Publications by authors named "Stephanie Reda"
Altered neural response to social awkwardness in schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci
December 2024
Article Synopsis
- Individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) struggle with processing social information and have issues with "theory of mind" (ToM), which is essential for understanding others' mental states.
- A study using fMRI while participants watched The Office revealed that SSD individuals show less neural response in the medial prefrontal cortex during socially awkward moments, indicating a disruption in the ToM network.
- The findings suggest that this reduced activation and connectivity in the ToM network correlate with psychotic experiences and social dysfunction, implying that SSD individuals may have a diminished capacity for social understanding during real-life interactions.
Article Synopsis
- * This study involved seven participants with SSDs who underwent real-time fMRI neurofeedback (rtfMRI-NF) to learn to control specific brain regions within the ToM-N.
- * Results indicated that after training, participants could voluntarily control certain ToM-N areas even without direct feedback, but further research with larger groups and control conditions is necessary to confirm these findings.
Schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) are associated with pervasive cognitive impairments, including deficits in decision-making under risk. However, there is inconclusive evidence regarding specific mechanisms underlying altered decision-making patterns. In this study, participants (33 SSD and 28 non-SSD) completed the Columbia Card Task, an explicit risk-taking task, to better understand risk preference and adjustment in dynamic decision-making.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study examines if real-time fMRI neurofeedback (rtfMRI-NF) from the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) can help people gain control over the neural processes involved in understanding others' mental states (theory of mind).
- Sixteen participants received fMRI scans while practicing a training task with neurofeedback and then a transfer task without feedback, showing some ability to control their brain activity during the tasks, particularly connected to past social experiences.
- Although the results hinted at some learning from the neurofeedback experience, there were limited improvements in actual behavior, and key limitations included the absence of a control group and baseline scans prior to the rtfMRI transfer task.
Social anhedonia (SA) is a trait-like phenomenon observed across schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (SSDs). While in-the-moment social pleasure experiences are intact in SSDs, anticipatory pleasure experiences may be disrupted. Thus, the prediction of future emotions in social situations, or social affective forecasting (SAF), may play a role in SA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdolescent and young adults (AYAs) with chronic illnesses cope with complex issues that require unique psychological support and healthcare services to reduce psychosocial difficulties, improve disease management, and facilitate positive transitions to adult care. Engaging patients and caregivers can help providers understand the specific needs of this population and identify the perceived areas of support. The purpose of this quality improvement initiative is to assess the needs of AYAs with chronic medical conditions at a large government research hospital.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe coronavirus pandemic increased anxiety and stress and prevented access to health care worldwide; it is unclear how COVID-19 affected adults with a multisystem genetic disorder such as neurofibromatosis (NF). An anonymous online survey was distributed through an international registry and foundations to adults with NF (June-August 2020) to assess the impact of the pandemic on mental health and NF health care. Six hundred and thirteen adults (18-81 years; M = 45.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: To describe the cognitive development of children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and plexiform neurofibromas, and identify predictors of cognitive development.
Method: Participants included 88 children with NF1 and plexiform neurofibromas (50 males, 38 females, aged 6-18y, mean=12y, SD=3y 7mo) on a natural history study at the National Cancer Institute. Neuropsychological assessments (e.