Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists


Book Description

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is the premier public resource on scientific and technological developments that impact global security. Founded by Manhattan Project Scientists, the Bulletin's iconic "Doomsday Clock" stimulates solutions for a safer world.




Biologically-Inspired Computing for the Arts: Scientific Data through Graphics


Book Description

"This book comprises a collection of authors' individual approaches to the relationship between nature, science, and art created with the use of computers, discussing issues related to the use of visual language in communication about biologically-inspired scientific data, visual literacy in science, and application of practitioner's approach"--Provided by publisher.







Autonomic Nervous System Dynamics for Mood and Emotional-State Recognition


Book Description

This monograph reports on advances in the measurement and study of autonomic nervous system (ANS) dynamics as a source of reliable and effective markers for mood state recognition and assessment of emotional responses. Its primary impact will be in affective computing and the application of emotion-recognition systems. Applicative studies of biosignals such as: electrocardiograms; electrodermal responses; respiration activity; gaze points; and pupil-size variation are covered in detail, and experimental results explain how to characterize the elicited affective levels and mood states pragmatically and accurately using the information thus extracted from the ANS. Nonlinear signal processing techniques play a crucial role in understanding the ANS physiology underlying superficially noticeable changes and provide important quantifiers of cardiovascular control dynamics. These have prognostic value in both healthy subjects and patients with mood disorders. Moreover, Autonomic Nervous System Dynamics for Mood and Emotional-State Recognition proposes a novel probabilistic approach based on the point-process theory in order to model and characterize the instantaneous ANS nonlinear dynamics providing a foundation from which machine “understanding” of emotional response can be enhanced. Using mathematics and signal processing, this work also contributes to pragmatic issues such as emotional and mood-state modeling, elicitation, and non-invasive ANS monitoring. Throughout the text a critical review on the current state-of-the-art is reported, leading to the description of dedicated experimental protocols, novel and reliable mood models, and novel wearable systems able to perform ANS monitoring in a naturalistic environment. Biomedical engineers will find this book of interest, especially those concerned with nonlinear analysis, as will researchers and industrial technicians developing wearable systems and sensors for ANS monitoring.




Handbook of Music and Emotion


Book Description

A successor to the acclaimed 'Music and Emotion', The Handbook of Music and Emotion provides comprehensive coverage of the field, in all its breadth and depth. As well as summarizing what is currently known about music and emotion, it will also stimulate further research in promising directions that have been little studied.




Voice in Social Interaction


Book Description

The complexity and full extent of the way voice functions communicatively in social interactions has remained unclear, although the link between voice and social and personal identity remains undeveloped--until now. The first comprehensive study of voice, Voice in Social Interaction, provides us with important insights into human social interaction. This volume brings together the many interdisciplinary perspectives on voice--from acoustic phonetics to voice pathology, from the history of vocal function to social interaction. The author concludes the book by developing a theoretical taxonomy that explains vocal function based upon a number of functional models of nonverbal communication, social psychology, linguistics, and communication studies. A unique volume, Voice in Social Interaction will be an essential supplement to graduate and/or upper-level courses in speech/voice, social psychology of language, communication of emotion, public speaking, sociolinguistics, and intergroup or interpersonal relations.




Strategic Integrated Marketing Communication


Book Description

Integrated Marketing Communications is planning in a systematic way to determine the most effective and consistent message for appropriate target audiences. This comprehensive new textbook deals with all aspects of Integrated Marketing Communication from a strategic perspective.




What Is the Evidence on the Role of the Arts in Improving Health and Well-Being


Book Description

Over the past two decades, there has been a major increase in research into the effects of the arts on health and well-being, alongside developments in practice and policy activities in different countries across the WHO European Region and further afield. This report synthesizes the global evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being, with a specific focus on the WHO European Region. Results from over 3000 studies identified a major role for the arts in the prevention of ill health, promotion of health, and management and treatment of illness across the lifespan. The reviewed evidence included study designs such as uncontrolled pilot studies, case studies, small-scale cross-sectional surveys, nationally representative longitudinal cohort studies, community-wide ethnographies and randomized controlled trials from diverse disciplines. The beneficial impact of the arts could be furthered through acknowledging and acting on the growing evidence base; promoting arts engagement at the individual, local and national levels; and supporting cross-sectoral collaboration.




Physiological Correlates of Emotion


Book Description

Physiological Correlates of Emotion focuses on the major experimental approaches currently applied to the study of emotion and its physiological or behavioral parameters. It explores the heritability and developmental aspects of emotional behavior as well as its neurochemical and endocrine, neurophysiological, and psychophysiological correlates. In particular, it considers the modification of emotional behavior by intracranial administration of chemicals, the link between the limbic brain and psychoses, the role of nonspecific reticulo-thalamo-cortical systems in emotion, modulation of emotion by cerebral radio stimulation, and the role of brain function in emotion. Organized into five sections comprised of 13 chapters, this book begins with a historical overview of research in emotion and behavior theory. It then discusses the studies dealing with heritability of emotional behavior in animals. The remaining chapters tackle the maturation of social-emotional patterns, localization of biogenic amines in the brain, psychophysiological experiments on the endocrine and autonomic correlates of emotional behavior, and psychotic manifestations of limbic dysfunction in humans. It explains the two-way radio communication with the human brain, the behavioral significance of bradycardia and hypotension, the perception and labeling of bodily changes as determinants of emotional behavior, and the conditioned emotional states. The book concludes with a phenomenological analysis of brain function in emotion. This book is essential reading for psychologists, psychiatrists, physiologists, and those working in the medical and behavioral sciences.




Using Neurophysiological Signals that Reflect Cognitive or Affective State


Book Description

What can we learn from spontaneously occurring brain and other physiological signals about an individual’s cognitive and affective state and how can we make use of this information? One line of research that is actively involved with this question is Passive Brain-Computer-Interfaces (BCI). To date most BCIs are aimed at assisting patients for whom brain signals could form an alternative output channel as opposed to more common human output channels, like speech and moving the hands. However, brain signals (possibly in combination with other physiological signals) also form an output channel above and beyond the more usual ones: they can potentially provide continuous, online information about an individual’s cognitive and affective state without the need of conscious or effortful communication. The provided information could be used in a number of ways. Examples include monitoring cognitive workload through EEG and skin conductance for adaptive automation or using ERPs in response to errors to correct for a behavioral response. While Passive BCIs make use of online (neuro)physiological responses and close the interaction cycle between a user and a computer system, (neuro)physiological responses can also be used in an offline fashion. Examples of this include detecting amygdala responses for neuromarketing, and measuring EEG and pupil dilation as indicators of mental effort for optimizing information systems. The described field of applied (neuro)physiology can strongly benefit from high quality scientific studies that control for confounding factors and use proper comparison conditions. Another area of relevance is ethics, ranging from dubious product claims, acceptance of the technology by the general public, privacy of users, to possible effects that these kinds of applications may have on society as a whole. In this Research Topic we aimed to publish studies of the highest scientific quality that are directed towards applications that utilize spontaneously, effortlessly generated neurophysiological signals (brain and/or other physiological signals) reflecting cognitive or affective state. We especially welcomed studies that describe specific real world applications demonstrating a significant benefit compared to standard applications. We also invited original, new kinds of (proposed) applications in this area as well as comprehensive review articles that point out what is and what is not possible (according to scientific standards) in this field. Finally, we welcomed manuscripts on the ethical issues that are involved. Connected to the Research Topic was a workshop (held on June 6, during the Fifth International Brain-Computer Interface Meeting, June 3-7, 2013, Asilomar, California) that brought together a diverse group of people who were working in this field. We discussed the state of the art and formulated major challenges, as reflected in the first paper of the Research Topic.