Autonomic Nervous System News and Research

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How toxic is your stress?

The term “stress” originates not in our minds or bodies, but from physics. It is the internal forces generated in an object in response to an external load. In the 1950s, Hans Selye adopted the term to characterize how living organisms change...

16 Nov 2016

High resting heart rate and blood pressure predict increased risk for later mental health disorders

A high resting heart rate and blood pressure in youth predict an increased susceptibility for anxiety disorders, schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder later in life, reveals an extensive study conducted by the University of Helsinki and the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm.

26 Oct 2016

Swimming can be effective option for treating patients with fibromyalgia pain

A study performed by researchers at the Federal University of São Paulo shows swimming is as effective as walking to relieve pain and improve quality of life for patients with fibromyalgia.

19 Aug 2016

Next generation wearables for health monitoring: an interview with Dr Steven LeBoeuf

Wearables have proliferated in the marketplace, but there's still a lot of opportunity for growth. One of the ways in which wearables are limited is that people expect their wearables to really measure what they feel is important to be measured

18 Aug 2016

Novel method of mindfulness meditation can improve emotional and cognitive performance

Meditation has long been promoted as a way to feel more at peace. But research from a Texas Tech University faculty member shows it can significantly improve attention, working memory, creativity, immune function, emotional regulation, self-control, cognitive and school performance and healthy habits while reducing stress.

18 Jul 2016

Could artificial intelligence help to combat stress? An interview with Davide Morelli

Stress is actually a bit of a buzzword. The initial definition was “the reaction to changes”, which is why you get stressed also when good things happen, hence the distinction between good stress, eustress, and bad stress, distress.

23 Jun 2016

Research highlights significance of ultra-rapid brain responses to threat-related visual stimuli

An international team lead by researchers from CTB-UPM shows that the amygdala in the human brain is able to detect possible threats in the visual environment at ultra-fast time scales.

15 Jun 2016

Autonomic nervous system plays role in promoting memory consolidation during sleep

A team of sleep researchers at the University of California, Riverside, led by psychology professor Sara C. Mednick, has found that the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for control of bodily functions not consciously directed (such as breathing, heartbeat, and digestive processes) plays a role in promoting memory consolidation - the process of converting information from short-term to long-term memory - during sleep.

15 Jun 2016

Social networks may cause stress to children and adolescents

Research has shown the significance of social relationships in influencing adult human behavior and health; however, little is known about how children's perception of their social networks correlates with stress and how it may influence development. Now, a University of Missouri research team has determined that children and adolescents physically react to their social networks and the stress those networks may cause. Scientists believe that the quality and size of the social relationships nurtured in childhood may have important physiological consequences for physical and mental health for youth.

3 May 2016

Scientists identify underlying cause of immune suppression in people with high level spinal cord injuries

Scientists report in Nature Neuroscience they have identified an underlying cause of dangerous immune suppression in people with high level spinal cord injuries and they propose a possible treatment.

19 Apr 2016

New implantable medical device fails to reduce rates of heart failure-related hospitalization

A new implantable medical device intended to help patients with heart failure by stimulating the vagus nerve did not significantly reduce rates of heart failure-related hospitalization or death from any cause in a study presented at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session.

5 Apr 2016

Findings could help explain origin of type 2 diabetes in children of obese mothers

A new study led by researchers at The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles reports that the presence of leptin - a hormone secreted by fat cells that is critical to maintaining energy balance in the body -- inhibits the prenatal development of neuronal connections between the brain and pancreas. The findings could help explain the origin of type 2 diabetes, particularly in children of obese mothers.

25 Mar 2016

Parent, caregiver's depression linked to worsening symptoms in asthmatic child

Studies have shown that children with asthma are at higher risk for depression. Research also has shown an association between a parent or caregiver's depression and worsening symptoms in an asthmatic child.

14 Mar 2016

Heart rate variability may increase epilepsy risk

Doctors have long characterized epilepsy as a brain disorder, but researchers at Case Western Reserve University have found that part of the autonomic nervous system functions differently in epilepsy during the absence of seizures.This connection to the involuntary division of the nervous system may have implications for diagnosing and treating the disease and understanding sudden unexpected death in epilepsy

10 Mar 2016

Reacting to stressful events decides your overall health

How you perceive and react to stressful events is more important to your health than how frequently you encounter stress, according to health researchers from Penn State and Columbia University.

27 Feb 2016

Unobtrusive patch on the forehead provides relief from PTSD

An average of 30 years had passed since the traumatic events that had left them depressed, anxious, irritable, hypervigilant, unable to sleep well and prone to nightmares.

30 Jan 2016

Children from low income environments experience higher risk of neurological impairment

Children from low income environments appear to have a higher risk of neurological impairment than those from more economically secure circumstances, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions. This neurological impairment appears to be distinct from the risk of cognitive and emotional delays known to accompany early-life poverty.

16 Dec 2015

Research reveals that sniffing and gasping could prevent fainting

The current study focused on the most common type of fainting, called vasovagal syncope, which can be caused by prolonged standing or standing up quickly. It leads to drops in blood pressure and heart rate, and a brief loss of consciousness.

19 Oct 2015

Feeling dizzy after standing up may signal serious conditions, increased risk of death

People who get dizzy several minutes after standing up may be at risk of more serious conditions and even an increased risk of death, according to new research published in the September 23, 2015, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

24 Sep 2015

Study shows reduced heart rate variability may be contributing risk factor for PTSD

A prospective longitudinal study of U.S. Marines suggests that reduced heart rate variability - the changing time interval between heartbeats - may be a contributing risk factor for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

11 Sep 2015