1
|
Wu W, Tian Y. The role of attention in the effect of facial attractiveness on time perception. Psych J 2024; 13:387-397. [PMID: 38530875 PMCID: PMC11169759 DOI: 10.1002/pchj.744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024]
Abstract
Recent research has indicated that attractive faces often cause a dilation of our time perception thus affecting physical and mental health, and speculates that this could be relevant to the fact that attractive faces capture people's attention. Nevertheless, there was no direct experimental data to support this speculation. The present work was designed to illustrate how attention affects time perception of facial attractiveness. It utilized two experiments to investigate this phenomenon. In Experiment 1, perception of timing and attention bias were assessed using a temporal reproduction task and a dot-probe task. Increased attention bias was found to mediate the time dilation effect of facial attractiveness. Experiment 2 adopted dual-task paradigm, combining a temporal reproduction task and attractiveness rating task, to manipulate attention allocation. The findings suggested that allocating more attention to the task requiring timing enhanced the time dilation effect caused by the faces. Results of Experiments 1 and 2 converge to show that attention plays an essential role in the effects of facial attractiveness on time perception.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Weiwen Wu
- Institute of Brain and Psychological SciencesSichuan Normal UniversityChengduChina
| | - Yu Tian
- Institute of Brain and Psychological SciencesSichuan Normal UniversityChengduChina
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Ataei A, Amini A, Ghazizadeh A. Robust memory of face moral values is encoded in the human caudate tail: a simultaneous EEG-fMRI study. Sci Rep 2024; 14:12629. [PMID: 38824168 PMCID: PMC11144224 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-63085-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2023] [Accepted: 05/24/2024] [Indexed: 06/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Moral judgements about people based on their actions is a key component that guides social decision making. It is currently unknown how positive or negative moral judgments associated with a person's face are processed and stored in the brain for a long time. Here, we investigate the long-term memory of moral values associated with human faces using simultaneous EEG-fMRI data acquisition. Results show that only a few exposures to morally charged stories of people are enough to form long-term memories a day later for a relatively large number of new faces. Event related potentials (ERPs) showed a significant differentiation of remembered good vs bad faces over centerofrontal electrode sites (value ERP). EEG-informed fMRI analysis revealed a subcortical cluster centered on the left caudate tail (CDt) as a correlate of the face value ERP. Importantly neither this analysis nor a conventional whole-brain analysis revealed any significant coding of face values in cortical areas, in particular the fusiform face area (FFA). Conversely an fMRI-informed EEG source localization using accurate subject-specific EEG head models also revealed activation in the left caudate tail. Nevertheless, the detected caudate tail region was found to be functionally connected to the FFA, suggesting FFA to be the source of face-specific information to CDt. A further psycho-physiological interaction analysis also revealed task-dependent coupling between CDt and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), a region previously identified as retaining emotional working memories. These results identify CDt as a main site for encoding the long-term value memories of faces in humans suggesting that moral value of faces activates the same subcortical basal ganglia circuitry involved in processing reward value memory for objects in primates.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ali Ataei
- EE Department, Sharif University of Technology, Azadi Avenue, Tehran, 1458889694, Iran
- Sharif Brain Center, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
| | - Arash Amini
- EE Department, Sharif University of Technology, Azadi Avenue, Tehran, 1458889694, Iran
| | - Ali Ghazizadeh
- EE Department, Sharif University of Technology, Azadi Avenue, Tehran, 1458889694, Iran.
- Sharif Brain Center, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
- School of Cognitive Sciences, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Hoshi H, Ishii A, Shigihara Y, Yoshikawa T. Binocularly suppressed stimuli induce brain activities related to aesthetic emotions. Front Neurosci 2024; 18:1339479. [PMID: 38855441 PMCID: PMC11159128 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1339479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 06/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Aesthetic emotions are a class of emotions aroused by evaluating aesthetically appealing objects or events. While evolutionary aesthetics suggests the adaptive roles of these emotions, empirical assessments are lacking. Previous neuroscientific studies have demonstrated that visual stimuli carrying evolutionarily important information induce neural responses even when presented non-consciously. To examine the evolutionary importance of aesthetic emotions, we conducted a neuroscientific study using magnetoencephalography (MEG) to measure induced neural responses to non-consciously presented portrait paintings categorised as biological and non-biological and examined associations between the induced responses and aesthetic ratings. Methods MEG and pre-rating data were collected from 23 participants. The pre-rating included visual analogue scales for object saliency, facial saliency, liking, and beauty scores, in addition to 'biologi-ness,' which was used for subcategorising stimuli into biological and non-biological. The stimuli were presented non-consciously using a continuous flash suppression paradigm or consciously using binocular presentation without flashing masks, while dichotomic behavioural responses were obtained (beauty or non-beauty). Time-frequency decomposed MEG data were used for correlation analysis with pre-rating scores for each category. Results Behavioural data revealed that saliency scores of non-consciously presented stimuli influenced dichotomic responses (beauty or non-beauty). MEG data showed that non-consciously presented portrait paintings induced spatiotemporally distributed low-frequency brain activities associated with aesthetic ratings, which were distinct between the biological and non-biological categories and conscious and non-conscious conditions. Conclusion Aesthetic emotion holds evolutionary significance for humans. Neural pathways are sensitive to visual images that arouse aesthetic emotion in distinct ways for biological and non-biological categories, which are further influenced by consciousness. These differences likely reflect the diversity in mechanisms of aesthetic processing, such as processing fluency, active elaboration, and predictive processing. The aesthetic processing of non-conscious stimuli appears to be characterised by fluency-driven affective processing, while top-down regulatory processes are suppressed. This study provides the first empirical evidence supporting the evolutionary significance of aesthetic processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hideyuki Hoshi
- Department of Sports Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan
- Precision Medicine Centre, Hokuto Hospital, Obihiro, Japan
| | - Akira Ishii
- Department of Sports Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan
| | | | - Takahiro Yoshikawa
- Department of Sports Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Kramer RSS, Ritchie KL, Flack TR, Mireku MO, Jones AL. The psychometrics of rating facial attractiveness using different response scales. Perception 2024:3010066241256221. [PMID: 38778780 DOI: 10.1177/03010066241256221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
Perceiving facial attractiveness is an important behaviour across psychological science due to these judgments having real-world consequences. However, there is little consensus on the measurement of this behaviour, and practices differ widely. Research typically asks participants to provide ratings of attractiveness across a multitude of different response scales, with little consideration of the psychometric properties of these scales. Here, we make psychometric comparisons across nine different response scales. Specifically, we analysed the psychometric properties of a binary response, a 0-100 scale, a visual analogue scale, and a set of Likert scales (1-3, 1-5, 1-7, 1-8, 1-9, 1-10) as tools to measure attractiveness, calculating a range of commonly used statistics for each. While certain properties suggested researchers might choose to favour the 1-5, 1-7 and 1-8 scales, we generally found little evidence of an advantage for one scale over any other. Taken together, our investigation provides consideration of currently used techniques for measuring facial attractiveness and makes recommendations for researchers in this field.
Collapse
|
5
|
Cho E, Yoon SA, Park HJ. Neural processing of prototypicality and simplicity of product design in forming design preferences. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0297148. [PMID: 38241423 PMCID: PMC10798453 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/21/2024] Open
Abstract
The current study investigates the neural correlates when processing prototypicality and simplicity-affecting the preference of product design. Despite its significance, not much is known about how our brain processes these visual qualities of design when forming design preferences. We posit that, although fluency is the perceptual judgment accounting for the positive effects of both prototypicality and simplicity on design preference, the neural substrates for the fluency judgment associated with prototypicality would differ from those associated with simplicity. To investigate these issues, we conducted an fMRI study of preference decisions for actual product designs with different levels of prototypicality and simplicity. The results show a significant functional gradient between the preference processing of simplicity and prototypicality-i.e., involvement of the early ventral stream of visual information processing for simplicity evaluation but recruitment of the late ventral stream and parietal-frontal brain regions for prototypicality evaluation. The interaction between the simplicity and prototypicality evaluations was found in the extrastriate cortex in the right hemisphere. The segregated brain involvements suggest that the fluency judgment for prototypicality and simplicity contribute to preference choice in different levels of cognitive hierarchy in the perceptual mechanism of the design preference.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Erin Cho
- School of Fashion and Textiles, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Shin-Ae Yoon
- Department of Media and Communication, Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea
- Department of Cognitive Science, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Hae-Jeong Park
- Department of Cognitive Science, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medical Science, Brain Korea 21 Project, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
- Institute of Human Complexity and Systems Science, Center for Systems and Translational Brain Sciences, InYonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Patel B, Koysombat K, Mills EG, Tsoutsouki J, Comninos AN, Abbara A, Dhillo WS. The Emerging Therapeutic Potential of Kisspeptin and Neurokinin B. Endocr Rev 2024; 45:30-68. [PMID: 37467734 PMCID: PMC10765167 DOI: 10.1210/endrev/bnad023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2022] [Revised: 06/13/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023]
Abstract
Kisspeptin (KP) and neurokinin B (NKB) are neuropeptides that govern the reproductive endocrine axis through regulating hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neuronal activity and pulsatile GnRH secretion. Their critical role in reproductive health was first identified after inactivating variants in genes encoding for KP or NKB signaling were shown to result in congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and a failure of pubertal development. Over the past 2 decades since their discovery, a wealth of evidence from both basic and translational research has laid the foundation for potential therapeutic applications. Beyond KP's function in the hypothalamus, it is also expressed in the placenta, liver, pancreas, adipose tissue, bone, and limbic regions, giving rise to several avenues of research for use in the diagnosis and treatment of pregnancy, metabolic, liver, bone, and behavioral disorders. The role played by NKB in stimulating the hypothalamic thermoregulatory center to mediate menopausal hot flashes has led to the development of medications that antagonize its action as a novel nonsteroidal therapeutic agent for this indication. Furthermore, the ability of NKB antagonism to partially suppress (but not abolish) the reproductive endocrine axis has supported its potential use for the treatment of various reproductive disorders including polycystic ovary syndrome, uterine fibroids, and endometriosis. This review will provide a comprehensive up-to-date overview of the preclinical and clinical data that have paved the way for the development of diagnostic and therapeutic applications of KP and NKB.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bijal Patel
- Section of Investigative Medicine, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, W12 0NN, UK
| | - Kanyada Koysombat
- Section of Investigative Medicine, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, W12 0NN, UK
- Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, 72 Du Cane Rd, London, W12 0HS, UK
| | - Edouard G Mills
- Section of Investigative Medicine, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, W12 0NN, UK
- Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, 72 Du Cane Rd, London, W12 0HS, UK
| | - Jovanna Tsoutsouki
- Section of Investigative Medicine, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, W12 0NN, UK
| | - Alexander N Comninos
- Section of Investigative Medicine, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, W12 0NN, UK
- Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, 72 Du Cane Rd, London, W12 0HS, UK
| | - Ali Abbara
- Section of Investigative Medicine, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, W12 0NN, UK
- Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, 72 Du Cane Rd, London, W12 0HS, UK
| | - Waljit S Dhillo
- Section of Investigative Medicine, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, W12 0NN, UK
- Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, 72 Du Cane Rd, London, W12 0HS, UK
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Hou X, Shang J, Tong S. Neural Mechanisms of the Conscious and Subliminal Processing of Facial Attractiveness. Brain Sci 2023; 13:855. [PMID: 37371335 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13060855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2023] [Revised: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/23/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the neural activity evoked by facial attractiveness in conscious and subliminal conditions. The 41 participants judged facial attractiveness in a conscious condition and a subliminal condition (backward masking paradigm). The event-related potential (ERP) analysis indicated that in the conscious condition, more attractive faces elicited a longer N1 (80-120 ms) latency than less attractive faces. Moreover, more attractive female faces elicited a larger late positive component (LPC) (350-550 ms) amplitude than less attractive female faces. In the subliminal condition, more attractive faces elicited a longer P1 (140-180 ms) latency than less attractive faces. The present study demonstrated that more attractive faces evoked different early-stage ERPs from that evoked by less attractive faces in both conscious and subliminal conditions. However, the processing of facial attractiveness is obviously weakened in the subliminal condition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xuejiao Hou
- College of Education, Suihua University, Suihua 152061, China
| | - Junchen Shang
- Department of Medical Humanities, School of Humanities, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
- College of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China
| | - Shuo Tong
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Kaiser D. Spectral brain signatures of aesthetic natural perception in the α and β frequency bands. J Neurophysiol 2022; 128:1501-1505. [PMID: 36259673 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00385.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
During our everyday lives, visual beauty is often conveyed by sustained and dynamic visual stimulation, such as when we walk through an enchanting forest or watch our pets playing. Here, I devised an MEG experiment that mimics such situations: participants viewed 8 s videos of everyday situations and rated their beauty. Using multivariate analysis, I linked aesthetic ratings to 1) sustained MEG broadband responses and 2) spectral MEG responses in the α and β frequency bands. These effects were not accounted for by a set of high- and low-level visual descriptors of the videos, suggesting that they are genuinely related to aesthetic perception. My findings provide the first characterization of spectral brain signatures linked to aesthetic experiences in the real world.NEW & NOTEWORTHY In the real world, aesthetic experiences arise from complex and dynamic inputs. This study shows that such aesthetic experiences are represented in a spectral neural code: cortical α and β activity track our judgments of the aesthetic appearance of natural videos, providing a new starting point for studying the neural correlates of beauty through rhythmic brain activity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Kaiser
- Mathematical Institute, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Physics, Geography, Justus-Liebig-University, Gießen, Germany.,Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), Philipps-University Marburg and Justus-Liebig-University Gießen, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Karim AKMR, Proulx MJ, de Sousa AA, Likova LT. Do we enjoy what we sense and perceive? A dissociation between aesthetic appreciation and basic perception of environmental objects or events. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2022; 22:904-951. [PMID: 35589909 PMCID: PMC10159614 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-022-01004-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/27/2022] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
This integrative review rearticulates the notion of human aesthetics by critically appraising the conventional definitions, offerring a new, more comprehensive definition, and identifying the fundamental components associated with it. It intends to advance holistic understanding of the notion by differentiating aesthetic perception from basic perceptual recognition, and by characterizing these concepts from the perspective of information processing in both visual and nonvisual modalities. To this end, we analyze the dissociative nature of information processing in the brain, introducing a novel local-global integrative model that differentiates aesthetic processing from basic perceptual processing. This model builds on the current state of the art in visual aesthetics as well as newer propositions about nonvisual aesthetics. This model comprises two analytic channels: aesthetics-only channel and perception-to-aesthetics channel. The aesthetics-only channel primarily involves restricted local processing for quality or richness (e.g., attractiveness, beauty/prettiness, elegance, sublimeness, catchiness, hedonic value) analysis, whereas the perception-to-aesthetics channel involves global/extended local processing for basic feature analysis, followed by restricted local processing for quality or richness analysis. We contend that aesthetic processing operates independently of basic perceptual processing, but not independently of cognitive processing. We further conjecture that there might be a common faculty, labeled as aesthetic cognition faculty, in the human brain for all sensory aesthetics albeit other parts of the brain can also be activated because of basic sensory processing prior to aesthetic processing, particularly during the operation of the second channel. This generalized model can account not only for simple and pure aesthetic experiences but for partial and complex aesthetic experiences as well.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A K M Rezaul Karim
- Department of Psychology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh.
- Envision Research Institute, 610 N. Main St., Wichita, KS, USA.
- The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, 2318 Fillmore St., San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | | | | | - Lora T Likova
- The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, 2318 Fillmore St., San Francisco, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Arai T, Nittono H. Cosmetic makeup enhances facial attractiveness and affective neural responses. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0272923. [PMID: 35969525 PMCID: PMC9377592 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2021] [Accepted: 07/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Although it is well established that cosmetic makeup enhances perceived facial attractiveness, few studies have examined whether facial makeup modulates neural responses to face images. This study investigated behavioral and attractiveness-related brain responses to self-applied makeup, focusing on the N170, early posterior negativity, P300, and late positive potential components of event-related brain potentials. A total of 77 Japanese women participated in two experiments (N = 34 and 43 for Experiments 1 and 2, respectively). Experiment 1 assessed the effects of self-applied makeup on attractiveness-related event-related potential amplitudes using facial images during a makeup identification task in which makeup was directly relevant to task demands. Experiment 2 examined the effects of self-applied makeup using images of one’s own face and another female’s face when performing a gender classification task, where the presence of makeup had no explicit connection to facial gender classification. In both experiments, faces with makeup were rated as more attractive and elicited more negative early posterior negativity and more positive late positive potential components, regardless of the participant’s own face or another person’s face. These findings suggest that people are spontaneously motivated to pay visual attention to faces with makeup, which supports the idea that makeup adds reward value to the facial appearance of the human. Moreover, neural evidence empirically confirmed that the benefits of makeup are not just limited to how others see your face but also extend to how you see your own face.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tomohiro Arai
- Shiseido Co., Ltd. MIRAI Technology Institute, Kanagawa, Japan
- * E-mail:
| | - Hiroshi Nittono
- Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, Suita, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Pan Y, Jin J, Wan Y, Wu Y, Wang F, Xu S, Zhu L, Xu J, Rao H. Beauty affects fairness: facial attractiveness alters neural responses to unfairness in the ultimatum game. Brain Imaging Behav 2022; 16:2497-2505. [PMID: 35821158 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-022-00705-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2022] [Revised: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 07/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Human faces consist of rich information for social interactions and facial attractiveness is a key dimension affecting social decisions. Previous studies have indicated that human players are less likely to refuse an unfair offer from proposers with high facial attractiveness in the Ultimatum Game (UG). However, the neural mechanisms underlying such beauty premium effect remain unclear. In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and examined the effects of facial attractiveness on brain responses to fair and unfair offers in the UG. Behavioral data showed that subjects were overall prone to refuse unfair offers across conditions but were more likely to accept unfair offers from higher facial attractive proposers than those from lower facial attractive proposers. Imaging data showed that unfair offers induced greater activity in the anterior insula and medial prefrontal cortex (MePFC) compared to those in fair offers condition for both high and low facial attractive proposers. Moreover, the acceptance rate of unfair offers positively correlated with the MePFC activity for high facial attractive proposers and negatively correlated with the anterior insula activity for low facial attractive proposers. These findings suggest that facial attractiveness modulates brain responses to unfairness through altering the roles of emotion and cognitive motivation in social interactions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yu Pan
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research & Key Laboratory of Applied Brain and Cognitive Sciences, School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jia Jin
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research & Key Laboratory of Applied Brain and Cognitive Sciences, School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yan Wan
- School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China
| | - Yujia Wu
- School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China
| | - Fenghua Wang
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research & Key Laboratory of Applied Brain and Cognitive Sciences, School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China
| | - Sihua Xu
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research & Key Laboratory of Applied Brain and Cognitive Sciences, School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China
| | - Lian Zhu
- School of Journalism and Communication, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jing Xu
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research & Key Laboratory of Applied Brain and Cognitive Sciences, School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Hengyi Rao
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research & Key Laboratory of Applied Brain and Cognitive Sciences, School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China. .,Center for Functional Neuroimaging, Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Kaiser D. Characterizing Dynamic Neural Representations of Scene Attractiveness. J Cogn Neurosci 2022; 34:1988-1997. [PMID: 35802607 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Aesthetic experiences during natural vision are varied: They can arise from viewing scenic landscapes, interesting architecture, or attractive people. Recent research in the field of neuroaesthetics has taught us a lot about where in the brain such aesthetic experiences are represented. Much less is known about when such experiences arise during the cortical processing cascade. Particularly, the dynamic neural representation of perceived attractiveness for rich natural scenes is not well understood. Here, I present data from an EEG experiment, in which participants provided attractiveness judgments for a set of diverse natural scenes. Using multivariate pattern analysis, I demonstrate that scene attractiveness is mirrored in early brain signals that arise within 200 msec of vision, suggesting that the aesthetic appeal of scenes is first resolved during perceptual processing. In more detailed analyses, I show that even such early neural correlates of scene attractiveness are partly related to interindividual variation in aesthetic preferences and that they generalize across scene contents. Together, these results characterize the time-resolved neural dynamics that give rise to aesthetic experiences in complex natural environments.
Collapse
|
13
|
Han S, Hu J, Gao J, Fan J, Xu X, Xu P, Luo Y. Comparisons make faces more attractive: An ERP study. Brain Behav 2022; 12:e2561. [PMID: 35546305 PMCID: PMC9226814 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.2561] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2021] [Revised: 01/25/2022] [Accepted: 02/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Facial attractiveness judgment largely depends on the characteristics of the facial structure and the personality of the observer. However, little is known about the influence of contextual variations on facial attractiveness. In this electroencephalogram study, participants judged the attractiveness of faces presented individually or in pairs with either a higher-attractive face (HAF) or lower-attractive face (LAF). The attractiveness judgment rating of the target face was significantly higher when presented in pairs with HAFs or LAFs than when presented individually and was accompanied by a larger late positive complex. These results suggest that contextual faces enhance the attractiveness judgment of target faces. Microstate analyses revealed that the global field power (GFP) of state 3 was significantly correlated with the attractiveness judgment in the HAF condition whereas the GFP of state 2 was significantly correlated with the attractiveness judgment in the LAF condition. Interestingly, the GFP of state 2 mediated the relationship between narcissism and facial attractiveness judgment in the context of LAFs. Source location analyses showed that states 3 and 2 activated the superior and middle frontal gyrus, which are involved in emotion processing. Our findings suggest that facial attractiveness can be enhanced by contextual comparison with other faces, subject to personality of the observer.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shangfeng Han
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Affective and Social Neuroscience, Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Sciences, School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Jie Hu
- School of Psychology, Sichuan Center of Applied Psychology, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China
| | - Jie Gao
- School of Psychology, Sichuan Center of Applied Psychology, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China
| | - Jiayu Fan
- School of Psychology, Sichuan Center of Applied Psychology, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China
| | - Xinyun Xu
- School of Psychology, Sichuan Center of Applied Psychology, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China
| | - Pengfei Xu
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (BNU), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.,Center for Emotion and Brain, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen, 518057, China
| | - Yuejia Luo
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Affective and Social Neuroscience, Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Sciences, School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.,School of Psychology, Sichuan Center of Applied Psychology, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (BNU), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.,College of Teacher Education, Qilu Normal University, Jining, China.,The Center of Brain Science and Visual Cognition, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Lan M, Peng M, Zhao X, Chen H, Liu Y, Yang J. Facial attractiveness is more associated with individual warmth than with competence: behavioral and neural evidence. Soc Neurosci 2022; 17:225-235. [PMID: 35443146 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2022.2069152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Individuals appear to infer others' psychological characteristics according to facial attractiveness and these psychological characteristics can be classified into two categories in social cognition, that is, warmth and competence. However, which category of psychological characteristic is more associated with face attractiveness and its neural mechanisms have not been explored. To address this, participants were asked to judge others' warmth and competence traits based on face attractiveness, while their brains were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). They also assessed the attractiveness of faces after scanning. Behavioral results showed that the correlation between face attractiveness and warmth ratings was significantly higher than that with competence ratings. fMRI results demonstrated that the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), temporoparietal junction (TPJ), lateral prefrontal cortex, and lateral temporal lobe were more involved in the warmth task. Moreover, attractiveness ratings were negatively correlated with activation of the dmPFC and TPJ only in the warmth task. Furthermore, the attractiveness ratings were negatively correlated with the defined dmPFC, region related to attractiveness judgement, only in the warmth task. In conclusion, people are more inclined to infer others' warmth than competence characteristics from face attractiveness, that is, face attractiveness is more associated with warmth than with competence.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mengxue Lan
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.,Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Maoying Peng
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.,Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Xiaolin Zhao
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.,Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Haopeng Chen
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.,Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Yadong Liu
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.,Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Juan Yang
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.,Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Ito A, Yoshida K, Aoki R, Fujii T, Kawasaki I, Hayashi A, Ueno A, Sakai S, Mugikura S, Takahashi S, Mori E. The Role of the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex in Preferential Decisions for Own- and Other-Age Faces. Front Psychol 2022; 13:822234. [PMID: 35360573 PMCID: PMC8962742 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.822234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2021] [Accepted: 02/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Own-age bias is a well-known bias reflecting the effects of age, and its role has been demonstrated, particularly, in face recognition. However, it remains unclear whether an own-age bias exists in facial impression formation. In the present study, we used three datasets from two published and one unpublished functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study that employed the same pleasantness rating task with fMRI scanning and preferential choice task after the fMRI to investigate whether healthy young and older participants showed own-age effects in face preference. Specifically, we employed a drift-diffusion model to elaborate the existence of own-age bias in the processes of preferential choice. The behavioral results showed higher rating scores and higher drift rate for young faces than for older faces, regardless of the ages of participants. We identified a young-age effect, but not an own-age effect. Neuroimaging results from aggregation analysis of the three datasets suggest a possibility that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) was associated with evidence accumulation of own-age faces; however, no clear evidence was provided. Importantly, we found no age-related decline in the responsiveness of the vmPFC to subjective pleasantness of faces, and both young and older participants showed a contribution of the vmPFC to the parametric representation of the subjective value of face and functional coupling between the vmPFC and ventral visual area, which reflects face preference. These results suggest that the preferential choice of face is less susceptible to the own-age bias across the lifespan of individuals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ayahito Ito
- Research Institute for Future Design, Kochi University of Technology, Kochi, Japan
| | - Kazuki Yoshida
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Ryuta Aoki
- Graduate School of Humanities, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Toshikatsu Fujii
- Kansei Fukushi Research Institute, Tohoku Fukushi University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Iori Kawasaki
- Department of Behavioral Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Akiko Hayashi
- Department of Behavioral Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Aya Ueno
- Department of Behavioral Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Shinya Sakai
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Shunji Mugikura
- Division of Image Statistics, Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Sendai, Japan
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Shoki Takahashi
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Etsuro Mori
- Department of Behavioral Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Mills EG, Yang L, Abbara A, Dhillo WS, Comninos AN. Current Perspectives on Kisspeptins Role in Behaviour. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2022; 13:928143. [PMID: 35757400 PMCID: PMC9225141 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2022.928143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The neuropeptide kisspeptin is now well-established as the master regulator of the mammalian reproductive axis. Beyond the hypothalamus, kisspeptin and its cognate receptor are also extensively distributed in extra-hypothalamic brain regions. An expanding pool of animal and human data demonstrates that kisspeptin sits within an extensive neuroanatomical and functional framework through which it can integrate a range of internal and external cues with appropriate neuroendocrine and behavioural responses. In keeping with this, recent studies reveal wide-reaching effects of kisspeptin on key behaviours such as olfactory-mediated partner preference, sexual motivation, copulatory behaviour, bonding, mood, and emotions. In this review, we provide a comprehensive update on the current animal and human literature highlighting the far-reaching behaviour and mood-altering roles of kisspeptin. A comprehensive understanding of this important area in kisspeptin biology is key to the escalating development of kisspeptin-based therapies for common reproductive and related psychological and psychosexual disorders.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Edouard G. Mills
- Section of Endocrinology and Investigative Medicine, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Lisa Yang
- Section of Endocrinology and Investigative Medicine, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ali Abbara
- Section of Endocrinology and Investigative Medicine, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Waljit S. Dhillo
- Section of Endocrinology and Investigative Medicine, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Endocrinology, Imperial College Healthcare National Health Service (NHS) Trust, London, United Kingdom
- *Correspondence: Waljit S. Dhillo, ; Alexander N. Comninos,
| | - Alexander N. Comninos
- Section of Endocrinology and Investigative Medicine, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Endocrinology, Imperial College Healthcare National Health Service (NHS) Trust, London, United Kingdom
- *Correspondence: Waljit S. Dhillo, ; Alexander N. Comninos,
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Zhang L, Chen W, Liu M, Ou Y, Xu E, Hu P. Light makeup decreases receivers' negative emotional experience. Sci Rep 2021; 11:23802. [PMID: 34893652 PMCID: PMC8664826 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-03129-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2021] [Accepted: 11/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Makeup is widely used in modern society and has a positive effect on perceived attractiveness. However, little is known about the other possible outcomes of makeup use. In this study, we investigated whether makeup enhances a receiver's emotional experience. Dynamic faces with or without makeup are presented in Experiments 1 and 2. Participants were asked to imagine themselves video chatting with a target person (expresser) with different expressions: neutral, angry, sad, or happy, and then to appraise their own subjective emotional experience. Emotional valence, arousal, and willingness to communicate were also assessed in Experiment 2. The results showed that makeup improved perceived facial attractiveness and increased the willingness to communicate. More importantly, it revealed that wearing makeup could weaken receivers' negative experiences arising from the angry and sad conditions, which is not the case for the non-makeup condition, but could not affect the happy contagion. Furthermore, incremental changes in the amount of makeup were not accompanied by incremental changes in emotional appraisal (valence and arousal). Overall, we found that makeup may affect emotional contagion and interpersonal communication. Whether the alleviated negative experience due to makeup is adaptive may need further discussion.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ling Zhang
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, China
| | - Wenfeng Chen
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, China
| | - Menghan Liu
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, China
| | - Yuxiao Ou
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, China
| | - Erjia Xu
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, China
| | - Ping Hu
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, China.
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Yang T, Formuli A, Paolini M, Zeki S. The neural determinants of beauty. Eur J Neurosci 2021; 55:91-106. [PMID: 34837282 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Revised: 09/13/2021] [Accepted: 11/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The perception of faces correlates with activity in a number of brain areas, but only when a face is perceived as beautiful is the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) also engaged. Here, we enquire whether it is the emergence of a particular pattern of neural activity in face perceptive areas during the experience of a face as beautiful that determines whether there is, as a correlate, activity in mOFC. Seventeen subjects of both genders viewed and rated facial stimuli according to how beautiful they perceived them to be while the activity in their brains was imaged with functional magnetic resonance imaging. A univariate analysis revealed parametrically scaled activity within several areas, including the occipital face area (OFA), fusiform face area (FFA) and the cuneus; the strength of activity in these areas correlated with the declared intensity of the aesthetic experience of faces; multivariate analyses showed strong patterns of activation in the FFA and the cuneus and weaker patterns in the OFA and the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS). The mOFC was only engaged when specific patterns of activity emerged in these areas. A psychophysiological interaction analysis with mOFC as the seed area revealed the involvement of the right FFA and the right OFA. We conjecture that it is the collective specific pattern-based activity in these face perceptive areas, with activity in the mOFC as a correlate, that constitutes the neural basis for the experience of facial beauty, bringing us a step closer to understanding the neural determinants of aesthetic experience.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Taoxi Yang
- Laboratory of Neurobiology, Division of Cell & Developmental Biology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Arusu Formuli
- Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany
| | - Marco Paolini
- Department of Radiology, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany
| | - Semir Zeki
- Laboratory of Neurobiology, Division of Cell & Developmental Biology, University College London, London, UK
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Cheng Q, Han Z, Liu S, Kong Y, Weng X, Mo L. Neural responses to facial attractiveness in the judgments of moral goodness and moral beauty. Brain Struct Funct 2021; 227:843-863. [PMID: 34767078 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-021-02422-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
The judgments of moral goodness and moral beauty objectively refer to the perception and evaluation of moral traits, which are generally influenced by facial attractiveness. For centuries, people have equated beauty with the possession of positive qualities, but it is not clear whether the association between beauty and positive qualities exerts a similarly implicit influence on people's responses to moral goodness and moral beauty, how it affects those responses, and what is the neural basis for such an effect. The present study is the first to examine the neural responses to facial attractiveness in the judgments of moral goodness and moral beauty. We found that beautiful faces in both moral judgments activated the left ventral occipitotemporal cortices sensitive to the geometric configuration of the faces, demonstrating that both moral goodness and moral beauty required the automatic visual analysis of geometrical configuration of attractive faces. In addition, compared to beautiful faces during moral goodness judgment, beautiful faces during moral beauty judgment induced unique activity in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex and midline cortical structures involved in the emotional-valenced information about attractive faces. The opposite comparison elicited specific activity in the left superior temporal cortex and premotor area, which play a critical role in the recognition of facial identity. Our results demonstrated that the neural responses to facial attractiveness in the process of higher order moral decision-makings exhibit both task-general and task-specific characteristics. Our findings contribute to the understanding of the essence of the relationship between morality and aesthetics.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qiuping Cheng
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, No. 55 West Zhongshan Avenue, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Zhili Han
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, No. 55 West Zhongshan Avenue, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (Ministry of Education), School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, China
- NYU-ECNU Institute of Brain and Cognitive Science, New York University, Shanghai, 200062, China
| | - Shun Liu
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, No. 55 West Zhongshan Avenue, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Yilong Kong
- School of Music, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Xuchu Weng
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, No. 55 West Zhongshan Avenue, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Lei Mo
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, No. 55 West Zhongshan Avenue, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, 510631, China.
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Yuan G, Liu G, Wei D. Roles of P300 and Late Positive Potential in Initial Romantic Attraction. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:718847. [PMID: 34720856 PMCID: PMC8552996 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.718847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2021] [Accepted: 09/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Initial romantic attraction (IRA) refers to a series of positive reactions to potential romantic partners at the initial encounter; it evolved to promote mate selection, allowing individuals to focus their mating efforts on their preferred potential mates. After decades of effort, we now have a deeper understanding of the evolutionary value and dominant factors of IRA; however, little is known regarding the brain mechanisms related to its generation and evaluation. In this study, we combined classic event-related potential analysis with dipole-source analysis to examine electroencephalogram (EEG) signals generated while participants assessed their romantic interest in potential partners. The EEG signals were categorized into IRA-engendered and unengendered conditions based on behavioral indicators. We found that the faces elicited multiple late positivities, including P300 over the occipital-parietal regions and late positive potentials (LPPs) over the anterior regions. When compared to faces that did not engender IRA, faces that did engender IRA elicited (1) enhanced P300 over the parietal regions and heightened neural activity in the insula and cingulate cortex and (2) larger LPPs over the anterior regions and heightened neural activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, frontal eye field, visual cortex, and insula. These results suggest IRA is generated and evaluated by an extensive brain network involved in emotion processing, attention control, and social evaluations. Furthermore, these findings indicate that P300 and LPP may represent different cognitive processes during IRA.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Guangjie Yuan
- College of Electronic and Information Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Chongqing Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Chongqing, China
- Institute of Affective Computing and Information Processing, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Chongqing Key Laboratory of Nonlinear Circuits and Intelligent Information Processing, Chongqing, China
| | - Guangyuan Liu
- College of Electronic and Information Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Chongqing Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Chongqing, China
- Institute of Affective Computing and Information Processing, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Chongqing Key Laboratory of Nonlinear Circuits and Intelligent Information Processing, Chongqing, China
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China
| | - Dongtao Wei
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Yuan M, Zeng J, Wang A, Shang J. Would It Be Better if Instructors Technically Adjust Their Image or Voice in Online Courses? Impact of the Way of Instructor Presence on Online Learning. Front Psychol 2021; 12:746857. [PMID: 34621230 PMCID: PMC8491790 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.746857] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2021] [Accepted: 08/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of the changes in the image and voice of instructors in online video courses on online learner's learning achievement, social presence, learning satisfaction, and academic emotion. Two simultaneous online experiments were conducted with 122 college students in the image experiment, where the course videos varied in terms of the instructor's image (original image, face-beautified image, virtual image, and no image), and 93 college students in the voice experiment, where the course videos varied in terms of the instructor's voice (original voice, mutated voice, computer-synthesized voice). The results showed that learners viewing videos without instructor images had better learning achievements and less academic boredom relative to those who viewed videos with instructor images. However, the real instructor images were able to promote learners' learning satisfaction of instructor-student interaction more than no image and virtual image and promote satisfaction of instructor teaching more than virtual image. Meanwhile, learners' evaluation of the real instructor images was better than that of the virtual instructor image, and their evaluation of the face-beautified instructor image was better than the original image. Moreover, learners evaluated real instructor voices better than the computer-synthesized voice. In addition, the linear regression analysis revealed that the evaluations of both instructor's image and voice had a positive relationship with learners' social presence, learning satisfaction, and enjoyment, whereas they had a negative relationship with learner's boredom. And the evaluation of the instructor's image positively predicted student's transfer learning achievement. Thus, we suggested that the way of instructor presence should be well-designed and integrated with the course's instructional design and image and voice processing technology can be applied to assist online video course development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mingze Yuan
- Lab of Learning Sciences, Graduate School of Education, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Jialing Zeng
- Lab of Learning Sciences, Graduate School of Education, Peking University, Beijing, China.,Department of Human Development, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Aihua Wang
- Lab of Learning Sciences, Graduate School of Education, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Junjie Shang
- Lab of Learning Sciences, Graduate School of Education, Peking University, Beijing, China
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Báez-Mendoza R, Vázquez Y, Mastrobattista EP, Williams ZM. Neuronal Circuits for Social Decision-Making and Their Clinical Implications. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:720294. [PMID: 34658766 PMCID: PMC8517320 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.720294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2021] [Accepted: 09/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Social living facilitates individual access to rewards, cognitive resources, and objects that would not be otherwise accessible. There are, however, some drawbacks to social living, particularly when competing for scarce resources. Furthermore, variability in our ability to make social decisions can be associated with neuropsychiatric disorders. The neuronal mechanisms underlying social decision-making are beginning to be understood. The momentum to study this phenomenon has been partially carried over by the study of economic decision-making. Yet, because of the similarities between these different types of decision-making, it is unclear what is a social decision. Here, we propose a definition of social decision-making as choices taken in a context where one or more conspecifics are involved in the decision or the consequences of it. Social decisions can be conceptualized as complex economic decisions since they are based on the subjective preferences between different goods. During social decisions, individuals choose based on their internal value estimate of the different alternatives. These are complex decisions given that conspecifics beliefs or actions could modify the subject's internal valuations at every choice. Here, we first review recent developments in our collective understanding of the neuronal mechanisms and circuits of social decision-making in primates. We then review literature characterizing populations with neuropsychiatric disorders showing deficits in social decision-making and the underlying neuronal circuitries associated with these deficits.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Raymundo Báez-Mendoza
- Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Yuriria Vázquez
- Laboratory of Neural Systems, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Emma P. Mastrobattista
- Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Ziv M. Williams
- Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Cheng Q, Wen X, Ye G, Liu Y, Kong Y, Mo L. Neural underpinnings of morality judgment and moral aesthetic judgment. Sci Rep 2021; 11:18232. [PMID: 34521925 PMCID: PMC8440591 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-97782-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2021] [Accepted: 08/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Morality judgment usually refers to the evaluation of moral behavior`s ability to affect others` interests and welfare, while moral aesthetic judgment often implies the appraisal of moral behavior's capability to provide aesthetic pleasure. Both are based on the behavioral understanding. To our knowledge, no study has directly compared the brain activity of these two types of judgments. The present study recorded and analyzed brain activity involved in the morality and moral aesthetic judgments to reveal whether these two types of judgments differ in their neural underpinnings. Results reveled that morality judgment activated the frontal, parietal and occipital cortex previously reported for motor representations of behavior. Evaluation of goodness and badness showed similar patterns of activation in these brain regions. In contrast, moral aesthetic judgment elicited specific activations in the frontal, parietal and temporal cortex proved to be involved in the behavioral intentions and emotions. Evaluation of beauty and ugliness showed similar patterns of activation in these brain regions. Our findings indicate that morality judgment and moral aesthetic judgment recruit different cortical networks that might decode others' behaviors at different levels. These results contribute to further understanding of the essence of the relationship between morality judgment and aesthetic judgment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qiuping Cheng
- School of Psychology South, China Normal University, Tianhe District, No. 55 West Zhongshan Avenue, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Xue Wen
- School of Psychology, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, China
| | - Guozhen Ye
- School of Psychology South, China Normal University, Tianhe District, No. 55 West Zhongshan Avenue, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Yanchi Liu
- School of Psychology South, China Normal University, Tianhe District, No. 55 West Zhongshan Avenue, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Yilong Kong
- School of Music, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Lei Mo
- School of Psychology South, China Normal University, Tianhe District, No. 55 West Zhongshan Avenue, Guangzhou, 510631, China.
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Machine Learning-Based Facial Beauty Prediction and Analysis of Frontal Facial Images Using Facial Landmarks and Traditional Image Descriptors. COMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND NEUROSCIENCE 2021; 2021:4423407. [PMID: 34484321 PMCID: PMC8413070 DOI: 10.1155/2021/4423407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2021] [Accepted: 08/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The beauty industry has seen rapid growth in multiple countries and due to its applications in entertainment, the analysis and assessment of facial attractiveness have received attention from scientists, physicians, and artists because of digital media, plastic surgery, and cosmetics. An analysis of techniques is used in the assessment of facial beauty that considers facial ratios and facial qualities as elements to predict facial beauty. Here, the facial landmarks are extracted to calculate facial ratios according to Golden Ratios and Symmetry Ratios, and an ablation study is performed to find the best performing feature set from extracted ratios. Subsequently, Gray Level Covariance Matrix (GLCM), Hu's Moments, and Color Histograms in the HSV space are extracted as texture, shape, and color features, respectively. Another ablation study is performed to find out which feature performs the best when concatenated with the facial landmarks. Experimental results show that the concatenation of primary facial characteristics with facial landmarks improved the prediction score of facial beauty. Four models are trained, K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), Linear Regression (LR), Random Forest (RF), and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) on a dataset of 5500 frontal facial images, and amongst them, KNN performs the best for the concatenated features achieving a Pearson's Correlation Coefficient of 0.7836 and a Mean Squared Error of 0.0963. Our analysis also provides us with insights into how different machine learning models can understand the concept of facial beauty.
Collapse
|
25
|
Matyjek M, Bayer M, Dziobek I. Pupillary Responses to Faces Are Modulated by Familiarity and Rewarding Context. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11060794. [PMID: 34208579 PMCID: PMC8235004 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11060794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2021] [Revised: 06/10/2021] [Accepted: 06/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Observing familiar (known, recognisable) and socially relevant (personally important) faces elicits activation in the brain’s reward circuit. Although smiling faces are often used as social rewards in research, it is firstly unclear whether familiarity and social relevance modulate the processing of faces differently, and secondly whether this processing depends on the feedback context, i.e., if it is different when smiles are delivered depending on performance or in the absence of any action (passive viewing). In this preregistered study, we compared pupillary responses to smiling faces differing in subjective familiarity and social relevance. They were displayed in a passive viewing task and in an active task (a speeded visual short-term memory task). The pupils were affected only in the active task and only by subjective familiarity. Contrary to expectations, smaller dilations were observed in response to more familiar faces. Behavioural ratings supported the superior rewarding context of the active task, with higher reward ratings for the game than the passive task. This study offers two major insights. Firstly, familiarity plays a role in the processing of social rewards, as known and unknown faces influence the autonomic responses differently. Secondly, the feedback context is crucial in reward research as positive stimuli are rewarding when they are dependent on performance.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Magdalena Matyjek
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Luisenstr. 56, 10117 Berlin, Germany; (M.B.); (I.D.)
- Institute of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Rudower Chaussee, 12489 Berlin, Germany
- Correspondence:
| | - Mareike Bayer
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Luisenstr. 56, 10117 Berlin, Germany; (M.B.); (I.D.)
- Institute of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Rudower Chaussee, 12489 Berlin, Germany
| | - Isabel Dziobek
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Luisenstr. 56, 10117 Berlin, Germany; (M.B.); (I.D.)
- Institute of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Rudower Chaussee, 12489 Berlin, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Gallo LMH, Giampietro V, Zunszain PA, Tan KS. Covid-19 and Mental Health: Could Visual Art Exposure Help? Front Psychol 2021; 12:650314. [PMID: 33995207 PMCID: PMC8119628 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.650314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
A worldwidemental health crisis is expected, as millions worldwide fear death and disease while being forced into repeated isolation. Thus, there is a need for new proactive approaches to improve mental resilience and prevent mental health conditions. Since the 1990s, art has emerged as an alternative mental health therapy in the United States and Europe, becoming part of the social care agenda. This article focuses on how visual esthetic experiences can create similar patterns of neuronal activity as those observed when the reward system is activated. The activation of the reward structures could have a stress buffering effect, given the interdependence observed between the reward and stress systems. Therefore, could visual esthetic experiences stimulate mental resilience? And if this were the case, could art-based interventions be offered for mental health in the context of COVID-19 and beyond?
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Laura M. H. Gallo
- Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Vincent Giampietro
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Patricia A. Zunszain
- Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Kai Syng Tan
- Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Clemente A, Pearce MT, Skov M, Nadal M. Evaluative judgment across domains: Liking balance, contour, symmetry and complexity in melodies and visual designs. Brain Cogn 2021; 151:105729. [PMID: 33887654 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2021.105729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2021] [Revised: 03/29/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Evaluative judgment-i.e., assessing to what degree a stimulus is liked or disliked-is a fundamental aspect of cognition, facilitating comparison and choosing among alternatives, deciding, and prioritizing actions. Neuroimaging studies have shown that evaluative judgment involves the projection of sensory information to the reward circuit. To investigate whether evaluative judgments are based on modality-specific or modality-general attributes, we compared the extent to which balance, contour, symmetry, and complexity affect liking responses in the auditory and visual modalities. We found no significant correlation for any of the four attributes across sensory modalities, except for contour. This suggests that evaluative judgments primarily rely on modality-specific sensory representations elaborated in the brain's sensory cortices and relayed to the reward circuit, rather than abstract modality-general representations. The individual traits art experience, openness to experience, and desire for aesthetics were associated with the extent to which design or compositional attributes influenced liking, but inconsistently across sensory modalities and attributes, also suggesting modality-specific influences.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ana Clemente
- Human Evolution and Cognition Research Group (EvoCog), University of the Balearic Islands, Spain
| | - Marcus T Pearce
- School of Electronic Engineering & Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London, UK; Centre for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Denmark
| | - Martin Skov
- Danish Research Center for Magnetic Resonance, Centre for Functional and Diagnostic Imaging and Research, Copenhagen University Hospital - Amager and Hvidovre, Copenhagen, Denmark; Center for Decision Neuroscience, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
| | - Marcos Nadal
- Human Evolution and Cognition Research Group (EvoCog), University of the Balearic Islands, Spain.
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Wassiliwizky E, Menninghaus W. Why and How Should Cognitive Science Care about Aesthetics? Trends Cogn Sci 2021; 25:437-449. [PMID: 33810983 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.03.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Revised: 02/18/2021] [Accepted: 03/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Empirical aesthetics has found its way into mainstream cognitive science. Until now, most research has focused either on identifying the internal processes that underlie a perceiver's aesthetic experience or on identifying the stimulus features that lead to a specific type of aesthetic experience. To progress, empirical aesthetics must integrate these approaches into a unified paradigm that encourages researchers to think in terms of temporal dynamics and interactions between: (i) the stimulus and the perceiver; (ii) different systems within the perceiver; and (iii) different layers of the stimulus. At this critical moment, empirical aesthetics must also clearly identify and define its key concepts, sketch out its agenda, and specify its approach to grow into a coherent and distinct discipline.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Eugen Wassiliwizky
- Department of Language and Literature, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Grueneburgweg 14, 60322 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
| | - Winfried Menninghaus
- Department of Language and Literature, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Grueneburgweg 14, 60322 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Age differences in Neural Activation to Face Trustworthiness: Voxel Pattern and Activation Level Assessments. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2021; 21:278-291. [PMID: 33751423 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-021-00868-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Judgment of trustworthiness is an important social ability. Many studies show neural activation differences to variations in face trustworthiness in brain reward regions. A previously published analysis of the present fMRI data showed that older adults' (OA) reward region activation responded significantly to trustworthiness in a set of older and younger faces, whereas younger adults' (YA) activation did not-a finding inconsistent with studies that used only younger faces. We hypothesized that voxel pattern analyses would be more sensitive to YA neural responses to trustworthiness in our set of faces, replicating YA neural discrimination in prior literature. Based on evidence for OA neural dedifferentiation, we also hypothesized that voxel pattern analyses would more accurately classify YA than OA neural responses to face trustworthiness. We reanalyzed the data with two pattern classification models and evaluated the models' performance with permutation testing. Voxel patterns discriminated face trustworthiness levels in both YA and OA reward regions, while allowing better classification of face trustworthiness for YA than OA, the reverse of previous results for neural activation levels. The moderation of age differences by analytic method shines a light on the possibility that voxel patterns uniquely index neural representations of the stimulus information content, consistent with findings of impaired representation with age.
Collapse
|
30
|
Human brain activity reflecting facial attractiveness from skin reflection. Sci Rep 2021; 11:3412. [PMID: 33619295 PMCID: PMC7900112 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-82601-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2019] [Accepted: 12/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Facial attraction has a great influence on our daily social interactions. Previous studies have mainly focused on the attraction from facial shape and expression. We recently found that faces with radiant skin appear to be more attractive than those with oily-shiny or matte skin. In the present study, we conducted functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and psychological experiments to determine the human brain activity that reflects facial attractiveness modulated by these skin reflection types. In the fMRI experiment, female subjects were shown successive images of unfamiliar female faces with matte, oily-shiny, or radiant skin. The subjects compared each face with the immediately preceding face in terms of attractiveness, age, and skin reflection, all based on the skin. The medial part of the orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) was significantly more active when comparing attractiveness than when comparing skin reflection, suggesting that the mOFC is involved in processing facial attractiveness from skin reflection. In the psychological experiment, attractiveness rating was highest for radiant skin, followed by oily-shiny, and then matte skin. Comparison of the results of these experiments showed that mOFC activation level increased with attractiveness rating. These results suggest that the activation level of the mOFC reflects facial attractiveness from skin reflection.
Collapse
|
31
|
Habel U, Regenbogen C, Kammann C, Stickel S, Chechko N. Male brain processing of the body odor of ovulating women compared to that of pregnant women. Neuroimage 2021; 229:117733. [PMID: 33484852 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2020] [Revised: 12/22/2020] [Accepted: 01/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Female chemical signals underlie the advertising of sexual receptivity and fertility. Whether the body odor of a pregnant woman also has a signaling function with respect to male behavior is yet to be conclusively established. This study examines how the body odors of ovulating and pregnant women differentially affect the behavior of heterosexual men. Body odor samples were collected from 5 pregnant women and 5 matched controls during ovulation. In a double-blind functional magnetic resonance imaging design, 18 heterosexual men were exposed to female body odors during ovulation (OV) and pregnancy (PRG) while being required to indicate the attractiveness of concurrently presented female portrait images. The participants were also required to indicate whether they assumed a depicted woman was pregnant. While neither OV nor PRG altered the perceived attractiveness of a presented face, the men tended to identify the women as pregnant while exposed to a PRG body odor. On the neural level, OV activated a network of the frontotemporal and limbic regions, while PRG activated the superior medial frontal gyrus. The results suggest that the detection of sexual availability activates the male brain regions associated with face processing and reward/motivation, whereas sensing pregnancy activates a region responsible for empathy and prosocial behavior. Thus, the female body odor during pregnancy likely helps foster circumstances conducive to the future care of offspring while the body odor advertising sexual availability promotes mating behavior. The brains of heterosexual men may be capable of unconsciously discriminating between these two types of olfactory stimuli.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ute Habel
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany; Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine: JARA-Institute Brain Structure Function Relationship (INM 10), Research Center Jülich, Wilhelm-Johne Strasse, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
| | - Christina Regenbogen
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany; Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine: JARA-Institute Brain Structure Function Relationship (INM 10), Research Center Jülich, Wilhelm-Johne Strasse, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Tomtebodavägen 18A, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Catharina Kammann
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany; Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 40, 6229 ER Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Susanne Stickel
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany; Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine: JARA-Institute Brain Structure Function Relationship (INM 10), Research Center Jülich, Wilhelm-Johne Strasse, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
| | - Natalia Chechko
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany; Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine: JARA-Institute Brain Structure Function Relationship (INM 10), Research Center Jülich, Wilhelm-Johne Strasse, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Abstract
Beauty filters, while often employed for retouching photos to appear more attractive on social media, when used in excess cause images to give a distorted impression. The neural mechanisms underlying this change in facial attractiveness according to beauty retouching level remain unknown. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging in women as they viewed photos of their own face or unknown faces that had been retouched at three levels: no, mild, and extreme. The activity in the nucleus accumbens (NA) exhibited a positive correlation with facial attractiveness, whereas amygdala activity showed a negative correlation with attractiveness. Even though the participants rated others' faces as more attractive than their own, the NA showed increased activity only for their mildly retouched own face and the amygdala exhibited greater activation in the others' faces condition than the own face condition. Moreover, amygdala activity was greater for extremely retouched faces than for unretouched or mildly retouched faces for both conditions. Frontotemporal and cortical midline areas showed greater activation for one's own than others' faces, but such self-related activation was absent when extremely retouched. These results suggest that neural activity dynamically switches between the NA and amygdala according to perceived attractiveness of one's face.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chisa Ota
- Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Tamami Nakano
- Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.,Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.,PRESTO, Japan Science Technology, Saitama, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
Sugimoto H, Dolcos F, Tsukiura T. Memory of my victory and your defeat: Contributions of reward- and memory-related regions to the encoding of winning events in competitions with others. Neuropsychologia 2020; 152:107733. [PMID: 33347912 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2020] [Revised: 12/09/2020] [Accepted: 12/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Social interactions enhance human memories, but little is known about how the neural mechanisms underlying episodic memories are modulated by rewarding outcomes in social interactions. To investigate this, fMRI data were recorded while healthy young adults encoded unfamiliar faces in either a competition or a control task. In the competition task, participants encoded opponents' faces in the rock-paper-scissors game, where trial-by-trial outcomes of Win, Draw, and Lose for participants were shown by facial expressions of opponents (Angry, Neutral, and Happy). In the control task, participants encoded faces by assessing facial expressions. After encoding, participants recognized faces previously learned. Behavioral data showed that emotional valence for opponents' Angry faces as the Win outcome was rated positively in the competition task, whereas the rating for Angry faces was rated negatively in the control task, and that Angry faces were remembered more accurately than Neutral or Happy faces in both tasks. fMRI data showed that activation in the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) paralleled the pattern of valence ratings, with greater activation for the Win than Draw or Lose conditions of the competition task, and the Angry condition of the control task. Moreover, functional connectivity between the mOFC and hippocampus was increased in Win compared to Angry, and the mOFC-hippocampus functional connectivity predicted individual differences in subsequent memory performance only in Win of the competition task, but not in any other conditions of the two tasks. These results demonstrate that the memory enhancement by context-dependent social rewards involves interactions between reward- and memory-related regions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hikaru Sugimoto
- Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Sciences, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan; RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, Tokyo, Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan.
| | - Florin Dolcos
- Psychology Department and Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA; Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
| | - Takashi Tsukiura
- Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Sciences, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Smillie LD. The conceptualisation, measurement and scope of reinforcement sensitivity in the context of a neuroscience of personality. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/per.687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) is complex, and there are subtle differences between RST and other approach‐avoidance process theories of personality. However, most such theories posit a common biobehavioural mechanism underlying personality which we must therefore strive to understand: differential sensitivity to reinforcing stimuli. Reinforcement sensitivity is widely assessed using questionnaires, but should we treat such measures as (a) a proxy for reinforcement sensitivity itself (i.e. the underlying causes of personality) or (b) trait constructs potentially manifesting out of reinforcement sensitivity (i.e. the ‘surface’ of personality)? Might neuroscience paradigms, such as those I have reviewed in my target paper, provide an advantage over questionnaires in allowing us to move closer to (a), thereby improving both the measurement and our understanding of reinforcement sensitivity? Assuming we can achieve this, how useful is reinforcement sensitivity—and biological perspectives more generally—for explaining personality? These are the major questions raised in the discussion of my target paper, and among the most pertinent issues in this field today. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Luke D. Smillie
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
| |
Collapse
|
35
|
Chuan-Peng H, Huang Y, Eickhoff SB, Peng K, Sui J. Seeking the "Beauty Center" in the Brain: A Meta-Analysis of fMRI Studies of Beautiful Human Faces and Visual Art. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2020; 20:1200-1215. [PMID: 33089442 PMCID: PMC8058033 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-020-00827-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/28/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
During the past two decades, cognitive neuroscientists have sought to elucidate the common neural basis of the experience of beauty. Still, empirical evidence for such common neural basis of different forms of beauty is not conclusive. To address this question, we performed an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis on the existing neuroimaging studies of beauty appreciation of faces and visual art by nonexpert adults (49 studies, 982 participants, meta-data are available at https://osf.io/s9xds/ ). We observed that perceiving these two forms of beauty activated distinct brain regions: While the beauty of faces convergently activated the left ventral striatum, the beauty of visual art convergently activated the anterior medial prefrontal cortex (aMPFC). However, a conjunction analysis failed to reveal any common brain regions for the beauty of visual art and faces. The implications of these results are discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hu Chuan-Peng
- Department of Psychology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
- Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research (LIR), Mainz, Germany.
| | - Yi Huang
- Department of Psychology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
- School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Simon B Eickhoff
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain & Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Kaiping Peng
- Department of Psychology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Jie Sui
- School of Psychology, the University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Zhao X, Wang J, Li J, Luo G, Li T, Chatterjee A, Zhang W, He X. The neural mechanism of aesthetic judgments of dynamic landscapes: an fMRI study. Sci Rep 2020; 10:20774. [PMID: 33247221 PMCID: PMC7695698 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77658-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2020] [Accepted: 09/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Most previous neuroaesthetics research has been limited to considering the aesthetic judgment of static stimuli, with few studies examining the aesthetic judgment of dynamic stimuli. The present study explored the neural mechanisms underlying aesthetic judgment of dynamic landscapes, and compared the neural mechanisms between the aesthetic judgments of dynamic landscapes and static ones. Participants were scanned while they performed aesthetic judgments on dynamic landscapes and matched static ones. The results revealed regions of occipital lobe, frontal lobe, supplementary motor area, cingulate cortex and insula were commonly activated both in the aesthetic judgments of dynamic and static landscapes. Furthermore, compared to static landscapes, stronger activations of middle temporal gyrus (MT/V5), and hippocampus were found in the aesthetic judgments of dynamic landscapes. This study provided neural evidence that visual processing related regions, emotion-related regions were more active when viewing dynamic landscapes than static ones, which also indicated that dynamic stimuli were more beautiful than static ones.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xueru Zhao
- Academy of Basic Education Professionals, Beijing Institute of Education, Beijing, China
| | - Junjing Wang
- Department of Applied Psychology, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jinhui Li
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Guang Luo
- School of Fine Arts, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ting Li
- SSL Experimental Middle School, Dongguan, China
| | - Anjan Chatterjee
- School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
| | - Wei Zhang
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xianyou He
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China. .,Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China. .,Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China. .,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Zhang W, Zhuang K, Chen Q, Shi B, Qiu J, Wang N. Relationship between self-defeating humor and the Gray matter volume in the orbital frontal cortex: the moderating effect of divergent thinking. Brain Imaging Behav 2020; 15:2168-2177. [PMID: 33210225 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-020-00412-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The self-defeating humor style is characterized by the excessive use of self-mockery, fawning over others and ineffective denial of negative emotions. The differences in brain structures responsible for self-defeating humor and the role of divergent thinking (DT) in this relationship have not been directly investigated in a large sample. Using voxel-based morphometry (VBM), we identified the association between regional gray matter volume (GMV) and self-defeating humor (assessed by the Humor Style Questionnaire) in 284 participants. Then, the role of DT (assessed by the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, TTCT) in the relationship between humor and the related brain regions was examined in the participants (N = 280). The results showed that self-defeating humor was significantly positively associated with the regional GMV in the left orbital frontal cortex (OFC) and that DT had a moderating effect on this relationship. Among the individuals with higher DT, a strong positive correlation was observed between self-defeating humor and the OFC, but among individuals with lower DT, this correlation was weaker. These results reveal that the interaction between brain structures and DT plays an important role in humor, thus providing new evidence enhancing our understanding of the mechanism of humor.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Weiwei Zhang
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition and School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, China
| | - Kaixiang Zhuang
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing, 400715, China.,School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Qunlin Chen
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing, 400715, China.,School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Baoguo Shi
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition and School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, China.
| | - Jiang Qiu
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing, 400715, China.,School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Nan Wang
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition and School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, China
| |
Collapse
|
38
|
Ho PK, Newell FN. Changes in perceptual category affects serial dependence in judgements of attractiveness. VISUAL COGNITION 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2020.1841867] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Pik Ki Ho
- School of Psychology and Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Fiona N. Newell
- School of Psychology and Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| |
Collapse
|
39
|
Kaiser D, Nyga K. Tracking cortical representations of facial attractiveness using time-resolved representational similarity analysis. Sci Rep 2020; 10:16852. [PMID: 33033356 PMCID: PMC7546608 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-74009-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
When we see a face, we rapidly form an impression of its attractiveness. Here, we investigated how rapidly representations of facial attractiveness emerge in the human brain. In an EEG experiment, participants viewed 100 face photographs and rated them for their attractiveness. Using time-resolved representational similarity analysis on the EEG data, we reveal representations of facial attractiveness after 150-200 ms of cortical processing. Interestingly, we show that these representations are related to individual participants' personal attractiveness judgments, suggesting that already early perceptual representations of facial attractiveness convey idiosyncratic attractiveness preferences. Further, we show that these early representations are genuinely related to attractiveness, as they are neither explained by other high-level face attributes, such as face sex or age, nor by features extracted by an artificial deep neural network model of face processing. Together, our results demonstrate early, individually specific, and genuine representations of facial attractiveness, which may underlie fast attractiveness judgments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Kaiser
- Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK.
| | - Karen Nyga
- Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK
| |
Collapse
|
40
|
Ajina S, Pollard M, Bridge H. The Superior Colliculus and Amygdala Support Evaluation of Face Trait in Blindsight. Front Neurol 2020; 11:769. [PMID: 32765417 PMCID: PMC7379153 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2020.00769] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Humans can respond rapidly to viewed expressions of fear, even in the absence of conscious awareness. This is demonstrated using visual masking paradigms in healthy individuals and in patients with cortical blindness due to damage to the primary visual cortex (V1) - so called affective blindsight. Humans have also been shown to implicitly process facial expressions representing important social dimensions. Two major axes, dominance and trustworthiness, are proposed to characterize the social dimensions of face evaluation. The processing of both types of implicit stimuli is believed to occur via similar subcortical pathways involving the amygdala. However, we do not know whether unconscious processing of more subtle expressions of facial traits can occur in blindsight, and if so, how. To test this, we studied 13 patients with unilateral V1 damage and visual field loss. We assessed their ability to detect and discriminate faces that had been manipulated along two orthogonal axes of trustworthiness and dominance to generate five trait levels inside the blind visual field: dominant, submissive, trustworthy, untrustworthy, and neutral. We compared neural activity and functional connectivity in patients classified as blindsight positive or negative for these stimuli. We found that dominant faces were most likely to be detected above chance, with individuals demonstrating unique interactions between performance and face trait. Only patients with blindsight (n = 8) showed significant preference in the superior colliculus and amygdala for face traits in the blind visual field, and a critical functional connection between the amygdala and superior colliculus in the damaged hemisphere. We also found a significant correlation between behavioral performance and fMRI activity in the amygdala and lateral geniculate nucleus across all participants. Our findings confirm that affective blindsight involving the superior colliculus and amygdala extends to the processing of socially salient but emotionally neutral facial expressions when V1 is damaged. This pathway is distinct from that which supports motion blindsight, as both types of blindsight can exist in the absence of the other with corresponding patterns of residual connectivity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sara Ajina
- Department of Neurorehabilitation and Therapy Services, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom.,Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Miriam Pollard
- Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Holly Bridge
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Shang J, Liu Z, Yang H, Wang C, Zheng L, Chen W, Liu CH. Perceptual Advantage of Animal Facial Attractiveness: Evidence From b-CFS and Binocular Rivalry. Front Psychol 2020; 11:1670. [PMID: 32754100 PMCID: PMC7367084 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2020] [Accepted: 06/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Research has shown that attractive human faces enjoy an advantage in both conscious and preconscious processing. Here we examined whether this preference for attractiveness is exclusive to human faces by measuring participants’ sensitivity to the attractiveness of cat and tiger faces. Experiment 1 measured the time taken to break continuous flash suppression (b-CFS), whereas Experiment 2 measured the dominant time in binocular rivalry (BR). The results showed that attractive cat faces were detected more quickly (Experiment 1) and dominated for longer time in visual awareness (Experiment 2). However, no effect of attractiveness was found for tiger faces in Experiment 1, while attractive tiger faces also dominated for longer time in visual awareness in Experiment 2. The results provide first evidence that the preference for attractive animal faces can be shown involuntarily or without apparent conscious control. The findings suggest that human preference for facial attractiveness may contain an aesthetic element rather than being a purely adaptive means for mate choice.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Junchen Shang
- College of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
| | - Zhihui Liu
- College of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
| | - Hong Yang
- College of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
| | - Chengyu Wang
- College of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
| | - Lingya Zheng
- College of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
| | - Wenfeng Chen
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Chang Hong Liu
- Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Poole, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
Lin T, Fischer H, Johnson MK, Ebner NC. The effects of face attractiveness on face memory depend on both age of perceiver and age of face. Cogn Emot 2020; 34:875-889. [PMID: 31747845 PMCID: PMC7237279 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2019.1694491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2019] [Revised: 10/03/2019] [Accepted: 11/11/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Face attractiveness can influence memory for previously seen faces. This effect has been shown to differ for young and older perceivers. Two parallel studies examined the moderation of both the age of the face and the age of the perceiver on the relationship between facial attractiveness and face memory. Study 1 comprised 29 young and 31 older participants; Study 2 comprised 25 young and 24 older participants. In both studies, participants completed an incidental face encoding and a surprise old/new recognition test with young and older faces that varied in face attractiveness. Face attractiveness affected memory for young but not older faces. In addition, young but not older perceivers showed a linear effect of facial attractiveness on memory for young faces, while both young and older perceivers showed a quadratic effect on memory for young faces. These findings extend previous work by demonstrating that the effect of facial attractiveness on face memory is a function of both the age of the perceiver and the age of the face. Factors that could account for such moderations of face and perceiver age on the associations between face attractiveness and face memory are discussed (e.g. age differences in social goals and face similarity/distinctiveness).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tian Lin
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Håkan Fischer
- Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Sweden
- Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Natalie C. Ebner
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Department of Aging and Geriatric Research, Institute on Aging, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Florida Institute of Cybersecurity Research, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Xiang Y, Wen X, Zhao J, Zhang W, Jiang Y. Cognitive Process Differences Between Moral Beauty Judgments and Moral Goodness Judgments. Adv Cogn Psychol 2020; 16:160-168. [PMID: 32685060 PMCID: PMC7358606 DOI: 10.5709/acp-0293-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Goodness and beauty have always been important topics of debate in the field of philosophy and aesthetics. The present study used behavior and event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate whether moral beauty judgments and moral goodness judgments involve different cognitive processes or the same cognitive process under different language labels for the same human act. Behavioral results showed that individuals gave significantly higher scores for a beautiful face than an ugly face when making moral beauty judgments, but there were no significant differences between the two conditions when making moral goodness judgments. The ERP experiment displayed larger P2 amplitudes and the late positive potential (LPP) amplitude was elicited when displaying beautiful faces but not ugly faces during moral beauty judgments. However, during moral goodness judgments, the P2 and LPP showed no significant differences under the two conditions. In general, we conclude that moral beauty judgments and moral goodness judgments involve different cognitive processes, although they objectively refer to the same human act. One of the most important differences between moral beauty judgments and moral goodness judgments was that the former process involved an image, whereas the latter did not. The present conclusion provides important insights into the research in aesthetic perception and moral sense.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yanhui Xiang
- Cognition and Human Behavior Key Laboratory of Hunan, Department of Psychology, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
| | - Xue Wen
- School of Psychology, Hainan Normal University, Hainan, China
| | - Jiaxu Zhao
- Cognition and Human Behavior Key Laboratory of Hunan, Department of Psychology, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
| | - Wenrui Zhang
- Cognition and Human Behavior Key Laboratory of Hunan, Department of Psychology, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
| | - Yiqi Jiang
- School of Psychology, Hainan Normal University, Hainan, China
| |
Collapse
|
44
|
El Haj M, Ndobo A. Attractive memory: High destination memory for attractive faces. Scand J Psychol 2020; 62:1-6. [PMID: 32613619 DOI: 10.1111/sjop.12657] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2020] [Accepted: 05/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Research has demonstrated that destination memory (i.e., the ability to remember to whom information was previously told) can be influenced by characteristics (e.g., emotional expressions and age) of the destination. Building on this literature, we investigated whether destination memory can be influenced by the attractiveness of the destination. We invited participants to give information on attractive faces, unattractive faces, or neither-attractive-nor-unattractive faces. On a recognition test, they were invited to decide to whom each piece of information had been previously told. Results demonstrated higher destination memory (1) for attractive faces than for neither-attractive-nor-unattractive faces, and (2) for unattractive faces than for neither-attractive-nor-unattractive faces. We attribute the higher destination memory for attractive and unattractive destinations to their distinctiveness compared with neutrally attractive destinations. We also provide some attentional explanations for the high memory for attractive and unattractive destinations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mohamad El Haj
- Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de la Loire (LPPL - EA 4638), Nantes Université, Nantes, France.,Unité de Gériatrie, Centre Hospitalier de Tourcoing, Tourcoing, France.,Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
| | - André Ndobo
- Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de la Loire (LPPL - EA 4638), Nantes Université, Nantes, France
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
Lawrence KE, Hernandez LM, Eilbott J, Jack A, Aylward E, Gaab N, Van Horn JD, Bernier RA, Geschwind DH, McPartland JC, Nelson CA, Webb SJ, Pelphrey KA, Bookheimer SY, Dapretto M. Neural responsivity to social rewards in autistic female youth. Transl Psychiatry 2020; 10:178. [PMID: 32488083 PMCID: PMC7266816 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-020-0824-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2019] [Revised: 04/16/2020] [Accepted: 04/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism is hypothesized to be in part driven by a reduced sensitivity to the inherently rewarding nature of social stimuli. Previous neuroimaging studies have indicated that autistic males do indeed display reduced neural activity to social rewards, but it is unknown whether this finding extends to autistic females, particularly as behavioral evidence suggests that affected females may not exhibit the same reduction in social motivation as their male peers. We therefore used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine social reward processing during an instrumental implicit learning task in 154 children and adolescents (ages 8-17): 39 autistic girls, 43 autistic boys, 33 typically developing girls, and 39 typically developing boys. We found that autistic girls displayed increased activity to socially rewarding stimuli, including greater activity in the nucleus accumbens relative to autistic boys, as well as greater activity in lateral frontal cortices and the anterior insula compared with typically developing girls. These results demonstrate for the first time that autistic girls do not exhibit the same reduction in activity within social reward systems as autistic boys. Instead, autistic girls display increased neural activation to such stimuli in areas related to reward processing and salience detection. Our findings indicate that a reduced sensitivity to social rewards, as assessed with a rewarded instrumental implicit learning task, does not generalize to affected female youth and highlight the importance of studying potential sex differences in autism to improve our understanding of the condition and its heterogeneity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Katherine E Lawrence
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Leanna M Hernandez
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Jeffrey Eilbott
- Autism & Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington D.C., USA
| | - Allison Jack
- Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, USA
| | - Elizabeth Aylward
- Center for Integrative Brain Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, USA
| | - Nadine Gaab
- Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
- Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, USA
| | - John D Van Horn
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA
| | - Raphael A Bernier
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
| | - Daniel H Geschwind
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA
- Department of Neurology and Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA
| | - James C McPartland
- Department of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, USA
- Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, USA
| | - Charles A Nelson
- Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - Sara J Webb
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
- Center on Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, USA
| | - Kevin A Pelphrey
- Department of Neurology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA
| | - Susan Y Bookheimer
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Mirella Dapretto
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
46
|
Tsapelas I, Beckes L, Aron A. Manipulation of Self-Expansion Alters Responses to Attractive Alternative Partners. Front Psychol 2020; 11:938. [PMID: 32528365 PMCID: PMC7264388 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00938] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2019] [Accepted: 04/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Past behavioral research has examined relationship infidelity as a potential outcome of focusing on attractive alternative partners when already in a relationship. The extent to which individuals find such alternatives attractive has been shown to be associated with various factors in the relationship, including self-expansion. However, no previous research has tested the role of self-expansion experimentally. This paper presents two experiments that directly manipulate self-expansion to determine the effect of self-expansion on responses to attractive alternative partners. Participants primed to experience a higher need for self-expansion had better memory for attractive alternatives with self-expanding traits dissimilar to their partner's versus attractive alternatives with self-expanding traits similar to their partner's. Additionally, participants primed with self-expansion (via a video of their partner discussing ways in which life with one another is exciting, novel, and challenging), had less fMRI BOLD response to attractive alternatives of the opposite sex in regions associated with perception of attractive faces (anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortex) relative to when they were primed with love (via a video of their partner discussing times they felt strong feelings of love for one another), or neutral content (via a video of their partner discussing some times in which they engage in mundane, routine activities together). The magnitude of this effect in the ACC correlated with relationship closeness as measured by the inclusion of the other in the self scale.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Irene Tsapelas
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, United States
| | - Lane Beckes
- Department of Psychology, Bradley University, Peoria, IL, United States
| | - Arthur Aron
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, United States
| |
Collapse
|
47
|
Furger S, Stahnke A, Zengaffinen F, Federspiel A, Morishima Y, Papmeyer M, Wiest R, Dierks T, Strik W. Subclinical paranoid beliefs and enhanced neural response during processing of unattractive faces. NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL 2020; 27:102269. [PMID: 32413810 PMCID: PMC7226880 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2020.102269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2019] [Revised: 04/02/2020] [Accepted: 04/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The perception of faces and consequent social inferences are fundamental for interpersonal communication. While facial expression is important for interindividual communication, constitutional and acquired features are crucial for basic emotions of attraction or repulsion. An emotional bias in face processing has been shown in schizophrenia, but the neurobiological mechanisms are unclear. Studies on the interaction between face processing and the emotional state of healthy individuals may help to elucidate the pathogenesis of the paranoid syndrome in psychosis. This study addressed facial attractiveness and paranoid ideas in a non-clinical population. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated neural activation patterns of 99 healthy subjects during the passive perception of a dynamic presentation of faces with different attractiveness. We found that the perceived attractiveness of faces was linked to the activity of face processing and limbic regions including the fusiform gyrus, amygdala, and prefrontal areas. Paranoid beliefs interacted with perceived attractiveness in these regions resulting in a higher response range and increased activation after the presentation of unattractive faces. However, no behavioral interactions between reported subjective attractiveness and paranoid beliefs were found. The results showed that increased activation of limbic brain regions is linked to paranoid beliefs. Since similar correlations were found in clinical populations with paranoid syndromes, we suggest a dimension of emotional dysregulation ranging from subclinical paranoid beliefs to paranoid schizophrenia.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stephan Furger
- Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Switzerland
| | - Antje Stahnke
- Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Switzerland
| | - Francilia Zengaffinen
- Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Switzerland
| | - Andrea Federspiel
- Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Switzerland
| | - Yosuke Morishima
- Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Switzerland
| | - Martina Papmeyer
- Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Switzerland
| | - Roland Wiest
- University Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Inselspital, University of Bern, Switzerland
| | - Thomas Dierks
- Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Switzerland
| | - Werner Strik
- Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Switzerland.
| |
Collapse
|
48
|
Acevedo BP, Poulin MJ, Collins NL, Brown LL. After the Honeymoon: Neural and Genetic Correlates of Romantic Love in Newlywed Marriages. Front Psychol 2020; 11:634. [PMID: 32457675 PMCID: PMC7223160 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00634] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2019] [Accepted: 03/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
In Western culture, romantic love is commonly a basis for marriage. Although it is associated with relationship satisfaction, stability, and individual well-being, many couples experience declines in romantic love. In newlyweds, specifically, changes in love predict marital outcomes. However, the biological mechanisms underlying the critical transition to marriage are unknown. Thus, for the first time, we explored the neural and genetic correlates of romantic love in newlyweds. Nineteen first-time newlyweds were scanned (with functional MRI) while viewing face images of the partner versus a familiar acquaintance, around the time of the wedding (T1) and 1 year after (T2). They also provided saliva samples for genetic analysis (AVPR1a rs3, OXTR rs53576, COMT rs4680, and DRD4-7R), and completed self-report measures of relationship quality including the Eros (romantic love) scale. We hypothesized that romantic love is a developed form of the mammalian drive to find, and keep, preferred mates; and that its maintenance is orchestrated by the brain's reward system. Results showed that, at both time points, romantic love maintenance (Eros difference score: T2-T1) was associated with activation of the dopamine-rich substantia nigra in response to face images of the partner. Interactions with vasopressin, oxytocin, and dopamine genes implicated in pair-bonding (AVPR1a rs3, OXTR rs53576, COMT rs4680, and DRD4-7R) also conferred strong activation in the dopamine-rich ventral tegmental area at both time points. Consistent with work highlighting the role of sexual intimacy in relationships, romantic love maintenance showed correlations in the paracentral lobule (genital region) and cortical areas involved in sensory and cognitive processing (occipital, angular gyrus, insular cortex). These findings suggest that romantic love, and its maintenance, are orchestrated by dopamine-, vasopressin- and oxytocin-rich brain regions, as seen in humans and other monogamous animals. We also provide genetic evidence of polymorphisms associated with oxytocin, vasopressin and dopamine function that affect the propensity to sustain romantic love in early stage marriages. We conclude that romantic love maintenance is part of a broad mammalian strategy for reproduction and long-term attachment that is influenced by basic reward circuitry, complex cognitive processes, and genetic factors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bianca P. Acevedo
- Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
| | - Michael J. Poulin
- Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, United States
| | - Nancy L. Collins
- Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
| | - Lucy L. Brown
- Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States
| |
Collapse
|
49
|
|
50
|
Reduced Enhancement of Memory for Faces Encoded by Semantic and Socioemotional Processes in Patients with Parkinson's Disease. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2020; 26:418-429. [PMID: 31822311 DOI: 10.1017/s1355617719001280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) exhibit impaired semantic and socioemotional processes, which are thought to be related to dysfunctions in the fronto-striatal circuit. However, little is known about how the memory enhancement by these processes was reduced in PD. The present study investigated this issue. METHODS The retrieval performance of face memories encoded by semantic and socioemotional processes was compared between 24 PD patients and 24 age-matched healthy controls (HC). During encoding, participants were presented with unfamiliar faces and made judgment about them in three encoding conditions of semantic judgment (Semantics), attractiveness judgment (Attractiveness), and form judgment (Form). In Semantics, participants rated to what degree each face looked like an office worker, whereas in Attractiveness, participants rated how attractive each face was. The Form condition as a control required participants to judge the shape of each face. During retrieval after encoding, participants made old or new judgment for target and distracter faces. RESULTS In HC, the retrieval of faces encoded by Semantics and Attractiveness was significantly more accurate than that encoded by Form, whereas this memory enhancement was not identified in PD. In addition, individual scores in frontal lobe function and long-term memory correlated with the retrieval performance of memories encoded in Semantics and Attractiveness but not Form. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that the processing of semantic and socioemotional signals conveyed from faces could be impaired in PD and that the impairment of these processes could decrease the enhancement of face memories by semantic and socioemotional elaborations.
Collapse
|