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Brain network dynamics following induced acute stress: a neural marker of psychological vulnerability to real-life chronic stress.
BACKGROUND: Stress leads to neurobiological changes, and failure to regulate these can contribute to chronic psychiatric issues. Despite considerable research, the relationship between neural alterations in acute stress and coping with chronic stress is unclear. This longitudinal study examined whole-brain network dynamics following induced acute stress and their role in predicting chronic stress vulnerability. METHODS: Sixty military pre-deployment soldiers underwent a lab-induced stress task where subjective stress and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging were acquired repeatedly (before stress, after stress, and at recovery, 90 min later). Baseline depression and post-traumatic stress symptoms were assessed, and again a year later during military deployment. We used the Leading Eigenvector Dynamic Analysis framework to characterize changes in whole-brain dynamics over time. Time spent in each state was compared across acute stress conditions and correlated with psychological outcomes. RESULTS: Findings reveal significant changes at the network level from acute stress to recovery, where the frontoparietal and subcortical states decreased in dominance in favor of the default mode network, sensorimotor, and visual states. A significant normalization of the frontoparietal state activity was related to successful psychological recovery. Immediately after induced stress, a significant increase in the lifetimes of the frontoparietal state was associated with higher depression symptoms (r = 0.49, p
A qualitative analysis of young adults’ beliefs about bullying: exploring associations with social anxiety and post-traumatic stress
Background: Bullying can be associated with emotional and social difficulties, but not all individuals experience enduring negative effects. Objective: This study aimed to explore beliefs about bullying, self, and other people among young adults who were bullied that may be associated with ongoing anxiety and distress related to those experiences. Method: Semi-structured interviews with 20 people, aged 18–29 years, who had experienced bullying were analysed using thematic analysis. The sample was split, by current symptoms of social anxiety and post-traumatic stress related to bullying, into a lower symptoms group (n = 12) and a higher symptoms group (n = 8). Results: Participants reported multiple types of bullying, including online. Four superordinate themes were identified in negative beliefs related to bullying experiences: personal deficiency (i.e. victimization was due to own low value or undesirable traits), social threat (i.e. wariness of others due to their negative motives or traits), acceptance is fragile (i.e. being accepted by others is transient and requires effort), and minimizing (i.e. downplaying severity and impact of past experiences). These were evident in both groups but were more frequently endorsed in the higher symptoms group. Conclusion: Negative appraisals related to bullying can persist into young adulthood and may influence social interactions and mental health. Interventions targeting these beliefs could mitigate negative outcomes and bolster resilience among individuals affected by bullying. Further research should explore these themes to inform effective therapeutic strategies for young adults who have been bullied.
Evaluating a brief imagery-based intervention for adolescent depression: study protocol for a Phase IIB randomised control trial (INDIGO) in secondary schools.
BACKGROUND: There is an urgent need for psychological interventions that can target depression in late adolescence and prevent it from having lifelong implications. Schools have been identified as a promising setting to enhance access to interventions and offer support earlier. We have co-developed a novel intervention, IMAGINE, that targets key cognitive mechanisms implicated in depression across the lifespan. Depression has been associated with distressing negative mental images, a deficit in positive future images and overgeneral autobiographical memories. Interventions targeting these factors have shown clinical promise in adults. Here, we combine techniques targeting these cognitive processes into a novel, brief psychological intervention for adolescent depression. This Phase IIb randomised controlled trial will evaluate IMAGINE compared to an active psychological intervention. METHODS/DESIGN: One hundred sixty adolescents (aged 16-18) with high levels of depressive symptoms will be recruited from schools. Participants will be randomly allocated to IMAGINE or the active psychological control intervention, non-directive support (NDS). Assessment will take place at baseline, 8-, 16- and 24-week post randomisation. The primary objective is to establish whether IMAGINE reduces symptoms of depression, relative to NDS, at 8 weeks following randomisation. Secondary objectives include whether changes in depression are maintained at 16- and 24-week follow-up, the efficacy of IMAGINE on secondary clinical outcomes and key cognitive mechanisms and, finally, to assess outcomes around acceptability, safety and adherence. DISCUSSION: If IMAGINE is shown to be safe and clinically effective, an effectiveness-implementation hybrid RCT will be indicated. If rolled out as an intervention, IMAGINE would significantly extend the range of effective therapies available for adolescent depression. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN, ISRCTN14015295. Registered 11 September 2023, https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN14015295 .
Introducing the Tele-OCS: Preliminary evidence of validity for a remotely administered version of The Oxford Cognitive Screen.
BACKGROUND: Remote cognitive assessments are increasingly used with the rising popularity of teleneuropsychology. Here, we evaluated the performance of the remotely administered Oxford Cognitive Screen (Tele-OCS) compared to in-person administration in adult stroke survivors. METHODS: 40 stroke survivors ( M age = 69.30, SD = 10.44; sex = 30% female) completed in-person and remote versions of the OCS on average 30 days apart, with different trained examiners. The order of administration was counterbalanced. Cohen's d estimates were used to compare performance between modalities. RESULTS: We found that the proportion of OCS subtasks impaired did not differ across modalities ( d
Blending low-intensity and high-intensity cognitive behavioural therapy in NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression: A preliminary evaluation
Background: A stepped care approach to treating anxiety and depression is common in mental health services. Low-intensity interventions, typically based on cognitive behavioural principles, are offered first, followed by high-intensity therapy if required. In the English National Health Service Talking Therapies (NHS TT) programme, different types of therapists deliver low and high-intensity interventions. ‘Stepping up’ therefore involves changing therapist, and often an additional wait, which could both disrupt treatment flow. In NHS TT, many low-intensity therapists subsequently train at high-intensity. Once dual-trained, they typically only deliver high-intensity treatment. With both skillsets, they could theoretically deliver a full stepped care pathway, avoiding potential disruption linked to stepping up. Aims: To explore a blended treatment approach, where dual-trained therapists move between low and high-intensity flexibly based on patient need. Method: Ten dual-trained therapists across four services treated 43 patients. Patients with clinical complexities more likely to eventually require high-intensity support were selected. Propensity score matching was used to identify matched control groups from a pool of patients who received stepped care. Treatment characteristics and clinical outcomes were compared. Feedback was obtained from patients, therapists, and supervisors. Results: Compared to matched controls who received low then high-intensity treatment, blended treatment required four fewer sessions on average, saving a third of therapist time, and was completed 121 days sooner. The reliable recovery rate (54.1%) was 9% higher than the stepped care group (44.7%), which is clinically, though not statistically, significant. Blended treatment showed a nonsignificantly higher reliable deterioration rate. Patient feedback was positive. Therapists and supervisors highlighted advantages alongside practical challenges. Conclusions: The blended approach showed promise as an efficient and effective method to deliver therapy when clinicians are dual-trained. Larger-scale studies, and consideration of implementation challenges are needed. However, results suggest this approach could potentially offer more flexible and seamless care delivery.
Registered reports in neuropsychology: Insights from the burning houses study
We recently completed our first registered report project within a neuropsychological population (Moore et al., 2025). In this project, we set out to evaluate the replicability of the seminal case study by Marshall & Halligan (1988) on pre-attentive semantic processing in neglect, and replicated this effect under stringent experimental conditions. Our undertaking of this registered report study spanned over five years. In this viewpoint, we aim to share our personal reflections on this project in the hope that our experiences (and setbacks) can prove helpful for future studies aiming to conduct registered reports in neuropsychological populations. More broadly, our experience with this project provides a salient example of the challenges faced by registered report studies which may help account for the low uptake of this format in neuropsychology. Ultimately, we believe that encouraging adherence to fundamental open science practices including openly pre-registering plans and open reporting of data/code should be prioritised in neuropsychology and call for targeted discussions surrounding registered report formats specific to neuropsychological studies.
Sleep disruption and its psychological treatment in young people at risk of psychosis: A peer methods qualitative evaluation.
OBJECTIVES: A recent randomized controlled feasibility trial showed that sleep problems in young people at risk of psychosis can be successfully treated with psychological therapy and that this may bring additional benefits such as reducing depression, anxiety and paranoia. Here we report participants' qualitative experience of sleep problems and therapy. DESIGN: A peer-methods qualitative study employing reflexive thematic analysis. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews, co-facilitated by peer researchers, were conducted with 16 young patients at risk of psychosis and having sleep problems who participated in the SleepWell Trial (ISRCTN85601537). Ten interviewees had received the 12-week sleep therapy. RESULTS: Four themes were generated: (1) the challenge to access mental health treatment ('bouncing between services'), (2) sleep problems and mental health difficulties are intertwined ('an obvious link'), (3) flexibility in therapy provision matters ('tailored to me as a person') and (4) improving sleep leads to wider benefits ('fixing the sleep helped everything else'). Participants described a frustrating journey to access mental health treatment, marked by rejection and invalidation, which resulted in hopelessness and often resignation. The interaction between sleep disruption and other mental health difficulties was seen as obvious. Treatment for sleep problems was highly valued. The clear focus, therapeutic style and flexible delivery of the treatment was seen to create patient ownership, active engagement and hope. Participants described transformative changes: better sleep, fewer voices and fears and improved mood and confidence. Improving sleep made a difference to everyday life. CONCLUSIONS: Treating sleep problems in people at risk of psychosis is highly valued and often brings rapid and widespread improvements across a range of domains.
Crossmodal semantics in memory: Scoping review and meta-analyses of multisensory effects in short-term and episodic memory systems.
The human brain represents objects and events in the environment by binding together their defining semantic attributes across the senses (e.g., vision, hearing, touch). Semantic relationships between these attributes in different senses, or crossmodal semantic relationships, are fundamental to carving out meaningful categories and to encode and store experiences in the form of memories for later retrieval. Unsurprisingly, the subject of crossmodal semantic interactions in human memory has been on the agenda of researchers interested in multisensory processes for several decades now and there appears to be a renewed wave of interest in the field currently. By and large, the central question has been whether or not memories for events with crossmodally congruent semantic attributes are better remembered. Nevertheless, this research area has been characterized by mixed methodological approaches, inconsistent outcomes, and alternative theoretical interpretations, with few attempts at synthesis. Here, we examine the past 30 years of research on the topic, covering short-term as well as episodic memory systems. First, we garner existing evidence in a systematic scoping review of studies, complemented by meta-analyses. Then, we provide a synthesis highlighting outstanding empirical questions and potential contradictions between competing theoretical interpretations. With some exceptions, there is abundant support for the hypothesis that crossmodally congruent events are better remembered than single-modality or crossmodal but incongruent events. Nevertheless, the mechanisms underlying this multisensory benefit and its theoretical interpretation are still the subject of substantial debates. We propose avenues to resolve these issues and advance current knowledge in this burgeoning research area. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
What motivate consumers’ purchase intention and the intention to continue watching in livestream shopping
Abstract A growing number of companies are adopting livestream shopping as a means of recommending their products to consumers. However, the question of whether the purchase intention for sustainable clothing amongst consumers can be increased by livestream shopping remains unclear. Therefore, the present study was designed to clarify the relationship between cognitive reactions (vividness, attractiveness, flow, and multisensory cues), emotion (arousal, pleasure), and behaviour (intention to continue watching, purchase intention) during livestream shopping for sustainable clothing. Factor analysis and structural equation model are adopted to analyse the data. The effect of social sharing, ‘stickiness’, and social presence are also explored in a research model. In this study, people’s cognitive reactions were found to have positive impacts on the emotion that consumers associate with sustainable clothing in the context of livestreaming shopping. Moreover, both arousal and pleasure mediated the relationship between cognitive reactions and behavioural intention, while stickiness mediated the relationship between cognitive reactions and purchase intention, and social presence positively impacts people’s intention to continue watching. Social sharing significantly affects purchase intention. These results therefore provide brands and companies with a number of actionable insights to adopt appropriate marketing strategies in the context of livestream shopping.
An fMRI study of initiation and inhibition of manual and spoken responses in people who stutter
Abstract Stuttering is characterised by difficulties initiating speech and frequent interruptions to the flow of speech. Neuroimaging studies of speech production in people who stutter consistently reveal greater activity of the right inferior frontal cortex, an area robustly implicated in stopping manual and spoken responses. This has been linked to an “overactive response suppression mechanism” in people who stutter. Here, we used fMRI to investigate neural differences related to response initiation and inhibition in people who stutter and matched controls (aged 19-45) during performance of the stop-signal task in both the manual and speech domains. We hypothesised there would be increased activity in an inhibitory network centred on right inferior frontal cortex. Out of scanner behavioural testing revealed that people who stutter were slower than controls to respond to ‘go’ stimuli in both the manual and the speech domains, but the groups did not differ in their stop-signal reaction times in either domain. During the fMRI task, both groups activated the expected networks for the manual and speech tasks. Contrary to our hypothesis, we did not observe differences in task-evoked activity between people who stutter and controls during either ‘go’ or ‘stop’ trials. Targeted region-of-interest analyses in the inferior frontal cortex, the supplementary motor area and the putamen bilaterally confirmed that there were no group differences in activity. These results focus on tasks involving button presses and production of single nonwords, and therefore do not preclude inhibitory involvement related specifically to stuttering events. Our findings indicate that people who stutter do not show behavioural or neural differences in response inhibition, when making simple manual responses and producing fluent speech, contrary to predictions from the global inhibition hypothesis.
Prehospital Extremity Fracture Management in Low and Middle‐Income Countries: A Scoping Review of Lay First Responders and Traditional Bonesetters
ABSTRACTPurposeLow‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs) experience the highest rates of injury‐related deaths globally, exacerbated by a lack of robust emergency medical services (EMS). Though fractures contribute substantially to global injury, little is known about prehospital management of extremity fractures in LMICs.MethodsThis review included literature published between January 2000 and January 2024. Inclusion criteria pertained to prehospital settings, defined as care rendered prior to hospital presentation, including care provided by lay first responders (LFRs), professional EMS personnel, and traditional bonesetters (TBS). Multiple authors used the Newcastle‐Ottawa scale to assess texts meeting inclusion criteria, extracting relevant details for analysis.ResultsOf 1251 articles identified, 25 met inclusion criteria. Studies spanned 9 countries across 4 continents, with 14 articles studying care by TBS, 9 by LFRs, and 2 by other prehospital providers. LFR training courses report a combined weighted average pre‐/post‐course difference of 29.16 percentage points. A total of 67% of included studies report adverse outcomes associated with TBS‐managed fractures in the prehospital setting. TBS care is often sought prior to hospital presentation due to sociocultural beliefs, accessibility, and cheaper costs. Few training courses for TBS have been performed, though one course reports a 20.4% increase in fracture management knowledge.ConclusionIn certain resource‐limited settings, TBS provide most initial fracture management, which may adversely impact outcomes. Knowledge transfer has been demonstrated during prehospital fracture management courses for LFRs and TBS. Early evidence suggests TBS training and integration into healthcare systems may reduce complication rates, improving long‐term outcomes.
When to create embryos or organoids for research.
The development of brain organoids and use of human embryonic neural structures for research each raise distinct ethical considerations that require careful analysis. We propose that rather than attempting to resolve longstanding debates about embryonic moral status, a more productive approach is to examine how different positions on this fundamental question lead to distinct conclusions about appropriate research strategies. For those who ground moral status in species membership or developmental potential, even early-stage embryo research may be ethically impermissible, suggesting focus on carefully bounded organoid development. Conversely, for those who ground moral status in current capacities, embryonic neural tissue studied before the emergence of consciousness may offer significant advantages over organoids while raising fewer novel ethical concerns. Our analysis reveals inadequacies in current policies, particularly the 14-day rule, which appears difficult to justify under either ethical framework. We demonstrate how careful attention to the relationship between ethical premises and research implications can advance both scientific progress and ethical oversight, while suggesting specific policy reforms including capacity-based research guidelines and sophisticated monitoring protocols.
Research assistants' experiences recruiting patients with psychosis into clinical trials: a qualitative study.
OBJECTIVES: Treatments for patients diagnosed with psychosis need to be improved. Clinical trials are an important way of assessing the efficacy of new treatments. However, recruiting patients into trials is challenging. This study sought to better understand the reasons for this from the perspective of research assistants. DESIGN: A qualitative study underpinned by a critical realist ontology and contextualist epistemology. METHODS: Research assistants who had recruited patients with psychosis into trials, primarily of psychological interventions, were interviewed. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify themes. RESULTS: Overarching themes representing four types of factors influencing recruitment of patients with psychosis into clinical trials were generated: patient, clinical team, research team, and NHS infrastructure. Patients largely wished to take part in trials but needed time to build trust with research assistants. Clinical teams held the power in suggesting patients for trials; therefore, it was essential for research teams to build strong relationships with clinical staff. Research teams recruiting into trials benefited from lived experience expertise, support systems, and institutional knowledge. A key NHS infrastructure factor was that mental health staff had limited time to consider trials for their patients. CONCLUSIONS: Trial participation needs to be made more accessible to patients with psychosis, who often want to take part but lack opportunities. Methods of increasing accessibility could include identifying and addressing barriers to referral from clinical teams, employing multiple recruitment strategies, and flexible appointment formats. Qualitative research with clinical teams and patients will also help in developing the understanding of barriers to recruitment.
Exploring auditory morphodynamics: Audiovisual associations in sound-based music
This article explores audiovisual associations within the context of contemporary and experimental music practices, particularly focusing on sound-based music. While extensive studies exist on crossmodality in relation to traditional music genres (such as classical instrumental music), the perceptual potential of sound-based music remains an underexplored field of psychological research. In an online procedure, 152 participants were exposed to six musical excerpts from spectralism and electronic-glitch music and were asked to rate the extent to which each audio matched with six ad hoc generated black and white abstract images. Statistical analysis revealed that ratings were highly consistent across participants, indicating that they may rely on a shared set of implicit perceptual criteria rooted in Gestalt and morphodynamic features common to both auditory and visual stimuli. In particular, smoothness, continuity, numericity, symmetry, and spectrotemporal dimensions emerged as the primary factors influencing the association ratings. We discuss the implication of these findings both for crossmodal research and musicology, and suggest some directions for future research in audiovisual associations using sound-based music.