Using painting to disclose the inner worlds of women subjected to intimate partner violence.

Intimate partner violence has become an increasingly serious social problem in Türkiye in recent years. It causes social, physical, and psychosocial health problems that impact mortality and morbidity in women. This study aimed to determine the inner worlds of female IPV victims who sought safety from their abusers in women's shelters. The sample consisted of ten women staying in a women's shelter affiliated with the Violence Prevention and Monitoring Center in Ankara. The study used a qualitative research design (phenomenology) and the drawing technique. An art therapist and a psychotherapist interpreted the symbols in pictures drawn by participants. Moreover, in-depth interviews were conducted with participants to disclose their repressed feelings and thoughts. Both in-depth interviews and drawings helped us elaborate on participants' inner worlds. The results showed that all types of violence left deep emotional scars. Some participants stated that legal sanctions should also apply to psychological violence. Participants were highly motivated to change their lives around but had financial concerns. Some participants were concerned that legal procedures, such as housing and economic support, were short-termed. The results indicate that all parties, such as governments, civil society organizations, media, and the private sector, should adopt a holistic approach to combating all types of violence.

An objective evaluation of the beholder's response to abstract and figurative art based on construal level theory.

Does abstract art evoke a different cognitive state than figurative art? To address this question empirically, we bridged art theory and cognitive research and designed an experiment leveraging construal level theory (CLT). CLT is based on experimental data showing that psychologically distant events (i.e., occurring farther away in space or time) are represented more abstractly than closer events. We measured construal level elicited by abstract vs. representational art and asked subjects to assign abstract/representational paintings by the same artist to a situation that was temporally/spatially near or distant. Across three experiments, we found that abstract paintings were assigned to the distant situation significantly more often than representational paintings, indicating that abstract art was evocative of greater psychological distance. Our data demonstrate that different levels of artistic abstraction evoke different levels of mental abstraction and suggest that CLT provides an empirical approach to the analysis of cognitive states evoked by different levels of artistic abstraction.

Statistical image properties and aesthetic judgments on abstract paintings by Robert Pepperell.

In this exploratory study, we asked whether objective statistical image properties can predict subjective aesthetic ratings for a set of 48 abstract paintings created by the artist Robert Pepperell. Ruta and colleagues (2021) used the artworks previously to study the effect of curved/angular contour on liking and wanting decisions. We related a predefined set of statistical image properties to the eight different dimensions of aesthetic judgments from their study. Our results show that the statistical image properties can predict a large portion of the variance in the different aesthetic judgments by Ruta and colleagues. For example, adjusted R2 values for liking, attractiveness, visual comfort, and approachability range between 0.52 and 0.60 in multiple linear regression models with four predictors each. For wanting judgments in an (imagined) gallery context, the explained variance is even higher (adjusted R2 of 0.78). To explain these findings, we hypothesize that differences in cognitive processing of Pepperell's abstract paintings are minimized because this set of stimuli has no apparent content and is of uniform artistic style and cultural context. Under this condition, the aesthetic ratings by Ruta and colleagues are largely based on perceptual processing that systematically varies along a relatively small set of objective image properties.

Face Tuning in Depression.

The latest COVID-19 pandemic reveals that unexpected changes elevate depression bringing people apart, but also calling for social sharing. Yet the impact of depression on social cognition and functioning is not well understood. Assessment of social cognition is crucial not only for a better understanding of major depressive disorder (MDD), but also for screening, intervention, and remediation. Here by applying a novel experimental tool, a Face-n-Food task comprising a set of images bordering on the Giuseppe Arcimboldo style, we assessed the face tuning in patients with MDD and person-by-person matched controls. The key benefit of these images is that single components do not trigger face processing. Contrary to common beliefs, the outcome indicates that individuals with depression express intact face responsiveness. Yet, while in depression face sensitivity is tied with perceptual organization, in typical development, it is knotted with social cognition capabilities. Face tuning in depression, therefore, may rely upon altered behavioral strategies and underwriting brain mechanisms. To exclude a possible camouflaging effect of female social skills, we examined gender impact. Neither in depression nor in typical individuals had females excelled in face tuning. The outcome sheds light on the origins of the face sensitivity and alterations in social functioning in depression and mental well-being at large. Aberrant social functioning in depression is likely to be the result of deeply-rooted maladaptive strategies rather than of poor sensitivity to social signals. This has implications for mental well-being under the current pandemic conditions.

Vincent van Gogh and his illness. A reflection on a posthumous diagnostic exercise.

Many attempts have been undertaken in the past to perform a proper diagnosis of the illness of Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam organized a meeting of experts on this issue in 2016. Publication of a final conclusion in a medical journal is still in progress. This article will first outline the meeting and then reflect on pathobiographical issues offering possibilities and limitations in this posthumous attempt at diagnosis. This will give us a summary of the symptomatology without the intention to label them to a diagnosis. In terms of examples of problematic issues, special attention is given to the role of alcohol abuse and disturbances of consciousness. The essay will try to answer questions on the importance of determining a diagnosis for art historians and visitors of exhibitions. A hypothesis on the possible influence of visual perception on triggering neuromodulation will be discussed and illustrated by considering four paintings. The hypothesis might be that forced activation of the "wrong" neural pathways that do not meet Van Gogh's preferential personal emotional system in moments of increased stress, and influenced by other factors like alcohol abuse and sleep deprivation, can trigger disturbances in functioning of this system. Though it is clear that Van Gogh was an excellent painter in spite of and not thanks to his illness and that he was unable to paint during episodes of brain dysfunction, a few exceptions are known of paintings and drawings that were created during these episodes; his self-portrait from the Oslo museum, which was most recently identified as such, will be shown.

Painting epilepsy - The essence of disease by participants of the Latin American Summer School on Epilepsy (LASSE XIII).

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to present and analyze the way epilepsy researchers and specialists present epilepsy through visual art forms. METHODS: Students and epilepsy specialists, including clinicians and scientists, participating in the Latin American Summer School on Epilepsy (LASSE XIII) 2019 were asked to voluntarily portray epilepsy artistically by painting or drawing what they perceive that represents the feeling or challenges of persons with epilepsy. Resulting artwork was categorized according to several themes. The latter was analyzed in the clinical and social context of the disease. RESULTS: Twenty-six paintings available for analysis have been reviewed. The three main interpretations of epilepsy were outlined as follows: epilepsy as an identity schism, epilepsy as a loss of control, and epilepsy as a complex condition. Five artworks best suited the first category as they presented people with faces split into healthy and diseased sides, representing the emotional and social burden of seizures. Three drawings defined epilepsy as a loss of control, visualizing that all the phases of seizure activity (ictal, postictal, and interictal) are able to imprison the patient by disrupting mental processes. The last theme included four artworks that defined epilepsy as being a multicomponent enigma: the intertwining of unresolved pathophysiologic processes and psychosocial burden accompanying the disease was emphasized. In addition, the challenges to care for the patients in order to improve not only seizures but also their quality of life were noticed as an idea complementing the visual definition of epilepsy. CONCLUSION: Participants of LASSE XIII demonstrated an ability to empathize with their patients in retrospect by portraying the inner feelings of division and imprisonment of those having seizures. Epilepsy specialists visualize the disease as a composite phenomenon both in terms of its neural origin and of multidisciplinary requirements to implement its care.

'Master My Demons': art therapy montage paintings by active-duty military service members with traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress.

This study involved a thematic analysis of montage paintings and of related clinical records of 240 active-duty military service members collected during their art therapy treatment for traumatic brain injury and underlying psychological health concerns, including post-traumatic stress, at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Congruent with other research findings, the qualitative analyses of this study suggest that the group art therapy experiences fostered improvement in interpersonal relatedness, hopefulness and gratification for the service members in treatment, aiding in externalisation, progressive exposure and construction of a trauma narrative imperative for recovery. The mixed media nature of the montage painting supported the expression of a range of postcombat symptoms. Results from this study highlighted the complexity of military culture, necessitating a broader scope of analyses for how art therapy helps service members express and communicate their challenges to care providers, peers and family as well as regulate emotion in the short and long term.

Preference for realistic art predicts support for Brexit.

Following the UK's EU referendum in June 2016, there has been considerable interest from scholars in understanding the characteristics that differentiate Leave supporters from Remain supporters. Since Leave supporters score higher on conscientiousness but lower on neuroticism and openness, and given their general proclivity toward conservatism, we hypothesized that preference for realistic art would predict support for Brexit. Data on a large nationally representative sample of the British population were obtained, and preference for realistic art was measured using a four-item binary choice test. Controlling for a range of personal characteristics, we found that respondents who preferred all four realistic paintings were 15-20 percentage points more likely to support Leave than those who preferred zero or one realistic paintings. This effect was comparable to the difference in support between those with a degree and those with no education, and was robust to controlling for the respondent's party identity.

[The Frieze of Life, or death, anxiety and love in the oeuvre of Edvard Munch].

Edvard Munch was a Norwegian expressionist painter. His painting The Scream is one of the most wellknown visual art in the world. His works present psychologically significant topics such as anxiety, love, illness, and death. He was capable of displaying social and personal uncertainties and tensions in his artworks. In order to get to know the psychological functioning of his creativity, we used a special case study method of personality research - psychobiography - which aims to analyze the lives of culturally significant individuals through psychological theories and research. The focus of the publication was on The Frieze of Life series, which according to the creator, most express his artistic concept and his message. To interpret his creativity, we used the theory of Winnicott, Klein, and existential psychology. We especially emphasize the role of potential space, reparation and the benefits of the consciousness of death. According to our results, Munch kept the anxiety and tension caused by early object-relation disturbances under control with artistic sublimation and it was also the driving force for his artistic activity. However, the sublimation activity could not solve the internal tensions in the long run, which eventually led to a collapse.

TMS over the superior temporal sulcus affects expressivity evaluation of portraits.

When viewing a portrait, we are often captured by its expressivity, even if the emotion depicted is not immediately identifiable. If the neural mechanisms underlying emotion processing of real faces have been largely clarified, we still know little about the neural basis of evaluation of (emotional) expressivity in portraits. In this study, we aimed at assessing-by means of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)-whether the right superior temporal sulcus (STS) and the right somatosensory cortex (SC), that are important in discriminating facial emotion expressions, are also causally involved in the evaluation of expressivity of portraits. We found that interfering via TMS with activity in (the face region of) right STS significantly reduced the extent to which portraits (but not other paintings depicting human figures with faces only in the background) were perceived as expressive, without, though, affecting their liking. In turn, interfering with activity of the right SC had no impact on evaluating either expressivity or liking of either paintings' category. Our findings suggest that evaluation of emotional cues in artworks recruit (at least partially) the same neural mechanisms involved in processing genuine biological others. Moreover, they shed light on the neural basis of liking decisions in art by art-naïve people, supporting the view that aesthetic appreciation relies on a multitude of factors beyond emotional evaluation.

A grieving process illustrated?

The sudden death of Pablo Picasso's closest friend Carlos Casagemas in 1901 came as a great shock to the young Picasso. From a young age, Picasso had ruminated on life and death; however, this was his first experience of bereavement. Following the death of Casagemas, Picasso's paintings can be seen as a diary of his grieving process and clearly illustrate the five stages of the grieving process as outlined by Kubler-Ross in 'On Death and Dying' (1969).

Neural mechanisms underlying contextual dependency of subjective values: converging evidence from monkeys and humans.

A major challenge for decision theory is to account for the instability of expressed preferences across time and context. Such variability could arise from specific properties of the brain system used to assign subjective values. Growing evidence has identified the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) as a key node of the human brain valuation system. Here, we first replicate this observation with an fMRI study in humans showing that subjective values of painting pictures, as expressed in explicit pleasantness ratings, are specifically encoded in the VMPFC. We then establish a bridge with monkey electrophysiology, by comparing single-unit activity evoked by visual cues between the VMPFC and the orbitofrontal cortex. At the neural population level, expected reward magnitude was only encoded in the VMPFC, which also reflected subjective cue values, as expressed in Pavlovian appetitive responses. In addition, we demonstrate in both species that the additive effect of prestimulus activity on evoked activity has a significant impact on subjective values. In monkeys, the factor dominating prestimulus VMPFC activity was trial number, which likely indexed variations in internal dispositions related to fatigue or satiety. In humans, prestimulus VMPFC activity was externally manipulated through changes in the musical context, which induced a systematic bias in subjective values. Thus, the apparent stochasticity of preferences might relate to the VMPFC automatically aggregating the values of contextual features, which would bias subsequent valuation because of temporal autocorrelation in neural activity.

Analysis of the synthetic house-tree-person drawing test for developmental disorder.

BACKGROUND: Some patients cannot draw three subjects on the same page during the synthetic house-tree-person drawing test (S-HTP). We call this phenomenon "no synthetic sign". The aim of this study was to clarify the pathological meaning of no synthetic sign and investigate its use for the early detection of developmental disorders at a pediatric primary care center. METHODS: We administered the S-HTP to 283 people who consulted the child psychosomatic medical clinic of Okayama University Hospital in 2007-2012. We diagnosed developmental disability based on DSM-IV-TR criteria and compared findings between the different diagnostic groups. RESULTS: A total of 241 patients completed the S-HTP (S-HTP group) and 22 patients were not able to complete the S-HTP, but did complete the HTP (an original version of the S-HTP) or tree test (HTP group). Significantly more people in the HTP group had autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared with the S-HTP group. Full-scale intelligence quotient was significantly lower in the HTP group compared with the S-HTP group. CONCLUSIONS: There were two types of patients with no synthetic sign. The first involved patients with a suspected mental age younger than 5 years 11 months. The second type consisted of patients with ASD. Although drawing ability reflects multiple domains, it may help in early identification of children with developmental problems and facilitate earlier initiation of interventions.

The artist emerges: visual art learning alters neural structure and function.

How does the brain mediate visual artistic creativity? Here we studied behavioral and neural changes in drawing and painting students compared to students who did not study art. We investigated three aspects of cognition vital to many visual artists: creative cognition, perception, and perception-to-action. We found that the art students became more creative via the reorganization of prefrontal white matter but did not find any significant changes in perceptual ability or related neural activity in the art students relative to the control group. Moreover, the art students improved in their ability to sketch human figures from observation, and multivariate patterns of cortical and cerebellar activity evoked by this drawing task became increasingly separable between art and non-art students. Our findings suggest that the emergence of visual artistic skills is supported by plasticity in neural pathways that enable creative cognition and mediate perceptuomotor integration.

[Emancipation of the works of artists with psychiatric illness - Artistic reflections from the twentieth century and the Art Brut]. / Pszichiátriai beteg alkotók müveinek évszádos emancipációja - XX. századi kézömüvészeti reflexiók és az art brut.

The study presents the emancipation of the artworks of psychiatric patients through the review of four centuries, focusing on some of the most important medical cultural and art historical stages of the period between the 18th and the 21st century, which is a particularly relevant era in this regard. It touches on the collections linked to psychiatrists and hospitals that were formed primarily on the basis of the researches that were analyzing the connection between creativity and mental illness. After that, the study discusses the ever-changing attitudes and preferences of artists' and major artistic movements towards psychosis and the pictorial world of the psychotic. With great care, it analyses the aesthetic category of the art brut, which is connected to the French painter Jean Dubuffet and was born in the middle of the 1940s, and the relationship between contemporary art and art brut. In connection with some of the most significant art brut collections and exhibitions, the works of a few classical and contemporary art brut artists are also discussed (Adolf Wolfli, Louis Soutter, Aloise Corbaz, August Walla ).

[Personal motif in art]. / Személyes motívum a müvészetben.

One of the basic questions of the art psychology is whether a personal motif is to be found behind works of art and if so, how openly or indirectly it appears in the work itself. Analysis of examples and documents from the fine arts and literature allow us to conclude that the personal motif that can be identified by the viewer through symbols, at times easily at others with more difficulty, gives an emotional plus to the artistic product. The personal motif may be found in traumatic experiences, in communication to the model or with other emotionally important persons (mourning, disappointment, revenge, hatred, rivalry, revolt etc.), in self-searching, or self-analysis. The emotions are expressed in artistic activity either directly or indirectly. The intention nourished by the artist's identity (Kunstwollen) may stand in the way of spontaneous self-expression, channelling it into hidden paths. Under the influence of certain circumstances, the artist may arouse in the viewer, consciously or unconsciously, an illusionary, misleading image of himself. An examination of the personal motif is one of the important research areas of art therapy.

Music training for the development of speech segmentation.

The role of music training in fostering brain plasticity and developing high cognitive skills, notably linguistic abilities, is of great interest from both a scientific and a societal perspective. Here, we report results of a longitudinal study over 2 years using both behavioral and electrophysiological measures and a test-training-retest procedure to examine the influence of music training on speech segmentation in 8-year-old children. Children were pseudo-randomly assigned to either music or painting training and were tested on their ability to extract meaningless words from a continuous flow of nonsense syllables. While no between-group differences were found before training, both behavioral and electrophysiological measures showed improved speech segmentation skills across testing sessions for the music group only. These results show that music training directly causes facilitation in speech segmentation, thereby pointing to the importance of music for speech perception and more generally for children's language development. Finally these results have strong implications for promoting the development of music-based remediation strategies for children with language-based learning impairments.