Momentary Fluctuations Research Articles

Momentary Fluctuations in Impulsivity Predicts Suicidal Ideation Among Those With Problematic Alcohol Use.

Problematic alcohol use is a recognized risk factor for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Individuals who misuse alcohol and those experiencing suicidal ideation (SI) often exhibit elevated impulsivity, suggesting that impulsivity may be an underlying mechanism. Impulsivity fluctuates considerably within individuals over short periods, particularly among those engaged in episodic heavy drinking, college students, and those with SI. While impulsivity is associated with suicidal thinking at a trait level, its relationship with SI on a momentary level remains relatively unexplored. This study aimed to (a) replicate cross-sectional findings linking impulsivity and SI in those with problematic alcohol use, and (b) extend these findings to examine the momentary associations between impulsivity and SI within this population. Two independent undergraduate samples were utilized: the first cross-sectional (n = 653) and the second employing ecological momentary assessment (n = 56). All participants screened for problematic alcohol or substance use. Our results show a unique association between the impulsivity facet of negative urgency and SI. Results also demonstrate an interactive effect of negative affect and "spur of the moment decisions" in predicting concurrent SI, as well as an interaction between negative affect and "saying things without thinking" in prospectively predicting SI. Findings highlight the saliency of negative urgency, both at the trait and state level in the prediction of SI. Although in need of replication, results indicate that specific aspects of momentary impulsivity may be uniquely linked with SI, and that this relationship may be context dependent.

Dynamic patterns of functional connectivity in the human brain underlie individual memory formation

Remembering our everyday experiences involves dynamically coordinating information distributed across different brain regions. Investigating how momentary fluctuations in connectivity in the brain are relevant for episodic memory formation, however, has been challenging. Here we leverage the high temporal precision of intracranial EEG to examine sub-second changes in functional connectivity in the human brain as 20 participants perform a paired associates verbal memory task. We first identify potential functional connections by selecting electrode pairs across the neocortex that exhibit strong correlations with a consistent time delay across random recording segments. We then find that successful memory formation during the task involves dynamic sub-second changes in functional connectivity that are specific to each word pair. These patterns of dynamic changes are reinstated when participants successfully retrieve the word pairs from memory. Therefore, our data provide direct evidence that specific patterns of dynamic changes in human brain connectivity are associated with successful memory formation.

Dynamic links between daily anxiety symptoms and young adults’ daily well-being

ABSTRACT Background Anxiety disorders are prevalent among youth and adults. Increasing studies examined the dynamic associations between momentary fluctuations of anxiety and well-being, primarily focusing on the severity of general anxiety. Scant research has explored the co-fluctuations between different anxiety symptoms and mental health outcomes. Method The current study evaluated the multi-level factor structure and assessed the subclinical symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social phobia (SP), and panic disorder (PD) in a sample of non-clinical young adults (N = 271, Mage = 18 years, 72% female, 68% non-White) who participated in a 30-day daily diary study. Results Between persons, GAD, SP, and PD were positively correlated with depressive symptoms, stress, as well as emotional and peer problems. Within persons, both SP and PD were positively associated with stress, peer and emotional problems on the same day. Across days, there was positive reciprocal relation between PD and stress, whereas negative reciprocal link was observed between SP and emotional problems. Conclusions Current findings showed dynamic and distinct patterns in the associations between different anxiety symptoms and several mental health outcomes, which emphasizes the need to disentangle between- and within-person variation of anxiety symptoms with intensive longitudinal designs.

Attentiveness Modulates Reaction-Time Variability: Findings From a Population-Based Sample of 1032 Children

Momentary fluctuations in children’s cognitive performance offer a rich source of signal. To understand this variation, we turn to the field of ADHD research. Children with ADHD exhibit high variability in reaction times. This phenomenon is accompanied by multiple theory-driven predictions about its candidate causes. However, suboptimal methods and datasets have obstructed empirical insights. To address this, we identify and address three sources of heterogeneity. We isolate a theoretically motivated estimate of reaction-time variability using dynamic structural equation modeling and examine its association with developmental problems. Our findings reveal a specific association between symptom-severity in the inattention domain and reaction-time variability in a population-based cohort of 1032 children aged 5.5-to-13.5 in the Netherlands. Moreover, by combining a unique task-design with latent difference-score models we provide support for the mechanistic hypothesis that attentiveness drives reaction-time variability. We conclude with three hypotheses for researchers interested in examining children’s development through its momentary dynamics.

Transient stability investigation of a grid integrating solar and wind energies: a case study of southern Algeria

The primary goal of electricity producers is to ensure the efficient operation of the electrical grid and the reliable delivery of electricity to individual households. Strengthening the electricity network with the integration of micro-power plants such as wind farms and photovoltaic power plants, as in the case of Algeria, contributes to improving the quality of electricity supplied to consumers. This work presents a simulation study of the electrical network of the Adrar region using ETAP program, to show the influence of the insertion of photovoltaic and wind power plants on the electrical network. The results showed good tolerance of the grid to the integration of wind energy, while the integration of photovoltaic energy needs more requirements and technical challenges to overcome, because, as shown by the results of simulations, the integration of photovoltaic energy makes the network more vulnerable to disturbances. The primary reason for this phenomenon is the lack of mechanical inertia, enabling the system to minimize perturbations. Where wind turbines are unique in their ability to withstand load variations and respond quickly to disruptions. They return to their initial value in 20 seconds, while solar power systems signal return to their initial value after 45 seconds due to their lack of mechanical inertia. Owing to the limitations of the electrical network, the majority of test scenarios demonstrate that wind farm structures can sustain a steady voltage and frequency of 50 Hz. On the other hand, there are momentary fluctuations in voltage and frequency in structures that have photovoltaic systems installed.

Examining situational differences in momentary emotion differentiation and emotional clarity in everyday life.

People experience momentary fluctuations in how much they differentiate between emotions and how clear they are about what they are feeling. To better understand situational predictors of shifts in emotion differentiation and emotional clarity, we investigated whether individuals are more differentiated and clearer about their emotions in social situations (vs. alone) given that emotions fulfill important social functions. We tested if these within-person associations varied depending on socially relevant individual differences, including age, extraversion, and social connectedness. We also examined whether people are more differentiated and clearer in situations that have previously been processed (i.e., familiar situations) and if this effect was stronger for older (vs. younger) adults. Community adults (N = 290, aged 25-85 years) completed measures of extraversion and social connectedness and then were randomly prompted 6 times a day for 10 days to report on their current emotional experience and situation. Using multilevel structural equation modeling, social context was associated with less positive emotion differentiation and not associated with emotional clarity; these within-person associations did not differ by age, extraversion, or social connectedness. Individuals experienced more differentiated positive emotions and higher emotional clarity than usual when they were in more (vs. less) familiar situations. Familiarity was especially predictive of higher positive emotion differentiation among relatively older (vs. younger) adults. These findings suggest positive emotion differentiation, particularly in familiar situations could be a way in which the quality of one's emotional experience changes with age. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Us, them and we: How national and human identifications influence adolescents' ethnic prejudice.

Although there have been numerous studies on the relations between group identification and ethnic prejudice, it is less clear whether their associations reflect stable individual tendencies or rather situational or temporal fluctuations. This longitudinal multilevel study aimed to fill this gap by examining the between- and within-person associations of identification with the national and superordinate human groups and levels of prejudice against multiple ethnic minorities. A total of 883 Italian majority adolescents (Mage = 15.66, SD = 1.15 at T1, 49.7% females) completed questionnaires at four time points over the course of 1 year. Results showed that national identification was related to more prejudice at the between-person level but to decreases in prejudice at the within-person level. Additionally, human identification contributed to lower levels of and steeper decreases in prejudice at both the between- and within-person levels. Common and unique associations also emerged across different ethnic minority targets, but only for between-person effects. Overall, this study highlights the importance of distinguishing stable individual levels and momentary fluctuations of both ingroup identifications and ethnic prejudice in order to orient future interventions aimed at improving the quality of intergroup relationships.

Invited Session I: 30 years of normalization in the visual system: Spatiotemporal fluctuations in E/I balance & their impact on perception.

The Normalization Model has helped illuminate our understanding of neural computations in a wide variety of contexts. Here, I will describe our recent efforts to understand how intrinsic fluctuations in the ratio of excitatory to inhibitory conductances play out in space and time, and how these fluctuations impact perception. We find that spontaneous cortical activity is organized into traveling waves that traverse visual cortex several times per second. Recording in Area MT of the common marmoset, we find that these intrinsic traveling waves (iTWs) regulate both the gain of the stimulus-evoked spiking response and the monkey's perceptual sensitivity. A large-scale spiking network model recapitulates the properties of iTWs measured in vivo and explains the observed fluctuations in response gain as resulting from momentary fluctuations in E/I balance. The model predicts that iTWs are sparse, in the sense that only a small fraction of the neural population participates in any individual iTW. As a result, iTWs can occur without inducing correlated variability, which we have found, in separate experiments, can impair sensory discrimination. We thus refer to the model as the sparse-wave model of iTWs. Taken together, these findings lead to the conclusion that traveling waves strongly modulate neural and perceptual sensitivity.

Negative mood and optimism bias: An experimental investigation of sadness and belief updating

Background and objectivesUnderstanding how individuals integrate new information to form beliefs under changing emotional conditions is crucial to describing decision-making processes. Previous research suggests that although most people demonstrate bias toward optimistic appraisals of new information when updating beliefs, individuals with dysphoric psychiatric conditions (e.g., major depression) do not demonstrate this same bias. Despite these findings, limited research has investigated the relationship between affective states and belief updating processes. MethodsWe induced neutral and sad moods in participants and had them complete a belief-updating paradigm by estimating the likelihood of negative future events happening to them, viewing the actual likelihood, and then re-estimating their perceived likelihood. ResultsWe observed that individuals updated their beliefs more after receiving desirable information relative to undesirable information under neutral conditions. Further, we found that individuals did not demonstrate unrealistic optimism under negative affective conditions. LimitationsThis study incorporated a population of university students under laboratory conditions and would benefit from replication and extension in clinical populations and naturalistic settings. ConclusionsThese findings suggest that momentary fluctuations in mood affect how individuals integrate information to form beliefs.

Biomarker-guided neuromodulation aids memory in traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of cognitive disability in adults, often characterized by marked deficits in episodic memory and executive function. Prior studies have found that direct electrical stimulation of the temporal cortex yielded improved memory in epilepsy patients, but it is not clear if these results generalize to patients with a specific history of TBI. Here we asked whether applying closed-loop, direct electrical stimulation to lateral temporal cortex could reliably improve memory in a TBI cohort. Among a larger group of patients undergoing neurosurgical evaluation for refractory epilepsy, we recruited a subset of patients with a history of moderate-to-severe TBI. By analyzing neural data from indwelling electrodes as patients studied and recalled lists of words, we trained personalized machine-learning classifiers to predict momentary fluctuations in mnemonic function in each patient. We subsequently used these classifiers to trigger high-frequency stimulation of the lateral temporal cortex (LTC) at moments when memory was predicted to fail. This strategy yielded a 19% boost in recall performance on stimulated as compared with non-stimulated lists (P = 0.012). These results provide a proof-of-concept for using closed-loop stimulation of the brain in treatment of TBI-related memory impairment.

Reliability and Validity of Noncognitive Ecological Momentary Assessment Survey Response Times as an Indicator of Cognitive Processing Speed in People's Natural Environment: Intensive Longitudinal Study.

Various populations with chronic conditions are at risk for decreased cognitive performance, making assessment of their cognition important. Formal mobile cognitive assessments measure cognitive performance with greater ecological validity than traditional laboratory-based testing but add to participant task demands. Given that responding to a survey is considered a cognitively demanding task itself, information that is passively collected as a by-product of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) may be a means through which people's cognitive performance in their natural environment can be estimated when formal ambulatory cognitive assessment is not feasible. We specifically examined whether the item response times (RTs) to EMA questions (eg, mood) can serve as approximations of cognitive processing speed. This study aims to investigate whether the RTs from noncognitive EMA surveys can serve as approximate indicators of between-person (BP) differences and momentary within-person (WP) variability in cognitive processing speed. Data from a 2-week EMA study investigating the relationships among glucose, emotion, and functioning in adults with type 1 diabetes were analyzed. Validated mobile cognitive tests assessing processing speed (Symbol Search task) and sustained attention (Go-No Go task) were administered together with noncognitive EMA surveys 5 to 6 times per day via smartphones. Multilevel modeling was used to examine the reliability of EMA RTs, their convergent validity with the Symbol Search task, and their divergent validity with the Go-No Go task. Other tests of the validity of EMA RTs included the examination of their associations with age, depression, fatigue, and the time of day. Overall, in BP analyses, evidence was found supporting the reliability and convergent validity of EMA question RTs from even a single repeatedly administered EMA item as a measure of average processing speed. BP correlations between the Symbol Search task and EMA RTs ranged from 0.43 to 0.58 (P<.001). EMA RTs had significant BP associations with age (P<.001), as expected, but not with depression (P=.20) or average fatigue (P=.18). In WP analyses, the RTs to 16 slider items and all 22 EMA items (including the 16 slider items) had acceptable (>0.70) WP reliability. After correcting for unreliability in multilevel models, EMA RTs from most combinations of items showed moderate WP correlations with the Symbol Search task (ranged from 0.29 to 0.58; P<.001) and demonstrated theoretically expected relationships with momentary fatigue and the time of day. The associations between EMA RTs and the Symbol Search task were greater than those between EMA RTs and the Go-No Go task at both the BP and WP levels, providing evidence of divergent validity. Assessing the RTs to EMA items (eg, mood) may be a method of approximating people's average levels of and momentary fluctuations in processing speed without adding tasks beyond the survey questions.

Psychological stress responses to a live performance by professional flamenco dancers.

Dance is a high demanding discipline that involves physiological and psychological pressures. The pressure increases when dancers perform in front of an audience that, on a physiological level, can generate hormonal responses similar to those of an athlete before a competition for social status. Low levels of testosterone (T) and high levels of cortisol (C) are related to a decrease in performance and an increase in the risk of injury. Therefore, this study sets out to analyse hormone response patterns in professional flamenco dance performances depending on whether the performances are completed successfully and whether there are differences by sex and professional category. Saliva specimens (2-5 ml) were taken from the participants before and after the performance. Samples were immunoassayed by duplicate to analyze momentary fluctuations in two hormones regularly used in studies with professional athletes. The results showed significant differences in solo dancers' T responses before and after the performance (p < 0.01), suggesting that the dancing role in the show (soloist or corps the ballet) and responsibility over the performance were important modulators to the hormone responses observed.

Hedonic Appetite, Affect, and Loss of Control Eating: Macrotemporal and Microtemporal Associations in Adolescents.

Loss of control eating (LOC) is a dysregulated eating behavior relevant to eating disorders and weight-related health concerns. Hedonic appetite and affect (positive/negative) are dynamic microtemporal processes that influence LOC, but they have been studied predominantly in a static, macrotemporal manner. The present study examined associations of hedonic appetite and positive/negative affect, on macrotemporal and microtemporal levels, with LOC in adolescents. Adolescent participants 13-18 years old (n = 43; Mage = 15.1, SD = 1.6; 69.8% female) completed smartphone surveys for 6 evenings, assessing LOC, hedonic appetite, and positive/negative affect. Scores on items were calculated to create microtemporal and macrotemporal assessments of these constructs. Multilevel models were run to examine associations between hedonic appetite and positive/negative affect with LOC. Both macrotemporal and microtemporal hedonic appetite were significantly positively related to LOC (β = .73, p < .001; β = .47, p < .001, respectively). Macrotemporal positive affect was significantly negatively associated with LOC (β = -.09, p < .001). Macrotemporal negative affect was significantly positively associated with LOC (β = .13, p < .001). No significant relationships emerged between microtemporal positive/negative affect and LOC. Hedonic appetite appears to be associated with LOC on both microtemporal and macrotemporal levels, suggesting that both momentary fluctuations and having higher hedonic appetite than others can be risk factors for LOC. However, affect appears to be associated with LOC only at the macrotemporal level. Findings may inform theoretical work and clinical and research assessment strategies.

The State of Risk and Optimum Decision According to Neutrosophic Rules

In light of the current circumstances and the momentary fluctuations that we live in all domains of life, which have transformed most decision-making cases into risky cases, this study was necessary. In this research, we present a new study for decision-making in the event of risk, by formulating some rules according to the neutrosophic logic starting from the data of the problem, where we replaced the classical values in the matrix of profit and probabilities with neutrosophic values that have a margin of freedom thanks to the indeterminacy provided by the neutrosophic logic, and we got more accurate solutions than the solutions that we obtained when using the classical rules which reduces the occurrence of losses, especially if the decisions are fateful and the decision issues are huge and complex and helps us to achieve the greatest profits by adopting a rational decision based on modern quantitative ways and methods.

HOW OLD DO YOU FEEL? CONSIDERING THE CONTEXTS, DYNAMICS, AND ASSESSMENT OF SUBJECTIVE AGE

Abstract How old people feel is a highly effective predictor of later life health and well-being. Despite a wealth of research, the developmental dynamics of the construct as well as its antecedents and consequences are not well understood. Our symposium brings together research that models dynamic trajectories in subjective age over long- and short periods of time and links it to psychological constructs and objective indicators of health and functioning. First, Weiss and colleagues present longitudinal findings of subjective age trajectories in a lifespan sample that highlight the reciprocal dynamics between subjective age and social contexts. Bellingtier and colleagues link the age people feel on a daily basis to the age people want to feel and find that when people felt closer to the age they desired, their affect was more positive. Rupprecht and colleagues measured subjective age as well as affect, stress and physical activity on 21 consecutive days. Data attest to the relevance of daily experiences for subjective age. In a similar approach, Tingvold and colleagues show the relationship of momentary subjective age with subjective and physiological stress in late-midlife adults’ daily lifes. Finally, Touron and Hughes found that momentary fluctuations in subjective age are associated with current task engagement and enjoyment. Together, the findings show that innovative perspectives and research designs are needed to understand how people respond to the question “How old do you feel” and why it predicts how well they actually age.

LONG-TERM ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND STABILITY OF DAILY WORKING MEMORY PERFORMANCE IN OLD AGE

Abstract Mixed evidence of associations of alcohol consumption with cognitive aging suggested that low to moderate alcohol consumption predicts more favorable cognitive outcomes than abstinence, whereas higher consumption operates as risk factor for cognitive decline. Daily short-term fluctuations of cognitive performance have also been established as risk factor for subsequent cognitive decline. Bringing these two lines of research together, our study analyzed associations of long-term trajectories of alcohol consumption with ambulatory assessments (7 days, 6 beeps per day) of working memory (WM) performance in participants (N = 155, aged 66-69 and 86-89) followed-up from a long-term (&amp;gt;20 years) longitudinal aging study. Overall, the findings do not support the “risk-view”, because long-term alcohol consumption patterns were not found to be predictive of either individual levels or intra-individual momentary fluctuations of WM performance. Follow-up analyses will examine the combined effects of alcohol consumption with further risk factors, such as long-term declines in health.

THE EXPERIENCE OF SUBJECTIVE AGE DURING EVERYDAY LIFE

Abstract Empirical work has shown that subjective age is susceptible to momentary fluctuation throughout the day, and in certain contexts like challenging cognitive evaluations. We propose and test a contextual model that describes how momentary experiences impact subjective age, which in turn impacts daily activities and well-being. Using an experience sampling approach, 200 participants were asked to complete 6 surveys per day for a week. Questions asked about the task they were engaged in, including mental, physical and social engagement, challenge, motivation, confidence, and enjoyment. Participants also completed a manipulation of mental challenge and reported their momentary subjective age. Preliminary multilevel models show that certain momentary factors, such as whether participants were enjoying a task or found the task engaging, predict fluctuations in subjective age. We will also discuss moderators, subjective age domains, time of day effects, and the cross-lagged influence of cognitive stressors over time.

MOMENTARY VARIATION IN SUBJECTIVE AGE, PERCEIVED STRESS, AND PHYSIOLOGICAL REACTIVITY IN LATE MIDLIFE

Abstract The age people feel, their subjective age, can vary on both daily and momentary levels. Previous longitudinal and daily-diary studies have shown that hormonal and self-reported measures of stress covary with subjective age. Our study aims at exploring momentary fluctuations in subjective age and their relation to objective and subjective measures of stress assessed in people’s daily lives. 54 participants aged 50 – 62 years (Mage = 56.1 yrs, 75% female) wore sensors recording their physiological reactivity and reported on perceived stress and subjective age six times per day for one week. We found that a lower subjective age was related to a greater heart rate variability and less perceived stress on a momentary level. Our findings confirm and expand studies showing the association of stress and subjective age and their importance for aging processes in late midlife.

Tracking momentary fluctuations in human attention with a cognitive brain-machine interface.

Selective attention produces systematic effects on neural states. It is unclear whether, conversely, momentary fluctuations in neural states have behavioral significance for attention. We investigated this question in the human brain with a cognitive brain-machine interface (cBMI) for tracking electrophysiological steady-state visually evoked potentials (SSVEPs) in real-time. Discrimination accuracy (d') was significantly higher when target stimuli were triggered at high, versus low, SSVEP power states. Target and distractor SSVEP power was uncorrelated across the hemifields, and target d' was unaffected by distractor SSVEP power states. Next, we trained participants on an auditory neurofeedback paradigm to generate biased, cross-hemispheric competitive interactions between target and distractor SSVEPs. The strongest behavioral effects emerged when competitive SSVEP dynamics unfolded at a timescale corresponding to the deployment of endogenous attention. In sum, SSVEP power dynamics provide a reliable readout of attentional state, a result with critical implications for tracking and training human attention.

Momentary fluctuations in emotional intelligence and stress predict changes in disordered eating

Objective: Low emotional intelligence and symptoms of disordered eating are connected, however, whether daily fluctuations in emotional intelligence predict daily changes in disordered eating symptoms has not been examined, nor has stress been explored as a potential moderator of this relationship. Participants: Participants were undergraduate students (n = 100). Methods: Participants completed baseline questionnaires, then responded to random ecological momentary assessment prompts 3 times daily for 2 weeks. Results: Results indicated that when individuals had higher momentary emotional intelligence, they had lower disordered eating at the same time point (within subjects estimate = −0.30, p < .001) and following time point (within subjects estimate = −0.08, p = 0.03). Momentary stress moderated the relationship between baseline emotional intelligence and momentary disordered eating (b = −0.02, p < .01). Conclusions: Changes in emotional intelligence predict day-to-day changes in disordered eating, and stress moderates the connection between emotional intelligence and disordered eating.