A behavioral link between the oculomotor and cardiovascular systems

Although the eyes and the heart serve very different purposes, each receives autonomic innervation. Capitalizing on recent theoretical and technological innovations in the understanding and assessment of oculomotor and cardiovascular behavior, three experiments measured behavioral covariation between the oculomotor and cardiovascular systems. Measures of dark focus and dark vergence indexed oculomotor tone, and the spectral decomposition of variations in heart rate indexed cardiovascular control mechanisms. In Experiment 1, individual differences in cardiovascular parameters could predict individuals’ dark vergence (R²=.806) but not their dark focus (R²=.404). In Experiment 2, the same parameters were measured from subjects who experience either panic attacks (n=11) or blood phobia (n=9). Heart rate was positively correlated with dark vergence and the two subject groups were separable based on both oculomotor and cardiovascular variables. Using a within-subjects approach, Experiment 3 found that both dark vergence and dark focus tended to be nearer during sympathetic dominance of the heart than during parasympathetic dominance, within-subjects variations in cardiovascular parameters could predict dark focus, and between-subjects variations in interbeat intervals could predict dark vergence. Shared patterns of autonomic activation may be responsible for this eye-heart link.     

Measuring and predicting the effects of alcohol consumption on contrast sensitivity for stationary and moving gratings

Contrast sensitivity was measured for 12 healthy young males while sober, after ingestion of an alcohol placebo, and after ingestion of alcohol (95% grain alcohol; mean estimated blood alcohol level = .088%). Observations were made for both stationary gratings and gratings that traveled through a circular path and required pursuit eye movements. The significant alcohol-related reduction in contrast sensitivity was 2.6 times greater for moving (.29-log-unit reduction) than for stationary gratings (.11-log-unit reduction). The loss in contrast sensitivity for the moving gratings of high spatial frequency (12 cpd) was particularly severe (.37 log unit). Estimated blood alcohol level was correlated with the loss in contrast sensitivity for moving gratings (r = .61), but not with the loss for stationary gratings. Estimated blood alcohol level was strongly correlated with the difference between the loss in contrast sensitivity to moving and stationary gratings (r = .75). These results are consistent with reports that alcohol consumption degrades the ability to make pursuit eye movements. Subjects’ perceived intoxication level was not a reliable predictor of any index of visual performance.     

Psychotherapie und Internet

Zusammenfassung  Die Außendarstellung im Internet ist wichtig und in der Zukunft unverzichtbar. Jedoch hat die Liberalisierung des Werberechts der freien Berufe keineswegs zur absoluten Schrankenlosigkeit geführt. Vielmehr sind die zu beachtenden Regeln auf verschiedene Gesetze und Rechtsgebiete verstreut, so dass ohne fachkundige Hilfe—etwa durch die Kammern oder durch juristische Beratung—die Selbstdarstellung im Internet schnell zu einem bösen Erwachen führen kann.

Victimization and PTSD in a Faroese youth total-population sample

Petersen, T., Elklit, A. & Olesen, J. G. (2010). Victimization and PTSD in a Faroese youth total-population sample. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 56–62.
The prevalence of twenty traumatic events and negative life events in relation to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was studied in a Faroese total-population sample of 687 eighth-grade students with a mean age of 14.2 years. Ninety-four percent of the females and 89% of the males were directly exposed to or had witnessed at least one traumatic event or a negative life event. The odds ratios for PTSD after direct and indirect exposure to specific events are described. The lifetime prevalence of PTSD was 20%, whereas another 14% reached a subclinical level of PTSD. After exposure, females had PTSD more than twice as often as males. Being exposed to multiple traumatic events, living with a single parent, and having experienced a traumatic event or a negative life event within the last year were all associated with PTSD and its subscales.     

Individual differences in susceptibility to infection and illness following respiratory virus challenge

Abstract

The aim of the present research was to investigate whether susceptibility to experimentally-induced respiratory virus infections and illness is related to measures of personality, physiological state, performance efficiency, and subjective ratings of alertness and motivation obtained prior to virus challenge. Two studies, using different viruses, showed that volunteers who subsequently developed colds had higher temperatures prior to virus challenge than those who remained free from illness. Similarly, those who later had colds were worse than other volunteers on certain performance tests given in the pre-challenge period. The results also showed that task-related motivation was related to subsequent infection. Personality scores were poor predictors of infection and illness, the only exception being introversion, which, in one study, was related to the likelihood of developing a sub-clinical infection.     

Anticipation of subsequent demanding exercise increases the expression of haem oxygenase-1 mRNA in human lymphocytes

Oxidative stress induces the expression of the cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory protein haem oxygenase-1 (HO-1). In the present investigation, we show that anticipation of subsequent exercise elevates the expression of HO-1 mRNA in lymphocytes. A between-groups comparison of HO-1 mRNA expression in subjects about to complete a half marathon race vs. subjects who were asked to sit quietly in the laboratory showed an elevated expression of HO-1 mRNA prior to exercise (2.6-fold higher in subjects prior to the half marathon, P < 0.01). This observation led us to examine whether anticipation of subsequent exercise leads to differences in lymphocyte HO-1 mRNA expression within the same subjects. In a second experiment, the same individuals completed two trials, one exercise and one rest, approximately 2 weeks apart in a randomised cross-over design. Lymphocyte HO-1 mRNA expression was greater prior to exercise (1.4 +/- 0.3-fold higher in the exercise trial, P < 0.05). These results suggest that knowledge of subsequent demanding exercise may lead to an anticipatory induction of HO-1 mRNA. We tentatively propose that this process has evolved to prepare lymphocytes for subsequent exercise-induced oxidative stress although the mechanism remains to be elucidated.