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The recent DSM5 and ICD-11 diagnostic manuals include provisional grief disorders, yet mechanisms of complicated grief are still debated. Effective coping with bereavement requires flexible oscillation between mental states, thus perseverative internally-oriented thought processes may interfere with successful integration of loss into ongoing life. However, frequency of these mental shifts and how they occur in the brain is unknown. I test the idea that grief adaptation may be related to large-scale brain network configuration during unconstrained thought, using resting state fMRI and an intranasal oxytocin manipulation. Older widowed adults (n = 40) with and without complicated grief participated in two resting state fMRI sessions (oxytocin; placebo) as part of a larger within-subjects crossover study. Group spatial ICA identified resting state functional networks. I examined both static and dynamic functional connectivity between network pairs implicated in my theoretical model. Static functional connectivity between core midline default and cingulo-opercular network components predicted complicated grief symptom scores, controlling for age, sex, and depressive symptoms. Oxytocin increased static connectivity between retrosplenial default network and cingulo-opercular network components for the sample as a whole, but did not differentially impact participants based on complicated grief symptoms. Dynamic functional connectivity analyses identified four cluster centroids (or dynamic “states”) that represent time-varying changes in connections between selected network components. The grief severity x state interaction revealed that participants with higher grief severity spent more time in a dynamic state featuring large positive fluctuations in retrosplenial default network connectivity with right frontoparietal, cingulo-opercular, and midline core default components, indicating that higher-grief participants spent more time in a state characterized by lower network

Modern medicine has allowed individuals with metastatic cancer to live longer than ever before, sometimes extending a patient’s life by several years. However, these individuals are still living with an incurable disease, and therefore live with the awareness of their own upcoming death. In this context, double awareness is a term that refers to a patient’s ability to engage meaningfully in life while also acknowledging and preparing for their death. Understanding this phenomenon holds great potential for supporting individuals living with metastatic and incurable cancers. Double awareness has been conceptualized as a sign of psychological health and is already being studied as a target for change in interventions that seek to support individuals at the end of life. However, until now there has previously been no instrument to measure or quantify this construct. The present study aims to create the first measure of double awareness by conducting a three-phase, mixed-method approach involving (1) instrument development, (2) qualitative inquiry and (3) quantitative analysis and validation. The first two phases have been completed successfully and the third phase remains in progress. Preliminary analyses of the third phase include a sample of 46 patients with metastatic cancer. Data from this sample resulted in a twenty-item, tentative measure called the “Double Awareness Scale”. This instrument has two distinct subscales, which we call Life Engagement and Death Contemplation, each containing ten items. These subscales are not additive, but instead create a “profile” in which an individual can be high or low on either subscale. The Double Awareness Scale demonstrated internal consistency and preliminary evidence for discriminant and convergent validity in this sample. Scores on the Death Contemplation subscale predicted openness to hospice services, indicating that the scale has psychological and behavioral implications for end-of-life care.

Closed-loop neuromodulation is presumed to be the logical evolution for improving the effectiveness of deep brain stimulation (DBS) treatment protocols (Widge a al., 2018). Identifying symptom-relevant biomarkers that provide meaningful feedback to stimulator devices is an important initial step in this direction. This report demonstrates a technique for assaying neural circuitry hypothesized to contribute to OCD and DBS treatment outcomes. We computed phase-lag connectivity between LFPs and EEGs in thirteen treatment-refractory OCD patients. Simultaneous recordings from scalp EEG and externalized DBS electrodes in the ventral capsule/ventral striatum (VC/VS) were collected at rest during the perioperative treatment stage. Connectivity strength between midfrontal EEG sensors and VC/VS electrodes correlated with baseline OCD symptoms and 12-month post-treatment OCD symptoms. Results are qualified by a relatively small sample size, and limitations regarding the conclusiveness of VS and mPFC as neural generators given some concerns about volume conduction. Nonetheless, findings are consistent with treatment-relevant tractography findings and theories that link frontostriatal hyperconnectivity to the etiopathogenesis of OCD. Findings support the continued investigation of connectivity-based assays for aiding in determination of optimal stimulation location, and are an initial step towards the identification of biomarkers that can guide closed-loop neuromodulation systems.

Closed-loop neuromodulation is presumed to be the logical evolution for improving the effectiveness of deep brain stimulation (DBS) treatment protocols (Widge a al., 2018). Identifying symptom-relevant biomarkers that provide meaningful feedback to stimulator devices is an important initial step in this direction. This report demonstrates a technique for assaying neural circuitry hypothesized to contribute to OCD and DBS treatment outcomes. We computed phase-lag connectivity between LFPs and EEGs in thirteen treatment-refractory OCD patients. Simultaneous recordings from scalp EEG and externalized DBS electrodes in the ventral capsule/ventral striatum (VC/VS) were collected at rest during the perioperative treatment stage. Connectivity strength between midfrontal EEG sensors and VC/VS electrodes correlated with baseline OCD symptoms and 12-month post-treatment OCD symptoms. Results are qualified by a relatively small sample size, and limitations regarding the conclusiveness of VS and mPFC as neural generators given some concerns about volume conduction. Nonetheless, findings are consistent with treatment-relevant tractography findings and theories that link frontostriatal hyperconnectivity to the etiopathogenesis of OCD. Findings support the continued investigation of connectivity-based assays for aiding in determination of optimal stimulation location, and are an initial step towards the identification of biomarkers that can guide closed-loop neuromodulation systems.

Memory updating has been established; however, the mechanism supporting this alteration process is subject to disagreement. Reconsolidation theorists argue that memory updating occurs via an old memory becoming reactivated and returned to a state of susceptibility. In this state, newly presented details can become incorporated into the existing memory. As such, memory updating is an effect of old memory reactivation and new information encoding. In contrast, temporal context theory argues that the temporal context in which the old memory was initially formed is reinstated. Newly presented information becomes tagged to the old context. Therefore, at retrieval, when the old context is reinstated again, the initially bound information and the newer information are simultaneously retrieved. Within this theoretical framework, memory modification is the result of retrieval effects. In contrast, this three-paper dissertation provides evidence that reconsolidation is, at least in part, a combined reactivation and encoding effect. In paper 1, I present neural evidence of both old memory reactivation and new encoding, which demonstrates 1) that strength at reactivation predicts the likelihood that a memory will be modified and 2) that greater brain activation during new encoding predicts the extent of accurate recognition. In paper 2, I show that encoding conditions affect the extent to which new information will be misattributed to the old memory. I demonstrate that learners update explicitly encoded memories but not implicitly coded ones. Lastly, in paper 3, I demonstrate that old memories can be reactivated and altered during sleep. When old-memory reactivation is paired with a forget cue, a subsequent degeneration of the memory and its details ensues. In sum, all three papers provide evidence in support of the reconsolidation theory that memory updating occurs during old-memory reactivation and new encoding.

Self-compassion has emerged as a relatively new construct in the psychological sciences, and brought with it potential as an additional psychological dimension of health and well-being (Neff, 2003a; Zessin, Dickhaüser, & Garbade, 2015). Neff's Self-Compassion Scale (SCS; Neff, 2003b) is the most widely-used questionnaire to assess this construct, though has been challenged on the basis of its psychometric properties (Castilho, Pinto-Gouveia, & Duarte, 2015). Ongoing research continues to refute these concerns with the scale's psychometrics (Neff, 2016). To potentially grow the empirical support of the SCS as a meaningful aspect of psychological functioning, exploration of construct validity via multimethod approaches and predictive utility is indicated. The current study investigated self-compassion of recently-separated adults (N = 137) at study entry as assessed using the SCS, which were rated from multiple sources (self and observer) and obtained from multiple sources (in-laboratory and naturalistic environment). The study followed participants over an average of five months, collecting psychological distress measures at five visits, each one month apart. I found preliminary evidence that initial levels of observer-rated self-compassion predict later self-reported psychological functioning, replicating a prior finding in the literature (Sbarra, Smith, & Mehl, 2012), and may do so over and above one's own self-rated self-compassion. Predictive models indicated meaningful effects of particular psychological covariates, such as depression, attachment style, and self-esteem, which may play a role in the relationship between self-compassion and psychological functioning. This research expands current knowledge on self-compassion as a psychological construct and its potential as a protective factor against psychological maladjustment following a major life stressor.

According to Terror Management Theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986) a key function of cultural worldviews is facilitating people's belief that they are different from animals and therefore more than physical creatures fated to obliteration upon death. We sought to investigate the relationship between peoples’ perceived similarity to animals (PSA) and their investment in their ingroup cultural-worldviews, creativity and personal achievement, as ways of managing their awareness of death. We focused on four central hypotheses: (1) high faith in cultural worldviews should reduce PSA; (2) people who view themselves less similar to animals (low-PSA) should be more invested in their cultural worldview, especially after death primes; (3) people who view themselves as more similar to animals (high-PSA), should invest more in personal achievement and creativity as a terror management strategy and (4) be more prone to experience anxiety, particularly after a threat to their creativity. Supporting Hypotheses 1 and 2 we found that: validation of cultural worldviews reduces PSA (Study 1); low-PSA individuals cared more about their ingroup identity and worldviews and perceived other cultures as more different (Studies 2a-2b); after death primes low-PSA individuals defended their groups' cultural worldview more (Studies 3-4), and liked people from other cultures less (Studies 5-6). Hypothesis 3 was partially supported: PSA was positively correlated to importance of creativity, openness and performance on a creativity task (Studies 7, 9 and 10), but it was not correlated with self-reported or projected need for achievement (Studies 7 and 8), or with creative story writing (Studies 8). Hypothesis 4 was also partially supported: PSA was positively related to trait-anxiety (Study 9), and to levels of death thought accessibility (Study 10), and high-PSA individuals experienced more anxiety after receiving negative feedback about their creativity (Study 10). The implicat

Providing care for a frail older adult who is suffering from dementia has been described as a stressful experience that may erode psychological well-being and physical health of caregivers. The burden and stress is increased when the caregivers are themselves elderly. The present study investigated an 8-week stress-reduction program, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and compared it to a similarly structured, alternative behavioral intervention, Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR), to determine if MBSR was as effective or more effective than PMR at reducing subjective burden, symptoms of depression, perceived loneliness or perceived stress among middle-aged and older family caregivers of persons with dementia and other neurocognitive disorders. Twenty-eight participants were randomly assigned to either MBSR or PMR. Self-report and biological measures were collected on five occasions: At the beginning and end of intervention training, and at 8 weeks, 6 months and 1 year following the end of intervention training. In addition to a packet of self-report questionnaires and home-collected salivary cortisol, a laboratory controlled emotional stress test was designed to elicit an emotionally stressful response relevant to caregivers’ experience of caregiving, and facilitate the measurement of stress-related changes in systolic blood pressure and cortisol reactivity. At 1 year post-intervention, the PMR group showed a significantly greater reduction in perceived stress and disruptive patient behaviors. A reduction in emotional reactivity to patient problem behaviors approached significance (p = .08) at 1 year post-intervention for the PMR group. The MBSR group showed significantly greater reductions in self-reported symptoms of depression and perceived isolation from pre- to post-intervention, and those changes remained significant at 8 weeks post-intervention. However, by 1 year post-intervention, interaction effects were non-significant as both groups showed simi

The visual system receives a series of fluctuating light patterns on the retina, yet visual perception is strikingly different from this unorganized and ambiguous input. Thus visual processes must organize the input into coherent units, or objects, and segregate them from others. These processes, collectively called perceptual organization, are fundamental to our ability to perceive and interact with objects in the world. Nevertheless, they are not yet understood, perhaps because serial, hierarchical assumptions that were long held impeded progress. In a series of experiments, this dissertation investigated the mechanisms that contribute to perceptual organization and ultimately to our ability to perceive objects. A new hypothesis is that during the course of object assignment potential objects on either side of a border are accessed on a fast pass of processing and engage in inhibitory competition for object status; the winner is perceived as the object and the loser is suppressed, leading that region to be seen as part of the shapeless background. Previous research suggested that at least shape level representations are accessed on the fast pass of processing before object assignment. In the first series of experiments (Chapter 1), we found that meaning (semantics) is also accessed on the fast pass of processing for regions that are ultimately perceived as shapeless grounds. This finding contradicts traditional feed-forward theories of perception that assumed that meaning is accessed only for figures after object assignment. The experiments in Chapter 2 examine activity in the alpha band of the EEG, which has been used as an index of inhibition. More alpha activity was observed when participants viewed stimuli designed such that there was more competition for figural status from the region ultimately perceived as the ground. The results support the proposal that inhibitory competition occurs during the course of object perception, and these results are the first o

The breakup of a non-marital romantic relationship is a common experience, yet we know little about the factors associated with coping and recovery. Even less is known about the social context in which these breakups occur, such as how the ongoing relationship between two people (who were formerly in a relationship) impacts emotional adjustment. Relationship breakups are not always a definitive event, but rather a process that unfolds over time. By studying these associations, as well as the influence of other supportive people in shaping recovery, research can move beyond individual variables to cast a truly social or interpersonal light on this topic. With this broad goal in mind, my dissertation addresses four specific aims that are designed to: (1) Understand how specific forms of ex-partner contact are associated with variability in emotional adjustment following a romantic breakup; (2) Examine the moderators and mediators of these associations; (3) explore the associations between the social support efforts of close friends/family and participants' emotional adjustment with a specific focus on evaluating the correlates of target participants' received support with respect to informants' reports of support provided; and (4) explore the implications of having a friend/family member report on participants' responses to the separation in altering a target participant's self-report of adjustment over time. One-hundred forty-five (n = 25 men) participants provided reports of contact with ex-partners and emotional adjustment over a 5-week period, half of whom were randomly assigned to participate in the study with an informant. Out of 73 participants in this condition, 48 informants agreed to participate on behalf of their target participant also reporting the participant's ex-partner contact behaviors and emotional adjustment. For men and/or those with high attachment anxiety and avoidance, ex-partner contact is not associated with poorer emotional adjustment. Suppo

Encountering stressors, both chronic and acute, is ubiquitous to the human experience. From a layperson perspective, it should not be difficult to perceive whether someone is experiencing emotional stress: People rely on intuition to modify their interpersonal behavior in order to ensure smooth social interactions. From a research perspective, determining whether someone is experiencing an emotion is more complex. The majority of available evidence indicates that dimensions of emotional responding - physiological, psychological, and behavioral - are largely uncorrelated, which suggests potential moderators. This study addressed four specific aims: How are self-report (SR) and physiological experiences of stress associated? How well do people agree in their perceptions of others' stress? What dimensions of stress - psychological or physiological, or both - do people perceive when evaluating others' psychological states? What is the process by which people intuit others' stress? Ninety participants (targets, n = 31 men) provided SR tension, autonomic physiology, and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) data in the context of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Twenty observers across four conditions (n = 5 - 6 per condition) accessed audio (30 s), video (30 s), or audio-video (~13 min and 30 s) variations of recordings made during the TSSTs, and research assistants coded target facial behavior. Among targets endorsing more depression symptoms, SR tension and IL- 6 were inversely correlated, and SR tension and RSA were positively correlated. Among targets endorsing less depression symptoms, SR tension and physiology were uncorrelated. Observers who accessed audio data (3 conditions) evidenced greater agreement than those who viewed silent video. Across all conditions, observer ratings of target (ORT) tension were consistent with SR tension. ORT tension from the ~13 min audio-video condition predicted SR tension 90 min post-TSST after accounting for SR tension assessed immediately pos