Anoushiravan Zahedi

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Anoushiravan verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• Dr. rer. nat.
• PostDoc Fellow at University of Münster

Both the absence of a predicted stimulus and the unexpected presentation of another stimulus result in increased activation in the areas processing the stimuli. These signals are termed negative and positive prediction errors, respectively. Here, we showed that both types of prediction errors can occur simultaneously and independently of stimulus r...

Recently, it has been suggested that brain dysconnectivity in patients with schizophrenia contributes to the wide-ranging cognitive deficits that characterize the disorder. Graph theoretical analysis offers a unique method for studying how architectural alterations in large-scale brain networks may contribute to cognitive impairments in these patie...

The ongoing obesity epidemic is an indicator that traditional efforts towards diet change are insufficient, and interventions focusing mainly on restrictions of unhealthy food are of limited success. Therefore, approaches targeting food preferences should be integral in counteracting the current epidemic. However, food preferences are affected by a...

Motion information has been argued to be central to the subjective segmentation of observed actions. Concerning object-directed actions, object-associated action information might as well inform efficient action segmentation and prediction. The present study compared the segmentation and neural processing of object manipulations and equivalent doug...

Prediction errors (PEs) function as learning signals. It is yet unclear how varying compared to repetitive PEs affect episodic memory in brain and behavior. The current study investigated cerebral and behavioral effects of experiencing either multiple alternative versions (“varying”) or one single alternative version (“repetitive”) of a previously...

Hypnosis is an effective intervention with proven efficacy that is employed in clinical settings and for investigating various cognitive processes. Despite their practical success, no consensus exists regarding the mechanisms underlying well-established hypnotic phenomena. Here, we suggest a new framework called the Simulation-Adaptation Theory of...

Even though actions we observe in everyday life seem to unfold in a continuous manner, they are automatically divided into meaningful chunks, that are single actions or segments, which provide information for the formation and updating of internal predictive models. Specifically, boundaries between actions constitute a hub for pre­dictive processin...

Cognitive dysfunction constitutes a core characteristic of schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SZ). Specifically, deficits in updating generative models (i.e., cognitive flexibility) and shielding against distractions (i.e., cognitive stability) are considered critical contributors to cognitive impairment in these patients. Here, we examined the stru...

The brain's structural network follows a hierarchy that is described as rich club (RC) organization, with RC hubs forming the well‐interconnected top of this hierarchy. In this study, we tested whether RC hubs are involved in the processing of hierarchically higher structures in stimulus sequences. Moreover, we explored the role of previously sugge...

Introduction Converging neurobiological and epidemiological evidence indicates that exposure to traumatic events in the early stages of development, that is, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), negatively affects the likelihood of being involved in violent behavior later in life. These problems are hypothesized to be mediated by the disruption of...

Current theories suggest that altering choices requires value modification. To investigate this, normal-weight female participants' food choices and values were tested before and after an approach-avoidance training (AAT), while neural activity was recorded during the choice task using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). During AAT, parti...

The persistence of food preferences, which are crucial for diet-related decisions, is a significant obstacle to changing unhealthy eating behavior. To overcome this obstacle, the current study investigates whether posthypnotic suggestions (PHSs) can enhance food-related decisions by measuring food choices and subjective ratings. After assessing hyp...

Irving Kirsch is a leading figure in the field of psychological science who has advanced our understanding of hypnosis in key respects that have withstood the tests of time and replication. We honor his prodigious contributions over his distinguished career and extend his response expectancy theory in an integrative model that encompasses predictiv...

In the obesogenic environments governing modern societies, the importance of well-established behavior in food choices is undeniable. Approach-avoidance training (AAT) is a nonreinforced behavioral modification method successfully impacting behavior as shown in diverse abnormal behaviors, such as alcohol or nicotine consumption. However, the effect...

Current theories suggest that altering choices requires value modification. To investigate this, normal-weight participants’ food choices and values were tested before and after an approach-avoidance training (AAT), while neural activity was recorded during the choice task using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). During AAT, participants...

Food preferences are crucial for diet-related decisions, which substantially impact individual health and global climate. However, the persistence of unfavorable food preferences is a significant obstacle to changing eating behavior. Here we explored the effects of posthypnotic suggestions (PHS) on food-related decisions by measuring food choices,...

Individuals differ in their responsiveness to hypnotic suggestions. However, defining and measuring hypnotizability is contentious because standardized scales, such as the Harvard group scale (HGSHS:A), measure a mixture of general suggestibility and its alteration due to hypnotic induction (hypnotizability). Exploratory factor analyses (FA) of sta...

Exekutive Funktionen (EF) sind eine Gruppe von Top-Down-Prozessen, die in neuartigen Situationen eingesetzt werden, um neue Trigger-Response-Assoziationen herzustellen oder vorhandene Handlungsoptionen an neue Situationen anzupassen. Obwohl EF erschöpfend untersucht wurden, bleiben wichtige Fragen offen. Beispiele dafür sind (a) Sind Exekutivfunkti...

Individuals differ in their responsiveness to (post-)hypnotic suggestions. However, defining and measuring hypnotizability is contentious because standardized scales, such as the Harvard group scale (HGSHS:A), measure a mixture of general-suggestibility and its increase due to hypnotic induction (hypnotic-suggestibility). Exploratory factor analysi...

Hypnotic and posthypnotic suggestions are frequently and successfully implemented in behavioral, neurocognitive, and clinical investigations and interventions. Despite abundant reports about the effectiveness of suggestions in altering behavior, perception, cognition, and subjective sense of agency (SoA), there is no consensus about the neurocognit...

Updating is an essential executive function (EF), responsible for storing, retrieving, and substituting information in working memory (WM). Here we investigated whether posthypnotic suggestions (PHS) given to high-hypnotizable participants can enhance updating in WM and measured neural correlates of the observed effects by recording event-related b...

The preference for high-over low-calorie food and difficulties in inhibiting the desire for high-calorie food are important factors involved in unhealthy food choices. Here, we explored posthypnotic suggestions (PHS), aiming to increase the desire for vegetables and fruits, as a possible new tool to induce a preference for low-calorie food. Followi...

Working memory (WM) or updating is one of the most pivotal executive functions. Updating is responsible for refreshing short-term memory to keep its content relevant for the task at hand. Most of the numerous studies assessing neural underpinnings of updating function focused on the n-back task. In order to generalize these findings, we utilized a...

In the Stroop task color words are shown in various print colors. When print colors are named or classified with button presses, interference occurs if word meaning is color-incongruent and facilitation if it is congruent. Although the Stroop effects in vocal and manual task versions are similar, it is unclear whether the underlying mechanisms are...

Functional Loci of Verbal and Manual Stroop Effects and their Reduction by Posthypnotic Suggestions: EEG and ERP Analyses

ELIMINATING STROOP EFFECTS WITH POST-HYPNOTIC INSTRUCTIONS: BRAIN MECHANISMS INFERRED FROM EEG OSCILLATION

The classic Stroop task demonstrates the persistent and automatic effects of the meaning of color words that are very hard to inhibit when the task is to name the word color. Post-hypnotic instructions may enable highly-hypnotizable participants to inhibit the automatic access to word meaning. Here we compared the consequences of hypnosis alone and...