Estudo comportamental e eletrofisiológico da neuromodulação da atenção

O neuroaprimoramento tem como objetivo alterar a atividade cerebral com fins de melhorar o funcionamento comportamental ou cognitivo de sujeitos saudáveis por meio da utilização de técnicas neuromodulatórias. Uma destas funções cognitivas é a atenção, a qual pode ser modulada por meio do neurofeedback ou da Estimulação Transcraniana por Corrente Contínua (ETCC). Vários estudos detectaram melhora em processos atencionais decorrentes da aplicação destas duas técnicas, contudo os resultados na literatura ainda são controversos. Tendo em vista o crescente debate sobre o neuroaprimoramento da atenção e a falta de dados comportamentais e eletrofisiológicos sobre o uso contínuo de tais técnicas, realizamos esta pesquisa com o objetivo de investigar um protocolo de aplicação de neurofeedback e ETCC durante duas semanas no desempenho comportamental e eletrofisiológico de participantes saudáveis durante tarefa atencional. 76 universitários participaram do estudo e foram randomicamente distribuídos para quatro grupos: neurofeedback com modulação do SMR ativo e placebo; e ETCC anódica em córtex pré-frontal dorsolateral direito ativo e placebo. Eles foram submetidos a duas semanas de neuromodulação, com avaliação comportamental e eletrofisiológica pré e pós-tratamento por meio de Tarefa de Rede Atencional (TRA). Ao final do tratamento eles responderam uma escala likert percepção de mudança da atenção. Os participantes dos quatro grupos acreditaram que sua atenção melhorou por meio da escala subjetiva. Contudo, não foram observadas alterações comportamentais ou eletrofisiológicas entre as duas sessões de TRA em função do tratamento aplicado. É provável que a mudança percebida pelos participantes da melhora atencional tenha se dado por efeito placebo. Contudo, existe a possibilidade que esta melhora tenha se dado em um âmbito não avaliado pela TRA. A partir destes dados, discutimos as implicações clínicas e sociais do neuroaprimoramento e do efeito placebo.Neuroenhancement is a procedure that aims to alter brain activity of healthy subjects in order to improve their behavioral or cognitive functioning through neuromodulatory techniques. One common cognitive function focused to modify is attention, which can be modulated by means of neurofeedback or transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS). Several studies have found improvement in attentional processes resulting from the application of these two techniques, nevertheless the results in the literature are still controversial. In view of the growing debate on neuroenhancement of attention as well as the lack of studies investigating behavioral and electrophysiological changes derived from the continuous use of such techniques, we conducted this research aiming to investigate the effect of daily application of neurofeedback and tDCS during two weeks on behavioral and electrophysiological performance of healthy participants in an attentional task. 76 college students were randomly assigned to four groups: active and placebo neurofeedback, focusing on SMR modulation; and active and placebo tDCS with anodal current applied over right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. They underwent two weeks of neuromodulation, with behavioral and electrophysiological evaluation before and after treatment through the Attention Network Task (ANT). At the end of treatment, they responded to a self-report likert-scale of perceived changes of attention. Participants of the four groups believed that their attention improved due to the treatment. However, no behavioral or electrophysiological changes were observed between the two ANT sessions due to the treatment applied. It is likely that the attentional improvement perceived by participants has been due to a placebo effect. However, there is still a possibility that this improvement has occurred within a scope not evaluated by the ANT. From these data, we discuss the clinical and social implications of neuroenhancement and the placebo effect.Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paul

Predicting attitudinal and behavioral responses to COVID-19 pandemic using machine learning

At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 became a global problem. Despite all the efforts to emphasize the relevance of preventive measures, not everyone adhered to them. Thus, learning more about the characteristics determining attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic is crucial to improving future interventions. In this study, we applied machine learning on the multinational data collected by the International Collaboration on the Social and Moral Psychology of COVID-19 (N = 51,404) to test the predictive efficacy of constructs from social, moral, cognitive, and personality psychology, as well as socio-demographic factors, in the attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic. The results point to several valuable insights. Internalized moral identity provided the most consistent predictive contribution—individuals perceiving moral traits as central to their self-concept reported higher adherence to preventive measures. Similar results were found for morality as cooperation, symbolized moral identity, self-control, open-mindedness, and collective narcissism, while the inverse relationship was evident for the endorsement of conspiracy theories. However, we also found a non-neglible variability in the explained variance and predictive contributions with respect to macro-level factors such as the pandemic stage or cultural region. Overall, the results underscore the importance of morality-related and contextual factors in understanding adherence to public health recommendations during the pandemic.Peer reviewe

Predicting attitudinal and behavioral responses to COVID-19 pandemic using machine learning

At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 became a global problem. Despite all the efforts to emphasize the relevance of preventive measures, not everyone adhered to them. Thus, learning more about the characteristics determining attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic is crucial to improving future interventions. In this study, we applied machine learning on the multinational data collected by the International Collaboration on the Social and Moral Psychology of COVID-19 (N = 51,404) to test the predictive efficacy of constructs from social, moral, cognitive, and personality psychology, as well as socio-demographic factors, in the attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic. The results point to several valuable insights. Internalized moral identity provided the most consistent predictive contribution—individuals perceiving moral traits as central to their self-concept reported higher adherence to preventive measures. Similar results were found for morality as cooperation, symbolized moral identity, self-control, open-mindedness, and collective narcissism, while the inverse relationship was evident for the endorsement of conspiracy theories. However, we also found a non-neglible variability in the explained variance and predictive contributions with respect to macro-level factors such as the pandemic stage or cultural region. Overall, the results underscore the importance of morality-related and contextual factors in understanding adherence to public health recommendations during the pandemic

Efeito do estereótipo sobre respostas comportamentais e eletrofisiológicas em tarefa de decisão social

Os jogos simulam situações sociais relativamente simples de cooperação ou competição e podem ser aplicados conjuntamente às técnicas de pesquisa comportamentais e eletrofisiológicas como a análise de potenciais relacionados a eventos (ERP). Um jogo muito estudado é o Ultimatum Game (UG), que pode ser utilizado para investigar como indivíduos reagem à injustiça. Um valor inicial é dividido entre um propositor, que sugere uma divisão do valor, e um respondente que pode aceitar ou rejeitar. Caso este aceite os dois ganham o valor proposto, caso rejeite ninguém ganha. Os resultados comportamentais e eletrofisiológicos têm demonstrado reações comuns no jogo. Os ERPs mais comuns é o MFN, associado ao processamento automático de feedbacks sociais negativos, e o P300, associado a processos atencionais e de memorização. Enquanto a interação entre sujeitos de pesquisa com propositores de desenvolvimento típico já é bem conhecida, o efeito desta interação com propositores com síndrome de Down ainda é desconhecido. O presente buscou investigar diferenças no padrão comportamental, de MFN e P300 em participantes jogando UG com propositor típico e com Down. 32 sujeitos participaram do experimento. Foram aplicadas escalas de desejabilidade social, identidade moral, de autoestima e um teste de atitudes implícitas frente às pessoas com Down. Os resultados demonstraram padrões comportamentais semelhantes entres os propositores e a literatura. Quanto aos ERPs, o MFN não foi detectado e houve presença de componente P200 para propostas de Down. Houve também maior amplitude de P300 para propostas justas do típico em comparação as justas do Down e destes dois em comparação às propostas injustas de ambos. A amplitude do P300 para propostas do típico apresentaram correlação negativa com escalas de autoestima. Os resultados sugerem que a presença de um jogador com síndrome de Down influenciou a percepção e expectativa dos participantes quanto ao jogo, e que este efeito pode ter se estendido para a interação com o propositor típico. A ausência de MFN sugere que não houve processamento das propostas injustas como respostas sociais negativas e o P300 sugere que a interação com o propositor foi de maior relevância para os participantes. Além disto, esta relevância foi modulada em razão de características pessoais de autoestima. São sugeridos novos estudos no tema para confirmar as hipóteses aqui apresentadas.Games are useful tools to simulate social interactions of cooperation or competition and can be applied in conjunction with behavioral and electrophysiological techniques, such as Event Related Potentials (ERP) analysis. The Ultimatum Game (UG) is a well-studied game which can be used to investigate how individuals react to injustice. An initial value is divided between a proponent, who suggests a division rate of this value, and a respondent, who may accept or reject it. If the respondent accepts, both players gain the proposed value, and if he or she rejects, they gain nothing. The behavioral and electrophysiological results have demonstrated typical reactions in the game. The Medial Frontal Negativity (MFN), a component associated with the automatic processing of negative social feedback, and the P300, associated with attention and memory process, are two components commonly observed during UG. While the interaction between volunteers and proponents with typical development is well described, the interaction between volunteers and proponents with Down syndrome is still unknown. This research aimed to investigate differences in the behavioral data, MFN and P300 in participants playing the UG with a typical proposer and Down proposer. 32 subjects participated in the experiment. Scales of social desirability, moral identity, self-esteem and an implicit association test about Down syndrome were applied. The results showed similar behavioral patterns among proponents and previous data described in the literature. Regarding ERPs, the MFN was not detected and there was greater amplitude of P200 component for proposals of the Down. There was also greater amplitude of P300 for fair proposals of the typical proponent compared to the fair proposals of the Down, and of these two compared to unfair proposals of both. The amplitude of the P300 for proposals of typical was negatively correlated with self-esteem scores. Together, the results suggest that the presence of a player with Down syndrome might influence the perception and expectation of the participants about the game, and this effect could be extended to the interaction with the typical proponent. The absence of MFN suggests that participants do not perceived the unfair proposals as a social negative outcome and P300 suggests that the interaction with the typical proposer was more relevant to the participants. Moreover, this relevance was modulated due to personal characteristics of self-esteem. Further studies are suggested in this area to confirm the hypotheses suggested in the present research.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superio

Predicting attitudinal and behavioral responses to COVID-19 pandemic using machine learning

Funder: Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, Zagreb; CroatiaFunder: CONICET; DOI: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002923Funder: National Institutes of Health; DOI: https://doi.org/10.13039/100000002Funder: Ministry of Science and Technology; DOI: https://doi.org/10.13039/100007225Funder: QUT Centre for Behavioural Economics, Society and TechnologyFunder: Sistema Nacional de Investigadores; DOI: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100013395Funder: CONACYT; DOI: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003141Funder: NOMIS Foundation; DOI: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100008483Funder: University of Huelva; DOI: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100005604Funder: University of Vienna; DOI: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003065Funder: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; DOI: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000038Funder: Universidad del Rosario; DOI: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100008793Funder: Batten Institute; DOI: https://doi.org/10.13039/100008596Funder: University of Virginia Darden School of Business; DOI: https://doi.org/10.13039/100008193At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 became a global problem. Despite all the efforts to emphasize the relevance of preventive measures, not everyone adhered to them. Thus, learning more about the characteristics determining attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic is crucial to improving future interventions. In this study, we applied machine learning on the multinational data collected by the International Collaboration on the Social and Moral Psychology of COVID-19 (N = 51,404) to test the predictive efficacy of constructs from social, moral, cognitive, and personality psychology, as well as socio-demographic factors, in the attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic. The results point to several valuable insights. Internalized moral identity provided the most consistent predictive contribution—individuals perceiving moral traits as central to their self-concept reported higher adherence to preventive measures. Similar results were found for morality as cooperation, symbolized moral identity, self-control, open-mindedness, and collective narcissism, while the inverse relationship was evident for the endorsement of conspiracy theories. However, we also found a non-neglible variability in the explained variance and predictive contributions with respect to macro-level factors such as the pandemic stage or cultural region. Overall, the results underscore the importance of morality-related and contextual factors in understanding adherence to public health recommendations during the pandemic