@article{KirschUllrichKunde2016,
  author    = {Kirsch, Wladimir and Ullrich, Benjamin and Kunde, Wilfried},
  title     = {Are Effects of Action on Perception Real? Evidence from Transformed Movements},
  series = {PLoS ONE},
  volume    = {11},
  journal   = {PLoS ONE},
  number    = {12},
  doi       = {10.1371/journal.pone.0167993},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-178574},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {It has been argued that several reported non-visual influences on perception cannot be truly perceptual. If they were, they should affect the perception of target objects and reference objects used to express perceptual judgments, and thus cancel each other out. This reasoning presumes that non-visual manipulations impact target objects and comparison objects equally. In the present study we show that equalizing a body-related manipulation between target objects and reference objects essentially abolishes the impact of that manipulation so as it should do when that manipulation actually altered perception. Moreover, the manipulation has an impact on judgements when applied to only the target object but not to the reference object, and that impact reverses when only applied to the reference object but not to the target object. A perceptual explanation predicts this reversal, whereas explanations in terms of post-perceptual response biases or demand effects do not. Altogether these results suggest that body-related influences on perception cannot as a whole be attributed to extra-perceptual factors.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{WalzMuehlbergerPauli2016,
  author    = {Walz, Nora and M{\"u}hlberger, Andreas and Pauli, Paul},
  title     = {A human open field test reveals thigmotaxis related to agoraphobic fear},
  series = {Biological Psychiatry},
  volume    = {80},
  journal   = {Biological Psychiatry},
  number    = {5},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.12.016},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-187607},
  pages     = {390-397},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {BACKGROUND: Thigmotaxis refers to a specific behavior of animals (i.e., to stay close to walls when exploring an open space). Such behavior can be assessed with the open field test (OFT), which is a well-established indicator of animal fear. The detection of similar open field behavior in humans may verify the translational validity of this paradigm. Enhanced thigmotaxis related to anxiety may suggest the relevance of such behavior for anxiety disorders, especially agoraphobia. METHODS: A global positioning system was used to analyze the behavior of 16 patients with agoraphobia and 18 healthy individuals with a risk for agoraphobia (i.e., high anxiety sensitivity) during a human OFT and compare it with appropriate control groups (n = 16 and n = 19). We also tracked 17 patients with agoraphobia and 17 control participants during a city walk that involved walking through an open market square. RESULTS: Our human OFT triggered thigmotaxis in participants; patients with agoraphobia and participants with high anxiety sensitivity exhibited enhanced thigmotaxis. This behavior was evident in increased movement lengths along the wall of the natural open field and fewer entries into the center of the field despite normal movement speed and length. Furthermore, participants avoided passing through the market square during the city walk, indicating again that thigmotaxis is related to agoraphobia. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to our knowledge to verify the translational validity of the OFT and to reveal that thigmotaxis, an evolutionarily adaptive behavior shown by most species, is related to agoraphobia, a pathologic fear of open spaces, and anxiety sensitivity, a risk factor for agoraphobia.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{ZieglerRichterMahretal.2016,
  author    = {Ziegler, C. and Richter, J. and Mahr, M. and Gajewska, A. and Schiele, M.A. and Gehrmann, A. and Schmidt, B. and Lesch, K.-P. and Lang, T. and Helbig-Lang, S. and Pauli, P. and Kircher, T. and Reif, A. and Rief, W. and Vossbeck-Elsebusch, A.N. and Arolt, V. and Wittchen, H.-U. and Hamm, A.O. and Deckert, J. and Domschke, K.},
  title     = {MAOA gene hypomethylation in panic disorder-reversibility of an epigenetic risk pattern by psychotherapy},
  series = {Translational Psychiatry},
  journal   = {Translational Psychiatry},
  number    = {6},
  doi       = {10.1038/tp.2016.41},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-164422},
  pages     = {e773},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {Epigenetic signatures such as methylation of the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene have been found to be altered in panic disorder (PD). Hypothesizing temporal plasticity of epigenetic processes as a mechanism of successful fear extinction, the present psychotherapy-epigenetic study for we believe the first time investigated MAOA methylation changes during the course of exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in PD. MAOA methylation was compared between N=28 female Caucasian PD patients (discovery sample) and N=28 age- and sex-matched healthy controls via direct sequencing of sodium bisulfite-treated DNA extracted from blood cells. MAOA methylation was furthermore analyzed at baseline (T0) and after a 6-week CBT (T1) in the discovery sample parallelized by a waiting time in healthy controls, as well as in an independent sample of female PD patients (N=20). Patients exhibited lower MAOA methylation than healthy controls (P<0.001), and baseline PD severity correlated negatively with MAOA methylation (P=0.01). In the discovery sample, MAOA methylation increased up to the level of healthy controls along with CBT response (number of panic attacks; T0-T1: +3.37±2.17\%), while non-responders further decreased in methylation (-2.00±1.28\%; P=0.001). In the replication sample, increases in MAOA methylation correlated with agoraphobic symptom reduction after CBT (P=0.02-0.03). The present results support previous evidence for MAOA hypomethylation as a PD risk marker and suggest reversibility of MAOA hypomethylation as a potential epigenetic correlate of response to CBT. The emerging notion of epigenetic signatures as a mechanism of action of psychotherapeutic interventions may promote epigenetic patterns as biomarkers of lasting extinction effects.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{ReichertsGerdesPaulietal.2016,
  author    = {Reicherts, Philipp and Gerdes, Antje B. M. and Pauli, Paul and Wieser, Matthias J.},
  title     = {Psychological placebo and nocebo effects on pain rely on expectation and previous experience},
  series = {Journal of Pain},
  volume    = {17},
  journal   = {Journal of Pain},
  number    = {2},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.jpain.2015.10.010},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-190962},
  pages     = {203-214},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {Expectation and previous experience are both well established key mediators of placebo and nocebo effects. However, the investigation of their respective contribution to placebo and nocebo responses is rather difficult because most placebo and nocebo manipulations are contaminated by pre-existing treatment expectancies resulting from a learning history of previous medical interventions. To circumvent any resemblance to classical treatments, a purely psychological placebonocebo manipulation was established, namely, the "visual stripe pattern induced modulation of pain." To this end, experience and expectation regarding the effects of different visual cues (stripe patterns) on pain were varied across 3 different groups, with either only placebo instruction (expectation), placebo conditioning (experience), or both (expectation + experience) applied. Only the combined manipulation (expectation + experience) revealed significant behavioral and physiological placebo nocebo effects on pain. Two subsequent experiments, which, in addition to placebo and nocebo cues, included a neutral control condition further showed that especially nocebo responses were more easily induced by this psychological placebo and nocebo manipulation. The results emphasize the great effect of psychological processes on placebo and nocebo effects. Particularly, nocebo effects should be addressed more thoroughly and carefully considered in clinical practice to prevent the accidental induction of side effects.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{HalderTakanoOraetal.2016,
  author    = {Halder, Sebastian and Takano, Kouji and Ora, Hiroki and Onishi, Akinari and Utsumi, Kota and Kansaku, Kenji},
  title     = {An Evaluation of Training with an Auditory P300 Brain-Computer Interface for the Japanese Hiragana Syllabary},
  series = {Frontiers in Neuroscience},
  volume    = {10},
  journal   = {Frontiers in Neuroscience},
  number    = {446},
  doi       = {10.3389/fnins.2016.00446},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-165465},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {Gaze-independent brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are a possible communication channel for persons with paralysis. We investigated if it is possible to use auditory stimuli to create a BCI for the Japanese Hiragana syllabary, which has 46 Hiragana characters. Additionally, we investigated if training has an effect on accuracy despite the high amount of different stimuli involved. Able-bodied participants (N = 6) were asked to select 25 syllables (out of fifty possible choices) using a two step procedure: First the consonant (ten choices) and then the vowel (five choices). This was repeated on 3 separate days. Additionally, a person with spinal cord injury (SCI) participated in the experiment. Four out of six healthy participants reached Hiragana syllable accuracies above 70\% and the information transfer rate increased from 1.7 bits/min in the first session to 3.2 bits/min in the third session. The accuracy of the participant with SCI increased from 12\% (0.2 bits/min) to 56\% (2 bits/min) in session three. Reliable selections from a 10 × 5 matrix using auditory stimuli were possible and performance is increased by training. We were able to show that auditory P300 BCIs can be used for communication with up to fifty symbols. This enables the use of the technology of auditory P300 BCIs with a variety of applications.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{SchieleReinhardReifetal.2016,
  author    = {Schiele, Miriam A. and Reinhard, Julia and Reif, Andreas and Domschke, Katharina and Romanos, Marcel and Deckert, J{\"u}rgen and Pauli, Paul},
  title     = {Developmental aspects of fear: Comparing the acquisition and generalization of conditioned fear in children and adults},
  series = {Developmental Psychobiology},
  volume    = {58},
  journal   = {Developmental Psychobiology},
  number    = {4},
  doi       = {10.1002/dev.21393},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-189488},
  pages     = {471-481},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {Most research on human fear conditioning and its generalization has focused on adults whereas only little is known about these processes in children. Direct comparisons between child and adult populations are needed to determine developmental risk markers of fear and anxiety. We compared 267 children and 285 adults in a differential fear conditioning paradigm and generalization test. Skin conductance responses (SCR) and ratings of valence and arousal were obtained to indicate fear learning. Both groups displayed robust and similar differential conditioning on subjective and physiological levels. However, children showed heightened fear generalization compared to adults as indexed by higher arousal ratings and SCR to the generalization stimuli. Results indicate overgeneralization of conditioned fear as a developmental correlate of fear learning. The developmental change from a shallow to a steeper generalization gradient is likely related to the maturation of brain structures that modulate efficient discrimination between danger and (ambiguous) safety cues.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{HoltfrerichSchwarzSprengeretal.2016,
  author    = {Holtfrerich, Sarah K. C. and Schwarz, Katharina A. and Sprenger, Christian and Reimers, Luise and Diekhof, Esther K.},
  title     = {Endogenous Testosterone and Exogenous Oxytocin Modulate Attentional Processing of Infant Faces},
  series = {PLoS ONE},
  volume    = {11},
  journal   = {PLoS ONE},
  number    = {11},
  doi       = {10.1371/journal.pone.0166617},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-166783},
  pages     = {e0166617},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {Evidence indicates that hormones modulate the intensity of maternal care. Oxytocin is known for its positive influence on maternal behavior and its important role for childbirth. In contrast, testosterone promotes egocentric choices and reduces empathy. Further, testosterone decreases during parenthood which could be an adaptation to increased parental investment. The present study investigated the interaction between testosterone and oxytocin in attentional control and their influence on attention to baby schema in women. Higher endogenous testosterone was expected to decrease selective attention to child portraits in a face-in-the-crowd-paradigm, while oxytocin was expected to counteract this effect. As predicted, women with higher salivary testosterone were slower in orienting attention to infant targets in the context of adult distractors. Interestingly, reaction times to infant and adult stimuli decreased after oxytocin administration, but only in women with high endogenous testosterone. These results suggest that oxytocin may counteract the adverse effects of testosterone on a central aspect of social behavior and maternal caretaking.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{KuhnScharfenortSchuemannetal.2016,
  author    = {Kuhn, Manuel and Scharfenort, Robert and Sch{\"u}mann, Dirk and Schiele, Miriam A. and M{\"u}nsterk{\"o}tter, Anna L. and Deckert, J{\"u}rgen and Domschke, Katharina and Haaker, Jan and Kalisch, Raffael and Pauli, Paul and Reif, Andreas and Romanos, Marcel and Zwanzger, Peter and Lonsdorf, Tina B.},
  title     = {Mismatch or allostatic load? Timing of life adversity differentially shapes gray matter volume and anxious temperament},
  series = {Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience},
  volume    = {11},
  journal   = {Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience},
  number    = {4},
  doi       = {10.1093/scan/nsv137},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-189645},
  pages     = {537-547},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {Traditionally, adversity was defined as the accumulation of environmental events (allostatic load). Recently however, a mismatch between the early and the later (adult) environment (mismatch) has been hypothesized to be critical for disease development, a hypothesis that has not yet been tested explicitly in humans. We explored the impact of timing of life adversity (childhood and past year) on anxiety and depression levels (N = 833) and brain morphology (N = 129). Both remote (childhood) and proximal (recent) adversities were differentially mirrored in morphometric changes in areas critically involved in emotional processing (i.e. amygdala/hippocampus, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, respectively). The effect of adversity on affect acted in an additive way with no evidence for interactions (mismatch). Structural equation modeling demonstrated a direct effect of adversity on morphometric estimates and anxiety/depression without evidence of brain morphology functioning as a mediator. Our results highlight that adversity manifests as pronounced changes in brain morphometric and affective temperament even though these seem to represent distinct mechanistic pathways. A major goal of future studies should be to define critical time periods for the impact of adversity and strategies for intervening to prevent or reverse the effects of adverse childhood life experiences.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{AcqualagnaBotrelVidaurreetal.2016,
  author    = {Acqualagna, Laura and Botrel, Loic and Vidaurre, Carmen and K{\"u}bler, Andrea and Blankertz, Benjamin},
  title     = {Large-Scale Assessment of a Fully Automatic Co-Adaptive Motor Imagery-Based Brain Computer Interface},
  series = {PLoS ONE},
  volume    = {11},
  journal   = {PLoS ONE},
  number    = {2},
  doi       = {10.1371/journal.pone.0148886},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-167230},
  pages     = {e0148886},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {In the last years Brain Computer Interface (BCI) technology has benefited from the development of sophisticated machine leaning methods that let the user operate the BCI after a few trials of calibration. One remarkable example is the recent development of co-adaptive techniques that proved to extend the use of BCIs also to people not able to achieve successful control with the standard BCI procedure. Especially for BCIs based on the modulation of the Sensorimotor Rhythm (SMR) these improvements are essential, since a not negligible percentage of users is unable to operate SMR-BCIs efficiently. In this study we evaluated for the first time a fully automatic co-adaptive BCI system on a large scale. A pool of 168 participants naive to BCIs operated the co-adaptive SMR-BCI in one single session. Different psychological interventions were performed prior the BCI session in order to investigate how motor coordination training and relaxation could influence BCI performance. A neurophysiological indicator based on the Power Spectral Density (PSD) was extracted by the recording of few minutes of resting state brain activity and tested as predictor of BCI performances. Results show that high accuracies in operating the BCI could be reached by the majority of the participants before the end of the session. BCI performances could be significantly predicted by the neurophysiological indicator, consolidating the validity of the model previously developed. Anyway, we still found about 22\% of users with performance significantly lower than the threshold of efficient BCI control at the end of the session. Being the inter-subject variability still the major problem of BCI technology, we pointed out crucial issues for those who did not achieve sufficient control. Finally, we propose valid developments to move a step forward to the applicability of the promising co-adaptive methods.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{HommersGoers2016,
  author    = {Hommers, Wilfried and G{\"o}rs, Marijke},
  title     = {Information integration of Kohlbergian thoughts about consensual sex},
  series = {Universitas Psychologica},
  volume    = {15},
  journal   = {Universitas Psychologica},
  number    = {3},
  doi       = {10.11144/Javeriana.upsy15-3.iikt},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-168487},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {The unification of two major approaches to moral judgment is the purpose of the present approach. Kohlberg's well-known stage theory assumes a sequence of discrete stages that underlie all moral judgment. Stage theory recognizes the problem of integrating considerations but gives no way to solve such integration, even with information from any one stage. And, of course, the stage concept denies any significant integration from different stages. Thus, research on moral judgment needs to study the integration problem which can be tested within Anderson's theory of information integration. The main purpose of the present study was to extend this unificationist approach to the issue of sexual morality. A novel task presents information from two very different stages. The results showed that in contrast to discreteness the stage informers were positively correlated in punishment judgments of both genders about consensual sex of juveniles. Furthermore, the subjects integrated considerations from those very different stages also in contrast to the hypothesis that only a single stage was operative at any time.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{StoeckelEsserGameretal.2016,
  author    = {Stoeckel, M. Cornelia and Esser, Roland W. and Gamer, Matthias and B{\"u}chel, Christian and von Leupoldt, Andreas},
  title     = {Brain Responses during the Anticipation of Dyspnea},
  series = {Neural Plasticity},
  volume    = {2016},
  journal   = {Neural Plasticity},
  number    = {6434987},
  doi       = {10.1155/2016/6434987},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-166238},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {Dyspnea is common in many cardiorespiratory diseases. Already the anticipation of this aversive symptom elicits fear in many patients resulting in unfavorable health behaviors such as activity avoidance and sedentary lifestyle. This study investigated brain mechanisms underlying these anticipatory processes. We induced dyspnea using resistive-load breathing in healthy subjects during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Blocks of severe and mild dyspnea alternated, each preceded by anticipation periods. Severe dyspnea activated a network of sensorimotor, cerebellar, and limbic areas. The left insular, parietal opercular, and cerebellar cortices showed increased activation already during dyspnea anticipation. Left insular and parietal opercular cortex showed increased connectivity with right insular and anterior cingulate cortex when severe dyspnea was anticipated, while the cerebellum showed increased connectivity with the amygdala. Notably, insular activation during dyspnea perception was positively correlated with midbrain activation during anticipation. Moreover, anticipatory fear was positively correlated with anticipatory activation in right insular and anterior cingulate cortex. The results demonstrate that dyspnea anticipation activates brain areas involved in dyspnea perception. The involvement of emotion-related areas such as insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and amygdala during dyspnea anticipation most likely reflects anticipatory fear and might underlie the development of unfavorable health behaviors in patients suffering from dyspnea.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{MavratzakisHerbertWalla2016,
  author    = {Mavratzakis, Aimee and Herbert, Cornelia and Walla, Peter},
  title     = {Emotional facial expressions evoke faster orienting responses, but weaker emotional responses at neural and behavioural levels compared to scenes: a simultaneous EEG and facial EMG study},
  series = {NeuroImage},
  volume    = {124},
  journal   = {NeuroImage},
  number    = {Part A},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.09.065},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-191535},
  pages     = {931-946},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {In the current study, electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded simultaneously with facial electromyography (fEMG) to determine whether emotional faces and emotional scenes are processed differently at the neural level. In addition, it was investigated whether these differences can be observed at the behavioural level via spontaneous facial muscle activity. Emotional content of the stimuli did not affect early P1 activity. Emotional faces elicited enhanced amplitudes of the face-sensitive N170 component, while its counterpart, the scene-related N100, was not sensitive to emotional content of scenes. At 220-280 ms, the early posterior negativity (EPN) was enhanced only slightly for fearful as compared to neutral or happy faces. However, its amplitudes were significantly enhanced during processing of scenes with positive content, particularly over the right hemisphere. Scenes of positive content also elicited enhanced spontaneous zygomatic activity from 500-750 ms onwards, while happy faces elicited no such changes. Contrastingly, both fearful faces and negative scenes elicited enhanced spontaneous corrugator activity at 500-750 ms after stimulus onset. However, relative to baseline EMG changes occurred earlier for faces (250 ms) than for scenes (500 ms) whereas for scenes activity changes were more pronounced over the whole viewing period. Taking into account all effects, the data suggests that emotional facial expressions evoke faster attentional orienting, but weaker affective neural activity and emotional behavioural responses compared to emotional scenes.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{MirallesVargiuDauwalderetal.2015,
  author    = {Miralles, Felip and Vargiu, Eloisa and Dauwalder, Stefan and Sol{\`a}, Marc and M{\"u}ller-Putz, Gernot and Wriessnegger, Selina C. and Pinegger, Andreas and K{\"u}bler, Andrea and Halder, Sebastian and K{\"a}thner, Ivo and Martin, Suzanne and Daly, Jean and Armstrong, Elaine and Guger, Christoph and Hinterm{\"u}ller, Christoph and Lowish, Hannah},
  title     = {Brain computer interface on track to home.},
  series = {The Scientific World Journal},
  volume    = {2015},
  journal   = {The Scientific World Journal},
  number    = {623896},
  doi       = {10.1155/2015/623896},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-149575},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The novel BackHome system offers individuals with disabilities a range of useful services available via brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), to help restore their independence. This is the time such technology is ready to be deployed in the real world, that is, at the target end users' home. This has been achieved by the development of practical electrodes, easy to use software, and delivering telemonitoring and home support capabilities which have been conceived, implemented, and tested within a user-centred design approach. The final BackHome system is the result of a 3-year long process involving extensive user engagement to maximize effectiveness, reliability, robustness, and ease of use of a home based BCI system. The system is comprised of ergonomic and hassle-free BCI equipment; one-click software services for Smart Home control, cognitive stimulation, and web browsing; and remote telemonitoring and home support tools to enable independent home use for nonexpert caregivers and users. BackHome aims to successfully bring BCIs to the home of people with limited mobility to restore their independence and ultimately improve their quality of life.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{SeibtMuehlbergerLikowskietal.2015,
  author    = {Seibt, Beate and M{\"u}hlberger, Andreas and Likowski, Katja U. and Weyers, Peter},
  title     = {Facial mimicry in its social setting},
  series = {Frontiers in Psychology},
  volume    = {6},
  journal   = {Frontiers in Psychology},
  number    = {1122},
  doi       = {10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01122},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-151415},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {In interpersonal encounters, individuals often exhibit changes in their own facial expressions in response to emotional expressions of another person. Such changes are often called facial mimicry. While this tendency first appeared to be an automatic tendency of the perceiver to show the same emotional expression as the sender, evidence is now accumulating that situation, person, and relationship jointly determine whether and for which emotions such congruent facial behavior is shown. We review the evidence regarding the moderating influence of such factors on facial mimicry with a focus on understanding the meaning of facial responses to emotional expressions in a particular constellation. From this, we derive recommendations for a research agenda with a stronger focus on the most common forms of encounters, actual interactions with known others, and on assessing potential mediators of facial mimicry. We conclude that facial mimicry is modulated by many factors: attention deployment and sensitivity, detection of valence, emotional feelings, and social motivations. We posit that these are the more proximal causes of changes in facial mimicry due to changes in its social setting.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{KaethnerKueblerHalder2015,
  author    = {K{\"a}thner, Ivo and K{\"u}bler, Andrea and Halder, Sebastian},
  title     = {Comparison of eye tracking, electrooculography and an auditory brain-computer interface for binary communication: a case study with a participant in the locked-in state},
  series = {Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation},
  volume    = {12},
  journal   = {Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation},
  number    = {76},
  doi       = {10.1186/s12984-015-0071-z},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-145305},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Background In this study, we evaluated electrooculography (EOG), an eye tracker and an auditory brain-computer interface (BCI) as access methods to augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The participant of the study has been in the locked-in state (LIS) for 6 years due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He was able to communicate with slow residual eye movements, but had no means of partner independent communication. We discuss the usability of all tested access methods and the prospects of using BCIs as an assistive technology. Methods Within four days, we tested whether EOG, eye tracking and a BCI would allow the participant in LIS to make simple selections. We optimized the parameters in an iterative procedure for all systems. Results The participant was able to gain control over all three systems. Nonetheless, due to the level of proficiency previously achieved with his low-tech AAC method, he did not consider using any of the tested systems as an additional communication channel. However, he would consider using the BCI once control over his eye muscles would no longer be possible. He rated the ease of use of the BCI as the highest among the tested systems, because no precise eye movements were required; but also as the most tiring, due to the high level of attention needed to operate the BCI. Conclusions In this case study, the partner based communication was possible due to the good care provided and the proficiency achieved by the interlocutors. To ease the transition from a low-tech AAC method to a BCI once control over all muscles is lost, it must be simple to operate. For persons, who rely on AAC and are affected by a progressive neuromuscular disease, we argue that a complementary approach, combining BCIs and standard assistive technology, can prove valuable to achieve partner independent communication and ease the transition to a purely BCI based approach. Finally, we provide further evidence for the importance of a user-centered approach in the design of new assistive devices.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{SimonKaethnerRufetal.2015,
  author    = {Simon, Nadine and K{\"a}thner, Ivo and Ruf, Carolin A. and Pasqualotto, Emanuele and K{\"u}bler, Andrea and Halder, Sebastian},
  title     = {An auditory multiclass brain-computer interface with natural stimuli: Usability evaluation with healthy participants and a motor impaired end user},
  series = {Frontiers in Human Neuroscience},
  volume    = {8},
  journal   = {Frontiers in Human Neuroscience},
  number    = {1039},
  doi       = {10.3389/fnhum.2014.01039},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-126450},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) can serve as muscle independent communication aids. Persons, who are unable to control their eye muscles (e.g., in the completely locked-in state) or have severe visual impairments for other reasons, need BCI systems that do not rely on the visual modality. For this reason, BCIs that employ auditory stimuli were suggested. In this study, a multiclass BCI spelling system was implemented that uses animal voices with directional cues to code rows and columns of a letter matrix. To reveal possible training effects with the system, 11 healthy participants performed spelling tasks on 2 consecutive days. In a second step, the system was tested by a participant with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in two sessions. In the first session, healthy participants spelled with an average accuracy of 76\% (3.29 bits/min) that increased to 90\% (4.23 bits/min) on the second day. Spelling accuracy by the participant with ALS was 20\% in the first and 47\% in the second session. The results indicate a strong training effect for both the healthy participants and the participant with ALS. While healthy participants reached high accuracies in the first session and second session, accuracies for the participant with ALS were not sufficient for satisfactory communication in both sessions. More training sessions might be needed to improve spelling accuracies. The study demonstrated the feasibility of the auditory BCI with healthy users and stresses the importance of training with auditory multiclass BCIs, especially for potential end-users of BCI with disease.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{KleihHerwegKaufmannetal.2015,
  author    = {Kleih, Sonja C. and Herweg, Andreas and Kaufmann, Tobias and Staiger-S{\"a}lzer, Pit and Gerstner, Natascha and K{\"u}bler, Andrea},
  title     = {The WIN-speller: a new intuitive auditory brain-computer interface spelling application},
  series = {Frontiers in Neuroscience},
  volume    = {9},
  journal   = {Frontiers in Neuroscience},
  doi       = {10.3389/fnins.2015.00346},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-125972},
  pages     = {346},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The objective of this study was to test the usability of a new auditory Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) application for communication. We introduce a word based, intuitive auditory spelling paradigm the WIN-speller. In the WIN-speller letters are grouped by words, such as the word KLANG representing the letters A, G, K, L, and N. Thereby, the decoding step between perceiving a code and translating it to the stimuli it represents becomes superfluous. We tested 11 healthy volunteers and four end-users with motor impairment in the copy spelling mode. Spelling was successful with an average accuracy of 84\% in the healthy sample. Three of the end-users communicated with average accuracies of 80\% or higher while one user was not able to communicate reliably. Even though further evaluation is required, the WIN-speller represents a potential alternative for BCI based communication in end-users.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{EderDeutsch2015,
  author    = {Eder, Andreas B. and Deutsch, Roland},
  title     = {Watch the target! Effects in the affective misattribution procedure become weaker (but not eliminated) when participants are motivated to provide accurate responses to the target},
  series = {Frontiers in Psychology},
  volume    = {6},
  journal   = {Frontiers in Psychology},
  doi       = {10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01442},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-125982},
  pages     = {1442},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Previous research showed that priming effects in the affective misattribution procedure (AMP) are unaffected by direct warnings to avoid an influence of the primes. The present research examined whether a priming influence is diminished by task procedures that encourage accurate judgments of the targets. Participants were motivated to categorize the affective meaning of nonsense targets accurately by being made to believe that a true word was presented in each trial and by providing feedback on (allegedly) incorrect responses. This condition produced robust priming effects. Priming was however reduced and less reliable relative to more typical AMP conditions in which participants guessed the meaning of openly presented nonsense targets. Affective judgments of nonsense targets were not affected by advance knowledge of the response mapping during the priming phase, which argues against a response-priming explanation of AMP effects. These findings show that affective primes influence evaluative judgments even in conditions in which the motivation to provide accurate responses is high and a priming of motor responses is not possible. Priming effects were however weaker with high accuracy motivation, suggesting that a focus on accurate judgments is an effective strategy to control for an unwanted priming influence in the AMP.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{SollfrankHartGoodselletal.2015,
  author    = {Sollfrank, Teresa and Hart, Daniel and Goodsell, Rachel and Foster, Jonathan and Tan, Tele},
  title     = {3D visualization of movements can amplify motor cortex activation during subsequent motor imagery},
  series = {Frontiers in Human Neuroscience},
  volume    = {9},
  journal   = {Frontiers in Human Neuroscience},
  number    = {463},
  doi       = {10.3389/fnhum.2015.00463},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-126058},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {A repetitive movement practice by motor imagery (MI) can influence motor cortical excitability in the electroencephalogram (EEG). This study investigated if a realistic visualization in 3D of upper and lower limb movements can amplify motor related potentials during subsequent MI. We hypothesized that a richer sensory visualization might be more effective during instrumental conditioning, resulting in a more pronounced event related desynchronization (ERD) of the upper alpha band (10-12 Hz) over the sensorimotor cortices thereby potentially improving MI based brain-computer interface (BCI) protocols for motor rehabilitation. The results show a strong increase of the characteristic patterns of ERD of the upper alpha band components for left and right limb MI present over the sensorimotor areas in both visualization conditions. Overall, significant differences were observed as a function of visualization modality (VM; 2D vs. 3D). The largest upper alpha band power decrease was obtained during MI after a 3-dimensional visualization. In total in 12 out of 20 tasks the end-user of the 3D visualization group showed an enhanced upper alpha ERD relative to 2D VM group, with statistical significance in nine tasks.With a realistic visualization of the limb movements, we tried to increase motor cortex activation during subsequent MI. The feedback and the feedback environment should be inherently motivating and relevant for the learner and should have an appeal of novelty, real-world relevance or aesthetic value (Ryan and Deci, 2000; Merrill, 2007). Realistic visual feedback, consistent with the participant's MI, might be helpful for accomplishing successful MI and the use of such feedback may assist in making BCI a more natural interface for MI based BCI rehabilitation.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{WieserMoscovitch2015,
  author    = {Wieser, Matthias J. and Moscovitch, David A.},
  title     = {The effect of affective context on visuocortical processing of neutral faces in social anxiety - An ERP study},
  series = {Frontiers in Psychology},
  volume    = {6},
  journal   = {Frontiers in Psychology},
  doi       = {10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01824},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-125148},
  pages     = {1824},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {It has been demonstrated that verbal context information alters the neural processing of ambiguous faces such as faces with no apparent facial expression. In social anxiety, neutral faces may be implicitly threatening for socially anxious individuals due to their ambiguous nature, but even more so if these neutral faces are put in self-referential negative contexts. Therefore, we measured event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in response to neutral faces which were preceded by affective verbal information (negative, neutral, positive). Participants with low social anxiety (LSA; n = 23) and high social anxiety (HSA; n = 21) were asked to watch and rate valence and arousal of the respective faces while continuous EEG was recorded. ERP analysis revealed that HSA showed elevated P100 amplitudes in response to faces, but reduced structural encoding of faces as indexed by reduced N170 amplitudes. In general, affective context led to an enhanced early posterior negativity (EPN) for negative compared to neutral facial expressions. Moreover, HSA compared to LSA showed enhanced late positive potentials (LPP) to negatively contextualized faces, whereas in LSA this effect was found for faces in positive contexts. Also, HSA rated faces in negative contexts as more negative compared to LSA. These results point at enhanced vigilance for neutral faces regardless of context in HSA, while structural encoding seems to be diminished (avoidance). Interestingly, later components of sustained processing (LPP) indicate that LSA show enhanced visuocortical processing for faces in positive contexts (happy bias), whereas this seems to be the case for negatively contextualized faces in HSA (threat bias). Finally, our results add further new evidence that top-down information in interaction with individual anxiety levels can influence early-stage aspects of visual perception.},
  language  = {en}
}