1,720,970 research outputs found
Complementing the Latest APA Definition of Hypnosis: Sensory-Motor and Vascular Peculiarities Involved in Hypnotizability.
No full textThe aim of this article is to complement the recently revised American Psychological Association (APA) definition of hypnotizability. It (a) lists a few differences in sensorimotor integration between subjects with high (highs) and low (lows) hypnotizability scores in the ordinary state of consciousness and in the absence of suggestions, (b) proposes that hypnotizability-related cerebellar peculiarities may account for them,
(c) suggests that the cerebellum could also be involved in cognitive aspects of hypnotizability and (d) explains why the information derived from studies of sensorimotor and cardiovascular aspects of hypnotizability may be relevant to its definition and useful in orienting further experimental research in the field of hypnosis
Postural effects of imagined leg pain as a function of hypnotizability.
No full textIt has been shown that, in subjects with high hypnotizability (Highs), imagined somatosensory stimulation can involuntarily activate the neural circuits involved in the modulation of reflex action. In this vein, aim of the study was to investigate whether the imagery of nociceptive stimulation in one leg may produce both subjective experience of pain and congruent postural adjustments during normal upright stance. The displacement of the centre of pressure (CoP) was studied during imagery of leg pain (LP) and during the control conditions of imagery of tactile stimulation of the same leg and of throat pain (TP) in 12 Highs and 12 low hypnotizable subjects (Lows). The results showed that the vividness of imagery was higher in Highs than in Lows for all tasks and that only Highs reported actually feeling pain during LP and TP. Congruently, during LP only Highs displaced their CoP towards the leg opposite to the one that was the object of painful imagery and increased their CoP mean velocity and area of excursion. Since the Highs' postural changes were not accounted for only by vividness of imagery and perceived pain intensity, high hypnotizability is apparently responsible for part of the postural effects of pain imagery
Tuning of human vestibulospinal reflexes by leg rotation
No full textChanging the foot position modifies the mechanical action exerted by the ankle extensor and flexor muscles over the body. We verified, in two groups of healthy subjects standing with the heels touching or apart, whether a 90° external rotation of the right leg and foot also changes the pattern of vestibulospinal reflexes elicited by electrical stimulation of the labyrinth. With the head oriented forward, leg rotation did not modify the labyrinthine-driven displacements of the center of pressure (CoP). When the head was rotated in the horizontal plane, either to the right or to the left, the CoP displacement increased along the y axis in all subjects. Changes in the x component in most instances appropriate to preserve unmodified the direction of body sway elicited by the stimulus were observed. Right leg rotation increased the basal EMG activity of ankle extensors and flexors on the left side, while the right side activity was unaffected. The EMG responses to labyrinthine stimulation were modified only on the left side, in a way appropriate to correct the effects of the altered torque pattern exerted on the body by right leg muscles. It appears, therefore, that somatosensory signals related to leg rotation and/or copy of the corresponding voluntary motor commands modify the pattern of vestibulospinal reflexes and maintain the postural response appropriate to counteract a body sway in the direction inferred by labyrinthine signals
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Can imagery become reality?
No full textPrevious studies showed that highly hypnotizable persons imagining a specific sensory context behave according to the corresponding real stimulation and perceive their behaviour as involuntary. The aim of the study was to confirm the hypothesis of a translation of sensory imagery into real perception and, thus, of a true involuntary response. We studied the imagery-induced modulation of the vestibulospinal (VS) reflex earlier component in highly (Highs) and low hypnotizable subjects (Lows), as it is not affected by voluntary control, its amplitude depends on the stimulus intensity, and the plane of body sway depends on the position of the head with respect to the trunk. Results showed that the effects of the "obstructive" imagery of anaesthesia are different from those elicited by the "constructive" imagery of head rotation. Indeed, both Highs and Lows having their face forward and reporting high vividness of imagery experienced anaesthesia and reduced their VS reflex amplitude in the frontal plane, while only Highs changed the plane of body sway according to the imagined head rotation that is from the frontal to the sagittal one. These effects cannot be voluntary and should be attributed to translation of sensory imagery into the corresponding real perception
Watching neutral and threatening movies: subjective experience and autonomic responses in subjects with different hypnotizability levels
No full textSubjects with high hypnotizability scores (Highs) have been considered more prone to experience negative
affect and more vulnerable to its autonomic effects with respect to low hypnotizable individuals (Lows).
The aim of the study was to analyze the subjective experience, tonic skin conductance (SC), respiratory fre-
quency (RF), heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) of healthy Highs and Lows during a long-lasting,
emotionally neutral task (Session R, 46 subjects) and a moderately threatening one (Session T, 35 subjects).
At the end of the relaxing Session R, all participants reported an increased relaxation. At the end of the threat-
ening Session T, only 20 subjects reported a decreased relaxation (effective T: eT subsample). Highs and Lows
of this subsample reported a similarly reduced relaxation and showed a similarly increased skin conductance.
HR and HRV did not differ between the two sessions and between Highs and Lows. Among the subjects not
reporting decreased relaxation at the end of Session T (ineffective T: iT subsample, n=15), relaxation was
deeper and associated with lower skin conductance in Highs, although HR and HRV did not differ between
Highs and Lows. All together, the results do not support the hypothesis of higher proneness of Highs to ex-
perience negative affect and to exhibit the autonomic correlates of negative emotion
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Cardiac control in subjects with different hypnotic susceptibility during simple relaxation, low attentional and moderately threatening cognitive tasks.
No full textHypnotizability-dependent modulation of the changes in heart rate control induced by upright stance
No full textSubjects with high (Highs) and low (Lows) susceptibility to hypnosis show differences in the sensory–motor integration for postural control and
in the cardiovascular response to stress and experimental pain. Aim of the experiment was to assess whether the cardiac response to gravity-related
stimulation depending on changes in the body position were different in the two groups. Thus, heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) were
evaluated in sitting and upright position in Highs and Lows. Position-related HRV changes were studied in the time (statistical indexes, Poincar ́ e
Plot) and frequency (spectral analysis) domain. Results indicated that upright stance was associated with similar changes in heart rate and different
modulation of HRV in the two groups. The association of time and frequency domain analyses allowed hypothesizing different control mechanisms
as responsible for the cardiac response to upright stance in Highs and Lows, likely due to a different role of the Very Low Frequency (VLF) spectral
component of HRV in the two groups. The results are in line with previous findings indicating a natural protection of Highs against cardiovascular
events and suggest that the Highs’ cardiac function might be less impaired by microgravity than the Lows’ one
- …
