasts in grammatical interventions are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vikki Neville ◽  
Shinichi Nakagawa ◽  
Josefina Zidar ◽  
Elizabeth S. Paul ◽  
Malgorzata Lagisz ◽  
...  

AbstractValidated measures of animal affect are crucial to research spanning a number of disciplines including neuroscience, psychopharmacology, and animal welfare science. Judgement bias, which assesses decision-making under ambiguity, is a promising measure of animal affect. One way of validating this measure is to induce affective states using pharmacological manipulations and determine whether the predicted judgement biases are observed. Here, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis using data from 19 published research articles that use this approach from which 440 effect sizes were extracted. The results of the meta-analysis suggest that pharmacological manipulations overall altered judgement bias as predicted. However, there were several moderating factors including the neurobiological target of the drug, whether the drug was hypothesised to induce a relatively positive or negative affective state, dosage, and the presented cue. This may partially reflect interference from adverse effects of the drug, such as sedation. Thus, while judgement bias can be used to measure pharmacologically-induced affective states, potential adverse effects of the drug should be considered when interpreting results.


2020 ◽  
Vol 133 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony T. Lee ◽  
John F. Burke ◽  
Pranathi Chunduru ◽  
Annette M. Molinaro ◽  
Robert Knowlton ◽  
...  

OBJECTIVERecent trials for temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) highlight the challenges of investigating surgical outcomes using randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Although several reviews have examined seizure-freedom outcomes from existing data, there is a need for an overall seizure-freedom rate estimated from level I data as investigators consider other methods besides RCTs to study outcomes related to new surgical interventions.METHODSThe authors performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the 3 RCTs of TLE in adults and report an overall surgical seizure-freedom rate (Engel class I) composed of level I data. An overall seizure-freedom rate was also collected from level II data (prospective cohort studies) for validation. Eligible studies were identified by filtering a published Cochrane meta-analysis of epilepsy surgery for RCTs and prospective studies, and supplemented by searching indexed terms in MEDLINE (January 1, 2012–April 1, 2018). Retrospective studies were excluded to minimize heterogeneity in patient selection and reporting bias. Data extraction was independently reverified and pooled using a fixed-effects model. The primary outcome was overall seizure freedom following surgery. The historical benchmark was applied in a noninferiority study design to compare its power to a single-study cohort.RESULTSThe overall rate of seizure freedom from level I data was 72.4% (55/76 patients, 3 RCTs), which was nearly identical to the overall seizure-freedom rate of 71.7% (1325/1849 patients, 18 studies) from prospective cohorts (z = 0.134, p = 0.89; z-test). Seizure-freedom rates from level I and II studies were consistent over the years of publication (R2< 0.01, p = 0.73). Surgery resulted in markedly improved seizure-free outcomes compared to medical management (RR 10.82, 95% CI 3.93–29.84, p < 0.01; 2 RCTs). Noninferiority study designs in which the historical benchmark was used had significantly higher power at all difference margins compared to using a single cohort alone (p < 0.001, Bonferroni’s multiple comparison test).CONCLUSIONSThe overall rate of seizure freedom for temporal lobe surgery is approximately 70% for medically refractory epilepsy. The small sample size of the RCT cohort underscores the need to move beyond standard RCTs for epilepsy surgery. This historical seizure-freedom rate may serve as a useful benchmark to guide future study designs for new surgical treatments for refractory TLE.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adineh Jafarzadeh ◽  
Alireza Mahboub-Ahari ◽  
Moslem Najafi ◽  
Mahmood Yousefi ◽  
Koustuv Dalal

Abstract Background Irrational household storage of medicines is a world-wide problem, which triggers medicine wastage as well as its associated harms. This study aimed to include all available evidences from literature to perform a focused examination of the prevalence and factors associated with medicine storage and wastage among urban households. This systematic review and meta-analysis mapped the existing literature on the burden, outcomes, and affective socio-economic factors of medicine storage among urban households. In addition, this study estimated pooled effect sizes for storage and wastage rates. Methods Household surveys evaluating modality, size, costs, and affective factors of medicines storage at home were searched in PubMed, EMBASE, OVID, SCOPUS, ProQuest, and Google scholar databases in 2019. Random effect meta-analysis and subgroup analysis were used to pool effect sizes for medicine storage and wastage prevalence among different geographical regions. Results From the 2604 initial records, 20 studies were selected for systematic review and 16 articles were selected for meta-analysis. An overall pooled-prevalence of medicine storage and real wastage rate was 77 and 15%, respectively. In this regard, some significant differences were observed between geographical regions. Southwest Asia region had the highest storage and wastage rates. The most common classes of medicines found in households belonged to the Infective agents for systemic (17.4%) and the Nervous system (16.4%). Moreover, income, education, age, the presence of chronic illness, female gender, and insurance coverage were found to be associated with higher home storage. The most commonly used method of disposal was throwing them in the garbage. Conclusions Factors beyond medical needs were also found to be associated with medicine storage, which urges effective strategies in the supply and demand side of the medicine consumption chain. The first necessary step to mitigate home storage is establishing an adequate legislation and strict enforcement of regulations on dispensing, prescription, and marketing of medicines. Patient’s pressure on excessive prescription, irrational storage, and use of medicines deserve efficient community-centered programs, in order to increase awareness on these issues. So, hazardous consequences of inappropriate disposal should be mitigated by different take back programs, particularly in low and middle income countries.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Maxi Weber ◽  
Sarah Schumacher ◽  
Wiebke Hannig ◽  
Jürgen Barth ◽  
Annett Lotzin ◽  
...  

Abstract Several types of psychological treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are considered well established and effective, but evidence of their long-term efficacy is limited. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the long-term outcomes across psychological treatments for PTSD. MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, PTSDpubs, PsycINFO, PSYNDEX, and related articles were searched for randomized controlled trials with at least 12 months of follow-up. Twenty-two studies (N = 2638) met inclusion criteria, and 43 comparisons of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) were available at follow-up. Active treatments for PTSD yielded large effect sizes from pretest to follow-up and a small controlled effect size compared with non-directive control groups at follow-up. Trauma-focused treatment (TFT) and non-TFT showed large improvements from pretest to follow-up, and effect sizes did not significantly differ from each other. Active treatments for comorbid depressive symptoms revealed small to medium effect sizes at follow-up, and improved PTSD and depressive symptoms remained stable from treatment end to follow-up. Military personnel, low proportion of female patients, and self-rated PTSD measures were associated with decreased effect sizes for PTSD at follow-up. The findings suggest that CBT for PTSD is efficacious in the long term. Future studies are needed to determine the lasting efficacy of other psychological treatments and to confirm benefits beyond 12-month follow-up.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 488
Author(s):  
Daniel A Rossignol ◽  
Richard E Frye

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting approximately 2% of children in the United States. Growing evidence suggests that immune dysregulation is associated with ASD. One immunomodulatory treatment that has been studied in ASD is intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG). This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the studies which assessed immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentrations and the therapeutic use of IVIG for individuals with ASD. Twelve studies that examined IgG levels suggested abnormalities in total IgG and IgG 4 subclass concentrations, with concentrations in these IgGs related to aberrant behavior and social impairments, respectively. Meta-analysis supported possible subsets of children with ASD with low total IgG and elevated IgG 4 subclass but also found significant variability among studies. A total of 27 publications reported treating individuals with ASD using IVIG, including four prospective, controlled studies (one was a double-blind, placebo-controlled study); six prospective, uncontrolled studies; 2 retrospective, controlled studies; and 15 retrospective, uncontrolled studies. In some studies, clinical improvements were observed in communication, irritability, hyperactivity, cognition, attention, social interaction, eye contact, echolalia, speech, response to commands, drowsiness, decreased activity and in some cases, the complete resolution of ASD symptoms. Several studies reported some loss of these improvements when IVIG was stopped. Meta-analysis combining the aberrant behavior checklist outcome from two studies demonstrated that IVIG treatment was significantly associated with improvements in total aberrant behavior and irritability (with large effect sizes), and hyperactivity and social withdrawal (with medium effect sizes). Several studies reported improvements in pro-inflammatory cytokines (including TNF-alpha). Six studies reported improvements in seizures with IVIG (including patients with refractory seizures), with one study reporting a worsening of seizures when IVIG was stopped. Other studies demonstrated improvements in recurrent infections, appetite, weight gain, neuropathy, dysautonomia, and gastrointestinal symptoms. Adverse events were generally limited but included headaches, vomiting, worsening behaviors, anxiety, fever, nausea, fatigue, and rash. Many studies were limited by the lack of standardized objective outcome measures. IVIG is a promising and potentially effective treatment for symptoms in individuals with ASD; further research is needed to provide solid evidence of efficacy and determine the subset of children with ASD who may best respond to this treatment as well as to investigate biomarkers which might help identify responsive candidates.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. e100135
Author(s):  
Xue Ying Zhang ◽  
Jan Vollert ◽  
Emily S Sena ◽  
Andrew SC Rice ◽  
Nadia Soliman

ObjectiveThigmotaxis is an innate predator avoidance behaviour of rodents and is enhanced when animals are under stress. It is characterised by the preference of a rodent to seek shelter, rather than expose itself to the aversive open area. The behaviour has been proposed to be a measurable construct that can address the impact of pain on rodent behaviour. This systematic review will assess whether thigmotaxis can be influenced by experimental persistent pain and attenuated by pharmacological interventions in rodents.Search strategyWe will conduct search on three electronic databases to identify studies in which thigmotaxis was used as an outcome measure contextualised to a rodent model associated with persistent pain. All studies published until the date of the search will be considered.Screening and annotationTwo independent reviewers will screen studies based on the order of (1) titles and abstracts, and (2) full texts.Data management and reportingFor meta-analysis, we will extract thigmotactic behavioural data and calculate effect sizes. Effect sizes will be combined using a random-effects model. We will assess heterogeneity and identify sources of heterogeneity. A risk-of-bias assessment will be conducted to evaluate study quality. Publication bias will be assessed using funnel plots, Egger’s regression and trim-and-fill analysis. We will also extract stimulus-evoked limb withdrawal data to assess its correlation with thigmotaxis in the same animals. The evidence obtained will provide a comprehensive understanding of the strengths and limitations of using thigmotactic outcome measure in animal pain research so that future experimental designs can be optimised. We will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses reporting guidelines and disseminate the review findings through publication and conference presentation.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. e043722
Author(s):  
Naomi Priest ◽  
Kate Doery ◽  
Mandy Truong ◽  
Shuaijun Guo ◽  
Ryan Perry ◽  
...  

IntroductionRacism is a critical determinant of health and health inequities for children and youth. This protocol aims to update the first systematic review conducted by Priest et al (2013), including a meta-analysis of findings. Based on previous empirical data, it is anticipated that child and youth health will be negatively impacted by racism. Findings from this review will provide updated evidence of effect sizes across outcomes and identify moderators and mediators of relationships between racism and health.Methods and analysisThis systematic review and meta-analysis will include studies that examine associations between experiences of racism and racial discrimination with health outcomes of children and youth aged 0–24 years. Exposure measures include self-reported or proxy reported systemic, interpersonal and intrapersonal racism. Outcome measures include general health and well-being, physical health, mental health, biological markers, healthcare utilisation and health behaviours. A comprehensive search of studies from the earliest time available to October 2020 will be conducted. A random effects meta-analysis will examine the average effect of racism on a range of health outcomes. Study-level moderation will test the difference in effect sizes with regard to various sample and exposure characteristics. This review has been registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews.Ethics and disseminationThis review will provide evidence for future research within the field and help to support policy and practice development. Results will be widely disseminated to both academic and non-academic audiences through peer-review publications, community summaries and presentations to research, policy, practice and community audiences.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42020184055.


Neurology ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 10.1212/WNL.0000000000012109
Author(s):  
Bruna Bellaver ◽  
João Pedro Ferrari-Souza ◽  
Lucas Uglione da Ros ◽  
Stephen F Carter ◽  
Elena Rodriguez-Vieitez ◽  
...  

Objective:To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine whether fluid and imaging astrocyte biomarkers are altered in Alzheimer's disease (AD).Methods:PubMed and Web of Science databases were searched for articles reporting fluid or imaging astrocyte biomarkers in AD. Pooled effect sizes were determined with mean differences (SMD) using the Hedge’s G method with random-effects to determine biomarker performance. Adapted questions from QUADAS-2 were applied for quality assessment. A protocol for this study has been previously registered in PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42020192304).Results:The initial search identified 1,425 articles. After exclusion criteria were applied, 33 articles (a total of 3,204 individuals) measuring levels of GFAP, S100B, YKL-40 and AQP4 in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), as well as MAO-B, indexed by positron emission tomography 11C-deuterium-L-deprenyl ([11C]-DED), were included. GFAP (SMD = 0.94; 95% CI = 0.71-1.18) and YKL-40 (SMD = 0.76; CI 95% = 0.63-0.89) levels in the CSF, S100B levels in the blood (SMD = 2.91; CI 95% = 1.01-4.8) were found significantly increased in AD patients.Conclusions:Despite significant progress, applications of astrocyte biomarkers in AD remain in their early days. The meta-analysis demonstrated that astrocyte biomarkers are consistently altered in AD and supports further investigation for their inclusion in the AD clinical research framework for observational and interventional studies.


2021 ◽  
pp. 105566562110398
Author(s):  
Hope Sparks Lancaster ◽  
Kari M. Lien ◽  
Jordan Haas ◽  
Paige Ellis ◽  
Nancy J. Scherer

Objective We conducted a meta-analysis and systematic review of literature comparing pre-reading and general reading in school-age children with nonsyndromic cleft palate with or without cleft lip (NSCP/L) to their peers without NSCP/L. Methods Our literature search identified 1238 possible records. After screening we identified 11 samples for inclusion for systematic review and eight for meta-analysis. We compared 292 children with NSCP/L to 311 peers for 23 pre-reading effect sizes and 17 general reading effect sizes (EFg). We conducted a random-effects metaregression using robust variance estimation. Results On average school-age children with NSCP/L scored lower on pre-reading (EFg = −0.36) and general reading measures (EFg = −0.38) compared to their peers. We conducted post-hoc analyses on phonological awareness and word decoding effect sizes; children with NSCP/L performed lower on phonological awareness (EFg = −0.22) and word decoding (EFg = −0.39) compared to their peers. There was weak evidence that hearing status and/or speech-language functioning might moderate reading development. There was limited evidence that age or socioeconomic status moderated reading development. However, samples did not consistently report several characteristics that were coded for this project. Conclusions Our findings suggest that school-age children with NSCP/L have persistent reading problems. Further research is needed to explore reading development in children with NSCP/L, as well as the relationships among hearing, speech, language, and reading development.


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