Psychophysiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Relaxation training assisted by heart rate variability biofeedback: Implication for a military predeployment stress inoculation protocol.
Decreased heart rate variability (HRV) is associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression symptoms, but PTSD's effects on the autonomic stress response and the potential influence of HRV biofeedback in stress relaxation training on improving PTSD symptoms are not well understood. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of a predeployment stress inoculation training (PRESTINT) protocol on physiologic measures of HRV in a large sample of the military population randomly assigned to experimental HRV biofeedback-assisted relaxation training versus a control condition. ⋯ Autonomic reactivity was also found to be related to PTSD and self-reported use of mental health services. Future PRESTINT training could be appropriate for efficiently teaching self-help skills to reduce the psychological harm following trauma exposure by increasing the capacity for parasympathetically modulated reactions to stress and providing a coping tool (i.e., relaxation method) for use following a stressful situation.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Stress following extinction learning leads to a context-dependent return of fear.
It has been suggested that extinction-based therapy benefits from administration of the stress hormone cortisol. However, it is unclear whether similar effects can be obtained by inducing stress instead of administering cortisol, and whether the effects also persist if memory is tested in a different context (renewal test) or after exposure to an aversive stimulus (reinstatement). The present study therefore applied a fear conditioning (context A, day 1) and extinction (context B, day 2) paradigm in healthy men. ⋯ Fear retrieval was tested in contexts A and B on day 3. Postextinction stress increased skin conductance responses to the extinguished stimulus in the retrieval and reinstatement test especially in the acquisition context. The context-dependent return of fear may reflect enhancing effects of stress on the consolidation of contextual cues.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Energized by love: thinking about romantic relationships increases positive affect and blood glucose levels.
We assessed the impact of thinking of a current romantic partner on acute blood glucose responses and positive affect over a short period of time. Participants in romantic relationships were randomly assigned to reflect on their partner, an opposite-sex friend, or their morning routine. ⋯ Reported positive affect following reflection was positively associated with increases in glucose, but only for individuals who reflected on their partner, suggesting this physiological response reflects eustress. These findings add to the literature on eustress in relationships and have implications for relationship processes.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Stimulus dimensions of the cold pressor test and the associated patterns of cardiovascular response.
Hemodynamics of the cold pressor response in relation to its pain and nonpain stimulus components were investigated in normotensive college men using the foot and forehead cold pressor tasks. Mechanisms of pain- and non-pain-related increases in blood pressure were analyzed as residual effects of concurrent changes in total peripheral resistance and cardiac output. ⋯ Analyses of individual differences in cardiovascular responses to pain further indicated that pain-related increments in blood pressure were mediated by a steeper rise in total peripheral resistance, an increase in heart rate, and an apparent increase in preload. At baseline, high reactors to pain manifested relatively elevated total peripheral resistance, diminished cardiac output, and an indication of a reduced inotropic state, suggesting that altered basal homeostasis may discriminate normotensive individuals displaying heightened cardiovascular reactivity to aversive cold stimulation.