Biomedical subjects

Hideki Ohira

Publications and source records attributed to Hideki Ohira.

21 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed2003

[The effect of selective attention to emotional stimuli on recognition memory in anxiety].

It has been argued that the selective attention characteristic of trait anxiety does not significantly influence on memory. However, attention to stimuli is considered to accelerate memory performance of the stimuli in general. The present study examined whether the selective attention due to emotional valences could reflect on recognition memory in individuals with high anxiety. In the encoding phase, a set of pairs of emotional and neutral words was presented. The duration of presentation of stimuli was manipulated in two conditions (1,300 ms vs. 2,000 ms). There was no difference in responses for stimuli between with positive and with negative valences. In the short-presentation condition, compared to the control group, the high-anxious group demonstrated greater discrimination for emotional (positive and negative) stimuli relative than for neutral ones. Their false alarm rate, on the other hand, was consistently higher than the subjects in the low-anxious group. Results in the present study suggested that selective attention that the high-anxious subjects allocated to emotional stimuli could influence performance of recognition of those stimuli.

Anxiety↗

PubMed2002

Effect of negative air ions on computer operation, anxiety and salivary chromogranin A-like immunoreactivity.

The effects of negative air ions on computer operation were examined using a biochemical index of the activity of the sympathetic/adrenomedullary system (i.e. salivary chromogranin A-like immunoreactivity (CgA-like IR)) and a self-report questionnaire (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Anxiety State--STAI-S). Twelve female students carried out a word processing task for 40 min. The salivary CgA-like IR increased more than three times on the task, but the salivary cortisol did not change. The increase in the CgA-like IR level was attenuated by the exposure to negative air ions during the task. The exposure to the ions during the recovery period following the task was effective for rapidly decreasing the CgA-like IR level that had increased after the task. These effects by negative air ions were also observed using STAI-S. Task performance was slightly but significantly improved by the presence of negative air ions. These results suggest that negative air ions are effective for the reduction of and the prompt recovery from stress caused by computer operation.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Differences in relaxation by means of guided imagery in a healthy community sample.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated differences in relaxation induced by guided imagery in healthy community samples. METHODS: One hundred forty-eight people took part in our investigation. The mean age of the 50 males and 98 females was 39.36 +/- 11.86 years. We took saliva samples to measure salivary cortisol (SC) before the first session, after the first session, and after the second session. Subjects were asked to complete the short form of the Multiple Mood Scale (MMS) questionnaire before the first session and after the second session. The shortened form of Betts' Questionnaire upon Mental Imagery (QMI) was collected once before the first session, and vividness of the imagery was measured using a visual analogue scale once after the second session. RESULTS: SC levels were significantly decreased after the first session and after the second session in all participants. We found, most significantly, that age and QMI scores were strongly related to changes in SC level throughout the relaxation sessions. CONCLUSIONS: Unpleasant information, a cause of mental stress, is replaced by a comfortable image, and this replacement affects a participant's SC level. The greater one's imagery ability is, the more successful the displacement of stress and the shift toward a comfortable mental and emotional state will be. This study provides a basis for explaining the mechanism through which relaxation by means of guided imagery is effective in reducing stress.

Adult↗