Stimulus Components Research Articles

Problem-oriented stimulus of teaching foreign-language listening in a secondary school. Part 2

The problem for the research. Listening skills are important for a modern person in many areas of life: at work, at home, travelling the world, etc., when immersed in the social space of culture in the fullness of its spiritual meanings. However, in school teaching of foreign languages, there is a contradiction between the large reserve listening capabilities in achieving students’ personal, metasubject and subject educational results in a foreign language and the established practice of teaching this type of foreign-language speech activity, where there are many difficulties associated with students’ perception and understanding of foreign-language information by ear. Methods of investigation. 50 ninth-graders of secondary school named after S. S. Rakitina in Murashi, Kirov Region (Russian Federation) took part in pilot testing. To obtain personal learning results, the “Methodology for studying the motivation of teaching older adolescents” was used; metasubject – L. F. Tikhomirova’s “Exclude the word” method; subject (in the field of foreign-language listening) – the method for calculating the success rate of V. P. Bespalko and A. N. Shamov. The results were processed using the G–criterion of signs. The findings of the study. The final control revealed an increase in the level of proficiency in personal learning outcomes in 40 % of ninth-graders; metasubject – in 45 %; subject – in 61 %. The reliability of the presented results is confirmed by the use of mathematical statistics methods for personal, metasubject and subject results. The results of calculating the criterion of G-signs in the experimental group: G_(emp.)is above ≤ G_(cr.): 0 ≤ 3 for personal, 0 ≤ 5 for metasubject and subject results (p < 0.05). Conclusion. The purpose of the study is achieved: the article describes the characteristics and proves the effectiveness of using the problem-oriented stimulus in the process of teaching foreign-language listening in a secondary school (based on materials from the senior stage in secondary school). The theoretical foundation and testing of a set of exercises for teaching students foreign-language listening using the components of the problem-oriented stimulus led us to the conclusion that the presented exercises contribute to the formation of personal and metasubject universal educational actions of students, increases the level of their proficiency in the oral receptive type of foreign-language speech activity.

The role of deep layer superior colliculus neurons in prepulse inhibition and the impact of spatial separation in male rats.

Prepulse inhibition (PPI) refers to the phenomenon in which a weak sensory stimulus before a strong one significantly reduces the startle reflex caused by the strong stimulus. Perceptual spatial separation, a phenomenon where auditory cues from the prepulse and background noise are distinguished in space, has been shown to enhance PPI. This study aims to investigate the neural modulation mechanisms of PPI by the spatial separation between the prepulse stimulus and background noise, particularly in the deep superior colliculus (deepSC). The experiment used 11 anesthetized male Sprague-Dawley rats, with electrodes implanted in the left deepSC nd the right inferior colliculus (IC). The prepulse stimulus was a segment of narrowband noise, with interaural time differences adjusted so that the prepulse stimulus and background noise were perceived as either ipsilaterally leading or contralaterally leading, resulting in perceptual spatial fusion or spatial separation. The results showed that under conditions of spatial separation, the stimulus-response coherence of the envelope and fine structure components of the prepulse stimulus in the deepSC was significantly enhanced, the response of the deepSC to the stimulus was significantly reduced in the presence of the prepulse stimulus, and the envelope component of the prepulse stimulus was positively correlated with the inhibitory effect. The above results suggest that perceptual spatial dissociation can significantly enhance the expression of deepSC, particularly the precision of the envelope component, thereby significantly affecting the electrophysiological response of PPI.

Problem-oriented stimulus of teaching foreign-language listening in a secondary school. Part 1

The problem for the research. Listening skills are important for a modern person in many areas of life: at work, at home, travelling the world, etc., when immersed in the social space of culture in the fullness of its spiritual meanings. However, in school teaching of foreign languages, there is a contradiction between the large reserve listening capabilities in achieving students’ personal, metasubject and subject educational results in a foreign language and the established practice of teaching this type of foreign-language speech activity, where there are many difficulties associated with students’ perception and understanding of foreign-language information by ear. Methods of investigation. 50 ninth-graders of secondary school named after S. S. Rakitina in Murashi, Kirov Region (Russian Federation) took part in pilot testing. To obtain personal learning results, the “Methodology for studying the motivation of teaching older adolescents” was used; metasubject – L. F. Tikhomirova’s “Exclude the word” method; subject (in the field of foreign-language listening) – the method for calculating the success rate of V. P. Bespalko and A. N. Shamov. The results were processed using the sign test. The findings of the study. The final control revealed an increase in the level of proficiency in personal learning outcomes in 40% of ninth-graders; metasubject – in 45%; subject – in 61%. The reliability of the presented results is confirmed by the use of mathematical statistics methods for personal, metasubject and subject results. The results of calculating the criterion of G-signs in the experimental group: Gemp. is above ≤ Gcr.: 0 ≤ 3 for personal, 0 ≤ 5 for metasubject and subject results (p < 0.05). Conclusion. The purpose of the study is achieved: the article describes the characteristics and proves the effectiveness of using the problem-oriented stimulus in the process of teaching foreign-language listening in a secondary school (based on materials from the senior stage in secondary school). The theoretical foundation and testing of a set of exercises for teaching students foreign-language listening using the components of the problem-oriented stimulus led us to the conclusion that the presented exercises contribute to the formation of personal and metasubject universal educational actions of students, increases the level of their proficiency in the oral receptive type of foreign-language speech activity.

Evaluating the Effects of Compound Stimuli on Stimulus Control during Match-to-Sample Procedures.

The use of compound stimuli in match-to-sample training arrangements can potentially increase the efficiency of target acquisition in some circumstances as a result of the development of emergent relations. However, utilizing compound stimuli in training arrangements comes with the risk that responding could come under the restrictive control of one of the individual components of the compound stimulus. The purpose of this case study was to demonstrate an evaluation process for determining the impact of compound stimuli on stimulus control within a match-to-sample arrangement.

The role of binocular disparity and attention in the neural representation of multiple moving stimuli in the visual cortex.

Segmenting visual scenes into distinct objects and surfaces is a fundamental visual process, with stereoscopic depth and motion serving as crucial cues. However, how the visual system uses these cues to segment multiple objects is not fully understood. We investigated how neurons in the middle-temporal (MT) cortex of macaque monkeys represent overlapping surfaces at different depths, moving in different directions. Neuronal activity was recorded from three male monkeys during discrimination tasks under varying attention conditions. We found that neuronal responses to overlapping surfaces showed a robust bias toward the binocular disparity of one surface over the other. The disparity bias of a neuron was positively correlated with the neuron's disparity preference for a single surface. In two animals, neurons preferring near disparities of single surfaces (near neurons) showed a near bias for overlapping stimuli, while neurons preferring far disparities (far neurons) showed a far bias. In the third animal, both near and far neurons displayed a near bias, though the near neurons showed a stronger near bias. All three animals exhibited an initial near bias across neurons relative to the average of the responses to the individual surfaces. Although attention modulated neuronal responses, the disparity bias was not caused by attention. We also found that the effect of attention was consistent with object-based, rather than feature-based attention. We proposed a model in which the pool size of the neuron population that weighs the responses to individual stimulus components can be variable. This model is a novel extension of the standard normalization model and provides a unified explanation for the disparity bias across animals. Our results reveal how MT neurons encode multiple stimuli moving at different depths and present new evidence of response modulation by object-based attention. The disparity bias allows subgroups of neurons to preferentially represent individual surfaces of multiple stimuli at different depths, thereby facilitating segmentation.

Gaze and Arrows: Does the Gaze-Following Patch in the Posterior Temporal Cortex Differentiate Social and Symbolic Spatial Cues?

The gaze-following patch (GFP) is located in the posterior temporal cortex and has been described as a cortical module dedicated to processing other people's gaze-direction in a domain-specific manner. Thus, it appears to be the neural correlate of Baron-Cohen's eye direction detector (EDD) which is one of the core modules in his mindreading system-a neurocognitive model for the theory of mind concept. Inspired by Jerry Fodor's ideas on the modularity of the mind, Baron-Cohen proposed that, among other things, the individual modules are domain specific. In the case of the EDD, this means that it exclusively processes eye-like stimuli to extract gaze-direction and that other stimuli, which may carry directional information as well, are processed elsewhere. If the GFP is indeed EDD's neural correlate, it must meet this expectation. To test this, we compared the GFP's BOLD activity during gaze-direction following with the activity during arrow-direction following in the present human fMRI study. Contrary to the expectation based on the assumption of domain specificity, we did not find a differentiation between gaze- and arrow-direction following. In fact, we were not able to reproduce the GFP as presented in the previous studies. A possible explanation is that in the present study-unlike the previous work-the gaze stimuli did not contain an obvious change of direction that represented a visual motion. Hence, the critical stimulus component responsible for the identification of the GFP in the previous experiments might have been visual motion.

Development of Learning Evaluation Based on Automatic Assessment through Quizizz Paper Mode to Improve Students' Natural and Social Sciences Learning Outcomes

Class IV teachers have not implemented technology-based learning evaluation. This research aims to develop, test the feasibility and effectiveness of Automatic Assessment-based learning evaluation through Quizizz Paper Mode to improve the cognitive learning outcomes of class IV students. The type of research used is Research and Development with the Borg and Gall model. The subjects of this research were 20 class IV students. Data collection techniques use technical tests (pretest and posttest); and non-test techniques (observation, interviews, questionnaires). Initial data analysis technique with normality test; final data analysis using the T test and N-Gain test. The results of this research show: Evaluation of learning based on Automatic Assessment via Quizizz Paper Mode with components of questions, answers, question stimuli (images, videos, audio and tables), scores and duration of work with MOTS and HOTS cognitive levels; The results of the feasibility test for material experts and media experts are in the very feasible category; Effectiveness is seen from the pretest and posttest results. The T test results show Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 <0.05. N-Gain score is 0.70 in the high category. The conclusion of this research is that the development of learning evaluation based on Automatic Assessment through Quizizz Paper Mode has been successfully developed, is very feasible, and is effective in improving the cognitive learning outcomes of class IV students.

Adolescent alcohol exposure persistently alters orbitofrontal cortical encoding of Pavlovian conditional stimulus components in female rats

Exposure to alcohol during adolescence impacts cortical and limbic brain regions undergoing maturation. In rodent models, long-term effects on behavior and neurophysiology have been described after adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE), especially in males. We hypothesized that AIE in female rats increases conditional approach to a reward-predictive cue and corresponding neuronal activity in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and nucleus accumbens (NAc). We evaluated behavior and neuronal firing after AIE (5 g/kg intragastric) or water (CON) in adult female rats. Both AIE and CON groups expressed a ST phenotype, and AIE marginally increased sign-tracking (ST) and decreased goal-tracking (GT) metrics. NAc neurons exhibited phasic firing patterns to the conditional stimulus (CS), with no differences between groups. In contrast, neuronal firing in the OFC of AIE animals was greater at CS onset and offset than in CON animals. During reward omission, OFC responses to CS offset normalized to CON levels, but enhanced OFC firing to CS onset persisted in AIE. We suggest that the enhanced OFC neural activity observed in AIE rats to the CS could contribute to behavioral inflexibility. Ultimately, AIE persistently impacts the neurocircuitry of reward-motivated behavior in female rats.

Moderation of Corporate Governance in Financial Statement Fraud Investigation with the Sccore Model

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of stimulus, capability, collusion, opportunity, rationalization, and ego on financial statement fraud moderated by the effectiveness of the board of commissioners which essential of corporate governance structure. This study also seeks to develop recommendations based on the analysis of financial statement fraud detection and empirically demonstrate the effectiveness of appropriate supervision in preventing financial statement fraud. Theoretical Framework: Management fraud in the context of the misstatement of financial information that can harm other parties for the sake of certain personal or group interests is referred to as a financial statement fraud. In recent years, the theory of financial statement fraud has developed, starting with the fraud triangle, fraud diamond, fraud pentagon, and fraud hexagon. The fraud hexagon theory expanded the previous theory by including the components of stimulus, capability, collusion, opportunity, rationalization, and ego. Furthermore, the model derived from the hexagon theory is known as the SCCORE model. Method: Quantitative research was developed to test the hypothesis in this study. The data observed is secondary data derived from the annual reports of publicly listed companies in the non-financial sector industry on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, which is the target population of the study. The sample was determined using the total sampling technique, and based on this, the observed data amounted to 529. The data were analyzed using multiple linear regression methods and moderated regression analysis methods processed with the SPSS program. Results and Discussion: The findings suggested that corporate governance could moderate the relationship among the SCCORE model and financial statement fraud. Additionally, according to the research findings, stimulus, collusion, opportunity, and ego affect financial statement fraud, even though capability and rationalization accomplish not. Research Implications: The theoretical implication of this research is to provide additional empirical evidence of fraud theory development into hexagon fraud, whereby collusion, which is proposed as an addition to the pentagon fraud theory, is proven to have an effect on financial statement fraud. The other theoretical implication is to empirically verify the relevance of agency theory to the oversight mitigation of the corporate governance structure. The practical implication of this research is to broaden the insights of practitioners in the accounting and finance fields in order to detect the likelihood of financial statement fraud based on historical financial data, which ultimately can assist in the financial decision-making process. Originality/Value: This study advanced to the state of knowledge on financial statement fraud through an inquiry into the interaction between the fraud hexagon theory's elements and corporate governance moderation, particularly the effectiveness of its oversight. The effectiveness of corporate governance in preventing financial statement fraud through appropriate oversight illustrates the study's relevance and value.

Acoustic stimulation of the human round window by laser-induced nonlinear optoacoustics.

The feasibility of low frequency pure tone generation in the inner ear by laser-induced nonlinear optoacoustic effect at the round window was demonstrated in three human cadaveric temporal bones (TB) using an integral pulse density modulation (IPDM). Nanosecond laser pulses with a wavelength in the near-infrared (NIR) region were delivered to the round window niche by an optical fiber with two spherical lenses glued to the end and a viscous gel at the site of the laser focus. Using IPDM, acoustic tones with frequencies between 20Hz and 1kHz were generated in the inner ear. The sound pressures in scala tympani and vestibuli were recorded and the intracochlear pressure difference (ICPD) was used to calculate the equivalent sound pressure level (eq. dB SPL) as an equivalent for perceived loudness. The results demonstrate that the optoacoustic effect produced sound pressure levels ranging from 140eq. dB SPL at low frequencies ≤ 200Hz to 90eq. dB SPL at 1kHz. Therefore, the produced sound pressure level is potentially sufficient for patients requiring acoustic low frequency stimulation. Hence, the presented method offers a potentially viable solution in the future to provide the acoustic stimulus component in combined electro-acoustic stimulation with a cochlear implant.

The cortical representation of language timescales is shared between reading and listening

Language comprehension involves integrating low-level sensory inputs into a hierarchy of increasingly high-level features. Prior work studied brain representations of different levels of the language hierarchy, but has not determined whether these brain representations are shared between written and spoken language. To address this issue, we analyze fMRI BOLD data that were recorded while participants read and listened to the same narratives in each modality. Levels of the language hierarchy are operationalized as timescales, where each timescale refers to a set of spectral components of a language stimulus. Voxelwise encoding models are used to determine where different timescales are represented across the cerebral cortex, for each modality separately. These models reveal that between the two modalities timescale representations are organized similarly across the cortical surface. Our results suggest that, after low-level sensory processing, language integration proceeds similarly regardless of stimulus modality.

Bioinspired Integrated Multidimensional Sensor for Adaptive Grasping by Robotic Hands and Physical Movement Guidance

AbstractThe construction of piezoresistive sensors capable of distinguishing multiple mechanical stimuli is important for sensing higher level applications. However, the mutual interference between sensing signals is a technical bottleneck for sensors to recognize multiple mechanical stimuli. Inspired by the structure of human skin and muscle, a multidimensional sensor is designed by integrating three sub‐sensors. Each sub‐sensor is only sensitive to stimulus components in one of the three orthogonal axes, whereas it remains insensitive to others because of its anisotropic sensing properties. Specifically, an omnidirectional gradient wrinkled polyurethane film with MXene‐embedded ZnO nanowire arrays serves as a strain‐insensitive pressure sub‐sensor, while two aligned segmental polyimide/polyurethane films through orthogonal stacking act as two pressure‐insensitive anisotropic strain sub‐sensors. A unique characteristic of multidimensional sensor is its ability to distinguish and measure the type, magnitude, and direction of strain, pressure, and shear. Moreover, multidimensional sensor exhibits maximal gauge factor of 863.7 for strain and highest sensitivity of 187.71 kPa−1 for pressure. Importantly, multidimensional sensor exhibits an unprecedented ability to quantitatively evaluate shear using a library of electrical responses. The adaptive grasping of robotic hands and free‐throw training of players have been demonstrated to initiate the development of robotic object manipulation and physical movement guidance.

Engram for the complex signals in the mouse brain: distinct neuronal ensembles for compound conditioning stimulus and its components

Natural learning involves multiple sensory modalities receiving complex stimuli. Elemental learning theories suggest separate encoding and association of each component in a compound signal. Configural theories predict the formation of a representation of the entire complex signal, which is associated with the second event. We developed a mouse model of fear conditioning to a compound tone-light cue or its separate components to test these alternative theories. First, we investigated the memory dynamics of compound cues and their individual components and discovered that they mature at varying times following conditioning. We demonstrated that the memory of the components matures at different intervals after training: memory of the auditory stimulus and the auditory component of CCS is demonstrated behaviorally right after training, whereas memory of the light stimulus and the light component of CCS matures within three days. The memory of CCS, its components, and discrete conditioned stimuli persists for an extended period, up to one month. A similar dissociation was observed in extinction experiments, revealing that the extinction of memory for one CCS component did not affect the memory of the other component when the extinction procedure began a day after training. In addition, when the extinction procedure began seven days after training, while the memory was fully mature, the extinction of one component of contextual conditional stimuli led to the extinction of the other component. Next, c-Fos imaging was conducted to examine cellular activity across multiple brain regions, including the frontal, prelimbic, cingulate, retrosplenial, parietal, primary and secondary visual, primary and secondary auditory cortices, as well as the hippocampus and amygdala. This examination was performed following conditioning using either the entire compound cue or its individual components. We discovered different cortical activation patterns between compound-cue and single-cue conditioning. Conditioning to the compound cue activated prelimbic and frontal associative cortices, whereas single cues did not. Third, we demonstrated that retrieval of memory only through the entire compound cue, and not through single cues, activated the parietal cortex, primary visual cortex, mediolateral secondary visual cortices, and hippocampal CA1. Fourth, through in vivo two-photon imaging, we examined retrieval-induced c-Fos expression in the parietal cortex of fos-EGFP transgenic mice and identified at least three distinct neuronal populations with differential response specificity to the compound signal and its components. Taken together, our data suggest that intricate signals have the potential to establish both integral and elemental neuronal representations. These representations can be used separately in behavior and have different long-term memory dynamics.

Structural and functional evolution of the mechanosensory lateral line system of fishesa).

The mechanosensory lateral line system is the flow sensing system present in all 34 000+ species of fishes. Its neuromast receptor organs, located on the skin or in bony canals on the head and tubed scales on the trunk, respond to the near field component of acoustic stimuli as well as short range, low frequency (0-200 Hz) water flows of biotic and abiotic origin. Here, I discuss the genesis of my research career and its focus on the structural and functional evolution of the lateral line system among a wide taxonomic range of fishes including those from different aquatic habitats (tropical lakes to coral reefs and the deep sea). I discuss the importance of investigating structure before function, using investigations in my laboratory that had unexpected outcomes, as well as the role of serendipity in the evolution of a career and in the nature of scientific discovery.

Emotional stimulus of teaching foreign-language reading in a secondary school. Part 1

The problem for the research. Foreign-language reading provides favorable opportunities for a student’s holistic development. However, in today's teaching practice, there is a situation of mismatch between the “knowledge” ways of achieving the goals of the lesson and the emotional factor. There is an obvious contradiction between the recognition of the effectiveness of reading as a means of a personality’s spiritual development in the unity of all his/her spheres and the primacy of intellect and will in school teaching practice. Methods of investigation. 52 seventh-graders of secondary school No. 11 in Kirov (Russian Federation) took part in the experimental work. To obtain the subject results of the experiment (in the field of foreignlanguage reading), the method of calculating the success rate (V. P. Bespalko, A. N. Shamov) was applied; metasubject and personal results – the questionnaire “Formation of universal educational actions” by L. I. Timonina. Processing the results, statistical methods were used: standard deviation, t-criterion. The findings of the study. The results of the final control showed that the level of proficiency in subject educational results increased in 78% of students; metasubject – in 70%; personal – in 81%. The reliability of the results is confirmed by the use of mathematical statistics methods for subject, metasubject and personal results. Conclusion. The components of the emotional stimulus are characterized, and the effectiveness of its model in teaching foreign-language reading in a comprehensive school is proved (on the materials of the middle stage). Keywords: foreign-language reading, teaching conditions, external conditions, internal conditions, an emotional stimulus, stimulus components.

Receptive field sizes and neuronal encoding bandwidth are constrained by axonal conduction delays.

Studies on population coding implicitly assume that spikes from the presynaptic cells arrive simultaneously at the integrating neuron. In natural neuronal populations, this is usually not the case-neuronal signaling takes time and populations cover a certain space. The spread of spike arrival times depends on population size, cell density and axonal conduction velocity. Here we analyze the consequences of population size and axonal conduction delays on the stimulus encoding performance in the electrosensory system of the electric fish Apteronotus leptorhynchus. We experimentally locate p-type electroreceptor afferents along the rostro-caudal body axis and relate locations to neurophysiological response properties. In an information-theoretical approach we analyze the coding performance in homogeneous and heterogeneous populations. As expected, the amount of information increases with population size and, on average, heterogeneous populations encode better than the average same-size homogeneous population, if conduction delays are compensated for. The spread of neuronal conduction delays within a receptive field strongly degrades encoding of high-frequency stimulus components. Receptive field sizes typically found in the electrosensory lateral line lobe of A. leptorhynchus appear to be a good compromise between the spread of conduction delays and encoding performance. The limitations imposed by finite axonal conduction velocity are relevant for any converging network as is shown by model populations of LIF neurons. The bandwidth of natural stimuli and the maximum meaningful population sizes are constrained by conduction delays and may thus impact the optimal design of nervous systems.

Metacognition in the audiovisual McGurk illusion: perceptual and causal confidence.

Almost all decisions in everyday life rely on multiple sensory inputs that can come from common or independent causes. These situations invoke perceptual uncertainty about environmental properties and the signals' causal structure. Using the audiovisual McGurk illusion, this study investigated how observers formed perceptual and causal confidence judgements in information integration tasks under causal uncertainty. Observers were presented with spoken syllables, their corresponding articulatory lip movements or their congruent and McGurk combinations (e.g. auditory B/P with visual G/K). Observers reported their perceived auditory syllable, the causal structure and confidence for each judgement. Observers were more accurate and confident on congruent than unisensory trials. Their perceptual and causal confidence were tightly related over trials as predicted by the interactive nature of perceptual and causal inference. Further, observers assigned comparable perceptual and causal confidence to veridical 'G/K' percepts on audiovisual congruent trials and their causal and perceptual metamers onMcGurk trials (i.e. illusory 'G/K' percepts). Thus, observers metacognitively evaluate the integrated audiovisual percept with limited access to the conflicting unisensory stimulus components on McGurk trials. Collectively, our results suggest that observers form meaningful perceptual and causal confidence judgements about multisensory scenes that are qualitatively consistent with principles of Bayesian causal inference. This article is part of the theme issue 'Decision and control processes in multisensory perception'.

Pengaruh Fraud Hexagon Model Terhadap Kecurangan Laporan Keuangan Perusahaan Transportasi Dan Logistik

This study discusses the problem of fraudulent financial reporting in a company that is affected by fraud hexagon. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of financial targets, financial stability and external pressure as part of the stimulus component for fraudulent financial reporting in Transportation and Logistics companies listed on the IDX in 2017-2021. The population of this study are all Transportation and Logistics companies listed on the IDX in 2017-2021. With the purposive sampling method as the sampling method, a sample of 16 companies from 28 Transportation and Logistics companies was obtained as a population. The data used is financial report data obtained by downloading from www.idx.co.id. The data analysis used is panel data regression analysis and the tests used are the T test, F test, and the coefficient of determination. The results of the study show that financial targets have an effect on fraudulent financial reporting. Financial stability and external pressure have no effect on fraudulent financial reporting. While simultaneously, the stimulus component as measured by the financial target variable, financial stability and external pressure has an effect on fraudulent financial reporting

Cognitive and affective interaction with somatosensory afference in acupuncture-a specific brain response to compound stimulus.

Acupuncture is a clinical intervention consisting of multiple stimulus components, including somatosensory stimulation and manipulation of therapeutic context. Existing findings in neuroscience consolidated cognitive modulation to somatosensory afferent process, which could differ from placebo mechanism in brain. Here, we aimed to identify intrinsic process of brain interactions induced by compound stimulus of acupuncture treatment. To separately and comprehensively investigate somatosensory afferent and cognitive/affective processes in brain, we implemented a novel experimental protocol of contextual manipulation with somatosensory stimulation (real acupuncture: REAL) and only contextual manipulation (phantom acupuncture: PHNT) for fMRI scan, and conducted independent component (IC)-wise assessment with the concatenated fMRI data. By our double (experimentally and analytically) dissociation, two ICs (CA1: executive control, CA2: goal-directed sensory process) for cognitive/affective modulation (associated with both REAL and PHNT) and other two ICs (SA1: interoceptive attention and motor-reaction, SA2: somatosensory representation) for somatosensory afference (associated with only REAL) were identified. Moreover, coupling between SA1 and SA2 was associated with a decreased heart rate during stimulation, whereas CA1 was associated with a delayed heart rate decrease post-stimulation. Furthermore, partial correlation network for these components demonstrated a bi-directional interaction between CA1 and SA1/SA2, suggesting the cognitive modulation to somatosensory process. The expectation for the treatment negatively affected CA1 but positively affected SA1 in REAL, whereas the expectation positively affected CA1 in PHNT. These specific cognitive-somatosensory interaction in REAL were differed from vicarious sensation mechanism in PHNT; and might be associated with a characteristic of acupuncture, which induces voluntary attention for interoception. Our findings on brain interactions in acupuncture treatment elucidated the underlying brain mechanisms for compound stimulus of somatosensory afferent and therapeutic contextual manipulation, which might be a specific response to acupuncture.

Impairments in recognition of emotional facial expressions, affective prosody, and multisensory facilitation of response time in high-functioning autism.

Deficits in emotional perception are common in autistic people, but it remains unclear to which extent these perceptual impairments are linked to specific sensory modalities, specific emotions or multisensory facilitation. This study aimed to investigate uni- and bimodal perception of emotional cues as well as multisensory facilitation in autistic (n = 18, mean age: 36.72 years, SD: 11.36) compared to non-autistic (n = 18, mean age: 36.41 years, SD: 12.18) people using auditory, visual and audiovisual stimuli. Lower identification accuracy and longer response time were revealed in high-functioning autistic people. These differences were independent of modality and emotion and showed large effect sizes (Cohen's d 0.8-1.2). Furthermore, multisensory facilitation of response time was observed in non-autistic people that was absent in autistic people, whereas no differences were found in multisensory facilitation of accuracy between the two groups. These findings suggest that processing of auditory and visual components of audiovisual stimuli is carried out more separately in autistic individuals (with equivalent temporal demands required for processing of the respective unimodal cues), but still with similar relative improvement in accuracy, whereas earlier integrative multimodal merging of stimulus properties seems to occur in non-autistic individuals.