Brief Myofascial Intervention Modulates Visual Event-Related Potential Response to Emotional Photographic Contents: A Pilot Study

The use of touch for the treatment of psychiatric disorders is increasingly investigated, as it is shown that cognitive symptoms can be improved by various forms of massage. To investigate if the effect of massage is measurable using classical visual event-related potential components (P1, P2, late...

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Main Authors: Gabriel Byczynski, Amedeo D’Angiulli
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-12-01
Series:Vision
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2411-5150/7/4/77
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author Gabriel Byczynski
Amedeo D’Angiulli
author_facet Gabriel Byczynski
Amedeo D’Angiulli
author_sort Gabriel Byczynski
collection DOAJ
description The use of touch for the treatment of psychiatric disorders is increasingly investigated, as it is shown that cognitive symptoms can be improved by various forms of massage. To investigate if the effect of massage is measurable using classical visual event-related potential components (P1, P2, late positive potential (LPP)), we performed a preliminary study on six participants using myofascial induction massage. Participants were shown emotionally valenced or neutral images before and after a 20 min myofascial massage. We found general increases in P2 amplitude following the intervention across all conditions (both neutral and affective), indicating increased attention or salience to visual stimuli. The magnitude of change was visibly larger for unpleasant stimuli, suggesting that visual perception and attention were modulated specifically in response to unpleasant visual images. The LPP showed reductions in amplitude after myofascial massage, suggesting increased emotional modulation following intervention, as a result of possible DMN alterations, consistent with region and function. We conclude that brief myofascial intervention supports other research in the field, finding that physical touch and massage techniques can alter cognition and perception. We posit further research to investigate its future use as an intervention for both physical and cognitive modulation. Importantly, we provide preliminary evidence that the neural processes that resonate with this type of massage involve complex feedforward and backward cortical pathways, of which a significant portion participate in modulating the visual perception of external stimuli.
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spelling doaj.art-1419f37749f946d9a30cae623a355f9b2023-12-22T14:49:35ZengMDPI AGVision2411-51502023-12-01747710.3390/vision7040077Brief Myofascial Intervention Modulates Visual Event-Related Potential Response to Emotional Photographic Contents: A Pilot StudyGabriel Byczynski0Amedeo D’Angiulli1Lab for Clinical and Integrative Neuroscience, Trinity College Institute for Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, D02 PN40 Dublin, IrelandNeuroscience of Cognition, Imagination and Emotion Research (NICER) Laboratory, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, CanadaThe use of touch for the treatment of psychiatric disorders is increasingly investigated, as it is shown that cognitive symptoms can be improved by various forms of massage. To investigate if the effect of massage is measurable using classical visual event-related potential components (P1, P2, late positive potential (LPP)), we performed a preliminary study on six participants using myofascial induction massage. Participants were shown emotionally valenced or neutral images before and after a 20 min myofascial massage. We found general increases in P2 amplitude following the intervention across all conditions (both neutral and affective), indicating increased attention or salience to visual stimuli. The magnitude of change was visibly larger for unpleasant stimuli, suggesting that visual perception and attention were modulated specifically in response to unpleasant visual images. The LPP showed reductions in amplitude after myofascial massage, suggesting increased emotional modulation following intervention, as a result of possible DMN alterations, consistent with region and function. We conclude that brief myofascial intervention supports other research in the field, finding that physical touch and massage techniques can alter cognition and perception. We posit further research to investigate its future use as an intervention for both physical and cognitive modulation. Importantly, we provide preliminary evidence that the neural processes that resonate with this type of massage involve complex feedforward and backward cortical pathways, of which a significant portion participate in modulating the visual perception of external stimuli.https://www.mdpi.com/2411-5150/7/4/77default mode networksaliencemassageERPparasympatheticperception
spellingShingle Gabriel Byczynski
Amedeo D’Angiulli
Brief Myofascial Intervention Modulates Visual Event-Related Potential Response to Emotional Photographic Contents: A Pilot Study
Vision
default mode network
salience
massage
ERP
parasympathetic
perception
title Brief Myofascial Intervention Modulates Visual Event-Related Potential Response to Emotional Photographic Contents: A Pilot Study
title_full Brief Myofascial Intervention Modulates Visual Event-Related Potential Response to Emotional Photographic Contents: A Pilot Study
title_fullStr Brief Myofascial Intervention Modulates Visual Event-Related Potential Response to Emotional Photographic Contents: A Pilot Study
title_full_unstemmed Brief Myofascial Intervention Modulates Visual Event-Related Potential Response to Emotional Photographic Contents: A Pilot Study
title_short Brief Myofascial Intervention Modulates Visual Event-Related Potential Response to Emotional Photographic Contents: A Pilot Study
title_sort brief myofascial intervention modulates visual event related potential response to emotional photographic contents a pilot study
topic default mode network
salience
massage
ERP
parasympathetic
perception
url https://www.mdpi.com/2411-5150/7/4/77
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