Repression following a series of natural disasters: Immune and Neuroendocrine correlates

The influence of repression on peripheral blood lymphocyte surface markers and diurnal decline in salivary cortisol following multiple disasters was examined. Participants were sampled at 2 to 8 weeks after a severe fire and flood, and again 1 year later. High distress, low distress, and repression groups were formed utilizing self-reported distress and systolic blood pressure during a disaster recall interview. A main effect for group was identified for CD56⁺ cells (NK cells), with repressors and high distress participants demonstrating lower percentage of NK cells than low distress participants. At Time 1 repressors demonstrated significantly higher percentage of CD56⁺CD69⁺ cells (activated NK cells) than high and low distress participants. From Time 1 to Time 2, repressor participants showed a significant decline in the percentage of activated NK cells. Repressors demonstrated attenuated decline in salivary cortisol compared to low distress participants. Health implications for disaster recovery are discussed.     

Facing the mirror: A relativist account of immune nonconceptual self-representations

There is a consensus among philosophers that some “I”-thoughts are immune to error through misidentification. In some recent papers, this property has been formulated in the following deflationist way: an “I”-thought is immune to error through misidentification when it can misrepresent the mental or bodily property self-ascribed but cannot misrepresent the subject (if any) possessing that property. However, it has been put forward that the range of mental and bodily states that are immune in that limited sense cannot include nonconceptual forms of self-representation. In this paper, I claim the opposite. I argue in favor of a theoretical framework inspired by semantic relativism that solves the problem of immune nonconceptual self-representations. In order to do so, I refute an argument against the relativist account which is based on the existence of shared representations. This argument, I contend, rests on a confusion between two conditions to which a relativist may appeal when considering whether a certain mental content is relative to the self: a strong invariance condition and a weak invariance condition. I then argue that even if we acknowledge the existence of shared representations, the weak invariance condition is still satisfied, and consequently the relativist framework can make sense of INSRs. I argue that this weak invariance condition is satisfied by a representational function that self-relativizes certain representations. I then provide an empirical instance of such a function by discussing some of the recent literature on motor representations and the sense of agency. In the last part of the paper, I answer several potential objections. These potential objections lead me to distinguish two fundamental kinds of error relative to the self: error through misidentification and error through misapplication. This distinction allows me to answer a fundamental question raised by the very idea of de facto immunity to error through misidentification.     

Effects of guided immune-imagery: The moderating influence of openness to experience

It is widely believed that personality has an important role in determining the effectiveness of guided imagery (GI) interventions. The primary aim of the current study was to examine whether the effect of GI on several outcome measures was dependent upon openness to experience, a theoretically relevant variable previously unexplored as a potential moderator. Thirty-five healthy participants were randomised to an animated imagery, verbal imagery or no-intervention control group, with imagery groups receiving 10 × 20 min sessions. Pre/post-assessments of cortisol, sleep, stress and creativity were administered along with the openness to experience scale. Regression analysis indicated a significant increase in cortisol and decrease in tiredness following verbal GI, but only for those high in openness. The efficacy of GI interventions may be dependent upon openness to experience and this variable should be accounted for in future studies.     

音乐能增强我们的免疫力吗——音乐的心理神经免疫学效应研究的新进展

近十年以来,音乐能够给人类带来健康的研究越来越多。其中,音乐对人免疫系统的影响属于较新的范畴。本文以音乐心理神经免疫学的视角,从内分泌反应、免疫反应以及免疫系统三个方面,探讨音乐是怎样增强人体免疫力的。音乐对于人体的生物学影响已经得到了公认,但是音乐的心理神经免疫学还是需要更多的量化证明,关于此方面的进一步的研究可能影响到我们医疗保健的整体模型。