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Item Adapting psychophysiological data collection for COVID-19: The “Virtual Assessment” model(Infant Mental Health Journal, 2021-12-21) Tabachnick, Alexandra R.; Sellers, Tabitha; Margolis, Emma; Labella, Madelyn; Neff, Dylan; Crowell, Sheila; Raby, K. Lee; Saenz, Celine; Conradt, Elisabeth; Dozier, MaryThe COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted research activities globally. Researchers need safe and creative procedures to resume data collection, particularly for projects evaluating infant mental health interventions. Remote research is uniquely challenging for psychophysiological data collection, which typically requires close contact between researchers and participants as well as technical equipment frequently located in laboratory settings. In accordance with public health guidance, we adapted procedures and developed novel protocols for a “virtual assessment” in which women and infants provided behavioral and psychophysiological data from their own homes while researchers coordinated remotely. Data collected at virtual visits included video-recorded parent–child interactions and autonomic nervous system data. Adaptations were designed to optimize safety and data quality while minimizing participant burden. In the current paper, we describe these adaptations and present data evaluating their success across two sites in the United States (University of Delaware and University of Utah), focusing specifically on autonomic nervous system data collected during the well-validated Still-Face Paradigm (SFP). We also discuss advantages and challenges of translating traditional lab procedures into the virtual assessment model. Ultimately, we hope that disseminating these procedures will help other researchers resume safe data collection related to infant mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.Item Asian infants show preference for own-race but not other-race female faces: the role of infant caregiving arrangements(Frontiers Media S.A., 2015-05-07) Liu, Shaoying; Xiao, Naiqi G.; Quinn, Paul C.; Zhu, Dandan; Ge, Liezhong; Pascalis, Olivier; Lee, Kang; Quinn, Paul C.Previous studies have reported that 3- to 4-month-olds show a visual preference for faces of the same gender as their primary caregiver (e.g., Quinn et al., 2002). In addition, this gender preference has been observed for own-race faces, but not for other-race faces (Quinn et al., 2008). However, most of the studies of face gender preference have focused on infants at 3–4 months. Development of gender preference in later infancy is still unclear. Moreover, all of these studies were conducted with Caucasian infants from Western countries. It is thus unknown whether a gender preference that is limited to own-race faces can be generalized to infants from other racial groups and different cultures with distinct caregiving practices. The current study investigated the face gender preferences of Asian infants presented with male versus female face pairs from Asian and Caucasian races at 3, 6, and 9 months and the role of caregiving arrangements in eliciting those preferences. The results showed an own-race female face preference in 3- and 6-month-olds, but not in 9-month-olds. Moreover, the downturn in the female face preference correlated with the cumulative male face experience obtained in caregiving practices. In contrast, no gender preference or correlation between gender preference and face experience was found for other-race Caucasian faces at any age. The data indicate that the face gender preference is not specifically rooted in Western cultural caregiving practices. In addition, the race dependency of the effect previously observed for Caucasian infants reared by Caucasian caregivers looking at Caucasian but not Asian faces extends to Asian infants reared by Asian caregivers looking at Asian but not Caucasian faces. The findings also provide additional support for an experiential basis for the gender preference, and in particular suggest that cumulative male face experience plays a role in inducing a downturn in the preference in older infants.Item Assessing the utility of a novel cortical marker of delay discounting (C-DD) in two independent samples of early adolescents: Links with externalizing pathology(PLoS ONE, 2023-09-27) Bounoua, Nadia; Church, Leah D.; Matyi, Melanie A.; Rudoler, Jeremy; Wieand, Kaleigh; Spielberg, Jeffrey M.Delay discounting is a well-established risk factor for risky behaviors and the development of externalizing spectrum disorders. Building upon recent work that developed a novel cortical marker of delay discounting (C-DD) in adult samples, the objective of this study was to test whether the C-DD relates to delay discounting and subsequently externalizing pathology in adolescent samples. The current study used two samples: 9992 early adolescents participating in the ABCD study (Mage = 9.93 years old, 48.7% female), and 56 early adolescents recruited from the community (Mage = 12.27 years old, 55.4% female). Cortical thickness was estimated using the FreeSurfer standard pipeline, and the cortical marker of delay discounting (C-DD) was calculated based on procedures outlined by the initial validation study. All data are cross-sectional in nature. As expected, C-DD was positively related to delay discounting in the ABCD sample, even after accounting for age, biological sex, collection site and data quality indicators. Moreover, results showed that C-DD was discriminately associated with externalizing, but not internalizing, symptoms in both samples of young adolescents. Findings replicate those found in adult samples, suggestive that C-DD may be a useful neuroanatomical marker of youth delay discounting. Replication of findings in other samples will be needed to determine whether C-DD has translational relevance to understanding externalizing psychopathology in adolescent samples.Item Associations between cortical thickness and anxious/depressive symptoms differ by the quality of early care(Development and Psychopathology, 2021-10-22) Korom, Marta; Tottenham, Nim; Valadez, Emilio A.; Dozier, MaryA variety of childhood experiences can lead to anxious/depressed (A/D) symptoms. The aim of the present study was to explore the brain morphological (cortical thickness and surface area) correlates of A/D symptoms and the extent to which these phenotypes vary depending on the quality of the parenting context in which children develop. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were acquired on 45 children with Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement due to risk of not receiving adequate care (high-risk group) and 25 children without CPS involvement (low-risk group) (rangeage = 8.08–12.14; M age = 10.05) to assess cortical thickness (CT) and cortical surface area (SA). A/D symptoms were measured using the Child Behavioral Checklist. The association between A/D symptoms and CT, but not SA, differed by risk status such that high-risk children showed decreasing CT as A/D scores increased, whereas low-risk children showed increasing CT as A/D scores increased. This interaction was specific to CT in prefrontal, frontal, temporal, and parietal cortical regions. The groups had marginally different A/D scores, in the direction of higher risk being associated with lower A/D scores. Results suggest that CT correlates of A/D symptoms are differentially shaped by the quality of early caregiving experiences and should be distinguished between high- and low-risk children.Item Atypical object exploration in infants at-risk for autism during the first year of life(Frontiers Media S.A., 2015-06-16) Kaur, Maninderjit; Srinivasan, Sudha M.; Bhat, Anjana N.; Kaur, Maninderjit; Srinivasan, Sudha M.; Bhat, Anjana N.Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder usually diagnosed by the end of the second year of life. Early signs of ASD within the first year of life are still unclear. The main purpose of the present study was to compare object exploration skills between infants at-risk for ASD and typically developing (TD) infants to determine early markers for autism within the first year of life. Sixteen at-risk infants and 16 TD infants were longitudinally followed from 6 to 15 months of age during an object exploration task involving three objects with distinct size, shape, and texture, i.e., a long rattle, a rigid circular ball, and a soft circular koosh ball. All sessions were videotaped for coding of manual exploration (grasping and dropping), oral exploration (mouthing), and visual exploration (looking). We also obtained follow-up outcomes using various developmental questionnaires at 18 months and email follow-up on developmental delays/ASD diagnosis after the infants’ second birthdays. Our results showed object-based differences in exploration patterns that extended across both groups. We also noticed context-dependent group differences for various exploratory behaviors across objects and ages. Specifically, at 6 months, at-risk infants showed less grasping of the rigid ball as well as less mouthing and greater looking at the rattle compared to TD infants. At 9 and 12 months, at-risk infants demonstrated significantly lower levels of purposeful dropping of all objects and greater looking at the rattle. Lastly, at 15 months, at-risk infants showed persistent mouthing of the rigid ball and rattle compared to TD infants. In addition, 10 out of 16 at-risk infants developed various motor, social, and language delays or ASD diagnosis at follow-up. Taken together, early context-dependent delays/abnormalities in object exploration could be markers for future developmental delays in infants at-risk for autism. Moreover, promoting early object experiences through socially embedded, free and structured play could have significant implications for multisystem development including perceptuo-motor, social communication, and cognitive development in at-risk infants.Item Audio-Visual Perception of Gender by Infants Emerges Earlier for Adult-Directed Speech(Public Library of Science, 2017-01-06) Richoz, Anne-RaphaeÈ lle; Quinn, Paul C.; Hillairet de Boisferon, Anne; Berger, Carole; Loevenbruck, Helène; Lewkowicz, David J.; Lee, Kang; Dole, Marjorie; Caldara, Roberto; Pascalis, Olivier; Anne-Raphaelle Richoz, Paul C. Quinn, Anne Hillairet de Boisferon, Carole Berger, Helène Loevenbruck, David J. Lewkowicz, Kang Lee, Marjorie Dole, Roberto Caldara, Olivier Pascalis; Quinn, Paul C.Early multisensory perceptual experiences shape the abilities of infants to perform sociallyrelevant visual categorization, such as the extraction of gender, age, and emotion from faces. Here, we investigated whether multisensory perception of gender is influenced by infant-directed (IDS) or adult-directed (ADS) speech. Six-, 9-, and 12-month-old infants saw side-by-side silent video-clips of talking faces (a male and a female) and heard either a soundtrack of a female or a male voice telling a story in IDS or ADS. Infants participated in only one condition, either IDS or ADS. Consistent with earlier work, infants displayed advantages in matching female relative to male faces and voices. Moreover, the new finding that emerged in the current study was that extraction of gender from face and voice was stronger at 6 months with ADS than with IDS, whereas at 9 and 12 months, matching did not differ for IDS versus ADS. The results indicate that the ability to perceive gender in audiovisual speech is influenced by speech manner. Our data suggest that infants may extract multisensory gender information developmentally earlier when looking at adults engaged in conversation with other adults (i.e., ADS) than when adults are directly talking to them (i.e., IDS). Overall, our findings imply that the circumstances of social interaction may shape early multisensory abilities to perceive gender.Item Audio-Visual Perception of Gender by Infants Emerges Earlier for Adult-Directed Speech(PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE, 2017-01-06) Richoz, Anne-Raphaëlle; Quinn, Paul C.; de Boisferon, Anne Hillairet; Berger, Carole; Loevenbruck, Hélène; Lewkowicz, David J.; Lee, Kang; Dole, Marjorie; Caldara, Roberto; Pascalis, Olivier; Anne-Raphaelle Richoz; Paul C. Quinn; Anne Hillairet de Boisferon; Carole Berger; Helène Loevenbruck; David J. Lewkowicz; Kang Lee; Marjorie Dole; Roberto Caldara; Olivier Pascalis; Quinn, Paul C.Early multisensory perceptual experiences shape the abilities of infants to perform sociallyrelevant visual categorization, such as the extraction of gender, age, and emotion from faces. Here, we investigated whether multisensory perception of gender is influenced by infant-directed (IDS) or adult-directed (ADS) speech. Six-, 9-, and 12-month-old infants saw side-by-side silent video-clips of talking faces (a male and a female) and heard either a soundtrack of a female or a male voice telling a story in IDS or ADS. Infants participated in only one condition, either IDS or ADS. Consistent with earlier work, infants displayed advantages in matching female relative to male faces and voices. Moreover, the new finding that emerged in the current study was that extraction of gender from face and voice was stronger at 6 months with ADS than with IDS, whereas at 9 and 12 months, matching did not differ for IDS versus ADS. The results indicate that the ability to perceive gender in audiovisual speech is influenced by speech manner. Our data suggest that infants may extract multisensory gender information developmentally earlier when looking at adults engaged in conversation with other adults (i.e., ADS) than when adults are directly talking to them (i.e., IDS). Overall, our findings imply that the circumstances of social interaction may shape early multisensory abilities to perceive gender.Item Body image and perception among adults with and without phantom limb pain(PM&R, 2021-12-16) Beisheim-Ryan, Emma Haldane; Hicks, Gregory Evan; Pohlig, Ryan Todd; Medina, Jared; Sions, Jaclyn MeganBackground: Following lower-limb amputation, phantom limb pain (i.e., pain perceived as coming from the amputated portion of the limb) is common. Phantom limb pain may be associated with impaired body image and perception, which may be targets for rehabilitative intervention. Objective: To compare measures of body image and perception between adults with and without phantom limb pain post amputation and evaluate associations between measures of body image and perception and phantom limb pain. Design: Survey. Setting: Online, remote assessment. Participants: Seventy-two adults ≥1 year post unilateral lower-limb loss (n = 42 with phantom limb pain, n = 30 without phantom limb pain or pain in the remaining portion of the limb). Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Self-reported outcome measures assessing body image (i.e., Amputee Body Image Scale-Revised), perceptual disturbances associated with the phantom limb (i.e., a modified Bath Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Body Perception Disturbance Scale), and prosthesis satisfaction (i.e., Trinity Amputation and Prosthesis Experience Scale) were administered; participants with phantom limb pain reported pain interference via the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form. Between-group comparisons of self-reported outcome measure scores were conducted using Mann Whitney U or chi-square tests, as appropriate (a = .05). Results: Compared to peers without phantom limb pain, adults with phantom limb pain reported more negative body image; increased phantom limb ownership, attention, and awareness; and reduced prosthesis satisfaction and embodiment (U = 175.50–364.00, p < .001 to .034). Disturbances in phantom limb perception (i.e., size, weight, pressure, temperature) were similar between groups (p = .086 to >.999). More negative body image was associated with increased phantom limb pain interference (τb = .25, p = .026). Conclusions: Adults with phantom limb pain demonstrate more negative body image and hypervigilance of the phantom limb as compared to peers with nonpainful phantom sensations. Mind-body treatments that target impaired body image and perception may be critical interventions for adults with phantom limb pain.Item Boundary extension: Insights from signal detection theory(The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc, 6/9/16) Liu,Zili; Yang,Xiaoyang; Intraub,Helene; Zili Liu, Xiaoyang Yang, Helene Intraub; Intraub, HeleneAfter viewing a scene, people often remember having seen more of the world than was originally visible, an error referred to as boundary extension. Despite the large number of studies on this phenomenon, performance has never been considered in terms of signal detection theory (SDT). We report two visual memory experiments that allowed us to explore boundary extension in terms of SDT. In our experiments, participants first studied pictures presented as close-up or wide-angle views. At test, either the identical view or a different view (a closer or wider angle version of the same scene) were presented and participants rated the test image as being the same or different than before on a 6-point scale. We found that both discrimination sensitivity and bias contributed to the boundary extension effect. The discrimination sensitivity difference was at least 28%, and its presence refuted the hypothesis that boundary extension was due solely to participants' response bias to label test pictures as more wide-angled. Instead, our results support the idea that participants' responses reflect false memory beyond the view (i.e., a more wide-angle view of the world).Item Children’s Social Information Processing Predicts Both Their Own and Peers’ Conversational Remarks(Developmental Psychology, 2022-11-22) Hubbard, Julie A.; Bookhout, Megan K.; Zajac, Lindsay; Moore, Christina C.; Dozier, MaryThe goal of the current study was to investigate whether children’s social information processing (SIP) predicts their conversations with peers, including both their remarks to peers and peers’ remarks to them. When children (N = 156; 55% male; United States; Representation by Race: 60% African American, 18% Mixed race, 15% European American, 7% Other; Representation by Latino/a Ethnicity: 22% Latino/a, 78% Not Latino/a; Mincome = $39,419) were 8 years old, we assessed their aggressive and prosocial SIP using the Social Information Processing Application (SIP-AP). When children were 9 years old, they participated in playgroups typically consisting of four same-sex unfamiliar children who interacted in a round-robin format. Each dyad completed a five-minute frustration task and a five-minute planning task. Observers coded children’s verbalizations into six prosocial categories (Suggest, Agree, Solicit Input, Ask, Encourage, State Personal) and four antisocial categories (Command, Disagree, Discourage, Aggress). Children with higher aggressive SIP made more antisocial and fewer prosocial statements, whereas children with higher prosocial SIP made more prosocial and fewer antisocial statements. Furthermore, children with higher aggressive SIP elicited more antisocial and fewer prosocial statements from peers, whereas children with higher prosocial SIP elicited more prosocial and fewer antisocial statements from peers. Children’s antisocial and prosocial remarks mediated relations between their aggressive SIP and peers’ subsequent antisocial and prosocial remarks. Findings are discussed in terms of: (a) the use of SIP to predict more subtle social behaviors in children’s social interaction, and (b) cycles of social interactions that maintain and reinforce children’s SIP patterns. Public Significance Statement: Findings of the current study suggest that children who think more aggressively about social interactions speak to their peers using more negative and fewer positive statements. Peers respond using similar language, and their responses help to maintain children’s aggressive thinking patterns.Item Clarifying the synergistic effects of emotion dysregulation and inhibitory control on physical aggression(Human Brain Mapping, 2022-07-15) Bounoua, Nadia; Spielberg, Jeffrey M.; Sadeh, NaomiRising rates of violence underscore the need to better understand how systems that regulate distress and impulse control jointly modulate aggression risk. The goals of the current study were to investigate the unique and interactive effects of emotional dysregulation and inhibitory control on the perpetration of physical aggression. We recruited a high-risk community sample of 206 adults (M/SDage = 33.55/10.89 years old; 47.1% female) who reported a range of physically aggressive behaviors. All participants completed a self-report measure (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale), neuropsychological testing (Color Word Interference Test), and clinical interviewing (Lifetime History of Aggression Interview), and a subset of individuals (n = 134) underwent a neuroanatomical scan. As expected, the interplay of emotional and inhibitory control explained unique variance in physical aggression above and beyond their main effects. The positive association between emotion dysregulation and aggression strengthened as inhibitory control decreased. Cortical thickness in two right prefrontal clusters, one that peaked in the superior frontal gyrus and one that peaked in the caudal middle frontal gyrus, was also associated with the interactive effects of emotional dysregulation and inhibitory control. Notably, thickness in the superior frontal gyrus mediated the association between emotion dysregulation and physical aggression at low levels of inhibitory control. Using a multilevel and multimethod approach, the present study revealed neuroanatomical correlates of emotion–cognition interactions that have translational relevance to violence perpetration. These findings extend previous work primarily focused on functional-based neural assessments and point to the utility of examining neuroanatomical correlates of emotion–cognition interactions for understanding human aggression.Item Conceptions of play by children in five countries: towards an understanding of playfulness (Las concepciones acerca del juego de niños de cinco países: hacia un mejor conocimiento de la actividad lúdica)(Journal for the Study of Education and Development, 2022-12-19) Mukherjee, Sarah J.; Bugallo, Lucía; Scheuerb, Nora; Cremin, Teresa; Montoro, Virginia; Ferrero, Martha; Preston, Marcia; Cheng, Doris; Golinkoff, Roberta; Popp, JillDrawing on a mixed-methods cross-cultural study undertaken in five locations in Argentina, Denmark, Hong Kong, England and the United States in 2018, this paper explores how children (aged five and seven) conceive of playfulness. Following a card-sorting task, 387 children selected familiar activities that they felt were most representative of play and not-play and explained their reasons. The children’s justifications were fully transcribed, and five corpora were created (one per site). Lexicometry was applied, generating sets of the characteristic responses per age in each site. In-depth qualitative interpretation of these modal responses revealed nine dimensions across play and not-play: pleasure, social context, materials, movement, agency, risk, goal, time and focus. Commonalities revealed that children’s ideas around play are not aligned with specific activities but with the sense of agency in a secure physical and social context when carrying out an activity experienced as an end in itself. Implications for playful pedagogies highlight the need to open up play with opportunities for children’s choice and initiative, confident exploration and immersion in the activities in which they participate. RESUMEN: A partir de un estudio multicultural de métodos mixtos realizado en 2018 en cinco localidades de Argentina, Dinamarca, Hong Kong, Reino Unido y Estados Unidos, en este artículo se exploran las concepciones acerca de la actividad lúdica de niños de cinco y siete años. Tras una tarea de clasificación de tarjetas, 387 niñas y niños seleccionaron aquellas actividades familiares que consideraban más representativas de juego y aquellas más ajenas al juego y explicaron sus razones. Se realizó una transcripción completa de sus justificaciones y se crearon cinco corpus (uno por localidad). Mediante la lexicometría, se generaron conjuntos de respuestas características por edad en cada localidad. Una interpretación cualitativa detallada de las respuestas reveló nueve dimensiones lúdicas y no lúdicas: disfrute, contexto social, materiales, movimiento, agencia, riesgo, meta, tiempo y focalización. Las coincidencias revelaron que las ideas que los niños albergan en torno al juego no están vinculadas a actividades específicas sino a un sentido de agencia en un contexto físico y social seguro a la hora de realizar una actividad como fin en sí misma. Las implicaciones para las pedagogías lúdicas subrayan la necesidad de incorporar al juego oportunidades de elección e iniciativa para los niños, así como una exploración e inmersión segura en las actividades en las que participan.Item Concordance in caregiver and child sleep health metrics among families experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage: A pilot study(Journal of Applied Research on Children, 2022-08-25) Covington, Lauren; Satti, Aditi; Brewer, Benjamin; Blair, Rachel; Duffy, Ilona; Laurenceau, Jean-Phillipe; Mayberry, Shannon; Cordova, Angeni; Hoopes, Elissa; Patterson, FredaPurpose: Child and caregiver sleep occurs in a family system, with socioeconomically disadvantaged families experiencing disproportionately worse sleep health than more advantaged families. The extent to which objectively measured sleep health metrics (i.e., sleep duration, midpoint, regularity, efficiency) are concordant within disadvantaged family systems, including caregiver-child dyads, is not clear. To address this gap, this study aimed to: (1) characterize sleep health metrics and (2) identify levels of sleep health concordance among caregiver-child dyads living in families experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage. Design and methods: We enrolled 20 caregivers and 26 children in this micro-longitudinal study. Eligible primary caregivers slept in the same house as the child ≥4 nights/week and had no sleep disorders. Eligible children were aged 6-14 years and reported no medical problems. Dyads wore an actigraphy device continuously for 14 consecutive days. Sleep duration, bedtime, midpoint, and efficiency were estimated, and concordance evaluated using linear mixed modeling (R v.3.5.2). Results: Most caregivers were female (85%), Non-Hispanic Black (80%), and aged 40.45 years (SD=11.82). On average, caregivers were not meeting national recommendations for sleep duration and efficiency. Similarly, sleep duration recommendations were not met by child participants. Bivariate results showed that bedtime 𝑟=0.19, p<.001), sleep efficiency (𝑟=0.24, p<.001), and sleep midpoint (𝑟=0.39, p<.001), were concordant between child and caregiver. Multivariable models showed that caregiver bedtime was predictive of child sleep midpoint (b=0.16, p<.05), and caregiver sleep midpoint was predictive of child bedtime (b=0.29, p<.01) and child sleep midpoint (b=0.31, p<.001). Conclusion: Objectively estimated caregiver sleep may be connected to the sleep timing of their children. Improving child sleep may require addressing caregiver sleep habits too. Practice Implications: Results highlight the importance of providers considering caregiver sleep health when assessing child sleep health during well child visits. KEY TAKE AWAY POINTS: In this sample of caregiver-child dyads living in families experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage, on average, caregivers were not meeting national recommendations for sleep duration (7-9 hours per night) and sleep efficiency (>85%), and children were not obtaining 9-11 hours of sleep per night. Bedtime, sleep efficiency, and sleep midpoint were significantly concordant in caregivers and children, with the strongest association observed with sleep midpoint. In multivariable models, caregiver bedtime predicted child sleep midpoint, and caregiver midpoint predicted child bedtime and midpoint; highlighting the necessity of addressing poor sleep health at the family versus individual level among families experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage.Item Corticotropin releasing factor type-1 receptor antagonism in the dorsolateral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis disrupts contextually conditioned fear, but not unconditioned fear to a predator odor(Elsevier, 2016-04-27) Asok, Arun; Schulkin, Jay; Rosen, Jeffrey B.; Arun Asok, Jay Schulkin & Jeffrey B. Rosen; Asok, Arun; Rosen, Jeffrey B.The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) plays a critical role in fear and anxiety. The BNST is important for contextual fear learning, but the mechanisms regulating this function remain unclear. One candidate mechanism is corticotropin-releasing-factor (CRF) acting at CRF type 1 receptors (CRFr1s). Yet, there has been little progress in elucidating if CRFr1s in the BNST are involved in different types of fear (conditioned and/or unconditioned). Therefore, the present study investigated the effect of antalarmin, a potent CRFr1 receptor antagonist, injected intracerebroventricularly (ICV) and into the dorsolateral BNST (LBNST) during single trial contextual fear conditioning or exposure to the predator odor 2,5-dihydro-2,4,5- trimethylthiazoline (TMT). Neither ICV nor LBNST antalarmin disrupted unconditioned freezing to TMT. In contrast, ICV and LBNST antalarmin disrupted the retention of contextual fear when tested 24 hours later. Neither ICV nor LBNST antalarmin affected baseline or post-shock freezing – indicating antalarmin does not interfere with the early phases of contextual fear acquisition. Antalarmin did not (1) permanently affect the ability to learn and express contextual fear, (2) change responsivity to footshocks, or (3) affect the ability to freeze. Our findings highlight an important role for CRFr1s within the LBNST during contextually conditioned fear, but not unconditioned predator odor fear.Item Developmental administration of valproic acid alters DNA methylation and maternal behavior(Developmental Psychobiology, 2022-03-14) Collins, Nicholas J.; Zimmerman, Catherine W.; Phillips, Natalia L. H.; Fern, Samantha; Doherty, Tiffany S.; Roth, Tania L.Exposure to adversity in early development has powerful and potentially lasting consequences on behavior. Previous work in our laboratory using female Long-Evans rats has demonstrated that exposure to early-life maltreatment manifests into alterations in dam behavior, including a perpetuation of the maltreatment phenotype. These observed behavioral changes coincide with changes in epigenetic activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Further, treating dams with a chromatin modifying agent (Zebularine) normalizes methylation and maltreatment phenotypes, suggesting a link between epigenetic programming and phenotypic outcomes. Here, we sought to investigate if administration of a chromatin modifying agent concurrent with the experience of maltreatment normalizes epigenetic activity associated with maltreatment and alters behavioral trajectories. Administration of valproic acid (VPA) transiently lowered levels of global DNA methylation in the PFC, regardless of exposure to nurturing care or maltreatment. When VPA-exposed animals reached adulthood, they engaged in more adverse behaviors toward their offspring. These data provide further evidence linking epigenetic changes in the developing brain with effects on behavior.Item Does early exposure to spoken and sign language affect reading fluency in deaf and hard-of-hearing adult signers?(Frontiers in Psychology, 2023-09-20) Ziubanova, Anastasia A.; Laurinavichyute, Anna K.; Parshina, OlgaIntroduction: Early linguistic background, and in particular, access to language, lays the foundation of future reading skills in deaf and hard-of-hearing signers. The current study aims to estimate the impact of two factors – early access to sign and/or spoken language – on reading fluency in deaf and hard-of-hearing adult Russian Sign Language speakers. Methods: In the eye-tracking experiment, 26 deaf and 14 hard-of-hearing native Russian Sign Language speakers read 144 sentences from the Russian Sentence Corpus. Analysis of global eye-movement trajectories (scanpaths) was used to identify clusters of typical reading trajectories. The role of early access to sign and spoken language as well as vocabulary size as predictors of the more fluent reading pattern was tested. Results: Hard-of-hearing signers with early access to sign language read more fluently than those who were exposed to sign language later in life or deaf signers without access to speech sounds. No association between early access to spoken language and reading fluency was found. Discussion: Our results suggest a unique advantage for the hard-of-hearing individuals from having early access to both sign and spoken language and support the existing claims that early exposure to sign language is beneficial not only for deaf but also for hard-of-hearing children.Item Early Childhood Sleep Difficulties and Middle Childhood Internalizing and Externalizing Psychopathology Among Children with Histories of Early Adversity(International Journal on Child Maltreatment, 2024-08-12) Lee, Amy Hyoeun; Bernard, Kristin; Dozier, MaryChildren who have experienced adversity, including abuse and neglect, are at elevated risk for both sleep problems and psychopathology. Sleep disturbance may be one pathway by which early adversity confers risk for psychopathology. Previous studies with such children have found associations between sleep difficulties and internalizing and externalizing problems in early childhood, and between sleep and externalizing problems in middle childhood. Here, we sought to examine the links between early childhood sleep difficulties and middle childhood internalizing and externalizing psychopathology in children with histories of early adversity followed longitudinally. Participants were 153 children (44% female) enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of an early childhood parenting intervention following involvement with child protective services. Caregivers reported on children’s sleep difficulties at ages 2, 3, and 4 and children’s internalizing and externalizing problems at ages 8, 9, and 10. Using a structural equation modeling approach, we found that mean levels of early childhood sleep difficulties were significantly and positively associated with internalizing, β = .449, p = .010, 95% CI [.106, .792], but not with externalizing, β = .229, p = .137, 95% CI [-.072, .529], problems in middle childhood, controlling for sex, age 4 psychopathology, and caregiver depression. Findings extend prior work demonstrating associations between sleep problems and psychopathology among children with histories of early adversity. More research is needed to elucidate the potential role of sleep difficulties in the development of internalizing problems in this population.Item Effects of an attachment-based intervention on autonomic regulation among opioid-exposed infants(Developmental Psychobiology, 2022-06-02) Tabachnick, Alexandra R.; Eiden, Rina Das; Labella, Madelyn H.; Dozier, MaryLittle is known about whether postnatal intervention enhances autonomic regulation among infants at risk for dysregulation due to prenatal opioid exposure. The present study evaluated the effects of modified Attachment Behavioral Catch-up (mABC) on autonomic regulation for opioid-exposed infants in a pilot randomized clinical trial. We hypothesized that, compared to a control intervention (modified Developmental Education for Families [mDEF]), mABC would be associated with higher resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and pre-ejection period (PEP) as well as greater reactivity to and recovery from a social stressor (Still-Face Paradigm). Pregnant or peripartum women receiving opioid agonist therapy (61 mothers of 64 infants; final N = 36 infants) were randomly assigned to mABC or mDEF, 12-session home visiting programs beginning in the third trimester; mABC targets sensitive parenting, and mDEF targets cognitive and motor development. mABC was associated with significantly greater RSA reactivity and marginally greater PEP reactivity. In models accommodating missing data, mABC was additionally associated with significantly greater RSA recovery. In sensitivity analyses removing siblings, mABC predicted significantly enhanced PEP reactivity. Overall, in these preliminary analyses, mABC was associated with healthier autonomic regulation during a social stressor than mDEF. Thus, mABC may be a promising strategy to promote autonomic regulation among opioid-exposed infants through parenting intervention.Item Effects of limited bedding and nesting on postpartum mood state in rats(Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 2023-04-26) Gifford, Janace J.; Pluchino, Jenna R.; Della Valle, Rebecca; Van Weele, Brooke; Brezoczky, Emma; Caulfield, Jasmine I.; Cavigelli, Sonia A.; Schwarz, Jaclyn M.This study examined the effect of limited bedding and nesting (LBN) stress on postpartum anhedonia, maternal behaviors, anxiety-like behaviors, and neuroendocrine and neuroimmune function as a potential model of postpartum depression. Dams underwent sucrose preference tests prior to breeding, during gestation and again postpartum, to examine the potential onset of anhedonia. On embryonic day 19, dams were placed into either a LBN or control housing condition. Contrary to our predictions, LBN stress had no effect on postpartum sucrose preference. We also found no effect of LBN condition on fecal estradiol or corticosterone levels, both of which increased at birth and decreased postpartum. Regardless of housing conditions, approximately 40% of new mothers exhibited a decrease in sucrose preference, while others show no change, suggesting an individual susceptibility to postpartum anhedonia. In a separate cohort of LBN and control dams, we measured pup retrieval, hoarding behavior, elevated plus maze (EPM), and marble burying. LBN dams exhibited increased anxiety, associated with decreased time spent in the open arms of the EPM. We also measured a significant increase in IL-6 expression in the dorsal hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex of postpartum dams compared to nonpregnant dams. These findings suggest that while LBN stress has effects on anxiety and maternal care, it does not induce postpartum anhedonia. Rather, there are inherent differences in susceptibility to anhedonia in individual dams, and future studies should be conducted to better understand individual vulnerability and resilience to postpartum anhedonia.Item Emotion dysregulation and reward responsiveness as predictors of autonomic reactivity to an infant cry task among substance-using pregnant and postpartum women(Developmental Psychobiology, 2023-12-14) Bounoua, Nadia; Tabachnick, Alexandra R.; Eiden, Rina D.; Labella, Madelyn H.; Dozier, MaryMaternal substance use may interfere with optimal parenting, lowering maternal responsiveness during interactions with their children. Previous work has identified maternal autonomic nervous system (ANS) reactivity to parenting-relevant stressors as a promising indicator of real-world parenting behaviors. However, less is known about the extent to which individual differences in emotion dysregulation and reward processing, two mechanisms of substance use, relate to maternal ANS reactivity in substance-using populations. The current study examined associations among emotion dysregulation, reward responsiveness, and ANS reactivity to an infant cry task among 77 low-income and substance-using women who were either pregnant (n = 63) or postpartum (n = 14). Two indicators of ANS functioning were collected during a 9 min computerized infant cry task (Crybaby task): respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and pre-ejection period. Mothers also completed self-reported measures of emotion dysregulation and reward responsiveness. Analyses revealed that trait emotion regulation was associated with RSA reactivity to the Crybaby task, such that greater emotion dysregulation was associated with greater RSA reduction during the infant cry task than lower emotion dysregulation. Reward responsiveness was not significantly associated with either indicator of ANS reactivity to the task. Findings revealed distinct patterns of associations linking emotion dysregulation with ANS reactivity during a parenting-related computerized task, suggesting that emotion regulation may be a key intervention target for substance-using mothers.