Egocentric and Allocentric Spatial Memory for Body Parts: A Virtual Reality Study.

Extensive literature elucidated the mechanisms underlying the ability to memorize the positions of objects in space. However, less is known about the impact that objects' features have on spatial memory. The present study aims to investigate differences in egocentric and allocentric object-location memory between hand stimuli depicted in a first-person perspective (1PP) or in a third-person one (3PP). Fifty-two adults encoded spatial positions within a virtual museum environment featuring four square buildings. Each of these buildings featured eight paintings positioned along the walls, with two pictures displayed on each of the four walls. Thirty-two stimuli were employed, which represented pictures of the right hand performing various types of gestures. Half of the stimuli depicted the hand in the 1PP, while the other half depicted the hand in the 3PP. Both free and guided explorations served as encoding conditions. Immediately after that, participants underwent a two-step object-location memory task. Participants were provided with a map of the museum and asked to identify the correct building where the image was located (allocentric memory). Then, they were presented with a schematic representation of the exhibition room divided into four sections and instructed to select the section where they thought the picture was located (egocentric memory). Our findings indicate a memory performance boost associated with egocentric recall, regardless of the perspective of the bodily stimuli. The results are discussed considering the emerging literature on the mnemonic properties of body-related stimuli for spatial memory.

Mental health meets computational neuroscience: A predictive Bayesian account of the relationship between interoception and multisensory bodily illusions in anorexia nervosa

Mental health disorders pose a significant challenge to society. The Bayesian perspective on the mind offers unique insights and tools that may help address a variety of mental health conditions. Psychopathological dysfunctions are often connected to altered predictive and active inference processes, in which cognitive and physiological pathogenic beliefs shape the clinical condition and its symptoms. However, there is a lack of general empirical models that integrate cognitive beliefs, physiological experience, and symptoms in healthy and clinical populations. In this study, we examined the relationship between altered predictive mechanisms, interoception, and pathological bodily distortions in healty individuals and in individuals suffering from anorexia nervosa (AN). AN patients (N=15) completed a Virtual Reality Full-Body Illusion along with interoceptive tasks twice: at hospital admission during an acute symptomatological phase (Time 1) and after a 12-week outpatient clinical weight-restoring rehabilitative program (Time 2). Results were compared to a healthy control group. Our findings indicated that higher levels of interoceptive metacognitive awareness were associated with a greater embodiment. However, unlike in healthy participants, AN patients' interoceptive metacognition was linked to embodiment even in multisensory mismatching (asynchronous) conditions. In addition, unlike in healthy participants, higher interoceptive metacognition in AN patients was related to prior abnormal bodily distortions during the acute symptomatology phase. Prediction errors in bodily estimates predicted posterior bodily estimate distortions after the illusion, but while this relationship was only significant in the synchronous condition in healthy participants, there was no significant difference between synchronous and asynchronous conditions in AN patients. (AU)

The effect of visual perspective on episodic memory in aging: A virtual reality study.

The possibility of flexibly retrieving our memories using a first-person or a third-person perspective (1PP or 3PP) has been extensively investigated in episodic memory research. Here, we used a Virtual Reality-based paradigm to manipulate the visual perspective used during the encoding stage to investigate age-related differences in the formation of memories experienced from 1PP vs. 3PP. 32 young adults and 32 seniors participated in the study. Participants navigated through two virtual cities to encode complex real-life virtual events, from either a 1PP (as if from their egocentric viewpoint) or a 3PP, while actively controlling an avatar. While recognition accuracy was higher in young adults after encoding in 1PP compared to 3PP, there was no benefit in memory formation in 1PP for older adults. These findings are discussed in terms of both age-related changes in episodic memory functioning and self-referencing processes.

Space for power: feeling powerful over others' behavior affects peri-personal space representation.

We investigated whether and how social power affects the representation of peri-personal space (PPS). We applied a multisensory interaction task to assess PPS representation and the Personal Sense of Power Scale to assess participants' feelings of power over others' behaviors and over others' opinions. In Study 1, we probed PPS representation in a virtual social context. Participants with a higher sense of power showed a less defined differentiation between the close and far space as compared to participants with a lower sense of power. This effect was replicated in Study 2 when participants performed the task in a non-social context (with no person in the scene), but only after they were reminded of an episode of power. Thus, social power-the perception of power over others' behavior-affects the multisensory representation of the self in space by blurring the differentiation between one's own PPS and the space of others.

Prognostic relevance of gait-related cognitive functions for dementia conversion in amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

BACKGROUND: Increasing research suggests that gait abnormalities can be a risk factor for Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Notably, there is growing evidence highlighting this risk factor in individuals with amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI), however further studies are needed. The aim of this study is to analyze cognitive tests results and brain-related measures over time in aMCI and examine how the presence of gait abnormalities (neurological or orthopedic) or normal gait affects these trends. Additionally, we sought to assess the significance of gait and gait-related measures as prognostic indicators for the progression from aMCI to AD dementia, comparing those who converted to AD with those who remained with a stable aMCI diagnosis during the follow-up. METHODS: Four hundred two individuals with aMCI from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database were included. Robust linear mixed-effects models were used to study the impact of gait abnormalities on a comprehensive neuropsychological battery over 36 months while controlling for relevant medical variables at baseline. The impact of gait on brain measures was also investigated. Lastly, the Cox proportional-hazards model was used to explore the prognostic relevance of abnormal gait and neuropsychological associated tests. RESULTS: While controlling for relevant covariates, we found that gait abnormalities led to a greater decline over time in attention (DSST) and global cognition (MMSE). Intriguingly, psychomotor speed (TMT-A) and divided attention (TMT-B) declined uniquely in the abnormal gait group. Conversely, specific AD global cognition tests (ADAS-13) and auditory-verbal memory (RAVLT immediate recall) declined over time independently of gait profile. All the other cognitive tests were not significantly affected by time or by gait profile. In addition, we found that ventricles size increased faster in the abnormal gait group compared to the normal gait group. In terms of prognosis, abnormal gait (HR = 1.7), MMSE (HR = 1.09), and DSST (HR = 1.03) covariates showed a higher impact on AD dementia conversion. CONCLUSIONS: The importance of the link between gait and related cognitive functions in terms of diagnosis, prognosis, and rehabilitation in aMCI is critical. We showed that in aMCI gait abnormalities lead to executive functions/attention deterioration and conversion to AD dementia.

Phonological similarity between words is represented in declarative memory as spatial distance.

Space can be used as a metaphor to describe semantic and perceptual similarity. Research has shown that similarity and spatial information can influence each other. On the one hand, similarity entails spatial closeness; on the other hand, proximity leads to similarity judgment. This spatial information can be stored in declarative memory and measured later on. However, it is unknown if phonological similarity/dissimilarity between words is represented as spatial closeness/distance in declarative memory. In this study, 61 young adults were tested on a remember-know (RK) spatial distance task. Participants learned noun pairs on the PC screen that were manipulated concerning their phonological similarity (similar vs. dissimilar) and reciprocal spatial distance (near vs. far). In the recognition phase, old-new, RK, and spatial distance judgments were asked. We found that for hit responses in both R and K judgments, phonologically similar word pairs were remembered closer compared to phonologically dissimilar pairs. This was also true for false alarms after K judgments. Lastly, the actual spatial distance at encoding was only retained for hit R responses. Results suggest that phonological similarity/dissimilarity is represented respectively with spatial closeness/distance and that this information is stored in the neurocognitive system of declarative memory.

A Self-Help Virtual Therapeutic Experience Intervention for Overcoming Psychological Distress Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results From the European Multicentric COVID Feel Good Trial.

OBJECTIVE: The general objective of the current study was to investigate the efficacy of a novel self-help virtual therapeutic experience (specifically, the COVID Feel Good intervention) in lowering the psychological burden experienced during the COVID-19 lockdowns in four European countries. METHODS: We focused on participants recruited from June 2020 to May 2021 in the context of a European multicenter project including four university/academic sites. The total number of participants in the longitudinal studies was 107 (study 1, N = 40; study 2, N = 29; study 3, N = 38). The randomized controlled trial (study 4) included 31 participants in total, 16 in the intervention group and 15 in the control group. Primary outcome measures were depression, anxiety, stress symptoms, perceived stress level, and perceived hopelessness. The secondary outcome was experienced social connectedness. RESULTS: Using separate linear mixed-effects models, the most consistent result across countries was a reduction in perceived stress after the participation in the COVID Feel Good intervention. By pooling the results of the models using a random-effects meta-analysis, we found that after the COVID Feel Good intervention, participants reported a decrease in perceived general distress (mean standardized effect size for general distress in the treatment groups compared with the control conditions was -0.52 [ p = .008, 95% confidence interval = -0.89 to -0.14]) and an increase in the perceived social connection (mean standardized effect size for social connection using COVID Feel Good compared with the control conditions was 0.50 [ p ≤ .001, 95% confidence interval = 0.25 to 0.76]). CONCLUSIONS: Findings of this study indicate that a virtual self-help intervention is effective in reducing psychological distress. These results contribute to the growing literature supporting the use of digital psychological therapies to relieve psychological distress among the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic.Trial Registration : ISRCTN63887521.

Mental health meets computational neuroscience: A predictive Bayesian account of the relationship between interoception and multisensory bodily illusions in anorexia nervosa.

Mental health disorders pose a significant challenge to society. The Bayesian perspective on the mind offers unique insights and tools that may help address a variety of mental health conditions. Psychopathological dysfunctions are often connected to altered predictive and active inference processes, in which cognitive and physiological pathogenic beliefs shape the clinical condition and its symptoms. However, there is a lack of general empirical models that integrate cognitive beliefs, physiological experience, and symptoms in healthy and clinical populations. In this study, we examined the relationship between altered predictive mechanisms, interoception, and pathological bodily distortions in healty individuals and in individuals suffering from anorexia nervosa (AN). AN patients (N=15) completed a Virtual Reality Full-Body Illusion along with interoceptive tasks twice: at hospital admission during an acute symptomatological phase (Time 1) and after a 12-week outpatient clinical weight-restoring rehabilitative program (Time 2). Results were compared to a healthy control group. Our findings indicated that higher levels of interoceptive metacognitive awareness were associated with a greater embodiment. However, unlike in healthy participants, AN patients' interoceptive metacognition was linked to embodiment even in multisensory mismatching (asynchronous) conditions. In addition, unlike in healthy participants, higher interoceptive metacognition in AN patients was related to prior abnormal bodily distortions during the acute symptomatology phase. Prediction errors in bodily estimates predicted posterior bodily estimate distortions after the illusion, but while this relationship was only significant in the synchronous condition in healthy participants, there was no significant difference between synchronous and asynchronous conditions in AN patients. Despite the success of the rehabilitation program in restoring some dysfunctional patterns in the AN group, prediction errors and posterior estimate distortions were present at hospital discharge. Our findings suggest that individuals with AN prioritize interoceptive metacognitive processes (i.e., confidence in their own perceived sensations rather than their actual perceptions), disregarding bottom-up bodily inputs in favour of their prior altered top-down beliefs. Moreover, even if the rehabilitative program partially mitigated these alterations, the pathological condition impaired the patients' ability to coherently update their prior erroneous expectations with real-time multisensory bottom-up bodily information, possibly locking the patients in the experience of a distorted prior top-down belief. These results suggest new therapeutic perspectives and introduce the framework of regenerative virtual therapy (RVT), which aims at utilizing technology-based somatic modification techniques to restructure the maladaptive priors underlying a pathological condition.

Usability of an Embodied CAVE System for Spatial Navigation Training in Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) usually report navigation and spatial memory impairments. Spatial navigation is an embodied process that requires the active involvement of both physical (e.g., motor commands and proprioception) and cognitive (e.g., decision-making and mental rotation) information. Immersive virtual reality (IVR) is a valuable tool that employs this information as real-world navigation does. Given the crucial impact of spatial navigation on daily life, research should focus on ways to enhance it. Though they are still in their development, contemporary IVR methods for spatial navigation training in MCI seem promising. In this usability study, eight patients with MCI syndrome tested an IVR spatial navigation training demo and interacted with the CAVE using active stereo glasses, a foot-motion pad, and a joypad. During the demo, users were asked to report their impressions on the IVR training using the thinking-aloud procedure. Moreover, questionnaires regarding usability, presence and cybersickness were administered at the end of the experience. Our results show that the first version of this system is usable by the patients even if most of them did not have experience with PC/IVR. The system provided a moderate sense of spatial presence and limited negative effects. Issues found during the thinking-aloud procedure concerned the visual aspects, which affected the interaction user-system. Participants reported that they needed more practice with the foot-motion pad even though the overall experience was positively evaluated. Identifying these critical features was essential to develop an improved version of the current system.

Effectiveness of a Virtual-Reality-Based Self-Help Intervention for Lowering the Psychological Burden during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Iran.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic. In this framework, digital self-help interventions have the potential to provide flexible and scalable solutions for delivering evidence-based treatments that do not necessitate face-to-face meetings. OBJECTIVE: as part of a multicentric project, the purpose of the current randomized controlled trial was to evaluate the efficacy of a Virtual-Reality-based self-help intervention (namely, COVID Feel Good) in lowering the psychological distress experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran. METHODS: 60 participants were randomly assigned to the experimental (COVID Feel Good intervention group) or the control (no-treatment control group) condition. At the beginning of the intervention (Day 0), at the end of the intervention (Day 7), and after a 2-week follow-up (Day 21), measurements of depressive and anxiety levels, general distress, perceived levels of stress, hopelessness (primary outcome measures), perceived interpersonal closeness with the social world, and fear of COVID-19 (secondary outcome measure) were collected. The protocol consists of two integrated parts: the first part includes a relaxing 10-min three-hundred-sixty-degree (360°) video, while the second one includes social tasks with specified objectives. RESULTS: In terms of the primary outcomes, participants in the COVID Feel Good intervention group improved in depression, stress, anxiety, and perceived stress but not hopelessness. Secondary outcome results showed an improvement in perceived social connectedness and a substantial decrease in fear of COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: these findings on the efficacy of COVID Feel Good training add to the growing body of evidence demonstrating the feasibility of digital self-help interventions in promoting well-being during this unique period.

From Virtual Reality to Regenerative Virtual Therapy: Some Insights from a Systematic Review Exploring Inner Body Perception in Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa.

Despite advances in our understanding of the behavioral and molecular factors that underlie the onset and maintenance of Eating Disorders (EDs), it is still necessary to optimize treatment strategies and establish their efficacy. In this context, over the past 25 years, Virtual Reality (VR) has provided creative treatments for a variety of ED symptoms, including body dissatisfaction, craving, and negative emotions. Recently, different researchers suggested that EDs may reflect a broader impairment in multisensory body integration, and a particular VR technique-VR body swapping-has been used to repair it, but with limited clinical results. In this paper, we use the results of a systematic review employing PRISMA guidelines that explore inner body perception in EDs (21 studies included), with the ultimate goal to analyze the features of multisensory impairment associated with this clinical condition and provide possible solutions. Deficits in interoception, proprioception, and vestibular signals were observed across Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa, suggesting that: (a) alteration of inner body perception might be a crucial feature of EDs, even if further research is needed and; (b) VR, to be effective with these patients, has to simulate/modify both the external and the internal body. Following this outcome, we introduce a new therapeutic approach-Regenerative Virtual Therapy-that integrates VR with different technologies and clinical strategies to regenerate a faulty bodily experience by stimulating the multisensory brain mechanisms and promoting self-regenerative processes within the brain itself.

A post hoc comparison between inpatients with obesity and healthy-weight subjects in the size estimation accuracy of shoulders, waist, and hips widths and circumferences.

PURPOSE: This post hoc study aimed to assess the hypothesis that subjects with obesity could underestimate their body size. METHODS: Data from a previous study with different aims were used to compare 22 female inpatients with obesity with 21 healthy-weight women in the size estimation accuracy of their shoulders, waist, and hips circumferences and widths. The body estimation task with an individualized metric methodology was used to collect data. Frequentist and Bayesian analyses were performed. RESULTS: Samples differed significantly in the accuracy measures of shoulders width and hips as well as waist circumferences: inpatients with obesity underestimated them, while healthy-weight subjects estimated shoulders width accurately but overestimated their hips and waist circumferences. Multiple regression showed that the between-group difference in the accuracy measure of shoulders width was explained by the individuals' education level, while the difference in the accuracy measure of waist circumference resulted to be independent of both age and education level. CONCLUSION: This post hoc study supports the hypothesis that female patients with obesity might underestimate their body size. If these results will be confirmed in future studies, interventions specifically designed to equalize estimations to match the real measures of body size may play a key role in weight-reduction programs for people with obesity. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, evidence obtained from cohort or case-control analytic studies.

Mitigating negative emotions through virtual reality and embodiment.

Oncological treatments are responsible for many of the physical changes (aesthetic and functional) associated with cancer. Because of this, cancer patients are at high risk of developing mental health problems. The aim of this study is to propose an innovative Virtual Reality (VR) training that uses a somatic technique (i.e., embodiment) to create a bridge with the bodily dimension of cancer. After undergoing a psycho-educational procedure, a combination of exposure, out-of-body experience, and body swapping will gradually train the patient to cope with cancer-related difficulties, increasing stress tolerance, and patient empowerment. The most engaging step of this advanced form of Stress Inoculation Training is the body swapping experience, which will guide the patient in embodying a resilient cancer patient who is facing similar difficulties. Through the VR ability to simulate the human brain functioning, and the potential of embodiment to hook to the somatic dimension of illness, we expect that once the concepts endured through the patient's experience of resilience are triggered, the patient will be more prone to implement functional coping strategies in real life, reaching empowerment and adjusting to the post-treatment difficulties. When the scenarios are built and the training tested, our intervention could be used to support patients with different oncological diseases and who are treated in different cancer hospitals, as well as patients with other non-oncological problems (e.g., social anxiety). Future research should focus on using our paradigm for other clinical populations, and supporting cancer patients in coping with different distressing situations.

COVID Feel Good: Evaluation of a Self-Help Protocol to Overcome the Psychological Burden of the COVID-19 Pandemic in a German Sample.

The COVID-19 pandemic has severe consequences for physical as well as mental well-being. In times of restricted social contact, online self-help programs offer a low-threshold first aid to cope with the psychological burden. This current study evaluates the online self-help protocol "COVID Feel Good" in a German sample. The multicentric study was designed as a single cohort with a waiting list control condition. The convenience sample consisted of 38 German individuals who experienced at least two months of restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 7-day self-help protocol included the VR video "Secret Garden" as well as a social or cognitive exercise each day. General distress, depression, anxiety, stress, and hopelessness were assessed as primary outcomes. Social connectedness and fear of coronavirus were measured as secondary outcomes. Results showed a significant decrease in all primary outcomes except for hopelessness. Furthermore, the results indicated a significant improvement in social connectedness. Treatment effects on general distress, depression, stress, and anxiety persisted for two weeks after participation. The present study indicates that VR-based self-help protocols can mitigate the psychological burden associated with the pandemic, supporting recent findings.

Regenerative Virtual Therapy: The Use of Multisensory Technologies and Mindful Attention for Updating the Altered Representations of the Bodily Self.

The term "regenerative medicine" (RM) indicates an emerging trend in biomedical sciences that aims at replacing, engineering, or regenerating human cells, tissues, or organs to restore or establish normal function. So far, the focus of RM has been the physical body. Neuroscience, however, is now suggesting that mental disorders can be broadly characterized by a dysfunction in the way the brain computes and integrates the representations of the inner and outer body across time [bodily self-consciousness (BSC)]. In this perspective, we proposed a new kind of clinical intervention, i.e., "Regenerative Virtual Therapy" (RVT), which integrates knowledge from different disciplines, from neuroscience to computational psychiatry, to regenerate a distorted or faulty BSC. The main goal of RVT was to use technology-based somatic modification techniques to restructure the maladaptive bodily representations behind a pathological condition. Specifically, starting from a Bayesian model of our BSC (i.e., body matrix), we suggested the use of mindful attention, cognitive reappraisal, and brain stimulation techniques merged with high-rewarding and novel synthetic multisensory bodily experience (i.e., a virtual reality full-body illusion in sync with a low predictabIlity interoceptive modulation) to rewrite a faulty experience of the body and to regenerate the wellbeing of an individual. The use of RVT will also offer an unprecedented experimental overview of the dynamics of our bodily representations, allowing the reverse-engineering of their functioning for hacking them using advanced technologies.

Building Embodied Spaces for Spatial Memory Neurorehabilitation with Virtual Reality in Normal and Pathological Aging.

Along with deficits in spatial cognition, a decline in body-related information is observed in aging and is thought to contribute to impairments in navigation, memory, and space perception. According to the embodied cognition theories, bodily and environmental information play a crucial role in defining cognitive representations. Thanks to the possibility to involve body-related information, manipulate environmental stimuli, and add multisensory cues, virtual reality is one of the best candidates for spatial memory rehabilitation in aging for its embodied potential. However, current virtual neurorehabilitation solutions for aging and neurodegenerative diseases are in their infancy. Here, we discuss three concepts that could be used to improve embodied representations of the space with virtual reality. The virtual bodily representation is the combination of idiothetic information involved during virtual navigation thanks to input/output devices; the spatial affordances are environmental or symbolic elements used by the individual to act in the virtual environment; finally, the virtual enactment effect is the enhancement on spatial memory provided by actively (cognitively and/or bodily) interacting with the virtual space and its elements. Theoretical and empirical findings will be presented to propose innovative rehabilitative solutions in aging for spatial memory and navigation.

A Virtual Reality-Based Self-Help Intervention for Dealing with the Psychological Distress Associated with the COVID-19 Lockdown: An Effectiveness Study with a Two-Week Follow-Up.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a novel self-administered at-home daily virtual reality (VR)-based intervention (COVID Feel Good) for reducing the psychological burden experienced during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. A total of 40 individuals who had experienced at least two months of strict social distancing measures followed COVID Feel Good between June and July 2020 for one week. Primary outcome measures were depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, perceived stress levels, and hopelessness. Secondary outcomes were the experienced social connectedness and the level of fear experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Linear mixed-effects models were fitted to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. Additionally, we also performed a clinical change analysis on primary outcome measures. As concerning primary outcome measures, participants exhibited improvements from baseline to post-intervention for depression levels, stress levels, general distress, and perceived stress (all p < 0.05) but not for the perceived hopelessness (p = 0.110). Results for the secondary outcomes indicated an increase in social connectedness from T0 to T1 (p = 0.033) but not a significant reduction in the perceived fear of coronavirus (p = 0.412). Among these study variables, these significant improvements were maintained from post-intervention to the 2-week follow-up (p > 0.05). Results indicated that the intervention was associated with good clinical outcomes, low-to-no risks for the treatment, and no adverse effects or risks. Globally, evidence suggests a beneficial effect of the proposed protocol and its current availability in 12 different languages makes COVID Feel Good a free choice for helping individuals worldwide to cope with the psychological distress associated with the COVID-19 crisis, although large scale trials are needed to evaluate its efficacy.

Using virtual reality to target positive autobiographical memory in individuals with moderate-to-moderately severe depressive symptoms: A single case experimental design.

So far, several aspects of autobiographical memory (AM) have been found to be impaired in depression. Among others, depressed patients show the tendency to recall more negative than positive events (i.e., negative bias) and usually retrieve memories that lack of specificity and details (i.e., overgeneral memories). Based on this, we designed an AM task enhanced by the use of virtual reality (VR) to specifically train the recall of positive memories. Using a single-case, multiple baseline experimental design, we explored the effects of a brief intervention consisting of two sessions of this training in a sample of 18 individuals with moderate-to-moderately severe depressive symptoms. According to the results, changes occurred at the short term only. In particular, almost all participants reported a significant improvement in at least one outcome measure 0-3 days after the intervention. However, these clinical gains were not maintained in the mid-term (from day 4 to 10). The present findings do not support the efficacy of our VR-based AM recall treatment as a standalone intervention. Nevertheless, it might represent a suitable procedure to obtain immediate and/or short-term improvements. It might also serve as a valid component to be integrated in broader protocols for patients with moderate-to-moderately severe depressive symptoms.

Sharpening of peripersonal space during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our social world has been transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond the direct impact of the pandemic on physical health, the social distancing measures implemented worldwide to slow down disease transmission have dramatically impacted social interactions1,2. These measures, including orders to stay at home and to maintain a social distance of at least 2 meters, have been essential to limit the spread of the disease, but they have had severe costs for humans as social animals2. Right before and right after the adoption of the most stringent measures in Switzerland in Spring 2020, we were conducting a series of experiments to measure the representation of the so-called peripersonal space - the space immediately surrounding our body, where we normally interact with objects and other individuals3. We found that the introduction of social distancing measures led to a reduction in the extent of the peripersonal space and enhanced its segregation between individuals, as if the presence of others in close space would activate an implicit form of freezing response.

The Moderating Role of Emotion Regulation in the Recall of Negative Autobiographical Memories.

When facing a negative event, people implement different strategies to regulate ongoing emotions. Although the previous literature has suggested that the emotional intensity of a negative episode is associated with the characteristics of the subsequent autobiographical memory, it is still unknown whether emotion regulation (ER) moderates this relationship. In the present study, we provided undergraduate students with a smartphone-based diary to report a negative episode immediately after its occurrence and rate the momentary use of two ER strategies: cognitive reappraisal and rumination. To explore autobiographical memory, two "surprise" recall tasks were performed one week and one month after the event. According to the results, cognitive reappraisal was linked with better memory performances, and a tendency to retrospectively underestimate the negativity of highly intense events was observed only in participants adopting high rates of this strategy. Conversely, intense rumination was found to be associated with less detailed memories of emotionally intense events, as well as with higher emotional involvement with negative episodes over time, regardless of their intensity. Together, our results support the maladaptive role of rumination and the adaptive influence of cognitive reappraisal on autobiographical memory.