Disinhibition, rather than moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury, moderates the impact of anger provocation on subjective emotional experience.

Objective: Altered reactivity to emotional stimuli is common after traumatic brain injury (TBI), which is suggested to reflect difficulties with emotion regulation. While disinhibition is common after moderate-to-severe TBI, limited research has investigated the link between disinhibition and emotional reactivity in this clinical group. The aim of this research, therefore, was to investigate the relationship between disinhibition and TBI to anger provocation.

A Biopsychosocial Framework for Apathy Following Moderate to Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Apathy, the deficit of goal-directed behaviour, is well recognised as one of the most debilitating syndromes after moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, mechanisms underlying apathy, or at least factors associated with apathy, are sporadically reported. Based on a biopsychosocial framework, this systematic review and meta-analysis synthesised evidence regarding neurobiological, socio-environmental and individual factors associated with apathy.

The protective role of resilience in the reporting of post-concussive symptoms within a non-clinical sample.

Despite being common following a brain injury, post-concussive symptoms (PCS) are highly prevalent in healthy and non-concussed individuals. Psychosocial factors likely subserve the maintenance of symptoms, and numerous studies have identified prominent risk factors associated with post-concussive symptom reporting (e.g.

The effect of tDCS electrode montage on attention and working memory.

The effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for improving attention and working memory have been generally mixed and small, potentially due to variability between studies with montages, stimulus parameters and outcome measures. The tDCS montage is an important parameter which determines the degree and intensity of stimulation in targeted brain regions. This study aimed to examine the effects of using three different montages for modulating attention and working memory performance: Bi-frontal, Broad-frontal and Broad-parietal.

Exploring neuropsychological underpinnings of poor communication after traumatic brain injury: The role of apathy, disinhibition and social cognition.

Background: Dysarthria, aphasia and executive processes have been examined for their role in producing impaired communicative competence post traumatic brain injury (TBI). Less understood is the role of emotional dysregulation, that is, apathy and disinhibition, and social cognition, that is, reading and interpreting social cues.

Methods & Procedures: In this study, we examined 49 adults with moderate to severe TBI and 18 neurologically healthy adults.

Disinhibited and angry: Investigating the relationship between social disinhibition and the components of aggression following severe TBI.

Social disinhibition and aggression share many similarities. But unlike with aggression, research evidence about social disinhibition following severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is limited and treatments are missing. Establishing the association between aggression and social disinhibition would facilitate a better conceptualization of these disorders.

Calling on clinicians to get social and emotional.

Objective: Disorders of social cognition, such as difficulties with emotion perception, alexithymia, Theory of Mind (ToM), empathy and disorders of emotion regulation, are prevalent and pervasive problems across many neurological, neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric conditions. Clinicians are familiar with how these difficulties present but assessment and treatment has lagged behind other traditional cognitive domains, such as memory, language and executive functioning.

Method: In this paper, we review the prevalence and degree of impairment associated with disorders of social cognition and emotion regulation across a range of clinical conditions, with particular emphasis on their relationship to cognitive deficits and also real-world functioning.

The prevalence, predictors, associated symptoms, and outcomes of social disinhibition following moderate-to-severe TBI: A scoping review of quantitative evidence.

The present study aimed to map existing quantitative evidence of research related to the nature of social disinhibition following moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), with a specific focus on its prevalence, predictors, associated symptoms and outcomes in studies that met minimal methodological criteria. We conducted a scoping review of the literature following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). Seventeen peer-reviewed articles including 1440 participants met the inclusion criteria and were included in the qualitative synthesis.

Social cognition in female adults with Anorexia Nervosa: A systematic review.

Deficits in interpersonal and social functioning are well established in females with Anorexia Nervosa (AN), and are thought to be key features involved in the onset and maintenance of the disease. Growing literature suggests these may be attributed to poor social cognitive processes. This systematic review evaluates whether differences in social cognition exist in adult females with AN.

Investigating associations between hoarding symptoms and affective and cognitive empathy.

Objectives: Hoarding is associated with poor interpersonal functioning, such as social isolation and difficulties in forming relationships, but the reasons for these social problems are not well understood. Previous studies have identified empathy as an important precursor to social functioning, particularly for clinical disorders characterized by social deficits. The aim of the current study was therefore to investigate associations between measures of cognitive and emotional empathy and hoarding symptoms.

Social and affective neuroscience: an Australian perspective.

While research in social and affective neuroscience has a long history, it is only in the last few decades that it has been truly established as an independent field of investigation. In the Australian region, despite having an even shorter history, this field of research is experiencing a dramatic rise. In this review, we present recent findings from a survey conducted on behalf of the Australasian Society for Social and Affective Neuroscience (AS4SAN) and from an analysis of the field to highlight contributions and strengths from our region (with a focus on Australia).

The complex audio visual emotion assessment task (CAVEAT): development of a shorter version for clinical use.

Purpose: The Complex Audio Visual Emotion Assessment Task (CAVEAT) is a measure of emotion recognition using dynamic, naturalistic videos to assess recognition of 22 different emotional states (11 positive, 11 negative). It has established construct validity and demonstrated sensitivity to emotion perception impairments in those with moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Despite this, its lengthy administration has limited its use in clinical practice and rehabilitation.

tDCS effects on task-related activation and working memory performance in traumatic brain injury: A within group randomized controlled trial.

Non-invasive transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been reported to facilitate working memory in normal adults. There is some evidence in people with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) but overall evidence is mixed. This study aimed to address shortcomings of prior study designs in TBI to examine whether a single dose of tDCS would lead to benefits in working memory.

Understanding how others feel: Evaluating the relationship between empathy and various aspects of emotion recognition following severe traumatic brain injury.

Objective: The aim of this study was to use various measures of emotion recognition, such as sensitivity to emotional intensity, accuracy-based emotion labeling, and the ability to differentiate among emotional displays, to examine whether these abilities are associated with emotional and cognitive empathy. We also sought to determine whether these relationships differ between individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and healthy adults.

Method: TBI participants ( = 28) and healthy adults ( = 29) matched for age, biological sex, and education, were tested on an emotion intensity rating and recognition task.

Empathy for people with similar experiences: Can the perception-action model explain empathy impairments after traumatic brain injury?

: A significant proportion of people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) report low levels of empathy, yet there is a paucity of research investigating the mechanisms which underpin this. In this study, we investigated empathy after TBI through the lens of the perception-action model of empathy. Specifically, we looked at the effect of similarity of experience on self-reported empathy and skin conductance in participants with TBI and controls.

Subjective emotional experience and physiological responsivity to posed emotions in people with traumatic brain injury.

Objective: Although the presence of empathy deficits following traumatic brain injury (TBI) is well established, there is a paucity of research investigating the underpinning mechanisms. This study investigated whether feedback from posed emotional expressions and psychophysiological responsivity, thought to play a role in emotional empathy, are impaired after TBI.

Method: Thirty adults with TBI and 30 demographically matched healthy controls completed 2 feedback tasks while skin conductance and heart rate were recorded.

Inhibitory regulation of the prefrontal cortex following behavioral sensitization to amphetamine and/or methamphetamine psychostimulants: A review of GABAergic mechanisms.

Behavioral sensitization to repeated psychostimulant administration has been proposed to reflect many of the neurochemical and behavioral changes that are characteristic of a range of disorders, including drug addiction and psychoses. While previous studies have examined the role of dopamine and glutamate neurotransmission in mediating sensitization, particularly within the prefrontal cortex (PFC), the role of inhibitory GABAergic processing of the PFC in the expression of sensitization is not well understood. Recent research, however, has proposed an emerging role of GABA synthesis, reuptake, ionotropic and metabotropic receptor regulation, and interneuronal changes following sensitization to methamphetamine and/or amphetamine within the PFC.

Anxiety sensitivity moderates the subjective experience but not the physiological response to psychosocial stress.

The ability to regulate emotional reactions is a complex process that incorporates both physiological and psychological components. Anxiety sensitivity is a construct associated with the negative and often misinterpretation of bodily sensations, with previous findings suggesting that anxiety sensitivity may regulate an individual's physiological response to an acute stress response. The aim of the current study, therefore, was to identify whether anxiety sensitivity moderates the physiological and subjective experience of acute psychosocial stress.

Preserved rapid conceptual processing of emotional expressions despite reduced neuropsychological performance following traumatic brain injury.

Objective: Emotional empathy is critical to successful social interactions and is often compromised after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Using the Emostroop task, we investigated whether adults with moderate to severe TBI (N = 26) have problems with rapid conceptual processing of emotional stimuli compared with controls (N = 30). Further, we investigated whether rapid conceptual processing of emotions relates to emotion recognition and emotional empathy.

A Comparison of Methamphetamine-Induced Psychosis and Schizophrenia: A Review of Positive, Negative, and Cognitive Symptomatology.

Methamphetamine is a potent psychostimulant that can induce psychosis among recreational and chronic users, with some users developing a persistent psychotic syndrome that shows similarities to schizophrenia. This review provides a comprehensive critique of research that has directly compared schizophrenia with acute and chronic METH psychosis, with particular focus on psychiatric and neurocognitive symptomatology. We conclude that while there is considerable overlap in the behavioral and cognitive symptoms between METH psychosis and schizophrenia, there appears to be some evidence that suggests there are divergent aspects to each condition, particularly with acute METH psychosis.

Psychosocial functioning following moderate-to-severe pediatric traumatic brain injury: recommended outcome instruments for research and remediation studies.

Psychosocial functioning is compromised following pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI), with the past few decades witnessing a proliferation of research examining the effect of childhood brain insult on a range of psychosocial outcomes. This paper describes the systematic recommendation of outcome instruments to address psychosocial functioning following pediatric TBI.A total of 65 instruments across 11 psychosocial areas (i.

Emotion recognition depends on subjective emotional experience and not on facial expressivity: evidence from traumatic brain injury.

Background: Recognizing how others feel is paramount to social situations and commonly disrupted following traumatic brain injury (TBI). This study tested whether problems identifying emotion in others following TBI is related to problems expressing or feeling emotion in oneself, as theoretical models place emotion perception in the context of accurate encoding and/or shared emotional experiences.

Methods: Individuals with TBI (n = 27; 20 males) and controls (n = 28; 16 males) were tested on an emotion recognition task, and asked to adopt facial expressions and relay emotional memories according to the presentation of stimuli (word and photos).

The behavioral effects of chronic sugar and/or caffeine consumption in adult and adolescent rats.

Caffeine is a psychostimulant frequently consumed by adults and children, often in combination with high levels of sugar. Chronic pretreatment with either substance can amplify both amphetamine and cocaine-induced hyperactivity in rodents. The present study sought to elucidate whether age at the time of exposure to sugar and/or caffeine alters sensitivity to an acute illicit psychostimulant (methamphetamine, [METH]) challenge in adulthood.