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Brain Sciences
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CNS-Arousal—Transdiagnostic Relevance and Therapeutic Implications
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CNS-Arousal—Transdiagnostic Relevance and Therapeutic Implications

A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Neuropharmacology and Neuropathology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 March 2021) | Viewed by 26078

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Tilman Hensch

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
Interests: arousal; affective disorders; personality; EEG; psychopharmacology; molecular genetics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Arousal fundamentally impacts normal and abnormal behavior and ‘arousal and regulatory systems’ have been implemented as one of the basic domains of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). In daily life, CNS-arousal has to be regulated depending on situational demands. For example, at bedtime, arousal has to be reduced, whereas during cognitive tasks or car driving, arousal level has to be increased or maintained. The high incidence of hypersomnia and insomnia in the normal population, and especially in neurological and psychiatric disorders, points to the high relevance of arousal dysregulation. Pronounced arousal dysregulation is found across different disease categories, such as insomnia, affective disorders, and ADHD, in which it has been suggested to play a pathogenetic role (Hegerl and Hensch, 2014). Numerous drugs and therapeutic techniques impact CNS arousal, and first studies on arousal as a treatment response predictor are available.

This research topic focuses on presenting recent advances on the role of arousal in normal and abnormal behavior, including studies on the neurobiology and genetics of arousal, as well as its assessment (e.g., via EEG, ANS-indicators, pupillography, but also psychometry, such as the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, and task-based assessments, such as sustained attention tests).

Dr. Tilman Hensch
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Arousal
  • Sleepiness
  • Insomnia
  • Resting EEG
  • RDoC

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 1972 KiB  
Article
The Big Five Personality Traits and Brain Arousal in the Resting State
by Philippe Jawinski, Sebastian Markett, Christian Sander, Jue Huang, Christine Ulke, Ulrich Hegerl and Tilman Hensch
Brain Sci. 2021, 11(10), 1272; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11101272 - 26 Sep 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5436
Abstract
Based on Eysenck’s biopsychological trait theory, brain arousal has long been considered to explain individual differences in human personality. Yet, results from empirical studies remained inconclusive. However, most published results have been derived from small samples and, despite inherent limitations, EEG alpha power [...] Read more.
Based on Eysenck’s biopsychological trait theory, brain arousal has long been considered to explain individual differences in human personality. Yet, results from empirical studies remained inconclusive. However, most published results have been derived from small samples and, despite inherent limitations, EEG alpha power has usually served as an exclusive indicator for brain arousal. To overcome these problems, we here selected N = 468 individuals of the LIFE-Adult cohort and investigated the associations between the Big Five personality traits and brain arousal by using the validated EEG- and EOG-based analysis tool VIGALL. Our analyses revealed that participants who reported higher levels of extraversion and openness to experience, respectively, exhibited lower levels of brain arousal in the resting state. Bayesian and frequentist analysis results were especially convincing for openness to experience. Among the lower-order personality traits, we obtained the strongest evidence for neuroticism facet ‘impulsivity’ and reduced brain arousal. In line with this, both impulsivity and openness have previously been conceptualized as aspects of extraversion. We regard our findings as well in line with the postulations of Eysenck and consistent with the recently proposed ‘arousal regulation model’. Our results also agree with meta-analytically derived effect sizes in the field of individual differences research, highlighting the need for large (collaborative) studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue CNS-Arousal—Transdiagnostic Relevance and Therapeutic Implications)
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15 pages, 1443 KiB  
Article
Pupil Dilation during Reward Anticipation Is Correlated to Depressive Symptom Load in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder
by Max Schneider, Immanuel G. Elbau, Teachawidd Nantawisarakul, Dorothee Pöhlchen, Tanja Brückl, BeCOME Working Group, Michael Czisch, Philipp G. Saemann, Michael D. Lee, Elisabeth B. Binder and Victor I. Spoormaker
Brain Sci. 2020, 10(12), 906; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10120906 - 25 Nov 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 10559
Abstract
Depression is a debilitating disorder with high prevalence and socioeconomic cost, but the brain-physiological processes that are altered during depressive states are not well understood. Here, we build on recent findings in macaques that indicate a direct causal relationship between pupil dilation and [...] Read more.
Depression is a debilitating disorder with high prevalence and socioeconomic cost, but the brain-physiological processes that are altered during depressive states are not well understood. Here, we build on recent findings in macaques that indicate a direct causal relationship between pupil dilation and anterior cingulate cortex mediated arousal during anticipation of reward. We translated these findings to human subjects with concomitant pupillometry/fMRI in a sample of unmedicated participants diagnosed with major depression and healthy controls. We could show that the upregulation and maintenance of arousal in anticipation of reward was disrupted in patients in a symptom-load dependent manner. We could further show that the failure to maintain reward anticipatory arousal showed state-marker properties, as it tracked the load and impact of depressive symptoms independent of prior diagnosis status. Further, group differences of anticipatory arousal and continuous correlations with symptom load were not traceable only at the level of pupillometric responses, but were mirrored also at the neural level within salience network hubs. The upregulation and maintenance of arousal during reward anticipation is a novel translational and well-traceable process that could prove a promising gateway to a physiologically informed patient stratification and targeted interventions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue CNS-Arousal—Transdiagnostic Relevance and Therapeutic Implications)
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16 pages, 2285 KiB  
Article
Enhanced Vigilance Stability during Daytime in Insomnia Disorder
by Ariane Losert, Christian Sander, Michael Schredl, Ivonne Heilmann-Etzbach, Michael Deuschle, Ulrich Hegerl and Claudia Schilling
Brain Sci. 2020, 10(11), 830; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10110830 - 7 Nov 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2572
Abstract
Central nervous hyperarousal is as a key component of current pathophysiological concepts of chronic insomnia disorder. However, there are still open questions regarding its exact nature and the mechanisms linking hyperarousal to sleep disturbance. Here, we aimed at studying waking state hyperarousal in [...] Read more.
Central nervous hyperarousal is as a key component of current pathophysiological concepts of chronic insomnia disorder. However, there are still open questions regarding its exact nature and the mechanisms linking hyperarousal to sleep disturbance. Here, we aimed at studying waking state hyperarousal in insomnia by the perspective of resting-state vigilance dynamics. The VIGALL (Vigilance Algorithm Leipzig) algorithm has been developed to investigate resting-state vigilance dynamics, and it revealed, for example, enhanced vigilance stability in depressive patients. We hypothesized that patients with insomnia also show a more stable vigilance regulation. Thirty-four unmedicated patients with chronic insomnia and 25 healthy controls participated in a twenty-minute resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) measurement following a night of polysomnography. Insomnia patients showed enhanced EEG vigilance stability as compared to controls. The pattern of vigilance hyperstability differed from that reported previously in depressive patients. Vigilance hyperstability was also present in insomnia patients showing only mildly reduced sleep efficiency. In this subgroup, vigilance hyperstability correlated with measures of disturbed sleep continuity and arousal. Our data indicate that insomnia disorder is characterized by hyperarousal at night as well as during daytime. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue CNS-Arousal—Transdiagnostic Relevance and Therapeutic Implications)
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10 pages, 567 KiB  
Article
Fatigue in Cancer and Neuroinflammatory and Autoimmune Disease: CNS Arousal Matters
by Christine Ulke, Galina Surova, Christian Sander, Christoph Engel, Kerstin Wirkner, Philippe Jawinski, Tilman Hensch and Ulrich Hegerl
Brain Sci. 2020, 10(9), 569; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10090569 - 19 Aug 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2753
Abstract
The term fatigue is not only used to describe a sleepy state with a lack of drive, as observed in patients with chronic physical illnesses, but also a state with an inhibition of drive and central nervous system (CNS) hyperarousal, as frequently observed [...] Read more.
The term fatigue is not only used to describe a sleepy state with a lack of drive, as observed in patients with chronic physical illnesses, but also a state with an inhibition of drive and central nervous system (CNS) hyperarousal, as frequently observed in patients with major depression. An electroencephalogram (EEG)-based algorithm has been developed to objectively assess CNS arousal and to disentangle these pathophysiologically heterogeneous forms of fatigue. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that fatigued patients with CNS hyperarousal score higher on depressive symptoms than those without this neurophysiological pattern. Methods: Subjects with fatigue (Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory sum-score > 40) in the context of cancer, neuroinflammatory, or autoimmune diseases were drawn from the 60+ cohort of the Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases. CNS arousal was assessed by automatic EEG-vigilance stage classification using the Vigilance Algorithm Leipzig (VIGALL 2.1) based on 20 min EEG recordings at rest with eyes closed. Depression was assessed by the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (IDS-SR). Results: Sixty participants (33 female; median age: 67.5 years) were included in the analysis. As hypothesized, fatigued patients with CNS hyperarousal had higher IDS-SR scores than those without hyperarousal (F1,58 = 18.34; p < 0.0001, η2 = 0.240). Conclusion: hyperaroused fatigue in patients with chronic physical illness may be a sign of comorbid depression. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue CNS-Arousal—Transdiagnostic Relevance and Therapeutic Implications)
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16 pages, 902 KiB  
Article
Somatic Marker Production Deficits Do Not Explain the Relationship between Psychopathic Traits and Utilitarian Moral Decision Making
by Shawn E. Fagan, Liat Kofler, Sarah Riccio and Yu Gao
Brain Sci. 2020, 10(5), 303; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10050303 - 15 May 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3819
Abstract
In moral dilemma tasks, high levels of psychopathic traits often predict increased utilitarian responding—specifically, endorsing sacrificing one person to save many. Research suggests that increased arousal (i.e., somatic marker production) underlies lower rates of utilitarian responding during moral dilemmas. Though deficient somatic marker [...] Read more.
In moral dilemma tasks, high levels of psychopathic traits often predict increased utilitarian responding—specifically, endorsing sacrificing one person to save many. Research suggests that increased arousal (i.e., somatic marker production) underlies lower rates of utilitarian responding during moral dilemmas. Though deficient somatic marker production is characteristic of psychopathy, how this deficit affects the psychopathy–utilitarian connection remains unknown. We assessed psychopathic traits in undergraduates, as well as behavioral performance and skin conductance level reactivity (SCL-R; a measure of somatic marker production) during a moral dilemma task. High psychopathic traits and low SCL-R were associated with increased utilitarian decisions in dilemmas involving direct personal harm. Psychopathic traits were unrelated to SCL-R, nor did SCL-R mediate the relationship between psychopathy and utilitarianism. The present study did not find evidence that somatic marker production explains the connection between utilitarianism and psychopathy in a college population. Further research is necessary to identify the neural mechanisms relating psychopathy and moral decision-making in nonclinical samples. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue CNS-Arousal—Transdiagnostic Relevance and Therapeutic Implications)
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