Neuroscience

Coffee Drinking Is Associated With Increased Longevity – Neuroscience News

Summary: Drinking at least two cups of coffee a day, even instant coffee was associated with increased longevity and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

Source: European Society of Cardiology

Drinking two to three cups of coffee a day is linked with a longer lifespan and lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared with avoiding coffee, according to research published today in theEuropean Journal of Preventive Cardiology,a journal of the ESC.The findings applied to ground, instant and decaffeinated varieties.

In this large, observational study, ground, instant and decaffeinated coffee were associated with equivalent reductions in the incidence of cardiovascular disease and death from cardiovascular disease or any cause, said study author Professor Peter Kistler of the Baker Heart and Diabetes Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.

The results suggest that mild to moderate intake of ground, instant and decaffeinated coffee should be considered part of a healthy lifestyle.

There is little information on the impact of different coffee preparations on heart health and survival.

This study examined the associations between types of coffee and incident arrhythmias, cardiovascular disease and death using data from the UK Biobank, which recruited adults between 40 and 69 years of age.

Cardiovascular disease was comprised of coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure and ischaemic stroke.

The study included 449,563 participants free of arrhythmias or other cardiovascular disease at baseline. The median age was 58 years and 55.3% were women.

Participants completed a questionnaire asking how many cups of coffee they drank each day and whether they usually drank instant, ground (such as cappuccino or filtered coffee), or decaffeinated coffee. They were then grouped into six daily intake categories, consisting of none, less than one, one, two to three, four to five, and more than five cups per day.

The usual coffee type was instant in 198,062 (44.1%) participants, ground in 82,575 (18.4%), and decaffeinated in 68,416 (15.2%). There were 100,510 (22.4%) non-coffee drinkers who served as the comparator group.

Coffee drinkers were compared to non-drinkers for the incidence of arrhythmias, cardiovascular disease and death, after adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, obstructive sleep apnoea, smoking status, and tea and alcohol consumption.

Outcome information was obtained from medical records and death records. The median follow up was 12.5 years.

A total of 27,809 (6.2%) participants died during follow up. All types of coffee were linked with a reduction in death from any cause. The greatest risk reduction seen with two to three cups per day, which compared to no coffee drinking was associated with a 14%, 27% and 11% lower likelihood of death for decaffeinated, ground, and instant preparations, respectively.

Cardiovascular disease was diagnosed in 43,173 (9.6%) participants during follow up. All coffee subtypes were associated with a reduction in incident cardiovascular disease.

Again, the lowest risk was observed with two to three cups a day, which compared to abstinence from coffee was associated with a 6%, 20%, and 9% reduced likelihood of cardiovascular disease for decaffeinated, ground, instant coffee, respectively.

An arrhythmia was diagnosed in 30,100 (6.7%) participants during follow up. Ground and instant coffee, but not decaffeinated, was associated with a reduction in arrhythmias including atrial fibrillation.

Compared with non-drinkers, the lowest risks were observed with four to five cups a day for ground coffee and two to three cups a day for instant coffee, with 17% and 12% reduced risks, respectively.

Professor Kistler said: Caffeine is the most well-known constituent in coffee, but the beverage contains more than 100 biologically active components. It is likely that the non-caffeinated compounds were responsible for the positive relationships observed between coffee drinking, cardiovascular disease and survival.

Our findings indicate that drinking modest amounts of coffee of all types should not be discouraged but can be enjoyed as a heart healthy behavior.

Author: Justine PinotSource: European Society of CardiologyContact: Justine Pinot European Society of CardiologyImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: Open access.The impact of coffee subtypes on incident cardiovascular disease, arrhythmias, and mortality: long-term outcomes from the UK Biobank by Peter Kistler et al. European Journal of Preventative Cardiology

Abstract

The impact of coffee subtypes on incident cardiovascular disease, arrhythmias, and mortality: long-term outcomes from the UK Biobank

Aims

Epidemiological studies report the beneficial effects of habitual coffee consumption on incident arrhythmia, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and mortality. However, the impact of different coffee preparations on cardiovascular outcomes and survival is largely unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate associations between coffee subtypes on incident outcomes, utilizing the UK Biobank.

Methods and results

Coffee subtypes were defined as decaffeinated, ground, and instant, then divided into 0, <1, 1, 23, 45, and >5cups/day, and compared with non-drinkers. Cardiovascular disease included coronary heart disease, cardiac failure, and ischaemic stroke. Cox regression modelling with hazard ratios (HRs) assessed associations with incident arrhythmia, CVD, and mortality. Outcomes were determined through ICD codes and death records. A total of 449563 participants (median 58 years, 55.3% females) were followed over 12.50.7 years.

Ground and instant coffee consumption was associated with a significant reduction in arrhythmia at 15cups/day but not for decaffeinated coffee.

The lowest risk was 45cups/day for ground coffee [HR 0.83, confidence interval (CI) 0.760.91,P<0.0001] and 23cups/day for instant coffee (HR 0.88, CI 0.850.92,P<0.0001). All coffee subtypes were associated with a reduction in incident CVD (the lowest risk was 23cups/day for decaffeinated,P=0.0093; ground,P<0.0001; and instant coffee,P<0.0001) vs. non-drinkers.

All-cause mortality was significantly reduced for all coffee subtypes, with the greatest risk reduction seen with 23cups/day for decaffeinated (HR 0.86, CI 0.810.91,P<0.0001); ground (HR 0.73, CI 0.690.78,P<0.0001); and instant coffee (HR 0.89, CI 0.860.93,P<0.0001).

Conclusion

Decaffeinated, ground, and instant coffee, particularly at 23cups/day, were associated with significant reductions in incident CVD and mortality. Ground and instant but not decaffeinated coffee was associated with reduced arrhythmia.

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Coffee Drinking Is Associated With Increased Longevity - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

What Is the Effect of Hierarchy on Moral Behavior? – Neuroscience News

Summary: Powerful hierarchical situations make it easier for individuals to commit harmful actions. The reason for this, researchers say, is because empathy and agency become split across multiple individuals.

Source: KNAW

Researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience show that powerful hierarchical situations make it easier to commit harmful actions, asagency and empathy are split across multiple individuals.

There are numerous historical examples where horrific acts and mass destruction have occurred as a result of a hierarchical structure. A superior communicates a plan and a subordinate carries it out. The superior then bears responsibility for the decision but is distanced from the results, while the subordinate experiences authorship over the action but may experience reduced responsibility for its outcomes. And in our daily lives too, hierarchy is acquired throughout our society.

In many organizations, orders are embedded in an even longer chain of commands in which a given commander often merely relays on the orders received from a superior. But what effect does this have on our actions?

A new study from the social brain lab looked at how your position within a hierarchical structure (commander or intermediary) influences the sense of agency and empathy for pain. The aim was to understand how these two different neurocognitive processes differ in commanders and intermediaries.

And guess what? Commanders and intermediaries show reduced activation in empathic brain regions when pain is inflicted on the victim compared to people who can decide and act for themselves.

The results were published in the journaleNeuro.

The team used functional MRI (fMRI) and electroencephalogram (EEG) techniques in order to perform their experiments. fMRI measures brain activity by tracking changes in blood flow over time. The changes visible on the scan are related to change in oxygen levels: when areas of the brain are active, they will need more oxygen, causing them to light up.

Using EEG, brain activity is measured electrically. During this test, small sensors are attached to the scalp to pick up the electrical signals produced by the brain.

Reduced empathy

The fMRI study shows that activity in empathy-related brain regions was low in both the commander and the intermediary, compared to someone who delivered the shock directly of their own free will.

During the both studies, pain was administered by a human or robot.

The EEG results show that the sense of agency did not differ between commanders and intermediaries, regardless of whether the execution was performed by a robot or a human. However, it turned out that the neural response to the pain of the victim were higher when participants commanded a robot compared to a human.

This suggests that when there is a second human involved, the responsibility tends to be diffused and commanders pain processing of the victims pain is reduced. Diffusing such responsibility onto a robot is perhaps more difficult.

Emilie Caspar (first co-author of the paper): The law generally punished those who gave out orders more severely than those who carried out the orders. But what do people feel exactly in a hierarchical chain?

Recently, Khieu Samphan, one of the main Khmer Rouge leaders, was sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity and genocide. Yet, he claimed that he did not know what was happening during the Khmer Rouge Era, where millions of Cambodians died of execution, starvation, and diseases.

It seems that people commanding may not always experience the responsibility they should, an aspect which would nonetheless be crucial to avoid mass atrocities.

This is why it is important to understand better their subjective experience and how their brain processes the consequences of their orders, to perhaps in the future offer interventions that would prevent a diminution of responsibility in hierarchical chain

Kalliopi Ioumpa (first co-author of the paper): These results complement previous research showing that hierarchy has a measurable effect on peoples behaviour and brain activation, making them less engaged in the harm they cause.

This study can raise questions on how we can ensure that people feel responsibility despite being in a hierarchical chain. Is it easier for executors to take responsibility over their actions since they are the ones acting or for commanders because they bear the responsibility of the order?

We show how powerful hierarchical situations can facilitate committing actions that harm others, as agency and empathy are distributed across multiple individuals.

Prof Dr Christian Keysers (One of the senior author of the study heading the lab in which it was performed): Times are changing. The solder at the forefront, whose empathy sometimes prevented the worst atrocities, is increasingly replaced by drones that feel no empathy. Has this removed any empathy from the chain of command? Indeed, we find that merely commanding someone to deliver pain reduces how much your brain processes the pain you command compared to directly triggering the pain.

What was really exciting to see, however, is that knowing that you command a machine, that you cannot defer the responsibility to, restores some of the reactions to the pain in commanders.

Perhaps there is hope, after all, that the empathy we reduce at the forefront might be replaced at least in part by an increase is the sense of responsibility at higher levels in the hierarchy

Information about the authors:

The study was performed by Dr Emilie Caspar and PhD student Kalliopi Ioumpa under the supervision of Dr Christian Keysers and Dr Valeria Gazzola, who lead together the Social Brain Lab at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, a research institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr Emilie Caspar has since become an associate professor at Ghent University.

Author: Eline FeenstraSource: KNAWContact: Eline Feenstra KNAWImage: The image is credited to Kalliopi Ioumpa Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience

Original Research: Closed access.Commanding or being a simple intermediary: how does it affect moral behavior and related brain mechanisms? by Kalliopi Ioumpa et al. eNeuro

Abstract

Commanding or being a simple intermediary: how does it affect moral behavior and related brain mechanisms?

Psychology and neuroscience research have shown that fractioning operations between several individuals along a hierarchical chain allows diffusing responsibility between components of the chain, which has the potential to disinhibit antisocial actions.

Here, we present two studies, one using fMRI (Study 1) and one using EEG (Study 2), designed to help understand how commanding or being in an intermediary position impacts the sense of agency and empathy for pain. In the age of military drones, we also explored whether commanding a human or robot agent influences these measures.

This was done within a single behavioral paradigm in which participants could freely decide whether or not to send painful shocks to another participant in exchange for money.

In Study 1, fMRI reveals that activation in social cognition and empathy-related brain regions was equally low when witnessing a victim receive a painful shock while participants were either commander or simple intermediary transmitting an order, compared to being the agent directly delivering the shock.

In Study 2, results indicated that the sense of agency did not differ between commanders and intermediary, no matter if the executing agent was a robot or a human. However, we observed that the neural response over P3 was higher when the executing agent was a robot compared to a human.

Source reconstruction of the EEG signal revealed that this effect was mediated by areas including the insula and ACC. Results are discussed regarding the interplay between the sense of agency and empathy for pain for decision-making.

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What Is the Effect of Hierarchy on Moral Behavior? - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

The Unexpected Cells Helping to Shape Young Brains – Neuroscience News

Summary: During brain development, oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) contribute to the neural pruning process, helping to shape the healthy development of the brain.

Source: CSHL

When the brain first wires itself up in early development, it creates more connections than it actually needs.

Some of these connections, or synapses, will transmit critical signals as young animals begin to sense their surroundings. Others will be eliminated as the brain matures.

Only those that the animal needs to understand and interact with the world are left.

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Assistant Professor Lucas Cheadle and colleagues have discovered that cells called oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) contribute to this pruning process. This helps shape a healthybrainduring early development.

Understanding this vital part of brain development may reveal new strategies for treating neurodevelopmental conditions like schizophrenia andautism spectrum disorder(ASD).

The discovery was sparked while using high-powered microscopes to examine the brains of adult mice. Cheadles team noticed that many OPCs were actively engulfing the connection points between neurons.

The team suspected the cells might be busy eliminating synapses that the brain did not need. Cheadle and his team wondered if OPCs did the same thing in younger brains. A young animals experiences have a particularly profound impact on shaping neural circuits duringearly development.

The researchers raised young mice in the dark. When the mice were first exposed to light, OPCs began engulfingsynapsesin response. The cells were operating in their brains vision-processing circuitry.

OPCs seem to be especially poised to regulate brain connections associated with experiences, Cheadle says. These cells are very responsive to new experiences. They can take that information and use it to shape brain connections.

Published inNature Neuroscience, the Cheadle teams discovery reveals an unexpected role for OPCs. Several kinds of cells help shapeneural circuitsby eliminating unnecessary connections. OPCs had previously only been known for producing cells that surround and support neurons.

Cheadle says, This is a cell type thats really poised to sort of serve as an intermediary between whats going on in the world out there and whats happening inside of our brains.

Cheadle hopes this new information will help understand neurodevelopmental disorders better. He plans to investigate whether faulty OPC pruning plays a role in conditions like schizophrenia and ASD.

Author: Press OfficeSource: CSHLContact: Press Office CSHLImage: The image is credited to Cheadle lab/Imaris software/CSHL, 2022

Original Research: Open access.Oligodendrocyte precursor cells engulf synapses during circuit remodeling in mice by Yohan S. S. Auguste et al. Nature Neuroscience

Abstract

Oligodendrocyte precursor cells engulf synapses during circuit remodeling in mice

Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) give rise to myelinating oligodendrocytes throughout life, but the functions of OPCs are not limited to oligodendrogenesis.

Here we show that OPCs contribute to thalamocortical presynapse elimination in the developing and adult mouse visual cortex. OPC-mediated synapse engulfment increases in response to sensory experience during neural circuit refinement.

Our data suggest that OPCs may regulate synaptic connectivity in the brain independently of oligodendrogenesis.

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The Unexpected Cells Helping to Shape Young Brains - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Metabolism Linked to Brain Health – Neuroscience News

Summary: Researchers have identified a link between metabolism and dementia-related brain measures. Obesity related to inflammation, kidney stress, or liver stress had the biggest impact on adverse brain health.

Source: University of South Australia

Every three seconds, someone in the world is diagnosed with dementia. And while there is no known cure, changes in the brain can occur years before a dementia diagnosis.

Now, a world-first study from the University of South Australias Australian Center for Precision Health has found a link between metabolism and dementia-related brain measures, providing valuable insights about the disease.

Analyzing data from 26,239 people in the U.K. Biobank, researchers found that those with obesity related to liver stress, or to inflammation and kidney stress, had the most adverse brain findings.

The study measured associations of six diverse metabolic profiles and 39 cardiometabolic markers with MRI brain scan measures of brain volume, brain lesions, and iron accumulation, to identify early risk factors for dementia.

People with metabolic profiles linked to obesity were more likely to have adverse MRI profiles showing lower hippocampal and gray matter volumes, greater burden of brain lesions, and higher accumulation of iron.

UniSA researcher, Dr. Amanda Lumsden, says the research adds a new layer of understanding to brain health.

Dementia is a debilitating disease that affects more than 55 million people worldwide, Dr. Lumsden says.

Understanding metabolic factors and profiles associated with dementia-related brain changes can help identify early risk factors for dementia.

In this research, we found that adverse neuroimaging patterns were more prevalent among people who had metabolic types related to obesity.

These people also had the highest Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)how much energy your body requires when resting in order to support its basic functionsbut curiously, BMR seemed to contribute to adverse brain markers over and above the effects of obesity.

Senior Investigator, UniSAs Professor Elina Hyppnen says the finding presents a new avenue for understanding brain health.

This study indicates that metabolic profiles are associated with aspects ofbrainhealth. We also found associations with many individual biomarkers which may provide clues into the processes leading todementia, Prof Hyppnen says.

Thehuman bodyis complex, and more work is now needed to find out exactly why and how these associations arise.

Author: Press OfficeSource: University of South AustraliaContact: Press Office University of South AustraliaImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: Open access.Metabolic profilebased subgroups can identify differences in brain volumes and brain iron deposition by Amanda L. Lumsden et al. Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism

Abstract

Metabolic profilebased subgroups can identify differences in brain volumes and brain iron deposition

To evaluate associations of metabolic profiles and biomarkers with brain atrophy, lesions, and iron deposition to understand the early risk factors associated with dementia.

Using data from 26239 UK Biobank participants free from dementia and stroke, we assessed the associations of metabolic subgroups, derived using an artificial neural network approach (self-organizing map), and 39 individual biomarkers with brain MRI measures: total brain volume (TBV), grey matter volume (GMV), white matter volume (WMV), hippocampal volume (HV), white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume, and caudate iron deposition.

In metabolic subgroup analyses, participants characterized by high triglycerides and liver enzymes showed the most adverse brain outcomes compared to the healthy reference subgroup with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and low body mass index (BMI) including associations with GMV (standardized0.20, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.24 to 0.16), HV (standardized0.09, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.04), WMH volume (standardized0.22, 95% CI 0.18 to 0.26), and caudate iron deposition (standardized0.30, 95% CI 0.25 to 0.34), with similar adverse associations for the subgroup with high BMI, C-reactive protein and cystatin C, and the subgroup with high blood pressure (BP) and apolipoprotein B. Among the biomarkers, striking associations were seen between basal metabolic rate (BMR) and caudate iron deposition (standardized0.23, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.24 per 1 SD increase), GMV (standardized0.15, 95% CI 0.16 to 0.14) and HV (standardized0.11, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.10), and between BP and WMH volume (standardized0.13, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.14 for diastolic BP).

Metabolic profiles were associated differentially with brain neuroimaging characteristics. Associations of BMR, BP and other individual biomarkers may provide insights into actionable mechanisms driving these brain associations.

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Metabolism Linked to Brain Health - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Being Lonely and Unhappy Accelerates Aging More Than Smoking – Neuroscience News

Summary: Loneliness, restless sleep, and unhappiness have a significant effect on biological aging, a new study reports.

Source: Deep Longevity LTD

Molecular damage accumulates and contributes to the development of aging-related frailty and serious diseases. In some people these molecular processes are more intense than in others, a condition commonly referred to as accelerated aging.

Fortunately, the increased pace of aging may be detected before its disastrous consequences manifest by using digital models of aging (aging clocks). Such models can also be used to derive anti-aging therapies on individual and population levels.

According to the latestarticle published inAging-US, any anti-aging therapy needs to focus on ones mental health as much as on ones physical health.

An international collaboration led byDeep Longevitywith US and Chinese scientists have measured the effects of being lonely, having restless sleep, or feeling unhappy on the pace of aging and found it to be significant.

The article features a new aging clock trained and verified with blood and biometric data of 11,914 Chinese adults. This is the first aging clock to be trained exclusively on a Chinese cohort of such volume.

Aging acceleration was detected in people with a history of stroke, liver and lung diseases, smokers, and most interestingly, people in a vulnerable mental state. In fact, feeling hopeless, unhappy, and lonely was shown to increase ones biological age more than smoking.

Other factors linked to aging acceleration include being single and living in a rural area (due to the low availability of medical services).

The authors of the article conclude that the psychological aspect of aging should not be neglected either in research or in practical anti-aging applications.

According to Manuel Faria from Stanford University:

Mental and psychosocial states are some of the most robust predictors of health outcomes and quality of life yet they have largely been omitted from modern healthcare.

Alex Zhavoronkov, the CEO ofInsilico Medicine, points out that the study provides a course of action to slow down or even reverse psychological aging on a national scale.

Earlier this year, Deep Longevity released an AI-guided mental health web serviceFuturSelf.AIthat is based on a preceding publication in Aging-US.

The service offers a free psychological assessment that is processed by an AI and provides a comprehensive report on a users psychological age as well as current and future mental well-being.

Deepankar Nayak, the CEO of Deep longevity affirms, FuturSelf.AI, in combination with the study of older Chinese adults, positions Deep Longevity at the forefront of biogerontological research.

Author: Fedor GalkinSource: Deep Longevity LTDContact: Fedor Galkin Deep Lingevity LTDImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: The findings will appear in Aging-US

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Being Lonely and Unhappy Accelerates Aging More Than Smoking - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Did the Pandemic Change Our Personalities? – Neuroscience News

Summary: The COVID-19 pandemic may have altered the trajectory of personality in individuals, especially in younger people.

Source: PLOS

Despite a long-standing hypothesis that personality traits are relatively impervious to environmental pressures, the COVID-19 pandemic may have altered the trajectory of personality across the United States, especially in younger adults, according to a new study published this week in the open-access journalPLOS ONEby Angelina Sutin of Florida State University College of Medicine, and colleagues.

Previous studies have generally found no associations between collective stressful eventssuch as earthquakes and hurricanesand personality change. However, the coronavirus pandemic has affected the entire globe and nearly every aspect of life.

In the new study, the researchers used longitudinal assessments of personality from 7,109 people enrolled in the online Understanding America Study.

They compared five-factor modelpersonality traitsneuroticism, extraversion,openness, agreeableness andconscientiousnessbetween pre-pandemic measurements (May 2014February 2020) and assessments early (MarchDecember 2020) or later (2021-2022) in the pandemic.

A total of 18,623 assessments, or a mean of 2.62 per participant, were analyzed. Participants were 41.2% male and ranged in age from 18 to 109.

Consistent with other studies, there were relatively few changes between pre-pandemic and 2020 personality traits, with only a small decline in neuroticism.

However, there were declines in extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness when 2021-2022 data was compared to pre-pandemic personality.

The changes were about one-tenth of a standard deviation, which is equivalent to about one decade of normative personality change.

The changes were moderated by age, with younger adults showing disrupted maturity in the form of increased neuroticism and decreased agreeableness and conscientiousness, and the oldest group of adults showing no statistically significant changes in traits.

The authors conclude that if these changes are enduring, it suggests that population-wide stressful events can slightly bend the trajectory of personality, especially in younger adults.

The authors add that there was limitedpersonality changeearly in the pandemic but striking changes starting in 2021. Of most note, the personality of young adults changed the most, with marked increases in neuroticism and declines inagreeablenessand conscientiousness.

That is, younger adults became moodier and more prone to stress, less cooperative and trusting, and less restrained and responsible.

Author: Press OfficeSource: PLOSContact: Press Office PLOSImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: Open access.Differential personality change earlier and later in the coronavirus pandemic in a longitudinal sample of adults in the United States by Angelina Sutin et al. PLOS ONE

Abstract

Differential personality change earlier and later in the coronavirus pandemic in a longitudinal sample of adults in the United States

Five-factor model personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness) are thought to be relatively impervious to environmental demands in adulthood.

The coronavirus pandemic is an unprecedented opportunity to examine whether personality changed during a stressful global event. Surprisingly, two previous studies found that neuroticism decreased early in the pandemic, whereas there was less evidence for change in the other four traits during this period.

The present research used longitudinal assessments of personality from the Understanding America Study (N = 7,109; 18,623 assessments) to examine personality changes relatively earlier (2020) and later (20212022) in the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic levels. Replicating the two previous studies, neuroticism declined very slightly in 2020 compared to pre-pandemic levels; there were no changes in the other four traits.

When personality was measured in 20212022, however, there was no significant change in neuroticism compared to pre-pandemic levels, but there were significant small declines in extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.

The changes were about one-tenth of a standard deviation, which is equivalent to about one decade of normative personality change. These changes were moderated by age and Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, but not race or education. Strikingly, younger adults showed disrupted maturity in that they increased in neuroticism and declined in agreeableness and conscientiousness.

Current evidence suggests the slight decrease in neuroticism early in the pandemic was short-lived and detrimental changes in the other traits emerged over time.

If these changes are enduring, this evidence suggests population-wide stressful events can slightly bend the trajectory of personality, especially in younger adults.

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Did the Pandemic Change Our Personalities? - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Mechanisms of Psychostimulants on Attention and Learning Revealed – Neuroscience News

Summary: Psychostimulants increase dopamine levels, enhancing task-relevant cortical signals by acting on the striatum and the difference in dopamine synthesis capacity in the striatum explains the variability in the drugs cognitive effects.

Source: Human Brain Project

Psychostimulants are commonly used as treatments of psychiatric disorders or to improve cognition, but the benefits of these drugs are not the same for everyone, as their effects vary greatly both across individuals and within the same patient.

This large variability poses a major problem for treatment strategies in psychiatry, and the reasons behind it are still not clear.

Now, scientists of the Human Brain Project (HBP) have moved closer to understanding them.

One of these medications is methylphenidate, the active ingredient of the drugs Ritalin and Concerta that are used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but are also widely used by healthy people for its cognition-improving effects. Methylphenidate acts in part by increasing levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in the brains reward system.A new study by a team of researchers from Radboud University Medical Center (Netherlands) and Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior (Netherlands) unravels the mechanisms by which methylphenidate gates both attention and reward learning.

The researchers tested the hypothesis that the effects of methylphenidate on learning based on reward or punishment depend on the baseline levels of dopamine in a persons brain.

To test this, one hundred young healthy adults received (in different sessions) methylphenidate, sulpiride (a medication used to treat symptoms of schizophrenia that acts more selectively on dopamine receptors), or a placebo, and were later scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a reward/punishment reversal learning task. In this task, participants learned to predict whether a picture (of a face or a landscape) that is selected by the computer is followed by reward or punishment.

A reward outcome consisted of a green smiley and a + 100 sign. A punishment consisted of a red sad smiley and a -100 sign. Whether the face or the landscape was associated with reward or punishment changed frequently in the task, so to perform well people had to continue to pay attention and flexibly update their behaviour based on prediction errors.The researchers observed that the degree to which both methylphenidate and sulpiride improved reward compared with punishment learning depends on baseline dopamine synthesis capacity.

Moreover, these effects on learning were accompanied by increased activity in the striatum, a dopamine-rich region deep inside the brain, and also by increased specificity of the activity in regions of the cortex near the back of the brain that are specialised for processing faces and landscapes.Their findings provide strong support for two hypotheses related to methylphenidate: First, that dopamine enhances task-relevant cortical signals by acting on the striatum. Second, that differences between individuals in dopamine synthesis capacity in the striatum explain the variability in the drugs cognitive effects.

Author: Peter ZekertSource: Human Brain ProjectContact: Peter Zekert Human Brain ProjectImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: Open access.Striatal dopamine dissociates methylphenidate effects on value-based versus surprise-based reversal learning by Roshan Coolset al. Nature Communications

Abstract

Striatal dopamine dissociates methylphenidate effects on value-based versus surprise-based reversal learning

Psychostimulants such as methylphenidate are widely used for their cognitive enhancing effects, but there is large variability in the direction and extent of these effects.

We tested the hypothesis that methylphenidate enhances or impairs reward/punishment-based reversal learning depending on baseline striatal dopamine levels and corticostriatal gating of reward/punishment-related representations in stimulus-specific sensory cortex.

Young healthy adults (N=100) were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging during a reward/punishment reversal learning task, after intake of methylphenidate or the selective D2/3-receptor antagonist sulpiride.

Striatal dopamine synthesis capacity was indexed with [18F]DOPA positron emission tomography. Methylphenidate improved and sulpiride decreased overall accuracy and response speed.

Both drugs boosted reward versus punishment learning signals to a greater degree in participants with higher dopamine synthesis capacity. By contrast, striatal and stimulus-specific sensory surprise signals were boosted in participants with lower dopamine synthesis.

These results unravel the mechanisms by which methylphenidate gates both attention and reward learning.

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Mechanisms of Psychostimulants on Attention and Learning Revealed - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Young Men Feel the Most Threatened by Advances in Womens Rights – Neuroscience News

Summary: Young men between the ages of 18 and 29 are more likely to believe promoting womens rights threatens male opportunities than older men. Researchers suggest this modern sexism could motivate young men to vote for right-wing radical politicians who promote anti-feminist views.

Source: University of Gothenburg

It is not the older generation but young men who have the most difficulty in accepting advances in womens rights. This has been shown by a large study from the University of Gothenburg on gender equality and sexism in Europe.

In recent decades, Western democracies have become increasingly gender-equal. Girls and women tend to avail themselves of educational opportunities even more than men do, and more and more women are getting jobs in leading positions. But while gender equality is improving, research shows that modern sexism is working against womens rights.

One example of modern sexism is when people consider society as gender-equal and therefore oppose further efforts to promote womens rights. Their reasoning is based on the so-called zero-sum game notion, where progress for one group is seen as being at the expense of another.

Previous research shows that a perceived sense of injustice and competition between men and women affects political attitudes and voting behaviour.

Some people believe that increased gender equality only benefits women and do not see the benefits for society as a whole. Some research suggests that this feeling of injustice can even motivate citizens to vote for right-wing radical parties who are against feminism and sexual freedom, says Gefjon Off, doctoral student in political science.

The study covers 27 countriesTogether with Amy Alexander and Nicholas Charron, both political scientists at the University of Gothenburg, she has studied what lies behind the relatively high incidence of modern sexism among young men in Europe.

The study is based on a survey with 32,469 respondents in 27 EU countries. The respondents were asked to state to what extent they agree with the statement that promoting womens and girls rights has gone too far because it threatens mens and boys opportunities.

The results show that young men aged 18 to 29 most often agree with this statement in our survey. The older the men are, the less they agree with this statement. Some women agree with the statement, but to a far lesser extent than men of all ages. The results contradict previous research claiming that the older generation are the ones who are the most conservative and opposed to advances in womens rights, says Gefjon Off.

The researchers identified a couple of factors that explain why modern sexism is highest among young men aged between 18 and 29 years. The proportion is highest in regions where unemployment has risen the most in recent years, and where citizens have a widespread distrust of social institutions for example, due to widespread corruption.

Slovakia is the EU country in the study where the highest proportion of young men are opposed to advances in womens rights. In some regions there, unemployment has risen by as much as 1.1 percent in the last two years.

More than other EU citizens, Slovaks think that their own countrys public institutions are not impartial, that is, that their social institutions favour certain groups of people, says Nicholas Charron, Professor in political science.

The study also shows the inverse situation. In regions such as Northern Italy where unemployment has fallen and where social institutions are perceived as reasonably impartial, young men are less resistant to advances in womens rights.

Sweden among the top 10Unemployment also plays a role in Sweden. The study shows that the largest proportion of young men who agree with the survey statement that advances in womens rights threaten mens and boys opportunities live in regions where unemployment has risen in the last two years.

The gap between young womens and young mens views on advancing womens rights is great in Sweden, among the top 10 in the EU according to our measurements, says Nicholas Charron.

The fact that young men stand out in this context may be due to their position on the labour market: At a young age they may not yet have a stable job, or they may not have progressed as far in their careers as older men.

Possibly, young men who believe that women are outcompeting them in the labour market experience advances in womens rights as unjust and a threat. We need to get better at communicating the benefits of gender equality.

Fathers get to spend more time with their children and the burden of being the familys breadwinner is lightened when mothers in families also advance in their careers, says Gefjon Off.

Author: Thomas MelinSource: University of GothenburgContact: Thomas Melin University of GothenburgImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: Open access.Who perceives womens rights as threatening to men and boys? Explaining modern sexism among young men in Europe by Gefjon Off et al. Frontiers in Political Science

Abstract

Who perceives womens rights as threatening to men and boys? Explaining modern sexism among young men in Europe

While Western democracies have become increasingly gender-equal over the past decades, recent research documents a backlash against gender equality in the form of rising modern sexism. Previous research shows that modern sexism predicts political attitudes and voting behavior that are detrimental to womens empowerment and liberalism.

Yet, we know little about which factors explain modern sexist attitudes and how they operate across multiple country contexts. Building on modern conceptualizations of sexism, we theorize that (perceived) increases in competition between men and women provoke modern sexism among young men in particular.

Using an original measure that approximates dimensions of modern sexism embedded in the 2021 EQI survey, capturing 32,469 individuals nested in 208 NUTS 2 regions in 27 European Union countries, we demonstrate that young men are most likely to perceive advances in womens rights as a threat to mens opportunities.

This is particularly true for young men who (a) consider public institutions in their region as unfair, and (b) reside in regions with recent increases in unemployment resulting in increased competition for jobs.

Our findings highlight the role of perceived competition between men and women in modern sexism and contradict the argument that older generations are most likely to backlash against progressive values, potentially adding to research explaining the recent backlash against gender equality.

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Young Men Feel the Most Threatened by Advances in Womens Rights - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Learning to decode the brain – The University of Iowa

Little did Snchez Melndez know that his student experience at Iowa would alter his career trajectory. First, the professor in a pharmacology class he took his sophomore year encouraged him to consider PhD programs. Then, an email from Jan Wessels Cognitive Neurology Lab invited him to participate in a weeklong summer workshop on campus for first-generation students interested in human brain research. Not only did Snchez Melndez learn to apply the neuroscience techniques he was studying in his classes, he got to know several UI faculty members, including Kristi Hendrickson, the researcher with whom he has been working eversince.

About the same time, the Iowa Sciences Academy shared information with Snchez Melndez about how to earn compensation for lab work. Now, he is a trainee with UI-MARC (Maximizing Access to Research Careers), a National Institutes of Healthfunded program that aims to prepare a diverse pool of undergraduates for research-focused biomedicalcareers.

If you would have told me when I was a senior in high school that in my senior year of college I would get a stipend, health care, and other benefits to work in a lab that I enjoy, I would have said that was too good to be true, he says. I didnt even know that waspossible.

As an undergraduate research assistant in the UI Psycholinguistics Lab, Snchez Melndez has contributed to several projects that use cognitive neuroscience techniques to study language and communication. He also was encouraged to create a study of hisown.

In the lab, we work with language in general, trying to understand how different groups of people process words and sentences, he says. In one project, we are trying to find out if SpanishEnglish bilinguals, across their lifespan, activate their first language when they hear a word in their second languageand vice versa. And do they do that in both written and spoken forms? Gaining a better understanding of this will help speech-language pathologists in their clinicalwork.

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Learning to decode the brain - The University of Iowa

Neuroscience

Loneliness Associated With Double the Risk of Developing Diabetes – Neuroscience News

Summary: Higher rates of loneliness were associated with an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes during a twenty-year follow-up, a new study reveals.

Source: Diabetologia

A new study published inDiabetologia(the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes [EASD]) finds that feelings of loneliness are linked to a significantly higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D).

The research was conducted by Associate Professor Roger E. Henriksen and his colleagues at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. As well as examining the association between loneliness and the risk of developing T2D, it looked at whether depression and insomnia play a role.

A growing body of research has pointed to a link between psychological stress and an individuals risk of developing T2D.

Loneliness creates a chronic and sometimes long-lasting state of distress which may activate the bodys physiological stress response.

While the exact mechanisms are not fully understood, this response is believed to play a central role in the development of T2D through mechanisms such as temporary insulin resistance brought on by elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

This process also involves changes in the regulation of eating behaviour by the brain, causing an increased appetite for carbohydrates and subsequent elevated blood sugar levels. Previous studies have found an association between loneliness and unhealthy eating including higher consumption of sugary drinks and foods rich in sugars and fats.

The researchers used data from the HUNT study, a collaboration between the HUNT Research Centre (Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology [NTNU]), Trndelag County Council, the Central Norway Regional Health Authority and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

This database contains the health information (from self-reported questionnaires, medical examinations and blood samples) of more than 230,000 people and obtained via four population surveys: HUNT1 (1984-1986), HUNT2 (1995-1997), HUNT3 (2006-2008) and HUNT4 (2017-2019).

Baseline information for 24,024 participants was taken from HUNT2 after excluding individuals with metabolic disorders, type 1 and type 2 diabetes and those for whom blood test data were not available. T2D status was the main outcome variable and was based on HbA1c(glycated haemoglobin a measure of long-term blood sugar control) being greater than 48mmol/mol when measured in the HUNT4 survey.

Loneliness was gauged from HUNT2 data survey whether they had felt lonely over the previous 2 weeks and was measured on a four-point scale (no, a little, a good amount and very much).

Severity of depression symptoms were assessed using questionnaire completed during HUNT3 which consisted of 7 questions, each scored on a scale of 0-3 for a total of 0-21 points, with higher scores indicating more severe symptoms.

Individuals with insomnia were identified based on their answers to the questions: How often in the last 3 months have you: had difficulty falling asleep at night, woken up repeatedly during the night and woken too early and couldnt get back to sleep, respectively.

These were asked as part of HUNT3 and participants could choose one of three answers: never/seldom, sometimes and several times a week.

Out of 24,024 people, 1,179 (4.9%) went on to develop T2D over the course of the study (1995-2019). These individuals were more likely to be men (59% vs 44%) and had a higher mean age (48 years vs 43 years) than those without T2D. They were also more likely to be married (73% vs 68%) and have the lowest level of education (35% vs 23%). Feelings of loneliness were reported by 13% of participants.

The study found that higher levels of loneliness at baseline were strongly associated with a higher risk of T2D when measured 20 years later. After adjusting for age, sex and education level they found that participants who responded very much when asked whether they had felt lonely were twice as likely to develop T2D than those who did not feel lonely.

Further analysis showed that this relationship was not altered by the presence of depression, sleep-onset insomnia or terminal insomnia, although the team did find evidence of a link to sleep maintenance insomnia.

Although their study did not examine the exact mechanisms involved, the researchers note that social support, influence and engagement may have positive effects on health-promoting behaviours.

For example, advice and support from a friend may influence an individuals health-related choices and have a positive effect on their diet, physical activity level and overall feelings of stress. Fewer social ties and a lack of these positive influences can make lonely people more vulnerable to behaviour which could increase the risk of developing T2D.

The researchers advise that loneliness should be included in clinical guidelines relating to T2D. They say: It is important that healthcare providers are open to dialogue about an individuals concerns during clinical consultations, including with regard to loneliness and social interaction.

The authors recommend that further research is carried out into the mechanisms at play in the link between loneliness and T2D as well as the roles played by insomnia and depression.

They conclude: Questions to be answered are the extent to which loneliness leads to the activation of stress responses, the extent to which loneliness affects health-related behaviour and, importantly, how these two pathways interact in terms of contributing to an increased risk of T2D.

Author: Judy NaylorSource: DiabetologiaContact: Judy Naylor DiabetologiaImage: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: Open access.Loneliness increases the risk of type 2 diabetes: a 20 year follow-up results from the HUNT study by Roger E. Henriksen et al. Diabetologia

Abstract

Loneliness increases the risk of type 2 diabetes: a 20 year follow-up results from the HUNT study

Type 2 diabetes is one of the leading causes of death globally and its incidence has increased dramatically over the last two decades. Recent research suggests that loneliness is a possible risk factor for type 2 diabetes. This 20 year follow-up study examined whether loneliness is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. As both loneliness and type 2 diabetes have been linked to depression and sleep problems, we also investigated whether any association between loneliness and type 2 diabetes is mediated by symptoms of depression and insomnia.

We used data from the Trndelag Health Study (HUNT study), a large longitudinal health study based on a population from central Norway (n=24,024). Self-reports of loneliness (HUNT2 survey, 19951997) and data on HbA1clevels (HUNT4 survey, 20172019) were analysed to evaluate the associations between loneliness and incidence of type 2 diabetes. Associations were reported as ORs with 95% CIs, adjusted for sex, age and education. We further investigated the role of depression and insomnia as potential mediating factors.

During the 20 year follow-up period, 4.9% of the study participants developed type 2 diabetes. Various degrees of feeling lonely were reported by 12.6% of the participants. Individuals who felt most lonely had a twofold higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes relative to those who did not feel lonely (adjusted OR 2.19 [95% CI 1.16, 4.15]). The effect of loneliness on type 2 diabetes was weakly mediated by one subtype of insomnia but not by symptoms of depression.

This study suggests that loneliness may be one factor that increases the risk of type 2 diabetes; however, there is no strong support that the effect of loneliness on type 2 diabetes is mediated by depression or insomnia. We recommend that loneliness should be included in clinical guidelines on consultations and interventions related to type 2 diabetes.

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Loneliness Associated With Double the Risk of Developing Diabetes - Neuroscience News