john herr psychologist los gatos saratoga california

On Sabbatical

National Library of Medicine: IGM Full Record Screen

Help Log off IGM
Next Record Return to Results Return to Search Screen Previous Record




TITLE: Vagal activity predicts eyeblink conditioning in human subjects.
AUTHOR: Tapp W; Servatius R; Hunt J; Powell DA
AUTHOR AFFILIATION: VA Medical Centre, East Orange, NJ, USA.
SOURCE: Neuroreport 1997 Mar 24;8(5):1203-7
NLM CIT. ID: 97318131
ABSTRACT: A group of old (mean age 73 years) and young (mean age 19.8 years) human subjects received concomitant eyeblink and heart rate classical conditioning, in which a 1000 Hz tone was the conditioning stimulus and a corneal airpuff was the unconditioned stimulus. Fewer old than young subjects showed eyeblink conditioning and age greatly attenuated the magnitude of the brady-cardiac conditioned heart rate response. The heart rate conditioned response was also significantly smaller in the subjects who failed to show eyeblink conditioning regardless of age, suggesting a relationship between parasympathetic cardiac control and somatomotor learning. The power associated with the respiratory peak in the heart rate spectrum, which is vagal in origin, was also smaller in subjects that failed to show eyeblink conditioning, again suggesting a relationship between parasympathetic cardiac activity and motor learning.
MAIN MESH SUBJECTS: Aging/*PHYSIOLOGY/PSYCHOLOGY
Blinking/*PHYSIOLOGY
Conditioning, Classical/*PHYSIOLOGY
Heart Rate/*PHYSIOLOGY
Vagus Nerve/*PHYSIOLOGY
ADDITIONAL MESH SUBJECTS: Adolescence
Adult
Aged
Human
Logistic Models
Reference Values
Regression Analysis
Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
PUBLICATION TYPES: CLINICAL TRIAL
CONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIAL
JOURNAL ARTICLE
LANGUAGE: Eng

Help Log off IGM
Next Record Return to Results Return to Search Screen Previous Record


On Sabbatical!

When my office lease expired at the end of 2004, I decided to turn it into a "sabbatical" from my private practice. Many years ago, in my grandfather's 89th year of life, he told me, "John, it is important to smell the roses while you can still smell them." His life gave living a very good reputation. It is also true that the pursuit of that philosophy required my grandfather to to re-open his assay office/ore market in Wickenburg, Arizona as a 75-year-old because he had run a little short of retirement money. Thus, if blessed with his luck and health, I'll be back.. --jjh

Copyright 1998-2007  John J. Herr, Ph.D.                                   Please send comments to jjherr@clinicalpsychologist.com