Publications by authors named "Heck D"

Background: Regulated breathing is increasingly recognized as a vital component in enhancing cognition. Scientific studies suggest that intentional and controlled breathing techniques, such as deep and rhythmic breathing, can promote relaxation, reduce stress, and improve oxygen flow to the brain [1, 2]. Consequently, this may contribute to heightened cognitive function, better concentration, and increased mental clarity, accentuating the importance of incorporating mindful breathing practices as a potential avenue for cognitive improvement [3].

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Background: Regulated breathing is increasingly recognized as a vital component in enhancing cognition. Scientific studies suggest that intentional and controlled breathing techniques, such as deep and rhythmic breathing, can promote relaxation, reduce stress, and improve oxygen flow to the brain [1, 2]. Consequently, this may contribute to heightened cognitive function, better concentration, and increased mental clarity, accentuating the importance of incorporating mindful breathing practices as a potential avenue for cognitive improvement [3].

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Sequential collaboration describes the incremental process of contributing to online collaborative projects such as Wikipedia and OpenStreetMap. After a first contributor creates an initial entry, subsequent contributors create a sequential chain by deciding whether to adjust or maintain the latest entry which is updated if they decide to make changes. Sequential collaboration has recently been examined as a method for eliciting numerical group judgments.

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In psychological research, respondents are usually asked to answer questions with a single response value. A useful alternative are interval response formats like the dual-range slider (DRS) where respondents provide an interval with a lower and an upper bound for each item. Interval responses may be used to measure psychological constructs such as variability in the domain of personality (e.

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Simulation studies are widely used for evaluating the performance of statistical methods in psychology. However, the quality of simulation studies can vary widely in terms of their design, execution, and reporting. In order to assess the quality of typical simulation studies in psychology, we reviewed 321 articles published in in 2021 and 2022, among which 100/321 = 31.

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Idiographic network models are estimated on time series data of a single individual and allow researchers to investigate person-specific associations between multiple variables over time. The most common approach for fitting graphical vector autoregressive (GVAR) models uses least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regularization to estimate a contemporaneous and a temporal network. However, estimation of idiographic networks can be unstable in relatively small data sets typical for psychological research.

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There is growing attention towards atypical brain-body interactions and interoceptive processes and their potential role in psychiatric conditions, including affective and anxiety disorders. This paper aims to synthesize recent developments in this field. We present emerging explanatory models and focus on brain-body coupling and modulations of the underlying neurocircuitry that support the concept of a continuum of affective disorders.

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Article Synopsis
  • The brain's ability to recover from cell loss during development varies based on the type of cells lost, making the effects of genetic mutations in those neurons unpredictable.
  • Research shows that removing excitatory cerebellar output neurons during embryonic development mainly affects motor coordination rather than learning or social behaviors.
  • In contrast, mutations in specific transcription factors (Engrailed1/2) in the cerebellum can lead to significant deficits in learning and memory, even if some excitatory neurons are still present, affecting overall motor learning and some non-motor functions.
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Researchers have become increasingly aware that data-analysis decisions affect results. Here, we examine this issue systematically for multinomial processing tree (MPT) models, a popular class of cognitive models for categorical data. Specifically, we examine the robustness of MPT model parameter estimates that arise from two important decisions: the level of data aggregation (complete-pooling, no-pooling, or partial-pooling) and the statistical framework (frequentist or Bayesian).

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The cerebellum has a well-established role in controlling motor functions, including coordination, posture, and the learning of skilled movements. The mechanisms for how it carries out motor behavior remain under intense investigation. Interestingly though, in recent years the mechanisms of cerebellar function have faced additional scrutiny since nonmotor behaviors may also be controlled by the cerebellum.

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Measuring the variability in persons' behaviors and experiences using ecological momentary assessment is time-consuming and costly. We investigate whether interval responses provided through a dual-range slider (DRS) response format can be used as a simple and efficient alternative: Respondents indicate variability in their behavior in a retrospective rating by choosing a lower and an upper bound on a continuous, bounded scale. We investigate the psychometric properties of this response format as a prerequisite for further validation.

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Fluency theories predict higher truth judgments for easily processed statements. We investigated two factors relevant for processing fluency: repetition and syntactic complexity. In three online experiments, we manipulated syntactic complexity by creating simple and complex versions of trivia statements.

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Sulfur mustard (SM) is a threat to both civilian and military populations. Human skin is highly sensitive to SM, causing delayed erythema, edema, and inflammatory cell infiltration, followed by the appearance of large fluid-filled blisters. Skin wound repair is prolonged following blistering, which can result in impaired barrier function.

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Many psychological theories assume that observable responses are determined by multiple latent processes. Multinomial processing tree (MPT) models are a class of cognitive models for discrete responses that allow researchers to disentangle and measure such processes. Before applying MPT models to specific psychological theories, it is necessary to tailor a model to specific experimental designs.

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Standard response formats such as rating or visual analogue scales require respondents to condense distributions of latent states or behaviors into a single value. Whereas this is suitable to measure central tendency, it neglects the variance of distributions. As a remedy, variability may be measured using interval-response formats, more specifically the dual-range slider (RS2).

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Article Synopsis
  • Thalamo-cortical networks play a crucial role in seizures, but the exact mechanisms behind their initiation are still unclear.
  • This study investigates the ventral posteromedial nucleus (VPM) of the thalamus as a potential source of generalized convulsive motor seizures, using an in vivo optogenetic mouse model to examine thalamic neuron activity during seizures.
  • Findings suggest that diverse neural activity in the VPM, along with significant contributions from inputs like the cerebellum, is essential for seizure initiation, with lidocaine injections into cerebellar nuclei effectively blocking the seizures.
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Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB), caused by the fungus , is dominant within the foliar disease complex affecting onion production in New York (NY). The disease causes premature defoliation and significant reductions in bulb weight and quality. Foliar diseases of onion are usually managed by an intensive fungicide program, but SLB management is complicated by resistance to multiple single-site modes of action.

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  • Breathing significantly influences perception and cognition by controlling neural oscillations, which are brain wave patterns related to various behaviors and mental processes.
  • Research shows that respiratory rhythms affect cognitive, emotional, and perceptual outcomes, with observable impacts across different mammalian species.
  • This review aims to create a unified framework for understanding how respiratory modulation of brain activity links to psychiatric disorders by exploring computational models of neural oscillations and their related prediction errors.
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Researchers conduct meta-analyses in order to synthesize information across different studies. Compared to standard meta-analytic methods, Bayesian model-averaged meta-analysis offers several practical advantages including the ability to quantify evidence in favor of the absence of an effect, the ability to monitor evidence as individual studies accumulate indefinitely, and the ability to draw inferences based on multiple models simultaneously. This tutorial introduces the concepts and logic underlying Bayesian model-averaged meta-analysis and illustrates its application using the open-source software JASP.

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Article Synopsis
  • Cerebellar interactions, particularly cerebellothalamic pathways, are crucial for both cognitive and motor functions, with recent studies showing these projections extend beyond just motor-related thalamic nuclei to include those involved in cognitive processes.* -
  • New findings indicate that the cerebellum has a significant role in the coordination of neuronal oscillations between cortical areas, enhancing communication and functional connectivity within the brain.* -
  • Although the exact functions and mechanisms of cerebellothalamic pathways are not fully understood, they are proposed to facilitate dynamic coordination of cortical networks through the coherence of oscillations during various tasks.*
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Objective: Among basic personality traits, Honesty-Humility yields the most consistent, negative link with dishonest behavior. The theoretical conceptualization of Honesty-Humility, however, suggests a potential boundary condition of this relation, namely, when lying is prosocial. We therefore tested the hypothesis that the association between Honesty-Humility and dishonesty weakens once lying benefits someone else, particularly so if this other is needy.

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Instantons, which are nonperturbative solutions to Yang-Mills equations, provide a signal for the occurrence of quantum tunneling between distinct classes of vacua. They can give rise to decays of particles otherwise forbidden. Using data collected at the Pierre Auger Observatory, we search for signatures of such instanton-induced processes that would be suggestive of super-heavy particles decaying in the Galactic halo.

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Background And Purpose: High-grade carotid artery stenosis may alter hemodynamics in the ipsilateral hemisphere, but consequences of this effect are poorly understood. Cortical thinning is associated with cognitive impairment in dementia, head trauma, demyelination, and stroke. We hypothesized that hemodynamic impairment, as represented by a relative time-to-peak (TTP) delay on MRI in the hemisphere ipsilateral to the stenosis, would be associated with relative cortical thinning in that hemisphere.

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