Willingness-to-Pay-Associated Right Prefrontal Activation During a Single, Real Use of Cosmetics as Revealed by Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Relationships between subjective experience, electroencephalogram, and heart rate variability during a series of cosmetic behavior

Introduction

Cosmetic behavior is an important daily activity, especially for women, because it increases visual attractiveness, self-confidence, and positive emotions. However, it is unknown whether a relationship exists between physiological measures and subjective experiences during the series of cosmetic behaviors.

Methods

Electroencephalograms (EEG) and electrocardiograms (ECG) from thirty female participants who were asked to look in a mirror after applying skincare, as well as base, eye, cheek, and lip makeup were recorded. The price range of cosmetic products was also considered. Subjective evaluations of the skin surface, emotions, and self-confidence were equally measured after looking in the mirror at each step of the cosmetic behavior. Linear mixed models were fitted to examine whether the subjective experience could be explained by the variety of cosmetic products and/or physiological responses.

Results

The subjective evaluation was summarized into the following three factors using a factor analysis: self-confidence, hedonic perception, and negative emotion. Each theta-band (4-6 Hz) power, alpha-band (8-13 Hz) power of the EEG, and heart rate variability measures were subjected to a principal component analysis separately. The linear mixed models indicated that the variation in the self-confidence score and the negative emotion score was explained only by the steps of cosmetic behaviors, that is, self-confidence increased while negative emotions decreased as the steps of cosmetic behaviors proceeded. On the other hand, the hedonic perception score was explained by the interaction of the steps of cosmetic behaviors and price, indicating that positive tactile perception and positive emotion were higher when luxury cosmetic products were applied than when affordable products were applied. Furthermore, the model indicated that the hedonic perception score was positively associated with the alpha-band power over occipital sites whereas sympathetic nervous system activity was negatively associated with the alpha-band power over lateral central sites.

Discussion

These results suggest that positive perceptual and emotional experiences are associated with greater attention to somatosensory information than to visual information and sympathetic autonomic nervous system activities. The current results also emphasize the possibility of using physiological measurements as objective measures of cosmetic behavior.

Right prefrontal activation associated with deviations from expected lipstick texture assessed with functional near-infrared spectroscopy

Introduction

There is a continuous consumer demand for ever superior cosmetic products. In marketing, various forms of sensory evaluation are used to measure the consumer experience and provide data with which to improve cosmetics. Nonetheless, potential downsides of existing approaches have led to the exploration of the use of neuroimaging methods, such as functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), to provide addition information about consumers' experiences with cosmetics. The aim of the present study was to investigate the feasibility of a real-time brain-based product evaluation method which detects the incongruency between a product, in this case lipstick, and a consumer's expectations.

Method

Thirty healthy, female, habitual lipstick users were asked to apply six different lipsticks varying in softness and to rate the softness of and their willingness to pay (WTP) for each lipstick. Cerebral hemodynamic responses in frontal areas were measured with fNIRS during lipstick application and analyzed using the general linear model (GLM). Incongruency scores between softness and expectation were calculated in order to understand how far removed each lipstick was from a participant's optimal softness preference. The correlation between brain activation (beta scores) during the application of each lipstick and the respective incongruency scores from each participant were acquired using semi-partial correlation analysis, controlling for the effects of WTP.

Results

We revealed a significant intra-subject correlation between incongruency scores and activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). This confirms that as the texture incongruency scores increased for the lipstick samples, activation in each individual's right IFG also increased.

Conclusion

The correlation observed between incongruency perceived by participants and activation of the right IFG not only suggests that the right IFG may play an important role in detecting incongruity when there is a discrepancy between the perceived texture and the consumer's expectations but also that measuring activity in the IFG may provide a new objective measurement of the consumer experience, thus contributing to the development of superior cosmetics.

Assessing functional impulsivity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy

Introduction

In neuromarketing, a recently developing, inter-disciplinary field combining neuroscience and marketing, neurophysiological responses have been applied to understand consumers' behaviors. While many studies have focused on explicit attitudes, few have targeted implicit aspects. To explore the possibility of measuring implicit desire for a product, we focused on functional impulsivity related to obtaining a product as a reward and devised a product-rewarded traffic light task (PRTLT). The PRTLT requires participants to take risks under time pressure in order for them to maximize rewards in the form of commercial products, with the brand of products being an independent variable. Thus, we explored the feasibility of applying a PRTLT in a neuromarketing context to implicitly differentiate between the perceived value of products and supported our data with neurophysiological evidence obtained using fNIRS to concurrently monitor cortical activation.

Methods

Thirty healthy students were asked to perform the PRTLT. We compared participants' functional impulsivity toward two different chocolate products that had obviously different values. Along with their behavioral responses, participants' cerebral hemodynamic responses during the PRTLT were measured using fNIRS covering the lateral prefrontal cortices and the neighboring regions. We conducted adaptive general linear model (GLM) analysis for hemodynamic responses. First, we identified the regions involved in the PRTLT. Second, we compared activation patterns between expensive and inexpensive conditions.

Results

Behavioral analysis confirmed that the expensive condition trended toward producing a higher PRTLT score than did the inexpensive condition. fNIRS neuroimaging analysis showed task-derived activation in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and frontopolar cortex (FPC). Moreover, we found significant differences between expensive and inexpensive conditions in the cortical activations in the FPC and the left-DLPFC.

Conclusion

These results imply that the two products evoked different functional impulsivity, and the hemodynamic responses reflect that. Thus, we concluded that it is possible to observe differences in demand for products using a PRTLT that evokes functional impulsivity. The current study presents a new possibility in neuromarketing research of observing differences between consumers' covert attitudes toward commercially available products, possibly providing a neural basis related to hidden needs for some products.

Hemodynamic signal changes and functional connectivity in acute stroke patients with dysphagia during volitional swallowing: a pilot study

BACKGROUND

Dysphagia is one of the major post-stroke complications, understanding post-stroke changes in cortical excitability and promoting early remodeling of swallowing-related cortical areas to enable accurate treatment is essential for recovery of patients.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to investigate hemodynamic signal changes and functional connectivity in acute stroke patients with dysphagia compared to age-matched healthy participants in response to volitional swallowing using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in this pilot study.

METHODS

Patients with first-ever post-stroke dysphagia having an onset of 1-4 weeks and age-matched right-handed healthy subjects were recruited in our study. fNIRS with 47 channels was utilized to detect the oxyhemoglobin (HbO2 ) and reduced hemoglobin (HbR) concentration changes when volitional swallowing. Cohort analysis was performed by a one-sample t-test. Two-sample t-test was utilized to compare the difference in cortical activation between patients with post-stroke dysphagia and healthy subjects. Furthermore, the relative changes in the concentration of the HbO2 throughout the experimental procedure were extracted for the functional connectivity analysis. The Pearson correlation coefficients of the HbO2 concentration of each channel were analyzed on a time series, and then a Fisher Z transformation was then performed, and the transformed values were defined as the functional connection strengths between the channels.

RESULTS

In this present study, a total of nine patients with acute post-stroke dysphagia were enrolled in the patient group and nine age-matched healthy participants in the healthy control group. Our study observed that the extensive regions of the cerebral cortex were activated in the healthy control group, while the activation area of patient group's cortical regions was quite limited. The mean functional connectivity strength of participants was 0.485 ± 0.105 in the healthy control group, and 0.252 ± 0.146 in the patient group, with a significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Compared to the healthy individuals, cerebral cortex regions of acute stroke patients were only marginally activated during volitional swallowing task, and the average functional connectivity strength of cortical network in patients was relatively weaker.

Visualizing the IKEA effect: experiential consumption assessed with fNIRS-based neuroimaging

Introduction

In recent years, experiential consumption, which refers to purchases involving hedonic experiences, has been gathering attention in marketing research. Experiential consumption is closely related to cognitive biases, and among them, we focus on the IKEA effect, which is a cognitive bias in which the maximum willingness to pay (WTP) for a product is high because the experience of assembling the product is highly valued. Since no studies have examined the neural mechanism behind the IKEA effect, here we present the first study exploring the neural substrates of the IKEA effect using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). During the WTP evaluation, we expect the attachment to and memory retrieval of DIY products to be the cognitive mechanism for the IKEA effect.

Methods

Thirty healthy students, of which 24 were confirmed to have undergone the IKEA effect, were asked to perform a WTP evaluation task after assembling three types of do-it-yourself (DIY) products and handling three types of Non-DIY products. Their cerebral hemodynamic responses during the evaluation were measured using fNIRS. In order to adjust for temporal variability of cortical responses among participants, a personalized adaptive general linear model (GLM) analysis was adopted. Then, one-sample t-tests were performed for each DIY and Non-DIY condition for the obtained β values, and a paired t-test was performed between DIY and Non-DIY conditions.

Results

We identified brain regions, including the left-inferior frontal gyrus (L-IFG) and left-middle frontal gyrus (L-MFG), which were probably related to cognitive processing related to the IKEA effect. Among them, the L-MFG exhibited more activation during the DIY condition than during the Non-DIY condition.

Conclusion

To our knowledge, the current study is the first to reveal the neural basis of the IKEA effect. The cortical activation during evaluation of WTP for DIY and Non-DIY products exhibited marked differences. In addition to the R-IFG activation often reported for WTP evaluations, we revealed that other regions, in particular the L-IFG and L-MFG, were activated during the DIY condition. These areas are considered to be related to memory and attachment, which would serve as reasonable cognitive constituents for the IKEA effect. In conclusion, this study suggests that the value of experiential consumption can be assessed using fNIRS-based neuroimaging and provides a novel approach to consumer neuroergonomics. It is predicted that visualization the value of experiential consumption will create marketing opportunities for more and more companies and the visualization will become an indispensable method in the future.

Effects of Acupuncture on Cortical Activation in Patients with Disorders of Consciousness: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study

Background. Disorder of consciousness (DoC) is a clinical condition caused by severe brain damage. Some studies have reported that acupuncture, a traditional Chinese treatment, could facilitate the recovery of the patient’s consciousness. The therapeutic effects of acupuncture may be due to its modulation of facilitating cortex (PFC) activity, but it has not been greatly demonstrated. Objectives. We intended to observe the effects of acupuncture on prefrontal cortical activity, explore the potential correlation between cortical activation and the severity of DoC, and analyze the functional brain network connectivity to provide a theoretical basis for its application in clinical practice. Methods. Participants diagnosed with DoC were included in the study. Before the intervention, we assessed the patient’s state of consciousness using relevant scales, such as the Glasgow coma scale (GCS) and the coma recovery scale-revised (CRS-R). All patients received acupuncture manipulation with the functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) system monitored. Result. A total of 16 subjects participated in our study. We observed that the concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) in the PFC was increased during the acupuncture manipulation and declined during the resting state. Then, the connection strength of the left cerebral cortex was generally higher than that of the right. Finally, we observed only a weak difference in hemodynamic responses of PFC between the vegetative state (VS) and minimally conscious state (MCS) groups. However, the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion. Our results indicated that acupuncture can increase the concentration of HbO in the PFC and strengthen the connection strength of the left cerebral cortex. However, our present study did not find a significant correlation between the cortical hemodynamic response and the severity of DoC.

New Consumer Research Technology for Food Behaviour: Overview and Validity

BACKGROUND

the last decade has witnessed an explosion of new consumer behaviour research technology, and new methods are published almost monthly. To what extent are these methods applicable in the specific area of food consumer science, and if they are, are they any good?

METHODS

in this paper, we attempt to give an overview of the developments in this area. We distinguish between ('input') methods needed to shape the measurement context a consumer is brought in, e.g., by means of 'immersive' methods, and ('output') methods that perform measurements proper. Concerning the latter, we distinguish between methods focusing on neuro-science, on psychology, and on behaviour. In addition, we suggest a way to assess the validity of the methods, based on psychological theory, concerning biases resulting from consumer awareness of a measurement situation. The methods are evaluated on three summarising validity criteria; conclusions: the conclusion is that behavioural measures generally appear more valid than psychological or neuro-scientific methods. The main conclusion is that validity of a method should never be taken for granted, and it should be always be assessed in the context of the research question.

A Willingness-to-Pay Associated Right Prefrontal Activation During a Single, Real Use of Lipsticks as Assessed Using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Understanding consumer preferences and behavior is a major goal of consumer-oriented companies. The application of neuroscience to this goal is a promising avenue for companies. Previously, we observed a positive correlation during actual cosmetic use between the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) activity, measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), and the associated willingness-to-pay (WTP) values. However, we were unable to find any consistent group differences in the right dlPFC between different powdery foundations. Thus, the main objective of this study was to replicate the previous study and in addition, we aimed to refine the method of the previous study to increase the chance that a difference in valuation between different products can be detected. Twenty-five frequent lipstick using females were asked to apply six different lipsticks to their lips and to record how much they were willing to pay. To maximize the variation of the subjective experience of the products and the associated brain activity, the most preferred color lipstick and a less preferred color lipstick were chosen for each participant, and each color of lipstick had three different textures (Lo, Mid, and Hi). The time series was analyzed with the general linear model (GLM) and the correlation between the right dlPFC beta scores for the lipsticks and their respective WTP values conducted for each participant. This revealed a significant positive correlation and replicated our previous study. Surprisingly, the lipstick color and the texture manipulations did not result in any consistent differences in WTP and similarly no consistent group differences in brain activations. This study replicates our previous study extending it to a different type of cosmetic. The right dlPFC activity during the use of cosmetics may be a potential brain-based personalization or product selection process biomarker.

Language Familiarity and Proficiency Leads to Differential Cortical Processing During Translation Between Distantly Related Languages

In the midst of globalization, English is regarded as an international language, or Lingua Franca, but learning it as a second language (L2) remains still difficult to speakers of other languages. This is true especially for the speakers of languages distantly related to English such as Japanese. In this sense, exploring neural basis for translation between the first language (L1) and L2 is of great interest. There have been relatively many previous researches revealing brain activation patterns during translations between L1 and English as L2. These studies, which focused on language translation with close or moderate linguistic distance (LD), have suggested that the Broca area (BA 44/45) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC; BA 46) may play an important role on translation. However, the neural mechanism of language translation between Japanese and English, having large LD, has not been clarified. Thus, we used functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate the brain activation patterns during word translation between Japanese and English. We also assessed the effects of translation directions and word familiarity. All participants’ first language was Japanese and they were learning English. Their English proficiency was advanced or elementary. We selected English and Japanese words as stimuli based on the familiarity for Japanese people. Our results showed that the brain activation patterns during word translation largely differed depending on their English proficiency. The advanced group elicited greater activation on the left prefrontal cortex around the Broca’s area while translating words with low familiarity, but no activation was observed while translating words with high familiarity. On the other hand, the elementary group evoked greater activation on the left temporal area including the superior temporal gyrus (STG) irrespective of the word familiarity. These results suggested that different cognitive process could be involved in word translation corresponding to English proficiency in Japanese learners of English. These difference on the brain activation patterns between the advanced and elementary group may reflect the difference on the cognitive loads depending on the levels of automatization in one’s language processing.

The effects of age on brain cortical activation and functional connectivity during video game-based finger-to-thumb opposition movement: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to explore the age-related changes in cerebral cortex activation and functional connectivity (FC) during finger-to-thumb opposition movement based on video games (FTOMBVG).

METHODS

A electronic fingercot was developed for FTOMBVG. The oxygenated hemoglobin concentration (Delta [HbO]) signals, measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), were recorded from prefrontal cortex (PFC), motor cortex (MC) and occipital lobe (OL) of two groups of subjects (old and young).

RESULTS

The cognitive region of the old group showed bilateral activation, while the young group only showed unilateral activation. Both groups showed a wide range of bilateral activation in the motor region. The FC between cognitive region and motor region of the old group was enhanced considerably.

CONCLUSION

Changes in cerebral cortex activation and the FC of different brain regions in the old group help explain the decline in cognitive executive and motor control function in the old from the perspective of brain functional structure, and provide a theoretical reference for the prevention of neural diseases caused by aging.

Effects of three different rehabilitation games' interaction on brain activation using functional near-infrared spectroscopy

OBJECTIVE

This study reveals the changes in brain activation due to different game interaction states based on functional near-infrared spectroscopy signals and discusses their significance for stroke rehabilitation.

APPROACH

The oxygenated hemoglobin concentration (Delta [HbO₂]) signals and the deoxygenated hemoglobin (Delta [HbR]) signals were recorded from the prefrontal cortex (PFC), the motor cortex (MC), the occipital lobe (OL) and the temporal lobe of 21 subjects (mean age: 24.6 ± 1.9 years old) in three game interaction states: physical, motion-sensing, and button-push training. The subjects were also asked to complete user-satisfaction survey scales after the experiment.

MAIN RESULTS

Compared with the button-training state, several channels in the PFC and MC region of the physical-training state were significantly altered as were several channels in the RMC region of the motion-sensing training state (P < 0.05 after adjustment). The motion-sensing state of the PFC had a significant correlation with that of the MC and the OL. The subjective scale results show that the acceptability of the physical and motion-sensing states was greater than the acceptability of the button-push training state.

SIGNIFICANCE

The results show that the brain regions responded more strongly when activated by the physical and motion-sensing states compared with the button-push training state, and the physical and motion-sensing states are more conducive to the rehabilitation of the nervous system. The design of rehabilitation products for stroke patients is discussed and valuable insights are offered to support the selection of better interactive training methods.