ISSN:
1469-8986
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
,
Psychology
Notes:
During classical conditioning in dogs, heart rate and two measures of somatic-motor activity, i.e., gross movements and respiratory amplitude, were found to he interrelated in anticipation of shock, food, and food paired with shock, i.e., experimental conflict. Most commonly the anticipatory response was a cardiac acceleration which was proportional to increased somatic-motor activity with both types of response having a similar latency and rate of change in the interstimulus interval. In the absence of anticipatory somatic responses, heart rate remained stable, decelerated, or accelerated minimally. There was some evidence to indicate that the cardiac response associated with somatic activity was exaggerated by the presence of stress. These data suggest that the influence processes like emotion have on heart rate may be mediated in part through the effect emotion has on processes controlling somatic-motor activity. In this context, both response processes might be viewed as different aspects of the same somatic-visceral response. An understanding of such somatic-cardiac coupling would seem necessary for studies of the psychopathology of cardiovascular function and possibly of other behavioral processes.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.1967.tb02733.x
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