Wednesday, December 18, 2024

 

Paranoia may be, in part, a visual problem



Yale University





New Haven, Conn. — Could complex beliefs like paranoia have roots in something as basic as vision? A new Yale study finds evidence that they might.

When completing a visual perception task, in which participants had to identify whether one moving dot was chasing another moving dot, those with greater tendencies toward paranoid thinking (believing others intend them harm) and teleological thinking (ascribing excessive meaning and purpose to events) performed worse than their counterparts, the study found. Those individuals more often — and confidently — claimed one dot was chasing the other when it wasn’t.

The findings, published Dec. 17 in the journal Communications Psychology, suggest that, in the future, testing for illnesses like schizophrenia could be done with a simple eye test.

“We’re really interested in how the mind is organized,” said senior author Philip Corlett, an associate professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and member of the Wu Tsai Institute. “Chasing or other intentional behaviors are what you might think of as experiences perceived at a very high-level in the brain, that someone might have to reason through and deliberate. In this study, we can see them low down in the brain, in vision, which we think is exciting and interesting — and has implications for how those mechanisms might be relevant for schizophrenia.”

Paranoia and teleological thinking are similar in that they are both misattributions of intention, but paranoia is a negative perception while teleological thinking tends to be positive. Both patterns of thinking are linked to psychosis and schizophrenia.

Hallucinations are associated with psychosis as well and are often about other people, said Corlett, suggesting there may be a social component to these visual misperceptions.

“So we wondered whether there might be something related to social perception — or misperception, what we refer to as social hallucination — that we could measure and that relate to these symptoms of psychosis,” he said.

For the task, participants were shown dots moving on a screen. Sometimes one dot was chasing another; other times there was no chase. Across different trials of the task, participants had to say whether a chase was occurring or not.

Those with higher degrees of paranoia and teleological thinking (as measured through questionnaires) were more likely than others to say with confidence that a chase was happening when one wasn’t. Essentially, they perceived a social interaction that wasn’t occurring.

In additional experiments, the researchers asked participants to identify which dot was doing the chasing and which dot was being chased. In these results, paranoia and teleological thinking began to diverge.

“People with paranoia were particularly bad at detecting which dot was being chased,” said Santiago Castiello, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher in Corlett’s lab. “And people with high teleology were particularly bad at detecting which dot was doing the chasing.”

That these two types of beliefs differed in this way highlights that they are distinct and may have implications for diagnosis or treatment, said the researchers. The connection to vision may also shift thinking around how the brain gives rise to psychotic symptoms.

“Very few people with congenital blindness develop schizophrenia,” said Castiello. “Finding these social hallucinations in vision makes me wonder if schizophrenia is something that develops through errors in how people sample the visual world.”

While there are no immediate therapeutic implications from these findings, deeper understanding of these beliefs could aid in pharmacological treatment development and risk assessment.

“One thing we’re thinking about now is whether we can find eye tests that predict someone’s risk for psychosis,” said Corlett. “Maybe there is some very quick perceptual task that can identify when someone might need to talk to a clinician.”

 

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Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! 

WOMYN'S HEALTH

Women often told that severity of medical abortion pain no worse than period cramps

Many women unprepared for pain intensity; more realistic info needed to inform choice



BMJ Group




Women opting for a medical abortion at home are often advised that the procedure is likely to be no more painful than period cramps, suggest the results of a survey, carried out by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), and published online in the journal BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health.

 

This leaves many women unprepared for the intensity of the pain they experience, with some survey respondents saying they would have chosen a different option, had they known.

More realistic and patient centred information needs to be provided to enable women to make an informed choice, says the author, noting that BPAS has already changed its approach in light of the findings.

Medical abortion is achieved with pills at up to 10 weeks. It can take place  at home and can be delivered by telemedicine without the need for a clinic appointment.

In England and Wales, it is the most common method up to 10 weeks of pregnancy, with nearly all such abortions carried out at home, explain the researchers. 

But medical abortion is often painful. And several previously published studies have highlighted the importance of anticipatory counselling about pain management, and the impact that good counselling can have on fear, anxiety, and the level of pain experienced, the researchers add.

To better understand the experience and expectation of pain, and how these might determine choice of abortion method, the researchers invited 11,906 BPAS clients who had had a medical abortion up to 10 weeks of pregnancy to fill in an online questionnaire between November 2021 and March 2022. 

They were asked about the pain they experienced, and how they would describe this to a friend; if they had to have another abortion, what their preferred method would be, and if this was influenced by the pain they experienced; and what advice they would like to have been given about what to expect.

In all, 1596 (13.5%) completed the questionnaire, and included at least one free-text comment. Most (85%) were between the ages of 20 and 39.

One in three of the clients (530) had pregnancies that were between 8 and 9 weeks and almost half had not given birth before (49%; 777).

About half (48.5%; 773) of respondents said that the pain they experienced was more than expected, with most (92%) giving their pain a score of at least 4 out of a maximum of 10. In all, 662 (41.5%) scored it 8-10 (severe).

While two thirds (1047) of respondents said they would choose a medical abortion if needed in future, around 1 in 8 (13%; 202) said they would have a surgical abortion. And most of them (83%; 167) cited pain as a factor in this decision.

Those who opted for a surgical abortion if needed in the future reported an average maximum pain score of 8.5 compared with a score of just over 6 for those opting for a medical abortion if needed in the future.

Some respondents felt the pain they experienced was no worse than period pain, but others felt unprepared for the level of pain they experienced, which they attributed to being advised that it was comparable to period pain, as well as a lack of detailed, realistic anticipatory pain counselling. 

One respondent said: “Pain was so much stronger than period pain, it was like having contractions in labour. I've given birth three times and the pain really wasn't too much different from that pain, the cramping contraction pain.” 

Others said the pain they experienced was far greater than expected, with some directly attributing this to language or detail given to pain in consultations or information leaflets as being “washed over”, “downplayed,” or “sugar-coated.”

A substantial number of respondents said that descriptions of medical abortion pain as period-like (for example, “like a period”, or “a bad period”, “period cramps” or “period cramping”) had played directly into their expectations.

One respondent commented: “[Being transparent] might put some women off from abortion,  however, I feel that patients have a right to fully understand the risks and benefits. This should be made absolutely transparent; shared and informed decision making is essential.”

“Providing accurate, realistic information on pain is not only important for preparing patients for medical abortion, but for supporting informed consent for abortion method choice, in the context of structural constraints,” write the researchers.

They acknowledge the potential for misremembering pain intensity among respondents, but say the findings have already changed the information BPAS provides on what to expect if clients choose a medical abortion.

“Patients want detailed, realistic anticipatory pain counselling as well as general preparatory advice, including first-hand experiences which reference a wide and accessible range of descriptions of pain,” they conclude.

*Lead author, Hannah McCulloch, comments: “Benchmarking against period pain has long been used as a way to describe the pain associated with medical abortion, despite the wide variability of period pain experienced.

“The results of the survey show that counselling on this aspect of medical abortion needs to improve. For many respondents, using period pain as a reference point for what to expect was not helpful for managing expectations, or in line with their experiences.

“Women want more detailed, realistic information to make choices about treatment and to be prepared for medical abortion if that is their preference. And medical abortion is a very safe and effective choice. This evaluation led us at BPAS to create new patient materials and provide additional staff training, which we are currently in the process of evaluating.”

 

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Nonheterosexual women may maintain better sexual functioning during menopause transition



New study suggests that midlife nonheterosexual women are more likely to remain sexually active and less likely to report pain during sexual activity than heterosexual women


The Menopause Society





CLEVELAND, Ohio (Dec 18, 2024)–A woman’s sex drive may diminish with age—partially because of problems with genitourinary symptoms during the menopause transition. Yet, some older women maintain very active sex lives. Why? A new study suggests that one difference could be sexual identity, with nonheterosexual women more likely to report better sexual functioning, despite menopause. Results of the study are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The Menopause Society.

An estimated 25% to 85% of postmenopausal women report challenges with sexual function, including pain with sex, difficulty with desire or libido, and distress concerning their sexual response. These symptoms often emerge during the menopause transition and can be chronic and progressive, with lasting implications for quality of life and sexual well-being.

Nonheterosexual women (also known as sexual minority women) typically experience worse mental and physical health because of the barriers and discrimination they face when engaging with the healthcare system. However, according to a new study involving more than 230 female Veterans, when it comes to sexual function, nonheterosexual women may fare better. Although they still report high levels of distress related to sexual function—similar to their heterosexual counterparts—they report better sexual functioning and less effect of vaginal symptoms.

Female Veterans represent a growing, diverse population for researching because the number of women enrolled in healthcare through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has more than doubled over the last two decades. Moreover, over half of the women served by the VHA are in midlife (typically aged between their 40s and 60s)—a critical window for health changes related to the menopause transition.

Despite the growing number of research studies conducted relative to challenges of the menopause transition, there is a lack of systematic research investigating menopause- and age-related experiences for nonheterosexual women. That’s what prompted researchers to conduct this latest study that found that nonheterosexual women were more than two-fold more likely to report past-month sexual activity and less likely to report pain during sexual activity.

Survey results are published in the article “Sexual orientation and sexual functioning in midlife women veterans.”

“The results of this study highlight that menopause and aging substantively affect sexual health and functioning in women Veterans and, further, that experiences may vary significantly based on sexual identity. Additional research is needed to better understand the unique needs of midlife sexual minority women and to promote the provision of affirming healthcare to sexual minority women Veterans,” says Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director for The Menopause Society.

For more information about menopause and healthy aging, visit www.menopause.org.

The Menopause Society (formerly The North American Menopause Society) is dedicated to empowering healthcare professionals and providing them with the tools and resources to improve the health of women during the menopause transition and beyond. As the leading authority on menopause since 1989, the nonprofit, multidisciplinary organization serves as the independent, evidence-based resource for healthcare professionals, researchers, the media, and the public and leads the conversation about improving women’s health and healthcare experiences. To learn more, visit menopause.org.

WOKE BONOBO'S

World’s only bonobo sanctuary helps orphaned apes overcome trauma to develop social skills and empathy




Durham University
Bonobos research 1 S.Kordon 

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Two bonobos in friendly social contact.

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Credit: Stephanie Kordon/Lola ya Bonobo Sanctuary




Apes orphaned by the illegal trade in bushmeat and pets can overcome trauma and develop social abilities like those of their mother-reared peers.

A new study led by Durham University, UK, looked at the effects of rehabilitation by the world’s only bonobo sanctuary on the social and emotional development of orphaned bonobo apes across a 10-year period.

Bonobos are our closest living relatives, along with chimpanzees, and are only found in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The early life trauma of maternal loss and the deprivation from being captured by humans can have long lasting negative effects on bonobos’ social abilities.

Researchers wanted to see what impact rehabilitation in the Congolese sanctuary of Lola ya Bonobo had on the social and emotional skills of orphaned bonobos, compared to those who were raised by their mothers, at different points in time across the animals’ lifespans.

In particular, the researchers investigated how the bonobos’ empathy, social skills and aggression behaviours developed across their lifespan, as well as between the sexes.

Although the orphaned bonobos studied showed reduced social skills, they still demonstrated a degree of the species-typical social behaviours seen in the mother-reared apes.

The researchers say this underscores the orphans’ ability to overcome challenges as well as the important role that rehabilitation centres like this can play in their recovery before the apes are released back into the wild.

The findings are published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

Lead author Stephanie Kordon, a PhD researcher in the Department of Psychology, Durham University, said: “Bonobos are one of our closest ape cousins, but they are in danger of extinction due to logging and the illegal trade in bushmeat and pets.

“The Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary does vital work in protecting this vulnerable species. While the orphans’ social development is not equivalent to that of their mother-reared counterparts, they overlap in the development and behaviours they display.

“By better understanding the healthy social development of bonobos, we aim to help the important rehabilitation and conservation efforts of this unique species.”

In total researchers observed 83 bonobos at different points in their lives across 10 years at Lola ya Bonobo.

The researchers saw that social skills increased in female bonobos and decreased in males with age, which is consistent with how bonobos interact in the wild, as bonobos are a female-led society. However, these skills were lower in orphans compared to those who were mother-reared.

While orphaned bonobos were consistently less likely to show empathy – such as comforting another bonobo – this ability was not completely absent. This suggests that orphans continue to demonstrate care towards other bonobos, even if it is at a lower end of the scale.

The fact that orphans’ tendency to console others was still within the range of mother-reared bonobos – although at a lower level – also suggests they may have sufficient skills to cope within social groups. This is important as some of these apes go on to be reintroduced back into the wild, where social skills are critical for survival.

Mother-reared and older females were more likely to be aggressive to other group members, while young and male bonobos were more likely to be the victims of aggression. However, how bonobos were reared did not predict their risk of being a victim of aggression.

Research senior-author Professor Zanna Clay, Department of Psychology, Durham University, said: “While we cannot say the orphaned bonobos are absolutely rehabilitated, our findings do show a good direction to their social function as we are seeing them demonstrate species-typical behaviours within low but normal ranges.

“Comparing orphans with mother-reared bonobos also gives us a fascinating insight into how early life experiences can influence the development of social and emotional skills in our closest cousins and the importance of sanctuaries in supporting that development.”

The research also included researchers from Harvard University and Emory University, both USA.

It was funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation: Diverse Intelligences initiative and a European Research Council Horizon 2020 Starting Grant.

ENDS

Social play behaviour between an orphaned and a mother-reared juvenile bonobo.

 

How to print a car: High-performance multi-material 3D printing techniques



Tohoku University

Figure 1 

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Full-scale prototype of a topologically optimized automotive suspension tower manufactured via L-PBF. 

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Credit: ©Kenta Yamanaka et al.




Researchers at Tohoku University's Institute for Materials Research and New Industry Creation Hatchery Center have made a breakthrough in a multi-material 3D printing technique, demonstrating the process for creating a lightweight yet durable automobile part.

The process of metal 3D printing involves building objects by depositing metals layer by layer, using heat to bind them together. The precision of 3D printing allows for the production of unique, highly customizable shapes that often create less wasteful byproducts than traditional manufacturing methods. "Multi-material structures" which strategically combine different materials for optimal performance of a component can also be created via 3D printing. For example, steel automobile parts can be made more lightweight by combining them with aluminum. Due to these benefits, mastering such 3D printing techniques is garnering considerable attention from researchers.

However, this technique does come with some challenges.

"Multi-materials are a hot topic in the field of additive manufacturing due to its process flexibility," explains Associate Professor Kenta Yamanaka (Tohoku University), "However, a major challenge in practical implementation is that for certain metal combinations, such as steel and aluminum, brittle intermetallic compounds can be formed at the dissimilar metal interfaces. So, while the material is now lighter, it ends up being more brittle."

The goal of this study was to produce a steel-aluminum alloy that was lightweight but did not compromise on strength. To do so, the research team used Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF), one of the primary metal 3D printing technologies that employs a laser to selectively melt metal powders. They discovered that increasing the scan speed of the laser significantly suppresses the formation of brittle intermetallic compounds (such as Al5Fe2 and Al13Fe4). They proposed that this higher scanning speed leads to something called non-equilibrium solidification, which minimizes solute partitioning that result in weak points in the material. The resulting product they created consequently demonstrated strong bonding interfaces.

"In other words, you can't just slap two metals together and expect them to stick without a plan," says Specially Appointed Assistant Professor Seungkyun Yim (Tohoku University),"We had to fully understand the in-situ alloying mechanism first."

Based on this achievement, they successfully prototyped the world's first full-scale automotive multi-material component (suspension tower) with a tailored geometry. The research group intends to apply these findings to other metal combinations where similar issues with bonding need improvement, which will allow for more broad applications.

The results were published in Additive Manufacturing on November 19, 2024.

 

Mind’s ear: Investigating the sounds in your head



Some people can't imagine sounds


Meeting Announcement

University of Auckland

Professor Tony Lambert 

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Professor Tony Lambert

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Some people can’t imagine a dog barking or a police siren. Songs can’t get stuck in their heads. They have no inner voices.

‘Anauralia’ was proposed in 2021 by scientists from Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland to describe the little-known condition of a silent mind.

Now, as their investigations into the phenomenon continue, the University will host a global conference on sounds imagined in the mind, an event intended not just for scientists but also philosophers, musicians, poets and writers. ‘Mind’s Ear and Inner Voice’ will run from 14-16 April in Auckland.

“Scientists are fascinated by how the brain makes – or doesn’t make – imaginary sounds such as the inner voice,” says Professor Tony Lambert, of the School of Psychology. “But for writers, musicians and poets, it can be a key part of the creative process, so they have insights to share, too.”

Charles Dickens said he heard his characters’ voices; Alice Walker, too. Some readers conjure up characters’ voices in their minds.

For University of Auckland student Sang Hyun Kim, who has a silent mind, the idea that other people are hearing imaginary voices can seem “freaky”, and he’ll be fascinated to see what research turns up about auditory imagery.

The conference hopes to include personal accounts from individuals who experience anauralia and hyperauralia, the experience of extremely vivid auditory imagery.

Some people say they can recreate a symphony in great detail in their minds. Others report weaker auditory imagery, and a small number report none. In New Zealand, it’s estimated close to 1 percent of people experience anauralia, which is often accompanied by aphantasia, a lack of visual imagination. It seems there’s no downside to a silent mind; on the contrary, recent work suggests there may be an upside, involving improved attention.

The notion of a musician experiencing anauralia seems perplexing – how could you perform that role without being able to summon up sounds in your head?

“I don’t understand this either,” says Lambert. He surmises that the minds of such musicians may contain representations of music without the sensory qualities, akin to the difference between hearing music and music represented as a score.

“Overall, auditory imagery has attracted far less research attention than visual imagery,” says Lambert. “Our conference is unique in focusing on these issues from a strongly inter-disciplinary perspective.”

Lambert’s heightened interest in the area came after meeting Adam Zeman, the scientist who coined the term aphantasia, and after graduate students in the University’s PSYCH 721 Consciousness & Cognition paper noticed that scientific literature focused on visual imagery and largely ignored auditory imagery.  

“This got me thinking about the absence of auditory imagery.  Are there people who don’t imagine voices, music or other sounds? If so, how common is this? What are the psychological implications of experiencing a silent inner world? 

“We now have good answers to the first two questions,” he says. “The last question is a much larger one, but I believe we have made strong progress.”

The research underway in the University’s Anauralia Lab, supported by a grant from the Marsden Fund, includes a neuroimaging study combining high-density EEG, functional magnetic resonance imaging and electromyography of activity in muscles used for speech.

The line-up of keynote speakers at the conference from around the world includes experts on hearing voices – auditory verbal hallucinations – and in a field called cognitive literary studies. 


 

 

Air pollution linked to increased hospital admissions for mental/physical illness



Stricter environmental restrictions needed to curb impact in Scotland, conclude researchers



BMJ Group




Cumulative exposure to air pollution over several years is linked to a heightened risk of admission to hospital for mental/behavioural and physical illness, finds Scottish research published in the open access journal BMJ Open.

 

Stricter environmental restrictions are needed to curb the impact on secondary care, conclude the researchers.

Previously published research on the health effects of long term exposure to ambient air pollution has tended to emphasise deaths rather than hospital admissions, and physical, rather than mental, ill health, suggest the researchers.

In a bid to plug this knowledge gap, the researchers drew on individual level data from the Scottish Longitudinal Study, which represents 5% of the Scottish population and includes demographic information from linked censuses. 

In all, 202,237 people aged 17 and above were included in the analysis. Their health and hospital admissions for all causes; cardiovascular, respiratory, or infectious diseases; and mental illness/behaviour disorders were tracked from Public Health Scotland data and linked to levels of 4 key pollutants for each of the years between 2002 and 2017 inclusive.

The 4 pollutants from road traffic and industry comprised: nitrogen dioxide (NO2); sulphur dioxide (SO2); particulate matter diameter of at least 10 μm (PM10); and small particulate matter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5) per 1 km2 in each person’s residential postcode.

Fluctuations in pollutant levels were observed across the study period, with higher levels recorded in 2002–04. Over the entire period 2002–17 average levels of NO2, SO2, PM10 and PM2.5 were 12, 2, just over 11, and just over 7 μg/m3, respectively. 

The average annual levels for NO2, PM10 and PM2.5 were lower than the 2005 World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, but the levels of NO2 and PM2.5 were higher than the most recent 2021 WHO guidelines.

Average cumulative exposure to air pollution was strongly associated with higher rates of hospital admissions.

Higher cumulative exposure to NO2, PM10, and PM2.5 was associated with a higher incidence of hospital admissions for all causes, and for cardiovascular, respiratory, and infectious diseases before accounting for residential area.

When fully adjusted for cumulative exposure across time, the incidence rate for respiratory disease hospital admissions rose by just over 4% and just over 1%, respectively, for every 1 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 and NO2 pollutants. 

SO2 was mainly associated with hospital admissions for respiratory disease while NO2 was associated with a higher number of hospital admissions for mental illness/behavioural disorders.

This is an observational study, and as such, no firm conclusions about cause and effect can be drawn. 

And the researchers acknowledge that although they accounted for demographics, such as age, sex, ethnicity and education level, they weren’t able to account for other potentially influential factors, such as lifestyle, weight (BMI), noise pollution or the absence of green spaces. 

Exposure to ambient air pollution was assessed yearly rather than monthly or daily, so masking seasonal variations, while residential postcode had to serve as a proxy for personal exposure to air pollution.

Nevertheless, the findings echo those of previously published research, say the researchers, who suggest: “Policies and interventions on air pollution through stricter environmental regulations, long term planning, and the shifting towards renewable energy could eventually help ease the hospital care burden in Scotland in the long term.”

The continue: “Specifically, policies aimed at making the zero emission zones (ie small areas where only zero emission vehicles, pedestrians and bikes are permitted) more abundant in Scotland, especially in the central belt of Scotland where busy and more polluted cities such as Glasgow and Edinburgh are located, would improve the air quality and in turn lower the hospital care burden in those cities.”