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(https://www.psypost.org/widespread-involuntary-childlessness-reported-among-u-s-adults-and-lgbtq-people-in-israel/) Widespread involuntary childlessness reported among U.S. adults and LGBTQ people in Israel
Oct 18th 2024, 10:00

A new study published in the (https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.13038) Journal of Marriage and Family sheds light on the experiences of involuntary childlessness among people in the United States and Israel. Researchers found that nearly 70% of sexual minority adults in Israel and 50% of people in the United States—regardless of sexual identity—have experienced the emotional burden of wanting children but being unable to have them.
Parenthood is deeply valued in many cultures, yet some people face significant barriers to achieving it. The new study aimed to understand the differences in involuntary childlessness between Israel, a country with strong pro-family policies, and the United States, where parenthood is socially valued but less supported by policy. While prior research had identified these challenges within individual countries, there had not been a comparative study across cultures to explore how factors like sexual identity and national policies affect the experience of childlessness.
“My main line of research is LGBTQ family formation and issues surrounding future family planning,” said study author Doyle P. Tate, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of North Florida. “My mom struggled for years to become a parent as a single woman before having me and my twin brother using artificial insemination, and I also struggled for years to become a parent as a single gay man before becoming a father through surrogacy.”
“These experiences of involuntary childlessness were stressful and impacted every aspect of my life, from social and romantic relationships, career choices, and everything in between. My colleague in Israel has also been interested in these issues throughout his career, so we decided to work together on a study investigating experiences of involuntary childlessness and the stress from those experiences in both countries.”
To conduct the study, the researchers recruited a sample of 1,739 childless individuals, ranging in age from 18 to 54, from both the United States and Israel. They collected data from 1,026 U.S. participants, including 422 sexual minorities, via an online platform. In Israel, 713 participants, 326 of whom were sexual minorities, were recruited through online and social media announcements. The participants completed surveys in English (for the United States) and Hebrew (for Israel) that measured their experiences of involuntary childlessness, attitudes toward parenthood (or pronatalism), and the stress associated with their childlessness.
The researchers focused on three main aspects of involuntary childlessness: its prevalence, how frequently people experienced it, and the stress it caused. Involuntary childlessness was defined as the experience of wanting children but feeling unable to achieve parenthood due to social, biological, or other barriers. Stress related to this issue was assessed using a modified version of an infertility-related stress scale.
The findings showed substantial differences between countries, sexual identities, and genders. In Israel, 68% of sexual minority participants reported experiencing involuntary childlessness compared to just 32% of heterosexual participants. In the United States, roughly half of the sample—52% of sexual minorities and 44% of heterosexual individuals—reported involuntary childlessness. The study also found that people in the United States experienced involuntary childlessness more frequently and reported more stress about it than those in Israel.
The researchers speculate that Israel’s supportive policies for reproductive services, such as access to fertility treatments and surrogacy, may help mitigate the stress of not being able to have children. In the United States, where access to these services is more limited and expensive, the stress of involuntary childlessness might be more acute.
“Involuntary childlessness—wanting to become a parent but being unable to—is a widespread and stressful problem for lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people in Israel and for every group in the United States, including men, women, heterosexual, and LGB people,” Tate told PsyPost. “In fact, people in the United States reported much more frequent experiences of involuntary childlessness and more stress from it compared to those in Israel. Differences in culture and the lack of effective and inclusive fertility policy in the United States may underlie these findings, but more research is needed.”
“I was surprised at the overall lack of differences and the small effect sizes within the United States as a function of gender or sexual identity! However, it is important to note that most heterosexual people of reproductive age already have children, and this study only included those who were not already parents.”
While Israel is widely recognized as a pro-natalist society, with strong social and governmental support for parenthood, U.S. participants reported higher levels of pronatalist attitudes. In the United States, both heterosexual men and women reported higher levels of pronatalism than their Israeli counterparts. Sexual minority individuals in the United States also expressed similar levels of pronatalism, underscoring the societal expectation to pursue parenthood. In contrast, pronatalist attitudes were lower across the board in Israel, especially among sexual minority men.
The study is not without limitations. The use of online surveys and different sampling techniques in the two countries may have influenced the findings. For instance, U.S. participants were compensated for their participation, whereas Israeli participants were volunteers. This could result in selection biases that affect the generalizability of the results.
Additionally, the study relied on self-reported data, which can introduce biases, and the measures used to assess pronatalism and childlessness were relatively simple. Future research could benefit from using more detailed measures and examining the role of specific policies, such as access to fertility treatments and legal barriers to adoption, in shaping these experiences.
“My long-term, ‘pie in the sky’ goals are to reduce or eliminate experiences of involuntary childlessness within society through my research, for both heterosexual and sexual minority people,” Tate explained. “However, more realistically, my goals are to continue to explore these experiences and the influence of social systems on how people are impacted by involuntary childlessness as a function of gender and sexual identity.”
“I am currently finishing up a mixed-method study using U.S. data to further investigate this issue, and preliminarily, as these results have not yet been peer-reviewed or published, the findings of widespread and stressful experiences of involuntary childlessness in the United States are replicating, and there seem to be many potential interventions and strategies to reduce the occurrence of these experiences based on qualitative data.”
“My team and I are hoping to submit this work for publication within the next week or two, but I am excited that the quantitative results are replicating and that our reasoning about culture and the lack of effective and inclusive fertility policy and reproductive healthcare are definitely being supported through qualitative data in the United States,” Tate said.
The study, “(https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jomf.13038) Involuntary childlessness in the U.S. and Israel: Pronatalism, gender, and sexual identity,” was authored by Doyle P. Tate and Geva Shenkman.

(https://www.psypost.org/womens-gossip-disguised-as-concern-harms-reputations-while-protecting-the-gossiper/) Women’s gossip disguised as concern harms reputations while protecting the gossiper
Oct 18th 2024, 08:00

Gossip phrased with concern provides female gossipers a social advantage while harming the reputations of their targets, according to research published in the (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2024.104670) Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
Research has documented that women engage in intrasexual competition through indirect tactics, such as gossip, to damage the reputation of same-sex rivals. These behaviors serve as adaptive strategies to gain social and romantic advantages without the risks associated with direct confrontation. Studies have also suggested that women may not be fully aware of their harmful motivations when gossiping. In this work, (https://psych.unm.edu/people/faculty/profile/tania-reynolds.html) Tania A. Reynolds and her colleagues examined whether women use concern to mask harmful intentions in gossip, and whether this strategy offers competitive advantages in intrasexual competition.
“I am fascinated by women’s competition because it is often overlooked by research and public discourse. However, women throughout history and still today faced incentives to compete for social partners, resources, and opportunities,” explained Reynolds, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico.
“Our tendency to overlook women’s competition/aggression might be due in part to women’s use of more indirect and social tactics, rather than direct confrontations, physical aggression or overt competitiveness. Thus, if we want to document female competition and aggression, we might need to devise more clever methods for investigating these covert tactics.”
The researchers conducted four studies involving 1,709 participants. In Study 1, participants were asked to describe their most recent gossip conversation and rated their motivations using two key scales: a “Negative Social Influence” subscale from the Motivations to Gossip Questionnaire, which measured the extent to which the gossip was intended to harm the target’s reputation, and a newly developed set of four items measuring concern-based motivations. This set included statements like “I was worried about what was going on in the target’s life” and “I wanted to come up with a solution to help the target.”
In Studies 2 and 3, participants were exposed to controlled experimental scenarios where they observed gossip framed in one of three ways: maliciously, neutrally, or with concern. The gossip content remained the same across conditions, but the framing varied to test its impact on perceptions of the gossiper and the target.
After reading the gossip, participants rated the gossiper and the target using several measures. These included trustworthiness scales that included items such as “I believe this person is trustworthy” and “I believe this person’s statements are true,” and interpersonal desirability scales, where participants rated how much they liked the gossiper and target, and how much they would want to be friends with them. Male participants also completed measures assessing romantic desirability, such as how interested they would be in dating or having a romantic relationship with the gossiper or the target.
Study 4 was designed to explore whether the social dynamics of gossip observed in the previous studies would manifest in real-world, face-to-face interactions. Here, 275 undergraduate participants were paired with two female confederates to complete a puzzle-solving task. First, the participant was paired with one confederate (the gossiper) while the second confederate (the gossip target) was in a separate room.
During the puzzle task, the gossiper initiated a conversation about the absent target, delivering gossip that was framed either maliciously, neutrally, or with concern. For instance, in the concern condition, the gossiper expressed worry about the target, while in the malicious condition, she made a derogatory comment. After this interaction, the participant was taken to work with the gossip target. The participant then completed a survey evaluating both the gossiper and the target.
The findings from these four studies consistently showed that gossip framed as concern provided social and romantic advantages to the gossiper while still harming the target’s reputation, particularly in romantic contexts. In Study 1, women were more likely than men to report that their gossip was motivated by concern rather than a desire to harm the target’s reputation, especially when gossiping about same-sex peers.
Studies 2 and 3 showed that female gossipers who expressed concern were perceived as more trustworthy, likeable, and desirable as social and romantic partners than those who delivered the same gossip neutrally or maliciously. The concern-based gossipers were also rated as more trustworthy and interpersonally desirable.
Despite this, the gossip still had negative effects on the targets, particularly in romantic contexts. In Studies 2 and 3, male participants rated female gossip targets as less desirable romantic partners when they heard concern-based gossip about them, indicating that even benevolently framed gossip can damage a target’s romantic prospects. However, gossip framed with concern did not always have as strong an effect on harming the target’s overall interpersonal desirability.
Study 4 reinforced these findings. Even when gossip was delivered with concern during direct interactions, it still harmed the target’s reputation, though the gossiper continued to benefit from the perception of being more trustworthy and desirable compared to malicious gossipers. This demonstrated the real-life implications of concern-framed gossip as a strategy in female intrasexual competition.
“In this paper, we demonstrate that 1.) compared to men, women reported greater concern when gossiping about absent others (but especially same-sex peers) and 2.) professions of concern protect gossipers from social penalties,” Reynolds told PsyPost. “Thus, we uncovered a tactic of gossip dissemination that is more often used by women and grants competitive social advantages. Speakers who disclose their gossip with concern are preferred as social partners relative to those who share the same statements neutrally or maliciously.”
One limitation is the use of hypothetical scenarios, which may not fully capture the nuances of real-life interactions. Nevertheless, this research highlights the dual effect of concern-based gossip: it shields the gossiper from negative social judgments while still damaging the target’s reputation.
“This study contributes to my broader goal of uncovering the subtle and clever ways that women compete for social partners and resources,” Reynolds said. “I have (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022103122000300) published similar work with my colleague Jaime Palmer-Hague, where we found that women also tend to disclose gossip by sharing how their same-sex friends have harmed them. That is, women were more sensitive than men surrounding transgressions related to kindness (e.g., making a joke at your expense) and commitment (e.g., forgot about your birthday, never reaches out first).”
“Women were also more likely to disclose these transgressions to others than were men. Last, people who disclosed their own personal victimization (e.g., ‘Tammy was mean to me’) were less likely to be perceived as gossiping compared to those expressing identical third person statements (e.g., ‘Tammy was mean to Susan’).”
“Thus, another covert strategy by which women share reputation-relevant information is by disclosing how their same-sex friends have let them down,” Reynolds explained. “These statements are not readily recognized as gossip, just like what we found with the concern-based gossip. Together, these studies suggest that gossip may not fit the malicious prototype we have in mind. Rather a substantial portion of gossip is disclosed in ways that make speakers appear virtuous or innocent.”
Interestingly, Reynolds noted that women often feel more like victims of gossip than perpetrators. This suggests that they may be unaware of their own role in spreading gossip, especially when they frame it as concern, allowing them to avoid feeling responsible for the harm caused.
“Previous research has uncovered a strange pattern whereby women report greater victimization by other women’s aggression than perpetration of it themselves (Archer, 2004; Tracy, 1991),” Reynolds explained. “Our research suggests one potential solution to this puzzle: women are unaware of their gossip perpetration because they disclose such statements out of ostensible concern for their targets.”
“Our findings cannot adjudicate whether the expressed concern for targets is genuine. All we can say is that speakers who express concern will evade some of the social penalties for gossiping. I would imagine that many individuals genuine feel concern for their gossip targets. Some gossipers might consciously use concern as a strategy to protect their reputations.”
“If we want to reduce female aggression, then a first step is making individuals aware of these patterns so they can make informed decisions about which pieces of information to share,” Reynolds said. “That is, people might be harming others’ reputations without actually desiring such outcomes. These findings suggest that benevolent intentions behind sharing gossip may not protect targets from the resultant reputational tarnish.”
“These findings also offer insights into avoiding those who could tarnish our reputations. If someone is often disclosing others’ personal information to us ‘out of concern,’ we should probably be careful about sharing our own information with them. Those who gossip to us are likely to gossip about us, even if they are using tactics that don’t fit our narrow conceptualizations of gossip. We can now be more mindful about recognizing all forms of gossip, and which individuals tend to disseminate it.”
The research, “(https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2024.104670) Bless her heart: Gossip phrased with concern provides advantages in female intrasexual competition”, was authored by Tania A. Reynolds, Jon K. Maner, and Roy F. Baumeister.

(https://www.psypost.org/new-study-self-centered-people-turn-to-social-media-out-of-weakness-not-ego/) New study: Self-centered people turn to social media out of weakness, not ego
Oct 18th 2024, 06:00

A new study published in the (https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2024-01623-001) Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science sheds light on the motivations behind social media use among self-centered individuals. Contrary to the long-standing belief that such individuals use platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok primarily to boost their egos, the study finds that they turn to social media more out of a fear of missing out (FOMO) rather than a desire to reinforce their self-importance. Through a series of studies, the researchers concluded that self-centered individuals are driven by insecurity, as they use social media to mitigate their feelings of exclusion rather than to bolster their self-image.
The researchers conducted this study to challenge the conventional thinking that self-centered individuals use social media as a tool for self-promotion. Previous theories, such as self-construal theory, suggest that highly independent people (often self-centered) would be less prone to FOMO than those who are more interdependent and socially connected.
However, the researchers wanted to explore whether FOMO played a larger role in driving social media use among self-centered individuals than previously thought. The research was also inspired by the growing body of evidence suggesting that problematic social media use may be influenced by deeper psychological factors, such as fear and anxiety, rather than purely narcissistic tendencies.
“Given that social media is an excellent platform to ‘feed one’s ego,’ I am very interested in what drives people to use social media. My initial thoughts/hypotheses were confirmed in that there may be other reasons than simply feeding your ego that motivate people to use social media,” said study author James A. Roberts, the Ben H. Williams Professor of Marketing in the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University.
To explore this issue, the researchers conducted three separate studies. In the first study, they surveyed 199 U.S. adults, asking them about their levels of self-centeredness, FOMO, and social media use. Self-centeredness was measured using a three-item questionnaire that asked participants to rate how often they focus on themselves in conversations. FOMO was measured with a 10-item questionnaire that asked participants to agree or disagree with statements like “I fear my friends have more rewarding experiences than me.” Social media use was assessed by asking participants how much time they spent on various platforms each day and by using a scale that measured the intensity of their engagement with social media.
The results of this first study showed that self-centered individuals did, in fact, use social media more frequently, but the relationship between self-centeredness and social media use was fully mediated by FOMO. This means that it was the fear of missing out, rather than self-centeredness itself, that drove these individuals to spend more time online. The researchers used a statistical model to confirm this, demonstrating that once FOMO was accounted for, the direct relationship between self-centeredness and social media use disappeared.
In the second study, the researchers sought to replicate these findings by manipulating self-centeredness rather than simply measuring it. They recruited 241 adults and randomly assigned them to either a self-centeredness condition or a control group. Participants in the self-centeredness condition were asked to recall a recent time when they behaved selfishly, while those in the control group wrote about a typical day. Afterward, all participants completed the same FOMO and social media use questionnaires from the first study.
The results again showed that self-centeredness led to increased social media use, but only when FOMO was present. Those who were made to feel self-centered reported higher levels of FOMO, which in turn drove their social media use.
The third and final study took a slightly different approach by examining whether priming FOMO could weaken the relationship between self-centeredness and social media use. In this study, 102 adults were first asked to reflect on their level of self-centeredness and then either primed with a scenario designed to induce FOMO or placed in a control condition where they imagined feeling content while staying home.
The results revealed that when FOMO was primed, the relationship between self-centeredness and social media use disappeared. This suggests that FOMO is not just a mediator but also a key driver in the behavior of self-centered individuals when it comes to social media use.
“I have always been skeptical that highly self-centered people really think they are better than everyone else,” Roberts told PsyPost. “I think the present study results across a survey and two experiments provide compelling evidence that a lot of what self-centered might do is a function of inherent feelings of weakness or inadequacy.”
The researchers’ findings have significant implications because they contradict the long-standing assumption that self-centered individuals use social media to enhance their sense of self-importance. Instead, these individuals seem to approach social media from a place of vulnerability, using it as a coping mechanism to deal with their fear of being left out.
“I would like readers to understand that FOMO is a major driver of social media use and that self-centered individuals don’t only use social media to feed their egos but also from a ‘point of weakness,'” Roberts said. “This is a particularly important finding because it runs contrary to the long-standing theory of self-construal. Self-construal theory posits that highly interdependent individuals would be more likely to suffer from FOMO than highly independent (self-centered) individuals.”
However, the study is not without limitations. One limitation is that the data was collected during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when many people were isolated and might have experienced heightened levels of FOMO due to limited social interactions. This could have influenced the results and made FOMO a more prominent factor in social media use than it might be under normal circumstances. Additionally, the study relied on self-reported data, which can be prone to biases, such as participants wanting to present themselves in a more socially desirable light.
“Like any research, this is simply one stone in the wall and additional research is needed to more fully understand the role self-centeredness plays in social media use,” Roberts noted.
Future research could address these limitations by investigating social media use in a post-pandemic context and by using more objective measures of social media activity. The researchers also suggest exploring how other psychological factors, such as anxiety or insecurity, may interact with FOMO to influence social media behavior. Understanding the full range of motivations behind social media use could help develop interventions for reducing problematic usage.
“A lot of what drives us to social media grows out of insecurities such as FOMO and that the majority of research in this area finds social media use has a largely negative association with well-being,” Roberts added. “Although, other research does suggest some positive associations with social media use and well-being. However, newer forms of social media, in particular short-form video (e.g., TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts), are associated with greater overuse and addiction. On a bigger scale, youth preoccupation with short-form video has undermined their ability to control their thoughts, emotions, and sustain behavior and attention which have potentially catastrophic implications for personal well-being and productivity for younger generations.”
The study, “(https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/cbs0000382) Me, Myself, and I: Self-Centeredness, FOMO, and Social Media Use,” was authored by Meredith E. David and James A. Roberts.

(https://www.psypost.org/gut-microbe-imbalances-may-predict-autism-and-adhd-risk-years-before-symptoms-appear/) Gut microbe imbalances may predict autism and ADHD risk years before symptoms appear
Oct 17th 2024, 16:00

Early screening for neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism is important to ensure children (https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/autism/conditioninfo/treatments/early-intervention) have the support they need to gain the (https://www.aaidd.org/intellectual-disability/definition/adaptive-behavior) essential skills for daily life. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all children be (https://www.cdc.gov/autism/hcp/diagnosis/screening.html) screened for developmental delays, with additional screening for those who are preterm or have a low birth weight.
However, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has (https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/draft-update-summary/autism-spectrum-disorder-young-children-1) called for more research into the effectiveness of current autism screening practices. Primarily based on milestone checklists and symptoms, autism diagnoses also currently rely on (https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1085445) observations of behavior that often manifests after crucial developmental stages have passed.
Researchers and clinicians are working to develop simple, reliable tools that could identify early signs or risk factors of a condition before symptoms are obvious. While early screening can lead to the (https://theconversation.com/are-we-ready-for-a-test-that-could-pre-diagnose-autism-in-babies-44821) risk of overdiagnosis, understanding a child’s developmental needs can help guide families toward resources that address those needs sooner.
(https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=4wApvjIAAAAJ&hl=en) We are (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=0UTNJyYAAAAJ&hl=en) researchers who (https://scholar.google.se/citations?user=Mbe04QEAAAAJ&hl=sv) study the role the microbiome plays in a variety of conditions, such as mental illness, autoimmunity, obesity, preterm birth and others. In our recently published research on Swedish children, we found that microbes and the metabolites they produce in the guts of infants – both found in poop and cord blood – (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2024.02.035) could help screen for a child’s risk of neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism. And these differences can be detected as early as birth or within the first year of life. These markers were evident, on average, over a decade before the children were diagnosed.
Microbes as biomarkers
Biomarkers are biological indicators – such as genes, proteins or metabolites in blood, stool or other types of samples – that signal the presence of a condition at a certain point in time. There are (https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1085445) no known biomarkers for autism. Efforts to find biomarkers have been largely hindered by the fact that (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31981491/) autism has many potential pathways that lead to it, and researchers tend to ignore how these causes may work (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36911126/) together as a whole.
One potential biomarker for neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism are (https://doi.org/10.3389%2Ffcimb.2022.915701) gut microbes. The connection between the gut and brain, or the (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25830558) gut-brain axis, is an area of considerable interest among scientists. Gut microbes play significant roles in health, including in immunity, neurotransmitter balance, digestive health and much more.
A lot of work has been done around mapping what a (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1238-8) “typical” microbiome looks like based on age and organ system. Researchers have shown that the microbiome is personalized enough that it can (https://www.ted.com/talks/rob_knight_how_our_microbes_make_us_who_we_are) distinguish two people or two households even better than genetics, with differences in colonization starting very (https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnm.4517) early in life.
The microbiome undergoes (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09252-4) immense changes (https://doi.org/10.3389%2Ffimmu.2021.708472) during childhood. It shapes and is shaped by the (https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS2040174412000712) immune system and influenced by (https://doi.org/10.1073%2Fpnas.1000081107) life changes and events. It is also (https://doi.org/10.1053%2Fj.gastro.2020.08.065) influenced by factors like genetics, environment, lifestyle, infection and medications.
Gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, pain and constipation are common in children with autism and ADHD, with as many as 30% to 70% of autism patients also diagnosed with (https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00179) functional gastrointestinal disorders. Untreated GI issues can also lead to additional (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.chc.2020.02.005) sleep and behavioral disorders among these children. A small pilot study found that children with autism showed improvements in gastrointestinal and autism-related symptoms after (https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-016-0225-7) having healthy microbes transferred into their guts, with some benefits lasting (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-42183-0) up to two years.
Most studies on the microbiome and neurodevelopmental conditions, however, are restricted to people who are already diagnosed with (https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fnu13010249) ADHD, (https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00473) autism or other conditions, and these studies often show mixed results. These limitations raise an important question: Does the microbiome play a direct role in the development of autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions, or are changes in microbiome composition a consequence of the conditions themselves?
Some investigations have proposed that the microbiome has (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.10.015) little or no association with future autism. However, these studies have a notable limitation: They don’t examine microbial imbalances prior to diagnosis or symptom onset. Instead, these studies focus on children already diagnosed with autism, comparing them to their siblings and unrelated neurotypical children. In most cases, dietary data and samples are collected several years after diagnosis, meaning the study cannot test for whether microbial imbalances cause autism.
Microbes matter
We wondered whether studying the bacteria residing in small children before they are diagnosed or show symptoms of autism or other conditions could give us a clue into their neurodevelopment. So, we examined the cord blood and stool collected at approximately 1 year of age from participants of an ongoing study called (https://www.abis-studien.se/hem/english-11100423) All Babies in Southeast Sweden, which follows the health of approximately 17,000 children born between 1997 and 1999 and their parents. We have followed these children since birth, nearly 1,200 of whom were later diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disorder by age 23.
We found (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2024.02.035) significant differences in bacterial composition and metabolite levels that developed before symptoms of neurodevelopmental conditions – such as gastrointestinal upset, crankiness and sleep problems – as well as formal medical diagnoses. These differences spanned many conditions, including autism, ADHD and speech disorders.
Next, we linked bacteria to neurotransmitters – chemical signals that help brain cells communicate – and vitamins such as riboflavin and vitamin B in the child’s stool. Given (https://doi.org/10.3389%2Ffcell.2022.880544) previous research on children and adults already diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disorder, we expected to find differences in the microbiome composition and health between those with and without neurodevelopmental conditions.
But we were surprised to discover just (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2024.02.035) how early these differences emerge. We saw variability in the microbes and metabolites that affect immune and brain health, among others, in the stool collected from the diapers of children around 1 year of age and in umbilical cord blood collected at birth.
The imbalance in microbial composition – what microbiologists call (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-49452-y) dysbiosis – we observed suggests that incomplete recovery from repeated antibiotic use may greatly affect children during this vulnerable period. Similarly, we saw that repeated ear infections were linked to a (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2024.02.035) twofold increased likelihood of developing autism.
Children who both repeatedly used antibiotics and had microbial imbalances were significantly more likely to develop autism. More specifically, children with an absence of (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-018-0337-x) Coprococcus comes, a bacterium linked to mental health and quality of life, and increased prevalence of (https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2021.737636) Citrobacter, a bacterium known for antimicrobial resistance, along with repeated antibiotic use were two to four times more likely to develop a neurodevelopmental disorder.
(https://www.cdc.gov/antibiotic-use/about/index.html) Antibiotics are necessary for treating certain bacterial infections in children, and we emphasize that our findings (https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/news/2024/04/03/uf-and-swedish-researchers-connect-childhood-microbiome-with-development-of-autism-adhd/) do not suggest avoiding their use altogether. Parents should use antibiotics if they are prescribed and deemed necessary by their pediatrician. Rather, our study suggests that repeated antibiotic use during early childhood may signal underlying immune dysfunction or disrupted brain development, which can be influenced by the gut microbiome. In any case, it is important to consider whether children could benefit from treatments to restore their gut microbes after taking antibiotics, an area we are actively studying.
Another microbial imbalance in children who later were diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders was a decrease in (https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01477-07) Akkermansia muciniphila, a bacterium that reinforces the lining of the gut and is linked to neurotransmitters important to neurological health.
Even after we (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2024.02.035) accounted for factors that could influence gut microbe composition, such as how the baby was delivered and breastfeeding, the relationship between imbalanced bacteria and future diagnosis persisted. And these imbalances preceded diagnosis of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability by 13 to 14 years on average, refuting the assumption that gut microbe imbalances arise from diet.
We found that (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2024.02.035) lipids and bile acids were depleted in the cord blood of newborns with future autism. These compounds provide nutrients for beneficial bacteria, help maintain (https://theconversation.com/immune-health-is-all-about-balance-an-immunologist-explains-why-both-too-strong-and-too-weak-an-immune-response-can-lead-to-illness-215217) immune balance and influence neurotransmitter systems and signaling pathways in the brain.
Microbiome screening at well-child visits
Microbiome screening is not a common practice in well-child visits. But our findings suggest that detecting imbalances in beneficial and harmful bacteria, especially during critical periods of early childhood development, can provide essential insights for clinicians and families.
There is a long way to go before such screening becomes a standard part of pediatric care. Researchers still need validated methods to analyze and interpret microbiome data in the clinic. It’s also unclear how bacterial differences change across time in children around the world – not just which bacteria are present or absent, but also how they may be shaping immune responses and metabolism. But our findings reaffirm the growing body of evidence that the early gut microbiome plays a key role in shaping neurodevelopment.
 
This article is republished from (https://theconversation.com) The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the (https://theconversation.com/gut-microbe-imbalances-could-predict-a-childs-risk-for-autism-adhd-and-speech-disorders-years-before-symptoms-appear-233962) original article.

(https://www.psypost.org/neural-dynamics-in-the-bat-hippocampus-reflect-human-experimenters/) Neural dynamics in the bat hippocampus reflect human experimenters
Oct 17th 2024, 14:00

A new study published in (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-024-01690-8) Nature Neuroscience has found that the presence, movements, and identity of human experimenters influence the activity of hippocampal neurons in Egyptian fruit bats. The research reveals that when these bats are flying, their brain cells respond differently depending on which human they land near, and even when the bats are stationary, their brain activity reflects the location and identity of humans moving around the room. The finding suggests that human presence during animal experiments could impact the neural data collected in such studies.
The researchers were motivated to conduct this study because they were concerned that the involvement of human experimenters in laboratory settings might be influencing the results of previous neuroscience studies. Michael Yartsev, the senior author of the study and head of the (https://www.michaelyartsev.com/) NeuroBat Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, explained that some results from other laboratories could not be replicated in his lab, and he suspected that human interaction with animals during experiments might be the cause.
“There were some results from other labs we could not replicate or understand,” Yartsev told PsyPost. “Our concern was that these were biased by the involvement of human experimenters and we wanted to see if this intuition was true.”
The team wanted to test whether the presence and actions of human experimenters were affecting the animals’ neural activity and thus biasing the data collected in these studies. By explicitly testing this idea, the researchers hoped to clarify previous findings and emphasize the importance of minimizing human involvement during animal experiments.
To explore how human experimenters might influence neural activity in animals, Yartsev’s team designed a study involving four adult female Egyptian fruit bats. These bats were housed in a carefully controlled laboratory environment and implanted with wireless neural recording devices to monitor the activity of neurons in their hippocampus—a part of the brain involved in spatial navigation. The hippocampus plays a critical role in forming mental maps of an animal’s environment and is known for its “place” neurons, which fire to indicate specific locations within an environment.
The experiment was conducted in a room designed to reduce external noise and other distractions. In this room, two human experimenters, one male and one female, stood at various tripod locations, offering food rewards to the bats when they landed on their outstretched hands. The humans wore identical protective clothing, including gloves, to control for any potential visual or tactile cues that might influence the bats. The room was equipped with advanced tracking technology that recorded the three-dimensional movements of both the bats and the humans with high precision.
The researchers designed two different tasks for the bats. In the first task, the bats were free to fly between the two human experimenters to receive a reward. The humans switched positions at regular intervals to ensure that each bat spent an equal amount of time interacting with each experimenter in each location. In the second task, the bats were stationary, hanging from preferred resting spots, while the human experimenters approached them to either feed them or briefly handle them.
Throughout the experiment, the neural activity of the bats’ hippocampal neurons was continuously recorded. The researchers specifically looked at how the neurons responded to the presence, movement, and identity of the humans in the room.
The researchers found that in flying bats, the activity of many hippocampal neurons changed depending on which human was standing at the landing location. In other words, individual neurons in the bats’ brains were modulated by the identity of the human experimenter—one neuron might fire more when the bat landed near the male experimenter, while another neuron might be more active when the bat landed near the female experimenter. This response to human identity was not uniform across all neurons, suggesting that different neurons encoded different aspects of the spatial task, including both the bat’s position and the human’s identity.
Second, when the bats were stationary, many neurons still carried significant spatial information about the location of the humans moving around the room. For example, as one human walked toward the bat to offer a reward, certain neurons would become active, encoding both the human’s location and their identity. Remarkably, nearly half of the neurons that responded to human movement during these stationary phases were selective for one human experimenter over the other, indicating that these neurons were tuned not only to the spatial position of the humans but also to who the human was.
The researchers found that this neural modulation could not be explained by simple factors like differences in the rewards given by the two experimenters or the presence of a second bat in the room. Even after controlling for these variables, the identity of the human experimenter remained a significant factor in determining how the neurons responded.
These findings are important because they show that the hippocampus is not only involved in encoding an animal’s own position in space but also integrates information about other individuals present in the environment—whether they are conspecifics (other bats) or humans. The fact that neurons responded differently to different humans, even in a highly controlled experimental setting, suggests that the presence of human experimenters can have an impact on the neural activity of animals, potentially affecting the outcomes of neuroscience experiments.
The study highlights “that it is very important to consider how uncontrollable factors, such as humans, can influence the interpretation of neural findings in behavioral neuroscience,” Yartsev said.
This is particularly important in experiments that involve direct human interaction with the animals, such as delivering rewards, handling, or manipulating objects in the environment. If human experimenters are influencing neural activity in ways that researchers are not accounting for, it could lead to biased or misinterpreted results.
Yartsev and his colleagues advocate for reducing human involvement as much as possible in animal experiments to avoid these potential biases. By using wireless neural recording technologies and minimizing human-animal interactions, researchers can obtain more accurate data that truly reflects the neural processes of the animals, free from the unintended influence of human presence.
“This was a single study aimed to both clarify to us previous results and also to underscore why taking the approach we have been taking (i.e., removing human involvement as much as possible) is crucial,” Yartsev said.
The study, “(https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-024-01690-8) Neural representation of human experimenters in the bat hippocampus,” was authored by Madeleine C. Snyder, Kevin K. Qi, and Michael M. Yartsev.

(https://www.psypost.org/misunderstandings-about-memory-in-trauma-cases-risk-wrongful-convictions/) Misunderstandings about memory in trauma cases risk wrongful convictions
Oct 17th 2024, 12:00

Research published in (https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2024.2383311) Memory reveals that a significant portion of UK legal professionals, mental health professionals, and the public endorse beliefs in traumatic memory repression and dissociative amnesia, despite these concepts being scientifically contested.
Many people believe in the repression of traumatic memories—those that are unconsciously buried and only retrievable under specific conditions, such as therapy. Dissociative amnesia, where individuals cannot recall traumatic experiences until they are triggered, is also frequently endorsed by the public and professionals. Despite being scientifically questioned, these beliefs persist in modern practice.
In response to this issue, Penny J. Radcliffe and Lawrence Patihis explored these beliefs among UK legal professionals, mental health professionals, and laypeople, and how they align with current scientific understanding.
The researchers conducted an online survey involving 717 participants: 419 from the general public, 150 legal professionals (judges, barristers, and solicitors), and 148 mental health professionals. The participants, recruited via Prolific for the lay public and professional e-notice boards for professionals, were asked to complete a memory belief questionnaire (MBQ).
The MBQ contained nine key statements, each designed to probe beliefs about memory accuracy and reliability, including questions on the permanence of memory storage, repression of traumatic memories, and the potential for false memories. Participants’ demographic information, including sex, age, and socioeconomic status were also collected. Legal and mental health professionals had additional questions tailored to their professions, such as experience in handling non-recent child abuse cases (which often rely heavily on memory testimony).
The study found that belief in traumatic memory repression was strongly endorsed across all groups, with 90.4% of the lay public, 78.7% of legal professionals, and 83.7% of mental health professionals agreeing that traumatic memories are often repressed. Similarly, dissociative amnesia was widely supported, with over 87% of participants in each group endorsing the idea that it prevents individuals from recalling traumatic experiences.
Despite this, many participants also recognized that memory is reconstructive, with 89.7% of the lay public, 94.7% of legal professionals, and 93.9% of mental health professionals agreeing that memory changes over time. However, a notable proportion still believed in inaccurate concepts, such as the permanent storage of all experiences.
Legal professionals were the most likely to agree that it is possible to develop false memories of abuse, with 75.8% endorsing this view, compared to 63.6% of the lay public and 67.1% of mental health professionals. There was also a significant sex difference in overall skepticism toward scientifically disputed memory concepts, with males across all groups showing greater skepticism than females.
These findings highlight a significant gap between scientific understanding and the prevailing beliefs held by professionals and the public in the UK.
One limitation is the self-selecting nature of the sample. However, while random selection is ideal, self-selection allows for greater anonymity and likely increased participation from sensitive legal populations.
The research, “(https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2024.2383311) Judges’ and Lawyers’ Beliefs in Repression and Dissociative Amnesia May Imperil Justice: Further Guidance Required”, was authored by Penny J. Radcliffe and Lawrence Patihis​

Forwarded by:
Michael Reeder LCPC
Baltimore, MD

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