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Jo H, Baek EM. Virtual resonance: analyzing IPA usage intensity under COVID-19's isolating canopy. Sci Rep 2024; 14:15048. [PMID: 38951614 PMCID: PMC11217460 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-64809-8] [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: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 06/13/2024] [Indexed: 07/03/2024] Open
Abstract
The widespread adoption of smartphones coupled with advancements in artificial intelligence has significantly propelled the use of intelligent personal assistants (IPAs). These digital assistants have become indispensable for many users, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Employing coviance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) and analyzing data from 260 participants, this study explores the key factors influencing IPA usage intensity. Contrary to expectations, affective risk perception showed no significant impact on either IPA usage or parasocial interaction during the pandemic. In stark contrast, cabin fever syndrome significantly influenced both IPA usage and parasocial interaction, underscoring the role of environmental and psychological stressors in shaping technology use. Furthermore, loneliness was found to significantly enhance parasocial interaction with IPAs, though it did not affect usage intensity. The findings highlight a substantial connection between parasocial interaction and IPA usage intensity, suggesting that users who engage in human-like interactions with IPAs tend to use them more extensively. These insights not only deepen our understanding of how IPAs are utilized during health crises but also point to potential directions for developing IPAs that are more responsive to users' emotional and social needs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyeon Jo
- HJ Institute of Technology and Management, 71 Jungdong-ro 39, Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, 14721, Republic of Korea.
| | - Eun-Mi Baek
- Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 222 Banpo-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul, 06591, Republic of Korea.
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2
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Balikci A, Eryilmaz U, Guler VK, Ilbay G. Tactile stimulation of young WAG/Rij rats prevents development of depression but not absence epilepsy. Front Behav Neurosci 2024; 18:1433431. [PMID: 38993266 PMCID: PMC11236540 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1433431] [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: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 06/17/2024] [Indexed: 07/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Investigations in Wistar Albino Glaxo from Rijswijk (WAG/Rij) rats that are susceptible to genetic absence epilepsy have demonstrated that environmental modifications affect absence seizures. Previously, we showed that neonatal tactile stimulations produce disease-modifying effect on genetically determined absence epilepsy and associated depression in Wag/Rij rats. The study presented here examined the effect of TS during late ontogenesis (adolescence and young adulthood) on epilepsy and depression outcomes in this genetically epileptic rat strain. On postnatal day (PND) 38, male WAG/Rij rats randomly were assigned to either the tactile stimulation (TS), handled or control group (unhandled) with 8 animals in each group. Following a 7-day adaptation period to their new surroundings, the animals were submitted to tactile stimulation from PND 45 to PND 90, five days per week, for 5 min daily. The tactile-stimulated rat was removed from its cage, placed on the experimenter's lap, and had its neck and back gently stroked by the researcher. The handled rats were taken to another cage and left alone for 5 min daily from PND 45 to PND 90. The control rats were left undisturbed in their home cage, except for regular cage cleaning. After PND 90, all rats were left undisturbed until behavioral testing and EEG recording. When the animals were 7 months old, they were subjected to the sucrose consumption test (SCT) and the forced swimming test (FST). Electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings were made at 8 months of age in order to measure electroencephalographic seizure activity, thus, the spike-wave discharges (SWDs). Tactile-stimulated rats showed increased sucrose consumption and number of approaches to the sucrose solution in the SCT when compared with the handled and control rats. In the FST, rats in TS group showed lower immobility time and greater immobility latency, active swimming time and diving frequency than the handled and control rats. The duration and the number of seizures were not different amongst the groups. The data obtained suggest that TS in young rats is able to prevent depression in WAG/Rij rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aymen Balikci
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kocaeli University, İzmit, Türkiye
| | - Ugur Eryilmaz
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kocaeli University, İzmit, Türkiye
| | - Vildan Keles Guler
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kocaeli University, İzmit, Türkiye
| | - Gul Ilbay
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kocaeli University, İzmit, Türkiye
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Yang J, Fang H. Integrating Embodied Social Presence Theory and Process Virtualization Theory to assess business process virtualizability: The mediating role of embodied co-presence. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0305423. [PMID: 38875247 PMCID: PMC11178220 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0305423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2024] [Accepted: 05/29/2024] [Indexed: 06/16/2024] Open
Abstract
In the digital era, the integration of technology within business processes is pivotal for organizational efficiency. This study investigates the impact of IT characteristics-specifically IT representation, IT reach, and monitoring capability-on the virtualizability of business processes, utilizing the frameworks of Embodied Social Presence Theory (ESPT) and Process Virtualization Theory (PVT). Our objective is to explore how these IT characteristics, through the mediation of embodied co-presence, enhance business process virtualizability in the context of collaborative tools. Addressing a gap in existing literature, we propose that beyond facilitating virtualization, IT characteristics deeply influence virtual processes by integrating human-centric experiences of co-presence. To examine this, we analyzed data from 311 Korean employees with remote work experience during the COVID-19 pandemic using Smart-PLS 4. Our findings indicate that IT representation and IT reach significantly contribute to business process virtualizability, mediated by embodied co-presence. Surprisingly, monitoring capability did not significantly affect either embodied co-presence or process virtualizability, challenging initial assumptions. This study bridges ESPT and PVT to offer new insights into the roles of IT characteristics in process virtualization, highlighting the importance of human-centric IT design. The results provide valuable guidance for businesses and developers of collaborative tools, underscoring the need to enhance virtual work environments through technology that fosters a sense of presence and collaboration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Yang
- Department of Global Business, Chonnam National University, Yeosu, South Korea
| | - Hualong Fang
- College of Liberal Arts, Cheongju University, Cheongju, South Korea
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Saramandi A, Au YK, Koukoutsakis A, Zheng CY, Godwin A, Bianchi-Berthouze N, Jewitt C, Jenkinson PM, Fotopoulou A. Tactile emoticons: Conveying social emotions and intentions with manual and robotic tactile feedback during social media communications. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0304417. [PMID: 38865322 PMCID: PMC11168615 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 05/12/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Touch offers important non-verbal possibilities for socioaffective communication. Yet most digital communications lack capabilities regarding exchanging affective tactile messages (tactile emoticons). Additionally, previous studies on tactile emoticons have not capitalised on knowledge about the affective effects of certain mechanoreceptors in the human skin, e.g., the C-Tactile (CT) system. Here, we examined whether gentle manual stroking delivered in velocities known to optimally activate the CT system (defined as 'tactile emoticons'), during lab-simulated social media communications could convey increased feelings of social support and other prosocial intentions compared to (1) either stroking touch at CT sub-optimal velocities, or (2) standard visual emoticons. Participants (N = 36) felt more social intent with CT-optimal compared to sub-optimal velocities, or visual emoticons. In a second, preregistered study (N = 52), we investigated whether combining visual emoticons with tactile emoticons, this time delivered at CT-optimal velocities by a soft robotic device, could enhance the perception of prosocial intentions and affect participants' physiological measures (e.g., skin conductance rate) in comparison to visual emoticons alone. Visuotactile emoticons conveyed more social intent overall and in anxious participants affected physiological measures more than visual emoticons. The results suggest that emotional social media communications can be meaningfully enhanced by tactile emoticons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alkistis Saramandi
- Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Yee Ki Au
- Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Athanasios Koukoutsakis
- Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Caroline Yan Zheng
- Royal College of Art, London, United Kingdom
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | | | - Carey Jewitt
- UCL Knowledge Lab, Culture Communication and Media, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Paul M. Jenkinson
- Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- Faculty of Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy, The Cairnmillar Institute, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Aikaterini Fotopoulou
- Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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Carnevali L, Valori I, Mason G, Altoè G, Farroni T. Interpersonal motor synchrony in autism: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Psychiatry 2024; 15:1355068. [PMID: 38439792 PMCID: PMC10909819 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1355068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 03/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Interpersonal motor synchrony (IMS) is the spontaneous, voluntary, or instructed coordination of movements between interacting partners. Throughout the life cycle, it shapes social exchanges and interplays with intra- and inter-individual characteristics that may diverge in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Here we perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the extant literature and quantify the evidence about reduced IMS in dyads including at least one participant with a diagnosis of ASD. Methods Empirical evidence from sixteen experimental studies was systematically reviewed, encompassing spontaneous and instructed paradigms as well as a paucity of measures used to assess IMS. Of these, thirteen studies (n = 512 dyads) contributed measures of IMS with an in situ neurotypical partner (TD) for ASD and control groups, which could be used for meta-analyses. Results Reduced synchronization in ASD-TD dyads emerged from both the systematic review and meta-analyses, although both small and large effect sizes (i.e., Hedge's g) in favor of the control group are consistent with the data (Hedge's g = .85, p < 0.001, 95% CI[.35, 1.35], 95% PI[-.89, 2.60]). Discussion Uncertainty is discussed relative to the type of task, measures, and age range considered in each study. We further discuss that sharing similar experiences of the world might help to synchronize with one another. Future studies should not only assess whether reduced IMS is consistently observed in ASD-TD dyads and how this shapes social exchanges, but also explore whether and how ASD-ASD dyads synchronize during interpersonal exchanges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Carnevali
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Irene Valori
- Chair of Acoustics and Haptics, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- Centre for Tactile Internet with Human-in-the-Loop (CeTI), Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Giorgia Mason
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Gianmarco Altoè
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Teresa Farroni
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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Saini G, Zain M, Noronha M, Bonin RP, Lomanowska AM. Virtually simulated interpersonal touch negatively affects perceived closeness and social affiliation to an avatar partner. Sci Rep 2024; 14:1347. [PMID: 38228629 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-51773-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 01/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Interpersonal touch is an essential component of human non-verbal communication, facilitating social affiliation and bonding. With the widespread use of digital interfaces and online platforms in all realms of human interactions, there are fewer opportunities for communicating through touch. Popular online platforms that virtually simulate human interactions rely primarily on visual and auditory modalities, providing limited or no capacity for the exchange of tactile cues. Previous studies of virtual interactions have explored the simulation of social touch using haptic devices, but little is known about how the visual representation of interpersonal touch is perceived and integrated into a virtual social experience. In two studies we examined how the exchange of virtual touch mediated by simulated 3-dimensional human characters, or avatars, within an online virtual environment influenced affiliation towards an unfamiliar interaction partner. Surprisingly, the exchange of virtual touch negatively affected the perceived closeness and affiliation to the partner and the social evaluation of the interaction but did not affect the level of physiological arousal during the interaction. These results indicate that the visual representation of social touch is sufficient to virtually communicate touch-related cues that impact social affiliation, but the influence of touch may be dependent on the interaction context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Garima Saini
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, L5L 1C6, Canada
| | - Maham Zain
- Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3M2, Canada
| | - Marigrace Noronha
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, L5L 1C6, Canada
| | - Robert P Bonin
- Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3M2, Canada
- University of Toronto Centre for the Study of Pain, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3M2, Canada
| | - Anna M Lomanowska
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, L5L 1C6, Canada.
- Transitional Pain Service, Department of Anesthesia and Pain Management, Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network, 200 Elizabeth St., Toronto, ON, M5G 2C4, Canada.
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Bellard A, Trotter PD, McGlone FL, Cazzato V. Role of medial prefrontal cortex and primary somatosensory cortex in self and other-directed vicarious social touch: a TMS study. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2023; 18:nsad060. [PMID: 37837378 PMCID: PMC10640852 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsad060] [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: 04/11/2023] [Revised: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Conflicting evidence points to the contribution of several key nodes of the 'social brain' to the processing of both discriminatory and affective qualities of interpersonal touch. Whether the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), two brain areas vital for tactile mirroring and affective mentalizing, play a functional role in shared representations of C-tactile (CT) targeted affective touch is still a matter of debate. Here, we used offline continuous theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (cTBS) to mPFC, S1 and vertex (control) prior to participants providing ratings of vicarious touch pleasantness for self and others delivered across several body sites at CT-targeted velocities. We found that S1-cTBS led to a significant increase in touch ratings to the self, with this effect being positively associated to levels of interoceptive awareness. Conversely, mPFC-cTBS reduced pleasantness ratings for touch to another person. These effects were not specific for CT-optimal (slow) stroking velocities, but rather they applied to all types of social touch. Overall, our findings challenge the causal role of the S1 and mPFC in vicarious affective touch and suggest that self- vs other-directed vicarious touch responses might crucially depend on the specific involvement of key social networks in gentle tactile interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashleigh Bellard
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
| | - Paula D Trotter
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
| | - Francis L McGlone
- Institute of Psychology, Health & Society, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Valentina Cazzato
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
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Farroni T, Valori I, Carnevali L. Multimedia Interventions for Neurodiversity: Leveraging Insights from Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience to Build an Innovative Practice. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12020147. [PMID: 35203911 PMCID: PMC8870117 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12020147] [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: 12/23/2021] [Revised: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Multimedia technologies and virtual reality offer unique possibilities to manipulate sensory, motor, interpersonal, and cognitive processes contributing to atypical developmental trajectories, thus holding an explosive potential to design innovative and engaging interventions. However, there has been little progress in developing interventions that go beyond the patient’s diagnosis or the fascination of technology and rather spring from a deep understanding of the specific neuropsychological processes to be nurtured in individuals. This perspective paper outlines how recent insights from developmental cognitive neuroscience can be leveraged to promote children’s multidimensional development and highlight future directions and challenges for innovating both research and clinical practice. Finally, we focus on some practical examples of multimedia and virtual reality activities we have designed to stimulate bodily-self experiences, which are crucial for building up a coherent sense of self and lay the foundation for interacting with the external world. Atypical bodily self is an early marker of heterogeneous neurodevelopmental conditions (such as autism spectrum disorders) and seems to be under-targeted in research and clinical approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Farroni
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialisation, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy; (I.V.); (L.C.)
- Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padova, 35129 Padova, Italy
- Correspondence:
| | - Irene Valori
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialisation, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy; (I.V.); (L.C.)
| | - Laura Carnevali
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialisation, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy; (I.V.); (L.C.)
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