Ihre Suche

Suche zurücksetzen
In authors or contributors
Thema

Ergebnisse 5 Einträge

RelevanzNeueste zuerstÄlteste zuerstAutor A-ZAutor Z-ATitel A-ZTitel Z-A
Abstracts
  • Vaitl, D., Mittelstaedt, H., Saborowski, R., Stark, R., & Baisch, F. (2002). Shifts in blood volume alter the perception of posture: further evidence for somatic graviception. International Journal of Psychophysiology : Official Journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology, 44(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0167-8760(01)00184-2

    This article examines the relation between the perception of one's own body position and the distribution of fluid along the subject's spinal (z-) axis. Two experiments are reported. The first one is a replication of the Vaitl et al. study [J. Psychophysiol. 27 (1997) 99] which has shown that changes in shifts of blood volume into or out of the thoracic cavity induced by lower body positive pressure (LBPP: +30 mmHg) or lower body negative pressure (LBNP: -30 mmHg) exerted on the lower body led subjects to feel tilted head-up or head-down, respectively. The second experiment was designed to differentiate between the influence of the otoliths and of the changes in fluid distribution on the perception of body position by means of a sled centrifuge in combination with LBPP and LBNP. In both experiments, changes in blood distribution within the thoracic cavity were measured by impedance plethysmography. Forty healthy volunteers (17 females) participated in experiment 1. They were positioned on the side (right-ear-down head position) on a tiltable board which the subject and the experimenter could tilt via remote control around the subjects' z-axis. Subjects were asked to rotate the board until they felt they were in a horizontal posture. The results clearly show that the perception of posture is influenced by the shift in blood distribution. During LBNP subjects perceived being tilted head-up, whereas LBPP led them feel tilted head-down. Thus, the results obtained in the 1997 study were replicated. Fourteen males volunteered in experiment 2. They were positioned on the sled on a centrifuge in the same manner as in experiment 1. The sled could be moved via remote control by both the subject and the experimenter. While the centrifuge rotated (omega=2 pi times 0.6 rotations per second) the subjects were asked to move the sled until they felt they were in a horizontal position. As in experiment 1, shifts in blood volume were induced by LBPP and LBNP. The distance between the binaural axis (position of the otoliths) and the centrifuge axis served as dependent measure indicating the subjective horizontal position. Due to the additional centrifugal forces exerted on the body the shifts in blood volume were more pronounced than in experiment 1 where only gravitational forces were produced. The changes in the perception of posture were influenced by both the otoliths and the fluid distribution in such a way that both interact in a compensatory manner. These results again corroborate the evidence that afferent inputs from the cardiovascular system play a major role in the perception of the body posture. This phenomenon of graviception needs to be further elucidated with respect to the origins of the afferent inputs and the site and type of graviceptors (mechanoreceptors) involved.

  • Schienle, A., Schäfer, A., Stark, R., Walter, B., & Vaitl, D. (2005). Neural responses of OCD patients towards disorder-relevant, generally disgust-inducing and fear-inducing pictures. International Journal of Psychophysiology : Official Journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology, 57(1), 69–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2004.12.013

    This functional magnetic resonance imaging study investigated the disgust- and fear-reactivity of patients suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Ten OCD patients were scanned while viewing blocks of pictures showing OCD triggers from their personal environment and OCD-irrelevant disgust-inducing, fear-inducing and neutral scenes. Afterwards, the patients rated the intensity of the induced disgust, fear and OCD symptoms. The responses were compared with those of 10 healthy control subjects. The disorder-relevant pictures provoked intense OCD symptoms in the clinical group associated with increased activation in the bilateral prefrontal cortex, the left insula, the right supramarginal gyrus, the left caudate nucleus and the right thalamus. The patients gave higher disgust and fear ratings than the controls for all aversive picture categories. Neural responses towards the disorder-irrelevant disgusting and fear-inducing material included more pronounced insula activation in patients than controls. Summarizing, photos of individual OCD-triggers are an effective means of symptom provocation and activation of the fronto-striato-thalamo-parietal network. The increased insular reactivity of OCD patients during all aversive picture conditions might mirror their susceptibility to experience negative somatic states.

  • Schienle, A., Schäfer, A., Stark, R., Walter, B., Franz, M., & Vaitl, D. (2003). Disgust sensitivity in psychiatric disorders: a questionnaire study. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 191(12), 831–834. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.nmd.0000100928.99910.2d
  • Weygandt, M., Blecker, C. R., Schäfer, A., Hackmack, K., Haynes, J.-D., Vaitl, D., Stark, R., & Schienle, A. (2012). fMRI pattern recognition in obsessive-compulsive disorder. NeuroImage, 60(2), 1186–1193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.01.064

    Patients suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are characterized by dysregulated neuronal processing of disorder-specific and also unspecific affective stimuli. In the present study, we investigated whether generic fear-inducing, disgust-inducing, and neutral stimuli can be decoded from brain patterns of single fMRI time samples of individual OCD patients and healthy controls. Furthermore, we tested whether differences in the underlying encoding provide information to classify subjects into groups (OCD patients or healthy controls). Two pattern classification analyses were conducted. In analysis 1, we used a classifier to decode the category of a currently viewed picture from extended fMRI patterns of single time samples (TR=3s) in individual subjects for several pairs of categories. In analysis 2, we used a searchlight approach to predict subjects' diagnostic status based on local brain patterns. In analysis 1, we obtained significant accuracies for the separation of fear-eliciting from neutral pictures in OCD patients and healthy controls. Separation of disgust-inducing from neutral pictures was significant in healthy controls. In analysis 2, we identified diagnostic information for the presence of OCD in the orbitofrontal cortex, and in the caudate nucleus. Accuracy obtained in these regions was 100% (p<10(-6)). To summarize our findings, by using multivariate pattern classification techniques we were able to identify neurobiological markers providing reliable diagnostic information about OCD. The classifier-based fMRI paradigms proposed here might be integrated in future diagnostic procedures and treatment concepts.

  • Morgen, K., Sammer, G., Courtney, S. M., Wolters, T., Melchior, H., Blecker, C. R., Oschmann, P., Kaps, M., & Vaitl, D. (2006). Evidence for a direct association between cortical atrophy and cognitive impairment in relapsing-remitting MS. NeuroImage, 30(3), 891–898. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.10.032

    Cognitive deficits affecting memory, attention and speed of information processing are common in multiple sclerosis (MS). The mechanisms of cognitive impairment remain unclear. Here, we examined the association between neuropsychological test performance and brain atrophy in a group of mildly disabled patients with relapsing-remitting MS. We applied voxel-based morphometry (SPM2) to investigate the distribution of brain atrophy in relation to cognitive performance. Patients had lower scores than control subjects on tests of memory and executive function, including the PASAT, Digit Span Backward and a test of short-term verbal memory (Memo). Among patients, but not healthy controls, performance on the PASAT, a comprehensive measure of cognitive function and reference task for the cognitive evaluation of MS-patients, correlated with global grey matter volume as well as with grey matter volume in regions associated with working memory and executive function, including bilateral prefrontal cortex, precentral gyrus and superior parietal cortex as well as right cerebellum. Compared to healthy subjects, patients showed a volume reduction in left temporal and prefrontal cortex, recently identified as areas predominantly affected by diffuse brain atrophy in MS. A comparison of low performers in the patient group with their matched control subjects showed more extensive and bilateral temporal and frontal volume reductions as well as bilateral parietal volume loss, compatible with the progression of atrophy found in more advanced MS-patients. These findings indicate that MS-related deficits in cognition are closely associated with cortical atrophy.

RIS

Empfohlenes Format für die meisten Literaturverwaltungsprogramme

BibTeX

Empfohlenes Format für BibTeX-fähige software

Custom feed
Last update from database: 11.08.25, 05:41 (UTC)