Differences In Subjective Experience Research Articles

Excessive daytime sleepiness is associated with relative delta frequency power among patients with mild OSA.

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is a cause of low quality of life among obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) patients. Current methods of assessing and predicting EDS are limited due to time constraints or differences in subjective experience and scoring. Electroencephalogram (EEG) power spectral densities (PSDs) have shown differences between OSA and non-OSA patients, and fatigued and non-fatigued patients. Therefore, polysomnographic EEG PSDs may be useful to assess the extent of EDS among patients with OSA. Patients presenting to Israel Loewenstein hospital reporting daytime sleepiness who recorded mild OSA on polysomnography and undertook a multiple sleep latency test. Alpha, beta, and delta relative powers were assessed between patients categorized as non-sleepy (mean sleep latency (MSL) ≥10 min) and sleepy (MSL <10 min). 139 patients (74% male) were included for analysis. 73 (53%) were categorized as sleepy (median MSL 6.5 min). There were no significant differences in demographics or polysomnographic parameters between sleepy and non-sleepy groups. In multivariate analysis, increasing relative delta frequency power was associated with increased odds of sleepiness (OR 1.025 (95% CI 1.024-1.026)), while relative alpha and beta powers were associated with decreased odds. The effect size of delta PSD on sleepiness was significantly greater than that of either alpha or beta frequencies. Delta PSD during polysomnography is significantly associated with a greater degree of objective daytime sleepiness among patients with mild OSA. Further research is needed to corroborate our findings and identify the direction of potential causal correlation between delta PSD and EDS.

A transactional model of stress and coping applied to cyclist subjective experiences

Research indicates that subjective experiences such as happiness, joy, anxiety, and fear influence peoples’ decisions to bike ride. Negative user experiences in particular are a key barrier to increased bike riding participation. However, existing research has not considered the theoretical mechanisms that give rise to subjective experiences while bike riding. To achieve a more nuanced understanding necessary to enable subjective experiences to contribute to policy and planning, there is a need to both establish theoretically-informed definitions of what subjective experiences consist of, and common approaches to describing how they arise and can be measured. This conceptual paper addresses a translation gap between theory and existing research by applying the transactional model of stress and coping and the circumplex model of affect to demonstrate potential causal mechanisms and measurement approaches of bicycling-related subjective experiences. The transactional model of stress and coping proposes that individuals continuously appraise the demands of their environment relative to their coping abilities, stating that stress and negative emotions occur when an environment exceeds perceived coping abilities. The circumplex model of affect proposes that emotions exist on dimensions of valence and arousal, measuring the unpleasant-pleasantness and degree of activation of an emotion from low to high, respectively. By proposing theoretically-informed definitions and theoretical approaches, this paper establishes a framework that unifies existing research and enables a more nuanced understanding of individual differences in subjective experiences that can contribute to bicycling uptake.

Housing and integration of internally displaced persons: The case of Ukraine in 2018

Housing is a widely recognized yet understudied domain of integration of internally displaced persons (IDPs) into their new communities. This article examines the role of housing for integration of Ukrainian IDPs displaced by Russia-fueled political violence in Eastern Ukraine that started in 2014 or by Russia's annexation of Crimea that year. In Ukraine, housing holds particular significance for integration because homeownership is both widespread and a vital source of people's sense of wellbeing, security, and normalcy. Our evidence comes from an original 2018 survey of housing experiences of both IDPs and long-term residents in IDPs' new localities. The survey design enables us to assess housing integration relationally, by comparing gaps in housing status and subjective housing-related wellbeing between IDPs and locals. We find that for IDPs in protracted displacement, deprivation of culturally normative housing conditions, particularly homeownership, impeded both material and experiential housing integration. Disparities in housing status drive differences in subjective experience, ranging from satisfaction with one's housing to feeling at home in one's community. These results from our 2018 study may help anticipate challenges of the massive, nationwide displacement crisis precipitated by Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Whether Ukrainians resettle in new communities or return to their old ones, divisions between those who have homes to return to and those who do not are likely to be salient. Policies aimed at restoring housing resources, particularly pathways to homeownership, will be essential to rebuilding Ukraine.

Examining racial differences in smoking outcomes among smokers enrolled in an intravenous nicotine infusion study

IntroductionLarge racial disparities exist in the prevention and treatment of smoking-related diseases, and minoritized populations carry a heavier burden of smoking-related morbidity and mortality. To date, most studies investigating smoking-related illnesses have been conducted in samples in which the majority, or totality, self-identified as White or Caucasian. While Black individuals who smoke tend to have a lower rate of nicotine clearance, in part due to the use of mentholated cigarettes, less is known about how slower clearance affects their acute subjective and physiologic responses in response to either overnight abstinence or subsequent nicotine administration. This study aimed to investigate differences between the experiences of Black and White individuals who smoke across these outcomes after a period of short-term abstinence and after IV nicotine infusion. MethodsThe study included 206 smokers (N = 103 Black, N = 103 White, by self-report). The study investigated self-report, physiological, and biochemical smoking-related outcomes following confirmed overnight abstinence followed by IV nicotine infusion. The outcome measures were separately analyzed with repeated-measures mixed-models. ResultsBlack individuals had lower rates of nicotine clearance and were more likely to smoke mentholated cigarettes than White individuals. Despite these differences, no differences in withdrawal, cravings, or physiological outcomes were observed between the two groups. There were some trends toward differences in subjective experiences, in that an interaction with trend level significance between race and dose was observed for negative subjective drug effects, with White smokers trending towards endorsing higher levels of negative affect after abstinence and nicotine infusion. We also observed that Black individuals trended towards experiencing more negative drug effects in response to initial nicotine delivery than to saline, whereas White individuals had no differences in negative drug effects across saline or nicotine doses. ConclusionsDespite slower nicotine clearance, Black participants exhibited withdrawal and urges to smoke as severe as White participants, and did not have blunted physiological responses to overnight abstinence or administration of nicotine, which were contrary to our hypotheses. Our findings suggest minimal differences across races in the acute pharmacologic effects of nicotine. We observed trend-level differences in subjective and affective responses to nicotine. Greater insight into these differences may lead to improved prevention and treatment strategies for smoking-related illnesses for Black individuals who smoke.

Effect of spinal anesthesia-induced deafferentation on pain processing in healthy male volunteers: A task-related fMRI study.

Spinal anesthesia causes short-term deafferentation and alters the crosstalk among brain regions involved in pain perception and pain modulation. In the current study, we examined the effect of spinal anesthesia on pain response to noxious thermal stimuli in non-deafferented skin areas using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm. Twenty-two healthy subjects participated in the study. We performed a task-based fMRI study using a randomized crossover design. Subjects were scanned under two conditions (spinal anesthesia or control) at two-time points: before and after spinal anesthesia. Spinal anesthesia resulted in sensory loss up to dermatome Th6. Calibrated heat-pain stimuli were administered to the right forearm (C8-Th1) using a box-car design (blocks of 10s on/25s off) during MRI scanning. Pain perception was measured using a visual analogue scale (1-100) at the beginning and the end of each session. Generalized estimating equations were used to examine the effect of intervention by time by order on pain scores. Similarly, higher-level effects were tested with appropriate general linear models (accounting for within-subject variations in session and time) to examine: (1) Differences in BOLD response to pain stimulus under spinal anesthesia versus control; and (2) Effects of spinal anesthesia on pain-related modulation of the cerebral activation. Complete fMRI data was available for eighteen participants. Spinal anesthesia was associated with moderate pain score increase. Significant differences in brain response to noxious thermal stimuli were present in comparison of spinal versus control condition (post-pre). Spinal condition was associated with higher BOLD signal in the bilateral inferior parietal lobule and lower BOLD signal in bilateral postcentral and precentral gyrus. Within the angular regions, we observed a positive correlation between pain scores and BOLD signal. These observations were independent from order effect (whether the spinal anesthesia was administered in the first or the second visit). However, we did observe order effect on brain regions including medial prefrontal regions, possibly related to anticipation of the experience of spinal anesthesia. The loss of sensory and motor activity caused by spinal anesthesia has a significant impact on brain regions involved in the sensorimotor and cognitive processing of noxious heat pain stimuli. Our results indicate that the anticipation or experience of a strong somatosensory response to the spinal intervention might confound and contribute to increased sensitivity to cognitive pain processing. Future studies must account for individual differences in subjective experience of pain sensation within the experimental context.

The ambiguous feeling between “mine” and “not-mine” measured by integrated information theory during rubber hand illusion

Human body awareness is adaptive to context changes. The illusory sense of body ownership has been studied since the publication of the rubber hand illusion, where ambiguous body ownership feeling was first defined. Phenomenologically, the ambiguous body ownership is attributed to a conflict between feeling and judgement: it characterises a discrepancy between first- and third-person processes. Although Bayesian inference can explain this malleability of body image, it still fails to relate the subjective feeling to physiological data. This study attempts to explain subjective experience during rubber hand illusions by using integrated information theory (IIT). The integrated information Phi in IIT measures the difference between the whole system and its subsystems. By analysing seven different time-series of physiological data representing a small body–brain system, we demonstrate that the integrity of the whole system during the illusion decreases, while the integrity of its subsystems increases. These general tendencies agree with many brain-image analyses and subjective reports; furthermore, we found that subjective ratings as ambiguous body ownership were associated with Phi. Our result suggests that IIT can explain the general tendency of the sense of ownership illusions and individual differences in subjective experience during the illusions.

Remembering Election Night 2016: Subjective but not objective metrics of autobiographical memory vary with political affiliation, affective valence, and surprise.

Flashbulb memories represent a unique phenomenon linking research on cognition with research on emotion, yet most studies on this phenomenon have characterized collective events that are negative and unexpected in nature. In contrast, the 2016 American election of Donald Trump was a public, culturally shared event, eliciting extreme emotional responses that were positive for some individuals but negative for others, as well as varying levels of surprise. We longitudinally evaluated autobiographical memories for Election Night 2016 in a large online sample of Clinton supporters, Trump supporters, and third-party/nonvoters over a 12-month period, in terms of both objective memory metrics (information quantity and memory consistency) and subjective memory metrics (including memory confidence, metacognition, and sensory experience). Emotional responses to the election outcome varied widely, with Clinton supporters reporting highly negative responses, Trump supporters reporting highly positive responses, and third-party/nonvoters reporting mildly negative responses. Emotional intensity was enhanced in surprised versus nonsurprised individuals. Relative to third-party/nonvoters, Clinton and Trump supporters reported greater memory vividness, event importance, and sensory experience. Additionally, limited valence effects on subjective memory were observed (including higher memory confidence in Trump supporters and higher memory rehearsal in Clinton supporters). These differences in subjective experience were observed despite similar levels of information quantity and consistency as a function of valence. This characterization of memories for surprising positive events suggests they share many of the paradoxical qualities of memories for negative events often discussed as "flashbulb memories" but also points to potential differences in memory phenomenology for personal versus collectively experienced events. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Where and What You Drink Is Linked to How Much You Drink: An Exploratory Survey of Alcohol Use in 17 Countries

Background This paper aimed to explore the differences in subjective experiences of intoxication depending on drinking location and drink type. Methods: Data came from 32,194 respondents to The Global Drug Survey (GDS) 2015, an annual, cross-sectional, online survey. Respondents selected their usual drinking location (home alone: home with partner/family: house parties: pubs/bars or clubs) and usual drink (wine; beer/cider/lager; spirits or alcopops/coolers). They indicated how many drinks they required to reach three stages of intoxication (feeling the effects; an ideal stage of intoxication; and the tipping point) and how frequently they reached each stage. Results: Drink type affected grams of alcohol reported to reach the tipping point: 109 gm wine, 127 gm alcopops, 133 gm of beer, and 134 gm of spirts. Respondents who drank at home alone, or in clubs reached their tipping point more frequently compared to other locations. Conclusions: Where people drink, and the type of alcohol they drink, affected the amount of alcohol reported to reach different stages of intoxication. Understanding why different drinking locations, and drink types lead to a need for greater consumption to reach an ideal state of drunkenness, such as social cues from other people who drink, may enable people to reduce their drinking.

A robust confidence-accuracy dissociation via criterion attraction.

Many studies have shown that confidence and accuracy can be dissociated in a variety of tasks. However, most of these dissociations involve small effect sizes, occur only in a subset of participants, and include a reaction time (RT) confound. Here, I develop a new method for inducing confidence–accuracy dissociations that overcomes these limitations. The method uses an external noise manipulation and relies on the phenomenon of criterion attraction where criteria for different tasks become attracted to each other. Subjects judged the identity of stimuli generated with either low or high external noise. The results showed that the two conditions were matched on accuracy and RT but produced a large difference in confidence (effect appeared for 25 of 26 participants, effect size: Cohen’s d = 1.9). Computational modeling confirmed that these results are consistent with a mechanism of criterion attraction. These findings establish a new method for creating conditions with large differences in confidence without differences in accuracy or RT. Unlike many previous studies, however, the current method does not lead to differences in subjective experience and instead produces robust confidence–accuracy dissociations by exploiting limitations in post-perceptual, cognitive processes.

Daily Physical Activity in Older Age

Abstract. Affective barriers like negative affect (time-varying subjective state) or fear of falling (person-trait) may reduce daily physical activity among older adults. A group of 123 community-dwelling older adults ( Mage = 71.83, range = 64–85, 63% women) from Canada participated in a 10-day time-sampling study. We used accelerometer-assessed physical activity, assessing negative affect three times per day and fear of falling once prior to the 10-day period. Using multilevel models, we noted considerable variability in physical activity between days (activity counts: 47%; steps: 55%). We found time-varying negative associations between daily physical activity and daily negative affect. Fear of falling was not related to daily physical activity. Findings point to the merit of examining time-varying differences in subjective experiences when looking for physical activity barriers in older age.

Characteristics of the Semantic Layer of the Image of the World Among Young Representatives of the Indigenous Small-numbered Peoples of the North

Introduction. Research on the ethno-cultural characteristics of the image of the world in the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North is important. This paper presents the results of an empirical investigation of the image of the world (a semantic layer) among young representatives of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North. This study is the first report on the application of a three-level model of the image of the world for describing its characteristics among young representatives of indigenous ethnic groups.&#x0D; Methods. The study sample comprised 225 individual participants aged 16–25 years, living in the North and Northeast of Russia, 110 of whom were representatives of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North and 115 of whom were representatives of the non-indigenous population. The study employed the group associative experiment.&#x0D; Results and Discussion. The findings indicate the presence of non-random differences in the structures of semantic assessments, which indicates the presence of specific characteristics of the semantic layer of the image of the world among representatives of indigenous peoples of the North. In the group of representatives of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North the first ranks in associations with the ‘my life five years ago’ stimulus correspond to the following descriptors: ‘school’, ‘study’, and ‘friends’; with the ‘my life now’ stimulus – ‘study’, ‘work’, and ‘sports’; with the ‘my life five years later’ stimulus – ‘work’, ‘family’, and ‘children’; with the ‘nature’ stimulus – ‘beauty’, ‘forest’, and ‘animals’; with the ‘human’ stimulus – ‘kind’, ‘friend’, and ‘reasonable’; and with the ‘happiness’ stimulus – ‘family’, ‘love’, and ‘children’.&#x0D; In the group of representatives of the non-indigenous population the North the first ranks in associations with the ‘my life five years ago’ stimulus correspond to the following descriptors: ‘school’, ‘friends’, and ‘carefree’; with the ‘my life now’ stimulus – ‘study’, ‘love’, and ‘work’; with the ‘my life five years later’ stimulus – ‘family’, ‘work’, and ‘children’; with the ‘nature’ stimulus – ‘forest’, ‘beauty’, and ‘sea’; with the ‘human’ stimulus – ‘kind’, ‘personality’, and ‘reasonable’; and with the ‘happiness’ stimulus – ‘family’, ‘love’, and ‘children’.&#x0D; The differences observed when comparing associative semantic universals indicate that associative links are determined by differences in subjective experiences and cultural contexts.

The Different Roles of Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motives for Activities in Predicting Functioning and Well-Being Experiences

Research on hedonic and eudaimonic orientations has previously focused on their effects on well-being experiences. Very little is known about their associations with functioning. A preliminary objective of the study was to establish the factorial validity of the Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motives for Activities–Revised (HEMA-R) on an Italian sample (N = 461) through a confirmatory factor analysis. The main objective was to study the distinctive patterns of correlates between different types of orientations to well-being and several outcome measures of positive experiences (flourishing, life satisfaction, positive affect), negative experiences (negative affect, depression, anxiety, stress) and functioning (dispositional coping strategies) by means of a multivariate linear model. The Italian version of the HEMA-R showed a three-factor structure, namely eudaimonic, pleasure, and relaxation orientations. Pleasure orientation was positively related to positive experiences of well-being and negatively related to negative experiences. Eudaimonic orientation was associated with positive experiences. Furthermore, eudaimonic orientation showed a positive relation with several adaptive coping strategies, whereas relaxation was associated with avoidant coping strategies. The results reflect that pleasure orientation is aimed at achieving pleasant feelings, while Eudaimonic orientation is aimed at living well. Our findings also suggest that pleasure orientation may reflect the “pursuit of pleasure” component of Hedonia, while relaxation orientation may reflect its “pain avoidance” component. Overall, this study supports the importance of distinguishing between Eudaimonia, and the pleasure and relaxation components of Hedonia to predict individual differences in subjective experiences and functioning.

Effects of the menstrual cycle and neuroticism on women's sadness emotion and physiological responses based on an emotion-inducing experiment

Abstract Objective To investigate the diversity of experiences of sadness emotion and physiological responses among female college students with high neuroticism (HN) and low neuroticism (LN) during the late luteal phase (LLP) and early follicular phase (EFP). Methods Forty-two participants were classified as the HN group and 41 as the LN group based on their neuroticism score (Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Short Scale for Chinese). Participants watched sadness-inducing experimental films during the LLP and EFP. Results The HN group showed similar sadness intensities in both phases. The LN group showed higher sadness intensity in the LLP than the EFP. The LN group's sadness scale assessments were lower than the HN group in both phases. The blood volume pulse in the HN group fell in both the LLP and EFP (both P .05). Between-group comparisons showed heart rate was significantly lower in the HN group than the LN group during EFP (P = .009), but there were no statistically significant differences in subjective experience and physiological data during LLP. The HN group had stronger sadness feelings and greater sadness arousal than the LN group during EFP. There were significant associations between menstrual cycle-related changes in sadness ratings and changes in physiological outcomes. Conclusion Women with HN have less fluctuation in sadness than those with LN during the menstrual cycle, but experience strong sadness feelings in the LLP. Women with HN show stronger physiological responses in the EFP than those with LN, and have the highest responses in the LLP.

Subjective experiences of highly processed food consumption in individuals with food addiction.

Highly processed foods (e.g., pizza, chocolate) have been more associated with indicators of food addiction than have minimally processed foods (e.g., fruits, vegetables), although findings have been primarily self-reported. The present study utilized behavioral methods from the addiction literature to assess whether (a) foods differ in their associations with subjective experience indicators of abuse liability and (b) individual differences in subjective experiences and eating behavior emerge using the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 (YFAS 2.0). Women (n = 44) with overweight or obesity, 38.6% with YFAS 2.0 food addiction, rated facets of subjective experience (e.g., craving) during a taste test task and ad libitum consumption period. A hierarchical linear model assessed whether foods were differentially associated with each subjective experience (Level 1) and individual differences by food addiction (Level 2). Associations between subjective experiences and eating behavior were also examined. Highly processed, relative to minimally processed, foods were more associated with indicators of abuse liability, although individuals with food addiction reported decreased enjoyment for and intentions to consume highly processed foods. Subjective experiences were associated with greater consumption of highly processed foods for participants with food addiction. The present work provides further support for the rewarding nature of highly processed foods, evidenced by closer associations with subjective experiences reported for drugs of abuse compared to minimally processed foods. In addition, highly processed food intake was related to elevated subjective experience reports for these foods for those with food addiction, paralleling findings in individuals with a substance-use disorder for the relevant drug. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Individual EEG alpha profiles are gender-dependent and indicate subjective experiences in Whole-Body Perceptual Deprivation

We use a unique environment of Whole Body Perceptual Deprivation (WBPD) to induce an altered state of consciousness (ASC) in our participants, and employ online EEG recording. We present individual EEG alpha profiles, and show how these data can be analyzed at the individual level. Our goal is to investigate to what degree subjective experience matches EEG alpha profile, and in particular, the various alpha hemispheric asymmetries observed in the frontal, parietal, and occipital lobes. Specifically, we consider positive (frontal L < R) or negative (frontal L > R) affect; a more verbal (L > R) or a more imagistic (R > L) mode of thinking; and a more trancelike (frontal > parietal) or more reflective (frontal < parietal) state of consciousness. Our results indicate that the individual alpha profiles are reflected in individual differences in subjective experience. However, the alpha profiles are confounded with the gender of the participant. Specifically, there is a predominant R > L asymmetry found for male participants, and a predominant L > R asymmetry found for female participants.

Preliminary evidence for increased parasympathetic activity during social inclusion and exclusion in adolescents with functional abdominal pain

ObjectivePeer victimization (e.g. social exclusion) has been shown to be associated with physical health problems such as functional somatic complaints and especially symptoms of pain. To date, no study has investigated the mechanisms underlying this association in clinical pediatric samples. The aim of this study was to evaluate the parasympathetic activity during a social exclusion experience in adolescents with functional abdominal pain (FAP). MethodsTwenty adolecents with FAP and 21 matched healthy participants were compared regarding parameters of parasympathetic activation before, during, and after participating in the Cyberball-game, a well-established paradigm to induce social exclusion. ResultsAdolescents with FAP showed an increase in parasympathetic activation during both consecutive phases of the Cyberball game (inclusion as well as exclusion condition) whereas the healthy control group remained stable. There were no differences in subjective experience of in- and exclusion between the groups. ConclusionThe parasympathetic activation pattern may indicate altered processing of social stimuli in adolescents with FAP.

Hot flash report and measurement among Bangladeshi migrants, their London neighbors, and their community of origin

To examine hot flashes in relation to climate and activity patterns, and to compare subjective and objective hot flashes among Bangladeshi immigrants to London, their white London neighbors, and women still living in their community of origin, Sylhet, Bangladesh ("sedentees"). Ninety-five women, aged 40-55, wore the Biolog ambulatory hot flash monitor. Objective measurements and subjective hot flash reports were examined in relation to demographic, reproductive, anthropometric, and lifestyle variables; temperature and humidity at 12:00 and 18:00; and time spent on housework and cooking. Concordance of objective and subjective hot flashes was assessed by Kappa statistics and by sensitivity of hot flash classification. During the study period, Bangladeshi sedentees reported more subjective hot flashes (p < .05), but there was no difference in number of objective hot flashes. White Londoners were more likely to describe hot flashes on their face and neck compared to Bangladeshis (p < .05). Sedentees were more likely to describe hot flashes on their feet (p < .05). Postmenopausal status, increasing parity, and high levels of housework were significant determinants of subjective hot flashes, while ambient temperature and humidity were not. Measures of subjective/objective concordance were low but similar across groups (10-20%). The proportion of objective hot flashes that were also self-reported was lowest among immigrants. Hot flashes were not associated with warmer temperatures, but were associated with housework and with site-specific patterns of cooking. The number of objective hot flash measures did not differ, but differences in subjective experience suggest the influence of culture.

Diferencias en la experiencia subjetiva entre depresión unipolar y bipolar

IntroductionIt is important to make distinction between bipolar and unipolar depression because treatment and prognosis are different. Since the diagnosis of the two conditions is purely clinical, find symptomatic differences is useful. ObjectivesFind differences in subjective experience (first person) between unipolar and bipolar depression. MethodsPhenomenological-oriented qualitative exploratory study of 12 patients (7 with bipolar depression and 5 with unipolar depression, 3 men and 9 women). We used a semi-structured interview based on Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience (EASE). ResultsThe predominant mood in bipolar depression is emotional dampening, in unipolar is sadness. The bodily experience in bipolar is of a heavy, tired body; an element that inserts between the desires of acting and performing actions and becomes an obstacle to the movement. In unipolar is of a body that feels more comfortable with the stillness than activity, like laziness of everyday life. Cognition and the stream of consciousness: in bipolar depression, compared with unipolar, thinking is slower, as if to overcome obstacles in their course. There are more difficult to understand what is heard or read. Future perspective: in bipolar depression, hopelessness is stronger and broader than in unipolar, as if the very possibility of hope was lost. ConclusionsQualitative differences in predominant mood, bodily experience, cognition and future perspective were found between bipolar and unipolar depression.

Acute pain experience in individuals with autism spectrum disorders: A review

In addition to the diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder, a number of clinically important comorbid complaints, including sensory abnormalities, are also discussed. One difference often noted in these accounts is hyposensitivity to pain; however, evidence for this is limited. The purpose of the current review therefore was to examine sensitivity to pain of individuals with autism spectrum disorder. This review is interested in reports which consider differences in subjective experience of pain (i.e. different pain thresholds) and differences in behavioural response to pain (i.e. signs of pain-related distress). Studies were included if they were conducted with human subjects, included a clearly diagnosed autism spectrum disorder population and reported data pertaining to pain experience relative to the neurotypical population. Studies were classified as being self/parent report, clinical observations, observations of response to medical procedures or experimental examination of pain. Both self/parent report and clinical observations appeared to report hyposensitivity to pain, whereas observations of medical procedures and experimental manipulation suggested normal or hypersensitive responses to pain. This review suggests that contrary to classical reports, individuals with autism spectrum disorder do not appear to have systematically altered pain responses or thresholds. More systematic experimental examination of this area is needed to understand responses to pain of individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

Training Synesthetic Letter-color Associations by Reading in Color

Synesthesia is a rare condition in which a stimulus from one modality automatically and consistently triggers unusual sensations in the same and/or other modalities. A relatively common and well-studied type is grapheme-color synesthesia, defined as the consistent experience of color when viewing, hearing and thinking about letters, words and numbers. We describe our method for investigating to what extent synesthetic associations between letters and colors can be learned by reading in color in nonsynesthetes. Reading in color is a special method for training associations in the sense that the associations are learned implicitly while the reader reads text as he or she normally would and it does not require explicit computer-directed training methods. In this protocol, participants are given specially prepared books to read in which four high-frequency letters are paired with four high-frequency colors. Participants receive unique sets of letter-color pairs based on their pre-existing preferences for colored letters. A modified Stroop task is administered before and after reading in order to test for learned letter-color associations and changes in brain activation. In addition to objective testing, a reading experience questionnaire is administered that is designed to probe for differences in subjective experience. A subset of questions may predict how well an individual learned the associations from reading in color. Importantly, we are not claiming that this method will cause each individual to develop grapheme-color synesthesia, only that it is possible for certain individuals to form letter-color associations by reading in color and these associations are similar in some aspects to those seen in developmental grapheme-color synesthetes. The method is quite flexible and can be used to investigate different aspects and outcomes of training synesthetic associations, including learning-induced changes in brain function and structure.