Humans and primates rely on visual face recognition for social interactions. Damage to specific brain areas causes prosopagnosia, a condition characterized by the inability to recognize familiar faces, indicating the presence of specialized brain areas for face processing. A breakthrough finding came from a non-human primate (NHP) study conducted in the early 2000s; it was the first to identify multiple face processing areas in the temporal lobe, termed face patches. Subsequent studies have demonstrated the unique role of each face patch in the structural analysis of faces. More recent studies have expanded these findings by exploring the role of face patch networks in social and memory functions and the importance of early face exposure in the development of the system. In this review, we discuss the neuronal mechanisms responsible for analyzing facial features, categorizing faces, and associating faces with memory and social contexts within both the cerebral cortex and subcortical areas. Use of NHPs in neuropsychological and neurophysiological studies can highlight the mechanistic aspects of the neuronal circuit underlying face recognition at both the single-neuron and whole-brain network levels.

Evidence of cultural differences in relationships and emotions has accumulated over the past few decades. As findings on cultural differences in psychological processes have accumulated, there has been growing interest in investigating whether they have implications for other phenomena such as health. Using scientific advances from the MIDUS and MIDJA studies, both publicly available, we examine links between culture and health. We first briefly review the accumulated evidence on cultural influences on health correlates of psychosocial factors. We then feature two recent developments - a more micro-level perspective on biological factors that may be involved in the culture and health linkage, and a more macro-level view of socioeconomic inequality, which also matters for health. Both perspectives inform the pathways through which health effects occur. Finally, we conclude our review by highlighting the changing historical contexts surrounding these cross-cultural investigations. Specifically, we draw attention to widening of economic inequality across cultures and the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic. These happenings bring notable implications for future research on health across cultural contexts.

While the survival function of culture against infectious disease has been investigated, little is known about its psychological processes under the real-world threat of infection. Here, we compare the subjective COVID-19-related symptoms of Japanese and French adults during the spring of 2021. We tested two regression models describing the downregulation of symptoms by germ aversion, and by interdependent happiness, together with relational mobility and demographics. We regard germ aversion as an individualized fending-off process marked by discomfort with the general other in the face of possible infection. We regard interdependent happiness as a relational safeguarding process against possible infection. Results suggest that the effect of germ aversion differed across nations, negatively explaining symptoms in Japan but not in France, and that the effect of interdependent happiness was shared. A possible psychological mechanism whereby collectivist culture suppresses infection in the face of the pandemic is discussed.

This study investigated the changes in public behaviors and attitudes following the spread of COVID-19 in Japan. Using a longitudinal approach that analyzes the movement of an unpredictable and real infection threat to explain and predict human behavior during the pandemic-a novel approach in behavioral immune system research-a panel survey was conducted on Japanese citizens. The results of the survey, conducted in late January, mid-February, and early March 2020, indicated that the influence of the interaction between the changes in situational infection threat and individual differences in pathogen-avoidance tendency on infection-prevention behaviors and exclusionary attitudes toward foreigners was not significant. Moreover, frequent contact with foreigners had a mitigating effect on exclusionary attitudes. The study thus provided a valuable contribution to the application of behavioral immune-system responses to problems associated with infection threats. Moreover, consideration of the aspects of adaptive reaction and social learning allowed us to observe the process of adaptive strategies in novel environments under conditions of high ecological validity and to accurately understand the psychological response to infectious disease outbreaks.

The development of novel miniaturized wireless and wearable functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) devices have paved the way to new functional brain imaging that can revolutionize the cognitive research fields. Over the past few decades, several studies have been conducted with conventional fNIRS systems that have demonstrated the suitability of this technology for a wide variety of populations and applications, to investigate both the healthy brain and the diseased brain. However, what makes wearable fNIRS even more appealing is its capability to allow measurements in everyday life scenarios that are not possible with other gold-standard neuroimaging modalities, such as functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. This can have a huge impact on the way we explore the neural bases and mechanisms underpinning human brain functioning. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of studies conducted with wearable fNIRS in naturalistic settings in the field of cognitive neuroscience. In addition, we present the challenges associated with the use of wearable fNIRS in unrestrained contexts, discussing solutions that will allow accurate inference of functional brain activity. Finally, we provide an overview of the future perspectives in cognitive neuroscience that we believe would benefit the most by using wearable fNIRS.

Adult judgments of infant cry are determined by both acoustic properties of the cry and listener sociodemographic characteristics. The main purpose of this research was to investigate how these two sources shape adult judgments of infant cry. We systematically manipulated both the acoustic properties of infant cries and contrasted listener sociodemographic characteristics. Then, we asked participants to listen to several acoustic manipulations of infant cries and to judge the level of distress the infant was expressing and the level of distress participants felt when listening. Finally, as a contrasting condition, participants estimated the age of the crying infant. Using tree-based models, we found that judgments of the level of distress the infant was expressing as well as the level of distress listeners felt are mainly accounted for by select acoustic properties of infant cry (proportion of sound/pause, fundamental frequency, and number of utterances), whereas age estimates of a crying infant are determined mainly by listener sociodemographic characteristics (gender and parental status). Implications for understanding infant cry and its effects as well as early caregiver-infant interactions are discussed.

There is an extensive literature regarding the immunological and endocrinological consequences of illness, stress, and psychopathology. Yet only a modest literature is available regarding the potential unfavorable effects of chronic sleep loss/disruption on immune and endocrine pathways or on various aspects of health. Given that humans spend approximately 1/3 of their lives asleep, it seems pertinent to evaluate this necessary yet understudied behavior. The evidence overwhelmingly indicates that "excessive" sleep disruption or poor sleep quality/continuity may subsequently increase risk for adverse health outcomes, as well as mortality. This is thought to occur through dysregulation of biological pathways. While our information addressing the immunological or endocrinological consequences of poor sleep is mounting, the majority of evidence stems from epidemiologic and cross-sectional studies. The immune and endocrine systems are dynamic and constantly in flux. Thus, the methodologies and study designs used to understand how sleep affects these systems needs to be as dynamic. Experimental manipulations and longitudinal evaluations are needed to effectively understand sleep as a risk factor for health. Thus, this paper is a primer in which to highlight the immunological and endocrinological consequences of disrupted or disturbed sleep as well as describe how these relationships may impact overall health. It is also meant to spark an interest for future evaluations of how the behavior of sleep is relevant to health.

Research in the United States has found a strong and consistent relationship between teacher behavior and learning. Data collected from American college students indicate that perceptions of teacher nonverbal immediacy (NVI) are associated with students' feelings toward learning and perceptions of cognitive learning. The purposes of this study were to accomplish the following: (1) develop standardized Japanese versions of the instruments used to measure teacher nonverbal immediacy, student motivation, and perceived cognitive learning (how much students think they have learned); and (2) assess the relationship between NVI, student motivation, and perceptions of cognitive learning among Japanese college students. Results note that Japanese students report (1) a positive relationship between reported levels of teacher NVI and student motivation; (2) a negative relationship between reported levels of teacher NVI and perceived learning loss; and (3) a negative relationship between student motivation (SM) and perceived learning loss (how much students think they did not learn with their teacher compared to an ideal teacher). Further, cross-cultural comparisons between Japanese and American students were conducted. Results from the cross-cultural comparison suggest that the relationships between reported teacher nonverbal immediacy, student motivation, and learning loss among Japanese college students are similar to those found among American college students, but the dimensional structure of the questionnaires was different.

We used a dual-task paradigm to examine the degree to which domain-specific spatial and verbal subsystems depend on the domain-general central executive. Forty participants were asked to retain spatial or verbal information while performing a concurrent secondary task related to simple arithmetic. The secondary tasks consisted of three cognitive processes: single-digit addition, a digit-carrying operation, and digit reading. The single-digit addition and carry operation include central executive functioning, while digit reading relies solely on the phonological loop. The single-digit addition caused a performance decrement on the spatial working memory task, while the digit reading impaired performance on the verbal working memory task. The carry operation interfered with recall accuracy on both working memory tasks. The spatial working memory task was significantly correlated with the verbal working memory task only when the secondary task was more demanding on the central executive. Our results suggest that spatial working memory rather than verbal working memory is susceptible to failure of central executive functioning and that the central executive plays an important role in regulating the cognitive demands of different domains.

This study examined the influence of the repetitive presentation of a letter on the recognition of two letters. In two experiments(4), two letters, which were either identical or not, were presented successively for a short duration at different spatial locations, and the subjects were required to identify them. In Experiment 1, the presentation time of the first letter was varied, whereas that of the second letter was constant. The results revealed that a reduced performance in identifying a second letter was observed in the case that the first letter, which was identical to the second letter, could be identified correctly. Experiment 2 examined whether or not this reduction was due to the identity of the visual shape of two letters. The first letter was presented either in the usual vertical orientation or rotated orientation by 180 degrees and the second letter was constantly presented in the usual orientation. The results revealed that a reduced performance in identifying a repeated letter was observed, regardless of the orientation of the first letter. The findings from the two experiments suggested that the identity of the information in memory was a main cause of the interference effect by repetition.

This study examined how young children change their strategies for size comparison. Twenty-two 5 and 6-year-old children were asked to compare the sizes of geometric figures and their strategies were observed once a week over three weeks. Half of the children were also asked to evaluate presented strategies for comparing geometric figures. It was found that over three weeks not only children who evaluated the strategies but also children who did not increased correct responses, the strategy of placing one figure on another, and the strategy of adjusting two figures by two dimensions. Although more children became aware of the effectiveness of those strategies, there was no relationship between the evaluation and use of strategies.

This study investigated values change as an outcome of assessing feelings elicited by contemplating the actualization of the same values. The subjects were divided into an experimental and a control group. They completed three tests in a single session. In the pretest, all subjects were asked to rate the importance of 20 values items on a 4-point scale. Subjects in the experimental group were then asked to rate the degree of pleasure they would feel in actualizing each of the values, while those in the control group rated the degree of inequality they considered women suffer in the actualization of each of the values. The post-test consisted of the same items as the pretest. The subjects in the experimental group completed a second post-test 3 months later. It was found that the experimental procedure produced significant change in the ratings of 15 values at the post-test, whereas the control procedure produced change in only five. The results suggest that rating one's emotional response to a value-related situation can change one's cognition of that value. At the post-test 3 months later, only 3-value ratings remained changed.

Given a hint from Lang, Bradley, and Cutbert's (1997) defense cascade, two cognitive processes, instead of passive versus active behavioral coping, which seem to have differential effects on the provocation of vascular- versus cardiac-dominant reaction pattern during mental stress were advocated: attention (Attent) versus unpleasant affect (UnplAff). Based on this notion the Attention-Affect Check List (AACL) was developed as a self-report measure. In addition, items on uncontrollability (Uncontr) were prepared for the purpose of checking whether heightened Attent and UnplAff are accompanied by alterations in Uncontr. Two hundred and eighty-four students underwent two kinds of mental stress, which seemed to specifically heighten Attent and UnplAff. Four factors with four items each were extracted from the AACL item pool: concentrated and allocated Attent, UnplAff, and pleasant affect. Also, one factor with four items was extracted from the Uncontr item pool. For both the mental stresses, each scale, although very brief, had quite reasonable alpha reliability. Accountability of each scale for the total variance was reasonably high. Some problems are discussed in relation to the validity of AACL.

Some people cope with negative moods by retrieving positive memories, which is mood-incongruent recall. Though mood-incongruent recall is helpful for mood-regulation, the factors that influence people's ability to utilize mood-incongruent recall are not well understood. This study investigated whether complex knowledge structure is a factor for the ability of mood-incongruent recall, based on self-complexity. In the experiment, 50 participants were requested to recall positive memories in both neutral and negative moods. The results of this study indicated that self-complexity was an important factor associated with participants' ability to recall positive memories while they were in negative moods. Participants who rated high in self-complexity were those whose knowledge is structured in a complex way, recalled more highly positive memories in negative moods than in neutral moods. On the other hand, participants who were rated low in self-complexity with simple knowledge structures recalled memories with a lower extent of positivity in negative moods than those in neutral moods.

Primate research of the 20th century has established the validity of Darwin's postulation of psychological as well as biological continuity between humans and other primates, notably the great apes. Its data make clear that Descartes' view of animals as unfeeling "beast-machines" is invalid and should be discarded. Traditional behavioristic frameworks--that emphasize the concepts of stimulus, response, and reinforcement and an "empty-organism" psychology--are in need of major revisions. Revised frameworks should incorporate the fact that, in contrast to the lifeless databases of the "hard" sciences, the database of psychology entails properties novel to life and its attendant phenomena. The contributions of research this century, achieved by field and laboratory researchers from around the world, have been substantial--indeed revolutionary. It is time to celebrate the progress of our field, to anticipate its significance, and to emphasize conservation of primates in their natural habitats.