Neurophysiological signatures of the body representation in the brain using Immersive Virtual Reality

[spa] Múltiples estudios han demostrado que es posible sustituir el cuerpo de una persona por uno virtual produciendo ilusiones de posesión y agencia sobre este nuevo cuerpo. Los efectos y trazas de esta sustitución de cuerpos se pueden medir de manera subjetiva, a través del comportamiento del participante o a través de medidas fisiológicas objetivas. Sin embargo, restan por descubrir muchos de los mecanismos neurológicos subyacentes que provocan dichos efectos. Esta tesis pretende medir correlaciones neurofisiológicas de las ilusiones de posesión y agencia, y de esta manera contribuir al mayor conocimiento del funcionamiento de la representación corporal en el cerebro. Para ello realizamos una serie de estudios donde la representación del cuerpo humano y su actividad son externamente manipuladas de diversas maneras mediante estimulación multisensorial mientras se registra la correspondiente actividad cerebral mediante electroencefalografía (EEG). La estimulación multisensorial permite que humanos sanos puedan tener ilusiones de posesión y agencia sobre avatares (como si sus cuerpos hubieran sido perceptualmente sustituidos por cuerpos virtuales). Más en concreto, mediante el uso de Realidad Virtual (RV) los participantes tienen una perspectiva egocéntrica de un cuerpo yuxtapuesto al suyo (a través de cascos de realidad virtual estereoscópicos). A la vez que pueden mover este cuerpo mediante sistemas de rastreo del movimiento en tiempo real produciendo una estimulación visuo-motora síncrona. La combinación de la perspectiva en primera persona con la estimulación visuo-motora da como resultado una ilusión de posesión y control total del cuerpo virtual, a la que nos referimos como encarnación virtual. En este escenario exploramos las implicaciones de estas manipulaciones perceptuales en el cerebro mediante EEG. Planteamos un primer experimento con intención de validar si el cuerpo virtual se puede efectivamente reconocer como un sustituto viable del propio cuerpo a nivel del subconsciente. Tras exponer el cuerpo virtual a estímulos nocivos se halla una activación en la corteza motora de los participantes equivalente a la que sería de esperar en un escenario real. Este resultado-como-real hace indicar que los participantes ciertamente aceptan sus cuerpos virtuales dados como su propio cuerpo. En un segundo experimento se estudian las consecuencias de los mecanismos de agencia que nos proporcionan la consciencia de nuestras acciones corporales y motoras, a través de tecnologías de substitución virtual del cuerpo. Los participantes se someten a disrupciones esporádicas de sus acciones mientras realizan movimientos rápidos con su brazo. En algunas ocasiones, la mano virtual del participante se mueve autónomamente y en dirección contraria a la mano real del participante. Los resultados proporcionan evidencias de procesos neuronales específicos responsables de detectar disrupciones de agencia inducidas externamente. Asimismo, estos procesos neuronales se correlacionan con la ilusión de posesión del cuerpo medida a través de cuestionarios. Este estudio profundiza en las perspectivas actuales de los esquemas de agencia, proponiendo y demostrando la teoría existente de mecanismos de errores re-aferentes y de retro-alimentación que funcionan concurrentemente en el cerebro para detectar disrupciones de agencia. Se propone un tercer experimento para explorar las implicaciones de la apariencia externa del cuerpo virtual a la hora de auto-reconocerse. Diseñamos un experimento en el que los participantes se exponen a caras de avatares que se parecen a ellos, a un familiar o a una persona que no conocen. Los resultados muestran mecanismos subyacentes compartidos de auto-identificación de caras reales y virtuales en la corteza visual. En particular, las trazas neurofisiológicas muestran que las caras virtuales se clasifican igual que las reales (en contraste con lo que ocurre durante la clasificación de otros objetos como coches o flores). Además, la corteza visual diferencia niveles de familiaridad entre las caras virtuales. Contribuyendo así de manera novedosa a entender porque avatares con diferente apariencia tienen un impacto en el comportamiento de los participantes, y por ello siendo útil tanto para el campo de la realidad virtual como para el de la auto-identificación. Globalmente, la investigación de esta tesis explora las trazas cerebrales mediante EEG de la experiencia inmediata de poseer y controlar un cuerpo. Se presentan evidencias empíricas para validar el uso de realidad virtual en la investigación de la representación del cuerpo en el cerebro. Asimismo, a través de varios estudios mostramos novedosas trazas neurofisiológicas relacionadas con las manipulaciones corporales y perceptuales. Los resultados y experimentos se contextualizan mediante una revisión en profundidad de la literatura existente en consciencia, percepción corporal y teorías de posesión y agencia del propio cuerpo.[eng] Several studies have shown that it is possible to substitute a person’s body by a virtual one giving rise to illusions of ownership and agency with respect to the virtual body. The effects and traces of such body substitution can be measured using subjective reporting, behavioural and objective physiological measures. However, considerable work remains for uncovering the underlying neurological mechanisms that trigger those effects. In this thesis we aim to measure neurophysiological correlates of ownership and agency, and by doing so to contribute to a greater understanding of the functioning of the body representation in the brain. In order to address this question we carried out a series of studies where the representation of the human body and activity in which it was engaged were externally manipulated in various ways through multisensory stimulation, while measuring the corresponding electroencephalography (EEG) responses. Through this multisensory stimulation, healthy humans experienced full body ownership and agency illusions over virtual bodies – as if their real bodies were perceptually substituted by these bodies. Specifically, Virtual Reality (VR) was used to give participants an egocentric view of a co-located virtual body, using a Head-Mounted Display. They could move this body through real-time motion tracking thus providing synchronous visuo-motor stimulation. The combination of the first person perspective and synchronous visuo-motor stimulation resulted in full body ownership and agency illusions over the virtual body, which we refer to as virtual embodiment. Under these circumstances we then explored the implications of such bodily perceptual manipulations in the brain with EEG. A first study was intended to validate whether a virtual body can be effectively recognized as a feasible substitute to the self-body at the unconscious level. A motor cortex activation equivalent to what would be expected in a real scenario was found after exposing participants’ virtual body to harmful stimuli. This particular result provides a measure of response-as-if-real indicating that participants tended to accept their given virtual bodies as their own. In a second study, the consequences of the agency mechanisms that provide the sensation of control over our own body actions were explored through virtual embodiment. In this study participants underwent sporadic agency disruptions while performing rapid arm movements. In certain conditions, the virtual hand of participants moved autonomously in the opposite direction to the participants’ real hand. Results provide evidence of specific neural processes responsible for detecting externally induced agency disruptions. Moreover, these neural processes were correlated with the strength of the subjective embodiment illusion. This study was also aimed at widening current perspectives on agency schemas, proposing and demonstrating the existing theory of re-afferent and feedback error mechanisms that are concurrently functioning in the brain to detect agency disruptions. In a third study the implications of the external appearance of the substitute virtual body for self-recognition were explored. We designed an experiment in which healthy participants were exposed to self, familiar and unknown faces of look-alike avatars. Results showed shared underlying mechanisms for self-identification in real and virtual faces in the visual cortex. In particular, neurophysiological traces showed that virtual faces are classified as real faces – in contrast to what happens with the classification of other objects (cars, flowers, etc.). Furthermore, the visual cortex differentiated familiarity levels among virtual faces. These are novel insights contributing to the better understanding of why different looking avatars can have an impact on participants’ performance or behaviour, thus being useful both for the fields of virtual embodiment and of self-recognition. Overall the research in this thesis explores brain activity through EEG of the immediate experience of having and controlling a body. Empirical evidence is presented to validate the use of virtual reality for the research of the body representation in the brain. Additionally, novel neural signatures of the bodily perceptual manipulations are presented through a set of studies. Results are put into context with an in-depth review of literature on self-awareness, body perception, body ownership and agency theories at the beginning of this thesis

Neurophysiological signatures of the body representation in the brain using Immersive Virtual Reality

Several studies have shown that it is possible to substitute a person’s body by a virtual one giving rise to illusions of ownership and agency with respect to the virtual body. The effects and traces of such body substitution can be measured using subjective reporting, behavioural and objective physiological measures. However, considerable work remains for uncovering the underlying neurological mechanisms that trigger those effects. In this thesis we aim to measure neurophysiological correlates of ownership and agency, and by doing so to contribute to a greater understanding of the functioning of the body representation in the brain. In order to address this question we carried out a series of studies where the representation of the human body and activity in which it was engaged were externally manipulated in various ways through multisensory stimulation, while measuring the corresponding electroencephalography (EEG) responses. Through this multisensory stimulation, healthy humans experienced full body ownership and agency illusions over virtual bodies – as if their real bodies were perceptually substituted by these bodies. Specifically, Virtual Reality (VR) was used to give participants an egocentric view of a co-located virtual body, using a Head-Mounted Display. They could move this body through real-time motion tracking thus providing synchronous visuo-motor stimulation. The combination of the first person perspective and synchronous visuo-motor stimulation resulted in full body ownership and agency illusions over the virtual body, which we refer to as virtual embodiment. Under these circumstances we then explored the implications of such bodily perceptual manipulations in the brain with EEG. A first study was intended to validate whether a virtual body can be effectively recognized as a feasible substitute to the self-body at the unconscious level. A motor cortex activation equivalent to what would be expected in a real scenario was found after exposing participants’ virtual body to harmful stimuli. This particular result provides a measure of response-as-if-real indicating that participants tended to accept their given virtual bodies as their own. In a second study, the consequences of the agency mechanisms that provide the sensation of control over our own body actions were explored through virtual embodiment. In this study participants underwent sporadic agency disruptions while performing rapid arm movements. In certain conditions, the virtual hand of participants moved autonomously in the opposite direction to the participants’ real hand. Results provide evidence of specific neural processes responsible for detecting externally induced agency disruptions. Moreover, these neural processes were correlated with the strength of the subjective embodiment illusion. This study was also aimed at widening current perspectives on agency schemas, proposing and demonstrating the existing theory of re-afferent and feedback error mechanisms that are concurrently functioning in the brain to detect agency disruptions. In a third study the implications of the external appearance of the substitute virtual body for self-recognition were explored. We designed an experiment in which healthy participants were exposed to self, familiar and unknown faces of look-alike avatars. Results showed shared underlying mechanisms for self-identification in real and virtual faces in the visual cortex. In particular, neurophysiological traces showed that virtual faces are classified as real faces – in contrast to what happens with the classification of other objects (cars, flowers, etc.). Furthermore, the visual cortex differentiated familiarity levels among virtual faces. These are novel insights contributing to the better understanding of why different looking avatars can have an impact on participants’ performance or behaviour, thus being useful both for the fields of virtual embodiment and of self-recognition. Overall the research in this thesis explores brain activity through EEG of the immediate experience of having and controlling a body. Empirical evidence is presented to validate the use of virtual reality for the research of the body representation in the brain. Additionally, novel neural signatures of the bodily perceptual manipulations are presented through a set of studies. Results are put into context with an in-depth review of literature on self-awareness, body perception, body ownership and agency theories at the beginning of this thesis.Múltiples estudios han demostrado que es posible sustituir el cuerpo de una persona por uno virtual produciendo ilusiones de posesión y agencia sobre este nuevo cuerpo. Los efectos y trazas de esta sustitución de cuerpos se pueden medir de manera subjetiva, a través del comportamiento del participante o a través de medidas fisiológicas objetivas. Sin embargo, restan por descubrir muchos de los mecanismos neurológicos subyacentes que provocan dichos efectos. Esta tesis pretende medir correlaciones neurofisiológicas de las ilusiones de posesión y agencia, y de esta manera contribuir al mayor conocimiento del funcionamiento de la representación corporal en el cerebro. Para ello realizamos una serie de estudios donde la representación del cuerpo humano y su actividad son externamente manipuladas de diversas maneras mediante estimulación multisensorial mientras se registra la correspondiente actividad cerebral mediante electroencefalografía (EEG). La estimulación multisensorial permite que humanos sanos puedan tener ilusiones de posesión y agencia sobre avatares (como si sus cuerpos hubieran sido perceptualmente sustituidos por cuerpos virtuales). Más en concreto, mediante el uso de Realidad Virtual (RV) los participantes tienen una perspectiva egocéntrica de un cuerpo yuxtapuesto al suyo (a través de cascos de realidad virtual estereoscópicos). A la vez que pueden mover este cuerpo mediante sistemas de rastreo del movimiento en tiempo real produciendo una estimulación visuo-motora síncrona. La combinación de la perspectiva en primera persona con la estimulación visuo-motora da como resultado una ilusión de posesión y control total del cuerpo virtual, a la que nos referimos como encarnación virtual. En este escenario exploramos las implicaciones de estas manipulaciones perceptuales en el cerebro mediante EEG. Planteamos un primer experimento con intención de validar si el cuerpo virtual se puede efectivamente reconocer como un sustituto viable del propio cuerpo a nivel del subconsciente. Tras exponer el cuerpo virtual a estímulos nocivos se halla una activación en la corteza motora de los participantes equivalente a la que sería de esperar en un escenario real. Este resultado-como-real hace indicar que los participantes ciertamente aceptan sus cuerpos virtuales dados como su propio cuerpo. En un segundo experimento se estudian las consecuencias de los mecanismos de agencia que nos proporcionan la consciencia de nuestras acciones corporales y motoras, a través de tecnologías de substitución virtual del cuerpo. Los participantes se someten a disrupciones esporádicas de sus acciones mientras realizan movimientos rápidos con su brazo. En algunas ocasiones, la mano virtual del participante se mueve autónomamente y en dirección contraria a la mano real del participante. Los resultados proporcionan evidencias de procesos neuronales específicos responsables de detectar disrupciones de agencia inducidas externamente. Asimismo, estos procesos neuronales se correlacionan con la ilusión de posesión del cuerpo medida a través de cuestionarios. Este estudio profundiza en las perspectivas actuales de los esquemas de agencia, proponiendo y demostrando la teoría existente de mecanismos de errores re-aferentes y de retro-alimentación que funcionan concurrentemente en el cerebro para detectar disrupciones de agencia. Se propone un tercer experimento para explorar las implicaciones de la apariencia externa del cuerpo virtual a la hora de auto-reconocerse. Diseñamos un experimento en el que los participantes se exponen a caras de avatares que se parecen a ellos, a un familiar o a una persona que no conocen. Los resultados muestran mecanismos subyacentes compartidos de auto-identificación de caras reales y virtuales en la corteza visual. En particular, las trazas neurofisiológicas muestran que las caras virtuales se clasifican igual que las reales (en contraste con lo que ocurre durante la clasificación de otros objetos como coches o flores). Además, la corteza visual diferencia niveles de familiaridad entre las caras virtuales. Contribuyendo así de manera novedosa a entender porque avatares con diferente apariencia tienen un impacto en el comportamiento de los participantes, y por ello siendo útil tanto para el campo de la realidad virtual como para el de la auto-identificación. Globalmente, la investigación de esta tesis explora las trazas cerebrales mediante EEG de la experiencia inmediata de poseer y controlar un cuerpo. Se presentan evidencias empíricas para validar el uso de realidad virtual en la investigación de la representación del cuerpo en el cerebro. Asimismo, a través de varios estudios mostramos novedosas trazas neurofisiológicas relacionadas con las manipulaciones corporales y perceptuales. Los resultados y experimentos se contextualizan mediante una revisión en profundidad de la literatura existente en consciencia, percepción corporal y teorías de posesión y agencia del propio cuerpo

The contribution of real-time mirror reflections of motor actions on virtual body ownership in an immersive virtual environment

This paper reports an experiment that investigated people"s body ownership of an avatar that was observed in a virtual mirror. Twenty subjects were recruited in a within-groups study where 10 first experienced a virtual character that synchronously reflected their upper-body movements as seen in a virtual mirror, and then an asynchronous condition where the mirror avatar displayed prerecorded actions, unrelated to those of the participant. The other 10 subjects experienced the conditions in the opposite order. In both conditions the participant could carry out actions that led to elevation above ground level, as seen from their first person perspective and correspondingly in the mirror. A rotating virtual fan eventually descended to 2m above the ground. The hypothesis was that synchronous mirror reflection would result in higher subjective sense of ownership. A questionnaire analysis showed that the body ownership illusion was significantly greater for thesynchronous than asynchronous condition. Additionally participants in the synchronous condition avoided collision with the descending fan significantly more often than those in the asynchronous condition. The results of this experiment are put into context within similar experiments on multisensory correlation and body ownership within cognitive neuroscience

The neurological traces of look-alike avatars

We designed an observational study where participants (n = 17) were exposed to pictures and look-alike avatars pictures of themselves, a familiar friend or an unfamiliar person. By measuring participants' brain activity with electroencephalography (EEG), we found face-recognition event related potentials (ERPs) in the visual cortex, around 200-250 ms, to be prominent for the different familiarity levels. A less positive component was found for self-recognized pictures (P200) than pictures of others, showing similar effects in both real faces and look-alike avatars. A rapid adaptation in the same component was found when comparing the neural processing of avatar faces vs. real faces, as if avatars in general were assimilated as real face representations over time. ERP results also showed that in the case of the self-avatar, the P200 component correlated with more complex conscious encodings of self-representation, i.e., the difference in voltage in the P200 between the self-avatar and the self-picture was reduced in participants that felt the avatar looked like them. This study is put into context within the literature of self-recognition and face recognition in the visual cortex. Additionally, the implications of these results on look-alike avatars are discussed both for future virtual reality (VR) and neuroscience studies

Plastics: a literature review in science education (2010-2019)

Although plastics form part of everything that surrounds us due to their excellent properties, they also represent an environmental problem that requires an educational response. This paper presents an exploratory and descriptive study of the educational research published in this field, both nationally and internationally, over the past decade using the PRISMA declaration for systematic reviews. The analysis was performed using a selection of journals with confirmed quality indices in science education (six Spanish and four international). For each study, the authorship, nature (research or innovation), plastics-related content, educational level (infant, primary, secondary or university), methodology used (quantitative, qualitative or mixed) and teaching focus (propedeutic or competence-based) were analysed. The review shows that such studies are in the minority in the literature analysed, not exceeding 3.4% nationally or 2.3% internationally, with educational research accounting for the majority of studies. With regard to the content covered, the composition and properties of plastics predominate, with studies related to environmental awareness or solutions to the problem, which are considered to be key, receiving relatively little attention. It is also seen that the authorship of non-university teachers is relatively low and that qualitative methodologies are used most often. Moreover, the transmission of content rather than competence-based teaching predominates. The above suggests that the problem of plastics remains a challenge in teaching.Los plásticos forman parte de todo lo que nos rodea por sus excelentes propiedades, pero también suponen un problema ambiental que demanda una respuesta educativa. Este trabajo presenta un estudio exploratorio y descriptivo sobre la investigación didáctica publicada sobre este tema en el contexto nacional e internacional en la última década empleando la declaración PRISMA para revisiones sistemáticas. El análisis se realizó en una selección de revistas con índices de calidad contrastados en Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales (seis españolas y cuatro internacionales). Para cada trabajo se analizó la autoría, su naturaleza como investigación o innovación, los contenidos tratados sobre plásticos, el nivel educativo (infantil, primaria, secundaria o universidad), la metodología empleada (cuantitativa, cualitativa o mixta) y el enfoque de enseñanza (propedéutico o competencial). La revisión muestra que estos trabajos son una minoría en el conjunto de la bibliografía analizada no superando el 3,4% en el ámbito nacional y el 2,3% en el internacional, acaparando investigaciones educativas el mayor número de trabajos. Respecto a los contenidos abordados predominan la composición y propiedades de los plásticos teniendo poca presencia trabajos relacionados con concienciación ambiental o soluciones al problema, considerados aspectos clave. Se observa también que la autoría de profesorado no universitario es relativamente baja y que la metodología cualitativa es la más usada. Asimismo, predomina la trasmisión de contenidos, en lugar del desarrollo competencial. Todo ello sugiere que el problema de los plásticos sigue siendo un desafío para los docentes

Measuring the learning effectiveness of serious gaming for training of complex manufacturing tasks

© 2017, © The Author(s) 2017. Background. Training new workers on complex manufacturing tasks has long been a challenge for high value manufacturing companies. Equipment downtime, costly instructors, and dangerous working environments are some of the impediments of hands-on training. To overcome these hurdles, a traditional manufacturing paper manual was transformed into a serious game through capturing and embedding expert knowledge. Aim. This article investigates the learning effectiveness of learning via a serious game (Training Game) compared with the tradition learning method (Paper Manual) through a user study. Method. Twenty employees took part in a randomised controlled trial. They were assigned to one of two conditions: Training Game (experimental condition), or Paper Manual (control condition). Participants spent a maximum of 30 minutes to study manufacturing instructions before completing two tests to evaluate the amount of learning achieved. Results. The results show that the Training Game was more effective for learning procedu ral knowledge than the Paper Manual. Regarding factual knowledge, no significant difference was identified between the two conditions. In terms of motivation, increased engagement levels were reported in the Training Game condition. Conclusions. This user study shows evidence that the serious TG being evaluated is an effective method for training procedural knowledge in a complex manufacturing scenario

Epigenetic and phenotypic responses to experimental climate change of native and invasive Carpobrotus edulis

Despite the recent discoveries on how DNA methylation could help plants to adapt to changing environments, the relationship between epigenetics and climate change or invasion in new areas is still poorly known. Here, we investigated, through a field experiment, how the new expected climate scenarios for Southern Europe, i.e., increased temperature and decreased rainfall, might affect global DNA methylation in relation to phenotypic variation in individuals of clonal plant, Carpobrotus edulis, from its native (Southern African) and invaded (northwestern Iberian Peninsula) area. Our results showed that changes in temperature and rainfall induced phenotypic but not global DNA methylation differences among plants, and the climatic effects were similar for plants coming from the native or invaded areas. The individuals from the Iberian Peninsula showed higher levels of global methylation than their native counterparts from South Africa. We also observed differences between natives and invasive phenotypes in traits related to the pattern of biomass partitioning and to the strategies for water uptake and use and found an epigenetic contribution to phenotypic changes in some leaf traits, especially on the nitrogen isotopic composition. We conclude that the increased temperature and decreased rainfall projected for Southern Europe during the course of the twenty-first century may foster phenotypic changes in C. edulis, possibly endowing this species with a higher ability to successful cope the rapid environmental shifts. The epigenetic and phenotypic divergence that we observed between native and invasive plants suggests an intraspecific functional variation during the process of invasion. This result could indicate that phenotypic plasticity and global DNA methylation are related to the colonization of new habitats. Our findings reinforce the importance of epigenetic plasticity on rapid adaptation of invasive clonal plantsFunding for this study was provided by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF; grant Ref. CGL2013-48885-C2-2-R and Ref. CGL2017-87294-C3-1P awarded to RR) and by the Autonomous Government of Galicia (grant ref. I2CB awarded to MS)S

Hydrogels for flexible and compressible free standing cellulose supercapacitors

Cellulose-based supercapacitors display important advantages in comparison with devices fabricated with other materials, regarding environmental friendliness, flexibility, cost and versatility. Recent progress in the field has been mainly focused on the utilization of cellulose fibres as: structural mechanical reinforcement of electrodes; precursors of electrically active carbon-based materials; or primary electrolytes that act as reservoirs of secondary electrolytes. In this work, a flexible, lightweight, robust, portable and manageable all-carboxymethyl cellulose symmetric supercapacitor has been obtained by assembling two electrodes based on carboxymethyl cellulose hydrogels to a solid electrolytic medium formulated with the same material. Hydrogels, which were made by cross-linking carboxymethyl cellulose paste with citric acid in water, rendered not only effective solid electrolytic media by simply loading NaCl but also electroactive electrodes. For the latter, conducting polymer microparticles, which were loaded into the hydrogel network during the physical cross-linking step, were appropriately connected through the in situ anodic polymerization of a similar conducting polymer in aqueous medium, thus creating conduction paths. The performance of the assembled supercapacitors has been proved by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. This design opens a new window for the green and mass production of flexible cellulose-based supercapacitorsPeer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

A clustering approach to analyse the environmental and energetic impacts of Atlantic recipes - A Galician gastronomy case study

The definition of the term gastronomy encompasses both the knowledge of food and its handling, preparation and consumption. Beyond a sense of cultural identity and tradition, gastronomy also represents a pole of tourist attraction. This is the case of Galicia, a region in north-western Spain. Within this framework, local dishes, which include distinctive elements of the Atlantic diet, have gained popularity. This research delves into the sustainability of 60 Galician recipes by performing a hierarchical cluster analysis to study their carbon footprint, the energy return on investment ratio and cost. The life cycle assessment methodology was followed to account for the carbon footprint and the energy return on investment ratio of the recipes. The scope was bounded to the cradle-to-fork phases through the life cycle: production of the ingredients, transport, and meal preparation. The functional unit selected was one serving of a Galician meal. The results suggest that the recipes could be classified into three main groups according to the presence of a greater or lesser amount of animal-based products. Cluster 1 comprises 10 meat recipes. Cluster 2 encompasses 31 recipes rich in fish with some vegetables and moderate consumption of red meat and dairy products. Cluster 3 includes 22 vegetable-based recipes. The higher the portion of animal products in the recipes (mainly red meat), the higher the costs and carbon footprint and the lower the energy return on investment ratio. Conversely, plant-based recipes tend to reduce greenhouse gases emissions and increase cost competitiveness and energy efficiency indicators. Based on this study, the food service could promote eco-labelling that support and certify restaurant menus. This research could also provide transformative climate education for sustainable food for consumers, giving advice to improve food-based dietary guidelines in SpainThe Galiat project received funding from the ERDF-Interconecta for Galicia Program (ITC-20133014 & ITC-20151009), managed by the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI), Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness. The authors thank the participating companies that assisted in this study; these include the Belarmino Fernández Iglesias Hostelry School, Bodegas Terras Gauda, Bodegas Pazo de Rivas, Conservas A Rosaleira, Conservas Friscos, Aceites Olei, and Quescrem. C.C.-F. would like to thank the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for financial support (Grant reference FPU 19/06648). C.C-F, S.G.-G., G.F. and M.T.M. belong to the Galician Competitive Research Group (GRC ED431C 2017/29) and to the Cross-disciplinary Research in Environmental Technologies (CRETUS Research Center, ED431E 2018/01). All these programs are co-funded by FEDER (EU)S

Estrategia docente para reforzar el compromiso de los alumnos con su aprendizaje a través de prácticas de aprendizaje servicio en el marco de la red de huertos escolares comunitarios HecoUSAL

Memoria ID-0028. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2017-2018