Neurophysiological approach by self-control of your stress-related autonomic nervous system with depression, stress and anxiety patients

Background: Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback (HRVB) is a treatment in which patients learn self-regulation of a physiological dysregulated vagal nerve function. While the therapeutic approach of HRVB is promising for a variety of disorders, it has not yet been regularly offered in a mental health treatment setting. Aim: To provide a systematic review about the efficacy of HRV-Biofeedback in treatment of anxiety, depression, and stress related disorders. Method: Systematic review in PubMed and Web of Science in 2020 with terms HRV, biofeedback, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, panic disorder, and anxiety disorder. Selection, critical appraisal, and description of the Random Controlled Trials (RCT) studies. Combined with recent meta-analyses. Results: The search resulted in a total of 881 studies. After critical appraisal, nine RCTs have been selected as well as two other relevant studies. The RCTs with control groups treatment as usual, muscle relaxation training and a "placebo"-biofeedback instrument revealed significant clinical efficacy and better results compared with control conditions, mostly significant. In the depression studies average reduction at the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scale was 64% (HRVB plus Treatment as Usual (TAU) versus 25% (control group with TAU) and 30% reduction (HRVB) at the PSQ scale versus 7% (control group with TAU). In the PTSD studies average reduction at the BDI-scale was 53% (HRV plus TAU) versus 24% (control group with TAU) and 22% (HRVB) versus 10% (TAU) with the PTSD Checklist (PCL). In other systematic reviews significant effects have been shown for HRV-Biofeedback in treatment of asthma, coronary artery disease, sleeping disorders, postpartum depression and stress and anxiety. Conclusion: This systematic review shows significant improvement of the non-invasive HRVB training in stress related disorders like PTSD, depression, and panic disorder, in particular when combined with cognitive behavioral therapy or different TAU. Effects were visible after four weeks of training, but clinical practice in a longer daily self-treatment of eight weeks is more promising. More research to integrate HRVB in treatment of stress related disorders in psychiatry is warranted, as well as research focused on the neurophysiological mechanisms.Stress-related psychiatric disorders across the life spa

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Abstract: This study examined the value of virtual reality graded exposure therapy (VRGET) compared to standard graded exposure therapy using imagery alone for patients with flying phobia. Thirty subjects were randomized into either VRGET with physiological feedback of skin resistance, peripheral skin temperature, heart rate, and respiration; VRGET with no physiological feedback, or imagery conditions. Patients in all conditions were first taught to relax (for two sessions) and then exposed in six subsequent sessions to flying stimuli (either through a virtual airplane with visual and somatic stimuli, or through producing mental images). Results showed that subjects in all three conditions were equally physiologically and subjectively aroused throughout the exposure series. However while only 20 % of imagery patients flew after 8 weeks of therapy, 80 % of VR patients receiving no physiological feedback and 100 % of VR patients receiving physiological feedback were able to fly without using medications (p<.001). This is the first study to compare the benefit of virtual reality grade

The Discrete Cosine Transform, a Fourier-related Method for Morphometric Analysis of Open Contours

The discrete cosine transform (DCT) is described and then tested to see whether it is a suitable Fourier-related method for morphometric analysis of open outlines. While most Fourier methods are mainly effective with closed outlines, the DCT can handle open curves too, making it useful for quantitative descriptions of a broad range of natural objects. Like other Fourier-type methods, the DCT yields informative numerical signatures; the shape serves as input for subsequent multivariate analysis, with, for example, principal component analysis (PCA). To test the DCT as a morphometric tool, a set of 32 ammonite ribs was analyzed. The ammonites, representing 16 different species belonging to nine genera, were from the Hildoceratidae, a major Lower Jurassic family with essentially falcoid s.l. ribs, whose taxonomy is based largely on their ornamentation. Species were selected to illustrate the broad spectrum of ribbing patterns from almost straight to falcate via sigmoidal or falcoid, exhibited by the NW European Hildoceratidae. The first six harmonic amplitudes computed by the DCT were processed by PCA. The first three factorial axes of the PCA accounted for 87.2% of the total variance. Projections of the specimens on the first two factorial planes provide a well structured plot of the entire morphospace, demonstrating that the DCT is a promising and effective tool for morphometry