Neural correlates of the affect heuristic during brand choice

In this working paper it is investigated how affect and cognition interact in consumer decision making. The research framework is multidisciplinary by applying a neuroscientific method to answer the question which information is processed during brand choice immediately when the decision is computed in the test person’s brain. In a neuroscientific experiment test persons perform binary decision-making tasks between different brands of the same product class. The results suggest that the presence of the respondent’s first choice brand leads to a specific modulation of the neural brain activity, which can be described as neural correlate of Slovic’s affect heuristic concept.Neuroeconomics, brand choice, cognition, affect

Impaired Autonomic Responses to Emotional Stimuli in Autoimmune Limbic Encephalitis

Limbic encephalitis (LE) is an autoimmune-mediated disorder that affects structures of the limbic system, in particular the amygdala. The amygdala constitutes a brain area substantial for processing of emotional, especially fear-related signals. The amygdala is also involved in neuroendocrine and autonomic functions, including skin conductance responses (SCRs) to emotionally arousing stimuli. This study investigates behavioral and autonomic responses to discrete emotion-evoking and neutral film clips in a patient suffering from LE associated with contactin-associated protein-2 (CASPR2)-antibodies as compared to a healthy control group. Results show a lack of SCRs in the patient while watching the film clips, with significant differences compared to healthy controls in the case of fear-inducing videos. There was no comparable impairment in behavioral data (emotion report, valence and arousal ratings). The results point to a defective modulation of sympathetic responses during emotional stimulation in patients with LE, probably due to impaired functioning of the amygdala

Cerebral Arterial Stenoses and Stroke: Novel Features of Aicardi-Goutières Syndrome Caused by the Arg164X Mutation in SAMHD1 Are Associated with Altered Cytokine Expression

Aicardi-Goutières syndrome (AGS) is a rare inborn multisystemic disease, resembling intrauterine viral infection and resulting in psychomotor retardation, spasticity and chilblain-like skin lesions. Diagnostic criteria include intracerebral calcifications and elevated interferon-alpha and pterin levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). We report on four adult siblings with unknown neurodegenerative disease presenting with cerebrovascular stenoses, stroke and glaucoma in childhood, two of whom died at the age of 40 and 29 years. Genome-wide homozygosity mapping identified 170 candidate genes embedded in a common haplotype of 8Mb on chromosome 20q11-13. Next generation sequencing of the entire region identified the c.490C>T (p.Arg164X) mutation in SAMHD1, a gene most recently described in AGS, on both alleles in all affected siblings. Clinical diagnosis of AGS was then confirmed by demonstrating intracerebral calcifications on cranial computed tomography in all siblings and elevated pterin levels in CSF in three of them. In patient fibroblasts, lack of SAMHD1 protein expression was associated with increased basal expression of IL8, while stimulated expression of IFNB1 was reduced. We conclude that cerebrovascular stenoses and stroke associated with the Arg164X mutation in SAMHD1 extend the phenotypic spectrum of AGS. The observed vascular changes most likely reflect a vasculitis caused by dysregulated inflammatory stress response. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Amygdala activation during masked presentation of emotional faces predicts conscious detection of threatrelated faces

Abstract It has been argued that critical functions of the human amygdala are to modulate the moment-to-moment vigilance level and to enhance the processing and the consolidation of memories of emotionally arousing material. In this functional magnetic resonance study, pictures of human faces bearing fearful, angry, and happy expressions were presented to nine healthy volunteers using a backward masking procedure based on neutral facial expression. Activation of the left and right amygdala in response to the masked fearful faces (compared to neutral faces) was signiWcantly correlated with the number of fearful faces detected. In addition, right but not left amygdala activation in response to the masked angry faces was signiWcantly related to the number of angry faces detected. The present Wndings underscore the role of the amygdala in the detection and consolidation of memory for marginally perceptible threatening facial expression

A generic testing framework for agent-based simulation models

International audienceAgent-based modelling and simulation (ABMS) had an increasing attention during the last decade. However, the weak validation and verification of agent-based simulation models makes ABMS hard to trust. There is no comprehensive tool set for verification and validation of agent-based simulation models, which demonstrates that inaccuracies exist and/or reveals the existing errors in the model. Moreover, on the practical side, many ABMS frameworks are in use. In this sense, we designed and developed a generic testing framework for agent-based simulation models to conduct validation and verification of models. This paper presents our testing framework in detail and demonstrates its effectiveness by showing its applicability on a realistic agent-based simulation case study