Adaptive perceptual responses to asymmetric rotation for testing otolithic function.

This study aimed to test the role of the otolithic system in self-motion perception by examining adaptive responses to asymmetric off-axis vertical rotation. Self-movement perception was examined after a conditioning procedure consisting of prolonged asymmetric sinusoidal yaw rotation of the head on a stationary body with hemicycle faster than the other hemicycle. This asymmetric velocity rotation results in a cumulative error in spatial self-motion perception in the upright position that persists over time. Head yaw rotation conditioning was performed in different head positions: in the upright position to activate semicircular canals and in the supine and prone positions to activate both semicircular canals and otoliths with the phase of otolithic stimulation reversed with respect to activation of the semicircular canals. The asymmetric conditioning influenced the cumulative error induced by four asymmetric cycles of whole-body vertical axis yaw rotation. The magnitude of this error depended on the orientation of the head during the conditioning. The error increased by 50% after upright position conditioning, by 100% in the supine position, and decreased by 30% in the prone position. The enhancement and reduction of the perceptual error are attributed to otolithic modulation because of gravity influence of the otoliths during the conditioning procedure in supine and prone positions. These findings indicate that asymmetric velocity otolithic activation induces adaptive perceptual errors such as those induced by semicircular canals alone, and this adaptation may be useful in testing dynamic otolithic perceptual responses under different conditions of vestibular dysfunction.

Alexithymia, mood states and pain experience in systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis.

This prospective study aims to examine alexithymia, mood states and pain experience in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. We enrolled 49 patients with SLE or RA. All patients were evaluated through a set of questionnaires: (1) the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS), (2) the Profile of Mood States (POMS) and (3) visual analogue scale (VAS) and Questionario Italiano sul Dolore, self-report measures to assess pain intensity. Alexithymia was more prevalent in RA (44 %) than in SLE (37.5 %). The mean values of VAS were significantly higher in RA than in SLE population (p < 0.05). A linear relation between TAS and VAS values has been found in SLE (R = 0.714, p < 0.0001). The mean values of POMS regarding all negative dimensions of mood were higher in SLE than in RA. There was a linear relationship between TAS and POMS values in SLE patients (R = 0.7, p < 0.001). We found a high prevalence of alexithymia in SLE and RA. The chronic pain is influenced by emotional status as documented by a linear relation between TAS and VAS values in SLE patients. The difficulty in reporting emotional responses in these patients seems to be mediated by negative mood states.

Alexithymia-A disorder of the regulatory mechanism of the emotion elaboration-and quality of life in gynecologic surgery.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Alexithymia is a disorder of the regulatory mechanism of the emotion elaboration. To verify the influence of the personality trait in the evaluation of quality of life (QoL), we analyzed the effect of alexithymia on the outcome of gynecologic surgery. The purpose of this study was to investigate the presence of alexithymia by using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS)-20, and to examine the relationship between alexithymia and self-reported descriptors of QoL in a gynecologic population. DESIGN: All patients were evaluated in a semistructured interview in which personal, medical, and social data were collected. They were provided with a set of questionnaires that included both measure of alexithymia (TAS-20) and QoL perception (the Medical Outcomes Study short-form general health survey-36 [SF-36]). The patients were assessed before the surgical procedure and 1 month postoperatively. SETTING: Campus BioMedico Hospital in Rome, Italy. PATIENTS: In all, 40 consecutive patients with benign gynecologic pathology were enrolled in the study. INTERVENTIONS: A total of 20 of the patients underwent laparoscopy (LPS) and 20 underwent laparotomy (LPT). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Patients were separated into 2 groups, with respect to the TAS questionnaire score: the high-level alexithymia (HA) group, with scores above 59, and the low-level alexithymia group, with scores below 59. The HA group represented 61% in patients who underwent LPS and 50% in patients who were submitted to LPT. Patients who underwent LPS showed a slight decrease in the QoL score after the surgical procedure. Patients who underwent LPT showed different QoL scores depending on the high or low TAS level: high-level TAS group showed higher SF-36 domain scores compared with the presurgical scores, whereas low-level TAS group showed lower scores compared with the presurgical scores. CONCLUSION: Our data show that the subjective QoL tested with SF-36 in patients with gynecologic conditions undergoing surgery is clearly influenced by the level of alexithymia. This influence is clearly detectable when a more invasive surgery is performed. In this case, patients with low-level alexithymia show a worsening of QoL. Contrarily, patients with HA have a better perception of QoL after more invasive surgery.