Impact of lockdown measures on joint music making : playing online and physically together

A wide range of countries decided to go into lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, a setting separating people and restricting their movements. We investigated how musicians dealt with this sudden restriction in mobility. Responses of 234 people was collected. The majority of respondents (95%) resided in Belgium or The Netherlands. Results indicated a decrease of 79% of live music making in social settings during lockdown compared to before lockdown. In contrast, an increase of 264% was demonstrated for online joint music making. However, results showed that most respondents were largely or even completely unaccustomed with specialized platforms for online joint music making (e.g., JamKazam, Jamulus). Respondents reported to mostly use well known video conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Skype when playing together virtually. However, when such general video conferencing platforms were used, they were often not employed for synchronized playing and were generally reported to insufficiently deal with latency issues. Furthermore, respondents depending on music making as their main source of income explored online methods significantly more than those relying on other income sources. Results also demonstrated an increase of 93% in the use of alternative remote joint music making methods (e.g., recording parts separately and subsequently circulating these digital recordings). All in all, results of this study provide a more in-depth view on joint music making during the first weeks of lockdown induced by the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, and demonstrate users’ perception of performance and usability of online platforms as well as alternative methods for musical interaction

Clinical and experimental interventions in psoriasis

Psoriasis is een chronische huidziekte, waaraan ongeveer 350.000 mensen in Nederland lijden. Hoewel psoriasis geen levensbedreigende ziekte is, heeft de ziekte wel een grote impact op de kwaliteit van leven van patiënten. Patiënten worden elke dag met hun ziekte geconfronteerd en door de omgeving wordt vaak onterecht gedacht dat de ziekte besmettelijk is. Onderzoek naar deze huidaandoening gericht op de immunopathogenese en het identificeren van verschillende subpopulaties binnen de heterogene groep van psoriasis patiënten zal uiteindelijk leiden tot betere behandelingen voor de patiënt. Dit proefschrift richt zich op verschillende facetten van psoriasis waaronder: • de invloed van het zenuwstelsel en neuropeptides • het werkingsmechanisme van fumaarzuur • de werking van de biologic ustekinumab en het identificeren van responders en non-responders op ustekinumab op basis van cytokine profielen en • het anti-inflammatoire mechanisme van interleukine-4 bij psoriasi

Relational processing demands and the role of spatial context in the construction of episodic simulations

Reports on differences between remembering the past and imagining the future have led to the hypothesis that constructing future events is a more cognitively demanding process. However, factors that influence these increased demands, such as whether the event has been previously constructed and the types of details comprising the event, have remained relatively unexplored. Across two experiments, we examined how these factors influence the process of constructing event representations by having participants repeatedly construct events and measuring how construction times and a range of phenomenological ratings changed across time points. In Experiment 1, we contrasted the construction of past and future events and found that, relative to past events, the constructive demands associated with future events are particularly heightened when these events are imagined for the first time. Across repeated simulations, future events became increasingly similar to past events in terms of construction times and incorporated detail. In Experiment 2, participants imagined future events involving two memory details (person, location) and then reimagined the event either (a) exactly the same, (b) with a different person, or (c) in a different location. We predicted that if generating spatial information is particularly important for event construction, a change in location will have the greatest impact on constructive demands. Results showed that spatial context contributed to these heightened constructive demands more so than person details, consistent with theories highlighting the central role of spatial processing in episodic simulation. We discuss the findings from both studies in the light of relational processing demands and consider implications for current theoretical frameworks

Selective attention and inhibitory control of attention are correlated with music audiation

Executive functions (EFs) are cognitive functions needed for adaptive and targeted behavior. Music aptitude is the potential or capacity for musical achievement. A key element of music aptitude is audiation, defined as the process through which sound becomes music and meaning is attributed to that music. In this paper, we report on the association between audiation skills and executive skills. Not only is this important to consider the validity of the audiation tests, but also to better understand the concept of audiation and its link to cognitive skills. We conducted an empirical study, in which a sample of second grade school students from two elementary schools, one from Ghent, Belgium (N = 36) and the other from Santiago, Chile (N = 25), were administered both a musical aptitude and an attention and inhibitory control test. We hypothesized that a positive correlation exists between sustained attention, inhibitory control and music aptitude

The psychological burden of skin diseases: a cross-sectional multicenter study among dermatological out-patients in 13 European countries.

The contribution of psychological disorders to the burden of skin disease has been poorly explored, and this is a large-scale study to ascertain the association between depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation with various dermatological diagnoses. This international multicenter observational cross-sectional study was conducted in 13 European countries. In each dermatology clinic, 250 consecutive adult out-patients were recruited to complete a questionnaire, reporting socio-demographic information, negative life events, and suicidal ideation; depression and anxiety were assessed with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. A clinical examination was performed. A control group was recruited among hospital employees. There were 4,994 participants--3,635 patients and 1,359 controls. Clinical depression was present in 10.1% patients (controls 4.3%, odds ratio (OR) 2.40 (1.67-3.47)). Clinical anxiety was present in 17.2% (controls 11.1%, OR 2.18 (1.68-2.82)). Suicidal ideation was reported by 12.7% of all patients (controls 8.3%, OR 1.94 (1.33-2.82)). For individual diagnoses, only patients with psoriasis had significant association with suicidal ideation. The association with depression and anxiety was highest for patients with psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, hand eczema, and leg ulcers. These results identify a major additional burden of skin disease and have important clinical implications.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio