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We conduct a novel experiment to investigate whether football superstars consistently receive more favorable evaluations than non-superstars. Engaging 500 participants from Prolific, we randomly assign them to evaluate the same football videos with either visible or obscured players. In the control group, where players are visible, superstars receive lower performance ratings than non-superstars, challenging common perceptions. This trend is more intensified in the treatment group, where obscured identities result in even lower ratings for superstars, relative to non-superstars, suggesting a diminished superstar premium. These findings provide causal experimental evidence contributing to the literature on evaluation bias and the superstar effect.

La Memoria de Trabajo (MT) es el sistema cerebral involucrado en el almacenamiento temporal de información (corto periodo de tiempo) y la manipulación de la misma. Este mecanismo posibilita la realización de tareas cognitivas complejas, tales como el razonamiento, el aprendizaje, la comprensión o el desarrollo del lenguaje (Baddeley, 1992). Además está estrechamente relacionada con diferentes procesos cognitivos de gran importancia, como la inteligencia. Es por ello por lo que el presente trabajo se centra en investigar la Memoria de Trabajo, el orden de maduración de sus componentes según el modelo da Baddeley y Hitch (1992), la variabilidad intergrupal e interindividual en la MT durante el desarrollo y su relación con la inteligencia en sujetos en normodesarrollo y sujetos diagnosticados con Trastorno de Déficit de Atención (TDA).

Predictive coding framework posits that our brain continuously monitors changes in the environment and updates its predictive models, minimizing prediction er-rors to efficiently adapt to environmental demands. However, the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms of these predictive phenomena remain unclear. The present study aimed to explore the systemic neurophysiological correlates of predictive coding processes during passive and active auditory processing. Electroencephalography (EEG), functional near- infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), and autonomic nervous system (ANS) measures were analyzed using an audi-tory pattern- based novelty oddball paradigm. A sample of 32 healthy subjects was recruited. The results showed shared slow evoked potentials between passive and active conditions that could be interpreted as automatic predictive processes of anticipation and updating, independent of conscious attentional effort. A disso-ciated topography of the cortical hemodynamic activity and distinctive evoked potentials upon auditory pattern violation were also found between both condi-tions, whereas only conscious perception leading to imperative responses was accompanied by phasic ANS responses. These results suggest a systemic- level hi-erarchical reallocation of predictive coding neural resources as a function of con-textual demands in the face of sensory stimulation. Principal component analysis permitted to associate the variability of some of the recorded signals.

The development of brain oscillatory responses and their possible role in the working memory (WM) performance of children, adolescents and young adults was investigated. A set of 0- and 1-back tasks with letter stimuli were administered to a final sample of 131 subjects (between 6 and 20 years of age). A decrease in response times (RTs) and an increase of the sensitivity index d-prime (d') were seen with increased age. RTs increased and d' decreased with load, indicating higher difficulty for higher loads. Event-related synchronization (ERS) and event-related desynchronization (ERD) were obtained by the convolution of Morlet wavelets on the recorded EEG. Statistical analyses were performed of the absolute and relative power of brain oscillations defined by topography, frequency and latency. Posterior alpha and beta ERD, and frontocentral theta ERS, were induced by the stimuli presented during the n-back task. While relative theta ERS increased with age, absolute theta ERS, absolute and relative alpha and, absolute beta ERD, decreased with age. Age-related improvement in behavioral performance was mediated by relative theta. Alpha and beta ERD were more pronounced for the most difficult task (1-back) and for the target condition. Globally, there was high consistency of the effects of target type and task load across development. Theta ERS maturation is a crucial step for improving WM performance during development, while alpha and beta ERD maturation seem to be less critical for behavioral performance improvement with age, possibly due to a sufficient level of alpha-beta ERD for good performance in young children.

The developmental trajectories of brain oscillations during the encoding and maintenance phases of a Working Memory (WM) task were calculated. The Delayed-Match-to-Sample Test (DMTS) was applied to 239 subjects of 6–29 years, while EEG was recorded. The Event-Related Spectral Perturbation (ERSP) was obtained in the range between 1 and 25 Hz during the encoding and maintenance phases. Behavioral parameters of reaction times (RTs) and response accuracy were simultaneously recorded. The results indicate a myriad of transient and sustained bursts of oscillatory activity from low frequencies (1 Hz) to the beta range (up to 19 Hz). Beta and Low-frequency ERSP increases were prominent in the encoding phase in all age groups, while low-frequency ERSP indexed the maintenance phase only in children and adolescents, but not in late adolescents and young adults, suggesting an age-dependent neural mechanism of stimulus trace maintenance. While the latter group showed Beta and Alpha indices of anticipatory attention for the retrieval phase. Mediation analysis showed an important role of early Delta-Theta and late Alpha oscillations for mediation between age and behavioral responses performance. In conclusion, the results show a complex pattern of oscillatory bursts during the encoding and maintenance phases with a consistent pattern of developmental changes.

Bajo la perspectiva teórica de la codificación predictiva, el cerebro humano funciona como una sofisticada máquina que está constantemente evaluando las características de los estímulos percibidos y la relación existente entre ellos, con el objetivo de extraer nuevos patrones de diferentes niveles de abstracción para anticipar el siguiente evento. Esta dinámica automática de generación o modificación de las predicciones con el fin de dirigir la atención y ajustar la respuesta, es considerada uno de los procesos psicofisiológicos más fundamentales que existen, por lo que su alteración está relacionada con diversas patologías. El presente trabajo describe dos estudios desarrollados mediante EEG, en los que fueron analizados (i) la habituación y discriminación auditiva preatencional mostrada por un grupo de niños con TEA en comparación con uno control, y (ii) el establecimiento y actualización de las predicciones desarrolladas por un grupo de adultos sanos en paradigmas de diferente complejidad. Para conseguir estos objetivos, todos los sujetos registrados en ambos estudios recibieron una estimulación auditiva pasiva similar a la del tipo Oddball, aunque las características y la organización de los estímulos fueron diferentes en ambos experimentos. La estimulación auditiva presentada en el estudio de TEA estuvo compuesta por tonos generados electrónicamente o producidos por una cantante profesional, con el objetivo de investigar si la alteración en el desarrollo del lenguaje, típicamente descrita para estos niños, es causada por un déficit selectivo al procesar las características internas de la voz humana. Los componentes analizados para el estudio del TEA fueron el P1 y la MMN. Los niños con TEA presentaron una menor amplitud para los componentes P1 y MMN en comparación con el grupo control, lo cual sugiere una habituación y discriminación auditivas reducidas tanto para el sonido electrónico como el humano. Dado que la MMN también se ha relacionado con la codificació

The present report analyzed the time-frequency changes in Event-Related Spectral perturbations (ERSP) in a sample of ADHD children and adolescents compared to a normodevelopment (ND) sample. A delayed match-to-sample (DMTS) test of working memory (WM) was presented to a group of ADHD subjects (N = 29) and compared with ND group (N = 34) with ages between 6 and 17 years old. Time-frequency decomposition was computed through wavelets. ADHD subjects presented higher Reaction Time (RT), Standard Deviation of RT (Std of RT), and a reduced percentage of correct responses. The results showed a complex pattern of oscillatory bursts during the encoding, maintenance, and recognition phases with similar dynamics in both groups. ADHD children presented a reduced Event-Related Synchronization (ERS) in the Theta range during the encoding phase, and also a reduced Alpha ERS during the late period of the maintenance phase. S1 Early theta ERS was positively correlated with Std of RT. Behavioral data, early Theta, and late Alpha ERS classified correctly above 70 % of ADHD and ND subjects when a linear discriminant analysis was applied. The reduced encoding and maintenance impaired brain dynamics of ADHD subjects would justify the poorer performance of this group of subjects.

Intensity-dependent amplitude changes (IDAP) have been extensively studied using event-related potentials (ERPs) and have been linked to several psychiatric disorders. This study aims to explore the application of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in IDAP paradigms, which related to ERPs could indicate the existence of neurovascular coupling. Thirty-three and thirty-one subjects participated in two experiments, respectively. The first experiment consisted of the presentation of three-tone intensities (77.9 dB, 84.5 dB, and 89.5 dB) lasting 500 ms, each type randomly presented 54 times, while the second experiment consisted of the presentation of five-tone intensities (70.9 dB, 77.9 dB, 84.5 dB, 89.5 dB, and 94.5 dB) in trains of 8 tones lasting 70 ms each tone, the trains were presented 20 times. EEG was used to measure ERP components: N1, P2, and N1–P2 peak-to-peak amplitude. fNIRS allowed the analysis of the hemodynamic activity in the auditory, visual, and prefrontal cortices. The results showed an increase in N1, P2, and N1–P2 peak-to-peak amplitude with auditory intensity. Similarly, oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin concentrations showed amplitude increases and decreases, respectively, with auditory intensity in the auditory and prefrontal cortices. Spearman correlation analysis showed a relationship between the left auditory cortex with N1 amplitude, and the right dorsolateral cortex with P2 amplitude, specifically for deoxyhemoglobin concentrations. These findings suggest that there is a brain response to auditory intensity changes that can be obtained by EEG and fNIRS, supporting the neurovascular coupling process. Overall, this study enhances our understanding of fNIRS application in auditory paradigms and highlights its potential as a complementary technique to ERPs.

This present study aims to investigate neural mechanisms underlying ADHD compared to healthy children through the analysis of the complexity and the variability of the EEG brain signal using multiscale entropy (MSE), EEG signal standard deviation (SDs), as well as the mean, standard deviation (SDp) and coefficient of variation (CV) of absolute spectral power (PSD). For this purpose, a sample of children diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) between 6 and 17 years old were selected based on the number of trials and diagnostic agreement, 32 for the open-eyes (OE) experimental condition and 25 children for the close-eyes (CE) experimental condition. Healthy control subjects were age- and gender-matched with the ADHD group. The MSE and SDs of resting-state EEG activity were calculated on 34 time scales using a coarse-grained procedure. In addition, the PSD was averaged in delta, theta, alpha, and beta frequency bands, and its mean, SDp, and CV were calculated. The results show that the MSE changes with age during development, increases as the number of scales increases and has a higher amplitude in controls than in ADHD. The absolute PSD results show CV differences between subjects in low and beta frequency bands, with higher variability values in the ADHD group. All these results suggest an increased EEG variability and reduced complexity in ADHD compared to controls.

The present study aims to analyze the systemic response to auditory stimulation by means of hemodynamic (cephalic and peripheral) and autonomic responses in a broad range of auditory intensities (70.9, 77.9, 84.5, 89.5, 94.5 dBA). This approach could help to understand the possible influence of the autonomic nervous system on the cephalic blood flow. Twenty-five subjects were exposed to auditory stimulation while electrodermal activity (EDA), photoplethysmography (PPG), electrocardiogram, and functional near-infrared spectroscopy signals were recorded. Seven trials with 20 individual tones, each for the five intensities, were presented. The results showed a differentiated response to the higher intensity (94.5 dBA) with a decrease in some peripheral signals such as the heart rate (HR), the pulse signal, the pulse transit time (PTT), an increase of the LFnu power in PPG, and at the head level a decrease in oxygenated and total hemoglobin concentration. After the regression of the visual channel activity from the auditory channels, a decrease in deoxyhemoglobin in the auditory cortex was obtained, indicating a likely active response at the highest intensity. Nevertheless, other measures, such as EDA (Phasic and Tonic), and heart rate variability (Frequency and time domain) showed no significant differences between intensities. Altogether, these results suggest a systemic and complex response to high-intensity auditory stimuli. The results obtained in the decrease of the PTT and the increase in LFnu power of PPG suggest a possible vasoconstriction reflex by a sympathetic control of vascular tone, which could be related to the decrease in blood oxygenation at the head level.

Methane emissions are responsible for at least one-third of the total anthropogenic climate forcing and current estimations expect a significant increase in these emissions in the next decade. Consequently, methane offers a unique opportunity to mitigate climate change while addressing energy supply problems. From the five primary methane sources, residual water treatment provided 7% of the emissions in 2010. This ratio will undoubtedly increase with global population growth. Therefore, locating sources of methane emissions is a crucial step in characterizing the current distribution of GHG better. Nevertheless, there is a lack of comprehensive global and uniform databases to bind those emissions to concrete sources and there is no automatic method to accurately locate sparse human infrastructures such as wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). WWTP detection is an open problem posing many obstacles due to the lack of freely accessible high-resolution imagery, and the variety of real-world morphologies and sizes. In this work, we tackle this state-of-the-art complex problem and go one step forward by trying to infer capacity using one end-to-end Deep Learning architecture and multi-modal remote sensing data. This goal has a groundbreaking potential impact, as it could help estimate mapped methane emissions for improving emission inventories and future scenarios prediction. We will address the problem as a combination of two parallel inference exercises by proposing a novel network to combine multimodal data based on the hypothesis that the location and the capacity can be inferred based on characteristics such as the plant situation, size, morphology, and proximity to water bodies or population centers. We explore technical documentation and literature to develop these hypotheses and validate their soundness with data analysis. To validate the architecture and the hypotheses, we develop a model and a dataset in parallel with a series of ablation tests. The process is f

Whether one looks at revenue, investment, or coverage, men’s sports do better than women’s. Many assume that the differences are driven by absolute differences in quality of athletic performance. However, the existence of stereotypes should alert us to another possibility: What if perceived quality is filtered through gender stereotypes? We perform an experiment showing participants video clips of elite female and male soccer players. In the control group, participants evaluated normal videos where the gender of the players was clear to see. In the treatment group, participants evaluated the same videos but with gender obscured by blurring. We find that participants only rated men’s videos higher when they knew they were watching men. When they didn’t know who they were watching, ratings for female and male athletes did not differ significantly. The findings are consistent with the interpretation that gender bias plays a role in the evaluation of athletic performance. Implications for research and the sports industry are discussed. Keywords: experiment, evaluation, gender bias, fans, soccer, women’s sport

Empirical studies show that first- and second-generation immigrants are less likely to be members of sports clubs than their non-immigrant peers. Common explanations are cultural differences and socioeconomic disadvantages. However, lower participation rates in amateur sport could be at least partly due to ethnic discrimination. Are minority ethnic groups granted the same right to belong as their non-immigrant peers? To answer this question, this paper uses publicly available data from a field experiment in which mock applications were sent out to over 1,600 football clubs in Germany. Having a foreign-sounding name significantly reduces the likelihood of being invited to participate. The paper concludes that amateur football clubs are not as permeable as they are often perceived to be. It claims that traditional explanations for lower participation rates of immigrants need to be revisited.

The ubiquitous brain oscillations occur in bursts of oscillatory activity. The present report tries to define the statistical characteristics of electroencephalographical (EEG) bursts of oscillatory activity during resting state in humans to define (i) the statistical properties of amplitude and duration of oscillatory bursts, (ii) its possible correlation, (iii) its frequency content, and (iv) the presence or not of a fixed threshold to trigger an oscillatory burst. The open eyes EEG recordings of five subjects with no artifacts were selected from a sample of 40 subjects. The recordings were filtered in frequency ranges of 2 Hz wide from 1 to 99 Hz. The analytic Hilbert transform was computed to obtain the amplitude envelopes of oscillatory bursts. The criteria of thresholding and a minimum of three cycles to define an oscillatory burst were imposed. Amplitude and duration parameters were extracted and they showed durations between hundreds of milliseconds and a few seconds, and peak amplitudes showed a unimodal distribution. Both parameters were positively correlated and the oscillatory burst durations were explained by a linear model with the terms peak amplitude and peak amplitude of amplitude envelope time derivative. The frequency content of the amplitude envelope was contained in the 0–2 Hz range. The results suggest the presence of amplitude modulated continuous oscillations in the human EEG during the resting conditions in a broad frequency range, with durations in the range of few seconds and modulated positively by amplitude and negatively by the time derivative of the amplitude envelope suggesting activation-inhibition dynamics. This macroscopic oscillatory network behavior is less pronounced in the low-frequency range (1–3 Hz).

The auditory mismatch negativity (MMN) has been considered a preattentive index of auditory processing and/or a signature of prediction error computation. This study tries to demonstrate the presence of an MMN to deviant trials included in complex auditory stimuli sequences, and its possible relationship to predictive coding. Additionally, the transfer of information between trials is expected to be represented by stimulus-preceding negativity (SPN), which would possibly fit the predictive coding framework. To accomplish these objectives, the EEG of 31 subjects was recorded during an auditory paradigm in which trials composed of stimulus sequences with increasing or decreasing frequencies were intermingled with deviant trials presenting an unexpected ending. Our results showed the presence of an MMN in response to deviant trials. An SPN appeared during the intertrial interval and its amplitude was reduced in response to deviant trials. The presence of an MMN in complex sequences of sounds and the generation of an SPN component, with different amplitudes in deviant and standard trials, would support the predictive coding framework.

This report is a cross-sectional study aiming to establish the status of age inter-group and individual variability for Working Memory (WM) for the three WM components: Phonological loop (PL), Visuo-spatial Sketchpad (VSS) and Central executive (CE). The direct scores of the CE, the PL and the VSS were obtained in a sample of 258 subjects between 6 and 26 years. The obtained results indicate an increase of direct scores with age that was modeled by an age inverse function. The absolute age inter-group variability increased with age while the relative variability was constant across ages. The WM individual developmental variability showed that although a single principal component would explain the total variability, there was a closer relationship between the development of CE and PL with respect to VSS. The obtained results suggest that the range of WM relative competence is preserved along development which would favour the ecological adaptive value of WM across ages.

PICALM and CLU genes have been linked to alterations in brain biochemical processes that may have an impact on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) development and neurophysiological dynamics. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between the electroencephalographic (EEG) activity and the PICALM and CLU alleles described as conferring risk or protective effects on AD patients and healthy controls. For this purpose, EEG activity was acquired from: 18 AD patients and 12 controls carrying risk alleles of both PICALM and CLU genes, and 35 AD patients and 12 controls carrying both protective alleles. Relative power (RP) in the conventional EEG frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma) was computed to quantify the brain activity at source level. In addition, spatial entropy (SE) was calculated in each band to characterize the regional distribution of the RP values throughout the brain. Statistically significant differences in global RP and SE at beta band (p-values < 0.05, Mann–Whitney U-test) were found between genotypes in the AD group. Furthermore, RP showed statistically significant differences in 58 cortical regions out of the 68 analyzed in AD. No statistically significant differences were found in the control group at any frequency band. Our results suggest that PICALM and CLU AD-inducing genotypes are involved in physiological processes related to disruption in beta power, which may be associated with physiological disturbances such as alterations in beta-amyloid and neurotransmitter metabolism.

The objective of this paper was to analyze the maturation order of WM components Phonological loop (PL), Visuo-spatial Sketchpad (VSS) and Central executive (CE), from childhood to emerging adulthood in subjects aged between 6 and 29 years, by means of Bonferroni comparisons between the direct scores of the different age groups. The WM direct scores were obtained with the Working Memory Test Battery for Children (WMTBC). Linear regressions between age and Z-scores of the direct scores of the three components of the WM were carried out. The results indicate that the different components of WM are linearly related to age, from 6 to 15 years old, replicating previously obtained results. ANOVA and Bonferroni-type comparisons show that there is a different order of maturation among the components that make up the WM, with the central executive being the component that matures later. A peculiar result was observed in the 16–17-year group for PL and CE. This group presents a significant difference with all the groups of lower age.

Dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurological syndrome which has an increasing impact on society, provoking behavioral, cognitive, and functional impairments. AD lacks an effective pharmacological intervention; thereby, non-pharmacological treatments (NPTs) play an important role, as they have been proven to ameliorate AD symptoms. Nevertheless, results associated with NPTs are patient-dependent, and new tools are needed to predict their outcome and to improve their effectiveness. In the present study, 19 patients with AD underwent an NPT for 83.1 ± 38.9 days (mean ± standard deviation). The NPT was a personalized intervention with physical, cognitive, and memory stimulation. The magnetoencephalographic activity was recorded at the beginning and at the end of the NPT to evaluate the neurophysiological state of each patient. Additionally, the cognitive (assessed by means of the Mini-Mental State Examination, MMSE) and behavioral (assessed in terms of the Dementia Behavior Disturbance Scale, DBD-13) status were collected before and after the NPT. We analyzed the interactions between cognitive, behavioral, and neurophysiological data by generating diverse association networks, able to intuitively characterize the relationships between variables of a different nature. Our results suggest that the NPT remarkably changed the structure of the association network, reinforcing the interactions between the DBD-13 and the neurophysiological parameters. We also found that the changes in cognition and behavior are related to the changes in spectral-based neurophysiological parameters. Furthermore, our results support the idea that MEG-derived parameters can predict NPT outcome; specifically, a lesser degree of AD neurophysiological alterations (i.e., neural oscillatory slowing, decreased variety of spectral components, and increased neural signal regularity) predicts a better NPT prognosis. This study provides deeper insights into the relationships between neurophys

Empirical studies show that first- and second-generation immigrants are less likely to be members of sports clubs than their non-immigrant peers. Common explanations are cultural differences and socioeconomic disadvantages. However, lower participation rates in amateur sport could be at least partly due to ethnic discrimination. Are minority ethnic groups granted the same right to belong as their non-immigrant peers? To answer this question, this paper uses publicly available data from a field experiment in which mock applications were sent out to over 1,600 football clubs in Germany. Having a foreign-sounding name significantly reduces the likelihood of being invited to participate. The paper concludes that amateur football clubs are not as permeable as they are often perceived to be. It claims that traditional explanations for lower participation rates of immigrants need to be revisited., Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschunghttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100001711, Stiftung für wissenschaftliche Forschung an der Universität Zürich, Peer Reviewed

In this paper, we examine if a slight behavioural modification has an influence on discrimination. Specifically, we use a field experiment based on emails to observe if persistence increases the chances of joining a social group. We find that native- or foreign-sounding names are equally successful when being persistent. However, non-persistent individuals with foreign-sounding names suffer from discrimination. The results show that persistent individuals can be especially interesting in the context of field experiments.

Societies are increasingly multicultural and diverse, consisting of members who migrated from various other countries. However, immigrants and ethnic minorities often face discrimination in the form of fewer opportunities for labor and housing, as well as limitations on interactions in other social domains. Using mock email accounts with typical native-sounding and foreign-sounding names, we contacted 23,020 amateur football clubs in 22 European countries, asking to participate in a training session. Response rates differed across countries and were, on average, about 10% lower for foreign-sounding names. The present field experiment reveals discrimination against ethnic minority groups, uncovering organizational deficiencies in a system trusted to foster social interactions.

Whether one looks at revenue, public and private investment, or media coverage; men's sports consistently do better than women's sports. Many people argue that these differences are driven by absolute differences in the quality of athletes in men's and women's sports. We begin by noting that absolute differences in athletic skill often do not drive demand in sports. We then move on to our primary research question: Can people truly see differences in men and women athletes? To answer this question, we use videos of professional women’s and men’s soccer. In some videos the gender of the athletes was clear to see. In other videos, though, the gender of the athletes was blurred. We find that participants only rate men’s soccer videos higher when the gender of the players is visible. These findings reveal a bias in the evaluation of men’s and women’s soccer relevant for many other fields. Our results demonstrate that factors other than performance, e.g., social beliefs and stereotypes, have an important influence on how individuals evaluate women in sports.

El trabajo ofrece un panorama sobre el uso de redes sociales en las bibliotecas universitarias en México, se expone el análisis de tendencias en las publicaciones que realizan a nivel nacional, así de cómo aplican la utilización de las plataformas, qué tipo de difusión ofrecen y qué promocionan. De igual manera se observa qué tanto se aprovecha las posibilidades que brindan estas plataformas como medio de comunicación masiva a bajo costo. La metodología consistió en la revisión de publicaciones de 50 sitios de las bibliotecas universitarias en Twitter y 50 sitios en Facebook en el periodo de enero de 2017 a los primeros días del mes de agosto de 2019.