Annals of Psychophysiology

Psychophysiology of Wellbeing; A must to introduce in undergraduate programs

Shamoon Noushad — 2022-12-01

The psychophysiology of wellbeing is an important field of study that explores the relationship between mental and physical health. This interdisciplinary field integrates knowledge from psychology, neuroscience, biology, and physiology to understand how positive emotions, attitudes, and behaviors can impact physical health outcomes. Introducing the psychophysiology of wellbeing in undergraduate programs can provide students with valuable knowledge and skills to promote their own wellbeing and mental health, increase awareness of the connection between mental and physical health, and potentially open up new prospects of collaborations and wellbeing overall.

Investigating the impact of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) in reducing birth trauma symptoms

Silvia Wetherell — 2022-12-01

Background: Childbirth-related traumatic experiences are an overlooked area of psychological suffering, often leading to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders, and difficulties in bonding between mother and baby. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing as a brief psychological intervention in reducing Birth Trauma symptoms.

Methodology: Using a prospective experimental longitudinal design, 12 women residing in Singapore with Birth Trauma symptoms received three 90-minute eye-movement and desensitization (EMDR) sessions over two weeks on average. Participants were assessed through two trauma self-report questionnaires and underwent a brief Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) assessment.

Results: Post-treatment assessment showed significant differences in mean trauma scores with a 76% reduction on the Modified Perinatal PTSD Questionnaire (z = -3.061, p = .002) and 70% reduction on the Impact of Event Scale Revised (z = -3.061, p = 0.002). Skin conductance response changes from baseline to stressor reduced by 4% but were not statistically significant (z = -.863, p = 0.39).

Conclusion: Brief EMDR has shown promise as an effective treatment for Birth Trauma. Larger controlled randomized studies are required to evaluate the effectiveness of EMDR when compared to a placebo control group.

The 6-AF Evaluation of Neuroprotective Activity against Cd- Induced Oxidative Stress and Degenerative Brain Disease including PD in Mice

Waqar Ahmad Khan — 2022-12-01

Background: The neurotoxicity caused by Cadmium (Cd) has been researched internationally. Since it has a wide range of unfavorable effects on people, it is believed to be one of the primary tissue-inducing target agents. Using adult male albino mice, the therapeutic potential of 6-AF to reduce memory impairment, neurodegeneration, and neuroinflammation caused by Cadmium Chloride (CdCl₂) was evaluated in the current study for the first time.

Methodology: The male adult mice were distributed into 4 sub-groups; Control, Cd treated (1 mg/kg thrice weeks), Cd (1 mg/kg 3 weeks) + 6-AF (30 mg/kg 3 a week for last 2 weeks) and 6-AF treated (30 mg/kg thrice a week for the last two weeks). After the initial seven-day Cdcl2 dosing cycle, the 6-Aminoflavone was administered interpretively intravenously for the following around 14 days (three per week). After receiving Cdcl2 injections for 30 days, behavior tests were conducted. Western blot analysis was performed after the hippocampus was extracted, and the results were then used to develop the X-rays.

Results: Our results demonstrate that 6-AF significantly enhanced behavior as assessed by the Y-maze and Morris Water Maze (MWM) and that this enhancement was followed by an inhibition of phospho C-Jun N Terminal Kinase (p-JNK) and its downstream signaling, including tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), Nuclear Factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-KB), and Poly (ADP-ribose In addition, 6-AF also reduced the expression of NRF-2 proteins in adult mice exposed to oxidative stress caused by cadmium chloride.

Conclusion: 6-AF is an effective neuroprotective drug in disorders causing neurodegeneration.

The Be aware and grateful for little things: The Relative Contribution of Mindfulness and Gratitude in Predicting Satisfaction

Aisha Rais Ahmed — 2022-12-01

Background: Indeed, both Mindfulness and Gratitude go hand in hand. As one goes into a state of mindfulness and opens their heart to gratitude, one may experience more positive feelings toward life and make choices of all types of events with an open-eyed sense in a nonjudgmental way. That may be leading to being overly focused on life circumstances in a constructive way and enhancing people's life satisfaction. The present study aims to recognize the different influences of gratitude and mindfulness in contributing to life satisfaction; and investigate the levels of mindfulness, gratitude, and life satisfaction among university students.

Methodology: In the study, 256 young adults were drafted from 4 educational institutes in Karachi. However, the random sampling method was used to recruit them. The mean age of the sample was 20 years, with the range of 18-25. The research tools included Mindful Attention Awareness Scale1, Gratitude Questionnaire-Six Item Form (GQ-6)2, and Satisfaction with Life Scale3 by using a brief demographic sheet and consent form, through which data was obtained.

Results: Descriptive statistics and regression analysis was used to clarify the pattern of the result, and the findings were highly significant at p< .001. The outcomes demonstrated that the level of mindfulness comes in the low range (49.6%) of the study sample, while the range of gratitude was moderate (52.5%) to high levels (42.3%) correspondingly. Almost half of the participants reported a moderate level (49.3%) of life satisfaction. Further, the results showed that mindfulness and gratitude are the highest contributors to Life Satisfaction. As gratitude pointed out, 42% and mindfulness predicted 23% to expect contentment.

Conclusion: The study proposed a theoretical paradigm that mindfulness impacts satisfaction cognitively, while gratitude influences satisfaction emotionally. Thus, the benefits of both constructs are evident and improve people's lives.

The University Students' Concerns about Terrorism, Resilience, and Coping Strategies

Saima Masoom Ali — 2022-12-01

Background: Current research inspects the concerns of students of the university about terrorism and their capacity to bounce back, and the coping strategies they are using to deal with it. A cross-sectional study research design is employed in the current study.

Methodology: The sample is comprised of 387 students collected from faculties of Karachi University (1) Faculties of Social Sciences, Islamic Studies, Education, Law, and Administrative Sciences and (2) Faculties of Science, Engineering, Pharmacy, and Medicine. A consent form, demographic sheet, Students' concerns about terrorism scale, Brief resilience scale, and COPE inventory were administered to students.

Results: Demonstrated significant positive relationship among Anti-Terrorism, Peace, and Female emancipation. Further linear regression analysis shows that peace scores explain a 21.8% variance and female Emancipation score explains an 18.4% variance in the Anti-terrorism score. Multivariate analysis of variance shows a significant difference between gender in scores of Anti-terrorism, peace, female emancipation, and coping strategies (self-destruction, substance use, and positive reframing).

Conclusion: Participants' resilience was found to be in the normal range. A significant positive relationship was found between Anti-Terrorism, Peace, and Female emancipation. Those who had anti-terrorist views were in favor of peace and Female emancipation.

Assessing BDNF correlations with non-invasive indicators of neurological decline in different age groups

Syeda Faiza Batool — 2022-12-01

Background: Health is the prime concern of the modern world, and with the increasing life span, both the physical and mental health of human being decline, eventually affecting the cognitive abilities of a person, which may be due to normal aging processes or neuropathological reasons. A cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between BDNF level, neurological disturbance, and aging.

Methodology: Cognitive assessment is done through verbal fluency test (FAS, DSST, and 6CIT) and BDNF level in blood found through HPLC utilizing the ALIZA kit method.

Results: Descriptive statistics were applied for continuous variables. Hence, one-way ANOVA was performed to show the relationship between cognitive parameters and aging.

Conclusion: Our study reports that verbal fluency disturbs as lifetime increases, although sex, education, obesity, or lifestyle does not affect cognition.