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(https://www.psypost.org/quick-bursts-of-stair-climbing-enhance-energy-and-mental-performance/) Quick bursts of stair climbing enhance energy and mental performance
Nov 27th 2024, 08:00

An experimental study recently found that brief bouts of stair climbing improved cognitive switching performance and made individuals who engaged in this activity feel more energetic and happier. Participants who climbed stairs more intensively tended to have faster responses on cognitive tests. These findings applied to both men and women. The research was published in the (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41465-024-00294-1) Journal of Cognitive Enhancement.
Recent studies indicate that short bouts of physical activity, even as brief as a few minutes, can offer significant health benefits. These include improved cardiovascular health, enhanced mood through the release of endorphins, and better blood sugar regulation. Examples of such activities include brisk walking, stair climbing, bodyweight exercises like squats or push-ups, or a quick dance session.
Research suggests that these activities can counteract the negative effects of prolonged sitting, boost mental clarity, and reduce stress. They are particularly effective in improving fitness when accumulated throughout the day, as they contribute to meeting daily exercise recommendations. Short bouts of physical activity are especially convenient for busy individuals since they can be easily integrated into daily routines.
Stair climbing is one form of brief physical activity that can be seamlessly incorporated into daily life. It involves upward movement against gravity, making it a time-efficient way to confer health benefits. Study author Andreas Stenling and his colleagues aimed to examine the effects of six 1-minute bursts of stair climbing on cognitive performance and mood. They hypothesized that these brief bouts of stair climbing would improve both mood and cognitive performance.
The study included 52 undergraduate students from the University of Otago, 26 of whom were female, with an average age of 20 years. Participants completed a physical activity readiness questionnaire (PAR-Q) and had their weight and height measured. They were then randomly assigned to two groups.
One group engaged in six 1-minute stair-climbing bouts. This involved climbing stairs for 1 minute, resting for 1 minute, and repeating the process until they completed six bouts. Afterward, participants reported their subjective exertion levels (using the Borg RPE scale), completed cognitive tests (a computerized test battery), and assessed their mood using six visual analog mood scales.
The other group remained seated in the testing room and then completed the same cognitive tests and mood scales. The sequence was repeated with the groups switching activities.
Results showed that participants engaged in an average of 8 hours of physical activity per week, though there were substantial variations among individuals. Of the participants, 75% were of normal weight, and 23% were classified as overweight.
Participants performed better on cognitive switching tasks after climbing stairs. Cognitive switching tasks involve shifting attention or mental focus between different tasks, rules, or cognitive demands, and are used to measure cognitive flexibility and executive function. On average, participants who climbed stairs also reported feeling more energetic and happier compared to the control group.
Additionally, participants who climbed stairs more intensely, as indicated by heart-rate data, tended to show faster responses on cognitive tests. These effects were observed in both men and women.
“Collectively, these results demonstrate that interval stair climbing can confer immediate psychological benefits, providing further evidence in support of stair climbing as a promising means to address physical inactivity issues,” the study authors concluded.
While the study highlights the benefits of short bouts of stair climbing on cognitive performance and mood, these effects were measured immediately after the activity. It remains unknown how long these benefits last. Furthermore, all participants were healthy, young students. It is unclear whether similar results would be observed in older individuals or those in poorer physical condition.
The paper, “(https://doi.org/10.1007/s41465-024-00294-1) Stair Climbing Improves Cognitive Switching Performance and Mood in Healthy Young Adults: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial,” was authored by Andreas Stenling, Jordan Quensell, Navjyot Kaur, and Liana Machado.

(https://www.psypost.org/largest-brain-connectivity-study-of-youth-depression-reveals-key-network-disruptions/) Largest brain connectivity study of youth depression reveals key network disruptions
Nov 27th 2024, 06:00

In a landmark study published in (https://www.nature.com/articles/s44220-024-00309-y) Nature Mental Health, scientists conducted the largest-ever multisite analysis of brain connectivity in young people with major depressive disorder. Using a large dataset of brain scans, the scientists found that youths with depression exhibited alterations in specific brain networks, which were linked to the severity of their symptoms. These findings not only shed light on the underlying biology of youth depression but also open pathways for improving diagnosis and treatment.
Major depressive disorder is a leading cause of disability among young people worldwide, often resulting in long-term consequences for education, work, and relationships. Despite its prevalence, the biological mechanisms of youth depression remain poorly understood.
While previous studies have suggested disruptions in brain network connectivity, their findings were inconsistent, partly due to small sample sizes and varied methods. To address these challenges, researchers conducted the new study to identify reliable patterns of brain connectivity that could serve as markers for depression and guide treatment strategies.
“My PhD aims to characterize brain connectivity signature in youth major depression,” said Connie Nga Yan Tse, the first author of the study and a PhD student affiliated with (https://www.sysneuro.org/) the Systems Lab at the University of Melbourne.
“During the literature review phase, I experienced great difficulty synthesizing the existing findings due to inconsistent results. The sample characteristics and methodology also vary greatly from one study to another, further compounding this lack of consensus. These challenges motivated my PhD supervisors and me to collate as much brain connectivity data in youth MDD as possible in order to derive the most consistent and robust pattern of functional connectivity changes.”
The researchers performed a large-scale analysis using brain imaging data from 810 young participants aged 12 to 25, drawn from seven separate cohorts across six sites in Australia, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The participants included 440 youths diagnosed with depression and 370 healthy individuals for comparison.
Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to map the participants’ brain networks, specifically examining functional connectivity, which captures the dynamic relationships between brain regions. Unlike structural connectivity, which refers to the physical connections in the brain—such as neural pathways formed by white matter tracts—functional connectivity reflects how different areas of the brain coordinate their activity over time. Even without performing specific tasks, certain brain regions exhibit synchronized fluctuations in activity, indicating that they are functionally linked.
Functional connectivity provides insight into how networks of brain regions work together to support mental processes, such as attention, memory, and emotion regulation. These links are not necessarily bound by direct structural connections but instead emerge from shared or reciprocal patterns of activity. For example, two regions may show strong functional connectivity if their activity rises and falls together, even if they are not physically connected.
To measure depression severity, the study converted scores from various established depression rating scales into a standardized format. Advanced statistical tools and machine learning techniques were then used to analyze the data. These methods allowed the researchers to identify connectivity patterns unique to depressed individuals and evaluate whether these patterns could predict the severity of symptoms or distinguish depressed youths from healthy participants.
The researchers found that the severity of depression symptoms was strongly associated with changes in functional connectivity. Reduced connectivity within the default mode network and between this network and the attention networks was linked to more severe symptoms. The default mode network is involved in introspection and self-referential thinking, while the attention networks regulate focus on external tasks and redirect attention to important stimuli.
“The strong involvement of the default mode network identified in our findings has long been observed in studies of adults with major depressive disorder,” Tse told PsyPost. “Such overlap was striking and suggests a potentially common set of connectivity signature shared by both youth and adults with MDD.”
Conversely, heightened connectivity within specific areas of the attention networks corresponded to greater symptom severity. These findings suggest that the interplay between these networks plays a critical role in shaping the emotional and cognitive difficulties experienced by depressed youths.
For example, the study noted that stronger anticorrelations between the default mode network and attention networks were linked to worse symptoms. Anticorrelation in this context refers to an inverse relationship in activity—when one network becomes more active, the other becomes less active. This imbalance may reflect impaired communication and competition between networks, potentially leading to cognitive rigidity or an inability to shift focus effectively.
“The magnitude of brain connectivity changes was correlated with symptom severity, providing supporting evidence that aberrant communications between brain regions play an important role in the manifestation of youth MDD,” Tse told PsyPost. “Notably, altered brain connectivity tended to localize to highly connected regions, known as brain hubs, with a key role in facilitating global communication and integration between diverse brain systems. Among these systems, the default mode network responsible for introspective processes (thoughts about oneself), and dorsal and ventral attention networks directing internally- and externally- oriented attentional processes, emerged as key systems in our findings.”
The researchers also used machine learning models to predict diagnostic status and symptom severity based on functional connectivity data. These models achieved a 73% accuracy in distinguishing depressed youths from healthy individuals. Additionally, they successfully predicted symptom severity, though predictions varied across different cohorts. Importantly, the most informative features for these predictions aligned with the study’s broader findings: disruptions in connectivity within and between the default mode and attention networks were the strongest indicators of depression.
Adolescence coincides “with a protracted period of brain changes including brain hub maturation and psychosocial transitions,” Tse explained, and this period “may represent a unique window of increased susceptibility to brain network dysfunction, conferring risks for discoordination of attentional and introspective representations, and ultimately MDD development.”
While the study represents a significant advance in understanding youth depression, it has some limitations. First, the sample included data from multiple sites, which required adjustments to harmonize imaging protocols. Although these adjustments minimize inconsistencies, some site-specific differences may remain. Additionally, the study’s cross-sectional design provides a snapshot of brain connectivity at a single point in time, limiting conclusions about how these patterns develop or change with treatment.
“It is important to note that our findings reflect group-level patterns of brain connectivity changes derived by averaging across individual connectivity profiles,” Tse noted. “While these results provide robust insights into consistent trends, they may not fully capture individual variability in connectivity patterns.”
Future research could address these limitations by conducting longitudinal studies that track changes in brain connectivity over time. This approach would help determine whether the observed connectivity patterns are a cause or a consequence of depression. Another important direction is to explore how these findings could inform treatment. For example, identifying specific brain regions involved in depression could guide non-invasive brain stimulation techniques, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, which are currently used for adult depression but not yet tailored for youths.
“Growing knowledge of the link between brain connectivity and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) treatment response has driven recent advances in target refinement and in turn treatment efficacy in adults with MDD,” Tse said. “These advances appear restricted to adult MDD and have yet to be tailored to suit young individuals with depression, who consistently demonstrate reduced treatment responsiveness.”
“The gap in treatment efficacy might be partly due to limited knowledge of robust circuit and regional targets in young brains. Our work pinpoints several candidate targets, including hub regions of the default mode and attentional networks, that can be harnessed to better target neurobiological abnormalities central to youth MDD in future studies.”
The study, “(https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-024-00309-y) A mega-analysis of functional connectivity and network abnormalities in youth depression,” was authored by Nga Yan Tse, Aswin Ratheesh, Ye Ella Tian, Colm G. Connolly, Christopher G. Davey, Saampras Ganesan, Ian H. Gotlib, Ben J. Harrison, Laura K. M. Han, Tiffany C. Ho, Alec J. Jamieson, Jaclyn S. Kirshenbaum, Yong Liu, Xiaohong Ma, Amar Ojha, Jiang Qiu, Matthew D. Sacchet, Lianne Schmaal, Alan N. Simmons, John Suckling, Dongtao Wei, Xiao Yang, Tony T. Yang, Robin F. H. Cash, and Andrew Zalesky.

(https://www.psypost.org/masculine-honor-social-identity-and-the-sicilian-mafia-new-insights-from-research/) Masculine honor, social identity, and the Sicilian Mafia: New insights from research
Nov 26th 2024, 14:00

A recent study published in (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/pops.13049) Political Psychology provides new insights into how cultural values and social identities influence attitudes toward criminal organizations like the Sicilian Mafia. The research found that individuals who strongly endorse values of masculine honor are more likely to justify practices that indirectly support the Mafia’s authority in communities. However, this relationship shifts based on social identity: stronger identification with regional identities enhances this link, while stronger national identification weakens it.
Masculine honor refers to a set of cultural values and beliefs that emphasize male strength, aggression, and the defense of personal or familial reputation through violence if necessary. It reflects an ideal of manhood centered on respect, dominance, and self-reliance. These values often position men as protectors and enforcers of social order within their communities.
In communities where masculine honor is deeply ingrained, these values can create a cultural distance from state institutions. This gap can open the door for other entities, like criminal organizations, to fill the void by providing alternative governance that aligns with the local culture.
The Sicilian Mafia, or Cosa Nostra, is a well-known criminal organization with deep roots in Sicily. More than a syndicate of crime, the Mafia operates as a shadow authority, wielding control over local communities. It enforces its own rules, resolves disputes, and provides “protection” in exchange for payments like the infamous pizzo—a form of extortion targeting businesses.
This dual role as a criminal entity and an alternative power structure allows the Mafia to entrench itself in the social and cultural fabric of Sicilian communities. Through practices like omertà—a code of silence—and other forms of connivance, the Mafia maintains its influence. Connivance refers to the act of knowingly allowing or tolerating wrongful or unethical behavior without actively participating in it. It involves turning a blind eye to misconduct, remaining silent, or subtly cooperating in ways that enable the behavior to continue.
“Criminal organizations, such as the mafia, primarily seek profit, but their influence also significantly affects the behaviors and relationships of citizens,” said study authors Alberto Mirisola (an associate professor at the University of Palermo) and Giovanni Travaglino (a professor at Royal Holloway, University of London), who are both members of the (https://secret-power.org/) Secret Power research group.
“In certain communities in Italy, as well as in other countries, these organizations can become the unofficial authority in the area. Our interest in this topic arises from the need to develop a psychological model that explains how individuals navigate the presence of conflicting power systems in their daily lives.”
“In our research, we explore the question of why individuals comply with the rules and norms imposed by criminal organizations while also responding to legal institutions. We feel that the complexity of people’s conduct in these circumstances is not well accounted by current models, which typically only examine citizens’ relationship with the state.”
The researchers focused on understanding the relationship between masculine honor, social identity, and the justification of connivance practices within two Sicilian cities: Palermo and Catania. These cities were chosen due to their historical ties to the Mafia, providing a relevant context for the study. The researchers recruited a total of 813 participants (398 in Palermo and 399 in Catania) using a chain-referral sampling method. This approach began with local contacts who were asked to complete a survey and invite others from their communities.
Participants completed a survey containing measures for three key variables. First, masculine honor was assessed using the Honor Ideology for Manhood (HIM) scale, which asked participants to rate their agreement with statements like “A real man never backs down from a fight.” Responses were measured on a 7-point scale, and the scale showed high reliability across both samples.
Second, social identity was assessed at two levels: territorial and national. In Palermo, territorial identity was measured by participants’ connection to their neighborhoods, while in Catania, it referred to their regional identity as Sicilians. National identity, representing Italian identification, was measured with similar items focused on pride and belonging.
Finally, justification of connivance practices was measured using a novel scale presenting eight scenarios of behaviors that indirectly supported the Mafia. Participants rated the justifiability of these actions on a 7-point scale.
In both Palermo and Catania, individuals who strongly endorsed masculine honor values were more likely to justify practices that indirectly supported Mafia activity. These practices included refusing to report crimes, turning a blind eye to criminal activities, or seeking help from Mafia members rather than institutional authorities.
This relationship was moderated by participants’ social identities. Specifically, stronger identification with territorial groups (neighborhoods in Palermo and the regional identity of Sicilians in Catania) intensified the link between masculine honor and connivance justification. For instance, individuals who identified strongly with their territorial identity were more likely to view behaviors supporting Mafia influence as justifiable. This suggests that territorial identity fosters a sense of shared values with local groups, including the Mafia, which positions itself as a protector of these values.
In contrast, stronger identification with the national group weakened the relationship between masculine honor and connivance justification. Participants who identified more strongly as Italians were less likely to justify behaviors aligned with Mafia activity, reflecting a stronger alignment with state authority and national-level norms. These findings were consistent across both cities.
To build upon these findings, the researchers conducted an experiment to explore how the salience of different social identities influenced the relationship between masculine honor and connivance justification. The researchers recruited a new sample of 383 participants from various Sicilian cities and provinces, ensuring a diverse group in terms of age, education, and employment. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: territorial identity salience, national identity salience, or personal identity salience (the control condition).
In the territorial identity condition, participants were asked to think about and list three traits that described them as Sicilian. Similarly, participants in the national identity condition were prompted to focus on traits that represented their Italian identity. In the control condition, participants considered traits that made them unique individuals. This identity priming aimed to make specific social identities more salient, influencing how participants perceived themselves and their relationships with larger social structures.
After the priming task, participants completed the same measures of masculine honor and justification of connivance practices used in the earlier studies. The researchers then analyzed how the relationship between masculine honor and connivance justification varied across the three identity conditions.
The results showed that when territorial identity was made salient, the link between masculine honor and connivance justification became stronger. On the other hand, priming national identity weakened this relationship, suggesting that individuals aligned more with the state and its authority in this condition.
“Addressing organized crime requires more than just law enforcement or punitive measures, although these remain essential,” Mirisola and Travaglino told PsyPost. “Our study highlights the importance of understanding the psychological and cultural factors that can lead communities to view organized crime more favorably. For instance, we found that individuals who value traits like reputation, violence, and self-reliance are more likely to legitimize collusion with criminal organizations.”
“These values can provide an ideological justification for the actions of organized crime, especially when individuals feel a strong attachment to their local territory, where these groups often wield significant influence. Conversely, when people identify more closely with the nation as a whole, the ability of criminal groups to legitimize their actions diminishes. This suggests that effective strategies to combat organized crime should focus on improving people’s relationship with legal institutions while also tackling the belief systems that make these groups seem admirable or legitimate.”
The study highlights the importance of cultural and psychological factors in shaping public attitudes toward organized crime. However, as the studies were conducted in Sicily, a region with unique historical and cultural dynamics, the findings may not fully generalize to other regions or countries where criminal groups operate differently.
“We believe it is important to explore these dynamics in other cultural and geographical settings, where the values supporting the influence of criminal groups might differ,” the researchers said. “Additionally, criminal organizations are not the only entities that can exert power over people outside the constraints of legal institutions. These models could also be applied and tested in the contexts of paramilitary or even terrorist groups.”
“We are working to understand how people’s beliefs, perceptions, and social orientations can influence criminal groups’ ability to control territories and wield power. Our goal is to contribute to effective educational interventions and policies that aim to reduce the influence of criminal groups in various settings and contexts.”
The study, “(https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.13049) National identification weakens, and territorial identification strengthens, the relationship between masculine honor values and the justification of practices of connivance with the mafia,” was authored by Alberto Mirisola, Giovanni A. Travaglino, and Isabella Giammusso.

(https://www.psypost.org/hangxiety-101-the-brain-chemistry-behind-post-drinking-dread/) Hangxiety 101: the brain chemistry behind post-drinking dread
Nov 26th 2024, 12:00

You had a great night out, but the next morning, anxiety hits: your heart races, and you replay every conversation from the night before in your head. This feeling, known as hangover anxiety or “(https://adf.org.au/insights/what-is-hangxiety/) hangxiety”, (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hup.2623) affects around 22% of social drinkers.
While for some people, it’s mild nerves, for others, it’s a wave of anxiety that feels impossible to ride out. The “Sunday scaries” may make you feel panicked, filled with dread and unable to relax.
Hangover anxiety can make even simple tasks feel overwhelming. Here’s why it happens, and what you can do about it.
What does alcohol do to our brains?
A hangover is the body’s way of recovering after drinking alcohol, bringing with it a range of symptoms.
(https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/10/23/5691) Dehydration and disrupted sleep play a large part in the pounding headaches and nausea many of us know too well after a big night out. But hangovers aren’t just physical – there’s a strong mental side too.
Alcohol is a nervous system depressant, meaning it alters how certain chemical messengers (or neurotransmitters) behave in the brain. Alcohol relaxes you by increasing (https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22857-gamma-aminobutyric-acid-gaba) gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the neurotransmitter that makes you feel calm and lowers inhibitions. It decreases (https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22839-glutamate) glutamate and this also slows down your thoughts and helps ease you into a more relaxed state.
Together, this interaction affects your mood, emotions and alertness. This is why when we drink, we often feel more sociable, carefree and willing to let our guard down.
As the effects of the alcohol wear off, your brain works to rebalance these chemicals by (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886918305762) reducing GABA and increasing glutamate. This shift has the opposite effect of the night before, causing your brain to become more excitable and overstimulated, which can lead to feelings of anxiety.
So why do some people get hangxiety, while others don’t? There isn’t one clear answer to this question, as several factors can play a role in whether someone experiences hangover-related anxiety.
Genes play a role
For some, a hangover is simply a matter of how much they drank or how hydrated they are. But genetics may also play a significant role. (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.12699) Research shows your genes can explain almost half the reason why you wake up feeling hungover, while your friend might not.
Because genes influence how your body processes alcohol, some people may experience more intense hangover symptoms, such as headaches or dehydration. These stronger physical effects can, in turn, (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/hup.2623) trigger anxiety during a hangover, making you more susceptible to “hangxiety.”
Do you remember what you said last night?
But one of the most common culprits for feeling anxious the next day is often (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0091450915604988) what you do while drinking.
Let’s say you’ve had a big night out and you can’t quite recall a conversation you had or something you did. Maybe you acted in ways that you now regret or feel embarrassed about. You might fixate on these thoughts and get trapped in a cycle of worrying and rumination. This cycle can be hard to break and can make you feel more anxious.
(https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2023.107619) Research suggests people who already struggle with feelings of anxiety in their day-to-day lives are especially vulnerable to hangxiety.
Some people drink alcohol to unwind after a stressful day or to make themselves feel more comfortable at social events. This often leads to (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9756407) heavier consumption, which can make hangover symptoms more severe. It can also begin a cycle of drinking to feel better, making hangxiety even harder to escape.
Preventing hangover anxiety
The best way to prevent hangxiety is to limit your alcohol consumption. The (https://adf.org.au/reducing-risk/alcohol/alcohol-guidelines) Australian guidelines recommend having no more than ten standard drinks per week and no more than four standard drinks on any one day.
Generally, the more you drink, the more intense your hangover symptoms might be, and the worse you are likely to feel.
Mixing other drugs with alcohol can also increase the risk of hangxiety. This is especially true for party drugs, such as ecstasy or MDMA, that give you a temporary high but can lead to anxiety as they wear off and you are (https://adf.org.au/insights/drug-comedowns) coming down.
If you do wake up feeling anxious:

focus on the physical recovery to help ease the mental strain
drink plenty of water, eat a light meal and allow yourself time to rest
try (https://www.headspace.com/mindfulness/mindfulness-101) mindfulness meditation or deep breathing exercises, especially if anxiety keeps you awake or your mind races
consider journalling. This can help re-frame anxious thoughts, put your feelings into perspective and encourage self-compassion
talk to a close friend. This can provide a safe space to express concerns and feel less isolated.

Hangxiety is an unwelcome guest after a night out. Understanding why hangxiety happens – and how you can manage it – can make the morning after a little less daunting, and help keep those anxious thoughts at bay.
 
This article is republished from (https://theconversation.com) The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the (https://theconversation.com/why-do-i-get-so-anxious-after-drinking-heres-the-science-behind-hangxiety-240991) original article.

Forwarded by:
Michael Reeder LCPC
Baltimore, MD

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