Publicação
EEG study of sympathetic reactions in adverse situations
| Resumo: | Empathy is defined as the capacity to comprehend and share an emotional experience with another individual. This study aims to investigate the brain’s sympathetic reactions when an observer witnesses a threatening situation directed at another individual, to compare it to a situation where the observer was the one under threat. Therefore, this study hypothesizes that brain regions activated during a threat to oneself are the same as those activated when observing another individual under threat. Several prior studies using electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have focused on brain responses to threatening events affecting the individual directly, rather than on responses when the threat is directed at another person. On the other hand, studies have demonstrated that some brain areas activated during pain, are the same that activate when observing someone else in pain.This study aims to address sympathetic response under a threatening situation by using EEG to record brain activity as participants observe a virtual reality (VR) scene in which a virtual individual faces an unexpected threat. This project’s primary objective is to investigate the brain regions involved in the sympathetic scenario and the functional connections among those regions. Moreover, it is proposed a comparison with a previous study developed by the research team, when the observer is submitted to a similar threatening situation.The results indicate that the right inferior gyrus, primary premotor cortex, precuneus cortex, associative visual cortex, and angular gyrus are key regions involved in processing a sympathetic situation. Functional connectivity analysis revealed a concentration of connections in the posterior regions of the brain, with a notable flow of information from the primary premotor cortex to the right frontal gyrus and associative visual cortex. Additionally, there was significant information transfer from the associative visual cortex to the right frontal gyrus, and from the precuneus cortex to the associative visual cortex. The analysis of frequency bands revealed the significance of delta and theta bands in sympathetic processing.A comparison with previous studies showed that when a threat is directed at the observer, and when it is directed at another individual, there are common brain areas involved in both scenarios. However, the threat directed at the observer activates regions mainly distributed in the front half of the brain, while the sympathetic response involves more regions from the back half of the brain. Additionally, in the sympathetic scenario, there is an outflow of information from the primary motor cortex, in contrast to an inflow of information observed in the threat scenario. |
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| Autores principais: | Teixeira, David José Marinho |
| Assunto: | Brain Sympathy Defensive Reaction Electroencephalography Virtual Reality Cérebro Simpatia Reação defensiva Eletroencefalograma Realidade Virtual |
| Ano: | 2024 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | dissertação de mestrado |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade de Coimbra |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | Estudo Geral - Universidade de Coimbra |
| Resumo: | Empathy is defined as the capacity to comprehend and share an emotional experience with another individual. This study aims to investigate the brain’s sympathetic reactions when an observer witnesses a threatening situation directed at another individual, to compare it to a situation where the observer was the one under threat. Therefore, this study hypothesizes that brain regions activated during a threat to oneself are the same as those activated when observing another individual under threat. Several prior studies using electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have focused on brain responses to threatening events affecting the individual directly, rather than on responses when the threat is directed at another person. On the other hand, studies have demonstrated that some brain areas activated during pain, are the same that activate when observing someone else in pain.This study aims to address sympathetic response under a threatening situation by using EEG to record brain activity as participants observe a virtual reality (VR) scene in which a virtual individual faces an unexpected threat. This project’s primary objective is to investigate the brain regions involved in the sympathetic scenario and the functional connections among those regions. Moreover, it is proposed a comparison with a previous study developed by the research team, when the observer is submitted to a similar threatening situation.The results indicate that the right inferior gyrus, primary premotor cortex, precuneus cortex, associative visual cortex, and angular gyrus are key regions involved in processing a sympathetic situation. Functional connectivity analysis revealed a concentration of connections in the posterior regions of the brain, with a notable flow of information from the primary premotor cortex to the right frontal gyrus and associative visual cortex. Additionally, there was significant information transfer from the associative visual cortex to the right frontal gyrus, and from the precuneus cortex to the associative visual cortex. The analysis of frequency bands revealed the significance of delta and theta bands in sympathetic processing.A comparison with previous studies showed that when a threat is directed at the observer, and when it is directed at another individual, there are common brain areas involved in both scenarios. However, the threat directed at the observer activates regions mainly distributed in the front half of the brain, while the sympathetic response involves more regions from the back half of the brain. Additionally, in the sympathetic scenario, there is an outflow of information from the primary motor cortex, in contrast to an inflow of information observed in the threat scenario. |
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