Autismspektrumtillstånd (AST), är ett spektrum av funktionsvariationer som visar sig i sociala-, emotionella- samt empatiska interaktioner. AST-personers tolkning samt brist i inkännandet av andra personer bidrar till sociala-, empatiska-, samt emotionella problem. Resultat presenterade från kognitiv neurovetenskap studier visar positiv korrelation för förmågan att mentalisera, även känt som Theory of Mind (ToM), och hjärnregionen mediala prefrontala hjärnbarken (mPFC) som modererar, det vill säga styr sociala beteenden, exekutiva funktioner (handlingsförmågan) samt tolkningen av andra människors mentala tillstånd. Prefrontala hjärnregioner samt limbiska systemet visar på positiv korrelation till empatiska-, emotionella- samt sociala förmågor. Huvudfråga för denna systematiska översikt var hur personer med AST påverkas socialt, empatiskt samt emotionellt i interventionsutövandet av ToM och sociala förmågor. Fem studier fokuserade på AST-personer (vuxna, unga vuxna eller barn) och deras förmågor inom sociala-, empatiska- samt emotionella områden. Olika interventionsprogram (ToM och sociala förmågor) och mätningsinstrument bidrog till resultat gällande AST-deltagares potentiella utveckling. Slutresultaten visade på varierat utfall gällande vilka interventionsprogram som bidrog till ökad social-, empatisk- eller emotionell förståelse, vilket slutligen demonstrerade att mer empirisk data anses nödvändig inom AST-forskningen.

This systematic review aims to investigate the effects of aerobic exercise on the neuroal basis of memory functions in healthy elderly individuals. The search was conducted in accordance with PRISMA and covered three electronic databases, namely PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, for peer-reviewed published, and original research. Six studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The studies utilized various behavioral or cognitive tasks related to memory, including the Sternberg Working Memory Task, Spatial Memory tests, and neuroimaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This systematic review suggests that aerobic exercise can improve memory in healthy elderly individuals, including spatial, working, and short- and long-term memory. As revealed by neuroimaging techniques, memory function improvement was accompanied by changes in brain structure and function in memory-processing regions. These findings provide evidence that aerobic exercise can improve the neurological basis of memory function in healthy elderly individuals. The beneficial effects of aerobic exercise on memory have significant implications for the aged population. Memory loss is a common and often debilitating issue in older adults, and the ability to recall and learn new information is crucial for maintaining independence and quality of life. Therefore, aerobic exercise is a promising intervention to improve memory function in healthy elderly individuals.

This systematic review aims to investigate the alterations in gray matter volume (GMV) observed in the brains of individuals diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through the Clinical Administered PTSD scale (CAPS) using Voxel-Based Morphometry (VBM) as a method. PTSD is diagnosed when an individual meets all the criteria for PTSD as defined by the DSM, which includes having experienced or witnessed a traumatic event, experiencing intrusive symptoms such as flashbacks or nightmares, avoiding triggers related to the trauma, experiencing negative changes in mood and cognition, and experiencing changes in arousal and reactivity. Previous research investigating gray matter alterations in patients with PTSD has yielded heterogeneous findings. The review incorporates a comprehensive search and analysis of pertinent studies conducted between 1995 and the present. Diverse databases were scrutinized to identify articles that fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Ultimately, a total of seven articles meeting our inclusion criteria were included in this systematic review. The sample sizes ranged from 30 to 75 participants. The control groups in the chosen articles varied, some only had healthy controls (HC), while some had trauma-exposed controls (TC) or included both. The results consistently revealed a reduction in GMV predominantly in the hippocampus, with additional areas exhibiting decreased GMV such as the bilateral hypothalamus and left inferior parietal lobule, right middle temporal gyrus, right inferior temporal gyrus, and right fusiform gyrus, as well as the bilateral calcarine cortex, left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, left anterior cingulate cortex, and bilateral insula.

Performance monitoring is a crucial metacognitive function that allows for adaptive behaviour. Electrophysiological studies on error monitoring specifically, have shown how error trials in different tasks elicit two distinct signatures, the error-related negativity (ERN) and the error positivity (Pe). While studies find a robust relation between error awareness and the Pe, results regarding error awareness and the ERN are more divergent. Also, no agreement has been reached on the mechanisms that elicit these signals. This meta-analysis aims to explore the relation between these electrophysiological signatures and error awareness and how disparities in study design might explain divergent study results. Two meta-analyses were conducted and found a significant effect-size for error awareness on both the ERN and the Pe. Subgroup analyses were conducted to explore how different study-characteristics can influence these outcomes. Although no effects were found, these results remain mainly inconclusive since the number of included studies was very low, and their study designs quite similar.

The ability to regulate emotions is essential for human well-being. Among posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients, the capability to control emotions is impaired. Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy is a recommended treatment for patients diagnosed with PTSD. Usually, cognitive reappraisal is considered the primary regulation technique in cognitive behavioral therapy treatment. The strategy aims to decrease negative or increase positive emotions by changing the interpretation of an event to alter the meaning of the situation. The aim of this thesis was to conduct a systematic review of the neural correlates of cognitive reappraisal among post-traumatic stress disorder patients. Through a systematic search, screening, and selection process out of initial 545 articles, six studies were included for data extraction and discussion. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, participants utilized the strategy of cognitive reappraisal during an emotion regulation task in the scanner. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the neural activity of the participants in the included studies was compared during a cognitive reappraisal task. The result revealed a tendency of decreased activity in prefrontal cortices in PTSD patients during reappraisal compared to controls, indicating deficient recruitment of prefrontal cortices in PTSD patients during reappraisal.

Autistic traits are a composition of behavioral constructs that encompasses social functioning, communication, and rigid and repetitive behaviors that might impact an individual’s quality of life. The specificity of these traits is not yet fully understood, nor which traits that might be most debilitating for autistic people. We recruited 366 participants, out of which 78 were diagnosed as autistic, and measured levels of different character traits as well as their quality of life. We ran a Bayesian regression model and found extreme evidence that the behavioral constructs of prosopagnosia, social anhedonia, alexithymia and cognitive empathy contribute to autistic social functioning, while affective empathy did not seem to contribute to the same extent. To estimate the effect of each construct on quality of life we employed Causal Inference methodology and found likely effects of social anhedonia (-0.131 [-0.248, 0.00]) and alexithymia (-0.255 [-0.37, -0.154]). Therefore, both social anhedonia and alexithymia might be effective targets for intervention for autistic people struggling with social functioning.

Frontal Alpha Asymmetry (FAA) has been associated with individual differences such as various aspects of personality. However, the nature of the relationship between FAA and personality traits is not yet fully understood. The present study further investigated this relationship by exploring the correlation between resting-state FAA and the Big Five personality traits: openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and neuroticism. 15 healthy participants completed resting-state EEG recordings three times and the Big Five Personality Inventory (BFI) twice. The results showed only one statistically significant correlation among the 20 correlations examined, between the F4-F3 resting-state FAA and openness scores. Besides, the direction of the relationship was the opposite of what would be expected. The small sample size of this study may have contributed to results, indicating the need for future research with larger samples. Nonetheless, the current findings add to the existing literature and suggest that the relationship between resting-state FAA and personality traits may be more complex than previously thought.

Over the past decades, there has been growing interest in whether the language people use (e.g., in social media) can reflect their well-being (WB) and ill-being (IB). However, little is known about how the content of spontaneous thoughts and experiences (e.g., reports of night-time dreams and daydreams) reflects WB and IB. The present thesis investigated whether emotional language use in dream and mind-wandering (MW; or daydreaming) reports reflects WB and IB. To this end, 1755 dream reports from 172 healthy adults and 1508 MW reports from 153 healthy adults were analyzed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) text analysis software. Robust multiple linear regressions revealed that self-reported negative emotions over the past two weeks, as well as symptoms of anxiety and depression, predicted negative emotional language use in MW, but not dream, reports. Overall, anxiety accounted for the largest amount of variance in negative emotional language use. The findings carry theoretical implications regarding the nature as well as the function of spontaneous thoughts and experiences, while also paving the way for new diagnostic and prognostic tools in clinical contexts. Additional research is required to confirm the observed relationships and establish their causal direction.

The current paper examined the relationship between frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) and threatening face stimuli. Participants were presented with threatening faces, and this was compared to non-threatening (neutral) faces, on the assumption that the threatening faces would trigger a withdrawal motivation and a corresponding decrease in state FAA scores. The EEG data used in the present analysis was taken from an earlier study at the University of Skövde, consisting of twenty-eight participants with no reported current ongoing neurological or psychiatric illnesses, or epilepsy. Based on the paired samples t-test there was no significant statistical difference between participants’ FAA scores in the threatening and non-threatening conditions. The relatively small sample of the present study may be a contributing factor. Furthermore, threatening face images may elicit weaker responses than non-facial images such as threatening images of domestic violence or natural disasters. In the future, the field of FAA may benefit from investigating the connection between FAA and non-facial threatening and non-threatening images, instead of faces.

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a meditation-based psychotherapeutic intervention suggested to be equally effective as antidepressant medication for preventing depressive relapse. A lot of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) have preference for psychotherapeutic intervention compared to antidepressant medication, currently being the most common treatment for preventing depressive relapse. The aim of this systematic review was to examine the effectiveness of MBCT compared to antidepressant medication for preventing depressive relapse in individuals with MDD, treatment-resistant depression, or suicidal ideation. After a literature search in the databases Scopus and Web of Science, 16 articles were included in this systematic review. Results were mixed. While two studies demonstrated that MBCT is equally effective as antidepressant medication in preventing depressive relapse, four studies showed evidence of reduced relapse rates after MBCT treatment alone. Further, four studies suggested that MBCT is inferior to antidepressant medication in preventing depressive relapse. Future studies should focus on comparing MBCT alone to specific antidepressant medication in order to further evaluate the effectiveness of MBCT vs antidepressant medication.