Fernando Barbosa

Registered Replication Report : Rand, Greene, and Nowak (2012)

In an anonymous 4-person economic game, participants contributed more money to a common project (i.e., cooperated) when required to decide quickly than when forced to delay their decision (Rand, Greene & Nowak, 2012), a pattern consistent with the social heuristics hypothesis proposed by Rand and colleagues. The results of studies using time pressure have been mixed, with some replication attempts observing similar patterns (e.g., Rand et al., 2014) and others observing null effects (e.g., Tinghög et al., 2013; Verkoeijen & Bouwmeester, 2014). This Registered Replication Report (RRR) assessed the size and variability of the effect of time pressure on cooperative decisions by combining 21 separate, preregistered replications of the critical conditions from Study 7 of the original article (Rand et al., 2012). The primary planned analysis used data from all participants who were randomly assigned to conditions and who met the protocol inclusion criteria (an intent-to-treat approach that included the 65.9% of participants in the time-pressure condition and 7.5% in the forced-delay condition who did not adhere to the time constraints), and we observed a difference in contributions of −0.37 percentage points compared with an 8.6 percentage point difference calculated from the original data. Analyzing the data as the original article did, including data only for participants who complied with the time constraints, the RRR observed a 10.37 percentage point difference in contributions compared with a 15.31 percentage point difference in the original study. In combination, the results of the intent-to-treat analysis and the compliant-only analysis are consistent with the presence of selection biases and the absence of a causal effect of time pressure on cooperation.

The auditory P200 is both increased and reduced in schizophrenia? A meta-analytic dissociation of the effect for standard and target stimuli in the oddball task

OBJECTIVE Conflicting reports of P200 amplitude and latency in schizophrenia have suggested that this component is increased, reduced or does not differ from healthy subjects. A systematic review and meta-analysis were undertaken to accurately describe P200 deficits in auditory oddball tasks in schizophrenia. METHODS A systematic search identified 20 studies which were meta-analyzed. Effect size (ES) estimates were obtained: P200 amplitude and latency for target and standard tones at midline electrodes. RESULTS The ES obtained for amplitude (Cz) for standard and target stimuli indicate significant effects in opposite directions: standard stimuli elicit smaller P200 in patients (d = -0.36; 95% CI [-0.26, -0.08]); target stimuli elicit larger P200 in patients (d = 0.48; 95% CI [0.16, 0.82]). A similar effect occurs for latency at Cz, which is shorter for standards (d = -0.32; 95% CI [-0.54, -0.10]) and longer for targets (d = 0.42; 95% CI [0.23, 0.62]). Meta-regression analyses revealed that samples with more males show larger ES for amplitude of target stimuli, while the amount of medication was negatively associated with the ES for the latency of standards. CONCLUSIONS The results obtained suggest that claims of reduced or augmented P200 in schizophrenia based on the sole examination of standard or target stimuli fail to consider the stimulus effect. SIGNIFICANCE Quantification of effects for standard and target stimuli is a required first step to understand the nature of P200 deficits in schizophrenia.

Comparative study of STATCOM and SVC performance on Dynamic Voltage Collapse of an Electric Power System with Wind Generation

One of the major problems of voltage stability is the reactive power limit of the system. Improving the systems reactive power handling capacity via Flexible AC transmission System (FACTS) devices is a solution for prevention of voltage instability. In this paper it is studied the influence of Static Synchronous Compensators (STATCOM) and Static Var Compensators (SVC) in dynamic Voltage Stability during Low Voltage Ride Through (LVRT), in wind farms. The wind turbines are equipped with pitch control coupled with a Fixed Speed Induction Generator (FSIG). Due to the nature of asynchronous operation, system voltage instability of wind farms based on FSIG is largely caused by the excessive reactive power absorption by FSIG after a fault due to the large rotor slip gained during fault. Wind farm models based on FSIG and equipped with either STATCOM or SVC are developed in EUROSTAG. The Automatic Voltage Regulators (AVR) of the generating units and the turbine speed governors were modeled in detail. Different load models were used and the Under Load Tap Changers (ULTC) were also taken into account. Finally, some conclusions that provide a better understanding of the dynamic voltage stability of a system with FSIG model during LVRT, using various capacities of STATCOM and SVC are pointed out.

Registered replication report: Rand, Greene, & Nowak

In an anonymous 4-person economic game, participants contributed more money to a common project (i.e., cooperated) when required to decide quickly than when forced to delay their decision (Rand, Greene & Nowak, 2012), a pattern consistent with the social heuristics hypothesis proposed by Rand and colleagues. The results of studies using time pressure have been mixed, with some replication attempts observing similar patterns (e.g., Rand et al., 2014) and others observing null effects (e.g., Tinghög et al., 2013; Verkoeijen & Bouwmeester, 2014). This Registered Replication Report (RRR) assessed the size and variability of the effect of time pressure on cooperative decisions by combining 21 separate, preregistered replications of the critical conditions from Study 7 of the original article (Rand et al., 2012). The primary planned analysis used data from all participants who were randomly assigned to conditions and who met the protocol inclusion criteria (an intent-to-treat approach that included the 65.9% of participants in the time-pressure condition and 7.5% in the forced-delay condition who did not adhere to the time constraints), and we observed a difference in contributions of −0.37 percentage points compared with an 8.6 percentage point difference calculated from the original data. Analyzing the data as the original article did, including data only for participants who complied with the time constraints, the RRR observed a 10.37 percentage point difference in contributions compared with a 15.31 percentage point difference in the original study. In combination, the results of the intent-to-treat analysis and the compliant-only analysis are consistent with the presence of selection biases and the absence of a causal effect of time pressure on cooperation.

Distinct neural activation patterns underlie economic decisions in high and low psychopathy scorers

Psychopathic traits affect social functioning and the ability to make adaptive decisions in social interactions. This study investigated how psychopathy affects the neural mechanisms that are recruited to make decisions in the ultimatum game. Thirty-five adult participants recruited from the community underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning while they performed the ultimatum game under high and low cognitive load. Across load conditions, high psychopathy scorers rejected unfair offers in the same proportion as low scorers, but perceived them as less unfair. Among low scorers, the perceived fairness of offers predicted acceptance rates, whereas in high scorers no association was found. Imaging results revealed that responses in each group were associated with distinct patterns of brain activation, indicating divergent decision mechanisms. Acceptance of unfair offers was associated with dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity in low scorers and ventromedial prefrontal cortex activity in high scorers. Overall, our findings point to distinct motivations for rejecting unfair offers in individuals who vary in psychopathic traits, with rejections in high psychopathy scorers being probably induced by frustration. Implications of these results for models of ventromedial prefrontal cortex dysfunction in psychopathy are discussed.

Dissociable effects of psychopathic traits on cortical and subcortical visual pathways during facial emotion processing: An ERP study on the N170

This study examined the relation between psychopathic traits and the brain response to facial emotion by analyzing the N170 component of the ERP. Fifty-four healthy participants were assessed for psychopathic traits and exposed to images of emotional and neutral faces with varying spatial frequency content. The N170 was modulated by the emotional expressions, irrespective of psychopathic traits. Fearless dominance was associated with a reduced N170, driven by the low spatial frequency components of the stimuli, and dependent on the tectopulvinar visual pathway. Conversely, coldheartedness was related to overall enhanced N170, suggesting mediation by geniculostriate processing. Results suggest that different dimensions of psychopathy are related to distinct facial emotion processing mechanisms and support the existence of both amygdala deficits and compensatory engagement of cortical structures for emotional processing in psychopathy.

Perceived arousal of facial expressions of emotion modulates the N170, regardless of emotional category: Time domain and time–frequency dynamics

Findings concerning the emotional modulation of the N170 component of the visual event-related potential are mixed. In the present report we tested the hypothesis that the emotional modulation of the N170 may be driven by the perceived emotional arousal of the stimuli, rather than by specific emotional categories. Fifty-four participants viewed facial expressions of anger, disgust, fear and happiness, plus low arousal neutral faces. All emotional categories were matched in arousal, while stimuli within each category varied parametrically in this dimension. The modulation of the electrocortical activity on the N170 time-window was analyzed in the time domain and via time-frequency decomposition. The effects of emotion and arousal were analyzed separately. In the time domain N170 amplitudes co-varied parametrically with perceived arousal, regardless of emotional category. This modulation was linearly associated with the power of the theta, alpha, and beta frequency bands. Moreover, fear was associated with a trend for increased N170 amplitudes, enhanced alpha power, and increased broad band inter-trial phase coherence. These results support the views that a) the activity in N170 time window is fundamentally modulated by perceived arousal, b) the modulation of the N170 may be the product of an increased evoked response, rather than the result of phase resetting processes, and c) facial expressions of fear retain some processing primacy, that may be related to their increased value as environmental cues.

Effects of inter-stimulus interval (ISI) duration on the N1 and P2 components of the auditory event-related potential

The N1 and P2 components of the event-related potential are relevant markers in the processing of auditory information, indicating the presence of several acoustic phenomena, such as pure tones or speech sounds. In addition, the expression of these components seems to be sensitive to diverse experimental variations. The main purpose of the present investigation was to explore the role of inter-stimulus interval (ISI) on the N1 and P2 responses, considering two widely used experimental paradigms: a single tone task (1000 Hz sound repeated in a fixed rhythm) and an auditory oddball (80% of the stimuli were equal to the sound used in the single tone and the remaining were a 1500 Hz tone). Both tasks had four different conditions, and each one tested a fixed value of ISI (600, 1000, 3000, or 6000 ms). A sample of 22 participants performed these tasks, while an EEG was recorded, in order to examine the maximum amplitude of the N1 and P2 components. Analysis of the stimuli in the single tone task and the frequent tones in the oddball task revealed a similar outcome for both tasks and for both components: N1 and P2 amplitudes were enhanced in conditions with longer ISIs regardless of task. This response pattern emphasizes the dependence of both the N1 and P2 components on the ISI, especially in a scenario of repetitive and regular stimulation. The absence of task effects suggests that the ISI effect reported may depend on refractory mechanisms rather than being due to habituation effects.

Psychopathic traits are associated with cortical and subcortical volume alterations in healthy individuals

Research suggests psychopathy is associated with structural brain alterations that may contribute to the affective and interpersonal deficits frequently observed in individuals with high psychopathic traits. However, the regional alterations related to different components of psychopathy are still unclear. We used voxel-based morphometry to characterize the structural correlates of psychopathy in a sample of 35 healthy adults assessed with the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure. Furthermore, we examined the regional grey matter alterations associated with the components described by the triarchic model. Our results showed that, after accounting for variation in total intracranial volume, age and IQ, overall psychopathy was negatively associated with grey matter volume in the left putamen and amygdala. Additional regression analysis with anatomical regions of interests revealed total triPM score was also associated with increased lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and caudate volume. Boldness was positively associated with volume in the right insula. Meanness was positively associated with lateral OFC and striatum volume, and negatively associated with amygdala volume. Finally, disinhibition was negatively associated with amygdala volume. Results highlight the contribution of both subcortical and cortical brain alterations for subclinical psychopathy and are discussed in light of prior research and theoretical accounts about the neurobiological bases of psychopathic traits.

Exploring the dynamics of P300 amplitude in patients with schizophrenia

This study investigated the time-frequency dynamics of P300 generation in patients with first-onset schizophrenia. A group of 40 patients with first-onset schizophrenia and 40 controls performed an auditory oddball task. Wavelet analysis of the single-trial data was used to compute the Event-Related Spectral Perturbation (ERSP) and the Inter-Trial Phase Coherence (ITC) for the delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma bands on the 50ms window around peak P300 amplitude. The contribution of power and synchrony for P300 amplitudes was studied through correlation and regression analysis. Further, two sub-samples in which patients had lower or higher P300 amplitudes than their control match were contrasted. P300 amplitude did not differ between patients and controls. The frequency domain analysis revealed that controls display larger reductions on gamma power than patients. However, this gamma activity might be the result of micro-saccadic muscular artifacts. Regression analysis shows that P300 amplitude is highly dependent on delta power and synchronization. The analysis of the subsamples confirmed that while gamma power differences are dependent on the diagnosis, delta and theta synchronization are related to P300 amplitude, irrespective of diagnosis.