| 1. |
- Bernal, Ximena E., et al.
(författare)
-
Empowering Latina scientists
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 363:6429, s. 825-826
-
Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
|
|
| 2. |
- Díaz-Salazar, Carlos, et al.
(författare)
-
The stringent response promotes biofilm dispersal in Pseudomonas putida
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2045-2322. ; 7
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biofilm dispersal is a genetically programmed response enabling bacterial cells to exit the biofilm in response to particular physiological or environmental conditions. In Pseudomonas putida biofilms, nutrient starvation triggers c-di-GMP hydrolysis by phosphodiesterase BifA, releasing inhibition of protease LapG by the c-di-GMP effector protein LapD, and resulting in proteolysis of the adhesin LapA and the subsequent release of biofilm cells. Here we demonstrate that the stringent response, a ubiquitous bacterial stress response, is accountable for relaying the nutrient stress signal to the biofilm dispersal machinery. Mutants lacking elements of the stringent response – (p)ppGpp sythetases [RelA and SpoT] and/or DksA – were defective in biofilm dispersal. Ectopic (p)ppGpp synthesis restored biofilm dispersal in a ∆relA ∆spoT mutant. In vivo gene expression analysis showed that (p)ppGpp positively regulates transcription of bifA, and negatively regulates transcription of lapA and the lapBC, and lapE operons, encoding a LapA-specific secretion system. Further in vivo and in vitro characterization revealed that the PbifA promoter is dependent on the flagellar σ factor FliA, and positively regulated by ppGpp and DksA. Our results indicate that the stringent response stimulates biofilm dispersal under nutrient limitation by coordinately promoting LapA proteolysis and preventing de novo LapA synthesis and secretion.
|
|
| 3. |
- Espinosa, Lisa, et al.
(författare)
-
Enhanced social learning of threat in adults with autism
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Molecular Autism. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2040-2392. ; 11:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Recent theories have linked autism to challenges in prediction learning and social cognition. It is unknown, however, how autism affects learning about threats from others "demonstrators"through observation, which contains predictive learning based on social information. The aims of this study are therefore to investigate social fear learning in individual with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and to examine whether typically developing social cognition is necessary for successful observational learning. Methods: Adults with ASD (n = 23) and neurotypical controls (n = 25) completed a social fear learning (SFL) procedure in which participants watched a "demonstrator"receiving electrical shocks in conjunction with a previously neutral conditioned stimulus (CS+), but never with a safe control stimulus (CS-). Skin conductance was used to measure autonomic responses of learned threat responses to the CS+ versus CS-. Visual attention was measured during learning using eye tracking. To establish a non-social learning baseline, each participant also underwent a test of Pavlovian conditioning. Results: During learning, individuals with ASD attended less to the demonstrator's face, and when later tested, displayed stronger observational, but not Pavlovian, autonomic indices of learning (skin conductance) compared to controls. In controls, both higher levels of attention to the demonstrator's face and trait empathy predicted diminished expressions of learning during test. Limitations: The relatively small sample size of this study and the typical IQ range of the ASD group limit the generalizability of our findings to individuals with ASD in the average intellectual ability range. Conclusions: The enhanced social threat learning in individuals with ASD may be linked to difficulties using visual attention and mental state attributions to downregulate their emotion.
|
|
| 4. |
- Espinosa, Laura, et al.
(författare)
-
Epitweetr : Early warning of public health threats using Twitter data
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Eurosurveillance. - 1025-496X .- 1560-7917. ; 27:39
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) systematically collates information from sources to rapidly detect early public health threats. The lack of a freely available, customisable and automated early warning tool using data from Twitter prompted the ECDC to develop epitweetr, which collects, geotocates and aggregates tweets generating signals and email alerts. Aim: This study aims to compare the performance of epitweetr to manually monitoring tweets for the purpose of early detecting public health threats. Methods: We calculated the general and specific positive predictive value (PPV) of signals generated by epitweetr between 19 October and 30 November 2020. Sensitivity, specificity, timeliness and accuracy and performance of tweet geolocation and signal detection algorithms obtained from epitweetr and the manual monitoring of 1,200 tweets were compared. Results: The epitweetr geolocation algorithm had an accuracy of 30.1% at national, and 25.9% at subnational levels. The signal detection algorithm had 3.0% general PPV and 74.6% specific PPV. Compared to manual monitoring, epitweetr had greater sensitivity (47.9% and 78.6%, respectively), and reduced PPV (97.9% and 74.6%, respectively). Median validation time difference between 16 common events detected by epitweetr and manual monitoring was -48.6 hours (IQR: -102.8 to -23.7). Conclusion: Epitweetr has shown sufficient performance as an early warning toot for public health threats using Twitter data. Since epitweetr is a free, open-source tool with configurable settings and a strong automated component, it is expected to increase in usability and usefulness to public health experts.
|
|
| 5. |
- Espinosa, Lisa, et al.
(författare)
-
Pavlovian threat conditioning can generate intrusive memories that persist over time
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Behaviour Research and Therapy. - : Elsevier. - 0005-7967 .- 1873-622X. ; 157
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although Pavlovian threat conditioning has proven to be a useful translational model for the development of anxiety disorders, it remains unknown if this procedure can generate intrusive memories - a symptom of many anxiety-related disorders, and whether intrusions persist over time. Social support has been related to better adjustment after trauma however, experimental evidence regarding its effect on the development of anxietyrelated symptoms is sparse. We had two aims: to test whether threat conditioning generates intrusive memories, and whether different social support interactions impacted expression of emotional memories. Non-clinical participants (n = 81) underwent threat conditioning to neutral stimuli. Participants were then assigned to a supportive, unsupportive, or no social interaction group, and asked to report intrusive memories for seven days. As predicted, threat conditioning can generate intrusions, with greater number of intrusions of CS+ (M = 2.35, SD = 3.09) than CS- (M = 1.39, SD = 2.17). Contrary to predictions, compared to no social interaction, supportive social interaction did not reduce, and unsupportive interaction did not increase skin conductance of learned threat or number of intrusions. Unsupportive interaction resulted in a relative difference in number of intrusions to CS + vs CS-, suggesting that unsupportive interaction might have increased image-based threat memories. Intrusions were still measurable one year after conditioning (one-year follow-up; n = 54), when individuals with higher trait anxiety and greater number of previous trauma experiences reported more intrusions. Our findings show that threat conditioning can create long-lasting intrusions, offering a novel experimental psychopathology model of intrusive memories with implications for both research on learning and clinical applications.
|
|
| 6. |
- Espinosa, Lisa, et al.
(författare)
-
Reading others' social appraisals after viewing an aversive film online impacts mood but not intrusive memories
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Journal of Anxiety Disorders. - : Elsevier. - 0887-6185 .- 1873-7897. ; 99
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Exposure to aversive footage online can affect our well-being, but to what extent does reading others' appraisals of this content modulate our affective responses? In a pre-registered online study (N = 170), we used a digital trauma film paradigm as an analogue for the naturalistic exposure to aversive visual content online. We investigated whether online social reappraisal about the film influenced acute affective responses and subsequent intrusive memories. First, we examined whether the digital trauma film paradigm induced similar affective responses as in-lab experiments (within-subjects; change in negative mood and intrusive memories of the film during seven days). Participants reported a negative mood change and experienced intrusive memories of the film, extending findings from in-lab experiments. Next, we tested a social reappraisal manipulation that provides written comments from (fictitious) previous participants (between-subjects; reading positive, negative, or no comments) modulated participants' affective responses. As predicted, relative to controls and negative comments, reading positive comments decreased negative mood. However, reading negative comments did not increase negative mood. Contrary to predictions, the social reappraisal manipulation did not modulate the number of intrusive memories. Findings suggest the benefit of positive social reappraisal for mitigating negative mood, but not intrusive memories following aversive film content online.
|
|
| 7. |
- Espinosa, Lisa
(författare)
-
Social influences on affective responses to negative experiences
- 2023
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- As social human beings, the way we emotionally respond to what happens around us is often regulated by our interactions with others. The overall aim of this thesis is to advance the understanding of how social influences surrounding negative experiences can affect the formation, regulation and transfer of affective responses. Throughout four studies, we examined the impact of different kinds of social influences (face-to-face and online) surrounding various negative experiences (experimental analogues for trauma experiences), and how these social influences impact affective responses (from self-reported measures to physiological responses). In Study I, dyads of participants underwent a vicarious threat conditioning paradigm to investigate whether physiological synchrony between them during learning predicted the strength of observationally acquired conditioned responses and examine the potential role of trait empathy. As predicted, increased physiological synchronization during learning led to a stronger CS differentiation during the test phase, but unlike our predictions, self-reported empathy was not found to be related to physiological coupling. These findings support the role of social influences in the formation of affective responses and indicate that the physiological synchrony captured here may be more related to experience sharing rather than individuals’ tendency to empathize with others. Study II tested whether threat conditioning generated persistent intrusive memories of neutral stimuli, and whether different social support interactions after threat acquisition modulated the expression of emotional memories, as measured by skin-conductance responses and number of intrusive memories. Social support interactions consisted of two social support conditions (supportive social interaction versus unsupportive social interaction) and a control group (no social interaction). Our results indicated that threat conditioning generated intrusive memories, with greater number of intrusions of CS+ than CS- and these intrusive memories were still measurable one year later, especially for individuals with higher trait anxiety and a greater number of previous trauma experiences. Our findings support the literature indicating the contribution of associative processes in the formation of intrusive memories and demonstrate the advantage of adding the measure of intrusive memories to a standard Pavlovian threat conditioning paradigm for investigating short and long term intrusive memories. Finally, these findings suggest that the specific the support interactions used in this study might not modulate the processes underlying memory consolidation and call attention to the difficulty of operationalizing social support interactions in an experimental context. Study III is composed of two online sub-studies investigating the social transmission of threat and safety evaluations. In sub-study 1, we combined behavioral and computational modeling approaches to estimate the influence of others’ online evaluations of negative pictures on participant’s own evaluations. In sub-study 2, we replicated these findings and further demonstrated that others’ evaluations led participants to shift their affective response to these pictures. Interestingly, seeing that others evaluate pictures as safe resulted in individuals feeling less distressed towards these pictures, suggesting that the observation of social safety cues online could attenuate the spread of negative emotions. Our findings offer a mechanism for how people integrate their own and others’ experiences when exposed to emotional content online. Furthermore, knowing how threat and safety information propagate online and its impact on people’s wellbeing could be an important tool to prevent the impact of the spread of threatening information online. Study IV asked whether using the trauma film paradigm in an online setting could induce similar emotional responses as in-lab experiments. We also tested whether reading previous participants’ appraisals after watching the trauma film modulated participants’ emotional responses, as measured by changes in negative mood and number of intrusive memories during the subsequent seven days. The trauma film online replicated previous in-lab results, although with a somewhat lower mean number of intrusive memories. Our results indicated that reading positive comments after watching the film decreased negative mood, compared to reading negative comments or no comments. Reading others’ appraisal did not modulate the number of intrusive memories. These results demonstrate that the digital version of the trauma film paradigm can be used as an experimental analogue for exposure to aversive content online and enables the experimental investigation of how such content impacts mental health. Moreover, our findings indicate an improvement of mood following the exposure to negative visual content through positive social reappraisal, paving the way towards this goal. These four studies demonstrate that vast range of ways in which social interactions influence affective responses, from verbal to non-verbal exchanges in both face-to-face and online settings. Our work also illustrates the complexity of experimentally investigating social influences and the specific processes involved.
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
- Knapton, Holly, et al.
(författare)
-
Belonging for violence: Personality, football fandom, and spectator aggression
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Nordic Psychology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1901-2276 .- 1904-0016. ; 70:4, s. 278-289
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- © 2018 The Editors of Nordic Psychology Spectator violence is an issue that affects many football matches in Sweden and other countries. Different models have tried to explain why individuals participate in sports fandom and associated behaviors. However, often these models ignore social and individual factors that may impact if and why individuals participate in spectator violence. Outgroup violence can be motivated by pro-social concerns for ingroup acceptance. We argue that outgroup violence among football supporters may be used as a marker of ingroup loyalty and attachment. A survey of 350 male Swedish football supporters was conducted to assess their levels of need to belong, rejection sensitivity, and willingness to engage in violence. A hierarchal regression analysis showed a significant interaction, such that individuals with a high need to belong and who are sensitive to rejection are more willing to engage in violence against an opposing team. The results provide important insights into the social dynamics of intergroup violence and spectator violence. We extend upon existing theory by adding this social personality perspective to show the importance of individual differences in belongingness needs as a driver for participation in spectator violence.
|
|
| 10. |
- Singh, Laura, et al.
(författare)
-
Developing thinking around mental health science : the example of intrusive, emotional mental imagery after psychological trauma
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Cognitive Neuropsychiatry. - : Routledge. - 1354-6805 .- 1464-0619. ; 25:5, s. 348-363
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: One route to advancing psychological treatments is to harness mental health science, a multidisciplinary approach including individuals with lived experience and end users (e.g., Holmes, E. A., Craske, M. G., & Graybiel, A. M. (2014). Psychological treatments: A call for mental-health science. Nature, 511(7509), 287–289. doi:10.1038/511287a). While early days, we here illustrate a line of research explored by our group—intrusive imagery-based memories after trauma.Method/Results: We illustrate three possible approaches through which mental health science may stimulate thinking around psychological treatment innovation. First, focusing on single/specific target symptoms rather than full, multifaceted psychiatric diagnoses (e.g., intrusive trauma memories rather than all of posttraumatic stress disorder). Second, investigating mechanisms that can be modified in treatment (treatment mechanisms), rather than those which cannot (e.g., processes only linked to aetiology). Finally, exploring novel ways of delivering psychological treatment (peer-/self-administration), given the prevalence of mental health problems globally, and the corresponding need for effective interventions that can be delivered at scale and remotely for example at times of crisis (e.g., current COVID-19 pandemic).Conclusions: These three approaches suggest options for potential innovative avenues through which mental health science may be harnessed to recouple basic and applied research and transform treatment development.
|
|
