Biomedical subjects

B Bermond

Publications and source records attributed to B Bermond.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Psychosocial stress impairs working memory at high loads: an association with cortisol levels and memory retrieval.

Stress and cortisol are known to impair memory retrieval of well-consolidated declarative material. The effects of cortisol on memory retrieval may in particular be due to glucocorticoid (GC) receptors in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (PFC). Therefore, effects of stress and cortisol should be observable on both hippocampal-dependent declarative memory retrieval and PFC-dependent working memory (WM). In the present study, it was tested whether psychosocial stress would impair both WM and memory retrieval in 20 young healthy men. In addition, the association between cortisol levels and cognitive performance was assessed. It was found that stress impaired WM at high loads, but not at low loads in a Sternberg paradigm. High cortisol levels at the time of testing were associated with slow WM performance at high loads, and with impaired recall of moderately emotional, but not of highly emotional paragraphs. Furthermore, performance at high WM loads was associated with memory retrieval. These data extend previous results of pharmacological studies in finding WM impairments after acute stress at high workloads and cortisol-related retrieval impairments.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

Alexithymia: a further exploration of its nomological network.

The present studies were designed in order to obtain a better understanding of the nomological network of the alexithymia concept. In study I, the links between alexithymia, coping, and self-rated health were explored. As predicted, strong negative correlations were found between alexithymia and the expression of emotions, daydreams and fantasies, and planful and rational actions. Contrary to expectations, no clear associations were found with self-reported health status. In study II, the focus was on links with personality, temperament, and self-reported (susceptibility to) homesickness. Although some correlations reached statistical significance, all were rather modest. The most remarkable finding was the independence of alexithymia and neuroticism. In study III, the associations between alexithymia and aspects of love experiences were examined, again yielding low correlations. It is concluded that alexithymia is relatively independent of temperament and personality. In addition, it is suggested that the association between alexithymia and the experience of positive emotions deserves further exploration.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1987

The General Handicapped Attitude Scale (GHAS): a construct validation study.

The construct validity of the General Handicapped Attitude Scale (GHAS) (Bujik, 1986a) was investigated. The results showed that, within a group of 44 spinal cord lesioned patients (lesion levels varying from cervical 4 to lumbar 4), the scores on the GHAS subscales: Acceptance, Social Consequences and Bottom (the "psychicsubstratum") did not correlate with scores for the severity of the handicap. They did however correlate significantly with scores for the personal attitude towards the handicap. The GHAS subscale Help-Independence correlated significantly with both the severity of and the attitude towards the handicap. Dropping 4 out of the 9 items of the GHAS subscale reduced the correlation with the severity of the handicap to an insignificant level, while neither the validity nor the reliability of the scale were seriously impaired.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1982

Aggression induced by stimulation of the hypothalamus: effects of androgens.

Aggressive behavior between male rats induced by electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus (ESH) is stimulated by androgens. This was demonstrated by recording the changes in threshold current intensities (the amount of current needed to induce attack behavior in 50% of the trials), just before castration, after castration, during subsequent treatment with high doses of testosterone propionate, and finally during oil treatment. The results demonstrate that, to induce the same aggressive responses, in absence of androgens more electrical current is needed than when these hormones are present in the general circulation of the ESH stimulated animals.

Aggression↗

PubMed1977

The induction of mounting behavior in female rats by p-chlorophenylalanine.

The effect of p-chlorophenylalanine (pCPA) and testosterone propionate (TP) on mounting behavior of ovariectomized female rats towards receptive and non-receptive stimulus females was studied. Both pCPA and TP facilitated mounting and the effect was intensified when these compounds were administered together. pCPA increased mounting behavior in the non-receptive stimulus condition. The results are interpreted as further evidence that pCPA affects sexual behavior in two ways: at first by a direct influence on the neutral substrate underlying masculine sexual behavior, and secondly by changing information processing of the sensory input from the partner.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Experimental social fear: immunological, hormonal, and autonomic concomitants.

The aims of the two studies were to investigate the relationship between emotions and immune responses in an experimental setting by inducing social fear and to broaden our understanding of bodily reactions by examining both cardiovascular and hormonal responses. Seventy-nine healthy subjects were confronted with a situation in which relatively strong social fear was induced in the laboratory. Social fear was induced by having to prepare and give an oral presentation in front of an audience. Thirty additional healthy subjects formed a control group; they followed exactly the same procedure, but, instead of the "public speaking situation," they were subjected to a nondemanding task of the same duration. The results indicate that public speaking evoked fear as shown by both elevated feelings of tenseness and negative bodily sensations. Moreover, the data clearly show enhanced cardiovascular activity, elevated plasma hormone levels, and changes in immunological parameters (natural killer cell number and T helper/inducer cells). The control group reported significantly less feelings of tenseness and negative bodily sensations and showed a decrease in cortisol, prolactin, and beta-endorphin levels. Although some variation on immune responses was present, no variation on cardiovascular activity occurred in the control group during the experiment. The results show that there is indeed a relationship between emotion and immune responses. In addition, the data collected on body responses point to a direct mediating effect of sympathetic-adrenal medulla activity and an indirect mediating effect of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis activity.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Psychological stress as a determinant of protein levels and salivary-induced aggregation of Streptococcus gordonii in human whole saliva.

Several pathologies of the oral cavity have been associated with stress, so we investigated salivary-induced aggregation during psychological stress. In addition, salivary total protein, alpha-amylase, and secretory immunoglobulin A (s-IgA) were assessed. In this longitudinal study, 28 dental students provided unstimulated whole saliva during 10 minutes before an academic examination and subsequently 2 weeks and 6 weeks later in a nonstress situation. The effect of whole saliva on the aggregation of Streptococcus gordonii (HG 222) was determined spectrophotometrically. The results shows a significant stress-mediated increase of salivary total protein concentration, alpha-amylase activity, amylase/protein ratio, alpha-amylase output, s-IgA concentration, and s-IgA output. There was also a trend for increased total protein output, whereas salivary flow rate was unchanged. The aggregation of S. gordonii in whole saliva collected before examination was 13.1%, whereas the aggregation in whole saliva collected during nonstress was 23.3%. This reduction was statistically significant (p < .01). Furthermore, the decrease in bacterial aggregation was related to the increase in state-anxiety (p < .05). The reduction in aggregation of S. gordonii under stress was not correlated with changes in salivary flow rate, s-IgA concentration, total protein concentration, or alpha-amylase activity. These results suggest that acute psychological stress exerts its influence on both salivary composition and salivary function. Reduced bacterial aggregation may be a contributing factor in the often reported relationship between stress and impaired oral health.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The Amsterdam Alexithymia Scale: its psychometric values and correlations with other personality traits.

BACKGROUND: This article describes the construction and validation of the Amsterdam Alexithymia Scale (AAS) and explores some of the nomological net of alexithymia. METHODS: Four correlational studies are presented. The internal structure of the AAS is explored by factor analyses on items. Correlations of the AAS with sex and (Guilford) intellectual abilities are established. Mean scores of three different professional groups are compared. Correlations between the AAS and several clinical and personality scales are determined. Students served as subjects in all studies (347<n<559). RESULTS: The 20-item AAS has a stable 5-factor structure, covering 5 defining features of alexithymia: difficulties in, respectively, experiencing emotions, fantasizing, analyzing emotions, differentiating between emotions and verbalizing emotions. The AAS showed to be reliable. The AAS scores were independent of verbal and nonverbal IQ. As expected, the AAS scores turned out to be significantly lower in a group of dramatic art students and significantly higher in a group of math and artificial intelligence students, when compared to psychology students. The AAS scores correlated negatively with extroversion, positively with social inadequacy and not with neuroticism. Finally, correlations between the AAS and the Adjective Check List scores indicated that alexithymia is associated with, respectively, a neglect of own needs and impulses, a reduced capability to understand social situations and a tendency to stick to rules rigidly, to flee into social isolation, to be submissive, to avoid commitment and to experiences of lack of personal meaning in life. CONCLUSION: The AAS is the first instrument measuring the 5 defining features of alexithymia reliably and validly.

Adult↗