No abstract

Encouraging patients to use cognitive reappraisal constitutes the core of modern psychotherapeutic approaches. However, evidence for specific neural correlates of the capacity for cognitive reappraisal, which is a necessary prerequisite for the effective implementation of cognitive reappraisal in everyday life, has been sparse to date. In the present study, the capacity for cognitive reappraisal was studied in terms of the participants’ inventiveness in generating alternative appraisals of anger-evoking events, and was correlated with frontal EEG alpha asymmetry recorded while the participants were generating reappraisals as well as during a common creative idea generation task. During cognitive reappraisal efforts, individuals higher on the capacity for generating cognitive reappraisals showed more left-lateralized activity in lateral prefrontal cortex, specifically in ventrolateral prefrontal cortex extending toward the frontal pole. This effect was observed independently from the activation during novel idea generation without emotional component, indicating that specific demands are implicated in the generation of reappraisals of emotional events. Taken together, the results indicate that individuals higher on the capacity for cognitive reappraisal are more capable or more prone to recruit appropriate brain regions when the situation demands coming up with alternative appraisals of stressful events. The findings may stimulate the development of more individually targeted interventions.

Magnetic induction tomography (MIT) is a contactless method for mapping the electrical conductivity of tissue. MIT is based on the perturbation of an alternating magnetic field by a conducting object. The perturbation is detected by a voltage change in a receivercoil. At physiologically interesting frequencies (10 kHz-10 MHz) and conductivities (< 2 S m(-1)) the lower limit for the relative voltage change (signal/carrier ratio = SCR) to be resolved is 10(-7)-10(-10). A new MIT hardware has been developed consisting of a coil system with planar gradiometers and a high-resolution phase detector (PD). The gradiometer together with the PD resolves an SCR of 2.5 x 10(-5) (SNR = 20 dB at 150 kHz, acquisition speed: 100 ms). The system operates between 20 and 370 kHz with the possibility of extending the range up to 1 MHz. The feasibility of measuring conductivity spectra in the beta-dispersion range of biological tissues is experimentally demonstrated. An improvement of the resolution towards SCR = 10(-7) with an SNR of > or = 20 dB at frequencies > 100 kHz is possible. On-line spectroscopy of tissue conductivity with low spatial resolution appears feasible, thus enabling applications such as non-invasive monitoring of brain oedema.

of heart rate and respiration synchronize during poetry recitation. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 287: H579 -H587, 2004. First published April 8, 2004 10.1152/ajpheart.01131.2003.-The objective of this study was to investigate the synchronization between low-frequency breathing patterns and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) of heart rate during guided recitation of poetry, i.e., recitation of hexameter verse from ancient Greek literature performed in a therapeutic setting. Twenty healthy volunteers performed three different types of exercises with respect to a cross-sectional comparison: 1) recitation of hexameter verse, 2) controlled breathing, and 3) spontaneous breathing. Each exercise was divided into three successive measurements: a 15-min baseline measurement (S1), 20 min of exercise, and a 15-min effect measurement (S2). Breathing patterns and RSA were derived from respiratory traces and electrocardiograms, respectively, which were recorded simultaneously using an ambulatory device. The synchronization was then quantified by the index ␥, which has been adopted from the analysis of weakly coupled chaotic oscillators. During recitation of hexameter verse, ␥ was high, indicating prominent cardiorespiratory synchronization. The controlled breathing exercise showed cardiorespiratory synchronization to a lesser extent and all resting periods (S1 and S2) had even fewer cardiorespiratory synchronization. During spontaneous breathing, cardiorespiratory synchronization was minimal and hardly observable. The results were largely determined by the extent of a low-frequency component in the breathing oscillations that emerged from the design of hexameter recitation. In conclusion, recitation of hexameter verse exerts a strong influence on RSA by a prominent low-frequency component in the breathing pattern, generating a strong cardiorespiratory synchronization.creative arts therapy; cross-sectional study design; bivariate data analysis; heart rate variability

3-Chlorobenzoate grown cells ofPseudomonas strain B 13 readily co-oxidize 3-methylbenzoate yielding 82% (+)-2,5-dihydro-4-methyl- and 9% (+)-2,5-dihydro-2-methyl-5-oxo-furan-2-acetic acid (compounds I and II, X=CH3). The concentration of the products in the culture fluid exceed 11 g per liter without affecting the activity of the cells. The products were formed in 89% and 93% yield when 3- or 4-methylcatechol is cometabolized correspondingly. The lactonization of methyl- and halomuconic acids is discussed with regard to the mechanism of halide elimination during utilization of chlorosubstituted aromatic compounds

We conclude that during the 20-min supine post-syncopal period, plasma volume, PRA and AVP return closer to baseline but aldosterone and ACTH continue increasing. The magnitude of observed concentration changes cannot be explained by haemoconcentration/haemodilution, rather it appears that the observed changes are indicative of hormone-specific endocrine activation patterns in the recovery phase.

Neuroscientific studies in the field of creativity mainly focused on tasks drawing on basic verbal divergent thinking demands. This study took a step further by investigating brain mechanisms in response to other types of creative behavior, involving more “real-life” creativity demands in the context of emotion regulation and well-being. Specifically, functional patterns of EEG alpha activity were investigated while participants were required to generate as many and as different ways as possible to reappraise presented anger-eliciting situations in a manner that reduces their anger. Cognitive reappraisal involves some of the same cognitive processes as in conventional verbal creativity tasks, inasmuch as it requires an individual to inhibit or disengage from an emotional event, to shift attention between different perspectives, and to flexibly adopt new solutions. To examine whether alpha oscillations during cognitive reappraisal are different from those during conventional creative ideation, the EEG was also assessed during performance of the Alternative Uses task, requiring individuals to generate as many and as original uses of an object as possible. While cognitive reappraisal was associated with a similar pattern of alpha power as observed in conventional verbal creative ideation, the former yielded significantly stronger alpha power increases at prefrontal sites, along with lower alpha increases at more posterior cortical sites, indicating higher cognitive control and less spontaneous imaginative thought processes in the generation of effective strategies to regulate an ongoing negative emotional state.

No abstract