In this article, we introduce the method of measuring skin conductance responses (SCR) reflecting peripheral (bodily) signals associated with emotions, decisions, and eventually behavior. While ...measuring SCR is a well-established, robust, widely used, and relatively inexpensive method, it has been rarely utilized in organizational research. We introduce the basic aspects of SCR methodology and explain the behavioral significance of the signal, especially in connection with the emotional experience. Importantly, we describe in detail a specific research protocol (fear conditioning) that serves as an illustrative example to support the initial steps for organizational scholars who are new to the method. We also provide the related scripts for stimulus presentation and basic data analysis, as well as an instructional video, with the aim to facilitate the dissemination of SCR methodology to organizational research. We conclude by suggesting potential future research questions that can be addressed using SCR measurements.
Class B G-protein-coupled receptors are major targets for the treatment of chronic diseases, such as osteoporosis, diabetes and obesity. Here we report the structure of a full-length class B ...receptor, the calcitonin receptor, in complex with peptide ligand and heterotrimeric Gα
βγ protein determined by Volta phase-plate single-particle cryo-electron microscopy. The peptide agonist engages the receptor by binding to an extended hydrophobic pocket facilitated by the large outward movement of the extracellular ends of transmembrane helices 6 and 7. This conformation is accompanied by a 60° kink in helix 6 and a large outward movement of the intracellular end of this helix, opening the bundle to accommodate interactions with the α5-helix of Gα
. Also observed is an extended intracellular helix 8 that contributes to both receptor stability and functional G-protein coupling via an interaction with the Gβ subunit. This structure provides a new framework for understanding G-protein-coupled receptor function.
We aimed to examine the association between shift work and sleep quality in a diverse occupational type.
This was a cross-sectional study of self-reported sleep quality in 424 workers aged ≥21 using ...the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). We divided workers into two categories based on their PSQI score: (a) ≤5 (good sleep quality) and (b) >5 (poor sleep quality). We used multiple logistic regressions to assess the association between shift work and sleep quality adjusted for potential confounders.
The mean age was 39.2 (SD = 11.3) years, with shift workers being older than their counterparts. Most workers were of Chinese ethnicity (63.9%). Males were significantly more likely to undertake shift work than females (89% v 11%, p-value<0.001), but it should be noted that the majority of workers was male (78.8%) in this sample of workers. Shift workers had a 198% increased odds of poor sleep quality compared to non-shift workers (OR = 2.98; 95% CI:1.53-5.81).
Shift work was significantly and independently associated with increased odds of poor sleep quality in this sample of workers. The present findings may inform employment guidelines and help develop workplace health promotion interventions aimed at improving sleep quality among workers and ultimately lead to a healthier workforce.
Decision making under risk is central to human behavior. Economic decision theory suggests that value, risk, and risk aversion influence choice behavior. Although previous studies identified neural ...correlates of decision parameters, the contribution of these correlates to actual choices is unknown. In two different experiments, participants chose between risky and safe options. We identified discrete blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) correlates of value and risk in the ventral striatum and anterior cingulate, respectively. Notably, increasing inferior frontal gyrus activity to low risk and safe options correlated with higher risk aversion. Importantly, the combination of these BOLD responses effectively decoded the behavioral choice. Striatal value and cingulate risk responses increased the probability of a risky choice, whereas inferior frontal gyrus responses showed the inverse relationship. These findings suggest that the BOLD correlates of decision factors are appropriate for an ideal observer to detect behavioral choices. More generally, these biological data contribute to the validity of the theoretical decision parameters for actual decisions under risk.
Class B G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are important therapeutic targets for major diseases. Here, we present structures of peptide and Gs-bound pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide, ...PAC1 receptor, and corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), (CRF1) receptor. Together with recently solved structures, these provide coverage of the major class B GPCR subfamilies. Diverse orientations of the extracellular domain to the receptor core in different receptors are at least partially dependent on evolutionary conservation in the structure and nature of peptide interactions. Differences in peptide interactions to the receptor core also influence the interlinked TM2-TM1-TM6/ECL3/TM7 domain, and this is likely important in their diverse signaling. However, common conformational reorganization of ECL2, linked to reorganization of ICL2, modulates G protein contacts. Comparison between receptors reveals ICL2 as a key domain forming dynamic G protein interactions in a receptor- and ligand-specific manner. This work advances our understanding of class B GPCR activation and Gs coupling.
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•Cryo-EM structure reveals how CRF1R interacts with CRF and the Gs signaling protein•Cryo-EM structure reveals interactions of Pac1nR with PACAP-38 and Gs•Evolutionary related GPCRs have greater conservation in peptide and G protein binding
New cryo-EM structures for CRF1R and PAC1R, combined with other recent structures of class B GPCRs, provide full structural coverage of the major class B GPCR subfamilies, revealing unique insight into both specific peptide agonist binding and the select nature of peptide-mediated class B GPCR activation.
Virtual reality (VR) is rapidly becoming an inexpensive, mainstream technology. VR technology is superambulatory as it allows participants to be examined under standardized environments and tests ...anywhere. In addition, it can test participants in different virtual spaces, including environments that are unsafe, inaccessible, costly or difficult to set up, or even nonexistent. We summarize the benefits and potential problems of VR technology, but we also move beyond theoretical approaches and present a customizable, open-source VR system (PSY-VR) that allows scalable psychological testing in modifiable VR environments. This system allows users to modify the environment using a simple graphical interface, without programming expertise. Moreover, as a proof-of-concept, we compare responses in a typical Flanker task between a real laboratory and a painstakingly matched virtual laboratory. Results indicate that the VR responses are comparable to real life testing, demonstrating the utility of VR for psychological assessment studies. The predicted rapid advancement of VR immersive technologies, as well the ease of their integration with physiological metrics ensures that VR-based assessment will be the modus operandi of psychological assessment in the future. This will allow controllable, low-cost assessment on a global scale.
Public Significance Statement
This study examines whether virtual reality can be used as a replacement for a controlled testing room in psychological assessment. We also present a virtual reality complete system that researchers can modify and use for their own research purposes. Virtual reality can be used to test multiple groups of people around the world in a controlled and unbiased way.
Individuals' risk attitudes are known to guide choices about uncertain options. However, in the presence of others' decisions, these choices can be swayed and manifest as riskier or safer behavior ...than one would express alone. To test the mechanisms underlying effective social 'nudges' in human decision-making, we used functional neuroimaging and a task in which participants made choices about gambles alone and after observing others' selections. Against three alternative explanations, we found that observing others' choices of gambles increased the subjective value (utility) of those gambles for the observer. This 'other-conferred utility' was encoded in ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and these neural signals predicted conformity. We further identified a parametric interaction with individual risk preferences in anterior cingulate cortex and insula. These data provide a neuromechanistic account of how information from others is integrated with individual preferences that may explain preference-congruent susceptibility to social signals of safety and risk.
In social environments, it is crucial that decision-makers take account of the impact of their actions not only for oneself, but also on other social agents. Previous work has identified neural ...signals in the striatum encoding value-based prediction errors for outcomes to oneself; also, recent work suggests that neural activity in prefrontal cortex may similarly encode value-based prediction errors related to outcomes to others. However, prior work also indicates that social valuations are not isomorphic, with social value orientations of decision-makers ranging on a cooperative to competitive continuum; this variation has not been examined within social learning environments. Here, we combine a computational model of learning with functional neuroimaging to examine how individual differences in orientation impact neural mechanisms underlying ‘other-value’ learning. Across four experimental conditions, reinforcement learning signals for other-value were identified in medial prefrontal cortex, and were distinct from self-value learning signals identified in striatum. Critically, the magnitude and direction of the other-value learning signal depended strongly on an individual's cooperative or competitive orientation toward others. These data indicate that social decisions are guided by a social orientation-dependent learning system that is computationally similar but anatomically distinct from self-value learning. The sensitivity of the medial prefrontal learning signal to social preferences suggests a mechanism linking such preferences to biases in social actions and highlights the importance of incorporating heterogeneous social predispositions in neurocomputational models of social behavior.
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•Social actors must learn how their actions impact other people (‘others’)•Prediction error (PE) signals of outcomes for others are found in MPFC•Size and direction of these social learning signals depend on social preference•PE signals for others are distinct from PE signals tracking value for oneself
The use of cosmetics is ubiquitous, signaling the importance of aesthetics for humans. Yet, little is known on drivers of cosmetic consumption. In a set of multiple surveys among over 5,000 women ...across seven countries in three continents (Study 1), we consistently show that heightened perceived pressure to change appearance is associated with higher cosmetic consumption. Further, perceived pressure (and subsequently cosmetic consumption) is influenced by implicit theories of human beauty, such that holding an entity beauty belief-that is, beauty beauty is fixed and unalterable-counterintuitively is associated with heightened perceived pressure to change appearance, which in turn is associated with higher cosmetic consumption. This pattern of results remains in Study 2 where an entity (vs. incremental) beauty belief was experimentally induced. Study 3 further shows that an entity (vs. incremental) beauty belief leads to higher intention to consume cosmetic products but only in a social, not a private, context. Our studies thus provide evidence that beauty-related consumption phenomena could be directly influenced by perception and indirectly influenced by deep-seated, almost philosophical, implicit theories.
Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) is a general indicator of the quality of conditions inside a building. We investigated associations of perceived IEQ including air quality, thermal comfort, noise, ...and light quality with stress at work and the extent to which workplace location modifies these associations. We recruited 464 full‐time workers from four companies in Singapore. Data on socio‐demographic characteristics, lifestyle/health‐related factors, and workplace factors were collected through self‐administered questionnaires. Perceived IEQ satisfaction scores of all four factors were collected using the validated OFFICAIR questionnaire. We fitted a logistic regression model to assess associations between each perceived IEQ score and stress at work, adjusting for potential confounders. The odds ratio for stress at work associated with a 1‐unit increase in perceived air quality score was 0.88 (0.82‐0.94), 0.89 (0.82‐0.97) for thermal comfort, 0.93 (0.87‐0.98) for noise, and 0.88 (0.82‐0.94) for light quality. Significant associations were found in office and control rooms for all four perceived IEQ, except for thermal comfort in office rooms. Higher satisfaction levels of perceived air quality, thermal comfort, noise, and lighting, were significantly associated with a reduction in stress at work. Our findings could potentially provide a useful tool for environmental health impact assessment for buildings.
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