Шестакова Анна Николаевна

AI credibility and customer satisfaction: a neuroscience-based approach

2026 · ARTICLE · en

Purpose The purpose of this study is to compare the impact of website recommendations and artificial intelligence (AI)-based, voice-enabled recommendations on customer satisfaction with the products recommended using the event-related potential (ERP) of electroencephalograms. Design/methodology/approach By applying source credibility theory and using experimental designs within subject factors, the study analysed the impact of AI and website recommendations based on the “search” and “experience” product types. Findings The behavioural results confirmed the significant effects of both AI and website recommendations on customer satisfaction with the products recommended. The ERP results showed that for a “search” product, users demonstrated a higher emotional response (represented by the P3 amplitude) to voice-enabled AI-recommended products and a higher attentional response (represented by the P1 amplitude) to products recommended by a website. However, the influence of the “experience” product type was ineffective. Originality/value The results contribute to the AI credibility literature by highlighting the effectiveness of AI-powered voice assistant recommendations on customer satisfaction.

ERP Correlates of Semantic Inconsistencies in Deepfakes

2026 · ARTICLE · en

Развитие технологий дипфейков вызывает опасения относительно распространения дезинформации. Новейшие технологии создания дипфейков делают всё более сложным различение реального и поддельного медиаконтента. В текущем исследовании изучалось, как достоверность источника, личностные черты и внутренние установки участников могут влиять на мозговую обработку аудиодипфейков, содержащих аргументы за и против вакцинации от COVID-19. Мы проанализировали электроэнцефалограммы (ЭЭГ) 61 участника, поддерживающего или выступающего против вакцинации от COVID-19. Участникам предъявлялись аудиодипфейки с двумя спикерами — известным врачом (сторонником вакцинации) или известным COVID-диссидентом (противником вакцинации), — произносящими высказывания, конгруэнтные или неконгруэнтные их публично известным позициям. Критические слова, противоречащие публичному мнению врача (сторонника вакцинации), вызывали более выраженный отсроченный N400-подобный ответ с латентностью 500–750 мс по сравнению с критическими словами, соответствующими его публичной позиции. Аналогичного эффекта для критических слов популярной актрисы (противницы вакцинации) обнаружено не было. Достоверность спикера значимо предсказывалась амплитудой компонента N400 на критические слова, противоречащие публичной позиции спикеров, тогда как намерения участников делиться дипфейками предсказывались их нейронными ответами на критические слова, соответствующие публичной позиции спикеров. Наши результаты не только подтверждают предшествующие поведенческие данные о том, что информация обрабатывается по-разному в зависимости от достоверности источника, но и связывают их с мозговыми механизмами семантической обработки дипфейков.

Facial obstructions and baseline correction shape affective computing’s detection of emotion–behavior relationships

2026 · ARTICLE · en

Introduction: Affective computing (AC) is increasingly used to study emotional processes underlying decision-making, yet its methodological validity in capturing spontaneous emotional responses and their behavioral relevance remains debated. In particular, it is unclear how facial obstructions and baseline correction affect the accuracy of AC-based facial emotion measures in capturing emotion–behavior relationships. Methods: The predictive validity of AC-based facial emotion measures was evaluated in charitable decision-making. Participants (N = 88) viewed dog images and made voluntary donations. Facial expressions were recorded using FaceReader (FR); in Group 1 (n = 43), facial electromyography (EMG) electrodes were also applied, while Group 2 (n = 45) had no electrodes. FR results were compared with EMG and self-report (SR) measures, and the effects of facial obstructions (presence of EMG electrodes) and baseline correction on AC accuracy were examined. Results: Donation behavior and SR emotion ratings were equivalent across both groups, whereas FR measurements differed. Corrugator EMG activity negatively correlated with SR and FR valence in both groups, but associations with FR were stronger when facial electrodes were absent, indicating that facial obstructions reduce AC accuracy. Across methods, stronger negative emotions were associated with higher donation amounts. FR valence and happiness correlated with donations across both samples, with stronger associations in the group without EMG electrodes; links with sadness and anger emerged only when facial expressions were unobstructed. Accounting for the prestimulus baseline improved convergence between FR and self-reported emotions and strengthened associations between FR-based valence and anger with donation behavior. Discussion: Results indicate that AC can capture prominent emotion–behavior relationships comparable to EMG and SR when recording conditions are optimal, but accuracy is reduced by facial obstructions and enhanced by baseline correction. These methodological factors are critical to consider in multimodal studies and research linking emotions to behavior.

Decision for self and other modulates risk attitude and electrophysiological processing: evidence from a behavioral and electrophysiological experiment

2026 · ARTICLE · en

Understanding how people make risky decisions for others compared to themselves is central to decision neuroscience. However, the cognitive and neural underpinnings of such self–other shifts in risk preference—and the mechanisms driving individual differences—remain unclear. To address this, we employed a mixed gambling task with feedback in which participants made risky decisions for themselves and for others while electroencephalography was recorded. Although individuals generally exhibited similar patterns across agents, decisions made for others were associated with a higher degree of risk-taking compared to those made for oneself. In terms of individual heterogeneity, predispositions and decision weights derived from the drift-diffusion model accounted for individual differences and agent-specific shifts in risk preferences. The event-related potential (ERP) component P300 was significantly modulated by the agent, valence, and risk attitude. Critically, risk-averse individuals showed larger P300 deflections and greater amplitude differences between the self and other conditions, whereas risk-seeking individuals exhibited smaller and more uniform P300 responses across agents. Together, these findings highlight both shared and distinct behavioral and neural mechanisms underlying risky decision-making for self and others and underscore the potential of ERP components as neural markers of decision-making under risk in social contexts.

Embodied language and early motor restriction: evidence from children with obstetric brachial plexus palsy and arthrogryposis

2026 · ARTICLE · en

Embodied and embedded cognition (EEC) theory proposes that language and cognitive development emerge from bodily interactions with the environment, yet empirical tests of this claim in clinical developmental populations remain rare. This mini-review synthesizes behavioral, electrophysiological, and structural neuroimaging evidence from children with serious early motor disorders—obstetric brachial plexus palsy and arthrogryposis multiplex congenita—which restrict upper limb movement from birth or before, providing a unique opportunity to test EEC predictions in a motor-restricted population. The results reveal a gradient of cognitive and linguistic alterations: from domain-specific deficits in action-verb semantics and verbal fluency, to broader impairments in memory, categorical reasoning, and naturalistic neural processing. Based on these multimodal findings, we propose that early sensorimotor restriction does not only affect motor systems but may shape the neurodevelopmental trajectory of language and other distributed cognitive architectures through mechanisms of embodied grounding.

Neural correlates of the non-optimal price: an MEG/EEG study

2025 · ARTICLE · en

Introduction: Setting the right price is crucial for e􀀀ectively positioning products in the market. Conversely, setting a “non-optimal price”—one that is perceived as much lower or higher than the product’s true market value—can negatively influence consumer decisions and business results. Methods: We conducted two electroencephalography (EEG) studies and one magnetoencephalography (MEG) study to investigate brain mechanisms underlying the perception of prices during a price judgment task. In each trial, participants were exposed to a mobile phone image (iPhone, Nokia, or Xiaomi) followed by a price, and instructed to judge whether the price was high or low based on a target word (“cheap” or “expensive”). Results: In both EEG experiments, we found a strong N400-like response to the incongruent target words following prices that substantially di􀀀ered fromthe real market value of themobile phone. The MEG experiment extended these findings by localizing the brain source of the price-related, M400-like response, the magnetic counterpart to the N400 component, in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) implicated in value-based and reward-based learning, respectively. Our results demonstrate that both the brain sources and the timing of the price-related M400 response di􀀀ered from those of the standard M400 evoked by semantically incongruent words. Discussion: Overall, our results suggest that the N400-like response can serve as a neural marker of price-product incongruity, with potential applications in consumer research.

Verbal fluency and semantic association deficits in children with in birth nonprogressive neuromuscular diseases

2025 · ARTICLE · en

Introduction: The relationship between motor and cognitive skills is a pivotal issue in neuroscience, with embodied cognition theory asserting that bodily actions and experiences play a vital role in cognitive processing. This relevance is particularly noted in children with severe motor disorders (MD) from birth, highlighting a need to explore how these disorders may impede cognitive functions. Methods: In this study, we assessed verbal fluency, a critical component of speech function, in 68 children aged 7 to 15. This group consisted of 36 children with motor disorders, specifically those diagnosed with obstetric brachial plexus palsy (OBPP, n = 22) or arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC, n = 14), and 32 healthy control children. We compared levels of verbal fluency, action/verbal naming, and the development of semantic associations between the two groups. Results: The findings revealed that children with motor impairments exhibited significantly lower performance in tasks measuring verbal fluency and semantic association compared to the control group. Mainly, MD children produced fewer words during verbal fluency tasks and demonstrated reduced semantic associations. Interestingly, MD children with unilateral limb impairment outperformed those with bilateral impairment on semantic association tasks. Discussion: These results suggest that the cognitive deficits observed in children with motor impairments can be attributed to less engagement with their physical environment, which influences their ability to perceive and manipulate objects differently based on their level of impairment. Additionally, the findings underscore how social and cultural contexts may be affected by motor impairments. Overall, our study supports the concept of embodied cognition, demonstrating that delays in motor skill development among children with OBPP and AMC can harm their cognitive functions.

Time-Frequency Representations in response to true and fake news: Pilot study

2025 · CHAPTER · en

Neurophysiological study of consumer emotional reactions in a simulated multisensory retail environment

2025 · ARTICLE · en

SD analysis identified cross-modal associations between sensory stimuli and retail zones, allowing refinement of semantic positioning. VR experiments revealed that HRV significantly increased in pleasant environments, indicating enhanced parasympathetic activation. HR and EDA showed no significant correlation with emotional valence, though both displayed trends toward reduction in pleasant conditions.

Opposing effects of sugar-free claims on perceived healthiness and sweetness reduce consumers’ willingness to pay for sugar-free products

2025 · ARTICLE · en

The results suggest that, controlling for familiarity with the product, sugar-free labels significantly increased the willingness to pay due to the perception of sugar-free products as healthier than sugar-containing ones. However, this positive effect was overridden by a significant decrease in perceived tastiness and sweetness of products labeled as sugar-free compared to sugar-containing ones, which in turn led to a reduction in the willingness to pay. The overall effect of the label on the willingness to pay was, thus, insignificant. Additionally, we show that the effect of the label on perceived tastiness was fully mediated by perceived sweetness. Conclusion: The opposing effects of the label on subjective product perceptions may be limiting the efficiency of sugar-free claims in changing consumer choices towards healthier food options.