Example of a neutral and a “traumatic” picture story including the presented priming objects.

<p>Example of a neutral and a “traumatic” picture story including the presented priming objects.</p

Sensitivity (d’) and response bias (c) in the recognition memory test in the four conditions.

<p>Sensitivity (d’) and response bias (c) in the recognition memory test in the four conditions.</p

Cortisol effects on perceptual priming: In the placebo group participants in the “traumatic” stories condition showed more perceptual priming for the neutral objects than participants in the neutral stories condition, indicating a strong perceptual priming effect for neutral stimuli presented in a “traumatic” context.

<p>In the cortisol group this effect was not present: Participants in the neutral stories and participants in the “traumatic” stories condition in the cortisol group showed comparable priming effects for the neutral objects.</p

Salivary Cortisol in nmol/l at pre- and posttreatment in the four conditions.

<p>Salivary Cortisol in nmol/l at pre- and posttreatment in the four conditions.</p

Heart rate (beats per minute), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) before (pre), during and after (post) hand immersion in warm or cold water as well as subjective stress ratings in the two treatment group (cold pressor test vs. warm water test).

<p>*p<.001 compared to warm water test. Data represent M ± SEM.</p

Salivary Cortisol in the Stress and the Control Group.

<p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0016389#pone-0016389-g001" target="_blank">Figure 1</a> presents salivary cortisol in nanomoles per liter at several time points across the experiment. The bar represents the time of the stress and the non-stress manipulation, respectively. Error bars indicate one standard error.</p

Impression retention in the Stress and the Control Group.

<p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0016389#pone-0016389-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2</a> presents the impression retention for positive (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0016389#pone-0016389-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2</a> a) and negative traits (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0016389#pone-0016389-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2</a> b) in the two experimental groups (stress vs. non-stress). Error bars indicate one standard error.</p

Additional file 2: of Effects of heart rate variability biofeedback during exposure to fear-provoking stimuli within spider-fearful individuals: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Photograph of the experimental set-up. (PDF 13386 kb

Additional file 3: of Effects of heart rate variability biofeedback during exposure to fear-provoking stimuli within spider-fearful individuals: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Schematic diagram of heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback and pseudo-biofeedback tasks. (PDF 387 kb

Additional file 4: of Effects of heart rate variability biofeedback during exposure to fear-provoking stimuli within spider-fearful individuals: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

SPIRIT Checklist. (DOC 122 kb