Muscle and Physiology

Question 1

use of psychophysiological measures (2)

Answer 1

assess the interaction between psychological and physical states

direct or indirect observation of variables attributable to normative functioning of systems and subsystems in the human body

Question 2

Methods to recording psychophysiological activity? (2) and what does it help us understand? (3)

Answer 2

variety of instruments in both laboratory and naturalistic settings.

• advanced our understanding of the interplay between systems and their connection with behavioral processes and emotion

tools and techniques are varied, but all are based on empirical observation

• variables observed are derived from the measurable properties and functions of the biological systems and subsystems.
• includes phenomena such as heart rate, blood pressure, cortical activity, and biochemical markers

Question 3

how much can psychophysiological measures explain behaviour? (2)

Answer 3

Considered a reductionistic approach, although most researchers acknowledge that conscious experience and behavior cannot be fully explained independent of external factors

When properly used, physiological measurement can produce objective, reliable, and replicable results that are less susceptible to social desirability

Question 4

issues with psychophysiological measures (4)

Answer 4

Cost of instrumentation and implementation can be problematic
- EEG = Booth $4K -$28 + $30K to $175K + consumables
- fMRI = Varies (millions) + operating costs

Artificial conditions can present challenges to ecological validity

Question 5

Chronic physiological arousal can result in

Answer 5

many deleterious health effects including heart disease and depression

Question 6

why is it important to measure physiology?

Answer 6

important to measure the connections between physiology and psychology to better understand the associations with various health outcomes

Question 7

most common psychophysiological measures (1) and where do they examine? (1)

Answer 7

capture peripheral activity including heart rate, electrodermal activity, and respiration

Many measures are used to determine sympathetic nervous system (SNS) or parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity resulting fromphysiological arousal

Question 8

benefits of recording psychophysiological activity (2) which areas do it determine? (1)

Answer 8

• continuous data collection may connect physiological activity with the effects of simultaneous stimulus presentation
• psychophysiology can reveal phenomena that are difficult to capture via traditional self-report methods, resulting in a more exact analysis of a person’s physiological state compared to self-report or overt behavior
• Many techniques are used to determine SNS (e.g., heart rate) or PNS activity (e.g., electrogastrography and respiration)

Question 9

Recording Human Psychophysiological Activity examples (12)

Answer 9

Electrodermal Activity
Electrogastrography
Facial Electromyography
Muscle tension
Eye movement/tracking & Pupillometry
Electrocardiography
Blood Pressure
Heart Rate/Heart Period
Heart Rate Variability
Respiration
Biochemical and Hormonal Variation
Neuroimaging

Question 10

Electrodermal Activity – EDA: Description (5)

Answer 10

A.K.A. galvanic skin response, skin resistance, and skin conductance

• refers to the electrical activity of the skin.

the best noninvasive measure of moment-to-moment changes in SNS activation

EDA spikes during emotional arousal
historically was a component of lie detection tests, or polygraph tests

Question 11

Electrodermal Activity – EDA: Eccrine Glands (4)

Answer 11

relies upon eccrine gland activation

• Eccrine glands are the major sweat glands found throughout the human body in the skin
• glands are especially densely distributed in hands and feet

Increased SNS activity activates the eccrine glands to produce sweat

Question 12

Electrodermal Activity – EDA: skin conductance/ potential (2) Method (2)

Answer 12

EDA measures eccrine activity regardless of whether sweat is actually produced

EDA methods include skin conductance and skin potential

• During skin conductance, a current is passed through the skin using bipolar sensor placement, and resistance to the current is measured
• Skin potential requires unipolar sensor placement and does not use a current.

Question 13

Galvanic skin response (GSR) (Electrodermal Activity – EDA) (1) focus/indication (2) Skin temp (2)

Answer 13

• Galvanic skin response (GSR), a noninvasive technique that uses electrodes to measure variation in electrodermal activity, is the principal measurement tool.

Surface changes resulting from arousal of the sympathetic nervous system are the focus of this physiological phenomenon.

Changes in the amount of perspiration (sweat) effect conductivity of the skin and can indicate arousal.

Some studies have utilized skin temperature in lieu of GSR as an indirect measure of blood flow.

Both GSR and skin temperature can be effected by ambient temperature and other environmental factors.

Question 14

Electrogastrography - EGG (3)

Answer 14

EGG records smooth muscle activity using electrical signals indicative of abdominal muscular activity

Contractions in the intestines or stomach are assessed by comparing output from the surface of an electrode attached to the forearm with electrodes attached to the abdomen (slow waves and spike potentials)

These recordings are generally made while a person is fasting

Question 15

gastrointestinal activity and psychological phenomena (Electrogastrography - EGG)

Answer 15

Research has connected gastrointestinal activity with a variety of psychological phenomena including

• fear
• shock
• and other emotion experiences (e.g. disgust)

validating EGG as a reliable and noninvasive method for assessing these relationships

Question 16

Facial Electromyography – EMG: Description

Answer 16

measure muscle activity by detecting and amplifying the tiny electrical impulses that are generated by muscle fibers when they contract

Question 17

Facial Electromyography – EMG: Uses (4)

Answer 17

Facial muscle EMG has been used as a technique to distinguish and track positive and negative emotional reactions to a stimulus as they occur

can be used to track emotion in two major facial muscle groups in particular: the corrugator supercilii and zygomaticus

measuring emotional reaction

only peripheral psychophysiological technique capable of capturing mood valence (i.e., negative versus positive emotions) in addition to arousal (i.e., high and low excitement levels)

Question 18

Facial Electromyography – EMG: the corrugator supercilii and zygomaticus (2)

Answer 18

corrugator group is influential in lowering the eyebrow and producing frowns

zygomaticus draws the corners of the mouth back into a smile and is associated with positive emotional stimuli and positive mood

Question 19

Facial Electromyography – EMG: Limitations (3)

Answer 19

• limited by the fact that only a few muscles can be tested at one time
• the procedure is somewhat obtrusive, necessitating the application of sensors to the face with some attached close to the eye
• due to proximity of many facial muscles, EMG signals should be viewed as reflecting activity from sites or regions rather than individual muscles

Question 20

Facial Electromyography – EMG: True vs. Fake smile (3)

Answer 20

A range of stimuli, including pictures and movies, has been used to examine EMG associations with mood effects

• For example, one study found that while the zygomaticus and orbicularis oculi (muscles near the eye) are activated during a true smile expressed while participants watched a pleasant film, only the zygomaticus is activated during a fake smile.

Therefore, the orbicularis is an important indicator of truepositive affectorenjoyment

Question 21

Eye tracking and pupillometry (3+2): Measurements

Answer 21

measurement of ocular behavior

• determines gaze direction and movement
• systems typically utilize high-definition cameras and infrared light to measure eye movement

pupillometry measures variation in the diameter of the pupil
- can measure pupil diameter as well associated with attention and interest, arousal, anxiety, and perceived threats

Question 22

Eye tracking and pupillometry: Uses (4)

Answer 22

can be used to assess visual attention through eye gaze

used to assess focal points of the eye in marketing, social interactions, and web applications.

pupil dilation and constriction are regularly occurring phenomena

• arousal, attraction, cognitive load, long-term memory, etc.

Question 23

Cardiovascular activity (2)

Answer 23

Often used to link physiological changes with emotional state

Measures include heart rate, blood pressure, and blood volume

Question 24

Electrocardiography - ECG or EKG (4)

Answer 24

records changes in electrical potential associated with heartbeat

leads for collecting ECG may use one of several different configurations

electrodes are placed at various locations on the body, and recordings yield P, Q, R, S, and T waves

Question 25

Electrocardiography - ECG or EKG: Waves (5)

Answer 25

P wave occurs at the beginning of a heart cycle, representing the atrial depolarization P wave is followed by QRS waves reflecting the depolarization of the ventricles Q wave is notably used to calculate pre-ejection period (PEP), which serves as an excellent index of sympathetic activation T wave represents the ventricles’ repolarization the five points represent an interbeat interval or heart period.

Question 26

Pre-ejection period (Electrocardiography - ECG or EKG) (3)

Answer 26

PEP is an important tool for examining the stress response People characterized by higher PEP reactivity to acute psychosocial stress often show: - greater sympathetic reactivity, which may result in a higher risk for stress-related health problems

Question 27

Blood Pressure – BP (3)

Answer 27

the pressure exerted by circulating blood upon the walls of blood vessels or the arterial pressure of the systemic circulation most commonly assessed using auscultatory or oscillometric methods auscultatory measurement, a cuff is positioned on the upper arm, with a stethoscope placed over the brachial artery

Question 28

DIfferent types of measurement in Blood Pressures (4)

Answer 28

oscillometric method utilizes oscillations in pressure in a BP cuff to determine systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressure (MAP) Systolic blood pressure captures peak pressure in the arteries diastolic pressure assesses the lowest pressure Pulse pressure, MAP, and peripheral resistance are all useful physiological indices calculated from systolic and diastolic blood pressure

Question 29

interpretation of Blood Pressure (4)

Answer 29

BP is often connected with - various psychosocial factors including stress and emotion regulation BP can rise as a result of - stress, SNS arousal, negative emotions, and other psychological circumstances In one example, loneliness in adults was associated with increased systolic blood pressure and increases in blood pressure over time Deviation from baseline has been used in studies related to anxiety, optimism/pessimism, among others

Question 30

Heart Rate/Heart Period: Measurement (3)

Answer 30

Heart period represents the time between consecutive heartbeats - typically measured as the distance between successive R spikes in the ECG Heart period and heart rate are reciprocal though - heart period is measured in milliseconds, - while heart rate is measured in beats per minute

Question 31

Heart Rate/Heart Period: Interpretation (3)

Answer 31

emotionally provocative experiences ranging from excitement to affiliation and to fear are connected with heart rate the amygdala seems to be particularly important in translating an individual’s emotional perceptions of stimuli - responding to emotion by activating the SNS to affect heart rate responses

Question 32

Heart Rate Variability - HRV (4)

Answer 32

measure derived from the time interval between heart beats (IBI) typically collected using electrocardiography (ECG) utilizes noninvasive electrodes to measure the electrical activity associated with heartbeats related to emotional regulation, marital conflict, anxiety, social rejection, and stress.

Question 33

Heart Rate Variability - HRV: Limitations (2)

Answer 33

Although a robust measure, it is susceptible to natural and artificial moderators that can make interpretation challenging highly susceptible to artifacts such as muscle contractions and movement.

Question 34

Heart Rate Variability - HRV: Uses (3+2)

Answer 34

Captures the variation in the duration of time between heartbeats assesses variation in the beat-to-beat interval (IBI) often used to represent PNS cardiac control - BP, ECG, and a pulse wave signal are all used to determine HRV - ECG is considered the best method as it provides a clear waveform

Question 35

Heart Rate Variability - HRV: Interpretation (3)

Answer 35

important ways to capture PNS activity - Used in coping and emotion regulation research - higher HRV seems to reflect a greater capacity for successful emotion regulation HRV can also serve as an important index of  anxiety, - as lower HRV has been observed in patients with anxiety disorders compared to controls

Question 36

Respiration: measurement (4)

Answer 36

measured by the frequency and amplitude of breathing using strain gauges two gauges provides measures of both upper and lower respiration for comparison - belt expands and contracts in response to an individual’s inhalations and exhalations, and the changes are then recorded. Impedance cardiography (ICG) can also be used to derive respiration

Question 37

Respiration: Interpretation (2)

Answer 37

emotional responses and their resulting SNS activity causes increases in breathing rate, - respiration is inevitably connected to the entire range of emotional and psychological experiences

Question 38

Biochemical and Hormonal Variation: Description (4)

Answer 38

Compounds in bodily fluids such as blood and saliva serve as the basis of this type of measurement interested in the baseline amount of compounds which vary based on time of day as well as deviations from baseline Example: Cortisol levels are increased in response to acute stressors - require samples of bodily fluids to be collected and analyzed in laboratory conditions

Question 39

Biochemical and Hormonal Variation: costs

Answer 39

costs associated with analyzing compound levels depend on the number of measurements and the nature of the compound itself

Question 39

two general types of neuroimaging: (2)

Answer 39

measurement involves creating images of the brain - structural, which is imaging based on the anatomical form - functional, which is based on cognitive and neurological processes

Question 40

Functional neuroimaging utilizes … (5)

Answer 40

- electroencephalography (EEG) - functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) - magnetoencephalography (MEG) - positronic emission tomography (PET) physiological variables measured differ depending on the technology example, EEG measures voltage patterns produced by neurons in the brain, fMRI measures oxygen and blood flow in the brain by capitalizing on the paramagnetic properties of hemoglobin

Question 41

Neuroimaging comparison: fMRI vs. EEG

Answer 41

While fMRI has far greater spatial resolution, EEG has far greater temporal resolution… which is why MR-compatible EEG systems are being designed and perfected

Question 42

Galvanic skin response has been used to evaluate... (5)

Answer 42

GSR has been used to evaluate… - affective responses to film - responses to violent video games - desensitization resulting from violent gaming - psychosocial stress - impulsivity.

Question 43

Structural neuroimaging involves techniques such as… (3)

Answer 43

X-ray, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).