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Empirical examination of the replicability of associations between brain structure and psychological variables.

ABSTRACT: Linking interindividual differences in psychological phenotype to variations in brain structure is an old dream for psychology and a crucial question for cognitive neurosciences. Yet, replicability of the previously-reported 'structural brain behavior' (SBB)-associations has been questioned, recently. Here, we conducted an empirical investigation, assessing replicability of SBB among heathy adults. For a wide range of psychological measures, the replicability of associations with gray matter volume was assessed. Our results revealed that among healthy individuals 1) finding an association between performance at standard psychological tests and brain morphology is relatively unlikely 2) significant associations, found using an exploratory approach, have overestimated effect sizes and 3) can hardly be replicated in an independent sample. After considering factors such as sample size and comparing our findings with more replicable SBB-associations in a clinical cohort and replicable associations between brain structure and non-psychological phenotype, we discuss the potential causes and consequences of these findings.

SUBMITTER: Kharabian Masouleh S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6483597 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Empirical examination of the replicability of associations between brain structure and psychological variables.

Kharabian Masouleh Shahrzad S Eickhoff Simon B SB Hoffstaedter Felix F Genon Sarah S

eLife 20190313

Linking interindividual differences in psychological phenotype to variations in brain structure is an old dream for psychology and a crucial question for cognitive neurosciences. Yet, replicability of the previously-reported 'structural brain behavior' (SBB)-associations has been questioned, recently. Here, we conducted an empirical investigation, assessing replicability of SBB among heathy adults. For a wide range of psychological measures, the replicability of associations with gray matter vol ...[more]

PMID: 30864950

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Project description:Compassion has long been regarded as a core part of our humanity by contemplative traditions, and in recent years, it has received growing research interest. Following a recent review of existing conceptualisations, compassion has been defined as consisting of the following five elements: 1) recognising suffering, 2) understanding the universality of suffering in human experience, 3) feeling moved by the person suffering and emotionally connecting with their distress, 4) tolerating uncomfortable feelings aroused (e.g., fear, distress) so that we remain open to and accepting of the person suffering, and 5) acting or being motivated to act to alleviate suffering. As a prerequisite to developing a high quality compassion measure and furthering research in this field, the current study empirically investigated the factor structure of the five-element definition using a combination of existing and newly generated self-report items. This study consisted of three stages: a systematic consultation with experts to review items from existing self-report measures of compassion and generate additional items (Stage 1), exploratory factor analysis of items gathered from Stage 1 to identify the underlying structure of compassion (Stage 2), and confirmatory factor analysis to validate the identified factor structure (Stage 3). Findings showed preliminary empirical support for a five-factor structure of compassion consistent with the five-element definition. However, findings indicated that the 'tolerating' factor may be problematic and not a core aspect of compassion. This possibility requires further empirical testing. Limitations with items from included measures lead us to recommend against using these items collectively to assess compassion. Instead, we call for the development of a new self-report measure of compassion, using the five-element definition to guide item generation. We recommend including newly generated 'tolerating' items in the initial item pool, to determine whether or not factor-level issues are resolved once item-level issues are addressed.

Project description:A comprehensive analysis of associations between physical fitness and brain structure in young adulthood is lacking, and further, it is unclear the degree to which associations between physical fitness and brain health can be attributed to a common genetic pathway or to environmental factors that jointly influences physical fitness and brain health. This study examined genotype-confirmed monozygotic and dizygotic twins, along with non-twin full-siblings to estimate the contribution of genetic and environmental factors to variation within, and covariation between, physical fitness and brain structure. Participants were 1,065 young adults between the ages of 22 and 36 from open-access Young Adult Human Connectome Project (YA-HCP). Physical fitness was assessed by submaximal endurance (2-min walk test), grip strength, and body mass index. Brain structure was assessed using magnetic resonance imaging on a Siemens 3T customized 'Connectome Skyra' at Washington University in St. Louis, using a 32-channel Siemens head coil. Acquired T1-weighted images provided measures of cortical surface area and thickness, and subcortical volume following processing by the YA-HCP structural FreeSurfer pipeline. Diffusion weighted imaging was acquired to assess white matter tract integrity, as measured by fractional anisotropy, following processing by the YA-HCP diffusion pipeline and tensor fit. Following correction for multiple testing, body mass index was negatively associated with fractional anisotropy in various white matter regions of interest (all | z| statistics > 3.9) and positively associated with cortical thickness within the right superior parietal lobe (z statistic = 4.6). Performance-based measures of fitness (i.e., endurance and grip strength) were not associated with any structural neuroimaging markers. Behavioral genetic analysis suggested that heritability of white matter integrity varied by region, but consistently explained >50% of the phenotypic variation. Heritability of right superior parietal thickness was large (∼75% variation). Heritability of body mass index was also fairly large (∼60% variation). Generally, 12 to 23 of the correlation between brain structure and body mass index could be attributed to heritability effects. Overall, this study suggests that greater body mass index is associated with lower white matter integrity, which may be due to common genetic effects that impact body composition and white matter integrity.

Project description:BackgroundDepression and anxiety result in psychological distress, which can further affect mental status and quality of life in stroke patients. Exploring the associations between positive psychological variables and symptoms of psychological distress following stroke is of great significance for further psychological interventions.MethodsA total of 710 stroke patients from the five largest cities in Liaoning Province in China were enrolled into the present study in July 2014. All patients independently completed the questionnaires with respect to psychological distress and positive psychological variables. Depressive and anxiety symptoms were evaluated using Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, respectively. Positive psychological variables were evaluated using Perceived Social Support Scale, Adult Hope Scale (AHS), General Perceived Self-Efficacy Scale and Resilience Scale-14 (RS-14). Activities of Daily Living (ADL) was measured using Barthel Index. Factors associated with psychological variables and depressive and anxiety symptoms were identified using t-test, ANOVA, correlation and hierarchical linear regression analysis.ResultsDepressive and anxiety symptoms were present in 600 of 710 (84.51%) and 537 of 710 (75.63%) stroke patients enrolled, respectively. Social support (β = - 0.111, p < 0.001) and hope (β = - 0.120, p < 0.001) were negatively associated with both depressive and anxiety symptoms. Resilience (β = - 0.179, p < 0.001) was negatively associated with depressive symptoms. Self-efficacy (β = - 0.135, p < 0.001) was negatively associated with anxiety symptoms. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that ADL accounted for 10.0 and 6.0% of the variance of depressive and anxiety symptoms, respectively. Social support, resilience, self-efficacy and hope as a whole accounted for 7.5 and 5.3% of the variance of depressive and anxiety symptoms.ConclusionsThe high frequency of depressive and anxiety symptoms among Chinese stroke survivors should receive attentions from all stakeholders. Findings suggested that intervention strategies on ADL, social support, hope, resilience and self-efficacy could be developed to improve psychosocial outcomes for stroke survivors.

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Empirical examination of the replicability of associations between brain structure and psychological variables.

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Empirical examination of the replicability of associations between brain structure and psychological variables.

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