Impoverished Environment Research Articles

Environmental enrichment increases the number of telencephalic but not tectal cells of angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare): an exploratory investigation using optical fractionator

Based on previous evidence that environmental enrichment is associated with telencephalic cellular proliferation and that stable visuotopic tectal circuits are essential for discrimination of placement and identity of stationary or moving objects in the visual field, differential plasticity is expected in these areas. Here we tested this hypothesis in the Angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare), a species of ornamental fish with great value in the aquarist trade. We hypothesized that total telencephalic cell number would increase under the influence of an enriched environment whereas the tectal cell number would not change. To test this hypothesis, 12 aquaria of 80 l each were used, with six fish in each. The aquaria had either an enriched environment (EE) including stones, plants, sand and the presence of another fish from the Loricariidae family for interspecific social interaction, or an impoverished environment (IE), in which stimuli were limited to intraspecific interactions in a barren aquarium. After 62 days, six fish from each treatment were euthanized, and their brains were fixed and sectioned for Nissl staining. Then, stereological estimates of the total number of cells were performed. The fish showed no differences in weight gain, feed conversion ratio, condition factor, specific growth rate or survival. Animals kept in the enriched environment had a higher number of total telencephalic cells than animals kept in the impoverished environment (1,038,555 ± 65,357 vs. 758,331 ± 51,587, bilateral t-test, p = 0.008), but a similar number of tectal optical cells (EE 424,097 ± 29,914 vs. IE 471,409 ± 50,850, bilateral t-test, p = 0.445752). We concluded that cell proliferation in response to stimulation by the enriched environment is differentially expressed in the telencephalon and tectal areas of Pterophyllum scalare.

Alasdair MacIntyre’s challenge: Police corruption, management ethics, and the indispensable virtues of integrity and constancy

This paper investigates some of the information conditions necessary for the preservation of police officers’ individual and collective moral agency, particularly the virtues of integrity and constancy, which can diminish in markedly rule-based, informationally impoverished, or corrupt work environments. We focus on one particular work from philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, who explores the threat of social structures to moral agency by using the hypothetical case of J whose job it was to make the trains run on time while avoiding questions about the cargo. J’s supervisors and the broader social structure he occupies inhibited his capacity to be a full moral agent. In order to illustrate the relevance and application of MacIntyre’s argument to policing and the good justice, including the wider philosophical and economic problems of compartmentalization of moral agency, we draw from his framework to consider our own case study in policing inspired by a challenging era within the recent history of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (USA). Implications for leadership and management in policing are discussed.

Recent Theoretical Studies Concerning Important Tropical Infections.

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) form a group of diseases that are strongly associated with poverty, flourish in impoverished environments, and thrive best in tropical areas, where they tend to present overlap. They comprise several diseases, and the symptoms vary dramatically from disease to disease, often causing from extreme pain, and untold misery that anchors populations to poverty, permanent disability, and death. They affect more than 1 billion people worldwide; mostly in poor populations living in tropical and subtropical climates. In this review, several complementary in silico approaches are presented; including identification of new therapeutic targets, novel mechanisms of activity, high-throughput screening of small-molecule libraries, as well as in silico quantitative structure-activity relationship and recent molecular docking studies. Current and active research against Sleeping Sickness, American trypanosomiasis, Leishmaniasis and Schistosomiasis infections will hopefully lead to safer, more effective, less costly and more widely available treatments against these parasitic forms of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in the near future.

Impact of Exposure to Environmental Enrichment on the Anxiety-Like Behavior of Ovariectomized Mice

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the influence of short-term (2-week) exposure to social (SE) and/or physical enrichment (PE) on the anxiety-like behavior of ovariectomized (OVX) NIH Swiss mice. Method : One week after surgery, each OVX mouse was housed under one of 4 social conditions: (1) isolated, (2) accompanied by an intact female, (3) accompanied by an intact male, or (4) in a community of 10 OVX individuals. The animals in each of these environments were divided into 2 subgroups, consisting of the presence and absence of PE. Following a 2-week exposure to the respective conditions, each OVX mouse was subjected to either the light/dark exploration test (LDT) or the elevated plus maze (EPM) to examine anxiety-like behavior. Results: The LDT and EPM showed very similar patterns. Compared to an impoverished environment, PE elicited a significant anxiolytic effect for OVX mice housed alone or in companion of an intact female (F [1, 54] = 16.11, P = 0.001). By contrast, mice living in community but without PE displayed anxiogenic-like behavior, perhaps due to crowding, compared to the animals living in isolation (F [1, 36] = 5.64, P = 0.023). Conclusion: This study emphasized the importance of taking housing conditions into account during the screening of new anxiolytic agents and the critical role of OVX in the regulation of anxiety.

Executive Function Deficits Mediate Poverty’s Effects on Academic Achievement: Target for Intervention in At-Risk Children

Aim: Determine whether effects of poverty on academic achievement are mediated by effects of poverty on executive cognitive functions. Methods: Web-based classroom-administered tests assessed executive function in 5717 children grades k-8 in 40 schools, and poverty level and academic achievement for each school were drawn from US Department of Education data. Boot-strapping procedures were used to evaluate mediation by executive function of the association between poverty and academic proficiency. Results: Executive function and academic achievement were both related to school poverty (pearson r -0.50 to -0.65, p = 0.0009 to 0.0001). Estimated indirect effects of poverty on reading (-0.26, 95% CI: -0.47, -0.07) and math (-0.23, 95% CI: -0.44, -0.06) through effects on executive function were significant. Controlling for executive function, effects of poverty on reading (-0.58 to -0.31) and math (-0.59 to -0.35) were diminished, indicating partial mediation of effects of poverty on reading and math via effects on executive function. Conclusion: Interventions that enhance executive function in children in impoverished and/or violent environments could mitigate damaging effects of these environments on neurocognitive and associated life and health outcomes. Without intervention, many young adults in troubled areas of the world will be ill-prepared for productive function in society.

Sensing, Computing, and Communications for Energy Harvesting IoTs: A Survey

With the growing number of deployments of Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure for a wide variety of applications, the battery maintenance has become a major limitation for the sustainability of such infrastructure. To overcome this problem, energy harvesting offers a viable alternative to autonomously power IoT devices, resulting in a number of battery-less energy harvesting IoTs (or EH-IoTs) appearing in the market in recent years. Standards activities are also underway, which involve wireless protocol design suitable for EH-IoTs as well as testing procedures for various energy harvesting methods. Despite the early commercial and standards activities, IoT sensing, computing and communications under unpredictable power supply still face significant research challenges. This paper systematically surveys recent advances in EH-IoTs from several perspectives. First, it reviews the recent commercial developments for EH-IoT in terms of both products and services, followed by initial standards activities in this space. Then it surveys methods that enable the use of energy harvesting hardware as a proxy for conventional sensors to detect contexts in energy efficient manner. Next it reviews the advancements in efficient checkpointing and timekeeping for intermittently powered IoT devices. We also survey recent research in novel wireless communication techniques for EH-IoTs, such as the applications of reinforcement learning to optimize power allocations on-the-fly under unpredictable energy productions, and packet-less IoT communications and backscatter communication techniques for energy impoverished environments. The paper is concluded with a discussion of future research directions.

ИСЛАМ В ЖИЗНИ ОБСКИХ УГРОВ КАК ФАКТОР ИХ КУЛЬТУРНО-ИСТОРИЧЕСКОЙ ПСИХОЛОГИИ: ИСТОЧНИКИ И МЕТОДОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ АСПЕКТЫ

The article analyses sources on the history of Islam in the culture of the Northern indigenous peoples, such as the Ob Ugrians (the Khanty and the Mansi): the Siberian chronicles, works of decorative and applied art, ethnographic materials. The paper provides methodological justification of the “impoverished environment” conception, which explains the mechanism of cultural borrowings under the North conditions. The authors conclude that the intensive penetration of Islam into the Ob Ugrian culture resulted in assimilation of some Khanty and Mansi tribes by the Siberian Tatars, and the Zabolotnie Tatars remained the only representatives of the Islamized (Turkicized) Khanty.

Prison and the brain: Neuropsychological research in the light of the European Convention on Human Rights

Prison is by its nature a deliberately impoverished environment, with few physical, mental and social activities. Various studies have shown negative effects of an impoverished environment on animal as well as human brain functions. A recent study in a Dutch remand prison showed that brain functions connected with self-regulation decline after 3 months of imprisonment. Reduced self-regulation appears to be a risk factor for recidivism. In this article, we examine the legal implications of these neuropsychological findings in a European context. Firstly, we analyse these results in the light of the principle of rehabilitation as interpreted in case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Secondly, we explore how the neuropsychological insights could be relevant in the context of the prohibition of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment (Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)). We argue that if the impoverished prison environment hampers rehabilitation, states are positively obliged to take appropriate measures to counter these effects. Ultimately, negative effects on brain functioning by impoverished prison environments could even raise an issue under Article 3 ECHR. Furthermore, we argue that neuropsychological insights have to be taken into account when establishing the threshold according to which the European Court on Human Rights judges prison conditions. We conclude that in the light of these considerations further research on the neuropsychological effects of the prison environment is required.

Incentivising a career in older adult nursing: The views of student nurses.

Nurse vacancy rates in older adult services are disproportionately high compared to other areas of nursing. This is partly because few student nurses consider it an attractive career option once qualified due to perceptions of low-status, strenuous nature of the work and impoverished care environments. The study aimed to explore students' perceptions of incentives that could counterbalance the barriers for new graduate nurses joining this speciality. A qualitative descriptive design using focus group interviews was carried out with six groups of student nurses (n=27) following completion of their acute care older adult placements in three hospitals. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The barriers from students' perspectives were constructed as a vicious cycle of staff shortages and inadequate resources that created impoverished environments leading to a dissonance between ideal and delivered care. Over one-third of students were unlikely to consider a career in older adults nursing, but the remaining students could identify incentives that may tempt them. Four main themes and eight subthemes were identified: gerontological status and leadership (ward leadership; respected others); relational care (legitimising emotional support, care vs. cure goals); quality work environment (pay as recognition, 12-hr shifts); and education-career pathways (gerontological knowledge, career progression). Radical new approaches, based on student and nurse engagement, are required to incentivise a career in gerontological nursing. A combination of shorter and longer term strategies that include education-career pathways, a focus on relation care, and improved work conditions including financial incentives should be trialled. In terms of practice, addressing high nurse vacancy rates in older adult services that negaively impacts on patient outcomes requires a suite of incentives informed by 'what matters' to students and nurses working in the speciality.

Penetration of Bomb 14C Into the Deepest Ocean Trench

AbstractThe food source of hadal endemic fauna provides an insight into the carbon cycle in trenches and a biological adaptation to the impoverished and harsh trench environment. Here, we present the first Δ14C results of hadal amphipods from three trenches in the Pacific to define the organic matter source in these remote ecosystems. Amphipod muscle tissues contain a bomb 14C signature (Δ14C from 10 ± 2‰ to 65 ± 2‰), thereby revealing a dietary preference for labile and fresh organic matter derived from the surface water. Thus, the carbon cycle in the deepest ocean trench has a tight linkage with the surface ocean via the food chain. The bomb 14C dating result suggests that hadal amphipods have a low tissue turnover rate and an unexpectedly long lifetime (>10 years), at more than 4 times higher than the common longevity (~2 years) of amphipods in shallow waters.

Executive Function Deficits Mediate Effects of Poverty on Academic Achievement: An Important Target for Interventions to Enhance Neurocognitive Development in At-Risk Children

Background: Millions of children raised in unstable, impoverished or violent environments fall behind more fortunate peers in brain development, executive cognitive functions (EF), and academic achievement, general health and employment outcomes. It is important to empirically demonstrate the relation between environment-related compromised EF and compromised functional life outcomes in order to establish that interventions to enhance EF in high-risk children could mitigate life-long effects of adverse rearing environments. Methods: EF was assessed in 5717 children grades k-8 in 40 schools across the United States with web-based classroom-administered tests, and poverty level and academic achievement for each school drawn from US Department of Education data. A regression-based EF factor score was used to evaluate the degree of mediation by EF of the association between poverty and academic proficiency. Findings: EF and academic achievement were both related to school poverty (pearson r -.50 to - .65, p =.0009 to <.0001). Estimated indirect effects of poverty through effects on EF were both significant according to bootstrap results (reading: -0.26, 95% CI: -0.47, -0.07; math: -0.23, 95% CI: -0.44, -0.06 ). The effect of poverty, after controlling for EF, was significant, but diminished on both reading (-0.58 to -0.31) and math (-0.59 to -0.35) performance, indicating that the effects of poverty on reading and math proficiency were mediated via effects of poverty on EF. Interpretation: Effects of poverty on academic achievement are mediated by effects of poverty on EF, suggesting that interventions that enhance development of EF in children in impoverished and/or violent environments can mitigate damaging effects of these environments on neurocognitive and associated life and health outcomes. Without such interventions, a large number of young adults in troubled areas of the world will be ill-prepared for productive function in the 21st century world. Funding: Research was supported by C8 Sciences' operating budget. Declaration of Interest: Two of the authors, Professors Morris Bell and Bruce Wexler, have financial interest in the Yale start-up company C8 Sciences. A third author, Dr. Ahmet Esat Imal, is a part time employee of C8 Sciences. C8 Sciences has developed the assessments described in the paper, and an education intervention directed at improving cognitive skills and learning outcomes in children from poverty. The results presented in our manuscript support the value of the assessments done by C8 Sciences and the rationale for the C8 Sciences intervention. Because of this, Drs. Bell, Imal and Wexler could benefit financially from the publication of these findings. Pittman has no competing financial interest. Ethical Approval: The Yale Human Investigations Committee determined that individual consent was not needed.

Population response during an Oceanic Anoxic Event: The case of Posidonotis (Bivalvia) from the Lower Jurassic of the Neuquén Basin, Argentina

Benthonic marine species show a wide range of biological reactions to seawater chemical changes through time, from subtle adjustments to extinction. The Early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE) was recently recognized in the Neuquén Basin, Argentina, confirming its global scope. The event was identified chemostratigraphically on the basis of a relative increase in marine organic carbon and a characteristic negative carbon-isotope excursion (δ13Corg) in bulk rock and fossil wood in the upper Pliensbachian–lower Toarcian interval in the Arroyo Lapa section (Neuquén). Simultaneously with collection of lithological samples, a high-resolution biostratigraphical survey was carried out, and the scarce benthonic fauna was collected in order to check the biotic response to changing marine geochemical conditions. We present here an analysis of size and abundance data from the T-OAE interval in the Neuquén Basin for the dominant bivalve species, the paper-clam Posidonotis cancellata (Leanza), and relate these data to geochemical proxies (%TOC and δ13Corg) obtained at the same locality. The abundance of P. cancellata increased when the rest of the benthos diminished, reaching a maximum at the onset level of the T-OAE, and then decreasing. Size-frequency distributions show a noteworthy lack of juvenile shells. Shell size shows a positive correlation with %TOC in the whole section, though over the T-OAE interval proper, it decreases below the level where the maximum %TOC value is attained and increases above it. Posidonotis cancellata shows features of opportunistic species, such as high tolerance to hypoxia, strong dominance in impoverished environments and a strong dependence on primary productivity, but at the same time had a reproductive strategy more similar to equilibrium species, with relatively low juvenile mortality rates. Several anatomical features suggest adaptation to permanently dysaerobic environments. The species disappeared just before the minimum negative carbon-isotope value was reached; and by the same time the genus became extinct worldwide.

Environmental Impoverishment, Aging, and Reduction in Mastication Affect Mouse Innate Repertoire to Explore Novel Environments and to Assess Risk

Studies indicate that inhibition of adequate masticatory function, due to soft diet, occlusal disharmony, or molar losses affects the cognitive behavior of rodents. However, no study has tested the effects on new environments exploration and risk assessment coupled with a combination of masticatory function rehabilitation and environmental enrichment. In the present report, we tested the hypothesis that age, environment, and masticatory changes may interact and alter exploratory patterns of locomotor activity and mice preferences in an open field (OF) arena. As OF arenas are widely used to measure anxiety-like behavior in rats and mice. We examined in an open arena, the exploratory and locomotor activities of mature (6-month-old; 6M), late mature (12-month-old; 12M), and aged (18-month-old; 18M) mice, subjected to distinct masticatory regimens and environments. Three different regimens of masticatory activity were used: continuous normal mastication with hard pellets (HD); normal mastication followed by reduced mastication with equal periods of pellets followed by soft powder – HD/SD; or rehabilitated masticatory activity with equal periods of HD, followed by powder, followed by pellets – HD/SD/HD). Under each diet regimen, half of the individuals were raised in standard cages [impoverished environment (IE)] and the other half in enriched cages [enriched environment (EE)]. Animals behavior on the open field (OF) task were recorded by webcam and analyzed with Any Maze software (Stöelting). The locomotor and exploratory activities in OF task declined with age, and this was particularly evident in 18M HD EE mice. Although all groups kept their preference by the peripheral zone, the outcomes were significantly influenced by interactions between environment, age, and diet. Independent of diet regime, 6M young mice maintained in an EE where voluntary exercise apparatus is available, revealed significant less body weight than all other groups. Although body weight differences were minimized as age progressed, 18M EE group revealed intragroup significant influence of diet regimens. We suggest that long life environmental enrichment reduces the tendency to avoid open/lit spaces (OF) and this is particularly influenced by masticatory activity. These measurements may be useful in discussions of anxiety-related tasks.

Language Outcomes in Adults with a History of Institutionalization: Behavioral and Neurophysiological Characterization

Impoverished early care environments are associated with developmental deficits in children raised in institutional settings. Despite the accumulation of evidence regarding deficits in general cognitive functioning in this population, less is known about the impact of institutionalization on language development at the level of brain and behavior. We examined language outcomes in young adults and adolescents raised in institutions (n = 23) as compared to their socioeconomic status and age peers raised in biological families (n = 24) using a behavioral language assessment and linguistic event-related potentials (ERPs). Controlling for intelligence, adults with a history of institutionalization demonstrated deficits in lexical and grammatical development and spelling. Analyses of ERP data revealed significant group differences in the dynamic processing of linguistic stimuli. Adults with a history of institutionalization displayed reduced neural sensitivity to violations of word expectancy, leading to reduced condition effects for temporo-spatial factors that tentatively corresponded to the N200, P300/N400, and phonological mismatch negativity. The results suggest that language is a vulnerable domain in adults with a history of institutionalization, the deficits in which are not explained by general developmental delays, and point to the pivotal role of early linguistic environment in the development of the neural networks involved in language processing.

Using automated controlled rearing to explore the origins of object permanence.

What are the origins of object permanence? Despite widespread interest in this question, methodological barriers have prevented detailed analysis of how experience shapes the development of object permanence in newborn organisms. Here, we introduce an automated controlled-rearing method for studying the emergence of object permanence in strictly controlled virtual environments. We used newborn chicks as an animal model and recorded their behavior continuously (24/7) from the onset of vision. Across four experiments, we found that object permanence can develop rapidly, within the first few days of life. This ability developed even when chicks were reared in impoverished visual environments containing no object occlusion events. Object permanence failed to develop, however, when chicks were reared in environments containing temporally non-smooth objects (objects moving on discontinuous spatiotemporal paths). These results suggest that experience with temporally smooth objects facilitates the development of object permanence, confirming a key prediction of temporal learning models in computational neuroscience.

Effects of Economic Inequality on Academic Achievement: The Black Boy Dilemma

This study examined the effects of economic inequality on the academic achievement of the African-American males. African-American males are disproportionately poor, many living below the poverty line. The neighborhoods African-American males live in have few resources for learning which fosters low academic achievement. Predictions were made that African- American males in poor families will have lower academic achievement than white males and that African-American males who live in impoverished neighborhood environments attend blighted schools which affect their academic achievement. Regression analyses yielded results showing poverty as statistically significant; however poverty alone was not the only predictor on the outcome of academic achievement. The research findings of this study evoke the need for further research into the decline of academic achievement among African-American males. Policy recommendations for the alleviation of the problem circumscribe the problem of school finance at the local, state, and federal level.

Small-scale environmental enrichment and exercise enhance learning and spatial memory of Carassius auratus, and increase cell proliferation in the telencephalon: an exploratory study.

Carassius auratus is a teleost fish that has been largely used in behavioral studies. However, little is known about potential environmental influences on its performance of learning and memory tasks. Here, we investigated this question in C. auratus, and searched for potential correlation between exercise and visuospatial enrichment with the total number of telencephalic glia and neurons. To that end, males and females were housed for 183 days in either an enriched (EE) or impoverished environment (IE) aquarium. EE contained toys, natural plants, and a 12-hour/day water stream for voluntary exercise, whereas the IE had none of the above. A third plus-maze aquarium was used for spatial and object recognition tests. Different visual clues in 2 of its 4 arms were used to guide fish to reach the criteria to complete the task. The test consisted of 30 sessions and was concluded when each animal performed three consecutive correct choices or seven alternated, each ten trials. Learning rates revealed significant differences between EE and IE fish. The optical fractionator was used to estimate the total number of telencephalic cells that were stained with cresyl violet. On average, the total number of cells in the subjects from EE was higher than those from subjects maintained in IE (P=0.0202). We suggest that environmental enrichment significantly influenced goldfish spatial learning and memory abilities, and this may be associated with an increase in the total number of telencephalic cells.

Prisoner exposure to nature: Benefits for wellbeing and citizenship

The direct or indirect experience of crime can cause individuals to feel vengeful against the perpetrator(s). The prison system reflects this sentiment by creating austere environments that are dehumanizing, punitive, and hopeless. Prisons are, therefore, environments in which retribution and punishment take priority over rehabilitation. Frequently, prisoners are believed to be untreatable because of their antisocial orientation. However, several factors influence an antisocial orientation such as socioeconomic status, family of origin, and mental health. The ubiquitous nothing works misbelief has resulted in prisoner marginalization and increased recidivism because of insufficient treatment. In 2015, 10 million individuals were incarcerated worldwide with around 30 million circulating through prisons each year. The prison environment decreases prisoner life expectancy and overall health. Sadly, prisoner benefits from treatment post-incarceration dissipate after 3–6 months and many prisoners die by suicide or drug overdose. Prison overpopulation, as well as poor outcome post-incarceration, requires more effective treatment. We hypothesize that Prisoner Exposure to Nature (PEN) can transform prisons into environments that are conducive to maintaining and improving physical and mental health. In prior work we proposed the continuum Nature Exposure Sufficiency (NES) versus Nature Exposure Insufficiency (NEI). Prisons are impoverished environments that limit Nature Exposure (NE) which results in NEI. Individuals experience fluctuations in mental and physical health as a result of NEI. Numerous studies have shown that direct and indirect NE can improve mood, physical health, and facilitate connectivity with self and society. It is necessary to consider ways in which we can incorporate NE for prisoner wellbeing. Additionally, it is crucial that prison personnel and prisoners develop a therapeutic/helping relationship (i.e., alliance) that is facilitated by friendliness and warmth to foster social change and citizenship. Many prisoners experience isolation and disconnection with society upon reentry. Given that most prisoners are eventually released into the community, we are obligated not to make them worse. Hence, it is important that prisons create programs that develop citizenship to engender prisoner volition to become positive and active citizens. We focus on the prison and prisoners, however our work is relevant to all total institutions (e.g., mental hospitals, nursing homes, schools, etc.). The prison system favors punishment and mass incarceration over treatment and decarceration. The deleterious effects of incarceration are clear and it is time to implement treatments based on the principles of PEN to improve prisoner wellbeing and citizenship.

Mediators of childhood trauma and suicidality in a cohort of socio-economically deprived Scottish men.

There is little research investigating the relationship between childhood abuse, including neglect, and suicidality in adult men, despite epidemiological data suggesting that they are most at risk for suicide. To investigate the relationship between childhood abuse and neglect and suicidality, and the possible mediating roles of affect dysregulation and social inhibition. a cohort of eighty-six socio-economically deprived male Caucasian participants previously identified as suicidal, attending a non-clinical community group. Participants completed self-report measures on childhood trauma, emotion regulation, interpersonal difficulties and suicidal behavior. Mediation analysis indicated that emotion dysregulation and interpersonal difficulties significantly mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and suicidality with a medium effect size (R2 = .41, p < .001). Study results suggest that early childhood abuse and neglect results in dysfunctional emotion regulation, which leads to suicidality in the context of impoverished social environments. The provision of psychological interventions aimed at improving social and emotional functioning may help to safeguard men who are most at risk of suicide.

Brief Exposure to Pictures Depicting Poor Environments Leads to Increased Consumption of Beer in Adult Social Drinkers

Previous studies have suggested a trait-like association between neighborhood deprivation and alcohol consumption. However, it is not known whether temporarily manipulating poverty and affluence states by exposure to stimuli signifying resource-scarcity or resource-wealth would influence alcohol-seeking behavior. Here, we aimed to investigate whether implicit exposure to affluence and poverty-related pictures would influence beer consumption. Participants in a “poverty” group viewed pictures depicting impoverished environments, and participants in an “affluence” group viewed images of wealthy environments. After priming, participants were provided with nonalcoholic beer (which they were told was alcohol-containing beer) and orange juice under the guise of a bogus taste test, to measure their alcohol-seeking behavior. Results showed that priming participants with a resource-scarce environment led to an increase in beer consumption (as a percentage of total fluid consumed), compared to priming with a resource-rich environment. The same pattern of results was obtained in both a Western European sample (Experiment 1) and a West Indian sample (Experiment 2). In Experiment 2, we also tested whether risk-taking behavior, measured by the Balloon Analogue Risk Task, was influenced by the environmental priming; no differences between groups were observed. These results provide the first experimental evidence that manipulation of poverty-affluence state, by brief exposure to pictures of impoverished or wealthy neighborhoods, can influence alcohol-seeking behavior in adult social drinkers.