Discomfort in pedestrian-electric scooter interactions during frontal approaches

Key Points Question What are the types of injuries associated with standing electric scooter use and the characteristics and behaviors of injured patients? Findings In this study of a case series, 249 patients presented to the emergency department with injuries associated with electric scooter use during a 1-year period, with 10.8% of patients younger than 18 years and only 4.4% of riders documented to be wearing a helmet. The most common injuries were fractures (31.7%), head injuries (40.2%), and soft-tissue injuries (27.7%). Meaning In this study, injuries associated with electric scooter use were common, ranged in severity, and suggest low rates of adherence to existing regulations around rider age and low rates of helmet use.

The amygdala plays key roles in emotion and social cognition, but how this translates to face-to-face interactions involving real people remains unknown. Here we found that a patient with complete amygdala lesions lacks any sense of personal space. Furthermore, healthy individuals showed amygdala activation to close personal proximity. The amygdala may be required to trigger the strong emotional reactions normally following personal space violations, thus regulating interpersonal distance in humans.