Emotional anticipation for dynamic emotional faces is not modulated by schizotypal traits: A Representational Momentum study.

Schizotypy, a personality structure that resembles schizophrenia symptoms, is often associated with abnormal facial emotion perception. Based on the prevailing sense of threat in psychotic experiences, and the immediate perceptual history of seeing others' facial expressions, individuals with high schizotypal traits may exhibit a heightened tendency to anticipate anger. To test this, we used insights from Representational Momentum (RM), a perceptual phenomenon in which the endpoint of a dynamic event is systematically displaced forward, into the immediate future. Angry-to-ambiguous and happy-to-ambiguous avatar faces were presented, each followed by a probe with the same (ambiguous) expression as the endpoint, or one slightly changed to express greater happiness/anger. Participants judged if the probe was "equal" to the endpoint and rated how confident they were. The sample was divided into high (N = 46) and low (N = 49) schizotypal traits using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ). First, a forward bias was found in happy-to-ambiguous faces, suggesting emotional anticipation solely for dynamic faces changing towards a potential threat (anger). This may reflect an adaptative mechanism, as it is safer to anticipate any hostility from a conspecific than the opposite. Second, contrary to our hypothesis, high schizotypal traits did not heighten RM for happy-to-ambiguous faces, nor did they lead to overconfidence in biased judgements. This may suggest a typical pattern of emotional anticipation in non-clinical schizotypy, but caution is needed due to the use of self-report questionnaires, university students, and a modest sample size. Future studies should also investigate if the same holds for clinical manifestations of schizophrenia.

Gravity's impact on visual search asymmetries: Is visual gravitational motion a distinct visual feature or a familiar dynamic event?

A wealth of converging research lines has led support to the notion that specialized neural processes output a priori information about the expected effects of gravity to fine-tune motor and perceptual responses to dynamic events. Arguably, these putative internal models of gravity might modulate the efficiency in visual search for objects conforming or not to gravitationally coherent dynamics. In the present work, we explored this possibility with a visual search task involving arrays of two to eight objects moving periodically back and forth. The target could be an accelerating/decelerating ball (as if bouncing on earth's surface-1g) with distractors moving at a constant speed (0g) or the reverse. Moreover, the direction of the gravitational pull, as implied by the 1g motion patterns, could be aligned or misaligned with Earth's gravity. Overall, searches for 1g targets were more efficient than 0g targets except, notably, when stimuli displays were congruent with Earth's gravitational pull, in which case the visual search asymmetry is significantly reduced. Outcomes are interpreted as reflecting the joint and mutually cancelling contribution of low-level detection of acceleration patterns and higher level detection of unexpected violations of gravitational motion. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Representational horizon and visual space orientation: An investigation into the role of visual contextual cues on spatial mislocalisations.

The perceived offset position of a moving target has been found to be displaced forward, in the direction of motion (Representational Momentum; RM), downward, in the direction of gravity (Representational Gravity; RG), and, recently, further displaced along the horizon implied by the visual context (Representational Horizon; RH). The latter, while still underexplored, offers the prospect to clarify the role of visual contextual cues in spatial orientation and in the perception of dynamic events. As such, the present work sets forth to ascertain the robustness of Representational Horizon across varying types of visual contexts, particularly between interior and exterior scenes, and to clarify to what degree it reflects a perceptual or response phenomenon. To that end, participants were shown targets, moving along one out of several possible trajectories, overlaid on a randomly chosen background depicting either an interior or exterior scene rotated -22.5º, 0º, or 22.5º in relation to the actual vertical. Upon the vanishing of the target, participants were required to indicate its last seen location with a computer mouse. For half the participants, the background vanished with the target while for the remaining it was kept visible until a response was provided. Spatial localisations were subjected to a discrete Fourier decomposition procedure to obtain independent estimates of RM, RG, and RH. Outcomes showed that RH's direction was biased towards the horizon implied by the visual context, but solely for exterior scenes, and irrespective of its presence or absence during the spatial localisation response, supporting its perceptual/representational nature.

Anterior Penetrating Neck Injury: A Path to the Cervical Spine.

While rare in incidence, penetrating neck injuries are often life-threatening. When a patient's physiological status is appropriate, the first step in treatment should be a detailed preoperative imaging assessment. Formulating a treatment plan that includes computed tomography (CT) imaging and discussing the surgical approach with a multidisciplinary team before operating allows for a successful selective surgical approach. The authors report the case of a Zone II penetrating injury with a right laterocervical entry wound in which an impaled blade with an inferomedial oblique path pierced deeply into the cervical spine. The blade missed multiple vital structures in the neck, such as the common carotid artery, jugular vein, trachea, and esophagus. The patient underwent a formal neck exploration, and controlled extraction of the blade under direct vision was achieved. Therefore, the author's recommendation for implementing any management algorithm for penetrating neck injuries should rely primarily on a multidisciplinary selective approach.

Visual space orientation and representational gravity: Contextual orientation visual cues modulate the perceptual extrapolation of motion.

The perceived offset of a moving target is usually displaced forward, in the direction of motion (representational momentum), and downward, in the direction of gravity (representational gravity). In what refers to the latter, the meaning of "downward in the direction of gravity" is ill-defined, for it is known that the perceived direction of gravity ("downward") results from the interaction of vestibular signals, sensitive to the gravito-inertial vector, an aprioristic tendency to assume that it aligns with the body's main axis (idiotropic vector) and visual cues. The present work aims to disclose what effects visual cues have on representational gravity. Participants performed a spatial localization task as well as a subjective visual vertical (SVV) and an oriented character recognition task (OCHART), with stimuli superimposed on a realistic background either aligned with earth's vertical or tilted rightward or leftward. Outcomes disclosed significant and lawful effects of the orientation of the visual context on spatial localization judgements. Specifically, forward displacement along the target's motion direction was bigger for targets moving along the "horizontal" direction implied by the background scene. These trends were furthermore found to be correlated, at an individual level, with the magnitude of SVV, but not with the perceptual upright (as measured with OCHART). These findings show that features of the spatial localization judgements specifically index the visually induced spatial orientation, thus offering the prospect to expand available tools for inquiries concerning human spatial orientation, besides clarifying the multisensorial nature and significantly expanding the notion of representational gravity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

When more is less in financial decision-making: financial literacy magnifies framing effects.

In recent years, the financial world has become more complex and intricate. In this context, numeracy and, particularly, financial literacy, are seen as paramount in providing consumers with the knowledge and confidence required to take part in financial markets. Despite some indicative empirical findings, it is still to be ascertained how the two competences differentially contribute to the quality of decision-making in financial contexts. Furthermore, it is still unknown to what degree financial literacy and numeracy, taken as relevant mind-ware for financial decision-making, are effective in guarding against well-documented biases such as loss aversion and framing effects. This study aims to clarify these issues by employing an experimental task, conceived as an approximation to real-world decision-making involving the sale of shares. Our results suggest that numeracy and financial literacy affect decision-making differently in a pattern that, in part, runs counter to conventional economic theory. The data indicate that numeracy promotes a pattern of choices closer to economic rationality, while financial literacy can prove counterproductive and may amplify cognitive biases, namely framing effects and loss aversion. The outcomes are interpreted in light of dual-process theories, and the political implications discussed.

The role of cortical areas hMT/V5+ and TPJ on the magnitude of representational momentum and representational gravity: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study.

The perceived vanishing location of a moving target is systematically displaced forward, in the direction of motion-representational momentum-, and downward, in the direction of gravity-representational gravity. Despite a wealth of research on the factors that modulate these phenomena, little is known regarding their neurophysiological substrates. The present experiment aims to explore which role is played by cortical areas hMT/V5+, linked to the processing of visual motion, and TPJ, thought to support the functioning of an internal model of gravity, in modulating both effects. Participants were required to perform a standard spatial localization task while the activity of the right hMT/V5+ or TPJ sites was selectively disrupted with an offline continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) protocol, interspersed with control blocks with no stimulation. Eye movements were recorded during all spatial localizations. Results revealed an increase in representational gravity contingent on the disruption of the activity of hMT/V5+ and, conversely, some evidence suggested a bigger representational momentum when TPJ was stimulated. Furthermore, stimulation of hMT/V5+ led to a decreased ocular overshoot and to a time-dependent downward drift of gaze location. These outcomes suggest that a reciprocal balance between perceived kinematics and anticipated dynamics might modulate these spatial localization responses, compatible with a push-pull mechanism.

A novel dissociation between representational momentum and representational gravity through response modality.

When people are required to indicate the vanishing location of a moving object, systematic biases forward, in the direction of motion, and downward, in the direction of gravity, are usually found. Both these displacements, called representational momentum and representational gravity, respectively, are thought to reflect anticipatory internal mechanisms aiming to overcome neural delays in the perception of motion. We challenge this view. There may not be such a single mechanism. Although both representational momentum and representational gravity follow a specific time-course, compatible with an anticipation of the object's dynamics, they do not seem to be commensurable with each other, as they are differentially modulated by relevant variables, such as eye movements and strength of motion signals. We found separate response components, one related to overt motor localization behaviour and one limited to purely perceptual judgement. Representational momentum emerged only for the motor localization task, revealing a motor overshoot. In contrast, representational gravity was mostly evident for spatial perceptual judgements. We interpret the results in support of a partial dissociation in the mechanisms that give rise to representational momentum and representational gravity, with the former but not the latter strongly modulated by the enrolment of the motor system.

Vestibular stimulation interferes with the dynamics of an internal representation of gravity.

The remembered vanishing location of a moving target has been found to be displaced downward in the direction of gravity (representational gravity) and more so with increasing retention intervals, suggesting that the visual spatial updating recruits an internal model of gravity. Despite being consistently linked with gravity, few inquiries have been made about the role of vestibular information in these trends. Previous experiments with static tilting of observers' bodies suggest that under conflicting cues between the idiotropic vector and vestibular signals, the dynamic drift in memory is reduced to a constant displacement along the body's main axis. The present experiment aims to replicate and extend these outcomes while keeping the observers' bodies unchanged in relation to physical gravity by varying the gravito-inertial acceleration using a short-radius centrifuge. Observers were shown, while accelerated to varying degrees, targets moving along several directions and were required to indicate the perceived vanishing location after a variable interval. Increases of the gravito-inertial force (up to 1.4G), orthogonal to the idiotropic vector, did not affect the direction of representational gravity, but significantly disrupted its time course. The role and functioning of an internal model of gravity for spatial perception and orientation are discussed in light of the results.

Categorização, cognição e o estilo de vida goy / Categorization, cognition and the g0y lifestyle / Categorización, cognición y el estilo de vida g0y

A categorização é fundamental para o nosso pensamento, nossa percepção, ação e posicionamento no mundo. Todas as vezes que percebemos algo como um tipo de coisa, ou como parte de alguma coisa, estamos a categorizar e a recorrer ao uso de processos cognitivos. Nessa perspectiva, as novas categorias homoeróticas na contemporaneidade surgem de que axiomas? O que é gay, o que é g0y (g-zero-y) e o que não é? Bem como, qual é a fronteira desses conceitos com o comportamento masculino heteroflexível? São questões instigantes sob o enfoque da cognição, da categorização; e, com base em verificação ontológica, este artigo enfatiza o papel de validação exercido pela "confirmação" e "desconfirmação" das crenças acerca de categorias mais fluidas de comportamentos sexuais masculinos que podem estar externalizados. Nesse âmbito, registra-se que não se encontra na proposição g-zero-y erros sejam no sentido da redundância, de inconsistência interna, de partição ou de circularidade conceptual.

The categorization is basic for our thinking, our perception, action, and positioning in the world. When we perceive something as a kind of thing, or as part of something, we are categorizing and resorting to the use of cognitive processes. In this perspective, from which axioms arise the new homoerotic categories in the contemporaneity? What is gay, what is g0y (g-zero-y) and what is not? As well as, what is the frontier of these concepts with the heteroflexible male behavior? These are intriguing questions at perspective of the cognition processes, of categorization based on the ontological verification this paper emphasizes the role of validation exercised by the 'confirmation' and 'disconfirmation' of the beliefs, about categories more fluids of male sexual behaviors that may be externalized, registering that it is not in the proposition g-zeroy errors are in the conceptual sense of redundancy, internal inconsistency, partition or circularity

La categorización es fundamental para nuestro pensamiento, percepción, acción y posicionamiento en el mundo. Cuando percibimos algo como una especie de cosa, o como parte de algo, estamos categorizando y recurriendo al uso de procesos cognitivos. En esta perspectiva del proceso de categorización, ¿las nuevas categorías homoeróticas de que axiomas surgen? ¿Qué es gay, qué es g0y (g-cero-y) y qué no lo es? Así como, ¿cuál es la frontera con el comportamiento masculino heteroflexible? Estas son preguntas intrigantes en la perspectiva del proceso de la cognición, de la categorización y basado en verificación ontológica, este artículo hace hincapié en el papel de la validación ejercida por la 'confirmación' y la 'desconfirmación' de las creencias, sobre categorías más fluidas de los comportamientos sexuales masculinos que pueden estar externalizados. En conclusión, se registra que no se encuentran en la proposición g-cero-y errores en el sentido de redundancia, inconsistencia interna, partición o circularidad conceptual

Effects of noise on postural stability when in the standing position.

BACKGROUND: Loss of postural stability may result in postural imbalance and can increase the risk of slips and falls in the workplace. OBJECTIVE: This study intended to provide new insight into the effects of noise on postural stability when in the standing position. METHODS: Twenty healthy subjects voluntarily participated in this study. Their postural stability was analysed using a baropodometry platform under 4 different sets of conditions: i) standing position, without any noise and without wearing ear protectors; ii) standing position, without any noise and wearing ear protectors; iii) standing position, with noise and without wearing ear protectors; iv) standing position, with noise and wearing ear protectors. RESULTS: The results showed that noise at different sound frequencies (400, 2000, 4000 and 8000 Hz) at a level of 95-100 dBA did not affect the participants' postural stability when in the standing position. CONCLUSIONS: No significant differences were found in postural balance when participants were exposed to sound with or without ear protectors. Short duration, sensory inputs (i.e. vision) and the absence of physical workloads appear to facilitate postural stability.

The visual representations of motion and of gravity are functionally independent: Evidence of a differential effect of smooth pursuit eye movements.

The memory for the final position of a moving object which suddenly disappears has been found to be displaced forward, in the direction of motion, and downwards, in the direction of gravity. These phenomena were coined, respectively, Representational Momentum and Representational Gravity. Although both these and similar effects have been systematically linked with the functioning of internal representations of physical variables (e.g. momentum and gravity), serious doubts have been raised for a cognitively based interpretation, favouring instead a major role of oculomotor and perceptual factors which, more often than not, were left uncontrolled and even ignored. The present work aims to determine the degree to which Representational Momentum and Representational Gravity are epiphenomenal to smooth pursuit eye movements. Observers were required to indicate the offset locations of targets moving along systematically varied directions after a variable imposed retention interval. Each participant completed the task twice, varying the eye movements' instructions: gaze was either constrained or left free to track the targets. A Fourier decomposition analysis of the localization responses was used to disentangle both phenomena. The results show unambiguously that constraining eye movements significantly eliminates the harmonic components which index Representational Momentum, but have no effect on Representational Gravity or its time course. The found outcomes offer promising prospects for the study of the visual representation of gravity and its neurological substrates.

How Fast Do Objects Fall in Visual Memory? Uncovering the Temporal and Spatial Features of Representational Gravity.

Visual memory for the spatial location where a moving target vanishes has been found to be systematically displaced downward in the direction of gravity. Moreover, it was recently reported that the magnitude of the downward error increases steadily with increasing retention intervals imposed after object's offset and before observers are allowed to perform the spatial localization task, in a pattern where the remembered vanishing location drifts downward as if following a falling trajectory. This outcome was taken to reflect the dynamics of a representational model of earth's gravity. The present study aims to establish the spatial and temporal features of this downward drift by taking into account the dynamics of the motor response. The obtained results show that the memory for the last location of the target drifts downward with time, thus replicating previous results. Moreover, the time taken for completion of the behavioural localization movements seems to add to the imposed retention intervals in determining the temporal frame during which the visual memory is updated. Overall, it is reported that the representation of spatial location drifts downward by about 3 pixels for each two-fold increase of time until response. The outcomes are discussed in relation to a predictive internal model of gravity which outputs an on-line spatial update of remembered objects' location.

A survey in Portuguese X-ray fluoroscopy equipment: dose rates and image quality.

X-ray fluoroscopy is essential in both diagnosis and medical intervention, although it may contribute to significant radiation doses to patients that have to be optimised and justified. Therefore, it is crucial to the patient to be exposed to the lowest achievable dose without compromising the image quality. The purpose of this study was to perform an analysis of the quality control measurements, particularly dose rates, contrast and spatial resolution of Portuguese fluoroscopy equipment and also to provide a contribution to the establishment of reference levels for the equipment performance parameters. Measurements carried out between 2007 and 2013 on 143 fluoroscopy equipment distributed by 34 nationwide health units were analysed. The measurements suggest that image quality and dose rates of Portuguese equipment are congruent with other studies, and in general, they are as per the Portuguese law. However, there is still a possibility of improvements intending optimisation at a national level.

Fourier decomposition of spatial localization errors reveals an idiotropic dominance of an internal model of gravity.

Given its conspicuous nature, gravity has been acknowledged by several research lines as a prime factor in structuring the spatial perception of one's environment. One such line of enquiry has focused on errors in spatial localization aimed at the vanishing location of moving objects - it has been systematically reported that humans mislocalize spatial positions forward, in the direction of motion (representational momentum) and downward in the direction of gravity (representational gravity). Moreover, spatial localization errors were found to evolve dynamically with time in a pattern congruent with an anticipated trajectory (representational trajectory). The present study attempts to ascertain the degree to which vestibular information plays a role in these phenomena. Human observers performed a spatial localization task while tilted to varying degrees and referring to the vanishing locations of targets moving along several directions. A Fourier decomposition of the obtained spatial localization errors revealed that although spatial errors were increased "downward" mainly along the body's longitudinal axis (idiotropic dominance), the degree of misalignment between the latter and physical gravity modulated the time course of the localization responses. This pattern is surmised to reflect increased uncertainty about the internal model when faced with conflicting cues regarding the perceived "downward" direction.

Dosimetric effect of tissue heterogeneity for (125)I prostate implants.

AIM: To use Monte Carlo (MC) together with voxel phantoms to analyze the tissue heterogeneity effect in the dose distributions and equivalent uniform dose (EUD) for (125)I prostate implants. BACKGROUND: Dose distribution calculations in low dose-rate brachytherapy are based on the dose deposition around a single source in a water phantom. This formalism does not take into account tissue heterogeneities, interseed attenuation, or finite patient dimensions effects. Tissue composition is especially important due to the photoelectric effect. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The computed tomographies (CT) of two patients with prostate cancer were used to create voxel phantoms for the MC simulations. An elemental composition and density were assigned to each structure. Densities of the prostate, vesicles, rectum and bladder were determined through the CT electronic densities of 100 patients. The same simulations were performed considering the same phantom as pure water. Results were compared via dose-volume histograms and EUD for the prostate and rectum. RESULTS: The mean absorbed doses presented deviations of 3.3-4.0% for the prostate and of 2.3-4.9% for the rectum, when comparing calculations in water with calculations in the heterogeneous phantom. In the calculations in water, the prostate D 90 was overestimated by 2.8-3.9% and the rectum D 0.1cc resulted in dose differences of 6-8%. The EUD resulted in an overestimation of 3.5-3.7% for the prostate and of 7.7-8.3% for the rectum. CONCLUSIONS: The deposited dose was consistently overestimated for the simulation in water. In order to increase the accuracy in the determination of dose distributions, especially around the rectum, the introduction of the model-based algorithms is recommended.

Tissue composition and density impact on the clinical parameters for (125)I prostate implants dosimetry.

The MCNPX code was used to calculate the TG-43U1 recommended parameters in water and prostate tissue in order to quantify the dosimetric impact in 30 patients treated with (125)I prostate implants when replacing the TG-43U1 formalism parameters calculated in water by a prostate-like medium in the planning system (PS) and to evaluate the uncertainties associated with Monte Carlo (MC) calculations. The prostate density was obtained from the CT of 100 patients with prostate cancer. The deviations between our results for water and the TG-43U1 consensus dataset values were -2.6% for prostate V100, -13.0% for V150, and -5.8% for D90; -2.0% for rectum V100, and -5.1% for D0.1; -5.0% for urethra D10, and -5.1% for D30. The same differences between our water and prostate results were all under 0.3%. Uncertainties estimations were up to 2.9% for the gL(r) function, 13.4% for the F(r,θ) function and 7.0% for Λ, mainly due to seed geometry uncertainties. Uncertainties in extracting the TG-43U1 parameters in the MC simulations as well as in the literature comparison are of the same order of magnitude as the differences between dose distributions computed for water and prostate-like medium. The selection of the parameters for the PS should be done carefully, as it may considerably affect the dose distributions. The seeds internal geometry uncertainties are a major limiting factor in the MC parameters deduction.

The dynamic representation of gravity is suspended when the idiotropic vector is misaligned with gravity.

BACKGROUND: When people are asked to indicate the vanishing location of a moving target, errors in the direction of motion (representational momentum) and in the direction of gravity (representational gravity) are usually found. These errors possess a temporal course wherein the memory for the location of the target drifts downwards with increasing temporal intervals between target's disappearance and participant's responses (representational trajectory). OBJECTIVE: To assess if representational trajectory is a body-referenced or a world-referenced phenomenon. METHODS: A behavioral localization method was employed with retention times between 0 and 1400 ms systematically imposed after the target's disappearance. The target could move horizontally (rightwards or leftwards) or vertically (upwards or downwards). Body posture was varied in a counterbalanced order between sitting upright and lying on the side (left lateral decubitus position). RESULTS: In the upright task, the memory for target location drifted downwards with time in the direction of gravity. This time course did not emerge for the decubitus task, where idiotropic dominance was found. CONCLUSIONS: The dynamic visual representation of gravity is neither purely body-referenced nor world-referenced. It seems to be modulated instead by the relationship between the idiotropic vector and physical gravity.

Spatial and foveal biases, not perceived mass or heaviness, explain the effect of target size on representational momentum and representational gravity.

The spatial memory for the last position occupied by a moving target is usually displaced forward in the direction of motion. Interpreted as a mental analogue of physical momentum, this phenomenon was coined representational momentum (RM). As momentum is given by the product of an object's velocity and mass, both these factors came to be under scrutiny in RM studies, the goal being to provide support for the internalization hypothesis. Although velocity was found to determine RM's magnitude, possible effects of mass were more elusive. Recently, an effect of target size on RM was reported, adding to previous findings that bigger targets were more mislocalized downward in the direction of gravity (via perceived heaviness and representational gravity; RG). The aim in the present research was to test that those outcomes reflect an internalization of momentum by excluding oculomotor factors. The results showed that an effect of target size, when it emerged, could be accounted for by a foveal bias such that bigger targets were more displaced toward gaze than were smaller ones. Specific contingencies between eye movements and target size seem to account for previous reports regarding the alleged effects of perceived mass on both RM and RG. This phenomenon seems furthermore to be modulated by the presence of other visual elements (fixation point) and the range of target velocities. These outcomes are taken as a rebuttal to the claim that cognitive analogues of mass or heaviness are responsible for previously reported effects of target size on both RM and RG.