Biomedical subjects

O Van Den Bergh

Publications and source records attributed to O Van Den Bergh.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Critical conditions for hyperventilation responses. The role of autonomic response propositions during emotional imagery.

Hyperventilation is often conceived of as part of a fight-or-flight response, triggered by situations with high arousal and negative valence. However, a previous study using emotional imagery found hyperventilation responses during imagery of high-arousal scenes regardless of their valence. Those imagery scripts contained suggestions of autonomic activity, which may have partly induced or enhanced the hyperventilatory responsivity. The present study used four emotional scripts--depicting relaxing, fearful, depressive, and pleasant situations--without suggestions of autonomic or respiratory responses. After each imagery trial, participants rated their imagery for valence, arousal, and vividness. Fractional end-tidal carbon dioxide (FetCO2), inspiratory and expiratory time, tidal volume, and pulse rate were measured in a non-intrusive way. Results showed significant FetCO2 drops during the fearful and pleasant scripts. However, this effect was much smaller compared to imagery scripts with autonomic response propositions. Participants imagining scripts without autonomic response information found it harder to imagine the scripts vividly and reported lower levels of subjective arousal.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

Asthma symptoms: influence of personality versus clinical status.

The hypothesis that symptom-reporting in asthmatics does not necessarily correspond with clinical status, but is related to negative affectivity was investigated. One hundred and sixteen asthmatic patients filled out the Asthma Symptom Checklist (ASC), the Negative Emotionality Scale (NEM), and the McMaster-Asthma Quality-of-Life Questionnaire (AQLQ). The patients were grouped as either hospitalized, outpatient previously hospitalized or outpatient not previously hospitalized for asthma. Lung function data and Asthma Severity Scores (ASS) were also collected. The hospitalized group was retested after 3 months. The hospitalized group had lower AQLQ scores, higher ASS scores and worse lung function than both outpatient groups. However, the hospitalized group and the outpatients previously hospitalized group had higher ASC scores and NEM scores than the outpatients not previously hospitalized group. After discharge, when the hospitalized group had become clinically stable, their ASC and NEM scores remained comparable to those of the outpatient previously hospitalized group. Symptom-reporting in asthmatics is not necessarily in accordance with clinical status, but may be directly or indirectly mediated by personality, such as negative affectivity.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Acquired affective-evaluative value: conservative but not unchangeable.

In a previous study on Evaluative Conditioning it was found that unlike signal-learning, evaluative learning is resistant to extinction. In the present experiment we tried to replicate and corroborate this finding. In addition, we investigated the effectiveness of a counterconditioning procedure to alter acquired evaluative value. On a within-subject base (n = 30), it was found that the mere contingent presentation of neutral with (dis)liked pictures of human faces was sufficient to change the affective-evaluative tone of the originally neutral stimuli in (negative) positive direction. Next, we replicated the finding that an extinction procedure does not have any influence on the acquired evaluative value of the originally neutral stimuli, and this even in subjects fully aware of the extinction presentations. We demonstrated the effectiveness of a counterconditioning procedure to alter acquired evaluative value, and in addition, found some evidence that awareness of the counterconditioning manipulations is not a prerequisite for its effectiveness. The theoretical consequences of these findings are phrased in terms of a fundamental distinction between signal-learning and evaluative learning, and some important implications for the behavioral treatment of affective-emotional disorders are suggested.

Cognition↗