Browsing by Author "Jääskeläinen, Iiro P."

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Aberrant auditory and visual memory development of children with upper limb motor disorders
(2021-12) Koriakina, Maria; Agranovich, Olga; Petrova, Ekaterina; Kadieva, Dzerassa; Kopytin, Grigory; Ermolovich, Evgenia; Moiseenko, Olesya; Alekseeva, Margarita; Bredikhin, Dimitri; Bermúdez-Margaretto, Beatriz; Ntoumanis, Ioannis; Shestakova, Anna N.; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.; Blagovechtchenski, Evgeny
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
The current study aimed to compare differences in the cognitive development of children with and without upper limb motor disorders. The study involved 89 children from 3 to 15 years old; 57 children with similar upper limb motor disorders and 32 healthy children. Our results showed that motor disorders could impair cognitive functions, especially memory. In particular, we found that children between 8 and 11 years old with upper limb disorders differed significantly from their healthy peers in both auditory and visual memory scales. These results can be explained by the fact that the development of cognitive functions depends on the normal development of motor skills, and the developmental delay of motor skills affects cognitive functions. Correlation analysis did not reveal any significant relationship between other cognitive functions (attention, thinking, intelligence) and motor function. Altogether, these findings point to the need to adapt general habilitation programs for children with motor disorders, considering the cognitive impairment during their development. The evaluation of children with motor impairment is often limited to their motor dysfunction, leaving their cognitive development neglected. The current study showed the importance of cognitive issues for these children. Moreover, early intervention, particularly focused on memory, can prevent some of the accompanying difficulties in learning and daily life functioning of children with movement disorders.
Altered Cerebral Processing of Videos in Children with Motor Dysfunction Suggests Broad Embodiment of Perceptual Cognitive Functions
(2022-11) Ntoumanis, Ioannis; Agranovich, Olga; Shestakova, Anna N.; Blagovechtchenski, Evgeny; Koriakina, Maria; Kadieva, Dzerassa; Kopytin, Grigory; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Embodied cognition theory suggests that motor dysfunctions affect cognition. We examined this hypothesis by inspecting whether cerebral processing of movies, featuring both goal-directed movements and content without humans, differ between children with congenital motor dysfunction and healthy controls. Electroencephalography was recorded from 23 healthy children and 23 children with limited or absent arm movement due to either arthrogryposis multiplex congenita or obstetric brachial plexus palsy. Each individual patient exhibited divergent neural responses, disclosed by significantly lower inter-subject correlation (ISC) of brain activity, during the videos compared to the healthy children. We failed to observe associations between this finding and the motor-related content of the various video scenes, suggesting that differences between the patients and controls reflect modulation of perceptual-cognitive processing of videos by upper-limb motor dysfunctions not limited to the watching-mirroring of motor actions. Thus, perceptual-cognitive processes in the brain seem to be more robustly embodied than has previously been thought.
Auditory representation of learned sound sequences in motor regions of the macaque brain
(2020-06-30) Archakov, Denis; DeWitt, Iain; Kuśmierek, Paweł; Ortiz-Rios, Michael; Cameron, Daniel; Cui, Ding; Morin, Elyse L.; VanMeter, John W.; Sams, Mikko; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.; Rauschecker, Josef P.
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Human speech production requires the ability to couple motor actions with their auditory consequences. Nonhuman primates might not have speech because they lack this ability. To address this question, we trained macaques to perform an auditory-motor task producing sound sequences via hand presses on a newly designed device ("monkey piano"). Catch trials were interspersed to ascertain the monkeys were listening to the sounds they produced. Functional MRI was then used to map brain activity while the animals listened attentively to the sound sequences they had learned to produce and to two control sequences, which were either completely unfamiliar or familiar through passive exposure only. All sounds activated auditory midbrain and cortex, but listening to the sequences that were learned by self-production additionally activated the putamen and the hand and arm regions of motor cortex. These results indicate that, in principle, monkeys are capable of forming internal models linking sound perception and production in motor regions of the brain, so this ability is not special to speech in humans. However, the coupling of sounds and actions in nonhuman primates (and the availability of an internal model supporting it) seems not to extend to the upper vocal tract, that is, the supralaryngeal articulators, which are key for the production of speech sounds in humans. The origin of speech may have required the evolution of a "command apparatus" similar to the control of the hand, which was crucial for the evolution of tool use.
Behavioral Experience-Sampling Methods in Neuroimaging Studies With Movie and Narrative Stimuli
(2022-01-27) Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.; Ahveninen, Jyrki; Klucharev, Vasily; Shestakova, Anna N.; Levy, Jonathan
A2 Katsausartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Movies and narratives are increasingly utilized as stimuli in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), magnetoencephalography (MEG), and electroencephalography (EEG) studies. Emotional reactions of subjects, what they pay attention to, what they memorize, and their cognitive interpretations are all examples of inner experiences that can differ between subjects during watching of movies and listening to narratives inside the scanner. Here, we review literature indicating that behavioral measures of inner experiences play an integral role in this new research paradigm via guiding neuroimaging analysis. We review behavioral methods that have been developed to sample inner experiences during watching of movies and listening to narratives. We also review approaches that allow for joint analyses of the behaviorally sampled inner experiences and neuroimaging data. We suggest that building neurophenomenological frameworks holds potential for solving the interrelationships between inner experiences and their neural underpinnings. Finally, we tentatively suggest that recent developments in machine learning approaches may pave way for inferring different classes of inner experiences directly from the neuroimaging data, thus potentially complementing the behavioral self-reports.
Brain hemodynamic activity during viewing and re-viewing of comedy movies explained by experienced humor
(2016-06-21) Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.; Pajula, Juha; Tohka, Jussi; Lee, Hsin Ju; Kuo, Wen Jui; Lin, Fa Hsuan
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Humor is crucial in human social interactions. To study the underlying neural processes, three comedy clips were shown twice to 20 volunteers during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Inter-subject similarities in humor ratings, obtained immediately after fMRI, explained inter-subject correlation of hemodynamic activity in right frontal pole and in a number of other brain regions. General linear model analysis also indicated activity in right frontal pole, as well as in additional cortical areas and subcortically in striatum, explained by humorousness. The association of the right frontal pole with experienced humorousness is a novel finding, which might be related to humor unfolding over longer time scales in the movie clips. Specifically, frontal pole has been shown to exhibit longer temporal receptive windows than, e.g., sensory areas, which might have enabled processing of humor in the clips based on holding information and reinterpreting that in light of new information several (even tens of) seconds later. As another novel finding, medial and lateral prefrontal areas, frontal pole, posterior-inferior temporal areas, posterior parietal areas, posterior cingulate, striatal structures and amygdala showed reduced activity upon re-viewing of the clips, suggesting involvement in processing of humor related to novelty of the comedic events.
Brain mechanisms underlying cue-based memorizing during free viewing of movie Memento
(2018-05-15) Kauttonen, Janne; Hlushchuk, Yevhen; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.; Tikka, Pia
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
How does the human brain recall and connect relevant memories with unfolding events? To study this, we presented 25 healthy subjects, during functional magnetic resonance imaging, the movie ‘Memento’ (director C. Nolan). In this movie, scenes are presented in chronologically reverse order with certain scenes briefly overlapping previously presented scenes. Such overlapping “key-frames” serve as effective memory cues for the viewers, prompting recall of relevant memories of the previously seen scene and connecting them with the concurrent scene. We hypothesized that these repeating key-frames serve as immediate recall cues and would facilitate reconstruction of the story piece-by-piece. The chronological version of Memento, shown in a separate experiment for another group of subjects, served as a control condition. Using multivariate event-related pattern analysis method and representational similarity analysis, focal fingerprint patterns of hemodynamic activity were found to emerge during presentation of key-frame scenes. This effect was present in higher-order cortical network with regions including precuneus, angular gyrus, cingulate gyrus, as well as lateral, superior, and middle frontal gyri within frontal poles. This network was right hemispheric dominant. These distributed patterns of brain activity appear to underlie ability to recall relevant memories and connect them with ongoing events, i.e., “what goes with what” in a complex story. Given the real-life likeness of cinematic experience, these results provide new insight into how the human brain recalls, given proper cues, relevant memories to facilitate understanding and prediction of everyday life events.
The brains of high functioning autistic individuals do not synchronize with those of others
(2013) Salmi, Juha; Roine, Ulrika; Glerean, Enrico; Lahnakoski, Juha; Nieminen-von Wendt, Taina; Tani, P; Leppämäki, S; Nummenmaa, Lauri; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.; Carlson, Synnöve; Rintahaka, P; Sams, Mikko
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Multifaceted and idiosyncratic aberrancies in social cognition characterize autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). To advance understanding of underlying neural mechanisms, we measured brain hemodynamic activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in individuals with ASD and matched-pair neurotypical (NT) controls while they were viewing a feature film portraying social interactions. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used as a measure of voxelwise similarity of brain activity (InterSubject Correlations—ISCs). Individuals with ASD showed lower ISC than NT controls in brain regions implicated in processing social information including the insula, posterior and anterior cingulate cortex, caudate nucleus, precuneus, lateral occipital cortex, and supramarginal gyrus. Curiously, also within NT group, autism-quotient scores predicted ISC in overlapping areas, including, e.g., supramarginal gyrus and precuneus. In ASD participants, functional connectivity was decreased between the frontal pole and the superior frontal gyrus, angular gyrus, superior parietal lobule, precentral gyrus, precuneus, and anterior/posterior cingulate gyrus. Taken together these results suggest that ISC and functional connectivity measure distinct features of atypical brain function in high-functioning autistic individuals during free viewing of acted social interactions. Our ISC results suggest that the minds of ASD individuals do not ‘tick together’ with others while perceiving identical dynamic social interactions.
Classification of emotion categories based on functional connectivity patterns of the human brain
(2022-02-15) Saarimäki, Heini; Glerean, Enrico; Smirnov, Dmitry; Mynttinen, Henri; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.; Sams, Mikko; Nummenmaa, Lauri
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Neurophysiological and psychological models posit that emotions depend on connections across wide-spread corticolimbic circuits. While previous studies using pattern recognition on neuroimaging data have shown differences between various discrete emotions in brain activity patterns, less is known about the differences in functional connectivity. Thus, we employed multivariate pattern analysis on functional magnetic resonance imaging data (i) to develop a pipeline for applying pattern recognition in functional connectivity data, and (ii) to test whether connectivity patterns differ across emotion categories. Six emotions (anger, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness, and surprise) and a neutral state were induced in 16 participants using one-minute-long emotional narratives with natural prosody while brain activity was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We computed emotion-wise connectivity matrices both for whole-brain connections and for 10 previously defined functionally connected brain subnetworks and trained an across-participant classifier to categorize the emotional states based on whole-brain data and for each subnetwork separately. The whole-brain classifier performed above chance level with all emotions except sadness, suggesting that different emotions are characterized by differences in large-scale connectivity patterns. When focusing on the connectivity within the 10 subnetworks, classification was successful within the default mode system and for all emotions. We thus show preliminary evidence for consistently different sustained functional connectivity patterns for instances of emotion categories particularly within the default mode system.
Developmental differences in the perception of naturalistic human movements
(2023-01-10) Ntoumanis, Ioannis; Shestakova, Anna; Koriakina, Maria; Kadieva, Dzerassa; Kopytin, Grigory; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Introduction: It is widely believed that we are more attentive towards moving versus static stimuli. However, the neural correlates underlying the perception of human movements have not been extensively investigated in ecologically valid settings, nor has the developmental aspect of this phenomenon. Here, we set forth to investigate how human limb movements displayed in naturalistic videos influence the attentional engagement of children and young adults. Methods: Thirty-nine healthy participants (4–26 years old) were presented with naturalistic videos featuring human goal-directed movements, while neural activity was recorded using electroencephalography (EEG). Video scenes were automatically annotated as containing arm, leg or no movement, using a machine learning algorithm. The viewers’ attentional engagement was quantified by the intersubject correlation of EEG responses evoked by the videos. Results: Our results demonstrate that scenes featuring limb movements, especially simultaneous arm and leg movements, elicit higher attentional engagement than scenes with no limb movement. Interestingly, this effect was found to diminish with age. Discussion: Overall, our findings extend previous work on the perception of human motion by implementing naturalistic stimuli in the experimental design and extend the list of factors influencing the viewer’s engagement exerted by naturalistic videos.
Differential inter-subject correlation of brain activity when kinship is a variable in moral dilemma
(2017-12-01) Bacha-Trams, Mareike; Glerean, Enrico; Dunbar, Robin; Lahnakoski, Juha M.; Ryyppö, Elisa; Sams, Mikko; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Previous behavioural studies have shown that humans act more altruistically towards kin. Whether and how knowledge of genetic relatedness translates into differential neurocognitive evaluation of observed social interactions has remained an open question. Here, we investigated how the human brain is engaged when viewing a moral dilemma between genetic vs. non-genetic sisters. During functional magnetic resonance imaging, a movie was shown, depicting refusal of organ donation between two sisters, with subjects guided to believe the sisters were related either genetically or by adoption. Although 90% of the subjects self-reported that genetic relationship was not relevant, their brain activity told a different story. Comparing correlations of brain activity across all subject pairs between the two viewing conditions, we found significantly stronger inter-subject correlations in insula, cingulate, medial and lateral prefrontal, superior temporal, and superior parietal cortices, when the subjects believed that the sisters were genetically related. Cognitive functions previously associated with these areas include moral and emotional conflict regulation, decision making, and mentalizing, suggesting more similar engagement of such functions when observing refusal of altruism from a genetic sister. Our results show that mere knowledge of a genetic relationship between interacting persons robustly modulates social cognition of the perceiver.
Dissociable roles of cerebral μ-opioid and type 2 dopamine receptors in vicarious pain: A combined PET-fMRI study
(2017-08-01) Karjalainen, Tomi; Karlsson, Henry K.; Lahnakoski, Juha M.; Glerean, Enrico; Nuutila, Pirjo; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.; Hari, Riitta; Sams, Mikko; Nummenmaa, Lauri
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Neuroimaging studies have shown that seeing others in pain activates brain regions that are involved in first-hand pain, suggesting that shared neuromolecular pathways support processing of first-hand and vicarious pain. We tested whether the dopamine and opioid neurotransmitter systems involved in nociceptive processing also contribute to vicarious pain experience. We used in vivo positron emission tomography to quantify type 2 dopamine and μ-opioid receptor (D2R and MOR, respectively) availabilities in brains of 35 subjects. During functional magnetic resonance imaging, the subjects watched short movie clips depicting persons in painful and painless situations. Painful scenes activated pain-responsive brain regions including anterior insulae, thalamus and secondary somatosensory cortices, as well as posterior superior temporal sulci. MOR availability correlated negatively with the haemodynamic responses during painful scenes in anterior and posterior insulae, thalamus, secondary and primary somatosensory cortices, primary motor cortex, and superior temporal sulci. MOR availability correlated positively with orbitofrontal haemodynamic responses during painful scenes. D2R availability was not correlated with the haemodynamic responses in any brain region. These results suggest that the opioid system contributes to neural processing of vicarious pain, and that interindividual differences in opioidergic system could explain why some individuals react more strongly than others to seeing pain.
Distributed affective space represents multiple emotion categories across the human brain
(2018-05-01) Saarimäki, Heini; Ejtehadian, Lara Farzaneh; Glerean, Enrico; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.; Vuilleumier, Patrik; Sams, Mikko; Nummenmaa, Lauri
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
The functional organization of human emotion systems as well as their neuroanatomical basis and segregation in the brain remains unresolved. Here, we used pattern classification and hierarchical clustering to characterize the organization of a wide array of emotion categories in the human brain. We induced 14 emotions (6 'basic', e.g. fear and anger; and 8 'nonbasic', e.g. shame and gratitude) and a neutral state using guided mental imagery while participants' brain activity was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Twelve out of 14 emotions could be reliably classified from the haemodynamic signals. All emotions engaged a multitude of brain areas, primarily in midline cortices including anterior and posterior cingulate gyri and precuneus, in subcortical regions, and in motor regions including cerebellum and premotor cortex. Similarity of subjective emotional experiences was associated with similarity of the corresponding neural activation patterns. We conclude that different basic and non-basic emotions have distinguishable neural bases characterized by specific, distributed activation patterns in widespread cortical and subcortical circuits. Regionally differentiated engagement of these circuits defines the unique neural activity pattern and the corresponding subjective feeling associated with each emotion.
Distributed source modeling of intracranial stereoelectro-encephalographic measurements
(2021-04-15) Lin, Fa Hsuan; Lee, Hsin Ju; Ahveninen, Jyrki; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.; Yu, Hsiang Yu; Lee, Cheng Chia; Chou, Chien Chen; Kuo, Wen Jui
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Intracranial stereoelectroencephalography (sEEG) provides unsurpassed sensitivity and specificity for human neurophysiology. However, functional mapping of brain functions has been limited because the implantations have sparse coverage and differ greatly across individuals. Here, we developed a distributed, anatomically realistic sEEG source-modeling approach for within- and between-subject analyses. In addition to intracranial event-related potentials (iERP), we estimated the sources of high broadband gamma activity (HBBG), a putative correlate of local neural firing. Our novel approach accounted for a significant portion of the variance of the sEEG measurements in leave-one-out cross-validation. After logarithmic transformations, the sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio were linearly inversely related to the minimal distance between the brain location and electrode contacts (slope≈−3.6). The signa-to-noise ratio and sensitivity in the thalamus and brain stem were comparable to those locations at the vicinity of electrode contact implantation. The HGGB source estimates were remarkably consistent with analyses of intracranial-contact data. In conclusion, distributed sEEG source modeling provides a powerful neuroimaging tool, which facilitates anatomically-normalized functional mapping of human brain using both iERP and HBBG data.
Do sparse brain activity patterns underlie human cognition?
(2022-11) Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.; Glerean, Enrico; Klucharev, Vasily; Shestakova, Anna; Ahveninen, Jyrki
Comment/debate
Accumulating multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) results from fMRI studies suggest that information is represented in fingerprint patterns of activations and deactivations during perception, emotions, and cognition. We postulate that these fingerprint patterns might reflect neuronal-population level sparse code documented in two-photon calcium imaging studies in animal models, i.e., information represented in specific and reproducible ensembles of a few percent of active neurons amidst widespread inhibition in neural populations. We suggest that such representations constitute a fundamental organizational principle via interacting across multiple levels of brain hierarchy, thus giving rise to perception, emotions, and cognition.
Does short-term hunger increase trust and trustworthiness in a high trust society?
(2017-11-07) Rantapuska, Elias; Freese, Riitta; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.; Hytönen, Kaisa
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
We build on the social heuristics hypothesis, the literature on the glucose model of self-control, and recent challenges on these hypotheses to investigate whether individuals exhibit a change in degree of trust and reciprocation after consumption of a meal. We induce short-term manipulation of hunger followed by the trust game and a decision on whether to leave personal belongings in an unlocked and unsupervised room. Our results are inconclusive. While, we report hungry individuals trusting and reciprocating more than those who have just consumed a meal in a high trust society, we fail to reject the null with small number of observations (N = 101) and experimental sessions (N = 8). In addition, we find no evidence of short-term hunger having an impact on charitable giving or decisions in public good game.
Editorial: Magnetoencephalography for social science
(2023-01-04) Levy, Jonathan; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.; Taylor, Margot J.
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Effects of Improvisation Training on Student Teachers’ Behavioral, Neuroendocrine, and Psychophysiological Responses during the Trier Social Stress Test
(2020-09) Seppänen, Sirke; Toivanen, Tapio; Makkonen, Tommi; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.; Anttonen, Mikko; Tiippana, Kaisa
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Objectives: Teaching involves multiple performance situations, potentially causing psychosocial stress. Since the theater-based improvisation method is associated with diminished social stress, we investigated whether improvisation lessened student teachers’ stress responses using the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST; preparatory phase, public speech, and math task). Moreover, we studied the influence of interpersonal confidence (IC) – the belief regarding one’s capability related to effective social interactions – on stress responses. Methods: The intervention group (n = 19) received a 7-week (17.5 h) improvisation training, preceded and followed by the TSST. We evaluated experienced stress using a self-report scale, while physiological stress was assessed before (silent 30-s waiting period) and during the TSST tasks using cardiovascular measures (heart rate, heart rate variability [HRV]), electrodermal activation, facial electromyography (f-EMG), and EEG asymmetry. Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA-axis) reactivity was assessed through repeated salivary cortisol sampling. Results: Compared to the control group (n = 16), the intervention group exhibited less f-EMG activity before a public speech and higher HRV before the math task. The low IC intervention subgroup reported significantly less stress during the math task. The controls showed a decreased heart rate before the math task, and controls with a low IC exhibited higher HRV during the speech. Self-reported stress and cortisol levels were positively correlated during the post-TSST preparatory phase. Conclusions: These findings suggest that improvisation training might diminish stress levels, specifically before a performance. In addition, interpersonal confidence appears to reduce stress responses. The decreased stress responses in the control group suggest adaptation through repetition.
Enhanced neural synchrony between left auditory and premotor cortex is associated with successful phonetic categorization
(2014-05-06) Alho, Jussi; Lin, Fa Hsuan; Sato, Marc; Tiitinen, Hannu; Sams, Mikko; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
The cortical dorsal auditory stream has been proposed to mediate mapping between auditory and articulatory-motor representations in speech processing. Whether this sensorimotor integration contributes to speech perception remains an open question. Here, magnetoencephalography was used to examine connectivity between auditory and motor areas while subjects were performing a sensorimotor task involving speech sound identification and overt repetition. Functional connectivity was estimated with inter-areal phase synchrony of electromagnetic oscillations. Structural equation modeling was applied to determine the direction of information flow. Compared to passive listening, engagement in the sensorimotor task enhanced connectivity within 200 ms after sound onset bilaterally between the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) and ventral premotor cortex (vPMC), with the left-hemisphere connection showing directionality from vPMC to TPJ. Passive listening to noisy speech elicited stronger connectivity than clear speech between left auditory cortex (AC) and vPMC at ~100 ms, and between left TPJ and dorsal premotor cortex (dPMC) at ~200 ms. Information flow was estimated from AC to vPMC and from dPMC to TPJ. Connectivity strength among the left AC, vPMC, and TPJ correlated positively with the identification of speech sounds within 150 ms after sound onset, with information flowing from AC to TPJ, from AC to vPMC, and from vPMC to TPJ. Taken together, these findings suggest that sensorimotor integration mediates the categorization of incoming speech sounds through reciprocal auditory-to-motor and motor-to-auditory projections.
Entrepreneurial and parental love - are they the same?
(2017) Halko, Marja Liisa; Lahti, Tom; Hytönen, Kaisa; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Here we tested the hypothesis that entrepreneurs' emotional experience and brain responses toward their own firm resemble those of parents toward their own children. Using fMRI, we measured the brain activity while male entrepreneurs viewed pictures of their own and of a familiar firm, and while fathers viewed pictures of their own and of a familiar child. The entrepreneurs who self-rated as being very closely attached with their venture showed a similar suppression of activity in the posterior cingulate cortex, temporoparietal junction, and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex as fathers during viewing pictures of their own children versus familiar children. In addition, individual differences in the confidence trait influenced the neural encoding of both paternal and entrepreneurial processing. For underconfident fathers, a picture of one's own child was associated with stronger activation and for overconfident fathers with weaker activation in the amygdala and in caudate nucleus, a brain structure associated with processing of rewards. Similar association with activation, yet more widespread in the emotional processing network, was observed in entrepreneurs suggesting a similar neural basis for increased sensitivity to threats and potential risks concerning one's venture and child. In conclusion, both entrepreneurial and parental love seem to be supported by brain structures associated with reward and emotional processing as well as social understanding.
“Expert persuasion” can decrease willingness to pay for sugar-containing food
(2022-07-28) Ntoumanis, Ioannis; Panidi, Ksenia; Grebenschikova, Yaroslava; Shestakova, Anna N.; Kosonogov, Vladimir; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.; Kadieva, Dzerassa; Baran, Sofia; Klucharev, Vasily
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Recent studies have revealed types of eating nudges that can steer consumers toward choosing healthier options. However, most of the previously studied interventions target individual decisions and are not directed to changing consumers’ underlying perception of unhealthy food. Here, we investigate how a healthy eating call—first-person narrative by a health expert—affects individuals’ willingness to pay (WTP) for sugar-free and sugar-containing food products. Participants performed two blocks of a bidding task, in which they had to bid on sweets labeled either as “sugar- free” or as “sugar-containing.” In-between the two blocks, half of the participants listened to a narrative by a dietary specialist emphasizing the health risks of sugar consumption, whereas the remaining participants listened to a control narrative irrelevant to food choices. We demonstrate that the health expert’s narrative decreased individuals’ WTP for sugar-containing food, but did not modulate their WTP for sugar- free food. Overall, our findings confirm that consumers may conform to healthy eating calls by rather devaluating unhealthy food products than by increasing the value of healthy ones. This paves the way for an avenue of innovative marketing strategies to support individuals in their food choices.