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33 Depressive Symptoms Drive the Underutilization of Cognitive Reappraisal in Veterans with PTSD
- Krupali R. Patel, Morgan Marvin Caudle, Danielle Dun, Jessica Bomyea
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- Journal:
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, pp. 822-823
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Objective:
Adaptive emotional regulation strategies, such as cognitive reappraisal, are related to better neuropsychological functioning in the general population. Individuals with PTSD demonstrate difficulty with both emotional regulation and cognitive performance that contribute to clinical presentation (e.g., negative mood, irritability). However the extent to which neuropsychological functioning is associated with emotion regulation, alone and in concert with common comorbid symptoms like depression, remains understudied in this population. Better understanding how specific neuropsychological functions relate to cognitive reappraisal could point to novel treatment targets given preliminary evidence that certain cognitive training techniques can improves neuropsychological and affective outcomes. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between clinical symptoms of PTSD and depression, working memory capacity, and cognitive reappraisal in Veterans with PTSD. We hypothesized that clinical symptoms and working memory capacity would interact to predict cognitive reappraisal, such that elevated depression would relate to worse cognitive reappraisal, particularly for individuals with poor working memory capacity.
Participants and Methods:Measures of working memory (symmetry span task), mental health symptomatology (Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) and Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), and emotional regulation (Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ)) were collected in 38 Veterans. A regression analysis was conducted with total CAPS score, total BDI score, total symmetry span score, and the interaction between BDI score and symmetry span score as the independent variables and total ERQ cognitive reappraisal score as the dependent variable.
Results:When examining each predictor independently, cognitive reappraisal was not associated with working memory (t=1.42, p=.165), but was significantly associated with PTSD (t=-3.17, p<.003) and depressive (t=-4.15, p<.001) symptom severity. The multiple regression model (F(4, 35)=4.45, p<.005, R2=.26) did not support the hypothesized relationship between working memory and depressive symptoms (t=0.56, p=.579). Depression independently predicted utilization of cognitive reappraisal in veterans with PTSD (t=2.43, p=.020) but PTSD symptom severity and working memory scores did not. However, additional investigation revealed that independently, greater PTSD symptom severity did predict less utilization of cognitive reappraisal (t=-3.17, p<.005).
Conclusions:While depressive symptoms did not moderate the relationship between working memory and cognitive reappraisal, depressive symptoms did best predict utilization of cognitive reappraisal in a population with PTSD. Contrary to the hypothesized outcome, neither working memory nor PTSD symptoms were significant predictors of cognitive reappraisal when controlling for depressive symptoms. This suggests that the phenomenon of lower cognitive reappraisal rates in individuals with PTSD may be due to the presence of depressive symptoms rather than traumatic stress symptoms or neuropsychological ability. Due to the sample size and homogeneous diagnosis of the current study it is possible that the predicted relationship between working memory, PTSD severity, and cognitive reappraisal was not observed due to low power or a restricted range. Further investigation specifically in clinical populations on factors that predict utilization of cognitive reappraisal could expand on these findings in populations experiencing other stress-based disorders.
34 Neurocomputational Mechanisms of Social Reward Processing in Combat-Exposed Veterans
- Alex F. Skupny, Danielle N. Dun, Katia M. Harle, Alan N. Simmons
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- Journal:
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, pp. 823-824
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Objective:
Combat exposure is associated with higher rates of depressive symptoms, including anhedonia (i.e., a reduced ability to seek and experience rewards) and feelings of social disconnectedness. While these symptoms are commonly documented in combat-exposed Veterans following deployment, the cognitive mechanisms underlying this pathology is less well understood. Computational modeling can provides detailed mechanistic insights into complex cognition, which may be particularly useful to understand how social reward processing is altered following combat exposure. Here, we use a Bayesian learning model framework to address this question.
Participants and Methods:Thirty-three Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF)/ Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)/Operation New Dawn (OND) Veterans (25 Male, 8 Female) between the ages of 18-65 years old (M = 41.61, SD = 10.49) participated in this study. In both classic/monetary and social reward conditions, participants completed a 2-arm bandit task, in which they must choose on each trial between two options (i.e., slot machine vs social partner) with unknown reward rates. While they received monetary outcomes in the classic condition, participants received compliments from different fictitious partners in the social condition. We first compared a learning-independent Win-stay/Lose-shift (WSLS) heuristic and either a Rescorla-Wagner Q-learning or a Bayesian learning model (Dynamic Belief Model/DBM) paired with a Softmax reward maximization policy. DBM+Softmax provided the best fit of the data for most participants (31/33). Individual DBM parameters of prior reward expectation, reward learning (i.e., perceived stability of reward rates), and Softmax reward maximization were estimated and compared across conditions.
Results:Participants did not differ in their reward learning parameters across monetary and social conditions (t(30)= -0.70, p = 0.490), suggesting similar perception of reward stability in both modalities. However, higher Bayesian prior mean (i.e., initial belief of reward rate; t(30)= -2.31, p = 0.028, d=0.42) and greater reward maximization (i.e., Softmax parameter; t(30)= -2.26, p = 0.031, d=0.41) were observed in response to social vs monetary rewards. In the social reward condition, higher self-reported social connectedness was associated with greater model fit of our DBM model (i.e., smaller Bayesian Information Criterion/BIC; r = -0.38, p = 0.041). In this condition, those expecting higher reward rates when initiating reward exploration (those with higher DBM prior mean) endorsed lower self-esteem (Spearman's ρ = -0.43, p = 0.078) and lower positive affect (ρ = -0.32, p = 0.078).
Conclusions:A Bayesian learning modeling framework can characterize mechanistic differences in the processing of social vs non-social reward among combat-exposed Veterans. Individuals with higher social connectedness were more model-based in their performance, consistent with the notion that they are more likely to estimate and anticipate how much social peers have to offer. Combat-exposed individuals with lower self-esteem and positive affect appear to have higher initial expectations of reward from unknown partners, which could reflect greater need for mood and/or self-esteem repair in those individuals. Overall, Bayesian modeling of social reward behavior provides a useful quantitative framework to predict clinically relevant construct of functional outcomes in military populations.
Chapter 6 - How Communities are Organizing to Contest Major Infrastructure Projects That May Damage Coral Reefs: The Port Of Miami Case
- Kelly Dunning, Auburn University, Alabama
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- Book:
- Democratic Management of an Ecosystem Under Threat
- Published by:
- Anthem Press
- Published online:
- 28 February 2024
- Print publication:
- 11 July 2023, pp 85-112
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Summary
Imagine the hustle and bustle of downtown Miami, teeming with live music, filled with flavors of Latin American cuisine, aromas of Cuban coffee and tourists and locals alike enjoying miles of pristine white-sand beaches. A short distance to the south, lies the Biscayne Bay, which is home to several listed species under the most important wildlife conservation policy on the books, the Endangered Species Act, including manatees, crocodiles, several sea turtle species, small-tooth sawfish and staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis). Just a couple miles down the road on U.S. Route 1, the heart of the coral reefs of South Florida, or the Florida Reef Tract can be found where it stretches 300 miles south to the Dry Tortugas National Park, making it the third largest barrier in the world. To the west of Miami, we find Everglades National Park, which is a designated World Heritage site with one of the most unique wetland ecosystems in the world. Everglades National Park is also one of the wettest regions in the United States, with many of its waterways finding their final destination in the Biscayne Bay, and ultimately into the Florida Reef Tract ecosystem, showing the interconnectedness of all of these South Florida ecosystems. These tropical coastal seascape ecosystems are characterized by seven connected ecosystems that include coastal strand, mangroves, seagrass beds, coral reefs, hard-bottom habitat, silt-bottom habitat and rocky-bottom habitat. Right in the middle of this mosaic of ecosystems lies the Port of Miami, nicknamed the “Gateway to the Americas” and “Cruise Capital of the World.” In this chapter we explore how major infrastructure projects may degrade delicate and imperiled coastal ecosystems despite strict federal, state and local laws, and how people and interest groups are working to protect these ecosystems.
The Dredging History of the Port of Miami
To meet the demands of the burgeoning market, the Port of Miami has undergone many dredging projects to accommodate larger shipping vessels and cruise ships throughout its history. Beginning in 1990, Congress authorized the deepening of the Port to 42 feet, which was completed in 1993. Since then, every 10 to 15 years, another port expansion dredging project has been implemented.
Chapter 8 - Cultural Services of Reefs: The Case of The Cayman Islands Mpas and What Would be Lost With a Major Infrastructure Project
- Kelly Dunning, Auburn University, Alabama
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- Book:
- Democratic Management of an Ecosystem Under Threat
- Published by:
- Anthem Press
- Published online:
- 28 February 2024
- Print publication:
- 11 July 2023, pp 133-148
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Summary
Acknowledgments: Data analysis and quality assurance of data provided by Research Assistants Catherine Cummings, Gregory Johnson, Danielle Oates, Vincent Rivers, Trinity Russo, Caroline Ward, Jordan Windham
What Are Ecosystem Services?
Just after my fifth birthday, my father took me fishing for the first time. He set my tiny Mickey Mouse fishing rod on the dock and did his best to explain to me the fundamentals of freshwater fishing. Hooks, bobbers and bait were the subjects at hand. It seemed very complicated, but I eagerly nodded my head as though I understood the lessons he was teaching me. I was certainly more interested in the excitement of pulling a live fish from the depths than learning the techniques needed to accomplish this feat.
He showed me how to carefully put a worm on the hook, and I was ready to go. I dropped the line in the water and expected a quick bite. Nothing. The minutes crept by, and it seemed the fish had much less interest than I did. My attention span waned as I sat waiting for something to bite. I began to look around. I heard the water lapping against the dock. The birds calling to one another from the shrubs and trees lining the pond. I smelled the warm Alabama breeze and admired the clouds lazily drifting overhead. There was so much happening, and yet nothing was happening all at once. As the morning turned to afternoon, it was obvious that the fish were not interested in our bait, and we left the pond without catching a thing.
While it's true that we weren't able to get a fish, all was not lost. Something else had stirred in my young mind. For the first time in my life, I felt connected to something more. I was only a tiny piece of something greater, something far more connected than I could comprehend at the time. Even though we didn't catch anything, I wanted more. I found value in the connectedness and the beauty of the Alabama ecosystem. I felt like a fisherman. I will always fondly remember this morning on the dock with my father as the first time I truly felt like I had an identity beyond that of a child.
Chapter 4 - Approaches to Coral Reef Management
- Kelly Dunning, Auburn University, Alabama
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- Book:
- Democratic Management of an Ecosystem Under Threat
- Published by:
- Anthem Press
- Published online:
- 28 February 2024
- Print publication:
- 11 July 2023, pp 27-44
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Summary
In the face of rapid global environmental change, there has been an interdisciplinary movement among scientists to reconsider how ecosystems are managed. Governing in the Anthropocene, or the age in which human activity has become the dominant influence on the Earth's climate and environment, comes with novel considerations. As the human population continues to grow, interactions between people and the environment are becoming more common and more complicated. These interactions are often described as socio-ecological systems, or the relationships between linked human and natural systems (Folke, 2006; Folke et al., 2005; Ostrom, 2009; Walker et al., 2004).
Due to the fact that coastal communities rely on coral reef ecosystems, the relationships between them are important to consider as a single socio-ecological system (Cinner et al., 2012; Cinner et al., 2016; Kittinger et al., 2016). This means that impacts to the reef, through human action or natural change, can come back to impact human systems like economies and cultures. For example, fishermen access a reef for different species, such as conch, lobster, snapper and grouper. These different anglers might overlap in their target areas, limiting the ability of other reef users, such as divers, to view these species. People looking to develop stretches of the coastline for condos may clear coastal dunes, resulting in cloudier water that inhibits both angler and diver activity. A member of the public that may never even see a reef firsthand might place a high value on a healthy reef merely existing so that they can be passed down to their children. Decision-makers are tasked with understanding these overlapping uses, and designing management systems to balance uses while maintaining essential features of the reef ecosystem.
Dr. Elinor Ostrom, a pioneer of the socio-ecological system concept, likens the complexity of a resource system to the complexity of a biological organism, where many subsystems interact to produce feedback loops which compose a greater whole (Ostrom, 2009). While the idea of a socio-ecological system was initially developed to help explain the interconnected nature of people and their environment, it has since become a staple within the field of natural resources management being applied to topics as diverse as cattle ranching, forestry and coral reef conservation (Berkes et al., 2000; Fischer, 2018; Herrero-Jáuregui et al., 2018; Pendleton et al., 2016; Walker et al., 2004).
An ultra-wide bandwidth (704 to 4 032 MHz) receiver for the Parkes radio telescope
- George Hobbs, Richard N. Manchester, Alex Dunning, Andrew Jameson, Paul Roberts, Daniel George, J. A. Green, John Tuthill, Lawrence Toomey, Jane F. Kaczmarek, Stacy Mader, Malte Marquarding, Azeem Ahmed, Shaun W. Amy, Matthew Bailes, Ron Beresford, N. D. R. Bhat, Douglas C.-J. Bock, Michael Bourne, Mark Bowen, Michael Brothers, Andrew D. Cameron, Ettore Carretti, Nick Carter, Santy Castillo, Raji Chekkala, Wan Cheng, Yoon Chung, Daniel A. Craig, Shi Dai, Joanne Dawson, James Dempsey, Paul Doherty, Bin Dong, Philip Edwards, Tuohutinuer Ergesh, Xuyang Gao, JinLin Han, Douglas Hayman, Balthasar Indermuehle, Kanapathippillai Jeganathan, Simon Johnston, Henry Kanoniuk, Michael Kesteven, Michael Kramer, Mark Leach, Vince Mcintyre, Vanessa Moss, Stefan Osłowski, Chris Phillips, Nathan Pope, Brett Preisig, Daniel Price, Ken Reeves, Les Reilly, John Reynolds, Tim Robishaw, Peter Roush, Tim Ruckley, Elaine Sadler, John Sarkissian, Sean Severs, Ryan Shannon, Ken Smart, Malcolm Smith, Stephanie Smith, Charlotte Sobey, Lister Staveley-Smith, Anastasios Tzioumis, Willem van Straten, Nina Wang, Linqing Wen, Matthew Whiting
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- Journal:
- Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia / Volume 37 / 2020
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 08 April 2020, e012
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We describe an ultra-wide-bandwidth, low-frequency receiver recently installed on the Parkes radio telescope. The receiver system provides continuous frequency coverage from 704 to 4032 MHz. For much of the band ( ${\sim}60\%$ ), the system temperature is approximately 22 K and the receiver system remains in a linear regime even in the presence of strong mobile phone transmissions. We discuss the scientific and technical aspects of the new receiver, including its astronomical objectives, as well as the feed, receiver, digitiser, and signal processor design. We describe the pipeline routines that form the archive-ready data products and how those data files can be accessed from the archives. The system performance is quantified, including the system noise and linearity, beam shape, antenna efficiency, polarisation calibration, and timing stability.
11 - Demographic and dispersal data from anthropogenic grasslands: what should we measure?
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- By John B. Dunning, Jr., Purdue University, Daniel M. Scheiman, Audubon Arkansas, USA, Alexandra Houston
- Edited by Jianguo Liu, Michigan State University, Vanessa Hull, Michigan State University, Anita T. Morzillo, Oregon State University, John A. Wiens
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- Book:
- Sources, Sinks and Sustainability
- Published online:
- 05 July 2011
- Print publication:
- 30 June 2011, pp 239-257
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Summary
Studies of population dynamics of grassland birds have often followed the source–sink paradigm of Pulliam (1988). We present examples of demographic, dispersal, and modeling studies done with bird species found in anthropogenic grasslands of the midwestern USA. Although we believe that we have gained valuable insights into the factors that affect bird populations found in restored grasslands, hayfields and pastures, some of the demographic and dispersal processes assumed in Pulliam (1988) are difficult to measure with grassland birds. More importantly, the population dynamics of many migratory birds do not follow the structure of individual-based models used in the study of source–sink dynamics as pioneered by Pulliam (1988). We suggest measures of population stability such as territory occupancy, age distribution of successful dispersers, production of offspring, and dispersal may be useful as an alternative for assessing the health of grassland breeding bird populations.