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Biomedical subjects

G T Montgomery

Publications and source records attributed to G T Montgomery.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

Slowed respiration training.

A method of slowed respiration rate (RR) training is described that uses visual feedback of the respiratory cycle. Subjects assigned to the slowed RR training procedure were compared with subjects assigned to either a traditional frontal electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback condition or a control condition where no feedback was presented. RR, frontal EMG, heart rate, digital temperature, and skin conductance level were monitored simultaneously. The results indicated that RR training was effective in reducing RR, that RR training had little systematic effect on the other physiological variables, and the frontal EMG procedure did not in itself reduce RR. The advantages of the current methodological approach and the importance of respiration training were discussed along with a literature review. The relationship between RR training and the complexities of respiratory phenomena was discussed, as well as ways that future research using this method may help clarify current issues within respiration training.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Headache characteristics among high school and university students.

An extensive questionnaire which addressed general health, headache characteristics, antecedents to headaches, and coping strategies after one gets a headache was administered to 837 high school and university students in south Texas. Hypotheses were confirmed that (a) university students reported greater headache severity than did high school students, and (b) females reported higher frequencies of headaches and greater headache severity than did males. Our sample from south Texas reported a much lower incidence of headache than recent reports of students from other universities. Factor analysis of headache characteristics questions supported traditional headache classification. Factor analysis identified commonalities among headache antecedents and headache coping strategies. Relationships were identified between headache severity, headache antecedents and coping strategies that were consistent with previous studies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Psychophysiological responsivity on a laboratory stress task: methodological implications for a stress-muscle hyperactivity pain model.

A stress-muscle hyperactivity-pain (SMP) model has been proposed to explain the etiology of certain musculoskeletal pain disorders. According to this model, subjects should show physiological arousal during periods of stress relative to periods of rest. In a test of this prediction, 31 subjects performed a reaction time task that has been used in previous laboratory studies. Multiple psychophysiological variables were monitored during initial and final 10-minute baselines, during performance on nine 2-minute reaction time tasks, and during 36-second rest intervals following each of the 2-minute tasks, Results showed small but statistically significant differences generally supporting the SMP model when masseter EMG was averaged over time periods of 12 seconds to 2 minutes, but not when masseter EMG was averaged over 10- to 18-minute blocks. These results demonstrated the importance of carefully selecting time intervals for analysis. Additional analyses that compared TMD with symptom-free subjects revealed small differences in EMG that supported the SMP model. Analyses of EMG over shorter time intervals also showed, however, that masseter EMG increased during the 36-second rest interval following performance on a 2-minute stress task; this result suggested that a modification of the SMP model may be necessary.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

MMPI supplemental scale performance of Mexican Americans and level of acculturation.

Mexican American and Anglo American's performance on the Wiggins Content Scales, Harris-Lingoes subscales, and Serkownek subscales was assessed in a college student population. Level of acculturation (Mexican vs. Anglo orientation), age, and social class were statistically controlled. The results showed statistically significant differences between means of Anglo and Mexican Americans on most of the supplemental scales assessed. These differences were more numerous before scale validity criteria were applied. The number of statistically significant differences were further reduced when level of acculturation and age were statistically controlled. The results showed that level of acculturation is a highly important variable which moderates interpretation of the MMPI scale elevations we measured. Acculturation far outweighed the influence of the well established MMPI moderator variables of age and social class.

Acculturation↗
PubMed1988

Variations in digital temperature during frontal EMG biofeedback training in normal subjects.

During frontal EMG biofeedback training, the relationship between frontal EMG and digital skin temperature was investigated in two experiments, which varied the number of baseline and feedback sessions. The results of Experiment 1 suggested a "general relaxation effect," where digital temperature increased as frontal EMG decreased, especially for subjects with initially low hand temperature. Experiment 2 extended the number of baseline and feedback sessions and qualified the results of Experiment 1. EMG and digital temperature did not simultaneously converge toward general relaxation over the extended baseline or feedback sessions in Experiment 2. Furthermore, when the feedback signal was introduced, digital temperature dropped quickly but recovered to baseline levels within three feedback sessions; this drop in digital temperature was interpreted within the context of attentional demands of the biofeedback task. The results appeared consistent with the view that frontal biofeedback training teaches a discriminative skill of lower frontal EMG, and that this skill does not readily generalize to digital skin temperature.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Mexican Americans' performance on the MMPI as a function of level of acculturation.

Previous researchers have concluded that differences in MMPI performance between Anglo and Mexican American surnamed subjects were due to cultural differences. The present research directly investigated this assumption by comparing MMPI scale score differences of 365 Anglo and Mexican American college students, with Acculturation, Age, and Socioeconomic status statistically controlled. Anglos scored significantly differently from Mexican American subjects on 10 of the 13 MMPI scales. With Acculturation and Age statistically controlled, however, Anglo vs. Mexican American subjects differed on only the L and MF scales. These results support previous conclusions that most MMPI differences between Anglo and Mexican American subjects are due to culture, or Acculturation. Our results are consistent with major findings within the MMPI literature and also support the hypothesis that personality differences identified by the L and MF scales reflect genuine characteristics of the Mexican-American culture.

Acculturation↗
PubMed1982

Knowledge of anatomy and physiology as a determinant of biofeedback performance.

In an extension of a previous experiment by Zappala (1970), prior training in anatomy and physiology was investigated as a determinant of frontal EMG biofeedback performance. Fourteen subjects with no college coursework in anatomy and physiology and little demonstrated knowledge of anatomy and physiology were compared with fifteen college students with coursework and demonstrated knowledge of anatomy and physiology. Each subject completed 11 sessions. Sessions one through three were baseline sessions, while sessions 4-11 included an initial (5-minute) baseline, followed by three (4-minute) biofeedback periods. The results indicated no differences in EMG performance among the two subject groups. Significant reductions in EMG were obtained over feedback sessions, and the four male subjects obtained lower levels of EMG than the 25 female subjects.

Adult↗