Audio-visual concert performances synchronize audience's heart rates.

People enjoy engaging with music. Live music concerts provide an excellent option to investigate real-world music experiences, and at the same time, use neurophysiological synchrony to assess dynamic engagement. In the current study, we assessed engagement in a live concert setting using synchrony of cardiorespiratory measures, comparing inter-subject, stimulus-response, correlation, and phase coherence.

Effects of disliked music on psychophysiology.

While previous research has shown the positive effects of music listening in response to one's favorite music, the negative effects of one's most disliked music have not gained much attention. In the current study, participants listened to three self-selected disliked musical pieces which evoked highly unpleasant feelings. As a contrast, three musical pieces were individually selected for each participant based on neutral liking ratings they provided to other participants' disliked music.

Physiological synchrony and shared flow state in Javanese gamelan: positively associated while improvising, but not for traditional performance.

The experience of shared flow refers to the optimal balance between challenge and ability for a given task, resulting from interpersonal action in a group situation. The performance of Javanese gamelan is an ideal setting to investigate shared flow, due to the requirement that all performers on varying instrumental parts work harmoniously, allowing for shared flow and its native equivalent, . To minimise the disruption of flow, while still measuring it continuously, one way to assess a person's state is by measuring physiological responses of the sympathetic (i.

Aesthetic and physiological effects of naturalistic multimodal music listening.

Compared to audio only (AO) conditions, audiovisual (AV) information can enhance the aesthetic experience of a music performance. However, such beneficial multimodal effects have yet to be studied in naturalistic music performance settings. Further, peripheral physiological correlates of aesthetic experiences are not well-understood.

Synchrony in the periphery: inter-subject correlation of physiological responses during live music concerts.

While there is an increasing shift in cognitive science to study perception of naturalistic stimuli, this study extends this goal to naturalistic contexts by assessing physiological synchrony across audience members in a concert setting. Cardiorespiratory, skin conductance, and facial muscle responses were measured from participants attending live string quintet performances of full-length works from Viennese Classical, Contemporary, and Romantic styles. The concert was repeated on three consecutive days with different audiences.

Echocardiographic predictors of exercise intolerance in patients with heart failure with severely reduced ejection fraction.

Decreased exercise capacity (EC) is an established predictor of cardiac and all-cause mortality in patients with chronic heart failure (HF). No correlation has been found between EC and left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction. Moreover, data about the effect of right ventricular (RV) function on EC in HF with severe LV dysfunction are limited and contradictory.

Haemodynamic effects of etomidate, propofol and electrical shock in patients undergoing implantable cardioverter-defibrillator testing.

Background: Anaesthetic drugs and internal electrical shock may alter the haemodynamic status of patients undergoing implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) testing. Comparative data on the mechanisms of etomidate and propofol-induced changes in haemodynamic parameters are inconsistent. Also the effects of ICD shock on haemodynamics have not been extensively studied.

Implantation of additional defibrillation lead into the coronary sinus: an effective method of decreasing defibrillation threshold.

We report a case of successful implantation of an additional defibrillation lead into the coronary sinus due to high defibrillation threshold (DFT) in a seriously ill patient with a history of extensive myocardial infarction referred for implantable cardioverter- defibrillator implantation after an episode of unstable ventricular tachycardia. All previous attempts to reduce DFT, including subcutaneous electrode implantation, had been unsuccessful.

Tilt-induced changes in haemodynamic parameters in patients with cardiac resynchronisation therapy - a pilot study.

Background: Cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) has become a standard care in selected patients with advanced chronic heart failure (CHF). In order to achieve an adequate clinical response, CRT parameters have to be optimised following implantation. This procedure is usually performed on a patient in a supine position; however, measurement of haemodynamic parameters in an upright position may be clinically important.

QT interval dispersion in ventricular beats: a noninvasive marker of susceptibility to sustained ventricular arrhythmias.

Increased QT dispersion (QTd) calculated from sinus beats has been shown to identify patients prone to sustained VT. However, predictive accuracy of this parameter is limited. Electrophysiological properties of the myocardium may be altered by a premature ventricular beats, which is a well-established trigger for sustained VT.

Susceptibility to neuromediated syncope after acute myocardial infarction.

Background: Syncope after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a common clinical problem. It may be hypothesised that remodelling and neurohormonal changes following AMI may predispose to neuromediated syncope.

Design: To address this issue we prospectively evaluated the incidence of positive results of head-up tilt-table testing in 40 patients following AMI and 40 age and sex matched controls without a history of syncope.

Low-dose glucose-insulin-potassium is ineffective in acute myocardial infarction: results of a randomized multicenter Pol-GIK trial.

We aimed to assess the clinical efficacy of glucose-insulin-potassium (GIK) in acute myocardial infarction. Experimental data provided evidence of the beneficial effects of GIK on ischemic myocardium. The clinical trials, mostly uncontrolled and conducted mainly before the thrombolytic era, were inconclusive due to the small number of patients and discrepancies in protocols.

Intravenous amiodarone is safe and seems to be effective in termination of paroxysmal supraventricular tachyarrhythmias.

Background: Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) and paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT) leading to hemodynamic compromise are among the most common reasons for admission to the coronary care unit (CCU) and need prompt and efficient therapy. Direct current cardioversion is the therapy of choice, but if found contraindicated or unavailable some antiarrhythmic agents are usually given to restore sinus rhythm. Many of these drugs have obvious limitations, especially in patients with acute myocardial infarction and/or heart failure.

The incidence of asymptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in patients treated with propranolol or propafenone.

Anti-arrhythmic therapy for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation leads to complete symptomatic relief in a number of patients. The elimination of symptoms may be associated either with a complete elimination of arrhythmia or with a conversion of symptomatic atrial fibrillation into asymptomatic episodes of arrhythmia. The aim of the study was to evaluate the occurrence of asymptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in 52 patients treated with propafenone (35 drug trials) or propranolol (34 drug trials) by means of ambulatory ECG Holter monitoring.