Increment of spontaneous human biophoton emission caused by anger emotional states. Proof of concept

AbstractDuring the last decades, neurofeedback training for emotional self-regulation has received significant attention from both the scientific and clinical communities. However, most studies have focused on broader emotional states such as “negative vs. positive”, primarily due to our poor understanding of the functional anatomy of more complex emotions at the electrophysiological level. Our proof-of-concept study aims at investigating the feasibility of classifying two complex emotions that have been implicated in mental health, namely tenderness and anguish, using features extracted from the electroencephalogram (EEG) signal in healthy participants. Electrophysiological data were recorded from fourteen participants during a block-designed experiment consisting of emotional self-induction trials combined with a multimodal virtual scenario. For the within-subject classification, the linear Support Vector Machine was trained with two sets of samples: random cross-validation of the sliding windows of all trials; and 2) strategic cross-validation, assigning all the windows of one trial to the same fold. Spectral features, together with the frontal-alpha asymmetry, were extracted using Complex Morlet Wavelet analysis. Classification results with these features showed an accuracy of 79.3% on average when doing random cross-validation, and 73.3% when applying strategic cross-validation. We extracted a second set of features from the amplitude time-series correlation analysis, which significantly enhanced random cross-validation accuracy while showing similar performance to spectral features when doing strategic cross-validation. These results suggest that complex emotions show distinct electrophysiological correlates, which paves the way for future EEG-based, real-time neurofeedback training of complex emotional states.Significance statementThere is still little understanding about the correlates of high-order emotions (i.e., anguish and tenderness) in the physiological signals recorded with the EEG. Most studies have investigated emotions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), including the real-time application in neurofeedback training. However, concerning the therapeutic application, EEG is a more suitable tool with regards to costs and practicability. Therefore, our proof-of-concept study aims at establishing a method for classifying complex emotions that can be later used for EEG-based neurofeedback on emotion regulation. We recorded EEG signals during a multimodal, near-immersive emotion-elicitation experiment. Results demonstrate that intraindividual classification of discrete emotions with features extracted from the EEG is feasible and may be implemented in real-time to enable neurofeedback.

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A Lexical Approach to Assessing Stress: Development and Proof-of-Concept

Human Factors The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ◽

10.1177/00187208211045167 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 001872082110451

Author(s):

Tripp Driskell ◽

Eduardo Salas ◽

C. Shawn Burke ◽

James E. Driskell

Keyword(s):

Well Being ◽

Attentional Focus ◽

Emotional States ◽

Proof Of Concept ◽

Negative Effects ◽

High Demand ◽

Impact Performance ◽

Stress Effects ◽

Lexical Approach ◽

Verbal Output

Objective We describe a methodology that provides a nonobtrusive means of detecting stress and related deficits through the assessment of spontaneous verbal output in ongoing communications. Background In high-demand environments, operational personnel are exposed to an array of environmental, task, and interpersonal stressors that can negatively impact performance as well as jeopardize safety and well-being. In these settings, the requirement exists to assess cognitive and emotional state “at a distance” and without interfering with ongoing performance. Method We describe a lexical approach to assessing stress effects from ongoing or spontaneous verbal output. This approach is examined in a spaceflight analog setting. Results We assess stress effects in terms of five core dimensions and develop lexical indicators of these core stress dimensions and relevant sub-facets. We establish the proof-of-concept of this approach by presenting representative data from a spaceflight analog. Conclusion This approach provides an unobtrusive means to evaluate ongoing task communications at the individual and team level in order to assess cognitive/emotional states such as workload, negative affect, attentional focus, anxiety, and team orientation. Application There are many high-demand settings in which it is valuable to monitor the potential negative effects of stress on operational personnel. These environments include spaceflight, the military, aviation, law enforcement, and medicine.

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Loving-Kindness Meditation to Target Affect in Mood Disorders: A Proof-of-Concept Study

Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine ◽

10.1155/2015/269126 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2015 ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Stefan G. Hofmann ◽

Nicola Petrocchi ◽

James Steinberg ◽

Muyu Lin ◽

Kohki Arimitsu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Mood Disorders ◽

Group Intervention ◽

Positive Emotions ◽

Emotional States ◽

Proof Of Concept ◽

Loving Kindness ◽

Concept Evaluation ◽

Additional Support

Conventional treatments for mood disorders primarily focus on reducing negative affect, but little on enhancing positive affect. Loving-kindness meditation (LKM) is a traditional meditation practice directly oriented toward enhancing unconditional and positive emotional states of kindness towards oneself and others. We report here two independent and uncontrolled studies carried out at different centers, one in Boston, USA (n= 10), and one in Frankfurt, Germany (n= 8), to examine the potential therapeutic utility of a brief LKM group intervention for symptoms of dysthymia and depression. Results at both centers suggest that LKM was associated with large-sized effects on self-reported symptoms of depression (d= 3.33 and 1.90), negative affect (d= 1.98 and 0.92), and positive affect (d= 1.63 and 0.94). Large effects were also found for clinician-reported changes in depression, rumination and specific positive emotions, and moderate effects for changes in adaptive emotion regulation strategies. The qualitative data analyses provide additional support for the potential clinical utility of the intervention. This proof-of-concept evaluation of LKM as a clinical strategy warrants further investigation.

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Direct measurement of electron-diffraction-pattern intensities using an energy loss spectrometer

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100155311 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 47 ◽

pp. 668-669

Author(s):

A. G. Jackson ◽

M. Rowe

Keyword(s):

Thermal Effects ◽

Dynamic Range ◽

Scattering Amplitude ◽

Dynamical Theory ◽

Site Symmetry ◽

Proof Of Concept ◽

Parallel Acquisition ◽

Kinematic Approximation ◽

Speed Up ◽

Structure Calculations

Diffraction intensities from intermetallic compounds are, in the kinematic approximation, proportional to the scattering amplitude from the element doing the scattering. More detailed calculations have shown that site symmetry and occupation by various atom species also affects the intensity in a diffracted beam. [1] Hence, by measuring the intensities of beams, or their ratios, the occupancy can be estimated. Measurement of the intensity values also allows structure calculations to be made to determine the spatial distribution of the potentials doing the scattering. Thermal effects are also present as a background contribution. Inelastic effects such as loss or absorption/excitation complicate the intensity behavior, and dynamical theory is required to estimate the intensity value.The dynamic range of currents in diffracted beams can be 104or 105:1. Hence, detection of such information requires a means for collecting the intensity over a signal-to-noise range beyond that obtainable with a single film plate, which has a S/N of about 103:1. Although such a collection system is not available currently, a simple system consisting of instrumentation on an existing STEM can be used as a proof of concept which has a S/N of about 255:1, limited by the 8 bit pixel attributes used in the electronics. Use of 24 bit pixel attributes would easily allowthe desired noise range to be attained in the processing instrumentation. The S/N of the scintillator used by the photoelectron sensor is about 106 to 1, well beyond the S/N goal. The trade-off that must be made is the time for acquiring the signal, since the pattern can be obtained in seconds using film plates, compared to 10 to 20 minutes for a pattern to be acquired using the digital scan. Parallel acquisition would, of course, speed up this process immensely.

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Recent Developments of Ambulatory Assessment Methods

Zeitschrift für Neuropsychologie ◽

10.1024/1016-264x/a000143 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 279-287 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Stefan Hey ◽

Panagiota Anastasopoulou ◽

André Bideaux ◽

Wilhelm Stork

Keyword(s):

Real Time ◽

Information And Communication Technologies ◽

New Technologies ◽

Psychological Research ◽

Ambulatory Assessment ◽

Emotional States ◽

Recent Developments ◽

Potential Applications ◽

Information And Communication ◽

Physiological Sensors

Ambulatory assessment of emotional states as well as psychophysiological, cognitive and behavioral reactions constitutes an approach, which is increasingly being used in psychological research. Due to new developments in the field of information and communication technologies and an improved application of mobile physiological sensors, various new systems have been introduced. Methods of experience sampling allow to assess dynamic changes of subjective evaluations in real time and new sensor technologies permit a measurement of physiological responses. In addition, new technologies facilitate the interactive assessment of subjective, physiological, and behavioral data in real-time. Here, we describe these recent developments from the perspective of engineering science and discuss potential applications in the field of neuropsychology.

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Effect of Emotions in a Lexical Decision Task

Swiss Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1024/1421-0185/a000193 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 76 (2) ◽

pp. 71-79 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hélène Maire ◽

Renaud Brochard ◽

Jean-Luc Kop ◽

Vivien Dioux ◽

Daniel Zagar

Keyword(s):

Lexical Decision ◽

Lexical Decision Task ◽

Emotional State ◽

Control Group ◽

Decision Task ◽

Attentional Orienting ◽

Emotional States ◽

Sequence Effect ◽

Emotion Induction ◽

Before And After

Abstract. This study measured the effect of emotional states on lexical decision task performance and investigated which underlying components (physiological, attentional orienting, executive, lexical, and/or strategic) are affected. We did this by assessing participants’ performance on a lexical decision task, which they completed before and after an emotional state induction task. The sequence effect, usually produced when participants repeat a task, was significantly smaller in participants who had received one of the three emotion inductions (happiness, sadness, embarrassment) than in control group participants (neutral induction). Using the diffusion model ( Ratcliff, 1978 ) to resolve the data into meaningful parameters that correspond to specific psychological components, we found that emotion induction only modulated the parameter reflecting the physiological and/or attentional orienting components, whereas the executive, lexical, and strategic components were not altered. These results suggest that emotional states have an impact on the low-level mechanisms underlying mental chronometric tasks.

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Neuropsychology in the Real World

Zeitschrift für Neuropsychologie ◽

10.1024/1016-264x/a000139 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 233-238 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Martin Peper ◽

Simone N. Loeffler

Keyword(s):

Neuropsychological Assessment ◽

Real World ◽

Ecological Validity ◽

Real Life ◽

Emotional States ◽

Context Sensitive ◽

Traditional Assessment ◽

Life Data ◽

Real Life Data ◽

Assessment And Treatment

Current ambulatory technologies are highly relevant for neuropsychological assessment and treatment as they provide a gateway to real life data. Ambulatory assessment of cognitive complaints, skills and emotional states in natural contexts provides information that has a greater ecological validity than traditional assessment approaches. This issue presents an overview of current technological and methodological innovations, opportunities, problems and limitations of these methods designed for the context-sensitive measurement of cognitive, emotional and behavioral function. The usefulness of selected ambulatory approaches is demonstrated and their relevance for an ecologically valid neuropsychology is highlighted.

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Assessment of health related issues in individuals’, couples’, and families’ daily life

Zeitschrift für Gesundheitspsychologie ◽

10.1026/0943-8149.16.3.146 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. 146-149 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Meinrad Perrez ◽

Michael Reicherts ◽

Yves Hänggi ◽

Andrea B. Horn ◽

Gisela Michel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Daily Life ◽

Ecological Validity ◽

Reliability And Validity ◽

Well Being ◽

Computer Assisted ◽

Emotional States ◽

Self Reports ◽

Health Related ◽

Lower Variability

Abstract. Most research in health psychology is based on retrospective self reports, which are distorted by recall biases and have low ecological validity. To overcome such limitations we developed computer assisted diary approaches to assess health related behaviours in individuals’, couples’ and families’ daily life. The event- and time-sampling-based instruments serve to assess appraisals of the current situation, feelings of physical discomfort, current emotional states, conflict and emotion regulation in daily life. They have proved sufficient reliability and validity in the context of individual, couple and family research with respect to issues like emotion regulation and health. As examples: Regarding symptom reporting curvilinear pattern of frequencies over the day could be identified by parents and adolescents; or psychological well-being is associated with lower variability in basic affect dimensions. In addition, we report on preventive studies to improve parental skills and enhance their empathic competences towards their baby, and towards their partner.

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Emotional Reactivity to Visual Content as Revealed by ERP Component Clustering

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803/a000145 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 29 (4) ◽

pp. 135-146 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Miroslaw Wyczesany ◽

Szczepan J. Grzybowski ◽

Jan Kaiser

Keyword(s):

Emotional Reactivity ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Affective State ◽

Occipital Lobe ◽

Stimulus Onset ◽

Emotional States ◽

Neural Basis ◽

Temporoparietal Junction ◽

The Right ◽

The Impact

Abstract. In the study, the neural basis of emotional reactivity was investigated. Reactivity was operationalized as the impact of emotional pictures on the self-reported ongoing affective state. It was used to divide the subjects into high- and low-responders groups. Independent sources of brain activity were identified, localized with the DIPFIT method, and clustered across subjects to analyse the visual evoked potentials to affective pictures. Four of the identified clusters revealed effects of reactivity. The earliest two started about 120 ms from the stimulus onset and were located in the occipital lobe and the right temporoparietal junction. Another two with a latency of 200 ms were found in the orbitofrontal and the right dorsolateral cortices. Additionally, differences in pre-stimulus alpha level over the visual cortex were observed between the groups. The attentional modulation of perceptual processes is proposed as an early source of emotional reactivity, which forms an automatic mechanism of affective control. The role of top-down processes in affective appraisal and, finally, the experience of ongoing emotional states is also discussed.

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Effects of Fear Induction on Heart Period Variability

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027//0269-8803.13.1.18 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 18-26 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Rudolf Stark ◽

Alfons Hamm ◽

Anne Schienle ◽

Bertram Walter ◽

Dieter Vaitl

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Trait Anxiety ◽

State Anxiety ◽

Self Report ◽

Emotional States ◽

Heart Period ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Heart Period Variability ◽

Physiological Variables ◽

Period Variability

Abstract The present study investigated the influence of contextual fear in comparison to relaxation on heart period variability (HPV), and analyzed differences in HPV between low and high anxious, nonclinical subjects. Fifty-three women participated in the study. Each subject underwent four experimental conditions (control, fear, relaxation, and a combined fear-relaxation condition), lasting 10 min each. Fear was provoked by an unpredictable aversive human scream. Relaxation should be induced with the aid of verbal instructions. To control for respiratory effects on HPV, breathing was paced at 0.2 Hz using an indirect light source. Besides physiological measures (HPV measures, ECG, respiration, forearm EMG, blood pressure), emotional states (pleasure, arousal, dominance, state anxiety) were assessed by subjects' self-reports. Since relaxation instructions did not have any effect neither on the subjective nor on the physiological variables, the present paper focuses on the comparison of the control and the fear condition. The scream reliably induced changes in both physiological and self-report measures. During the fear condition, subjects reported more arousal and state anxiety as well as less pleasure and dominance. Heart period decreased, while EMG and diastolic blood pressure showed a tendency to increase. HPV remained largely unaltered with the exception of the LF component, which slightly decreased under fear induction. Replicating previous findings, trait anxiety was negatively associated with HPV, but there were no treatment-specific differences between subjects with low and high trait anxiety.

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