Relationship between parenting style, alexithymia and aggression in emerging adults

Alexithymia has been linked to reduced emotional awareness and increased aggression. One line of evidence suggests that authoritarian parenting contributes to the development of alexithymia. To elucidate the relationship between experienced parenting style, alexithymia and aggression the Parental Authority Questionnaire, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire were administered to a group of emerging adults. Current findings show a positive relationship between: (i) authoritarian parenting style and alexithymia, (ii) alexithymia and aggression, iii) authoritarian parenting style and aggression. This study also found that paternal authoritarian parenting predicted alexithymia and aggression when controlling for maternal authoritarian style, but not the other way round. In addition, alexithymia mediated the relationship between paternal authoritarian parenting and aggression when controlling for maternal authoritarian style suggesting that elevated alexithymia which is likely to be a consequence of authoritarian parenting, especially when it is practiced by a father, contributes to increased aggression in adulthood

Examining the Relationship Between Schizotypy and Self-Reported Visual Imagery Vividness in Grapheme-Color Synaesthesia.

Synaesthesia is a condition in which one property of a stimulus triggers a secondary experience not typically associated with the first (e.g., seeing achromatic graphemes can evoke the perception of color). Recent work has explored a variety of cognitive and perceptual traits associated with synaesthesia. One example is in the domain of personality, where higher rates of positive schizotypy and openness to experience and lower agreeableness have been reported in synaesthetes who experience color as their evoked sensation relative to typical adult controls. Additionally, grapheme-color synaesthetes have previously been reported to show elevated mental imagery compared to typical adults. Here, we aimed to further elucidate the relationship between personality, synaesthesia, and other cognitive traits. In Study 1, we examined self-reported schizotypy and self-reported visual imagery vividness in grapheme-color synaesthetes and typical adults. Our results partially replicated previous findings by showing that synaesthesia was associated with greater positive schizotypy and enhanced self-reported imagery vividness. The results also extend previous reports by demonstrating that differences in positive schizotypy and mental imagery vividness are not related in grapheme-color synaesthesia. In Study 2, we sought to build on prior work showing lower agreeableness and increased openness to experience in synaesthetes by examining whether grapheme-color synaesthesia is associated with other conceptually related traits; namely lower self-monitoring and increased sensation seeking. We did not find any differences between synaesthetes and controls on either of these traits. These findings are discussed in relation to potential factors that may contribute to the observed personality profile in grapheme-color synaesthesia

Social perception in synaesthesia for colour

Synaesthesia is a rare phenomenon in which stimulation in one modality (e.g. audition) evokes a secondary percept not associated with the first (e.g. colour). Although there is a significant body of research investigating the mechanisms underlying synaesthetic experiences, it is only recently that studies have begun to investigate broader traits associated with the condition. Prior work has suggested links between synaesthesia and other neurodevelopmental conditions that are linked to altered social perception abilities. With this in mind, here we sought to examine social perception abilities in grapheme-colour synaesthesia (where achromatic graphemes evoke colour experiences) by examining facial identity and facial emotion perception in grapheme-colour synaesthetes and non-synaesthete controls. Our results indicate that individuals who experience grapheme-colour synaesthesia outperformed controls on tasks involving fine visual discrimination of facial identity and emotion, but not on tasks involving holistic face processing. These findings are discussed in the context of broader perceptual and cognitive traits previously associated with synaesthesia for colour, with the suggestion that performance benefits shown by grapheme-colour synaesthetes on fine visual discrimination of facial identity and emotion may be related to domain-general visual discrimination biases observed in this group

Color processing in synesthesia: what synesthesia can and cannot tell us about mechanisms of color processing

Synesthetic experiences of color have been traditionally conceptualized as a perceptual phenomenon. However, recent evidence suggests a role of higher order cognition in the formation of synesthetic experiences. Here, we discuss how synesthetic experiences of color differ from and influence veridical color processing, and how non-perceptual processes such as imagery and color memory might play a role in eliciting synesthetic color experience

“No pain, no gain”: The impact of autonomous sensory meridian response on pain perception

Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a phenomenon characterised by a static-like tingling sensation spreading from the scalp and neck to the periphery in response to a variety of audio, visual, and tactile triggers resulting in a highly relaxed state and boosted positive affect. The limited literature on this phenomenon points to a potential of ASMR to alleviate pain. Emerging evidence also suggests that ASMR may be linked to increased sensory sensitivity more broadly. This study aimed to objectively address these claims by administering an algometer (measure of pain tolerance), and a visual analog scale (VAS) (measure of subjective pain sensitivity) to ASMR experiencers and controls at baseline, following an ASMR video, and a control video. Findings indicate that ASMR experiencers have a higher pain sensitivity than controls; however, there was no difference between the two groups in terms of pain tolerance. In addition, any potential analgesic properties associated with experiencing ASMR may reflect protective properties of ASMR buffering against the increased pain sensitivity among ASMR experiencers relative to controls