Cardiovascular Psychophysiology: Current Issues in Response Mechanisms, Biofeedback and Methodology

by Obrist,Paul A.

• ISBN13: 9780202361468
• ISBN10: 0202361462
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2007-12-30
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

The literature relating to the learned control of autonomic processes, especially cardiovascular processes demonstrating that the activities of visceral response systems may be modified by operant reinforcement and biofeedback procedures, has grown exponentially. This research seems to show behavioral properties in the cardiovascular system that were previously believed to be exclusive attributes of the somatic response systems; the implications of this for possible therapeutic use have received widespread publicity. Questions remained unanswered-about the nature of "voluntary" control and the conditions necessary for establishing it, the reciprocal effects of conditioned changes in cardiovascular and psychological or behavioral functioning, the use of cardiovascular events to index behavioral states, and the principles and techniques whereby operant conditioning of the cardiovascular system can be clinically applied.

Table of Contents

Contributors	p. ix
Introduction	p. xi
Cardiovascular Function and Measurement	p. 3
Mechanisms of the Cardiovascular Responses to Environmental Stressors	p. 5
A Selective Review of Central Neural Pathways Involved in Cardiovascular Control	p. 33
Psychophysiology of Peripheral Vascular Changes	p. 60
Indirect Indices of Contractile Force	p. 85
The Indirect Recording of Human Blood Pressure	p. 93
Techniques for Long-term Measurements of Cardiovascular Variables	p. 106
Cardiovascular Function-Experimental Studies	p. 115
Analysis of the Final Common Path for Heart Rate Conditioning	p. 117
The Cardiac-Somatic Interaction	p. 136
Comparative Psychophysiology of the Electrodermal and Cardiac Control Systems	p. 163
The Relationship Between Learned and Unlearned Cardiovascular Responses	p. 190
Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Activity During Behavioral Hypertension in the Squirrel Monkey	p. 211
Animal Operant Conditioning	p. 227
Operant Autonomic Conditioning: The Analysis of Response Mechanisms	p. 229
Respiratory and Somatomotor Factors Associated with Operant Conditioning of Cardiovascular Responses in Curarized Rats	p. 251
Some Critical Methodological Variables Involved in Visceral Learning	p. 276
The Learning of Autonomic Responses by Curarized Animals	p. 295
Visceral Learning: Recent Difficulties with Curarized Rats and Significant Problems for Human Research	p. 312
Comparative Studies of Operant Electrodermal and Heart Rate Conditioning in Curarized Rats	p. 332
Some Problems in the Use of Neuromuscular Blockade	p. 353
Human Operant Conditioning	p. 363
A General Model of Voluntary Control Applied to the Phenomena of Learned Cardiovascular Change	p. 365
Learned Control of Human Heart Rate in a Computer Directed Environment	p. 392
Toward a Theory of Voluntary Control of Response Patterns in the Cardiovascular System	p. 406
Operant-Feedback Control of Human Blood Pressure: Some Clinical Issues	p. 441
Application of Operant Conditioning Techniques to the Control of the Cardiac Arrhythmias	p. 456
Heart Rate-Attentional and Motivational Processess	p. 477
Cardiac Conditioning and Orienting in the Infant	p. 479
The Motivational Significance of Heart Rate	p. 505
Studies of Heart Rate and Other Bodily Processes in Sensorimotor Behavior	p. 538
Summary	p. 565
Bibliography	p. 593
Subject Index	p. 647
Author Index	p. 659
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