Premium
Attentional modulation of the cardiac defense response in humans
Author(s) -
VILA JAIME,
PÉREZ MARÍA NIEVES,
CARMEN FERNÁNDEZ MARÍA,
PEGALAJAR JOAQUÍN,
SÁNCHEZ MARÍA
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1997.tb02393.x
Subject(s) - stimulus (psychology) , psychology , aversive stimulus , auditory stimuli , audiology , sensory system , orienting response , neuroscience , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , perception , medicine , habituation
How cardiac components of the defense reaction are modulated by attentional factors related to sensory intake versus sensory rejection was examined. Forty‐eight men participated in a test of the heart rate response to three presentations of an intense auditory stimulus while performing one of three attentional tasks during the 80 s following stimulus onset: (a) internal (rejection) task, (b) external (intake) task, and (c) no task. Results showed a potentiation of the defense response only under the external attention condition. We concluded that defensive reactions, far from provoking the rejection of the aversive stimulus, require allocation of attention to processing that stimulus in detail.