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IdTitle * Authors * Abstract * PictureThematic fields * Recommender▲ReviewersSubmission date
11 Apr 2024
STAGE 1

Do pain and effort increase prosocial contributions?: Revisiting the Martyrdom Effect with a Replication and extensions Registered Report of Olivola and Shafir (2013)

More pain, more prosocial? Assessing the Martyrdom Effect

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Vanessa Clemens and Liesbeth Mann
The Martyrdom Effect is a behavioral tendency in which individuals exhibit greater generosity when their acts of giving entail effort or self-sacrifice (Olivola & Shafir, 2013). Giving at a personal cost, in this mindset, is associated with ascribing and inferring more meaning and value to charitable giving or other forms of generosity than in instances where no particular pain or effort is required to enact prosocial behavior. Arguably, the Martyrdom Effect’s ability to boost prosocial behavior therefore departs from other theories of behavior change postulating that easy options to act prosocially could boost contributions (e.g., default effects in charitable giving, see Altmann et al., 2019; Goswami & Urminsky, 2016). Because they introduce complexity to the debate about encouraging prosocial behavior, three studies from Olivola and Shafir (2013) are now being addressed in this Registered Report by Cheng and Feldman (2024).

Combining these three studies in a high-powered within-subjects replication attempt, transparently communicating necessary deviations from the original design and carefully outlining the analysis strategy, the current study will offer insights into the robustness of prior findings on the role of effort and pain in determining donations.

The Stage 1 manuscript was evaluated by two reviewers and the recommender. Based on detailed responses to the reviewers' comments, the recommender judged that the manuscript met the Stage 1 criteria and therefore awarded in-principle acceptance (IPA).
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/aq89u
 
Level of bias control achieved: Level 6. No part of the data or evidence that will be used to answer the research question yet exists and no part will be generated until after IPA.
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 
 
References
 
1. Altmann, S., Falk, A., Heidhues, P., Jayaraman, R., & Teirlinck, M. (2019). Defaults and Donations: Evidence from a Field Experiment. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 101, 808-826. https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_00774
 
2. Cheng, Y. T. & Feldman, G. (2024). Do pain and effort increase prosocial contributions?: Revisiting the Martyrdom Effect with a Replication and extensions Registered Report of Olivola and Shafir (2013). In principle acceptance of Version 2 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/aq89u
 
3. Goswami, I., & Urminsky, O. (2016). When should the Ask be a Nudge? The Effect of Default Amounts on Charitable Donations. Journal of Marketing Research, 53, 829-846. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmr.15.0001
 
4. Olivola, C. Y., & Shafir, E. (2013). The Martyrdom Effect: When Pain and Effort Increase Prosocial Contributions. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 26, 91-105. https://doi.org/10.1002/bdm.767
Do pain and effort increase prosocial contributions?: Revisiting the Martyrdom Effect with a Replication and extensions Registered Report of Olivola and Shafir (2013)Yim Tung (Emanuel) Cheng, Gilad Feldman<p>[IMPORTANT: Abstract, method, and results were written using a randomized dataset produced by Qualtrics to simulate what these sections will look like after data collection. These will be updated following the data collection. For the purpose o...Social sciencesRima-Maria Rahal Vanessa Clemens, Liesbeth Mann2023-11-30 12:32:25 View
24 Sep 2024
STAGE 1

Independent Comparative Evaluation of the Pupil Neon - A New Mobile Eye-tracker

Assessing the Promise of Affordable, Mobile Eye-Tracking Devices: Evaluation of the Pupil Neon 

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Lisa Spitzer and Benedikt Ehinger
Studying eye-gaze has long been employed as a central method for understanding attentional dynamics and cognitive processes in a variety of domains. The development of affordable, mobile eye-tracking devices, such as the Pupil Neon, promises new opportunities to extend this research beyond the contexts in which traditional eye-trackers have been available. But how good are such novel devices at detecting variables relevant for the study of eye movements and pupil dilations?
 
Foucher, Krug and Sauter (2024) propose an independent evaluation of the Pupil Neon eye-tracker using the Ehinger et al. (2019) test battery, comparing its performance with a traditional EyeLink 1000 Plus device. In an empirical study, participants will be asked to perform a wide variety of tasks while eye movements and pupil dilations are tracked using both devices. Results on the strengths and weaknesses, as well as potential use cases of the Pupil Neon will be informative for subsequent eye-tracking research. 

The Stage 1 manuscript was evaluated over two rounds of in-depth review. Based on detailed responses to the recommender and reviewers' comments, the recommender judged that the manuscript met the Stage 1 criteria and therefore awarded in-principle acceptance (IPA).
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/3kc5t
 
Level of bias control achieved: Level 6. No part of the data or evidence that will be used to answer the research question yet exists and no part will be generated until after IPA. 
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 

References:

1. Ehinger, B. V., Groß, K., Ibs, I., and König, P. (2019). A New Comprehensive Eye-Tracking Test Battery Concurrently Evaluating the Pupil Labs Glasses and the Eyelink 1000. PeerJ, 7, e7086. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7086

2. Foucher, V., Krug, A., and Sauter, M. (2024). Independent Comparative Evaluation of the Pupil Neon - A New Mobile Eye-tracker. In principle acceptance of Version 3 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/3kc5t
 
Independent Comparative Evaluation of the Pupil Neon - A New Mobile Eye-trackerValentin Foucher, Alina Krug, Marian Sauter<p>Due to the rapid adoption of (mobile) eye-tracking devices in both academic and consumer research, it becomes more important that the increasing number of datasets is based on reliable recordings. This study provides an independent evaluation o...Engineering, Life Sciences, Social sciencesRima-Maria Rahal2024-05-29 10:29:06 View
14 Feb 2022
STAGE 1

Minimal mindfulness of the world as an active control for a full mindfulness of mental states intervention: A Registered Report and Pilot study

Testing the metacognitive basis and benefits of mindfulness training

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Chris Noone and Julieta Galante

Mindfulness is inherently metacognitive in that it requires monitoring of one’s own thoughts and attention in order to remain on task. Mindfulness practice is especially metacognitive when focused on internal mental states, rather than on the external world. This Registered Report will compare remote training in mindfulness of mental states with remote training in mindfulness of the world, and a wait list control, to test the idea that mindfulness of mental states has an additional metacognitive component, and that this has benefits for (self-reported) mental health. A comparison of participant expectancies between mindfulness conditions will be used to establish whether mindfulness of the world can be considered a true ‘active control’ condition. Additional comparisons will test whether this mindfulness control has benefits over the (inactive) waiting list condition. The study plan is informed by prior research, including pilot data presented in the Stage 1 report, and a sample of up to 300 participants will be tested.

The Stage 1 plan has been evaluated through two round of signed external review, and a further two rounds of minor revisions, with the recommender obtaining specialist advice on key points from a relevant external expert. The recommender has judged that the manuscript now meets all Stage 1 criteria, and has awarded In Principle Acceptance (IPA).

URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/tx54k

Level of bias control achieved: Level 6. No part of the data or evidence that will be used to answer the research question yet exists and no part will be generated until after IPA.

List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:

References

Lovell, M., & Dienes, Z. (2022). Minimal mindfulness of the world as an active control for a full mindfulness of mental states intervention: A Registered Report and Pilot study, in principle acceptance of version 4 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/tx54k

Minimal mindfulness of the world as an active control for a full mindfulness of mental states intervention: A Registered Report and Pilot studyMax Lovell, Zoltan Dienes<p>Mindfulness is a continual renewal of non-elaborative attention on an object of focus, without clinging or aversion, and with equanimity. As this requires the capacity to monitor and control the extent to which one is on task, it is a metacogni...Social sciencesRobert McIntosh2021-06-21 16:49:39 View
21 Oct 2022
STAGE 1

Replicating the facilitatory effects of transcranial random noise stimulation on motion processing: A registered report

Testing the facilitatory effect of high-frequency transcranial random noise stimulation through enhancement of global motion processing

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Sam Westwood and Filippo Ghin
High frequency transcranial random noise stimulation (hf-tRNS) is a relatively novel form of non-invasive brain stimulation, thought to enhance neural excitability and facilitate processing in targeted brain areas. The evidence for the efficacy of hf-tRNS is mixed, so a high-powered test of the proposed facilitatory effects would be of value to the field. This Registered Report will target the human middle temporal complex (hMT+), an area with a well-established critical role in global motion processing. The protocol is adapted from a study by Ghin and colleagues (2018) but focusing on a sub-set of the original experimental conditions and using a fully within-subjects design (n=42). Global motion processing will be operationalised in terms of the coherence threshold for identification of the dominant direction of random-dot motion. The experiment will test the predicted facilitation of contralateral motion processing (reduced coherence threshold) during hf-tRNS to the left hMT+. The specificity of this effect will be tested by comparison to a sham stimulation control condition and an active stimulation control condition (left forehead). By targeting a brain area with a well-established critical role in behaviour, this study will provide important information about the replicability and specificity of the facilitatory effects of hf-tRNS.
 
Following two rounds of in-depth review, the recommender judged that the manuscript met the Stage 1 criteria and awarded in-principle acceptance (IPA).  
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/bce7u
 
Level of bias control achieved: Level 6. No part of the data or evidence that will be used to answer the research question yet exists and no part will be generated until after IPA. 
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 
References
 
1. Ghin, F., Pavan, A., Contillo, A., & Mather, G. (2018). The effects of high-frequency transcranial random noise stimulation (hf-tRNS) on global motion processing: an equivalent noise approach. Brain Stimulation, 11, 1263–75.
 
2. Caroll, M. B., Edwards, G. & Baker, C. I. (2022). Replicating the facilitatory effects of transcranial random noise stimulation on motion processing: A registered report, in principle acceptance of Version 7 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/bce7u
Replicating the facilitatory effects of transcranial random noise stimulation on motion processing: A registered reportMica B. Carroll*, Grace Edwards*, Chris I. Baker<p>Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques have the potential to demonstrate the causal impact of targeted brain regions on specific behaviors, and to regulate or facilitate behavior in clinical applications. Transcranial random noise sti...Life SciencesRobert McIntosh2022-06-02 21:25:02 View
21 May 2024
STAGE 1

The importance of consolidating perceptual experience and contextual knowledge in face recognition

How does perceptual and contextual information influence the recognition of faces?

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Lisa DeBruine and Haiyang Jin
When we familiarise with new faces over repeated exposures, it is in situations that have meaning for us. Here, Noad and Andrews (2023) ask whether meaningful context during exposure matters for the consolidation of faces into long-term memory. Participants will be shown video clips from TV shows that are ordered either in their original chronological sequence, preserving meaningful context, or in a scrambled sequence. It is expected that the original sequence will provide a better understanding of the narrative. The critical question is whether this will also be associated with differences in memory for the faces. Memory will be tested with images of the actor from the original clips (‘in show’) or images of the same actor from another show (‘out-of-show’), both immediately after exposure and following a four-week delay. It is predicted that memory for faces will be better retained across the delay when the original exposure was in a meaningful context, and that this benefit will be enhanced for ‘in-show’ images, where the person’s appearance matches with the original context. The pre-registered predictions and the targeted effect sizes for this study are informed by pilot data reported within the manuscript.
 
The Stage 1 manuscript was evaluated through an initial round of editorial review, followed by a further round of external review, after which the recommender judged that it met the Stage 1 criteria for in-principle acceptance (IPA).
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/8wp6f
 
Level of bias control achieved: Level 6. No part of the data or evidence that will be used to answer the research question yet exists and no part will be generated until after IPA. 
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 
 
References
 
1. Noad, K. & Andrews, T. J. (2023). The importance of consolidating perceptual experience and contextual knowledge in face recognition, in principle acceptance of Version 4 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/8wp6f
The importance of consolidating perceptual experience and contextual knowledge in face recognitionKira Noad and Timothy J. Andrews<p>Although the ability to recognise familiar faces is a critical part of everyday life, the process by which a face becomes familiar in the real world is not fully understood. Previous research has focussed on the importance of perceptual experie...Life SciencesRobert McIntosh2022-09-09 14:33:57 View
27 Jun 2023
STAGE 1

Functional MRI brain state occupancy in the presence of cerebral small vessel disease -- pre-registration for a replication analysis of the Hamburg City Health Study

Testing the replicability of dynamic functional connectivity correlates of cerebral small vessel disease in the Hamburg City Health Study

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Olivia Hamilton and 1 anonymous reviewer
A recent study has reported that the extent of cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) shows associations with dynamic functional connectivity measures obtained from resting state functional MRI scans (Schlemm et al, 2022). Specifically, when the functional scan was parsed into time spent in discrete brain states, the proportion of time spent in the two most-occupied states was negatively related to a structural indicator of cSVD (volume of white matter hyperintensities of presumed vascular origin). This measure of 'fractional occupancy' was also associated with cognitive impairment as indicated by longer time to complete part B of the Trail Making Test. These findings were based on the analysis of data from 988 participants in the Hamburg City Health Study (HCHS).
 
In the present Registered Report, Schlemm (2023) will test whether these associations can be replicated in an independent sample of participants from the HCHS, not included in the earlier analysis (projected N for new analysis ~1500). In addition to the two main hypothesis tests, an exploratory multiverse analysis will be reported, systematically varying some key parameters of the MRI processing pipeline to provide further information about the robustness of the outcome of the primary hypothesis test. 
 
The Stage 1 plan was refined over two rounds of review by two relevant experts, with additional input from the recommender on the specification of the registered plan. Both reviewers are satisfied that the plan constitutes an appropriate approach to this question, and on the basis of their comments and his own evaluation, the recommender judged that the Stage 1 report meets the criteria for in-principle acceptance.
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/9yhzc
 
Level of bias control achieved: Level 2. At least some data/evidence that will be used to answer the research question has been accessed and partially observed by the authors, but the authors certify that they have not yet observed the key variables within the data that will be used to answer the research question AND they have taken additional steps to maximise bias control and rigour.
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 
 
References
 
1. Schlemm, E., Frey, B. M., Mayer, C., Petersen, M., Fiehler, J., Hanning, U., Kühn, S., Twerenbold, R., Gallinat, J., Gerloff, C., Thomalla, G. & Cheng, B. (2022). Equalization of brain state occupancy accompanies cognitive impairment in cerebral small vessel disease. Biological Psychiatry, 92, 592-602. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.03.019
 
2. Schlemm, E. (2023). Functional MRI brain state occupancy in the presence of cerebral small vessel disease – pre-registration for a replication analysis of the Hamburg City Health Study. In principle acceptance of Version 1.5 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/9yhzc
Functional MRI brain state occupancy in the presence of cerebral small vessel disease -- pre-registration for a replication analysis of the Hamburg City Health StudyEckhard Schlemm<p>Objective: To replicate recent findings about the association between the extent of cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD), functional brain network dedifferentiation and cognitive impairment.</p> <p>Methods: We will analyze demographic, imaging...Life Sciences, Medical SciencesRobert McIntosh2022-11-19 14:21:28 View
28 Nov 2023
STAGE 1

One and only SNARC? A Registered Report on the SNARC Effect’s Range Dependency

Is the SNARC effect modulated by absolute number magnitude?

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Melinda Mende and 1 anonymous reviewer
The Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) effect refers to the fact that smaller numbers receive faster responses with the left hand, and larger numbers with the right hand (Dehaene et al., 1993). This robust finding implies that numbers are associated with space, being represented on a mental number line that progresses from left to right. The SNARC effect is held to depend on relative number magnitude, with the mental number line dynamically adjusting to the numerical range used in a given context. This characterisation is based on significant effects of relative number magnitude, with no significant influence of absolute number magnitude. However, a failure to reject the null hypothesis, within the standard frequentist statistical framework, is not firm evidence for the absence of an effect. In this Stage 1 Registered Report, Roth and colleagues (2023) propose two experiments adapted from Dahaene’s (1993) original methods, with a Bayesian statistical approach to confirm—or rule out—a small effect (d = 0.15) of absolute number magnitude in modulating the classic SNARC effect.
 
The study plan was refined across two rounds of review, with input from two external reviewers and the recommender, after which it was judged to satisfy the Stage 1 criteria for in-principle acceptance (IPA).
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/ae2c8
 
Level of bias control achieved: Level 6. No part of the data or evidence that will be used to answer the research question yet exists and no part will be generated until after IPA.
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 
 
References
 
Dehaene, S., Bossini, S., & Giraux, P. (1993). The mental representation of parity and number magnitude. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 122(3), 371–396. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.122.3.371
 
Roth, L., Caffier, J., Reips, U.-D., Nuerk, H.-C., & Cipora, K. (2023). One and only SNARC? A Registered Report on the SNARC Effect’s Range Dependency. In principle acceptance of Version 3 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/ae2c8
One and only SNARC? A Registered Report on the SNARC Effect’s Range DependencyLilly Roth, John Caffier, Ulf-Dietrich Reips, Hans-Christoph Nuerk, Krzysztof Cipora<p>Numbers are associated with space, but it is unclear how flexible these associations are. In this study, we will investigate whether the SNARC effect (Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes; Dehaene et al., 1993), which describes faste...Social sciencesRobert McIntosh2022-11-30 12:36:08 View
09 Sep 2024
STAGE 1

The origin of symbolic numerical knowledge in early development – an fNIRS Registered Report

An fNIRS test of the neural correlates of the Cardinality Principle in typically-developing children

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Ed Hubbard and 1 anonymous reviewer
The cardinality principle (CP) is a key concept in numerical cognition, which children typically acquire by the age of five. This is the understanding that each number in a counted sequence refers to a specific set of items, and that the final number represents the total size of the set. Here, Ivanova and colleagues (2024) propose an experiment to study the changes in neural activity that accompany the acquisition of this concept, focusing on activity within the parietal lobes as measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).
 
Typically-developing children aged from 2 years 9 months to 4 years 9 months will be assessed for their ability to give a specific number of balls from a pile: those who can give five or more correctly will be classified as CP-knowers, and those who can only give lower set sizes will be classified as subset-knowers. All children will then perform an auditory number word adaptation task while undergoing fNIRS. The adaptation task involves hearing the number word ‘two’ repeated, interspersed with deviant number words (‘four’ or ‘eight’) or a non-number word (‘rin’). The experimental hypotheses are that left parietal activations and bilateral parietal functional connectivity will be differentially greater for number than non-number deviants amongst CP-knowers than amongst subset-knowers. Each hypothesis will be tested by sequential Bayes factor analysis, with a minimum of 25 and a maximum of 46 participants per group, providing high sensitivity to detect a smallest effect size of d = .35. This study aims to provide insights into the neural underpinnings of the CP, informing theoretical models of symbolic knowledge acquisition.

The study plan was refined over four rounds of review, with input from two external reviewers, after which the recommender judged that the Stage 1 manuscript met the criteria for in-principle acceptance (IPA).
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/gzpk5

Level of bias control achieved: Level 4. At least some of the data/evidence that will be used to answer the research question already exists and is accessible in principle to the authors (e.g. residing in a public database or with a colleague) but the authors certify that they have not yet accessed any part of that data/evidence.
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly Journals:
 
 
References
 
Ivanova, E., Joanisse, M., Ansari, D., & Soltanlou, M. (2024). The origin of symbolic numerical knowledge in early development – an fNIRS Registered Report. In principle acceptance of Version 7 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/gzpk5
The origin of symbolic numerical knowledge in early development – an fNIRS Registered ReportElizaveta Ivanova, Marc Joanisse, Daniel Ansari, Mojtaba Soltanlou<p>The ability to understand that each number word in the count sequence refers to a specific set of items (e.g., ‘two’ means ‘two things’) is a milestone in cognitive development. When children reach this milestone, they are said to understand th...Social sciencesRobert McIntosh2023-03-14 17:25:27 View
08 Sep 2023
STAGE 1

Evaluation of spatial learning and wayfinding in a complex maze using immersive virtual reality. A registered report

Evaluation of an immersive virtual reality wayfinding task

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Conor Thornberry, Gavin Buckingham and 1 anonymous reviewer
The Virtual Maze Task (VMT) is a digital desktop 2D spatial learning task that has been used for research into the effect of sleep and dreaming on memory consolidation (e.g. Wamsley et al, 2010). One limitation of this task has been low rates of reported dream incorporation. Eudave and colleagues (2023) have created an immersive virtual reality (iVR) version of the VMT, which they believe might be more likely to be incorporated into dreams. As an initial step in validating this task for research, they propose a within-subjects study to compare three measures of spatial learning between the 2D desktop and iVR versions. Based on a review of relevant literature, the prediction is that performance will be similar between the two task versions. The planned sample size (n = 62) is sufficient for a .9 power test of equivalence within effect size bounds of d = -.47 to .47. Additional independent variables (gender, perspective-taking ability) and dependent measures (self-reported cybersickness and sense of presence) will be recorded for exploratory analyses.
 
The study plan was refined across four rounds of review, with input from two external reviewers and the recommender, after which it was judged to satisfy the Stage 1 criteria for in-principle acceptance (IPA).
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/wba2v
 
Level of bias control achieved: Level 6. No part of the data or evidence that will be used to answer the research question yet exists and no part will be generated until after IPA.
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 
 
References
 
Eudave, L., Martínez, M., Valencia, M., & Roth D. (2023). Evaluation of spatial learning and wayfinding in a complex maze using immersive virtual reality. A registered report. In principle acceptance of Version 5 by Peer Community in Registered Reports.
 
Wamsley, E. J., Tucker, M., Payne, J. D., Benavides, J. A., & Stickgold, R. (2010). Dreaming of a learning task is associated with enhanced sleep-dependent memory consolidation. Current Biology, 20, 850–855. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2010.03.027
 
† There is one minor change that the authors should make to the Methods section, which is sufficiently small that it can be incorporated at Stage 2: "if both tests reject the null hypothesis (observed data is less/greater than the lower/upper equivalence bounds), conditions are considered statistically equivalent" >> suggest changing "less/greater" to "greater/lesser" for correct correspondence with "lower/upper".
Evaluation of spatial learning and wayfinding in a complex maze using immersive virtual reality. A registered reportEudave L., Martínez M., Valencia M., Roth D.<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Objectives</strong>: Mazes have traditionally been used as tools for evaluating spatial learning and navigational abilities in humans. They have been also utilized in sleep and dream research, as wayfinding ...Life SciencesRobert McIntosh2023-03-31 17:21:20 View
05 Feb 2024
STAGE 2
(Go to stage 1)

Functional MRI brain state occupancy in the presence of cerebral small vessel disease -- a pre-registered replication analysis of the Hamburg City Health Study

Replicable dynamic functional connectivity and cognitive correlates of cerebral small vessel disease in the Hamburg City Health Study

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by 1 anonymous reviewer
In a previous analysis of data from 988 participants in the Hamburg City Health Study (HCHS), Schlemm and colleagues (2022) reported significant associations between the extent of cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) and dynamic functional connectivity measures from resting state fMRI. Specifically, the volume of white matter hyperintensities of presumed vascular origin, a structural indicator of cSVD, was negatively related to the proportion of time (‘fractional occupancy’) spent in the two most occupied functional brain states. Reduced fractional occupancy was also associated with longer times to complete part B of the Trail Making Test.
 
In the present Registered Report, Ingwersen and colleagues (2023) successfully replicated these associations between structural, functional and cognitive measures in a sample of 1651 HCHS participants not included in the earlier study. An exploratory multiverse analysis found that the associations were generally robust to different brain parcellation and confound regression strategies. These replicable patterns reinforce the idea that cSVD may disrupt the brain’s ability to enter and maintain distinct functional modes, and that these changes in functional dynamics are predictive of cognitive impairment.
 
The Stage 2 manuscript was assessed over one round of in-depth review. The recommender judged that responses to reviewer comments were appropriate, and that the manuscript met the Stage 2 criteria for recommendation.
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/9yhzc
 
Level of bias control achieved: Level 2. At least some data/evidence that was used to answer the research question had been accessed and partially observed by the authors prior to Stage 1 in-principle acceptance, but the authors certify that they had not yet observed the key variables within the data that were used to answer the research question AND they took additional steps to maximise bias control and rigour.
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 
 
References
 
1. Schlemm, E., Frey, B. M., Mayer, C., Petersen, M., Fiehler, J., Hanning, U., Kühn, S., Twerenbold, R., Gallinat, J., Gerloff, C., Thomalla, G. & Cheng, B. (2022). Equalization of brain state occupancy accompanies cognitive impairment in cerebral small vessel disease. Biological Psychiatry, 92, 592-602. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.03.019
 
2. Ingwersen, T., Mayer, C., Petersen, M., Frey, B. M., Fiehler, J., Hanning, U., Kühn, S., Gallinat, J., Twerenbold, R., Gerloff, C., Cheng, B., Thomalla, G. & Schlemm, E. (2023). Functional MRI brain state occupancy in the presence of cerebral small vessel disease -- a pre-registered replication analysis of the Hamburg City Health Study. Acceptance of Version 2.01 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://github.com/csi-hamburg/HCHS-brain-states-RR/blob/f9d00adbbcf9593d8d191bf5b93912141b80ab1b/manuscript/build/main.pdf
 
Functional MRI brain state occupancy in the presence of cerebral small vessel disease -- a pre-registered replication analysis of the Hamburg City Health StudyThies Ingwersen, Carola Mayer, Marvin Petersen, Benedikt M. Frey, Jens Fiehler, Uta Hanning, Simone Kühn, Jürgen Gallinat, Raphael Twerenbold, Christian Gerloff, Bastian Cheng, Götz Thomalla, Eckhard Schlemm, <p><strong>Objective</strong>: To replicate recent findings on the association between the extent of cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD), functional brain network dedifferentiation, and cognitive impairment.</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> We a...Life Sciences, Medical SciencesRobert McIntosh2023-10-17 09:53:02 View