Psychosomatic medicine
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Psychosomatic medicine · Jan 2001
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialA randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study of the effect of exogenous melatonin on delayed sleep phase syndrome.
The effects of exogenous melatonin on sleep, daytime sleepiness, fatigue, and alertness were investigated in 22 patients with delayed sleep phase syndrome whose nocturnal sleep was restricted to the interval from 24:00 to 08:00 hours. This study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial. Subjects received either placebo or melatonin (5 mg) daily for 4 weeks, underwent a 1-week washout period, and then were given the other treatment for an additional 4 weeks. Patients could take the melatonin between 19:00 and 21:00 hours, which allowed them to select the time they felt to be most beneficial for the phase-setting effects of the medication. ⋯ Melatonin ameliorated some symptoms of delayed sleep phase syndrome, as confirmed by both objective and subjective measures. No adverse effects of melatonin were noted during the 4-week treatment period.
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Psychosomatic medicine · Jan 2001
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialPain and emotion: effects of affective picture modulation.
Two experiments examined the impact of viewing unpleasant, pleasant, and neutral photographic slides on cold-pain perception in healthy men and women. In each experiment, participants viewed one of three slide shows (experiment 1 = fear, disgust, or neutral; experiment 2 = erotic, nurturant, or neutral) immediately before a cold-pressor task. Skin conductance and heart rate were recorded during the slide shows, whereas visual analog scale ratings of pain intensity and unpleasantness thresholds and pain tolerance were recorded during the cold-pressor task. ⋯ These results are consistent with a motivational priming model that predicts that unpleasant affective states should enhance pain and that pleasant affective states should attenuate it.