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Biomedical subjects

Gordon G Gallup

Publications and source records attributed to Gordon G Gallup.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Factor structure of the Tonic Immobility Scale in female sexual assault survivors: an exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis.

Tonic immobility (TI) is an involuntary component of the fear response that is characterized by freezing or immobility in situations involving extreme fear coupled with physical restraint. The present investigation evaluated the factor structure of the Tonic Immobility Scale (TIS; Forsyth, J. P., Marx, B., Fusé, T. M. K., Heidt, J., & Gallup, G. G., Jr. (2000). The Tonic Immobility Scale. Albany, NY: Authors)--a newly developed measure to assess components of TI in female sexual assault survivors. Study 1 (N=88) consisted of an Exploratory Factor Analysis of sexual assault survivors' responses on the TIS, whereas Study 2 (N=191) involved a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) with a second independent sample of female sexual assault survivors. Findings from both studies suggest that the TIS is comprised of two independent factors: physical immobility and fear. Findings are discussed in terms of the theoretical and practical implications of the factor solution obtained, particularly with regard to evaluating TI in adult survivors of sexual assault.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Contagious yawning and the brain.

Contagious yawning, the onset of a yawn triggered by seeing, hearing, reading, or thinking about another person yawn is a well-documented phenomenon. The mechanisms that drive contagious yawning are as yet unknown, but there is recent evidence of a link between contagious yawning and self-processing (S.M. Platek, S.R. Critton, T.E. Myers, G.G. Gallup Jr., Contagious yawning: the role of self-awareness and mental state attribution, Cogn. Brain Res. 17 (2003) 223-227.) that is negatively impacted by schizotypal personality traits. The neural substrates involved in contagious yawning, however, are unknown. Here, using fMRI, we show that viewing someone yawn evokes unique neural activity in the posterior cingulate and precuneus. Because of the role these areas play in self-processing (e.g., self-referential processing, theory of mind, autobiographical memory), our findings provide further support for the hypothesis that contagious yawning may be part of a neural network involved in empathy.

Cognition↗
PubMed2004

Where am I? The neurological correlates of self and other.

Although still controversial, there is growing evidence that information about the self is processed in the right hemisphere, specifically the right frontal lobe. It has also been hypothesized that self-awareness and mental state attribution (inferences about the mental experience of others) are part of a similar neurocognitive process [Am. J. Primatol. 2 (1982) 237]. Here we measured blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) activity when viewing self-faces and when thinking about the mental states of others. We found significant activation in right superior, middle, and inferior frontal gyri when activation associated with self-face processing was compared with activation associated with familiar famous face processing. Mental state attribution, as measured by a computerized version of the Mind in the Eyes--Revised Test, was associated with activation in the right superior and middle frontal gyri, medial superior frontal gyrus, and left middle frontal gyrus and superior temporal gyrus/temporal pole. Self-face recognition and mental state attribution were colocalized to the middle and superior frontal gyri in the right hemisphere. These data support a model developed over two decades ago by Gallup [Am. J. Primatol. 2 (1982) 237] that posits that self-awareness and mental state attribution are part of a shared neurocognitive suite of processing and that neural architecture implicated in processing knowledge about the self is called upon when inferring knowledge in others.

Brain↗
PubMed2004

Cross-modal self-recognition: the role of visual, auditory, and olfactory primes.

Three priming experiments were conducted to determine how information about the self from different sensory modalities/cognitive domains affects self-face recognition. Being exposed to your body odor, seeing your name, and hearing your name all facilitated self-face recognition in a reaction time task. No similar cross-modal facilitation was found among stimuli from familiar or novel individuals. The finding of a left-hand advantage for self-face recognition was replicated when no primes were presented. These data, along with other recent results suggest the brain processes/represents information about the self in highly integrated ways.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

A left-hand advantage for self-description: the impact of schizotypal personality traits.

Consistent with the possibility that the right hemisphere is responsible for processing information about the self, subjects responded faster with their left hand to adjectives that were self-descriptive. However, those who scored high on the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) did not show a left-hand advantage. These data add to a growing body of evidence that implicates the right hemisphere in processing information about the self and supports the hypothesis that self-processing may be impaired in schizophrenic-like populations.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

An 8-year longitudinal study of mirror self-recognition in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

In a previous cross-sectional study of mirror self-recognition involving 92 chimpanzees, Povinelli et al. [Journal of Comparative Psychology 107 (1993) 347] reported a peak in the proportion of animals exhibiting self-recognition in the adolescent/young adult sample (8-15 years), with 75% being classified as positive. In contrast, only 26% of the older animals (16-39 years) were classified as positive, suggesting a marked decline in self-recognition in middle to late adulthood. In the present study, all of the chimpanzees from the 8-15-year-old group in the Povinelli et al. study (n=12) were again tested for self-recognition, 8 years later. Using the same criteria, 67% of the animals were classified the same. Although a higher proportion of the adult animals in this study (50%) exhibited self-recognition than would be inferred on the basis of the previous study (25%), all changes in self-recognition status were in the negative direction. These results show that mirror self-recognition is a highly stable trait in many chimpanzees, but may be subject to decline with age. Connections with human research are briefly discussed.

Aging↗
PubMed2003

Contagious yawning: the role of self-awareness and mental state attribution.

Contagious yawning is a common, but poorly understood phenomenon. We hypothesized that contagious yawning is part of a more general phenomenon known as mental state attribution (i.e. the ability to inferentially model the mental states of others). To test this hypothesis we compared susceptibility to contagiously yawn with performance on a self-face recognition task, several theory of mind stories, and on a measure of schizotypal personality traits. Consistent with the hypothesis, susceptibility to contagiously yawn was positively related to performance on self-face recognition and faux pas theory of mind stories, and negatively related to schizotypal personality traits. These data suggest that contagious yawning may be associated with empathic aspects of mental state attribution and are negatively affected by increases in schizotypal personality traits much like other self-processing related tasks.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Self-face recognition is affected by schizotypal personality traits.

The right cortical hemisphere appears to be important for processing self-face images and we have hypothesized that self-face processing is compromised in schizophrenia. As a way of testing this hypothesis, we investigated how reaction times to one's own face varied as a function of scores on the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ). Left-hand reaction times to self-face images were positively correlated to scores on the SPQ. In addition, people who scored 20 or below on the SPQ showed shorter reaction times to self-face images than stranger faces when responding with their left-hand, whereas those who scored 21 or above on the SPQ showed a left-hand disadvantage. These results imply that self-face processing in the right hemisphere is impaired in individuals with schizotypal traits. Our data are the first to show that traits associated with a schizophrenic spectrum disorder in a non-clinical population may compromise self-face recognition.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Does semen have antidepressant properties?

In a sample of sexually active college females, condom use, as an indirect measure of the presence of semen in the reproductive tract, was related to scores on the Beck Depression Inventory. Not only were females who were having sex without condoms less depressed, but depressive symptoms and suicide attempts among females who used condoms were proportional to the consistency of condom use. For females who did not use condoms, depression scores went up as the amount of time since their last sexual encounter increased. These data are consistent with the possibility that semen may antagonize depressive symptoms and evidence which shows that the vagina absorbs a number of components of semen that can be detected in the bloodstream within a few hours of administration.

Condoms↗