Specific respiratory patterns distinguish among human basic emotions

Emotional activation in a cognitive behavioral setting: extending the tradition with embodiment

The neuroscience-based concept of "embodied cognition" or "embodiment" highlights that body and psyche are closely intertwined, i.e., effects of body and psyche are bidirectional and reciprocal. This represents the view that cognitive processes are not possible without the direct participation of the body. Traditional Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) addresses emotional processes on a conceptual level (dysfunctional thoughts, beliefs, attributions, etc.). However recent findings suggest that these processes already start at the level of bodily sensations. This opens up a way of working in therapy that includes the level of bodily sensations, where the development of emotional meaning is supported by bottom-up processes. Bidirectionality of embodiment can be effectively exploited by using body postures and movements associated with certain emotions, which we refer to as embodiment techniques, to deepen the physical experience of poorly felt emotions and support the valid construction of emotional meaning. This embodied approach offers several advantages: Prelinguistic or hard-to-grasp aspects can be identified more easily before being processed verbally. It is also easier to work with clients who have limited access to their emotions. Thus, in this paper we describe a new embodied CBT approach to working on the dysfunctional schema, which is based on three modules: body focus, emotional field, and interaction focus. In addition, using specific zones in the space of the therapy-room allows the embodiment of problematic interactions, as well as of power and powerlessness, closeness and distance, etc. Directly experiencing these processes on one's own body in the protected space of therapy allows faster and deeper insights than would be possible with conversations alone. Finally, the vitalizing power of emotions is used to create coherent action plans and successful interactions. This working method is illustrated by means of a case from practice.

Guar Gum/Ethyl Cellulose-Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone Composite-Based Quartz Crystal Microbalance Humidity Sensor for Human Respiration Monitoring

In this work, the guar gum (GG) and the electrospinned ethyl cellulose-polyvinyl pyrrolidone (EC-PVP) nanofibers were used as humidity-sensitive materials for fabricating a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, water contact angle test, and X-ray photoelectron spectra were used to characterize the synthesized GG/EC-PVP composite material, confirming its successful preparation and good hydrophilicity. The humidity sensitivity experiments were performed at room temperature. The GG/EC-PVP-coated QCM sensor has high sensitivity (55.72 Hz/%RH) and low hysteresis (2.8% RH) in a wide relative humidity range (0-97% RH), short response/recovery time (26/2 s), excellent selectivity, good repeatability, and stability. The combined action of hydrophilic groups and porous structure enhances the humidity sensitivity. The GG/EC-PVP sensor can be used to capture and measure typical breathing patterns in different human basic emotions due to its good performance. Furthermore, a lie-detector system was also designed for judging the lying through detecting the emotional breathing pattern of the subjects.

Data Augmentation for EEG-Based Emotion Recognition Using Generative Adversarial Networks

One of the greatest limitations in the field of EEG-based emotion recognition is the lack of training samples, which makes it difficult to establish effective models for emotion recognition. Inspired by the excellent achievements of generative models in image processing, we propose a data augmentation model named VAE-D2GAN for EEG-based emotion recognition using a generative adversarial network. EEG features representing different emotions are extracted as topological maps of differential entropy (DE) under five classical frequency bands. The proposed model is designed to learn the distributions of these features for real EEG signals and generate artificial samples for training. The variational auto-encoder (VAE) architecture can learn the spatial distribution of the actual data through a latent vector, and is introduced into the dual discriminator GAN to improve the diversity of the generated artificial samples. To evaluate the performance of this model, we conduct a systematic test on two public emotion EEG datasets, the SEED and the SEED-IV. The obtained recognition accuracy of the method using data augmentation shows as 92.5 and 82.3%, respectively, on the SEED and SEED-IV datasets, which is 1.5 and 3.5% higher than that of methods without using data augmentation. The experimental results show that the artificial samples generated by our model can effectively enhance the performance of the EEG-based emotion recognition.

The Alba Method and the Science of Emotions

The Alba Method, also known as Alba Emoting™, is a way to work with emotions by using specific respiratory, postural, and facial behaviors. The Alba Method is based on psychophysiological research. This article reviews the original research that gave rise to the method. Criticisms and limitations of that research are noted. The article then presents relevant recent theory and research. Recent theoretical and empirical work suggests that anger, fear, sadness, joy/laughter, eroticism, and tenderness are distinct emotions and that each includes a specific respiratory, postural, and/or facial pattern. Recent research also shows that somatic feedback can induce anger, fear, sadness, and joy. Of note, there is a lack of studies on the breathing and postural patterns of eroticism. More studies will be needed to solve discrepancies in the description of the breathing patterns of tenderness, laughter, and sadness.

Effects of mirthful laughter on pain tolerance: A randomized controlled investigation

INTRODUCTION

Chronic pain is a debilitating condition that affects many people. Currently, there is no single treatment known to cure or assure relief from chronic pain. Accordingly, the management of patients' discomfort is an integral part of treating chronic pain. Such treatment, however, is not effective for many patients. We investigated whether mirthful laughter provided by comic relief can influence pain tolerance and muscle soreness in young healthy participants.

METHODS

Forty participants underwent a randomized controlled cross-over designed experiment. Each participant was exposed to a comedy video eliciting mirthful laughter and an uninteresting documentary. Delayed onset muscle soreness was induced in one leg at a time by eccentric exercise. Pain tolerance was tested using blunt force application and assessed subjectively using a visual analog scale.

RESULTS

Watching the comedy video elicited a significantly greater irregular breathing pattern compared with watching the documentary video (p < 0.001). After watching the comedy, the participants' positive affect was increased (Δ2 ± 1) while it was largely decreased (Δ-11 ± 2) after watching the documentary video (p < 0.001). Pain tolerance was decreased by 17 ± 5 N after viewing the documentary video (p < 0.001), but did not change significantly after watching the comedy.

CONCLUSIONS

Thirty minutes of watching a comedy eliciting laughter favorably influenced pain tolerance in healthy humans. CLINICAL TRIAL NO.: #NCT02896075.

Background soundscapes influence the perception of ice-cream as indexed by electrophysiological measures

Listening to specific soundscapes can influence multisensory flavour perception. In the present study, changes in people's perception of the flavour of ice-cream were tracked over time as they listened to a café soundscape, and when this soundscape was overlaid with either bird, machine, or forest soundscapes. In addition, emotions and electrophysiological measures were recorded in order to help understand any changes in taste/flavour perception. The results of Temporal Dominance of Sensation (TDS) analysis revealed that cocoa was dominant early in the consumption episode while listening to the control café soundscape. Sweetness and creaminess were dominant at the start of the consumption episode while listening to the café-forest soundscape. Creaminess was dominant at the start of the consumption episode while listening to the café-bird soundscape. Bitterness was perceived at the end of the consumption period while listening to the café control and café-machine soundscapes. These findings demonstrate the crossmodal influence of audition on perception in the chemical senses. As expected, negative emotions were significantly higher when listening to the machine soundscape, while positive emotions were significantly higher when listening to café-forest and café-bird soundscapes. Evaluating ice-cream while listening to the café-machine soundscape evoked negative emotions associated with bitterness and creaminess, that were also associated with increased heart rate (HR) and respiration rate (RESP). When listening to the café-forest soundscape, ice-cream was associated with sweetness, and positive emotions (e.g., love, satisfaction, happiness, amusement and enjoyment). This might have led to increased blood volume pulse (BVP) amplitude, which is itself indicative of a relaxed state. Enhancing eating experiences by means of atmospheric soundscapes that are designed specifically to accentuate specific aspects of multisensory taste/flavour perception is currently an area of interest in the food sciences literature and will likely lead to future commercial applications.

A standardised database of Chinese emotional film clips

Film clips are widely used in emotion research due to their relatively high ecological validity. Although researchers have established various film clip sets for different cultures, the few that exist related to Chinese culture do not adequately address positive emotions. The main purposes of the present study were to establish a standardised database of Chinese emotional film clips that could elicit more categories of reported positive emotions compared to the existing databases and to expand the available film clips that can be used as neutral materials. Two experiments were conducted to construct the database. In experiment 1, 111 film clips were selected from more than one thousand Chinese movies for preliminary screening. After 315 participants viewed and evaluated these film clips, 39 excerpts were selected for further validation. In experiment 2, 147 participants watched and rated these 39 film clips, as well as another 8 excerpts chosen from the existing databases, to compare their validity. Eventually, 22 film excerpts that successfully evoked three positive emotions (joy, amusement, and tenderness), four negative emotions (moral disgust, anger, fear, and sadness), and neutrality formed the standardised database of Chinese emotional film clips.

Automated analysis of breathing waveforms using BreathMetrics: a respiratory signal processing toolbox

Nasal inhalation is the basis of olfactory perception and drives neural activity in olfactory and limbic brain regions. Therefore, our ability to investigate the neural underpinnings of olfaction and respiration can only be as good as our ability to characterize features of respiratory behavior. However, recordings of natural breathing are inherently nonstationary, nonsinusoidal, and idiosyncratic making feature extraction difficult to automate. The absence of a freely available computational tool for characterizing respiratory behavior is a hindrance to many facets of olfactory and respiratory neuroscience. To solve this problem, we developed BreathMetrics, an open-source tool that automatically extracts the full set of features embedded in human nasal airflow recordings. Here, we rigorously validate BreathMetrics' feature estimation accuracy on multiple nasal airflow datasets, intracranial electrophysiological recordings of human olfactory cortex, and computational simulations of breathing signals. We hope this tool will allow researchers to ask new questions about how respiration relates to body, brain, and behavior.

Asymmetric hemisphere activation in tenderness: evidence from EEG signals

Emotions are processed asymmetrically by the human brain. Frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) as measured by electroencephalographic (EEG) power in the alpha band (8–13 Hz), is a sensitive indicator of asymmetric brain activity in the frontal cortex. The current study aimed to analyze the frontal EEG asymmetries in terms of valence and motivational direction. We presented 37 participants with three film excerpts that were selected from the standard emotional film database to elicit three target emotions: tenderness, anger, and neutrality. Participants’ self-reports on their induced emotional responses and EEG signals were recorded and analyzed. The results showed that individuals displayed lower alpha power in the left hemisphere than the right hemisphere when they were watching a tender film, indicating that tenderness was positive and related to approach motivation. In contrast, when watching an angry movie, participants showed higher alpha power in the left hemisphere than the right hemisphere, suggesting that anger was negative and associated with withdrawal motivation. These findings help to link positive and approach-motivated tenderness with greater left hemispheric activation and state-anger with greater right hemispheric activation through the analysis of FAA.

Profiling subjective symptoms and autonomic changes associated with cybersickness

Our aim was to expand knowledge of cybersickness - a subtype of motion sickness provoked by immersion into a moving computer-generated virtual reality. Fourteen healthy subjects experienced a 15-min rollercoaster ride presented via a head-mounted display (Oculus Rift), for 3 consecutive days. Heart rate, respiration, finger and forehead skin conductance were measured during the experiment; this was complemented by a subjective nausea rating during the ride and by Motion Sickness Assessment Questionnaire before, immediately after and then 1, 2 and 3h post-ride. Physiological measurements were analysed in three dimensions: ride time, association with subjective nausea rating and experimental day. Forehead, and to a lesser extent finger phasic skin conductance activity showed a correlation with the reported nausea ratings, while alteration in other measured parameters were mostly related to autonomic arousal during the virtual ride onset. A significant habituation was observed in subjective symptom scores and in the duration of tolerated provocation. The latter increased from 7.0±1.3min on the first day to 12.0±2.5min on the third day (p<0.05); this was associated with a reduced slope of nausea rise from 1.3±0.3units/min on the first to 0.7±0.1units/min on the third day (p<0.01). Furthermore, habituation with repetitive exposure was also determined in the total symptom score post-ride: it fell from 1.6±0.1 on the first day to 1.2±0.1 on the third (p<0.001). We conclude that phasic changes of skin conductance on the forehead could be used to objectively quantify nausea; and that repetitive exposure to provocative VR content results in habituation.

Consequences of Laughter Upon Trunk Compression and Cortical Activation: Linear and Polynomial Relations

Results from two studies of biological consequences of laughter are reported. A proposed inhibitory brain mechanism was tested in Study 1. It aims to protect against trunk compression that can cause health hazards during vigorous laughter. Compression may be maximal during moderate durations and, for protective reasons, moderate in enduring vigorous laughs. Twenty-five university students volunteered to see a candid camera film. Laughter responses (LR) and the superimposed ha-responses were operationally assessed by mercury-filled strain gauges strapped around the trunk. On average, the thorax compression amplitudes exceeded those of the abdomen, and greater amplitudes were seen in the males than in the females after correction for resting trunk circumference. Regression analyses supported polynomial relations because medium LR durations were associated with particularly high thorax amplitudes. In Study 2, power changes were computed in the beta and alpha EEG frequency bands of the parietal cortex from before to after exposure to the comedy “Dinner for one” in 56 university students. Highly significant linear relations were calculated between the number of laughs and post-exposure cortical activation (increase of beta, decrease of alpha) due to high activation after frequent laughter. The results from Study 1 supported the hypothesis of a protective brain mechanism that is activated during long LRs to reduce the risk of harm to vital organs in the trunk cavity. The results in Study 2 supported a linear cortical activation and, thus, provided evidence for a biological correlate to the subjective experience of mental refreshment after laughter.

The Psychophysiological Differentiation of Actual, Imagined, and Recollected Mirth

Heart rate and galvanic skin response measures were recorded from 23 participants (10 men and 13 women) while mirth was elicited through use of imagination (Imagined Mirth), through recollection (Recollected Mirth), or through an experimental manipulation (Actual Mirth). An analysis of variance indicated significant differences for heart rate, F(2, 22) = 4.716, p = .0210, and for galvanic skin response, F(2, 22) = 4.779, p = .0201 among the three methods. Consistent with the hypotheses forwarded, both Imagined and Recollected Mirth generated significantly greater changes in psychophysiology than Actual Mirth. However, there were no significant differences found between Imagined and Recollected Mirth. The implications of these findings on current and future research are discussed.

Quantitative Laughter Detection, Measurement, and Classification-A Critical Survey

The study of human nonverbal social behaviors has taken a more quantitative and computational approach in recent years due to the development of smart interfaces and virtual agents or robots able to interact socially. One of the most interesting nonverbal social behaviors, producing a characteristic vocal signal, is laughing. Laughter is produced in several different situations: in response to external physical, cognitive, or emotional stimuli; to negotiate social interactions; and also, pathologically, as a consequence of neural damage. For this reason, laughter has attracted researchers from many disciplines. A consequence of this multidisciplinarity is the absence of a holistic vision of this complex behavior: the methods of analysis and classification of laughter, as well as the terminology used, are heterogeneous; the findings sometimes contradictory and poorly documented. This survey aims at collecting and presenting objective measurement methods and results from a variety of different studies in different fields, to contribute to build a unified model and taxonomy of laughter. This could be successfully used for advances in several fields, from artificial intelligence and human-robot interaction to medicine and psychiatry.

A unified 3D default space consciousness model combining neurological and physiological processes that underlie conscious experience

The Global Workspace Theory and Information Integration Theory are two of the most currently accepted consciousness models; however, these models do not address many aspects of conscious experience. We compare these models to our previously proposed consciousness model in which the thalamus fills-in processed sensory information from corticothalamic feedback loops within a proposed 3D default space, resulting in the recreation of the internal and external worlds within the mind. This 3D default space is composed of all cells of the body, which communicate via gap junctions and electrical potentials to create this unified space. We use 3D illustrations to explain how both visual and non-visual sensory information may be filled-in within this dynamic space, creating a unified seamless conscious experience. This neural sensory memory space is likely generated by baseline neural oscillatory activity from the default mode network, other salient networks, brainstem, and reticular activating system.

Assessment of human respiration patterns via noncontact sensing using Doppler multi-radar system

Human respiratory patterns at chest and abdomen are associated with both physical and emotional states. Accurate measurement of the respiratory patterns provides an approach to assess and analyze the physical and emotional states of the subject persons. Not many research efforts have been made to wirelessly assess different respiration patterns, largely due to the inaccuracy of the conventional continuous-wave radar sensor to track the original signal pattern of slow respiratory movements. This paper presents the accurate assessment of different respiratory patterns based on noncontact Doppler radar sensing. This paper evaluates the feasibility of accurately monitoring different human respiration patterns via noncontact radar sensing. A 2.4 GHz DC coupled multi-radar system was used for accurate measurement of the complete respiration patterns without any signal distortion. Experiments were carried out in the lab environment to measure the different respiration patterns when the subject person performed natural breathing, chest breathing and diaphragmatic breathing. The experimental results showed that accurate assessment of different respiration patterns is feasible using the proposed noncontact radar sensing technique.

Bodily Influences on Emotional Feelings: Accumulating Evidence and Extensions of William James’s Theory of Emotion

William James’s theory of emotion has been controversial since its inception, and a basic analysis of Cannon’s critique is provided. Research on the impact of facial expressions, expressive behaviors, and visceral responses on emotional feelings are each reviewed. A good deal of evidence supports James’s theory that these types of bodily feedback, along with perceptions of situational cues, are each important parts of emotional feelings. Extensions to James’s theory are also reviewed, including evidence of individual differences in the effect of bodily responses on emotional experience.

Laughing: a demanding exercise for trunk muscles

Social, psychological, and physiological studies have provided evidence indicating that laughter imposes an increased demand on trunk muscles. It was the aim of this study to quantify the activation of trunk muscles during laughter yoga in comparison with crunch and back lifting exercises regarding the mean trunk muscle activity. Muscular activity during laughter yoga exercises was measured by surface electromyography of 5 trunk muscles. The activation level of internal oblique muscle during laughter yoga is higher compared to the traditional exercises. The multifidus, erector spinae, and rectus abdominis muscles were nearly half activated during laughter yoga, while the activation of the external oblique muscle was comparable with the crunch and back lifting exercises. Our results indicate that laughter yoga has a positive effect on trunk muscle activation. Thus, laughter seems to be a good activator of trunk muscles, but further research is required whether laughter yoga is a good exercise to improve neuromuscular recruitment patterns for spine stability.

Changes in P300 following alternate nostril yoga breathing and breath awareness

This study assessed the effect of alternate nostril yoga breathing (nadisuddhi pranayama) on P300 auditory evoked potentials compared to a session of breath awareness of equal duration, in 20 male adult volunteers who had an experience of yoga breathing practices for more than three months. Peak amplitudes and peak latencies of the P300 were assessed before and after the respective sessions. There was a significant increase in the P300 peak amplitudes at Fz, Cz, and Pz and a significant decrease in the peak latency at Fz alone following alternate nostril yoga breathing. Following breath awareness there was a significant increase in the peak amplitude of P300 at Cz. This suggests that alternate nostril yoga breathing positively influences cognitive processes which are required for sustained attention at different scalp sites (frontal, vertex and parietal), whereas breath awareness brings about changes at the vertex alone.

Science of the mind: ancient yoga texts and modern studies

The practice of yoga is gaining in popularity with a wide range of practices. Recent research and descriptions from the ancient texts are often concurrent with regard to the effects of the practice, taking into account expected differences between modern scientific terms and those used in the original texts. Voluntarily regulated yoga breathing practices form a bridge between physical and mental changes. The voluntarily regulated yoga breathing has distinct effects on metabolism, the autonomic nervous system, higher brain functions, and mental state. The effects of meditation on the nervous system and mental state are even clearer.

Sudarshan kriya yoga: Breathing for health

Breathing techniques are regularly recommended for relaxation, stress management, control of psychophysiological states, and to improve organ function. Yogic breathing, defined as a manipulation of breath movement, has been shown to positively affect immune function, autonomic nervous system imbalances, and psychological or stress-related disorders. The aim of this study was to assess and provide a comprehensive review of the physiological mechanisms, the mind–body connection, and the benefits of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) in a wide range of clinical conditions. Various online databases searched were Medline, Psychinfo, EMBASE, and Google Scholar. All the results were carefully screened and articles on SKY were selected. The references from these articles were checked to find any other potentially relevant articles. SKY, a unique yogic breathing practice, involves several types of cyclical breathing patterns, ranging from slow and calming to rapid and stimulating. There is mounting evidence to suggest that SKY can be a beneficial, low-risk, low-cost adjunct to the treatment of stress, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, stress-related medical illnesses, substance abuse, and rehabilitation of criminal offenders.

Using Alba Emoting™ to work with emotions in psychotherapy

Alba Emoting™ is a physical method to help recognize, induce, express and regulate the basic emotions. This is achieved through specific breathing, postural and facial behaviours. Alba Emoting is based on psychophysiological research by Susana Bloch and her collaborators, who have applied this method mainly to train actors. Alba Emoting can be used in psychotherapy to facilitate emotion awareness, regulation and transformation. It can also help therapists better recognize their own and their clients' emotions. The application of Alba Emoting in psychotherapy is illustrated with a case example.

KEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGE

Alba Emoting is a physical, scientific method for working with emotions. Alba Emoting can help therapists better recognize their own and their clients' emotions. Alba Emoting can help clients achieve better emotional awareness and regulation. Alba Emoting can also help clients experience and express emotions they may normally inhibit.

Post traumatic stress symptoms and heart rate variability in Bihar flood survivors following yoga: a randomized controlled study

BACKGROUND

An earlier study showed that a week of yoga practice was useful in stress management after a natural calamity. Due to heavy rain and a rift on the banks of the Kosi river, in the state of Bihar in north India, there were floods with loss of life and property. A week of yoga practice was given to the survivors a month after the event and the effect was assessed.

METHODS

Twenty-two volunteers (group average age +/- S.D, 31.5 +/- 7.5 years; all of them were males) were randomly assigned to two groups, yoga and a non-yoga wait-list control group. The yoga group practiced yoga for an hour daily while the control group continued with their routine activities. Both groups' heart rate variability, breath rate, and four symptoms of emotional distress using visual analog scales, were assessed on the first and eighth day of the program.

RESULTS

There was a significant decrease in sadness in the yoga group (p < 0.05, paired t-test, post data compared to pre) and an increase in anxiety in the control group (p < 0.05, paired t-test, post data compared to pre).

CONCLUSIONS

A week of yoga can reduce feelings of sadness and possibly prevent an increase in anxiety in flood survivors a month after the calamity.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Clinical Trials Registry of India: CTRI/2009/091/000285.

Therapeutic effects of yoga for children: a systematic review of the literature

PURPOSE

We completed a systematic review of the literature on the effect of yoga on quality of life and physical outcome measures in the pediatric population. We explored various databases and included case-control and pilot studies, cohort and randomized controlled trials that examined yoga as an exercise intervention for children.

SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS

Using the Sackett levels of evidence, this article reviews the literature on yoga as a complementary mind-body movement therapy. We address the research through three practice patterns according to the Guide to Physical Therapist Practice and provide considerations for the inclusion of yoga into clinical practice.

STATEMENT OF CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE

The evidence shows physiological benefits of yoga for the pediatric population that may benefit children through the rehabilitation process, but larger clinical trials, including specific measures of quality of life are necessary to provide definitive evidence.

Cardiovascular, electrodermal, and respiratory response patterns to fear- and sadness-inducing films

Responses to fear- and sadness-inducing films were assessed using a broad range of cardiovascular (heart rate, T-wave amplitude, low- and high-frequency heart rate variability, stroke volume, preejection period, left-ventricular ejection time, Heather index, blood pressure, pulse amplitude and transit time, and finger temperature), electrodermal (level, response rate, and response amplitude), and respiratory (rate, tidal volume and its variability, inspiratory flow rate, duty cycle, and end-tidal pCO(2)) measures. Subjective emotional experience and facial behavior (Corrugator Supercilii and Zygomaticus Major EMG) served as control measures. Results indicated robust differential physiological response patterns for fear, sadness, and neutral (mean classification accuracy 85%). Findings are discussed in terms of the fight-flight and conservation-withdrawal responses and possible limitations of a valence-arousal categorization of emotion in affective space.

Cardiovascular and respiratory responses during musical mood induction

Music is used to induce moods in experimental settings as well as for therapeutic purposes. Prior studies suggest that subjects listening to certain types of music experience strong moods and show physiological responses associated with the induced emotions. We hypothesized that cardiovascular and respiratory patterns could discriminate moods induced via music. 18 healthy subjects listened to 12 music clips, four each to induce happiness, sadness, and fear, while cardiovascular and respiratory responses were recorded using an electrocardiogram and chest strain-gauge belt. After each clip subjects completed a questionnaire. Subjects consistently reported experiencing the targeted mood, suggesting successful mood induction. Cardiovascular activity was measured by calculating time domain measures and heart rate changes during each clip. Respiratory activity was measured by total, inspiration, and expiration lengths as well as changes in mean respiration rate during each clip. Evaluation of individuals' patterns and mixed-model analyses were performed. Contrary to expectations, the time domain measures of subjects' cardiovascular responses did not vary significantly between the induced moods, although a heart rate deceleration was found during the sadness inductions and acceleration during the fear inductions. The time domain respiratory measures varied with clip type: the mean breath length was longest for the sad induction, intermediate during fear, and shortest during the happiness induction. However, analysis using normalized least mean squares adaptive filters to measure time correlation indicated that much of this difference may be attributable to entrainment of respiration to characteristics of the music which varied between the stimuli. Our findings point to the difficulty in detecting psychophysiological correlates of mood induction, and further suggest that part of this difficulty may arise from failure to differentiate it from tempo-related contributions when music is used as the inducer.

Psychophysiological assessment during exposure in driving phobic patients

A comprehensive assessment of fear or anxiety requires measurement of both self-report and physiological responses. Respiratory abnormalities have been rarely examined during real-life exposure, although they are an integral part of fear. Twenty-one women with a specific driving phobia and 17 nonphobic women were psychophysiologically monitored during 2 highway-driving sessions; phobic women completed an additional session. Respiratory movements, end-tidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide, an electrocardiogram, skin conductance, and skin temperature were recorded. Phobic patients differed from control participants both physiologically and experientially before, during, and after exposure. Effect size during exposure was large for the authors' measure of hyperventilation. Discriminant analysis indicated that multiple physiological measures contributed nonredundant information and correctly classified 95% of phobic and control participants. Thus, selected respiratory and autonomic measures are valid diagnostic and therapeutic outcome criteria for this situational phobia.

The effect of task on determination of habitual loudness

The purpose of this study was to investigate if there is an effect of task on determination of habitual loudness. Four tasks commonly used to elicit habitual loudness were compared (automatic speech, elicited speech, spontaneous speech, and reading aloud). Participants were adult female speakers (N=30) with normal voice. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed a statistically significant (p < 0.05) effect of task, with post-hoc analyses indicating that there was a statistically significant difference in habitual loudness elicited via automatic versus spontaneous speech (p < 0.05), and automatic speech versus reading aloud (p < 0.001). The issue of how habitual loudness is defined is considered. Implications of the use of one task for determination of habitual loudness are discussed, as is the possibility of a task effect on determination of other clinically useful vocal parameters.

Neuroendocrine responses to experimentally-induced emotions among abstinent opioid-dependent subjects

The present study investigated neuroendocrine and cardiovascular changes during experimentally-induced affective states in abstinent heroin-dependent subjects and healthy controls. The procedure for eliciting emotions in all subjects used pleasant and unpleasant stimuli that did not differ in subjective arousal properties. We investigated whether the valence of the stimuli differentially affected neuroendocrine responses by comparing neutral, pleasant and unpleasant pictures on heart rate (HR), systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), methyl-OH-phenyl-glycol (MHPG), norepinephrine (NE), epinephrine (EPI), adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol (CORT) plasma levels. Twelve abstinent heroin-dependent subjects, in comparison with 12 control subjects, were submitted to three experimental sessions, each on one of three experimental days a week apart, in counterbalanced order: day 1=unpleasant pictures, day 2=pleasant pictures, day 3=neutral pictures. In the rating of subjective arousal pleasant and unpleasant stimuli received the same high score in comparison with neutral stimuli; a different cardiovascular and neuroendocrine pattern was obtained in healthy subjects: unpleasant stimuli elicited increases in HR, SBP, MHPG, NE, ACTH, CORT, whereas neutral and pleasant stimuli did not induce any significant response in hormonal levels. In contrast, in heroin addicts, despite increased perceptions of unpleasantness, HR, SBP, MHPG and NE levels did not increase after disliked stimuli; these subjects also reported increased arousal during exposure to neutral stimuli. In comparison with controls, addicted individuals showed higher CORT and ACTH basal levels, and a consequent lack of response to unpleasant stimuli. The results indicate that neuroendocrine and cardiovascular systems respond selectively to affective, motivationally relevant stimuli, and that substance use disorders may be associated with dysregulation of emotion-processing mechanisms.

Basic emotions evoked by odorants: comparison between autonomic responses and self-evaluation

The present study was designed to analyze the relationship between self-report and physiological expression of basic emotions (happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, disgust and anger) in response to odorants. 44 subjects inhaled five odorants: vanillin, menthol, eugenol, methyl methacrylate, and propionic acid. Six autonomic nervous systems (ANS) parameters were simultaneously recorded in real time and without interference: Skin Potential (SP), Skin Resistance (SR), Skin Temperature (ST), Skin Blood Flow (SBF), Instantaneous Respiratory Frequency (IRF) and Instantaneous Heart Rate (IHR). At the end of the recording, subjects were instructed i) to identify the odorants roughly II) to situate them on an 11-point hedonic scale from highly pleasant (0) to highly unpleasant (10); and iii) to define what type of basic emotion was evoked by each odorant. In this study, the expected affects were aroused in the subjects. Vanillin and menthol were rated pleasant, while methyl methacrylate and propionic acid were judged unpleasant. Eugenol was median in hedonic estimation. ANS evaluation (each autonomic pattern induced by an odorant was transcripted into a basic emotion) shows that pleasantly connoted odorants evoked mainly happiness and surprise, but that unpleasant ones induced mainly disgust and anger. Eugenol was associated with positive and negative affects. Comparison between conscious (verbal) and unconscious (ANS) emotions, reveals that these two estimations 1) were not significantly different as far as the two pleasant odorants were concerned, 2) showed a tendency to be significantly different for eugenol odorant which was variably scored on the hedonic axis, and 3) exhibited a significant difference for the two unpleasant odorants, for which the corresponding "verbal emotion" was mainly "disgust", while the most frequent ANS emotion was "anger". In conclusion, these results show quite a good correlation between verbal and ANS estimated basic emotions. The main difference concerns anger: while there is a high occurrence of this emotion revealed by the analysis of ANS responses, it does not appear to be easily expressed through the verbal channel.

Comparison of changes in autonomic and respiratory parameters of girls after yoga and games at a community home

The heart rate, breathing rate, and skin resistance were recorded for 20 community home girls (Home group) and for 20 age-matched girls from a regular school (School group). The former group had a significantly higher rate of breathing and a more irregular breath pattern known to correlate with high fear and anxiety, than the School group. Skin resistance was significantly lower in the School group, which may suggest greater arousal, 28 girls of the Home group formed 14 pairs, matched for age and duration of stay in the home. Subjects of a pair were randomly assigned to either yoga or games groups. For the former emphasis was on relaxation and awareness, whereas for the latter increasing physical activity was emphasized. At the end of an hour daily for six months both groups showed a significant decrease in the resting heart rate relative to initial values (Wilcoxon paired-sample rest), and the yoga group showed a significant decrease in breath rate, which appeared more regular but no significant increase in the skin resistance. These results suggest that a yoga program which includes relaxation, awareness, and graded physical activity is a useful addition to the routine of community home children.

Autonomic nervous system response patterns specificity to basic emotions

The aim of this study was to test the assumption that the autonomic nervous system responses to emotional stimuli are specific. A series of six slides was randomly presented to the subjects while six autonomic nervous system (ANS) parameters were recorded: skin conductance, skin potential, skin resistance, skin blood flow, skin temperature and instantaneous respiratory frequency. Each slide induced a basic emotion: happiness, surprise, anger, fear, sadness and disgust. Results have been first considered with reference to electrodermal responses (EDR) and secondly through thermo-vascular and respiratory variations. Classical as well as original indices were used to quantify autonomic responses. The six basic emotions were distinguished by Friedman variance analysis. Thus, ANS values corresponding to each emotion were compared two-by-two. EDR distinguished 13 emotion-pairs out of 15. 10 emotion-pairs were separated by skin resistance as well as skin conductance ohmic perturbation duration indices whereas conductance amplitude was only capable of distinguishing 7 emotion-pairs. Skin potential responses distinguished surprise and fear from sadness, and fear from disgust, according to their elementary pattern analysis in form and sign. Two-by-two comparisons of skin temperature, skin blood flow (estimated by the new non-oscillary duration index) and instantaneous respiratory frequency, enabled the distinction of 14 emotion-pairs out of 15. 9 emotion-pairs were distinguished by the non-oscillatory duration index values. Skin temperature was demonstrated to be different i.e. positive versus negative in response to anger and fear. The instantaneous respiratory frequency perturbation duration index was the only one capable of separating sadness from disgust. From the six ANS parameters study, different autonomic patterns were identified, each characterizing one of the six basic emotion used as inducing signals. No index alone, nor group of parameters (EDR and thermovascular for instance) were capable of distinguishing each emotion from another. However, electrodermal, thermo-vascular and respiratory responses taken as a whole, redundantly separated each emotion thus demonstrating the specificity of autonomic patterns.

Videoendoscopic analysis of laryngeal function during laughter

Although commonly encountered in all human cultures, laughter remains poorly understood. In order to examine laryngeal function during laughter, telescopic and fiberscopic videolaryngoscopy was performed on five subjects, who laughed in the different vowels, at various frequencies, and in several voice qualities. During laughter, the vocal folds were found consistently to undergo rhythmic abduction and adduction. At the end of these specific phonation tasks, all subjects were able to gain voluntary control of paramedian vocal fold positioning. This study defined laryngeal function during laughter. These results have important clinical implications. Voluntary vocal fold positioning has important applications in speech therapy for dysphonias, such as vocal fold nodules, in which the primary cause is vocal fold hyperadduction. Patients suffering from these hyperadductive dysphonias may be able to utilize laughter to correct them.

Autonomic response patterns during voluntary facial action

The effects of six voluntarily adopted emotional facial expressions on heart rate, respiration, emotional report, and effort ratings were examined. The results indicate that the facial expressions that were most difficult to produce (anger, fear, and sadness) showed larger cardiac accelerations than those that were easy to produce (disgust and surprise); the happiness expression fell somewhere in between. Emotional self-report revealed that in the majority of the facial configuration trials subjects experienced only moderate or no emotion at all. In addition to the emotional configurations, a nonemotional expression was examined. Post hoc comparisons showed that the heart rate data of the nonemotional face were not significantly different from any of the other emotional expressions. With respect to respiration, the production of facial expressions induced an increase in functional residual capacity, and decrease in tidal volume, shortened inspiratory and expiratory phase duration, and an increase in inspiratory pause duration. These effects were most pronounced during the facial expressions that were difficult to produce. We conclude that changes in heart rate are not the consequence of the capacity of facial activity to recruit emotion-specific autonomic activity but instead are modulated by effort-related changes in respiration.

Neural control of vocalization: respiratory and emotional influences

Previous research has shown that a region of the midbrain, the periaqueductal gray matter (PAG), is critical for vocalization. In this review, we describe the results of previous investigations in which we sought to find out how PAG neurons integrate the activity and precise timing of respiratory, laryngeal, and oral muscle activity for natural-sounding vocalization using the technique of excitatory amino acid microinjections in cats. In these studies, all surgical procedures were carried out under deep anaesthesia. In the precollicular decerebrate cat two general types of vocalization, classified as voiced and unvoiced, could be evoked by exciting neurons in the lateral part of the intermediate part of the PAG. The patterns of evoked electromyographic activity were strikingly similar to previously reported patterns of human muscle activity. Coordinated patterns of activity were evoked with just-threshold excitation leading to the conclusion that patterned muscle activity corresponding to the major categories of voiced and voiceless sound production are represented in the PAG. In a parallel series of human and animal experiments, we also determined that the speech and vocalization respiratory patterns are integrated and coordinated with afferent signals related to lung volume. These data have led to the proposal of a new hypothesis for the neural control of vocalization: that the PAG is a crucial brain site for mammalian voice production, not only in the production of emotional or involuntary sounds, but also as a generator of specific respiratory and laryngeal motor patterns essential for human speech and song.

Breathing patterns during spontaneous speech

Lung volumes, speech intensity, the linguistic location of inspirations, and the variability of each, were studied during spontaneous speech in 6 healthy young women over 7 to 10 sessions each, using respiratory inductance plethysmography. Although average lung volume levels were within the vital capacity range previously reported for speech (Hixon, Goldman, & Mead, 1973), significant inter- and intrasubject variability was observed. This variability was considerable for some subjects (average initiation lung volume varying between 42 and 63% VC over the sessions) and relatively small for others (between 47 and 53% VC). Some of the lung volume variation was associated with changes in mood state, examined by self-report questionnaire at each measurement occasion. Linguistic factors were important influences in the lung volume variation. The majority of breaths in the conversations and monologues preceded structural (clause) boundaries. The volume of air inspired preutterance was found to be linked to the length of the ensuing breath group in each of our 6 subjects, as longer breath groups, spanning up to seven clauses in the spontaneous speech, were anticipated by inspiring to a higher lung volume. The subjects used a comfortable speaking intensity range, which varied for different individuals and sessions over 4 to 18 dB. Increases in speech intensity within individual ranges were not associated with increased lung volumes. The data provide novel insight into associations between physiological and linguistic factors in the control of speech breathing, and are suggestive of the existence of neural planning of the respiratory system, in anticipation of the demands of the utterance.

Emotions and respiratory patterns: review and critical analysis

The literature on emotions and respiration is reviewed. After the early years of experimental psychology, attention to their relationship has been sparse, presumably due to difficulties in adequate measurement of respiration. The available data suggest nevertheless that respiration patterns reflect the general dimensions of emotional response that are linked to response requirements of the emotional situations. It is suggested that the major dimensions are those of calm-excitement, relaxation-tenseness, and active versus passive coping. Research on the emotion-respiration relationships has been largely restricted to the correlates of respiration rate, amplitude, and volume. Finer distinctions than those indicated may well be possible if a wider range of parameters, such as the form of the respiratory cycle, is included in the investigation.