Pupil dilation reflects the social and motion content of faces.

Human facial features (eyes, nose, and mouth) allow us to communicate with others. Observing faces triggers physiological responses, including pupil dilation. Still, the relative influence of social and motion content of a visual stimulus on pupillary reactivity has never been elucidated.

Atypical Response to Affective Touch in Children with Autism: Multi-Parametric Exploration of the Autonomic System.

This study aimed at evaluating the autonomic response to pleasant affective touch in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and age-matched typically developing (TD) peers, thanks to multiple autonomic nervous system (ANS) parameters and by contrasting CT (C-tactile fibers) high- vs. low-density territory stimulations. We measured pupil diameter, skin conductance, and heart rate during gentle stroking of two skin territories (CT high- and low-density, respectively, forearm and palm of the hand) in thirty 6-12-year-old TD children and twenty ASD children.

Guidelines for successful motor cortex ultrasonic neurostimulation in mice.

Background: Ultrasound neurostimulation (USNS) is a non-invasive neuromodulation technique that might hold promise for treating neuropsychiatric disorders with regards to its noninvasiveness, penetration depth, and high resolution.

Objective: We sought in this experimental study to provide detailed and optimized protocol and methodology for a successful ultrasonic neurostimulation of the Primary Motor Cortex (M1) in mice addressed to young researchers/students beginning their research in the field of ultrasonic neurostimulation and encountering practical challenges.

Methods: A 500 kHz single-element transducer was used for stimulating the primary motor cortex at different acoustic pressures in C57BL/6 mice at various anesthesia levels.

Autonomic tone in children and adults: Pupillary, electrodermal and cardiac activity at rest.

Considering the suspected involvement of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in several neurodevelopmental disorders, a description of its tonus in typical populations and of its maturation between childhood and adulthood is necessary. We aimed to arrive at a better understanding of the maturation of the sympathetic (SNS) and parasympathetic (PNS) tonus by comparing children and adults at rest, via recordings of multiple ANS indices. We recorded simultaneously pupil diameter, electrodermal activity (EDA) and cardiac activity (RR interval and HRV: heart rate variability) in 29 children (6-12 years old) and 30 adults (20-42 years old) during a 5-min rest period.

Relationship between Behavioral and Objective Measures of Sound Intensity in Normal-Hearing Listeners and Hearing-Aid Users: A Pilot Study.

Background: For hearing-impaired individuals, hearing aids are clinically fit according to subjective measures of threshold and loudness. The goal of this study was to evaluate objective measures of loudness perception that might benefit hearing aid fitting. Method: Seventeen adult hearing aid users and 17 normal-hearing adults participated in the study.