The impact of artifacts on estimates of heart period variability were evaluated by modeling the effects of missed R-waves and spurious R-wave detections in actual and simulated heart period series. Results revealed that even a single artifact, occurring within a 128-s interbeat interval series, can impart substantial spurious variance into all commonly analyzed frequency bands, including that associated with respiratory sinus arrhythmia. In fact, the spurious variance introduced by a single artifact may be greater than that associated with true basal heart period variability and can far exceed typical effect sizes in psychophysiological studies. The effects of artifacts are not related to a specific analytical method and are apparent in both frequency and time domain analyses. Results emphasize the importance of artifact detection and resolution for studies of heart period variability.

The study of motor slowness based on observational methods has limitations. Whether motor retardation has a psychomotor or neuromotor basis is unclear because psychiatric and motor symptoms overlap. Observational methods lack the precision necessary to distinguish cognitive from motor processes. For the present study, we used an objective measure of neuromotor dysfunction to quantify the extent to which an individual programs movement velocity in anticipation of increasing target distance. Persons with Parkinson's disease (PD) or functional psychosis were studied with a group of healthy comparison subjects. Results indicated that the slope of the linear function relating velocity to distance was abnormal in the PD group and in approximately half of the psychosis group. Analyses revealed the measure to have high specificity and sensitivity. Weak correlations between velocity scaling and psychopathology support the neuromotor basis of the measure. We conclude that this measure of velocity scaling is relatively uninfluenced by cognitive factors that may underlie psychomotor retardation.

In hypertensive risk studies, offspring reports are often used to establish parental history of hypertension. This method is simple and less costly than contacting parents and has been reported to be ≥84% accurate when compared with parental confirmation. The present study examined two components that contribute to overall accuracy: sensitivity (correct identification of high blood pressure) and specificity (correct identification of normal blood pressure). Undergraduate volunteers (282 women, 211 men) provided parental blood pressure information, and then blood pressure history questionnaires were mailed to their biological parents. Comparison of offspring and parent reports revealed a combination of high specificity (92.9%) and low sensitivity (68.2%), suggesting that offspring reports may be misleading when attempting to identify hypertensive parents.

This study examined the effect of mothers' exposure to the 1957 A2/Singapore influenza virus in the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy on the electrodermal activity of their 15-year-old offspring. The epidemic occurred during cold months of the year. The results show that maternal viral (and cold) exposure during all trimesters of pregnancy produced a lower frequency of nonspecific electrodermal responses and diminished responsivity to 75-db and 90-db tones as compared with the offspring of mothers who were not exposed. However, there was a critical effect of second trimester exposure as indicated by an increase in frequency of nonresponses to orienting tones. The findings are compared with those from an earlier study from Mauritius involving 3-year-old children in which the effects of exposure to the 1968 A2/Hong Kong virus were examined and in which the effect of cold exposure could be examined separately because viral exposure occurred during the hot months.

Reflexive eyeblinks to a startle probe vary with the pleasantness of affective pictures, whereas the corresponding P300 varies with emotional arousal. The impact of attention to the probe on these effects was examined by varying task and probe type. Probes were either nonstartling tones or startling noises presented during affective picture viewing. Half the participants performed a task requiring attention to the probes; the other participants were told to ignore the probes. Blinks to the startle probe varied with picture pleasantness for both task and nontask conditions. In contrast, P300 magnitudes for both startle and tone probes were reduced during emotionally arousing pictures, irrespective of pleasantness, in task and nontask conditions. Further, attending to the startle probe prompted an augmentation of N100 during unpleasant pictures. The data suggest that affective modulation of probe responses reflects obligatory processes in picture perception.

This study examined the effect of mothers' exposure to the 1957 A2/Singapore influenza virus in the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy on the electrodermal activity of their 15-year-old offspring. The epidemic occurred during cold months of the year. The results show that maternal viral (and cold) exposure during all trimesters of pregnancy produced a lower frequency of nonspecific electrodermal responses and diminished responsivity to 75-db and 90-db tones as compared with the offspring of mothers who were not exposed. However, there was a critical effect of second trimester exposure as indicated by an increase in frequency of nonresponses to orienting tones. The findings are compared with those from an earlier study from Mauritius involving 3-year-old children in which the effects of exposure to the 1968 A2/Hong Kong virus were examined and in which the effect of cold exposure could be examined separately because viral exposure occurred during the hot months.

Memory-driven processing in medial occipital areas (Area V1 and immediately adjacent structures) was investigated noninvasively using the event-related optical signal (EROS). Subjects viewed two letter stimuli presented in the left and right hemifields, respectively. They then viewed a centrally presented test letter and had to indicate whether this letter was the same as either of the letters presented earlier. The initial EROS response to the test stimulus in medial occipital areas (latency: 50–150 ms) was unilaterally suppressed in the hemisphere previously exposed to the same stimulus. This finding suggests that medial occipital cortex activity is modulated by a rapidly adapting hemispheric-specific pattern recognition mechanism.

The effect of an attentional manipulation on eye tracking dysfunction (ETD) in the early stages of schizophrenia was examined in 34 recent-onset schizophrenic patients and 24 demographically matched normal subjects over a 1-year period. An attentional enhancement manipulation improved eye tracking performance of recent-onset schizophrenic patients more than that of normal subjects. Eye tracking level also was moderately stable for both groups over the course of 1 year. The possible role of attentional allocation in ETD highlights the need for further examination of the interface between attentional and eye tracking measures of vulnerability to schizophrenia.

This volume is a very welcome addition to the relatively limited set of texts for students of psychophysiology. Kenneth Hugdahl is an exceptionally broad psychophysiologist who has used all of the major response systems in his own research and has also made important contributions to experimental and clinical neuropsychology. He is therefore well-equipped to produce a particularly distinctive text in this area and he has delivered on the promise.

The effect of an attentional manipulation on eye tracking dysfunction (ETD) in the early stages of schizophrenia was examined in 34 recent-onset schizophrenic patients and 24 demographically matched normal subjects over a 1-year period. An attentional enhancement manipulation improved eye tracking performance of recent-onset schizophrenic patients more than that of normal subjects. Eye tracking level also was moderately stable for both groups over the course of 1 year. The possible role of attentional allocation in ETD highlights the need for further examination of the interface between attentional and eye tracking measures of vulnerability to schizophrenia.

Participants in Experiments 1 and 2 performed a discrimination and counting task to assess the effect of lead stimulus modality on attentional modification of the acoustic startle reflex. Modality of the discrimination stimuli was changed across subjects. Electrodermal responses were larger during task-relevant stimuli than during task-irrelevant stimuli in all conditions. Larger blink magnitude facilitation was found during auditory and visual task-relevant stimuli, but not for tactile stimuli. Experiment 3 used acoustic, visual, and tactile conditioned stimuli (CSs) in differential conditioning with an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US). Startle magnitude facilitation and electrodermal responses were larger during a CS that preceded the US than during a CS that was presented alone regardless of lead stimulus modality. Although not unequivocal, the present data pose problems for attentional accounts of blink modification that emphasize the importance of lead stimulus modality.

Participants in Experiments 1 and 2 performed a discrimination and counting task to assess the effect of lead stimulus modality on attentional modification of the acoustic startle reflex. Modality of the discrimination stimuli was changed across subjects. Electrodermal responses were larger during task-relevant stimuli than during task-irrelevant stimuli in all conditions. Larger blink magnitude facilitation was found during auditory and visual task-relevant stimuli, but not for tactile stimuli. Experiment 3 used acoustic, visual, and tactile conditioned stimuli (CSs) in differential conditioning with an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US). Startle magnitude facilitation and electrodermal responses were larger during a CS that preceded the US than during a CS that was presented alone regardless of lead stimulus modality. Although not unequivocal, the present data pose problems for attentional accounts of blink modification that emphasize the importance of lead stimulus modality.

This study examined physiological response to an encounter with and touch by an unfamiliar person. Fifty-five African American (23 male, 30 female) and 51 European American (23 male, 28 female) undergraduates participated. A Black or White interactor entered the room, introduced himself or herself, checked equipment for 30 s, and then took a pulse for 30 s. Entry of the interactor resulted in increased corrugator and zygomaticus facial muscle activity (EMG), increased skin conductance (SC), and heart rate (HR) acceleration. Corrugator EMG was greater among Black subjects; White subjects responded with more zygomatic EMG and SC and greater HR acceleration. Women showed a more positive facial expression than did men. Being touched reduced EMG and HR but resulted in increased SC. White and Black males showed more HR acceleration when encountering a Black male interactor.

This study examined physiological response to an encounter with and touch by an unfamiliar person. Fifty-five African American (23 male, 30 female) and 51 European American (23 male, 28 female) undergraduates participated. A Black or White interactor entered the room, introduced himself or herself, checked equipment for 30 s, and then took a pulse for 30 s. Entry of the interactor resulted in increased corrugator and zygomaticus facial muscle activity (EMG), increased skin conductance (SC), and heart rate (HR) acceleration. Corrugator EMG was greater among Black subjects; White subjects responded with more zygomatic EMG and SC and greater HR acceleration. Women showed a more positive facial expression than did men. Being touched reduced EMG and HR but resulted in increased SC. White and Black males showed more HR acceleration when encountering a Black male interactor.

In 1987, Jennings enumerated data analysis procedures that authors must follow for analyzing effects in repeated measures designs when submitting papers to Psychophysiology. These prescriptions were intended to counteract the effects of nonspherical data, a condition know to produce biased tests of significance. Since this editorial policy was established, additional refinements to the analysis of these designs have appeared in print in a number of sources that are not likely to be routinely read by psychophysiological researchers. Accordingly, this paper includes additional procedures not previously enumerated in the editorial policy that can be used to analyze repeated measurements. Furthermore, I indicate how numerical solutions can easily be obtained.

In 1987, Jennings enumerated data analysis procedures that authors must follow for analyzing effects in repeated measures designs when submitting papers to Psychophysiology. These prescriptions were intended to counteract the effects of nonspherical data, a condition know to produce biased tests of significance. Since this editorial policy was established, additional refinements to the analysis of these designs have appeared in print in a number of sources that are not likely to be routinely read by psychophysiological researchers. Accordingly, this paper includes additional procedures not previously enumerated in the editorial policy that can be used to analyze repeated measurements. Furthermore, I indicate how numerical solutions can easily be obtained.

In an era characterized by an increasing bias in favor of molecular paradigms in neuroscience, this ambitious volume attests to the fundamental value of conceptualizing neural systems on a more molar and integrative level. Researchers in the area of brain asymmetry are in a unique position to make connections between brain functioning and behavioral functioning and are using sophisticated behavioral and clinical methods and advanced electrophysiological and hemodynamic techniques to do so. Chapters in this book elucidate complex cognitive and emotional phenomena from multifaceted perspectives ranging from the biochemical to the sociocultural. Indeed, the editors consider the study of brain asymmetry, with its ability to address various levels of analysis with diverse methodological and conceptual approaches, as an exemplary paradigm for future brain/behavior research.

In an era characterized by an increasing bias in favor of molecular paradigms in neuroscience, this ambitious volume attests to the fundamental value of conceptualizing neural systems on a more molar and integrative level. Researchers in the area of brain asymmetry are in a unique position to make connections between brain functioning and behavioral functioning and are using sophisticated behavioral and clinical methods and advanced electrophysiological and hemodynamic techniques to do so. Chapters in this book elucidate complex cognitive and emotional phenomena from multifaceted perspectives ranging from the biochemical to the sociocultural. Indeed, the editors consider the study of brain asymmetry, with its ability to address various levels of analysis with diverse methodological and conceptual approaches, as an exemplary paradigm for future brain/behavior research.