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Biomedical subjects

O B Scholz

Publications and source records attributed to O B Scholz.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Proprioception in somatoform disorders.

20 patients with somatoform disorders as defined by DSM-IV and 20 healthy controls were examined for their proprioception. Several psychophysiological theories of somatoform disorders suggest biased proprioceptive abilities. The primary question is, whether we may find an inaccurate myogen perception in somatization as suggested by the approach of Bischoff or a more precise proprioception as may be derived from concepts of a higher awareness of body reactions. Furthermore it is expected, that somatoform patients perceive their muscle tension more intensely than do healthy subjects. Proprioceptive abilities were tested using a visual EMG biofeedback task. Resulting objective data and subjective ratings were analyzed within a psychophysiological regression approach which allows one to estimate the reliability, precision and intensity of proprioception. Results revealed that somatoform subjects demonstrated a more precise but not a more intense perception of muscle tension than did healthy controls.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Implicit memory for auditorily presented threatening stimuli: a process-dissociation approach.

The investigation of unconscious cognition involves especially problems with the methodology of measuring implicit and explicit proportions of different task performances. In this study the process dissociation procedure of Jacoby and its modification within the multinomial modelling framework for an indirect word-nonword-discrimination task is applied to a sample of 45 healthy students. The paradigm includes acoustically presented stimuli. During a learning phase, subjects listened to a series of neutral and threatening words. Performance was tested by letting subjects decide whether a presented stimulus (masked with white noise at signal-noise ratio of -17 dB or unmasked) had been a word or a nonword. Within this paradigm, implicit cognition occurs when (a) a word is more probably correctly recognized as "word" after presentation during the learning phase (typical priming effect) or when (b) a nonword derived from a word is more probably falsely recognized as "word" after its corresponding word had been presented during the learning phase (effect of implicit cognition given perceptual fluency). Frequencies for hits and false alarms were analyzed within the multinomial model which allows estimating parameters for the correct discrimination of words (c), the response bias (b), the classical priming effect (u1), and the parameter for the priming effect of "old" nonwords (u2). Under masked stimuli the multinomial model showed implicit cognition, an effect not equally found for neutral and threatening words. Threatening words exhibited a significantly higher portion of implicit cognition than neutral ones. Given the statistical complexity of multinomial models, the application of this method was explained in detail.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1997

Relevance of muscular sensitivity, muscular activity, and cognitive variables for pain reduction associated with EMG biofeedback in fibromyalgia.

18 patients suffering from primary fibromyalgia received nine training sessions using EMG biofeedback over a period of four weeks. Pre- and posttreatment measurement of the baseline EMG activity of the trapezius, muscular sensitivity, and cognitive variables (helplessness and belief of control) were taken. Analysis indicated a significant reduction occurred in general intensity of pain and in EMG activity as well as a significant increase in muscular sensitivity. Multiple regression analyses indicated that the increase in muscular sensitivity correlated with the decrease of EMG activity in the trapezius baseline. Self-reported pain reduction was predicted by a change in cognitive variables.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

[Evaluating the validity of short witness reports using behavioral and psychophysiologic parameters].

Within the context of credibility assessment, the impact of behavioral and physiological adaptation and response patterns of truly and falsely testifying eyewitnesses was examined in a laboratory study. It was further examined statements concerning characteristics of the delict and the experimental situation itself. 20 subjects were instructed to truly or falsely testify after having witnessed a willful destruction. Eye movements, respiration, heart rate and skin conductance were recorded and analyzed by computer. Witnesses instructed to falsely testify showed elevated skin conductance responses and an increased variability of horizontal eye movements at the beginning of the session. Additionally, they also showed stronger responses in eye-blink rate, respiration rate and variability of skin conductance and heart rate to questions related to the behavior in the experimental situation. Reactivity to questions concerning the culprit was less pronounced. Results are discussed in terms of their application within the German law system.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Functional irregularities of short-term and long-term memory storage in patients with Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease.

Memory performance of Parkinson's disease patients (PD patients). Huntington's disease patients (HD patients) and healthy subjects were compared by a single-trial free recall task following the presentation of a stimulus list consisting of 30 nouns. The patient groups were categorized according to the severity of the disease into mild, moderate, and severe. Healthy subjects reproduced significantly more words than PD and HD patients, while the two patient groups did not differ in the total number of words reproduced. The differences between healthy and demented subjects are attributed to the impaired functional capacity of long-term memory; there were significant differences between healthy subjects and patients as well as between PD and HD patients. When taking the severity of the disease into consideration, varied influence on the capacity of long-term memory for PD and HD patients was found. Concerning short-term memory, neither a difference between healthy subjects and patients nor between both patient groups could be established. An effect of the severity of the disease could not be proven.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1988

[Marital, family and sexual therapy with special reference to cognitive behavioral orientation].

This paper gives a review of relevant details characterizing procedures in marital and family therapy. They are described by means of "coalition strivings of therapy's participants", "reciprocal attribution of faults", "therapeutic motivation", "resistance" and "expectations to the therapy". In the main chapter, frequently discussed and applied concepts of marital and family therapy are systematized and illustrated by selected examples whereby a cognitive-behavioral perspective is dominating. In presenting intervention methods of marital therapy, especially operative procedures are discussed. In an excursus, a sexual therapeutic strategy as specification of marital therapeutic treatment goals is described. Finally, the author refers to organizational aspects of particular therapeutic sessions and to the rationale of therapist's behavior.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1987

[Stress and acne].

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Acne Vulgaris↗
PubMed1987

Impact of chronic pain on the spouse: marital, emotional and physical consequences.

The effects of chronic illness on marital relationships and the spouses' emotional and physical health were examined in chronic pain patients, their spouses, and a control sample of spouses of diabetic patients. Results indicated that pain patients and their spouses experienced considerable change in marital and sexual satisfaction. Patients with better marital adjustment also reported higher overall pain levels and had more solicitous and maritally satisfied spouses. Spouses' marital adjustment was positively associated with patients' marital satisfaction and spouses' own mood. Spouses' dysphoric mood was related to patients' negative appraisal of the pain experience, spouses' perceived lack of life control, and spouses' marital dissatisfaction. Although spouses of chronic pain patients showed no more physical symptoms than spouses of diabetics, they reported significantly more pain symptoms that were related to elevated levels of depressed mood. The results indicate that not only is chronic pain associated with problems in the marital relationship but heightened distress and physical symptoms in spouses as well. These effects are related less to the existence of a chronic pain problem per se but rather to patients' and spouses' manner of coping with the situation.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1987

Memory performance in Huntington's disease.

In this study the influence of special memory tasks, the effect of cues and the influence of the severity of the disease on the performance of short-term memory of patients suffering from Huntington's disease was examined. Stimulus material consisted of 30 nouns for reproduction and 20 nouns to be subsumed to 5 categories. Depending on experimental condition, assistance was given or withheld. 16 healthy subjects and 48 patients suffering from Huntington's disease took part in the study. Between these groups there was a significant effect of the factor "memory task." Furthermore, it could be demonstrated that the performance level decreases and differences between individuals increase with increasing severity of the disease. There was no significant effect of the factor "cues."

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Memory characteristics in Parkinson's disease.

With regard to Parkinson's disease there are contradictory opinions concerning whether the severity of the disease, the patient's age, or the application of aids influence the patient's short term memory. In a 4 X 2 X 2 semifactorial design these conditions were tested on 24 healthy persons and 72 patients suffering from Parkinson's disease. The stimulus material consisted of 30 nouns belonging to 6 categories. The severity of the disease, the age of the patients, and the interaction between severity and assistance determined conditions of the patient's memory achievement.

Aged↗
PubMed1984

Effects of high and low dosage of haloperidol on the brain in relation to schizophrenic thought disorder.

The drug difference between a low and a high dosage of haloperidol was investigated in 40 acutely ill schizophrenic patients. All patients were classified as being thought disordered or non-thought disordered schizophrenic using psychometric methods. From the pool of 40 patients two groups were randomly chosen for the double-blind study, one group receiving 80 mg of liquid haloperidol daily, the other group 16 mg of liquid haloperidol daily. On 5 days during the 21-day treatment the psychopathological state of the patient was evaluated by means of the AMDP system.

Hallucinations↗
PubMed1980

[Crisis-phenomena of couples in the second half of life (author's transl)].

In the introduction a literature-review has been presented concerning current discussions about marriage problems and their influence on the duration of marriage. It has been shown that a clear differentiation between disturbed and non-disturbed couples in the second half of life is as difficult as a differentiation between disturbed couples of different age. Both problems were discussed in the present investigation. For this purpose a symptom-check-list of martial diseases has been developed on a psychometric basis measuring 16 groups of martial diseases. This symptom-check-list was applied to 115 couples (non-disturbed and disturbed couples in the second half of life and disturbed couples in the first half of life). The individual answers were combined to dyadic answers; the mean-profiles of the three groups were summarized in one figure and were statistically analysed using a discriminance-analysis. In comparison to nondisturbed couples disturbed couples in the second half of life show a deficit of appreciation and of talking to each other and also differ with respect to their aims or expectations towards marriage. In comparison to couples in the first half of life disturbed couples in the second half of life have more problems concerning appreciation and the relation to their children. But they have comparatively less problems in the relation to their parents or relatives and in their professions. The results were discussed under the aspect of a clinical psychology of the second half of life and were discussed under the aspect of the possibility of their theoretical integration.

Aged↗