Biology subjects

Mueller-Pinzler, L.

Publications and source records attributed to Mueller-Pinzler, L..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

The role of sleep in the retention and long-term maintenance of newly formed ability self-beliefs

Sleep supports the consolidation of newly acquired information, however its role in the formation of self-beliefs has not yet been examined. Here, we investigated whether sleep facilitates the retention, stabilization, revision and long-term maintenance of newly formed ability beliefs. Using a Sleep vs. Wake between-subjects design (N=54), participants completed the Learning Of Own Performance (LOOP) task, which allowed them to form new positive and negative ability self-beliefs based on mocked feedback at a first session, and to revise them when encountering contradictory feedback at a second session. Belief formation was followed by either a sleep or wake retention interval. Belief states were tested at four time points: immediately after belief formation, after the 12-h retention interval, following the revision phase and after three weeks. Participants successfully formed and revised self-beliefs using the LOOP task. Compared with wakefulness, sleep following belief formation did not affect belief retention across the 12-h interval, nor did it stabilize beliefs against their revision. However, after three weeks, participants who slept after belief formation showed a shift towards more positivity for the initially formed low ability self-beliefs. Contrary to our hypotheses, sleep did not enhance short-term retention or stabilization of newly formed self-beliefs. However, the more positively recalled ability self-belief associated with the initially low-performance condition suggest that sleep may facilitate a positive long-term shift.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

Self-esteem modulates beneficial causal attributions in the formation of novel self-beliefs

Healthy individuals typically attribute successes to internal causes, such as their abilities, and failures to external factors, like bad luck. In contrast, individuals with depression and low self-esteem are more likely to attribute failures to internal causes and successes to external causes. At the same time, depression and low self-esteem are associated with negatively biased self-related learning and self-beliefs. Although causal attributions have been shown to influence belief formation and updating, the dynamic interaction between real-time attributions and self-related learning remains poorly understood. In this study, we used a validated self-related learning task to investigate how internal versus external attributions of performance feedback affect the formation of self-beliefs and how these processes relate to depressive symptoms and self-esteem. Drawing on a computational model that incorporates prediction error valence and causal attributions, we found that participants updated their self-beliefs less when feedback was attributed to external causes. Furthermore, individuals with higher levels of depression and lower self-esteem showed a stronger negativity bias in learning. Lower self-esteem was also linked to a reduced self-serving bias in attributions. These findings provide insight into the cognitive mechanisms that may contribute to the development and maintenance of negative self-beliefs commonly observed in depression.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

Association of stress-related limbic activity and baseline interleukin-6 plasma levels in healthy adults

Several studies suggest a link between acute changes in inflammatory parameters due to an endotoxin or (psychological) stressor and the brains stress response. The extent to which basal circulating levels of inflammatory markers are associated with the brains stress response has been hardly investigated so far. In the present study, baseline plasma levels of the cytokine interleukin (IL)-6 were obtained and linked to neural markers of psychosocial stress using a modified version of the Montreal Imaging Stress Task in a sample of N=65 healthy subjects (N=39 female). Of three a-priori defined regions of interest - the amygdala, anterior insula, and anterior cingulate cortex - baseline IL-6 was significantly and negatively associated with stress-related neural activation in the right amygdala and left anterior insula. Our results suggest that baseline cytokines might be related to differences in the neural stress response and that this relationship could be inverse to that previously reported for induced acute changes in inflammation markers.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2020

Selective REM-Sleep Suppression Increases Next-Day Negative Affect and Amygdala Responses to Social Exclusion

Healthy sleep, positive general affect, and the ability to regulate emotional experiences are fundamental for well-being. In contrast, various mental disorders are associated with altered rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, negative affect, and diminished emotion regulation abilities. However, the neural processes mediating the relationship between these different phenomena are still not fully understood. In the present study of 42 healthy volunteers, we investigated the effects of selective REM sleep suppression (REMS) on general affect, as well as on feelings of social exclusion, emotion regulation, and their neural underpinnings. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging we show that REMS increases amygdala responses to experimental social exclusion, as well as negative affect on the morning following sleep deprivation. There was no evidence that emotional responses to experimentally induced social exclusion or their regulation using cognitive reappraisal were impacted by diminished REM sleep. Our findings indicate that general affect and amygdala activity depend on REM sleep, while specific emotional experiences possibly rely on additional psychological processes and neural systems that are less readily influenced by REMS.

neuroscience↗