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Morato C, Guerra P, Bublatzky F. A partner's smile is not per se a safety signal: Psychophysiological response patterns to instructed threat and safety. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14273. [PMID: 36812132 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Revised: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 02/02/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
Abstract
Recent studies on fear conditioning and pain perception suggest that pictures of loved ones (e.g., a romantic partner) may serve as a prepared safety cue that is less likely to signal aversive events. Challenging this view, we examined whether pictures of smiling or angry loved ones are better safety or threat cues. To this end, 47 healthy participants were verbally instructed that specific facial expressions (e.g., happy faces) cue threat of electric shocks and others cue safety (e.g., angry faces). When facial images served as threat cues, they elicited distinct psychophysiological defensive responses (e.g., increased threat ratings, startle reflex, and skin conductance responses) compared to viewing safety cues. Interestingly, instructed threat effects occurred regardless of the person who cued shock threat (partner vs. unknown) and their facial expression (happy vs. angry). Taken together, these results demonstrate the flexible nature of facial information (i.e., facial expression and facial identity) to be easily learned as signals for threat or safety, even when showing loved ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Morato
- Department of Personality, Assessment, and Psychological Treatment, Faculty of Psychology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Pedro Guerra
- Department of Personality, Assessment, and Psychological Treatment, Faculty of Psychology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Florian Bublatzky
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
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Statham P, Hannuna S, Jones S, Campbell N, Robert Colborne G, Browne WJ, Paul ES, Mendl M. Quantifying defence cascade responses as indicators of pig affect and welfare using computer vision methods. Sci Rep 2020; 10:8933. [PMID: 32488058 PMCID: PMC7265448 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-65954-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2020] [Accepted: 05/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Affective states are key determinants of animal welfare. Assessing such states under field conditions is thus an important goal in animal welfare science. The rapid Defence Cascade (DC) response (startle, freeze) to sudden unexpected stimuli is a potential indicator of animal affect; humans and rodents in negative affective states often show potentiated startle magnitude and freeze duration. To be a practical field welfare indicator, quick and easy measurement is necessary. Here we evaluate whether DC responses can be quantified in pigs using computer vision. 280 video clips of induced DC responses made by 12 pigs were analysed by eye to provide 'ground truth' measures of startle magnitude and freeze duration which were also estimated by (i) sparse feature tracking computer vision image analysis of 200 Hz video, (ii) load platform, (iii) Kinect depth camera, and (iv) Kinematic data. Image analysis data strongly predicted ground truth measures and were strongly positively correlated with these and all other estimates of DC responses. Characteristics of the DC-inducing stimulus, pig orientation relative to it, and 'relaxed-tense' pig behaviour prior to it moderated DC responses. Computer vision image analysis thus offers a practical approach to measuring pig DC responses, and potentially pig affect and welfare, under field conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Poppy Statham
- Animal Welfare and Behaviour Group, Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford, BS40 5DU, UK
| | - Sion Hannuna
- Department of Computer Science, University of Bristol, Merchant Venturers Building, Woodland Road, Bristol, BS8 1UB, UK
| | - Samantha Jones
- Animal Welfare and Behaviour Group, Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford, BS40 5DU, UK
| | - Neill Campbell
- Department of Computer Science, University of Bristol, Merchant Venturers Building, Woodland Road, Bristol, BS8 1UB, UK
| | - G Robert Colborne
- School of Veterinary Science, Massey University, Palmerston North, 4410, New Zealand
| | - William J Browne
- School of Education and Centre for Multilevel Modelling, University of Bristol, 35 Berkeley Square, Bristol, BS8 1JA, UK
| | - Elizabeth S Paul
- Animal Welfare and Behaviour Group, Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford, BS40 5DU, UK
| | - Michael Mendl
- Animal Welfare and Behaviour Group, Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford, BS40 5DU, UK.
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Vila J, Morato C, Lucas I, Guerra P, Castro-Laguardia AM, Bobes MA. The affective processing of loved familiar faces and names: Integrating fMRI and heart rate. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0216057. [PMID: 31039182 PMCID: PMC6490893 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2018] [Accepted: 04/12/2019] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The neuroscientific study of love has been boosted by an extended corpus of research on face-identity recognition. However, few studies have compared the emotional mechanisms activated by loved faces and names and none have simultaneously examined fMRI and autonomic measures. The present study combined fMRI with the heart rate response when 21 participants (10 males) passively viewed the face or the written name of 4 loved people and 4 unknown people. The results showed accelerative patterns in heart rate, together with brain activations, which were significantly higher for loved people than for unknown people. Significant correlations were found between heart rate and brain activation in frontal areas, for faces, and in temporal areas, for names. The results are discussed in the context of previous studies using the same passive viewing procedure, highlighting the relevance of integrating peripheral and central measures in the scientific study of positive emotion and love.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaime Vila
- Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Granada, Spain
- * E-mail:
| | - Cristina Morato
- Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Ignacio Lucas
- Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Pedro Guerra
- Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Granada, Spain
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