Aspects Of Perception Research Articles

Not So Blue to be Sad: Affective Affordances and Expressive Properties in Affective Regulation

AbstractIn our everyday interaction with the environment, we often perceive objects and spaces as opportunities to feel, maintain, enhance, and change our affective states and processes. The concept of affective affordance was coined to accommodate this aspect of ordinary perception and the many ways in which we rely on the material environment to regulate our emotions. One natural way to think of affective affordances in emotion regulation is to interpret them as tools for regulating felt affective states. We argue that this way of conceiving of affective affordances is too restrictive. By analyzing the role of expressive properties of objects and spaces in emotion regulation, we show that our environment does not need to elicit felt affective states to regulate our emotions. Thus, we revise the concept of affective affordance to accommodate these cases. This revised concept explains more with less. Hence, it should be preferred in wide-reaching philosophical projects that aim to explain human affectivity as a situated phenomenon.

A short version of odor awareness scale (OAS-6)

People differ in their awareness of odors in the environment. This metacognitive ability can be measured with The Odor Awareness Scale (OAS). However, the OAS consists of 32 items what makes it difficult to use in research where awareness of odors is not the main variable of interest. This study introduces a shortened version of the OAS. Participants completed either the original OAS (n = 268, 72 % women) or the shortened OAS-7 version comprising 7 items selected from the original scale (n = 220, 61 % women). Based on the validation analyses, one item has been further deleted due to low factor loading. The obtained OAS-6 showed good psychometric properties as established with: confirmatory factor analysis fit indices (χ2 = 17.30, p = 0.044, CFI = 0.977, TLI = 0.962, RMSEA = 0.065, SRMR = 0.039), high reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.80, McDonald’s ω = 0.81), and temporal stability (test–retest correlation after 6 weeks: r = 0.91). The OAS and OAS-6 showed similar correlations with Individual Significance of Olfaction Questionnaire total score and subscales. On average, women scored higher on OAS-6 than men, mirroring the pattern observed in the OAS. In summary, OAS-6 proves to be a reliable and valid tool for assessing odor awareness. Its quick completion time (within 2 min) opens venues for its application in diverse studies exploring metacognitive aspects of olfactory perception, including investigations into the interplay between odorous environments and human health or in clinical research.

Unraveling the effects of the Ebola experience on behavior choices during COVID-19 in Liberia: a mixed-methods study across successive outbreaks

BackgroundThe burden of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of morbidity and mortality differentially affected populations. Between and within populations, behavior change was likewise heterogeneous. Factors influencing precautionary behavior adoption during COVID-19 have been associated with multidimensional aspects of risk perception; however, the influence of lived experiences during other recent outbreaks on behavior change during COVID-19 has been less studied.MethodsTo consider how the direct disease experience (“near misses”) and behavior change during the 2014–2016 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak may have impacted behavior change during the early waves of the COVID-19 outbreak in West Africa, we analyzed data from a mixed-methods study that included a phone-based survey and in-depth interviews among vaccinated Liberian adults. Logistic regression via generalized estimating equations with quasi-likelihood information criterion (QIC)-based model selection was conducted to evaluate the influence of the interaction between and individual effects of the outbreak (EVD and COVID-19) and the “near-miss” experience on adoption of individual precautionary behaviors. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts explored reasons for differential behavior adoption between the two outbreaks.ResultsAt the population level, being a “near miss” was not associated with significantly different behavior during COVID-19 versus Ebola; however, overall, people had lower odds of adopting precautionary behaviors during COVID-19 relative to during Ebola. Participants who report near miss experiences during Ebola were significantly more likely to report having a household member test positive for COVID-19 (p<0.001). Qualitatively, participants often reflected on themes around more proximal and personal experiences with Ebola than with COVID-19; they also commented on how EVD led to better preparedness at the systems level and within communities for how to behave during an outbreak, despite such awareness not necessarily translating into action during COVID-19.ConclusionsThe results suggest that perceived proximity and intensity to disease threats in space and time affect behavioral decisions. For successive disease threats, comparisons of the present outbreak to past outbreaks compound those effects, regardless of whether individuals were directly impacted via a “near-miss” experience. Measures, such as risk communication and community engagement efforts, that gauge and reflect comparisons with previous outbreaks should be considered in response strategies to enhance the adoption of precautionary behavior.

Differences in time-intensity sensory profiles of sweet taste intensity of glucose between older and young adults.

To understand age-related changes in sweet taste perception in daily life, it is important to understand taste intensity at the suprathreshold level. Previous studies have attempted to characterize the temporal aspects of human taste perception in terms of time-intensity evaluations. The perception of dynamic taste intensity in older adults increases slowly for salty taste; however, there have been no previous studies on time-intensity sensory evaluation of sweet taste in older adults. We hypothesized that older adults perceive sweet taste intensity more slowly than young adults. Fifty young and 40 older adults participated in the study and glucose solutions of 0.6 M and 1.5 M were used as stimuli. The study comprised two experiments: (1) a cup tasting test (static taste perception in the mouth), and (2) a time-intensity sensory evaluation, in which the solutions were presented using a custom-made delivery system. The intra-oral device was made to fit each participant's dentition. Further, the level of gag reflex was taken into consideration for each participant in the design of the intra-oral device. A suction tube was placed across the posterior tongue near the throat to remove solution and saliva. The solution delivery system was controlled by an original computer program. Older adults presented significantly different maximum intensity timing and slope for both concentrations compared with young adults (slope for 1.5 M, p < 0.01; others, p < 0.05). No significant differences were found between the older and young adults for reaction timing and maximum intensity. We conclude that older adults perceived sweetness more slowly than young adults, and ultimately perceived almost the same intensity as young adults. This is the first reported characterization of the time-intensity profile of sweet taste intensity of glucose in older adults. Using a standardized system enabled us to assess and compare feedback on taste intensities among different age groups in real-time. Based on this, we recommend older adults "savor" to perceive sweet tastes at the same level experienced by young adults.

A Dynamic Marketplace for Distributing Anesthesia Call: A Quality Improvement Initiative.

Anesthesiologists have a significant responsibility to provide care at all hours of the day, including nights, weekends, and holidays. This call burden carries a significant lifestyle constraint that can impact relationships, affect provider wellbeing, and has been associated with provider burnout. This quality improvement study analyzes the effects of a dynamic call marketplace, which allows anesthesiologists to specify how much call they would like to take across a spectrum of hypothetical compensation levels, from very low to very high. The system then determines the market equilibrium price such that every anesthesiologist gets exactly the amount of desired call. A retrospective analysis compared percentage participation in adjusting call burden both pre- and post-implementation of a dynamic marketplace during the years of 2017 to 2023. Additionally, a 2023 post-implementation survey was sent out assessing various aspects of anesthesiologist perception of the new system including work-life balance and job satisfaction. The dynamic call marketplace in this study enabled a more effective platform for adjusting call levels, as there was a statistically significant increase in the percentage of anesthesiologists participating in call exchanged during post- compared to pre-implementation (p < 0.0001). The satisfaction survey suggested agreement among anesthesiologists that the dynamic call marketplace positively affected professional satisfaction and work-life balance. Further, the level of agreement with these statements was most prevalent among middle career stage anesthesiologists (11-20 years as attending physician). The present system may target elements with the capacity to increase satisfaction, particularly among physicians most at risk of burnout within the anesthesia workforce.

The association between social/legal and perceptual aspects of ethnicity and ethnic bullying and victimization

ABSTRACT Controversial findings on the role of school ethnic diversity on ethnic bullying and victimization suggest the relevance of different categorizations of ethnicity in understanding this association. The present study aims to use an operationalization of both social/legal (i.e., citizenship status) and perceptual (i.e., others’ perception of diversity) aspects to analyse the impact of ethnic diversity on ethnic bullying and victimization, considering both individual and classroom-level associations. Participants were 960 students (52% girls; M = 15.19; SD = .60) from 58 first-year high school classrooms. Multilevel analyses showed that the lack of Italian citizenship appeared to be a risk factor for ethnic victimization on both individual and classroom levels, over and above the differences in students’ perceptions. No effects were found for ethnic bullying perpetration.

Visual poetics of the story by Grigory Baklanov "South of the main offensive"

The subject of research in this article are the characteristics and specificity of visual images and codes in the work of Grigory Baklanov "South of the main offensive". The relevance of the work lies in the fact that the scientific works devoted to the prose of Baklanov are represented by few works that study the poetics of psychologism in the writer's prose (A. E. Abramova) or the military prose of the Sixtiers as a whole (for example, in the study of T. G. Bogoradova and I. L. Startseva, Baklanov's prose is presented only as a part of the aggregate object). The writer's work is more widely discussed in the critical works of L. I. Lazarev, I. A. Dedkov and L. V. Oborin. Despite the importance of the figure of Grigory Baklanov in the "lieutenant prose", the sensual features of his prose are practically not studied. Meanwhile, Grigory Baklanov was one of the leading authors of "lieutenant prose". Thus, V. V. Bykov noted the primary influence on his work of the story "South of the main offensive" (1957) – the study of the visual poetics of this very work seems relevant. The methodological basis of the research was the immanent analysis, the comparative-comparative method, as well as B. A. Uspensky's approach to the analysis of the "point of view" in fiction. Aim of the research is to study the visual poetics of the story "South of the main offensive". The aim of the study is to consider the problem of visual poetics in modern literary studies, as well as to determine the functions and role of visual poetics in the artistic text of the story "South of the main offensive". In the work of Grigory Baklanov, the aspect of sensory poetics, which consists in appealing to the reader's perceptual experience through the text, is particularly pronounced – it is this aspect that is responsible for the formation of the sensory image of the artistic world of the work. In this study, visuality is considered as the main aspect of the reader's perception. 

Selected aspects of perceptions of critical thinking among Polish and Czech primary school principals

The article concerns Polish-Czech research carried out as part of the project co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and the state budget, We are crossing borders. 'Key competences in teaching and education' project was implemented under the Praděd Microprojects Fund. The descriptive purpose of the research was to prepare a detailed description of the level of competence of the surveyed people and the relationships between the dependent variable and independent variables.The explanatory purpose of the research was to find out why certain independent variables differentiate the respondents' answers.The study used the diagnostic survey method, the survey technique. They were attended by, among others, 49 principals from primary schools from Poland and the Czech Republic. The data analysis was carried out using the statistical program STATISTICA, in which statistical methods related to the study of the statistical significance of differences between variables were used using the Student's T-test for independent samples, to compare the means of two independent samples. Also the chi-square test was used.The results show how the management staff of educational institutions from Poland and the Czech Republic confidently perceive potential solutions to various difficult situations in their institutions and what critical thinking requirements they have for future teachers.

The effect of musical expertise on whistled vowel identification

In this paper, we looked at the impact of musical experience on whistled vowel categorization by native French speakers. Whistled speech, a natural, yet modified speech type, augments speech amplitude while transposing the signal to a range of fairly high frequencies, i.e. 1 to 4 kHz. The whistled vowels are simple pitches of different heights depending on the vowel position, and generally represent the most stable part of the signal, just as in modal speech. They are modulated by consonant coarticulation(s), resulting in characteristic pitch movements. This change in speech mode can liken the speech signal to musical notes and their modulations; however, the mechanisms used to categorize whistled phonemes rely on abstract phonological knowledge and representation. Here we explore the impact of musical expertise on such a process by focusing on four whistled vowels (/i, e, a, o/) which have been used in previous experiments with non-musicians. We also included inter-speaker production variations, adding variability to the vowel pitches. Our results showed that all participants categorize whistled vowels well over chance, with musicians showing advantages for the middle whistled vowels (/a/ and /e/) as well as for the lower whistled vowel /o/. The whistler variability also affects musicians more than non-musicians and impacts their advantage, notably for the vowels /e/ and /o/. However, we find no specific training advantage for musicians over the whole experiment, but rather training effects for /a/ and /e/ when taking into account all participants. This suggests that though musical experience may help structure the vowel hierarchy when the whistler has a larger range, this advantage cannot be generalized when listening to another whistler. Thus, the transfer of musical knowledge present in this task only influences certain aspects of speech perception.

Duration Perception and Reading in Typically Developing Adults and Adults with Developmental Dyslexia: Implications for Assessment and Intervention.

While the link between beat perception and reading skills is attributed to a general improvement in neural entrainment to speech units, duration perception (DP) is primarily linked to a specific aspect of speech perception, specifially discriminating phonemes of varying lengths. Our previous study found a significant correlation between DP and pseudoword reading in both typically developing (TD) individuals and adults with dyslexia (DD). This suggests that, like beat, DP may also enhance overall speech perception. However, our previous study employed a composite measure that did not discriminate speed from accuracy. In this study, we sought to replicate the link between DP and pseudoword reading in a new sample and explore how it might vary depending on the reading parameter being measured. We analyzed the performance of 60 TD vs. 20 DD adults in DP, word reading and pseudoword reading tasks, analyzing the latter for both speed and accuracy. Indeed, duration skills correlated positively with pseudoword reading accuracy. In TD adults, there was no association between DP and reading speed, whereas DD individuals exhibited slower reading speed alongside improved duration skills. We emphasize the potential usefulness of DP tasks in assessment and early intervention and raise new questions about compensatory strategies adopted by DD adults.

Time perception in film viewing: A modulation of scene's duration estimates as a function of film editing

Filmmakers and editors have empirically developed techniques to ensure the spatiotemporal continuity of a film's narration. In terms of time, editing techniques (e.g., elliptical, overlapping, or cut minimization) allow for the manipulation of the perceived duration of events as they unfold on screen. More specifically, a scene can be edited to be time compressed, expanded, or real-time in terms of its perceived duration. Despite the consistent application of these techniques in filmmaking, their perceptual outcomes have not been experimentally validated. Given that viewing a film is experienced as a precise simulation of the physical world, the use of cinematic material to examine aspects of time perception allows for experimentation with high ecological validity, while filmmakers gain more insight on how empirically developed techniques influence viewers' time percept. Here, we investigated how such time manipulation techniques of an action affect a scene's perceived duration. Specifically, we presented videos depicting different actions (e.g., a woman talking on the phone), edited according to the techniques applied for temporal manipulation and asked participants to make verbal estimations of the presented scenes' perceived durations. Analysis of data revealed that the duration of expanded scenes was significantly overestimated as compared to that of compressed and real-time scenes, as was the duration of real-time scenes as compared to that of compressed scenes. Therefore, our results validate the empirical techniques applied for the modulation of a scene's perceived duration. We also found interactions on time estimates of scene type and editing technique as a function of the characteristics and the action of the scene presented. Thus, these findings add to the discussion that the content and characteristics of a scene, along with the editing technique applied, can also modulate perceived duration. Our findings are discussed by considering current timing frameworks, as well as attentional saliency algorithms measuring the visual saliency of the presented stimuli.

Visual perspective and body ownership modulate vicarious pain and touch: A systematic review.

We conducted a systematic review investigating the influence of visual perspective and body ownership (BO) on vicarious brain resonance and vicarious sensations during the observation of pain and touch. Indeed, the way in which brain reactivity and the phenomenological experience can be modulated by blurring the bodily boundaries of self-other distinction is still unclear. We screened Scopus and WebOfScience, and identified 31 articles, published from 2000 to 2022. Results show that assuming an egocentric perspective enhances vicarious resonance and vicarious sensations. Studies on synaesthetes suggest that vicarious conscious experiences are associated with an increased tendency to embody fake body parts, even in the absence of congruent multisensory stimulation. Moreover, immersive virtual reality studies show that the type of embodied virtual body can affect high-order sensations such as appropriateness, unpleasantness, and erogeneity, associated with the touched body part and the toucher's social identity. We conclude that perspective plays a key role in the resonance with others' pain and touch, and full-BO over virtual avatars allows investigation of complex aspects of pain and touch perception which would not be possible in reality.

Zihinsel Rahatlamada Doğanın ve Fiziksel Çevrenin Rolü: Konya Kyoto Parkı

Parks, as one of the most important environments, are in many cases discussed only in terms of functional quality. The effects of the physical features, the characteristics of the natural elements, and the aspects of visual perception have been less studied in terms of the users’ mental relaxation. This study aims to evaluate the effects of environmental and mental relaxation components in architecture and the use of natural elements in Konya Kyoto Park. The main concern of the study is to gain a deeper insight into the experience of park users compared to the existing literature dealing with park experiences. What underscores the need for this research is the current disconnect among humans, nature, and the physical environment. The method used is descriptive and analytical, by means of a survey. The survey questions were divided into 3 components: physical, cognitive, and behavioral impacts. The users of Konya Kyoto Park were selected as the research population. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted. The results showed that the different areas of the park lead to restful experiences and provide mental and affective relaxation to visitors by offering views, perspectives, and various functions that allow them to spend leisure time and be in nature.

Quasi-3D: reducing convergence effort improves visual comfort of head-mounted stereoscopic displays

The diffusion of virtual reality urges to solve the problem of vergence-accommodation conflict arising when viewing stereoscopic displays, which causes visual stress. We addressed this issue with an approach based on reducing ocular convergence effort. In virtual environments, vergence can be controlled by manipulating the binocular separation of the virtual cameras. Using this technique, we implemented two quasi-3D conditions characterized by binocular image separations intermediate between 3D (stereoscopic) and 2D (monoscopic). In a first experiment, focused on perceptual aspects, ten participants performed a visuo-manual pursuit task while wearing a head-mounted display (HMD) in head-constrained (non-immersive) condition for an overall exposure time of ~ 7 min. Passing from 3D to quasi-3D and 2D conditions, progressively resulted in a decrease of vergence eye movements—both mean convergence angle (static vergence) and vergence excursion (dynamic vergence)—and an increase of hand pursuit spatial error, with the target perceived further from the observer and larger. Decreased static and dynamic vergence predicted decreases in asthenopia trial-wise. In a second experiment, focused on tolerance aspects, fourteen participants performed a detection task in near-vision while wearing an HMD in head-free (immersive) condition for an overall exposure time of ~ 20 min. Passing from 3D to quasi-3D and 2D conditions, there was a general decrease of both subjective and objective visual stress indicators (ocular convergence discomfort ratings, cyber-sickness symptoms and skin conductance level). Decreased static and dynamic vergence predicted the decrease in these indicators. Remarkably, skin conductance level predicted all subjective symptoms, both trial-wise and session-wise, suggesting that it could become an objective replacement of visual stress self-reports. We conclude that relieving convergence effort by reducing binocular image separation in virtual environments can be a simple and effective way to decrease visual stress caused by stereoscopic HMDs. The negative side-effect—worsening of spatial vision—arguably would become unnoticed or compensated over time. This initial proof-of-concept study should be extended by future large-scale studies testing additional environments, tasks, displays, users, and exposure times.

Vision plays a calibrating role in discriminating threat-related vocal emotions.

The ability to reliably discriminate vocal expressions of emotion is crucial to engage in successful social interactions. This process is arguably more crucial for blind individuals, since they cannot extract social information from faces and bodies, and therefore chiefly rely on voices to infer the emotional state of their interlocutors. Blind have demonstrated superior abilities in several aspects of auditory perception, but research on their ability to discriminate vocal features is still scarce and has provided unclear results. Here, we used a gating psychophysical paradigm to test whether early blind people would differ from individually matched sighted controls at the recognition of emotional expressions. Surprisingly, blind people showed lower performance than controls in discriminating specific vocal emotions. We presented segments of nonlinguistic emotional vocalizations of increasing duration (100-400 ms), portraying five basic emotions (fear, happy, sad, disgust, and angry), and we asked our participants for an explicit emotion categorization task. We then calculated sensitivity indices and confusion patterns of their performance. We observed better performance of the sighted group in the discrimination of angry and fearful expression, with no between-group differences for other emotions. This result supports the view that vision plays a calibrating role for specific threat-related emotions specifically. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Unveiling ChatGPT in tourism education: exploring perceptions, advantages and recommendations from educators

PurposeFollowing the remarkable debut of ChatGPT and its rapid adoption by a global audience since its launch in November 2022, this study delves into educators' perceptions of ChatGPT within the specialized domains of tourism and hospitality education. While acknowledging ChatGPT’s swift rise and advanced capabilities, this research aims to comprehensively explore educators' perspectives, advantages and concerns regarding its integration into academic settings.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach was utilized to reveal dominant themes from in-depth, semi-structured face-to-face interviews with twenty lecturers in tourism faculties in North Cyprus. Collected responses from respondents were subjected to analysis using Leximancer software.FindingsOur analysis unearthed seven significant themes encapsulating educators' perceptions of ChatGPT: 1 – “reliability and accuracy concerns”; 2 – “dependency”; 3 – “student engagement”; 4 – “ethical considerations”; 5 – “time efficiency and productivity”; 6 – “teacher-student interaction” and 7 – “learning flexibility”. Noteworthy positive perceptions emerged regarding “student engagement,” “time efficiency and productivity,” and “learning flexibility.”Originality/valueThis study contributes to the originality of research by addressing the underexplored aspect of educators' perceptions of ChatGPT within the domains of tourism and hospitality education, shedding light on its potential implications, advantages and drawbacks in a specialized educational context. Furthermore, it aims to offer insights into educators' recommendations for the effective incorporation of ChatGPT technologies into this specific educational setting, filling a crucial gap in understanding the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in specialized fields of study.

A Comprehensive Review of Affordance Theory in Enhancing Digital Health Solutions

The interplay between humans and objects is a foundational aspect of visual perception, significantly enriched by Gibson's introduction of Affordance Theory. This theory posits that human interaction with objects is predicated on the recognition of what these objects can provide or afford them. This premise has sparked a vibrant debate within the Information Systems (IS) community, leading to the emergence of two distinct interpretative schools of thought. The first school accentuates the role of user perception and the intrinsic features of IT artifacts in co-creating affordances. In contrast, the second school asserts that affordances are inherently integrated within the IT artifact's design and features.This review critically examines the divergent applications of Affordance Theory by these schools, with a particular emphasis on mHealth app studies. It proposes a comprehensive framework that synthesizes key arguments from both perspectives, aiming to offer researchers a refined tool for leveraging Affordance Theory. Furthermore, this framework seeks to aid designers in enhancing the usability and utility of IT artifacts, thereby bridging theoretical insights with practical application. Through this analysis, the paper endeavors to contribute to a nuanced understanding of Affordance Theory and its implications for digital health solutions.

Development of a Network-Level Road Safety Assessment Procedure Based on Human Factors Principles

Road safety is a central issue in the management and development of a road network. Road agencies must try to identify the most dangerous sections of their network and act on them to improve safety. The most used procedure for this purpose is about considering the indicators based on crashes. However, a mature road safety management system must be able to assess the safety of a road section before accidents occur. The European community is moving in this direction with the update of Directive 2008/96/EC (Directive 1936/2019). This paper proposes a new methodology for carrying out a network-wide road safety assessment on rural single-carriageways and two-lane two-way roads. This procedure accounts for the influence of road characteristics on drivers’ perceptions. The methodology has been developed based on the human factors concepts from PIARC, and it includes a series of checklists that guide an inspector in carrying out a visual inspection of single-carriageway roads. The results from the checklist are then processed into an algorithm, and the level of risk in the analyzed section is provided. The objectives of the procedure are (a) to account for the perceptive aspects that are one of the major causes of road accidents, (b) to provide a proactive procedure in line with the requirements of the European Directive, and (c) to provide a useful instrument that can be easily implemented by road agencies and integrated with other analysis procedures. The procedure has been applied and tested on a case study of six different stretches of two-lane, two-way rural highways in Italy, Germany, and Slovenia (about 65 km). The results show a high degree of concordance with a risk classification based on the accident rate, mainly considering high-risk sections. Therefore, the procedure demonstrated its potential to be a useful instrument to be included in network safety assessments. Road agencies should consider the use of this procedure in their network safety analysis and ranking.

Mapping the functional and structural connectivity of the scene network.

The recognition and perception of places has been linked to a network of scene-selective regions in the human brain. While previous studies have focussed on functional connectivity between scene-selective regions themselves, less is known about their connectivity with other cortical and subcortical regions in the brain. Here, we determine the functional and structural connectivity profile of the scene network. We used fMRI to examine functional connectivity between scene regions and across the whole brain during rest and movie-watching. Connectivity within the scene network revealed a bias between posterior and anterior scene regions implicated in perceptual and mnemonic aspects of scene perception respectively. Differences between posterior and anterior scene regions were also evident in the connectivity with cortical and subcortical regions across the brain. For example, the Occipital Place Area (OPA) and posterior Parahippocampal Place Area (PPA) showed greater connectivity with visual and dorsal attention networks, whileanterior PPA and Retrosplenial Complex showed preferential connectivity with default mode and frontoparietal control networks and the hippocampus. We further measured the structural connectivity of the scene network using diffusion tractography. This indicated both similarities and differences with the functional connectivity, highlighting biases between posterior and anterior regions, but also between ventral and dorsal scene regions. Finally, we quantified the structural connectivity between the scene network and major white matter tracts throughout the brain. These findings provide a map of the functional and structural connectivity of scene-selective regions to each other and the rest of the brain.

Oxytocin Modulation in Mindfulness-Based Pain Management for Chronic Pain.

In the context of chronic pain management, opioid-based treatments have been heavily relied upon, raising concerns related to addiction and misuse. Non-pharmacological approaches, such as Mindfulness-Based Pain Management, offer alternative strategies. We conducted a mechanistic clinical study to investigate the impact of an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Pain Management intervention on chronic pain, the modulation of inflammatory markers, stress physiology, and oxytocin, and their interplay with clinical pain symptoms and perception, in comparison to a patient wait-list active control. A total of 65 participants, including 50 chronic pain patients and 15 healthy controls, underwent salivary assays to assess endocrine markers, oxytocin, interleukin (IL)-1b, IL-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-S). Psychological assessments were also conducted to evaluate aspects of pain perception, mindfulness, mood, and well-being. Findings revealed significant differences between chronic pain patients and healthy controls in various clinical metrics, highlighting the psychological distress experienced by patients. Following Mindfulness-Based Pain Management, oxytocin levels significantly increased in chronic pain patients, that was not observed in the patient wait-list control group. In contrast, cytokine and DHEA-S levels decreased (not to statistically significant margins) supporting anti-inflammatory effects of Mindfulness-Based Pain Management. The fact DHEA-S levels, a marker of stress, did attenuate but not to statistically meaningful levels, suggests that pain reduction was not solely related to stress reduction, and that oxytocin pathways may be more salient than previously considered. Psychological assessments demonstrated substantial improvements in pain perception and mood in the intervention group. These results contribute to the growing body of evidence regarding the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions in chronic pain management and underscore oxytocin's potential role as a therapeutic target.