View-sensitive ERP repetition effects indicate automatic holistic processing of spatially unattended objects

This study examined the properties of ERP effects elicited by unattended (spatially uncued) objects using a short-lag repetition-priming paradigm. Same or different common objects were presented in a yoked prime-probe trial either as intact images or slightly scrambled (half-split) versions. Behaviourally, only objects in a familiar (intact) view showed priming. An enhanced negativity was observed at parietal and occipito-parietal electrode sites within the time window of the posterior N250 after the repetition of intact, but not split, images. An additional post-hoc N2pc analysis of the prime display supported that this result could not be attributed to differences in salience between familiar intact and split views. These results demonstrate that spatially unattended objects undergo visual processing but only if shown in familiar views, indicating a role of holistic processing of objects that is independent of attention.

Medicated bodies: Mental distress, social media and affect

Social media are increasingly being recruited into care practices in mental health. This paper analyses how a major new mental health social media site (www.elefriends.org.uk) is used when trying to manage the impact of psychiatric medication on the body. Drawing on Henri Bergson's concept of affection, analysis shows that Elefriends is used at particular moments of reconfiguration (e.g. change in dosage and/or medication), periods of self-experimentation (when people tailor their regimen by altering prescriptions or ceasing medication) and when dealing with a present bodily concern (showing how members have a direct, immediate relationship with the site). In addition, analysis illustrates how users face having to structure their communication to try to avoid 'triggering' distress in others. The paper concludes by pointing to the need to focus on the multiple emerging relationships between bodies and social media in mental health due to the ways the latter are becoming increasingly prominent technologies through which to experience the body when distressed.