Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
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A molecularly defined brain circuit module for regulating panic-like defensive state
No full textPanic is an episode of strong defensive state, characterized by intense fear and severe physical symptoms such as elevated cardiorespiratory activities. How the brain generates panic state remains poorly understood. Here, we developed a robot-based experimental paradigm to evoke panic-like defensive state in mice. When stimulated by the robot, mice exhibited jumping escapes and elevated cardiorespiratory activities. With this paradigm, we identified Cbln2-expressing (Cbln2+) neurons in the posterior hypothalamic nucleus (PHN) as a key neuronal population essential for the induction of panic-like defensive state. Activation of Cbln2+ PHN neurons induced behavioral and physical symptoms of panic-like defensive state. These neurons were strongly activated by noxious mechanical stimuli and encode jumping escape vigor. They were synaptically innervated by anxiety-associated brain areas and provoked panic-like defensive state via their projection to the periaqueductal gray. Together, our results reveal a molecularly defined circuit module that regulates the panic-like defensive state in mice
Characteristics of brain network connectome and connectome-based efficacy predictive model in bipolar depression
No full textAberrant functional connectivity (FC) between brain networks has been indicated closely associated with bipolar disorder (BD). However, the previous findings of specific brain network connectivity patterns have been inconsistent, and the clinical utility of FCs for predicting treatment outcomes in bipolar depression was underexplored. To identify robust neuro-biomarkers of bipolar depression, a connectome-based analysis was conducted on resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) data of 580 bipolar depression patients and 116 healthy controls (HCs). A subsample of 148 patients underwent a 4-week quetiapine treatment with post-treatment clinical assessment. Adopting machine learning, a predictive model based on pre-treatment brain connectome was then constructed to predict treatment response and identify the efficacy-specific networks. Distinct brain network connectivity patterns were observed in bipolar depression compared to HCs. Elevated intra-network connectivity was identified within the default mode network (DMN), sensorimotor network (SMN), and subcortical network (SC); and as to the inter-network connectivity, increased FCs were between the DMN, SMN and frontoparietal (FPN), ventral attention network (VAN), and decreased FCs were between the SC and cortical networks, especially the DMN and FPN. And the global network topology analyses revealed decreased global efficiency and increased characteristic path length in BD compared to HC. Further, the support vector regression model successfully predicted the efficacy of quetiapine treatment, as indicated by a high correspondence between predicted and actual HAMD reduction ratio values (r(df=147)=0.4493, p = 2*10-4). The identified efficacy-specific networks primarily encompassed FCs between the SMN and SC, and between the FPN, DMN, and VAN. These identified networks further predicted treatment response with r = 0.3940 in the subsequent validation with an independent cohort (n = 43). These findings presented the characteristic aberrant patterns of brain network connectome in bipolar depression and demonstrated the predictive potential of pre-treatment network connectome for quetiapine response. Promisingly, the identified connectivity networks may serve as functional targets for future precise treatments for bipolar depression
How face-like objects and averted gaze faces orient our attention: The role of global configuration and local features
No full textIn real life, people perceive nonexistent faces from face-like objects, called face pareidolia. Face-like objects, similar to averted gazes, can direct the observer's attention. However, the similarities and differences in attentional shifts induced by these two types of stimuli remain underexplored. Through a gaze cueing task, this study compares the cueing effects of face-like objects and averted gaze faces, revealing both commonalities and distinct underlying mechanisms. Our findings demonstrate that while both types of stimuli can elicit attentional shifts, the mechanisms differ: averted gaze faces rely on processing local features like gaze direction, whereas face-like objects leverage their global configuration to enhance attentional shifts by triggered eye-like features. These findings advance the understanding of the processing mechanisms underlying the perception of face-like objects, and how the brain represents facial attributes even when physical facial stimuli are absent. This study provides a valuable theoretical foundation for future investigations into the broader applications of face-like stimuli in human perception and attention
Impact of News Portrayals of Physicians as Vulnerable on the Public's Evaluation and Trust in Physicians Under Different Involvement Levels: Quantitative Study
No full textBackground: News portrayals of physicians, especially in China, often depict them as vulnerable-overworked, with inadequate compensation, or as victims of violence. These portrayals may send mixed signals to the public, yet their impact remains underexplored. Understanding their impact is essential for informing media strategies and improving physician-patient relationships. Objective: This study investigated how portrayals of physicians as vulnerable influence public evaluations of their competence, warmth, morality, and overall trust and considered the moderating effects of involvement (ie, hospital visit frequency). Methods: Four studies were conducted. Study 1 (N=492) examined the effects of daily exposure to vulnerable portrayals, and study 2 (N=710) experimentally exposed participants to vulnerable portrayals to directly investigate the causal relationship between exposure and evaluations with involvement as a hypothesized moderator. Study 3 (N=565) manipulated situational involvement using an imagination task, whereas study 4 (N=436) embedded involvement-enhancing content into news articles to improve ecological validity. Results: Study 1 revealed that among individuals with low or moderate involvement, greater exposure to vulnerable physician portrayals in everyday life predicted more favorable overall evaluations of physicians (low involvement: B=0.11 and P=.04; moderate involvement: B=0.20 and P.68 in all cases), suggesting an inverted U-shaped moderating effect of involvement. Study 2 supported this pattern-vulnerable portrayals had no significant impact among individuals with low or high involvement (t702.15 in all cases) but had marginally positive effects on individuals with moderate involvement (t702=1.67; P=.10; d=0.26). Notably, individuals with superhigh involvement (ie, those in hospital settings) evaluated physicians more negatively following vulnerable portrayals (t702=2.49; P=.01; d=0.44). Given that nearly 80% of the general population reports low to moderate hospital visits, which is the positive moderating effect range for involvement, studies 3 and 4 targeted this group and tested whether manipulated situational involvement could enhancethe effects of vulnerable portrayals. In studies 3a and 3b, participants in the high-situational involvement condition evaluated physicians more positively in the vulnerable portrayal group than in the control group (3a: t401=2.71, P=.007, d=0.37; 3b: t154=3.48, P= 0.38 in all cases; P<.001 in all cases), supporting the hypothesized mediation pathway. Conclusions:Thefindings reveal a complex relationship between news portrayals of vulnerable physicians and public perceptions moderated by involvement. These results have practical implications for leveraging media to increase public trust and improve physician-patient relationships
Childbearing in the age of AI: Can robot-provided support influence fertility intentions?
No full textThe evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) and its capacity to provide social support may influence fertility decisions from a cost-benefit perspective, as AI companionship could partially compensate for the emotional and instrumental support traditionally derived from offspring. To examine this possibility, we conducted two online experiments using video priming (Study 1) and writing priming (Study 2) to assess whether AI-provided support influences fertility intentions and motivations. Study 1 revealed that participants with more positive attitudes toward situations of interaction with robots reported decreased fertility intentions following exposure to human-robot interaction videos. Meanwhile, Study 2 found that participants with more positive attitudes toward emotional interactions with robots exhibited increased fertility intentions after imagining AI companionship during an illness scenario. We propose that these divergent effects stem from distinct cognitive frameworks: when an AI robot is perceived as a substitute for human support, it may diminish the anticipated benefits of having children, thereby reducing fertility intentions. However, when viewed as a human assistant, an AI robot may lower the perceived costs of childrearing, thus enhancing fertility intentions. These findings provide a novel insight into how human-robot interactions may influence individuals' desire to have children, potentially contributing to long-term demographic shifts. They also highlight the need for further investigation into AI's role in shaping attitudes toward family formation and social sustainability
Relationship between elevated habituation tendencies and impulsivity, compulsivity, and childhood adversity among abstinent patients with methamphetamine use disorders
No full textElevated habituation tendencies have been identified in several subgroups of patients with substance use disorders, however, their intricate relationship with substance use disorders remains unknown. A total of 133 individuals with methamphetamine use disorder (PwMUD) and 131 healthy controls (HC) were initially recruited for this study. After exclusion of outliers, data from 128 PwMUD and 125 HC were included in the analyses. Participants reported their habituation tendencies, drug-use characteristics, impulsivity, compulsivity, and experiences of childhood adversity through self-report scales and structured interviews. The results show that PwMUD had a higher level of automatic habituation tendencies compared to healthy controls. This higher level of automaticity demonstrated a tenuous association with the duration of methamphetamine use and a relatively stronger association with compulsivity, suggesting that the imbalance between the goal-directed and habitual systems in PwMUD may be both a risk factor for and a consequence of methamphetamine use disorder.</p
Social Class and Prosociality: A Meta-Analytic Review
No full textTwo theoretical perspectives (i.e., the risk management perspective and the resource perspective) offer competing predictions that higher class individuals-relative to lower class individuals-tend to be less versus more prosocial, respectively. Different predictions can also be drawn from each perspective about how the class-prosociality association varies across sociocultural contexts. To date, each perspective has received mixed empirical support. To test these competing perspectives, we synthesized 1,106 effect sizes from 471 independent studies on social class and prosociality (total N = 2,340,806, covering the years 1968-2024) conducted within 60 societies. Supporting the resource perspective, we found higher class individuals to be slightly more prosocial (r = .065, 95% confidence interval [.055, .075]); this association held for children, adolescents, and adults and did not significantly vary by any sociocultural variable. In testing the methodological moderators, we found no significant difference in the class-prosociality association in studies measuring objective social class (r = .066) and those measuring or manipulating subjective social class (r = .063). Nevertheless, the observed class-prosociality association was stronger when assessing prosocial behavior involving actual commitment of material or nonmaterial resources (r = .079) compared to prosocial intention (r = .039), and stronger under public (r = .065) than private (r = .016) circumstances. These findings generally support the resource perspective on class-based differences in prosociality-that the relatively higher cost of prosocial behavior, combined with heightened experience of deprivation, results in lower levels of prosociality among individuals with a lower social class background
Dyadic learning shapes gaze-mediated social attentional orienting
No full textPeople tend to automatically shift their attention in response to social cues, such as eye gaze-a phenomenon known as social attentional orienting, which is crucial for adaptive social behaviors and interpersonal communication. While this ability is genetically influenced and typically stable, the current research shows that it can be enhanced within a specific social context by dyadic learning. We engaged pairs of participants in a standard gaze-cuing task, during which they received instant feedback on each other's performance. Unbeknownst to the participants, the feedback was designed to create a social context in which the partner appeared to respond to the cued location faster than the participant. We found that such a social context significantly increased the magnitude of gaze cuing effect. Importantly, the observed enhancement was not attributable to confounding factors such as arousal level or overall performance difference, nor to implicit learning from the feedback structure. Instead, drift-diffusion model analysis suggested that such a social context improved both the initial attentional orienting process and the sustained allocation of processing resources to the gazed-at location, resulting in a stronger gaze cuing effect. A subsequent experiment replaced gaze cues with non-social arrow cues and observed no modulatory effect, underscoring the distinction between social and non-social attentional orienting. The current research provides compelling evidence that social attentional orienting is malleable and highlights the significant impact of dyadic learning in shaping this capability
Prevalence and correlates of suicide attempts in working-age, first-episode, drug-na?ve major depressive disorder patients
No full textSuicide attempts are a critical concern among first-episode, drug-na & iuml;ve (FEDN) patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). This cross-sectional study investigated the prevalence and correlates of suicide attempts in 1,701 working-age Chinese adults (18-59 years) with FEDN MDD. Sociodemographic data, clinical assessments, and biochemical data were obtained. Overall, 20.2% of participants reported lifetime suicide attempts. Multiple logistic regression identified four independent correlates: Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), clinical global impression of severity scale (CGI-s), systolic blood pressure, and thyroid peroxidase antibody levels. Additional analysis revealed significant pro-atherogenic lipid profile alterations in suicide attempters. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis highlighted the high discriminative ability of HAMA and CGI-s for identifying suicide attempts. These findings underscore the importance of integrating psychological, cardiovascular, and metabolic markers in routine suicide risk evaluation for working-age FEDN MDD patients. Incorporating anxiety, blood pressure, lipid metabolism, and thyroid autoantibody assessment may enhance early detection and inform targeted interventions.</p
Study of the interaction mechanism of aroma components in Baijiu and associated brain response microstates
No full textThe complex aroma of Baijiu is influenced by the interactions of various flavor compounds. This study employed molecular dynamics simulations and headspace solid-phase microextraction to both simulate and validate the interaction mechanisms between two key aroma compounds in Baijiu: ethyl caprylate and ethyl acetate. The findings indicate that a reduction in electrostatic interactions and van der Waals forces enhances the volatility of these compounds within Baijiu. Electroencephalography microstate analysis revealed distinct neural responses to the aroma compounds in Baijiu. In the ethyl caprylate group, the frequency of occurrence for all microstate classes significantly decreased, whereas their duration significantly increased. In the ethyl acetate group, the duration and coverage ratio of microstate C significantly decreased, whereas all parameters of microstate D significantly increased. In the mixed aroma group, all parameters of microstate classes A and D significantly increased, whereas those of class B significantly decreased. These results suggest that brain microstate activity reflects the millisecond-level temporal dynamics associated with Baijiu flavor perception.</p
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