Ruofan Ma

The examination of the neural mechanisms of affect has shifted from a functional localization approach towards a distributed network neuroscience approach. The present study examined the topology of brain networks relevant to affective processing [i.e. the salience (SN), default mode (DMN), ventral attention (VAN), dorsal attention (DAN), and frontoparietal (FPN) networks] during a novel fMRI-based affect-induction task in which participants (N = 73) mentally visualized neutral, positive, and negative self-nominated acquaintances. We used graph-theory metrics to compute the static (i.e. mean) and dynamic (i.e. time-varying) functional integration of networks with the rest of the brain (using participation coefficient) and within-network coherence (using within-module degree). Static DAN within-module degree differentiated the negative from the neutral condition, whereas dynamic VAN participation coefficient differentiated the negative from the positive condition. These results are consistent with the constructionist account that emotions emerge from flexible network configurations and contribute to growing network-based understandings of affective processing.

Loneliness is associated with age-related health issues through its impact on the brain and body. The brain’s allostatic-interoceptive system (AIS) consists of regions that predictively regulate bodily functions in reaction to affectively or socially salient situations. We hypothesized that loneliness would interact with age to exacerbate normative age-related differences in the static (i.e. average) and dynamic (i.e. time-varying) functional connectivity of the AIS during socially salient scenarios. Participants (N = 73) rated their loneliness and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a task involving socially neutral, pleasant, and unpleasant conditions. Static and dynamic functional connectivity of the AIS were each quantified using participation coefficient (PC) and within-module degree (WD), which are graph-theoretical metrics indicating integration of the AIS with the rest of the brain and coherence within itself, respectively. Static AIS PC was positively associated with age across conditions. In the socially pleasant condition, static AIS WD decreased with increasing age, but only for those with high loneliness. In both the pleasant and unpleasant conditions, dynamic PC and WD showed steeper negative associations with age in individuals with higher loneliness. Overall, loneliness may exacerbate age-related differences in brain systems that are essential for physiological regulation and responding to social cues.

Older adults tend to miss cues to others’ untrustworthiness and are disproportionally vulnerable to suboptimal social decisions. One overlooked mechanism of age-related change in interpersonal trust decisions is interoception, the perception of one’s own bodily signals. Interoception is important for well-calibrated trust decisions because somatic signals, or “gut-based” affective responses, can help inform who is trustworthy versus ill-intentioned. This study examined how individuals’ interoceptive accuracy and their interoceptive metacognitive ability moderated associations between age and interpersonal trust perceptions. During an in-lab session, 135 participants (aged 18–83) completed an interpersonal trust task and a heartbeat detection (HBD) task to measure their interoceptive accuracy (measured as d’) and interoceptive metacognition (measured as metacognitive sensitivity and metacognitive efficiency). We found that, as age increased, participants were more likely to rate normatively untrustworthy facial stimuli as more trustworthy, and this effect was stronger for those with lower interoceptive accuracy. We also found that among those with high interoceptive metacognition, older participants were more likely to rate normatively untrustworthy stimuli as more trustworthy, and trustworthy stimuli as more untrustworthy. Results from this study suggest bodily cues may provide information about others’ trustworthiness, and at older age, those who do not perceive their own bodily signals accurately are also likely to make errors in interpersonal decisions. As adults develop, better interoceptive metacognition may reflect a tendency to discount affective responses during decision making.

The brain’s processing of affective states involves complex interactions across brain regions, rather than localized to a specific region. The examination of the neural mechanisms of affect has shifted from a functional localization approach towards a distributed network neuroscience. Participants (N=73) underwent fMRI while engaging in a novel affect-induction task where they mentally visualized neutral, positive, and negative self-nominated acquaintances. We examined the topology of brain networks relevant to affective processing (i.e., the default mode [DMN], salience [SN], ventral attention [VAN], dorsal attention [DAN], and frontoparietal [FPN] networks). For each network in each task condition, we used graph-theory metrics to compute their integration with the rest of the brain (using participation coefficient; PC) and within-network coherence (using within-module degree; WD). Both static (i.e., mean) and dynamic (i.e., standard deviation) PC and WD were computed for each network. Several networks showed differences in static PC between affective conditions, while the VAN displayed differences in dynamic PC between conditions. FC of the networks during the tasks were also associated with subjective affect reported immediately after each task. These results are consistent with the constructionist account that emotions emerge from flexible network configurations and contribute to growing network-based understandings of affective processing.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious psychiatric condition, especially stigmatized in women. Stigma is a social injustice, as it discredits and reduces the wholeness of a person to one of taint and discount. Psychological scientists play a uniquely powerful role in the stigmatization and destigmatization of BPD by constructing the meaning of BPD at each step of the research process. We discuss this powerful role and how to destigmatize BPD by incorporating an intersectionality framework that includes disability as a category of difference (as with gender, race, and sexuality). This framework centers the role of systems and structures in creating and maintaining stigma, while emphasizing the close interactions between interpersonal and structural stigma. This article illustrates researchers’ power to assign meaning to BPD in research and highlights the importance of considering individuals as embedded in intersectional social categories, which are multidimensional and dynamic in nature. We propose that intersectional cultural humility, with its social justice aim and feminist origins, can guide BPD researchers to conduct nonstigmatizing and rigorous research on BPD. To inform clinical practice and advance social justice, we offer action steps for researchers to destigmatize BPD with intersectional cultural humility at multiple steps in the research process.

Objective: This study examined how individual (satisfaction of basic psychological needs), relational (perceived achievement- and dependency-oriented parental psychological control), and cultural (ethnic identity) factors may contribute to Asian American college students' (18 - 25 years of age) disordered eating. Participants: Asian American college students (N = 118) participated in the study. Methods: Participants completed a cross-sectional survey study. Moderated mediation models were used to analyze the data. Results: Analyses showed that perceived achievement-oriented, but not dependency-oriented, parental psychological control was more strongly associated with psychological needs satisfaction at higher, compared to lower, levels of ethnic identity. Conclusions: Findings highlighted the importance of both parenting and ethnic identity among Asian American college students' psychological needs and risk for disordered eating. The complex relations among achievement expectations, ethnic identity and wellbeing in Asian Americans are discussed. The results can inform intervention and prevention programs attending to the needs of this population.

Objective This study explored treatment experiences and social support among individuals with eating disorders (EDs) in mainland China. Method Subscribers of a Chinese online social media platform (WeChat) focused on EDs were invited to complete a screening questionnaire that included the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale for the DSM-5. Of the 116 questionnaire responses, 31 met inclusion criteria for follow-up interviews. Individuals who never sought treatment were not eligible for follow-up interviews, but provided brief explanations about why they did not seek treatment. All eligible participants (n = 31) completed a semi-structured interview about their experiences with ED treatment and social support. Qualitative data from the interviews and survey responses regarding not seeking treatment were subjected to inductive data-driven thematic analysis with deductive coding to illuminate treatment and social support experiences or reasons for not seeking treatment. Results Themes emerged from interviews revealed positive inpatient treatment experiences for anorexia nervosa, but negative outpatient treatment experiences, unaffordable care, and ineffective psychopharmacological treatments. Parents, friends, and partners were sources of social support, but participants largely felt misunderstood or blamed by these same entities. Shame, not recognizing ED as an illness, and financial constraints were listed as the primary reasons for not seeking treatment. Discussion The importance of hearing patients' perspectives, improving ED literacy in China, increasing knowledge of culturally specific manifestations of EDs, and developing culturally responsive services and dissemination of treatment resources are emphasized.

When the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was rapidly spreading in China in early 2020, China's National Health Commission quickly responded to the psychological crisis by issuing guidelines for establishing mental health intervention systems, including providing psychological assistance hotlines. However, recent critiques have emphasized China's lack of pre-established mental health interventions which resulted in an inefficient response. This is the first empirical study to systematically examine mental health service use in China during the COVID-19 outbreak. The current study focused on the use of mental health hotlines in a Northern Chinese region. This region originally had a regional level hotline. During the outbreak, 12 out of its 16 sub-regional juridical areas started providing their own hotlines. Data regarding the regional level hotline and the 12 sub-regional level hotlines were obtained, including daily number of calls received, strategies for disseminating hotline services, and callers' expressed concerns. Confirmed COVID-19 cases in China, in the region, and in each of the sub-regional juridical area were also recorded daily during China's peak period of COVID-19. Analyses of these data revealed that the mental health hotlines tended to have low usage overall. Hotlines that merely provided their numbers to community centers and quarantine centers tended to receive few calls. Hotlines that encouraged individuals to advertise the service on personal social media accounts tended to receive more calls. The daily number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country was closely related the number of phone calls received at the regional hotline. Sub-regional hotline operators reported that a significant proportion of callers had concerns about contracting COVID-19, negative emotions from prolonged social isolation, and family conflicts while stay-at-home policies were implemented. It was also observed that the sub-regional level hotlines did not start until COVID-19 cases in the country started to decline. Overall, the psychological assistance hotlines provided during COVID-19 satisfied some mental health needs. However, consistent with recent commentaries, the hotline services were not established during the time that demand likely peaked. Future studies are warranted to determine the best strategies to improve the accessibility of mental health hotline services.