Search results for "AROUSAL"

The Added Value of Studying Embodied Responses in Couple Therapy Research: A Case Study.

2018

This article reports on the added value of embodied responses identified through sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity in couple therapy research. It focuses on moments of change and the timing of therapeutic interventions or therapeutic moves in a couple therapy session. The data for this single-case study comprise couple therapy process videotapes recorded in a multi-camera setting, and measurements of participants' SNS activity. The voluntary participants were a marital couple in their late thirties and two middle-aged male psychotherapists. The division into topic segments showed how the key issue of seeking help, which was found to comprise three separate components, was repeatedly…

Visual Attention Patterns Differ in Gynephilic and Androphilic Men and Women Depending on Age and Gender of Targets

2017

Visual attention patterns measured with eye-tracking techniques provide indirect clues about sexual response. This study aimed to test the category specificity of sexual responses to stimuli varying in gender and age by evaluating both early and late attention of gynephilic and androphilic men and women. We simultaneously presented sexually preferred and nonpreferred stimuli and measured time to first fixation and total duration of fixation on four areas of interest: entire body, then face, chest, and pelvis. Androphilic women's early attention patterns were nonspecific, whereas gynephilic women and both groups of men showed a category-specific pattern for the entire body. In contrast, all …

Neural Mechanisms of Placebo Anxiolysis

2015

The beneficial effects of placebo treatments on fear and anxiety (placebo anxiolysis) are well known from clinical practice, and there is strong evidence indicating a contribution of treatment expectations to the efficacy of anxiolytic drugs. Although clinically highly relevant, the neural mechanisms underlying placebo anxiolysis are poorly understood. In two studies in humans, we tested whether the administration of an inactive treatment along with verbal suggestions of anxiolysis can attenuate experimentally induced states of phasic fear and/or sustained anxiety. Phasic fear is the response to a well defined threat and includes attentional focusing on the source of threat and concomitant …

The effects of social pressure and emotional expression on the cone of gaze in patients with social anxiety disorder

2016

Abstract Background and objectives Patients with social anxiety disorder suffer from pronounced fears in social situations. As gaze perception is crucial in these situations, we examined which factors influence the range of gaze directions where mutual gaze is experienced (the cone of gaze). Methods The social stimulus was modified by changing the number of people (heads) present and the emotional expression of their faces. Participants completed a psychophysical task, in which they had to adjust the eyes of a virtual head to gaze at the edge of the range where mutual eye-contact was experienced. Results The number of heads affected the width of the gaze cone: the more heads, the wider the …

Adrenocorticotropic hormone and cortisol plasma levels directly correlate with childhood neglect and depression measures in addicted patients.

2008

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction has been reported to be involved in vulnerability to alcohol and drug dependence in humans, possibly underlying both addictive behaviour and depression susceptibility. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible interactions between childhood adverse experiences, depressive symptoms and HPA axis function in addicted patients, in comparison with healthy control. Eighty-two abstinent heroin or cocaine dependent patients and 44 normal controls, matched for age and sex, completed the symptoms Check List-90 (SCL-90), measuring depressive symptoms, and the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire. Blood samples wer…

Effects of valence and arousal on implicit approach/ avoidance tendencies: A fMRI study.

2018

To date, it is still a matter of debate, whether valence or valence and arousal interactively foster implicit approach and avoidance tendencies, and which neural circuitries underlie these effects. To address these questions, we investigated the effects of valence and arousal on implicit approach/avoidance tendencies during fMRI in healthy volunteers (N=46). The implicit approach of positive social scenes was associated with shorter response preparation times and increased activation of the lingual, parahippocampal and fusiform gyri. Valence and arousal did not influence reaction times interactively, but we observed increased activation of prefrontal, motor, temporal, middle cingulate and p…

Anxiety, Stress, and Contingent Negative Variation Reconsidered

1984

The Functional Role of Large-scale Brain Network Coordination in Placebo-induced Anxiolysis

2018

Abstract Anxiety reduction through mere expectation of anxiolytic treatment effects (placebo anxiolysis) has enormous clinical importance. Recent behavioral and electrophysiological data suggest that placebo anxiolysis involves reduced vigilance and enhanced internalization of attention; however, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms are not yet clear. Given the fundamental function of intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) in basic cognitive processes, we investigated ICN activity patterns associated with externally and internally directed mental states under the influence of an anxiolytic placebo medication. Based on recent findings, we specifically analyzed the functional role of the…

Cardiovascular effects of impulse noise, road traffic noise, and intermittent pink noise at LAeq = 75 dB, as a function of sex, age, and level of anx…

1992

In a previous paper, in which the experimental conditions of the present research are fully described (Parrot et al., this issue), heart rate (HR) was studied in 60 male and in 60 female subjects in response to a pile-driver noise (P), a gunfire noise (G), a road traffic noise (T), and an intermittent pink noise (R), all noises being emitted at the same LAeq = 75 dB for 15 min. Digital pulse level (PL) responses were concomitantly surveyed by the use of pulse oximetry, allowing continuous arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) readings. An index of pulse reactivity (PRI) could be calculated. Arterial blood pressure was measured 7 times from the beginning to the end of each trial. At rest, within…

Cardiovascular effects of impulse noise, road traffic noise, and intermittent pink noise at LAeq = 75 dB, as a function of sex, age, and level of anx…

1992

This study aimed at comparing for their cardiovascular effects: a pile-driver noise (P), a gunfire noise (G), a road traffic noise (T), an intermittent pink noise (R). All noises were presented at the same LAeq = 75 dB for 15 min each. Some 120 subjects were divided into 8 subgroups of 15 subjects each: OM (men between 40 and 50 years of age), OF (women, same age range), YM (men, between 15 and 20 years of age), YF (women, same age range), AM (typically anxious men, 20–25 years of age), AF (typically anxious women, same age range), NM (typicall anxiety-free men, same age range), and NF (typically anxiety-free women, same age range). Heart rate (HR), digital pulse level, and arterial blood p…