Javad Hatami

Personality Factors and Attitudes Toward Euthanasia in Iran: Implications for End-of-Life Research and Practice

This article reports on the relationship of personality and euthanasia attitudes. Results from a survey of 165 Iranian students showed that religiosity, honesty–humility, agreeableness, and extraversion were related to negative attitudes toward euthanasia, whereas openness was related to acceptance of euthanasia, with the unconventionality facet driving this relationship. Moreover, openness explained additional variance when added to a multivariate model containing religiosity and HEXACO factors. This study illustrates the possibility of accounting for variation beyond the traditional group level predictors of attitudes toward euthanasia and promoting future cross-cultural studies into personality and end-of-life issues and informing end-of-life conversations at the bedside.

Walking through Architectural Spaces: The Impact of Interior Forms on Human Brain Dynamics

Neuroarchitecture uses neuroscientific tools to better understand architectural design and its impact on human perception and subjective experience. The form or shape of the built environment is fundamental to architectural design, but not many studies have shown the impact of different forms on the inhabitants’ emotions. This study investigated the neurophysiological correlates of different interior forms on the perceivers’ affective state and the accompanying brain activity. To understand the impact of naturalistic three-dimensional (3D) architectural forms, it is essential to perceive forms from different perspectives. We computed clusters of form features extracted from pictures of residential interiors and constructed exemplary 3D room models based on and representing different formal clusters. To investigate human brain activity during 3D perception of architectural spaces, we used a mobile brain/body imaging (MoBI) approach recording the electroencephalogram (EEG) of participants while they naturally walk through different interior forms in virtual reality (VR). The results revealed a strong impact of curvature geometries on activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Theta band activity in ACC correlated with specific feature types (rs (14) = 0.525, p = 0.037) and geometry (rs (14) = −0.579, p = 0.019), providing evidence for a role of this structure in processing architectural features beyond their emotional impact. The posterior cingulate cortex and the occipital lobe were involved in the perception of different room perspectives during the stroll through the rooms. This study sheds new light on the use of mobile EEG and VR in architectural studies and provides the opportunity to study human brain dynamics in participants that actively explore and realistically experience architectural spaces.

Facebook user's like behavior can reveal personality

Personality is an important factor that affects humans behavior. In recent years attraction towards online social networks has increased tremendously.Due to its unique features social networks are very suitable platforms for psychological analysis. By investigating 65 facebook users which participated in this research, correlation between personality traits and user liking behavior was observed. Classification algorithms were applied to classify personality traits based on user liking activity. Among classifiers, the SVM classifier outperforms other classifiers in most traits.

Optimizing Electrode Montages of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Attentional Bias Modification in Early Abstinent Methamphetamine Users

Introduction: Chronic use of most psychoactive drugs may lead to substance dependence and drug addiction. Drug addiction is a chronically relapsing disorder, and current pharmacological and behavioral therapies are not fully efficient. Attentional bias (AB) is hypothesized to have a causal contribution to substance abuse, addiction development and, maintenance. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been of increasing interest in the past few years as a means for modulating neuroplasticity of the human brain. Although several studies have reported promising therapeutic effects for tDCS in drug abusers, there is no consensus about optimal electrode montages and target brain regions. This study was aimed to compare effectiveness of several electrode montages in modifying AB. Methods and Materials: Ninety early-abstinent methamphetamine users were recruited from several residential drug-rehabilitation centers in Tehran province. They were randomly assigned to six groups with different electrode montages, targeting the left or right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) as follows: Two conditions with anodal tDCS over the right DLPFC (return electrode placed over the left shoulder or left supraorbital ridge), three conditions with the anode positioned over the left DLPFC (return electrode over the right shoulder, right supraorbital ridge, or contralateral DLPFC), and one sham condition. Active stimulation intensity was 2 mA DC, delivered for 13 min followed by a 20-min rest and another 13 min of stimulation. The probe detection task (PDT) was performed to assess AB. The positive and negative affect scale (PANAS), and the depression anxiety stress scales (DASS) were used to assess baseline affective status before the intervention. Results: Mixed model analysis showed that the left DLPFC/right shoulder and left DLPFC/right DLPFC montages reduced AB toward drug-cues in comparison with sham stimulation. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that anodal stimulation over the left DLPFC reduces AB in methamphetamine users. This study offers promising findings for further studies investigating tDCS as a clinical device to modify AB in drug users.

Transcranial DC stimulation modifies functional connectivity of large-scale brain networks in abstinent methamphetamine users

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation tool suited to alter cortical excitability and activity via the application of weak direct electrical currents. An increasing number of studies in the addiction literature suggests that tDCS modulates subjective self‐reported craving through stimulation of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). The major goal of this study was to explore effects of bilateral DLPFC stimulation on resting state networks (RSNs) in association with drug craving modulation. We targeted three large‐scale RSNs; the default mode network (DMN), the executive control network (ECN), and the salience network (SN).

Cognitive rehabilitation for individuals with opioid use disorder: A randomized controlled trial

ABSTRACT Aim: To examine the efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation treatment (CRT) for people with opioid use disorder who were recruited into a methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) programme. Method: 120 male subjects were randomly assigned to (1) MMT plus CRT in two months or (2) MMT plus a control intervention. Subjects were assessed at the beginning, mid-point and post-intervention as well as at 1-, 3- and 6-month follow-up time points. Results: Analysis with repeated measure ANOVA showed that the CRT group performed significantly better in tests of learning, switching, processing speed, working memory and memory span. Moreover, the CRT group had significantly lower opiate use over the control group during 3-months follow-up. Analysis including only those with a history of methamphetamine use showed that the CRT group had significantly lower amphetamine use. No group differences were observed for treatment retention. Conclusions: Our findings provide evidence that adding CRT as an adjunct intervention to MMT can improve cognitive performance as well as abstinence from both opiates and stimulants.

Influence of metrical structure on learning of positional regularities in movement sequences

Sequential stimuli are usually perceived to have hierarchical temporal structures. However, some of these structures are only investigated in one type of sequence, regardless of the existing evidence, showing the domain-generality of the representation of these structures. Here, we assess whether the hierarchical representation of regularly segmented action sequences resembles the perceived metrical patterns that organize the representation of events hierarchically in temporally regular sequences. In all our experiments, we presented the participants with sequences of human movements and tested the perception of metrical pattern by segmenting the movement streams into temporally equal groups containing four movements. In Experiment 1, we found that a movement sequence with temporally equal groupings improves the learning of positional regularities inherent within each group of movements. To further clarify the degree to which this learning mechanism is affected by the perceived metrical patterns, we conducted Experiments 2a and 2b, in which the relative saliencies of the first and last positions in the movement groups, respectively, were studied. The results showed that, although in the learning of positional regularities, the rule-conforming first positions are as effective as when both first and last positions are legal, the last positions are not as influential. Based on these findings we conclude that, in grouped sequences, learning of positional regularities may be modulated by the metrical saliency patterns that are imposed by the temporal regularity of the sequential grouping pattern.

Cultural Differences in Conceptual Representation of ‘Privacy’: A Comparison between Iran and the United States

ABSTRACT Culture consists of shared conceptual representations in an individual’s cognition. Thus, there may be cultural differences in the representation of a concept. To assess this possibility, we compared the subjective semantic structure of “privacy” in Iran and the United States. Participants were 200 adults, 100 from Iran and 100 from the United States. In the first phase of the experiment, using the associative terms task, we detected nine of the most frequent terms that were associated with the concept of “privacy” in each culture. In the second phase, using the judged-similarity task, we asked participants to rate the degree to which each of the nine terms from the previous phase was associated with every other term and with the concept of “privacy.” Results from a correspondence analysis model suggest similarities in the mapping of terms related to “privacy” along the dichotomous dimension of physical vs. informational concerns. However, cultural differences emerged in a second dimension, the extent to which individualism vs. collectivism was stressed. While “personal privacy” and an individual’s relationship with the government was important for American adults, the main focus for Iranian adults was “familial privacy” and family-centered living.

WordCommentsAnalyzer: A windows software tool for qualitative research

There is a lack of free software that provides a professional and smooth experience in text editing and markup for qualitative data analysis. Word processing software like Microsoft Word provides a good editing experience, allowing the researcher to effortlessly add comments to text portions. However, organizing the keywords and categories in the comments can become a more difficult task when the amount of data increases. We present WordCommentsAnalyzer, a software tool that is written in C# using .NET Framework and OpenXml, which helps a qualitative researcher to organize codes when using Microsoft Word as the primary text markup software. WordCommentsAnalyzer provides an effective user interface to count codes, to organize codes in a code hierarchy, and to see various data extracts belonging to each code. We illustrate how to use the software by conducting a preliminary content analysis on Tweets with the #successfulaging hashtag. We hope this open-source software will facilitate qualitative data analysis by researchers who are interested in using Word for this purpose.

Eliminating stroop effects with post-hypnotic instructions: Brain mechanisms inferred from EEG

ABSTRACT The classic Stroop task demonstrates the persistent and automatic effects of the meaning of color words that are very hard to inhibit when the task is to name the word color. Post‐hypnotic instructions may enable highly‐hypnotizable participants to inhibit the automatic access to word meaning. Here we compared the consequences of hypnosis alone and hypnosis with post‐hypnotic instructions on the Stroop effect and its facilitation and inhibition components. Importantly, we studied the mechanisms of the hypnosis effects at the neural level by analyzing EEG frequencies. Highly hypnotizable participants performed the Stroop task in a counterbalanced design following (1) post‐hypnotic suggestions that words had lost their meaning, (2) after hypnosis alone, and (3) in a control condition without hypnosis. The overall Stroop effect and both its facilitation and interference components, were not significant after the post‐hypnotic suggestion but in both other conditions. Hypnosis alone neither affected the Stroop effect nor – in contrast to some previous reports and claims – overall performance. EEG recorded during the Stroop task showed a significant increase in both frontal theta and frontal beta power when participants were under the impact of post‐hypnotic suggestions, in comparison to the two other sessions. Together, these findings indicate that post‐hypnotic suggestions – but not hypnosis alone ‐ are powerful tools for eliciting top down processes. Our EEG findings could be interpreted as clue that this is due to the investment of additional cognitive control. HIGHLIGHTSPost‐hypnotic instructions counteracting word meaning and thereby the Stroop effect.They eliminate the Stroop effect, both, its interference and facilitation components.They increase theta EEG power, suggesting more cognitive control.Instructions may act through inhibiting word meaning or proactive conflict control.Hypnosis alone does not alter the Stroop effect relative to a no‐hypnosis condition.