Breathlessness-related Brain Activation: Electroencephalogram Dipole Modeling Analysis

Dyspnea is the feeling of shortness of breath and is a primary symptom of cardiopulmonary disease. Dyspneic symptoms include sensations such as labored respiration, chest tightness, air hunger, and uncomfortable or unpleasant urges to breathe. In this study, we investigated the brain areas associated with dyspnea using electroencephalogram dipole (EEG/DT) modeling. We hypothesize that good temporal resolution of EEG/DT recordings will enable determination of the neuroanatomical substrates of dyspnea in time course measures of inspiration. We measured EEG and respiration simultaneously during CO2 rebreathing, which induced dyspnea in the subjects and allowed us to find inspiration-related potentials during dyspnea. The waveform of the potentials was composed of a negative peak at 100ms and a positive peak at 250ms. Our EEG/DT modeling estimated their source generators in the left superior frontal and left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) at 100ms after inspiration onset. In the next 100ms, the anterior cingulate cortex was activated, followed by the superior frontal and OFC. At 200ms to 300ms, dipoles finally converged in the left insula and amygdala. The first component of inspiration-related potentials thus involved frontal areas that play a role in the intention to inspire and emotional guidance, while the late component incorporated areas related to emotional reaction. We suggest that dyspnea with increasing ventilation could involve intentions or efforts to continue inspiration activities, and consequently, the perception of dyspnea could be associated with unpleasant emotions

Effect of Music on Emotions and Respiration

In the present study we investigated whether the emotional state induced by music can change respiratory rate (RR), tidal volume (VT), minute ventilation (VE), and end-tidal CO2concentration (ETCO2). In a pioneering study investigating the effect of music on respiration, the music of Stockhausen and Chopin was used. In the present study, we examined the effects of the same musical stimuli used in that study on respiration. Each stimulus (Stockhausen, Chopin, and silence) was delivered for 30 s and each stimulus was presented five times in random order. Subjects reported feeling uncomfortable listening to Stockhausen\u27s music, but comfortable during Chopin\u27s music and silence. The respiratory response during exposure to Stockhausen\u27s music was rapid and shallow breathing, resulting in an increase in RR. Although the RR was decreased during silence and Chopin\u27s music by Chopin compared with that during Stockhausen\u27s music, there was no significant difference in RR in response to Chopin\u27s music and Stockhausen\u27s music. Although subjects reported feeling comfortable while listening to Chopin\u27s music, the decrease in RR was not significant. The lack of a significant decrease in RR in response to Chopin\u27s music may be due to a mixture of various emotions that may be interconnected to physiological responses, and this higher processing may be peculiar to humans

The Effect of Touching a Dolphin on the EEG Slow Waves hi Children

Among animal-facilitated therapies, dolphin-facilitated therapy has been shown to beneficially affect human behavior, emotion and speech ability. We recently showed that touching a dolphin reduced the respiratory rate and state anxiety in healthy children. In this study, we collected electroencephalographic data (EEG), widely used for examining various brain functions, before and after touching dolphins. We examined the relationship between EEG power spectra and individual trait anxiety scores. The results showed that the appearance of slow waves in the frontal area increased significantly after touching a dolphin. Furthermore, the difference in slow wave activity was negatively, but significantly, correlated with trait anxiety in the frontal area. This negative correlation showed that slow wave power was greater in subjects with lower trait anxiety, indicating that touching a dolphin may be more effective for subjects with low trait anxiety than those with high trait anxiety. However, even though the increase in slow wave power was lower in subjects with high trait anxiety, touching a dolphin appeared to affect brain rhythms by increasing slow waves

Effects of Viewing Ikehana on Breathing in Humans

Flower arrangements are widely used for decoration, but also for emotional healing. Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement, dating back over 600 years. Although ikebana has been used for psychological rehabilitation, no research has examined its effect on physiological responses in individuals. We examined the effect of viewing photos of ikebana on anxiety and respiratory responses. For controls, we used photos of ikebana that were artificially changed from real, beautiful photos to non-beautiful altered photos. Participants\u27 sense of beauty was measured by a visual analogue scale (VAS). Values were significantly higher while viewing the real photos compared to altered photos (P < 0.05). The VAS score differences between the real and altered photos were also significantly higher in subjects with low trait anxiety (P < 0.05). There was no significant change in respiratory rate (RR) between subjects viewing real and retouched photos. However, the mean difference in RR when viewing real photos compared to retouched photos was higher in subjects with low trait anxiety scores. There was no correlation between VAS score differences and trait anxiety scores. However, differences in RR when viewing real photos compared to viewing retouched photos had a significantly negative correlation (P < 0.05). Results indicated that RR was slower when viewing photos of ikebana in subjects with higher trait anxiety. Our findings suggest that viewing beautiful things may relax individuals who have high anxiety

Emotional Evaluation of Pain in Migraine Patients

In the present study, we investigated how pain perception by migraine (MG) patients may differ from that of normal subjects. We simultaneously measured respiration and used an electroencephalogram to find inspiration-related (I-α) potentials during pain stimuli, which are usually observed in normal subjects during emotional arousal. There were no differences in pain threshold levels, maximum pain levels, scales of the level of pain, state, and trait anxiety, or respiratory rate during rest and stimulation between normal and MG subjects. When anticipating a pain stimulus, respiratory rate increased in both MG and normal subjects. However, I-α potentials were only found in normal subjects. We suggest that the absence of I-α potentials in MG patients may be due to the fact that pain-induced pervasive cortical excitability may not be sufficient to concentrate the brain rhythms to phase-lock. Hypersensitivity towards light, sound, and various sensations is often reported in MG. Thus, there may be a tendency in MG subjects to avoid concentrating on one external stimulus to protect against increased hypersensitivity. It may be that MG patients intuitively know that decentralizing their attention can avoid triggering an MG attack

Odor Detection and Recognition Ability in Patients with Alzheimer\u27s Disease

Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) manifests early with prominent olfactory dysfunction. The olfactory symptoms appear long before cognitive impairment and other typical AD symptoms. Here, we tested odor detection and recognition acuity in AD patients and in age-matched controls to determine the relationships between olfactory test scores and anxiety level, cognitive function, and disease and therapy duration.We found that while AD patients had the same odor detection sensitivity as healthy subjects, most patients exhibited impaired odor recognition. AD patients had significantly lower cognitive function and trait anxiety scores than healthy subjects according to our assessments using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Trait anxiety scores are thought to be lower in AD patients because of atrophy of the limbic system, particularly the amygdala (AMG). It has been reported that trait anxiety level is dependent on amygdala activity, therefore, the low activation of the AMG is linked to reduced trait anxiety in AD.However, we found that trait anxiety correlated positively with odor detection ability in AD patients. Although the function of the AMG is reduced in AD patients, it still contributes to odor detection in AD patients with high trait anxiety

Parallel Activation of the Amygdala and Visual Cortex Estimated by Dipole Tracing Analysis during Visual Stimulation of Fear and Sadness

In this study we used the electroencephalograph (EEG) dipole tracing method to analyze the visual and emotional evoked potentials (VEEPs) triggered by emotional stimuli induced by pictures of fear, sadness and happiness selected from the International Affective Picture System. We hypothesized that if we used the emotional pictures as triggers for averaging the EEG, we could determine VEEPs, and dipoles could be estimated in the visual cortex as well as in the areas related to the picture-induced emotions. We found the VEEP components elicited by fearful and sad stimuli were quite similar and there were no differences in the root mean square values of the positive waves, P1 and P2, in these two stimuli. However, the VEEP elicited by the happy stimulus had a significantly different amplitude compared to the fearful and sad stimuli. Different amplitude components of VEEPs between negative and positive emotions might be caused by differences in the processing of activations. The negative emotions of fear and sadness activated the amygdala in parallel with the visual cortex immediately after the stimuli; and at a later time period the anterior cingulate cortex was activated for conscious awareness of the negative emotions. A simple happy stimulus does not need parallel activation of the amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex, along with activation of the visual cortex. We suggest that parallel processing in the visual cortex and amygdala might serve to rapidly evaluate stimuli, in readiness for the conscious awareness of negative emotions

Effects of Respiratory Muscle Stretch Gymnastics on Children\u27s Emotional Responses

Respiratory muscle stretch gymnastics (RMSG) are designed to decrease chest wall stiffness, reduce dyspnea at rest and improve the quality of life. The focus of this study was to determine whether a RMSG program affects the psychological state of healthy subjects. A previous study showed that there is a positive correlation between anxiety level and respiratory rate (RR). We hypothesize that RMSG will decrease the RR related to alterations in anxiety or other factors that are associated with the quality of life in healthy children. Forty-four primary school children living in Tokyo participated in the study and were randomly assigned to either gymnastics or control groups. Baseline assessment of both groups included completion of the Questionnaire for Measuring Health-Related Quality of Life in Children (Kid-KINDL) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventories for Children (STAI-C). RRs were recorded initially and the children in the gymnastics group were instructed on how to perform RMSG. The RR was measured again and the participants completed the state anxiety scale. The gymnastics group was told to perform the gymnastics once a day for one week, whereupon post-testing using the testing protocol used for the baseline measurement was performed again on both groups. RR and anxiety level significantly decreased while Kid-KINDL increased after one week of RMSG in high trait anxiety subjects of the gymnastics group. We suggest that the decrease in RR after RMSG reduces anxiety levels in children, and contributes to an improvement in their Kid-KINDL score

Amygdala Response During Anticipatory Anxiety in Patients with Tension-type Headache

Tension-type headache (TTH) is the most prevalent primary headache disorder, affecting 0.5%〜4.8% of the population worldwide. Psychological factors play an important role in the pathogenesis of TTH. For instance, depression and anxiety are thought to enhance central sensitization, and thus increase the frequency of headaches. In this study, we used the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and measures of anxiety to analyze personality traits associated with TTH. Specifically, we were interested in the relationship between these variables, respiratory responses, and brain activity. Our results showed that individuals with TTH had significantly higher state anxiety scores compared with healthy controls. In addition, individuals with TTH showed a greater increase in RR during a stressful task involving anticipation of an electrical stimulation. During anticipatory anxiety, there was bilateral amygdala (AMG) activation in TTH patients, while only the right AMG was activated in healthy controls. Interestingly, patients in the TTH group with high levels of state anxiety and high scores on schizophrenia scales had the following MMPI personality traits: peculiar perception, poor familial relationship, difficulties concentrating, and lack of deep interest. We suggest that the psychological factors associated with the above-mentioned brain activation might induce peripheral muscle pressure, which then triggers headaches

Olfactory Response in Patients with Cerebral Palsy: Investigation of the Possible Use of Olfactory Testing to Evaluate Patients and Reduce Anxiety of Their Parents

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a developmental disorder associated with lifelong motor impairment and disability. Several studies have investigated the effects of CP on sensory responses, but there has been no research on olfactory function in CP. This study had two specific aims. First, by observing respiratory responses which serve as an index for the ability to detect and recognize odors, we aimed to estimate the patients\u27 ability to distinguish pleasant from unpleasant odors. These responses can also indicate the capacity for an emotional response to pleasant or unpleasant stimuli. Second, we aimed to investigate the psychological response in the parents as they observed the respiratory response in their children during the odor test. Parents were assessed with the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) to measure their state anxiety levels before and after they had observed their children being tested. In patients with CP, respiratory rate (RR) significantly decreased during pleasant odor stimuli (P < 0.05). There was a significant increase in RR during the presentation of the unpleasant odor (P < 0.05). All the CP patients showed respiratory changes in response to both pleasant and unpleasant smells, and we found that the parents\u27 anxiety levels decreased after the test. We intend to develop this olfactory test technique to contribute to the neurological rehabilitation for CP patients and to reduce anxiety of their parents