Christopher P. Fagundes

Objective: This study aimed to assess whether the negative relationship between mitochondrial respiration in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and future depressive symptoms in dementia spousal caregivers is strongest for caregivers high on attachment insecurity. Methods: A sample of 166 dementia spousal caregivers provided self-report data on demographics and health information at baseline, and depressive symptoms at baseline and 7 months later. We also determined mitochondrial respiration in PBMCs at baseline only. We conducted multiple linear regressions, adjusting for demographic and health-related covariates and baseline depressive symptoms. Results: The interaction between mitochondrial spare respiratory capacity and attachment anxiety predicted future depressive symptoms ( b =−1.11, P =.016). Spare respiratory capacity only predicted future depressive symptoms at mean and high levels of attachment anxiety. Conclusions: Altered mitochondrial respiration may contribute to depressive symptom expression for dementia spousal caregivers who display high levels of attachment anxiety.

The biopsychosocial model (BPSM) has guided psychological science for decades by emphasizing the interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors in health. Despite its influence, the model has been critiqued for lacking mechanistic specificity, particularly in clarifying how psychosocial factors translate into cellular and molecular processes. Mitochondria, once viewed mainly as energy producers, are now understood to shape immune signaling, stress responses, and neural functioning. Emerging evidence shows that mitochondrial processes are sensitive to psychosocial influences such as chronic stress, trauma, and social connection, with downstream effects on inflammation and disease risk. We highlight findings that support these links while noting areas in which evidence remains preliminary, including possible feedback from mitochondrial changes to psychosocial processes. We also review interventions such as physical activity, mindfulness, and social support that may enhance mitochondrial function. This article positions mitochondria as one promising biological bridge between mind and body, offering a testable extension of the BPSM and identifying opportunities for psychologists to advance this emerging field.

Introduction: Cognitive impairment that exceeds age-related cognitive decline is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. As the older adult population is notably increasing every year, significant efforts are being made to preserve cognitive function in older adulthood. Non-pharmaceutical approaches such as music interventions have noticeable benefits for cognition. Music engagement utilizes multiple brain regions dually involved in higher cognitive functions. Yet the neurobiology of music-induced cognitive change remains understudied. Complex human behavior and cognition likely depend on continuous communication across brain regions rather than localized activity in one region. Given that music creativity engages a wide range of mental processes, whole-brain network indices quantifying the brain’s tendency to create functional communities (modularity) and then dynamically reorganize these communities (flexibility) may be relevant for assessing music-related cognitive change. Using a semi-randomized clinical trial design (ClinicalTrials.gov; NCT04137913), we examined whether (1) music creativity altered whole-brain network indices (modularity, flexibility) and (2) whether music-related effects on cognition depended on whole-brain network indices.Methods: Fifty-two older adults (Mean age = 75 years; 54% female; 84% White) were randomized to a 6-week music creativity intervention (n = 25) or a no-treatment control condition (n = 27) and completed resting-state fMRI scans and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment at baseline and follow-up (post-intervention).Results: The music creativity intervention did not alter network flexibility or modularity over time. However, the relationship between group assignment and change in global cognitive function depended on baseline flexibility: music creativity improved global cognition more than the control condition, only among individuals who had higher than average network flexibility.Discussion: Findings suggest that having a dynamic brain network, which has previously been linked to better executive functioning performance, may be necessary for music-related benefits on cognition. This pilot study is innovative as it is among the first to identify possible neural mechanisms underlying why music creativity interventions confer a more significant cognitive benefit for some older adults than others.

Background: Affect states are posited to play a pivotal role in addiction-related processes, including tobacco lapse (i.e., smoking during a quit attempt), and distinct affective states (e.g., joy vs. happiness) may differentially influence lapse likelihood. However, few studies have examined the influence of distinct affective states on tobacco lapse. Purpose: This study examines the influence of 23 distinct affect states on tobacco lapse among a sample of tobacco users attempting to quit. Methods: Participants were 220 adults who identified as African American (50% female, ages 18–74). Ecological momentary assessment was used to assess affect and lapse in real-time. Between and within-person associations testing links between distinct affect states and lapse were examined with multilevel modeling for binary outcomes. Results: After adjusting for previous time’s lapse and for all other positive or negative affect items, results suggested that at the between-person level, joy was associated with lower odds of lapse, and at the within-person level, attentiveness was associated with lower odds of lapse. Results also suggested that at the between-person level, guilt and nervous were associated with higher odds of lapse, and at the within-person level, shame was associated with higher odds of lapse. Conclusions: The present study uses real-time, real-world data to demonstrate the role of distinct positive and negative affects on momentary tobacco lapse. This work helps elucidate specific affective experiences that facilitate or hinder the ability to abstain from tobacco use during a quit attempt.

The negative emotions generated following stressful life events can increase one’s risk of depressive symptoms and promote higher levels of perceived stress. The process model of emotion regulation can help distinguish between adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies to determine who may be at the greatest risk of worse psychological health across the lifespan. Heart rate variability (HRV) may affect these relationships as it indexes aspects of self-regulation, including emotion and behavioral regulation, that enable an individual to dynamically adapt to the changing demands of both internal and external environments. In this study, we expected individual differences in resting vagally mediated HRV to moderate the influence of emotion regulatory strategies among our sample of 267 adults. We found support for the hypothesis that higher vagally mediated HRV buffers against the typical adverse effects of expressive suppression when evaluating depressive symptoms and found weak support when considering perceived stress. There was no evidence for an interaction between cognitive reappraisal and vagally mediated HRV but there was a significant, negative association between cognitive reappraisal and depressive symptoms and perceived stress. Future work may determine if intervening on either emotion regulation strategies or HRV may change these within-persons over time.

(1) Background: Gender differences between men’s and women’s parenting roles are well-documented as the “second shift”. We examined the main effects and interaction of work distress and parenting distress with energy (i.e., vigor) in a sample of 310 dual-income, different-sex couples with kids married for approximately nine years. (2) Methods: We used actor–partner interdependence modeling (APIM) to examine how spouses’ distress was associated with their energy. (3) Results: For both wives and husbands, there were negative associations between the actor’s parenting distress and their energy level and between the actor’s work distress and their energy level. However, only wives experienced a significant interaction of work and parenting distress such that high levels of both forms of distress were associated with low levels of energy, indicating that only wives experience this form of work–family conflict. (4) Conclusions: When women experience more strain at home than men, they may need more time to recover from their work and family duties. If they cannot do so, they will have less energy to carry out their responsibilities and may be at a higher risk of future adverse health outcomes.