The tactile detection threshold changes when a visual stimulus is presented with a short temporal gap

Symptom Perception in Pathological Illness Anxiety: Tactile Sensitivity and Bias

OBJECTIVE

Symptom perception in pathological illness anxiety (PIA) might be biased so that somatic signals are overreported. In the somatic signal detection task (SSDT), performance in detecting weak tactile stimuli gives information on overreporting or underreporting of stimuli. This task has not yet been applied in PIA.

METHODS

Participants with PIA (n = 44) and healthy controls (n = 40) underwent two versions of the SSDT in randomized order. In the original version, tactile and auxiliary light-emitting diode (LED) stimuli were each presented in half of the trials. In the adapted version, illness or neutral words were presented alongside tactile stimuli. Participants also conducted a heartbeat mental tracking task.

RESULTS

We found significantly higher sensitivity and a more liberal response bias in LED versus no-LED trials, but no significant differences between word types. An interaction effect showed a more pronounced increase of sensitivity from no LED to LED trials in participants with PIA when compared with the adapted SSDT and control group (F(1,76) = 5.34, p = .024, η2 = 0.066). Heartbeat perception scores did not differ between groups (BF01 of 3.63).

CONCLUSIONS

The increase in sensitivity from no LED to LED trials in participants with PIA suggests stronger multisensory integration. Low sensitivity in the adapted SSDT indicates that attentional resources were exhausted by processing word stimuli. Word effects on response bias might have carried over to the original SSDT when the word version was presented first, compromising group effects regarding bias.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The study was preregistered on OSF (https://osf.io/sna5v/).

The effect of early systematic rehabilitation nursing on the quality of life and limb function in elderly patients with stroke sequelae

OBJECTIVE

To study the effect of early systematic rehabilitation nursing on the quality of life and limb function in elderly patients with stroke sequelae.

METHODS

This prospective study was conducted in 97 elderly patients with stroke sequelae. These patients were randomly allocated to the control group (n=49) and the experimental group (n=48). Patients in the control group received routine rehabilitation nursing, while those in the experimental group received early systematic rehabilitation nursing. Upper limb motor function (Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA) score), upper limb sensory function (tactile threshold and two-point discrimination), physiological state (Hamilton anxiety (HAMA) scale and Hamilton depression (HAMD) scale score), ability of daily living (ADL) (the Barthel index score and ability of daily living score), and the quality of life (generic quality of life inventory-74 (GQOLI-74) score) before and 3 months after intervention were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

Compared with before intervention, FMA scores in the two groups after intervention were increased, while modified Ashworth scores were decreased (all P<0.05). The changes in the experimental group after intervention were more than those in the control group (both P<0.05). Tactile threshold and two-point discrimination in both groups after intervention were reduced when compared with before intervention (all P<0.05); tactile threshold and two-point discrimination in the experimental group after intervention group were smaller than those in the control group (both P<0.05). HAMA scale and HAMD scale scores in the two groups after intervention were lower than those before intervention (all P<0.05); HAMA scale and HAMD scale score in the experimental group after intervention were reduced when compared with the control group (both P<0.05). The Barthel index scores, ADL scores, and GQOLI-74 scores in both groups after intervention were increased when compared with before intervention (all P<0.05). The Barthel index score, ADL score, and GQOLI-74 score in the experimental group after intervention were higher than those in the control group (all P<0.05).

CONCLUSION

For elderly patients with stroke sequelae, early systemic rehabilitation nursing is more beneficial for the improvement of upper limb motor and sensory function, alleviation of negative psychology, raise in ability of daily living, and increase of life quality. It is therefore worthy of clinical application.

Deficits of Tactile Passive Perception Acuity in Patients With Schizophrenia

Background: Scarce literature has yet to characterize the tactile discrimination capability as well as the underlying mechanism of tactile deficits in psychotic disorder. In particular, very little is known regarding the tactile perception acuity in schizophrenia. Methods: A total of 131 clinically stable patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) and 79 healthy control (HC) volunteers were enrolled in the study. All the participants were tested on a tactile stimulus device which could quantify the tactile discrimination capability with right index finger scanned over the angles via the passive finger-movement apparatus. The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) was adapted to assess the neurocognition of the participants. Correlation analysis and multivariate linear regression analysis were performed to investigate the relationship between tactile perception performance and neurocognitive function. Results: It was discovered that there existed a significant deficits in the tactile passive perception acuity (i.e., tactile angle discrimination threshold) in patients with schizophrenia compared with their healthy controls (F (3, 206) = 11.458, P = 0.001,partial η2 = 0.053). The MCCB total score and its six domains were significantly lower in SCZ patients than those in HCs (all p < 0.001). In the SCZ group, the composite score of the MCCB (r = -0.312, P < 0.001) and domains of neurocognition including speed of processing (r = -0.191, P = 0.031), attention/vigilance (r = -0.177, P = 0.047), working memory (r = -0.316, P < 0.001), verbal learning (r = - 0.332, P < 0.001), visual learning (r = -0.260, P = 0.004), and reasoning and problem solving (r = -0.209, P = 0.018) showed significant negative correlations with the tactile angle discrimination threshold. Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that neurocognition impairment, especially the decline of working memory (B = -0.312, P < 0.001),underpin the tactile perception discrimination deficits in patients with SCZ. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to unravel the deficits of tactile passive perception acuity and its underlying neurocognition basis in patients with SCZ. This finding adds novel evidence to the subtle variation in haptic discrimination skills in schizophrenia which contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the sensory profiles of this disorder.