Embodied mood regulation: the impact of body posture on mood recovery, negative thoughts, and mood-congruent recall

Embodied cognitive restructuring: The impact of posture and movement on changing dysfunctional attitudes

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Previous theoretical and empirical work has pointed to the important role of the body in emotion generation and emotion regulation. In the present study, we wanted to investigate if the performance of certain body postures and movement could facilitate cognitive restructuring of dysfunctional cognitive attitudes more effectively than traditional, verbal-only methods.

METHODS

In total, 130 participants were randomized to one of two groups. One group was subjected to cognitive restructuring (i.e., restructure only group; CR-only), verbally exploring a dysfunctional attitude from a curious, strong, and courageous perspective. The other group received the same verbal instructions but in addition to this, was asked to perform different bodily exercises (i.e., motor-enhanced restructuring group; M-CR) supposed to enhance experience of the different perspectives from which cognitive restructuring was employed.

RESULTS

Results confirmed the primary hypothesis, showing that the M-CR-group showed a larger decline in belief in dysfunctional attitudes compared with the CR-only group (F = 4.2, p = 0.041, d = 0.25). No differences on secondary outcomes were observed between the two groups.

LIMITATIONS

Future research should explore the effects of motor-enhanced CR both more long-term (e.g., durability over weeks) and in clinical samples (e.g., anxiety and depression).

CONCLUSION

Should the findings be replicated in clinical samples, it is encouraging that simple bodily exercises can enhance the effect of one of the most central skills of cognitive therapy.

Revisiting uncertainty as a felt sense of unsafety: The somatic error theory of intolerance of uncertainty

Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) has gained widespread interest as a construct of broad interest from both transdiagnostic and trans-situational perspectives. We have approached this article inspired by the curiosity, clinical observation, consideration of different theoretical perspectives, speculation, optimism and indeed fun that can be seen in S. J. Rachman's work. We address some of what we know about IU before considering one way of conceptualizing IU from the standpoint of a felt sense or embodied experience. In the first part, we start with Woody and Rachman's (1994) observations of people with GAD. Second, we consider some key findings from the literature. Third, we consider two important perspectives on uncertainty, namely, Brosschot et al.'s (2016, 2018) influential Generalized Unsafety Theory of Stress and uncertainty as an emotion. In the second part, backing our clinical hunch about the importance of the felt sense of uncertainty, we consider IU from the perspective of interoception and the somatic error theory of anxiety (Khalsa & Feinstein, 2018). We propose the somatic error theory of intolerance of uncertainty, which places the experience of uncertainty at the heart of our understanding of intolerance of uncertainty. This is followed by predictions, unresolved questions, and potential clinical implications. Finally, we revisit Woody and Rachman's (1994) suggestions for treatment as internalizing "a sense of safety in a range of circumstances (p. 750)" and update this from the perspective of the felt sense of uncertainty. We finish by suggesting that uncertainty can be tolerated, perhaps accepted, and even embraced.

The Big Five personality traits and allostatic load in middle to older adulthood: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Further understanding of the associations between personality traits and allostatic load (AL) may be important for predicting, addressing, and optimizing health outcomes. This review synthesized the existing literature reporting the association between the Big Five personality traits and AL in adults to identify the generalizability and robustness of relationships, potential mechanisms underlying the associations, and study characteristics that may be contributing to inconsistencies in the field. Published and unpublished empirical reports were included if at least one of the Big Five traits was examined and an AL index was constructed using at least two biomarkers in a sample of adults. The methodological plan and standardized coding guide were pre-registered and reported (https://osf.io/rxw5a). Based on 11 studies that met eligibility, meta-analysis of correlation coefficients indicated a small but significant positive association between neuroticism and AL, and small but significant inverse associations between both conscientiousness and openness with AL. This review identifies strengths and limitations within the field, as well as several avenues for future research.

Using bodily displays to facilitating approach action outcomes within the context of a personally relevant task

BACKGROUND

Considerable attention has been paid to the effect of bodily (expansive and contractive) displays on affective, behavioral, and hormonal outcomes. However, the majority of past studies are limited by a lack of control groups with neutral displays and low personal relevance of the experimental tasks employed. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of adopting different bodily displays, including neutral displays, within the context of a personally relevant task.

METHODS

In an experiment with healthy participants (N = 90), we investigated the effects of two different bodily manipulations (i.e., expansive and contractive), compared to a control group (i.e., neutral displays). Effects were evaluated in terms of completed valued action in addition to processes considered potentially helpful in preparing and motivating the individual to take valued action, including a change in emotion experience, action tendencies, and appraisals.

RESULTS

Several main effects were detected and only few significant interaction effects were revealed. In case of group differences, results showed that expansive bodily displays outperformed the control group, leading to more positive emotions, more approach action tendencies, less negative emotion variability, and less avoidance action tendencies toward threat.

DISCUSSION

These results mainly suggest that identifying a valued action and explicating the underlying motivational conflict may be beneficial regardless of bodily displays. This conclusion runs somewhat counter both to our hypotheses and to findings in recent meta-analytic work. However, previous experiments have not evaluated the effect of bodily displays within a personally relevant context.

Bodily feedback: expansive and upward posture facilitates the experience of positive affect

Most emotion theories recognise the importance of the body in expressing and constructing emotions. Focusing beyond the face, the present research adds needed empirical data on the effect of static full body postures on positive/negative affect. In Studies 1 (N = 110) and 2 (N = 79), using a bodily feedback paradigm, we manipulated postures to test causal effects on affective and physiological responses to emotionally ambiguous music. Across both studies among U.S. participants, we find the strongest support for an effect of bodily postures that are expansive and oriented upward on positive affect. In addition, an expansive and upward pose also led to greater cardiac vagal reactivity but these changes in parasympathetic activity were not related to affective changes (Study 2). In line with embodied theories, these results provide additional support for the role of postural input in constructing affect. Discussion highlights the relevance of these findings for the study of religious practices during which the postures studied are often adopted.

Exploring the Impact of the Somatic Method 'Timani' on Performance Quality, Performance-Related Pain and Injury, and Self-Efficacy in Music Students in Norway: An Intervention Study

The importance of including performance-related body mechanics into music education to improve performance quality and prevent performance-related injuries has been stressed by many researchers recently. However, it is unclear how this information could be delivered most effectively. The somatic method ‘Timani’ provides a practical solution by combining expertise in music performance and functional body mechanics with the goal of achieving a more efficient playing technique. Since no in-depth study has been conducted to assess the method before, we explored the impact of this method on young musicians’ performance through an online, 4-week-long Timani intervention with a mixed-methodology design. 17 students (mean age = 19.17 years) were recruited from the Norwegian Academy of Music. They participated in two group workshops at the beginning and the end of the project and received four individual Timani sessions administered by certified teachers. We collected survey data at the workshops about performance-related pain and self-efficacy, and qualitative feedback after each session. In addition, all sessions were observed by the researcher and semi-structured interviews were conducted with the teachers about the perceived outcomes and their experiences with teaching the method online. Our findings show that the intervention had a positive impact on a physical, professional, and to some extent, psychological and behavioral level. The improvements included better posture when playing, enhanced control and dexterity in the upper extremities, and improved breathing mechanisms. The seven students who had performance-related pain pre-intervention reported a reduction in the discomfort. The positive results were achieved by the dual expertise of the teachers in music performance and functional body mechanics, the structure of the sessions, the communication, and the pedagogical tools used. Both students and teachers felt that administering the sessions online was satisfactory and produced good results. Timani is a promising method to establish healthy playing and singing habits thus improving performance quality and preventing performance-related problems and has great potential in reducing pre-existing injuries and pain. Also, it can be effectively taught online which has further implications for the logistics of delivery.

Health, well-being, and material-ideal hybrid spaces in Yeats's writing

Traditionally regarded as high-art, poetry is often seen as a superior form of literary achievement consecrating in verse worldviews and lives connected to ideal, transcendental realms, the pursuance of which supposedly leads to some kind of ideal health and spiritual well-being. The poet WB Yeats (Nobel Prize in Literature, 1923), who believed in the power of poetry to reveal realities and states of such perfection, thereby giving purpose to mundane life, likened this effect of poetry to the fashioning of statues as monuments of unageing intellect. However, contradictorily, he also questioned the value of poetry thus conceived by questioning whether it is healthy to aspire to embody poetically consecrated ideals in real life. Yeats's dilemmatic negotiation between these two positions suggests that better personal well-being can be achieved in living an enlightening life by being mindful of the body's sensuality and materiality. In poetic explorations of the ways in which idealism and sensuality can affect how we live our lives, Yeats used real-life examples of people he knew, often important public figures in Irish social and political history.The present paper frames these explorations in terms of Yeats's concepts of living stream and stone/statuary, augmented with Bruno Latour's concepts of traditional subject and articulated body, discussed in relation to purpose in life and closeness and empathy, proposing that an overly idealistic 'poetic' lifestyle can have adverse effects, whereas poetry that increases one's awareness of oneself as articulated body is conducive to better health and well-being.

Qigong Training Positively Impacts Both Posture and Mood in Breast Cancer Survivors With Persistent Post-surgical Pain: Support for an Embodied Cognition Paradigm

Theories of embodied cognition hypothesize interdependencies between psychological well-being and physical posture. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of objectively measuring posture, and to explore the relationship between posture and affect and other patient centered outcomes in breast cancer survivors (BCS) with persistent postsurgical pain (PPSP) over a 12-week course of therapeutic Qigong mind-body training. Twenty-one BCS with PPSP attended group Qigong training. Clinical outcomes were pain, fatigue, self-esteem, anxiety, depression, stress and exercise self-efficacy. Posture outcomes were vertical spine and vertical head angles in the sagittal plane, measured with a 3D motion capture system in three conditions: eyes open (EO), eyes open relaxed (EOR) and eyes closed (EC). Assessments were made before and after the Qigong training. The association between categorical variables (angle and mood) was measured by Cramer's V. In the EO condition, most participants who improved in fatigue and anxiety scales also had better vertical head values. For the EOR condition, a moderate correlation was observed between changes in vertical head angle and changes in fatigue scale. In the EC condition, most of the participants who improved in measures of fatigue also improved vertical head angle. Additionally, pain severity decreased while vertical spine angle improved. These preliminary findings support that emotion and other patient centered outcomes should be considered within an embodied framework, and that Qigong may be a promising intervention for addressing biopsychosocially complex interventions such as PPSP in BCSs.

Gait difference between children aged 9 to 12 with and without potential depressive mood

BACKGROUND

It has been reported that depression has an impact on both temporal spatial parameters and walking kinematics in adults. Given the difference in the walking biomechanics between adults and children, this study aimed to compare the gait difference in children aged 9-12 with and without potential depressive mood (PDM).

METHODS

49 children were recruited from local primary schools. We measured participants' depression level using Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) and classified them into control (i.e., DASS depression subscale score = 0.6 ± 1.4; n = 23) or PDM group (i.e., DASS depression subscale score = 21.3 ± 5.3; n = 26). Video gait analysis was employed to assess temporal spatial parameters and sagittal plane kinematics during self-paced overground walking. Independent t tests or Mann-Whitney tests were used to compare the gait parameters between the two groups.

RESULTS

Participants exhibited similar gait speed, vertical oscillation of the centre of mass, stance time, swing time, step length, upper and lower limb kinematics between the two groups (p > 0.05). However, children with PDM displayed a greater head flexion than controls (p = 0.026; Cohen's d = 0.66; moderate effect).

SIGNIFICANCE

Children with PDM may present a more slumped posture during walking when compared with their counterparts. This kinematics difference can potentially be used as a biomechanical marker for detection of mood problems in this cohort.

Osteopathy and Mental Health: An Embodied, Predictive, and Interoceptive Framework

Globally, mental and musculoskeletal disorders present with high prevalence, disease burden, and comorbidity. In order to improve the quality of care for patients with persistent physical and comorbid mental health conditions, person-centered care approaches addressing psychosocial factors are currently advocated. Central to successful person-centered care is a multidisciplinary collaboration between mental health and musculoskeletal specialists underpinned by a robust therapeutic alliance. Such a collaborative approach might be found in osteopathy, which is typically utilized to treat patients with musculoskeletal disorders but may arguably also benefit mental health outcomes. However, research and practice exploring the reputed effect of osteopathy on patients with mental health problems lack a robust framework. In this hypothesis and theory article, we build upon research from embodied cognition, predictive coding, interoception, and osteopathy to propose an embodied, predictive and interoceptive framework that underpins osteopathic person-centered care for individuals with persistent physical and comorbid mental health problems. Based on the premise that, for example, chronic pain and comorbid depression are underlined by overly precise predictions or imprecise sensory information, we hypothesize that osteopathic treatment may generate strong interoceptive prediction errors that update the generative model underpinning the experience of pain and depression. Thus, physical and mental symptoms may be reduced through active and perceptual inference. We discuss how these theoretical perspectives can inform future research into osteopathy and mental health to reduce the burden of comorbid psychological factors in patients with persistent physical symptoms and support person-centered multidisciplinary care in mental health.

Sitting in Judgment: How Body Posture Influences Deception Detection and Gazing Behavior

Body postures can affect how we process and attend to information. Here, a novel effect of adopting an open or closed posture on the ability to detect deception was investigated. It was hypothesized that the posture adopted by judges would affect their social acuity, resulting in differences in the detection of nonverbal behavior (i.e., microexpression recognition) and the discrimination of deceptive and truthful statements. In Study 1, adopting an open posture produced higher accuracy for detecting naturalistic lies, but no difference was observed in the recognition of brief facial expressions as compared to adopting a closed posture; trait empathy was found to have an additive effect on posture, with more empathic judges having higher deception detection scores. In Study 2, with the use of an eye-tracker, posture effects on gazing behavior when judging both low-stakes and high-stakes lies were measured. Sitting in an open posture reduced judges’ average dwell times looking at senders, and in particular, the amount and length of time they focused on their hands. The findings suggest that simply shifting posture can impact judges’ attention to visual information and veracity judgments (M_g = 0.40, 95% CI (0.03, 0.78)).

Set and Setting in the Santo Daime

Set and setting is a fundamental concept in the field of psychedelic drug research, which points to the profound dependence of psychedelic effects on psychological, social, and cultural factors. Santo Daime is a Brazilian religion that makes elaborate use of ordering principles, techniques, and symbology to shape and direct the effects of the hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca. This paper systematically explores the tapestry of, inter alia, symbolic, social, cultural, psychological, aesthetic and musical elements that participate in the shaping of the psychedelic experience in the context of the Santo Daime ayahuasca religion. The methodically rich under the hood description of the mechanics of entheogenic initiation within the Santo Daime tradition provides a template for future studies of the role of context in psychedelic experimentation.

Using Theoretical Domains Framework for Exploring Appropriate Sitting Posture Determinants Among Office Workers: A Content Analysis Study

Background: Sedentary occupations frequently expose employees to prolonged periods with poor posture, which has been considered as the cause of musculoskeletal disorder. Objectives: The study set out to identify the related factors of a taking healthy sitting posture in office workers. Methods: This qualitative study aimed to use the theoretical domains framework (TDF) to investigate perceived determinants to taking a proper sitting posture in office workers. Semi-structured interviews with 25 office workers according to purposive sampling was conducted with a convenience sample of university office workers in Iran. Recorded interviews were transcribed into MAXQDA version 10. Directed content analysis and framework analysis were used for drawing the 12 domains of the TDF. Results: Explored themes were mapped onto the TDF domains, including skills, knowledge, behavioral regulation, goals, environmental context and resources, social influences, beliefs about capability, intentions, emotion, beliefs about consequences, memory, and attention and reinforcement. Conclusions: This study is a theoretical starting point in making structured interventions to change improper sitting posture among office workers. Also, the identified factors provide organizational managers with a wide list of factors by which they can encourage their employees to use proper postures in the workplace, leading to a significant reduction in job absenteeism and insurance fees associated with health problems. In addition, this study enriches the literature by providing additional empirical evidence for the TDF theory.

PROXÊMICA E COMUNICAÇÃO NÃO VERBAL NA INTERAÇÃO EM SALA DE AULA

RESUMO Este artigo relata um estudo realizado sobre a interação professor-aluno em uma escola pública dos anos iniciais, na cidade de Santiago, Chile. O estudo realizou uma análise quantitativa dos quadros das imagens capturadas por uma minicâmera montada em óculos de um grupo de 18 estudantes. Os quadros selecionados foram os que a professora aparece no campo visual dos alunos. A análise foi desenvolvida a partir do conceito de proxêmica e os resultados mostram que há momentos em que a professora da sala de aula interage com os alunos em um nível mais próximo e, em outros, há um distanciamento maior. Além disso, foi possível identificar diferenças entre meninos e meninas quanto aos padrões proxêmicos de envolvimento visual na interação. Os resultados deste estudo sinalizam novos sentidos para a análise da interação professor-aluno com foco em aspectos não verbais na construção das relações de ensino e aprendizagem.

Using bodily postures to reduce anxiety and improve interoception: A comparison between powerful and neutral poses

BACKGROUND

Previous research has shown that anxiety syndromes are highly prevalent among university students. Effective treatments are needed to reduce the burden of anxiety in this population. Powerful postures have been found to impact affective states, as well as interoception (i.e. the ability to perceive inner bodily signals). However, no previous study has compared the effects of powerful- and neutral postures in regards to anxiety and interoceptive ability.

METHODS

The first part of the study measured the single-session effect of adopting powerful- vs. neutral postures on students' (n = 57) interoceptive ability and state anxiety. The second part of the study measured the effect of adopting powerful or neutral postures twice daily for two weeks, on individuals' interoceptive ability and trait anxiety.

RESULTS

State anxiety decreased in both conditions whereas interoceptive accuracy only increased in the power posing condition after a single session. Interoceptive accuracy increased in both groups after two weeks of training.

LIMITATIONS

The study included no comparison to a condition where individuals adopted their natural (i.e. usual) bodily posture.

CONCLUSIONS

Embodiment interventions that include elements of adopting an open or expansive bodily posture whilst maintaining a self-focus, can help to reduce state anxiety and improve interoceptive accuracy in student populations. Power posing does not seem to be superior to holding a neutral posture to improve interoceptive accuracy or anxiety. One reason therefore could be that both conditions include the manipulation of self-focus and a postural change that diverges from individuals' normal posture.

Perspectives - Social Change from the Inside Out. From Fixation to Foundation. From Competition to Change

After a brief overview of the author's journey as a humanitarian and researcher, this article offers an introduction in the why, how, and what of a new multidisciplinary paradigm to understand (and improve) human behavior at the individual and collective levels called POZE. The logic of POZE underpins five books that appear at Palgrave/Springer in 2020/21. It is based on the understanding that human existence results from four dimensions, soul, heart, mind, and body, which find their expression in aspirations, emotions, thoughts, and sensations. Through their four-dimensionality individuals are symmetrical to the four dimensions that shape the society, which they are part of. Individuals are the micro entity of a four-dimensional collective reality that encompasses communities and institutions in the meso-dimension, and countries and economies in the macro-dimension. Altogether micro, meso and macro are integral parts of the meta dimension, Planet Earth; the latter also includes non-anthropocentric aspects such as Nature. POZE provides insights about the multiple dynamics that shape our individual and collective experience. Moreover, it provides practical guidance to optimize the interplay between them. As a result of this understanding, it posits that change is possible. Moving towards a fair inclusive world, characterized by a life of quality for everyone 1) is at reach; 2) is achievable; 3) involves everyone as both a right-holder and duty-bearer; and 4) is to the benefit of everyone. POZE has four meanings: it i) translates as 'inner peace' from Haitian Creole, country where the dynamic began in 2017; ii) is an acronym that encompasses the four core concepts of the paradigm (Purpose, Om, Zoom, Expression); iii) is a representation of the four outcomes of the logic (Perspective, Optimization, Zenith, Exposure); finally it iv) stands for an exercise to nurture inner peace daily (Pause, Observe, Zoom in, Experience). These will be explored further in the article.

Health Benefits of Tai Chi Exercise: A Guide for Nurses

Tai chi is an ancient Chinese internal martial art that has increased in popularity across the United States over the past 2 decades. Tai chi combines gentle physical movement, mental imagery, and natural, relaxed breathing. There is increasing scientific evidence showing the impact of tai chi exercise on multifaceted areas of health and well-being, including positive effects on cognition, depression, anxiety, sleep, cardiovascular health, and fall prevention. A review of the health benefits of tai chi exercise is presented, as well as recommendations for nurses seeking to answer patient questions about tai chi.

Effect of an upright (vs. stooped) posture on interpretation bias, imagery, and emotions

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Adopting an upright (vs. stooped) posture has been related to positive effects on emotional and cognitive processes. However, there is no evidence concerning the effect of posture on two key processes associated with the maintenance of depression: interpretation bias and vividness of mental imagery. The objectives were to investigate the effect of adopting an upright (vs. stooped) posture on interpretation bias and vividness of positive and negative mental imagery, and to explore the interplay between these processes and depression-related emotions.

METHODS

The sample consisted of 54 participants (M_age = 22.00, 64.8% women), who were randomly assigned to the upright or stooped condition. Participants answered self-report measures while they were adopting a specific posture. Posture was monitored through inertial technology.

RESULTS

Main results were that: upright (vs. stooped) posture led to more positive interpretations of ambiguous information and increased positive emotions related to depression (happiness, optimism and vigor); time in an upright position was associated with change in interpretation bias and vividness of positive mental imagery; and level of depressive symptomatology moderated the effect of posture on the change in interpretation bias.

LIMITATIONS

Limitations are related to the use of non-clinical sample, the use of short-term measurements, and the lack of an experimental condition adopting the usual posture.

CONCLUSIONS

Posture interacts with mechanisms involved in the maintenance of depression, as well as with depression-related emotions. This study has clinical implications that should be continued explored in order to clarify the role of manipulating the posture in individuals with depressive symptomatology.

Embodied Emotion Regulation: The Influence of Implicit Emotional Compatibility on Creative Thinking

The regulatory effect of embodied emotion on one’s general emotion and the impact of the compatibility or incompatibility of the two types of emotion on creative thinking are still debatable. The purpose of this study is to investigate these issues experimentally. In Experiment 1, participants completed an explicit positive and negative emotion test [Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)] and an implicit positive and negative emotion test [Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test (IPANAT)] twice on a computer after emotional video priming was used to induce negative emotions and facial expression manipulation was performed to induce embodied positive or negative emotions. It was found that maintaining the expression of a suppressed smile was helpful in regulating negative emotions (p = 0.047). Specifically, the implicit negative emotions induced by facial expression manipulation had a positive regulating effect on the implicit negative emotions induced by the video (T1, M = 47.813; to T2, M = 44.188). In Experiment 2, the positive or negative emotions of the participants were induced using emotional videos, and facial expression manipulation was used to induce their embodied positive or negative emotions. Then, the participants completed a creative test by completing alternative use tasks (AUTs) and Chinese character riddles. The AUT fluency score in the emotionally compatible group was significantly higher than that in the emotionally incompatible group (p = 0.032), but while experiencing negative emotions, the emotionally compatible group had a significantly higher originality score and insight in Chinese character riddle score than the emotionally incompatible group (p = 0.017, p = 0.004). Therefore, embodied negative emotion has a significant regulating effect on implicit negative emotion. The compatibility of emotion activated by facial expression and viewing a video contributes to creative thinking, whereas the incompatibility of emotion hinders creative thinking. The compatibility of emotion under positive emotions improved thinking fluency, whereas under negative emotions, it activated originality and insight in creative thinking. The influence of such emotional compatibility on creative thinking may be due to the regulating effect of embodied emotions on implicit emotions induced by emotional stimuli.

Expansive and Contractive Postures and Movement: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Effect of Motor Displays on Affective and Behavioral Responses

This review and meta-analysis explores the experimental effects of expansive and contractive motor displays on affective, hormonal, and behavioral responses. Experimental studies were located through systematic literature searches. Studies had to manipulate motor displays to either expansive or contractive displays and investigate the effect of the displays on affect, hormones, or overt behavior. Meta-analyses were conducted to determine the pooled, standardized mean differences between the effects of motor displays on affective, hormonal, and behavioral responses. From 5,819 unique records, 73 relevant studies were identified. Robust differences between expansive and contractive displays emerged for affective responses and overt behavioral responses across contexts, type of manipulation, and methods of measurement. The results suggest that the effects are driven by the absence of contractive motor displays (contractive vs. neutral displays: Hedges's g = 0.45) rather than the presence of expansive displays (expansive vs. neutral displays: g = 0.06). The findings stand as a corrective to previous research, as they indicate that it is the absence of contractive displays rather than the presence of expansive displays that alters affective and behavioral responding. Future research should include neutral control groups, use different methods to assess hormonal change, and investigate these effects in the context of ideographic goals.

Powerful and confident children through expansive body postures? A preregistered study of fourth graders

Do expansive body postures increase self-esteem in children? Power posing is a popular but also controversial topic. Still, there has been no research on the possible effects in children. To investigate the influence of power posing in children, 108 German fourth graders were randomly assigned to a high versus a low power posing group. Self-esteem was self-reported; feelings were assessed indirectly. There was an effect of power posing on self-reported global and school self-esteem. Furthermore, children who had performed high power poses in comparison with those who had performed low power poses mentioned more positive feelings, higher power feelings, and a more positive student–teacher relationship. Results are interpreted with regard to the context and the cultural dependency of the power posing effect. Implications for school practice are addressed.

Absence of posture-dependent and posture-congruent memory effects on the recall of action sentences

In two experiments with large samples of participants, we explored contextual memory effects associated with body posture, which was considered a physical and proprioceptive context and, therefore, potentially relevant to the encoding and retrieval of information. In Experiment 1 (N = 128), we studied the effect of context dependence on memory by manipulating the body posture adopted by the participants during the incidental encoding and subsequent recall of a series of action sentences not intrinsically associated with particular body postures (e.g., “to put on a pair of glasses”, “to look at a postcard”). Memory performance was not affected by context manipulation, as reflected by the absence of significant differences between remembering while in the posture adopted at study or in a different posture. Experiment 2 (N = 85) was designed to analyze context congruency memory effects, and for that purpose we manipulated the participants' body posture during the recall of sentences that described actions usually performed in body postures that were congruent or incongruent with the posture of the participants (e.g., recalling the sentence “to travel by taxi” while sitting or while standing). A content-neutral posture (lying) was used for the incidental encoding phase. Memory performance was not affected by contextual congruency at the time of recall, as evidenced by the lack of significant differences between recalling in a posture congruent with the content to be recalled and recalling in an alternative posture. Bayesian analyses supported the strength of null findings in the two experiments, adding to the evidence that, when taken together, the results in this study clearly failed to show contextual memory effects of body posture on the recall of action-related verbal statements.

Left is "good": Observed action affects the association between horizontal space and affective valence

According to the body-specificity hypothesis, people will associate positive and negative emotional valence with the relative fluency of the left or right responding hand. Prior studies have shown that temporary changes in the fluency of the responding hand can influence the association of emotional valence with left or right, even under circumstances of action observation. But the reason why this change occurs is still controversial. The purpose of the present study was to replicate this finding and to identify the underlying mechanism. Experiment 1 duplicated a modified paradigm "Bob goes to the zoo" to verify the existence of space-valence association for Chinese right-handers. The results indicated that they had the same pattern of right-good/left-bad. However, after action training and observation in Experiment 2 that reduced the fluency of the right hand temporarily, both actors' and observers' space-valence associations were reversed as well. However, when observers' potential motor capacities were constrained by binding their responding hands behind them (Experiment 3) or in front of them (Experiment 4), the observers associated the positive affect with their dominant right hand instead of the left hand in Experiment 3, whereas the observers in Experiment 4 still showed the same association pattern as the actors and the observers in Experiment 2. This study provides further evidence that the effect of alternative motor fluency on space-valence association in the observer is mainly modulated by the connection between the outcomes and space, with body posture also influencing the association.

Different Strokes for Different Folks: The BodyMind Approach as a Learning Tool for Patients With Medically Unexplained Symptoms to Self-Manage

Medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) are common and costly in both primary and secondary health care. It is gradually being acknowledged that there needs to be a variety of interventions for patients with MUS to meet the needs of different groups of patients with such chronic long-term symptoms. The proposed intervention described herewith is called The BodyMind Approach (TBMA) and promotes learning for self-management through establishing a dynamic and continuous process of emotional self-regulation. The problem is the mismatch between the patient's mind-set and profile and current interventions. This theoretical article, based on practice-based evidence, takes forward the idea that different approaches (other than cognitive behavioural therapy) are required for people with MUS. The mind-set and characteristics of patients with MUS are reflected upon to shape the rationale and design of this novel approach. Improving services for this population in primary care is crucial to prevent the iterative spiraling downward of frequent general practitioner (GP) visits, hospital appointments, and accident and emergency attendance (A&E), all of which are common for these patients. The approach derives from embodied psychotherapy (authentic movement in dance movement psychotherapy) and adult models of learning for self-management. It has been developed from research and practice-based evidence. In this article the problem of MUS in primary care is introduced and the importance of the reluctance of patients to accept a psychological/mental health referral in the first instance is drawn out. A description of the theoretical underpinnings and philosophy of the proposed alternative to current interventions is then presented related to the design, delivery, facilitation, and educational content of the program. The unique intervention is also described to give the reader a flavor.

Emotion Recognition Using Smart Watch Sensor Data: Mixed-Design Study

BACKGROUND

Research in psychology has shown that the way a person walks reflects that person's current mood (or emotional state). Recent studies have used mobile phones to detect emotional states from movement data.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of our study was to investigate the use of movement sensor data from a smart watch to infer an individual's emotional state. We present our findings of a user study with 50 participants.

METHODS

The experimental design is a mixed-design study: within-subjects (emotions: happy, sad, and neutral) and between-subjects (stimulus type: audiovisual "movie clips" and audio "music clips"). Each participant experienced both emotions in a single stimulus type. All participants walked 250 m while wearing a smart watch on one wrist and a heart rate monitor strap on the chest. They also had to answer a short questionnaire (20 items; Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule, PANAS) before and after experiencing each emotion. The data obtained from the heart rate monitor served as supplementary information to our data. We performed time series analysis on data from the smart watch and a t test on questionnaire items to measure the change in emotional state. Heart rate data was analyzed using one-way analysis of variance. We extracted features from the time series using sliding windows and used features to train and validate classifiers that determined an individual's emotion.

RESULTS

Overall, 50 young adults participated in our study; of them, 49 were included for the affective PANAS questionnaire and 44 for the feature extraction and building of personal models. Participants reported feeling less negative affect after watching sad videos or after listening to sad music, P<.006. For the task of emotion recognition using classifiers, our results showed that personal models outperformed personal baselines and achieved median accuracies higher than 78% for all conditions of the design study for binary classification of happiness versus sadness.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings show that we are able to detect changes in the emotional state as well as in behavioral responses with data obtained from the smartwatch. Together with high accuracies achieved across all users for classification of happy versus sad emotional states, this is further evidence for the hypothesis that movement sensor data can be used for emotion recognition.

Dancing with Gravity-Why the Sense of Balance Is (the) Fundamental

The sense of balance, which is usually barely noticeable in the background of each of our movements, only becomes manifest in its function during intense stimulation or in the event of illness, which may quite literally turn your world upside down. While it is true that balance is becoming a bigger issue, that is mainly because people are losing it more frequently. So why is balance not as commonly talked about in psychology, medicine or the arts as the other five traditional senses? This is partly due to its unusual multi-modal nature, whereby three sensory inputs are coordinated and integrated by the central nervous system. Without it, however, we might not have much use for the other senses. The sense of balance encompasses the bodily experience in its entirety. Not only do we act with the body, we may also think and feel through it and with it. Bodily states are not simply effects of cognition; they cause it as well. Equilibrioception is an essential sense and it is interconnected with a wide range of other areas, including cognition, perception, embodiment, the autonomic nervous system, aesthetics, the arts, and education.

Frontal EEG Asymmetry of Mood: A Mini-Review

The present mini-review was aimed at exploring the frontal EEG asymmetry of mood. With respect to emotion, interpreted as a discrete affective process, mood is more controllable, more nebulous, and more related to mind/cognition; in addition, causes are less well-defined than those eliciting emotion. Therefore, firstly, the rational for the distinction between emotion and mood was provided. Then, the main frontal EEG asymmetry models were presented, such as the motivational approach/withdrawal, valence/arousal, capability, and inhibition asymmetric models. Afterward, the frontal EEG asymmetry of mood was investigated following three research lines, that is considering studies involving different mood induction procedures, dispositional mood (positive and negative affect), and mood alterations in both healthy and clinical populations. In general, results were found to be contradictory, no model is unequivocally supported regardless the research line considered. Different methodological issues were raised, such as: the composition of samples used across studies, in particular, gender and age were found to be critical variables that should be better addressed in future studies; the importance of third variables that might mediate the relationship between frontal EEG asymmetries and mood, for example bodily states and hormonal responses; the role of cognition, namely the interplay between mood and executive functions. In light of these issues, future research directions were proposed. Amongst others, the need to explore the neural connectivity that underpins EEG asymmetries, and the need to include both positive and negative mood conditions in the experimental designs have been highlighted.

Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation: Insights from Neurobiological, Psychological, and Clinical Studies

There is increasing interest in the beneficial clinical effects of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). Research has demonstrated their efficacy in a wide range of psychological conditions characterized by emotion dysregulation. Neuroimaging studies have evidenced functional and structural changes in a myriad of brain regions mainly involved in attention systems, emotion regulation, and self-referential processing. In this article we review studies on psychological and neurobiological correlates across different empirically derived models of research, including dispositional mindfulness, mindfulness induction, MBIs, and expert meditators in relation to emotion regulation. From the perspective of recent findings in the neuroscience of emotion regulation, we discuss the interplay of top-down and bottom-up emotion regulation mechanisms associated with different mindfulness models. From a phenomenological and cognitive perspective, authors have argued that mindfulness elicits a "mindful emotion regulation" strategy; however, from a clinical perspective, this construct has not been properly differentiated from other strategies and interventions within MBIs. In this context we propose the distinction between top-down and bottom-up mindfulness based emotion regulation strategies. Furthermore, we propose an embodied emotion regulation framework as a multilevel approach for understanding psychobiological changes due to mindfulness meditation regarding its effect on emotion regulation. Finally, based on clinical neuroscientific evidence on mindfulness, we open perspectives and dialogues regarding commonalities and differences between MBIs and other psychotherapeutic strategies for emotion regulation.

Emotion and personal space: Neural correlates of approach-avoidance tendencies to different facial expressions as a function of coldhearted psychopathic traits

In social interactions, humans are expected to regulate interpersonal distance in response to the emotion displayed by others. Yet, the neural mechanisms implicated in approach-avoidance tendencies to distinct emotional expressions have not been fully described. Here, we investigated the neural systems implicated in regulating the distance to different emotions, and how they vary as a function of empathy. Twenty-three healthy participants assessed for psychopathic traits underwent fMRI scanning while they viewed approaching and withdrawing angry, fearful, happy, sad and neutral faces. Participants were also asked to set the distance to those faces on a computer screen, and to adjust the physical distance from the experimenter outside the scanner. Participants kept the greatest distances from angry faces, and shortest from happy expressions. This was accompanied by increased activation in the dorsomedial prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortices, inferior frontal gyrus, and temporoparietal junction for angry and happy expressions relative to the other emotions. Irrespective of emotion, longer distances were kept from approaching faces, which was associated with increased activation in the amygdala and insula, as well as parietal and prefrontal regions. Amygdala activation was positively correlated with greater preferred distances to angry, fearful and sad expressions. Moreover, participants scoring higher on coldhearted psychopathic traits (lower empathy) showed reduced amygdala activation to sad expressions. These findings elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying social approach-avoidance, and how they are related to variations in empathy. Hum Brain Mapp 38:1492-1506, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.