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Mitchell BJ, Coifman KG, Olatunji BO. Is disgust more resistant to extinction than fear? A meta-analytic review of laboratory paradigms. Behav Res Ther 2024; 174:104479. [PMID: 38301293 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2024.104479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2023] [Revised: 01/05/2024] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
Disgust can be acquired via evaluative conditioning; a process by which a neutral stimulus (conditioned stimulus; CS) comes to be evaluated as disgusting due to its pairing with an inherently disgusting stimulus (unconditioned stimulus; US). Research has shown that conditioned disgust responses are resistant to extinction which may have implications for disorders (i.e., contamination-based obsessive-compulsive disorder, specific phobias, and post-traumatic stress disorder) in which heightened disgust has been implicated. Importantly, extinction is the primary mechanism by which exposure therapies are thought to achieve symptom reduction for these disorders. Exposure therapies were originally modeled on fear extinction, whereas disgust extinction was largely overlooked until recently. Accordingly, differences in the degree to which learned disgust and fear can be attenuated via extinction learning remains unclear. The present investigation was a meta-analysis directly comparing the degree of extinction of conditioned disgust (n = 14) and conditioned fear (n = 14) in laboratory paradigms. Extinction was operationalized as the standardized mean difference (SMD) in evaluative ratings between the CS+ (the CS paired with the US) and CS- (the unpaired CS) after extinction training. Results of a subgroup analysis indicated that disgust (SMD = 0.52) was significantly more resistant to extinction than fear (SMD = 0.37). Additionally, a series of meta-regression analyses indicated that extinction was not influenced by important study characteristics (e.g., sex, age, number of conditioning and extinction trials). The findings suggest that extinction-based approaches may be less effective at attenuating learned disgust and research is needed to better optimize treatments for disgust-related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin J Mitchell
- Department of Psychological Science, Kent State University, l, Kent, OH, United States.
| | - Karin G Coifman
- Department of Psychological Science, Kent State University, l, Kent, OH, United States
| | - Bunmi O Olatunji
- Psychological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
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2
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Lamond E, Saluja S, Hislop C, J. Stevenson R. Differential involvement of the senses in disgust memories. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2024; 11:231156. [PMID: 38550756 PMCID: PMC10977387 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.231156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2023] [Revised: 01/29/2024] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
One prediction derived from the disease avoidance account of disgust is that proximal disgust cues (smells, tastes and touches) should elicit this emotion more intensely than distal disgust cues (sights and sounds). If correct, then memories of disgusting experiences should involve smelling, tasting or touching to a greater degree than seeing or hearing. Two surveys were conducted on university students to test this idea, drawing upon their naturalistic experiences. Survey 1 (N = 127) asked participants to detail their most memorable disgusting, fear-provoking, morally repulsive and yucky/gross experience, with each recollection self-rated for sensory involvement. Survey 2 (N = 89) employed the same task, but this time, participants recollected their most common disgusting, fear-provoking, morally repulsive and yucky/gross experience in the preceding week. The majority of disgusting experiences were core disgusts-i.e. related to disease/pathogen presence or stimuli. The proximal and distal sensory cues contributed equally to individuals' most memorable core disgust experiences, but the proximal senses were more involved than the distal senses in individuals' most common core disgust experiences. Further, the proximal sensory cues, as compared with the distal sensory cues, were signficantly more involved in core disgust experiences than in morally repulsive and fear-provoking experiences. The implications of these findings for a disease avoidance account of disgust, for multi-sensory disgust research, and core disgust's classification as an emotion or a drive, are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elliott Lamond
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales2109, Australia
| | - Supreet Saluja
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales2109, Australia
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Universitet, Stockholm171 76, Sweden
| | - Chloe Hislop
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales2109, Australia
| | - Richard J. Stevenson
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales2109, Australia
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3
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Case TI, Stevenson RJ. Evaluating the Presence of Disgust in Animals. Animals (Basel) 2024; 14:264. [PMID: 38254434 PMCID: PMC10812441 DOI: 10.3390/ani14020264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2023] [Revised: 01/12/2024] [Accepted: 01/13/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
The emotion of disgust in humans is widely considered to represent a continuation of the disease-avoidance behavior ubiquitous in animals. The extent to which analogs of human disgust are evident in nonhuman animals, however, remains unclear. The scant research explicitly investigating disgust in animals has predominantly focused on great apes and suggests that disgust might be present in a highly muted form. In this review, we outline the main approaches to disgust. We then briefly discuss disease-avoidance behavior in nonhuman animals, proposing a set of criteria against which evidence for the presence or absence of disgust in animals can be evaluated. The resultant decision tree takes into account other plausible causes of avoidance and aversion when evaluating whether it is likely that the behavior represents disgust. We apply this decision tree to evaluate evidence of disgust-like behavior (e.g., avoidance of carrion and avoidance of feces-contaminated food) in several examples, including nonhuman great apes. Finally, we consider the large disparity between disgust in humans compared to muted disgust in other great apes, examining the possibility that heightened disgust in humans is a relatively recent cultural acquisition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trevor I. Case
- School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia;
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4
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Croy I, Bierling A. Smells as Communication Pathways - why Emotions Pass through the Nose. Laryngorhinootologie 2023; 102:S93-S100. [PMID: 37130533 DOI: 10.1055/a-1935-3214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
For many species, the sense of smell is the most important sensory system for interacting with the environment and conspecifics. In contrast, the role of perception and communication of chemosensory information in humans has long been underestimated. The human sense of smell was considered less reliable, so that it was given less importance compared to visual and auditory sensory impressions. For some time now, a growing branch of research has been dealing with the role of the sense of sell in emotion and social communication, which is often only perceived subconsciously. This connection will be examine in more detail in this article. First, he basics regarding the structure and function of our olfactory system will be described for better understanding and classification. Then, with this background knowledge, the significance of olfaction for interpersonal communication and emotions will be discussed. Finally, we conclude that people suffering from olfactory disorders have specific impairments in their quality of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilona Croy
- Institut für Klinische Psychologie, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
- Klinik für Psychotherapie und Psychosomatik, Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus Dresden
| | - Antonie Bierling
- Institut für Klinische Psychologie, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
- Klinik für Psychotherapie und Psychosomatik, Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus Dresden
- Institut für Materialwissenschaft und Nanotechnik, Technische Universität Dresden
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5
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Berger U, Anaki D. Exploring the role of the self in disgust-related psychopathologies. Bull Menninger Clin 2023; 87:113-132. [PMID: 37871193 DOI: 10.1521/bumc.2023.87.suppa.113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
While clinical research on disgust relies on nonclinical research, the framework of disgust as an immune mechanism is not as central in clinical research. The immune framework for disgust may be integrated into clinical research by acknowledging the role of the self as the critical element protected by the immune system. In this review, we offer the premise that at the center of all disgust-related behaviors, thoughts, and cognitions is an attempt to protect the self (i.e., "disgust is self-centered" or DISC). We offer evidence in support of DISC and explore the relevance of DISC to clinical research for several disgust-related psychopathologies (obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, anorexia nervosa, and self-disgust). We then offer future directions for DISC research into disgust-related psychopathologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Uri Berger
- Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York
| | - David Anaki
- Department of Psychology and at the Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
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6
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Coulthard H, Abdullahi N, Bell K, Noon E. Understanding disgust-based food rejection in picky and non-picky eaters: Willingness to touch and taste familiar foods with changes. Food Qual Prefer 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
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7
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Kavaliers M, Ossenkopp KP, Tyson CD, Bishnoi IR, Choleris E. Social factors and the neurobiology of pathogen avoidance. Biol Lett 2022; 18:20210371. [PMID: 35193366 PMCID: PMC8864371 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Although the evolutionary causes and consequences of pathogen avoidance have been gaining increasing interest, there has been less attention paid to the proximate neurobiological mechanisms. Animals gauge the infection status of conspecifics and the threat they represent on the basis of various sensory and social cues. Here, we consider the neurobiology of pathogen detection and avoidance from a cognitive, motivational and affective state (disgust) perspective, focusing on the mechanisms associated with activating and directing parasite/pathogen avoidance. Drawing upon studies with laboratory rodents, we briefly discuss aspects of (i) olfactory-mediated recognition and avoidance of infected conspecifics; (ii) relationships between pathogen avoidance and various social factors (e.g. social vigilance, social distancing (approach/avoidance), social salience and social reward); (iii) the roles of various brain regions (in particular the amygdala and insular cortex) and neuromodulators (neurotransmitters, neuropeptides, steroidal hormones and immune components) in the regulation of pathogen avoidance. We propose that understanding the proximate neurobiological mechanisms can provide insights into the ecological and evolutionary consequences of the non-consumptive effects of pathogens and how, when and why females and males engage in pathogen avoidance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Kavaliers
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C1.,Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1
| | - Klaus-Peter Ossenkopp
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C1
| | - Cashmeira-Dove Tyson
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C1
| | - Indra R Bishnoi
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C1
| | - Elena Choleris
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1
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8
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Coulthard H, Aldridge V, Fox G. Food neophobia and the evaluation of novel foods in adults; the sensory, emotional, association (SEA) model of the decision to taste a novel food. Appetite 2021; 168:105764. [PMID: 34756938 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2021.105764] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Revised: 10/12/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Reluctance to eat new foods, known as food neophobia, is well researched in children but not adults. Two studies were carried out to understand the emotional, sensory, and cognitive factors associated with food neophobia in an adult sample, and to propose a preliminary explanation of the decision to taste a novel food named the SEA model (Sensory, Emotional, cognitive Association model). Participants were recruited through opportunity sampling of a university population in the Leicester region of the UK. Study one (n = 534) was a cross sectional study examining associations between self-report measures of food neophobia, emotional variables and sensory variables. In study two (n = 160), participants completed an online cognitive evaluation of 7 images of novel fruits and vegetables, rating perceived familiarity, categorisation as fruit or vegetable, cognitive associations based on appearance (what does the food look like), liking of any associated foods, and expected liking of the novel food. In study 1 it was found that tactile sensitivity and disgust sensitivity were the main sensory and emotional variables associated with food neophobia. In study 2, it was found that food neophobia and lower expected liking of novel foods were associated with disgust sensitivity, associating the novel foods with disliked foods, and lower perceived familiarity. The SEA model further proposes that underlying tendencies and automatic reactions to foods, combine with cognitive associations based on negative memories and negative beliefs about tasting new foods, to create expected disliking of a food and a decreased likelihood that it will be tried. Further work is needed to fully test the SEA model of the decision to taste a novel food, in particular to further examine how associations are formed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen Coulthard
- Division of Psychology, School of Health & Life Sciences, De Montfort University, Leicester, LE1 9BH, UK.
| | - Victoria Aldridge
- Division of Psychology, School of Health & Life Sciences, De Montfort University, Leicester, LE1 9BH, UK
| | - Gemma Fox
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2QL, UK
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9
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Saluja S, Stevenson RJ. Tactile disgust: Post-contact can be more disgusting than contact. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2021; 75:652-665. [PMID: 34428979 DOI: 10.1177/17470218211043688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Several studies have examined if disgust can be evoked by contacting an object-yet none have examined if reported disgust changes when the hand leaves the object. This is surprising given that post-contact tactile disgust is probably a driver of hand hygiene. We examined contact and post-contact tactile disgust and its sensory origins. Participants were asked to touch several objects, making sensory, disgust, and desire-to-handwash evaluations. These ratings were made at three stages-of-contact: object-contact (just touch), post-contact (just touch), and visual post-contact (touch, vision). Disgust was typically highest at post-contact (when the hand left the object). Stickiness and wetness were uniquely predictive of object-contact disgust. Only stickiness drove post-contact disgust, and only wetness visual post-contact disgust. Hand-washing desire was primarily driven by quantity of residue perceived on the hand. These findings suggest that tactile disgust is a multisensory and iterative process relating to object- and residue-adhesiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Supreet Saluja
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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10
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Kupfer TR, Fessler DMT, Wu B, Hwang T, Sparks AM, Alas S, Samore T, Lal V, Sakhamuru TP, Holbrook C. The skin crawls, the stomach turns: ectoparasites and pathogens elicit distinct defensive responses in humans. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20210376. [PMID: 34315263 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.0376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Disgust has long been viewed as a primary motivator of defensive responses to threats posed by both microscopic pathogens and macroscopic ectoparasites. Although disgust can defend effectively against pathogens encountered through ingestion or incidental contact, it offers limited protection against ectoparasites, which actively pursue a host and attach to its surface. Humans might, therefore, possess a distinct ectoparasite defence system-including cutaneous sensory mechanisms and grooming behaviours-functionally suited to guard the body's surface. In two US studies and one in China, participants (N = 1079) viewed a range of ectoparasite- and pathogen-relevant video stimuli and reported their feelings, physiological sensations, and behavioural motivations. Participants reported more surface-guarding responses towards ectoparasite stimuli than towards pathogen stimuli, and more ingestion/contamination-reduction responses towards pathogen stimuli than towards ectoparasite stimuli. Like other species, humans appear to possess evolved psychobehavioural ectoparasite defence mechanisms that are distinct from pathogen defence mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tom R Kupfer
- Department of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham NG1 4FQ, UK.,Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Daniel M T Fessler
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,UCLA Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1553, USA.,UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Bozhi Wu
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Tiffany Hwang
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,Center for Data Sciences, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Adam Maxwell Sparks
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,UCLA Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1553, USA.,Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada
| | - Sonia Alas
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Theodore Samore
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,UCLA Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1553, USA
| | - Vedika Lal
- Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Tanvi P Sakhamuru
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,University of California, Davis School of Law
| | - Colin Holbrook
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA 95343, USA
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11
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Infection threat shapes our social instincts. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2021; 75:47. [PMID: 33583997 PMCID: PMC7873116 DOI: 10.1007/s00265-021-02975-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2020] [Revised: 01/05/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
We social animals must balance the need to avoid infections with the need to interact with conspecifics. To that end we have evolved, alongside our physiological immune system, a suite of behaviors devised to deal with potentially contagious individuals. Focusing mostly on humans, the current review describes the design and biological innards of this behavioral immune system, laying out how infection threat shapes sociality and sociality shapes infection threat. The paper shows how the danger of contagion is detected and posted to the brain; how it affects individuals’ mate choice and sex life; why it strengthens ties within groups but severs those between them, leading to hostility toward anyone who looks, smells, or behaves unusually; and how it permeates the foundation of our moral and political views. This system was already in place when agriculture and animal domestication set off a massive increase in our population density, personal connections, and interaction with other species, amplifying enormously the spread of disease. Alas, pandemics such as COVID-19 not only are a disaster for public health, but, by rousing millions of behavioral immune systems, could prove a threat to harmonious cohabitation too.
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12
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Stevenson RJ, Saluja S, Case TI. The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Disgust Sensitivity. Front Psychol 2021; 11:600761. [PMID: 33551913 PMCID: PMC7854913 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.600761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2020] [Accepted: 12/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
There have been few tests of whether exposure to naturalistic or experimental disease-threat inductions alter disgust sensitivity, although it has been hypothesized that this should occur as part of disgust's disease avoidance function. In the current study, we asked Macquarie university students to complete measures of disgust sensitivity, perceived vulnerability to disease (PVD), hand hygiene behavior and impulsivity, during Australia's Covid-19 pandemic self-quarantine (lockdown) period, in March/April 2020. These data were then compared to earlier Macquarie university, and other local, and overseas student cohorts, to determine if disgust sensitivity and the other measures, were different in the lockdown sample. The most consistent finding in the lockdown sample was of higher core disgust sensitivity (Cohen's d = 0.4), with some evidence of greater germ aversion on the PVD, and an increase in hand and food-related hygiene, but with little change in impulsivity. The consistency with which greater core disgust sensitivity was observed, suggests exposure to a highly naturalistic disease threat is a plausible cause. Greater disgust sensitivity may have several functional benefits (e.g., hand and food-related hygiene) and may arise implicitly from the threat posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
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13
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Kavaliers M, Ossenkopp KP, Choleris E. Pathogens, odors, and disgust in rodents. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 119:281-293. [PMID: 33031813 PMCID: PMC7536123 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.09.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2020] [Revised: 09/11/2020] [Accepted: 09/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
All animals are under the constant threat of attack by parasites. The mere presence of parasite threat can alter behavior before infection takes place. These effects involve pathogen disgust, an evolutionarily conserved affective/emotional system that functions to detect cues associated with parasites and infection and facilitate avoidance behaviors. Animals gauge the infection status of conspecific and the salience of the threat they represent on the basis of various sensory cues. Odors in particular are a major source of social information about conspecifics and the infection threat they present. Here we briefly consider the origins, expression, and regulation of the fundamental features of odor mediated pathogen disgust in rodents. We briefly review aspects of: (1) the expression of affective states and emotions and in particular, disgust, in rodents; (2) olfactory mediated recognition and avoidance of potentially infected conspecifics and the impact of pathogen disgust and its' fundamental features on behavior; (3) pathogen disgust associated trade-offs; (4) the neurobiological mechanisms, and in particular the roles of the nonapeptide, oxytocin, and steroidal hormones, in the expression of pathogen disgust and the regulation of avoidance behaviors and concomitant trade-offs. Understanding the roles of pathogen disgust in rodents can provide insights into the regulation and expression of responses to pathogens and infection in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Kavaliers
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada.
| | - Klaus-Peter Ossenkopp
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
| | - Elena Choleris
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada
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14
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It's not you, it's me - disgust sensitivity towards body odor in deaf and blind individuals. Atten Percept Psychophys 2020; 82:3728-3736. [PMID: 32529574 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-020-02075-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Disgust might be elicited by various sensory channels, including the sense of smell. It has been previously demonstrated that unpleasant odors emitted by an external source are more disgusting than those emitted by oneself (the source effect). As disgust's main purpose is to help organisms avoid potentially dangerous, contaminating objects, individuals with visual or hearing sensory impairment (thus, with an impeded ability to detect cues indicating pathogen threat) might have developed an increased levels of olfactory disgust sensitivity (modality compensation in disgust sensitivity). We set out to investigate disgust sensitivity in olfaction using the Body Odor Disgust Scale (BODS) on a large sample of 74 deaf and 98 blind participants, with comparison to control groups without sensory impairment (N = 199 in total). The results did not support the hypothesis of modality compensation in disgust sensitivity. Contrary to previous research, neither sex nor age influenced the outcomes. Evidence for the source effect was found. Acquired data are interpreted in the light of social desirability. The emphasis put on the olfaction by blind and deaf individuals is discussed.
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Abstract
The target article "Thinking Through Other Minds" (TTOM) offered an account of the distinctively human capacity to acquire cultural knowledge, norms, and practices. To this end, we leveraged recent ideas from theoretical neurobiology to understand the human mind in social and cultural contexts. Our aim was both synthetic - building an integrative model adequate to account for key features of cultural learning and adaptation; and prescriptive - showing how the tools developed to explain brain dynamics can be applied to the emergence of social and cultural ecologies of mind. In this reply to commentators, we address key issues, including: (1) refining the concept of culture to show how TTOM and the free-energy principle (FEP) can capture essential elements of human adaptation and functioning; (2) addressing cognition as an embodied, enactive, affective process involving cultural affordances; (3) clarifying the significance of the FEP formalism related to entropy minimization, Bayesian inference, Markov blankets, and enactivist views; (4) developing empirical tests and applications of the TTOM model; (5) incorporating cultural diversity and context at the level of intra-cultural variation, individual differences, and the transition to digital niches; and (6) considering some implications for psychiatry. The commentators' critiques and suggestions point to useful refinements and applications of the model. In ongoing collaborations, we are exploring how to augment the theory with affective valence, take into account individual differences and historicity, and apply the model to specific domains including epistemic bias.
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