Attention and autonomic self-regulation

To examine how various aspects of attentional functioning are affected by autonomic self-regulation procedures, this study compared the effect of two treatment programs (EMG and thermal biofeedback used in conjunction with various somatic and cognitive relaxation/self-regulation strategies, and Benson's Relaxation Response procedure) and a Waiting List control group for essential hypertensive adults on three, perhaps overlapping, attentional dimensions: the capacity to disembed figure from ground (Embedded Figures Test, Block Design, and Picture Completion WAIS subtests); the capacity to voluntarily deploy attention (Digit Span subtest of the WAIS), and capacity to sustain attention or become absorbed (as measured by the Tellegen Absorption Scale). Thirty essential hypertensive men and women were randomly placed in one of the three groups. Attentional dimensions were assessed before and after the 10-week treatment program (or waiting period) and the relationship between blood pressure and attentional changes were assessed. The only group to evidence significant blood pressure reduction, the "Biofeedback Group," became significantly more Field Independent as measured by the EFT (p less than 0.001) and the Block Design measure (p less than 0.01) and evidenced a strong trend in the same direction on the Picture Completion measure (p less than 0.052, NS). No other significant pre-post attentional changes were found. A Pearson product correlation revealed that changes in diastolic blood pressure were significantly correlated with changes in EFT (r = 0.54, p less than 0.0001) and the Picture Completion measure (r = 0.32, p less than 0.05). The cognitive effect of autonomic self-regulation is discussed. In addition, the possible role of attention in autonomic self-regulation is examined.