1
|
Botta A, Pelosin E, Lagravinese G, Marchese R, Di Biasio F, Bonassi G, Terranova S, Ravizzotti E, Putzolu M, Mezzarobba S, Cosentino C, Avenanti A, Avanzino L. Modulation of response times in early-stage Parkinson's disease during emotional processing of embodied and non-embodied stimuli. Sci Rep 2024; 14:13031. [PMID: 38844758 PMCID: PMC11156934 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-63701-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2024] [Indexed: 06/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Valence (positive and negative) and content (embodied vs non-embodied) characteristics of visual stimuli have been shown to influence motor readiness, as tested with response time paradigms. Both embodiment and emotional processing are affected in Parkinson's disease (PD) due to basal ganglia dysfunction. Here we aimed to investigate, using a two-choice response time paradigm, motor readiness when processing embodied (emotional body language [EBL] and emotional facial expressions [FACS]) vs non-embodied (emotional scenes [IAPS]) stimuli with neutral, happy, and fearful content. We enrolled twenty-five patients with early-stage PD and twenty-five age matched healthy participants. Motor response during emotional processing was assessed by measuring response times (RTs) in a home-based, forced two-choice discrimination task where participants were asked to discriminate the emotional stimulus from the neutral one. Rating of valence and arousal was also performed. A clinical and neuropsychological evaluation was performed on PD patients. Results showed that RTs for PD patients were longer for all conditions compared to HC and that RTs were generally longer in both groups for EBL compared to FACS and IAPS, with the sole exception retrieved for PD, where in discriminating fearful stimuli, RTs for EBL were longer compared to FACS but not to IAPS. Furthermore, in PD only, when discriminating fearful respect to neutral stimuli, RTs were shorter when discriminating FACS compared to IAPS. This study shows that PD patients were faster in discriminating fearful embodied stimuli, allowing us to speculate on mechanisms involving an alternative, compensatory, emotional motor pathway for PD patients undergoing fear processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Elisa Pelosin
- IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, 16132, Genoa, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, 16132, Genoa, Italy
| | | | | | | | - Gaia Bonassi
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, 16132, Genoa, Italy
| | - Sara Terranova
- Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Viale Benedetto XV 3, 16132, Genoa, Italy
| | - Elisa Ravizzotti
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, 16132, Genoa, Italy
| | - Martina Putzolu
- Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Viale Benedetto XV 3, 16132, Genoa, Italy
| | - Susanna Mezzarobba
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, 16132, Genoa, Italy
| | - Carola Cosentino
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, 16132, Genoa, Italy
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Centro Di Neuroscienze Cognitive and Dipartimento Di Psicologia, Campus Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy
- Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile
| | - Laura Avanzino
- IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, 16132, Genoa, Italy.
- Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Viale Benedetto XV 3, 16132, Genoa, Italy.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Qiao-Tasserit E, Corradi-Dell’Acqua C, Vuilleumier P. Influence of transient emotional episodes on affective and cognitive theory of mind. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2024; 19:nsae016. [PMID: 38442706 PMCID: PMC10914405 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsae016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2023] [Revised: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/21/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Our emotions may influence how we interact with others. Previous studies have shown an important role of emotion induction in generating empathic reactions towards others' affect. However, it remains unclear whether (and to which extent) our own emotions can influence the ability to infer people's mental states, a process associated with Theory of Mind (ToM) and implicated in the representation of both cognitive (e.g. beliefs and intentions) and affective conditions. We engaged 59 participants in two emotion-induction experiments where they saw joyful, neutral and fearful clips. Subsequently, they were asked to infer other individuals' joy, fear (affective ToM) or beliefs (cognitive ToM) from verbal scenarios. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we found that brain activity in the superior temporal gyrus, precuneus and sensorimotor cortices were modulated by the preceding emotional induction, with lower response when the to-be-inferred emotion was incongruent with the one induced in the observer (affective ToM). Instead, we found no effect of emotion induction on the appraisal of people's beliefs (cognitive ToM). These findings are consistent with embodied accounts of affective ToM, whereby our own emotions alter the engagement of key brain regions for social cognition, depending on the compatibility between one's own and others' affect.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emilie Qiao-Tasserit
- Laboratory of Behavioural Neurology and Imaging of Cognition, Department of Neuroscience, University Medical Center, University of Geneva, Geneva CH-1206, Switzerland
- Geneva Neuroscience Center, University of Geneva, Geneva CH-1206, Switzerland
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva CH-1209, Switzerland
| | - Corrado Corradi-Dell’Acqua
- Geneva Neuroscience Center, University of Geneva, Geneva CH-1206, Switzerland
- Theory of Pain Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences (FPSE), University of Geneva, Geneva CH-1211, Switzerland
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Rovereto IT-38068, Italy
| | - Patrik Vuilleumier
- Laboratory of Behavioural Neurology and Imaging of Cognition, Department of Neuroscience, University Medical Center, University of Geneva, Geneva CH-1206, Switzerland
- Geneva Neuroscience Center, University of Geneva, Geneva CH-1206, Switzerland
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva CH-1209, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Borgomaneri S, Vitale F, Battaglia S, de Vega M, Avenanti A. Task-related modulation of motor response to emotional bodies: A TMS motor-evoked potential study. Cortex 2024; 171:235-246. [PMID: 38096756 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.10.013] [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: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
Exposure to emotional body postures during perceptual decision-making tasks has been linked to transient suppression of motor reactivity, supporting the monitoring of emotionally relevant information. However, it remains unclear whether this effect occurs implicitly, i.e., when emotional information is irrelevant to the task. To investigate this issue, we used single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to assess motor excitability while healthy participants were asked to categorize pictures of body expressions as emotional or neutral (emotion recognition task) or as belonging to a male or a female actor (gender recognition task) while receiving TMS over the motor cortex at 100 and 125 ms after picture onset. Results demonstrated that motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) were reduced for emotional body postures relative to neutral postures during the emotion recognition task. Conversely, MEPs increased for emotional body postures relative to neutral postures during the gender recognition task. These findings indicate that motor inhibition, contingent upon observing emotional body postures, is selectively associated with actively monitoring emotional features. In contrast, observing emotional body postures prompts motor facilitation when task-relevant features are non-emotional. These findings contribute to embodied cognition models that link emotion perception and action tendencies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sara Borgomaneri
- Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Campus di Cesena, Cesena, Italy.
| | - Francesca Vitale
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia (IUNE), Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
| | - Simone Battaglia
- Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Campus di Cesena, Cesena, Italy
| | - Manuel de Vega
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia (IUNE), Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Campus di Cesena, Cesena, Italy; Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurosciencias Cognitivas, Universidad Católica Del Maule, Talca, Chile.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Japee S, Jordan J, Licht J, Lokey S, Chen G, Snow J, Jabs EW, Webb BD, Engle EC, Manoli I, Baker C, Ungerleider LG. Inability to move one's face dampens facial expression perception. Cortex 2023; 169:35-49. [PMID: 37852041 PMCID: PMC10836030 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.08.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2023] [Revised: 05/31/2023] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 10/20/2023]
Abstract
Humans rely heavily on facial expressions for social communication to convey their thoughts and emotions and to understand them in others. One prominent but controversial view is that humans learn to recognize the significance of facial expressions by mimicking the expressions of others. This view predicts that an inability to make facial expressions (e.g., facial paralysis) would result in reduced perceptual sensitivity to others' facial expressions. To test this hypothesis, we developed a diverse battery of sensitive emotion recognition tasks to characterize expression perception in individuals with Moebius Syndrome (MBS), a congenital neurological disorder that causes facial palsy. Using computer-based detection tasks we systematically assessed expression perception thresholds for static and dynamic face and body expressions. We found that while MBS individuals were able to perform challenging perceptual control tasks and body expression tasks, they were less efficient at extracting emotion from facial expressions, compared to matched controls. Exploratory analyses of fMRI data from a small group of MBS participants suggested potentially reduced engagement of the amygdala in MBS participants during expression processing relative to matched controls. Collectively, these results suggest a role for facial mimicry and consequent facial feedback and motor experience in the perception of others' facial expressions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shruti Japee
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, NIMH, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
| | - Jessica Jordan
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, NIMH, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Judith Licht
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, NIMH, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Savannah Lokey
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, NIMH, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Gang Chen
- Scientific and Statistical Computing Core, NIMH, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Joseph Snow
- Office of the Clinical Director, NIMH, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Ethylin Wang Jabs
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Bryn D Webb
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Genetics and Metabolism, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Elizabeth C Engle
- Departments of Neurology and Ophthalmology, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA
| | - Irini Manoli
- Medical Genomics and Metabolic Genetics, NHGRI, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Chris Baker
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, NIMH, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
5
|
Zhang M, Yu L, Zhang K, Du B, Zhan B, Jia S, Chen S, Han F, Li Y, Liu S, Yi X, Liu S, Luo W. Construction and validation of the Dalian emotional movement open-source set (DEMOS). Behav Res Methods 2023; 55:2353-2366. [PMID: 35931937 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-022-01887-4] [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] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Human body movements are important for emotion recognition and social communication and have received extensive attention from researchers. In this field, emotional biological motion stimuli, as depicted by point-light displays, are widely used. However, the number of stimuli in the existing material library is small, and there is a lack of standardized indicators, which subsequently limits experimental design and conduction. Therefore, based on our prior kinematic dataset, we constructed the Dalian Emotional Movement Open-source Set (DEMOS) using computational modeling. The DEMOS has three views (i.e., frontal 0°, left 45°, and left 90°) and in total comprises 2664 high-quality videos of emotional biological motion, each displaying happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, and neutral. All stimuli were validated in terms of recognition accuracy, emotional intensity, and subjective movement. The objective movement for each expression was also calculated. The DEMOS can be downloaded for free from https://osf.io/83fst/ . To our knowledge, this is the largest multi-view emotional biological motion set based on the whole body. The DEMOS can be applied in many fields, including affective computing, social cognition, and psychiatry.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mingming Zhang
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029, China
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Province, Dalian, 116029, China
| | - Lu Yu
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029, China
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Province, Dalian, 116029, China
| | - Keye Zhang
- School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Bixuan Du
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029, China
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Province, Dalian, 116029, China
| | - Bin Zhan
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Shuxin Jia
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029, China
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Province, Dalian, 116029, China
| | - Shaohua Chen
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029, China
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Province, Dalian, 116029, China
| | - Fengxu Han
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029, China
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Province, Dalian, 116029, China
| | - Yiwen Li
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029, China
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Province, Dalian, 116029, China
| | - Shuaicheng Liu
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029, China
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Province, Dalian, 116029, China
| | - Xi Yi
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029, China
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Province, Dalian, 116029, China
| | - Shenglan Liu
- School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China.
- Faculty of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China.
| | - Wenbo Luo
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029, China.
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Province, Dalian, 116029, China.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Ardizzi M, Ferroni F, Manini A, Giudici C, Maccaferri E, Uccelli S, Umiltà MA. The influence of sensorimotor experience on beauty evaluation of preschool children. Front Hum Neurosci 2023; 17:1138420. [PMID: 37492560 PMCID: PMC10363598 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1138420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2023] [Accepted: 06/14/2023] [Indexed: 07/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Nowadays there is a broad consensus on the role of multimodality in the construction of an embodied aesthetic experience in adults, whereas little is known about the relationship between sensorimotor and aesthetic experience during development. To fill this gap, the present study investigated whether sensorimotor experience with sculpting natural materials (i.e., clay or sand) influences beauty judgments offered to abstract artifacts made by the same materials. Five years old children (n.47) were asked to rate tactile (How smooth is it?), visual (How dark is it?) and beauty (How much do you like it?) proprieties of two artifacts using a visual-analog measurement-tool ad hoc developed to fit children's cognitive skills. Participants rated the artifacts before and after a free-hands manipulation with only one of the two sculpting materials, either sand or clay. Results showed that the greater the sensorimotor interaction experienced with the artifacts, the higher the increment of beauty rating offered to the artifacts made by the same material previously manipulated. No modulations were found for tactile and visual ratings. These results demonstrate that, even in pre-school children, aesthetic experience is specifically linked to its sensorimotor component, supporting, from a developmental perspective, the definition of aesthetic experience as intrinsically rooted on beholders' bodily experience.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Martina Ardizzi
- Unit of Neuroscience, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Francesca Ferroni
- Unit of Neuroscience, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Aurora Manini
- Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | | | | | - Stefano Uccelli
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Alessandra Umiltà
- Department of Food and Drugs, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
- The Italian Academy for Advanced Studies, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Lee SE, Shin H, Kim G, Moon H, Hur JW. Decreased gray matter volume in regions associated with affective pain processing in unmedicated individuals with nonsuicidal self-injury. Psychiatry Res 2023; 326:115314. [PMID: 37406398 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2023] [Revised: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 06/15/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023]
Abstract
Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) has been consistently associated with a reduced aversion to physical pain. Yet, little research has been done to investigate the brain structures related to pain in individuals with NSSI. This study examined gray matter volume patterns of pain processing regions in participants engaging in NSSI (n = 63) and age-, sex-, and handedness-matched healthy controls (n = 63). Voxel-based morphometry was performed to explore gray matter volume in regions of interest (ROIs) and partial correlation analyses were conducted to identify their associations with the frequency, versatility, duration, functions, and pain intensity of self-injury. As a result, significant volume decreases were found in the right anterior insula, bilateral secondary somatosensory cortex (SII), and left inferior frontal gyrus. Moreover, individuals with smaller anterior insula and SII volume showed a higher likelihood of endorsing affect-regulation and sensation-seeking functions of NSSI, as well as engaging in self-injury with a greater perceived intensity of pain. Our results provide the first empirical evidence that individuals with NSSI may exhibit distinct characteristics in brain regions associated with the affective component of pain processing. These neurobiological changes may be associated with their maladaptive response to noxious and painful NSSI experiences.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Soo-Eun Lee
- School of Psychology, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Hyemin Shin
- School of Psychology, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Gyumyoung Kim
- School of Psychology, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Hyeri Moon
- School of Psychology, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Ji-Won Hur
- School of Psychology, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seoul, South Korea.
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Frei-Landau R, Levin O. Simulation-based learning in teacher education: Using Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs to conceptualize instructors’ needs. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1149576. [PMID: 37089729 PMCID: PMC10117648 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1149576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2023] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 04/09/2023] Open
Abstract
IntroductionSimulation-based learning (SBL) has become an effective tool in the education field, and instructors play a significant role in leading it. Although much is known about participants’ needs, SBL instructors’ needs have yet to be addressed. The study’s goal was to explore SBL instructors’ needs while guiding an SBL workshop using the psychological framework of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.MethodsWe employed a qualitative case-study design, consisting of 68 four-hour-long workshops, held at a teacher-education simulation center by the center’s professional instructors. Data collection comprised 211 statements derived from instructors’ open-ended reflections, the transcripts of two focus groups held with the instructors, and 98 interpersonal communication documents.ResultsData were analyzed using both deductive and inductive thematic analysis, which rendered 11 themes spanning Maslow’s five levels, and revealing two possible simulation-based learning paths: a complete process, in which all needs are met and an incomplete process, in which needs remain unmet.DiscussionTheoretical insights and practical implications are provided for attending to instructors’ needs (i.e., basic needs, security, belonging, self-esteem, self-actualization) to ensure optimal learning in teacher education when using SBL.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rivi Frei-Landau
- The School of Education, Achva Academic College, Shikmim, Israel
- The Department of Education and Psychology, the Open University, Ra’anna, Israel
- *Correspondence: Rivi Frei-Landau,
| | - Orna Levin
- The School of Education, Achva Academic College, Shikmim, Israel
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Geangu E, Vuong QC. Seven-months-old infants show increased arousal to static emotion body expressions: Evidence from pupil dilation. INFANCY 2023. [PMID: 36917082 DOI: 10.1111/infa.12535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Revised: 12/23/2022] [Accepted: 02/10/2023] [Indexed: 03/16/2023]
Abstract
Human body postures provide perceptual cues that can be used to discriminate and recognize emotions. It was previously found that 7-months-olds' fixation patterns discriminated fear from other emotion body expressions but it is not clear whether they also process the emotional content of those expressions. The emotional content of visual stimuli can increase arousal level resulting in pupil dilations. To provide evidence that infants also process the emotional content of expressions, we analyzed variations in pupil in response to emotion stimuli. Forty-eight 7-months-old infants viewed adult body postures expressing anger, fear, happiness and neutral expressions, while their pupil size was measured. There was a significant emotion effect between 1040 and 1640 ms after image onset, when fear elicited larger pupil dilations than neutral expressions. A similar trend was found for anger expressions. Our results suggest that infants have increased arousal to negative-valence body expressions. Thus, in combination with previous fixation results, the pupil data show that infants as young as 7-months can perceptually discriminate static body expressions and process the emotional content of those expressions. The results extend information about infant processing of emotion expressions conveyed through other means (e.g., faces).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elena Geangu
- Department of Psychology, University of York, York, UK
| | - Quoc C Vuong
- Biosciences Institute and School of Psychology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Lee M, Lori A, Langford NA, Rilling JK. The neural basis of smile authenticity judgments and the potential modulatory role of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR). Behav Brain Res 2023; 437:114144. [PMID: 36216140 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2022.114144] [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: 06/12/2022] [Revised: 09/03/2022] [Accepted: 09/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Accurate perception of genuine vs. posed smiles is crucial for successful social navigation in humans. While people vary in their ability to assess the authenticity of smiles, little is known about the specific biological mechanisms underlying this variation. We investigated the neural substrates of smile authenticity judgments using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We also tested a preliminary hypothesis that a common polymorphism in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) rs53576 would modulate the behavioral and neural indices of accurate smile authenticity judgments. A total of 185 healthy adult participants (Neuroimaging arm: N = 44, Behavioral arm: N = 141) determined the authenticity of dynamic facial expressions of genuine and posed smiles either with or without fMRI scanning. Correctly identified genuine vs. posed smiles activated brain areas involved with reward processing, facial mimicry, and mentalizing. Activation within the inferior frontal gyrus and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex correlated with individual differences in sensitivity (d') and response criterion (C), respectively. Our exploratory genetic analysis revealed that rs53576 G homozygotes in the neuroimaging arm had a stronger tendency to judge posed smiles as genuine than did A allele carriers and showed decreased activation in the medial prefrontal cortex when viewing genuine vs. posed smiles. Yet, OXTR rs53576 did not modulate task performance in the behavioral arm, which calls for further studies to evaluate the legitimacy of this result. Our findings extend previous literature on the biological foundations of smile authenticity judgments, particularly emphasizing the involvement of brain regions implicated in reward, facial mimicry, and mentalizing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Adriana Lori
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, USA
| | - Nicole A Langford
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, USA; Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, USA
| | - James K Rilling
- Department of Anthropology, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, USA; Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, USA; Emory National Primate Research Center, USA; Center for Translational Social Neuroscience, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Arslanova I, Galvez-Pol A, Kilner J, Finotti G, Tsakiris M. Seeing Through Each Other's Hearts: Inferring Others' Heart Rate as a Function of Own Heart Rate Perception and Perceived Social Intelligence. AFFECTIVE SCIENCE 2022; 3:862-877. [PMID: 36519151 PMCID: PMC9743902 DOI: 10.1007/s42761-022-00151-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2022] [Accepted: 09/12/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED Successful social interactions require a good understanding of the emotional states of other people. This information is often not directly communicated but must be inferred. As all emotional experiences are also imbedded in the visceral or interoceptive state of the body (i.e., accelerating heart rate during arousal), successfully inferring the interoceptive states of others may open a window into their emotional state. But how well can people do that? Here, we replicate recent results showing that people can discriminate between the cardiac states (i.e., the resting heartrate) of other people by simply looking at them. We further tested whether the ability to infer the interoceptive states of others depends on one's own interoceptive abilities. We measured people's performance in a cardioception task and their self-reported interoceptive accuracy. Whilst neither was directly associated to their ability to infer the heartrate of another person, we found a significant interaction. Specifically, overestimating one's own interoceptive capacities was associated with a worse performance at inferring the heartrate of others. In contrast, underestimating one's own interoceptive capacities did not have such influence. This pattern suggests that deficient beliefs about own interoceptive capacities can have detrimental effects on inferring the interoceptive states of other people. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-022-00151-4.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Irena Arslanova
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK
| | | | - James Kilner
- Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Gianluca Finotti
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK
| | - Manos Tsakiris
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK
- Centre for the Politics of Feeling, School of Advanced Study, University of London, London, UK
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Suslow T, Kersting A. The Relations of Attention to and Clarity of Feelings With Facial Affect Perception. Front Psychol 2022; 13:819902. [PMID: 35874362 PMCID: PMC9298753 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.819902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2021] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Attention to emotions and emotional clarity are core dimensions of individual differences in emotion awareness. Findings from prior research based on self-report indicate that attention to and recognition of one's own emotions are related to attention to and recognition of other people's emotions. In the present experimental study, we examined the relations of attention to and clarity of emotions with the efficiency of facial affect perception. Moreover, it was explored whether attention to and clarity of emotions are linked to negative interpretations of facial expressions. A perception of facial expressions (PFE) task based on schematic faces with neutral, ambiguous, or unambiguous emotional expressions and a gender decision task were administered to healthy individuals along with measures of emotion awareness, state and trait anxiety, depression, and verbal intelligence. Participants had to decide how much the faces express six basic affects. Evaluative ratings and decision latencies were analyzed. Attention to feelings was negatively correlated with evaluative decision latency, whereas clarity of feelings was not related to decision latency in the PFE task. Attention to feelings was positively correlated with the perception of negative affects in ambiguous faces. Attention to feelings and emotional clarity were not related to gender decision latency. According to our results, dispositional attention to feelings goes along with an enhanced efficiency of facial affect perception. Habitually paying attention to one's own emotions may facilitate processing of external emotional information. Preliminary evidence was obtained suggesting a relationship of dispositional attention to feelings with negative interpretations of facial expressions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Suslow
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Anette Kersting
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Ke H, Vuong QC, Geangu E. Three- and six-year-old children are sensitive to natural body expressions of emotion: An event-related potential emotional priming study. J Exp Child Psychol 2022; 224:105497. [PMID: 35850023 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105497] [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: 04/14/2021] [Revised: 03/23/2022] [Accepted: 06/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Body movements provide a rich source of emotional information during social interactions. Although the ability to perceive biological motion cues related to those movements begins to develop during infancy, processing those cues to identify emotions likely continues to develop into childhood. Previous studies used posed or exaggerated body movements, which might not reflect the kind of body expressions children experience. The current study used an event-related potential (ERP) priming paradigm to investigate the development of emotion recognition from more naturalistic body movements. Point-light displays (PLDs) of male adult bodies expressing happy or angry emotional movements while narrating a story were used as prime stimuli, whereas audio recordings of the words "happy" and "angry" spoken with an emotionally neutral prosody were used as targets. We recorded the ERPs time-locked to the onset of the auditory target from 3- and 6-year-old children, and we compared amplitude and latency of the N300 and N400 responses between the two age groups in the different prime-target conditions. There was an overall effect of prime for the N300 amplitude, with more negative-going responses for happy PLDs compared with angry PLDs. There was also an interaction between prime and target for the N300 latency, suggesting that all children were sensitive to the emotional congruency between body movements and words. For the N400 component, there was only an interaction among age, prime, and target for latency, suggesting an age-dependent modulation of this component when prime and target did not match in emotional information. Overall, our results suggest that the emergence of more complex emotion processing of body expressions occurs around 6 years of age, but it is not fully developed at this point in ontogeny.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Han Ke
- Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YF, UK.
| | - Quoc C Vuong
- Biosciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK
| | - Elena Geangu
- Department of Psychology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Postural Correlates of Pollution Perception. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12070869. [PMID: 35884676 PMCID: PMC9313123 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12070869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2022] [Revised: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
In our contemporary societies, environmental issues are more and more important. An increasing number of studies explore the biological processes involved in environment perception and in particular try to highlight the mechanisms underlying the perception of environmental scenes by our brain. The main objective of the present study was to establish whether the visualization of clean and polluted environmental scenes would lead to differential postural reactions. Our hypothesis was based on a differential postural modulation that could be recorded when the subject is confronted with images representing a “polluted” environment, differential modulation which has been reported in previous studies in response to painful-scenes compared to non-painful scenes visualization.Thirty-one subjects participated in this study. Physiological measurements [heart rate variability (HRV) and electrodermal activity] and postural responses (Center Of Pression—COP—displacements) were recorded in response to perception of polluted or clean environmental scenes. We show, for the first time, that images representing polluted scenes evoke a weaker approach movement than images representing clean scenes. The displacement of the COP in the anteroposterior axis reflects an avoidance when subjects visualize “polluted” scenes. Our results demonstrate a clear distinction between “clean” and “polluted” environments according to the postural change they induce, correlated with the ratings of pleasure and approach evoked by images.
Collapse
|
15
|
Botta A, Lagravinese G, Bove M, Pelosin E, Bonassi G, Avenanti A, Avanzino L. Sensorimotor inhibition during emotional processing. Sci Rep 2022; 12:6998. [PMID: 35488018 PMCID: PMC9054825 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-10981-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Accepted: 04/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual processing of emotional stimuli has been shown to engage complex cortical and subcortical networks, but it is still unclear how it affects sensorimotor integration processes. To fill this gap, here, we used a TMS protocol named short-latency afferent inhibition (SAI), capturing sensorimotor interactions, while healthy participants were observing emotional body language (EBL) and International Affective Picture System (IAPS) stimuli. Participants were presented with emotional (fear- and happiness-related) or non-emotional (neutral) EBL and IAPS stimuli while SAI was tested at 120 ms and 300 ms after pictures presentation. At the earlier time point (120 ms), we found that fear-related EBL and IAPS stimuli selectively enhanced SAI as indexed by the greater inhibitory effect of somatosensory afferents on motor excitability. Larger early SAI enhancement was associated with lower scores at the Behavioural Inhibition Scale (BIS). At the later time point (300 ms), we found a generalized SAI decrease for all kind of stimuli (fear, happiness or neutral). Because the SAI index reflects integrative activity of cholinergic sensorimotor circuits, our findings suggest greater sensitivity of such circuits during early (120 ms) processing of threat-related information. Moreover, the correlation with BIS score may suggest increased attention and sensory vigilance in participants with greater anxiety-related dispositions. In conclusion, the results of this study show that sensorimotor inhibition is rapidly enhanced while processing threatening stimuli and that SAI protocol might be a valuable option in evaluating emotional-motor interactions in physiological and pathological conditions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Botta
- Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Viale Benedetto XV/3, 16132, Genoa, Italy.,Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics and Maternal Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Giovanna Lagravinese
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics and Maternal Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.,IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
| | - Marco Bove
- Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Viale Benedetto XV/3, 16132, Genoa, Italy.,IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
| | - Elisa Pelosin
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics and Maternal Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.,IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
| | - Gaia Bonassi
- S.C. Medicina Fisica e Riabilitazione Ospedaliera, ASL4, Azienda Sanitaria Locale Chiavarese, Chiavari, Italy
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Centro di Neuroscienze Cognitive and Dipartimento di Psicologia, Campus Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy.,Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile
| | - Laura Avanzino
- Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Viale Benedetto XV/3, 16132, Genoa, Italy. .,IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy.
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Papanagnou D, Klein MR, Zhang XC, Cameron KA, Doty A, McCarthy DM, Rising KL, Salzman DH. Developing standardized patient-based cases for communication training: lessons learned from training residents to communicate diagnostic uncertainty. Adv Simul (Lond) 2021; 6:26. [PMID: 34294153 PMCID: PMC8296470 DOI: 10.1186/s41077-021-00176-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2021] [Accepted: 06/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Health professions education has benefitted from standardized patient (SP) programs to develop and refine communication and interpersonal skills in trainees. Effective case design is essential to ensure an SP encounter successfully meets learning objectives that are focused on communication skills. Creative, well-designed case scenarios offer learners the opportunity to engage in complex patient encounters, while challenging them to address the personal and emotional contexts in which their patients are situated. Therefore, prior to considering the practical execution of the patient encounter, educators will first need a clear and structured strategy for writing, organizing, and developing cases. The authors reflect on lessons learned in developing standardized patient-based cases to train learners to communicate to patients during times of diagnostic uncertainty, and provide suggestions to develop a set of simulation cases that are both standardized and diverse. Key steps and workflow processes that can assist educators with case design are introduced. The authors review the need to increase awareness of and mitigate existing norms and implicit biases, while maximizing variation in patient diversity. Opportunities to leverage the breadth of emotional dispositions of the SP and the affective domain of a clinical encounter are also discussed as a means to guide future case development and maximize the value of a case for its respective learning outcomes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dimitrios Papanagnou
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, 1025 Walnut Street, College Building, Suite 100, Room 101, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA.
| | - Matthew R Klein
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Xiao Chi Zhang
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, 1025 Walnut Street, College Building, Suite 100, Room 101, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA
| | - Kenzie A Cameron
- Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics/Department of Medicine and Department of Medical Education, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Amanda Doty
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Danielle M McCarthy
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Kristin L Rising
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, 1025 Walnut Street, College Building, Suite 100, Room 101, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA
| | - David H Salzman
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
- Department of Medical Education, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Scheer C, Kubowitsch S, Dendorfer S, Jansen P. Happy Enough to Relax? How Positive and Negative Emotions Activate Different Muscular Regions in the Back - an Explorative Study. Front Psychol 2021; 12:511746. [PMID: 34135791 PMCID: PMC8201496 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.511746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2020] [Accepted: 05/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Embodiment theories have proposed a reciprocal relationship between emotional state and bodily reactions. Besides large body postures, recent studies have found emotions to affect rather subtle bodily expressions, such as slumped or upright sitting posture. This study investigated back muscle activity as an indication of an effect of positive and negative emotions on the sitting position. The electromyography (EMG) activity of six back muscles was recorded in 31 healthy subjects during exposure to positive and negative affective pictures. A resting period was used as a control condition. Increased muscle activity patterns in the back were found during the exposure to negative emotional stimuli, which was mainly measured in the lumbar and thorax regions. The positive emotion condition caused no elevated activity. The findings show that negative emotions lead to increased differential muscle activity in the back and thus corroborate those of previous research that emotion affects subtle bodily expressions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Clara Scheer
- Institute of Sport Science, Faculty of Humanities, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Simone Kubowitsch
- Laboratory for Biomechanics, Ostbayrische Technische Hoschschule Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Sebastian Dendorfer
- Laboratory for Biomechanics, Ostbayrische Technische Hoschschule Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Petra Jansen
- Institute of Sport Science, Faculty of Humanities, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Gerłowska J, Dmitruk K, Rejdak K. Facial emotion mimicry in older adults with and without cognitive impairments due to Alzheimer's disease. AIMS Neurosci 2021; 8:226-238. [PMID: 33709026 PMCID: PMC7940111 DOI: 10.3934/neuroscience.2021012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2021] [Accepted: 01/25/2021] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Facial expression of humans is one of the main channels of everyday communication. The reported research work investigated communication regarding the pattern of emotional expression of healthy older adults and with mild cognitive impairments (MCI) or Alzheimer's disease (AD). It focuses on mimicking of displayed emotional facial expression on a sample of 25 older adults (healthy, MCI and AD patients). The adequacy of the patients' individual facial expressions in six basic emotions was measured with the Kinect 3D recording of the participants' facial expressions and compared to their own typical emotional facial expressions. The reactions were triggered by mimicking 49 still pictures of emotional facial expressions. No statistically significant differences in terms of frequency nor adequacy of emotional facial expression were reported in healthy and MCI groups. Unique patterns of emotional expressions have been observed in the AD group. Further investigating the pattern of older adults' facial expression may decrease the misunderstandings and increase the quality of life of the patients.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Justyna Gerłowska
- Department of Educational Psychology and Psychological Assessment, Institute of Psychology University of Maria Skłodowska-Curie, Lublin, Poland
| | - Krzysztof Dmitruk
- Institute of IT, University of Maria Skłodowska-Curie, Lublin, Poland
| | - Konrad Rejdak
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Botta A, Lagravinese G, Bove M, Avenanti A, Avanzino L. Modulation of Response Times During Processing of Emotional Body Language. Front Psychol 2021; 12:616995. [PMID: 33716882 PMCID: PMC7947862 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.616995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2020] [Accepted: 01/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The investigation of how humans perceive and respond to emotional signals conveyed by the human body has been for a long time secondary compared with the investigation of facial expressions and emotional scenes recognition. The aims of this behavioral study were to assess the ability to process emotional body postures and to test whether motor response is mainly driven by the emotional content of the picture or if it is influenced by motor resonance. Emotional body postures and scenes (IAPS) divided into three clusters (fear, happiness, and neutral) were shown to 25 healthy subjects (13 males, mean age ± SD: 22.3 ± 1.8 years) in a three-alternative forced choice task. Subjects were asked to recognize the emotional content of the pictures by pressing one of three keys as fast as possible in order to estimate response times (RTs). The rating of valence and arousal was also performed. We found shorter RTs for fearful body postures as compared with happy and neutral postures. In contrast, no differences across emotional categories were found for the IAPS stimuli. Analysis on valence and arousal and the subsequent item analysis showed an excellent reliability of the two sets of images used in the experiment. Our results show that fearful body postures are rapidly recognized and processed, probably thanks to the automatic activation of a series of central nervous system structures orchestrating the defensive threat reactions, strengthening and supporting previous neurophysiological and behavioral findings in body language processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Botta
- Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics and Maternal Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Giovanna Lagravinese
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics and Maternal Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
- IRCCS Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
| | - Marco Bove
- Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
- IRCCS Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Centro di Neuroscienze Cognitive and Dipartimento di Psicologia, Campus Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy
- Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile
| | - Laura Avanzino
- Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
- IRCCS Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Salvadori EA, Colonnesi C, Vonk HS, Oort FJ, Aktar E. Infant Emotional Mimicry of Strangers: Associations with Parent Emotional Mimicry, Parent-Infant Mutual Attention, and Parent Dispositional Affective Empathy. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph18020654. [PMID: 33466629 PMCID: PMC7828673 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18020654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2020] [Revised: 12/30/2020] [Accepted: 01/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Emotional mimicry, the tendency to automatically and spontaneously reproduce others’ facial expressions, characterizes human social interactions from infancy onwards. Yet, little is known about the factors modulating its development in the first year of life. This study investigated infant emotional mimicry and its association with parent emotional mimicry, parent-infant mutual attention, and parent dispositional affective empathy. One hundred and seventeen parent-infant dyads (51 six-month-olds, 66 twelve-month-olds) were observed during video presentation of strangers’ happy, sad, angry, and fearful faces. Infant and parent emotional mimicry (i.e., facial expressions valence-congruent to the video) and their mutual attention (i.e., simultaneous gaze at one another) were systematically coded second-by-second. Parent empathy was assessed via self-report. Path models indicated that infant mimicry of happy stimuli was positively and independently associated with parent mimicry and affective empathy, while infant mimicry of sad stimuli was related to longer parent-infant mutual attention. Findings provide new insights into infants’ and parents’ coordination of mimicry and attention during triadic contexts of interactions, endorsing the social-affiliative function of mimicry already present in infancy: emotional mimicry occurs as an automatic parent-infant shared behavior and early manifestation of empathy only when strangers’ emotional displays are positive, and thus perceived as affiliative.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Eliala A. Salvadori
- Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands; (C.C.); (H.S.V.); (F.J.O.); (E.A.)
- Research Priority Area Yield, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +31-633-853-534
| | - Cristina Colonnesi
- Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands; (C.C.); (H.S.V.); (F.J.O.); (E.A.)
- Research Priority Area Yield, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Heleen S. Vonk
- Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands; (C.C.); (H.S.V.); (F.J.O.); (E.A.)
| | - Frans J. Oort
- Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands; (C.C.); (H.S.V.); (F.J.O.); (E.A.)
- Research Priority Area Yield, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Evin Aktar
- Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands; (C.C.); (H.S.V.); (F.J.O.); (E.A.)
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden University, 2333 AK Leiden, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Jerath R, Beveridge C. Respiratory Rhythm, Autonomic Modulation, and the Spectrum of Emotions: The Future of Emotion Recognition and Modulation. Front Psychol 2020; 11:1980. [PMID: 32922338 PMCID: PMC7457013 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01980] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2020] [Accepted: 07/16/2020] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Pulmonary ventilation and respiration are considered to be primarily involved in oxygenation of blood for oxygen delivery to cells throughout the body for metabolic purposes. Other pulmonary physiological observations, such as respiratory sinus arrhythmia, Hering Brewer reflex, cardiorespiratory synchronization, and the heart rate variability (HRV) relationship with breathing rhythm, lack complete explanations of physiological/functional significance. The spectrum of waveforms of breathing activity correlate to anxiety, depression, anger, stress, and other positive and negative emotions. Respiratory pattern has been thought not only to be influenced by emotion but to itself influence emotion in a bi-directional relationship between the body and the mind. In order to show how filling in gaps in understanding could lead to certain future developments in mind-body medicine, biofeedback, and personal health monitoring, we review and discuss empirical work and tracings to express the vital role of bodily rhythms in influencing emotion, autonomic nervous system activity, and even general neural activity. Future developments in measurement and psychophysiological understanding of the pattern of breathing in combination with other parameters such as HRV, cardiorespiratory synchronization, and skin conductivity may allow for biometric monitoring systems to one day accurately predict affective state and even affective disorders such as anxiety. Better affective prediction based on recent research when incorporated into personal health monitoring devices could greatly improve public mental health by providing at-home biofeedback for greater understanding of one's mental state and for mind-body affective treatments such as breathing exercises.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ravinder Jerath
- Charitable Medical Healthcare Foundation, Augusta, GA, United States
| | | |
Collapse
|
22
|
Bidet-Ildei C, Decatoire A, Gil S. Recognition of Emotions From Facial Point-Light Displays. Front Psychol 2020; 11:1062. [PMID: 32581934 PMCID: PMC7287185 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2020] [Accepted: 04/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Facial emotion recognition occupies a prominent place in emotion psychology. How perceivers recognize messages conveyed by faces can be studied in either an explicit or an implicit way, and using different kinds of facial stimuli. In the present study, we explored for the first time how facial point-light displays (PLDs) (i.e., biological motion with minimal perceptual properties) can elicit both explicit and implicit mechanisms of facial emotion recognition. Participants completed tasks of explicit or implicit facial emotion recognition from PLDs. Results showed that point-light stimuli are sufficient to allow facial emotion recognition, be it explicit and implicit. We argue that this finding could encourage the use of PLDs in research on the perception of emotional cues from faces.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christel Bidet-Ildei
- Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France.,Université de Tours, Tours, France.,Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition et l'Apprentissage, UMR 7295, Poitiers, France.,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris, France
| | - Arnaud Decatoire
- Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France.,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris, France.,Institut Pprime UPR 3346, Poitiers, France
| | - Sandrine Gil
- Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France.,Université de Tours, Tours, France.,Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition et l'Apprentissage, UMR 7295, Poitiers, France.,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris, France
| |
Collapse
|