Search results for "Autonomic system"

Modulated neural processing of Western harmony in folk musicians

2013

A chord deviating from the conventions of Western tonal music elicits an early right anterior negativity (ERAN) in inferofrontal brain regions. Here, we tested whether the ERAN is modulated by expertise in more than one music culture, as typical of folk musicians. Finnish folk musicians and nonmusicians participated in electroencephalography recordings. The cadences consisted of seven chords. In incongruous cadences, the third, fifth, or seventh chord was a Neapolitan. The ERAN to the Neapolitans was enhanced in folk musicians compared to nonmusicians. Folk musicians showed an enhanced P3a for the ending Neapolitan. The Neapolitan at the fifth position was perceived differently and elicited…

Musical training facilitates the neural discrimination of major versus minor chords in 13-year-old children

2012

Music practice since childhood affects the development of hearing skills. An important classification in Western music is the chords’ major-minor dichotomy. Its preattentive auditory discrimination was studied here using a mismatch negativity (MMN) paradigm in 13-year-olds with active hobbies, music-related (music group) or other (control group). In a context of root major chords, root minor chords and inverted major chords were presented infrequently. The interval structure of inverted majors differs more from root majors than the interval structure of root minors. However, the identity of the chords is the same in inverted and root majors (major), but different in root minors. The deviant…

Associations between success and failure in a face-to-face competition and psychobiological parameters in young women

2012

Within an evolutionary framework, in recent years some questions have been raised about whether women have a pattern of psychobiological response to social stress similar to that described in men. The main objective of this study was to analyze women's patterns of neuroendocrine, cardiovascular and mood responses to an individual competitive task, taking into account the outcome obtained. For this purpose, we measured salivary testosterone (T) and cortisol (C) levels, heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP), in addition to mood changes, in 40 healthy young women before, during and after a face-to-face laboratory competition. We also assessed some relevant psychological traits. Our results i…

Audiovisual attention boosts letter-speech sound integration

2013

We studied attention effects on the integration of written and spoken syllables in fluent adult readers by using event-related brain potentials. Auditory consonant-vowel syllables, including consonant and frequency changes, were presented in synchrony with written syllables or their scrambled images. Participants responded to longer-duration auditory targets (auditory attention), longer-duration visual targets (visual attention), longer-duration auditory and visual targets (audiovisual attention), or counted backwards mentally. We found larger negative responses for spoken consonant changes when they were accompanied by written syllables than when they were accompanied by scrambled text. Th…

Morning and evening type: The cortisol awakening response in a sleep laboratory.

2019

Abstract Background Earlier evidence indicated an association between chronotype and the cortisol awakening response (CAR). However, these earlier data were collected without objective control for participant compliance being available, which, following recent guidelines, is considered critical for ensuring data validity. Here, we are seeking to replicate these earlier findings within a well-controlled sleep laboratory set up. Methods The sample consisted of 103 young males, including 12 participants defined as ‘evening’ (MEQ   59) types. All participants slept for one night in a sleep laboratory and were wakened at 6:30 AM the next morning. Saliva samples for the assessment of the CAR were…

Alpha 1 adrenoceptor expression in skin, nerves and blood vessels of patients with painful diabetic neuropathy

2021

Abstract Diabetic neuropathy (dNP) patients often suffer from severe neuropathic pain. It was suggested that alpha-1 adrenoceptor (α1-AR) hyperresponsiveness contributes to pain in dNP. The aim of our study was to quantify α1-AR expression using immunohistochemistry in skin biopsies of nine patients with painful diabetic neuropathy compared to 10 healthy controls. Additionally, the association between α1-AR expression and activation with spontaneous and sympathetically maintained pain (SMP) induced by intradermal injection of the α1-agonist phenylephrine was investigated. For control purposes the α2-agonist clonidine was injected in a different session. We found that dermal nerve density wa…

Effects of pulsed high-frequency electromagnetic fields on the neuroendocrine system.

1998

The influence of pulsed high-frequency electromagnetic fields emitted from a circularly polarized antenna on the neuroendocrine system in healthy humans was investigated (900 MHz electromagnetic field, pulsed with 217 Hz, average power density 0.02 mW/cm<sup>2</sup>). Nocturnal hormone profiles of growth hormone (GH), cortisol, luteinizing hormone (LH) and melatonin were determined under polysomnographic control. An alteration in the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis activity was found with a slight, transient elevation in the cortisol serum level immediately after onset of field exposure which persisted for 1 h. For GH, LH and melatonin, no significant effects were found under…

Behavioural Consequences of P-Glycoprotein Deficiency in Mice, with Special Focus on Stress-Related Mechanisms

2012

P-glycoprotein (P-gp), an efflux transporter localised in the blood-brain barrier, limits the access of multiple xenobiotics to the central nervous system. Whether it is also implemented in the transport of the endogenous glucocorticoid corticosterone is a matter of debate. The P-gp knockout mouse model [abcb1a/b (-/-)] has been shown to differ in the functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis. In the present study, we investigated the behaviour of abcb1a/b (-/-) and wild-type mice with respect to stress-related tests and the effects of corticosterone. Behavioural activities were assessed in the open field (OF) test for 4 days, and in the forced swimming test (FST) and tai…

Differences Between Skin Resistance and Skin Conductance Responses with Respect to Change Over Trials: A Mathematical Explanation

1986

Emotional arousal modulates the encoding of crime-related details and corresponding physiological responses in the Concealed Information Test

2011

Previous studies demonstrated that concealed crime-related memories can be validly identified using the Concealed Information Test (CIT). However, its field applicability is still debated, and it is specifically unknown how emotional arousal during a crime would influence CIT results. In the current study, emotional arousal during a mock crime and the time delay between mock crime and CIT examination were manipulated. At the immediate and the delayed CIT occasion, central crime details were better remembered than peripheral ones and enhanced emotional arousal further reduced memory for peripheral information. Electrodermal, respiratory, and cardiovascular responses to central crime details …