Early postnatal NMDA receptor ablation in cortical interneurons impairs affective state discrimination and social functioning
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Affective integration in experience, judgment, and decision-making
The role of affect in value-based judgment and decision-making has attracted increasing interest in recent decades. Most previous approaches neglect the temporal dependence of mental states leading to mapping a relatively well-defined, but largely static, feeling state to a behavioral tendency. In contrast, we posit that expected and experienced consequences of actions are integrated over time into a unified overall affective experience reflecting current resources under current demands. This affective integration is shaped by context and continually modulates judgments and decisions. Changes in affective states modulate evaluation of new information (affect-as-information), signal changes in the environment (affect-as-a-spotlight) and influence behavioral tendencies in relation to goals (affect-as-motivation). We advocate for an approach that integrates affective dynamics into decision-making paradigms. This dynamical account identifies the key variables explaining how changes in affect influence information processing may provide us with new insights into the role of affect in value-based judgment and decision-making.
Perturbations in the microbiota-gut-brain axis shaped by social status loss
Social status is closely linked to physiological and psychological states. Loss of social dominance can lead to brain disorders such as depression, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The gut microbiota can sense stress and contribute to brain disorders via the microbiota-gut-brain axis (MGBA). Here, using a forced loss paradigm to demote dominant mice to subordinate ranks, we find that stress alters the composition and function of the gut microbiota, increasing Muribaculaceae abundance and enhancing butanoate metabolism, and gut microbial depletion resists forced loss-induced hierarchical demotion and behavioral alteration. Single-nucleus transcriptomic analysis of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) indicates that social status loss primarily affected interneurons, altering GABAergic synaptic transmission. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) reveals modules linked to forced loss in the gut microbiota, colon, PFC, and PFC interneurons, suggesting changes in the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and the glutamatergic synapse. Our findings provide evidence for MGBA perturbations induced by social status loss, offering potential intervention targets for related brain disorders.
Historical loss weakens competitive behavior by remodeling ventral hippocampal dynamics
Competitive interactions are pervasive within biological populations, where individuals engage in fierce disputes over vital resources for survival. Before the establishment of a social hierarchy within the population, this competition becomes even more intense. Historical experiences of competition significantly influence the competitive performance; individuals with a history of persistent loss are less likely to initiate attacks or win escalated contests. However, it remains unclear how historical loss directly affects the evolution of mental processes during competition and alters responses to ongoing competitive events. Here, we utilized a naturalistic food competition paradigm to track the competitive patterns of mutually unfamiliar competitors and found that a history of loss leads to reduced competitive performance. By tracking the activity of ventral hippocampal neuron ensembles, we identified clusters of neurons that responded differently to behavioral events during the competition, with their reactivity modulated by previous losses. Using a Recurrent Switch Linear Dynamical System (rSLDS), we revealed rotational dynamics in the ventral hippocampus (vHPC) during food competition, where different discrete internal states corresponded to different behavioral strategies. Moreover, historical loss modulates competitive behavior by remodeling the characteristic attributes of this rotational dynamic system. Finally, we found that an evolutionarily conserved glutamate receptor-associated protein, glutamate receptor-associated protein 1 (Grina), plays an important role in this process. By continuously monitoring the association between the attributes of the dynamic system and competitiveness, we found that restoring Grina expression effectively reversed the impact of historical loss on competitive performance. Together, our study reveals the rotational dynamics in the ventral hippocampus during competition and elucidates the underlying mechanisms through which historical loss shapes these processes.
Endocannabinoid contributions to the perception of socially relevant, affective touch in humans
Social relationships are central to well-being. A subgroup of afferent nerve fibers, C-tactile (CT) afferents, are primed to respond to affective, socially relevant touch and may mitigate the effects of stress. The endocannabinoid ligand anandamide (AEA) modulates both social reward and stress. We thus hypothesized that AEA levels would be associated with the perceived pleasantness of affective touch in humans. Across two studies, we explored perceptions of affective, socially relevant touch and general affective stimuli. In study 1, adult participants (N = 101) were recruited based on presence (CM+) or absence (CM−) of documented childhood maltreatment (N = 52 CM+; N = 49 CM−). In study 2, healthy individuals were randomized to receive an inhibitor of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH; PF-04457845) to increase AEA levels (n = 16) or placebo (n = 29). Outcomes included self-report ratings of touch pleasantness and intensity, valence and arousal ratings of affective images, and plasma levels of endocannabinoids AEA and 2-AG, cortisol, and oxytocin. In study 1, higher AEA levels were associated with a reduced preference for affective, CT-optimal touch. In study 2, pharmacological elevation of AEA resulted in reduced preference for affective touch. These effects were specific to social processing, as AEA levels were not related to ratings of affective images. In contrast to our hypothesis, elevated AEA was associated with reduced pleasantness ratings of CT-optimal, affective touch. This provides novel, in-human data linking AEA to social processing, adding nuance to the rationale for its use as a potential novel therapeutic target in disordered in social processing.
Inoculation reduces social media engagement with affectively polarized content in the UK and US
The generation and distribution of hyper-partisan content on social media has gained millions of exposure across platforms, often allowing malevolent actors to influence and disrupt democracies. The spread of this content is facilitated by real users’ engaging with it on platforms. The current study tests the efficacy of an ‘inoculation’ intervention via six online survey-based experiments in the UK and US. Experiments 1–3 (total N = 3276) found that the inoculation significantly reduced self-reported engagement with polarising stimuli. However, Experiments 4–6 (total N = 1878) found no effects on participants’ self-produced written text discussing the topic. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of the literature on polarisation and previous interventions to reduce engagement with disinformation.
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