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Living systems at any given moment enact a very constrained set of end‐directed and contextually appropriate actions that are self‐initiated from among innumerable possible alternatives. However, these constrained actions are not necessarily because the system has reduced its sensitivities to themselves and their surroundings. Quite the contrary, living systems are continually open to novel and unanticipated stimulations that require a physiology of coordination. To address these competing demands, this paper offers a novel heuristic model informed by neuroscience, systems theory, biology and sign study to explain how organisms situated in diverse, complex and ever‐changing environments might draw upon the sparse order made available by 'relevant noise'. This emergent order facilitates coordination, habituation and, ultimately, understanding of the world and its relevant affordances. Inspired by the burgeoning field of coordination dynamics and physiologist Denis Noble's concept of 'biological relativity', this model proposes a view of coordination on the neuronal level that is neither sequential nor stochastic, but instead implements a causal logic of phasic alignment, such that an organism's learned and inherited sets of diverse biological affinities and sympathies can be resolved into a continuous and complex range of patterns that will implement the kind of novel orientations and radical generativity required of such organisms to adaptively explore their environments and to learn from their experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Society for Psychophysiological Research and accompanying journal, Psychophysiology, have increasingly incorporated diversity and inclusion into their posted values, conference programming, and science. Much of this focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion work has occurred since 2010. The current review content analyzed the articles published in Psychophysiology from 2010 through 2020 to determine if SPR and Psychophysiology's commitment to diversity and inclusion has resulted in changes to reporting and analysis of participant demographics. Demographic reporting practices were compared to APA reporting standards and the use of demographic variables assessed according to the guidance proffered in the introduction to Psychophysiology's 2016 Special Issue on Diversity and Representation. Results of the content analysis indicated near perfect reporting of biological sex and frequent reporting of average age. Age range and educational attainment were reported in over half of studies, while race or ethnicity were reported in only 17%. Socioeconomic status, income, gender identity, and sexual orientation were almost never reported. In over 60% of studies at least one major demographic variable was reported, but was not used in preliminary, main, or supplementary analyses as a covariate, moderator, or otherwise. SPR and Psychophysiology should continue advocating for increased reporting of major demographic variables and ethical analysis of demographic modulation of various psychophysiological mechanisms. We provide a preliminary template of reporting standards and call for the inclusion of more open science practices by psychophysiologists. Content analyses can help a field understand the impact of its policies or stated values. This paper outlines the reporting and use of demographic variables in articles published in Psychophysiology to trace the impact of SPR's commitment to DEI. Results indicate continued efforts are needed to diversify samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the effect of sleep deprivation on endurance performance, as well as possible effect-modifying factors. Searches were done in Pubmed, Web of Science, Embase, and Scopus on 12 July 2022. We additionally searched the bibliographic references and citations on Google Scholar of the papers whose full text was analyzed. Eligible studies were randomized and non-randomized controlled trials that compared sleep deprivation and habitual-sleep night effects on endurance performance in healthy humans. The studies' quality was examined by the Cochrane Collaboration's risk of bias tool. We calculated the pooled standardized mean differences (pooled SMD) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) by a random-effects model. A mixed-effects model analyzed subgroups. Thirty-one studies were analyzed (n = 478), generating 38 effect sizes in full. The overall risk of bias was low in 8% of the studies, unclear in 74%, and high in 18%. Sleep deprivation in general had a moderate negative effect on endurance performance (polled SMD [95%CI] = −0.52 [−0.67; −0.38]). Training status, sleep deprivation magnitude, assessment time, exercise mode, and endpoint type did not influence the sleep deprivation effect, whereas longer exercises (>30 min) were more affected by sleep deprivation than shorter ones (P = 0.035). Therefore, the available evidence supports that sleep deprivation's deleterious effect on endurance performance is of moderate size and depends on exercise duration. This information can be useful to estimate the performance decrement of endurance exercise practitioners under sleep deprivation in training routines and competitions. PROSPERO registration number CRD42021229717. Sleep deprivation causes a moderate deleterious effect on endurance performance. Sleep deprivation similarly impairs endurance performance in untrained, recreationally-trained, and trained people, but its effect on well-trained and professional endurance athletes is unknown. One or more nights of partial sleep deprivation or one night of total sleep deprivation similarly compromise endurance performance. Uncertainties about the effect of more than one night of total sleep deprivation warrant more studies. Sleep deprivation impairs walking, running, and cycling endurance performance regardless of the exercise endpoint being unknown (i.e. incremental or constant load tests) or known (i.e. time trial tests) and assessment time. However, sleep deprivation causes a more deleterious effect on endurance performance in exercises lasting more than 30 min. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a paper by C. Miele and colleagues on sexual cravings. Topics mentioned include the similarities between sexual craving and substance craving, the definition of the term egodystonic, the difference between egodystonic and egosyntonic sexual cravings, the impact of self concept of every individual on sexual desires, and the use of psychophysiological measures and functional magnetic resonance imaging to understand the nature of behavior cravings.

The COVID‐19 pandemic has significantly disrupted research activities globally. Researchers need safe and creative procedures to resume data collection, particularly for projects evaluating infant mental health interventions. Remote research is uniquely challenging for psychophysiological data collection, which typically requires close contact between researchers and participants as well as technical equipment frequently located in laboratory settings. In accordance with public health guidance, we adapted procedures and developed novel protocols for a "virtual assessment" in which women and infants provided behavioral and psychophysiological data from their own homes while researchers coordinated remotely. Data collected at virtual visits included video‐recorded parent–child interactions and autonomic nervous system data. Adaptations were designed to optimize safety and data quality while minimizing participant burden. In the current paper, we describe these adaptations and present data evaluating their success across two sites in the United States (University of Delaware and University of Utah), focusing specifically on autonomic nervous system data collected during the well‐validated Still‐Face Paradigm (SFP). We also discuss advantages and challenges of translating traditional lab procedures into the virtual assessment model. Ultimately, we hope that disseminating these procedures will help other researchers resume safe data collection related to infant mental health during the COVID‐19 pandemic and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: As the growing weight stigma literature has developed, one critically relevant and vulnerable population has received little consideration—pregnant and postpartum women. Because weight fluctuations are inherent to this life phase, and rates of prepregnancy overweight and obesity are already high, this gap is problematic. More recently, however, there has been a rising interest in pregnancy‐related weight stigma and its consequences. This paper therefore sought to (a) review the emerging research on pregnancy‐related weight stigma phenomenology and (b) integrate this existing evidence to present a novel theoretical framework for studying pregnancy‐related weight stigma. The Weight gain, Obesity, Maternal‐child Biobehavioral pathways, and Stigma (WOMBS) Framework proposes psychophysiological mechanisms linking pregnancy‐related weight stigmatization to increased risk of weight gain and, in turn, downstream childhood obesity risk. This WOMBS Framework highlights pregnant and postpartum women as a theoretically unique at‐risk population for whom this social stigma engages maternal physiology and transfers obesity risk to the child via social and physiological mechanisms. The WOMBS Framework provides a novel and useful tool to guide the emerging pregnancy‐related weight stigma research and, ultimately, support stigma‐reduction efforts in this critical context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper was to replicate previous research on preference displacement with edible and leisure stimuli. In the present study, the experimenters evaluated preference displacement in 25 children with autism spectrum disorder using combined multiple stimulus without replacement preference assessments that consisted of highly preferred edible and leisure stimuli. In addition, the experimenters used a block randomization procedure to evaluate if assessment order influenced displacement outcomes. The experimenters observed patterns of complete displacement by edible stimuli for four participants and complete displacement by leisure stimuli for two participants; assessment order did not influence outcomes. The results and implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In their letter to the editor, Craig and colleagues discuss a paper that we recently published (McGarity-Shipley et al., [1]) in which we found that shame, a specific form of psychosocial stress, negatively impacted endothelial function but surprisingly did not elevate cortisol or the pro-inflammatory marker soluble tumour necrosis factor- receptor 2 (sTNF RII). Therefore, it is likely that for us to understand the full picture of how stress alters human physiology and health, the effects of different kinds of stress and stress-inducing protocols need to be appreciated and explored. We agree with Craig and colleagues that our shame protocol likely increased sympathetic nervous system activity since there was an increase in mean arterial pressure after the shame protocol compared with the control protocol. [Extracted from the article]

The Neurovisceral Integration Model (NIM) is one of the most influential psychophysiological models addressing the interplay between the autonomic (ANS) and central nervous system (CNS). In their groundbreaking conceptual work, integrating autonomic, attentional, and affective systems into a functional and structural network, Thayer & Lane laid the foundation for empirical research in the past two decades. The present paper provides a principal outline aiming to reflect and further elaborate on the model from a dynamic developmental perspective. The central question at hand is, how does neurovisceral integration develop (early in life)? By reviewing the existing evidence, it is illustrated that key components of the model, both, on a physiological and psychological level, undergo extensive change early in the course of life. This sensitive period of human development seems key for our understanding of the integrated action of the ANS and CNS in emotion across the lifespan. Early life events may interfere with the fine‐tuned interplay of this shared neural circuitry resulting in long‐term dysfunction and psychiatric illness. In the absence of longitudinal data covering the entire co‐development of the ANS and CNS from early childhood to adolescence into early adulthood, it is suggested, that vagal activity and its normative increase in adolescence is a key premise for normative brain development on a structural and functional level, subsequent psychological functioning and adaptive regulation. Implications from this dynamic perspective and suggestions for future research in the field of developmental psychophysiology are discussed. In an attempt to further elaborate on the Neurovisceral Integration Model, potential developmental trajectories underlying dynamic CNS‐ANS co‐regulation are presented. In brief, it is suggested that neurovisceral integration is shaped during sensitive periods of human development, whereby the normative increase in vagal activity during adolescence is critical for brain development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Placebo and nocebo effects are a factor in sports performance. However, the majority of published studies in sport science are descriptive and speculative regarding mechanisms. It is therefore not unreasonable for the sceptic to argue that placebo and nocebo effects in sport are illusory, and might be better explained by variations in phenomena such as motivation. It is likely that, in sport at least, placebo and nocebo effects will remain in this empirical grey area until researchers provide stronger mechanistic evidence. Recent research in neuroscience has identified a number of consistent, discrete and interacting neurobiological and physiological pathways associated with placebo and nocebo effects, with many studies reporting data of potential interest to sport scientists, for example relating to pain, fatigue and motor control. Findings suggest that placebos and nocebos result in activity of the opioid, endocannabinoid and dopamine neurotransmitter systems, brain regions including the motor cortex and striatum, and measureable effects on the autonomic nervous system. Many studies have demonstrated that placebo and nocebo effects associated with a treatment, for example an inert treatment presented as an analgesic or stimulant, exhibit mechanisms similar or identical to the verum or true treatment. Such findings suggest the possibility of a wide range of distinct placebo and nocebo mechanisms that might influence sports performance. In the present paper, we present some of the findings from neuroscience. Focussing on fatigue as an outcome and caffeine as vehicle, we propose three approaches that researchers in sport might incorporate in their studies in order to better elucidate mechanisms of placebo/nocebo effects on performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a great tradition of looking at health and illness from a systems perspective. For clinicians and people with illnesses a lot can be gained by mapping the interface of different sectors to understand the nature of conditions. This paper aims to use Sturmberg et als. paper as a stepping off point to present a sociological approach to understanding multimorbidities and gain insights into the illness experience of these people in the greater social system of health and illness. Parsons' sick role provides a useful systems concept through which we can understand the role of doctors and the experience of illness as social, beyond the personal. We also use Bourdieu's concept of habitas and of structure and agency to make sense of multimorbidities being social, economic and a broader part of experiencing social systems. We posit that one option for people coping with multiple conditions is to change identity. We also examine the doctor and patient encounter for mutlimorbidities as being problematic as it forces attention on competence and responsibility in that continuing encounter [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Humans evolved within the mammalian line as a highly social species. Indeed, sociality has been a major driver of human social intelligence. From birth, social relationships have emotional and self‐regulating properties and operate through different body systems. This paper will explore how heart rate variability (HRV), an index of the vagal regulation of the heart and a central element of the physiological underpinnings of sociality, is related to mental health problems, with important implications for psychotherapy. Methods: We conducted a narrative review of the literature on the bi‐directional links between prosocial motivations, HRV, and psychophysiological functioning. Results: HRV is associated not only with the ability to downregulate physiological arousal, but also with a variety of psychological and behavioural variables which are usually the target of psychotherapeutic interventions. A modern neurovisceral integration model can be employed to explain the complex intercorrelation between HRV and psychophysiological functioning. In particular, the link between HRV, the experience of inter‐ and intrapersonal safeness, and the inhibitory function of the prefrontal cortex will be explored in the context of prosocial motives, such as compassion, that alleviate and help prevent mental health difficulties. Conclusions: Our knowledge of the social brain and its physiological underpinnings might influence important elements of a therapeutic intervention, from the initial assessment of patient's difficulties to the evaluation of therapy outcomes. Practitioner points: Social relationships have emotional and self‐regulating properties.The experience of inter‐ and intrapersonal safeness is connected to prosocial motives, such as compassion, and the inhibitory function of the prefrontal cortex.Social relationships and compassion influence different body systems, such as the vagus nerve.Many forms of psychopathology represent the activation of evolved, defensive strategies especially in contexts where there are few stimuli indicating safeness and social support.Heart rate variability predicts psychotherapy outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alexander Bain (1818–1903) is well known for his two influential textbooks, The senses and the intellect (1855) and The emotions and the will (1859). In comparison, Bain's Mind and body: The theories of their relation (1872) has been of limited interest to historians, and it is here where he presents one of the first neural network models. This paper addresses the historical foundations of Bain's neural network model and explores some of his primary influences. Additionally, this study addresses some of the reasons Bain's Mind and Body did not receive the historical notice his earlier works garnered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative of the National Institute of Mental Health shows great promise in providing guidance for research on mental illness but has prompted considerable controversy. Papers by Yancey, Venables, and Patrick and Kozak and Cuthbert illustrate and clarify a number of important features of RDoC. The present commentary evaluates the former paper in light of the latter paper and addresses several common misunderstandings about RDoC. The concept of endophenotypes and diverse psychophysiological approaches will likely be central in RDoC-inspired research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure-based psychological interventions currently represent the empirically best established first line form of cognitive-behavioural therapy for all types of anxiety disorders. Although shown to be highly effective in both randomized clinical and other studies, there are important deficits: (1) the core mechanisms of action are still under debate, (2) it is not known whether such treatments work equally well in all forms of anxiety disorders, including comorbid diagnoses like depression, (3) it is not known whether an intensified treatment with more frequent sessions in a shorter period of time provides better outcome than distributed sessions over longer time intervals. This paper reports the methods and design of a large-scale multicentre randomized clinical trial (RCT) involving up to 700 patients designed to answer these questions. Based on substantial advances in basic research we regard extinction as the putative core candidate model to explain the mechanism of action of exposure-based treatments. The RCT is flanked by four add-on projects that apply experimental neurophysiological and psychophysiological, (epi)genetic and ecological momentary assessment methods to examine extinction and its potential moderators. Beyond the focus on extinction we also involve stakeholders and routine psychotherapists in preparation for more effective dissemination into clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the sensitive issue of male circumcision and its psychological ramifications, so seldom mentioned in conversation or addressed in the literature. It explores the emotional significance of circumcision from the standpoint of body psychotherapy. Using a single case study, the author discusses the paradox inherent in circumcision which, on the one hand, claims to be an act of devotion and surrender, but, on the other, implants mistrust in the newborn baby. Finally, the author examines the implications of a lack of dialogue about circumcision and considers how therapists might deal with the issue in their work. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims Dysfunction of physiological regulation systems may underlie the disrupted emotional and self-regulatory processes among people with substance use disorder (SUD). This paper reviews evidence as to whether or not respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), as a psychophysiological index of emotional regulation, could provide useful information in treatment-outcome research to provide insights into recovery processes. Methods We reviewed the use of RSA in clinical research and studies on SUD treatment. Search terms for the review of RSA in clinical research included respiratory sinus arrhythmia, heart rate variability, vagal, cardiac vagal control, psychophysiology, intervention, treatment, mindfulness, mind-body, mental health, substance use, chemical dependence, regulation and emotion regulation. For the review of RSA in intervention studies, we included only those that provided adequate description of psychophysiological methods, and examined RSA in the context of an intervention study. Results RSA appears to be able to provide an index of self-regulatory capacity; however, it has been little used in either intervention or treatment research. Of the four intervention studies included in this review, all were mindfulness-based interventions. Two studies were with substance using samples, and both showed pre-post increases in RSA and related improved substance use outcomes. Two of the three studies were randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and both showed significant increases in RSA in the experimental compared to comparison condition. Conclusion Respiratory sinus arrhythmiamay be a useful index of emotional regulation in people with substance use disorder, and a potential measure of underlying mechanisms for SUD treatment studies, particularly mindfulness-based interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we provide a commentary on Kozak and Cuthbert ()'s theoretical paper discussing the NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative and on Latzman et al. (2016)'s empirical investigation of the RDoC negative valence systems domain in chimpanzees, conducted with experimental procedures across genetic, neurobiological, and behavioral levels of analysis. We discuss the pros and cons of the RDoC approach to research on mental illness as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the implementation of this approach in the chimpanzee study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans display a trait-like response to sleep loss. However, it is not known whether this trait-like response can be captured by a mathematical model from only one sleep-loss condition to facilitate neurobehavioural performance prediction of the same individual during a different sleep-loss condition. In this paper, we investigated the extent to which the recently developed unified mathematical model of performance ( UMP) captured such trait-like features for different sleep-loss conditions. We used the UMP to develop two sets of individual-specific models for 15 healthy adults who underwent two different sleep-loss challenges (order counterbalanced; separated by 2-4 weeks): (i) 64 h of total sleep deprivation ( TSD) and (ii) chronic sleep restriction ( CSR) of 7 days of 3 h nightly time in bed. We then quantified the extent to which models developed using psychomotor vigilance task data under TSD predicted performance data under CSR, and vice versa. The results showed that the models customized to an individual under one sleep-loss condition accurately predicted performance of the same individual under the other condition, yielding, on average, up to 50% improvement over non-individualized, group-average model predictions. This finding supports the notion that the UMP captures an individual's trait-like response to different sleep-loss conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the analysis of psychological and psychophysiological data, the relationship between two variables is often assumed to be a straight line. This may be due to the prevalence of the general linear model in data analysis in these fields, which makes this assumption implicitly. However, there are many problems for which this assumption does not hold. In this paper, we show that, in the analysis of event-related potential ( ERP) data, the assumption of linearity comes at a cost and may significantly affect the inferences drawn from the data. We demonstrate why the assumption of linearity should be relaxed and how to model nonlinear relationships between ERP amplitudes and predictor variables within the familiar framework of generalized linear models, using regression splines and mixed-effects modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this editorial, I discuss the advantages of interpreting brain data in the context of other bodily systems. I also discuss current research challenges that may greatly benefit from a psychophysiological approach in which multiple methods-both peripheral and central-are used to improve our understanding of brain function, its underlying physiology, and its relationship to psychological constructs. In closing, I summarize the major changes and policy highlights regarding papers published in Psychophysiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives This article reviews evidence regarding effects of psychotherapy on overall cancer survival time. Special emphasis is given to research on adverse effects of depression on cancer survival, breast cancer, and mediating psychophysiological pathways linking psychosocial support to longer survival. Design It reviews all published clinical trials addressing effects of psychotherapy on cancer survival, emphasizing depression, breast cancer, and psychophysiological evidence linking stress, depression, and support to cancer survival. Methods Systematic literature review and synthesis. Results Eight of 15 published trials indicate that psychotherapy enhances cancer survival time. No studies show an adverse effect of psychotherapy on cancer survival. Potential psychophysiological mechanisms linking stress to shorter survival include dysregulation of diurnal cortisol, increased pro-inflammatory cytokines, reduced natural killer cell activity, shorter telomeres and lower telomerase activity, glucocorticoid-mediated suppression of p53 and Br CA1 gene expression, and sympathetic nervous system activation of vascular endothelial growth factor. Conclusions Stress and support affect the course of cancer progression. Statement of contribution What is known? Stress and support have been thought to be related to cancer risk and progression, but evidence has been mixed., Depression is a natural co-morbid condition with cancer., It has not been clear how stress and support could physiologically affect the rate of cancer progression., Immune function was not thought to have much relevance to cancer progression., Few other physiological mechanisms linking stress to cancer progression were known., What does this paper add? There is evidence from 15 RCTs indicating that effective psychosocial support improves quantity as well as quality of life with cancer., There is evidence that chronic depression predicts poorer prognosis with cancer., Dysregulated circadian cortisol patterns predict more rapid cancer progression., Inflammatory processes affect cancer growth and progression., Sympathetic nervous system activity, telomere length, telomerase activity, and oncogene expression are affected by stress and can affect cancer growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]