Arousal Research Articles

Mastery imagery ability moderates the relationship between heart rate reactivity to acute psychological stress and perceptions of stress and physiological arousal.

Imagery has been associated with cardiovascular and psychological responses to stress; however, the mechanisms underlying this association are not fully understood. The present study examined if the ability to image mastering challenging or difficult situations moderated the relationship between heart rate reactivity and perceptions of stress and physiological arousal experienced during acute stress. Four hundred and fifty-eight participants completed a standardized laboratory stress protocol with heart rate being measured throughout. After completing an acute psychological stress task, participants rated how stressed and physiologically aroused they felt (i.e., intensity) and whether they perceived the stress and physiological arousal as being helpful/unhelpful to performance (i.e., interpretation). Mastery imagery ability was assessed by questionnaire. Moderation analyses controlling for gender demonstrated that imagery ability moderated the relationship between heart rate reactivity and interpretation of stress (β = 0.015, p = .003) and perceived physiological arousal (β = 0.013, p = .004). Simple slope analysis indicated that in those with higher imagery ability, heart rate reactivity was associated with stress and arousal being perceived as more positive toward performance. Imagery ability did not moderate the relationship between heart rate reactivity and perceived stress intensity or physiological arousal intensity (p's > .05), but imagery ability did predict lower perceived stress intensity (β = -0.217, p < .001) and perceived physiological arousal intensity (β = -0.172, p < .001). Higher mastery imagery ability may possibly help individuals perceive responses to stress as more beneficial for performance and thus be an effective coping technique.

The HPA and SAM axis mediate the impairment of creativity under stress.

With the ever-changing social environment, individual creativity is facing a severe challenge induced by stress. However, little is known regarding the underlying mechanisms by which acute stress affects creative cognitive processing. The current research explored the impacts of the neuroendocrine response on creativity under stress and its underlying cognitive flexibility mechanisms. The enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay was employed to assess salivary cortisol, which acted as a marker of stress-induced activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Eye blink rate (EBR) and pupil diameter were measured as respective indicators of dopamine and noradrenaline released by the activation of the sympathetic-adrenal-medullary (SAM) axis. The Wisconsin card task (WCST) measured cognitive flexibility, while the alternative uses task (AUT) and the remote association task (RAT) measured separately divergent and convergent thinking in creativity. Results showed higher cortisol increments following acute stress induction in the stress group than control group. Ocular results showed that the stress manipulation significantly increased EBR and pupil diameter compared to controls, reflecting increased SAM activity. Further analysis revealed that stress-released cortisol impaired the originality component of the AUT, reducing cognitive flexibility as measured by perseverative errors on the WCST task. Serial mediation analyses showed that both EBR and pupil diameter were also associated with increased perseverative errors leading to poor originality on the AUT. These findings confirm that physiological arousal under stress can impair divergent thinking through the regulation of different neuroendocrine pathways, in which the deterioration of flexible switching plays an important mediating role.

The influence of groove on sexual attraction: Evidence for an effect of misattributed arousal in males but not females

First described by Schachter &amp; Singer (1962), the phenomenon of misattributed arousal (arousal perceived as coming from a wrongly presumed source and irrelevantly influencing evaluations of it) has been widely documented, with two recent studies, Marin, Schober, Gingras, &amp; Leder (2017) and Chang et al. (2021), providing suggestive evidence of music as a source of misattributed arousal with an enhancing effect on sexual attraction. The aim of the present study was to provide more unambiguous evidence of such a musical arousal effect. In an online experiment simulating a face-to-face dating event, participants (41 females and 43 males) rated the attractiveness of opposite-sex faces in a series of slideshows presented twice, once accompanied by a high-groove drum track and the other time by a low-groove drum track. They then rated the drum tracks for groove. While whole-sample analyses yielded no significant findings, subsample analyses showed that the groove ratings of the male participants, though not the female participants, positively predicted their attractiveness ratings, in partial support of the arousal hypothesis. We discuss possible reasons for the pattern of findings, including sex differences in groove response and more generally in the evaluation of cues of physiological arousal.

When and how to sell pleasurably painful experiences

Tourists and consumers are increasingly inclined to seek experiences that combine pleasure and pain (i.e., pleasurably painful experiences such as skydiving). Taking a novel perspective from biological basis of behavior, this research examines how preference for such experiences varies throughout the day by demonstrating the match between physiological arousal and arousal potential of such experiences. Four experiments show that to match the lower physiological arousal in the morning (vs. evening), consumers prefer less pleasurably painful experiences (i.e., less stimulating experiences). However, using fast-tempo music, hedonic framing that emphasizes pleasure or low color saturation imagery can attenuate proposed time-of-day variation by either increasing physiological arousal or reducing the potential arousal of such experiences to create an arousal match in the morning.

30 Changing the Meaning of Emotional Encounters: Cognitive Reappraisal Success is Unrelated to Cognitive Reappraisal Tactic

Objective:Cognitive reappraisal is a frequently researched emotion regulation strategy. It broadly describes one's ability to alter or reinterpret the meaning of personally relevant events. Cognitive reappraisal is robustly associated with lower self-reported negative affect, lower physiological arousal, and higher positive affect, which is the reason why it is a key component of many psychotherapeutic interventions. However, little research to date has investigated different types of cognitive reappraisal tactics and their association with cognitive reappraisal success. Given that there are an arguably indefinite number of ways to reappraise personally relevant events, it would be clinically informative to identify those tactics that are associated with the greatest decline in negative emotionality. The current study investigated whether one's predominant use of a specific reappraisal strategy is associated with divergent cognitive reappraisal success.Participants and Methods:A total of 42 participants (67% women; M = 23.33 years, SD = 6.05 years) took part in this cross-sectional study. Cognitive reappraisal was administered via a computerized task modeled after McRae et al. (2012). A total of 45 previously normed pictures were shown in the cognitive reappraisal task (Lang et al., 2001). Participants were asked to either decrease how they felt or look at negatively evocative images. The dependent measure was success of downregulating negative emotion after the “decrease” versus “look” instruction (i.e., cognitive reappraisal success). A mood manipulation check, a questionnaire asking about participants' reappraisal strategies, and frequency of each reappraisal tactic was conducted after the task was completed to ensure that participants implemented the task as intended. Reappraisal tactics were rated by 3 independent raters individually according to a previously established rating tactic coding system (McRae et al., 2012). An analysis of variance was conducted comparing reappraisal success across groups of the reappraisal tactic most frequently used for each participant. Additionally, total number of reappraisal strategies used was included as a covariate.Results:Participants endorsed significantly higher negative mood after looking at negative versus neutral pictures, t(41) = 22.70, p &lt; .05). Ratings further indicated that participants were able to significantly decrease how negative they felt when reappraising versus looking at negative pictures, t(41) = 11.95, p &lt; .05. On average, participants' most frequently used reappraisal tactic was used 50.54% (SD = 16.32) of the time. Descriptive statistics on frequency of reappraisal tactics across participants is shown. Regarding the analysis of variance of divergent reappraisal success based on tactic, no significant relationship was found (p &gt; .05). The inclusion of number of reappraisal strategies per participant did not impact the results (p &gt; .05).Conclusions:The present study did not show a significant difference between reappraisal tactics regarding their cognitive reappraisal success. This replicates past findings and indicates that type of reappraisal tactic used may be not as impactful as using cognitive reappraisal in some fashion. However, reappraisal tactics were not distributed equally across participants. Future studies should include larger samples to attain adequate sample sizes for each reappraisal tactic. Furthermore, participants should be instructed to use a specific reappraisal tactic alongside their self-selected reappraisal preferences to gain insight into the relative success of different reappraisal tactics. Clinical relevance of present findings is discussed.

The Impact of Indoor Plants on Patient Recovery: Physiological and Psychological Effects in Dental Clinics

Patient recovery and well-being in healthcare settings can be influenced by various factors, including the stress induced by hospitalization and medical care. This study investigated the impact of indoor plants on patient recovery in dental clinics using state-of-the-art techniques to address the limited evidence supporting the claim that nature can alleviate stress and pain in hospitals. Thirty patients were randomly assigned to either a room with indoor plants or a control room without plants for a duration of 5 minutes after their treatment. Physiological responses were assessed using electroencephalography (EEG), heart rate variability, and skin conductance, whereas psychological responses were evaluated using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and a visual analogue scale (VAS). The results revealed a significant increase in alpha wave power in the frontal region, indicating enhanced relaxation, as well as a significant increase in parasympathetic activity, suggesting improved autonomic balance. Furthermore, a significant decrease in skin conductance was observed when indoor plants were present compared with their absence, indicating reduced physiological arousal. Psychological assessments using the STAI demonstrated lower levels of stress and anxiety, whereas the VAS indicated reduced pain intensity among participants. Overall, these findings suggest that the presence of indoor plants contributes to patients’ relaxation and improved coping mechanisms during the recovery process. This study highlights the significance of incorporating indoor plants into healthcare settings to enhance patients’ overall well-being and promote positive recovery outcomes.

Invited commentary on using music intervention and imagined interaction to deal with aggression and conflict

PurposeThe purpose of this commentary is discuss how musical intervention and imagined interactions can be used to deal with conflict. Music has been called the universal language because of its tonality and rhythm. It affects conflict and aggression and helps people to deal with stress. Research is reviewed showing physiological arousal with background music. The effects of music on aggression are summarized in terms of emotional regulation, catharsis and empathy, and the use of mental imagery in the form of imagined interactions, including relational maintenance catharsis and conflict linkage, is discussed. The incremental sound organizer (ISO) principle of music therapy is discussed as a mechanism to affect emotions while listening to music. Finally, a tool to measure the emotional effect of music on listeners is discussed in terms of the musical mood wheel.Design/methodology/approachThis is a commentary on the effects of background music on reducing aggression.FindingsMusic can reduce aggression, depending on how it is used. Music affects how we manage our emotions, reduces stress, provides catharsis and can be a distracting element. Music can enhance empathic feeling; induce positive moods, social bonding, physiological changes and neurobiological changes; and affect our arousal.Research limitations/implicationsMusic therapy and musical intervention can be applied to conflict resolution.Practical implicationsThe ISO principle of music therapy is designed to deal with changing a person’s emotions as they listen to a medley of music. The mood of the person is measured using a series of scales reflecting a continuum of sadness to happiness, and the music is designed to match the mood of the patient to the music being played and/or listened to, which in turn fosters the achievement of an altered state of consciousness. For example, if you are angry, start with music that is loud and gradually switch to a more tranquil piece of music. “The vectoring power of music is that we change the mood or emotion of persons from one affective pole (joy) to its opposite (anger) through small incremental changes in the rhythm and intensity of the music” (Honeycutt, 2003, p. 82).Social implicationsBackground music in music psychology literature is often referred to as musical intervention. Background music can help us recall positive and negative scenes as the music triggers endorphins in the brain (Salimpoor et al., 2011). Background music is intended to enhance the surrounding context without drawing significant attention. It is often played in spaces such as restaurants, stores, offices or public places to create a certain mood or ambiance.Originality/valueIt is important to note that the effectiveness of musical intervention in reducing aggression can vary based on individual preferences, the specific type of music used, and the context in which it is applied. Additionally, while music intervention can play a role in aggression reduction, it is often most effective when used as part of a comprehensive therapeutic approach.

학업 상황에서의 대학생 자기통제 전략 척도 개발 및 타당화

In academic contexts, effective self-control strategies are essential for students to persist in their studies and avoid succumbing to distractions and temptations. This study aimed to develop and validate a self-control strategy scale for college students in academic situations. A self-report survey questionnaire was developed based on previous studies, consisting of 10 self-control strategies used in academic contexts: situation selection and modification, punishment, reward, precommitment, distraction, cognitive change, acceptance, physiological arousal, behavioral inhibition, and studying after temporary desire satisfaction. After review by experts, the survey was administered to 639 undergraduate students in Korea. To conduct cross-validation, the survey response data was split into halves; exploratory factor analysis was performed on one half of the data (n = 311). Confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis, and criterion validity analysis were conducted on the other half of the data (n = 328). Based on the results of exploratory factor analysis, a final set of 30 items (three items per factor) was selected for the scale. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the goodness-of-fit of the final scale model, and the reliability of the factors was consistently high. Analysis of the correlations with criterion variables showed that higher utilization of self-control strategies in academic situations was associated with higher levels of trait self-control and academic self-regulation, and with lower levels of self-control failure. On the other hand, the studying after temporary desire satisfaction strategy and the acceptance strategy showed contrasting relations with other strategies. The relation between the reward strategy and self-control failure was not significant. This newly developed scale is expected to be helpful in identifying the types of self-control strategies that college students use in academic contexts and in developing effective interventions to overcome temptations.

Children and overtourism: a cognitive neuroscience experiment to reflect on exposure and behavioural consequences

As tourism research has paid limited attention to children, this study investigates children’s reactions to tourism development, focusing on their unique viewpoints on the World Heritage Site of Dubrovnik, Croatia. It employed cognitive neuroscience methods with 397 participants, revealing that, despite their preference for sustainable tourism scenarios, children exhibit a notable fixation on images emblematic of overtourism and associated challenges, particularly overcrowding. When exposed to sustainable tourism photographs, there was an observable increase in physiological arousal, albeit not as pronounced as when confronted with an overtourism scenario. Intriguingly, regardless of the scenario, children predominantly expressed neutral emotions. Within the sustainable tourism context, gender differences manifest as girls exhibiting lower levels of place attachment. Furthermore, inner-city residents exhibit diminished levels of nature connectedness, and emotions are indirectly linked to nature connectedness, place attachment, or pro-environmental behaviour. Conversely, in the unsustainable scenario, older children and inner-city residents exhibited a heightened sense of neutrality towards overtourism-related concerns, whereas those outside the inner city displayed a stronger affinity for nature connectedness. Positive emotions were negatively associated with nature connectedness and pro-environmental behaviour but positively associated with place attachment. Accordingly, this study advocates a more inclusive and sustainable future through children’s empowerment in tourism development.

Hooked on a thought: Associations between rumination and neural responses to social rejection in adolescent girls

Rumination is a significant risk factor for psychopathology in adolescent girls and is associated with heightened and prolonged physiological arousal following social rejection. However, no study has examined how rumination relates to neural responses to social rejection in adolescent girls; thus, the current study aimed to address this gap. Adolescent girls (N = 116; ages 16.95–19.09) self-reported on their rumination tendency and completed a social evaluation fMRI task where they received fictitious feedback (acceptance, rejection) from peers they liked or disliked. Rejection-related neural activity and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) connectivity were regressed on rumination, controlling for rejection sensitivity and depressive symptoms. Rumination was associated with distinctive neural responses following rejection from liked peers including increased neural activity in the precuneus, inferior parietal gyrus, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and supplementary motor area (SMA) and reduced sgACC connectivity with multiple regions including medial prefrontal cortex, precuneus and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. Greater precuneus and SMA activity mediated the effect of rumination on slower response time to report emotional state after receiving rejection from liked peers. These findings provide clues for distinctive cognitive processes (e.g., mentalizing, conflict processing, memory encoding) following the receipt of rejection in girls with high levels of rumination.

Coping Responses in the Context of Family Stress Moderate the Association Between Childhood Anxiety and Adolescent Depressive Symptoms.

Anxiety and depressive symptoms are common and highly interrelated. A relatively consistent temporal pattern of anxious and depressive symptoms has emerged from previous studies, such that the development of anxiety tends to precede and predict the development of depression rather than the other way around. Whether high levels of childhood anxiety predict depressive symptoms in late adolescence may depend, in part, on the ways in which children cope with stressful events. Accordingly, the present study used latent intercept models to examine involuntary and voluntary coping responses to familial stress as potential moderators of the association between childhood anxiety and adolescent depressive symptoms. Two hundred twenty-seven participants completed questionnaires measuring demographic variables as well as anxiety, depressive symptoms, and coping responses at a minimum of one time point over four waves of data collection (T1 Mage = 10.26years, T2 Mage = 15.77years, T3 Mage = 16.75years, T4 Mage = 17.68years). We found that childhood anxiety was positively associated with adolescent depressive symptoms when children reported higher levels of involuntary responses to family stress (e.g., rumination or physiological arousal) in conjunction with either lower levels of voluntary engaged responses (e.g., problemsolving or emotion regulation) or higher levels of voluntary disengaged responses (e.g., avoidance or denial). These results shed light on the conditions under which childhood anxiety is associated with adolescent depressive symptoms and underscore the need for continued longitudinal and developmental research on this topic.

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis responsivity during adolescence in relation to psychopathic personality traits later in life

Psychopathic personality traits have been linked to low physiological arousal, particularly among high risk and forensic samples. A core indicator of physiological arousal is the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis; however, findings of a link between HPA axis functioning and psychopathic personality traits have been inconsistent. Furthermore, given sex differences in both HPA axis responsivity and psychopathic personality traits, the association may be expected to differ between men and women. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between HPA axis responsivity in mid-adolescence and psychopathic personality traits in early adulthood and determine whether the association was moderated by sex. We examined this link in a general population sample of twins (N = 556). Adolescents participated in a psychosocial stress task during which samples of salivary cortisol were collected (11–15 years) and reported psychopathic personality traits using the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (19–20 years). Multilevel linear regression models were estimated in which psychopathic personality traits (boldness, meanness and disinhibition), and their interactions with sex, were regressed on HPA axis responsivity. The study was pre-registered on the Open Science Framework (osf.io/gs2a8). Preliminary analyses showed that cortisol levels did not increase significantly during the stressor task but decreased during recovery. Results showed that there was no association between HPA axis responsivity in mid-adolescence and psychopathic personality traits in early adulthood. The associations were not moderated by sex. Findings suggest that HPA axis responsivity in mid-adolescence did not serve as a biological marker for psychopathic personality traits among young adults from the general population.

Comparing the effects of immersive and non-immersive real estate experience on behavioral intentions

Nowadays, the web presents real estate sites providing the possibility to use low-cost virtual reality (VR) solutions without sacrificing the high quality of graphic visualization of their contents to attract customers through enhanced digital experiences and increase the probability of selling their products. However, whether immersive VR technologies improve the chances of selling real estate is unclear. This study examines the effects induced by a real estate website that offers the opportunity to evaluate the potential purchase of a property in two ways: by viewing photos of the house (non-immersive conditions) and by taking a virtual tour of the same house using a VR head-mounted display (immersive conditions). Forty participants interested in evaluating the purchase of a new house, randomly assigned to one of the experimental conditions, participated in the experiment. During the real estate experience, electroencephalography (EEG) and skin conductance (SC) were recorded to collect biological data about the emotional effects raised by each condition. After the study, psychological self-reported questionnaires were collected measuring: emotions, presence, user experience (UX), and a three-item ad hoc scale exploring behavioral intentions (e.g., the perceived pleasantness of the house, the willingness to visit the house, and the purchase intention). Results show that immersive navigation is associated with more positive emotions (EEG), more intense physiological arousal (SC), higher scores on the presence questionnaire, and higher scores on the UX questionnaire compared to the non-immersive one. The psychological scales measuring emotions did not yield significant results. No significant difference in the three-item ad-hoc self-questionnaire was found, except for the item examining willingness to visit the real house building. Implications are also discussed.

Placebo Hypoalgesia and Nocebo Hyperalgesia Induced by Observational Learning May Be Difficult to Disentangle in a Laboratory Setting

Observational learning (OBL) (seeing pain/pain treatment in others) can evoke placebo hypoalgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia. Data that compare these effects and illuminates the role of expectations and empathy are scarce. Healthy participants (n = 105) were randomized to: 1) placebo OBL, 2) nocebo OBL, or 3) no-observation control group. OBL consisted of a model simulating pain relief or increase after a sham ointment was applied to one arm. Pain was evoked with thermal stimuli on both arms (ointment, contralateral) at baseline and postobservation. Expectations, pain ratings, and physiological data (eg, skin conductance level) were collected. A 3 × 2 × 2 (Group × Arm × Phase) mixed analyses of variance revealed a 3-way interaction that confirmed that OBL modulates pain: F(2, 93) = 6.08, P = .003, ηp2 = .12. Significant baseline-to-post-observation pain increases were shown in the nocebo OBL group, with a bigger increase for the arm with ointment (both P ≤ .007). In the placebo OBL group, pain was higher for the contralateral relative to the ointment arm (P < .001). Baseline-to-post-observation pain increase was significant for the contralateral arm (P < .001). Expectation mediated these effects. Skin conductance level decreased over time during ointment trials in the nocebo OBL group, suggesting reduced physiological arousal. The findings illustrate that OBL modulates pain through expectations. In the placebo OBL group, the pain did not decrease for the ointment but increased for the contralateral stimuli, which may reflect nocebo learning. Experimental OBL paradigms typically examine relative differences between ointment and contralateral cues. This can complicate disentangling placebo hypoalgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia in laboratory settings. Implications for existing theories are discussed. PerspectiveData that systematically compare placebo hypoalgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia induced by OBL are scarce. The current work illustrates that these effects may be more difficult to disentangle than previously assumed, which could have implications for existing theories on OBL and placebo effects and their translation to clinical practice.

Examining Physiological Changes during Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Performance in Recreational Male Esports Players

While the training of professional sports athletes and the factors determining sports success are based on well-established scientific research, esports training and markers of esports performance are not yet fully recognized or explored. Knowledge of the psychophysiological responses of the athlete’s body to esports competition is the necessary foundation for rational training management. The aim of the present study was to evaluate physiological stress while playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). Selected cardiovascular, hormonal, and biochemical indices were monitored to assess differences in stress responses between winners and losers. Twenty-two male players participated in the study (age 22.0 ± 2.0 years, CS:GO training experience 7.0 ± 2.2 years, training load 24.6 ± 11.5 h per week). Each player played two games during the CS:GO competition. The CS:GO tournament induced an increase in heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure, and blood cortisol levels (C), and a decrease in the nonlinear heart rate variability (HRV) index based on the fractal correlation properties, called alpha1, of detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA-alpha1). In contrast, no changes were observed in blood levels of testosterone (T) and lactate (BLa). It was found that changes in physiological indices in players while playing CS:GO did not differentiate between winners and losers. The changes in the physiological parameters recorded during play indicate that CS:GO tournaments induce significant physiological arousal and can be considered a stressor.

Detecting Prolonged Stress in Real Life Using Wearable Biosensors and Ecological Momentary Assessments: Naturalistic Experimental Study.

Increasing efforts toward the prevention of stress-related mental disorders have created a need for unobtrusive real-life monitoring of stress-related symptoms. Wearable devices have emerged as a possible solution to aid in this process, but their use in real-life stress detection has not been systematically investigated. We aimed to determine the utility of ecological momentary assessments (EMA) and physiological arousal measured through wearable devices in detecting ecologically relevant stress states. Using EMA combined with wearable biosensors for ecological physiological assessments (EPA), we investigated the impact of an ecological stressor (ie, a high-stakes examination week) on physiological arousal and affect compared to a control week without examinations in first-year medical and biomedical science students (51/83, 61.4% female). We first used generalized linear mixed-effects models with maximal fitting approaches to investigate the impact of examination periods on subjective stress exposure, mood, and physiological arousal. We then used machine learning models to investigate whether we could use EMA, wearable biosensors, or the combination of both to classify momentary data (ie, beeps) as belonging to examination or control weeks. We tested both individualized models using a leave-one-beep-out approach and group-based models using a leave-one-subject-out approach. During stressful high-stakes examination (versus control) weeks, participants reported increased negative affect and decreased positive affect. Intriguingly, physiological arousal decreased on average during the examination week. Time-resolved analyses revealed peaks in physiological arousal associated with both momentary self-reported stress exposure and self-reported positive affect. Mediation models revealed that the decreased physiological arousal in the examination week was mediated by lower positive affect during the same period. We then used machine learning to show that while individualized EMA outperformed EPA in its ability to classify beeps as originating from examinations or from control weeks (1603/4793, 33.45% and 1648/4565, 36.11% error rates, respectively), a combination of EMA and EPA yields optimal classification (1363/4565, 29.87% error rate). Finally, when comparing individualized models to group-based models, we found that the individualized models significantly outperformed the group-based models across all 3 inputs (EMA, EPA, and the combination). This study underscores the potential of wearable biosensors for stress-related mental health monitoring. However, it emphasizes the necessity of psychological context in interpreting physiological arousal captured by these devices, as arousal can be related to both positive and negative contexts. Moreover, our findings support a personalized approach in which momentary stress is optimally detected when referenced against an individual's own data.

Identification of full-night sleep parameters using morphological features of ECG signals: A practical alternative to EEG and EOG signals

Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, which are among the most important recordings used in Polysomnography for sleep staging, are more challenging and demanding than electrocardiography (ECG) signals, both in terms of acquisition and interpretation. When examining the studies of other researchers on sleep parameters in the literature, it is evident that EEG signals are predominantly used for determining arousal (AR), K-complex (Kc), and sleep spindle (Ss) parameters. Furthermore, it is understood that electrooculography (EOG) signals are employed for detecting slow eye movements (SEM) and rapid eye movements (REM) parameters.This study is a continuation of our previous research, where we used only EEG signals for Kc and Ss detection. In this study, an approach that includes ECG signals in the determination of sleep parameters to bring practicality to sleep staging studies was adopted. For this purpose, firstly, 16 morphological features were extracted from ECG recordings taken from a total of 24 subjects after various preprocessing steps. Subsequently, these data were used to work on the detection of five different sleep parameters: AR, Kc, Ss, SEM, and REM, using the Random Subspace (RaSE) ensemble learning algorithm. The results were calculated according to various statistical criteria and a classification accuracy of over 78 % was obtained in all parameters. As a result, the sleep parameters that could be determined most successfully using the ECG signal were SEM and arousal, respectively. In addition, feature elimination was performed for these datasets using Symmetric Uncertainty (SU) ranking. As a result of the reclassification process using 9 and 12 features, the effectiveness of which was determined for both datasets, respectively, significant increases were observed in the performance outputs. Experimental results have shown that ECG signals can be used as an alternative to EEG and EOG signals in the determination of full-night sleep parameters.

Postponing sleep after a stressful day: Patterns of stress, bedtime procrastination, and sleep outcomes in a daily diary approach.

Sleep problems and stress are common among students and are associated with negative effects on academic performance as well as mental and physical health risks, but studies exploring mediating factors between stress and sleep on a daily basis are scarce. This study aimed to investigate the relationship of daily stress, Bedtime procrastination (BP) (i.e., postponing bedtime without external reasons), and sleep outcomes controlling for trait factors such as self-control. N=96 students at a German university (M=22.2years, SD=4.0) wore a sleep-tracking wearable (Fitbit Charge HR) for two weeks to assess sleep duration and to calculate the gap between the intended time to go to sleep and the objectively measured time of falling asleep. Stress, intended time to go to sleep, and sleep quality were assessed via daily diaries. Established questionnaires were used to measure trait self-control, trait BP, and smartphone addiction. Multilevel analyses indicated that more stress experienced during the day was associated with more BP (b=2.32, p=0.008), shorter sleep duration (b=-3.46, p=0.003), and lower sleep quality (b=1.03, p=0.005) after controlling for several trait factors. The association of daily stress with sleep outcomes (quality and duration) was partly mediated by BP. Our findings indicate that BP might be one factor that contributes to stress-linked decreases in sleep duration and quality. Potential reasons for stress-related later time to fall asleep-like higher physiological arousal or stress-related worries-should be investigated in future studies.

Preliminary investigation of the interactive role of physiological arousal and insomnia complaints in gray matter volume alterations in chronic widespread pain.

Brain regions involved in insomnia and chronic pain are overlapping and diffuse. The interactive role of physiological arousal in associations between insomnia symptoms and neural regions is unknown. This preliminary study examined whether arousal interacted with sleep in associations with gray matter volume of frontal (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex) and temporal (right/left hippocampus) regions in adults with chronic widespread pain and insomnia complaints. Forty-seven adults with chronic widespread pain and insomnia (mean age = 46.00, standard deviation = 13.88, 89% women) completed 14 daily diaries measuring sleep onset latency (SOL), wake time after sleep onset, and total sleep time (TST), as well as Holter monitor assessments of heart rate variability (measuring physiological arousal), and magnetic resonance imaging. Multiple regressions examined whether average SOL, wake time after sleep onset, or TST were independently or interactively (with arousal/heart rate variability) associated with dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and left/right hippocampus gray matter volumes. Shorter TST was associated with lower right hippocampus volume. TST also interacted with arousal in its association with right hippocampal volume, Specifically, shorter TST was associated with lower volume at highest and average arousal levels. SOL interacted with arousal in its association with anterior cingulate cortex volume, such that, among individuals with lowest arousal, longer SOL was associated with lower volume. Preliminary findings highlight the interactive roles of physiological arousal and insomnia symptoms in associations with neural structure in chronic widespread pain and insomnia. Individuals with the highest physiological arousal may be particularly vulnerable to the impact of shorter TST on hippocampal volume loss. Reducing SOL may only impact anterior cingulate cortex volume in those with lower physiological arousal. Curtis AF, Nair N, Hayse B, etal. Preliminary investigation of the interactive role of physiological arousal and insomnia complaints in gray matter volume alterations in chronic widespread pain. J Clin Sleep Med. 2024;20(2):293-302.

Incidental learning of faces during threat: No evidence for enhanced physiological responses to former threat identities

Remembering an unfamiliar person and the contextual conditions of that encounter is important for adaptive future behavior, especially in a potentially dangerous situation. Initiating defensive behavior in the presence of former dangerous circumstances can be crucial. Recent studies showed selective electrocortical processing of faces that were previously seen in a threat context compared to a safety context, however, this was not reflected in conscious recognition performance. Here, we investigated whether previously seen threat-faces, that could not be remembered, were capable to activate defensive psychophysiological response systems. During an encoding phase, 50 participants with low to moderate levels of anxiety viewed 40 face pictures with neutral expressions (6 s each), without an explicit learning instruction (incidental learning task). Each half of the faces were presented with contextual background colors that signaled either threat-of-shock or safety. In the recognition phase, all old and additional new faces (total of 60) were presented intermixed without context information. Participants had to decide whether a face was new or had been presented previously in a threatening or a safe context. Results show moderate face recognition independent of context conditions. Startle reflex and skin conductance responses (SCR) were more pronounced for threat compared to safety during encoding. For SCR, this differentiation was enhanced with higher levels of depression and anxiety. There were no differential startle reflex or SCR effects during recognition. From a clinical perspective, these findings do not support the notion that perceptual biases and physiological arousal directly relate to threat-associated identity recognition deficits in healthy and clinical participants with anxiety and trauma-related disorders.