Profiles of executive functions in middle childhood and prediction of later self-regulation

Most research on the development of executive functions (EF) has applied variable-oriented approaches, neglecting the potential inter- and intraindividual interplay of these capacities. In a person-oriented approach, the present study identified varying profiles of performance for three cool EF facets: inhibition, working-memory updating, and cognitive flexibility, as well as two hot EF facets: affective decision-making and delay of gratification, in a community sample of 1,657 children (T1; age: 6–11 years, M = 8.36 years, 52.1% female) via latent profile analysis. The best-fitting model allowed for partial dependence across the three cool EF and included four profiles: all-average (69.4% of the children), low-delay (19.0%), regulated-decision-making (7.0%), and low-inhibition (4.6%). Age, binary sex, socio-economic status, multilingualism, and processing speed were identified as significant characteristics of EF profile membership. Longitudinally, a higher probability of belonging to the low-inhibition profile predicted lower rates of the self-regulatory outcome of inhibitory control 1 year later, while belonging to the regulated-decision-making profile predicted lower rates of the ability to plan and organize 3 years later. These results not only demonstrate the existence of subgroups with different concurrent within-person expressions of EF performance, but also identify related characteristics and longitudinal outcomes of subgroup membership. In turn, these conclusions stress the importance of person-oriented research to inform on differing weaknesses or strengths in EF performance for varying individuals, thereby providing valuable insight for educational and clinical research into the design of effective personalized support or interventions during middle childhood

Longitudinal associations between justice sensitivity, nonsuicidal self-injury, substance use, and victimization by peers

Justice sensitivity (JS), the tendency to perceive and negatively respond to alleged injustice, has been associated with a range of internalizing and externalizing problems and peer victimization; however, it remains unclear if it has an association with self-victimization. Participants (N = 769) reported on their JS longitudinally at 9–19 (T1), 11–21 (T2), and 14–22 years of age (T3). They further reported on nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and illegal substance use as indicators of self-victimization as well as victimization by peers at T2 and T3. A cross-lagged latent model revealed that victim JS at T1 was positively associated with NSSI, substance use, and peer victimization at T2, and victim JS at T2 was positively associated with substance use at T3. Higher observer JS at T2 predicted higher illegal substance use at T3 and higher illegal substance use at T2 predicted higher observer JS at T3. Finally, higher peer victimization at T2 predicted less perpetrator JS at T3 in the total group. Multigroup models further revealed sex-specific effects. Our findings highlight that being sensitive to injustice, particularly the tendency to feel unfairly treated or being taken advantage of, contributes to individuals’ vulnerability to both engaging in behaviors reflecting self-victimization and being a target of peer victimization, which in turn have influences on JS

Respiratory and Cardiac Interoceptive Sensitivity in the First Two Years of Life

Several recent theoretical accounts have posited that interoception, the perception of internal bodily signals, plays a vital role in early human development. Yet, empirical evidence of cardiac interoceptive sensitivity in infants to date has been mixed. Furthermore, existing evidence does not go beyond the perception of cardiac signals and focuses only on the age of 5–7months, limiting the generalizability of the results. Here, we used a modified version of the cardiac interoceptive sensitivity paradigm introduced by Maister et al. (2017) in 3-, 9-, and 18-month-old infants using cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches. Going beyond, we introduce a novel experimental paradigm, namely the iBREATH, to investigate respiratory interoceptive sensitivity in infants. Overall, for cardiac interoceptive sensitivity (total n= 135) we find rather stable evidence across ages with infants on average preferring stimuli presented synchronously to their heartbeat. For respiratory interoceptive sensitivity (total n = 120) our results show a similar pattern in the first year of life, but not at 18 months. We did not observe a strong relationship between cardiac and respiratory interoceptive sensitivity at 3 and 9 months but found some evidence for a relationship at 18 months. We validated our results using specification curve- and mega analytic approaches. By examining early cardiac and respiratory interoceptive processing, we provide evidence that infants are sensitive to their interoceptive signals

Prevalence of Candida species in Psoriasis

Background: Psoriasis patients are more frequently colonised with Candida species. The correlation between fungal colonisation and clinical severity is unclear, but may exacerbate psoriasis and the impact of antipsoriatic therapies on the prevalence of Candida is unknown. Objectives: To examine the prevalence of C species in psoriasis patients compared to an age- and sex-matched control population, we investigated the influence of Candida colonisation on disease severity, immune cell activation and the interplay on psoriatic treatments. Methods: The prevalence of C species was examined in 265 psoriasis patients and 200 control subjects by swabs and stool samples for fungal cultures. Peripheral mononuclear blood cells (PBMCs) were collected from 20 fungal colonised and 24 uncolonised patients and stimulated. The expression of interferon (IFN)-γ, IL-17A, IL-22 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α from stimulated PBMCs was measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Results: A significantly higher prevalence for Candida was detected in psoriatic patients (p ≤ .001) compared to the control subjects; most abundant in stool samples, showing Candida albicans. Older participants (≥51 years) were more frequent colonised, and no correlation with gender, disease severity or systemic treatments like IL-17 inhibitors was found. Conclusions: Although Candida colonisation is significantly more common in patients with psoriasis, it does not influence the psoriatic disease or cytokine response. Our study showed that Candida colonisation is particularly more frequent in patients with psoriasis ≥51 years of age. Therefore, especially this group should be screened for symptoms of candidiasis during treatment with IL-17 inhibitors

Potential therapeutic effects of an ayahuasca-inspired N,N-DMT and harmine formulation: a controlled trial in healthy subjects

Background: There is growing scientific evidence for the therapeutic benefits of the Amazonian plant-based psychedelic “ayahuasca” for neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety. However, there are certain challenges when incorporating botanical ayahuasca into biomedical research and clinical therapy environments. Formulations inspired by ayahuasca, which contain specific and standardized active components, are a potential remedy. Methods: We investigated subjective acute and persisting effects of a novel formulation containing the reversible monoamine oxidase inhibitor harmine (orodispersible tablet containing 100 mg MAO-I) and N,N-dimethyltryptamine (incremental intranasal dosing of up to 100 mg DMT), compared with two other conditions, namely harmine alone and placebo, in a crossover RCT in 31 healthy male subjects. Results: DMT + harmine, but not harmine alone, induced a psychedelic experience assessed with the 5D-ASC rating scale [global score: F(2,60) = 80.21, p < 0.001] and acute experience sampling items over time, characterized by psychological insights [PIQ, F(2,58.5) = 28.514, p < 0.001], emotional breakthroughs [EBI, F(2,60) = 26.509, p < 0.001], and low scores on the challenging experience questionnaire [CEQ, F(2,60) = 12.84, p < 0.001]. Participants attributed personal and spiritual significance to the experience (GSR) with mainly positive persisting effects (PEQ) at 1- and 4-months follow-up. Acute drug effects correlated positively with persisting effects. We found no changes in trait measures of personality, psychological flexibility, or general well-being, and no increases in psychopathology (SCL-90-R) were reported. Discussion and Conclusion: Our results suggest that the experience induced by the standardized DMT + harmine formulation induces a phenomenologically rich psychedelic experience, demonstrates good psychological safety and tolerability, is well tolerated, and induces beneficial psychological processes that could possibly support psychotherapy. Further studies are required to investigate the psychotherapeutic potential in patients

Tool mastering today – an interdisciplinary perspective

Tools have coined human life, living conditions, and culture. Recognizing the cognitive architecture underlying tool use would allow us to comprehend its evolution, development, and physiological basis. However, the cognitive underpinnings of tool mastering remain little understood in spite of long-time research in neuroscientific, psychological, behavioral and technological fields. Moreover, the recent transition of tool use to the digital domain poses new challenges for explaining the underlying processes. In this interdisciplinary review, we propose three building blocks of tool mastering: (A) perceptual and motor abilities integrate to tool manipulation knowledge, (B) perceptual and cognitive abilities to functional tool knowledge, and (C) motor and cognitive abilities to means-end knowledge about tool use. This framework allows for integrating and structuring research findings and theoretical assumptions regarding the functional architecture of tool mastering via behavior in humans and non-human primates, brain networks, as well as computational and robotic models. An interdisciplinary perspective also helps to identify open questions and to inspire innovative research approaches. The framework can be applied to studies on the transition from classical to modern, non-mechanical tools and from analogue to digital user-tool interactions in virtual reality, which come with increased functional opacity and sensorimotor decoupling between tool user, tool, and target. By working towards an integrative theory on the cognitive architecture of the use of tools and technological assistants, this review aims at stimulating future interdisciplinary research avenues

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