bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cardiovascular and Skin Conductance Correlates of a Fixed‐Foreperiod Reaction Time Task in Retarded and Nonretarded Youth
Authors: Bower A. C. , Tate D. L. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTChanges in heart rate (HR), digital and cephalic pulse amplitude, and skin conductance were studied during a fixed‐foreperiod reaction time (RT) task. Mentally retarded adolescents with a mean mental age of 9 yrs, 10 mos were compared with two nonretarded groups matched on mental age (MA) and chronological age (CA), respectively. AH subjects received 20 RT trials with distractors (music) during the 4‐sec preparatory interval (PI) and 20 trials without music in a counterbalanced design. The warning signal was a 1 sec light presentation and the reaction signal was an 82 dB tone. Retarded subjects had longer and more variable RTs than the controls. Retarded subjects had smaller HR accelerations and decelerations during the PI than the CA group but not less than the MA group. Further, the retarded group had a marginally lower tonic skin conductance level, smaller skin conductance responses, and smaller constrictions in cephalic pulse amplitude than the CA controls. The results are discussed in terms of attentional and arousal deficits in retarded persons. Some comments are focused on the developmental findings (MA vs CA groups) and on the discrepancies among the skin conductance and cardiovascular measures.
Conditioning of Evoked Potentials in Children of Differing Intelligence
Authors: Lelord G. , Laffont F. , Jusseaume Ph. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTThis study compared the conditioning of averaged evoked potentials in three groups of children (average age 11 yrs): (I) normals, (II) IQ between 50 and 60, (III) IQ between 20 and 50. Sound was the conditioned stimulus, light the unconditioned stimulus, 68 sessions were recorded in 34 children.Decrease in the number and in the amplitude of potentials evoked by sound was observed from group I to group III, whereas generalized slow waves increased from group I to group III.Conditioning was different in the three groups. In the normal child it modified the conditioned evoked potential to sound. In the mentally retarded child, it modified generalized slow waves and brought about the reproduction of a temporal sequence.
Physiological Changes in Yoga Meditation
Authors: Elson Barry D. , Hauri Peter , Cunis David 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTA group of 11 meditators using Ananda Marga Yoga techniques were matched individually with non‐meditating controls. Controls were instructed to remain “wakefully relaxed” for 40 min, while the others meditated for the same amount of time. Six of the 11 controls fell asleep during the 40 min (defined by K‐complexes and spindles in the EEG), while none of the meditators fell asleep. Rather, meditators remained in a relatively stable state of alpha and theta EEG activity. Meditation was also characterized by a marked increase in basal skin resistance and by a decrease in respiratory rate, changes which were not observed in the controls. Some physiological changes observed during meditation continued into the post‐meditation resting periods. These findings suggest that Ananda Marga meditation produces a physiological effect different from that observed in controls who try to relax with their eyes closed.
Cortical EEG Frequency Composition and the Quality of Apparent Motion in Man
Authors: Coffin Stephen 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTHuman subjects were asked to rate the quality of apparent motion (beta motion) in trial‐wise presentations of stimuli. The interstimulus interval (ISI) between presentation of two adjacent light patches was varied between 10 and 90 msec. EEG activity during stimulus presentation was assessed with a frequency spectral analysis technique. Results with 10 subjects showed that high quality apparent motion was associated with faster EEG activity at short ISI, and lower frequency EEG activity at longer ISI. The results were significant at a midline occipital electrode, with a tendency in the right direction over the right occipital cortex, but not at other occipital and parietal sites. Changes were within the 8‐12 Hz frequency band. Results are interpreted in terms of a mechanism associated with components of the spontaneous EEG which serves to pace information processing within the primary visual cortex.
Brain Mechanisms Subserving Self‐Generated Imagery: Electrophysiological Specificity and Patterning
Authors: Davidson Richard J. , Schwartz Gary E. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTThe present study was designed to assess the patterning of occipital and sensorimotor EEG activation during self‐generated visual and kinesthetic imagery. Twenty subjects were requested to imagine, in separate trials, a flashing light, a tapping sensation on the right forearm, and both the light and the tapping together. Prior to the imagery trials, subjects were exposed to the stimuli which they were asked to subsequently imagine. EEG was recorded from the left occipital and left sensorimotor regions, filtered for alpha and quantified on‐line. The results indicated that self‐generated visual imagery elicited greater relative occipital activation than comparable kinesthetic imagery. The imagine‐both condition fell predictably in between the two unimodal imagery conditions. The difference between visual and kinesthetic imagery was primarily a function of greater occipital activation during the former versus the latter task. No difference in overall alpha abundance among the three imagery tasks was found. These findings suggest that the self‐generation of imagery in different modalities elicits specific changes in the sensory regions of the brain responsible for processing information in the relevant modalities.
Stimulus Intensity Control and the Cortical Evoked Response in Smokers and Non‐Smokers
Authors: Knott Verner J. , Venables Peter H. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTIn order to examine the relationship between stimulus intensity control and tobacco smoking motivation, the cortical averaged evoked response (AER) to a number of flash intensities was studied in 10 non‐smokers (NS), 10 tobacco deprived smokers (DS), and 10 non‐deprived smokers (NDS). AERs to four flash intensities were recorded from the vertex (Cz) of subjects and in addition to latency and amplitude measures, the slope of the regression of amplitude with log flash intensity was obtained. Statistical analysis (employing a .05 rejection region) revealed that DS evidenced faster latencies and larger amplitudes than both NS and NDS groups who exhibited comparable responsiveness. No significant results were obtained with the slope measure. The data indicates that tobacco smoking has a “normalizing” effect on central nervous system (CNS) hyper‐sensitivity observed in DS and this notion is discussed in relation to comparable physiological and behavioral work on humans and animals.
Effects of Arousal on Habituation of the Electrodermal Orienting Reflex
Authors: Goldwater B. C. , Lewis J. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTThe effect of level of arousal upon rate of habituation of the electrodermal orienting reflex (OR) was studied by having 20 tone stimuli presented while subjects were either standing or seated. The standing condition was characterized by both a higher heart rate (HR) and a greater frequency of spontaneous skin resistance responses (SRRs). Compared to standing subjects, subjects under the seated condition demonstrated more rapid habituation of the OR as indicated both by a greater decrement in SRR frequency from the first to the last block of trials and by a greater proportion of subjects who failed to respond to any of the last 10 trials. The rate of spontaneous SRRs appeared to parallel these differences in habituation of evoked responses. There were no differences between groups in skin conductance level (SCL), or in either amplitude or frequency of the evoked electrodermal response over the first few stimulus presentations. The results were interpreted as supporting the conclusion that heightened arousal level retards habituation of the OR.
Changes in Heart Rate, Muscle Activity, and Anxiety Level Following Shock Threat
Authors: Petry Heywood M. , Desiderato Otello 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTVariations in HR, forearm EMG, and anxiety level were recorded over a 6‐min interval scheduled to end with an electric shock. Sixty subjects were divided equally among four groups. Only two of the groups could watch a clock while waiting for the shock; the other two had no clock available. One group in each of these two conditions gave verbal reports of anxiety at various times while waiting for the shock. The results showed an increase in HR at the end of the anticipation interval in the two Clock groups, and no such rise in the two No Clock groups. Very similar results were found for anxiety level, but not for forearm EMG. These findings suggest that HR increases during anticipation of shock reflect a rising anxiety level, rather than a concomitant increase in muscle activity.
Constraints on Measuring Heart Rate and Period Sequentially Through Real and Cardiac Time
Authors: Graham Frances K. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTIt is generally assumed that either heart rate or heart period can be used to measure phasic cardiac activity changing either from beat to beat or from second to second. However, only rate analyzed in real‐time units and only period analyzed in cardiac‐time units have the important property that the arithmetic mean of the unit estimates is free to vary and yields an average equal to the definitional estimate based on all units.
Prediction of the Informational and Motivational Properties of “Right‐Wrong” Knowledge of Results With the Skin Resistance Response
Authors: Grilly David M. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTThe magnitude and rate of habituation of the skin resistance response (SRR) to extrinsic “right‐wrong” knowledge of results (KR) were used to assess the KR's motivational and informational properties in delayed matching of visual patterns. Two experimental groups of 20 college students each received KR which was either contingent or non‐contingent upon their actual choices, and two control groups of 10 subjects each received no KR. The magnitude of the SRR elicited was found to be higher to “right” than “wrong” KR stimuli but was not affected by correctness of the subjects' choices. The relative rate of SRR habituation was rapid when a low frequency of “right” KR stimuli was provided and the KR stimuli were not contingent upon the subjects' choices, but it was slow if either a high frequency of “right” KR stimuli were provided or the KR stimuli were contingent upon the subjects' choices. The results indicated that the KR stimuli had motivational properties but very little informational value. It was concluded that the SRR may be useful in assessing the reinforcing value of a feedback stimulus in terms of its motivational and informational qualities independently from its effects on task performance.
Lateralized Facial Muscle Response to Positive and Negative Emotional Stimuli
Authors: Schwartz Gary E. , Ahern Geoffrey L. , Brown Serena‐Lynn 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTFacial electromyography (EMG) was recorded from left and right zygomatic and corrugator muscle regions in response to reflective questions and during voluntary facial expressions. Both muscle regions showed consistent responses to five emotions (happiness, excitement, neutral, sadness, and fear) evoked in the involuntary condition (i.e. reflective questions) and four emotional facial expressions (happiness, excitement, sadness, and fear) self‐generated in the voluntary condition. Lateralized responses were found for the zygomatic muscle in the involuntary condition: positive emotion questions elicited relatively greater right muscle activity than left muscle activity, while negative emotion questions elicited relatively greater left muscle activity than right muscle activity. Lateralized responses were found for the corrugator muscle in the voluntary condition, but were not significantly related to type of emotional expression. Sex differences indicating greater lateralization for females were found in some of the measures. The results are consistent with the hypothesized specialization of the left and right cerebral hemispheres for the mediation of positive and negative emotions, respectively.
Autonomic and Affective Reactions of High and Low Socially‐Anxious Individuals Awaiting Public Performance
Authors: Knight Martha L. , Borden Richard J. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTThe physical threat anticipation paradigm was modified for the study of anticipatory social anxiety responses. It was found that heart rate (HR) and skin conductance (SC) responses during anticipation of a socially threatening event (i.e., public speaking) were similar to those occurring prior to physical threat, with the largest changes taking place during the final portion of anticipation. Likewise, self‐reports of cognitively experienced nervousness displayed a positively accelerating pattern of increase as the time of performance approached. The present findings suggest a psychological time‐division process, such that the anticipation interval consists of an initial waiting period, followed by a briefer period of active preparatron.During the anticipation interval high and low socially‐anxious subjects displayed similar HR and SC responses, but differed significantly in patterns of finger pulse volume (FPV) and self‐reported nervousness. As performance became imminent, high socially‐anxious subjects evidenced increased vasoconstriction and reported greater nervousness than low socially‐anxious subjects.Taken together, these results indicate that, irrespective of psychometrically assessed anxiety, and/or type of threatening stimulus, the autonomic patterns during anticipation of threat are characterized by accelerating responsiveness. Thus, the temporal parameter of the anticipation situation (i.e., remaining time) is the primary determinant of reactions while awaiting threat.
The Modality Specificity of the Slow Negative Wave
Authors: Ritter Walter , Rotkin Laurence , Vaughan Herbert G. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTEvent‐related potentials were recorded in a simple reaction time task using a 3‐sec interval between S1 and S2. The sensory modalities of S1 and S2 were varied across 4 conditions to yield all possible combinations of tones and flashes. A negative component which peaked between 600 and 800 msec after S1 was specific in scalp distribution to the modality of S1 but not S2. It was concluded that this negative component is a response to S1 and not related to processes associated with anticipation of S2. A slow negative shift which peaked at S2 was largest at the vertex in all conditions, suggesting its motor origin. A trend for the latter activity to be more negative in posterior recordings when S2 was visual than auditory leaves open the possibility that the terminal CNV is a combination of motor activities and anticipation of the sensory modality of S2.
Cardiovascular Response to Stress: Effects of Opportunity to Avoid, Shock Experience, and Performance Feedback
Authors: Light Kathleen C. , Obrist Paul A. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTThe cardiovascular effects of three factors related to active coping were examined during an unsignaled reaction time (RT) task involving exposure to mild shocks. These factors were the opportunity to avoid shocks contingent on performance, prior experience with the shock, and the availability of performance feedback. A yoked control design was used to ensure that shocks were delivered to avoidance and no‐avoidance subjects on the same schedule. All subjects initially showed substantial increases in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and both cardiac rate and performance, but these diminished later in the task. Subjects who could avoid shocks showed greater changes in SBP, heart rate (HR), and pulse transit time (PIT) than those passively exposed to shocks. Lack of prior experience with the shock augmented changes in HR, PTT and carotid dP/dt, but the HR increase was no longer reliable after the first 2 min when all subjects had experienced the shock. For subjects who could control the task by avoiding shocks, providing performance feedback had no effects. For no‐avoidance subjects, providing feedback led to changes in SBP and PTT which were significantly greater than those shown by the subjects without feedback. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that characteristics which increase active coping efforts evoke greater sympathetically mediated cardiovascular changes.
Electromyographic Specificity During Covert Information Processing
Authors: Cacioppo John T. , Petty Richard E. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTSubjects performed tasks of rhyme, volume‐discrimination, association, evaluation, and self‐reference for verbal stimuli. The stimuli and overt response (pressing one of two microswitches) were constant across tasks and subjects. Oral and nonoral electromyographic (EMG) and cardiac activity were monitored continuously. We found that the depth of processing was associated with enhanced EMG activity of the speech muscles, but was unrelated to cardiac and nonoral EMG activity. Moreover, this association was observed only when subjects were covertly analyzing the stimuli. It was concluded that the pattern of perioral EMG activity can reflect the extent to which encoding operations are directed toward meaning.
Cardiovascular Responses to Effortful Active Coping: Implications for the Role of Stress in Hypertension Development
Authors: Light Kathleen C. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTRecent contributions to the literature on stress and hypertension are discussed. The significance of effortful active coping in evoking sympathetically‐mediated heart rate and blood pressure increases is supported by results of studies involving both aversive and appetitive task incentives. Young healthy males who are above‐average in heart rate during coping tasks show consistently higher heart rates and systolic pressures during other stresses as well, but are indistinguishable from less reactive persons when relaxed. Studies involving beta‐blockade indicate that these above‐average cardiovascular increases are partly due to a greater beta‐adrenergic response among the high heart rate reactors. In addition, the parents of these high heart rate reactors report a greater incidence of hypertension than parents of low reactors, suggesting that high cardiovascular responses during active coping stress may reflect a high degree of susceptibility to later hypertension.
Neuroanatomical and Physiological Foundations of Extraversion
Authors: Campbell Kenneth B. , Baribeau‐Braün Jacinthe , Braün Claude 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTTwo auditory brainstem evoked potential studies were carried out to investigate the role of sensory influences, independent of factors such as attention and arousal, in groups varying in extraversion. In the first experiment, the rate of stimulus presentation was either 11, 41 or 81 clicks/sec, stimulus intensity being held constant at 70dB above the threshold of a normal young adult sample. Neither the latency nor the amplitude of any of the brainstem components significantly differed among the introverted, ambiverted or extraverted groups for any rate of presentation. In the second experiment, repetition rate was either 41 or 81 clicks/sec and intensity established at 20, 30, 50 and 70 dB. Peak V showed a highly consistent and significant increase in latency and decrease in amplitude with decreasing intensity. Again, however, no inter‐group differences were found. The results suggest that N1‐P2 effects that have been found at higher levels of the brain are probably not due to parallel changes in the periphery or the brainstem. The possibility that non‐sensory factors, such as attention and motivation, might have accounted for these cortical differences is also discussed.
Sympathetic Skin Nerve Discharges in Relation to Amplitude of Skin Resistance Responses
Authors: Lidberg Lars , Wallin B. Gunnar 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTSympathetic skin nerve action potentials were recorded in the median nerve of 5 healthy college students. A linear and significant correlation was found between the mean voltage amplitude of the sympathetic bursts and the amplitude of skin resistance responses (SRRs). Thus amplitude of skin resistance responses seems to be an index of sympathetic activity.
On the Language and Logic of Psychophysiology: A Reply to Donchin
Authors: Schwartz Marvin , Pritchard Walter 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTDonchin's critique of the paper by Schwartz and Pritchard illustrates several common faults in the use of language and logic. These include:1. Inconsistent use of language and confusion in the use of theoretically meaningful terms;2. The confusion of psychological and physiological domains, i.e., the use of psychological constructs as “explanations” in physiological theory and vice versa;3. The tendency to be selective of data and explanations “justifying” a particular theoretical orientation without establishing criteria for the selections.For the study of electrical responses of the human brain to have significance for understanding information processing, theories must be founded in logical and consistent use of language, according to explicit decision criteria.
Pupillary Dilation as an Index of the Orienting Reflex
Authors: Stelmack Robert M. , Siddle David A. T. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTThe effects of tone intensity (60, 75, or 90 dB) on the amplitude and habituation of the pupillary dilation response were investigated using a between‐groups design (N = 72). Although pupillary dilation responses were elicited in all intensity conditions, neither response amplitude nor habituation was influenced by differences in stimulus intensity, and the response was insensitive to changes in intensity following the habituation series. Eighteen subjects in the 90dB group were retested and the reliability of the response was found to be low. In Experiment 2 (N = 30), the variability of pupillary activity was reduced with a low level of background illumination, but overall test‐retest reliability of the dilation response to 90dB tones was low. The insensitivity of the response to intensity manipulations, the rapid development of habituation, and the low test‐retest reliability of the response are clear limitations on the usefulness of the pupillary dilation response as an index of the orienting reflex to nonsignal stimulation.
Interactive Effects of Stimulus Probability and Significance on the Skin Conductance Response
Authors: Ben‐Shakhar Gershon , Lieblich Israel , Kugelmass Sol 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTThe present study deals with the effects of stimulus significance and stimulus probability on skin conductance responses (SCRs). Eighty subjects (“informed” group) chose a numbered card, and 60 subjects (“uninformed” group) chose a blank card. All subjects were presented with a series of stimuli in the form of questions about numbers. The relative frequencies of the relevant (chosen) numbers were manipulated. The results showed expected effects of stimulus relevance and stimulus probability on SCRs. A more interesting result was an interaction of stimulus significance and relative frequency, meaning that the probability effect (greater responsivity to the less frequent stimulus) was stronger when the series of stimuli was comprised of relevant and neutral stimuli, than when two different neutral stimuli were used. This latter result was interpreted in terms of generalization of habituation. It was suggested that the relevance manipulation interferes with the generalization of habituation process.