Neurophysiological Profile of Antismoking Campaigns

Over the past few decades, antismoking public service announcements (PSAs) have been used by governments to promote healthy behaviours in citizens, for instance, against drinking before the drive and against smoke. Effectiveness of such PSAs has been suggested especially for young persons. By now, PSAs efficacy is still mainly assessed through traditional methods (questionnaires and metrics) and could be performed only after the PSAs broadcasting, leading to waste of economic resources and time in the case of Ineffective PSAs. One possible countermeasure to such ineffective use of PSAs could be promoted by the evaluation of the cerebral reaction to the PSA of particular segments of population (e.g., old, young, and heavy smokers). In addition, it is crucial to gather such cerebral activity in front of PSAs that have been assessed to be effective against smoke (Effective PSAs), comparing results to the cerebral reactions to PSAs that have been certified to be not effective (Ineffective PSAs). &e eventual differences between the cerebral responses toward the two PSA groups will provide crucial information about the possible outcome of new PSAs before to its broadcasting. &is study focused on adult population, by investigating the cerebral reaction to the vision of different PSA images, which have already been shown to be Effective and Ineffective for the promotion of an antismoking behaviour. Results showed how variables as gender and smoking habits can influence the perception of PSA images, and how different communication styles of the antismoking campaigns could facilitate the comprehension of PSA’s message and then enhance the related impac

Antismoking campaigns’ perception and gender differences: a comparison among EEG Indices

Human factors’ aim is to understand and evaluate the interactions between people and tasks, technologies, and environment. Among human factors, it is possible then to include the subjective reaction to external stimuli, due to individual’s characteristics and states of mind. These processes are also involved in the perception of antismoking public service announcements (PSAs), the main tool for governments to contrast the first cause of preventable deaths in the world: tobacco addiction. In the light of that, in the present article, it has been investigated through the comparison of different electroencephalographic (EEG) indices a typical item known to be able of influencing PSA perception, that is gender. In order to investigate the neurophysiological underpinnings of such different perception, we tested two PSAs: one with a female character and one with a male character. Furthermore, the experimental sample was divided into men and women, as well as smokers and nonsmokers. The employed EEG indices were the mental engagement (ME: the ratio between beta activity and the sum of alpha and theta activity); the approach/withdrawal (AW: the frontal alpha asymmetry in the alpha band); and the frontal theta activity and the spectral asymmetry index (SASI: the ratio between beta minus theta and beta plus theta). Results suggested that the ME and the AW presented an opposite trend, with smokers showing higher ME and lower AW than nonsmokers. The ME and the frontal theta also evidenced a statistically significant interaction between the kind of the PSA and the gender of the observers; specifically, women showed higher ME and frontal theta activity for the male character PSA. This study then supports the usefulness of the ME and frontal theta for purposes of PSAs targeting on the basis of gender issues and of the ME and the AW and for purposes of PSAs targeting on the basis of smoking habits

Neuroelectrical indices evaluation in predicting the efficacy of anti-smoking campaigns on a young population

Trabalho Final de Mestrado Integrado, Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Farmácia, 2017Concerning the public health problems in the world, tobacco is one of them. In Europe, it kills prematurely 650 000 persons each year. It is the main cause of several diseases related to the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, such as lung cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Therefore prevention/change of the behavior is a public health priority. This type of prevention/change can be done using antismoking Public Service Announcements (PSA). This thesis tries to correlate two neuroelectrical indexes (approach-withdrawal and effort) using 32 voluntaries (aged between 16 to 24) equally divided between no smokers and heavy smokers (more than 5 cigarettes a day); and the visualization of PSA, in two different formats (images and videos), classified previously as effective, ineffective and awarded. The two indexes were measured using electroencephalographic (EEG). Studies relate the index approach-withdrawal with an asymmetry of the alpha band in the frontal area of the brain. A positive value is correlated with an approach attitude and an activation of the left hemisphere, while the withdrawal attitude is related to a negative value and an activation of the right hemisphere. The effort index is related to theta band in the frontal midline, and a higher value is related to a higher level of task difficulty. ANOVA results showed in the approach-withdrawal index during the observation of videos, a statistical correlation between No Smokers and Heavy Smokers (p=0,00525). The Heavy Smokers present an approach attitude while No Smokers present a withdrawal attitude. Concerning the effort index in images, ANOVA results demonstrated statistical significance for the variable PSA. The correlation was observed between the “Awarded” and “Effective” PSAs (p=0.000088), as well as “Awarded” with “Ineffective” PSAs (p=0.000389). The results of the present dissertation show the usefulness of using such index nowadays. There is a need for more scientific proofs to evaluate a PSA, in order to eliminate the ambiguous process behind it. For further conclusions, a larger sample and more specified criteria are needed to be used.A dependência da nicotina é, atualmente, um problema de saúde pública mundial que, só na Europa, é responsável pela morte prematura de cerca 650 000 pessoas todos os anos. O tabaco é também a principal causa preventiva de morbilidade e mortalidade de doenças relacionadas com o trato respiratório e cardiovascular (cancro do pulmão, doença pulmonária obstrutiva crónica, etc.). A nicotina é o principal componente responsável pela adição do tabaco. Esta liga-se a recetores colinérgicos, facilitando a libertação de certos neurotransmissores tais como a dopamina, o glutamato entre outros, mediando ações complexas em fumadores. A libertação de dopamina está associada a experiências agradáveis, sendo este um potencial mecanismo de adição. Com a repetida exposição à nicotina, tolerância a esta desenvolve-se verificando-se, por exemplo, o aumento do número de recetores AChR no cérebro. A abstinência desta adição esta associada uma carga emocional negativa relacionada com um estado de ansiedade e stress levando a uma possível recaída. Farmacologicamente a nicotina é tida como um estimulante moderado capaz de alterar a atividade elétrica cerebral. O eletroencefalograma (EEG) trata-se de um método de monitorização eletrofisiológico com o propósito de registar a atividade cerebral. É um método não invasivo, aplicável a toda a população, usado quer na medicina, para o diagnóstico de doenças como a epilepsia, quer em investigação. Na sua génese está a atividade elétrica gerada pelo cérebro e as suas estruturas que permite a sua deteção e posterior análise. A atividade elétrica gerada pode ter diferentes frequências podendo, assim, determinar-se cinco tipos de ondas cerebrais: delta (0,5 a 4 Hz) quando uma pessoa está a dormir; teta (4 a 8 Hz) relacionada a um estado de criatividade, meditação; alfa (8 a 13 Hz) associada a uma pessoa relaxada, mas acordada; beta (13 a 30 Hz) relacionada a estado de alerta; e, por fim, gama (25 a 100 Hz) associada a processos cognitivos e resolução de problemas. O padrão das ondas cerebrais é único e individual, sendo possível distinguir indivíduos pela sua atividade cerebral. Os elétrodos para avaliação do EEG são colocados segundo o sistema internacional 10-20, onde a disposição dos elétrodos corresponde a uma determinada zona cortical podendo-se associar a uma função. Dos 21 elétrodos colocados, 2 são elétrodos de referência, enquanto os restantes 19 são elétrodos para recolha de dados. Muitos são os estudos publicados que procuram entender a resposta cerebral à presença ou ausência de nicotina usando como método o EGG. A presença de nicotina no cérebro reduz as bandas delta e teta, aumenta a banda beta e aumenta a frequência da banda alfa, por outro lado, numa situação de privação a presença de ondas de frequência reduzida (teta e alfa-1) aumenta. É possível afirmar-se que dependendo da presença ou ausência de nicotina vai-se obter diferentes perfis de EEG. Estudos sugerem também que a privação tem um efeito superior na área cortical associada a sistema de motivação fazendo com que a cessação tabágica se torne mais difícil. A partir do EEG é possível definir dois índices capazes de avaliar a resposta psicológica. O primeiro o índex de Approach-Withdrawal é baseado numa assimetria da onda alfa no córtex frontal entre o hemisfério esquerdo e o direito. Actualmente, está estabelecida uma relação entre o approach e o hemisfério esquerdo enquanto que o withdrawal está associada ao hemisfério direito. Esta teoria de Approach-Withdrawal resume-se a uma dicotomia de vontade, querendo isto dizer que o sistema de approach está associado a comportamentos orientados para objetivos e emoções como felicidade e diversão; já o sistema de withdrawal está relacionado a comportamentos que retirem a pessoa de uma determinada situação tida como adversa, está associado a emoções como a tristeza. Um desequilíbrio neste sistema pode ser causa de certas doenças do foro psíquico como a depressão (caracterizada por uma danificação do sistema de approach). O estudo da assimetria da onda alfa tem múltiplas utilidades para além do diagnóstico de distúrbios afetivos como, por exemplo, a investigação no estudo do neuromarketing e diagnóstico de outro tipo de doenças. Outro índice passível de ser estudado a partir do EEG é o índice de Effort baseado na onda teta que surge na zona mediana do córtex frontal. Estudos demonstram que um aumento da expressão desta onda está relacionado com o aumento da dificuldade presente numa tarefa. O neuromarketing é o estudo de um ponto de vista neurocientífico sobre o comportamento/reação de um consumidor perante um anúncio televisivo ou um produto. Este estudo permite entender o fenómeno psicológico por detrás de um anúncio com sucesso, entender as emoções envolvidas, assim como, analisar a resposta neurobiológica. O neuromarketing permite então revelar informação que estudos convencionais não conseguem. A utilidade do neuromarketing é variada: permite avaliar a priori um determinado anúncio antes que ele sai para o mercado, possibilita a criação de anúncios mais direcionados para uma determinada população alvo ajudando a evitar eventuais fracassos financeiros quer a empresas quer a instituições governamentais. Quando as instituições governamentais pretendem passar uma mensagem que, de alguma forma, ajuda a comunidade a prevenir, decidir ou mudar certos comportamentos ao nível de, por exemplo, saúde (campanhas antitabaco), violência (campanhas antibullying), etc. podem recorrer à publicidade institucional. No entanto, falta de objetivos e resultados concretos faz com que não se percecione a eficácia deste tipo de anúncios. Para melhor os resultados, muitos tem sido os estudos realizados usando para tal dois métodos: a ressonância magnética funcional e o eletroencefalograma. Smoke Free Brain é um projeto europeu com o objetivo último dar ferramentas às instituições governamentais de forma a criar-se melhores anúncios que incentivem a cessação tabágica, e obter um impacto maior na sociedade. Está assente em 4 pilares de intervenção: toxicologia, medicina pulmonar, neurociência e comportamento O propósito desta monografia é caracterizar, junto da população jovem fumadora (idades compreendidas entre os 16 e os 24 anos), usando o EEG como ferramenta para medir os índices falados acima. A apreciação ou a rejeição bem como a dificuldade de perceção da publicidade institucional antitabaco tem como o objetivo último dar ferramentas às instituições públicas responsáveis para tornar os anúncios o mais eficazes. Este projeto foi desenvolvido em parceria com a equipa italiana do Smoke Free Brain, usando os seus métodos e parte da sua amostra e resultados. Neste projeto, foram recrutados 32 voluntários de idades compreendidas entre os 16 e os 24 anos, de diferentes níveis socioeconómicos. Foram divididos de acordo com o número de cigarros: 16 não fumadores (caracterizados por terem fumado menos de 10 cigarros na sua vida e não terem fumado no último ano) e 16 fumadores pesados (caracterizados por fumarem mais de 5 cigarros por dia). Depois de confortavelmente sentados e preparados, iniciou-se a experiência: uma primeira medição para calcular a frequência individual da onda alfa, depois iniciou-se a medição do EGG com a influência dos estímulos. O estímulo das imagens era composto por: 6 imagens neutras, 11 imagens referentes a publicidade institucional previamente escolhida, e outras 6 imagens neutras. Já o estímulo dos vídeos era composto por: um vídeo neutro seguido de 11 anúncios institucionais, finalizando com o vídeo neutro. A publicidade institucional fora previamente escolhida com intuito de testar anúncios classificados como eficazes (4 anúncios), não eficazes (3 anúncios) ou galardoados (3 anúncios). O décimo primeiro anúncio era referente à última campanha antitabaco italiana, não classificada quanto a sua eficácia razão pela qual não está contemplada nos resultados. A atividade cerebral foi medida pelo EEG usando um sistema de 19 elétrodos, dispostos de acordo com o sistema internacional 10-20. Através dele obteve-se os índexes de Approach-Withdrawal e Effort. Para além do EEG, houve também a medição simultânea da galvanic skin response (GSR) e da frequência cardíaca. No final da experiência os voluntários foram convidados a responder a alguns questionários baseados em escalas psicométricas. As análises de tais resultados (GSR, frequência cardíaca e questionários) não serão discutidas nesta dissertação. A avaliação estatística dos resultados dos índices pretendidos foi feita através de uma ANOVA considerando duas variáveis: PSAKIND (representativa do tipo de anúncio repartida em três níveis: eficaz, ineficaz e galardoado) e SMOKING HABIT (representativa dos hábitos tabágicos dos voluntários: não fumadores e fumadores pesados). Quando se justificou, realizou-se outro teste: Duncan post hoc test com um valor de p‹0.05. Dos resultados obtidos, obteve-se significância estatística quando se relacionou o AW na visualização de vídeos com a variável SMOKING HABIT. O valor de p foi de 0,00004 apresentando os fumadores pesados valores mais elevados e positivos do índex AW, significando uma atitude de Approach face ao estímulo quando comparados com os não fumadores que apresentaram uma atitude de withdrawal (que obtiveram valores negativos). No que toca ao índex de Effort a visualização de anúncios de imagens obteve uma significância estatística na avaliação da variável PSAKIND: os anúncios classificados como galardoados tiveram uma relação estatística para com os anúncios tidos como eficazes (p= 0,000088) e ineficazes de (p=0,000389). Os resultados nesta dissertação demonstram a utilidade destes índexes, nos dias de hoje, no sentido em que avaliam de forma mais científica a publicidade institucional. No entanto, para mais conclusões será necessário aumentar a amostra bem como incluir mais fatores de variabilidade tais como o nível socioeconómico dos voluntários

Good news or bad news, which do you want first? The importance of the sequence and organization of Information for financial decision-making: a neuro-electrical imaging study

Investment decisions are largely based on the information investors received from the target firm. Thaler introduced the hedonic editing framework, in which suggests that integration/segregation of information influence individual's perceived value. Meanwhile, when evaluating the evidence and information in a sequence, order effect and biases have been found to have an impact in various areas. In this research, the influence of the Organization of Information (Integration vs. Segregation) and the Sequence of Information (Negative-Positive order vs. Positive-Negative order) on individual's investment decision-making both at the behavioral level (decision) and neurometrix level (measured by an individual's emotion and Approach Withdraw tendency) was assessed for the three groups of information: a piece of Big Positive Information and a piece of Small Negative Information, a piece of Big Negative Information and a piece of Small Positive Information, and a piece of Small Negative information. The behavioral results, which are an individual's final investment decision, were consistent for all three scenarios. In general, individuals will invest more/retire less when receiving two pieces of information in a Negative-Positive order. However, the neurometric results (Emotional Index, Approach Withdraw Index and results from LORETA) show differences among information groups. An effect of the Sequence of Information and the Organization of Information was found for the different scenarios. The results suggest that in the scenarios that involve large-scale information, the organization of information (Integration vs. Segregation) influences the emotion and Approach Withdraw tendency. The results of this investigation should provide insight for effective communication of information, especially when large-scale information is involved

Public policy, social marketing and neuromarketing: from addressing the consumer behaviour to addressing the social behaviour - a study on the assessment of Public Service Announcements’ efficacy by neuro-metric indexes and techniques

The overall aim of this thesis is to investigate to what extent marketing can be a useful science for the public policy in developing effective Public Service Announcements (PSAs). In particular, hereby a specific discipline will be taken in consideration: the one that merges marketing with neuroscience, that is the so-called ‘neuromarketing’, which - in order to assess the advertising efficacy - adopts biometric and neurometric indexes. The objective of this work is to gain insights into the above-mentioned fields (marketing, neuroscience and public policy) by: - reviewing previous studies, as well as topical literature; - exploring the latest case studies and best practises; - examining the traditional methods’ results for the assessment of the PSAs (i.e. polls, surveys, focus groups) in their evolutionary path (till arriving to birth of the the neurometric methods) Such kind of research has the purpose to identify the factors that are considered relevant to answer the ultimate research question: is it possible today, by using state-of-the-art neurometric indexes and techniques, to provide policymakers with precise guidelines for developing effective PSAs, so that marketing will be able to address no more just the consumer behaviour, but also the social behaviour? In fact, the goal of any advertising campaign is to convey a specific message and reach a specific audience: the consumers. But, when talking about PSAs, many things changes: the KPIs for the assessment of their efficacy are no longer the commercial ones (GRP, reach etc.), but rather the gain obtained in public health after the airing of the campaign. Consequently, the specific message will be a different ‘call-to-action’: no more an invite to purchase, but rather to change a (wrong) social behaviour or adopt a (right) civil conscience. Given these premises, it is possible that marketing could be invested with a precise responsibility in terms of lives saved and public health. The practical and managerial implications of the research are the following: EU policymakers and local governments will have the opportunity to dispose of scientific data and information about the society that might be transformed in guidelines for producing effective PSAs based on the inner audience’s insights. The originality of this research resides in having framed the new neuromarketing protocols in the traditional Consumer Behaviour theory, combining thus future and past of the marketing research

NeuroDante: Poetry Mentally Engages More Experts but Moves More Non-Experts, and for Both the Cerebral Approach Tendency Goes Hand in Hand with the Cerebral Effort

Neuroaesthetics, the science studying the biological underpinnings of aesthetic experience, recently extended its area of investigation to literary art; this was the humus where neurocognitive poetics blossomed. Divina Commedia represents one of the most important, famous and studied poems worldwide. Poetry stimuli are characterized by elements (meter and rhyme) promoting the processing fluency, a core aspect of neuroaesthetics theories. In addition, given the evidence of different neurophysiological reactions between experts and non-experts in response to artistic stimuli, the aim of the present study was to investigate, in poetry, a different neurophysiological cognitive and emotional reaction between Literature (L) and Non-Literature (NL) students. A further aim was to investigate whether neurophysiological underpinnings would support explanation of behavioral data. Investigation methods employed: self-report assessments (recognition, appreciation, content recall) and neurophysiological indexes (approach/withdrawal (AW), cerebral effort (CE) and galvanic skin response (GSR)). The main behavioral results, according to fluency theories in aesthetics, suggested in the NL but not in the L group that the appreciation/liking went hand by hand with the self-declared recognition and with the content recall. The main neurophysiological results were: (i) higher galvanic skin response in NL, whilst higher CE values in L; (ii) a positive correlation between AW and CE indexes in both groups. The present results extended previous evidence relative to figurative art also to auditory poetry stimuli, suggesting an emotional attenuation “expertise-specific” showed by experts, but increased cognitive processing in response to the stimuli

Neurodante: Poetry mentally engages more experts but moves more non-experts, and for both the cerebral approach tendency goes hand in hand with the cerebral effort

11noopenNeuroaesthetics, the science studying the biological underpinnings of aesthetic experience, recently extended its area of investigation to literary art; this was the humus where neurocognitive poetics blossomed. Divina Commedia represents one of the most important, famous and studied poems worldwide. Poetry stimuli are characterized by elements (meter and rhyme) promoting the processing fluency, a core aspect of neuroaesthetics theories. In addition, given the evidence of different neurophysiological reactions between experts and non-experts in response to artistic stimuli, the aim of the present study was to investigate, in poetry, a different neurophysiological cognitive and emotional reaction between Literature (L) and Non-Literature (NL) students. A further aim was to investigate whether neurophysiological underpinnings would support explanation of behavioral data. Investigation methods employed: self-report assessments (recognition, appreciation, content recall) and neurophysiological indexes (approach/withdrawal (AW), cerebral effort (CE) and galvanic skin response (GSR)). The main behavioral results, according to fluency theories in aesthetics, suggested in the NL but not in the L group that the appreciation/liking went hand by hand with the self-declared recognition and with the content recall. The main neurophysiological results were: (i) higher galvanic skin response in NL, whilst higher CE values in L; (ii) a positive correlation between AW and CE indexes in both groups. The present results extended previous evidence relative to figurative art also to auditory poetry stimuli, suggesting an emotional attenuation “expertise-specific” showed by experts, but increased cognitive processing in response to the stimuli.openCartocci G.; Rossi D.; Modica E.; Maglione A.G.; Martinez Levy A.C.; Cherubino P.; Canettieri P.; Combi M.; Rea R.; Gatti L.; Babiloni F.Cartocci, G.; Rossi, D.; Modica, E.; Maglione, A. G.; Martinez Levy, A. C.; Cherubino, P.; Canettieri, P.; Combi, M.; Rea, R.; Gatti, L.; Babiloni, F

How neurophysiological measures can be used to enhance the evaluation of remote tower solutions

International audienceNew solutions in operational environments are often, among objective measurements, evaluated by using subjective assessment and judgement from experts. Anyhow, it has been demonstrated that subjective measures suffer from poor resolution due to a high intra and inter operator variability. Also, performance measures, if available, could provide just partial information, since an operator could achieve the same performance but experiencing a different workload. In this study we aimed to demonstrate i) the higher resolution of neurophysiological measures in comparison to subjective ones, and ii) how the simultaneous employment of neurophysiological measures and behavioural ones could allow a holistic assessment of operational tools. In this regard, we tested the effectiveness of an EEG-based neurophysiological index (WEEG index) in comparing two different solutions (i.e. Normal and Augmented) in terms of experienced workload. In this regard, 16 professional Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs) have been asked to perform two operational scenarios. Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) has also been recorded to evaluate the level of arousal (i.e. operator involvement) during the two scenarios execution. NASA-TLX questionnaire has been used to evaluate the perceived workload, and an expert was asked to assess performance achieved by the ATCOs. Finally, reaction times on specific operational events relevant for the assessment of the two solutions, have also been collected. Results highlighted that the Augmented solution induced a local increase in subjects performance (Reaction times). At the same time, this solution induced an increase in the workload experienced by the participants (WEEG). Anyhow, this increase is still acceptable, since it did not negatively impact the performance and has to be intended only as a consequence of the higher engagement of the ATCOs. This behavioural effect is totally in line with physiological results obtained in terms of arousal (GSR), that increased during the scenario with augmentation. Subjective measures (NASA-TLX) did not highlight any significant variation in perceived workload. These results suggest that neurophysiological measure provide additional information than behavioural and subjective ones, even at a level of few seconds, and its employment during the pre-operational activities (e.g. design process) could allow a more holistic and accurate evaluation of new solutions

The NeuroDante Project: Neurometric measurements of participant’s reaction to literary auditory stimuli from dante’s “divina commedia”

Neurodante. Progetto di analisi neurometrica di alcuni brani della Commedi