Qinghua He

The alerting network modulates internal states to facilitate adaptive responses to external stimuli, typically assessed using the Attention Network Test (ANT). However, the human genomic, gut metagenomic, and blood metabolomic bases of alerting remain poorly characterized in Chinese adults. This study employed a multi‐omics approach—integrating genomic, metagenomic, and metabolomic analyses—to investigate fecal samples, serum, and structural brain MRI data from healthy Chinese adults. We first conducted a genome‐wide association study (GWAS) and identified three suggestive SNP loci, including the OSBPL10 as a candidate gene, along with a gene pathway associated with the alerting network, but none with the other two attention networks (orienting and executive control). We then conducted metagenomic and metabolomic analyses and identified Bacteroides intestinalis as gut microbial taxa potentially linked to alerting, along with the metabolite 5‐oxo‐delta‐bilirubin . Preliminary screening (without false discovery rate, FDR, correction) identified 100 differential metabolites as potentially relevant to alerting, which were used in subsequent exploratory causal modeling. Voxel‐based morphometry (VBM) regression demonstrated that alerting performance was correlated with gray matter volume (GMV) in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the cerebellum. Finally, we conducted two‐step one‐sample Mendelian Randomization (MR) analyses and found a significant serial mediation pathway: B. intestinalis influences the GMV of OFC and cerebellum through N‐pentadecanoylsphingosine‐1‐phosphocholine and alerting. Collectively, this study uncovers novel genetic determinants of alerting and elucidates causal pathways linking gut microbes, metabolites, attentional function, and brain structure within the gut‐brain axis.

Background: Telecommunications fraud causes financial and psychological harm, yet how individuals who experienced fraud retrospectively describe progression from initial trust to emotional escalation and reduced behavioral control remains unclear. Objective: This study aimed to develop a stage-based psychological framework for telecommunications fraud and examine whether person-level cross-sectional associations provide quantitative elaboration. Methods: Study 1 used grounded-theory analysis of semistructured interviews with 71 individuals who experienced telecommunications fraud; 46 interviews informed model development and 25 assessed theoretical saturation. Study 2 analyzed 4722 university-based survey responses from Chongqing, including 409 students with confirmed fraud experience. A balanced case-control sample comprised all 409 participants with confirmed fraud experience and 409 randomly selected participants without reported fraud experience. Two-tailed independent-samples t tests, adjusted logistic regression, and 10 nonoverlapping resampling iterations examined correlates of victimization. Among defrauded people, 2 theory-specified PROCESS Model 6 analyses with 5000 bootstrap resamples estimated cross-sectional indirect associations involving Truth-Seeking or Cognitive Maturity, Gullibility, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation, and Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS) scores. Results: Study 1 yielded a 3-stage interpretive framework of retrospective narratives: Credulity Priming, Affective Manipulation, and Behavioral Dyscontrol. Desire and fear loops, as well as overexpectation events, were characterized by a narrated escalation. In study 2, defrauded people had lower Truth-Seeking and Cognitive Maturity and higher Gullibility, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation, and BSCS scores (indicating poorer self-control) than sampled nondefrauded people. In adjusted analyses, higher Gullibility was associated with higher odds of victimization, whereas higher Truth-Seeking was associated with lower odds; the interpretation of these adjusted correlates was based primarily on their consistent reproduction in the student-only sensitivity models. Among defrauded people, both PROCESS models yielded statistically significant model-specified cross-sectional indirect association estimates, but concurrent postevent measurement precluded temporal or causal inference. Across studies, convergence was the strongest for trust-related appraisal; evidence for affective and behavioral domains was complementary rather than confirmatory. Conclusions: Retrospective narratives supported a 3-stage interpretive framework, while cross-sectional quantitative findings most consistently linked lower Truth-Seeking and higher Gullibility to victimization status in this sample. These findings motivate prospective evaluation of stage-sensitive prevention strategies; the proposed temporal sequence and intervention implications require direct testing in more diverse populations.

Background: Psychological adaptability hinges on the dynamic balance between cognitive regulation (self-control) and emotional reactivity (impulsivity, reward/punishment sensitivity). However, traditional variable-centered approaches often fail to capture how these traits holistically co-occur, and the neural architectures predicting their longitudinal transitions in early adulthood remain under-explored. Methods: This longitudinal study ( N = 1,229 baseline; N = 432 2-year follow-up) integrated a person-centered behavioral approach with resting-state fMRI. We employed Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) to identify trait configurations based on self-control, impulsivity, and sensitivity to reward/punishment. Network-Based Statistic (NBS) analysis with family-wise error (FWE) correction was utilized to evaluate functional connectivity differences among groups. Finally, hierarchical regression and formal interaction models were conducted to test the prospective predictive validity of the identified neural circuits. Results: LPA delineated three distinct baseline profiles: Adaptive, Moderate, and Maladaptive. NBS analysis revealed that the ‘Adaptive’ profile is underpinned by robust cortico-striatal functional connectivity, integrating the medial prefrontal cortex and striatum. Longitudinally, initial regression models demonstrated that the baseline integrity of this circuit prospectively predicted behavioral adaptation at the 2-year follow-up. Furthermore, hierarchical regression and formal interaction analyses confirmed that this cortico-striatal circuit provided significant incremental predictive validity – above and beyond massive baseline behavioral stability – specifically in males. Conclusions: These findings highlight cortico-striatal integration as a significant, gender-specific prospective predictor of longitudinal adaptation. By bridging person-centered profiling with network neuroscience, this study elucidates the neural correlates supporting future adaptive functioning and psychological resilience during the early adult transition.

Emerging adulthood is a critical developmental window for the maturation of executive control and the reorganization of intrinsic brain networks. However, the longitudinal neurobiological mechanisms underlying the depletion of cognitive control resources—and its impact on trait sensitivities—remain poorly understood. In a two-year longitudinal study, 332 emerging adults underwent behavioral assessments and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We utilized Latent Change Score Modeling (LCSM) to extract pure dynamic alterations in impulsivity, self-control, and reward and punishment sensitivities. Longitudinally tracked fMRI data were parcellated into seven canonical subnetworks to quantify dynamic topological reconfiguration and neurobehavioral coupling. Behavioral LCSM revealed that the longitudinal exacerbation of reward and punishment sensitivities was primarily driven by the dynamic depletion of self-control, rather than baseline or concurrent impulsivity surges. Neurally, dynamic hyper-integration within the Ventral Attention Network (VAN) robustly tracked this synchronous self-control depletion. Path analysis confirmed a full longitudinal mediation: VAN hyper-integration exacerbated environmental sensitivities strictly by depleting cognitive control resources. We identify VAN hyper-integration as a maladaptive neural locus that monopolizes computational bandwidth during this developmental transition, driving the exhaustion of regulatory control. This cascade highlights a key neurodevelopmental marker and emphasizes the preservation of self-control capacity for promoting adaptive cognitive development during emerging adulthood.

The Bivalent Fear of Evaluation model posits that individuals with social-anxiety experience both Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE) and Fear of Positive Evaluation (FPE). Previous research has empirically supported a two-factor structure comprising FNE and FPE. More recently, theoretical reviews and empirical studies have turned to a broader construct, Fear of General Evaluation (FGE). Here, we sought to examine the existence and validity of FGE in two samples (644 Chinese undergraduates and 448 junior high school students). We captured two distinct measures of FNE and FPE, along with mental-health outcomes (social anxiety, generalized anxiety, and depression). The findings showed that both the two-factor and bifactor models fit the data well, with a slightly better fit for the bifactor model. The bifactor diagnostics also suggested that a reliable general factor likely exists. Moreover, FGE showed a clear pattern of criterion-related associations, relating most strongly to social anxiety and more moderately to generalized anxiety and depression. In conclusion, our results advance a plausible bifactor account of fears of evaluation, emphasizing the role of FGE in social anxiety and outlining implications for clinical practice.