Aversive System Research Articles

Smart Devices Threats, Vulnerabilities and Malware Detection Approaches: A Survey

In recent times, malware detection mechanism systems of mobile smart devices are getting growing concentration from researchers. With the quick expansion of malwares found in mobile devices, preventing the secrecy of mobile users is incredibly imperative and necessary. Intrusion detection systems are programming devices that consequently assemble information, dissect it and recognize such occurrences. These systems advanced to intrusion aversion systems (IPS) including extra counteractive action capacities. In Intrusion detection systems, accuracy rate plays a significant role in measuring the effectiveness of an approach. One of the motivations of this study is to increase the true positive as well as reducing the false-positive rates beyond other studies.

The Rodent-versus-wild Snake Paradigm as a Model for Studying Anxiety- and Panic-like Behaviors: Face, Construct and Predictive Validities

Using an innovative approach to study the neural bases of psychiatric disorders, this study investigated the behavioral, morphological and pharmacological bases of panic attack-induced responses in a prey-versus-coral snake paradigm. Mesocricetus auratus was chronically treated with intraperitoneal administration of the selective serotonin uptake inhibitor paroxetine or the gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA)/benzodiazepine receptor agonist alprazolam at three different doses and were then confronted with a venomous coral snake (Micrurus frontalis, Reptilia, Elapidae). The threatened rodents exhibited defensive attention, flat back approaches, defensive immobility, and escape defensive responses in the presence of the venomous snake, followed by increases in Fos protein in limbic structure neurons. Chronic administration of both paroxetine and alprazolam decreased these responses with morphological correlates between the panicolytic effect of both drugs administered at the highest dose and decreases in Fos protein-immunolabeled perikarya found in the amygdaloid complex, hypothalamus and periaqueductal gray matter columns, which are structures that make up the encephalic aversion system. These findings provide face, construct and predictive validities of this new experimental model of anxiety- and panic attack-like behavioral responses displayed by threatened prey confronted with venomous coral snakes.

Where do desires come from? Positivity offset and negativity bias predict implicit attitude toward temptations

Temptations elicit both appetitive and aversive responses because they offer hedonic gratification on the one hand and impede long-term goal pursuit on the other hand (Fujita, Personality and Social Psychology Review 15(4):352–366, 2011). In this paper, we investigate how people’s affective responses toward temptations are regulated by the appetitive and aversive motivational systems. We employ the mini Motivated Action Measure (miniMAM; Lang et al., Communication Methods and Measures 5(2):146–162, 2011) to measure the signature patterns with which the two systems regulate affective activation: positivity offset and negativity bias. We found that positivity offset and negativity bias predict unique variance (5.5%) of dieters’ (N = 312) implicit attitude toward tempting foods, over and above predictors related to behavioral regulation (BIS/BAS: Carver, White, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 67:319–333, 1994; BSC: Tangney et al., Journal of Personality 72(2):271–324, 2004). By contrast, positivity offset and negativity bias did not predict dieters’ behavioral intentions for tempting foods. Investigating how the appetitive and aversive systems regulate affective activation apart from behavioral responses offers unique insights into people’s desires towards temptations.

Inhibition of substance P-induced defensive behavior via neurokinin-1 receptor antagonism in the central and medial but not basolateral nuclei of the amygdala in male Wistar rats

RationaleThe production of unconditioned defensive behaviors has been related to the amygdala, a key component of the encephalic aversion system. Microinjection of the neuropeptide substance P (SP) in the amygdala elicits defensive behaviors via the activation of type 1 neurokinin (NK-1) receptors. However, no studies have investigated whether intra-amygdala SP/NK-1 mechanisms can elicit other types of defensive responses, such as antinociception and ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs). MethodsThe present study investigated the effects of SP-induced activation of the neurokininergic system in three main nuclei of the amygdala—basolateral (BLA), central (CeA), and medial (MeA) nuclei—in rats that were subjected to the elevated plus maze (EPM), tail-flick test, and USV recording. The effects of SP in these amygdaloid nuclei were challenged with combined injections of the NK-1 receptor antagonist spantide. ResultsThe present study showed that SP injections in the CeA and MeA but not BLA exerted anxiogenic-like effects. In contrast to the CeA, the anxiogenic-like effects of SP in the MeA were not dependent on NK-1 mechanisms. In the tail-flick test, SP microinjections produced antinociceptive effects only in the MeA through NK-1 receptor activation. No USV emissions were detected after the SP microinjections. ConclusionsThe present study showed that NK-1 receptors in the CeA and MeA but not BLA are involved in defensive reactions to conditions of fear. The present results may provide a better understanding of the neurochemical mediation of fear states.

Disgust as embodied loss aversion

ABSTRACTA quickly expanding literature has examined the link between physical disgust and morality. This article critically integrates the existing evidence and draws the following conclusions: First, there is considerable evidence that experimentally induced disgust and cleanliness influence moral judgment, but moderating variables and attributional processes need to be considered. Second, moral considerations have substantial effects on behavioural concomitants of disgust, such as facial expressions, economic games and food consumption. Third, while disgust involves a conservation concern, it can manifest itself in both liberal and conservative political attitudes. Overall, disgust can be considered to form part of a behavioural loss aversion system aimed at protecting valuable resources, including the integrity of one’s body. Recommendations are offered to investigate the role of disgust more rigorously in order to fully capture its role in moral life.

EP 45. Emotional valence and arousal gradient along the anterior–posterior axis within the subthalamic nucleus in Parkinson’s disease

Introduction Changes in emotional processes have been reported after deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in Parkinson’s disease (PD). The STN DBS increased activity of the aversive motivational system: the fearful stimuli were experienced as more salient with the DBS switched on. The STN is organized into a dorsolateral motor, a central associative, and a ventromedial limbic territories and clinical effects of STN DBS seem to depend on the position of the active electrode contact within the STN in a manner that reflects the functional organization and connectivity of the STN. Objectives Considering the functional organization of the STN, we aimed to analyze the relationship between changes in subjective emotional experience to pictures presenting fearful stimuli and the active electrode contact position within the STN. Patients and methods Twenty off-medicated PD patients (all men, aged 58.4 ± (SD)6 years, disease duration 15 ± 4 years, 2.3 ± 1 years after implantation) viewed series of 84 pictures depicting primary rewarding, aversive fearful or neutral stimuli and performed ratings according to emotional valence (from 1 to 9, ranging from unpleasant to pleasant) and arousal (from 1 to 9, ranging from calm to excited) in DBS switched ON- and OFF-conditions. To localize the active electrode contact position, both the preoperative 3T T2-weighted MR (T2W) images visualizing the STN and the postoperative 1.5T T1W images displaying the susceptibility artifact of the permanent DBS electrode were automatically co-registered with the frame-based preoperative 1.5T T1W images into one stereotactic space using software for neurosurgical planning. The active electrode contact position in the STN was reconstructed based on the location of the susceptibility artifact of the permanent DBS electrode. Furthermore, each STN was manually delineated and fitted onto the STN reference model by Morel. The relationship between the affective ratings to aversive stimuli including the ON vs. OFF differences to the active contact positions in was assessed using linear models. Results In the DBS ON-condition, patients attributed lower valence scores compared with the OFF-condition (P Conclusions Our results confirm previous observations STN DBS affects emotional processing related to aversive stimuli. They further suggest emotional valence and arousal are processed separately at this subcortical level and their representations are organized along the anterior–posterior axis in the STN. Supported by Grant GACR 16-13323S and PRVOUK P26/LF1/4.

Dynamic motivated processing of emotional trajectories in public service announcements

ABSTRACTThis manuscript, based upon previous work related to the dynamic processing of emotional trajectories, investigated how variable trajectories of emotional content can elicit motivational activation over time. Specifically, five emotional trajectories were examined: pleasant, unpleasant, pleasant and unpleasant simultaneously, pleasant leading to unpleasant, and unpleasant leading to pleasant. The resources available for encoding were indexed via secondary task reaction times, and memory was assessed via audio and video recognition. The results indicated that audio recognition improves as activation increases in the appetitive system while visual recognition improves as activation in the aversive system increases. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of communication theory and practice.

Affective Modulation of Brain and Autonomic Responses in Patients With Fibromyalgia.

Emotional dysregulation and abnormal processing of affective information are thought to play a significant role for the maintenance of pain in fibromyalgia. The motivational priming hypothesis states that negative emotions could increase pain via activation of the aversive system, thus leading to an affective modulation of defensive reflexes. Nevertheless, little is known about peripheral and central correlates of affective reflex modulation in fibromyalgia. Thirty patients with fibromyalgia and 30 healthy individuals were asked to view three video clips from a self-perspective to induce specific mood states. Video clips consisted of the same virtual walk through different locations of a park under three affective environments (unpleasant, pleasant, and neutral). Startle eyeblink reflex and heart rate response elicited by abrupt startle noises, as well as heart rate variability and electroencephalography (EEG) oscillations were recorded when participants were passively viewing the virtual environments. Patients with fibromyalgia rated all environments as more negative and arousing than did healthy controls (p values < .05). Nevertheless, startle eyeblink reflex and heart rate response were lower in patients with fibromyalgia than in healthy controls when viewing all three environments (p values < .05). Patients with fibromyalgia also displayed lower heart rate variability, as well as higher EEG power (2-22 Hz) during all environments than did healthy controls (p values < .05). Patients with fibromyalgia were characterized by relevant deficits in affective modulation of startle and cardiac responses, heart rate variability, and EEG power spectra in response to sustained induction of affective states. These findings suggest an alteration of emotional and attentional aspects of information processing at subjective, autonomic, and central nervous system levels.

Reward and aversion systems of the brain as a functional unit. Basic mechanisms and functions

Abstract Introduction. It is increasingly important to recognize the reward and aversion systems of the brain as a functional unit. A fundamental task of the mammalian brain is to assign an emotional/motivational valence to any stimuli by determining whether they are rewarding and should be approached or are aversive and should be avoided. Internal stimuli are also assigned an emotional/motivational valence in a similar fashion. Objective. To understand the basic mechanisms and functions of the reward and aversion system of the brain. Method. A bibliographical search was conducted in the Pubmed database using different key words. Documents on relevant aspects of the topic were selected. Results. In the ventral tegmental area, dopaminergic (VTA-DA) neurons play a role in reward-dependent behaviors. It is also known that the inhibition of the VTA-DA neurons by GABAergic neurons contributes to a reward prediction error calculation that promotes behaviors associated with aversion. The ventral dopaminergic mesolimbic system and the nucleus accumbens are activated during reward and inhibited during aversions. The amygdala is activated during aversive behavior. Discussion and conclusion. The reward/aversion system is highly relevant for survival, which is most likely its primary function. It is involved in important pathologies such as addiction, depression and autonomic and endocrine disturbances. Therefore, its knowledge has become of clinical importance. Although great advances have been made in the knowledge of the basic mechanisms of the reward/aversion system, the detailed circuits within the VTA that mediate reward and aversion and the anatomical substrates are not completely clear.

Visualizing an emotional valence map in the limbic forebrain by TAI-FISH.

A fundamental problem in neuroscience is how emotional valences are represented in the brain. We know little about how appetitive and aversive systems interact and the extent to which information regarding these two opposite values segregate and converge. Here we used a new method, tyramide-amplified immunohistochemistry-fluorescence in situ hybridization, to simultaneously visualize the neural correlates of two stimuli of contrasting emotional valence across the limbic forebrain at single-cell resolution. We discovered characteristic patterns of interaction, segregated, convergent and intermingled, between the appetitive and aversive neural ensembles in mice. In nucleus accumbens, we identified a mosaic activation pattern by positive and negative emotional cues, and unraveled previously unappreciated functional heterogeneity in the D1- and D2-type medium-spiny neurons, which correspond to the Go and NoGo pathways. These results provide insights into the coding of emotional valence in the brain and act as a proof of principle of a powerful methodology for simultaneous functional mapping of two distinct behaviors.

Effects of long-term meditation practice on attentional biases towards emotional faces: An eye-tracking study

Attentional biases towards affective stimuli reflect an individual balance of appetitive and aversive motivational systems. Vigilance in relation to threatening information reflects emotional imbalance, associated with affective and somatic problems. It is known that meditation practice significantly improves control of attention, which is considered to be a tool for adaptive emotional regulation. In this regard, the main aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of meditation on attentional bias towards neutral and emotional facial expressions. Eyes were tracked while 21 healthy controls and 23 experienced meditators (all males) viewed displays consisting of four facial expressions (neutral, angry, fearful and happy) for 10 s. Measures of biases in initial orienting and maintenance of attention were assessed. No effects were found for initial orienting biases. Meditators spent significantly less time viewing angry and fearful faces than control subjects. Furthermore, meditators selectively attended to happy faces whereas control subjects showed attentional biases towards both angry and happy faces. In sum we can conclude that long-term meditation practice adaptively affects attentional biases towards motivationally significant stimuli and that these biases reflect positive mood and predominance of appetitive motivation.

Appetitive and Defensive Arousal in Violent Video Games: Explaining Individual Differences in Attraction to and Effects of Video Games

Evidence surrounding the attraction to media violence is mixed and the effects of violent video game play on players varies across experimental participants. Differences in both may be explained by differences in experienced positive or negative arousal. This study utilizes the limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing (LC4MP) and the motivation activation measure (MAM), which measures resting activation of the appetitive and aversive arousal systems, to explore the relationship between attraction to media violence, arousal, and aggression. In part 1, a questionnaire found that men and frequent players of violent games expected to enjoy violent games more than nonviolent games. In addition, participants whose scores on the MAM characterized them as risk takers (high scores on appetitive arousal and low scores on aversive arousal) indicated a stronger preference for violent games compared to the other three arousal types, which is in line with the LC4MP. In the experimental portion of the research, after playing a violent game, those participants characterized as risk avoidant (high on aversive arousal and low on appetitive arousal) were significantly less aggressive than all other arousal groups. Overall, results show that individual differences in the appetitive and aversive arousal systems can explain attraction to violent media. Furthermore, arousal resulting from violent video game play can be experienced as pleasant or aversive, and it is this experience of arousal that explains variations in aggressive responses to violent video games.

Mediated Substance Cues: Motivational Reactivity and Use Influence Responses to Pictures of Alcohol

This study examined how emotional and physiological responses to pictures of alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverages vary as a function of motivational type and alcohol use. The authors used the limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing to guide predictions and the motivational activation measure to measure the reactivity of participants’ appetitive and aversive motivational systems. Participants viewed and rated 9 pictures of alcoholic beverages and 9 pictures of nonalcoholic beverages. Facial electromyography data were collected during viewing. Overall results show that heavy users respond both more positively and more negatively to pictures of alcoholic beverages than to pictures of nonalcoholic beverages, whereas light users respond more positively overall and more positively to pictures of alcoholic beverages than to pictures of nonalcohol beverages. In addition, heavy use predictably reverses the response predicted by motivational type.

Effects of substance P and Sar-Met-SP, a NK1 agonist, in distinct amygdaloid nuclei on anxiety-like behavior in rats

The amygdala, together with the dorsal periaqueductal gray (dPAG), medial hypothalamus, and deep layers of the superior and inferior colliculi, constitutes the encephalic aversion system, which has been considered the main neural substrate for the organization of fear and anxiety. The basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA) acts as a filter for aversive stimuli to higher structures while the central (CeA) and the medial (MeA) nuclei constitute the output for the autonomic and somatic components of the emotional reaction through major projections to the limbic and brainstem regions. Although some findings point to the distinct participation of the substance P (SP) and the NK1 receptors system in the different nuclei of the amygdala on the expression of emotional behaviors, it is not clear if this system modulates anxiety-like responses in the distinct nuclei of the amygdala as well as the dPAG. Thus, it was investigated if the injection of SP into the BLA, CeA, or MeA affects the expression of anxiety-like responses of rats submitted to the elevated plus-maze (EPM) test and, if the effects are mediated by NK1 receptors. The results showed that SP and Sar-Met-SP (NK1 receptor selective agonist) injected into the CeA and MeA, but not into the BLA, caused anxiogenic-like effects in the EPM. Altogether, the data indicates that the SP may mimic the effects of anxiogenic stimuli via NK1 receptor activation only in the CeA and MeA (amygdala's nuclei output) and may activate the neural mechanisms involved in the defensive reaction genesis. The SP/NK1 receptors system activation may be phasically involved in very specific aspects of anxiety behaviors.

Cellular mechanisms of addiction (468.2)

Smokers consume tobacco to obtain rewarding effects of nicotine, but to successfully maintain the habit they must titrate their intake to avoid noxious effects of nicotine. In contrast to nicotine reward, very little is known about brain circuitries that regulate nicotine avoidance. I will present evidence that nicotine activates neurons in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) that synthesize the neuropeptide glucagon‐like peptide 1 (GLP‐1). The antidiabetic drugs sitagliptin (Januvia) and exenatide (Byetta), which inhibit GLP‐1 breakdown and stimulate GLP‐1 receptors (GLP‐1Rs), respectively, will be shown to decrease nicotine intake in mice. Chemicogenetic stimulation of GLP‐1 neurons in NTS using DREADDs also decreases nicotine intake. Conversely, GLP‐1R knockout mice are more sensitive to nicotine reward and consume greater quantities of nicotine than wildtype mice. The interpeduncular nucleus (IPN) densely expresses GLP‐1Rs and GLP‐1‐containing neurons project from NTS to IPN. Using optogenetic and electrical stimulation combined with single‐cell recordings, I will show that GLP‐1 activates excitatory inputs from medial habenula to IPN. Pharmacological stimulation of GLP‐1Rs in IPN will be shown to abolish nicotine reward and decrease intake, whereas their blockade is shown to increase intake. It is concluded that GLP‐1 neurons act as “satiety sensors” that regulate nicotine intake by controlling the activity of the habenulo‐interpeduncular aversion system.

The relation between symptoms of bulimia nervosa and obsessive-compulsive disorder: A startle investigation.

Bulimia nervosa (BN) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) co-occur at greater rates than chance and may have shared mechanisms of dysfunction. One of these proposed mechanisms is a hyper-responsive aversive system as indicated by heightened startle response to aversive stimuli. The present study examined this hypothesis using 2 types of aversive stimuli: disorder specific (e.g., high-caloric food pictures for BN, contamination pictures for OCD) and nondisorder specific (e.g., knife). Temporal parameters of aversive responding were also examined by assessing startle response in anticipation of and following picture presentation. The sample consisted of 114 undergraduate women selected to have a broad range of BN and/or OCD symptomatology. OCD symptoms were associated with increased startle potentiation during the anticipation and presentation of contamination pictures, and BN symptoms were associated with increased startle potentiation during disorder-related contamination pictures (e.g., sink, toilet). BN symptoms were also associated with increased startle potentiation during and following the presentation of food pictures (though the former effect was only a trend). Additionally, the interaction of BN and OCD symptoms was associated with elevated startle responding during the presentation of contamination and threat stimuli. Overall, the present study provides evidence that BN and OCD symptoms are associated with heightened aversive responding to disorder-specific stimuli, and comorbid BN and OCD symptoms are associated with heightened aversive responding across disorder-specific and nonspecific aversive stimuli. Clinical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Configuração das Imagens Ideativas, Planejamento e Redução de Riscos: a implantação do Sistema ERP em um a Instituição Pública de Ensino

DOI: 10.5902/198346596327This article describes the ERP planning and implementation process that includes identifying requirements,expectations, benefits, limitations and the ideational images built by the future users. The researchwas qualitative and quantitative descriptive based in the Instituto Federal Minas Gerais (IFMG) case:the first Brazilian public federal institution of technological education to install the ERP’s system. The datawas collected based on free and semi-structured interviews. The images configuration technic use allowedidentifying the user’s images for the ERP software. The positive images represented the success factors andthe negative images were related to aversion system implementation. Generally, the results indicated thatthe IFM' ERP plans of implementation were propitious to build a unique identity. This paper aims also tocontribute with others studies related with ERP implementation in public organizations.

Participation of NK1 receptors of the amygdala on the processing of different types of fear

The amygdala, medial hypothalamus, dorsal periaqueductal gray (dPAG), superior and inferior colliculus together constitutes the encephalic aversion system which has been considered the main neural substrate for the integration of unconditioned aversive behavioral states. Within the amygdala the basolateral nucleus (BLA) is thought to act as a filter for innate and learned aversive information to higher structures, whereas the central nucleus (CeA) is considered the main output for the expression of fear reactions through projections to limbic and brainstem regions. Although neurokinin (NK) receptors are abundant in the amygdala, their role in the processing and expression of fear is yet unclear. In this study, we examined the role of SP/NK1 receptor system of the CeA and BLA on the expression of defensive responses elaborated by Wistar rats submitted to elevated plus maze (EPM) and to electrical stimulation (ES) of the dPAG. For EPM test, cannulae were implanted in the CeA and BLA for injections of substance P (SP – 10 and 100pmol/0.2μL) and spantide (SPA – 10, 100 and 500pmol/0.2μL). For ES of dPAG, aversive thresholds for freezing and escape responses as well as post-stimulation freezing (PSF) were measured in rats treated with PBS and SPA (100pmol/0.2μL) in CeA. Injections of SP into the CeA, but not the BLA, produced anxiogenic-like effects in the EPM test. SPA injected into the CeA had no effect on the exploratory behavior of rats submitted to the EPM but blocked the effects of SP. The duration of dPAG-PSF was also reduced significantly following injection of SPA in CeA but had no effect on thresholds for freezing and escape responses. The EPM gives the animal a control over its environment i.e. the option to choose or not to enter into the open arm and dPAG-PSF is thought to reflect a period when the animal evaluates the significance of dPAG-evoked aversion once the unconditioned responses of freezing and escape were elicited. The data indicate that SP may be involved in mediating responses of the animal in only certain types of aversive behavior and suggests a differential participation of the NK1 receptors in the processing of distinct types of fear in the amygdala.

Neural Correlates of Aggression among Individuals from Low and High Socioeconomic Status: An ERP Study

Event-related brain potentials were recorded to investigate electrophysiological correlates of aggression in high and low socioeconomic status (SES) participants who responded to violent and nonviolent images by using a choice reaction time paradigm. ERP data showed that violent images elicited a smaller N2 deflection than did nonviolent images in both high and low SES groups, but there was no difference in N2 amplitudes to aggressive and non-aggressive information as a function of SES. Notably, the latency of N2 in the low SES group was longer than that of the high SES group, suggesting slowness by the low SES group in deploying control responses. In addition, the low SES group exhibited significantly smaller P3 amplitudes to violent images, suggesting a reduction in brain activity known to reflect activation of the aversive motivational system, and this findings link this brain activity to aggressive behavior. As a whole the present findings show that participants low in SES seem to display similar psychophysiological responses to individuals high in aggression.

Organization of Neural Systems for Aversive Information Processing: Pain, Error, and Punishment

The avoidance of aversive events is critically important for the survival of organisms. It has been proposed that the medial pain system, including the amygdala, periaqueductal gray (PAG), and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), contains the neural circuitry that signals pain affect and negative value. This system appears to have multiple defense mechanisms, such as rapid stereotyped escape, aversive association learning, and cognitive adaptation. These defense mechanisms vary in speed and flexibility, reflecting different strategies of self-protection. Over the course of evolution, the medial pain system appears to have developed primitive, associative, and cognitive solutions for aversive avoidance. There may be a functional grading along the caudal-rostral axis, such that the amygdala-PAG system underlies automatic and autonomic responses, the amygdala-orbitofrontal system contributes to associative learning, and the ACC controls cognitive processes in cooperation with the lateral prefrontal cortex. A review of behavioral and physiological studies on the aversive system is presented, and a conceptual framework for understanding the neural organization of the aversive avoidance system is proposed.