(Not so) Smart sleep tracking through the phone: Findings from a polysomnography study testing the reliability of four sleep applications.

An increasing number of sleep applications are currently available and are being widely used for in-home sleep tracking. The present study assessed four smartphone applications (Sleep Cycle-Accelerometer, SCa; Sleep Cycle-Microphone, SCm; Sense, Se; Smart Alarm, SA) designed for sleep-wake detection through sound and movement sensors, by comparing their performance with polysomnography. Twenty-one healthy participants (six males, 15 females) used the four sleep applications running on iPhone (provided by the experimenter) simultaneously with portable polysomnography recording at home, while sleeping alone for two consecutive nights. Whereas all apps showed a significant correlation with polysomnography-time in bed, only SA offered significant correlations for sleep efficacy. Furthermore, SA seemed to be quite effective in reliable detection of total sleep time and also light sleep; however, it underestimated wake and partially overestimated deep sleep. None of the apps resulted capable of detecting and scoring rapid eye movement sleep. To sum up, SC (functioning through both accelerometer and microphone) and Se did not result sufficiently reliable in sleep-wake detection compared with polysomnography. SA, the only application offering the possibility of an epoch-by-epoch analysis, showed higher accuracy than the other apps in comparison with polysomnography, but it still shows some limitations, particularly regarding wake and deep sleep detection. Developing scoring algorithms specific for smartphone sleep detection and adding external sensors to record other physiological parameters may overcome the present limits of sleep tracking through smart phone apps.

Influence of numerical magnitudes on the free choice of an object position.

The link between numerical magnitude and mechanisms of spatial orienting has been underlined in an increasing number of studies. Similarly, the relationship between numerical magnitude and grasping actions has started to be investigated. The present study focuses on the influence of numerical magnitude processing in the free choice of the position of an object. Participants were presented with a digit (1-9 without 5) and were required to decide whether it was smaller or larger than 5. Then, they had to grasp a small cube and change its position before vocally responding "higher" or "lower". Results showed that in the initial phase of the grasp movement, the grip aperture was modulated by the numerical magnitude. Moreover, participants shifted the position of the cube more leftward with smaller digits compared with larger ones, and they tended to position the object closer to themselves with smaller digits compared with larger ones. These results extend the previous findings indicating that the processing of magnitude is tightly related to the mechanisms of spatial orienting that subserve action execution.

Luminance and timing control during visual presentation of natural scenes.

In the study of visual cognition, accurate control of stimulus presentation is of primary importance yet is complicated by hardware malfunctioning, software variability, and visual materials used. Here, we describe VISTO 2.0, a low-cost and open-source device which is capable to measure the timing and temporal luminance profile of visual stimuli. This device represents a major improvement over VISTO (De Cesarei, Marzocchi, & Loftus, 2021), as it is only sensitive to a light spectrum in the visible range, is easier to assemble, and has a modular design that can be extended to other sensory modalities.

Corrigendum to "VISTO: An open-source device to measure exposure time in psychological experiments".

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.mex.2021.101427.].

VISTO: An open-source device to measure exposure time in psychological experiments.

The study of higher cognitive processes often relies on the manipulation of bottom-up stimulus characteristics such as exposure time. While several software exist that can schedule the onset and offset time of a visual stimulus, the actual exposure time depends on several factors that are not easy to control, resulting in undesired variability within and across studies. Here we present VISTO, a simple device built on the Arduino platform that allows one to measure the exact onset and offset of a visual stimulus, and to test its synchronization with a trigger signal. The device is used to measure the profile of luminance waveforms in arbitrary analog/digital (AD) units, and the implications of these luminance profiles are discussed based on a model of information accumulation from visual exposure. Moreover, VISTO can be calibrated to match the brightness of each experimental monitor. VISTO allows for control of stimulus timing presentation, both in classical laboratory settings and in more complex settings as technology allows to use new display devices or acquisition equipment. In sum, VISTO allows one to:•measure the profile of luminance curves.•determine the exposure time of a visual stimulus.•measure the synchronization between a trigger signal and a visual stimulus.

Grasping the Agent's Perspective: A Kinematics Investigation of Linguistic Perspective in Italian and German.

Every day, we primarily experience actions as agents, by having a concrete perspective on our actions, their means and goals. This peculiar perspective is what allows us to successfully plan and execute our actions in a dense social environment. Nevertheless, in this environment actions are also perceived from an observer's perspective. Adopting such a perspective helps us to understand and respond to other's people actions and their outcomes. Importantly, similar experiences of being agent and observer occur also when actions are not physically acted/perceived but are merely linguistically shared. In this paper we present two exploratory studies, one in Italian and one in German, in which we applied a direct comparison of three singular perspectives in combination with different verb categories. First, second and third person pronouns were combined with action and interaction verbs, i.e., verbs implying an interaction with an object - e.g., grasp - or an interaction with an object and another person - e.g., give. By means of kinematics recording, we analyzed participants' reaching-grasping responses to a mouse while they were presented with the different combinations of linguistic stimuli (pronouns and verb type). Results of Experiment 1 on reaching show that, when they are preceded by YOU, interaction verbs reached the velocity peak earlier than action verbs, since a further motor act will follow. Thus pronouns influence perspective taking and while comprehending language we are sensitive to the motor chain organization of verbs. The absence of the same effects in Experiment 2 is likely due to the fact that, being the pronoun in German mandatory, it is perceived as less salient than in Italian. Overall our result supports the idea that language is grounded in the motor system in a flexible way, and highlights the need for cross-linguistic studies in the field of embodied language processing.

Effects of Gender and Personality on First Impression.

The present study explores whether and to what extent individual differences (i.e., gender and personality traits of perceiver) predict inferences of trustworthiness from emotionally neutral unfamiliar faces and the related confidence in judgment. Four hundred and ten undergraduate students participated in the study. Personality was assessed using the Big Five model (i.e., Extraversion, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness and Openness to experience) and measures of trait anxiety and aggression. The results suggest that trustworthiness judgments are affected by the gender of the perceiver, although this effect depends on the valence of the face. Women tend to judge trustworthy-looking faces as significantly more trustworthy than men do, and this is particularly pronounced for judgments of female faces. There were no gender differences for judgments of untrustworthy-looking or neutral faces. Gender also seems to affect the confidence in judgment. Specifically, women were generally less confident than men in judging trustworthiness of unfamiliar faces. Personality also affected judgment. Both low agreeable individuals and high trait aggressive individuals tend to perceive unfamiliar faces as less trustworthy. The present findings suggest that both gender and personality traits are relevant for understanding how people evaluate the trustworthiness of others. Whom we decide to trust is a function not only of their facial features but also of gender and individual differences in personality traits.

Dronedarone for atrial fibrillation therapy.

Dronedarone is a new benzofuran derivative that has been developed as an antiarrhythmic agent on the basis of the amiodarone molecular structure with the intent of maintaining the same pharmacological effects while reducing thyroid and pulmonary toxicity. The drug is a multichannel blocker with antiadrenergic properties: it reduces heart rate and prolongs the action potential duration. Dronedarone is primarily metabolized by cytochrome P450; its half-life is much shorter than that of amiodarone because of a lower lipophilicity. As a consequence, only 7 days are needed to reach steady-state plasma levels. It has been tested in clinical trials both for rate and rhythm control and, even if its antiarrhythmic efficacy seems to be somehow lower than that of amiodarone, dronedarone is less often discontinued due to adverse reactions or organic toxicity. For these reasons, dronedarone can be very useful in long-term treatment of atrial fibrillation, by reducing hospitalizations and mortality.