Nonparametric Inference for Balance in Signed Networks

Functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI) has become instrumental in facilitating research of human brain network organization in terms of coincident interactions between positive and negative synchronizations of large-scale neuronal systems. Although there is a common agreement concerning the interpretation of positive couplings between brain areas, a major debate has been made in disentangling the nature of negative connectivity patterns in terms of its emergence in several methodological approaches and its significance/meaning in specific neuropsychiatric diseases. It is still not clear what information the functional negative correlations or connectivity provides or how they relate to the positive connectivity. Through implementing stepwise functional connectivity (SFC) analysis and studying the causality of functional topological patterns, this study aims to shed light on the relationship between positive and negative connectivity in the human brain functional connectome. We found that the strength of negative correlations between voxel-pairs relates to their positive connectivity path-length. More importantly, our study describes how the spatio-temporal patterns of positive connectivity explain the evolving changes of negative connectivity over time, but not the other way around. This finding suggests that positive and negative connectivity do not display equivalent forces but shows that the positive connectivity has a dominant role in the overall human brain functional connectome. This phenomenon provides novel insights about the nature of positive and negative correlations in fcMRI and will potentially help new developments for neuroimaging biomarkers.

Background and Study Aim. It is increasingly important to know the influence of age characteristics on the development of motor skills necessary for gymnastics. Currently, this influence is taken into consideration in the training of young female gymnasts. This study aims to determine the anthropometric indices impact on static and dynamic balance parameters in young female gymnasts. Material and Methods. A group of 24 young gymnasts, from the Arad Municipal Sports Club of Romania, participated in this study. The athletes, aged 6-10 years, were divided into two groups: G1 (6-8 years, n=17) and G2 (9-10 years, n=7). Anthropometric indices were measured by means of Tanita scale. The following indices were monitored: Height (cm), Weight (kg), FATP (%), FATM (kg), FFM (kg), BMI (kg/m2). Balance was evaluated with the Sensamove MiniBoard platform. There were used tests as follows: Static Bipedal Balance (SBB), Lateral Bipedal Balance (LBB) and Vertical Bipedal Balance (VBB). Measured parameters: performance (%); front and back inside (LBB, %); left and right inside (VBB, %); front and back avg. deviation (grade); left and right avg. deviation (degrees). The influence of anthropometric indices on balance parameters was determined using Pearson correlation coefficient. Results. The comparative analysis between groups highlights: average age; relation between weight and height; values of body composition indices. The comparative analysis shows better performances by 2.23% in G1 at SBB and values smaller by 0.35 degrees at average vertical deviations. LBB has better performances in G1 by 10.05% and higher values by 1.79% at keeping inside the vertical space. There is a smaller difference between Confidence Limit of Mean (CLM). As for VBB, the performances are better by 0.41% in G2, keeping inside the space to the left in G1 and to the right in G2. The correlation analysis regarding SB reveals 20% strong connections, 83.3% positive connections with performance and 45.8% negative ones with average deviations in G1. The following were noticed in G2: lack of strong connections, 33.3% positive connections and 25% negative influences. In terms of LBB, G1 has no strong connections, but it has 72.2% positive connections and 45.8% negative connections. G2 is characterized as follows: 7.1% strong connections, absence of positive connections, 75% - negative connections. VBB presents the following values in G1: 28.6% - strong connections and 45.8% - negative connections. G2 has 9.5% - strong connections, 94.4% - positive connections and 75% - negative ones. Conclusions. By determining the anthropometric indices, the age characteristics of female gymnasts were highlighted. The comparative analysis results of balance parameters reveal better performances and lower values at the average vertical and lateral deviations. Comparing the relationships between anthropometric indices and balance parameters reveals strong connections. It also shows the weight of positive and negative connections with performance, keeping inside the space and value of average deviations. These data can serve as methodological recommendations in future studies.

This paper aims to better understand the physiological meaning of negative correlations in resting state functional connectivity MRI (r-fcMRI). The correlations between anatomy-based brain regions of 18 healthy humans were calculated and analyzed with and without a correction for global signal and with and without spatial smoothing. In addition, correlations between anatomy-based brain regions of 18 naïve anesthetized rats were calculated and compared to the human data. T-statistics were used to differentiate between positive and negative connections. The application of spatial smoothing and global signal correction increased the number of significant positive connections but their effect on negative connections was complex. Positive connections were mainly observed between cortical structures while most negative connections were observed between cortical and non-cortical structures with almost no negative connections between non-cortical structures. In both human and rats, negative connections were never observed between bilateral homologous regions. The main difference between positive and negative connections in both the human and rat data was that positive connections became less significant with time-lags, while negative connections became more significant with time-lag. This effect was evident in all four types of analyses (with and without global signal correction and spatial smoothing) but was most significant in the analysis with no correction for the global signal. We hypothesize that the valence of r-fcMRI connectivity reflects the relative contributions of cerebral blood volume (CBV) and flow (CBF) to the BOLD signal and that these relative contributions are location-specific. If cerebral circulation is primarily regulated by CBF in one region and by CBV in another, a functional connection between these regions can manifest as an r-fcMRI negative and time-delayed correlation. Similarly, negative correlations could result from spatially inhomogeneous responses of rCBV or rCBF alone. Consequently, neuronal regulation of brain circulation may be deduced from the valence of r-fcMRI connectivity.

Social balance-based centrality measure for directed signed networks

Myelin is essential for efficient neural signaling and can be quantitatively evaluated using the T1-weighted/T2-weighted (T1w/T2w) ratio as a proxy for regional myelin content. Myelin covariance networks (MCNs) reflect correlated myelin patterns across brain regions, enabling the investigation of topological organization. However, a vertex-level map of myelin covariance gradients and their cognitive associations remains underexplored. The objective of this study was to construct and characterize vertex-level MCNs, identify their principal gradients, map their higher-order topological landscape, and determine their associations with cognitive functions and other multimodal cortical features. We conducted a cross-sectional, secondary analysis of publicly available data from the Human Connectome Project (HCP). The dataset included T1w/T2w MRI data from 1096 healthy adult participants (age 22–37). All original data collection and sharing procedures were approved by the Washington University institutional review board. Our procedures involved (1) constructing a vertex-wise MCN from T1w/T2w ratio data; (2) applying gradient analysis to identify principal organizational axes; (3) calculating network connectivity strength; (4) performing cognitive meta-analysis using Neurosynth; and (5) using graphlet analysis to assess higher-order topology. Our results show that the primary myelin gradient (Gradient 1) spans from sensory-motor to association cortices, strongly associates with connectivity strength (r = 0.66), and shows a functional dissociation between affective processing and sensorimotor domains. Furthermore, Gradient 2, as well as the positive and full connectivity strength, showed robust correlations with fractional anisotropy (FA), a DTI metric reflecting white matter microstructure. Our higher-order analysis also revealed that negative and positive myelin covariance connections exhibited distinct topologies. Negative connections were dominated by star-like graphlet structures, while positive connections were dominated by path-like and triangular structures. This systematic vertex-level investigation offers novel insights into the organizational principles of cortical myelin, linking gray matter myelin patterns to white matter integrity, and providing a valuable reference for neuropsychological research and the potential identification of biomarkers for neurological disorders.

ABSTRACTSelf-event connections in autobiographical narratives help integrate specific episodes from memory into the life story, which has implications for identity and well-being. Previous research has distinguished differential relations between positive and negative self-event connections to psychological well-being but less research has examined identity. In this study, examining self-event connections in emerging adults’ narratives, 225 participants narrated a traumatic and an intensely positive experience and completed questionnaires assessing identity development and well-being. Participants who described more negative connections to self overall had higher psychological distress and identity distress, compared to those who described fewer negative connections. Participants who described positive connections to the self in traumatic events were more likely to have lower psychological distress, higher post-traumatic growth, and higher identity commitment, whereas positive connections in positive events was related to higher identity exploration and marginally higher post-traumatic growth. These findings contribute to a growing body of literature that suggests linking autobiographical memories to self can have differential effects on identity and well-being depending on the valence of the event and the connections made.

Introduction Adolescence is a period of remarkable development as children’s brains change to resemble adult brains. Resting state fMRI measures fluctuations in blood-oxygen signal from which we can infer functional connectivity (FC). Graph theory is a branch of mathematics that can quantify the complex patterns of connectivity and network architecture inherent in the functional connectome. An ideal graph theory analysis explores edges that are weighted, directional, and heterogenous (can be positive or negative). Recent developmental studies have applied graph theory to the functional connectome, yet due to the considerable complexity added by each facet, most ignore one or more aspects of an ideal graph theory analysis (directionality and heterogeneity). Methods The present cross-sectional study measured FC in typically developing children, adolescents, and young adults (age 6-24 years) using 150+ echo-planar volumes (3.6mm isotropic voxels, repetition/echo time=2000/30ms) acquired at rest. A standard pre-processing pipeline was used, and the functional connectome was quantified using a weighted, directed graph analysis, including both positive and negative connections. Five different graph theory metrics were utilized to quantify developmental trajectories: connection density, modularity, clustering coefficient, global efficiency, and betweenness centrality. Positive and negative connections were analyzed separately, and age and sex associations were explored. Results The total sample comprised 219 participants (mean age (SD) [range] = 14.1 (3.3) [6.5-24.0] years, 50% female). For positive connections, modularity and betweenness centrality increased with age (both p<0.001), while connection density, clustering coefficient, and global efficiency decreased with age (all p<0.001). By contrast, for negative connections, modularity and betweenness centrality decreased with age (p=0.002, p=0.003), while connection density, clustering coefficient , and global efficiency increased with age (p<0.001, p<0.001, p=0.003). Effects of sex, hemisphere, and their interaction were minimal, though global efficiency for negative connections was higher in the right hemisphere than the left (p<0.001). Conclusion Graph theory appears to be a useful tool for quantifying the complex development of the functional connectome. The developmental changes presented here may be driven by an intrinsic pressure to balance functionality with low metabolic cost to maintain the network. The positive connection network appears to shift towards a more efficient conformation resembling “small-world” architecture. In contrast, the negative connection network seems to shift away from such efficient architecture, possibly to prioritize improving functionality before later refinement.

Differences in functional connectivity between alcohol dependence and internet gaming disorder

Author’s Introduction In our globalized world individuals are frequently confronted with intergroup encounters. Some of them pass by more smoothly than others. Understanding group members’ motivational dynamics provides the key for positive intergroup encounters and the creation of environments fostering such positive events. For a long time, research on motivation in the domain of intergroup behavior mainly focused on needs and motives such as the need for self‐esteem in social identity theory and the need to reduce uncertainty in uncertainty‐identity theory. In contrast, approaches to motivation in many other domains of psychological research have switched from such need‐based approaches to self‐regulation approaches (i.e., theories and models focusing on the processes underlying motivated action). This change of focus from the content of motivation (i.e., need and motives answering the question what motivates behavior) to studying the motivational processes (i.e., self‐regulation approaches answering the question how motivation translates in to action) has led to an enormous progress. To give just one example, this approach allows for much more precise predictions of behavior. Only recently research on intergroup behavior has adopted this change of paradigms in research on motivation. The current article summarized one line of research within this domain, namely the work applying regulatory focus theory (one of the dominant self‐regulation theories) to intergroup behavior. Author Recommends Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G. Austin & S. Worchel (Eds.), The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations (pp. 33–47). Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole. This is a seminal publication on social identity theory and offers important and fundamental information about what intergroup behavior is. At the same time, it presents the first need‐based approach to intergroup behavior. Otten, S., Sassenberg, K., & Kessler, T. (Eds.) (2009). Intergroup relations: The role of motivation and emotion. New York: Psychology Press. This book provides an up‐to‐date overview of research on motivation in the field of intergroup behavior. It provides a good understanding of a variety of intergroup phenomena and explanations for them based on motivational approaches and social cognition approaches to emotions. Carver, C. S. (2004). Self‐regulation of action and affect. In R. F. Baumeister & K. D. Vohs (Eds.), Handbook of Self‐Regulation: Research, Theory, and Applications (pp. 13–39). New York, NY: Guilford. The whole book provides an excellent overview of self‐regulation research in a variety of domains. The particular chapter is an excellent, comprehensive, and concise introduction to the basic ideas of self‐regulation. Higgins, E. T. (1997). Beyond pleasure and pain. American Psychologist , 52, 1280–1300. This is a seminal publication on regulatory focus theory and offers the fundamental information on what regulatory focus is, what its basic principles are, and outcomes it leads to. Higgins, E. T. (2008). Regulatory fit. In J. Y. Shah & W. L. Gardner (Eds.), Handbook of motivation science (pp. 356–372). New York: Guilford. This chapter provides a summary of the more recent developments that followed regulatory focus theory. Its main focus is on regulatory fit (i.e., the fit between an individual’s behavioural strategy and the options provided by the environment). Sassenberg, K., & Woltin, K.‐A. (2008). Group‐based self‐regulation: The effects of regulatory focus. European Review of Social Psychology , 19, 126–164. This article offers a more extensive analysis and overview of the research on regulatory focus and intergroup behavior. It presents a comprehensive narrative review of this research and how regulatory focus and self‐discrepancies operate at the group level. Levine, J. M., Higgins, E. T., & Choi, H.‐S. (2000). Development of strategic norms in groups. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes , 82, 88–101. This article presents the first study applying regulatory focus theory to the group level. It assesses how regulatory focus – manipulated as part of the instructions for a group task – affects small group decision making. Sassenberg, K., Kessler, T., & Mummendey, A. (2003). Less negative = more positive? Social discrimination as avoidance and approach. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , 39, 48–58. The research presented in this article is the first in applying regulatory focus theory to intergroup behavior. In studies making use of the minimal group paradigm, it demonstrates how regulatory focus can help to make more precise predictions about intergroup behavior – in this case social discrimination. Seibt, B., & Förster, J. (2004). Stereotype threat and performance: How self‐stereotypes influence processing by inducing regulatory foci. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 87, 38–56. This article explains another prominent intergroup phenomenon based on regulatory focus theory, namely stereotype threat. Sassenberg, K., Jonas, K. J., Shah, J. Y., & Brazy, P. C. (2007). Regulatory fit of the ingroup: The impact of group power and regulatory focus on implicit intergroup bias. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 92, 249–267. This article connects socio‐structural variables of the intergroup context and regulatory focus by studying how the social power of a group and the regulatory focus of an individual predict whether individuals are interested to become a member of a particular group and how much they like a group they are a member of. Online Materials http://gpi.sagepub.com This is a link to the journal Group Processes and Intergroup relations . Volume 13 will contain a special issue on Self‐regulation within and between groups providing an overview and more examples how self‐regulation approaches allow for a better understanding of (inter)group behavior. In addition, this is a nice place to find some of the current issues being researched in the field of intergroup behavior. It is also a journal to refer students to who are having trouble locating recent articles for class. http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/crow/socialidentityassignment.htm This link leads to a small assignment by Michel Schmitt that illustrates the idea of social identity. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWyI77Yh1Gg This link leads to the video “A girl like me” which illustrates that from early childhood on group members (here African‐Americans) internalize the characteristics of their group in comparison to ot

The study here probes how tourists interpret their unique experiences while traveling in Macau, Las Vegas, and Monaco – well-known "Gambling Meccas." The study applies one form of brand netnography to collect and analyze information about traveling experience in these three cities. One positive travel blog and one negative are selected and discussed each for Macau, Las Vegas, and Monaco. The study examines the validity of balance theory – a motivational theory of attitude change (Heider, 1958). Balance theory conceptualizes the consistency motive as a drive toward psychological balance (Hokky, S., & Deni, K. (2004). Social balance theory: Revisiting Heider's balance theory for many agents. Departmental Technical Report (Unpublished). The study probes how iconic symbols of brands influence visitors' experience. The findings inform marketing strategic suggestions for Macau, Las Vegas, and Monaco on how to build an effective destination brand and how to improve visitors' traveling experience.

Hippocampal interactions with the motor system are often assumed to reflect the role of memory in motor learning. Here, we examine hippocampal connectivity with sensorimotor cortex during two tasks requiring paced movements, one with a mnemonic component (sequence learning) and one without (repetitive tapping). Functional magnetic resonance imaging activity was recorded from thirteen right-handed subjects; connectivity was identified from sensorimotor cortex correlations with psychophysiological interactions in hippocampal activity between motor and passive visual tasks. Finger movements in both motor tasks anticipated the timing of the metronome, reflecting cognitive control, yet evidence of motor learning was limited to the sequence learning task; nonetheless, hippocampal connectivity was observed during both tasks. Connectivity from corresponding regions in the left and right hippocampus overlapped extensively, with improved sensitivity resulting from their conjunctive (global) analysis. Positive and negative connectivity were both evident, with positive connectivity in sensorimotor cortex ipsilateral to the moving hand during unilateral movements, whereas negative connectivity was prominent in whichever hemisphere was most active during movements. Results implicate the hippocampus in volitional finger movements even in the absence of motor learning or recall.

Neural correlates of consciousness in patients who have emerged from a minimally conscious state: a cross-sectional multimodal imaging study

<p>According to McAdams' (1988; 1993) Life Story Model of Identity, narrative identity is constructed through the development of the life story in adolescence and young adulthood. This theoretical claim has sparked an emerging body of research examining links between the development of the life story and psychological functioning during this developmental period (McLean & Breen, 2009; McLean, Breen, & Fournier, 2010; Tavernier & Willoughby, 2012). The aim of this thesis was to contribute to this emerging body of work by examining the relationship between autobiographical reasoning, the core process through which the life story develops, and psychological functioning in young adulthood. Across four studies, young adults constructed life story narratives of high points, low points and turning points from their life story. These narratives were coded for the presence, and valence, of autobiographical reasoning. Autobiographical reasoning was measured primarily in terms of self-event connections, statements linking an aspect of the narrated event to the young adults' sense of self (McLean & Fournier, 2008). Autobiographical reasoning valence was measured in terms of self-event connections that described the self in positive, negative, neutral and mixed (positive and negative) ways. The first study (Study 1a) showed that the valence of autobiographical reasoning found in young adults' life story narratives predicted psychological functioning. Young adults who made negative self-event connections in life story narratives experienced poorer psychological functioning (measured in terms of psychological distress and psychological well-being) than young adults who made little or no negative self-event connections. Conversely, young adults who made more positive self-event connections experienced comparatively better psychological functioning than those who made fewer positive self-event connections. The relationship between positive self-event connections and positive psychological functioning was most salient in the context of narratives about negative events from the life story. Study 1a also showed that for young adults who tended to make higher numbers of positive self-event connections, endorsing negative events as central to the life story was not associated with poor psychological functioning, whereas it was for young adults who made fewer positive connections. The second study (Study 1b) presented a methodology for examining the relationship between autobiographical reasoning valence and psychological functioning over time. Although the small sample size in Study 1b prevented firm conclusions being made, findings showed that young adults' tendency to make negative, but not positive, self-event connections remained stable over time. The preliminary findings from Study 1b also showed that positive and negative self-event connections in life story narratives were not associated with changes in psychological functioning over time. The third study (Study 2) found that young adults' tendency to reason about the self in positive and negative ways was associated with a number of cognitive response styles (explanatory style, rumination and use of cognitive reappraisal strategies). The results of Study 2 also highlight important ways that cognitive response factors, and young adults' assessments of meaning in their lives, may interact with autobiographical reasoning valence to predict psychological functioning. The fourth study (Study 3) aimed to investigate relationships between the phenomenology of life story memories and the amount, and valence, of autobiographical reasoning in narratives of these events. Findings showed few associations between autobiographical reasoning and autobiographical memory phenomenology. Possible reasons for the absence of these relationships are discussed. Wider implications and theoretical explanations for the findings reported in this thesis are discussed in terms of models of coping and Relational Frame Theory (RFT; Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, & Roche, 2001).</p>

Balance seeking opinion dynamics model based on social judgment theory

BackgroundSocial connections are linked to brain health. Studies to date have ignored negative social connections and the association between social connections and white matter health. We explored the relationship between positive and negative social connections and brain imaging including white matter health. We hypothesized that positive and negative social connections would be related to better and worse brain health, respectively.MethodWe analysed UK Biobank data from 5704 adults aged 40+ (Mage = 54.12, 51.19%) who had brain scans at waves 2 and 3. We examined baseline social connections which were positive (household size, friend/family visits, community group engagement, having a confidante) and negative (loneliness, belittling or violence in romantic relationships). Outcome variables were total grey and white matter, amygdala and hippocampus volumes, white matter integrity and hyperintensities, and peak width of skeletonized mean diffusivity (PSMD; a marker of microstructural white matter changes) at waves 2 and 3. We ran linear mixed models controlling for age, sex and scanner (partially adjusted) and additionally for intracranial volumes (for brain volumes), education, physical activity, BMI, depression, hearing loss, alcohol use, smoking, hypertension, CVD, and air pollution (fully adjusted).ResultIn fully adjusted models, having a larger social network was associated with less decline from wave 2 to 3 in total grey matter (B = 671.61, 95%CI: 226.96,1,115.85), white matter (B = 511.72, 95%CI: 52.33,971.82), and right hippocampus volumes (B = 8.99, 95%CI: 1.44,16.54). Living with more people (B = 0.00049, 95%CI: 0.00021, 0.00077) and having a larger network size (B = 0.00035, 95%CI: 0.00024, 0.00045) were associated with less decline in white matter integrity. Experiencing romantic partner violence was associated with a greater increase in PSMD (B = 0.000079, 95%CI: 0.000016, 0.00014). Loneliness was not associated with brain health changes.ConclusionIn a longitudinal sample of adults aged 40+, having a larger social network was associated with better brain health, including less decline in hippocampal volumes and white matter integrity. Experiencing romantic partner violence was associated with microstructural white matter changes. Our results highlight the need to screen for positive and negative social connections in adults in mid and late life to help maintain good brain health.