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Query: UMLS:C0016632 (Fox)
 1,461 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

On the basis of current knowledge of neuroanatomy and our previous research with cardiac vagal tone, we have proposed the vagal circuit of emotion regulation. The vagal circuit of emotion regulation incorporates lateral brain function with the regulation of the peripheral autonomic nervous system in the expression of emotion. The vagus and the vagal circuit do not function independently of other neurophysiological and neuroendocrine systems. Research on brain activity (see Dawson, in this volume; Fox, in this volume) and research on adrenocortical activity (see Stansbury & Gunnar, in this volume) demonstrate that EEG and cortisol are related to emotion states and to individual differences similar to those that we have investigated. The vagal circuit emphasizes not only the vagus but also the lateralization of specific brain structures in emotion regulation. The emphasis of the vagal circuit on right-brain-stem structures stimulates several testable hypotheses regarding the function of specific structures in the right brain in emotion regulation. These speculations are consistent with other reports (see Dawson, in this volume; Fox, in this volume) describing asymmetrical EEG activity during expressed emotions. Moreover, the vagal circuit does not exist independently of the brain structures and peptide systems regulating cortisol (see Stansbury & Gunnar, in this volume). Areas in the brain stem regulating vagal activity are also sensitive to the peptides that regulate cortisol (e.g., vasopressin and corticotropin-releasing hormone). In this essay, we have provided information regarding the relation between vagal tone and emotion regulation. A review of research indicates that baseline levels of cardiac vagal tone and vagal tone reactivity abilities are associated with behavioral measures of reactivity, the expression of emotion, and self-regulation skills. Thus, we propose that cardiac vagal tone can serve as an index of emotion regulation. Historically, the vagus and other components of the parasympathetic nervous system have not been incorporated in theories of emotion. Recent developments in methodology have enabled us to define and accurately quantify cardiac vagal tone. Theories relating the parasympathetic nervous system to the expression and regulation of emotion are now being tested in several laboratories.
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PMID:Vagal tone and the physiological regulation of emotion. 798 59

The use of Rasch measurement techniques with data from developmental psychology has provided important insights into human development (e.g., Bond, 1997, 2003; Dawson, 2002 a, b;). In particular, Rasch methods support investigations into what has been, up until now, intractable theoretical and empirical problems. Research into the development of formal operational thinking using the Rasch model (Bond 1995 a, b; Bond and Bunting, 1995; Bond and Fox, 2001) substantiates important aspects of the original theorizing of Piaget (Inhelder and Piaget, 1955/1958), which was based wholly on qualitative structural analyses of children's problem-solving responses. Common-person equating of student performances has been used across different formal operational thinking tasks to estimate the relative difficulties of tasks measuring the same underlying developmental construct (Bond, 1995b; Bond and Fox, 2001). Repeated person performance measures on the same task have been used in order to estimate cognitive development over time. Rasch measurement estimates of cognitive development do not exceed 0.5 logits per annum (Bond, 1996; Endler, 1998; Stanbridge, 2001); a result that has been estimated independently in two large research projects in the United Kingdom (Shayer, 1999) and in Papua-New Guinea (Lake, 1996). Interestingly, difficulty differences (decalage) between tests of formal thought are as large as 2.0 logits (Bond, 1995a; Bond, 1996; Bond and Fox, 2001), confounding attempts to differentiate development from decalage. Given the problems and possibilities raised by the Rasch measurement quantification of cognitive development, this article canvasses the promise of using Rasch modelling techniques to investigate systematically these fundamental aspects of human cognitive performance.
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PMID:Comparing decalage and development with cognitive developmental tests. 2069