Enhancing the Journal of Psychophysiology: Message from the previous and the new editors.
After 20 years of outstanding service with the Journal of Psychophysiology (JoP), Michael Falkenstein is now stepping back, and the position of Editor-in-Chief is being taken on by Juliana Yordanova. At this time of transition, the outgoing and the incoming Editor-in-Chief feel it is appropriate both to acknowledge the well-established position of JoP in their scientific space and at the same time to identify some important challenges to the journal’s enhancement in the future. These challenges include topic specificity and areas to be optimized in the submission and review process. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA...
Source: Journal of Psychophysiology - February 10, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
In identifying the source of the incongruent effect: Whether it is from the fearful face-happy body or happy face-fearful body compounds.
Emotional signals from the face and body are normally perceived as an integrated whole in everyday life. Previous studies have revealed an incongruent effect which refers to distinctive behavioral and neural responses to emotionally congruent versus incongruent face-body compounds. However, it remains unknown which kind of the face-body compounds caused the incongruence effect. In the present study, we added neutral face and neutral body stimuli to form new face-body compounds. Forty subjects with normal or corrected-to-normal vision participated in this experiment. By comparing the face-body compounds with emotional confl...
Source: Journal of Psychophysiology - October 25, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
The influence of neuroticism on the muscle response in the trapezius and frontalis muscles to anticipatory stress.
This study examined whether the personality dimension neuroticism moderates the muscle response to the expectation of an unpredictable electrical shock. Forty-seven subjects underwent three expectation phases, in which they could expect a pleasant audio signal (NoShock) or an electric shock in two conditions (anticipation of the first: Shock1, and second electric shock: Shock2) at an unpredictable moment. The frontalis muscle activity and the upper and upper/middle parts of the trapezius muscle were recorded using surface electromyography. Neuroticism was surveyed using the Big Five Inventory to assign the subjects to a gr...
Source: Journal of Psychophysiology - October 25, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Cardiovascular and self-reported recovery in two-shift systems: A cross-sectional study in German shift workers of the hotel and catering industry.
The objective of this study was to examine the cardiovascular and self-reported recovery measures of German shift and day workers in the hotel and catering industry. Furthermore, it aimed to clarify to what extent shift groups differentiate given additional factors that influence recovery (ability to relax, lifestyle). The sample group consisted of 64 alternative shift workers (two-shift system with a low proportion of night work) and 96-day workers employed in the hotel and catering industry. Blood pressure monitoring was conducted for 24 hr during a working day, including the phases of work, leisure, and sleep, to assess...
Source: Journal of Psychophysiology - October 7, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Somatosensory deviance detection ERPs and their relationship to analogous auditory ERPs and interoceptive accuracy.
Automatic deviance detection has been widely explored in terms of mismatch responses (mismatch negativity or mismatch response) and P3a components of event-related potentials (ERPs) under a predictive coding framework; however, the somatosensory mismatch response has been investigated less often regarding the different types of changes than its auditory counterpart. It is not known whether the deviance detection responses from different modalities correlate, reflecting a general prediction error mechanism of the central nervous system. Furthermore, interoceptive functions have been associated with predictive coding theory,...
Source: Journal of Psychophysiology - September 9, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Emotional distraction by constant finger tapping: Pupil dilation and decreased unpleasant emotion and task-unrelated thoughts.
This study examined the effects of emotional distraction in the context of recalling stressful interpersonal events in daily life. Previous studies have revealed that distraction decreases unpleasant emotions. In this study, we examined whether distraction tasks decrease unpleasant task-related thoughts in addition to unpleasant emotions. Furthermore, to investigate the implicit effects of emotional changes, we examined changes in pupil size in relation to unpleasant emotions and task-unrelated thoughts (TUT). The behavioral tasks were administered to 21 university students (Mage = 21.24 ± 2.93 years; range: 18–30 years...
Source: Journal of Psychophysiology - September 9, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Test-retest reliability of event-related potentials across three tasks.
Event-related potentials (ERPs) constitute a useful and cost-effective method to assess the neural underpinnings of multiple cognitive processes. ERPs have been used to track changes in cognitive processes in longitudinal and clinical studies. However, few studies have assessed their test-retest reliability (i.e., their consistency across time). Therefore, in the current study, we aimed to assess the test-retest reliability of ERPs (P100, N100, P200, N200, P3b, lateralized readiness potentials) across three tasks. In two assessments separated by approximately 4 months, ERPs were recorded in 26 healthy participants, during ...
Source: Journal of Psychophysiology - September 9, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Insular cortex response to static visual sexual stimuli: An intracranial ERP study.
According to previous research, the insula is important for processing salient and emotional stimuli, but its precise role remains elusive. By combining high spatial and temporal resolution, intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) might contribute to filling this gap. Four drug-resistant epileptic patients with intracranial electrodes in the insula were instructed to watch and rate pictures with sexual content and neutral pictures. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were computed separately for both types of stimuli. Ninety-three percent of the anterior insula (AI) and 85% of the posterior insula (PI) contacts showed diffe...
Source: Journal of Psychophysiology - September 9, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Self-reported emotion regulation is associated with response to test of cardiac vagal function.
Parasympathetic function and emotional self-regulation (ESR) share neuroanatomic structures. Based on Porges’ Polyvagal Theory and the Neurovisceral Integration Model (NIM), we compared vagally mediated heart-rate variability (vmHRV) with psychometrically assessed ESR. We hypothesized that vmHRV and ESR would be associated during rest, a vagal function test, and recovery from that test. A significant association would justify the psychometric measuring of parasympathetic health, which is less burdensome than its psychophysiological assessment. Two hundred thirteen healthy males (aged: 18–26 years, M = 20.29 years) took...
Source: Journal of Psychophysiology - June 17, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Cognitive workload in an auditory digit span task when memory span is in the neighborhood of seven items.
Task performance of digit span has been widely used in the research on human short-term memory. The present study was conducted to show that the dynamic change of underlying mental effort can be further estimated by measuring the strength of theta oscillations at a forehead site on the scalp. Fourteen healthy adults (Mage = 26.1 years) performed a passive listening (PL) task and an auditory digit span (DS) task, and electroencephalography (EEG) data were recorded simultaneously during the two tasks. Considering that the digit span paradigm has often been conducted in a non-laboratory location, the EEG data were collected w...
Source: Journal of Psychophysiology - June 17, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Chinese classical dancers have improved spontaneous activity in visual brain areas.
Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies demonstrate that long-term exercise or dance training may cause changes in brain structure and function. However, the changes of neurofunction in the long-term practitioners of Chinese classical dance are still unclear. The purpose of the study is to explore the neurofunctional alterations associated with long-term Chinese classical dance training. Thirty female college students were selected, 15 students majoring in Chinese classical dance (average training years = 9.73 ± 1.75 years) and 15 education-matched non-dancer students with no previous experience...
Source: Journal of Psychophysiology - June 17, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
The influence of slow-paced breathing on executive function.
The aim of this experiment was to test the immediate effects of slow-paced breathing on executive function. Slow-paced breathing is suggested to increase cardiac vagal activity, and the neurovisceral integration model predicts that higher cardiac vagal activity leads to better executive functioning. In total, 78 participants (41 men, 37 women; Mage = 23.22 years) took part in two counterbalanced experimental conditions: a 3 × 5 min slow-paced breathing condition and a television viewing control condition. After each condition, heart rate variability was measured and participants performed three executive function tasks: t...
Source: Journal of Psychophysiology - April 1, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
A multi-method approach to understand parent behaviors during child acute pain.
This study aimed to examine: (1) parent state HRV as a contributor to parent verbal behaviors before and during child pain and (2) parent trait HRV as a moderator between parent emotional states (anxiety, catastrophizing) and parent behaviors. Children 7–12 years of age completed the cold pressor task (CPT) in the presence of a primary caregiver. Parents rated their state anxiety and catastrophizing about child pain. Parent HRV was examined at 30-second epochs at rest (“trait HRV”), before (“state HRV-warm”), and during their child’s CPT (“state HRV-cold”). Parent behaviors were video recorded and coded as ...
Source: Journal of Psychophysiology - March 29, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
EEG cortical activities and networks altered by watching 2D/3D virtual reality videos.
Virtual reality (VR), which can represent real-life events and situations, is being increasingly applied to many fields, such as education, entertainment, and medical rehabilitation. Correspondingly, the neural information processing of VR has attracted attention. However, the underlying neural mechanisms of VR environments have not yet been fully revealed. The purpose of this study was to examine the possible differences in brain activities and networks between the less immersive 2D and the fully immersive 3D VR environments. 3D VR videos and the same 2D scenes were presented to the participants and the scalp electroencep...
Source: Journal of Psychophysiology - March 29, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Cardiovascular variability and reactivity in major depressive disorder.
This study investigated cardiovascular variability and stress reactivity in major depressive disorder (MDD). While previous research has documented reduced heart rate variability, knowledge about blood pressure variability in MDD remains scarce. Regarding reactivity, a particular focus was placed on the time courses of the cardiovascular responses, which may provide insight into the autonomic mechanisms underlying the hypo-reactivity expected in MDD. In 76 MDD patients and 71 healthy controls, blood pressure was continuously recorded at rest and during mental stress induced by a 3-min serial subtraction task. Compared to c...
Source: Journal of Psychophysiology - March 4, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
