Trajectories of Heart Activity Across Infancy to Early Childhood Differentially Predict Autism and Anxiety Symptoms in Fragile X Syndrome

Background: Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a monogenic disorder characterized by high rates of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and anxiety. A longstanding “hyperarousal hypothesis” in FXS has argued that ANS dysfunction underpins many symptoms of FXS. However, the developmental onset and trajectory of ANS dysfunction, as well as the consequences of ANS dysfunction on later psychiatric symptoms, remain poorly understood in FXS. Insight into the emergence, trajectory, and consequences of ANS dysfunction across early development in FXS has critical implications for prevention, intervention, and optimal outcomes in both typical and atypical development. This longitudinal study investigated whether and when males with FXS evidence atypical ANS function from infancy through early childhood, and how trajectories of ANS function across infancy and early childhood predict ASD and anxiety symptom severity later in development.Methods: Participants included 73 males with FXS and 79 age-matched typically developing (TD) males. Baseline heart activity was recorded at multiple assessments between 3 and 83 months of age, resulting in 372 observations. General arousal and parasympathetic activity were indexed via interbeat interval (IBI) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), respectively. ASD and anxiety symptoms were assessed at 36 months of age or later in a subgroup of participants (FXS n = 28; TD n = 25).Results: Males with FXS exhibited atypical patterns of developmental change in ANS function across infancy and early childhood. As a result, ANS dysfunction became progressively more discrepant across time, with the FXS group exhibiting significantly shorter IBI and lower RSA by 29 and 24 months of age, respectively. Shorter IBI at 24 months and a flatter IBI slope across development predicted elevated anxiety symptoms, but not ASD symptoms, later in childhood in both FXS and TD males. Reduced RSA at 24 months predicted elevated ASD symptoms, but not anxiety symptoms, in both groups. Developmental change in RSA across early development did not predict later anxiety or ASD symptoms.Conclusion: This is the first longitudinal study to examine the “hyperarousal hypothesis” in infants and young children with FXS. Findings suggest that hyperarousal (i.e., shorter IBI, lower RSA) is evident in males with FXS by 24–29 months of age. Interestingly, unique aspects of early ANS function differentially relate to later ASD and anxiety symptoms. General arousal, indexed by shorter IBI that becomes progressively more discrepant from TD controls, predicts later anxiety symptoms. In contrast, parasympathetic-related factors, indexed by lower levels of RSA, predict ASD symptoms. These findings support the “hyperarousal hypothesis” in FXS, in that ANS dysfunction evident early in development predicts later-emerging symptoms of ASD and anxiety. This study also have important implications for the development of targeted treatments and interventions that could potentially mitigate the long-term effects of hyperarousal in FXS.

The Power of Imagery: Kajian Tentang Imagery Dalam Olahraga

Imagery atau visualisasi merupakan bentuk kreasi mental yang dilakukan secara sadar dan disengaja dan bertujuan untuk membentuk persepsi sesuatu dengan jalan membentuk imaji kreatif di dalam benak seseorang. imagery dapat dibagi atau diklasifikasikan menurut tujuan dan aplikasinya sebagai berikut: a) Motivational Specific (MS), b) Motivational General-Mastery (MG-M), c) Motivational General-Arousal (MG-A), d) Cognitive Specific (CS) dan e) Cognitive General (CG).Latihan imagery jika dilakukan dengan program yang tepat dapat bermanfaat untuk mempersiapkan olahragawan dalam melakukan suatu gerakan, gaya, atau keterampilan baru. Dapat pula diterapkan untuk memperbaiki suatu gerakan, gaya, atau cara bereaksi. Selain itu juga dapat digunakan untuk meningkatkan konsentrasi, meningkatkan motivasi, membangun kepercayaan diri, memantapkan strategi persiapan pertandingan serta, mengurangi rasa sakit dan pemulihan pasca cedera. Imagery dalam kegiatan olahraga dapat digunakan selama periodesasi latihan, yaitu digunakan selama training, kompetisi, dan rehabilitasi. Secara spesifik Imagery dapat digunakan sebelum dan sesudah latihan, sebelum dan sesudah pertandingan, selama waktu istirahat dalam latihan dan kompetisi, selama waktu pribadi di luar latihan resmi dan selama pemulihan cedera.

Latent variables for region of interest activation during the Monetary Incentive Delay Task

Background: The Monetary Incentive Delay Task (MID) has been used extensively to probe anticipatory reward processes. However, individual differences evident during this task may relate to other constructs such as general arousal or valence processing (i.e., anticipation of negative versus positive outcomes). This investigation used a latent variable approach to parse activation patterns during the MID within a transdiagnostic clinical sample.Methods: Participants were drawn from the first 500 individuals recruited for the Tulsa-1000 (T1000), a naturalistic longitudinal study of 1000 participants aged 18-55 (n = 476 with MID data). We employed a multiview latent analysis method, group factor analysis, to characterize factors within and across variable sets consisting of: (1) region of interest (ROI)-based blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrasts during reward and loss anticipation; and (2) self-report measures of positive and negative valence and related constructs.Results: Three factors comprised of ROI indicators emerged to accounted for >43% of variance and loaded on variables representing: (1) general arousal or general activation; (2) valence, with dissociable responses to anticipation of win versus loss; and (3) region-specific activation, with dissociable activation in salience versus perceptual brain networks. Two additional factors were comprised of self-report variables, which appeared to represent arousal and valence.Conclusions: Results indicate that multiview techniques to identify latent variables offer a novel approach for differentiating brain activation patterns during task engagement. Such approaches may offer insight into neural processing patterns through dimension reduction, be useful for probing individual differences, and aid in the development of optimal explanatory or predictive frameworks.

Analysis of behavioral variables across domains and skin phenotypes in zebrafish: Role of brain monoamines

Important neurochemical variations between strains or linages which correlate with behavioral differences have been identified in different species. Here, we report neurochemical and behavioral differences in four common zebrafish wild-type phenotypes (blue shortfin, longfin stripped, leopard and albino). Leopad zebrafish have been shown to display increased scototaxis in relation to the other strains, while both albino and leopard zebrafish show increased geotaxis. Moreover, leopard displayed increased nocifensive behavior, while albino zebrafish showed increased neophobia in the novel object task. Longfin zebrafish showed decreased turn frequency in both the novel tank and light/dark tests, and habituated faster in the novel tank, as well as displaying increased 5-HT levels. Leopard zebrafish showed decreased brain 5-HT levels and increased 5-HT turnover than other strains, and albino had increased brain DA levels. Finally, specific behavioral endpoints co-varied in terms of the behavioral and neurochemical differences between strains, identifying cross-test domains which included response to novelty, exploration-avoidance, general arousal, and activity.

Beyond the Non-Specific Attentional Effect of Caloric Vestibular Stimulation: Evidence from Healthy Subjects and Patients

Caloric vestibular stimulation (CVS) is a simple physiological manipulation that has been used for a long time in different clinical fields due to its rapid and relevant effects on behaviour. One of the most debated issues in this research field concerns the degree of specificity of such stimulation, namely whether the effects of CVS can be, and to what extent are, independent of the mere influence of non-specific factors such as general arousal, ocular movements or attentional shift towards the stimulated side. The hypothesis that CVS might cause a shift of attention towards the side of the stimulation has been largely supported; moreover, a large amount of evidence is available nowadays to corroborate the specific effect of CVS, providing behavioural and neurophysiological data in both patients and normal subjects. These data converge in indicating that the effects of CVS can be independent of eye deviation and general arousal, can modulate different symptoms in different directions, and do not merely depend on a general shift of attention. The present article is divided into three main sections. In the first section, we describe classical studies that investigate the effects of CVS on neglect and related symptoms. In the second and third parts, we provide an overview of the modulatory effects of CVS on somatosensory processes and body representation in both brain-damaged patients and healthy subjects. Finally, we conclude by discussing the relevance of these new findings for the understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying the modulatory effects of CVS.

Manipulation of Arousal by Caffeine Reduces Metacontrast Masking Mostly When Target and Mask Shapes Are Incongruent

Metacontrast masking is a popular method used to control target accessibility for explicit perception. It is thus a valuable tool in research on preconscious processing, consciousness mechanisms, and visual sensory interactions. However, the dependence of metacontrast effects on nonspecific factors determining subjects’ general arousal level has not been studied. We manipulated arousal by caffeine versus placebo treatment and found, instead of the expected uniform improvement in target perception with caffeine, an intricate interaction between target-to-mask temporal delay, congruence between target and mask shapes, and arousal condition. Caffeine improved target perception mostly when a longer SOA was used in combination with shape-wise incongruent target-mask pairings. Possible reasons for this effect are discussed.

Exploration of the Benefits of an Activity-Specific Test of Temperament

The Structure of Temperament Questionnaire (STQ) was proposed by Rusalov in 1989 and subsequently tested in five languages. The questionnaire assesses four temperamental traits (Ergonicity, Plasticity, Tempo, and Emotionality) in three separate areas of activity: physical, verbal-social, and intellectual. The scales are all activity-specific. In 775 Canadian subjects, two temperament tests were compared, both developed on the basis of Pavlovian studies of the nervous system: the activity-specific approach (STQ) and the nonspecific Pavlovian Temperamental Survey (PTS). More significant sex differences were found on activity-specific scales of the STQ than on the nonspecific PTS scales. The pattern of correlations between the STQ scales and the time taken on an experimental task requiring a prolonged and intense word-assessment activity showed stronger correlations with the specific scales of the STQ measuring the dynamic aspects of social-verbal activity, and not with the PTS Strength of Excitation scale, which is based on a “general arousal” concept. The results supported the separation of temperament traits related to three different types of activities and opposed to “general arousal” theories of temperament.