The upside-down self: One's own face recognition is affected by inversion

One's own face is recognized more efficiently than any other face, although the neural mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain poorly understood. Considering the extensive visual experience that we have with our own face, some authors have proposed that self-face recognition involves a more analytical perceptual strategy (i.e., based on face features) than other familiar faces, which are commonly processed holistically (i.e., as a whole). However, this hypothesis has not yet been tested with brain activity data. In the present study, we employed an inversion paradigm combined with event-related potential (ERP) recordings to investigate whether the self-face is processed more analytically. Sixteen healthy participants were asked to identify their own face and a familiar face regardless of its orientation, which could either be upright or inverted. ERP analysis revealed an enhanced amplitude and a delayed latency for the N170 component when faces were presented in an inverted orientation. Critically, both the self and a familiar face were equally vulnerable to the inversion effect, suggesting that the self-face is not processed more analytically than a familiar face. In addition, we replicated the recent finding that the attention-related P200 component is a specific neural index of self-face recognition. Overall, our results suggest that the advantage for self-face processing might be better explained by the engagement of self-related attentional mechanisms than by the use of a more analytical visuoperceptual strategyThis work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) (UAMA13-4E- 2192) and FEDER/Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIU)—National Research Agency (AEI) (PGC2018-100682- B- I00), and the Community of Madrid (SAPIENTIA-CM H2019/HUM-570), under agreement with the Autonomous University of Madrid (2017-T2/ SOC-5569; SI1-PJI- 2019- 00011

Mecanismos perceptivos y atencionales del procesamiento de la propia cara

Tesis doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Psicología, Departamento de Psicología Biológica y de la Salud. Fecha de lectura: 04-10-2019Esta tesis tiene embargado el acceso al texto completo hasta el 04-04-2021El estudio del yo ha ido ganando relevancia en los últimos años debido a su potencial impacto en la salud. Como consecuencia, están surgiendo nuevos paradigmas que aspiran a explicar cómo el cerebro procesa la información auto-relacionada. Sin embargo, la evidencia científica acumulada hasta el momento deja sin resolver dos cuestiones claves sobre cómo se lleva a cabo el procesamiento del yo: cuál es su dinámica temporal y cómo de específico es. En consecuencia, el objetivo de esta tesis fue investigar los mecanismos perceptivos y atencionales del procesamiento del yo y, más concretamente, de la propia cara. Se buscaba con ello determinar si el procesamiento de la propia cara es realmente un fenómeno distintivo o si, por el contrario, se puede explicar simplemente por la familiaridad que tenemos con nuestro propio rostro. Para este fin, realizamos tres estudios en los que se utilizaron imágenes de caras con diferentes grados de familiaridad (yo, amigo, desconocido) mientras registrábamos la actividad cerebral de los participantes por medio de Electroencefalografía (EEG). Nuestro primer estudio estaba centrado en determinar si el procesamiento de la propia cara es distinto del procesamiento facial general y, de ser así, en qué momento el propio rostro comienza a ser procesado de una manera particular. Tras un análisis de los datos conductuales y de los Potenciales Relacionados con Eventos (ERPs), los resultados mostraron que la propia cara conllevaba un procesamiento diferencial desde una etapa temprana, como indicaba la modulación del componente P200. Estos resultados indican que el procesamiento distintivo de la propia cara no se puede atribuir a la familiaridad, ya que tiene lugar antes de que se reconozca el rostro y, por lo tanto, antes de que se pueda determinar si es un rostro conocido. Nuestro primer estudio dejaba, sin embargo, sin resolver si los mecanismos distintivos del yo son ser de carácter perceptivo o atencional, ya que el componente P200 se ha relacionado con ambos. Para abordar esta cuestión llevamos a cabo un segundo estudio, en que utilizamos un paradigma de inversión facial. Con él queríamos poner a prueba la idea de que el procesamiento distintivo de la propia cara en etapas tempranas es el resultado de mecanismos perceptivos relacionados con la amplia experiencia visual que tenemos con ella. En concreto, como algunos autores habían propuesto, esperábamos que el propio rostro desencadenara una estrategia perceptiva más analítica y, como consecuencia, fuera más resistente al efecto de inversión facial. Sin embargo, nuestros resultados conductuales y de ERPs mostraron que la propia cara no presentó una mayor resistencia a la inversión, lo que sugiere que el procesamiento distintivo de la propia cara no se puede explicar por la puesta en marcha de mecanismos perceptivos distintos a los empleados durante el procesamiento facial general. Una vez descartado que el procesamiento distintivo de la propia cara se deba al uso de una estrategia perceptiva diferente, decidimos investigar si se puede explicar por la acción de mecanismos atencionales. Para ello retomamos los datos de nuestro primer estudio y les aplicamos una serie de análisis más sofisticados que nos permitieran dar respuesta a esta pregunta. Tras un análisis de tiempo-frecuencia y de reconstrucción de fuentes, pudimos comprobar que la propia cara ponía en marcha mecanismos atencionales específicos del yo, tal y como indicaban la reducción sostenida de potencia en las bandas alfa y beta en el giro fusiforme. Este enganche atencional al que nos somete nuestro propio rostro, y al que podríamos denominar “ Efecto Narciso ”, podría tener un valor adaptativo, aunque el diseño experimental de nuestro estudio no nos ha permitido corroborarlo. En conjunto, los resultados englobados en la presente tesis doctoral evidencian que la propia cara tiene un procesamiento neural distintivo que no se puede explicar ni por la familiaridad con el estímulo ni por el uso de una estrategia perceptiva más analítica, sino por la puesta en marcha de mecanismos atencionales específicos del yo. Estos hallazgos pueden tener importantes implicaciones en el ámbito de la neuropsiquiatría, ya que el funcionamiento de los mecanismos atencionales del yo podría estar comprometido en algunos trastornos mentales procesamiento distintivo de la propia cara en etapas tempranas es el resultado de mecanismos perceptivos relacionados con la amplia experiencia visual que tenemos con ella. En concreto, como algunos autores habían propuesto, esperábamos que el propio rostro desencadenara una estrategia perceptiva más analítica y, como consecuencia, fuera más resistente al efecto de inversión facial. Sin embargo, nuestros resultados conductuales y de ERPs mostraron que la propia cara no presentó una mayor resistencia a la inversión, lo que sugiere que el procesamiento distintivo de la propia cara no se puede explicar por la puesta en marcha de mecanismos perceptivos distintos a los empleados durante el procesamiento facial general. Una vez descartado que el procesamiento distintivo de la propia cara se deba al uso de una estrategia perceptiva diferente, decidimos investigar si se puede explicar por la acción de mecanismos atencionales. Para ello retomamos los datos de nuestro primer estudio y les aplicamos una serie de análisis más sofisticados que nos permitieran dar respuesta a esta pregunta. Tras un análisis de tiempo-frecuencia y de reconstrucción de fuentes, pudimos comprobar que la propia cara ponía en marcha mecanismos atencionales específicos del yo, tal y como indicaban la reducción sostenida de potencia en las bandas alfa y beta en el giro fusiforme. Este enganche atencional al que nos somete nuestro propio rostro, y al que podríamos denominar “ Efecto Narciso ”, podría tener un valor adaptativo, aunque el diseño experimental de nuestro estudio no nos ha permitido corroborarlo. En conjunto, los resultados englobados en la presente tesis doctoral evidencian que la propia cara tiene un procesamiento neural distintivo que no se puede explicar ni por la familiaridad con el estímulo ni por el uso de una estrategia perceptiva más analítica, sino por la puesta en marcha de mecanismos atencionales específicos del yo. Estos hallazgos pueden tener importantes implicaciones en el ámbito de la neuropsiquiatría, ya que el funcionamiento de los mecanismos atencionales del yo podría estar comprometido en algunos trastornos mentales

The ‘Narcissus Effect’: Top-down alpha-beta band modulation of face-related brain areas during self-face processing

Self-related information, such as one's own face, is prioritized by our cognitive system. Whilst recent theoretical developments suggest that this is achieved by an interplay between bottom-up and top-down attentional mechanisms, their underlying neural dynamics are still poorly understood. Furthermore, it is still matter of discussion as to whether these attentional mechanisms are truly self-specific or instead driven by face familiarity. To address these questions, we used EEG to record the brain activity of twenty-five healthy participants whilst identifying their own face, a friend's face and a stranger's face. Time-frequency analysis revealed a greater sustained power decrease in the alpha and beta frequency bands for the self-face, which emerged at late latencies and was maintained even when the face was no longer present. Critically, source analysis showed that this activity was generated in key brain regions for self-face recognition, such as the fusiform gyrus. As in the Myth of Narcissus, our results indicate that one's own face might have the potential to hijack attention. We suggest that this effect is specific to the self and driven by a top-down attentional control mechanism, which might facilitate further processing of personally relevant events.This work was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) , Spain (ID: UAMA13-4E-2192) and the ,Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain (ID: PGC2018-100682-B-I00). O. Jensen was further supported by the Wellcome Trust Investigator Award in Science, UK (grant 207550), a James S. McDonnell Foundation US (grants 220020328 and 220020448) and the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award, U

Robot in the mirror: toward an embodied computational model of mirror self-recognition

Self-recognition or self-awareness is a capacity attributed typically only to humans and few other species. The definitions of these concepts vary and little is known about the mechanisms behind them. However, there is a Turing test-like benchmark: the mirror self-recognition, which consists in covertly putting a mark on the face of the tested subject, placing her in front of a mirror, and observing the reactions. In this work, first, we provide a mechanistic decomposition, or process model, of what components are required to pass this test. Based on these, we provide suggestions for empirical research. In particular, in our view, the way the infants or animals reach for the mark should be studied in detail. Second, we develop a model to enable the humanoid robot Nao to pass the test. The core of our technical contribution is learning the appearance representation and visual novelty detection by means of learning the generative model of the face with deep auto-encoders and exploiting the prediction error. The mark is identified as a salient region on the face and reaching action is triggered, relying on a previously learned mapping to arm joint angles. The architecture is tested on two robots with a completely different face.Comment: To appear in KI - K\"unstliche Intelligenz - German Journal of Artificial Intelligence - Springe

A study of older adults’ mental health across 33 countries during the covid-19 pandemic

Despite older adults’ extremely high vulnerability to COVID-19 complications and death, few studies have examined how personal characteristics and the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted the mental health of older adults at the global level. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among demographics, COVID-19 life impacts, and depression and anxiety in adults aged 60 and older from 33 countries. A sample of 823 older adults aged 60–94 and residing in 33 countries completed a 10-minute online survey following recruitment from mailing lists and social media. Being separated from and having conflicts with loved ones predicted both anxiety and depression, as did residing in a country with higher income. Getting medical treatment for severe symptoms of COVID-19 and having decreased work responsibilities predicted depression, but adjustment to working from home and younger age predicted both depression and anxiety. Participants from Europe and Central Asia reported higher depression than those from all other regions and higher anxiety than those from Latin America and the Caribbean. The COVID-19 pandemic has had serious deleterious effects on the mental health of older adults worldwide. The current findings have direct implications for mental health services that may be delivered to older adults to help facilitate healthy psychological adjustment

Trauma-Related Distress During the COVID-19 Pandemic In 59 Countries

First published online March 11, 2022The COVID-19 pandemic has upended life like few other events in modern history, with differential impacts on varying population groups. This study examined trauma-related distress among 6,882 adults ages 18 to 94 years old in 59 countries during April to May 2020. More than two-thirds of participants reported clinically significant trauma-related distress. Increased distress was associated with unemployment; identifying as transgender, nonbinary, or a cisgender woman; being from a higher income country; current symptoms and positive diagnosis of COVID-19; death of a loved one; restrictive government-imposed isolation; financial difficulties; and food insecurity. Other factors associated with distress included working with potentially infected individuals, care needs at home, a difficult transition to working from home, conflict in the home, separation from loved ones, and event restrictions. Latin American and Caribbean participants reported more trauma-related distress than participants from Europe and Central Asia. Findings inform treatment efforts and highlight the need to address trauma-related distress to avoid long-term mental health consequences.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the European Commission (H2020-MSCA-IF-2018-837228-ENGRAVING). Daniela Ramos-Usuga was supported by a predoctoral fellowship from the Basque Government (PRE_2019_1_0164)

Moderate, little, or no improvements in neurobehavioral symptoms among individuals with long COVID: A 34-country retrospective study

(1) Background: Some people with COVID-19 develop a series of symptoms that last for several months after infection, known as Long COVID. Although these symptoms interfere with people’s daily functioning and quality of life, few studies have focused on neurobehavioral symptoms and the risk factors associated with their development; (2) Methods: 1001 adults from 34 countries who had previously tested positive for COVID-19 completed the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory reporting the symptoms before their COVID-19 diagnosis, during the COVID-19 infection, and currently; (3) Results: Participants reported large-sized increases before vs. during COVID-19 in all domains. Participants reported a medium-sized improvement (during COVID-19 vs. now) in somatic symptoms, a small-sized improvement in affective symptoms, and very minor/no improvement in cognitive symptoms. The risk factors for increased neurobehavioral symptoms were: being female/trans, unemployed, younger age, low education, having another chronic health condition, greater COVID-19 severity, greater number of days since the COVID-19 diagnosis, not having received oxygen therapy, and having been hospitalized. Additionally, participants from North America, Europe, and Central Asia reported higher levels of symptoms across all domains relative to Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa; (4) Conclusions: The results highlight the importance of evaluating and treating neurobehavioral symptoms after COVID-19, especially targeting the higher-risk groups identified. General rehabilitation strategies and evidence-based cognitive rehabilitation are needed in both the acute and Long COVID phases.Daniela Ramos Usuga was supported by a predoctoral fellowship from the Basque Government (PRE_2019_1_0164)