Both a blunted Reward Positivity (RewP) and Error-Related Negativity (ERN) have been associated with depression. Associations between these neural markers and depression have been observed cross-sectionally, but evidence that they can prospectively predict the development of, or increases in, symptoms of depression is more limited.

With the rapid development of digital communication, emojis have played an increasingly important role in computer-mediated communication (CMC). Although Non-face emojis account for approximately 90 % of emoji usage, related research remains relatively scarce. Furthermore, there is limited exploration of the differences in the mechanisms of text processing between Face and Non-face emojis. The aim of this study is to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying the differences in text processing between Face emojis and Non-face emojis. We employed a semantic violation paradigm to analyze the cognitive processes of 28 participants as they processed texts in which emojis replaced words. The experimental materials consisted of 8 target stimuli, each corresponding to 15 text sentences. The results indicate that Non-face emojis elicited a strong N400 effect in incongruent texts, suggesting that Non-face emojis may have higher semantic complexity and can function as substitutes for words. In contrast, Face emojis primarily elicited an LNC component, indicating that they are more likely to be perceived as symbols of emotional expression rather than carriers of explicit semantic information. These results reveal the distinct roles of Face and Non-face emojis in text comprehension, providing new insights into emoji semantics and their impact on language processing.

Alcohol-related aggression is a widely observed phenomenon that has detrimental effects on both individuals and society, putatively caused by dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) plays a critical role in representing the reward value of future actions. Emerging research has suggested that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the vmPFC can reduce aggression. However, no study has examined whether tDCS can mitigate intoxicated aggression. In this study, 153 healthy participants consumed alcohol or not and completed the anger-infused Ultimatum Game with simultaneous double-blind anodal tDCS or sham over the bilateral vmPFC. For participants in the anodal tDCS condition, intoxicated participants were less aggressive than sober participants when insulted. However, among sober participants, anodal tDCS increased aggression. For participants in the alcohol condition, we observed no differences in aggression between the anodal tDCS and the sham tDCS conditions. These findings provide mixed support for tDCS as a means to attenuate intoxicated aggression.

This study assessed interpersonal stressors (peer adversity and parental rejection) as predictors of adolescents' circulating inflammatory markers, while examining emotion regulation and parasympathetic nervous system activity (at rest, reactivity, and recovery) as potential protective moderators. Data were collected in a Belgian cohort of adolescents in 2017 (n=185, 51.4 % boys, 10-18 y) and 2018 (n=98), and included serum inflammatory markers (CRP, TNFα, IFNγ, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10), peer adversity, parental rejection, emotion regulation and heart rate variability (RMSSD-HRV, at rest and in 2018 also in response to a Trier Social Stress Test). Contrary to the hypothesis, interpersonal stressors were negatively related to TNFα (in 2017 and 2018), IFNγ (in 2017 and longitudinally) and IL-6 (in 2018). In 23 % of the tested associations, HRV at rest was a significant moderator: the negative stressor-inflammation associations were present only among adolescents with low HRV resting values. No significant moderation by HRV reactivity or recovery was detected. After correction for multiple testing, all above-mentioned significant findings disappeared. These unexpected findings may suggest that the positive association between stress exposure and circulating markers of inflammation is not yet detectable in adolescence and perhaps becomes evident only later in life.

Many theories of psychological function emphasize the importance of bodily sensations and the ability to accurately detect them, known as interoceptive accuracy. The most common measure of interoceptive accuracy uses heartbeat detection tasks such as the Whitehead Task, yet to our knowledge there are no freely accessible programs to conduct this task. In this paper, we present novel software called WACARDIA (Wireless Assessment of CARDiac Interoceptive Accuracy), which is free, open-source software that conducts the heartbeat detection task using Matlab and Psychtoolbox. WACARDIA contains several key features supporting participant engagement, operator convenience, and measurement accuracy. First, the program includes an optional practice trial of unlimited duration, a participant-facing graphical interface, and the ability to perform heartbeat detection training. Second, the operator is provided with a graphical user interface, live trial feedback, an accurate wireless electrocardiogram device, and a separate program to conduct the related Heartbeat Tracking task. Finally, the program ensures the accuracy of collected data by scheduling the delivery of tones with high precision and implementing fail-safes to automatically reset erroneous measurements. This paper includes flowcharts that help create transparency by describing our algorithm. We also outline customizable aspects of the program with the intent to have WACARDIA's algorithm expanded to accommodate more situations and applications. With this paper, we hope to encourage the practice of publicizing research software to contribute to the transparency, rigor, and reproducibility of scientific studies. WACARDIA and video tutorials are available at www.github.com/iankleckner/wacardia and http://wacardia.iankleckner.com.

Previous research suggests that the mere presence of a smartphone can detrimentally affect performance. However, other studies failed to observe such detrimental effects. A limitation of existing studies is that no indexes of (potentially compensating) effort were included. Further, time-on-task effects have been unexplored. Here, we address these limitations by investigating the mere-presence effect of a smartphone on performance in two continuous-performance experiments (Experiment 1 using an n-back and a number judgement task at two difficulty levels, and Experiment 2 using a pure, challenging n-back task), measuring pupil size to assess invested effort, and taking into account time-on-task effects. Finally, contrary to previous studies that predominantly used between-subject designs, we utilized within-subject designs in both experiments. Contrary to expectations, Experiment 1 largely yielded no significant effects of smartphone presence on performance. Nonetheless, the presence of a smartphone triggered larger tonic pupil size in the more difficult task, and a more rapid decrease over time. Experiment 2 similarly failed to demonstrate smartphone effects on performance, but replicated the finding of larger tonic pupil size in the presence of a smartphone. In addition, tonic pupil size showed a slower decrease over time when a smartphone was present. In Experiment 2, we could furthermore look at phasic pupil size, which decreased over time in the absence of a phone but not in its presence. These findings suggest a complex relationship between smartphone presence, effort, and time-on-task, which does not necessarily express itself behaviorally, highlighting in particular the need to also explore potential contributions of (compensatory) effort.

Advisors typically receive two types of feedback: whether their advice is accepted and benefits the advisee. However, the effect of interpersonal distance on advisors' feedback responses remains unexplored. Therefore, to examine this association, we used an advice-giving task in which participants acted as advisors to either friends or strangers through event-related potentials (ERP). Participants received feedback reflecting whether their advice was accepted or rejected and the advisee's outcome (gains or losses). Participants' electroencephalograms were recorded when receiving feedback. Results revealed that rejections from friends elicited stronger feedback-related negativity (FRN) than acceptances from friends. Furthermore, acceptances from friends triggered larger late positive components (LPCs) than rejections from friends. No such effects were observed when the advisee was a stranger. Moreover, a stronger FRN was observed for losses than gains when strangers accepted the advice; however, this difference was not observed when strangers rejected the advice. In addition, friends' gains elicited a larger P300 than losses, regardless of whether friends accepted the advice; however, for strangers, this P300 difference was observed only when the advice was accepted. When strangers accepted the advice, gains elicited larger LPCs than losses; however, this difference was not observed when strangers rejected the advice. These results revealed that the interpersonal distance between people affected how they responded to feedback on advice. This was demonstrated by the neural responses related to expectations, motivational significance, and emotional arousal. It also suggests that the psychological processes by which interpersonal distance influences feedback processing change over the stages.

This paper concerns structure learning or discovery of discrete generative models. It focuses on Bayesian model selection and the assimilation of training data or content, with a special emphasis on the order in which data are ingested. A key move-in the ensuing schemes-is to place priors on the selection of models, based upon expected free energy. In this setting, expected free energy reduces to a constrained mutual information, where the constraints inherit from priors over outcomes (i.e., preferred outcomes). The resulting scheme is first used to perform image classification on the MNIST dataset to illustrate the basic idea, and then tested on a more challenging problem of discovering models with dynamics, using a simple sprite-based visual disentanglement paradigm and the Tower of Hanoi (cf., blocks world) problem. In these examples, generative models are constructed autodidactically to recover (i.e., disentangle) the factorial structure of latent states-and their characteristic paths or dynamics.

In language acquisition, individuals learn the emotional value of words through external feedback. Previous studies have used emotional words as experimental materials to explore the cognitive mechanisms underlying emotional language processing, but have failed to recognize that languages are acquired in changing environments. To this end, this study aims to combine reinforcement learning with emotional word learning, using a probabilistic reversal learning task to explore how individuals acquire the valence of emotional words in a dynamically changing environment. Computational modeling on both behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) data revealed that individuals' expectations to rewards modulated the learning speed and temporal processing of emotional words, demonstrating a clear negative bias. Specifically, as the expected value increased, individuals responded faster and exhibited higher amplitudes for negative emotional words. These findings shed light on the neural mechanisms of emotional word learning in a volatile environment, highlighting the crucial role of expectations in this process and a preference for learning negative information.

Cognitive control enables us to translate our knowledge into actions, allowing us to flexibly adjust our behavior, according to environmental contexts, our internal goals, and future plans. Multimodal neuroimaging and neurostimulation techniques have proven essential for advancing our understanding of how cognitive control emerges from the coordination of distributed neuronal activities in the brain. In this review, we examine the literature on multimodal studies of cognitive control. We explore how these studies provide converging evidence for a novel, multiplexed model of cognitive control, in which neural oscillations support different levels of control processing along a functionally hierarchical organization of distinct frontoparietal networks.

Although psychosocial stressors are known to impact task performance and trigger neuroendocrine responses, the dynamic nature of the stress appraisal process is often neglected in research.

High levels of test anxiety can cause negative emotional interference and have adverse effects in multiple aspects. It is currently unclear whether acute aerobic exercise can effectively reduce a series of negative emotions triggered by test anxiety. This study investigates the impact of 30 min of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise on the subjective emotional responses and frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) in individuals with high test anxiety. Forty-four college students with high test anxiety were randomly assigned to an aerobic exercise group and a control group. Each group underwent two tests, involving subjective scale measurements and resting-state EEG recordings, with a seven-day interval between tests. Results showed that after 30 min of moderate-intensity acute aerobic exercise, the intervention group had significantly reduced scores in subjective negative emotional experiences, and FAA indicators significantly increased. The study suggests that acute aerobic exercise can enhance the emotional regulation ability of college students with high test anxiety and reduce their negative emotions.

Individuals with autistic traits (AT) are widely distributed in the general population. Strengthening understanding of AT can provide a broader perspective for autism research as well as more accurate diagnosis and personalized treatment plans for clinical practice. Previous studies on attention bias among high-AT individuals have yielded inconsistent results, which may relate to different stages of attention. In this study, we selected two groups with high and low level AT from the general population, and then adopted the odd-one-out search task, combined with Event-related potential (ERP) technique, conducted both attention orientation and attention dissociation tasks, to explore attention bias and electroencephalogram (EEG) characteristics towards threatening emotional faces in these groups. The behavioral data showed no accelerated attention orientation to angry faces and neutral faces; however, there was attention dissociation difficulty for angry faces. Compared with low-AT individuals, the EEG results showed that high-AT individuals have acceleration of attention orientation and attention dissociation difficulty for threatening emotional faces. From the perspective of top-down concept-driven processing, these findings suggest that high-AT individuals have attention bias for cognitive processing of threatening stimuli, which is mainly due to acceleration of attention orientation and attention dissociation difficulties for threatening information.

A near-miss is a situation in which a gambler almost wins but falls short by a small margin, which motivates gambling by making it feel like success is within reach. Existing research has extensively investigated the influence of contextual information on near-miss outcome processing; however, the impact of reward expectancy has received limited attention thus far. To address this gap, we utilized the wheel of fortune task and event-related potential technique (ERP) to quantify the electrophysiological responses associated with gambling outcomes at different levels of reward expectancy. Behaviorally, near-miss outcomes elicited a greater occurrence of counterfactual thoughts, feelings of regret, and heightened anticipation of rewards for subsequent trials compared to full-miss outcomes. ERP findings indicated that in contrast to full-miss outcomes, near-miss outcomes diminished feedback-related negativities (FRNs) and amplified P300s when reward expectancy was low, but amplified FRNs and diminished P300s when reward expectancy was high. These findings provide valuable insights into the neural mechanisms underlying the processing of outcome proximity and reward expectancy.

Childhood obesity is a growing global public health problem. Studies suggest that environmental cues contribute to developing and maintaining obesity. We aimed to evaluate pupillary changes to auditory food words vs. nonfood words and to conduct a dynamic temporal analysis of pupil size changes in adolescents with obesity without binge eating disorder by comparing healthy-weight adolescents. In this study, a total of 63 adolescents aged 12-18 years (n = 32, obesity group (OG); n = 31, control group (CG)) were included. In an auditory paradigm, participants were presented with a series of high and low-calorie food and nonfood words. A binocular remote eye-tracking device was used to measure pupil diameter. Generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) were used for dynamic temporal analysis of pupillometry data. The results of GAMM analysis indicated that CG had larger pupil dilation than the OG while listening to auditory food words. CG had larger pupil dilation in food words than in nonfood words. However, the OG had a similar pupillary response in food and nonfood words. Pupil dilation response to higher-calorie foods was extended over the later stages of the time period (after 2000 ms) in the OG. In summary, our findings indicated that individuals with obesity had lower pupil dilation to auditory food words compared to normal-weight peers. Adolescents with obesity had prolonged pupillary dilation in higher calories of food words. The individual psychological factors affecting the dynamic changes of pupil responses to food cues in adolescents with obesity should be examined in further studies.

Frontal Alpha Asymmetry (FAA) has been studied since the late 1970s as a neural correlate of emotion regulation and motivational processes. FAA is often viewed through a dispositional lens reflecting individual differences in positive or negative emotionality and biases toward approach or avoidance motivational processes. However, FAA also shifts in response to context-specific conditions that elicit approach or avoidance responses, indicating FAA reflects active, ongoing self-regulatory processes. Moreover, FAA changes over time, and how it changes over time is affected by context, experience, and development. We propose FAA evolves over four different time scales including the (1) second-to-second, (2) laboratory task, (3) intervention or intensive learning experience, and (4) developmental time scales. We present evidence showing FAA evolves over each of these time scales and highlight influences of individual differences and the developmental context on how FAA changes over time. We emphasize the insights gained by studying change in FAA over each time scale. We concluded with recommendations about future directions and speculate about the nested, bidirectional nature of the four timescales.

Investigating the transmission of information between individuals is essential to better understand how humans communicate. Coherent information transmission (i.e., transmission without significant modifications or loss of fidelity) helps preserving cultural traits and traditions over time, while innovation may lead to new cultural variants. Although much research has focused on the cognitive mechanisms underlying cultural transmission, little is known on the brain features which correlates with coherent transmission of information. To address this gap, we combined structural (from high-resolution diffusion imaging) and functional connectivity (from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging [fMRI]) with a laboratory model of cultural transmission, the signalling games, implemented outside the MRI scanner. We found that individuals who exhibited more coherence in the transmission of auditory symbolic information were characterized by lower levels of both structural and functional inter-hemispheric connectivity. Specifically, higher coherence negatively correlated with the strength of bilateral structural connections between frontal and subcortical, insular and temporal brain regions. Similarly, we observed increased inter-hemispheric functional connectivity between inferior frontal brain regions derived from structural connectivity analysis in individuals who exhibited lower transmission coherence. Our results suggest that lateralization of cognitive processes involved in semantic mappings in the brain may be related to the stability over time of auditory symbolic systems.

Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD) is considered a preclinical stage within the AD continuum. Knowledge about the functional changes in the brain associated with episodic memory retrieval and novelty recognition in people with SCD is currently very limited.

Odors are known to affect an individual's emotions and physiological states. Recent research has revealed that olfaction is linked to the mental representation of internal sensations, known as interoception. However, little research has examined how interoception relates to emotional responses to odors. This research aimed to fill this gap in the literature. We conducted two studies with a total of 548 Japanese women (n = 500 and n = 48 in Studies 1 and 2, respectively). Study 1 used an online survey to assess the relationship between self-reported interoceptive traits and the intensity of positive emotions in response to daily odors. Study 2 examined how self-reported interoceptive traits modulated the arousal ratings of odors presented in the laboratory and the concordance between these perceived arousal ratings and odor-evoked physiological responses. Study 1 confirmed that self-reported interoceptive traits were significant predictors of positive emotional intensity of odors. In Study 2, individuals with high interoceptive measure scores showed concordance between their perceived emotional arousal and the physiological responses associated with that emotion, whereas individuals with low scores did not. These findings suggest that how people perceive their internal sensations contributes to shaping their olfactory affective experiences, thereby broadening the scope of interoception research and aromachology. The practical implications of these findings for the development of commercial fragrances are discussed.

Research into the effects of acute anxiety on episodic memory has produced inconsistent findings, particularly for threat-neutral information. In two experiments, we tested the hypothesis that anxiety induced by threat of shock can interfere with the use of semantic-organizational processes that benefit memory. In Experiment 1, participants viewed and freely recalled two lists of semantically unrelated neutral words, one encoded in a threatening context (threat blocks) and one encoded without threat (safe blocks). As predicted, significantly fewer words were recalled during threat than safe blocks. Moreover, free recall patterns following threat blocks showed lower levels of semantic organization as assessed using a "path length" measurement that considers the semantic distance between pairs of consecutively recalled words. Both effects unexpectedly interacted with block order, such that they primarily reflected improved recall and increased semantic organization from the first to the second block in participants who received the threat block first. Experiment 2 used semantically related word lists to reduce potential impacts of task experience on semantic organization. Free recall was again less accurate and showed longer (less organized) path lengths for threat than safe blocks, and the path length effect no longer interacted with block order. Moreover, threat-induced changes to path lengths emerged as a mediator of the relation between physiological effects of threat (increased skin conductance) and reduced subsequent memory. These data point to semantic control processes as an understudied determinant of when and how acute anxiety impacts episodic memory.