29 research outputs found
AUT701268_Lay_Abstract – Supplemental material for The effect of being imitated on empathy for pain in adults with high-functioning autism: Disturbed self–other distinction leads to altered empathic responding
No full text
Supplemental material, AUT701268_Lay_Abstract for The effect of being imitated on empathy for pain in adults with high-functioning autism: Disturbed self–other distinction leads to altered empathic responding by Lize De Coster, Jan R Wiersema, Eliane Deschrijver and Marcel Brass in Autism
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Supplementary_Figure1 – Supplemental material for Childhood Abuse and Adult Sociocognitive Skills: Distinguishing Between Self and Other Following Early Trauma
No full textSupplemental material, Supplementary_Figure1 for Childhood Abuse and Adult Sociocognitive Skills: Distinguishing Between Self and Other Following Early Trauma by Anna R. Hudson, Lize De Coster, Hanne Spoormans, Sylvia Verbeke, Kaat Van der Jeught, Marcel Brass and Sven C. Mueller in Journal of Interpersonal Violence</p
Perceived match between own and observed models' bodies: influence of face, viewpoints, and body size
No full textPublished 08 October 2020: De Coster, L., Sánchez-Herrero, P., Aliaga, C. et al. Author Correction: Perceived match between own and observed models’ bodies: influence of face, viewpoints, and body size. Sci Rep 10, 17120 (2020)People are generally unable to accurately determine their own body measurements and to translate this knowledge to identifying a model/avatar that best represents their own body. This inability has not only been related to health problems (e.g. anorexia nervosa), but has important practical implications as well (e.g. online retail). Here we aimed to investigate the influence of three basic visual features—face presence, amount of viewpoints, and observed model size—on the perceived match between own and observed models' bodies and on attitudes towards these models. Models were real-life models (Experiment 1) or avatar models based on participants' own bodies (Experiment 2). Results in both experiments showed a strong effect of model size, irrespective of participants' own body measurements. When models were randomly presented one by one, participants gave significantly higher ratings to smaller- compared to bigger-sized models. The reverse was true, however, when participants observed and compared models freely, suggesting that the mode of presentation affected participants' judgments. Limited evidence was found for an effect of facial presence or amount of viewpoints. These results add evidence to research on visual features affecting the ability to match observed bodies with own body image, which has biological, clinical, and practical implications.ATJ and LDC were supported by Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad of Spain Ramón y Cajal Grant RYC-2014-15421. LDC was also supported by Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación Grant IJC2018-038347-I
Use of a real-life practical context changes the relationship between implicit body representations and real body measurements
No full textAbstract A mismatch exists between people’s mental representations of their own body and their real body measurements, which may impact general well-being and health. We investigated whether this mismatch is reduced when contextualizing body size estimation in a real-life scenario. Using a reverse correlation paradigm, we constructed unbiased, data-driven visual depictions of participants’ implicit body representations. Across three conditions—own abstract, ideal, and own concrete body—participants selected the body that looked most like their own, like the body they would like to have, or like the body they would use for online shopping. In the own concrete condition only, we found a significant correlation between perceived and real hip width, suggesting that the perceived/real body match only exists when body size estimation takes place in a practical context, although the negative correlation indicated inaccurate estimation. Further, participants who underestimated their body size or who had more negative attitudes towards their body weight showed a positive correlation between perceived and real body size in the own abstract condition. Finally, our results indicated that different body areas were implicated in the different conditions. These findings suggest that implicit body representations depend on situational and individual differences, which has clinical and practical implications
Exploring eye-movement changes as digital biomarkers and endophenotypes in subclinical eating disorders: an eye tracking study
No full textObjective. Previous research has indicated that patients with Anorexia Nervosa (AN) exhibit specific eye movement changes, identified through eye tracking sensor technology. These changes have been proposed as potential digital biomarkers and endophenotypes for early diagnosis and preventive clinical interventions. This study aims to explore whether these eye movement changes are also present in individuals with subclinical eating disorder (ED) symptomatology compared to control participants.
Method. The study recruited participants using convenience sampling and employed the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire for initial screening. The sample was subsequently divided into two groups: individuals exhibiting subclinical ED symptomatology and control participants. Both groups performed various tasks, including a fixation task, prosaccade/antisaccade task, and memory-guided task. Alongside these tasks, anxiety and premorbid intelligence were measured as potential confounding variables. The data were analyzed through means comparison and exploratory Pearson’s correlations.
Results. No significant differences were found between the two groups in the three eye tracking tasks.
Discussion. The findings suggest that the observed changes in previous research might be more related to the clinical state of the illness rather than a putative trait. Implications for the applicability of eye movement changes as early biomarkers and endophenotypes for EDs in subclinical populations are discussed. Further research is needed to validate these findings and understand their implications for preventive diagnostics
Effects of being imitated on motor responses evoked by pain observation: exerting control determines action tendencies when perceiving pain in others.
No full textBrain-imaging research has shown that experiencing pain oneself and perceiving pain in others lead to a similar pattern of activation, suggesting that the latter is based on internal simulation of the observed pain. Further evidence for this idea stems from transcranial magnetic stimulation measuring corticospinal excitability (CSE). It has been demonstrated that our motor cortex is involved whenever we observe another person receiving painful stimulation to the hand (Avenanti et al., 2005). However, both decreases and increases of CSE have been described during pain observation, so the exact nature of these CSE changes has remained unclear so far. In the present study, we hypothesized that CSE changes are determined by the control that the observer has over the hand that receives painful stimulation. To test this hypothesis, we manipulated the control over the observed hand using a paradigm in which participants' movements are being imitated by a hand on screen-giving them full control over the hand-or not. Consistent with previous results, we evidenced a decrease in CSE when participants experienced no control over the hand that received painful stimulation. In contrast, inducing control resulted in an increase in CSE. We conclude that exerting control over the observed hand leads to a completely altered action tendency. Whereas an anesthetic response is typically observed in the absence of control, increasing control induces motor facilitation reminiscent of preparation of an avoidance response
Eye movements and eating disorders: protocol for an exploratory experimental study examining the relationship in young‑adult women with subclinical symptomatology
No full textBackground: Recent research indicates that patients with anorexia (AN) show specific eye movement abnormalities such as shorter prosaccade latencies, more saccade inhibition errors, and increased rate of saccadic intrusions compared to participants without AN. However, it remains unknown whether these abnormal eye movement patterns, which may serve as potential biomarkers and endophenotypes for an early diagnosis and preventive clinical treatments, start to manifest also in people with subclinical eating disorders (ED) symptomatology. Therefore, we propose a protocol for an exploratory experimental study to investigate whether participants with subclinical ED symptomatology and control participants differ in their performance on several eye movement tasks. Methods: The sample will be recruited through convenience sampling. The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire will be administered as a screening tool to split the sample into participants with subclinical ED symptomatology and control participants. A fixation task, prosaccade/antisaccade task, and memory-guided task will be administered to both groups. Additionally, we will measure anxiety and premorbid intelligence as confounding variables. Means comparison, exploratory Pearson's correlations and discriminant analysis will be performed. Discussion: This study will be the first to elucidate the presence of specific eye movement abnormalities in participants with subclinical ED symptomatology. The results may open opportunities for developing novel diagnostic tools/therapies being helpful to the EDs research community and allied fields.Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte FPU20/0008
The effect of being imitated on empathy for pain in adults with high-functioning autism: Disturbed self–other distinction leads to altered empathic responding
No full textAutism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is associated with problems in empathy. Recent research suggests that impaired control over self–other overlap based on motor representations in individuals with autism spectrum disorder might underlie these difficulties. In order to investigate the relationship of self–other distinction and empathy for pain in high-functioning autism and matched controls, we manipulated self–other distinction by using a paradigm in which participants are either imitated or not by a hand on a computer screen. A strong pain stimulus is then inflicted on the observed hand. Behavioral and physiological results in this study showed that overall affective responses while watching pain movies were the same in adults with high-functioning autism as in controls. Furthermore, controls showed higher affective responding after being imitated during the whole experiment, replicating previous studies. Adults with high-functioning autism, however, showed increased empathic responses over time after being imitated. Further exploratory analyses suggested that while affective responding was initially lower after being imitated compared to not being imitated, affective responding in the latter part of the experiment was higher after being imitated. These results shed new light on empathic abilities in high-functioning autism and on the role of control over self–other representational sharing.</jats:p
Motor simulation beyond the dyad: Automatic imitation of multiple actors.
No full textA large body of research has provided evidence for the idea that individuals simulate the actions of others in their motor system. However, this research has focused almost exclusively on dyadic situations, hence ignoring the fact that social situations often require that the actions of multiple persons are simulated simultaneously. In the current study, we addressed this issue by means of a widely used automatic imitation task. In Experiment 1, it is shown that individuals automatically imitate the actions of 2 agents at the same time. More specifically, the results indicate that 2 identical observed movements produce a stronger imitation effect, whereas 2 different observed movements produce 2 opposite imitation effects that cancel each other out. In Experiment 2, it is shown that the effects obtained in Experiment 1 cannot be explained in terms of attentional capture. Instead, the results point toward an explanation in terms of ideomotor theory. The finding that observers simultaneously represent the actions of multiple agents in their motor system allows for a better understanding of social interaction beyond the dyad
