Architectural experience influences the processing of others' body expressions.

The interplay between space and cognition is a crucial issue in Neuroscience leading to the development of multiple research fields. However, the relationship between architectural space and the movement of the inhabitants and their interactions has been too often neglected, failing to provide a unifying view of architecture's capacity to modulate social cognition broadly. We bridge this gap by requesting participants to judge avatars' emotional expression (high vs. low arousal) at the end of their promenade inside high- or low-arousing architectures. Stimuli were presented in virtual reality to ensure a dynamic, naturalistic experience. High-density electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded to assess the neural responses to the avatar's presentation. Observing highly aroused avatars increased Late Positive Potentials (LPP), in line with previous evidence. Strikingly, 250 ms before the occurrence of the LPP, P200 amplitude increased due to the experience of low-arousing architectures, reflecting an early greater attention during the processing of body expressions. In addition, participants stared longer at the avatar's head and judged the observed posture as more arousing. Source localization highlighted a contribution of the dorsal premotor cortex to both P200 and LPP. In conclusion, the immersive and dynamic architectural experience modulates human social cognition. In addition, the motor system plays a role in processing architecture and body expressions suggesting that the space and social cognition interplay is rooted in overlapping neural substrates. This study demonstrates that the manipulation of mere architectural space is sufficient to influence human social cognition.

Embodying Language through Gestures: Residuals of Motor Memories Modulate Motor Cortex Excitability during Abstract Words Comprehension.

There is a debate about whether abstract semantics could be represented in a motor domain as concrete language. A contextual association with a motor schema (action or gesture) seems crucial to highlighting the motor system involvement. The present study with transcranial magnetic stimulation aimed to assess motor cortex excitability changes during abstract word comprehension after conditioning word reading to a gesture execution with congruent or incongruent meaning. Twelve healthy volunteers were engaged in a lexical-decision task responding to abstract words or meaningless verbal stimuli. Motor cortex (M1) excitability was measured at different after-stimulus intervals (100, 250, or 500 ms) before and after an associative-learning training where the execution of the gesture followed word processing. Results showed a significant post-training decrease in hand motor evoked potentials at an early processing stage (100 ms) in correspondence to words congruent with the gestures presented during the training. We hypothesized that traces of individual semantic memory, combined with training effects, induced M1 inhibition due to the redundancy of evoked motor representation. No modulation of cortical excitability was found for meaningless or incongruent words. We discuss data considering the possible implications in research to understand the neural basis of language development and language rehabilitation protocols.

Validation of a Novel Wearable Multistream Data Acquisition and Analysis System for Ergonomic Studies.

Nowadays, the growing interest in gathering physiological data and human behavior in everyday life scenarios is paralleled by an increase in wireless devices recording brain and body signals. However, the technical issues that characterize these solutions often limit the full brain-related assessments in real-life scenarios. Here we introduce the Biohub platform, a hardware/software (HW/SW) integrated wearable system for multistream synchronized acquisitions. This system consists of off-the-shelf hardware and state-of-art open-source software components, which are highly integrated into a high-tech low-cost solution, complete, yet easy to use outside conventional labs. It flexibly cooperates with several devices, regardless of the manufacturer, and overcomes the possibly limited resources of recording devices. The Biohub was validated through the characterization of the quality of (i) multistream synchronization, (ii) in-lab electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings compared with a medical-grade high-density device, and (iii) a Brain-Computer-Interface (BCI) in a real driving condition. Results show that this system can reliably acquire multiple data streams with high time accuracy and record standard quality EEG signals, becoming a valid device to be used for advanced ergonomics studies such as driving, telerehabilitation, and occupational safety.

Neurophysiological correlates of embodiment and motivational factors during the perception of virtual architectural environments.

The recent efforts aimed at providing neuroscientific explanations of how people perceive and experience architectural environments have largely justified the initial belief in the value of neuroscience for architecture. However, a systematic development of a coherent theoretical and experimental framework is missing. To investigate the neurophysiological reactions related to the appreciation of ambiances, we recorded the electroencephalographic (EEG) signals in an immersive virtual reality during the appreciation of interior designs. Such data have been analyzed according to the working hypothesis that appreciated environments involve embodied simulation mechanisms and circuits mediating approaching stimuli. EEG recordings of 12 healthy subjects have been performed during the perception of three-dimensional interiors that have been simulated in a CAVE system and judged according to dimensions of familiarity, novelty, comfort, pleasantness, arousal and presence. A correlation analysis on personal judgments returned that scores of novelty, pleasantness and comfort are positively correlated, while familiarity and novelty are in negative way. Statistical spectral maps reveal that pleasant, novel and comfortable interiors produce a de-synchronization of the mu rhythm over left sensorimotor areas. Interiors judged more pleasant and less familiar generate an activation of left frontal areas (theta and alpha bands), along an involvement of areas devoted to spatial navigation. An increase in comfort returns an enhancement of the theta frontal midline activity. Cerebral activations underlying appreciation of architecture could involve different mechanisms regulating corporeal, emotional and cognitive reactions. Therefore, it might be suggested that people's experience of architectural environments is intrinsically structured by the possibilities for action.

High-resolution EEG analysis of power spectral density maps and coherence networks in a proportional reasoning task.

Proportional reasoning is very important logical skill required in mathematics and science problem solving as well as in everyday life decisions. However, there is a lack of studies on neurophysiological correlates of proportional reasoning. To explore the brain activity of healthy adults while performing a balance scale task, we used high-resolution EEG techniques and graph-theory based connectivity analysis. After unskilled subjects learned how to properly solve the task, their cortical power spectral density (PSD) maps revealed an increased parietal activity in the beta band. This indicated that subjects started to perform calculations. In addition, the number of inter-hemispheric connections decreased after learning, implying a rearrangement of the brain activity. Repeated performance of the task led to the PSD decrease in the beta and gamma bands among parietal and frontal regions along with a synchronization of lower frequencies. These findings suggest that repetition led to a more automatic task performance. Subjects were also divided in two groups according to their scores on the test of logical thinking (TOLT). Although no group differences in the accuracy and reaction times were found, EEG data showed higher activity in the beta and gamma bands for the group that scored better on TOLT. Learning and repetition induced changes in the pattern of functional connectivity were evident for all frequency bands. Overall, the results indicated that higher frequency oscillations in frontal and parietal regions are particularly important for proportional reasoning.

The Avatar's Gist: How to Transfer Affective Components From Dynamic Walking to Static Body Postures.

Dynamic virtual representations of the human being can communicate a broad range of affective states through body movements, thus effectively studying emotion perception. However, the possibility of modeling static body postures preserving affective information is still fundamental in a broad spectrum of experimental settings exploring time-locked cognitive processes. We propose a novel automatic method for creating virtual affective body postures starting from kinematics data. Exploiting body features related to postural cues and movement velocity, we transferred the affective components from dynamic walking to static body postures of male and female virtual avatars. Results of two online experiments showed that participants coherently judged different valence and arousal levels in the avatar's body posture, highlighting the reliability of the proposed methodology. In addition, esthetic and postural cues made women more emotionally expressive than men. Overall, we provided a valid methodology to create affective body postures of virtual avatars, which can be used within different virtual scenarios to understand better the way we perceive the affective state of others.

EEG-EMG coupling as a hybrid method for steering detection in car driving settings.

Understanding mental processes in complex human behavior is a key issue in driving, representing a milestone for developing user-centered assistive driving devices. Here, we propose a hybrid method based on electroencephalographic (EEG) and electromyographic (EMG) signatures to distinguish left and right steering in driving scenarios. Twenty-four participants took part in the experiment consisting of recordings of 128-channel EEG and EMG activity from deltoids and forearm extensors in non-ecological and ecological steering tasks. Specifically, we identified the EEG mu rhythm modulation correlates with motor preparation of self-paced steering actions in the non-ecological task, while the concurrent EMG activity of the left (right) deltoids correlates with right (left) steering. Consequently, we exploited the mu rhythm de-synchronization resulting from the non-ecological task to detect the steering side using cross-correlation analysis with the ecological EMG signals. Results returned significant cross-correlation values showing the coupling between the non-ecological EEG feature and the muscular activity collected in ecological driving conditions. Moreover, such cross-correlation patterns discriminate the steering side earlier relative to the single EMG signal. This hybrid system overcomes the limitation of the EEG signals collected in ecological settings such as low reliability, accuracy, and adaptability, thus adding to the EMG the characteristic predictive power of the cerebral data. These results prove how it is possible to complement different physiological signals to control the level of assistance needed by the driver. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11571-021-09776-w.

Measuring arousal and valence generated by the dynamic experience of architectural forms in virtual environments.

The built environment represents the stage surrounding our everyday life activities. To investigate how architectural design impacts individuals' affective states, we measured subjective judgments of perceived valence (pleasant and unpleasant) and arousal after the dynamic experience of a progressive change of macro visuospatial dimensions of virtual spaces. To this aim, we developed a parametric model that allowed us to create 54 virtual architectural designs characterized by a progressive change of sidewalls distance, ceiling and windows height, and color of the environment. Decreasing sidewalls distance, ceiling height variation, and increasing windows height significantly affected the participants' emotional state within virtual environments. Indeed, such architectural designs generated high arousing and unpleasant states according to subjective judgment. Overall, we observed that valence and arousal scores are affected by all the dynamic form factors which modulated the spaciousness of the surrounding. Showing that the dynamic experience of virtual environments enables the possibility of measuring the emotional impact of macro spatial architectural features, the present findings may lay the groundwork for future experiments investigating the effects that the architectural design has on individuals' mental state as a fundamental factor for the creation of future spaces.

Hybrid Systems to Boost EEG-Based Real-Time Action Decoding in Car Driving Scenarios.

The complexity of concurrent cerebral processes underlying driving makes such human behavior one of the most studied real-world activities in neuroergonomics. Several attempts have been made to decode, both offline and online, cerebral activity during car driving with the ultimate goal to develop brain-based systems for assistive devices. Electroencephalography (EEG) is the cornerstone of these studies providing the highest temporal resolution to track those cerebral processes underlying overt behavior. Particularly when investigating real-world scenarios as driving, EEG is constrained by factors such as robustness, comfortability, and high data variability affecting the decoding performance. Hence, additional peripheral signals can be combined with EEG for increasing replicability and the overall performance of the brain-based action decoder. In this regard, hybrid systems have been proposed for the detection of braking and steering actions in driving scenarios to improve the predictive power of the single neurophysiological measurement. These recent results represent a proof of concept of the level of technological maturity. They may pave the way for increasing the predictive power of peripheral signals, such as electroculogram (EOG) and electromyography (EMG), collected in real-world scenarios when informed by EEG measurements, even if collected only offline in standard laboratory settings. The promising usability of such hybrid systems should be further investigated in other domains of neuroergonomics.

Robust anticipation of continuous steering actions from electroencephalographic data during simulated driving.

Driving a car requires high cognitive demands, from sustained attention to perception and action planning. Recent research investigated the neural processes reflecting the planning of driving actions, aiming to better understand the factors leading to driving errors and to devise methodologies to anticipate and prevent such errors by monitoring the driver's cognitive state and intention. While such anticipation was shown for discrete driving actions, such as emergency braking, there is no evidence for robust neural signatures of continuous action planning. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating continuous steering actions during a driving task in a car simulator with multimodal recordings of behavioural and electroencephalography (EEG) signals. System identification is used to assess whether robust neurophysiological signatures emerge before steering actions. Linear decoding models are then used to determine whether such cortical signals can predict continuous steering actions with progressively longer anticipation. Results point to significant EEG signatures of continuous action planning. Such neural signals show consistent dynamics across participants for anticipations up to 1 s, while individual-subject neural activity could reliably decode steering actions and predict future actions for anticipations up to 1.8 s. Finally, we use canonical correlation analysis to attempt disentangling brain and non-brain contributors to the EEG-based decoding. Our results suggest that low-frequency cortical dynamics are involved in the planning of steering actions and that EEG is sensitive to that neural activity. As a result, we propose a framework to investigate anticipatory neural activity in realistic continuous motor tasks.

Neuroelectrical hyperscanning measures simultaneous brain activity in humans.

In this study we illustrate a methodology able to follow and study concurrent and simultaneous brain processes during cooperation between individuals, with non invasive EEG methodologies. We collected data from fourteen pairs of subjects while they were playing a card game with EEG. Data collection was made simultaneously on all the subjects during the card game. An extension of the Granger-causality approach allows us to estimate the functional connection between signals estimated from different Regions of Interest (ROIs) in different brains during the analyzed task. Finally, with the use of graph theory, we contrast the functional connectivity patterns of the two players belonging to the same team. Statistically significant functional connectivities were obtained from signals estimated in the ROIs modeling the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the prefrontal areas described by the Brodmann areas 8 with the signals estimated in all the other modelled cortical areas. Results presented suggested the existence of Granger-sense causal relations between the EEG activity estimated in the prefrontal areas 8 and 9/46 of one player with the EEG activity estimated in the ACC of their companion. We illustrated the feasibility of functional connectivity methodology on the EEG hyperscannings performed on a group of subjects. These functional connectivity estimated from the couple of brains could suggest, in statistical and mathematical terms, the modelled cortical areas that are correlated in Granger-sense during the solution of a particular task. EEG hyperscannings could be used to investigate experimental paradigms where the knowledge of the simultaneous interactions between the subjects have a value.

Changes in brain activity during the observation of TV commercials by using EEG, GSR and HR measurements.

In this study we were interested to analyse the brain activity occurring during the "naturalistic" observation of commercial ads intermingled in a random order within a documentary. In order to measure both the brain activity and the emotional engage of the 15 healthy subjects investigated, we used simultaneous EEG, Galvanic Skin Response (GSR), Heart Rate (HR) recordings during the whole experiment. We would like to link significant variation of EEG, GSR, HR and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) measurements with the memory and pleasantness of the stimuli presented, as resulted successively from the subject's verbal interview. In order to do that, different indexes were employed to summarize the cerebral and autonomic measurements performed. Such indexes were used in the statistical analysis, performed with the use of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and z-score transformation of the estimated cortical activity by solving the associated EEG inverse problem. The results are summarized as follows: (1) in the population analyzed, the cortical activity in the theta band elicited during the observation of the TV commercials that were remembered is higher and localized in the left frontal brain areas when compared to the activity elicited during the vision of the TV commercials that were forgotten (p < 0.048). Same increase in the theta activity occurred during the observation of commercials that were judgment pleasant when compared with the other (p < 0.042). Differences in cortical activity were also observed for the gamma activity, bilaterally in frontal and prefrontal areas. (2) the HR and HRV activity elicited during the observation of the TV commercials that were remembered or judged pleasant is higher than the same activity during the observation of commercials that will be forgotten (p < 0.001 and p < 0.048, respectively for HR and HRV) or were judged unpleasant (p < 0.042 and p < 0.04, respectively for HR and HRV). No statistical differences between the level of the GSR values were observed across the experimental conditions. In conclusion, the TV commercials proposed to the population analyzed have increased the HR values and the cerebral activity mainly in the theta band in the left hemisphere when they will be memorized and judged pleasant. Further research with an extended set of subjects will be necessary to further validate the observations reported in this paper. However, these conclusions seems reasonable and well inserted in the already existing literature on this topic related to the HERA model.

Cortical network analysis in patients affected by schizophrenia.

In the present study, we studied the structural changes of the brain functional network in a group of schizophrenic (SCHZ) patients during a 2-back working memory task. Cortical signals were obtained from scalp EEG signals through the high-resolution EEG technique, which relies on realistic head models and linear inverse solutions. Functional networks were estimated by computing the spectral coherence--i.e. a measure of synchronization in the frequency domain--between the time series of all the available cortical sources. To analyze those cortical networks we followed a theoretical graph approach by computing the network density as the total number of links and the node degree as the number of links of each cortical source. The major result suggest that in the Alpha2 frequency band (11-13 Hz) the cortical functional networks of the SCHZ patients present the largest differences when compared with those of a group of control (CTRL) subjects. In particular, the structure of the SCHZ network altered radically during the memory task, as the number of links that were different from the REST condition increased sensibly with respect to the CTRL network. In addition, a compensatory mechanism was found in the SCHZ patients during the correct performance of the memory task where the node degree showed a frontal asymmetry with higher activation of the left frontal lobe--i.e. higher number of connections--in the Alpha2 frequency band.

Spatio-temporal dynamics of interictal activity in musicogenic epilepsy: Two case reports and a systematic review of the literature.

OBJECTIVE: To explore neurophysiological features of musicogenic epilepsy (ME), discussing experimental findings in the framework of a systematic review on ME. METHODS: Two patients with ME underwent high-density-electroencephalography (hd-EEG) while listening to ictogenic songs. In one case, musicogenic seizures were elicited. Independent component analysis (ICA) was applied to hd-EEG, and components hosting interictal and ictal elements were identified and localized. Finally, the temporal dynamics of spike-density was studied relative to seizures. All findings were compared against the results of a systematic review on ME, collecting 131 cases. RESULTS: Interictal spikes appeared isolated in specific fronto-temporal independent components, whose cortical generators were located in the anterior temporal and inferior frontal lobe. In the patient undergoing seizure, ictal discharge relied in the same component, with the interictal spike-density decreasing before the seizure onset. CONCLUSION: Our study shows how ICA can isolate neurophysiological features of ictal and interictal discharges in ME, highlighting a fronto-temporal localization and a suppression of spike-density preceding the seizure onset. SIGNIFICANCE: While the localization of ME activity could indicate which aspect within the musical stimulus might trigger musicogenic seizures for each patient, the study of ME dynamics could contribute to the development of models for seizure-prediction and their validation.

Psychological constraints on aggressive predation in economic contests.

When humans compete, they invest energy and effort to injure others and to protect against injury and exploitation. The psychology behind exploiting others and protecting against exploitation is still poorly understood and is addressed here in an incentivized economic contest game in which individuals invested in predatory attack and prey defense. Consistent with standard economic theory on production and predation, we find that individuals compete less intensely when they attack rather than defend and that attacks disproportionally often fail. We find, furthermore, 2 psychological mechanisms that restrain attack more than defense. First, individuals with stronger concern for others' welfare (Experiment 1a) and with stronger empathy (Experiment 1b) less frequently attack and when they attack, they do so less forcefully. Second, shorter decision times (Experiment 2a and Experiment 2b), along with cognitive taxation (Experiment 2b) associate with more forceful, but not with more frequent attack. Finally, investments in defense were neither predicted by other-concern and empathy, nor by decision time and cognitive taxation. Thus, individuals with stronger prosocial preferences and more deliberated decisions spent less energy on injuring others, and less often defeated their antagonists but ended-up personally wealthier. The waste of conflict can be reduced by strengthening prosocial preferences and cognitive resources available for deliberate decision-making. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Electroencephalographic time-frequency patterns of braking and acceleration movement preparation in car driving simulation.

The objective of the present work was to identify electroencephalographic (EEG) components in order to distinguish between braking and accelerating intention in simulated car driving. To do so, we collected high-density EEG data from thirty participants while they were driving in a car simulator. The EEG was separated into independent components that were clustered across participants according to their scalp map topographies. For each component, time-frequency activity related to braking and acceleration events was determined through wavelet analysis, and the cortical generators were estimated through minimum norm source localisation. Comparisons of the time-frequency patterns of power and phase activations revealed that theta power synchronisation distinguishes braking from acceleration events 800 ms before the action and that phase-locked activity increases for braking 800 ms before foot movement in the theta-alpha frequency range. In addition, source reconstruction showed that the dorso-mesial part of the premotor cortex plays a key role in preparation of foot movement. Overall, the results illustrate that dorso-mesial premotor areas are involved in movement preparation while driving, and that low-frequency EEG rhythms could be exploited to predict drivers' intention to brake or accelerate.

A Neuroelectrical Brain Imaging Study on the Perception of Figurative Paintings against Only their Color or Shape Contents.

In this study, the cortical activity correlated with the perception and appreciation of different set of pictures was estimated by using neuroelectric brain activity and graph theory methodologies in a group of artistic educated persons. The pictures shown to the subjects consisted of original pictures of Titian's and a contemporary artist's paintings (Orig dataset) plus two sets of additional pictures. These additional datasets were obtained from the previous paintings by removing all but the colors or the shapes employed (Color and Style dataset, respectively). Results suggest that the verbal appreciation of Orig dataset when compared to Color and Style ones was mainly correlated to the neuroelectric indexes estimated during the first 10 s of observation of the pictures. Always in the first 10 s of observation: (1) Orig dataset induced more emotion and is perceived with more appreciation than the other two Color and Style datasets; (2) Style dataset is perceived with more attentional effort than the other investigated datasets. During the whole period of observation of 30 s: (1) emotion induced by Color and Style datasets increased across the time while that induced of the Orig dataset remain stable; (2) Color and Style dataset were perceived with more attentional effort than the Orig dataset. During the entire experience, there is evidence of a cortical flow of activity from the parietal and central areas toward the prefrontal and frontal areas during the observation of the images of all the datasets. This is coherent from the notion that active perception of the images with sustained cognitive attention in parietal and central areas caused the generation of the judgment about their aesthetic appreciation in frontal areas.

The Enactive Approach to Architectural Experience: A Neurophysiological Perspective on Embodiment, Motivation, and Affordances.

Over the last few years, the efforts to reveal through neuroscientific lens the relations between the mind, body, and built environment have set a promising direction of using neuroscience for architecture. However, little has been achieved thus far in developing a systematic account that could be employed for interpreting current results and providing a consistent framework for subsequent scientific experimentation. In this context, the enactive perspective is proposed as a guide to studying architectural experience for two key reasons. Firstly, the enactive approach is specifically selected for its capacity to account for the profound connectedness of the organism and the world in an active and dynamic relationship, which is primarily shaped by the features of the body. Thus, particular emphasis is placed on the issues of embodiment and motivational factors as underlying constituents of the body-architecture interactions. Moreover, enactive understanding of the relational coupling between body schema and affordances of architectural spaces singles out the two-way bodily communication between architecture and its inhabitants, which can be also explored in immersive virtual reality settings. Secondly, enactivism has a strong foothold in phenomenological thinking that corresponds to the existing phenomenological discourse in architectural theory and qualitative design approaches. In this way, the enactive approach acknowledges the available common ground between neuroscience and architecture and thus allows a more accurate definition of investigative goals. Accordingly, the outlined model of architectural subject in enactive terms-that is, a model of a human being as embodied, enactive, and situated agent, is proposed as a basis of neuroscientific and phenomenological interpretation of architectural experience.