Papers by Juan Manuel Serrano
Anales De Psicologia, 2004
The Spanish journal of psychology, 2008
Previous studies have shown that in the so-called opaque languages (those in which spelling does ... more Previous studies have shown that in the so-called opaque languages (those in which spelling does not correspond to pronunciation), there are relatively independent routes for lexical and nonlexical processing, that is, for words and nonwords, both in spoken and in written language. On the other hand, in the so-called transparent languages (those in which pronunciation corresponds to written forms), empirical evidence is scarcer. In this study of a neurological patient (parieto-temporal lesion), speaker of a transparent language (Spanish) showing a specific deficit in nonlexical reading processing, linguistic analysis for words was relatively preserved. This finding suggests the use of various routes in the processing of transparent languages.
Revista chilena de derecho privado, 2013
Este trabajo se inscribe en el proyecto FONDECYT de iniciación de investigación N° 11121139 : "Fu... more Este trabajo se inscribe en el proyecto FONDECYT de iniciación de investigación N° 11121139 : "Fundamentos dogmáticos de la visión privatista del Derecho Concursal".
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
Social cognition (SC) comprises an array of cognitive and affective abilities such as social perc... more Social cognition (SC) comprises an array of cognitive and affective abilities such as social perception, theory of mind, empathy, and social behavior. Previous studies have suggested the existence of deficits in several SC abilities in Parkinson disease (PD), although not unanimously. Objective: The aim of this study is to assess the SC construct and to explore its relationship with cognitive state in PD patients. Method: We compare 19 PD patients with cognitive decline, 27 cognitively preserved PD patients, and 29 healthy control (HC) individuals in social perception (static and dynamic emotional facial recognition), theory of mind, empathy, and social behavior tasks. We also assess processing speed, executive functions, memory, language, and visuospatial ability. Results: PD patients with cognitive decline perform worse than the other groups in both facial expression recognition tasks and theory of mind. Cognitively preserved PD patients only score worse than HCs in the static fac...
Revista de Neurología
Palabras clave. Capacidades visuoespaciales. Deterioro cognitivo. Enfermedad de Parkinson. Expres... more Palabras clave. Capacidades visuoespaciales. Deterioro cognitivo. Enfermedad de Parkinson. Expresión facial. Función ejecutiva. Reconocimiento de emociones.
Aphasiology, 1999
ABSTRACT Difficulty in finding words is one of the principal characteristics of aphasia. Neverthe... more ABSTRACT Difficulty in finding words is one of the principal characteristics of aphasia. Nevertheless, cognitive neuropsychology models point out that aphasia is not a homogeneous alteration, since it can be caused by di erent alterations depending on the component of the naming process that is damaged. This paper presents additional evidence for what has been found in the English language, with two cases of Spanish speaking patients RMA and JGG that illustrate two di erent types of anomia with different altered components. The first of these demonstrates a semantic alteration resulting from difficulties in representation of the meaning of words, leading to semantic errors in the emission of words. The second case, in contrast to the first, demonstrates a phonological alteration, caused by a deficit in the representation of the sound of words, and resulting in phonological errors in the naming task. Results are also compatible with theories that propose di erent cerebral locations for di erent anomic deficits, considering the alterations in functional and anatomically differentiated language systems.
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 02103702 1989 10822251, Apr 29, 2014
En esta revisión presentamos los resultados e implicaciones de los trabajos realizados por nuestr... more En esta revisión presentamos los resultados e implicaciones de los trabajos realizados por nuestro equipo de investigación sobre expresión y reconocimiento de emociones en la infancia. Dichos traba/Os se enfocan desde una perspectiva psicobiológica, asumiéndose que un conjunto de emociones consideradas básicas son estados discretos del organismo, determinados genéticamente y regulados por estructuras nerviosas subcorticales, que tienen un valor adaptativo para los individuos bajo determinadas circunstancias estimulares. Situándonos dentro de la tradición de estudios que apoyan la hipótesis de la universalidad de la expresión facial, aportamos una serie de datos que nos conducen a concluir que los lactantes son capaces de expresar y de discriminar desde los tres meses de edad las emociones de alegría, ira, miedo, sorpresa, desagrado y tristeza. Estos datos han sido obtenidos utilizando un paradigma de habituación visual y un método objetivo de análisis denominado Facial Action Coding System. A pesar de contar con estas pruebas empíricas, terminamos matizando que aún desconocemos los factores evolutivos que originan las expresiones emocionales.
Revista de neurologia
The objective of this study was to locate the rolandic area (pre- and post-central) by means of f... more The objective of this study was to locate the rolandic area (pre- and post-central) by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) and define its correspondence on a Talairach map, whilst active and passive movements of the dominant hand were performed. Ten healthy volunteers were found, 6 men and 4 women, of an average age of 26 years (range 22-33). Two appropriate tasks were designed: one involving active and one passive movement. The examination was carried out using a 1.5 Tesla (General Electric) MRI apparatus. An echo-sequence of planar echo-gradient (BOLD technique) was used, making sagittal and axial planes, parallel to the AC-PC line (anterior commissure-posterior commissure). Subsequently an anatomofunctional Talairach map was drawn for each subject, to include the information obtained on FMRI. In all subjects central activity was detected in the rolandic area during the tasks involving selected active and passive movements. Overlap was seen between the pre- and post-rolandic areas with both types of tasks. There is good correlation between the image obtained of motor-sensory activity in the rolandic zone and the Talairach anatomofunctional map.
Revista de neurologia, Jan 16, 2012
Emotional facial expression is a basic guide during social interaction and, therefore, alteration... more Emotional facial expression is a basic guide during social interaction and, therefore, alterations in their expression or recognition are important limitations for communication. To examine facial expression recognition abilities and their possible impairment in Parkinson's disease. First, we review the studies on this topic which have not found entirely similar results. Second, we analyze the factors that may explain these discrepancies and, in particular, as third objective, we consider the relationship between emotional recognition problems and cognitive impairment associated with the disease. Finally, we propose alternatives strategies for the development of studies that could clarify the state of these abilities in Parkinson's disease. Most studies suggest deficits in facial expression recognition, especially in those with negative emotional content. However, it is possible that these alterations are related to those that also appear in the course of the disease in othe...
Revista de neurologia
The object of this study to analyse and compare the efficacy of the classic language tasks (repet... more The object of this study to analyse and compare the efficacy of the classic language tasks (repetition, phonological fluency and lexical decision), for the purpose of identifying the dominant hemisphere for language by means of functional magnetic resonance. The three tasks were performance with a groups of 10 right handed subjects with ages of 22 to 40 years. The examination was carried out using a 1,5 T MRI apparatus. An eight sequence of planar echo gradient (BOLD technique) was used, making the oblique axial plane coincide with the line between the anterior and posterior commissures (CA CP line) and covering the entire brain. Dominance was calculated by means of the lateralization index, comparing the activation in each hemisphere in two locations: first, taking account the temporal lobe together with the right and left frontal lobes, and second, taking into account only the right and left frontal lobes. The result indicate that the most effective test for obtaining the dominant...
Infancia y Aprendizaje, 1989
En esta revisión presentamos los resultados e implicaciones de los trabajos realizados por nuestr... more En esta revisión presentamos los resultados e implicaciones de los trabajos realizados por nuestro equipo de investigación sobre expresión y reconocimiento de emociones en la infancia. Dichos traba/Os se enfocan desde una perspectiva psicobiológica, asumiéndose que un conjunto de emociones consideradas básicas son estados discretos del organismo, determinados genéticamente y regulados por estructuras nerviosas subcorticales, que tienen un valor adaptativo para los individuos bajo determinadas circunstancias estimulares. Situándonos dentro de la tradición de estudios que apoyan la hipótesis de la universalidad de la expresión facial, aportamos una serie de datos que nos conducen a concluir que los lactantes son capaces de expresar y de discriminar desde los tres meses de edad las emociones de alegría, ira, miedo, sorpresa, desagrado y tristeza. Estos datos han sido obtenidos utilizando un paradigma de habituación visual y un método objetivo de análisis denominado Facial Action Coding System. A pesar de contar con estas pruebas empíricas, terminamos matizando que aún desconocemos los factores evolutivos que originan las expresiones emocionales.
Personality and Individual Differences, 2015
ABSTRACT Here we analyze how performance differences in an adaptive cognitive training regime bas... more ABSTRACT Here we analyze how performance differences in an adaptive cognitive training regime based on the n-back task interact with emotional stimuli (scenes and faces) varying in their valence (negative, positive, and neutral). One hundred and three participants completed four training sessions across 2 weeks showing remarkable improvements from time to time. Results revealed similar results for faces and scenes regarding accuracy levels across increased complexity levels. However, reaction times (RTs) were sensitive to emotional conditions to some extent. Observed faster RTs to negative faces (disgust) were consistent with the negativity bias phenomenon, but this effect vanished for the highest levels of processing complexity. It is suggested that emotional information contents fail to interact with cognition when there are no cognitive resources left after the primary task is addressed.
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 2014
Facial expression recognition impairment has been reported in Parkinson’s disease. While some aut... more Facial expression recognition impairment has been reported in Parkinson’s disease. While some authors have referred to specific emotional disabilities, others view them as secondary to executive deficits frequently described in the disease, such as working memory. The present study aims to analyze the relationship between working memory and facial expression recognition abilities in Parkinson’s disease. We observed 50 patients with Parkinson’s disease and 49 healthy controls by means of an n-back procedure with four types of stimuli: emotional facial expressions, gender, spatial locations, and non-sense syllables. Other executive and visuospatial neuropsychological tests were also administered. Results showed that Parkinson’s disease patients with high levels of disability performed worse than healthy individuals on the emotional facial expression and spatial location tasks. Moreover, spatial location task performance was correlated with executive neuropsychological scores, but emot...
Journal of Neuropsychology, 2013
Our objective was to compare the ability to discriminate and categorize emotional facial expressi... more Our objective was to compare the ability to discriminate and categorize emotional facial expressions (EFEs) and facial identity characteristics (age and/or gender) in a group of 53 individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) and another group of 53 healthy subjects. On the one hand, by means of discrimination and identification tasks, we compared two stages in the visual recognition process that could be selectively affected in individuals with PD. On the other hand, facial expression versus gender and age comparison permits us to contrast whether the emotional or non-emotional content influences the configural perception of faces. In Experiment I, we did not find differences between groups, either with facial expression or age, in discrimination tasks. Conversely, in Experiment II, we found differences between the groups, but only in the EFE identification task. Taken together, our results indicate that configural perception of faces does not seem to be globally impaired in PD. However, this ability is selectively altered when the categorization of emotional faces is required. A deeper assessment of the PD group indicated that decline in facial expression categorization is more evident in a subgroup of patients with higher global impairment (motor and cognitive). Taken together, these results suggest that the problems found in facial expression recognition may be associated with the progressive neuronal loss in frontostriatal and mesolimbic circuits, which characterizes PD.
Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 2013
Apart from motor symptoms, Parkinson&... more Apart from motor symptoms, Parkinson's disease is characterized by executive and memory problems that have been observed from early stages of the disease. This study explores the possible relationships between these cognitive impairments in a group of 23 individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) in comparison to a group of 18 healthy individuals. Compared with young individuals, normal aging is characterized by an increased association between executive function and episodic memory, especially with verbal material. We hypothesize that this association between verbal episodic memory and executive function may be weaker in PD as a consequence of the decline in these two cognitive abilities. To test this hypothesis, three categories of standardized tests were administered to both groups: (a) tests for executive function, (b) tests for visuospatial episodic memory, and (c) tests for verbal episodic memory. Performance outputs were analyzed using factor analysis, canonical regression, and structural equation modeling to obtain a holistic perspective of the linkage of these processes and to compare the differences between groups. In general, PD patients performed worse than controls in both executive function and episodic memory (with verbal and visuospatial material). Moreover, we found that relationships between executive function and visuospatial memory scores were high and quite similar in both groups. However, the relationship between verbal episodic memory and executive function was weaker in PD than in healthy individuals. These results suggest that a different brain mechanism could explain executive and verbal memory impairments in PD.
International Journal of Psychophysiology, 1998
Infant Behavior and Development, 1995
Visual fixation and positive-negative behaviors of 36 4- to 9-month-old infants to happy, angry, ... more Visual fixation and positive-negative behaviors of 36 4- to 9-month-old infants to happy, angry, and neutral faces were investigated by means of an infant-control habituation-recovery procedure. Infants visually discriminated the facial expressions, and their behaviors tended to vary according to the affective meaning of each one.
Experimental Brain Research, 2013
Although neutral faces do not initially convey an explicit emotional message, it has been found t... more Although neutral faces do not initially convey an explicit emotional message, it has been found that individuals tend to assign them an affective content. Moreover, previous research has shown that affective judgments are mediated by the task they have to perform. Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in 21 healthy participants, we focus this study on the cerebral activity patterns triggered by neutral and emotional faces in two different tasks (social or gender judgments). Results obtained, using conjunction analyses, indicated that viewing both emotional and neutral faces evokes activity in several similar brain areas indicating a common neural substrate. Moreover, neutral faces specifically elicit activation of cerebellum, frontal and temporal areas while emotional faces involve the cuneus, anterior cingulated gyrus, medial orbitofrontal cortex, posterior superior temporal gyrus, precentral/postcentral gyrus and insula. The task selected was also found to influence brain activity, in that the social task recruited frontal areas while the gender task involved the posterior cingulated, inferior parietal lobule and middle temporal gyrus to a greater extent. Specifically, in the social task viewing neutral faces was associated with longer reaction times and increased activity of left dorsolateral frontal cortex compared with viewing facial expressions of emotions. In contrast, in the same task emotional expressions distinctively activated the left amygdale. The results are discussed taking into consideration the fact that, like other facial expressions, neutral expressions are usually assigned some emotional significance. However, neutral faces evoke a greater activation of circuits probably involved in more elaborate cognitive processing.
Epilepsy & Behavior, 2009
The perception of and memory for faces, with or without emotional content, were studied in 43 pat... more The perception of and memory for faces, with or without emotional content, were studied in 43 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy who had undergone unilateral resection of the hippocampus and the amygdala and in 43 healthy participants for comparison. Each participant performed four tasks from the Florida Affect Battery (Facial Discrimination, Affect Discrimination, Affect Naming, Affect Selection) and two memory tasks (in one case of a face and in the other of a facial expression). Findings indicated that, although patients with unilateral temporal lobectomy (right or left) showed no difficulty in discriminating faces, they were not as good at remembering faces. Also, patients who had had a left temporal lobectomy showed impairment in discriminating facial expressions, in the memory of a facial expression and/ or in naming facial expressions.
Developmental Psychobiology, 1992
On the assumption that the ability to discriminate facial expressions has adaptive value to infan... more On the assumption that the ability to discriminate facial expressions has adaptive value to infants during early social exchanges, ethologically based theorists have argued that this ability is innate. Guided by this perspective, we investigated the ability of infants, 4-6 months old to recognize and discriminate facial expressions of anger, fear, and surprise. Results obtained with an infant-controlled habituation-recovery procedure showed that infants both discriminated and recognized these expressions when portrayed by several adult female models. In addition, infants spent more time looking at expressions of anger and surprise than at fear expressions. These results suggest that infants can abstract configurations of features that give affective meaning to facial expressions. It is suggested that the differences in habituation to each expression might be the result of their distinct functional signification for the infant.
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Papers by Juan Manuel Serrano