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PubMed1999

Laterality of expression in portraiture: putting your best cheek forward.

Portraits, both photographic and painted, are often produced with more of one side of the face showing than the other. Typically, the left side of the face is overrepresented, with the head turned slightly to the sitter's right. This leftward bias is weaker for painted male portraits and non-existent for portraits of scientists from the Royal Society. What mechanism might account for this bias? Examination of portraits painted by left- and right-handers and of self-portraits suggests that the bias is not determined by a mechanical preference of the artist or by the viewer's aesthetics. The leftward bias seems to be determined by the sitters and their desire to display the left side of their face, which is controlled by the emotive, right cerebral hemisphere. When we asked people to portray as much emotion as possible when posing for a family portrait, they tended to present the left side of their face. When asked to pose as scientists and avoid portraying emotion, participants tended to present their right side. The motivation to portray emotion, or conceal it, might explain why portraits of males show a reduced leftward bias, and also why portraits of scientists from the Royal Society show no leftward bias.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Viewing of self and nonself images in a group of captive orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus Abellii).

Reports on self-recognition in great apes have been mostly derived from experimental studies of mirror behavior (mark test) requiring anesthetization of the animals. We investigated a relatively noninvasive technique to study this behavior. In two experiments with a group of captive orangutans (1 adult male, 3 adult females, 1 juvenile male, and 1 juvenile female), we presented combinations of blank posters, life-size portraits of each individual in the group, a mirror, and videos. Durations of viewing and patterns of viewing were recorded. The prominent features of the viewing were the differences among the individuals in frequency, duration, and pattern of viewing. Some evidence of mirror-based self-referent behavior (behavior in which the activity of the animal with its body was related to the activity of the image in the mirror) was seen in the juvenile female, but more was seen in one adult female. This adult female spent the most time viewing the mirror and was the only animal to view her own portrait more than the other portraits in one session. In addition, she moved from one portrait to another, and back to the first, and to her own portrait and the mirror in a pattern resembling comparison of the two portraits as well as of her portrait and her mirror image. It is suggested that data based on self-referent behavior of the same animal during self-viewing in a mirror and during viewing of its self-portrait and on behavior observed in the mark test are worth further investigation.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Postprandial duodenojejunal motility in health and idiopathic severe gastroparesis: from conventional analysis to nonlinear dynamics analysis.

Our aim was to compare the results of the analysis of postprandial duodenojejunal motor patterns provided by a conventional computer-aided analysis with those provided by the new nonlinear mathematical method borrowed from 'chaos theory for determining how nonlinear analysis can improve fed motor pattern analysis and detect organization of postprandial contractions. Ten patients who had been explored for an idiopathic gastroparesis, and 20 healthy volunteers underwent duodenojejunal manometric recording for 3 h after a 750 kcal meal. Computer-aided analysis on each half-hour of the postprandial recording period calculated the number of waves (NW) and the area under the curve (AUC). Pressure signals were concurrently described by phase portraits obtained by plotting each pressure value at time t with the pressure value at time t + 1 s. The shape and amplitude of phase portraits were visually analysed and the relative area covered (RAC) by the phase portraits was calculated. With conventional analysis, NW and AUC were maximal during the first post-meal hour then decreased with time both in healthy volunteers and gastroparetic patients. With this analysis, the only difference between patients and controls was a lower NW (P < 0.02) in patients, observed only in the duodenum. Phase portraits analysis demonstrated lower RAC, a different distribution of RAC and more regular phase portraits in patients than in controls. Phase portraits outlined the heterogeneity of the patient group contrasting with the homogeneity of the control group when no subgroup was demonstrated by conventional analysis. We therefore conclude that the study of post prandial duodenojejunal motor behaviour could be improved by nonlinear dynamic analysis.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Basic cognitive-perceptive module in schizophrenics].

A specific deficit in gaze discrimination has been hypothesized for schizophrenic patients (Rosse et al., 1994). Gaze discrimination is a basic ability for animals as well as for human beings. It plays an important role in mutual control of social interactions. According to Baron-Cohen (1995), sensitivity to eye gaze relies on a specific cognitive module, the Eye Direction Detector (EDD). The author distinguishes three basic functions of the EDD; first, the EDD is involved in eyes detection; second, the EDD is used in order to establish direction of gaze, and specially to compute whether the eyes one is looking at are directed to the subject or somewhere else; third, the EDD is implied in interpretation of gaze as seeing. Rosse et al. (1994) tested subjective impressions concerning gaze discrimination in a group of schizophrenic patients. Schizophrenics reported the subjective impression of being looked at by the portraits significantly more often than controls. The authors concluded that a specific impairment in gaze detection is present in the patients, and that it may be responsible for the paranoid symptoms often reported in schizophrenia. However, it seems difficult to assert that a response bias in schizophrenics toward perceiving faces as looking at them results from the deficit of an elementary perceptual module responsible for the detection of eye-direction. Rather we suspect such a bias to be the consequence of an impairment of the more complex level of mindreading, responsible for the interpretation of gaze as seeing in terms of mental states. The aim of the present experiment was to test in a more specific way the elementary gaze discrimination system. A series of portraits of models looking at five different directions (-30 degrees, -15 degrees, 0 degree, 15 degrees, 30 degrees), have been presented to 22 schizophrenic patients and 36 normal control subjects. In each trial one portrait was presented. Subjects were asked to determine the direction of its gaze by pressing the "z-key" (left side of the keyboard) if the portrait was looking to the left, and the "/-key" (right side of the keyboard) if the portrait was looking to the right. For each trial, we recorded both the side of the response (left key or right key) and the corresponding reaction time (RT). For the purpose of the analysis, the mean numbers of left responses were computed for each subject. The mean numbers of left responses recorded for each direction of gaze did not significantly differ between patients and controls. That is schizophrenic patients are not impaired in the gaze discrimination task used in the present study. In Rosse's experiment, subjects were required to decide whether the portrait on the screen was looking at them or not. On the contrary, in our task, subjects were simply required to state whether gaze was directed to the right or to the left. No explicit judgment was required as to whom or what gaze was directed. Therefore, we can assume that the present paradigm investigated the functioning of a more basic process than that tested by Rosse et al. Our data are consistent with those reporting that basic cognitive processes are unimpaired in schizophrenia, whereas explicit processes are extensively affected.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

The painted Amsterdam anatomy lessons: anatomy performances in dissecting rooms?

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, painted by Rembrandt in 1632, has recently been fully restored. From 02-10-98 to 10-01-99 this painting and some other Amsterdam painted anatomy lessons were exhibited in the Mauritshuis in The Hague, with the title "Rembrandt under the scalpel". The unique Tulp painting is one of those portraits painted in the tradition of the famous group portraits which flourished in 17th-century Holland, a predominantly urban, middle-class society where the main patrons of the arts were the leading citizens of the various towns. Moreover, it is a portrait in the tradition of the anatomy lessons especially painted for the Guild of Surgeons for their Guild Room. Nine such lessons have been painted for the guild and are still to be found in Dutch museums (Mauritshuis and Amsterdam Historical Museum). The anatomy lesson of Prof. Andreas Bonn, dated 1792, as well as some group portraits of the leading persons of the guild also play an important role in the Amsterdam group portraits. In 1925 the Amsterdam anatomist Louis Bolk commissioned Martin Monnickendam to paint another anatomy lesson. The restoration of the painting of Dr. Tulp has provided new information concerning the original composition of Rembrandt and the later additions. However, from an anatomical point of view, it is doubtful whether the Amsterdam anatomy lessons depict a real contemporary anatomical demonstration. They provide, together with archival sources, reliable information about the praelectores anatomiae and the leading persons of the guild, but fail to give much information about the dissecting room, the anatomy theatre or the procedure. The anatomical demonstration procedures of the guild are discussed in relation to the painted anatomy lessons.

Anatomy↗
PubMed2000

Testing the aesthetic significance of the golden-section rectangle.

The aesthetic significance of the golden-section rectangle was tested in two studies designed to obviate some of the criticisms of earlier experiments. In the first, employing the method of use, the mean sides-ratios of samples of paintings from five subject-matter categories (landscape, still life, head-and-shoulders portrait, upper-body portrait, full-length portrait) provided no evidence for the significance of the golden section. However, the sides ratio of portraits varied between categories in ways that were consistent with the requirements of the proportions of the subject matter. In the second study, using the method of production, participants produced the most pleasing four-sided shape, under four instruction conditions. Under a 'portrait painting' condition and a 'landscape painting' condition, the mean sides-ratios differed significantly from the golden section. Under two 'context free' geometric shape conditions--horizontal rectangle and vertical rectangle--the mean sides-ratio approximated the golden section. The results are discussed in terms of the methodological requirements for a valid test of the aesthetic significance of the golden section and the possibility that this ratio may indeed have special significance.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Better Prescribing Project: a randomized controlled trial of the impact of case-based educational modules and personal prescribing feedback on prescribing for hypertension in primary care.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the impacts of individualized prescribing feedback and interactive small group education aimed at encouraging evidence-based prescribing in family/general practice. METHODS: A two-by-two factorial randomized controlled trial was carried out involving 200 family physicians in British Columbia, Canada. The physicians met monthly in 28 peer learning groups within the Practice-Based Small Group (PBSG) learning programme. Personalized prescribing feedback related to hypertension was provided through 'prescribing portraits' which graphically displayed comparative rates of individual and peer group prescribing, together with a concise guide for evidence-based prescribing. A case-based educational module, containing the same evidence-based message, was discussed in small groups. Groups were matched and randomized into four arms of seven groups each: control (n = 56), prescribing portrait only (n = 48), educational module only (n = 47), both portrait and module (n = 49). The main outcome measure was changes in 'prescribing preferences' to new patients among those medications used to treat hypertension (i.e. probability that a patient would receive the evidence-based medication as first-line therapy). RESULTS: Using data from the provincial pharmacy registry (PharmaNet), prescribing preferences for antihypertensive agents were determined for all groups for a 6 month period before and after the interventions, based on 4394 patients receiving a first-line antihypertensive. Significant absolute increases in prescribing preference for thiazides were documented for both the module +0.068 (confidence interval [CI] 0.022-0.115) and the portrait +0.065 (CI 0.018-0.111). Preference in the group receiving both module and portrait increased by +0.115 (CI 0.040-0.189). CONCLUSIONS: Evidence-based educational interventions combining personalized prescribing feedback with interactive group discussion can lead to modest but meaningful changes in physician prescribing. Clear messages, proper trial design and sensitive outcomes are necessary to demonstrate these changes.

Antihypertensive Agents↗
PubMed2003

Velázquez and the representation of dignity.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the visual representation of dignity, through the particular example of the seventeenth century Spanish painter Diego Velázquez. Velázquez works at a point in Western history when modern conceptions of dignity are beginning to be formed. It is argued that Velázquez' portraits of royalty and aristocracy articulate a tension between a feudal conception of majesty and a modern conception of the dignity of merit. On this level, modern conceptions of dignity of merit are understood in terms of a struggle to excel in particular activities, and thus to overcome the risk of failure. More radically, Velázquez' portraits of dwarfs and the mentally disabled are argued to be expressive of dignity, not by finding a positive representation of the sitter's dignity, or to find scales of activities by which they can be positively assessed, but rather by grounding their dignity, negatively, in a protest against indignity and humiliation. Drawing on Honneth's analysis of dignity in terms of a theory of recognition, it is argued that the indignity of the court dwarf lies in the fracturing of their communication with the rest of society. The task of repairing that fractured communication is achieved, not by representing a dignified ideal, but rather by drawing attention to the prejudices that serve to exclude the humiliated from full participation in society. In conclusion, it is suggested that the conceptualisation and representation of the elderly today finds effective exemplars in Velázquez' portraits of court dwarfs, rather than in his portraits of the elderly.

Persons with Disabilities↗
PubMed2003

Early use of corrective lenses in Spanish colonies of the Americas including parts of the future United States: reference to Viceroy Luis de Velasco (the Son).

We discuss many aspects of a reproduction of a formal painting from the XVIth century. It is a portrait of Viceroy of New Spain Luis de Velasco, El Joven or Hijo (son-see text), found at the Museum of the Pecos National Monument (near Pecos and Santa Fe, New Mexico). A formal portrait of each Viceroy of New Spain was created, and this one was painted during de Velasco's first term as Viceroy (1590 to 1595 AD). In this depiction, he is seen wearing spectacles. To our knowledge, this is the first known reference suggesting the introduction of this form of visual correction in the Spanish Colonies in the Americas and in the future United States. There are three known portraits of Luis de Velasco (son): One painting, which included his father and significant others, hangs in the Colegiata (a small cathedral) de San Luis near Valladolid, Spain. In this portrayal, he was shown as a young man without a spectacle correction. And there are two viceregal portraits (Term 1, 1590 to 1595; Term 2, 1607 to 1611) in which he wears the same spectacle correction (these are located in Mexico City).

Eyeglasses↗
PubMed1997

Altered astronaut lower limb and mass center kinematics in downward jumping following space flight.

Astronauts exposed to the microgravity conditions encountered during space flight exhibit postural and gait instabilities upon return to earth that could impair critical postflight performance. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of microgravity exposure on astronauts' performance of two-footed jump landings. Nine astronauts from several Space Shuttle missions were tested both preflight and postflight with a series of voluntary, two-footed downward hops from a 30-cm-high step. A video-based, three-dimensional motion-analysis system permitted calculation of body segment positions and joint angular displacements. Phase-plane plots of knee, hip, and ankle angular velocities compared with the corresponding joint angles were used to describe the lower limb kinematics during jump landings. The position of the whole-body center of mass (COM) was also estimated in the sagittal plane using an eight-segment body model. Four of nine subjects exhibited expanded phase-plane portraits postflight, with significant increases in peak joint flexion angles and flexion rates following space flight. In contrast, two subjects showed significant contractions of their phase-plane portraits postflight and three subjects showed insignificant overall changes after space flight. Analysis of the vertical COM motion generally supported the joint angle results. Subjects with expanded joint angle phase-plane portraits postflight exhibited larger downward deviations of the COM and longer times from impact to peak deflection, as well as lower upward recovery velocities. Subjects with postflight joint angle phase-plane contraction demonstrated opposite effects in the COM motion. The joint kinematics results indicated the existence of two contrasting response modes due to microgravity exposure. Most subjects exhibited "compliant" impact absorption postflight, consistent with decreased limb stiffness and damping, and a reduction in the bandwidth of the postural control system. Fewer subjects showed "stiff" behavior after space flight, where contractions in the phase-plane portraits pointed to an increase in control bandwidth. The changes appeared to result from adaptive modifications in the control of lower limb impedance. A simple 2nd-order model of the vertical COM motion indicated that changes in the effective vertical stiffness of the legs can predict key features of the postflight performance. Compliant responses may reflect inflight adaptation due to altered demands on the postural control system in microgravity, while stiff behavior may result from overcompensation postflight for the presumed reduction in limb stiffness inflight.

Acceleration↗
PubMed2002

The effect of left and right poses on the expression of facial emotion.

Research, using composite facial photographs has demonstrated that left-left composites are more emotionally expressive than are right-right composites. The present study investigated whether hemifacial asymmetries in expression are apparent in photographs, that feature one side of the face more than the other. Photographs were taken of the models who turned their heads: (a) 15 degrees to the left, (b) 15 degrees to the right or (c) faced directly towards the camera. It was predicted that left hemiface and midline photographs would be judged as more emotionally expressive than right hemiface photographs, where the left hemiface is less prominent. Three hundred and eighty-four participants viewed photographs of the three posing conditions, and rated each photograph along an emotional expressivity scale. Midline and left hemiface portraits were rated as more emotionally expressive than were right hemiface portraits. To investigate whether this effect was caused by observer's aesthetic/perceptual biases, mirror-reversed versions of the three posing conditions were included. Left hemiface and midline portraits were rated as more emotionally expressive, irrespective of whether they were mirror-reversed. It was concluded that head turns of just 15 degrees can bring about significant changes in the perceived emotionality. The relevance of these findings to painted portraits, which feature the left hemiface more than the right, is discussed.

Adolescent↗