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The Journal of Medical Humanities Jun 2024Jane Austen normally avoids discussing appearance throughout her works. Persuasion constitutes the exception to the rule, as the story focuses on the premature aging...
Jane Austen normally avoids discussing appearance throughout her works. Persuasion constitutes the exception to the rule, as the story focuses on the premature aging experienced by her protagonist, Anne Elliot, seemingly due to disappointed love. Much has been written about Anne's "loss of bloom," but never from the perspective of psychoneuroimmunology, the field that researches the interrelation between psychological processes and the nervous and immune systems. In this paper, we adopt a perspective of psychoneuroimmunology to argue that Austen established a connection between psychological distress, specifically lovesickness, and the development of early senescence signs, and vice versa, since the recovery of love is associated with happiness and physical glow. From a gender perspective, we discuss how Austen brightly reflected these interrelationships through the story of Anne, when the latest psychoneuroimmunological research has actually shown that women age earlier than men as a consequence of psychological turmoil.
Topics: Humans; Psychoneuroimmunology; Aging; Female; Persuasive Communication; Love; Male; Medicine in Literature
PubMed: 38575758
DOI: 10.1007/s10912-024-09845-1 -
Patient Education and Counseling Feb 2024Current dietary recommendations for MS suggest following national dietary guidelines developed for the general population. The aim of this study was to explore the...
OBJECTIVES
Current dietary recommendations for MS suggest following national dietary guidelines developed for the general population. The aim of this study was to explore the interpretation of MS-targeted nutrition messages.
METHODS
Using the Elaboration Likelihood Model of persuasion, three nutrition messages were developed targeting the strongest evidence for MS: vitamin D, dietary fat, and dietary diversity. Semi-structured interviews including the cognitive 'thinking-aloud' technique were used to test the messages with adults living with MS. Data were transcribed and coded thematically.
RESULTS
Theoretical saturation was reached by 15 interviews. The data corpus indicated three themes and seven subthemes. The data revealed that people living with MS changed their diet after MS diagnosis. Dietary change was due to uncertainty, fear of disease progression and risk of relapse. The admiration and scepticism of extremist MS diets depended on personal vulnerability and support from health care professionals. The unique MS journey appeared influential to message interpretation; driven by engagement, practicality, and credibility.
CONCLUSION
The interpretation of targeted nutrition messages revealed that dietary changes made after diagnosis are a coping mechanism to improve sense of control and self-management.
PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
The potential psychological benefit of dietary change for MS management must be prioritised using person-centred care.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Multiple Sclerosis; Diet; Nutritional Status; Persuasive Communication; Qualitative Research
PubMed: 37952402
DOI: 10.1016/j.pec.2023.108039 -
Food Research International (Ottawa,... Jan 2024Amidst rising obesity rates in the EU and the significant public health impact of excessive sugar consumption, the debate on reducing sugar through reformulation with...
Amidst rising obesity rates in the EU and the significant public health impact of excessive sugar consumption, the debate on reducing sugar through reformulation with sweet proteins derived from precision fermentation gains prominence, presenting a viable alternative to traditional sugars and conventional sweeteners. We conducted two studies to investigate the effects of health (emphasizing sugar reduction) versus naturalness (highlighting sweet proteins as alternatives to artificial sweeteners) message framing on the acceptance of products reformulated with sweet proteins. Study 1 (N = 296, Denmark) evaluated the impact of health and naturalness message framing on attitudes towards such reformulations. Study 2, in a cross-cultural sample (N = 3,000 Denmark, Germany, and Poland), tested the mediating role of health perceptions and the moderating effects of BMI and guilt (Study 2a), as well as naturalness perceptions, sweetener use, and pleasure (Study 2b) on product attitudes. Results of Study 1 indicated that healthiness perceptions had a more persuasive influence than naturalness perceptions. The cross-cultural findings of Studies 2a and 2b revealed that BMI, sweetener usage frequency, anticipatory guilt, and pleasure can modulate these effects. These insights suggest that while both perceived healthiness and naturalness shape attitudes towards sweet protein-enriched products, the significance of health perceptions prevails, with anticipatory emotions of guilt enhancing this influence, particularly when sweet proteins substitute added sugar. Such evidence holds substantial implications for strategies aimed at reducing sugar consumption and fostering the acceptance of products containing alternative sweeteners.
Topics: Sugars; Sweetening Agents; Carbohydrates; Europe; Excipients; Dietary Sugars
PubMed: 38129000
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2023.113767 -
Scientific Reports Jun 2024The Islamist group ISIS has been particularly successful at recruiting Westerners as terrorists. A hypothesized explanation is their simultaneous use of two types of...
The Islamist group ISIS has been particularly successful at recruiting Westerners as terrorists. A hypothesized explanation is their simultaneous use of two types of propaganda: Heroic narratives, emphasizing individual glory, alongside Social narratives, which emphasize oppression against Islamic communities. In the current study, functional MRI was used to measure brain responses to short ISIS propaganda videos distributed online. Participants were shown 4 Heroic and 4 Social videos categorized as such by another independent group of subjects. Persuasiveness was measured using post-scan predictions of recruitment effectiveness. Inter-subject correlation (ISC) was used to measure commonality of brain activity time courses across individuals. ISCs in ventral striatum predicted rated persuasiveness for Heroic videos, while ISCs in mentalizing and default networks, especially in dmPFC, predicted rated persuasiveness for Social videos. This work builds on past findings that engagement of the reward circuit and of mentalizing brain regions predicts preferences and persuasion. The observed dissociation as a function of stimulus type is novel, as is the finding that intersubject synchrony in ventral striatum predicts rated persuasiveness. These exploratory results identify possible neural mechanisms by which political extremists successfully recruit prospective members and specifically support the hypothesized distinction between Heroic and Social narratives for ISIS propaganda.
Topics: Humans; Male; Female; Adult; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Reward; Young Adult; Brain; Persuasive Communication; Islam; Mentalization; Brain Mapping; Ventral Striatum; Video Recording; Theory of Mind
PubMed: 38862592
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-62341-3 -
Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) Jun 2024Many middle-aged and older adults (MAOAs) do not engage in sufficient physical activity (PA), despite its well-documented benefits for healthy aging. Existing PA...
Many middle-aged and older adults (MAOAs) do not engage in sufficient physical activity (PA), despite its well-documented benefits for healthy aging. Existing PA interventions often fail to reach or engage the target population effectively. This study investigates MAOAs' preferences for recruitment strategies to optimize the reach and uptake of PA interventions, thereby enhancing their impact on healthy aging and public health. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 39 MAOA participants (69% female, mean age = 69.46, SD = 7.07), guided by McGuire's Theory on Persuasive Communication. Factors related to the source, message content, channel, receiver characteristics and target behavior of recruitment strategies were analyzed. Our findings suggest a preference for trustworthy sources (e.g., healthcare professionals over commercial entities) and positive, non-ageist messaging. MAOAs vary in their channel preferences but emphasize the importance of personalization. Despite heterogeneity, MAOAs commonly perceive themselves as sufficiently active, indicating a need for improved knowledge on what constitutes sufficient PA, as well as easy enrollment or trying out interventions. Tailoring recruitment strategies to diverse MAOA segments based on age seems crucial for effective engagement. Future research could explore quantitative research into how communication factors relate to various target population characteristics.
PubMed: 38920436
DOI: 10.3390/geriatrics9030080