Self-efficacy | EPFL Graph Search

In psychology, self-efficacy is an individual's belief in their capacity to act in the ways necessary to reach specific goals. The concept was originally proposed by the psychologist Albert Bandura. Self-efficacy affects every area of human endeavor. By determining the beliefs a person holds regarding their power to affect situations, self-efficacy strongly influences both the power a person actually has to face challenges competently and the choices a person is most likely to make. These effects are particularly apparent, and compelling, with regard to investment behaviors such as in health, education, and agriculture. A strong sense of self-efficacy promotes human accomplishment and personal well-being. A person with high self-efficacy views challenges as things that are supposed to be mastered rather than threats to avoid. These people are able to recover from failure faster and are more likely to attribute failure to a lack of effort. They approach threatening situations with the

Doppelganger-based training: Imitating our virtual self to accelerate interpersonal skills learning

Marion Sandy Curdy, João Pedro de Matos Rodrigues, Maria del Carmen Sandi Perez

Interpersonal skills require mastering a wide range of competencies such as communication and adaptation to different situations. Effective training includes the use of videos in which role models perform the desired behaviours such that trainees can learn through behavioural mimicry. However, new technologies allow new ways of designing training. In the present study, given that virtual reality is emerging as a valuable training setting, we compare two different demonstration conditions within virtual reality by investigating the extent to which the use of doppelgangers as role models can boost trainees' interpersonal skills development as compared to a role model that does not resemble the trainees. We also assess trainees' level of self-efficacy and gender as potential moderators in this relationship. Participants delivered a speech in front of a virtual audience twice. Before delivering their second speech, they watched a role model giving a speech in front of the same audience. The role model was either their doppelganger or an avatar of the same gender depending on the condition they were randomly assigned to. Results showed that the doppelganger-based training was the most beneficial for male trainees low in self-efficacy. These findings have important implications for training design, suggesting that doppelganger-based training might be effective only for a specific subset of trainees.

2021

Does one size fit all? - Towards the optimization and personalization of non-invasive brain stimulation paradigms to enhance motor learning

Laurijn Rianne Draaisma

The acquisition and re-acquisition of motor skills is an important aspect of daily life and in the recovery after a stroke. Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) is a technique that is used to improve motor learning and enhance motor recovery in stroke survivors. Although the current results are promising, the outcomes are heterogeneous with responders and non-responders. This thesis aimed to investigate multiple, novel NIBS strategies to enhance stimulation efficacy and to develop approaches for protocol personalization. These alternative strategies include targeting other areas of the motor network than the primary motor cortex (M1), targeting the brain as a network with the use of multifocal stimulation, and using a variety of stimulation techniques (TMS, tACS, tDCS) to study underlying mechanisms. Study 1 explored the methodological implications of TMS for measuring inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmissions. With the use of TMS, short intracortical inhibition (SICI) and intracortical facilitation (ICF) were measured in healthy young adults. SICI and ICF were studied with different stimulators, waveforms, and current directions using a set of interstimulus intervals. Our findings indicated high comparability among the different stimulation paradigms, except for SICI at 3 ms, which enables data sharing across units and facilitates the conduction of multi-center studies.Study 2 measured the effect of 50 Hz tACS applied to the cerebellum on a novel motor learning task in healthy young adults. Targeting the cerebellum with NIBS is a relatively new field of research with open questions that need to be addressed. Therefore, we explored for the first time the effect of CB-tACS on a motor learning task. Our results did not show an improvement of learning with 50 Hz CB-tACS. We argue that this might have been related to the task and/or the selected stimulation frequency. Therefore, this stimulation paradigm requires further optimization to be effective for motor learning.Study 3 compared multifocal sequential stimulation to monofocal tDCS on motor learning in stroke patients. The multifocal paradigm consisted of an orchestrated M1 â CB stimulation setup, the monofocal paradigm targeted the M1. Our results indicated a significant effect of multifocal M1-CB stimulation, mainly driven by CB-tDCS during the early phase of learning. Moreover, baseline performance and neurophysiology were related to stimulation responsiveness that could potentially lead to biomarkers to predict stimulation efficacy in stroke patients.Study 4 measured the effect of personalized bifocal theta tACS applied to the FPN on motor learning in healthy older adults. Sequence learning has a cognitive component related to working memory (WM) capacity, a process mediated by the FPN. We hypothesized that targeting the FPN might be beneficial for motor learning. tACS to the FPN improved performance, when WM load was high, but not when WM-load was low. Therefore, we conclude that the FPN is a promising new target to enhance motor learning which might be most beneficial for individuals with decreased WM capacity due to age or stroke. In conclusion, this thesis demonstrates that targeting alternative motor network areas, and multifocal stimulation is promising. These results expand on the current knowledge of NIBS and identified open questions that require further examination but could ultimately lead towards enhanced efficacy and the personalization of study protocols.

EPFL2022

PD-1-cis IL-2R agonism yields better effectors from stem-like CD8(+) T cells

Douglas Hanahan, Maria Karagianni, Petra Catalina Schwalie, Mélanie Louise Tichet, Stephan Wullschleger

Expansion and differentiation of antigen-experienced PD-1(+)TCF-1(+) stem-like CD8(+) T cells into effector cells is critical for the success of immunotherapies based on PD-1 blockade(1-4). Hashimoto et al. have shown that, in chronic infections, administration of the cytokine interleukin (IL)-2 triggers an alternative differentiation path of stem-like T cells towards a distinct population of 'better effector' CD8(+) T cells similar to those generated in an acute infection(5). IL-2 binding to the IL-2 receptor alpha-chain (CD25) was essential in triggering this alternative differentiation path and expanding better effectors with distinct transcriptional and epigenetic profiles. However, constitutive expression of CD25 on regulatory T cells and some endothelial cells also contributes to unwanted systemic effects from IL-2 therapy. Therefore, engineered IL-2 receptor beta- and gamma-chain (IL-2R beta gamma)-biased agonists are currently being developed(6-10). Here we show that IL-2R beta gamma-biased agonists are unable to preferentially expand better effector T cells in cancer models and describe PD1-IL2v, a new immunocytokine that overcomes the need for CD25 binding by docking in cis to PD-1. Cis binding of PD1-IL2v to PD-1 and IL-2R beta gamma on the same cell recovers the ability to differentiate stem-like CD8(+) T cells into better effectors in the absence of CD25 binding in both chronic infection and cancer models and provides superior efficacy. By contrast, PD-1- or PD-L1-blocking antibodies alone, or their combination with clinically relevant doses of non-PD-1-targeted IL2v, cannot expand this unique subset of better effector T cells and instead lead to the accumulation of terminally differentiated, exhausted T cells. These findings provide the basis for the development of a new generation of PD-1 cis-targeted IL-2R agonists with enhanced therapeutic potential for the treatment of cancer and chronic infections.

NATURE PORTFOLIO2022