Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Effect of positive psychological intervention on the treatment and prognosis of patients with acute cerebral infarction
Objective: To analyze the psychological status of patients with acute cerebral infarction (ACI), and to evaluate the effect of positive psychological intervention on the treatment and prognosis of ACI. Methods: This was retrospective study. Eighty patients with ACI admitted to Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences from January 2021 to September 2022 were included and randomly divided into observation group (n=40) and control group(n=40). Patients in the control group received conventional treatment and routine care, while those in the observation group received positive psychological intervention based on the control group. Adverse psychological scores, treatment and prognosis, and quality of life as well as nursing satisfaction etc. were analyzed and compared between the two groups. Results: Both groups showed a significant decrease in SDS and SAS scores at three months after the intervention compared with the pre-intervention period, with a statistically significant difference(P<0.05). After the intervention, the NIHSS score of both groups decreased, with a statistically significant difference(P<0.05). The FMAS and MBI scores increased in both groups compared with those before the intervention, with a statistically significant difference(P<0.05). The SS-QOL scores of both groups were significantly improved compared with before the intervention, with a statistically significant difference(P<0.05). The hospital satisfaction rate in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group, with a statistically significant difference (t=12.325, P=0.000). Conclusion: Positive psychological intervention offers a variety of benefits in the treatment of patients with ACI, such as may alleviate anxiety and depression, reduce neurological deficits, improving quality of life and motor function, and ameliorate the prognosis of patients.</p
Efficacy and safety of <i>Bacteroides fragilis</i> BF839 for pediatric autism spectrum disorder: a randomized clinical trial
Background: The clinical utility of Bacteroides fragilis in treating autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remains unclear. Therefore, this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study aimed to explore the therapeutic effects and safety of B. fragilis BF839 in the treatment of pediatric ASD. Methods: We examined 60 children aged 2-10 years diagnosed with ASD, and participants received either BF839 powder (10 g/bar with >= 106 CFU/bar of viable bacteria, two bars/day) or placebo for 16 weeks. The primary outcomes was Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC) score. The secondary outcomes were Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), Normal Development of Social Skills from Infants to Junior High School Children (S-M), Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) scores, and fecal microbiome composition. Assessments were performed on day 0 and at weeks 8 and 16. Results: Compared with the placebo group, the BF839 group showed significant improvement in the ABC body and object use scores at week 16, which was more pronounced in children with ASD aged <4 years. Among children with a baseline CARS score >= 30, the BF839 group showed significant improvements at week 16 in the ABC total score, ABC body and object use score, CARS score, and GSRS score compared to the placebo group. Only two patients (6.67%) in the BF839 group experienced mild diarrhea. Compared with baseline and placebo group levels, the BF839 group showed a significant post-intervention increase in abundance of bifidobacteria and change in the metabolic function of neuroactive compounds encoded by intestinal microorganisms. Conclusion: BF839 significantly and safely improved abnormal behavior and gastrointestinal symptoms in children with ASD.</p
Intact gesture cueing of attention but attenuated sensitivity to peripheral social targets in autistic children: An eye-tracking and pupillometric study
Background: Altered automatic attention cueing has been reported in autistic children. Yet less is known about how autistic children would respond when the social cue that directs attention occurs in an implied social interaction. Methods: By using eye-tracking, the current study examined orienting responses to a socially-relevant target or a nonsocial target cued by a goal-directed social gesture in autistic children. Saccadic reaction time and pupillary responses were employed to measure gaze behavior and physiological arousal of autistic children. Results: Both groups of children showed reflexive orienting to the target regardless of its sociality, whereas typically developing (TD) children exhibited faster gaze shift than autistic children when the target was a social stimulus. An increased pupil dilation was observed in autistic children in response to stimuli relative to TD children. Further, autistic children showed larger baseline pupil response. Conclusions: Autistic children show attenuated sensitivity to social targets and atypical pupil responses, which may be due to the dysfunction of locus coeruleus (LC) - norepinephrine (NE) system.</p
Subthalamic and pallidal oscillations and their couplings reflect dystonia severity and improvements by deep brain stimulation
Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) targeting the globus pallidus internus (GPi) and subthalamic nucleus (STN) is employed for the treatment of dystonia. Pallidal low-frequency oscillations have been proposed as a pathophysiological marker for dystonia. However, the role of subthalamic oscillations and STN-GPi coupling in relation to dystonia remains unclear. Objective: We aimed to explore oscillatory activities within the STN-GPi circuit and their correlation with the severity of dystonia and efficacy achieved by DBS treatment. Methods: Local field potentials were recorded simultaneously from the STN and GPi from 13 dystonia patients. Spectral power analysis was conducted for selected frequency bands from both nuclei, while power correlation and the weighted phase lag index were used to evaluate power and phase couplings between these two nuclei, respectively. These features were incorporated into generalized linear models to assess their associations with dystonia severity and DBS efficacy. Results: The results revealed that pallidal theta power, subthalamic beta power and subthalamic-pallidal theta phase coupling and beta power coupling all correlated with clinical severity. The model incorporating all selected features predicts empirical clinical scores and DBS-induced improvements, whereas the model relying solely on pallidal theta power failed to demonstrate significant correlations. Conclusions: Beyond pallidal theta power, subthalamic beta power, STN-GPi couplings in theta and beta bands, play a crucial role in understanding the pathophysiological mechanism of dystonia and developing optimal strategies for DBS.</p
A simulation-based network analysis of intervention targets for adolescent depressive and anxiety symptoms
Although previous research has well explored central and bridge symptoms of mental health problems, little examined whether these symptoms can serve as effective targets for intervention practices. Based on the Ising model, this study constructed a network structure of depressive and anxiety symptoms. The NodeIdentifyR algorithm (NIRA) was used to simulate interventions within this network, examining the effects of alleviating or aggravating specific symptoms on the network's sum scores. In this study, a total of 15,569 participants were recruited from China (50.87 % females, M age = 13.44; SD = 0.97). The Ising model demonstrated that "sad mood" had the highest expected influence, and "irritability" had the highest bridge expected influence. Alleviating interventions suggested that decreasing the symptom value of "nervousness" resulted in the greatest projected reduction in network symptom activation, which may be a potential target symptom for treatment. Aggravating interventions indicated that elevating the symptom value of "sad mood" had the most projected increase in network activation, which may be a potential target for prevention. Additionally, network structure indices (e.g., central or bridge symptoms) need to be interpreted with more caution as intervention targets, since they may not be exactly the same. These findings enriched the comprehension of the depressive and anxiety network in Chinese adolescents, offering valuable insights for designing effective interventions.</p
Psychosocial Factors and Psychological Adjustment Among Adolescents and Young Adults: A Comparative Analysis of Occasional Drug Craving and Non-Craving
Objective The rate of drug craving not only in Pakistan is escalating rapidly, but also from a wide range of cultures and geographically have been impacted by the drug problem. Recently, drug cravings among young Pakistani school and college students have significantly increased, particularly illegal substances like hashish, heroin, and ecstasy. Methods We recruited 338 students and gathered demographic and drug-craving data through a survey. To assess the study variables, we used the parental acceptance-rejection short version, peer pressure questionnaire, and adult personality assessment scale. Results The prevalence rate of occasional drug craving was 44.1% (tobacco, 39.9%; heroin, 1.8%; ice, 0.6%; and others), and 55.9% have never tried them. Initially, drug craving at the first onset at the age of 14 in friend gatherings (15.7%) in stressful situations (11.2%), high-income families, particularly in joint family systems with paternal rejection, peer enforcement, and maladjustment had a higher risk than affectionate parents and conventional peers. Stepwise binary logistic regression analysis disclosed that age, socioeconomic status, father affection, hostility, rejection, negligence, peer influences, and psychosocial adjustment, mother hostility were independently associated with occasional drug cravings. Conclusion Findings suggested the high prevalence of occasional drug cravings in Pakistani students in the capital territory. Furthermore, the demographic and other social and clinical aspects could be linked. This study carried out theoretical significance in understanding the predictors of occasional drug craving and psychological adjustment, highlighting the peer and parent's roles and the educational institutions.</p
Social observation modulates the influence of socioeconomic status on pro-environmental behavior: an event-related potential study
Understanding the psychological antecedents of socioeconomic status (SES) on pro-environmental behavior is crucial for effectively encouraging individuals from different socioeconomic backgrounds to address environmental issues. Previous research has separately examined the influence of SES and social observation on pro-environmental behavior. However, little is known about whether social observation moderates the influence of SES on pro-environmental behavior, and the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms remain uncharacterized. Using event-related potential (ERPs), we adopted the green purchase paradigm and manipulated subjective SES, to examine whether the influence of SES on pro-environmental behavior is moderated by social observation. The behavioral results revealed that individuals of high SES tended to purchase more eco-friendly products under the observable condition than those in the non-observable condition. The ERP results revealed that participants with high SES exhibited more negative N2 and N400 amplitude during environmental decisions in the non-observable condition than in the observable condition, indicating that high SES individuals experience less cognitive conflict during environmental decisions, which may reflect the attenuated cost-benefit trade-off due to reputational incentives in the presence of observers. Additionally, individuals with high SES exhibited greater reputational motivation when observed, as indicated by larger P3 amplitude. However, these differences were not observed among individuals with low SES. These findings suggest that SES is associated with distinct psychological and behavioral differences in pro-environmental behavior, moderated by social observation, evident across both the early and later stages of environmental decisions in the brain.</p
Gender difference in the relationship between clinical symptoms, thyroid hormones, and metabolic parameters in young, first-episode and drug-na?ve major depressive disorder patients with suicide attempts: A network analysis perspective
Background: Suicide attempts are one of the most serious comorbidities in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), and the prevalence of suicide attempts is higher in younger people compared to older people, with significant gender differences. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between suicide attempts, clinical symptoms, thyroid hormones, and metabolic parameters in young first-episode and drug-na & iuml;ve (FEND) MDD patients of different genders. Methods: A total of 1289 FEND MDD patients were recruited. Depression, anxiety, and psychotic symptoms were assessed using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA), and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) positive subscale, respectively. Thyroid hormones and glucolipid metabolism indicators were also tested. Network analysis was employed to delineate the interplay between thyroid dysfunction, clinical symptoms, and metabolic disorders. Results: Among young FEND MDD patients, the rate of suicide attempts was 17.4% in males and 19.8% in females, showing no significant gender difference in the incidence of suicide attempts (chi 2 = 1.06, p = 0.303). In the network model, PANSS positive subscale (Expected Influence = 0.578) and HAMD scores (Expected Influence = 0.576) were identified as the individual symptoms that most affected male patients, whereas TSH (ThyroidStimulating Hormone) (Expected Influence = 0.972) and PANSS positive subscale (Expected Influence = 0.937) were identified as the individual symptoms that most affected female patients. In addition, we found that TSH (Expected Influence = 0.438) was a pivotal node connecting metabolic disturbances and clinical symptoms. Conclusion: Our findings emphasize the important role of psychotic symptoms in young MDD patients with suicide attempts. Moreover, our results highlight the pivotal role of serum TSH levels in the pathophysiology of young female MDD patients with suicide attempts.</p