Search results for "EMOTION"

Decoding Emotional Valence from Electroencephalographic Rhythmic Activity

2017

We attempt to decode emotional valence from electroencephalographic rhythmic activity in a naturalistic setting. We employ a data-driven method developed in a previous study, Spectral Linear Discriminant Analysis, to discover the relationships between the classification task and independent neuronal sources, optimally utilizing multiple frequency bands. A detailed investigation of the classifier provides insight into the neuronal sources related with emotional valence, and the individual differences of the subjects in processing emotions. Our findings show: (1) sources whose locations are similar across subjects are consistently involved in emotional responses, with the involvement of parie…

Automatic brain response to facial emotion as a function of implicitly and explicitly measured extraversion.

2010

Extraversion/introversion is a basic dimension of personality that describes individual differences in social behavior and sensory sensitivity. Previous neuroimaging research exclusively relied on self reports for assessing personality traits. In recent years, implicit measures of personality have been developed that aim at assessing the implicit self-concept of personality and complement self report instruments which are thought to measure aspects of the explicit self-concept of personality. In the present study functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine automatic brain reactivity to facial expression as a function of both implicitly and explicitly measured extraversion in 3…

Virtual reality exposure for OCD: Is it feasible? [Exposición mediante realidad virtual para el TOC: ¿Es factible?]

2014

Virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) is receiving increased attention, especially in the fields of anxiety and eating disorders. This study is the first trial examining the utility of VRET from the perspective of OCD patients. Four OCD women assessed the sense of presence, emotional engagement, and reality judgment, and the anxiety and disgust levels they experimented in four scenarios, called the Contaminated Virtual Environment (COVE), in which they had to perform several activities. The COVE scenarios were presented on a Full HD 46” TV connected to a laptop and to a Kinect device. Results indicate that the COVE scenarios generated a good sense of presence. The anxiety and disgust leve…

2020

Background Digital gaming is one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the world. While prior literature concluded that digital games can enable changes in players’ behaviors, there is limited knowledge about different types of behavior changes and the game features driving them. Understanding behavior changes and the game features behind them is important because digital games can motivate players to change their behavior for the better (or worse). Objective This study investigates the types of behavior changes and their underlying game features within the context of the popular pervasive game Pokémon GO. Methods We collected data from 262 respondents with a critical incident tech…

Endocannabinoid signals in the control of emotion.

2008

The appropriate control of emotional responses evoked by environmental stimuli is an important innate mechanism for ensuring quality of life and even for survival. Inappropriate responses and decreased abilities to adjust to changed environmental situations can lead to psychiatric disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorders, phobia and depression. Endocannabinoid signalling has emerged as one of the regulatory systems of the brain supporting appropriate emotional responses. As various components of the endocannabinoid system have become therapeutic targets, understanding the endocannabinoids’ mechanism of action is an important research topic for a rationalized drug design and optimal…

Distance Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Resources, Obstacles, and Emotional Implications for Italian Students in Higher Education

2022

The study examined how 807 undergraduate Italian students coped with synchronous, asynchronous, and blended learning environments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Strengths and weaknesses of online learning were collected via an electronic platform (SurveyMonkey) and then categorized by grounded theory analysis using ATLAS.ti 8.0 software. The results showed technical, practical, relational, organizational, and transformative features of online learning emerged, differentiated in synchronous, asynchronous, and blended modes. Emotional aspects also affected the evaluation of distance learning because depression and fear were more frequent among the students who found distance learning to be an …

Emotional stress & decision-making: an emotional stressor significantly reduces loss aversion

2021

Stress influences loss aversion, the principle that losses loom larger than gains, although the nature of this relationship is unclear. Studies show that stress reduces loss aversion; however, stress response has been only studied by means of physiological measures, but the stressor emotional impact remained unclear. Since emotions can modify stress response and increase the activity of the loss aversion neural substrates, it could be expected that an emotional stressor may produce the opposite effect, i.e. loss aversion increase. 69 participants were divided into experimental and control group. The first one was exposed to emotional stress through a 5-minutes video, and control group viewe…

Explaining the enjoyment of negative emotions evoked by the arts : the need to consider empathy and other underlying mechanisms of emotion induction.

2017

AbstractAny model aiming to explain the enjoyment of negative emotions in the context of the arts should consider how works of art are able to induce emotional responses in the first place. For instance, research on empathy and the arts suggests that the psychological processes that mediate the enjoyment of sadness and horror may be fundamentally different.

Pleasurable music affects reinforcement learning according to the listener.

2013

Mounting evidence links the enjoyment of music to brain areas implicated in emotion and the dopaminergic reward system. In particular, dopamine release in the ventral striatum seems to play a major role in the rewarding aspect of music listening. Striatal dopamine also influences reinforcement learning, such that subjects with greater dopamine efficacy learn better to approach rewards while those with lesser dopamine efficacy learn better to avoid punishments. In this study, we explored the practical implications of musical pleasure through its ability to facilitate reinforcement learning via non-pharmacological dopamine elicitation. Subjects from a wide variety of musical backgrounds chose…

Subliminal fear priming potentiates negative facial reactions to food pictures in women with anorexia nervosa.

2010

BackgroundTo investigate hedonic reactivity and the influence of unconscious emotional processes on the low sensitivity to positive reinforcement of food in anorexia nervosa (AN).MethodAN and healthy women were exposed to palatable food pictures just after a subliminal exposure to facial expressions (happy, disgust, fear and neutral faces), either while fasting or after a standardized meal (hungerversussatiety). Both implicit [facial electromyographic (EMG) activity from zygomatic and corrugator muscles, skin conductance, heart rate, and videotaped facial behavior] and explicit (self-reported pleasure and desire) measures of affective processes were recorded.ResultsIn contrast to healthy wo…