The Geneva affective picture database (GAPED): a new 730-picture database focusing on valence and normative significance

In emotional research, efficient designs often rely on successful emotion induction. For visual stimulation, the only reliable database available so far is the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). However, extensive use of these stimuli lowers the impact of the images by increasing the knowledge that participants have of them. Moreover, the limited number of pictures for specific themes in the IAPS database is a concern for studies centered on a specific emotion thematic and for designs requiring a lot of trials from the same kind (e.g., EEG recordings). Thus, in the present article, we present a new database of 730 pictures, the Geneva Affective PicturE Database, which was created to increase the availability of visual emotion stimuli. Four specific negative contents were chosen: spiders, snakes, and scenes that induce emotions related to the violation of moral and legal norms (human rights violation or animal mistreatment). Positive and neutral pictures were also included: Positive pictures represent mainly human and animal babies as well as nature sceneries, whereas neutral pictures mainly depict inanimate objects. The pictures were rated according to valence, arousal, and the congruence of the represented scene with internal (moral) and external (legal) norms. The constitution of the database and the results of the picture ratings are presente

Neuronal Processes Involved in Subjective Feeling Emergence: Oscillatory Activity During an Emotional Monitoring Task

Subjective feeling, defined as the conscious experience of emotion and measured by self-report, is generally used as a manipulation check in studying emotional processes, rather than being the primary focus of research. In this paper, we report a first investigation into the processes involved in the emergence of a subjective feeling. We hypothesized that the oscillatory brain activity presumed to underlie the emergence of a subjective feeling can be measured by electroencephalographic (EEG) frequency band activity, similar to what has been shown in the literature for the conscious representation of objects. Emotional reactions were induced in participants using static visual stimuli. Episodes for which participants reported a subjective feeling were compared to those that did not lead to a conscious emotional experience, in order to identify potential differences between these two kinds of reactions at the oscillatory level. Discrete wavelet transforms of the EEG signal in gamma (31-63Hz) and beta (15-31Hz) bands showed significant differences between these two types of reactions. In addition, whereas beta band activities were widely distributed, differences in gamma band activity were predominantly observed in the frontal and prefrontal regions. The results are interpreted and discussed in terms of the complexity of the processes required to perform the affective monitoring task. It is suggested that future work on coherent mental representation of multimodal reaction patterns leading to the emergence of conscious emotional experience should include modifications in the time window examined and an extension of the frequency range to be considere

Touch as a Stress Buffer? Gender Differences in Subjective and Physiological Responses to Partner and Stranger Touch

Interpersonal touch buffers against stress under challenging conditions, but this effect depends on familiarity. People benefit from receiving touch from their romantic partners, but the results are less consistent in the context of receiving touch from an opposite-gender stranger. We propose that there may be important gender differences in how people respond to touch from opposite-gender strangers. Specifically, we propose that touch from an opposite-gender stranger may only have stress-buffering effects for men, not women. Stress was induced as participants took part in an emotion recognition task in which they received false failure feedback while being touched from a romantic partner or stranger. We measured subjective and physiological markers of stress (i.e., reduced heart rate variability) throughout the experiment. Neither stranger’s nor partner’s touch had any effect on subjective or physiological markers of stress for men. Women, however, subjectively experienced a stress-buffering effect of partner and stranger touch, but showed increased physiological markers of stress when receiving touch from an opposite-gender stranger. These results highlight the importance of considering gender when investigating touch as a stress buffer

Reasons, Years and Frequency of Yoga Practice: Effect on Emotion Response Reactivity

Yoga practice, even in the short term, is supposed to enhance wellbeing and counteract psychopathology through modification of emotion reactivity. Yoga teaches that emotional responses may be less pronounced with longer and more frequent practice, and potentially when people perform yoga for mental rather than physical reasons. We tested 36 yoga practitioners of varying experience (between 6 months and 11 years of practice). We assessed participants’ self-reported emotional experience and peripheral physiological reactions (heart rate, skin conductance, respiration) when seeing positive and negative pictures. Results were analyzed as a function of the years of, frequency of, and reasons for yoga practice. We found a heart rate increase with the degree participants performed yoga for mental reasons. In addition, years of yoga practice were significantly associated with reduced abdominal respiratory rate when facing negative pictures, speaking in favor of reduced arousal with yoga experience. Finally, regarding frequency of practice, a higher frequency in the last month was linked to less negative and positive experiences as well as a reduced abdominal respiratory amplitude when viewing positive pictures. Altogether, these results demonstrate that intense short-term yoga practice might relate to a (i) decrease in the intensity of self-reported emotional experiences and (ii) deepened respiration. Short-term effects might be shaped by what participants expect as practice benefits. However, several years of practice might be needed to decrease respiratory arousal in the face of negative situations, which likely is a manifestation of an evolution in the emotion regulation process

Evolution of impulsivity levels in relation to early cannabis use in violent patients in the early phase of psychosis

Background Prevention of violent behaviors (VB) in the early phase of psychosis (EPP) is a real challenge. Impulsivity was shown to be strongly related to VB, and different evolutions of impulsivity were noticed along treatments. One possible variable involved in the relationship between VB and the evolution of impulsivity is cannabis use (CU). The high prevalence of CU in EPP and its relationship with VB led us to investigate: 1/the impact of CU and 2/the impact of early CU on the evolution of impulsivity levels during a 3-year program, in violent and non-violent EPP patients. Methods 178 non-violent and 62 violent patients (VPs) were followed-up over a 3 year period. Age of onset of CU was assessed at program entry and impulsivity was assessed seven times during the program. The evolution of impulsivity level during the program, as a function of the violent and non-violent groups of patients and CU precocity were analyzed with linear mixed-effects models. Results Over the treatment period, impulsivity level did not evolve as a function of the interaction between group and CU (coef. = 0.02, p = 0.425). However, when including precocity of CU, impulsivity was shown to increase significantly only in VPs who start consuming before 15 years of age (coef. = 0.06, p = 0.008). Conclusion The precocity of CU in VPs seems to be a key variable of the negative evolution of impulsivity during follow-up and should be closely monitored in EPP patients entering care since they have a higher risk of showing VB

Measurement invariance of the Marijuana Motives Measure among men and women using Stop Cannabis App

Motives to use cannabis play a central role in the development and maintenance of problematic cannabis use and previous studies stressed sex-related differences on motives to use cannabis. However, motives cannot be validly compared in men and women without first establishing the measurement invariance across sex. Therefore, the aim of the study is to (1) examine for the first time the measurement and structural invariance of the Marijuana Motives Measure (MMM) across sex, and (2) to investigate the motives for cannabis use that best explain problematic use. 2951 (41.7% women) users of the "Stop cannabis" smartphone app of which 99.8% reported having used cannabis in the last three months completed an online MMM and ASSIST to assess the severity of their problematic cannabis use. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses supported measurement invariance across sex, whereas structural invariance was not confirmed. Indeed, group comparisons indicated that women reported greater coping motives then men whereas men showed greater social motives than women. A multiple linear regression analysis showed that only coping and conformity motives were significantly associated with greater problematic cannabis use, whereas neither sex nor the sex by motives interactions were significantly related to problematic cannabis use. The MMM appears to function comparably across men and women. Therefore, sex-related comparisons on the questionnaire can be considered valid. Coping and conformity motives may play a central role part in the development of marijuana use problems which may hold implications for intervention development and public policy

Perceived interest and heart rate response to façade and daylight patterns in Virtual Reality

This contribution introduces an experimental study aiming to provide concrete evidence on how façade and daylight pattern geometry can affect the emotional responses triggered by a space. The study was conducted in Virtual Reality (VR) where participants were exposed to 360° scenes of an interior space with three different façade patterns. Their subjective evaluations and heart rate were recorded. The results show a statistically significant effect of façade on the perception of space, as well as the mean heart rate change. Specifically, during exposure to a façade with an irregular pattern, participants rated the space as more interesting and their mean heart rate was lower, resulting to a greater mean heart rate change compared to the resting state, providing quantifiable measures of the impact of façade characteristics on human perception and physiological behavior