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This study aimed at assessing the psychophysiological correlates of managers, compared to a group of non-managers, during a creative problem-solving dynamic through the use of a psychophysiological method exploiting autonomic measures data collection. Individuals performed a realistic complex problem-solving task (RCPT), a modified version of the NASA Moon survival problem exercise, in two distinct conditions: individually or in groups of three participants. Two main patterns of findings were observed, specifically, for the managers’ group: first, electrodermal activity and cardiac variability indices increased during the group compared to individual condition; second, cardiovascular indices decreased in the above-mentioned condition. No statistically significant results were observed for the non-managers group. Results suggest that managers could be able to “feel”, even at a deeper and psycho-physiological level, which social condition (in this case, the group one) is more suitable for solving a complex problem in a creative way

The integration of neurosciences and sport psychology has revitalized the study of cognitive and emotional mechanisms in achieving peak athletic performance and preventing burnout. Recent advancements in applied neuroscience, including wearable body/brain-sensing devices, are of particular interest to research and professional practice in exercise and sport sciences. These technologies aid in understanding and evaluating sensorimotor and cognitive functions crucial for athletic performance. Sport neuroscience is advancing with the development of neurocognitive empowerment protocols, combining mental training, cognitive-behavioural techniques, and performance testing with neuroscientific devices. This paper introduces the theoretical background and potential of applying neuroscientific models to empowerment in exercise and sport science, presenting examples of protocols aimed at optimizing athletes’ performance. These protocols highlight a threefold focus on individual, dyadic, and collective performance

Previous single-brain studies suggested interoception plays a role in interpersonal synchronization. The aim of the present study was to assess the electrophysiological intersubject coherence through electrophysiological (EEG) hyperscanning recording during simple dyadic synchronization tasks when the participants focused on their breath. To this aim, the neural activity of 15 dyads of participants was collected during the execution of a cognitive and motor synchronization task in two distinct IA conditions: focus and no focus on the breath condition. Individuals’ EEG frequency bands were recorded through EEG hyperscanning and coherence analysis was performed. Results showed greater EEG coherence was observed for the alpha band in frontopolar brain regions (Fp1, Fp2) and also in central brain regions (C3, C4) within the dyads, during the focus on the breath condition for the motor compared to the cognitive synchronization task; during the same experimental condition, delta and theta band showed augmented inter-individual coherence in the frontal region (Fz) and central areas (C3, C4). To conclude, the current hyperscanning study highlights how the manipulation of the interoceptive focus (obtained through the focus on the breath) strengthens the manifestation of the EEG markers of interpersonal tuning during a motor synchronization task in specific brain areas.

Introduction: The constant shift in employment quotas in favor of elderly professionals is strictly related to the population's ongoing aging tendency. This shift has created novel challenges for maintaining an adequate professional performance and wellbeing at work. Recent research has demonstrated the value of mindfulness-based neurofeedback interventions for professionals in terms of stress reduction and neurocognitive efficiency. However, little research has been conducted regarding the possible impact of age on the efficacy of such interventions. Objectives: The current project has a threefold aim i) to explore age-dependent effects of a neurofeedback-based neuroempowerment protocol by comparing its outcomes in junior and senior managers, as well as to propose this protocol for ii) the neurocognitive empowerment and stress reduction in healthy samples, iii) the prevention of cognitive decline in senior professionals and elderly. Materials & Methods: Participants in the study included 10 junior managers (JM, M-age=35.3) and 15 senior managers (SM, M-age=46.7) who underwent a rigorous 4-week daily neuroempowerment protocol based on embodied awareness techniques and wearable neurofeedback device application. Electrophysiological (event-related potentials, or ERP) measures of neurocognitive efficiency, and subjective stress levels, mood, and self-awareness were all examined throughout the pre- and post-training multimethod assessment proposed in this study. Results: Data analysis showed that both JM and SM experienced less perceived stress following training, while the SM group also experienced less anger and mental weariness. Both groups displayed improved performance—with SM performing better—on a standardized cognitive flexibility task. They also demonstrated faster response times on a computerized Stroop task. Regarding ERP indicators of neurocognitive effectiveness, we saw a decrease in the N2 component's latency in SM and an increase in its amplitude in J

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a non-progressive syndrome due to a pre-, peri- or post-natal brain injury, which frequently involves an impairment of non-motor abilities. The aim of this article was to examine visuospatial attention and inhibitory control of prepotent motor responses in children with CP showing a normal IQ or mild cognitive impairment, measuring their performance in oculomotor tasks. Ten children (9–16-year-old) with spastic CP and 13 age-matched, typically developing children (TDC) participated in the study. Subjects performed a simple visually-guided saccade task and a cue-target task, in which they performed a saccade towards a peripheral target, after a non-informative visual cue was flashed 150 ms before the imperative target, either at the same (valid) or at a different (invalid) spatial position. Children with CP showed severe executive deficits in maintaining sustained attention and complying with task instructions. Furthermore, saccadic inhibitory control appeared to be significantly impaired in the presence of both stimulus-driven and goal-directed captures of attention. In fact, patients showed great difficulties in suppressing saccades not only to the cue stimuli but also to the alwayspresent target placeholders, which represented powerful attentional attractors that had to be covertly attended throughout the task execution. Moreover, impairment did not affect in equal manner the whole visual field but showed a marked spatial selectivity in each individual subject. Saccade latencies in the cue-target task were faster in the valid than in the invalid condition in both child groups, indicating the preservation of low-level visuospatial attentive capabilities. Finally, this study provides evidence that these impairments of executive skills and in inhibitory control, following early brain injuries, manifest in childhood but recover to virtually normal level during adolescence.

Le statistiche a livello nazionale hanno evidenziato come la distrazione sia la causa più frequente di sinistri stradali. Dal punto di vista psicologico, il comportamento di guida è la risultante dell’interazione fra più variabili psicologiche e neurofisiologiche, come il carico di stress e le funzioni cognitive, ed altri fattori situazionali, quali condizioni metereologiche e di traffico. Maggiori livelli di funzionamento cognitivo e minori carichi di stress sono associati ad una guida più funzionale in termini di sicurezza poiché contribuiscono a ridurre la distraibilità e l’assunzione di rischi. Dalla letteratura emerge che training con tecniche di mindfulness mediate da wearable devices si rivelano efficaci in termini di potenziamento neurocognitivo e di regolazione affettiva e dello stress. L’incremento dell’abilità di regolazione attentiva e la diminuzione dello stress percepito rilevati a seguito di tali training, potrebbero riflettersi positivamente nelle pratiche di guida, con la possibile riduzione e prevenzione di comportamenti disfunzionali. Lo scopo della presente ricerca è di testare l’efficacia di un protocollo di integrazione fra pratiche di mindfulness e neurotecnologie indossabili che svolgono la funzione di neurofeedback su un campione di guidatori, osservandone l’impatto sul comportamento alla guida. Cinquanta partecipanti senza livelli clinicamente significativi di stress sono stati assegnati casualmente al gruppo sperimentale e di controllo attivo. La condizione sperimentale consisteva in un mindfulness NeuroFeedback Training (NFT) di 21 giorni con sessioni di durata incrementale. Un’analisi pre- e post-trattamento ha previsto l’integrazione di tre ordini di misure multilivello: psicometriche; comportamentali, neuropsicologiche e di fitness to drive; neurofisiologiche, sia centrali che autonomiche. In particolare, strumenti come il Driver Behavior Questionnaire, e di performance (come un task Go/No-Go in realtà virtuale immersiva o il

The functional role of the prefrontal cortex has often been related to decision-making. Moreover,depending on the task that has to be carried out, it can be even more functionally specialized (Ernst& Paulus, 2005). The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), for example, seems to be activated bycomplex tasks solving, working memory processing and recalling of long-lasting memories withinlong-term memory (Fuster, 2001; Hampson, 2018). Decision-making is applied every day in manydifferent situations, among which stands out the purchasing one. In this context, a crucial anddeterminant role is played by feelings and emotions. Indeed, emotions are often linked withmemories and choices. Previous experiences, in fact, have a key role in this process, since they caninfluence people’s behavior and take decisions based on some psychological processes such asreward and motivation (Lucchiari & Pravettoni, 2012). However, this is also particularly importantwhen people have to decide within unusual purchasing situations where pros and cons must betaken into account with regard to personal and others’ advantages. In the present study, a modifiedversion of a well-known social interaction paradigm (i.e., the Ultimatum Game; Güth et al., 1982)was used. The scenarios proposed described a store experience in which they should imagine usingvouchers. Choices could be neutral, advantageous or disadvantageous from the participant’sperspective. In order to explore the hemodynamic response, fNIRS was used by applying a 18-channels array of optodes covering prefrontal and frontal areas. The final sample included 32 university students of comparable age and educational level. Results showed that the specific offertype led to the engagement of dedicated neural networks, with increased activation of the rightmedial prefrontal cortex in the case of disadvantageous expenses. Findings are discussed taking intoaccount the psychological factors involved in each purchase choice.

Decision-making is configured as a very complex construct that it is influenced by differentvariables (Rilling & Sanfey, 2011; Fehr & Camerer 2007; Wang, Liu, & Ruhe, 2004), such asemotions and cognitive evaluation (Frith & Singer 2008; Groot et al., 2017; Stallen, Smidts, &Sanfey, 2013), that allow individuals to consider personal interests, possible losses or rewards, andthe ethical and moral choices implications. Specifically, this study aimed to evaluate the decision-making on a sample of 32 participants who were asked to make choices in two different actioncontexts: economic and health issue, although both of them were considered including “moralquestion”. To this aim, a task, consisting of a modified version of the Ultimatum Game wasadministered to evaluate participants’ choices. Specifically, the economic context proposed todivide a sum of money provided as compensation for a work done together; while the health contextproposed to support a colleague’s family who is facing health issues. Within the two conditionsthree types of offers were presented: neutral, advantageous or disadvantageous for the subject. Inthe neutral condition, an offer was proposed that provided for a fair sharing of money between thetwo parties, in the advantageous condition a favorable offer was proposed for the subject, andfinally, in the disadvantageous condition the opposite occurred. Participants' neural activity wasrecorded continuously through the use of near-infrared functional spectroscopy (fNIRS). The levelsof oxygenated (O2Hb) and deoxygenated (HHb) hemoglobin were considered in the prefrontalcortex (Gabay, Radua, Kempton, & Mehta, 2014; Rogers, Hazlewood, Blevis, & Lim, 2004).Results showed the recruitment of distinct and specific neural networks within the prefrontal andfrontal areas, according to the different conditions and offer types. Results will be discussed byframing the different scenarios with some psychological, motivational and social i

The ability to manage collective actions and to efficiently implement joint actions grounds on basic skills concerning self-awareness and self-regulation. Such skills are at the core of social abilities and of individual proficiency to regulate social dynamics. Empowering the ability to monitor and regulate own affective-behavioural reactions might then improve individual and collective performance in contexts that rely on efficient interactions with other social agents, e.g. team sports. We devised a two-step study in order to test whether empowering self-awareness/regulation skills via a technology-mediated training would optimize individual neurocognitive performance and collective performance in sports. As for the first step, sportspeople and control participants underwent the technology-mediated training for self-awareness and self-regulation, in which mindfulness-based activities were practiced with the support of a neurofeedback device, or a control training program. Training-induced changes in terms of neurocognitive performance were explored via standardized neuropsychological and electrophysiological assessment. Analysis highlighted significantly improved of self-regulation skills, as well as behavioural (reaction times at challenging cognitive tasks) and electrophysiological markers (N2 event-related potential) of neurocognitive efficiency. Findings at the individual level set the stage for the investigation of training-effects on collective performance (second-step).

Recent advances in neurosciences permitted to extend the knowledge about brain functioning to the organizational field with a specific interest to leadership, with the extent to explore more proficient ways of managing. In the present research, through a hyperscanning paradigm, EEG and autonomic (biofeedback) synchrony was explored during performance reviews to investigate if different leadership styles (partecipative vs. authoritative), could be associated with different dyadic engagement. In particular, we were interested in detecting different responses inside the leader-employee dyad characterized by different style of leadership during a sensitive managerial process. 11 leaders and 11 employees have been recruited and then randomly coupled in leader-employee dyads. Coherence analyses involved coherence computation assessing the strenght of inter-brain and body synchrony. Indeed EEG results revealed an increased delta and theta band activity over F3 and F4 for the partecipative group. Results also revealed the presence of a higher emotional synchronization for both neural and bodily reactions mainly for partecipative style.

Recently several studies in the psychological and social field have investigated the social function of gratitude as a useful way for the consolidation of interpersonal joint-action and the implementation of prosocial behavior. Specifically, the present research wanted to explore if gratitude increased interpersonal cooperation, leading to an improvement in inter-brain synchronization and behavioral performance. Neural connectivity and cognitive performance of pairs of friends were recorded during the development of a joint attention task that involved a gift exchange at the beginning or halfway through the task. For the recording of subjects simultaneous brain activity an electroencephalogram (EEG) was used in hyperscanning. The results showed that after gift exchange there was an improvement in behavioral performance in terms of accuracy. For what concerns EEG, instead, an increase of delta and theta activation was observed in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Furthermore, an increase in neural connectivity for delta and theta bands was observed. The present research provides a significant contribution to the exploration of the factors contributing to the strengthening of social bonds, underlining the importance of gratitude in the increase of cooperative and prosocial behavior.

Sport neuroscience, lying at the intersection of applied neuroscience and sport psychology, includes, among its hot topics, the cognitive and affective processes and mechanisms that accompany the athletic performance. This chapter focuses on present applications of psychophysiological and electrophysiological techniques, such as biofeedback and neurofeedback, to support or empower performance in sports. In particular, you will find an introduction to the mechanisms of action of most relevant techniques in the field, neural-bodily-behavioral modulations that are targeted by different intervention opportunities, and technical application notes. We will discuss the value of self-awareness and of the ability to properly recognize bodily feedbacks, especially when athletes have to face competition, and the relevance of robust self-regulation skills to achieve maximum performance. Further, we will report a critical comparison between the efficacy and strong/weak points of bio/neurofeedback techniques and more traditional mental training techniques within the field of sport science. Finally, we will present and discuss different protocols applied to specific sports, such as baseball, golf, soccer, and gymnastics.

The present chapter will focus on the use of electroencephalography (EEG) and cerebral optical imaging (functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy, fNIRS) techniques within the domain of sport and exercise sciences. After a brief introduction on brain functioning and how it is mirrored by electrophysiological and hemodynamic responses, we will present examples from literature concerning the application of EEG and fNIRS to study the correlates and consequences of sport activity and physical exercise, with a focus on both clinical and non-pathological domains. Finally, we will present a technical-methodological primer for the use of EEG and fNIRS, and discuss some troubleshooting practical advice to account for limitations and technical issues when using them as investigation tools for sport applied research.

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I disturbi neuropsicologici conseguenti neurodegenerazione contribuiscono in modo rilevante al cambiamento nella vita quotidiana del paziente e famigliari. In aggiunta, essi comportano uno specifico e ulteriore decremento dei livelli di autonomia e delle capacità di adattamento nella fascia di utenza anziana. Tali conseguenze sono comunemente ricondotte alle graduali modificazioni morfostrutturali a carico delle strutture del sistema nervoso centrale che connotano l’avanzamento del quadro di neurodegenerazione. La possibilità di contrastare tali modificazioni facilitando i meccanismi di compensazione e di neuroplasticità è attualmente oggetto di studio, esplorando le potenzialità delle tecniche di stimolazione cerebrale non-invasiva e, in particolare, la stimolazione transcranica a correnti dirette (tDCS) in integrazione alle tecniche di potenziamento cognitivo. Con l‘intento di testare l’efficacia di un percorso di empowerment neurocognitivo integrato nell’incrementare le abilità cognitive e il funzionamento globale nell’invecchiamento, un gruppo di pazienti con quadri clinici neurodegenerativi e un gruppo comparabile di volontari sani hanno preso parte a un protocollo sperimentale. Il protocollo includeva la partecipazione a: un programma di potenziamento cognitivo computerizzato; un programma di stimolazione non-invasiva bilaterale delle regioni prefrontali (montaggio con doppio anodo in F3-F4). I partecipanti sono stati sottoposti ad assessment neuropsicologico in ingresso e alla conclusione dei percorsi per valutarne gli effetti a breve termine. L’analisi dei dati ha evidenziato, per il gruppo clinico, un miglioramento più evidente a carico delle funzioni esecutive frontali, soprattutto verbali, sebbene entrambi i gruppi abbiano beneficiato del percorso di potenziamento cognitivo computerizzato. Inoltre, tali evidenze sembrano essere ulteriormente supportate dall’integrazione con tDCS, soprattutto nel gruppo clinico.

L’emodialisi consente ai pazienti con insufficienza renale in stadio terminale un buon livello di sopravvivenza. Tuttavia, il trattamento influenza fortemente la qualità di vita (QoL) del paziente. La maggior parte dei pazienti sottoposti ad emodialisi (HD) soffre di fatica cronica. La fatica, oltre ad essere un sintomo "fisico", è anche "motivazionale" e spesso è associata a dolore, alterazioni affettive e cognitive. Inoltre, studi sulle interazioni neuro-immuni hanno dimostrato che, nelle malattie croniche di questa entità, un'alterazione della funzione dei gangli basali può compromettere il funzionamento del sistema di ricompensa (reward). Questo studio valuta in pazienti HD la possibile correlazione tra fatica e meccanismi di reward alla base della disposizione motivazionale. Sono state somministrate scale valutative ad un campione di pazienti (N=94) di mezz’età. La Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) è stata usata per misurare l'impatto della fatica sulla motivazione del paziente. La scala Behavioral Activation System (BAS) e Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) è stata somministrata per indagare i meccanismi di disposizione motivazionale di avvicinamento/evitamento a ricompense e punizioni. Infine, per valutare la possibile presenza di disturbi ansiosi e depressivi, sono state adoperate la State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y) e la Back Depression Inventory (BDI-II). Il punteggio della FSS era significativamente più alto nei pazienti con alto punteggio BIS rispetto ai pazienti con un punteggio BIS basso e intermedio. Al contrario, i punteggi BDI e STAI-Y1/Y2 sono simili tra gruppi di pazienti con punteggio BIS alto, intermedio e basso. La correlazione tra il punteggio BIS e il punteggio FSS è risultata statisticamente significativa. Questo studio dimostra l’esistenza di una correlazione tra i sintomi di fatica e i meccanismi di reward con possibili conseguenze sul comportamento e la QoL dei pazienti HD.

Recentemente l’interesse della neuropsicologia si è focalizzato sugli effetti degli inteventi di mindfulness nel potenziamento delle funzioni attentive, emotive e cognitive, che possono essere compromesse da fattori ambientali, biologici e psicologici. Nella presente ricerca sono stati indagati, all’interno di un contesto professionale, gli effetti di un training di empowerment neurocognitivo consistente nello svolgimento di pratiche quotidiane di mindfulness della durata di due settimane supportate dall’utilizzo di un wearable device. Nello specifico, il training è stato sottoposto ad un campione di 16 professionisti over 50 occupanti posizioni manageriali, i quali sono spesso sottoposti a condizioni di elevato stress e allo svolgimento di prestazioni richiedenti un alto carico cognitivo. Per valutare l’efficacia del trattamento sono state indagate in una fase precedente (T0), intermedia (T1) e successiva (T2) al training le differenze nell’attività elettroencefalografica e autonomica in condizioni di resting-state e task/related, in cui sono state utilizzate misure neuropsicologiche, comportamentali e psicometriche di performance cognitiva. Dai risultati della ricerca è emersa un’efficacia del trattamento, in termini di diminuzione dei livelli di ansia e di stress percepito e di un aumento dei processi di controllo durante lo svolgimento delle performance cognitive. A livello elettroencefalografico, si è osservato un aumento dell’indice alfa/beta indicante una condizione di rilassamento e focus attentivo durante lo svolgimento delle performance cognitive. A livello autonomico è stato osservato un aumento della variabilità cardiaca, indicante un maggiore livello di concentrazione in situazioni stressanti. Alla luce dei risultati emersi, il training di mindfulness si è rivelato efficace nel potenziamento neurocognitivo dimostrandosi utile nel miglioramento dell’efficienza dei processi cognitivi e nella prevenzione del decadimento cognitivo dovuto all’early a

Negli ultimi dieci anni l’interesse verso lo studio di un sottogruppo di pazienti con Malattia di Parkinson (Parkinson’s Disease, PD) che sviluppa gioco d’azzardo patologico (Pathological Gambling, PG) è aumentato a causa delle serie conseguenze sociali, personali ed economiche che il gioco d’azzardo comporta, sia per il paziente che per la sua famiglia. Lo scopo di questo studio consiste nell’esplorare la relazione tra i tratti di personalità e l’attività corticale prefrontale in pazienti con PD, con e senza PG. L’attività emodinamica, misurata per mezzo della spettroscopia funzionale nel vicino infrarosso (functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy, fNIRS), e la performance all’Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) sono state rilevate in quarantasei pazienti con PD (37 maschi e 9 femmine; Mage=62.93, SD=7.76), divisi in tre gruppi sulla base del loro comportamento di gioco: pazienti con PD e PG attivo (Parkinson’s Disease Gamblers, PDG); pazienti PD patients con precedente PG, ora in remissione (Parkinson’s Disease Non-Gamblers, PDNG); e un gruppo di controllo (Control Group, CG) composto da pazienti con solo PD. La sensibilità alla ricompensa e l’impulsività sono state valutate utilizzando la scala BAS (Behavioral Activation System) del questionario BIS/BAS e la Barratt impulsiveness scale, versione 11. I risultati indicano che i pazienti PDG si distinguono dai pazienti PDNG e CG sia sul piano comportamentale sia in termini di attività corticale legata ai processi di decision-making. Nei pazienti con PD, il PG 1) è altamente predittivo di una strategia cognitiva disfunzionale (e.g. peggiore performance all’IGT), 2) influenza una risposta corticale anomala con un disequilibrio emisferico sinistro nelle aree dorsali ed 3) è legato a una maggiore sensibilità alla ricompensa (punteggi BAS più alti). Complessivamente, questi effetti confermano una condizione patologica legata agli aspetti cognitivi ed emotivi che rendono i pazienti con PD e PG vittima del loro comportamento

Lo stato vegetativo è una condizione di alterata coscienza caratterizzata da vigilanza in assenza di consapevolezza; tuttavia i pazienti possiedono delle abilità residue che permettono di processare informazioni esterne. La stimolazione sensoriale consiste nell’applicare input ambientali per la promozione della responsività del paziente e la riorganizzazione neurale. Lo scopo di questo studio è quello di esplorare le risposte psicofisiologiche dei pazienti alla stimolazione sensoriale con il fine ultimo di ottenere marcatori impliciti di processamento degli stimoli, in assenza di prove comportamentali di consapevolezza. Un set di stimoli sensoriali è stato somministrato ad un campione di 23 pazienti in stato vegetativo. Gli stimoli tattili consistono in una stretta al polso e nell'applicazione di ghiaccio; stimoli olfattivi sono invece le fragranze di vaniglia e cannella. L’attività corticale (EEG) e l'attivazione fisiologica (biofeedback) sono state registrate durante l'intero esperimento. I risultati mostrano un aumento della conduttanza cutanea e del battito cardiaco in risposta alla vaniglia rispetto alla cannella e all’applicazione del ghiaccio rispetto alla stretta del polso. Questi dati vengono rispecchiati dall’attivazione corticale, con un aumento della banda Theta in area frontale sinistra per la vaniglia e frontale destra per la cannella. Questa lateralizzazione di Theta potrebbe indicare la piacevolezza (sinistra) della vaniglia e la spiacevolezza (destra) della cannella. La risposta tattile sembra invece essere dovuta ad uno stato di allerta. Infatti, pazienti con uno stato di coscienza più compromesso sembrano rilevare il ghiaccio come una minaccia per l’organismo e non come un semplice stimolo stressogeno. Questo studio costituisce uno spunto per la valutazione dello stato di coscienza grazie a misure implicite, le quali permettono di andare oltre l’evidenza comportamentale di un processamento esplicito dell’ambiente circostante.

Il processo fisiologico di invecchiamento comporta un complesso insieme di modificazioni strutturali e funzionali. A fronte di una generale progressiva atrofia delle regioni corticali prefrontali, della riduzione della densità della sostanza bianca e di una possibile progressiva diminuzione della funzionalità del sistema dopaminergico, meccanismi neurali compensatori permettono il mantenimento adattivo di livelli di funzionamento accettabili a fronte di un aumento delle richieste ambientali e del quadro di progressivo declino strutturale. In questo complesso scenario in evoluzione, risulta oggi cruciale l’integrazione di tradizionali procedure di assessment cognitivo con biomarcatori in grado di rispecchiare lo sviluppo dei processi di invecchiamento fisiologico e patologico. Tale integrazione permetterebbe, infatti, di rispondere alla richiesta di maggiore sensibilità diagnostica in presenza di lievi difficoltà cognitive, come nelle fasi prodromiche di quadri neurodegenerativi. In particolare, le misure elettrofisiologiche offrono un’alternativa economica e non-invasiva ai marcatori biochimici, funzionali e metabolici disponibili. Nello specifico, il processo di invecchiamento è stato associato a un rallentamento dei ritmi elettroencefalografici (EEG) di base, alla riduzione delle misure di reattività elettrofisiologica, all’aumento della latenza del potenziale evento-relato (ERP) N2 e alla modificazione delle componenti ERP P3a e P3b. Tali osservazioni suggeriscono la presenza di una modificazione dei processi di elaborazione di informazioni e dell’orientamento delle risorse attentive. Al contempo, evidenze recenti sottolineano il potenziale dei marcatori EEG/ERP nel supportare i processi di assessment nelle fasi avanzate del ciclo di vita e nell’identificare possibili target per interventi di potenziamento neurocognitivo.

Introduzione e obiettivi: Nell’ultimo decennio, il numero di immigrati presenti in Italia è aumentato rapidamente, con effetti potenzialmente dannosi per il sistema sanitario nazionale. L’incremento degli stranieri si è registrato anche tra i pazienti con diagnosi di patologie croniche. Tuttavia, in letteratura sono disponibili pochi dati sulle caratteristiche cliniche e demografiche di questi soggetti o sul loro bisogno di assistenza psicosociale. Spesso, difatti, si configura il rischio di scarsa compliance alle terapie a causa delle barriere dovute al sostrato culturale. Ad oggi risulta necessario avere maggiore conoscenza dei contesti socio-culturali e addestrare i professionisti del settore a superare queste disparità. Lo scopo di questo studio è esplorare quali limitazioni incorrano nella cura degli immigrati definendo la rete relativa al supporto psico-socio-sanitario. Si intende valutare, inoltre, la percezione e il livello di informazione degli immigrati con patologia cronica verso la loro condizione clinica ed eventuale comorbidità con fattori socio-culturali. Metodi/Azioni: La prima fase dello studio è stata condotta su Territorio Nazionale mediante un’indagine atta a censire la rete sanitaria e socio-assistenziale delle realtà pubbliche e private che si occupano del benessere dell’immigrato con patologia cronica. Nella seconda fase dello studio sono state raccolte informazioni demografiche dalla documentazione medica di immigrati appartenenti a strutture ospedaliere della Regione Lazio, Lombardia e Puglia. È stato, inoltre, costruito e somministrato uno strumento ad hoc al fine di esplorare non solo il quadro clinico dei pazienti, ma definirne lo stato di salute psichica e neuropsicologica con possibili fattori di rischio legati al contesto di appartenenza. Per determinare il ruolo degli operatori in ambito medico e socio-assistenziale ed evidenziare eventuali difficoltà riscontrate nella cura dei pazienti immigrati con malattie croniche, è sta

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Le neuroscienze definiscono potenziamento neurocognitivo quell’insieme di tecniche che consentono di sfruttare al massimo le potenzialità del cervello umano. Tradizionalmente, vengono attivate tramite il ricorso a farmaci, alla stimolazione cerebrale, a pratiche di mental training, sfruttando la plasticità corticale. Ma ora è possibile farlo anche con degli smartglasses. A questa conclusione è giunto un team guidato da Michela Balconi, Direttore dell’Unità di Ricerca in Neuroscienze Sociali e delle Emozioni e docente di neuroscienze cognitive all’Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano e Brescia. "Abbiamo utilizzato degli smartglasses che, attraverso un’app, coinvolgono i soggetti in pratiche di mindfulness. Si tratta di device che consentono uno sviluppo di queste competenze in tempi ridotti e con un approccio più agile”, ha spiegato rivolgendosi alla platea di Wired Health. Il risultato è che “questi ausili tecnologici hanno permesso un potenziamento di queste competenze, riducendo i livelli di ansia e stress e aumentando il vigore e l’energia mentale”. Un risultato reso possibile anche dal fatto che gli smartglasses “offrono al cervello immediatamente un feedback che rinforza quelle competenze che stiamo allenando. Si entra così in un circolo virtuoso per cui vediamo l’efficacia di ciò che stiamo facendo e il nostro cervello si autopotenzia”

Managerial world is usually characterized by environmental and performance distress. A longlasting distress often brings to maladaptive organism’s coping, which may in turns influence mental and cognitive abilities. Mindfulness practices could help managers to enhance peak performance and to manage emotional, behavioral and interpersonal aspects of their daily living by training awareness of bodily and automatic affective reactions (Balconi, Fronda, Venturella, & Crivelli, 2017; Tang et al., 2007). The aim of the present research was to study the potential impact of an intensive empowerment intervention, based on awareness practices and supported by a wearable brain sensing device, on psychological, neuropsychological, cognitive profiles and on stress levels in a professional management context. A sample of 16 managers took part to the experiment and it was assessed at the start, at the middle and at the end of the training. Neuropsychological and cognitive performance measures, psychometric measures of stress management, and restingstate/task-related electrophysiological indices (electroencephalography and biofeedback) were collected. Managers carried out a 14-days training, which consisted of daily practices based on focusing on breathing and related bodily sensations. During the training, duration of practices was gradually increased starting from 10 minutes to 20 minutes per day. Electrophysiological measures highlighted an increased alpha/beta index, suggesting a balance between relaxation and activation. In addition, increased alpha blocking measures allowed to infer heightened responsiveness and reactivity of the system. These findings of the training effect were supported by greater focus and control of arousal gained by managers also in a stressful condition. This could be seen in the increase of the heart rate variability index. The intervention seemed then to be useful in enhancing fundamental managerial skills with higher executive control and inhibition

Nowadays there is a growing interest in finding new interventions to face debilitating symptoms of patients on chronic conditions. Among these, fatigue is a common symptom experienced by patients affected by end-stage renal failure on chronic hemodialysis (HD) that significantly affects their quality of life (QoL). Recently, research on neuro-immune interactions has demonstrated that an alteration of the basal ganglia function, regulated by dopamine, may translate in a reduced motivation and altered reward processes in other chronic diseases, such as hemodialysis patients. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate a possible correlation between the severity of fatigue and the reward mechanisms that regulate the motivational behaviours, and how these mechanisms are affected in HD patients with a significant impact on their QoL. Evaluative scales have been administered to a sample of haemodialysis patients (N=94) older than 18 years, with no neurocognitive disease. Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) has been applied to measure the impact of fatigue on motivation and social functionality. BIS/BAS Scale has been administered to investigate the mechanisms of reward: Behavioural Activation System (BAS) and Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS) result in behavioural inhibition/activation to rewards/punishments. Finally, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y) and Back Depression Inventory (BDI-II) have been used to evaluate the potential comorbidity of anxiety and depression disorders. The results show that the FSS score was significantly higher in HD patients with high BIS Z-score than in HD patients with low and medium BIS Z-score. Conversely, the BDI score and the STAI-Y1 and STAI-Y2 scores were similar among BIS Z-score groups of HD patients. The correlation between BIS score and FSS score was statistically significant. These data suggest that there is a correlation between fatigue severity symptoms and motivational disposition mechanisms that predispose to action inhibiti

Neurocognitive enhancement can be defined as a voluntary attempt to improve one’s own cognitive skills and performance by means of neuroscience techniques and methods (Balconi & Crivelli, in press). In the last years, the strive to improve personal potential and cognitive efficiency has lead to the revival of mental training. By regularly practicing self-observation and bodily awareness activities it seems indeed possible to empower self-monitoring and attention regulation skills, as well as stress management skills. Recently, it has been suggested that such practices may benefit from the support of wearable body- sensing devices, able to foster practisers’ commitment and to make practice more easily accessible to the modern users (Balconi, Fronda, Venturella, & Crivelli, 2017). The present study aimed at testing the potential for cognitive enhancement of a mental training intervention supported by a novel brain-sensing wearable device. Sixty volunteers took part in the study and were divided in active control and experimental groups. Groups were involved in a mental training intervention, which lasted 4 weeks, was constituted by brief daily activities, and – as for the experimental groups – was supported by brain-sensing devices. Short-term effects of the intervention on cognitive performances and electroencephalographic measures of neural activity improving (both resting-state and task-related) have been explored by comparing pre- and post-intervention assessments. Analyses highlighted increased electrophysiological responsiveness indices and frequency profiles consistent with a focused mindset in experimental groups. The technology-mediated intervention seemed also to help optimizing attention regulation and control skills, as marked by an increase in performance at challenging computerized cognitive tasks. Findings are consistent with available evidences on cognitive and neural effects of mental training practice (Cahn & Polich, 2006; Lutz, Slagter, Dunne, & Dav

Previous research on Schizophrenia (S) revealed anomalies in brain responsiveness during emotion processing, as shown by neuroimaging and EEG measures. Nonetheless preserved capacities to explicitly evaluate the emotional significance of affective stimuli in term of valence have been assessed. The present work explored the usefulness of functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) and EEG to analyze the spatial and temporal expressions of emotion processing in the brain before (T0) and after (T2) an emotional Neurofeedback (NF) training of Schizophrenia patients, assigned to the control or the experimental group. Explicit measures revealed correct identifications of stimuli emotional valence before (T0) and after (T2) the treatment, while implicit measures (EEG and fNIRS) showed a modulation and increased competencies only after the NF (T2) training.

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Emotions are configured as pattern of complex and multicomponential responses resulting from the interaction of the organism with an internal or external stimulus. The multidimension of emotional states allows to measure the different physiological, cognitive, expressive, behavioral and motivational components of emotions (Balconi, Grippa, & Vanutelli, 2015). Previous researches have shown the existence of different paradigms for the elicitation of emotional responses in individuals. The aim of the present study was to define an innovative protocol for emotional elicitation using novel engaging paradigms composed by self-inducing emotional stimuli. Electrophysiological (EEG), hemodynamic (functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy, fNIRS), and autonomic correlates of emotional responses were recorded and evaluated in a sample of healthy participants during three different tasks. Tasks were devised to elicit different emotional states in agreement with the dimensional model of emotions, which stresses the role of two primary dimensions: valence and arousal. Specifically, two tasks required subjects to observe emotional pictures selected from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS); and pictures representing human interactions (Balconi & Vanutelli, 2017). A third task tapping on autobiographical memories was created to elicit emotional responses related to participants’ positive, negative and neutral autobiographical life events. Specific algorithms finalized to find clusters of biomarkers for the elicited emotions were applied. This study hints at the potential of a novel paradigm for eliciting emotions, as well as of the multimethod approach for investigating electrophysiological, hemodynamic and autonomic correlates of emotional responses.

Pathological Gambling (PG) in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) manifests as a persistent and uncontrollable gambling behavior, characterized by dysfunctional decision-making and emotional impairment related to high-risk decisions, despite financial losses and social problems. So far, several neuroimaging studies investigated the contribution of specific frontal brain areas that seem to be crucial for successful decision- making. However, different advantages seem to characterize the application of a safe, non-invasive, portable (closer to real-life situations) and relatively new optical imaging measure, the functional Near- Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS). Thus, the aim of this study was to explore the relationship between personality traits and prefrontal cortex activity in PD patients with and without PG. Hemodynamic cortical activity measured by fNIRS and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) performance were recorded in forty-six PD patients (37 males and 9 females; Mage = 62.93, SD = 7.76), divided into three groups according to their gambling status: Parkinson’s Disease patients with active gambling behavior (Parkinson’s Disease Gamblers, PDG); PD patients who remitted from PG (Parkinson’s Disease Non-Gamblers, PDNG); and a Control Group (CG) composed by patients with PD only. Reward sensitivity and impulsivity were assessed respectively by using the Behavioral Activation System scale (BAS) of BIS/BAS questionnaire and the Barratt impulsiveness scale, version-11 (BIS-11). Results indicates that PDG patients differed from PDNG and CG both on behavioral and brain responses related to decision-making processes. In PD patients, gambling behavior is strongly predictive of dysfunctional cognitive strategy (e.g., worse IGT performance), it affects anomalous cortical response with a left hemispheric unbalance in dorsal areas revealed by an increase of oxy-Hemoglobin responses and it is related to more reward sensitivity (BAS measure) than impulsivity personality components. Overall, the

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State of the art: Cognitive consequences of aging are mainly due to deterioration of prefrontal structures and connections. In addition, functional evidences highlighted that elderly show compensatory neural activity when they are engaged in cognitive tasks. Those changes in activation patterns might be deemed as targets for empowerment interventions. Namely, the re-activation of networks supporting cognitive functions by non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) might lead to an improvement of the functional profile. Nonetheless, that potential for cognitive empowerment and prevention is still understudied. Further, the vast majority of studies focusing on the effect of NIBS on cognitive performances in older people usually implement single-session stimulation protocols. The present study aims at investigating the efficacy of an integrated multi-session prefrontal neuromodulation protocol in improving executive control in healthy elderly. Methods: 33 volunteers were randomly divided into a neuromodulation, an active control (cognitive training only), and a wait-list control group and underwent a standardized neuropsychological and electrophysiological (task-related event-related potentials recording) assessment before (t0) and after (t1) the intervention period. The integrated protocol lasted eight weeks and included three sessions per week. Main results: Comparison of t0 and t1 data highlighted improved cognitive profiles for the neuromodulation group. In particular, we observed an increase in Raven’s progressive matrices scores, a potential neuromodulation-induced increase in Stroop test scores, better post-intervention performances at a fluency and conceptual flexibility test (word association fluency test), and an improvement of performances at an attention test (attention matrices). Even performances at a computerized attention task and relative automatic orienting electrophysiological responses were greater in t1 with respect to t0 for the neuromodulation group.

Objective The effect of emotions on human neurophysiology is important for understanding human brain functioning and mental behavior. Frontal asymmetry has often been associated with psychological adjustment, with more left-sided frontal activity predicting approach motivation and lower levels of depression and anxiety. Neurofeedback is a promising tool for the modulation of cortical activity during emotion processing and regulation. Participants and methods The present study applied EEG and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) co-registration to evaluate: the initial (T0) electrocortical activity during an emotion induction paradigm involving affective stimuli taken from the International Affective Pictures System (IAPS) and a final assessment (T2) with the same criteria in a way to verify the efficacy of the NF intervention during a training protocol of five weeks (T1).10 healthy volunteers participated in the research. After the emotional task, subjects were also required to rate the affective pictures by means of the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM). Results the preliminary results obtained in T0 were used to calibrate the NF protocol: delta band proved to be prevalent during the emotional task, in particular over the frontal and prefrontal sites. Thus, the training was set on this specific band with a frontal arrangement including a left (F3) or a right (F4) montage according to each participant’s hemispheric unbalance. After the training, a significant modulation of both EEG and fNIRS measures was found, showing a more balanced and enhanced cortical activity. Conclusion the present research provided new insights into the contribution of a neuroscientific approach to the study of emotion regulation by means of a multi-method approach involving subjective (SAM) and central (EEG; fNIRS) measures acquired before and after a NF intervention. The training was intended to restore the hemispheric unbalance found in relation to emotion processing, and could have

Recent studies demonstrated the role of executive functions in Prospective Memory (PM), even though it is still debated how these processes are overlapped. Our aim was to understand the role of executive functions in PM. Thus, we developed an experimental procedure in which we manipulated the level of executive load required by cognitive tasks. Experiment 1 required a simple arithmetic activity together with a PM task to be performed at a given time (time-based condition) or following cue presentation (event-based condition). In Experiment 2 we varied the complexity of the ongoing task (a PASAT test) maintaining the same procedure of Experiment 1. We examined the effect of executive load manipulation in a patient (man, 52 y.o.) with a severe disexecutive syndrome following post-anoxic brain damage and 9 healthy participants. Patient’s performance significantly differed in PM accuracy only in PASAT-time condition. The difference between simple arithmetic and PASAT task in time- based condition was statistically significant as compared to the difference observed in the control sample. No differences were found in event-based conditions. These results suggested a partial independence between executive functions and PM in tasks involving an automatic retrieval of PM intention (event based). Nevertheless, these mechanisms seem to share resources in complex tasks requiring PM self-retrieval (time based). Our findings support a multiprocess framework, which assumes the role of controlled processes in PM under certain task conditions and emphasized the strong influence of planning, monitoring and attention abilities even in complex daily-life PM tasks.

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Objective In marketing world, it is not enough to commercialize the products only through traditional channels anymore. Today’s consumers research new stimuli and would like to be engaged in different ways. This consumer neuroscience research aimed at detecting the different cognitive and emotive responses during the vision of two types of commercials: traditional TV commercials and virtual reality commercials. Implicit (brain oscillations and physiological indexes) and explicit (subject evaluation) measures were considered in order to understand the different consumer engagement. Participants and methods Brain oscillations (delta, theta, alpha, beta) and physiological indexes (SCL - Skin Conductance Level, PULS - Hart Rate) were monitored, when subject (N=seventeen) observed four traditional TV commercials and four virtual reality commercialsin randomized order. During the vision of virtual reality commercials, the participants were absorbed into the advertisement and interacted with it thanks to “Oculus Rift”. Subjects were also asked to explicitly evaluate each commercial (on eleven dimensions) and to express their preference on them. Results The results show a more prefrontal cortex increased theta activity and greater SCL in response to virtual reality commercials, evaluated as more emotionally involving and interesting, compared to traditional advertising. It is evident a strong relationship between explicit and implicit measures. Conclusion The subjects appeared more captivated, enthusiastic and felt like protagonists thanks to a new way to do advertising.

Objective The presence of synchronized patterns during joint actions has recently captured researchers’ attentions on the important effects of cooperation as a social behaviour. Nonetheless, the modifications of participants’ responses during ineffective joint actions still remain to be explored. Also, different compartments should be taken into account following a multi-method perspective. Participants and methods 20 subjects were engaged in a cooperative game where they had to synchronize their responses during an attentional task. They constantly received external feedbacks manipulated a priori in a way to frustrate their strategies and signaling their incapacity to create a synergy, which was even more reinforced by a general negative evaluation halfway through the task. Meanwhile behavioural (reaction times, RTs; error rates, ERs), electroencephalographic (EEG brain oscillations: delta, theta, alpha, beta), and autonomic responses (heart rate, HR; Skin Conductance Response, SCR) were recorded. Results At the behavioural level, results showed a worsen performance after the negative feedback in the form of longer reaction times. Moreover a specific pattern of brain activation was found after the negative feedback, that is an increased right delta and theta frequency bands, mainly involving the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In addition, increased SCR was observed. Conclusion The present study highlighted the contribution of negative emotions in response to failing interactions as a possible factor to explain the data. Nonetheless, in parallel, these results could also be ascribed to a disengagement for shared goal-oriented social mechanisms elicited by frustrating evaluations.

Il presente studio si propone di integrare i campi del marketing sensoriale e delle neuroscienze del consumatore al fine di comprendere come l’esperienza d’acquisto sia influenzata dalla stimolazione molteplice dei sensi. Per studiare ciò è stato scelto uno dei punti vendita di una catena di cosmetici e prodotti per il corpo nota per l’utilizzo di fragranze e colorazioni vivaci. Un campione di 21 soggetti è stato diviso in tre gruppi in base a pattern di stimolazioni sensoriali di volta in volta variabili con cui poter esplorare l’ambiente del punto vendita: la vista era l’unico senso presente in modo costante, insieme ad esso, i gruppi differivano per l’uso dell’udito, del tatto e dell’olfatto. Ogni soggetto era libero di esplorare il punto vendita per un massimo di 15 minuti utilizzando i sensi previsti dalla condizione sperimentale di appartenenza. Durante l’intera esplorazione è stata misurata l’attività corticale attraverso elettroencefalografia (EEG, oscillazioni corticali per l’intero spettro) e le misure fisiologiche attraverso il biofeedback (PULS, pulsazioni cardiache; SCL, Skin Conductance Level), con l’utilizzo di strumenti wireless. I dati elettrofisiologici sono stati analizzati sulla base della mappa spaziale di esplorazione dei soggetti. I dati suggeriscono un coinvolgimento della banda delta in area frontopolare e frontale destra, soprattutto durante l’esplorazione di un’area in cui erano presenti prodotti profumati di difficile manipolazione la cui fragranza era percepibile solo avvicinando il prodotto alle narici. In letteratura è noto come l’emisfero destro sia coinvolto nel processamento di stimoli negativi o sgradevoli, in questo caso l’attivazione di delta in questa area potrebbe derivare dalla difficoltà di interazione con il prodotto. Dal punto di vista delle misure autonomiche si osserva una maggiore attivazione di SCL nella condizione in cui i soggetti erano liberi di toccare i prodotti e un maggior numero di pulsazioni per coloro c

Sempre più, al giorno d’oggi, la pubblicità interagisce con il consumatore, assottigliando la distanza tra spazio virtuale e reale. Il presente studio vuole indagare come le espressioni facciali presenti negli spot pubblicitari possano influenzare la comprensione e la capacità di rievocazione dello spot e del prodotto pubblicizzato. Un campione di 19 soggetti è stato coinvolto nella visione di un set di stimoli pubblicitari connotati emotivamente da valenza positiva, negativa o neutra data dall’espressione facciale dei personaggi attori della pubblicità. Gli stimoli pubblicitari appartenevano alle categorie commerciali dell’alimentazione e della salute, con la presentazione di prodotti alimentari e farmaci. Ogni stimolo pubblicitario è stato valutato attraverso gli aggettivi di un differenziale semantico e attraverso la scala SAM – Self Assessment Manikin. Per tutta la durata dell’esperimento è stata misurata l’attività corticale attraverso elettroencefalografia (EEG), le misure fisiologiche attraverso il biofeedback e i movimenti oculari attraverso l’eyetracker. Alla fine dell’esperimento è stato somministrato un questionario sul ricordo dei prodotti pubblicizzati. Dato il focus attentivo sui volti presenti negli spot pubblicitari confermato dall’analisi dei movimenti oculari del campione, i dati mostrano differenze nell’attivazione autonomica dei soggetti in riferimento alla valenza dei video proposti e alla categoria della pubblicità. In particolare vi è un aumento del battito cardiaco e dell’attività del muscolo zigomatico per la visione della pubblicità a valenza positiva per la categoria cibo. Questo tipo di attivazione non è presente per la categoria salute, in cui l’attivazione del muscolo zigomatico e la media delle pulsazioni è maggiore per la pubblicità negativa. Sembrerebbe quindi che venga percepita una dissonanza tra la positività dell’espressione facciale e la categoria di appartenenza. È possibile che vi sia una prevalenza dell’elab

Objective The present study investigates a new neurocognitive intervention aimed at rehabilitating two altered cognitive skills, inhibition and attention, in clinical populations such as addictions and alcoholic patients. Participants and methods Healthy participants (N=59; 18-31 years) were all randomly assigned to four different conditions: Group 1 (G1; n=15) was our control condition; G2 (n=17) was the placebo group; G3 (n=17) was performing a cognitive training on inhibition; G4 (n=10) was receiving the transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) to neuromodulate the right Inferior Frontal Cortex (rIFC) four times in a week (20 minutes each session; 2mA) while performing the same cognitive training on inhibition. As pre-test (T1), post-test (T2) and follow-up (T3) all participants performed a Go/No-go task and a face detection task while an Event-Related Potential (ERPs) recording (32 channels) was conducted. Results An increase in the correct detections and a decrease in the reaction time on the Go/No-go task was registered at T2 for all groups and this effect was maintained at T3. Whereas, the rate of commission errors was similar between T1, T2 and T3 in all groups. At the neurophysiological level, instead, there is a significant difference in the latency of the N2d component, reflecting the conflict monitoring. Indeed, N2d was earlier both for G3 and G4 compared to G1 and G2. This was true at T2 compared to T1 and persisted in T3. Moreover, we found a marginal difference in the latency of the P3d component, indexing the inhibition function per se, that was reduced at T2 as compared with T1 for all groups. Conclusion Overall, our preliminary data suggest that the cognitive training specifically impacts neurophysiological processes related to inhibition. Furthermore, the inhibitory skills of healthy people seem to be enhanced by repeated paradigms, such as the Go/No-go task.

Nowadays advertising is always more often interacting with the consumer, reducing the distance between virtual and real space. The present study investigates how facial expressions in commercials can influence the comprehension and the ability to remember spots, brands and products publicized. Nineteen subjects (10 female and 9 male; mean age 21,4) were involved in the vision of a set of stimuli of advertising that were emotionally connoted by positive, negative or neutral valence based on the facial expression of actors involved in the advertising. Advertising stimuli with different emotional valence belong to the commercial categories of food supply and health, where food and medicines were presented. Every video was evaluated with the adjectives of a semantic differential and the SAM scale (Self-Assessment Manikin Scale). During the experiment, cortical activity was recorded with EEG (Electroencephalography), while physiological measures and ocular movements were gathered by biofeedback and eyetracker. A questionnaire to evaluate the brand andproduct recall was administered at the end of the experiment. Eye movement analysis confirmed that sample attention was significantly captured by faces that appeared in the showedvideos. Moreover, data revealed a difference in subjects’autonomic activity relatively to videos valence and advertising category. In particular, there was an increase in the heart beat and in the zygomaticus major muscle activity during the vision of advertising related to food with a positive valence. The same activity was found for the health category, but related to advertising with negative valence. It may seem that a dissonance between facial expression positivity and the related category was perceived. It is possible that there was a prevalence of a semantic process over a mirroring mechanism, in fact, electrophysiological data suggested that positive video processing should be due to the dissonant contest in contrast with the emotion showed

Prospective memory (PM) refers to the processes associated with the planning and execution of delayed intentions. PM involves a complex balance between the memory of an intention and the maintenance of concurrent activities, thus requiring different cognitive mechanisms. Recent studies have examined the involvement of WM in the PM in order to investigate whether these two processes share cognitive resources or they are independent mechanisms. It was shown that PM is supported by the central executive component of working memory (WM), which organizes the execution of joined actions through selection of relevant information and suppression of the irrelevant ones. According to the preparatory attention and memory model (PAM), PM task performance is always influenced by the availability of WM resources, since controlled attentional processes are needed. Differently, the multiprocess framework posits that a delayed intention can be automatically retrieve, at least under certain circumstances, suggesting that PM and WM are distinct mechanisms.This study aims to examine the role of WM in PM, by comparing the performance of MB, a patient with a disexecutive syndrome and proved PM difficulties acquired after brain damage, to that of nine healthy participants. Two experiments were developed, in which subjects had to perform an ongoing activity together with a PM switching task. We administered two distinct ongoing tasks for the Experiments, differing for the amount of cognitive resources required: a simple arithmetic (Experiment 1) and a high-load WM task (PASAT test, Experiment 2). As a further variable, the modality of PM retrieval was manipulated by introducing both time and event-based conditions for each experiments. In the time-based conditions, the PM task had to be performed at a given time, whereas in the event-based condition PM retrieval occurred following cue presentation. MB’s performances in PM tasks significantly differ from the controls only in the PASAT time

It has been highlighted that animals are more and more present in our everyday life, especially when speaking about children, and many previous studies demonstrated the positive effects of child-animal interactions. This new theme is attracting increasing attention by the scientific community, thus leading to the formulation of some theoretical positions about inter-species relationships. For example, it has been shown that children show an innate interest in animals and a propensity to approach them. Even in the very first months of life they exhibit a visual preference for videos representing animals than other animated subjects. Nonetheless, scientific evidence is still missing with respect to the emotional and neural substrates of human-animal interactions, and should take into account the psychological level. To do so, the present study involved the participation of 34 children who were asked to passively view affective pictures depicting both child-child (CC) and child-animal interactions (CA) while their electrocortical activity (EEG) was monitored and recorded. Results showed increased delta activity while viewing CA stimuli. Such effect was also characterized by a lateralization pattern over frontal sites, with increased left-lateralized responses for positive pictures and right-lateralized responses for neutral ones. Considering the functional role of this frequency band, related to both attentional and emotional mechanisms, it is possible to assume that such stimuli did trigger both processes. For what concerns high-frequency bands, instead, increased beta (higher power) and alpha (decreased power) activity emerged during CA stimulation. Also in this case a lateralization effect emerged over fronto-central sites, with left-sided responses for positive pictures and right-sided responses for negative ones. Since lateralized patterns involving alpha band have been often explored for affective processes, it could be hypothesized that this kind of stimuli are

Recent studies suggested that the activation of motor cortex can decrease subjective pain and nociceptive induced brain responses in patients with chronic pain. Physical exercise would seem to improve quality of life and fitness of patients with Fibromyalgia (FM), an invalidating disorder characterized by chronic diffuse muscle-skeletal pain. This study aimed to examine the interaction between the activity of motor and somatosensory cortex during concurrent painful stimulation and motor task in FM patients and control subjects. The simultaneous recording by functional Near Infrared-Spectroscopy (fNIRS) and Laser Evoked Potentials (LEPs) was used to evaluate the effects of motor cortex activity on the subjective pain and LEPs. The fNIRS is a portable optical method to detect cerebral hemodynamic changes in real time. We used 20 fNIRS channels positioned on the primary motor cortex according to Predefined Montage Tab by NIRStar 14.2. and 63 scalp electrodes for LEPs recording. The experimental protocol consisted of a basal session of 30 laser stimuli delivered over the right hand back, followed by analogue stimulation modality during a concurrent finger tapping task. The participants were 23 patients with FM (4 males and 19 females, Mage =43,17 SD=10,56 , age range from 23 to 60) and 13 healthy subjects (5 males and 8 females, Mage=37,38 SD=15,50, age range from 19 to 60 ). The analysis of fNIRS data confirmed the activation of primary motor cortex both in patients and controls during finger tapping task. A significant reduction of oxyhemoglobin levels corresponding to the contralateral motor cortex was present in FM patients during fast movement with a trend toward reduced changes during concurrent laser stimulation. The finger tapping speed was reduced in patients and independent from concurrent laser stimulation. The N1 amplitude was reduced during movement in patients and controls, with a similar trend for the N2P2 complex. There was a trend toward reduced changes

Self-regulation is significantly relevant in habitual operations, improving cognitive and behavioral performances. The neurofeedback (NF) is a non-invasive approach that allows the user to learn how to modify his brain activity by increasing the frequency, the coherence and the amplitude control of his own electroencephalographic patterns. So far, the efficacy of the NF has been evaluated in the clinical application, in the improvement and enhancement of the cognitive performances and in the emotional behavior self-regulation, which is compromised by the presence of abnormalities in prefrontal activity of low frequency oscillations. The present pilot study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a ten NF training sessions in enhancing the prefrontal activity of the delta band and the interhemispheric rebalancing associated with emotional elaborating processes, involved in a better and more functional control and regulation of emotions. In order to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment on a sample of ten healthy participants, a neurophysiological evaluation was performed observing differences in the cortical (EEG) and in the hemodynamic activity, detected by the Near-infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) technique, during the visualization of 100 images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS), in an earlier (T0) and later (T2) phase of treatment with NF (T1). Furthermore, the Self Assessment Manikin (SAM) scale was evaluated to assess the perceived emotional experience and the Self Report BIS/BAS scale to investigate the use of the two motivational systems underlying emotional behavior: the Behavioral Activation System (BAS) and Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS). From the results of the assessment of the perceived emotional experience, a positive correlation emerges between positive emotional assessment and the BAS and between negative emotional assessment and the BIS. From the neurophysiological assessment emerges, following treatment with NF, an increase i

This study aims to investigate neurophysiological activation during different types of multimedial artefact fruition. In particular we want to verify cortical activation during the vision of both social issues and commercial advertising videos. 10 videos of 30 seconds of duration are presented to a sample of 15 healthy subjects. Advertising videos are selected identifying 5 categories comparable by a commercial or pro-social point of view, and they were: money, health, technology, nutrition and clothing. During videos vision, cortical and physiological activation are recorded by electroencephalography (EEG) and biofeedback. EEG data show a tendency in the presence of Alpha in central areas for social advertising in comparison with commercial advertising and in general there is more activation in the right hemisphere considering that the value of alpha is higher in the left hemisphere, especially in the categories health, money and clothes. This right activation suggest that health, money and clothes are not prerceived as positive. These findings are supported by the results of the semantic differential in which the commercial advertising was considered less accessible, and specially the category money, was considered less desirable, prestigious and new. Also the presence of theta is related with emotions and considering that was higher in frontal area, it is related with high level mental functions such as motivation, control of behavior, emotions and acts in the ethical and moral sense. It is possible to suppose that social advertising (that has higher presence of theta in frontal areas) brings the activation of brain areas related with altruistic behavior. This is also supported by the results of semantic differential in which social advertising was considered more useful. The autonomic indices PVA (Pulse Volume Amplitude) reports a higher activation during social advertising, that suggests that this type of advertising provokes a greater emotional response (accor

Existing research already suggested that during different types of social interaction people can reciprocally influence others’ emotional responses through resonance mechanisms. One of the most interesting aspects from a neuroscientific point of view is that such tuning mechanisms can result in an alignment of the psychophysiological responses. In detail, the peripheral autonomic activity is particularly sensitive to interactive social dynamics and it has been demonstrated that the presence of a link between two or more individuals can modify their psychophysiological responses by creating synchronized patterns. Starting from the idea that, when two individuals have a common goal, they also share emotional experiences, the present study adopted a new paradigm which was created to artificially induce a social bond. The experiment consists in asking participants to cooperate each other and monitoring their peripheral indices in real-time according to the perceived emotional closeness. The paradigm was presented as a game and consisted in a selective attention task. 24 participants, coupled in same-sex dyads, participated in the study. Instead of being required to perform as best as they could, they were asked to find a way to synchronize their motor responses and obtain comparable reaction times and accuracy rates. Both electrodermal (electrodermal: skin conductance level and response: SCL, SCR) and cardiovascular indices (heart rate: HR) were recorded continuously throughout the task. To induce participants to cooperate and to be engaged in the joint task, a general feedback was presented halfway assessing a positive cooperative performance. Such feedback was pre-determined by the experimenter. Two successive steps of analysis have been performed. The first one was at the subject level and was meant to explore the general modulation of peripheral indices during the different phases throughout the task. Results showed that the first part of the task was characterized

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