Beliefs about COVID-19 as a threat to values are related to preventive behaviors and fear of COVID-19.

We investigated factors related to preventive behaviors and fear of COVID-19: values and beliefs about threat to values because of COVID-19. In two studies, participants reported their own values and evaluated how COVID-19 may threaten values. They also reported their preventive behaviors (washing hands, wearing a facial mask, keeping social distance, and avoiding public places) and fear of COVID-19. COVID-19 is perceived as a threat to personal focused values (openness and self-enhancement values) rather than social focused values (conservation and self-transcendence values). Both value importance and perceived threats to values are related to preventive behaviors and fear of COVID-19. Greater importance of conservation values was related to engaging in preventive behaviors and increased fear of COVID-19. Perceived threats to personal focused values (self-enhancement and openness values) were also related to engaging in preventive behaviors and fear of COVID-19.

Infra-Low Frequency Neurofeedback in Tension-Type Headache: A Cross-Over Sham-Controlled Study.

Primary headaches are highly prevalent and represent a major cause of disability in young adults. Neurofeedback is increasingly used in the treatment of chronic pain; however, there are few studies investigating its efficacy in patients with headaches. We report the results of a cross-over sham-controlled study on the efficacy of neurofeedback in the prophylactic treatment of tension-type headache (TTH). Participants received ten sessions of infra-low frequency electroencephalographic neurofeedback and ten sessions of sham-neurofeedback, with the order of treatments being randomized. The study also included a basic psychotherapeutic intervention - a psychoeducational session performed before the main study phases and emotional support provided throughout the study period. The headache probability was modeled as a function of the neurofeedback and sham-neurofeedback sessions performed to date. As a result, we revealed a strong beneficial effect of neurofeedback and no influence of the sham sessions. The study supports the prophylactic use of infra-low frequency neurofeedback in patients with TTH. From a methodological point of view, we advocate for the explicit inclusion of psychotherapeutic components in neurofeedback study protocols.

Artificial hand illusions dynamics: Onset and fading of static rubber and virtual moving hand illusions.

The aim of this study was to investigate the temporal dynamics of two multisensory body illusions: a static rubber hand illusion (RHI) and a moving virtual hand illusion (VHI). We explored the onset and fading of these illusions. A sense of ownership questionnaire and proprioceptive drift were used for illusion estimation. Novel kinematic analysis was applied for the VHI. Positive dynamics of ownership were found in the RHI but not in the VHI. The general dynamics of proprioceptive drift were similar in both illusions: during the onset phase of artificial hand representation proprioceptive drift gradually increased, and during the fading phase - it gradually decreased. Kinematic analysis of the VHI revealed several motion features (such as jerk, smoothness, velocity), predicted illusion measures, and probably reflected that participants with higher motor abilities and better adaptation to new sensory conditions may have better multisensory integration mechanisms that are responsible for the ownership illusion.