A multitude of sensory inputs needs to be processed during sensorimotor integration. A crucial factor for detecting relevant information is its complexity, since information content can be conflicting at a perceptual level. This may be central to executive control processes, such as response inhibition. This EEG study aims to investigate the system neurophysiological mechanisms behind effects of perceptual conflict on response inhibition. We systematically modulated perceptual conflict by integrating a Global-local task with a Go/Nogo paradigm. The results show that conflicting perceptual information, in comparison to non-conflicting perceptual information, impairs response inhibition performance. This effect was evident regardless of whether the relevant information for response inhibition is displayed on the global, or local perceptual level. The neurophysiological data suggests that early perceptual/ attentional processing stages do not underlie these modulations. Rather, processes at the response selection level (P3), play a role in changed response inhibition performance. This conflict-related impairment of inhibitory processes is associated with activation differences in (inferior) parietal areas (BA7 and BA40) and not as commonly found in the medial prefrontal areas. This suggests that various functional neuroanatomical structures may mediate response inhibition and that the functional neuroanatomical structures involved depend on the complexity of sensory integration processes.

Longitudinal developmental fMRI studies just recently began to focus on within-subject reliability using the intraclass coefficient (ICC). It remains largely unclear which degree of reliability can be achieved in developmental studies and whether this depends on the type of task used. Therefore, we aimed to systematically investigate the reliability of three well-classified tasks: an emotional attention, a cognitive control, and an intertemporal choice paradigm. We hypothesized to find higher reliability in the cognitive task than in the emotional or reward-related task. 104 healthy mid-adolescents were scanned at age 14 and again at age 16 within M = 1.8 years using the same paradigms, scanner, and scanning protocols. Overall, we found both variability and stability (i.e. poor to excellent ICCs) depending largely on the region of interest (ROI) and task. Contrary to our hypothesis, whole brain reliability was fair for the cognitive control task but good for the emotional attention and intertemporal choice task. Subcortical ROIs (ventral striatum, amygdala) resulted in lower ICCs than visual ROIs. Current results add to the yet sparse overall ICC literature in both developing samples and adults. This study shows that analyses of stability, i.e. reliability, are helpful benchmarks for longitudinal studies and their implications for adolescent development.

Research in younger adults dissociates cognitive from affective facets of social information processing, rather than promoting a monolithic view of social intelligence. An influential theory on adult development suggests differential effects of aging on cognitive and affective functions. However, this dissociation has not been directly tested in the social domain. Employing a newly developed naturalistic paradigm that disentangles facets of the social mind within an individual, we show multi-directionality of age-related differences. Specifically, components of the socio-cognitive route – Theory of Mind and metacognition – are impaired in older relative to younger adults. Nevertheless, these social capacities are still less affected by aging than factual reasoning and metacognition regarding non-social content. Importantly, the socio-affective route is well-functioning, with no decline in empathy and elevated compassion in the elderly. These findings contribute to an integrated theory of age-related change in social functioning and inform interventions tailored to specifically reinstate socio-cognitive skills in old age.

It is far from conclusive what distinguishes the inattentive (ADD) and the combined (ADHD-C) subtype of ADHD on the neuronal level. Theoretical considerations suggest that especially interval timing processes may dissociate these subtypes from each other. Combining high-density EEG recordings with source localization analyses, we examine whether there are ADHD-subtype specific modulations of neurophysiological processes subserving interval timing in matched groups of ADD (n = 16), ADHD-C (n = 16) and controls (n = 16). Patients with ADD and ADHD-C show deficits in interval timing, which was correlated with the degree of inattention in ADD patients. Compared to healthy controls, patients with ADHD-C display a somewhat weaker, yet consistent response preparation process (contingent negative variation, CNV). In patients with ADD, the early CNV is interrupted, indicating an oscillatory disruption of the interval timing process. This is associated with activations in the supplemental motor areas and the middle frontal gyrus. Patients with ADD display adequate feedback learning mechanisms (feedback-related negativity, FRN), which is not the case in patients with ADHD-C. The results suggest that altered pacemaker-accumulation processes in medial frontal structures distinguish the ADD from the ADHD-C subtype. Particularly in patients with ADD phasic interruptions of preparatory neurophysiological processes are evident, making this a possible diagnostic feature.

The present study aimed to systematically examine whether laurinal, orange odor, and a specifically designed “perfume” influence sleep quality. During sleep, healthy participants (n = 139) were presented with odor or no odor through nose clips for fourteen consecutive nights (phase one). We collected physiological parameters together with subjective reports. Later on, longer lasting effects of this manipulation were examined for the following fourteen nights (phase two) without exposition to odors. Additionally, olfactory, cognitive and non-cognitive measures were conducted before phase one, between both phases and after phase two. One-way analyses of variance for repeated measures with nights and condition (1 vs 2) as the within-subject factor and odor condition (0, 1, 2 or 3) together with odor pleasantness rating as between-subject factor, was employed to analyse data. Overall, the present results demonstrated that the odor condition in comparison to control had no consistent effect on sleep in healthy participants which can be possibly explained by exposure to odors via nose clips. However, the analyses indicated that the individual pleasantness of odors enhanced the positive assessment of sleep quality. Altogether, the present results indicate that the subjective perception of an odor’s hedonic value appears to be crucial for sleep quality, not the odors themselves.

In a world with rapidly increasing population that competes for the earth’s limited resources, cooperation is crucial. While research showed that empathizing with another individual in need enhances prosociality, it remains unclear whether correctly inferring the other’s inner, mental states on a more cognitive level (i.e., mentalizing) elicits helping behavior as well. We applied a video-based laboratory task probing empathy and a performance measure of mentalizing in adult volunteers (N = 94) and assessed to which extent they were willing to help the narrators in the videos. We replicate findings that an empathy induction leads to more prosocial decisions. Crucially, we also found that correct mentalizing increases the willingness to help. This evidence helps clarify an inconsistent picture of the relation between mentalizing and prosociality.

Tenerife is experiencing challenges with its drinking water resources because of climate change and overtourism. The prior lone use of groundwater as drinking water source must now be complemented by desalinated saltwater. This has resulted in an increased use of drinking water on plastic bottles, which has led to large amounts of plastic waste on the island. Even with an implemented deposit system for plastic bottles in the capital, a high consumption of plastic bottles for drinking water remains. This study thereby aims to research tourists and locals’ habits and opinions of tap water consumption on Tenerife. The study aims to answer why tourists and locals do not drink the tap water on the island today and what their opinions are towards a reduced use of plastic bottles for drinking water consumption on Tenerife. The study also answers which actions could be taken to change tourists’ and locals’ consumption of drinking water in plastic bottles towards a primary consumption of tap water. A literature study was conducted to explore water consumption and plastic waste on Tenerife. A survey study was performed on 155 respondents of tourists and locals’ habits and opinions considering drinking water and plastic bottle waste. The results showed that most of the respondents avoid tap water with fear of food poisoning or insecurity of how it will affect their long-term health. Most of the respondents are positive towards a reduced use of plastic bottles for drinking water on Tenerife. Both tourists and locals answered that they would drink the tap water if they knew that it was safe and had a good taste. Actions that can be taken for changing the habits of using plastic bottles for drinking water are; informing the locals and tourists on the safety of the tap water and developing the water systems to improve the taste of the tap water. The study indicates the need for actions to increase the assurance in the quality and safety of tap water on Tenerife. This could improve the transition towards a more sustainable consumption of drinking water, help reduce the use of plastic bottles on the island and, is a step in the right direction towards the Sustainable development goals.

While the importance of social affect and cognition is indisputable throughout the adult lifespan, findings of how empathy and prosociality develop and interact across adulthood are mixed and real-life data are scarce. Research using ecological momentary assessment recently demonstrated that adults commonly experience empathy in daily life. Furthermore, experiencing empathy was linked to higher prosocial behavior and subjective well-being. However, to date, it is not clear whether there are adult age differences in daily empathy and daily prosociality and whether age moderates the relationship between empathy and prosociality across adulthood. Here we analyzed experience-sampling data collected from participants across the adult lifespan to study age effects on empathy, prosocial behavior, and well-being under real-life circumstances. Linear and quadratic age effects were found for the experience of empathy, with increased empathy across the three younger age groups (18 to 45 years) and a slight decrease in the oldest group (55 years and older). Neither prosocial behavior nor well-being showed significant age-related differences. We discuss these findings with respect to (partially discrepant) results derived from lab-based and traditional survey studies. We conclude that studies linking in-lab experiments with real-life experience-sampling may be a promising venue for future lifespan studies.

Evidence is accumulating that the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can bring forth deficits in executive functioning via alterations in the dopaminergic system. Importantly, dopaminergic pathways have been shown to modulate how actions and perceptions are integrated within the brain. Such alterations in event file binding could thus underlie the cognitive deficits developing after a COVID-19 infection. We examined action-perception integration in a group of young people (11–19 years of age) that had been infected with COVID-19 before study participation (n = 34) and compared them to a group of uninfected healthy controls (n = 29) on the behavioral (i.e., task accuracy, reaction time) and neurophysiological (EEG) level using an established event file binding paradigm. Groups did not differ from each other regarding demographic variables or in reporting psychiatric symptoms. Overall, multiple lines of evidence (behavioral and neurophysiological) suggest that action-perception integration is preserved in adolescents who suffered from COVID-19 prior to study participation. Event file binding processes were intact in both groups on all levels. While cognitive impairments can occur following a COVID-19 infection, the study demonstrates that action-perception integration as one of the basic building blocks of cognition seems to be largely unaffected in adolescents with a rather mild course of the disease.

Submitted by Caroline Xavier (caroline.xavier@pucrs.br) on 2017-07-03T13:27:49Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DIS_FELIPE_GOULART_TOMKOWSKI_COMPLETO.pdf: 661319 bytes, checksum: 652d7011baedb676606b1b58f3f86c31 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-03T13:27:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DIS_FELIPE_GOULART_TOMKOWSKI_COMPLETO.pdf: 661319 bytes, checksum: 652d7011baedb676606b1b58f3f86c31 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-30 / A presente disserta??o tem por objetivo investigar o valor instrumental do comportamento humano para o funcionamento da democracia atrav?s da ideia de raz?o p?blica. A intera??o que existe entre governo e cidad?os ? determinante para que as pol?ticas p?blicas de um pa?s sejam condizentes com as prefer?ncias da popula??o e n?o de grupos de poder. Sendo assim, torna-se importante analisar a ideia subjacente ? democracia de "governo pela discuss?o" ? luz de teorias que nos iluminem tanto no que diz respeito ? ideia de decis?o coletiva justa, quanto, ao real comportamento humano. Para tal, primeiramente ? apresentada a ideia de raz?o p?blica a contraponto, em particular, as vis?es de Rawls e Sen, dando ?nfase para ao conceito de imparcialidade nas decis?es pol?ticas. Em seguida, na terceira se??o, trabalham-se as ideais de racionalidade, razoabilidade, introduzindo-se os conceitos de heur?sticas, vieses, e valores sociais. Assim, constr?i-se uma associa??o para se pensar sobre os resultados de diferentes tipos de comportamento humano para a democracia e como ? poss?vel refletir a partir dele sobre as ideias de objetividade posicional e transcendental. Finalmente, na se??o IV, realiza-se uma investiga??o emp?rica atrav?s da base de sobre a rela??o entre percep??es sobre informa??es e disposi??es pol?ticas e a frequ?ncia de conversa sobre pol?tica com os amigos. Utiliza-se um modelo de regress?o log?stica ordenada, com dados do Latino Bar?metro de 2015 para o Brasil, aliado ao m?todo de componentes principais para capturar dimens?es explicativas relevantes. Os seguintes resultados obtidos contradizem as hip?teses pr?vias: a falta de confian?a no governo e a percep??o de garantias faltantes n?o significativos, o ativismo dissociado a causas espec?ficas reduz, ao passo que, um senso de cidadania ao reverso aumenta as chances de se conversar sobre pol?tica com mais frequ?ncia com amigos. / The present dissertation aims to investigate the instrumental role of human behaviour for democracy through the idea of public reason. The interaction between government and citizens is decisive for a country's public policies to be in line with population preferences rather than power groups. Thus, it becomes important to analyse the idea underlying democracy of "government by discussion" in the light of theories that enlighten us both with regard to the idea of just collective decision and real human behaviour. To this end, we first counterpoint the idea of public reason, in particular, of Rawls and Sen, with an emphasis on the concept of impartiality in political decisions. Then, in the third section, we work on the notions of rationality, reasonableness, introducing the concepts of heuristics, biases, and social values. Thus, an association is constructed for thinking about the results of different types of human behavior for democracy and how the ideas of positional and transcendental objectivity fit this purpose well. Finally, in section IV, we conduct an empirical investigation based on the relationship between perceptions of relevant political information and dispositions and the frequency of political talk with friends. We use a logistic regression model, with data from the 2015 Latin Barometer for Brazil, combined with principal components method to capture relevant explanatory dimensions. The following results contradict previous hypotheses: lack of trust in the government and the perception of absent guarantees are not significant, while activism dissociated of specific causes reduces and a reverse sense of citizenship increases the chances of talking about politics more frequently with friends.