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Viviani G, Visalli A, Montefinese M, Vallesi A, Ambrosini E. Tango of control: The interplay between proactive and reactive control. J Exp Psychol Gen 2024:2024-77577-001. [PMID: 38661633 DOI: 10.1037/xge0001585] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Cognitive control has been theorized operating through two distinct mechanisms, proactive and reactive control, as posited by the dual mechanism of control model. Despite its potential to explain cognitive control variability, the supporting evidence for this model remains inconclusive. Prior studies frequently employed the Stroop task to assess this model, manipulating the proportion congruency (PC) at the list-wide and/or item-specific levels to target proactive and reactive control, respectively. However, these manipulations have been questioned as they may invoke low-level associative learning instead of control-driven mechanisms. Although solutions have been proposed to address these concerns, they still have limitations and impracticalities. In pursuit of a clearer understanding of this issue, we manipulated proactive and reactive control simultaneously to more directly investigate their separability. We conducted two experiments using a peripheral and a perifoveal spatial Stroop task version, respectively, and we adopted state-of-the-art methodologies, leveraging trial-level multilevel modeling analytical approaches, to effectively estimate the Stroop effect and its control-related modulations while controlling for confounding factors. Notably, we manipulated both list-wide and item-specific PCs at the trial level, allowing for a fine-grained analysis. Our results provide compelling evidence for the existence of a list-wide, PC-dependent proactive control mechanism, influencing Stroop performance independently of reactive control and confounding factors. Additionally, an item-specific PC-dependent reactive control effect was found to influence Stroop performance only in interaction with proactive control. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the interplay between proactive and reactive control mechanisms, shedding light on the intricate nature of cognitive control. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Maria Montefinese
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova
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Viviani G, Visalli A, Finos L, Vallesi A, Ambrosini E. A comparison between different variants of the spatial Stroop task: The influence of analytic flexibility on Stroop effect estimates and reliability. Behav Res Methods 2024; 56:934-951. [PMID: 36894759 PMCID: PMC10830653 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-023-02091-8] [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] [Accepted: 02/10/2023] [Indexed: 03/11/2023]
Abstract
The spatial Stroop task measures the ability to resolve interference between relevant and irrelevant spatial information. We recently proposed a four-choice spatial Stroop task that ensures methodological advantages over the original color-word verbal Stroop task, requiring participants to indicate the direction of an arrow while ignoring its position in one of the screen corners. However, its peripheral spatial arrangement might represent a methodological weakness and could introduce experimental confounds. Thus, aiming at improving our "Peripheral" spatial Stroop, we designed and made available five novel spatial Stroop tasks (Perifoveal, Navon, Figure-Ground, Flanker, and Saliency), wherein the stimuli appeared at the center of the screen. In a within-subjects online study, we compared the six versions to identify which task produced the largest but also the most reliable and robust Stroop effect. Indeed, although internal reliability is frequently overlooked, its estimate is fundamental, also in light of the recently proposed reliability paradox. Data analyses were performed using both the classical general linear model analytical approach and two multilevel modelling approaches (linear mixed models and random coefficient analysis), which specifically served for more accurately estimating the Stroop effect by explaining intra-subject, trial-by-trial variability. We then assessed our results based on their robustness to such analytic flexibility. Overall, our results indicate that the Perifoveal spatial Stroop is the best alternative task for its statistical properties and methodological advantages. Interestingly, our results also indicate that the Peripheral and Perifoveal Stroop effects were not only the largest, but also those with highest and most robust internal reliability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giada Viviani
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, 35121, Padova, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Antonino Visalli
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, 35121, Padova, Italy
| | - Livio Finos
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Antonino Vallesi
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, 35121, Padova, Italy
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, 35121, Padova, Italy.
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
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Visalli A, Montefinese M, Viviani G, Finos L, Vallesi A, Ambrosini E. lmeEEG: Mass linear mixed-effects modeling of EEG data with crossed random effects. J Neurosci Methods 2024; 401:109991. [PMID: 37884082 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2023.109991] [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: 06/29/2023] [Revised: 09/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Mixed-effects models are the current standard for the analysis of behavioral studies in psycholinguistics and related fields, given their ability to simultaneously model crossed random effects for subjects and items. However, they are hardly applied in neuroimaging and psychophysiology, where the use of mass univariate analyses in combination with permutation testing would be too computationally demanding to be practicable with mixed models. NEW METHOD Here, we propose and validate an analytical strategy that enables the use of linear mixed models (LMM) with crossed random intercepts in mass univariate analyses of EEG data (lmeEEG). It avoids the unfeasible computational costs that would arise from massive permutation testing with LMM using a simple solution: removing random-effects contributions from EEG data and performing mass univariate linear analysis and permutations on the obtained marginal EEG. RESULTS lmeEEG showed excellent performance properties in terms of power and false positive rate. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS lmeEEG overcomes the computational costs of standard available approaches (our method was indeed more than 300 times faster). CONCLUSIONS lmeEEG allows researchers to use mixed models with EEG mass univariate analyses. Thanks to the possibility offered by the method described here, we anticipate that LMM will become increasingly important in neuroscience. Data and codes are available at osf.io/kw87a. The codes and a tutorial are also available at github.com/antovis86/lmeEEG.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Maria Montefinese
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Giada Viviani
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Livio Finos
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Antonino Vallesi
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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Prelaj A, Miskovic V, Zanitti M, Trovo F, Genova C, Viscardi G, Rebuzzi SE, Mazzeo L, Provenzano L, Kosta S, Favali M, Spagnoletti A, Castelo-Branco L, Dolezal J, Pearson AT, Lo Russo G, Proto C, Ganzinelli M, Giani C, Ambrosini E, Turajlic S, Au L, Koopman M, Delaloge S, Kather JN, de Braud F, Garassino MC, Pentheroudakis G, Spencer C, Pedrocchi ALG. Artificial intelligence for predictive biomarker discovery in immuno-oncology: a systematic review. Ann Oncol 2024; 35:29-65. [PMID: 37879443 DOI: 10.1016/j.annonc.2023.10.125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [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: 07/05/2023] [Revised: 08/31/2023] [Accepted: 10/08/2023] [Indexed: 10/27/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The widespread use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has revolutionised treatment of multiple cancer types. However, selecting patients who may benefit from ICI remains challenging. Artificial intelligence (AI) approaches allow exploitation of high-dimension oncological data in research and development of precision immuno-oncology. MATERIALS AND METHODS We conducted a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed original articles studying the ICI efficacy prediction in cancer patients across five data modalities: genomics (including genomics, transcriptomics, and epigenomics), radiomics, digital pathology (pathomics), and real-world and multimodality data. RESULTS A total of 90 studies were included in this systematic review, with 80% published in 2021-2022. Among them, 37 studies included genomic, 20 radiomic, 8 pathomic, 20 real-world, and 5 multimodal data. Standard machine learning (ML) methods were used in 72% of studies, deep learning (DL) methods in 22%, and both in 6%. The most frequently studied cancer type was non-small-cell lung cancer (36%), followed by melanoma (16%), while 25% included pan-cancer studies. No prospective study design incorporated AI-based methodologies from the outset; rather, all implemented AI as a post hoc analysis. Novel biomarkers for ICI in radiomics and pathomics were identified using AI approaches, and molecular biomarkers have expanded past genomics into transcriptomics and epigenomics. Finally, complex algorithms and new types of AI-based markers, such as meta-biomarkers, are emerging by integrating multimodal/multi-omics data. CONCLUSION AI-based methods have expanded the horizon for biomarker discovery, demonstrating the power of integrating multimodal data from existing datasets to discover new meta-biomarkers. While most of the included studies showed promise for AI-based prediction of benefit from immunotherapy, none provided high-level evidence for immediate practice change. A priori planned prospective trial designs are needed to cover all lifecycle steps of these software biomarkers, from development and validation to integration into clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Prelaj
- Medical Oncology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan; Nearlab, Department of Electronics, Information, and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy; ESMO Real World Data and Digital Health Working Group, ESMO, Lugano, Switzerland.
| | - V Miskovic
- Medical Oncology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan; Nearlab, Department of Electronics, Information, and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - M Zanitti
- Department of Electronic Systems, Aalborg University Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - F Trovo
- Nearlab, Department of Electronics, Information, and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - C Genova
- UO Clinica di Oncologia Medica, IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa; Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties (Di.M.I.), University of Genoa, Genoa
| | - G Viscardi
- Precision Medicine Department, Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples
| | - S E Rebuzzi
- Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties (Di.M.I.), University of Genoa, Genoa; Medical Oncology Unit, Ospedale San Paolo, Savona, Italy
| | - L Mazzeo
- Medical Oncology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan; Nearlab, Department of Electronics, Information, and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - L Provenzano
- Medical Oncology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan
| | - S Kosta
- Department of Electronic Systems, Aalborg University Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - M Favali
- Nearlab, Department of Electronics, Information, and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - A Spagnoletti
- Medical Oncology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan
| | - L Castelo-Branco
- ESMO European Society for Medical Oncology, Lugano, Switzerland; NOVA National School of Public Health, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - J Dolezal
- Section of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, USA
| | - A T Pearson
- Section of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, USA
| | - G Lo Russo
- Medical Oncology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan
| | - C Proto
- Medical Oncology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan
| | - M Ganzinelli
- Medical Oncology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan
| | - C Giani
- Medical Oncology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan
| | - E Ambrosini
- Nearlab, Department of Electronics, Information, and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - S Turajlic
- Cancer Dynamics Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London
| | - L Au
- Renal and Skin Unit, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK; Department of Medical Oncology, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne; Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Medical Oncology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - M Koopman
- Department of Research and Development, Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation, Utrecht, The Netherlands; ESMO Real World Data and Digital Health Working Group, ESMO, Lugano, Switzerland
| | - S Delaloge
- Department of Cancer Medicine, Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France; ESMO Real World Data and Digital Health Working Group, ESMO, Lugano, Switzerland
| | - J N Kather
- Else Kroener Fresenius Center for Digital Health, Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, Technical University Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - F de Braud
- Medical Oncology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan
| | - M C Garassino
- Section of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, USA
| | | | - C Spencer
- Cancer Dynamics Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London.
| | - A L G Pedrocchi
- Nearlab, Department of Electronics, Information, and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
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Brignone MS, Lanciotti A, Molinari P, Mallozzi C, De Nuccio C, Caprini ES, Petrucci TC, Visentin S, Ambrosini E. Megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts protein-1: A new calcium-sensitive protein functionally activated by endoplasmic reticulum calcium release and calmodulin binding in astrocytes. Neurobiol Dis 2024; 190:106388. [PMID: 38141856 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2023.106388] [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: 06/23/2023] [Revised: 12/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 12/25/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND MLC1 is a membrane protein highly expressed in brain perivascular astrocytes and whose mutations account for the rare leukodystrophy (LD) megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts disease (MLC). MLC is characterized by macrocephaly, brain edema and cysts, myelin vacuolation and astrocyte swelling which cause cognitive and motor dysfunctions and epilepsy. In cultured astrocytes, lack of functional MLC1 disturbs cell volume regulation by affecting anion channel (VRAC) currents and the consequent regulatory volume decrease (RVD) occurring in response to osmotic changes. Moreover, MLC1 represses intracellular signaling molecules (EGFR, ERK1/2, NF-kB) inducing astrocyte activation and swelling following brain insults. Nevertheless, to date, MLC1 proper function and MLC molecular pathogenesis are still elusive. We recently reported that in astrocytes MLC1 phosphorylation by the Ca2+/Calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII) in response to intracellular Ca2+ release potentiates MLC1 activation of VRAC. These results highlighted the importance of Ca2+ signaling in the regulation of MLC1 functions, prompting us to further investigate the relationships between intracellular Ca2+ and MLC1 properties. METHODS We used U251 astrocytoma cells stably expressing wild-type (WT) or mutated MLC1, primary mouse astrocytes and mouse brain tissue, and applied biochemistry, molecular biology, video imaging and electrophysiology techniques. RESULTS We revealed that WT but not mutant MLC1 oligomerization and trafficking to the astrocyte plasma membrane is favored by Ca2+ release from endoplasmic reticulum (ER) but not by capacitive Ca2+ entry in response to ER depletion. We also clarified the molecular events underlining MLC1 response to cytoplasmic Ca2+ increase, demonstrating that, following Ca2+ release, MLC1 binds the Ca2+ effector protein calmodulin (CaM) at the carboxyl terminal where a CaM binding sequence was identified. Using a CaM inhibitor and generating U251 cells expressing MLC1 with CaM binding site mutations, we found that CaM regulates MLC1 assembly, trafficking and function, being RVD and MLC-linked signaling molecules abnormally regulated in these latter cells. CONCLUSION Overall, we qualified MLC1 as a Ca2+ sensitive protein involved in the control of volume changes in response to ER Ca2+ release and astrocyte activation. These findings provide new insights for the comprehension of the molecular mechanisms responsible for the myelin degeneration occurring in MLC and other LD where astrocytes have a primary role in the pathological process.
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Affiliation(s)
- M S Brignone
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Department of Neuroscience, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - A Lanciotti
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Department of Neuroscience, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - P Molinari
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, National Center for Drug Research and Evaluation, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - C Mallozzi
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Department of Neuroscience, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - C De Nuccio
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Research Coordination and Support Service, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - E S Caprini
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Department of Neuroscience, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - T C Petrucci
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Department of Neuroscience, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - S Visentin
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, National Center for Drug Research and Evaluation, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - E Ambrosini
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Department of Neuroscience, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
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Visalli A, Ambrosini E, Viviani G, Sambataro F, Tenconi E, Vallesi A. On the relationship between emotions and cognitive control: Evidence from an observational study on emotional priming Stroop task. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0294957. [PMID: 38011212 PMCID: PMC10681184 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0294957] [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: 05/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Evidence is discordant regarding how emotional processing and cognitive control interact to shape behavior. This observational study sought to examine this interaction by looking at the distinction between proactive and reactive modes of control and how they relate to emotional processing. Seventy-four healthy participants performed an emotional priming Stroop task. On each trial, target stimuli of a spatial Stroop task were preceded by sad or neutral facial expressions, providing two emotional conditions. To manipulate the requirement of both proactive and reactive control, the proportion of congruent trials (PC) was varied at the list-wide (LWPC) and item-specific (ISPC) levels, respectively. We found that sad priming led to behavioral costs only in trials with low proactive and reactive cognitive control demands. Our findings suggest that emotional processing affects cognitive processes other than cognitive control in the Stroop task. Moreover, both proactive and reactive control modes seem effective in overcoming emotional interference of priming stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Giada Viviani
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Fabio Sambataro
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Elena Tenconi
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Antonino Vallesi
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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7
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Viviani G, Visalli A, Montefinese M, Vallesi A, Ambrosini E. The Stroop legacy: A cautionary tale on methodological issues and a proposed spatial solution. Behav Res Methods 2023:10.3758/s13428-023-02215-0. [PMID: 37620747 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-023-02215-0] [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: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023]
Abstract
The Stroop task is a seminal paradigm in experimental psychology, so much that various variants of the classical color-word version have been proposed. Here we offer a methodological review of them to emphasize the importance of designing methodologically rigorous Stroop tasks. This is not an end by itself, but it is fundamental to achieve adequate measurement validity, which is currently hindered by methodological heterogeneity and limitations. Among the several Stroop task variants in the literature, our methodological overview shows that the spatial Stroop task is not only a potentially methodologically adequate variant, which can thus assure measuring the Stroop effect with the required validity, but it might even allow researchers to overcome some of the methodological limitations of the classical paradigm due to its use of verbal stimuli. We thus focused on the spatial Stroop tasks in the literature to verify whether they really exploit such inherent potentiality. However, we show that this was generally not the case because only a few of them (1) are purely spatial, (2) ensure both all the three types of conflicts/facilitations (at the stimulus, response, and task levels) and the dimensional overlaps considered fundamental for yielding a complete Stroop effect according to the multiple loci account and Kornblum's theory, respectively, and (3) controlled for low-level binding and priming effects that could bias the estimated Stroop effect. Based on these methodological considerations, we present some examples of spatial Stroop tasks that, in our view, satisfy such requirements and, thus, ensure producing complete Stroop effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giada Viviani
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, 35121, Padova, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | | | - Maria Montefinese
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Antonino Vallesi
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, 35121, Padova, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, 35121, Padova, Italy.
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
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Visalli A, Capizzi M, Ambrosini E, Kopp B, Vallesi A. P3-like signatures of temporal predictions: a computational EEG study. Exp Brain Res 2023:10.1007/s00221-023-06656-z. [PMID: 37354350 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-023-06656-z] [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: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 06/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/26/2023]
Abstract
Many cognitive processes, ranging from perception to action, depend on the ability to predict the timing of forthcoming events. Yet, how the brain uses predictive models in the temporal domain is still an unsolved question. In previous work, we began to explore the neural correlates of temporal predictions by using a computational approach in which an ideal Bayesian observer learned the temporal probabilities of target onsets in a simple reaction time task. Because the task was specifically designed to disambiguate updating of predictive models and surprise, changes in temporal probabilities were explicitly cued. However, in the real world, we are usually incidentally exposed to changes in the statistics of the environment. Here, we thus aimed to further investigate the electroencephalographic (EEG) correlates of Bayesian belief updating and surprise associated with incidental learning of temporal probabilities. In line with our previous EEG study, results showed distinct P3-like modulations for updating and surprise. While surprise was indexed by an early fronto-central P3-like modulation, updating was associated with a later and more posterior P3 modulation. Moreover, updating was associated with a P2-like potential at centro-parietal electrodes, likely capturing integration processes between prior beliefs and likelihood of the observed event. These findings support previous evidence of trial-by-trial variability of P3 amplitudes as an index of dissociable inferential processes. Coupled with our previous findings, the present study strongly bolsters the view of the P3 as a key brain signature of temporal Bayesian inference. Data and scripts are shared on OSF: osf.io/sdy8j/.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonino Visalli
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, 35121, Padua, Italy.
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padua, Italy.
- IRCCS San Camillo Hospital, 30126, Venice, Italy.
| | - M Capizzi
- Brain and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - E Ambrosini
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, 35121, Padua, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
| | - B Kopp
- Department of Neurology, Hannover Medical School, 30625, Hannover, Germany
| | - Antonino Vallesi
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, 35121, Padua, Italy.
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padua, Italy.
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Meregalli V, Ambrosini E, Tenconi E, Schroeder PA, Cardi V, Veronese A, Meneguzzo P, Favaro A, Collantoni E. Food induced distractibility in restrictive anorexia nervosa: Different motor patterns for different foods as revealed by a mouse tracker evaluation. Appetite 2023; 188:106639. [PMID: 37356579 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2023.106639] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2023] [Revised: 06/15/2023] [Accepted: 06/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/27/2023]
Abstract
An altered automatic processing of food stimuli may contribute to the maintenance of calorie restriction in patients with restrictive Anorexia Nervosa (AN-R). The present study aimed to assess whether task-irrelevant food distractors elicited a different interference effect in the motor actions of patients with AN-R compared to healthy controls (HC). 40 patients with acute AN-R and 40 HC performed an irrelevant distractor task in which they were required to perform a reaching movement from a starting point to a green dot, while an irrelevant distractor (a high-calorie food, low-calorie food, or neutral object) was presented in the middle of the screen. Mouse trajectories and response times (RT) were recorded. The analyses conducted on the kinematic variables revealed that while the trajectories of HC veered similarly toward the three categories of stimuli, AN-R patients showed an increased deviation toward low-calorie foods and a reduced deviation toward high-calorie foods compared to neutral objects. No significant results emerged as regards RT. The pattern of responses observed in patients with AN-R (deviation increased toward low-calorie and reduced toward high-calorie) is consistent with their eating habits and may thus represent an implicit mechanism sustaining calorie restriction in patients with AN-R.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Meregalli
- Department of Neurosciences, University of Padua, Padova, Italy; Padua Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padova, Italy.
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of Neurosciences, University of Padua, Padova, Italy; Padua Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padova, Italy; Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padova, Italy
| | - Elena Tenconi
- Department of Neurosciences, University of Padua, Padova, Italy; Padua Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padova, Italy
| | | | - Valentina Cardi
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padova, Italy
| | - Angela Veronese
- Department of Neurosciences, University of Padua, Padova, Italy
| | - Paolo Meneguzzo
- Department of Neurosciences, University of Padua, Padova, Italy; Padua Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padova, Italy
| | - Angela Favaro
- Department of Neurosciences, University of Padua, Padova, Italy; Padua Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padova, Italy
| | - Enrico Collantoni
- Department of Neurosciences, University of Padua, Padova, Italy; Padua Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padova, Italy; Department of Medicine (DIMED), University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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10
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Ambrosini E, Peressotti F, Gennari M, Benavides-Varela S, Montefinese M. Aging-related effects on the controlled retrieval of semantic information. Psychol Aging 2023; 38:219-229. [PMID: 36996191 DOI: 10.1037/pag0000740] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/01/2023]
Abstract
The efficient use of knowledge requires semantic control processes to retrieve context-relevant information. So far, it is well-established that semantic knowledge, as measured with vocabulary tests, does not decline with aging. Yet, it is still unclear whether controlled retrieval-the context-driven retrieval of very specific aspects of semantic knowledge-deteriorates in aging, following the same fate as other forms of cognitive control. Here, we tackled this issue by comparing the performance of younger and older native Italian speakers during a semantic feature verification task. To manipulate the control demands, we parametrically varied the semantic salience of the target feature for the cue concept. As compared to their young counterparts, older adults showed worse performance (in terms of reaction times) as the salience of the target feature of the concept decreased. This result suggests that older people have relatively greater difficulties in regulating the activation within semantic representation when conditions pose high demands of controlled retrieval of semantic information. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
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11
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Dell'Acqua C, Messerotti Benvenuti S, Vallesi A, Palomba D, Ambrosini E. Depressive symptoms and cognitive control: the role of affective interference. Cogn Emot 2022; 36:1389-1403. [PMID: 36154616 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2022.2128065] [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] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2022] [Revised: 08/26/2022] [Accepted: 09/18/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Depressive symptoms are characterised by reduced cognitive control. However, whether depressive symptoms are linked to difficulty in exerting cognitive control in general or over emotional content specifically remains unclear. To better differentiate between affective interference or general cognitive control difficulties in people with depressive symptoms, we employed a non emotional (cold) and an emotional (hot) version of a task-switching paradigm in a nonclinical sample of young adults (N = 82) with varying levels of depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms were linked to greater difficulties in exerting cognitive control in complex situations (mixed-task blocks) compared to simple and semiautomatic situations (single-task blocks) in both task versions. Moreover, greater depressive symptoms were associated with longer latencies in the emotional version of the task across all trial types. Thus, the emotion-specific effect was not modulated by the degree of cognitive control required to perform the task. In sum, depressive symptoms were characterised by a general difficulty to exert cognitive control in both emotional and non emotional contexts and by greater difficulty in even simple attentional processing of emotional material. This study granted novel insights on the extent of cognitive control difficulties in emotional and non emotional contexts for people with depressive symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carola Dell'Acqua
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Simone Messerotti Benvenuti
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Antonino Vallesi
- Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Padua, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience, Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Daniela Palomba
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Padua, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience, Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
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12
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Menardi A, Dotti L, Ambrosini E, Vallesi A. Transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment in Alzheimer's disease: a meta-analysis of its efficacy as a function of protocol characteristics and degree of personalization. J Neurol 2022; 269:5283-5301. [PMID: 35781536 PMCID: PMC9468063 DOI: 10.1007/s00415-022-11236-2] [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] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2022] [Revised: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/06/2022]
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) represents the most common type of neurodegenerative disorder. Although our knowledge on the causes of AD remains limited and no curative treatments are available, several interventions have been proposed in trying to improve patients' symptomatology. Among those, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been shown a promising, safe and noninvasive intervention to improve global cognitive functioning. Nevertheless, we currently lack agreement between research studies on the optimal stimulation protocol yielding the highest efficacy in these patients. To answer this query, we conducted a systematic literature search in PubMed, PsycINFO and Scopus databases and meta-analysis of studies published in the last 10 years (2010-2021) according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Differently from prior published meta-analytic work, we investigated whether protocols that considered participants-specific neuroimaging scans for the selection of individualized stimulation targets held more successful outcomes compared to those relying on a generalized targeting selection criteria. We then compared the effect sizes of subsets of studies based on additional protocol characteristics (frequency, duration of intervention, number of stimulation sites, use of concomitant cognitive training and patients' educational level). Our results confirm TMS efficacy in improving global cognitive functioning in mild-to-moderate AD patients, but also highlight the flaws of current protocols characteristics, including a possible lack of sufficient personalization in stimulation protocols.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arianna Menardi
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, 35121, Padua, Italy.
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padua, Italy.
| | - Lisa Dotti
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, 35121, Padua, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
| | - Antonino Vallesi
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, 35121, Padua, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
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13
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Ciavarro M, Grande E, Bevacqua G, Morace R, Ambrosini E, Pavone L, Grillea G, Vangelista T, Esposito V. Structural Brain Network Reorganization Following Anterior Callosotomy for Colloid Cysts: Connectometry and Graph Analysis Results. Front Neurol 2022; 13:894157. [PMID: 35923826 PMCID: PMC9340207 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2022.894157] [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] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2022] [Accepted: 06/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction:The plasticity of the neural circuits after injuries has been extensively investigated over the last decades. Transcallosal microsurgery for lesions affecting the third ventricle offers an interesting opportunity to investigate the whole-brain white matter reorganization occurring after a selective resection of the genu of the corpus callosum (CC).MethodDiffusion MRI (dMRI) data and neuropsychological testing were collected pre- and postoperatively in six patients with colloid cysts, surgically treated with a transcallosal-transgenual approach. Longitudinal connectometry analysis on dMRI data and graph analysis on structural connectivity matrix were implemented to analyze how white matter pathways and structural network topology reorganize after surgery.ResultsAlthough a significant worsening in cognitive functions (e.g., executive and memory functioning) at early postoperative, a recovery to the preoperative status was observed at 6 months. Connectometry analysis, beyond the decrease of quantitative anisotropy (QA) near the resection cavity, showed an increase of QA in the body and forceps major CC subregions, as well as in the left intra-hemispheric corticocortical associative fibers. Accordingly, a reorganization of structural network topology was observed between centrality increasing in the left hemisphere nodes together with a rise in connectivity strength among mid and posterior CC subregions and cortical nodes.ConclusionA structural reorganization of intra- and inter-hemispheric connective fibers and structural network topology were observed following the resection of the genu of the CC. Beyond the postoperative transient cognitive impairment, it could be argued anterior CC resection does not preclude neural plasticity and may subserve the long-term postoperative cognitive recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Ciavarro
- Mediterranean Neurological Institute Neuromed (IRCCS) Neuromed, Pozzilli, Italy
- *Correspondence: Marco Ciavarro
| | - Eleonora Grande
- Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, Gabriele d'Annunzio University, Chieti, Italy
| | | | - Roberta Morace
- Mediterranean Neurological Institute Neuromed (IRCCS) Neuromed, Pozzilli, Italy
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
- Padua Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Luigi Pavone
- Mediterranean Neurological Institute Neuromed (IRCCS) Neuromed, Pozzilli, Italy
| | - Giovanni Grillea
- Mediterranean Neurological Institute Neuromed (IRCCS) Neuromed, Pozzilli, Italy
| | - Tommaso Vangelista
- Mediterranean Neurological Institute Neuromed (IRCCS) Neuromed, Pozzilli, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Esposito
- Mediterranean Neurological Institute Neuromed (IRCCS) Neuromed, Pozzilli, Italy
- Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
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Bardi E, Ambrosini E, Pirelli A, Pedrocchi A, Braghin F, Covarrubias M, Gandolla M. Upper limb exosuit cable routing optimization. IEEE Int Conf Rehabil Robot 2022; 2022:1-6. [PMID: 36176076 DOI: 10.1109/icorr55369.2022.9896594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Exosuits are emerging as promising in assisting with activities of daily living. In the design phase of an exosuit, it is fundamental to maximize its portability. The goal of this work was to identify the best cable routing configuration for an upper limb cable-driven exosuit to assist elbow flexion. Simulations were run in OpenSim. Different cable configurations were evaluated. The goal was to minimize the overall tension of the cables to reduce the device's power consumption and torque requirements. The optimal configuration was evaluated in simulation for different percentages of assistance to study its effects in terms of muscle activation and joint reaction forces. We then tested three different configurations on a test bench to both evaluate the motor current and their effect on the pronation/supination of the elbow. Simulation results suggested that a double cable configuration might help to lower the motor torque and power consumption. This conclusion was supported by the experimental results, in which the motor current was reduced by 12.5% with respect to the single cable configuration. Simulation results also showed that the optimal configuration lowered muscle activation without greatly affecting joint reactions at the elbow, even though it might cause unwanted pronation/supination, as experimental results confirmed. However, since a double configuration results in greater complexity and reduced efficiency, single-cable solutions still represent a good option.
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15
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Giustiniani A, Vallesi A, Oliveri M, Tarantino V, Ambrosini E, Bortoletto M, Masina F, Busan P, Siebner H, Fadiga L, Koch G, Leocani L, Lefaucheur J, Rotenberg A, Zangen A, Violante I, Moliadze V, Gamboa O, Ugawa Y, Pascual-Leone A, Ziemann U, Miniussi C, Burgio F. A questionnaire to collect unintended effects of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: A consensus based approach. Clin Neurophysiol 2022; 141:101-108. [DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2022.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2021] [Revised: 05/18/2022] [Accepted: 06/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Fotia F, Van Dam L, Sykes JJ, Ambrosini E, Costantini M, Ferri F. Body structural representation in schizotypy. Schizophr Res 2022; 239:1-10. [PMID: 34775304 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2021.11.002] [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] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2020] [Revised: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
A deficient sense of self, typically observed in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, is often accompanied by abnormalities in bodily perception and awareness. These abnormalities are seemingly among the most powerful predictive factors for the onset of schizophrenic illnesses. According to the hypothesis of the psychosis continuum, high schizotypal traits in the general population may be characterized by a progressive sense of detachment from one's lived body. Building upon previous research that found an abnormal Body Structural Representation (BSR) in individuals with schizophrenia, this study aims to extend these findings to schizotypy. To investigate this, we utilized the Finger Localization Task (FLT), in which participants must identify the finger touched by the experimenter, and the In Between Task (IBT), in which two fingers are touched and participants must specify the number of fingers in between the two stimulated fingers. We found that individuals with high schizotypy were significantly less accurate than individuals with low schizotypy in determining the spatial configuration of their own fingers relative to each other. Most significantly, performances on both tasks were negatively correlated with the score on the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). These findings support the hypothesis that the progressive loss of one's sense of self is associated with abnormal bodily experiences and dissociative symptomatology which may represent a potential marker for schizophrenia proneness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Fotia
- Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, UK.
| | - Loes Van Dam
- Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, UK; Institute of Psychology, Centre for Cognitive Science, TU-Darmstadt, Germany
| | - John James Sykes
- Department of Philosophy and Communication Studies FILCOM, Bologna, Italy
| | | | - Marcello Costantini
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy; Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, ITAB, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Francesca Ferri
- Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, ITAB, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
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17
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Montefinese M, Ambrosini E, Angrilli A. Online search trends and word-related emotional response during COVID-19 lockdown in Italy: a cross-sectional online study. PeerJ 2021; 9:e11858. [PMID: 34434648 PMCID: PMC8362677 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.11858] [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] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2021] [Accepted: 07/05/2021] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The strong and long lockdown adopted by the Italian government to limit COVID-19 spreading represents the first threat-related mass isolation in history that can be studied in depth by scientists to understand individuals' emotional response to a pandemic. METHODS We investigated the effects on individuals' mental wellbeing of this long-term isolation by means of an online survey on 71 Italian volunteers. They completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and Fear of COVID-19 Scale and judged valence, arousal, and dominance of words either related or unrelated to COVID-19, as identified by Google search trends. RESULTS Emotional judgments changes from normative data varied depending on word type and individuals' emotional state, revealing early signals of individuals' mental distress to COVID-19 confinement. All individuals judged COVID-19-related words to be less positive and dominant. However, individuals with more negative feelings and COVID-19 fear also judged COVID-19-unrelated words to be less positive and dominant. Moreover, arousal ratings increased for all words among individuals with more negative feelings and COVID-19 fear but decreased among individuals with less negative feelings and COVID-19 fear. DISCUSSION Our results show a rich picture of emotional reactions of Italians to tight and 2-month long confinement, identifying early signals of mental health distress. They are an alert to the need for intervention strategies and psychological assessment of individuals potentially needing mental health support following the COVID-19 situation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Montefinese
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
- Padua Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Alessandro Angrilli
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
- Padua Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
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Dell'Acqua C, Dal Bò E, Messerotti Benvenuti S, Ambrosini E, Vallesi A, Palomba D. Depressed mood, brooding rumination and affective interference: The moderating role of heart rate variability. Int J Psychophysiol 2021; 165:47-55. [PMID: 33838165 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2021.03.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [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] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Revised: 03/21/2021] [Accepted: 03/29/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Facilitated processing of negative information might contribute to the etiopathogenesis and maintenance of depressive symptoms. Cardiac vagal tone, indexed by heart rate variability (HRV), is believed to represent a proxy of the functional integrity of the neural networks implicated in brooding rumination, affective interference and depression. The present study examined whether HRV may moderate the relation between brooding rumination, affective interference and depressive symptoms in a sample of healthy individuals (n = 68) with different degrees of depressed mood. Self-report measures of depression and brooding were collected, whereas the emotional Stroop task was employed to measure affective interference. Three-minute resting-state electrocardiogram was recorded to obtain time- and frequency-domain vagally mediated HRV parameters. Stepwise linear regression analyses revealed that HRV was a significant moderator of the positive association between depression and brooding rumination, but not of the association between depression and affective interference. An integrated model is supported, in which vagally mediated HRV appeared to potentiate the positive link between depressive symptoms and brooding rumination. Considering that HRV and brooding rumination were found to have an interacting role in determining the severity of depressive symptoms, they may represent potential clinical targets in the prevention and treatment of depressive symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carola Dell'Acqua
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padua, Italy; Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Via Orus 2/B, 35131 Padua, Italy.
| | - Elisa Dal Bò
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padua, Italy; Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Via Orus 2/B, 35131 Padua, Italy
| | - Simone Messerotti Benvenuti
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padua, Italy; Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Via Orus 2/B, 35131 Padua, Italy
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padua, Italy; Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Via Orus 2/B, 35131 Padua, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 5, 35128 Padua, Italy
| | - Antonino Vallesi
- Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Via Orus 2/B, 35131 Padua, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 5, 35128 Padua, Italy; Brain Imaging & Neural Dynamics Research Group, IRCCS San Camillo Hospital, Venice, Italy
| | - Daniela Palomba
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padua, Italy; Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Via Orus 2/B, 35131 Padua, Italy
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Visalli A, Capizzi M, Ambrosini E, Kopp B, Vallesi A. Electroencephalographic correlates of temporal Bayesian belief updating and surprise. Neuroimage 2021; 231:117867. [PMID: 33592246 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117867] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [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: 09/29/2020] [Revised: 02/02/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The brain predicts the timing of forthcoming events to optimize responses to them. Temporal predictions have been formalized in terms of the hazard function, which integrates prior beliefs on the likely timing of stimulus occurrence with information conveyed by the passage of time. However, how the human brain updates prior temporal beliefs is still elusive. Here we investigated electroencephalographic (EEG) signatures associated with Bayes-optimal updating of temporal beliefs. Given that updating usually occurs in response to surprising events, we sought to disentangle EEG correlates of updating from those associated with surprise. Twenty-six participants performed a temporal foreperiod task, which comprised a subset of surprising events not eliciting updating. EEG data were analyzed through a regression-based massive approach in the electrode and source space. Distinct late positive, centro-parietally distributed, event-related potentials (ERPs) were associated with surprise and belief updating in the electrode space. While surprise modulated the commonly observed P3b, updating was associated with a later and more sustained P3b-like waveform deflection. Results from source analyses revealed that neural encoding of surprise comprises neural activity in the cingulo-opercular network (CON) and parietal regions. These data provide evidence that temporal predictions are computed in a Bayesian manner, and that this is reflected in P3 modulations, akin to other cognitive domains. Overall, our study revealed that analyzing P3 modulations provides an important window into the Bayesian brain. Data and scripts are shared on OSF: https://osf.io/ckqa5/.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonino Visalli
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, 35128 Padova, Italy; Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy.
| | | | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy; Department of Neuroscience & Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Bruno Kopp
- Department of Neurology, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Antonino Vallesi
- Department of Neuroscience & Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy; Brain Imaging and Neural Dynamics Research Group, IRCCS San Camillo Hospital, 30126 Venice, Italy.
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20
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Di Cosmo G, Costantini M, Ambrosini E, Salone A, Martinotti G, Corbo M, Di Giannantonio M, Ferri F. Body-environment integration: Temporal processing of tactile and auditory inputs along the schizophrenia continuum. J Psychiatr Res 2021; 134:208-214. [PMID: 33418447 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.12.034] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2020] [Revised: 11/06/2020] [Accepted: 12/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
According to the dimensional approach to psychosis, there is a continuum from low schizotypy to schizophrenia patients. The temporal aspect of sensory processing seems to be compromised across such continuum, as suggested by different studies separately investigating unisensory or multisensory domains. Most of these studies have so far focused primarily on the temporal processing of visual and auditory stimuli, either in schizotypy or schizophrenia, while leaving the tactile domain and the integration of touch with other senses mostly unexplored. Given the relevance of body-related perceptual abnormalities for psychosis proneness, we aimed at filling this gap in the literature across two studies. We asked participants with increasing levels of schizotypy (study 1) and schizophrenia patients (study 2) to perform three simultaneity judgement tasks: a unimodal tactile task, a unimodal auditory task and a bimodal audio-tactile task. Each task allowed estimating a simultaneity range (SR), as a proxy of the individual tolerance to asynchronies in the tactile, auditory and audio-tactile domains, respectively. Results showed larger SRs as the level of schizotypy increases. Specifically, the linear effect of schizotypy levels on the audio-tactile task was stronger than on the auditory task, which in turn was greater than the effect on the tactile task (study 1). Differently, schizophrenia patients showed larger SRs than controls in all the three tasks (study 2). The current study is the first empirical investigation across the continuum from low schizotypy to schizophrenia of the tolerance to asynchronies in the processing of external (auditory) and body-related (tactile) inputs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulio Di Cosmo
- Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, ITAB, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.
| | - Marcello Costantini
- Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, ITAB, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy; Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | | | - Anatolia Salone
- Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, ITAB, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Giovanni Martinotti
- Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, ITAB, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Mariangela Corbo
- Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, ITAB, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Massimo Di Giannantonio
- Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, ITAB, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Francesca Ferri
- Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, ITAB, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.
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21
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Montefinese M, Pinti P, Ambrosini E, Tachtsidis I, Vinson D. Inferior parietal lobule is sensitive to different semantic similarity relations for concrete and abstract words. Psychophysiology 2020; 58:e13750. [PMID: 33340124 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2020] [Revised: 11/24/2020] [Accepted: 11/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Similarity measures, the extent to which two concepts have similar meanings, are the key to understand how concepts are represented, with different theoretical perspectives relying on very different sources of data from which similarity can be calculated. While there is some commonality in similarity measures, the extent of their correlation is limited. Previous studies also suggested that the relative performance of different similarity measures may also vary depending on concept concreteness and that the inferior parietal lobule (IPL) may be involved in the integration of conceptual features in a multimodal system for the semantic categorization. Here, we tested for the first time whether theory-based similarity measures predict the pattern of brain activity in the IPL differently for abstract and concrete concepts. English speakers performed a semantic decision task, while we recorded their brain activity in IPL through fNIRS. Using representational similarity analysis, results indicated that the neural representational similarity in IPL conformed to the lexical co-occurrence among concrete concepts (regardless of the hemisphere) and to the affective similarity among abstract concepts in the left hemisphere only, implying that semantic representations of abstract and concrete concepts are characterized along different organizational principles in the IPL. We observed null results for the decoding accuracy. Our study suggests that the use of the representational similarity analysis as a complementary analysis to the decoding accuracy is a promising tool to reveal similarity patterns between theoretical models and brain activity recorded through fNIRS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Montefinese
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.,Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Paola Pinti
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Malet Place Engineering Building, University College London, London, United Kingdom.,Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Alexandra House, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.,Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.,Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Ilias Tachtsidis
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Malet Place Engineering Building, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - David Vinson
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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Vallesi A, Del Felice A, Capizzi M, Tafuro A, Formaggio E, Bisiacchi P, Masiero S, Ambrosini E. Natural oscillation frequencies in the two lateral prefrontal cortices induced by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. Neuroimage 2020; 227:117655. [PMID: 33333318 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [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: 07/11/2020] [Revised: 10/26/2020] [Accepted: 12/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Different cortical regions respond with distinct rhythmic patterns of neural oscillations to Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). We investigated natural frequencies induced by TMS in left and right homologous dorsolateral prefrontal cortices (DLPFC) and related hemispheric differences. In 12 healthy young adults, single-pulse TMS was delivered in different blocks close to F3 and F4 channels to target left and right DLPFC. An occipital site near PO3 was stimulated as control. TMS-related spectral perturbation analyses were performed on recorded EEG data. A widespread unspecific increase in theta power was observed for all stimulation sites. However, occipital TMS induced greater alpha activity and a 10.58 Hz natural frequency, while TMS over the left and right DLPFC resulted in similar beta band modulations and a natural frequency of 18.77 and 18.5 Hz, respectively. In particular, TMS-related specific increase in beta activity was stronger for the right than the left DLPFC. The right DLPFC is more specifically tuned to its natural beta frequency when it is directly stimulated by TMS than with TMS over the left counterpart (or a posterior region), while the left DLPFC increases its beta activity more similarly irrespective of whether it is directly stimulated or through right homologous stimulation. These results yield important implications for both basic neuroscience research on inter-hemispheric prefrontal interactions and clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonino Vallesi
- Department of Neuroscience & Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padua, Italy; Brain Imaging and Neural Dynamics Research Group, IRCCS, San Camillo Hospital, Venice Italy.
| | - Alessandra Del Felice
- Section of Rehabilitation Department of Neuroscience, University of Padua, Padua, Italy; Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Mariagrazia Capizzi
- Section of Rehabilitation Department of Neuroscience, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | | | - Emanuela Formaggio
- Section of Rehabilitation Department of Neuroscience, University of Padua, Padua, Italy; Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Patrizia Bisiacchi
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padua, Italy; EA 4556 EPSYLON, Université Paul Valéry, Montpellier 3, France
| | - Stefano Masiero
- Section of Rehabilitation Department of Neuroscience, University of Padua, Padua, Italy; Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padua, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, University of Padua, Padua, Italy; Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
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Tafuro A, Vallesi A, Ambrosini E. Cognitive brakes in interference resolution: A mouse-tracking and EEG co-registration study. Cortex 2020; 133:188-200. [PMID: 33128914 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.09.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2020] [Revised: 07/20/2020] [Accepted: 09/17/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Cognitive control is particularly challenged when it is necessary to resolve interference and correct our behavior on-the-fly. To do this, it is necessary to inhibit the ongoing wrong action and reprogram a new motor plan as appropriate for the current task. This ability requires a complex interaction between cognitive and motor control. Here, we aimed at shedding light on this interplay. To do this, we administered a spatial version of the Stroop task comprising blocks with different Proportion Congruency (PC) manipulations (i.e., manipulating the percentage of congruent trials at 25%, 50% or 75%), to elicit different cognitive control demands. Moreover, we used two techniques with high-temporal resolution, as we simultaneously recorded EEG and mouse trajectories, that can be considered the real-time kinematic correlates of the ongoing cognitive processing. Specifically, we analyzed the Event Related Potentials (ERPs) locked to the peak deceleration time, which marks the suppression of ongoing erroneous trajectories, and we estimated their neural sources. We found three PC-dependent ERP components engaging distinct neural regions, which showed a reduction of the Stroop effect for low-PC blocks. By using a novel co-registration of mouse-trajectories and EEG, we suggest that the observed components may reflect different mechanisms engaged by reactive cognitive control to resolve the interference, including the suppression of an ongoing but no longer appropriate response, the selection of the new motor plan and its actual updating.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandra Tafuro
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padua, Padua, Italy; Perception and Awareness (PandA) Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Antonino Vallesi
- Department of Neuroscience & Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padua, Italy; Brain Imaging and Neural Dynamics Research Group, IRCCS, San Camillo Hospital, Venice, Italy
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of Neuroscience & Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padua, Italy; Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
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Capizzi M, Ambrosini E, Arbula S, Vallesi A. Brain oscillatory activity associated with switch and mixing costs during reactive control. Psychophysiology 2020; 57:e13642. [DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2019] [Revised: 04/28/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of Neuroscience & Padova Neuroscience Center University of Padova Padova Italy
- Department of General Psychology University of Padova Padova Italy
| | | | - Antonino Vallesi
- Department of Neuroscience & Padova Neuroscience Center University of Padova Padova Italy
- Brain Imaging and Neural Dynamics Research Group IRCCS San Camillo Hospital Venice Italy
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Ambrosini E, Cid M, de Isla CG, Salamanca P, Borghese NA, Ferrante S, Caielli M, Milis M, Loizou C, Azzolino D, Damanti S, Bertagnoli L, Cesari M, Moccia S. Automatic speech analysis to early detect functional cognitive decline in elderly population. Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc 2020; 2019:212-216. [PMID: 31945880 DOI: 10.1109/embc.2019.8856768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
This study aimed at evaluating whether people with a normal cognitive function can be discriminated from subjects with a mild impairment of cognitive function based on a set of acoustic features derived from spontaneous speech. Voice recordings from 90 Italian subjects (age >65 years; group 1: 47 subjects with MMSE>26; group 2: 43 subjects with 20≤ MMSE ≤26) were collected. Voice samples were processed using a MATLAB-based custom software to derive a broad set of known acoustic features. Linear mixed model analyses were performed to select the features able to significantly distinguish between groups. The selected features (% of unvoiced segments, duration of unvoiced segments, % of voice breaks, speech rate, and duration of syllables), alone or in addition to age and years of education, were used to build a learning-based classifier. The leave-one-out cross validation was used for testing and the classifier accuracy was computed. When the voice features were used alone, an overall classification accuracy of 0.73 was achieved. When age and years of education were additionally used, the overall accuracy increased up to 0.80. These performances were lower than the accuracy of 0.86 found in a recent study. However, in that study the classification was based on several tasks, including more cognitive demanding tasks. Our results are encouraging because acoustic features, derived for the first time only from an ecologic continuous speech task, were able to discriminate people with a normal cognitive function from people with a mild cognitive decline. This study poses the basis for the development of a mobile application performing automatic voice analysis on-the-fly during phone calls, which might potentially support the detection of early signs of functional cognitive decline.
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Arbula S, Ambrosini E, Della Puppa A, De Pellegrin S, Anglani M, Denaro L, Piccione F, D'Avella D, Semenza C, Corbetta M, Vallesi A. Focal left prefrontal lesions and cognitive impairment: A multivariate lesion-symptom mapping approach. Neuropsychologia 2019; 136:107253. [PMID: 31706982 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107253] [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: 05/24/2019] [Revised: 10/25/2019] [Accepted: 11/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Despite network studies of the human brain have brought consistent evidence of brain regions with diverse functional roles, the neuropsychological approach has mainly focused on the functional specialization of individual brain regions. Relatively few neuropsychological studies try to understand whether the severity of cognitive impairment across multiple cognitive abilities can be related to focal brain injuries. Here we approached this issue by applying a latent variable modeling of the severity of cognitive impairment in brain tumor patients, followed by multivariate lesion-symptom methods identifying brain regions critically involved in multiple cognitive abilities. We observed that lesions in confined left lateral prefrontal areas including the inferior frontal junction produced the most severe cognitive deficits, above and beyond tumor histology. Our findings support the recently suggested integrated albeit modular view of brain functional organization, according to which specific brain regions are highly involved across different sub-networks and subserve a vast range of cognitive abilities. Defining such brain regions is relevant not only theoretically but also clinically, since it may facilitate tailored tumor resections and improve cognitive surgical outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Arbula
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Italy; Area of Neuroscience, SISSA, Trieste, Italy.
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Italy; Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | | | | | | | - Luca Denaro
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Italy; Academic Neurosurgery, Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova Medical School, Italy
| | - Francesco Piccione
- Brain Imaging & Neural Dynamics Research Group, IRCCS San Camillo Hospital, Venice, Italy
| | - Domenico D'Avella
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Italy; Academic Neurosurgery, Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova Medical School, Italy
| | - Carlo Semenza
- Department of Neuroscience & Padua Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Italy; Cognitive Neuroscience Research Group, IRCCS San Camillo Hospital, Venice, Italy
| | - Maurizio Corbetta
- Department of Neuroscience & Padua Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Italy; Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, USA
| | - Antonino Vallesi
- Brain Imaging & Neural Dynamics Research Group, IRCCS San Camillo Hospital, Venice, Italy; Department of Neuroscience & Padua Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Italy.
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Ambrosini E, Arbula S, Rossato C, Pacella V, Vallesi A. Neuro-cognitive architecture of executive functions: A latent variable analysis. Cortex 2019; 119:441-456. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.07.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2019] [Revised: 05/15/2019] [Accepted: 07/25/2019] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
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Visalli A, Capizzi M, Ambrosini E, Mazzonetto I, Vallesi A. Bayesian modeling of temporal expectations in the human brain. Neuroimage 2019; 202:116097. [PMID: 31415885 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [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: 05/01/2019] [Revised: 07/16/2019] [Accepted: 08/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The brain predicts the timing of forthcoming events to optimize processes in response to them. Temporal predictions are driven by both our prior expectations on the likely timing of stimulus occurrence and the information conveyed by the passage of time. Specifically, such predictions can be described in terms of the hazard function, that is, the conditional probability that an event will occur, given it has not yet occurred. Events violating expectations cause surprise and often induce updating of prior expectations. While it is well-known that the brain is able to track the temporal hazard of event occurrence, the question of how prior temporal expectations are updated is still unsettled. Here we combined a Bayesian computational approach with brain imaging to map updating of temporal expectations in the human brain. Moreover, since updating is usually highly correlated with surprise, participants performed a task that allowed partially differentiating between the two processes. Results showed that updating and surprise differently modulated activity in areas belonging to two critical networks for cognitive control, the fronto-parietal (FPN) and the cingulo-opercular network (CON). Overall, these data provide a first computational characterization of the neural correlates associated with updating and surprise related to temporal expectation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonino Visalli
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, 35128, Padova, Italy; Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, 35131, Padova, Italy.
| | | | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, 35131, Padova, Italy; Department of Neuroscience & Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Ilaria Mazzonetto
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, 35128, Padova, Italy; Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Antonino Vallesi
- Department of Neuroscience & Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, 35131, Padova, Italy; Brain Imaging and Neural Dynamics Research Group, IRCCS San Camillo Hospital, 30126, Venice, Italy
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Ambrosini E, Finotti G, Azevedo RT, Tsakiris M, Ferri F. Seeing myself through my heart: Cortical processing of a single heartbeat speeds up self-face recognition. Biol Psychol 2019; 144:64-73. [PMID: 30890454 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2019.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [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: 07/24/2018] [Revised: 12/17/2018] [Accepted: 03/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Recent research has highlighted the contribution of interoceptive signals to different aspects of bodily self-consciousness (BSC) by means of the cardio-visual stimulation - i.e. perceiving a pulsing stimulus in synchrony with one's own heart. Here, for the first time, we investigate the effects of individual heartbeats on a critical feature of BSC, namely the recognition of one's own face. Across two studies, we explored the cardiac-timing effects on a classic self-face recognition task. In Study 1, participants saw morphed faces that contained different percentages of the self-face and that of another unfamiliar individual. Study 2 used a similar design, albeit participants saw morphed faces of the self-face and that of a familiar other to provide a better control of self-familiarity. Results from both studies consistently revealed that the cortical processing of cardiac afferent signals conveyed by the firing of arterial baroreceptors affects the speed, but not the accuracy, of self-face recognition, when a single picture is presented during cardiac systole, as compared to diastole. This effect is stronger and more stable for stimuli with more self-cues than other-cues and for 'ambiguous' stimuli - i.e. at the individual point of subjective equality. Results from Study 2 also revealed that cardiac effects on the speed of self-face recognition cannot be explained simply on the basis of the imbalanced familiarity between the self's and other's faces used. The present findings highlight the interoceptive contributions to self-recognition and may be expand our understanding of pathological disturbances of self-experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padua, Padua, Italy; Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Gianluca Finotti
- Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, United Kingdom; Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ruben T Azevedo
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, United Kingdom; Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Study, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Manos Tsakiris
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, United Kingdom; Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Study, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Francesca Ferri
- Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, United Kingdom; Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Science, University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti, Italy.
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Montefinese M, Vinson D, Vigliocco G, Ambrosini E. Italian Age of Acquisition Norms for a Large Set of Words (ItAoA). Front Psychol 2019; 10:278. [PMID: 30814969 PMCID: PMC6381031 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [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] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2018] [Accepted: 01/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Age of acquisition (AoA) is an important psycholinguistic variable that affects the performance of healthy individuals and patients in a large variety of cognitive tasks. For this reason, it becomes more and more compelling to collect new AoA norms for a large set of stimuli in order to allow better control and manipulation of AoA in future research. An important motivation of the present study is to extend previous Italian norms by collecting AoA ratings for a much larger range of Italian words for which concreteness and semantic-affective norms are now available thus ensuring greater coverage of words varying along these dimensions. In the present study, we collected AoA ratings for 1,957 Italian content words (adjectives, nouns, and verbs), by asking healthy adult participants to estimate the age at which they thought they had learned the word in a Web survey procedure. First, we found high split-half correlation within our sample, suggesting strong internal reliability. Second, our data indicate that the ratings collected in this study are as valid and reliable as those collected in previous studies for Italian across different age populations (adult and children) and other languages. Finally, we analyzed the relation between AoA ratings and other lexical-semantic variables (e.g., word frequency, imageability, valence, arousal) and showed that these correlations were generally consistent with the correlations reported in other normative studies for Italian and other languages. Therefore, our new AoA norms are a valuable source of information for future research in the Italian language. The full database is available at the Open Science Framework (osf.io/3trg2).
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Montefinese
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.,Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - David Vinson
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Gabriella Vigliocco
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.,Department of Neuroscience, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
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Gasperini G, Rossini M, Proserpio D, Immick N, Augsten A, Pedrocchi A, Ambrosini E, Ferrante S, Zajc J, Baccinelli W, Bulgheroni M, Krakow K, Molteni F. Hybrid robotic system combining passive exoskeleton and functional electrical stimulation for upper limb stroke rehabilitation: Preliminary results of the retrainer multi-center randomized controlled trial. Ann Phys Rehabil Med 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.rehab.2018.05.200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Abstract
In this study, we tested the linguistic relativity hypothesis by studying the effect of grammatical gender (feminine vs. masculine) on affective judgments of conceptual representation in Italian and German. In particular, we examined the within- and cross-language grammatical gender effect and its interaction with participants' demographic characteristics (such as, the raters' age and sex) on semantic differential scales (affective ratings of valence, arousal and dominance) in Italian and German speakers. We selected the stimuli and the relative affective measures from Italian and German adaptations of the ANEW (Affective Norms for English Words). Bayesian and frequentist analyses yielded evidence for the absence of within- and cross-languages effects of grammatical gender and sex- and age-dependent interactions. These results suggest that grammatical gender does not affect judgments of affective features of semantic representation in Italian and German speakers, since an overt coding of word grammar is not required. Although further research is recommended to refine the impact of the grammatical gender on properties of semantic representation, these results have implications for any strong view of the linguistic relativity hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Montefinese
- a Department of Experimental Psychology , University College London , London , UK
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- b Department of Neuroscience , University of Padua , Padua , Italy.,c Department of General Psychology , University of Padua , Padua , Italy
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Sedda A, Ambrosini E, Dirupo G, Tonin D, Valsecchi L, Redaelli T, Spinelli M, Costantini M, Bottini G. Affordances after spinal cord injury. J Neuropsychol 2018; 13:354-369. [PMID: 29453783 DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12151] [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: 06/02/2017] [Revised: 12/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Spinal cord injury can cause cognitive impairments even when no cerebral lesion is appreciable. As patients are forced to explore the environment in a non-canonical position (i.e., seated on a wheelchair), a modified relation with space can explain motor-related cognitive differences compared to non-injured individuals. Peripersonal space is encoded in motor terms, that is, in relation to the representation of action abilities and is strictly related to the affordance of reachability. In turn, affordances, the action possibilities suggested by relevant properties of the environment, are related to the perceiver's peripersonal space and motor abilities. One might suppose that these motor-related cognitive abilities are compromised when an individual loses the ability to move. We shed light on this issue in 10 patients with paraplegia and 20 matched controls. All have been administered an affordances-related reachability judgement task adapted from Costantini, Ambrosini, Tieri, Sinigaglia, and Committeri (2010, Experimental Brain Research, 207, 95) and neuropsychological tests. Our findings demonstrate that patients and controls show the same level of accuracy in estimating the location of their peripersonal space boundaries, but only controls show the typical overestimation of reaching range. Secondly, patients show a higher variability in their judgements than controls. Importantly, this finding is related to the patients' ability to perform everyday tasks. Finally, patients are not faster in making their judgements on reachability in peripersonal space, while controls are. Our results suggest that not moving freely or as usual in the environment impact decoding of action-related properties even when the upper limbs are not compromised.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Sedda
- Psychology - School of Social Sciences - Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, UK
| | | | - Giada Dirupo
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences (FAPSE), University of Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Diana Tonin
- School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - Laura Valsecchi
- Unipolar Spinal Unit, ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, Milan, Italy
| | - Tiziana Redaelli
- Unipolar Spinal Unit, ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, Milan, Italy
| | - Michele Spinelli
- Unipolar Spinal Unit, ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Gabriella Bottini
- Cognitive Neuropsychology Centre, ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, Milan, Italy.,Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Italy.,NeuroMi, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Italy
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Capizzi M, Ambrosini E, Vallesi A. Individual Differences in Verbal and Spatial Stroop Tasks: Interactive Role of Handedness and Domain. Front Hum Neurosci 2017; 11:545. [PMID: 29176946 PMCID: PMC5686059 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [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: 07/25/2017] [Accepted: 10/25/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
A longstanding debate in psychology concerns the relation between handedness and cognitive functioning. The present study aimed to contribute to this debate by comparing performance of right- and non-right-handers on verbal and spatial Stroop tasks. Previous studies have shown that non-right-handers have better inter-hemispheric interaction and greater access to right hemisphere processes. On this ground, we expected performance of right- and non-right-handers to differ on verbal and spatial Stroop tasks. Specifically, relative to right-handers, non-right-handers should have greater Stroop effect in the color-word Stroop task, for which inter-hemispheric interaction does not seem to be advantageous to performance. By contrast, non-right-handers should be better able to overcome interference in the spatial Stroop task. This is for their preferential access to the right hemisphere dealing with spatial material and their greater inter-hemispheric interaction with the left hemisphere hosting Stroop task processes. Our results confirmed these predictions, showing that handedness and the underlying brain asymmetries may be a useful variable to partly explain individual differences in executive functions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Antonino Vallesi
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.,San Camillo Hospital IRCCS, Venice, Italy
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Vallesi A, Mazzonetto I, Ambrosini E, Babcock L, Capizzi M, Arbula S, Tarantino V, Semenza C, Bertoldo A. Structural hemispheric asymmetries underlie verbal Stroop performance. Behav Brain Res 2017; 335:167-173. [PMID: 28834738 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2017.08.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [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: 05/23/2017] [Revised: 07/13/2017] [Accepted: 08/14/2017] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Performance on tasks involving cognitive control such as the Stroop task is often associated with left lateralized brain activations. Based on this neuro-functional evidence, we tested whether leftward structural grey matter asymmetries would also predict inter-individual differences in combatting Stroop interference. To check for the specificity of the results, both a verbal Stroop task and a spatial one were administered to a total of 111 healthy young individuals, for whom T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images were also acquired. Surface thickness and area estimations were calculated using FreeSurfer. Participants' hemispheres were registered to a symmetric template and Laterality Indices (LI) for the surface thickness and for the area at each vertex in each participant were computed. The correlation of these surface LI measures with the verbal and spatial Stroop effects (incongruent-congruent difference in trial performance) was assessed at each vertex by means of general linear models at the whole-brain level. We found a significant correlation between performance and surface area LI in an inferior posterior temporal cluster (overlapping with the so-called visual word form area, VWFA), with a more left-lateralized area in this region associated with a smaller Stroop effect only in the verbal task. These results point to an involvement of the VWFA for higher-level processes based on word reading, including the suppression of this process when required by the task, and could be interpreted in the context of cross-hemispheric rivalry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonino Vallesi
- Department of Neuroscience, 35128, University of Padova, Italy; San Camillo Hospital IRCCS, 30126, Venice, Italy.
| | - Ilaria Mazzonetto
- Department of Neuroscience, 35128, University of Padova, Italy; Department of Information Engineering, 35128, University of Padova, Italy
| | | | - Laura Babcock
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Sandra Arbula
- Department of Neuroscience, 35128, University of Padova, Italy
| | | | - Carlo Semenza
- Department of Neuroscience, 35128, University of Padova, Italy; San Camillo Hospital IRCCS, 30126, Venice, Italy
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37
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Abstract
Sensory events contribute to body ownership, the feeling that the body belongs to me. However, the encoding of sensory events is not only reactive, but also proactive in that our brain generates prediction about forthcoming stimuli. In previous studies, we have shown that prediction of sensory events is a sufficient condition to induce the sense of body ownership. In this study, we investigated the underlying neural mechanisms. Participants were seated with their right arm resting upon a table just below another smaller table. Hence, the real hand was hidden from the participant's view and a life-sized rubber model of a right hand was placed on the small table in front of them. Participants observed a wooden plank while approaching - without touching - the rubber hand. We measured the phenomenology of the illusion by means of questionnaire. Neural activity was recorded by means of near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Results showed higher activation of multisensory parietal cortices in the rubber hand illusion induced by touch expectation. Furthermore, such activity was correlated with the subjective feeling of owning the rubber hand. Our results enrich current models of body ownership suggesting that our multisensory brain regions generate prediction on what could be my body and what could not. This finding might have interesting implications in all those cases in which body representation is altered, anorexia, bulimia nervosa and obesity, among others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Ferri
- Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, UK
| | | | - Paola Pinti
- Infrared Imaging Lab, Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies - ITAB, Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti-Pescara, Italy
| | - Arcangelo Merla
- Infrared Imaging Lab, Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies - ITAB, Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti-Pescara, Italy
| | - Marcello Costantini
- Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, UK.,Laboratory of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti, Italy.,Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies - ITAB, University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti, Italy
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Ambrosini E, Ferrante S, Zajc J, Bulgheroni M, Baccinelli W, d'Amico E, Schauer T, Wiesener C, Russold M, Gfoehler M, Puchinger M, Weber M, Becker S, Krakow K, Rossini M, Proserpio D, Gasperini G, Molteni F, Ferrigno G, Pedrocchi A. The combined action of a passive exoskeleton and an EMG-controlled neuroprosthesis for upper limb stroke rehabilitation: First results of the RETRAINER project. IEEE Int Conf Rehabil Robot 2017; 2017:56-61. [PMID: 28813793 DOI: 10.1109/icorr.2017.8009221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The combined use of Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) and robotic technologies is advocated to improve rehabilitation outcomes after stroke. This work describes an arm rehabilitation system developed within the European project RETRAINER. The system consists of a passive 4-degrees-of-freedom exoskeleton equipped with springs to provide gravity compensation and electromagnetic brakes to hold target positions. FES is integrated in the system to provide additional support to the most impaired muscles. FES is triggered based on the volitional EMG signal of the same stimulated muscle; in order to encourage the active involvement of the patient the volitional EMG is also monitored throughout the task execution and based on it a happy or sad emoji is visualized at the end of each task. The control interface control of the system provides a GUI and multiple software tools to organize rehabilitation exercises and monitor rehabilitation progress. The functionality and the usability of the system was evaluated on four stroke patients. All patients were able to use the system and judged positively its wearability and the provided support. They were able to trigger the stimulation based on their residual muscle activity and provided different levels of active involvement in the exercise, in agreement with their level of impairment. A randomized controlled trial aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the RETRAINER system to improve arm function after stroke is currently ongoing.
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Abstract
10070 Background: Convergent findings indicate the need of broadening the vision of cancer beyond known prognostic factors, as many variables of different nature equally affect the course of disease. Loneliness has been found to be associated with various health outcomes, but its relationship with cancer remains unclear. Here we aimed to investigate the specific effect of loneliness and other demographic, psychological, and clinical variables on cancer mortality and to validate the Italian UCLA Loneliness Scale in cancer patients. Methods: This descriptive and correlational study was conducted at the Veneto Institute of Oncology in Padua. 400 patients undergoing chemotherapy from 01/2014 to 06/2015 were enrolled. The sample was stratified by sex and age (4 groups, 40-80 y). We collected demographic, clinical (site and stage of cancer, type of chemotherapy, death date), and psychosocial [self-esteem (RSE), perceived social support (MSPSS), social interaction anxiety (SIAS), personality (EPQR), and depression (BDI)] data. Results: GLM analyses: loneliness was higher in women than men (F(1,398) = 7.5, p = .006) and it linearly increased with age (F(1,398) = 10.9, p = .001). Loneliness was also influenced by marital status (F(3,396) = 2.9, p = .037), cohabitant offspring (F(1,398) = 7, p = .008), and educational level (F(3,396) = 4.7, p = .003), but not by clinical variables (all ps > .05). Correlation analyses: loneliness was inversely related to RSE (r = -.51), MSPSS (r = -.52), and extroversion (r = -.32), and directly related to SIAS (r = .46), neuroticism (r = .43), and BDI (r = .44). More importantly, a hierarchical binomial logistic regression revealed that patients’ mortality was reliably predicted by gender, stage of cancer at diagnosis, time from diagnosis to UCLA collection, BDI, and UCLA (HL χ2(8) = 3.53, p = .90). In particular, high BDI predicted higher mortality (Wald = 11.6, p < .001); surprisingly, after controlling for BDI and other effects, high loneliness predicted lower mortality (Wald = 7, p = .008). Conclusions: Our results replicate prior research and reveal a surprising association between loneliness and mortality risk after partialling out the impact of, especially, depression. This suggests the role of loneliness on cancer course as an important health concern.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simona D'ippolito
- Department of Oncology, Santa Maria del Prato Hospital ULSS 1 Dolomiti, Feltre, Italy
| | | | - Malihe Shams
- Psycho-Oncology Unit, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV – IRCCS, Padova, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Calì
- Department of Oncology, Santa Maria del Prato Hospital ULSS 1 Dolomiti, Feltre, Italy
| | - Davide Pastorelli
- Department of Oncology, Santa Maria del Prato Hospital ULSS 1 Dolomiti, Feltre, Italy
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40
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Abstract
Abstract
The ability to suppress irrelevant information while executing a task, also known as interference resistance ability, is a function of pFC that is critical for successful goal-directed human behavior. In the study of interference resistance and, more generally, executive functions, two key questions are still open: Does pFC contribute to cognitive control abilities through lateralized but domain-general mechanisms or through hemispheric specialization of domain-specific processes? And what are the underlying causes of interindividual differences in executive control performance? To shed light on these issues, here we employed an interindividual difference approach to investigate whether participants' hemispheric asymmetry in resting-state electrophysiological brain dynamics may reflect their variability in domain-general interference resistance. We recorded participants' resting-state electroencephalographic activity and performed spectral power analyses on the estimated cortical source activity. To measure participants' lateralized brain dynamics at rest, we computed the right–left hemispheric asymmetry score for the β/α power ratio. To measure their domain-general interference resistance ability, verbal and spatial Stroop tasks were used. Robust correlations followed by intersection analyses showed that participants with stronger resting-state-related left-lateralized activity in different pFC regions, namely the mid-posterior superior frontal gyrus, middle and posterior middle frontal gyrus, and inferior frontal junction, were more able to inhibit irrelevant information in both domains. The present results confirm and extend previous findings showing that neurophysiological difference factors may explain interindividual differences in executive functioning. They also provide support for the hypothesis of a left pFC hemispheric specialization for domain-independent phasic cognitive control processes mediating Stroop performance.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Antonino Vallesi
- 1University of Padua
- 2IRCCS San Camillo Hospital Foundation, Lido-Venice, Italy
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Abstract
We present a novel computational model that describes action perception as an active inferential process that combines motor prediction (the reuse of our own motor system to predict perceived movements) and hypothesis testing (the use of eye movements to disambiguate amongst hypotheses). The system uses a generative model of how (arm and hand) actions are performed to generate hypothesis-specific visual predictions, and directs saccades to the most informative places of the visual scene to test these predictions - and underlying hypotheses. We test the model using eye movement data from a human action observation study. In both the human study and our model, saccades are proactive whenever context affords accurate action prediction; but uncertainty induces a more reactive gaze strategy, via tracking the observed movements. Our model offers a novel perspective on action observation that highlights its active nature based on prediction dynamics and hypothesis testing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Donnarumma
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, Italy
| | - Marcello Costantini
- Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, UK; Laboratory of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti, Italy; Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies - ITAB, Foundation University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti, Italy
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padua, Padua, Italy; Laboratory of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti, Italy; Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies - ITAB, Foundation University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti, Italy
| | - Karl Friston
- The Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL, London, UK
| | - Giovanni Pezzulo
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, Italy.
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42
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Fairfield B, Ambrosini E, Mammarella N, Montefinese M. Affective Norms for Italian Words in Older Adults: Age Differences in Ratings of Valence, Arousal and Dominance. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0169472. [PMID: 28046070 PMCID: PMC5207701 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2016] [Accepted: 12/17/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
In line with the dimensional theory of emotional space, we developed affective norms for words rated in terms of valence, arousal and dominance in a group of older adults to complete the adaptation of the Affective Norms for English Words (ANEW) for Italian and to aid research on aging. Here, as in the original Italian ANEW database, participants evaluated valence, arousal, and dominance by means of the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) in a paper-and-pencil procedure. We observed high split-half reliabilities within the older sample and high correlations with the affective ratings of previous research, especially for valence, suggesting that there is large agreement among older adults within and across-languages. More importantly, we found high correlations between younger and older adults, showing that our data are generalizable across different ages. However, despite this across-ages accord, we obtained age-related differences on three affective dimensions for a great number of words. In particular, older adults rated as more arousing and more unpleasant a number of words that younger adults rated as moderately unpleasant and arousing in our previous affective norms. Moreover, older participants rated negative stimuli as more arousing and positive stimuli as less arousing than younger participants, thus leading to a less-curved distribution of ratings in the valence by arousal space. We also found more extreme ratings for older adults for the relationship between dominance and arousal: older adults gave lower dominance and higher arousal ratings for words rated by younger adults with middle dominance and arousal values. Together, these results suggest that our affective norms are reliable and can be confidently used to select words matched for the affective dimensions of valence, arousal and dominance across younger and older participants for future research in aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beth Fairfield
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, University “G. d’Annunzio”, Chieti, Italy
| | | | - Nicola Mammarella
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, University “G. d’Annunzio”, Chieti, Italy
| | - Maria Montefinese
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
- * E-mail:
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43
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Abstract
Unusual interaction behaviors and perceptual aberrations, like those occurring in schizotypy and schizophrenia, may in part originate from impaired remapping of environmental stimuli in the body space. Such remapping is contributed by the integration of tactile and proprioceptive information about current body posture with other exteroceptive spatial information. Surprisingly, no study has investigated whether alterations in such remapping occur in psychosis-prone individuals. Four hundred eleven students were screened with respect to schizotypal traits using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire. A subgroup of them, classified as low, moderate, and high schizotypes were to perform a temporal order judgment task of tactile stimuli delivered on their hands, with both uncrossed and crossed arms. Results revealed marked differences in touch remapping in the high schizotypes as compared to low and moderate schizotypes. For the first time here we reveal that the remapping of environmental stimuli in the body space, an essential function to demarcate the boundaries between self and external world, is altered in schizotypy. Results are discussed in relation to recent models of 'self-disorders' as due to perceptual incoherence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Ferri
- Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
| | | | - Marcello Costantini
- Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, UK.,Laboratory of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, University G. d'Annunzio &Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies - ITAB, Foundation University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti, Italy
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44
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Ambrosini E, Costantini M. Body posture differentially impacts on visual attention towards tool, graspable, and non-graspable objects. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 2016; 43:360-370. [PMID: 27831721 DOI: 10.1037/xhp0000330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Viewed objects have been shown to afford suitable actions, even in the absence of any intention to act. However, little is known as to whether gaze behavior (i.e., the way we simply look at objects) is sensitive to action afforded by the seen object and how our actual motor possibilities affect this behavior. We recorded participants' eye movements during the observation of tools, graspable and ungraspable objects, while their hands were either freely resting on the table or tied behind their back. The effects of the observed object and hand posture on gaze behavior were measured by comparing the actual fixation distribution with that predicted by 2 widely supported models of visual attention, namely the Graph-Based Visual Saliency and the Adaptive Whitening Salience models. Results showed that saliency models did not accurately predict participants' fixation distributions for tools. Indeed, participants mostly fixated the action-related, functional part of the tools, regardless of its visual saliency. Critically, the restriction of the participants' action possibility led to a significant reduction of this effect and significantly improved the model prediction of the participants' gaze behavior. We suggest, first, that action-relevant object information at least in part guides gaze behavior. Second, postural information interacts with visual information to the generation of priority maps of fixation behavior. We support the view that the kind of information we access from the environment is constrained by our readiness to act. (PsycINFO Database Record
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45
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Capizzi M, Ambrosini E, Arbula S, Mazzonetto I, Vallesi A. Testing the domain-general nature of monitoring in the spatial and verbal cognitive domains. Neuropsychologia 2016; 89:83-95. [PMID: 27263124 PMCID: PMC5010042 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.05.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2016] [Revised: 04/29/2016] [Accepted: 05/29/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
While it is well-established that monitoring the environment for the occurrence of relevant events represents a key executive function, it is still unclear whether such a function is mediated by domain-general or domain-specific mechanisms. We investigated this issue by combining event-related potentials (ERPs) with a behavioral paradigm in which monitoring processes (non-monitoring vs. monitoring) and cognitive domains (spatial vs. verbal) were orthogonally manipulated in the same group of participants. They had to categorize 3-dimensional visually presented words on the basis of either spatial or verbal rules. In monitoring blocks, they additionally had to check whether the word displayed a specific spatial configuration or whether it contained a certain consonant. The behavioral results showed slower responses for both spatial and verbal monitoring trials compared to non-monitoring trials. The ERP results revealed that monitoring did not interact with domain, thus suggesting the involvement of common underlying mechanisms. Specifically, monitoring acted on low-level perceptual processes (as expressed by an enhanced visual N1 wave and a sustained posterior negativity for monitoring trials) and on higher-level cognitive processes (involving larger positive modulations by monitoring trials over frontal and parietal scalp regions). The source reconstruction analysis of the ERP data confirmed that monitoring was associated with increased activity in visual areas and in right prefrontal and parietal regions (i.e., superior and inferior frontal gyri and posterior parietal cortex), which previous studies have linked to spatial and temporal monitoring. Our findings extend this research by supporting the domain-general nature of monitoring in the spatial and verbal domains. Previous studies suggest that monitoring relies on domain-general mechanisms. We combined EEG with a novel experimental design to directly test this hypothesis. Spatial and verbal non-monitoring and monitoring tasks were performed. Results confirmed the domain-general nature of monitoring. EEG source reconstruction showed the involvement of common right fronto-parietal areas.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of Neuroscience, Universitá degli Studi di Padova, Italy.
| | - Sandra Arbula
- Department of Neuroscience, Universitá degli Studi di Padova, Italy
| | - Ilaria Mazzonetto
- Department of Neuroscience, Universitá degli Studi di Padova, Italy; Department of Information Engineering, Universitá degli Studi di Padova, Italy
| | - Antonino Vallesi
- Department of Neuroscience, Universitá degli Studi di Padova, Italy
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46
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Capizzi M, Ambrosini E, Arbula S, Mazzonetto I, Vallesi A. Electrophysiological Evidence for Domain-General Processes in Task-Switching. Front Hum Neurosci 2016; 10:124. [PMID: 27047366 PMCID: PMC4800168 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [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: 11/23/2015] [Accepted: 03/07/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to flexibly switch between tasks is a hallmark of cognitive control. Despite previous studies that have investigated whether different task-switching types would be mediated by distinct or overlapping neural mechanisms, no definitive consensus has been reached on this question yet. Here, we aimed at directly addressing this issue by recording the event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by two types of task-switching occurring in the context of spatial and verbal cognitive domains. Source analysis was also applied to the ERP data in order to track the spatial dynamics of brain activity underlying task-switching abilities. In separate blocks of trials, participants had to perform either spatial or verbal switching tasks both of which employed the same type of stimuli. The ERP analysis, which was carried out through a channel- and time-uninformed mass univariate approach, showed no significant differences between the spatial and verbal domains in the modulation of switch and repeat trials. Specifically, relative to repeat trials, switch trials in both domains were associated with a first larger positivity developing over left parieto-occipital electrodes and with a subsequent larger negativity distributed over mid-left fronto-central sites. The source analysis reconstruction for the two ERP components complemented these findings by highlighting the involvement of left-lateralized prefrontal areas in task-switching. Overall, our results join and extend recent research confirming the existence of left-lateralized domain-general task-switching processes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Department of Neuroscience, Universitá degli Studi di Padova Padova, Italy
| | - Sandra Arbula
- Department of Neuroscience, Universitá degli Studi di PadovaPadova, Italy; Department of General Psychology, Universitá degli Studi di PadovaPadova, Italy
| | - Ilaria Mazzonetto
- Department of Neuroscience, Universitá degli Studi di PadovaPadova, Italy; Department of Information Engineering, Universitá degli Studi di PadovaPadova, Italy
| | - Antonino Vallesi
- Department of Neuroscience, Universitá degli Studi di PadovaPadova, Italy; Centro Neuroscienze Cognitive, Universitá degli Studi di PadovaPadova, Italy
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47
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De Marchis C, Ambrosini E, Schmid M, Monticone M, Pedrocchi A, Ferrigno G, D'Alessio T, Conforto S, Ferrante S. Neuro-mechanics of muscle coordination during recumbent pedaling in post-acute stroke patients. Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc 2016; 2015:246-9. [PMID: 26736246 DOI: 10.1109/embc.2015.7318346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Motor impairment after stroke has been hypothesized to be related, among others, to impairments in the modular control of movement. In this study we analyzed muscle coordination and pedal forces during a recumbent pedaling exercise from a sample of post-acute stroke patients (n=5) and a population of age-matched healthy individuals (n=4). Healthy subjects and the less impaired patients showed a shared modular organization of pedaling based on 4 similar muscle synergies. The most impaired patient, characterized by a Motricity Index of 52/100, showed a reduced complexity (only 2 muscle synergies for the affected side). Differences between healthy subjects and post-stroke patients in the execution of the task were identified in terms of unbalance in mechanical work production, which well corresponded to the level of impairment. This pedaling unbalance could be traced back to different activation strategies of the 4 identified modules. Investigation on a more representative sample will provide a full characterization of the neuro-mechanics of pedaling after stroke, helping our understandings of the disruption of motor coordination at central level after stroke and of the most effective solutions for functional recovery.
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Ambrosini E, Vallesi A. Asymmetry in prefrontal resting-state EEG spectral power underlies individual differences in phasic and sustained cognitive control. Neuroimage 2016; 124:843-857. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.09.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2015] [Revised: 09/05/2015] [Accepted: 09/11/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022] Open
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49
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Montefinese M, Ciavarro M, Ambrosini E. What is the right place for atypical exemplars? Commentary: The right hemisphere contribution to semantic categorization: a TMS study. Front Psychol 2015; 6:1349. [PMID: 26441726 PMCID: PMC4561752 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2015] [Accepted: 08/24/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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50
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Calì G, Ambrosini E, Picconi L, Mehling WE, Committeri G. Investigating the relationship between interoceptive accuracy, interoceptive awareness, and emotional susceptibility. Front Psychol 2015; 6:1202. [PMID: 26379571 PMCID: PMC4547010 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2015] [Accepted: 07/29/2015] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Interoception, the sense of the physiological condition of the body, provides a basis for subjective feelings and emotions. Anterior insular cortex activity represents the state of the body and varies according to personality traits, such as emotional susceptibility (ES)—the tendency to experience feelings of discomfort and vulnerability when facing emotionally-laden stimuli. The accuracy of perceiving one's own bodily signals, or interoceptive accuracy (IAc), can be assessed with the heartbeat perception task (HPT), which is the experimental measure used by most of the existing research on interoception. However, IAc is only one facet of interoception. Interoceptive awareness (IAw) is the conscious perception of sensations from inside the body, such as heart beat, respiration, satiety, and the autonomic nervous system sensations related to emotions, which create the sense of the physiological condition of the body. We developed an Italian version of the recent self-report Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA), tested its psychometric properties (reliability, dimensionality, and construct validity), and examined its relationship to ES, as assessed using the Emotional Susceptibility Scale, in a sample (n = 321) of healthy Italian psychology students (293 females, mean age: 20.5 years). In a subgroup of females (n = 135), we measured IAc with the HPT. We used a series of correlation/regression analyses to examine the complex interplay between the three constructs. We provide further evidence for a substantial independence of the IAc and IAw measures, confirming previous reports and current theoretical models that differentiate between IAc and IAw. Our analyses elucidate the complex relationship between distinct dimensions of IAw and ES, highlighting the need for continued efforts to shed more light on this topic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giuseppe Calì
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University G. d'Annunzio Chieti, Italy
| | - Ettore Ambrosini
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University G. d'Annunzio Chieti, Italy ; Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, University G. d'Annunzio Chieti, Italy
| | - Laura Picconi
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territory Sciences, University G. d'Annunzio Chieti, Italy
| | - Wolf E Mehling
- Department of Family and Community Medicine, Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, University of California, San Francisco San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Giorgia Committeri
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University G. d'Annunzio Chieti, Italy ; Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, University G. d'Annunzio Chieti, Italy
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