Biomedical subjects

Immacolata Cacace

Publications and source records attributed to Immacolata Cacace.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Neuroticism-Anxiety, Impulsive-Sensation Seeking and autonomic responses to somatosensory stimuli.

This study focused on autonomic responding in participants who scored high vs. low on the Neuroticism-Anxiety (N-Anx) and Impulsive-Sensation Seeking (Imp-SS) dimensions of the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire--Form III. Participants were presented with series of tones (standards, deviants and novels) and they received a mild electric shock (one, two or three pulses) at each 15th tone. Resting pre-stimulus skin conductance level (SCL) and heart rate (HR) level was recorded, as well as the skin conductance response (SCR) and (anticipatory) HR response to the electric stimuli. The autonomic measures differentiated between high- vs. low Imp-SS participants but failed to discriminate between high- vs. low N-Anx participants, with the exception that high N-Anx participants showed smaller SCRs on some trials compared to the low N-Anx participants. High Imp-SS had a lower pre-stimulus SCL and smaller SCRs to deviant stimuli compared to low Imp-SS participants. Additionally, their HR acceleration was smaller in anticipation of the first and the deviant tones whereas their deceleratory response was larger relative to the HR changes observed for the low Imp-SS participants. This pattern of findings was taken to suggest that high Imp-SS participants are more arousable and less prone to defensive reactions to novel or aversive stimulation.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Pain perception, obstructive imagery and phase-ordered gamma oscillations.

The neural mechanisms underlying pain perception and anti-nociceptive effects of mental imagery are not well understood. Using a measure of phase-ordered beta and gamma EEG oscillations in response to painful electric stimulation, we recently found that somatosensory event-related phase-ordered gamma oscillations (38-42 Hz), elicited by the onset of painful stimuli over Cz scalp site, were linearly related to pain perception. In the present study, 38 subjects were engaged in a painful stimulus detection task using an oddball paradigm. This task was performed under a condition in which subjects were required simply to count the number of target stimuli (pain condition) and under another condition in which subjects were required to produce an obstructive mental imagery of painful stimulus perception (obstructive imagery). Only EEG responses to standard stimuli were analyzed in this study. Correlation analysis of sweeps for each individual revealed brief intervals of phase ordering of EEG patterns in the beta and gamma bands. The frequencies of interest were the beta1 (26-30 Hz), beta2 (30-34 Hz), gamma1 (34-38 Hz), gamma2 (38-42 Hz) and gamma3 (42-46 Hz) bands. Obstructive imagery treatment, compared to pain condition, significantly reduced pain perception. This reduction was paralleled by significant decreases of evoked phase-ordered gamma2 and gamma3 patterns over Cz scalp site. Phase-ordered oscillations at Cz scalp site, for both gamma2 and gamma3 bands, significantly predicted pain ratings during pain condition. Phase-ordered oscillation scores, obtained for these gamma bands over parietal and frontal scalp sites, resulted the best predictor of pain ratings during obstructive imagery. This study provides evidence for the role of gamma oscillations in the subjective experience of pain. Further, it has provided support for the view that pain reduction during obstructive mental imagery is the product of an inhibitory process involving frontal and parietal cortical regions.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Perception and modulation of pain in waking and hypnosis: functional significance of phase-ordered gamma oscillations.

Somatosensory event-related phase-ordered gamma oscillations (40-Hz) to electric painful standard stimuli under an odd-ball paradigm were analyzed in 13 high, 13 medium, and 12 low hypnotizable subjects during waking, hypnosis, and post-hypnosis conditions. During these conditions, subjects received a suggestion of Focused Analgesia to produce an obstructive hallucination of stimulus perception; a No-Analgesia treatment served as a control. After hypnosis, a post-hypnotic suggestion was given to draw waking subjects into a deep hypnosis with opened eyes. High hypnotizables, compared to medium and low ones, experienced significant pain and distress reductions for Focused Analgesia during hypnosis and, to a greater extent, during post-hypnosis condition. Correlational analysis of EEG sweeps of each individual revealed brief intervals of phase ordering of gamma patterns, preceding and following stimulus onset, lasting approximately six periods. High and medium hypnotizable subjects showed significant reductions in phase-ordered gamma patterns for Focused Analgesia during hypnosis and post-hypnosis conditions; this effect was found, however, more pronounced in high hypnotizable subjects. Phase-ordered gamma scores over central scalp site predicted subject pain ratings across Waking-Pain and Waking-Analgesia conditions, while phase-ordered gamma scores over frontal scalp site predicted pain ratings during post-hypnosis analgesia condition. During waking conditions, this relationship was present in high, low and medium hypnotizable subjects and was independent of stimulus intensity measures. This relationship was unchanged by hypnosis induction in the low hypnotizable subjects, but not present in the high and medium ones during hypnosis, suggesting that hypnosis interferes with phase-ordered gamma and pain relationship.

Adult↗