Cognitive affective biases – from mechanisms to disease symptoms (2019)

Workshops

The Institute of Pharmacology Polish Academy of Sciences in Kraków is convening a scientific workshop to explore key areas of affective-cognitive bias research in a unique forum that emphasizes discussion and collaboration between disciplines and career stages.

The meeting will bring together an interdisciplinary mix of researchers, from world-leading scientists to early career researchers. One of the key aims will be to highlight the latest advances in affective-cognitive bias research and identify key research questions that could bring a real impact to the field.

We welcome researchers from all backgrounds (psychologists, psychiatrists, behavioral neuroscientists, psychopharmacologists, etc.) to register for this meeting.

We strongly encourage early career researchers (PhD students) to take a part in the workshop, as we can offer them VERY ATTRACTIVE travel grants funded by NAWA (up to approx. 1860€/ 8000 PLN).

The workshop will be a great opportunity to:

  • Listen to some of the most inspiring international scientists in the field of affective-cognitive bias on a wide range of topics.
  • Showcase your work during the poster sessions and ‘student talk sessions’.
  • Meet with your peers and more established academics.
  • Increase your national and international networks.

The meeting will consist of a series of high level thematic talks with an interdisciplinary approach to affective-cognitive bias research that bridges clinical and non-clinical fields. There will be plenty of space for structured and free-flowing discussions, during the scientific sessions and social events.

For participants

  • Registration
  • Program
  • Speakers

Those interested in cognitive affective bias research using various approaches for animal and human experiments.

We also cordially invite all behavioural neuroscientists, investigators of animal welfare, psychopharmacologists, experimental psychologists, and psychiatrists.

Abstracts

Participants are requested to submit an abstract (approx. 3000 characters/250 words). Submission is possible during the registration. While submitting an abstract please indicate your preferred form of communication (e.g. poster/talk).

Registration

Registration Fee: 500€
Deadline: 30.09.2019

How to register:

In order to register please fill out the registration form available under this link: https://goo.gl/forms/IBum1t9WZigNIlrJ3

How to pay your registration fee:
Please transfer the conference fee (500 Euro) to the following bank account: 

Name of Account holder: Institute of Pharmacology Polish Academy of Sciences
Bank name: Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego
Bank Full address :
Street: 2 Pilotow Street
Postal Code: 31- 462
Town: Cracow
Country: Poland
Number of bank account: PL 37 1130 1150 0012 1149 2420 0021
BIC (* Bank Identifier Code ): GOSKPLPW
Reference: Workshop: Cognitive affective BIAS and your FIRST NAME  and SURNAME

Please inform us of your payment at workshopCAB@gmail.com

You can only be registered if you have paid your conference fee. You can only register, and pay until September 30th, 2022.

Payment of the registration fee is required for processing your registration. The registration fee includes admission to the scientific sessions, all conference materials, coffee and snacks during breaks, the opening ceremony, and a full-day retreat on the third day (Krakow sightseeing tour and boat trip on the Vistula river).

Hotel accommodation and meals at the meeting hotel are NOT included in the registration fee.

When registering for our event, we strongly encourage you to reserve also the discounted room & full board package at the conference hotel.

MONDAY 13.05.2019

16:00 – 18:00 Registration

18:00 – 22:00 Opening ceremony

 

TUESDAY 14.05.2019

09:00 – 10:00 Rafal Rygula (Krakow) Pessimism as cognitive biomarker of depression in an animal model

10:00 – 10:30 Karolina Noworyta-Sokolowska (Krakow) Using rodents to model abnormal sensitivity to feedback in depression

10:30 – 11:00 Junior researcher talk:

  •  Vikki Neville (Bristol) Computational modelling of cognitive judgement bias data

11:00 – 11:30 Coffee break and poster session

11:30 – 12:30 Janna Vrijsen (Nijmegen) Memory bias modification for depression

12:30 – 13:00 Junior researcher talks:

  •  Annemiek M Bergman (Nijmegen) Does comorbidity with Autism Spectrum Disorder affect the depressotypic bias in depressed psychiatric patients? An eye-tracking study
  • Fleur Duyser (Nijmegen) Negative memory bias: a transdiagnostic cognitive marker for psychopathology

13:00 – 14:30 Lunch

14:30 – 15:30 Susannah Murphy (Oxford) Using experimental models of affective bias to optimise the treatment of depression

15:30 – 16:30 Junior researcher talks:

  •  Justyna Hinchcliffe (Bristol) Further validation of the affective bias test for predicting antidepressant and pro-depressant risk
  • Tereza Miketa (Oxford) Effects of behavioural activation on emotional cognition and mood (protocol)

16:30 – 17:00 Coffee break and poster session

17:00 – 18:00 Reinout Wiers (Amsterdam) On the use of cognitive bias modification in the treatment of alcohol use disorders

18:00 – 18:30 Junior researcher talk:

  • Tristan J. Hynes (Vancouver) Chemogenetic inhibition of ventral tegmental dopamine neurons prevents cocaine-induced deficits in decision making in both sexes

19:00 – open Dinner

 

WEDNESDAY 15.04.2019

07:00 – 09:00 Breakfast

10:00 – 18:00 Full day of Krakow sightseeing tour and boat trip on the Vistula river to Tyniec monastery

19:00 – open Dinner

 

THURSDAY 16.05.2019

09:00 – 10:00 Emma Robinson (Bristol) Could modulation of affective biases explain the efficacy of ketamine and other rapid onset antidepressants in major depressive disorder?

10:00 – 11:00 Junior researcher talks:

  •  Charalampos Organtzidis (Bristol) Different methods for assessing cognitive affective biases in rats using the judgement bias task
  •  Viktoria Krakenberg (Munster) Effect of serotonin transporter deficiency on cognitive judgement bias of mice in a translational touchscreen test

11:00 – 11:30 Coffee break and poster session

11:30 – 12:30 Lubor Kostal (Bratislava) Studying affect induced judgement bias in birds

12:30 – 13:00 Junior researcher talks:

  • Andrew Crump (Belfast) Is the grass half-full? Investigating optimism as a welfare indicator for dairy cows with and without pasture-access
  •  Benjamin Lecorps (Vancouver) Optimism and the welfare of dairy calves

13:00 – 14:30 Lunch

14:30 – 15:30 Emily Bethell (Liverpool) Studying cognitive bias in non-human primates: emerging trends and future direction

15:30 – 16:00 Junior researcher talks:

  •  Zuzana Skalná (Bratislava) Does tickling induce positive affective states in laying hens?
  • Yumi Saito (Tokyo) Empathy via emotional vocalizations in rats

16:00 – 16:30 Coffee break and poster session

16:30 – 17:30 Catharine Winstanley (Vancouver) Of rats and men: rodent models of cognitive biases in decision making under uncertainty

17:30 – 18:30 Zofia Prokop (Krakow) Deluded ape. Evolutionary perspective on human cognitive biases, suffering, and wellbeing

19:00 – open Dinner

 

FRIDAY 17.05.2019

07:00 – 09:00 Breakfast

09:00 – 12:00 Departure

Speaker

Dr Emily Bethell

Research Centre in Brain and Behaviour
School of Natural Sciences and Psychology
Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool, UK

Studying cognitive bias in non-human primates: emerging trends and future directions

Abstract: Reliable methods to measure cognitive components of wellbeing are receiving increased attention. ‘Cognitive bias’ tasks, for example, are used to assess different emotion states based on how animals respond to ambiguity– negative emotions, it is argued, lead to negative judgements about ambiguous information. These methods have now been developed for use with a wide range of species including mammals, birds and insects. While these methods show much promise, there are still limitations in their application across different research contexts, and published findings are variable. I have been developing complementary tasks that require less initial training and which should have more utility for assessing animal emotions in real world settings. I will review studies we have conducted with nonhuman primates in both free-ranging and laboratory settings and discuss our early data showing potential mediating effects of early life stress and genetic factors. As a still-emerging field, I discuss future directions for this area of research including their potential use for assessing positive affect.

Speaker

Dr Lubor Kostal

Vice Director
Centre of Biosciences
Institute of Animal Biochemistry and Genetics
Slovak Academy of Sciences
Bratislava, Slovakia

Studying affect induced judgement bias in birds

Abstract: Harding et al. (2004) in their pivotal study introduced the idea of using the link between cognition and emotions for the assessment of affective states in animals. Soon after that, the first studies of affect-induced judgment bias in birds were published, using European starling as a model. Although several other inspiring papers on this subject used songbird species, substantial numbers of published avian cognitive bias studies used poultry species. Variation in design of cognitive bias tests in poultry studies is quite large. Most of the studies use spatial judgement task of Burman et al. (2008). The second approach adopted a Go-Go two choice visual discrimination task of Brilot et al. (2010). The third approach is based on operant Go-NoGo discrimination task, derived from the design of pivotal study of Harding et al. (2004). This is the approach used also in our laboratory (Horvath et al., 2016). We use the custom-built Skinner boxes with touchscreen for training the operant visual discrimination task and subsequent judgement bias testing. Circles in different shades of grey are used as cues. The last, fourth design of judgement bias tests used in poultry is trying to eliminate extensive discrimination training needed before the judgment bias tests itself. To avoid these problems, Salmeto et al. (2011) came up with the original idea: in their experiments with young chicks, they used naturally appetitive (mirror image of chick) and aversive (horned owl silhouette) stimuli in a straight alley maze. As ambiguous cues in the judgement bias test, they used morphed images of a chick and an owl. There is also large variation in the ways affective states (mood) are induced in the above-mentioned poultry studies: housing environment, enrichment, social isolation, different fearfulness, series of aversive events over several days, different temperatures, treatment with corticosterone, or suppression of depression induced by social isolation by the antidepressants. In conclusion, the cognitive bias paradigm is a valuable tool for the assessment of poultry welfare. Nevertheless, existing judgement bias tests need further optimization and validation. Other types of cognitive bias tests, such as the attention and memory bias, represent another promising perspective.

Speaker

Dr Susannah Murphy

Senior Research Fellow
Department of Psychiatry
University of Oxford, UK

Using experimental models of affective bias to optimise the treatment of depression

Abstract: Depression is associated with negative affective biases in information processing, including a tendency to focus on, interpret and remember negative information. These biases are not only relevant to psychological treatment approaches, but also play a role in pharmacological treatment. Antidepressants have been shown to reduce negative affective bias using both behavioural and neuroimaging measures of emotional processing in healthy volunteers and depressed patients. These effects on emotional processing are seen early in antidepressant administration and are predictive of later clinical treatment response, suggesting that early changes in emotional processing can serve as valid surrogate markers of therapeutic efficacy. In collaboration with pharmaceutical industry, we use these cognitive affective bias measures to screen novel candidate treatments for depression in humans, prior to the initiation of large scale randomised controlled trials. This experimental medicine approach can be used to assist ‘go/no-go’ decision making in antidepressant drug development, and improve subsequent clinical trial design, dosing and stratification.

Speaker

Dr Karolina Noworyta-Sokolowska

Affective cognitive neuroscience lab
Department of Pharmacology
Institute of Pharmacology Polish Academy of Sciences
Krakow, Poland

Using rodents to model abnormal sensitivity to feedback in depression

Abstract: Depressive disorder accounts for a substantial proportion of psychiatric problems across the globe and has a devastating impact on quality of life and occupational function. Psychological models of depression emphasize the causal role of cognitive distortions in this disease, and cognitive problems have been included in the diagnostic criteria for depressive episodes. In my talk I will focus on recent progress in preclinical modelling of aberrations in one of the most important neurocognitive mechanisms involved in the manifestation of depression – abnormal sensitivity to positive and negative feedback. First, I will summarize the recent advances in understanding neurocognitive mechanisms of aberrant feedback sensitivity in depression and underlying neurobiological substrates. Second, by combining behavioural, neurochemical, neuroanatomical and pharmacological approaches, I will evaluate the translational value of the probabilistic reversal-learning (PRL) task, a behavioural paradigm that enables investigation of correlates of feedback sensitivity in humans and animals. Finally, I will identify and discuss directions for future investigation, including cognitive biomarkers of depression and resilience to stress based on feedback sensitivity and personalized treatment targets.

Speaker

Dr Zofia Prokop

Faculty of Biology
Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

Deluded ape. Evolutionary perspective on human cognitive biases, suffering and wellbeing

Abstract: Subjectively and (increasingly) objectively, we live in a largely made-up world. Subjectively, our perception of the outside world is not a “window on reality as it is”, but rather a mental model constructed using external sensory information as well as internal elements such as memory and genetically determined preconceptions. This modelling process has been shaped by evolution to maximize survival and reproduction - not necessarily the models’ faithfulness to reality. Objectively, vast majority of people – especially the rapidly growing population of city dwellers – live in environments designed and constructed by (other) people. These novel environments are radically different from those in which our perceptual and decision making mechanisms evolved, thus contributing to a number of psychological and societal problems. I will present evolutionary perspectives on (i) the origin and maintenance of biases in perceiving reality and (ii) the mismatches between our cognitive mechanisms and the environments we currently inhabit.

Speaker

Emma Robinson, FBPhS

Professor of psychopharmacology
School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience
Faculty of Life Sciences
University of Bristol, UK

Could modulation of affective biases explain the efficacy of ketamine and other rapid onset antidepressants in major depressive disorder?

Abstract: The ability of the NMDA antagonist, ketamine, to induce a rapid reduction in the symptoms of depression, in previously treatment resistant patients, has provided an exciting new avenue for the development of a novel class of antidepressant. Ketamine has recently been approved by the FDA however there are concerns about side effects and dependence liability meaning alternative compounds are needed. Current research has focussed on interaction with the processes of synaptogenesis and AMPA modulation, but these studies are limited by the rodent models of depression, which lack translational validity. In order to try to better understand the underlying mechanisms, which contribute to ketamine’s efficacy, and hence identify novel drug targets, we have been using rodent models of affective bias. We first showed, in 2015, that acute ketamine could attenuate previously learnt biases in learning and memory. These effects were localised to the medial prefrontal cortex. Using a control assay we have also been able to show that these effects are selective to affective bias and do not involve any general effects on memory. We found similar effects with the muscarinic antagonist scopolamine suggesting that rapid onset antidepressants may share a common mechanism involving modulation of previously acquired negative affective biases. We have recently extended this work to show that ketamine also has sustained effects and can modulate biases 24hrs after treatment. In some preliminary studies looking at the molecular mechanisms underlying ketamine’s acute effects, we have found that they do not require protein synthesis but may involve activation of opioid receptors.

Speaker

Dr hab. Rafal Rygula

Affective cognitive neuroscience lab
Department of Pharmacology
Institute of Pharmacology Polish Academy of Sciences
Krakow, Poland

Pessimism as cognitive biomarker of depression in an animal model

Abstract: Why for some of us the glass is always half-full, while for the others it is half-empty? How expectations of potential outcomes of our actions could determine our vulnerability to depression? How the effects of antidepressant drugs depend on our cognition? Answers to these questions, although crucial for understanding aetiology of depressive disorder, remain still mostly unanswered.The research presented in my talk has been designed to find answers to these questions and to evaluate of whether cognitive judgement bias measured as a stable and enduring behavioural trait, could be a cognitive biomarker of depression. In our studies, using innovative ambiguous-cue interpretation tests, we identified rats displaying pessimistic and optimistic traits. Subsequently, we tested how these traits interact with other cognitive and physiological processes associated with depressive disorder, such as cognitive flexibility, sensitivity to negative and positive feedback, decision making under uncertainty, decision making under risk, approach and avoidance motivation, sensitivity of dopaminergic system, and immunological functions. In the further steps, we evaluated differences between optimists and pessimists in vulnerability to chronic stress (animal model of depression) and differences in sensitivity to acute and chronic antidepressant treatments. By combining sophisticated behavioural techniques we had a unique opportunity to perform studies that for practical and logistic reasons could not be performed in humans. We report that rats displaying trait pessimism are more prone to the stress-induced anhedonia and stress-induced motivational deficits. They also could be characterised as less motivated to obtain experimental rewards and over-sensitive to negative feedback. Pessimistic animals show decreased propensity to make risky/uncertain choices, are less sensitive to dopaminergic challenges, respond differentially to antidepressant drugs and display pro-inflammatory immunological profile.The results of presented studies in rats suggest that trait pessimism could be a cognitive biomarker of depression also in humans.

Speaker

Janna N. Vrijsen, PhD

Senior researcher
Department of Psychiatry
Radboud University Medical Center,
Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Memory bias modification for depression

Abstract: Depression is characterized by negatively biased cognitive processing. Specifically, there is consistent and compelling evidence for the role of negatively biased memory in the etiology of depression. Negative memory bias is most pronounced for self-relevant information e.g. autobiographical events.​ ​Theory and research on the causal relation between bias and affective symptoms has resulted in the development of Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM) techniques. In depression, CBM has mostly focused on the cognitive domains of attention and interpretation, which so far yielded mixed findings. Modifying memory bias hence seemed promising.​ ​Our first proof-of-principle studies on CBM-Memory showed that memory bias can be modified and that the training effect transfers to autobiographical memory and mood. A more recent set of two independent trials in depression-vulnerable individuals, however, showed no transfer to depressive symptoms. As a critical test of the clinical applicability of computer-based CBM-Memory, we are currently applying a four-day protocol to depressed inpatients.​ ​We recently extended this work by creating a daily-life smartphone-based measure of memory bias, in order to increase validity and facilitating transfer of the training effect. This resulted in. First, we validated this new measure in samples of currently, remitted and never-depressed individuals. As a second step, smartphone-based CBM-Memory was developed and was found to affect autobiographical memory. We are currently exploring its clinical relevance by applying smartphone-based CBM-Memory to a dysphoric (i.e. vulnerable) sample. Smartphone-based memory bias assessment and training may provide a valid extension of the memory bias work so far.

Speaker

Reinout Wiers, Ph.D.

Professor of developmental psychopathology
University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

On the Use of Cognitive Bias Modification in the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorders

Abstract: Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) are typically treated with psychosocial treatments and/or medication. However, there is a third category of interventions to consider: varieties of Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM). I will review the current state of affairs. CBM has shown to increase one-year abstinence in several large clinical trials, with effect sizes similar to medication for alcohol (NNT=12). It is also becoming clear for which individuals CBM shows most promise as an add-on treatment (those with a strong cue-reactivity and/or impulsivity), and we are beginning to understand the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying training effects (e.g., reduced cue-reactivity). CBM shows modest but reliable effects as add-on to regular psychosocial treatment, but does not appear to work in the absence of psychosocial treatment, nor in the absence of motivation to change (e.g. in proof-of-principle studies in students). Finally, I will sketch ways forward, such as combining training with neurostimulation.

Speaker

Catharine Winstanley

Professor in the Department of Psychology and a member of the Centre for Brain Health at the University of British Columbia
Vancouver, Canada

Of rats and men: rodent models of cognitive biases in decision-making and uncertainty

Abstract:

Additional information

  • Accomodation
  • How to get
  • Sponsorship

Hotel Dwór Tomaszowice (the Tomaszowice Manor) is surrounded by an idyllic park and neighbours a classical Polish court. The hotel offers 40 comfortable and elegantly designed rooms. Each room offers a private bathroom, telephone service and satellite television. Thanks to the hotel’s location, guests are treated to the exceptional views of the nineteenth century park gardens.

Dwór Tomaszowice (the workshop hotel) offers special, discounted room and food rates (full board packages) for workshop participants.
Rates:

  • Single room: 350 Euro/4 nights (87,5 Euro per night with all meals included)
  • Double room: 300 Euro/4 nights/ per person (75 Euro per night, all meals included)
  • Triple room: 250 Euro/4 nights/ per person (62,5 Euro per night, all meals included)

Rates include VAT and full board, i.e. buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner (with non alcoholic drinks included).

For making the reservation please go to the section: Registration, and tick your chosen option on the reservation sheet.

In order to secure your booking, transfer the money for your chosen package (250, 300 or 350 Euro for triple, double or single room respectively) to the conference account:

Name of Account holder: Institute of Pharmacology Polish Academy of Sciences
Bank name: Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego
Bank Full address:
Street: 2 Pilotow Street
Postal Code: 31- 462
Town: Cracow
Country: Poland
Number of bank account: PL 37 1130 1150 0012 1149 2420 0021
BIC (* Bank Identifier Code ): GOSKPLPW
Reference: Accommodation package and your FIRST NAME and SURNAME

Please inform us of your payment at workshopCAB@gmail.com

The Tomaszowice Manor Estate – Krakow Conference Center (http://www.dwor.pl/) is located at the gates of Krakow and is the only one of its kind historic nineteenth century manor park complex. It is outside the main urban area but within 20 min TAXI ride distance from the Krakow Historic Centre. It is also easily reachable by public transportation.

Krakow is served by the John Paul II Krakow Airport (http://www.krakowairport.pl/en/), which is fairly close to our venue (12 km, about 15 min by taxi). After leaving the arrivals you can either take the official airport taxi: http://www.krakowairport.pl/pl/pasazer,c70/dojazd,c313/krakow-airport-taxi,a2435.html (relatively expensive but you cannot go wrong with it) or call one of the radio TAXI companies (e.g. WAWEL TAXI (http://waweltaxi.pl/kontakt) or BARBAKAN TAXI (http://barbakan.krakow.pl/) you can also use your UBER or TAXIFY app.

IMPORTANT: It makes no sense to go first to Krakow city centre in order to get to the workshop venue which is close to the airport.

You may also reach Krakow by train. Please buy your tickets to Krakow Main Station and from there take a taxi to the Tomaszowice Manor Estate – Krakow Conference Center (ask the driver to take you to: Krakowskie Centrum Konferencyjne Dwór Tomaszowice). The best is to call one of the radio TAXI companies, e.g. WAWEL TAXI (http://waweltaxi.pl/kontakt) or BARBAKAN TAXI (http://barbakan.krakow.pl/) or use your UBER or TAXIFY app.

When taking taxi on the street – confirm the price first (85 PLN- 20 euro seems fair fare).

PUBLIC TRANSPORT: Our meeting venue is served by city bus number 230, which departs from one of the big city transportation hubs in Krakow – BRONOWICE MAŁE (easily reachable from the main train station by many trams and buses).

You can also chose to fly to Katowice Airport (about 80 km from Krakow) but getting to our venue from there could be time consuming and expensive.

We DO NOT recommend flying to Warsaw with an intention to continue your travel by train. Although this might seem like a good opportunity to see more of Poland – on your way back it may get disastrous as the trains are far from being reliable. The delays of 30-60 min are not uncommon and traveling on such a delayed train back to Warsaw while having a plane to catch might cost you a lot of nerves.

Driving to Krakow from the main Polish cities (Warsaw, Poznań, Wroclaw or Gdańsk) can be a long trip. It can be a chance to tour Poland, but it needs careful planning. Distances (driving the highway network) are:

Wroclaw – Krakow: 270km

Warsaw – Krakow: 290km

Poznan – Krakow: 460km

Gdansk – Krakow: 580km

We look forward to seeing you in Krakow!

Rafal Rygula and Karolina Noworyta Sokolowska

Workshop Organizers

We invite organizations, institutions, government agencies and private companies to consider sponsoring the Workshop: Cognitive affective biases – from mechanisms to disease symptoms.

The meeting will be a great opportunity to gain visibility in the fields of basic and clinical neuroscience, psychiatry, psychology or psychopharmacology and to showcase your products, services or activities to a diverse international audience of professionals.
The commercial Exhibition will be held in the lobby of the Krakow Conference Center Tomaszowice manor hotel. The floor plan will be designed to maximize Exhibitors’ exposure to the participants.

As a standard we can offer exhibition space (empty or equipped with a table and chairs). 
The size of the stand space is about 4 sqm (2m in length and 2m in depth). The price for a booth is 1000 €  (4300 PLN).
we can supply:
table
2 chairs
power outlet
listing in the program booklet
free access for 1 person to all scientific events, to the coffee breaks lunches and dinners.
You can bring your own stand elements, of course. Stand space will be allocated on a “first come first served basis”.

We welcome any type of financial support your organization would like to offer.

We are also happy to work with you to customize a sponsorship opportunity that best suits your goals and budget. We may additionally consider industry-supported talks, slots and branding opportunities.

For more information of the support and exhibition opportunities and bookings, please contact:

Karolina Noworyta Sokolowska
tel: 0048(12)6623373
fax:0048(12)6374500
email: sokolow@if-pan.krakow.pl

See also