Psychophysiological and Psychosocial Profile of Patients Attending Drug Addiction Centers

Drug treatment centres provide the highest level of rehab services for patients diagnosed with drug addictions. Most inpatient drug rehab programs focus on medical detox and mental health interventions. However, how to optimize the later remains a challenge. The aim of this study was to examine the psychophysiological and psychosocial profile of patients attending drug addiction centres in comparation with the general population. A total of 105 inpatient drug rehab patients and 50 participants from the general population were compared based on standardized psychophysiological and psychosocial measures. Results of this study suggest that patients attending drug addiction centers differ from general population in several different psychophysiological and psychosocial factors. Patients reported significantly lower levels of physical activity and increased sympathetic responsiveness, and significantly higher levels in loneliness, psychologically inflexibility and neuroticism. The results of this study highlight the importance of address healthy lifestyle behaviors such as sport practice and psychological variables such as loneliness, psychological (in)flexibility and neuroticism to improve current programs aim to prevent or reduce problematic drug consumptions.

Virtual Reality Biofeedback in Health: A Scoping Review

Over the past decades, virtual reality (VR) has found its way into biofeedback (BF) therapy programs. Using VR promises to overcome challenges encountered in traditional BF such as low treatment motivation, low attentional focus and the difficulty of transferring learnt abilities to everyday life. Yet, a comprehensive research synthesis is still missing. Hence, this scoping review aims to provide an overview over empirical studies on VR based BF regarding key outcomes, included samples, used soft- and hardware, BF parameters, mode of application and potential limitations. We systematically searched Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus, CINAHL, Google Scholar and Open Grey for empirical research. Eighteen articles met the inclusion criteria. Samples mostly consisted of healthy (44.4%) and/or adult (77.7%) participants. Outcomes were mainly anxiety (44.4%), stress (44.4%) or pain reduction (11.1%), which were reduced by the VR-BF interventions at least as much as by classical BF. Participants in VR-BF interventions showed higher motivation and involvement as well as a better user experience. Heart rate or heart rate variability were the most frequently used BF parameters (50.0%), and most VR-BF interventions (72.2%) employed a natural environment (e.g., island). Currently, there is no clear evidence that VR-BF is more effective than traditional BF. Yet, results indicate that VR-BF may have advantages regarding motivation, user experience, involvement and attentional focus. Further research is needed to assess the specific impact of VR and gamification. Also, testing a broader range of clinical and younger samples would allow more far-reaching conclusions.

Gender Differences in Cardiac Chronotropic Control: Implications for Heart Rate Variability Research

There is a continuing debate concerning “adjustments” to heart period variability [i.e., heart rate variability (HRV)] for the heart period [i.e., increases inter-beat-intervals (IBI)]. To date, such arguments have not seriously considered the impact a demographic variable, such as gender, can have on the association between HRV and the heart period. A prior meta-analysis showed women to have greater HRV compared to men despite having shorter IBI and higher heart rate (HR). Thus, it is plausible that men and women differ in the association between HRV and HR/IBI. Thus, the present study investigates the potential moderating effect of gender on the association between HRV and indices of cardiac chronotropy, including both HR and IBI. Data from 633 participants (339 women) were available for analysis. Cardiac measures were assessed during a 5-min baseline-resting period. HRV measures included the standard deviation of inter-beat-intervals, root mean square of successive differences, and autoregressive high frequency power. Moderation analyses showed gender significantly moderated the association between all HRV variables and both HR and IBI (each p < 0.05). However, results were not consistent when using recently recommended HRV variables “adjusted” for IBI. Overall, the current investigation provides data illustrating a differential association between HRV and the heart period based on gender. Substantial neurophysiological evidence support the current findings; women show greater sensitivity to acetylcholine compared to men. If women show greater sensitivity to acetylcholine, and acetylcholine increases HRV and the heart period, then the association between HRV and the heart period indeed should be stronger in women compared to men. Taken together, these data suggest that routine “adjustments” to HRV for the heart period are unjustified and problematic at best. As it relates to the application of future HRV research, it is imperative that researchers continue to consider the potential impact of gender.

Evaluation of the URGOnight Tele-neurofeedback Device: An Open-label Feasibility Study with Follow-up

SMR neurofeedback shows potential as a therapeutic tool for reducing sleep problems. It is hypothesized that SMR neurofeedback trains the reticulo-thalamocortical-cortical circuit involved in sleep-spindle generation. As such, strengthening this circuit is hypothesized to reduce sleep problems. The current study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a home-based device that uses SMR neurofeedback to help reduce sleep problems. Thirty-seven participants reporting sleep problems received the SMR neurofeedback-based program for 40 (n = 21) or 60 (n = 16) sessions. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Holland Sleep Disorders Questionnaire (HSDQ) were assessed at baseline, session 20, outtake, and follow-up (FU). Actigraphy measurements were taken at baseline, session 20, and outtake. Significant improvements were observed in PSQI Total (d = 0.78), PSQI Sleep Duration (d = 0.52), HSDQ Total (d = 0.80), and HSDQ Insomnia (d = 0.79). Sleep duration (based on PSQI) increased from 5.3 h at baseline to 5.8 after treatment and 6.0 h. at FU. No effects of number of sessions were found. Participants qualified as successful SMR-learners demonstrated a significantly larger gain in sleep duration (d = 0.86 pre-post; average gain = 1.0 h.) compared to non-learners. The home-based SMR tele-neurofeedback device shows the potential to effectively reduce sleep problems, with SMR-learners demonstrating significantly better improvement. Although randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are needed to further elucidate the specific effect of this device on sleep problems, this is the first home-based SMR neurofeedback device using dry electrodes demonstrating effectiveness and feasibility.