Article
Psychology, Biological
Beniamina Mercante, Arcangelo Uccula, Eleonora Secchi, Graziella Puggioni, Nicola Loi, Paolo Enrico, Franca Deriu
Summary: The hand-blink reflex is a subcortical response that is elicited by electrical stimulation of the median nerve. The magnitude of the reflex is enhanced when the stimulated hand is close to the face and is modulated by high-level structures based on the perceived threat magnitude. Psychological factors, such as personality traits and anxiety, may contribute to the modulation of the reflex. In this study, emotional and relational aspects of personality were evaluated and found to be associated with the hand-blink reflex response in healthy subjects.
Article
Neurosciences
Gianna Cocchini, Daniel Muellensiefen, Ruggero Platania, Chiara Niglio, Enrica Tricomi, Laura Veronelli, Elda Judica
Summary: This study investigates how individuals represent the front and back space based on sound stimuli. It finds that the evaluation of stimulus distance and blink response are better explained by subjective front-back discrimination rather than the actual position. These findings suggest that the mechanisms involved in blink response magnitude may also affect sound localization, and there is a close relationship between bottom-up and top-down mechanisms in spatial representation.
EXPERIMENTAL BRAIN RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Fatma Zehra Calikusu, Aysegul Gunduz, Meral Kiziltan
Summary: The study showed that the magnitude of hand blink reflex (HBR) increases in the peripersonal space (PPS) when a threatening stimulus is visible, and in the eyes closed condition the reflex had shorter latency and smaller area under the curve compared to the eyes open condition.
NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES AND NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Biological
An T. Nguyen, Le-Anne Jacobs, James R. Tresilian, Ottmar V. Lipp, Welber Marinovic
Summary: This study examined the effects of intense sensory stimulation on voluntary and involuntary behaviors during different stages of action preparation. The results showed that the stimulation facilitated voluntary responses and suppressed eye-blink reflexes, shedding light on the mechanisms involved in preparing anticipatory actions.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Haoyue Qian, Xiangping Gao
Summary: The study shows that observing a stranger in personal space triggers the activation of pushing movements, leading to prolonged reaction time and bias towards pushing responses. Additionally, the study also found a relationship between pushing responses and social anxiety.
Article
Psychiatry
Monica Biggio, Andrea Escelsior, Martino Belvederi Murri, Alice Trabucco, Federico Delfante, Beatriz Pereira da Silva, Ambra Bisio, Gianluca Serafini, Marco Bove, Mario Amore
Summary: The study investigates the link between defensive peripersonal space (DPPS) and personality traits. It assesses the personality dimensions of healthy participants and measures DPPS using the Hand Blink Reflex (HBR) task. The results show a positive correlation between DPPS and the detachment personality trait.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
G. Ruggiero, M. Rapuano, A. Cartaud, Y. Coello, T. Iachini
Summary: The research shows that interacting with angry virtual confederates increases distance in both comfort-social and reaching-action spaces, while angry facial expressions provoke similar psychophysiological activations in both spaces. Psychophysiological activations, especially SCR amplitude in response to virtual confederates approaching with angry expressions, can predict the increase of PPS and IPS. This suggests a common defensive mechanism shared by social and action spaces for self-protection functions.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Biological
An T. T. Nguyen, James R. R. Tresilian, Ottmar V. V. Lipp, Dayse Tavora-Vieira, Welber Marinovic
Summary: During action preparation, loud acoustic stimuli (LAS) can trigger movements at very short latencies in a phenomenon known as the StartReact effect. Contrary to the initial proposal of a separate subcortical mechanism, this study provides evidence that responses to LAS can be explained by a combination of stimulus intensity effects and preparatory states. The findings demonstrate the involvement of cortically mediated preparatory processes in shaping reactions to LAS.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Monica Biggio, Daniele Caligiore, Federico D'Antoni, Marco Bove, Mario Merone
Summary: This study explores the application of machine learning techniques in detecting brainstem functionality in Multiple Sclerosis. The results indicate that machine learning techniques can accurately identify MS patients, even better than clinicians, and Hand Blink Reflex (HBR) shows promise as an additional indicator for early diagnosis in clinical practice.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Chiara Spaccasassi, H. Chris Dijkerman, Angelo Maravita, Oscar Ferrante, Maartje C. de Jong
Summary: The study found that visual stimuli with positive and negative valence affect people's cognitive responses to the size of Defensive space, but not Reaching space. Specifically, negative valence stimuli enhanced the activation of the sensorimotor cortex. This indicates that stimuli with different valences have differential effects on the cognitive processing of Reaching and Defensive spaces.
JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Psychology
Milou K. Huijsmans, Alyanne M. de Haan, Barbara C. N. Muller, H. Chris Dijkerman, Hein T. van Schie
Summary: This study provides evidence that the defensive system in humans incorporates knowledge about the trajectories of objects to modulate its response to looming stimuli. The findings suggest that the reactions to looming stimuli are not solely reflexive but also influenced by contextual information about the trajectory of the objects.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY-HUMAN PERCEPTION AND PERFORMANCE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Viviana Versace, Stefania Campostrini, Luca Sebastianelli, Leopold Saltuari, Josep Valls-Sole, Markus Kofler
Summary: The experiment showed that peri-liminal prepulses before stimulating the hand near the face could significantly enhance the inhibition effect of hand-blink reflex (HBR), indicating that prepulse inhibition of HBR is more robust than the cognitive modulation exerted by top-down cortical projections.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Martina Fanghella, Vanessa Era, Matteo Candidi
Summary: This perspective review focuses on the role of predictive multisensory integration in individuals' peripersonal space, supporting efficient interaction with others through integrating sensorimotor signals from interacting partners to form a shared representation of the peripersonal space. The article introduces the features of body and peripersonal space representations, discusses the impact of action planning and execution on the dynamic expansion of the peripersonal space, and presents evidence of peripersonal space modulations after tool use through Bayesian sensory filtering via predictive coding.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Jiachen Wang, Yun-Hsuan Chen, Jie Yang, Mohamad Sawan
Summary: In this study, intelligent and efficient methods were used to classify different tasks during rehabilitation using brain-machine interfaces. By analyzing EEG signals, high classification accuracy was achieved, demonstrating the potential of this method in rehabilitation therapy.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Kiki Arkesteijn, Mieke Donk, Artem Belopolsky, Jeroen B. J. Smeets
Summary: The processes underlying target selection for hand movements may operate independently from those for eye movements. Contrary to eye movements, the presence of distractors does not lead to a bias effect in hand movements.
Article
Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism
Alice Rossi Sebastiano, Karol Poles, Monica Biggio, Marco Bove, Marco Neppi-Modona, Francesca Garbarini, Carlotta Fossataro
Summary: Professional athletes can better predict sport-related movements through mirror motor-system modulations, while inhibition occurs when observing individuals experiencing pain. Comparing professional skiers to beginners, the former show greater prediction accuracy but slower reaction times, with previously injured skiers exhibiting slower prediction speeds for actions leading to injuries.
PSYCHOLOGY OF SPORT AND EXERCISE
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Federica Scarpina, Carlotta Fossataro, Alice Rossi Sebastiano, Francesca Bruni, Massimo Scacchi, Alessandro Mauro, Francesca Garbarini
Summary: This study investigated the altered sense of agency in individuals affected by obesity compared to healthy-weight individuals using the sensory attenuation effect. The results showed that individuals affected by obesity did not perceive self-generated stimuli as significantly less intense compared to externally generated ones, indicating an altered sense of agency in obesity.
QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Mattia Galigani, Carlotta Fossataro, Patrizia Gindri, Massimiliano Conson, Francesca Garbarini
Summary: Individuals with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) are less susceptible to multisensory delusions, but more susceptible to a non-visual variant of the rubber hand illusion (RHI). They show a preference for the integration of multiple inputs from the same sensory channel.
JOURNAL OF AUTISM AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Experimental
Alice Rossi Sebastiano, Valentina Bruno, Irene Ronga, Carlotta Fossataro, Mattia Galigani, Marco Neppi-Modona, Francesca Garbarini
Summary: The rubber hand illusion (RHI) induces conflict between visual and tactile inputs, leading to a perception of being touched on the rubber hand. By measuring the perceptual threshold before and after the illusion, it was found that there was a decrease in tactile detection and an increase in visual detection, indicating a diametrical modulation of somatosensory and visual perceptual processes. These findings provide evidence of how the system adapts to uncertainty and weights sensory inputs differently to maintain a coherent representation of the body.
PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH-PSYCHOLOGISCHE FORSCHUNG
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Valentina Bruno, Nicolo Castellani, Francesca Garbarini, Mark Schram Christensen
Summary: This study investigated the role of dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) in generating predicted sensory consequences of movements. The findings suggest that disruption of PMd and the absence of somatosensation degrade motor performance and perception, indicating the crucial role of PMd in generating corollary discharge.
Article
Physiology
Marco Panasci, Vittoria Ferrando, Ambra Bisio, Luca Filipas, Piero Ruggeri, Emanuela Faelli
Summary: This study compared the effects of two small-sided games (SSGs), shuttle running within the bout (SSG-S) versus possession play only (SSG-P), on acute physiological and metabolic responses, perception of effort, and performance. The results showed that SSG-S resulted in significantly higher total distance, distances traveled in acceleration and deceleration, average metabolic power, and distance at moderate speed compared to SSG-P. SSG-S also led to higher blood lactate concentration and rating of perceived exertion values. The findings suggest that an SSG format that includes shuttle running within each bout can generate more relevant internal and external workloads in young competitive male soccer players.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPORTS PHYSIOLOGY AND PERFORMANCE
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Francesca Setti, Giacomo Handjaras, Davide Bottari, Andrea Leo, Matteo Diano, Valentina Bruno, Carla Tinti, Luca Cecchetti, Francesca Garbarini, Pietro Pietrini, Emiliano Ricciardi
Summary: The superior temporal cortex in the human brain can synchronize the processing of auditory and visual information across different sensory conditions, even in individuals who are sensory-deprived and lack audiovisual experience. This synchronization is primarily based on low-level perceptual features and relies on a modality-independent topographical organization of slow temporal dynamics.
NATURE HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Carlotta Fossataro, Mattia Galigani, Alice Rossi Sebastiano, Valentina Bruno, Irene Ronga, Francesca Garbarini
Summary: Peripersonal space (PPS) is a flexible bubble surrounding the body, and its boundaries can be changed depending on the proximity to others. Through experiments, it was found that the proximity to someone else's hand can shrink the PPS boundaries, indicating that PPS representation adapts to the presence of others. This adaptability allows individuals to differentiate between events pertaining to their own body and events pertaining to others when sharing space.
Article
Neurosciences
Costanza Iester, Monica Biggio, Simone Cutini, Sabrina Brigadoi, Charalambos Papaxanthis, Giampaolo Brichetto, Marco Bove, Laura Bonzano
Summary: This study used fNIRS to investigate differences in functional cortical connectivity at rest linked to the time of the day. The results showed that there were significant differences in inter-hemispheric parietal cortices connectivity, with higher connectivity in the morning and intra-hemispheric fronto-parietal connectivity, with higher connectivity in the afternoon. Additionally, the questionnaire survey revealed higher scores for imaginative thinking in the afternoon compared to the morning. These findings suggest that there may be variations in brain connectivity and thought processes during resting-state at different times of the day.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Sport Sciences
Andrea Albergoni, Monica Biggio, Emanuela Faelli, Andrea Pesce, Piero Ruggeri, Laura Avanzino, Marco Bove, Ambra Bisio
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the role of sensorimotor expertise in evaluating the relative weight of a lifted object during the observation of a sport-specific gesture, namely the deadlift. Findings showed that powerlifters were more accurate than controls in judging the weight of the lifted object. The study suggests that a fine sensorimotor expertise specific for the observed gesture is crucial for weight recognition.
FRONTIERS IN SPORTS AND ACTIVE LIVING
(2023)
Article
Physiology
Marco Panasci, Simone Di Gennaro, Vittoria Ferrando, Luca Filipas, Piero Ruggeri, Emanuela Faelli
Summary: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of resisted sled sprint training (RSS) and unresisted sprint training (URS) on sprint and acceleration performance, vertical jump, and maximal strength. The results showed that after an 8-week preseason training period, the RSS group had significantly better 10 and 30-meter sprint times compared to the URS group. Both groups showed significant improvements in vertical jump and maximal strength, with no significant differences between the groups.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPORTS PHYSIOLOGY AND PERFORMANCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Laura Bonzano, Monica Biggio, Sabrina Brigadoi, Ludovico Pedulla, Monica Pagliai, Costanza Iester, Giampaolo Brichetto, Simone Cutini, Marco Bove
Summary: This study used fNIRS to investigate cortical activations during the execution of a manual dexterity test. The results showed that participants with a larger execution time difference had higher activation in prefrontal cortical areas, and there was a significant linear relationship between Delta HPT and right BA10 activity.
Article
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Andrea Albergoni, Monica Biggio, Emanuela Faelli, Piero Ruggeri, Laura Avanzino, Marco Bove, Ambra Bisio
Summary: The ability to predict the weight of objects is important for skilled and dexterous manipulation during activities of daily living. This study investigated the role of aging in the ability to discriminate the object weight during action observation. The results showed a diminished sensitivity in the object weight discrimination in older adults compared to younger adults, and this impairment pertained to both light and heavy objects.
FRONTIERS IN AGING NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)