Hyperscanning fNIRS data analysis using multiregression dynamic models: an illustration in a violin duo.

Introduction: Interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) demands a greater understanding of a brain's influence on others. Therefore, brain synchronization is an even more complex system than intrasubject brain connectivity and must be investigated. There is a need to develop novel methods for statistical inference in this context. Methods: In this study, motivated by the analysis of fNIRS hyperscanning data, which measure the activity of multiple brains simultaneously, we propose a two-step network estimation: Tabu search local method and global maximization in the selected subgroup [partial conditional directed acyclic graph (DAG) + multiregression dynamic model]. We illustrate this approach in a dataset of two individuals who are playing the violin together. Results: This study contributes new tools to the social neuroscience field, which may provide new perspectives about intersubject interactions. Our proposed approach estimates the best probabilistic network representation, in addition to providing access to the time-varying parameters, which may be helpful in understanding the brain-to-brain association of these two players. Discussion: The illustration of the violin duo highlights the time-evolving changes in the brain activation of an individual influencing the other one through a data-driven analysis. We confirmed that one player was leading the other given the ROI causal relation toward the other player.

Characterizing social and cognitive EEG-ERP through multiple kernel learning.

EEG-ERP social-cognitive studies with healthy populations commonly fail to provide significant evidence due to low-quality data and the inherent similarity between groups. We propose a multiple kernel learning-based approach to enhance classification accuracy while keeping the traceability of the features (frequency bands or regions of interest) as a linear combination of kernels. These weights determine the relevance of each source of information, which is crucial for specialists. As a case study, we classify healthy ex-combatants of the Colombian armed conflict and civilians through a cognitive valence recognition task. Although previous works have shown accuracies below 80% with these groups, our proposal achieved an F1 score of 98%, revealing the most relevant bands and brain regions, which are the base for socio-cognitive trainings. With this methodology, we aim to contribute to standardizing EEG analyses and enhancing their statistics.

Preliminary Evidence of EEG Connectivity Changes during Self-Objectification of Workers.

Economic objectification is a form of dehumanization in which workers are treated as tools for enhancing productivity. It can lead to self-objectification in the workplace, which is when people perceive themselves as instruments for work. This can cause burnout, emotional drain, and a modification of self-perception that involves a loss of human attributes such as emotions and reasoning while focusing on others' perspectives for evaluating the self. Research on workers self-objectification has mainly analyzed the consequences of this process without exploring the brain activity that underlies the individual's experiences of self-objectification. Thus, this project explores the electroencephalographic (EEG) changes that occur in participants during an economic objectifying task that resembled a job in an online store. After the task, a self-objectification questionnaire was applied and its resulting index was used to label the participants as self-objectified or non-self-objectified. The changes over time in EEG event-related synchronization (ERS) and partial directed coherence (PDC) were calculated and compared between the self-objectification groups. The results show that the main differences between the groups in ERS and PDC occurred in the beta and gamma frequencies, but only the PDC results correlated with the self-objectification group. These results provide information for further understanding workers' self-objectification. These EEG changes could indicate that economic self-objectification is associated with changes in vigilance, boredom, and mind-wandering.

Cognitive interventions in mature and older adults, benefits for psychological well-being and quality of life: a systematic review study / Intervenções cognitivas em adultos maduros e idosos, benefícios ao bem-estar psicológico e à qualidade de vida: um estudo de revisão sistemática

ABSTRACT Few recently published studies investigating the benefits of educational and cognitive interventions on quality of life (QoL), psychological well-being, and depressive symptoms are available. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of educational and cognitive interventions on psychological well-being, QoL, and mood in mature and older adults without dementia and/or with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: The systematic review took place from September to October 2020 and the following databases were used to select the studies: SciELO, LILACS, PubMed, and Medline. The search terms used were idos* AND "treino cognitivo" AND "bem-estar psicológico" AND "qualidade de vida" and their corresponding translations in English and Spanish. Results: Of the 241 articles retrieved, 26 primary studies were included in the review. Of these, 18 showed improvement in QoL, psychological well-being, or cognition. Conclusions: The studies reported beneficial effects of educational and cognitive interventions for QoL, psychological well-being, and depressive symptoms of mature and older adults without dementia or depression.

RESUMO Nos últimos anos, foram encontrados poucos estudos relatando os benefícios das intervenções cognitivas e educativas à qualidade de vida, ao bem-estar psicológico e contra os sintomas depressivos. Objetivo: Investigar os impactos de intervenções educativas e cognitivas nas variáveis de bem-estar psicológico, qualidade de vida e humor de adultos maduros e idosos sem demência e/ou com comprometimento cognitivo leve. Métodos: A pesquisa de revisão sistemática ocorreu entre setembro e outubro de 2020 e, para a seleção dos estudos, foram utilizadas as bases de dados: Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (Lilacs), PubMed e Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE). Foram selecionados os seguintes termos para a busca: "idos*" AND "treino cognitivo" AND "bem-estar psicológico" AND "qualidade de vida" e seus correspondentes em inglês e espanhol. Resultados: De 241 artigos contendo as palavras-chave, 26 estudos primários foram selecionados para esta revisão. Deles, 18 demonstraram melhora significativa na qualidade de vida, no bem-estar psicológico ou na cognição. Conclusões: Os estudos analisados evidenciaram efeitos positivos das intervenções educacionais e cognitivas para a qualidade de vida, para o bem-estar psicológico e contra os sintomas depressivos de idosos e adultos maduros sem demência e depressão.

Cognitive interventions in mature and older adults, benefits for psychological well-being and quality of life: a systematic review study.

Few recently published studies investigating the benefits of educational and cognitive interventions on quality of life (QoL), psychological well-being, and depressive symptoms are available. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of educational and cognitive interventions on psychological well-being, QoL, and mood in mature and older adults without dementia and/or with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: The systematic review took place from September to October 2020 and the following databases were used to select the studies: SciELO, LILACS, PubMed, and Medline. The search terms used were idos* AND "treino cognitivo" AND "bem-estar psicológico" AND "qualidade de vida" and their corresponding translations in English and Spanish. Results: Of the 241 articles retrieved, 26 primary studies were included in the review. Of these, 18 showed improvement in QoL, psychological well-being, or cognition. Conclusions: The studies reported beneficial effects of educational and cognitive interventions for QoL, psychological well-being, and depressive symptoms of mature and older adults without dementia or depression.

Nos últimos anos, foram encontrados poucos estudos relatando os benefícios das intervenções cognitivas e educativas à qualidade de vida, ao bem-estar psicológico e contra os sintomas depressivos. Objetivo: Investigar os impactos de intervenções educativas e cognitivas nas variáveis de bem-estar psicológico, qualidade de vida e humor de adultos maduros e idosos sem demência e/ou com comprometimento cognitivo leve. Métodos: A pesquisa de revisão sistemática ocorreu entre setembro e outubro de 2020 e, para a seleção dos estudos, foram utilizadas as bases de dados: Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (Lilacs), PubMed e Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE). Foram selecionados os seguintes termos para a busca: "idos*" AND "treino cognitivo" AND "bem-estar psicológico" AND "qualidade de vida" e seus correspondentes em inglês e espanhol. Resultados: De 241 artigos contendo as palavras-chave, 26 estudos primários foram selecionados para esta revisão. Deles, 18 demonstraram melhora significativa na qualidade de vida, no bem-estar psicológico ou na cognição. Conclusões: Os estudos analisados evidenciaram efeitos positivos das intervenções educacionais e cognitivas para a qualidade de vida, para o bem-estar psicológico e contra os sintomas depressivos de idosos e adultos maduros sem demência e depressão.

A Guide to Representational Similarity Analysis for Social Neuroscience.

Representational similarity analysis (RSA) is a computational technique that uses pairwise comparisons of stimuli to reveal their representation in higher-order space. In the context of neuroimaging, mass-univariate analyses and other multivariate analyses can provide information on what and where information is represented but have limitations in their ability to address how information is represented. Social neuroscience is a field that can particularly benefit from incorporating RSA techniques to explore hypotheses regarding the representation of multidimensional data, how representations can predict behavior, how representations differ between groups and how multimodal data can be compared to inform theories. The goal of this paper is to provide a practical as well as theoretical guide to implementing RSA in social neuroscience studies.

Genómica Social: Relaciones entre teoría de la mente y cariotipo en mujeres con diagnóstico de Síndrome de Turner / Social Genomics: Relationships between theory of mind and karyotype in women diagnosed with Turner Syndrome

La teoría de la mente refiere a la capacidad cognitiva de atribuir mente a los demás y de predecir y comprender su comportamiento en términos de entidades mentales como creencias, deseos e intenciones. Investigaciones recientes sugieren una distinción entre una teoría de la mente afectiva y una cognitiva, asignándoles un sustrato neuroanatómico específico. El Síndrome de Turner es un trastorno genético determinado por la deleción total o parcial del cromosoma X en el sexo femenino. Dadas las características biológicas, psicológicas y sociales encontradas en estas mujeres, pueden ser consideradas como una población relevante para el estudio de la teoría de la mente según parámetros biológicos como la expresión diferencial de los genes del cromosoma X. Objetivos y métodos: los objetivos de este estudio fueron describir la teoría de la mente cognitiva y afectiva en 22 mujeres con diagnóstico de Síndrome de Turner y determinar si existen perfiles distintivos de teoría de la mente asociados al cariotipo. Resultados y discusión: Los resultados indicaron que las mujeres con diagnóstico de Síndrome de Turner presentan dificultades generales en teoría de la mente, observándose un menor rendimiento en el aspecto cognitivo de esta capacidad. Asimismo, se encontró que un mayor daño genético se encuentra relacionado a mayores dificultades en la teoría de la mente cognitiva, vinculada a zonas corticales de procesamiento no automático

Theory of mind refers to the cognitive ability to attribute mind to others, and to predict and understand their behavior in terms of mental entities such as beliefs, desires and intentions. Recent research suggests a distinction between an affective and a cognitive theory of mind, assigning a specific neuroanatomical substrate to each one. Turner Syndrome is a genetic disorder that only affects women, and it's determined by a partial or complete deletion of the X-chromosome. Given the biological, psychological and social characteristics found in these women, they can be considered as a relevant population for the study of theory of mind according to biological parameters such as differential expression of the X-chromosome genes. Aims and methods: The aims of this study were to describe cognitive and affective theory of mind in 22 women diagnosed with Turner Syndrome and to determine if there are distinctive theory of mind profiles depending on the karyotype. Results and discussion: Results indicated that women diagnosed with Turner Syndrome present general difficulties in theory of mind, showing a lower performance on the cognitive aspect of this ability. Additionally, evidence was found suggesting that a greater genetic damage is related to greater difficulties in cognitive theory of mind, which is linked to cortical areas of non-automatic processing.

Social neuroscience: undoing the schism between neurology and psychiatry.

Multiple disorders once jointly conceived as "nervous diseases" became segregated by the distinct institutional traditions forged in neurology and psychiatry. As a result, each field specialized in the study and treatment of a subset of such conditions. Here we propose new avenues for interdisciplinary interaction through a triangulation of both fields with social neuroscience. To this end, we review evidence from five relevant domains (facial emotion recognition, empathy, theory of mind, moral cognition, and social context assessment), highlighting their common disturbances across neurological and psychiatric conditions and discussing their multiple pathophysiological mechanisms. Our proposal is anchored in multidimensional evidence, including behavioral, neurocognitive, and genetic findings. From a clinical perspective, this work paves the way for dimensional and transdiagnostic approaches, new pharmacological treatments, and educational innovations rooted in a combined neuropsychiatric training. Research-wise, it fosters new models of the social brain and a novel platform to explore the interplay of cognitive and social functions. Finally, we identify new challenges for this synergistic framework.

Mentalización y teoría de la mente / Mentalization and the Theory of Mind

El objetivo de esta revisión bibliográfica es delimitar y conceptualizar la Teoría de la Mente (ToM), como un proceso de carácter metacognitivo y socioemocional que permite reconocer las intenciones, creencias y emociones de los otros, así como las propias, favoreciendo una efectiva interacción humana. Se analizan las distintas teorías explicativas de este concepto, especialmente la postura modular y sus niveles de complejidad, métodos de evaluación y la relevancia en los estudios actuales en Latinoamérica sobre fenómenos conscientes y psicopatología.

The aim of this bibliographic revision is to delineate y conceptualize the Theory of Mind (ToM) as a metacognitive and socio-emotional process that allows people to recognize feelings, believes, and intentions in other people and inside themselves. We analyze different explicative theories, in particular the modular point of view, and review its complexity, kinds of evaluation and its relevance in Latin-American studies on conscience phenomena and psychopathology.

Aproximación Neurodinámica a la Cognición Social / Neurodimanic Approach to Social Cognition

En las últimas décadas ha crecido el estudio los mecanismos involucrados en el comportamiento social, gran parte de estas indagaciones se han realizado desde una aproximación de la neurociencia social cognitiva, la cual se basa en un modelo representacional del procesamiento de información. No obstante, esta aproximación ha sido ampliamente criticada por desconocer la participación del cuerpo, la dinámica afectiva, el contexto social, el cambio durante el desarrollo y suponer un procesamiento modular endógeno. En este sentido, este artículo presenta un modelo neurodinámico de la cognición social (CS), comprendiéndola desde una aproximación enactiva, situada, relacional y sistémica. Desde este modelo se describen los principales cambios en esperados la actividad cerebral durante las interacciones sociales en tiempo real y durante la ontogenia. Se concluye resaltando los desafíos y oportunidades que este tipo de aproximaciones puede proporcionar a la neurociencia y psicología social del futuro.

In recent decades it has seen a growing interest to study the mechanisms involved in social behavior, much of these inquiries fall within social cognitive neuroscience approach, which is based on a representational model of information processing. However, this approach has been widely criticized for ignoring the body participation, emotional dynamics, social context, developmental changes and assuming an endogenous modular processing. In this regard, this article presents a neurodynamic model of social cognition, which understand social process from an enactive, embodied, situated, relational and systemic perspective. This model let us described the main expected changes in brain activity during ongoing social interactions and ontogeny. The conclusion highlights the challenges and opportunities that this kind of approach can provide for a coming neuroscience and social psychology.

Pós-construcionismo e neo-experimentalismo em Psicologia Social / Postconstructionism and new experimentalism in Social Psychology

A partir do exame de parte da literatura psicossociológica situada entre a década de 1970 e os dias atuais, o presente artigo pretende examinar e descrever os dois principais movimentos que, nas últimas quatro décadas, vêm modificando consideravelmente o perfil desta ciência (a saber, o Construcionismo Social e a Neurociência Social), como forma de apresentar, sumariamente, o estado atual da Psicologia Social e discutir alguns dos problemas epistemológicos que lhe são contemporâneos - como, por exemplo, o risco de reducionismo linguístico por parte do socioconstrucionismo e o risco de reducionismo fisicalista por parte da neurociência social.(AU)

Analyzing part of social psychological literature from 1970 to nowadays, we examine and describe the two main movements (Social Constructionism and Social Neuroscience) which, in the last four decades, have been considerably modifying the profile of this science, in order to present, briefly, the current state of Social Psychology and discuss some new epistemological problems that this science lives today - for example, the risk of linguistical reductionism by social constructionism and the risk of physicalist reductionism by social neuroscience.(AU)

Pós-construcionismo e neo-experimentalismo em Psicologia Social / Postconstructionism and new experimentalism in Social Psychology

A partir do exame de parte da literatura psicossociológica situada entre a década de 1970 e os dias atuais, o presente artigo pretende examinar e descrever os dois principais movimentos que, nas últimas quatro décadas, vêm modificando consideravelmente o perfil desta ciência (a saber, o Construcionismo Social e a Neurociência Social), como forma de apresentar, sumariamente, o estado atual da Psicologia Social e discutir alguns dos problemas epistemológicos que lhe são contemporâneos - como, por exemplo, o risco de reducionismo linguístico por parte do socioconstrucionismo e o risco de reducionismo fisicalista por parte da neurociência social. (AU)

Analyzing part of social psychological literature from 1970 to nowadays, we examine and describe the two main movements (Social Constructionism and Social Neuroscience) which, in the last four decades, have been considerably modifying the profile of this science, in order to present, briefly, the current state of Social Psychology and discuss some new epistemological problems that this science lives today - for example, the risk of linguistical reductionism by social constructionism and the risk of physicalist reductionism by social neuroscience. (AU)