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| 2. |
- Pötzelsberger, Elisabeth, et al.
(författare)
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Biotic threats for 23 major non-native tree species in Europe
- 2021
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Ingår i: Scientific Data. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2052-4463. ; 8:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- For non-native tree species with an origin outside of Europe a detailed compilation of enemy species including the severity of their attack is lacking up to now. We collected information on native and non-native species attacking non-native trees, i.e. type, extent and time of first observation of damage for 23 important non-native trees in 27 European countries. Our database includes about 2300 synthesised attack records (synthesised per biotic threat, tree and country) from over 800 species. Insects (49%) and fungi (45%) are the main observed biotic threats, but also arachnids, bacteria including phytoplasmas, mammals, nematodes, plants and viruses have been recorded. This information will be valuable to identify patterns and drivers of attacks, and trees with a lower current health risk to be considered for planting. In addition, our database will provide a baseline to which future impacts on non-native tree species could be compared with and thus will allow to analyse temporal trends of impacts.
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| 3. |
- Costache, Madalina Elena, et al.
(författare)
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Higher- and lower-order personality traits and cluster subtypes in social anxiety disorder
- 2020
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE. - 1932-6203. ; 15:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Social anxiety disorder (SAD) can come in different forms, presenting problems for diagnostic classification. Here, we examined personality traits in a large sample of patients (N = 265) diagnosed with SAD in comparison to healthy controls (N = 164) by use of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP). In addition, we identified subtypes of SAD based on cluster analysis of the NEO-PI-R Big Five personality dimensions. Significant group differences in personality traits between patients and controls were noted on all Big Five dimensions except agreeableness. Group differences were further noted on most lower-order facets of NEO-PI-R, and nearly all KSP variables. A logistic regression analysis showed, however, that only neuroticism and extraversion remained significant independent predictors of patient/control group when controlling for the effects of the other Big Five dimensions. Also, only neuroticism and extraversion yielded large effect sizes when SAD patients were compared to Swedish normative data for the NEO-PI-R. A two-step cluster analysis resulted in three separate clusters labelled Prototypical (33%), Introvert-Conscientious (29%), and Instable-Open (38%) SAD. Individuals in the Prototypical cluster deviated most on the Big Five dimensions and they were at the most severe end in profile analyses of social anxiety, self-rated fear during public speaking, trait anxiety, and anxiety-related KSP variables. While additional studies are needed to determine if personality subtypes in SAD differ in etiological and treatment-related factors, the present results demonstrate considerable personality heterogeneity in socially anxious individuals, further underscoring that SAD is a multidimensional disorder.
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| 4. |
- Faria, Vanda, et al.
(författare)
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Do You Believe It? Verbal Suggestions Influence the Clinical and Neural Effects of Escitalopram in Social Anxiety Disorder : A Randomized Trial
- 2017
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Ingår i: EBioMedicine. - : Elsevier BV. - 2352-3964. ; 24, s. 179-188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are commonly prescribed for depression and anxiety, but their efficacy relative to placebo has been questioned. We aimed to test how manipulation of verbally induced expectancies, central for placebo, influences SSRI treatment outcome and brain activity in patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD).Methods: We did a randomized clinical trial, within an academic medical center (Uppsala, Sweden), of individuals fulfilling the DSM-IV criteria for SAD, recruited through media advertising. Participants were 18 years or older and randomized in blocks, through a computer-generated sequence by an independent party, to nine weeks of overt or covert treatment with escitalopram(20 mg daily). The overt group received correct treatment information whereas the covert group was treated deceptively with the SSRI described, by the psychiatrist, as active placebo. The treating psychiatrist was necessarily unmasked while the research staff was masked from intervention assignment. Treatment efficacy was assessed primarily with the self-rated Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS-SR), administered at week 0, 1, 3, 6 and 9, also yielding a dichotomous estimate of responder status (clinically significant improvement). Before and at the last week of treatment, brain activity during an emotional face-matching task was assessed with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and during fMRI sessions, anticipatory speech anxiety was also assessed with the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory - State version (STAI-S). Analyses included all randomized patients with outcome data at posttreatment. This study is registered at ISRCTN, number 98890605.Findings: Between March 17th 2014 and May 22nd 2015, 47 patients were recruited. One patient in the covert group dropped out after a few days of treatment and did not provide fMRI data, leaving 46 patients with complete outcome data. After nine weeks of treatment, overt (n = 24) as compared to covert (n = 22) SSRI administration yielded significantly better outcome on the LSAS-SR (adjusted difference 21.17, 95% CI 10.69–31.65, p < 0.0001) with more than three times higher response rate (50% vs. 14%; χ2(1) = 6.91, p = 0.009) and twice the effect size (d = 2.24 vs. d = 1.13) from pre-to posttreatment. There was no significant between-group difference on anticipatory speech anxiety (STAI-S), both groups improving with treatment. No serious adverse reactions were recorded. On fMRI outcomes, there was suggestive evidence for a differential neural response to treatment between groups in the posterior cingulate, superior temporal and inferior frontal gyri (all z thresholds exceeding 3.68, p ≤ 0.001). Reduced social anxiety with treatment correlated significantly with enhanced posterior cingulate (z threshold 3.24, p = 0.0006) and attenuated amygdala (z threshold 2.70, p = 0.003) activity.Interpretation: The clinical and neural effects of escitalopram were markedly influenced by verbal suggestions. This points to a pronounced placebo component in SSRI-treatment of SAD and favors a biopsychosocial over a biomedical explanatory model for SSRI efficacy.
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| 5. |
- Hjorth, Olof, et al.
(författare)
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Expectancy effects on serotonin and dopamine transporters during SSRI treatment of social anxiety disorder : a randomized clinical trial
- 2021
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Ingår i: Translational Psychiatry. - : Springer Nature. - 2158-3188. ; 11:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It has been extensively debated whether selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are more efficacious than placebo in affective disorders, and it is not fully understood how SSRIs exert their beneficial effects. Along with serotonin transporter blockade, altered dopamine signaling and psychological factors may contribute. In this randomized clinical trial of participants with social anxiety disorder (SAD) we investigated how manipulation of verbally-induced expectancies, vital for placebo response, affect brain monoamine transporters and symptom improvement during SSRI treatment. Twenty-seven participants with SAD (17 men, 10 women), were randomized, to 9 weeks of overt or covert treatment with escitalopram 20 mg. The overt group received correct treatment information whereas the covert group was treated deceptively with escitalopram, described as an active placebo in a cover story. Before and after treatment, patients underwent positron emission tomography (PET) assessments with the [C-11]DASB and [C-11]PE2I radiotracers, probing brain serotonin (SERT) and dopamine (DAT) transporters. SAD symptoms were measured by the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale. Overt was superior to covert SSRI treatment, resulting in almost a fourfold higher rate of responders. PET results showed that SERT occupancy after treatment was unrelated to anxiety reduction and equally high in both groups. In contrast, DAT binding decreased in the right putamen, pallidum, and the left thalamus with overt SSRI treatment, and increased with covert treatment, resulting in significant group differences. DAT binding potential changes in these regions correlated negatively with symptom improvement. Findings support that the anxiolytic effects of SSRIs involve psychological factors contingent on dopaminergic neurotransmission while serotonin transporter blockade alone is insufficient for clinical response.
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| 6. |
- Hjorth, Olof, et al.
(författare)
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Expression and co-expression of serotonin and dopamine transporters in social anxiety disorder : a multitracer positron emission tomography study
- 2021
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Ingår i: Molecular Psychiatry. - : Springer Nature. - 1359-4184 .- 1476-5578. ; 26:8, s. 3970-3979
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Serotonin and dopamine are putatively involved in the etiology and treatment of anxiety disorders, but positron emission tomography (PET) studies probing the two neurotransmitters in the same individuals are lacking. The aim of this multitracer PET study was to evaluate the regional expression and co-expression of the transporter proteins for serotonin (SERT) and dopamine (DAT) in patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD). Voxel-wise binding potentials (BPND) for SERT and DAT were determined in 27 patients with SAD and 43 age- and sex-matched healthy controls, using the radioligands [11C]DASB (3-amino-4-(2-dimethylaminomethylphenylsulfanyl)-benzonitrile) and [11C]PE2I (N-(3-iodopro-2E-enyl)-2beta-carbomethoxy-3beta-(4'-methylphenyl)nortropane). Results showed that, within transmitter systems, SAD patients exhibited higher SERT binding in the nucleus accumbens while DAT availability in the amygdala, hippocampus, and putamen correlated positively with symptom severity. At a more lenient statistical threshold, SERT and DAT BPND were also higher in other striatal and limbic regions in patients, and correlated with symptom severity, whereas no brain region showed higher binding in healthy controls. Moreover, SERT/DAT co-expression was significantly higher in SAD patients in the amygdala, nucleus accumbens, caudate, putamen, and posterior ventral thalamus, while lower co-expression was noted in the dorsomedial thalamus. Follow-up logistic regression analysis confirmed that SAD diagnosis was significantly predicted by the statistical interaction between SERT and DAT availability, in the amygdala, putamen, and dorsomedial thalamus. Thus, SAD was associated with mainly increased expression and co-expression of the transporters for serotonin and dopamine in fear and reward-related brain regions. Resultant monoamine dysregulation may underlie SAD symptomatology and constitute a target for treatment.
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| 7. |
- Hoppe, Johanna M., 1981-
(författare)
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Emotional mental imagery and the reduction of fear within the mind’s eye
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Mental imagery refers to sensory-perceptual experiences in the absence of external sensory input. Emotional mental imagery (i.e., imagery with emotional content) is a key feature in many mental disorders, such as the image-based intrusive memories of trauma in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, mental imagery can also be a vehicle for emotional change. In imaginal exposure, fear-provoking events are revisited using mental imagery. Imaginal exposure is a core component in evidence-based therapies for anxiety and PTSD. Treatment development is needed, as effects are many times insufficient, accessibility is low, and the treatment is not well-tolerated by some patients. The aim of this thesis was to increase knowledge of underlying mechanisms of imaginal exposure and improve our understanding of emotional mental imagery. The thesis explored the neural underpinnings of imaginal exposure and investigated mechanisms that could enhance its effectiveness, accessibility and tolerability. To further our knowledge of intrusive memories in PTSD (i.e., involuntary mental imagery), the characteristics of trauma memory hotspots (worst moments) collected within the first hours after trauma were explored. Study I demonstrated that imaginal exposure to mental imagery of phobic (vs. neutral) stimuli robustly activated emotion-processing brain areas. Study I also revealed that a brief 10-minute session of imaginal exposure was associated with reduced fear one week later. Study II investigated the link between vividness (clarity and liveliness) of mental imagery during imaginal exposure and reduction of fear using an experimental analogue of imaginal exposure (imaginal extinction). No evidence was found that high imagery vividness during imaginal extinction was associated with better long-term reduction in physiological fear responses than lower vividness. Study III revealed that hotspots collected soon after trauma are expressed as motion-rich sensory-perceptual experiences (mental imagery) with little detail on emotion/cognition. The contributions of this thesis involve demonstrating that mental imagery has the power to elicit emotional responses at subjective, physiological and neural levels and suggesting new avenues for treatment development. Future studies should explore the benefits of briefer imaginal exposure sessions to improve the effectiveness and accessibility of imaginal exposure. Future studies should also examine if fear reduction can be obtained with less vivid imaginal exposure, which could help attenuate distress and thereby make imaginal exposure tolerable for more patients. Lastly, the dynamic and visuospatial nature of newly formed trauma memory hotspots may help elucidate mechanisms through which tasks conducted posttrauma can prevent intrusive memories.
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| 8. |
- Hoppe, Johanna M., et al.
(författare)
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Exploring the neural basis of fear produced by mental imagery : imaginal exposure in individuals fearful of spiders
- 2021
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Ingår i: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : Royal Society. - 0962-8436 .- 1471-2970. ; 376:1817
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Imaginal exposure, i.e. reducing fear using exposure to mental imagery, is a widely used psychological treatment technique for dysfunctional fears. Yet, little is known about its underlying neural mechanisms. The present study examines the neural basis of imaginal exposure using a novel experimental procedure consisting of repeated exposure to flashpoint mental imagery of phobic (spiders) and neutral (gloves) stimuli. Whether the 10 min long imaginal exposure procedure could reduce fear responses was examined one week later. Thirty participants fearful of spiders underwent the experimental procedure. Neural activity was assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging (session 1). Subjective fear and skin conductance responses were measured throughout the study (sessions 1 and 2). Imaginal exposure evoked intense fear and heightened skin conductance responses, and indicated robust activation in several brain regions, including amygdala, midcingulate cortex and insula. Findings demonstrate that neural activity in fear-processing brain areas can be elicited solely by generating a mental image of a phobic stimulus, that is, in the absence of the percept. Relevant for treatment development, results reveal that a single 10 min session of brief exposures to flashpoint mental imagery can lead to lasting reductions in phobic fear at both the subjective and physiological levels.This article is part of the theme issue 'Offline perception: voluntary and spontaneous perceptual experiences without matching external stimulation'.
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| 9. |
- Hoppe, Johanna M., et al.
(författare)
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Hotspots in the immediate aftermath of trauma : Mental imagery of worst moments highlighting time, space and motion
- 2022
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Ingår i: Consciousness and Cognition. - : Elsevier. - 1053-8100 .- 1090-2376. ; 99
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Intrusive memories of trauma (memories that enter consciousness involuntarily) highjack cognitive processing, cause emotional distress, and represent a core symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder. Intrusive memories often contain the worst moment/s (‘hotspots’) of the trauma memory. Little is known about hotspots shortly after they are formed, i.e., in the first hours after trauma. We investigated the features of hotspots in trauma-exposed individuals (n = 21) within 72 h post-trauma, using linguistic analysis and qualitative coding. On average, participants reported three hotspots per traumatic event (M = 7.8 words/hotspot). Hotspots primarily contained words related to time, space, motion, and sensory processing. Most hotspots contained sensory features (97%) and motion (59%). Few cognitions and no emotion words were identified. Results indicate that hotspots collected shortly post-trauma are expressed as motion-rich sensory-perceptual experiences (mental imagery) with little detail about emotion/cognition. Findings are discussed in terms of the function of hotspots (e.g., preparedness for action) and clinical implications.
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| 10. |
- Hoppe, Johanna M., et al.
(författare)
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Imaginal extinction and the vividness of mental imagery : Exploring the reduction of fear within the mind’s eye
- 2022
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Ingår i: Behavioural Brain Research. - : Elsevier. - 0166-4328 .- 1872-7549. ; 418
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Patients are encouraged to produce vivid mental imagery during imaginal exposure, as it is assumed to promote fear reduction. Nevertheless, the link between fear reduction and imagery vividness is unclear. We investigated the impact of vividness on fear responses using an experimental analogue of imaginal exposure - imaginal extinction - in which conditioned fear, measured with skin conductance, is reduced through exposure to mental imagery of the conditioned stimulus. We examined (1) if task-specific vividness (high vs low) of the conditioned stimulus during imaginal extinction moderated the reduction of fear responses, and (2) if task-specific vividness influenced remaining fear responses 24 h later. Findings suggest that high vividness may be advantageous for fear reduction during imaginal extinction, but it may not influence fear responses in the longer term. A possible clinical implication is that high imagery vividness during imaginal exposure may not be vital for overall treatment outcome. As high vividness is associated with increased levels of distress, a future direction would be to explore whether similar fear reduction can be obtained with less vivid imaginal exposure and thereby make treatment tolerable for more patients.
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