Effect of Prenatal Yoga versus Moderate-Intensity Walking on Cardiorespiratory Adaptation to Acute Psychological Stress: Insights from Non-Invasive Beat-to-Beat Monitoring.

We recently reported enhanced parasympathetic activation at rest throughout pregnancy associated with regular yoga practice. The present study presents a secondary analysis of data collected within a prospective cohort study of 33 pregnant women practicing yoga once weekly throughout pregnancy and 36 controls not involved in formal pregnancy exercise programs. The objective was to assess the impact of prenatal yoga on the autonomic nervous system stress response. Healthy pregnant women with singleton pregnancies were recruited in the first trimester. There was no significant difference in the maternal body mass index (BMI) between the yoga group and the controls (24.06 ± 3.55 vs. 23.74 ± 3.43 kg/m2, p = 0.693). Women practicing yoga were older (28.6 ± 3.9 vs. 31.3 ± 3.5 years, p = 0.005) and more often nulliparous (26 (79%) vs. 18 (50%), p = 0.001). We studied heart rate variability (HRV) parameters in the time domain (SDNN, standard deviation of regular R-R intervals, and RMSSD, square root of mean squared differences of successive R-R intervals) and frequency domain (ln(LF/HF), natural logarithm of low-frequency to high-frequency power), as well as synchronization indices of heart rate, blood pressure and respiration during and immediately following acute psychological stress of a standardized mental challenge test. Measurements were performed once per trimester before and after yoga or a 30 min moderate-intensity walk. Statistical comparison was performed using three-way analyses of variance (p < 0.05 significant). Time domain HRV parameters during and following mental challenge in the yoga group were significantly higher compared to the controls regardless of the trimester (F = 7.22, p = 0.009 for SDNN and F = 9.57, p = 0.003 for RMSSD, respectively). We observed no significant differences in the yoga group vs. the controls in terms of ln(LF/HF) and synchronization indices. Regular prenatal yoga practice was associated with a significantly reduced sympathetic response to mental challenge and quicker recovery after acute psychological stress. These effects persisted throughout pregnancy with regular practice.

Effects of Different Fasting Interventions on Cardiac Autonomic Modulation in Healthy Individuals: A Secondary Outcome Analysis of the EDIF Trial.

The impact of a fasting intervention on electrocardiographic (ECG) time intervals and heart rate variability (HRV) is a focus that is scarcely analyzed. The main focus of these secondary outcome data was to describe the impact of a different fasting intervention on ECG and HRV analyses. Twenty-seven healthy individuals participated in this study (11 females, aged 26.3 ± 3.8 years, BMI 24.7 ± 3.4 kg/m2), including a pre-intervention controlled run-in period. Participants were randomized to one of the three fasting cohorts: (I) alternate day fasting (ADF, n = 8), (II) 16/8 fasting (16/8 h of fasting/feasting, n = 11) and (III) 20/4 fasting (20/4 h of fasting/feasting, n = 8). An analysis of baseline ECG parameters and HRV parameters following different fasting interventions demonstrated the safety of these interventions without impacting on heart rate variability parameters during Schellong-1 testing, and revealed comparable preserved autonomic cardiac modulation (ACM) independently of the fasting intervention. In conclusion, different short-term fasting interventions demonstrated no safety ECG-based concerns and showed comparable ACM based on ECG and HRV assessments. Finally, our research topic might strengthen the scientific knowledge of intermittent fasting strategies and indicate potential clinically preventive approaches with respect to occurring metabolic disease and obesity in healthy young subjects.

Functional (un-)Coupling: Impairment, Compensation, and Future Progression in Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: Functional (un-)coupling (task-related change of functional connectivity) between different sites of the brain is a mechanism of general importance for cognitive processes. In Alzheimer's disease (AD), prior research identified diminished cortical connectivity as a hallmark of the disease. However, little is known about the relation between the amount of functional (un-)coupling and cognitive performance and decline in AD. Method: Cognitive performance (based on CERAD-Plus scores) and electroencephalogram (EEG)-based functional (un-)coupling measures (connectivity changes from rest to a Face-Name-Encoding task) were assessed in 135 AD patients (age: M = 73.8 years; SD = 9.0). Of these, 68 patients (M = 73.9 years; SD = 8.9) participated in a follow-up assessment of their cognitive performance 1.5 years later. Results: The amounts of functional (un-)coupling in left anterior-posterior and homotopic interhemispheric connections in beta1-band were related to cognitive performance at baseline (ß = .340; p < .001; ß = .274; P = .001, respectively). For both markers, a higher amount of functional coupling was associated with better cognitive performance. Both markers also were significant predictors for cognitive decline. However, while patients with greater functional coupling in left anterior-posterior connections declined less in cognitive performance (ß = .329; P = .035) those with greater functional coupling in interhemispheric connections declined more (ß = -.402; P = .010). Conclusion: These findings suggest an important role of functional coupling mechanisms in left anterior-posterior and interhemispheric connections in AD. Especially the complex relationship with cognitive decline in AD patients might be an interesting aspect for future studies.

Effect of Prenatal Yoga on Heart Rate Variability and Cardio-Respiratory Synchronization: A Prospective Cohort Study.

The objective was to assess the effects of prenatal yoga on heart rate variability (HRV) and cardio-respiratory synchronization, used as proxies of autonomic nervous system activity. Sixty-nine healthy pregnant women were included; 33 in a yoga group attending at least one 90-min yoga class weekly throughout pregnancy, and 36 controls not involved in formal pregnancy exercise programs. Measurements of the time domain (SDNN, standard deviation of regular R-R intervals, and RMSSD, square root of mean squared differences of successive R-R intervals) and frequency domain (ln(LF/HF), natural logarithm of low-frequency to high-frequency power) HRV indices, as well as cardio-respiratory synchronization indexes were performed once per trimester before and after yoga or 30-min moderate-intensity walk. A statistical comparison was performed using a three-way analysis of the variance (p < 0.05 significant). Both the time domain and frequency domain HRV indices showed significant shifts towards parasympathetic dominance following yoga when compared to the controls throughout pregnancy (p = 0.002 for SDNN, p < 0.001 for RMSSD, and p = 0.006 for ln(LF/HF), respectively). There was a statistically non-significant trend towards higher synchronization between respiratory frequency and heart rate following yoga vs. controls (p = 0.057). Regular prenatal yoga was associated with enhanced parasympathetic activation persisting throughout pregnancy.

[Symptom Monitoring and Detection of Early Warning Signs in Bipolar Episodes Via App - Views of Patients and Relatives on e-Health Need]. / Notwendigkeit für Symptom-Monitoring und Frühwarnzeichenerkennung bipolarer Episoden durch eine App? ­ Ansichten von PatientInnen und Angehörigen zu e-health Bedarf.

BACKGROUND: The onset and early warning signs of episodes of bipolar disorder are often realized late by those affected. The earlier an incipient episode is treated, the more prognostically favorable the course will be. Symptom monitoring via smartphone application (app) could be an innovative way to recognize and react to early warning signs more swiftly. The aim of this study was to find out whether patients and their relatives consider technical support through an app to be useful and practical in the early warning sign detection and treatment. METHODS: In the present study, 51 patients with bipolar disorder and 28 relatives were interviewed. We gathered information on whether participants were able to perceive early warning signs in form of behavioral changes sufficiently and in a timely fashion and also whether they would use an app as treatment support tool. RESULTS: Although 94.1% of the surveyed patients and 78.6% of their relatives felt that they were well informed about the disease, 13.7% and 35.7%, respectively were not fully satisfied with the current treatment options. Early warning signs of every depressive development were noticed by 25.5% of the patients (relatives 10.7%). Every (hypo)manic development was only noticed by 11.8% of the patients (relatives 7.1%); 88.2% of the patients and 85.7% of the relatives noticed the same symptoms recurrently at the beginning of a depression and 70.6% and 67.9%, respectively, at the beginning of a (hypo)manic episode (in particular changes in physical activity, communication behavior and the sleep-wake rhythm). 84.3% of the patients and 89.3% of the relatives stated that they considered technical support that draws attention to mood and activity changes as useful and that they would use such an app for the treatment. DISCUSSION: The current options for perceiving early warning signs of a depressive or (hypo)manic episode in bipolar disorder are clinically inadequate. Those affected and their relatives desire innovative, technical support. Early detection of symptoms, which often manifest themselves in changes in behavior or activity patterns, is essentiell for managing the course of bipolar disorder. In the future, smartphone apps could be used for clinical treatment and research through objective, continuous and.

Cardiorespiratory Interaction and Autonomic Sleep Quality Improve during Sleep in Beds Made from Pinus cembra (Stone Pine) Solid Wood.

Cardiorespiratory interactions (CRIs) reflect the mutual tuning of two important organismic oscillators-the heartbeat and respiration. These interactions can be used as a powerful tool to characterize the self-organizational and recreational quality of sleep. In this randomized, blinded and cross-over design study, we investigated CRIs in 15 subjects over a total of 253 nights who slept in beds made from different materials. One type of bed, used as control, was made of melamine faced chipboard with a wood-like appearance, while the other type was made of solid wood from stone pine (Pinus cembra). We observed a significant increase of vagal activity (measured by respiratory sinus arrhythmia), a decrease in the heart rate (as an indicator of energy consumption during sleep) and an improvement in CRIs, especially during the first hours of sleep in the stone pine beds as compared to the chipboard beds. Subjective assessments of study participants' well-being in the morning and sub-scalar assessments of their intrapsychic stability were significantly better after they slept in the stone pine bed than after they slept in the chipboard bed. Our observations suggest that CRIs are sensitive to detectable differences in indoor settings that are relevant to human health. Our results are in agreement with those of other studies that have reported that exposure to volatile phytochemical ingredients of stone pine (α-pinene, limonene, bornyl acetate) lead to an improvement in vagal activity and studies that show a reduction in stress parameters upon contact with solid wood surfaces.

Differences in Hemodynamic, Hormonal and Heart Rate Variability Parameters in Complication-Free Pregnancies Compared to Individuals with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Preeclampsia: An Observational Retrospective Analysis.

To investigate differences in hemodynamic, hormonal and heart rate variability parameters in women following complication-free pregnancies (healthy), preeclampsia and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) after giving childbirth. Data of 60 women (healthy: n = 29, age 32.7 ± 4.5 years, BMI 24.2 ± 4.3 kg/m2; preeclampsia: n = 16, age 35.3 ± 4.4 years, 28.5 ± 6.4 kg/m2; GDM, n = 15, age 32.3 ± 6.0 years, BMI 26.4 ± 6.2 kg/m2) were included. Two visits were conducted 16 and 48 weeks after giving childbirth. Hair samples were taken for analysis of cortisol and testosterone. ECG and blood pressure were recorded at each visit. Data were analyzed via RM-ANOVA and post-hoc testing (p ≤ 0.05). Heart rate increased from visit 1 to visit 2, whereas SDNN decreased (both p = 0.03). RMSSD showed an increased trend for groups (p = 0.06). Testosterone in the GDM group was significantly higher compared to the other groups (p = 0.002). Cortisol levels were significantly higher following post-hoc testing GDM was different compared to healthy individuals (p = 0.02). Hemodynamic changes from week 16 to week 48 did not differ between groups (p > 0.05). No differences between individuals with preeclampsia and healthy individuals were found for all hemodynamic parameters (p > 0.05). The study showed higher levels of chronic stress indicators in GDM measured via heart rate variability and cortisol compared to women with a history of preeclampsia and healthy women.

Unaffected Memory and Inhibitory Functioning Several Weeks Postpartum in Women with Pregnancy Complicated by Preeclampsia.

Several studies reported impaired cognitive functioning after pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia. The present study examined cognitive and executive functioning in women with preeclampsia at a time at which immediate effects of gestation have resolved, brain damage due to other risk factors have not yet manifested, and impairments may thus primarily occur as a result of the huge stress induced by the potentially life threatening condition. Verbal learning/memory (California Verbal Learning Test) and inhibitory functioning (Mittenecker Pointing Test) of 35 women with preeclampsia and 38 women with uncomplicated pregnancy were followed over five measurement time points during the period from 16 to 48 weeks postpartum. A further control group comprised 40 women with no history of recent pregnancy. The groups did not differ in their verbal learning/memory performance. Higher levels of currently experienced everyday-life stress were associated with poorer inhibitory control/greater stereotypy in responding, but this effect was not directly connected with pregnancy complications. Taken together, the findings do not indicate rapid-onset cognitive impairment after preeclampsia, brought about by its extremely stressful nature or other factors that take effect during gestation. Deficits observed in later life may develop on a long-term basis through late-diagnosed hypertension and unfavorable lifestyle factors. The large time window in which exaggerated cognitive decline can be prevented or mitigated should be utilized for the control of risk factors and interventions to improve lifestyle where appropriate.

The Impacts of the Presence of an Unfamiliar Dog on Emerging Adults' Physiological and Behavioral Responses Following Social Exclusion.

Research indicates that non-human attachment figures may mitigate the negative consequences of social exclusion. In the current experiment, we examined how the presence of an unfamiliar companion dog in the laboratory effects physiological and behavioral reactions in female emerging adults after social exclusion compared to inclusion. Results revealed the beneficial effects of the dog: Socially excluded participants in the company of a dog showed less aggressive behavior in response to the hot sauce paradigm compared to excluded participants in the control condition. Furthermore, cardiac responses indicated mitigated perception of threat in a subsequent insult episode when a dog was present. The presence of a dog did not impact the most instantaneous, "reflexive" response to the social exclusion as revealed by characteristic cardiac changes. Together, the findings indicate that the presence of a companion dog takes effect in a later, reflective period following a social exclusion experience, which implicates relevant social elaboration and appraisal processes.

Patients with hip fracture and total hip arthroplasty surgery differ in anthropometric, but not cardiovascular screening abnormalities.

BACKGROUND: With the rising number of hip surgeries, simple and cost-effective tools for surgery risk assessment are warranted. The analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) may not only provide critical insights into the general frailty of patients with hip surgery, but also allow for better differentiation of health profiles in different hip surgery groups. Using HRV analysis, the present study compared cardiovascular as well as anthropometric parameters between patients with hip surgery, the hip fracture surgery group (HFS) and the total hip arthroplasty group (THA), and a control group. METHODS: 71 participants (56.3% women), aged 60-85 years, took part, divided into three groups-patients after hip surgery (21 HFS and 30 THA patients) and a control group (20 participants). Electrocardiogram was recorded at baseline and after the application of a physical stressor (grip strength). A 3 (group) × 2 (time) repeated measures ANOVA, and a chi square test were carried out to test for group differences. RESULTS: Higher weight (p = .002), body mass index (p = .001), and systolic blood pressure (p = .034) were found in THA patients compared to HFS patients. Lower calf circumference (p = .009) and diastolic blood pressure (p = .048) were observed for the HFS group compared to the control group. For cardiovascular parameters, significant differences emerged between the HFS group and the control group in HR (p = .005), SDNN (p = .034) and SD2 (p = .012). No significant differences in cardiovascular parameters were observed between the two hip surgery groups: neither at baseline nor during stressor recovery. CONCLUSIONS: While HRV seems to differentiate well between HFS patients and controls, more research with larger samples is needed to scrutinize similaritites and differences in cardiovascular profiles between HFS and THA patients.

General and Disease-Specific Health Indicator Changes Associated with Inpatient Rehabilitation.

OBJECTIVES: Rehabilitation plays a vital role in the mitigation and improvement of functional limitations associated with aging and chronic conditions. Moderating factors such as sex, age, the medical diagnosis, and rehabilitation timing for admission status, as well as the expected change related to inpatient rehabilitation, are examined to provide a valid basis for the routine assessment of the quality of medical outcomes. DESIGN: An observational study was carried out, placing a focus on general and disease-specific health measurements, to assess representative results of multidisciplinary inpatient rehabilitation. Aspects that were possibly confounding and introduced bias were controlled based on data from a quasi-experimental (waiting) control group. MEASURES: Existing data or general health indicators were extracted from medical records. The indicators included blood pressure, resting heart rate, self-assessed health, and pain, as well as more disease-specific indicators of physical function and performance (eg, activities of daily living, walking tests, blood lipids). These are used to identify moderating factors related to health outcomes. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A standardized collection of routine data from 16,966 patients [61.5 ± 12.5 years; 7871 (46%) women, 9095 (54%) men] with different medical diagnoses before and after rehabilitation were summarized using a descriptive evaluation in terms of a content and factor analysis. RESULTS: Without rehabilitation, general health indicators did not improve independently and remained stable at best [odds ratio (OR) = 0.74], whereas disease-specific indicators improved noticeably after surgery (OR = 3.20). Inpatient rehabilitation was shown to reduce the risk factors associated with certain lifestyles, optimize organ function, and improve well-being in most patients (>70%; cutoff: z-difference >0.20), with a standardized mean difference (SMD) seen in overall medical quality outcome of -0.48 ± 0.37 [pre- vs post-rehabilitation: ηp2 = 0.622; dCohen = -1.22; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) -1.24 to -1.19]. The baseline medical values obtained at the beginning of rehabilitation were influenced by indication, age, and sex (all P < .001); however, these factors have less significant effects on improvements in general health indicators (ηp2 < 0.01). According to the disease-specific results, the greatest improvements were found in older patients (SMD for patients >60 vs ≤60 years: 95% CI 0.08-0.11) and during the early rehabilitation stage (ηp2 = 0.063). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Compared with those who received no inpatient rehabilitation, patients who received rehabilitation showed greater improvements in 2 independent areas, general and disease-specific health measures, regardless of their diagnosis, age, and sex. Due to the study design and the use of a nonrandomized waiting group, causal conclusions must be drawn with caution. However, the comparability and stability of the presented results strongly support the validity of the observed improvements associated with inpatient rehabilitation.

Influences Of Different Dimensions Of Academic Self-Concept On Students' Cardiac Recovery After Giving A Stressful Presentation.

PURPOSE: Giving a presentation in a seminar is a strenuous academic situation. To meet such a challenge adequately, individuals not only have to activate their mental and physical resources, but they also have to disengage from the task and recover once the challenge has been met. How students experience these situations depends in part on how they recover from the stress, and this has putative impact on their longer-term academic well-being. METHODS: In a sample of 68 university students, the present study investigated the impact of four dimensions of students' academic self-concept on how efficiently students recovered after a challenging presentation in a university seminar. Recovery was assessed using psychophysiological measures; heart rate and heart rate variability were investigated. Higher levels of students' social self-concept (self-concept depending on social comparison) were linked to poorer recovery from the challenge, whereas higher levels of absolute self-concept (independent of external criteria) were associated with more efficient recovery. RESULTS: The findings suggest that a focus on one's own abilities (ie, internal performance standard) is linked to more adaptive patterns of responses to challenging situations, while the focus on social comparisons seems to hamper adaptive coping with academic stress. CONCLUSION: These findings have consequences not only for learning and instruction but also for students' health and well-being.

Trait positive affect and students' prefrontal EEG alpha asymmetry responses during a simulated exam situation.

Affective dispositions may shape students' typical ways of coping when faced with demanding performance situations in their educational lives. We recorded frontal EEG alpha asymmetry responses in psychology students (n = 62) during the course of a scenario designed to simulate a real examination, which required oral explanation of statistical concepts. While students with lower levels of trait positive affect (PANAS) showed relative right hemispheric activation, sustained relative left hemispheric activation was observed in students with higher levels of trait positive affect. In line with relevant models of frontal brain asymmetry, the findings suggest that students' coping behaviors in the context of academic performance situations are in part instantaneously initiated, which is reflected in spontaneous activation of relative approach versus avoidance motivation. Independently of negative affect and momentary affective states, trait positive affectivity seems to be linked to recruitment of brain processes supporting a more adaptive response in that matter.

Creative challenge: Regular exercising moderates the association between task-related heart rate variability changes and individual differences in originality.

Coping with mental challenges is vital to everyday functioning. In accordance with prominent theories, the adaptive and flexible adjustment of the organism to daily demands is well expressed in task-related changes of cardiac vagal control. While many mental challenges are associated with increased effort and associated decreased task-related heart rate variability (HRV), some cognitive challenges go along with HRV increases. Especially creativity represents a cognitive process, which not only results from mental effort but also from spontaneous modes of thinking. Critically, creativity and HRV are associated with regular exercising and fitness. Furthermore, the cross-stressor adaptation theory suggests that changes in cardiac reactions to physical challenges may generalize to mental challenges. In line with this idea the amount of regular exercising was hypothesized to moderate the association between HRV changes and creativity. A sample of 97 participants was investigated. They reported the amount of regular exercise and their ECG was measured at baseline and during a creativity task. An association between task-related HRV changes and originality as a function of participants' amount of regular exercise was found. Participants reporting more regular exercising produced more original ideas when they had higher HRV increases during the task, while more sedentary participants showed the opposite association. Results suggest that individuals with a higher amount of regular exercise achieve higher originality probably via the engagement in more spontaneous modes of thinking, while more sedentary people may primarily benefit from increased mental effort. This supports the conclusion that higher creativity can be achieved by different strategies.

Disturbed Cardiorespiratory Adaptation in Preeclampsia: Return to Normal Stress Regulation Shortly after Delivery?

Women with pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia appear to be at increased risk of metabolic and vascular diseases in later life. Previous research has also indicated disturbed cardiorespiratory adaptation during pregnancy. The aim of this study was to follow up on the physiological stress response in preeclampsia several weeks postpartum. A standardized laboratory test was used to illustrate potential deviations in the physiological stress responding to mildly stressful events of the kind and intensity in which they regularly occur in further everyday life after pregnancy. Fifteen to seventeen weeks postpartum, 35 women previously affected by preeclampsia (19 mild, 16 severe preeclampsia), 38 women after uncomplicated pregnancies, and 51 age-matched healthy controls were exposed to a self-relevant stressor in a standardized stress-reactivity protocol. Reactivity of blood pressure, heart rate, stroke index, and systemic vascular resistance index as well as baroreceptor sensitivity were analyzed. In addition, the mutual adjustment of blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration, partitioned for influences of the sympathetic and the parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system, were quantified by determining their phase synchronization. Findings indicated moderately elevated blood pressure levels in the nonpathological range, reduced stroke volume, and elevated systemic vascular resistance in women previously affected by preeclampsia. Despite these moderate abnormalities, at the time of testing, women with previous preeclampsia did not differ from the other groups in their physiological response patterns to acute stress. Furthermore, no differences between early, preterm, and term preeclampsia or mild and severe preeclampsia were observed at the time of testing. The findings suggest that the overall cardiovascular responses to moderate stressors return to normal in women who experience a pregnancy with preeclampsia a few weeks after delivery, while the operating point of the arterial baroreflex is readjusted to a higher pressure. Yet, their regulation mechanisms may remain different.

Poor control of interference from negative content hampers the effectiveness of humour as a source of positive emotional experiences.

The brain-based ability to direct attention away from interfering negative information may co-determine to which degree one may benefit from humour as a source of positive emotional experiences. This should be particularly relevant when it comes to humour that implicates a target the joke makes fun of, which inherently entails rivalry between positive and negative emotional representations. One hundred healthy individuals completed a pictorial negative affective priming task and a nonverbal humour processing task. In line with the notion that during the elaborative processing of malicious jokes, interference from negative emotional representations hampers the experience of amusement, participants took more time to judge their amusement evoked by malicious compared to benign jokes. Lesser ability to distract attention from interfering negative emotional representations was associated with slower judgements of amusement following the processing of malicious jokes, as well as with lower amusement ratings. The time it took participants to comprehend the punch-lines was not affected, neither was the immediate, short-lived pleasure after having comprehended the humour, measured by characteristic transient cardiac activation. The findings suggest that the effective use of humour as a source of positive emotional experiences requires the ability to overcome the dark side of typical humour.

Impact of humor-related communication elements in natural dyadic interactions on interpersonal physiological synchrony.

Evidence suggests that in dyadic conversations some alignment occurs at the physiological level, but relatively little is known about the conditions that may facilitate physiological synchrony of two interlocutors. In the present interdisciplinary study, the impact of specific linguistic features of ongoing dialogues-the use of humor-related communication elements-was examined in 24 male dyads who were meeting for the first time. Heart rate synchrony was quantified using phase synchronization, which reflects the degree of moment-to-moment adjustments that occur between the two persons of a dyad. Comical hypotheticals and verbal amplifiers were identified and quantified using cognitive-linguistic methods of corpus analysis. Additionally, smiles following these communication elements were identified using the Facial Action Coding System. The data showed that the heart rate time series of the two interlocutors were to some extent synchronized in phase, and that the magnitude of this synchronization exceeded what had to be expected by chance. The strength of heart rate synchrony in a dyad was the higher the more comical hypotheticals were produced, independently from how much the two conversation partners were in sum talking to each other. A similar observation was made for verbal amplifiers, but their effect depended on whether they were perceived (and acknowledged by a smile) as humorous. The findings are in line with the more general notion that physiological synchrony may be enhanced by shared experience and suggest that the use of (reciprocated) humor may speed up the building of rapport among communication partners.

History of Preeclampsia Adds to the Deleterious Effect of Chronic Stress on the Cardiac Ability to Flexibly Adapt to Challenge.

Preeclampsia, a pregnancy-specific disorder, presents a major health problem during gestation, but is also associated with increased risk for cardiovascular complications in later life. We aimed to investigate whether chronic stress experience and preeclampsia may have additive adverse effects on the cardiac ability to flexibly adapt to challenge, that is, to mount an appropriately vigorous heart rate response to an acute psychological challenge, or whether they may perhaps have synergistic effects (e.g., mutual augmentation of effects). Blunted cardiac responding to challenge has been linked to poor health outcomes in the longer term. Women previously affected by preeclampsia and women after uncomplicated pregnancies were tested 15-17 weeks post-partum in a standardized stress-reactivity protocol, while cardiovascular variables were simultaneously recorded. Changes in heart rate and blood pressure in response to the stressor were analyzed with regard to the effects of history of preeclampsia and chronic stress experience. Findings indicated blunted cardiac responses in women with higher chronic stress experience (p = 0.020) and, independently from that, in women with a history of preeclampsia (p = 0.018), pointing to an additive nature of the effects of preeclampsia and chronic stress on impaired cardiovascular functioning. Consequently, if both are present, a history of preeclampsia may add to the already deleterious effects of the experience of chronic stress. The additive nature of the effects suggests that stress-reducing interventions, albeit they will not eliminate the heightened cardiovascular risk in patients with a history of preeclampsia, may improve their overall prognosis by avoiding further accumulation of risk.

Goal Orientations and Activation of Approach Versus Avoidance Motivation While Awaiting an Achievement Situation in the Laboratory.

While some students try to give their best in an achievement situation, others show disengagement and just want to get the situation over and done with. The present study investigates the role of students' tendencies for approach or avoidance motivation while anticipating tasks and the corresponding activation of the approach/avoidance motivational system as indicated by transient changes of EEG alpha asymmetry. Overall, 62 students (50 female; age: M = 23.8, SD = 3.5) completed a goal orientation questionnaire (learning goals, performance-approach, performance-avoidance, and work avoidance). They joined a laboratory experiment where EEG was recorded during resting condition as well as when students were anticipating tasks. Standard multiple regression analysis showed that higher values on performance-avoidance were related to a higher activation of the approach system whereas higher values on work avoidance were related to a higher activation of the avoidance system. Results question present assumptions about avoidance related goal orientations.

Aggressive behavior after social exclusion is linked with the spontaneous initiation of more action-oriented coping immediately following the exclusion episode.

The experience of social exclusion may provoke prosocial, avoidant, or antisocial (aggressive) behaviors. Multiple situational and personal factors seem to affect which course of action people adopt, and to which degree. The present study examined the relevance of the most spontaneous initiation of more passive, avoidant (disengagement) or action-oriented (engagement) coping immediately following a social exclusion experience to subsequent aggressive behavior. In a sample of n = 85 healthy female students, an ostensible discussion group excluded (versus included) the participant on the basis of her personal traits and preferences. The dynamics of heart rate changes immediately following the social exclusion episode yielded information on the most spontaneous preparation for passive, avoidant coping (sustained heart rate deceleration, indicating temporary behavioral inhibition and vigilance, "freezing") or action-oriented coping (heart rate acceleration, indicating mobilization for action, "fighting"). Aggressive tendencies following social exclusion were assessed using the hot sauce paradigm. On average, social exclusion was followed by heart rate deceleration, indicating the spontaneous drive to avoid directly dealing with the threat (F(time by condition) = 3.3, p = .017, η2 = 0.038). A less pronounced cardiac slowing or even accelerative response to the exclusion, however, was associated with more subsequent aggressive behavior (r = 0.35, p = .023). The results indicate that individual differences in exclusion-related antisocial responding are in part already initiated instantaneously following the exclusion experience, before conscious interpretation and regulation efforts can take effect and modulate the behavioral outcome. The findings point to a potentially important factor that, in concert with other determinants, may explain interindividual differences in changes of social behavior following the experience of social exclusion.