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Cantoni C, Salaris A, Monti A, Porciello G, Aglioti SM. Probing corporeal awareness in women through virtual reality induction of embreathment illusion. Sci Rep 2024; 14:9302. [PMID: 38654060 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-59766-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024] Open
Abstract
We capitalized on the respiratory bodily illusion that we discovered in a previous study and called 'Embreathment' where we showed that breathing modulates corporeal awareness in men. Despite the relevance of the issue, no such studies are available in women. To bridge this gap, we tested whether the synchronization of avatar-participant respiration patterns influenced females' bodily awareness. We collected cardiac and respiratory interoceptive measures, administered body (dis)satisfaction questionnaires, and tracked participants' menstrual cycles via a mobile app. Our approach allowed us to characterize the 'Embreathment' illusion in women, and explore the relationships between menstrual cycle, interoception and body image. We found that breathing was as crucial as visual appearance in eliciting feelings of ownership and held greater significance than any other cue with respect to body agency in both women and men. Moreover, a positive correlation between menstrual cycle days and body image concerns, and a negative correlation between interoceptive sensibility and body dissatisfaction were found, confirming that women's body dissatisfaction arises during the last days of menstrual cycle and is associated with interoception. These findings have potential implications for corporeal awareness alterations in clinical conditions like eating disorders and schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Cantoni
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185, Rome, Italy.
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy.
| | - Andrea Salaris
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185, Rome, Italy.
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy.
| | - Alessandro Monti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - Giuseppina Porciello
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy
- CLN2S@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Sapienza University Rome, 00161, Rome, Italy
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2
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Mello M, Fusaro M, Aglioti SM. The neuroscience of human empathy for pleasure: protocol for a scoping review. Syst Rev 2024; 13:82. [PMID: 38431698 PMCID: PMC10908019 DOI: 10.1186/s13643-024-02481-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The neuroscience of human empathy for pleasure and positive affect is an emergent, scarcely addressed topic. The main aim of this scoping review is to map the impact of this new research domain on the field of social and affective neuroscience. INTRODUCTION Most of the literature on empathy and affect sharing has hitherto focused on negative emotions, with a special focus on pain. However, understanding, sharing, and reacting to others' pleasures is an evolutionarily and socially important function. Our scoping review addresses this gap in the literature and tries to unify the available information under the empathy for pleasure umbrella. INCLUSION CRITERIA This scoping review is intended to cover studies on empathy for positive emotions, pleasant sensory outcomes, and other rewards in healthy individuals and neurological/neuropsychiatric/neurodevelopmental disorders populations. METHODS We will perform a systematic search in the Medline (PubMed), Scopus, and Web of Science (WoS) databases. Two authors will independently screen all titles, abstracts, and then full-text articles that meet the inclusion criteria. The year range of interest will be 2000-2022, and only journal articles published in English will be assessed. Data will be extracted and presented in tables and/or graphical representations to synthesize and describe the results. The extracted data will be reported in a comprehensive summary. RESULTS The final manuscript is intended for submission to an indexed journal in late 2023/beginning 2024. CONCLUSIONS To our knowledge, the present scoping review will be the first to address the variety and heterogeneity of available evidence on human empathy for pleasure. We ultimately aim at perusing the growing literature on this far-reaching field of study and informing future research. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION The neuroscience of human empathy for pleasure: Protocol for a scoping review. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/W7H6J . (December 27, 2022).
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Mello
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia (IIT), Rome, Italy.
| | - Martina Fusaro
- Social Neuroscience Lab, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia (IIT), Rome, Italy
- Social Neuroscience Lab, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
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3
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Lisi MP, Fusaro M, Aglioti SM. Visual perspective and body ownership modulate vicarious pain and touch: A systematic review. Psychon Bull Rev 2024:10.3758/s13423-024-02477-5. [PMID: 38429591 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-024-02477-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/04/2024] [Indexed: 03/03/2024]
Abstract
We conducted a systematic review investigating the influence of visual perspective and body ownership (BO) on vicarious brain resonance and vicarious sensations during the observation of pain and touch. Indeed, the way in which brain reactivity and the phenomenological experience can be modulated by blurring the bodily boundaries of self-other distinction is still unclear. We screened Scopus and WebOfScience, and identified 31 articles, published from 2000 to 2022. Results show that assuming an egocentric perspective enhances vicarious resonance and vicarious sensations. Studies on synaesthetes suggest that vicarious conscious experiences are associated with an increased tendency to embody fake body parts, even in the absence of congruent multisensory stimulation. Moreover, immersive virtual reality studies show that the type of embodied virtual body can affect high-order sensations such as appropriateness, unpleasantness, and erogeneity, associated with the touched body part and the toucher's social identity. We conclude that perspective plays a key role in the resonance with others' pain and touch, and full-BO over virtual avatars allows investigation of complex aspects of pain and touch perception which would not be possible in reality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo P Lisi
- CLN2S@Sapienza, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) and Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161, Rome, Italy.
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Via Ardeatina 306, 00179, Rome, Italy.
| | - Martina Fusaro
- CLN2S@Sapienza, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) and Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Via Ardeatina 306, 00179, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- CLN2S@Sapienza, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) and Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Via Ardeatina 306, 00179, Rome, Italy
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Grisoni L, Piperno G, Moreau Q, Molinari M, Scivoletto G, Aglioti SM. Predicting and coding sound into action translation in spinal cord injured people. Eur J Neurosci 2024; 59:1029-1046. [PMID: 38276915 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.16258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2023] [Revised: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
Motor activation in response to perception of action-related stimuli may depend on a resonance mechanism subserving action understanding. The extent to which this mechanism is innate or learned from sensorimotor experience is still unclear. Here, we recorded EEG while people with paraplegia or tetraplegia consequent to spinal cord injury (SCI) and healthy control participants were presented with action sounds produced by body parts (mouth, hands or feet) that were or were not affected by SCI. Non-action sounds were used as further control. We observed reduced brain activation in subjects affected by SCI at both pre- and post-stimulus latencies specifically for those actions whose effector was disconnected by the spinal lesion (i.e., hand sound for tetraplegia and leg sound for both paraplegia and tetraplegia). Correlation analyses showed that these modulations were functionally linked with the chronicity of the lesion, indicating that the longer the time the lesion- EEG data acquisition interval and/or the more the lesion occurred at a young age, the weaker was the cortical activity in response to these action sounds. Tellingly, source estimations confirmed that these modulations originated from a deficit in the motor resonance mechanism, by showing diminished activity in premotor (during prediction and perception) and near the primary motor (during perception) areas. Such dissociation along the cortical hierarchy is consistent with both previous reports in healthy subjects and with hierarchical predictive coding accounts. Overall, these data expand on the notion that sensorimotor experience maintains the cortical representations relevant to anticipate and perceive action-related stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luigi Grisoni
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia IIT, Rome, Italy
- Department of Philosophy and Humanities, Brain Language Laboratory, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Giulio Piperno
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia IIT, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Quentin Moreau
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia IIT, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | | | | | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia IIT, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
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5
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Scandola M, Beccherle M, Togni R, Caffini G, Ferrari F, Aglioti SM, Moro V. Topographic mapping of the sensorimotor qualities of empathic reactivity: A psychophysiological study in people with spinal cord injuries. Psychophysiology 2024:e14547. [PMID: 38372443 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Revised: 01/03/2024] [Accepted: 02/04/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
The experience of empathy for pain is underpinned by sensorimotor and affective dimensions which, although interconnected, are at least in part behaviorally and neurally distinct. Spinal cord injuries (SCI) induce a massive, below-lesion level, sensorimotor body-brain disconnection. This condition may make it possible to test whether sensorimotor deprivation alters specific dimensions of empathic reactivity to observed pain. To explore this issue, we asked SCI people with paraplegia and healthy controls to observe videos of painful or neutral stimuli administered to a hand (intact) or a foot (deafferented). The stimuli were displayed by means of a virtual reality set-up and seen from a first person (1PP) or third person (3PP) visual perspective. A number of measures were recorded ranging from explicit behaviors like explicit verbal reports on the videos, to implicit measures of muscular activity (like EMG from the corrugator and zygomatic muscles that may represent a proxy of sensorimotor empathy) and of autonomic reactivity (like the electrodermal response and Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia that may represent a general proxy of affective empathy). While no across group differences in explicit verbal reports about the pain stimuli were found, SCI people exhibited reduced facial muscle reactivity to the stimuli applied to the foot (but not the hand) seen from the 1PP. Tellingly, the corrugator activity correlated with SCI participants' neuropathic pain. There were no across group differences in autonomic reactivity suggesting that SCI lesions may affect sensorimotor dimensions connected to empathy for pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Scandola
- NPSY.Lab-VR, Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Maddalena Beccherle
- NPSY.Lab-VR, Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
- CLN2S@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Giulia Caffini
- NPSY.Lab-VR, Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | | | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- CLN2S@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Fondazione Santa Lucia, IRCCS Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Valentina Moro
- NPSY.Lab-VR, Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
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6
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Vlasceanu M, Doell KC, Bak-Coleman JB, Todorova B, Berkebile-Weinberg MM, Grayson SJ, Patel Y, Goldwert D, Pei Y, Chakroff A, Pronizius E, van den Broek KL, Vlasceanu D, Constantino S, Morais MJ, Schumann P, Rathje S, Fang K, Aglioti SM, Alfano M, Alvarado-Yepez AJ, Andersen A, Anseel F, Apps MAJ, Asadli C, Awuor FJ, Azevedo F, Basaglia P, Bélanger JJ, Berger S, Bertin P, Białek M, Bialobrzeska O, Blaya-Burgo M, Bleize DNM, Bø S, Boecker L, Boggio PS, Borau S, Bos B, Bouguettaya A, Brauer M, Brick C, Brik T, Briker R, Brosch T, Buchel O, Buonauro D, Butalia R, Carvacho H, Chamberlain SAE, Chan HY, Chow D, Chung D, Cian L, Cohen-Eick N, Contreras-Huerta LS, Contu D, Cristea V, Cutler J, D'Ottone S, De Keersmaecker J, Delcourt S, Delouvée S, Diel K, Douglas BD, Drupp MA, Dubey S, Ekmanis J, Elbaek CT, Elsherif M, Engelhard IM, Escher YA, Etienne TW, Farage L, Farias AR, Feuerriegel S, Findor A, Freira L, Friese M, Gains NP, Gallyamova A, Geiger SJ, Genschow O, Gjoneska B, Gkinopoulos T, Goldberg B, Goldenberg A, Gradidge S, Grassini S, Gray K, Grelle S, Griffin SM, Grigoryan L, Grigoryan A, Grigoryev D, Gruber J, Guilaran J, Hadar B, Hahnel UJ, Halperin E, Harvey AJ, Haugestad CAP, Herman AM, Hershfield HE, Himichi T, Hine DW, Hofmann W, Howe L, Huaman-Chulluncuy ET, Huang G, Ishii T, Ito A, Jia F, Jost JT, Jovanović V, Jurgiel D, Kácha O, Kankaanpää R, Kantorowicz J, Kantorowicz-Reznichenko E, Kaplan Mintz K, Kaya I, Kaya O, Khachatryan N, Klas A, Klein C, Klöckner CA, Koppel L, Kosachenko AI, Kothe EJ, Krebs R, Krosch AR, Krouwel AP, Kyrychenko Y, Lagomarsino M, Lamm C, Lange F, Lee Cunningham J, Lees J, Leung TY, Levy N, Lockwood PL, Longoni C, López Ortega A, Loschelder DD, Lu JG, Luo Y, Luomba J, Lutz AE, Majer JM, Markowitz E, Marsh AA, Mascarenhas KL, Mbilingi B, Mbungu W, McHugh C, Meijers MH, Mercier H, Mhagama FL, Michalakis K, Mikus N, Milliron S, Mitkidis P, Monge-Rodríguez FS, Mora YL, Moreau D, Motoki K, Moyano M, Mus M, Navajas J, Nguyen TL, Nguyen DM, Nguyen T, Niemi L, Nijssen SRR, Nilsonne G, Nitschke JP, Nockur L, Okura R, Öner S, Özdoğru AA, Palumbo H, Panagopoulos C, Panasiti MS, Pärnamets P, Paruzel-Czachura M, Pavlov YG, Payán-Gómez C, Pearson AR, Pereira da Costa L, Petrowsky HM, Pfattheicher S, Pham NT, Ponizovskiy V, Pretus C, Rêgo GG, Reimann R, Rhoads SA, Riano-Moreno J, Richter I, Röer JP, Rosa-Sullivan J, Ross RM, Sabherwal A, Saito T, Sarrasin O, Say N, Schmid K, Schmitt MT, Schoenegger P, Scholz C, Schug MG, Schulreich S, Shreedhar G, Shuman E, Sivan S, Sjåstad H, Soliman M, Soud K, Spampatti T, Sparkman G, Spasovski O, Stanley SK, Stern JA, Strahm N, Suko Y, Sul S, Syropoulos S, Taylor NC, Tedaldi E, Tinghög G, Huynh LDT, Travaglino GA, Tsakiris M, Tüter İ, Tyrala M, Uluğ ÖM, Urbanek A, Valko D, van der Linden S, van Schie K, van Stekelenburg A, Vanags E, Västfjäll D, Vesely S, Vintr J, Vranka M, Wanguche PO, Willer R, Wojcik AD, Xu R, Yadav A, Zawisza M, Zhao X, Zhao J, Żuk D, Van Bavel JJ. Addressing climate change with behavioral science: A global intervention tournament in 63 countries. Sci Adv 2024; 10:eadj5778. [PMID: 38324680 PMCID: PMC10849597 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adj5778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
Effectively reducing climate change requires marked, global behavior change. However, it is unclear which strategies are most likely to motivate people to change their climate beliefs and behaviors. Here, we tested 11 expert-crowdsourced interventions on four climate mitigation outcomes: beliefs, policy support, information sharing intention, and an effortful tree-planting behavioral task. Across 59,440 participants from 63 countries, the interventions' effectiveness was small, largely limited to nonclimate skeptics, and differed across outcomes: Beliefs were strengthened mostly by decreasing psychological distance (by 2.3%), policy support by writing a letter to a future-generation member (2.6%), information sharing by negative emotion induction (12.1%), and no intervention increased the more effortful behavior-several interventions even reduced tree planting. Last, the effects of each intervention differed depending on people's initial climate beliefs. These findings suggest that the impact of behavioral climate interventions varies across audiences and target behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kimberly C. Doell
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna 1010, Austria
| | - Joseph B. Bak-Coleman
- Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security, Columbia University, New York, NY 10018, USA
- Institute for Rebooting Social Media, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Boryana Todorova
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna 1010, Austria
| | | | | | - Yash Patel
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Danielle Goldwert
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Yifei Pei
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | | | - Ekaterina Pronizius
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna 1010, Austria
| | - Karlijn L. van den Broek
- Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, 3584 CB, Netherlands
| | - Denisa Vlasceanu
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
| | - Sara Constantino
- School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | | | - Philipp Schumann
- Department of Psychology, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg 26129, Germany
| | - Steve Rathje
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Ke Fang
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome 179, Italy
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome 185, Italy
| | - Mark Alfano
- Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
| | | | - Angélica Andersen
- Post-Graduation Program in Linguistics, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba 80060150, Brasil
| | - Frederik Anseel
- UNSW Business School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Matthew A. J. Apps
- Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Chillar Asadli
- Psychology Scientific Research Institute, Baku, Azerbaijan
| | - Fonda Jane Awuor
- Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, Kisumu 1881-40100, Kenya
| | - Flavio Azevedo
- Department of Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen 9712TS, Netherlands
| | - Piero Basaglia
- Department of Economics, University of Hamburg, Hamburg 20146, Germany
| | - Jocelyn J. Bélanger
- Department of Psychology, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi 129188, United Arab Emirates
| | - Sebastian Berger
- Department of Sociology, University of Bern, Bern 3012, Switzerland
| | - Paul Bertin
- LAPCOS, Université Côte d’Azur, Nice 6357, France
- Center for Social and Cultural Psychology, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels 1050, Belgium
| | - Michał Białek
- Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Historical and Pedagogical Sciences, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw 50-120, Poland
| | | | - Michelle Blaya-Burgo
- Department of Psychology, Division of Behavioral & Organizational Sciences, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, NH 91711, USA
| | | | - Simen Bø
- Department of Strategy and Management, Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen 5045, Norway
| | - Lea Boecker
- Department of Economic Psychology, Social Psychology and Experimental Methods, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg 21335, Germany
| | - Paulo S. Boggio
- Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Sao Paulo 1241001, Brazil
| | - Sylvie Borau
- Toulouse Business School, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse. Toulouse, 31000, France
| | - Björn Bos
- Department of Economics, University of Hamburg, Hamburg 20146, Hamburg
| | - Ayoub Bouguettaya
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Markus Brauer
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Cameron Brick
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 1018 WT, Netherlands
- Department of Psychology, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Elverum 2418, Norway
| | - Tymofii Brik
- Policy Research Department, Kyiv School of Economics, Kyiv 2000, Ukraine
| | - Roman Briker
- Department of Organisation, Strategy, and Entrepreneurship, School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University, Maastricht 6211 LK, Netherlands
| | - Tobias Brosch
- Department of Psychology and Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva 1205, Switzerland
| | - Ondrej Buchel
- Institute for Sociology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava 81364, Slovakia
| | - Daniel Buonauro
- Psychological Science, Pomona College, Claremont, CA 91711, USA
| | - Radhika Butalia
- Department of Movement Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven 3001, Belgium
| | - Héctor Carvacho
- Escuela de Psicología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Sarah A. E. Chamberlain
- School of Psychology, Speech, and Hearing, University of Canterbury, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8051, New Zealand
| | - Hang-Yee Chan
- Department of Marketing, King’s Business School, King’s College London, London WC2B 4BG, UK
| | - Dawn Chow
- Department of Management and Marketing, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Dongil Chung
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea
| | - Luca Cian
- Department of Marketing, University of Virginia, Darden School of Business, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA
| | - Noa Cohen-Eick
- Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 9190501, Israel
- Department of Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen 9712 CP, Netherlands
| | - Luis Sebastian Contreras-Huerta
- Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Viña del Mar, Chile
| | - Davide Contu
- Faculty of Management, Canadian University Dubai, Dubai 117781, United Arab Emirates
| | | | - Jo Cutler
- Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Silvana D'Ottone
- Escuela de Psicología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile
| | - Jonas De Keersmaecker
- Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium
- Department of People Management and Organization, Esade Business School, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona 8034, Spain
| | - Sarah Delcourt
- Behavioral Economics and Engineering Group, KU Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | | | - Kathi Diel
- Department of Psychology, Saarland University, Saarbrücken 66123, Germany
| | - Benjamin D. Douglas
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Moritz A. Drupp
- Department of Economics, University of Hamburg, Hamburg 20146, Germany
- Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN), University of Hamburg, Hamburg 20146, Germany
| | - Shreya Dubey
- Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1018WV, Netherlands
| | - Jānis Ekmanis
- Department of Psychology, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia
| | | | - Mahmoud Elsherif
- Department of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
- Department of Vision Science, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Iris M. Engelhard
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht 3508 TC, Netherlands
| | - Yannik A. Escher
- Institute of Management & Organization, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg 21335, Germany
| | - Tom W. Etienne
- Kieskompas–Election Compass, Amsterdam 1052XH, Netherlands
- Department of Political Science & Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Laura Farage
- Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg 5020, Salzburg
| | - Ana Rita Farias
- HEI-Lab: Digital Human-Environment Interaction Labs, Lusófona University, Lisbon 1700, Portugal
| | - Stefan Feuerriegel
- School of Management, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich 80539, Germany
| | - Andrej Findor
- Institute of European Studies and International Relations, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Comenius University Bratislava, Bratislava 82105, Slovakia
| | - Lucia Freira
- Laboratorio de Neurociencia, Escuela de Negocios, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Buenos Aires C1428, Argentina
| | - Malte Friese
- Department of Psychology, Saarland University, Saarbrücken 66123, Germany
| | - Neil Philip Gains
- School of Global Studies, Thammasat University, Bangkok 12121, Thailand
| | - Albina Gallyamova
- Center for Sociocultural Research, HSE University, Moscow 101000, Russia
| | - Sandra J. Geiger
- Environmental Psychology, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna A-1010, Austria
| | - Oliver Genschow
- Institute for Management and Organization, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg 21335, Germany
| | - Biljana Gjoneska
- Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Skopje 1000, North Macedonia
| | - Theofilos Gkinopoulos
- Faculty of Philosophy, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, Krakow 30-060, Poland
| | | | - Amit Goldenberg
- Harvard Business School, Harvard University, Boston, MA 2163, USA
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 2138, USA
- Digital Data and Design Institute at Harvard, Harvard University, Allston, Boston, MA 2134, USA
| | - Sarah Gradidge
- School of Psychology and Sport Science, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge CB1 1PT, UK
| | - Simone Grassini
- Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Bergen 5007, Norway
- Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience Laboratory, University of Stavanger, Stavanger 4021, Norway
| | - Kurt Gray
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Sonja Grelle
- Department of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum 44801, Germany
| | - Siobhán M. Griffin
- Department of Psychology, University of Limerick, Limerick V94T9PX, Ireland
| | | | - Ani Grigoryan
- Department of Personality Psychology, Yerevan State University, Yerevan 0025, Armenia
| | - Dmitry Grigoryev
- Center for Sociocultural Research, HSE University, Moscow 101000, Russia
| | - June Gruber
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Johnrev Guilaran
- Division of Social Sciences, University of the Philippines Visayas, Miagao 5023, Philippines
| | - Britt Hadar
- Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, Reichman University, Herzliya 4610101, Israel
| | - Ulf J.J. Hahnel
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel 4055, Switzerland
| | - Eran Halperin
- Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 9190501, Israel
| | - Annelie J. Harvey
- School of Psychology and Sport Science, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge CB1 1PT, UK
| | | | - Aleksandra M. Herman
- Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw 02-093, Poland
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Falmer BN1 9RH, UK
| | - Hal E. Hershfield
- Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Toshiyuki Himichi
- School of Economics & Management, Kochi University of Technology, Kami City 782-8502, Japan
| | - Donald W. Hine
- School of Psychology, Speech and Hearing, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8051, New Zealand
| | - Wilhelm Hofmann
- Department of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum 44801, Germany
| | - Lauren Howe
- Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich, Zurich 8032, Switzerland
| | | | - Guanxiong Huang
- Department of Media and Communication, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon 999077, Hong Kong, China
| | - Tatsunori Ishii
- Department of Psychology, Japan Women’s University, Tokyo 1128681, Japan
| | - Ayahito Ito
- Graduate School of Education, Tohoku University, Sendai 9808576, Japan
| | - Fanli Jia
- Department of Psychology, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ 7079, USA
| | - John T. Jost
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Veljko Jovanović
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad 21000, Serbia
| | - Dominika Jurgiel
- Doctoral School of Social Sciences, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń 87-100, Poland
| | | | - Reeta Kankaanpää
- Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere 33100, Finland
- INVEST Research Flagship, University of Turku, Turku 20014, Finland
| | - Jaroslaw Kantorowicz
- Institute of Security and Global Affairs, Leiden University, The Hague 2511DP, Netherlands
| | | | - Keren Kaplan Mintz
- Shamir Research Institute, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
- Department of Learning and Instructional Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, 3498838, Israel
| | - Ilker Kaya
- Deparment of Economics, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah 26666, United Arab Emirates
| | - Ozgur Kaya
- Deparment of Economics, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah 26666, United Arab Emirates
| | - Narine Khachatryan
- Department of Personality Psychology, Yerevan State University, Yerevan 0025, Armenia
| | - Anna Klas
- School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3216, Australia
| | - Colin Klein
- School of Philosophy, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
| | - Christian A. Klöckner
- Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim 7049, Norway
| | - Lina Koppel
- Department of Management and Engineering, Linköping University, Linköping 58183, Sweden
| | - Alexandra I. Kosachenko
- Academic and Research Laboratory of Neurotechnology, Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg 620075, Russia
| | - Emily J. Kothe
- School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3216, Australia
| | - Ruth Krebs
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium
| | - Amy R. Krosch
- Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
| | - Andre P.M. Krouwel
- Departments of Political Science and Communication Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081 HV, Netherlands
| | - Yara Kyrychenko
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EL, UK
| | - Maria Lagomarsino
- Psychology of Sustainability and Behavior Change, University of Basel, Basel 4055, Switzerland
| | - Claus Lamm
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna 1010, Austria
| | - Florian Lange
- Behavioral Economics and Engineering Group, KU Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Julia Lee Cunningham
- Management & Organizations, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA
| | - Jeffrey Lees
- John E. Walker Department of Economics, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
- Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 8544, USA
| | - Tak Yan Leung
- School of Business and Creative Industries, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, BNE 4556, Australia
| | - Neil Levy
- Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Patricia L. Lockwood
- Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Chiara Longoni
- Department of Marketing, Bocconi University, Milan 20136, Italy
| | - Alberto López Ortega
- Department of Communication Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081 HV, Netherlands
| | - David D. Loschelder
- Institute of Management and Organization, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Lueneburg 21337, Germany
| | - Jackson G. Lu
- MIT Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 2139, USA
| | - Yu Luo
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Joseph Luomba
- Tanzanian Fisheries Research Institute, Mwanza, Tanzania
| | - Annika E. Lutz
- Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada
| | - Johann M. Majer
- Department of Social, Organizational, & Economic Psychology, University of Hildesheim, Hildesheim 31141, Germany
| | - Ezra Markowitz
- Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 1003, USA
| | - Abigail A. Marsh
- Department of Psychology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057, USA
| | - Karen Louise Mascarenhas
- Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Innovation (RCGI), University of São Paulo, São Paulo 05508-030, Brazil
- Department of Social Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 05508-030, Brazil
| | | | - Winfred Mbungu
- Department of Civil and Water Resources Engineering School of Engineering and Technology, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania
| | - Cillian McHugh
- Department of Psychology, University of Limerick, Limerick V94 T9PX, Ireland
| | - Marijn H.C. Meijers
- Department of Communication Science, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1001 NG, Netherlands
| | - Hugo Mercier
- Institut Jean Nicod, Département d’études cognitives, ENS, EHESS, PSL University, CNRS, Paris 75005, France
| | | | | | - Nace Mikus
- School of Culture and Society–Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus 8000, Denmark
- Neuropsychopharmacology and Biopsychology Unit, University of Vienna, Vienna 1010, Austria
| | - Sarah Milliron
- Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
| | | | | | - Youri L. Mora
- Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique, Brussels 1050, Belgium
- Center for Social and Cultural Psychology, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels 1312, Belgium
| | - David Moreau
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
| | - Kosuke Motoki
- Department of Management, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8654, Japan
| | - Manuel Moyano
- Department of Psychology, University of Cordoba, Cordoba 14071, Spain
| | - Mathilde Mus
- Département d’études cognitives, Institut Jean Nicod ENS, EHESS, PSL University, CNRS, Tokyo 113-8654, Japan
| | - Joaquin Navajas
- Comisión Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Laboratorio de Neurociencia, Escuela de Negocios, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Buenos Aires C1428 CABA, Argentina
| | | | - Dung Minh Nguyen
- College of Management, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung 800, Taiwan
| | - Trieu Nguyen
- College of Management, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung 800, Taiwan
| | - Laura Niemi
- Department of Psychology and Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
| | - Sari R. R. Nijssen
- Environmental Psychology, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna 1010, Austria
| | - Gustav Nilsonne
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 17177, Sweden
- Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm 11419, Sweden
| | - Jonas P. Nitschke
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna 1010, Austria
| | - Laila Nockur
- Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus 8000, Denmark
| | - Ritah Okura
- National Fisheries Resources Research Institute, Jinja, Uganda
| | - Sezin Öner
- Department of Psychology, Kadir Has University, İstanbul 34083, Turkey
| | - Asil Ali Özdoğru
- Department of Psychology, Marmara University, İstanbul 34722, Turkey
- Department of Psychology, Üsküdar University, İstanbul 34662, Turkey
| | - Helena Palumbo
- Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona 8005, Spain
| | - Costas Panagopoulos
- Department of Political Science, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 2115, USA
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome 185, Italy
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome 142, Italy
| | - Philip Pärnamets
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 171 77, Sweden
| | - Mariola Paruzel-Czachura
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Institute of Psychology, University of Silesia in Katowice, Katowice 40-007, Poland
| | - Yuri G. Pavlov
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen 72076, Germany
| | - César Payán-Gómez
- Dirección Académica, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede de La Paz, Cesar, Colombia
| | - Adam R. Pearson
- Psychological Science, Pomona College, Claremont, CA 91711, USA
| | | | - Hannes M. Petrowsky
- Institute of Management and Organization, Leuphana University Lueneburg, Lueneburg 21337, Germany
| | - Stefan Pfattheicher
- Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus 8000, Denmark
| | - Nhat Tan Pham
- School of Business, International University, Vietnam National University HCMC, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Vietnam
| | | | - Clara Pretus
- Department of Psychobioloogy and Methodology of Heath Sciences, Universitat Autònima de Barcelona, Barcelona 8193, Spain
| | - Gabriel G. Rêgo
- Center for Health and Biological Sciences, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, São Paulo 01221-040, Brazil
| | - Ritsaart Reimann
- Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Shawn A. Rhoads
- Department of Psychology, Georgetown University, Washington DC, 20057, USA
- Center for Computational Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Julian Riano-Moreno
- Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Villavicencio, Colombia
| | - Isabell Richter
- Department of Psychology, Faculty for Social and Educational Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim 7491, Norway
| | - Jan Philipp Röer
- Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten 58455, Germany
| | - Jahred Rosa-Sullivan
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Robert M. Ross
- Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Anandita Sabherwal
- Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, London School of Economics and Political Science, London WC2A 2AE, UK
| | - Toshiki Saito
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo 1020083, Japan
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo 1658555, Japan
| | - Oriane Sarrasin
- Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
| | - Nicolas Say
- Department of Management, Prague University of Economics and Business, Prague 13067, Czech Republic
| | - Katharina Schmid
- Department of People Management and Organization, Universitat Ramon Llull, Esade Business School, Barcelona 8034, Spain
| | - Michael T. Schmitt
- Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada
| | - Philipp Schoenegger
- School of Economics & Finance, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9AJ, UK
- School of Philosophical, Anthropological and Film Studies, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9AJ, UK
| | - Christin Scholz
- Department of Communication, Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1018WV, Netherlands
| | - Mariah G. Schug
- Department of Psychology, Widener University, Chester 19013, USA
| | - Stefan Schulreich
- Department of Cognitive Psychology, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg 20146, Germany
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna 1090, Austria
| | - Ganga Shreedhar
- Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, London School of Economics and Political Science, London WC2A 2AE, UK
| | - Eric Shuman
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
- Harvard Business School, Harvard University, Boston, MA 2163, USA
| | - Smadar Sivan
- Department of Social Psychology, Reichman University (RUNI), Herzliya 4610101, Israel
| | - Hallgeir Sjåstad
- Department of Strategy and Management, Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen 5045, Norway
| | - Meikel Soliman
- Research Center for Digital Transformation, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg 21335, Germany
| | - Katia Soud
- Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus 8000, Denmark
- Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience (DANDRITE), Aarhus University, Aarhus 8000, Denmark
| | - Tobia Spampatti
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva 1205, Switzerland
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva 1205, Switzerland
| | - Gregg Sparkman
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 2467, USA
| | - Ognen Spasovski
- Faculty of Philosophy, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Skopje 1000, Republic of North Macedonia
- Faculty of Philosophy, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, Trnava 917 01, Slovakia
| | - Samantha K. Stanley
- School of Medicine and Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 200, Australia
| | - Jessica A. Stern
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22902, USA
| | - Noel Strahm
- Department of Sociology, University of Bern, Bern 3012, Switzerland
| | - Yasushi Suko
- Faculty of Social Sciences/Psychology, Tampere University, Tampere FI-33014, Finland
| | - Sunhae Sul
- Department of Psychology, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Republic of Korea
| | - Stylianos Syropoulos
- Psychology and Neuroscience, Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, Boston College, Brighton, MA 2135, USA
| | - Neil C. Taylor
- UQ Business School, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4067, Australia
| | - Elisa Tedaldi
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialisation, University of Padova, Padua 35131, Italy
| | - Gustav Tinghög
- Department of Management and Engineering, Linköping University, Linköping 58183, Sweden
| | - Luu Duc Toan Huynh
- School of Business and Management, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK
| | - Giovanni Antonio Travaglino
- Institute for the Study of Power, Crime, and Society | Department of Law & Criminology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham TW200EX, UK
| | | | - İlayda Tüter
- Department of Psychology, Üsküdar University, Istanbul 34664, Turkey
| | - Michael Tyrala
- Department of Public and International Affairs, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon 999077, Hong Kong
| | | | - Arkadiusz Urbanek
- Institute of Pedagogy, Faculty of Historical and Pedagogical Sciences, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw 50-120, Poland
| | - Danila Valko
- Research Department, The South Ural University of Technology, Chelyabinsk 454052, Russia
- Laboratory of Interdisciplinary Space Studies, School for Environmental and Social Studies, Tyumen State University, Tyumen 625003, Russia
| | | | - Kevin van Schie
- Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg 5037 AB, Netherlands
| | | | - Edmunds Vanags
- Department of Psychology, University of Latvia, Riga 1083, Latvia
| | - Daniel Västfjäll
- Division of Psychology, Linköping University, Linköping 58183, Sweden
| | - Stepan Vesely
- Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim 7049, Norway
| | | | - Marek Vranka
- Department of Marketing Communication and Public Relations, Charles University, Prague 11000, Czech Republic
| | | | - Robb Willer
- Department of Sociology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Adrian Dominik Wojcik
- Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń 87-100, Poland
| | - Rachel Xu
- Jigsaw, Google, New York, NY 10011, USA
| | - Anjali Yadav
- Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Climate and Energy Policy Research Lab, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, India
- School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, La Trobe University Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia
| | - Magdalena Zawisza
- School of Psychology and Sport Science, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge CB1 1PT, UK
| | - Xian Zhao
- Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Jiaying Zhao
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
- Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Dawid Żuk
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw 00-183, Poland
| | - Jay J. Van Bavel
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
- Department of Strategy and Management, Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen 5045, Norway
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
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Fusco G, Scandola M, Lin H, Inzlicht M, Aglioti SM. Modulating preferences during intertemporal choices through exogenous midfrontal transcranial alternating current stimulation: A registered report. Cortex 2024; 171:435-464. [PMID: 38113613 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.09.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2023] [Revised: 08/24/2023] [Accepted: 09/21/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
Decision conflicts may arise when the costs and benefits of choices are evaluated as a function of outcomes predicted along a temporal dimension. Electrophysiology studies suggest that during performance monitoring a typical oscillatory activity in the theta rhythm, named midfrontal theta, may index conflict processing and resolution. In the present within-subject, sham controlled, cross-over preregistered study, we delivered online midfrontal transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) to modulate electrocortical activity during intertemporal decisions. Participants were invited to select choice preference between economic offers at three different intermixed levels of conflict (i.e., low, medium, high) while receiving either theta -, gamma-, or sham tACS in separate blocks and sessions. At the end of each stimulation block, a Letter-Flanker task was also administered to measure behavioural aftereffects. We hypothesized that theta-tACS would have acted on the performance monitoring system inducing behavioural changes (i.e., faster decisions and more impulsive choices) in high conflicting trials, rather than gamma- and sham-tACS. Results very partially confirmed our predictions. Unexpectedly, both theta- and gamma-driven neuromodulation speeded-up decisions compared to sham. However, exploratory analyses revealed that such an effect was stronger in the high-conflict decisions during theta-tACS. These findings were independent from the influence of the sensations induced by the electrical stimulation. Moreover, further analyses highlighted a significant association during theta-tACS between the selection of immediate offers in high-conflict trials and attentional impulsiveness, suggesting that individual factors may account for the tACS effects during intertemporal decisions. Finally, we did not capture long-lasting behavioural changes following tACS in the Flanker task. Our findings may inform scholars to improve experimental designs and boost the knowledge toward a more effective application of tACS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriele Fusco
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@SAPIENZA, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy; IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.
| | - Michele Scandola
- NPSY Lab-Vr, Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Hause Lin
- Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Michael Inzlicht
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@SAPIENZA, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy; IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
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8
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Boukarras S, Ferri D, Borgogni L, Aglioti SM. Neurophysiological markers of asymmetric emotional contagion: implications for organizational contexts. Front Integr Neurosci 2024; 18:1321130. [PMID: 38357225 PMCID: PMC10861795 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2024.1321130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Emotions play a vital role within organizations, impacting various crucial aspects of work such as job satisfaction, performance, and employee well-being. Understanding how emotional states spread in organizational settings is therefore essential. Recent studies have highlighted that a leader's emotional state can influence their followers, with significant consequences on job performance. Leaders thus possess the ability to influence their employees' psychological state and, consequently, their well-being. However, the biological underpinnings of emotional contagion from leaders to followers remain unexplored. The field of interpersonal (neuro)physiology, which involves recording brain and peripheral activity of multiple individuals during interactions, holds great potential for investigating this phenomenon. Analyzing the time-lagged synchronization of neurophysiological activity during interactions may serve as a measure of the leader's influence on their followers in organizational contexts. In this "mini review," we examine empirical studies that have employed interpersonal (neuro)physiology to quantify the asymmetrical contagion of emotions in different contexts. Asymmetrical contagion was operationalized as the unidirectional influence exerted by one individual (i.e., the "sender") to another one (i.e., the "receiver"), whereby the receiver's state can be predicted by the sender's one. The reviewed literature reveals that delayed synchronization of physiological states is a widespread phenomenon that may underpin the transmission of emotions. These findings have significant implications for various aspects of organizational life, including leader-to-employee communication, and could drive the development of effective leadership training programs. We propose that Organizational Neuroscience may benefit from including interpersonal neurophysiology in its methodological toolkit for laboratory and field studies of leader-follower dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Boukarras
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Donato Ferri
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Ernst and Young (EY), Rome, Italy
| | - Laura Borgogni
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy
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Mello M, Fusaro M, Aglioti SM, Minio-Paluello I. Exploring social touch in autistic and non-autistic adults via a self-report body-painting task: The role of sex, social context and body area. Autism 2024:13623613231218314. [PMID: 38179707 DOI: 10.1177/13623613231218314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2024]
Abstract
LAY ABSTRACT What is already known about the topic?At least in neurotypical individuals, social touch represents an important channel for emotional communication associated with social bonding and pain/anxiety modulation. Autistic adults report to avoid social touch more and to have different tactile sensitivity than their non-autistic comparisons.What this paper adds?Few studies specifically investigated social touch in autistic individuals, and none of them examined the role of participants' sex, social context in which social touch occurs, and specific body areas being touched. In our study, adult participants reported how pleasant, erogenous and appropriate they would consider touches delivered by another person over their entire body in intimate (date), friendly (dance class) and professional (physiotherapy-massage session) social contexts. Autistic adults reported social touch to be less pleasant, erogenous and appropriate specifically in intimate and friendly social contexts and in body areas typically touched in these situations. Importantly, autistic females seem more at risk to experience unpleasant social touch as, although they considered it more unpleasant than non-autistic females and autistic males, they did consider it similarly appropriate in professional social contexts where touch is normed to be socially appropriate.Implications for practice, research or policyOur results might improve awareness and understanding about autistic adults' different, and often more discomforting, experience of social touch and thus help consider and respect it during everyday social interactions. Our results might also benefit future research investigating, for instance, the neural underpinnings of social touch differences in autism or aiming at developing support for autistic individuals seeking help in the diverse spheres of social touch.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Mello
- Sapienza University of Rome, and Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Rome, Italy
- Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Sapienza University of Rome, and Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Rome, Italy
- Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Ilaria Minio-Paluello
- National Research Council, Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Rome, Italy
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10
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Moro V, Beccherle M, Scandola M, Aglioti SM. Massive body-brain disconnection consequent to spinal cord injuries drives profound changes in higher-order cognitive and emotional functions: A PRISMA scoping review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 154:105395. [PMID: 37734697 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Revised: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/17/2023] [Indexed: 09/23/2023]
Abstract
Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to a massive disconnection between the brain and the body parts below the lesion level representing a unique opportunity to explore how the body influences a person's mental life. We performed a systematic scoping review of 59 studies on higher-order cognitive and emotional changes after SCI. The results suggest that fluid abilities (e.g. attention, executive functions) and emotional regulation (e.g. emotional reactivity and discrimination) are impaired in people with SCI, with progressive deterioration over time. Although not systematically explored, the factors that are directly (e.g. the severity and level of the lesion) and indirectly associated (e.g. blood pressure, sleeping disorders, medication) with the damage may play a role in these deficits. The inconsistency which was found in the results may derive from the various methods used and the heterogeneity of samples (i.e. the lesion completeness, the time interval since lesion onset). Future studies which are specifically controlled for methods, clinical and socio-cultural dimensions are needed to better understand the role of the body in cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Moro
- NPSY.Lab-VR, Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Lungadige Porta Vittoria, 17, 37129 Verona, Italy.
| | - Maddalena Beccherle
- NPSY.Lab-VR, Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Lungadige Porta Vittoria, 17, 37129 Verona, Italy; Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome and cln2s@sapienza Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy.
| | - Michele Scandola
- NPSY.Lab-VR, Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Lungadige Porta Vittoria, 17, 37129 Verona, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome and cln2s@sapienza Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy; Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, Roma, Italy
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11
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Schepisi M, Liuzza MT, Frisanco A, Giannini AM, Aglioti SM. Attitudes towards Italian Mafias Scale (AIMS): development and validation. PeerJ 2023; 11:e16120. [PMID: 37901458 PMCID: PMC10607589 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 08/27/2023] [Indexed: 10/31/2023] Open
Abstract
In two studies we aimed at developing the Attitude towards Italian Mafias Scale (AIMS). In study 1 (N = 292) we used an Exploratory Factor Analysis to reduce the number of the items and explore their latent constructs. In study 2 (N = 393) we performed a Confirmatory Factor Analysis on the resulting 18-item questionnaire, whose latent structure was best identified by a general factor Mafia Attitude and three specific factors related to Behaviors, Cognitions and Emotions-Cognitions towards mafias. Moreover, we showed that the AIMS has (i) discriminant validity compared to a measure of attitudes towards crime, (ii) predictive validity of donation behavior to an association against mafias, (iii) internal consistency, and (iv) invariance for people of the five deep-rooted mafia regions of Southern Italy and those from the rest of Italy. Finally, we observed a difference between the participants from the five deep-rooted mafia regions (i.e., Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Sicily) and the rest of Italy, with the former having surprisingly more negative attitudes towards mafias compared to the latter. The AIMS might help to reliably survey people's sentiment towards Italian mafias and promote targeted and effective law-related education interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Schepisi
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome Center for Life Nano-&Neuroscience, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Rome, Italy
- IRCSS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Marco Tullio Liuzza
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy
| | - Althea Frisanco
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome Center for Life Nano-&Neuroscience, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Rome, Italy
- IRCSS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome Center for Life Nano-&Neuroscience, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Rome, Italy
- IRCSS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
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12
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Vabba A, Panasiti MS, Scattolin M, Spitaleri M, Porciello G, Aglioti SM. The thermoception task: a thermal imaging-based procedure for measuring awareness of changes in peripheral body temperature. J Neurophysiol 2023; 130:1053-1064. [PMID: 37529855 PMCID: PMC10635420 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00014.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Revised: 07/31/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Although thermal body signals provide crucial information about the state of an organism and changes in body temperature may be a sign of affective states (e.g., stress, pain, sexual arousal), research on thermal awareness is limited. Here we developed a task measuring awareness of changes in peripheral body temperature (thermal interoception) and compared it to the classical heartbeat counting task (cardiac interoception). With an infrared light bulb we delivered stimuli of different temperature intensities to the right hand of 31 healthy participants. Thermal interoceptive accuracy, i.e., the difference between participants' real and perceived change in hand temperature, showed good interindividual variability. We found that thermal interoception did not correlate with (and was generally higher than) cardiac interoception, suggesting that different interceptive channels provide separate contributions to awareness of bodily states. Moreover, the results hint at the great salience of thermal signals and the need for thermoregulation in day-to-day life. Finally, thermal interoceptive accuracy was associated with self-reported awareness of body temperature changes and with the ability to regulate distress by focusing on body sensations. Our task has the potential to significantly increase current knowledge about the role of interoception in cognition and behavior, particularly in social and emotional contexts.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We developed a novel task measuring awareness of changes in peripheral body temperature (i.e., thermal interoception). To avoid tactile confounds present in existing thermoceptive tasks, we used an infrared light bulb to deliver stimuli of different temperature intensities to the hand of participants and asked them to judge the perceived change in their hand temperature. Performance in the task showed good interindividual variability, did not correlate with cardiac interoceptive tasks, and was associated with self-reported thermosensitivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alisha Vabba
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Marina Scattolin
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy
| | - Marco Spitaleri
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Giuseppina Porciello
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
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13
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Scattolin M, Panasiti MS, Ho JT, Lenggenhager B, Aglioti SM. Ownership of the affected leg is further reduced following deceptive behaviors in body integrity dysphoria. iScience 2023; 26:107551. [PMID: 37664627 PMCID: PMC10469995 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107551] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Revised: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Although predicted by the notion of embodied morality, it remains unknown whether a reduced sense of body ownership (SoO) is associated with increased or decreased dishonesty. To clarify this issue, we tested patients with body integrity dysphoria (BID), a clinical condition characterized by chronic reductions of SoO toward one leg that patients persistently desire to have amputated. Participants with BID played a card game in which they could voluntarily tell the truth or cheat an opponent, and thus either steal or give them money. To assess whether SoO toward the effector limb influences (im)moral decisions, responses were communicated with the affected or the unaffected leg. We found that a higher number of self-gain lies was followed by further reductions of SoO toward the affected leg. Our result supports the idea that reductions of SoO may follow immoral behaviors to distance from unwanted characteristics of the self, like one's own dishonesty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Scattolin
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome (RM) 00161, Italy
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome (RM) 00179, Italy
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome (RM) 00185, Italy
| | - Jasmine T. Ho
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University of Zurich, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Bigna Lenggenhager
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome (RM) 00161, Italy
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome (RM) 00179, Italy
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14
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Vabba A, Porciello G, Panasiti MS, Aglioti SM. Development and validation of the Exteroceptive Body Awareness (EBA-q) questionnaire. PeerJ 2023; 11:e15382. [PMID: 37641601 PMCID: PMC10460568 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.15382] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023] Open
Abstract
The conscious processing of body signals influences higher-order psychological and cognitive functions, including self-awareness. Dysfunctions in the processing of these signals has been connected to neurological and psychiatric disorders characterized by altered states of self-consciousness. Studies indicate that perceiving the body through interoceptive signals (e.g., from internal organs such as heartbeat and breathing) is distinct from perceiving the body through exteroceptive signals (e.g., by relying on visual, tactile and olfactory cues). While questionnaires are available for assessing interoception, there are no validated self-report instruments for measuring bodily exterception. To fill this gap, we performed three studies to develop and validate a novel scale designed to assess bodily self-consciousness based on the processing of exteroceptive bodily signals. Exploratory factor analysis (Study 1, N = 302) led to an 18-item questionnaire comprised of four factors. We called this instrument Exteroceptive Body Awareness questionnaire (EBA-q). Confirmatory factor analysis (Study 2, N = 184) run on a second sample showed an acceptable fit for a bifactor model, suggesting researchers may use the questionnaire as a unidimensional scale reflecting exteroceptive bodily self-consciousness, or use each of its four sub-scales, reflecting "visuo-tactile body awareness", "spatial coordination", "awareness of body changes" and "awareness of clothing fit". Overall EBA-q showed good internal consistency. Convergent and divergent validity were assessed via cross-validation with existing body awareness questionnaires (Study 3, N = 366) and behavioral measures (Study 3, N = 64) of exteroceptive and interoceptive bodily self-consciousness. Research applications are discussed within a multi-faceted model of exteroception and interoception as distinct, but at the same time interconnected, dimensions of bodily self-consciousness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alisha Vabba
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Giuseppina Porciello
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
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15
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Dupont L, Santangelo V, Azevedo RT, Panasiti MS, Aglioti SM. Reputation risk during dishonest social decision-making modulates anterior insular and cingulate cortex activity and connectivity. Commun Biol 2023; 6:475. [PMID: 37120439 PMCID: PMC10148859 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04827-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 04/06/2023] [Indexed: 05/01/2023] Open
Abstract
To explore the neural underpinnings of (dis)honest decision making under quasi-ecological conditions, we used an fMRI adapted version of a card game in which deceptive or truthful decisions are made to an opponent, with or without the risk of getting caught by them. Dishonest decisions were associated to increased activity in a cortico-subcortical circuit including the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), anterior insula (AI), left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, supplementary motor area, and right caudate. Crucially, deceptive immoral decisions under reputation risk enhanced activity of - and functional connectivity between - the bilateral ACC and left AI, suggesting the need for heightened emotional processing and cognitive control when making immoral decisions under reputation risk. Tellingly, more manipulative individuals required less involvement of the ACC during risky self-gain lies but more involvement during other-gain truths, pointing to the need of cognitive control only when going against one's own moral code.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lennie Dupont
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy.
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.
| | - Valerio Santangelo
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
- Department of Philosophy, Social Sciences & Education, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
| | - Ruben T Azevedo
- Keynes College, School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy.
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.
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16
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Vabba A, Porciello G, Monti A, Panasiti MS, Aglioti SM. A longitudinal study of interoception changes in the times of COVID-19: Effects on psychophysiological health and well-being. Heliyon 2023; 9:e14951. [PMID: 37035351 PMCID: PMC10065811 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Revised: 03/18/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Interoception - the processing of the internal state of the body - has been consistently tied to well-being and mental health, which in turn have been severely challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the fact that symptoms of COVID-19 (high temperature, shortness of breath, fatigue, and even gastro-intestinal problems) directly alter interoceptive signals has fueled people's tendency to constantly check their internal bodily state. Objectives In this longitudinal study we tested for changes in interoception and psychophysiological health and well-being during different stages of the pandemic in 2020 and assessed their potential association. To highlight this association, we combined both subjective (i.e., self-reported questionnaires) and objective (i.e., measures of heart rate variability, HRV and of interoceptive accuracy) measures. Methods 245 Italian participants who had completed the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA-2) prior to the onset of the pandemic, repeated the questionnaire during the first national lockdown in Italy, and four months after restrictions. Participants also completed survey measures of depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (STAI), and sleep disturbance (PSQI). A sub-sample of 28 participants, who had completed the heartbeat counting task (HCT) and a measure of heart rate variability (HRV), was tested again remotely, in the same time windows, using phone applications and photoplethysmography. Results While performance in the HCT remained unvaried, MAIA-2 scores consistently increased from before the pandemic to the national lockdown, and remained largely unvaried after four months. The national lockdown was associated with the lowest psychophysiological health and well-being, as evidenced by a decrease in HRV compared to before the pandemic and by higher scores in self-reported depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance compared to four months after the lockdown. Interestingly, psychophysiological health and well-being were predicted by specific regulatory components of interoception (e.g., the ability to regulate distress by focusing on body sensations and experiencing one's body as safe and trustworthy). Conclusions Our results suggest an increased attention towards visceral signals during the COVID-19 pandemic, and highlight the positive role of specific components of interoception in contributing to well-being, suggesting that novel interventions aimed at increasing interoception may be developed to protect against stressful life events such as COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alisha Vabba
- Sapienza, Università di Roma and CLNS@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Via Ardeatina 306/354, 00179, Rome, Italy
- Corresponding author. Department of Psychology, Sapienza, Università di Roma, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185, Rome Italy.
| | - Giuseppina Porciello
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Via Ardeatina 306/354, 00179, Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza, Università di Roma, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Alessandro Monti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza, Università di Roma, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Via Ardeatina 306/354, 00179, Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza, Università di Roma, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Sapienza, Università di Roma and CLNS@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Via Ardeatina 306/354, 00179, Rome, Italy
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17
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Era V, Candidi M, Pezzetta R, Pulcini C, D'Antonio S, Zabberoni S, Peppe A, Costa A, Taglieri S, Carlesimo GA, Aglioti SM. The dopaminergic system supports flexible and rewarding dyadic motor interactive behaviour in Parkinson's Disease. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2023; 18:6604233. [PMID: 35674339 PMCID: PMC9949502 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsac040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2021] [Revised: 04/21/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies indicate that the dopaminergic system (DAS) supports individual flexible behaviour. While flexibility is quintessential to effective dyadic motor interactions, whether DAS mediates adaptations of one's own motor behaviour to that of a partner is not known. Here, we asked patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) to synchronize their grasping movements with those of a virtual partner in conditions that did (Interactive) or did not (Cued) require to predict and adapt to its actions. PD performed the task during daily antiparkinsonian treatment ('On' condition) or after drug-withdrawal ('Off' condition). A group of healthy individuals also served as control group. In the Interactive condition, PDs performed better and found the interaction more enjoyable when in 'On' than in 'Off' condition. Crucially, PD performance in the 'On' condition did not differ from that of healthy controls. This pattern of results hints at the key role of the DAS in supporting the flexible adaptation of one's own actions to the partner's during motor interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa Era
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, 00185, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, 00179, Italy
| | - Matteo Candidi
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, 00185, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, 00179, Italy
| | | | - Claudia Pulcini
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, 00185, Italy
| | - Sara D'Antonio
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, 00185, Italy
| | | | | | - Alberto Costa
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, 00179, Italy.,Niccolò Cusano University, Rome, 00166, Italy
| | - Sara Taglieri
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, 00179, Italy.,Niccolò Cusano University, Rome, 00166, Italy
| | | | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, 00179, Italy.,Center for Life Nano- and Neuro-Science, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, and Sapienza University Rome, Rome, 00161, Italy
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18
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Moreau Q, Tieri G, Era V, Aglioti SM, Candidi M. The performance monitoring system is attuned to others' actions during dyadic motor interactions. Cereb Cortex 2022; 33:222-234. [PMID: 35203090 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2021] [Revised: 01/27/2022] [Accepted: 02/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Interpersonal motor interactions require the simultaneous monitoring of one's own and one's partner's actions. To characterize how the action monitoring system tracks self and other behavior during synchronous interactions, we combined electroencephalography recordings and immersive virtual reality in two tasks where participants were asked to synchronize their actions with those of a virtual partner (VP). The two tasks differed in the features to be monitored: the Goal task required participants to predict and monitor the VP's reaching goal; the Spatial task required participants to predict and monitor the VP's reaching trajectory. In both tasks, the VP performed unexpected movement changes to which the participant needed to adapt. By extracting the neural activity locked to the detection of unexpected changes in the VP's action (other-monitoring) or to the participants' action-replanning (self-monitoring), we show that the monitoring system is more attuned to others' than to one's own actions. Additionally, distinctive neural responses to VP's unexpected goals and trajectory corrections were found: goal changes were reflected both in early fronto-central and later posterior neural responses while trajectory deviations were reflected only in later posterior responses. Altogether, our results indicate that the monitoring system adopts an inherent social mode to handle interpersonal motor interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quentin Moreau
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University, 00185, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy
| | - Gaetano Tieri
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy.,Virtual Reality Lab, Unitelma Sapienza University, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Vanessa Era
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University, 00185, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy.,Center for Life Nano- & Neuro-Science, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia and Sapienza University, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Matteo Candidi
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University, 00185, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy
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19
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Frisanco A, Schepisi M, Tieri G, Aglioti SM. Embodying the avatar of an omnipotent agent modulates the perception of one's own abilities and enhances feelings of invulnerability. Sci Rep 2022; 12:21585. [PMID: 36517558 PMCID: PMC9751071 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-26016-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Immersive virtual reality can give people the illusion of owning artificial bodies (i.e., avatars) and controlling their actions. Tellingly, people appear to adhere to the newly embodied entities not just on the basis of physical traits but also behaving accordingly with the hallmarks of the represented characters. In two studies we pushed the limits of this process by testing if one's own sense of power could be affected by embodying the anthropomorphic representation of the Christian God, that is considered an omnipotent entity. A human Muscled and a Normotype avatar were used as controls. Results showed that participants embodying the God-avatar: (i) reacted to a threatening event compromising their physical safety by exhibiting a lower skin conductance response and heart rate deceleration compared to the Normotype-control avatar (Study 1); (ii) estimated they had more physical abilities compared to both the Normotype-control and the Muscled-control avatars (Study 2). Taken together, our findings suggest that embodying an omnipotent agent may exert an influence on people's perception of their own limits and capabilities, nourishing feelings of physical invulnerability and strength. Our study indicates that effectively embodying virtual role models may boost achievements and have translational implications in the field of empowerment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Althea Frisanco
- grid.7841.aFondazione Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia (IIT), Sapienza University of Rome and Center for Life Nano- & Neuroscience, Rome, Italy ,grid.417778.a0000 0001 0692 3437IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Michael Schepisi
- grid.7841.aFondazione Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia (IIT), Sapienza University of Rome and Center for Life Nano- & Neuroscience, Rome, Italy ,grid.417778.a0000 0001 0692 3437IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Gaetano Tieri
- grid.417778.a0000 0001 0692 3437IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy ,grid.469255.9Virtual Reality Lab, Unitelma Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- grid.7841.aFondazione Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia (IIT), Sapienza University of Rome and Center for Life Nano- & Neuroscience, Rome, Italy ,grid.417778.a0000 0001 0692 3437IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
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20
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Boukarras S, Ferri D, Frisanco A, Farnese ML, Consiglio C, Alvino I, Bianchi F, D’Acunto A, Borgogni L, Aglioti SM. Bringing social interaction at the core of organizational neuroscience. Front Psychol 2022; 13:1034454. [PMID: 36467198 PMCID: PMC9714489 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1034454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 10/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Organizations are composed of individuals working together for achieving specific goals, and interpersonal dynamics do exert a strong influence on workplace behaviour. Nevertheless, the dual and multiple perspective of interactions has been scarcely considered by Organizational Neuroscience (ON), the emerging field of study that aims at incorporating findings from cognitive and brain sciences into the investigation of organizational behaviour. This perspective article aims to highlight the potential benefits of adopting experimental settings involving two or more participants (the so-called "second person" approach) for studying the neural bases of organizational behaviour. Specifically, we stress the idea that moving beyond the individual perspective and capturing the dynamical relationships occurring within dyads or groups (e.g., leaders and followers, salespersons and clients, teams) might bring novel insights into the rising field of ON. In addition, designing research paradigms that reliably recreate real work and life situations might increase the generalizability and ecological validity of its results. We start with a brief overview of the current state of ON research and we continue by describing the second-person approach to social neuroscience. In the last paragraph, we try and outline how this approach could be extended to ON. To this end, we focus on leadership, group processes and emotional contagion as potential targets of interpersonal ON research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Boukarras
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Donato Ferri
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- EY, Rome, Italy
| | - Althea Frisanco
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Chiara Consiglio
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Ilario Alvino
- Department of Legal Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Francesco Bianchi
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- EY, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Laura Borgogni
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy
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21
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Feruglio S, Panasiti MS, Crescentini C, Aglioti SM, Ponsi G. The impact of mindfulness meditation on social and moral behavior: Does mindfulness enhance other-oriented motivation or decrease monetary reward salience? Front Integr Neurosci 2022; 16:963422. [PMID: 36118116 PMCID: PMC9478338 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2022.963422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Accepted: 07/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
This perspective article provides an overview of the impact of mindfulness meditation (MM) on social and moral behavior. In mindfulness research, prosocial behavior has been operationalized as helping behavior, altruistic redistribution of funds, reparative behavior, or monetary donation. Studies concerning moral behavior are still scarce. Despite inconsistent evidence, several studies found a beneficial effect of mindfulness on prosocial outcomes (i.e., a higher propensity to spend or give away money for the sake of other individuals). However, since the employed tasks were reward-based, participants’ decisions also directly affected their own payoff by reducing it. Crucially, MM also affects self-control circuitry and reduces reward-seeking behaviors and reward salience by making rewards less tempting. We have discussed evidence suggesting how challenging it may be to dissociate the specific weight of enhanced other-oriented motivation from one of the decreased monetary reward salience in explaining meditators’ behavior. Future higher-quality studies are needed to address this open issue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanna Feruglio
- Italian Institute of Technology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Rome, Italy
- Department of Languages, Literatures, Communication, Education, and Society, University of Udine, Udine, Italy
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Cristiano Crescentini
- Department of Languages, Literatures, Communication, Education, and Society, University of Udine, Udine, Italy
- Institute of Mechanical Intelligence, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Italian Institute of Technology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Giorgia Ponsi
- Italian Institute of Technology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
- *Correspondence: Giorgia Ponsi,
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Scattolin M, Panasiti MS, Aglioti SM. Morality in the flesh: on the link between bodily self-consciousness, moral identity and (dis)honest behaviour. R Soc Open Sci 2022; 9:220061. [PMID: 36061520 DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6158554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2022] [Accepted: 08/09/2022] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
The sense of owning a body (ownership) and controlling its actions (agency) are two main pillars of bodily self-consciousness (BSC). Although studies suggest that BSC signals and morality may be associated, whether such association has a positive or negative direction remains unclear. To investigate this issue, we conducted two pre-registered, online studies, in which a total of 1309 participants completed BSC- and morality-related questionnaires and undertook a task where they could cheat for monetary gain. We found that participants with high sense of ownership displayed high moral identity, which supports the notion that ownership is used to associate the self with positive characteristics. Moreover, high agency was associated with increased moral identity when sense of power is high. Results regarding deception are less clear, and might relate to the impact of COVID-19. Our results concerning moral identity may inspire policies that rely on changes of corporeal awareness to contrast immorality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Scattolin
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
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Scattolin M, Panasiti MS, Aglioti SM. Morality in the flesh: on the link between bodily self-consciousness, moral identity and (dis)honest behaviour. R Soc Open Sci 2022; 9:220061. [PMID: 36061520 PMCID: PMC9428530 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2022] [Accepted: 08/09/2022] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
The sense of owning a body (ownership) and controlling its actions (agency) are two main pillars of bodily self-consciousness (BSC). Although studies suggest that BSC signals and morality may be associated, whether such association has a positive or negative direction remains unclear. To investigate this issue, we conducted two pre-registered, online studies, in which a total of 1309 participants completed BSC- and morality-related questionnaires and undertook a task where they could cheat for monetary gain. We found that participants with high sense of ownership displayed high moral identity, which supports the notion that ownership is used to associate the self with positive characteristics. Moreover, high agency was associated with increased moral identity when sense of power is high. Results regarding deception are less clear, and might relate to the impact of COVID-19. Our results concerning moral identity may inspire policies that rely on changes of corporeal awareness to contrast immorality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Scattolin
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
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24
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Scattolin M, Panasiti MS, Aglioti SM. Morality in the flesh: on the link between bodily self-consciousness, moral identity and (dis)honest behaviour. R Soc Open Sci 2022; 9:220061. [PMID: 36061520 DOI: 10.17632/84tz3jkhr3.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2022] [Accepted: 08/09/2022] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
The sense of owning a body (ownership) and controlling its actions (agency) are two main pillars of bodily self-consciousness (BSC). Although studies suggest that BSC signals and morality may be associated, whether such association has a positive or negative direction remains unclear. To investigate this issue, we conducted two pre-registered, online studies, in which a total of 1309 participants completed BSC- and morality-related questionnaires and undertook a task where they could cheat for monetary gain. We found that participants with high sense of ownership displayed high moral identity, which supports the notion that ownership is used to associate the self with positive characteristics. Moreover, high agency was associated with increased moral identity when sense of power is high. Results regarding deception are less clear, and might relate to the impact of COVID-19. Our results concerning moral identity may inspire policies that rely on changes of corporeal awareness to contrast immorality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Scattolin
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
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25
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Fusco G, Cristiano A, Perazzini A, Aglioti SM. Neuromodulating the performance monitoring network during conflict and error processing in healthy populations: Insights from transcranial electric stimulation studies. Front Integr Neurosci 2022; 16:953928. [PMID: 35965598 PMCID: PMC9368590 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2022.953928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
The performance monitoring system is fundamentally important for adapting one’s own behavior in conflicting and error-prone, highly demanding circumstances. Flexible behavior requires that neuronal populations optimize information processing through efficient multi-scale communication. Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) studies using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) fields to alter the cortical activity promise to illuminate the neurophysiological mechanisms that underpin neuro-cognitive and behavioral processing and their causal relationship. Here, we focus on the transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) that have been increasingly used in cognitive neuroscience for modulating superficial neural networks in a polarity (tDCS) and frequency/phase (tACS) fashion. Specifically, we discuss recent evidence showing how tDCS and tACS modulate the performance monitoring network in neurotypical samples. Emphasis is given to studies using behavioral tasks tapping conflict and error processing such as the Stroop, the Flanker, and the Simon tasks. The crucial role of mid-frontal brain regions (such as the medial frontal cortex, MFC; and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, dACC) and of theta synchronization in monitoring conflict and error is highlighted. We also discuss current technological limitations (e.g., spatial resolution) and the specific methodological strategies needed to properly modulate the cortical and subcortical regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriele Fusco
- “Sapienza” University of Rome and CLN2S@SAPIENZA, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
- *Correspondence: Gabriele Fusco,
| | - Azzurra Cristiano
- “Sapienza” University of Rome and CLN2S@SAPIENZA, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Anna Perazzini
- “Sapienza” University of Rome and CLN2S@SAPIENZA, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- “Sapienza” University of Rome and CLN2S@SAPIENZA, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
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Scattolin M, Panasiti MS, Villa R, Aglioti SM. Reduced ownership over a virtual body modulates dishonesty. iScience 2022; 25:104320. [PMID: 35602961 PMCID: PMC9118670 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2021] [Revised: 03/31/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 10/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Although studies suggest that even higher-order functions can be embodied, whether body awareness may bias moral decisions toward (dis)honesty remains underinvestigated. Here, we tested if the Sense of body Ownership (SoO) and the magnitude of monetary rewards influence the tendency to act immorally. Through a virtual body, participants played a card game in which they could lie to others to steal high or low amounts of money. To manipulate SoO, the virtual body was seen and controlled from a first-person perspective, with hands attached or detached, or from a third-person perspective. In third-person perspective, SoO was significantly reduced and more egoistic lies were produced in high reward conditions. Thus, SoO reduction and high monetary reward facilitate dishonest behavior, likely by separating the self from the dishonest actions performed through the disowned body. Because most future interactions will likely occur in a digital metaverse, our results may have crucial societal impact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Scattolin
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome (RM) 00161, Italy
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome (RM) 00179, Italy.,Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome (RM) 00185, Italy
| | - Riccardo Villa
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome (RM) 00161, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome (RM) 00161, Italy.,Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome (RM) 00179, Italy
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27
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Scandola M, Gobbetto V, Bertagnoli S, Bulgarelli C, Canzano L, Aglioti SM, Moro V. Gesture errors in left and right hemisphere damaged patients: A behavioural and anatomical study. Neuropsychologia 2021; 162:108027. [PMID: 34560143 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.108027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2021] [Revised: 09/06/2021] [Accepted: 09/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Erroneous gesture execution is at the core of motor cognition difficulties in apraxia. While a taxonomy of errors may provide important information about the nature of the disorder, classifications are currently often inconsistent. This study aims to identify the error categories which distinguish apraxic from non-apraxic patients. METHOD Two groups of mixed (bucco-facial and limb) and bucco-facial apraxic patients suffering from stroke were compared to non-apraxic, left and right hemisphere damaged patients in tasks tapping the ability to perform limb and bucco-facial actions. The errors were analysed and classified into 6 categories relating to content, configuration or movement, spatial or temporal parameters and unrecognisable actions. Furthermore, an anatomical investigation (VLMS) was conducted in the whole group of left hemisphere damaged patients to investigate potential correlates of the various error categories. RESULTS Although all the above error typologies may be observed, the most indicative of mixed apraxia is the content-related one in all the typologies of actions (transitive and intransitive), and configuration errors in transitive ones. Configuration and content errors in mouth actions seem to be typical of bucco-facial apraxia. Spatial errors are similar in both apraxic and right brain damaged, non-apraxic patients. A lesion mapping analysis of left-brain damaged patients demonstrates that all but the spatial error category are associated with the fronto-parietal network. Moreover, content errors are also associated with fronto-insular lesions and movement errors with damage to the paracentral territory (precentral and postcentral gyri). Spatial errors are often associated to ventral frontal lesions. CONCLUSIONS Bucco-facial and mixed apraxic patients make different types of errors in different types of actions. Not all errors are equally indicative of apraxia. In addition, the various error categories are associated with at least partially different neural correlates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Scandola
- NPSY.Lab-VR, Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Italy
| | - Valeria Gobbetto
- NPSY.Lab-VR, Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Italy; Department of Rehabilitation, IRCSS Sacro Cuore- Don Calabria, Negrar, Verona, Italy
| | - Sara Bertagnoli
- NPSY.Lab-VR, Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Italy
| | - Cristina Bulgarelli
- Department of Rehabilitation, IRCSS Sacro Cuore- Don Calabria, Negrar, Verona, Italy
| | | | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy; Sapienza University of Rome, Cnls@sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy
| | - Valentina Moro
- NPSY.Lab-VR, Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Italy.
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Lisi MP, Scattolin M, Fusaro M, Aglioti SM. A Bayesian approach to reveal the key role of mask wearing in modulating projected interpersonal distance during the first COVID-19 outbreak. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0255598. [PMID: 34375361 PMCID: PMC8354471 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 07/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Humans typically create and maintain social bonds through interactions that occur at close social distances. The interpersonal distance of at least 1 m recommended as a relevant measure for COVID-19 contagion containment requires a significant change in everyday behavior. In a web-based experimental study conducted during the first pandemic wave (mid-April 2020), we asked 242 participants to regulate their preferred distance towards confederates who did or did not wear protective masks and gloves and whose COVID-19 test results were positive, negative, or unknown. Information concerning dispositional factors (perceived vulnerability to disease, moral attitudes, and prosocial tendencies) and situational factors (perceived severity of the situation in the country, frequency of physical and virtual social contacts, and attitudes toward quarantine) that may modulate compliance with safety prescriptions was also acquired. A Bayesian analysis approach was adopted. Individual differences did not modulate interpersonal distance. We found strong evidence in favor of a reduction of interpersonal distance towards individuals wearing protective equipment and who tested negative to COVID-19. Importantly, shorter interpersonal distances were maintained towards confederates wearing protective gear, even when their COVID-19 test result was unknown or positive. This protective equipment-related regulation of interpersonal distance may reflect an underestimation of perceived vulnerability to infection; this perception must be discouraged when pursuing individual and collective health-safety measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo P. Lisi
- Sapienza University of Rome and Center for Life Nano- & Neuro-Science, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Rome, Italy
- Social Neuroscience Laboratory, Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Marina Scattolin
- Sapienza University of Rome and Center for Life Nano- & Neuro-Science, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Rome, Italy
- Social Neuroscience Laboratory, Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Martina Fusaro
- Social Neuroscience Laboratory, Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Sapienza University of Rome and Center for Life Nano- & Neuro-Science, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Rome, Italy
- Social Neuroscience Laboratory, Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE Deontological Guilt (DG), and Altruistic Guilt (AG) emerge from the appraisal of violating an internalized rule or an altruistic principle, respectively. DG is strictly connected with Disgust Sensitivity and plays a key role in the development and maintenance of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Previous studies investigated how DG affects responses to hypothetical moral dilemmas, however how DG and Disgust Sensitivity interact modulating moral behavior is still unknown. METHODS STUDY 1. 46 healthy participants performed an ecological paradigm in which people can spontaneously decide to lie to obtain a reward (egoistic lie) or give it away (altruistic lie) after three emotional inductions: DG, AG or neutral. Furthermore, OCD traits, Morality, Guilt Propensity and Disgust Sensitivity were assessed by means of questionnaires. STUDY 2. 27 participants from the original sample were retested during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy to ascertain whether the pandemic modified traits related to morality, disgust, guilt or OCD symptoms and whether these changes modulated moral behavior (measured by a task in which cheating was associated to higher pay-offs). RESULTS STUDY 1. Compared to the neutral, after the DG induction participants produced less altruistic and more egoistic lies. This effect was stronger in participants with high Disgust Sensitivity. STUDY 2. During the COVID-19 lockdown participants became more sensitive to the Authority pillar of the Moral Foundations and more sensitive to Disgust: this increment in deontological morality affected (im) moral behavior depending on changes in Disgust Sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest that people with high Disgust Sensitivity are more affected by deontological inductions which translate to higher immorality, supposedly by lowering their moral self-image. These results might have important clinical implications as they suggest that addressing Disgust Sensitivity in therapy, might also decrease the effect of guilt on patients' behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Parisi
- Center for Life Nano- & Neuro-Science, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome & Sapienza University of Rome
- Social Neuroscience Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Via Ardeatina, 306 - 00179
| | - Alessandra Mancini
- Scuola di Specializzazione in Psicoterapia Cognitiva APC-SPC, Rome, Italy
| | - Francesco Mancini
- Scuola di Specializzazione in Psicoterapia Cognitiva APC-SPC, Rome, Italy
- Guglielmo Marconi University, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Center for Life Nano- & Neuro-Science, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome & Sapienza University of Rome
- Social Neuroscience Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Via Ardeatina, 306 - 00179
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- Social Neuroscience Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Via Ardeatina, 306 - 00179
- Department of Psychology, “Sapienza University of Rome”, Via dei Marsi, 78 - 00185 Rome, Italy
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Abstract
Immersive virtual reality enables people to undergo the experience of owning an artificial body and vicariously feeling tactile stimuli delivered to it. However, it is currently unknown how such experiences are modified by the sexual congruency between the human and the artificial agent. In two studies, heterosexual men (Experiment 1) and women (Experiment 2) embodied same-sex and opposite-sex avatars and were asked to evaluate the experience (e.g., pleasantness, erogeneity) of being touched on social or intimate areas of their virtual body by a male or female avatar. Electrocardiogram and galvanic skin response were also recorded. Moreover, participants' implicit and explicit gender biases were examined via a gender-potency implicit association test and the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory. When embodying a same-sex avatar, men and women rated caresses on intimate areas from an avatar of the opposite sex as more pleasant and erogenous. Conversely, body swap-that is, wearing an opposite-sex avatar-enhanced participants' perceptions of pleasantness and erogeneity for caresses on intimate areas from a same-sex toucher. This effect was stronger in men than in women. Furthermore, physiological correlates of enhanced processing of arousing stimuli predicted behavioural outcomes during the body swap illusion. Wearing an opposite-sex avatar affects one's own body representations and may have important implications on people's attitudes and implicit reactivity to touch-mediated interactions. Men seem more susceptible to this type of body swap illusion. Our paradigm may induce profound changes of cross-sex perspective-taking and provide novel tools for promoting empathy and comprehension of sex-related diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Mello
- SCNLab, Fondazione Santa Lucia, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.,Sapienza, Università degli Studi di Roma & Center for Life Nano- and Neuro-Science, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy
| | - Martina Fusaro
- SCNLab, Fondazione Santa Lucia, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.,Sapienza, Università degli Studi di Roma & Center for Life Nano- and Neuro-Science, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy
| | - Gaetano Tieri
- SCNLab, Fondazione Santa Lucia, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.,Virtual Reality Lab, University of Rome Unitelma Sapienza, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- SCNLab, Fondazione Santa Lucia, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.,Sapienza, Università degli Studi di Roma & Center for Life Nano- and Neuro-Science, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy
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31
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Era V, Aglioti SM, Candidi M. Inhibitory Theta Burst Stimulation Highlights the Role of Left aIPS and Right TPJ during Complementary and Imitative Human-Avatar Interactions in Cooperative and Competitive Scenarios. Cereb Cortex 2021; 30:1677-1687. [PMID: 31667496 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhz195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2018] [Revised: 07/31/2019] [Accepted: 08/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Competitive and cooperative interactions are based on anticipation or synchronization with the partner's actions. Both forms of interaction may either require performing imitative or complementary movements with respect to those performed by our partner. We explored how parietal regions involved in the control of imitative behavior (temporo-parietal junction, TPJ), goal coding and visuo-motor integration (anterior intraparietal sulcus, aIPS) contribute to the execution of imitative and complementary movements during cooperative and competitive interactions. To this aim, we delivered off-line non-invasive inhibitory brain stimulation to healthy individuals' left aIPS and right TPJ before they were asked to reach and grasp an object together with a virtual partner by either performing imitative or complementary interactions. In different blocks, participants were asked to compete or cooperate with the virtual partner that varied its behavior according to cooperative or competitive contexts. Left aIPS and right TPJ inhibition impaired individuals' performance (i.e., synchrony in cooperative task and anticipation in competition) during complementary and imitative interactions, respectively, in both cooperative and competitive contexts, indicating that aIPS and TPJ inhibition affects own-other action integration and action imitation (that are different in complementary vs imitative interactions) more than action synchronization or anticipation (that are different in cooperative vs competitive contexts).
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa Era
- SCNLab Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, 00185, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS, Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- SCNLab Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, 00185, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS, Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - Matteo Candidi
- SCNLab Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, 00185, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS, Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00185, Rome, Italy
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Monti A, Porciello G, Panasiti MS, Aglioti SM. The inside of me: interoceptive constraints on the concept of self in neuroscience and clinical psychology. Psychol Res 2021; 86:2468-2477. [PMID: 34050431 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-021-01477-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Humans are unique in their ability to think about themselves and carry a more or less clear notion of who they are in their mind. Here we review recent evidence suggesting that the birth, maintenance, and loss of the abstract concept of 'self' is deeply tied to interoception, the sense of internal physiological signals. Interoception influences multiple facets of the self-concept, cutting across its material, social, moral, and agentive components. Overall, we argue that interoception contributes to the stability of the self-concept over time, unifying its layers and constraining the degree to which it is susceptible to external influences. Hence, the core features of the self-concept are those that correlate more with inner bodily states. We discuss the implications that this may have for theories of embodied cognition as well as for the understanding of psychiatric disorders in which the concept of self appears fragmented or loose. Finally, we formulate some empirical predictions that could be tested in future studies to shed further light on this emerging field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Monti
- Sapienza, Università di Roma and CLNS@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy.
| | - Giuseppina Porciello
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.,Dipartimento di Psicologia, Sapienza, Università di Roma, Rome, Italy
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.,Dipartimento di Psicologia, Sapienza, Università di Roma, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Sapienza, Università di Roma and CLNS@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
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33
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Boukarras S, Era V, Aglioti SM, Candidi M. Competence-based social status and implicit preference modulate the ability to coordinate during a joint grasping task. Sci Rep 2021; 11:5321. [PMID: 33674640 PMCID: PMC7935999 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-84280-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Accepted: 02/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies indicate that social status influences people's social perceptions. Less information is available about whether induced social status influences dyadic coordination during motor interactions. To explore this issue, we designed a study in which two confederates obtained high or low competence-based status by playing a game together with the participant, while the participant always occupied the middle position of the hierarchy. Following this status-inducing phase, participants were engaged in a joint grasping task with the high- and low-status confederates in different sessions while behavioural (i.e., interpersonal asynchrony and movement start time) indexes were measured. Participants' performance in the task (i.e., level of interpersonal asynchrony) when interacting with the low-status partner was modulated by their preference for him. The lower participants' preference for a low- relative to a high-status confederate, the worse participants' performance when interacting with the low-status confederate. Our results show that participants' performance during motor interactions changes according to the social status of the interaction partner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Boukarras
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
- Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.
| | - Vanessa Era
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
- Sapienza University of Rome and CNLS@Sapienza Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy
| | - Matteo Candidi
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
- Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.
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34
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Ponsi G, Scattolin M, Villa R, Aglioti SM. Human moral decision-making through the lens of Parkinson's disease. NPJ Parkinsons Dis 2021; 7:18. [PMID: 33654110 PMCID: PMC7925586 DOI: 10.1038/s41531-021-00167-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2020] [Accepted: 01/25/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the basal ganglia (BG) and thalamocortical circuitry. While defective motor control has long been considered the defining symptom of PD, mounting evidence indicates that the BG are fundamentally important for a multitude of cognitive, emotional, and motivational processes in addition to motor function. Here, we review alterations in moral decision-making in people with PD, specifically in the context of deceptive behavior. We report that PD patients exhibit two opposite behavioral patterns: hyper- and hypo-honesty. The hyper-honest subgroup engages in deception less often than matched controls, even when lying is associated with a monetary payoff. This behavioral pattern seems to be linked to dopaminergic hypo-activity, implying enhanced harm avoidance, risk aversion, non-impulsivity, and reduced reward sensitivity. On the contrary, the hypo-honest subgroup-often characterized by the additional diagnosis of impulse control disorders (ICDs) and dopamine dysregulation syndrome (DDS)-deceives more often than both PD patients without ICDs/DDS and controls. This behavioral pattern appears to be associated with dopaminergic hyperactivity, which underpins enhanced novelty-seeking, risk-proneness, impulsivity, and reward sensitivity. We posit that these two complementary behavioral patterns might be related to dysfunction of the dopaminergic reward system, leading to reduced or enhanced motivation to deceive. Only a few studies have directly investigated moral decision-making in PD and other neurodegenerative disorders affecting the BG, and further research on the causal role of subcortical structures in shaping moral behavior is needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgia Ponsi
- Department of Psychology Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@SAPIENZA Roma, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy.
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Roma, Italy.
| | - Marina Scattolin
- Department of Psychology Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@SAPIENZA Roma, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Roma, Italy
| | - Riccardo Villa
- Department of Psychology Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@SAPIENZA Roma, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Roma, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Department of Psychology Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@SAPIENZA Roma, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy.
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Roma, Italy.
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35
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Pezzetta R, Wokke ME, Aglioti SM, Ridderinkhof KR. Doing it Wrong: A Systematic Review on Electrocortical and Behavioral Correlates of Error Monitoring in Patients with Neurological Disorders. Neuroscience 2021; 486:103-125. [PMID: 33516775 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2021.01.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Revised: 01/15/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Detecting errors in one's own and other's actions is a crucial ability for learning and adapting behavior to everchanging, highly volatile environments. Studies in healthy people demonstrate that monitoring errors in one's own and others' actions are underpinned by specific neural systems that are dysfunctional in a variety of neurological disorders. In this review, we first briefly discuss the main findings concerning error detection and error awareness in healthy subjects, the current theoretical models, and the tasks usually applied to investigate these processes. Then, we report a systematic search for evidence of dysfunctional error monitoring among neurological populations (basal ganglia, neurodegenerative, white-matter diseases and acquired brain injury). In particular, we examine electrophysiological and behavioral evidence for specific alterations of error processing in neurological disorders. Error-related negativity (ERN) amplitude were reduced in most (although not all) neurological patient groups, whereas Positivity Error (Pe) amplitude appeared not to be affected in most patient groups. Also theta activity was reduced in some neurological groups, but consistent evidence on the oscillatory activity has not been provided thus far. Behaviorally, we did not observe relevant patterns of pronounced dysfunctional (post-) error processing. Finally, we discuss limitations of the existing literature, conclusive points, open questions and new possible methodological approaches for clinical studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Pezzetta
- IRCCS San Camillo Hospital, Venice, Italy.
| | - M E Wokke
- Programs in Psychology and Biology, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, NY, USA; Department of Psychology, The University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - S M Aglioti
- Sapienza University of Rome and CNLS@Sapienza at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Regina Elena 295, 00161 Rome, Italy; Fondazione Santa Lucia, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - K R Ridderinkhof
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 129B, 1018, WS, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Amsterdam Brain & Cognition (ABC), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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36
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Fusaro M, Lisi MP, Tieri G, Aglioti SM. Heterosexual, gay, and lesbian people's reactivity to virtual caresses on their embodied avatars' taboo zones. Sci Rep 2021; 11:2221. [PMID: 33500486 PMCID: PMC7838160 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-81168-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2020] [Accepted: 12/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Embodying an artificial agent through immersive virtual reality (IVR) may lead to feeling vicariously somatosensory stimuli on one's body which are in fact never delivered. To explore whether vicarious touch in IVR reflects the basic individual and social features of real-life interpersonal interactions we tested heterosexual men/women and gay men/lesbian women reacting subjectively and physiologically to the observation of a gender-matched virtual body being touched on intimate taboo zones (like genitalia) by male and female avatars. All participants rated as most erogenous caresses on their embodied avatar taboo zones. Crucially, heterosexual men/women and gay men/lesbian women rated as most erogenous taboo touches delivered by their opposite and same gender avatar, respectively. Skin conductance was maximal when taboo touches were delivered by female avatars. Our study shows that IVR may trigger realistic experiences and ultimately allow the direct exploration of sensitive societal and individual issues that can otherwise be explored only through imagination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martina Fusaro
- Sapienza, Università degli Studi di Roma & CLNS@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy.
- Social Neuroscience Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.
| | - Matteo P Lisi
- Sapienza, Università degli Studi di Roma & CLNS@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy
- Social Neuroscience Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Gaetano Tieri
- Social Neuroscience Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
- Virtual Reality Lab, University of Rome Unitelma Sapienza, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Sapienza, Università degli Studi di Roma & CLNS@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy.
- Social Neuroscience Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.
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37
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Nicolardi V, Panasiti MS, D’Ippolito M, Pecimo GL, Aglioti SM. Author Correction: Pain perception during social interactions is modulated by self-related and moral contextual cues. Sci Rep 2020; 10:3549. [PMID: 32080311 PMCID: PMC7033243 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-60647-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
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38
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Fusco G, Fusaro M, Aglioti SM. Midfrontal-occipital Ɵ-tACS modulates cognitive conflicts related to bodily stimuli. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2020; 17:91-100. [PMID: 33448297 PMCID: PMC8824600 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsaa125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2020] [Revised: 07/21/2020] [Accepted: 09/08/2020] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Neurophysiological studies show that during tasks tapping cognitive control (like the flanker task), midfrontal theta (MFθ) oscillations are associated with conflict and error processing and neural top-down modulation of perceptual processing. What remains unknown is whether perceptual encoding of category-specific stimuli (e.g. body vs letters) used in flanker-like tasks is modulated by theta oscillations. To explore this issue, we delivered transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) in the theta frequency band (6 Hz) over the medial frontal cortex (MFC) and the extra-striate body area (EBA), whereas healthy participants performed two variants of the classical flanker task, one with stimuli representing human hands (i.e. hand-flanker) and the other with stimuli representing coloured letters (i.e. letter-flanker). More specifically, we aimed at investigating whether θ-tACS involving a body-related area may modulate the long-range communication between neuronal populations underlying conflict monitoring and visuo-perceptual encoding of hand stimuli without affecting the conflict driven by letter stimuli. Results showed faster correct response times during θ-tACS in the hand-flanker compared with γ-tACS (40 Hz) and sham. Importantly, such an effect did not emerge in the letter-flanker. Our findings show that theta oscillations over midfrontal-occipital areas modulate bodily specific, stimulus content-driven aspects of cognitive control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriele Fusco
- Correspondence should be addressed to Dr Gabriele Fusco, Department of Psychology, via dei Marsi 78, 00185, Roma, Italy. E-mail:
| | - Martina Fusaro
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@SAPIENZA, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy
- Social Neuroscience Laboratory, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@SAPIENZA, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy
- Social Neuroscience Laboratory, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
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39
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Abstract
The decision to lie to another person involves a conflict between one's own and others' interest. Political ideology may foster self-promoting or self-transcending values and thus may balance or fuel self vs. other related conflicts. Here, we explored in politically non-aligned participants whether oculomotor behavior may index the influence on moral decision-making of prime stimuli related to left and right-wing ideologies. We presented pictures of Italian politicians and ideological words in a paradigm where participants could lie to opponents with high vs. low socio-economic status to obtain a monetary reward. Results show that left-wing words decreased self-gain lies and increased other-gain ones. Oculomotor behavior revealed that gazing longer at politicians' pictures led participants to look longer at opponent's status-related information than at game's outcome-related information before the decision. This, in turn, caused participants to lie less to low status opponents. Moreover, after lying, participants averted their gaze from high status opponents and maintained it towards low status ones. Our results offer novel evidence that ideological priming influences moral decision-making and suggest that oculomotor behavior may provide crucial insights on how this process takes place.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Schepisi
- Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.
| | - Giuseppina Porciello
- Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome and CNLS@Sapienza Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.
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40
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Scandola M, Aglioti SM, Lazzeri G, Avesani R, Ionta S, Moro V. Visuo-motor and interoceptive influences on peripersonal space representation following spinal cord injury. Sci Rep 2020; 10:5162. [PMID: 32198431 PMCID: PMC7083926 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-62080-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2019] [Accepted: 03/02/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Peripersonal space (PPS) representation is modulated by information coming from the body. In paraplegic individuals, whose lower limb sensory-motor functions are impaired or completely lost, the representation of PPS around the feet is reduced. However, passive motion can have short-term restorative effects. What remains unclear is the mechanisms underlying this recovery, in particular with regard to the contribution of visual and motor feedback and of interoception. Using virtual reality technology, we dissociated the motor and visual feedback during passive motion in paraplegics with complete and incomplete lesions and in healthy controls. The results show that in the case of paraplegics, the presence of motor feedback was necessary for the recovery of PPS representation, both when the motor feedback was congruent and when it was incongruent with the visual feedback. In contrast, visuo-motor incongruence led to an inhibition of PPS representation in the control group. There were no differences in sympathetic responses between the three groups. Nevertheless, in individuals with incomplete lesions, greater interoceptive sensitivity was associated with a better representation of PPS around the feet in the visuo-motor incongruent conditions. These results shed new light on the modulation of PPS representation, and demonstrate the importance of residual motor feedback and its integration with other bodily information in maintaining space representation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Scandola
- NPSY-Lab.VR, Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy. .,IRCCS, Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- IRCCS, Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.,Department of Psychology, University of Rome "Sapienza", Rome, Italy.,Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Renato Avesani
- Department of Rehabilitation, IRCSS Sacro Cuore - Don Calabria Hospital, Verona, Italy
| | - Silvio Ionta
- Sensory-Motor Lab (SeMoLa), Department of Ophthalmology-University of Lausanne, Jules Gonin Eye; Hospital-Fondation Asile des Aveugles, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Valentina Moro
- NPSY-Lab.VR, Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
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41
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Boukarras S, Era V, Aglioti SM, Candidi M. Modulation of preference for abstract stimuli following competence-based social status primes. Exp Brain Res 2019; 238:193-204. [PMID: 31832705 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-019-05702-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2019] [Accepted: 11/27/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
In the present study, we measured whether competence-related high and low social status attributed to two unknown individuals affects participants' implicit reactivity to abstract stimuli associated to the identity of the same individuals. During a status-inducing procedure, participants were asked to play an interactive game with two (fake) players coded as high vs low status based on their game competence. Before and after the game, a modified version of the Affective Misattribution Procedure (AMP) was administered in which the players' faces were used as primes. The evaluation target, as is typical to AMP, was a Chinese ideogram. There were two different presentation timings for the prime image: 75 ms and 17 ms. After the status-inducing procedure, the evaluation targets preceded by the high-status prime (i.e. best player's face) were rated as more pleasant than those preceded by the low-status prime (i.e. worst player's face). This effect was only found, however, for the 75 ms lasting prime. Moreover, explicit ratings of the primes showed that the high-status player was rated as more intelligent, competent and dominant than the low status one. These results indicate that implicit preference and explicit evaluation of unacquainted individuals are rapidly modulated by competence-based social status attribution, thus hinting at the plastic nature of social categorization and, relatedly, the malleability of visual preference.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Boukarras
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185, Rome, Italy. .,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.
| | - Vanessa Era
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy. .,Sapienza University of Rome and CNLS@Sapienza Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genoa, Italy.
| | - Matteo Candidi
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
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42
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Era V, Candidi M, Aglioti SM. Contextual and social variables modulate aesthetic appreciation of bodily and abstract art stimuli. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2019; 199:102881. [PMID: 31352258 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2019.102881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2018] [Revised: 06/28/2019] [Accepted: 07/01/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the increasing interest in the plasticity of aesthetic appreciation, we know comparatively little about the role of individuals' cultural (e.g. the appreciators' expertise) and of social emotional-cognitive (e.g. the social influence of people perceived as warm or competent) variables in modulating the appreciation process. In two experiments we investigated 1) whether people with different art-expertise are influenced differently by contextual (i.e. stimuli primed as art) and social (i.e. stimuli rated as beautiful by art-critics) information and 2) whether acknowledging the judgment of a person perceived as warm or as competent has a different influence on individuals' aesthetic appreciation of art works. Warmth and competence are two social dimensions of fundamental importance for categorizing others as in-group or out-group (Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, & Xu, 2002). We found that insinuating that the observed works were pieces of art, highly appreciated by art critics, lead expert participants to judge the stimuli as more beautiful in comparison to when the very same stimuli were not preceded by any manipulation. Moreover, we found that both art-experts and non-experts rated the stimuli as more beautiful when they believed it to be highly appreciated by people perceived as warm vs people perceived as competent. These results provide novel information on the plasticity of aesthetics and pave the way to understanding how tastes and preferences in the domain of aesthetics can be influenced.
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43
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Liuzza MT, Macaluso E, Chiesa PA, Lingiardi V, Aglioti SM. An fMRI study on the neural correlates of social conformity to a sexual minority. Sci Rep 2019; 9:4691. [PMID: 30886162 PMCID: PMC6423124 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-40447-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2018] [Accepted: 02/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Social conformity refers to the tendency to align one's own behaviors, beliefs and values to those of others. Little is known about social influence coming from a minority group. To test whether social pressure from sexual minorities triggers avoidance-motivated behaviors, we explored how being influenced by the preferences of gay peers modifies the behavioral and neural reactivity of individuals defined as in- vs. out- groups on the basis of sexual orientation. To this aim, we combined fMRI with a social conformity paradigm in which heterosexual and gay/bisexual (hereafter non-exclusively heterosexual, NEH) individuals provided with male body attractiveness ratings by a fictitious group of gay students may or may not alter their previous rating and may or may not conform to the mean. Behaviorally, conformity to the minority preference was found in in-group NEH more than in out-group heterosexuals. Analysis of BOLD signal showed that social pressure brought about increased brain activity in frontal and parietal regions associated with the detection of social conflict. These results show that members of a sexual majority group display a smaller level of conformity when a sexual minority group exerts social influence. However, the neural correlates of this modulation are yet to be clarified.
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Affiliation(s)
- M T Liuzza
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza, University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy.
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.
- Department of Surgical and Medical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy.
| | - E Macaluso
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
- ImpAct Team, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (UCBL1, INSERM 1028, CNRS 5292), Lyon, France
| | - P A Chiesa
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza, University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
- Brain & Spine Institute (ICM), INSERM U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Boulevard de l'hôpital, F-75013, Paris, France
| | - V Lingiardi
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza, University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - S M Aglioti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza, University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy.
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.
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44
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Bufalari I, Sforza AL, Di Russo F, Mannetti L, Aglioti SM. Malleability of the self: electrophysiological correlates of the enfacement illusion. Sci Rep 2019; 9:1682. [PMID: 30737445 PMCID: PMC6368628 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-38213-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2018] [Accepted: 12/19/2018] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Self-face representation is fundamentally important for self-identity and self-consciousness. Given its role in preserving identity over time, self-face processing is considered as a robust and stable process. Yet, recent studies indicate that simple psychophysics manipulations may change how we process our own face. Specifically, experiencing tactile facial stimulation while seeing similar synchronous stimuli delivered to the face of another individual seen as in a mirror, induces ‘enfacement’ illusion, i.e. the subjective experience of ownership of the other’s face and a bias in attributing to the self, facial features of the other person. Here we recorded visual Event-Related Potentials elicited by the presentation of self, other and morphed faces during a self-other discrimination task performed immediately after participants received synchronous and control asynchronous Interpersonal Multisensory Stimulation (IMS). We found that self-face presentation after synchronous as compared to asynchronous stimulation significantly reduced the late positive potential (LPP; 450–750 ms), a reliable electrophysiological marker of self-identification processes. Additionally, enfacement cancelled out the differences in LPP amplitudes produced by self- and other-face during the control condition. These findings represent the first direct neurophysiological evidence that enfacement may affect self-face processing and pave the way to novel paradigms for exploring defective self-representation and self-other interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilaria Bufalari
- Dipartimento dei Processi di Sviluppo e Socializzazione, Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza", Rome, Italy. .,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.
| | - Anna Laura Sforza
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.,Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza", Rome, Italy
| | - Francesco Di Russo
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.,Dipartimento di Scienze Motorie, Umane e della Salute, Università degli Studi di Roma "Foro Italico", Rome, Italy
| | - Lucia Mannetti
- Dipartimento dei Processi di Sviluppo e Socializzazione, Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza", Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.,Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza", Rome, Italy
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45
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Schepisi M, Porciello G, Bufalari I, Aglioti SM, Panasiti MS. Left Threatened by Right: Political Intergroup Bias in the Contemporary Italian Context. Front Psychol 2019; 10:26. [PMID: 30733693 PMCID: PMC6353823 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2018] [Accepted: 01/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Using different evaluation targets (i.e., politicians' pictures, ideological words, items referring to features attributed to political ingroup/outgroup) we characterized the intergroup bias among political groups in the Italian context (Study 1-2-3) and tested a model that may account for the bias itself (Study 3). For all evaluation targets, left-wing participants - compared to right-wing participants - showed a greater intergroup bias, expressing more negative emotions toward the outgroup. The process was influenced by a greater perceived threat of the outgroup. Conversely, right-wing participants expressed the bias only when presented with ideological words. Our results provide a detailed description of how intergroup bias in Italy is differently expressed by the two ideological groups depending on the targets used to represent the political counterpart. Moreover, the results show that the stronger bias expressed by left-wing participants is driven by perceived threat of the outgroup.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Schepisi
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Giuseppina Porciello
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Ilaria Bufalari
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology of Developmental Processes and Socialization, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
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46
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Era V, Candidi M, Gandolfo M, Sacheli LM, Aglioti SM. Inhibition of left anterior intraparietal sulcus shows that mutual adjustment marks dyadic joint-actions in humans. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2018; 13:492-500. [PMID: 29660090 PMCID: PMC6007351 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsy022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2017] [Accepted: 03/28/2018] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Creating real-life dynamic contexts to study interactive behaviors is a fundamental challenge for the social neuroscience of interpersonal relations. Real synchronic interpersonal motor interactions involve online, inter-individual mutual adaptation (the ability to adapt one’s movements to those of another in order to achieve a shared goal). In order to study the contribution of the left anterior Intra Parietal Sulcus (aIPS) (i.e. a region supporting motor functions) to mutual adaptation, here, we combined a behavioral grasping task where pairs of participants synchronized their actions when performing mutually adaptive imitative and complementary movements, with the inhibition of activity of aIPS via non-invasive brain stimulation. This approach allowed us to investigate whether aIPS supports online complementary and imitative interactions. Behavioral results showed that inhibition of aIPS selectively impairs pair performance during complementary compared to imitative interactions. Notably, this effect depended on pairs’ mutual adaptation skills and was higher for pairs composed of participants who were less capable of adapting to each other. Thus, we provide the first causative evidence for a role of the left aIPS in supporting mutually adaptive interactions and show that the inhibition of the neural resources of one individual of a pair is compensated at the dyadic level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa Era
- SCNLab, Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy.,IRCCS, Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00100 Rome, Italy
| | - Matteo Candidi
- SCNLab, Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy.,IRCCS, Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00100 Rome, Italy
| | - Marco Gandolfo
- SCNLab, Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy.,IRCCS, Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00100 Rome, Italy
| | - Lucia Maria Sacheli
- IRCCS, Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00100 Rome, Italy.,Department of Psychology and Milan Center for Neuroscience (NeuroMi), University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- SCNLab, Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy.,IRCCS, Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00100 Rome, Italy
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47
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Ponsi G, Monachesi B, Panasiti V, Aglioti SM, Panasiti MS. Physiological and behavioral reactivity to social exclusion: a functional infrared thermal imaging study in patients with psoriasis. J Neurophysiol 2018; 121:38-49. [PMID: 30379630 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00555.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent studies have shown that sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity can be heavily impacted not only by basic threats to survival but also by threats to social bonds. In this study we explored the behavioral and physiological consequences of social exclusion/inclusion in patients with psoriasis, a disease frequently associated with the experience of being ostracized and with deficient emotion regulation skills. We employed a virtual ball-tossing game (Cyberball) to induce the experience of social exclusion/inclusion. We then used a Trust Game to measure the effects of this social modulation on trust. During Cyberball, infrared thermal imaging was used to record participants' facial temperature and thus obtain an online measure of SNS activation. Behavioral data showed that social exclusion shifted participants' trust toward unfamiliar players who had not previously excluded them. Physiological data indicated that in control participants, social exclusion triggered higher SNS activation than inclusion. No such effect was found in patients with psoriasis, whose SNS activity was the same during inclusion as it was during exclusion, suggesting that they benefit less from inclusive experiences than control participants. In addition, in patients but not in controls, higher SNS activation during social exclusion was linked to higher monetary investment toward unfamiliar players, a result in keeping with the social reconnection hypothesis, according to which emotions triggered by social rejection can be regulated by investing in new social interactions. We also found that an increase in periorbital temperature is accompanied by a decrease in happiness ratings after social exclusion was experienced during the Cyberball game. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Previous research on emotional processes in psoriasis has mainly employed self-report measures. In this study we used thermal imaging to obtain an online measure of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity during social exclusion and tested how this experience influenced subsequent trust. We found that being included was a less positive experience for patients compared with controls and that SNS activity during exclusion had a stronger influence on subsequent trust in patients than in controls.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgia Ponsi
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome , Rome , Italy.,IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation , Rome , Italy
| | - Bianca Monachesi
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome , Rome , Italy
| | - Vincenzo Panasiti
- Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Unit, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome , Rome , Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome , Rome , Italy.,IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation , Rome , Italy
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome , Rome , Italy.,IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation , Rome , Italy
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Panasiti MS, Ponsi G, Monachesi B, Lorenzini L, Panasiti V, Aglioti SM. Cognitive load and emotional processing in psoriasis: a thermal imaging study. Exp Brain Res 2018; 237:211-222. [PMID: 30374785 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-018-5416-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2018] [Accepted: 10/24/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Psoriasis is a chronic dermatologic disease which is frequently associated with psychological distress. Although studies suggest a relationship between this condition and difficulties in emotion regulation, behavioral and physiological evidence about this link is scarce. We measured implicit emotion regulation abilities of psoriasis patients and a healthy control group by examining the impact of distracting emotional (positive, negative or neutral) images on a working memory task ("Emotional N-Back") which could present high (2-back) or low (1-back) cognitive workload. Moreover, we used Functional Infrared Thermal Imaging to record participants' facial temperature and obtain a measure of the activation of the autonomic system. Rising of temperature over the peri-orbital areas and the nose tip are believed to reflect the activation and the de-activation of the sympathetic system, respectively. Patients scored higher than controls on the "Lack of emotional clarity" sub-scale of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. Compared to controls, who performed much better in the low vs. high cognitive load condition, patients showed a smaller accuracy difference between the two conditions. Moreover, patients showed less sympathetic (lower peri-orbital and higher nasal tip temperature) activity (especially in the negative and neutral blocks) during the high vs. low cognitive load condition, suggesting that the former condition might be less emotionally demanding for them. Patients benefit more than controls from the load-dependent interference effect when dealing with emotional information; thus, therapeutic techniques aiming at teaching how to use cognitive strategies to downregulate emotions might be particularly appropriated for them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Serena Panasiti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy. .,IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.
| | - Giorgia Ponsi
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Bianca Monachesi
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Luigi Lorenzini
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Panasiti
- Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Unit, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
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Pezzetta R, Nicolardi V, Tidoni E, Aglioti SM. Error, rather than its probability, elicits specific electrocortical signatures: a combined EEG-immersive virtual reality study of action observation. J Neurophysiol 2018; 120:1107-1118. [DOI: 10.1152/jn.00130.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Detecting errors in one’s own actions, and in the actions of others, is a crucial ability for adaptable and flexible behavior. Studies show that specific EEG signatures underpin the monitoring of observed erroneous actions (error-related negativity, error positivity, mid-frontal theta oscillations). However, the majority of studies on action observation used sequences of trials where erroneous actions were less frequent than correct actions. Therefore, it was not possible to disentangle whether the activation of the performance monitoring system was due to an error, as a violation of the intended goal, or to a surprise/novelty effect, associated with a rare and unexpected event. Combining EEG and immersive virtual reality (IVR-CAVE system), we recorded the neural signal of 25 young adults who observed, in first-person perspective, simple reach-to-grasp actions performed by an avatar aiming for a glass. Importantly, the proportion of erroneous actions was higher than correct actions. Results showed that the observation of erroneous actions elicits the typical electrocortical signatures of error monitoring, and therefore the violation of the action goal is still perceived as a salient event. The observation of correct actions elicited stronger alpha suppression. This confirmed the role of the alpha-frequency band in the general orienting response to novel and infrequent stimuli. Our data provide novel evidence that an observed goal error (the action slip) triggers the activity of the performance-monitoring system even when erroneous actions, which are, typically, relevant events, occur more often than correct actions and thus are not salient because of their rarity. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Activation of the performance-monitoring system (PMS) is typically investigated when errors in a sequence are comparatively rare. However, whether the PMS is activated by errors per se or by their infrequency is not known. Combining EEG-virtual reality techniques, we found that observing frequent (70%) action errors performed by avatars elicits electrocortical error signatures suggesting that deviation from the prediction of how learned actions should correctly deploy, rather than its frequency, is coded in the PMS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachele Pezzetta
- Social Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
- Fondazione Santa Lucia, Institute for Research and Health Care, Rome, Italy
| | - Valentina Nicolardi
- Social Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
- Fondazione Santa Lucia, Institute for Research and Health Care, Rome, Italy
| | - Emmanuele Tidoni
- Fondazione Santa Lucia, Institute for Research and Health Care, Rome, Italy
- Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Campus Cesena, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Social Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
- Fondazione Santa Lucia, Institute for Research and Health Care, Rome, Italy
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50
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Villa R, Tidoni E, Porciello G, Aglioti SM. Violation of expectations about movement and goal achievement leads to Sense of Agency reduction. Exp Brain Res 2018; 236:2123-2135. [PMID: 29767295 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-018-5286-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2017] [Accepted: 05/09/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The control of one's own movements and of their impact on the external world generates a feeling of control referred to as Sense of Agency (SoA). SoA is experienced when actions match predictions and is reduced by unpredicted events. The present study investigated the contribution of monitoring two fundamental components of action-movement execution and goal achievement-that have been most often explored separately in previous research. We have devised a new paradigm in which participants performed goal-directed actions while viewing an avatar's hand in a mixed-reality scenario. The hand performed either the same action or a different one, simultaneously or after various delays. Movement of the virtual finger and goal attainment were manipulated, so that they could match or conflict with the participants' expectations. We collected judgments of correspondence (an explicit index of SoA that overcomes the tendency to over-attribute actions to oneself) by asking participants if the observed action was synchronous or not with their action. In keeping with previous studies, we found that monitoring both movement execution and goal attainment is relevant for SoA. Moreover, we expanded previous findings by showing that movement information may be a more constant source of SoA modulation than goal information. Indeed, an incongruent movement impaired SoA irrespective of delay duration, while a missed goal did so only when delays were short. Our novel paradigm allowed us to simultaneously manipulate multiple action features, a characteristic that makes it suitable for investigating the contribution of different sub-components of action in modulating SoA in healthy and clinical populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riccardo Villa
- Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy. .,IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.
| | - Emmanuele Tidoni
- IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy. .,Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Campus Cesena, 47521, Cesena, Italy.
| | - Giuseppina Porciello
- Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
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