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Biomedical subjects

C Klicpera

Publications and source records attributed to C Klicpera.

40 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1977

Anxiety, arousal, and autonomic habituation.

The interaction of anxiety and autonomic activation as a factor in the development and persistency of pathological anxiety was investigated with the aid of self-rating procedures and a habituation experiment. The state of activation was varied systematically in 40 normal subjects by various experimental conditions and by the administration of a tranquilizer. The degree of anxiety and activation were able to be differentiated in the investigated range of mean attentiveness. Anxious expectancy is perceived in particular as subjective anxiety. Fatigue and sedation, on the other hand, demonstrate subjective and autonomic desactivation. Corresponding differences can be demonstrated for the anxiolytic and sedative effects of tranquilizers. The time course of habituation is a more exact indicator than the amplitude of the orienting response. Cognitively provoked apprehensiveness, thus, appears to be qualitatively different as compared to psychoautonomically caused anxieties of psychiatric disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Autonomic activation and endogenous depression.

Psychophysiologic parameters were investigated in 10 patients with endogenous depression during the course of electroconvulsive therapy. Changes in the depressive mood were assessed by the patients at regular intervals using a general mood scale. EEG and heart rate response and habituation were recorded before, during, and after E.C.T. Prior to treatment a low variance and responsiveness and striking intra-individual stability were found in the physiologic parameters. At the start of E.C.T. there was a significant increase in the deviation values of heart rate and a significant increase in the occurrence of typical biphasic heart rate responses. The EEG showed increased amplitudes and a slowing of background activity. Treatment-dependent differences were also seen in the habituation of the EEG amplitude response. Regarding improvement in the depressive mood, differences were found between the retarded and the agitated patients. Agitated patients demonstrated a continous gradual decline of their depressive condition, while in retarded patients the general trend toward improvement passed through a period of increased mood lability. The results are interpreted with reference to the activation dependency of heart rate responses.

Adult↗