María Carmen Fernández

Subjective and physiological reactivity to chocolate images in high and low chocolate cravers.

Cue-reactivity to chocolate images was assessed using self-report and physiological measures. From a pre-screening sample of 454, young women were selected and assigned to high and low chocolate craving groups (N = 36/group). The experimental procedure consisted in the elicitation and measurement of the cardiac defense and startle reflexes while viewing chocolate and standard affective images selected from the International Affective Picture System. In response to chocolate images, high cravers reported more pleasure and arousal but less control than low cravers. In high cravers, viewing chocolate images inhibited the cardiac defense but potentiated the startle reflex, as compared to low cravers. The results confirmed at the physiological level that the motivational state that underlies the experience of chocolate craving include both appetitive (inhibition of the defense reflex) and aversive (potentiation of the startle response) components. The findings supported a motivational conflict theory of chocolate craving.

Adaptation of the food-craving questionnaire trait for the assessment of chocolate cravings : Validation across British and Spanish Women

English and Spanish versions of the FCQ-T [Cepeda-Benito, A., Gleaves, D. H., Williams, T. L., & Erath, S. A. (2000). The development and validation of the state and trait food-cravings questionnaires. Behavior Therapy, 31, 151-173] were adapted to create the food chocolate-craving questionnaire trait (FCCQ-T). Female college students from England (N=293), and Spain (N=373) completed the FCCQ-T. Good and similar measurement fits for the English and Spanish versions were found. In concordance with the higher consumption of chocolate in Britain, British women reported greater chocolate cravings than Spanish women. Overall, the FCCQ-T appears a well-suited instrument to investigate chocolate cravings in English- and Spanish-speaking populations.

Sympathetic-parasympathetic mediation of the cardiac defense response in humans.

This paper reports an investigation which examined the sympathetic and/or parasympathetic mediation of the heart rate response to intense auditory stimulation - the cardiac defense response (CDR) - by recording cardiac period (CP) and pulse transit time (PTT) simultaneously. Thirteen subjects underwent a physiological reaction test with a single presentation of a distorted 400-Hz sound of 109 dB, instantaneous rise time and 0.5 s duration. The results regarding the form of the CDR replicated the typical pattern with four components: two accelerative and two decelerative in alternating sequence. As regards CP and PTT changes the only coincidences occurred in the second accelerative and second decelerative components of the response. In the first two components the changes in CP and PTT moved in opposite directions. These results support a description and interpretation of the CDR in terms of both accelerative and decelerative components with both vagal and sympathetic mediation.

Body image preferences of self and others: A comparison of spanish and american male and female college students

Abstract To study cross-cultural differences in various aspects of body image, we examined body size ratings of self, ideal, and ideal opposite sex, and predictions regarding the opposite sex, for men and women in two different cultures, one in which there is a high incidence of eating disorders (the United States) and one in which there is believed to be a lower incidence (Spain). Participants were 240 college students from universities in Spain or the southwest United States. A group-format version of the Body Image Assessment with both female and male silhouettes was administered to all participants. Womens ratings of current and ideal body sizes were very similar across countries, although there was a tendency for American women to be more dissatisfied with their body size. Greater differences were found for men in that, on average, American men wanted to be larger and Spanish men wanted to be smaller. Across countries, mens ratings of their ideal body size were consistent with what they predicted that women found attractive whereas women in both countries wanted to be thinner than what they predicted that men found attractive.

A new look at cardiac defense: Attention or emotion?

The study of cardiac defense has a long tradition in psychological research both within the cognitive approach--linked to Pavlov, Sokolov, and Grahams work on sensory reflexes--and within the motivational one--linked to the work of Cannon and subsequent researchers on the concepts of activation and stress. These two approaches have been difficult to reconcile in the past. We summarize a series of studies on cardiac defense from a different perspective, which allows integration of the traditional approaches. This new perspective emphasizes a sequential process interpretation of the cardiac defense response. Results of descriptive and parametric studies, as well as those of studies examining the physiological and psychological mechanisms underlying the response, show a complex response pattern with both accelerative and decelerative components, with both sympathetic and parasympathetic influences, and with both attentional and emotional significance. The implications of this new look at cardiac defense are discussed in relation to defensive reactions in natural settings, the brain mechanisms controlling such reactions, and their effects on health and illness.

Cognitive and emotional modulation of the cardiac defense response in humans.

The cognitive and emotional modulation of the cardiac defense response was investigated in this study. One hundred forty-four participants were exposed to three presentations of an intense auditory stimulus while performing one of four attentional tasks: a control task, an external perceptual tracking task, and two internal tasks presented at either easy or difficult memory loads. State anxiety was also manipulated by requiring each group to perform either with or without the threat of shock. Heart rate and vasomotor activity were recorded. Results indicated that only the externally directed tracking task led to potentiation of the cardiac response. No predicted effects for attentional demands were obtained and the anxiety manipulation did not appear to have an effect. Differences between measures were also observed, particularly with respect to response habituation. Unlike cardiac activity, vasomotor responses displayed resistance to habituation. The results are discussed in relation to contemporary accounts of defensive responding.

Serum Protein Binding of Tolbutamide in Patients Treated with Antiepileptic Drugs

SummaryThe possible development of a displacement interaction involving tolbutamide, in epileptic patients, has been explored by studying the serum protein binding of this drug in vitro in 199 samples of sera from patients treated with antiepileptic agents included in a programme of therapeutic drug monitoring. 82 of the samples were from patients receiving a single drug, 86 from patients treated with 2 drugs, and 31 from patients treated with 3 drugs. The free fraction of tolbutamide was higher in serum from patients treated with antiepileptic drugs than in serum from untreated ‘normal’ volunteers. The increase was more marked the greater the number of antiepileptic drugs administered. Valproate appeared to be the most powerful displacing agent.

Multilamellar bodies linked to two active plasmalemma regions in the pollen grains of Sarcocapnos pulcherrima

The presence of visible multilamellar bodies in the cytoplasm of pollen grains of at least seven species of the family Papaveraceae has led us to study the behaviour of these bodies during pollen-grain ontogeny and in growing pollen tubes of Sarcocapnos pulcherrima C. Morales & R. Garcia germinated in vitro. Our transmission-electron-microscope (TEM) studies in pollen grains show that the multilamellar bodies may be classified as: 1) small, isolated and placed in the region of apertures in the cytoplasm; and 2) large, in clusters and in contact with the active plasmalemma apertures only when tubules are being formed in the apertural intine. Similar types of multilamellar bodies to those observed in the pollen apertures can be seen near the apex of the growing pollen tube (small and isolated) and in contact with the apex plasmalemma (large and clustered). Our results support the hypothesis that the multilamellar bodies are functionally linked to moments when the cytoplasmic membrane is very active. We have also linked the multilamellar bodies to Golgi vesicles as they both react positively to acid-phosphatase (AP) staining and also to the plasmalemma by the thiocarbohydrazide-silver proteinate-staining (TCH-Sp) electron-contrasting technique.

Modulation of the outcome-related negativity associated with nicotine abstinence.

Cue-reactivity studies have shown that when consumers are exposed to a substance-related stimulus, potential tobacco use contributes significantly to craving and motivational drive. Although the motivational response to cues signaling tobacco availability has been widely studied, less is known about physiological reactivity to perceived cigarette availability. The aim of the present study was to examine the outcome-related negativity (ORN) evoked by stimuli that signal potential tobacco use in abstinent and sated smokers. The ORN is an event-related potential (ERP) component that reflects the emotional and motivational aspects of reward processing and is modulated by motivational value of reward. Thirty-two such smokers performed two distinct and comparable versions of a gambling task, under conditions of abstinence and satiation. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) analysis revealed that ORN amplitude was larger in abstinent than satisfied smokers on those trials in which tobacco could be used. Differences were significant at the Fz electrode (p < .01) and approached significance at the Cz (p = .061) and Pz (p = .059) electrodes. Moreover, ORN amplitude predicted subjective indices of desire and positive effects from smoking, but only in the abstinence condition. These findings suggest that perceived cigarette availability might influence physiological reactivity in smokers who are nicotine deprived. They also suggest that the ORN component may be related to the motivational mechanisms involved in addictive behavior.

Comparative exine development from the post-tetrad stage in the early-divergent lineages of Ranunculales: the genera Euptelea and Pteridophyllum

Studies of pollen wall development produce a great deal of morphological data that supplies useful information regarding taxonomy and systematics. We present the exine development of Euptelea and Pteridophyllum, two taxa whose pollen wall development has never previously been studied using transmission electron microscopy. Both genera are representatives of the two earliest-diverging families of the order Ranunculales and their pollen data are important for the diagnosis of the ancestral pollen features in eudicots. Our observations show these genera are defined by having microechinate microreticulate exine ornamentation, perforate tectum, columellate morphology of the infratectum and the existence of a foot layer and endexine. The presence of lamellations is detected during the early stages of development in the nexine of both genera, especially in the apertures. Euptelea presents remains of the primexine layer during the whole maturation process, a very thin foot layer, and a laminate exinous oncus in the apertural region formed by ectexine and endexine elements. Pteridophyllum has a thicker tectum than Euptelea, a continuous foot layer and a thicker endexine. In the apertures, the exinous oncus is formed by islets and granules of endexine, in contrast to the Euptelea apertures. The secretory tapetum produces orbicules in both genera, but they have different morphology and electron-density. Comparisons with pollen data from related orders and families confirm the ancestral states for the pollen of eudicots proposed in previous studies: reticulate and echinate surfaces, columellate infractectum and a thin foot layer relative to the thickness of the ectexine. According to our observations, we propose considering the possibility of a polymorphic state for the aperture number in the ancestor of Ranunculales, and suggest the development of orbicules as the ancestral state in this order.