Predictors of the Sense of Embodiment of a Female Victim of Sexual Harassment in a Male Sample Through 360-Degree Video-Based Virtual Reality.

The sense of embodiment refers to the set of sensations related to having (i.e., ownership), being located in (i.e., location), and controlling (i.e., agency) a virtual body. Recently, 360-degree video-based Virtual Reality (VR) has been used to manipulate the sense of embodiment, generating the body-swap illusion, that is, the illusionary switch from the real body to a virtual one. However, the psychological mechanisms involved in this illusion are still unknown. The present study is a secondary analysis of the study by Ventura et al. (2021) investigating the feasibility of 360-degree video to induce the body swap from a male's real body to a female virtual body in a sexual harassment virtual environment. In addition, the study explores whether the sense of presence and psychological trait variables related to sexual harassment (i.e., machismo, chivalry, alexithymia, empathic abilities) predict the illusion of owning the body of a female victim of sexual harassment. Forty-four men participated in the study, and the results indicate that the 360-degree video is able to induce the body-swap illusion for location and ownership, but not for agency. Multiple regression analyses showed that the sense of presence was a predictor of the three dimensions of embodiment, but specific psychological traits (i.e., low scores on machismo, high scores on difficulties expressing feelings, and high scores on perspective taking) were also predictor variables of experiencing a greater sense of location and agency in the female virtual body. This study shows that both technological issues and participants' psychological traits are involved in the experience of the body-swap illusion in a sexual harassment scenario using 360-degree video-based VR.

How Does It Feel to Be a Woman Victim of Sexual Harassment? The Effect of 360°-Video-Based Virtual Reality on Empathy and Related Variables.

Sexual harassment (SH) occurs when people-mostly women-are targets of unwanted sexual comments, gestures, or actions associated with a lack of empathy on the part of the offender. Virtual Reality (VR) has been defined as the "ultimate empathy machine" because it allows the user to take other people's perspective. The present work aims to study the effect of a 360°-video-based VR experience (vs. traditional perspective-taking task) on empathy and related concepts (i.e., violent attitude, perspective taking, sense of oneness) toward a female victim of SH in a male sample. A within-subjects design was used with 44 men who experienced both conditions (360° and narrative). Results showed the superiority of the 360°-video experience over the narrative in increasing empathy, sense of oneness, and perspective taking toward a female victim of SH. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

A Cross-Cultural Validation of VR Treatment System for Flying Phobia in the Mexican Population.

Anxiety as a symptom or disorder is affected by multiple variables such as antecedent events, interpretation of the events, psychological vulnerability, and individual differences in the reaction towards an event. Nowadays, virtual-reality therapy is used as therapeutic tool for patients suffering from some kind of anxiety disorder. In Mexico, the National Survey on Psychiatric Epidemiology [1] informed that anxiety disorders are the most common disorders followed by affective disorders, which are more prevalent in women than in men. Among the different anxiety disorders, the category of specific phobias (7.1%) was the most common. Based on this demand, a collaborative effort between research groups from the University Jaume I in Spain and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), initiated a project which purpose was the technological transfer of systems based on virtual reality for the treatment of Fear of Flying to be implemented and evaluated in the Mexican population. The treatment protocol developed by Botella et al., [2] has been applied to five volunteer participants. In this paper we present data of adapted treatment protocols in Mexican population that support the efficacy of VR of treatment of fear of flying, achieved by the Spanish research group.

Deterioration rates in Virtual Reality Therapy: An individual patient data level meta-analysis.

Ample evidence supports the use of Virtual Reality (VR) for anxiety disorders. Nonetheless, currently there is no evidence about moderators or potential negative effects of VR treatment strategies. An Individual Patient Data (IPD) approach was employed with 15 retrieved datasets. The current study sample was composed of 810 patients. Randomized control trials (RCTs) for each primary outcome measure were performed, in addition to moderator analyses of the socio-demographic variables. Deterioration rates were 14 patients (4.0%) in VR, 8 (2.8%) in active control conditions, and 27 (15%) in the WL condition. With regard to receiving treatment, patients in a waiting list control condition had greater odds of deteriorating than in the two active conditions, odds ratios (ORs) 4.87, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.05, 0.67]. In the case of the socio-demographic variables, none of them were associated with higher or lower odds of deterioration, with the exception of marital status in the WL condition; married people presented a significantly lower probability of deterioration, OR 0.19, 95% CI [0.05, 0.67]. Finally, when comparing pooled effects of VR versus all control conditions, the OR was 0.61 (95% CI 0.31-1.23) in favor of VR, although this result was not statistically significant. This study provides evidence about the deterioration rates of a therapeutic VR approach, showing that the number of deteriorated patients coincides with other therapeutic approaches, and that deterioration is less likely to occur, compared to patients in WL control groups.

Virtual reality applications to agoraphobia: a protocol.

Recently, educators and instructional designers have focused on the development and implementation of virtual learning environments that effectively combine theoretical and applied knowledge to teach university students. One of the trusts of the Psychology Virtual Teaching Laboratory in collaboration with the IXTLI observatory is to develop dissemination programs to promote the insertion of virtual reality (VR) technologies applied to rehabilitation in their clinical practice. This paper describes the development of (1) agoraphobia VR learning objects to be use as a teaching support tools in class and (2) a multimedia teaching program that incorporate digital video and VR scenarios address to students in the field of mental health. Promotion among professors and students about the use of this technology will allow us to initiate research in our country as well as to validate contextualized applications for our culture, therefore contributing with new advances in this field.

Autoanticuerpos, ¿sondas moleculares vigentes? su utilización en el reconocimiento de subdominios celulares denominados "cuerpos enrollados" (CE) / Autoantibodies, are they molecular probes validity?. Use in the coiled bodies identification

Los autoanticuerpos han sido utilizado como sondas moleculares desde principios de los 60, lo que ha permitido conocer y definir múltiples componentes funcionales celulares relacionados con mecanismos básicos de expresión genómica. Así, los autoanticuerpos anti-Sm, se asocian con pequeños RNAs nucleares (snRNA) que participan en el procesamiento del pre-RNAm, los anticuerpos anti-fibrilarina que identifican a pequeños RNAs nucleolares (snoRNA) y que han mostrado participar en el procesamiento del pre-RNAr. Recientemente, por ensayos de IFI y microscopía electrónica utilizando autoanticuerpos y oligonucléotidos sintéticos complementarios con algunos snRNA y/o snoRNAs, ha sido descrito que el subdominio nuclear celular denominado Cuerpo Enrollado (C.E.), se encuentra constituído por snRNA U1, U2, U4; U5, U6, snoRNA U3, detectándose algunos factores proteicos de splicing. Estos C.E poseen una proteína que los caracteriza y que se denomina p80 coilina. Se han descrito múltiples componentes para estos C.E.; sin embargo, su papel funcional celular no está definido