Search Results (265)

Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) environments are increasingly adopted in clinical psychology and stress-management contexts; however, their therapeutic effectiveness depends on the system’s ability to understand and dynamically respond to users’ affective states. Emotional regulation plays a key role in psychological resilience, directly influencing stress coping mechanisms, cognitive performance, and overall mental well-being. Despite recent advances, automatic recognition of scenario-associated affective conditions in VR remains challenging because head-mounted displays occlude facial features. This study proposes a VR-based serious game for affective training and regulation, in which users interact with goal-oriented scenarios targeting fear, anger, and joy. We introduce a multimodal affective computing model to objectively assess users’ emotional responses by integrating electrocardiogram (ECG) signals and posture-based features extracted through computer vision. An early-fusion architecture combined with a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network captures temporal dependencies in synchronized multimodal data. We established a controlled experimental framework using immersive VR scenarios, enabling the collection of synchronized physiological and behavioral data from a cohort of 20 healthy adult participants. The proposed model was evaluated under a strict Leave-One-Subject-Out (LOSO) cross-validation scheme across independent subjects, achieving a robust inter-subject accuracy of $78.94\%\pm 10.77\%$ and a global macro F1-score of 0.635, demonstrating strong generalization to entirely unseen users without data leakage. Furthermore, the system maintained an outstanding balance in detecting active emotional states (recall > 80.0% for fear, anger, and joy). Additionally, subjective evaluations using the PANAS and SGU questionnaires confirmed the coherence between detected and perceived emotional states, as well as the system’s high usability. The results suggest the potential viability of combining immersive environments and multimodal affective computing to explore the technical feasibility of adaptive frameworks that could eventually translate into healthcare contexts. This work may contribute to the development of intelligent digital health technologies by providing a foundation for responsive VR systems that can monitor emotional regulation and are fully aligned with sustainable well-being ecosystems (SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being and SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities). Full article

This review explores the multifaceted roles of the amygdala, focusing on its structural components, projections, physiological aspects, and key functions in emotional processing and fear conditioning. Beyond traditional roles, it examines the amygdala’s involvement in sleep architecture during the NREM and REM phases. In NREM sleep, the amygdala is involved in memory replay and encoding. During REM sleep, it is highly active, contributing to the emotional content of dreams. This state is characterized by increased cerebral blood flow to the amygdaloid complexes and the generation of Ponto–Geniculo–Occipital (PGO) waves, which are linked to vivid visual imagery and emotional experiences. The review establishes a critical link between the amygdala and the cycle of anxiety disorders and sleep disturbances. It explores anxiety disorders’ specific impact on the amygdala and their influence on sleep patterns. Additionally, the review discusses how medications for anxiety disorders and sleep disturbances act on the amygdala. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) regulate amygdala function, affecting emotional responses and connectivity patterns, improving anxiety, and potentially enhancing sleep quality over time. Trazodone, a serotonin antagonist and reuptake inhibitor (SARI), improves sleep by blocking serotonin receptors and is effective in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related sleep disturbances. Benzodiazepines and zolpidem affect sleep architecture and anxiety by selectively enhancing the actions of both endogenous and exogenous GABA through GABA-A receptors. At the same time, agomelatine, an antidepressant with anxiolytic properties, improves sleep quality without disrupting REM sleep and treats insomnia associated with various conditions, including alcohol dependence. The aim of this review is to summarize amygdala functions, with a focus on their role in regulating sleep and affective responses. Moreover, it discusses possible therapeutic targets in the amygdala for anxiety and sleep disorders. Full article

Accurate and efficient memory processing is essential for survival. A body of ongoing work in both human subjects and animal models suggests that memory processing may differ substantially between males and females. In mice, contextual fear memory (CFM) encoding, consolidation, and recall have been well studied, and the mouse hippocampus and amygdala have been implicated in these processes. The present pilot study addresses whether the activation of these brain regions differs substantially between male and female mice at each stage of CFM processing. We find that male and female mice show no differences in sleep behavior, which is essential for CFM consolidation, following single-trial contextual fear conditioning (CFC). We also find no significant differences in CFM recall performance between male and female mice. However, females show a trend for larger increases in CA1 cFos expression, relative to males, during CFM encoding. On the other hand, only males—but not females—show an apparent increase in cFos expression among dentate gyrus (DG) granule cells during CFM consolidation. Males also show a trend for a larger apparent reduction in cFos in CA1 and CA3 during CFM consolidation, relative to females. These preliminary findings highlight the idea that the neurobiological underpinnings of memory processing may differ between males and females, even when performance during recall is identical. Full article

Objective: Depressive symptoms exist on a continuum in the general population, yet the underlying neurobiological mechanisms, particularly the interplay between resting-state networks and task-evoked social cognitive responses, remain elusive. Methods: Leveraging the Human Connectome Project (HCP) dataset, we included 867 participants. With depression scores as the independent variable and age/sex as covariates, we systematically examined associations with sleep quality, negative emotions, sensory scores, gray matter volume (GMV), fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF), multi-seed resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC), as well as brain activation and behavioral performance during working memory, emotion recognition, social cognition, relational reasoning, language comprehension, and gambling tasks. The statistical threshold was set at voxel-level p < 0.001 (uncorrected) combined with cluster-level FWE correction at p < 0.05. Results: (1) Depression scores were positively correlated with sleep disturbances, negative emotions (anger/fear), and pain. (2) In resting-state, depression scores negatively correlated with ventral striatum (VS)–cerebellum/parahippocampal gyrus/fusiform rsFC, yet positively correlated with pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (preACC)–supplementary motor area (SMA) rsFC. (3) In task-fMRI, only the social task showed a positive association with task accuracy and regional activation in bilateral pre/postcentral gyri, superior temporal gyri, left middle frontal gyrus, and SMA/paracentral lobule. Conclusions: Elevated depression scores are linked to a pattern that may reflect relative decoupling between reward and perceptual systems, along with enhanced connectivity in cognitive control circuits. Socially, high scorers exhibit a pattern suggestive of compensatory hypervigilance, accompanied by enhanced behavioral performance. This study provides multidimensional evidence for the dimensional neural representation of depressive symptoms. Full article

Background/Objectives: While there is an existing body of quantitative data on the psychological and mental burden of suicide-bereaved parents, further qualitative research is needed to explore suicide-bereaved mothers’ living experiences in specific sociocultural contexts, especially in Southern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean. Given the persistent stigma surrounding suicide in these societies, and the fact that previous research has often overlooked mothers’ perspectives in favor of broader samples of bereaved parents, we explored the psychosocial needs of Greek-speaking suicide-bereaved mothers in the Republic of Cyprus, and their experiences in accessing formal mental healthcare support. Methods: An inductive, secondary content analysis of qualitative data collected through personal semi-structured interviews with ten suicide-bereaved mothers was employed. Results: Participants’ psychosocial needs centered around a “persistent orientation towards protection,” encompassing three interconnected domains: (1) self-protection and the need for acceptance by shielding themselves from stigma, social judgment, and emotional disintegration, (2) ensuring a safe and protective environment for the surviving family by safeguarding the psychological well-being and cohesion of surviving family members, and (3) protecting the posthumous dignity and memory of the deceased child. Rather than seeking formal support, participants overwhelmingly avoided mental health services, citing a lack of empathy, cultural misunderstanding, and fear of further stigmatization. Mental health professionals were often perceived as inadequate or even harmful, undermining participants’ need for protective attitudes, self-reliance and self-respect during bereavement. These responses reflected how stigma and gendered social expectations surrounding suicide shaped participating bereaved mothers’ disengagement from the healthcare system, despite their intense psychological needs. Conclusions: These findings underscored how gendered social expectations, combined with the stigma surrounding suicide, created significant psychosocial barriers to mental health care for women navigating traumatic grief, particularly in sociocultural contexts where suicide remains highly stigmatized. Full article

Background: Children with food allergy (FA) may develop eating difficulties that extend beyond medically required allergen avoidance, including food neophobia, selective eating, and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)-related symptoms. This mixed-methods study aimed to assess ARFID symptoms, food neophobia, diet quality, and food-related psychological experiences in children with FA. Methods: Seventy children with confirmed FA were enrolled in an observational cross-sectional mixed-methods study conducted at a tertiary pediatric allergy center. Quantitative assessment included the Eating Disorders in Youth-Questionnaire (EDY-Q), the Italian Child Food Neophobia Scale (ICFNS), and the Mediterranean Diet Quality Index for Children and Adolescents (KIDMED). Qualitative data were collected from a purposive subsample of 26 children through semi-structured child-friendly interviews and drawing-based elicitation activities and were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: A positive EDY-Q screening result for ARFID-related symptoms was observed in 3 children (4.3%). Selective Eating showed the highest median EDY-Q domain score (median 1.50, IQR 0.67–4.00), followed by Food Avoidance Emotional Disorder (median 1.00, IQR 0.00–2.00) and Functional Dysphagia (median 0.00, IQR 0.00–2.00). Moderate food neophobia was observed in 45 children (64.3%), while 24 children (34.3%) were classified within the high food-neophobia category. KIDMED score was negatively correlated with EDY-Q total score (Spearman’s ρ = −0.302; p = 0.011), Selective Eating (ρ = −0.356; p = 0.002), and Functional Dysphagia (ρ = −0.238; p = 0.048). In an exploratory hierarchical regression, Selective Eating remained inversely associated with KIDMED after adjustment for demographic and FA-related covariates (β = −0.386; p = 0.002); however, the overall model did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.081), and the additional clinical covariates did not significantly improve model fit. Accordingly, the fully adjusted findings should be interpreted as exploratory. Qualitative analysis identified five themes: anticipatory fear of food and tasting, emotional memory of allergic reactions and generalization of risk, selective avoidance and food rigidity, reassurance-seeking and decision-making dependence, and ambivalent parental dynamics. Conclusions: Within this tertiary-care sample, positive EDY-Q screening results were uncommon, whereas broader food-related difficulties were identified. Pediatric FA assessment may benefit from attention to eating behavior, diet quality, and avoidance extending beyond confirmed allergens. Full article

Genealogy is about the things that are transmitted from one generation to the next: blood, name, property but also grief, guilt, belief and dread. A genealogical reading of Stephen King’s fiction suggests that this is the last category of inheritance that preoccupies the writer’s imagination and that the entire oeuvre is more concerned with the transmission of fear and supernatural power through kinship, community and place than with the terror of the haunted subject alone. In King’s fiction, fear is inherited rather than merely experienced, supernatural power is transmitted rather than acquired and horror is reproduced through families, communities and social institutions. This study, which uses King’s novels as evidence rather than as objects of close reading and draws on genealogy studies, cultural and collective memory theory, trauma studies and family-systems thinking, traces four recurrent genealogical structures: the family lineage of fear; the inheritance of supernatural capacity as a form of cultural transmission; the ancestral burden carried by communities and reproduced through their memory; and the consolidation of these into durable genealogies of identity, power and trauma. King’s fiction thus provides an underutilized archive for genealogy studies: a popular genre in which cultural fears of lineage, descent and social reproduction are performed at the interface of the affective and the supernatural. In all these novels, the struggle to break free from what one has inherited is hard and it is this struggle that the present study examines. Full article

Background/Objectives: Dopamine is well known for its role in reward learning, where phasic activity encodes prediction errors and supports the formation of cue–outcome associations. More recently, dopamine has been implicated in encoding salience, novelty, and aversive events, suggesting a broader function in shaping learning and memory across motivational contexts. However, how accumbal dopamine contributes to the recovery of extinguished fear, a process central to relapse in anxiety and trauma-related disorders, remains unclear. Methods: Here, we examined NAc core dopamine dynamics during shock-induced reinstatement of an extinguished fear memory. Using dLight fiber photometry, we found that a sustained decrease in baseline dopamine marked extinction recall. In contrast, an unexpected reminder footshock prevented this reduction, maintaining dopamine levels near baseline as freezing behavior re-emerged. Results: The reminder shock also evoked a transient dopamine peak, and optogenetic manipulations demonstrated that dopamine signaling during this period bidirectionally modulated reinstatement, with enhancement of dopamine release increasing reinstatement and inhibition of dopamine terminals markedly attenuating it. Together, these results demonstrate that unexpected aversive events reset NAc core dopamine levels and gate the return of extinguished fear. Conclusions: By revealing that accumbal dopamine contributes to fear recovery, this work broadens current models of dopamine function and identifies a neural mechanism through which surprising events may promote relapse of aversive memories in anxiety- and stress-related disorders. Full article

Using theories of Afrocentricity (African Indigenous Knowledge) and of positioning, we investigated how Sub-Saharan African immigrant parents (SSAIP) support their Grade 6–9 children’s mathematics learning in Canada. Individual interviews were collected from twelve immigrant parents living in an urban community in Alberta and new to Canada (within five years). We ask: what are the mathematics experiences and perspectives of Sub-Saharan African immigrant families? We analyzed interview data from 12 SSAIPs from Greater Edmonton, Canada to identify the storylines they shared regarding their experiences and perspectives of mathematics learning. The prevailing storylines were interpreted through an African Indigenous Knowledge lens. We found that parents adjust their mathematics learning support for their children by negotiating their experiences from two cultural worlds of education: pre-colonial (African Indigenous Knowledge) and colonized worldviews, their home and host cultures, generally. We identified these storylines, some of which sit in tension with each other: “mathematics learning is a communal responsibility”, “mathematics teachers share responsibility for the moral upbringing of the child”, “mathematics as memory work is feared and stressful”, “adults tell children what to do”, “adults negotiate with children about what to do”, and “success in mathematics is a gift from God”. We interpreted the storylines through the Akan Adinkra epistemologies which manifest in the Adinkra symbols and sayings, and through our experiences living and working in Sub-Saharan Africa, to determine the way each storyline aligned with old African or new African ways. This study will be beneficial for educators wishing to adopt culturally responsive ways of engaging immigrant families in their children’s mathematics learning. Full article

Background/Objectives: Autophagy is a highly conserved eukaryotic cellular process whose dysfunction results in human pathologies including cancer and neurodegenerative disease. First identified in yeast, ATG genes are central players in autophagy. Mutations in core autophagy genes ATG5 and ATG7 have been previously reported to cause rare genetic disorders with autosomal recessive inheritance. Methods: Here we report, for the first time, variants in human ATG9B gene as causative factors for a rare neurodevelopmental disease with autosomal recessive inheritance. Three distinct mutations were detected in three independent families with consanguinity, five patients affected in total. Results: The first variant is an 11-nucleotide deletion resulting in a frameshift. A premature stop codon is added and the C-terminal cytosolic domain of ATG9B protein is truncated. The second one is a point mutation that changes a critical amino acid in the transmembrane domain. The third variant is a 2-nucleotide deletion causing a different truncation product. Patients presented with diverse neurodevelopmental anomalies including intellectual disability, behavioral abnormalities, congenital cerebellar ataxia, mild cerebellar atrophy, and microcephaly. Since human ATG9B is expressed specifically in the placenta, we hypothesized that the disease pathology originates during placental development. To characterize the effects of the first frameshift mutation and gain insight into the specific functions of ATG9B in a physiological setting, we used mammalian cells and a knock-in mouse model. Truncated ATG9B was not stable when expressed in cells. It was localized to perinuclear vesicles like the WT protein, but not to peripheral vesicles. Homozygous knock-in mice were viable, fertile, and displayed no gross phenotypical abnormalities. Histomorphometry analysis of the placenta layers did not reveal a significant difference between mutant and control embryos. The assessments of neurobehavioral tests were similar in wild-type and homozygous knock-in mice. However, knock-in mice had a reduced fear memory trend, which is an amygdala-involved response. Conclusions: In this study, we describe a new rare disease linked to ATG9, including cerebellar ataxia and atrophy, as described for ATG5 and ATG7. Full article

PFAS contamination represents a slow, invisible chronic technological disaster with documented long-term psychosocial impacts on affected communities. However, existing research has predominantly focused on toxicological and biomedical outcomes, leaving the lived experiences and narrative dimensions of contamination underexplored. This study investigates how residents of PFAS-contaminated communities experience and narrate environmental contamination by applying Edelstein’s Theory of Environmental Turbulence (TET) and integrating a bottom-up stage-based model of psychosocial reaction with narrative epidemiology. Twenty-five personal narratives were selected from the digital archive Living With PFAS and analyzed through thematic analysis. Three main themes emerged, corresponding to the TET dimensions of lifescape, lifestyle, and lifestrain, articulated across twelve subthemes: inversion of health, self, home community and place, environment, livelihood, trust, environmental stigma, shock and fear, chronic concern, anger, parental guilt and relation strain. The findings demonstrate that PFAS contamination produces multidimensional disruptions that extend beyond toxic exposure to encompass identity, social relationships, institutional trust, and collective memory. Integrating TET with Psycho-Social Impact Assessment (PSIA) offers a theoretically grounded and exploratory transdisciplinary framework for identifying hidden suffering and informing more responsive environmental health policies and community interventions. Full article

HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment persists despite combination antiretroviral therapy, largely driven by chronic microglial activation that sustains neuroinflammation and neuronal injury. Activated microglia contribute to HIV-associated brain pathology by releasing proinflammatory mediators that disrupt synaptic integrity and impair cognition. N-acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG), an abundant neuropeptide that maintains glutamatergic homeostasis, is hydrolyzed by glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII) to glutamate. We previously demonstrated that reduced brain and cerebrospinal fluid NAAG levels in people living with HIV correlate with cognitive impairment, and that pharmacological GCPII inhibition with 2-(phosphonomethyl)-pentanedioic acid (2-PMPA) elevates brain NAAG and improves cognition in EcoHIV-infected mice. To enhance brain delivery and preferentially target activated microglia, we conjugated 2-PMPA to a generation 4 hydroxyl poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimer (D-2-PMPA). Our findings demonstrate that D-2-PMPA achieves preferential microglial drug delivery, resulting in a >600% increase in cerebrospinal fluid NAAG levels. At doses 8.3-fold lower than free 2-PMPA, this formulation reversed EcoHIV-induced deficits in social interaction, novel object recognition, and fear-conditioned memory without altering locomotor activity or anxiety-like behavior. D-2-PMPA also restored prefrontal cortex synaptic density and preserved dendritic architecture. Together, these findings demonstrate that microglia-targeted GCPII inhibition represents a potent nanotherapeutic strategy to restore synaptic integrity and cognitive function in HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment. Full article

This dataset provides synchronized multimodal behavioral measurements from 36 mice across four experimental groups: wild-type and rTg4510 tauopathy mice, each tested with or without doxycycline-mediated suppression of mutant tau expression. Of these, 34 mice had complete measurements across all three behavioral paradigms and were used for analyses requiring full cross-task linkage. At six months of age, all animals underwent three standardized behavioral paradigms: home cage monitoring, ten-day trace eyeblink conditioning, and contextual fear conditioning. The individual-level data included locomotor activity, rearing duration, conditioned response metrics, eyelid closure latencies, and contextual freezing percentages. All measurements were linked using unique mouse identifiers, enabling cross-task analysis without preprocessing or imputation. The dataset was accompanied by a complete data dictionary, processing workflow diagram, and validation analyses demonstrating cross-paradigm correlations. The cross-task associations are illustrated in the main figures, with additional early phase acquisition and temporal processing correlations provided in the main figures. Provided in an open CSV format with detailed metadata, this resource supports behavioral phenotyping, machine learning applications, and the investigation of learning mechanisms in tauopathy models. Full article

Rett Syndrome (RTT) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by mutations in the MeCP2 gene, predominantly affecting females. Recent work with MeCP2-deficient mouse models showed a significant role in glutamatergic transmission, specifically microglia-produced glutamate and glutaminase upregulation, in RTT pathology. The glutamine antagonist 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine (DON) is a potent glutaminase inhibitor; however, its use is limited due to systemic toxicities arising from its non-specific inhibition of glutamine-utilizing reactions. In this work, we determined whether dendrimer conjugation of a DON analog, TTM020 (or D-TTM020), results in targeted microglial glutaminase inhibition and behavioral changes in Mecp2 KO and heterozygous mice upon systemic administration. D-TTM020 at 1 mg/kg (drug basis) selectively and significantly inhibits glutaminase enzyme activity in the microglia of Mecp2 KO mice. Biweekly systemic treatment with 1 mg/kg of D-TTM020 improved the neurobehavioral phenotype in symptomatic Mecp2 KO and het mice. D-TTM020 also restored long-term retrieval of conditioned fear memory and improved cue responses during fear extinction after 8 weeks of treatment in symptomatic Mecp2 het mice. Our data indicate that selectively targeting glutamine metabolism in dysregulated glia using dendrimers represents a promising strategy that may offer a therapeutic approach for addressing glutamate dysregulation in RTT. Full article

Background/Objectives: Given the critical role of vaccinations and venipunctures in disease prevention and health monitoring, it is concerning that over half of children ages 4 to 8 experience some level of needle fear. Higher levels of fear result in longer procedure times, ineffective pain management, distressing memories of needles, and ultimately, healthcare avoidance. Exposure-based therapy with a therapist is recommended for high levels of fear. However, access is limited due to cost, wait times, clinician shortages, system barriers, and social stigma. Thus, there is a need for an evidence-informed, caregiver-directed educational resource for management of moderate to high needle fear in young children. Methods: To address this gap, such a resource was drafted which included a caregiver guide and an illustrated children’s book. The current objective was to gather key user feedback on this initial version of the resource. Participants reported their perceptions of the content, coping strategies, design, organization, and accessibility of the resource through semi-structured interviews and limited quantitative ratings. Participants were children with moderate to high levels of needle fear (N = 6), their caregivers (N = 6), and healthcare professionals (N = 6; including needle providers, child life specialists, and mental health clinicians). Interviews were coded with inductive content analysis; descriptive statistics were calculated for quantitative ratings. Results: Participants reported satisfaction with the e-resource and highlighted strengths (e.g., CARD^TM system, children’s book) and improvement areas (e.g., length, language). Conclusion: Feedback informed revisions to the e-resource in preparation for further evaluation in a follow-up study. Full article