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Biomedical subjects

I Kirsch

Publications and source records attributed to I Kirsch.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2007

Pivot appliances - is there a distractive effect on the temporomandibular joint?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the distractive effect of posterior occlusal pivots on the temporomandibular joint. The study comprised 23 healthy subjects. None of them had a third molar and none of them had a missing tooth or showed tooth mobility. All subjects clenched (i) on 1 mm tin foil positioned between the teeth 17/47 and 27/37; (ii) on a stiff bite registration material of 1 mm thickness that prevented protrusion because of its bold occlusal relief. During clenching on the tin foil and on the protrusion preventing bite registration material, respectively, the vertical and horizontal condylar position was measured using a 6 d.f. ultrasonic motion analyser. Clenching with maximal force on the tin foil lead to a noticeable anterior downward directed movement of the condyle. Clenching on the protrusion preventing pivot, however, caused a statistically significant upward condylar movement of about 0.3 mm. These results indicate that occlusal pivots have no distractive effect on the temporomandibular joint but can lead to unwanted joint compression, if they are designed in a way that is preventing protrusion.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Impact of posterior occlusal support on the condylar position.

The purpose of this study was to investigate condylar displacement related to the loss of posterior occlusal support. Each of 23 subjects received one occlusal adjusted splint that covered all teeth from the right to the left second mandibular molar. None of the subjects had a third molar and none of them had a missing tooth or showed tooth mobility. The splint was inserted and vertical and horizontal condylar position was measured by an ultrasonic motion analyser. The splint was then unilateraly shortened tooth-by-tooth up to the canine tooth and the measurement was repeated after each shortening. Cutting off the splint's second molar on one side lead to a slight ipsilateral cranial motion of the condyle if subjects clenched with maximum voluntary force. If the second and first molar were cut off, a noticeable cranial condylar movement of about 0.3 mm was observed even when teeth occluded with low force. These results suggest that loss of posterior occlusal support as it happens in routine oral rehabilitation leads to a noticeable cranial condyle movement during registration, even if the clenching force is low.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

St John's wort, conventional medication, and placebo: an egregious double standard.

The efficacy of antidepressant medication is generally thought to be well established, whereas that of hypericum (St John's wort) is considered doubtful. The data fail to support these discrepant conclusions. Instead they show that hypericum and conventional antidepressants are equally effective (or ineffective). This suggests that different standards are being used to evaluate the two types of treatment.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed2002

The genomic structure, chromosomal localization, and analysis of SIL as a candidate gene for holoprosencephaly.

Holoprosencephaly (HPE) is the most common congenital malformation of the brain and face in humans. In this study we report the analysis of SIL (Sumacr;CL iumacr;nterrupting lumacr;ocus) as a candidate gene for HPE. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis using a BAC 246e16 confirmed the assignment of SIL to 1p32. Computational analysis of SIL at the protein level revealed a 73% overall identity between the human and murine proteins. Denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (dHPLC) techniques were used to screen for mutations and these studies identified several common polymorphisms but no disease-associated mutations, suggesting that SIL is not a common factor in HPE pathogenesis in humans.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2001

Germline and somatic mutation analyses in the DNA mismatch repair gene MLH3: Evidence for somatic mutation in colorectal cancers.

DNA mismatch repair is of considerable scientific and medical importance because of its essential role in maintaining genomic integrity, and its association with hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer (HNPCC). Germline mutations in five mismatch repair genes (MLH1, MSH2, PMS1, PMS2, and MSH6) have been associated with HNPCC susceptibility. Our laboratory recently identified MLH3, a novel DNA mismatch repair gene. We screened the MLH3 coding sequence in 60 probands with increased genetic risk factors for colorectal cancer susceptibility and no mutations in the other candidate genes. No definite MLH3 germline mutations were found. We subsequently screened 36 colon tumors, and discovered an appreciable frequency of somatic MLH3 coding mutations in MSI-H tumors (25%). In four of six tumors, evidence of biallelic inactivation was noted. Furthermore, MLH3 nonsense mutations were identified in two of 12 microsatellite stable (MSS) tumors with 14q24 loss of heterozygosity. While our analyses do not exclude the existence of germline MLH3 mutations in patients with increased genetic risk factors for colorectal cancer susceptibility, they suggest such mutations are uncommon in this patient population. The finding of an appreciable frequency of somatic MLH3 mutations is consistent with a possible role for this gene in the progression of colorectal cancer tumorigenesis. Hum Mutat 17:389-396, 2001. Published 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗
PubMed2001

Catastrophizing, depression and expectancies for pain and emotional distress.

The present research addressed the relation between catastrophizing, depression and response expectancies in anticipation of an experimental pain procedure. One hundred and twenty undergraduates (48 men, 72 women) participated in exchange for course credit. Prior to immersing one arm in a container of ice water, participants were asked to complete measures of catastrophizing and depression, and to estimate the degree of pain and emotional distress they expected to experience. After a 1-min immersion, participants rated their actual experience. Pain expectancies partially mediated the relation between catastrophizing and pain experience. Pain expectancies also mediated the relation between depression and pain experience. Catastrophizing, but not depression, was associated with a tendency to underestimate pain and emotional distress. The implications of these findings for the conceptual distinctiveness of catastrophizing and depression are discussed. Discussion also examines the potential implications of the present findings for pain management interventions.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

The response set theory of hypnosis: expectancy and physiology.

A recent exposition of the response set theory of hypnosis (Kirsch, 2000) contained incorrect and misleading figures. The correct figures illustrated a complementary relation between mental and physiological phenomena. The figures as published erroneously suggested that the author espoused epiphenomenalism. As shown in this corrected version, Kirsch proposes that mind states and body states be considered as two ways of viewing a single psychophysiological phenomenon.

Arousal↗
PubMed2001

Changing beliefs about implausible autobiographical events: a little plausibility goes a long way.

Three experiments investigated the malleability of perceived plausibility and the subjective likelihood of occurrence of plausible and implausible events among participants who had no recollection of experiencing them. In Experiment 1, a plausibility-enhancing manipulation (reading accounts of the occurrence of events) combined with a personalized suggestion increased the perceived plausibility of the implausible event, as well as participants' ratings of the likelihood that they had experienced it. Plausibility and likelihood ratings were uncorrelated. Subsequent studies showed that the plausibility manipulation alone was sufficient to increase likelihood ratings but only if the accounts that participants read were set in a contemporary context. These data suggest that false autobiographical beliefs can be induced in clinical and forensic contexts even for initially implausible events.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Hypnosis as an empirically supported clinical intervention: the state of the evidence and a look to the future.

Drawing on the literature reviews of this special issue of the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis (2000), this article summarizes the evidence for the effectiveness of hypnosis as an empirically supported clinical intervention. As a whole, the clinical research to date generally substantiates the claim that hypnotic procedures can ameliorate some psychological and medical conditions, as judged against the Chambless and Hollon methodological guidelines. In many cases, these clinical procedures can also be quite cost-effective. It is probable that with some key empirical refinement a number of other hypnosis treatment protocols will have sufficient empirical documentation to be considered "well-established." However, it is noted that the Chambless and Hollon guidelines are not particularly well-suited for assessing hypnosis' impact when used adjunctly with other interventions. The article concludes with recommendations regarding the efficacy questions that need to be more fully addressed empirically and offers methodological guidelines for researchers and practitioners.

Anxiety↗
PubMed2000

Suggestion difficulty as a hypothesized moderator of the relation between absorption and suggestibility: a new spectral analysis.

Measures of hypnotic suggestibility and absorption were administered to 146 participants in the guise of different experiments. A spectral analysis was performed by correlating the difficulty of individual hypnotic suggestions with the magnitude of the association between suggestions and absorption. Contrary to the two-component model, absorption was not more highly correlated with passing difficult suggestions than easier suggestions. This was confirmed by a meta-analysis of this and other spectral analysis studies. In addition, cross-study correlations revealed that the magnitude of the association between absorption and individual suggestions is highly variable, rendering the two-component model very difficult to test. These findings indicate that discrepant results in previous spectral analyses may have been due to low reliability of associations with individual scale items, as well as the relatively small number of correlations that constitute the raw data of these analyses.

Female↗
PubMed2000

Coping-related expectancies and dispositions as prospective predictors of coping responses and symptoms.

We used Rotter's (1954, 1982) social learning theory and Kirsch's (1985, 1999) response expectancy extension thereof to clarify distinctions between coping-related expectancies (beliefs about the outcomes of coping efforts) and coping dispositions (tendencies to use particular coping responses), specifically focusing on the role of generalized expectancies for negative mood regulation (NMR) as a predictor of individual differences in coping and well-being. Two studies using structural equation modeling provided support for direct and indirect associations between NMR expectancies and symptoms of depression. In Study 1 NMR expectancies predicted situational avoidance coping responses and symptoms of depression and anxiety, independent of dispositional avoidance coping tendencies. In Study 2, NMR expectancies were associated with depressive symptoms, concurrently and prospectively, independent of dispositional optimism and pessimism. Both studies indicated that NMR expectancies are more strongly associated with depressive symptoms than with symptoms of anxiety and physical illness. Results underscore the importance of distinguishing between expectancies and other personality variables related to coping.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1999

An analysis of factors that contribute to the magnitude of placebo analgesia in an experimental paradigm.

Placebo analgesia was produced by conditioning trials wherein heat induced experimental pain was surreptitiously reduced in order to test psychological factors of expectancy and desire for pain reduction as possible mediators of placebo analgesia. The magnitudes of placebo effects were assessed after these conditioning trials and during trials wherein stimulus intensities were reestablished to original baseline levels. In addition, analyses were made of the influence of these psychological factors on concurrently assessed pain and remembered pain intensities. Statistically reliable placebo effects on sensory and affective measures of pain were graded according to the extent of surreptitious lowering of stimulus strength during the manipulation trials, consistent with conditioning. However, all of these effects were strongly associated with expectancy but not desire for relief. These results show that although conditioning may be sufficient for placebo analgesia, it is likely to be mediated by expectancy. The results further demonstrated that placebo effects based on remembered pain were 3 to 4 times greater than those based on concurrently assessed placebo effects, primarily because baseline pain was remembered as being much more intense than it actually was. However, similar to concurrent placebo effects, remembered placebo effects were strongly associated with expected pain levels that occurred just after conditioning. Taken together, these results suggest that magnitudes of placebo effect are dependent on multiple factors, including conditioning, expectancy, and whether analgesia is assessed concurrently or retrospectively.

Administration, Topical↗
PubMed1999

Automaticity in clinical psychology.

The authors provide an overview of the literature on the ability of response expectancies to elicit automatic responses in the form of self-fulfilling prophecies and link it to the broader psychological investigation of automatic processes. The authors review 3 areas of research in which response expectancies have been shown to affect experience, behavior, and physiology: placebo effects, the effects of false biofeedback on sexual arousal, and the alteration of perceptual and cognitive functions by hypnotic and nonhypnotic suggestion. Also reviewed are data suggesting that all behavior, including novel and intentional behavior, is initiated automatically. Following this review, the authors summarize some of the ways in which knowledge of response expectancy effects and other automatic processes that influence experience and behavior can enhance clinical practice.

Biofeedback, Psychology↗
PubMed1999

Imaginative suggestibility and hypnotizability: an empirical analysis.

Hypnotic and nonhypnotic suggestibility were investigated in 2 experiments. In Experiment 1, nonhypnotic suggestibility was suppressed when measured after hypnotic suggestibility, whereas hypnotic suggestibility was not affected by the order of assessment. Experiment 2 confirmed a small but significant effect of hypnosis on suggestibility when nonhypnotic suggestibility was measured first. Nonhypnotic suggestibility was correlated with absorption, fantasy proneness, motivation, and response expectancy, but only expectancy predicted suggestibility when the other variables were controlled. Behavioral response to hypnosis was predicted by nonhypnotic suggestibility, motivation, and expectancy in a model accounting for 53% of the variance. Experiential response to hypnotic suggestion was predicted only by nonhypnotic suggestibility. Unexpectedly, hypnosis was found to decrease suggestibility for a substantial minority of participants.

Adolescent↗