Acute psychosocial stress modulates neural and behavioral substrates of cognitive control.

Acute psychosocial stress affects learning, memory, and attention, but the evidence for the influence of stress on the neural processes supporting cognitive control remains mixed. We investigated how acute psychosocial stress influences performance and neural processing during the Go/NoGo task-an established cognitive control task. The experimental group underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) acute stress induction, whereas the control group completed personality questionnaires.

The role of planfulness for well-being, stress, and goal disruption during COVID-19.

refers to an individual's tendency to be future oriented, mentally flexible, and cognitively strategic when engaging with goals, and has been shown to predict goal completion. We investigated the relationships among planfulness, goal disruption, stress, and psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, which served as a unique setback context. We measured these constructs using the planfulness scale, an survey item probing goal disruption in the pandemic, the perceived stress scale, and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, respectively.

Back and front peripersonal space: behavioural and EMG evidence of top-down and bottom-up mechanisms.

Previous studies have identified a 'defensive graded field' in the peripersonal front space where potential threatening stimuli induce stronger blink responses, mainly modulated by top-down mechanisms, which include various factors, such as proximity to the body, stimulus valence, and social cues. However, very little is known about the mechanisms responsible for representation of the back space and the possible role of bottom-up information. By means of acoustic stimuli, we evaluated individuals' representation for front and back space in an ambiguous environment that offered some degree of uncertainty in terms of both distance (close vs.

Improving Walking Assistance Efficiency in Real-World Scenarios with Soft Exosuits Using Locomotion Mode Detection.

The use of portable and lightweight wearable assistive devices can improve wearer locomotion efficiency by reducing the metabolic cost of walking. To achieve this goal, assistive technologies must adapt to different locomotion modes to optimize walking assistance. In this work, we developed a novel control strategy for an underactuated soft exosuit featuring a single actuator to assist bilateral hip flexion, which utilized inertial measurement units (IMUs) to discriminate between three different locomotion modes: walking up/down stairs or on level ground.

Soft Robotics to Enhance Upper Limb Endurance in Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disorder that affects the central nervous system and can result in various symptoms, including muscle weakness, spasticity, and fatigue, ultimately leading to the deterioration of the musculoskeletal system. However, in recent years, exosuits have emerged as a game-changing solution to assist individuals with MS during their daily activities. These lightweight and affordable wearable robotic devices have gained immense popularity.