Functional infrared thermal imaging (fITI) is considered a promising method to measure emotional autonomic responses through facial cutaneous thermal variations. However, the facial thermal response ...to emotions still needs to be investigated within the framework of the dimensional approach to emotions. The main aim of this study was to assess how the facial thermal variations index the emotional arousal and valence dimensions of visual stimuli. Twenty-four participants were presented with three groups of standardized emotional pictures (unpleasant, neutral and pleasant) from the International Affective Picture System. Facial temperature was recorded at the nose tip, an important region of interest for facial thermal variations, and compared to electrodermal responses, a robust index of emotional arousal. Both types of responses were also compared to subjective ratings of pictures. An emotional arousal effect was found on the amplitude and latency of thermal responses and on the amplitude and frequency of electrodermal responses. The participants showed greater thermal and dermal responses to emotional than to neutral pictures with no difference between pleasant and unpleasant ones. Thermal responses correlated and the dermal ones tended to correlate with subjective ratings. Finally, in the emotional conditions compared to the neutral one, the frequency of simultaneous thermal and dermal responses increased while both thermal or dermal isolated responses decreased. Overall, this study brings convergent arguments to consider fITI as a promising method reflecting the arousal dimension of emotional stimulation and, consequently, as a credible alternative to the classical recording of electrodermal activity. The present research provides an original way to unveil autonomic implication in emotional processes and opens new perspectives to measure them in touchless conditions.
The own-age bias refers to the observation that face recognition is typically superior for own-age faces compared with other-age faces. We investigated this bias in Korsakoff patients, as well as its ...relationship with social contact and episodic memory. Korsakoff patients and age-matched controls were exposed to older faces (own-age faces) and younger faces (other-age faces). In the recognition phase, they were invited to decide whether faces had been exposed in the encoding phase or not. Results revealed an own-age bias in control participants (i.e., high recognition of older than for younger faces), but not in Korsakoff patients (i.e., similar recognition of older and younger faces). Furthermore, both Korsakoff's syndrome and controls reported more social contact with old than with young individuals. Recognition of younger and older faces in Korsakoff patients was significantly correlated with episodic performance but not with social contact with younger and older people. We conclude that the lack of own-age bias in Korsakoff's syndrome is related rather to compromise of episodic memory than to diminished social contact with younger adults.
Background: Suicide in prison is a major problem and several
risk factors have been identified in the literature (e.g., period of
incarceration, depressive disorders). Aims: The study examined
the ...impact of several risk factors for suicide attempts before and during
incarceration using life trajectory analysis of inmates by interviews with
informants. Method: The lifetime of inmates with a history of
suicide attempts (ISA; n = 20) or without (IWSA;
n = 29) was recounted on a life chart according to
four main domains (health, life events, relationships, and judiciary domain)
organized in two different periods (predetention and current detention). Life
charts were compared between the two groups and a predictive model of suicide
risk was constructed using logistic regression and receiving operating
characteristic curve analysis. Results: Before detention, more
depressive experiences were observed in ISA than in IWSA, and ISA reported more
behavioral disorders than IWSA during current detention. Moreover, the total
burden for ISA was greater than that for IWSA. The predictive model identified
three dimensions for differentiating ISA from IWSA: mood disorders before
detention, behavioral disorders, and the quality of relationships with nuclear
family during detention. Limitations: Interviews with inmates
would have been informative. Conclusion: The accumulation of
life events and behavioral manifestations should be incorporated in the
developmental trajectory as a therapeutic model regarding suicide in prison.
•We observed low phenomenological experience of memory in Korsakoff participants.•However, Korsakoff participants attributed high emotional value to their memories.•They also attributed high ...importance to their memories.
A body of research suggests compromise of autobiographical memory in Korsakoff’s syndrome (KS). The present paper extends this literature by investigating the subjective experience of autobiographical recall in the syndrome. Patients with KS and controls were asked to retrieve autobiographical memories. After memory retrieval, participants were asked to rate phenomenological characteristics of their memories (i.e., reliving, back in time, remembering, realness, visual imagery, auditory imagery, language, emotion, rehearsal, importance, spatial recall and temporal recall). Analysis showed lower “Mean Phenomenological Experience” in the Korsakoff patients than in controls. However, the Korsakoff patients attributed relatively high emotional value and importance to their memories. Although our findings suggest compromised phenomenological reliving of autobiographical memory in patients with KS, affective characteristics such as emotion and importance are likely to play a main role in the subjective experience of the past in these patients.
Purpose
Difficulties in emotion regulation and deficits in interoceptive awareness may be responsible for overeating and weight gain in obesity by increasing the risks of problematic eating ...behaviors. This study aimed to: (1) examine emotion regulation difficulties and interoceptive deficits in obesity; (2) compare the emotion regulation and interoceptive abilities of moderately and severely obese patients.
Methods
Participants were recruited through the university, diabetology centers and bariatric surgery departments. A total of 165 participants were categorized in three groups, matched by age and gender, according to their Body Mass Index (BMI). The severely obese (SO), moderately obese (MO) and normal weight (NW) groups were constituted of 55 participants each. Self-report questionnaires were used to assess emotion regulation difficulties (CERQ-DERS) and interoceptive awareness (MAIA-FFMQ).
Results
Overall, obese participants reported more emotion regulation difficulties and less interoceptive awareness than NW participants did. They also reported a lack of planning strategies and emotional awareness, as well as less ability to observe, notice and trust body sensations. No differences in emotion regulation and interoceptive abilities were found between MO and SO participants.
Conclusions
Emotion regulation and interoceptive awareness should be targeted in the psychotherapeutic care of obese people, regardless of their BMI.
Level of evidence
Level III, case-control analytic study.
To study qualitatively the development of a heteroaggressive behavior, we applied retrospective analytical method based on categorization of life events. The aim of this study was to establish the ...life trajectories of sexual offenders through interviews with second sources: the inmate’s relatives and psychologists. The life trajectories of incarcerated sexual offenders were retraced to build individual life charts. These life charts grouped individual life events into four main domains: health, life events, the relational sphere, and the judicial and prison sphere. In a sample of 40 inmate participants, four different profiles of sex offenders and therefore life trajectories were identified according to the abovementioned domains: (a) “Early life events and behavior disorders” (n = 14), (b) “Abandonment issues” (n = 4), (c) “Behavior and socioaffective disorders” (n = 9), and (d) “Behavioral hyperadaptation and coldness” (n = 13). Expert judges classified the life trajectories with satisfactory interjudge agreement (k = 0.70). This research has clinical implications for integrating different life events into developmental trajectories and focusing psychological support for the individual.
Self-defining memories (SDM) are autobiographical memories associated with the construction and maintenance of identity, and which play a core role in establishing and achieving goals in life. The ...aim of this study was to evaluate the effort required in retrieving SDM as reflected by physiological activity. We examined the neurovegetative responses associated with three dimensions of SDM: specificity, integrative meaning and emotional valence. Electrodermal activity (skin conductance response frequency, phasic driver) and the high frequency component of heart rate variability (HF-HRV) were recorded during the retrieval of SDM in 36 healthy participants to assess the activation of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, respectively. SDM were characterized by three independent investigators with satisfactory inter-rater reliability. Linear mixed effects analyses showed that only the integrative meaning dimension led to a main effect on electrodermal activity. In addition, an interaction effect showed that the retrieval of non-integrative and specific memories was associated with a higher level of electrodermal activity than the retrieval of integrative specific memories. No effects were obtained regarding the HRV indicators. The higher activation of the sympathetic nervous system associated with the retrieval of non-integrative SDM suggests that the ability to derive meaning from personal experiences plays a regulatory role and is a fundamental component in personal adjustment.
While a deficit in the recognition of facial expression has been demonstrated in persons with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), few studies have investigated how individuals with ASPD produce ...their own emotional facial expressions. This study examines the production of facial emotional expressions of male inpatients with ASPD in a forensic hospital compared with a control group as they retrieve autobiographical memories. This design constitutes a specific ecological experimental approach fostering the evocation of personal feelings. Two indicators characterizing the activation of facial expression were used: activation of emotional action units and emotional dominance. The results showed that individuals with ASPD 1) activated angrier facial expressions than control participants for both indicators, 2) displayed a higher dominance of angry facial expressions during the retrieval of positive self-defining memories than control participants and 3) recalled significant memories that were less associated with neutral facial states than the control sample, regardless of the valence of their memories. These findings highlight the core role of anger in ASPD and the possible development of pathological anger, which would distinguish trajectories toward anxious or mood disorders and trajectories characterized by external disorders.
•We assessed mind wandering in Korsakoff syndrome KS.•We observed high mind wandering in KS.•This mind wandering is associated with depression.
Mind-wandering refers to the intentional and ...unintentional tendency to withdraw from the external environment and engage in internally generated thoughts. We investigated intentional and unintentional mind-wandering in patients with Korsakoff syndrome (KS). We invited 31 patients with KS and 33 control participants to answer a questionnaire probing intentional and unintentional mind-wandering. Analysis demonstrated higher intentional and unintentional mind-wandering in patients with KS than in controls. However, no significant differences were observed between intentional and unintentional mind-wandering in patients with KS or in controls. Significant positive correlations were observed between intentional and unintentional mind-wandering and depression in patients with KS but not with cognitive controls. Our results demonstrate a high intentional and unintentional tendency in patients with KS to shift attention away from the external environment to internal thoughts/feelings that are unrelated to the ongoing task. This tendency may be associated with the activation of negative thoughts/beliefs, as observed in depression.
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