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The social brain hypothesis approximates the total number of social relationships we are able to maintain at 150. Similar cognitive constraints emerge in several aspects of our daily life, from our mobility to the way we communicate, and might even affect the way we consume information online. Indeed, despite the unprecedented amount of information we can access online, our attention span still remains limited. Furthermore, recent studies have shown that online users are more likely to ignore dissenting information, choosing instead to interact with information adhering to their own point of view. In this paper, we quantitatively analyse users' attention economy in news consumption on social media by analysing 14 million users interacting with 583 news outlets (pages) on Facebook over a time span of six years. In particular, we explore how users distribute their activity across news pages and topics. On the one hand, we find that, independently of their activity, users show a tendency to follow a very limited number of pages. On the other hand, users tend to interact with almost all the topics presented by their favoured pages. Finally, we introduce a taxonomy accounting for users' behaviour to distinguish between patterns of selective exposure and interest. Our findings suggest that segregation of users in echo chambers might be an emerging effect of users' activity on social media and that selective exposure-i.e. the tendency of users to consume information adhering to their preferred narratives-could be a major driver in their consumption patterns.

Abstract Empathy relies on brain systems that support the interaction between an observer’s mental state and cues about the others’ experience. Beyond the core brain areas typically activated in pain empathy studies (insular and anterior cingulate cortices), the diversity of paradigms used may reveal secondary networks that subserve other more specific processes. A coordinate-based meta-analysis of fMRI experiments on pain empathy was conducted to obtain activation likelihood estimates along three factors and seven conditions: visual cues (body parts, facial expressions), visuospatial (first-person, thirdperson), and cognitive (self-, stimuli-, other-oriented tasks) perspectives. The core network was found across cues and perspectives, and common activation was observed in higher-order visual areas. Body-parts distinctly activated areas related with sensorimotor processing (superior and inferior parietal lobules, anterior insula) while facial expression distinctly involved the inferior frontal gyrus. Self- compared to other-perspective produced distinct activations in the left insula while stimulus- versus other-perspective produced distinctive responses in the inferior frontal and parietal lobules, precentral gyrus, and cerebellum. Pain empathy relies on a core network which is modulated by several secondary networks. The involvement of the latter seems to depend on the visual cues available and the observer's mental state that can be influenced by specific instructions.

Stories are often used in health communication because of accumulating evidence of their potential to affect people's attitudes and health behavioral intentions. Similarity between the reader and the story's protagonist appears to positively influence narrative persuasion, but the exact role of similarity on persuasive outcomes is debated, as some research finds clear effects of similarity manipulations whereas others do not. Possibly, these mixed results were found because the similarity manipulations were not always relevant to the topic of the story. We conducted an experiment (N = 582) in which we varied the age and gender of the protagonist, features that were of central relevance to the story's topic, namely breast cancer versus testicular cancer. There were two groups of participants: 324 students (mean age: 21.46 years) and 258 older adults (mean age: 56.83 years). Age similarity (but not gender similarity) had an effect on identification with the protagonist, transportation (i.e. the experience of being absorbed into a story), and the intention to donate, but only for students. For older adults, age or gender of the protagonist did not seem to matter, as nearly no differences in persuasive measures were found. As far as the underlying mechanism is concerned, the results of structural equation modeling showed that the concept of 'perceived similarity' would be a relevant addition to models of narrative persuasion, as it was significantly related to the narrative processes of transportation and identification, which, in turn, predicted attitudes and behavioral intentions, both directly-in the case of transportation-or indirectly, via the emotion of compassion. We conclude that both manipulated and perceived similarity are important for narrative persuasion, and that it should be kept on the research agenda of health communication.

Narratives fundamentally shape the way we remember real-life experiences. However, neuroscientists have only begun to understand how narratives impact the way our brains support memory. In this opinion piece, I illustrate how the hippocampus, a key region of the brain for memory, transforms our experiences into larger narratives in memory. Furthermore, I argue that the hippocampus provides a biological basis for \"intertextuality\" - that is, all experiences or texts may be necessarily understood and remembered in relation to other experiences or texts. An intertextual hippocampus has tangible consequences for our lives and our art.

This paper deals with the question of how contemporary writers negotiate questions of structural violence in their lives and works, through a formal and textual analysis of Meena Kandasamy's Exquisite Cadavers (2019) and Adania Shibli's Minor Detail (2020). Works that represent systematic oppression and violence often fall into the trap of voyeuristic and interrogative readings, that either work to assuage the guilt of the readers through empathy or question the authenticity and truth of the representations, thus discrediting them altogether. I argue that the chosen two novels reflect a foresight of such receptions, and resist them through a play with language and the experimental form of the novels. Keywords: Experimental form, violence, human rights, representation, Palestine, India, contemporary literature

This study stems from a collection of autobiographical narrations collected during a seminar held in February 2018 involving a small group of adults, representing the three major monotheistic religions: Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam. The seminar was organized by the University of Bologna (Department of Arts) in collaboration with the Association for Interreligious Dialogue “Abramo e Pace”. The aim of this paper is to re-examine the autobiographical narratives that emerged from the seminar, with a particular focus on the characteristics of female religious experiences in these religions, in order to identify distinctive trans-religious and transcultural signs. For this analysis, a sub-group of participants were selected, consisting of nine women, three Catholics, three Jews, and three Muslims, mainly between the ages of 35 and 45. The methodology used is a content analysis, which allows for a detailed examination of the narratives shared. From the narratives obtained, the religious education received in childhood and early adolescence emerges as a resource and support for the construction of personal identity regardless of the subsequent life paths taken by the individual. An additional pedagogical/educational theme of interest is represented by the intertwining of transformations of personal religiosity and dynamics of adult transformation, which is present in these narrations. Although the results do not aim for statistical representativeness, it is expected that the analysis will reveal certain constants that could inform subsequent, more systematic research efforts. In particular, it is expected that marriage, motherhood, and the education of children will emerge as moments of reactivation or revitalization of personal religiosity.

Understanding how people process and reflect upon past negative experiences is critical for promoting eudaimonic well-being. This study examined how psychological distance and construal level during autobiographical memory retrieval jointly influence post-recall affect and eudaimonic well-being. Participants retrieved negative autobiographical events initially from a 1st-person perspective and subsequently, on a separate day, from a 3rd-person perspective, thereby increasing psychological distance. During each retrieval, participants elaborated either at a high construal level (reflecting on the event’s broader meaning and life implications) or a low construal level (focusing on contextual details, such as location). After each retrieval, participants evaluated mnemonic characteristics of the recalled events, post-recall affective responses, and current eudaimonic well-being. Baseline measures included depression symptoms, dispositional construal level, and initial eudaimonic well-being. Results showed that high-level construal, compared to low-level construal, enhanced subjective vitality and search for meaning in life, while reduced negative post-recall affect. Shifting from a 1st-person to a 3rd-person perspective decreased emotional intensity and further increased meaning-seeking. Notably, beneficial effects of high construal level on eudaimonic well-being were more pronounced when recalling from the 1st-person (vs. 3rd-person) perspective. These findings offer new insights into Construal Level Theory and offer practical implications for expressive writing and well-being intervention.

This paper delves into the historical nuances of travel narratives, shedding light on the marginalisation of oral traditions within the broader travel writing tradition. Despite the temporal precedence of African travel narratives, they are often relegated to a belated and marginalised status within the travel writing genre, inextricably bound to colonial influences. The primary objective of this paper is to contribute to the decolonisation of the travel writing genre by scrutinising and validating the veracity of an oral travel account documenting one of the most disputed circumnavigations of Africa by ancient Egyptians. Through a thorough examination of historical evidence and sources, this research seeks to establish the factual basis of the Egyptian circumnavigation, thereby reshaping the narrative and affording oral traditions their rightful place in the annals of travel literature. Keywords: Travel Writing, Decolonisation, Africa, Egyptians, oral traditions