Overestimating the intensity of negative feelings in autobiographical memory: evidence from the 9/11 attack and COVID-19 pandemic.

When recalling autobiographical events, people not only retrieve event details but also the feelings they experienced. The current study examined whether people are able to consistently recall the intensity of past feelings associated with two consequential and negatively valenced events, i.e.

Causal Inference Gates Corticostriatal Learning.

Attributing outcomes to your own actions or to external causes is essential for appropriately learning which actions lead to reward and which actions do not. Our previous work showed that this type of credit assignment is best explained by a Bayesian reinforcement learning model which posits that beliefs about the causal structure of the environment modulate reward prediction errors (RPEs) during action value updating. In this study, we investigated the brain networks underlying reinforcement learning that are influenced by causal beliefs using functional magnetic resonance imaging while human participants ( = 31; 13 males, 18 females) completed a behavioral task that manipulated beliefs about causal structure.

The rational use of causal inference to guide reinforcement learning strengthens with age.

Beliefs about the controllability of positive or negative events in the environment can shape learning throughout the lifespan. Previous research has shown that adults' learning is modulated by beliefs about the causal structure of the environment such that they update their value estimates to a lesser extent when the outcomes can be attributed to hidden causes. This study examined whether external causes similarly influenced outcome attributions and learning across development.

Publisher Correction: Controllability governs the balance between Pavlovian and instrumental action selection.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Controllability governs the balance between Pavlovian and instrumental action selection.

A Pavlovian bias to approach reward-predictive cues and avoid punishment-predictive cues can conflict with instrumentally-optimal actions. Here, we propose that the brain arbitrates between Pavlovian and instrumental control by inferring which is a better predictor of reward. The instrumental predictor is more flexible; it can learn values that depend on both stimuli and actions, whereas the Pavlovian predictor learns values that depend only on stimuli.

Causal Inference About Good and Bad Outcomes.

People learn differently from good and bad outcomes. We argue that valence-dependent learning asymmetries are partly driven by beliefs about the causal structure of the environment. If hidden causes can intervene to generate bad (or good) outcomes, then a rational observer will assign blame (or credit) to these hidden causes, rather than to the stable outcome distribution.

Neural Computations Underlying Causal Structure Learning.

Behavioral evidence suggests that beliefs about causal structure constrain associative learning, determining which stimuli can enter into association, as well as the functional form of that association. Bayesian learning theory provides one mechanism by which structural beliefs can be acquired from experience, but the neural basis of this mechanism is poorly understood. We studied this question with a combination of behavioral, computational, and neuroimaging techniques.

Disrupted Prefrontal Regulation of Striatal Subjective Value Signals in Psychopathy.

Psychopathy is a personality disorder with strong links to criminal behavior. While research on psychopathy has focused largely on socio-affective dysfunction, recent data suggest that aberrant decision making may also play an important role. Yet, the circuit-level mechanisms underlying maladaptive decision making in psychopathy remain unclear.

Genetically transforming human osteoblasts to sarcoma: development of an osteosarcoma model.

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary malignant bone tumor in children and young adults. Although histologically defined by the presence of malignant osteoid, the tumor possesses lineage multipotency suggesting it could be derived from a cell anywhere on the differentiation pathway between a mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) and a mature osteoblast. To determine if preosteoblasts (pOB) could be the cell of origin differentiated MSCs were transformed with defined genetic elements.

Selective Mapping of Psychopathy and Externalizing to Dissociable Circuits for Inhibitory Self-Control.

Antisociality is commonly conceptualized as a unitary construct, but there is considerable evidence for multidimensionality. In particular, two partially dissociable symptom clusters - psychopathy and externalizing - have divergent associations to clinical and forensic outcomes and are linked to unique patterns executive dysfunction. Here, we used fMRI in a sample of incarcerated offenders to map these dimensions of antisocial behavior to brain circuits underlying two aspects of inhibitory self-control: interference suppression and response inhibition.

Transcriptional Profiling Identifies the Signaling Axes of IGF and Transforming Growth Factor-b as Involved in the Pathogenesis of Osteosarcoma.

Background: Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bone tumor in adolescents associated with skeletal development. The molecular pathogenesis of osteosarcoma has not been completely determined, although many molecular alterations have been found in human osteosarcomas and cell lines.

Questions/purposes: We questioned whether (1) we could identify gene expression in osteosarcoma specimens that differs from normal osteoblasts and mesenchymal stem cells and (2) this would provide clues to the molecular pathogenesis of osteosarcoma?

Methods: The whole-genome transcriptional profiles of osteosarcomas, including two primary biopsy specimens, two cell lines, two xenografts derived from patient specimens, and one from normal osteoblasts and from mesenchymal stem cells, respectively, were quantitatively measured using serial analysis of gene expression.

Social Behavior: A Penny for Your Shocks.

Antisocial behavior is an enormously costly social problem, but its origins are poorly understood. A new study shows that prosocial and antisocial behaviors arise from individual differences in how we represent the value of others' pain relative to our own potential gain, rather than from variability in the capacity for effortful inhibitory control.

The Effects of Prepregnancy Body Mass Index and Gestational Weight Gain on Fetal Macrosomia Among American Indian/Alaska Native Women.

Objectives: The American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) population is a high-risk group across many health indicators, including fetal macrosomia. We aimed to investigate the effects of prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG) on macrosomia and explore possible racial and geographical variations among AI/AN women.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System in eight states (2004-2011) among live, singleton, term births to AI/AN women 20 years or older.

The Association Between Diabetes Mellitus Among American Indian/Alaska Native Populations with Preterm Birth in Eight US States from 2004-2011.

Objectives: Assess risk of preterm birth associated with diabetes mellitus (DM) among American Indian and Alaska Natives (AI/AN), a population with increased risk of DM and preterm birth, and examine whether this association differed by state of residence.

Methods: We used surveillance data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System from 12,400 AI/AN respondents with singleton births in Alaska, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, and Washington from 2004-2011. We conducted multivariable logistic regression models to estimate the odds ratio adjusted for maternal age and prepregnancy BMI with all observations and then stratified by state.

Development of a Model System to Evaluate Local Recurrence in Osteosarcoma and Assessment of the Effects of Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2.

Purpose: It is increasingly relevant to better define what constitutes an adequate surgical margin in an effort to improve reconstructive longevity and functional outcomes following osteosarcoma surgery. In addition, nonunion remains a challenging problem in some patients following allograft reconstruction. Bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) could enhance osseous union, but has been historically avoided due to concerns that it may promote tumor recurrence.

Neurobiological mechanisms for impulsive-aggression: the role of MAOA.

Aggression may be present across a large part of the spectrum of psychopathology, and underlies costly criminal antisocial behaviors. Human aggression is a complex and underspecified construct, confounding scientific discovery. Nevertheless, some biologically tractable subtypes are apparent, and one in particular-impulsive (reactive) aggression-appears to account for many facets of aggression-related dysfunction in psychiatric illness.

Aspergillus osteomyelitis of the proximal humerus: a case report.

Aspergillus osteomyelitis is an extremely rare manifestation of invasive aspergillosis. Generally, patients in states of significant immune deficiency are very susceptible to invasive aspergillosis. We report a case of Aspergillus osteomyelitis of the proximal humerus in an immunocompetent patient that required aggressive oral antifungal therapy, surgical debridement, and placement of an antifungal-impregnated cement spacer.

Tophaceous pseudogout of the thoracic spine.

Calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate deposition disease (CPDD, tophaceous pseudogout) is a rare crystal arthropathy characterized by pyrophosphate crystal deposition in joints, synovitis and chondrocalcinosis on imaging. We present the case of a 72-year-old man with 6 months of left chest pain; magnetic resonance imaging revealed a T9/T10 herniated disc. Intraoperatively, the material was sent for pathological analysis revealing pseudogout.

Mesenchymal chondrosarcoma: clinicopathologic study of 20 cases.

Context: Mesenchymal chondrosarcoma is a rare, high-grade malignancy of bone or soft tissue with a unique, biphasic histology and poor prognosis. Because of its rarity and variable length of disease-free survival, the natural history of the disease remains poorly understood.

Objective: To present clinical, radiographic, and histopathologic features of mesenchymal chondrosarcoma from one of the largest case series collected by a single, senior-level bone pathologist.

A novel EWSR1-CREB3L1 fusion transcript in a case of small cell osteosarcoma.

Cellular morphology of small cell osteosarcoma, an aggressive variant of osteosarcoma, is similar to Ewing sarcoma, but its molecular pathogenesis is largely unknown. We report the case of a 12-year-old girl with multifocal small cell osteosarcoma positive for the Ewing sarcoma breakpoint region 1 (EWSR1) gene rearrangement by interphase fluorescent in situ hybridization and negative for EWSR1-FLI1, EWSR1-ERG, and EWSR1-WT1 fusion transcripts by reverse transcriptase PCR. Rapid amplification of cDNA ends revealed exon 6 of the cAMP-responsive element binding protein 3-like 1 gene (CREB3L1, also known as "OASIS," NM_52854.

Primary malignant bone tumors--recent developments.

Primary malignant bone tumors are rare sarcomas with an estimated frequency of about 2900 new cases per year; they constitute less than 0.2% of all cancers diagnosed in the United States. The diagnosis and management of these neoplasms require a team approach, which includes orthopaedic surgeons, radiologists, pathologists, and oncologists.

Aggressively recurrent infantile myofibroma of the axilla and shoulder girdle.

Infantile myofibroma is the most common fibrous tumor of infancy, typically affecting neonates and children under 2 years of age. Though the multicentric variant portends a grave prognosis, solitary lesions have an excellent prognosis and frequently undergo spontaneous regression. Surgical excision of solitary lesions is usually curative.