title: The use of neurocognitive methods in assessing health communication messages: A systematic review.
abstract: We review 20 studies that examined persuasive processing and outcomes of health messages using neurocognitive measures. The results suggest that cognitive processes and neural activity in regions thought to reflect self-related processing may be more prominent in the persuasive process of self-relevant messages. Furthermore, activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, the superior temporal gyrus and the middle frontal gyrus were identified as predictors of message effectiveness, with the medial prefrontal cortex accounting for additional variance in behaviour change beyond that accounted for by self-report measures. Incorporating neurocognitive measures may provide a more comprehensive understanding of the processing and outcomes of health messages.
authors.affiliation: Queensland University of Technology, Australia.
authors.forename: Sherrie-Anne
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Kaye
authors.affiliation: Queensland University of Technology, Australia.
authors.forename: Melanie J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: White
authors.affiliation: Queensland University of Technology, Australia.
authors.forename: Ioni
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lewis
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D032882:Comprehension; D058015:Health Communication; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008959:Models, Neurological; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D057566:Self Report
keywords: behaviour change; event-related potentials; functional magnetic resonance imaging; health communication; message processing