1,721,063 research outputs found
ABITUAZIONE A STIMOLI SIGNIFICATIVI
Full text linkCogliamo con piacere l’opportunità di condividere alcune riflessioni
nell’ambito dei processi di abituazione, focalizzandoci sul contributo
informativo che la manipolazione della novità dello stimolo
può fornire nell’ambito dell’elaborazione di stimoli significativi. Gli
stimoli possono essere significativi in quanto: nuovi (o inattesi), target
in un compito attuale o precedente (selection history), stimoli condizionati,
o intrinsecamente emozionali. Le ricerche sperimentali hanno
infatti cercato di comprendere il significato funzionale delle risposte
a stimoli significativi fornendo quindi una linea di ricerca all’interno
del dibattito sull’automaticità dei processi emozionali (Codispoti et al,
2016; Moors, 2009)
Can the Outputs of LGN Y-Cells Support Emotion Recognition? A Computational Study
Full text linkIt has been suggested that emotional visual input is processed along both a slower cortical pathway and a faster subcortical pathway which comprises the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), the superior colliculus, the pulvinar, and finally the amygdala. However, anatomical as well as functional evidence concerning the subcortical route is lacking. Here, we adopt a computational approach in order to investigate whether the visual representation that is achieved in the LGN may support emotion recognition and emotional response along the subcortical route. In four experiments, we show that the outputs of LGN Y-cells support neither facial expression categorization nor the same/different expression matching by an artificial classificator. However, the same classificator is able to perform at an above chance level in a statistics-based categorization of scenes containing animals and scenes containing people and of light and dark patterns. It is concluded that the visual representation achieved in the LGN is insufficient to allow for the recognition of emotional facial expression
Alpha-band oscillations and emotion: A review of studies on picture perception
Full text linkAlthough alpha-band activity has long been a focus of psychophysiological research, its modulation by emotional value during picture perception has only recently been studied systematically. Here, we review these studies and report that the most consistent alpha oscillatory pattern indexing emotional processing is an enhanced desynchronization (ERD) over posterior sensors when viewing emotional compared with neutral pictures. This enhanced alpha ERD is not specific to unpleasant picture content, as previously proposed for other measures of affective response, but has also been observed for pleasant stimuli. Evidence suggests that this effect is not confined to the alpha band but that it also involves a desynchronization of the lower beta frequencies (8-20 Hz). The emotional modulation of alpha ERD occurs even after massive stimulus repetition and when emotional cues serve as task-irrelevant distractors, consistent with the hypothesis that evaluative processes are mandatory in emotional picture processing. A similar enhanced ERD has been observed for other significant cues (e.g., conditioned aversive stimuli, or in anticipation of a potential threat), suggesting that it reflects cortical excitability associated with the engagement of the motivational systems
The interplay between attention and long-term memory in affective habituation
Full text linkPrevious studies have consistently shown that repeated exposure to emotional stimuli leads to a reduction in cortical and autonomic responses (affective habituation). These findings emerge from studies conducted within a single experimental session, preventing the possibility of disentangling short-term from long-term habituation effects. The present study investigated whether affective habituation reflects a short-living learning process, or a more stable change involving long-term memory. Participants went through a first habituation phase consisting of 80 repetitions of the same set of emotional and neutral pictures, when event-related potentials and oscillatory activity were measured (Session 1). Crucially, after a 1-day interval, the same participants were exposed to a second habituation phase with the same stimuli that had been seen before. Results showed that the attenuation of the late positive potential (LPP) affective modulation prompted throughout repetitions of Session 1 remained unchanged after a 1-day interval, and this between-session habituation effect, which was specific to repeated exemplars, was consistent across different emotional contents. Alpha desynchronization was clearly enhanced for pictures of erotica and mutilation and this modulatory pattern remained fairly stable over repetitions. Altogether, these findings suggest that LPP affective habituation is not a short-living learning process, but, rather, reflects a strengthened long-term memory representation of specific repeated stimuli
Obesity paradox in coronary artery bypass grafting: Myth or reality?
Full text linkObjective: A high body mass index has been suggested to be protective in patients with coronary artery disease and in those undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). However, these conflicting results might be related to the different risk profiles among the various body mass index categories. We sought to clarify the effect of varying degrees of excessive body weight on hard clinical outcomes in patients undergoing CABG.Methods: A retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data was conducted to investigate the effect of a high body mass index on early and late mortality after first-time isolated CABG. Propensity score matching was used to adjust for confounding factors.Results: The study sample consisted of 3269 normal weight, 6662 overweight, 3821 obese, and 211 morbidly obese patients. After matching, early mortality was not affected by overweight (mean difference, 0.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.2% to 1.5%), obesity (mean difference, 0.5%; 95% CI, -0.7% to 1.7%), and morbid obesity (mean difference, 1.6%; 95% CI, -1.0% to 1.0%), regardless of the patients' risk profile according to the European system for cardiac operative risk evaluation. Overweight status was not protective for late death (hazard ratio, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.9-1.08; P = .4). Compared with normal weight patients, both obese and morbidly obese patients had a higher risk of late death (hazard ratio, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.07-2.66; P = .006 for obese patients; hazard ratio, 1.36; 95% CI, 0.74-2.49; P = .3 for morbidly obese patients).Conclusions: Obesity did not increase operative mortality, but it was associated with reduced late survival in patients undergoing primary isolated CABG. Our results raise concerns in supporting any protective effect of obesity in cardiovascular disease, specifically in patients undergoing surgical myocardial revascularization
The influence of color on emotional perception of natural scenes.
No full textIs color a critical factor when processing the emotional content of natural scenes? Under challenging perceptual conditions, such as when pictures are briefly presented, color might facilitate scene segmentation and/or function as a semantic cue via association with scene-relevant concepts (e.g., red and blood/injury). To clarify the influence of color on affective picture perception, we compared the late positive potentials (LPP) to color versus grayscale pictures, presented for very brief (24ms) and longer (6s) exposure durations. Results indicated that removing color information had no effect on the affective modulation of the LPP, regardless of exposure duration. These findings imply that the recognition of the emotional content of scenes, even when presented very briefly, does not critically rely on color information
Event-related potentials and visual avoidance in blood phobics: is there any attentional bias?
No full textThe possible presence of processing biases for threat-relevant information in blood–injection–injury phobia has been largely neglected in the literature. This issue was addressed by recording the late components (P300 and slow waves) of event-related potentials (ERPs) in the context of affective picture perception, as indicators of processing resources allocation. Blood phobics and healthy controls were shown threat-relevant, emotional threat-irrelevant, and neutral pictures. Free viewing time (VT) was measured as an index of voluntary visual avoidance, along with self-reports of pleasantness and arousal. No group differences as a function of picture content emerged for ERPs. Blood phobics spent less time viewing mutilations than did controls, but they did not show a clear-cut visual
avoidance. As expected, individuals with phobias ratedblood-related pictures as more unpleasant and arousing relative to controls. ERP results are in line with the limited behavioral data in the literature in demonstrating that blood phobics do not show an attentional bias toward threat-relevant stimuli
Novelty and learning in cognitive control: evidence from the Simon task
Full text linkWhile information that is associated with inappropriate responses can interfere with an ongoing task and be detrimental to performance, cognitive control mechanisms and specific contextual conditions can alleviate interference from unwanted information. In the spatial correspondence (Simon) task, interference has been consistently shown to be reduced by spatial non-correspondence in the previous trial (i.e., correspondence sequence effect, CSE); however the mechanisms supporting this sequential effect are not well understood. Here we investigated the role of novelty and trial-to-trial changes in stimulus and response features in a Simon task, observing similar modulation of CSE for novel and non-novel stimulus changes. However, changing the response modality from trial to trial dampened CSE, and this dampening was more pronounced when the probability of switch trials was higher, suggesting a role for long-term learning. The results are consistent with recent accounts, which indicate that spatial interference can be prevented by cognitive control mechanisms triggered by learned bindings
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