Faculty Opinions recommendation of Association between real-world experiential diversity and positive affect relates to hippocampal-striatal functional connectivity.

We have developed a passive and lightweight wearable hand exoskeleton (HandSOME II) that improves range of motion and functional task practice in laboratory testing. For this longitudinal study, we recruited 15 individuals with chronic stroke and asked them to use the device at home for 1.5 h per weekday for 8 weeks. Subjects visited the clinic once per week to report progress and troubleshoot problems. Subjects were then given the HandSOME II for the next 3 months, and asked to continue to use it, but without any scheduled contact with the project team. Clinical evaluations and biomechanical testing was performed before and after the 8 week intervention and at the 3 month followup. EEG measures were taken before and after the 8 weeks of training to examine any recovery associated brain reorganization. Ten subjects completed the study. After 8 weeks of training, functional ability (Action Research Arm Test), flexor tone (Modified Ashworth Test), and real world use of the impaired limb (Motor Activity Log) improved significantly (p < 0.05). Gains in real world use were retained at the 3-month followup (p = 0.005). At both post-training and followup time points, biomechanical testing found significant gains in finger ROM and hand displacement in a reaching task (p < 0.05). Baseline functional connectivity correlated with gains in motor function, while changes in EEG functional connectivity paralleled changes in motor recovery. HandSOME II is a low-cost, home-based intervention that elicits brain plasticity and can improve functional motor outcomes in the chronic stroke population.

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Affective Modulation after High-Intensity Exercise Is Associated with Prolonged Amygdalar-Insular Functional Connectivity Increase

Neural Plasticity ◽

10.1155/2020/7905387 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Angelika Schmitt ◽

Neeraj Upadhyay ◽

Jason Anthony Martin ◽

Sandra Rojas Vega ◽

Heiko Klaus Strüder ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Positive Affect ◽

High Intensity ◽

Repeated Measures ◽

Resting State Fmri ◽

High Intensity Exercise ◽

Seed Region ◽

Dependent Manner ◽

Significant Interaction Effect ◽

Exercise Interventions

Acute moderate exercise has been shown to induce prolonged changes in functional connectivity (FC) within affect and reward networks. The influence of different exercise intensities on FC has not yet been explored. Twenty-five male athletes underwent 30 min of “low”- (35%<lactate threshold (LT)) and “high”- (20%>LT) intensity exercise bouts on a treadmill. Resting-state fMRI was acquired at 3 Tesla before and after exercise, together with the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). Data of 22 subjects (3 dropouts) were analyzed using the FSL feat pipeline and a seed-to-network-based analysis with the bilateral amygdala as the seed region for determining associated FC changes in the “emotional brain.” Data were analyzed using a repeated measures ANOVA. Comparisons between pre- and post-exercise were analyzed using a one-sample t-test, and a paired t-test was used for the comparison between “low” and “high” exercise conditions (nonparametric randomization approach, results reported at p<0.05). Both exercise interventions induced significant increases in the PANAS positive affect scale. There was a significant interaction effect of amygdalar FC to the right anterior insula, and this amygdalar-insular FC correlated significantly with the PANAS positive affect scale (r=0.47, p=0.048) in the “high”-intensity exercise condition. Our findings suggest that mood changes after exercise are associated with prolonged alterations in amygdalar-insular FC and occur in an exercise intensity-dependent manner.

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Mobile Footprinting: Linking Individual Distinctiveness in Mobility Patterns to Mood, Sleep, and Brain Functional Connectivity

10.1101/2021.05.17.444568 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Cedric Huchuan Xia ◽

Ian Barnett ◽

Tinashe Tapera ◽

Zaixu Cui ◽

Tyler Moore ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Functional Connectivity ◽

Real World ◽

Individual Identification ◽

Mobility Patterns ◽

Affective Instability ◽

Individual Distinctiveness ◽

Brain Functional Connectivity ◽

Brain Behavior

Mapping individual differences in behavior is fundamental to personalized neuroscience. Here, we establish that statistical patterns of smartphone-based mobility features represent unique footprints that allow individual identification. Critically, mobility footprints exhibit varying levels of person-specific distinctiveness and are associated with individual differences in affective instability, circadian irregularity, and brain functional connectivity. Together, this work suggests that real-world mobility patterns may provide an individual-specific signature linking brain, behavior, and mood.

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Exposure to authoritarian values leads to lower positive affect, higher negative affect, and higher meaning in life

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0256759 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (9) ◽

pp. e0256759

Author(s):

Jake Womick ◽

John Eckelkamp ◽

Sam Luzzo ◽

Sarah J. Ward ◽

S. Glenn Baker ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Real World ◽

Meaning In Life ◽

Negative Mood ◽

Right Wing ◽

Adolf Hitler ◽

Future Directions ◽

Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽

And Control

Five studies tested the effect of exposure to authoritarian values on positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA), and meaning in life (MIL). Study 1 (N = 1,053) showed that simply completing a measure of right-wing authoritarianism (vs. not) prior to rating MIL led to higher MIL. Preregistered Study 2 (N = 1,904) showed that reading speeches by real-world authoritarians (e.g., Adolf Hitler) led to lower PA, higher NA, and higher MIL than a control passage. In preregistered Studies 3 (N = 1,573) and 4 (N = 1,512), Americans read authoritarian, egalitarian, or control messages and rated mood, MIL, and evaluated the passages. Both studies showed that egalitarian messages led to better mood and authoritarian messages led to higher MIL. Study 5 (N = 148) directly replicated these results with Canadians. Aggregating across studies (N = 3,401), moderational analyses showed that meaning in life, post manipulation, was associated with more favorable evaluations of the authoritarian passage. In addition, PA was a stronger predictor of MIL in the egalitarian and control conditions than in the authoritarian condition. Further results showed no evidence that negative mood (or disagreement) spurred the boost in MIL. Implications and future directions are discussed.

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