Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Creating sustainable neighbourhoods in cities: greener neighbourhoods could promote residents pro-environmental recycling behaviour
No full textContextGrowing evidence shows that people's desire to protect the environment may be linked to their connection with and experiences in nature. However, the effect of possible exposure to local green spaces and their landscape patterns on pro-environmental behaviours lacks extensive observational evidence.ObjectivesThis study investigates the relationship between residents' recycling behaviour and neighbourhood green spaces at both neighbourhood and individual levels, with consideration given to the impact of green space configuration. Considering that recycling, as a simple pro-environmental action, is often regarded as a 'first step' to further pro-environmental behaviours, our study is crucial for synergistically optimising neighbourhood landscape sustainability planning and waste management to enhance ecosystem services of neighbourhood green spaces and to support sustainable community development in compact cities.MethodsNeighbourhood-level observed recycling behaviour was quantified using data from 457 'smart' recycling stations, while self-reported recycling behaviour at the individual level was assessed through a nationally representative survey with 300 respondents in a mega-city in China. Linear mixed-effects model and structural equation model were used to analyse the relationships between the behaviour and multiple landscape indices of neighbourhood green spaces.ResultsAt the neighbourhood level, the observed recycling behaviour positively relates to the ratio (but not the area) of green spaces within 1000 m around residences and the density of the recycling stations. However, other landscape characteristics of green spaces did not show significant effects on recycling behaviour. At the individual level, the green area ratio influences recycling behaviour via residents' green space perception, visit frequency to the green spaces and subjective norm, with the aggregation level of green spaces (but not shape index) serving as a moderating factor.ConclusionsOur study suggests a close link between neighbourhood greenspaces and residents' sustainable behaviours. Moreover, different patterns of green space could be adopted in communities with varying green space ratios to better reconnect residents with the natural world, hence improving landscape sustainability in compact cities
Visual mental imagery of nonpredictive central social cues triggers automatic attentional orienting
No full textPrevious research has demonstrated that social cues (e.g., eye gaze, walking direction of biological motion) can automatically guide people's focus of attention, a well-known phenomenon called social attention. The current research shows that voluntarily generated social cues via visual mental imagery, without being physically presented, can produce robust attentional orienting similar to the classic social attentional orienting effect. Combining a visual imagery task with a dot-probe task, we found that imagining a non-predictive gaze cue could orient attention towards the gazed-at hemifield. Such attentional effect persisted even when the imagery gaze cue was counter-predictive of the target hemifield, and could be generalized to biological motion cue. Besides, this effect could not be simply attributed to low-level motion signal embedded in gaze cues. More importantly, an eye-tracking experiment carefully monitoring potential eye movements demonstrated the imagery-induced attentional orienting effect induced by social cues, but not by non-social cues (i.e., arrows), suggesting that such effect is specialized to visual imagery of social cues. These findings accentuate the demarcation between social and non-social attentional orienting, and may take a preliminary step in conceptualizing voluntary visual imagery as a form of internally directed attention
Can Al Be Environmentally Responsible? A Comparative Study on the Pro-Environmental Portrait of ChatGPT and Chinese Respondents
No full textChatGPT, a representative of the new generation of generative artificial intelligence (AI), has garnered widespread attention due to its extraordinary natural language processing capabilities. This study examined ChatGPT's environmental value orientations and ecological worldview within the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) theory framework and compared these findings with the perceptions and self-assessments of 300 Chinese respondents. The results indicate that ChatGPT exhibits a significant pro-environmental orientation, although differences exist between its orientations and individual predictions of its environmental stance. The study provides theoretical support for the application of next-generation AI in environmental education and advocacy, contributes new evidence to the discourse on human-machine value alignment, and offers insights into human-AI collaboration in environmental protection.</p
Hierarchical and distinct biological motion processing in macaque visual cortical areas MT and MST
No full textIt is widely accepted that biological motion (BM) perception involves the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS). Yet, how individual neurons and neural circuits in pSTS encode BM remains unclear. Here we combined electrophysiological recordings with neural network modeling to elucidate BM computations in two subregions of pSTS. We recorded single-cell activity from the middle temporal area (MT) and the medial superior temporal area (MST) of three macaque monkeys when they viewed point-light displays portraying BM walking in different directions (left vs. right), orientations (upright vs. inverted), and forms (intact vs. scrambled). We found that, while individual neurons in both MT and MST showed selectivity for these features, neural populations in MST but not MT exhibit BM-specific encoding, i.e., preferential representation of intact upright BM-the defining characteristic of BM recognition. A neural network model trained to replicate these neurophysiological findings implicated that, BM-specific encoding in MST may arise from feedforward connectivity patterns, i.e., MT subpopulations selective for linear translational motion and nonlinear optic flow projected preferentially to distinct MST cells. Taken together, our findings highlight hierarchical and distinct BM processing in MT and MST, advancing our understanding of BM computations in pSTS at the single-cell and neural circuit levels in the primate brain.</p
Remnant cholesterol and suicide attempts in untreated first-episode major depressive disorder
No full textObjective The objective of this research was to investigate the relationship between remnant cholesterol (RC) levels and suicide attempts (SA) made by Chinese patients with untreated first-episode major depressive disorder (UFE MDD).Methods This study included 1718 patients with UFE MDD. Demographic, clinical characteristics, and blood lipid parameters were collected. The 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), the 14-item Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA), and the positive subscale of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) were used to assess their depression, anxiety, and psychotic symptoms, respectively. Multivariable binary logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the association between RC and the risk of SA. A two-piecewise linear regression model was used to investigate the threshold effects if non-linear associations existed.Results Univariate logistic regression analysis showed a significant positive correlation between RC and SA, but after controlling for confounding factors, the association between them was not statistically significant. After dividing the RC into quartiles, only the RC in the Q4 group was significantly positively correlated with suicide attempts (OR = 1.73, 95% CI: 1.13-2.65, P = 0.012, vs. Q1) in a fully adjusted model. Curve fitting analysis also showed a nonlinear relationship between RC and suicide attempts with an inflection point at 1.99 mmol/L in RC. On the left of the inflection point, a significant positive correlation was observed between RC and SA (OR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.09-1.69, p=0.006). However, on the right of the inflection point, no significant correlation was found (OR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.55-1.14, p=0.214).Conclusion This study demonstrates a non-linear association between RC levels and SA in patients with untreated first-episode major depressive disorder. When RC was less than 1.99 mmol/L, they showed a significant positive correlation
Remnant cholesterol and suicide attempts in untreated first-episode major depressive disorder
No full textObjective The objective of this research was to investigate the relationship between remnant cholesterol (RC) levels and suicide attempts (SA) made by Chinese patients with untreated first-episode major depressive disorder (UFE MDD).Methods This study included 1718 patients with UFE MDD. Demographic, clinical characteristics, and blood lipid parameters were collected. The 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), the 14-item Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA), and the positive subscale of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) were used to assess their depression, anxiety, and psychotic symptoms, respectively. Multivariable binary logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the association between RC and the risk of SA. A two-piecewise linear regression model was used to investigate the threshold effects if non-linear associations existed.Results Univariate logistic regression analysis showed a significant positive correlation between RC and SA, but after controlling for confounding factors, the association between them was not statistically significant. After dividing the RC into quartiles, only the RC in the Q4 group was significantly positively correlated with suicide attempts (OR = 1.73, 95% CI: 1.13-2.65, P = 0.012, vs. Q1) in a fully adjusted model. Curve fitting analysis also showed a nonlinear relationship between RC and suicide attempts with an inflection point at 1.99 mmol/L in RC. On the left of the inflection point, a significant positive correlation was observed between RC and SA (OR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.09-1.69, p=0.006). However, on the right of the inflection point, no significant correlation was found (OR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.55-1.14, p=0.214).Conclusion This study demonstrates a non-linear association between RC levels and SA in patients with untreated first-episode major depressive disorder. When RC was less than 1.99 mmol/L, they showed a significant positive correlation.</p
The Relative Contributions of Conceptual and Perceptual Information to Visual Memory
No full textVisual memory contains conceptual and perceptual information, but existing evidence regarding their relative contributions is sparse and inconsistent. In the current study, we conducted a thorough experiment to see whether conceptual and perceptual information are encoded and retrieved the same to produce similar levels of false recognition and output interference (declining memory performance during testing). Participants studied images under different study times (20/500/2000 ms) and encoding tasks (conceptual/perceptual). Participants were tested with targets and foils with different levels of similarity to targets. We observed that foils with low conceptual similarity and high perceptual similarity (CLPH) and foils with high conceptual similarity and low perceptual similarity (CHPL) produced similar levels of false recognition and output interference when study time was 2000 ms and when the encoding task was perceptual-oriented. However, when study time was 20 ms or 500 ms and the encoding task focused on conceptual information, the CHPL foils produced a larger false alarm rate than the CLPH foils. The 20 ms and conceptual conditions also produced a larger decrease in false alarm rate (greater output interference) for the CHPL foils. The results indicate that, under a brief study time and a conceptual-oriented study procedure, conceptual information is encoded more strongly than perceptual information to play a more vital role in visual memory. We apply visual and verbal memory theories to account for our findings and show the potential to represent and describe memory processes across modalities using models of spreading activation and differentiation
Core Symptoms and Symptom Relationships of Problematic Internet Use in Children and Adolescents: A Network Analysis
No full textWith the advancement of Internet technology, problematic Internet use (PIU) has become one of the most common mental health issues among children and adolescents. This study employed network analysis to identify the central symptoms and network connections of PIU, as well as the differences in these complex patterns between children and adolescents. For this purpose, the study included 10,530 participants aged 8-18 years, with participants aged 8-12 classified as the child group and those aged 13-18 classified as the adolescent group. All participants completed the Internet Addiction Test (IAT). The results of the network analysis for the overall sample of children and adolescents indicated that "Anticipate going online again" and "Neglect chores for online time" were the core nodes in the network for both groups. Moreover, the network structure differed between children and adolescents. Compared to children, the adolescent network showed increased relationships between "Prefer internet excitement to close friends" and "Prefer online time over socializing," "Reluctant to log off ("just a little longer")," and "Fail to cut down online time." This study provided empirical support for more effective and timely interventions and treatments tailored to different age groups by identifying the core symptoms and complex relationships of PIU in the symptom networks of children and adolescents.</p
Beyond Aromas: Exploring the Development and Potential Applications of Electroencephalography in Olfactory Research - From General Scents to Food Flavor Science Frontiers
Get PDFOlfaction is crucial to our dietary choices and significantly influences our emotional and cognitive landscapes. Understanding the underlying neural mechanisms is pivotal, especially through the use of electroencephalography (EEG). This technology has strong temporal resolution, allowing it to capture the dynamics of neural responses to odors, bypassing the need for subjective interpretations. The application of EEG in food flavor research is still relatively new, but it has great potential. This review begins with an examination of general scent stimulation, charts the advances in using EEG to understand odor perception, and explores its future in food flavor science. By analyzing EEG's ability to detect distinct patterns and strengths in brain activity, we can elucidate the perceptual, affective, and cognitive frameworks associated with food odors. Event-related potentials and oscillatory activities, markers of central olfactory processing, provide insights into the neural architecture of olfaction. These markers are instrumental in assessing the influence of food odors on health, emotions, and decision-making processes. We argue that EEG's application in olfaction research holds considerable promise for the food industry to innovate products that are not only healthier but also more appealing, thereby promoting human well-being.</p
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