Series Of Stimuli Research Articles

Method for Improving EEG Based Emotion Recognition by Combining It with Synchronized Biometric and Eye Tracking Technologies in a Non-invasive and Low Cost Way.

Technical advances, particularly the integration of wearable and embedded sensors, facilitate tracking of physiological responses in a less intrusive way. Currently, there are many devices that allow gathering biometric measurements from human beings, such as EEG Headsets or Health Bracelets. The massive data sets generated by tracking of EEG and physiology may be used, among other things, to infer knowledge about human moods and emotions. Apart from direct biometric signal measurement, eye tracking systems are nowadays capable of determining the point of gaze of the users when interacting in ICT environments, which provides an added value research on many different areas, such as psychology or marketing. We present a process in which devices for eye tracking, biometric, and EEG signal measurements are synchronously used for studying both basic and complex emotions. We selected the least intrusive devices for different signal data collection given the study requirements and cost constraints, so users would behave in the most natural way possible. On the one hand, we have been able to determine basic emotions participants were experiencing by means of valence and arousal. On the other hand, a complex emotion such as empathy has also been detected. To validate the usefulness of this approach, a study involving forty-four people has been carried out, where they were exposed to a series of affective stimuli while their EEG activity, biometric signals, and eye position were synchronously recorded to detect self-regulation. The hypothesis of the work was that people who self-regulated would show significantly different results when analyzing their EEG data. Participants were divided into two groups depending on whether Electro Dermal Activity (EDA) data indicated they self-regulated or not. The comparison of the results obtained using different machine learning algorithms for emotion recognition shows that using EEG activity alone as a predictor for self-regulation does not allow properly determining whether a person in self-regulation its emotions while watching affective stimuli. However, adequately combining different data sources in a synchronous way to detect emotions makes it possible to overcome the limitations of single detection methods.

Temperature Influences Chorda Tympani Nerve Responses to Sweet, Salty, Sour, Umami, and Bitter Stimuli in Mice.

Temperature profoundly affects the perceived intensity of taste, yet we know little of the extent of temperature's effect on taste in the peripheral nervous system. Accordingly, we investigated the influence of temperature from 23 °C to 43 °C in 4 °C intervals on the integrated responses of the chorda tympani (CT) nerve to a large series of chemical stimuli representing sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami tastes in C57BL/J6 mice. We also measured neural responses to NaCl, Na-gluconate, Na-acetate, Na-sulfate, and MSG with and without 5 µM benzamil, an epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) antagonist, to assess the influence of temperature on ENaC-dependent and ENaC-independent response components. Our results showed that for most stimuli (0.5M sucrose, glucose, fructose, and maltose; 0.02M saccharin and sucralose; 0.5M NaCl, Na-gluconate, Na-acetate, Na-sulfate, KCl, K-gluconate, K-acetate, and K-sulfate; 0.05M citric acid, acetic acid, and HCl; 0.1M MSG and 0.05M quinine hydrochloride: QHCl), CT response magnitudes were maximal between 35 °C and 39 °C and progressively smaller at cooler or warmer temperatures. In contrast, the weakest responses to NH 4 Cl, (NH 4 ) 2 SO4, and K-sulfate were at the lowest temperature, with response magnitude increasing monotonically with increasing temperature, while the largest responses to acetic acid were at the lowest temperature, with response magnitude decreasing with increasing temperature. The response to sweet and umami stimuli across temperatures were similar reflecting the involvement of TRPM5 activity, in contrast to bitter stimuli, which were weakly affected by temperature. Temperature-modulated responses to salts and acids most likely operate through mechanisms independent of ENaC and TRPM5.

Differences in Pain Perception Between Men and Women of Reproductive Age: A Laser-Evoked Potentials Study.

We investigated differences in pain perception between men and women of reproductive age by using Laser-Evoked Potentials (LEPs). Forty-four right-handed healthy volunteers (19 males/25 females), aged 30–40 years were studied. A CO2 laser generated three series of 10 thermal pulses (4.5 W) on the radial aspect of the dorsum of the left hand. A recording montage for late LEPs was used, and the potentials of each series of stimuli were averaged to calculate mean latency and amplitude for each subject. Volunteers scored verbally pain intensity (Numerical rating scale [NRS]; 0–10). Three series of 10 numbers were averaged for calculation of mean NRS score. LEP peak-to-peak amplitude, latency, and NRS scoring were compared between genders, and correlations between LEP amplitude/latency and NRS scores were assessed. Data from 44 subjects were analyzed. LEP amplitudes differed significantly (P < 0.001) between men (24.2 ± 6.0 µV) and women (38.9 ± 15.28 µV), while no difference was found for latency (156.5 ± 8.6 versus 160.4 ± 19.8 ms, P = 0.42) or NRS score (2.6 ± 1.5 versus 2.4 ± 1.4, P = 0.63), respectively. Menstrual cycle phase did not influence LEP parameters (P = 0.59 for amplitude and P = 0.69 for latency) or NRS score (P = 0.95). No significant correlation was found between latency or amplitude and NRS score (P = 0.43 and P = 0.90, respectively). Our results demonstrate a significant gender-related difference in LEP amplitudes with lower mean values in men, while no difference was found in LEP latencies or in subjective pain ratings. Further research is required to clarify the clinical significance of the above experimental findings.

Sequential Processing and the Matching-Stimulus Interval Effect in ERP Components: An Exploration of the Mechanism Using Multiple Regression.

In oddball tasks, increasing the time between stimuli within a particular condition (target-to-target interval, TTI; nontarget-to-nontarget interval, NNI) systematically enhances N1, P2, and P300 event-related potential (ERP) component amplitudes. This study examined the mechanism underpinning these effects in ERP components recorded from 28 adults who completed a conventional three-tone oddball task. Bivariate correlations, partial correlations and multiple regression explored component changes due to preceding ERP component amplitudes and intervals found within the stimulus series, rather than constraining the task with experimentally constructed intervals, which has been adequately explored in prior studies. Multiple regression showed that for targets, N1 and TTI predicted N2, TTI predicted P3a and P3b, and Processing Negativity (PN), P3b, and TTI predicted reaction time. For rare nontargets, P1 predicted N1, NNI predicted N2, and N1 predicted Slow Wave (SW). Findings show that the mechanism is operating on separate stages of stimulus-processing, suggestive of either increased activation within a number of stimulus-specific pathways, or very long component generator recovery cycles. These results demonstrate the extent to which matching-stimulus intervals influence ERP component amplitudes and behavior in a three-tone oddball task, and should be taken into account when designing similar studies.

Sex dimorphism in a mediatory role of the posterior midcingulate cortex in the association between anxiety and pain sensitivity.

Behavioral studies found greater pain sensitivity in females that vanishes fully or partially when controlling for the emotional state. Furthermore, pain-related brain activation hints at the role of limbic structures in sex differences in pain processing. We aimed to investigate the role of pain-related limbic structures in mediating the relation between subjects' affective state (i.e., anxiety) and pain. Contact heat-evoked potentials (CHEPs) were recorded in 26 healthy subjects (13 males) simultaneously with innocuous (42°C) baseline and target noxious (52°C) series of stimuli administered to the left non-dominant volar forearm. The N2 and P2 components were analyzed, and their generators' activity was estimated using standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography. Thereafter, structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied separately for females and males, examining the mediatory role of the CHEPs' limbic structures generators [posterior midcingulate cortex (pMCC), insula, amygdala, and hippocampus] in the anxiety-pain sensitivity association. Females exhibited greater P2 amplitudes that were highly associated with larger pMCC activity (r=0.910, p<0.001). This correlation was also evident in males, though with less strength (r=0.578, p=0.039). Moreover, the P2 amplitudes were associated both in females (r=0.645, p=0.017) and males (r=0.608, p=0.028) with the activity of the amygdala\hippocampus\insula. SEM revealed that the relationship between state anxiety and pain ratings was only in females fully mediated via the effect of the pMCC on the P2 amplitude. These findings suggest that sexual dimorphism in anxiety-related brain activity may explain the differences found in CHEPs and the sex-related association between anxiety and pain.

Temporal cuing modulates alpha oscillations during auditory attentional blink.

Attentional blink (AB) refers to the phenomenon whereby the correct identification of a visual or auditory target impairs processing of a subsequent probe. Although it has been shown that knowing in advance, when the probe would be presented, reduces the attentional blink and increases the amplitude of event-related potential (ERP) elicited by the probe, the neural mechanism by which attention mitigates the AB remains unclear. Here, we used time-frequency analysis to further explore the mechanism of the auditory attentional blink. Participants were presented a series of rapid auditory stimuli and asked to indicate whether a target and a probe were present in the sequence. In half of the trials, participants were cued to the probe position relative to the target ('Early' or 'Late'). Probe detection and ERP amplitude elicited by the probe decreased when the probe was presented shortly after the target compared to when it was presented later after the target. Importantly, the behavioral and ERP correlates of probe discrimination significantly improved when the 'Early' cue was presented. The improvement in processing the probe in the cued condition was accompanied by the decrease in alpha activity (8-13Hz) after the time when the probe was expected; suggesting that successfully directing attention to time window where the probe would likely occur reduces the processing resources needed to suppress distractors. This in turn freed up available processing resources for the target and probe at the short-term consolidation stage, which ultimately reduced the auditory attentional blink.

Biophysical Processes in a Urinary Bladder Detrusor Smooth Muscle Cell during Rehabilitation Stimulation of Parasympathetic Efferents: a Simulation Study

In a computer model of an urinary bladder detrusor (UBD) smooth muscle cell (SMC), we investigated coupled changes in the membrane potential (MP), partial transmembrane currents, and intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2 +]i), caused by parasympathetic stimulation. The respective data should help to determine the biophysical basis for the choice of parameters of medical rehabilitation electrical stimulation of the UBD. Ionotropic and metabotropic effects of such stimulation having different latency periods (LPs) were simulated by, respectively, an increase in the conductivity of purinoreceptor channels of the sarcolemma and a delayed (by 70 msec) increase in the permeability of calcium channels of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (store) sensitive to inositol triphosphate (IP3), the end-product of a chain of reactions triggered by activation of muscarinic cholinergic receptors. The modeled SMC responded to single stimulation by generation of action potential (AP) close in its parameters to those in the prototype. Application of long series of identical stimuli caused, after a transient interval, forced stationary oscillations of the MP and [Ca2 +]i. The magnitudes of the latter decreased, and the mean level increased with shortening of the interstimulus intervals (ISIs). It was found that the stimulation outcome needing prior experimental refining was determined by such parameters of the parasympathetic action as the durations of the purine and muscarinic components and the delay between these components. It has been shown that, during stimulation with ISIs shorter than the above-mentioned delay, the subsiquent stimulus activates P2X channels before expiration of the delay of the IP3-channel activation evoked by the preceding stimulus. This is actually equivalent to shortening of the interval between successive activations of P2X- and IP3-channels. Simple quantitative expressions were obtained for the parameters of stimulation; a given difference in the LPs of purine and muscarinic effects of parasympathetic stimulation allowed us to calculate the ISIs providing more efficient rehabilitation stimulation of the UBD parasympathetic nerves.

Relationship Between Reactive Agility and Change of Direction Speed in Amateur Soccer Players.

The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between reactive agility and change of direction speed (CODS) among amateur soccer players using running tests with four directional changes. Sixteen amateur soccer players (24.1 ± 3.3 years; 72.4 ± 7.3 kg; 178.7 ± 6 cm) completed CODS and reactive agility tests with four changes of direction using the SpeedCourt™ system (Globalspeed GmbH, Hemsbach, Germany). Countermovement jump (CMJ) height and maximal foot tapping count (completed in 3 seconds) were also measured with the same device. In the reactive agility test, participants had to react to a series of light stimuli projected onto a screen. Total time was shorter in the CODS test than in the reactive agility test (p < 0.001). Nonsignificant correlations were found among variables measured in the CODS, reactive agility, and CMJ tests. Low common variance (r = 0.03-0.18) was found between CODS and reactive agility test variables. The results of this study underscore the importance of cognitive factors in reactive agility performance and suggest that specific methods may be required for training and testing reactive agility and CODS.

Timing of beta oscillatory synchronization and temporal prediction of upcoming stimuli

Modulations of beta oscillatory power serve a predictive role, in preparation of future actions. It is well known that beta amplitude decreases prior to voluntary movements and expected tactile stimuli. Paradoxically, recent studies have reported a beta amplitude increase prior to expected visual and auditory stimuli. Moreover, it has been suggested that, in isochronic stimulus series, the rising beta slope is adjusted to the duration of the interstimulus interval. We investigated the characteristics of such timing related pre-stimulus beta power increases using visual stimulus sequences that were presented at three regular rates (0.61, 0.74 and 0.95Hz). EEG was recorded from twenty participants while they attended the sequences by performing a clock reading task. Time-frequency analyses showed a consistent pattern of beta modulation: the post-stimulus beta power decrease was followed by a steep increase. Contrary to recent views, we found that the peaks of beta power, for the three presentation rates, were reached at a similar latency post-stimulus, instead of a fixed interval preceding the next stimulus. This demonstrates that, at interstimulus intervals between 1–2s, beta synchronization slopes are not modulated by timing mechanisms related to prediction of upcoming stimuli. We reconcile the discrepant results by proposing that when shorter interval durations are used, as in previous studies, beta resynchronization is interrupted by the presentation of a new stimulus, making it seem as if beta power peaks prior to upcoming stimuli. We emphasize caution with respect to the notion that the timing of beta synchronization is an expression of predictive timing.

Multisensory signalling enhances pupil dilation.

Detecting and integrating information across the senses is an advantageous mechanism to efficiently respond to the environment. In this study, a simple auditory-visual detection task was employed to test whether pupil dilation, generally associated with successful target detection, could be used as a reliable measure for studying multisensory integration processing in humans. We recorded reaction times and pupil dilation in response to a series of visual and auditory stimuli, which were presented either alone or in combination. The results indicated faster reaction times and larger pupil diameter to the presentation of combined auditory and visual stimuli than the same stimuli when presented in isolation. Moreover, the responses to the multisensory condition exceeded the linear summation of the responses obtained in each unimodal condition. Importantly, faster reaction times corresponded to larger pupil dilation, suggesting that also the latter can be a reliable measure of multisensory processes. This study will serve as a foundation for the investigation of auditory-visual integration in populations where simple reaction times cannot be collected, such as developmental and clinical populations.

Impact of Vocal Tract Resonance on the Perception of Voice Quality Changes Caused by Varying Vocal Fold Stiffness.

Experiments using animal and human larynx models are often conducted without a vocal tract. While it is often assumed that the absence of a vocal tract has only small effects on vocal fold vibration, it is not actually known how sound production and quality are affected. In this study, the validity of using data obtained in the absence of a vocal tract for voice perception studies was investigated. Using a two-layer self-oscillating physical model, three series of voice stimuli were created: one produced with conditions of left-right symmetric vocal fold stiffness, and two with left-right asymmetries in vocal fold body stiffness. Each series included a set of stimuli created with a physical vocal tract, and a second set created without a physical vocal tract. Stimuli were re-synthesized to equalize the mean F0 for each series and normalized for amplitude. Listeners were asked to evaluate the three series in a sort-and-rate task. Multidimensional scaling analysis was applied to examine the perceptual interaction between the voice source and the vocal tract resonances. The results showed that the presence or absence of a vocal tract can significantly affect perception of voice quality changes due to parametric changes in vocal fold properties, except when the parametric changes in vocal fold properties produced an abrupt shift in vocal fold vibratory pattern resulting in a salient quality change.

Ephaptic transmission is the origin of the abnormal muscle response seen in hemifacial spasm.

In patients with hemifacial spasm, stimulation of a branch of the affected facial nerve elicits an abnormal response in the muscles innervated by another branch. We tested the hypothesis that this anomaly results from lateral spread of impulses from one motor axon to another at the site of the nerve compression by the offending artery. In a preoperative study of 21 patients, we delivered a series of stimuli, in short increments, successively distally along the temporal branch of the facial nerve to record abnormal muscle responses from the orbicularis oculi and mentalis muscles. In intraoperative monitoring of 10 patients during microvascular decompression, we monitored propagating nerve action potentials with a handheld electrode placed on the facial nerve 3mm distal to the vascular compression site. With incremental shifts of stimulating points distally, the latency of abnormal muscle responses increased by 0.3±0.1ms/cm. This finding implicates the antidromic motor impulse as the trigger for lateral spread. The nerve action potentials recorded during surgery comprised the initial antidromic signal followed by one or more additional peaks. The latter immediately abated, together with abnormal muscle responses, after microvascular decompression. Thus, the secondary peaks must represent the orthodromic impulses generated by ephaptic transmission. An average inter-peak interval of 1.1ms between the first and secondary peaks is consistent with the estimated conduction time from the stimulation point to the site of vascular compression but not to the facial nucleus and return. An abnormal muscle response results from lateral spread of impulses between motor axons at the site of vascular compression rather than at the facial nucleus. This study establishes the mechanism of lateral spread responsible for abnormal muscle responses and contributes to the understanding of pathophysiology underlying hemifacial spasm.

Weakened Resilience in Parenting Self-Efficacy in Pregnant Women Who Were Abused in Childhood: An Experimental Test.

This study tested experimentally whether the combination of a history of childhood abuse and confrontation with difficult infant temperament is associated with negative changes in parenting self-efficacy. First-time pregnant women (N = 243) participated in the Adult Attachment Interview, which was used to assess the occurrence of abuse by parents in childhood and unresolved representations, and completed a task asking them to respond to infant cries. Sixty of the 243 participants (25%) experienced childhood abuse, mostly physical or sexual. The task simulated infant temperamental difficulty by manipulating soothing success in order to reflect an easy-to-soothe (80% soothing success) and a difficult-to-soothe infant (20% soothing success). Both after baseline and after each of the two stimulus series women assessed their parenting self-efficacy. Women who reported childhood abuse did not differ from women who reported no childhood abuse in parenting self-efficacy at baseline or in response to the easy-to-soothe infant (relative to baseline), but decreased more in parenting self-efficacy following the difficult-to-soothe infant. Effects did not vary according to resolution of trauma. These findings suggest that in response to infant temperamental difficulty, women who experienced childhood abuse may more easily lose confidence in their parenting abilities, which underlines the importance of preparing at-risk women for the possible challenges that come along with parenthood.

Rapid Naming in Brazilian Students with Dyslexia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Introduction: The effective development of reading and writing skills requires the concerted action of several abilities, one of which is phonological processing. One of the main components of phonological processing is rapid automatized naming (RAN)—the ability to identify and recognize a given item by the activation and concomitant articulation of its name.Objective: To assess the RAN performance of schoolchildren with dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) compared with their peers.Methods: In total, 70 schoolchildren aged between 8 and 11 years participated in the study. Of these, 16 children had a multiprofessional diagnosis of ADHD while 14 were diagnosed with dyslexia. Matched with these groups, 40 schoolchildren with no history of developmental impairments were also evaluated. The RAN test was administered to assess the length of time required to name a series of familiar visual stimuli. The statistical analysis was conducted using measures of descriptive statistics and the 2-sample t-test at the 5% significance level.Results: The performance of the group with dyslexia was inferior to that of the control group in all tasks and the ADHD group had inferior performance for color and letters-naming tasks. The schoolchildren with dyslexia and those with ADHD showed very similar response times. Age was an important variable to be analyzed separately. As they aged, children with typical language development had fast answers on colors and digits tasks while children with dyslexia or ADHD did not show improvement with age.Conclusions: The schoolchildren with dyslexia took longer to complete all tasks and ADHD took longer to complete digits and objects tasks in comparison to their peers with typical development. This ability tended to improve with age, which was not the case, however, with schoolchildren who had ADHD or dyslexia.

Multiresponsive Dynamic Covalent Assemblies for the Selective Sensing of Both Cu(2+) and CN(-) in Water.

The use of dynamic assembly for molecular sensing is an intensive area of research in supramolecular chemistry. However, the development of self-assembly architectures for the detection of multiple signals remains challenging. Here, we present dynamic covalent assemblies with multiresponsive properties that also show unique selectivity profiles in water. The receptors were generated in a single step with modularly designed building blocks through acylhydrazone linkages, and their orthogonal assembly with a series of external stimuli was investigated. Notably, the system exhibits responses toward cations, anions, solvents, pH, and amphiphilicity. The discrimination of Cu(2+) from other divalent metal ions was achieved by simply changing the solvent and was evidenced by a Cu(2+)-induced pKa shift. The selective recognition of CN(-) in pure aqueous media was also accomplished through a cooperative effect in conjunction with Zn(2+). Furthermore, the assembly and its responsiveness are functional both in solution and the solid state. The aggregation ability of these dynamic covalent systems supports their binding and sensing properties.

Labels constructively shape object categories in 10-month-old infants

How do infants’ emerging language abilities affect their organization of objects into categories? The question of whether labels can shape the early perceptual categories formed by young infants has received considerable attention, but evidence has remained inconclusive. Here, 10-month-old infants (N=80) were familiarized with a series of morphed stimuli along a continuum that can be seen as either one category or two categories. Infants formed one category when the stimuli were presented in silence or paired with the same label, but they divided the stimulus set into two categories when half of the stimuli were paired with one label and half with another label. Pairing the stimuli with two different nonlinguistic sounds did not lead to the same result. In this case, infants showed evidence for the formation of a single category, indicating that nonlinguistic sounds do not cause infants to divide a category. These results suggest that labels and visual perceptual information interact in category formation, with labels having the potential to constructively shape category structures already in preverbal infants, and that nonlinguistic sounds do not have the same effect.

Working Memory Models: Insights From Neuroimaging.

FIGURE 1. The Atkinson and Shiffrin Model of memory is diagramed in the gray panel. Sensory information is perceived and suppressed via selective attention processes, then briefly held in the limited-capacity modality-specific sensory register. Information enhanced by selective attention enters into short term memory (STM). The process of rehearsal (maintenance) can sustain information in STM. Information in STM is automatically encoded (stored, consolidated) into long term memory (LTM). Although flawed, this model continues to provide a simple and easy approach to understanding memory. Assumptions that proved to be inconsistent with research included that any information in STM will transfer to LTM and that STM is required

Biased Competition during Long-term Memory Formation.

A key task for the brain is to determine which pieces of information are worth storing in memory. To build a more complete representation of the environment, memory systems may prioritize new information that has not already been stored. Here, we propose a mechanism that supports this preferential encoding of new information, whereby prior experience attenuates neural activity for old information that is competing for processing. We evaluated this hypothesis with fMRI by presenting a series of novel stimuli concurrently with repeated stimuli at different spatial locations in Experiment 1 and from different visual categories (i.e., faces and scenes) in Experiment 2. Subsequent memory for the novel stimuli could be predicted from the reduction in activity in ventral temporal cortex for the accompanying repeated stimuli. This relationship was eliminated in control conditions where the competition during encoding came from another novel stimulus. These findings reveal how prior experience adaptively guides learning toward new aspects of the environment.

The Perception and Estimation of Others' Pain according to Children.

Accurate interpretation of pain expressed by others is important for socialization; however, the development of this skill in children is still poorly understood. Empathy for pain models propose two main components (affective and cognitive), which develop at different stages of life. The study's objective was to investigate the children's ability between 3 and 12 years of age to detect and assess the pain intensity in others using visual stimuli depicting either facial expressions of pain or hands in painful contexts. 40 preschool children and 62 school-aged children were recruited. Children observed series of stimuli and evaluated the pain intensity depicted. Results demonstrated that children as young as three years old were able to detect and assess pain in both types of stimuli and this ability continued to improve until the age of 12. Participants demonstrated better detection performance with hands than with faces. Results were coherent with the idea that the two types of stimuli presented recruit different processes. Pain detection in hands appears to rely mostly on affective sharing processes that are effective early in life, while older children's higher ability to perceive pain in facial expressions suggests that this ability is associated with the gradual development of cognitive processes.

Political economy of Japan’s decades long economic stagnation

It is hard to imagine that after Japan’s miracle post-war growth it would go on to suffer more than two decades of stagnation. Although there have been some short-lived periods of recovery, such as in 1995-96, the average growth rate over the period of 1991-2014 was a mere 1%. Despite historically low interest rates and a series of fiscal stimuli, the growth has not revived. Despite the long economic stagnation, Japan still retains its strength in many areas. Its human and physical capital formations are among the highest in the world. The volume it spends on research and development is equally impressive. It still has world-leading firms and modern technologies. The methodology to be followed here is derived from the aims of the study and comparisons of international statistics provide the main means of addressing the research questions and the objectives of this paper. The study concludes that the neoliberal ‘market-centred’ policies have brought inequality, stagnation, and fiscal crisis to the state. Therefore, a radical critical political economy is required to analyse the situation more objectively, one which would mean increased levels of welfare and people-led measures.