The hand-blink reflex (HBR) is a subcortical response elicited by the electrical stimulation of the median nerve. HBR magnitude is enhanced when the stimulated hand is close to the face and is modulated by high-level structures according to the perceived threat magnitude. Psychological factors may contribute to threat evaluation and possibly to HBR amplitude modulation. In this study, we assessed distinctively emotional and relational aspects of personality and evaluated their associations with the HBR response, or lack thereof, in healthy subjects. Seventy-one volunteers filled the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale, the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Form Y questionnaires and underwent HBR recording. We found that the HBR could be evoked only in 50.7% of all subjects (responders). Non-responders subjects showed higher scores in the avoidance dimension (p = .005), and lower scores in the care dimension (p = .008), compared with responders. In responders, regression analysis showed a negative association of HBR amplitude (difference in near vs. far responses) with anger dimension and a positive association with state anxiety (R2 = 0.239). A positive association also emerged with HBR latency and fear dimension (R2 = 0.419). We conclude that primary emotional and relational factors may play an important role in the modulation of brainstem circuits mediating the HBR response. Our results may also contribute to the question about the absence of the HBR in about half of the subjects since high-level cognitive processes seem to play an important role in the differentiation between responder and non-responder.This research contributes to exploring the role of emotional and relational representations of personality on the physiological properties of the hand-blink reflex. Our findings reveal a potentially important role of primary emotional and relational factors in the modulation of the brainstem circuits underlying the hand-blink reflex.

Hand-blink reflex modulation: The role of primary emotions and attachment dimensions / Mercante, Beniamina; Uccula, Arcangelo; Secchi, Eleonora; Puggioni, Graziella; Loi, Nicola; Enrico, Paolo; Deriu, Franca. - In: PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY. - ISSN 0048-5772. - 61:1(2024), pp. 1-14. [10.1111/psyp.14432]

Hand-blink reflex modulation: The role of primary emotions and attachment dimensions

Mercante, Beniamina;Uccula, Arcangelo;Loi, Nicola;Enrico, Paolo;Deriu, Franca
2024-01-01

Abstract

The hand-blink reflex (HBR) is a subcortical response elicited by the electrical stimulation of the median nerve. HBR magnitude is enhanced when the stimulated hand is close to the face and is modulated by high-level structures according to the perceived threat magnitude. Psychological factors may contribute to threat evaluation and possibly to HBR amplitude modulation. In this study, we assessed distinctively emotional and relational aspects of personality and evaluated their associations with the HBR response, or lack thereof, in healthy subjects. Seventy-one volunteers filled the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale, the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Form Y questionnaires and underwent HBR recording. We found that the HBR could be evoked only in 50.7% of all subjects (responders). Non-responders subjects showed higher scores in the avoidance dimension (p = .005), and lower scores in the care dimension (p = .008), compared with responders. In responders, regression analysis showed a negative association of HBR amplitude (difference in near vs. far responses) with anger dimension and a positive association with state anxiety (R2 = 0.239). A positive association also emerged with HBR latency and fear dimension (R2 = 0.419). We conclude that primary emotional and relational factors may play an important role in the modulation of brainstem circuits mediating the HBR response. Our results may also contribute to the question about the absence of the HBR in about half of the subjects since high-level cognitive processes seem to play an important role in the differentiation between responder and non-responder.This research contributes to exploring the role of emotional and relational representations of personality on the physiological properties of the hand-blink reflex. Our findings reveal a potentially important role of primary emotional and relational factors in the modulation of the brainstem circuits underlying the hand-blink reflex.
2024
Hand-blink reflex modulation: The role of primary emotions and attachment dimensions / Mercante, Beniamina; Uccula, Arcangelo; Secchi, Eleonora; Puggioni, Graziella; Loi, Nicola; Enrico, Paolo; Deriu, Franca. - In: PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY. - ISSN 0048-5772. - 61:1(2024), pp. 1-14. [10.1111/psyp.14432]
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11388/317730
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 1
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 1
social impact