Intake Characteristics as Predictors of Psychotherapy Outcome in a Practice Research Network in Argentina.

There are few studies exploring intake diagnostic characteristics as predictors of change in integrative naturalistic settings. The aim of this study is to explore baseline variables at the intake process and establish the predictive value of the individual trajectories of the patients. We recruited 259 patients undergoing an integrative psychotherapy network of psychotherapists from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Every therapist completed the intake form of each patient involved in the routine outcome monitoring. Thereafter step-wise regressions based on forward selection strategies were used, in order to identify meaningful baseline predictors of patients' clinical evolution, derived from the intake process. The selected predictors were social support network, subjective distress, the initial measure of clinical distress, unemployment, sociocultural status and reactance. When including those six variables in a multilevel model, the results indicate that social support network, subjective distress, and the initial measure of clinical distress were significant predictors of the trajectories of OQ-30, whereas unemployment, sociocultural status and reactance were not significant. The results regarding social support network are in line with the literature, while results of socioeconomic status (unemployment and sociocultural level) move in an opposite direction in comparison to the available evidence. Moreover, the mental health findings (initial OQ-30 and subjective distress) confirm the contradictory body of literature produced in this domain. Finally, reactance seems to be a significant predictor in previous study in contradiction of our results. Overall, this endeavor constitutes important but preliminary evidence to enhance the production of bottom-up science within practice research networks in the global south.

Implementation of an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) in Naturalistic Psychotherapy Settings: Qualitative Insights from Patients, Therapists, and Supervisors Perspectives.

Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) allows measuring intra-individual processes moment by moment, identifying and modeling, in a naturalistic way, individual levels and changes in different psychological processes. However, active EMA requires a high degree of adherence, as it implies a significant burden for patients. Moreover, there is still no consensus on standardized procedures for implementation. There have been few results in detecting desirable characteristics for the design and implementation of an EMA device. Studies that address these issues from the perspectives of participants in psychotherapeutic processes are needed. To analyze the perspectives of patients, therapists and supervisors on the implementation of an EMA device in a psychotherapeutic treatment for depression. The sample will include eight patients, eleven therapists and five supervisors, taken from a research project that implemented an EMA system for monitoring the dynamics of affectivity at the beginning of psychotherapies for depression. Semi-structured interviews specific to each group are being conducted and analyzed from a qualitative approach based on consensual qualitative research (CQR). Participants reported having a positive evaluation of the study's informational resources and implementation. Difficulties were expressed in responding in the morning hours and the importance of having a customized EMA that is tailored to the needs of the patients was expressed. Furthermore, patients and therapists agreed that the impact of the use of the monitoring system on treatment was neutral or positive. In contrast, patients considered the EMA to be positive for their daily life.

A Naturalistic Intervention to Promote Executive Functions in Primary School Children: A Pilot Study.

Executive functions are related to the control of cognition, emotion, and behavior. They are essential to lifelong outcomes, including school performance. Naturalistic interventions embedded in children's daily activities and environments have greater effects. Therefore, this pilot study aimed to develop a naturalistic program suitable for schools, based on Goal Management Training (GMT), and to analyze its effects on executive functions and behavior. The participants consisted of 35 students from 2nd to 5th grade with executive dysfunction complaints. They underwent neuropsychological assessments of working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and intellectual capacity. Teachers and parents answered questionnaires on executive functions and behavior. Students were randomly assigned to an active control group, who participated in sessions on citizenship, and an experimental group (EG), stimulated through the executive function program, both with 16 sessions conducted by psychologists. After the intervention, all participants were reevaluated. The two-way Wald-type statistic (WTS) revealed greater improvement in executive functions for the EG, including working memory and inhibition. Additionally, parents and teachers, blind to the experimental conditions, reported improvements in some measures of executive functions and behavior. The results are encouraging, but further studies should test the intervention when implemented with larger samples and by teachers.

Cognitive decline monitoring through a web-based application.

Cognitive decline usually begins after individuals reach maturity, which is more evident in late adulthood. Rapid and constant cognitive screenings allow early detection of cognitive decline and motivate individuals to participate in prevention interventions. Due to accelerated technological advances, cognitive screening and training are now available to the layperson using electronic devices connected to the internet. Large datasets generated by these platforms provide a unique opportunity to explore cognitive development throughout life and across multiple naturalistic environments. However, such data collection mechanisms must be validated. This study aimed to determine whether the data gathered by commercial visuospatial and phonological working memory tests (CogniFit Inc., San Francisco, USA) confirm the well-established argument that age predicts cognitive decline. Data from 3,212 participants (2,238 females) who were 45 years old or older were analyzed. A linear regression analysis explored the relationship between age and working memory while controlling for gender, sleep quality, and physical activity (variables that are known to affect working memory). We found that age negatively predicts working memory. Furthermore, there was an interaction between age and gender for visuospatial working memory, indicating that although male participants significantly outperformed females, the relationship between age and working memory differs for females and males. Our results suggest that the computerized assessment of visuospatial and phonological working memory is sensible enough to predict cognitive functions in aging. Suggestions for improving the sensitivity of self-reports are discussed. Further studies must explore the nature of gender effects on cognitive aging.

A Novel Exploratory Graph-Based Analytical Tool for Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy in Naturalistic Experiments: An Illustrative Application in Typically Developing Children.

Naturalistic paradigms are being increasingly applied to investigate human brain function. Compared with resting-state and task-based paradigms in neuroimaging, naturalistic stimuli and situations can be potentially more readily translated to daily-life applications. Among neuroimaging modalities, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is particularly suitable for naturalistic investigations and applications. However, specific and tailored statistical analysis to interrogate brain function using naturalistic fNIRS is warranted. Here, we describe an exploratory graph-centrality-based approach to investigating participants' spatiotemporal similarities from the fNIRS signal. We illustrate the usefulness of our approach in a sample of typically developing children (10 males and 9 females; mean age of 5.2 years old; sd = 0.78) while they watch the Inscapes movie designed for neuroimaging acquisition. A node in the left dorsal prefrontal cortex presented similar responses across children, and those fNIRS responses were in line with scene transitions in the movie stimulus. Our results suggest the feasibility of applying centrality graph-based measures to investigate brain function in naturalistic fNIRS during development.

Social concepts and the cerebellum: behavioural and functional connectivity signatures in cerebellar ataxic patients.

Neurocognitive research on social concepts underscores their reliance on fronto-temporo-limbic regions mediating broad socio-cognitive skills. Yet, the field has neglected another structure increasingly implicated in social cognition: the cerebellum. The present exploratory study examines this link combining a novel naturalistic text paradigm, a relevant atrophy model and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Fifteen cerebellar ataxia (CA) patients with focal cerebellar atrophy and 29 matched controls listened to a social text (highlighting interpersonal events) as well as a non-social text (focused on a single person's actions), and answered comprehension questionnaires. We compared behavioural outcomes between groups and examined their association with cerebellar connectivity. CA patients showed deficits in social text comprehension and normal scores in the non-social text. Also, social text outcomes in controls selectively correlated with connectivity between the cerebellum and key regions subserving multi-modal semantics and social cognition, including the superior and medial temporal gyri, the temporal pole and the insula. Conversely, brain-behaviour associations involving the cerebellum were abolished in the patients. Thus, cerebellar structures and connections seem involved in processing social concepts evoked by naturalistic discourse. Such findings invite new theoretical and translational developments integrating social neuroscience with embodied semantics. This article is part of the theme issue 'Concepts in interaction: social engagement and inner experiences'.

Body into Narrative: Behavioral and Neurophysiological Signatures of Action Text Processing After Ecological Motor Training.

Embodied cognition research indicates that sensorimotor training can influence action concept processing. Yet, most studies employ isolated (pseudo)randomized stimuli and require repetitive single-effector responses, thus lacking ecological validity. Moreover, the neural signatures of these effects remain poorly understood. Here, we examined whether immersive bodily training can modulate behavioral and functional connectivity correlates of action-verb processing in naturalistic narratives. The study involved three phases. First, in the Pre-training phase, 32 healthy persons listened to an action text (rich in movement descriptions) and a non-action text (focused on its characters' perceptual and mental processes), completed comprehension questionnaires, and underwent resting-state electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings. Second, in the four-day Training phase, half the participants completed an exergaming intervention (eliciting full-body movements for 60 min a day) while the remaining half played static videogames (requiring no bodily engagement other than button presses). Finally, in the Post-training phase, all participants repeated the Pre-training protocol with different action and non-action texts and a new EEG session. We found that exergaming selectively reduced action-verb outcomes and fronto-posterior functional connectivity in the motor-sensitive âˆ¼ 10-20 Hz range, both patterns being positively correlated. Conversely, static videogame playing yielded no specific effect on any linguistic category and did not modulate functional connectivity. Together, these findings suggest that action-verb processing and key neural correlates can be focally influenced by full-body motor training in a highly ecological setting. Our study illuminates the role of situated experience and sensorimotor circuits in action-concept processing, addressing calls for naturalistic insights on language embodiment.

A systematic review of observational, naturalistic, and neurophysiological outcome measures of nonpharmacological interventions for autism

Objective: Naturalistic and neurophysiological assessments are relevant as outcome measures in autism intervention trials because they provide, respectively, ecologically valid information about functioning and underlying neurocognitive mechanisms. We conducted a systematic review to highlight which specific neurophysiological techniques, experimental tasks, and naturalistic protocols have been used to assess neural and behavioral functioning in autism intervention studies. Methods: Studies were collected from four electronic databases between October 2019 and February 2020: MEDLINE (via PubMed), PsycINFO, LILACS, and Web of Science, and were included if they used structured observational, naturalistic, or neurophysiological measures to assess the efficacy of a nonpharmacological intervention for ASD. Results: Fourteen different measures were used by 64 studies, with the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule the most frequently used instrument. Thirty-seven different coding systems of naturalistic measures were used across 51 studies, most of which used different protocols. Twenty-four neurophysiological measures were used in 16 studies, with different experimental paradigms and neurophysiological components used across studies. Conclusions: Cross-study variability in assessing the outcomes of autism interventions may obscure comparisons and conclusions about how different behavioral interventions affect autistic social communication and underlying neurophysiological mechanisms.

Applying functional near-infrared spectroscopy and eye-tracking in a naturalistic educational environment to investigate physiological aspects that underlie the cognitive effort of children during mental rotation tests.

Spatial cognition is related to academic achievement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) domains. Neuroimaging studies suggest that brain regions' activation might be related to the general cognitive effort while solving mental rotation tasks (MRT). In this study, we evaluate the mental effort of children performing MRT tasks by measuring brain activation and pupil dilation. We use functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) concurrently to collect brain hemodynamic responses from children's prefrontal cortex (PFC) and an Eye-tracking system to measure pupil dilation during MRT. Thirty-two healthy students aged 9-11 participated in this experiment. Behavioral measurements such as task performance on geometry problem-solving tests and MRT scores were also collected. The results were significant positive correlations between the children's MRT and geometry problem-solving test scores. There are also significant positive correlations between dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC) hemodynamic signals and visuospatial task performances (MRT and geometry problem-solving scores). Moreover, we found significant activation in the amplitude of deoxy-Hb variation on the dlPFC and that pupil diameter increased during the MRT, suggesting that both physiological responses are related to mental effort processes during the visuospatial task. Our findings indicate that children with more mental effort under the task performed better. The multimodal approach to monitoring students' mental effort can be of great interest in providing objective feedback on cognitive resource conditions and advancing our comprehension of the neural mechanisms that underlie cognitive effort. Hence, the ability to detect two distinct mental states of rest or activation of children during the MRT could eventually lead to an application for investigating the visuospatial skills of young students using naturalistic educational paradigms.

A systematic review of observational, naturalistic, and neurophysiological outcome measures of nonpharmacological interventions for autism.

OBJECTIVE: Naturalistic and neurophysiological assessments are relevant as outcome measures in autism intervention trials because they provide, respectively, ecologically valid information about functioning and underlying neurocognitive mechanisms. We conducted a systematic review to highlight which specific neurophysiological techniques, experimental tasks, and naturalistic protocols have been used to assess neural and behavioral functioning in autism intervention studies. METHODS: Studies were collected from four electronic databases between October 2019 and February 2020: MEDLINE (via PubMed), PsycINFO, LILACS, and Web of Science, and were included if they used structured observational, naturalistic, or neurophysiological measures to assess the efficacy of a nonpharmacological intervention for ASD. RESULTS: Fourteen different measures were used by 64 studies, with the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule the most frequently used instrument. Thirty-seven different coding systems of naturalistic measures were used across 51 studies, most of which used different protocols. Twentyfour neurophysiological measures were used in 16 studies, with different experimental paradigms and neurophysiological components used across studies. CONCLUSIONS: Cross-study variability in assessing the outcomes of autism interventions may obscure comparisons and conclusions about how different behavioral interventions affect autistic social communication and underlying neurophysiological mechanisms.

Multimodal Neurocognitive Markers of Naturalistic Discourse Typify Diverse Neurodegenerative Diseases.

Neurodegeneration has multiscalar impacts, including behavioral, neuroanatomical, and neurofunctional disruptions. Can disease-differential alterations be captured across such dimensions using naturalistic stimuli? To address this question, we assessed comprehension of four naturalistic stories, highlighting action, nonaction, social, and nonsocial events, in Parkinson's disease (PD) and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) relative to Alzheimer's disease patients and healthy controls. Text-specific correlates were evaluated via voxel-based morphometry, spatial (fMRI), and temporal (hd-EEG) functional connectivity. PD patients presented action-text deficits related to the volume of action-observation regions, connectivity across motor-related and multimodal-semantic hubs, and frontal hd-EEG hypoconnectivity. BvFTD patients exhibited social-text deficits, associated with atrophy and spatial connectivity patterns along social-network hubs, alongside right frontotemporal hd-EEG hypoconnectivity. Alzheimer's disease patients showed impairments in all stories, widespread atrophy and spatial connectivity patterns, and heightened occipitotemporal hd-EEG connectivity. Our framework revealed disease-specific signatures across behavioral, neuroanatomical, and neurofunctional dimensions, highlighting the sensitivity and specificity of a single naturalistic task. This investigation opens a translational agenda combining ecological approaches and multimodal cognitive neuroscience for the study of neurodegeneration.

Variation sets in the speech directed to toddlers in Argentinian households.SES and type of activity effects.

The study adopts a naturalistic perspective, looking at the relationship between socio-economic status (SES), activities and variation sets in child-directed speech (CDS) to Spanish-speaking Argentinian toddlers. It aims to determine the effect of SES and type of activity on the proportion of words and utterances in variation sets and on the pragmatic function they serve in interaction. Thirty two children (mean: 14.3 months) and their families were audio-recorded for four hours and the middle two hours were analyzed using CLAN. We developed an automatic algorithm for variation sets extraction that compares noun, verb and adjective lexemes in successive utterances. Mixed-effects beta regression showed SES and activity type effects on the proportion of variation sets and on the pragmatic function served by variation sets. Findings revealed that the contextual variables considered impact on how interlocutors organize the information to young children at the local level of natural at home interactions.

Multimodal neurocognitive markers of frontal lobe epilepsy: Insights from ecological text processing.

The pressing call to detect sensitive cognitive markers of frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) remains poorly addressed. Standard frameworks prove nosologically unspecific (as they reveal deficits that also emerge across other epilepsy subtypes), possess low ecological validity, and are rarely supported by multimodal neuroimaging assessments. To bridge these gaps, we examined naturalistic action and non-action text comprehension, combined with structural and functional connectivity measures, in 19 FLE patients, 19 healthy controls, and 20 posterior cortex epilepsy (PCE) patients. Our analyses integrated inferential statistics and data-driven machine-learning classifiers. FLE patients were selectively and specifically impaired in action comprehension, irrespective of their neuropsychological profile. These deficits selectively and specifically correlated with (a) reduced integrity of the anterior thalamic radiation, a subcortical structure underlying motoric and action-language processing as well as epileptic seizure spread in this subtype; and (b) hypoconnectivity between the primary motor cortex and the left-parietal/supramarginal regions, two putative substrates of action-language comprehension. Moreover, machine-learning classifiers based on the above neurocognitive measures yielded 75% accuracy rates in discriminating individual FLE patients from both controls and PCE patients. Briefly, action-text assessments, combined with structural and functional connectivity measures, seem to capture ecological cognitive deficits that are specific to FLE, opening new avenues for discriminatory characterizations among epilepsy types.

Is organized carpooling safer? Speeding and distracted driving behaviors from a naturalistic driving study in Brazil.

Carpooling consists of drivers and passengers sharing a journey and its costs. Nowadays, in the context of mobility as a service, organized carpooling encompasses a service and trust relationship between drivers and passengers, by matching common routes and splitting cost through mobile phone applications. Therefore, passengers expect a certain level of travel quality and safety. In this context, this research aims to verify the hypothesis that drivers in an organized carpooling situation (CP) show safer driving behavior in terms of speeding (SP) and mobile phone use while driving (MPU) in comparison with non-carpooling (NCP) drivers. The research is based on data from the Brazilian Naturalistic Driving Study (NDS-BR) conducted in the City of Curitiba, with 40.45 driving hours and a traveled distance of 895.87 km. Methodology included the selection of safety performance indicators on SP and MPU, use of nonparametric Wilcoxon signed rank test for safety performance indicator comparisons and Pearson Chi-Square to test the association between CP or NCP and low or high indicator values. Hypothesis test results point in the same direction and partially confirm the initial assumption that CP induces safer behavior in terms of speeding. The statistically sound results showed that CP drivers engaged in less speeding episodes and mobile phone use duration in comparison to NCP drivers, as well as lower speed while using a mobile phone. In addition, driver behavior in CP and NCP situations also differed in terms of the type of MPU, with the proportion of types of use that demand a higher level of visual and manual distraction being higher among NCP drivers. In summary, these results confirm the initial hypothesis of safer driving behavior during carpooling in terms of MPU while driving.

Electrifying discourse: Anodal tDCS of the primary motor cortex selectively reduces action appraisal in naturalistic narratives.

Non-invasive stimulation of the primary motor cortex (M1) modulates processing of decontextualized action words and sentences (i.e., verbal units denoting bodily motion). This suggests that language comprehension hinges on brain circuits mediating the bodily experiences evoked by verbal material. Yet, despite its relevance to constrain mechanistic language models, such a finding fails to reveal whether and how relevant circuits operate in the face of full-blown, everyday texts. Using a novel naturalistic discourse paradigm, we examined whether direct modulation of M1 excitability influences the grasping of narrated actions. Following random group assignment, participants received anodal transcranial direct current stimulation over the left M1, or sham stimulation of the same area, or anodal stimulation of the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. Immediately afterwards, they listened to action-laden and neutral stories and answered questions on information realized by verbs (denoting action and non-action processes) and circumstances (conveying locative or temporal details). Anodal stimulation of the left M1 selectively decreased outcomes on action-relative to non-action information -a pattern that discriminated between stimulated and sham participants with 74% accuracy. This result was particular to M1 and held irrespective of the subjects' working memory and vocabulary skills, further attesting to its specificity. Our findings suggest that offline modulation of motor-network excitability might lead to transient unavailability of putative resources needed to evoke actions in naturalistic texts, opening promising avenues for the language embodiment framework.

Combining the intersubject correlation analysis and the multivariate distance matrix regression to evaluate associations between fNIRS signals and behavioral data from ecological experiments.

The development of methods to analyze data acquired using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in experiments similar to real-life situations is of great value in modern applied neuroscience. One of the most used methods to analyze fNIRS signals consists of the application of the general linear model on the observed hemodynamic signals. However, it implies limitations on the experimental design that must be constrained by triggers related to the stimuli protocols (such as block design or event related). In this work, a novel methodology is proposed to overcome such restrictions and allow more flexible protocols. The method combines the intersubject correlation analysis and the multivariate distance matrix regression to evaluate the brain-behavior relationship of subjects submitted to experiments with no trigger-based protocols. Its applicability is demonstrated throughout a naturalistic experiment about emotions conveyed by music. Thirty-two participants freely listened to instrumental excerpts from the operatic repertoire and reported the valences of the emotions conveyed by the musical segments. The method was able to find a statistically significant correlation between the subjects' fNIRS signals and valences of their emotional responses, for the excerpt that evoked the most negative valence. This result illustrates the potential of this approach as an alternative method to analyze fNIRS signals from experiments in which block design or task-related paradigms might not be suitable.

El camino hacia una nueva antropología clínica: afectividad y corporalidad en la obra de erwin straus / The way towards a new clinical anthropology: affectivity and corporality in erwin straus's work / O caminho até uma nova antropologia clínica: afetividade e corporalidade na obra de erwin straus

A partir de uma leitura hermenêutica da fenomenologia antropológica de Erwin Straus, procura-se elucidar o sentido original da afetividade e a corporalidade, como modalidades essenciais que constituem a relação da existência humana com seu mundo. Primeiro, por meio duma reconsideração histórico-critica de certas proposições da psicologia científica, e de seus fundamentos filosóficos, é preciso retornar ao origem da condição humana, deformada pelas interpretações fundadas nos supostos a priori, para desvenda-la. Precisamente, frente à psicologia naturalista atual e invisibiliza a diferença ontológica entre o homem e as coisas, duma perspectiva strausiana pretende-se propor como objeto primário de estudo da ciência psicológica a subjetividade encarnada, que sente-se a sim mesma quando sente outra coisa, e sua própria ação está continuamente exposta a outras influências, daí sua vulnerabilidade intrínseca. As presentes análises permitem estabelecer um novo marco, tanto para as investigações experimentais futuras quanto para a compreensão da experiência do homem alienado. Por um lado, a antropologia fenomenológica de Straus permite cortar com os três dualismos que sustentam as investigações contemporâneas da corporalidade e a afetividade: sujeito-objeto, receptividade-atividade e interior-exterior. Em segundo lugar, agora, as patologias psico(pato)logias são entendidas como modos diversos de relações do eu-mundo, plenamente significativas, nas quais prevalece a impossibilidade da existência de decidir sobre o curso de sua biografia.

From a hermeneutic reading of the phenomenological anthropology of Erwin Straus, current work seeks to explain the original meaning of affectivity and corporality, as constituting modalities of the relation between human existence and its world. On the first term, through a critical-historical reconsideration of certain propositions of scientific psychology and their philosophical foundations, the aim is to go back to the origin of human condition, deformed by interpretations founded on suppositions a priori, uncovering it. Precisely, opposite to current naturalistic psychology, fades off the ontological difference between man and things, from a perspective as Straus', the incarnated subjectivity, which feels itself when it feels something else, is proposed as the primary object of study of psychological science; its own action is exposed continuously to other influences, therefore, its intrinsic vulnerability. The present analysis allows us to establish a new frame, both for the future experimental investigations and for the comprehension of the experience of the alienated man. Indeed, Straus' phenomenological anthropology allows us to break off the three dualisms that support contemporary investigations of corporality and affectivity: subject-object, receptivity-activity, interior-exterior. Secondly, psychopathologies are understood as different modalities of I-world relations, fully significative in which the impossibility of existence to decide on the course of his biography prevails.

Desde una lectura hermenéutica de la antropología fenomenológica de Erwin Straus, se busca dilucidar el sentido originario de la afectividad y la corporalidad, en tanto modalidades esenciales que constituyen la relación de la existencia humana con su mundo. En primer término, mediante una reconsideración histórico-critica de los fundamentos filosóficos de la psicología científica, se busca retornar al origen, para des-encubrir la condición humana deformada por interpretaciones fundadas en supuestos a-priori. Frente a la psicología naturalista actual, que invisibiliza la diferencia ontológica entre el hombre y las cosas, desde una perspectiva strausiana se propone como objeto estudio de la ciencia psicológica la subjetividad encarnada, que se siente a sí misma cuando siente otra cosa, y su acción propia está expuesta sin cesar a otras influencias, por ello su intrínseca vulnerabilidad. Los presentes análisis permiten establecer un nuevo marco, tanto para las futuras investigaciones experimentales como para la comprensión de la experiencia del hombre alienado. Por una parte, la antropología fenomenológica de Straus permite romper con los tres dualismos que sustentan las investigaciones contemporáneas de la corporalidad y la afectividad: sujeto-objeto, receptividad-actividad e interior-exterior. En segundo lugar, ahora, las psico(pato)patologías se comprenden como diversos modos de relaciones yo-mundo, plenamente significativos, en los que priman la imposibilidad de la existencia de decidir sobre el curso de su biografía.

Motor-system dynamics during naturalistic reading of action narratives in first and second language.

Do embodied semantic systems play different roles depending on when and how well a given language was learned? Emergent evidence suggests that this is the case for isolated, decontextualized stimuli, but no study has addressed the issue considering naturalistic narratives. Seeking to bridge this gap, we assessed motor-system dynamics in 26 Spanish-English bilinguals as they engaged in free, unconstrained reading of naturalistic action texts (ATs, highlighting the characters' movements) and neutral texts (NTs, featuring low motility) in their first and second language (L1, L2). To explore functional connectivity spread over each reading session, we recorded ongoing high-density electroencephalographic signals and subjected them to functional connectivity analysis via a spatial clustering approach. Results showed that, in L1, AT (relative to NT) reading involved increased connectivity between left and right central electrodes consistently implicated in action-related processes, as well as distinct source-level modulations in motor regions. In L2, despite null group-level effects, enhanced motor-related connectivity during AT reading correlated positively with L2 proficiency and negatively with age of L2 learning. Taken together, these findings suggest that action simulations during unconstrained narrative reading involve neural couplings between motor-sensitive mechanisms, in proportion to how consolidated a language is. More generally, such evidence addresses recent calls to test the ecological validity of motor-resonance effects while offering new insights on their relation with experiential variables.

fNIRS Responses in Professional Violinists While Playing Duets: Evidence for Distinct Leader and Follower Roles at the Brain Level.

Music played in ensembles is a naturalistic model to study joint action and leader-follower relationships. Recently, the investigation of the brain underpinnings of joint musical actions has gained attention; however, the cerebral correlates underlying the roles of leader and follower in music performance remain elusive. The present study addressed this question by simultaneously measuring the hemodynamic correlates of functional neural activity elicited during naturalistic violin duet performance using fNIRS. Findings revealed distinct patterns of functional brain activation when musicians played the Violin 2 (follower) than the Violin 1 part (leader) in duets, both compared to solo performance. More specifically, results indicated that musicians playing the Violin 2 part had greater oxy-Hb activation in temporo-parietal (p = 0.02) and somatomotor (p = 0.04) regions during the duo condition in relation to the solo. On the other hand, there were no significant differences in the activation of these areas between duo/solo conditions during the execution of the Violin 1 part (p's > 0.05). These findings suggest that ensemble cohesion during a musical performance may impose particular demands when musicians play the follower position, especially in brain areas associated with the processing of dynamic social information and motor simulation. This study is the first to use fNIRS hyperscanning technology to simultaneously measure the brain activity of two musicians during naturalistic music ensemble performance, opening new avenues for the investigation of brain correlates underlying joint musical actions with multiple subjects in a naturalistic environment.

The surprising "B-side": description of a new foraging tactic for the pearl cichlid, Geophagus brasiliensis, in a coastal stream of the Atlantic Forest / O surpreendente "lado-B": descrição de uma nova tática de forrageamento para o acará, Geophagus brasiliensis, em um riacho costeiro da Mata Atlântica

Abstract: A new foraging tactic for the pearl cichlid, Geophagus brasiliensis, is described from underwater observations performed in a coastal stream of the Atlantic Forest, Southeastern Brazil. Named "shift picking", the foraging tactic involved the manoeuvering of leaves, wood twigs and tree bark present in the substrate, with fish using its mouth to turn objects and uncover macroinvertebrates adhered to the underside of the object being picked ("B-side"). The object-shifting behaviour is rarely reported for fish and the present description seems to be the first record for a freshwater species of South America.

Resumo: Uma nova tática de forrageamento do acará, Geophagus brasiliensis, é descrita a partir de observações subaquáticas realizadas em um riacho costeiro da Mata Atlântica, Sudeste do Brasil. Chamada de "virar para pegar", a tática de forrageamento envolve o movimento de folhas, galhos e cascas de árvores presentes no substrato, com os peixes usando a boca para virar objetos e expor macroinvertebrados aderidos à parte de baixo dos objetos explorados ("lado B"). O comportamento de mover objetos é raramente relatado e o presente trabalho parece ser o primeiro registro para uma espécie de água doce da América do Sul.