TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schinköth, Michaela
A1  - Weymar, Mathias
A1  - Brand, Ralf
T1  - Listening to the heart
BT  - Getting closer to the somatic core of affective valuation of exercise through heart rate variability analysis
JF  - Psychology of sport and exercise
N2  - Objective: The affective-reflective theory of physical inactivity and exercise suggests that the mere thought of exercise can lead to an immediate somato-affective response which, if negative, will drive a physically inactive person to maintain his or her current exercise-avoidant behavior. This study aimed to test the assumption that the somatic core of this affective response can be identified by means of heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. Design: This study followed a within-subject experimental design. Method. Participants were 91 adult men and women whose HR and HRV were monitored whilst they viewed exercise-related and control pictures in a laboratory setting. Results: Analyses revealed a decrease in HRV during the viewing of exercise-related pictures in less physically active participants. These participants reported that the same pictures elicited feelings with relatively low affective valence and arousal. There were no changes in HR.
KW  - Dual-process
KW  - Motivation
KW  - Valence
KW  - Arousal
KW  - Psychophysiology
KW  - Self-assessment manikin (SAM)
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2019.101541
SN  - 1469-0292
SN  - 1878-5476
VL  - 45
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Wendt, Julia
A1  - Loew, Andreas
A1  - Weymar, Mathias
A1  - Lotze, Martin
A1  - Hamm, Alfons O.
T1  - Active avoidance and attentive freezing in the face of approaching threat
JF  - NeuroImage : a journal of brain function
N2  - Defensive behaviors in animals and humans vary dynamically with increasing proximity of a threat and depending upon the behavioral repertoire at hand. The current study investigated physiological and behavioral adjustments and associated brain activation when participants were exposed to dynamically approaching threat that was either inevitable or could be avoided by motor action. When the approaching threat was inevitable, attentive freezing was observed as indicated by fear bradycardia, startle potentiation, and a dynamic increase in activation of the anterior insula and the periaqueductal grey. In preparation for active avoidance a switch in defensive behavior was observed characterized by startle inhibition and heart rate acceleration along with potentiated activation of the amygdala and the periaqueductal grey. Importantly, the modulation of defensive behavior according to threat imminence and the behavioral option at hand was associated with activity changes in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. These findings improve our understanding of brain mechanisms guiding human behavior during approaching threat depending on available resources.
KW  - Defensive response patterns
KW  - Active avoidance
KW  - Freezing
KW  - Psychophysiology
KW  - fMRI
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.06.054
SN  - 1053-8119
SN  - 1095-9572
VL  - 158
SP  - 196
EP  - 204
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - San Diego
ER  -