The role of cognitive biases and personality variables in subclinical delusional ideation

Introduction. A number of cognitive biases, most notably a data gathering bias characterised by “jumping to conclusions” (JTC), and the “bias against disconfirmatory evidence” (BADE), have been shown to be associated with delusions and subclinical delusional ideation. Certain personality variables, particularly “openness to experience”, are thought to be associated with schizotypy.

Methods. Using structural equation modelling, we examined the association between two higher order subfactors (“aspects”) of “openness to experience” (labelled “openness” and “intellect”), these cognitive biases, and their relationship to subclinical delusional ideation in 121 healthy, nonpsychiatric controls.

Results. Our results suggest that cognitive biases (specifically the data gathering bias and BADE) and the “openness” aspect are independently associated with subclinical delusional ideation, and the data gathering bias is weakly associated with “positive schizotypy”. “Intellect” is negatively associated with delusional ideation and might play a potential protective role.

Conclusions. Cognitive biases and personality are likely to be independent risk factors for the development of delusions.     

Personality and physiological reactions to acute psychological stress

Stable personality traits have long been presumed to have biological substrates, although the evidence relating personality to biological stress reactivity is inconclusive. The present study examined, in a large middle aged cohort (N = 352), the relationship between key personality traits and both cortisol and cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress. Salivary cortisol and cardiovascular activity were measured at rest and in response to a psychological stress protocol comprising 5 min each of a Stroop task, mirror tracing, and a speech task. Participants subsequently completed the Big Five Inventory to assess neuroticism, agreeableness, openness to experience, extraversion, and conscientiousness. Those with higher neuroticism scores exhibited smaller cortisol and cardiovascular stress reactions, whereas participants who were less agreeable and less open had smaller cortisol and cardiac reactions to stress. These associations remained statistically significant following adjustment for a range of potential confounding variables. Thus, a negative personality disposition would appear to be linked to diminished stress reactivity. These findings further support a growing body of evidence which suggests that blunted stress reactivity may be maladaptive.     

舒肝颗粒治疗焦虑障碍的疗效

目的观察舒肝颗粒对焦虑障碍的疗效。方法采用开放性病例对照研究,将177例焦虑障碍患者分为舒肝组、联合组和西药组,分别治疗观察6周,于治疗前、治疗后2、4、6周分别采用HAMA、CGI及TESS量表评价3组患者的I临床疗效及不良反应情况。结果选择入舒肝组的患者平均年龄偏大,女性占79％,治疗前HAMA总分较低,平均病程偏短,接受舒肝颗粒治疗后6周HAMA总分均显著下降（P〈0．05）;联合组与西药组均于治疗4周后HAMA总分显著下降（P〈0．05或P〈0．01）,两组HAMA降分值比较差异无统计学意义（P〉0．05）;3组患者疗效指数（E1）评分比较,差异有统计学意义（P〈0．05）,第2周西药组低于于舒肝组和联合组,第4周舒肝组患者E1评分低于其他两组,差异均有统计学意义（P均〈0．05）;3组治疗的安全性比较发现,舒肝组各类不良事件的发生率明显低于其他两组,差异有统计学意义（P〈0．05）;临床观察发现治疗早期舒肝组、联合组的苯二氮革类药使用率明显低于西药组（P〈0．05）。结论舒肝颗粒对轻中度焦虑患者有一定的治疗作用,虽然其临床起效缓慢,但其不良反应发生率低,与抗焦虑或抗抑郁药联合使用可减少苯二氮革类药的滥用。     

Material type and attention control in dichotic listening

The present study investigated the effects of semantic and emotional content on laterality effects found in focused attention dichotic listening tasks. A total of 80 right-handed participants completed one of four conditions. They were presented either with dichotic pairs of consonant-vowel (CV) syllables (ba, da, ga, ka, pa, or ta) or words (bower, dower, power, or tower), pronounced in either a neutral tone or one of four emotional tones (happy, sad, angry, neutral). In all conditions, participants were instructed to circle the stimulus presented to the attended ear on each trial. The attended ear was randomised between blocks of trials for each participant. A significant condition by ear attended by ear of presentation interaction emerged. The typical right ear advantage (REA) was found in the neutral conditions, regardless of ear attended. In contrast, the emotional conditions revealed an REA when participants focused on the right ear, whereas a left ear advantage was found when they focused on the left ear. These findings suggest that the emotional component resulted in a shift in ear advantage coinciding with instructions possibly because of the influence of this component on attention and task difficulty. The role of semantic processing in words versus syllables is also discussed.     

动态系统理论视角下的大学英语听说课堂研究

大学英语听说课堂是语言学者和教师关注的热点问题。动态系统理论在应用语言学领域方面的研究开展以来,引领着最新的学术发展动态。动态系统理论鼓励研究者从宏观、复杂、系统和动态的视角,对听说课堂的各个层面进行分析和研究,动态系统的非线性、开放性和自组织性更好地揭示了大学英语听说课堂的本质,为其研究提供了一定的理论基础。     

Pain response in heroin users: personality, abstinence, and modulation by benzodiazepines

We compared cold-pain responses among male current opioid users with and without concurrent benzodiazepine use, long-term ex-users, and healthy controls. Forty-eight current opioid users (14 concurrently using benzodiazepines), 34 ex-users (abstinent for ≥1 y) and 63 controls received cold-pressor tests. Pain threshold (first reporting pain) and pain tolerance (total immersion time) were recorded. Pain thresholds were similar in ex-users and current users; pain tolerance was similar in ex-users and controls. Net pain tolerance (endurance) in ex-users was intermediate between the other two groups. Current users showed higher pain threshold and shorter pain tolerance than controls (p<0.05). Current users not co-using benzodiazepines showed the lowest pain tolerance and net pain tolerance, and differed significantly from controls, ex-users, and current users co-using benzodiazepines (p<0.05). Neuroticism was higher in current users than in the other two groups (p<0.001), extraversion marginally lower (p<0.05); net pain tolerance differences remained significant after controlling for these. Benzodiazepine use modulates pain tolerance in opioid users. Pain responses altered by opioid use may partially recover with abstinence.     

The five-factor model in schizotypal personality disorder

Studies of the five-factor model of personality in schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) have produced inconsistent results, particularly with respect to openness. In the present study, the NEO-FFI was used to measure five-factor personality dimensions in 28 community volunteers with SPD and 24 psychiatrically healthy individuals. Standard multivariate statistical analyses were used to evaluate personality differences as a function of diagnosis and gender. Individuals with SPD had significantly higher levels of neuroticism and significantly lower levels of extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness than those without SPD. Female, but not male, SPD subjects had significantly higher openness levels than their healthy counterparts, and this gender-specific group difference persisted when SPD symptom severity was statistically controlled. These findings suggest that gender-associated differences in openness may account for prior inconsistent findings regarding this dimension, and they further underscore the importance of examining gender effects in future studies of SPD.     

Structural correlates of Openness and Intellect: Implications for the contribution of personality to creativity

Openness/Intellect (i.e., openness to experience) is the Big Five personality factor most consistently associated with individual differences in creativity. Recent psychometric evidence has demonstrated that this factor consists of two distinct aspects—Intellect and Openness. Whereas Intellect reflects perceived intelligence and intellectual engagement, Openness reflects engagement with fantasy, perception, and aesthetics. We investigated the extent to which Openness and Intellect are associated with variations in brain structure as measured by cortical thickness, area, and volume (N = 185). Our results demonstrated that Openness was correlated inversely with cortical thickness and volume in left middle frontal gyrus (BA 6), middle temporal gyrus (MTG, BA 21), and superior temporal gyrus (BA 41), and exclusively with cortical thickness in left inferior parietal lobule (BA 40), right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG, BA 45), and MTG (BA 37). When age and sex were statistically controlled for, the inverse correlations between Openness and cortical thickness remained statistically significant for all regions except left MTG, whereas the correlations involving cortical volume remained statistically significant only for left middle frontal gyrus. There was no statistically significant correlation between Openness and cortical area, and no statistically significant correlation between Intellect and cortical thickness, area, or volume. Our results demonstrate that individual differences in Openness are correlated with variation in brain structure—particularly as indexed by cortical thickness. Given the involvement of the above regions in processes related to memory and cognitive control, we discuss the implications of our findings for the possible contribution of personality to creative cognition.