Visuo-Motor Affective Interplay: Bonding Scenes Promote Implicit Motor Pre-dispositions Associated With Social Grooming-A Pilot Study.

Proximity and interpersonal contact are prominent components of social connection. Giving affective touch to others is fundamental for human bonding. This brief report presents preliminary results from a pilot study. It explores if exposure to bonding scenes impacts the activity of specific muscles related to physical interaction. Fingers flexion is a very important component when performing most actions of affectionate contact. We explored the visuo-motor affective interplay by priming participants with bonding scenes and assessing the electromyographic activity of the fingers flexor muscle, in the absence of any overt movements. Photographs of dyads in social interaction and of the same dyads not interacting were employed. We examined the effects upon the electromyographical activity: (i) during the passive exposure to pictures, and (ii) during picture offset and when expecting the signal to perform a fingers flexion task. Interacting dyads compared to matched non-interacting dyads increased electromyographic activity of the fingers flexor muscle in both contexts. Specific capture of visual bonding cues at the level of visual cortex had been described in the literature. Here we showed that the neural processing of visual bonding cues reaches the fingers flexor muscle. Besides, previous visualization of bonding cues enhanced background electromyographic activity during motor preparation to perform the fingers flexion task, which might reflect a sustained leakage of central motor activity downstream leading to increase in firing of the respective motor neurons. These data suggest, at the effector level, an implicit visuo-motor connection in which social interaction cues evoke intrinsic dispositions toward affectionate social behavior.

Hands Up! Atypical Defensive Reactions in Heavy Players of Violent Video Games When Exposed to Gun-Attack Pictures.

Threatening cues and surrounding contexts trigger specific defensive response patterns. Posturography, a technique for measuring postural strategies, has been used to evaluate motor defensive reactions in humans. When exposed to gun pointed pictures, humans were shown to exhibit an immobility reaction. Short and long-term exposure to violent video games was shown to be a causal risk factor for increased violent and aggressive behavior. Assaultive violence with a gun is a major trigger for motor defensive reactions, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the most characteristic psychiatric sequelae. Recent studies point to links between PTSD symptoms and emotional shortfalls in non-clinical trauma-exposed samples. The present study investigated defensive reactions to gun threat and PTSD symptoms in heavy players of violent video games compared to non-players. Male university students were screened according to use of violent video games and divided in three groups: non-players, moderate players, and heavy players. Stimuli were pictures depicting a man pointing a gun directed at the participant. In matched control pictures, non-lethal objects replaced the gun. Posturography was recorded and PTSD symptoms were assessed. When exposed to the threat pictures, non-players exhibited the expected reduction in amplitude of body sway (immobility), heavy players presented atypical augmented amplitude of body sway, and moderate players showed intermediate reactivity. Heavy players presented a significant distinct reaction compared to non-players. They also scored significantly higher in PTSD symptoms than non-players. Disadvantageous defensive reactions and higher vulnerability to PTSD symptoms, revealed in the present study, add to other shortcomings for heavy players.

Appetitive drives for ultra-processed food products and the ability of text warnings to counteract consumption predispositions.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to (i) assess the appetitive drives evoked by the visual cues of ultra-processed food and drink products and (ii) investigate whether text warnings reduce appetitive drives and consumers' reported intentions to eat or drink ultra-processed products. DESIGN: In Study I, a well-established psychometric tool was applied to estimate the appetitive drives associated with ultra-processed products using sixty-four image representations. Sixteen product types with four exemplars of a given product were included. Pictures from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) served as controls. The two exemplars of each product type rated as more appetitive were selected for investigation in the second study. Study II assessed the impact of textual warnings on the appetitive drive towards these thirty-two exemplars. Each participant was exposed to two picture exemplars of the same product type preceded by a text warning or a control text. After viewing each displayed picture, the participants reported their emotional reactions and their intention to consume the product. SETTING: Controlled classroom experiments SUBJECTS: Undergraduate students (Study I: n 215, 135 women; Study II: n 98, 52 women). RESULTS: In Study I, the pictures of ultra-processed products prompted an appetitive motivation associated with the products' nutritional content. In Study II, text warnings were effective in reducing the intention to consume and the appetitive drive evoked by ultra-processed products. CONCLUSIONS: This research provides initial evidence favouring the use of text warnings as a public policy tool to curb the powerful influence of highly appetitive ultra-processed food cues.

Implicit motivational impact of pictorial health warning on cigarette packs.

OBJECTIVE: The use of pictorial warning labels on cigarette packages is one of the provisions included in the first ever global health treaty by the World Health Organization against the tobacco epidemic. There is substantial evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of graphic health warning labels on intention to quit, thoughts about health risks and engaging in cessation behaviors. However, studies that address the implicit emotional drives evoked by such warnings are still underexplored. Here, we provide experimental data for the use of pictorial health warnings as a reliable strategy for tobacco control. METHODS: Experiment 1 pre-tested nineteen prototypes of pictorial warnings to screen for their emotional impact. Participants (n = 338) were young adults balanced in gender, smoking status and education. Experiment 2 (n = 63) tested pictorial warnings (ten) that were stamped on packs. We employed an innovative set-up to investigate the impact of the warnings on the ordinary attitude of packs' manipulation, and quantified judgments of warnings' emotional strength and efficacy against smoking. FINDINGS: Experiment 1 revealed that women judged the warning prototypes as more aversive than men, and smokers judged them more aversive than non-smokers. Participants with lower education judged the prototypes more aversive than participants with higher education. Experiment 2 showed that stamped warnings antagonized the appeal of the brands by imposing a cost to manipulate the cigarette packs, especially for smokers. Additionally, participants' judgments revealed that the more aversive a warning, the more it is perceived as effective against smoking. CONCLUSIONS: Health warning labels are one of the key components of the integrated approach to control the global tobacco epidemic. The evidence presented in this study adds to the understanding of how implicit responses to pictorial warnings may contribute to behavioral change.

Resting vagal control and resilience as predictors of cardiovascular allostasis in peacekeepers.

The body's adaptive reaction to a stressful event, an allostatic response, involves vigorous physiological engagement with and efficient recovery from stress. Our aim was to investigate the influence of individual predispositions on cardiac responses to and recovery from a standardized psychosocial stress task (Trier Social Stress Task) in peacekeepers. We hypothesized that those individuals with higher trait resilience and those with higher resting vagal control would be more likely to present an allostatic response: a vigorous cardiac response to stress (i.e., reduction in interbeat intervals and heart rate variability (HRV)) coupled with a significant cardiac recovery in the aftermath. Fifty male military personnel with a mean age of 25.4 years (SD ± 5.99) were evaluated after returning from a peacekeeping mission. Electrocardiogram recordings were made throughout the experimental session, which consisted five conditions: basal, speech preparation, speech delivery, arithmetic task, and recovery. Mean interbeat intervals and HRV were calculated for each condition. An Ego-Resilience Scale and resting vagal control assessed individual predispositions. Stress tasks reduced interbeat intervals (tachycardia) and HRV in comparison with basal, with return to basal in the aftermath (p < 0.001, for all comparisons). Resilience and resting vagal control correlated positively with cardiac parameters for both stress reactivity and recovery (r ≥ 0.29; p < 0.05). In conclusion, peacekeepers showing higher trait resilience and those with higher resting vagal control presented a more adaptive allostatic reaction characterized by vigorous cardiac response to stress (i.e., tachycardia and vagal withdrawal) and efficient cardiac recovery after stress cessation.

Box for interaction with objects (BIO): a new device to synchronize the presentation of objects with electrophysiological recordings.

Brain event-related potentials are a useful tool for investigating visual processing and action planning. This technique requires extremely accurate synchronization of stimulus delivery with recordings. The precision of the onset time of visual stimulus delivery is a major challenge when attempting to use real, three-dimensional objects as stimuli. Here, we present an innovative device, the "box for interaction with objects" (BIO), that is designed to synchronize the presentation of objects with electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings. To reach the required resolution of stimulus-onset timing, the BIO system features an interface with reflective glass and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). When the LEDs inside the BIO are turned on, the object inside becomes visible, and a synchronizing pulse is sent to the recording systems. The BIO was tested in a motivational study that focused on visual and motor event-related potentials. EEG signals were recorded during the presentation of an emotion-laden object that could be grasped and brought close to the participant's chest. BIO successfully synchronized the appearance of a three-dimensional object with EEG recordings, which would allow for an analysis of visual and motor event-related potentials in the same experiment. The BIO device, through a high-quality psychophysiological approach, offers a new perspective for the study of the motivational factors that drive actions toward relevant stimuli.

PTSD criterion A1 events: a literature-based categorization.

Thirty years after creation of the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis, its literature could still benefit from standardization of traumatic events. The authors report the type and frequency of traumatic events found in the mainstream PTSD literature using a bibliometric approach, and propose a categorization based on the terms used for their description. Articles containing [ptsd OR "stress disorder*"] in the title field found in the ISI/Thompson Reuters (Philadelphia, PA) 1991-2006 database were classified according to the event studied. The authors describe each event's absolute and proportional figures, and construct a categorization of the events. The bibliometric analysis of PTSD literature is helpful in planning research, and the proposed categorization may represent an advance toward the standardization of traumatic events.

Neurociências, artes gráficas e saúde pública: as novas advertências sanitárias para maços de cigarros / Neurosciences, graphic arts, and public health: new health warnings on cigarette packaging

A exposição a produtos derivados do tabaco é considerada a mais importante causa de morte evitável no mundo. Ações de controle do tabagismo envolvem uma gama de intervenções para ajudar pessoas a parar de fumar e prevenir que jovens não se tornem dependentes. Advertências sanitárias com imagens mostradas em embalagens de cigarro são uma das formas mais efetivas de informar acerca das consequências do tabagismo. Pesquisas em neurobiologia da emoção demonstram que estímulos visuais afetam atitudes e comportamentos; estímulos agradáveis promovem predisposições para aproximação e os aversivos, afastamento. Os apelos positivos que o marketing da indústria tabagista induz em suas embalagens devem ser neutralizados por advertências que mostrem os riscos de fumar, desconstruindo o apelo prazeroso e induzindo predisposições de afastamento em relação ao produto.

Exposure to tobacco products is considered the leading cause of avoidable death in the world. Tobacco control initiatives encompass a gamut of ways of helping people to quit smoking and keeping young people from ever becoming addicted. Pictorial health warnings on cigarette packaging constitute one of the most effective means of conveying information about the consequences of smoking. Research on the neurobiology of emotions shows that visual stimuli affect attitudes and behavior: pleasant stimuli prompt a tendency to approach while unpleasant stimuli prompt a tendency to avoid. The positive appeals placed on packaging by the tobacco industry's marketing departments should be neutralized by warnings that indicate the risks of smoking, thereby deconstructing any pleasurable appeal and prompting a tendency to avoid the product.

The Oto-Palato-Digital syndrome

É descrita uma família composta do propósito, sua mäe e irmä, apresentando a Síndrome Otopalatodigital (OPD). Apenas quatro famílias foram descritas na literatura, totalizando vinte e uma pessoas; näo foram incluidos os casos isolados. Näo foi constatado aumento da densidade óssea na familia estudada

Aspectos odontológicos da "síndrome de EEC" / Odontologic aspects of EEC syndrome

Descreve-se o caso de uma paciente portadora de "Síndrome de EEC" e discute-se os aspectos odontológicos desta entidade

Síndrome de Schwartz-Jampel / Schwartz-Jampel syndrome

Os autores relatam um caso de Síndrome de Schwartz-Jampel (miotonia condrodistrófica), com consideraçöes sobre seus aspectos clínicos, laboratoriais, radiológicos, eletromiográficos e genéticos, salientando a importância do diagnósticos precoce para um adequado aconselhamento genético. Säo tecidos comentários sobre as condiçöes mórbidas com as quais cabe o diagnóstico diferencial

Sindrome de Schwartz-Jampel

Os autores relatam um caso de Sindrome de Schwartz-Jampel (miotonia condrodistrofica), com consideracoes sobre seus aspectos clinicos, laboratoriais, radiologicos, eletromiograficos e geneticos, salientando a importancia do diagnostico precoce para um adequado aconselhamento genetico. Sao tecidos comentarios sobre as condicoes morbidas com as quais cabe o diagnostico diferencial.

Displasia ectodérmica hipohidrótica: apresentaçäo de 2 casos / Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia: report of 2 cases

Apresentam-se de dois casos de Displasia Ectodérmica Hipohidrótica. Faz-se também uma revisäo da herança desta entidade, focalizando-se as manifestaçöes em uma paciente do sexo femenino

Enfermidade de Charcot-Marie-Tooth

Os AA. estudam uma familia com a doenca de CHARCOT-MARIE-TOOTH, na qual se verifica forma rara de transmissao genetica: dominante ligada ao cromossoma X. A concomitancia com a anemia falciforme e comentada. O aconselhamento genetico, motivo que levou o proposito a consulta, e analisado em seus diferentes aspectos.