Can aggression provide pleasure?

We investigated the pleasurability of aggressive behavioral decisions. Four questionnaires (on hedonicity, decisión making, justification of aggression, and impulsiveness) were given to 50 participants of both sexes, ranging from 16 to 80 years old. Most participants avoided unpleasant behaviors as part of a trend to maximize pleasure and to minimize displeasure. Mean hedonicity ratings followed a bell curve with increasing levels of aggressiveness (p < .0001). Thus, the participants chose neither passive nor highly aggressive responses to social conflicts, with both extremes receiving the most unpleasant ratings. The results offer empirical support for an interesting point: People may derive pleasure from aggression as long as it is exhibited on a low to medium level. More precisely, people associate pleasure with aggression up to a certain point: Aggressive responses of medium intensity were rated significantly less unpleasant than the most passive and most aggressive ones, which were associated with less pleasure. Conclusion: In social conflicts, behavior tends to maximize experienced pleasure; and impulsive aggression produces pleasure in the aggressor, except at extreme intensities. The point that mild to moderate aggression brings pleasure, whereas extreme or severe aggression does not, provides a perspective that may reconcile conflicting observations in the literature

Cochlear implant programming: a global survey on the state of the art

The programming of CIs is essential for good performance. However, no Good Clinical Practice guidelines exist. This paper reports on the results of an inventory of the current practice worldwide. A questionnaire was distributed to 47 CI centers. They follow 47600 recipients in 17 countries and 5 continents. The results were discussed during a debate. Sixty-two percent of the results were verified through individual interviews during the following months. Most centers (72%) participated in a cross-sectional study logging 5 consecutive fitting sessions in 5 different recipients. Data indicate that general practice starts with a single switch-on session, followed by three monthly sessions, three quarterly sessions, and then annual sessions, all containing one hour of programming and testing. The main focus lies on setting maximum and, to a lesser extent, minimum current levels per electrode. These levels are often determined on a few electrodes and then extrapolated. They are mainly based on subjective loudness perception by the CI user and, to a lesser extent, on pure tone and speech audiometry. Objective measures play a small role as indication of the global MAP profile. Other MAP parameters are rarely modified. Measurable targets are only defined for pure tone audiometry. Huge variation exists between centers on all aspects of the fitting practice

The pleasure of aggressiveness among inmates in preventive and longTerm detention

To a large degree, humans use pleasure (hedonicity) maximization to guide decision making, thereby optimizing their behaviour, as shown by research on either sensory or purely mental pleasure (e.g., pleasure from video-game playing or mathematical problem-solving). Our group has now found that pleasure determines decision making in situations of interpersonal aggression, i.e., people tend to behave aggressively in proportion to the resulting pleasure. In the present study, two groups of inmates in a Spanish prison were compared: those serving long sentences and those being held in preventive detention. All participants answered self-administered questionnaires that had been devised to examine how hedonicity influences decision making in the case of aggressive behaviour. The questionnaires described social conflict situations and offered four options ranging from a passive response to a highly aggressive response. Previous research showed similar results between inmates serving long terms and a non-delinquent population, even though the degree of hedonicity was higher in the inmates: increasingly aggressive behavior is increasingly pleasurable to the aggressor, but only up to a certain level.. In contrast, this paper shows that inmates in preventive detention did not rate any of the aggressive responses as pleasant. Such a difference was present in males only and may have been caused by a desire for social acceptance

Placer asociado con la conducta agresiva en una muestra de reclusos españoles en prisión preventiva

La maximización del placer (hedonismo) es un mecanismo importante en la toma de decisiones humanas, tal y como se ha demostrado tanto para el placer sensitivo como para el placer puramente mental. Esta ligazón también se ha demostrado en situaciones sociales relacionadas con la agresión interpersonal y que los seres humanos tienden a tomar decisiones más agresivas en función del placer resultante. El objetivo de este estudio fue comprobar si esta tendencia se observa también en reclusos. Los resultados son similares a los observados en sujetos “normales” si bien el grado de hedonismo es más alto en los reclusos. No se encontraron diferencias de edad ni sexo. Concluimos que cuanto más agresiva es la conducta más placentera es para el agresor, con la excepción de los niveles más elevados de agresividad. Esta tendencia se observa tanto en sujetos “normales” como en reclusos, aunque es más fuerte en estos últimos.[ABSTRACT]Maximization of pleasure (hedonicity) is a major mechanism in human decision-making, as previous research on both hoth sensory pleasure and purely mental pleasure. In addiction, it has also documented that pleasure is a major factor in decision-making in social situations related to interpersonal aggression, and that people tend to make aggressive behavioural decisions as a function of the resulting pleasure. The present study tried to verify whether this trend was also found in inmates. The results were similar to the ones previously observed in ‘normal’ subjects, even though the degree of hedonicity was higher in the prisoners. No sex nor age differences were found. We conclude that increasingly aggressive behavior is increasingly pleasurable to the aggressor, whith the exception of the highest levels of aggression. This trend is found in both ‘normal’ and inmate populations, even if it seems to be stronger in prisoners

The pleasure of being aggressive in male incarcerated criminals

Maximization of pleasure (hedonicity) is a major mechanism in human decision-making by optimizing behavior, as previous research has shown on both sensory pleasure and purely mental pleasure (such as playing video- games or solving mathematical problems). Our group also documented that pleasure is a major factor in decision-making in social situations related to interpersonal aggression: people tend to make aggressive behavioral decisions as a function of the resulting pleasure. The present study tried to verify whether this trend was also found in inmates. To our knowledge, this is the first investigation on the relationship between pleasure and aggression performed in a prison. Fifty three male inmates in a Spanish prison condemned for severe legal transgressions and serving long detention were compared with seventy five male university students who served as controls. They responded to self-reported questionnaires devised to examine how hedonicity influences decision-making in the case of aggressiveness. Socially conflictive situations were described, with four alternative options ranging from passive to highly aggressive response. A similar bell-shaped trend was present in both populations -aggressive behaviors of medium intensity were rated as significantly less unpleasant than the most passive and most aggressive behaviors-, even though the degree of hedonicity was significantly higher in the inmates, who rated mild and moderate aggressive responses as pleasurable. Inmates also voted for an unexpected lower of aggressiveness than controls, which may be explained by social desirability. Conclusion: the sametrend is found in both populations: mild aggressive behavior may be pleasurable to the aggressor, but only up to a certain level. But this seems to be stronger in inmates: they showed hedonicity when experiencing higher level of aggression. Such a result is consistent with a fundamental role of hedonicity in decision making

Analytical contribution of deuterium 2D-NMR in oriented media to H-2/H-1 isotopic characterization: the case of vanillin

International audienceThe evaluation of intramolecular H-2 or C-13 isotopic composition of vanillin by liquid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is an illustrative example of the analytical challenges associated with molecular authenticity/traceability investigations in food products, and the determination/understanding of metabolic/synthetic pathways. Although isotopic ratio monitoring by C-13 NMR (irm-C-13 NMR) provides a valuable new source of isotopic information, the analysis of position-specific (H-2/H-1) isotopic fractionation of vanillin remains incomplete because of the overlap of two aromatic H-2 resonances, and the impossibility of separating these fortuitous isochronous nuclei by isotropic NMR. Exploiting the analytical potential of H-2 2D-NMR in media containing polypeptide-based liquid crystals, we show that all aromatic monodeuterated isotopomers can be spectrally discriminated on the basis of H-2 residual quadrupolar couplings, (Q)(H-2), thus enabling the determination of their relative proportions for the first time. After discussing the multiple relevant cofactors leading to the best discrimination and optimization of experimental conditions for reliable quantitative measurements by anisotropic 2D-NMR, a comparative analysis of six vanillin samples from diverse origins is reported. How the H-2 distribution might relate to the biosynthesis of vanillin is discussed

Determinants of pulse pressure amplification in hypertensive and diabetic patients

Hypertensive diabetic patients remain at high cardiovascular risk despite adequate blood pressure and glycemic control. Pulse pressure amplification (PPA) is expressed as the peripheral-to-central PP ratio and provides complementary information for use in assessing cardiovascular risk. The aim of our study was to determine the clinical and biological determinants of PPA in hypertensive and diabetic patients. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 624 patients. Applanation tonometry was used to determine hemodynamic parameters. Age, gender, and the association between hypertension and diabetes were the independent factors of PPA in our population (N = 624). A threshold of 55 years of age was chosen because of its link with menopause in our analysis. Multivariate regression analyses were performed to evaluate the independent determinants of PPA for hypertensive diabetic and hypertensive nondiabetic male and female patients. HbA1c level is the main factor of increased PPA regardless of age and gender (P &lt; 0.05). Mean BP negatively regulates PPA in the overall study: men &gt; 55 years (P = 0.0001) and women &gt; 55 years (P = 0.03). The threshold calculated glomerular filtration rate (cGFR) &lt; 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 was an independent and negative factor of PPA in hypertensive diabetic men regardless of age (P &lt; 0.05) and in women &gt; 55 years (P = 0.04). Mean BP negatively regulates PPA in hypertensive nondiabetic patients (P &lt; 0.04) regardless of age and gender, except in women &gt; 55 years, where cGFR &lt; 60 (P = 0.04) negatively regulates the modulation of PPA. HbA1c and threshold cGFR &lt; 60 have highly significant impacts on PPA in hypertensive diabetic patients, whereas mean BP appears as the main factor of PPA in hypertensive nondiabetic patients. © 2018, The Japanese Society of Hypertension