Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Sensory and chemesthetic stimuli'
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Knüsel, Philipp. "Dynamic neuronal representations of static sensory stimuli /." Zürich : ETH, 2006. http://e-collection.ethbib.ethz.ch/show?type=diss&nr=16660.
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May, Kristina A. "Nursing utilization of sensory stimuli on the impact of infant cognition." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2009. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/1294.
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This item is only available in print in the UCF Libraries. If this is your Honors Thesis, you can help us make it available online for use by researchers around the world by following the instructions on the distribution consent form at http://library.ucf.edu/Systems/DigitalInitiatives/DigitalCollections/InternetDistributionConsentAgreementForm.pdf You may also contact the project coordinator, Kerri Bottorff, at kerri.bottorff@ucf.edu for more information.Bachelors
Nursing
Nursing
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Mlynarski, Wiktor. "Functional Sensory Representations of Natural Stimuli: the Case of Spatial Hearing." Doctoral thesis, Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig, 2015. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-159866.
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In this thesis I attempt to explain mechanisms of neuronal coding in the auditory system as a form of adaptation to statistics of natural stereo sounds. To this end I analyse recordings of real-world auditory environments and construct novel statistical models of these data. I further compare regularities present in natural stimuli with known, experimentally observed neuronal mechanisms of spatial hearing. In a more general perspective, I use binaural auditory system as a starting point to consider the notion of function implemented by sensory neurons. In particular I argue for two, closely-related tenets:
1. The function of sensory neurons can not be fully elucidated without understanding statistics of natural stimuli they process.
2. Function of sensory representations is determined by redundancies present in the natural sensory environment.
I present the evidence in support of the first tenet by describing and analysing marginal statistics of natural binaural sound. I compare observed, empirical distributions with knowledge from reductionist experiments. Such comparison allows to argue that the complexity of the spatial hearing task in the natural environment is much higher than analytic, physics-based predictions. I discuss the possibility that early brain stem circuits such as LSO and MSO do not \"compute sound localization\" as is often being claimed in the experimental literature. I propose that instead they perform a signal transformation, which constitutes the first step of a complex inference process.
To support the second tenet I develop a hierarchical statistical model, which learns a joint sparse representation of amplitude and phase information from natural stereo sounds. I demonstrate that learned higher order features reproduce properties of auditory cortical neurons, when probed with spatial sounds. Reproduced aspects were hypothesized to be a manifestation of a fine-tuned computation specific to the sound-localization task. Here it is demonstrated that they rather reflect redundancies present in the natural stimulus.
Taken together, results presented in this thesis suggest that efficient coding is a strategy useful for discovering structures (redundancies) in the input data. Their meaning has to be determined by the organism via environmental feedback.
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Ollerenshaw, Douglas R. "Adaptive information processing during detection and discrimination of tactile sensory stimuli." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/52933.
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Our sensory systems provide us with our ability to perceive and ultimately act upon the world around us. One of the challenges constantly placed on the nervous system is the task of detecting important stimuli among ongoing sensory inputs and then correctly discriminating between possible sources of the stimulus. This dissertation is focused on the study of tactile processing in the rodent vibrissa system to better understand how the nervous system moves between these two operating regimes. The work used a combination of behavioral tasks in trained rats and electrophysiological measurement of neural activity in both anesthetized and awake animals. Results demonstrate that persistent exposure to a sensory stimulus - sensory adaptation - improves spatial discrimination performance, but at the expense of the ability to detect weak stimuli. Parallel experiments involved cortical imaging of anesthetized animals demonstrated important processing changes that could explain these behavioral effects. In a final set of experiments, recordings were obtained from the thalamus, the input stage to the cortex, in awake, behaving animals during performance of a detection task including sensory adaptation. Important changes in the information processing characteristics of the thalamus helped to explain the subsequent cortical and behavioral effects of sensory adaptation. Taken together, results from this set of studies suggest a general principle of adaptive shaping of feature selectivity in sensory processing, resulting from both self-generated sensor motion and the properties of the ongoing stimulus.
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Ravulakollu, Kiran Kumar. "Sensory integration model inspired by the superior colliculus for multimodal stimuli localization." Thesis, University of Sunderland, 2012. http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/3759/.
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Sensory information processing is an important feature of robotic agents that must interact with humans or the environment. For example, numerous attempts have been made to develop robots that have the capability of performing interactive communication. In most cases, individual sensory information is processed and based on this, an output action is performed. In many robotic applications, visual and audio sensors are used to emulate human-like communication. The Superior Colliculus, located in the mid-brain region of the nervous system, carries out similar functionality of audio and visual stimuli integration in both humans and animals. In recent years numerous researchers have attempted integration of sensory information using biological inspiration. A common focus lies in generating a single output state (i.e. a multimodal output) that can localize the source of the audio and visual stimuli. This research addresses the problem and attempts to find an effective solution by investigating various computational and biological mechanisms involved in the generation of multimodal output. A primary goal is to develop a biologically inspired computational architecture using artificial neural networks. The advantage of this approach is that it mimics the behaviour of the Superior Colliculus, which has the potential of enabling more effective human-like communication with robotic agents. The thesis describes the design and development of the architecture, which is constructed from artificial neural networks using radial basis functions. The primary inspiration for the architecture came from emulating the function top and deep layers of the Superior Colliculus, due to their visual and audio stimuli localization mechanisms, respectively. The integration experimental results have successfully demonstrated the key issues, including low-level multimodal stimuli localization, dimensionality reduction of audio and visual input-space without affecting stimuli strength, and stimuli localization with enhancement and depression phenomena. Comparisons have been made between computational and neural network based methods, and unimodal verses multimodal integrated outputs in order to determine the effectiveness of the approach.
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Mura, Emi. "Studies on the sensory perception and oral function of aversive stimuli in food." Kyoto University, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/2433/233849.
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Retsa, Chryssoula. "Sub-second temporal processing : effects of modality and spatial change on brief visual and auditory time judgments." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/8021.
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The present thesis set out to investigate how sensory modality and spatial presentation influence visual and auditory duration judgments in the millisecond range. The effects of modality and spatial location were explored by considering right and left side presentations of mixed or blocked visual and auditory stimuli. Several studies have shown that perceived duration of a stimulus can be affected by various extra-temporal factors such as modality and spatial position. Auditory stimuli lead to more precise duration judgments than visual stimuli and often last subjectively longer than visual stimuli of equal duration. The circumstances under which these modality differences occur are not clear yet. Recent studies indicated an interaction between temporal and spatial processing. Overestimation of durations was associated with right side presentation of visual stimuli, underestimation with left side presentation. However, the effect of spatial presentation has not been explored in the auditory temporal judgments. Furthermore, there is a debate concerning the mechanisms underlying processing of visual and auditory intervals with some researchers supporting the view that there is a central, amodal temporal mechanism and others arguing in favour of distinct, modality specific temporal mechanisms. The above issues were examined in a series of experiments using the duration discrimination paradigm. Processing demands where varied between experiments by varying the number of stimuli positions and the way that different modality trials were presented (mixed or blocked). Across all experiments we found no effect of location either in visual or auditory domain. However, in experiments in which different modality trials were intermixed, participants in the visual versions of the task tended to overestimate durations of comparison stimuli that were presented at different locations to the standard stimuli. In such conditions, visual stimuli were also judged to be longer than the auditory. However, when the location of the comparison stimulus was at the same side as the standard a reverse effect was observed. These findings call into question an influence of the position per se on temporal judgments as the visual duration judgments were affected rather by the change of the location. Auditory judgments were not affected by location manipulations, suggesting that different mechanisms might underlie visual and auditory temporal processing. Based on these results, we propose the existence of an error-correction mechanism, according to which a specific duration is added in order to compensate for the loss of time caused by spatial attention shifts. This mechanism is revealed under some circumstances (such as mixed modality) where it is over-activated, resulting into a systematic bias. This work has important implications for the contemporary research in time perception as it is shedding new light on the possible ways that a unified experience of timing arises from modally and spatially specific temporal mechanisms.
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Mannix, Paul Anthony. "Studies of the effects of sensory stimuli on the heart rate variability in infants." Thesis, Queen Mary, University of London, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.417686.
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Bartlett, Kate. "Changes in Cortical Tissue Oxygenation in rodent somatosensory cortex produced by sensory stimuli and hypercapnia." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.500531.
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Bonnington, Jennifer Karen. "The role of nerve growth factor in rapid sensitisation of sensory neurones to painful stimuli." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.620503.
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Burnham, L. J. "Monoaminergic control of the central processing of sensory stimuli in a rat model of osteoarthritis." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2012. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1378605/.
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The main symptom of osteoarthritis (OA) is chronic pain. In many cases, this pain can be explained by stimulation of sensitised nociceptors in the joint, however changes in central nociceptive processing may also feature. These studies used single-unit recordings in the deep dorsal-horn and behavioural analysis to examine whether central sensitisation and changes in descending serotonergic (5-HT) and noradrenergic (NA) inhibition are features of the monosodium iodoacetate model of OA pain. Central sensitisation was indicated by the presence of both behavioural and spinal neuronal hypersensitivity in both an early- and a late-phase of the model .The early-phase was characterised by an increased descending noradrenergic inhibition, indicated by excitatory effects from the α2-adrenoceptor antagonist atipamezole on evoked neuronal activity, which was lost in the late-phase of the model. In the late-phase, excitatory effects of the 5-HT7 receptor antagonist SB-269970 suggested an increased descending serotonergic inhibition. In each phase, systemic injection of the 5-HT/NA reuptake inhibitor milnacipran reduced behavioural and neuronal measures of central sensitisation. In naïve animals and the early-phase of the model, these effects were mediated by NA acting at spinal α2 adrenoceptors. In the late-phase, spinal α2 adrenoceptors did not contribute to the effects of milnacipran, and 5-HT acting at spinal 5-HT7 receptors was better able to explain some of this neuronal inhibition. These studies suggest central sensitisation and altered descending monoaminergic inhibition of nociceptive processing are present in this model of OA pain. Such alterations in CNS function accord with signs of central sensitisation and dysregulated descending inhibition seen in clinical studies and might foreshadow the development of pain in OA. Additionally, the use of milnacipran, whose mechanism of action comes via a modulation of descending monoaminergic inhibition, may control centrally-mediated OA pain, though the mechanisms by which it acts appears dependent on basal activity in these pathways.
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Taylor, Laura. "Sensory Stimuli Involved in Eliciting Agonistic Behavior in the Northern Fence Lizard, Sceloporus Undulatus Hyacinthinus." TopSCHOLAR®, 1988. https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/2914.
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Comparisons among sequence analyses of actions in response to various treatments of visual and olfactory cues were carried out in the lizard, Sceloporus undulatus hyacinthinus, to determine the relative roles of these cues in eliciting agonistic behavior. Visual cues were tested using mirrors, models and clear partitions between cages. Chemical cues were tested using the secretion from the cloaca of males. A combination of visual and olfactory cues was tested by streaking a mirror with the substance from the cloaca of a male. The responses to these treatment conditions were videotaped, and the transition frequencies between the most frequently expressed behaviors (i.e., head turning, crawling, jaw snapping and bobbing) were analyzed according to Chi Square Analysis for Independence. According to these analyses, the transitions occurred in a probabilistic sequence (i.e., the occurrence of one action positively or negatively affected the probability of the occurrence of a particular following action). The patterns of significance in transition frequencies were similar for similar treatment conditions, reenforcing the conclusion that the transition sequences were not occurring at random. Visual cues appeared to play a primary role in eliciting agonistic behavior. Olfactory cues appeared to play a secondary part in agonistic behavior, coming into play only when a visual cue was present first.
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Andrews, Katherine Ann. "The development of the cutaneous flexion reflex in human infants : the effects of noxious stimuli and tissue damage in the newborn." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.267641.
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Penã, Tracy M. "Generalized identity matching-to-sample in rats using olfactory stimuli /." Electronic version (PDF), 2003. http://dl.uncw.edu/etd/2003/penat/tracypena.html.
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Ferreira, Jacqueline Helena Tavares. "Emotions of fear and disgust: subjective and cardiac responses as a function of different sensory stimuli." Doctoral thesis, Universidade de Aveiro, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10773/23648.
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Doutoramento em PsicologiaThe work presented in this thesis aimed to explored the cardiac response of the emotions of disgust and fear using visuo-auditory and olfactory stimuli. This thesis is organized into three major sections. The first section provides a brief revision of the theories of emotions, a brief description of automatic recognition of emotion based on ECG (electrocardiogram) and a review of chemosensory signals transmitted via body odors, as well as their effects in human’s physiological, cognitive and behavioral responses. The second section presents the four studies that were conducted. In Study 1we used movies to induce disgust, fear and neutral emotions and examined whether noise entropy of ECG can work as a potential biomarker to discriminate disgust from fear and neutral conditions. The results showed that it is possible to discriminate such emotions based on ECG noise entropy with 88% (p<.05) accuracy and that the median value of the disgust condition was higher when compared with the fear and neutral conditions. In Study 2 we developed and tested a classifier to automatically classify emotions using noise entropy of ECG. The performance of the classifier was good for fear and disgust identification (60% of sensitivity and 80% of specificity) and perfect for identification of the neutral condition (100%). In addition to the responses to the visual stimuli, we also evaluated the cardiac response using olfactory stimuli, namely the body odors collected in conditions of disgust, fear and neutral. To control for potential individual differences in disgust propensity and sensitivity on body odor perception, in Study 3 we examined the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of DPSS-R. The results confirmed the existence of two distinct factors, disgust propensity and sensitivity. Moreover, the scale showed an acceptable convergent and discriminant validity and a satisfactory reliability. In the Study 4 we investigated how a BO prime affects the emotional tone of a subsequent BO message, on cardiac and subjective responses. The results demonstrated a reduction in heart rate variability (HRV-HF) when the participants smelled the neutral body odors after they smelled the disgust and fear body odors. The effect of order of presentation was also evident in the subjective ratings, with the neutral odors being perceived as more intense when the receivers smelled the neutral odors after they smelled the negative body odors. Such effects were independent of the pleasantness of the body odors. Finally, in the third section we presented the general discussion of the main results, the current limitations of the studies as well the future directions and the potential implications and applications of the results. Overall, the findings of the studies described in this thesis suggest that the ECG noise contains meaningful information that can allow emotion recognition and that the order of presentation of body odor can affect the cardiac response and subjective response of the receivers.
O trabalho apresentado nesta tese teve como objetivo explorar a resposta cardíaca das emoções de nojo e de medo usando estímulos visuo-auditivos e olfativos. Esta tese está organizada em três grandes partes. A primeira parte apresenta uma breve revisão das teorias das emoções, uma descrição sobre o reconhecimento automático da emoção baseado no sinal do ECG e uma revisão acerca dos sinais químico-sensoriais transmitidos pelos odores corporais, assim como os seus efeitos nas respostas fisiológicas, cognitivas e subjetivas. A segunda parte apresenta os quatro estudos que foram realizados. No Estudo 1 usámos filmes para induzir as respostas emocionais de nojo, de medo e neutras e examinámos se a entropia do ruído do sinal de ECG pode funcionar como um potencial biomarcador para discriminar as três condições emocionais. Os resultados mostraram que é possível discriminar as três condições emocionais usando a entropia do ruído do sinal de ECG com 88% (p < .05) de precisão e que o valor da mediana da condição de nojo foi superior, quando comparado com as condições de medo e neutras. No Estudo 2 usámos a entropia do ruído do sinal de ECG para desenvolver e testar um algoritmo que classifica as emoções automaticamente. O classificador obteve um bom desempenho na identificação de nojo e medo (com 60% de sensibilidade e 80% de especificidade) e um desempenho perfeito na condição neutra. Para além da resposta a estímulos visuais, também avaliámos a resposta cardíaca usando estímulos olfativos, nomeadamente os odores corporais de nojo, medo e neutros. De forma a controlar as diferenças individuais da propensão e sensibilidade ao nojo na perceção dos odores corporais, no Estudo 3 examinámos as características psicométricas da versão Portuguesa da DPSS-R. Os resultados confirmaram a existência de dois fatores independentes, propensão e sensibilidade ao nojo. Adicionalmente, a escala obteve uma validade convergente e discriminante aceitável e confiabilidade satisfatória. No Estudo 4, investigámos como é que os odores corporais recolhidos em condições emocionais específicas influenciam a resposta de odores corporais emocionais apresentados subsequentemente, ao nível subjetivo e da resposta cardíaca. Os resultados demonstraram uma redução da variabilidade da frequência cardíaca (HF-HRV) quando os participantes cheiraram os odores corporais neutros depois dos odores corporais de nojo e de medo. O efeito da ordem de apresentação dos odores corporais também se verificou nas avaliações subjetivas, sendo os odores corporais neutros avaliados como mais intensos depois da apresentação dos odores de medo e de nojo. Este efeito foi independente da agradabilidade atribuída aos odores corporais. Finalmente, na terceira parte, apresentamos a discussão geral dos principais resultados, as limitações dos estudos, bem como propostas para estudos futuros e potenciais implicações e aplicações dos resultados. Em síntese, os resultados dos estudos descritos neste trabalho sugerem que o ruído do ECG contém informações significativas que podem permitir reconhecer emoções e que a ordem de apresentação do odor corporal pode afetar a resposta cardíaca e subjetiva dos participantes.
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Johansson, Marina, and Klara Johansson. "Se, hör och shoppa! : En undersökning kring hur det med visuell och auditiv stimuli går att påverka kundens rörelsemönster och köpbeteende i butik." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för marknadsföring (MF), 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-55687.
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Titel: Se, hör & shoppa! En undersökning kring hur det med visuell och auditiv stimuli går att påverka kundens rörelsemönster och köpbeteende i butik. Författare: Klara Johansson, Marina Johansson Handledare: Professor Bertil Hultén Examinator: Universitetslektor Leif V Rytting Kurs: Företagsekonomi III – Examensarbete inriktning detaljhandel och service management (kandidat) 15hp Problemformulering: Hur påverkas kundens rörelsemönster och köpbeteende i en butiksmiljö med hjälp av visuella stimuli samt auditivt stimuli? Syfte: Syftet med examensarbetet är att undersöka, analysera och klargöra huruvida kundens rörelsemönster och köpbeteende kan påverkas med hjälp av sensoriska stimuli. Vi vill med hjälp av en multisensorisk upplevelse, vita pilar samt ljudet av fågelkvitter, försöka påverka kundens vägval i butiken för att bidra till att denne ska uppmärksamma större del av butiksytan. Metod: Examensarbetet har utformats med ett deduktivt angreppssätt. Vi har gjort en kvantitativ analys med en experimentell ansats. En omfattande litteraturstudie har legat till grund för de hypoteser som formulerats, i syfte att svara på forskningsfrågan. Primärdata har samlats in genom sammanlagt 1347 observationer på Plantagen i Kalmar. Slutsats: En slutsats av arbetet är att kunderna påverkas till att följa visuella stimuli i form av pilar. Det är därmed möjligt att påverka kunden att se mer av butikens yta med hjälp av visuella stimuli. Vi kan även visa att tillsättning av auditivt stimuli och visuella stimuli påverkar köpbeteendet i form av tid spenderad i experimentzonen, men det behövs vidare forskning för att utreda i vilken grad påverkan sker. Nyckelord: Sinnesmarknadsföring, visuell stimuli, auditiv stimuli, butiker, rörelsemönster, multisensorik, kongruensTitle: See, hear & shop! A Study of how visual and auditory stimuli can influence the customer's movement patterns and buying behaviour in store. Authors: Klara Johansson, Marina Johansson Supervisor: Professor Bertil Hultén Ph.D. Examiner: Senior Lecturer Leif V Rytting Ph.D. Course: Business economies III – Retail and service management (C level) Issues: How are the customer's movement patterns and buying behaviour affected in store with the help of visual and auditory stimuli? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate, analyse and clarify whether the customer's movement patterns and buying behaviour can be affected by means of sensory stimuli. With the help of sensory marketing, white arrows and bird song, we want to influence the customer's choice of direction in the store with the purpose of making the customer notice a wider part of the store. Methodology: The thesis has been designed with a deductive approach. We have done a quantitative analysis with an experimental approach. An extensive search for literature has been the basis of the hypotheses formulated, in order to answer the research question. Primary data were collected through a total of 1347 observations at Plantagen in Kalmar. Findings: A finding of this thesis is that customers are influenced to follow the visual stimuli by the means of white arrows. It is thereby possible to affect customers to notice a wider part of the store by the means of visual stimuli. We can also show that adding auditory stimuli and visual stimuli can affect the buying behaviour in the matter of time spent in the experimental zone, although further research is required to exam to which extent the impact occurs. Keywords: Sensory marketing, visual stimuli, auditory stimuli, in stores, movement patterns, multisensory, congruence
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Waksmonski, James C. "Variation in human sweet taste receptor may result in different levels of sweet intensity variability between sweet stimuli." Kansas State University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/32732.
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Master of ScienceFood Science - Food, Nutrition, Dietetics and Health
Kadri Koppel
Understanding the physiological activation and genetic variation of the sweet taste receptor (T1R) can improve formula optimization for products intended for a population of genetically diverse people. Computer modeling and cell culture techniques have thoroughly described the structure and binding sites of the T1R. The structure contains two subunits (T1R2 and T1R3) with multiple domains where sweet molecules can interact. The interaction takes place between individual molecules and amino acid residues of the T1R. The residues with which individual molecules interact differs between sweeteners. Person-to-person differences in the residue sequence of the T1R can arise from variation in the genes that encode the T1R (TAS1R), potentially effecting the function of the receptor. As a result of the specificity of binding interactions, genetic variation may affect sensitivity to some sweeteners, while sensitivity to other sweeteners remains normal. Therefore, it can be hypothesized that the level of person-to-person sweetness sensitivity variation may differ for each sweetener depending on the binding site of the molecule and site of T1R variation. The T1R structure, binding sites, and genetic variation will be reviewed, as well as potential parameters to predict the degree of sensitivity variation and formulation strategies to minimize the effects of sensitivity variation.
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Hedberg, Matilda, and Ellinor Tagesson. "En bokhandel i förändring : En studie av utvecklingen inom bokbranschen med fokus på sensoriska stimuli och stödtjänster." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för marknadsföring (MF), 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-54567.
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Frågeställning: Vilken utveckling av Akademibokhandelns fysiska butiker kan förstärka konkurrenskraften? Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att utreda och analysera vilka olika konkurrensmedel som kan ha relevans för Akademibokhandelns framtid, liksom möjlig utveckling av stödtjänster och potentiell breddning av verksamheten. Vidare är avsikten att klargöra hur tillämpning av sensoriska stimuli i Akademibokhandelns servicelandskap kan få betydelse för kunderna samt hur design och uppbyggnad av servicelandskapen kan stärka verksamheten. Metod: En kvalitativ forskningsmetod har använts med inslag av både induktion och deduktion. Datainsamlingen har skett via djupintervjuer och en fokusgrupp. Vidare har även resultatet genomgått en kvalitativ dataanalys. Resultat och slutsatser: Resultatet visar på att implementeringen av sensoriska stimulin i Akademibokhandelns servicelandskap på många sätt är till fördel för företaget, eftersom de generellt har en positiv påverkan på kundernas tjänsteupplevelse. Vidare konstaterades även att en utveckling av företagets stödtjänster ytterligare skulle stärka deras konkurrenskraft. Teoretiskt och praktiskt bidrag: Det teoretiska bidrag som arbetet genererat är hur ett servicelandskap med fokus på implementering av sinnesmarknadsföring kan gestaltas samt hur en integration mellan olika försäljningskanaler kan ta vid. Vi har även presenterat ett antal praktiska bidrag som är relevanta för Akademibokhandelns framtida utveckling. Nyckelord: Servicelandskap, Detaljhandel, Stödtjänster, Bokhandel, Utveckling, Multisensorik, Sinnesmarknadsföring, Breddning av verksamhetResearch question: Which development of Akademibokhandeln physical stores can enhance competitiveness? Purpose: This thesis aims to investigate and analyse the various means of competition that may have relevance to Akademibokhandelns future, as well as the possible development of support services and the potential expansion of the business. The purpose is to clarify if the application of sensory stimuli in Akademibokhandelns servicescape may have implications for customers as well as how the design and construction of the servicescapes can strengthen the business. Method: The thesis has elements of both induction and deduction, and a qualitative research method has been used. Data has been collected through in-depth interviews and a focus group. The data has gone through a qualitative data analysis. Results and conclusions: The result shows an implementation of sensory stimuli in Akademibokhandeln servicescape in many ways will benefit the company as they generally have a positive impact on the customer service experience. Additionally it was found that a development of the company´s support services would further enhance their competitiveness Theoretical and practical contributions: The theoretical contribution this report has generated is based on how a servicescape with a focus on an implementation of sensory marketing can be portrayed and how integration between different sales channels can be beneficial to the company. We have further on presented a number of practical contributions which we view as relevant to Akademibokhandelns Future Development. Key words: Servicescape, Retail, Support Services, Bookstore, Development, Multi-sensory, Sensory Marketing, Expansion of activities
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Waksmonski, Jim, and Kadri Koppel. "Variation in human sweet taste receptor may result in different levels of sweet intensity variability between sweet stimuli." Kansas State University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/32680.
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Master of ScienceDepartment of Human Nutrition
Kadri Koppel
Understanding the physiological activation and genetic variation of the sweet taste receptor (T1R) can improve formula optimization for products intended for a population of genetically diverse people. Computer modeling and cell culture techniques have thoroughly described the structure and binding sites of the T1R. The structure contains two subunits (T1R2 and T1R3) with multiple domains where sweet molecules can interact. The interaction takes place between individual molecules and amino acid residues of the T1R. The residues with which individual molecules interact differs between sweeteners. Person-to-person differences in the residue sequence of the T1R can arise from variation in the genes that encode the T1R (TAS1R), potentially effecting the function of the receptor. As a result of the specificity of binding interactions, genetic variation may affect sensitivity to some sweeteners, while sensitivity to other sweeteners remains normal. Therefore, it can be hypothesized that the level of person-to-person sweetness sensitivity variation may differ for each sweetener depending on the binding site of the molecule and site of T1R variation. The T1R structure, binding sites, and genetic variation will be reviewed, as well as potential parameters to predict the degree of sensitivity variation and formulation strategies to minimize the effects of sensitivity variation.
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Apple, Allison Lowy. "A comparison of the use of constant time delay alone and constant time delay with instructive feedback to teach children with autism to discriminate stimuli by function, feature, and class /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/7900.
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Goodall, Christine Alexandra. "The sensory detection of water borne vibrational stimuli and their motor effects in the Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus (L.)." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 1988. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/3246/.
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The morphology and distribution of cuticular setae on the uropods and walking legs of the Norway lobster Nephrops norvegicus (L.) has been studied using both light microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy. Three types of setae are present on the uropods, plumose setae, simple setae and guard hairs. Hair peg and hair fan organs were also seen.The propodus and dactyl of the 2nd and 3rd legs of Nephrops are similar in both their structure and in the form and distribution of their cuticular setae. Three main areas of setal distribution are found: squamous setae are distributed 1) in bunches on the flat surfaces of the propodus and dactyl and 2) along the lateral edges of the propodus and dactyl and 3) hedgehog hairs line the inner edges of the propodus and dactyl.Most of the setae on the 4th and 5th legs are found around the propodus-dactyl (P-D) joint. Three rows of simple setae are found on the dactyl, and both serrate setae with simple scales and squamous setae are found overlapping the P-D joint. Also found near the joint are CAP organs and hedgehog hairs.All of the setae on the uropods show responses to tactile and vibratory stimulation as do the hedgehog hairs, the serrate setae, the simple setae and the squamous setae on the legs.The responses of afferents from the uropods and walking legs and of the abdominal interneurones have been tested in response to water borne vibrations of different frequences produced both as surface waves and in an acoustic tube. The uropod afferents show range fractionation and have therefore been divided into three nested categories based on the upper limit of their frequency response. Low frequency units respond from 2-20Hz, intermediate units from 2-50Hz and high frequency units from 2-100Hz. The leg afferents also show range fractionation and have also been divided into three nested categories: low frequency units respond from 20-60Hz, intermediate units from 20-200Hz and high frequency units from 20-450Hz. Preliminary studies have indicated that the leg afferents show directional sensitivity. The abdominal interneurones have been categorised as either intermediate or high frequency; intermediate interneurones respond from 2-100Hz and high frequency interneurones from 2-200Hz. The receptive fields of mechanosensory interneurones have also been determined.The postural responses of Nephrops to water borne vibrations have been studied using video analysis. An abdominal extension response is reliably elicited which varies with the frequency of stimulation in a distinct way. From 20-80Hz the animals respond immediately, and abdominal extension is accompanied by rapid leg movements, swimmeret beating and very occasionally tail flipping. From 100-180Hz the response occurs with a delay, the duration of which seems unrelated to frequency within this range. No responses were seen above 180Hz.The nervous control of the abdominal extension response has been studied by recording from abdominal motor roots (superficial root three and root two) which supply the two muscles involved (the superficial flexor and extensordmuscles). It has been shown that abdominal extension is produced by both central and peripheral inhibition of flexor muscle activity in combination with excitation of the extensor muscle. The neuronal basis of the delay seen in the behavioural experiments has been investigated, and a number different patterns of nervous activity have been found which might produce this delay.Behavioural studies have been conducted in the field to investigate the responses of freely moving animals to sound in their natural environment. Investigations have been conducted of changes in the emergence rhythm and changes in the transient behaviour of the animals. Tests to investigate changes in the burrow emergence rhythm with the underwater loudspeakers at 10m from the animal failed to produce any response. However small changes occur in the transient behaviour of Nephrops when they are very close to the loundspeaker even though the sound pressure levels are similar to those used at 10m. These tests have been repeated in laboratory tanks where clear locomotory responses, predominantly backwards walking, are seen in response to stimuli from 20-80Hz in both blind and sighted animals.Tests have been conducted in a free acoustic field to determine the behavioural response threshold of Nephrops to sound using the postural response as a monitor. The animals showed no responses with the loudspeaker at 1m but showed clear responses with the speaker at 0.09m even when the sound pressure levels were similar, yielding a threshold in terms of particle displacement of the water of 0.874m which is independent of frequency. This indicates that the Nephrops is sensitive to the particle motion component of sound rather than the pressure component.
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Veitmaa, Eva Maria. "Gallery of Heartbeats : soma design for increasing bodily awareness and social sharing of the heart rate through sensory stimuli." Thesis, KTH, Skolan för elektroteknik och datavetenskap (EECS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-282901.
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Elevated heart rate is considered to be an indicator of stress. Thus, noticing one’s own heartbeat can have a negative connotation. Yet, the heartbeat is simply a physiological function, neither positive nor negative in itself, that is experienced in diverse contexts, such as medical, athletic, or intimate. This study uses first-person research through design and soma design to increase awareness of the heartbeat from both an individual and social angle and examines the potential benefits of using external sensory stimuli to convey biofeedback information. It also opens up the design space around the heartbeat and sensory stimuli and reflects upon comfort and relaxation, biofeedback and digital mindfulness, the Sensiks sensory reality pod as a tool and space, and the heartbeat as a spectrum and a way of getting to know people. The study results in four deliverables: a design critique of the Sensiks sensory reality pod, a design fiction publication, a design proposal, and an experience prototype. The study proposes the design for the Gallery of Heartbeats – a sensory experience aimed at externalising and sharing the heartbeat of self and others. The Gallery of Heartbeats supports individual reflections, providing the user with real-time numerical, graphical, and auditory biofeedback on their heart rate. It also encourages social communication of this commonly unnoticed physiological feature, allowing users to record and store their heartbeat to an archive and experience the pre-recorded heartbeats of others in a multisensory way. The evaluation of the Gallery of Heartbeats prototype shows that the design succeeds in making people more aware of their cardiovascular activity, triggers their curiosity, and increases empathy. However, the Gallery of Heartbeats also makes the users want to control or change their heart rate which goes against the mindfulness principles of presence-in and presence-with the design was inspired by. Sensory stimuli, especially sound and visuals, are assessed as beneficial for creating feelings of immersion, whereas different representations of the biofeedback information have different effects and use cases.En förhöjd hjärtfrekvens anses vara en indikator på stress. Därför kan en hög puls tolkas som något negativt. Likväl har hjärtats pulserande enbart en fysiologisk funktion, som i sig varken har en positiv eller negativ betydelse, och som kan erfaras under olika omständigheter, såsom i medicinska sammanhang, vid fysisk träning eller under intima stunder. Denna studie är en forskning-genom-design ur ett förstapersonsperspektiv samt soma-design för att öka medvetenheten om sina hjärtslag, både från en individuell och en social vinkel, samt en undersökning av de potentiella fördelar som kan finnas med att använda ett yttre stimuli för att ge biofeedback. Den öppnar också upp designrymden kring hjärtslag och sensorisk stimuli, reflekterar kring välbefinnande och avslappning, biofeedback och digital mindfulness, Sensiks sensoriska kapsel som ett verktyg och en plats, samt hjärtfrekvens som ett spektrum och ett sätt att lära känna människor. Resultatet av studien framställs i fyra olika delar: en designkritik av Sensiks sensoriska kapsel, en fiktiv design publikation, ett designförslag, och en prototyp av upplevelser. Detta examensarbete utmynnar i ett förslag på en design kallad “Gallery of Heartbeats” - en sensorisk upplevelse avsedd att ge en yttre form och för att dela hjärtslagen med sig själv och andra. “Gallery of Heartbeats” skapar utrymme för individuell reflektion, och ger användaren i realtid en numerisk, grafisk och ljudmässig biofeedback på sin hjärtfrekvens. Den uppmuntrar också till samtal av detta vanligtvis omärkbara fysiologiska fenomen, den möjliggör användaren att spela in och spara sina hjärtslag i ett arkiv, och användaren ges möjlighet att uppleva förinspelade hjärtslag av andra personer på ett multisensoriskt sätt. Utvärdering av prototypen för “Gallery of Heartbeats” visar att designen lyckas få människor mer medvetna om sin kardiovaskulära aktivitet, väcker deras nyfikenhet och ökar empatin. Dock gör även “Gallery of Heartbeats” att användaren vill kontrollera eller ändra sin hjärtfrekvens, vilket går emot de principerna inom mindfulness av att vara ‘presence-in’ och ‘presence-with’. Sensorisk stimuli, särskilt ljud och bild, ses som främjande av att skapa känslan av att vara absorberad, medan andra signaler från biofeedback har en annan påverkan och andra användningsområden.
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Mlynarski, Wiktor [Verfasser], Jürgen [Akademischer Betreuer] Jost, and Joshua [Gutachter] McDermott. "Functional Sensory Representations of Natural Stimuli: the Case of Spatial Hearing / Wiktor Mlynarski ; Gutachter: Joshua McDermott ; Betreuer: Jürgen Jost." Leipzig : Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig, 2015. http://d-nb.info/1239423152/34.
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Davis, Eric Andrew. "Does that Sound Smell Good? An Experimental Investigation into the use of Verbal Smell References and Cooking Sounds in Radio Advertisements." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/43522.
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In an industry plagued by high failure rates and exorbitant amounts spent on marketing, restaurants must find ways to increase the efficiency of their advertising. Present research demonstrates linkages between human senses and emotions and affective responses to marketing stimuli (e.g. Peck and Wiggins, 2006). However, there is presently a dearth of research addressing how advertising can creatively draw upon consumersâ senses to elicit the desired responses by stakeholders (e.g. increased purchase intent). In response to this apparent gap in our inquiry, the purpose of this study is to explore how verbal smell references (e.g. â You can almost smell the smoky and delicious aroma of your steak grilling to perfectionâ stated in the ad) and congruent cooking sounds (e.g. sizzling sounds for a steakhouse) in radio food advertisements impact consumer sensory perceptions (ability to almost taste and/or almost smell the advertised product), affective response, and purchase intentions. In addition, since current research indicates that olfactory perceptions can vary by gender (e.g. (Doty, Shaman, and Dann, 1983; Cane, 1982), this research tested for gender-based differences in these hypothesized relationships.
Regarding procedures, a sequence of two pretests were used to establish the reliability and validity of the verbal smell reference used in this research. In addition to these manipulation checks on the verbal smell reference construct, the two pretests also verified that undergraduate students would have the ability to adequately relate to the experimental setting â steakhouses. Next, a 2x2x2 between-subjects experiment was conducted in which the verbal smell reference was manipulated, congruent cooking sounds were manipulated, and gender was measured. Results indicate that a verbal smell reference in a radio ad does significantly influence a potential consumerâ s ability to almost smell and to almost taste the advertised product. The smell reference also significantly impacts individualsâ affective responses to the ad and purchase intent of the product. Interestingly, this research also found that the level of â excitementâ associated with the advertised brand perfectly mediates the relationship between the verbal smell reference and affective responses. That is, the verbal smell reference leads consumers to assess the advertised brand as being exciting which, in turn, results in positive affective responses.
This research did not detect any significant outcomes associated with the use of congruent cooking sounds in radio ads or any significant interactions between cooking sounds and verbal smell references with regard to the outcome variables. Further, gender was not found to significantly intervene in any of the hypothesized relationships. Nevertheless, the significant outcomes associated with the main effect of the verbal smell references on consumer sensory perceptions (ability to almost taste and/or almost smell the advertised product), affective response, and purchase intentions, along with the mediation of the excitement construct, are associated with formidable theoretical and managerial implications which are discussed in the concluding chapter of this thesis.
Master of Science
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Dezhdar, Tara [Verfasser]. "Unmixing sensory channels encoding mechanical and thermal stimuli : A Probabilistic approach to study the spatiotemporal dynamics of nociceptors / Tara Dezhdar." Berlin : Freie Universität Berlin, 2016. http://d-nb.info/1090877943/34.
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Öhlund, Emma, and Anna Thorsell. "Iögonfallande layout & känsloväckande stimuli : En studie om modebutikers fysiska upplägg och dess påverkan på konsumentbeteende och köpbeslut, ur ett företagsperspektiv." Thesis, Södertörns högskola, Institutionen för samhällsvetenskaper, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-26298.
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Denna studie har som syfte att förklara och ge en ökad förståelse för hur utvalda företag i modebranschen arbetar med det fysiska upplägget i butiker, genom bland annat atmosfär, sinnesstimuli och visuell merchandising. Samt vilken påverkan upplägget kan ha på konsumenters köpbeslutsprocesser och därmed även uppfattningen om varumärket. Sex intervjuer med olika företag har gett kvalitativa data som sedan analyserats mot varandra utifrån studiens teoretiska referensram. Resultat visar på att de studerade företagen inte planerar sin butiksyta beroende på teorier om konsumentbeteende och sinnesmarknadsföring. Utan istället planeras ytan beroende på varumärke och positionering, vilket skiljer sig åt beroende på företag. Att förmedla en känsla och att ge ett helhetsintryck med hjälp av upplägget är viktigt och baseras på hur butikerna vill att varumärket ska uppfattas, vilket sedan påverkar köpbeslutsprocessen då det avgör om kunderna väljer att konsumera i butiken eller inte. En lyckad planering av butiksytan för de studerade företagen, grundar sig därmed inte på hur väl ytan planeras utifrån tidigare forskning om sinnesmarknadsföring och visuell merchandising, utan hur bra den planeras utifrån varumärket.This study aims to describe and to give greater understanding of how selected companies in the fashion industry works with the physical layout of stores, including the use of atmosphere, sensory stimuli and visual merchandising. Also what impact the layout can have on consumers buying process and the perception of the brand. Six interviews with different companies gave qualitative data that was analyzed together and against each other, based on the theoretical framework of the study. The result shows that the selected companies do not plan the layout based on theories of consumer behavior or sensory marketing. Instead the layout is planned based on the brand and the positioning the company works for, which differentiates itself based on what company it is. To convey a feeling and to give an overall impression of the brand with the help of layout is important, and it is based on how the companies want the brand to be perceived. This then affects the buying process because it determines if the customers choses to consume in the store or not. A successful planning of the layout, for the companies in the study, is therefore not based on how well it matches with recent research in the field, but how well it is matched based on the brand only.
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Croy, Ilona, Kerstin Laqua, Frank Süß, Peter Joraschky, Tjalf Ziemssen, and Thomas Hummel. "The sensory channel of presentation alters subjective ratings and autonomic responses toward disgusting stimuli – Blood pressure, heart rate and skin conductance in response to visual, auditory, haptic and olfactory presented disgusting stimuli." Saechsische Landesbibliothek- Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Dresden, 2014. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-127292.
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Disgust causes specific reaction patterns, observable in mimic responses and body reactions. Most research on disgust deals with visual stimuli. However, pictures may cause another disgust experience than sounds, odors, or tactile stimuli. Therefore, disgust experience evoked by four different sensory channels was compared. A total of 119 participants received 3 different disgusting and one control stimulus, each presented through the visual, auditory, tactile, and olfactory channel. Ratings of evoked disgust as well as responses of the autonomic nervous system (heart rate, skin conductance level, systolic blood pressure) were recorded and the effect of stimulus labeling and of repeated presentation was analyzed. Ratings suggested that disgust could be evoked through all senses; they were highest for visual stimuli. However, autonomic reaction toward disgusting stimuli differed according to the channel of presentation. In contrast to the other, olfactory disgust stimuli provoked a strong decrease of systolic blood pressure. Additionally, labeling enhanced disgust ratings and autonomic reaction for olfactory and tactile, but not for visual and auditory stimuli. Repeated presentation indicated that participant's disgust rating diminishes to all but olfactory disgust stimuli. Taken together we argue that the sensory channel through which a disgust reaction is evoked matters.
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Croy, Ilona, Kerstin Laqua, Frank Süß, Peter Joraschky, Tjalf Ziemssen, and Thomas Hummel. "The sensory channel of presentation alters subjective ratings and autonomic responses toward disgusting stimuli – Blood pressure, heart rate and skin conductance in response to visual, auditory, haptic and olfactory presented disgusting stimuli." Frontiers, 2013. https://tud.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A27294.
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Disgust causes specific reaction patterns, observable in mimic responses and body reactions. Most research on disgust deals with visual stimuli. However, pictures may cause another disgust experience than sounds, odors, or tactile stimuli. Therefore, disgust experience evoked by four different sensory channels was compared. A total of 119 participants received 3 different disgusting and one control stimulus, each presented through the visual, auditory, tactile, and olfactory channel. Ratings of evoked disgust as well as responses of the autonomic nervous system (heart rate, skin conductance level, systolic blood pressure) were recorded and the effect of stimulus labeling and of repeated presentation was analyzed. Ratings suggested that disgust could be evoked through all senses; they were highest for visual stimuli. However, autonomic reaction toward disgusting stimuli differed according to the channel of presentation. In contrast to the other, olfactory disgust stimuli provoked a strong decrease of systolic blood pressure. Additionally, labeling enhanced disgust ratings and autonomic reaction for olfactory and tactile, but not for visual and auditory stimuli. Repeated presentation indicated that participant's disgust rating diminishes to all but olfactory disgust stimuli. Taken together we argue that the sensory channel through which a disgust reaction is evoked matters.
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Henriksson, Dan, and Fredrik Andersson. "Hear it, Want it, Buy it! : A study of auditory stimuli as a primer of consumer choice in restaurants." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Ekonomihögskolan, ELNU, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-19435.
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Purpose: To assess the effect of a higher price, consumer age, and consumer gender on the relationship between music and consumer choice of food in a lunch restaurant. Methodology: An inductive-deductive approach was used in a three-step study which consisted of three focus groups, an experiment as well as a survey investigation. Findings: While not statistically significant at the 0.05 level, conditioned music showed a small tendency to affect consumer choice of food in a lunch restaurant. The reason for this is arguably a higher price might disrupt the condition music. Age was found to be statistically significant on a 0.05 level. Gender however, was not found to be statistically significant at the 0.05 level. Keywords: Sensory marketing, Consumer behaviour, Perception, Music, Age, price, Gender
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Tannous, Salma. "Rôle des stimuli sensoriels et de la palatabilité dans la prise orale de nicotine chez la souris." Thesis, Bordeaux, 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019BORD0398.
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Les produits du tabac sont hautement addictifs et leur abus est un problème majeur de santé publique. Chez les humains, cette addiction met en jeu une expérience consommatoire orale avec des composantes sensorielles gustatives et olfactives. De nos jours, le rôle de ces composantes est amplifié avec l’utilisation accrue des produits du tabac non-brûlé, mais aussi les cigarettes électroniques, où la nicotine est associée à des additifs incluant flaveurs et sucres. L’impact des additifs sur le comportement de consommation du tabac doit donc être évalué. Dans ce travail de recherche, notre intérêt se porte sur la nicotine orale et l’interaction bidirectionnelle avec les flaveurs associées. Nous questionnons notamment les propriétés de renforcement secondaire, les effets des arômes sur la palatabilité de la nicotine et son encodage affectif. Dans un premier chapitre, nous avons investigué les propriétés irritantes de la nicotine dans un modèle d’auto-administration orale de nicotine diluée dans de la saccharine chez des souris génétiquement modifiées (knockout) pour le thermorécepteur TRPV1 (Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1), impliqué dans l’échauffement lié au tabagisme et qui a la particularité d’être sensibilisé par la nicotine. Nous mettons en évidence que l’absence de ce récepteur promeut la consommation de nicotine par diminution de son aversion orale. Il n’a cependant pas un rôle spécifique dans les mécanismes de motivation et de rechute. Il a été montré que les stimuli sensoriels non-pharmacologiques deviennent plus salients quand ils sont associés à la nicotine. Ainsi, nous étudions dans un deuxième chapitre, le renforcement secondaire putatif des stimuli oraux par la nicotine. Nous mettons en évidence la nécessité d’association orale de la nicotine à des additifs masquant son goût amer, afin de permettre sa consommation volontaire et la modélisation des différents stades du processus addictif. Ce processus se montre sensible aux stimuli dans la consommation et la rechute, mais insensible aux challenges pharmacologiques malgré l’absorption de nicotine mesurée par la présence de cotinine plasmatique. Les solutions de nicotine à fortes concentrations révèlent des propriétés aversives et réduisent la consommation volontaire. Bien que nous ne montrions pas le renforcement des propriétés incitatives de la vanille par la nicotine, de façon surprenante nous montrons que l’arôme seul peut renforcer le comportement d’auto-administration. Enfin, du fait de l’importance des effets sensoriels oraux dans la consommation de nicotine, nous avons étudié ses propriétés de palatabilité. Les tests de réactivité gustative montrent bien l’aversion gustative pour la nicotine seule et l’amélioration de la palatabilité par l’ajout d’additif aromatique. Ce changement de la palatabilité ne s’est néanmoins pas traduit par des changements du codage neuronal mesuré par le marquage de la protéine c-Fos dans les structures contribuant à l’expression de la valence positive ou négative, notamment le noyau accumbens, le cortex insulaire gustatif, le noyau basolatéral de l’amygdale, l’habenula et la noyau paraventriculaire du thalamus. En revanche, la nicotine, aromatisée ou non, a augmenté l’activation neuronale dans toutes ces structures. L’ensemble de ces résultats met en lumière cette problématique d’association de la nicotine aux additifs pouvant moduler sa perception sensorielle et promouvoir par la suite sa consommation. L’attractivité des nouveaux produits du tabac et leur potentiel d’abus est une question authentique et un problème de santé publique dont l’étude et la régulation sont urgentesTobacco products are highly addictive and their abuse is a major public health problem. In humans, this addiction constitutes an oral consummatory experience involving sensory gustatory and olfactory components. Nowadays, the role of these components is further amplified with the increasing use of new “heat not burn” tobacco products, electronic nicotine delivery device (e-cigarettes especially), where nicotine is associated with additives including flavours and sugars. Thus, the impact of additives on the behaviour of nicotine consumption must be assessed. In this research work, we are interested in oral nicotine and the bidirectional interaction with the associated flavours. In particular, we question the secondary reinforcing properties, the effects of aromas on the palatability of nicotine and its affective coding. In a first chapter, we investigated the irritating properties of nicotine in a model of oral self-administration in mice genetically modified (knockout) for the thermoreceptor TRPV1 (Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1) because it is involved in harshness and it is sensitized by nicotine. We highlight that the absence of this receptor promotes nicotine consumption by reducing its oral aversion. It does not, however, have a specific role in motivation and relapse mechanisms. It has been shown that non-pharmacological sensory stimuli become more salient when associated with nicotine. Here, we study the putative secondary reinforcement of oral stimuli by nicotine. We highlight the need for oral nicotine to be combined with additives that mask its bitter taste, to allow its volitional consumption and to be able to model the different stages of the addictive process. This process is sensitive to stimuli for consumption and reinstatement, but is unaffected by pharmacological challenges despite nicotine absorption measured by the dosage of plasma cotinine. High concentrations of nicotine solutions reveal its aversive properties and reduce oral self-administration in mice. Although we do not show the reinforcement of the incentive properties of vanilla by nicotine, we surprisingly show that the aroma itself can reinforce self-administration behaviour. Finally, because of the importance of the oral sensory effects in nicotine consummatory behavior, we studied its palatability properties. Taste reactivity tests show the aversive taste of nicotine alone and the enhancement of its palatability by the addition of aromatic additive. However this change in palatability did not result in changes in the neuronal coding, measured by the labelling of c-Fos protein in brain structures contributing to the expression of the positive and negative valence, notably the nucleus accumbens, the gustatory insular cortex, the basolateral amygdala, the habenula and the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus. On the other hand, nicotine, flavoured or not, increased neuronal activity in all these structures. Altogether, these results highlight the importance of nicotine association with flavour additives that can modulate its sensory perception and subsequently promote its consumption. The attractiveness of new tobacco products and their abuse potential is a public health problem that needs urgent study and regulation
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Mira, Filipa Isabel Marques. "Estudo preliminar da influência da música nos mecanismos fisiológicos dos sistemas cardiovascular, respiratório e nervoso central em indivíduos da espécie Felis catus sob anestesia geral." Master's thesis, Universidade de Lisboa. Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/6670.
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Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Medicina VeterináriaVários estudos em medicina humana têm sido publicados sobre a efetividade da música na melhoria do doente no cenário cirúrgico, apresentando um controlo da ansiedade peri-operatória e da ativação do sistema nervoso autónomo a ela associada. O presente estudo foi realizado numa amostra de 12 indivíduos da espécie Felis catus (n=12) do género feminino, submetidos a cirurgia do tipo ovariohisterectomia eletiva. O estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a influência ou não da música nos mecanismos fisiológicos dos sistemas cardiovascular, respiratório e nervoso central do indivíduo sob anestesia geral. Foram considerados 3 tempos cirúrgicos distintos: T1 (com início na incisão mediana da parede abdominal), T2 (laqueação e secção dos pedículos ováricos) e T3 (laqueação e secção do corpo uterino), ao longo dos quais a paciente foi sujeita à audição sequencial de excertos de 3 músicas de géneros distintos – pop, clássica e heavy metal –, cada um com 2 minutos de duração, realizando-se concomitantemente a monitorização anestésica e o registo de 6 parâmetros: pressão arterial sistólica (PAS), diastólica (PAD) e média (PAM), frequências cardíaca (FC) e respiratória (FR) e diâmetro pupilar (DP). Os resultados obtidos permitiram verificar que em todos os parâmetros avaliados surgiram alterações estatisticamente significativas modeladas pelo género musical. Para todos os parâmetros (FR apenas em T3), verificou-se que a maioria das pacientes apresentou quando exposta à música do género clássico valores mais baixos, pop valores intermédios e heavy metal valores mais elevados. Foi possível concluir que mesmo sob anestesia geral existe processamento de estímulos sensoriais auditivos, os quais influenciam os mecanismos fisiológicos cardiovasculares, respiratórios e nervosos centrais, cuja expressão é modelada consoante o género musical ao qual o individuo é exposto.
ABSTRACT - PRELIMINARY STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF MUSIC ON THE PHYSIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS OF THE CARDIOVASCULAR, RESPIRATORY AND CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEMS IN SPECIMENS OF FELIS CATUS UNDER GENERAL ANAESTHESIA - Several studies in human medicine have been published on the effectiveness of music in improving the condition of patients placed in a surgical scenario, accomplished through the reduction of perioperative anxiety and the modulation of the concurrent activation of the autonomic nervous system. The present study focused on a sample of 12 female individuals of the species Felis catus (n=12) undergoing elective ovariohysterectomy. The study aimed the assessment of the presence or absence of influence of music on the physiological mechanisms of the cardiovascular, respiratory and central nervous systems in generally anesthetized individuals. Three distinct surgical times were considered: T1 (starting with median incision of the abdominal wall), T2 (ligature placement and transection of the ovarian pedicle) and T3 (ligature placement and transection of the uterine body), through which the patient was exposed to 2 minute long excerpts of 3 music tracks of different genres – pop, classical and heavy metal –, and during which anaesthetic monitoring and registration of 6 parameters was undertaken: systolic (SAP), diastolic (DAP) and mean (MAP) arterial blood pressure, heart (HR) and respiratory rate (RR) and pupil diameter (PD). The obtained results showed that every single one of the studied parameters displayed statistically significant changes modulated by music genre. Regarding all monitored parameters (RR only towards T3), the majority of surgical patients experienced lesser values when exposed to classical music, intermediate under the influence of pop music and higher values when exposed to heavy metal music. It was possible to conclude that, even under general anaesthesia, the development of sensory processing of acoustic stimuli is a reality, influencing cardiovascular, respiratory and central nervous physiological mechanisms, whose expression is modulated by the music genre to which the individual is exposed.
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Brard, Margot. "Méthodologies statistiques pour le recueil et l’analyse de données de caractérisation de grands ensembles de stimuli - Application à la caractérisation sensorielle de produits & à la caractérisation de gestes culinaires." Thesis, Rennes, Agrocampus Ouest, 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019NSARG017/document.
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Dans le secteur agroalimentaire, la caractérisation des gestes culinaires est considérée de plus en plus comme un levier d’innovation. En observant et en analysant la manière avec laquelle leurs produits sont appréhendés en cuisine par les usagers (consommateurs ou professionnels), les industriels peuvent en effet déceler des pistes d’amélioration ou des idées de nouveaux produits.Dans ce travail de recherche, nous proposons de nouvelles méthodes dédiées à la caractérisation des gestes culinaires. Leur caractère innovant repose sur le fait qu’elles relèvent d’une approche quantitative, et non d’une approche qualitative comme cela est usuellement le cas. Elles s’inspirent en partie de deux méthodes de caractérisation utilisées en analyse sensorielle : le tri libre et la Q-méthodologie binaireNous voyons comment des développements méthodologiques apportés à ces dernières permettent de caractériser des grands ensembles de stimuli. Ces développements sont liés à la fois à la procédure de recueil des données et à la procédure d’analyse statistique des données.En particulier, nous proposons plusieurs procédures statistiques permettant d’aborder des problématiques variées : l’analyse d’un ensemble de partitions contenant des données manquantes, la classification non supervisée de profils d’évaluations binaires basée sur la notion d’accord inter-évaluateurs, etc.Nous voyons ensuite que les deux méthodes de caractérisation quantitatives ‘améliorées’ sont applicables à des gestes culinairesIn the agri-food sector, the characterization of culinary techniques - through their observation and analysis - is increasingly seen as a lever for innovation. By analyzing how their products are used in the kitchen by the users (consumers or professionals), the manufacturers can detect improvement tracks or ideas for new products.In this research, we propose new methods dedicated to the characterization of culinary techniques. Their innovative nature is based on the fact that they are based on a quantitative approach, and not on a qualitative approach as is usually the case. They partially draw their inspiration in two methods of characterization used in sensory analysis: the free sorting and the binary Q-methodologyWe see how methodological developments brought to the latter make it possible to characterize large sets of stimuli. These developments are both related to the procedure of data collection and to the procedure of statistical analysis of the data. In particular, we propose several statistical procedures to address various issues: the statistical analysis of a set of partitions containing missing data, the unsupervised agreement-based clustering of a set of profiles of binary evaluations, etc.Then, we see that these two 'improved' quantitative methods of characterization can be successfully applicable to culinary techniques
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Strömberg, Erika, and Tone Suslin. "SINNESMARKNADSFÖRING : Känner du igen doften av ett starkt varumärke?" Thesis, Högskolan i Skövde, Institutionen för teknik och samhälle, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:his:diva-6117.
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Kan man känna, smaka, lukta, höra ett starkt varumärke? Eller kan man bara se det? Vi ville veta och bestämde oss för att ta reda på det, och det är resultatet du nu har i din hand. Vi har genom intervjuer med tre stora butikskedjor och dess butikschefer försökt få en klarare bild om hur de arbetar med det relativt nya sättet att marknadsföra sig på, genom sinnesmarknadsföring. Vi har genomfört flera observationer i och runtomkring de valda butikerna och bildat oss en bra uppfattning om hur respektive butik använder sig av sinnesmarknadsföring-medvetet eller omedvetet. I takt med att konsumenternas krav på upplevelser ökar och fler butiker etablerar sig på marknaden blir det alltmer viktigt att skapa ett varumärke som kunden hela tiden har i sitt medvetande, det finns bara ett sätt och det är att vara kundens första val. För att nå dagens kräsna konsumenter gäller det att butikerna marknadsför sina varumärken, och det har man sett inte helt räcker till, vilket har medfört att nya grenar inom marknadsföringen tillkommit, sinnesmarknadsföring. Begreppet är relativt nytt i Sverige och syftar till att skapa ett emotionellt band mellan konsument och varumärke. Genom att stimulera konsumentens alla fem sinnen, smak, känsel, syn, hörsel och doftsinnet bidrar det till att kunden skapar det emotionella band till varumärket som eftersträvas. Studiens resultat bygger på en kvalitativ ansats där vi använt oss av två olika metoder, intervjuer med butikschefer och observationer i de butiker vi valt att studera. Butikerna vi har valt att arbeta med är Lindex, KappAhl och Byoung vilka alla ligger i centrumkärnan av Katrineholm. Vi har under vår studie kommit fram till att människans fem sinnen tycks mer betydande än vad man många gånger tidigare trott. Även att inte enbart förlita sig på synen som många butiker gör idag tycks vara en viktig del att komma ihåg i sitt varumärkesbyggande. Genom att använda så många sinnen som möjligt kan man få kunden att förknippa vissa känslor och tidigare upplevelser med varumärket. På så vis stärker man också därmed det emotionella bandet mellan kund och varumärke.Is it possible to feel, taste, smell and hear a strong brand? Or are you only able to spot it with your eyes? In this report our main purpose was to answer these questions. The result and conclusion from this study are what you now hold in your hands. We have through interviews with three major retail chains and its store managers tried to get a clearer picture of how they work with the relatively new way to advertise on, through sensory marketing. We have made several observations and formed us a good indication of how each store uses sensory marketing- either conscious or unconscious. As consumer demand for experience grows and as more retailers enter the market, it becomes increasingly important to create a brand that customers always have in their consciousness. The only way to do this is to be the natural first choice. To reach today's discerning consumers in stores, it is important to market its brand. Because this has not seemed to be enough, new ways of marketing has been discovered, what we call sensory marketing. The concept is relatively new in Sweden and aims to create an emotional bond between consumer and brand. By stimulating consumer's five senses, taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell, it contributes to create the type of emotional bond that marketers endeavor to obtain. The findings of this study are based on qualitative approach and to do this we have used two different methods, both interviews with store managers and through observation of the stores itself. This study includes studies of three stores which are all located in the city heart of Katrineholm. These stores, Lindex, KappAhl and Byoung, have all helped to make this study possible. We have in our study concluded that man's five senses seem more significant than was often thought before. To not only rely on the sense of vision that many people seem to do, has also shown to be important when building a brand. By covering as many senses as possible, you can get the customer to associate certain feelings and past experiences with the brand. Hopefully, this also enhances the relationship between customer and brand.
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Corbo, Julien. "Des illusions tactiles à l’intégration spatiotemporelle dans le cortex somesthésique primaire : influence de la temporalité des stimuli cutanés sur leur représentation corticale." Thesis, Aix-Marseille, 2018. http://www.theses.fr/2018AIXM0505.
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Plusieurs illusions tactiles suggèrent que la temporalité des stimulations cutanées dans une séquence modifie leur perception spatiale. S’ils sont assez proches dans l’espace, plus l’intervalle temporel entre deux stimuli est court, plus la distance perçue entre eux est courte. Lorsque les deux stimuli sont présentés simultanément, on observe une perception fusionnée, unique et centrée entre les positions réelles. Ainsi, le système de perception tactile semble utiliser le temps entre les stimuli pour estimer l’espace qui les sépare. Dans l’optique de comprendre comment cette règle perceptive est implémentée dans le système nerveux, nous avons étudié la représentation corticale des stimulations qui induisent ces illusions. Nous avons recherché les distorsions spatiales de la représentation somatotopique dans le cortex somesthésique primaire, à la suite de l’application séquentielle ou simultanée d’une paire de stimuli cutanés sur l’extrémité des phalanges distales de la patte antérieure chez le rat anesthésié. Avec des enregistrements électrophysiologiques et d’imagerie optique extrinsèque, nous avons mis en évidence un phénomène de fusion corticale des entrées sensorielles simultanées, avec un patron spatial d’activation unimodal, centré entre les représentations individuelles des doigts adjacents costimulés. Dans le cas de stimuli successifs, nous avons observé des modifications des réponses au deuxième stimulus dépendantes de l’intervalle inter stimuli. Cette intégration spatiotemporelle ne semble pas contribuer directement au raccourcissement des distances perçues, mais pourrait favoriser les erreurs de localisation constatées lors de la perception des illusionsSeveral tactile spatiotemporal illusions suggest that the timing of successive cutaneous stimulations modify the perception of their spatial location. If they are close enough in time and space, shorter inter-stimuli time intervals (ISI) lead to shorted perceived distances. To the extreme of this time-space relation, when the stimuli are simultaneous, subjects report the merged perception of a unique and centered point of stimulation. Therefore, the tactile perceptual system seems to use the time separating two stimuli to compute their spatial distance. To understand the implementation of this perceptual rule, one can investigate the neural representation of the stimuli that elicit the illusory percept, looking for spatial distortions and their underlying mechanisms. Studies based on the measure of the hemodynamic responses have shown such distortions of the somatotopic representations in the primary somatosensory cortex, for simultaneous and delayed stimulations. In order to enhance our understanding of the elementary phenomenon that underpins those spatial modifications of the sensory inputs, we investigated the cortical representation of pairs of simultaneous and delayed cutaneous stimuli in the S1 of anesthetized rats. Using electrophysiological recordings and extrinsic optical imaging, we revealed the cortical merging of inputs from simultaneous digits stimulation. When the stimuli were delayed, we observed ISI-dependent modulations of the responses to the second stimulus. This spatiotemporal integration, that didn’t seem to contribute directly to a distance contraction effect, could however favor the mislocalization observed in illusory perception
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Falck, Jennie, and Dahlberg Sabine. "Attraktiv stadskärna - en balansakt? : En uppsats om arbetet kring att skapa en attraktiv stadskärna och cityhandeln." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för ekonomistyrning och logistik (ELO), 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-38498.
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Syfte: Vårt syfte med denna uppsats är att utforma ett balanserat styrkort för att genom detta visa hur en managementgrupp kan arbeta med viktiga målsättningar för att utveckla en attraktiv stadskärna och cityhandel. Metod: I denna uppsats har vi använt oss av den kvalitativa metoden med en abduktiv ansats, där vi fördjupat oss i teori samtidigt som vi genomfört intervjuer med personer som arbetar inom ämnet. Vi har utifrån denna teori och resultat analyserat vilka delar som är viktiga för att skapa en attraktiv stadskärna och attraktiv cityhandel. Resultat & slutsats: Det resultat som vi genom detta arbete kommit fram till är att de allra viktigaste målsättningarna att utveckla för att skapa en attraktiv stadskärna och cityhandel är - Motiverade och aktiva aktörer inom stadskärna, ökat samarbete inom stadskärnan, öka antalet besökare, öka andelen besökare som blir kunder samt öka andelen nöjda kunder. Om dessa målsättningar uppfylls menar vi att attraktionskraft skapas i stadskärnan och cityhandeln. Uppsatsens bidrag: Det teoretiska bidraget med denna uppsats är att det finns ett antal målsättningar som är viktigast för att skapa en attraktiv stadskärna och cityhandel. Det praktiska bidraget är ett balanserat styrkort samt målkort som centrumledareAim: We aim with this theses is to identify important factors required to develop an attractive city centre and city centre commerce. We are also going to look into the work needed to accomplice this and which stakeholders that are needed to be involved in this work. Method: In this essay we have used the qualitative method with an abductive approach, were we have been taking note of theory parallell with doing interviews with persons activ within this subject. From this theory and inteview results we have analyzed which parts in the city centre and city centre commerce that are important to make it more attractive. Conclusions: Our conclusion is that the most important factors to work with to develop an attractive city centre and city centre commerce is - motivated and active stakeholders within the city centre, increased cooperation within the city centre, increased amount of visitors, increased amount of visitors that become satisfied customers. If these key facors are fullfilled we mean that the city centre and the city centre commerce is attractive. Contribution: The theoretical consequence of our study is that there are several key factors to work with to create an attractive city Centre. The practical consequence of this is that the management in the city center groups can work with our balanced score card to create an attractive city center and city commerce in their cities.
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Lindahl, Caroline, and Malin Stark. "Det visuella ordets kraft på kunders känselbeteende : En kvantitativ studie om kunders beslutsfattande i detaljhandelsbranschen." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för ekonomistyrning och logistik (ELO), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-27036.
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Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att beskriva, analysera samt tillhandahålla rekommendationer om huruvida stimulans av sinnena, leder till att kundernas beslutsfattande förändras genom taktil beröring. Vi vill med hjälp av en empirisk studie klargöra om kunder ändrar sitt känselbeteende efter att sinnet syn blivit påverkat. Metod: Uppsats är baserad på en kvantitativ metod med en deduktiv ansats. Arbetet kretsar kring de experiment som utförts med tillhörande kundintervjuer på heminredningsavdelningen på Åhléns i Kalmar. Hypoteser har formats ur instuderad teori, som sedan har testats under experimenten på Åhléns. Slutsats: Genom stimulans av sinnena syn och känsel, har författarna med hjälp av experiment kunnat registrera ett förändrat beteende gällande kunders beslutsfattande. Resultatet tyder på att företag kan använda sig av sinnesstimuli för att skapa kontakt med sina kunder. Det har även framkommit att stimulans av synen och känseln har påverkat den tid kunderna känner på produkterna, och då också tagit dem ett steg längre i deras beslutsfattande i köpprocessen.
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Mahomed, Nabila Sikander. "Comportamento do consumidor no retalho : o impacto dos aromas." Master's thesis, Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/11560.
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Mestrado em MarketingO marketing sensorial tem vindo a transformar-se numa ferramenta relevante para diferenciação no mercado cada vez mais competitivo e globalizado. A literatura disponível aponta para o uso de aromas na gestão de marcas. Todavia, os estudos negligenciam a importância da intensidade do aroma e muito particularmente de produtos de consumo diário e comum. Este estudo explora a forma como o aroma do pão afeta o comportamento dos consumidores, suportada por dados recolhidos através de um questionário original aplicado a 293 clientes de uma loja de retalho de produtos alimentares, a fim de explorar esta relação. Os resultados obtidos indicam claramente que a intensidade do aroma tem uma influência positiva sobre a forma como os consumidores avaliam a imagem e o ambiente geral da loja assim como a qualidade de oferta dos produtos, a intenção de retorno e as respostas emocionais. Portanto, os profissionais de marketing devem estar cientes do papel do aroma nos produtos diários de modo a melhorar o reconhecimento, as avaliações dos produtos e a intenção de retornar à loja.
In an increasingly globalized and competitive environment, sensory marketing has become a relevant tool of market differentiation strategies. Previous literature has already pointed to the use of smell in branding but tends to neglect the relevance of scent intensity and the aroma in particularly of daily products. This study explores how bread's scent affects consumers' behavior and uses data collected through a survey applied to 293 customers in a major retail food store to explore this relationship. The results achieved show that scent has a positive influence on how consumers assess the general environment, store image, quality of products, as well as their willingness to return and the emotional responses of consumers. Therefore, marketing practitioners should consider using aroma on daily products to improve awareness, product evaluations and intention to return to the stores.
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Hoffmann, Charles. "Synchronisation des rythmes locomoteur et respiratoire : influence de stimulations sensorielles et intérêt pour la performance." Thesis, Montpellier 1, 2014. http://www.theses.fr/2014MON14003/document.
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L'observation d'une synchronisation entre les systèmes locomoteur et respiratoire soulève de nombreuses questions concernant son utilité fonctionnelle pour l'organisme et les contraintes susceptibles de moduler son apparition. A l'heure actuelle, des contradictions subsistent dans les réponses apportées à ces interrogations, notamment en raison de la multiplicité des méthodes employées pour l'étude de ce phénomène. La théorie des oscillateurs couplés, et plus particulièrement le modèle de la sine circle map, nous permet de rendre compte de façon précise des relations de couplage entre les systèmes locomoteur et respiratoire. Les objectifs de ce travail de thèse sont de renforcer la validité de l'utilisation de ce modèle pour l'étude du couplage locomotion-respiration (CLR), d'examiner le lien entre le CLR et la performance sportive, ainsi qu'identifier les contraintes influençant les relations de couplage entre ces deux systèmes. Dans des tâches de pédalage ou de course à pied, les participants avaient pour consigne ou non de synchroniser leur locomotion ou leur respiration avec une stimulation auditive dont le tempo correspondait à leurs fréquences préférentielles (locomotrice ou respiratoire). Nos résultats montrent l'efficacité du rythme auditif pour induire une stabilisation du CLR, indépendamment de la consigne donnée aux participants et du système rythmé. Ces résultats révèlent une bidirectionnalité dans le couplage entre les systèmes locomoteur et respiratoire. De plus, nous mettons en évidence une forte corrélation entre le gain de stabilité entre les deux systèmes et le gain de consommation d'oxygène (i.e., diminution). Par conséquent, la stabilité du CLR est un facteur important à prendre en compte pour la performance sportive. Nous rapportons également une déstabilisation du CLR lors de l'éloignement d'un des deux systèmes de sa fréquence préférentielle. Ce résultat suggère l'adoption spontanée par les individus d'une synchronisation optimale entre les deux systèmes. Ainsi, il semble primordial de présenter une stimulation adaptée à chacun et adaptable aux changements de fréquences locomotrice ou respiratoire imposés par les contraintes de la tâche. Pris ensemble, nos résultats permettent une meilleure compréhension de l'évolution du CLR face aux contraintes qui lui sont imposées (e.g., fréquences locomotrice ou respiratoire, rythme auditif, modalité d'exercice) et mettent en évidence l'influence positive de sa stabilité sur la performance sportive. Nous rapportons également l'efficacité d'une stimulation visuelle pour apprendre à mieux gérer les ressources énergétiques au cours de l'effort. Ainsi, ce travail ouvre des perspectives de travaux sur l'utilisation d'une stimulation auditive ou visuelle, simple (e.g., métronome) ou complexe (e.g., musique, avatar), dans le cadre de l'entraînement et de l'amélioration de la performance sportiveThe natural synchronization between locomotor and respiratory systems raises many questions regarding its functional utility for the organism, as well as constraints that may modulate its appearance. Currently, contradictions remain in answers provided to these issues, especially because of the multiple methods used to study this phenomenon. The theory of coupled oscillators, and more specifically the sine circle map model, allows to accurately assess the coupling between locomotor and respiratory systems. This work aims at strengthening the validity of the use of this model for the study of locomotor-respiratory coupling (LRC), examining the relationship between LRC and sport performance, as well as identifying the constraints influencing the coupling between both systems. In pedalling or running tasks, participants were instructed or not to synchronize their locomotion or their breathing with an auditory rhythm which tempo matched their preferred frequencies (locomotor or respiratory). Our results show the effectiveness of auditory rhythm to induce stabilization of LRC, regardless of the instructions given to participants and the system paced. These results reflect a bidirectionality in the coupling between the locomotor and respiratory systems. Furthermore, we show a strong correlation between the increase in stability between the two systems and the gain in oxygen consumption (i.e., decrease). Therefore, the stability of LRC is an important factor to consider for sport performance. We also report a destabilization of LRC when one of the two systems is far off its preferred frequency. This result suggests that individuals spontaneously adopt an optimum synchronization between the two systems. Thus, it seems important to use a customized suitable stimulation that could be able to adapt its tempo to changes in locomotor or respiratory frequencies imposed by the constraints of the task. Overall, our results provide a better understanding of the evolution of LRC when confronted to constraints (e.g., locomotor or respiratory frequencies, auditory rhythm, exercise modality) and highlight the positive impact of its stability on sport performance. We also report the effectiveness of a visual stimulation to learn how to better manage energy resources during effort. Thus, this work opens perspectives on the use of auditory or visual stimuli, simple (e.g., metronome) or complex (e.g., music, avatar), for training and performance enhancement
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Sepúlveda, Filipa Maria da Cruz Filipe. "O efeito da musica ambiente no comportamento do consumidor : o caso dos restaurantes." Master's thesis, Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/10292.
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Mestrado em MarketingO presente estudo visa investigar qual o impacto que a presença de música ambiente e respectivas variações do tempo da música, num ambiente de restaurante, tem junto do comportamento do consumidor, averiguando se é, ou não, uma ferramenta de marketing eficaz. Através de uma abordagem metódica e quantitativa, ir-se-á investigar se a presença de música ambiente e as suas respectivas variações no tempo afectam positivamente o tempo que os consumidores passam no interior do espaço e quais os seus diferentes tipos de gastos. Para isso, foi conduzida uma experiência, num restaurante situado na zona de Miraflores, onde durante 3 semanas se utilizou a técnica de observação para estudar os comportamentos dos consumidores nas 3 condições de estudo: sem música ambiente, com música ambiente de tempo lento e com música ambiente de tempo rápido. Embora os resultados obtidos não permitam validar muitos dos objectivos propostos na presente investigação, verificou-se que muitas das variáveis alvo de estudo, sofreram ligeiras melhorias aquando a presença de música ambiente e em alguns casos mais concretos, aquando da presença de música ambiente com tempo lento.
The following paper aims to explore which is the impact that the presence of environmental music and its respective variations in tempo over a restaurant environment has on consumer behavior, and to check whether or not, it can act as an effective marketing tool. Throughout an exhaustive fact based analysis, it will be investigated if the presence of environmental music, with its variations in tempo, affects positively the time spent inside the restaurant, and which are the impacts over the different spending categories. With that vision in mind, it was conducted an experiment, in a restaurant located on Miraflores, Lisbon area, where during three weeks, the observation method was used to study the consumer behavior on the 3 study conditions: without environmental music, with slow tempo environmental music and finally, with fast tempo environmental music. Although the results obtained did not allowed to validate much of the objectives proposed by the investigation, it was worth of note that plenty of the variables that were studied suffered slight improvements when subjected to environmental music, and in some cases with the use of slow tempo environmental music.
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Furucho, Mariana Antonia Aguiar. "Modelo neurocomputacional dos estágios iniciais da doença de Alzheimer." Universidade de São Paulo, 2017. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/47/47135/tde-06022018-092738/.
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Há evidências convincentes de que o início da doença de Alzheimer é precedido por uma redução de estímulos sensoriais, como ocorre durante a aposentadoria, catarata, surdez e degeneração macular, em um cérebro idoso que apresenta deficiência de receptores tipo GABAA. Neste trabalho foi utilizado um modelo computacional fenomenológico do koniocortex, que é a primeira camada cortical que recebe estímulos sensoriais, adaptado para simular as fases iniciais da doença de Alzheimer. A arquitetura e as propriedades dos neurônios do modelo computacional do koniocortex se assemelham as do cérebro, sendo também capaz de aprender, permitindo com isso que a memória de curto prazo seja testada em qualquer momento. Usando o modelo computacional é possível também analisar as fases iniciais da doença de Alzheimer simulando o \"envelhecimento\" do koniocortex artificial através de um conjunto de parâmetros referentes à plasticidade intrínseca, à acetilcolina, aos estímulos sensoriais, ao pruning sináptico, entre outros. O modelo computacional revela que, quando o envelhecimento afeta os neurônios que expressam receptores GABA-A ocorrendo na sequência uma redução dos estímulos sensoriais, o resultado dessa cascata de eventos leva ao hipermetabolismo e ao início da fase de deposição excessiva das placas -amiloideThere is compelling evidence that Alzheimers disease onset is preceded by a reduction of sensory stimuli like during job retirement, cataract, deafness or even macular degeneration, over an aged brain with impaired GABA-A receptor inhibitions. In this paper, was adapted a phenomenological computational model of the koniocortex which is the first cortical layer that receives sensory stimuli to simulate the initial phases of Alzheimers disease. The architecture and neurons properties of the modeled koniocortex resemble those of the brain, so that the model is also able to learn, thereby allowing the assessment of short-term memory at any moment. By using the computational model, it is possible to analyze the initial phases of Alzheimers disease by aging the artificial koniocortex through a set of parameters related to intrinsic plasticity, acetylcholine, sensory stimuli, synaptic pruning, among others. The computational model shows that when aging occurs in such way that GABA-A receptor expressing neurons are affected, and, in the sequence, a reduction of sensory stimuli takes place, the result of this cascade of events leads to hypermetabolism and to the initial phase excessive deposition of beta-amyloid plaques
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Rodenkirch, Charles August. "Neuromodulation of Thalamic Sensory Processing of Tactile Stimuli." Thesis, 2020. https://doi.org/10.7916/d8-g6pv-0k44.
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Neuromodulatory systems, such as the locus coeruleus (LC) - norepinephrine (NE) system, are integral in the modulation of behavioral state, which in turn exerts a heavy influence on sensory processing, perception, and behavior. LC neurons project diffusely through the forebrain as the sole source of NE. LC tonic firing rate has been shown to correlate with arousal level and behavioral performance. As the LC-NE system innervates sensory pathways and NE has been shown to affect neuronal response, the LC-NE system could potentially allow for state-dependent modulation of sensory processing. However, the precise link between LC activation and sensory processing in the various stages of the sensory pathway that underly perception remained elusive.
It is well established that thalamic relay nuclei play an essential role in gating the flow of sensory information to the neocortex, serving to establish cortical representation of sensory environment. Thalamocortical information transmission has been proposed to be strongly modulated by the dynamic interplay between the thalamic relay nuclei and the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN). Neurons in the early stages of sensory pathways selectively respond to specific features of sensory stimuli. In the rodent vibrissa pathway, thalamocortical neurons in the ventral posteromedial nucleus (VPm) encode kinetic features of whisker movement, allowing stimuli to be encoded by distinctive, temporally precise firing patterns. Therefore, understanding feature selectivity is crucial to understanding sensory processing and perception. However, whether LC activation modulates this feature selectivity, and if it does, the mechanisms through which this modulation occurs, remained largely unknown.
This work investigates LC modulation of thalamic feature selectivity through reverse correlation analysis of single-unit recordings from different stages of the rat vibrissa pathway. LC activation increased feature selectivity, drastically improving thalamic information transmission. This improvement was dependent on both local activation of α-adrenergic receptors and modulation of T-type calcium channels in the thalamus and was not due to LC modulation of trigeminothalamic feedforward or corticothalamic feedback inputs. LC activation reduced thalamic bursting, but this change in thalamic firing mode was not the primary cause of the improved information transmission as tonic spikes with LC stimulation carried three-times the information than tonic spikes without LC stimulation. Modelling confirmed NE regulation of intrathalamic circuit dynamics led to the improved information transmission as LC-NE modulation of either relay or reticular nucleus alone cannot account for the improvement. These results suggest a new sub-dimension within the tonic mode in which brain state can optimize thalamic sensory processing through modulation of intrathalamic circuit dynamics.
Subsequent computational work was then performed to determine exactly how the encoding of sensory information by thalamic relay neurons was altered to allow for an increase in both information transmission efficiency and rate. The results show that LC-NE induced improvements in feature selectivity are not simply due to an increased signal-to-noise ratio, a shift from bursting to tonic firing, or improvements in reliability or precision. Rather, LC-NE-induced modulation of intrathalamic dynamics changed the temporal response structure thalamic neurons used to encode the same stimuli to a new structure that increased the information carried by both tonic and burst spikes. The shift in events times favors optimal encoding, as more events occur at ideal positions, i.e. when the stimulus most closely matches the neuron’s feature selectivity. Further, this work analyzed the ability to reconstruct the original stimulus using the evoked spike trains of multiple neurons and their recovered feature selectivity from an ideal observer point-of-view. The results showed that LC-activation improved the accuracy of this reconstruction, indicating it may improve the accuracy of perception of whisker stimuli.
Finally, to make this work translatable, the use of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) was investigated as a potential method for minimally invasive enhancement of thalamic sensory processing. The vagus nerve, which runs through the side of the neck, has long been known to have profound effects on brain-state and VNS has been shown to evoke LC firing. This work elucidates the previously uninvestigated short-term effects of VNS on thalamic sensory processing. Similar to direct LC stimulation, VNS enhanced the feature selectivity of thalamic neurons, resulting in a significant increase in the efficiency and rate of stimulus-related information conveyed by thalamic spikes. VNS-induced improvement in thalamic sensory processing also coincided with a decrease in thalamic burst firing, suggesting the same underlying mechanism as the improvements induced with direct LC stimulation.
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Mlynarski, Wiktor. "Functional Sensory Representations of Natural Stimuli: the Case of Spatial Hearing." Doctoral thesis, 2014. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13125.
Full textAbstract:
In this thesis I attempt to explain mechanisms of neuronal coding in the auditory system as a form of adaptation to statistics of natural stereo sounds. To this end I analyse recordings of real-world auditory environments and construct novel statistical models of these data. I further compare regularities present in natural stimuli with known, experimentally observed neuronal mechanisms of spatial hearing. In a more general perspective, I use binaural auditory system as a starting point to consider the notion of function implemented by sensory neurons. In particular I argue for two, closely-related tenets:
1. The function of sensory neurons can not be fully elucidated without understanding statistics of natural stimuli they process.
2. Function of sensory representations is determined by redundancies present in the natural sensory environment.
I present the evidence in support of the first tenet by describing and analysing marginal statistics of natural binaural sound. I compare observed, empirical distributions with knowledge from reductionist experiments. Such comparison allows to argue that the complexity of the spatial hearing task in the natural environment is much higher than analytic, physics-based predictions. I discuss the possibility that early brain stem circuits such as LSO and MSO do not \"compute sound localization\" as is often being claimed in the experimental literature. I propose that instead they perform a signal transformation, which constitutes the first step of a complex inference process.
To support the second tenet I develop a hierarchical statistical model, which learns a joint sparse representation of amplitude and phase information from natural stereo sounds. I demonstrate that learned higher order features reproduce properties of auditory cortical neurons, when probed with spatial sounds. Reproduced aspects were hypothesized to be a manifestation of a fine-tuned computation specific to the sound-localization task. Here it is demonstrated that they rather reflect redundancies present in the natural stimulus.
Taken together, results presented in this thesis suggest that efficient coding is a strategy useful for discovering structures (redundancies) in the input data. Their meaning has to be determined by the organism via environmental feedback.
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Needham, Allison Carissa. "Processing of Tactile Stimuli in Children with Tourette Syndrome and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: An ERP Investigation." Thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1807/35657.
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Purpose: To investigate and characterize sensory sensitivity in Tourette syndrome (TS) through an evaluation of behaviour, perception and processing of tactile stimuli in children with TS and co-morbid Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) compared to typically developing controls (TDC). Methods: Somatosensory evoked P3 potentials were recorded in TS+ADHD and in TDC children aged 6-12 and compared at midline electrodes. Reported sensory sensitivity was
measured using the Sensory Profile, while Semmes-Weinstein filaments were used to determine tactile threshold in the same area stimulated during P3 testing. Results: 13 TS+ADHD and 12 TDC were studied. TS+ADHD children reported significantly higher sensory sensitivity (p=.001) and demonstrated a significantly lower tactile threshold (p=.027) than TDC. Furthermore, the amplitude of electrophysiological responses to repetitive tactile stimuli was significantly larger in TS+ADHD (p=.0009).
Conclusion: TS+ADHD children are significantly more sensitive to tactile stimulation than controls. ERP differences suggest that central processing alterations could mediate sensory
hypersensitivity.
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Gualtieri, Charles J. "Sensory Representation of Social Stimuli in Aromatase Expressing Neurons in the Medial Amygdala." 2021. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/1050.
Full textAbstract:
The ability of animals to sense, interpret, and respond appropriately to social stimuli in their environment is essential for identifying and distinguishing between members of their own species. In mammals, social interactions both within and across species play a key role in determining if an animal will live to pass on its genes to the next generation or else be removed from the gene pool. The result of this selection pressure can be observed in specialized neural circuits that respond to social stimuli and orchestrate appropriate behavioral responses. This highly conserved network of brain structures is often referred to as the Social Behavior Network (SBN). The medial amygdala (MeA) is a central node in the SBN and has been shown to be involved in transforming information from olfactory sensory systems into social and defensive behavioral responses. Previous research has shown that individual neurons in the MeA of anesthetized mice respond selectively to different chemosensory social cues, a characteristic not observed in its upstream relay, the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB). However, the cause of this stimulus selectivity in the MeA is not yet understood. Here, I hypothesize that a subpopulation of neurons in the MeA that express the enzyme aromatase are involved in the sensory representation of social stimuli in awake, behaving animals. To test this hypothesis, I designed and built a novel behavioral apparatus that allows for discrete presentations of social stimuli in a highly controllable and reproducible environment. I then injected the adeno-associated virus (AAV) AAV-Syn-Flex-GCAMP6s into the MeA of Aromatase:Cre transgenic mice and implanted a fiber optic cannula slightly above the injection site. The combination of this transgenic mouse line and conditional AAV caused GCaMP6s expression to be exclusive to aromatase-expressing neurons. By coupling my novel behavioral apparatus to a fiber photometry system, I successfully recorded the moment-to-moment activity of aromatase neurons in the MeA of awake, behaving animals as they investigated various social stimuli. Aromatase neurons in the MeA of adult male mice respond strongly to conspecific social stimuli, including live adult mice, mouse pups, and mouse urine samples. Sniffing and investigative behaviors correlated strongly with increased GCaMP6s signal in aromatase neurons, reflecting increases in their neural activity. Interestingly, after repeated investigations of the same stimuli the activity of aromatase neurons gradually diminished. Presenting a novel stimulus following repeated investigations of a familiar stimulus reinstated some, but not all of the initial GCaMP6s signal. This points to the potential role that aromatase neurons may play in the habituation to social stimuli that are consistently present in their environment. Investigations of predator stimuli did not evoke significant responses from aromatase neurons, nor did investigations of non-social stimuli. These results demonstrate that aromatase expressing neurons in the MeA of awake, behaving animals encode the sensory representation of conspecific social stimuli, and their responses are highly selective to the type of stimulus presented.
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Desrochers, Marcie N. "Sensory stimuli versus edibles as consequences in picture-name training with developmentally handicapped children." 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/1993/29032.
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Cordeiro, Maria Beatriz Henriques. "How physical environment influence creativity: a sensory-based approach." Master's thesis, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10362/69480.
Full textAbstract:
This research aims to study the influence that incongruent (vs congruent) sensory stimuli displayed at the physical work space as an attempt to boost creativity. We designed a between-subject-design experimental study to test our hypotheses where we manipulate sensory cues (e.g., color and smell) to be congruent (e.g., turquoise color and peppermint scent) versus incongruent (e.g., turquoise color and cinnamon scent), and collected data, on different types of creative tasks: convergent (RAT); divergent (AUT) and writing-task. For the experiment eighty-six students voluntarily participated and were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions (incongruent vs congruent sensory stimuli). Our results demonstrated that the presence of two congruent sensory stimuli partially increases convergent creativity, whereas the presence of two incongruent sensory stimuli, even not significant, revealed a tendency of increment on divergent creativity. No results were found for the writing-task. We believe our research is crucial to better understand how work environments (physical cues) can impact creativity and consequently optimize them to produce a higher creative performance
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Onat, Selim. "Sensory Integration under Natural Conditions: a Theoretical, Physiological and Behavioral Approach." Doctoral thesis, 2011. https://repositorium.ub.uni-osnabrueck.de/handle/urn:nbn:de:gbv:700-201109028314.
Full textAbstract:
We can affirm to apprehend a system in its totality only when we know how it behaves under its natural operating conditions. However, in the face of the complexity of the world, science can only evolve by simplifications, which paradoxically hide a good deal of the very mechanisms we are interested in. On the other hand, scientific enterprise is very tightly related to the advances in technology and the latter inevitably influences the manner in which the scientific experiments are conducted. Due to this factor, experimental conditions which would have been impossible to bring into laboratory not more than 20 years ago, are today within our reach.
This thesis investigates neuronal integrative processes by using a variety of theoretical and experimental techniques wherein the approximation of ecologically relevant conditions within the laboratory is the common denominator. The working hypothesis of this thesis is that neurons and neuronal systems, in the sensory and higher cortices, are specifically adapted, as a result of evolutionary processes, to the sensory signals most likely to be received under ecologically relevant conditions. In order to conduct the present study along this line, we first recorded movies with the help of two microcameras carried by cats exploring a natural environment. This resulted in a database of binocular natural movies that was used in our theoretical and experimental studies.
In a theoretical study, we aimed to understand the principles of binocular disparity encoding in terms of spatio-temporal statistical properties of natural movies in conjunction with simple mathematical expressions governing the activity levels of simulated neurons. In an unsupervised learning scheme, we used the binocular movies as input to a neuronal network and obtained receptive fields that represent these movies optimally with respect to the temporal stability criterion. Many distinctive aspects of the binocular coding in complex cells, such as the phase and position encoding of disparity and the existence of unbalanced ocular contributions, were seen to emerge as the result of this optimization process. Therefore we conclude that the encoding of binocular disparity by complex cells can be understood in terms of an optimization process that regulates activities of neurons receiving ecologically relevant information.
Next we aimed to physiologically characterize the responses of the visual cortex to ecologically relevant stimuli in its full complexity and compare these to the responses evoked by artificial, conventional laboratory stimuli. To achieve this, a state-of-the-art recording method, voltage-sensitive dye imaging was used. This method captures the spatio-temporal activity patterns within the millisecond range across large cortical portions spanning over many pinwheels and orientation columns. It is therefore very well suited to provide a faithful picture of the cortical state in its full complexity. Drifting bar stimuli evoked two major sets of components, one coding for the position and the other for the orientation of the grating. Responses to natural stimuli involved more complex dynamics, which were locked to the motion present in the natural movies. In response to drifting gratings, the cortical state was initially dominated by a strong excitatory wave. This initial spatially widespread hyper-excitatory state had a detrimental effect on feature selectivity. In contrast, natural movies only rarely induced such high activity levels and the onset of inhibition cut short a further increase in activation level. An increase of 30% of the movie contrast was estimated to be necessary in order to produce activity levels comparable to gratings. These results show that the operating regime within which the natural movies are processed differs remarkably. Moreover, it remains to be established to what extent the cortical state under artificial conditions represents a valid state to make inferences concerning operationally more relevant input.
The primary visual cortex contains a dense web of neuronal connections linking distant neurons. However the flow of information within this local network is to a large extent unknown under natural stimulation conditions. To functionally characterize these long-range intra-areal interactions, we presented natural movies also locally through either one or two apertures and analyzed the effects of the distant visual stimulation on the local activity levels. The distant patch had a net facilitatory effect on the local activity levels. Furthermore, the degree of the facilitation was dependent on the congruency between the two simultaneously presented movie patches. Taken together, our results indicate that the ecologically relevant stimuli are processed within a distinct operating regime characterized by moderate levels of excitation and/or high levels of inhibition, where facilitatory cooperative interactions form the basis of integrative processes.
To gather better insights into the motion locking phenomenon and test the generalizability of the local cooperative processes toward larger scale interactions, we resorted to the unequalized temporal resolution of EEG and conducted a multimodal study. Inspired from the temporal properties of our natural movies, we designed a dynamic multimodal stimulus that was either congruent or incongruent across visual and auditory modalities. In the visual areas, the dynamic stimulation unfolded neuronal oscillations with frequencies well above the frequency spectrum content of the stimuli and the strength of these oscillations was coupled to the stimuli's motion profile. Furthermore, the coupling was found to be stronger in the case where the auditory and visual streams were congruent. These results show that the motion locking, which was so far observed in cats, is a phenomenon that also exists in humans. Moreover, the presence of long-range multimodal interactions indicates that, in addition to local intra-areal mechanisms ensuring the integration of local information, the central nervous system embodies an architecture that enables also the integration of information on much larger scales spread across different modalities.
Any characterization of integrative phenomena at the neuronal level needs to be supplemented by its effects at the behavioral level. We therefore tested whether we could find any evidence of integration of different sources of information at the behavioral level using natural stimuli. To this end, we presented to human subjects images of natural scenes and evaluated the effect of simultaneously played localized natural sounds on their eye movements. The behavior during multimodal conditions was well approximated by a linear combination of the behavior under unimodal conditions. This is a strong indication that both streams of information are integrated in a joint multimodal saliency map before the final motor command is produced.
The results presented here validate the possibility and the utility of using natural stimuli in experimental settings. It is clear that the ecological relevance of the experimental conditions are crucial in order to elucidate complex neuronal mechanisms resulting from evolutionary processes. In the future, having better insights on the nervous system can only be possible when the complexity of our experiments will match to the complexity of the mechanisms we are interested in.
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Zhou, Chengqian. "Development of semi-automatic data analysis algorithms to examine the influence of sensory stimuli on locomotion and striatal neural activities in rodent models." Thesis, 2021. https://hdl.handle.net/2144/42598.
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Our brains are constantly integrating sensory and movement information as we navigate within our environment. Through millennium of evolution, human has learned to associate sensory information as cues to form motor plans. One example is that for almost all cultures, dance and music are tightly linked together an integrated form of performance and entertainment. However, it is yet unclear how our brain processes sensory information to coordinate a specific movement plan. In this Master Thesis, I investigated the brain region striatum that is known to play crucial roles in movement coordination and habit formation.
To examine the effect of sensory inputs on locomotor behavior and striatal neural activities, we performed calcium imaging from the striatum of head fixed mice during voluntary locomotion. We injected AAV-syn-GCaMP7f virus into the striatum region to express the genetically encoded calcium sensor GCaMP7 in striatal neurons, and used a custom fluorescent microscope to measure intracellular calcium change from hundreds of labelled cells simultaneously. To examine how audio-visual stimulation impact movement behavior, we tracked mice’s speed using a spherical treadmill while applying sustained period of audio-visual stimulation at either 10 Hz or 145 Hz. To quantify the influence of audio-visual stimulation on different locomotion features, I developed several semi-automated algorithms in MATLAB to classify locomotion features, such as stationary periods, motion events, acceleration periods, deceleration period, and motion transitions. Furthermore, I optimized calcium imaging data processing pipelines and correlated striatal neural activity to various locomotion features.
We found that audiovisual stimulation at both 10Hz and 145Hz increased locomotion, characterized as an increase in the percentage of time mice spent in motion events and a corresponding decrease in stationary period. However, only the145Hz stimulation, but not 10Hz stimulation promoted motion onset/offset transitions, and increased acceleration/deceleration probability. These results demonstrate that audiovisual stimulation can modulate locomotor activities in rodent models, and different patterns of audiovisual stimulation can selectively modulate different movement parameters. We also found that audiovisual stimulation increased the firing frequency of most responsive neurons regardless of mice’s movement state, suggesting that sensory information can further increase the excitability of some motion related striatal neurons both when the mice are moving and staying still. These results provide direct evidence that noninvasive audiovisual stimulation can modulate striatal neural activity, suggesting a basis for developing future noninvasive sensory stimulation based exercise and dance therapies for motor disorders that involve the striatum, such as Parkinson's disease. Future analysis of how audiovisual stimulation selectively modulates individual striatal neuron and striatal network during different aspects of movement will provide a more in-depth understanding of how sensory stimulation promote movement.
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Κερασίδου, Ευφροσύνη. "Ο ρόλος των αισθήσεων στην αξία της μάρκας (brand equity) των καλλυντικών προϊόντων : Εμπειρική διερεύνηση : Φαρμακευτικές καλλυντικές κρέμες προσώπου." Thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10889/6222.
Full textAbstract:
Σκοπός της παρούσας έρευνας είναι να μελετήσει πως τα αισθητηριακά ερεθίσματα επηρεάζουν την αντίληψη της ποιότητας μιας καλλυντικής κρέμας προσώπου, την ικανοποίηση, την πίστη και τα συναισθήματα που αναπτύσσει ο καταναλωτής απέναντι στην κρέμα. Πλέον οι καταναλωτές θεωρούν δεδομένα τα λειτουργικά χαρακτηριστικά των προϊόντων και αποζητούν το συναισθηματικό δέσιμο με το προϊόν. Ο σκοπός του μάρκετινγκ των αισθήσεων (sensory marketing) είναι να ενισχύσει το συναισθηματικό δέσιμο των καταναλωτών με τα προϊόντα μέσω της χρήσης των πέντε βασικών αισθήσεων. Δεν έχουν πραγματοποιηθεί ακόμα πολλές έρευνες πάνω στο μάρκετινγκ των αισθήσεων και στο πως επηρεάζει την αντίληψη των καταναλωτών για το προϊόν. Το θεωρητικό εννοιολογικό πλαίσιο της συγκεκριμένης έρευνας προέκυψε από τη συγχώνευση του συμπεριφοριστικού μοντέλου S-O-R (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974) και του εννοιολογικού μοντέλου για το μάρκετινγκ των αισθήσεων της Krishna (2011). Το εργαλείο με το οποίο μελετήθηκε η επίδραση των αισθητηριακών ερεθισμάτων στην αντίληψη της ποιότητας της καλλυντικής κρέμας ήταν ένα ερωτηματολόγιο που μοιράστηκε σε 9 φαρμακεία της Θεσσαλονίκης και συμπληρώθηκε από 154 άτομα. Μέσα από την ανάλυση παραγόντων (factor analysis) προέκυψαν 11 καταναλωτικά προφίλ. Τα ερευνητικά συμπεράσματα υποδεικνύουν πως τα αισθητηριακά ερεθίσματα επηρεάζουν την αντιλαμβανόμενη ποιότητα θετικά, οδηγώντας σε ένα ισχυρό (συναισθηματικό και λογικό) δέσιμο του καταναλωτή με την κρέμα που έχει επιλέξει.The purpose of this study is to explore how sensory stimuli influence emotions associated, perceived quality, satisfaction and loyalty towards a face cream brand. Nowadays consumers believe that the functional attributes of products are granted and look for an emotional attachment with each product. The aim of sensory marketing is to reinforce the attachment between a product and its consumers, through the involvement of human senses. Sensory marketing is yet a new practice, thus the number of studies concerning its effect on brand perception are limited. Two conceptual frameworks, the stimulus-organism-response (S.O.R.) behavioral framework (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974) and the conceptual framework of sensory marketing, (Krishna, 2011), were merged and elaborated to construct the research model of this study. The use of sensory marketing at this study was explored by administrating an anonymous self-completed questionnaire, which was distributed to 154 face cream buyers, within 9 pharmacy stores across Thessaloniki, Greece. For the purposes of the study, an exploratory principal component analysis was conducted. The factor solution identified 11 factors. All factors were labeled, interpreted and discussed in the light of existing knowledge in order to understand better the consumer behavior in relation to sensory stimuli. The findings indicate that sensory stimuli influence brand perception positively leading to a stronger (rational and emotional) bond between the brand and the consumer.
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Mesquita, Carla Sofia Santos Sousa. "Marketing sensorial: estudo do impacto dos estímulos sensoriais na experiência em spas." Master's thesis, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1822/42232.
Full textAbstract:
Dissertação de mestrado em Estudos de GestãoEsta investigação aborda o tema do Marketing Sensorial, que é a ação de adotar diferentes sinais e estímulos sensoriais de forma a criar valor acrescentado na relação da marca com os seus clientes (Hultén, 2011; C. Rodrigues, Hultén, & Brito, 2011). Dado que os estudos na área incidem, principalmente, no estudo de apenas um ou dois sentidos e/ou em estabelecimentos ou bens/produtos específicos, decidiu-se estudar o impacto dos estímulos sensoriais na experiência em spa. Os objetivos principais consistem na identificação do uso de marketing sensorial em spas e na compreensão do efeito dos estímulos sensoriais na perceção da experiência e no comportamento do consumidor. Para tal, realizou-se observação in loco aos spas para melhor compreender e interpretar o uso dos cinco sentidos nos spas e entrevistas semiestruturadas a gestores e coordenadores de spas, por serem os responsáveis pelas estratégias sensoriais que podem desencadear e influenciar os sentimentos e o comportamento do consumidor (Hultén, 2011) e a técnicos/operacionais/terapeutas, por serem as pessoas que estão em contacto direto com os consumidores (Grönroos, 2006), para que fosse possível recolher informação sobre a consciencialização da utilização do marketing sensorial em spas. Além da observação in loco e de entrevistas, também se realizaram inquéritos a indivíduos que já tivessem experienciado pelo menos uma situação em contexto de spa para se compreender a perceção de tal experiência pelos consumidores. Os resultados permitiram concluir que independentemente do posicionamento e do mercado em que os spas estão inseridos, todos usam os cinco sentidos de forma integrada e homogénea, consciente ou inconscientemente, por parte dos responsáveis dos spas. Outra conclusão importante é que os consumidores valorizam sua a envolvência na experiência para se sentirem pertencentes à mesma, dando também relevância ao ambiente e aos cinco sentidos. Assim, quando os consumidores são estimulados pelos cinco sentidos na experiência em spa consideram-nos importantes ou muito importantes para a perceção da experiência sensorial em spa. Desta forma, este estudo fornece contributos teóricos e de gestão que se consideram relevantes, tais como as limitações e sugestões para futuras investigações.
The present study focuses on Sensory Marketing, which is the action to adopt different signs and sensory stimuli to create added value in the brand relationship with its customers (Hultén, 2011; C. Rodrigues, Hultén, & Brito, 2011) Studies in this area are mainly focused on one or two senses and/or specific establishments or goods/products, therefore it was decided to study the impact of sensory stimuli in spa experience. The main aims are to identify the use of sensory marketing in spas and to understand the effects of sensory stimuli in the perception of the experience and consumer behavior. Therefore, on-site observation was held in spas to understand and interpret its use of the five senses and semi-structured interviews with spa managers and coordinators, for being those responsible for sensory strategies that can initiate and influence the feelings and consumer behavior (Hultén, 2011) and technicians/operationalists/therapists, as they are the ones in direct contact with consumers (Grönroos, 2006), and, in order to collect information regarding the awareness of the use of sensory marketing in spas. Moreover, in addition to the on-site observations and interviews, surveys to individuals who had already experienced at least one situation in spa were performed to understand the perception of such experience by consumers. The results evidenced that, regardless the position and market in which the spas are located, spa managers all use the five senses in an integrated and homogeneous way, consciously or unconsciously. Another important conclusion is that consumers value their involvement in spa experiences to feel involved and integrated in it, also valuing the environment and the five senses. Thus, when consumers are stimulated by the five senses in spa experiences, they consider them to be important or very important for the perception of sensory experience in spa. Therefore, this study also provides theoretical and management contributions considered relevant, such as the limitations and suggestions for future research.