Emotional Distraction by Constant Finger Tapping

This study examined the effects of emotional distraction in the context of recalling stressful interpersonal events in daily life. Previous studies have revealed that distraction decreases unpleasant emotions. In this study, we examined whether distraction tasks decrease unpleasant task-related thoughts in addition to unpleasant emotions. Furthermore, to investigate the implicit effects of emotional changes, we examined changes in pupil size in relation to unpleasant emotions and task-unrelated thoughts (TUT). The behavioral tasks were administered to 21 university students ( Mage = 21.24 ± 2.93 years; range: 18–30 years). After excluding participants for poor data quality, 16 (21.31 ± 3.34 years; 18–30 years) were included for further pupil data analysis. As an emotion induction procedure, participants were asked to freely recall memories of stressful interpersonal events in their daily lives and were given a series of questions about their recalled memories, which were presented on the monitor. In the following distraction experiment, questions during the emotion induction procedure were represented as emotional stimulation; a distraction task (non-constant or constant finger tapping) or rest condition was then performed; subsequently, ratings were given for attentional state, thought types conceived during the tasks, and emotional state. Upon analysis, differences in the ratings for unpleasant emotion and TUT were non-significant between all conditions. Nevertheless, pupil dilation in the non-constant and constant conditions was associated with decreased unpleasant emotions ( p < .05; p < .05 to .01). More importantly, pupil dilation was associated with decreased unpleasant TUT ( p < .05) only in the constant condition. Although the observed effects were subtle, we found that constant finger tapping decreased unpleasant emotions and TUT. It is expected for a future emotion regulation study to further investigate the effects in the relationships among emotions, thoughts, and physiological states, which can help in coping with unpleasant emotions.

Improving specificity of the musical mood induction procedure.

The musical mood induction procedure was used to induce 3 negative moods: sadness, fatigue and anxiety. Induction was validated using subjective and physiological measures. One hundred twenty-seven participants listened to one of 18 film soundtrack excerpts for 20 minutes. Physiological response (heart rate, respiration, skin conductance level (SCL), and facial electromyography) was recorded throughout the induction and postinduction phases. Subjective mood ratings (sadness, anxiety, tiredness, valence, arousal) were provided before induction and throughout the postinduction phase. Repeated measures ANOVAs showed increase in valence and decrease in arousal in all conditions after induction, which persisted in the postinduction phase, and an increase in tiredness immediately after induction. Reduction in SCL was strongest in the fatigue condition. However, difference between groups was only evident when comparing fatigue and sadness conditions between 3-10 minutes. Lack of between-group differences and mixed physiological findings suggest that specificity is difficult to achieve through musical mood induction.

Improving specificity of the musical mood induction procedure.

The musical mood induction procedure was used to induce 3 negative moods: sadness, fatigue and anxiety. Induction was validated using subjective and physiological measures. One hundred twenty-seven participants listened to one of 18 film soundtrack excerpts for 20 minutes. Physiological response (heart rate, respiration, skin conductance level (SCL), and facial electromyography) was recorded throughout the induction and postinduction phases. Subjective mood ratings (sadness, anxiety, tiredness, valence, arousal) were provided before induction and throughout the postinduction phase. Repeated measures ANOVAs showed increase in valence and decrease in arousal in all conditions after induction, which persisted in the postinduction phase, and an increase in tiredness immediately after induction. Reduction in SCL was strongest in the fatigue condition. However, difference between groups was only evident when comparing fatigue and sadness conditions between 3-10 minutes. Lack of between-group differences and mixed physiological findings suggest that specificity is difficult to achieve through musical mood induction.

Emotions Induced by Recalling Memories About Interpersonal Stress

The emotions that people experience in day-to-day social situations are often mixed emotions. Although autobiographical recall is useful as an emotion induction procedure, it often involves recalling memories associated with a specific discrete emotion (e.g., sadness). However, real-life emotions occur freely and spontaneously, without such constraints. To understand real-life emotions, the present study examined characteristics of emotions that were elicited by recalling “stressful interpersonal events in daily life” without the targeted evocation of a specific discrete emotion. Assuming generation of mixed and complex emotions, emotional groups with relatively strong correlation of multiple emotions according to surprise, fear, anger, disgust, sadness, and happiness were expected. Seventy-two university students (35 males, mean age: 19.69 ± 1.91 years; 37 females, 20.03 ± 2.42) participated in the study. In the emotion induction procedure, participants freely recalled memories as per the instructions on a monitor, and then responded silently to a series of questions concerning any one recalled incident. Assessments of emotional states using emotion scales and another item indicated that validated emotional changes had occurred during the task. Inter-correlations between six emotions demonstrated an emotional group consisting of disgust and anger, which frequently occur as negative interpersonal feelings, and that of fear and sadness. This indicated generation of mixed and complex emotions as experienced in social life. Future studies concerning relationships between these emotions and other factors, including neurophysiological responses, may facilitate further understanding about relationships between mental and physiological processes occurring in daily life.

10 State dissociation and interoception in functional neurological disorder

Objective/aimsInteroceptive differences have been proposed as an aetiological factor in functional neurological disorder (FND) but there is limited supportive evidence. Previous studies are few, have mixed findings and assessed only (objective) interoceptive accuracy, but not (metacognitive) interoceptive awareness. The aim of this study was to explore interoception in FND in greater detail, by assessing interoceptive accuracy and awareness in individuals with a range of FND presentations. As dissociative symptoms (e.g., depersonalisation, derealisation) are common in FND and could influence interoception, we sought to examine the effects of induced acute dissociation on interoception. We hypothesised that interoceptive accuracy/awareness would be impaired at baseline in FND relative to healthy controls, but that the differences would be exacerbated following dissociation induction.MethodsTwenty adults with FND were recruited from online FND support groups. Diagnosis was confirmed by medical documentation from a relevant healthcare professional. The FND group was compared to a group of 20 healthy controls recruited from online community groups. A modified heart-beat tracking task measured interoceptive accuracy (correct detection of heart beats) and awareness (confidence judgements). A control task involved counting visually presented geometric shapes. Both tasks were completed before and after a validated dissociation induction procedure (mirror-gazing).ResultsThe FND group reported elevated dissociation at baseline relative to controls (p<0.01) but this difference was larger following mirror-gazing (p<0.001). Interoceptive accuracy did not differ significantly between groups at baseline; however, the FND group had significantly lower accuracy scores following mirror-gazing (p<0.05). There was no effect of group on shape counting accuracy at either timepoint. Confidence ratings on the interoception and shape counting tasks were significantly lower at both timepoints in the FND group relative to controls (all p-values <0.05 or <0.01).ConclusionsIndividuals with FND reported elevated dissociation both before and after a dissociation induction procedure, although this was exacerbated post-dissociation induction. In contrast, interoceptive accuracy was unimpaired at baseline, but impaired following dissociation induction, relative to controls. The FND group showed reduced metacognitive awareness for detection of bodily states and external (visual) stimuli. Future research should better determine the nature of interoceptive deficits in FND and assess the impact of dissociation on a range of cognitive and affective processes relevant to the disorder.

Induction of pancreatic neoplasia in the KRAS/TP53 Oncopig: preliminary report

ABSTRACTIntroductionFive-year survival (all patients) from pancreatic cancer (PC) is in the range of 10%, and has not changed substantially in decades. Current murine models may not adequately mimic human PC, and can be inadequate for device development, which all may contribute to the lack of progress in PC survival. We attempted PC induction in transgenic swine (expressing KRAS and TP53 mutants) with the ultimate goal of creating a more accurate model of PC.MethodsTransgenic Oncopigs (n = 16, malensrrc.missouri.edu; somatic LSL cassette with TP53R167H and KRASG12D) were injected via laparotomy with AdCre (1010 vp/mL) ± IL-8 (0.5-2 ng; a tumor induction adjunct facilitating adenoviral entry into epithelia and promoting local inflammation) into the main pancreatic duct (MPD; via duodenotomy) or duct to the isolated pancreatic connecting lobe (CL). Subjects were necropsied after ≤10 wk, followed by histology.ResultsA total of 16 OCM subjects underwent an induction procedure. Of these, 14 received pancreatic AdCre injection, and nine of these (64%) developed pancreatic tumor (10 if the very first subject which died prematurely is counted). All of these subjects expired within 2-4 weeks after the tumor induction procedure. All had a similar terminal course: failure to thrive, which was secondary to gastric outlet obstruction, which was secondary to a peripancreatic phlegmon, which was secondary to pancreatitis, which appeared to be secondary to tumor. One additional OCM (no. 1088) had a small amount of extrapancreatic tumor at necropsy when it was euthanized for pneumonia at day 113. None of the OCM subjects that underwent a control injection procedure (no AdCre) nor any of the WT littermates that underwent AdCre injection with or without IL-8 developed pancreatitis.ConclusionThis proof of principle study demonstrated that PC can be induced in the Oncopig, which has inducible expression of activated KRAS and inactive p53 under control of a floxed stop codon. However, induced subjects will need to live longer to yield a useable PC model. Addition of IL-8 may have contributed to the severe pancreatitis and early mortality. Future studies will focus on modulation of pancreatitis and optimization of the survival period.

Physiological and subjective validation of a novel stress procedure: The Simple Singing Stress Procedure

Laboratory stress-induction procedures have been critical in illuminating the effects of stress on human health, cognition, and functioning. Here, we present a novel stress induction procedure, the Simple Singing Stress Procedure (SSSP), that overcomes some of the practical challenges and conceptual limitations of existing procedures in measuring the causal influence of stress on psychological variables. In the stress condition of the SSSP, participants were instructed to sing a song in front of the experimenter while being video- and audio-recorded. Participants were also informed that they would have to sing again at the end of the experiment, and that this second performance would later be assessed by a panel of experimenters. Participants in a no-stress condition instead read lyrics in each phase. Our findings revealed that participants in the stress condition showed significantly higher blood pressure immediately following the initial singing session, as well as heightened salivary cortisol at a latency consistent with the initial singing session, than those in the no-stress condition. Our stress procedure also generated elevations in self-reported stress ratings immediately after the first singing session and subsequently in anticipation of the second singing session, relative to the no-stress condition. Collectively, these findings suggest that the SSSP is a simple and effective stress induction procedure that may be a promising alternative to existing protocols.