Psychosomatic medicine
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Psychosomatic medicine · May 2013
The effect of violent and nonviolent video games on heart rate variability, sleep, and emotions in adolescents with different violent gaming habits.
To study cardiac, sleep-related, and emotional reactions to playing violent (VG) versus nonviolent video games (NVG) in adolescents with different gaming habits. ⋯ Different combinations of the extent of (low versus high) previous VG and experimental exposure to a VG or an NVG are associated with different reaction patterns-physiologically, emotionally, and sleep related. Desensitizing effects or selection bias stand out as possible explanations.
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Psychosomatic medicine · Apr 2013
Thresholds and perception of cold pain, heat pain, and the thermal grill illusion in patients with major depressive disorder.
The thermal grill illusion (TGI) in which interlacing cold and warm bars create the illusion of a painful sensation has been suggested as an experimental model for central pain states and pain processing. The aim of this study was to use this technique to gain further insights into the altered pain perception in major depressive disorder (MDD). ⋯ CPT, HPT and temperature differentials for the perception of the TGI, were increased in patients with MDD as compared with controls. Pain intensity, however, was rated differently for CPT and HPT, where patients indicated higher ratings in tendency, and for the TGI stimulation, where pain was perceived less intense.
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Psychosomatic medicine · Feb 2013
Neural correlates of deficits in pain-related affective meaning construction in patients with chronic pain disorder.
Psychological and neural mechanisms of the affective dimension of pain are known to be disturbed in patients with chronic pain disorder. The aim of this functional magnetic resonance imaging study was to assess the neurofunctional and behavioral measures underlying the ability to construct pain-related affective meaning in a painful situation by comparing 21 clinically and psychometrically well-characterized patients with persistent non-nociceptive somatoform pain with 19 healthy controls. ⋯ Our results suggest that patients with chronic medically unexplained pain have an altered neural pain perception process owing to decreased activation of empathetic-affective networks, which we interpret as a deficit in pain-related affective meaning construction. These findings may lead to a more specific and detailed neurobiological understanding of the clinical impression of disturbed affect in patients with chronic pain disorder.
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Psychosomatic medicine · Feb 2013
Social isolation and loneliness: relationships with cognitive function during 4 years of follow-up in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
This study aims to evaluate the impact of social isolation and loneliness, individually and simultaneously, on cognitive function in older adults during a 4-year period, using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, and to evaluate if these associations are moderated by educational level. ⋯ Loneliness and isolation are associated with poorer cognitive function among older adults. Interventions to foster social connections may be particularly beneficial for individuals with low levels of education.
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Psychosomatic medicine · Jan 2013
Exploration of delayed-onset posttraumatic stress disorder after severe injury.
The first aim of this work was to conduct a rigorous longitudinal study to identify rates of delayed-onset posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a sample of patients with severe injury. The second aim was to determine what variables differentiated delayed-onset PTSD from chronic PTSD. ⋯ Delayed-onset PTSD occurred frequently in this sample. Approximately half of the patients with delayed-onset PTSD had minimal PTSD symptoms at 3 months; therefore, their delayed-onset PTSD could not be accounted for by a small number of fluctuating symptoms. As we move toward DSM-V, it is important that research continues to explore the factors that underpin the development of delayed-onset PTSD.