Can static Rorschach stimuli perceived as in motion affect corticospinal excitability?

It has been proposed that seeing human movement or activity (M), while trying to say what the static Rorschach inkblot design look like, is accompanied by Mirror Neuron System (MNS)-like mirroring activity in the brain. The present study aimed to investigate whether the Rorschach cards eliciting M responses could affect the excitability of the motor cortex by recording motor evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by single-pulse TMS over the primary motor cortex (M1). We hypothesized that Rorschach inkblot stimuli triggering the viewer's experience of human movement would increase corticospinal excitability. Twenty-one healthy volunteers (15 women) participated in the preliminary experiment, while another different sample of twenty-two healthy participants (11 women) ranging in age from 21 to 41 years was enrolled in the main experiment. Our results showed that the Rorschach cards known to be associated with a high number of M responses elicited human movement both as automatic internal sensations and as verbal production of responses involving human movement. However, contrary to our hypothesis, the reported internal feeling of human movement had no corresponding physiological counterpart, as the amplitude of MEPs did not increase. Possible and innovative explanations for the involvement of bottom-up and top-down processes were provided.

From the need to the knowledge. Feeding emotions and thoughts: Assessing emotion regulation strategies in food tribes.

Some people choose to follow a certain dietary habit because they are guided by strong beliefs, but also to pursue a healthy lifestyle. Food tribes are defined as social groups sharing common values and beliefs that underlie food and lifestyle choices. The current study aimed to investigate potential differences in emotion regulation between specific food tribes, and when comparing food tribes to people who conversely do not follow a dietary habit. Specifically, we examined the presence of rumination, psychological inflexibility, and emotional contagion as components of emotion dysregulation. A Google form was developed to obtain all the information needed to respond to our research questions and goals, and investigate the following food groups: Veganism, Fruitarianism, Raw Food Diet, Paleodiet, Blood Type group, Breatharianism, Macrobiotic Diet, and Other. The final sample consisted of 378 healthy subjects (117 males, 258 females, 3 other) ranging in age from 18 to 70 years. The first part of Google form consisted of general questions about the participant's dietary habits while the second part included specific questionnaires assessing the psychological constructs we investigated. Vegan people were less conditioned by others in their food choices when compared to the other food tribes. The Paleodiet group associated its food choice with health reasons as well as the Blood Type group. Differences were found in the presence of cognitive inflexibility and rumination, reflective thinking, emotional dysregulation, emotional contagion and also in the representation of their real and ideal (food) communities. Clinical implications are discussed.

Cross-cultural investigation from nine countries on the associations of antisocial traits and the WHO's containment measures for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Personality traits play a role in prosocial behavior in relation to containment measures intended to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Empirical findings indicated that individuals high in socially aversive traits such as callousness are less compliant with containment measures. This study aimed to add cross-cultural data on the relationship between antisocial traits and adherence to COVID-19 containment measures. The sample consisted of 4,538 adults recruited by convenience in nine countries (Australia, Brazil, England, Iraq, Iran, Italy, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States). Statistical analyses indicated two latent profiles from our sample, empathic and antisocial, and six COVID-19 containment-measure-related factors using measures covering antisocial traits (PID-5), empathy (ACME), global personality pathology (LPFS-BF), and COVID-19 behaviors and beliefs. Through MANCOVA, the antisocial profile consistently showed less compliance and concern about the COVID-19 containment measures, even when controlling for demographics and local pandemic covariables. The network analysis indicated a lack of empathy and callousness as crucial traits of the predisposition to non-compliant behavior. In elaborating on prosocial campaigns in community emergencies, our cross-cultural findings would need to consider personality traits that focus on antisociality, anticipating similar associations and potential impacts in future disease outbreaks.

Affective Neuroscience Personality Scale (ANPS) and clinical implications: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Affective neuroscience (AN) theory assumes the existence of seven basic emotional systems (i.e., SEEKING, ANGER, FEAR, CARE, LUST, SADNESS, PLAY) that are common to all mammals and evolutionarily determined to be tools for survival and, in general, for fitness. Based on the AN approach, the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS) questionnaire was developed to examine individual differences in the defined basic emotional systems. The current systematic review aims to examine the use of ANPS in clinical contexts attempting to define those behavioral elements associated with underlying stable personality traits. METHODS: The systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA statements. PubMed and PsycInfo were used for research literature from March 2003 to November 2021. RESULTS: Forty-four studies including ANPS were identified from 1763 studies reviewed. Sixteen studies met the inclusion criteria. LIMITATIONS: The review comprised some papers with incomplete psychological assessments (e.g., lack of other measures in addition to the ANPS) and missing information (e.g., on the [sub]samples), which may affect the generalizability of findings. CONCLUSION: Specific endophenotypes and/or patterns of emotional/motivational systems were found for several mental disorders. Specifically, endophenotypes emerged for the Depressive and Autism Spectrum Disorders, Borderline and Avoidant Personality Disorders, type I and II Bipolar Disorders, and the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. The endophenotypes can provide useful reflective elements for both psychodiagnosis and intervention. Overall, the current study may represent an attempt to contribute to the understanding of the basic emotional systems involved in the psychopathological manifestations identified by AN.

Toward a Cultural Evolutionary Psychology: Why the Evolutionary Approach does not Imply Reductionism or Determinism.

Does evolutionary psychology (EP) properly account for the sociocultural context? Does it underestimate both the developmental and the relational aspects of the human psyche? Is it instantiated in a mechanistic epistemology? Does it imply determinism or reductionism? The commentaries on our previous target article raised similar questions and we try to tackle them in the current response. Our "epistemological assessment" of Psychology and our consequent unification claim under the banner of the evolutionary approach (Zagaria et al., Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 54(3), 521-562, 2020 ) was deeply examined and discussed. The objections to our target article can be grouped into four main categories. We sum them up and argue why: 1) the pre-paradigmatic status of psychology is a problem rather than a richness of perspectives; 2) EP's criticisms stem from common misconceptions-furthermore, developmental and relational aspects of human psyche might find their natural explanation in EP; 3) EP does not wipe out the emergence of the sociocultural context as something qualitatively different; 4) evolutionary meta-theory is not incompatible with subjectivity. Evolutionary psychology might be approached with caution and curiosity, rather than with prejudicial concepts. Incorporating some legitimate cultural criticisms, it may aspire to become a "cultural evolutionary psychology", hence an integrative psychological meta-theory that tries to connect the biological "plane of existence" (Henriques, Review of General Psychology, 7(2), 150-182, 2003) to the cultural "plane of existence". However, a basic philosophical concern has yet to be answered, i.e. what ultimately constitutes mind and thus the "psycho-logical" science. We argue that when trying to find the answer we know where to look at.

A multimethod assessment to study the relationship between rumination and gender differences.

Rumination is described as the propensity of responding to distress by repetitively and passively focusing on one's negative emotions, and failures, and their consequences (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991, 1998). Therefore, given that rumination is characterized especially by difficulties in managing and controlling negative emotional states, it is considered as the most common (impaired) emotional regulation strategy, and can be defined as an emotional process related to a repetitive, undesired, and past-oriented negatively inclined thought (Compare, Zarbo, Shonin, Van Gordon, & Marconi, 2014; Smith & Alloy, 2009). Recent evidence suggested that because of problems related to monitoring of negative states, rumination may be associated with exaggerated physiological reactivity relative to demands from the environment, and to some difficulties in attentional control abilities. The current study aimed at deepening our understanding of the role that a maladaptive emotional regulation strategy - such as rumination - might play in physiological response changes and in engaging dysfunctional attentional strategies. We used a multimethod assessment including self-reports (i.e., Rumination and Reflection Questionnaire, and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale), physiological measures, (i.e., Heart Rate Variability recording), and attention tasks (i.e., Stroop Task) in order to examine the multiple aspects of rumination across genders. Sixty-eight individuals (30 males and 38 females) were administered DERS -16, RRQ and, soon after them, the Stroop task. Immediately after completing the Stroop task (T1), participants were exposed to a three-phase, baseline-stress-recovery experimental paradigm while their heart rate variability (HRV) was recorded. After completing the experimental paradigm, Stroop stimuli were presented for the second time (T2), in order to examine possible intra-individual differences between the two performances in the Stroop task. Our findings showed that rumination was higher in females than in males, but in men it appeared to be strongly associated with an overall impaired emotional regulation. However, no gender differences in rumination and emotion dysregulation were found when inspecting physiological data. The current study aims to contribute towards a better understanding which emotion regulation strategies and which physiological mechanisms are associated with rumination.

Psychology: a Giant with Feet of Clay.

The aim of the current study has been to highlight the theoretical precariousness of Psychology. The theoretical precariousness has been evidenced through a review of psychological "core-constructs" whose definitions were thoroughly searched in 11 popular introductory textbooks of psychology edited between 2012 and 2019 and in an APA dictionary of Psychology (VandeBos 2015). This analysis has shown unsatisfactory or discordant definitions of psychological "core-constructs". A further epistemological comparison between psychology and three "harder" sciences (i.e., physics, chemistry and biology) seemed to support the "soft" nature of psychology: a minor consensus in its "core" and a minor capacity to accumulate knowledge when compared to the former "harder" sciences (Fanelli in PLoS One, 5, e10068, 2010; Fanelli and Glänzel in PLoS One, 8, e66938, 2013). This comparison also seemed to support the "pre-paradigmatic" condition of psychology, in which conflicts between rival schools of thought hamper the development of a real unified paradigm (Kuhn 1970). To enter a paradigmatic stage, we propose here evolutionary psychology as the most compelling approach, thanks to its empirical support and theoretical consistency. However, since the skepticism about "grand unifying theories" is well disposed (Badcock in Review of General Psychology, 16, 10-23, 2012), we suggest that evolutionary psychology must be intended as a pluralistic approach rather than a monolithic one, and that its main strength is its capacity to resolve the nature-nurture dialectics.

The Development of Instruments to Detect Indicators of Behavioral Changes in Therapeutic Communities: A Clinical Case Study.

Clinicians involving in the treatment of adolescent patients should use a valid and efficient psychological assessment. The evaluation of the efficiency in clinical interventions may provide helpful information in terms of cost-effectiveness and may contribute to increase the quality and efficacy of the public services. Despite the importance of clinical and therapeutic interventions, we may observe several aspects limiting the chance in using them. For example, the neuropsychiatry context due to heterogeneous users (such as children and adolescents) makes the replicability of clinical trials difficult in terms of results. Thus, efficient clinical programs and interventions-potentially able to identify specific and long-term effects-need to be defined. In clinical contexts (i.e., therapeutic communities). It should be a priority both to manage aspects of emergency/urgency we may observe in adolescents, and to focus on those aspects placed on a timing dimension. The current study reports a description of innovative measures developed specifically for assessing adolescent patients and for tracking psychological features and behavioral changes. Furthermore, a clinical case is examined by using a multimethod assessment including such innovative measures. Clinical implications are discussed. The development and sharing of "assessment cultures" among professionals should represent a priority in improving the effectiveness of therapeutic communities.

Selective Emotional Dysregulation in Splenium Agenesis. A Case Report of a Patient With Normal Cognitive Profile.

Objective: Patients with lesions of the corpus callosum are rare and may present different symptoms of the disconnection syndrome. However, to-date studies on callosotomized patients have not been conclusive, likely because of the non-uniform nature of clinical features, the extent of resection, and methods used to investigate specific and related deficits. Agenesis of the corpus callosum (AgCC) may be asymptomatic and discovered incidentally or associated with very slight deficits diagnosed during neurological examinations. In this study, we reported a case of an apparently completely asymptomatic 23-year-old woman with appreciable agenesis of the splenium of the corpus callosum. Methods: She underwent a neurological evaluation, a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests to identify any subclinical dysfunction that may affect the functionality of the subject in the daily life. Specifically, the possible presence of emotion dysregulation was examined by using a self-report questionnaire. Results: She showed normal neuropsychological and emotional functioning, performing efficiently on tests measuring acquired brain impairment. Discussion: The present case is discussed in terms of neuroplasticity - with a focus on putative compensatory mechanisms - emphasizing the variegated clinical feature patterns of brain defects present from birth.

Personality features and vulnerability to stress: a case study on hyperhidrosis.

By using the Rorschach test, self-reports, and psychophysiological measures, we investigated thoroughly the psychological functioning in a hyperhidrotic case. Erica, a young female with hyperhidrosis, was assessed in three times at one-week distance. First, specific tools assessing potential psychological and affective distress, and the Rorschach test were administered. About one week later, Electrodermal Activity was recorded during the exposure to a mild laboratory stress-inducing task. Finally, a magnetic resonance imaging exam was performed in order to exclude medical conditions/neurological alterations for potential physiological anomalies. Erica tends to avoid living in the moment and prefers to experience close relationships in her inner world where she can rehearse the future and imagine different contexts and social situations without risks and embarrassment. She reports high capacities to perform goaldirected behaviors and clarity of emotions only in absence of stressful situations. The study has the merit to be the first to combine Rorschach data with physiological data in order to investigate the psychological functioning in a hyperhidrotic case.

Effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on attribution of movement to ambiguous stimuli and EEG mu suppression.

Recent research suggests that attributing human movement to ambiguous and static Rorschach stimuli (M responses) is associated with EEG mu suppression, and that disrupting the left inferior gyrus (LIFG; a putative area implicated in mirroring activity) decreases the tendency to see human movement when exposed to the Rorschach ambiguous stimuli. The current study aimed to test whether disrupting the LIFG via repetitive transcranial stimulation (rTMS) would decrease both the number of human movement attributions and EEG mu suppression. Each participant was exposed to the Rorschach stimuli twice, i.e., during a baseline condition (without rTMS but with EEG recording) and soon after rTMS (TMS condition with EEG recording). Experimental group (N = 15) was stimulated over the LIFG, while the control group (N = 13) was stimulated over the Vertex. As expected, disrupting the LIFG but not Vertex, decreased the number of M attributions provided by the participants exposed to the Rorschach stimuli, with a significant interaction effect. Unexpectedly, however, rTMS did not significantly influence EEG mu suppression.

White matter and schizophrenia: A meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging studies.

Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) are the most implemented methodologies to detect alterations of both gray and white matter (WM). However, the role of WM in mental disorders is still not well defined. We aimed at clarifying the role of WM disruption in schizophrenia and at identifying the most frequently involved brain networks. A systematic literature search was conducted to identify VBM and DTI studies focusing on WM alterations in patients with schizophrenia compared to control subjects. We selected studies reporting the coordinates of WM reductions and we performed the anatomical likelihood estimation (ALE). Moreover, we labeled the WM bundles with an anatomical atlas and compared VBM and DTI ALE-scores of each significant WM tract. A total of 59 studies were eligible for the meta-analysis. WM alterations were reported in 31 and 34 foci with VBM and DTI methods, respectively. The most occurred WM bundles in both VBM and DTI studies and largely involved in schizophrenia were long projection fibers, callosal and commissural fibers, part of motor descending fibers, and fronto-temporal-limbic pathways. The meta-analysis showed a widespread WM disruption in schizophrenia involving specific cerebral circuits instead of well-defined regions.

Investigating the link between drug-naive first episode psychoses (FEPs), weight gain abnormalities and brain structural damages: Relevance and implications for therapy.

Evidence suggests that obesity and overweight may be associated with severe brain structural abnormalities and poor cognitive and functional outcomes in the general population. Despite these observations and the high prevalence of weight gain abnormalities in patients with psychosis spectrum disorders (PSDs), no studies have investigated the impact that these metabolic disturbances may have on brain structures and development in the earliest stages of PSDs. In the present review we shed light on the association between weight gain and brain structural abnormalities that may affect the course of illness in drug-naïve FEPs. Given the lack of studies directly investigating this issue, we firstly identified and critically evaluated the literature assessing weight gain abnormalities and gray or white matter (GM, WM) volumes (either globally or in specific regions of interest) in otherwise healthy obese/overweight adolescents and young adults. We then compared the results of this systematic review with those of two recent meta-analysis investigating GM and WM abnormalities in drug-naïve FEPs. Weight gain in otherwise healthy subjects was consistently associated with frontal and temporal GM atrophy and with reduced integrity of WM in the corpus callosum. Of relevance, all these brain regions are affected in drug-naïve FEPs, and their integrity is associated with clinical, cognitive and functional outcomes. The underlying mechanisms that may explain the association between weight gain, adiposity, and brain damage in both healthy subjects and drug-naïve FEPs are widely discussed. On the basis of this knowledge, we tried: a) to deduce an integrative model for the development of obesity in psychosis spectrum disorders; b) to identify the key vulnerability factors underlying the association between weight gain and psychosis; c) to provide information on new potential targets of intervention.

An Interrater Reliability Study of Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS) Raw and Complexity-Adjusted Scores.

Recently, the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS; Meyer, Viglione, Mihura, Erard, & Erdberg, 2011 ) was introduced to overcome some possible limitations of the Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2003 ) while continuing its efforts to link Rorschach inferences to their evidence base. An important, technical modification to the scoring system is that R-PAS interpretations are based on both standard scores and complexity-adjusted scores. Two previous U.S. studies reported good to excellent interrater reliability (IRR) for the great majority of R-PAS variables; however, IRR of complexity-adjusted scores has never been investigated. Furthermore, no studies have yet investigated R-PAS IRR in Europe. To extend this literature, we examined R-PAS IRR of Page 1 and Page 2 raw and complexity-adjusted scores with 112 Italian Rorschach protocols. We collected a large sample of both clinical and nonclinical Rorschach protocols, each of which was coded separately by 2 independent raters. Results demonstrated a mean intraclass correlation of .78 (SD = .14) for raw scores and.74 (SD = .14) for complexity-adjusted scores. Overall, for both raw and complexity-adjusted values, most of the variables were characterized by good to excellent IRR.

Prediction of functional outcome in young patients with a recent-onset psychiatric disorder: Beyond the traditional diagnostic classification system.

A critical research goal is to identify modifiable risk factors leading to functional disabilities in young psychiatric patients. The authors developed a multidimensional trans-diagnostic predictive model of functional outcome in patients with the recent-onset of a psychiatric illness. Baseline clinical, psychosis-risk status, cognitive, neurological-soft-signs measures, and dopamine-related-gene polymorphisms (DRD1-rs4532, COMT-rs165599, and DRD4-rs1800955) were collected in 138 young non-psychotic outpatients. 116 individuals underwent follow-up (mean=2.2years, SD=0.9) examination. A binary logistic model was used to predict low-functioning status at follow-up as defined by a score lower than 65 in the social occupational functioning assessment scale. A total of 54% of patients experiences low functioning at follow-up. Attention, Avolition, and Motor-Coordination subscale were significant predictors of low-functioning with an accuracy of 79.7%. A non-significant trend was found for a dopamine-related-gene polymorphism (DRD1-rs4532). The model was independent of psychotic-risk status, DSM-diagnosis, and psychotic conversion. A trans-diagnostic approach taking into account specific neurocognitive, clinical, and neurological information has the potential to identify those individuals with low-functioning independent of DSM diagnosis or the level of psychosis-risk. Specific early interventions targeting modifiable risk factors and emphasize functional recovery in young psychiatric samples, independent of DSM-diagnosis and psychosis-risk, are essential.

Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS) and vulnerability to stress: A preliminary study on electrodermal activity during stress.

This study investigated the predictive validity of the ten Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS) variables from the Stress and Distress domain, by testing whether they predicted increased sympathetic reactivity to a mild, laboratory-induced stress, occurred one week after Rorschach administration. A relatively small student sample (N=52) contributed to this research: During a first meeting (T1) participants were administered the Rorschach task according to R-PAS guidelines; about one week later (T2) their electrodermal activity (EDA) was recorded during exposure to a mild laboratory stress-inducing task. Based on literature indicating that exposure to stress tends to increase physiological vulnerability/reactivity to stressful situations, we anticipated that Stress and Distress R-PAS variables measured at T1 would positively correlate with increased sympathetic reactivity to stress at T2, as indicated by greater EDA changes from baseline to stress and recovery. Results partially confirmed our hypotheses: (a) the mean of and (b) the majority of the Stress and Distress R-PAS variables were significantly correlated, in the expected direction, with medium and medium to large effect sizes.

Embodied simulation and ambiguous stimuli: The role of the mirror neuron system.

According to the "embodied simulation theory," exposure to certain visual stimuli would automatically trigger action simulation in the mind of the observer, thereby originating a "feeling of movement" modulated by the mirror neuron system (MNS). Grounded on this conceptualization, some of us recently suggested that when exposed to the Rorschach inkblots, in order to see a human movement (e.g., "a person running") in those ambiguous stimuli, the observer would need to experience a "feeling of movement" via embodied simulation. The current study used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to further test this hypothesis. Specifically, we investigated whether temporarily interfering with the activity of the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG; a putative MNS area) using rTMS would decrease the propensity to see human movement (M) in the Rorschach inkblots. Thirty-six participants were exposed to the Rorschach stimuli twice, i.e., during a baseline (without rTMS) and soon after inhibitory rTMS. As for the rTMS condition, half of the sample was stimulated over the LIFG (experimental group) and the other half over the Vertex (control group). In line with our hypothesis, the application of rTMS over LIFG, but not over Vertex, yielded a statistically significant reduction in the attribution of M to the ambiguous stimuli, with large effect size. These findings may be interpreted as being consistent with the hypothesis that there is a link between the MNS and the "feeling of movement" people may experience, when observing ambiguous stimuli such as the Rorschach cards.