Examining the effects of increasing then decreasing exercise intensity within a session of aerobic exercise.

Recent studies have examined the relations between the slope of pleasure experienced during exercise and remembered pleasure, forecasted pleasure, and enjoyment. OBJECTIVES: This study advances this line of research by examining the effects of exposing participants to exercise that increases in intensity and then decreases in intensity. METHODS: In a within-subjects design, participants completed three exercise sessions matched for total and average work. One session steadily increased in intensity, another steadily decreased in intensity, and a third increased-then-decreased in intensity. Remembered pleasure, forecasted pleasure, and exercise enjoyment served as primary outcome variables. RESULTS: Remembered pleasure, forecasted pleasure, and enjoyment did not differ between conditions. Remembered pleasure was positively associated with mean experienced pleasure, the overall slope of pleasure during the exercise session, affect experienced at the end of exercise, forecasted pleasure, accomplishment, and enjoyment. CONCLUSIONS: These data add to a growing literature on the effects of patterns of exercise intensity on affective responses to exercise. The results are discussed in context of previous and more recent research.

Guided recall of positive autobiographical memories increases anticipated pleasure and psychological resources, and reduces depressive symptoms: a replication and extension of a randomised controlled trial of brief positive cognitive-reminiscence therapy.

Reminiscence-based interventions focus on recalling autobiographical memories and reflective reasoning to develop a healthy and adaptive view of oneself and one's life. This study aimed to replicate the effects of a three-session, group-based, positive-memory version of cognitive-reminiscence therapy (CRT) on psychological resources and mental well-being and extend the findings to anticipated pleasure. The participants (N = 75, Mage = 43.7 (SD = 16.7), 60% females) were randomised to CRT or control group. Anticipated pleasure, psychological resources (schemas of positive self-esteem, self-efficacy, meaning in life, optimism), mental well-being (depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms) and theorised change processes (automatic negative thoughts, awareness of narrative identity) were assessed. Relative to the control group, the CRT group reported significantly higher anticipated pleasure (d = 0.76-0.93) and psychological resources of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and optimism (d's = 0.58-0.99) at post-CRT and follow-up, and lower depressive symptoms post-CRT and at follow-up (d = 0.56-0.67). Findings on meaning in life and negative automatic thinking were partially replicated. This study replicates findings of the effectiveness of this intervention for improving psychological resources such as self-worth, confidence and optimism and depressive symptoms, and indicates additional effects on anticipated pleasure. CRT may serve as a standalone intervention, or as an adjunct "memory booster" for interventions focused on future thinking and related anticipated reward.

[Sex therapy and support for women and couples]. / Sexothérapie et accompagnement de la femme et du couple.

Sexuality is shaped by experience and by what has been passed down. Body image and sex influence desire and pleasure. In the case of endometriosis, suffering and pain can lead to shame and guilt. Encouraging people to talk to each other helps to create a free eroticism that resembles the couple.

The neuroscience of human empathy for pleasure: protocol for a scoping review.

OBJECTIVE: The neuroscience of human empathy for pleasure and positive affect is an emergent, scarcely addressed topic. The main aim of this scoping review is to map the impact of this new research domain on the field of social and affective neuroscience. INTRODUCTION: Most of the literature on empathy and affect sharing has hitherto focused on negative emotions, with a special focus on pain. However, understanding, sharing, and reacting to others' pleasures is an evolutionarily and socially important function. Our scoping review addresses this gap in the literature and tries to unify the available information under the empathy for pleasure umbrella. INCLUSION CRITERIA: This scoping review is intended to cover studies on empathy for positive emotions, pleasant sensory outcomes, and other rewards in healthy individuals and neurological/neuropsychiatric/neurodevelopmental disorders populations. METHODS: We will perform a systematic search in the Medline (PubMed), Scopus, and Web of Science (WoS) databases. Two authors will independently screen all titles, abstracts, and then full-text articles that meet the inclusion criteria. The year range of interest will be 2000-2022, and only journal articles published in English will be assessed. Data will be extracted and presented in tables and/or graphical representations to synthesize and describe the results. The extracted data will be reported in a comprehensive summary. RESULTS: The final manuscript is intended for submission to an indexed journal in late 2023/beginning 2024. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, the present scoping review will be the first to address the variety and heterogeneity of available evidence on human empathy for pleasure. We ultimately aim at perusing the growing literature on this far-reaching field of study and informing future research. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: The neuroscience of human empathy for pleasure: Protocol for a scoping review.  https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/W7H6J . (December 27, 2022).

Corrigendum: Aesthetic experience models human learning.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1146083.].

Unmet sexual health needs of young men in contemporary society regarding condom use: Qualitative study.

OBJECTIVE: In contemporary societies young men receive much misleading information about sex from friends, the media and the internet (porn) which can make them feel insecure and under pressure regarding sex. The purpose of this study is therefore to understand their sexual world better and learn about their sexual health needs, especially regarding condom use. METHODS: The study is based on two qualitative studies: focus groups and individual interviews. Recruitment of participants took place through schools, a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) Clinic and a Gay and Lesbian Organisation. The interviews were thematically analysed using the framework method. RESULTS: Forty-nine individuals, 18-25 years old, participated in both studies. The findings showed that the participants had a number of unmet needs regarding condom use which reduced this use. They described uncertainty regarding condom use by not prioritising them, showing lack of knowledge and communication skills. It was of high priority for them to seek sexual pleasure and not be disturbed in the process of having sex. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that young men have a great need to perform sexually and not to fail. This need represents insecurity in a sexual relationship. When insecurity, inability to communicate and feeling under pressure come together using a condom is not prioritised. These young men are in great need of holistic sex education that would enable them to become secure in mastering condom use.

Social media addiction, escapism and coping strategies are associated with the problematic internet use of adolescents in Türkiye: a multi-center study.

Introduction: The literature highlighted that problematic internet use can have detrimental consequences on individuals' well-being. Social media addiction, escapism and coping skills are closely related to problematic internet use. However, no study has currently examined the relationship between problematic internet use and social media use, escapism and coping skills. Method: This multicenter cross-sectional designed study evaluated the relationships between problematic internet use and social media addiction, escapism, and coping skills in 508 adolescents (319 female) aged 14-18 years. In order to collect data, sociodemographic data form, Internet Addiction Scale, Social Media Addiction Scale, Escapism Scale and Kidcope Adolescent Version have been used. First, adolescents who scored ≥50 on the Internet Addiction Test were classified as the problematic internet use group; adolescents who scored <50 were classified as the control group. Then, the relationships between problematic internet use and social media addiction, escapism and coping skills were evaluated. Results: The results showed that problematic internet use was associated with duration of social media use, impairment in social media-related functionality, preferring virtual life, and virtual pleasure, escapism, avoidant and negative coping strategies. Conclusion: These findings may provide an empirical basis for problematic internet use prevention and intervention in adolescence.

Infant hedonic/anhedonic processing index (HAPI-Infant): Assessing infant anhedonia and its prospective association with adolescent depressive symptoms.

BACKGROUND: Anhedonia, an impairment in the motivation for or experience of pleasure, is a well-established transdiagnostic harbinger and core symptom of mental illness. Given increasing recognition of early life origins of mental illness, we posit that anhedonia should, and could, be recognized earlier if appropriate tools were available. However, reliable diagnostic instruments prior to childhood do not currently exist. METHODS: We developed an assessment instrument for anhedonia/reward processing in infancy, the Infant Hedonic/Anhedonic Processing Index (HAPI-Infant). Exploratory factor and psychometric analyses were conducted using data from 6- and 12-month-old infants from two cohorts (N = 188, N = 212). Then, associations were assessed between infant anhedonia and adolescent self-report of depressive symptoms. RESULTS: The HAPI-Infant (47-items), exhibited excellent psychometric properties. Higher anhedonia scores at 6 (r = 0.23, p < .01) and 12 months (r = 0.19, p < .05) predicted elevated adolescent depressive symptoms, and these associations were stronger than for established infant risk indicators such as negative affectivity. Subsequent analyses supported the validity of short (27-item) and very short (12-item) versions of this measure. LIMITATIONS: The primary limitations of this study are that the HAPI-Infant awaits additional tests of generalizability and of its ability to predict clinical diagnosis of depression. CONCLUSIONS: The HAPI-Infant is a novel, psychometrically strong diagnostic tool suitable for recognizing anhedonia during the first year of life with strong predictive value for later depressive symptoms. In view of the emerging recognition of increasing prevalence of affective disorders in children and adolescents, the importance of the HAPI-Infant in diagnosing anhedonia is encouraging. Early recognition of anhedonia could target high-risk individuals for intervention and perhaps prevention of mental health disorders.

Sensing the Snacking Experience: Bodily Sensations Linked to the Consumption of Healthy and Unhealthy Snack Foods-A Comparison between Body Mass Index Levels.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has highlighted the need for immediate action regarding the escalating global prevalence of overweight and obesity. Based on the need for long-term strategies supporting dietary behaviour changes, the concept of 'interoception' (i.e., sensing the body's internal state) has been proposed as promising for understanding and controlling food intake behaviours. As eating behaviours are motivated by the need for securing energy demands as well as the desire for pleasure, investigating the bodily sensations perceived in relation to food consumption can support our understanding of human food and eating behaviours. Here, a consumer study was conducted on 286 Danish consumers to explore the interoceptive experience of snack food consumption. This study included an investigation of the consumers' interoceptive capabilities and ability to feel pleasure, intuitive eating behaviours, snack food consumption frequency, the drivers of snack food consumption, food-related pleasure, and post-ingestive sensations linked to snack food consumption. The study was conducted on consumers with different Body Mass Index (BMI) levels to study potential differences between these groups. The study showed normal interoceptive capabilities and abilities to feel pleasure, with no differences between BMI groups. Regarding intuitive eating, the study found intuitive eating to be more prevalent among the group holding normal BMI. No significant differences between BMI groups were found in terms of snack intake frequency. However, differences between BMI groups were found in terms of: the drivers of snack consumption, the aspects bringing food-related pleasure from snack consumption, and the post-ingestive sensations felt after eating snack foods.

Measuring Pleasure from Food-Validation of the Food Pleasure Scale by Multiple Techniques and Mixed Methods.

The development of scales and questionnaires to assess pleasure perception has gained prominence, particularly for evaluating anhedonia in mental disorders. The Food Pleasure Scale is a comprehensive tool exclusively dedicated to measuring pleasure perception from food and food-related experiences. This study aimed to evaluate the face validity and consistency reliability of the Food Pleasure Scale using a mixed methods approach. Twenty-two participants completed the Food Pleasure Scale questionnaire and participated in in-depth interviews to understand their interpretation of the scale items. The interview data underwent thematic analysis, and the quantitative survey data was compared to the qualitative interview responses. Results indicated a high level of understanding of all items in the Food Pleasure Scale, confirming its face validity and applicability. The mixed methods approach supported the consistency reliability, showing consistency between quantitative measures and participants' explicit and implicit expressions of food pleasure. Furthermore, the study revealed a novel aspect related to food pleasure: the concept of "making an effort". Overall, this study highlights the comprehensibility, validity, and potential of the Food Pleasure Scale in consumer studies. It effectively captures the subjective experience of pleasure derived from food and food-related encounters, making it a valuable tool for further research in this domain.

Sexual Health and Well-Being: A Framework to Guide Care.

Although the acceptance of sex positivity centering pleasure and justice has grown, clinical and public health strategies for sexually transmitted infection management have remained focused on risk and adverse outcomes. To promote sex-positive health care practice in clinical settings and beyond, health care practitioners should use an integrated, patient-centered approach to sexual health. These strategies include initiating discussions, continued sexual health education, providing informative material for patients, and knowledge of different communication strategies. Patient-provider interactions might be enhanced by using such methods.

The Nostrum to Exercise: How Self-Selected and Imposed Exercise Intensity Prescription Relates to Affective, Cognitive, and Behavioral Outcomes-A Systematic Review / El Nostrum al Ejercicio: Cómo la Prescripción de Intensidad de Ejercicio Autoseleccionada e Impuesta se Relaciona con Resultados Afectivos, Cognitivos y Conductuales-Una Revisión Sistemática / A Panaceia do Exercício: Como a Prescrição de Intensidade de Exercício Autoselecionada e Imposta se Relaciona com Resultados Afetivos, Cognitivos e Comportamentais-Uma Revisão Sistemática

Permitir seleccionar la intensidad del ejercicio se ha propuesto como un método para apoyar la adherencia al ejercicio, pero no se encontró ninguna exploración extensa que contrastara este enfoque con un método de intensidad impuesta. Esta revisión sistemática explora la relación entre la intensidad del ejercicio seleccionada por el usuario y los resultados afectivos, cognitivos y conductuales en contextos de actividad física. La búsqueda se realizó en las bases de datos PubMed, SPORTDiscus y PsycINFO con los criterios de inclusión: (1) experimentales y no experimentales; (2) publicados en una revista revisada por pares; (3) escritos en inglés; (4) que exploraran la autoselección de intensidad y/o la autorregulación en contextosde ejercicio; (5) muestras con individuos de entre 18 y 64 años; y (6) centrados en individuos aparentemente sanos. Veintinueve estudios (N=749 participantes) fueron incluidos para revisión, 25 explorando el ejercicio aeróbico y cuatro de resistencia. En general, la intensidad de ejercicio autoseleccionada mostró mejores resultados afectivos, cognitivos y conductuales positivos en comparación con la prescripción de intensidad de ejercicio impuesta, pero la alta heterogeneidad en los métodos y resultados justifica la precaución al interpretar los resultados. La autoselección de la intensidad puede promover la mejora de las respuestas afectivas, las percepciones de autonomía, la autoeficacia, la intención de ser físicamente activo, y más minutos de participación en el ejercicio. Las discrepancias en los métodos de autoselección de la intensidad, las diferencias en los protocolos de ejercicio y las características de las muestras ponen de manifiesto la necesidad de realizar más estudios.(AU)

Allowing to select the exercise intensity has been proposed as a method to support exercise adherence, but no extensive exploration was found contrasting this approach to an imposed intensity method. For this matter, this systematic review aimed to explore the relationship between self-selected exercise intensity and affective, cognitive, and behaviouraloutcomes in physical activity settings, and whenever possible, compare this approach to other forms of exercise intensity prescription. Search wasconductedin the PubMed, SPORTDiscus, and PsycINFO databases (last search date July 2022) with the following inclusion criteria: (1) experimental and non-experimental; (2) published in a peer-reviewed journal; (3) written in English; (4) exploring intensity self-selection and/or self-regulation in exercise settings; (5) samples with individuals aged between 18 and 64 years; and (6) focused on apparently healthy individuals. Twenty-nine studies (N=749 participants) were included in this review, 25 exploring aerobic exercise and four resistance training activities. Overall, self-selected exercise intensity showed better positive affective, cognitive, and behaviouraloutcomes compared to imposed exercise intensity prescription, but high heterogeneity on the methods and outcomes warrant caution when interpreting the results. Self-selected intensity may promote improved affective responses, autonomy perceptions, self-efficacy, intention to be physically active,and more minutes of exercise participation. However, discrepancy on the intensity self-selection methods, exercise protocol differences, and samples characteristics, highlight the need for further studies on the topic to better understand the possible magnitude of this effect.(AU)

Permitir a seleção da intensidade do exercício tem sido proposto como um método para apoiar a adesão ao exercício, mas não foi encontrada nenhuma exploraçãoextensiva que contrastasse esta abordagem com um método de intensidade imposta. Por esta razão, esta revisão sistemática teve como objetivo explorar a relação entre a intensidade do exercício autosselecionada e os resultados afetivos, cognitivos e comportamentais em contextos de atividade física e, sempre que possível, comparar esta abordagem comoutrasformas de prescrição da intensidade do exercício. A pesquisa foi realizada nas bases de dados PubMed, SPORTDiscus e PsycINFO (última data de pesquisa em julho de 2022) com os seguintes critérios de inclusão:(1) experimentais e não-experimentais; (2) publicados numa revista com revisão por pares; (3) escritos em inglês; (4) que explorassem a autosseleção da intensidade e/ou a autorregulação em contextos de exercício; (5) amostras com indivíduos com idades compreendidas entre os 18 e os 64 anos; e (6) focados em indivíduos aparentemente saudáveis. Vinte e nove estudos (N=749 participantes) foram incluídos nesta revisão, 25 explorando o exercício aeróbico e quatro atividades de treino de resistência. Em geral,a intensidade de exercício autosselecionada mostrou melhores resultados positivos a nível afetivo, cognitivo e comportamental em comparação com a prescrição de intensidade de exercício imposta, mas a elevada heterogeneidade dos métodos e dos resultados justifica cautela na interpretação dos resultados. Aintensidade autosselecionada pode promover melhores respostas afetivas, perceções de autonomia, autoeficácia, intenção de ser fisicamente ativo e mais minutos de participação no exercício. No entanto, a discrepância entre os métodos de autosseleção da intensidade, as diferenças entre os protocolos de exercício e as características das amostras, realçam a necessidade de mais estudos sobre o tema para melhor compreender a possível magnitude deste efeito.(AU)

From pathology to pleasure: Reframing mechanistic studies on same-sex sexual behavior in primates.

Same-sex sexual behaviors (SSB) in primates have historically been studied as sexual perversions, evolutionary paradoxes, and hormone-driven pathologies. Researchers in recent decades have challenged these perspectives, yet some of the original biases still linger. In this paper, we examine how the study of endocrinological mechanisms in SSB has been influenced by the historical framework of pathology. Societal attitudes and cultural conceptions of human sexuality have led researchers to study SSB in primates as the outcome of "abnormal" processes of "feminization" or "masculinization" of sexual behavior. Here, we argue for a renewed attention to other areas of inquiry regarding the relationship between hormones and SSB, such as the role of pleasure. We briefly review how current knowledge on the neuroendocrinology of pleasure in nonhuman primates may relate to the expression of SSB and highlight oxytocin and dopamine as potentially fruitful areas for future research. We argue that future studies on SSB in primates would benefit from 1) acknowledging how the historical study of SSB as a pathology has shaped mechanistic studies and 2) studying SSB with the same holistic approach as is taken with different-sex sexual behavior (DSB).

Unraveling the link between childhood maltreatment and depression: Insights from the role of ventral striatum and middle cingulate cortex in hedonic experience and emotion regulation.

Childhood maltreatment is an established risk factor for psychopathology. However, it remains unclear how childhood traumatic events relate to mental health problems and how the brain is involved. This study examined the serial mediation effect of brain morphological alterations and emotion-/reward-related functions on linking the relationship from maltreatment to depression. We recruited 156 healthy adolescents and young adults and an additional sample of 31 adolescents with major depressive disorder for assessment of childhood maltreatment, depressive symptoms, cognitive reappraisal and anticipatory/consummatory pleasure. Structural MRI data were acquired to identify maltreatment-related cortical and subcortical morphological differences. The mediation models suggested that emotional maltreatment of abuse and neglect, was respectively associated with increased gray matter volume in the ventral striatum and greater thickness in the middle cingulate cortex. These structural alterations were further related to reduced anticipatory pleasure and disrupted cognitive reappraisal, which contributed to more severe depressive symptoms among healthy individuals. The above mediating effects were not replicated in our clinical group partly due to the small sample size. Preventative interventions can target emotional and reward systems to foster resilience and reduce the likelihood of future psychiatric disorders among individuals with a history of maltreatment.

Postural adjustments and perceptual responses of Nordic running: concurrent effects of poles and irregular terrain.

PURPOSE: In the natural environment, humans must continuously negotiate irregular and unpredictable terrain. Recently, the poles have been extensively used during trial running events. However, we know little about how humans adjust posture and bilateral coordination to use poles in irregular terrain. Here, we compared kinematics, bilateral coordination and perceptual responses between regular (compact dust) and irregular terrain (medium-length grass) during running at preferred speed with and without poles. METHODS: In this transversal observational study, thirteen young healthy adults (8 men; mean ± SD; age 29.1 ± 8.0 years, body mass 76.8 ± 11.4 kg; height 1.75 ± 0.08 m) were evaluated during running at a self-selected comfortable speed with and without poles on regular and irregular terrains. RESULTS: Our results show that, despite more flexed pattern on lower-limb joints at irregular terrain, the usage of poles was not enough to re-stabilize the bilateral coordination. Also, the perceived exertion was impaired adding poles to running, probably due to more complex movement pattern using poles in comparison to free running, and the invariance in the bilateral coordination. CONCLUSION: Besides the invariability of usage poles on bilateral coordination and lower-limb kinematics, the runners seem to prioritize postural stability over lower limb stiffness when running in medium-length grass given the larger range of ankle and knee motion observed in irregular terrain. Further investigations at rougher/hilly terrains will likely provide additional insights into the neuromotor control strategies used to maintain the stability and on perceptual responses using poles during running.

Early-initiated childhood reading for pleasure: associations with better cognitive performance, mental well-being and brain structure in young adolescence.

BACKGROUND: Childhood is a crucial neurodevelopmental period. We investigated whether childhood reading for pleasure (RfP) was related to young adolescent assessments of cognition, mental health, and brain structure. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional and longitudinal study in a large-scale US national cohort (10 000 + young adolescents), using the well-established linear mixed model and structural equation methods for twin study, longitudinal and mediation analyses. A 2-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis for potential causal inference was also performed. Important factors including socio-economic status were controlled. RESULTS: Early-initiated long-standing childhood RfP (early RfP) was highly positively correlated with performance on cognitive tests and significantly negatively correlated with mental health problem scores of young adolescents. These participants with higher early RfP scores exhibited moderately larger total brain cortical areas and volumes, with increased regions including the temporal, frontal, insula, supramarginal; left angular, para-hippocampal; right middle-occipital, anterior-cingulate, orbital areas; and subcortical ventral-diencephalon and thalamus. These brain structures were significantly related to their cognitive and mental health scores, and displayed significant mediation effects. Early RfP was longitudinally associated with higher crystallized cognition and lower attention symptoms at follow-up. Approximately 12 h/week of youth regular RfP was cognitively optimal. We further observed a moderately significant heritability of early RfP, with considerable contribution from environments. MR analysis revealed beneficial causal associations of early RfP with adult cognitive performance and left superior temporal structure. CONCLUSIONS: These findings, for the first time, revealed the important relationships of early RfP with subsequent brain and cognitive development and mental well-being.

The effects of color and saturation on the enjoyment of real-life images.

This study investigated the effects of color presence and saturation on the affective judgment of real-life images, as functions of the image's affective valence. In the first two experiments, participants observed and rated original color photos and their grayscale versions, presented in an interleaved order across two separate experimental sessions. Color photos were rated as more pleasant than grayscale photos when image valence was positive, and more unpleasant when image valence was negative. The third experiment consisted of the same original images and their versions with saturation reduced by 50%. Original photos were rated as more pleasant than saturation-reduced photos when image valence was positive, yet less unpleasant when image valence was negative, implying potentially separable mechanisms for processing color presence and saturation. Significant interactions were found between color or saturation mode and valence on affective judgment in all three experiments. The effects persisted after controlling for colorfulness and luminance between the color and grayscale (or de-saturated) conditions.

Effect of High-Intensity Interval, Moderate-Intensity Continuous, and Self-Selected Intensity Training on Health and Affective Responses.

Purpose: To compare the effects of 12-week high-intensity interval (HIIT), moderate-intensity continuous (MICT), and self-selected intensity training (SSIT) on health outcomes and affective responses. Methods: Seventy-three overweight/obese inactive adults (62% woman; age, 31.4 ± 7.2 years; height, 1.66 ± 0.09 cm; Body mass index, 28.9 ± 2.7 kg.m-2) who were randomized into HIIT (n = 23), MICT (n = 24) and SSIT (n = 26) groups. The training was conducted three times per week in an outdoor environment, with 4 weeks under direct supervision and 8 weeks with semi-supervision. Cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, and metabolic profile were evaluated at baseline and at the end of the 4th and 12th weeks. Core affect was measured during all training sessions. Results: Peak oxygen uptake improved in all groups after 4 and 12 weeks compared with baseline. Only the SSIT had reductions in body fat throughout the intervention. No improvements were observed in the metabolic profile across all groups. SSIT was perceived as more pleasurable than HIIT; however, there were no differences in affective responses between SSIT and MICT. Affective responses in-task (e.g. negative and positive peak, rate of change and affect at the end of the exercise session) predicted the HIIT and SSIT exercises attendance rate. Conclusion: Regardless of the exercise training protocol, overweight/obese inactive adults improved health outcomes, which suggests the prescribing HIIT, MICT, and SSIT in outdoor environments. SSIT should be considered in order to optimize the pleasure during training sessions. Affective response more positive in-task of the HIIT and SSIT is associated with greater attendance rate in these exercise protocols.

Dopamine dysregulation in Parkinson's disease flattens the pleasurable urge to move to musical rhythms.

The pleasurable urge to move to music (PLUMM) activates motor and reward areas of the brain and is thought to be driven by predictive processes. Dopamine in motor and limbic networks is implicated in beat-based timing and music-induced pleasure, suggesting a central role of basal ganglia (BG) dopaminergic systems in PLUMM. This study tested this hypothesis by comparing PLUMM in participants with Parkinson's disease (PD), age-matched controls, and young controls. Participants listened to musical sequences with varying rhythmic and harmonic complexity (low, medium and high), and rated their experienced pleasure and urge to move to the rhythm. In line with previous results, healthy younger participants showed an inverted U-shaped relationship between rhythmic complexity and ratings, with preference for medium complexity rhythms, while age-matched controls showed a similar, but weaker, inverted U-shaped response. Conversely, PD showed a significantly flattened response for both the urge to move and pleasure. Crucially, this flattened response could not be attributed to differences in rhythm discrimination and did not reflect an overall decrease in ratings. For harmonic complexity, PD showed a negative linear pattern for both the urge to move and pleasure while healthy age-matched controls showed the same pattern for pleasure and an inverted U for the urge to move. This contrasts with the pattern observed in young healthy controls in previous studies, suggesting that both healthy aging and PD also influence affective responses to harmonic complexity. Together, these results support the role of dopamine within cortico-striatal circuits in the predictive processes that form the link between the perceptual processing of rhythmic patterns and the affective and motor responses to rhythmic music.

Sexual Incentive Motivation and Sexual Behavior: The Role of Consent.

The generalized social concern with sexual harassment and nonconsensual sex makes it imperative to incorporate notions of consent in any analysis of human sexual interactions. Such interactions follow an ordered sequence of events, starting with the perception of a sexual incentive, followed by an approach to it, genital interaction, and eventually orgasm. Consent from the partner is needed at every stage. At some points in this chain of events, the individuals involved make cognitive evaluations of the context and predictions of the likelihood for obtaining consent for proceeding to the next phase. Processes such as communication of consent or lack thereof, sexual decision making, and interpretation of cues emitted by the partner are decisive. Increased sexual motivation may influence these processes. However, available data make it possible to ascertain that enhanced motivation has no, or at most minor, effects, thereby invalidating the old assumption that heightened sexual motivation leads to impaired control.