bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Differences Between Deaf and Hearing Adults in Task‐Related EEG Asymmetries
Authors: Suter Steve
Published: February 2007

Studies of the pre‐lingually deaf may help clarify the role of language experience in the development of cerebral lateralization. Bilateral EEG alpha (α) was recorded for three groups: Deaf, normal‐hearing Controls, and Interpreters for the deaf, during five tasks. The tasks were: 1) Baseline (eyes open); 2) Letter Writing; 3) Oral Story, a story presented orally to every participant; 4) Signed Story, a story presented to every participant in American Sign Language (AMSLAN) by an interpreter; and 5) Block Design. Consistent with earlier studies, both of the hearing groups showed relatively greater cortical activation of the left hemisphere as compared to the right hemisphere during Letter Writing as compared to Block Design. For the Interpreters, but not for the Controls, there was relatively greater left‐hemisphere activation during the Signed Story as compared to Baseline, indicating left hemisphere involvement in comprehension of a gestural language. There were no task‐related EEG asymmetries for the Deaf, suggesting that auditory language experience contributes to, and is necessary for, full development of cerebral lateralization.
Generalization of Habituation of Skin Conductance Responses to Multidimensional Sequences of Stimuli
Authors: Ben‐Shakhar Gershon , Dymshitz Julia , Lieblich Israel
Published: February 2007

This study presents a generalized approach to the problem of habituation to complex sequences of stimuli. Ninety‐five subjects were requested to choose one of four cards, showing a blue triangle (BT), a blue square (BS), a red triangle (RT), or a red square (RS). Subjects then heard a prerecorded sequence of the stimulus elements blue (B), red (R), triangle (T), and square (S), in various predetermined orders. Skin conductance responses were recorded during stimulus presentations. Four theoretical models were formulated, and compared for their abilities to describe the habituation process in the present experiment. The models differ in how they define the stimulus categories within which habituation generalizes. The model which defines the stimulus categories by “chosen” versus “non chosen” elements gave the best fit to the data.
Modification of the EEG Time Constant by Digital Filtering
Authors: Gasser Theo , Kneip Alois , Verleger Role
Published: February 2007

A method is proposed for modifying the time constant of an EEG amplifier after the recording. It is based on digital filtering and works for single sweeps, averaged potentials, and other neurophysiological data, e.g. spontaneous EEG. The validation is based on calibration signals and data from a study on event‐related potentials.
Induced Stress, Situationally‐Specific Trait Anxiety, and Dark Focus
Authors: Miller R. J. , Lebeau Robert C.
Published: February 2007

In the absence of direct stimulation for accommodation, the eye assumes an intermediate state of accommodation known as dark focus (DF). While there has been some indirect evidence that DF may be influenced by stress, such an effect has not been demonstrated using direct experimental manipulation. Thirty‐three undergraduate subjects had their DF levels measured under two stress conditions–an experimental condition, where they were told that their responses were being evaluated by the experimenter, and a control condition, where no such evaluation was implied. Subjects also completed the S‐R Inventory of General Trait Anxiousness, a measure of situationally‐specific trait anxiety. One of the five subscales on this instrument assesses evaluation anxiety, the degree to which the individual feels anxious in situations where he/she is being evaluated. It was found that DF increased (i.e., shifted closer to the observer) in the experimental condition. However, the effect was limited to subjects who scored high in evaluation anxiety. It was concluded that such induced stress does have an impact on DF, and that experiments involving stress manipulations must consider the relative sensitivities of subjects to the specific stress situations being used.
The Dichotomization Theory For Differential Autonomic Responsivity Reconsidered
Authors: Ben‐Shakhar Gershon , Lieblich Israel
Published: February 2007

The effect of the serial position of a relevant (chosen) stimulus on the differential skin conductance response evoked by it was investigated. One hundred and three subjects were tested in four experimental conditions in which they were presented with a verbal sequence of 8 numbers, one of which they had previously chosen. It was found that differential responsivity decreased as a function of the serial position of the chosen number. This finding contrasts with a strict version of the dichotomization theory. A modified version of this theory was suggested to account for the present finding, as well as for previously reported results. It focuses on the different attributes of the stimuli. It states that habituation to a stimulus is dependent on the frequency with which attributes of the stimulus were presented either as components of the stimulus or as components of other stimuli.
Comparison of Linear and Quadratic Classification of Event‐Related Potentials on the Basis of Their Exogenous or Endogenous Components
Authors: Aunon Jorge I. , McGillem Clare D. , O'Donnell Robert D.
Published: February 2007

The linear and quadratic techniques for classifying exogenous and endogenous components of event‐related potentials are compared. The test and train on the same data, test and train on different data, and the leave‐one‐out techniques of evaluating classifier performance are employed. Time samples from waveforms measured from four electrodes simultaneously were used to design the classifiers. Classification results utilizing both techniques gave comparable accuracies suggesting that differences in the data covariances were not significant for the test conditions occurring in each paradigm.
Color‐Graphics Terminal Provides Added Dimension to Biofeedback System
Authors: Krausman David T.
Published: February 2007

Video color‐graphics hardware, and especially moderate resolution color CRT displays, are rapidly becoming one of the most popular peripherals In the computer industry. This paper describes the utilization of a color‐graphic display terminal as the main feedback component in a hybrid laboratory‐built microcomputer system for implementing skin temperature biofeedback and monitoring procedures.
The Psychophysiological Assessment of Muscle‐Contraction Headache Subjects During Headache and Nonheadache Conditions
Authors: Haynes Stephen N. , Gannon Linda R. , Cuevas Jacoueline , Heiser Paula , Hamilton Johnnie , Katranides Margaret
Published: February 2007

This study evaluated multiple psychophysiological variables in muscle‐contraction headache subjects during headache and nonheadache states. Nine muscle‐contraction headache subjects participated in four sessions: twice when they had a headache and twice when they had no headache. During each session multiple psychophysiological measures (frontal electromyogram (EMG), neck EMG, arm EMG, cephalic blood volume pulse (BVP), and heart rate) were monitored during baseline, a cognitive stressor, a physical stressor, and post‐stress adaptation phases. Baseline psychophysiological measures did not discriminate between headache conditions but there were significant differences between conditions on measures of neck and forearm EMG. Analyses of individual subjects revealed that headache states, compared to nonheadache states, were associated with significantly greater neck EMG levels and significantly greater cephalic vasodilation for most subjects. The implications of these studies for the etiology and treatment of muscle‐contraction headache are discussed.
Self‐Control of Digital Temperature: Physiological Factors and Transfer Effects
Authors: Freedman Robert R. , Ianni Peter
Published: February 2007

Two experiments were conducted in the present investigation. In the first, subjects receiving finger temperature feedback showed significant increases in digital temperature during the first 12 min of the first training session, an effect not shown by subjects receiving autogenic training, electromyograph feedback, or simple instructions to increase finger temperature. During five subsequent training sessions, significant temperature elevations were not shown by any group. During a post training test of voluntary control, only the temperature feedback group produced a significant elevation in digital temperature. In a second voluntary control test, conducted outside the laboratory, no temperature increases were found.

It was hypothesized that finger temperature elevations produced during temperature feedback might be time limited or that excessive session length might impede training. Accordingly, a second experiment was performed in which training periods and session length were reduced. Temperature feedback subjects now consistently increased their finger temperature during training and without feedback, both inside and outside the laboratory. These effects were not shown by control subjects. It is concluded that consistent finger temperature elevations during training are necessary for generalization of this response outside the laboratory. Although relaxation was not necessary for temperature elevation in the laboratory, it might have enhanced this effect outside the laboratory setting.
Cardiac Response to Speech Sounds in Preterm Infants: Effects of Postnatal Illness at Three Months
Authors: Fox NathanA. , Lewis Michael
Published: February 2007

The effect of postnatal illness, specifically respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), on preterm infants’ attention to auditory stimuli at 3 months of age was examined in three groups of infants; healthy preterm, preterms who had RDS, and a sample of normal term infants. Infants were presented 2 sessions of 9 trials of synthesized consonant‐vowel sounds. The first 7 trials consisted of a binaural presentation in which the CV stimulus /ba/ or /pa/ was presented simultaneously to both left and right ears. The eighth and ninth trials consisted of a dichotic presentation in which the speech stimuli /ba/ and /pa/ were presented, one sound to the left ear and one sound to the right ear. EKG was recorded throughout the presentation. Analyses of covariance with prestimulus heart period as the covariate and heart period during stimulus presentation as the dependent measure were computed to investigate cardiac orienting, habituation and recovery. Results reveal significant cardiac orienting by healthy term and preterm infants on trial 1, habituation across trials 1–7, and recovery of cardiac orienting to stimulus change on the second novel presentation by healthy term and preterm. RDS preterm infants exhibited cardiac orienting to the first stimulus presentation but they did not evidence a change in cardiac level across redundant trials or a response recovery to the novel stimulus. RDS preterms throughout exhibited shorter heart period levels (faster heart rates) than either healthy term or healthy preterm infants. Results are discussed in relation to the effect of RDS on autonomic reactivity.
Electrodermal Nonresponding Among College Undergraduates: Temporal Stability, Situational Specificity, and Relationship To Heart Rate Change
Authors: Simons Robert F. , Losito Barbara D. , Rose Sandra C. , MacMillan Frank W.
Published: February 2007

Based on a large screening project, 24 electrodermal nonresponders to nonsignal tones were chosen from an undergraduate population and compared on multiple electrodermal, heart rate, and personality measures to an equal number of randomly selected control subjects. Questions addressed in this study included the reliability of the nonresponder category with repeated testing, its stability across situations, its concurrent relationship with other psychophysiological measures, and its ability to predict scores on more standardized measures of individual differences.

It was determined that nonresponders continued to produce smaller specific skin conductance responses (SCRs) during a second testing session two weeks after the initial screening, and these differences remained when subjects were tested under signal conditions. However, 50% of the initial nonresponders did produce SCRs by the completion of all testing. Nonresponders and controls differed on other electrodermal measures as well, with nonresponders producing fewer spontaneous fluctuations under all conditions and lower skin conductance levels during initial screening and under signal conditions. Nonresponders and control subjects also differed in heart rate response during the signal procedure. Control subjects produced the anticipated cardiac deceleration, whereas nonresponders produced a pronounced heart rate increase.

The two groups did not differ on measured personality characteristics, but when nonresponders were divided into subgroups based on consistency of response pattern, several differences did emerge.
Transfer of EMG Training: Another Look at the General Relaxation Issue
Authors: Carlson John G. , Basilio Cecelia A. , Heaukulani James D.
Published: February 2007

A study was made of the extent to which electromyographic (EMG) response‐decrease training with biofeedback on each of two successive sites would affect the other site in terms of generalization and transfer of training. Thirty‐two subjects were assigned to four groups of equal size. Groups Frontal‐Arm and Arm‐Frontal were first provided with auditory feedback for EMG responses on either the forehead (frontal) or forearm extensor areas in an initial set of training sessions and on the alternate area in a second set of training sessions. Control groups Relax‐Arm and Relax‐Frontal were provided with instructions designed to induce “motivated relaxation” on one of the two sites in initial training followed by biofeedback training on the alternate site in subsequent training. The EMG training, but not the instructions, resulted in reduced EMG potentials in both the forearm and frontal areas. However, training on one site did not appear to facilitate more rapid acquisition of reduced potentials (transfer of training) during subsequent biofeedback on the alternate site. There was also no evidence for generalized training effects in the form of reduced potentials on other sites, skin temperatures, or self‐reports at the time of training on one site.
Similarity of Eye Movement Characteristics in REM Sleep and the Awake State
Authors: Herman J.H. , Barker D.R. , Roffwarg H.P.
Published: February 2007

The eye movements of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep have been reported to be slower, i.e., to show reduced velocities, compared to those of the awake state. We demonstrated that REM sleep eye movements are in fact similar in velocity to awake state eye movements under the condition of no visual input (eyes open or closed). Furthermore, we observed that oculomotor velocities and trajectories in REM sleep are more similar to head‐unrestrained (normal vision) than head‐restrained (bite board) conditions in the awake state. The DC electro‐oculogram (EOG) was utilized for all measurements. Both head‐unrestrained and REM sleep eye movements contained looped trajectories not present when the head was immobilized. Eyelid closure had little effect beyond that of total darkness. Recumbent body position did not significantly alter velocity characteristics. These data indicate that the eye movements of REM sleep are more congruent with the hallucinated locomotor activity of the dream than with the postural immobility’ of the dreamer.
Digital Inverse Filtering Methodology For Physiological Signals
Authors: Doyle D. J. , Hyde M. L.
Published: February 2007

The use of digital inverse filtering for modifying the properties of physiological signals is discussed. Particular reference is made to phase correction of signals distorted by recording with analog filters having nonlinear phase properties. Some practical considerations in implementing digital filtering and inverse filtering are presented, especially problems of time‐domain and frequency‐domain resolution, inverse filter definition, and the effects of digitization errors.
The Relationship Between Sexual Arousal Experience and Genital Response
Authors: Korff Janice , Geer James H.
Published: February 2007

In studies of sexuality, there has been a wide divergence in findings concerning the correlation between the subjective and genital measurements of sexual arousal. The present study is aimed at helping clarify this situation by examining the role of certain factors involved in determining the subjective‐genital correlation. Thus, the following study was designed to (1) employ a methodology aimed at improving the correlation between the subjective and genital measurements of arousal in women, and (2) determine the effect of attending to bodily cues upon the subjective‐genital relationship. To accomplish this end, 36 female subjects were separated into two experimental groups and one control group. The experimental groups were given instructions suggesting that they attend to either genital or non‐genital body signals of sexual arousal while viewing a series of 10 erotic slides. Subjects in the control group were given no attention instructions. Subjective levels of arousal to the erotic slides were scaled by having subjects set the intensity of sound and light to match their intensity of arousal (cross‐modality matching) and by using a rating scale. Genital measures of sexual arousal consisted of measurement of vaginal pulse amplitude. Analyses revealed that group computed correlations were very high and that individually computed subjective‐genital correlations were highest in the attention groups. Paying attention to bodily cues has a significant and positive effect on the subjective‐genital relationship. Possible explanations for these results are given along with a discussion of the role of methodological variables in influencing the genital‐subjective correlation. The finding of high levels of correlation raises doubts on the heretofore made assumption of low subjective‐genital correlations for women.
Effects of an Attention‐Demanding Task on Amplitude and Habituation of the Electrodermal Orienting Response
Authors: Kroese Biza Stenfert , Siddle David A.T.
Published: February 2007

Two experiments were designed to investigate the effects of performance of a central task on habituation of the skin conductance response to task‐irrelevant stimuli. In Experiment 1 (N=48), subjects performed a visual monitoring task in which stimuli were presented at either 800 or 1000 msec. Half the subjects in each group received task‐irrelevant tones of 70dB while the other half did not. The results indicated that task‐irrelevant tones elicited responses that were larger than those associated with performance of the monitoring task itself, and that responses were larger and habituation slower in the high demand (800 msec) condition than in the low (1000 msec). In order to distinguish between different explanations of these results, Experiment 2 (N=64) employed the same central task and utilized an unexpected change in the pitch of the task‐irrelevant stimulus after 20 habituation trials. The results indicated that although habituation was again slower in the high demand condition than in the low, change trial responsiveness was less in the former than in the latter. The results are discussed in terms of arousal and information‐processing accounts of habituation.
A Consideration of Recent Criticisms of the T‐wave Amplitude Index of Myocardial Sympathetic Activity
Authors: Furedy John J. , Heslegrave Ronald J.
Published: February 2007

Because of its ventricular origin, T‐wave amplitude (TWA) has been suggested as a plausible candidate index for assessing myocardial sympathetic activity. This idea received some support in the literature but recent (1979–1980) papers from three independent laboratories have criticized the validity of TWA, and have at least implicitly suggested that TWA should be abandoned as a noninvasive sympathetic index. This paper examines these criticisms and finds them to be of questionable validity and certainly not of sufficient strength to support abandoning TWA. Instead, the conclusion drawn here is that we should continue to critically assess both TWA and other noninvasive candidate sympathetic indices by using invasive myocardial indices as criterion measures and both behavioral and pharmacological interventions as manipulations.
Design and Analysis Issues and Strategies in Psychophysiological Research
Authors: Muller Keith E. , Otto David A. , Benignus Vernon A.
Published: February 2007

Issues in the design and analysis of psychophysiological research are outlined. Then strategies for design and analysis are reviewed. Evoked response potential (ERP) data are discussed as an important example. The nature of the research and the measurement methodology place unusual demands on the experimenter. Controlling error rates, exploratory versus confirmatory research, and the problem of many variables are important issues. Strategies for design and analysis follow naturally from the principles presented. Useful design strategies include pilot studies, cross validation, and “leapfrog” strategies. Useful analysis strategies include restricted ANOVA/MANOVA and unrestricted ANOVA/MANOVA.
Habituation and Dishabituation of the Orienting Reaction to Between and Within Trial Changes in Pitch and Loudness
Authors: Fredrikson Mats , Berggren Tomas , Wanko Georg , von Scheele Bo
Published: February 2007

We investigated the effect of between and within trial changes in pitch and loudness on the electrodermal orienting reaction (OR), perceptions of movement, and their interaction. First, following 20 habituation trials (6‐s, 80dB, 1000 Hz), four groups of 10 subjects experienced either an increase or a between‐trial decrease in pitch (2000 or 500 Hz) or loudness (90 or 70 dB) on the 21st trial. Second, four additional groups of 20 subjects heard 20 tones that, within each 6‐s trial, either increased or decreased in pitch (500 to 2000 or 2000 to 500 Hz) or loudness (70 to 90 or 90 to 70 dB). During a dishabituation phase each group was split into halves having a nonchanging tone either increasing or decreasing relative to mean pitch or loudness. After each session subjects rated whether they perceived tones as approaching, retreating, or motionless.

Compared with groups experiencing constant stimuli, groups presented tones changing within trials had greater skin conductance responses that habituated slower irrespective of direction of change or its perception. During dishabituation a similar number of subjects dishabituated to a stimulus increase as compared to a decrease irrespective of whether the change was in pitch or loudness. Perceptions of movement treated as an independent variable did not predict habituation or dishabituation of the OR. The results generally support Sokolov, and are discussed in relation to hypotheses presented by Sokolov, O'Gorman, and Bernstein.
Unconfounded Electrodermal Measures in Assessing the Aversiveness of Predictable and Unpredictable Shocks
Authors: Katz Randy
Published: February 2007

The effect of temporal information on the electrodermal response to an aversive stimulus (shock) was evaluated. Eighty female volunteers were presented with trials in which the onset time of an aversive shock was either predictable or unpredictable. Following each trial, subjects indicated the degree of distress they felt while they were waiting for the shock to occur, and the perceived aversiveness of the shock at its impact. Skin resistance was recorded continuously. The responses produced by the predictable shocks were smaller than those produced by the unpredictable ones. Self‐report measures also followed this trend; more people preferred the predictable condition. Information about the timing of an aversive event appears beneficial for people both at a subjective and at an autonomic level.
Reliability of the Sleep Cycle as a Scoring Unit
Authors: Bunnell David E. , Horvath Steven M.
Published: February 2007

A fundamental characteristic of sleep is the alternation between non‐REM sleep periods (NREMPs) and REM sleep periods (REMPs), together forming the NREM sleep cycle (measured from NREM onset to the end of the succeeding REMP). It is proposed that analysis of sleep stage data should reflect this fundamental unit of sleep by basing comparisons between nights on an equivalent number of completed NREM cycles. The night‐to‐night stability of sleep stages based on 4 completed NREM cycles was compared with an analysis in which sleep time was fixed at 6 hrs (thus including partially completed NREMPs or REMPs). Total sleep time in 4 cycles was highly reliable within subjects. Both approaches resulted in significant reliability coefficients for all sleep stages. However, reliability did not differ significantly between the two approaches.

Analysis of individual NREMPs and REMPs indicated significant stability for REMPs 1 and 2 and NREMP 1 only, with intra‐individual variability increasing in later cycles. By contrast, SWS content displayed greatest reliability in cycles 2, 3, and 4.

The results suggest that when subjects' sleep is compared on an equivalent‐cycles basis, intra‐individual stability of sleep patterns is as reliable as standard approaches whether stages are expressed in absolute duration or as a percent of TST. Advantages of such an approach are discussed.
Voluntary Control of Systolic Blood Pressure During Postural Change
Authors: Victor Ronald , Weipert Doris , Shapiro David
Published: February 2007

The effects of biofeedback and voluntary control procedures on systolic blood pressure and heart rate during postural change were investigated in 30 normotensive men. Systolic pressure was measured with a continuous blood pressure tracking cuff, and blood pressure feedback was provided on a beat‐to‐beat basis. Postural changes in pressure, and corresponding heart rate changes, were examined in three experimental groups (N = 10 each). In two groups, subjects were given feedback training to increase or to decrease systolic blood pressure. In the third group, subjects were simply asked to increase their pressure but were not given feedback about their performance. Voluntary control of systolic pressure was attempted while subjects were seated and during postural change—sitting to standing. Subjects were also instructed to maintain voluntary blood pressure control in subsequent no‐feedback test trials. During postural change, voluntary control procedures caused significant alterations in tonic levels of systolic pressure, but phasic blood pressure reactivity was unaffected. With respect to postural changes in heart rate, both tonic and phasic treatment effects were observed. Implications of the findings for basic and clinical research are discussed.
Comparison of the Salivary Changes Associated With a Relaxing and With a Stressful Procedure
Authors: Borgeat François , Chagon Gilles , Legault Yves
Published: February 2007

This study examined the hypothesis that salivary characteristics could constitute objective measures of anxiety in response to anxiety‐reducing or provoking interventions. Salivary parameters (volume, turbidity, pH, proteins, amylase, calcium, and chloride) of 16 normal volunteers were recorded along with psychophysiological (EMG, skin conductance level and responses, skin temperature, and heart rate) and subjective (Mood Adjective Check List) measures, before and after two contrasting experimental interventions: a relaxation procedure and stressful intellectual tasks. Multivariate and univariate analyses of variance indicated that salivary characteristics did not vary differentially whether a relaxing or stressing procedure was executed, while these contrasting interventions induced clearly opposite psychophysiological and subjective responses. However, the saliva collected before and after the stressing session was different from the sample collected before and after the relaxation session, suggesting that salivary characteristics are more related to the general apprehension and demands of a given situation than to an immediate stressing or calming intervention. It is concluded that the psychological meaning of salivary responses differs from that of the more classical psychophysiological parameters.
Placebo Effects in Biofeedback and Self‐Perception of Muscle Tension
Authors: Pollard Robert Q , Katkin Edward S.
Published: February 2007

This study evaluated the effectiveness of laryngeal muscle biofeedback, a common treatment for subvocalization, utilizing a strict control group structure. Subjects were 29 undergraduates assigned to Laryngeal Feedback (N = 10), Masseter Feedback (N = 10), or No Feedback Control (N = 9) conditions. The results indicated that laryngeal muscle biofeedback had no specific treatment effect; however, masseter biofeedback demonstrated a specific treatment effect when the new procedure was utilized. Subjects in the Masseter Feedback Group displayed masseter EMG levels which were substantially lower than subjects in the Laryngeal Feedback Group (p<.05). In order to validate the results of the biofeedback control procedure, accuracy of myogenic perception was also tested, and found to be significant for the masseter (p<.001) but not for the laryngeal muscle. It is shown that the biofeedback control procedure can more accurately assess the presence or absence of specific treatment effects in biofeedback. Theoretical implications of the myogenic perception concept are discussed, and suggestions for future research in biofeedback and myogenic perception are provided.
Comparison of Event‐Related Potentials of Young Children and Adults in a Visual Recognition and Word Reading Task
Authors: Kok A. , Rooijakkers J.A.J.
Published: February 2007

An experiment is described in which event‐related potentials (ERPs) of a group of young children were compared with ERPs of a group of young adults. Both groups were required to perform a simple word‐reading task and a picture‐recognition task. Principal components analyses (PCAs) were performed on the averaged ERPs in two different ways: a) separately for each of four combinations of tasks and age groups, and b) separately for each age group (pooled across tasks). The results demonstrated that ERP components of children and adults differed both qualitatively and quantitatively. First, children's ERPs were characterized by a long‐latency negative component (N500) and a slow positive wave (SW) component, and adults’ ERPs were characterized by two late positive components (P340 and SW respectively). Second, both children and adults showed an earlier positive component that varied in peak latency between 280 ms for children and 240 ms for adults. In addition, adults showed a marked increase in SW positivity in the word‐reading task as compared with the picture‐recognition task, while task effects were less manifest in the components of children. These results support the notion that children and adults differed both in speed as well as in their mode of processing under the different task requirements.
Electrodermal Activity in Patients With Chronic Pain: Implications for the Specificity of Physiological Indices in Relation to Psychopathology
Authors: Carr Vaughan , Minniti Rinaldo , Pilowsky Issy
Published: February 2007

Abnormalities in skin conductance activity have been described for several psychiatric conditions. To date, few comparable investigations have been undertaken in patients who suffer from chronic pain syndromes in which psychogenic factors are operating. Skin conductance measurements were made using an orienting response paradigm in a sample of 100 such patients with chronic pain. The distribution of skin conductance responding/non‐responding was bimodal. Significant relationships were found between orienting response categories or trials to habituation, and several other skin conductance variables, such as spontaneous responses, tonic level, response amplitude, and certain temporal characteristics of the orienting response. It was concluded that anomalies in the distribution of skin conductance responding are diagnostically non‐specific and that orienting response categories are likely to be more or less arbitrary divisions on an ‘arousal’ continuum.
Left Hemisphere Specialization for Facial and Manual Imitation
Authors: Dawson Geraldine , Warrenburg Stephen , Fuller Peter
Published: February 2007

The hypothesis that the left cerebral hemisphere is specialized for the production of facial and manual motor imitation was tested. The measure of hemispheric specialization was electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings of alpha rhythm (8–12 Hz) asymmetries from homologous parietal sites taken during spatial, verbal, and motor imitation tasks. It was found that both language and motor imitation tasks were significantly more left‐lateralized than spatial tasks. The language and imitation tasks did not differ significantly in terms of the pattern of hemispheric specialization exhibited. Based on these findings, it was concluded that the left hemisphere is more directly involved in the production of facial and manual gestures. The role of motor imitation in the development of left hemisphere specialization for language is discussed.
Individual Differences in Phasic Cardiac Reactivity to Psychological Stress and the Law of Initial Value
Authors: Scher Hal , Furedy John J. , Heslegrave Ronald J.
Published: February 2007

The validity of the law of initial value (LIV), which predicts relationships between prestimulus level and phasic response, was evaluated for two cardiac measures, heart rate (HR) and electrocardiographic T‐wave amplitude (TWA). HR acceleration and TWA attenuation were produced in undergraduates by the performance of the backward digit span task. The between‐subjects correlations of prestimulus level with the magnitude of the phasic responses were significant, with signs opposite to that which would be predicted by the LIV. The within‐subjects prestimulus level‐phasic response correlations, however, were consistent with the LIV. It appears that individual differences in psychologically‐elicited phasic cardiac reactivity negate LIV predictions. These results emphasize the importance of sharply distinguishing the between‐ vs. within‐subjects formulations of the LIV, and are contrary to recent psychophysiology textbook accounts of the prestimulus level‐phasic response relationship for cardiac variables.
The Role of the Orienting Response in the Anticipation of Information: A Skin Conductance Response Study
Authors: Spinks John A. , Blowers Geoffrey H. , Shek Daniel T.L.
Published: February 2007

Theoretical positions concerning the role of the orienting response (OR) in information‐processing and attention have viewed the OR either as indexing an active increase in information‐processing efficiency, or as passively reflecting the results of information processing. This paper reports a skin conductance response (SCR) study of a two‐stimulus anticipation experiment, where a warning stimulus (WS) informed subjects of the nature of an impending imperative stimulus (IS). The subjects' task was to identify as much of the IS as possible. Both the WS and the IS varied in information content and stimulus duration. SCR magnitude in the WS‐IS interval varied according to the anticipated information processing requirements and was more sensitive to IS variation than WS variation. It is concluded that these responses index an anticipatory, activating process closely related to that suggested of the OR by Sokolov (1966), and consonant with the functional characteristics of the autonomic nervous system. Registration of information appears to be neither a necessary determinant of OR magnitude, nor a parsimoniously useful part of OR theory.
Cardiac Awareness in Infarct Patients and Normals
Authors: Jones Gary E. , Jones Kenneth R. , Cunningham Russell A. , Caldwell John A.
Published: February 2007

It has been argued that many subjects may have low awareness of visceral sensations because such feedback is of little relevance and salience in normal activity. This experiment examines awareness of cardiac sensations (heartbeats) in a group of 13 subjects, aged 37–67 yrs, all of whom had myocardial infarcts within the preceding 6 yrs previous to the experiment. Cardiac awareness was contrasted with the performance of a gender and age matched noncardiac control group on 80 Whitehead type discrimination trials. It was hypothesized that since rehabilitated cardiac patients frequently profess extreme sensitivity to their heart's activity and often experience benign arrhythmias which cause them to focus attention on their heart rate, that this group would show greater awareness of heartbeats than controls. The results clearly show that cardiac patients are no better able to discriminate true from false trials than are normals. Only one of 26 subjects showed above chance levels of discrimination, which is much lower than the percentage usually reported for young adult subjects. Respiration rate and amplitude, finger pulse volume, and heart period showed no differences between groups. The results suggest that although cardiac patients may feel aware of cardiac activity, they show no higher awareness of heartbeats during normal sinus rhythm than noncardiac controls.
Behavioral Control of Respiration in Sleep and Sleepiness Due to Signal‐Induced Sleep Fragmentation
Authors: Badia Pietro , Harsh John , Balkin Thomas , O'Rourke Diane , Burton Stephen
Published: February 2007

The effects of sleep fragmentation on behavioral control of sleeping respiration and on daytime sleepiness were investigated in 20 college students. All were polygraphically monitored both during nighttime sleep and during daytime naps. Ten experimental subjects were informed while awake that tones would be presented to them during nighttime sleep. Their task was to terminate the tones by taking a deep breath. Half of the subjects first received tones every 4 min; the other half received them every 8 min. After 4 consecutive nights subjects received 3 days off and conditions were reversed for 4 more consecutive nights. Tones started at 45dB and, in the absence of a response, increased 10dB every 10 seconds up to 95dB. Control subjects (N = 10) did not receive tones. The absolute number of arousals to tones was greater but the percentage of arousals was lower under the 4‐min condition. Full awakenings occurred infrequently. Probability of making a breathing response remained high across days for both fragmentation conditions, but latency to respond was shorter and probability higher under the 8‐min condition. Sleep fragmentation, whether “frequent” (4‐min) or “infrequent” (8‐min), did not induce greater daytime sleepiness than did the nonfragmentation control condition, and sleepiness did not differ between the two experimental conditions. Implications for developing behavioral techniques for treating sleep‐related breathing disorders are discussed.
Effects of Visual Field, Stimulus Degradation, and Level of Practice on Event‐Related Potentials of the Brain
Authors: Kok A. , van de Vijver F.R. , Rooijakkers J.A.J.
Published: February 2007

The present study reports the results of an experiment in which subjects were instructed to indicate whether letter‐pairs that were randomly presented in the center and peripheral (left and right) visual fields were semantically same or different. Letter‐pairs could be either intact or perceptually degraded, and all subjects participated in 3 consecutive sessions of the experiment. The results showed that event‐related‐potential (ERP) components were strongly affected by the visual field of presentation of stimuli. Center field stimuli elicited late positive components (P630, SW) of larger amplitude than peripheral field stimuli, at all electrode locations. At lateral electrode sites, N200 components were always larger (more negative), and late positive components were consistently smaller (less positive) to contralaterally than ipsilaterally presented stimuli. However, the contralateral negativity of N200 was much larger over the right than left regions of the scalp, while positive ERP components showed a more symmetrical distribution of the contra‐ vs. ipsilateral stimulation effect. These results are discussed in relationship to cognitive aspects of information processing, as well as the neural origin of endogenous ERP components.
Analyzing Event‐Related Potentials: The Utility of High and Low Pass Filtering in Improving the Relationship Between Various Amplitude Measures and Principal Components Analysis Factor Scores
Authors: Pritchard Walter S. , Brandt Michael E. , Barratt Eernest S.
Published: February 2007

The present investigation sought to determine whether the relationship between event‐related potential (ERP) principal components analysis (PCA) factor scores and analogous waveform amplitude measures could be improved by high‐ and low‐pass filtering the waveforms at a suitable cutoff value. Visual oddball ERPs were submitted to a varimax‐rotated PCA performed on the variance/covariance matrix. Principal components corresponding to P300 and Slow Wave were obtained. In keeping with the fact that the variance/covariance PCA analyzes sources of variance around the grand mean waveform, the grand mean waveform was subtracted from each of the original waveforms, and baseline‐referenced amplitude measurements were then made of P300 and Slow Wave. P300 was measured both as the maximum positive peak between 275 and 425 ms, and as the average amplitude during that interval. Slow Wave was measured as the average amplitude during the interval 400–700 ms. The P300 measurements were then repeated after high‐pass filtering the difference waveforms at 2 Hz. Slow Wave measurements were repeated after low‐pass filtering at 2 Hz. The value of 2 Hz was chosen as giving a reasonable cutoff based upon estimates of the wavelengths of the two components derived from inspection of their respective factor loading vectors.

The correlation between factor scores and amplitude measurements was .94 for unfiltered Slow Wave and actually declined slightly but significantly to .91 when the waveforms were low‐pass filtered. It would appear that Slow Wave factor scores emerging from a PCA can be fairly well approximated by a time‐band measurement algorithm, and that this approximation is not improved by low‐pass filtering. For both filtered and unfiltered measurements of P300, the amplitude/factor score correlation was significantly higher for the time‐band method than for the peak method. Further, high‐pass filtering at 2 Hz improved the time‐band/factor score correlation significantly from .62 to .75. This improvement is probably because the unfiltered measurements were tapping sources of variance due both to the higher frequency P300 component as well as a simultaneously active, lower frequency Slow Wave component. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.
Effects of Smoking on Vegetative Reactivity to Noise in Women
Authors: Woodson Phillip P. , Buzzi Roberto , Nil Rico , Báuttig Karl
Published: February 2007

Multichannel psychophysiological recording was used to monitor phasic stress reactivity to intermittent environmental noise bursts both before and after either real or sham smoking by women. Smoking induced heart rate acceleration, peripheral vasoconstriction, and increased pulse velocity. These tonic effects were accompanied by a suppression of noise‐induced tachycardia and a partial inhibition of noise‐induced vasoconstriction. Contrary to its activating effect on cardiovascular tonus, smoking lowered skin conductance amplitudes. Subjective stress to the successive noise bursts increased over time in the sham smokers but remained unchanged in real smokers, both prior to as well as after smoking. This lack of sensitization prior to real smoking may be a learned relaxation response based on anticipation. It was concluded that smoking not only shifts the tonus of vegetative functions but also partially stabilizes the system against external stress loads.
Effects of Stimulus Omission and Stimulus Novelty on Dishabituation of the Skin Conductance Response
Authors: Siddle David A. T. , Hirschhorn Tania
Published: February 2007

The present experiment (N=64) examined the effects of stimulus omission and stimulus novelty on dishabituation of the skin conductance response. During the training phase, subjects received 15 S1‐S2 pairings. On trial 16, S2 was omitted for one group, replaced by an experimentally‐novel stimulus for a second, and replaced by an experimentally‐familiar stimulus for a third. The control group simply received a further S1–S2 pairing on trial 16. All groups received a further S1–S2 pairing on trial 17. Tone, white noise, light, and vibration served equally often as experimental events, and responses to S1 and to S2 on trial 17 constituted the data of primary interest. The data indicated that both stimulus omission and stimulus novelty on trial 16 produced dishabituation to S2 on trial 17, whereas presentation in an unexpected position of an experimentally‐familiar stimulus did not. The results are discussed in terms of the concept of priming.
Diastolic Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Biofeedback Training During Orthostatic Stress
Authors: Weipert Doris , Shapiro David , Suter Thomas
Published: February 2007

Forty male college student volunteers were asked either to increase their diastolic pressure or their heart rate while sitting and during orthostatic stress (going from a sitting to a standing position), and half of them were also given second‐ to‐second visual feedback for the target variable. Systolic blood pressure was also continuously recorded. Comparisons were made between baseline and voluntary control conditions, and test trials were included to examine immediate carry‐over effects.

With voluntary control instructions, substantial increases in tonic levels were obtained for the three cardiovascular variables in both sitting and postural change conditions. In general, the increases were significantly greater for feedback than for no‐feedback conditions. Phasic effects of feedback were also observed during postural change conditions: the blood pressure troughs and the heart rate peak occurred earlier with feedback than for instructions only. Immediate transfer effects were obtained in feedback conditions only.

The results were discussed in terms of concomitant effects of somatic and cognitive activities. The distinctive feedback effects on the time course of the responses suggest that a precise analysis of response patterns is needed in selecting appropriate feedback methods in the management of orthostatic hypotension.
Proportional Jerk: A New Measure of Motion as Applied to Eye Movements in Sleep and Waking
Authors: Aserinsky Eugene
Published: February 2007

The third derivative of motion or the change in the rate of acceleration (also known as jerk) is examined in terms of its applicability to the study of psychophysiological function. An algorithm of this third derivative is presented to show that jerk can be derived from the arithmetic difference of two slopes which constitute the portion of motion being differentiated. By modifying the algorithm, a new parameter termed “proportional jerk’ or PJ is formulated whereby one slope is measured relative to the other slope; this PJ provides information about the smoothness of movement without being influenced by the velocity as is the traditional jerk measure. A practical application of the PJ to waking saccades and REMs in 11 human subjects revealed that REMs are significantly “jerkier’ or less smooth than waking calibration eye movements. Whereas the waking eye movements had a well‐defined negative phase of the PJ, the REMs did not show such stereotypical behavior. This is in accord with previous work which showed that waking saccade velocity increases to a maximum and then decreases whereas REMs maintain their peak or near peak velocities for varying periods. It was suggested that PJ can be useful in detecting subtle temporal changes in the course of movements and may be used as a parameter of motion even when the absolute amplitude is unknown.