Toward a social psychophysiology of vagally mediated heart rate variability: Concepts and methods in self‐regulation,emotion, and interpersonal processes

Theory and research on self‐regulation, emotional adjustment, and interpersonal processes focus increasingly on parasympathetic functioning, using measures of vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) or respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). This review describes models of vmHRV in these areas, and issues in measurement and analysis. We propose a framework organizing theory and research as examining (a) vmHRV as an individual difference or a situational response, and (b) resting, reactive, or recovery levels. Evidence supports interpretation of individual differences in resting vmHRV as a broad biomarker for adaptive functioning, but its specificity and underlying mechanisms require elaboration. Individual differences in vagal reactivity (i.e., trait‐like differences in vmHRV decreases during challenge or stress) are less commonly studied in adults and results are mixed. Many stressors and challenges evoke temporary decreases in vmHRV, and in some research self‐regulatory effort evokes increases. In a smaller literature, positive interpersonal experiences and some restorative processes increase resting vmHRV, whereas depletion of self‐regulatory capacity through related effort decreases it. Greater attention to conceptual distinctions regarding vmHRV constructs and several methodological issues will strengthen future research. Importantly, researchers should exercise caution in equating vmHRV with specific psychosocial constructs, especially in the absence of converging assessments and precise experimental manipulations.     

廖平的《左传》研究

随着今文经学的复兴,晚清学术在今古文学的激烈冲突中展开。在这一过程中,《左传》研究一直是核心的内容。晚清《左传》研究主要呈现出刘逢禄、康有为为代表的今文学与章太炎为代表的古文学两大学派争论的态势。廖平的《左传》研究,与两派的学术路径既有联系,有呈现出不同的学术特色,在晚清学术研究中独树一帜,值得关注。     

从《无神论——绪论》看宗教自由和反无神论观念

《无神论》是美国马丁(MICHAEL MARTIN)教授写的一部名著,副标题《哲学的合理性证明》,1990年出版。书前有一篇颇长的《绪论》,针对一些有神论者的批评,作了扼要的回应,从中可以看出当代西方宗教神学是如何抨击无神论的,以及他对这些抨击所作的逻辑反驳和对无神论的合理性证明。我特别感兴趣的问题,还有作者无意中透露出来的美国的意识形态和宗教自由问题。作者回忆说,他幼年受家庭影响,倾向无神论,但同时知道,无神论在美国民众的心目中是很坏的,因为“他们大多数人都信仰上帝”。记得“三年级的一天,我向一个有同情心的指导顾问透露…     

制止高官参与封建迷信、伪科学活动(二)

高官支持、带头搞伪科学、封建迷信,影响很坏高官们这些做法之所以影响很坏,是由于以下一些因素在起作用。(一)组织性和纪律观念的误用全国解放半个多世纪了。现在我国广大干部都是在党的教育下成长起来的,有的本身就是共产党员,他们都有很强的组织性和纪律观念,一般对上级领导人的批示和指示都不打折扣地贯彻执行。这无疑是对的。但另一方面,党的民主集中制原则规定,个人服从组织,少数服从多数,下级服从上级,全党服从中央;同时还规定,党员“对党的决议和政策如有不同意见,在坚决执行的前提下,可以声明保留,并且可以把自己的意见向党的上级…     

Atypical depression: enhanced right hemispheric dominance for perceiving emotional chimeric faces

Two studies compared hemispatial bias for perceiving chimeric faces in patients having either atypical or typical depression and healthy controls. A total of 245 patients having major depressive disorder (MDD) or dysthymia (164 with atypical features) and 115 controls were tested on the Chimeric Faces Test. Atypical depression differed from typical depression and controls in showing abnormally large right hemisphere bias. This was present in patients having either MDD or dysthymia and was not related to anxiety, physical anhedonia, or vegetative symptoms. In contrast, patients having MDD with melancholia showed essentially no right hemisphere bias. This is further evidence that atypical depression is a biologically distinct subtype and underscores the importance of this diagnostic distinction for neurophysiologic studies.     

Peculiar aspects of reading and writing performances in patients with olivopontocerebellar atrophy

Olivopontocerebellar atrophy (OPCA) is a still debated condition, of which motor disruption is the most common feature. A high incidence of associated mood disorders may exist, but there are few studies on concomitant cognitive impairment. Our aim was to assess whether there is reading and writing disruption in olivopontocerebellar atrophy (OPCA). 6 patients were administered different reading and writing tasks. Scores were then compared to those obtained by healthy volunteers. There was an evident impairment in reading and writing execution in our patients compared to those of the control group. On the contrary, no difference could be found in abstraction, problem-solving, and memory tasks. We discuss the results, debating the role of the cerebellum in the conscious process of cognition or in ocular movement control (necessary for reading and writing fluidity and effective execution) and in the dynamic activation of all the cerebral cortex mediated by the diffuse projection to the reticular system.     

The contextual modulation of conditioned taste aversions by the physical environment and time of day is similar

In a pair of experiments, we have compared the ability of changes of place (Exp. 1) and changes of time of day (Exp. 2) to separately modulate learned saline-aversion memory phenomena in rats. Neither a spatial nor a temporal change disrupted latent inhibition using the present behavioral procedure. However, pre-exposure to the taste increased the contextual control of the learned aversion expression. The aversion reappeared in the place or at the time of conditioning after extinction in a different context. The results indicate that environmental and temporal contexts can independently, but similarly modulate taste aversion learning.     

Psychosocial adaptation in relatives of critically injured patients admitted to an intensive care unit

The aim of this study is to analyze how the length of time a patient spends in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) affects close relatives, with regard to specific clinical variables of personality, family relationships and fear of death. The study group consisted of 57 relatives of seriously ill patients admitted to the ICU of "Virgen del Rocío" Rehabilitation and Trauma Hospital (Seville, Spain). The instruments applied were: a psychosocial questionnaire, clinical analysis questionnaire, family environment scale and fear of death scale. The relatives of patients admitted to ICU obtained higher scores in hypochondria, suicidal depression, agitation, anxious depression, guilt-resentment, paranoia, psychasthenia, psychological maladjustment and self-expression, and less in fear of their own death, as when compared to interviews with the same relatives 4 years later. The length of time a patient spent in the ICU influenced relatives in some clinical variables of personality, family relationships and fear of death