Movement in Aesthetic Experiences: What We Can Learn from Parkinson Disease

Visual art offers cognitive neuroscience an opportunity to study how subjective value is constructed from representations supported by multiple neural systems. A surprising finding in aesthetic judgment research is the functional activation of motor areas in response to static, abstract stimuli, like paintings, which has been hypothesized to reflect embodied simulations of artists' painting movements, or preparatory approach–avoidance responses to liked and disliked artworks. However, whether this motor involvement functionally contributes to aesthetic appreciation has not been addressed. Here, we examined the aesthetic experiences of patients with motor dysfunction. Forty-three people with Parkinson disease and 40 controls made motion and aesthetics judgments of high-motion Jackson Pollock paintings and low-motion Piet Mondrian paintings. People with Parkinson disease demonstrated stable and internally consistent preferences for abstract art, but their perception of movement in the paintings was significantly lower than controls in both conditions. The patients also demonstrated enhanced preferences for high-motion art and an altered relationship between motion and aesthetic appreciation. Our results do not accord well with a straightforward embodied simulation account of aesthetic experiences, because artworks that did not include visual traces of the artist's actions were still experienced as lower in motion by Parkinson patients. We suggest that the motor system may be involved in integrating low-level visual features to form abstract representations of movement rather than simulations of specific bodily actions. Overall, we find support for hypotheses linking motor responses and aesthetic appreciation and show that altered neural functioning changes the way art is perceived and valued

Forestry harvest planning considering social impacts and soil compaction issues

Forest harvest planning implies great challenges for wood supply companies. This type of planning involves complex decision processes involving different stakeholders, as well as factors outside the stakeholders that directly affect the resolution of the problem. Within these factors that affect, one of special interest is the conditioning by risk of soil compaction. This factor can be decisive in planning since it functions as a restriction or prohibition on harvesting operations. This phenomenon depends on the hydrological balances of the soils, which in turn depends on the meteorological and climatic conditions. That is why to properly address these decision processes, stochastic approaches are required. On the other hand, there exists a large number of SMEs and micro-SMEs that are dedicated to forest harvesting operations, which work as contractors for industries and provide. These companies have a direct interference in the industrial matrix and in the labor offer in the regional economy of the Argentine Northwest. However, a purely utilitarian approach to forest harvesting would tend to prioritize the hiring of larger companies with superior technical capacity, which would allow production costs to be reduced. However, this would impede the possibility of growth of the regional economy, leaving out smaller companies, which do not have the resources for technological migration. This issue has gained relevance after United Nations included this topic in its Sustainable Development Goals agenda (ODS 8).To contribute to this line, an approach based on mathematical programming is proposed that allow addressing the stochastic complexity of the problem (due to the risk of soil compaction), but that balance the workload delivered to each contractor, ensuring compliance with the demand. For this, a goal programming model is developed, which contemplates the minimization of costs and the balancing of the workload among contractors.Fil: Rossit, Daniel Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Matemática Bahía Blanca. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Matemática. Instituto de Matemática Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ingeniería; ArgentinaFil: Broz, Diego Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Facultad de Ciencias Forestales; ArgentinaFil: Pais, Cristóbal. University of California at Berkeley; Estados UnidosFil: Weintraub, Andrés. Universidad de Chile.; ChileXXI Latin Ibero-American Conference on Operations Research -CLAIO 2022Buenos AiresArgentinaUniversidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturale

From action to abstraction: The sensorimotor grounding of metaphor in Parkinson’s disease.

Embodied cognition theories propose that the semantic representations engaged in during language comprehension are partly supported by perceptual and motor systems, via simulation. Activation in modality-specific regions of cortex is associated with the comprehension of literal language that describes the analogous modalities, but studies addressing the grounding of nonliteral or figurative language, such as metaphors, have yielded mixed results. Differences in the psycholinguistic characteristics of sentence stimuli across studies have likely contributed to this lack of consensus. Furthermore, previous studies have been largely correlational, whilst patient studies are a critical way of determining if intact sensorimotor function is necessary to understand language drawing on sensorimotor information. We designed a battery of metaphorical and literal sentence stimuli using action and sound words, with an unprecedented level of control over critical psycholinguistic variables, to test hypotheses about the grounding of metaphorical language. In this Registered Report, we assessed the comprehension of these sentences in 41 patients with Parkinson’s disease, who were predicted to be disproportionately affected by the action sentences relative to the sound sentences, and compared their performance to that of 39 healthy age-matched controls who were predicted to show no difference in performance due to sensory modality. Using preregistered Bayesian model comparison methods, we found that PD patients’ comprehension of literal action sentences was not impaired, while there was some evidence for a slowing of responses to action metaphors. Follow up exploratory analyses suggest that this response time modality effect was driven by one type of metaphor (predicate) and was absent in another (nominal), despite the fact that the action semantics were similar in both syntactic forms. These results suggest that the conditions under which PD patients demonstrate hypothesized embodiment effects are limited. We offer a critical assessment of the PD action language literature and discuss implications for the embodiment debate. In addition, we suggest how future studies could leverage Bayesian statistical methods to provide more convincing evidence for or against embodied cognition effects

Flyover noise evaluation of low-noise technologies applied to a blended wing body aircraft

In the frame of the European research project ARTEM (Aircraft noise Reduction Technologies and related Environmental iMpact), new aircraft architectures and alternative propulsion systems, e.g. Blended Wing Body (BWB) and geared turbofan engine concept, are investigated, as well as innovative noise reduction technologies such as metamaterials and low noise high-lift device systems. A noise impact assessment has been performed on a long-haul BWB concept developed by Roma Tre University, using the System Noise Prediction Tools of ONERA (CARMEN) and DLR (PANAM). First, shielding effects on the main noise emission sources are discussed, through installation effects hemispheres at relevant third-octave band frequencies around the aircraft. Based on the shielding assessment, detailed take-off and landing procedures are simulated for several aircraft configurations. Two alternative motorisations of the BWB are evaluated. Finally, the most promising low noise technologies developed in the frame of ARTEM are applied, and their impact on the aircraft’s overall noise levels on the ground is discussed. It can be demonstrated how the specific aircraft configuration, the engine type and the additional low-noise technology result in a significant overall noise reduction. An accompagning conference paper presents flyover auralisations based on these total aircraft noise calculations

Parkinson’s Disease Impulsive-Compulsive Disorders Questionnaire – Current Short (QUIP-CS) : tradução e validação de conteúdo em português do Questionário para Avaliação de Distúrbios Impulsivo-Compulsivos na Doença de Parkinson

Objective: Parkinson’s disease (PD) management is usually successfully reached with proper pharmacological treatment. However, PD patients can manifest neuropsychiatric symptoms secondary to medical therapy, including impulse control disorders (ICD), presenting as pathological gambling, hypersexuality, compulsive buying, drinking or eating disorders. We translated and validated the Portuguese version of the gold-standard questionnaire Parkinson’s Disease Impulsive-Compulsive Disorders Questionnaire, or (QUIP) for identifying ICDs in PD patients. Methods: Translation, back translation and submission to instrument developer was performed, that approved its new version comparing it to his original, validated version, with no loss of it’s original properties. Then, the Portuguese version was administered to 30 PD patients. They also were asked to rate from 1 to 5 the level of comprehensibility of the questions. Results: The average level of comprehension was 4.06 ± 0.69 DP, considering 3 or more as acceptable. No patient has answered 1 or 2. Conclusion: Our results on Portuguese version of QUIP-CS show that QUIP-CS translated and corrected version was easily understood and easily self-applied.Objetivo: O manejo da doença de Parkinson (DP) é usualmente alcançado com sucesso com o tratamento farmacológico apropriado. Entretanto, os pacientes com DP podem manifestar sintomas neuropsiquiátricos secundários à terapêutica, como a síndrome de descontrole dos impulsos (SDI), que se apresenta como o jogar patológico, a hipersexualidade, o comprar, beber ou comer compulsivos. Traduzimos e validamos a versão em português do questionário padrão-ouro para identificação de transtornos impulsivo-compulsivos na DP (QUIP-CS) para identificar nesses pacientes a presença de SDI. Métodos: Foram realizadas a tradução, a retrotradução e a submissão do instrumento ao desenvolvedor deste, que aprovou a nova versão comparando esta à sua, que já está validada, sem a perda das suas propriedades originais. Após, a versão em português foi administrada a 30 pacientes com o diagnóstico de DP. Eles também foram solicitados a classificar o nível de compreensibilidade das questões, graduando-as de 1 a 5. Resultados: O nível médio de compreensão foi 4,06 ± 0,69 DP, considerando-se 3 ou mais como aceitável. Nenhum paciente respondeu 1 ou 2. Conclusão: Os nossos resultados para a versão em português da QUIP-CS mostraram que essa versão, traduzida e corrigida, foi facilmente compreendida e aplicada pelos próprios pacientes

Depression in veterans with Parkinson's disease: frequency, co-morbidity, and healthcare utilization

Objective To determine the frequency of depression in Parkinson's disease (PD) in routine clinical care, and to examine its association with co-morbid psychiatric and medical conditions and healthcare utilization. Methods Depression diagnoses and healthcare utilization data for all male veterans with PD age 55 or older seen in fiscal year 2002 ( n  = 41,162) were analyzed using Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) national databases. Frequencies of co-morbid disorders and healthcare utilization were determined for depressed and non-depressed patients; associations with depression were examined using multivariate logistic regression models. Results A depression diagnosis was recorded for 18.5% of PD patients, including major depression in 3.9%. Depression decreased in frequency and severity with increasing age. In multivariate logistic regression models, depressed patients had significantly greater psychiatric and medical co-morbidity, including dementia, psychosis, stroke, congestive heart failure, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than non-depressed patients (all p  < 0.01). Depressed PD patients were also significantly more likely to have medical (OR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.25–1.44) and psychiatric hospitalizations (OR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.83–2.51), and had more outpatient visits ( p  < 0.01), than non-depressed PD patients in adjusted models. Conclusion Depression in PD in non-tertiary care settings may not be as common or as severe as that seen in specialty care, though these findings also may reflect under-recognition or diagnostic imprecision. The occurrence of depression in PD is associated with greater psychiatric and medical co-morbidity, and greater healthcare utilization. These findings suggest that screening for depression in PD is important and should be embedded in a comprehensive psychiatric, neuropsychological, and medical evaluation. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/56073/1/1712_ftp.pd

Clinical Follow‐up of Parkinson’s Disease With Newly Prescribed Quetiapine

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162820/2/mds28193_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162820/1/mds28193.pd

Identifying Parkinson’s disease subtypes with motor and non-motor symptoms via model-based multi-partition clustering

Identification of Parkinson's disease subtypes may help understand underlying disease mechanisms and provide personalized management. Although clustering methods have been previously used for subtyping, they have reported generic subtypes of limited relevance in real life practice because patients do not always fit into a single category. The aim of this study was to identify new subtypes assuming that patients could be grouped differently according to certain sets of related symptoms. To this purpose, a novel model-based multi-partition clustering method was applied on data from an international, multi-center, cross-sectional study of 402 Parkinson's disease patients. Both motor and non-motor symptoms were considered. As a result, eight sets of related symptoms were identified. Each of them provided a different way to group patients: impulse control issues, overall non-motor symptoms, presence of dyskinesias and pyschosis, fatigue, axial symptoms and motor fluctuations, autonomic dysfunction, depression, and excessive sweating. Each of these groups could be seen as a subtype of the disease. Significant differences between subtypes (P< 0.01) were found in sex, age, age of onset, disease duration, Hoehn & Yahr stage, and treatment. Independent confirmation of these results could have implications for the clinical management of Parkinson's disease patients.F.R.-S., C.B., and P.L. are supported in part by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the PID2019-109247GB-I00 project, by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under the Specific Grant Agreement No. 945539 (Human Brain Project SGA3), and by the BBVA Foundation (2019 Call) through the ”Score-based nonstationary temporal Bayesian networks. Applications in climate and neuroscience” project.S

Impact of Scottish smoke-free legislation on smoking quit attempts and prevalence

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Objectives:&lt;/b&gt; In Scotland, legislation was implemented in March 2006 prohibiting smoking in all wholly or partially enclosed public spaces. We investigated the impact on attempts to quit smoking and smoking prevalence.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Methods:&lt;/b&gt; We performed time series models using Box-Jenkins autoregressive integrated moving averages (ARIMA) on monthly data on the gross ingredient cost of all nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) prescribed in Scotland in 2003–2009, and quarterly data on self-reported smoking prevalence between January 1999 and September 2010 from the Scottish Household Survey.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Results:&lt;/b&gt; NRT prescription costs were significantly higher than expected over the three months prior to implementation of the legislation. Prescription costs peaked at £1.3 million in March 2006; £292,005.9 (95% CI £260,402.3, £323,609, p&#60;0.001) higher than the monthly norm. Following implementation of the legislation, costs fell exponentially by around 26% per month (95% CI 17%, 35%, p&#60;0.001). Twelve months following implementation, the costs were not significantly different to monthly norms. Smoking prevalence fell by 8.0% overall, from 31.3% in January 1999 to 23.7% in July–September 2010. In the quarter prior to implementation of the legislation, smoking prevalence fell by 1.7% (95% CI 2.4%, 1.0%, p&#60;0.001) more than expected from the underlying trend.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Conclusions:&lt;/b&gt; Quit attempts increased in the three months leading up to Scotland's smoke-free legislation, resulting in a fall in smoking prevalence. However, neither has been sustained suggesting the need for additional tobacco control measures and ongoing support.&lt;/p&gt