Decoding emotional responses to AI-generated architectural imagery

Introduction

The integration of AI in architectural design represents a significant shift toward creating emotionally resonant spaces. This research investigates AI's ability to evoke specific emotional responses through architectural imagery and examines the impact of professional training on emotional interpretation.

Methods

We utilized Midjourney AI software to generate images based on direct and metaphorical prompts across two architectural settings: home interiors and museum exteriors. A survey was designed to capture participants' emotional responses to these images, employing a scale that rated their immediate emotional reaction. The study involved 789 university students, categorized into architecture majors (Group A) and non-architecture majors (Group B), to explore differences in emotional perception attributable to educational background.

Results

Findings revealed that AI is particularly effective in depicting joy, especially in interior settings. However, it struggles to accurately convey negative emotions, indicating a gap in AI's emotional range. Architecture students exhibited a greater sensitivity to emotional nuances in the images compared to non-architecture students, suggesting that architectural training enhances emotional discernment. Notably, the study observed minimal differences in the perception of emotions between direct and metaphorical prompts among architecture students, indicating a consistent emotional interpretation across prompt types.

Conclusion

AI holds significant promise in creating spaces that resonate on an emotional level, particularly in conveying positive emotions like joy. The study contributes to the understanding of AI's role in architectural design, emphasizing the importance of emotional intelligence in creating spaces that reflect human experiences. Future research should focus on expanding AI's emotional range and further exploring the impact of architectural training on emotional perception.

An Event-Related Potential (ERP) Examination of the Neural Responses to Emotional and Movement-Related Images

Previous research has suggested that the perception of emotional images may also activate brain regions related to the preparation of motoric plans. However, little research has investigated whether these emotion-movement interactions occur at early or later stages of visual perception. In the current research, event-related potentials (ERPs) were used to examine the time course of the independent - and combined - effects of perceiving emotions and implied movement. Twenty-five participants viewed images from four categories: 1) emotional with implied movement, 2) emotional with no implied movement, 3) neutral with implied movement, and 4) neutral with no implied movement. Both emotional stimuli and movement-related stimuli led to larger N200 (200-300 ms) waveforms. Furthermore, at frontal sites, there was a marginal interaction between emotion and implied movement, such that negative stimuli showed greater N200 amplitudes vs. neutral stimuli, but only for images with implied movement. At posterior sites, a similar effect was observed for images without implied movement. The late positive potential (LPP; 500-1000 ms) was significant for emotion (at frontal sites) and movement (at frontal, central, and posterior sites), as well as for their interaction (at parietal sites), with larger LPPs for negative vs. neutral images with movement only. Together, these results suggest that the perception of emotion and movement interact at later stages of visual perception.

Social cognition and emotional rehabilitation in participants with schizofrenia

Introduction

People with schizophrenia have deficits in social cognition, emotion and social perception, as well as attributional style. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a multicomponent social cognition training program, e-Motional Training® (ET), in people with schizophrenia and to compare its efficacy with people who did not receive it. Therefore, a single-blind RCT was conducted in participants with a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Methods

A randomized, single-blind, clinical trial was conducted with 50 stable outparticipants with schizophrenia (registry number CHUC_2019_109). All participants (control and intervention) were treated with pharmacotherapy, case management and were on Individual Placement and Support methodology for competitive employment. The intervention group was treated with ET, an online program designed for social cognition rehabilitation. Pre and post assessment was performed using different battery of tests. General mixed models with subject identification and repeated measures over time were used.

Results

Different pre and post measurements were performed in the two groups. No significant differences were found in sociodemographic characteristics between the control and intervention groups. Improvements were obtained in the intervention group in the Ekman test (p = 0.009), mainly enhanced by the improvement shown in three emotions: fear, sadness and disgust (p = 0.041, p = 0.021 and p = 0.038 respectively).

Conclusion

ET is a promising online training tool for social cognition deficits in schizophrenia, in particular, for the improvement of emotions.Clinical Trial Registration: https://beta.clinicaltrials.gov, NCT05866328.

Children across cultures respond emotionally to the acoustic environment

Among human and non-human animals, the ability to respond rapidly to biologically significant events in the environment is essential for survival and development. Research has confirmed that human adult listeners respond emotionally to environmental sounds by relying on the same acoustic cues that signal emotionality in speech prosody and music. However, it is unknown whether young children also respond emotionally to environmental sounds. Here, we report that changes in pitch, rate (i.e. playback speed), and intensity (i.e. amplitude) of environmental sounds trigger emotional responses in 3- to 6-year-old American and Chinese children, including four sound types: sounds of human actions, animal calls, machinery, and natural phenomena such as wind and waves. Children's responses did not differ across the four types of sounds used but developed with age - a finding observed in both American and Chinese children. Thus, the ability to respond emotionally to non-linguistic, non-music environmental sounds is evident at three years of age - an age when the ability to decode emotional prosody in language and music emerges. We argue that general mechanisms that support emotional prosody decoding are engaged by all sounds, as reflected in emotional responses to non-linguistic acoustic input such as music and environmental sounds.

Study on Emotional Perception of Hangzhou West Lake Scenic Area in Spring under the Influence of Meteorological Environment

Human perception of the meteorological environment is an important research area in the context of global climate change. Human physical and mental health can be affected by the meteorological environment, which can manifest in emotional responses. The experiment was conducted at spring in Hangzhou West Lake Scenic Area (China). Three types of weather circumstances were examined by four emotional measures. The purpose of this study was to examine how meteorological parameters influence an individual's emotional perception, such as air temperature, ground temperature, wind direction, precipitation, and relative humidity. Box plots were used to examine the distribution of scores on each emotional scale index. Perceptual models of positive, negative, regenerative, state anxiety, trait anxiety, and subjective vitality were developed using multiple linear regressions. The results indicate that meteorological conditions have a significant impact on human emotions: (1) there are other meteorological factors that affect individual emotions, besides precipitation; (2) the meteorological factors do not affect negative emotions; and (3) on sunny days, subjective energy and positive emotions are stronger, and on rainy days, perceptions of recovery are more favorable.

Impairments in recognition of emotional facial expressions, affective prosody, and multisensory facilitation of response time in high-functioning autism

Introduction

Deficits in emotional perception are common in autistic people, but it remains unclear to which extent these perceptual impairments are linked to specific sensory modalities, specific emotions or multisensory facilitation.

Methods

This study aimed to investigate uni- and bimodal perception of emotional cues as well as multisensory facilitation in autistic (n = 18, mean age: 36.72 years, SD: 11.36) compared to non-autistic (n = 18, mean age: 36.41 years, SD: 12.18) people using auditory, visual and audiovisual stimuli.

Results

Lower identification accuracy and longer response time were revealed in high-functioning autistic people. These differences were independent of modality and emotion and showed large effect sizes (Cohen's d 0.8-1.2). Furthermore, multisensory facilitation of response time was observed in non-autistic people that was absent in autistic people, whereas no differences were found in multisensory facilitation of accuracy between the two groups.

Discussion

These findings suggest that processing of auditory and visual components of audiovisual stimuli is carried out more separately in autistic individuals (with equivalent temporal demands required for processing of the respective unimodal cues), but still with similar relative improvement in accuracy, whereas earlier integrative multimodal merging of stimulus properties seems to occur in non-autistic individuals.

Active Indoor Soundscape Design: A Case Study of Ceramic Passive Amplifiers

Indoor soundscape research has developed rapidly in recent years, with the aim of improving the single indoor noise reduction method and people's acoustic comfort. However, practical solutions to promote the generation of positive indoor soundscapes are still insufficient. The purpose of this study was to explore the improvement effect of ceramic passive amplifiers on the indoor soundscape and the relationship between the improvement effect and different amplifier shapes. Objective sound pressure level (SPL) values and subjective soundscape perception were measured for 10 ceramic passive amplifiers based on the soundscape, mainly using a comparative method. Ten sample amplifiers were compared with the acoustic data of the original open-plan studio environment, and then with an electronic sound amplifier. The results show that ceramic passive amplifiers can improve the quality of the indoor soundscape by creating sound scenes with appropriate loudness. Regarding non-acoustic aspects, the shape and materials of ceramic passive amplifiers play a positive role in emotional guidance.

Importance of Interior Design: An Environmental Mediator for Perceiving Life Satisfaction and Financial Stress

Based on the stimuli–organism–response framework, this study investigates how artistic stimuli (i.e., interior design) influence a person’s mental responses (i.e., situational satisfaction and stress). Prior to checking the main analysis, demographic features were checked to determine whether they were significant precedents to the stimuli by using hierarchical linear modeling. As the main model, structural equation modeling was used to find (a) how stimuli (i.e., interior design) were associated with organisms (i.e., emotional perception) and (b) how organisms were associated with mental responses. The results showed that demographic features were not significantly associated with the stimuli. Stimuli were partially and significantly associated with organisms and the organisms were partially and significantly associated with the mental responses. The study has implications for practitioners in commercial fields who might recognize the importance of interior design and employ their utilities in practical applications.

Effects of Visual Attributes of Flower Borders in Urban Vegetation Landscapes on Aesthetic Preference and Emotional Perception

The vegetation landscape in urban green space has been shown to provide great psychological benefits to people. Flower border is a well-designed small-scale vegetation landscape with the advantages of color and vegetation richness. This study focused on the effects of the visual attributes of flower borders on the aesthetic preference and emotional perception. The face recognition measurement method was used to obtain the emotional perception and the questionnaire survey method was used to measure the aesthetic preference. The results indicated the following: (1) regarding the 'color features' factor, high proportions of cool color and green vegetation significantly increased aesthetic preference and emotional valence, while the proportion of warm color had a negative effect on valence; (2) the 'visual attractiveness' (color brightness, and visual richness) and 'color configuration' (number of plant patches and number of color hues) factor was positively associated with aesthetic preference and emotional valence; (3) aesthetic preference was significantly related to emotional valence; (4) males expressed higher aesthetic preference and valence for flower border images than females. The results are expected to improve the aesthetic quality of flower borders and to promote public emotional health through the effective design of urban vegetation landscapes.

Correlations Between Cognitive Functions and Clinical Symptoms in Adolescents With Complex Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Introduction: Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) is characterized by the typical symptoms of PTSD, in addition to affective dysregulation, negative self-concept, and disturbances in interpersonal relationships. Children and adolescents with C-PTSD have been reported to have deficits in emotional and cognitive functions. We hypothesized that the following are associated with the severity of C-PTSD symptoms: (1) adolescents with C-PTSD who show deficits in emotional perception and cognitive functions, including executive function and attention; and (2) deficits in neurocognitive functions. Methods: Information on 69 adolescents with PTSD, aged 10-19 years, was gathered from seven shelters. All participants were assessed using complete clinical scales, including the C-PTSD Interview and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales, and neurocognitive function tests, including the emotional perception, mental rotation, and modified Tower of London tests. Results: Adolescents with C-PTSD were more likely to have a history of sexual assault, dissociation, and self-harm than those with PTSD. The total and subscale scores of the C-PTSD Interview Scale in adolescents with C-PTSD were higher than that in adolescents with PTSD. In addition, neurocognitive functions, including emotional perception, attention, and working memory, were correlated with the severity of C-PTSD symptoms. Discussion: Adolescents with C-PTSD experienced more serious clinical symptoms and showed more deficits in neurocognitive functions than adolescents with PTSD. Clinicians should pay careful attention toward the emotional and neurocognitive functions when assessing and treating patients with C-PTSD.

The Influence of Users' Spatial Familiarity on Their Emotional Perception of Space and Wayfinding Movement Patterns

In order to evaluate the sensory perceptions of users who visited a train station, this study aimed to conduct an evaluation of their spatial emotions and identify the distance and type of transfer. For evaluation and verification, emotional recognition and wayfinding types were analyzed according to types in the groups (gender, age, and spatial familiarity) of experimental participants. There were two research questions: “Will the length of movement patterns in the experiment environment vary depending on the types of the participant group?” and “Is there any moderating effect in the interaction between spatial familiarity and the types of the participant groups?” A total of 28 participants were recruited with consideration of gender, age, and familiarity with spatial experience, which were used to analyze the participant groups. The experiment was conducted at a train station, and a vignette was presented to the participants to record the route and pattern of their wayfinding, followed by providing a questionnaire to record their spatial perception. SPSS was used to conduct a T-test, factor analysis, and multidimensional scaling (MDS). The differences in spatial perception were arranged in visual positioning based on emotional vocabulary, and average movement distances in the participant groups were compared in accordance with the type of wayfinding and interaction effect by ANOVA. The results showed that there was a difference in spatial perception depending on the negative emotional vocabulary and type of participant. An emotional positioning map for average comparison was prepared for each participant group (gender, age, and spatial familiarity) by using the factors extracted in the factor analysis (emotional factor, management factor, and aesthetic factor). Female and unfamiliar groups displayed negative results in the emotional factor (F = 7.202, p < 0.05). In addition, male and familiar groups displayed negative results in the management factor (F = 3.058, p < 0.10). In wayfinding, there was an interaction between gender and the resident group based on the status of their spatial familiarity. Through this, it was possible to extract negative emotional evaluations according to the type of participant and the interaction factors for the type and length of the wayfinding.

Strong correspondence between prefrontal and visual representations during emotional perception

Emotion is thought to cause focal enhancement or distortion of certain components of memory, indicating a complex property of emotional modulation on memory rather than simple enhancement. However, the neural basis for detailed modulation of emotional memory contents has remained unclear. Here has been shown that the information processing of the prefrontal cortex differentially affects sensory representations during experience of emotional information compared with neutral information, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). It was found that during perception of emotional pictures, information representation in primary visual cortex (V1) significantly corresponded with the representations in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). This correspondence was not observed for neutral pictures. Furthermore, participants with greater correspondence between visual and prefrontal representations showed better memory for high-level semantic components but not for low-level visual components of emotional stimuli. These results suggest that sensory representation during experience of emotional stimuli, compared with neutral stimuli, is more directly influenced by internally generated higher-order information from the prefrontal cortex.

Visual Perception of Facial Emotional Expressions during Saccades

The regularities of visual perception of both complex and ecologically valid objects during extremely short photo expositions are studied. Images of a person experiencing basic emotions were displayed for as low as 14 ms amidst a saccade spanning 10 degrees of visual angle. The observers had a main task to recognize the emotion depicted, and a secondary task to point at the perceived location of the photo on the screen. It is shown that probability of correct recognition of emotion is above chance (0.62), and that it depends on its type. False localizations of stimuli and their compression in the direction of the saccade were also observed. According to the acquired data, complex environmentally valid objects are perceived differently during saccades in comparison to isolated dots, lines or gratings. The rhythmic structure of oculomotor activity (fixation-saccade-fixation) does not violate the continuity of the visual processing. The perceptual genesis of facial expressions does not take place only during gaze fixation, but also during peak speed of rapid eye movements both at the center and in closest proximity of the visual acuity area.

Directional interconnectivity of the human amygdala, fusiform gyrus, and orbitofrontal cortex in emotional scene perception

The perception of emotionally arousing scenes modulates neural activity in ventral visual areas via reentrant signals from the amygdala. The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) shares dense interconnections with amygdala and has been strongly implicated in emotional stimulus processing in primates, but our understanding of the functional contribution of this region to emotional perception in humans is poorly defined. In this study we acquired targeted rapid functional imaging from lateral OFC, amygdala, and fusiform gyrus (FG) over multiple scanning sessions (resulting in over 1,000 trials per participant) in an effort to define the activation amplitude and directional connectivity among these regions during naturalistic scene perception. All regions of interest showed enhanced activation during emotionally arousing, compared with neutral scenes. In addition, we identified bidirectional connectivity between amygdala, FG, and OFC in the great majority of individual subjects, suggesting that human emotional perception is implemented in part via nonhierarchical causal interactions across these three regions.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Due to the practical limitations of noninvasive recording methodologies, there is a scarcity of data regarding the interactions of human amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Using rapid functional MRI sampling and directional connectivity, we found that the human amygdala influences emotional perception via distinct interactions with late-stage ventral visual cortex and OFC, in addition to distinct interactions between OFC and fusiform gyrus. Future efforts may leverage these patterns of directional connectivity to noninvasively distinguish clinical groups from controls with respect to network causal hierarchy.

EEG of patients in coma after traumatic brain injury reflects physical parameters of auditory stimulation but not its emotional content

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE

We aimed to investigate the origin of EEG response of patients in coma and after moderate TBI to emotional stimulation, whether they distinguish emotional content or only react to the physical features of an audio signal.

RESEARCH DESIGN

We registered EEG during continuous pleasant and unpleasant non-verbal stimulation and in rest. A total of 69 subjects participated in our study: healthy adults, conscious patients after moderate TBI and patients in coma after severe TBI. We analysed the distances between the stimuli according to EEG data and applied correlation analysis to the distances, acoustic parameters of stimuli, subjects' emotional assessment of the stimuli, GCS score and Doppler ultrasound data.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

The EEG response to the stimulation in patients in coma mostly reflects the physical parameters of the stimuli, and correlated with Doppler ultrasound data. The EEG of healthy adults reflects their psychological assessment of the stimuli. Patients after moderate TBI differentiate unpleasant stimuli well and pleasant stimuli poorly, they mainly consider pitch to cope with this task like healthy adults do.

CONCLUSIONS

The reactivity to the acoustic features of emotional stimulation in patients in coma should be investigated further as a marker of patients' recovery.

ABBREVIATIONS

TBI: traumatic brain injurym; TBI: moderate TBI; MCA: middle cerebral artery; GCS: Glasgow Coma Scale; M: mean; SD: standard deviation.

The relationship between emotional recognition ability and challenging behaviour in adults with an intellectual disability: a systematic review

This review questions whether a relationship exists between emotional recognition ability and challenging behaviour in people with an intellectual disability. A search was completed of a number of databases to identify relevant articles, and these were then evaluated against defined criteria. Eight articles were reviewed and their aims, study methodology, samples, measurement tools and findings are discussed and evaluated. Overall, studies found no significant deficit in the emotional recognition abilities of those with challenging behaviour when they were asked to identify the emotions of others. Two areas for further investigation were identified. Firstly, to ascertain whether a bias for identifying anger or sadness is found in those with challenging behaviour, and secondly, to understand the role of context in recognition of emotions and the degree to which this is different in those who present with challenging behaviour. A critique relating to the research is provided and suggested clinical and research implications are put forward.

A study examining the relationship between alexithymia and challenging behaviour in adults with intellectual disability

BACKGROUND

Research suggesting that people with intellectual disabilities (ID) have difficulties in recognising emotions provides a rationale for studying alexithymia in this population. A number of studies have found a relationship between alexithymia and challenging behaviours in various populations and this study aims to discover if this is the case for people with ID.

METHOD

Cross-sectional data were collected from 96 participants with ID and 95 of their carers. The service user participants completed an alexithymia questionnaire for children while carers completed the checklist for challenging behaviour and the observer alexithymia scale. Correlational analyses were employed to explore relationships between the variables.

RESULTS

The relationship between service user and carer-rated alexithymia was very weak. The analysis did show significant associations between observer-rated alexithymia and challenging behaviour frequency, management difficulty and severity, but there was no significant relationship between challenging behaviour and alexithymia as rated by service users themselves.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that observer-rated alexithymia is important in understanding challenging behaviour presented by people with ID. Service user-rated alexithymia had no association with challenging behaviour, in contrast to the results from similar research with other challenging populations.

A preliminary study into the relationship between emotional perception ability and challenging behaviour in adults with an intellectual disability

This preliminary study explores the relationships between challenging behaviour and emotional perception in a population of adults with intellectual disabilities, in order to establish whether there are grounds for further study. Cross-sectional data were collected from 96 participants with intellectual disabilities and 95 carers. The service user participants completed the Emotional Perception Questionnaire, whilst carers completed the Checklist for Challenging Behaviour. Correlational analyses were employed to analyse relationships between the variables. A post hoc between-group analysis was conducted to compare the emotional recognition abilities of people with high-frequency challenging behaviour with those with low-frequency challenging behaviour. Significant negative associations were found between emotional perception and challenging behaviour frequency and management difficulty. Significant differences in emotional perception abilities were found between people with high frequency and those with low-frequency challenging behaviours. The study suggests that emotional perception is important in understanding challenging behaviour.