Upward spirals of the heart: Autonomic flexibility, as indexed by vagal tone, reciprocally and prospectively predicts positive emotions and social connectedness

Vagal tone (VT), an index of autonomic flexibility, is linked to social and psychological well-being. We posit that the association between VT and well-being reflects an “upward spiral” in which autonomic flexibility, represented by VT, facilitates capitalizing on social and emotional opportunities and the resulting opportunistic gains, in turn, lead to higher VT. Community-dwelling adults were asked to monitor and report their positive emotions and the degree to which they felt socially connected each day for 9 weeks. VT was measured at the beginning and end of the 9-week period. Adults who possessed higher initial levels of VT increased in connectedness and positive emotions more rapidly than others. Furthermore, increases in connectedness and positive emotions predicted increases in VT, independent of initial VT level. This evidence is consistent with an “upward spiral” relationship of reciprocal causality, in which VT and psychosocial well-being reciprocally and prospectively predict one another.     

Attachment and emotion experience in later life: The view from emotions theory

Despite the large volume of research on attachment over the past three decades based on work with children and young adults, there has been scant attention to later life. As such, Bowlby's claim that attachment theory has implications for the entire lifespan remains relatively untested. In this paper we present exploratory data documenting the relations between attachment and emotion in older adults. A sample of 1118 community-dwelling adults ranging in age from 65 to 86 years completed measures of attachment and Izard's (1972) Differential Emotions Scale. Consistent with a developmental-functionalist theory of emotions, different dimensions of attachment were associated with different emotion profiles, even when background variables were controlled. Attachment security was associated with less guilt, contempt, and shame, and with greater joy, sadness interest, fear and anger. Dismissingness, in contrast, was associated with greater interest and with less joy, shame, and fear. Finally, fearful avoidance was associated with greater joy, disgust, shame and anxiety. Taken together, our data suggest that the later life relations between emotion and attachment are similar to those documented in younger samples, although there appear to be some important developmental differences. The data are interpreted in the context of developmental-functionalist theories of emotions and implications for how emotions function within attachment systems and moderate social relations across the lifespan are discussed.     

The preparation and control of reversal movements as a single unit of action

Previous research has demonstrated that movement time and kinematic properties of limb trajectories to the first target of a two-target reversal movement differ to that of single-target responses. In the present study we investigated whether two-target reversal movements are organized as a single unit of action or two separate components by perturbing the number of targets prior to and during movement execution. In one experiment, participants performed single-target movements and on one-third of the trials a second target was presented either at target presentation, movement onset or peak velocity. On those trials in which a second target was presented, participants were required to complete their movement to the first target and then move to the second target. In a second experiment, the reverse was the case with participants performing two-target movements that changed to single-target movement on one-third of the trials. A two-target movement time advantage was observed only when the required response was specified prior to movement initiation. Also, participants failed to prevent movement towards the second target when the requirements of the task changed from a two-target to single-target response at movement onset or later. These results indicate that two-target reversal movements were organized as a single unit of action prior to response initiation.     

Autonomic specificity of basic emotions: Evidence from pattern classification and cluster analysis

Autonomic nervous system (ANS) specificity of emotion remains controversial in contemporary emotion research, and has received mixed support over decades of investigation. This study was designed to replicate and extend psychophysiological research, which has used multivariate pattern classification analysis (PCA) in support of ANS specificity. Forty-nine undergraduates (27 women) listened to emotion-inducing music and viewed affective films while a montage of ANS variables, including heart rate variability indices, peripheral vascular activity, systolic time intervals, and electrodermal activity, were recorded. Evidence for ANS discrimination of emotion was found via PCA with 44.6% of overall observations correctly classified into the predicted emotion conditions, using ANS variables (z = 16.05, p < .001). Cluster analysis of these data indicated a lack of distinct clusters, which suggests that ANS responses to the stimuli were nomothetic and stimulus-specific rather than idiosyncratic and individual-specific. Collectively these results further confirm and extend support for the notion that basic emotions have distinct ANS signatures.     

Music,movement, and emotions: an inquiry with suggestions for the practice of dance/movement therapy

ABSTRACT

Emotions play a significant role in our lives. While the literature has shed some light on how emotions are evoked, not all aspects are well understood. Music and dance or movement have been shown to stimulate an aesthetic or emotional response and seem to affect each other. However, these cross-modal influences have only been studied in individuals who are passively engaged . Missing are accounts of how music affects dancers and moving affects making music, a gap which is especially salient considering the frequent application of music during dance/movement therapy sessions. In this paper, I present a vignette from a creative arts studio class and subsequently describe the use of a heuristic arts-informed methodology as a means of gaining greater understanding about the connection between music and movement and their influences on emotions. I connect extant literature to my own findings and derive suggestions for the field of dance/movement therapy.     

Coordination of hand movements and saccades: evidence for a common and a separate pathway

Summary We studied the reaction times and initial directions of hand movements and saccades of human subjects who fixated and pointed as quickly as possible at eccentric targets which were presented unexpectedly. The targets were positioned on a horizontal bar which was placed in front of the subject. Different stimulus conditions were used in the experiments. Knowledge of the target position or the presence of an auditory co-stimulus slightly affected the reaction times of saccades in response to visual stimuli. Auditory co-stimuli reduced the reaction times considerably when the targets were presented after a delay of 200 ms after extinction of the central fixation point. Similar reductions were observed in the reaction times of the hand movements. However, these reductions were seen in hand responses to undelayed as well as delayed target presentations. The saccades were always made in the correct direction when the target was presented without delay. When the target was delayed about 50% of the saccades were made in the wrong direction. Even for undelayed targets the hand sometimes made mistakes. The number of mistakes increased to 35% when the target presentation was accompanied by the sound pulse. For delayed targets the proportion of wrong hand movements was about 50%. For such targets saccades and hand movements were practically always made in the same direction. If visual information is available, saccades and hand movements are generated independently of each other. However, if visual information is not present at the appropriate time and the target position has to be guessed, saccades and hand movements are generated on the basis of shared information. We suggest that saccades can be generated by two different mechanisms. One mechanism uses only visual information while the other one uses visual as well as cognitive information. The first mechanism is exclusively used for the generation of saccades while the second one has a more general purpose and is used for the generation of saccades as well as hand movements.     

Associations between repression,general maladjustment,body weight,and body shape in older males: The normative aging study

We examined relationships between repression, general maladjustment, body mass index (BMI), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). The participants were 1,081 healthy older men from the Normative Aging Study. Repression and General Maladjustment Scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory were composite measures of personality. Repression was associated with lower BMI and WHR, and maladjustment with higher BMI and WHR. However, associations between WHR and personality dimensions were no longer significant when controlling for BMI, but associations between BMI and personality dimensions remained significant when controlling for WHR. These effects were explained by differing relationships between WHR, repression, and maladjustment for normal weight, overweight, and obese individuals. Specifically, associations between repression, maladjustment, and body shape were significant for normal weight and overweight individuals, but not for obese individuals. Health behaviors including smoking did not mediate relationships between repression, maladjustment, and body shape, but might be considered in future studies as mechanisms underlying links between personality and body shape.     

Posture-based or trajectory-based movement planning: a comparison of direct and indirect pointing movements

Various models have been proposed in the literature to explain the control of human arm movements. To make a quantitative comparison between the predictions of various models, we tested subjects for movements to targets on a vertical screen in various conditions. Subjects were asked to move directly from one target to another, or to move by a via-point, at various movement velocities and in a condition with a weight of 0.6 kg attached to the forearm. This set of experimental data was used for comparison with the predictions by various posture-based and trajectory-based models on 3-D movement planning and control. Small but significant effects of starting position and path towards the target were found on the torsion of the arm at the end of the movement. No effects of movement velocity and weight attached to the forearm were found. The experimental results differed significantly from the predictions by any of the models considered. Of the models considered, Donders law best predicts the experimental data. Our data indicate that future tests of models for motor control (1) should compare the predictions of not just one, but several models to a data set, and (2) should include not only planar, but rather 3-D movements in such a comparison.     

Art and the theatre of mind and body: how contemporary arts practice is re-framing the anatomo-clinical theatre

The correspondences and disparities between how artists and anatomists view the body have historically been a source of creative collaboration, but how is this imaginative interdisciplinarity sustained and expressed in a contemporary context? In this review I suggest that contemporary artists engaging with the body, and the corresponding biomedical and architectural spaces where the body is investigated, are engendering innovative and challenging artworks that stimulate new relationships between art and anatomy. Citing a number of examples from key artists and referencing some of my own practice-based research, I posit that creative cross-fertilization provokes a discourse between mediated public perceptions of disease, death and the disposal of morbid remains, and the contemporary reality of biomedical practice. This is a dialogue that is complex, rich and diverse, and ultimately rewarding for both art and anatomy.     

An investigation into the experience of self‐conscious emotions in individuals with bipolar disorder,unipolar depression and non‐psychiatric controls

There has been little research into the association of shame and other self‐conscious emotions in bipolar disorder, although there is evidence linking shame to various psychopathologies. Objectives: This research investigates the levels of shame in individuals with bipolar disorder. Design and Methods: A cross‐sectional design was used to compare 24 individuals with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder to a clinical control group of 18 individuals with unipolar depression, and 23 age‐matched non‐psychiatric controls on measures of mood (Beck Depression Inventory [BDI] and Self Report Manic Inventory [SRMI]) and of self‐conscious emotions (Internalized Shame Scale and Test of Self‐Conscious Affect). Results: Higher levels of trait shame and lower guilt‐proneness were found in the bipolar group. Higher levels of shame‐proneness were found in the unipolar group in comparison to the bipolar and control groups. BDI scores positively correlated with trait shame and shame‐proneness, and accounted for a large proportion of the variance in these scores. SRMI scores positively correlated with trait (internalized) shame and negatively correlated with guilt‐proneness. Conclusions: There was evidence for the presence of shame within bipolar disorder, but this differed to the evidence for shame in individuals with unipolar depression. Clinical implications are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Message: ? Evidence suggests that cognitive–behavioural therapy is not effective in individuals with bipolar disorder with more than 12 illness episodes. ? Shame has been elucidated as a factor is some chronic mental health problems, including depression. ? Compassionate mind training has recently been developed to address experience of shame and is designed as an adjunct to cognitive–behavioural approaches. ? This paper finds evidence for the presence of shame within bipolar disorder, but with a different manifestation than that found in individuals with depression. ? This suggests that clinicians should consider shame as a factor for exploration within therapy, possibly using compassionate mind therapy, and its inclusion may improve on therapeutic outcome.     

体质量指数、嘲笑与自尊:身体意象的中介作用

目的:探讨体质量指数(Body Mass Index,BMI)、嘲笑、身体意象和自尊的关系。方法:采用方便抽样,从湖北省某2所高中选取学生390名,根据BMI得分将被试分为偏瘦组(BMI≤17分),正常组(17分22分)。使用青少年身体自我量表(Adolescent PhysicalSelf Scale,APS)、知觉到的嘲笑量表(The Perception of Teasing Scale,POTS)和自尊量表(The Self-Es-teem Scale,SES)考察体质量指数、嘲笑、身体意象与自尊的关系。结果:①BMI分组,偏瘦组女生多于男生,而偏胖组男生多于女生(χ2=8.48,P<0.05)。女生POTS得分高于男生,而APS得分低于男生。②偏胖组POTS得分和SES得分均高于正常组和偏瘦组;偏瘦组APS得分高于正常组和偏胖组。③APS得分与BMI、POTS得分呈负相关(r=-0.43,-0.31;均P<0.01),与SES得分正相关(r=0.45,P<0.05)。④回归分析发现,BMI、知觉到的嘲笑和身体意象可以直接预测自尊(β=-0.15,-0.11,0.36),解释总变异的24%。中介效应检验发现,BMI、知觉到的嘲笑可以直接影响自尊,也可以通过身体意象间接影响自尊。结论:体质量指数、知觉到的嘲笑和身体意象是影响自尊的重要因素,并且身体意象在体质量指数、知觉到的嘲笑与自尊的关系中起着部分中介的作用。     

Upward spirals of positive emotions counter downward spirals of negativity: Insights from the broaden-and-build theory and affective neuroscience on the treatment of emotion dysfunctions and deficits in psychopathology

This review integrates Fredrickson's broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions with advances in affective neuroscience regarding plasticity in the neural circuitry of emotions to inform the treatment of emotion deficits within psychopathology. We first present a body of research showing that positive emotions broaden cognition and behavioral repertoires, and in so doing, build durable biopsychosocial resources that support coping and flourishing mental health. Next, by explicating the processes through which momentary experiences of emotions may accrue into self-perpetuating emotional systems, the current review proposes an underlying architecture of state-trait interactions that engenders lasting affective dispositions. This theoretical framework is then used to elucidate the cognitive–emotional mechanisms underpinning three disorders of affect regulation: depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia. In turn, two mind training interventions, mindfulness and loving-kindness meditation, are highlighted as means of generating positive emotions that may counter the negative affective processes implicated in these disorders. We conclude with the proposition that positive emotions may exert a countervailing force on the dysphoric, fearful, or anhedonic states characteristic of psychopathologies typified by emotional dysfunctions.     

Analysing how negative emotions emerge and are addressed in veterinary consultations,using the Verona Coding Definitions of Emotional Sequences (VR-CoDES)

ObjectiveTo explore the applicability, need for modifications and reliability of the VR-CoDES in a veterinary setting while also gaining a deeper understanding of clients’ expressions of negative emotion and how they are addressed by veterinarians.MethodsThe Verona Coding Definitions of Emotional Sequences for client cues and concerns (VR-CoDES-CC) and health provider responses (VR-CoDES-P) were used to analyse 20 audiotaped veterinary consultations. Inter-rater reliability was established. The applicability of definitions of the VR-CoDES was identified, together with the need for specific modifications to suit veterinary consultations.ResultsThe VR-CoDES-CC and VR-CoDES-P generally applied to veterinary consultations. Cue and concern reliability was found satisfactory for most types of cues, but not for concerns. Response reliability was satisfactory for explicitness, and for providing and reducing space for further disclosure. Modifications to the original coding system were necessary to accurately reflect the veterinary context and included minor additions to the VR-CoDES-CC.ConclusionUsing minor additions to the VR-CoDES including guilt, reassurance and cost discussions it can be reliably adopted to assess clients’ implicit expressions of negative emotion and veterinarians’ responses.Practice implicationsThe modified VR-CoDES could be of great value when combined with existing frameworks used for teaching and researching veterinary communication.     

The structure of the perceived sociocultural influences on body image and body change questionnaire

This article is concerned with the development and evaluation of the Perceived Sociocultural Influences on Body Image and Body Change Questionnaire. The scale was designed to assess the perceived nature of feedback received from mother, father, best male friend, and best female friend togain weight, lose weight, and increase muscle tone. The perceived feedback from the media on each of these areas also was assessed. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted with 240 adolescent boys (mean age = 13.83 years) and 204 adolescent girls (mean age = 13.70 years). A 3-factor structure was found for the 4 scales that related to perceived feedback from mother, father, best male friend, and best female friend. Feedback on muscle tone loaded with both weight loss and weight gain. The three factors related to (a) general feedback; (b) encourage, tease, and modeling to gain weight and increase muscle tone, and (c) encourage, tease, and modeling to lose weight and increase muscle tone. The factor structure and the items that made up these factors were the same for both boys and girls for each of the 4 scales. The Perceived Media Influences Scale formed 3 factors for girls. These factors related to gaining weight, losing weight, and increasing muscle tone. For boys, the same 9 items formed a single factor. The same items were retained for boys and girls. A confirmatory factor analysis with 822 adolescents (382 boys, mean age = 14.02 years; 440 girls, mean age = 13.82 years) confirmed the previously described factor structure. These results demonstrate that the Perceived Sociocultural Influences on Body Image and Body Change Questionnaire is able to assess body image and body change strategies that are relevant for both boys and girls.     

The body in play: The actuality of Reich's thinking in the development of body psychotherapies

Psychodrama is an active form of group psychotherapy. It involves the body as the main container of the constituents for therapeutic action, i.e. emotions and implicit memories. Psychodrama is an early intersubjective approach aiming at a genuine encounter in the here-and-now, necessary for a therapeutic change. The article describes how the body gets involved during the different phases of the psychodrama. What happens on the psychodramatic stage is described as interaction of roles. This article also gives an overview of psychodramatic role theory, as it was formulated by its founder J.L. Moreno and developed by his followers. Its usefulness in clinical work is presented.     

BAC5-scFv的表达、复性及活性检测

目的探讨以包涵体形式表达的抗鼻咽癌单克隆抗体(mAb)BAC5的单链抗体(BAC5-scFv)的纯化、复性方法,并对其活性进行检测。方法扩增pET-22b-scFv质粒转化的大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)菌株,培养、破菌后,分离和变性包涵体,用Ni-NTA His Bind层析柱纯化变性的scFv。经稀释、透析及尿素梯度凝胶层析柱3种方法进行复性。用细胞免疫组化染色和蛋白印迹法(Western blot),鉴定复性后的BAC5-scFv的免疫活性。结果Ni-NTA His Bind亲和层析柱能有效纯化变性的scFv。以尿素梯度凝胶层析柱复性的蛋白回收率最高。免疫细胞化学染色法检测及Western blot分析证实,复性后的BAC5-scFv可与CNE2细胞上的抗原特异性结合。结论以包涵体形式表达的BAC5-scFv经变性、纯化及复性后,获得良好的免疫活性,为大量制备具有活性的BAC5-scFv,并用于鼻咽癌的放射免疫显像和治疗研究奠定了基础。     

Transgenerational trauma and repetition in the body: The groove of the wound

The material event of trauma presents a dissonance of belief, which the bodymind may not easily absorb. In some individuals, this forces a temporal splitting between present and past, in which (without appropriate treatment) the trauma event continues to replay in an interminable present, notably in many Holocaust survivors. This severing can be likened to a separation between body and mind dissociation. It is necessary to recognise the time differences, their meanings and somatisation. Therapy must therefore intervene to collate and elide time, permitting integration of the bodymind.     

Bodies and bureaucracy: The demise of the body snatchers in 19th century Britain

As European anatomical teaching developed in the middle ages, anatomists found themselves balanced between the educational and judicial systems. Dissection was associated with the final stages of legal prosecutions and the supply of bodies was severely limited. Driven by increasing student demand for dissection, anatomists found themselves pushed to explore alternative routes for body supply. This led to association with the developing profession of grave robber, body snatchers, and even murderers. Keen to protect themselves from increasing vulnerability to legal prosecution, the eminent anatomists of the United Kingdom pushed for government legislation to provide a supply of cadaveric material for education. This article looks at the development of the Anatomy legislation in the United Kingdom in 1832. By highlighting three events in the early 1800s, it demonstrates that the development of the legislation was for addressing the concerns of the anatomists rather than any ethical concerns about the cadaveric supply. The poorest in society were used to develop the medical understanding of the more wealthy before, during, and after the introduction of the legislation. The first event made the anatomists criminal liable for body supply while the latter two events linked anatomists with murderers. The increasing demand for legislation to provide a supply of cadaveric material released the anatomists from the financial burden of dealing with grave robbers while still allowing dissection tables to be supplied with the poorest in society.     

Fine-needle aspiration biopsy of vertebral body lesions: Cytologic,pathologic, and clinical correlations of 57 cases

We reviewed 57 cases of fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) specimens of vertebral body lesions at our institutions and sought correlations between clinical histories, aspirates, and tissue specimens. Patients'ages ranged from 10–86 yr (mean 62 yr). Previous clinical histories included malignancy (n = 33), osteomyelitis or systemic infection (n = 18), and nonspecific (n = 6). FNAB diagnoses were rendered in 81% of cases (n = 46) and were correlated with previous clinical history (P < 0.004). Tissue diagnoses were also correlated with previous clinical history (P < 0.02). In 19% of cases (n = 11), FNAB was unsatisfactory; of these, tissue specimens were diagnostic for five cases. In 19% of cases (n = 11), both aspirates and tissue specimens were available, and the diagnoses coincided in all cases; tissue specimens did not enhance the results of aspirates which produced positive results. Aspirates which showed normal bone marrow elements appeared to effectively rule-out metastatic malignancy based on clinical follow-up (mean 3.7 yr). Diagn Cytopathol 1994;11:348–351. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.