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Previous research has demonstrated a critical link between maternal mental health and infant development. However, there is limited understanding of the role of autonomic regulation in postpartum maternal mental health and infant outcomes. In the current study, we tested 76 mother-infant dyads from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds when infants were 3-months of age. We recorded simultaneous ECG from dyads while baseline EEG was collected from the infant; ECG heart rate variability (HRV) and EEG theta-beta ratio and alpha asymmetry were calculated. Dyadic physiological synchrony was also analyzed to better understand the role of autonomic co-regulation. Results demonstrated that lower maternal HRV was associated with higher self-reported maternal depression and anxiety. Additionally, mothers with lower HRV had infants with lower HRV. Maternal HRV was also associated with higher infant theta-beta ratios, but not alpha asymmetry. Exploratory analyses suggested that for mother-infant dyads with greater physiological synchrony, higher maternal HRV predicted increased infant theta-beta ratio via infant HRV. These findings support a model in which maternal mental health may influence infant neurophysiology via alterations in autonomic stress regulation and dyadic physiological co-regulation.

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The ability to sustain attention is a critical cognitive domain that emerges in infancy and is predictive of a multitude of cognitive processes. Here, we used a heart rate (HR) defined measure of sustained attention to assess corresponding changes in frontal electroencephalography (EEG) power at 3 months of age. Second, we examined how the neural underpinnings of HR-defined sustained attention were associated with sustained attention engagement. Third, we evaluated if neural or behavioral sustained attention measures at 3-months predicted subsequent recognition memory scores at 9 months of age. Seventy-five infants were included at 3 months of age and provided usable attention and EEG data and 25 infants returned to the lab at 9 months and provided usable recognition memory data. The current study focuses on oscillatory power in the theta (4-6 Hz) frequency band during phases of HR-defined sustained attention and inattention phases. Results revealed that theta power was significantly higher during phases of sustained attention. Second, higher theta power during sustained attention was positively associated with proportion of time in sustained attention. Third, longitudinal analyses indicated a significant positive association between theta power during sustained attention on 9-month visual paired comparison scores such that higher theta power predicted higher visual paired comparison scores at 9-months. These results highlight the interrelation of the attention and arousal systems which have longitudinal implications for subsequent recognition memory processes.

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One pathway by which environments of socioeconomic risk are thought to affect cognitive development is through stress physiology. The biological systems underpinning stress and attention undergo a sensitive period of development during infancy. Psychobiological theory emphasizes a dynamic pattern of context-dependent development, however, research has yet to examine how basal cortisol and attention dynamically covary across infancy in ecologically valid contexts. Thus, to address these gaps, we leveraged longitudinal, multilevel analytic methods to disentangle between- from within-person associations of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity and executive attention behaviors across infancy. We use data from a large longitudinal sample (N = 1,292) of infants in predominantly low-income, nonurban communities at 7-, 15-, and 24-months of age. Using multilevel models, we investigated longitudinal associations of infant attention and basal cortisol levels and examined caregiving behaviors as moderators of this relationship. Results indicated a negative between- and within-person association between attention and cortisol across infancy and a within-person moderation by caregiver responsiveness. In other words, on the within-person level, higher levels of cortisol were concomitantly associated with lower infant attention across the first 2 years of life. However, variation in the caregiver's level of responsiveness either buffered or sensitized the executive attention system to the negative effects of physiological stress.

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Background: Resting tremor is a cardinal symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD) that contributes to the physical, emotional, and economic burden of the disease. Objective: The goal of this study was to investigate the safety, tolerability, and preliminary effectiveness of a novel wearable vibrotactile stimulation device on resting tremor in individuals with PD. Methods: Using a randomized cross-over design, subjects received two different vibrotactile stimulation paradigms (high amplitude patterned and low amplitude continuous) on two separate laboratory visits. On each visit, resting tremor was video recorded for 10 min at baseline and while the vibrotactile stimulation was applied. Tremor severity was scored by a blinded clinician. Results: Both vibration paradigms were well safe and well tolerated and resulted in a reduction in resting tremor severity with a moderate effect size (n = 44, p < 0.001, r = 0.37-0.54). There was no significant difference between the two vibration paradigms (p = 0.14). Conclusion: Short durations of vibrotactile stimulation delivered via wearable devices were safe and well tolerated and may attenuate resting tremor severity in individuals with PD. The sample size as well as the potential preliminary effectiveness revealed by two arms of the study could not eliminate the potential for a placebo effect.

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The present study investigated associations between prenatal mother-father cortisol linkage and infant executive functions. Data come from an international sample (N = 358) of predominantly white and middle- to upper-class first-time parents. During late pregnancy, parents collected diurnal salivary cortisol samples and reported on levels of psychological stress. At 24 months, children completed a battery of executive function tasks. Parent cortisol linkage was operationalized as the time-dependent, within-dyad association between maternal and paternal diurnal cortisol. Results indicated that prenatal linkage was positively related to infant executive functions, suggesting that stronger mother-father cortisol linkage was associated with higher executive function scores. Additionally, this relation was moderated by paternal average cortisol levels such that executive function scores were lower when fathers had higher average cortisol levels and linkage was weak. This association suggests that elevated paternal cortisol amplifies the negative relation between lower cortisol linkage and lower infant executive function scores. Importantly, these findings were observed while controlling for observational measures of caregiving and self-report measures of psychosocial functioning and infant social-emotional behavior. These results suggest that prenatal linkage of mother's and father's stress physiology plays a potentially important part in programming and regulating infant neurocognitive development.

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Methods to enhance the ergogenic effects of music are of interest to athletes of all abilities. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the ergogenic effects of two commercially available methods of music augmentation: auditory beats and vibrotactile stimulation. Six male and five female cyclists/triathletes cycled for 7 minutes at three different intensities: a rate of perceived exertion (RPE) of 11 ("light"), RPE of 15 ("hard"), and a 7-minute time-trial. Before each 7-minute bout of cycling, participants listened to 10 minutes of self-selected music (MUS), or the same music with the addition of either isochronic auditory beats (ABS) or vibrotactile stimulation via SUBPACTM (VIB). MUS, ABS and VIB trials were performed in a randomized order. Power output was measured during cycling and felt arousal and feeling scores were recorded at timepoints throughout the protocol. The results found the augmented MUS interventions did not influence power output with no significant main effect of trial (p = 0.44, η2 = 0.09) or trial × cycling intensity interaction (p = 0.11, η2 = 0.20). Similarly, both felt arousal and feeling scores were unchanged between the MUS, ABS, and VIB trials (p > 0.05). In conclusion, this pilot study indicated an ineffectiveness of the ABS and VIB to affect subsequent 7-min cycling performance compared to self-selected MUS alone.

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There has been a shift in the study of childhood adversity towards a focus on dimensions of adversity as opposed to a focus on cumulative risk or specific adversities. The Dimensional Model of Adversity and Psychopathology (DMAP) proposes deprivation and threat as core dimensions of childhood adversity. Previous work using DMAP has found links between deprivation and cognitive development and threat and emotional development in adolescence, but few studies have applied this framework to a poverty context, in which children are at heightened risk for adversity experiences, and none have examined outcomes in early childhood. We use data from the Family Life Project (n = 1292) to examine deprivation and threat at child age 24 months as developmental mediators in the association between socioeconomic status (SES) measured at 15 months and executive functions (EF) measured at 48 months. In a multiple mediation model, lower SES was related to higher deprivation and threat. Deprivation was negatively associated with EF, and threat was not associated with EF. Deprivation fully mediated association between SES and EF. These results expand previous work using the DMAP and point to new directions in understanding children's cognitive adaptations to adversity.

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Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) poses a global public health emergency, overwhelming health systems worldwide and forcing rapid adoption of telemedicine strategies. Introduction: The COVID-19 Precision Recovery Program (PRP) is a remote patient monitoring (RPM) clinical program that was deployed by a New York health system to perform physiologic and symptomatic monitoring for patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 diagnoses. Methods: The present cross-sectional descriptive study reports retrospective data collected from the PRP during the COVID-19 crisis in New York. Results: One hundred twelve patients were included; mean (standard deviation) age was 49 (17.6) years and 60.7% were female. Most prevalent reported comorbidities were hypertension (36.3%), hypercholesterolemia (26.5%), and diabetes (17.7%). Less than half (44.6%) had a positive polymerase chain reaction COVID test (PCR-test), 33% had an unknown COVID status, and 17.9% had a negative test result. The most commonly reported symptoms included dyspnea (55.4%) and anxiety (55.4%). Anxiety was ranked as the most severe symptom (9.8%), followed by difficulty concentrating (4.5%). Symptom presentation did not significantly differ based on PCR-test status. Discussion: RPM can be a valuable tool for delivering care to patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 diagnoses. Considering similarities in symptom presentation between PCR-test statuses, access to COVID-related clinical care should not be based on PCR-test results. Conclusions: RPM has strong potential to assist in the effective management of suspected COVID-19 patients.

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Using data from a large longitudinal sample (N = 1,292) of children and their caregivers in predominantly low-income, nonurban communities, we investigated longitudinal relations between attuned caregiving in infancy, joint attention in toddlerhood, and executive functions in early childhood. The results from path analysis demonstrated that attuned caregiving during infancy predicted more joint attention in toddlerhood, which was in turn associated with better executive function performance in early childhood. Joint attention was a stronger predictor of executive functions for lower-income families. Moreover, joint attention mediated the relation between attuned caregiving and executive functions, and this mediation was amplified for lower-income families. These results highlight joint attention as a key mechanism through which attuned caregiving supports the development of executive functions, particularly for low-income families. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

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Using data from a large international sample (N = 385) of first-time expectant parents, the current analysis investigated whether parents demonstrated diurnal cortisol linkage in late pregnancy and whether self-reported psychological stress moderated this linkage. At approximately 36 weeks gestation, mothers and fathers collected saliva samples in their home at three times on two consecutive days and reported on their psychological stress. Results from multilevel models indicated that there was significant positive within-couple diurnal cortisol linkage on average for the whole sample. However, this linkage was moderated by maternal self-reported psychological stress. Specifically, for couples with higher maternal psychological stress, cortisol linkage was strong. Conversely, for couples with lower maternal psychological stress, maternal and paternal cortisol were unrelated. These findings suggest that among higher-maternal-stress couples, lower paternal cortisol may buffer maternal cortisol, whereas higher paternal cortisol may amplify maternal cortisol. Our results support the idea that interpersonal psychological and physiological stress in close relationships is interdependent and mutually influenced. Further, our findings contribute to the field's understanding of interpersonal processes during pregnancy, which may have health-related implications in the prenatal and postnatal periods for both parents and the developing child.

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Environmental adversity increases child susceptibility to disrupted developmental outcomes, but the mechanisms by which adversity can shape development remain unclear. A translational cross-species approach was used to examine stress-mediated pathways by which poverty-related adversity can influence infant social development. Findings from a longitudinal sample of low-income mother-infant dyads indicated that infant cortisol (CORT) on its own did not mediate relations between early-life scarcity-adversity exposure and later infant behavior in a mother-child interaction task. However, maternal CORT through infant CORT served as a mediating pathway, even when controlling for parenting behavior. Findings using a rodent "scarcity-adversity" model indicated that pharmacologically blocking pup corticosterone (CORT, rodent equivalent to cortisol) in the presence of a stressed mother causally prevented social transmission of scarcity-adversity effects on pup social behavior. Furthermore, pharmacologically increasing pup CORT without the mother present was not sufficient to disrupt pup social behavior. Integration of our cross-species results suggests that elevated infant CORT may be necessary, but without elevated caregiver CORT, may not be sufficient in mediating the effects of environmental adversity on development. These findings underscore the importance of considering infant stress physiology in relation to the broader social context, including caregiver stress physiology, in research and interventional efforts.

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It has long been theorized that humans develop higher mental functions, such as executive functions (EFs), within the context of interpersonal interactions and social relationships. Various components of social interactions, such as interpersonal communication, perspective taking, and conforming/adhering to social rules, may create important (and perhaps even necessary) opportunities for the acquisition and continued practice of EF skills. Furthermore, positive and stable relationships facilitate the development and maintenance of EFs across the lifespan. However, experimental studies investigating the extent to which social experiences contribute causally to the development of EFs are lacking. Here, we present experimental evidence that social experiences and the acquisition of social skills influence the development of EFs. Specifically, using a rat model, we demonstrate that following exposure to early-life adversity, a socialization intervention causally improves working memory in peri-adolescence. Our findings combined with the broader literature promote the importance of cultivating social skills in support of EF development and maintenance across the lifespan. Additionally, cross-species research will provide insight into causal mechanisms by which social experiences influence cognitive development and contribute to the development of biologically sensitive interventions.

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It is well-established that children from low-income, under-resourced families are at increased risk of altered social development. However, the biological mechanisms by which poverty-related adversities can "get under the skin" to influence social behavior are poorly understood and cannot be easily ascertained using human research alone. This study utilized a rodent model of "scarcity-adversity," which encompasses material resource deprivation (scarcity) and reduced caregiving quality (adversity), to explore how early-life scarcity-adversity causally influences social behavior via disruption of developing stress physiology. Results showed that early-life scarcity-adversity exposure increased social avoidance when offspring were tested in a social approach test in peri-adolescence. Furthermore, early-life scarcity-adversity led to blunted hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity as measured via adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone (CORT) reactivity following the social approach test. Western blot analysis of brain tissue revealed that glucocorticoid receptor levels in the dorsal (but not ventral) hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex were significantly elevated in scarcity-adversity reared rats following the social approach test. Finally, pharmacological repletion of CORT in scarcity-adversity reared peri-adolescents rescued social behavior. Our findings provide causal support that early-life scarcity-adversity exposure negatively impacts social development via a hypocorticosteronism-dependent mechanism, which can be targeted via CORT administration to rescue social behavior.

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It can be challenging to explain why certain mundane details circumstantial to an emotional event are nonetheless remembered long after the experience. Here, we examined how attention selectively shapes memory for neutral objects that happen to coincide with either an unexpected or anticipated emotional event. Pictures of neutral objects were presented for 2 s and terminated with either a high-intensity shock, a low-intensity shock, or no shock. Recognition memory was tested 24 -hs later in a surprise test. Results showed no effect of shock intensity on memory for attended objects when shocks were unpredictable (Experiment 1). Similarly, there was no effect of shock intensity for attended objects when shock delivery was signaled before the object appeared (Experiment 2). There was a reduction in memory for unattended objects paired with an anticipated high-intensity shock (Experiment 3). Finally, subjects recognized slightly more attended objects paired with a high-intensity shock if shock intensity was signaled one second after the object was encoded (Experiment 4). We conclude that simply pairing objects with high-intensity shocks is insufficient to drive episodic memory enhancements for neutral information. But anticipation of an impending source of arousal can induce bidirectional effects: attending to an impending emotional event interferes with encoding of neutral information, but encoding an object just prior to anticipation of an emotional event can sometimes benefit memory. Overall, these results highlight a complex interplay between arousal, attention, and anticipation on emotion-induced memory for neutral information.

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There are many avenues by which early life poverty relates to the development of school readiness. Few studies, however, have examined the extent to which sustained attention, a central component of self-regulation in infancy, mediates relations between poverty-related risk and cognitive and emotional self-regulation at school entry. To investigate longitudinal relations among poverty-related risk, sustained attention in infancy, and self-regulation prior to school entry, we analyzed data from the Family Life Project, a large prospective longitudinal sample (N = 1292) of children and their primary caregivers in predominantly low-income and nonurban communities. We used structural equation modeling to assess the extent to which a latent variable of infant sustained attention, measured in a naturalistic setting, mediated the associations between cumulative poverty-related risk and three domains of self-regulation. We constructed a latent variable of infant sustained attention composed of a measure of global sustained attention and a task-based sustained attention measure at 7 and 15 months of age. Results indicated that infant sustained attention was negatively associated with poverty-related risk and positively associated with a direct assessment of executive function abilities and teacher-reported effortful control and emotion regulation in pre-kindergarten. Mediation analysis indicated that the association between poverty-related risk and each self-regulation outcome was partially mediated by infant attention. These results provide support for a developmental model of self-regulation whereby attentional abilities in infancy act as a mechanism linking the effects of early-life socioeconomic adversity with multiple aspects of self-regulation in early childhood.

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Relations between maternal baseline cortisol and infant cortisol reactivity to an emotion induction procedure at child ages 7, 15, and 24 months were analyzed using data from the Family Life Project (N = 1,292). The emotion induction consisted of a series of standardized and validated tasks, including an arm restraint, toy removal, and mask presentation, intended to elicit responses of fear and frustration. Results revealed that at 7 and 15 months, maternal baseline cortisol was negatively related to child cortisol reactivity, such that children of mothers with lower cortisol exhibited steeper cortisol increases in response to the emotion induction. At 24 months, the association between mother and infant cortisol was moderated by socioeconomic risk, such that maternal baseline cortisol was associated with child cortisol reactivity only in dyads characterized by low socioeconomic risk. Furthermore, at 24 months, children of mothers with low baseline cortisol and low socioeconomic risk exhibited decreasing cortisol responses, whereas children of mothers with low baseline cortisol but high risk exhibited flat cortisol responses. Children in dyads characterized by high baseline maternal cortisol also exhibited flat cortisol responses regardless of socioeconomic risk. The role of caregiver physiology in the regulation of the child's stress response in the context of adversity is discussed.

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Children reared in impoverished environments are at risk for enduring psychological and physical health problems. Mechanisms by which poverty affects development, however, remain unclear. To explore one potential mechanism of poverty's impact on social-emotional and cognitive development, an experimental examination of a rodent model of scarcity-adversity was conducted and compared to results from a longitudinal study of human infants and families followed from birth (N = 1,292) who faced high levels of poverty-related scarcity-adversity. Cross-species results supported the hypothesis that altered caregiving is one pathway by which poverty adversely impacts development. Rodent mothers assigned to the scarcity-adversity condition exhibited decreased sensitive parenting and increased negative parenting relative to mothers assigned to the control condition. Furthermore, scarcity-adversity reared pups exhibited decreased developmental competence as indicated by disrupted nipple attachment, distress vocalization when in physical contact with an anesthetized mother, and reduced preference for maternal odor with corresponding changes in brain activation. Human results indicated that scarcity-adversity was inversely correlated with sensitive parenting and positively correlated with negative parenting, and that parenting fully mediated the association of poverty-related risk with infant indicators of developmental competence. Findings are discussed from the perspective of the usefulness of bidirectional-translational research to inform interventions for at-risk families.

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The association of socioeconomic status with academic readiness and school achievement is well established. However, the specific contributions of cognitive and social aspects of self-regulation, and potential reciprocal relations between them in the prediction of school readiness and early school achievement have not previously been examined. This study examined mediational processes involving children's executive function (EF) skills at 58 months and Grade 1 (G1) and social competence in Kindergarten (K) and G1, as potential pathways by which early-life poverty-related risks influence Grade 2 (G2) math and reading achievement. Data came from the Family Life Project, which is a prospective longitudinal study of 1,292 children and families followed from birth in primarily low-income, non-urban counties in Pennsylvania (PA) and North Carolina (NC). Autoregressive cross-lagged mediation analyses indicated that EF at 58 months through EF at G1 mediated negative associations between cumulative risk exposure and academic skills, with this pathway mediating 36% of the total effect. Furthermore, social competence at K through EF at G1 mediated negative associations between early-life cumulative socioeconomic risk and academic skills, mediating 16% of the total effect. These findings provide evidence that poverty-related risks can influence school readiness and academic achievement via EF. Additionally, these results provide preliminary support for the premise that social competence through EF is a pathway by which cumulative poverty-related risk predicts early academic competence. Our findings are consistent with studies demonstrating developmental associations between EF and social competence. Furthermore, our findings are consistent with prekindergarten programs for children in poverty that emphasize both cognitive and social aspects of self-regulation.

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BACKGROUND: Stress is a prevailing risk factor for mood-related illnesses, wherein women represent the majority of those affected by major depression. Despite the growing literature suggesting that affective disorders can arise after a traumatic event is vicariously experienced, this relationship remains understudied in female subjects at the preclinical level. Thus, the objective of the current investigation was to examine whether exposure to emotional and/or psychological stress (ES) mediates depression-related outcomes in female mice. METHODS: Female C57BL/6 mice (8 weeks old, null parity) vicariously experienced the defeat bout of a male conspecific, by a male CD1 aggressor, for 10 consecutive days. Twenty-four hours after the last stress exposure, female mice were tested in the social interaction, sucrose preference, tail suspension, or elevated plus maze tests. Furthermore, we examined whether ketamine and chlordiazepoxide, pharmacological agents used to treat mood-related disorders in the clinical population, would reverse the ES-induced social dysfunction. RESULTS: When compared with control mice, female mice exposed to ES displayed decreased social behavior and preference for sucrose, along with increased immobility in the tail suspension test. Also, they displayed higher levels of blood serum corticosterone, as well as decreased body weight. Lastly, the ES-induced avoidance-like phenotype was ameliorated by both ketamine and chlordiazepoxide. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that female mice exposed to ES display a behavioral and physiologic profile that mimics symptoms of depression in the clinical population. As such, this experimental model may be adopted to examine vicarious stress-induced mood-related disorders, as well as pharmacological antidepressant response, in a sex-specific manner.

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Research in nonhuman animals reveals threat-sensitive generalization of defensive behavior that favors widespread generalization when threat intensity is high and limited generalization (i.e., specificity) when threat intensity is low. Here, we used Pavlovian fear conditioning to systematically investigate whether threat intensity widens behavioral generalization gradients to stimuli that decreasingly resemble a learned threat cue. Using a between-subjects design, volunteers underwent fear conditioning with a tone paired with either a high-intensity or low-intensity aversive stimulus prior to a test of fear generalization to novel tones. Results showed no effect of threat intensity on initial acquisition of conditioned fear. However, volunteers who underwent fear conditioning with a high-intensity aversive stimulus exhibited widespread generalization of autonomic arousal (skin conductance responses) as compared to volunteers who received a low-intensity aversive stimulus. These results show a transition from normal (selective) to overgeneralized fear as threat intensity increases, and have implications for understanding overgeneralization characteristic of trauma- and stress-related disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record

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