TY  - JOUR
A1  - Vaahtoranta, Enni
A1  - Lenhart, Jan
A1  - Suggate, Sebastian
A1  - Lenhard, Wolfgang
T1  - Interactive Elaborative Storytelling: Engaging Children as Storytellers to Foster Vocabulary
JF  - Frontiers in Psychology
N2  - Positive effects of shared reading for children’s language development are boosted by including instruction of word meanings and by increasing interactivity. The effects of engaging children as storytellers on vocabulary development have been less well studied. We developed an approach termed Interactive Elaborative Storytelling (IES), which employs both word-learning techniques and children’s storytelling in a shared-reading setting. To systematically investigate potential benefits of children as storytellers, we contrasted this approach to two experimental groups, an Elaborative Storytelling group employing word-learning techniques but no storytelling by children and a Read-Aloud group, excluding any additional techniques. The study was a 3 × 2 pre-posttest randomized design with 126 preschoolers spanning 1 week. Measured outcomes were receptive and expressive target vocabulary, story memory, and children’s behavior during story sessions. All three experimental groups made comparable gains on target words from pre- to posttest and there was no difference between groups in story memory. However, in the Elaborative Storytelling group, children were the least restless. Findings are discussed in terms of their contribution to optimizing shared reading as a method of fostering language.
KW  - storytelling
KW  - shared reading
KW  - language intervention
KW  - preschool
KW  - language development
Y1  - 2019
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-232136
VL  - 10
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hammer, Eva M.
A1  - Halder, Sebastian
A1  - Kleih, Sonja C.
A1  - Kübler, Andrea
T1  - Psychological Predictors of Visual and Auditory P300 Brain-Computer Interface Performance
JF  - Frontiers in Neuroscience
N2  - Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) provide communication channels independent from muscular control. In the current study we used two versions of the P300-BCI: one based on visual the other on auditory stimulation. Up to now, data on the impact of psychological variables on P300-BCI control are scarce. Hence, our goal was to identify new predictors with a comprehensive psychological test-battery. A total of N = 40 healthy BCI novices took part in a visual and an auditory BCI session. Psychological variables were measured with an electronic test-battery including clinical, personality, and performance tests. The personality factor “emotional stability” was negatively correlated (Spearman's rho = −0.416; p < 0.01) and an output variable of the non-verbal learning test (NVLT), which can be interpreted as ability to learn, correlated positively (Spearman's rho = 0.412; p < 0.01) with visual P300-BCI performance. In a linear regression analysis both independent variables explained 24% of the variance. “Emotional stability” was also negatively related to auditory P300-BCI performance (Spearman's rho = −0.377; p < 0.05), but failed significance in the regression analysis. Psychological parameters seem to play a moderate role in visual P300-BCI performance. “Emotional stability” was identified as a new predictor, indicating that BCI users who characterize themselves as calm and rational showed worse BCI performance. The positive relation of the ability to learn and BCI performance corroborates the notion that also for P300 based BCIs learning may constitute an important factor. Further studies are needed to consolidate or reject the presented predictors.
KW  - predictors
KW  - visual P300-BCI
KW  - auditory P300-BCI
KW  - NVLT
KW  - emotional stability
Y1  - 2018
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-369207
VL  - 12
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Stegmann, Yannik
A1  - Reicherts, Philipp
A1  - Andreatta, Marta
A1  - Pauli, Paul
A1  - Wieser, Matthias J.
T1  - The effect of trait anxiety on attentional mechanisms in combined context and cue conditioning and extinction learning
JF  - Scientific Reports
N2  - Sensory processing and attention allocation are shaped by threat, but the role of trait-anxiety in sensory processing as a function of threat predictability remains incompletely understood. Therefore, we measured steady-state visual evoked potentials (ssVEPs) as an index of sensory processing of predictable and unpredictable threat cues in 29 low (LA) and 29 high (HA) trait-anxious participants during a modified NPU-paradigm followed by an extinction phase. Three different contextual cues indicated safety (N), predictable (P) or unpredictable threat (U), while foreground cues signalled shocks in the P-condition only. All participants allocated increased attentional resources to the central P-threat cue, replicating previous findings. Importantly, LA individuals exhibited larger ssVEP amplitudes to contextual threat (U and P) than to contextual safety cues, while HA individuals did not differentiate among contextual cues in general. Further, HA exhibited higher aversive ratings of all contexts compared to LA. These results suggest that high trait-anxious individuals might be worse at discriminating contextual threat stimuli and accordingly overestimate the probability and aversiveness of unpredictable threat. These findings support the notion of aberrant sensory processing of unpredictable threat in anxiety disorders, as this processing pattern is already evident in individuals at risk of these disorders.
KW  - attention
KW  - fear conditioning
Y1  - 2019
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-239394
VL  - 9
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Mussel, Patrick
A1  - Hewig, Johannes
T1  - A neural perspective on when and why trait greed comes at the expense of others
JF  - Scientific Reports
N2  - Depending on the point of view, conceptions of greed range from being a desirable and inevitable feature of a well-regulated, well-balanced economy to the root of all evil - radix omnium malorum avaritia (Tim 6.10). Regarding the latter, it has been proposed that greedy individuals strive for obtaining desired goods at all costs. Here, we show that trait greed predicts selfish economic decisions that come at the expense of others in a resource dilemma. This effect was amplified when individuals strived for obtaining real money, as compared to points, and when their revenue was at the expense of another person, as compared to a computer. On the neural level, we show that individuals high, compared to low in trait greed showed a characteristic signature in the EEG, a reduced P3 effect to positive, compared to negative feedback, indicating that they may have a lack of sensitivity to adjust behavior according to positive and negative stimuli from the environment. Brain-behavior relations further confirmed this lack of sensitivity to behavior adjustment as a potential underlying neuro-cognitive mechanism which explains selfish and reckless behavior that may come at the expense of others.
KW  - human behaviour
KW  - psychology
Y1  - 2019
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-231652
VL  - 9
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hommers, L. G.
A1  - Richter, J.
A1  - Yang, Y.
A1  - Raab, A.
A1  - Baumann, C.
A1  - Lang, K.
A1  - Schiele, M. A.
A1  - Weber, H.
A1  - Wittmann, A.
A1  - Wolf, C.
A1  - Alpers, G. W.
A1  - Arolt, V.
A1  - Domschke, K.
A1  - Fehm, L.
A1  - Fydrich, T.
A1  - Gerlach, A.
A1  - Gloster, A. T.
A1  - Hamm, A. O.
A1  - Helbig-Lang, S.
A1  - Kircher, T.
A1  - Lang, T.
A1  - Pané-Farré, C. A.
A1  - Pauli, P.
A1  - Pfleiderer, B.
A1  - Reif, A.
A1  - Romanos, M.
A1  - Straube, B.
A1  - Ströhle, A.
A1  - Wittchen, H.-U.
A1  - Frantz, S.
A1  - Ertl, G.
A1  - Lohse, M. J.
A1  - Lueken, U.
A1  - Deckert, J.
T1  - A functional genetic variation of SLC6A2 repressor hsa-miR-579-3p upregulates sympathetic noradrenergic processes of fear and anxiety
JF  - Translational Psychiatry
N2  - Increased sympathetic noradrenergic signaling is crucially involved in fear and anxiety as defensive states. MicroRNAs regulate dynamic gene expression during synaptic plasticity and genetic variation of microRNAs modulating noradrenaline transporter gene (SLC6A2) expression may thus lead to altered central and peripheral processing of fear and anxiety. In silico prediction of microRNA regulation of SLC6A2 was confirmed by luciferase reporter assays and identified hsa-miR-579-3p as a regulating microRNA. The minor (T)-allele of rs2910931 (MAFcases = 0.431, MAFcontrols = 0.368) upstream of MIR579 was associated with panic disorder in patients (pallelic = 0.004, ncases = 506, ncontrols = 506) and with higher trait anxiety in healthy individuals (pASI = 0.029, pACQ = 0.047, n = 3112). Compared to the major (A)-allele, increased promoter activity was observed in luciferase reporter assays in vitro suggesting more effective MIR579 expression and SLC6A2 repression in vivo (p = 0.041). Healthy individuals carrying at least one (T)-allele showed a brain activation pattern suggesting increased defensive responding and sympathetic noradrenergic activation in midbrain and limbic areas during the extinction of conditioned fear. Panic disorder patients carrying two (T)-alleles showed elevated heart rates in an anxiety-provoking behavioral avoidance test (F(2, 270) = 5.47, p = 0.005). Fine-tuning of noradrenaline homeostasis by a MIR579 genetic variation modulated central and peripheral sympathetic noradrenergic activation during fear processing and anxiety. This study opens new perspectives on the role of microRNAs in the etiopathogenesis of anxiety disorders, particularly their cardiovascular symptoms and comorbidities.
KW  - clinical genetics
KW  - psychiatric disorders
Y1  - 2018
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-322497
VL  - 8
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Holtfrerich, Sarah K. C.
A1  - Pfister, Roland
A1  - El Gammal, Alexander T.
A1  - Bellon, Eugen
A1  - Diekhof, Esther K.
T1  - Endogenous testosterone and exogenous oxytocin influence the response to baby schema in the female brain
JF  - Scientific Reports
N2  - Nurturing behavior may be critically influenced by the interplay of different hormones. The neuropeptide oxytocin is known to promote maternal behavior and its reduction has been associated with postpartum depression risk and child neglect. Contrariwise, the observed decrease in testosterone level during early parenthood may benefit caretaking behavior, whereas increased testosterone may reduce attention to infants. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the interactive influence of testosterone and oxytocin on selective attention to and neural processing of the baby schema (BS). 57 nulliparous women performed a target detection task with human faces with varying degree of BS following double-blinded placebo-controlled oxytocin administration in a between-subjects design. Our results support the idea that oxytocin enhances attention to the BS. Oxytocin had a positive effect on activation of the inferior frontal junction during identification of infant targets with a high degree of BS that were presented among adult distractors. Further, activation of the putamen was positively correlated with selective attention to the BS, but only in women with high endogenous testosterone who received oxytocin. These findings provide initial evidence for the neural mechanism by which oxytocin may counteract the negative effects of testosterone in the modulation of nurturing behavior.
KW  - attention
KW  - reward
Y1  - 2018
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-322285
VL  - 8
ER  - 
TY  - THES
A1  - Merscher, Alma-Sophia
T1  - To Fear or not to Fear: Unraveling the (Oculo)motor and Autonomic Components of Defensive States in Humans
T1  - Vor Furcht Erstarren: Charakterisierung der (Okulo)motorischen und Autonomen Komponenten Menschlicher Defensivreaktionen
N2  - Defensive behaviors in response to threats are key factors in maintaining mental and physical health, but their phenomenology remains poorly understood. Prior work reported an inhibition of oculomotor activity in response to avoidable threat in humans that reminded of freezing behaviors in rodents. This notion of a homology between defensive responding in rodents and humans was seconded by concomitant heart rate decrease and skin conductance increase. However, several aspects of this presumed defense state remained ambiguous. For example, it was unclear whether the observed oculomotor inhibition would 1) robustly occur during preparation for threat-avoidance irrespective of task demands, 2) reflect a threat-specific defensive state, 3) be related to an inhibition of somatomotor activity as both motion metrics have been discussed as indicators for freezing behaviors in humans, and 4) manifest in unconstrained settings. 
We thus embarked on a series of experiments to unravel the robustness, threat-specificity, and validity of previously observed (oculo)motor and autonomic dynamics upon avoidable threat in humans. We provided robust evidence for reduced gaze dispersion, significantly predicting the speed of subsequent motor reactions across a wide range of stimulus contexts. Along this gaze pattern, we found reductions in body movement and showed that the temporal profiles between gaze and body activity were positively related within individuals, suggesting that both metrics reflect the same construct. A simultaneous activation of the parasympathetic (i.e., heart rate deceleration) and sympathetic (i.e., increased skin conductance and pupil dilation) nervous system was present in both defensive and appetitive contexts, suggesting that these autonomic dynamics are not only sensitive to threat but reflecting a more general action-preparatory mechanism. We further gathered evidence for two previously proposed defensive states involving a decrease of (oculo)motor activity in a naturalistic, unconstrained virtual reality environment. Specifically, we observed a state consisting of a cessation of ongoing behaviors and orienting upon relatively distal, ambiguous threat (Attentive Immobility) while an entire immobilization and presumed allocation of attention to the threat stimulus became apparent upon approaching potential threat (Immobility under Attack). 
Taken together, we provided evidence for specific oculomotor and autonomic dynamics upon increasing levels of threat that may inspire future translational work in rodents and humans on shared mechanisms of threat processing, ultimately supporting the development of novel therapeutic approaches.
N2  - Angemessen auf Gefahren zu reagieren, ist überlebensnotwendig, wissenschaftlich jedoch wenig verstanden. Eine frühere Studie wies auf, dass ProbandInnen ihre Augen weniger bewegten, wenn sie mit einer Bedrohung konfrontiert waren, der sie mit einer schnellen Bewegung entkommen konnten. Dieses eingeschränkte Blickbewegungsmuster wurde von einer Herzraten-Dezeleration und einem Anstieg der Hautleitfähigkeit begleitet und wies damit Ähnlichkeiten mit bestimmten Erstarrungsreaktionen auf Bedrohungen (Freezing) bei Nagetieren auf. Es blieb jedoch unklar, ob die eingeschränkten Augenbewegungen 1. robust und unabhängig von spezifischen Aufgabenstellungen als Reaktion auf eine vermeidbare Bedrohung auftreten, 2. eine bedrohungsspezifische Komponente eines Defensivzustands darstellen, 3. von einer körperlichen Bewegungsreduktion begleitet und 4. im freien Raum auftreten würden.
Wir haben daher untersucht, ob dieses eingeschränkte Blickbewegungsmuster sowie seine autonomen Begleiterscheinungen robust, bedrohungsspezifisch und valide sind. In unseren Studien traten verringerte Augenbewegungen robust und bedrohungsspezifisch als Reaktion auf vermeidbare Bedrohungen auf und sagten schnellere Reaktionszeiten vorher. Die eingeschränkten Augenbewegungen wurden von verringerten Körperbewegungen begleitet, deren zeitliche Verläufe miteinander korrelierten. Dies könnte auf ein zugrundeliegendes gemeinsames Konstrukt hinweisen. Wir beobachteten außerdem eine Herzraten-Dezeleration sowie erhöhte Hautleitfähigkeit und Pupillendilation in bedrohlichen und appetitiven Kontexten, was darauf hindeutet, dass diese autonomen Dynamiken nicht nur durch Bedrohungen, sondern auch allgemein handlungsvorbereitend ausgelöst werden können. Zuletzt konnten wir in einer frei explorierbaren, virtuellen Umgebung Hinweise auf zwei Defensivzustände liefern, deren Unterscheidung zuvor postuliert, jedoch noch nicht weitreichend belegt war. Bei relativ weit entfernter und ambivalenter Gefahr hielten die ProbandInnen inne und drehten sich, vermutlich zur Orientierung, zum potentiellen Ort der Bedrohung hin (Attentive Immobility). Wenn sich die Bedrohung jedoch näherte, verringerten sich sowohl Körper- als auch Augenbewegungen, als würden die ProbandInnen ihre Aufmerksamkeit auf die Bedrohung ausrichten (Immobility under Attack). 
Zusammenfassend lieferten unsere Erhebungen damit Belege für spezifische (okulo)motorische und autonome Dynamiken bei steigender Bedrohung, die zukünftige translationale Forschungen über Homologien von Defensivzuständen zwischen Nagetieren und Menschen inspirieren und damit womöglich die Entwicklung neuer therapeutischer Verfahren unterstützen können.
KW  - Furcht
KW  - Fear
Y1  - 2024
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-327913
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Gottschalk, Michael G.
A1  - Richter, Jan
A1  - Ziegler, Christiane
A1  - Schiele, Miriam A.
A1  - Mann, Julia
A1  - Geiger, Maximilian J.
A1  - Schartner, Christoph
A1  - Homola, György A.
A1  - Alpers, Georg W.
A1  - Büchel, Christian
A1  - Fehm, Lydia
A1  - Fydrich, Thomas
A1  - Gerlach, Alexander L.
A1  - Gloster, Andrew T.
A1  - Helbig-Lang, Sylvia
A1  - Kalisch, Raffael
A1  - Kircher, Tilo
A1  - Lang, Thomas
A1  - Lonsdorf, Tina B.
A1  - Pané-Farré, Christiane A.
A1  - Ströhle, Andreas
A1  - Weber, Heike
A1  - Zwanzger, Peter
A1  - Arolt, Volker
A1  - Romanos, Marcel
A1  - Wittchen, Hans-Ulrich
A1  - Hamm, Alfons
A1  - Pauli, Paul
A1  - Reif, Andreas
A1  - Deckert, Jürgen
A1  - Neufang, Susanne
A1  - Höfler, Michael
A1  - Domschke, Katharina
T1  - Orexin in the anxiety spectrum: association of a HCRTR1 polymorphism with panic disorder/agoraphobia, CBT treatment response and fear-related intermediate phenotypes
JF  - Translational Psychiatry
N2  - Preclinical studies point to a pivotal role of the orexin 1 (OX1) receptor in arousal and fear learning and therefore suggest the HCRTR1 gene as a prime candidate in panic disorder (PD) with/without agoraphobia (AG), PD/AG treatment response, and PD/AG-related intermediate phenotypes. Here, a multilevel approach was applied to test the non-synonymous HCRTR1 C/T Ile408Val gene variant (rs2271933) for association with PD/AG in two independent case-control samples (total n = 613 cases, 1839 healthy subjects), as an outcome predictor of a six-weeks exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in PD/AG patients (n = 189), as well as with respect to agoraphobic cognitions (ACQ) (n = 483 patients, n = 2382 healthy subjects), fMRI alerting network activation in healthy subjects (n = 94), and a behavioral avoidance task in PD/AG pre- and post-CBT (n = 271). The HCRTR1 rs2271933 T allele was associated with PD/AG in both samples independently, and in their meta-analysis (p = 4.2 × 10−7), particularly in the female subsample (p = 9.8 × 10−9). T allele carriers displayed a significantly poorer CBT outcome (e.g., Hamilton anxiety rating scale: p = 7.5 × 10−4). The T allele count was linked to higher ACQ sores in PD/AG and healthy subjects, decreased inferior frontal gyrus and increased locus coeruleus activation in the alerting network. Finally, the T allele count was associated with increased pre-CBT exposure avoidance and autonomic arousal as well as decreased post-CBT improvement. In sum, the present results provide converging evidence for an involvement of HCRTR1 gene variation in the etiology of PD/AG and PD/AG-related traits as well as treatment response to CBT, supporting future therapeutic approaches targeting the orexin-related arousal system.
KW  - human behaviour
KW  - molecular neuroscience
KW  - personalized medicine
KW  - predictive markers
KW  - psychiatric disorders
Y1  - 2019
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-227479
VL  - 9
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Landmann, Eva
A1  - Breil, Christina
A1  - Huestegge, Lynn
A1  - Böckler, Anne
T1  - The semantics of gaze in person perception: a novel qualitative-quantitative approach
JF  - Scientific Reports
N2  - Interpreting gaze behavior is essential in evaluating interaction partners, yet the ‘semantics of gaze’ in dynamic interactions are still poorly understood. We aimed to comprehensively investigate effects of gaze behavior patterns in different conversation contexts, using a two-step, qualitative-quantitative procedure. Participants watched video clips of single persons listening to autobiographic narrations by another (invisible) person. The listener’s gaze behavior was manipulated in terms of gaze direction, frequency and direction of gaze shifts, and blink frequency; emotional context was manipulated through the valence of the narration (neutral/negative). In Experiment 1 (qualitative-exploratory), participants freely described which states and traits they attributed to the listener in each condition, allowing us to identify relevant aspects of person perception and to construct distinct rating scales that were implemented in Experiment 2 (quantitative-confirmatory). Results revealed systematic and differential meanings ascribed to the listener’s gaze behavior. For example, rapid blinking and fast gaze shifts were rated more negatively (e.g., restless and unnatural) than slower gaze behavior; downward gaze was evaluated more favorably (e.g., empathetic) than other gaze aversion types, especially in the emotionally negative context. Overall, our study contributes to a more systematic understanding of flexible gaze semantics in social interaction.
KW  - human behaviour
KW  - psychology
KW  - semantics of gaze
KW  - person perception
KW  - face perception
Y1  - 2024
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-361413
SN  - 2045-2322
VL  - 14
IS  - 1
ER  - 
TY  - GEN
A1  - Hauf, Juliane E. K.
A1  - Nieding, Gerhild
A1  - Seger, Benedikt T.
T1  - Correction to: The development of dynamic perceptual simulations during sentence comprehension
T2  - Cognitive Processing
N2  - No abstract available.
KW  - Erratum
Y1  - 2021
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-352611
N1  - The original article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-020-00959-7
VL  - 22
IS  - 4
ER  -