openHSU – Research Showcase

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  • Publication
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    Unraveling the contribution of serotonergic polymorphisms, prefrontal alpha asymmetry, and individual alpha peak frequency to the emotion-related impulsivity endophenotype
    (Humana Press ; Springer, 2022-07-19)
    Javelle, Florian
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    Bloch, Wilhelm
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    Johnson, Sheri L.
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    Schenk, Alexander
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    Zimmer, Philipp
    The unique contribution of the serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR), intronic region 2 (STin2), and monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) genes to individual differences in personality traits has been widely explored, and research has shown that certain forms of these polymorphisms relate to impulsivity and impulsivity-related disorders. Humans showing these traits are also described as having an asymmetrical prefrontal cortical activity when compared to others. In this explorative study, we examine the relationship between serotonergic neurotransmission polymorphisms, cortical activity features (prefrontal alpha asymmetry, individual alpha peak frequency [iAPF]), emotion-related and non-emotion-related impulsivity in humans. 5-HTTLPR, MAO-A, and STin2 polymorphisms were assessed in blood taken from 91 participants with high emotion-related impulsivity levels. Sixty-seven participants completed resting electroencephalography and a more comprehensive impulsivity index. In univariate analyses, iAPF correlated with both forms of emotion-related impulsivity. In multiple linear regression models, 5-HTTLPR polymorphism (model 1, adj. R 2  = 15.2%) and iAPF were significant interacting predictors of emotion-related impulsivity, explaining a large share of the results’ variance (model 2, adj. R 2  = 21.2%). Carriers of the low transcriptional activity 5-HTTPLR and MAO-A phenotypes obtained higher emotion-related impulsivity scores than others did. No significant results were detected for non-emotion-related impulsivity or for a form of emotion-related impulsivity involving cognitive/motivational reactivity to emotion. Our findings support an endophenotypic approach to impulsivity, showing that tri-allelic 5-HTTLPR polymorphism, iAPF, and their interaction are relevant predictors of one form of emotion-related impulsivity.
  • Publication
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    Word class and word frequency in the MMN looking glass
    (Elsevier, 2021-05-05) ;
    Bäß, Pamela
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    Roye, Anja
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    Winkler, István
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    Schröger, Erich
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    Horváth, János
    The effects of lexical meaning and lexical familiarity on auditory deviance detection were investigated by presenting oddball sequences of words, while participants ignored the stimuli. Stimulus sequences were composed of words that were varied in word class (nouns vs. functions words) and frequency of language use (high vs. low frequency) in a factorial design with the roles of frequently presented stimuli (Standards) and infrequently presented ones (Deviants) were fully crossed. Deviants elicited the Mismatch Negativity component of the event-related brain potential. Modulating effects of lexical meaning were obtained, revealing processing advantages for denotationally meaningful items. However, no effect of word frequency was observed. These results demonstrate that an apparently low-level function, such as auditory deviance detection utilizes information from the mental lexicon even for task-irrelevant stimuli.
  • Publication
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    Does self-reported chronic pain influence savoring of aesthetic experiences?
    (PLOS, 2021-11-12)
    Weigand, Rosalie
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    Moosmayer, Annika
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    Background: Aesthetic experiences elicit a wide range of positive emotions and have a positive impact on various health outcomes. In this context, savoring refers to a cognitive form of emotion regulation used to maintain and extend positive emotional experiences and is considered to contribute to health and well-being. Chronic pain has been linked to reduced reward-seeking behavior. This is the first study to investigate the relationship between self-reported chronic pain and savoring. Methods: We conducted an anonymous cross-sectional survey in a large non-clinical sample (opera, theater, and cabaret visitors; n = 322). The variables were assessed with a two-item-questionnaire. Results: Self-reported chronic pain was significantly negatively correlated with savoring (r = -.547) Conclusion: Altogether, this result helps to develop a better understanding of the effects of chronic pain in humans and to shed light on state-dependent differences in aesthetic experiences.
  • Publication
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    "I'm getting too old for this stuff"
    (Elsevier, 2021-08-12) ;
    While body modifications have increasingly gained acceptance and popularity, how different subpopulations aesthetically appreciate tattoos remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the conceptual structure underlying tattoo aesthetics, focusing on the effects of internalized social norms and expertise. Using a timed free-listing task, three groups (≤49 years, ≥50 years, and experts) comprising 497 participants were asked to write down adjectives that could describe tattoo aesthetics. Statistical analyses of frequency, cognitive salience indices, co-occurrence dimensions, semantic dimensions, similarity measures, and valences were applied and, to directly compare the three groups, a generalized Procrustes analysis was applied. The variance and complexity with which individuals verbally expressed their perceived aesthetic appeal of tattoos were highlighted. However, the results do not reveal a unified concept of beauty, nor do they present a clear bipolar dimension of beautiful/ugly for two of the three groups. Nevertheless, the concept of beauty was found to be prominent in tattoo aesthetics, and aesthetic and descriptive–evaluative dimensions were identified, with terms such as beautiful, ugly, multicolored, and interesting being the most notable adjectives, although not with the highest valence. Possible factors explaining the intracultural differences between the three groups are also discussed.
  • Publication
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    When personality gets under the skin
    (PLOS, 2021-03-03) ;
    Tetzlaff, Bjarn-Ove
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    Do individuals modify their bodies in order to be unique? The present study sought to investigate need for uniqueness (NfU) subcomponents as possible motives for modifying one’s body. To this end, the study obtained information from 312 participants about their NfU (using the German NfU-G global scale and three sub-scales) and their body modifications (tattoos, piercings, and extreme body modifications such as tongue splitting). By analyzing the three subcomponents of NfU, the study was able to investigate the differential relationship of the sub-scales with the outcome measures, which facilitated a fine-grained understanding of the NfU–body-modification relationship. The study found that tattooed, pierced, and extreme-body-modified individuals had higher NfU-G scores than individuals without body modifications. Moreover, it seemed that individuals with tattoos took a social component into consideration while lacking concern regarding others’ reaction toward their tattoos, although not wanting to cause affront. Pierced and extreme-body-modified individuals, contrarily, tended to display a propensity to actively flout rules and not worry about others’ opinions on their modifications. However, although statistically significant, the effect size ( d ) for the NfU-G differences in the tattooed and pierced participants’ mean scores was small to medium in all three subcomponents. The extreme-body-modified group presented medium and medium to large effects. Further, the study observed that the number of body modifications increased with an increasing NfU in tattooed and pierced individuals. These findings demonstrated multifaceted interrelations between the NfU, its subcomponents, and the three kinds of body modifications investigated in the present study.
  • Publication
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    Tasting rewards
    (Taylor & Francis, 2021-11-12) ;
    Laborde, Sylvain
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    Baum, Niels
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    Hoffmann, Sven
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    Human research has shown interactions between rewards and cognitive control. In animal models of affective neuroscience, reward administration typically involves administering orosensory sugar signals (OSS) during caloric-deprived states. We adopted this procedure to investigate neurophysiological mechanisms of reward-cognitive control interactions in humans. We predicted that OSS would affect neurophysiological and behavioral indices of error processing oppositely, depending on the relative weight of the OSS-induced ‘wanting’ and ‘liking’ components of reward. We, therefore, conducted a double-blind, non-nutritive sweetener-controlled study with a within-subject design. Fasted (16 hr) participants (N = 61) performed a modified Flanker task to assess neurophysiological (error-related negativity [Ne/ERN]) and behavioral (post-error adaptations) measures of error processing. Non-contingent to task performance, we repeatedly administered either a sugar (glucose) or non-nutritive sweetener (aspartame) solution, which had to be expulsed after short oral stimulation to prevent post-oral effects. Consistent with our hypothesis on how ‘liking’ would affect Ne/ERN amplitude, we found the latter to be decreased for sugar compared to aspartame. Unexpectedly, we found post-error accuracy, instead of post-error slowing, to be reduced by sugar relative to aspartame. Our findings suggest that OSS may interact with error processing through the ‘liking’ component of rewards. Adopting our reward-induction procedure (i.e. administering OSS in a state of high reward sensitivity [i.e. fasting], non-contingent to task performance) might help future research investigating the neural underpinnings of reward-cognitive control interactions in humans.
  • Publication
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    Materials aesthetics
    Natural occurrences and the choice of specific materials have a major impact on the experience of the physical environment. The results of a recent study using a free listing task involving only adjectives suggested that the conceptual structure of the aesthetics of materials is structured by sensorial, neutrally valenced, descriptive terms, while showing no primacy of beauty. The present article examined the conceptual structure underlying the aesthetic experience of various materials using a different methodological approach. Applying a technique based upon semantic differentials, individuals in the present study (n = 272) were asked to judge the applicability of the most frequently listed terms in the previous study to the aesthetics of different materials. Overall, the results of multiple analyses yielded a converging picture for the two studies. Additionally, as materials constitute the basis of complete entities, the role of products in the conceptual representation of the aesthetics of materials was investigated with an exploratory approach. No support was found for the hypothesis that products play such a role. Finally, limitations regarding the outcome of the present study are discussed. All things considered, the results of this study highlight the uniqueness of the aesthetics of materials and its distinctness from the conceptual representations underlying most other aesthetic domains.
  • Publication
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    Lay conceptions of “being moved” (“bewegt sein”) include a joyful and a sad type
    (PLOS, 2022-10-27)
    Schindler, Ines
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    Wagner, Valentin
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    Menninghaus, Winfried
    Being moved has received increased attention in emotion psychology as a social emotion that fosters bonds between individuals and within communities. This increased attention, however, has also sparked debates about whether the term “being moved” refers to a single distinct profile of emotion components or rather to a range of different emotion profiles. We addressed this question by investigating lay conceptions of the emotion components (i.e., elicitors, cognitive appraisals, subjective feelings, bodily symptoms, and consequences for thought/action) of “bewegt sein” (the German term for “being moved”). Participants (N = 106) provided written descriptions of both a moving personal experience and their conceptual prototype of “being moved,” which were subjected to content analysis to obtain quantitative data for statistical analyses. Based on latent class analyses, we identified two classes for both the personal experiences (joyfully-moved and sadly-moved classes) and the being-moved prototype (basic-description and extended-description classes). Being joyfully moved occurred when social values and positive relationship experiences were salient. Being sadly moved was elicited by predominantly negative relationship experiences and negatively salient social values. For both classes, the most frequently reported consequences for thought/action were continued cognitive engagement, finding meaning, and increased valuation of and striving for connectedness/prosociality. Basic descriptions of the prototype included “being moved” by positive or negative events as instances of the same emotion, with participants in the extended-description class also reporting joy and sadness as associated emotions. Based on our findings and additional theoretical considerations, we propose that the term “being moved” designates an emotion with an overall positive valence that typically includes blends of positively and negatively valenced emotion components, in which especially the weight of the negative components varies. The emotion’s unifying core is that it involves feeling the importance of individuals, social entities, and abstract social values as sources of meaning in one’s life.
  • Publication
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    Dissociating selectivity adjustments from temporal learning–introducing the context-dependent proportion congruency effect
    The list-level proportion congruency effect (PCE) and the context-specific PC (CSPC) effect are typical findings in experimental conflict protocols, which competing explanations attribute to different mechanisms. Of these mechanisms, stimulus-unspecific conflict-induced selectivity adjustments have attracted the most interest, from various disciplines. Recent methodological advances have yielded an experimental procedure for entirely ruling out all stimulus-specific alternatives. However, there is a stimulus-unspecific alternative–temporal learning–which cannot even be ruled out as the sole cause of either effect with any established experimental procedure. That is because it is very difficult to create a scenario in which selectivity adjustments and temporal learning make different predictions–with traditional approaches, it is arguably impossible. Here, we take a step towards solving this problem, and experimentally dissociating the two mechanisms. First, we present our novel approach which is a combination of abstract experimental conditions and theoretical assumptions. As we illustrate with two computational models, given this particular combination, the two mechanisms predict opposite modulations of an as yet unexplored hybrid form of the list-level PCE and the CSPC effect, which we term context-dependent PCE (CDPCE). With experimental designs that implement the abstract conditions properly, it is therefore possible to rule out temporal learning as the sole cause of stimulus-unspecific adaptations to PC, and to unequivocally attribute the latter, at least partially, to selectivity adjustments. Secondly, we evaluate methodological and theoretical aspects of the presented approach. Finally, we report two experiments, that illustrate both the promise of and a potential challenge to this approach.
  • Publication
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    I know what i like when i see it
    (PLOS, 2022-09-13)
    Tiihonen, Marianne
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    Haumann, Niels Trusbak
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    Saarikallio, Suvi
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    Brattico, Elvira
    Liking and pleasantness are common concepts in psychological emotion theories and in everyday language related to emotions. Despite obvious similarities between the terms, several empirical and theoretical notions support the idea that pleasantness and liking are cognitively different phenomena, becoming most evident in the context of emotion regulation and art enjoyment. In this study it was investigated whether liking and pleasantness indicate behaviourally measurable differences, not only in the long timespan of emotion regulation, but already within the initial affective responses to visual and auditory stimuli. A cross-modal affective priming protocol was used to assess whether there is a behavioural difference in the response time when providing an affective rating to a liking or pleasantness task. It was hypothesized that the pleasantness task would be faster as it is known to rely on rapid feature detection. Furthermore, an affective priming effect was expected to take place across the sensory modalities and the presentative and non-presentative stimuli. A linear mixed effect analysis indicated a significant priming effect as well as an interaction effect between the auditory and visual sensory modalities and the affective rating tasks of liking and pleasantness: While liking was rated fastest across modalities, it was significantly faster in vision compared to audition. No significant modality dependent differences between the pleasantness ratings were detected. The results demonstrate that liking and pleasantness rating scales refer to separate processes already within the short time scale of one to two seconds. Furthermore, the affective priming effect indicates that an affective information transfer takes place across modalities and the types of stimuli applied. Unlike hypothesized, liking rating took place faster across the modalities. This is interpreted to support emotion theoretical notions where liking and disliking are crucial properties of emotion perception and homeostatic self-referential information, possibly overriding pleasantness-related feature analysis. Conclusively, the findings provide empirical evidence for a conceptual delineation of common affective processes.