{"title":"Neural activity is modulated by spontaneous and volitionally controlled breathing","authors":"Suvi Karjalainen , Jan Kujala , Tiina Parviainen","doi":"10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109026","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109026","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Recent studies have provided evidence regarding respiration-brain coupling, but our understanding of how continuously varying dynamics of breathing modulate neural activity remains incomplete. We examined whether the neural state differs between spontaneous and volitionally controlled breathing and across the phases of breathing, inspiration and expiration. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) with a respiratory belt was used to record cortical oscillatory activity during spontaneous, deep, and square breathing (n = 33). Additionally, self-report measures of mood and arousal were applied to assess changes in the psychological state during the breathing techniques. Alpha power was suppressed during inspiration and increased during expiration (p < .01) indicating dynamically fluctuating neural states across the respiratory cycle. This effect was observed in the sensorimotor areas during both spontaneous and volitionally controlled deep breathing. Compared to spontaneous and volitionally controlled square breathing, alpha power increased during deep breathing (p < .01) within a cortical network extending to frontal and temporal areas. We also observed a steeper aperiodic slope and a broadband shift in the power spectrum in the left superior frontal gyrus during square breathing in comparison with spontaneous breathing suggesting that not only oscillatory activity but also the more general spectral characteristics of ongoing neural activity are modulated by the rate, depth, and pattern of breathing. Self-reported mood and arousal did not differ across the breathing techniques. Altogether, we demonstrate that neural activity is modulated by the phases of breathing and can also be volitionally influenced by varying the rate, depth, and pattern of breathing.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55372,"journal":{"name":"Biological Psychology","volume":"197 ","pages":"Article 109026"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143843941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emily M. Iannazzi , Gillian Grennan , Yuchen Zhao , Kelly Chang , Jamie D. Feusner , Sabine Wilhelm , Dara S. Manoach , Angela Fang
{"title":"Task-based neural correlates of self-focused attention associated with cognitive behavioral therapy response","authors":"Emily M. Iannazzi , Gillian Grennan , Yuchen Zhao , Kelly Chang , Jamie D. Feusner , Sabine Wilhelm , Dara S. Manoach , Angela Fang","doi":"10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109022","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109022","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Self-focused attention (SFA), a form of self-referential processing, is maladaptive in various psychiatric disorders and may be associated with poor treatment response. This study examined SFA in individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), testing the hypothesis that SFA is associated with hyperactivity within default network (DN) regions and with treatment response during cognitive-behavioral therapy. Participants included 30 patients with primary SAD or BDD and 28 healthy controls, who displayed above average and below average scores (respectively) on the Public Self-Consciousness Scale, which measured trait SFA. SFA was also measured by a self-referential encoding task, which yielded both behavioral reaction time measures and task-related fMRI measures of SFA. Results indicated significantly longer reaction times at pre-treatment for self vs. other trials in patients compared to controls, with patients showing notable improvement post-treatment. Neuroimaging revealed greater activation in DN regions, including the medial prefrontal cortex, during self vs. other trials in all participants; however, there were no significant group differences at pre- or post-treatment, nor in the changes from pre- to post-treatment. Neural measures of SFA were significantly associated with treatment response, whereas behavioral measures were not. These findings suggest that activity in DN regions may serve as a transdiagnostic biomarker of maladaptive SFA that is associated with treatment response.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55372,"journal":{"name":"Biological Psychology","volume":"197 ","pages":"Article 109022"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143877198","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Is pupil size an index of insight, analysis, and/or uncertainty? An extended replication study of problem-solving to take account of combined strategies, timing and accuracy","authors":"Warren Mansell, Natalie Wellsted, Welber Marinovic","doi":"10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109023","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109023","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Research indicates that greater pupil dilation distinguishes insight from analytic problem solving, but it remains unclear how time-to-solution and the potential use of combined strategies influence this finding. To address this, we asked participants in the current study to categorise each trial as one of three strategies, and we examined the interaction between strategy type, accuracy and time-to-solution to predict pupil dilation. English-speaking students (n = 38) were asked to solve 120 compound word association problems, while pupil dilation was recorded. Subsequently, participants were asked to report which of the three problem-solving strategies (analytic, insight, combined) they had used to find each solution, without being if their answers were correct. A Bayesian linear mixed model analysis revealed an interaction between time-to-solution and strategy. More specifically, pupil dilation indexed an insight strategy for early solutions, but indicated an analytic strategy for late solutions, with combined strategies falling in between. In addition, correct trials were associated with greater pupil dilation. We conclude that, even within the same task, pupil dilation may separately indicate (1) the extended mental effort of problem analysis, (2) the immediate onset of insight, and (3) the feeling of uncertainty experienced when a correct answer is unvalidated by feedback. Future research should rule out other explanations such as whether pupil dilation is an index of change in affect, and test hypothetical closed-loop models of problem-solving directly through individualised model fitting.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55372,"journal":{"name":"Biological Psychology","volume":"196 ","pages":"Article 109023"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143782106","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Brent I. Rappaport , Anna Weinberg , James E. Glazer , Lauren Grzelak , Riley E. Maher , Richard E. Zinbarg , Stewart A. Shankman
{"title":"Trait state occasion (TSO) modeling of event-related potentials (ERPs)","authors":"Brent I. Rappaport , Anna Weinberg , James E. Glazer , Lauren Grzelak , Riley E. Maher , Richard E. Zinbarg , Stewart A. Shankman","doi":"10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109000","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109000","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Brain-based markers of psychopathology reflect risk factors for future mental illness or indicators of current disease states. One solution to differentiating trait-like risk factors from indicators of disease states is trait-state-occasion (TSO) modeling, a novel structural equation model that uses repeated observations to parse variance due to stable factors (i.e., trait) from that due to momentary changes (i.e., state). To date, TSO models have largely been applied to self-report data, with only a handful of studies applying TSO models to psychophysiological markers. Importantly, these psychophysiological studies have only applied TSO models to resting-state activity, making this the first study to model psychophysiological responses to stimuli in this way. This study conducted a “proof-of-concept” to examine trait- and state-variance in event-related potential (ERP) responses (specifically, startle-elicited N1 and P3 ERPs) to unpredictable threat in 83 adults across three time-points. TSO models were applied for the following condition contrasts: unpredictable shock>no shock and unpredictable shock>predictable shock. TSO models fit well for the N1 and P3 for both condition contrasts. In comparison to responses to no shock and predictable shock, respectively, the N1 and P3 to unpredictable threat showed substantial trait variance (N1 = 66 % & 84 %, P3 = 69 % & 71 %), less state residual variance (N1 = 32 % & 15 %, P3 = 28 % & 25 %) variance, and little autoregressive variance (N1 = 3 % & 2 %, P3 = 4 % & 6 %). Longitudinal modeling of task-based brain data can elucidate novel findings regarding the relative contribution of trait-/state-factors of biomarkers reflecting responses to stimuli.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55372,"journal":{"name":"Biological Psychology","volume":"196 ","pages":"Article 109000"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143588231","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sergio Molina-Rodríguez , Carmen Tabernero , Joaquín Ibañez-Ballesteros
{"title":"Capturing shared fNIRS responses to visual affective stimuli in young healthy women","authors":"Sergio Molina-Rodríguez , Carmen Tabernero , Joaquín Ibañez-Ballesteros","doi":"10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109024","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109024","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) studies focusing on prefrontal cortex (PFC) have shown mixed results in relating hemodynamic changes to emotional processing, posing a challenge for clinical practice. Concerns related to instrumentation, recruited sample, task design, signal processing, and data analysis have been highlighted. To minimize some biasing factors, we proposed an experimental approach based on: (1) a homogeneous recruited sample, (2) an identical sequence of content-grouped affective pictures for emotion induction, (3) multi-distance forehead fNIRS recordings to separate cerebral from extra-cerebral components, and (4) a model-free frequency-based analysis to capture shared response patterns across individuals. We piloted a study to assess the feasibility of the approach in a sample of 20 young healthy women during an emotional task with affective pictures of neutral, sexual and violence content. We found coherent fNIRS responses to sexual and violence content located in slow fluctuations (0–0.019 Hz), characterized by positive and negative oxygenation patterns of extra-cerebral and cerebral origin, respectively. Additionally, we corroborated the strong interference of surface hemodynamics. This study proves the feasibility of our approach to identify frequency-specific fNIRS response patterns to affective visual stimuli, which holds promise for exploring functional biomarkers of healthy and altered emotional processing.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55372,"journal":{"name":"Biological Psychology","volume":"196 ","pages":"Article 109024"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143789250","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S. Nazzari , M. Morgese Zangrandi , G. Bottini , G. Salvato , L. Provenzi
{"title":"“Hot stuff”: Behavioural and affective thermal responses to digital and non-digital disruptions during early mother-infant interaction","authors":"S. Nazzari , M. Morgese Zangrandi , G. Bottini , G. Salvato , L. Provenzi","doi":"10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109027","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109027","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Responsive social exchanges are critical for infants' bio-behavioural regulation and healthy development. Parental smartphone use may disrupt early parent-infant interactions, leading to frequent interruptions. The impact of these interruptions on mother-infant behaviours and stress physiology is unclear. Infrared thermal imaging (ITI) offers a non-invasive approach to assess stress-related skin temperature changes reflecting autonomic activation. This study investigates mother-infant behavioural and thermal affective responses to parental digital and non-digital distractions. Thirty-eight mother-infant dyads (22 males) participated in a modified Still-Face Paradigm with five conditions: Free Play, Technoference Exposure (TF-E), Technoference Reunion (TF-R), Paperference Exposure (PF-E), Paperference Reunion (PF-R). During TF-E and PF-E mothers completed questionnaires on a smartphone or paper and were unresponsive to the infant. Mother-infant behaviours were coded microanalytically, while FLIR cameras detected changes in forehead and nasal tip temperatures. Maternal habitual smartphone use was assessed by self-report and passive sensing. Infants showed increased behavioural distress during TF-E and PF-E. ITI revealed lower infant forehead temperatures during TF-E compared to free play and reunions, while no significant changes at the nasal tip. Maternal forehead temperature dropped significantly during PF-E, compared to other episodes. Greater maternal habitual phone use was linked to infant responses and maternal behaviours. Parental unresponsiveness due to digital and non-digital distractions leads to infant behavioural distress, with digital disruptions also triggering a distinct thermal affective response. Findings highlight the impact of different parental distractions on early interactions and stress responding, with potential long-term implications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55372,"journal":{"name":"Biological Psychology","volume":"196 ","pages":"Article 109027"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143808455","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ana Rita Pereira, Márcia da-Silva, A. Ribeiro-Carreira, Adriana Sampaio, Alberto J. González-Villar
{"title":"Brain oscillatory dynamics during discriminative vs CT-optimal touch","authors":"Ana Rita Pereira, Márcia da-Silva, A. Ribeiro-Carreira, Adriana Sampaio, Alberto J. González-Villar","doi":"10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109018","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109018","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The affective dimension of touch is conveyed by low-threshold mechanoreceptors known as C-Tactile (CT) afferents. Literature has shown that the stimulation of these fibers appears to have an important modulatory function in neural oscillations. However, much remains to be explored in this field. This study aims to provide background knowledge about the brain oscillatory dynamics and spatial field distributions of CT stimulation, by comparing the brain’s spectral power and the microstates to affective (stroking) vs discriminative touch (vibration) conditions. Thirty-four healthy participants (18 female) received tactile stimulation with a cosmetic brush at CT-optimal speeds or vibrotactile stimulation (at around 200 Hz) on the left forearm’s dorsum. They evaluated the pleasantness and intensity ratings of the stimulation while an electroencephalogram was recorded. Stroking stimulation was rated as more pleasant than the vibrotactile stimuli, with no significant differences in the intensity ratings. Power spectral density results revealed reduced power in alpha/mu and beta bands in central/Rolandic areas for the stroking condition compared to the vibration condition. Microstates analysis showed a reduced prevalence of class A and an increased prevalence of classes B and D during stroking. These findings indicate that CT-tuned stroking increased sensorimotor cortical excitability and engaged greater attentional resources, suggesting that this form of touch may be a prioritised type of information.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55372,"journal":{"name":"Biological Psychology","volume":"196 ","pages":"Article 109018"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143744445","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Di Wu , Na Liu , Yifan Wang , Panhui Wang , Kewei Sun , Pan Zhang
{"title":"Using EEG microstates to examine whole-brain neuronal networks during offline rest consolidation after visual perceptual learning","authors":"Di Wu , Na Liu , Yifan Wang , Panhui Wang , Kewei Sun , Pan Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Visual perceptual learning (VPL) leads to improvements in visual skills after practice or training in visual perceptual tasks. Evidence suggests that newly formed skills are preferentially consolidated by the brain during offline task-free periods. Additionally, VPL can lead to changes in brain areas associated with higher cognitive functions. Thus, training may result in changes in whole-brain networks during the offline consolidation period. To test this inference, electroencephalography (EEG) microstates were used to explore the dynamic characteristics of the whole-brain network during consolidation periods after training. Forty-five healthy young adults were randomly divided into three groups for training with moderate, easy and difficult intensity. The participants were trained on a coherent motion discrimination task, and the coherence threshold and resting EEG were measured before and after training. The results showed that visual performance improved only in the moderate training group and not in the easy or difficult training groups. Microstate analyses revealed significant decreases in the duration and occurrence rate of microstate C (often associated with the default mode network) during offline consolidation following moderate training. Moreover, the duration of microstate D (often associated with the dorsal attention network) significantly increased. However, moderate training did not change the duration or occurrence rate of microstate B (often associated with the visual network). This study revealed the activity of whole-brain networks in the consolidation period after VPL.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55372,"journal":{"name":"Biological Psychology","volume":"196 ","pages":"Article 109008"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143544593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lia Mills , Paul Schwenn , Jules Mitchell , Toomas Erik Anijärv , Christina Driver , Amanda Boyes , Taliah Prince , Dashiell D. Sacks , Daniel F. Hermens
{"title":"Longitudinal insights into the neurophysiology of cyberbullying involvement in adolescence: A Bayesian approach using EEG spectral power","authors":"Lia Mills , Paul Schwenn , Jules Mitchell , Toomas Erik Anijärv , Christina Driver , Amanda Boyes , Taliah Prince , Dashiell D. Sacks , Daniel F. Hermens","doi":"10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109019","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109019","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The impact of cyberbullying on mental health is a significant concern among adolescents, yet there is limited research on the neurophysiological markers of cyberbullying. This study aims to address this by exploring whether resting state electroencephalography (EEG) power, among traditional frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, beta), predicts cyberbullying experiences over time. Participants (<em>N</em> = 167 with <em>n</em> = 904 datapoints; aged 12.0–17.9 years) completed EEG and other assessments at 4 monthly-intervals for five years. Results revealed several associations between EEG power across brain regions and various cyberbullying roles. Key findings include a decrease in EEG power across all frequency bands over time across the entire sample, aligning with typical developmental patterns. However, in early adolescence, cyberbully-victims exhibited lower delta power compared to other groups, which may suggest heightened emotional reactivity. Conversely, later in adolescence there were decreases in delta power among cyberbullies, potentially reflecting an adaptive stress response. Longitudinally, cyberbully-victims retained more alpha power over time (i.e., into later adolescence) in frontal and central regions, suggesting greater cognitive effort in processing emotional experiences. Additionally, cyberbullies showed a relatively steeper decline in alpha power (into later adolescence) in frontal regions, possibly linked to impulsivity and higher levels of general aggression. Longitudinal analyses highlight the importance of early interventions to target cognitive and emotional processes that may be implicated in cyberbullying in order to reduce the impact of cyberbullying and protect the mental health of adolescents. Future research should involve larger, more diverse samples to improve our knowledge of complex relationships in this research area.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55372,"journal":{"name":"Biological Psychology","volume":"196 ","pages":"Article 109019"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143755699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"EEG evidence for spatial selectivity in feature-based preparation for visual search","authors":"Gordon Dodwell , Rebecca Nako , Martin Eimer","doi":"10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109016","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109016","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In many visual search tasks, the detection of target objects in visual search requires feature-selective attentional guidance and space-based attentional selection. Feature-based attention is often assumed to operate in a spatially global fashion across the entire visual field, but there is also evidence that it can be restricted to task-relevant locations under some conditions. Here, we investigated whether such spatial filtering processes are already evident when representations of target-defining features (attentional templates) are activated during the preparation for an upcoming search episode. We measured N2pc components (an electrophysiological index of attentional allocation) in response to a rapid series of lateral task-irrelevant but template-matching colour probes that appeared while participants prepared for an upcoming search task with colour-defined targets. Critically, search targets would either always appear in the same lateral regions of visual space as the probes, or at different locations (near fixation or in lateral areas that never contained probes), thus rendering the probed locations either task-relevant or irrelevant. N2pc components triggered by target-colour probes during the preparation period emerged later and were attenuated when probes were presented at irrelevant locations. This demonstrates that the effects of preparatory feature-based attentional templates can be modulated by spatial expectations. However, this type of spatial filtering during search preparation only attenuates but not completely eliminates feature-based attentional modulations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55372,"journal":{"name":"Biological Psychology","volume":"196 ","pages":"Article 109016"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143694448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}