Objective Measures Of Arousal Research Articles

Physiological arousal and visuocortical connectivity predict subsequent vividness of negative memories.

Relative to neutral memories, negative and positive memories both exhibit an increase in memory longevity, subjective memory re-experiencing and amygdala activation. These memory enhancements are often attributed to shared influences of arousal on memory. Yet, prior work suggests the intriguing possibility that arousal affects memory networks in valence-specific ways. Psychophysics work has shown that arousal-related heart rate deceleration (HRD) responses are related to enhanced amygdala-visual functional connectivity (AVFC) and visual perception of negative stimuli. However, in the memory realm, it is not known whether the effect of AVFC influences subsequent negative memory outcomes as a function of the magnitude of physiological arousal during encoding. Using psycho-autonomic interaction analyses and trial-level measures of HRD as an objective measure of arousal during encoding of emotional stimuli, our findings suggest that the magnitude of the HRD modulates the effect of AVFC on subsequent negative memory vividness. Specifically, AVFC effects in early visual regions predicted negative memory vividness, not neutral or positive vividness, but only in the presence of heightened physiological arousal. This novel approach was grounded in a replication of prior working showing enhanced HRD effects in the insula for negative stimuli. These findings demonstrate that the effect of arousal on emotional memory networks depends on valence and provide further evidence that negative valence may enhance the incorporation of visuo-sensory regions into emotional memory networks.

Utility of virtual reality environments to examine physiological reactivity and subjective distress in adults who stutter

PurposeVirtual reality environments (VREs) allow for immersion in speaking environments that mimic real-life interactions while maintaining researcher control. VREs have been used successfully to engender arousal in other disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate the utility of virtual reality environments to examine physiological reactivity and subjective ratings of distress in persons who stutter (PWS). MethodSubjective and objective measures of arousal were collected from 10PWS during four-minute speeches to a virtual audience and to a virtual empty room. ResultsStuttering frequency and physiological measures (skin conductance level and heart rate) did not differ across speaking conditions, but subjective ratings of distress were significantly higher in the virtual audience condition compared to the virtual empty room. ConclusionVREs have utility in elevating subjective ratings of distress in PWS. VREs have the potential to be useful tools for practicing treatment targets in a safe, controlled, and systematic manner.

Emotional arousal does not affect delay eyeblink conditioning

Arousal can modulate information processing, including associative learning. However, there are conflicting results as to whether arousal affects eyeblink conditioning in humans. One potential problem with previous studies is that they have not taken into account factors that are known to affect conditioning. One such factor is the strength of the unconditioned response (UR). Despite evidence that greater UR leads to greater conditioned responses (CR), prior studies have not examined the role of the UR in CR performance. Prior studies have also usually classified subjects into low and high arousal groups based on a priori categorization without reliance on objective measures of arousal. The present study was designed to examine the impact of arousal on delay eyeblink conditioning. Changes in arousal levels were obtained by having participants view pictures selected for their a priori emotional and arousal values as being pleasant/arousing, unpleasant/arousing, or neutral/not arousing. Each subject viewed pictures of only one category. The spontaneous fluctuation of the skin conductance was taken as an index of physiological arousal. Subjects were divided into low and high arousal groups according to a median-split. Results showed that the rate of CR was positively related to the amplitude of the UR, but was not affected by emotional pictures or by physiological arousal. It is argued that changes in CR during arousal could be due to differences in unconditioned eyeblink strength rather than to changes in associative processes.

Binaural Auditory Beats Affect Vigilance Performance and Mood

LANE, J. D., S. J. KASIAN, J. E. OWENS AND G. R. MARSH.Binaural auditory beats affect vigilance performance and mood. PHYSIOL BEHAV 63(2) 249–252, 1998.—When two tones of slightly different frequency are presented separately to the left and right ears the listener perceives a single tone that varies in amplitude at a frequency equal to the frequency difference between the two tones, a perceptual phenomenon known as the binaural auditory beat. Anecdotal reports suggest that binaural auditory beats within the electroencephalograph frequency range can entrain EEG activity and may affect states of consciousness, although few scientific studies have been published. This study compared the effects of binaural auditory beats in the EEG beta and EEG theta/delta frequency ranges on mood and on performance of a vigilance task to investigate their effects on subjective and objective measures of arousal. Participants (n = 29) performed a 30-min visual vigilance task on three different days while listening to pink noise containing simple tones or binaural beats either in the beta range (16 and 24 Hz) or the theta/delta range (1.5 and 4 Hz). However, participants were kept blind to the presence of binaural beats to control expectation effects. Presentation of beta-frequency binaural beats yielded more correct target detections and fewer false alarms than presentation of theta/delta frequency binaural beats. In addition, the beta-frequency beats were associated with less negative mood. Results suggest that the presentation of binaural auditory beats can affect psychomotor performance and mood. This technology may have applications for the control of attention and arousal and the enhancement of human performance.

Age and adolescent sexual offender arousal

As the demand for assessment and treatment of adolescent sexual offenders continues to grow, increasing numbers of clinicians are using penile circumference measures as an objective measure of arousal in this population. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between age and sexual arousal as assessed by penile plethysmography in adolescent sexual offenders. Since younger adolescents might have a diminished ability to inhibit erectile responses, it was hypothesized that erectile responses would be negatively correlated with age. Data were derived from 104 inner-city adolescent males, aged 13 to 17, who were evaluated and underwent assessment of erectile responses at an outpatient clinic for adolescent sexual offenders. In this group, age accounted for a significant proportion of variance in erection measures. Younger adolescents had erectile responses to a greater number of assessment stimuli and greater mean percentage full erection scores across assessment stimuli. Findings suggest that the relationship between age and erection measures merits further attention as research examining the utility, limitations, and appropriate use of the plethysmograph continues.

Age and Adolescent Sexual Offender Arousal

As the demand for assessment and treatment of adolescent sexual offenders continues to grow, increasing numbers of clinicians are using penile circumference measures as an objective measure of arousal in this population. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between age and sexual arousal as assessed by penile plethysmography in adolescent sexual offenders. Since younger adolescents might have a diminished ability to inhibit erectile responses, it was hypothesized that erectile responses would be negatively correlated with age. Data were derived from 104 inner-city adolescent males, aged 13 to 17, who were evaluated and underwent assessment of erectile responses at an outpatient clinic for adolescent sexual offenders. In this group, age accounted for a significant proportion of variance in erection measures. Younger adolescents had erectile responses to a greater number of assessment stimuli and greater mean percentage full erection scores across assessment stimuli. Findings suggest that the relationship between age and erection measures merits further attention as research examining the utility, limitations, and appropriate use of the plethysmograph continues.

The McCollough effect as a measure of central cholinergic activity in man

The McCollough Effect (ME) is an orientation contingent colour after-effect which has been proposed as an indicator of central neurotransmitter activity. Shute (1979) suggested that the ME could reflect a hippocampal "forgetting" mechanism which should be inhibited by GABAergic neurones and stimulated by cholinergic neurones. The purpose of the present study was to demonstrate that the ME is in fact sensitive to cholinergic and anticholinergic drugs and to compare its sensitivity to more conventional tests of psychomotor and cognitive function. Ten healthy subjects received single doses of physostigmine (0.75 mg SC), hyoscine (1.2 mg), temazepam (20 mg), flecainide (200 mg) or placebo in a double-blind double-dummy presentation. Subjects were tested on a battery of psychomotor and cognitive function tests at baseline and 1 h, and adapted to the ME at 1.5 h. Visual analogue rating scales and conventional tests of psychomotor function and saccadic eye movements indicated that both subjective and objective measures of arousal were impaired by temazepam. The subjective, but not the objective, measures of arousal were also impaired by both hyoscine and physostigmine, but not by flecainide. Initial strength and duration of the ME were decreased by physostigmine and increased by hyoscine and temazepam, relative to placebo (P less than 0.01). Thus, the ME is capable of detecting cholinergic, anticholinergic and GABA mimetic drug effects in man, in therapeutic doses.

Assessment of the effects of analgesic concentrations of nitrous oxide on human sexual response.

The euphorogenic and sexual effects of analgesic nitrous oxide have been long reported anecdotally; however, these effects have only recently been investigated scientifically. The effects of oxygen and analgesic nitrous oxide on sexual arousal provoked by visual erotic stimulation in male (n = 7) and female (n = 6) subjects, using both subjective and objective measures were assessed. Nitrous oxide had a depressant effect on objective measures of arousal in most subjects. It was also found that 7 of the 13 subjects were incongruent in that their subjective assessment of the gas which produced the most arousal differed from the one that caused most arousal as measured objectively. These findings are discussed in terms of the effect of nitrous oxide on the endogenous opioid system and the suggestion is made that the gas may prove useful as an investigatory tool of sexual function. This applies particularly in terms of the findings of this study that nitrous oxide, as with other opioids, may not only have central but also peripheral opioid effects, which may operate in opposing directions.