Physiological and psychological responses induced by expressing empathy with others.

Aim: To assess the physical and mental burdens associated with expressing empathy with another person's stress.

Methods: Nine female subjects listened to their partner's negative emotions aroused by a stress task (Stroop color-word test) under two conditions. In the first, the subject reacted empathetically to their partner ("with empathy"); in the second, the subject offered no response (control).

Effects of changing illuminance on somatosensory function.

Artificial sources of illumination can be easily used, regardless of the time and place, to improve visibility at night and in dark places. Illuminance and color temperature are particularly important factors since they are known to elicit physiological effects. However, the relationship between changes in illuminance and somatosensory function has not been sufficiently clarified.

Physiological and psychological responses to expressions of emotion and empathy in post-stress communication.

The effects of communicating during and after expressing emotions and receiving empathy after exposure to stress were investigated for 18 female students (9 pairs). After mental and physical tasks, a subject spoke to a listener about the stress task. In Experiment 1, responses to speaking about negative emotions aroused by the task (the "with emotion" condition) were compared to speaking about only objective facts about the task (the control).

Effects of exercise in the heat on thermoregulation of Japanese and Malaysian males.

The effect of low-intensity exercise in the heat on thermoregulation and certain biochemical changes in temperate and tropical subjects under poorly and well-hydrated states was examined. Two VO2max matched groups of subjects consisting of 8 Japanese (JS) and 8 Malaysians (MS) participated in this study under two conditions: poorly-hydrated (no water was given) and well-hydrated (3 mL x Kg(-1) body weight of water was provided at onset of exercise, and the 15th, 35th and 55th min of exercise). The experimental room in both countries was adjusted to a constant level (Ta: 31.

Seasonal effects of sleep deprivation on thermoregulatory responses in a hot environment.

Effects of sleep deprivation and season on thermoregulation during 60 min. of leg-bathing (water temperature of 42 degrees C, air temperature of 30 degrees C, and relative humidity of 70%) were studied in eight men who completed all 4 experiments for normal sleep and sleep deprivation in summer and winter. Rectal temperature (T(re)), skin temperature, total body sweating rate (M(sw-t)), local sweating rate on the back (M(sw-back)) and forearm (M(sw-forearm)), and skin blood flow on the back (SBF(back)) and forearm (SBF(forearm)) were measured.