Psychological and physiological responses accompanying positive emotions elicited on seeing favorite persons

Informal carers' experiences of caring for someone with Multiple Sclerosis: A photovoice investigation

OBJECTIVES

This study explores the lived experiences of carers of people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), specifically in relation to their quality of life (QoL), through the use of images and narratives, with the aim of gaining a nuanced insight into the complex nature of QoL in the MS caregiving context.

DESIGN

Real-time qualitative design using the photovoice method.

METHODS

Twelve MS carers (aged 30-73 years) took photographs of objects/places/events that represented enhancement or compromise to their QoL and composed written narratives for each photograph based on their experiences of caregiving. In total, 126 photographs and their corresponding narratives were analysed using content analysis.

RESULTS

Seven inter-related themes were identified. MS caregiving-related challenges, sense of loss (e.g., loss of activities), emotional impact (e.g., feeling lonely), urge to escape, and sense of anxiety over the unpredictability of MS carer role were discussed in relation to the negative experiences that compromised their QoL. The themes precious moments (e.g., time spent with loved ones or hobbies) and helpful support (e.g., family and pets) encompassed participants' positive experiences that enhanced their QoL.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings demonstrated the multi-faceted and complex nature of MS caregiver's QoL and highlighted that although the experiences of MS carers were mostly negative, there were also some positive aspects to caregiving, that helped enhance carers' QoL by ameliorating these negative experiences. These findings can be used to inform support programmes and enhance service provision for MS carers.

Serotonin transporter gene polymorphism modulates inflammatory cytokine responses during acute stress

Cytokines are important mediators of various stress-related modulations of immune function. A major genetic factor determining inter-individual differences in stress reactivity is polymorphisms of the serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5HT) transporter (5HTT) gene. A short (S) variant, compared with a long (L) variant, of the promoter region of the 5HTT gene-linked polymorphic region (5HTTLPR) has been related to emotional and stress hyper-reactivity. The present study examined whether the 5HTTLPR can modulate responses of inflammatory cytokines under acute stress. Nine Japanese male participants carrying two copies of the S alleles and nine Japanese males carrying S and L alleles underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Inflammatory cytokines, endocrine parameters, heart rate and subjective stress were measured before, during and after the task. The participants carrying the SS alleles, but not those carrying the SL alleles, showed a significant increase of IL-1β immediately after TSST. This hyper-reactivity to acute stress in individuals with the SS alleles was also observed in their heart rate and cortisol levels. These results suggest that the S allele of the 5HTTLPR is consistently associated with stress reactivity in multi-level stress-related biological systems.

Comparison of different strategies to decrease negative affect and increase positive affect in women with borderline personality disorder

BACKGROUND

In this study we compared the effect of different emotion regulation strategies on positive and negative emotions in patients with borderline personality disorder.

METHODS

Emotion regulation strategies were a distracting task, individual positive memory imagery, individual soothing imagery, and a neutral comparison condition. During two separate sessions, 17 participants watched either neutral or negative movie segments before using these strategies.

RESULTS

All three strategies influenced emotions into a favorable direction as compared to the neutral comparison condition. The positive memory image increased positive emotions significantly stronger than counting colors and distracting.

DISCUSSION

Different strategies seem to have similar effects in decreasing negative emotions. Positive emotions may be affected in particular by positive and soothing imagery techniques.

Genetic variations in the serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region influence attraction for a favorite person and the associated interactions between the central nervous and immune systems

Limbic system activation that occurs when a person experiences several emotions is primarily represented by the amygdala output that influences autonomic brainstem nuclei that control autonomic nervous function, thus modulating the endocrine and immune systems. Amygdala activity is modulated by the serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region (5HTTLPR); however, whether variations in 5HTTLPR influence central nervous and immune activities in response to positive stimuli remains unclear. Here, we found that seeing a favorite person induced significantly higher amygdala activity in individuals with the 5HTTLPR SS genotype than in others. This activity was positively correlated with changes in the NK cell proportion among peripheral lymphocytes. Thus, 5HTTLPR influences attraction and the associated interactions between the central nervous and immune systems in affectively positive situations.