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 - Kiefer, Markus A1 - Trumpp, Natalie M. A1 - Schaitz, Caroline A1 - Reuss, Heiko A1 - Kunde, Wilfried T1 - Attentional modulation of masked semantic priming by visible and masked task cues JF - Cognition N2 - In contrast to classical theories of cognitive control, recent evidence suggests that cognitive control and unconscious automatic processing influence each other. First, masked semantic priming, an index of unconscious automatic processing, depends on attention to semantics induced by a previously executed task. Second, cognitive control operations (e.g., implementation of task sets indicating how to process a particular stimulus) can be activated by masked task cues, presented outside awareness. In this study, we combined both lines of research. We investigated in three experiments whether induction tasks and presentation of visible or masked task cues, which signal subsequent semantic or perceptual tasks but do not require induction task execution, comparably modulate masked semantic priming. In line with previous research, priming was consistently larger following execution of a semantic rather than a perceptual induction task. However, we observed in experiment 1 (masked letter cues) a reversed priming pattern following task cues (larger priming following cues signaling perceptual tasks) compared to induction tasks. Experiment 2 (visible letter cues) and experiment 3 (visible color cues) showed that this reversed priming pattern depended only on apriori associations between task cues and task elements (task set dominance), but neither on awareness nor on the verbal or non-verbal format of the cues. These results indicate that task cues have the power to modulate subsequent masked semantic priming through attentional mechanisms. Task-set dominance conceivably affects the time course of task set activation and inhibition in response to task cues and thus the direction of their modulatory effects on priming. KW - automatic processes KW - unconscious cognition KW - attentional control KW - semantic priming KW - task cue KW - task switching Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-325751 VL - 187 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gerber, Bertram A1 - König, Christian A1 - Fendt, Markus A1 - Andreatta, Marta A1 - Romanos, Marcel A1 - Pauli, Paul A1 - Yarali, Ayse T1 - Timing-dependent valence reversal: a principle of reinforcement processing and its possible implications JF - Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences N2 - Punishment feels bad, but relief upon its termination feels good. As a consequence of such timing-dependent valence reversal, memories of opposite valence can result from associating stimulus A with, for example, the occurrence of punishment (A-) versus punishment termination (-A): A- training results in aversive memory, but -A training in appetitive memory (corresponding effects exist for reward occurrence and termination). Whereas learning through the occurrence of punishment is well studied, much less is known about learning through its termination. Current research investigates how dopaminergic system function contributes to these processes in Drosophila, rats and humans. We argue that dopamine-related psychopathology may entail distortions in learning through punishment termination, and that this may contribute, for example, to non-suicidal self-injury or post-traumatic stress disorder. Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-232933 VL - 26 ER - TY - THES A1 - Banaschewski, Nora Malaika Marcia Cathérine T1 - Erleichterungslernen bei Jugendlichen mit nicht-suizidalem selbstverletzendem Verhalten T1 - Pain relief learning in adolescents with non-suicidal self-injury N2 - Die Erleichterung von einem körperlichen Schmerzreiz besitzt appetitiven Charakter (Leknes et al., 2008; 2011; Seymour et al., 2005), aktiviert belohnungsassoziierte Hirnstrukturen (Leknes et al., 2011; Leknes & Brock, 2014; Leknes & Tracey, 2008; Navratilova & Porreca, 2014) und fördert durch ihre Konditionierbarkeit als Erleichterungslernen bezeichnete appetitive Lern- und Konditionierungsprozesse (Andreatta et al., 2010, 2012; 2013; 2017; Gerber et al., 2014; Tanimoto et al., 2004; Yarali et al., 2008). Die vorliegende Arbeit bestätigt das angewandte Versuchsparadigma als valides Modell für Erleichterungslernen im Menschen und zeigt erstmals, dass der appetitive Charakter von Schmerzerleichterung auch in Jugendlichen konditionierbar ist. Erfolgreiches Erleichterungslernen zeigte sich dabei in der untersuchten Stichprobe lediglich auf impliziter, nicht aber auf expliziter, kognitiver Ebene. Dies stützt Thesen und vorherige Forschungsbefunde einer Dualität assoziativen Lernens in ein implizites Lernen, welches vornehmlich subkortikale Strukturen erfordert und ein explizites Lernen, das vorrangig kortikale Strukturen wie den präfrontalen Cortex involviert (Andreatta et al., 2010; Strack & Deutsch, 2004; Williams et al., 2001). Die Beobachtungen einer differenten Furcht- versus Erleichterungs-Extinktion bestärken die Thesen eines diversen neuronalen Hintergrunds dieser beiden Lernformen (Diegelmann et al., 2013; Gerber et al., 2014; Yarali et al., 2009; Yarali & Gerber, 2010). Gleichzeitig werfen die Studienergebnisse die Frage auf, ob und inwiefern im Erleichterungslernen von Jugendlichen Unterschiede zu jenem in Erwachsenen bestehen. Die Hypothese einer verstärkten Akquisition von Erleichterungslernen bei Jugendlichen mit NSSV im Vergleich zu gesunden Jugendlichen ließ sich in der vorliegenden Studie nicht bestätigen. Somit liefern die Ergebnisse keinen direkten Hinweis darauf, dass ein verstärktes Lernen durch Schmerzerleichterung an der Ätiopathogenese von NSSV beteiligt sein könnte. Die vorliegende Arbeit zeigte vielmehr die Tendenz eines abgeschwächten impliziten Erleichterungslernens bei den Jugendlichen mit NSSV. Die tendenziellen Gruppenunterschiede ließen sich nicht hinreichend durch eine differente aktuelle Stimmungslage oder durch eine unterschiedlich starke Ausprägung aversiver emotionaler Anspannungen oder momentaner Angstaffekte erklären. Innerhalb der Gruppe Jugendlicher mit NSSV zeigte sich auch kein Hinweis darauf, dass der Erfolg von Erleichterungslernen vom Schweregrad des NSSV oder von der aktuellen Einnahme von Antidepressiva abhängig sein könnte. Explorative Analysen ergaben, dass Gruppeneffekte in der vorliegenden Studie womöglich aufgrund einer statistischen Unterschätzung, bedingt durch einen zu geringen Stichprobenumfang, nicht das Signifikanzniveau erreichten und dass Unterschiede im Erleichterungslernen von Jugendlichen mit und ohne NSSV tatsächlich sogar noch stärker ausgeprägt sein könnten. Somit sollte die vorliegende Arbeit als Pilotstudie für zukünftige größer angelegte Studien zu Erleichterungslernen bei NSSV betrachtet werden. Zukünftige Studien erscheinen insbesondere sinnvoll mit Blick auf die hohe klinische sowie gesellschaftliche Relevanz von NSSV für welches, trotz der hohen Prävalenzen und des deutlich erhöhten Morbiditäts- und Mortalitätsrisikos, zum aktuellen Zeitpunkt noch keine hinreichenden Erklärungsmodelle bestehen. Die Studie bestätigte das Vorliegen eines erhöhten Grades aversiver emotionaler Anspannung in Jugendlichen mit NSSV, welcher zuvor nur an Erwachsenen mit einer BPD untersucht und festgestellt worden war (Niedtfeld et al., 2010; Stiglmayr et al., 2005). Die Abnahme negativer Affekte bei den Jugendlichen mit NSSV im Studienverlauf repliziert die Ergebnisse vorheriger Studien, in denen eine Reduktion selbst-berichteter negativer Affekte durch die Beendigung eines Schmerzreizes beobachtet wurde (Bresin et al., 2010; Bresin & Gordon, 2013). Damit bestärken die Studienergebnisse bestehende Erklärungsmodelle für NSSV, welche eine entscheidende Beteiligung der körperlichen Schmerzen und der Schmerzerleichterung bei der Selbstverletzung an der Affektregulation vermuten. Weiterhin wirft die vorliegende Arbeit die Frage auf, welche Rolle eine veränderte Wahrnehmung von Schmerz und Schmerzerleichterung in der Ätiopathogenese von NSSV einnimmt und wie diese sich auf Lernprozesse auswirkt. Insgesamt erbrächten weitere Erkenntnisse über den potenziellen Zusammenhang von NSSV und abweichendem Erleichterungslernen ein besseres Verständnis für Mechanismen der Entstehung und Aufrechterhaltung von NSSV und böten zudem möglicherweise Ansätze für neue Therapiemöglichkeiten des Störungsbildes. N2 - Relief from a physical pain stimulus has an appetitive character (Leknes et al., 2008; 2011; Seymour et al., 2005), activates reward-associated brain structures (Leknes et al., 2011; Leknes & Brock, 2014; Leknes & Tracey, 2008; Navratilova & Porreca, 2014) and, due to its conditionability, promotes learning and conditioning processes called relief learning (Andreatta et al., 2010, 2012; 2013; 2017; Gerber et al., 2014; Tanimoto et al., 2004; Yarali et al., 2008). The present work confirms the applied experimental paradigm as a valid model for relief learning in humans and shows for the first time that the appetitive nature of pain relief is also conditionable in adolescents. Successful relief learning was shown in the investigated sample only on an implicit, but not on an explicit, cognitive level. This supports theses and prior research findings of a duality of associative learning into implicit learning, which primarily requires subcortical structures, and explicit learning, which primarily involves cortical structures such as the prefrontal cortex (Andreatta et al., 2010; Strack & Deutsch, 2004; Williams et al., 2001). The observations of differential fear versus relief extinction reinforce the hypotheses of a diverse neural background of these two forms of learning (Diegelmann et al., 2013; Gerber et al., 2014; Yarali et al., 2009; Yarali & Gerber, 2010). At the same time, the study results raise the question of whether and to what extent differences exist in the relief learning of adolescents compared to that in adults. The hypothesis of increased acquisition of relief learning in adolescents with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) compared with healthy adolescents could not be confirmed in the present study. Thus, the results do not provide direct evidence that enhanced relief learning may be involved in the etiopathogenesis of NSSI. Rather, the present work demonstrated a tendency for attenuated implicit relief learning among adolescents with NSSI. The tendential group differences could not be adequately explained by a differential current mood state or by different degrees of aversive emotional tension or momentary anxiety effects. Within the group of adolescents with NSSI, there was also no evidence that the success of relief learning might depend on the severity of NSSI or on the current use of antidepressants. Exploratory analyses revealed that group effects in the present study did not reach the significance level possibly because of statistical underestimation due to an insufficient sample size and that differences in relief learning between adolescents with and without NSSI might actually be even bigger. Thus, the present work should be considered as a pilot study for future larger-scale studies on relief learning in NSSI. Future studies seem particularly useful in view of the high clinical as well as societal relevance of NSSI for which, despite the high prevalences and the significantly increased risk of morbidity and mortality, no adequate explanatory models exist at the present time. The study confirmed the presence of increased levels of aversive emotional tension in adolescents with NSSI, which had previously been studied and found only in adults with a borderline personality disorder (Niedtfeld et al., 2010; Stiglmayr et al., 2005). The decrease in negative affect in adolescents with NSSI over the course of the study replicates the findings of previous studies in which a reduction in self-reported negative affect was observed as a result of the cessation of a pain stimulus (Bresin et al., 2010; Bresin & Gordon, 2013). Thus, the study results reinforce existing explanatory models for NSSI that suggest a crucial involvement of physical pain and pain relief during self-injury in affect regulation. Furthermore, the present work raises the question of the role of altered perception of pain and pain relief in the etiopathogenesis of NSSI and how this affects learning processes. Overall, further insights into the potential link between NSSI and deviant relief learning would provide a better understanding of mechanisms involved in the development and maintenance of NSSI, and, on top of that, might offer approaches for new treatment options for the disorder. KW - Selbstbeschädigung KW - Erleichterungslernen KW - Nicht-suizidales selbstverletzendes Verhalten KW - NSSV Y1 - 2024 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-323673 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lumma, Anna-Lena A1 - Valk, Sofie L. A1 - Böckler, Anne A1 - Vrtička, Pascal A1 - Singer, Tania T1 - Change in emotional self-concept following socio-cognitive training relates to structural plasticity of the prefrontal cortex JF - Brain and Behavior N2 - Introduction Self-referential processing is a key component of the emotional self-concept. Previous studies have shown that emotional self-referential processing is related to structure and function of cortical midline areas such as medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and that it can be altered on a behavioral level by specific mental training practices. However, it remains unknown how behavioral training-related change in emotional self-concept content relates to structural plasticity. Methods To address this issue, we examined the relationship between training-induced change in participant's emotional self-concept measured through emotional word use in the Twenty Statement Test and change in cortical thickness in the context of a large-scale longitudinal mental training study called the ReSource Project. Results Based on prior behavioral findings showing increased emotional word use particularly after socio-cognitive training targeting perspective-taking capacities, this study extended these results by revealing that individual differences in the degree to which participants changed their emotional self-concept after training was positively related to cortical thickness change in right mPFC extending to dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC). Furthermore, increased self-related negative emotional word use after training was positively associated with cortical thickness change in left pars orbitalis and bilateral dlPFC. Conclusions Our findings reveal training-related structural brain change in regions known to be involved in self-referential processing and cognitive control, and could indicate a relationship between restructuring of the emotional self-concept content as well as reappraisal of negative aspects and cortical thickness change. As such, our findings can guide the development of psychological interventions targeted to alter specific facets of the self-concept. KW - cortical thickness KW - emotional word use KW - meditation KW - mental training KW - neuroplasticity KW - self-concept content KW - self-descriptions Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-237395 VL - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Feistauer, Daniela A1 - Richter, Tobias T1 - Validity of students’ evaluations of teaching: Biasing effects of likability and prior subject interest JF - Studies in Educational Evaluation N2 - This study examined the validity of students’ evaluations of teaching as an instrument for measuring teaching quality by examining the effects of likability and prior subject interest as potential biasing effects, measured at the beginning of the course and at the time of evaluation. University students (N = 260) evaluated psychology courses in one semester at a German university with a standardized questionnaire, yielding 517 data points. Cross-classified multilevel analyses revealed fixed effects of likability at both times of measurement and fixed effects of prior subject interest measured at the beginning of the course. Likability seems to exert a substantial bias on student evaluations of teaching, albeit one that is overestimated when measured at the time of evaluation. In contrast, prior subject interest seems to introduce a weak bias. Considering that likability bears no conceptual relationship to teaching quality, these findings point to a compromised validity of students’ evaluations of teaching. KW - cross-classified multilevel analysis KW - likability KW - prior subject interest KW - student evaluations of teaching KW - variance components Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-228005 VL - 59 ER -