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The majority of neuroimaging studies on affective processing have indicated that there are specific brain structures, which are selectively responsive to fear and disgust. Whereas the amygdala is assumed to be fear-related, the insular cortex is most likely involved in disgust processing. Since these findings are mainly a result of studies focusing exclusively either on fear, or on disgust, but rarely on both emotions together, the present experiment explored the neural effects of viewing disgusting and fear-inducing pictures in contrast to neutral pictures. This was done by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with 19 subjects (nine males, ten females), who also gave affective ratings for the presented pictures. The fear and the disgust pictures were able to induce the target emotions and they received comparable valence and arousal ratings. The processing of both aversive picture types was associated with an increased brain activation in the occipital-temporal lobe, in the prefrontal cortex, and in the thalamus. The amygdala was significantly activated by disgusting, but not by fear-inducing, pictures. Thus, our data are in contrast with the idea of highly emotion-specific brain structures and rather suggest the existence of a common affective circuit.

Findings from animal as well as human neuroimaging studies suggest that reward delivery is associated with the activation of subcortical limbic and prefrontal brain regions, including the thalamus, the striatum, the anterior cingulate and the prefrontal cortex. The aim of the present study was to explore if these reward-sensitive regions are also activated during the anticipation of reinforcers that vary with regard to their motivational value. A differential conditioning paradigm was performed, with the presentation of a rewarded reaction time task serving as the unconditioned stimulus (US). Depending on their reaction time, subjects were given (or not given) a monetary reward, or were presented with a verbal feedback consisting of being fast or slow. In a third control condition no task needed to be executed. Each of the three conditions was introduced by a different visual cue (CS). Brain activation of 27 subjects was recorded using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging. The results showed significant activation of the substantia nigra, thalamic, striatal, and orbitofrontal brain regions as well as of the insula and the anterior cingulate during the presentation of a CS signalling a rewarded task. The anticipation of a monetary reward produced stronger activation in these regions than the anticipation of positive verbal feedback. The results are interpreted as reflecting the motivation-dependent reactivity of the brain reward system with highly motivating stimuli (monetary reward) leading to a stronger activation than those less motivating ones (verbal reward).

The cerebellum and the hippocampus are key structures for the acquisition of conditioned eyeblink responses. Whereas the cerebellum seems to be crucial for all types of eyeblink conditioning, the hippocampus appears to be involved only in complex types of learning. We conducted a differential conditioning study to explore the suitability of the design for magnetencephalography (MEG). In addition, we compared cerebellar and hippocampal activation during differential delay and trace conditioning. Comparable conditioning effects were seen in both conditions, but a greater resistance to extinction for trace conditioning. Brain activation differed between paradigms: delay conditioning provoked activation only in the cerebellum and trace conditioning only in the hippocampus. The results reflect differential brain activation patterns during the two types of eyeblink conditioning.

fMRI studies have shown that the perception of facial disgust expressions specifically activates the insula. The present fMRI study investigated whether this structure is also involved in the processing of visual stimuli depicting non-mimic disgust elicitors compared to fear-inducing and neutral scenes. Twelve female subjects were scanned while viewing alternating blocks of 40 disgust-inducing, 40 fear-inducing and 40 affectively neutral pictures, shown for 1.5 s each. Afterwards, affective ratings were assessed. The disgust pictures, rated as highly repulsive, induced activation in the insula, the amygdala, the orbitofrontal and occipito-temporal cortex. Since during the fear condition the insula was also involved, our findings do not fit the idea of the insula as a specific disgust processor.

Latent inhibition (LI) is an important model for understanding cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. Disruption of LI is thought to result from an inability to ignore irrelevant stimuli. The study investigated LI in schizophrenic patients by using Pavlovian conditioning of electrodermal responses in a complete within-subject design. Thirty-two schizophrenic patients (16 acute, unmedicated and 16 medicated patients) and 16 healthy control subjects (matched with respect to age and gender) participated in the study. The experiment consisted of two stages: preexposure and conditioning. During preexposure two visual stimuli were presented. one of which served as the to-be-conditioned stimulus (CSp + ) and the other one was the not-to-be-conditioned stimulus (CSp - ) during the following conditioning ( = acquisition). During acquisition, two novel visual stimuli(CSn + and CSn - ) were introduced. A reaction time task was used as the unconditioned stimulus (US). LI was defined as the difference in response differentiation observed between preexposed and non-preexposed sets of CS + and CS - . During preexposure, the schizophrenic patients did not differ in electrodermal responding from the control subjects, neither concerning the extent of orienting nor the course of habituation. The exposure to novel stimuli at the beginning of the acquisition elicited reduced orienting responses in unmedicated patients compared to medicated patients and control subjects. LI was observed in medicated schizophrenic patients and healthy controls, but not in acute unmedicated patients. Furthermore LI was found to be correlated with the duration of illness: it was attenuated in patients who had suffered their first psychotic episode.

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.

The perception of posture in man is made possible by the information of the vestibular organs, the visual system, the proprioception and the blood volume distribution. The present study examined the cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) and the fluid volume of the thoracic cavity under different pressure conditions and their effects on the perception of posture. Changes in blood flow velocity were measured by transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD), and changes in the blood volume distribution of the upper torso were registered by impedance plethysmography. The results indicated that the cerebral blood flow volume and the thoracic blood volume changed in the same manner. Lower Body Positive Pressure (+30 mmHg) led to an increase in central volume and CBFV. During the Lower Body Negative Pressure Treatment (-30 mmHg), the central blood volume and the cerebral blood flow velocity decreased while venous pooling occurred. Additionally, the changes in both parameters were associated with an altered posture perception. The correlations between the SHP and the two physiological parameters cerebral blood flow velocity and fluid shift in the upper thorax indicate that the fluid shift in the thoracic cavity was more closely related to the SHP than to the changes in cerebral blood volume.

In a previous study a negative correlation was found between the natural sferics activity and scores on an ESP task. We attempted a replication in three studies with 37, 100, and 68 participants. In these studies ESP scores and the level of sferics activity were not significantly correlated. The result for all combined data is significant but with a quite low effect size. Other trends in the data could not be confirmed.

Many patients with migraine believe weather is a trigger for their headaches. The objective of this study was to determine if very low frequency sferics, pulse-shaped electromagnetic fields originating from atmospheric discharges (lightning), are precipitating factors. The occurrence of sferics impulses is characterized by a daily, as well as an annual, periodicity and is thought to be associated with various pathological processes. The diaries of 37 women suffering from migraine and tension-type headaches were analyzed over a period of 6 months and correlated with daily sferics activity and other weather phenomena in the area of Giessen, Germany. From October through December (autumn), sferics activity was correlated with the occurrence of migraine (r = 0.33, P<.01); however, there was no correlation in July and August (summer), when the thunderstorm activity had been very intense. In summer, tension-type headaches were associated with other weather parameters such as temperature (r = 0.36, P<.01) and vapor pressure (r = 0.27, P<.05).

Very-low-frequency (VLF) atmospherics or sferics are pulse-shaped alternating electric and magnetic fields which originate from atmospheric discharges (lightning). The objective of the study was threefold: (i) to analyse numerous parameters characterizing the sferics activity with regard to their suitability for field studies, (ii) to identify meteorological processes related to the sferics activity and (iii) to investigate the possible association of sferics with pain processes in patients suffering from migraine- and tension-type headaches. Over a period of 6 months (July through December) the sferics activity in the area of Giessen (Germany) was recorded. Three sferics parameters were chosen. The number of sferics impulses per day, the variability of the impulse rate during a day and the variability in comparison to the preceding day were correlated with weather processes (thunderstorm, temperature, vapour pressure, barometric pressure, humidity, wind velocity, warm sector). Significant correlations were obtained during the summer months (July, August) but not during the autumn months (October, November, December). During autumn, however, the sferics activity was correlated with the occurrence of migraine-type headaches (r=0.33, P<0.01) recorded by 37 women who had filled out a headache diary over a period of 6 months (July–December). While the thunderstorm activity was very intense during July and August, no relationship between sferics and migraine was found. In summer, tension-type headaches were associated with meteorological parameters such as temperature (r=0.42, P<0.01) and vapour pressure (r=0.28, P<0.05). Although the sferics activity can explain a small percentage of the variation in migraine occurrence, a direct influence was more likely exerted by visible or otherwise perceptible weather conditions (thunderstorms, humidity, vapour pressure, warm sector, etc.) than by the sferics activity itself.

The magnitude of the startle eyeblink response is diminished when the startle-eliciting probe is shortly preceded by another stimulus. This so called prepulse inhibition is interpreted as an automatic sensorimotor gating mechanism. There is substantial support for prepulse inhibition deficits in subjects suffering from schizophrenia spectrum disorders and in psychosis-prone normals as well. Thus, prepulse inhibition deficits may reflect vulnerability on the hypothesized psychopathological continuum from “normal” to “schizophrenia.” The present experiment investigated the amount of prepulse inhibition in a sample selected for “belief in extraordinary phenomena,” an attitude related to measures of psychosis-proneness. Believers and skeptics were tested in an acoustic prepulse-inhibition paradigm. As expected, presentation of prepulses clearly diminished magnitude of startle response, with greatest inhibition effects gained by lead intervals of 60 and 120 msec. Patterns of response were identical for believers and skeptics, i.e., attitude towards extraordinary phenomena did not seem to be related to functional information-processing deficits as has been observed in psychosis-prone normals.

Sferics are weak, naturally occurring electromagnetic fields related to specific weather conditions. There are some hints that these signals might be responsible for certain complaints that are often described as "weather sensitivity syndrome." The study's purpose was to find out whether humans, when exposed to simulated sferics, can consciously perceive any kind of psychophysiological changes. 63 subjects were trained within a simple learning paradigm to discriminate between phases where simulated sferics were present or absent. They were reinforced for each correct decision out of 80 judgements by means of acoustic signals. A reward of 100 German marks was pledged to the participant who would achieve the best result of the total sample. The total number of correct judgements did not differ from a random run and no learning occurred. Subjects who reported fewer bodily complaints in their recent past had higher scores in the discrimination task.