bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Psychophysiology at the Interface of Clinical Science, Cognitive Science, and Neuroscience
Authors: Dawson Michael E.
Published: February 2007

Research in schizophrenia illustrates that the field of psychophysiology lies at the interface of clinical science, cognitive science, and neuroscience. Electrodermal abnormalities in schizophrenic patients have been found reliably across laboratories, and data reported here demonstrate that these abnormalities are at least partially dependent upon the clinical state of the patients. Both tonic and phasic electrodermal activity increased when schizophrenic patients entered into a psychotic episode, and preliminary evidence suggests that the increases may serve as early prodromal signs of an impending episode. Significance of the electrodermal abnormalities for understanding cognitive and attentional deficits is suggested by associations with secondary reaction time and startle blink probe findings. Neuroscience implications are highlighted by the correlation of the electrodermal abnormalities with regional brain metabolic activity indexed by positron emission tomography. An important task for the future is to interrelate measures from these various domains. The field of psychophysiology is particularly well positioned for this task.
Startle Reflex Modification: Emotion or Attention?
Authors: Bradley Margaret M. , Cuthbert Bruce N. , Lang Peter J.
Published: February 2007

Alternative interpretations of startle probe modulation by a pictorial foreground were tested: Either reflex amplitude varies as a function of modality‐determined attention allocation, or, regardless of probe modality, reflex amplitude varies with the emotional valence of the foreground content. Thirty‐six subjects viewed a series of 54 slides, divided into two 27‐slide blocks. Each block consisted of nine exemplars of three independently rated emotional content categories—pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant. Startle probes, half visual (flashgun) and half acoustic (white noise), were presented unpredictably during and between slide presentations. Eyeblink reflexes, corrugator and orbicularis oculi muscle tension, heart rate, and skin conductance were recorded during a 6‐s slide interval. Subjects subsequently rated the slides for emotional valence and arousal, and interest value. Free‐viewing times were also recorded. Analysis of reflex response and all ancillary measures supported the hypothesis that the primary determinant of startle modulation was the emotional valence of foreground content.
Relationships Between N1, P300, and Contingent Negative Variation Recorded at Age 15 and Criminal Behavior at Age 24
Authors: Raine Adrian , Venables Peter H. , Williams Mark
Published: February 2007

Recent event‐related potential (ERP) studies indicate that antisocial and psychopathic behavior is in some circumstances characterized by heightened attentional processes. This prospective study assesses whether ERP measures of attention recorded in adolescence are capable of predicting criminality status in adulthood. N1, P300, and contingent negative variation (CNV) were recorded during a CNV paradigm in a representative sample of 101 male schoolchildren at age 15, and related to criminality status at age 24. Criminals‐to‐be were characterized by larger N1 amplitudes and faster P300 latencies to the warning stimulus. Psychopathic personality within the criminal group was associated with larger N1 and CNV amplitudes. A discriminant function analysis using N1 and P300 measures correctly classified 74% of cases. It is concluded that enhanced early attentional processing may be of etiological significance in the development of criminality and that ERP measures may be of value in the early prediction of criminal behavior.
An Approach to Artifact Identification: Application to Heart Period Data
Authors: Berntson Gary G. , Quigley Karen S. , Jang Jaye F. , Boysen Sarah T.
Published: February 2007

A rational strategy for the automated detection of artifacts in heart period data is outlined and evaluated. The specific implementation of this approach for heart period data is based on the distribution characteristics of successive heart period differences. Because beat‐to‐beat differences generated by artifacts are large, relative to normal heart period variability, extreme differences between successive heart periods serve to identify potential artifacts. Critical to this approach are: 1) the derivation of the artifact criterion from the distribution of beat differences of the individual subject, and 2) the use of percentile‐based distribution indexes, which are less sensitive to corruption by the presence of artifactual values than are least‐squares estimates. The artifact algorithms were able to effectively identify artifactual beats embedded in heart period records, flagging each of the 1494 simulated and actual artifacts in data sets derived from both humans and chimpanzees. At the same time, the artifact algorithms yielded a false alarm rate of less than 0.3%. Although the present implementation was restricted to heart period data, the outlined approach to artifact detection may also be applicable to other biological signals.
Perception of Activity in the Zygomaticus Major and Corrugator Supercilii Muscle Regions
Authors: Epstein Leonard H.
Published: February 2007

This study was designed to assess differences in perception of activity in the zygomaticus major (predominant during smiling) and corrugator supercilii facial muscles (predominant during frowning). Magnitude production psychophysical methods were used to relate subjective intensity to objective electromyographic activity using a psychophysical power function under four conditions: smiling, frowning, smiling concurrent with maintenance of a frown, and frowning concurrent with maintenance of a smile. High correlation coefficients for each power function for both zygomatic and corrugator activity were obtained. Differences in sensitivity evaluated by comparing the exponent for slope of the power functions showed differences across the muscles and as a function of the conditions. The exponent for frowning was greater than for smiling. Although the exponent for zygomatic activity was similar with and without frowning, significantly greater exponents were shown for corrugator activity when concurrently frowning and smiling than when only frowning. Maximal electromyographic activity was greater in the zygomaticus major muscle during smiling than in the corrugator supercilii muscle during frowning. These results provide a methodology for perception of electromyographic activity which could be a useful basis for analysis of the role of perception in regulating affect.
Scoring Criteria for Response Latency and Habituation in Electrodermal Research: A Study in the Context of the Orienting Response
Authors: Barry Robert J.
Published: February 2007

Levinson and Edelberg's (1985) recent critique of scoring criteria for electrodermal studies pointed to the need to reduce the latency range used to define the electrodermal response. The present study examined the impact of such a narrowing of the latency window upon habituation and instructional effects in studies of the orienting response to low intensity innocuous stimuli. The first experiment found only a small effect of halving the latency window upon habituation to neutral stimuli, apparent as a strengthening of trends over trials. A second experiment showed somewhat larger effects with significant stimuli, apparent as slightly modified trial and group effects. These data support the view that nothing is to be lost by moving to a narrower latency range to define the electrodermal orienting response to stimulus presentation, and suggest that the advantages of such a change will become increasingly important as nonspecific electrodermal fluctuations increase with increasing electrodermal arousal. An analysis of habituation criteria within this context suggested that the choice of two rather than three no‐response trials to define habituation adds to the benefits obtained by the selection of a narrow latency window to define the response.
Menstrual Cycle Phase is a Potential Confound in Psychophysiology Research
Authors: Kaplan Bonnie J. , Whitsett Stan F. , Robinson John W.
Published: February 2007

Effects of menstrual cycle phase on physiological levels and reactivity were studied in a withinsubject design with 20 women aged 18–30 years. Basal body temperature was monitored daily; follicular and luteal recording sessions occurred before and after the ovulatory temperature rise, respectively. The design consisted of task and rest periods, presented in counterbalanced order across phases. Half the subjects began during their follicular phase and half began during their luteal phase. Follicular and luteal phases were compared for differences between baseline resting levels, as well as for reactivity. The results showed menstrual phase differences in heart rate, pulse transit time, and EEG alpha, particularly during tasks, but no difference in reactivity. Habituation effects in the group that began during the follicular phase often masked luteal activation. In spite of the fact that not all statistical results achieved significance, the consistency of most trends supports the conclusion that physiological recording sessions with women might best be restricted to the follicular phase.
Hemodynamics of Blood Pressure Responses During Active and Passive Coping
Authors: Sherwood Andrew , Dolan Carol A. , Light Kathleen C.
Published: February 2007

This laboratory study was designed to address a number of interrelated issues regarding cardiovascular reactivity to psychological stress. One objective was to extend the previous research comparing cardiovascular responses during active versus passive coping, by comparing responses to two task conditions designed to be similar in all ways except the opportunity to make a response influencing the task's outcome. A second objective was to compare responses to two different passive film tasks, which differed in outcome uncertainty and the degree of vicarious active coping achieved through identification with the role portrayed by the actors. A third objective was to evaluate whether individuals are predisposed to exhibit a particular hemodynamic pattern underlying their blood pressure adjustments, independently of the task demands imposed. Ninety healthy young adult male subjects were tested in pairs on a series of tasks that included a competitive reaction‐time task, an active as well as a passive phase of a team reaction‐time task, and passive viewing of two film segments. The tasks demanding active coping responses tended to raise blood pressure due primarily to an increase in cardiac output, while vascular resistance fell. During passive coping demands cardiac output increased to a lesser extent, but vascular resistance also tended to increase, thereby raising blood pressure by their synergistic effects. However, these patterns were not typical of all participating subjects. On the basis of their cardiac output and vascular resistance responses to the competitive reaction‐time task, one third of the subjects were categorized as being high myocardial reactors (n=30) and another third high vascular reactors (n=31). Post‐hoc analyses of responses to the other tasks, based on these categorizations, indicated that the hemodynamic basis of reactivity is an individual characteristic only partially modified by coping demands. The active/passive coping dimension is discussed both conceptually and in relation to the role of stress in the etiology of hypertension.
Event‐Related Potentials to Different Feedback Stimuli
Authors: Chwilla Dorothee J. , Brunia Cornelis H.M.
Published: February 2007

Event‐related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in a time estimation task under different feedback conditions, in which the informative value of the feedback signals (true versus false) was manipulated. A control condition was added in which no signal was presented. Fifteen subjects pressed a button 3 seconds after presentation of a warning signal. Two seconds after the response, a visual feedback signal was presented, indicating whether the preceding interval was estimated correctly. Two different slow waves were observed: the response was preceded by a readiness potential and the feedback stimulus was preceded by a negative slow wave called the stimulus‐preceding negativity. The readiness potential was not influenced by the different feedback conditions. The stimulus‐preceding negativity was larger in the true feedback condition compared to the false feedback and no feedback conditions. The P300 to the feedback signal was also larger following a true as compared to a false feedback signal. The conclusion is that the stimulus‐preceding negativity is an anticipatory component contingent upon the presentation of an informative feedback signal.
The Inhibition of Cardiovascular Responses to Mental Stress Following Aerobic Exercise
Authors: Roy Mark , Steptoe Andrew
Published: February 2007

The effects of exercise on subsequent psychophysiological responses to mental stress were assessed in a study of 30 normotensive male volunteers. Participants were randomly allocated to three experimental conditions—20‐min exercise at 100 Watts (high exercise), 20‐min exercise at 25 Watts (low exercise), or 20‐min no exercise (control). After a recovery period of 20 min, all subjects performed a mental arithmetic task for four 5‐min trials. Blood pressure and heart rate were monitored continuously using a Finapres, and respiration and electrodermal activity were also recorded. Baroreceptor reflex control of heart rate was assessed using power spectrum analysis. Exercise produced consistent increases in systolic blood pressure, heart rate, and subjective tension, together with reductions in systemic resistance and baroreflex sensitivity. The systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate reactions to mental arithmetic were significantly blunted in the high exercise compared with control conditions, with the low exercise group showing an intermediate pattern. Subjective responses to mental stress were unaffected by prior exercise. The pattern of hemodynamic response was not a result of changes in baroreflex sensitivity. The mechanisms underlying this result are discussed in relation to the discrepancies between subjective and physiological responses to mental stress, and the implications for the use of exercise in stress management.
The Reliability and Specificity of Delta Versus Residualized Change as Measures of Cardiovascular Reactivity to Behavioral Challenges
Authors: Llabre Maria M. , Spitzer Susan B. , Saab Patrice G. , Ironson Gail H. , Schneiderman Neil
Published: February 2007

The statistical parameters that influence the reliability of delta and residualized change were examined in the context of the assessment of cardiovascular reactivity. A comparison of the relative reliabilities of these two quantification methods was performed using systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate data from two samples of 134 and 109 subjects observed during baseline and either two or four behavioral challenges. The results indicated that both delta and residualized change scores can yield reliable measures of blood pressure and heart rate reactivity to behavioral challenges, and that their reliabilities will be comparable under the conditions observed in laboratory reactivity studies. Correlations between baseline and delta did not indicate that these two measures were systematically related. Finally, delta scores are more appropriate than residuals when assessing the generalizability of responses across a variety of tasks.
Toward a Functional Categorization of Slow Waves: Taking into Account Past and Future Events
Authors: Rösler Frank , Heil Martin
Published: February 2007

Ruchkin, Johnson, Mahaffey, and Sutton (1988) presented evidence for a frontal positive/posterior negative late slow wave (SW) which they found to be functionally related to conceptual load, i.e., the difficulty of mental calculation problems increased both the positive and negative parts of it. In the present study we replicated the paradigm of Ruchkin et al. with some modifications, and we also found that this late SW pattern is actually due to a superimposition of two slow potentials. Our results suggest that one potential (positive at frontopolar scalp) is related to the mental operation of division. However, the other potential (negative over posterior scalp) is not related to the computational task itself but to the expectation of stimuli that follow the task. In addition, we found that memorizing a digit seems to be associated with a positive slow wave over posterior scalp. Altogether, our data suggest that load imposed on working memory is associated with positive slow waves which show a task specific topography—mental division is associated with a pSW at Fpz, remembering with a pSW at Pz/Oz. On the other hand, the state of stimulus and task anticipation is associated with negative slow waves. The latter reach their amplitude maximum over posterior scalp, if visually presented information is anticipated.

Our study demonstrates how functionally distinct slow waves can be disentangled by a systematic manipulation of events which either precede or follow the slow wave activity. Moreover, it shows that recording epochs must be of considerable length, if the functional significance of slow waves is the objective of research.
Maturation of Prestimulation‐Induced Startle Modulation in Girls
Authors: Ornitz Edward M. , Guthrie Donald , Sadeghpour Mojdeh , Sugiyama Toshiro
Published: February 2007

This study of the maturation of prestimulation‐induced modulation of startle in 4‐ to 8‐year‐old girls and young women demonstrated significant effects of age on both startle amplitude and onset latency modulation. Prestimulation with nonstartling tones resulted in strong inhibition of both amplitude and latency of the startle blink reflex in adults when 25‐ms tones preceded the startling stimuli by 120 ms or 250 ms. Following sustained prestimulation for 2000 ms, the adults showed weak nonsignificant response facilitation. Eight‐year‐old girls showed mature inhibitory startle amplitude modulation, but significantly less inhibition of onset latency compared to adults. Preschool girls showed significantly less amplitude and latency inhibition and more facilitation than 8‐year‐olds and adult women. These findings in female subjects were very similar to those obtained by Ornitz, Guthrie, Kaplan, Lane, and Norman (1986) in male subjects. Gender differences were limited to the 8‐year‐old age group. The 8‐year‐old girls showed significantly less startle amplitude inhibition than 8‐year‐old boys following the 120‐ms and 250‐ms prestimulation intervals and less latency facilitation following 2000 ms of sustained prestimulation. In general, these findings suggest that brainstem mechanisms that mediate startle response modulation undergo development during early childhood and do not mature until about 8 years of age in both male and female subjects. The results are discussed in relation to studies of gender effects on development of other neurophysiological variables and to maturation of the nervous system.
Selective Attention in Auditory Processing as Reflected by Event‐Related Brain Potentials
Authors: Alho Kimmo
Published: February 2007

Measures of event‐related brain potentials (ERPs) have revealed two kinds of selective‐attention mechanisms that operate on attended and unattended auditory stimuli. Theprocessing negativityof the ERP reveals a mechanism ofintramodalselective attention in the auditory cortex controlled by frontal cortex. This mechanism selects attended auditory stimuli for further processing when they differ from unattended stimuli in location or tonal frequency. Studies ofintermodalselective attention have compared auditory ERPs during auditory and visual attention. At least in part different brain mechanisms may be involved in the selection of auditory stimuli among other auditory stimuli (intramodal selective attention)and in the selection of auditory stimuli among visual stimuli (intermodal selective attention). This is suggested by the results showing that the earlier component of the processing negativity, which is generated in the auditory cortex during intramodal selective attention, differs in scalp distribution from the early attention‐related negativity elicited during intermodal selective attention. With respect to the unattended auditory stimuli, ERP studies of selective attention suggest that physical features of these stimuli are extensively processed. This is shown by themismatch negativitycomponent of the ERP, which is usually elicited by infrequent physical deviations in an auditory stimulus sequence both when this sequence is attended and when it is ignored. This would be impossible if the physical stimulus features were not extensively processed, even in the absence of attention.
Cardiovascular Responses to the Combination of Caffeine and Mental Arithmetic, Cold Pressor, and Static Exercise Stressors
Authors: France Christopher , Ditto Blaine
Published: February 2007

The present study examined cardiovascular responses to the combination of caffeine (250mg) and mental arithmetic, cold pressor, and static exercise stressors in 48 healthy males. Subjects were tested in a within‐subject, placebo‐controlled, double‐blind design. Repeated measurements of heart rate finger temperature, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, forearm blood flow, and blood pressure were obtained during a pre‐drug resting baseline, a post‐drug resting baseline, the three stressor tasks, and a recovery baselin. The primary analyses were 2(Drug) × 5(Period) × 6(Stress Order) MANCOV As using pre‐drug baseline values as covariates. Significant period main effects were observed for all measures. Significant drug main effects were observed for blood pressure, finger temperature, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, and forearm blood flow. The significant changes in blood pressure and finger temperature produced by caffeine combined in an additive fashion with the effects produced by the stressors. Significantly greater increases in forearm blood flow and heart rate during mental arithmetic on the caffeine day suggested a potentiation of sympathetic, beta‐adrenerigic activity. Questionnaires administered during baseline periods to assess psychological responses to stress and caffeine revealed a potentiation of anxiety and anger responses to stress on the caffeine day.
Prestimulation‐Induced Startle Modulation in Attention‐Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Nocturnal Enuresis
Authors: Ornitz Edward M. , Hanna Gregory L. , de Traversay Jean
Published: February 2007

Startle modulation was induced by prestimulation in 43, 6–11 year old boys with attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), 13 of whom were or had been enuretic, 17 age‐matched enuretic boys, and 42 age‐matched normal boys, using 60‐ms and 120‐ms prestimulation intervals and a 4000‐ms continuous tone. There was a significant multivariate effect of enuresis on startle amplitude modulation. This effect was attributed primarily to the reduction of amplitude inhibition following the 120‐ms prestimulation interval regardless of whether or not enuresis was associated with ADHD. There was no effect of ADHD on startle modulation by prestimulation. The inhibition following the 120‐ms prestimulation interval in the enuretic boys was reduced to the level of 5‐year‐old normal children, suggesting a maturational component of the deficient startle inhibition. The neurophysiologic dysfunction underlying the deficient startle inhibition in enuresis, but not ADHD, is discussed in terms of a possible dysfunction of mesopontine reticular mechanisms mediating preattentive processing of signals associated with spinal reflexes involved in urinary bladder control.
The Identification of Concealed Memories Using the Event‐Related Potential and Implicit Behavioral Measures: A Methodology for Prediction in the Face of Individual Differences
Authors: Allen John J. , Iacono William G. , Danielson Kurt D.
Published: February 2007

The development and validation of an event‐related potential (ERP) memory assessment procedure is detailed. The procedure identifies learned material with high rates of accuracy, whether or not subjects give intentional responses indicating they had previously learned it. Because the traditional analysis of variance approach fails to provide probabilistic conclusions about any given individual, Bayesian posterior probabilities were computed, indicating the probability for each and every person that material was learned. The method was developed on a sample of 20 subjects, and then cross‐validated on two additional samples of 20 subjects each. Across the three samples, the method correctly defined over 94% of learned material as learned, and misclassified 4% of the unlearned material. Additionally, in a simple oddball task performed by the same subjects, the method classified rare and frequent material with perfect accuracy. Finally, combining two implicit behavioral measures—mean reaction time and the number of incorrect responses—in Bayesian fashion yielded classification accuracy that actually exceeded that of the ERP‐based procedure overall, but the two methods provided identical accuracy in classifying the most critical material as recognized.
Event‐Related Potentials and Autonomic Responses to a Change in Unattended Auditory Stimuli
Authors: Lyytinen Heikki , Blomberg Ari‐Pekka , Näätänen Risto
Published: February 2007

Event‐related brain potentials (ERPs) and autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses to occasional pitch and rise‐time changes in a task‐irrelevant auditory stimulus repeating at short intervals were measured while the subject performed a difficult intellectual task (Raven Matrices). It was found that deviant stimuli elicited the mismatch negativity (MMN) component of the ERP even when they elicited no ANS response. There was no significant difference in the mismatch negativity between trials in which the skin conductance response was or was not elicited. The pitch deviant tone also elicited heart rate deceleration, whereas the rise‐time deviant tone tended to elicit a later heart rate acceleration. Neither heart rate change correlated with the mismatch negativity. The pattern of results obtained suggests that the mismatch negativity is generated by an automatic discrimination process associated with the cerebral events initiating the orienting response to stimulus change, but does not necessarily lead to the orienting response elicitation. Longer‐latency ERP components tended to show slight covariation with ANS responses. The P3 was larger when a skin conductance response was elicited than when it was not elicited. Further, heart rate change trials tended to be accompanied by larger slow waves than trials with no heart rate response. Heart rate acceleration trials were accompanied by a larger slow parietal positivity and a smaller frontal negativity than were heart rate deceleration trials.
Blood pressure during sustained inhibitory breathing in the natural environment
Authors: ANDERSON DAVID E. , AUSTIN JOY , HAYTHORNTHWAITE JENNIFER A.
Published: February 2007

Previous studies reported that breathing frequency of laboratory dogs decreased preceding the onset of an avoidance task and that this decrease was accompanied by increases in blood pressure and decreases in heart rate. Low frequency/normal tidal volume breathing has also been observed in ambulatory humans, but the cardiovascular concomitants of this inhibitory breathing pattern remain to be determined. The present study recorded blood pressure and heart rate in humans during periods of inhibitory breathing in the natural environment. Systolic and mean pressure were higher during inhibitory breathing than at other times, but no differences in diastolic pressure or heart rate were observed. Inhibitory breathing was differentially associated with the workplace and with social situations. Thus, major components of a physiological pattern that predisposes laboratory animals to sodium‐sensitive experimental hypertension have now been observed to covary in ambulatory humans. Whether inhibitory breathing in the natural environment is a correlate or a cause of elevated blood pressure remains to be determined.
Respiratory sinus arrhythmia: Autonomic origins, physiological mechanisms, and psychophysiological implications
Authors: BERNTSON GARY G. , CACIOPPO JOHN T. , QUIGLEY KAREN S.
Published: February 2007

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is being used increasingly in psychophysiological studies as an index of vagal control of the heart and may be among the most selective noninvasive indices of parasympathetic control of cardiac functions. A comprehensive understanding of RSA, however, requires an appreciation of its multiple autonomic and physiological origins. We review the physiological bases of RSA and show that RSA arises from multiple tonic and phasic processes of both central and peripheral origin. These underlying mechanisms are at least partially differentiated, have distinct dynamics and consequences, and may be differentially sensitive to behavioral and cognitive events. These multiple mechanisms are relevant for psychophysiological studies of RSA, and a thorough understanding of RSA can only be achieved through an appreciation of the dynamics of its underlying origins. There is a distinction between the psychophysiological and neurophysiological domains, and conceptual and empirical bridges between these domains are needed.
Waiting in readiness: Gating in attention and motor preparation
Authors: BRUNIA CORNELIS H. M.
Published: February 2007

In this paper the similarities in the structural and functional organization of motor preparation and attension are discussed. A crucial structure in this organization is the thalamus, a complex of sensory and motor nuclei that transmits information from subcortical origins to the cortex. For the most part, the thalamus is overlapped by the nucleus reticularis, which has a local inhibitory influence on the underlying nuclei. This serves as a gating mechanism for the transmission of sensory information to the cortex. Skinner and Yingling (1977) have provided arguments in favor of a frontal control in the gating of sensory information. The present paper extends their suggestions to the motor system: a similar gating mechanism for the transmission of subcortical motor information to the cortex is hypothesized, also under frontal control. Slow potentials recorded during motor preparation and attention for an upcoming stimulus show a different distribution over the scalp. These distributions are interpreted as an indication of which thalamic gates are open to transmit information to the cortex. Probe responses (spinal reflexes, evoked potentials, and the startle reflex) can also be used to investigate which thalamocortical gates are open under certain experimental conditions. It is concluded that the sensory and motor input to the cortex are subjected to a similar control mechanism.
A simple test of the Law of Initial Values
Authors: GEENEN RINIE , VAN DE VIJVER FONS J. R.
Published: February 2007

The conceptualization and testing of the Law of Initial Values remains a controversial issue. We critically review common procedures to test the Law, and a simple test of the Law is described and illustrated. The reduction of variance from the pretest to the posttest is crucial in this test.
Smooth pursuit in schizophrenia: Abnormalities of open‐ and closed‐loop responses
Authors: CLEMENTZ BRETT A. , McDOWELL JENNIFER E.
Published: February 2007

A sample of 29 schizophrenia patients and 27 nonpsychiatric subjects were tested on measures of open‐ and closed‐loop smooth‐pursuit performance. Rashbass step‐ramps were used to measure pursuit latency and open‐loop gain. Regular ramps were used to calculate frequency and amplitude of both catch‐up saccades and square‐wave jerks, frequency of anticipatory saccades, and steady‐state gain. Schizophrenia patients demonstrated lower open‐loop gain than did nonpsychiatric subjects, an effect that was accentuated at faster target velocities. They also showed reduced steady‐state gain, but only to 30%s right‐moving targets. There was no evidence of saccadic abnormalities during smooth pursuit among the schizophrenia patients. These patients generated fewer square‐wave jerks than did nonpsychiatric subjects for 10% left‐moving targets. These results suggest an abnormality of smooth‐pursuit initiation among patients with schizophrenia.
Emotional qualities of odors and their influence on the startle reflex in humans
Authors: MILTNER W. , MATJAK M. , BRAUN C. , DIEKMANN H. , BRODY S.
Published: February 2007

Recent human and animal research suggests that the startle reflex might serve as a psychophysiological indicator of the emotional valence of foreground stimulation. The present experiment was designed to evaluate the emotional effects of positive and negative odorant stimuli. We examined the effects of continuous hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and vanillin stimulation on the magnitude of the acoustic startle reflex (measured at the M. orbicularis oculi) and on ratings of subjective valence in 16 healthy subjects. In accordance with the view that odors have emotional qualities, we found that H2S, a presumed negative foreground stimulus, significantly enhanced the startle‐reflex amplitude relative to neutral air stimulation, whereas vanillin, a positive foreground stimulus, tended to reduce the reflex amplitude compared with neutral air stimulation. Both odorant stimuli were rated as equally intense by the subjects, and heart rate and electrodermal activity were not affected differentially by the two odorants.
Alcohol and the physiological detection of deception: Arousal and memory influences
Authors: O'TOOLE DENNIS , YUILLE JOHN C. , PATRICK CHRISTOPHER J. , IACONO WILLIAM G.
Published: February 2007

Eighty male volunteers participated in an analogue study of the effects of alcohol intoxication at the time of a crime on the physiological detection of deception using control question and guilty knowledge techniques. Sixty‐four of the subjects committed a mock crime and half of these were intoxicated during the crime. Sixteen subjects committed no crime and served as innocent controls. We found that intoxication at the time of the crime had no significant effect on polygraph test outcomes, although it did affect anticipatory arousal before the crime and subsequent memory for crime details. Manipulations designed to influence memory for crime details and arousal during the crime had differential effects for the two polygraph tests. On the guilty knowledge test, primed subjects who rehearsed specific details following the crime were more detectable than unprimed subjects. On the control question test, primed subjects were also more detectable, but only when arousal during the crime was high.
Reduced attention‐related negative potentials in schizophrenic adults
Authors: STRANDBURG ROBERT J. , MARSH JAMES T. , BROWN WARREN S. , ASARNOW ROBERT F. , GUTHRIE DONALD , HIGA JERILYN , YEE‐BRADBURAY CINDY M. , NUECHTERLEIN KEITH H.
Published: February 2007

Event‐related potentials were recorded from outpatient adult schizophrenics receiving maintenance doses of neuroleptics and from normal control subjects during performance of a reaction time task and a complex visual discrimination task, the Span of Apprehension. Difference potentials were computed to isolate endogenous activity associated with the processing demands of the Span task. Schizophrenics produce significantly less early endogenous negative activity than do normal subjects. This processing‐related negativity reflects pattern matching activity to an attentional trace during the serial scan of the visual icon. We previously reported an identical reduction in processing‐related negativity in childhood‐onset schizophrenia, suggesting that this deficit is age independent. Both frontal contingent negative variation and an early frontal P3 were larger in the schizophrenics than in normal subjects, suggesting an inappropriate mobilization of nonspecific attentional resources. A later posterior P3 was significantly smaller in schizophrenics than in normal subjects.
Electrophysiological correlates of feature analysis during visual search
Authors: LUCK STEVEN J. , HILLYARD STEVEN A.
Published: February 2007

Event‐related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from normal young adults during visual search tasks in which the stimulus arrays contained either eight identical items (homogeneous arrays) or seven identical items and one deviant item (pop‐out arrays). Four experiments were conducted in which different classes of stimulus arrays were designated targets and the remaining stimulus arrays were designated nontargets. In Experiments 1 and 2, both target and nontarget pop‐out stimuli elicited an enhanced anterior N2 wave and a contralaterally larger posterior P1 wave, but Experiments 3 and 4 demonstrated that these components do not reflect fully automatic pop‐out detection processes. In all four experiments, target pop‐outs elicited enlarged anterior P2, posterior N2, occipital P3, and parietal P3 waves. The target‐elicited posterior N2 wave contained a contralateral subcomponent (N2pc) that exhibited a focus over occipital cortex in maps of current source density. The overall pattern of results was consistent with guided search models in which preattentive stimulus information is used to guide attention to task‐relevant stimuli.
A technique for improved blood sampling during sleep studies
Authors: ONA ELLEN , DIMSDALE JOEL E. , ANCOLI‐ISRAEL SONIA , DILLON ELAINE , WATKINS LANA , COY TIMOTHY V. , CLAUSEN JACK
Published: February 2007

Research protocols often require that blood samples be drawn during sleep. This study compares the efficacy of obtaining nocturnal blood samples using a standard heparinized intravenous setup versus the same intravenous setup used in conjunction with a small chemical heating pad. The chemical heating pad significantly improved the number of blood samples obtained and the maintenance of intravenous patency. The use of a chemical heating pad is an economical way to resolve the frustration of lost blood samples while maintaining a reasonable environment to monitor sleep.
Form and magnitude of beta‐sympathetic and parasympathetic influences on pulse transit time
Authors: CONTRADA RICHARD J. , DEL BO ALBERTO , LEVY LINDA , WEISS THEODORE
Published: February 2007

In this study, we examined autonomic influences on pulse transit time measured from the R‐wave of the electrocardiogram (R‐PTT). Six subjects received three doses each of isoproterenol and atropine. Isoproterenol produced a significant linear decrease in R‐PTT, a significant linear increase in heart rate (HR), and a significant linear decrease in diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Atropine produced a significant linear decrease in R‐PTT and significant linear increases in HR and DBP. The R‐PTT shortening effect of isoproterenol may reflect positive inotropic effects of beta‐ sympathetic myocardial stimulation. The R‐PTT shortening effect of atropine may reflect reduction of parasympathetic inhibition of ventricular myocardial activity. However, possible vascular contributions to these effects remain to be determined. Nonetheless, the results encourage further examination of R‐PTT in research concerning autonomic regulation of cardiovascular activity.
The contingent negative variation in an odor labeling paradigm
Authors: LORIG TYLER S. , TURNER JAMES M. , MATIA DOUGLAS C. , WARRENBURG STEPHEN
Published: February 2007

Abstarct

Fifteen subjects participated in an experiment designed to assess the contingent negative variation (CNV) during the labeling of odors and shapes. Odors or shapes were presented (SI) and followed 3 s later by a lexical label (A, B, or C) (S2). In 75% of the trials, the S2 was the correct label for the odor or shape. In the remaining trials, the S2 was an incorrect label. Subjects' olfactory performance was correlated with both the CNV during in the S1/S2 interval and also the P300 following the S2 stimulus. The CNV over the left frontal area was significantly larger in the olfactory phase of the experiment. CNV activity also correlated with olfactory performance such that subjects with the largest odor‐related CNVs had the best olfactory performance. Although P300 differed as a function of label matches versus mismatches, no odor‐specific effects or correlations were found.
Psychophysiological responses as indices of affective dimensions
Authors: VanOYEN WITVLIET CHARLOTTE , VRANA SCOTT R.
Published: February 2007

The startle reflex, facial electromyogram (EMG), and autonomic nervous system responses were examined during imagery varying in affective valence and arousal. Subjects (N= 48) imagined affective situations during tone‐cued 8‐strials. Startle blink magnitudes were larger and latencies faster during negatively valent than during positively valent conditions and during high‐arousal than during low‐arousal conditions. Greatest heart rate acceleration and fastest and largest skin conductance responses to startle probes occurred during high‐arousal imagery. Zygomatic and orbicularis oculi facial muscle activities were higher during high‐arousal imagery, whereas corrugator muscle activity was higher during low‐arousal imagery. Zygomatic and corrugator activity also varied with emotional valence. The startle and facial EMG responses are most parsimoniously organized by the negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA) dimensions, respectively. This NA/PA framework integrates previous research, dimensional theories of emotional behavior, and physiological assessment of pathological emotion.
P300 hemispheric amplitude asymmetries from a visual oddball task
Authors: ALEXANDER JOEL E. , PORJESZ BERNICE , BAUER LANCE O. , KUPERMAN SAMUEL , MORZORATI SANDRA , O'CONNOR SEAN J. , ROHRBAUGH JOHN , BEGLEITER HENRI , POLICH JOHN
Published: February 2007

The P3(00) event‐related potential (ERP) was elicited in 80 normal, right‐handed male subjects using a simple visual discrimination task, with electroencephalographic (EEG) activity recorded at 19 electrodes. P3 amplitude was larger over the right than over the left hemisphere electrode sites primarily at anteromedial locations (F3/4, C3/4) for target, novel, and standard stimuli. The N1, P2, and N2 components also demonstrated hemispheric asymmetries. The strongest P3 hemispheric asymmetries for all stimuli were observed at anterior locations, suggesting a frontal right hemisphere localization for initial stimulus processing, although target stimuli produced larger P3 amplitudes at parietal locations than did novel stimuli. The relationships of hemispheric asymmetries to anatomical variables, background EEG activity, and neurocognitive factors are discussed.
Shades of gray matter: Noninvasive optical images of human brain reponses during visual stimulation
Authors: GRATTON GABRIELE , CORBALLIS PAUL M. , CHO EUNHEE , FABIANI MONICA , HOOD DONALD C.
Published: February 2007

Recent theories about human brain function emphasize the need for imaging methods that allow the study of dynamic interactions among different structures. In this paper, we report on a new technique, based on the measurement of parameters of migration of near‐infrared photons, that yields functional images of the human occipital cortex, combining a spatial resolution of 0.5 cm and a temporal resolution of 50 ms. This technique appears to be suitable for studying the dynamics of cortical activation.
Acute effects of caffeine on selective attention and visual search processes
Authors: LORIST MONICQUE M. , SNEL JAN , KOK ALBERT , MULDER GIJSBERTUS
Published: February 2007

The influence of a single dose of caffeine was evaluated in focused and divided attention conditions of a visual selective search task in which subjects had to perform controlled search processes to locate a target item. Search processes were manipulated by varying display load. A dose of 3 mg/kg body weight caffeine or lactose, dissolved in a cup of decaffeinated coffee, was administered double blindly and deceptively to overnight abstinent coffee drinkers. Behavioral measures were supplemented by event‐related potentials (ERPs). Subjects reacted faster in the caffeine condition. The P3b peak latency decreased after caffeine in the low display load condition and in the focused attention condition, indicating that the effects of caffeine are dependent on the number of relevant display items, not on the total number of display items presented. Search processes, as reflected in a negative ERP deflection, were not affected by caffeine.
The ambulatory measurement of posture, thigh acceleration, and muscle tension and their relationship to heart rate
Authors: TUOMISTO MARTTI T. , JOHNSTON DEREK W. , SCHMIDT THOMAS F. H.
Published: February 2007

We compared the relative ability of continuous accelerometric, electromyographic (EMG), and hydrostatic posture measurements to diseriminate tasks involving variations in motor activity and posture and to predict heart rate (HR) variability. EMG was a more sensitive measure than accelerometry in differentiating the tasks. How‐ever, accelerometry and EMG explained comparable amounts of HR variance. The hydrostatic posture was a stable measure that elearly differentiated postures and explained a significant amount of HR variance but less than accelerometry or EMG. Accelerometric and EMG measures of motor activity used either alone or in combination with the hydrostatic posture are valuable in discriminating activities and in controlling for the effects of motor activity and posture on HR during ambulatory measurement.
Naming norms for brief environmental sounds: Effects of age and dementia
Authors: FABIANI MONICA , KAZMERSKI VICTORIA A. , CYCOWICZ YAEL M. , FRIEDMAN DAVID
Published: February 2007

Brief nontonal sounds are used in electrophysiology in the novelty oddball paradigm. These sounds vary in the brain activity they elicit and in the degree to which they can be identified, named, and remembered. Because ease of sound identification may influence sound processing, naming and conceptual norms were determined for 100 sounds for 77 young adults (Experiment 1). Naming ability decreases in normal and pathological aging. Therefore, norms were also derived for older adults (Experiment 2) and for probable Alzheimer's disease patients (Experiment 3). With respect to the young adults, perseverative naming behavior increased in these groups, and sound and picture naming performance were correlated. In Experiment 4, the sound‐naming performance of children aged 5–6, 9–11, and 14–16 yers was compared. Name and conceptual agreements improved with age, whereas perseverative behavior decreased. These normative data should be useful in guiding sound selection in future studies and help clarify the relationships between sound naming and other variables, including direct and indirect memory performance.
A historic‐quantitative approach to psychophysiological research: The first three decades of the journal Psychophysiology (1964–1993)
Authors: SANCHEZ‐HERNANDEZ ANTONIO , PEDRAJA MARIA J. , QUIÑONES‐VIDAL ELENA , MARTINEZ‐SANCHEZ FRANCISCO
Published: February 2007

We used quantitative methodology to examine the first three decades of the journal Psychophysiology from a standpoint of historic interest. A bibliometric analysis was conducted on 1,781 works published during this period. In total, 2,537 authors have published in the journal. The distribution of their productivity matches approximately what would be expected based on previous bibliometric investigations. A constant increase in the collaboration between researchers was evident (reaching an average of 2.56 authors per paper). The literature cited in these articles dates back between 4.53 and 8.12 years (M= 6.48 years). These bibliometric results show that this journal can be placed among the most experimentally oriented group within the field of psychology.