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PubMed1993

[Experiment on validity of skin resistance level as an index of arousal level].

It is important in establishing and improving work management and work planning to estimate the arousal level of workers during operation and monitoring tasks. This paper proposes a technique based on experimental results to estimate the arousal level during job execution. In this experiment, both a monotonous low workload task which degrades the arousal level and a high workload task which has an awakening action were alternately applied to five subjects for three hours. Skin resistance level (SRL) as an index of arousal level of the autonous nervous system was measured with subjective drowsiness and task performance, that is, signal omission probability for low workload task and both reaction time and error probability for high workload task, as indexes of arousal level of the central nervous system. The following results were obtained. (1) The results suggested that SRL as an index of arousal level of the autonous nervous system is significantly related and correlated with subjective drowsiness and signal omission probability as indexes of arousal level of the central nervous system. (2) The average reaction time and the error probability tended to increase by the application of high workload when the arousal level was degraded. The influence of degraded arousal continued for a short time and showed an unfavorable effect on task execution. The degree of this influence, however, differed between subjects. (3) SRL can be used as an index of arousal level of the autonous nervous system because the measurement is comparatively easy and is little influenced by artifacts due to body movements. (4) Using SRL at initial high workload period as the standard value, it is possible to quantify the SRL value at arbitrary time by estimating how many times the standard value goes into the SRL value. Based on this quantified value as an index of arousal level, comparison with task performance can be made. The proposed index of arousal level of the autonous nervous system showed a significant correlation with indexes of the central nervous system. This technique can be applied to various kinds of estimation on human characteristics accompanied with changes in arousal level.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Spontaneous arousals in supine infants while swaddled and unswaddled during rapid eye movement and quiet sleep.

OBJECTIVE: Supine sleep is recommended for infants to decrease the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, but many parents report that their infants seem uncomfortable supine. Many cultures swaddle infants for sleep in the supine position. Swaddled infants are said to "sleep better"; presumably they sleep longer or with fewer arousals. However, there have been no studies of the effect of swaddling on spontaneous arousals during sleep. Arousal is initiated in brainstem centers and manifests as a sequence of reflexes: from sighs to startles and then to thrashing movements. Such "brainstem arousals" may progress to full arousal, but most do not. METHODS: Twenty-six healthy infants, aged 80 +/- 7 days, were studied during normal nap times. Swaddled (cotton spandex swaddle) and unswaddled trials were alternated for each infant. Sleep state (rapid eye movement [REM] or quiet sleep [QS]) was determined by behavioral criteria (breathing pattern, eye movements) and electroencephalogram/electrooculogram (10 infants). Respitrace, submental and biceps electromyogram, and video recording were used to detect startles and sighs (augmented breaths). Full arousals were classified by eye opening and/or crying. Frequencies of sighs, startles, and full arousals per hour were calculated. Progression of events was calculated as percentages in each sleep state, as was duration of sleep state. RESULTS: Swaddling decreased startles in QS and REM, full arousal in QS, and progression of startle to arousal in QS. It resulted in shorter arousal duration during REM sleep and more REM sleep. CONCLUSIONS: Swaddling has a significant inhibitory effect on progression of arousals from brainstem to full arousals involving the cortex in QS. Swaddling decreases spontaneous arousals in QS and increases the duration of REM sleep, perhaps by helping infants return to sleep spontaneously, which may limit parental intervention. For these reasons, a safe form of swaddling that allows hip flexion/abduction and chest wall excursion may help parents keep their infants in the supine sleep position and thereby prevent the sudden infant death syndrome risks associated with the prone sleep position.

Arousal↗
PubMed1992

Hypoxic arousal responses in normal infants.

Failure to arouse in response to hypoxia has been described in infants at increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and has been suggested as a possible mechanism for SIDS. However, most SIDS victims are not in a high-risk group before death. Thus, if a hypoxic arousal disorder is an important contributor to SIDS, normal infants might fail to arouse from sleep in response to hypoxia. To test this hypothesis, the authors studied hypoxic arousal responses in 18 healthy term infants younger than 7 months of age (age 12.1 +/- 1.7 [SEM] weeks; 56% girls). Hypoxic arousal challenges were performed during quiet sleep by rapidly decreasing inspired oxygen tension (PIO2) to 80 mm Hg for 3 minutes or until arousal (eye opening, agitation, and crying) occurred. Tests were performed in duplicate when possible. Only 8 infants (44%) aroused in response to one or more hypoxic challenges; arousal occurred during 8 (32%) of 25 trials. There were no significant differences in lowest PIO2 or arterial oxygen saturation during hypoxia between those infants who aroused and those who failed to arouse. All 18 infants had a fall in their end-tidal carbon dioxide tension during hypoxia, suggesting that each had a hypoxic ventilatory response despite failure to arouse in the majority. Periodic breathing occurred following hypoxia in only 1 (13%) of the 8 trials that resulted in arousal, compared with 16 (94%) of 17 trials without arousal (P less than .005).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Apnea↗
PubMed2006

Comparison of heart rate responses during cortical and subcortical arousals in term and preterm infants.

The aim of this study was to determine whether prematurity affects heart rate responses during spontaneous arousals. Polygraphic recordings were performed during undisturbed daytime naps in 35 preterm infants (gestational age at birth 32+/-2 weeks) and 35 term infants. Arousals were scored according to the recommendations of the International Paediatric Work Group on Arousals and categorized either as cortical arousals (CA) or subcortical arousals (SCA). Heart rate (HR) and respiratory frequency (RF) were measured during arousal and during the 10-s and 30-s period before and after arousal. Changes in HR and RF were expressed as the percentage of modification normalized for the 30-s period preceding arousal. Altogether, 122 arousals in preterm infants (66 CA, 56 SCA) and 105 arousals in term infants (57 CA, 48 SCA) were scored. Mean duration of the arousal period was 9+/-4 s and 8+/-3 s, respectively. In term infants, a significant increase in HR during arousal could be shown (11.3+/-8.2%; p<0.001), whereas this increase was significantly greater during CA compared to SCA (13.7+/-6.2% versus 8.4+/-9.4%; p<0.001). In contrast, HR decreased during arousal in preterm neonates (-3.9+/-19.3%; p<0.05). These findings suggest that cardiovascular control seems to be maturationally delayed in preterm infants, which may contribute to their increased risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Female↗
PubMed1996

Prenatal cocaine exposure effects on arousal-modulated attention during the neonatal period.

The organization of arousal and attention as a function of intrauterine cocaine exposure was investigated in 180 normal nursery infants prior to hospital discharge and at 1 month of age. This was done by studying visual looking preferences when infants were in three arousal conditions: less aroused (after feeding); more aroused-endogenous (before feeding); and more aroused-exogenous (after feeding but including 8-Hz visual stimulation prior to each visual preference trial). The stimuli were light panels illuminated at three temporal frequencies between 1 and 8 Hz presented in pairs using a balanced presentation series of trials. Infants not exposed to cocaine demonstrated strong arousal-modulated attention, preferring faster frequencies when less aroused and slower frequencies when more aroused in both endogenous and exogenous conditions. In contrast, cocaine-exposed infants showed a lack of arousal-modulated attention and preferred faster frequencies of stimulation regardless of arousal condition. Similar differences in arousal-modulated attention as a function of cocaine exposure were obtained at 1 month after birth, indicating that these effects lasted longer than would be reasonable to attribute to the active presence of cocaine or its metabolites. This form of stimulus-seeking behavior was shown to be independent of confounding factors associated with prenatal cocaine exposure such as the absence of prenatal care, alcohol use, minority status, or gender, as well as mediating factors associated with growth such as birthweight. A direct and more chronic effect of intrauterine cocaine exposure on arousal-modulated attention and presumably on the developing CNS therefore was supported.

Arousal↗
PubMed2005

Acoustic arousal responses in children with obstructive sleep apnea.

Our objectives were to study the arousal responses to nonrespiratory (acoustic) stimuli in children with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). The acoustic arousal response was studied in children with OSAS due to adenotonsillar hypertrophy compared to normal, age-matched children. Acoustic stimuli were delivered incrementally from 30-100 dB during stage 2, slow wave sleep, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. The percentage of children who aroused in response to acoustic stimuli, and the arousal threshold (i.e., sound level at which arousal occurred), were compared between groups and sleep stages. The percentage of children who aroused was similar between children with OSAS and controls. The percentage of children who aroused was lower during slow wave sleep than REM sleep and stage 2 in both OSAS and controls. There were no statistically significant differences in acoustic arousal threshold between OSAS and control children. There was no difference in arousal response to moderate acoustic stimulation between children with OSAS and controls. These results contrast with previous data showing blunted arousal responses to hypercapnia and upper airway loading during sleep in children with OSAS, suggesting that children with OSAS have an arousal deficit specific to respiratory stimuli. However, further studies evaluating arousal to both respiratory and nonrespiratory stimuli in the same subjects are needed.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2003

Emotional arousal does not affect delay eyeblink conditioning.

Arousal can modulate information processing, including associative learning. However, there are conflicting results as to whether arousal affects eyeblink conditioning in humans. One potential problem with previous studies is that they have not taken into account factors that are known to affect conditioning. One such factor is the strength of the unconditioned response (UR). Despite evidence that greater UR leads to greater conditioned responses (CR), prior studies have not examined the role of the UR in CR performance. Prior studies have also usually classified subjects into low and high arousal groups based on a priori categorization without reliance on objective measures of arousal. The present study was designed to examine the impact of arousal on delay eyeblink conditioning. Changes in arousal levels were obtained by having participants view pictures selected for their a priori emotional and arousal values as being pleasant/arousing, unpleasant/arousing, or neutral/not arousing. Each subject viewed pictures of only one category. The spontaneous fluctuation of the skin conductance was taken as an index of physiological arousal. Subjects were divided into low and high arousal groups according to a median-split. Results showed that the rate of CR was positively related to the amplitude of the UR, but was not affected by emotional pictures or by physiological arousal. It is argued that changes in CR during arousal could be due to differences in unconditioned eyeblink strength rather than to changes in associative processes.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Peripheral arterial tonometry events and electroencephalographic arousals in children.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Peripheral arterial tonometry (PAT) is a sensitive measure of moment-to-moment changes in sympathetic activity and reliably identifies arousals in adult subjects. We investigated whether PAT events during sleep are associated with visually recognizable electroencephalographic arousals in healthy children and in children with sleep-disordered breathing. DESIGN: Prospective cohort. SETTING: Pediatric Sleep Research Laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty children with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, 20 children with mild sleep-disordered breathing, and 20 control children with a mean age of 7.6 +/- 2.6 years (range: 5.7-16.5 years); 53% of children were boys. INTERVENTIONS AND MEASUREMENTS: Polysomnographic evaluation in the sleep laboratory with concomitant recording of PAT. PAT events were defined as attenuations from immediately preceding baseline of 20% to 50% (PAT20) and > 50% (PAT50) for at least 5 seconds and the indexes calculated per hour of sleep time that included good-quality PAT signals. Total PAT index (the sum of PAT20 index and PAT50 index) was also calculated. RESULTS: Total PAT index correlated with total arousal index and spontaneous arousal index (r = 0.55, P < .0001, r = 0.64, P < .001, respectively), especially in the group with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (r = 0.71, P < .0001). The sensitivity and specificity of PAT for identifying electroencephalographic arousals were 95% and 35%, respectively. The PAT device identified pathologic arousals indexes (> or = 16 per hour) (area under the curve 0.79, P = .002). Thirty-five percent of respiratory events (eg, obstructive apnea or hypopnea) were associated with a visual electroencephalographic arousal, compared to 92% being associated with PAT attenuation events. CONCLUSIONS: Arousals in sleeping children are associated with increased sympathetic discharge, as evidenced by attenuations in PAT signal. However, a significant proportion of PAT attenuations were not accompanied by visual electroencephalographic arousals. Thus, the importance of these autonomic arousals has yet to be explored in association with morbidities related to sleep-disordered breathing and, therefore, PAT technology cannot be recommended as an alternative tool for measuring arousals in children. Nevertheless, these data further support the contention that adult criteria for the measurement for arousals may not be adequate in children.

Arousal↗
PubMed2006

Nipple/Breast stimulation and sexual arousal in young men and women.

INTRODUCTION: The role of nipple/breast stimulation in influencing sexual arousal in men and women during lovemaking has only been the subject of opinion-based comment rather than evidence-based study. No attempt to question people about such sexual behavior has ever been undertaken. AIM: The study was designed to ascertain the effects of nipple/breast manipulation in young men and women on their sexual arousal. METHODS: A short questionnaire about nipple/breast stimulation during sexual activity was administered to 301 (148 men; 153 women) sexually experienced undergraduates (age range 17-29 years, 95% between 18 and 22). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Replies to questions in questionnaire. RESULTS: The major findings in regard to the women were that 81.5% reported that stimulation of their nipples/breasts caused or enhanced their sexual arousal, 78.2% agreed that when sexually aroused such manipulation increased their arousal, 59.1% had asked to have their nipples stimulated during lovemaking, and only 7.2% found that the manipulation decreased their arousal. In regard to the men, 51.7% reported that nipple stimulation caused or enhanced their sexual arousal, 39% agreed that when sexually aroused such manipulation increased their arousal, only 17.1% had asked to have their nipples stimulated, and only 7.5% found that such stimulation decreased their arousal. CONCLUSION: Manipulation of the nipples/breasts causes or enhances sexual arousal in approximately 82% of young women and 52% of young men with only 7-8% reporting that it decreased their arousal.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Habituation of arousal responses after intermittent hypercapnic hypoxia in piglets.

RATIONALE: Clinical studies have demonstrated arousal deficits in infants suffering obstructive sleep apnea, and some infant deaths have been attributed to such an arousal deficit. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether arousal deficits can be induced by intermittent asphyxia during normal development. METHODS AND MEASUREMENTS: Young piglets were exposed to intermittent hypercapnic hypoxia for 4 days from age 9.55 +/- 0.5 days. Arousal responses were compared between control animals and animals exposed to intermittent hypercapnic hypoxia. Outcome measures included time to arouse after onset of the respiratory stimulus and frequency of arousals during recovery. MAIN RESULTS: Arousal deficits emerged after successive exposures to hypercapnic hypoxia on Day 1, and were exacerbated on Day 4, although after overnight recovery, the deficit only became evident during the second and subsequent episode of hypercapnic hypoxia. On Day 1, time to arouse increased from 16.9 +/- 7.1 seconds in the first epoch to 41.7 +/- 28.6 seconds in the fourth epoch (p = 0.004 between cycles, one-way analysis of variance). In the recovery periods after hypercapnic hypoxia, there were 64% fewer arousals than baseline on Day 1 and 90% fewer arousals on Day 4. Respiratory effort, measured by VT across 10 breaths before the arousal, increased from 25.7 +/- 7.6 on Day 1 to 29.1 +/- 6.8 ml/kg on Day 4 (p < 0.001, two-way analysis of variance, Day 4 vs. Day 1, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: These studies demonstrate that acute and chronic arousal deficits can be induced by intermittent asphyxia, on a background of otherwise normal postnatal development.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

On the nature of cardiovascular activation at an arousal from sleep.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: The intent of the study was to explore the nature and function of the cardiovascular activation response that occurs at an arousal from sleep. DESIGN: Four experiments were conducted. The first compared the pattern of physiologic response to orienting and startle stimuli and arousal from sleep. The second and third measured the amplitude of the cardiovascular arousal response as a function of the trait of fearfulness and the threat value of the arousing stimulus, respectively. The final experiment assessed the effect of arousal duration. SETTING: The experiments were conducted in the sleep laboratory of the Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 42 (24 women and 18 men) healthy individuals between the ages of 18 and 24 participated in the experiments. INTERVENTIONS: The experiments manipulated the stimuli to which participants were exposed (orienting and startle stimuli and arousal from sleep), the threat value of stimuli used to arouse participants from sleep, and individual differences in fearfulness. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The major dependent variables were heart rate, blood pressure, and a measure of peripheral vasoconstriction (digital pulse volume). In addition, in the first study, the galvanic skin response and orbicularis oculi electromyographic activity were measured. Experiment 1 showed that the pattern of physiologic response at an arousal from sleep differed, with a substantially larger cardiovascular component, from responses to orienting and startle stimuli. Experiments 2a and 2b indicated that the magnitude of the cardiovascular response at an arousal was unrelated to either individual differences in fearfulness or differences in the threat value of arousing stimuli. The final experiment showed that the cardiovascular response at an arousal was not a return to waking levels of activity but, rather, was a transient activation response. CONCLUSIONS: The study supported the view that the cardiovascular activation response at an arousal from sleep is a transient, reflex-like response that is different from the response that occurs during normal wakefulness.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Of sleep state and postnatal age on arousal responses induced by mild hypoxia in infants.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: It has been suggested that mild hypoxia may not be a potent stimulus for arousal during sleep in infants because infants frequently fail to arouse from quiet sleep (QS). Our aim was to characterize arousal responses of sleeping infants in both active sleep (AS) and QS under normoxic and mildly hypoxic (15% O2) conditions over the first 6 months of life. PARTICIPANTS: Five healthy term and 6 healthy preterm infants were each studied at 2 to 5 weeks, 2 to 3 months, and 5 to 6 months postterm. All infants underwent daytime polysomnography during which nasal airflow was monitored using a purpose-built pneumotachograph. All infants were studied under both normoxic (21% O2) and hypoxic (15% O2, balance N2) conditions (presentation order randomized) in each sleep state at each study age. Tests were terminated at arousal, O2 saturation falling below 85%, or 5 minutes (failure to arouse). MEASUREMENTS: Probability of failure to arouse and mean arousal latency were compared between each experimental condition, with each infant serving as its own control. RESULTS: Infants aroused more frequently under hypoxic conditions than under normoxic conditions. Overall, arousal latencies were shorter during hypoxia compared to normoxia in both sleep states at each age. Arousal latencies were longer in QS compared to AS in both hypoxic and normoxic conditions. CONCLUSION: In sleeping infants, mild hypoxia serves as a stimulus for arousal in both AS and QS. Of particular significance is our finding that arousal from AS is readily elicited by mild hypoxia.

Arousal↗
PubMed2002

Arousal, EEG spectral power and pulse transit time in UARS and mild OSAS subjects.

OBJECTIVES: Upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS) and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) are associated with arousals and autonomic activation. Pulse transit time (PTT) has been used to recognize transient arousals. We examined the accuracy of PTT to recognize arousals, and the relationship between PTT deflection and visual and non-visual arousals. METHODS: Ten UARS and 10 mild OSAS subjects were studied via polysomnography including measurement of esophageal pressure. Electroencephalogram (EEG) spectral power was obtained from central leads. Seven types of events were identified, depending upon the presence or absence of: a sleep-related respiratory event (SRRE), i.e. apnea, hypopnea, and abnormal breathing effort; a PTT signal; or a visually scored arousal (>1.5s). RESULTS: One thousand four hundred forty-six events were identified in 20 subjects. Fifty-nine percent of all SRREs were associated with a PTT signal and a visual EEG arousal. Nineteen percent of SRREs had no EEG arousals at their termination, and 7.4% had no associated PTT signal. Delta power was significantly increased when non-visual EEG arousals were scored. The time delay for PTT was determined by the presence or absence of EEG arousal. The sensitivity of PTT to recognize EEG arousal was 90.4% and the specificity was 16.8%. The sensitivity and specificity of PTT to recognize SRRE was 90.7 and 21.9%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: These results preclude the use of PTT by itself. SRREs induce an activation with positive PTT response but without arousal in 14% of cases. This PTT response, however, is much slower than that occurring with arousal. UARS and mild OSAS do not respond in the same way to SRREs, particularly during rapid eye movement sleep.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Psychophysiological assessment in premenopausal sexual arousal disorder.

INTRODUCTION: Female sexual arousal disorder (FSAD) is a complex diagnostic category whose definition continues to evolve. AIM: The purpose of this study was to explore the physiological patterns of genital arousal in 31 women with and 30 women without sexual arousal difficulties using a vaginal photoplethysmograph. In addition, subtypes of FSAD, based on a recently proposed redefinition, were explored on measures of sexual arousal. RESULTS: Whereas there were no psychophysiological or subjective sexual arousal differences when the entire group of women with arousal complaints was compared to a control group, significant differences emerged when subtypes of arousal disorder were compared. Only women fitting the description of "Genital Arousal Disorder" showed evidence of impaired psychophysiological arousal, whereas those characterized with "Subjective Sexual Arousal Disorder" and "Combined Genital and Subjective Sexual Arousal Disorder" did not differ from the control group. These subgroups also differed in the correlation between psychophysiological and subjective arousal. CONCLUSION: Overall, there is evidence for diagnostic heterogeneity in FSAD which supports the recent redefinition of this disorder into subtypes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Infant arousals during mother-infant bed sharing: implications for infant sleep and sudden infant death syndrome research.

OBJECTIVE: Normative values for infant sleep architecture have been established exclusively in the solitary sleeping environment. However, most of the world's cultures practice some form of parent-infant cosleeping. In addition, no previous polysomnographic studies in infants examined the frequency of electroencephalogram (EEG) arousals. This is the first study to assess (a) EEG arousals in infants and their relationship to sleep stages; (b) the impact on arousals of mother-infant bed sharing; and (c) the temporal overlap of infant with maternal arousals during bed sharing. METHODOLOGY: Three nights of polysomnography were performed in 35 breastfeeding mother-infant pairs when the infants were 11 to 15 weeks old. An adaptation night was followed by one bed sharing night and one solitary sleeping night. Twenty infants had been bed sharing since birth and 15 were routine solitary sleepers. Both epochal awakenings (EWs), based on 30-second epoch scoring of sleep-wake stages, and more transient arousals (TAs) >/=3 seconds were quantified. RESULTS: Stage 3-4 sleep was associated with a striking paucity of EWs and TAs compared with stages 1-2 or rapid eye movement sleep. Bed sharing facilitated EWs and TAs selectively during stage 3-4 sleep. EWs from stage 3-4 sleep were more frequent on the bed sharing night than on the solitary night in both infant groups. Routinely bed sharing infants also exhibited more frequent TAs in stage 3-4 than the routine solitary sleepers in both conditions. In both groups, the number of infant arousals (EWs + TAs) that overlapped the mother's was doubled during bed sharing, with infant arousals leading most often. CONCLUSIONS: Mother-infant bed sharing promotes infant arousals. Together with a previous report that bed sharing reduces stage 3-4 sleep, this suggests that normative values for infant sleep must be interpreted within the context of the sleeping environment in which they were established. Given that arousability is diminished in stage 3-4, we speculate that, under otherwise safe conditions, the observed changes in stage 3-4 sleep and arousals associated with bed sharing might be protective to infants at risk for SIDS because of a hypothesized arousal deficit. The responsivity of the mother to infant arousals during bed sharing might also be protective.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1996

Arousal-induced modulation of memory storage processes in humans.

We recently demonstrated in human subjects that muscle-tension-induced arousal can enhance later retention performance and that this effect is attenuated by beta-adrenergic receptor antagonists. In that study, each subject established a baseline for muscle tension by squeezing a hand dynamometer for 30 s with maximum force. This may have served to "prime" subsequent arousal produced by muscle tension. Two experiments were performed to address this issue. At the beginning of each experiment, young adult subjects were asked to squeeze the hand dynamometer at maximum effort either for 30 s (Prime) or for only 1 s (No prime). Then, during the task, arousal was induced by having each subject exert a moderate amount of tension (25 to 50% of baseline maximum). In the first experiment, subjects were shown four consecutive lists of 20 highly imageable nouns, given immediate recall tests of each, and then given a comprehensive recall and recognition test at the conclusion of the experiment. Moderate arousal was induced once for each list (at encoding, consolidation, or retrieval) or not at all for one list. The sequence of arousal induction was counterbalanced. Significant enhancement of delayed recall was seen in the 30-s group for those lists in which arousal was induced during the consolidation or retrieval period with no significant effects in the 1-s group. These results demonstrate that arousal can modulate memory consolidation when induced shortly after learning and that an initial priming event may affect the response to subsequent similar arousing events. In the second experiment, subjects read paragraphs, some of which contained highlighted words (working memory task); half of the subjects were given the 30-s procedure and half the 1-s procedure. Only those subjects in the 30-s group showed significant arousal-induced enhancement of delayed recognition of the highlighted words. Again, no significant effect on retention performance was seen in the group that squeezed the hand dynamometer for only 1 s during the priming period. Pulse data suggested that there may be somewhat greater heart-rate reactivity in the 30-s group. These findings suggest that memory modulation by arousal may be primed, or enhanced, by a relevant preliminary arousal event.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Individual differences in stress and arousal during cigarette smoking.

Self-rated feelings of stress and arousal were monitored before and after each cigarette, over a day of normal smoking. Subjects comprised 105 unpaid volunteers (65 female, 40 male; mean age 30.4 years; mean consumption 12.4 cigarettes on test day). Feelings of arousal were significantly higher post-smoking than pre-smoking. The degree of arousal change was monotonically related to scores on the smoking motivation questionnaire (SMQ) stimulant subscale, with high stimulant smokers reporting the greatest arousal modulation. However stimulant smokers reported low arousal before smoking, rather than high arousal after smoking. Feelings of stress were significantly lower post-smoking than pre-smoking. The degree of stress change was monotonically related to scores on the SMQ sedative subscale, with high sedative smokers reporting the greatest stress change. This confirms the criterion validity of this second SMQ subscale. However, as with the arousal data, sedative smokers tended to report high stress before smoking, rather than low stress after smoking. Smoking did not therefore produce advantageous post-cigarette feeling states. Instead, mood modulation largely comprised the alleviation of poor psychological states prior to smoking. These stress and arousal changes often occurred simultaneously, against the predictions of the arousal modulation theory. Arousal modulation and stress modulation should therefore be seen as separate and independent processes. Lastly, feelings of stress and arousal fluctuated repeatedly over the day, with improved moods immediately after smoking, but impaired moods developing between cigarettes. These mood reversals provide a clear psychological rationale for the repetitive (addictive) nature of nicotine use.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Stress and arousal in sedative and stimulant cigarette smokers.

Self-reported feelings of stress and arousal were assessed in 18 sedative and 9 stimulant smokers, over a typical day of smoking. Prior to each cigarette, self-ratings of stress and arousal were recorded on a brief adjective check list. These self-ratings were then repeated following cigarette smoking. These diary data were split into four blocks to represent: first cigarette of the day, second quartile cigarette, third quartile cigarette, and last cigarette of the day. Analysis of variance revealed significant effects of smoking on both stress and arousal. Self-rated feelings of stress were significantly reduced following cigarette smoking (P less than 0.002); this was found with both subjects groups and across all cigarette blocks. Cigarette smoking also led to increased feelings of arousal (P less than 0.01), although these changes in arousal differed between subject groups (drug x type-of-smoker interaction: P less than 0.03). Stimulant smokers showed higher levels of arousal after smoking, across all four cigarette blocks. Sedative smokers showed a slight increase in arousal only after their first cigarette. These findings were not as predicted by the arousal modulation theory of cigarette smoking, which suggests that changes in stress and arousal are interdependent. Instead they show that smoking affects stress and arousal in quite different ways. Stress and arousal should therefore be recognised as independent dimensions within smoking/nicotine research.

Adult↗