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Biomedical subjects

R O Pihl

Publications and source records attributed to R O Pihl.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Forget "drinking to forget": enhanced consolidation of emotionally charged memory by alcohol.

Social drinkers (42 men, 18-34 years old) participated in a study of the effects of alcohol consumption on incidental memory for emotionally salient verbal stimuli. Participants rated depressing, elating, and neutral statements while sober. Fifteen minutes later they consumed alcohol or active placebo (1.0 or 0.1 ml/kg) in an environment with minimal retrograde interference. In surprise memory testing 24 hr later, when participants were again sober, the alcohol group had increased recall across statement type. The alcohol group also had better recognition of depressing and elating statements, but recognition of neutral statements did not differ between groups. Findings suggest alcohol produced a nonspecific enhancement of incidental memory and that alcohol's motivational properties were not implicated.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Anxiety, antisocial behavior, and heart rate regulation in adolescent males.

We explored relationships between anxiety and antisocial behavior and autonomic heart rate regulation in a homogenous sample (N = 175) of 15-year-old males. Measures of anxiety and antisocial behavior were obtained at yearly intervals over a period of 4-6 years. Components of heart rate variability associated with postural (sympathetic) and respiratory (vagal) change and transfer of respiratory to heart rate variability were estimated at age 15 using spectral analytic techniques. Anxiety and antisocial behavior were predictably related to enhanced and diminished levels of mean heart rate, respectively. Anxiety was also predictably related to enhanced sympathetic mediation of phasic postural effects on heart rate. Antisocial behavior was unexpectedly related to disruption of vagally mediated, phasic respiratory effects on heart rate. Anxiety and antisocial behavior showed distinct relationships to heart rate, and to the autonomically mediated components of heart rate variability from postural and respiratory sources. Spectral analytic techniques helped elucidate these unique regulatory patterns, suggesting utility for future research in this area.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Lucid dreaming as a treatment for recurrent nightmares.

BACKGROUND: Lucid dreams occur when a person becomes aware that he or she is dreaming while still in the dream state. Previous reports on the use of lucid dreaming in the treatment of nightmares do not contain adequate baseline data, follow-up data, or both. METHODS: A treatment of recurrent nightmares incorporating progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, and lucid dream induction is presented for 2 case studies. Three other cases were treated with lucid dream induction alone. The duration of the nightmares ranged from once every few days to once every few months. RESULTS: The procedures were effective in all 5 cases. A 1-year follow-up showed that 4 of the subjects no longer had nightmares and that 1 subject experienced a decrease in the intensity and frequency of her nightmares. CONCLUSIONS: The alleviation of recurrent nightmares in these 5 cases parallels the results reported by other authors who have used training in lucid dreaming to treat nightmares. Our results support the idea that treatments based on lucid dream induction can be of therapeutic value. Based on these and other case studies, it remains unclear whether the principal factor responsible for the alleviation of nightmares is lucidity itself, or the ability to alter some aspect of the dream.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Validation of a measure of excessive drinking: frequency per year that BAL exceeds 0.08%.

Although self-report data are generally evaluated as reliable, validity estimates for self-reported drinking behavior are not as favorable. A new method of measurement addressing problems currently associated with the questionable validity of self-report drinking information is introduced. Study 1 tests the correspondence between the new measure (occasions per year blood alcohol level exceeded 0.08%), traditional self-report measures, and laboratory alcohol consumption. The novel measure correlated most strongly with volume of alcohol consumed in the laboratory compared to the traditional measures. In Study 2 the novel measure was favored over a traditional measure when discriminating between the presence and absence of problem-drinking symptoms.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Biphasic effects of alcohol on heart rate are influenced by alcoholic family history and rate of alcohol ingestion.

The present study investigated cardiac response to acute alcohol challenge along the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) curve in two groups of young adult nonalcoholic men with (MFH) and without (FH-) multigenerational family histories of alcoholism, matched for drinking history. BACs and resting heart rate measurements were recorded every 10 min for 3 hr after ingestion of a 1.0 ml/kg dose of 95% USP alcohol at two different rates: one of 20 min (slow drinking) and the other of 5 min (fast drinking). Several analyses of variance were performed for each of the dependent measures [BAC and heart rate change from baseline (HRCH)]. A significant risk x BAC phase interaction emerged from the HRCH analysis, indicating that the MFH group was characterized by a significantly greater increase in resting heart rate along the ascending limb of the BAC curve. A significant risk x BAC phase x rate interaction indicated that, when alcohol was consumed at a faster rate, men with multigenerational family histories of alcoholism demonstrated a greater HRCH, which persisted throughout the BAC curve.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Disinhibited personality and sensitivity to alcohol reinforcement: independent correlates of drinking behavior in sons of alcoholics.

Thirty nonalcoholic young (18 to 30 years) males with extensive multigenerational family histories of male alcoholism and 29 age-matched, family history-negative controls completed a variety of trait personality questionnaires, participated in a competitive stress task (while sober and alcohol-intoxicated), and were assessed for self-report and laboratory drinking behavior. Low academic achievement, disinhibited personality (as measured by the P Scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire), and sensitivity to alcohol reinforcement were significant and powerful independent predictors of self-report (approximate R2 = 0.40, p < 0.0001) and laboratory (approximate R2 = 0.20, p < 0.0001) drinking behavior. There seemed to be some specificity with respect to the facets of drinking behavior accounted for by each independent variable: low academic achievement and sensitivity to alcohol reinforcement were more related to quantity of alcohol consumption and frequency of excessive consumption, whereas psychoticism was more related to self-reported negative consequences with alcohol. A cluster analysis on three identified correlates of drinking behavior indicated that the two experimental groups could be more accurately subdivided into three homogeneous types. Multigenerational family history males were disproportionately represented in two of these groups: one characterized by enhanced sensitivity to alcohol reinforcement and the other characterized by high psychoticism scores and alcohol-related problems.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Pain sensitivity and stability of physical aggression in boys.

It is unclear whether stably aggressive boys would be characterized by high or low pain sensitivity. Adolescent boys in whom physical aggression, executive functioning, anxiety, and family adversity had been assessed longitudinally formed three groups who differed in stability of physical aggression: stable, unstable, and non-aggressive. Stable aggressives were the least pain sensitive, whereas unstable aggressives were the most pain sensitive. While at low levels of executive functioning pain sensitivity could not be distinguished between the aggressive groups, at high levels unstable aggressives reported even more pain, whereas stable aggressives reported even less pain. Variations in anxiety were associated strongly with pain sensitivity in unstable aggressives. High pain ratings were found in boys who had a moderate level of family adversity, and low pain ratings in boys with low or high adversity. The differences in pain sensitivity between the groups may be motivationally important to the frequency and type of aggression.

Aggression↗
PubMed1996

Ethanol-induced change in cardiac and endogenous opiate function and risk for alcoholism.

Susceptibility to alcoholism varies with age, gender, and familial background. Youthful nonalcoholic males with multigenerational family histories of male alcoholism seem at particular risk. Previous investigations suggest that such males are characterized by abnormal psychophysiological response, while sober and alcohol-intoxicated; additional recent studies indicate that the endogenous opiate systems are involved in mediating ethanol reinforcement and modulating intake. We first compared cardiac response to alcohol administration among young (mean = 22.8 years), nonalcoholic men and women with multigenerational, unigenerational, and negative family histories of alcohol dependence and abuse. Then, we compared the ethanol-induced cardiac response of the males in these three groups to that of currently alcohol-dependent older males and age-matched nonalcoholic male controls. Finally, we examined ethanol-induced change in plasma beta-endorphin and cortisol levels among a subset of the nonalcoholic males, divided into those with high and low levels of postethanol administration heart-rate increase. Nonalcoholic males with multigenerational family histories of male alcoholism were characterized by significantly higher [t(301) = 5.70, p < 0.0001, Cohen's d = 0.73] levels of ethanol-induced heart-rate increase than nonalcoholics from all other comparison groups. The magnitude of their increase matched that of current male alcohol-dependents. Nonalcoholic males with high levels of ethanol-induced heart-rate increase also produced significantly more plasma beta-endorphin after consuming alcohol. Peak production of beta-endorphin was highly correlated (r = 0.861, p < 0.001) with magnitude of heart-rate increase. A subset of those at risk for alcoholism may be characterized by sensitivity to ethanol-induced reward, marked by heightened ethanol-induced, heart-rate increase, mediated by ethanol stimulation of endogenous opiate production. This subset might contain those who, once alcoholic, would differentially benefit from treatment with opiate antagonists.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Acute effect of altered tryptophan levels and alcohol on aggression in normal human males.

Normal males received amino acid mixtures designed to raise or lower tryptophan availability, and thus to raise or lower brain serotonin synthesis. They also received alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks. The subjects were tested in the Taylor Competitive Reaction Time Task in which they competed against a (non-existent) partner in a reaction time task. The magnitude of electric shocks that the subjects were willing to give to their bogus partner was used as a measure of aggression. Lowered tryptophan levels and ingestion of alcohol were associated with increased aggression. Our data support the idea that low serotonin levels may be involved in the etiology of aggression. They suggest that subjects with low brain serotonin levels may be particularly susceptible to alcohol-induced violence.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

A dose-response study of the effects of alcohol on the perceptions of pain and discomfort due to electric shock in men at high familial-genetic risk for alcoholism.

Alcoholics have previously been found to be more sensitive to painful stimulation than controls, and more sensitive to the pain-reducing effects of alcohol. The present study was designed to examine these effects in men at high familial-genetic risk for alcoholism and controls. Subjects were assigned to one of four alcohol doses [0.135 (active placebo), 0.50, 0.75, or 1.00 ml 95% USP alcohol/kg body weight]. Ratings of the amount of discomfort and pain experienced during an aversive shock procedure were taken immediately post-shock, both while subjects were sober and after they had consumed one of the four alcohol doses. High risk men were found to rate the experience of the shock as more uncomfortable and painful overall than the low risk controls. Pharmacologically significant levels of alcohol were found to reduce or eliminate these group differences, suggesting that alcohol has a "normalizing" effect on pain and discomfort perceptions in high risk men. Only the higher doses of alcohol were found significantly to dampen subjects' shock rating scores. High risk males' increased sensitivity to pain and discomfort, combined with the negatively reinforcing effects of reducing these perceptions at moderate to high alcohol doses, may play a role in predisposing high risk males for the development of alcoholism.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Provocation, acute alcohol intoxication, cognitive performance, and aggression.

This study investigated the relationships between provocation, acute alcohol intoxication, impaired frontal-lobe function, and aggressive behavior. The authors ranked 114 men according to their performance on two neuropsychological tests associated with frontal-lobe function. Forty-eight men (24 with scores in the upper and 24 with scores in the lower performance quartiles) participated in the full study. Half completed and aggression task while intoxicated, the remainder while sober. Aggression was defined as shock intensity delivered to a sham opponent. Shock intensity significantly increased as a main effect of provocation, alcohol intoxication, and lower cognitive performance. Furthermore, provocation interacted significantly with test performance such that individuals in the lower cognitive performance quartile responded to increased provocation with heightened aggression.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Cognitive function, cardiovascular reactivity, and behavior in boys at high risk for alcoholism.

Boys (average age = 12.1 years) from families with an extensive history of paternal alcoholism differed from controls of similar age and IQ on measures of cognitive function, cardiovascular reactivity, and parent-rated conduct problems. High-risk boys performed most poorly on neuropsychological tests of frontal lobe function. According to tests of temporal organization and conditional-associate learning, control over working memory was the frontal subfunction primarily affected. A mental arithmetic task also elicited greater heart rate increases and peripheral vasoconstriction among high-risk boys than among controls. After controlling for group status, significant correlations remained between frontal lobe test scores and disruptive behavior and between cardiovascular hyperreactivity and anxiety levels. The possible contribution of these findings to alcohol abuse was discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Cognitive and neuropsychological characteristics of physically aggressive boys.

Cognitive-neuropsychological tests were given to adolescent boys (N = 177) to investigate processes associated with physical aggression. Factor analysis yielded 4 factors representing verbal learning, incidental spatial learning, tactile-lateral ability, and executive functions. Physical aggression was assessed at ages 6, 10, 11, and 12, and 3 groups were created: stable aggressive, unstable aggressive, and nonaggressive. The authors found main effects for only the executive functions factor even when other factors were used as additional covariates in a step-down analysis; nonaggressive boys performed better than stable and unstable aggressive boys. The covariates family adversity and anxiety were both related only to the verbal learning factor. This study highlights the importance of deficits in executive function in the expression of physical aggression relative to other cognitive-neuropsychological functions.

Aggression↗
PubMed1995

A bimodal preventive intervention for disruptive kindergarten boys: its impact through mid-adolescence.

Disruptive kindergarten boys from inner-city low socioeconomic neighborhood schools were randomly allocated to a preventive intervention and control condition. The 2-year prevention program included a home-based parent training component and a school-based social skills training component. Participants were followed up to mid-adolescence. Results indicated that a significantly greater percentage of treated boys remained in an age-appropriate regular classroom up to the end of elementary school and that the treated boys reported significantly less delinquent behaviors at yearly assessments from 10 to 15 years old, compared with controls. The preventive intervention appeared to have a significant long-term impact on the social development of the disruptive kindergarten boys. Earlier and more intensive intervention may be necessary for some cases, whereas for all disruptive boys, booster sessions between 12 and 15 years of age are recommended.

Adolescent↗