PSYCHIATRY

"E.T." helps researchers study role of emotions in childhood asthma

Pediatric psychiatry researchers at UB have found that strong emotions can stimulate-or lessen-airway constriction in asthmatic children. They believe they may have identified one of the neural pathways that carries the stimuli.

To determine the effect of emotions on airway constriction in asthma, Bruce Miller, associate professor, and Beatrice Wood, assistant professor, asked 24 asthmatic children to view the video of "E.T.-The Extraterrestrial," while monitoring their heart rate, respiration and the oxygen saturation of their blood.

The researchers were particularly interested in the chil­dren's physiological responses during the emotional scene in which the young boy, Eliot, gazes upon and talks to his presumably dead friend, and then discovers that E.T. is alive. The scene shifts from sadness and hopelessness to relief and joy.

Results showed that during the sad scene, heart rate and oxygen saturation became unstable, reflecting airway constriction. During the happy scene, heart rate and blood oxygen stabilized, indicating open airways.

The researchers also noted that changes in activity of the vagus nerve-known to influence both heart rate and airway constriction-correlated closely with changes in the children's emotional responses. The finding, they believe, points to the vagus nerve as one pathway by which emotions affect asthma symptoms.

"These findings are clinically important," said Miller, "because they suggest that emotional conditions, such as depression and hopelessness, may be important triggers of airway constriction in asthmatic patients."