bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of Control Over Aversive Stimulation and Type A Behavior on Cardiovascular and Plasma Catecholamine Responses
Authors: Contrada Richard J. , Glass David C. , Krakoff Lawrence R. , Krantz David S. , Kehoe Kathleen , Isecke William , Collins Carla , Elting Ellen
Published: February 2007

Cardiovascular, plasma catecholamine, and behavioral effects of control over aversive events were studied in 87 Type A and B male adults. Subjects performed a choice reaction time (RT) task during which they received loud noise bursts and/or electric shocks on designated trials. About half of the cases were told they could avoid noise and shock by attaining a predetermined criterion of RT speed (Contingency). The remaining half were instructed that noxious stimulation would be delivered randomly, irrespective of their performance (No Contingency). Half of the cases in each treatment were exposed to high frequency of aversive stimulation (High FAS), whereas the remaining half received low frequency of such stimulation (Low FAS). Within Contingency, High and Low FAS were designed to signify failure and success, respectively. Aversive stimulation in No Contingency was gratuitous and, therefore, did not convey information about performance. Relative to No Contingency, the Contingency treatment induced greater increases in RT speed, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and plasma epinephrine. Differential FAS did not potentiate these differences. It also was found that the Type A subjects had higher systolic blood pressure and heart rate responses than Type B's. The prediction that Contingency (particularly with High FAS) would elicit greater physiologic and behavioral hyperresponsiveness in A's than B's received some support in the data for RT speed and plasma NE. Findings were discussed in terms of sympathetic activation of hemodynamic changes under conditions of active coping. Consideration was given to the role of the sympathetic nervous system and Type A behavior in cardiovascular disease.
Experimenter Expectancy Effects in Frontal EMG Conditioning
Authors: Segreto‐Bures Joyce , Kotses Harry
Published: February 2007

Nonspecific factors such as placebo or expectancy effects may materially influence therapeutic outcome in EMG relaxation training. Yet, controlling for the expectations of experimenters has received little attention even though Rosenthal's Experimenter Expectancy Effect is well‐documented. This study examined the effects of experimenter expectancy on frontal EMG conditioning. During training, experimenters were given either no expectancy or led to believe that EMG conditioning would he either difficult (low expectancy) or easy (high expectancy) to achieve. Then, the three groups of experimenters collected data from subjects undergoing 20 min of either contingent or noncontingent reinforcement for frontal EMG decreases. Postexperimental credibility checks indicated that experimenters were unaware they were being studied but could identify their expectancy condition when informed of the three conditions. Differential EMG behavior was observed between groups conditioned by experimenters with no expectancies, with contingent subjects achieving significantly lower EMG levels than noncontingent subjects. Differences were not exhibited, however, between contingent and noncontingent subjects trained by experimenters with either low or high expectancies. These findings suggest that experimenters with prior expectations may covertly communicate to subjects response sets that interfere with acquisition of differential EMG behavior.
Effect of Varying the Time of Sleep on Sleep, Vigilance, and Self‐Rated Activation
Authors: Cairns J. , Knowles J. B. , MacLean A. W.
Published: February 2007

The effect of varying the time of sleep (2100‐0500, 2400‐0800, and 0300‐1100 hrs) on the sleep, vigilance, and self‐rated activation of 9 normal subjects was assessed. REM% increased, and Stage 2% decreased, with progressively later bedtimes. An hour by hour analysis showed, however, that the increase in REM sleep was confined to the second 3 hrs of sleep. Vigilance and self‐rated activation, assessed 30 min after waking, at midday and in the early evening, did not differ between conditions but varied reliably with time of day. It is concluded that shifts away from the conventional 2400‐0800 sleep period do not impair performance. Rather, the changes in sleep (between conditions) and performance (within conditions) are, in the main, consistent with the known circadian rhythms of REM sleep propensity and performance efficiency.
Hemispheric Specificity: A Physiological Concomitant of Hypnotizability
Authors: Macleod‐Morgan Crisetta , Lack Leon
Published: February 2007

MacLeod‐Morgan (1979) found a significant relationship between hypnotizability and EEG hemispheric specificity. Hemispheric specificity is defined as the extent to which the alpha ratio between hemispheres changes during lateralized task performance. The present study was designed to replicate and extend this finding. EEG was recorded bilaterally from 44 subjects during performance of two right‐ and two left‐hemisphere discontinuous tasks from MacLeod‐Morgan (1979), and four new comparable continuous tasks. As predicted, significant differences were found in hemispheric specificity between low and high hypnotizables especially during the continuous tasks.
Psychopathy and Physiological Activity During Anticipation of an Aversive Stimulus in a Distraction Paradigm
Authors: Hare Robert D.
Published: February 2007

Two investigators independently rated 51 white, male prison inmates on a 7‐point psychopathy scale (interrater reliability = .89). The combined ratings were used to divide the inmates into low (1), medium (M). and high (H) psychopathy groups of 17 subjects each. Following a sample trial, each inmate was given two trials in which he could choose how to spend his time during a 5–6 min wait for an aversive stimulus (120dB tone). Three choices were available: 1) continuous white noise, 2) a recording of a nightclub comedian, or 3) a continuous tone that changed in frequency 10 sec before delivery of the aversive stimulus. The aversive stimulus could be avoided on one trial but not on I he other (the order was counterbalanced). When the aversive stimulus was unavoidable (Trial UA), 46 (90.2%) of the inmates spent all or most of their time listening to the comedian, i.e., they adopted a “nonvigilant” strategy, while 38 (74.5%) adopted this strategy when the aversive stimulus was avoidable (Trial A). There were no group differences in the type of strategy used on either trial, or in the physiological responses given by the nonvigilant subjects on Trial UA. Group H tended to give smaller electrodermal responses and a larger increase in HR in anticipation of the sample tone than did Group L, a pattern that is consistent with previous research using classical conditioning or “count down” procedures. On Trial A the nonvigilant subjects in Group H showed a significantly smaller increase in nonspecific skin conductance activity than did Group L. It is suggested that making use of distraction when an aversive stimulus is avoidable results in less conflict and heightened emotional arousal in psychopaths than in other inmates. Some speculations on how psychopaths cope with threat are offered.
P3 and Stimulus Incentive Value
Authors: Begleiter H. , Porjesz B. , Chou C.L. , Aunon J.I.
Published: February 2007

Event‐related potentials were recorded to two equiprobable, task‐relevant visual stimuli (0.00 and 1.00) under three different conditions. In the baseline condition subjects attended to both stimuli and pressed the appropriate button to each stimulus. In the Accuracy/Incentive condition subjects earned one dollar each time the 1.00 stimulus was presented by accurately pressing the appropriate button after each stimulus. Incorrect presses to either stimulus resulted in the loss of a dollar. In the Speed‐Accuracy/Incentive run, subjects could only earn one dollar to the 1.00 stimulus if they accurately pressed the correct button within 350 msec. Reaction times greater than 350 msec to either stimulus resulted in the loss of a dollar. The results indicate that the amplitude of the P3 component is significantly different to equiprobable task‐relevant stimuli with differential incentive values. P3 may reflect the subjective motivational properties of stimuli.
Brain Potentials Related to Stages of Sentence Verification
Authors: Fischler Ira , Bloom Paul A. , Childers Donald G. , Roucos Salim E. , Perry Nathan W.
Published: February 2007

Subjects were shown the terms of simple sentences in sequence (e.g., “A sparrow / is not / a vehicle”) and manually indicated whether the sentence was true or false. When the sentence form was affirmative (i.e., “X is a Y”), false sentences produced scalp potentials that were significantly more negative than those for true sentences, in the region of about 250 to 450 msec following presentation of the sentence object. In contrast, when the sentence form was negative (i.e., “X is not a Y”), it was the true statements that were associated with the ERP negativity. Since both the false‐affirmative and the true‐negative sentences consist of “mismatched” subject and object terms (e.g., sparrow / vehicle), it was concluded that the negativity in the potentials reflected a semantic mismatch between terms at a preliminary stage of sentence comprehension, rather than the falseness of the sentence taken as a whole. Similarities between the present effects of semantic mismatches and the N400 associated with incongruous sentences (Kutas & Hillyard, 1980) are discussed. The pattern of response latencies and of ERPs taken together supported a model of sentence comprehension in which negatives are dealt with only after the proposition to be negated is understood.
A Device for Ambulatory Skin Conductance Monitoring
Authors: Simpson Alan , Turpin Graham
Published: February 2007

The design of instrumentation for the ambulatory measurement of skin conductance (SC) is discussed. Two problems which are frequently encountered concern size constraints and the provision of a sufficient dynamic range. A circuit description which overcomes these problems is given along with details of its construction. This device utilises an AC‐coupled amplifier stage for Skin Conductance Responses (SCRs) and a DC‐coupled amplifier stage for Skin Conductance Level (SCL). Its use in conjunction with a portable instrumentation cassette recorder is described.
Psychophysiological Activity and the Buildup and Release of Proactive Inhibition in Short‐Term Memory
Authors: Wilson Keith G.
Published: February 2007

One interpretation of the buildup and release of proactive inhibition (PI) in short‐term memory is that the repetition of similar items leads to a decrement in attention which is reinstated via the orienting response (OR) when the novel shift items are presented. In a test of this hypothesis, 72 subjects performed the PI task while skin conductance and heart rate were recorded. Half the subjects received a change in semantic category on a test trial, while the other half did not. In addition, subjects differed with respect to whether the test trial also included a single presentation of a tone to which they had previously habituated, a novel tone not previously encountered, or no tone. In general, the results provided no support for the OR interpretation of PI. While the semantic change led to improved recall, it was not associated with a differential pattern of physiological responding. Furthermore, the interpolated tones resulted in dishabituation of the SCRs for the following memory items, but had no effect on memory performance.
On the Dependence of P300 Latency on Stimulus Evaluation Processes
Authors: Magliero Anthony , Bashore Theodore R. , Coles Michael G.H. , Donchin Emanuel
Published: February 2007

McCarthy and Donchin (1981) found that the latency of a late positive component of the event‐related potential (ERP) was influenced by the presence of noise in a stimulus matrix but not by the compatibility between the stimulus presented and the response required. They concluded that this component is a P300 and that its latency was influenced by stimulus evaluation but not by response selection processes. The present experiments were designed to confirm that the component identified by McCarthy and Donchin was indeed a P300 and to determine if its latency varies systematically with increases in stimulus evaluation time produced by graded changes in noise level.

In Experiment 1, subjects performed a standard oddball task in which they were required to count the rarer of two stimuli (the words RIGHT or LEFT) which were, or were not, embedded in a noise matrix (characters from the alphabet). The positive component of the ERP, whose amplitude was larger for rare target stimuli, was labeled a P300, and the latency of this component was longer when the stimuli were embedded in noise. In Experiment 2, subjects performed a choice reaction time task. Following the procedures used by McCarthy and Donchin, stimulus words RIGHT and LEFT required right or left hand responses depending on the presence of a cue word SAME or OPPOSITE which preceded the stimulus. Stimulus words were presented in four different degrees of noise, the levels of which were manipulated by varying the set size of the alphabetic characters which could surround the stimulus words. Reaction time increased both with noise (by 325 ms) and as a function of stimulus‐response incompatibility (by 127 ms). In contrast, P300 latency increased substantially with noise (by 200 ms) but, to a much lesser extent (by 14 ms), with response incompatibility. These results indicate that the P300 is sensitive to the ease with which a target stimulus can be discriminated from noise. They confirm that P300 latency can be used as a measure of the timing of stimulus evaluation processes that is relatively independent of response selection and execution.
Temporal Arrangement of Signals in Heartbeat Discrimination Procedures
Authors: Clemens William J.
Published: February 2007

Three experiments are reported which were designed to define optimal placements of S+ signals in Whitehead‐type discrimination procedures by asking when in the cardiac cycle signals are perceived as most coincident with heartbeats. In Experiment I subjects discriminated signals delayed either 0 or 100 ms from the R‐wave from signals delayed 400 ms. In Experiment II subjects chose signals delayed 0, 100, or 200 ms as more synchronous with heartbeats than signals delayed 300 or 400 ms. In Experiment III no central tendency emerged when subjects adjusted a signal through delays of 0, 60, 120, 180, and 240 ms seeking the value most synchronous with heartbeats. It is concluded that subjects can reliably discriminate events in the first quarter second of the cardiac cycle from events occurring later (although the functional significance of this ability remains obscure) and that S+ signals in such procedures should be placed within that time period.
Spontaneous Vigilance Fluctuations in the Daytime
Authors: Okawa Masako , Matousek Milos , Petersén Ingemar
Published: February 2007

Spontaneous fluctuations of vigilance during the daytime were studied in 412 electroencephalographic (EEG) records from 9 subjects. The EEGs were recorded repeatedly 19–25 times between 0800 and 1900 in each subject. Except during the 5‐min recording periods when seated subjects were examined with their eyes closed, the subjects were encouraged to engage in their normal daytime activities, such as reading and knitting. The changes in vigilance level were indicated by EEG measures based on automatic analysis. Statistical analyses of the data showed that vigilance fluctuations occurred rhythmically with a period between 60 and 110 min. The ultradian vigilance rhythms were detectable even though the subjects were engaged in normal daytime activity. Individual patterns of ultradian rhythms were, however, observed to be relatively unstable when within‐subjects comparisons were made between experiments conducted one to six weeks apart.
Hemispheric Asymmetry and Bilateral Electrodermal Recordings: A Review of the Evidence
Authors: Hugdahl Kenneth
Published: February 2007

Bilateral electrodermal recordings are often used in psychophysiological research as a measure of functional hemispheric asymmetry. Although significant differences between left and right hand recordings are reported in the literature, the obtained differences are often in different directions. The purpose of the present paper was to review empirical evidence related to the issue of bilateral electrodermal recordings in research on hemispheric asymmetry. Special reference is made to the current controversy concerning contralateral inhibition vs. excitation or facilitation as the underlying mechanism for reported differences in performance of typical hemisphere‐specific tasks. After reviewing the evidence, which is contradictory concerning several of the more critical parameters, the conclusion is that bilateral electrodermal recordings have not been unambiguously related to hemispheric asymmetry. However, when asymmetry between the hands is clearly demonstrated, this reflects an asymmetry in the functioning of the cerebral hemispheres.
Heart Rate Change in Type A and Type B Males as a Function of Response Cost and Task Difficulty
Authors: Perkins Kenneth A.
Published: February 2007

Tonic changes in heart rate (HR) and somatic motor activity were monitored in 70 Type A and 70 Type B males to determine if these groups differ in psychologically‐mediated HR reactivity to a specific appetitive situation. A and B types were defined by extreme scores on the Jenkins Activity Survey. Subjects performed a continuous button‐pushing task during a practice trial and 4 trials involving high (loss of money), low (loss of points), or no response cost (RC) for performance failure, and high, moderate, low, or no levels of failure feedback on performance. Greater HR increases from practice were predicted for high RC vs. low RC, and for Type As vs. Type Bs. Additionally, in the high RC condition, HR was expected to diminish across trials more in those receiving high and low failure feedback compared with those receiving moderate failure feedback. Results confirmed the first two expectations. Furthermore, the HR difference between Type As and Type Bs was magnified under high RC conditions. The last expectation was not confirmed, but further analyses suggested that failure feedback influenced Type Bs but not Type As. Greater intrinsic appetitive motivation of Type As may account for their greater HR increase in response to opportunities for active avoidance, as well as for reward.
Duration and Placement of Sleep in a “Disentrained” Environment
Authors: Campbell Scott S.
Published: February 2007

Sleep/wake cycles of 9 young adults were electrographically recorded during 60 hrs of enforced bedrest. During this period subjects were required to lie quietly, with no time cues and minimal exogenous stimulation. Sleep and wakefulness patterns were clearly modified under these conditions. There was an alternation of waking periods with an average length of 2.7 hrs and sleep episodes with a mean duration of 2.99 hrs. Eighty percent of both sleep and waking periods were less than 4 hrs duration. The circadian pattern of sleep period duration persisted in disentrainment, but temporal organization of sleep episodes was substantially disrupted; sleep episodes occurred throughout the 24‐hr day. The results suggest the presence of two distinct components of the human sleep system–one, sleep duration, is controlled by an endogenous circadian oscillatory system; another, sleep placement, is controlled primarily by behavioral controls, in the form of social and occupational pressures, and self‐imposed behavioral alternatives to sleep.
Cerebral Lateralization and Heartbeat Discrimination
Authors: Hantas Michael N. , Katkin Edward S. , Reed Sheila D.
Published: February 2007

This study examined individual differences in visceral perception as a function of cerebral lateral preference as assessed by conjugate lateral eye movements. Subjects were classified as “left movers” (i.e., right hemisphere preferent) or “right movers” (i.e., left hemisphere preferent). “Right movers” performed at chance level on a heartbeat detection task, whereas “left movers” performed significantly above chance. With knowledge‐of‐results (KOR) training all subjects showed a significant increment in performance, but the left movers maintained their superiority. These results support the hypothesis that performance on a visceral perception task may be subserved by relative activation of the right hemisphere.
Heart Rhythm Control During Sleep
Authors: ŽEmaitytė Danguolė , Varoneckas Giedrius , Sokolov Eugene
Published: February 2007

Heart rate (HR) changes during sleep were analyzed, with the aid of a minicomputer, for a group of 20 healthy subjects. In stages 1, 2, 3, and 4, HR decreased against a background of increasing respiratory arrhythmia. REM sleep was characterized by increased HR and decreased respiratory arrhythmia. HR changes during sleep were dependent on the subject's initial autonomic HR control level. The evidence from 3 healthy subjects, who were studied under baseline conditions, propranolol (a sympatholytic agent), atropine (a parasympathetic depressant), and propranolol plus atropine, showed that the HR decrease during stages 1, 2, 3, and 4 is caused by augmented parasympathetic input. The HR increase during REM sleep is due to a reduction in parasympathetic control. The sympathetic input remains relatively constant throughout all stages of sleep, except for its decrease during stage 1.
Changes in Skin, Salivary, and Urinary pH as Indicators of Anxiety Level in Humans
Authors: Sandin Bonifacio , Chorot Paloma
Published: February 2007

In this study, an examination was made of the levels of skin, salivary, and urinary pH associated with changes in anxiety level. Thirty‐two normal women (20–25 yrs old) were the subjects in the study. Anxiety was measured by using the Anxiety State Behavioral Scale of Chorot and Sandin, the Eight State Questionnaire of Cattell et al., a self‐report rating scale, a behavioral index (motoric expression), and the Trait Anxiety Questionnaire S‐R of Sandin and Chorot. Personality was measured by the EPI of Eysenck and Eysenck. Dependent variables were measured in three experimental conditions (Baseline I vs. Oral Examination vs. Baseline II). The results showed that: 1) During the stress condition, a highly significant increase in anxiety (A‐state) occurred. 2) During the stress situation statistically significant reductions in the skin, salivary, and urinary pH were produced. 3) There was a statistically significant correlation between the change in pH and the level of A‐state as measured during the stress period. The change in pH was greater in subjects with a high A‐state than in those having a low A‐state. In conclusion, it appears that skin, salivary, and urinary pH may serve as physiological indicators of anxiety level.
Skin Conductance Recordings and the NaCl Concentration of the Electrolyte
Authors: Hygge Staffan , Hugdahl Kenneth
Published: February 2007

This study examined the effects of four levels of NaCl concentration (0.1–0.7%) on skin conductance responses (SCRs) and levels (SCLs) to deep breaths and loud noise. Twenty‐four subjects of both sexes took part in two identical experimental sessions, 7 days apart. All subjects encountered all four electrolyte concentrations. The results showed no effects of electrolyte concentration on SCLs or on the SCRs to the deep breaths, but indicated larger SCRs to the loud noise with the highest NaCl concentration.
Evidence of a Role for Response Plans and Self‐Monitoring in Biofeedback
Authors: Hughes Debra Ellen , Roberts Larry E.
Published: February 2007

Subjects in a control group were given feedback training for two unidentified visceral responses (increases and decreases in heart rate) and were then asked to provide a verbal report describing what they had done to control the feedback displays. Judges were given these reports and asked to determine training condition (increase heart rate on A trials and decrease heart rate on B trials, or the reverse) from them. Subjects in an experimental group received the same procedure but were also asked for a verbal report prior to receiving their first feedback display and thenceforth after each of the first 10 trials of feedback training. The results showed that: a) success at biofeedback learning is accompanied by verbal awareness of activities contributing to response production, and b) learning can be predicted (r= .80) by probing the subject's problem space before he has seen his first feedback trial. Extensive verbal probing of experimental subjects did not eventuate in superior learning in this group. The nature and role of problem‐solving activity in biofeedback are discussed.
Cognitive Distraction in Female Sexual Arousal
Authors: Adams A.E. , Haynes Stephen N. , Brayer Mary Ann
Published: February 2007

This study was designed to assess the relationship between subjective and physiological measures of female sexual arousal during the presentation of an erotic stimulus and when an erotic stimulus was presented concurrently with a distracting stimulus. Twenty‐four females were exposed to baseline, erotic stimulus, and erotic stimulus plus distraction conditions while subjective and vaginal photoplethysmographic indices of sexual arousal were monitored. The erotic stimulus was an audiotaped description of explicit sexual activity, primarily from the perspective of a female. The cognitive distraction consisted of a series of visually presented, simple addition tasks. The results suggested significant increases in subjective and photoplethysmographic measures of sexual arousal from baseline to erotic stimulus conditions and significant decreases in both measures of sexual arousal when the distraction task was added to the erotic stimulus. Correlations between subjective and photoplethysmographic measures of sexual arousal were nonsignificant during the erotic condition, but significant when the distraction task was added to the erotic stimulus. The women were divided into “frequently” and “infrequently” orgasmic groups to further investigate the relationship between subjective and physiological measures of sexual arousal. Analyses revealed no between‐group differences in subjective or photoplethysmographic measures during any condition. Correlations between the two measures of sexual arousal were significant during all conditions for the “frequently” orgasmic groups and nonsignificant during all conditions for the “infrequently” orgasmic group.
The Effects of Practice and Task Structure on Components of the Event‐Related Brain Potential
Authors: Kramer Arthur , Schneider Walter , Fisk Arthur , Donchin Emanuel
Published: February 2007

The present study focused on the effects of, and the interactions between, practice and task structure on human performance. The development of automatic processing through consistent stimulus‐response mapping (CM) was assessed by means of measures of reaction time and event‐related brain potentials. The subjects performed a visual search task in which they responded by pressing a button whenever a probe matched a memory set item. The variables manipulated in the study included the number of memory set items (1 or 4), the task structure (CM or VM), and the probability of occurrence of a memory set item (.2 or .8). Set size had a significant effect on RT in both CM and VM conditions prior to practice and in the VM condition following extensive practice. P300 latency mirrored RT, suggesting that the development of automatic processing substantially reduced stimulus evaluation time. The commonly observed relationship between probability and P300 amplitude, with larger P300s elicited by infrequent events, was found in the VM conditions but not in the CM condition after practice. Two different negative components were affected by stimulus mismatch. The N200 component behaved in a similar manner during automatic and controlled processing. However, a late frontally negative component was sensitive to the degree of mismatch only during controlled processing.
Evaluation of Beta‐Adrenergic Influences on Cardiovascular and Metabolic Adjustments to Physical and Psychological Stress
Authors: Sherwood Andrew , Allen Michael T. , Obrist Paul A. , Langer Alan W.
Published: February 2007

This study was designed to examine the hypothesis that certain behavioral demands may tend to trigger sympathetic mechanisms which result in metabolically excessive cardiac output elevations. Oxygen consumption and cardiac output adjustments during a contrived reaction‐time shock‐avoidance task were compared to a cold pressor test in healthy young male adults. The linear cardiac output/oxygen consumption relationship generated by performance on a graded exercise task was used to assess the metabolic appropriateness of cardiac output adjustments to the reaction‐time task and cold pressor. The reaction‐time task was generally found to evoke metabolically excessive increases in cardiac output, while cardiac output adjustments to cold pressor were more consistent with changes in metabolic demands. However, the tasks were associated with similar heart rate responses, with a significant attenuation in stroke volume during cold pressor accounting for the differential alterations in cardiac output. This finding suggests a limited reliability for heart rate as an index of cardiac performance. The effects of propranolol, which was employed to evaluate the role of sympathetic influences, indicated that beta‐adrenergic mechanisms were responsible for mediating the cardiac output response to the reaction‐time task, but only partially contributed to the cold pressor response. Post‐hoc analyses of individual differences in cardiovascular reactivity to the reaction‐time task suggest that, for hyperreactive individuals, the coping responses evoked by this task may lead to tissue overperfusion with oxygen, thereby providing a stimulus for autoregulatory vascular reflexes which may be associated with the etiology of hypertensive disease.
Age Differences in Cardiovascular Reactivity Under Active Coping Conditions
Authors: Gintner Gary G. , Hollandsworth James G. , Intrieri Robert C.
Published: February 2007

This study investigated whether age and parental history of hypertension were related to increases in heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure during an active coping task. The latter consisted of a 21‐trial reaction‐time task in which electric shock and monetary incentive were contingent upon adequate performance. Subjects consisted of 60 normotensive male volunteers aged 15–55 yrs. Results showed that age yielded a significant inverse relationship with increases in heart rate, accounting for 8% of the variance. However, no age association was found for increases in either systolic or diastolic blood pressure. Subjects with a parental history of hypertension showed greater responsivity in heart rate and systolic and diastolic blood pressure than subjects without a hypertensive parent. Results are discussed in terms of methodological considerations and potential mechanisms accounting for the age‐related decline in heart rate during active coping.
Searching for the Names of Pictures: An Event‐Related Potential Study
Authors: Stuss D.T. , Picton T.W. , Cerri A.M.
Published: February 2007

The P3 and N400 waves of the human event‐related potential were recorded during a naming task. The number of possible pictures to be named was manipulated between experimental conditions. The amplitude of the N400 was directly related to the number of pictures possible in each condition. The scalp distribution of the N400 showed an anterior negativity and a posterior positivity. This was probably the result of an overlapping P3 wave. The N400 may represent the activation of memory search and the P3 the updating of target‐expectations. Both may occur simultaneously.
Autonomic Correlates of Sensation Seeking and Monoamine Oxidase Activity: Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis on Psychophysiological Data
Authors: Zahn Theodore P. , Schooler Carmi , Murphy Dennis L.
Published: February 2007

A negative relationship between platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity and Sensation Seeking (SS) has been reported in several studies. This study evaluates the possible contribution of autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity to this relationship. Additionally, confirmatory factor analysis was used to create models of ANS concepts from a larger number of psychophysiological variables. Skin conductance (SC) and heart rate (HR) were recorded from 46 men and 49 women during a two‐session protocol that included rest periods, a balloon stress, a series of tones, and two tasks: two‐flash threshold and tachistoscopic recognition. Results showed that the best‐fitting models for both rest and task periods included concepts of SC base levels (“arousal”), SC lability, and HR, and were quite similar for men and women. MAO activity correlated positively with SC concepts, most strongly for women. Women showed negative relationships between sensation seeking and both SC arousal and HR concepts. In contrast, men showed evidence of positive relationships between SC concepts and an active life style. The sex differences and response specificity in these relationships make it unlikely that ANS activity mediates the negative MAO‐SS relationship.
The Effects of Cognitive Set on the Electrodermal Orienting Response
Authors: Michihiro Kazumi , Muranaka Tetsuo , Miyata Yo
Published: February 2007

Two experiments were designed to examine the effects of cognitive set acquired during problem solving upon the orienting skin conductance response (SCR) to a tone and its omission. Forty‐two female college students were instructed to press a key when they had found out the rule set up between the presentation of a tone and a particular digit associated with the tone.

In Experiment 1, the tones were presented at every third ‘0’position, at first. After this rule was discovered, in the first group, the tone‐presentation was altered to the every third ‘7’position (Tone 0–7 Group: n=7). In the second group, the tones were not further presented after the rule was discovered (Tone 0‐No Tone Group: n=9). In the third group, the tones were continuously presented even after the subjects had found the rule (Tone 0–0 Group: n=9). Then, in the Tone 0–7 and Tone 0–0 Groups one no‐tone trial was given. The results showed that the change of tone‐rule in the Tone 0–7 Group and the tone‐omission did not evoke an orienting response. In Experiment 2, the instructions were improved so that the subjects would maintain a cognitive set to detect a possible future change in the rule. Two groups, the Tone 0–7 (n=8) and Tone 0–0 (n=9) Groups, underwent the same procedure as in Experiment 1. It was shown that the change of tone‐rule in the Tone 0–7 Group and the tone‐omission in the Tone 0–0 Group evoked the orienting response.
The Correction of EOG Artifacts by Frequency Dependent and Frequency Independent Methods
Authors: Gasser Theo , Sroka Lothar , Möcks Joachim
Published: February 2007

Methods for correcting EEG which is contaminated by EOG artifacts, which are frequency dependent or frequency independent, were compared. EEG activity contaminated mainly by eye movements was treated separately from activity contaminated mainly by blinks. The statistical comparison was based on representative, real data incorporating differential effects over frequency. The influence of EOG activity on different derivations and bands, and the resulting need for correction of EOG artifacts were of interest too. Correction using a constant gain function proved to be consistently inferior to using a gain depending on frequency. For eye movements, differences were, however, not very large in practical terms, and this was true for all frequency bands. The correction of blinks by the time domain method (i.e., constant gain) may become misleading in the sub‐delta band, which might have implications for very slow activity such as slow cortical potentials. Transfer functions not corrected for coherent EEG activity at the EOG electrodes overcompensated in the alpha and beta bands, in line with earlier results showing the need to incorporate coherent EEG activity into the determination of EOG‐EEG transfer. It was found to be preferable to use sample average coefficients and gain functions, rather than individual ones, leading also to simpler computing. EOG correction is indispensable at frontal derivations, in particular for the delta and theta bands. It is advisable to correct at central and even at parietal derivations.
Cortisol Effects on Attentional Processes in Man as Indicated by Event‐Related Potentials
Authors: Born Jan , Kern Werner , Fehm‐Wolfsdorf Gabriele , Fehm Horst L.
Published: February 2007

Glacocorticoids which are secreted from the adrenal cortex, particularly in response to stressful stimuli, are assumed to influence brain functions related to stimulus perception and processing. To determine underlying mechanisms of this action the present study investigated the effects of physiologically enhanced plasma glucocurticoid levels on auditory event‐related potentials (AERPs) reflecting different aspects of stimulus processing.

Sixteen male adult subjects were tested in a dichotic listening paradigm containing four types of tone pips: standard and deviant target pips, which the subject either had to attend to, or to ignore. AERPs to the tone pips provided measures of different perceptual and attentional processes. Subjects were tested in a double‐blind fashion according to a within‐subject cross‐over design under either 16 mg hydrocortisone, infused over the experimental period of 1 hrs, or placebo.

Compared to placebo sessions, under cortisol treatment a slightly decreased amplitude of the N1 component was obtained independently of the type of tone pip presented. In addition, mismatch negativity, measured as the difference amplitude between AERP waveforms to standard and deviant target pips in the unattended ear, was substantially reduced by hydrocortisone. Results support an inhibitory action of enhanced plasma cortisol levels on stimulus processing mediated by the nonspecific sensory system.
Empirical Note: Self‐Report Versus Recorded Sleep in Healthy Seniors
Authors: Hoch Carolyn C. , Reynolds Charles F. , Kupfer David J. , Berman Susan R. , Houck Patricia R. , Stack Jacqueline A.
Published: February 2007

Although insomnia is a major public health problem in the elderly, little information concerning the relation between subjective reports of sleep and laboratory measures in the elderly has been published. Also, while laboratory studies of the healthy elderly typically show that women steep better than men, epidemiologic studies suggest that women complain more often than men about disturbed sleep. We report here a study of 20 healthy elderly subjects without sleep complaints (10M. 10F), in which relations between subjective and objective measures of sleep were explored.

Both men and women showed significant correlations between objective measures of Sleep Latency (SL) and subjective estimates of fall asleep time; similarly, in both groups, subjective estimates of sleep duration were significantly and positively correlated with Time Spent Asleep (TSA).

However, in the women, but not in the men, “restlessness” of sleep was significantly correlated with WASO (wake time after sleep onset), while “soundness” of sleep was positively related to amount of slow wave sleep.

In general, women showed a higher proportion of significant and more stable correlations between subjective and objective measures than did men. These findings suggest that elderly women may report sleep loss more accurately than elderly men.
The Effect of Body Position on the Perception of Cardiac Sensations: An Experiment and Theoretical Implications
Authors: Jones Gary E. , Jones Kenneth R. , Rouse Connie H. , Scott D. Michael , Caldwell John A.
Published: February 2007

This paper presents the results of pilot data and a main experiment that examine the effect of differing body positions on an individual's awareness of heartbeats. The pilot experiment employed two groups of 12 male subjects each presented 50 Whitehead type heartbeat awareness trials in each of two body positions: seated and standing erect. Subjects were retained if their ability to discriminate on the Whitehead procedure exceeded 70% correct. Results showed that the standing body position led to significantly lower cardiac awareness than when the same subject was tested in a seated position. The pilot was then expanded and replicated with three groups of 7 male subjects, all chosen by performance on a seated discrimination series. Two of the groups made additional discriminations in either a standing or seated position. The third group remained seated in all three phases. Results showed that all three groups discriminated at significantly above chance levels during the initial screening, and the group that sat in all three phases remained much above chance. The other two groups showed significantly lower performance levels in the standing position. Order of presentation seemed to affect performance. These results almost exactly replicated the data obtained in the pilot experiment. Physiological measures showed parallel changes in heart period across phases but no indication of differences in respiration or mean arterial blood pressure. Results of a semantic differential type questionnaire used to evaluate the qualitative aspects of the feedback, and skinfold measures of body type are also reported. The results of these two experiments are analyzed for their theoretical implications which lead in two different directions. Most investigators have assumed the involvement of visceral afferent pathways in the mediation of visceral perception, and this is a clear possibility which, in large part, remains unexplored by systematic investigations. However, the results of a number of experiments are interpreted to indicate that the visceral sensations may be mediated through primary somatosensory pathways. A model for this feedback is discussed.
Are Cardiovascular Responses to Behavioral Stressors a Stable Individual Difference Variable in Childhood?
Authors: Matthews Karen A. , Rakaczky Charles J. , Stoney Catherine M. , Manuck Stephen B.
Published: February 2007

The present paper reports two studies which address the extent to which cardiovascular responses to behavioral stress can be conceptualised as a stable individual difference variable in children. In the first study, eighth grade girls (mean age = 14.2 yrs) who had participated in a study of the familial aggregation of cardiovascular responses to behavioral stress were asked to repeat the assessment protocol when they were in (he ninth grade (mean age = 15.1 yrs). Results showed that mean task‐induced increases in diastolic blood pressure and heart rate during serial subtraction, mirror image tracing, and isometric handgrip tasks were reliable across test sessions, particularly due to the reliable increases exhibited during the mirror image tracing task. In the second study, fifth grade boys (mean age = 10.4 yrs) who had participated in a previous experiment (Matthews & Jennings, 1984) of cardiovascular responses during a video game were tested in the ninth grade (mean age ‐ 14.0 yrs) in the protocol used in Study 1. Results showed that mean tusk‐induced increases in diastolic blood pressure and heart rate during video games were related to mean task‐induced increases during serial subtraction, mirror image tracing, and isometric handgrip tasks over three years Liter. The association for heart rate increases during the video game and isometric handgrip task was particularly impressive. These results suggest that task‐induced diastolic blood pressure and heart rate responses of children are stable over substantial periods of time and amiss important developmental transitions, and generalize across tasks requiring qualitatively different behavioral responses. Nonetheless, future research is needed in adults and children to further identify factors which influence the stability and generalizability of cardiovascular responses to behavioral stress.
The Continuing Problem of False Positives in Repeated Measures ANOVA in Psychophysiology: A Multivariate Solution
Authors: Vasey Michael W. , Thayer Julian F.
Published: February 2007

Violation of the validity assumptions of repeated measures analysis of variance continues to be a problem in psychophysiology. Such violation results in positive bias for those tests involving the repeated measures factor(s), Recently it has been shown that the tests of simple interactions and multiple comparisons are even more vulnerable to bias (Boik. 1981; Mitzel & Games, 1981). The present paper offers a discussion of the validity assumptions for both overall and sub‐effect tests and describes a multivariate approach which allows exact analysis of such designs. A modification of the univariate approach is also described. Validity concerns for both approaches are much less problematic than those of the traditional approach.
Effects of Mood on Lacrimal Flow: Sex Differences and Asymmetry
Authors: Delp Mindy J. , Sackeim Harold A.
Published: February 2007

After baseline assessments or mood and lacrimal flow in each eye, 80 subjects participated in either a sadness or happiness mood manipulation. They were requested to generate imagery of sad or happy events in their lives and (o reexperience the associated affect. Self‐reports of mood and lacrimal flow were then reassessed. For both sexes, the sadness condition was associated with reports of greater dysphoric affect than the elation condition. In females, lacrimal flow tended to increase following the sadness manipulation and significantly decreased following the happiness manipulation. Mood did not significantly influence flow values in males. Among females, the left eye showed larger changes than the right as a function of mood condition. The nature of the sex differences, the implications of the findings for theories of lateralization of emotion, and the utility of the lacrimal flow measure as an index of mood are discussed.
Facial Muscle Activity During Induced Mood Stales: Differential Growth and Carry‐Over of Elated Versus Depressed Patterns
Authors: Sirota Alan D. , Schwartz Gary E. , Kristeller Jean L.
Published: February 2007

Two groups of 14 women volunteers each read a standard set of 40 self‐referent statements and engaged in imagery designed to induce moods of either elation or depression. Subjective ratings of emotion and facial muscle activity constituted the dependent measures. Feelings of depression as well as anger and sadness grew over time for Depression subjects, white feelings of happiness increased for Elation subjects. Elation led to increased zygomatic muscle activity while depression led to enhanced corrugator activity and slightly decreased zygomatic activity. Facial muscle activity was correlated with subjective ratings primarily for Depression subjects. For these subjects, corrugator activity grew over time and carried over into non‐imagery rest periods. In contrast, the increased zygomatic activity of Elation subjects returned to baseline during rest periods. The differential growth and carry‐over effects of the two mood states are discussed in terms of a positive psychobiological feedback loop which may serve to perpetuate depressive patterns of cognitive as well as somatic activity.