Developmental Psychobiology PDF

Developmental Psychobiology Section 1 \| Principles ======================= Chapter 1.1 \| Messiness and Order -- 27/11/2024 -- 28/11/2024 -------------------------------------------------------------- *"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not to put it in a fruit salad."* R...

Developmental Psychobiology Section 1 \| Principles ======================= Chapter 1.1 \| Messiness and Order -- 27/11/2024 -- 28/11/2024 -------------------------------------------------------------- *"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not to put it in a fruit salad."* Remender & Scalera, Black Science. This is a sentence by a comedian. There is a difference between knowledge, concepts, learn by memory, and wisdom, the ability to use knowledge to do something productive. Theory is important, but being able to use it and use our brain is even more important. ### The platypus The platypus is an animal that shouldn\'t exist because it has parts of different animals, and it is very strange. When the platypus was discovered in New Zealand, initially it was strange, and humans killed it. Then, it was taken to London. In the academy of the Natural Science in London for 30 years they thought it was a joke. *«\[...\] It naturally excites the idea of some deceptive preparation by artificial means \[...\]»* Shaw, 1789. It took 200 years to understand that it was a real animal. That happens also in psychology. *"\[...\] dried skin with a desiccated and hardened \'bill\' so unlike the soft, flexible bill of the living animal \[...\]"* Hall, 1999. ### ### Bennett et al., 2020 Quat Sci Rev Human are born to be wild and connected. In 2021 a group of palaeontologists discovered these prehistoric prints of human feet in New Mexico. They were an adult and a baby probably escaping from a predator. It was incredible that in the beginning of humanity adults interact and take care of babies. **Skull of Australopithecus child**. The anterior fontanelle of the frontal bones was opened, it close later in life. In other animals there wasn\'t the fontanelle. The Australopithecus africanus could walk on two feet. The brain of the baby should be smaller to pass through the vaginal canal at birth, so the open in the cranial is an adaptation. The child of Australopithecus is more immature than other species of children. Brain matures after birth, so the neuroplasticity allows children to use the interaction with environment to build the brain development. *Renee Spitz* was a paediatrician, and he worked with orphans and discovered that these babies were medically healthy, but they had a loss of cognitive functions due to the lack of nurture cares. The interaction with the mother permits to the baby to develop his/her brain. ### ### ### ### Donald Hebb (1949) When two neurons activate at the same time multiple times, the more they activate, the more become connected, whereas if you don\'t use a connection, it will be lost. In people who play piano the somatosensory map is bigger for the hands, because there are a lot of connections in this area. ### Dynamic systems We can use the term **dynamic systems** to refer to living beings -- like humans -- who dynamically change through space and time (we usually say «development») and are able to maintain a relative degree of internal organization despite -- or maybe thanks to -- continuous dynamic changes. As some of these changes are not always predictable (the baby doesn't know what «walking» will bring to her in the future) we can also say that these systems are non-linear in their causality. A person is a system, but a single part of the person (an arm, a leg, hair, etc.) is not the system. System has an identity even if continuously moving in time and space: a person that was a small child is still the same person even if now is taller. If this is too complicated, it was meant to be. Let's look at some examples #### Systems' self-regulation In **1936** in **Australia** there were beetles (insects that eats sugar canes) that were devastating the sugar cane crops. In the ecosystem were introduced the cane toad to eat these insects, but it was poisoning, so other animals started to die. The ecosystem response was a trophic cascade: from 102 toads introduced they became hundreds of millions in few years and their predators drove to extinction (crocodiles, big birds, rats), due to the toxic poison of the cane toad. Not only the system is open, but also the introduction of new element cause consequences that weren\'t predictable. #### Systems' multi-finality In 1914, in Sarajevo, the **assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand** of the Austro-Hungarian Empire happened. Cabrinovic failed to kill Franz Ferdinand with an old grenade (that bounces off the car). Then, Gavrilo Princip, who failed multiple times in killing Franz Ferdinand, moved (sadly) to Mortitz-Schiller's delicatessen because he was sad, and he wanted a sandwich. Then Franz Ferdinand arrived in the same pub and Gavrilo Princip shot him killing him. System's outcomes are unpredictable and sometimes the results come when they weren't searched. Many people try a lot to be pregnant and they can\'t, but when they stop try, they become pregnant. Another example: this man saved a guy in the World War II and then he met him again and recognized that was the guy he saved at the end of the World War II (he was Hitler). ### The epigenetic landscape The complexity of dynamic systems can be observed in the **epigenetic landscape**. It could be seen like this sort of valley landscape where the marble is the individual system, and it moves and through moving it shapes the environment. The valleys are the emotions and states more frequent for a person, the comfort zone, whereas the peaks are the mental states less frequents. The position and the movements of the marble are determined by the interaction of a lot of factors: environment, behaviour, brain activity, physiology, genetics. ### Let's observe a system together -- Single Ladies devastation In this case the system is made of five humans. The three children were singing Single Ladies and the dad says a joke, the baby takes it very seriously and has a very bad reaction. Everyone in the system has a very different reaction. The little girl in the middle is very happy and after the comment of the father she is laughing. When the baby gets upset, she stops interacting with the baby at all, while just the other sister and the father tries to comfort the baby. The mother says to the baby that she can be a single lady if she wants, parents\' job is not just setting limits. In psychotherapy context is important to remember to people that they can be something different, feel emotions, do something, etc. In general, what these people are doing is creating meanings. It is impossible to people to not create meanings, also implicitly. The girl in the middle is like \"it\'s always like that\", the other girl tries to be a saviour of the baby, and the father says that he is a horrible father. At the end of the lesson maybe we won\'t remember all the information about the classes, and this is a very big problem because everyone remembers things in different ways and there are misunderstanding (you said that, no you said that). To be a good psychologist it is important to observe what people do and try to understand the reasons why they behave like this. Single lady devastation is the name of the video. The family did the video again and the baby (last stime the baby was excluded from the family) lived the bad experience, but she is not the experience, her mood is totally different from the previous video. ### Von Bertalanfy (1968) A dynamic non-linear system should be seen also from a theoretical point of view: some people, psychologists and philosophers, talked about the concepts of dynamic system, a concept that came from physics. A lot of psychological concepts (i.e. \"energy\" for Freud) come from physics. Von Bertalanfy introduced the concept of cybernetic, from which psychology took the concept of pragmatic language. [A system is made of components that reciprocally interact, at different levels, and that are organized in a coherent ensemble.] The living being is an open system, organized in interdependent units that communicate with each other through constant exchanges of matter both inside and outside with the environment, with which it constitutes a wider system. → In the room now, there are about 45 people, 45 systems but we all are a wider system: there are different levels to observe systems. A system features motivational endogenous drives, generally finalized to maintain and develop the system itself in a coherent and consistent way, through space and through time. → When a child grows up, the system increases complexity but maintain coherence. The best moment to observe a system is when it is suffering, in clinical settings or in a critical condition when the system is very open, and it is possible to put hands into. Human environment changes continuously. The adaptation is defined by the stationary equilibrium between continuity and flexibility (Siegel, 1999). ### Ilya Prigogine (1984) The coherent integrity that is consequent to these principles is an emergent property of a system. → Systems has [property that emerges from the integration of the parts], but from the single parts they don\'t emerge. This means that the quality of a phenotype -- the way for example, a patient behaves -- is something that we can only understand by looking at the system -- not at the single mechanisms, parts, organs, cells. ### Ester Thelen (1994) Ester Thelen is an incredible scientist that applied the theory of dynamic system to motor development. It should be something dictated by genetics more than to the environment, but she was able to demonstrate that even infants, when they start to walk, need an environment that helps them to stand up (i.e. walls). [Organisms and environments are not two different things]. The theory of non-linear dynamic systems focuses on the concept of development and developmental change or shift: - **Local states of instability** → It is a very high peak in the epigenetic landscape; it is very difficult to stay there. It is basically the opposite of the attractor state. They are taboo states. Thoughts, behaviour and emotions that are no good to have. - **Degrees of freedom** → the movement in the epigenetic movements are determined by [degrees of freedom and constraints]. Degrees of freedom is a term that comes from statistics, and it represents the possibilities to move in the epigenetic landscape. There are number of choices, and it is different for every person. They are the possibilities to make choices. - **Constraints** → Constraints are not only genetic but a child with a genetic syndrome is a constraint, past experiences are a constraint. Constraints limits the movements (i.e. Patriarchy is a constraint, children grow up in a patriarchal culture and they build meanings based on this). - **Attractor states** → Considering the life of an organism, a sequent of events, every moment is a state. An attractor state is a valley in the landscape, it is the comfort zone, a state that could be comfortable (not necessary for a phenotype, i.e. in depression feeling bad is the comfort zone). It is comfortable but keep people away from discovering new experiences. Other concepts proposed by Ester Thelen are: - **Auto-organization** → It refers to self-regulatory processes, the system can self-organize. Indeed, the process of self-regulation of a system comes from feedback, the system takes information from the environment and use it. - **Non-linearity** → It refers to the non-possibility to predict the consequences of one change on the environment. It is very difficult to forecast the effect of the environments. In life, from very similar starting points it is possible to have very different results at the end. Non-linearity means non-predictability. - **Emergency** → System that emerge from the interaction of the different components of the system. Interaction between different elements (humans, neurons) is important, more than the single element. - **Recursion** → It means repetitively. When two neurons activate together multiple times, their connection becomes very strong and if one neuron is activated, the other actives too. Traumatic experiences come from this kind of associative learning. Trauma doesn\'t exist, what exist is the experience of people: something can be traumatic for someone but not for someone else. Organisms can be traumatized by the same things. ### Alan Fogel (1997) Alan Fogel is an influent infant researcher in developmental psychology. He talked about **Heterochronic development** (hetero = different; chronic = time) → The elements of a system develop through nonhomogeneous sequences and according to an asynchronous rhythm aka "There is no man behind the curtains". How is it possible that from "on-line" micro-analytic level, macro-analytic behavioural outputs are generated in an organism? **Parameters** \| The structures maintain cohesion, even during change and development, because they swing within parameters. When these threshold parameters exceed, we have a phase shift or a change in the behavioural phenotype Development happens in different times of regulation of development. The equalizer is a system in which every input from instrument is put and you can regulate every instrument. The regulatory processes regulate each other's, and there isn\'t a master behind the regulation of each component. #### Attachment theory The organization of attachment emerges more or less at 12 months old. To organize, the baby needs to make experiences, and it is possible to observe it when the sensorimotor system is quite developed, because the child can reach physical proximity of the caregiver only if he/she can move. ### ### René Spitz (1887-1974) **Hospitalism** → Lack of environmental prerequisites. The doctor and paediatrician René Spitz, famous for studies about hospitalism syndrome, that happen to children without nurturing caregiving. René Spitz shows how hospitalism produces a progressive loss of functions even if the children was physically healthy. He is a pioneer of the attachment theory. ### Harry Harlow (1905-1981) **Sensitive period** → critical time windows when separations may lead to detrimental stable consequences for later phenotype. Harry Harlow separated babies of macaque from their mothers and put them in growing up with two surrogates, one made of metal wires that had a bottle of milk and a non-feeding but comforting clothed mother. The little monkey spends its time with the clothed mother and goes to the wired mother just to obtain food. The need for comfort is such a relevant need for the little monkey. The monkey touches itself, moves in a way that is typical of a disorganized attachment, shows what happens when there is the loss of the attachment figure, of the caregiver. The variable that explains the most the choice of the mother was the physical contact with something warm, such as the clothed mother. Safety is a good synonymous of emotional wellbeing and love. If a child is frightened it is difficult to understand if going to a parent is safety or love, but then Bowlby developed the attachment theory, and it became very popular. Harlow is a pioneer of the attachment theory too. Attachment theory is a limited theory that explain the behaviour of humans in danger. However, we are not always in danger. A big problem is the transmission gap, the attachment theory says that the quality of caretaking predicts the quality of the attachment, but statistically it is not true, just for a small part of the variance. Harlow made a second experiment, in which he created a moving surrogate designed to seem diabolic and to frighten the little monkey. When the little monkey got scared, went to the place where feels comforted, the clothed one. ### What's your concept of a human child? Clip from \"Mr Nobody\" movie → Mr Nobody is a movie with Jared Leto, and it is a fanta-scientific movie. It shows a future in which humanity died except for one that was iced, and he was interviewed and starts telling things and decisions that he made in his life. The child says that he chose that couple because the mother seems nice. Then the child says that the little baby can see others but not himself and asks if he really exists in the interaction with the caregiver. In earlier development babies understand that there are elements like him and other different and tries to interact with them. Chapter 1.2 \| Wires and paradoxes -- 29/11/2024 ------------------------------------------------ Through neuroscientific evidence we will look at the relation between parents and babies. *"Theory of chaos is unacceptable because it leaves one to speculate that life could have been different."* **Amelie Nothomb** \| The character of rain This sentence comes from a Belge-Japanese author. It is a good sentence that explain how we have good meanings even though we live in a messy system. ### In the very first minute of life... The newborn macaque is with an adult human. The newborn monkey of few minutes of life can imitate the facial gestures that the human does. Even the human baby can imitate in the very first minutes of his life. In the video, the father is protruding the tongue and the baby reproduce the same gesture in a contingent way. The baby is just born. It is not only a general sentence when we said that we are born to be wild and connected. We can connect with other in a period in which we don\'t even know that we have a body, but we use it to create bonding and interaction. This baby is under maturation and the interaction helps to create neural connections to develop the brain properly. Time contingency is very important, things happen almost simultaneously in the responses between the baby and the environment. The brain develops interaction with environment following an inverted-U shape curve. [Mirror neurons] is the key mechanism behind imitation and their role was discovered by chance by Rizzolati (they were studying something else): they had electrons implanted on the heads of macaques, during a break a researcher ate in front of the monkey. When he brought food towards his mouth, the monkey activated the same neurons in the somatosensory cortex that were active when the animal ate Þ mirror neurons = neurons that activate both when we do a finalized action and when we observe it be done by another person (ex. eating a banana and watching someone eating a banana) ### Infant research Until the 1950s there were a lot of dominants ideas about babies and one of these was *Behaviouralism*: since we don\'t know what happen in the brain, it is a black box, and we can measure only inputs and outputs. Some behavioural therapies came from this idea. Another idea was *psychoanalysis* by Freud. The idea of child came from clinical activity with adult patients, so it was not the best way to study children. ### ### Louis Sander Louis Sander was a paediatrician and started observing babies during breastfeeding, which is an interaction with the mother. From a theoretical point of view Lewis Sanders started from a paradox: how is it possible to have two separate individuals and how they can connect with other? What is the energy to do both? According to Sander, to learn about development we need to look what happens, and what happens is two people staying together trying to regulate something. In his model of development, the caregiver and the baby have both jobs, and their job is to regulate themselves and their interaction [regulation of elective affinities]: both mum and baby have peculiar characteristics (ex. baby's specific temperament, mum's own personality and history...) that they need to negotiate in order to have effective regulation for different kind of things (ex. emotions, behaviour, cognition...). Gradually the target of the regulation changes: it starts from "we stay together to regulate baby's physiological needs" and it becomes more sophisticated, until 3 years of life when high cognitive skills develop (sense of self, TOM...). - Ex. the goal students and professor have is to make students learn something. To reach this goal, the professor tries to regulate his communication (ex. English language), while students try to regulate their level of attention, which depends on personality, on what happened today... What do a mother and a baby regulate? [Initial regulation] (1-3 months): stability of physiological rhythms (feeding, wake, temperature, respiration...); [Reciprocal exchange] (4-6 months): social regulation Þ social smiles (2-3 months): proper social connection in which the baby responds to a social stimulation by smiling; [First finalized activity] (7-9 months): baby discovers sense of agency (he understands that what he does has an effect, produces effects on others); [Focalization period] (10-13 months): starts to walk and going around Þ baby starts to gain the sense of what a secure base is (when you explore world you may find danger and want to go back to your secure base) Þ attachment can be done after the first 12 months; [Self-assertion] (14-20 months): autonomy, separation, baby starts to say "me", "why"...; [Recognition] (18-36 months): the correct and specific recognition from the significant other (the parent) is necessary to consolidate the self-recognition experience. The coordination of reciprocal awareness is a conquest of the dyadic system, and it is an emergent property that favours the development of growing complexities still maintaining coherence in the sense of the self. -Ability to recognize myself at the mirror Þ red dot test: you draw a red dot on baby's forehead and put him in front of a mirror. If he touches the mirror, he still isn't able to recognize himself, if he touches himself, he has a body image of himself. \- Shared awareness (ex. Sally and Anne task): baby is aware not only of an information held also by other people but also has an idea of how they will act on it. Self constancy (18-36 months): across time and space. #### Rooming-in vs. Nursery He observed babies being fed every 2-3 hours or babies being fed at request, when they start crying. When the babies where fed at request, they were better at regulating their physiological processes such as sleep-wake regulation: - Better sleep-wake rhythms at 3 days; - Greater activity (crying) in the light hours at 5 hours. How was it possible that life interactions can affect the sleep-wake cycle? This is a quote from book \"Living System\", a sort of compendium of all contributions of Sanders. *"While it is very clear what must happen to keep a child alive (the minimum fulfilment) and what must not happen in order not to suffer chronic physical damage or decompensation (the maximum tolerable frustration), there is some margin of doubt about what it can happen; and the various cultures make extensive use of their prerogatives to determine what they consider feasible and insist on calling it necessary."* \[Erikson, 1950\]. Even the culture values about parenting are constraints: there are cultures in which children were raised face to face, other in which babies are taken on the parent\'s back, or earlier in Italy children were raised by someone else. There is a lot of variability between the maximum and the minimum and it is important to support the parents, there are a lot of way to be a parent. *"Even each mother has her own prerogatives, and she uses them in a synergic harmony with the coherence that characterizes her own specific personality"*. \[Sander, 1977\] *"\[...\] such a variety of possible balances that makes it possible the temporary independence of components that self-regulate actively in the adaptive moment of meeting \[between two organisms\]"*. \[Sander, 1977\] How is it possible that physiological regulation is under the regulation of social exchanges and human-to-human relations? **The principle of specificities correspondence** establishes a resonance between systems tuned to each other, based on their corresponding properties for quality, quantity and timing. It is a mechanism of detecting regularities in the environment. If a baby cries because he is hungry and the mom comes, the baby, after multiple times, understand that if he cries the mother will feed him. Mother and baby are a dyadic system that regulates at the same frequence, because the baby is able to detect contingency in time, shapes and colors, the brain creates clusters of knowledge to simplify realities. All of this happens implicitly but the baby act deliberately when he wants something. That is, through processes of self-regulation and interactive regulation. **Paul Weiss (1969):** he defined what is a psychological state. He tried to answer to this paradox: How is possible that physiological regulation is under the regulation of social exchange and human to human relations? His answer is rhythm, which here is the way we stay together, and we separate. We act together depending on the contingencies we produce between us and on how we manage to do things at the same page (ex. kid cries Þ mother plays with him) Þ we use rhythm to connect Þ Principle of specificities correspondence = principle by which we correspond some aspect of behaviour, it states a resonance between system tuned to each other. The result of the information processing takes to a **probabilistic reasoning**. **Gyorgy Gergely** is a hungarian researcher, he comes from cognitive psychology and studied cognitive processes in children. The capacity of the children of creating contingency-based indexes, take to two main types of indexes. It is the probabilistic transposition of the endogenous motivational system of the baby: the baby is intrinsically motivated to process information and make meaning; moreover, he is self-motivated to perceive regularities, to create expectations and to act based on them. **Sufficiency index:** given an action, probability that an outcome follows an action of the subject (Am I effective?). The child creates, for instance, a forward probability-based expectation about how much is probable that the mother will come if he cries. **Necessity index:** given an outcome, probability that an outcome is preceded by an action (Is that my responsibility?) This is a backward probability-based expectation **Sander developed the concept of OPEN SPACE**\ Interaction and interactional contingency are fundamental for the development and the self-regulation of the children. Children need also moments of disruption, of separation: open spaces. When the mother doesn\'t understand why the child is crying it is an occasion to learn something, it is an open space in which the baby has the opportunity to be intentional, and the mother can learn how to respond to the baby\'s signals. Our interactions present interruption and breaks, they are fundamental for learning moments, not just between mother and baby, but even in interactions between a professor and a class, between girlfriend and boyfriend. In Gilmore Girls, Rory\'s first boyfriend is Dean, he is perfect, and she then falls in love with another boy that isn\'t the perfect boyfriend, but the relation with him is better. Coherence and self-continuity in time emerge from the time structure if the time structure is sufficiently stable to grant moments of separation to the system components. These moments are characterized by what Sander defined as an **open space**, the capacity of being alone in the presence of others (Winnicott, 1986). This condition emerges from a pattern of states characterized by regulatory stabilities, and it allows the endogenous initiative of the infant in the dyadic system. At the same time, it grants the bases for individuation and intersubjectivity, exploration and safety. Sander developed the concept of open space, a need in which the infant must be able to explore the world. Coherence and self-continuity in time emerge from the time structure. If the time structure is sufficiently stable to grant moments of separation to the system components Þ mother and infant need to detach in order to make the infant experience the world, otherwise the kid won't develop a sense of agency (cfr. concept of Winnicot: capacity of being alone in the presence of others Þ false self). Moreover, open space allows the endogenous initiative of the infant in the dyadic system, it grants the bases for individuation and intersubjectivity, exploration and safety. - it's important that parents give children the permission to be themselves (ex. be sad). **Recognition (SANDER)** The sense of reciprocal familiarity produces the necessary prerequisite for the precision of the individual's adaptation to higher levels of thought and perception, which imply the ability to read intentionality, feelings, emotional expressions. The correct and specific recognition from the significant other (the parent) is necessary to consolidate the self-recognition experience. The coordination of reciprocal awareness is a conquest of the dyadic system, and it is an emergent property that favors the development of growing complexities still maintaining coherence in the sense of the self. **Edward Tronick**. He is a sort of academic son of Lewis Sander. Sander worked in Boston, at Harvard and at UMA (University of Massachusetts), and studied the model of mutual regulator processes. A system is a series of states. From Tronick\'s point of view, emotional states are the most important, the key lens to look at development and human interactions because everything in life can be described as a triangle formed by the individual, the environment and the emotional states. **Emotional states and dyadic expansion of conscience** Ed Tronick inherits from Sander the idea that there are no central or maturative processes guiding the development, rather it is the rhythmicity of regulatory and interactive processes that are key for emotional regulation. Emotional states are, by definition, the **attractor states**. *"The development is characterized by periods of stable organization in a certain domain, followed by periods of disorganization, again followed by re-organizations in new and differently coherent forms of systemic organization"* \[Tronick, 2004\] This means that mismatching and moments of interruption are part of the system, even in dyadic systems. Perturbations and breakings are part of life, and they are necessary to create meanings, to learn how to negotiate with others. There are moments of matching, moments of mismatching and moments of reparatory processes in which it is possible to comeback to a match. This cycle creates meanings and allows us to learn how to take care of emotion: emotion regulation is like gym, if there is no experience there it is impossible to learn. At the beginning it is possible to learn regulation in a dyadic relationship, it is a dyadic process, the baby doesn\'t navigate emotions alone, but with the caregiver. Successful relationships and interaction are relationship in which we repair moments of break, not a relationship in which everything is perfect. **Necessary perturbations** The periods of disorganization and separation are an inherent characteristic of the systems that have self-regulatory properties. Separation and attunement are regulated moment-by-moment in the environment. **Meaning making** Through the probabilistic detection of contingencies between own and others' behavior (as well as the environmental consequences) the infant co-constructs sequences of expectations and meaning schemes (usually in an implicit and pre-symbolic format). **Successful dyads** Not those with a maximum level of attunement; rather, those who are able to repair states of mismatching or interactive ruptures. **Interactive reparation** Through continuous cycles of coordination, mismatching and new matching the system evolves toward higher degrees of complexity and integration, as the successive state is never equal to the previous one. Through these processes the infant is meant to learn coping, regulation and control strategies in his/her exploration of the world. Between 1975 and 1978 Tronick, with colleagues (Braselton and Adamson) published a paper that described the **still-face procedure**. It is a 6-minute procedure. **Normal face-to-face play**: there is a matching between mom and baby, there is an interaction with emotions. (look at each other, laugh together, etc.). **Still-face episode**: then the mother assumes a still poker face for two minutes (no smile, no touch, no communication, no everything). The first reaction of the baby is that something has changed, and the mother doesn\'t work anymore. The baby tries to self-regulate, trying to smile to re-engage the mother and then avoid her gaze. The arching back is a very stress typical behavior, the stress levels are rising. There is a cycle of stress regulation: the baby tries to re-engage the mother (maybe in different ways, smiling or pointing to catch attention), it doesn\'t work and avoid, then retry and after some time the baby starts crying. The baby can use emotion regulation, but also cognitive regulation: trying to catch attention pointing is a rudimental form of Theory of Mind. The child know that the mother has a mind and that it is possible to the baby to affect her. Hands in mouth, and movements are self-regulatory processes. At the end the baby starts crying**.** **Reunion**: here we can see dyadic reparation processes. The mother tries to comfort the child and there is a moment of avoidance by the baby before the interaction gets normal again. The child takes some moments to self-regulate, the moment of stress and the self-regulatory moments request sympathetic system and parasympathetic system, and they are antagonist systems, so it takes time for the baby to recover, it is not immediate. ### Dyadic States: Matching, Mismatching, and Repair Human life is characterized by cycles of *matching* (attunement), *mismatching* (misalignment), and repair. Human beings are psychobiological systems that aim to increase complexity and organization, embed energy, and reduce entropy. States of consciousness are at the top of the hierarchy of psychobiological states and represent the organization of human beings. Although these states are \"in\" individuals, they emerge from regulatory processes that are dyadically determined. ### Dyadic Expansion of States of Consciousness When regulation is successful, it leads to the emergence of meaningful states mutually produced, known as dyadic states of consciousness. These states increase the coherence and complexity of the individual's sense of the world. This phenomenon is called dyadic expansion of states of consciousness. For example, when the newborn of a depressed mother enters a relationship with other people, the only way they know to expand complexity and coherence is to build dyadic states around the same characteristics---such as depression---that they initially experienced and elaborated in the intersubjective experience with the mother (*Tronick, 1998*). Through continuous cycles of coordination, mismatching, and new matching, the system evolves toward higher levels of complexity and integration, as the successive state is never the same as the previous one. These processes allow the infant to learn coping, regulation, and control strategies in their exploration of the world. ### Interactive Repair and the Dyadic System When mother and children make a dyadic reparation process, they become a dyadic system, they are not two separate systems anymore. ### [Affective Attunement] It is a process in which the mother does not precisely replicate the infant's expressions but instead mirrors certain aspects of them---such as intensity, rhythm, prosody, or speed---through trans modal expressions. This selective resonance reflects and communicates the infant's affective state. ### [Implicit Knowing and RIGs:] A key element of dyadic interactions is implicit knowing. This is a mode of reality coding that is non-symbolic, non-verbal, procedural, and unconscious. It encompasses aspects such as movement, affect, intentions, motivations, actions, and relationships. Representations of Interactions that have been Generalized (RIGs) arise from these interactive experiences and form schemas through which the infant interprets and responds to the surrounding world. "The gestalt in which each of us act puts together the complexity of sequences and expectations that the repetition and recursivity have previously generated until that specific here and now moment of meeting \[...\] if the meeting is characterized by the specificity principle of Paul Weiss, we will have a positive moment, a vitalization or an amplification of the consciousness. \[...\] otherwise, the reorganization will give space to negotiation of the reciprocal modes that are necessary to achieve a more stable coordination \[...\] A third possibility is that the meeting moment in the present may be a failure moment, with disorganization and reduced cohesion." ### ### [Development of intentionally and of concept of self:] Peter Fonagy is an English scholar, an academic son of Lewis Sander, interest in clinical application of infant research. He was interest in mentalization, the capacity of thinking about emotion. How does the child develop his sense of self? - [Self as physical agent] (0-3 months): the child understands that he is a physical object in an environment with other objects. Between 2 and 3 months the child produce social smiles: before two months smiling is a response of proprioception and perceived signals, but then smile become a response to others; - [Self as social agent] (proto conversation): Child is waiting for the caregiver to contribute to the interaction; - [Self as teleological agent] (containers of copies): \"Tele\" comes from Greek and it means to have a goal, a scope. The child moves as a physical object with a goal. If the child wants to get something, he has a sort of way to get it; - [Self as mental intentional agent] (theory of mind): At about 12 months, the child starts to have a conceptualization of other people with a mind with mental states; - [Autobiographical self] ("me"): Between 18-24 years old children are able to use language to refers to themself. What can a child do after achieving a concept of this mental sense of self? One of the first things is being prosocial. In this video we can see that when the adult can\'t put the books in the closet, the baby helps him, opening it. The child observes what the adult guy is doing, and he solves the problem. Then, when the guy hand the laundry, the baby has an intention: he can\'t even walk, but he makes an effort to stand up and pass the clothespin to the guy. This is intentionality: it is not referred on deliberation, but to give energy and direct the action. In the third video, the adult is purposely committing mistakes, and the child is looking at him and understanding him, the baby completes the task. In the second time, the latency time is longer compared to the first, in the second time the child doesn\'t have the expectation that the adult will do again the wrong thing. Before the third time, the baby is creating a model of the interaction, using also the sound. The child anticipates the \"oh\" of the adult, imitating the face but without making the sound. Intentionality is not deliberation, it is something implicitly inside human nature. The child in the video is helping to open a tube. When the adult let his side fall, the child points at it. Also, monkeys show prosocial behavior. This kind of behavior are species-specific, it is important when sounds are involved. A box with two barriers contains an object, the woman wants to reach it, but with two hands it is not possible, so the monkey picks the second barrier up. - Primary intersubjectivity - *Innate sensitivity:* Imitation is something that allows us to imitate others and it is innate,. - Secondary intersubjectivity: It includes the capacity of pointing, orienting gaze, create a gaze triangulation (i.e., pointing to an object and the other person look at the same object) **Stages:** **These are some infants\' skills that are part of secondary intersubjectivity that are expected to emerge in different moments of the first year of life.** - 0-4 months: empathic mirroring, neonatal imitation, proto-conversations- Kinds of conversations when the baby makes sounds together with the parents. - 4-7 months: alternate coordination between object and partner. - 7-9 months: brief exhibitions of learned gestures and shared focus **Social smile** Simple smile: response to maternal face. Lifting corners of the mouth. Duchenne smile: lifting corners of the mouth and cheekbones while mother talks and laugh. Co-occurring with mothers' smile (Messinger et al., 2001) Play smile: mouth especially open in response to high arousal play, maternal contact, kiss, and tickle (Messinger et al., 1999) **Social touch:** perceived and observed touch activates similar brain areas in somatotopic and somatosensorial cortex (Meltzoff et al., 2018) **Chapter 2.1\| Safe Breath** Topics of this chapter: -A little recap of neurobiology -The Autonomic Nervous System -The heart -Brain-heart connections -Heart rate variability -The Polyvagal theory -RSA as a marker stress regulation individual differences -Clinical implications **Nervous system** Main coordinator of body functions, responsible for perceptions, behavior, memory, learning, reasoning, creative thinking...  The nervous system can be divided in two main components: **central nervous system**: brain and spinal cord **peripheral nervous system**: outside of the skull and the vertebral column. This can be again divided into: \- [Autonomic nervous system] \- [Somatic nervous system] **Peripheral Nervous System** It consists basically of **nerves** that are groups of axons arranged in kind of bundles that branch out throughout the body. It can be divided into the somatic division and the autonomic division. *What does the peripheral nervous system do?* 1. Connects the central nervous system to the organs, limbs, and skin 2. Allows the brain and spinal cord to receive and send information to the other areas of the body 3. Carries sensory and motor information to and from the central nervous system 4. Regulates involuntary body functions like heartbeat and breathing **Somatic Nervous System** Responsible for voluntary control of movement of skeletal muscles, mainly includes **sensorial and motor pathways:** Responsible for voluntary control of movement, it comprehends: sensory path sensory inputs from body to brain motor path from brain to body movement control There are motor pathways from the brain to the muscles and sensory pathways that lead the inputs from the body to the brain. There are **cranic nerves** directly connected to the brain and **spinal nerves** that are connected to the spinal cord. **12 pairs of cranic nerves** Some concern the [sensory systems] (e.g., I, II, VIII). Some concern the [motor systems] (e.g., III, IV). Others have [both motor and sensory functions] (e.g., V, VII, X) 12 pairs cranic nerves, that have cellular body into the brain and very long axons that project to lot of structures in our body. Some of these concerns the sensory systems (ex. olfactory, optic, vestibulocochlear), others concern the motor systems (ex. oculomotor, trochlear), others have both motor and sensory functions (vagus: innervates heart and gut; facial, trigeminal) The X cranic nerve is called vagal nerve or the vagus. It extends over a great distance from the brain to the heart, the liver, the intestine. **31 pairs of spinal nerves** Each nerve is connected to a side of the body. The name corresponds to the part of the spinal cord to which it is connected -- serving both sensory (dorsal root) and motor (ventral root) functions. - 8 paired **cervical** nerves - 12 paired **thoracic** nerves - 5 paired **lumbar** nerves - 5 paired **sacral** nerves - 1 paired **coccygeal** nerve **Autonomic Nervous System** The ANS concerns visceral and involuntary functions -- both motor and sensory. Composed by efferent nerves that leave the CNS and innervate peripheral effector organs such as the heart, vessels, glands, visceral organs and smooth muscle (no skeletal muscle). very broad: control of [involuntary function] and [vegetative function] that we cannot control -important for homeostasis -innervate lots of different organswide effect on our body (heart, vassels,glands..) **Ganglia** are special neurons outside the CNS, but partly under the control of the CNS. The ANS is part of both the CNS and the PNS. Autonomic neurons (**preganglionic autonomous cells**) of the CNS send axons outward to innervate the ganglia, which in turn send axons to innervate all major organs (**postganglionic autonomous cells**). Postganglionic neurons: project from autonomic ganglion to the target issue. Basically, preganglionic cells are neurons located in the central nervous system (CNS) that send their axons to ganglia. Postganglionic cells, on the other hand, are in ganglia (outside the CNS) and receive signals from preganglionic cells to transmit them to target organs, such as the heart, lungs, or intestines. **- ANS (Automatic Nervous System)** **Ganglia:** innervate heart, vessels, glands, visceral organs, smooth muscles - but not skeletal muscles. The communication proceeds thanks to two neurons in series: the pre-ganglionic neuron has its cell body in the brainstem or in the grey matter of the spinal cord. The post ganglionic neuron has the cell body in the peripheral ganglia and innervates a target tissue. The two neurons come into synaptic contact in the autonomous ganglia.  It can be divided in two branches: - ⇒ broad effects when the system is active It activates when we need to act and need energy ⇒ effects: - Pupil dilatation - Increase the heart rate - Release of catecolamine (NA e Adrenaline) - Inhibits saliva production - Dilates bronchia ⇒ relax airways - Inhibits the activity of digestive organs - Inhibit the activity of pancreas - Inhibits the gall bladder (cistifellea) and stimulates release of glucose - Relaxes urinary bladder - - Stimulate digestive activity - Increases saliva production - Reduces heart rate - Constricts bronchia  constrict airways - Stimulates the activity of pancreas - Stimulates the gall bladder (cistifellea) and inhibits release of glucose - Constricts urinary bladder - Increase pupil - Promotes erection of genitals Immagine che contiene disegno, testo, Line art, schizzo Descrizione generata automaticamente  Immagine che contiene testo, diagramma, Carattere, scheletro Descrizione generata automaticamente **SNS** Short pre-ganglionic axons, long post-ganglionic axons. Widely distributed, innervate many organs *distributed reaction*  **PNS** Long pre-ganglionic axons, terminating in ganglia located inside or close to organs *local reaction*. Immagine che contiene schermata, linea, testo Descrizione generata automaticamente - - - -  **Homeostasis:** Dynamic equilibrium between SNS and PNS. As **safety** is challenged, SNS and PSN branches act antagonistically resulting in a very fine control. For example, the rhythm of the heartbeat is accelerated by the activity of the sympathetic nerves during exercise, while during rest it is slowed down by the vagus. We cannot voluntarily control the activity of this system in the same way we can control our movements **Basic notions:**  4 chambers: - 2 **atria**: upper receiving chambers for returning venous blood - 2 **ventricles**: most of volume, below atria, pump blood from heart to lungs/arteries - **Deoxygenated blood** enters the right atrium, flows into the right ventricle, and is pumped to the lungs via the pulmonary artery, where waste is removed, and oxygen is replaced. - **Oxygenated blood** is transported through the pulmonary veins to the left atrium and enters the left ventricle. When the left ventricle contracts, blood is ejected through the aorta to the arterial system. **The cardiac cycle**  The result of this cycle is cleaned and oxygenated blood through the body Every heartbeat is a cycle that repeats and consists of two main periods: - - [⇒ how can the heart keep on doing it?] The **sinoatrial node** is the natural internal pacemaker that initiates all heartbeat and determines the cardiac frequency. It generates the action potential that spreads quickly by specialized fibers to the heart resulting in contraction of entire cardiac muscle [⇒ something electrical happens in our heart]: we have kind of an internal pacemaker in the sinoatrial node. We can measure the electrical activity of the heart with electrocardiogram (electrons on chest), from which we see that contraction and relaxation of the cardiac tissue produce the heartbeat. **The sinoatrial node** This is the natural internal pacemaker that initiates all heartbeat and determines the cardiac frequency. It generates the **action potential** that spreads quickly by specialized fibers to the heart resulting in contraction of the entire cardiac muscle. The consequent electrical activity can be quantified by means of the electrocardiogram (**ECG**). **Heart rate** Contraction and relaxation of cardiac tissue produces a rhythmic heartbeat. The number of beats per minute is named [heart rate] (HR). An ECG uses a polygraph to provide visual outputs and quantification of the HR **Waves of the cardiac cycle** **P: atrial systole** It derives from depolarization of the atria in response to the activation of the sinoatrial node. It stands for atrial systole/contraction. **QRS complex: ventricle systole** It derives from depolarization of the ventricles. Alterations of QRS complex usually is an index of altered cardiac capacity (e.g., arrhythmia, fibrillation, stroke). **T: diastole** It derives repolarization of the ventricles and relaxation. Now the art is ready to start a new cardiac cycle. If we measure our beats per minute, we have the heart rate (another measure of heart activity). Looking at the ECG, we can see that each wave corresponds to a specific phase of the cardiac cycle: - - - we understand how our heart is functioning - If we look at the R wave we can measure the time from a heartbeat to another one **The inter-beat intervals (IBIs)** It is not as monotonous and regular as with a metronome. Rather, it exists a difference in the contraction times between one beat and another, in the order of a few milliseconds. This physiological oscillation in the rate of cardiac contractions was found to be correlated with respiratory activity and with the influences exerted by the branches of SNS and PNS on the heart.  **HR variability (HRV)** HRV is the physiological phenomenon of variation in the beat-to-beat variability in RR intervals. A healthy body with a healthy cardiovascular system will show, in a resting condition, a surprising irregularity between heartbeats and a considerable HRV. Conversely, limited HRV convey less flexible responsivity to stress and acts as a risk factor. Immagine che contiene testo, diagramma, linea, Piano Descrizione generata automaticamente To summarize: In the past the heart was thought to work regularly like a metronome, but now we know that it's not like that the amount of time between heartbeats can fluctuate and this variability is not mean pathological, but means that the heart is ready to react and is flexible heartrate variability (HRV) = physiological phenomenon of variation in the beat-to-beat variability in RR intervals. The assessment of HRV provide indirect information about SNA modulation of the cardiac system Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) contributed to the study of the nervous system with its anatomical drawing. It was the first to draw the «reversive nerve» (i.e. the vagal nerve). Charles Darwin (1872): "*When the mind is strongly excited, we might expect that it would instantly affect in a direct manner the heart; and this is universally acknowledged and felt to be the case.. when the heart is affected, it reacts on the brain; and the state of the brain again reacts through the pneumo-gastric nerve on the heart; so that under any excitement there will be much mutual action and reaction between these, the two most important organs of the body."*  The heart is not isolated, but has important connections with the brain. The ANS controls the heart function and vascular system through antagonistic effects of the: - - The coordination of the two activities happens in the brain steam, in the medulla oblungata, the major cardiovascular center: it integrates sensory information from proprioceptors, chemoreceptors and mechanoreceptors (ex. baroreceptors) from the heart and information from cerebral cortex and limbic system. Thanks to all these information, the medulla decides how to adjust the heart rate via shift in the relative balance between SNS and PNS outflow: - - ⇒ two primary fluctuations of HRV: - - Immagine che contiene testo, schermata, Carattere, linea Descrizione generata automaticamente **RSA** **Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia** - - heartbeat changes when we're breathing RSA (respiratory sinus arrhythmia) = fluctuation associated with respiration, is a normal variation in HR that occurs during each breathing cycle. It reflects the PNS activity and it's not pathological but physiological (it happens normally while we're breathing). The RSA is computed as a logarithmic measure of IBI (Inter-Beat interval) - -  Immagine che contiene testo, Carattere, schermata, design Descrizione generata automaticamente **Traditional psychophysiology** The field of psychophysiology emerged in the 1960s as a relatively atheoretical field of empirical research that mixed subjective responses to physical stimulation with **arousal**/SNS measures from ECG. **Arousal......to access the brain?** Immagine che contiene testo, Carattere, schermata Descrizione generata automaticamente **SNS primacy** As such, the SNS became primary in research to have peripheral measures of CNS activity. **PNS underestimation** Implicitly, this view and tradition leave on the background the role of the vagal nerve and the PNS -- as well as the nature and role of the antagonistic relationship between SNS and PNS. **Polyvagal theory (Stephen Porges 1994)** At that time, the dominant paradigm was traditional physiology: measuring the activation of a person (ex. behavioral, physiological) reflected our central brain energy and our brain activity simplistic theory: 1:1 relation by measuring arousal we know what happens in our brain  ⇒ they didn't know about sympathetic and parasympathetic systems limitations: - - - Poly = comes from the Greek, *many* Vagal = vagus nerve ⇒ we don't have just one single vagus nerve, but the vagus nerve is a family of neural pathway - - Immagine che contiene testo, schermata, menu Descrizione generata automaticamente **From balance to hierarchy** Porges suggests the presence of an evolutionary driven "triune autonomic system" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ According to his theory, the ventral vagal complex, the sympathetic adrenal complex (HPA axis, cortisol) and the dorsal vagal complex **work in a hierarchical way.** When we engage with the environment, we start using the most recent structure, if it does not work, we go step by step to the primitive ones from balance to hierarchy: hierarchical path that goes from newest to oldest structures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  These three systems correspond to thee three phylogenetic stages (in mammals we can see all of them). "Neuroception" of danger, safety or life threat actives one of these three, depending on our stress level. When we perceive a safe environment, we active the ventral vagal complex: we try to be safe through connections social engagement: in this kind of state, we are able to socially engage with others, the corresponding behavior is communication - activate when we're calm. - when activated, the other ones are suppressed - Location: above the diaphragm (face, throat, chest) - Neurotransmitters: Oxytocin, Vasopressin T - - ⇒...we activate the sympathetic adrenal: fight or flight response reaction (Examples - - ⇒ safety through mobilization, activated when we perceive a danger in the environment. - Increased heart rate, increased respiration, muscle tension etc. - Location: along the spinal cord - Pale skin color - Increased sweating - Skin cold -...⇒ activation of the dorsal vagal complex (most primitive): we activate it when something in the environment feels life-threatening (ex. sexual assault) is so scary to us immobilization (not adaptive) - Decreased heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure - Increase pain threshold - Conservation of energy and preparation for death - Includes shock and dissociative states - - States of activation include: rest and relaxation, sexual arousal, happiness, anger, grief, sadness - Neurotransmitters: Serotonin, Dopamine, Endorphin - Flushed skin color - Polyvagal theory applied to therapy for traumatic experiences: in trauma we could experience a freezing reaction - Disorganized attachment: in reunion moments, kids are so scared by their mum that they freeze ⇒ depending on what we see in the environment, we shift from a state to another In this process, newer systems regulate the activity of older systems: - - - - A way to see this regulation is by looking to what happens in the heart: ⇒ RSA is an indirect measure of the vagal tone, and we can use it as an index of the functioning of vagal system According to Porges, most of our struggles come from an ineffective relation between these three systems we can read psychopathology through this framework. In therapy, we can teach to shift from a system to another - look for which is the most predominant system in our patient: clear markers of the activation of each system  Mammals need to connect to survive because their babies are very immature and need to be more connected with each other to survive in the first phase of life. Porges coined the term **neuroception** to refer to how we perceive threats in the environment. This process is not meant to be cognitive, rather it is a bodily-determined response and perception, it has to do with the feeling we get from our body. Neuroception is the process by which we trigger and orchestrate the three phylogenetic and hierarchic ANS systems. When we are fostering social engagement, in order to be able to social engage, we need to feel safe in our environment When there is a danger in the environment When a person survived a trauma it is typical that they can\'t even react, they were freezed and couldn\'t move or scream.  In this experiment, the procedure was the still-face. When the baby is playing normally with the mom, he/she is calm and relaxed, and the RSA is high. The RSA decreases during the still-face episodes and increases during the reunions. We can use RSA to have a stress measure. At 4 months, individual differences are observed: some infants do suppress vagal tone during the SF episode (suppressors); others do not (non-suppressors Immagine che contiene testo, ricevuta, Carattere, linea Descrizione generata automaticamente More the mothers are supportive and caring with the baby, more the infants have lower emotional responses, they show less changes in the RSA  We can see differences in how children react to stress, there are individual differences. There are not just infants with the typical pattern, there are also infants in which the RSA don\'t decrease. In social stress there are more individual differences respect to physical stress because social situations are more subjective. This is a measure during the strange situation procedure, during the separation of babies from their mothers. Mothers exhibited RSA withdrawal during separation regardless of child's attachment style, mothers exhibited RSA withdrawal during separation regardless of child's attachment style. **Attachment:** Securely attached children's RSA was relatively stable over time, whereas insecure-- avoidant children showed RSA increases during the first separation and insecure-- resistant children's RSA declined across the SSP. In this study the children were divided based on their kind of attachment. Avoidant children have a very different response compared to other children. Children with a greater repression of emotion, avoidant, from an external point of view seems to be okay for separation, but at a physiological level we can see how the behavioral adaptation comes with a high physiological cost. Moreover, in this study, children were divided in two group on the basis of the form of a specifical gene. During the first separation, infants who show genetic predisposition to less adaptive stress regulation (non-LL) showed greater RSA suppression, whereas infants who had the non-at-risk genotype (LL) traduce exhibited on RSA suppression. ⇒ contextual, individual and genetic factors shape how we react to stress Immagine che contiene diagramma, linea, Diagramma Descrizione generata automaticamente **Clinical implications of polyvagal theory** In some pathologies we can identify if the social engagement system is not functioning: - - Depression: low vocal tone - - Social anxiety, autism spectrum disorder - - Depression - - - ⇒ assess the state of the autonomic nervous system and see which state is blocked the therapeutic goal should be to re-establish a ventral vagal state. First, we must understand where's our patient is at, what's his\\her level of functioning, by observing of body and interpersonal reactions. - During a traumatic experience, the person believes that he or she is going to die ⇒ dorsal vagal state ⇒ trauma shifts our state: we will have more defensive reactions, aggressive or avoidant behaviour (avoiding situations that remind the trauma), body reactions Second, we must create a safe environment, in this way patient will be able to socially engage with us how to create safety? - - - - - - N.B.: Also, the therapist must be in the «safety» ventral mode The safe and sound protocol (SSP, made by Porges): non-invasive procedure to try to activate the social engagement system. In this intervention, the patient hears a music set at the frequency range of human voice acoustic vagus nerve stimulator: trains the middle ear muscles to tune-in to cues of safety move to a social engagement state (ventral-vagal state) - It's done for one hour for five days - can be done with adults or children - Patients should do calm activities while doing the procedure **Chapter 2.2 \| Culprit of Stress** The **HPA** axis is main system for adaptive response to environmental stress of any kind. It is a distributed system it is considered the main system for stress regulation. Its activation peripheral activations \- Arousal \- Attention \- Anticipatory and reward system (dopamine) \- Analgesia (regulation of endorphin and opioids) \- Memory and emotion regulation (amygdala, hippocampus) The final product of the hormonal cascades is the production of glucocorticoids. Glucocorticoids (cortisol, in humans) are the final product of this cascade of hormonal reactions, and they contribute to whole body homeostasis and to the response to stressful conditions. The main glucocorticoid is **[cortisol]** in humans. Starting from the Hypothalamus it goes to the anterior pituitary, then to the adrenal gland and it produces cortisol. Cortisol is able to be recaptured by different sites. It is a close system because it regulates self, the production of cortisol is reabsorbed by receptors in the brain that regulate the next response based on the level of cortisol released. Cortisol is also involved in a feedback regulations system that signals back to the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland about the system status. Cortisol is not produced immediately; in a stress moment it occurs about 10-15 minutes. The HPA axis is not the only system, it is the neuroendocrine one, whereas the autonomic nervous system is the neurological one. The automatic nervous system (e.g. sympathetic nervous system and related neurotransmitters) provides rapid responding mechanisms that control the HPA axis. The Hypothalamus detect a stressor in the environment and it produce the Cortical Release Hormone, then the anterior pituitary gland produce Adrenocorticotropine Hormone. It takes the Adrenal gland to produce Cortisol, which affects the metabolic system.  **CRH**. CRH knock-out mice models have a marked deficiency to mount an effective stress response (Tigons & Chrousos, 2002). CRH receptors are ubiquitous in the brain and in peripheral tissues(e.g., heart, kidney) **Physical stressors:** medical examinations, Heel lance, Venepuncture/Inoculation, Thermal shock A procedure used to collect blood in order to measure stress response in humans. They are not very ecological because in the everyday life they do not happen. These kinds of stressor produce very reliable increase in cortisol secretion. **Social stressors:** Public speaking (Trier Social Stress Test), Maternal separation \[Strange Situation procedure (for children)\], Interactive manipulations (Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm). They are main used in human research. The strange situation and the still-face paradigms are very different. The strange situation replicates something that can happen in the life of a child, whereas the still-face is more difficult to tolerate for a baby. The strange situation is applicable since 10-12 months, before it is not possible. In the still-face procedure, the mother is not physically away, she is there, and her behaviour is not expected for the baby, so it is more difficult to elaborate it. **Higher individual variability in the intensity and direction of cortisol secretion** This variability is not completely understood, it could be related to genetics, to environmental influences or maybe with different baselines, the fact that the baby is taken to the laboratory can affect the baseline levels of cortisol. Cortisol reactivity in social stressors is very different. It is a critical variable in planning experiments. There are some increasers and some decreasers, even if they start from the same baseline. *[**Increasers:** Individuals who increase cortisol response to social stress exposures **Decreasers:** Individuals who decrease cortisol response o social stress exposures ]*  **Cortisol response in 6-month-old infants to maternal unresponsiveness**\ Infants of depressed mothers do not show a significant peak response (15 minutes) to the Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm, compared to infants of non-depressed mothers. The magnitude of HPA axis activity is also observable through the Area Under the Curve (with respect to increase) measure.\ In the previous graph, the dots represented the average, the mean values. In the second graph, each dot represents a single infant.\ Between baseline and recovery, there is the still-face. The peak of the cortisol response occurs 10-15 minutes after the still-face, and recovery levels are reached after 20-30 minutes because cortisol takes time to be reabsorbed. Depressed mothers are not just apathetic; they can be very active but not contingent with the baby. After a baby is exposed to repeated stress, the baby tends to develop a sort of habituation.\ Habituation was studied on *Aplysia*, a snail with only one superior dorsal root and one motor neuron, because it was a very simple model to study. The dorsal root was repetitively stimulated with electricity until the animal completely habituated. At the level of synaptic contact, changes could be studied. Similarly, infants of depressed mothers produce low levels of cortisol. Chronic stress has neurotoxic effects on neurons because, initially, high levels of stress produce high cortisol levels, which lead to more pruning of dendrites in neurons. Normal neurons show higher arborization. Immagine che contiene testo, linea, diagramma, Parallelo Descrizione generata automaticamente m1, m2, m3, m4, m5 and m6 are the points in which cortisol were measured. To measure how much cortisol is produced in the entire day, it is important to do the integral of the curve, so to calculate the area under the curve. Areas are expressed in square meters, so the result should be a power.  **Variables affecting cortisol secretion** Time of day, features of the stressful procedure, acclimation time--as well as previous eating, sleeping, car travel (infants) might affect the HPA axis response to standardized procedures like the TSST. Participants must do a public presentation; a mocking presentation and the audience is made of people that are trained not to smile (as in the still-face). In the graphic there are a lot of variables. The only that seems to affect the stress levels is the gender of the jury. Immagine che contiene testo, Carattere, diagramma, schermata Descrizione generata automaticamente  Cortisol is the main hormone in the hormonal response to stress, but it is possible to collect cortisol from saliva. Cortisol needs to be kept in the fridge in order to be analysed. Cortisol is not the only hormonal production of stress; it is possible to consider also alpha amylase. Cortisol is very difficult to work with because it is affected by different factors, whereas alpha amylase is more stable. It is also more rapid, so the alpha-amylase response comes before the cortisol response. In this graph we can observe the concentration of cortisol and alpha amylase. There is a lot of correlation values. \ In this curve it is possible to analyse the correlation between cortisol and alpha amylase. The blue part is the correlation between cortisol and alpha amylase both at time 1. Then the red part of the curve is the representation of the correlation between cortisol at T1 and alpha amylase at T10, for instance. The two curves that we can observe in the previous graphic do not correlate immediately, they correlate in a lap. Immagine che contiene testo, schermata, aqua, design Descrizione generata automaticamente Levels of cortisol tends to adapt to the circadian rhythm because in the morning, higher levels of cortisol provide the energy to look for food. Age of babies in months are in the horizontal axis. Starting from 3-4 months of age, it is expected that the baby has level of morning cortisol like adults, it is a very early organization. An effect of chronic stress could be a flattening of the diurnal curve of cortisol. In this study we can observe how the reactivity profile of people exposed to great stress (like holocaust) have low cortisol level in the morning. **Intergenerational cascades** Women who developed PTSD had infants with lower salivary cortisol at awakening and bedtime. **Timing matters** The effect was especially observed during the third trimester of pregnancy. It doesn\'t affect only the women but also their babies. Infants of women exposed to this traumatic experience showed greater effects if the exposition happened in the third trimester. **Light cycle effect** Nurses in consecutive nightshift show a progressive adaptation of the circadian rhythm which might last during days off They show a reset of cortisol levels, there is a sort of flattening of the curve due to the exposure to the artificial light. **Working in a challenging environment** This graph shows: Nurses working in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) vs. those working in Neonatal Ward (NW) show evidence of a more flattened diurnal cortisol regulation between work shift start. The first group of nurses works with severe cryptical situations, the other group with physiological esigence of babies. The first group shows a sort of flattening of the curve at the end of the turn. It is cortisol get from saliva. It gives information about acute stress. For instance, saliva can be collected before and after an exam, to have an idea of the density of the cortisol produced as an immediate  This is more used in medical and clinical settings, because in babies it is difficult to collect urine, whereas collecting saliva is easier. It is deposit of cortisol. Usually, three centimeters of hair are taken, three centimeters are three months of cortisol accumulate. In babies it is difficult because babies are usually bald. **FFSF** stands for \"Fear of Social Failure,\" a protocol used to induce stress in infants in a controlled manner, in order to measure the salivary cortisol response at various time points. Salivary cortisol is collected at various time points during and after the **FFSF (**Fear of Social Failure) protocol. Samples are collected before and at 10 (early reactivity), 20 (late reactivity), and 30 minutes (recovery) after the FFSF ends. The collection of salivary cortisol is done using cotton swabs or dental rolls, which are swabbed in the infant\'s mouth until they become saturated with saliva. Oral stimulants are avoided during collection. The collected samples are stored at -20°C until they are centrifuged and analyzed in the laboratory using immunoassay analysis to determine the salivary cortisol concentration.  The black column represents the level of cortisol in the peak at the first exposure, this level is similar to the control babies (white column). The gray column shows that there is a biological memory for the first exposure to the still-face, so in the beginning memories are more basic and biological, physical, then they become more complex thanks to the acquisition of language. In the hippocampus there are cortisol specific receptors. There are two different types of cortisol receptors: Mineralocorticoid Receptors \[**MRs, type I**\] bind with 6-10 times higher affinity than Glucocorticoid Receptors \[**GRs, type II**\], MRs type I this type is more sensitive to cortisol, there is a sort of preference. The consequence of this is that cortisol MRs are at 90% occupied. In particularly, during resting states, MRs are occupied more than 90%, but only 10% of GRs. During stress and circadian peaks, GRs are approximately 60% saturated and MRs 100%. Therefore, the MR/GR occupancy ratio appears to be key to memory. (When stress is too much stress, all receptors are full, there is a sort of overload). In PTSD after traumatic events memory is affected by this overload of memories. There could be false memories or a traumatic memory that cannot be forgotten. When there is a little stress and there is about half of glucocorticoid receptors occupied, this is the best condition for memory, the cognitive performance is at the best. **Prenatal stress and hair cortiso**l: Greater increase in maternal stress from 2nd to 3rd trimesters of pregnancy associates with child hair cortisol at age 4 years. **Maternal caregiving behaviour**: Mother with high depressive symptoms and hair cortisol show more withdrawal behaviours when interacting with their 4-month-old infants. ***Hans Selye*** (1907-1983) is a famous researcher and developed the model of fight or flight response to stress. He described a general adaptation syndrome in 3 stages: 1\. Alarm reaction (epinephrine and cortisol help restoring homeostasis) 2\. Resistance (optimal defence and adaptation) 3\. Exhaustion (illness and death, neurotoxic effects) If the resources are not enough, it takes to illness and death. **Tend-and-befriend** (Shelley Taylor) Women, in this theory, when there is a danger looks around for someone and try to help them. This response appears to be more prominent in female individuals and it is linked biologically to oxytocin and evolutionarily to the need of protecting offspring. Oxytocin is a hormone produced in social situation when people have gentle physical contact and during pregnancy.  Participants performed a standardized laboratory stressor and then completed two weeks of daily assessments of support seeking after stress. Stress-iaced plasma OT reactivity to the laboratory stressor was associated with more frequent support seeking behaviors following stress in daily life (i.e., outside of the laboratory) People who helped more had higher levels of oxytocin. Higher frequency of **allogrooming** during stressful conditions + horses showed specific preferences for partners with whom they would allogroom. Horses might choose very specific grooming partners during times of stress \[...\] adhering to the same "tend and befriend" social stress copying strategy as other social mammals The \"fight or flight\" model is incomplete because stress does not only manifest as an immediate response, but accumulates gradually with small levels adding up over time, maintaining balance until the body is overwhelmed. **Homeostasis:** The concept of homeostasis is applied to vital parameters (pH, body temperature, glucose, oxygen) that must remain stable to ensure life, but it does not always apply to all physiological responses. **Imbalance of primary mediators**: When there is an imbalance in the production of hormones and cytokines (e.g., chronic hypertension, hypocortisolism in depression), damage occurs in the body. **Allostatic states and allostatic load**: The body adapts to stress with temporary changes (allostatic states), but if stress persists, an \"allostatic load\" builds up, which can cause damage and diseases.  Allostatic load represents a \"price to pay\" for accumulated stress, similar to abdominal obesity observed in animals in zoos, but also in our species. The problem lies in the cumulative effect of stress-inducing conditions. When a person is repeatedly exposed to stress, the body learns that the environment is dangerous and begins to self-regulate, changing its baseline biological functioning. This adaptation leads to a shift in the baseline level, a jump that occurs in response to chronic stress. While this change may initially be helpful, when stress becomes excessive, allostatic overload occurs, leading to maladaptive responses that compromise health and well-being. In practice, when we face stress, we \"pay a price\", but when the price is too high, we experience a permanent change in our baseline biological level. This is not necessarily a negative adaptation, but in some cases, these changes no longer fit well with the surrounding environment, resulting in dysfunction. Allostatic overload can predispose individuals to develop diseases. These changes, although reversible in some cases, are often associated with epigenetic modifications that allow us to return to a baseline level similar to the initial one, but never identical. In other words, the \"price\" we pay for stress leaves a mark, even when the body seems to recover. **Chapter 2.3\| Know your genes** Dalì was pretty much obsessed with the discovery of DNA. We need to discuss how genetic models and the interaction with the environment influence the expression of genetic traits and the psychological and behavioral development of individuals. We have two additional risk factors, one linked to genetics and one to the environment. **1)** In absence of negative experiences or trauma, all individuals have the same functioning. **2)** In presence of negative experiences or trauma, vulnerable individuals have higher risk of developing psychopathology. The resilient individuals have the same outcome to both negative and positive environment. It doesn\'t matter the kind of life they do, they have positive outcomes because they are very adaptive. (Professor don\'t like the dichotomy between positive and negative, because these are qualitative terms that don\'t mean anything). Vulnerable individuals have adaptive outcomes when they are exposed to positive and nurturing environment (children with a lot of opportunity, contingent responses to the needs of the baby, physical touch) and negative outcome when they are exposed to negative environment, stressor, etc.. ***[The diathesis-stress]*** \ The diathesis-stress model says that mental illnesses develop when stressful conditions in the environment interact with a person\'s biological and psychological characteristics. In practice, this model suggests that to develop a mental disorder, a person may need both a predisposition (like a genetic vulnerability) and external factors such as stress. In other words, even if a person has a predisposition to a mental disorder, they might not develop it if they live in a healthy environment. Similarly, a person who lives in a stressful environment but does not have a predisposition may not develop that disorder. So, the model isolated but it\'s not enough to have a predisposition or be exposed to stress: it\'s the combination of both that can cause a mental disorder. If a person has high predisposition for a disorder, this person is going to develop the disorder even if the exposition is very low. Indeed, a person with a low genetical predisposition needs more stress to develop a disorder. It is a linear mathematical mode. Genetics can be considered as something not modifiable, a constraint. Maclyn McCarty with Francis Crick and James Watson: they were the first to demonstrate that the proteins are the product of DNA. The discovery that DNA -- not proteins-constitute the chemical nature of a gene opened the way to studying heredity not only through chemistry. **RECAP OF BASICS OF GENETICS** **46 Chromosomes:** made up of DNA and proteins(chromatine) \[The DNA stays in the nucleus of the cell and melt together with proteins, this is chromatine\] **23 pairs of alleles:** One allele from mummy, One allele from daddy. Genes are specific portions of the chromosome that code for specific proteins. There are many genes that do not code for any protein. **Gene locus** The sequence-related place where a specific gene is located and when expressed give rise to a specific phenotypic trait. Genes are distributed throughout the **alleles**. **Each allelic strand:** Contains genetic material inherited from the mummy or the daddy. The gene sequence from mummy or daddy can be different, which is known as allelic variation. Allelic variations might be responsible for phenotypic variations. **\ Additive genes** Additive genes contribute to a trait in a [cumulative manner]. Each copy of the gene adds a certain amount to the trait. For example, if trait is influenced by three additive genes, having more copies of those genes will result the trait. Immagine che contiene testo, schermata, Carattere Descrizione generata automaticamente **Dominant allele** Usually identified with capital letters (Z). They express a trait, no matter what. **Recessive allele** Usually identified with small letters (z). They express a trait only in absence of dominant versions. Immagine che contiene testo, Carattere, bianco, tipografia Descrizione generata automaticamente **Dominant genes** Dominant genes are those that mask the effects of recessive genes when an individual has one copy of the dominant allele In other words, if a dominant gene is present, it will be expressed, regardless of whether there is a recessive allele present.  Let's pretend that blue eye colour is conveyed by recessive (e) allele, whereas brown is conveyed by dominant (E). **Traits regulated in additive way:** which means that we need more genes to determine that trait. **Traits regulated in dominant ways:** in which you just need one dominant. **\ ** **Disclaimer** Please, note that many traits are influenced by a combination of additive and dominant genes, as well as environmental factors. It\'s important to note that genetics is a complex field, and not all traits can be neatly categorized into either additive or dominant. Some traits may have a mix of both influences. The regulation of some aspects like being an Inter Fan (a very complex disease) are not completely regulated by genes. **Quantitative genetics** Genetics was considered a static thing, something that doesn\'t change, that is hiereditated by parents and determines some characteristics. Instead, traits depend on the interaction between genetics and environment. To study the contribution (about genes or environment) we study **twins:** Monozygotic twins share 100% of genetic variation. Dizygotic twins share 50% of genetic variation. Any observed difference should be the result of different environments. **The twin method** For same sex twins, raised together, twins similarity in the phenotype can be attributed to genetic influences or shared environment (C). Genetic influence can be additive (A; two alleles contribute equally) or dominant (D; one allele is expressed stronger and dominate). In quantitative genetics studies, large samples of MZ and DZ twins are selected and tested for specific outcome (e.g., ADHD, autism, psychosis, etc.). Similarity in the outcome is compared between MZ (expected 100%) and DZ (expected 50% or 25%). Using statistical model, the relative contributions of Additive and Dominant genes as well as Shared and Unique Environment is estimated. The final estimates provide quantitative data to assume the relative contributions of heritability and environment in shaping the outcome. **The twin method (with example)** How much do genes and the environment specifically influence the similarity or diversity between Dino and Saurus, as well as between Jacko and Octo? In the case where Dino and Saurus score similarly high on a math intelligence test, it is highly probable that there is a strong genetic influence on intelligence, making them so similar. In this case, potentially diverse life experiences may play a smaller and partly irrelevant role in shaping their intelligence. Now, let\'s say Dino scores high on the intelligence test, but Saurus scores lower. This could indicate that environmental factors play a significant role in intelligence. Despite having identical genes, differences in their environments may have affected their individual intelligence levels. If Jacko and Octo both score high on the same intelligence test, this still suggests some genetic influence, but it is likely to be less than in the case of Mary and Jane. This is because Jacko and Octo share only about 50% of their genetic material, so here the environment might also contribute more. **Heritability Estimate** *[The heritability of a trait is the proportion of individual differences in a specific trait that can be attributed to genetic variation within a particular population, at a specific time, and in a specific environment.]* To collect data, researchers analyse twin pairs and calculate the correlation between the twins. Each twin pair has a correlation coefficient that measures the strength of their similarity in relation to the trait of interest (e.g., intelligence). **Twin-pair correlation** for each pair a correlation coefficient is obtained-- this measures the strength of their similarity **Heritability Coefficient** The heritability coefficient (H2) of a trait is calculated using the following formula:\ H2 = 2(rMZ -- rDZ)\ Where: - H2 is the heritability coefficient - rMZ is the correlation for monozygotic twins (MZ) - rDZ is the correlation for dizygotic twins (DZ) This formula provides an estimate of how much of the variation in a trait is due to genetic factors. **Environmental Coefficient** The environmental coefficient (E2) represents the influence of the environment. It is calculated by subtracting heritability from 1:\ E2 = 1 - H2 Where: E2 is the environmental coefficient H2 is the heritability coefficient This allows us to determine how much the environment contributes to the development of a trait compared to genetic factors. **Let's go back to the DNA discovery** (Toward molecular genetics) At the beginning of the 1950s, the evidence that the DNA was the answer to the question about the secret of life (or the genetic material) was more and more accepted and recognized. **Hershey-Chase experiment** They used a special virus (bacteriophage) which infect bacteria and reproduce inside them. After labeling viral components with isotopes sensitive to proteins and DNA, they let the bacteriophage to its job. When they examined the bacteria infected with the protein-sensitive labeled phage, n radioactive label was present in the bacteria. This was instead observed in DNA-sensitiv labeled phage. Strong evidence that DNA, not protein, is the genetic material that carries the information needed for the reproduction of bacteriophages. **Toward molecular genetics** In **1951**, Watson (23y) and Crick (35y) meet in Cambridge. Watson convinced Crick about the fact that genes were made of DNA. They quickly became friends. The shape of DNA was a mystery, there was different positions They quickly developed a model informed by the crystallography experiments of Wilkin, Furberg and others. They presented this model to Wilkin's lab -- the model was quickly criticized by Rosalind Franklin. (Rosalind Franklin was a feminist in science. She didn\'t get the Nobel prize whereas Watson and Crick got it. Rosalind Franklin died before the Nobel prize, so it was awarded only to Watson and Crick. Rosalind Franklin was the best crystallographer. She was not interested in theories and models, she was an experimenter. Watson and Crick presented her their model and she said that it didn\'t work). After this the boss of Watson and Crick asked them to stop working on DNA and dedicate their efforts to other topics. In '50s, Franklin discovered that the DNA sample could exist in two forms: at a relative humidity higher than 75%, the DNA fibre became long and thin (wet, B form); when it was drier, it became short and fat (crystalline, A form). She also suggested helical shape for form B. Working on the crystallized one form of the DNA, Rosalind Franklin made the photo 21, a very clear picture in which we can see the helical shape of DNA. Soon it was accepted that B form DNA (studied by Wilkins) had helical shape. Which Franklin was not sure about for A form (studied by herself). **In 1952**, together with Gosling, she obtained the x-ray picture of the helical shape of DNA (**photo 51**). It is generally accepted that Wilkins passed her discovery to Watson & Crick...the remaining part is history. April25, **1953** Watson and Crick published the paper *Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid* in the journal Science. They already described the structure and main functionalities of DNA as we know it today benefiting from their own previous work and that of many, including Rosalind Franklin. In **1962,** Wilkins, Watson and Crick were awarded with the Nobel prize. The discovery of DNA changed not only the biology but also the culture. A lot of pop culture films are about genetics. **Replication** Process of making two daughter strand where each contains half of DNA double helix genetic sequence. Purpose of conserving the entire genome for next generation. It occurs in preparation for cell division and replication. All the genome is copied When DNA is replicated, all the entire genome is replicated. **Transcription, Translation, Expression**  **DNA and RNA:** DNA: It is the genetic material that contains all the information necessary to create and operate an organism. It is made up of two long chains, like a double helix.\ RNA: It is similar to DNA, but with some differences: - It doesn\'t have the base called thymine (T) but has uracil (U). - It is made up of a single chain, not two like DNA. **mRNA (messenger RNA)**\ mRNA is a copy of DNA that serves as a \"messenger.\" It carries the information from the DNA in the nucleus (where the DNA is located) to the ribosomes, which are the \"factories\" of the cell where proteins are made.\ mRNA is organized into codons, which are groups of three \"letters\" (nucleotide bases) of RNA. Each codon corresponds to an amino acid, a small part of a protein. **tRNA (transfer RNA)**\ tRNA helps \"translate\" the codons of mRNA into proteins. Each tRNA has a \"part\" that attaches to the mRNA codon and \"carries\" the correct aminoacid to build the protein. Transcription and Translation: - Transcription: It is the process in which DNA is copied into mRNA. Not all the DNA is transcribed, only the parts that contain the information to make proteins (the genes). - Translation: It is the process where mRNA is \"read\" by the ribosomes, and tRNA brings the aminoacids to build the protein. Each group of three letters (a codon) in the mRNA tells which amino acid should be added to the protein. In summary: DNA contains the information, RNA copies it and takes it to the ribosomes, where proteins are built. Each protein is made of a long chain of aminoacids, which are put together following the instructions provided by the DNA. Immagine che contiene testo, schermata, Carattere, linea Descrizione generata automaticamente A single gene can have different variants due to different mutations. **Polymorphism** involves one of two or more variants of a particular DNA sequence. The most common type of polymorphism involves variation at a single base pair (single nucleotide polymorphism, SNP) \*. \* pronounced snip Polymorphisms can also be much larger in size and involve long stretches of DNA. Scientists study how SNPs in the human genome correlate with disease, drug response, and other phenotypes.  This leads to have longer or shorter variants of a gene. \ The gene that codes for serotonin transport is the gene **SCL6A4**. The gene is composed of introns, exons and the promoter, that is the part of the gene in which the RNA starts to transcript and translate. The gene has a repetitive polymorphism, so there are two variants of the gene: short (that produce a certain quantity of serotonin transporter) and a long one (that produce the triple of quantity). It was studied because it could be connected to emotional regulation. Studies demonstrated that having two short variant of the gene increases the probability of being more sensitive to stress and develop emotional dysfunctions, compared to individuals with a long and a short version of the gene and compared to who have two long version. It is not about develop a mental illness for sure, but having two short variants increases the predisposition to depression, for instance. ***Jay Belsky*** wanted to explain in a more complete way the genetic variability, he developed a concept of differential susceptibility hypothesis. Because the future is and always has been inherently uncertain, ancestral parents, just like parents today, could not have known (consciously or unconsciously) what childrearing practices would prove most successful in promoting the reproductive fitness of offspring-and thus their own inclusive fitness. **In case parents don't sound good...** As a fitness optimizing strategy involving bet hedging, natural selection would have shaped parents to bear children varying in plasticity. This way, if an effect of parenting had proven counterproductive in fitness terms, those children not affected by parenting would not have incurred the cost of developing in ways that ultimately proved "misguided". In light of inclusive-fitness considerations, these less malleable children's "resistance" to parental influence would not only have benefited themselves directly, but even their more malleable sibs-indirectly, given that sibs, like parents and children, have 50% of their genes in common. **In case parent