Calm and hope as medicine during stress

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM

Periods of collective stress, such as a pandemic or climate crisis, have a major impact on our psychological wellbeing. What role do emotions play in helping us cope during tough times? In a worldwide study by sixty-two scientists among more than 24,000 participants in fifty-one countries, a relationship was established for the first time between specific emotions and wellbeing during a period of collective stress. Calm and hope appear to be promising routes to psychological wellbeing. Anxiety, loneliness, and sadness are consistently associated with reduced wellbeing. This is an important finding for wellbeing interventions, especially in view of future societal crises.

Psychological wellbeing is promoted by positive emotions, but how we experience emotions is very specific. For example, we do not just feel good, but relieved or determined or amused. Similarly, we do not just feel bad, but angry, or sad, or lonely. Emotions with the same charge, positive or negative, can also lead to completely different behaviours. For example, we behave differently when we are proud than when we are grateful. Or when we are angry than when we are bored. Understanding how specific emotions are linked to our behaviors and wellbeing provides tools to improve our wellbeing. This has now been tested on a large scale for the first time.

Hope gives resilience

And why are these five emotions particularly important? The researchers point out that calm activates the parasympathetic nervous system which helps with stress recovery. And hope provides resilience because it helps people focus on opportunities in their environment. It therefore acts as a protective mechanism against stress. Prolonged anxiety or sadness, on the other hand, are known to increase the risk of psychological problems. Finally, loneliness is strongly related to the lack of social relationships that are important for our mental health.

Welfare interventions

The findings, the scientists say, provide a key to strengthening individual and societal interventions to improve wellbeing. 'Not only individuals, but also organizations and public institutions can help to create opportunities for experiences of calm and hope, and interventions to tackle anxiety, sadness, and loneliness,' says co-researcher Disa Sauter of the University of Amsterdam. 'This is especially important given the collective stress that we can expect in the future, for example as a result of climate change.'

Global research on emotions and psychological wellbeing

Sixty-two scientists from all over the world (including researchers from the University of Amsterdam, the University Chicago Booth School of Business, the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, and the University of Wisconsin Madison) tested the hypothesis that certain kinds of emotional experiences relate to psychological wellbeing during a stressful period.

They studied the relationship of twenty different emotions with wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic, a period of great psychological stress for people worldwide. The researchers conducted a survey among 24,221 participants in fifty-one countries during the Covid-19 outbreak, and additionally conducted a replication study in the US and UK and a longitudinal diary study.

Calm, hope, anxiety, loneliness, and sadness

The scientists found that across all countries, five emotions were consistently linked to psychological wellbeing, namely calm, hope, anxiety, loneliness, and sadness. Experiences of these five emotions predicted later changes in wellbeing. Calm and hope were linked to better psychological wellbeing, while anxiety, loneliness, and sadness with lower wellbeing.

'These results were confirmed in the replication and diary study and were very consistent across countries,' says one of the researchers Rui Sun of the University of Amsterdam/ University Chicago Booth School of Business. ‘This is remarkable since the circumstances between countries differed strongly. For example, countries varied dramatically in governmental pandemic policies and levels of prosperity.’

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JOURNAL

Emotion

DOI

10.1037/emo0001235 

ARTICLE TITLE

Emotional Experiences and Psychological Well-Being in 51 Countries During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Disclaimer: AAAS and

 

Kaiser Permanente cancer survival rates higher

Peer-Reviewed Publication

KAISER PERMANENTE

PASADENA, Calif. — Kaiser Permanente had better 5-year survival rates among breast, colorectal, and lung cancer patients compared to the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) estimates, according to new research published September 19, 2023, in The Permanente Journal.

Researchers in all 8 Kaiser Permanente regions worked together on this study. They compared the occurrence of cancer based on age, as well as the survival rate, for patients diagnosed with cancer at Kaiser Permanente to national statistics of occurrence and survival produced by the NCI’s SEER Program. SEER is a coordinated system of cancer registries across the United States that collects data on every case of cancer reported in 19 geographic areas, covering about 35% of the U.S. population.

“Our research found that breast cancer incidence rates — meaning discovery of new cases of cancer — were consistently higher for Kaiser Permanente than for SEER, and that colorectal and lung cancer incidence rates were lower. In addition, survival rates from these 3 cancers — breast, colorectal, and lung — were consistently higher than national estimates,” said the study’s co-lead author Erin E. Hahn, PhD, of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation. “We believe that Kaiser Permanente’s focus on cancer prevention and cancer screening, use of cancer treatment pathways based on national guidelines, and use of a consistent electronic health record system that enables guideline-based care, protocols, and coordination of care across the cancer care continuum may have played a role in higher survival rates.”

Kaiser Permanente is an integrated health care organization with 12.7 million members. Researchers included all patients enrolled in all 8 Kaiser Permanente regions (Southern California, Northern California, Northwest — which includes portions of Oregon and Washington — Washington, Hawaii, Colorado, Georgia, and Mid-Atlantic States — which includes Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.). Then researchers followed the Kaiser Permanente patients diagnosed from 1999 to 2013 to determine 5-year survival rates.

Researchers compared both the rate of cancer incidence and the rate of survival.

• Kaiser Permanente survival rates were consistently higher than for SEER.
• Incidence rates for all-stage and localized-stage breast cancer were consistently higher for Kaiser Permanente than for SEER, while colorectal and lung cancer rates were lower. Researchers believe that higher incidence rates for localized breast cancer may be due to high screening rates.
• Researchers also parsed out the race and ethnicity of cancer patients at Kaiser Permanente. That analysis did not reveal disparities in the delivery of cancer screening and treatment for breast, colorectal, and lung cancer within Kaiser Permanente.

Researchers said that fluctuations in cancer occurrence and survival may reflect patterns in behaviors associated with cancer risk, such as the decline in smoking, increases in cancer screening, and availability of new treatments. For example, a 2008 spike in colorectal cancer incidence at Kaiser Permanente corresponded to the enterprisewide distribution of at-home colorectal cancer screening tests from 2006 to 2008. That, in turn, may well have led to earlier detection and subsequent improvements in survival seen among Kaiser Permanente members in 2011.

Co-lead author Debra P. Ritzwoller, PhD, of the Kaiser Permanente Colorado Institute for Health Research, said Kaiser Permanente members’ access to preventive care such as smoking cessation programs and cancer screening programs could have affected the findings of the study.

“We believe that this study shows that Kaiser Permanente’s dedication to screening and preventive care, as well as adoption of new treatments, has benefited our members,” she said.

Hahn and Ritzwoller added, though, that the findings should be interpreted cautiously given the differences in patients between Kaiser Permanente and the NCI’s SEER database. The Kaiser Permanente population is an insured, younger, and more racially diverse population than SEER’s aggregated location-specific populations.

 

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 12.7 million members in 8 states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists, and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery, and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education, and the support of community health.

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JOURNAL

The Permanente Journal

ARTICLE TITLE

Incidence and Survival for Breast, Colorectal and Lung Cancer Patients in an Integrated System

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

19-Sep-2023

 

Dying with dignity in Mexico

University of Oklahoma professor is studying end-of-life care in two public palliative care wards in Mexico City

Grant and Award Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA

 

IMAGE: UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AND MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGIST ELYSE ONA SINGER, HAS RECEIVED A GRANT FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE CULTURAL AND BIOETHICAL DIMENSIONS OF DEATH AND DYING. view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO PROVIDED BY ELYSE ONA SINGER, UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA.

University of Oklahoma assistant professor and medical anthropologist Elyse Ona Singer, Ph.D., has received a grant from the National Science Foundation to better understand the cultural and bioethical dimensions of death and dying. The project grew out of a curiosity that is at once academic and personal.

“Someone very close to me has had chronic health issues for several years now, and the end of life, death, dying and the caregiving responsibilities that entails have been on my mind in a personal way for a long time,” Singer said.

Singer and postdoctoral researcher Alicia Ordóñez Vázquez are conducting an ethnographic study across two major public hospitals’ palliative care wards in Mexico City. The two-year project is jointly funded by a $238,583 grant from the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, or EPSCoR, and Cultural Anthropology programs of the National Science Foundation.

Palliative care describes a holistic approach that aims to improve the quality of life for patients facing serious illness, with a focus on managing symptoms such as pain and the psychological and emotional stressors of being unwell.

While palliative care remains limited across Mexico, in 2008, Mexico City passed the Ley de Voluntad Anticipada, or Advance Directive Law. Today, Mexico City residents have the right to passive euthanasia – the right to refuse or withdraw life-sustaining treatment. They can also register their end-of-life wishes by filing advance directives at a hospital or public notary, and comprehensive palliative care services have been made available to the terminally ill for the first time through public health institutions.

Singer and Ordóñez Vázquez are working with the two palliative care wards to ask questions in real-time of doctors, health care professionals and patients who agree to participate.

At the first hospital site, which serves cancer patients, Singer plans to collect 40 case studies of terminally ill patients together with their primary family caretaker. The case studies include follow-up interviews with the family caretaker and palliative care physician to understand the processes of bereavement and the degree to which they feel that the dignity of the deceased was preserved.

“The objective of the study is to understand how everyday people – the terminally ill, their caretakers and the palliative care professionals – understand and strive to accomplish a dignified death,” Singer said. “Also, to better understand the legal, bureaucratic, bioethical, economic and other obstacles that get in the way of that. My job as an anthropologist is to put aside my own conceptions of what a dignified death might look like and understand what it means locally to the people I’m getting to know.”

Singer says the cultural significance of death and the illegality of assisted dying in Mexico provide a unique ethnographic context in which to explore this topic.

“We see stereotypes about how people in Mexico think about death … celebrate holidays like the Day of the Dead,” she said. “I want to understand in more detail and nuance what ordinary people make of death and dying in a context where there’s so much cultural elaboration around death. Currently, all forms of assisted dying or any active euthanasia are illegal or not yet legal. The legal context for assuring dignified death, where dying individuals have autonomy and choice about when death happens, where death happens, whether they have access to pain medications and who else is present, is arguably trickier in the Mexican context because of the fewer legal options that are available to people.”

Singer hopes the findings from this study can provide insights for the clinicians, patients and caregivers that may enhance palliative care practices.

“Whether improving communication between clinicians, patients and caregivers or helping to bring attention to things that patients and their families are telling us about how the care might be improved, ideally, these findings could translate into smoother protocols or an enhancement of care in some way,” Singer said.

Singer also plans to publish a range of articles and, ultimately, a book on the study’s findings.

Singer is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology, Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Oklahoma. Her research focuses on controversial topics. Her first book, Lawful Sins: Abortion Rights and Reproductive Governance in Mexico, explored abortion politics in Mexico; it received an honorable mention for the 2022 Eileen Basker Memorial Book Prize, sponsored by the Society for Medical Anthropology, and an honorable mention for the 2023 Michelle Z. Rosaldo Book Prize sponsored by the Association of Feminist Anthropology. More information about her research is available at https://ou.academia.edu/ElyseSinger.

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About the Project 

The project, “Bioethical Frameworks Informing Medical Decision-Making around Palliative Care,” is funded by the Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences of the National Science Foundation, Award no. 2319715

About the University of Oklahoma

Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. OU was named the state’s highest-ranking university in U.S. News & World Report’s most recent Best Colleges list. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.

 

Study finds COVID cases underreported in most African countries during initial stage

Those countries with the highest rates of severe infections also had the highest rates of reported cases

Peer-Reviewed Publication

YORK UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: ASSISTANT PROFESSOR JUDE KONG, YORK UNIVERSITY view more 

CREDIT: YORK UNIVERSITY

TORONTO, Sept. 20, 2023 – A new analysis of COVID-19 cases in Africa shows that for most of the continent’s countries the rate of infection was likely much higher than reported in the initial stages, found York University researchers.

Case counts reported by most African countries suggest the virus spread slowly during the early part of the pandemic, but the researchers say those numbers likely didn’t capture the true extent of the spread.

“The low reporting numbers was likely due to a lack of public awareness, public health resources, monitoring practices, testing availability and stigma,” says Faculty of Science Professor Jude Kong, senior author of the paper and director of the Global South Artificial Intelligence for Pandemic and Epidemic Preparedness and Response Network (AI4PEP).

To get a better handle on the real number of those infected, the researchers used an epidemiological mathematical model, along with observed data, for 54 countries in Africa to estimate the number of hidden infections. Data on cumulative number of cases and daily confirmed cases were used to build an epidemic profile for Africa of the initial stage of COVID-19.

What may be most surprising is the estimation that some 66 per cent of all infections in Africa were asymptomatic, while about five per cent were severe and about 27 per cent were mild.

“Africa is primarily comprised of a young population so it’s possible there were fewer cases, less severe symptoms or more people with asymptomatic symptoms than in a population that has a higher percentage of seniors,” says Postdoctoral Fellow Qing Han, lead researcher on the paper. “This suggests the possibility of a lower rate of detection of the virus.”

The researchers found that the basic reproduction number (R0) in each country was much higher than when only reported cases were used as the average overall case reporting rate was low – estimated at about five per cent continent-wide – in the early stages for each country. They estimate that the real mean R0 is 2.02 compared to the reported R0 of 0.17 and ranged from 1.12 in Zambia and 3.64 in Nigeria.

“Counties that showed a R0 of less than one, which basically means there was no outbreak, likely have a much higher true R0. Not investigating the underreported figures could cause an underestimation of the severity and magnitude of the epidemic locally in each country,” says Han.

Those countries with the highest number of severe infections also tended to have the highest reported cases and those with the lowest severe infections generally had the lowest report rate. The researchers say the predicted true numbers of cumulative cases are high above what was reported for all countries with Sudan and Gambia reporting collectively most at 27 per cent and 22 per cent, while most countries reported less than five per cent.

Northern and southern African countries had higher reporting rates compared to central Africa, which could be explained in part by higher health-care spending in the north and south regions. Libya topped all the African countries for having the most nurses and physicians per 1,000 people.

“The estimated low reporting rates in most African countries point to a need for improved reporting and surveillance systems especially for central Africa,” says Kong, co-executive director of the Africa-Canada Artificial Intelligence and Data Innovation Consortium.

The paper, Estimation of epidemiological parameters and ascertainment rate from early transmission of COVID-19 across Africa, was published today in the Royal Society Open Science Journal.

The work was funded by International Development Research Centre under the Global South AI4COVID Program.

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JOURNAL

Royal Society Open Science

DOI

10.1098/rsos.230316 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Estimation of epidemiological parameters and ascertainment rate from early transmission of COVID-19 across Africa

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

20-Sep-2023

 

ETRI sets global standard for NFC-based internet communication

Passes ETSI operational testing for international short-range device communication standard. Gains foothold for new market creation through standard patents and international standards

Business Announcement

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

 

IMAGE: ETRI SETS GLOBAL STANDARD FOR NFC-BASED INTERNET COMMUNICATION view more 

CREDIT: ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH INSTITUTE(ETRI)

South Korean researchers have achieved a landmark feat by setting international standards for short-range wireless communication technology, commonly used within a 10 cm range, to enable internet communication.

ETRI(Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute) announced on the 21st July that the international standard “IETF RFC 9428(Transmission of IPv6 Packets over Near Field Communication)” was formally adopted by the Internet Engineering Task Force(IETF), a semi-private international standardization organization under the Internet Architecture Board(IAB).

Near Field Communication(NFC), a low-power, two-way wireless communication technology, traditionally facilitates data exchange within a range of approximately 10 cm. It has generally been employed in applications that require short-range communication, such as contactless payments, smartphone file-sharing, and NFC tag information access. However, it had not been extensively used for broader internet communication. With the implementation of ETRI's ‘RFC 9428’ standard, internet usage within short-range wireless communication environments is now possible.

By utilizing NFC-based internet communication, payment environments between NFC devices can also leverage internet-based communication. As a result, offline merchants can use their existing NFC payment services without the need for installing separate dedicated payment terminals.

While commonly used wireless technologies like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enable communication over relatively broader areas—with Wi-Fi covering up to 40m and Bluetooth up to 10m—the newly standardized technology communicates within an average range of 10 cm.

This makes it less susceptible to hacking risks compared to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, thereby offering a secure channel for data transmission in wireless communication environments.

Furthermore, this technology represents a unique achievement held exclusively by ETRI's Standard Research Division. In tandem with its international standardization efforts, ETRI has secured two international(U.S.) patents registered in the ETRI RFC9428 standard. This accomplishment is expected to serve as a cornerstone for generating high-value outcomes in the future domestic and international markets for IoT-related payment and authentication services.

During the development of RFC 9428, the research team participated in interoperability testing organized by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute(ETSI), specifically the 6lo-6tisch plugtest in the IoT domain(IETF 6lo WG and 6tisch WG). Eminent international experts in low-power Internet communication technology conducted technical tests and demonstrations, achieving high scores. This validation of technical prowess garnered international recognition and ETRI's technology was introduced as a superior achievement in the Asia-Pacific Network Information Center(APNIC) under the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T) sector.

1ETRI's Standard Research Division Director, Kang Shin-gak, emphasized the significance of this international standardization, stating, “The development of this international standard and the acquisition of standard patents hold great meaning. It represents a valuable achievement that can lead innovation in the IoT field and pave the way for future market dominance.”

Additionally, this technology is envisioned by the research team to find extensive utility in diverse IoT environments, including smart homes, smart buildings, and smart factories, where various forms of payments and communication environments utilizing contactless short-range wireless communication are required.

The regular IETF meetings, held four times a year, see participation from over 50 countries, featuring the involvement of experts from global corporations, research institutions, and academia, including Cisco and Ericsson, with a total of more than 1,500 specialists.

ETRI has a storied history of continuous standardization activities and research in prominent international organizations, including IETF, where it has contributed to the development of over 15 international standards, including next-generation Internet protocols (IPv6), mobile technologies, and IoT technologies.

  

ETRI Sets Global Standard for NFC-Based Internet Communication

CREDIT

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute(ETRI)

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ETRI is actively engaged in standardization activities within international standardization bodies such as IETF and ITU-T with the aim of establishing international standards in the field of IoT. This effort is facilitated through the support of the Ministry of Science and ICT's Information and Communication Broadcasting Standardization Support Project.

 

NTU Singapore scientists find new evidence to explain how we pay attention

A team of researchers from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has uncovered new clues about how chemicals released by brain cells regulate our attention span

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

A team of researchers from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has uncovered new clues about how chemicals released by brain cells regulate our attention span.  

Findings from the study could pave the way for new therapies to treat neurological conditions associated with concentration difficulties, such as depression and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

To communicate with one another, neurons in the brain and nervous system release chemicals called neurotransmitters that relay messages from one cell to another. Neurotransmitters are crucial for brain function and regulating all bodily functions, ranging from breathing and heart rate to reproduction.

These chemicals also coordinate cognitive processes that enable us to focus on important information within the constant barrage of stimuli the brain receives from the external environment, otherwise known as our attention span.

Researchers have long thought that our attention span was directed by only one neurotransmitter, acetylcholine, which excites neurons and causes them to fire electrical signals. However, recent work suggests that attention could require another neurotransmitter, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which inhibits neurons from receiving and sending messages.

In their study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the team demonstrated for the first time that GABA works together with acetylcholine in a precise sequence to regulate the transmission of signals from a part of the brain’s information processing network, called the claustrum.

Hidden deep in the brain, the claustrum is a thin sheet-like structure that receives and processes information from different parts of it. The claustrum helps to regulate concentration, but its exact role remains unknown.

 

Neurotransmitters toggle ‘like a switch’ to relay information

In lab experiments, the NTU scientists investigated how neurons in the claustrum in mice respond to acetylcholine and GABA produced by a part of the brain called the forebrain, that plays a central role in several brain functions.

The key technological advance that allowed the researchers to make this discovery is called optogenetics. Optogenetics uses light-sensitive proteins to selectively control the activity of specific types of neurons within the brain. In this case, the neurons within the forebrain that release acetylcholine and GABA were activated by light, allowing the team to measure the response of the claustrum to such a stimulus.

They discovered that two types of neurons in the claustrum, which send output signals to different parts of the brain, respond in opposing ways to acetylcholine and GABA. Neurons that extend to structures deep in the brain were excited by acetylcholine while neurons that extend to structures on the surface of the brain were inhibited by GABA.

Through this coordinated sequence of opposing actions, the two neurotransmitters toggle the transfer of information between the claustrum and the rest of the brain, like a switch. The study provides evidence that the neurotransmitters regulate a “microcircuit” in the brain, that allows the organ to differentiate important information from noise, helping a person pay attention.

The opposing actions of the neurotransmitters (acetylcholine and GABA) on neurons in the claustrum enable brain signals to be encoded efficiently, allowing the brain to pay attention and ignore noise.

First author Mr Aditya Nair, former researcher at LKCMedicine and a current Ph.D. student at Caltech, said, “Our study advances our understanding of the claustrum’s role in directing attention span. Understanding how the claustrum regulates attention span at the cellular level also provides a window into other areas regulated by similar signalling pathways, such as arousal and learning.”

Lead investigator and neuroscientist Professor George Augustine from NTU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) said, “By understanding how acetylcholine and GABA work together to direct our attention, new and more effective therapies may be developed in the future to improve the attention span of patients with conditions such as ADHD and depression.”

Commenting as an independent expert, Dr Geoffrey Tan, Consultant (Psychiatry) Clinician-Scientist at the Institute of Mental Health Singapore, said, “Directing attention and multi-tasking are crucial cognitive processes for everyday functioning that require toggling between networks or circuits in the brain. This study identifies a 'switch' in the claustrum that provides a mechanism by which acetylcholine may drive computations such as these. It is timely as we increasingly incorporate brain networks into how we think about cognition, psychiatric conditions and even interventions like mindfulness.”

The next steps for this project will be to determine how altering the dual-transmitter switch alters attention and brain disorders that affect attention, such as ADHD. It will also be important to determine whether the switch mechanism applies to other brain processes, such as arousal and learning.

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2218830120 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

A functional logic for neurotransmitter corelease in the cholinergic forebrain pathway

 

Visual psychological phenomenon may have stimulated early humans to make cave art

Peer-Reviewed Publication

DURHAM UNIVERSITY

-With pictures and video- 

New research has found that Ice Age cave art made as early as 40,000 years ago could have been influenced in part by a visual psychological phenomenon that humans still experience today.  
The research team, led by Dr Izzy Wisher, then a PhD student at Durham University’s Department of Archaeology, tested the theory that cave artists may have experienced pareidolia – a psychological phenomenon where people see meaningful forms in random patterns, such as seeing faces in clouds.

They investigated whether pareidolia may have influenced the artists who painted depictions of animals in the Las Monedas and La Pasiega caves, in Northern Spain. 
If so, then the majority of drawings would be expected to be depictions of animals that included features of the cave walls within them and take relatively simple forms (pareidolic images tend to be simple and lack detail). 

Their study, published today in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal, found that pareidolia could be responsible for the production of some cave images, suggesting that the cave artists were experiencing the same psychological influences on perception when viewing the natural features of cave walls that humans still experience today.  

While the researchers found evidence that pareidolia played a part in the production of some cave images, their research also found the cave painters were influenced by their own experiences and creativity. 

Dr Izzy Wisher, now based at Aarhus University, Denmark, said: “It is exciting to see that cave artists in the Upper Palaeolithic era were also experiencing pareidolia, just like many of us do today, and that this influenced their art.  

“Much like a modern artist might take inspiration from a basic form or shape, like a crack in a material or a smudge of paint on a canvas, and build their art around this, we can see that cave artists worked in similar ways.  

“However, whilst our study showed that pareidolia did have some influence on the cave artists, this was not always the case, giving us fascinating insight into the work of these early painters. 
"It seems to us that their art may have been part of a ‘creative conversation’ with the cave walls, where they both took inspiration from what they saw in the cracks and shapes of the cave wall, but also used their own creativity.”  

The research found that as many as 71 per cent of images studied in the Las Monedas caves, and 55 per cent in the La Pasiega caves, showed a strong relationship to the natural features of the cave wall, suggesting pareidolia may have been a partial influence on the artists.  

Examples included where the curved edges of the cave wall were used to represent the backs of animals such as wild horses, or where natural cracks were used as bison’s horns.  
The study also found that of those drawings with a strong relationship to natural features on the cave wall, the majority (80 per cent in Las Monedas and 83 per cent in La Pasiega) lacked additional details such as eyes or hair, which correlates with the simplistic nature of imagery influenced by pareidolia.  

The research team, which included Professor Paul Pettitt, Department of Archaeology and Professor Robert Kentridge, Department of Psychology, both Durham University, also investigated whether lighting conditions in the caves at the time the artwork was created might have contributed to the potential influence of pareidolia.   

To do this Dr Wisher used a virtual reality gaming software called Unity to model the cave walls and replicate the light sources used by the cave artists, which would have consisted of flickering firelight produced by small torches or lamps, to understand the visual effects across the cave wall.  

The results showed that low and unstable lighting conditions did not have a strong correlation to cave art that uses natural features.  

Dr Wisher argues that this, coupled with the conclusion that the influence of pareidolia was evident in some, but not all, of the artwork, suggests that cave artists may also have been actively looking for shapes that reminded them of animals within the caves to incorporate into their drawings, as part of a nuanced dialogue between the artist’s personal creativity and the forms seen in the cave walls.  

Whilst the theory that pareidolia may have influenced cave artists has long been discussed, the team believes their study offers the first systematic testing of this theory, and is the first to utilise simulated lighting conditions in virtual reality to achieve this.  

It provides further detail in the understanding of the experiences, desires, imagination and influences of Upper Palaeolithic cave artists and how cave art may have been made. It also advances Durham University’s research into visual palaeopsychology. 

Pareidolia may have first evolved to help humans evade predators by providing a heightened sense of visual interpretation for potential risks, such as helping humans see predators hiding behind bushes. It is a fundamental part of the human visual system, and was probably triggered within dark cave environments. 

ENDS 

Pictures 
A selection of images and a video are available here: https://bit.ly/3PisVOu 
Captions and copyright information are as follows: 
File name: Depiction 5.jpg  
Top image: Upper Palaeolithic drawing of a bison in vertical orientation, which uses the edge of the cave wall surface to represent the back.  
Bottom image: The same bison drawing under the simulated VR light conditions.  
Copyright: Izzy Wisher, courtesy of the Gobierno de Cantabria 
File name: Depiction 30.jpg 
Top image: Upper Palaeolithic drawing of the partial outline of a horse that uses the natural edge of the cave wall to represent the back and head of the horse.  
Bottom image: The same horse drawing under the simulated VR light conditions.  
Copyright: Izzy Wisher, courtesy of the Gobierno de Cantabria 
File name: La Pasiega horse.jpeg 
Caption: A Palaeolithic painting of a horse from the cave of La Pasiega, where the artist used a natural crack to represent the head and ear of the horse.  
Copyright: Izzy Wisher, courtesy of the Gobierno de Cantabria 
File name: La Pasiega hind.jpeg.  
Caption: A Palaeolithic painting of a hind (female deer) from the cave of La Pasiega. The Palaeolithic artist that made this depiction followed the natural shape of the cave wall and traced cracks to produce the image.  
Copyright: Izzy Wisher, courtesy of the Gobierno de Cantabria 
File name: La Pasiega aurochs.jpeg 
Caption: A Palaeolithic painting of an aurochs from the cave of La Pasiega. The Palaeolithic artist traced the natural cracks in the cave wall when painting the head, horns, and back leg of the animal. 
Copyright: Izzy Wisher, courtesy of the Gobierno de Cantabria 
File name: Depiction 5.mp4 
Caption: Video of a depiction of a bison in VR, simulating the visual effects of flickering firelight.  
Copyright: Izzy Wisher. Video produced in Unity.  

Source information  
“Conversations with Caves: The Role of Pareidolia in the Upper Palaeolithic 
Figurative Art of Las Monedas and La Pasiega (Cantabria, Spain)” (2023)  
Izzy Wisher, Paul Pettitt & Robert Kentridge, Cambridge Archaeological Journal.  
An embargoed copy of the paper is available via the Durham University Communications office. Please email communications.team@durham.ac.uk   

The full paper can be accessed here  https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774323000288 

Acknowledgements 
This research was financially supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Northern Bridge Doctoral Training Partnership, as part of Dr Wisher’s PhD. Permissions for this research were approved by the Gobierno de Cantabria.

 
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END OF MEDIA RELEASE – issued by Durham University Communications Office. 
 

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JOURNAL

Cambridge Archaeological Journal

DOI

10.1017/S0959774323000288 

 

Study suggests the ritual use of human remains dating from the Neolithic

The University of Cordoba has participated in an international study documenting post-mortem bone modifications not linked to consumption

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CÓRDOBA

 

IMAGE: ENTRANCE TO THE CAVE. JUAN CARLOS VERA RODRÍGUEZ view more 

CREDIT: JUAN CARLOS VERA RODRÍGUEZ

Many bone remains deposited in prehistoric caves feature cuts and marks, with the scientific communityat timesattributing to their usage for human consumption. A study presented by University of Cordoba researcher Rafael Martínez Sánchez, and led by Zita Laffranchi and Marco Milella at the University of Bern (Switzerland), together with other researchers from different research centers, has just been published in the journal PLoS one. The work advances our knowledge of the funerary rites that took place as of the Neolithic by documenting how prehistoric societies modified human bones to make use of them.

To this end, more than 400 remains were analyzed. Corresponding to both adults and preadults, they were found in  the Cueva de los Mármoles (cave) in Priego de Córdoba, and are preserved in the town's Archaeological Museum. Thanks to high-resolution molds that were studied with an electron microscope, the research team  observed that many of the marks on some bones are compatible with a cleaning process carriedout in order to use the bone remains as tools and not (at least, in principle) for consumption.

As Martínez Sánchez explains, establishing that the marks of the bones correspond to one use (tools) or another (food) is difficult, especially because these remains were deposited on the surface of the cave, rather than being buried, such that they may have undergone other types of taphonomic modifications (by animals, trampling...) over the years. The study, however, does not see the marks of the bones as suggesting that they were used to obtain soft parts from them, for consumption.Rather, they are seen as evidencing a more careful cleaning process consistent withtheir instrumental use.Found were a fibula with a pointed end, a modified tibia, and a skull.

In addition, carbon-14 dating of twelve remains has indicated three periods of funerary use in the cave: in 3800 BC, in 2500 BC. C. and around 1,300 or 1,400 BC. The first of these periods, which corresponds to the Neolithic, coincides with a spread in the use of dolmens designed for collective burials. Therefore, it was a time characterized by a great concernwith ancestors. This overlap between the first period of burials in the cave and the beginning of Megalithism, together with the fact that the marks on the bones do not seem compatible with consumption, reinforces the research group's idea that the human remains were fashionedto be used as instruments at a given time. As Martínez Sánchez argues, "it seems that there was the idea of grouping the dead in the same place, cleaning the remains, and using the bones as instruments, perhaps related to some type of ritual performed inside the cavity."

With this study the team has managed to substantiate a treatment of skeletal remains most likely not linked to consumption, but rather to more complex factors. Thus, it seems that the bones were used for ritual and cultural aspects after their depositing. Moreover, these ways of thinking apparently spanned a great period of time, from the end of the Neolithic to the Bronze Age, a time "in which we did not expect to find that bodies were still deposited in this cavity," says Martínez Sánchez.

Reference:

Laffranchi Z, Milella M, Vera Rodríguez JC, Martínez Fernández MJ, Bretones García MD, Jiménez Brobeil SA, et al. (2023) As above, so below: Deposition, modification, and reutilization of human remains at Marmoles cave (Cueva de losMarmoles: Southern Spain, 4000–1000 cal. BCE). PLoS ONE 18(9): e0291152. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.029115.

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JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.029115 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

ARTICLE TITLE

As above, so below: Deposition, modification, and reutilization of human remains at Marmoles cave (Cueva de los Marmoles: Southern Spain, 4000–1000 cal. BCE)

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

20-Sep-2023