The effects of meaning information on heart rate, respiration, frontalis EMG, and peripheral temperature during imagery]

The present study investigated the effects of meaning information on psychophysiological responses during imagery. Eighteen undergraduates were divided into arousal and relaxation groups, which were then given arousal-meaning- and relaxation-meaning-oriented trainings, respectively. After the training, the subjects were given the imagery test, and inter-heartbeat-interval (IBI), respiration, frontalis EMG, and peripheral temperature during neutral, snake, and social imageries were analyzed. The results showed that there was a significant main effect in IBI for groups: the arousal group demonstrated greater IBI changes than the relaxation group. Regarding EMG, significant increases were present during snake and social imageries in the arousal group, whereas no significant increase was observed in the relaxation group. No significant difference between groups was found in respiration and temperature. The results suggest that there are some situations that accompany their primary meanings, and that meaning-oriented trainings can modify the structure of the response propositions.     

Bilateral skin temperature,handedness, and the biofeedback control of skin temperature

There are differences in physiological variables when they are recorded from the left and right side of the body simultaneously. In some cases, handedness has been found to have a significant relationship to bilateral differences. The present study examined the relationship between handedness and baseline heart rate and skin temperature, as well as bilateral differences in skin temperature during visual and auditory biofeedback. Subjects were 32 college females, 24 right-handed and 8 left-handed. Recordings of heart rate and skin temperature from both the dominant and the nondominant hand were made during baseline and during the 10-min experimental session while subjects attempted to warm their dominant hand. Both groups showed significantly increased skin temperature during the experimental session. No prominent bilateral differences in skin temperature were found. These results do not support bilateral differences as a generalizable construct.This work was supported in part by funds provided by The University of North Carolina at Charlotte.     

The effects of different dressings on the skin temperature of the knee during cryotherapy

AIM: To assess the effect of different dressing types on the efficiency of cryotherapy. METHODS: Eighteen normal volunteers were divided equally into group 1-no dressing, group 2-thin adhesive dressing (tegaderm), and group 3--bulky dressing ("wool and crepe"). Cryotherapy (cryocuff and autochill) was applied to one knee with the other knee serving as control. Skin temperature was measured bilaterally every 5 min for 2 h. Statistical analysis used temperature differences between control and test knees. RESULTS: The mean baseline skin temperature differences were not statistically different among the three groups (p=0.96). The mean skin temperature decreases at 2 h measured, 17 degrees C (S.D.=0.8) in group 1, 17 degrees C (S.D.=1.9) in group 2, and 5 degrees C (S.D.=1.4) in group 3. "Wool and crepe" significantly impaired the cooling effect of cryotherapy (p<0.001). Tegaderm showed no significant effect (p=0.6). CONCLUSIONS: Wool and crepe dressings following knee surgery would prevent effective cryotherapy, whereas, thin adhesive dressings would not.     

The effects of minor closed head injury upon human memory: Further evidence on the role of mental imagery

Abstract

Patients with minor closed head injuries have been found to show a specific deficit in the recall of concrete material, which suggests an impairment in the use of mental imagery as a mnemonic code. The first experiment in the present investigation compared the recognition of unfamiliar faces by head-injured and control patients. The second experiment studied the free recall of pictured objects. In neither case did the head-injured patients demonstrate a significant impairment, which was taken to mean that minor closed head injury has a selective effect upon the encoding of verbal information in the form of mental images. The third experiment compared the free recall of lists of concrete and abstract nouns by head-injured and control patients under either standard learning instructions or imagery mnemonic instructions. Under the standard instructions, head-injured patients demonstrated a selective deficit in the recall of concrete material. However, under interactive imagery instructions, both head-injured and control patients showed superior performance with concrete material, and there was no sign of any difference between the two groups of subjects. The effects of minor closed head injury upon human memory are interpreted as a functional deficit attributable to the patients' failure to employ the optional mnemonic strategy of constructing interactive images. The results suggest that an appropriate approach for dealing with cases of psychological dysfunction following brain injury would be to provide training in the use of relevant cognitive strategies.     

皮温反馈疗法在糖尿病治疗中的应中

本文对３０例非胰岛素依赖型糖尿病（ＮＩＤＤＭ）患者进行了药物治疗加皮温反馈治疗并与３０例ＮＩＤＤＭ的同类患者单纯用药物治疗作对照组，结果表明：（１）研究组血糖水平明显下降，降糖药物用量减少，皮温的升温值增高，与对照组相比有显著性差异（Ｐ＜０．０５），血清胰岛素与Ｃ－肽水平未见明显升高。（２）研究组部分患者足背动脉搏动增加，麻木、疼痛症状缓解。试验过程中未发现该方法对血电解质、肝肾功能有明显影响，治疗过程中未观察到明显的副作用。提示：皮温反馈是一种安全有效的糖尿病辅助治疗方法。     

Effects of feedback and changing criterion on the control of skin temperature]

Effects of feedback and changing criterion procedure on the skin temperature control and cognitive events (motivation, perceived control of skin temperature, and sensations accompanied with autogenic training) during an autogenic training (AT) were examined. Fifteen male students, five of each, were assigned to either AT with feedback under a fixed criterion (AT-FC), AT with feedback under a changing criterion (AT-CC), or AT without feedback (AT-NF) groups. Subjects were asked to increase the temperature of the right index finger using the AT in 12 training sessions. The criterion of feedback was fixed in the AT-FC group while it was increased in the AT-CC group when the temperature had satisfied the criterion in the previous session. Feedback had no effect on the performance of skin temperature control. However, it functioned as a cue for the judgement of performance and weakened the feeling of heaviness of the limbs. Changing criterion improved the performance gradually and increased the perceived efficacy of AT. These results suggested that the arousal elicited by feedback stimuli might suppress the feedback effect, and that the criterion could control the pattern of skin temperature change.     

The effects of sodium oxybate on core body and skin temperature regulation in narcolepsy

Patients suffering from narcolepsy type 1 show altered skin temperatures, resembling the profile that is related to sleep onset in healthy controls. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of sodium oxybate, a widely used drug to treat narcolepsy, on the 24‐h profiles of temperature and sleep‐wakefulness in patients with narcolepsy and controls. Eight hypocretin‐deficient male narcolepsy type 1 patients and eight healthy matched controls underwent temperature measurement of core body and proximal and distal skin twice, and the sleep–wake state for 24 h. After the baseline assessment, 2 × 3 g of sodium oxybate was administered for 5 nights, immediately followed by the second assessment. At baseline, daytime core body temperature and proximal skin temperature were significantly lower in patients with narcolepsy (core: 36.8 ± 0.05 °C versus 37.0 ± 0.05 °C, F = 8.31, P = 0.01; proximal: 33.4 ± 0.26 °C versus 34.3 ± 0.26 °C, F = 5.66, P = 0.03). In patients, sodium oxybate administration increased proximal skin temperature during the day (F = 6.46, P = 0.04) to a level similar as in controls, but did not affect core body temperature, distal temperature or distal–proximal temperature gradient. Sodium oxybate administration normalised the predictive value of distal skin temperature and distal–proximal temperature gradient for the onset of daytime naps (P < 0.01). In conclusion, sodium oxybate administration resulted in a partial normalisation of the skin temperature profile, by increasing daytime proximal skin temperature, and by strengthening the known relationship between skin temperature and daytime sleep propensity. These changes seem to be related to the clinical improvement induced by sodium oxybate treatment. A causal relationship is not proven.     

The effects of peripheral endocrine hormone deficiencies on the processes of behavior, learning, and memory

The effects of thyroid and adrenal cortex hormone and sex hormone deficiencies on the ability to learn, store memory traces, and behave were compared in male rats. These studies showed that removal of peripheral endocrine glands led to disruption of the learning process and the ability to reproduce learned information and also produced alterations in behavior. Analysis of the results showed that corticosteroid hormones are directly involved in the processes of learning and behavior. Sex and thyroid hormones appear to have modulatory effects on higher nervous activity. Translated from Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel'nosti, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 39–47, January–February, 1999.     

The effects of the hormones of peripheral endocrine glands on the processes of behavior, learning, and memory

The effects of systemic administration of thyroid, adrenal cortex, and sex hormones on learning ability, memory trace retention, and behavior were compared in male rats. These studies showed that thyroid, corticosteroid, and sex hormones had no effect on passive learning. Excess quantities of sex hormones disrupted active learning and subsequent reproduction of received information; an excess of thyroid hormone improved the acquisition and retention of the active avoidance habit. Increases in the levels of adrenal cortex hormones worsened active learning and the retention of memory traces, and also increased the level of behavioral activity. Translated from Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel'nosti imeni I. P. Pavlova, Vol. 48, No. 6, pp. 980–988, November–December 1998.     

The effects of controlled muscle tension on performance and learning of heart-rate control.

Thirty female subjects were divided in three groups and instructed in group I to increase their HRs with the aid of continuous feedback of performance, while they tensed their right forearm muscles 20% of maximal voluntary contraction. In the last session only feedback was used, Group II were trained with feedback only. Group III for the first two sessions tensed their muscles only, and in the last session trained HR increases with feedback only. Group I was superior in HR performance in the first two sessions. In the third session they deteriorated significantly and could not be distinguished from the other two groups. The results were interpreted in terms of relations between somatic and autonomic events and transfer between different states of somatic involvement during learning. Electrodermal activity and respiration were included as control variables.     

Biofeedback vs. instructional control of skin temperature

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to determine the effects of instructions vs. biofeedback on the development of skin temperature self-control and (2) to assess how well learned control over temperature can be retained over time. Sixty female subjects were assigned to one of six groups: (1) response-specific instructions plus feedback, (2) thermal suggestions plus feedback, (3) instructions to rest plus feedback, (4) response-specific instructions without feedback, (5) thermal suggestions without feedback, and (6) instructions to rest without feedback. All subjects participated in five training sessions on 5 consecutive days and two follow-up sessions spaced 1 week and 2 weeks after training. Subjects given either feedback and response-specific instructions, feedback and thermal suggestions, or no feedback and thermal suggestions were able to produce significant increases in digital skin temperature consistently after three training sessions. Subjects in these groups retained the ability to control skin temperature both 1 and 2 weeks after training. Subjects in the remaining conditions showed no evidence of learned control over skin temperature.This article is based on a dissertation submitted to Ohio University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree. Portions of this article were presented at the annual meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, New York, 1976.     

Feedback modality and dimension in voluntary skin temperature control

Ten male and ten female subjects were trained in the voluntary control of peripheral skin temperature, under four different conditions of feedback. These conditions were (i) visual proportional, (ii) visual binary, (iii) auditory proportional, and (iv) auditory binary. Results were analyzed using a repeated-measures ANOVA and showed a significant effect attributable to dimension, with proportional displays promoting faster acquisition of control than binary displays. No differences were detected between the visual and the auditory modes or in gender identity. The importance of these results is discussed with reference to the present need for a taxonomy of feedback displays which would optimize the effects of feedback training in a clinical milieu.     

Electrifying the motor engram: effects of tDCS on motor learning and control

Learning to control our movements is accompanied by neuroplasticity of motor areas of the brain. The mechanisms of neuroplasticity are diverse and produce what is referred to as the motor engram, i.e., the neural trace of the motor memory. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) alters the neural and behavioral correlates of motor learning, but its precise influence on the motor engram is unknown. In this review, we summarize the effects of tDCS on neural activity and suggest a few key principles: (1) Firing rates are increased by anodal polarization and decreased by cathodal polarization, (2) anodal polarization strengthens newly formed associations, and (3) polarization modulates the memory of new/preferred firing patterns. With these principles in mind, we review the effects of tDCS on motor control, motor learning, and clinical applications. The increased spontaneous and evoked firing rates may account for the modulation of dexterity in non-learning tasks by tDCS. The facilitation of new association may account for the effect of tDCS on learning in sequence tasks while the ability of tDCS to strengthen memories of new firing patterns may underlie the effect of tDCS on consolidation of skills. We then describe the mechanisms of neuroplasticity of motor cortical areas and how they might be influenced by tDCS. We end with current challenges for the fields of brain stimulation and motor learning.     

The effect of body temperature on the hunting response of the middle finger skin temperature

The relationship between body temperature and the hunting response (intermittent supply of warm blood to cold exposed extremities) was quantified for nine subjects by immersing one hand in 8°C water while their body was either warm, cool or comfortable. Core and skin temperatures were manipulated by exposing the subjects to different ambient temperatures (30, 22, or 15°C), by adjusting their clothing insulation (moderate, light, or none), and by drinking beverages at different temperatures (43, 37 and 0°C). The middle finger temperature (T _fi) response was recorded, together with ear canal (T _ear), rectal (T _re), and mean skin temperature (T¯ _sk). The induced mean T _ear changes were ?0.34 (0.08) and +0.29 (0.03)°C following consumption of the cold and hot beverage, respectively. T¯ _sk ranged from 26.7 to 34.5°C during the tests. In the warm environment after a hot drink, the initial finger temperature (T _fi,base) was 35.3 (0.4)°C, the minimum finger temperature during immersion (T _fi,min) was 11.3 (0.5)°C, and 2.6 (0.4) hunting waves occurred in the 30-min immersion period. In the neutral condition (thermoneutral room and beverage) T _fi,base was 32.1 (1.0)°C, T _fi,min was 9.6 (0.3)°C, and 1.6 (0.2) waves occurred. In the cold environment after a cold drink, these values were 19.3 (0.9)°C, 8.7 (0.2)°C, and 0.8 (0.2) waves, respectively. A colder body induced a decrease in the magnitude and frequency of the hunting response. The total heat transferred from the hand to the water, as estimated by the area under the middle finger temperature curve, was also dependent upon the induced increase or decrease in T _ear and T¯ _sk. We conclude that the characteristics of the hunting temperature response curve of the finger are in part determined by core temperature and T¯ _sk. Both T _fi,min and the maximal finger temperature during immersion were higher when the core temperature was elevated; T¯ _sk seemed to be an important determinant of the onset time of the cold-induced vasodilation response.     

Dissociable effects of the implicit and explicit memory systems on learning control of reaching

Adaptive control of reaching depends on internal models that associate states in which the limb experienced a force perturbation with motor commands that can compensate for it. Limb state can be sensed via both vision and proprioception. However, adaptation of reaching in novel dynamics results in generalization in the intrinsic coordinates of the limb, suggesting that the proprioceptive states in which the limb was perturbed dominate representation of limb state. To test this hypothesis, we considered a task where position of the hand during a reach was correlated with patterns of force perturbation. This correlation could be sensed via vision, proprioception, or both. As predicted, when the correlations could be sensed only via proprioception, learning was significantly better as compared to when the correlations could only be sensed through vision. We found that learning with visual correlations resulted in subjects who could verbally describe the patterns of perturbations but this awareness was never observed in subjects who learned the task with only proprioceptive correlations. We manipulated the relative values of the visual and proprioceptive parameters and found that the probability of becoming aware strongly depended on the correlations that subjects could visually observe. In all conditions, aware subjects demonstrated a small but significant advantage in their ability to adapt their motor commands. Proprioceptive correlations produced an internal model that strongly influenced reaching performance yet did not lead to awareness. Visual correlations strongly increased the probability of becoming aware, yet had a much smaller but still significant effect on reaching performance. Therefore, practice resulted in acquisition of both implicit and explicit internal models.     

Interactive effects between isometric exercise and mental stress on the vascular responses in glabrous and nonglabrous skin

Cutaneous vascular responses to mental arithmetic (MA) and handgrip exercise (HG) were studied independently and combined at different local skin temperatures (T _loc). MA and HG induced (P < 0.05) vasoconstrictor responses in glabrous and nonglabrous skin at a higher level of T _loc, resulting in a nonadditive effect of these two stresses.