2015
Cogn Neurosci. 2015 Jun 29:1-3. [Epub ahead of print]
"Atypical touch perception in MTS may derive from an abnormally plastic self-representation"
Mirror Touch Synesthetes (MTSs) feel touch while they observe others being touched. According to the authors, two complementary theoretical frameworks, the Threshold Theory and the Self-Other Theory, explain Mirror Touch…
Sci Rep. 2015 Nov 25;5:17139. doi:10.1038/srep17139
Body visual discontinuity affects feeling of ownership and skin conductance responses
When we look at our hands we are immediately aware that they belong to us and we rarely doubt about the integrity, continuity and sense of ownership of our bodies.…
Nat Commun. 2015 Jul 8;6:7544. doi: 10.1038/ncomms8544
Causative role of left aIPS in coding shared goals during human-avatar complementary joint actions
Successful motor interactions require agents to anticipate what a partner is doing in order to predictively adjust their own movements. Although the neural underpinnings of the ability to predict others'…
Anim Cogn. 2015 Jan;18(1):119-30. doi: 10.1007/s10071-014-0783-7
Do tufted capuchin monkeys play the odds? Flexible risk preferences in Sapajus spp
As humans, several non-human animal species avoid risk, defined as "variability in rate of gain". However, non-human primate studies revealed a more complicated picture, with different species ranging from risk…
Exp Brain Res. 2015 Nov 25. [Epub ahead of print]
Fortunes and misfortunes of political leaders reflected in the eyes of their electors
Gaze-following is a pivotal social behaviour that, although largely automatic, is permeable to high-order variables like political affiliation. A few years ago we reported that the gaze of Italian right-wing…
Phys Life Rev. 2015 Mar;12:126-8. doi: 10.1016/j.plrev.2015.01.023. Epub 2015 Jan 20
From muscles synergies and individual goals to interpersonal synergies and shared goals: mirror neurons and interpersonal action hierarchies: comment on "Grasping synergies: a motor-control approach to the mirror neuron mechanism" by D'Ausilio et al.
Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2015 Aug 19:1-44. [Epub ahead of print]
Influence of Warmth and Competence on the promotion of safe in-group selection: SCM and social categorization of faces
Categorizing an individual as a friend or foe plays a pivotal role in navigating the social world. According to the Stereotype Content Model, social perception relies on two fundamental dimensions,…
PLoS One. 2015 Apr 8;10(4):e0120900. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0120900. eCollection 2015.
Is that me or my twin? Lack of self-face recognition advantage in identical twins
Despite the increasing interest in twin studies and the stunning amount of research on face recognition, the ability of adult identical twins to discriminate their own faces from those of…
Exp Brain Res. 2015 Apr;233(4):1247-59. doi: 10.1007/s00221-015-4202-3. Epub 2015 Jan 25.
Mere observation of body discontinuity affects perceived ownership and vicarious agency over a virtual hand
The mental representation of one's body typically implies the continuity of its parts. Here, we used immersive virtual reality to explore whether mere observation of visual discontinuity between the hand…
Neuroimage. 2015 Jul 15. pii: S1053-8119(15)00636-9. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.07.025. [Epub ahead of print]
Mortality salience modulates cortical responses to painful somatosensory stimulation: Evidence from slow wave and delta band activity
Social psychology studies show that awareness of one's eventual death profoundly influences human cognition and behaviour by inducing defensive reactions against end-of-life-related anxiety. Much less is known about the impact…
Sci Rep. 2015 Feb 17;5:8507. doi: 10.1038/srep08507
Prejudiced interactions: implicit racial bias reduces predictive simulation during joint action with an out-group avatar
During social interactions people automatically apply stereotypes in order to rapidly categorize others. Racial differences are among the most powerful cues that drive these categorizations and modulate our emotional and…
Neuropsychologia. 2015 Jun 24. pii: S0028-3932(15)30075-0. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.06.029. [Epub ahead of print]
Re-establishing the disrupted sensorimotor loop in deafferented and deefferented people: The case of spinal cord injuries
Acting efficiently in the world depends on the activity of motor and somatosensory systems, the integration of which is necessary for the proper functioning of the sensorimotor loop (SL). Profound…
J Pain. 2015 Feb 24. pii: S1526-5900(15)00534-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2015.02.003. [Epub ahead of print]
Seeing one's own painful hand positioned in the contralateral space reduces subjective reports of pain and modulates laser evoked potentials
Studies report that viewing the body or keeping one's arms crossed while receiving painful stimuli may have an analgesic effect. Interestingly, changes in ratings of pain are accompanied by a…
Front Psychol. 2015 Jul 30;6:1034. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01034. eCollection 2015
Social cues to joint actions: the role of shared goals
In daily life, we do not just move independently from how others move. Rather, the way we move conveys information about our cognitive and affective attitudes toward our conspecifics. However,…
Exp Brain Res. 2015 May 15. [Epub ahead of print]
Subliminal perception of others' physical pain and pleasure
Studies indicate that explicit and implicit processing of affectively charged stimuli may be reflected in specific behavioral markers and physiological signatures. This study investigated whether the pleasantness ratings of a…
Exp Brain Res. 2015 Aug 4. [Epub ahead of print]
Subliminal presentation of emotionally negative vs positive primes increases the perceived beauty of target stimuli
Emotions have a profound influence on aesthetic experiences. Studies using affective priming procedures demonstrate, for example, that inducing a conscious negative emotional state biases the perception of abstract stimuli towards…
Eur J Neurosci. 2015 Oct;42(8):2534-45. doi: 10.1111/ejn.13038. Epub 2015 Sep 3
The attracting power of the gaze of politicians is modulated by the personality and ideological attitude of their voters: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study
Observing someone rapidly moving their eyes induces reflexive shifts of overt and covert attention in the onlooker. Previous studies have shown that this process can be modulated by the onlooker's…
Cortex. 2015 Apr;65:184-94. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.01.012. Epub 2015 Feb 7
Virtual lesion of right posterior superior temporal sulcus modulates conscious visual perception of fearful expressions in faces and bodies
The posterior Superior Temporal Suclus (pSTS) represents a central hub in the complex cerebral network for person perception and emotion recognition as also suggested by its heavy connections with face-…
Anim Cogn. 2015 Sep;18(5):1019-29. doi: 10.1007/s10071-015-0869-x
When is it worth waiting for? Food quantity, but not food quality, affects delay tolerance in tufted capuchin monkeys
When faced with choices between smaller sooner options and larger later options (i.e. intertemporal choices), both humans and non-human animals discount future rewards. Apparently, only humans consistently show the magnitude…
