The type A behavior pattern, physical fitness, and psychophysiological reactivity.

Examined joint effects of the Type A (coronary prone) behavior pattern and aerobic fitness with regard to heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) changes elicited by laboratory challenges. 61 male college students were classified as Type A or Type B (noncoronary prone) using R. H. Rosenman's (1978) structured interview (SI), and as physically fit or sedentary using self-reports of activity level and estimated VO?max values obtained on a step test. Ss were challenged with the SI, presentation of a snake, mental arithmetic, a cold pressor task, and 2 competitive card games. Significant A-B differences were found only on the SI and the card games: During the SI, (a) Type A's displayed significantly greater BP increases than B's; (b) sedentary Ss showed greater BP increases than fit Ss; and (c) sedentary A's revealed greater BP increases than either fit A's, fit B's, or sedentary B's. In contrast, during the competitive games, physically fit A's showed reliably greater BP increases than either sedentary A's, sedentary B's, or fit B's. Since the physically fit Ss were almost exclusively varsity athletes and the sedentary Ss were college students who reported following a sedentary lifestyle, the differences between sedentary and fit groups may have been due to differences in aerobic fitness or to the improved ability of competitive athletes or those engaged in fitness training to match arousal level to task requirements. (47 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aerobic fitness, psychological characteristics, and cardiovascular reactivity to stress.

Examined relations among aerobic fitness (AF), psychological characteristics, and cardiovascular reactivity, using 62 men (mean age 42 yrs) divided into highly fit and less fit groups based on a treadmill exercise test. Several psychological and physiological variables were measured, and Ss' cardiovascular reactivity was assessed during a mental arithmetic task and a video game task. Highly fit Ss showed a significantly smaller increase in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and heart rate (HR) and reported themselves to be less anxious and less angry than did less fit Ss. Controlling for Ss' scores on a scale assessing angry temperament reduced the relationship between AF and DBP reactivity to nonsignificant levels. Degree of dispositional anger, which covaries with increased fitness, may contribute to the relationship between AF and DBP, but not HR, reactivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aerobic fitness and response variability in preadolescent children performing a cognitive control task.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between aerobic fitness and cognitive variability in preadolescent children. Method: Forty-eight preadolescent children (25 males, 23 females, mean age = 10.1 years) were grouped into higher- and lower-fit groups according to their performance on a test of aerobic capacity (VO2max). Cognitive function was measured via behavioral responses to a modified flanker task. The distribution in reaction time was calculated within each participant to assess intraindividual variability of performance. Specifically, the standard deviation and coefficient variation of reaction time were used to represent cognitive variability. Results: Preadolescent children, regardless of fitness, exhibited longer reaction time, increased response variability, and decreased response accuracy to incongruent compared to congruent trials. Further, higher-fit children were less variable in their response time and more accurate in their responses across conditions of the flanker task, while no group differences were observed for response speed. Conclusion: These findings suggest that fitness is associated with better cognitive performance during a task that varies cognitive control demands, and extends this area of research to suggest that intraindividual variability may be a useful measure to examine the relationship between fitness and cognition during preadolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental expressed emotion and psychophysiological reactivity in an adolescent sample at risk for schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

The correspondence between interview-assessed parental emotional attitudes toward a particular offspring (expressed emotion [EE]) and the psychophysiological reactivity of both parents and their children during a series of direct family interactions was investigated for a sample of 52 disturbed but nonpsychotic adolescents (aged 14–29 yrs). Parents who expressed an excessive number of critical comments during the interview were designated as high EE, and the remainder were designated as low EE. Both high-EE parents and their adolescent offspring became significantly more psychophysiologically reactive as the 1st of 2 family confrontations in which they participated progressed. Adolescents also showed greater arousal when anticipating interactions with a high-EE parent when that parent was first in the experimental sequence. These results are combined with those of a previous study by the authors and J. A. Doane (see record 1984-06985-001) to support the notion that the EE measure is marking clearly defined family emotional climates that appear to be related to the subsequent onset of schizophrenia spectrum disorders in this adolescent sample. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Links between physical fitness and cardiovascular reactivity and recovery to psychological stressors: A meta-analysis.

A meta-analysis of published studies with adult human participants was conducted to evaluate whether physical fitness attenuates cardiovascular reactivity and improves recovery from acute psychological stressors. Thirty-three studies met selection criteria; 18 were included in recovery analyses. Effect sizes and moderator influences were calculated by using meta-analysis software. A fixed effects model was fit initially; however, between-studies heterogeneity could not be explained even after inclusion of moderators. Therefore, to account for residual heterogeneity, a random effects model was estimated. Under this model, fit individuals showed significantly attenuated heart rate and systolic blood pressure reactivity and a trend toward attenuated diastolic blood pressure reactivity. Fit individuals also showed faster heart rate recovery, but there were no significant differences in systolic blood pressure or diastolic blood pressure recovery. No significant moderators emerged. Results have important implications for elucidating mechanisms underlying effects of fitness on cardiovascular disease and suggest that fitness may be an important confound in studies of stress reactivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aerobic fitness and cognitive development: Event-related brain potential and task performance indices of executive control in preadolescent children.

The relationship between aerobic fitness and executive control was assessed in 38 higher- and lower-fit children (Mage = 9.4 years), grouped according to their performance on a field test of aerobic capacity. Participants performed a flanker task requiring variable amounts of executive control while event-related brain potential responses and task performance were assessed. Results indicated that higher-fit children performed more accurately across conditions of the flanker task and following commission errors when compared to lower-fit children, whereas no group differences were observed for reaction time. Neuroelectric data indicated that P3 amplitude was larger for higher- compared to lower-fit children across conditions of the flanker task, and higher-fit children exhibited reduced error-related negativity amplitude and increased error positivity amplitude compared to lower-fit children. The data suggest that fitness is associated with better cognitive performance on an executive control task through increased cognitive control, resulting in greater allocation of attentional resources during stimulus encoding and a subsequent reduction in conflict during response selection. The findings differ from those observed in adult populations by indicating a general rather than a selective relationship between aerobic fitness and cognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A psychometric perspective on psychophysiological measures.

Psychophysiological measures are a useful complement to self-report or behavioral measures because they can assess fundamentally different processes or more sensitively assess the same processes as those targeted by other types of measures. To be maximally beneficial, psychophysiological measures must meet the psychometric criteria that are commonly applied to self-report or behavioral measures. Empirical findings to date indicate that the temporal stability of psychophysiological measures thought to assess individual differences is variable and that researchers should devote more attention to systematic assessment of reliability, stability, and generalizability. The most critical psychometric issue involves construct validity and the establishment of linkages between psychophysiological measures and specific psychological processes. Several methodological and conceptual reasons for the difficulties that researchers encounter in the attempt to establish such linkages are discussed. Methodological guidelines for maximizing the reliability, temporal stability, and psychological meaningfulness of psychophysiological measures are proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early temperamental and psychophysiological precursors of adult psychopathic personality.

Emerging research on psychopathy in children and adolescents raises the question of whether indicators, such as temperament or psychophysiology, exist very early in life in those with a psychopathic-like personality in adulthood. This study tests the hypothesis that individuals who are more psychopathic in adulthood would be less fearful and inhibited and more stimulation seeking/sociable at age 3 and that they would also show reduced age 3 skin-conductance (SC) responsivity. In a community sample of 335 3-year-olds, behavioral measures of temperament were taken and electrodermal activity was recorded in response to both orienting and aversive tones. R. D. Hare's (1985) Self-Report Psychopathy scale (SRP-II) was administered at follow-up at age 28. Individuals scoring higher on the measure were significantly less fearful and inhibited, were more sociable, and displayed longer SC half-recovery times to aversive stimuli compared with controls at age 3. Contrary to predictions, they also showed increased autonomic arousal and SC orienting. Findings appear to be the first to suggest that a prospective link may exist between temperament and psychophysiology in very young children and psychopathic personality in adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships between musical structure and psychophysiological measures of emotion.

Psychophysiological studies with music have not examined what exactly in the music might be responsible for the observed physiological phenomena. The authors explored the relationships between 11 structural features of 16 musical excerpts and both self-reports of felt pleasantness and arousal and different physiological measures (respiration, skin conductance, heart rate). Overall, the relationships between musical features and experienced emotions corresponded well with those known between musical structure and perceived emotions. This suggests that the internal structure of the music played a primary role in the induction of the emotions in comparison to extramusical factors. Mode, harmonic complexity, and rhythmic articulation best differentiated between negative and positive valence, whereas tempo, accentuation, and rhythmic articulation best discriminated high arousal from low arousal. Tempo, accentuation, and rhythmic articulation were the features that most strongly correlated with physiological measures. Music that induced faster breathing and higher minute ventilation, skin conductance, and heart rate was fast, accentuated, and staccato. This finding corroborates the contention that rhythmic aspects are the major determinants of physiological responses to music. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences and self-report of fear: A psychophysiological assessment.

Hypothesized that, because of differential social learning, females would report fear of spiders more frequently than males would but that males selected for equal self-report of fear would show greater autonomic responsivity than females to slides of spiders. Four groups of 10 undergraduates each (male and female fearful and nonfearful) were assembled. They were told to wait quietly for 10 min, after which they would see slides of tarantulas. Skin conductance level was measured during the anticipatory period and in response to each of the slides. Results confirm the hypothesis that more women would report fear than men but failed to confirm the hypothesis that there would be differential autonomic responding. Fearful Ss, irrespective of sex, showed prolonged autonomic arousal during the entire anticipatory period, whereas nonfearful Ss showed increasing autonomic arousal as the time for the 1st slide presentation approached. This finding is discussed in terms of coping theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aerobic fitness and physical activity in patients with HLA-B27 positive juvenile spondyloarthropathy that is inactive or in remission

BACKGROUND: Neuroblastomas (NBs) exhibit a wide variety of clinical behavior. It is important to determine the biology of NB before treatment is instituted. METHODS: One hundred six NBs detected clinically (clinical NBs) were classified according to immunohistochemical expression of the Ha-ras and trk A genes. Association of the two-gene expression with patient outcome was examined retrospectively, and the possibility of prognostic prediction was evaluated. The profile of the expression of the two genes in 85 NBs detected through mass screening (mass NBs) was compared with that in clinical NBs. RESULTS: Ha-rasltrk A expression in clinical NBs was associated with disease free survival, even when the NBs had no amplification of the N-myc gene. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the expression of Ha-rasl/trk A was a significant prognostic factor that was independent of stage, age at diagnosis, and N-myc amplification. Favorable outcomes of patients with advanced NB were distinguished by high Ha-ras and high trk A expression, and unfavorable outcomes were distinguished by low Ha-ras and low trk A expression. A profile of the two genes in mass NBs was different from that in clinical NBs. Greater than 50% of the mass NBs were detected as localized tumors with high Ha-ras and high trk A expression. The mass screening detected NBs with favorable and unfavorable biology. CONCLUSIONS: The expression of Ha-ras and trk A is an excellent predictor of both favorable and unfavorable biology in NBs. The information it provides can be important in determining the appropriate therapeutic intervention for each patient.     

Physical fitness training and mental health.

Reviews theory and research that have attempted to relate fitness training to improvements on psychological variables among normals as well as selected clinical populations. Theoretical speculations in this area are critiqued, and research designs are evaluated as either experimental or quasi-experimental and therefore interpretable, or preexperimental and therefore largely uninterpretable. The research suggests that physical fitness training leads to improved mood, self-concept, and work behavior; the evidence is less clear as to its effects on cognitive functioning, although it does appear to bolster cognitive performance during and after physical stress. Except for self-concept, personality traits are not affected by improvements in physical fitness. Mentally retarded children demonstrate psychological improvement following physical fitness training, but no conclusion can be reached regarding the effects of physical fitness training with other clinical syndromes. (2? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pre- and poststimulus activation of response channels: A psychophysiological analysis.

To examine mechanisms of response activation, we asked subjects to respond differentially to the central letter of one of four arrays—{hhhhh}, {sshss}, {sssss}, and {hhshh}—and measured event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and electromyographic activity (EMG). For very fast responses, accuracy was at chance level for all arrays, suggesting that subjects were guessing. For intermediate latency responses, accuracy was above chance if the noise was compatible with the targets and below chance if it was incompatible, suggesting that these responses were based on partial stimulus analysis. For slow responses, accuracy was above chance for all arrays, suggesting that these responses were based on complete stimulus analysis. The occurrence and accuracy of fast responses could be predicted by examining motor potentials preceding the presentation of the array. Measures of the motor potentials in the period following the presentation of the array suggested that partial analysis of stimulus information could activate responses and that the level of response activation at the time of the EMG response was constant for trials with different response latencies. The data are discussed in terms of a response channel conception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential subjective and psychophysiological responses to socially and nonsocially generated emotional stimuli.

Sociality may determine the subjective experience and physiological response to emotional stimuli. Film segments induced socially and nonsocially generated emotions. Comedy (social positive), bereavement (social negative), pizza scenes (nonsocial positive), and wounded bodies (nonsocial negative) elicited four distinct emotional patterns. Per subjective report, joy, sadness, appetite, and disgust were elicited by the targeted stimulus condition. The social/nonsocial dimension influenced which emotional valence(s) elicited a skin conductance response, a finding that could not be explained by differences in subjective arousal. Heart rate deceleration was more responsive to nonsocially generated emotions. Taken together, these findings suggest that sociality affects the physiological profile of responses to emotional valence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relaxation versus cognitive therapies for dental fear--A psychophysiological approach.

By separating 127 adult dental-phobic patients according to fear etiology and psychophysiologic response style, the authors investigated the outcome of 2 dental fear treatments. Before and after either relaxation or cognitively oriented treatment, subjects were exposed to neutral and fear-relevant video sequences while the subjects' forehead muscle tension, heart rate, and skin conductance were recorded. Pre- to postintervention differences in self-reported dental fear, general fear, and trait anxiety were analyzed together with psychophysiological data. Both treatments resulted in a significant reduction of dental fear. Despite significant interaction effects of Treatment Modality × Psychophysiological Response Style, it could not be concluded that patients with different fear etiologies or response styles benefit differentially from the 2 treatments given. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Color vision and color naming: A psychophysiological hypothesis of cultural difference.

Proposes an hypothesis which relates physiological differences in visual processing to semantic categorization. A comparison of primary color-naming systems across cultures reveals a regular geographic patterning of color-naming confusions. These semantic data indicative of a short wavelength (blue) insensitive, so-called tritan, color vision have been corroborated by psychophysically measured depressions in spectral sensitivity and confusions in color matching. Yellow intraocular pigmentation which is biometeorologically adaptive and which attenuates effective short wavelength radiation is assessed to contribute in varying degrees toward mimicry of the tritan color-vision complex. Furthermore, the density of yellow intraocular pigmentation is found to parallel the worldwide distribution of collapsed color-naming systems (51/2 p. ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social modeling influences on sensory decision theory and psychophysiological indexes of pain.

Ss exposed to social models dissimulating tolerance or intolerance generally exhibit matching behavior in their verbal ratings of painful stimulation. It has been unclear, however, whether these changes reflect voluntary alteration of evidence or genuine changes in distress. The present study examined nonpalmar skin potential in addition to palmar skin conductance and heart rate (HR) indexes of psychophysiological response to electric shock and evaluated verbal expressions of pain with sensory decision theory methodology. Of 20 female undergraduate volunteers, 10 served as controls, and 10 were exposed to a tolerant female model. Both the S and the model verbalized ratings of discomfort provoked by a series of electric shocks of increasing intensity. Ss then underwent a series of preselected random shocks. Sensory decision theory analyses revealed lower discriminability of the shocks among Ss exposed to a tolerant model. Several indexes of nonpalmar skin potential and HR reactivity exhibited lower reactivity in the tolerant group. Tolerant modeling was also associated with decreases in subjective stess. The results are consistent with the position that changes in pain indexes associated with exposure to a tolerant model represent variations in fundamental characteristics of painful experiences as opposed to suppression of information. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aging, selective attention, and inhibitory processes: A psychophysiological approach.

Investigated the efficiency with which younger and older adults allocate attention to relevant and irrelevant stimuli. The model of attention guiding this research links the orienting response with the allocation of attention and habituation with the inhibition of the allocation of attention. The authors adapted a paradigm developed by W. G. Iacono and D. T. Lykken (1983) in which Ss are instructed unambiguously either to attend or to ignore a series of innocuous tones, and the skin conductance orienting response elicited by each tone is measured. Results revealed that young Ss instructed to ignore the tones habituated more quickly than did those instructed to attend to the tones. However, older adults exhibited nondifferential orienting across the 2 instruction conditions. These results suggest an age-related deficit in the ability to inhibit attention to irrelevant stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)