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Biomedical subjects

R Ashton

Publications and source records attributed to R Ashton.

72 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Amnesia for random shapes following unilateral and bilateral electronvulsive shock therapy.

Three 16-point shapes were shown to 15 patients before undergoing either unilateral or bilateral electroconvulsive therapy. They were then tested for recognition following therapy. The same subjects were similarly tested for recognition memory with no intervening shock. Analysis of variance indicated no significant differential effects of the two methods of electroshock application.

Adult↗

The lateralized effects of concurrent cognitive activity on a unimanual skill.

Laterality studies have long been plagued by: (1) poor psychological methodology; (2) lack of specification of treatment parameters' and (3) exclusive use of left-hemisphere dependent measures. It was suspected that a recent study by Kinsbourne and Cook (1971) suffered from these faults. The present experimental findings confirm these original suspicions. Both spatial and verbal cognitive tasks were employed and comparisons made with performance during two control conditions. One was a mixed spatial-verbal activity, the other control required S to merely look at a blank card. While left-hand performance was enhanced under the verbal concurrent activities, when compared with performance under control (spatial-verbal) conditions, no other significant enhancement of performance occurred with any other concurrent activity condition. With the "No Activity Specified" control some support for the Kinsbourne study was found. However, the major finding, or implication, of this study was in demonstrating that the methodological problems outlined above cannot be ignored if worthwhile laterality studies are to be performed.

Adult↗

Heart rate decrease: a comparison of feedback modalities and biofeedback with other procedures.

Sixty subjects were divided into six groups in a comparison of heart rate (HR) decreases obtained with (1) visual feedback, (2) auditory biofeedback, (3) combined visual and auditory biofeedback, (4) instructions to decrease HR without biofeedback, (5) sitting quietly, (6) abbreviated relaxation training, and, as a comparison, a group of 10 experienced mediators were also studied. Biofeedback stimuli were pulsed signals generated by the R-wave of the heartbeat. The results indicated that (a) there was no differential advantage on a HR decrease task to subjects receiving visual, auditory or combined biofeedback; and (b) all groups showed evidence of some decline in HR over the testing session. The mediation group showed the greatest overall decline.

Adolescent↗

Psoriasis: a review of present and future management.

Psoriasis is a chronic skin condition prevalent in a significant minority of the population. Its cause is unknown and effective treatments are elusive. In this article, the authors examine the impact of the disease on patients' lives and describe how unproven treatments make skilled nursing essential for people with such a challenging and disabling disease.

Humans↗