Search results for: affective neuroscience

Authors: Hu-Jiang Shi, Li-Juan Zhu

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The implication of 5-hydroxytryptamine 2C receptor (5-HT2CR) in affective behaviors is a topic of debate, and the underlying mechanisms remain largely unclear. Here, we elucidate that the interaction between hippocampal neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) and carboxy-terminal PDZ ligand of nNOS (CAPON) contributes to the disruption of hippocampal excitation-inhibition (E/I) balance, which is responsible for the anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors caused by chronic stress-related 5-HT2CR signaling deficiency. In detail, activation or inhibition of 5-HT2CR by CP809101 or SB242084 modulates nNOS-CAPON interaction by influencing intracellular Ca²⁺ release. Notably, the dissociation of nNOS-CAPON abolishes SB242084-induced anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors, as well as the reduction in extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)/cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB)/synapsin signaling and SNARE complex assembly. Furthermore, nNOS-CAPON blockers restore the impairments caused by SB242084, including the reduction in SNARE assembly-mediated γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) vesicle release and a consequent shift of the E/I balance toward excitation in CA3 pyramidal neurons. Conclusively, our findings disclose the regulatory role of 5-HT2CR in anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors and highlight the hippocampal nNOS-CAPON coupling-triggered E/I imbalance as a pivotal cellular event underpinning the behavioral consequences of 5-HT2CR inhibition.

Keywords: 5-HT2CR, anxiety, depression, nNOS-CAPON coupling, excitation-inhibition balance, neurotransmitter release

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Authors: Cleiton Pons Ferreira, Diana Francisca Adamatti

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Advancements in computers technology have allowed to obtain information for research in biology and neuroscience. In order to transform the data from these surveys, networks have long been used to represent important biological processes, changing the use of this tools from purely illustrative and didactic to more analytic, even including interaction analysis and hypothesis formulation. Many studies have involved this application, but not directly for interpretation of data obtained from brain functions, asking for new perspectives of development in neuroinformatics using existent models of tools already disseminated by the bioinformatics. This study includes an analysis of neurological data through electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, using the Cytoscape, an open source software tool for visualizing complex networks in biological databases. The data were obtained from a comparative case study developed in a research from the University of Rio Grande (FURG), using the EEG signals from a Brain Computer Interface (BCI) with 32 eletrodes prepared in the brain of a blind and a sighted individuals during the execution of an activity that stimulated the spatial ability. This study intends to present results that lead to better ways for use and adapt techniques that support the data treatment of brain signals for elevate the understanding and learning in neuroscience.

Keywords: neuroinformatics, bioinformatics, network tools, brain mapping

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Authors: Aneta Daniel

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The subject of the study is the exploration of the origins and dynamics of the development of language studies, which have been labelled as neurolinguistics. It is worth mentioning that the origins of neurolinguistics are to be found in the research conducted by German scientists before the Second World War in Breslau Universität (presently Wroclaw). The dominant figure in these studies was professor Carl Wernicke, whose students continued and creatively developed projects of their master within this area. Professor Carl Wernicke, a German physician, anatomist, psychiatrist, and neuropathologist, is primarily known for his influential research on aphasia. His research, as well as those conducted by professor Paul Broca, has led to breakthroughs in the location of brain functions, particularly speech. Years later the theses of the pioneers of cognitive neurology (Carl Wernicke and Paul Broca) were developed by other neurolinguists. The main objective of the investigation is the reconstruction of the group of scientists –the students of Carl Wernicke– who contributed to the development of neurolinguistics. The scholars were mainly neurologists and psychiatrists and dealt with the branch of science that had not been named neurolinguistics at that time. The profiles of the scholars will be analysed and presented as the members of the group of researchers who have contributed to the breakthroughs in psychology and neuroscience. The research material consists of archival records documenting the research of professor Carl Wernicke and the researchers from Breslau (presently Wroclaw) which is one of the fastest growing cities in Europe. In 1870, when Carl Wernicke became the medical doctor, Breslau was full of cultural events: festivals and circus shows were held in the city center. Today we can come back to these events due to 'Breslauer Zeitung (1870)', which precisely describes all the events that took place on particular days. It is worth noting that those were the beginnings of antisemitism in Breslau. Many theses and articles that have survived in the libraries in Wroclaw and all over the world contribute to the development of neuroscience. The history of research on the brain and speech analysis, including the history of psychology and neuroscience, areas from which neurolinguistics is derived, will be presented.

Keywords: Aphasia, brain injury, Carl Wernicke, language, neurolinguistics

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Authors: Lilah Inzelberg, David Rand, Stanislav Steinberg, Moshe David Pur, Yael Hanein

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Human facial expressions carry important psychological and neurological information. Facial expressions involve the co-activation of diverse muscles. They depend strongly on personal affective interpretation and on social context and vary between spontaneous and voluntary activations. Smiling, as a special case, is among the most complex facial emotional expressions, involving no fewer than 7 different unilateral muscles. Despite their ubiquitous nature, smiles remain an elusive and debated topic. Smiles are associated with happiness and greeting on one hand and anger or disgust-masking on the other. Accordingly, while high-resolution recording of muscle activation patterns, in a non-interfering setting, offers exciting opportunities, it remains an unmet challenge, as contemporary surface facial electromyography (EMG) methodologies are cumbersome, restricted to the laboratory settings, and are limited in time and resolution. Here we present a wearable and non-invasive method for objective mapping of facial muscle activation and demonstrate its application in a natural setting. The technology is based on a recently developed dry and soft electrode array, specially designed for surface facial EMG technique. Eighteen healthy volunteers (31.58 ± 3.41 years, 13 females), participated in the study. Surface EMG arrays were adhered to participant left and right cheeks. Participants were instructed to imitate three facial expressions: closing the eyes, wrinkling the nose and smiling voluntary and to watch a funny video while their EMG signal is recorded. We focused on muscles associated with 'enjoyment', 'social' and 'masked' smiles; three categories with distinct social meanings. We developed a customized independent component analysis algorithm to construct the desired facial musculature mapping. First, identification of the Orbicularis oculi and the Levator labii superioris muscles was demonstrated from voluntary expressions. Second, recordings of voluntary and spontaneous smiles were used to locate the Zygomaticus major muscle activated in Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles. Finally, recording with a wireless device in an unmodified natural work setting revealed expressions of neutral, positive and negative emotions in face-to-face interaction. The algorithm outlined here identifies the activation sources in a subject-specific manner, insensitive to electrode placement and anatomical diversity. Our high-resolution and cross-talk free mapping performances, along with excellent user convenience, open new opportunities for affective processing and objective evaluation of facial expressivity, objective psychological and neurological assessment as well as gaming, virtual reality, bio-feedback and brain-machine interface applications.

Keywords: affective expressions, affective processing, facial EMG, high-resolution electromyography, independent component analysis, wireless electrodes

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Authors: Christopher Pullen

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This paper explores the significance of British cinema in the late 1950s and early 1960s as offering a renaissance of realist discourse, in the representation of everyday social issues. Offering a rejection of Hollywood cinema and the superficially of the middle classes, these ‘kitchen sink dramas’ often set within modest and sometimes squalid domestic and social environments, focused on the political struggle of the disenfranchised examining poverty, the oppressed and the outsider. While films like Look Back in Anger and Room at the Top looked primarily at male heterosexual subjectivity, films like A Taste of Honey and Victim focused on female and queer male narratives. Framing the urban landscape as a discursive architectural arena, representing basic living conditions and threatening social worlds, these iconic films established new storytelling processes for the outsider. This paper examines this historical context foregrounding the contemporary films Beautiful Thing (Hettie Macdonald, 1996), Weekend (Andrew Haigh, 2011) and Pride (Marcus Warchus, 2014), while employing the process of textual analysis in relation to theories of affect, defined by writers such as Lisa U. Marks and Sara Ahmed. Considering both romance narratives and public demonstrations of unity, where the queer ‘affective’ body is placed within architectural and social space, Beautiful Thing tells the story of gay male teenagers falling in love despite oppression from family and school, Weekend examines a one-night stand between young gay men and the unlikeliness of commitment, but the drive for sensitivity, and Pride foregrounds an historical relationship between queer youth activists and the miner’s union, who were on strike between 1984-5. These films frame the queer ‘affective’ body within politicized public space, evident in lower class men’s working clubs, tenement housing and brutal modernist tower blocks, focusing on architectural features such as windows, doorways and staircases, relating temporality, desire and change. Through such an examination a hidden history of gay male performativity is revealed, framing the potential of contemporary cinema to focus on the context of the outsider in encouraging social change.

Keywords: queer, affect, cinema, architecture, life chances

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Authors: Ridha Abdulla Al Hammam

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Purpose: to measure the extent of perceived structural empowerment and work commitment the intensive care unit in SMC have in their work place. Background: nurses’ access to power structures (information, recourses, opportunity, and support) directly influences their productivity, retention, and job satisfaction. Exploring nurses’ level and sources of work commitment (affective, normative, and continuance) is very essential to guide nursing leaders making decisions to improve work environment to facilitate effective nursing care. Both concepts (Structural Empowerment and Work Commitment) were never investigated in our critical care unit. Methods: a sample of 50 nurses attained from the Intensive Care Unit (Adult). Conditions for Workplace Effectiveness Questionnaire and Three-Component Model Employee Commitment Survey were used to measure the two concepts respectively. The study is quantitative, descriptive, and correlational in design. Results: the participants reported moderate structural empowerment provided by their work place (M=15 out of 20). The sample perceived high access to opportunity mainly through gaining more skills (M=4.45 out of 5) where the rest power structures were perceived with moderate accessibility. The participants’ affective commitment (M=5.6 out of 7) to work in the ICU overweighed their normative and continuance commitment (M=5.1, M=4.9 out of 7) implying a stronger emotional connection with their unit. Strong positive and significant correlations were observed between the participants’ structural empowerment scores and all work commitment sources. Conclusion: these results provided an insight on aspects of work environment that need to be fostered and improved in our intensive care unit which have a direct linkage to nurses’ work commitment and potentially to their quality of care they provide.

Keywords: structural empowerment, commitment, intensive care, nurses

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Authors: Yuhui Liu, Lydia Speyer, Jasmin Wertz, Ingrid Obsuth

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Childhood adversities refer to situations where a child's basic needs for safety and support are compromised, leading to substantial disruptions in their emotional, cognitive, social, or neurobiological development. Given the prevalence of adversities (8%-39%), their impact on developmental outcomes is challenging to completely avoid. Delinquency is an important consequence of childhood adversities, given its potential causing violence and other forms of victimisation, influencing victims, delinquents, their families, and the whole of society. Studying mediators helps explain the link between childhood adversity and delinquency, which aids in designing effective intervention programs that target explanatory variables to disrupt the path and mitigate the effects of childhood adversities on delinquency. The Dimensional Model of Adversity and Psychopathology suggests that threat-based adversities influence outcomes through emotion processing, while deprivation-based adversities do so through cognitive mechanisms. Thus, considering a wide range of threat-based and deprivation-based adversities and their co-occurrence and their associations with delinquency through cognitive and emotional mechanisms is essential. This study employs the Millennium Cohort Study, tracking the development of approximately 19,000 individuals born across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, representing a nationally representative sample. Parallel mediation models compare the mediating roles of self-esteem (cognitive) and depression (affective) in the associations between childhood adversities and delinquency. Eleven types of childhood adversities were assessed both individually and through latent class analysis, considering adversity experiences from birth to early adolescence. This approach aimed to capture how threat-based, deprived-based, or combined threat and deprived-based adversities are associated with delinquency. Eight latent classes were identified: three classes (low adversity, especially direct and indirect violence; low childhood and moderate adolescent adversities; and persistent poverty with declining bullying victimisation) were negatively associated with delinquency. In contrast, three classes (high parental alcohol misuse, overall high adversities, especially regarding household instability, and high adversity) were positively associated with delinquency. When mediators were included, all classes showed a significant association with delinquency through depression, but not through self-esteem. Among the eleven single adversities, seven were positively associated with delinquency, with five linked through depression and none through self-esteem. The results imply the importance of affective variables, not just for threat-based but also deprivation-based adversities. Academically, this suggests exploring other mechanisms linking adversities and delinquency since some adversities are linked through neither depression nor self-esteem. Clinically, intervention programs should focus on affective variables like depression to mitigate the effects of childhood adversities on delinquency.

Keywords: childhood adversity, delinquency, depression, self-esteem

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Authors: Omer Leshem, Michael F. Schober

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This paper introduces a new method for assessing how audience members and performers feel and think during live concerts, and how audience members' recognized and felt emotions are related. Two hypotheses were tested in a live concert setting: (1) that audience members’ cognitive perspective taking ability predicts their accuracy in identifying an emotion that a jazz improviser intended to express during a performance, and (2) that audience members' affective empathy predicts their likelihood of feeling the same emotions as the performer. The aim was to stage a concert with audience members who regularly attend live jazz performances, and to measure their cognitive and affective reactions during the performance as non-intrusively as possible. Pianist and Grammy nominee Andy Milne agreed, without knowing details of the method or hypotheses, to perform a full-length solo improvised concert that would include an ‘unusual’ piece. Jazz fans were recruited through typical advertising for New York City jazz performances. The event was held at the New School’s Glass Box Theater, the home of leading NYC jazz venue ‘The Stone.’ Audience members were charged typical NYC jazz club admission prices; advertisements informed them that anyone who chose to participate in the study would be reimbursed their ticket price after the concert. The concert, held in April 2018, had 30 attendees, 23 of whom participated in the study. Twenty-two minutes into the concert, the performer was handed a paper note with the instruction: ‘Perform a 3-5-minute improvised piece with the intention of conveying sadness.’ (Sadness was chosen based on previous music cognition lab studies, where solo listeners were less likely to select sadness as the musically-expressed emotion accurately from a list of basic emotions, and more likely to misinterpret sadness as tenderness). Then, audience members and the performer were invited to respond to a questionnaire from a first envelope under their seat. Participants used their own words to describe the emotion the performer had intended to express, and then to select the intended emotion from a list. They also reported the emotions they had felt while listening using Izard’s differential emotions scale. The concert then continued as usual. At the end, participants answered demographic questions and Davis’ interpersonal reactivity index (IRI), a 28-item scale designed to assess both cognitive and affective empathy. Hypothesis 1 was supported: audience members with greater cognitive empathy were more likely to accurately identify sadness as the expressed emotion. Moreover, audience members who accurately selected ‘sadness’ reported feeling marginally sadder than people who did not select sadness. Hypotheses 2 was not supported; audience members with greater affective empathy were not more likely to feel the same emotions as the performer. If anything, members with lower cognitive perspective-taking ability had marginally greater emotional overlap with the performer, which makes sense given that these participants were less likely to identify the music as sad, which corresponded with the performer’s actual feelings. Results replicate findings from solo lab studies in a concert setting and demonstrate the viability of exploring empathy and collective cognition in improvised live performance.

Keywords: audience, cognition, collective cognition, emotion, empathy, expressed emotion, felt emotion, improvisation, live performance, recognized emotion

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Authors: Maria Isabel Garcia-Planas, Maria Victoria Garcia-Camba

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Recent advances in cognitive neuroscience have allowed a step forward in perceiving the processes involved in learning from the point of view of the acquisition of new information or the modification of existing mental content. The evoked potentials technique reveals how basic brain processes interact to achieve adequate and flexible behaviours. The objective of this work, using evoked potentials, is to study if it is possible to distinguish if a patient suffers a specific type of learning disorder to decide the possible therapies to follow. The methodology used, is the analysis of the dynamics of different areas of the brain during a cognitive activity to find the relationships between the different areas analyzed in order to better understand the functioning of neural networks. Also, the latest advances in neuroscience have revealed the existence of different brain activity in the learning process that can be highlighted through the use of non-invasive, innocuous, low-cost and easy-access techniques such as, among others, the evoked potentials that can help to detect early possible neuro-developmental difficulties for their subsequent assessment and cure. From the study of the amplitudes and latencies of the evoked potentials, it is possible to detect brain alterations in the learning process specifically in dyscalculia, to achieve specific corrective measures for the application of personalized psycho pedagogical plans that allow obtaining an optimal integral development of the affected people.

Keywords: dyscalculia, neurodevelopment, evoked potentials, Learning disabilities, neural networks

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Authors: Javier Comes Fayos, Isabel RodríGuez Moreno, Sara Bressanutti, Marisol Lila, Angel Romero MartíNez, Luis Moya Albiol

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Given the great impact produced by gender-based violence, its comprehensive approach seems essential. Consequently, research has focused on risk factors for violent behaviour, linking various psychosocial variables, as well as cognitive and neuropsychological deficits with the aggressors. However, studies on affective processing are scarce, so the present study investigates possible emotional alterations in men convicted of gender violence. The participants were 51 aggressors, who attended the CONTEXTO program with sentences of less than two years, and 47 men with no history of violence. The sample did not differ in age, socioeconomic level, education, or alcohol and other substances consumption. Anger, alexithymia and facial recognition of other people´s emotions were assessed through the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI-2), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and Reading the mind in the eyes (REM), respectively. Men convicted of gender-based violence showed higher scores on the anger trait and temperament dimensions, as well as on the anger expression index. They also scored higher on alexithymia and in the identification and emotional expression subscales. In addition, they showed greater difficulties in the facial recognition of emotions by having a lower score in the REM. These results seem to show difficulties in different affective areas in men condemned for gender violence. The deficits are reflected in greater difficulty in identifying and expressing emotions, in processing anger and in recognizing the emotions of others. All these difficulties have been related to the use of violent behavior. Consequently, it is essential and necessary to include emotional regulation in intervention programs for men who have been convicted of gender-based violence.

Keywords: alexithymia, anger, emotional processing, emotional recognition, empathy, intimate partner violence

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Authors: Faraj Alhamami

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The effects of classroom input through structured input activities have been addressing two main lines of inquiry: (1) measuring the effects of structured input activities as a possible causative factor of PI and (2) comparing structured input practice versus other types of instruction or no-training controls. This line of research, the main purpose of this classroom-based research, was to establish which type of activities is the most effective in processing instruction, whether it is the explicit information component and referential activities only or the explicit information component and affective activities only or a combination of the two. The instruments were: a) grammatical judgment task, b) Picture-cued task, and c) a translation task as pre-tests, post-tests and delayed post-tests seven weeks after the intervention. While testing is ongoing, preliminary results shows that the examination of participants' pre-test performance showed that all five groups - the processing instruction including both activities (RA), Traditional group (TI), Referential group (R), Affective group (A), and Control group - performed at a comparable chance or baseline level across the three outcome measures. However, at the post-test stage, the RA, TI, R, and A groups demonstrated significant improvement compared to the Control group in all tasks. Furthermore, significant difference was observed among PI groups (RA, R, and A) at post-test and delayed post-test on some of the tasks when compared to traditional group. Therefore, the findings suggest that the use of the sole application and/or the combination of the structured input activities has succeeded in helping Saudi learners of English make initial form-meaning connections and acquire RRCs in the short and the long term.

Keywords: input processing, processing instruction, MOGUL, structure input activities

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Authors: Kanu Priya Mohan

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Innovation in education is one of the essential pathways to achieve both educational, and development goals in today’s dynamically changing world. Over the last decade, coaching and mentoring have been applied in the field of education as positive intervention techniques for fostering teaching and learning reforms in the developed countries. The context of this research was Thailand’s educational reform process, wherein a project on coaching and mentoring (C&M) was launched in 2014. The C&M project endeavored to support the professional development of the school teachers in the various provinces of Thailand, and to also enable them to apply C&M for teaching innovative instructional techniques. This research aimed to empirically investigate the learning outcomes for the master trainers, who trained for coaching and mentoring as the first step in the process to train the school teachers. A mixed method study was used for evaluating the learning outcomes of training in terms of cognitive- behavioral-affective dimensions. In the first part of the research a quantitative research design was incorporated to evaluate the effects of learner characteristics and instructional techniques, on the learning outcomes. In the second phase, a qualitative method of in-depth interviews was used to find details about the training outcomes, as well as the perceived barriers and enablers of the training process. Sample size constraints were there, yet these exploratory results, integrated from both methods indicated the significance of evaluating training outcomes from the three dimensions, and the perceived role of other factors in the training. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the training of C&M, and also their impact in fostering positive education through innovative educational techniques in the developing countries.

Keywords: cognitive-behavioral-affective learning outcomes, mixed method research, teachers in Thailand, training evaluation

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Authors: Jean-Eric Pelet, Erhard Lick, Basma Taieb

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Purpose This research bridges the gap between sensory marketing and the use of the Internet of Things (IoT) in luxury hotels. We investigated how stimulating guests’ senses through IoT devices influenced their emotions, affective experiences, eudaimonism (well-being), and, ultimately, guest behavior. We examined potential moderating effects of gender. Design/methodology/approach We adopted a mixed method approach, combining qualitative research (semi-structured interviews) to explore hotel managers’ perspectives on the potential use of IoT in luxury hotels and quantitative research (surveying hotel guests; n=357). Findings The results showed that while the senses of smell, hearing, and sight had an impact on guests’ emotions, the senses of touch, hearing, and sight impacted guests’ affective experiences. The senses of smell and taste influenced guests’ eudaimonism. The sense of smell had a greater effect on eudaimonism and behavioral intentions among women compared to men. Originality IoT can be applied in creating customized multi-sensory hotel experiences. For example, hotels may offer unique and diverse ambiences in their rooms and suites to improve guest experiences. Research limitations/implications This study concentrated on luxury hotels located in Europe. Further research may explore the generalizability of the findings (e.g., in other cultures, comparison between high-end and low-end hotels). Practical implications Context awareness and hyper-personalization, through intensive and continuous data collection (hyper-connectivity) and real time processing, are key trends in the service industry. Therefore, big data plays a crucial role in the collection of information since it allows hoteliers to retrieve, analyze, and visualize data to provide personalized services in real time. Together with their guests, hotels may co-create customized sensory experiences. For instance, if the hotel knows about the guest’s music preferences based on social media as well as their age and gender, etc. and considers the temperature and size (standard, suite, etc.) of the guest room, this may determine the playlist of the concierge-tablet made available in the guest room. Furthermore, one may record the guest’s voice to use it for voice command purposes once the guest arrives at the hotel. Based on our finding that the sense of smell has a greater impact on eudaimonism and behavioral intentions among women than men, hotels may deploy subtler scents with lower intensities, or even different scents, for female guests in comparison to male guests.

Keywords: affective experience, emotional value, eudaimonism, hospitality industry, Internet of Things, sensory marketing

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Authors: Yasaman Mohammadi

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Executive functions are a critical component of goal-directed behavior, encompassing a diverse set of cognitive processes such as working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control. These functions are known to decline with age, but the precise mechanisms underlying this decline remain unclear. This paper provides an in-depth review of recent research investigating age-related changes in executive functions, drawing on insights from neuroimaging, genetics, and cognitive neuroscience. Through an interdisciplinary approach, this paper offers a nuanced understanding of the complex interplay between neural mechanisms, genetic factors, and cognitive processes that contribute to executive function decline in aging. Here, we investigate how different neuroimaging methods, like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), have helped scientists better understand the brain bases for age-related declines in executive function. Additionally, we discuss the role of genetic factors in mediating individual differences in executive functions across the lifespan, as well as the potential for cognitive interventions to mitigate age-related decline. Overall, this paper presents a comprehensive and integrative view of the current state of knowledge regarding age-related changes in executive functions. It underscores the need for continued interdisciplinary research to fully understand the complex and dynamic nature of executive function decline in aging, with the ultimate goal of developing effective interventions to promote healthy cognitive aging.

Keywords: executive functions, aging, neuroimaging, cognitive neuroscience, working memory, cognitive training

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Authors: Zhi-Wei Zheng, Zhong-Qi Liu, Jia-Ling Qiu, Shan-Qing Guo, Zhong-Wei Jia, Chun Hao

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Objectives: The purpose of this study was to understand and examine the association between diurnal mood variation and sexual/health-related status among men who have sex with men (MSM) using data from MSM Chinese Twitter messages. The study consists of 843,745 postings of 377,610 MSM users located in Guangdong that were culled from the MSM Chinese Twitter App. Positive affect, negative affect, sexual related behaviors, and health-related status were measured using the Simplified Chinese Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count. Emotions, including joy, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust were measured using the Weibo Basic Mood Lexicon. A positive sentiment score and a positive emotions score were also calculated. Linear regression models based on a permutation test were used to assess associations between affective states and sexual/health-related status. In the results, 5,871 active MSM users and their 477,374 postings were finally selected. MSM expressed positive affect and joy at 8 a.m. and expressed negative affect and negative emotions between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. In addition, 25.1% of negative postings were directly related to health and 13.4% reported seeking social support during that sensitive period. MSM who were senior, educated, overweight or obese, self-identified as performing a versatile sex role, and with less followers, more followers, and less chat groups mainly expressed more negative affect and negative emotions. MSM who talked more about sexual-related behaviors had a higher positive sentiment score (β=0.29, p < 0.001) and a higher positive emotions score (β = 0.16, p < 0.001). MSM who reported more on their health status had a lower positive sentiment score (β = -0.83, p < 0.001) and a lower positive emotions score (β = -0.37, p < 0.001). The study concluded that psychological intervention based on an app for MSM should be conducted, as it may improve mental health.

Keywords: affect, men who have sex with men, sexual related behavior, health-related status, social media

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Authors: Claudius Peter Van Wyk

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Given the increasingly manifest phenomena, as described in complexity theory, of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA), Taleb's notion of 'antifragility, has a significant contribution to make to positive psychology applied to wellbeing. Antifragility is argued to be fundamentally different from the concepts of resiliency; as the ability to recover from failure, and robustness; as the ability to resist failure. Rather it describes the capacity to reorganise in the face of stress in such a way as to cope more effectively with systemic challenges. The concept, which has been applied in disciplines ranging from physics, molecular biology, planning, engineering, and computer science, can now be considered for its application in individual human and social wellbeing. There are strong correlations to Antonovsky's model of 'salutogenesis' in which an attitude and competencies are developed of transforming burdening factors into greater resourcefulness. We demonstrate, from the perspective of neuroscience, how technology measuring nervous system coherence can be coupled to acquired psychodynamic approaches to not only identify contextual stressors, utilise biofeedback instruments for facilitating greater coherence, but apply these insights to specific life stressors that compromise well-being. Employing an on-going case study with BMW South Africa, the neurological mapping is demonstrated together with 'reframing' and emotional anchoring techniques from neurolinguistic programming. The argument is contextualised in the discipline of psychoneuroimmunology which describes the stress pathways from the CNS and endocrine systems and their impact on immune function and the capacity to restore homeostasis.

Keywords: antifragility, complexity, neuroscience, psychoneuroimmunology, salutogenesis, volatility

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Authors: Yasir Ali Soomro

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Companies that demonstrate corporate social responsibilities (CSR) are more likely to withstand any downturn or crises because of the trust built with stakeholders. Many firms are utilizing CSR marketing to improve the interactions with their various stakeholders, mainly the consumers. Most previous research on CSR has focused on the impact of CSR on customer responses and behaviors toward a company. As online food ordering and grocery shopping remains inevitable. This study will investigate structural relationships among consumer positive emotions (CPE) and negative emotions (CNE), Corporate Reputation (CR), Customer Trust (CT), Brand Image (BI), and Brand attitude (BA) on behavioral outcomes such as Online purchase intention (OPI) and Word of mouth (WOM) in retail grocery and food restaurants setting. Hierarchy of Effects Model will be used as theoretical, conceptual framework. The model describes three stages of consumer behavior: (i) cognitive, (ii) affective, and (iii) conative. The study will apply a quantitative method to test the hypotheses; a self-developed questionnaire with non-probability sampling will be utilized to collect data from 500 consumers belonging to generation X, Y, and Z residing in KSA. The study will contribute by providing empirical evidence to support the link between CSR and customer affective and conative experiences in Saudi Arabia. The theoretical contribution of this study will be empirically tested comprehensive model where CPE, CNE, CR, CT, BI, and BA act as mediating variables between the perceived CSR & Online purchase intention (OPI) and Word of mouth (WOM). Further, the study will add more to how the emotional/ psychological process mediates in the CSR literature, especially in the Middle Eastern context. The proposed study will also explain the effect of perceived CSR marketing initiatives directly and indirectly on customer behavioral responses.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, corporate reputation, consumer emotions, loyalty, online purchase intention, word-of-mouth, structural equation modeling

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Authors: Chrysovalanto Sofia Karatosidi, Dimitra Iordanoglou

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The overlap of leadership skills with personality traits, beliefs, values, and the integration of cognitive abilities, analytical and critical thinking skills into leadership competencies raises the need to segregate further and investigate them. Hence, the domains of cognitive functions that contribute to leadership effectiveness should also be identified. Organizational cognitive neuroscience and neuroleadership can shed light on the study of these critical leadership skills. As the first part of our research, this pilot study aims to explore the relationships between higher-order cognitive functions (executive functions), trait emotional intelligence (EI), personality, and general cognitive ability in leadership. Twenty-six graduate and postgraduate students were assessed on neuropsychological tests that measure important aspects of executive functions (EF) and completed self-reported questionnaires about trait EI, personality, leadership styles, and leadership effectiveness. Specifically, we examined four core EF—fluency (phonemic and semantic), information updating and monitoring, working memory, and inhibition of prepotent responses. Leadership effectiveness was positively associated with phonemic fluency (PF), which involves mental flexibility, in turn, an increasingly important ability for future leaders in this rapidly changing world. Transformational leadership was positively associated with trait EI, extraversion, and openness to experience, a result that is following previous findings. The relationship between specific EF constructs and leadership effectiveness emphasizes the role of higher-order cognitive functions in the field of leadership as an individual difference. EF brings a new perspective into leadership literature by providing a direct, non-invasive, scientifically-valid connection between brain function and leadership behavior.

Keywords: cognitive neuroscience, emotional intelligence, executive functions, leadership

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Authors: Yu-Chen Wei

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This study integrated the need fulfillment theory and affective event theory to investigate the effects of the interaction of job involvement and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) on well-being. Data from 196 paired samples of employees and their supervisors in one supplementary school in Taiwan were analyzed. This study found that while neither job involvement nor OCB directly affects well-being, the interaction of job involvement and OCB can predict well-being. The findings of this study suggest that management can assist employees in improving their well-being by balancing job involvement and OCB.

Keywords: job involvement, organizational citizenship behavior, well-being, need fulfillment

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Authors: Harry G. Segal

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The idea of the “self” has been essential ever since the early modern period in western culture, especially since the development of psychotherapy, but advances in neuroscience and cognitive theory challenge traditional notions of the self. More specifically, neuroanatomists have found no location of “the self” in the brain; instead, consciousness has been posited to be a rapid combination of perception, memory, anticipation of future events, and judgment. In this paper, a theoretical model is presented to address these neuroanatomical findings and to revise the historical understanding of “selfhood” in the practice of psychotherapy.

Keywords: the self, psychotherapy, the self and the brain

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Authors: Afshan Channa, Sameeha Aleem, Harim Mohsin

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First rank symptoms (FRS) are considered to be pathognomic for Schizophrenia. However, FRS is not a distinctive feature of Schizophrenia. It has also been noticed in affective disorder, albeit not inclusive in diagnostic criteria. The presence of FRS in Mania leads to misdiagnosis of psychotic illness, further complicating the management and delay of appropriate treatment. FRS in Mania is associated with poor clinical and functional outcome. Its existence in the first episode of bipolar disorder may be a predictor of poor short-term outcome and decompensating course of illness. FRS in Mania is studied in west. However, the cultural divergence and detriments make it pertinent to study the frequency of FRS in affective disorder independently in Pakistan. Objective: The frequency of first rank symptoms in manic patients, who were under treatment at psychiatric services of tertiary care hospital. Method: The cross sectional study was done at psychiatric services of Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. One hundred and twenty manic patients were recruited from November 2014 to May 2015. The patients who were unable to comprehend Urdu or had comorbid psychiatric or organic disorder were excluded. FRS was assessed by administration of validated Urdu version of Present State Examination (PSE) tool. Result: The mean age of the patients was 37.62 + 12.51. The mean number of previous manic episode was 2.17 + 2.23. 11.2% males and 30.6% females had FRS. This association of first rank symptoms with gender in patients of mania was found to be significant with a p-value of 0.008. All-inclusive, 19.2% exhibited FRS in their course of illness. 43.5% had thought broadcasting, made feeling, impulses, action and somatic passivity. 39.1% had thought insertion, 30.4% had auditory perceptual distortion, and 17.4% had thought withdrawal. However, none displayed delusional perception. Conclusion: The study confirms the presence of FRS in mania in both male and female, irrespective of the duration of current manic illness or previous number of manic episodes. A substantial difference was established between both the genders. Being married had no protective effect on the presence of FRS.

Keywords: first rank symptoms, Mania, psychosis, present state examination

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Authors: Yulia V. Krasavtseva, Tatiana V. Kornilova

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Risk-taking behaviors are not only dictated by cognitive components but also involve emotional aspects. Anticipatory emotions, involving both cognitive and affective mechanisms, are involved in decision-making in general, and risk-taking in particular. Affective reactions are prompted when an expectation or prediction is either validated or invalidated in the achieved result. This study aimed to combine predictions, anticipatory emotions, affective reactions, and personality traits in the context of risk-taking behaviors. An experimental online method Emotion and Prediction In a Casino (EPIC) was used, based on a casino-like roulette game. In a series of choices, the participant is presented with progressively riskier roulette combinations, where the potential sums of wins and losses increase with each choice and the participant is given a choice: to 'walk away' with the current sum of money or to 'play' the displayed roulette, thus accepting the implicit risk. Before and after the result is displayed, participants also rate their emotions, using the Self-Assessment Mannequin [Bradley, Lang, 1994], picking a picture, representing the intensity of pleasure, arousal, and dominance. The following personality measures were used: 1) Personal Decision-Making Factors [Kornilova, 2003] assessing risk and rationality; 2) I7 – Impulsivity Questionnaire [Kornilova, 1995] assessing impulsiveness, risk readiness, and empathy and 3) Subjective Risk Intelligence Scale [Craparo et al., 2018] assessing negative attitude toward uncertainty, emotional stress vulnerability, imaginative capability, and problem-solving self-efficacy. Two groups of participants took part in the study: 1) 98 university students (Mage=19.71, SD=3.25; 72% female) and 2) 94 online participants (Mage=28.25, SD=8.25; 89% female). Online participants were recruited via social media. Students with high rationality rated their pleasure and dominance before and after choices as lower (ρ from -2.6 to -2.7, p < 0.05). Those with high levels of impulsivity rated their arousal lower before finding out their result (ρ from 2.5 - 3.7, p < 0.05), while also rating their dominance as low (ρ from -3 to -3.7, p < 0.05). Students prone to risk-rated their pleasure and arousal before and after higher (ρ from 2.5 - 3.6, p < 0.05). High empathy was positively correlated with arousal after learning the result. High emotional stress vulnerability positively correlates with arousal and pleasure after the choice (ρ from 3.9 - 5.7, p < 0.05). Negative attitude to uncertainty is correlated with high anticipatory and reactive arousal (ρ from 2.7 - 5.7, p < 0.05). High imaginative capability correlates negatively with anticipatory and reactive dominance (ρ from - 3.4 to - 4.3, p < 0.05). Pleasure (.492), arousal (.590), and dominance (.551) before and after the result were positively correlated. Higher predictions positively correlated with reactive pleasure and arousal. In a riskier scenario (6/8 chances to win), anticipatory arousal was negatively correlated with the pleasure emotion (-.326) and vice versa (-.265). Correlations occur regardless of the roulette outcome. In conclusion, risk-taking behaviors are linked not only to personality traits but also to anticipatory emotions and affect in a modeled casino setting. Acknowledgment: The study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project 19-29-07069.

Keywords: anticipatory emotions, casino game, risk taking, impulsiveness

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Authors: Blanco T. F., Fernández-López A.

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Nowadays, education, motivated by the new demands of the 21st century, acquires a dimension that converts the skills that new generations may need into a huge and uncertain set of knowledge too broad to be entirety covered. Within this set, and as tools to reach them, we find Learning and Knowledge Technologies (LKT). Thus, in order to prepare students for an everchanging society in which the technological boom involves everything, it is essential to develop digital competence. Nevertheless LKT seems not to have found their place in the educational system. This work is aimed to go a step further in the research of the most appropriate procedures and resources for technological integration in the classroom. The main objective of this exploratory study is to analyze the didactic suitability (epistemic, cognitive, affective, interactional, mediational and ecological) for teaching and learning processes of mathematics with robotics and 3D printing. The analysis carried out is drawn from a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) project that has the Pilgrimage way to Santiago de Compostela as a common thread. The sample is made up of 25 Primary Education students (10 and 11 years old). A qualitative design research methodology has been followed, the sessions have been distributed according to the type of technology applied. Robotics has been focused towards learning two-dimensional mathematical notions while 3D design and printing have been oriented towards three-dimensional concepts. The data collection instruments used are evaluation rubrics, recordings, field notebooks and participant observation. Indicators of didactic suitability proposed by Godino (2013) have been used for the analysis of the data. In general, the results show a medium-high level of didactic suitability. Above these, a high mediational and cognitive suitability stands out, which led to a better understanding of the positions and relationships of three-dimensional bodies in space and the concept of angle. With regard to the other indicators of the didactic suitability, it should be noted that the interactional suitability would require more attention and the affective suitability a deeper study. In conclusion, the research has revealed great expectations around the combination of teaching-learning processes of mathematics and LKT. Although there is still a long way to go in terms of the provision of means and teacher training.

Keywords: 3D printing, didactic suitability, educational design, robotics

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Authors: Mikel Alonso López

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The early eighties saw the rise of a new research trend in several prestigious journals, mainly articles that related emotions with the decision-making processes of the consumer, and stopped treating them as external elements. That is why we ask questions such as: what are emotions? Are there different types of emotions? What components do they have? Which theories exist about them? In this study, we will review the main theories and components of emotion analysing the cognitive factor and the different emotional states that are generally recognizable with a focus in the classic debate as to whether they occur before the cognitive process or the affective process.

Keywords: emotion, consumer behaviour, feelings, decision making

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Authors: Atnafu Ashenef Wondim

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In today’s highly competitive business environment, employees are considered a source of competitive advantage. Researchers have looked into job autonomy's effect on organizational commitment and declared superior organizational performance strongly depends on the effort and commitment of employees. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between job autonomy and organizational commitment from newcomer’s point of view. The mediation role of employee engagement (physical, emotional, and cognitive) was also examined in the case of Ethiopian Commercial Banks. An exploratory survey research design with mixed-method approach that included partial least squares structural equation modeling and Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis technique were using to address the sample size of 348 new employees. In-depth interviews with purposive and convenientsampling techniques are conducted with new employees (n=43). The results confirmed that job autonomy had positive, significant direct effects on physical engagement, emotional engagement, and cognitive engagement (path coeffs. = 0.874, 0.931, and 0.893).The results showed thatthe employee engagement driver, physical engagement, had a positive significant influence on affective commitment (path coeff. = 0.187) and normative commitment (path coeff. = 0.512) but no significant effect on continuance commitment. Employee engagement partially mediates the relationship between job autonomy and organizational commitment, which means supporting the indirect effects of job autonomy on affective, continuance, and normative commitment through physical engagement. The findings of this study add new perspectives by positioning it within a complex organizational African setting and by expanding the job autonomy and organizational commitment literature, which will benefit future research. Much of the literature on job autonomy and organizational commitment has been conducted within a well-established organizational business context in Western developed countries.The findings lead to fresh information on job autonomy and organizational commitment implementation enablers that can assist in the formulation of a better policy/strategy to efficiently adopt job autonomy and organizational commitment.

Keywords: employee engagement, job autonomy, organizational commitment, social exchange theory

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Authors: Umi Pudji Astuti, Dedi Sugandi

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The effectiveness of agricultural extension is determined by the component in the agricultural extension system among others are agricultural extension methods. Effective methods should be selected and defined based on the characteristics of the target, the resources, the materials, and the objectives to be achieved. Citrus agribusiness development in Lebong is certainly supported by the role of stakeholders and citrus farmers, as well as the proper dissemination methods. Adoption in the extension process substantially can be interpreted as the changes of behavior process such as knowledge (cognitive), attitudes (affective), and skill (psycho-motoric) in a person after receiving "innovation" from extension submitted by target communities. Knowledge and perception are needed as a first step in adopting a innovation, especially of citrus agribusiness development in Lebong. The process of Specific technology adoption is influenced by internal factors and farmer perceptions of technological innovation. Internal factors such as formal education, experience trying to farm, owned land, production farm goods. The output of this study: 1) to analyze the effectiveness of field trial methods in improving cognitive and affective farmers; 2) Knowing the relationship of adoption level and knowledge of farmers; 3) to analyze the factors that influence farmers' adoption of citrus technology innovation. The method of this study is through the survey to 40 respondents in Rimbo Pengadang Sub District, Lebong District in 2014. Analyzing data is done by descriptive and statistical parametric (multiple linear functions). The results showed that: 1) Field trip method is effective to improve the farmer knowledge (23,17% ) and positively affect the farmer attitude; 2) the knowledge level of PTKJS innovation farmers "positively and very closely related".; 3) the factors that influence the level of farmers' adoption are internal factors (education, knowledge, and the intensity of training), and external factors respondents (distance from the house to the garden and from the house to production facilities shop).

Keywords: affect, adoption technology, citrus gerga, effectiveness dissemination

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Authors: N. Didiş Körhasan, D. Kaltakçı Gürel

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Many students have difficulty in learning physics from elementary to university level. In addition, students' expectancy, attitude, and motivation may be influenced negatively with their experience (failure) and prejudice about physics learning. For this reason, physics educators, who are also physics teachers, search for the best ways to make students' learning of physics easier by considering cognitive, affective, and psychomotor issues in learning. This research critically discusses the history of physics education, fundamental pedagogical approaches, and models to teach physics, and transformation of physics education with recent research.

Keywords: pedagogy, physics, physics education, science education

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Authors: Silsila Sherzad, Hazrat Ali Khan, Tabasum Sherzad, Hazratullah, Sanaullah

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Objective: To study the prevalence of common Mental health disorders among forcibly displaced people and to compare with the common mental health disorders among host community members. Study design: Analytical Study. Place of study: Balochistan institute of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Quetta, Baluchistan, Pakistan. Methodology: Data from the Outpatient department were analyzed to numerate both the host community and refugees. Out of 4120, 354 refugee patients were identified using their proof registration (POR) card and for 3776 of the host community using their computerized national identity card (CNIC), data was analyzed for the prevalence of mental health disorders among them. Results: This study states that Afghan Refugees presented to OPD services of Balochistan institute of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, 47% were diagnosed as Major depressive disorder with/without psychosis, 19% with Generalized anxiety disorder, 5% were diagnosed as Bipolar Affective disorder, 5% With schizophrenia, 4% as Post-traumatic stress disorder, 3% as migraine, 3% conversion disorder, 2% Obsessive-compulsive disorder, 1% somatoform disorder and 10% of them presented with other psychiatric disorders, while in host community 21% were diagnosed as Major depressive disorder with/without psychosis, 24% as Generalized anxiety disorder, 12% as somatoform disorder, 10% as Obsessive-compulsive disorder, 8% as migraine, 7% as conversion disorder, 4% as Bipolar Affective disorder, 3% as schizophrenia, 3% as Mental and behavioral disorder due to substance misuse and rest of 7% presented with other psychiatric disorders. Conclusion: The conclusion of this study states that mental health disorders are more common among refugees than in other populations. The result of this study shows that there is a big difference in the prevalence of mental health disorders among displaced people and the rest of the population. Some Mental health disorders are present in a higher percentage among displaced people rather than among the host community, while some other disorders are present in a lower percentage among displaced people rather than among the host community. This study also highlights that further studies are needed to determine risk and protective factors within the host community.

Keywords: forced displacement, mental health, Afghan refugees, depression

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Authors: Meshandren Naidoo, Amy Gooden

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Implantable brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies have developed to the point where brain-computer communication is possible. This has great potential in the medical field, as it allows persons who have lost capacities. However, ethicists and regulators call for a strict approach to these technologies due to the impact on personhood. This research demonstrates that the personhood debate is more nuanced and that where an African approach to personhood is used, it may produce results more favorable to the development and use of this technology.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, law, neuroscience, ethics

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Authors: M. Trousselard, D. Steiler, C. Drogou, P. van-Beers, G. Lamour, S. N. Crosnier, O. Bouilland, P. Dubost, M. Chennaoui, D. Léger

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According to published data, undersea navigation for long periods (nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, SSBN) constitutes an extreme environment in which crews are subjected to multiple stresses, including the absence of natural light, illuminance below 1,000 lux, and watch schedules that do not respect natural chronobiological rhythms, for a period of 60-80 days. These stresses seem clearly detrimental to the submariners’ sleep, with consequences for their affective (seasonal affective disorder-like) and cognitive functioning. In the long term, there are abundant publications regarding the consequences of sleep disruption for the occurrence of organic cardiovascular, metabolic, immunological or malignant diseases. It seems essential to propose countermeasures for the duration of the patrol in order to reduce the negative physiological effects on the sleep and mood of submariners. Light therapy, the preferred treatment for dysfunctions of the internal biological clock and the resulting seasonal depression, cannot be used without data to assist knowledge of submariners’ chronobiology (melatonin secretion curve) during patrols, given the unusual characteristics of their working environment. These data are not available in the literature. The aim of this project was to assess, in the course of two studies, the benefits of two environmental techniques for managing chronobiological stress: techniques for optimizing potential (TOP; study 1)3, an existing programme to help in the psychophysiological regulation of stress and sleep in the armed forces, and dawn and dusk simulators (DDS, study 2). For each experiment, psychological, physiological (sleep) or biological (melatonin secretion) data were collected on D20 and D50 of patrol. In the first experiment, we studied sleep and depressive distress in 19 submariners in an operational setting on board an SSBM during a first patrol, and assessed the impact of TOP on the quality of sleep and depressive distress in these same submariners over the course of a second patrol. The submariners were trained in TOP between the two patrols for a 2-month period, at a rate of 1 h of training per week, and assigned daily informal exercises. Results show moderate disruptions in sleep pattern and duration associated with the intensity of depressive distress. The use of TOP during the following patrol improved sleep and depressive mood only in submariners who regularly practiced the techniques. In light of these limited benefits, we assessed, in a second experiment, the benefits of DDS on chronobiology (daily secretion of melatonin) and depressive distress. Ninety submariners were randomly allocated to two groups, group 1 using DDS daily, and group 2 constituting the control group. Although the placebo effect was not controlled, results showed a beneficial effect on chronobiology and depressive mood for submariners with a morning chronotype. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate the difficulty of practicing the tools of psychophysiological management in real life. They raise the question of the subjects’ autonomy with respect to using aids that involve regular practice. It seems important to study autonomy in future studies, as a cognitive resource resulting from the interaction between internal positive resources and “coping” resources, to gain a better understanding of compliance problems.

Keywords: chronobiology, light therapy, seasonal affective disorder, sleep, stress, stress management, submarine

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