Associate Professor Mississippi State University, United States
Introduction: The NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative revolutionizes mental health understanding by prioritizing biologically valid dimensions. Both the Positive Valence Systems (PVS) and Negative Valence Systems (NVS) within this framework are implicated in various psychopathologies. Despite the potential of RDoC-informed approaches, challenges persist, including modest effects linking neural and physiological measures to symptoms, and difficulties in modeling latent variables for PVS and NVS across units of analysis. Addressing these challenges requires innovative methodologies. To address these challenges, we propose the utilization of Fast Periodic Visual Stimulation, an emerging method that offers a swift and efficient approach for testing cognitive processes with high signal-to-noise ratio.
Materials and
Methods: FPVS involves embedding oddball stimuli at a lower frequency within a base stimulus of higher frequency. Notably, this approach has shown robust responses to the embedded categories, such as various facial expressions among neutral base face stimuli. One significant advantage of the FPVS method is its remarkable stability, requiring short task durations (significant responses have been shown in less than 60 seconds) and exhibiting sensitivity at the individual subject level. Moreover, the implicit nature of the FPVS measure allows for data collection without relying on overt behavioral responses, reducing the potential contamination by decisional processes. Employing EEG, we administered FPVS paradigms featuring neutral and emotional faces to participants, assessing responses to happy, sad, fearful, and angry stimuli. Participants also completed anxiety assessments using PROMIS measures.
Results, Conclusions, and Discussions: Analysis revealed distinct neural responses to emotional stimuli, with notable variations among individuals. Remarkably, individuals with higher anxiety scores exhibited heightened responses to sad faces relative to happy ones, suggesting a potential marker for NVS dysfunction. Our findings underscore the promise of FPVS as a rapid and objective assessment tool for probing NVS alterations in psychopathology. By leveraging FPVS, our study provides novel insights into the neural underpinnings of PVS and NVS within the RDoC framework. This quick and accessible method offers a paradigm shift in assessing valence system dysfunction, with implications for personalized interventions and advancing translational research in mental health.
Acknowledgements (Optional): I would like to thank Dr. David Vandenheever, H. Davidson and the Neural Engineering Research Division at Mississippi State.
