The influence of unpleasant emotional arousal on military performance: An experimental study using auditory stimuli during a shooting task

Due to the intrinsic difficulties associated with simulating extreme events, it remains unclear how unpleasant emotional arousal might affect shooting performance among well-trained high-risk operators. To address this issue, an infantry rifle squad performed two simulated shooting exercises of different complexity (low vs. high) while exposed to unpleasant emotionally charged sound clips. A control group underwent the same experimental procedure without the presence of any sound clips. To externally validate our method of emotional arousal inoculation, we collected infantrymen’s salivary cortisol and perceived arousal and valence levels over the experimental phases (i.e., baseline, shooting, and recovery). The dependent variables were their shooting performance (shot-to-hit ratio and instructor’s evaluation) and the perceived degree of task complexity. Furthermore, we explored the variations of participants’ nasal skin temperature during the shooting exercises. Salivary cortisol concentrations varied over time only for the squad exposed to emotionally charged stimuli. While emotional arousal had an effect on overall infantrymen performance (e.g., precision of movements while shooting), shooting accuracy was not affected. Emotional arousal did not influence nasal skin temperature. Overall, our results suggest that arousal inoculation based on emotionally charged sound clips could serve as a complementary (reliable and ethically appropriate) method to train high-risk operators to deal with emotional arousal. These findings may also contribute to a better understanding of the role of emotional arousal in operational effectiveness.Santander Bank - CEMIX UGR-MADOC grant PINS 2018-15 PIN 5/2/20 F2FGerman Research Foundation (DFG) RYC-2015-1748

Electrophysiological correlates of the reverse Stroop effect: Results from a simulated handgun task

This work was supported by the Ramon y Cajal fellowship program from the Spanish State Research Agency (RYC-2015-17483) awarded to LLDS. Additional support was obtained from the Unit of Excellence on Brain, Behavior, and Health (SC2) , funded by the Excellence actions program of the University of Granada. Work by CDP & LLDS is supported by Santander Bank- Joint Center University of Granada-Spanish Army Training and Doctrine Command (grant numbers PINs 2018-15 and 5/2/20 F2F) . The funding organizations had no role in the design or conduct of this research. We are deeply grateful to Dr. Greg Wood (Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK) for sharing the original set of stimuli used in his reverse Stroop handgun task. We thank Dr. Marcelo Augusto Costa Fernandes (Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada) for his help in data processing and analysis. We thank Dr. Michelangelo Cao (Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford) for his comments and suggestions on the manu-script. We also want to thank Dr. J. M. Morales, Ms. P. Gonzalez, and Mr. D. Catalan for their help during data collection and pre-processing.The color-word reverse Stroop (RS) effect still represents an interesting puzzle for cognitive researchers as an interference between incongruent ink colors and the meaning of the words is not always found. Here, we examined whether an unfamiliar and complex visuomotor task would produce a RS effect. Forty inexperienced shooters carried out a simulated shooting task. To test if the RS effect is related to the stimuli processing or to a late processing of the color (early and late time-windows), electroencephalographic global field power (GFP) variations were recorded with a high-impedance system (32 channels configuration in a standard monopolar montage, referenced to FCz and grounded to FPz). The color-word RS effect was reflected in the performance of 32 participants, suggesting that the strength of the association between the target and the specific response requested might be central to the RS interference. This behavioral result was paralleled by GFP modulations in 20 participants. A significant increase of the GFP for the congruent trials (e.g., the word “red” written in red ink) was recorded after stimulus presentation (conflict detection), followed by an increase for the incongruent trials (e.g., the word “red” written in green ink) just before the shooting (conflict resolution). Despite the limitations of the study, such as the inclusion of a low number of channels in the GFP analyses, the results suggest that the RS interference is easily elicited in tasks requiring an unfamiliar response, which supports the strength of association hypothesis. Moreover, as implied by the GFP modulations, the interference might occur early in time, but also in a later stage, closer to the response.Ramon y Cajal fellowship program from the Spanish State Research Agency RYC-2015-17483Unit of Excellence on Brain, Behavior, and Health (SC2) - Excellence actions program of the University of Granada CDPSantander Bank- Joint Center University of Granada-Spanish Army Training and Doctrine Command PINs 2018-15 5/2/20 F2

Preparación y elaboración de proyectos de investigación para estudiantes de posgrado

Curso realizado en el marco del IV Plan de Promoción de la Investigación del Vicerrectorado de Investigación y Transferencia y la Escuela Internacional de Posgrado. Celebrado los días 12 y 13 de marzo de 10:00h a 14:00h en la Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociología. El temario fue el siguiente: 0. Introducción - La investigación en la Universidad de Granada; El Vicerrectorado de Investigación y Transferencia y sus funciones. 1. La carrera científica y sus etapas - Las cinco etapas de la carrera científica; Experiencias prácticas para progresar en la carrera científica. 2. Convocatorias pre/posdoctorales y proyectos para jóvenes investigadores - Ayudas de iniciación a la investigación; Proyectos para jóvenes doctores; Convocatorias de especialización posdoctoral; Ejemplo de proyecto de Investigadores Emergentes; Herramientas de búsqueda de convocatorias 3. Qué es un proyecto de investigación. -Selección del tema de investigación; Fases de un proyecto Definición de objetivos; Planificación; Control; Justificación; Caso práctico: los proyectos en ciencias 4. Evaluación de proyecto - Agencias evaluadoras; Proceso de selección; Criterios de valoración; Caso práctico: la evaluación de una Marie Curie 5. Otros aspectos estratégicos para la presentación de un proyecto - Selección de colaboradores; Elaboración del currículum; Preparación de cronogramas e ilustraciones; Difusión y visibilidad de un proyecto 6. Caso práctico global - ¿Cómo afrontar la preparación de un proyecto de investigación

Mental workload in HMI: an approximation to a multidimensional methodology for online measurement of mental workload in the realm of road driving

Tesis Univ. Granada. Departamento de Psicología Experimental y Fisiología del Comportamiento. Leída el 23 de febrero del 201

Driver Monitoring Systems in automated interactions: A real-time, thermographic-based algorithm

International audienceDue to the progressive shift of responsibility from the driver to the vehicle itself in automated vehicle technologies, driver-centered innovations represent a key point for its advance. The so-called Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS) are therefore increasingly gaining importance in this context. One of the main aims of DMS is to estimate the drivers arousal levels in order to infer their cognitive state and capabilities. Even though the scientific literature is riddled with useful psychophysiological indices to estimate arousal levels [1], nowadays, arousal estimation is based on broad, mostly blink/gaze-related, indices. The reason is that actual implementation of reliable sensors in a feasible system able to collect, analyse, and interpret measurements in real-life conditions is still an open challenge. One of the alternatives to signal different cognitive states is facial skin temperature [2][3]. Infrared sensors that monitor heat loss have been shown useful to track facial skin temperature that indicate arousal modulations while driving [2][3]. Such intensive, laborious work to extract and analyse temperature changes in some facial landmarks is not reasonable in real-life applications [3]. Here, we present the preliminary results obtained with a new software able to track, in real-time, drivers facial-skin temperature changes. Also, we proved its usefulness in an automated driving condition

The role of diet in the prevention and treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) - Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) - are chronic conditions characterised by relapsing inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. They represent an increasing public health concern and an aetiological enigma due to unknown causal factors. The current knowledge on the pathogenesis of IBD is that genetically susceptible individuals develop intolerance to a dysregulated gut microflora (dysbiosis) and chronic inflammation develops as a result of environmental triggers. Among the environmental factors associated with IBD, diet plays an important role in modulating the gut microbiome, and, consequently, it could have a therapeutic impact on the disease course. An overabundance of calories and some macronutrients typical of the Western dietetic pattern increase gut inflammation, whereas several micronutrients characteristic of the Mediterranean Diet have the potential to modulate gut inflammation, according to recent evidence. Immunonutrition has emerged as a new concept putting forward the role of vitamins such as vitamins A, C, E, and D, folic acid, beta carotene and trace elements such as zinc, selenium, manganese and iron. However, when assessed in clinical trials, specific micronutrients showed a limited benefit. Further research is required to evaluate the role of individual food compounds and complex nutritional interventions with the potential to decrease inflammation as a means of prevention and management of IBD. The current dietary recommendations for disease prevention and management are scarce and non evidence-based. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the complex interaction between diet, microbiome and immune-modulation in IBD, with particular focus to the role of the Mediterranean Diet as a tool for prevention and treatment of the disease