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
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.…
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'…
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…
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
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,…
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…
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…
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
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]
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]
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
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,…
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…
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…
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
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-…
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…
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