Federica Antonia Maria Savazzi

When Art Moves the Eyes: A Behavioral and Eye-Tracking Study

The aim of this study was to investigate, using eye-tracking technique, the influence of bottom-up and top-down processes on visual behavior while subjects, naïve to art criticism, were presented with representational paintings. Forty-two subjects viewed color and black and white paintings (Color) categorized as dynamic or static (Dynamism) (bottom-up processes). Half of the images represented natural environments and half human subjects (Content); all stimuli were displayed under aesthetic and movement judgment conditions (Task) (top-down processes). Results on gazing behavior showed that content-related top-down processes prevailed over low-level visually-driven bottom-up processes when a human subject is represented in the painting. On the contrary, bottom-up processes, mediated by low-level visual features, particularly affected gazing behavior when looking at nature-content images. We discuss our results proposing a reconsideration of the definition of content-related top-down processes in accordance with the concept of embodied simulation in art perception.

Mind-Reading Ability and Structural Connectivity Changes in Aging.

The Mind-Reading ability through the eyes is an important component of the affective Theory of Mind (ToM), which allows people to infer the other’s mental state from the eye gaze. The aim of the present study was to investigate to which extent age-associated structural brain changes impact this ability and to determine if this association is related to executive functions in elderly subjects. For this purpose, Magnetic Resonance Imaging was used to determine both gray matter and white matter (WM) areas associated with aging. The resulting areas have been included in a subsequent correlation analysis to detect the brain regions whose structure was associated with the Mind-Reading ability through the eyes, assessed with the Italian version of the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” (RME) test, in a sample of 36 healthy subjects ranging from 24 to 79 years of age. The analysis resulted in three important findings: (1) the performance to the RME test is relatively stable across the decades 20–70 (despite a slight decrease of this ability with aging) and independent from executive functions; (2) structural brain imaging demonstrated the involvement of a great number of cortical ToM areas for the execution of the RME test: the bilateral precentral gyrus, the bilateral posterior insula, the left superior temporal gyrus and the left inferior frontal gyrus, which also showed a significant volume decrease with age; (3) an age and task-related decline in WM connectivity on left fronto-temporal portion of the brain. Our results confirm the age-related structural modifications of the brain and show that these changes have an influence on the Mind-Reading ability through the eyes.

Theory of Mind and the Whole Brain Functional Connectivity: Behavioral and Neural Evidences with the Amsterdam Resting State Questionnaire

A topic of common interest to psychologists and philosophers is the spontaneous flow of thoughts when the individual is awake but not involved in cognitive demands. This argument, classically referred to as the “stream of consciousness” of James, is now known in the psychological literature as “Mind-Wandering.” Although of great interest, this construct has been scarcely investigated so far. Diaz et al. (2013) created the Amsterdam Resting State Questionnaire (ARSQ), composed of 27 items, distributed in seven factors: discontinuity of mind, theory of mind (ToM), self, planning, sleepiness, comfort, and somatic awareness. The present study aims at: testing psychometric properties of the ARSQ in a sample of 670 Italian subjects; exploring the neural correlates of a subsample of participants (N = 28) divided into two groups on the basis of the scores obtained in the ToM factor. Results show a satisfactory reliability of the original factional structure in the Italian sample. In the subjects with a high mean in the ToM factor compared to low mean subjects, functional MRI revealed: a network (48 nodes) with higher functional connectivity (FC) with a dominance of the left hemisphere; an increased within-lobe FC in frontal and insular lobes. In both neural and behavioral terms, our results support the idea that the mind, which does not rest even when explicitly asked to do so, has various and interesting mentalistic-like contents.

Theory of Mind in Unsuccessful Neurocognitive Aging: Preliminary Evidence from an aMCI-Converter to AD and From an aMCI Reverter to Near-Normal Cognition

Background: Two case reports of patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) are presented with the aim to study Theory of Mind (ToM) in the evolution from successful to unsuccessful neurocognitive aging. Methods: A 75-year-old man, six years of education, who converted to Alzheimers Disease (AD) (Case 1), and a 60- year-old woman, five years of education, who reverted to near-normal aging (Case 2), are studied at Time 1 and at Time 2 after five years under the ToM profile and the neuropsychological profile (MMSE, Corsi-Span, Digit span forward/backward, delayed recall of Rey’s complex figure task, test of Prose Memory, Naming Task, Token Task, Phonemic and Semantic Fluencies, Coloured Progressive Matrices, Attentive Matrices). Their results are compared with demographically matched healthy controls, and with AD patients for the former case and with MCI patients for the latter case. Findings: Case 1 showed the typical pattern of conversion from the MCI condition to the AD condition, with a decline in general cognitive functioning, in long-term memory, in language understanding and in frontal functions. Regarding ToM, a decline in the most complex levels of ToM competence (Strange Stories) was observed. Case 2 showed a pattern of reversion from the MCI condition to a near-normal aging condition, both under the NPS and the ToM functioning. Conclusion: Results are discussed in light of the possible protective factors (including ToM) operating against the switching to unsuccessful neurocognitive aging.

Design and implementation of a Serious Game on neurorehabilitation: Data on modifications of functionalities along implementation releases

The measurement of users’ perception of functionalities in the use of Serious Games (SGs) along technology implementation phases may lead to effective changes for developing successful user-centered learning tools in the medical field. In the present data article, data about usability functionalities along two cycles of validation of a SG on neurorehabilitation with final users are described. The key principles of usability model used to collect and analyze data and the evaluation tool are presented. The modifications of the SG to improve usability across implementation phases are detailed. The validation of the SG is described in “Engaged in learning neurorehabilitation: development and validation of a serious game with user-centered design” (Savazzi et al., in press) [1]. The data provided in this article will assist researchers working for developing learning technology to optimize their tools in relation to users’ needs and expectations.