Procesamiento emocional ante estímulos música-color y su respuesta electrofisiológica en personas con depresión

PABLO VALDÉS ALEMÁN (2024, [Tesis de maestría])

Dado el fenómeno del vínculo emocional que existe entre música y color, este

proyecto exploró los posibles efectos terapéuticos en personas con depresión, al

presentarles estímulos combinados de música con color que, en conjunto, evocan

emociones positivas y placenteras. El proyecto se dividió en tres partes, con el fin

de subsanar los vacíos en la literatura. Primero se evaluaron los 37 colores del

Berkeley Color Project como estímulos capaces de evocar emociones y placer,

distinguibles mediante los modelos de asimetría frontal de alfa (FAA) y de theta con

electroencefalografía (EEG). El segundo estudio exploró los posibles efectos

sinérgicos al combinar música y color de emoción congruente –i.e., misma

emoción–, mediante respuestas subjetivas y EEG. Por último, se probó el impacto

de estímulos música-color positivos y placenteros sobre el estado de ánimo de

personas con depresión, a partir de sus respuestas subjetivas y EEG. Se encontró

que los colores brillantes, alegres y placenteros se asocian con una mayor

activación –supresión de alfa– frontal izquierda, de acuerdo con el modelo de FAA.

En lugar de un efecto sinérgico, los hallazgos mostraron un predominio emocional

hacia la música, reafirmando su poder emocional por encima del color. Por último,

los resultados del tercer estudio demostraron una mejora en el estado de ánimo en

las personas con sintomatología depresiva tras la estimulación. Estos resultados

podrían informar a profesionales de la salud mental sobre nuevos métodos

terapéuticos para ayudar a pacientes con depresión, al conjuntar la musicoterapia

con la cromoterapia.

Given the phenomenon of the emotional link between music and color, this project

explored the possible therapeutic effects on people with depression by presenting

them with combined music-color stimuli that collectively evoke positive and pleasant

emotions. The project was divided into three parts to address gaps in the literature.

Firstly, the 37 colors from the Berkeley Color Project were evaluated as stimuli

capable of evoking emotions and pleasure, distinguishable through the frontal alpha

(FAA) and theta asymmetry models using electroencephalography (EEG). The

second study explored the potential synergic effects by combining music and color

of congruent emotion –i.e., the same emotion– using subjective responses and EEG.

Lastly, the impact of positive and pleasant music-color stimuli on the mood of

individuals with depression was tested based on their subjective responses and

EEG. It was found that bright, joyful, and pleasant colors are associated with

increased activation –alpha suppression– in the left frontal region of the scalp,

according to the FAA model. Instead of a synergic effect, the results showed an

emotional predominance towards music, reaffirming its emotional power over color.

Finally, the results of the third study demonstrated an improvement in the mood of

individuals with depressive symptoms following the stimulation. These findings could

inform mental health professionals about new therapeutic methods to assist patients

with depression by combining music therapy with chromotherapy.

MEDICINA Y CIENCIAS DE LA SALUD CIENCIAS MÉDICAS música, color y emoción; patrones de actividad EEG; Berkeley Color Project; musico-cromoterapia; depresión. music, color, and emotion; EEG activity patterns; Berkeley Color Project; music-chromotherapy; depression.

Enhancement of antibiotics antimicrobial activity due to the silver nanoparticles impact on the cell membrane

Roberto Vazquez-Munoz (2019, [Artículo])

The ability of microorganisms to generate resistance outcompetes with the generation of new and efficient antibiotics; therefore, it is critical to develop novel antibiotic agents and treatments to control bacterial infections. An alternative to this worldwide problem is the use of nanomaterials with antimicrobial properties. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been extensively studied due to their antimicrobial effect in different organisms. In this work, the synergistic antimicrobial effect of AgNPs and conventional antibiotics was assessed in Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. AgNPs minimal inhibitory concentration was 10–12 μg mL-1 in all bacterial strains tested, regardless of their different susceptibility against antibiotics. Interestingly, a synergistic antimicrobial effect was observed when combining AgNPs and kanamycin according to the fractional inhibitory concentration index, FICI: <0.5), an additive effect by combining AgNPs and chloramphenicol (FICI: 0.5 to 1), whereas no effect was found with AgNPs and β-lactam antibiotics combinations. Flow cytometry and TEM analysis showed that sublethal concentrations of AgNPs (6–7 μg mL-1) altered the bacterial membrane potential and caused ultrastructural damage, increasing the cell membrane permeability. No chemical interactions between AgNPs and antibiotics were detected. We propose an experimental supported mechanism of action by which combinatorial effect of antimicrobials drives synergy depending on their specific target, facilitated by membrane alterations generated by AgNPs. Our results provide a deeper understanding about the synergistic mechanism of AgNPs and antibiotics, aiming to combat antimicrobial infections efficiently, especially those by multi-drug resistant microorganisms, in order to mitigate the current crisis due to antibiotic resistance. © 2019 Vazquez-Muñoz et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

ampicillin, antibiotic agent, aztreonam, beta lactam antibiotic, biapenem, chloramphenicol, kanamycin, silver nanoparticle, silver nitrate, antiinfective agent, metal nanoparticle, silver, antibiotic sensitivity, antimicrobial activity, Article, bact BIOLOGÍA Y QUÍMICA CIENCIAS DE LA VIDA BIOFÍSICA BIOFÍSICA