Haptic Aesthetics and Bodily Properties of Ori Gersht’s Digital Art: A Behavioral and Eye-Tracking Study.

Experimental aesthetics has shed light on the involvement of pre-motor areas in the perception of abstract art. However, the contribution of texture perception to aesthetic experience is still understudied. We hypothesized that digital screen-based art, despite its immateriality, might suggest potential sensorimotor stimulation. Original born-digital works of art were selected and manipulated by the artist himself. Five behavioral parameters: Beauty, Liking, Touch, Proximity, and Movement, were investigated under four experimental conditions: Resolution (high/low), and Magnitude (Entire image/detail). These were expected to modulate the quantity of material and textural information afforded by the image. While the Detail condition afforded less content-related information, our results show that it augmented the image’s haptic appeal. High Resolution improved the haptic and aesthetic properties of the images. Furthermore, aesthetic ratings positively correlated with sensorimotor ratings. Our results demonstrate a strict relation between the aesthetic and sensorimotor/haptic qualities of the images, empirically establishing a relationship between beholders’ bodily involvement and their aesthetic judgment of visual works of art. In addition, we found that beholders’ oculomotor behavior is selectively modulated by the perceptual manipulations being performed. The eye-tracking results indicate that the observation of the Entire, original images is the only condition in which the latency of the first fixation is shorter when participants gaze to the left side of the images. These results thus demonstrate the existence of a left-side bias during the observation of digital works of art, in particular, while participants are observing their original version

The consequences of COVID-19 on social interactions: an online study on face covering

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the nature of our social interactions. In order to understand how protective equipment and distancing measures influence the ability to comprehend others' emotions and, thus, to effectively interact with others, we carried out an online study across the Italian population during the first pandemic peak. Participants were shown static facial expressions (Angry, Happy and Neutral) covered by a sanitary mask or by a scarf. They were asked to evaluate the expressed emotions as well as to assess the degree to which one would adopt physical and social distancing measures for each stimulus. Results demonstrate that, despite the covering of the lower-face, participants correctly recognized the facial expressions of emotions with a polarizing effect on emotional valence ratings found in females. Noticeably, while females' ratings for physical and social distancing were driven by the emotional content of the stimuli, males were influenced by the "covered" condition. The results also show the impact of the pandemic on anxiety and fear experienced by participants. Taken together, our results offer novel insights on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social interactions, providing a deeper understanding of the way people react to different kinds of protective face covering

The Remapping of Peripersonal Space in a Real but Not in a Virtual Environment

One of the most surprising features of our brain is the fact that it is extremely plastic. Among the various plastic processes supported by our brain, there is the neural representation of the space surrounding our body, the peripersonal space (PPS). The effects of real-world tool use on the PPS are well known in cognitive neuroscience, but little is still known whether similar mechanisms also govern virtual tool use. To this purpose, the present study investigated the plasticity of the PPS before and after a real (Experiment 1) or virtual motor training with a tool (Experiment 2). The results show the expansion of the PPS only following real-world tool use but not virtual use, highlighting how the two types of training potentially rely on different processes. This study enriches the current state of the art on the plasticity of PPS in real and virtual environments. We discuss our data with respect to the relevance for the development of effective immersive environment for trainings, learning and rehabilitation

Kinetic cross-modal correspondences and felt (e)motion in a novel set of musical stimuli

Embodied music cognition predicts that our understanding of human-made sounds relates to our experience of making the same or similar movements and sounds, which involves imitation of the source of visual and auditory information. This embodiment of sound may lead to numerous kinetic cross-modal correspondences (CMCs). This article investigates music experience in participants with a non-professionally trained music background across three musical dimensions: Contour (Ascending, Descending, Flat), Vertical Density (Low, Medium, High), and Note Pattern (Binary, Ternary, Quaternary). In order that stimuli should reflect contemporary musical usage yet be subject to a high degree of experimental control, 27 ten-second digital piano tracks were created in collaboration with a film composer. In Study 1, participants were asked to rate the stimuli for perceived Direction, Rotation, Movement, and Emotional and Physical Involvement. We test the effects of these factors in terms of the following theories: general and vocal embodied responses to music, the Ecological Theory of Rotating Sounds, and the Shared Affective Motion Experience model of emotion induction. Results for Study 1 were consistent with theories of general and vocal embodied responses to music, as well as with theories of embodied emotional contagion in music. Study 1 also revealed potential confounds in the stimuli, which were further investigated in Study 2 with a new set of participants rating the stimuli for perceived Pitch, Loudness, and Speed. Results for Study 2 served to dissociate intrinsic features of the stimuli from CMCs. Taken together, the two studies reveal a range of embodied CMCs. Although there are limitations to a perceptual study such as this, these stimuli stand to benefit future research in further investigating the embodiment of musical motion

The role of context in the interpretation of facial expressions : an EEG study on the Kuleshov effect

Le espressioni facciali rivestono una grande importanza per la nostra comprensione degli stati emotivi altrui. Il mondo in cui esperiamo queste espressioni facciali, inoltre, è influenzato da una serie di fattori contestuali che influenzano la nostra valutazione e comprensione degli stati emotivi altrui. Come emerso in molti studi, un metodo efficace per indagare queste influenze sulla nostra percezione è rappresentato dell’Elettroencefalografia (EEG). Attraverso questo strumento molti autori hanno rilevato peculiari risposte cerebrali (ERP) che identificano le diverse fasi di elaborazione di una espressione facciale. Queste fasi di elaborazione posso essere molto precoci (80 ms) con stimoli emotivamente salienti, ma possono prolungarsi anche per molte centinaia di millisecondi dopo lo stimolo (LPP), riflettendo un tipo di elaborazione non più solo percettiva, ma cognitiva. Il modo in cui percepiamo un volto in una situazione contestuale può essere anche messo in luce attraverso la finzione cinematografica ed il montaggio. Il regista Lev Kuleshov sosteneva, infatti, che le informazioni contestuali, presentate attraverso un’inquadratura con una forte valenza emotiva, potevano cambiare significativamente la nostra interpretazione delle espressioni facciali nel film. Con questo studio sperimentale riproponiamo una versione dell’effetto Kuleshov, riproposta già da diversi autori, in cui a due inquadrature di un volto neutro interponiamo una inquadratura di contesto con valenza emotiva (che evocava paura o felicità) oppure con valenza anch’essa neutra. I partecipanti dovevano valutare l’emozione mostrata dall’attore nella sequenza in termini di Valenza, Attivazione e Categorizzazione mentre erano sottoposti ad una registrazione di EEG. I risultati delle risposte esplicite dei partecipanti hanno chiaramente dimostrato la presenza di un effetto significativo in termini sia di Valenza che di Attivazione, quasi esclusivamente nelle femmine. I partecipanti tendevano, inoltre, a categorizzare l'espressione facciale neutra dell’attore con una etichetta emotiva congruente con il contesto. Per quanto riguarda le risposte cerebrali dei partecipanti in seguito alla visione del secondo volto, abbiamo rilevato una modulazione precoce quando il volto era preceduto da contesti con valenza emotiva, dovuta alla maggiore salienza di questi stimoli. Inoltre, abbiamo rilevato la modulazione della componente N400 dovuta alla discordanza percepita dai partecipanti tra l’osservazione del volto neutro e il contesto emotivo che lo ha preceduto e una successiva componente tardiva positiva (LPP) che potrebbe riflettere i processi cognitivi, post percettivi, attraverso i quali attribuiamo al volto neutro una valenza emotiva. I risultati proposti ci indicano che l’effetto Kuleshov potrebbe essere spiegato da un processo cognitivo di attribuzione di aspettative create dal contesto stesso e non da una reale esperienza percettiva ed emotiva del volto

Haptic aesthetics and bodily properties of Ori Gersht's digital art: a behavioral and eye-tracking study

Experimental aesthetics has shed light on the involvement of pre-motor areas in the perception of abstract art. However, the contribution of texture perception to aesthetic experience is still understudied. We hypothesized that digital screen-based art, despite its immateriality, might suggest potential sensorimotor stimulation. Original born-digital works of art were selected and manipulated by the artist himself. Five behavioral parameters: Beauty, Liking, Touch, Proximity, and Movement, were investigated under four experimental conditions: Resolution (high/low), and Magnitude (Entire image/detail). These were expected to modulate the quantity of material and textural information afforded by the image. While the Detail condition afforded less content-related information, our results show that it augmented the image’s haptic appeal. High Resolution improved the haptic and aesthetic properties of the images. Furthermore, aesthetic ratings positively correlated with sensorimotor ratings. Our results demonstrate a strict relation between the aesthetic and sensorimotor/haptic qualities of the images, empirically establishing a relationship between beholders’ bodily involvement and their aesthetic judgment of visual works of art. In addition, we found that beholders’ oculomotor behavior is selectively modulated by the perceptual manipulations being performed. The eye-tracking results indicate that the observation of the Entire, original images is the only condition in which the latency of the first fixation is shorter when participants gaze to the left side of the images. These results thus demonstrate the existence of a left-side bias during the observation of digital works of art, in particular, while participants are observing their original version

Simulating drone and bodily gestures: a behavioral study

According to embodied simulation theory, humans tacitly ‘simulate’ the actions of the other by mapping them in the sensorimotor cortex of the brain. According to the framework of embodied cinema, the meaning-making process in film is considered to be inextricably linked to the interrelation between the brain, body and environment of the viewer. Athough there are a growing number of theoretical and technological studies on the embodied nature of drone flight, to date no studies have investigated the effect of drone footage with and without human bodily movement on spectators’ cognitive behavioral mechanisms. Thus, the present study investigates the relationship between Drone Movement (Ascending, Descending, Still) , Actor Presence (Female, Male, None) and Image Speed (Normal, Slow, Very Slow) on perceived motion, appeal and involvement measures. To achieve these aims, a custom-made, naturalistic set of video stimuli modeled after the staircase scene in the Soviet film The Cranes Are Flying (Kalatozov, 1957) was created using a DJI Phantom Pro 4 Drone. In the experimental task (carried out at the computer), participants were asked to rate video stimuli using a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) ranging from 0 to 100 for perceived Duration, Liking, Movement, and Emotional and Physical Involvement. Results demonstrate that: 1) Ascending and Descending had significantly higher ratings for perceived Duration, Movement and Physical and Emotional Involvement than Still; 2) Ascending had significantly higher ratings for perceived Duration, Movement and Emotional Involvement than Descending; 3) Female and Male had significantly higher ratings for Movement, Physical Involvement and Emotional Involvement than None (No Actor); 4) Normal Image Speed had significantly higher ratings for Movement, Physical Involvement and Emotional Involvement with respect to Slow and Very Slow. Results indicate that drone/actor ascent may evoke more motion and involvement due to perceived exertion or ‘effort’ to climb up the stairs, and that participants resonate more with conspecifics and familiar repertoires, in support of embodied simulation theory. Results also indicate that movement in the drone/actor image modulates perceived time. Neuroimaging studies are needed to investiate the impact of drone movement with or without human bodily movement on cortical sensorimotor activation in the brain

The Remapping of Peripersonal Space in a Real but Not in a Virtual Environment

One of the most surprising features of our brain is the fact that it is extremely plastic. Among the various plastic processes supported by our brain, there is the neural representation of the space surrounding our body, the peripersonal space (PPS). The effects of real-world tool use on the PPS are well known in cognitive neuroscience, but little is still known whether similar mechanisms also govern virtual tool use. To this purpose, the present study investigated the plasticity of the PPS before and after a real (Experiment 1) or virtual motor training with a tool (Experiment 2). The results show the expansion of the PPS only following real-world tool use but not virtual use, highlighting how the two types of training potentially rely on different processes. This study enriches the current state of the art on the plasticity of PPS in real and virtual environments. We discuss our data with respect to the relevance for the development of effective immersive environment for trainings, learning and rehabilitation

Simulating musical rotation, contour and notes: perception of (e)motion in nonmusicians

The meaning of music may rely upon perceived motion (Zuckerkandl, 1971). Recently, the framework of embodied music cognition, which draws on the discovery of mirror neurons and the theory of embodied simulation (Gallese, 2007), makes the claim that our understanding of human-made sounds draws upon our experience of making the same or similar movements and sounds, which involves imitation of the source of visual and auditory information (Cox, 2011). This paper investigates perceived motion and embodied music experience in non-musicians across three musical dimensions: melodic contour (ascending, descending and flat), melodic complexity (low, medium, high) and, following from Hanson and Huron (2019), note pattern (binary, ternary, quaternary). As part of an initiative to adhere to a high aesthetic standard, 27 ten-second piano tracks were created in collaboration with a film composer. In the computer task, participants rated stimuli on a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) ranging from 0 to 100 for perceived Direction, Rotation, Movement, and Emotional and Physical Involvement. Results showed that: 1) Quaternary conditions were perceived as having significantly more Rotation, Movement and being more Physically Involving than Ternary and Binary, 2) High Complexity conditions were perceived as evoking significantly more Movement and being more Emotionally Involving than Low and Medium, and 3) Ascending conditions were perceived as having significantly more Movement, Rotation and being more Emotionally and Physically Involving than Descending and Flat. Results indicate that greater embodiment evoked by musical ascent may be modulated by greater perceived exertion or ‘effort’ to reach higher pitches, in line with the mimetic subvocalization hypothesis (Cox, 2017). Future studies are needed to investigate whether perceived rotation is driven by note pattern (i.e. metre) or note density and pitch., and how musical contour and rotation impact sensorimotor activation in the brain

Tool-use Extends Peripersonal Space Boundaries in Schizophrenic Patients

A primary disruption of the bodily self is considered a core feature of schizophrenia (SCZ). The "disembodied" self might be underpinned by inefficient body-related multisensory integration processes, normally occurring in the peripersonal space (PPS), a plastic sector of space surrounding the body whose extent is altered in SCZ. Although PPS is a malleable interface marking the perceptual border between self and others, no study has addressed the potential alteration of its plasticity in SCZ. We investigated the plasticity of PPS in SCZ patients after a motor training with a tool in the far space