Research Highlights

Welcome to the NeuroNest Research Highlights page! Here, we dive into the fascinating world of neuroscience and psychology, bringing you the latest discoveries and insights. We are committed to providing fresh content every week so check back regularly for the latest insights, lab spotlights, and field notes from NeuroNest.

Lab Spotlights: Each month, we shine a light on a captivating neuroscience or psychology lab, whether it's a local gem or a global leader. Discover their ongoing research and groundbreaking work.

Student Work: We accept and showcase student-led projects, senior theses, and student research!

Field Notes: Stay up-to-date with concise, accessible summaries of new research papers and scientific breakthroughs in neuroscience and psychology. We deliver the key information you need, without the jargon.

Field Notes: ipER, Borderline Personality Disorder and Memory

Krause-Utz, A., Saygin, M., Podbylska, M., Chatzaki, E., la Rosa, B., & Lis, S. (2025). Interpersonal emotion regulation, borderline personality disorder symptoms, and working memory during social-affective distraction. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 16(3), 210–222. https://doi.org/10.1037/per0000722

Title: Interpersonal Emotion Regulation, Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms, and Working Memory During Social-Affective Distraction

This paper explores how emotion regulation (ER), particularly interpersonal emotion regulation (ipER), is influenced by context, especially in social situations where emotions signal mental states and secure support. While most research has focused on internal ER strategies, recent studies highlight the importance of ipER, where emotions are regulated through social interactions. Hofmann et al. (2016) identified four key ipER strategies: enhancing positive affect, perspective-taking, social modeling, and soothing.

In Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), which involves heightened emotional sensitivity and difficulty returning to baseline emotions, individuals struggle with ipER, particularly under relational stress. People with BPD often use interpersonal support ineffectively, engage in maladaptive behaviors, and report lower emotion regulation efficacy. Cognitive deficits, especially in attention and working memory (WM), may hinder ipER by affecting responses to social-emotional cues.

The study found that poorer WM performance was linked to reduced use of ipER strategies, particularly enhancing positive affect. Higher BPD symptom severity also predicted less frequent use of ipER strategies. Working memory deficits partially explained these difficulties, suggesting emotional inflexibility, rather than the complete absence of strategies, as a core issue in BPD.

Field Notes: The Heart's Own "Little Brain"

This 2024 update highlights how neuroscience is becoming a game-changer in treating heart disease. It explores the role of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), the part of the nervous system that automatically controls things like heart rate and blood pressure, and how its dysfunction can contribute to serious cardiac conditions, including arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.

What’s especially exciting is the paper’s focus on new therapies that use neuroscience to actually modulate heart function. For example, vagus nerve stimulation, spinal cord stimulation, and other neuromodulation strategies are being developed to "reset" how the brain and heart communicate. These treatments aim to calm overactive sympathetic responses (the "fight or flight" system) or strengthen weakened parasympathetic signals (the "rest and digest" system), offering more precise, personalized treatment options.

In short: the future of heart health might just be through the nervous system!

Figure 1: Organization of cardiac neural control

Ajijola, O. A., Aksu, T., Arora, R., Biaggioni, I., Chen, P., De Ferrari, G., Dusi, V., Fudim, M., Goldberger, J. J., Green, A. L., Herring, N., Khalsa, S. S., Kumar, R., Lakatta, E., Mehra, R., Meyer, C., Po, S., Stavrakis, S., Somers, V. K., … Shivkumar, K. (2025). Clinical neurocardiology: Defining the value of neuroscience‐based Cardiovascular therapeutics – 2024 update. The Journal of Physiology, 603(7), 1781–1839. https://doi.org/10.1113/jp284741

Title: Clinical neurocardiology: defining the value of neuroscience-based cardiovascular therapeutics – 2024 update

Field Notes: Can Parenting Shape Personality Into Adulthood?

A new longitudinal twin study suggests that affectionate parenting during childhood (ages 5-10) may positively shape personality traits like openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness by the time teens reach adulthood at age 18. Using over 2,000 identical twins in the UK, researchers found that even small differences in parenting between twins led to measurable differences in these traits despite shared genetics and environment. While effects were modest, the findings support the idea that positive parenting has lasting, meaningful impacts on who we become, with potential for public policy and early intervention.

Wertz J, Moffitt TE, Blangis F, Ambler A, Arseneault L, Danese A, Fisher HL, Caspi A. Parenting in childhood predicts personality in early adulthood: A longitudinal twin-differences study. Am Psychol. 2025 Apr 17. doi: 10.1037/amp0001508. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40244963.

Title: Parenting in childhood predicts personality in early adulthood: A longitudinal twin-differences study

Field Notes: GABA and Psychosis - It’s Not Just About One Brain Region

Disruptions in the GABA system- a key inhibitory neurotransmitter- may play a role in schizophrenia and early psychosis. While past studies have found reduced GABAergic neurons and receptor levels in the hippocampus, this new PET imaging study reveals something deeper: it's not just about changes in one brain region. Instead, individuals with first-episode psychosis or at high risk for psychosis show altered network-level organization of a specific GABA receptor (GABA A α5), even though the overall amount of this receptor in the hippocampus isn't significantly different from healthy controls. This suggests that psychosis may involve system-wide dysregulation in how GABA A α5 receptors are coordinated across the brain, not just local deficits.

Figure 1: [11C]Ro15-4513 binding in the hippocampus between groups.

Figure 2: Pertubation covariance z-score statistics.

Lukow, P. B., Schubert, J. J., Severino, M., Knight, S. R., Kiemes, A., Livingston, N. R., Davies, J., de Micheli, A., Spencer, T. J., Fusar-Poli, P., Haege, B., Vorontsova, N., Donocik, J., Rabiner, E. A., Grace, A. A., Williams, S. C., McGuire, P., Veronese, M., Turkheimer, F. E., & Modinos, G. (2025). GABAaReceptor Availability in Clinical High-Risk and First-Episode Psychosis: A [11C]RO15-4513 Positron Emission Tomography Study. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.02.27.25322861

Title: GABA A receptor availability in clinical high-risk and first-episode psychosis: a [11C]Ro15-4513 positron emission tomography study