objective: the present study compares the efficacy of two most commonly used biofeedback relaxation techniques in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder. method: 45 individuals with generalized anxiety disorder were randomly assigned to three groups (n=15): group i received electromyographic biofeedback relaxation training, group ii received alpha-electroencephalographic biofeedback rela...

Kellogg, D. L., Jr. In vivo mechanisms of cutaneous vasodilation and vasoconstriction in humans during thermoregulatory challenges. J Appl Physiol 100: 1709–1718, 2006; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.01071.2005.—This review focuses on the neural and local mechanisms that have been demonstrated to effect cutaneous vasodilation and vasoconstriction in response to heat and cold stress in vivo in humans....

BACKGROUND Negative emotions can cause discomforting autonomic arousal, which can be difficult to inhibit using willpower alone. Although previous physiological studies have reported that skin pressure at certain bilateral locations reflexively inhibits sympathetic nervous system activity, few studies have tested the effect of this inhibition on emotion-related autonomic arousal in humans. FI...

End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is characterized by resting sympathetic overactivity. Baseline muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA), which is governed by baroreflexes and chemoreflexes, is elevated in ESRD. Whether resting skin sympathetic nerve activity (SSNA), which is independent from baroreflex and chemoreflex control, is also elevated has never been reported in renal failure. The purpos...

Water immersion alters the autonomic nervous system (ANS) response in humans. The effect of water immersion on executive function and ANS responses related to executive function tasks was unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to determine whether water immersion alters ANS response during executive tasks. Fourteen healthy participants performed color-word-matching Stroop tasks before and after n...

Acute Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is associated with signs of inflammation such as increased skin temperature, oedema, skin colour changes and pain. Pro-inflammatory cytokines (tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-1beta, IL-6) are up-regulated, whereas anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-10) are diminished. Adaptive immunity seems to be involved in CRPS pathoph...

It has been shown that inflammation reduces the effectiveness of sympathetic nerves in the regulation of knee joint blood flow, and the joint vascular- ß adrenoceptors are changed due to acute inflammation from a majority of ß-1 to an equality of ß-1 and ß-2 receptors.. To investigate the role of sympathetic nerves in nerve induced vasoconstriction and changes in joint vascular ß-adrenoceptors ...