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Biomedical subjects

W H Rickles

Publications and source records attributed to W H Rickles.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1980

Comparison of four biofeedback treatments for migraine headache: physiological and headache variables.

Forty-two migraine headache patients participated in an appraisal of biofeedback for differential finger warming--forehead cooling, frontalis EMG relaxation, alpha enhancement and vasoconstriction of the temporal scalp arteries. All patients provided 8 weeks of baseline charting of headache and then received 24 training sessions in one of the above conditions. Headache charting continued throughout training and for 8 months posttraining. During the training period measures were made of each biofeedback variable plus forehead temperature, heart rate, skin conductance, and finger pulse amplitude. Analyses revealed that all groups had a significant reduction in number of headaches per week with no change in intensity, disability or length of headache. Physiological changes were consistently small and unrelated to headache outcome. A nonspecific effect for biofeedback is suggested with the likely candidates being a relaxation phenomenon or a cognitive explanation based upon perceived control.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Evidence for physiological response stereotypy in migraine headache.

Several biological theories of psychosomatic disorders predict that susceptible individuals will have stereotypic physiological responses to stress. This hypothesis was tested in a sample of 13 migraine headache subjects by observing their head and hand temperature, frontal electromyography (EMG), heart rate, skin conductance level, and finger pulse amplitude under the conditions of rest, orienting to a tone, time estimation, reaction time, and mental arithmetic. Thirteen nonheadache cohorts served as a control group. For the migraine group, analyses of variance revealed significantly warmer head and hand temperatures and lower frontal EMG. Range-corrected data, which allow comparisons among the physiological measures, showed the migraine group to have a more stereotypic response pattern across tasks. Discriminant analyses, using both untransformed and range-corrected data made excellent post-dictions of group membership.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1976

Electromyographic biofeedback for relief of tension in the facial and throat muscles of a woodwind musician.

Electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback, for the relaxation of specific throat and facial muscles, was given to a woodwind musician. The patient had a nineteen-year history of tics and high levels of tension in his throat and facial muscles. Eventurally these problems progressed to a point that interfered with his ability to perform as a professional woodwind musician. Following detoxification from alcohol and Dexamyl, and after a period of psychotherapy, EMG biofeedback relaxation training was started for the muscles specifically showing chronically high tension levels. The EMG training consisted of four phases designed to help the patient progressively lower tension and generalize these newly learned techniques to his professional life. He had a total of twenty treatments of approximately 45 minutes each. This procedure resulted in dramatic reductions in tension levels of the specific throat and facial muscles along with increased proficiency as a musician and in psychological functioning.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Marijuana influenced changes in GSR activation peaking during paired-associate learning.

Activation Peaking (AP) refers to a patterned physiological response occurring during learning. Marijuana has been found to interfere with both paired-associate learning and phasic GSR activity. Therefore, a study was performed to assess the effects of marijuana intoxication on paired-associate learning and concomitant GSR AP. Two marijuana usage categories were employed--light and heavy usage Ss. Within each category four groups were run in a design to test state-dependent effects. Each S was seen twice with a seven-day inter-session interval. The groups were P-P, P-M, M-M and P-M with P equals placebo and M equals 14 mg delta-9 THC. At each sessions S learned a nine-word paired-associate list to a criterion of one correct recitation, and then received 100 percent overlearning. No usage or group differences were found in level of basal conductance, except lights showed habituation over sessions and heavies did not. Magnitude of phasic GSR activation, aligned for AP, was significantly reduced for both heavy usage and marijuana intoxicated Ss. Also, only on placebo days was an AP effect evident. The results were discussed in terms of marijuana's effects on learning and physiology with emphasis on possible mechanisms of action.

Adolescent↗