Natalia Trujillo

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor at University of Antioquia

There is a growing awareness regarding the potential mental health repercussions stemming from war-related trauma experienced by both civilians and veterans. However, the existing literature has thus far overlooked a crucial aspect: how observable psychological distress may or may not support claims of victimhood. To address this issue, we conducte...

Algorithms are involved in decisions ranging from trivial to significant, but people often express distrust toward them. Research suggests that educational efforts to explain how algorithms work may help mitigate this distrust. In a study of 1,921 participants from 20 countries, we examined differences in algorithmic trust for low-stakes and high-s...

BACKGROUND Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is the most prevalent cause of dementia globally. Because of ageing populations and limited access to treatments, there is a pressing need for innovative cognitive markers supporting timely preventive interventions. This study introduces NavegApp, an innovative Serious Game (SG) for assessing Spatial Cognition (S...

Background Alzheimer disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia worldwide. With aging populations and limited access to effective treatments, there is an urgent need for innovative markers to support timely preventive interventions. Emerging evidence highlights spatial cognition (SC) as a valuable source of cognitive markers for AD. This study p...

As armed conflict can influence social behavior, exposed individuals would experience modulated executive functioning, crucial to regulating aggressive responses. Since it is still unclear whether there is an association, this study examines the relationship between performance in executive functions and expression of reactive and proactive aggress...

As armed conflict can influence social behavior, exposed individuals would experience modulated executive functioning, crucial to regulating aggressive responses. Since it is still unclear whether there is an association, this study examines the relationship between performance in executive functions and expression of reactive and proactive aggress...

Resumen En esta propuesta de política se plantea un modelo de apropia-ción social del conocimiento en políticas públicas en salud desde la universidad, en el que el sustrato académico son las políticas públicas mientras que el eje articulador es la apropiación social del conocimiento. En este capítulo se presenta un recorrido his-tórico por las pol...

Over the past decade, research using virtual reality and serious game-based instruments for assessing spatial navigation and spatial memory in at-risk and AD populations has risen. We systematically reviewed the literature since 2012 to identify and evaluate the methodological quality and risk of bias in the analyses of the psychometric properties...

In January 2023, the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) at UCSF hosted an online salon to discuss the relationship between fairness and brain health equity. We aimed to address two primary questions: first, how is fairness perceived by the public, and how does it manifest in societal constructs like equity and justice? Second, what are the neurob...

Algorithms have become ubiquitous in our day-to-day activities. Their presence ranges from low-stakes decisions such as what music we should listen to, to high-stakes decisions regarding promotion decisions. Despite the frequency and range with which we interact with algorithms, academic research, as well as public outcries, suggest that humans oft...

EEG-ERP social-cognitive studies with healthy populations commonly fail to provide significant evidence due to low-quality data and the inherent similarity between groups. We propose a multiple kernel learning-based approach to enhance classification accuracy while keeping the traceability of the features (frequency bands or regions of interest) as...

Heart failure (HF) is a significant clinical problem and an important public health issue due to the morbidity and mortality that it causes, especially in a population that is aging and affected by social stressors such as armed conflict. We aim to describe the inequalities and trends of HF mortality by educational level in Colombia between 1999 an...

The Colombian armed conflict has affected in some degree its entire population. Health authorities require markers to determine this exposure and provide proper mental-health interventions. Unsupervised learning techniques allow clustering subjects with similar features. Here, we propose a novel methodology to automatically finds the features that...

This study sought to evaluate the roles of and interactions between cognitive processes that have been shown to exhibit impact from socioeconomic status (SES) and living conditions in predicting social adaptation (SA) in a population of adults living in socially vulnerable conditions. Participants included 226 people between the ages of 18 and 60 w...

Following theories of emotional embodiment, the facial feedback hypothesis suggests that individuals’ subjective experiences of emotion are influenced by their facial expressions. However, evidence for this hypothesis has been mixed. We thus formed a global adversarial collaboration and carried out a preregistered, multicentre study designed to spe...

Emotional processing (EP) of ex-combatants of illegal armed groups plays a significant role in a successful reintegration into society. But determining the links between EP and brain activity in this population is still an open issue due to the subtle physiological differences observed between them and civilians. Consequently, in this work we propo...

Background Exposure to armed conflict has been associated with negative mental health consequences. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of generalised anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder among migrants exposed to armed conflict. Methods In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched online data...

Emotional processing (EP) of ex-combatants of illegal armed groups plays a significant role in a successful reintegration into society. But determining the links between EP and brain activity in this population is still an open issue due to the subtle physiological differences observed between them and civilians. Consequently, in this work we propo...

This study sought to evaluate the roles of and interactions between cognitive processes that have been shown to exhibit impact from socioeconomic status (SES) and living conditions in predicting social adaptation (SA) in a population of adults living in socially vulnerable conditions. Participants included 226 people between the ages of 18 and 60 w...

Armed conflict impacts individuals at psychological level by affecting the mechanisms of information processing, opinion formation, and decision-making. By means of a computer-based Implicit Association Test (IAT), we tested intergroup prejudices of 258 war victims, former guerrillas and paramilitaries, and receiving communities in Colombia. We fou...

Background Populations exposed to Armed Conflict Experiences (ACE) show different levels of impact in their mental health (i.e. clinical and positive components); however, there is limited evidence related to mental health of general population (civilians not classified as victims) exposed to ACE. Government guided mental health assessments exclude...

The Reactive-Proactive aggression Questionnaire (RPQ) evaluates the construct of intrinsic motivation of aggression and has been tested in adults exposed to armed conflicts. We aim to validate the structure and reliability of internal consistency of the RPQ in Colombian population exposed to armed conflicts. We start by evaluating the two-dimension...

Threatening stimuli seem to capture attention more swiftly than neutral stimuli. This attention bias has been observed under different experimental conditions and with different types of stimuli. It remains unclear whether this adaptive behaviour reflects the function of automatic or controlled attention mechanisms. Additionally, the spatiotemporal...

Threatening stimuli seem to capture attention more swiftly than neutral stimuli. This attention bias has been observed under different experimental conditions and with different types of stimuli. It remains unclear whether this adaptive behaviour reflects the function of automatic or controlled attention mechanisms. Additionally, the spatiotemporal...

Purpose: Although suicide rates of prison populations and incidence factors have been reported for high-income countries, data from low- and middle-income regions are lacking. The purpose of the study was to estimate suicide rates among prison populations in South America, to examine prison-related factors, and to compare suicide rates between pris...

Strong group identities arise in intergroup conflict scenarios and perpetuate sectarian violence even in post-conflict scenarios. In particular, out-group negative implicit associations are predictors of decreased intergroup forgiveness, as well as increased distrust and aggression against the out-group. Thus, the presence of implicit intergroup (i...

Background: Most of the population exposed to armed conflict experiences (ACE) live in low-income countries with limited resources for social investment and mental health. Populations exposed to ACE (e.g. victims and ex-combatants) show different levels of affectation in their mental health. In this work, we aim to identify relationships between di...

Objective: To explore the correlations between behavior activation and inhibition systems (BAS/ BIS) and executive functions in ex-combatants of the Colombian armed conflict. Methodology:Observational, exploratory study, with a sample of 39 ex-combatants belonging to the “High Counseling of the Presidency for Reintegration” program, residents in An...

Embodied cognition research on Parkinson's disease (PD) points to disruptions of frontostriatal language functions as sensitive targets for clinical assessment. However, no existing approach has been tested for crosslinguistic validity, let alone by combining naturalistic tasks with machine-learning tools. To address these issues, we conducted the...

Background: In 1990, Latin American countries committed to psychiatric reforms including psychiatric bed removals. Aim of the study was to quantify changes in psychiatric bed numbers and prison population rates after the initiation of psychiatric reforms in Latin America. Methods: We searched primary sources to collect numbers of psychiatric bed...

Psychological approaches to the study of armed conflict have focused on analyzing post-traumatic stress outcomes, and on evaluating the intensity of exposure to violent confrontation. Nevertheless, psychometrically valid tools required for measuring these traumatic experiences are scarce To validate the Extreme Experiences scale (EX²) for armed con...

The facial feedback hypothesis suggests that an individual’s subjective experience of emotion is influenced by their facial expressions. Researchers, however, currently face conflicting narratives about whether this hypothesis is valid. A large replication effort consistently failed to replicate a seminal demonstration of the facial feedback hypoth...

Ex-combatants often exhibit atypical Emotional Processing (EP) such as reduced emphatic levels and higher aggressive attitudes. Social Cognitive Training (SCT) addressing socio-emotional components powerfully improve social interaction among Colombian ex-combatants. However, with narrow neural evidence, this study offers a new testimony. A sample o...

Executive and cognitive processes constitute an important mechanism to respond to different social demands that people experiment in everyday life. Neuropsychological approaches have evaluated these mechanisms in people with brain injury, mental and behavioral disorders, and recently, in nonclinical populations such as war/armed conflict ex-combata...

Los estudiantes universitarios del área de la salud describen una mayor prevalencia de sintomatología depresiva y ansiosa asociada a fallas en su rendimiento académico. La comprensión de esta relación es crucial para la implementación de intervenciones en salud mental. Este trabajo pretende determinar la prevalencia de sintomatología depresiva y an...

RESUMEN Objetivo Analizar el comportamiento de los costos médicos directos en relación al número de intentos de suicidio y comparar los costos de atención cognitivo-conductual respecto al tratamiento convencional. Métodos Se cuantificaron los costos por prestación de servicios hospitalarios por intento de suicidio en 248 pacientes con diagnóstico...

Being involved in war experiences may have severe consequences in mental health. This exposure has been associated in Colombian ex-combatants with risk of proactive aggression modulating emotional processing. However, the extent of the cognitive processes underlying aggressive behavior is still an open issue. In this work, we propose a SVM-based pr...

Event-related potentials (ERP) help understanding neural activity related to both sensory and cognitive processes. But due to their low SNR, EEG signals must be processed to obtain the ERP waveform. Such a processing can be carried using a number of toolboxes that may provide different results on further analyses. Here, we present an experimental d...

One of the foundational promises of deliberation in contemporary democracies was the transformation of citizen’s preferences by the force of the better arguments. However, deliberation has proved so far to be ineffective to promote intergroup changes for the better in terms of attitudes. As a result, evidence shows that even discussions lying relat...

The reincorporation process of Colombian ex-combatants is hindered by their chronic exposure to violence, which affects their Emotional Processing (EP). Characterizing their EP will contribute to their reinsertion. The objective of this work is to define an EEG-based brain connectivity approach to identify differences in EP between Colombian ex-com...

Resumen Algunos expertos han advertido el carácter contrainsurgente de las Fuerzas Militares colombianas (F.F.M.M), anclado al discurso de la Doctrina de Seguridad Nacional que permeó el accionar de las fuerzas armadas de los Estados latinoamericanos en el contexto de la Guerra Fría. La implantación de dicha doctrina ha tenido como corolario la ide...

How empathic are battle-experienced war veterans and demobilized ex-combatants? Individuals who have participated in war-related violence tend to show an increased risk of mental health problems, which makes their readaptation to postconflict civilian life much more difficult. This study is the first systematic attempt to evaluate whether war exper...

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) as a disconnection syndrome disrupts both brain information sharing and memory binding functions. The extent to which these two phenotypic expressions are shared pathophysiological mechanisms remains unknown. Objective: To unveil the electrophysiological correlates of integrative memory impairments in AD towa...

Emotional processing (EP) is crucial for the elaboration and implementation of adaptive social strategies. EP is also necessary for the expression of social cognition and behavior (SCB) patterns. It is well-known that war contexts induce socio-emotional atypical functioning, in particular for those who participate in combats. Thus, ex-combatants re...

This paper presents a framework to characterize the emotional processing of Colombian ex-combatants from illegal groups. The classification process is performed using EEG-ERP data and behavioral features from psychological tests. The results show that ex-combatant and civilian populations can be automatically separated using supervised techniques....

Emotional processing (EP) is a complex cognitive function necessary to successfully adjust to social environments where we need to interpret and respond to cues that convey threat or reward signals. Ex-combatants have consistently shown atypical EP as well as poor social interactions. Available reintegration programs aim to facilitate the re-adapta...

Emotional processing (EP) is a complex cognitive function necessary to successfully adjust to social environments where we need to interpret and respond to cues that convey threat or reward signals. Ex-combatants have consistently shown atypical EP as well as poor social interactions. Available reintegration programs aim to facilitate the re-adapta...

Attention is biased towards threat-related stimuli. In three experiments, we investigated the mechanisms, processes, and time course of this processing bias. An emotional flanker task simultaneously presented affective or neutral pictures from the international affective picture system database either as central response-relevant stimuli or surroun...

Objectives: The worldwide spread of Parkinson’s disease (PD) calls for sensitive and specific measures enabling its early (or, ideally, preclinical) detection. Here, we use language measures revealing deficits in PD to explore whether similar disturbances are present in asymptomatic individuals at risk for the disease. Methods: We administered exec...

Objectives: The worldwide spread of Parkinson's disease (PD) calls for sensitive and specific measures enabling its early (or, ideally, preclinical) detection. Here, we use language measures revealing deficits in PD to explore whether similar disturbances are present in asymptomatic individuals at risk for the disease. Methods: We administered e...

Action verbs are critically embodied in motor brain networks. In Parkinson’s disease (PD), damage to the latter compromises access to such words. However, patients are not fully incapable of processing them, as their performance is far from floor level. Here we tested the hypothesis that action-verb processing in PD may rely on alternative disembod...

Emotional processing of ex-combatants is affected by chronic exposure to violent events. For a successful reintegration into society, it is necessary to discriminate their brain responses from civilian people, as a first stage to develop treatment strategies. This paper presents a comparative analysis between a Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network...

To assess the impact of Parkinson’s disease (PD) on spontaneous discourse, we conducted computerized analyses of brief monologues produced by 51 patients and 50 controls. We explored differences in semantic fields (via latent semantic analysis), grammatical choices (using part-of-speech tagging), and word-level repetitions (with graph embedding too...

Objective: The worldwide spread of Parkinson’s disease (PD) calls for sensitive and specific measures enabling its early (or, ideally, preclinical) detection. Here we employ language measures revealing deficits in PD to explore whether similar disturbances are present in asymptomatic individuals at risk for the disease. Methods: We administered exe...

Deficits in visual short-term memory (VSTM) binding have been proposed as an early and specific marker for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, no studies have explored the neural correlates of this domain in clinical categories involving prodromal stages with different risk levels of conversion to AD. We assessed underlying electrophysiological modu...

The Republic of Colombia has a long-standing history of internal armed conflict, further complicated by the ideological assumptions underlying their war. In recent years, its government designed the Program for Reincorporation to Civilian Life (Programa para la Reincorporación a la Vida Civil, PRVC), aiming demobilization of thousands of insurgents...

Several studies have recently shown that basal ganglia (BG) deterioration leads to distinctive impairments in the domains of syntax, action verbs, and action semantics. In particular, such disruptions have been repeatedly observed in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. However, it remains unclear whether these deficits are language-specific and whet...

INTRODUCTION. The cognitive disorders in Parkinson's disease (PD) have traditionally been associated with the presence of dementia in later stages of the disease. Recent studies, however, consider that cognitive impairment can appear as of early stages. Knowing the cognitive profile of PD furthers our understanding of the clinical phenotype, making...

In this work, the neural correlates of emotional processing in Colombian ex-combatants with different empathy profiles were compared to normal controls matched for age, gender and educational level. Forty ex-combatants and 20 non ex-combatants were recruited for this study. Empathy levels as well as executive functions were measured. Empathy level...

Among the techniques for measuring brain response, Electroencephalography (EEG) remains as the most popular for acquiring electrical brain activity over time. Currently, Event Related Potentials (ERPs) are used to detect electrophysiological responses of the brain due to a stimulus. They are usually measured by EEG due to its high temporal resoluti...

Introduction: Empathy is one of the main concepts of in social neurosciences. It is defined as a trait with multiple dimensions allowing individuals to place themselves in the emotional states of others. Colombia has an irregular, internal and long-lasting armed conflict which has been increasing its cruelty levels. Objectives: to assess the emp...

Recent studies suggest that action-verb processing is particularly affected in early stage Parkinson's disease (PD), highlighting the potential role of subcortical areas in language processing and in the semantic integration of actions. However, this disorder-related language impairment is frequently unrecognized by clinicians and often remains unt...

Introduction: Empathy is one of the main concepts of in social neurosciences. It is defined as a trait with multiple dimensions allowing individuals to place themselves in the emotional states of others. Colombia has an irregular, internal and long-lasting armed conflict which has been increasing its cruelty levels. Objectives: to assess the empath...

Due to its functional association to executive functioning, the study of the morphological configuration of prefrontal cortex (PFC) in neurodevelopmental disorders is of great relevance in neuropsychology. One robust example comes from the neuroimaging literature in Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Our study aimed to examine the sen...

Gestures should play a role in second language comprehension, given their importance in conveying contextual information. In this study, the N400 and the LPC were evaluated in a task involving the observation of videos showing utterances accompanied by gestures. Students studying advanced (G-High participants) and basic German (G-Low participants)...

Objective: To analyze the relationship, by comparison and correlation, between executive function (EF) and intellectual capacity (IC) in clever children (CC) and Average Intelligence Quotient children (AIQC), aged 7 to 11 years, and living in Medellín - Colombia. Patients and Methods: a non-randomized sample of 62 children was selected. The sample...

ADHD is a neuropsychiatric disorder including several impairments in basic neuropsychological and physiological processes. Recently, some cognitive dysfunctions have been recognized as endophenotypes. Sustained attention has been evaluated using behavioral recordings and ERPs. Here ERPs were elicited, using a continuous performance task (CPT) run i...

La función ejecutiva (FE) es una actividad cognitiva, cuyo estudio se ha enfocado desde diversos modelos, lo que ha generado objetos teóricos que en ocasiones pudieran representar operaciones mentales distintas en cada caso. En este artículo se hace una referencia general de cada uno de estos modelos. Se comenta la relación entre la FE y la activid...

Several cognitive impairments related with conduct disorder (CD) severity have been reported. The present study attempted to determine the differences between groups of adolescent offenders (AO) with mild and severe CD and adolescent non-offenders (ANO) without CD. The sample was composed of 228 participants aged 12 to 16 years old, grouped in 117...

Resumen Se ha postulado que las alteraciones cognitivas en los jóvenes con trastorno disocial de la conducta (TDC) pudieran relacionarse con la gravedad de los sínto-mas. Se buscó determinar las diferencias entre grupos de adolescentes varones infractores [AI] con TDC grave y leve con un grupo de adolescentes no infractores [ANI] -sin TDC. La muest...