Experience-Driven Plasticity and the Emergence of Psychopathology: A Mechanistic Framework Integrating Development and the Environment into the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie A McLaughlin ◽  
Laurel Joy Gabard-Durnam
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Plasticity ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Developmental Variation ◽  
Units Of Analysis ◽  
Environmental Experience ◽  
Dependent Learning ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Research Domain ◽  
Specific Learning

Despite the clear importance of a developmental perspective for understanding the emergence of psychopathology across the life-course, such a perspective has yet to be integrated into the RDoC model. In this paper, we articulate a framework that incorporates developmentally-specific learning mechanisms that reflect experience-driven plasticity as additional units of analysis in the existing RDoC matrix. These include both experience-expectant learning mechanisms that occur during sensitive periods of development and experience-dependent learning mechanisms that may exhibit substantial variation across development. Incorporating these learning mechanisms allows for clear integration not only of development but also environmental experience into the RDoC model. We demonstrate how individual differences in environmental experiences—such as early-life adversity—can be leveraged to identify experience-driven plasticity patterns across development and apply this framework to consider how environmental experience shapes key biobehavioral processes that comprise the RDoC model. This framework provides a structure for understanding how affective, cognitive, social, and neurobiological processes are shaped by experience across development and ultimately contribute to the emergence of psychopathology. We demonstrate how incorporating an experience-driven plasticity framework is critical for understanding the development of many processes subsumed within the RDoC model, which will contribute to greater understanding of developmental variation in the etiology of psychopathology and can be leveraged to identify potential windows of heightened developmental plasticity when clinical interventions might be maximally efficacious.

Beyond Language in Infant Emotion Concept Development

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 255-258
Author(s):  
Ashley L. Ruba ◽  
Betty M. Repacholi
Keyword(s):  
Unsupervised Learning ◽  
Concept Learning ◽  
Concept Development ◽  
Independent Learning ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Learning Abilities ◽  
Comprehensive Theory ◽  
Dependent Learning ◽  
Emotion Labels ◽  
Emotion Concepts

The process by which emotion concepts are learned is largely unexplored. Hoemann, Devlin, and Barrett (2020) and Shablack, Stein, and Lindquist (2020) argue that emotion concepts are learned through emotion labels (e.g., “happy”), which cohere variable aspects of emotions into abstract, conceptual categories. While such labeling-dependent learning mechanisms (supervised learning) are plausible, we argue that labeling-independent learning mechanisms (unsupervised learning) are also involved. Specifically, we argue that infants are uniquely situated to learn emotion concepts given their exceptional learning abilities. We provide evidence that children learn from complex, irregular input in other domains (e.g., symbolic numbers) without supervised instruction. Thus, while labels undoubtedly influence emotion concept learning, we must also look beyond language to create a comprehensive theory of emotion concept development.

scholarly journals An emergentist perspective on the origin of number sense

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1740) ◽  
pp. 20170043 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Zorzi ◽  
Alberto Testolin
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cues ◽  
Number Sense ◽  
Network Models ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Neural Network Models ◽  
Human Infants ◽  
Numerosity Discrimination ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Numerical Abilities ◽  
Dependent Learning

The finding that human infants and many other animal species are sensitive to numerical quantity has been widely interpreted as evidence for evolved, biologically determined numerical capacities across unrelated species, thereby supporting a ‘nativist’ stance on the origin of number sense. Here, we tackle this issue within the ‘emergentist’ perspective provided by artificial neural network models, and we build on computer simulations to discuss two different approaches to think about the innateness of number sense. The first, illustrated by artificial life simulations, shows that numerical abilities can be supported by domain-specific representations emerging from evolutionary pressure. The second assumes that numerical representations need not be genetically pre-determined but can emerge from the interplay between innate architectural constraints and domain-general learning mechanisms, instantiated in deep learning simulations. We show that deep neural networks endowed with basic visuospatial processing exhibit a remarkable performance in numerosity discrimination before any experience-dependent learning, whereas unsupervised sensory experience with visual sets leads to subsequent improvement of number acuity and reduces the influence of continuous visual cues. The emergent neuronal code for numbers in the model includes both numerosity-sensitive (summation coding) and numerosity-selective response profiles, closely mirroring those found in monkey intraparietal neurons. We conclude that a form of innatism based on architectural and learning biases is a fruitful approach to understanding the origin and development of number sense. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The origins of numerical abilities'.

scholarly journals Dopaminergic challenge dissociates learning from primary versus secondary sources of information

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Rybicki ◽  
S. L. Sowden ◽  
B. A. Schuster ◽  
J. L Cook
Keyword(s):  
Dopamine D2 Receptor ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Individual Learning ◽  
Secondary Source ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Additional Element ◽  
Total N ◽  
Specific Learning

SummarySome theories of human cultural evolution posit that humans have social-specific learning mechanisms that are adaptive specialisations moulded by natural selection to cope with the pressures of group living. However, the existence of neurochemical pathways that are specialised for learning from social information and from individual experience is widely debated. Cognitive neuroscientific studies present mixed evidence for social-specific learning mechanisms: some studies find dissociable neural correlates for social and individual learning whereas others find the same brain areas and, dopamine-mediated, computations involved in both. Here we demonstrate that, like individual learning, social learning is modulated by the dopamine D2 receptor antagonist haloperidol when social information is the primary learning source, but not when it comprises a secondary, additional element. Two groups (total N = 43) completed a decision-making task which required primary learning, from own experience, and secondary learning from an additional source. For one group the primary source was social, and secondary was individual; for the other group this was reversed. Haloperidol affected primary learning irrespective of social/individual nature, with no effect on learning from the secondary source. Thus, we illustrate that neurochemical mechanisms underpinning learning can be dissociated along a primary-secondary but not a social-individual axis. These results resolve conflict in the literature and support an expanding field showing that, rather than being specialised for particular inputs, neurochemical pathways in the human brain can process both social and non-social cues and arbitrate between the two depending upon which cue is primarily relevant for the task at hand.

scholarly journals Designing anti-predator training to maximize learning and efficacy assessments

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison L. Greggor ◽  
Bryce M. Masuda ◽  
Anne C. Sabol ◽  
Ronald R. Swaisgood
Keyword(s):  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Defensive Responses ◽  
Natural Predator ◽  
Human Care ◽  
Conservation Breeding ◽  
Predator Training ◽  
Learning Focused ◽  
Specific Learning ◽  
Predator Behaviour

AbstractDespite the growing need to use conservation breeding and translocations in species’ recovery, many attempts to reintroduce animals to the wild fail due to predation post-release. Released animals often lack appropriate behaviours for survival, including anti-predator responses. Anti-predator training—a method for encouraging animals to exhibit wariness and defensive responses to predators—has been used to help address this challenge with varying degrees of success. The efficacy of anti-predator training hinges on animals learning to recognize and respond to predators, but learning is rarely assessed, or interventions miss key experimental controls to document learning. An accurate measure of learning serves as a diagnostic tool for improving training if it otherwise fails to reduce predation. Here we present an experimental framework for designing anti-predator training that incorporates suitable controls to infer predator-specific learning and illustrate their use with the critically endangered Hawaiian crow, ‘alalā (Corvus hawaiiensis). We conducted anti-predator training within a conservation breeding facility to increase anti-predator behaviour towards a natural predator, the Hawaiian hawk, ‘io (Buteo solitaries). In addition to running live-predator training trials, we included two control groups, aimed at determining if responses could otherwise be due to accumulated stress and agitation, or to generalized increases in fear of movement. We found that without these control groups we may have wrongly concluded that predator-specific learning occurred. Additionally, despite generations in human care that can erode anti-predator responses, ‘alalā showed unexpectedly high levels of predatory wariness during baseline assessments. We discuss the implications of a learning-focused approach to training for managing endangered species that require improved behavioural competence for dealing with predatory threats, and the importance of understanding learning mechanisms in diagnosing behavioural problems.

scholarly journals The life cycle in late Paleozoic eryopid temnospondyls: developmental variation, plasticity and phylogeny

Fossil Record ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-319
Author(s):  
Rainer R. Schoch
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Algal Blooms ◽  
Developmental Plasticity ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Ontogenetic Changes ◽  
Apex Predators ◽  
Developmental Variation ◽  
Broad Variation ◽  
Range Of Variation

Abstract. Eryopid temnospondyls were large apex predators in Carboniferous and Permian stream and lake habitats. The eryopid life cycle is exemplified by Onchiodon labyrinthicus from Niederhäslich (Saxony, Germany), which is represented by numerous size classes from small larvae to heavily ossified adults. Morphometric and principal component analyses provide new insights into ontogenetic changes in O. labyrinthicus, and comparison with adults of other eryopids documents phylogenetic patterns in the occupation of morphospace. Compared with small specimens of Sclerocephalus spp., immature O. labyrinthicus occupies a neighboring but much larger space, corresponding to a broader range of variation. Adults of Actinodon frossardi map with some juveniles of O. labyrinthicus, whereas other juveniles of the latter lie close to adults of O. thuringiensis, Glaukerpeton avinoffi and Osteophorus roemeri. Morphospace occupation of adult eryopids is partly consistent with cladistic tree topology, which gives the following branching pattern: Actinodon frossardi forms the basalmost eryopid, followed by Osteophorus roemeri, Glaukerpeton avinoffi and the genus Onchiodon (O. labyrinthicus + O. thuringiensis); then Clamorosaurus nocturnus; and finally the monophyletic genus Eryops. The presumably juvenile skull of Eryops anatinus falls well outside the domains of both adult eryopids and immature O. labyrinthicus, showing a unique combination of juvenile and adult features. Instead, Onchiodon langenhani and the Ruprechtice specimens referred to O. labyrinthicus map within the domain of immature O. labyrinthicus. Raised levels of variation in O. labyrinthicus coincide with evidence of a stressed habitat, in which limiting factors were fluctuating salinity, absence of fishes, enhanced competition and seasonal algal blooms. The documented broad variation was possibly caused by developmental plasticity responding to fluctuations in lake hydrology and nutrients in this small, short-lived water body.

Over Depression and Mood Disorders among Sexual and Gender Minority Populations

2020 ◽  
pp. 33-45
Author(s):  
Gia Chodzen ◽  
Vickie M. Mays ◽  
Susan D. Cochran
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Disorders ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Gender Minority ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
Geographic Context ◽  
Sexual And Gender Minority ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Research Domain

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) adults have rates of depressive disorders that are higher than those of cisgender or heterosexual adults. These differences are likely due to the ways that SGMs are treated both on an individual and population basis. This chapter begins by discussing evolving conceptualizations of depressive disorders among SGMs with a focus on the dimensionality in symptomatology. Insights are provided into the ways that differences in risk for depressive disorders occur in SGMs by subpopulations with a focus on gender, developmental stages, and geographic context. The authors discuss social risks, examining the ways in which stigma, discrimination, and early life adversity can contribute to depressive disorders in SGMs. This provides a basis for researchers and clinicians to explore and include structural and societal change in addressing mental health disorders in SGMs. The authors also discuss the comorbidity of depressive disorders with several chronic health conditions with particular regard to the health inequities that some subpopulations of SGMs face. Adopting an intersectional approach is useful in studying depressive disorders among SGMs, and the authors suggest pairing this approach with the National Institute of Health’s Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework. Future directions are suggested to researchers and clinicians to reduce risks of depressive distress in SGM subpopulations.

scholarly journals Harsh childhood environmental characteristics predict exploitation and retaliation in humans

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1750) ◽  
pp. 20122104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael E. McCullough ◽  
Eric J. Pedersen ◽  
Jaclyn M. Schroder ◽  
Benjamin A. Tabak ◽  
Charles S. Carver
Keyword(s):  
Cooperative Interaction ◽  
Cultural Learning ◽  
Adaptive Responses ◽  
Social Strategies ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Childhood Exposure ◽  
Developmental Variation ◽  
Adaptive Calibration ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Childhood Environment

Across and within societies, people vary in their propensities towards exploitative and retaliatory defection in potentially cooperative interaction. We hypothesized that this variation reflects adaptive responses to variation in cues during childhood that life will be harsh, unstable and short—cues that probabilistically indicate that it is in one's fitness interests to exploit co-operators and to retaliate quickly against defectors. Here, we show that childhood exposure to family neglect, conflict and violence, and to neighbourhood crime, were positively associated for men (but not women) with exploitation of an interaction partner and retaliatory defection after that partner began to defect. The associations between childhood environment and both forms of defection for men appeared to be mediated by participants' endorsement of a ‘code of honour’. These results suggest that individual differences in mutual benefit cooperation are not merely due to genetic noise, random developmental variation or the operation of domain-general cultural learning mechanisms, but rather, might reflect the adaptive calibration of social strategies to local social–ecological conditions.

scholarly journals Developing Dimensional, Pandiagnostic Inhibitory Control Constructs With Self-Report and Neuropsychological Data

Assessment ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 787-802 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natania A. Crane ◽  
Alvaro Vergés ◽  
Masoud Kamali ◽  
Runa Bhaumik ◽  
Kelly A. Ryan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Neuropsychological Tests ◽  
Self Report ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Type I ◽  
Invariance Testing ◽  
Intermediate Phenotypes ◽  
Not Otherwise Specified ◽  
Units Of Analysis ◽  
Research Domain

Trait markers, or intermediate phenotypes linking different units of analysis (self-report, performance) from the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) matrix across populations is a necessary step in identifying at-risk individuals. In the current study, 150 healthy controls (HC) and 456 individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) Type I or II, NOS (not otherwise specified) or Schizoaffective BD completed self-report neuropsychological tests of inhibitory control (IC) and executive functioning. Bifactor analyses were used to examine the factor structure of these measures and to evaluate for invariance across groups. Bifactor analyses found modest convergence of items from neuropsychological tests and self-report measures of IC among HC and BD. The factor scores showed evidence of a general IC construct (i.e., subdomain) across measures. Importantly, invariance testing indicated that the same construct was measured equally well across groups. Groups differed on the general factor for three of the four scales. Convergence on a general IC factor and invariance across diagnosis supports the use of combined dimensional measures to identify clinical risk and highlights how prospective RDoC studies might integrate units of analysis.

scholarly journals Modeling flexible behavior in childhood to adulthood shows age-dependent learning mechanisms and less optimal learning in autism in each age group

PLoS Biology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. e3000908
Author(s):  
Daisy Crawley ◽  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Emily J. H. Jones ◽  
Jumana Ahmad ◽  
Bethany Oakley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Age Group ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Optimal Learning ◽  
Age Dependent ◽  
Flexible Behavior ◽  
Dependent Learning

Measuring Early Life Adversity across the Lifespan

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilana Berman ◽  
Katie A McLaughlin ◽  
Nim Tottenham ◽  
Kieth Godfrey ◽  
Teresa E. Seeman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Plasticity ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Early Adversity ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
The Impact

Exposure to adversity in childhood is associated with elevations in numerous physical and mental health outcomes across the life-course. The biological embedding of early experience during periods of developmental plasticity is one pathway that contributes to these associations. While a rich literature documents associations between early adversity and key outcomes in childhood and early adulthood, little research investigates the impact of adversity on processes of health and wellbeing in later life. This lack of research impairs progress as the strong theoretical prediction of early embedding models is that the impact of early adversity will be observed throughout the lifespan, even into late life. Recently articulated dimensional models (e.g., McLaughlin et al., 2021) specify mechanistic pathways linking different dimensions of adversity to health and wellbeing outcomes later in life. While findings from existing studies testing these dimensions have provided promising preliminary support for these models, less agreement exists about how to measure the experiences that comprise each dimension. Here we review existing approaches to measuring two dimensions of adversity: threat and deprivation. We recommend specific measures for measuring these constructs and, when possible, document when the same measure can be used by different reporters and across the lifespan to maximize the utility with which these recommendations can be applied. Through this approach we hope to stimulate progress in understanding how particular dimensions of early adversity exposure contribute to outcomes in late life.

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