Baby Schema in Infant Faces Induces Cuteness Perception and Motivation for Caretaking in Adults

Ethologist Konrad Lorenz proposed that baby schema (‘Kindchenschema’) is a set of infantile physical features such as the large head, round face and big eyes that is perceived as cute and motivates caretaking behavior in other individuals, with the evolutionary function of enhancing offspring survival. Previous work on this fundamental concept was restricted to schematic baby representations or correlative approaches. Here, we experimentally tested the effects of baby schema on the perception of cuteness and the motivation for caretaking using photographs of infant faces. Employing quantitative techniques, we parametrically manipulated the baby schema content to produce infant faces with high (e.g. round face and high forehead), and low (e. g. narrow face and low forehead) baby schema features that retained all the characteristics of a photographic portrait. Undergraduate students (n = 122) rated these infants’ cuteness and their motivation to take care of them. The high baby schema infants were rated as more cute and elicited stronger motivation for caretaking than the unmanipulated and the low baby schema infants. This is the first experimental proof of the baby schema effects in actual infant faces. Our findings indicate that the baby schema response is a critical function of human social cognition that may be the basis of caregiving and have implications for infant–caretaker interactions

Classifying spatial patterns of brain activity with machine learning methods: application to lie detection

Patterns of brain activity during deception have recently been characterized with fMRI on the multi-subject average group level. The clinical value of fMRI in lie detection will be determined by the ability to detect deception in individual subjects, rather than group averages. High-dimensional non-linear pattern classification methods applied to functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) images were used to discriminate between the spatial patterns of brain activity associated with lie and truth. In 22 participants performing a forced-choice deception task, 99% of the true and false responses were discriminated correctly. Predictive accuracy, assessed by cross-validation in participants not included in training, was 88%. The results demonstrate the potential of non-linear machine learning techniques in lie detection and other possible clinical applications of fMRI in individual subjects, and indicate that accurate clinical tests could be based on measurements of brain function with fMRI

Telling the truth from lie in individual subjects with fast event-related fMRI

Deception is a clinically important behavior with poorly understood neurobiological correlates. Published functional MRI (fMRI) data on the brain activity during deception indicates that, on a multisubject group level, lie is distinguished from truth by increased prefrontal and parietal activity. These findings are theoretically important; however, their applied value will be determined by the accuracy of the discrimination between single deceptive and truthful responses in individual subjects. This study presents the first quantitative estimate of the accuracy of fMRI in conjunction with a formal forced-choice paradigm in detecting deception in individual subjects. We used a paradigm balancing the salience of the target cues to elicit deceptive and truthful responses and determined the accuracy of this model in the classification of single lie and truth events. The relative salience of the task cues affected the net activation associated with lie in the superior medial and inferolateral prefrontal cortices. Lie was discriminated from truth on a single-event level with an accuracy of 78%, while the predictive ability expressed as the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) was 85%. Our findings confirm that fMRI, in conjunction with a carefully controlled query procedure, could be used to detect deception in individual subjects. Salience of the task cues is a potential confounding factor in the fMRI pattern attributed to deception in forced choice deception paradigms

Reduced prefrontal and temporal processing and recall of high sensation value ads

Public service announcements (PSAs) are non-commercial broadcast ads that are an important part of televised public health campaigns. “Message sensation value” (MSV), a measure of sensory intensity of audio, visual, and content features of an ad, is an important factor in PSA impact. Some communication theories propose that higher message sensation value brings increased attention and cognitive processing, leading to higher ad impact. Others argue that the attention-intensive format could compete with ad\u27s message for cognitive resources and result in reduced processing of PSA content and reduced overall effectiveness. Brain imaging during PSA viewing provides a quantitative surrogate measure of PSA impact and addresses questions of PSA evaluation and design not accessible with traditional subjective and epidemiological methods. We used Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and recognition memory measures to compare high and low MSV anti-tobacco PSAs and neutral videos. In a short-delay, forced-choice memory test, frames extracted from PSAs were recognized more accurately than frames extracted from the NV. Frames from the low MSV PSAs were better recognized than frames from the high MSV PSAs. The accuracy of recognition of PSA frames was positively correlated with the prefrontal and temporal, and negatively correlated with the occipital cortex activation. The low MSV PSAs were associated with greater prefrontal and temporal activation, than the high MSV PSAs. The high MSV PSAs produced greater activation primarily in the occipital cortex. These findings support the “dual processing” and “limited capacity” theories of communication that postulate a competition between ad\u27s content and format for the viewers\u27 cognitive resources and suggest that the “attention-grabbing” high MSV format could impede the learning and retention of an ad. These findings demonstrate the potential of using neuroimaging in the design and evaluation of mass media public health communications

Content Matters: Neuroimaging Investigation of Brain and Behavioral Impact of Televised Anti-Tobacco Public Service Announcements

Televised public service announcements are video ads that are a key component of public health campaigns against smoking. Understanding the neurophysiological correlates of anti-tobacco ads is an important step toward novel objective methods of their evaluation and design. In the present study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the brain and behavioral effects of the interaction between content ( argument strength, AS) and format ( message sensation value, MSV) of anti-smoking ads in humans. Seventy-one nontreatment-seeking smokers viewed a sequence of 16 high or 16 low AS ads during an fMRI scan. Dependent variables were brain fMRI signal, the immediate recall of the ads, the immediate change in intentions to quit smoking, and the urine levels of a major nicotine metabolite cotinine at a 1 month follow-up. Whole-brain ANOVA revealed that AS and MSV interacted in the inferior frontal, inferior parietal, and fusiform gyri; the precuneus; and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dMPFC). Regression analysis showed that the activation in the dMPFC predicted the urine cotinine levels 1 month later. These results characterize the key brain regions engaged in the processing of persuasive communications and suggest that brain fMRI response to anti-smoking ads could predict subsequent smoking severity in nontreatment-seeking smokers. Our findings demonstrate the importance of the quality of content for objective ad outcomes and suggest that fMRI investigation may aid the prerelease evaluation of televised public health ads

“It's Not What You Say, But How You Say it”: A Reciprocal Temporo-frontal Network for Affective Prosody

Humans communicate emotion vocally by modulating acoustic cues such as pitch, intensity and voice quality. Research has documented how the relative presence or absence of such cues alters the likelihood of perceiving an emotion, but the neural underpinnings of acoustic cue-dependent emotion perception remain obscure. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 20 subjects we examined a reciprocal circuit consisting of superior temporal cortex, amygdala and inferior frontal gyrus that may underlie affective prosodic comprehension. Results showed that increased saliency of emotion-specific acoustic cues was associated with increased activation in superior temporal cortex [planum temporale (PT), posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG), and posterior superior middle gyrus (pMTG)] and amygdala, whereas decreased saliency of acoustic cues was associated with increased inferior frontal activity and temporo-frontal connectivity. These results suggest that sensory-integrative processing is facilitated when the acoustic signal is rich in affective information, yielding increased activation in temporal cortex and amygdala. Conversely, when the acoustic signal is ambiguous, greater evaluative processes are recruited, increasing activation in inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and IFG STG connectivity. Auditory regions may thus integrate acoustic information with amygdala input to form emotion-specific representations, which are evaluated within inferior frontal regions

Exercise, Service and Support: Client Experiences of Physical Activity Referral Schemes(PARS)

Physical activity referral schemes (PARS) represent one of the most prevalent interventions in the fight against chronic illness such as coronary heart disease and obesity. Despite this, issues surrounding low retention and adherence continue to hinder the potential effectiveness of such schemes on public health. This article reports on the second stage of a larger investigation into client experiences of PARS focusing specifically on findings from five client-based focus groups and interviews with five Scheme Organisers. The resulting analysis reveals three main factors impacting participant perceptions of the quality of service and support received: the organisation of PARS provision, client engagement with the PARS community and the nature and extent of client support networks. The article demonstrates that staff have a considerable role to play in engaging clients in the PARS system and that Scheme Organisers should give serious thought to ensuring that clients have valuable and sustainable networks of support. Furthermore, it is suggested that Scheme Organisers need to facilitate a system in which staff are genuinely engaged with the needs of clients and are able to provide individualised programmes of physical activity

Processing of disgusted faces is facilitated by odor primes: A functional MRI study

Facilitation of emotional face recognition is an established phenomenon for audiovisual crossmodal stimulation, but not for other sensory modalities. The present study used a crossmodal priming task to identify brain systems controlling olfactory–visual interactions during emotion processing. BOLD fMRI was acquired for 44 healthy subjects during an emotional face discrimination task preceded by an emotionally valenced odorant.Behavioral performance showed that recognition of disgusted faces was improved by the presentation of an olfactory stimulus irrespective of its emotional valence. No such facilitation was seen for other facial expressions. The neuroimaging data showed a selective default network responsivity to emotional faces which was modulated by odor condition. Among disgust faces, hypoactivations during trials preceded by odorants indicated the presence of priming effects. Consistent with studies investigating the brain systems associated with audiovisual emotional integration, activity modulations in clusters in fusiform gyrus, middle frontal and middle cingulate gyrus corresponded to the observed behavioral facilitation. Our study further shows modulation of signal in the anterior insula during trials combining negatively valenced odor and disgusted faces, suggesting a modality-specific mechanism for integration of the disgust response and olfaction. These results indicate the presence of a central network with modality-specific and -unspecific components modulating emotional face recognition

Biologization of lifestyle of the inhabitant in the ideological tradition of American horror film

Актуальность. Переосмысление классических политических доминант актуализирует смыслы взаимодействия государства, общества и индивида. Отказ от прямого физического принуждения побуждает к поиску идеологических механизмов социального контроля. Голливуд становится медийным рупором биотической трансформации политики, а фильм ужасов превращается в наиболее эффективную модель визуализации этих технологий. Цель работы - проанализировать методологические стратегии биотизации обывательской повседневности в пространстве современной массовой культуры посредством идеологической экспансии традиции американских фильмов ужасов. Методы: комплекс компаративистских, семиотических и психоаналитических методов, анализирующих художественный опыт кинематографа и его мифологию. Результаты. Голливудские фильмы ужасов выступают апробированным средством сублимации, деформации и потребительского замещения ментального ядра любых конкурирующих социокультурных традиций. Американская визуальная хоррор-культура эффективно вытесняет потенциал агрессии внутри страны, превращаясь в прибыльную пропагандистскую технологию формирования и продвижения патомифа. Он воспроизводит преимущественно физиологические мотивы коммуникации индивида с окружающим миром, пропагандирует идейную доминанту биологически сильной особи как фундамент социокультурной коммуникации постчеловеческого типа. Американский фильм ужасов обнуляет экзистенциальный опыт человечества и находится в авангарде ревизии традиций не только европейской, но и мировой культуры. Выводы. Голливудская модель биовласти разрушает культурные традиции и исторический опыт, конструирует и продвигает антропологическую и социокультурную сингулярность человеческой особи, понимаемую как ее единичность в противостоянии отчужденному социуму, а периодически накапливающаяся «интоксикация» голливудским ужасом компенсируется иллюзией американской геополитической гегемонии.Relevance. Reinterpretation of classical political dominants actualizes the meanings of interaction between the state, society and individual. The rejection of direct physical coercion encourages the search for ideological mechanisms of social control. Hollywood is becoming a media mouthpiece for the biotic transformation of politics, and horror film is becoming the most effective model for visualizing these technologies. The aim. The article analyzes the strategies of biotization of everyday life in the space of modern mass culture through the ideological expansion of American horror films. Research. Domestic and foreign authors state the transformation of classical ideology into latent forms of control at the level of official and everyday practices. Methods. The article uses a complex of comparative, semiotic and psychoanalytic methods analyzing the artistic experience of cinema and its mythology. Results. Hollywood horror films are a proven means of sublimation, deformation and consumer substitution of the mental core of any competing socio-cultural traditions. American visual horror-culture effectively displaces the potential of aggression within the country, turning into a lucrative propaganda technology for formation and promotion of pathomif. It reproduces mainly physiological motives of communication of the individual with the world, promotes the ideological dominant of the biologically strong individual as the foundation of socio-cultural communication of the posthuman type. American horror film nullifies the existential experience of mankind; it is at the forefront of the revision of the traditions of not only European but also world culture. Findings. The Hollywood model of bio-power destroys cultural traditions and historical experience, constructs anthropological and socio-cultural singularity of the human individual, and periodically accumulating «intoxication» with Hollywood horror is compensated by the illusion of American geopolitical hegemony